entertainers – Page 2 – Texas History Notebook

Ron Ely, Actor

Ronald Pierce Ely was born in Hereford, Texas on June 21, 1938 to Vernon Howard Ely and Sybil Ely. His father Vernon died at the age of 38 the following year, after which his mother raised Ron and his sister. A 1966 newspaper article in the Clay County Reader out of Henrietta, Texas noted that Ron was born and raised in Texas and that he had worked in the summers shoveling grain and working in the oilfield near Amarillo.

Teresa Graves, Actress

Teresa Graves was born on January 10, 1948 in Houston, Texas to Marshall “Mannie” Graves and wife Willie Patterson Graves. Her father was a laborer and her mother was a housewife. Teresa had at least two brothers and one sister. The family moved to California in the early to mid 1950s where Teresa graduated from George Washington Preparatory High School around 1966 where she was a top student and active in the arts. She was a talented singer and came to the attention of a newly formed performing group called the Doodletown Pipers. Teresa was invited to join the group and declined college scholarship offers to join the group. She is listed as a founding member and sang with them for about three years.

Ann Sheridan, Actress

Clara Lou “Ann” Sheridan was born in Dallas County, Texas on February 21, 1915 to George Washington Sheridan and Lula Stewart Warren Sheridan. A biography says that her family moved to Denton when she was 3 years old. Her father’s profession was listed as a machinist in a garage in the 1920 federal census and the family consisted of George W., Lula, their five children and George’s parents. George is said to have been a grand nephew of Union General Philip Henry Sheridan. Such a connection is not easy to verify using online genealogy records, although they may indeed be related in this way. Clara Lou was the youngest of the couple’s five children who lived to be adults.

Zachary Scott

Zachary Thomson Scott, Jr. was an actor. He was born in Austin, Texas to Zachary Thomson Scott, Sr. (1880 – 1964) and Sallie Lee Masterson Scott (1888 – 1983) on February 21, 1914. His father was a medical doctor who practiced most of his career in Austin. Zachary, Sr. happened to be studying medicine in Galveston in September 1900 when the hurricane struck the island. A 1978 newspaper account from the Galveston Daily News related that the future Dr. Scott was there at an infirmary working as an orderly when he decided to try and make a quick trip to see his parents in Central Texas. Zachary Sr.’s father, Richmond Lewis Scott was a dairy farmer in Bosque County in the Clifton area. The young man walked to the station and was told that they weren’t selling any tickets because the tracks were already partially submerged by water. So, he returned to the infirmary where he continued to work and helped others as the storm pounded the island. He survived the storm, completed medical school and in 1909, he married Sallie Lee Masterson. The couple had three children: Abigail Ann, Zachary, Jr. and Mary Lewis.

Frederic Forrest

Frederic Fenimore Forrest, Jr. was born in Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas on December 23, 1936 to Frederic Fenimore Forrest (1907 – 1966) and Virginia McSpadden Forrest (1907 – 1985). His family members were long time residents of Waxahachie. William Bird Forrest (1872 – 1931) came to the area from Arkansas and established a greenhouse out of which developed a floral business in a separate location. The greenhouse had 60,000 square feet under glass and for many years was the only floral supply house in north central Texas. Not even Waco, Dallas or Fort Worth had comparable facilities. Ads and promotional pieces in the local paper referred to “Bird Forrest, the Waxahachie Florist.” After Bird died in 1931, two of the sons, Fred and William Bird, Jr. took over management of the floral business.