Duane Allen (1937-2003) - Allen was born on Eighth
Street in in the family home in Alhambra and graduated
in 1956 from Alhambra High School. In 1960, he joined
the Rams Football team, but left after the 1964 season
to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and then the Chicago
Bears. Afterwards, Allen went into coaching and
voluntarily helped the football and track programs at
Mark Keppel High School from the late 1960s through
the early 1990s. Allen was also a talented musician,
brightening up Main Street on many weekends when
he teamed up with Dan Garcia as "The Kick Off Band"
to play a variety of music. He also entertained as a duo
with Mike Burke, a Mark Keppel High School coach.
They called themselves "The Light and Dark of Soul."
[more about Duane Allen] |
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Clive Cussler (B: 1931) - A world-renowned American
adventure novelist and marine archeologist , Cussler
grew up in Alhambra and attended Pasadena City
College before joining the Air Force. He went on to
have a successful advertising career, winning many
national honors for his copywriting. Now a full-time bestselling author, he has explored the deserts of
the American Southwest in search of lost gold mines,
dived in isolated lakes in the Rocky Mountains
looking for lost aircraft and hunted under the sea for shipwrecks of historic significance, discovering and identifying more than sixty. His books include Raise
the Titanic!, Sahara, Treasure of Khan and many,
many more. [more about Clive Cussler] |
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Victor Clyde Forsythe (1885-1962) – Forsythe,
first known for his illustrations and comic drawings,
began easel painting around 1920. By 1922, he
was living in Alhambra, first on S. Wilson Ave.
(now Atlantic Blvd.), then two years later, on North
Almansor Street, which was close to what became
“Artists’ Alley.” About 1935, he moved some two
miles northeast, into adjacent San Marino, first on
St. Alban’s Rd., then on Ramiro Rd. Forsythe
introduced an unknown artist named Norman
Rockwell to Saturday Evening Post and was a close
friend of Frank Tenney Johnson, with whom he
shared a studio and established the Biltmore Art
Gallery in Los Angeles. Forsythe immersed himself
in the lore of the West and often lived in ghost
towns while on painting forays. |
War poster created by
Victor Clyde Forsythe
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Sam Hyde Harris (1889-1977) - At age of 55, Harris
divorced his wife of 27 years, Phoebe Mulholland,
the niece of William Mulholland. He then married
Marion Dodge, a UCLA librarian whom he met in an
evening art class, and moved his home and
commercial art business to the Artists’ Alley in
Alhambra. In 1976, Harris had a one-man show
at the San Gabriel Fine Arts Association and a
one-man show in Alhambra in 1977 that opened
just four days before his death. In his lifetime,
Harris produced somewhere between 2,500-3,000
oil paintings. [more about Sam Hyde Harris] |
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Eli Harvey (1860-1957) - Harvey, who was born in
Ohio, went on to become an Internationally-known
artist and sculptor who lived and worked in NYC
until he moved to Alhambra in the late 1920s. He
built a home and studio in the infamous artists'
colony called "Artists Alley." Trained in art in Paris,
he is considered to be one of the finer American
Western sculptors. He was a good friend of
Norman Rockwell.
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Sculpture by Eli Harvey |
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James Jannard (B: 1949) - Jannard graduated from
Alhambra High School and attended the University of
Southern California. He went on to become founder
of the Oakley eyewear and apparel company, serving
as chairman/ director since its inception in 1975. He
is also the founder and principal backer of RED
Digital Cinema, a manufacturer of high-resolution
video cameras used in cinema production. In 2007,
Forbes Magazine placed him at # 239 on its list of
top 400 wealthy Americans. A keen photographer,
Jannard maintains a website of his photographs.
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Kenny Loggins (B: Jan. 7, 1948) - Loggins was raised
in Alhambra and went on to have a successful career
as a singer/songwriter. After attracting the attention of
Jim Messina, another singer/songwriter, the two began
a duo career as Loggins and Messina that lasted until
1976. Loggins then went on to produce his first solo
album, Celebrate Me Home (1977), which included
the hit "I Believe In Love," originally sung by Barbra
Streisand. He has had hit records in each of four
decades along with 12 platinum albums. |
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Frank Tenney Johnson (1874-1939) - Johnson
became one of the most famous early 20th-century
painters of the Western genre. During the 1920s,
Johnson settled in Alhambra, sharing a studio with
Clyde Forsythe. From 1931-1938, he built a cabin
and studio on the north fork of the Shoshone
River in Wyoming, just outside the east gate of
Yellowstone Park. During the summer months
he would spend much of his time hiking in the
park and painting scenes of its unique
landscapes.
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"Morning Shower" created by
Frank Tenney Johnson |
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Ralph Kiner (1922) - Kiner grew up in Alhambra and
went on to make his major league baseball debut in
1946 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1947, he hit 51
home runs - the highest total in the major leagues
from 1939 to 1960, and the highest National League
total from 1931 to 1997, making Kiner the first
National League player with two fifty-plus seasons;
Kiner also matched his peak of 127 RBIs. From
1947 to 1951, Kiner topped 40 home runs and
100 RBI's each season. He was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975. |
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Dan Larson - A graduate of Alhambra High School,
was selected as a 1972 first-round draft on the
Cardinals Baseball Team. |
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Frank Pastore (B: 1957) - Pastore was born in
Alhambra and went on to become a professional
baseball pitcher. He played for the Cincinnati Reds
from 1979 until 1985, and for the Minnesota Twins in
1986. After retiring from baseball, he earned degrees
in business administration, philosophy of religion
and ethics, political philosophy, and American
government from various universities. In 2004,
Pastore became a talk show host on a Christian
radio talk station, KKLA 99.5 FM in Los Angeles.
[more about Frank Pastore] |
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Dorothy Howell Rodham (B: 1919) - The mother of NY
Senator and former First Lady, Hillary Rotham Clinton,
Dorothy was raised here in Alhambra and graduated
from Alhambra High School. After her parents divorced
in 1927, she and her sister were sent on a train alone
to live with their grandparents in Alhambra. However,
the girls endured harsh treatment by the grandparents
and Dorothy left home at age 14, at which time she
became a nanny. In 1942, she married Hugh Ellsworth
Rotham, a traveling salesman. They moved to Illinois;
as a mother, she encouraged Hillary to have a love for
learning and to pursue an education and a career,
though she had never done so herself. |
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Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) - In 1930, Rockwell
traveled to California to visit his old friend and studio
mate, Clyde Forsythe. Forsythe had urged Rockwell
to get out of New York for a while as Rockwell had
been miserable as a bachelor and man-about-town.
While in California, he met Mary Barstow, who he
married on April 17, 1930 in Alhambra. The cover of the
August 23, 1930 issue of The Saturday Evening Post
features his new wife on its cover. During his 47-year
affiliation with the publication Rockwell produced 323
Saturday Evening Post covers. Rockwell is known
to have spent his summers painting in Alhambra.
[more about Norman Rockwell] |
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Tex Schramm (1920-2003) -- Schramm graduated from Alhambra High School graduate in 1938, went on to play
football with the Los Angeles Rams, and then served as Assistant Director of Sports for CBS for three years.
In 1960, he joined the newly-formed Dallas Cowboys
and groomed "America's Team" into one of the greatest
dynasties in National Football League history. He was
a significant force behind the merger of the AFL and the
NFL in 1966, and continued to play a major role in the
advocating rule changes to the game. He finished his
pro career as the President and Chief Executive Officer
of the World League of American Football in 1989 and
1990. Schramm was enshrined into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame in 1991. [more on Tex Schramm] |
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Jack Wilkinson Smith (1873-1949) - Smith studied art
at the Chicago Art Institute and Cincinnati Academy of
Art, and began painting Western scenes before he
actually ever came out West. In 1906, he visited
California, which he called "nature's own paradise
of scenic splendor and variety." The coastal areas
and the sea in its many moods was a favorite
subject. His paintings of surf crashing among the
rocks are unparalleled. In 1926, he and his wife
settled in Alhambra, buying the property immediately
south of Frank Tenney Johnson’s new home. It was
there, on “Artists’ Alley,” that they dwelt until Smith’s
death in early 1949, at which time he was widely
praised as one of California’s leading landscape
painters. |
Oil on canvasboard painting
by Jack Wikinson Smith; image
courtesy of Harvey Clars Auction Gallery |
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Marion Lee "Mickey" Thompson (1928-1988) -
Thompson was born in Alhambra and graduated from
Alhambra High School. He became a championship
American off-road racing legend and also raced in
dragsters and land-speed record automobiles.
He is credited with setting more speed and
endurance records than any other person in
automotive history, as well as designing and
building the first slingshot dragster. In 1968, he
redesigned his Funny Car vehicle which went on
to win the 1969 NHRA Spring Nationals and
Nationals for driver Danny Ongais.
[more about Mickey Thompson] |
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Cheryl Tiegs (B: 1947) Tiegs graduated from Alhambra
High School in 1965 and attended California State
University, Los Angeles. However, by the age of 17, she
had already been published on the cover of Glamour
magazine. She was later featured on the covers of
Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Time, and Vogue.She is best
known for her long-running affiliation with the Sports
Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which featured her on the
cover in 1970, 1975, and 1983. The 1978 poster of her
in a pink bikini became an iconic 1970s pop culture
image.
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Verne H. Winchell (1915-2002) - Winchell graduated
from Alhambra High School and attended Pasadena
City College. He later went on to make a fortune by
starting the Winchell's Donut chain. He sold his
interest in the company for $600 million in 1984
and became chairman of Denny's Restaurants for
several years. Winchell was also a successful
horse breeder and owner. One of his colts,
named "Donut King", was one of the favorites
for the 1962 Kentucky Derby.
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