The Ashford Zone Blog

News Stories That Would Have Made Absolutely No Sense To Someone Living In The 1950s

Al Jaffee - Died 4/10/2023
Cartoonist for "MAD" magazine, best known for his back page "fold-ins"
Orson Bean - Died 2/7/2020
Regular panelist on the TV game show "To Tell the Truth", he was the voice of Bilbo Baggins in the animated movie "The Hobbit" and played the storekeeper on the TV series "Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman"
Robert Conrad - Died 2/8/2020
Tough guy actor, starred in the TV series "The Wild Wild West" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (aka "Black Sheep Squadron"), famous for his battery commercial where he challenged people to knock a battery off his shoulder
Mickey Wright - Died 2/17/2020
Hall of Fame golfer, she won 13 majors on the LPGA tour
Ja'Net DuBois - Died 2/17/2020
She played the neighbor, Willona, on the TV series "Good Times", she also co-wrote and sang the "Movin' On Up" theme song on the series "The Jeffersons" (Her year of birth is disputed.)
Clive Cussler - Died 2/24/2020
Adventure novelist, author of "Raise the Titanic", he was also an authority on real-life shipwrecks and sponsored the expedition that discovered the wreck of the Confederate submarine Hunley
Hosni Mubarak - Died 2/25/2020
Former longtime president of Egypt who was ousted after popular protests
Mary Higgins Clark - Died 1/31/2020
Mystery writer known as "The Queen of Suspense", books include "Where Are the Children?", "The Cradle Will Fall", and "I'll Be Seeing You"