Sometimes we get the strange coincidences which make you wonder if your path was guided in some weird way or if somethings are fated ....
..... for instance
Earlier this week I was watching on the Sony Movies Classic TV channel, the 1967 film version of 'The Taming Of The Shrew' by one William Shakespeare. Not Francis Bacon or the Earl of Oxford .. or any other of the at least *87 candidates suggested to replace the grammar school boy, but by William Shakespeare
*All by the way, I have noted are snobbish upper class selections, in the mistaken and elitist belief that only someone from the upper echelons of education and society, could have the native wit to write the sonnets and plays in all their diversity.
Anyway, this version starred the late Richard Burton, and Elizabeth Taylor, and both gave solid performances, Burton in particular gives flashes of what a great actor he was, despite his alcoholism.
This made me look up both their careers and in Burton's was a reference to the film 'My Cousin Rachel' in which his co-star Olivia de Havilland described him as "a coarse-grained man with a coarse-grained charm and a talent not completely developed, and a coarse-grained behaviour which makes him not like anyone else" ... she didn't really like him (his stories and gossip remarks may have been a bit too working class industrial/Welsh in language for her liking), but recognised the talent was there ... they were both nominated for golden globe awards (he won).
Anyway, this led me to look at Ms de Havilland biography (I remembered her as Melanie Wilkes in 'Gone With The Wind'), where I was surprised to find that she was still alive, at the fantastic old age on 104. Better than this, she had still been making public appearances and giving interviews well into her 90's and even later, and that she admitted in a 2015 interview, that she still watched 'Gone With The Wind' from time to time, in order to connect with her former co-stars, as she was the last one alive. She was made a Dame Commander by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 when she was 101 (better late than never), which she described as "the most gratifying of birthday presents".
In fact both her and her sister must have had good genes, because actress Joan Fontaine, with whom she had shared an on and off feud for their entire adult lives's, lived until the age of 96, dying in 2013. Fontaine remarking on their famous sibling rivalry, was quoted as saying: "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it."
After reading these biographical notes, I thought no more about it, but the very next day, the news came that she had died peacefully aged 104, on the 26th of July 2020. Whilst saddened at the news, I was really struck by the fact that out of the blue I had suddenly spent a fair bit of time reading about her life and long feud with her sister, just hours before her unexpected (she wasn't reported as ill) death was reported.
But even more odd, was that the links to me going to look at her life and achievements were incredibly tenuous .... some times you are given pause for thought by coincidences that seem so purposeful.
However. mathematicians can explain and dissect coincidences, big and small .... But it kinda spoils the wonderment quite a bit .... sometimes a little bit of mystery should be left 😒
 |
| Coincidences Abound .... |
..... for instance
Earlier this week I was watching on the Sony Movies Classic TV channel, the 1967 film version of 'The Taming Of The Shrew' by one William Shakespeare. Not Francis Bacon or the Earl of Oxford .. or any other of the at least *87 candidates suggested to replace the grammar school boy, but by William Shakespeare
*All by the way, I have noted are snobbish upper class selections, in the mistaken and elitist belief that only someone from the upper echelons of education and society, could have the native wit to write the sonnets and plays in all their diversity.
 |
| Burton And Taylor Had Screen Magic Together ..... |
Anyway, this version starred the late Richard Burton, and Elizabeth Taylor, and both gave solid performances, Burton in particular gives flashes of what a great actor he was, despite his alcoholism.
 |
| My Cousin Rachel - Olivia de Havilland Was The Bigger Star. |
This made me look up both their careers and in Burton's was a reference to the film 'My Cousin Rachel' in which his co-star Olivia de Havilland described him as "a coarse-grained man with a coarse-grained charm and a talent not completely developed, and a coarse-grained behaviour which makes him not like anyone else" ... she didn't really like him (his stories and gossip remarks may have been a bit too working class industrial/Welsh in language for her liking), but recognised the talent was there ... they were both nominated for golden globe awards (he won).
Anyway, this led me to look at Ms de Havilland biography (I remembered her as Melanie Wilkes in 'Gone With The Wind'), where I was surprised to find that she was still alive, at the fantastic old age on 104. Better than this, she had still been making public appearances and giving interviews well into her 90's and even later, and that she admitted in a 2015 interview, that she still watched 'Gone With The Wind' from time to time, in order to connect with her former co-stars, as she was the last one alive. She was made a Dame Commander by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 when she was 101 (better late than never), which she described as "the most gratifying of birthday presents".
In fact both her and her sister must have had good genes, because actress Joan Fontaine, with whom she had shared an on and off feud for their entire adult lives's, lived until the age of 96, dying in 2013. Fontaine remarking on their famous sibling rivalry, was quoted as saying: "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it."
After reading these biographical notes, I thought no more about it, but the very next day, the news came that she had died peacefully aged 104, on the 26th of July 2020. Whilst saddened at the news, I was really struck by the fact that out of the blue I had suddenly spent a fair bit of time reading about her life and long feud with her sister, just hours before her unexpected (she wasn't reported as ill) death was reported.
But even more odd, was that the links to me going to look at her life and achievements were incredibly tenuous .... some times you are given pause for thought by coincidences that seem so purposeful.
However. mathematicians can explain and dissect coincidences, big and small .... But it kinda spoils the wonderment quite a bit .... sometimes a little bit of mystery should be left 😒
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