Texas in Credo: Biographies

In World of Criminal Justice, Gale
The pair were reunited in the summer of 1932 and began their infamous spree of terror and killing. In what would become a pattern for Bonnie and Clyde, they took a New Mexico sheriff hostage, bound him, terrorized him, and eventually set him free.

U.S. film actress. She was a dancer in a Broadway chorus line when she won her first Hollywood contract in the mid 1920s. Appeared in several “working-girl-makes-good-but-doesn't-necessarily-achieve-happiness” roles which were extremely popular with audiences and earned Crawford a place among the most popular actors of the 1930s.

US comedian, actor, and singer.

US industrialist, aviator, and film producer. Inheriting wealth from his father, the industrialist Howard Robert Hughes, who had patented a revolutionary oil-drilling bit, he took control of the family firm, the Hughes Tool Corporation, in 1923, to create a financial empire.

In Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
His journalistic career spanned a half-century and included firsthand coverage of virtually every major event and issue in the postwar era—from the civil rights movement and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to the Vietnam War, Watergate scandal, and post-9/11 world.

American painter, b. Port Arthur, Tex., as Milton Ernest Rauschenberg. With his friend Jasper Johns, Rauschenberg became a pivotal figure in the emerging pop art movement, and together they were vital to initiating a new era of experimentation in American art.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
U.S. actor, singer, and entrepreneur. He made his debut on a local radio show in Oklahoma in 1928 and hosted his own program on WLS in Chicago from 1931. His first film, In Old Santa Fe (1934), launched his career as a cowboy actor. Known as the “Singing Cowboy,” he starred in 18 movies, ending with Alias Jesse James (1959). His recordings, including “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949), sold millions of copies. The televised Gene Autry Show ran from 1950 to 1954. In 1960 he became the owner of the Los Angeles Angels (now Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) baseball team.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
A pioneering rock and roll singer, he led country-and-western bands around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between 1942 and 1952, when he formed the rhythm and blues-styled Bill Haley and His Comets. In 1954 his recordings of ‘Rock Around the Clock’ and ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ were among the earliest rock and roll hits.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
U.S. singer and songwriter. He played in country music bands while in high school. Later switching to rock and roll, Holly and his band, the Crickets, had hits in 1957 with songs such as “That’ll Be the Day,” “Peggy Sue,” and “Oh, Boy!” Holly died at age 22 in a plane crash, along with the singers Richie Valens (b. 1941) and The Big Bopper (Jape Richardson, b. 1930). He left behind many recordings that were released posthumously, and he soon attained legendary stature; he was part of the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

From African American Almanac
Jefferson's high, booming, two-octave voice, shouting style, driving guitar technique, and brilliant improvisations brought him much success. Jefferson is thought to be the first country blues singer to become a recording star.

The finest white blues and soul singer of her generation, Janis Joplin was a central figure of San Francisco rock in the late sixties.

Scott Joplin (1868-1917), the “king of ragtime,” composed lively syncopated music at the turn of the 20th century that accompanied the rise of urban America.

From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
US country music singer, guitarist and songwriter. He became a leading figure in the "new country" movement of the late 1980s with the release of his eponymous debut album in 1986, and consolidated his reputation as a huge but idiosyncratic talent with the blues-inflected Pontiac (1987), followed by the jazzier And His Large Band (1989), Joshua Judges Ruth (1992) and I Love Everybody (1994). While clearly rooted in country, his original musical conception is not limited by generic boundaries.

Country music singer and songwriter; actor, author, and social activist, born in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Much of his advocacy work involves green initiatives, particularly with his ventures in biodiesel and agricultural reform.

Country-pop singer and songwriter, born in Vernon, Texas, USA. Had a succession of smash hits including ‘Cryin’’ (1961), ‘Blue Bayou’, ‘In Dreams’ (both 1963), and ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ (1964). With a near-operatic vocal range and a sound once described as 'the slow fall of teardrops', Orbison was one of the most distinctive singers of the sixties.

Aaron Thibeaux “T-Bone” Walker was born on May 28, 1910, in Linden, Texas. Walker was considered one of the key originators of the Texas and California blues.

In Encyclopedia of World Biography
American musician Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954–1990) was a guitar virtuoso who sparked a blues-rock revival in the 1980s.

In The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music
With an incongruous mixture of Rip Van Winkle beards, heavy blues guitar music and videos that were both lascivious and self-mocking, ZZ Top were one of the most popular rock bands of the mid-eighties.

American leader of colonization in Texas, known as the Father of Texas, b. Wythe co., Va. In Jan., 1822, he planted the first legal settlement of Anglo-Americans in Texas.

41st President of the United States (1989–1993). Bush was unsuccessful in his bid for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, but served two terms (1981–89) as President Reagan's Vice President. In 1988, he won the Republican nomination for President. Bush and his running mate, Dan Quayle, easily defeated the Democratic ticket of Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen.

43rd president of the United States (2001–2009). In 1999, Bush officially began his campaign for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination. Although he appeared generally to lead in the polls, he ultimately lost the popular vote to Democrat Al Gore. However, Bush secured the presidency with a victory in the electoral college when he won Florida by a narrow margin, having outlasted Gore's attempt to challenge the Florida vote-counting process in court. He thus became the first person in more than a century to win the presidency without achieving a plurality in the popular vote.

In From Suffrage to the Senate: America's Political Women
Laura Bush was first lady from 2001 to 2009, the eight years her husband George W. Bush served as president of the United States. Literacy was a central theme throughout the eight years her husband was in the White House.

34th President of the United States (1953-1961). Also an American general, b. Denison, Texas; his nickname was “Ike.”

American frontier hero and statesman of Texas. In 1836 Houston was elected the first president of the new Republic of Texas. The independence of Texas was recognized by the United States and other countries.

36th President of the United States (1963–1969), b. near Stonewall, Tex. Johnson lost the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination to John F. Kennedy, but accepted Kennedy's offer of the vice presidential position. After Kennedy's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963, Johnson was sworn in as president and announced that he would strive to carry through Kennedy's programs.

In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
U.S. jurist. She was nominated in 1981 by Pres. Ronald Reagan to the Supreme Court of the United States, becoming the first female justice in the court’s history.

US industrialist and independent politician. In 1962 he founded Electronic Data Systems (EDS), a multi-billion dollar corporation which he sold to General Motors (GM) for $2.5 billion in 1984; GM bought out his stock for $700 million in 1986.