Notable Deaths - October 15
Here are the notable deaths on October 15 throughout the years:
Mata Hari (August 7, 1876, Leeuwarden – October 15, 1917, Vincennes) – Born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle on August 7 1876, the only daughter of a Dutch hatmaker, she seemed unlikely to later become the Mata Hari, the most infamous double agent in spy history. She answered an advertisement in the local paper placed by Rudolph MacLeod, a career military man in need of a wife. Enchanted by the tall, dark, and lovely Margaretha, MacLeod married her in 1895, and moved her to Dutch-controlled Java. His wife fell in love with Java, and wore native sarongs, learned the local language, and watched local dancers. MacLeod’s philandering and bad temper strained their marriage, and even the birth of their second child could not repair the damage done. After their move to Sumatra, a terrible tragedy occurred that would finally end their marriage. While getting ready for bed on June 27 1899, Margaretha heard her children screaming. Racing to their nursery, she found her son and daughter had been poisoned, probably by an angry servant. While their daughter Jeanne Louise (called “Non,” a Malay name) survived, her elder brother Norman was not so fortunate. Margaretha fell into a deep depression that was only worsened by MacLeod’s blaming her for Norman’s death. Finally, the tension exploded, and MacLeod beat Margaretha brutally before kidnapping their daughter and fleeing to Europe. She obtained a divorce and had her child returned to her, but MacLeod refused to pay any support. Unable to care for Non, Margaretha reluctantly left the girl in her father’s care and left for Paris. There she became an exotic dancer, chosing the Malay term “matahari” (Eye of the Sun) as her stage name. Concocting a fanciful tale of being a half-Javanese temple dancer devoted to the god Shiva, Margaretha first appeared on stage as her alter-ego Mata Hari in 1905. Her erotic dancing (that included shedding veils, sarongs, and most everything else in the course of her performance) made her an instant sensation, and traveled all over Europe. She also made several unsuccessful attempts to regain custody of her daughter Non, even plotting with a servant to kidnap the girl from her school in Velp. While trying to visit her lover, a Russian officer named Vadim Maslov, Margaretha was approached by Georges Ladoux, a French army captain, who asked her to spy on the Germans. She agreed and planned to seduce a Nazi General and get him to spill military secrets. However, she was arrested by British intelligence and interrogated by Scotland Yard, who were convinced she was actually a spy for the Germans. Finally she was released, and as 1916 drew to a close Margaretha made her way to Spain where she romanced a Nazi Major called Kalle. He caught onto her and sent false messages claiming that she was in fact a German spy. The French arrested Margaretha on February 13 1917 and imprisoned her. She was convicted that summer of spying for an enemy nation and sentenced to death. On October 15 1917, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle faced the firing squad. She refused a blindfold and blew one last kiss to her killers. A bullet to the heart killed Mata Hari, and her body was donated to medical science.
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) – An American composer and songwriter from Peru, Indiana. His works include the musical comedies Kiss Me, Kate (1948) (based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew), Fifty Million Frenchmen, and Anything Goes, as well as songs like “Night and Day,” “I Get a Kick out of You,” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” He was noted for his sophisticated (sometimes ribald) lyrics, clever rhymes, and complex forms. He was one of the greatest contributors to the Great American Songbook. Porter is one of the few Tin Pan Alley composers to have written both lyrics and music for his songs. In 1937, a riding accident crushed his legs and left him in chronic pain, largely crippled. Doctors told Porter’s wife Linda Lee Thomas and mother that his right leg would have to be amputated and possibly the left one as well. Porter underwent more than 30 surgeries on his legs and was in constant pain for the rest of his life. During this period, the many operations led him to severe depression. He was one of the first people who experienced electric shock therapy. He continued to work, but eventually, his injuries caught up with him. After a series of ulcers and 34 operations on his right leg, it had to be amputated and replaced with an artificial limb in 1958. The operation followed the death of his beloved mother in 1952 and his wife’s death from emphysema in 1954. The combined hardships Porter endured proved to be too much. He never wrote another song after 1958 and spent the remaining years of his life in relative seclusion. He died of kidney failure at the age of 73 in Santa Monica, California, and is interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in his native Peru, Indiana. His life was made into Night and Day, a very sanitized 1946 Michael Curtiz film starring Cary Grant and Alexis Smith. His life was also chronicled, somewhat more realistically, in De-Lovely, a 2004 Irwin Winkler film starring Kevin Kline as Porter and Ashley Judd as Linda. Judy Garland performed a medley of Porter’s songs at the 37th Academy Awards, the first Oscars ceremony held following Porter’s death.
Here is a scene from De-Lovely where Porter is singing the song “So in Love” to Linda: