Notable Minnesotans! (Not purposely omitted previously)

I'm more than aware of the numerous giants from Minnesota (or who were raised or moved here) who have had such an incredible effect on the world. I've had the privilege and honor to know many of them, professionally, personally and socially.

In my recent blog naming Midwesterners who have had a major influence on the world in the arts, sciences and politics, I had internded to state there were more from Minnesota than almost anyother Midwestern state, but didn't. (Senior moment!) The one fellow I named, from St. Paul, designed the world famous gilded statue of Prometheus which adorns the ice skating venue in Rockefeller Center.

Here are just some of the Minnesotans who enriched the lives of people globally: Judy Garland, nee Frances Gumm, from Grand Rapids, as most everyone in the world is aware; The Andrews Sisters from "Nord'east" Minneapolis; Bob Dylan, born in Duluth but raised in Hibbing; St. Paul's F. Scott Fitzgerald and PEANUTS creator, cartoonist Charles Schulz; actresses and actors Arlene Dahl, Ann Sothern, Eddie Albert, James Arness, Peter Graves (the latter two nee Aurness) from Minneapolis; author Sinclair Lewis from Sauk Centre; actresses Tippi Hedren (from New Ulm) and Marian Ross (from Albert Lea); actress Jessica Lange, from Cloquet; Prince, from Minneapolis; prolific fillmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen from St. Louis Park; former ABC-TV anchorman Roger Grimsby, from Duluth, who was an adopted child; former Vice President Walter Mondale from Elmore; MODERN FAMILY producer Steve Levitan; actor Richard Widmark and actress Jane Russell, the latter born in Bemidji. NOT born in this great state, but who made their indelible marks on history after moving here, were Charles Lindbergh, born in Chicago, but raised in Little Falls; Hubert Humphrey, born in Dolan, South Dakota; newscasters Harry Reasoner, born in Iowa and Eric Sevareid, born in Velva, North Dakota; Senator Al Franken, raised in St.Louis Park, but born in Brooklyn, New York, formerly of SNL, of course; screenplay writer Diablo Cody, born and raised in Illinois (Thanks to a reader's comment, below this blog, for Ms. Cody's updated and correct information); and THE DATING GAME's Jim Lange, from Stillwater. (Bing Crosby's mother was born in Stillwater, too.) There are many, many more, but the preceding are all I can remember at this moment.

Please forgive the indulgences, but I have some personal remembrances to share about interaction with some of the above. I've chroniceld some of these in past months on my STAR TRIBUNE webcast (A SENIOR MOMENT), thus if you recognize some of the memories, my apologies:

Judy Garland - I had the honor to have her sing OVER THE RAINBOW to me, one-to-one, at the Palace Theater in New York in the mid-1950s. I didn't know I'd have the pleasure to have her daughter, Liza Minnelli, do some emergency babysitting of my two daughters in Las Vegas in the late 1960s. Bob Dylan - Thanks to the late Governor Rudy Perpich, I got to know his mother, Bea Reitman. Arlene Dahl - Was one of the subjects of a documentary I produced in 1998. Ann Sothern - We danced a few dances and teasingly wrote "Barry and Ann -Troo Luv" in her lipstick on the wall in a nightclub called The Boiler Room in Sun Valley, Idaho in 1963. I've been told it's still there. Eddie Albert - Interviewed him at his Pacific Palisades home in 1985 for a Channel 11 special about famous Minnesotans. In his front yard were dozens of corn stalks, a la GREEN ACRES. He told me the neighbors hated him but it wasn't against the law to have a mini-farm in one's front yard there! Peter Graves - Also interviewed Peter for the same special in his baronial Santa Monica home. Tippi Hedren - Have visited with her several times at her Shambala Preserve in Acton, California. Lovely lady, and just recently here with film critic Leonard Maltin for a showing of MARNIE at The Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. Joel and Ethan Coen - They had cast me for a small part in FARGO, then eliminated the part the day before shooting. Seeing the film, my part would have been superfluous, so I didn't "complain". :) They did have me portray an Elder in A SERIOUS MAN. Have interviewed them severeal times. Brilliant young men and very unassuming. Vice President Mondale - Chronicled last week. Jane Russell - For two years in Las Vegas, circa 1967 and 1968, I worked for the man who provided her film debut in THE OUTLAW. His name was Howard Hughes, and a joy for whom to work. Charles Lindbergh - One of his flight instructors (THE instructor, I've been told) was Stanley E. Hubbard, who founded Hubbard Broadcasting (KSTP-TV and radio) and the best boss I ever had. Hubert Humphrey - A great, longtime and true friend to me, with several lengthy personal letters he wrote to me among my most treasured keepsakes. I also introdcuced him when I emceed Vice President Mondale's pre-inaugural banquet in January, 1977, at the D.C. Hilton. He was an inspiration...to the world...in so many ways. Harry Reasoner and Eric Sevareid - I had good professional and personal times with each. In addition, my mother was Mr. Sevareid's IRS auditor in New York. My second cousin, Cecil Brown, was one of Sevaried's journalist colleagues during World War Two in London, as one of Edward R. Murrow's "boys".

Am I aware there are native Minnesotans and transplanted ones who made their gigantic marks on the world? Indeed. Great memories tied to this great state.