Dirk Bogarde 1921 - 1991 Findadeath Update

Dirk Bogarde

March 28, 1921 - May 8, 1999

"I love the camera and it loves me."

Dirk was a British stage and screen actor.  He turned down the role of the lead male in Gigi and was considered for Dr. Zhivago.  He never really reached "legendary status" in the States.  He made a couple of big budget films in the US, but they didn't perform well so he stuck with his success in Britain.

A list of his performances are on the IMDB

TV?  Never!  I don't want my audience going for a piss or making tea while I'm hard at work.

He was also an author and talked to music.

Truthfully, I knew very little about Bogarde and his career, so I looked up a few interviews on youtube.  One thing for sure, Dirk found himself absolutely fascinating.  I've spent a lot of time with older actors and while they do have very interesting stories to share, 90% of the time it's exhausting to listen to them.  

EXHAUSTING

Wait, don't get up, I'm about to say something very interesting.

Dirk was a "lifelong bachelor".  He lived with a man name Anthony Forwood who used to be married to Glynis Johns.  

Dirk and Tony's London flat.

He had a stroke in November of 1987 after which he quit smoking.

Forwood died of liver cancer.

In 1996 Bogarde had surgery to unblock his arteries, after which he had a massive stroke.  He was paralyzed on one side of his body.  He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.  His speech was also severely affected.  Can you imagine?  Him not being able to talk?  What?  How will they hear my interesting stories?!

But don't fret.  He managed to complete the final volume (VOLUME) of his autobiography which included information about his fascinating stroke and how he learned to live with it.

The day before he died was spent with the Angel of Death herself, Lauren Bacall. 

He died of a heart attack on May 8, 1999.  He was 78 years old.

His ashes were scattered over his home in the South of France.

Wanna see his mailbox?

Trivia:  Bogarde chose Brigitte Bardot as a co-star in Doctor at Sea, thus bringing her to the attention of the non-English speaking world.

Official Website

January 8, 2014 Elvis' 80th BIRTHDAY - Wanna see his defibrillator?

 This is a first hand account of Elvis' death hospital experience.

Two men jumped out of the front of the ambulance in a big hurry, one of them looked liked he was wearing a pistol on his side. At first I thought it might be a radio but we repaired medic's radios and I could spot one a mile away.  It wasn't a radio. I will believe until this day it was a Police officer riding in the front seat with a medic and Dr. Nick and the other medic was in the back working on Elvis. The newspaper said Elvis was already stiff in a fetal position when they arrived, but when they pulled Elvis out of the ambulance he was lying flat as a pancake and shaking like a bowl of jelly as they pushed him across the parking lot to the emergency room doors. They were in such a hurry, I thought they were going to throw him off of the stretcher. His head covered up like a dead man with a sheet, his bare legs and feet sticking out from under the sheet from his knees down. 

I went down to the emergency room with my supervisor to see what was taking place. Police officers were all over the place, and they had an officer guarding the door of room #1. You could hear the Doctors were defibrillating Elvis, nurses and doctors were running in and out of the room with medical equipment and supplies. I caught a nurse by her arm and ask her who they were working on.  She said,  "I'm not allowed to say but it's a VIP."  I heard some one cry out, "Breathe! Breathe!". They worked on Elvis for a good 15 minutes before they gave up the effort. I read some where that they even had his vital signs back which means his heart beat and blood pressure but lost it and couldn't get them back. 

After they removed his body I went into the room and turned off all the medical equipment they were using on Elvis.  The room was a mess and the Cardio Tracer paper was all over the floor.  I marked the Defibrillator Paddles with wire cutters, cutting a (V) out on the rubber sleeve next to the white plug and kept up with the equipment until it was removed and replaced with new equipment. 

The Hospital decided one day to replace the equipment and dispose of the old equipment.  I asked my supervisor if I could have the equipment they used on Elvis to which he replied "I'll see what I can do Mac".  A couple of days later he said, "Mac, it's ok, they said you could have it."  I now own the Defibrillator Paddles, the Cardio Tracer and the original wooden table the equipment sat on.  I mounted the Defibrillator Paddles in a gold frame with a clear plastic door on it.  I have put the items on display in a Museum.  I have paper work from the hospital, a letter from my supervisor and also a letter singed by Dr. Nick testifying he used the Defibrillator Paddles on Elvis  I have attached you pictures of the Medical Equipment for you to see.

From Death Hag Mac

More Elvis death information on Findadeath