Del Reeves, a Grand Ole Opry star who sprinkled his performances with humor and hit No. 1 on the country charts in 1965 with the song “Girl on the Billboard,” has died. He was 74.
Reeves died Monday in Nashville after an extended illness, Grand Ole Opry spokeswoman Jessie Schmidt said Tuesday.
During his 40 years at the Opry, he was hailed as one of its best entertainers because of his comic timing. In addition to his music, he did impressions of stars such as Jimmy Stewart, Johnny Cash and Walter Brennan.
His “Girl on the Billboard” sold a million copies and earned him the nickname of the Doodle-Oo-Doo-Doo Kid for the nonsense syllables that he sang with the song’s guitar intro.
His other hits included “The Belles of Southern Bell,” “Women Do Funny Things to Me,” “Looking at the World Through a Windshield,” “Good Time Charlie’s,” “Be Glad” and “The Philadelphia Fillies.”
In the late 1960s, Reeves had his own syndicated TV show, “The Del Reeves Country Carnival.” He also appeared in several movies, including “Sam Whiskey,” starring Burt Reynolds and Clint Walker.
Tillie Olsen was feminist and fiction author
Tillie Olsen, an activist, feminist and an influential and widely taught fiction writer who narrated and experienced some of the major social conflicts of the 20th century, died Monday, two weeks before her 95th birthday.
A longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay area, Olsen had been in failing health for years, said her daughter, Laurie Olsen.
Because of the opening phrase “I stand here ironing,” from the short story of the same name, she for years received the occasional iron sent by an admirer. She published just two works of fiction – “Tell Me a Riddle” and “Yonnondio” – but she was well known among writers, teachers and feminists, her friends and fans including Alice Walker, Margaret Atwood and Grace Paley.
For much of her early life, she was worker, wife, mother and journalist. She was arrested three times for union activism, and spent several weeks in jail after passing out leaflets to meatpackers.
Associated Press
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