Conference tecrus::mormonism

    I don't want to sound antagonistic, but how do you know Dr. Fletcher
    is a member of the church?  Alot of times, I hear members say, they
    heard so and so is a member.  That is just that hearsay.  Someone
    said Lorne Greene was LDS because of the supposed LDS influence
    that appeared in _Battlestar_Galactica_.  I don't know how true
    that is.  Someone else said that Eldridge Cleaver(?), an ex-panther
    also joined the church.  Again, I don't know how true that is.
         
    Anyone else have any thoughts or ideas...
    
    scott

    My wife spoke briefly with Eldridge Cleaver when he presented a
    lecture at the University of Missouri about 5 or so years ago.  She 
    asked about his membership in the Church.  He told her he was working 
    toward membership with Brother Dunn (a general authority in the
    Church) but that he was not yet a baptized member.  Since
    then, we've read an article indicating that he has been rendering
    public service hours in fulfillment of his debt to society, but can't
    say for certain whether he has become a member.  
    
    Steve

    I heard somebody say that K.O. was a Mormon - and I'm pretty 
    certain he isn't...

>    I heard somebody say that K.O. was a Mormon - and I'm pretty 
>    certain he isn't...

Well, yes, I am a Mormon.

K.O.




Oh, you mean the *other* K.O.! You're right; he isn't.

/kevin

I'm always skeptical when I hear that so-and-so is a Mormon.  In the case
of James Fletcher, I can verify that he is LDS.  His father was Harvey
Fletcher who for many years was at BYU.  His brother, Harvey Fletcher, Jr.,
was in the Washington, D.C. ward when my wife and I lived there during
1963-1964.

Note 50.15 reports that Ebony magazine claimed that Eldridge Cleaver was
a Mormon, but I don't know how accurate that article is.

Allen

    Yup, Ed, I think you're right about K.O. not being a Mormon.
    
    Moroni Olsen is a Mormon.  I've sometimes wondered about putting on 
    a Moroni Olsen film festival.  He was usually an extra in movies.  I
    usually miss him, but spot his name in the credits.  
        
    Dean Jagger is not a Mormon.  I buddied up with his step-son in
    Physics class who is a Mormon.  (I should've tried to get an autograph
    from his dad, I guess.) Dean is a good friend of the Church and was in 
    12 O'clock High (the movie).  He was the one that the movie starts out 
    with bringing the mug to the old airfield.  Not sure if he's still around.

    Gordon Jump (he played the boss on WKRP) is a Mormon.  He has been
    involved with several 'internal use' videos for the Church.

    Jonny Whittaker is a Mormon (Buffy on Family Affair).  He attended at
    my ward in Columbia, Missouri during the filming of a movie at Arrow
    Rock.  I had a missionary companion who was his roommate at BYU.
    
    Steve

Up for some trivia? Who are some famous LDS that you *do* know about? True,
this has nothing to do with Salvation, Exaltation, or The Fate Of The
World, but it is an often pursued trivia exercise among LDS. 

Some I know (many of whom I was surprised to find out was LDS):

Sports:   Dale Murphy (Atlanta Braves)
          Danny Ainge (who's he with now?)
          Greg Kite   (       "          )
          Bruce Hurst (San Diego Padres, appropriately enough)
          Trevor Matich (NE Patriots)

Entertainment:
          Gordon Jump (WKRP in Cincinnati)
          Donny & Marie (yeah, no kidding)

Politics:
          Ezra Taft Benson (Sec. of Agriculture under Eisenhower)
          George Romney (Gov. of Michigan, Sec. of HUD under Nixon, and
                         sometime candidate for President)
          Evan Mecham (!)
          Who were the LDS Supreme Court Justices?

There's a zillion more.

/kevin

    Hmmm.  I knew that Bruce Hurst's wife was a member, but I didn't
    think that he was.  Also, I understand that Robert Redford's wife
    is a member.
    
    Steve

              Greg Kite   (       "          )
                           with the Clippers.
    
    Journalism: Jack Anderson - syndicated columnist (whistleblower)
    
    Sports: Danny White (who's he with now?)
            Steve Young (49er's)
            Gifford Nielsen (Oilers)
            Henry Marsh (Steeple chase runner)
            Ed Eyestone
    
    

    At Allen's suggestion, I've changing the title of this topic to "Mormon
    Celebrities", given the turn the discussion has taken. 
    
    Re: Note 243.6 by MIZZOU::SHERMAN

    Hi Steve,
    
>   Moroni Olsen is a Mormon.  I've sometimes wondered about putting on 
>   a Moroni Olsen film festival.  He was usually an extra in movies.  I
>   usually miss him, but spot his name in the credits.  
    
    Perhaps you mean Merlin Olsen, who is a Mormon. I grew up with his
    brother in Logan. Nice family. Merlin was on "Little House on the
    Prairie", and does the FTD floral commercials. Before that, he played
    football for the LA Rams, I believe.

    As far as Ken Olsen being a Mormon, of course he is not, as has been
    said, but I have heard this rumor come up before in other venues. I
    wonder why that is. I have a lot of respect for the values that he
    reflects, and feel that they are harmony with many of the teachings of
    the gospel. 
        
    Rich
                      

�    As far as Ken Olsen being a Mormon, of course he is not, as has been
�    said, but I have heard this rumor come up before in other venues. I
�    wonder why that is. I have a lot of respect for the values that he
�    reflects, and feel that they are harmony with many of the teachings of
�    the gospel. 
    
    Somebody here thought he was a Mormon simply because of his religious 
    conservatism. In his mind it wasn't hard to make the jump, but this
    particular individual could probably not clearly distinguish between 
    Catholics, Protestants, Unitarians and Mormons. My impression is
    that he thinks that anyone religious is a little bit of a kook,
    anyway.
    
    I agree with Rich's comment about K.O.'s values, too. (I'm sure
    that applies to *both* K.O.'s, of course!) 

    Ed    

    

Merlin Olsen was on the Utah State University football team whem my wife and I
attended there.  I would see most of the football players in the cafeteria, and
to put it bluntly, they were slobs - slobs in their language and in their
behavior.  In contrast, Merlin was an outstanding example of a great player,
an "A" student, and in general a great individual.  I appreciated his quiet
example.

Allen

Willard and Alice Merriott left Utah for Washington, D.C. shortly after
their marriage, taking with them a franchise for a root beer stand and the
money his mother-in-law had planned to spend on their wedding but gave them
for a "grubstake" since Willard's job prospects had fallen through and he had
no money for his marriage.  During the summer their new business went well
because Washington was hot and muggy.  However, when fall came, their business
fell off, and they realized they had a problem.  Someone suggested they expand
their business, and they added hot chile and called their place the Hot
Shoppe.  Today it is the Merriott Corporation!  

"BYU Today" recently had a nice article about the Merriott family.  Their stand
in Washington was called "A & W Rootbeer", and Chad and I are wondering if the
"A & W" stood for Alice and Willard.  The article said they took a franchise
for root beer with them and it gave the name of their stand, but it didn't
say anything about the reason for the name.

Brother Merriott spoke at a fireside at the Washington ward in 1964 that my
wife and I attended.  To hear him and see him, you would think he was an
Idaho potato farmer instead of the CEO of the Merriott Corporation.  I think
it is neat when people become successful and famous but keep a humble attitude
about them--quite different than many of the social climbers in business today.

Allen

    
    The commander of the US Coast Guard, Admiral Yost, is LDS. He is
    currently in the news as being in charge of the Federal cleanup
    effort for the Alaska oil spill.
    
    I'm pretty sure that the Church News carried an article about 2
    years ago about Eldridge Cleaver visiting with Church leaders. I
    suspect that if he had been baptized, it would have made the News.
    
    /sad
    

>              Donny & Marie (yeah, no kidding)
 
    I saw Donnie on the Arsinio Hall show last night.  Apparently, he
    is in the middle of a come back as far as his pop career is going.
    Told the wifey about it and we we're wondering how he is doing as
    far as his activity in the church.  It sounds like he is real busy
    with being on the road and performing now.  It seems like it would
    be hard to hold a calling with all the traveling and stuff.
    
    With all the prominent and visible LDS people out there, does anyone
    know what they are doing in the church such as being a scout master
    or a sunday school teacher.
    
    Any thoughts, ideas ...
    
    scott

    re: some few back
    
    I forgot about Merlin, but, no, I really meant Moroni Olsen.  He
    was in a lot of movies dating around the 50's or so.  My wife knows
    what he looks like, but I always miss him.
    
    Steve

    The popular singing group called the Jets is made up of a family that
    is LDS. One of our friends served part of his mission in their ward,
    and found them to be really wonderful people.
    
    Rich

Some more Mormon Celebrities:

Johnny Miller, professional golfer with 22 major victories, father of six.

Angela Buchanan Jackson, youngest Treasurer of the US ever, whose signature
               you may find on some of the dollar bills in your pocket;
               convert to the church. 

Peter Vidmar, 1984 Olympic gymnastics medalist, 2 Gold, 1 Silver; 20-time 
               NCAA All-American champion.

Danny White, quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, Superbowl XII & XIII; 
               father of four.

Dwayne O'Steen, defensive back, Los Angeles Rams & Oakland Raiders, 
               Superbowl XIV and XV.

Sharlene Wells, Miss America 1985 and Deborah Wolfe, Miss America 1984.

Jake Garn, US Senator since 1974, first member of Congress in space 
               (although some believe most congresspersons live there
               permanently).

J. Willard Marriott, CEO of the Marriott Corporation; former missionary
               in New England.

    I don't mean to sound cynical but don't you find it interesting
    that Dr. Fletcher has connections with Utah, Morton-Thiokol is in
    Utah, and that Senator Jake Garn is extremely interested in the
    Space Program?
    
    Just wondering, of course.
    
    Mark

    >>I'm pretty sure that the Church News carried an article about 2
    >>years ago about Eldridge Cleaver visiting with Church leaders. I
    >>suspect that if he had been baptized, it would have made the News.
    
    Just wondering who this guy is?? Sorry, but I have never heard of him,
    

    
    I realize that this is not the "nonMormon Celebrities" note but
    I do want to clear one thing up.  Ken Olsen is not a Mormon.  He
    is an evangelical Christian and attends Park Street Church (Evangelical
    Free) in Boston.  He is a deacon or elder there.
    
    Now, I'm wondering since my name is BENSON might I be a celebrity
    to the Mormons?  Seriously,  since your top guy is named BENSON
    is there a good chance that I could probably find a wealth of BENSON
    geneological info through the Mormon church?  
    
    jeff

    Re .20:
    
    For those of you too young to remember Eldridge Cleaver (you know
    you're getting old when you can say stuff like that), he was a black
    radical associated with the Black Panther movement back in the late
    60's. He got himself in trouble with the law, fled to Cuba and
    Algeria before finally turning himself in and doing some time in
    the Federal Pen.
    
    He is the author, I believe, of "Soul On Ice" and others.
    
    He is now, interestingly enough, identified with politically
    conservative (!) causes as a result of his disillusionment with
    Marxist/Maoist ideology (a familiar story). He is also I believe trying
    to make peace with God and himself so that's perhaps why his interest in
    religion when 20 years ago he would have branded it the "opium of
    the people".
    
    BTW, I'm sure some of my comments in other notes probably indicated
    I was some kind of wild-eyed liberal but in fact I'm a card-carrying
    conservative Republican - hard to believe perhaps but true.
    
    Mark

Hi Jeff,

Its been a long time since we visited together--nice to hear from you again.

Whether your name is BENSON, or SMITH, or JONES, or anything else, you can
probably find information about your genealogy by visiting one of our
libraries.  We have quite a few branch libraries scattered around, and they
have access to all of the microfilm from the main library in SLC.

Many of our Stake centers have a branch library, so you might check the
yellow pages of your phone book for the phone number.  If I remember
right, I seem to recall that you live in the Atlanta area or something like
that.  If my memory is correct, then FSTRCK::ROLLINS can give you a hand in
locating the library.  All people are welcome at the libraries, and it is
common to have more non-LDS there than LDS.  Note 219 is for directions to
our buildings, and perhaps someone can post information about our libraries
to that note.

Who knows, you might be a cousin to the Mormon prophet!

Allen

	By the way, Eldredge Cleaver is a member of the Church.  A single
	member of our ward who moved here last year from San Fransisco said
	that Bro.Cleaver had been invited to speak at a fireside but had not
	been able to do so, but that he was now a member of the church.

	Jack Morris, Alan Ashby, Wally Joyner, Dale Murphy, the Iorg brothers,
	Vance Law all come to ming as LDS baseball players.

    Re .31:
    
    That would have been very hard to believe some 20 years ago......that's
    almost comparable to Ronald Reagan renouncing his conservatism and
    joining the Americans for Democratic Action or George Bush joining
    the ACLU!
    
    Stranger things have happened I guess.
    
    Mark

    our clerk has ties to the Washington FBI members (there's a lot of them
    there) and got a call from an old friend whom he said told him that
    Colin Powell was a member.  Any one able to substantiate this?

    
    Please forgive this topic because I know that this has been hashed over
    time and time again. But... it has been brought out in another
    notesfile that our beloved "Uncle Ken" Olsen is LDS. I remember reading
    somewhere that he is not and the source stated what faith he is and the
    fact that he is very active in a christan executive club. Any
    information is very much appreciated.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Frank
    

	See 243.23 regarding KO.