Dick Clark

I can find no evidence that Dick Clark ever met the Holy Father, but he sure does rub elbows with people who are close to the pontiff.  Let's take a "Rockin' New Year's Eve" look at celebrities who Dick knows who know the pope or are close to someone who knew the pope.

Dick Clark and First Degree, Michael Jackson

This post is in the spirit of Janus, the Roman god of the new year.  This god has two faces, one looking back and the other looking ahead.  Let's see who Dick Clark knows who has already been mentioned in the blog or who may be mentioned in 2011.

Dick Clark and Bono: 2 Degrees

As mentioned in a previous post, Bono met Pope John Paul II and gave him so rad shades.

Dick Clark and Nicole Scherzinger: 4 Degrees

A member of The Pussycat Dolls, Scherzinger met Dick as we see her performing at last year's show below.  She also appeared in "Dancing With the Stars" with second degreer, Buzz Aldren as see in this post from October.  

Dick Clark and Betty White: 5 Degrees

Betty White appeared on $25,000 Pyramid, a game show hosted by Dick Clark.  She also appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  Johnny Carson filled in for Red Skelton when Red was in Europe with his family, see that post here.  Red Skelton and his family met and were blessed by Pope Pius XII.


Dick Clark to Ralph Edwards: 5 Degrees
Dick Clark was on "This is your life" hosted by TV giant, Ralph Edwards in 1959.

Ralph Edwards is pictured here with
Marilyn Monroe

Lovely Marilyn was the girlfriend of President John F. Kennedy.  The Jerry Lewis post in which President Kennedy and Miss Monroe are degrees is here.  President Kennedy met Pope Paul VI, the pope who elevated John Paul II to cardinal.

Pope Paul VI and Cardinal Wojtyla 

Jerry Lewis

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis is an icon of physical American comedy performance.  He was a role model for Jim Carey and scores of other great comedians of the 20th and 21st Century.  But in 100 years, Mr. Lewis will be more remembered for opening our hearts than for his comedy.  

This weekend is the annual MDA Labor Day Telethon.  Last year's telethon raised over 60 million dollars for muscular dystrophy and ALS research.  Jerry Lewis has been a champion for the young victims of these diseases for decades.  

Please give generously to Jerry's Kids this weekend!  Click Here to donate.

5 Degrees

I could have done this in fewer degrees by going through celebrities who have appeared on the Jerry Lewis telethon.  I chose a different way that I think will entertain and delight you!

Fifth Degree: Eleanor Gehrig

Eleanor Gehrig and Jerry Lewis

Scanning the MDA site, I was surprised to find that ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease, is under the MDA umbrella.  It has been for years.  Thanks to the dedication of Gehrig's widow, Eleanor, the effective treatment and cure for ALS is much closer.  Read about the Gehrig connection to Jerry's Kids by clicking here.

Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig played his entire career for the New York Yankees.  His official website has wonderful video and information about his life and career.  That site is also a good place to see his "Luckiest Man" speech which is currently not available on youtube.

Sweet Fact about Lou Gehrig: When he gave his "Luckiest Man" speech, he knew full well the devistating nature of his illness.  In those days it was common to withhold disgnosis and prognosis from patients.  (Now, such a practice is not only unethical, but illegal.)  Lou knew, and he kept the fact that he knew from his wife out of love.  He wanted her to think that he was blissfully unaware.  I learned this watching History Detectives on PBS.  For a transcript of that show and the site for that episode, click here.

Fourth Degree: Joe DiMaggio

January 15, 1954

I think it's safe to say that the Yankees and their immediate families knew each other in the 1920s and 1930s. While Lou was slugging out a lifetime (15 years) .340 batting average and almost 500 home runs, he played with Joe DiMaggio.

This funny-lookin', first generation, Italian-American guy from Martinez, California, somehow managed to snag the most beautiful woman in the world.  In January of 1954 he married Marilyn Monroe.  To read the original story from the archives of the San Francisco Museum, click here.

Third Degree: Marilyn Monroe

The connection to the third degree is titillating and painful.  You see, Ms. Monroe was one of a collection of women who invaded the Catholic marriage bed of John F. Kennedy.  There seems little doubt that this was the case.  Here is lovely Marilyn singing her famous Happy Birthday to JFK.

Second Degree: President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Kennedy and his wife met the pope on a couple occasions during his brief presidency.  Jaqueline had a private audience with the pope, speaking in French with the Holy Father.  For more photos and loads of interesting facts and circumstances, visit the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston.

Paul VI and John Paul II

First Degree: Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul became pope during the second Vatican council.  Less charismatic than his predecessor, Pope John XXIII, he never enjoyed the same popularity.  He wrote Humanea Vitae and other influential and beautiful encyclicals.  To show love for this man and their commitment to the real teachings of Vatican II, the next popes took both their names, John Paul!

Hey, Lapsed Catholics!!!!

8 pages, that's it.  Just 8 pages and I won't pester you any more this week.  Read Humanea Vitae (in English, not Latin), and open your mind to it.  Just read it and let it sit in your heart.  I swear you won't regret it.  It is a prophetic writing about the sexual revolution.  Just give it a read.  It's always good to be able to argue both sides of an issue to fully understand it.  Read the whole thing here.