Author Archives: jessieldelao

Remembering Davy Jones

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One of my first childhood memories was at age three-and-a-half years, watching reruns of the comedy series The Monkees. 🎭📺 I soon developed my first celebrity crush on Monkees band member David ‘Davy’ Jones, the cute, short one. 😍 The TV show also led me to become a lifelong admirer of the band–which also includes drummer Micky Dolenz and guitarists Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork–and of their music. Watching all four men perform, be it together on television, or as a duo or trio in concert, still brings back so many happy memories.

Therefore, on February 29, 2012, when I friend told me Davy had died from a severe heart attack, I was overcome with sadness. 😭 I perceived Davy as like an old friend from my childhood, who made me laugh at his funny antics on The Monkees and who made me smile whenever he sang.

A memory I will never forget came seven months before Davy’s death. I had an opportunity to meet him backstage after The Monkees’s July 2011 concert at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Calif. That evening, I literally felt like Marcia Brady the day she met Davy in the 1971 Brady Bunch episode “Getting Davy Jones.” 😊

Like many other music fans, I had always dreamed about meeting my favorite band. I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to meet Davy just before he died. ☹️ His music will live on forever and I will cherish this candid memory for as long as I live. ❤️

My favorite version of “I Wanna Be Free.”

One of my many favorite Monkees songs.

https://youtu.be/IGYaP3Yy10s

The song Davy was synonymous for.

Challenges

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When you are having one of those days when nothing is going right and you are trying to stay positive despite certain challenges. I pray and continue to ask for guidance, but sometimes I feel like my prayers are not being answered. 😫🙁😭

All I can do now is to keep praying and to continue asking for guidance and strength. 🙏🏽❤️

Actor John Gavin Dies

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Actor and former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, John Gavin has died. He was 86.

Gavin was born Juan Vincent Apablasa on Apr. 8, 1931 and was of Mexican, Chilean and Irish descent. After his parents divorced, he was adopted by his stepfather; he then became John Anthony Golenor.

In the late 1950’s, after graduating from Stanford University with a Bachelor’s degree in economics and Latin American affairs, Gavin had done a screen test with Universal-International and was offered a contract. At the height of his career, he was often compared to another tall, dark and handsome actor: Rock Hudson. He starred in such films as Imitation of Life (with Lana Turner and Sandra Dee), Spartacus, Psycho, Romanoff and Juliet, and Tammy Tell Me True (both with Dee), Thoroughly Modern Millie and Sophia Loren: Her Own Story.

In June 1981, President Reagan appointed Gavin as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. 🇲🇽 Bilingual in Spanish, he put the language and his Latin American politics degree to good use during his time as ambassador. He resigned in 1986.

Gavin is survived by his wife, actress Constance Towers, daughters Christina Gavin and Maria Gavin, two step-children and one grandchild.

For more information on Gavin’s life and career, read here.