He was an absolutely mesmerizing, wonderful presence. His pupils would roll up into his head, and you’d see the whites of his eyes, and his hands would clutch. It was really powerful. He was extraordinary. As a performer, when he’s at his best, he ranks among the three or four greatest I’ve ever seen in my life. – Jim Steinman
Born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas, to Orvil Aday and Wilma (Hukel), a member of the Vo-di-o-do Girls gospel group.
Marvin was born bright red and stayed that way for days. His father said he looked like nine pounds of ground chuck and convinced the nurses to put the name “Meat” on his crib. He acquired the rest of his name in 8th grade when he stepped on a football coach’s foot. The coach yelled, “Get off my foot you hunk of meatloaf!” Meat Loaf matches the initials of his first and middle name.
Meat Loaf first appears on the 1950 Dallas, Texas census on line 3. He was living with his parents at 3048 Kendale (or Clydedale Street). His father was a truck driver for a wholesale grocery and his mother was an assistant bookkeeper in a shop. Other people on the same page had jobs that ranged from paper cutter and postman, to aeronautical engineer, pilot, and orthopedic resident physician. It was a neighborhood of fairly young people and had 6 children aged 4 or younger among the population.
The census had supplemental questions at the bottom of the page, and as the person on line 2 of the page, Wilma Aday provided information that she had completed 4 years of college and had worked 8 weeks the previous year. She later became a schoolteacher.
Meat was 16 on the day of President Kennedy’s assassination and had seen JFK’s arrival that morning at Dallas Love Field. After hearing of the assassination, he drove to Parkland Hospital and saw Jackie Kennedy getting out of the car.
He met Jim Steinman in 1972 and the rest is history.
For the full Meat Loaf story, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_Loaf
Other happenings on September 24, 1947:
- The Geneva Trade Conference approved a General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to govern trade relations until the International Trade Organization‘s charter could be adopted.
- Cyprus Airways was founded.
- The adventure film The Foxes of Harrow starring Rex Harrison and Maureen O’Hara was released.
Tomorrow – Executed for Espionage
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Sources
- Wikipedia.org
- Ancestry.com
- Onthisday.com
- Picryl.com
- Youtube.com
Famous People and Their First Census 