A HOLLYWOOD HERO: GARY SINISE

In 1974, Gary Sinise and two friends, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry, founded the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Since then, Steppenwolf has showcased the talents of notable actors such as Joan Allen, Kevin Anderson, Gary Cole, Ethan Hawke, Glenne Headly, John Mahoney, John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Martha Plimpton, Jim True-Frost, and William Petersen. Sinise honed his acting and directing skills at Steppenwolf, and received a Joseph Jefferson Award for his direction of Lyle Kessler's play "Orphans". That took him from Chicago to New York City, and then to London's West End, where he worked on more than thirty of the company's productions.

In 1982, Sinise's career began to take off when he directed and starred in Steppenwolf's production of "True West". In 1983, he earned an Obie Award for his direction, and a year later appeared with John Malkovich in the PBS' American Playhouse production of the play. In 1988, Sinise directed "Miles from Home", a film starring Richard Gere, about two brothers' fight against the foreclosure of the family farm. Sinise collaborated with fellow actor Tom Hanks three times, including "Forrest Gump" (1992), "Apollo 13" (1995), and "The Green Mile" (1999).

Sinise is a supporter of various veterans' organizations, both personally and through the Lt. Dan Band (named after his Oscar-nominated character from "Forest Gump"). He frequently performs on USO tours at military bases around the world, and volunteered for the National Vietnam Veterans Arts Museum now called the National Veterans Art Museum. In 2013, he was awarded the third highest honor within the Department of the Army Civilian Awards, the Outstanding Civilian Service Award, for substantial contributions to the U.S. Army community through his work with the Gary Sinise Foundation. Each year the foundation raises over $30 million which it uses to benefit military veterans, including building smart homes for those who are disabled. He received the 2015 Sylvanus Thayer Award, awarded by the West Point Association of Graduates to a non-West Point graduate whose character, service, and achievements reflect the ideals prized by the U.S. Military Academy...

HEALTHWATCH: DANNY GLOVER

The "Lethal Weapon" star, 79, shared news of his diagnosis in a conversation with the "Today" show that aired Wednesday, July 1. He said he has been living with the disease for several years and that it has slowed his speech, movement and memories.

Glover sat down in his home with NBC's Lester Holt for the interview.

"I could live with it, in a sense," Glover said, but added that as the disease progresses, "things are going to be different and changing."

Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia, is a progressive brain disorder that "begins with mild memory loss and can lead to the inability to carry on a conversation, carry out daily activities, or respond to the environment," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Glover also spoke with the media about receiving his diagnosis in 2023, saying he came to terms with it with the help of his family. "I still have my daughter, I have friends," he told the outlet. "I want to just say, your life continues."

"I'm still not accepting in my mind all parts of it," he also said. "There are the moments that you keep remembering that validate the fact that you can remember stuff. And there are moments I'll never forget."

Glover's daughter, Mandisa, told the media that her father is "aware sometimes and then sometimes not," and she described the diagnosis as a "change in the core of who you think you are or don't think you are." But the actor said he doesn't feel it's "the end of my life," telling  us, "There's work to do." Glover shared the news of his diagnosis weeks before his 80th birthday on July 22.

Glover is best known for his role opposite Mel Gibson as homicide detective Roger Murtaugh in the "Lethal Weapon" franchise. He has also starred in movies like "Predator 2," "The Color Purple" and "Places in the Heart," and he has received five Emmy nominations, including for his role as Nelson Mandela in the TV film "Mandela."

In 2022, Glover received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Oscar given to individuals "whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities."'I'm so proud': Danny Glover accepts humanitarian award at Governors Awards

In a ceremony at the time, Alfre Woodard honored Glover for his longtime activism, noting he was a "driving force" in a student walkout that led to the creation of the Department of Black Studies at San Francisco State University.

"Danny Glover always does the right thing first, without testing the prevailing winds of public opinion," Woodard said. "The places in his heart where he has put his time and his resources outnumber his years...

RED NICHOLS IN THE 1920s

1920s' New York was full of young jazz musicians who’d rolled in from somewhere else. Ernest Loring Nichols, a redheaded kid from Utah fell into partnership with a studious-looking trombone player from nearby Long Island named Miff Mole. Instantly they clicked, and together set the standard for hot recording bands of the early 20s. They recorded under an ever-changing roster of goofy names like The Arkansas Travelers, or The Tennessee Tooters—names that seem at odds with the polished skill and urban sound of their hits.

By 1925 Red Nichols was the man to see if you were a musician in New York and needed a job. He was the 'go to' guy, equally connected to record labels needing talent and top-flight musicians looking for work. A well-schooled musician tutored by his bandmaster father, Red could pick up a violin, sit down at the piano or play the cornet. His cornet style has been praised for its “ringing tone and springy, punchy, rhythmic drive.”

When George and Ira Gershwin mounted their 1930 Broadway musical Strike Up the Band, they turned to Red Nichols to put their orchestra together. Nichols filled the chairs in the pit band with rising stars in the jazz world. On opening night as the curtain parted, first-nighters were treated to the sound of Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and Glenn Miller—all under the baton of Red Nichols.

Red Nichols was a skilled talent scout. His studio sessions were a magnet and proving ground for top, young, white jazz players. Many would go on to become star bandleaders of the Swing Era. In the late summer of 1927 Jack Teagarden had finished a gig in a society dance band at San Antonio’s Gunther Hotel. Impulsively the 25-year-old trombonist hit the road for New York in a Cadillac belonging to the wife of one his band mates. One warm August evening they landed in Times Square. Dropped off at a phone booth in mid-town with his bags and instrument case, the first person Jack called was Red Nichols. Always on the lookout for something new to offer the record-buying public, Red was quick to capture Jack Teagarden’s soulful, blues-driven sound and playful vocals on disc.

Pint-sized with flame-red hair, Red Nichols was a go-getter with a good head for business. And he was clean and precise in his playing, a modernist always exploring new territory. But Nichols’ popular success drew criticism from some who called him an 'entertainer' rather than an 'artist.' Critics saw his success as “selling out” or somehow inauthentic, not true to the spirit of hot jazz as it was played by Jazz Age cornet hero, Bix Beiderbecke.

Saxophonist Bud Freeman and his friends often worked in studio groups led by Red Nichols but would not agree with Sudhalter about Nichols' musicianship. Freeman once said, “In the opinion of our group, Nichols was a synthetic player. He was a clever musician and made a lot of records, but he was a very mechanical player.”

This week on Riverwalk Jazz The Jim Cullum Jazz Band tells the story of Red Nichols and his Five Pennies, illustrated with numerous historical recordings of Nichols and the ensembles he led.

In spite of the controversy surrounding his work, Red Nichols was the most recorded and successful musician-bandleader in New York in the 1920s. He led enormously popular bands featuring some of the most creative white jazz players of that time, under names such as The Five Pennies, The Red Heads, and Miff Mole and His Little Molers. This voluminous output of recorded work—Red appeared on about 4,000 recordings in the 1920s—is recognized today as a major expansion and refinement of the harmonic and compositional possibilities in jazz...