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1-7 of 7
- Dawn Brancheau was born as Dawn Therese LoVerde on April 16, 1969 to Marion LoVerde and Charles LoVerde. She was the youngest of six children and always had a love for animals. During a family vacation to Orlando, she set her heart on becoming an orca trainer. She graduated from the University of South Carolina with degrees in psychology and animal behavior. She spent two years working with dolphins at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey then began her career at SeaWorld Orlando working with otters and sea lions in 1994. She started working with killer whales in 1996. She also married SeaWorld stunt water skier Scott Brancheau the same year. She worked with killer whales for 15 years as a SeaWorld trainer, eventually holding the title of senior animal trainer.
On February 24, 2010, she was performing a show with Tilikum, a large bull orca (the largest in captivity, measuring 22.5 feet long and weighing roughly 12,500 pounds). Near the end of the "Dine with Shamu Show," Tilikum pulled her into the water by either her arm or her ponytail (there are conflicting eyewitness accounts) and brought her to the bottom of the pool. She drowned and suffered many injuries including her scalp being entirely torn off from her head and her left arm completely severed near the shoulder.
Her death was the third fatality associated with Tilikum but many trainers believed this not to be the case, as they were not previously informed of the exact details of the incidents. Tilikum took part in the attacking and drowning of 21-year-old Keltie Byrne on February 20, 1991 at Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia, Canada along with two other orcas (Haida II and Nootka IV). He was solely responsible for the death of Daniel P. Dukes, a 27-year-old man, in SeaWorld Orlando, Florida on July 6, 1999.
Following her death, a ban on trainers entering a pool with an orca was solidified by an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) intervention. On August 23, 2010, SeaWorld was fined US$75,000 by OSHA for three safety violations, one directly related to her death. SeaWorld filed a series of appeals, seeking to lift the ban and return to water performances but eventually gave up in 2014. Lawmakers in California and the US House of Representatives proposed legislation to phase out orca captivity, and the California Coastal Commission moved in 2015 to ban orca breeding. - Sound Department
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Simon Leadley was born on 28 October 1956 in Henley on Thames, England, UK. He is known for Moulin Rouge! (2001), Happy Feet (2006) and Dark City (1998). He died on 24 February 2010 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
C.R. Johnson was born on 8 October 1983 in Truckee, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Pop Yer Bottlez! (2005), Show & Prove (2006) and Like a Lion (2011). He died on 24 February 2010 in Olympic Valley, California, USA.- Make-Up Department
Keis Maes was born on 25 February 1930 in Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. Keis is known for The Dead (1987), Under the Volcano (1984) and Mr. North (1988). Keis died on 24 February 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Sound Department
Zdenek Stropek was born on 13 December 1939 in Ceské Budéjovice, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. Zdenek is known for Pasiáns (1969), Inzenýrská odysea (1979) and Haló, tady Orchestr a balet CST... (1979). Zdenek died on 24 February 2010 in Prague, Czech Republic.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Yi-Feng Hung was born on 30 October 1927 in Tainan, Taiwan. He was an actor, known for Jiu qing mian mian (1962), A Singer's Tears (1967) and A ma de meng zhong qing ren (2013). He died on 24 February 2010 in Taipei, Taiwan.- Richard Beverley Payne - Artist, Writer, Actor, Teacher. Richard died in Toronto on February 24, 2010, aged 60. Born in Toronto on June 24, 1949, Richard was educated at Richview Collegiate and in 1971 graduated with a B.F.A. from Mount Allison University, later receiving a B.Ed from the University of Toronto, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from UBC. During the 1970s and 1980s, Richard was active in the theatre world in Canada, acting and touring with Toronto Workshop Productions' Ten Lost Years. With Dennis Hayes he wrote and performed in The Yellow House at Arles at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre. From 1987-99 he taught High School (English, Writing and Dramatic Arts) in Southwestern Ontario, and from 2000 he was again active in the theatre and teaching worlds in Toronto. Richard played the popular "Mad Scientist" in the Crayola Crayon-Maker commercials, which ran on Teletoon and YTV for two years off and on, becoming Crayola's most successful ad campaign. Over the years, Richard appeared in numerous theatre, film and television productions.