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The FamousUnlike the above accounts, most individuals with the name have lived positive, productive lives. Here are just a few accounts. Henry Bandy, a descendent of John Bandy (identity otherwise unknown), lived up in Bandy Hollow near a village named Petroleum in Allen County, Kentucky. Henry came from Tennessee to Kentucky. He was a blacksmith and a good fiddler and played on the WSM radio station. Henry Ford, the car man, paid Henry to go play just for him in Detroit one time. The Bandys up in Bandy Hollow were loners. They farmed by day and made whiskey and babies at night.[i]
Marion Francis “Moe” Bandy (2826, 20-2170), son of Marion Francis Bandy, Sr. (1907, 19-2089) and Janell Bandy (1907, 19-2090) probably is the best known person named Bandy. His country music led him to Nashville and Branson. Moe was raised in San Antonio, Texas. Moe was a working cowboy on a Texas ranch, and a competition bull rider and bareback bronc rider for several years before opting for the music business. Moe’s brother, Mike, was a PRCA National finalist seven times in the bull riding event.
Sisters Betty (2621, 21-1543) and Jane Bandy( 2621, 21-1544)[ii] were beauty contest winners. Betty was in several movies, and she was killed in an airplane crash. On Christmas Eve in 1902, Carroll George Bandy (2019, 19-2447) (June 8, 1881 - June 5, 1978) from Kentucky[iii] married Jessie Bliar (2019, 19-2446)(July 22, 1882 - April 1980), who was from Iowa, in Siebert, Colorado. Carroll was a Rock Island Railroad fireman, and then an oil field worker. They had three daughters Helen,Beulah, and a daughter who died young, and a son John Michael Hughes Bandy. Carroll and Jessie lived to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary.[iv] The mineral Bandyite is named after Mark Chance Bandy (1071, 19-1769)[v] Mark was a geologist whose collection is in the Smithsonian Institute. The W. T. Bandy Center for [Charles] Baudelaire Studies located at Vanderbilt University is named after Dr. William Thomas Bandy, Jr. (2495, 20-1231) (May 11, 1903 - July 6, 1989).[vi] Stacy Leigh Bandy was a member of the U. S. Olympics Gymnastics Team in 1984 and 1988. She also participated in a variety of international and national competitions including the Goodwill games and the World Championships.
Way Bandy,
(probably born Ronald D. Wright) who was one of the fashion world’s best known and highest-paid makeup artists and a best-selling authors, died of AIDS at the age of 45. His death was reported in an August 15, 1986 New York Times obituary which is summarized here. Way arrived in New York in 1966 and became a makeup instructor and skin care specialist, and in 1969 became the salon director of the makeup department at Charles of the Ritz. He left in 1971 to become a freelance makeup artist and consultant to cosmetics manufacturers. He made up some of the world’s most celebrated women including Elizabeth Taylor, Raquel Welch, Catherine Deneuve, Lauren Hutton, Farrah Fawcett, Barbara Streisand, Gloria Vanderbilt, Lee Radziwill, Cher, Sigourney Weaver, Nancy Reagan, and Cheryl Teigs. Elizabeth Taylor once told the Wall Street Journal that Mr. Bandy was “like an artist using a palette.” Photographer Francesco Scavullo said, “Way was not only one of the greatest makeup artists or our time, but also one of the most beautiful men in mind and spirit.” He was a bachelor and asked that survivors not be identified.
It seems likely that Ronald D. Wright attended Ramsey High School in
Birmingham, Alabama at a time when the real Way Bandy, Sr. was a student
there. He either acquired that name from a school year book or perhaps he
actually knew the real Way Bandy. Apparently he made an appearance on the Merv
Griffin show where he admitted that Way Bandy was his chosen professional name
and not his birth name. In a court case, he is referred to as Way Bandy, also known as Ronald D. Wright. It is not clear which is his family name. The suit was between him and Sara Bandy, also known as Sara Wright.[vii]
Perhaps the most famous fictional character named Bandy is Bartholomew Bandy, the Canadian First World War air ace. The humorous fictional character was the subject of writer Donald Jack’s eight volumes (to date) of “Bandy Papers” which have sold over a million copies. Roger Bandy is the name the title character in an Australian children’s book that is now out of print. Although I have not seen the book, I understand that Roger Bandy was a puppy. [i]From information provided by Anna Heath.
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