Claudene Christian

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Claudene Christian
Born 1970
Died 2012-10-29
Atlantic Ocean
Occupation entrepeneur
Known for Lineal descendant of Fletcher Christian, died when the 1960 replica of the HMS Bounty sank
A selection of dolls sold by Christian's company, Cheerleader Doll, each wearing the uniform from a different team of cheerleaders, from different Colleges and Universities.
Christian, who believed she was a descendant of famous mutineer Fletcher Christian, died aboard a reproduction of his ship, the HMS Bounty, when it sank during a hurricane.

Claudene Christian (b. 1970 - d. 2012) was an entrepeneur, singer, sailor, gymnast and beauty queen.[1][2][3][4][5]

Christian is a lineal descendant of Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutiny on the Bounty, and one of founders of the occupation of Pitcairn Island.[2][6] In August of 2012 Christian was interviewed by the Halifax Chronicle Herald, when she joined the permanent crew of a replica of the original HMS Bounty, built by MGM for a film about the mutiny. Patrik Jonsson, writing in The Christian Science Monitor, citing the connection between Claudene and her great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, called her death "an almost inexplicable twist on that family legacy."[7]

The vessel was caught by Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012.[8][9] 14 members of the ship's complement were able to board a life raft, and were saved. The Virginia Pilot quoted United States Coast Guard Captain Joe Kelly, who described how Christian and the ship's captain Robin Waldridge were about to join the rest of the ship's complement in the liferaft, when the Bounty rolled, plunging them into the ocean.[10] Search and rescue crews from Coast Guard helicopters rescued the crew members from the life raft. When Christian was found, ten hours later, she was "unresponsive". Resusitation was attempted, but she was pronounced dead in a shore-based hospital.

Academic career

Christian was born and raised in Alaska, where she was a high school gymnast, and winner of the 1987 Miss Alaska National Teen-ager pageant.[1][11][3]

During her teenage years the Anchorage Daily News repeatedly mentioned Christian's theatrical and athletic performances.[12][13][14] Christian was one of the opening acts when Marie Osmond had a gig in Anchorage in 1988.[15] She competed as a gymnast, on the horse, competed on a pole-vaulting team, and was a member of her highschool's cheerleading squad.

She graduated from the University of Southern California, in 1992.[8][16] She studied Sports Information there, and was also a "USC Song Girl" -- what the University of Southern California calls cheerleaders.[17][8][16][18][19][20] She also joined the Gamma Phi Beta sorority.[21] It was while serving as a cheerleader that she founded Cheerleader Doll, a company authorized to produce dolls the size of Barbie dolls, wearing the uniforms of college cheerleading squads.

Business career

The dolls manufactured by Christian's company, Cheerleader Doll, were authorized to use the uniforms of approximately 150 teams.[8][16] Christian had also been a partner in a bar in Hermosa Beach, California, and an executive at a racing track.[4][22]

In April 2002 the Metropolitan News Enterprise reported on three intellectual property suits between Cheerleader Doll and Mattel, the manufacturer of Barbie Dolls.[23][24] Claudene Christian initiated the first lawsuit, claiming a Mattel doll of a cheerleader improperly copied a Cheerleader Doll design. Mattel was able to establish, to the court's satisfaction, that the cheerleader doll they were marketing was based on a Mattel design that preceded Cheerleader Doll's. Mattel won and Cheerleader Doll was ordered to pay $100,000. Subsequently her father and partner, Harry Christian, initiated a second lawsuit.

[25]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cheerleader doll: my story.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rhonda Parker. Bounty crew member who died in hospital was Fletcher Christian descendant, The Examiner, 2012-10-29. “A Coast Guard spokesman has confirmed that Bounty crew member Claudene Christian, was pulled from the ocean unresponsive, and pronounced dead tonight at a North Carolina hospital Monday night after the historic tall ship went down early Monday morning.”
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 West senior wins pageant, Anchorage Daily News, 1987-06-25, p. 22. Retrieved on 2012-11-01. “Claudene Christian of Anchorage was crowned Miss Alaska National Teen-ager for 1987 at a recent pageant in Anchorage. Claudene, 16, a lifelong Alaska, is the daughter of Claudene and Harry Christian. She is a student at West Anchorage High School, where she is involved in gymnastics, acting, choir, cheerleading, student government and women's pole vaulting. Her hobbies include singing, dancing, acting, skiing, writing poetry and collecting stuffed animals.”
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Donna Littlejohn. Body of former resident, one of two missing crew members from HMS Bounty, recovered, The Beach Reporter, 2012-10-30. “According to public records and information from Linkedin and her on Facebook page, Christian was a limited LTD partner of the Dragon Bar in Hermosa Beach, which is now closed. She also previously was promotions manager at Church Hill Downs Inc./Hollywood Park Racetrack.”
  5. ↑ Ben Anderson. Former Alaskan swept from HMS Bounty becomes victim of Hurricane Sandy, Alaska Dispatch, 2012-10-29. “In 1987, Christian, then 16, was crowned Miss Alaska National Teen-ager in a beauty pageant held in Anchorage. She was a senior at West Anchorage High School at the time, according to an Anchorage Daily News article, and was involved in gymnastics, cheerleading and student government.”
  6. ↑ Ian Fairclough. Bounty victim was mutineer’s relative, Halifax Chronicle Herald, 2012-10-29. “The great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate who took command of the original Bounty from William Bligh in the mutiny of 1789, said in an interview while here that she had wanted to get taken on as a crew member on the replica Bounty for a long time.”
  7. ↑ Patrik Jonsson. HMS Bounty goes down in Hurricane Sandy, takes only one soul, Alaska Dispatch, 2012-10-31. “In an almost inexplicable twist on that family legacy, Ms. Christian is so far the only confirmed casualty from the loss of the 1962 replica, which sank Monday off Cape Hatteras, N.C., in the high seas wrought by hurricane Sandy.”
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 HMS Bounty: Captain missing after Hurricane Sandy sinks ship, 42-year-old woman identified as dead crewman, National Post, 2012-10-30. “Christian lived in California and joined the Bounty’s crew in May, according to her Twitter account.”
  9. ↑ Anna Almendrala. Claudene Christian Dead: HMS Bounty Crew Member Found Unresponsive In Atlantic Ocean, Huffington Post, 2012-10-30.
  10. ↑ Aaron Applegate, Dianna Cahn, Jeff Hampton. Bounty crew member dies; search continues for captain, Virginia Pilot, 2012-10-30. “Walbridge and Christian were in the process of getting aboard the life rafts when the ship rolled, throwing them overboard, Kelly said.”
  11. ↑ Doyle Woody. West gymnasts roll to tri-meet victory, Anchorage Daily News, 1984-11-02, p. 10. Retrieved on 2012-11-01.
  12. ↑ Swinging and Swayin, Anchorage Daily News, 1984-08-14, p. 14. Retrieved on 2012-11-01. “Claudene Christian, 13, and members of The Music Machine, a youth theatrical summer camp, do the Charleston during a performance Tuesday afternoon at Sydney Lawrence Auditorium.”
  13. ↑ Not just clownin' around, Anchorage Daily News, 1988-04-17. Retrieved on 2012-11-01. “Special guests include Claudene Christian, Miss Alaska National TeenAger, as emcee, plus Alaska National Junior Star Chelsey Paxton, Alaska National Little ...”
  14. ↑ Moira makes statistical gains, Anchorage Daily News, 1985-03-07, p. 9. Retrieved on 2012-11. “Service Coach Larry Smith shows Freshman Claudene Christian the basic fundamentals of pole-vaulting.”
  15. ↑ Helen Bohac. 'Miss Somebodies' identified, Anchorage Daily News, 1988-04-07, p. 19. Retrieved on 2012-11-01. “The girls in question, Claudene Christian, Miss Alaska National Teenager, and Teresa Murton, Miss Alaska, certainly entertained us and gave Marie Osmond a very warmed up audience to work with.”
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Dennis Romero. Claudene Christian: HMS Bounty Crew Member Was USC Grad, South Bay Local, LA Weekly, 2012-10-30. “Her LinkedIn page says she was a partner at Hermosa Beach's Dragon Bar and ran a concern, Cheerleader Doll Company, that made officially licensed dolls dressed as real university cheer squad members.”
  17. ↑ The USC Song Girl and The Sea, Where is Los Angeles, 2016-03-28. Retrieved on 2020-04-18. “Claudene Christian had a waterfall of blond hair, was voluptuous without being vampish, and walked the University of Southern California campus on perfect legs.”
  18. ↑ Jordan Moore. Hurricane Sandy Hits Trojan Family, USC Trojans, 2012-10-30. “Former USC Song Girl Claudene Christian was a casualty of Hurricane Sandy aboard the HMS Bounty, which sank under the wind and waves off the North Carolina coast.”
  19. ↑ Former USC song girl dies as tall ship Bounty sinks in Sandy, Los Angeles Times, 2012-10-30. “Christian, a USC song girl in the 1990s, was not in a lifeboat and was unresponsive when rescue crews found her at 4:30 a.m. Monday, according to Petty Officer 1st Class Brandyn Hill. She was taken by helicopter to a North Carolina hospital, where she was pronounced dead.”
  20. ↑ Mark Memmott. VIDEO: Coast Guard Rescues 14 Forced By Sandy To Abandon Tall Ship, National Public Radio, 2012-10-30.
  21. ↑ HMS Bounty: Woman killed on tall ship during Sandy loved adventure, Los Angeles Times, 2012-10. “Heather McDonald, a Woodland Hills resident and stand-up comedian, said Christian was immediately accepted as a member of the USC Gamma Phi Beta sorority when she rushed as a junior in 1990. “She was always happy for other people’s success,” she said. “I never remember her ever having conflicts with anyone.””
  22. ↑ LANDMARK 105 FREEWAY OPENS, Daily News of Los Angeles, 1993-10-15. Retrieved on 2012-11-01. “"You used to have to go two or three miles on Century Boulevard through Inglewood," said Claudene Christian, Hollywood Park promotions manager. ...”
  23. ↑ Kenneth Ofgang. Ninth Circuit Vacates $500,000 Sanctions Award Against Attorney in Barbie Doll Copyright Dispute, Metropolitan News Enterprise, 2002-04-16.
  24. ↑ Kenneth Ofgang. Toy Maker’s Libel Suit Against Law Firm No SLAPP, C.A. RulesAttorney in Barbie Doll Copyright Dispute, Metropolitan News Enterprise, 2002-12-17. “Hicks and Luce Forward represented Collegiate Doll Company and its principals, Harry and Claudene Christian, in three intellectual property suits with Mattel. Claudene Christian designed a cheerleader doll while a student at USC in 1990, then formed Collegiate, along with her father, to design and market similar dolls across the country.”
  25. ↑ Former BHP Employee a Casualty of Hurricane Sandy, Thoroughbred Daily News, 2012-10-31, p. 16. Retrieved on 2020-04-18. “An accomplished singer, Christian was also the owner and founder of the Cheerleader Doll Company, which manufactured exacta replica of college cheerleader dolls for more than 100 of the country’s top universities.”
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