Ralph Helfer is a notable American animal behaviorist, creator of Marine World/Africa USA, and writer of books about animals. He was born in Chicago and had one sister, Sally. In 1942, his mother left her husband Sam and moved with her children to Hollywood, where they settled in the Green Apartments, one block off Hollywood Boulevard. In 1955 he purchased a 1,500-acre Vasquez Rocks property to train animals, which he called Nature's Haven. He married Toni Ringo in 1963. They had a daughter, Tana Helfer. In 1963 the property was cut in half by the Antelope Valley Freeway. They relocated to Soledad Canyon. They bought 600 acres of land to build their new ranch and decided to name it Africa U.S.A. Africa U.S.A. was a training compound and a provider of animals for Hollywood. The compound was also used as location for shows such as Daktari and even an episode of Star Trek "Shore Leave". During these years, Helfer created what he called "affection training," which purported to replace the whip, gun, and chair of the old-school handlers with love, understanding, and respect. [More at Wikipedia]

April 9th, 1931 in Chicago (Age 93)