Well, this has got to be Mash, so I'll guess Alan Alda?

You got it Arthur! Alan Alda. Alda was born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo. His adopted surname, Alda, is a portmanteau of the first parts of his first and last names.

Landmark, you really threw me with the clue about “the quintessential Honorary Woman: a feminist icon.” I racked my brains for a female entertainer whose last name was a portmanteau. The closest I came was Natalie Portman … (port + man) … but she seemed an unlikely candidate.

I was born in Dawson, Georgia, on September 9, 1941. At an early age, I sang in the Baptist Church choir and learned guitar and piano.

From age 10, I took drum and singing lessons, and sang in the school band. Every Sunday I earned $6 by performing gospel songs for a local radio station.

At age 15, I left school to help financially support my family; dad had contracted tuberculosis and was often hospitalized, leaving mom as the family's primary income earner.

To earn money, I worked as a well digger, as a gasoline station attendant, and occasionally as a musician.

I was passionate about singing, and often cited Little Richard and Sam Cooke as influences.

My breakthrough came in 1958 on "The Teenage Party," where I won the talent contest’s cash prize of $5 for fifteen consecutive weeks.

When I was 18, my 15-year-old girlfriend became pregnant. Nine months later, she gave birth to our first child, and we got married in 1961. We eventually had four children, and while I was touring and performing, my wife worked at a janitorial service, nightclubs, and booking agencies.

In the late 1950s, I was invited to replace Willie Jones as the front man for Pat T. Cake and The Mighty Panthers.

I also toured with Little Richard's backing band, The Upsetters.

Around 1962, I drove a guitarist friend to a recording date since he did not have a driver’s permit. The session was unproductive and ended early; but I was allowed to perform two songs. As a result, I signed a recording contract.

Rick James

Not Rick.

My first single was released in October 1962 and charted in March the following year. It became one of my most successful songs, selling more than 800,000 copies.

I subsequently wrote and recorded several more songs.

My earnings from record sales and songwriting royalties allowed me to buy a 300-acre ranch in Georgia.

In 1966, my show at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles received critical acclaim. Bob Dylan attended the performance and offered me an altered version of one of his songs.

Also in 1966, I reinterpreted a song which had previously been recorded by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Today, my version is often considered to be my signature song. On this version, I was backed by Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

Bill Graham booked me to play at the Fillmore Auditorium in late 1966. The show was commercially and critically successful, which prompted Graham to remark afterward, "That was the best gig I ever put on in my entire life.”

Jimi Hendrix

Not Jimi (we've had him before).

When I appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival, musicians such as Brian Jones and Jimi Hendrix were captivated by my performance.

This should seal it:

On December 10, 1967, me and six others died when our plane crashed during bad weather into a lake near Madison, Wisconsin. James Brown claimed in his autobiography that he had warned me not to fly in the plane.

Still no guesses? I'm surprised. Here's my last clue:

I am considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music, and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues.

Well that airplane clue knocked out my guesses of James Brown, Ray Charles, or Sam Cooke...I'm stuck.

Buddy Holly? For me at the time it really was the day that the music died.

Ok, one more clue: Shortly before my death, I recorded a new song co-written with the M.G.’s guitarist, Steve Cropper. My record label was not in favor of this recording. Neither was my wife, who disliked its atypical melody. Some of my musicians were also dissatisfied with the new sound; fearing it would damage their reputation. However, I wanted to expand my musical style and thought it was my best song, correctly believing it would top the charts.