The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread #2

Discussion in 'General TV & Media' started by sandersidle, Jun 26, 2009.

  1. Dynamo1

    Dynamo1 Head of the Swing Shift

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    'Wizard of Oz' Munchkin Karl Slover dies at 93
    November 16, 2011 10:36 AM EST

    DUBLIN, Ga. (AP) — Karl Slover, one of the last surviving actors who played Munchkins in the 1939 classic film, "The Wizard of Oz," has died. He was 93.

    The 4-foot-5 Slover died of cardiopulmonary arrest Tuesday afternoon in a central Georgia hospital, said Laurens County Deputy Coroner Nathan Stanley. According to friends, as recently as last weekend, Slover appeared at events in the suburban Chicago area.

    Slover was best known for playing the lead trumpeter in the Munchkins' band but also had roles as a townsman and soldier in the film, said John Fricke, author of "100 Years of Oz" and five other books on the movie and its star, Judy Garland. Slover was one of the tiniest male Munchkins in the movie.

    Long after Slover retired, he continued to appear around the country at festivals and events related to the movie. He was one of seven Munchkins at the 2007 unveiling of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame dedicated to the little people in the movie. Only three remain of the 124 diminutive actors who played the beloved Munchkins.

    Full story at access Atlanta.
     
  2. blackflag

    blackflag Chocoholic for Life Moderator

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    Anne McCaffrey, The Dragonlady of Pern, has passed on. :( One of my favorite authors. And my most favorite series of books. :(


    Susan
     
  3. Dynamo1

    Dynamo1 Head of the Swing Shift

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    British film director Ken Russell dies at 84

    by Associated Press

    Ken Russell, the British director whose daring and sometimes outrageous films often tested the patience of audiences and critics, has died at age 84.

    Russell died in a hospital on Sunday following a series of strokes, his son Alex Verney-Elliott said Monday.

    One of Russell’s biggest successes came in 1969 with Women in Love, based on the book by D.H. Lawrence, which earned Academy Award nominations for the director and for writer Larry Kramer, and an Oscar for the star, Glenda Jackson.

    Music played a central role in many of Russell’s films including The Music Lovers in 1970, and Lisztomania and Tommy in 1975.
     
  4. shazza_018

    shazza_018 A Daily Anthem Moderator

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    Wales football manager died yesterday. RIP Gary Speed. :(

    'Figures from across the world of football have paid tribute to Wales national team manager Gary Speed after he was found dead at his Chester home.

    Cheshire Police found him dead at 0708 GMT at his home in Huntington. Sources said the 42-year-old was found hanged.
    '

    more here @ BBC website.
     
  5. Dynamo1

    Dynamo1 Head of the Swing Shift

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    'Laugh-In' comic actor Alan Sues dies at 85
    Dec 5, 2:00 AM (ET)
    By ANDREW DALTON

    LOS ANGELES (AP) - Alan Sues, who brought his flamboyant and over-the-top comic persona to the hit television show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" in the 1960s and 1970s, has died, a close friend said Sunday night.

    Sues died of cardiac arrest on Thursday at his home in West Hollywood, Michael Gregg Michaud, a friend since 1975, told The Associated Press.

    "He was sitting in a recliner watching TV with his dachshund Doris who he loved in his lap," Michaud said.

    Sues had various health problems in the last several years, but the death came as a shock to friends, Michaud said. He was 85.

    A native Californian who moved to New York in 1952, Sues began his career as a serious actor and in 1953 appeared in director Elia Kazan's "Tea and Sympathy" on Broadway.

    But he would be remembered for his wild comic characters.

    They included "Big Al," an effeminate sportscaster, and "Uncle Al the Kiddies Pal," a hung-over children's show host, on "Laugh-In," the TV phenomenon that both reflected and mocked the era's counterculture and made stars of Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin and many others.

    Sues also donned tights as the commercial spokesman for Peter Pan peanut butter, and appeared in the popular 1964 "Twilight Zone" episode "The Masks."

    Fellow cast members and crew from "Laugh-In" remembered him as even more entertaining behind the scenes.

    "Alan Sues was one of those guys even funnier in person than on camera," Ruth Buzzi, a co-star who appeared in many skits with Sues, said on her Twitter account. "Across a dinner table, over the phone ... hysterical. We'll miss him."

    Executive producer George Schlatter, who would eventually bring Sues to "Laugh-In" after seeing him alongside future co-star Jo Anne Worley in the Off-Broadway comedy "The Mad Show," said Sues was "a free spirit," an "outrageous human being" and "a love child."

    "He was a delight; he was an upper," Schlatter told the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the death. "He walked on the stage and everybody just felt happy."

    Sues would always be best known for "Laugh-In," which he left in 1972 before its final season.

    But Michaud said the Peter Pan spots brought Sues nearly as much recognition in later years.

    And he said the "Twilight Zone" episode brought him appearances at sci-fi and autograph conventions for decades.

    "Fans of 'The Twilight Zone' are cuckoo," Michaud said.

    Michaud said that while Sues was always cast as the stereotypically gay character, he believed he needed to hide his own gay identity during his years on television.

    "He felt like he couldn't publicly come out," Michaud said. "He felt like people wouldn't accept him."

    Sues was grateful for "Laugh-In," but wasn't happy he was typecast in his comic persona as he sought to return to more serious acting.

    He got one chance that he cherished in 1975, the serious role of Moriarty with the Royal Shakespeare Company in "Sherlock Holmes" on Broadway.

    He stayed with the show until it closed the following year, then went out to perform it with the touring company.

    In later years he would make many more theater appearances, do voiceover work for television, and appear in guest spots on TV series like "Punky Brewster" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."

    Sues is survived by a sister-in-law, two nieces and a nephew.

    There were no immediate plans for a memorial.


    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

    Indian film star Dev Anand dies in London at 88
    Dec 4, 4:02 AM (ET)
    By KATY DAIGLE

    NEW DELHI (AP) - Bollywood star Dev Anand, a charismatic and flamboyant Indian film fixture for more than a half-century, has died of a heart attack in London, his family said Sunday. He was 88.

    Famed for his roles in dozens of movies, including "Jewel Thief" and "Guide," the veteran actor, director and producer was working up to the last minute, with a new script in the works.

    Anand lived and died on "his own terms," his nephew and renowned film director Shekhar Kapur said in a posting on Twitter. "He was working one minute. Sat down and smiled. And was gone the next. So much to learn."

    Anand died of a heart attack Saturday night in a hotel in London, where he had gone recently for a medical checkup, the family said.

    Full story at Iwon / AP News.
     
  6. blackflag

    blackflag Chocoholic for Life Moderator

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    MASH star Harry Morgan Dies at age 96


    Susan
     
  7. PerfectAnomaly

    PerfectAnomaly Resident Smart Ass

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    Harry Morgan: 1915-2011

    1 hour ago | IMDb News
    [​IMG] Harry Morgan, the actor best known for his role as the well-respected, sometimes irascible Colonel Sherman T. Potter in the long-running series "M*A*S*H", died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96.

    He was born Harry Bratsberg on April 10, 1915 in Detroit, Michigan, to Henry and Anna Bratsberg, where his father worked for war hero and car designer Eddie Rickenbacker. The family soon moved to Muskegon, Michigan, where Harry, hoping to be a lawyer, became heavily involved debate and speech classes; his junior year in high school he won a debate championship at the University of Michigan. He attended the University of Chicago for a few years, before leaving school and finding employment with an office equipment maker who eventually sent him to Washington D.C. It was during his time in Washington D.C. that Harry got his start on the stage, joining the Civic Theater in Ben Hecht’s "Front Page".

    Eventually, he moved on to a Mt. Kisco summer stock theater company, where he met and acted regularly with actress Frances Farmer. Ms. Farmer had quite an impact of his life; she promoted his career by involving him to acting classes with Elia Kazan, and also introduced him to her University of Washington classmate Eileen Detchon. He married Detchon in 1940 and they would have four children, sons Christopher, Charles, Paul and Daniel. Harry's stage career continued to grow, as he joined New York's Group Theater, whose members included Kazan, Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb. When Hollywood agent Charlie Feldman saw him perform on Broadway, he signed the young actor and had him quickly under studio contract with Twentieth Century Fox, where he changed his name to Henry Morgan.

    Harry and Eileen made the move to Hollywood in the early 1942 and his first billed appearance (as Henry Morgan) came that year in To the Shores of Tripoli. To avoid confusion with a popular comedian of the time, another name change soon followed, and he became Harry Morgan. Morgan’s film career prospered, and in the next 5 decades he appeared in many now-legendary dramatic films, including The Ox-Bow Incident, All My Sons, Madame Bovary, High Noon, The Glenn Miller Story, Inherit the Wind, Cimarron, How the West Was Won, Frankie and Johnny, The Apple Dumpling Gang and The Shootist.

    While building this impressive film resume, Morgan was simultaneously working regularly in radio and television, with brief roles in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Cavalcade of America" and "The Twentieth Century Fox Hour" before landing the role of comedic neighbor Pete Porter in "December Bride", which eventually lead to the spin-off series "Pete and Gladys". In 1963, his TV career took a turn toward more serious projects, as part of the ensemble in "The Richard Boone Show" and an iconic role as Officer Bill Gannon in 1967’s "Dragnet". The series, and his performance in it, was not only a precursor to modern police and detective series, but would also inform the 1987 film Dragnet, a comedic reimagination of the show starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks; Morgan appeared in this film as Captain Bill Gannon.

    Despite decades spent working in film and TV, it would be his work in the TV series "M*A*S*H" that made him instantly recognizable around the world. After a memorable, Emmy-nominated guest turn as loony Major General Steele at the beginning of the third season in 1974, Morgan was invited back to join the cast a year later as Colonel Sherman T. Potter, the late-career Army man sent to run the eccentric medical unit after the loss of their previous commanding officer. Morgan's nuanced performance as dedicated leader and surgeon with an unwavering sense of right and wrong combined with a father-like protectiveness of his staff, allowed Potter to grow organically through the long run of the series. The small touches he brought to the role – Potter's paintings were done by Morgan himself, and the picture of Mildred Potter on Potter’s desk was actually Morgan's wife Eileen – only added to the authentic humanity of his portrayal, and in 1980 Morgan won an Emmy for his performance. After the series came to an end in 1983, Morgan continued the role in the short-lived spin-off "AfterMASH".

    After the death of his wife Eileen in 1985, he kept himself busy making guest appearances in series such as "The Love Boat" and took a regular role in the single season run of "Blacke's Magic". In December of 1986, he married Barbara Bushman, the granddaughter of silent film star Francis X. Bushman. His work as a TV guest star continued through the late 1990s in "The Simpsons," "3rd Rock from the Sun," "Grace Under Fire", and his final movie work included Family Plan and the short film Crosswalk.

    He is survived by Barbara, his sons Christopher, Charles and Paul, and grandchildren Spencer, Rosemary and Jeremy.

    He was preceded in death by his first wife Eileen in 1985 and his son Daniel in 1989.

    - Heather Campbell
     
  8. Dynamo1

    Dynamo1 Head of the Swing Shift

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    Singer/Songwriter Dobie Gray Dies at 69

    Dobie Gray was more than a smooth balladeer who recorded the timeless hit "Drift Away" in 1973.

    He wrote songs for an array of country and pop performers, was a trailblazing entertainer in South Africa and, in death, a philanthropist.

    Gray died in his sleep at his Nashville home Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 69.

    "Drift Away" also was recorded by rap artist Uncle Kracker in 2003 and became a hit again.

    Gray's silky tenor also was heard on other hits including "The In Crowd" in 1965 and "Loving Arms" in 1973. His songs received radio airplay on several formats including Top 40, country, AOR and adult contemporary.

    "He had such a unique style, so identifiable," said Bud Reneau, Gray's close friend and songwriting partner. "If you listened to his record, you knew right away it was him. It was a big factor in his marketability."

    Gray toured extensively in Europe, Australia and Africa, and insisted on performing for integrated audiences in South Africa, according to his web site. After that declaration, he became especially popular in South Africa.

    "I guess what you call my 'signature songs' will never die, thank God," he told The Tennessean newspaper in 1988. At the time, he was the only major black vocalist to call Nashville home.

    He wrote songs recorded by Ray Charles, Johnny Mathis, Etta James, Three Dog Night, Julio Iglesias, John Denver, George Jones and Tammy Wynette.

    Gray sang on several motion picture soundtracks including "Uptown Saturday Night," ''Out of Sight" and "Casey's Shadow." Additionally, he sang advertising jingles for companies such as Clorox, Budweiser, Hardee's, Honda and Buick.

    "I talked to him the day before he died," said Charlie Andrews, Gray's attorney and friend. "We just talked about life and living and general stuff."

    Gray was born into a family of sharecroppers in Simonton, Texas. He moved from Texas to California in the early 1960s where he met Sonny Bono, then an executive with Specialty Records. This led to his first record, "Look at Me," in 1963. While in Los Angeles, Gray appeared in a production of "Hair."

    Funeral arrangements were incomplete. He was not married and had no children.

    Reneau said Gray willed much of his property and future earnings to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

    "He was a giver," Reneau said.
     
  9. Jacquie

    Jacquie Ward Girl Moderator

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    so sad :(

    I would have loved to see more of General Steele :guffaw:but he was good as Colonel Potter.
     
  10. Dynamo1

    Dynamo1 Head of the Swing Shift

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    Dan "Bee" Spears, Willie Nelson's bassist, dead at 62

    Longtime Willie Nelson bassist Dan “Bee” Spears, was found dead outside his home in Nashville Dec. 8, according to Austin, Texas, television station KXAN. The Tennessean reports that the bassist died because of exposure to the elements after slipping and falling outside. He was 62.

    Spears joined Willie Nelson’s band in 1968 when he was 19 years old. The bassist is featured on several of Nelson’s biggest albums including 1973’s Shotgun Willie, 1975’s Red Headed Stranger, 1976’s The Troublemaker and 1978’s Stardust. Spears appeared in a number of films alongside Nelson including 1980’s “Honeysuckle Rose” and 1984’s “Songwriter.” He also recorded with acts including Waylon Jennings, Leon Russell and Guy Clark, according to The Tennessean.

    Nelson posted the following statement on his website Friday:

    “We are deeply saddened by the death of Family member Dan ‘Bee’ Spears, long time friend and bassist for Willie Nelson and Family.

    “We are still in shock and gathering details as the day continues. He apparently died of accidental exposure at his property near Nashville, Tenn.”

    ---------------------------------------------------

    Dick Sims, Clapton keyboardist, dead at 60

    Keyboardist Dick Sims, a founding member of Eric Clapton's 70's backing group "Tulsa County Band" died Dec. 8 after battling cancer, according to Rolling Stone.

    Sims, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jamie Oldaker formed the country/rock group and became known for developing the “Tulsa sound," first backing Eric Clapton on his 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard and then continued playing and recording with the guitarist for nine years.

    Sims also played with a long list of acts including Bob Seger, Etta James, Stephen Stills, Carlos Santana, Perry Farrell, J.J. Cale, Peter Tosh and Vince Gill. He released his only solo album, Within Arm’s Reach, in 2008.

    Clapton dedicated his Dec. 10 show in Tokyo to Sims, according to a post on the Eric Clapton fan site Where’s Eric!

    ---------------------------------------------------

    Bob Burnett, member of the 60s folk group The Highwaymen, dead at 71

    By: Valerie J. Nelson/L.A. Times

    The members of the folk group the Highwaymen were freshmen in the same fraternity at Wesleyan University in Connecticut when they came together to perform at a campus party in 1958. By their senior year, the quintet had a No. 1 single with their haunting version of the African American spiritual "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore," which was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1961.

    Although the group had a significant impact on the folk scene in the early 1960s — turning "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and "All My Trials" into folk standards — the Highwaymen disbanded in 1964 when Bob Burnett and two other members decided to attend graduate school.

    Burnett, the guitar-playing tenor who became a lawyer, died Wednesday at his home in East Providence, R.I. His family said he had a brain tumor. He was 71.

    "The original Highwaymen, along with the Kingston Trio and later, Peter Paul and Mary, were among those responsible for popularizing American music — call it folk, blues, country, whatever," Kris Kristofferson told The Times when Dave Fisher, lead singer of the Highwaymen, died last year.

    ---------------------------------------------------

    Alan Styles, Pink Floyd roadie, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" subject, dead at 75

    From the Pink Floyd fan site: pinkfloydfan.net

    Alan Styles, who for many years was a roadie for Pink Floyd, passed away yesterday (December 8th, 2011). Formerly from Cambridge, Alan had more recently moved to the USA, and his sister Ann said that he died peacefully in hospital there, and that he had been suffering from pneumonia. He was 75. Alan (seen on the left in the accompanying picture) was well-known to Pink Floyd fans, with his biggest exposure being his vocal on the eponymous track found on 1970's Atom Heart Mother - 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast'. This track features the Floyd in the background, whilst Alan talks about the breakfast he is getting ready, reminiscing about other breakfasts he has had: Breakfast in Los Angeles. Macrobiotic stuff... Alan is also included on the cover of Ummagumma, and he assists Nick Mason on the Merry Xmas Song (also known as Here Comes Santa), which was aired on BBC radio.
     
  11. Dynamo1

    Dynamo1 Head of the Swing Shift

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    Booie, the smoking chimpanzee, dies at 44
    Dec 14, 9:06 PM (ET)

    LOS ANGELES (AP) - A chimpanzee that kicked a smoking habit and used sign language to beg for candy has died at a California animal refuge.

    Martine Colette of the Wildlife WayStation says Booie (BOO'-ee) was being treated for a heart condition when he died Saturday at 44. The chimp had been living at the animal sanctuary near Los Angeles since 1995, after he retired from a research lab.

    Colette says she turned Booie into a non-smoker but couldn't fix his sweet tooth. She says he would use his skill to panhandle by signing: "Booie see sweet in pocket."

    Booie's death is a serious blow to the financially troubled refuge because he was one of its best fundraisers. Martine says he had fans around the world because of his TV appearances.
     
  12. Dynamo1

    Dynamo1 Head of the Swing Shift

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    Barbara Orbison
    Behind-the-scenes woman who helped a broken man make a big comeback


    In 1968, Barbara Orbison was just 18, and went from Germany to a concert in England by singer Roy Orbison. It had been four years since he had a hit (but what a hit: "Oh, Pretty Woman"). He was fairly down and out; fans had turned away from his style, his first wife had died in an accident, and shortly after that two of his three children were killed in a house fire. But he still had his voice -- that voice -- that amazing voice. It sounded like "the cry of an angel falling backward through an open window," said Dwight Yoakam; a voice of "passionate intensity" that, Rolling Stone said, made "his love, his life, and, indeed, the whole world [seem] to be coming to an end -- not with a whimper, but an agonized, beautiful bang." He saw something in her, too, and within months had asked her to marry him; he was 32. "In the '70s, he was basically rebuilding a life," Barbara said recently. "He didn't want to do anything except be somebody in love, with a little money and lots of fun. By the '80s, he was ready again." And, as his new manager, she gave him the strength to return to the stage. He became an even bigger sensation -- and a best-selling artist -- and she kept that going after his 1988 death: in 1989, Orbison became the first musician since Elvis Presley to have two albums in the Top Five at the same time, and in 1991 she hosted a benefit to Roy that raised $1 million to help the homeless in Los Angeles. She also funded Orbison House, a home for the mentally impaired homeless in the city. Barbara Ann Marie Wellhoener Jakobs Orbison died in Los Angeles December 6 (23 years to the day after Roy died, at 52) from pancreatic cancer. She was 61.
     
  13. Dynamo1

    Dynamo1 Head of the Swing Shift

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    Dan Frazer, Kojak's Capt. McNeil, Dies at 90
    Dec 19, 2011 09:49 AM ET
    by Robyn Ross

    Actor Dan Frazer, who was best known for his role as Capt. Frank McNeil on the '70s crime drama Kojak, has died, according to The Associated Press. He was 90.

    Frazer died on Friday of cardiac arrest in his Manhattan home, according to his daughter, Susanna Frazer, who described her father as a "very truthful, naturalistic actor".

    Born in New York City, Frazer began his acting career in 1950 and earned his first on-screen role in the 1963 film Lillies of the Field. He later appeared in the films Take the Money and Run, Cleopatra Jones, and Gideon's Trumpet.

    In addition to his most famous role as the boss of Telly Savalas' Kojak, Frazer also appeared on such television shows as Car 54, Where Are You?, Barney Miller and Law & Order.
     
  14. jafox

    jafox CSI Level Two

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  15. GregNickRyanFan

    GregNickRyanFan Holographic Moderator Moderator

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    That's sad, especially with her being so young. Condolences, thoughts and prayers to her family, friends and fans.
     

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