The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread #2

WOW> he was so good in the old TV show "GUNSMOKE", 88, that's a long time to live, & what a peaceful way to go. May he RIP. His brother was the actor Peter Graves, who also died a while back. Now their together:angel:

 

Andrew Gold, 70s singer-songwriter, dead at 59

Singer / songwriter Andrew Gold died June 3 of an apparent heart attack, according to several online media sources. He was 59.

Gold was best known for his 1977 hit "Lonely Boy," which spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Top 40 Chart and peaked at #7 that summer. Gold's other Top 40 hit, 1978’s "Thank You For Being A Friend," later became the theme for the hit TV series "The Golden Girls" that ran from 1985-1992. Gold continued in TV writing, also penning the theme song for "Mad About You," known as "Final Frontier."

Andrew Gold was born in Burbank. His mother Marni Nixon was the singing voice for many Hollywood actresses. She was the real singer for Natalie Wood in "West Side Story," Deborah Kerr in "The King And I" and Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady." His father Ernest Gold was an Academy Award winning composer. He wrote the music for "Exodus."

Gold’s first band Bryndle featured Kenny Edwards, Wendy Waldman and Karla Bonoff. He worked closely with Linda Ronstadt as multi-instrumentalist on five of her albums from 1974’s "Heart Like A Wheel" and onwards. Ronstadt also sang backing vocals on Gold's "Lonely Boy."

His big hit "Lonely Boy" was featured in the movies "Boogie Nights" and "The Waterboy."

Andrew Gold worked with Art Garfunkel on the "Breakaway" album. He played every instrument on Art’s solo hit "I Only Have Eyes For You." He also played guitar and drums on Eric Carmen’s "She Did It."

Andrew has sung on records or played live with three of the four Beatles, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr and has toured with the Eagles and Jackson Browne.

A big 10CC fan, after the band broke up in the 80’s Gold formed Wax with Graham Goldman. They were together for 5 years and delivered the hits "Right Between Your Eyes" and "Bridge To Your Heart.

 

Author of 'The Cat Who' series dies at 97 in SC
Jun 7, 1:12 PM (ET)


LANDRUM, S.C. (AP) - The author who wrote 29 books in the "The Cat Who ..." mystery series almost quit writing after the third book was published because popular tastes had changed so much.

Lilian Jackson Braun, who died last week in South Carolina, took an 18-year hiatus between "The Cat Who Turned On and Off" and "The Cat Who Saw Red," published in 1986. She resumed because her husband encouraged her to return to writing after she retired from The Detroit Free Press in 1984.

"By the time I had written the fourth one, tastes in mysteries had changed," Braun said in an obituary provided by her publisher, Penguin Group (USA). "They wanted sex and violence, not kitty-cat stories. Gore was not my style, so I just forgot about 'The Cat Who.'"

Braun, 97, died Saturday of natural causes at the Hospice House of the Carolina Foothills in Landrum. She had lived in Tryon, N.C., for the past 23 years with her husband, Earl Bettinger. She wrote 31 books, including two short story collections, and worked 30 years at The Detroit Free Press.

"The Cat Who ..." books began with "The Cat Who Could Read Backwards," published in 1966. They ended when Braun retired from writing in 2007 after the publication of "The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers." Her books about Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, were regulars on the New York Times bestseller lists and were translated into 16 languages.

Her books redefined the mystery genre, said Natalee Rosenstein, Braun's longtime editor and vice president, senior executive editor of Berkley Books, a Penguin Group imprint.

Rosenstein said in a statement that she loved the books when she first read them, but "it did take me awhile to figure out what genre it belonged to.

"She ultimately created a whole new chapter in the American mystery, and our wonderful working relationship spanned more than two decades. But most of all, it is Lilian the person I will remember - a strong, dedicated feisty woman who would always speak her mind and not be intimidated by anyone."

Braun wrote her books in longhand, then typed them herself, according to her publisher.

Braun was born June 20, 1913, in Chicopee Falls, Mass. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Louis Paul Braun; sister, Florence Jackson; and brother, Lloyd Jackson.

No memorial service will be held.

 

Former Allman Brothers Band drummer Frankie Toler dies
By WADE TATANGELO
McClatchy Newspapers

BRADENTON, Fla. - David "Frankie" Toler - former Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman Band and Marshall Tucker Band drummer - died Saturday at Tidewell hospice care in Bradenton after a prolonged illness following a liver transplant.

Toler, a key player in the Southern rock scene, was 59.

Marshall Tucker Band lead singer Doug Gray worked with his friend from 1992 to '94.

"Frankie's personality was so big - it stuck out farther than his mighty drumsticks," Gray said when reached by phone Monday. "I didn't know anybody who couldn't talk to him." Gray paused and added, "There are a lot of people who love Frankie. I'm just one."

Toler is survived by his wife, Marsha; their daughter, Aja Kayle; and his older brother, guitarist Dan Toler, who played with Frankie in the Allman Brothers Band, the Gregg Allman Band and several other projects.

"Frankie was absolutely the best drummer I have ever played with in my entire life," Dan Toler said in a statement. "He was a part of my life for the past 60 years and to lose him now is just devastating.

"But I did have the opportunity to grow up with one of the best rock 'n' roll drummers in the world and it was truly a gift from God. I was blessed to have known him."

Toler's health had been in decline for several years and had prevented him from recording and going on tour. But after receiving a liver transplant two years ago, he had been able to play at some band rehearsals.

His health worsened in recent weeks, though, and he arrived at the hospice on Wednesday. Marsha Toler remained by her husband's side the entire time. Dan Toler and Chaz Trippy - percussionist for the Gregg Allman Band, who played next to and roomed with Frankie from 1982 to '89 - were also present when he passed.

"When we got there Wednesday, Danny rubbed Frankie's nose like they used to as kids," Trippy recalled. "Each day, Frankie got worse.

"Saturday, Danny arrived and Frankie opened his eyes - they were big, bright blue - and then they closed and he wasn't breathing. It was like he waited until Danny got there to see him one last time."

Trippy described Toler as "the sweetest guy you'd ever want to meet."

"He was my best friend," Trippy said. "We had some fun together and he set the world on fire when he played."

Toler came to national attention as the drummer on Dickey Betts & Great Southern's 1978 album "Atlanta's Burning Down" and toured extensively with the group. He was then asked to be the drummer for the Allman Brothers Band and appeared on their 1981 album "Brothers of the Road," which featured the Top 40 hit single "Straight from the Heart."

Toler appeared on two solo albums by Gregg Allman - including the 1986 gold record "I'm No Angel" - and toured as the drummer with the Gregg Allman Band.

"Frankie was a big part of that era of the Brothers," Gregg Allman told Relix.com after learning of Mr. Toler's passing. "We had amazing times and we stayed great friends. I'm gonna miss him."

Toler told friends and family he did not want a funeral. Instead, he requested a celebration.

"We're going to have a big, blast-off jam for him," Trippy said. "I'm not sure when it's going to be yet, but it will be a huge one and a good one. It will be hard to keep people from coming down to play for Frankie."

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/07/2254935/former-allman-brothers-band-drummer.html#ixzz1OjC03PJb

 

Leonard Stern, TV writer/producer, dead at 88
Wrote episodes of Get Smart, Honeymooners, Phil Silvers Show; co-creator of "Mad Libs"

Leonard Stern, veteran TV writer and producer on such classic TV series as Get Smart, The Honeymooners, the Phil Silvers Show, The Steve Allen Show and Steve Allen's Tonight Show, and co-creator of the word game Mad Libs, died of a heart ailment June 7 at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 88.

Stern also was a writer for the 1952 Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee version of The Jazz Singer and several Abbott and Costello films, among others. In the 1970s, he produced and directed the TV series McMillan and Wife, which starred Rock Hudson.

As a partner in Price Stern Sloan (PSS), with Roger Price and Larry Sloan, he expanded the company to publish children's books, novelty formats, and humor. Proprietary brands, in addition to Mad Libs include Wee Sing, Mr. Men & Little Miss, Serendipity, Crazy Games, and Doodle Art. The company was purchased by The Putnam Berkley Group in 1993.

 

Alan Rubin, SNL Band/Blues Brothers trumpeter, dead at 68
Known as "Mr. Fabulous," Rubin recorded and performed with array of artists from SInatra to The Stones

Trumpeter Alan Rubin, who gained fame as a member of the Saturday Night Live house band during the 1970s and went on to become a member of "The Blues Brothers" band, has died after a battle with lung cancer. He was 68.

Rubin died Wednesday, June 8, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He attended the Juilliard School of Music, dropping out at age 20 to tour with Robert Goulet. In the 1970s, he became of member of the Paul Shaffer-led Saturday Night Live Band, with whom he played at the Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games. As a member of The Blues Brothers, he portrayed "Mr. Fabulous," a horn player turned maitre d', in the 1980 film, the 1998 sequel and was a member of the touring band.

Rubin performed live and recorded as a session player with an array of artists, such as Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, Duke Ellington, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Eumir Deodato, Sting, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Frankie Valli, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Miles Davis, Yoko Ono, Peggy Lee, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles and Dr. John.

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Steve Popovich, legendary record industry executive, dead at 68
Cleveland Intl. Records founder signed & developed artists such as MeatLoaf, Boston, Cheap Trick, and Wild Cherry

By: Christopher Morris/Variety.com

Veteran record industry executive Steve Popovich, whose label Cleveland International fought and won long-running battles with CBS Records over profits from his top act Meat Loaf, died June 8 in Murfreesboro, TN. He was 68.

After getting his start as a regional promo man in Cleveland in the early '60s, Popovich rapidly ascended through the promotion ranks at Columbia Records, whose top acts of the '60s and early '70s he helped break on radio. He rose to become vp of promotion at Columbia, then took the same post at sister label Epic.

In 1974, Popovich segued to talent scouting as vp of A&R at Epic. Acts he signed and developed included Boston, Cheap Trick, Wild Cherry, and the Jacksons, whom Popovich snapped up after they exited Motown.

Popovich left Epic to inaugurate Cleveland International Records in 1977. One of his first acts was Meat Loaf, a hefty former member of the "Rocky Horror Show" cast. The singer's '77 opus "Bat Out of Hell" became a smash, ultimately selling an estimated 43 million copies worldwide.

Meat Loaf's success led to a protracted David-and-Goliath wrangle between distributor CBS and Popovich, who sued the company in 1995 for unpaid royalties and won a $7 million out-of-court judgment. After CBS failed to put Cleveland International's logo on reissues of the album, Popovich sued again, winning another $5 million.

After serving as senior vp at PolyGram Nashville from 1986-95, Popovich re-started Cleveland International as an independently-distributed label. His bread and butter was polka music, and the label's acts Brave Combo and Frankie Yankovic picked up Grammy Awards for their CI albums.

 

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Spider-Man' Producer Laura Ziskin Dies at 61
Published: June 12, 2011 @ 9:06 pm
By Brent Lang

"Spider-Man" producer Laura Ziskin died Sunday evening. She was 61 and had been battling breast cancer for seven years.

Ziskin died at home, and continued to undertake major productions in Hollywood all through her illness.

She was best known for her work on the "Spider-Man" franchise, which brought in over $1.5 billion worldwide, making her one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood.

Ziskin also produced the Academy Awards telecast two times, becoming the first woman to produce the awards show solo in 2002 and earning multiple Emmy awards in the process.

She also produced such critically acclaimed films as "Fight Club" and "To Die For."

Though she struggled with cancer since receiving a Stage 3 diagnosis in 2004, Ziskin remained indefatigable, overseeing one of Sony's highest-grossing franchises and the broadcast of the industry's top awards shows.

She also became active in the movement to combat the disease, drawing on her contacts in the entertainment industry to help found Stand Up To Cancer in 2008.

In an interview with Katie Couric, Ziskin explained her activism: "I felt there was a kind of lack of will, an acceptance that, 'Oh, cancer is this impossible, unsolvable problem.' And I thought, 'Well, okay, so what? It’s a problem. It’s a big, big problem. And I believe with focus, we can really solve it.'"

On behalf of Stand Up To Cancer, Ziskin executive produced a televised event, simulcast on all three major networks on September 5, 2008 to raise awareness and funds to support cancer research. The one-hour special featured over 100 celebrities including Josh Brolin, Morgan Freeman, Sidney Poitier, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, and Charlize Theron. A similar special again aired in September 2010.

Ziskin rose from the trenches of the entertainment industry to become one of a handful of women who were an integral part of the power elite. She counted among her close friends moguls Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Sherry Lansing, the former CEO of Paramount Pictures.

After graduating from the University of Southern California's School for Cinematic Arts, Ziskin worked as a game show writer and personal assistant to producer Jon Peters. From there, she moved on to become a development executive, eventually forming Fogwood Films with partner Sally Field.

At Fogwood, Ziskin produced the Oscar nominated "Murphy's Romance" as a vehicle for Field and the Cold War thriller "No Way Out," which provided a crucial early role to a young Kevin Costner.

Ziskin would go on to work as a producer at Touchstone Pictures and as president of Fox 2000, where she oversaw hits such as "Pretty Woman" and "Courage Under Fire," as well as occasional misses such as the William Hurt medical drama "The Doctor."


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Carl Gardner, Coasters Lead Singer, Dies at 83

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. June 14, 2011 (AP)

Carl Gardner, original lead singer of the R&B group the Coasters, has died in Florida. He was 83.

Gardner's wife Veta said her husband died Sunday at a Port St. Lucie hospice following a long bout with congestive heart failure and vascular dementia.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, the Coasters had a string of hits in the late 1950s, including "Searchin'," ''Poison Ivy" and "Young Blood." Their single "Yakety Yak" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 following its 1958 release. It also spent seven weeks as the No. 1 rhythm and blues song.

"He loved his singing," Veta Gardner said of her husband of 24 years. "That was his whole life."

The Coasters have continued to perform over the decades, with multiple changes to the lineup. Gardner has always held the rights to the group's name, and his son, Carl Gardner Jr., took over as lead singer when his father retired in 2005.

According to the group's website, the elder Gardner was born in Tyler, Texas, and moved to Los Angeles in the early 1950s. He became a founding member of The Coasters in 1955.

The Coasters had 14 songs on the R&B charts, and eight of them crossed over to the pop Top 40, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their hits were written by the famed team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

"The Coasters' parlayed their R&B roots into rock 'n' roll hits by delivering Leiber and Stoller's serio-comic tunes in an uptempo doo-wop style. Beneath the humor the songs often made incisive points about American culture for those willing to dig a little deeper," the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame entry on the group says.

In the 1960s, their hits were covered by The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and other British Invasion bands.

Gardner had been a longtime advocate for legislation that would prevent bogus groups from using the names of famous acts like The Coasters, The Drifters, The Shirelles, The Platters and many others. Florida lawmakers passed such legislation in 2007.

"He was such a humble person," his wife said. "If you met Carl, you would never know he was famous."

A viewing and funeral services are scheduled for next week in Port St. Lucie.

 

Clarence Clemons, E Street Band Saxophonist, Dies at 69
By BEN SISARIO
Published: June 18, 2011

Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, whose jovial onstage manner, soul-rooted style and brotherly relationship with Mr. Springsteen made him one of rock’s most beloved sidemen, died Saturday at a hospital in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 69.

The cause was complications from a stroke, which he suffered last Sunday, said a spokeswoman for Mr. Springsteen.

From the beginnings of the E Street Band in 1972, Mr. Clemons played a central part in Mr. Springsteen’s music, complementing the group’s electric guitar and driving rhythms in songs like “Born to Run” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” with muscular, melodic saxophone hooks that echoed doo-wop, soul and early rock ’n’ roll.

But equally important to the group’s image was the sense of affection and unbreakable camaraderie between Mr. Springsteen and his sax man. Few E Street Band shows were complete without a shaggy-dog story about the stormy night the two men met at a bar in Asbury Park, N.J., or a long bear hug between them at the end of the night.

Mr. Clemons also became something of a celebrity in his own right, acting in Martin Scorsese’s “New York, New York” and other films, and on television shows like “Diff’rent Strokes,” and jamming with President Bill Clinton at the 1993 inaugural ball.

A former college football player, Mr. Clemons towered over Mr. Springsteen at 6 feet 4 inches and about 250 pounds — his self-evident nickname was the Big Man — and for most of its history he stood out as the sole black man in a white, working-class New Jersey rock band. (The keyboardist David Sancious, who is also black, played with the group until 1974.) Onstage he had almost as much magnetism as Mr. Springsteen, and even if much of his time was spent hitting a cowbell or singing backup, he could still rile a stadium crowd with a few cheerful notes on his horn.

For many fans, the bond between Mr. Springsteen and Mr. Clemons was symbolized by the photograph wrapped around the front and back covers of the 1975 album “Born to Run.” In that picture, a spent yet elated Mr. Springsteen leans on a shoulder to his right for support; the flip side revealed that it belonged to Mr. Clemons.

“When you look at just the cover of ‘Born to Run,’ you see a charming photo, a good album cover, but when you open it up and see Clarence and me together, the album begins to work its magic,” Mr. Springsteen wrote in a foreword to “Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales,” Mr. Clemons’s semifictional memoir from 2009, written with Don Reo. “Who are these guys? Where did they come from? What is the joke they are sharing?”

Clarence Anicholas Clemons was born on Jan. 11, 1942, in Norfolk, Va. His father owned a fish market and his grandfather was a Southern Baptist preacher, and although he grew up surrounded by gospel music, the young Mr. Clemons was captivated by rock ’n’ roll. He was given an alto saxophone at age 9 as a Christmas gift; later, following the influence of King Curtis — whose many credits include the jaunty sax part on the Coasters’ 1958 hit “Yakety Yak” — he switched to the tenor.

“I grew up with a very religious background,” he once said in an interview. “I got into the soul music, but I wanted to rock. I was a rocker. I was a born rock ’n’ roll sax player.”

Mr. Clemons was also a gifted athlete, and he attended Maryland State College (now the University of Maryland Eastern Shore) on a scholarship for football and music. He tried out for the Dallas Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns, but a knee injury ended his hopes for a football career.

He was working as a youth counselor in Newark when he began to mix with the Jersey Shore music scene of the late 1960s and early ’70s. He was older than Mr. Springsteen and most of his future band mates, and he has often commented on the oddity — even the liability — of being a racially integrated group in those days.

“You had your black bands and you had your white bands,” he wrote in his memoir, “and if you mixed the two you found less places to play.”

But the match was strong from the start, and his saxophone soon became a focal point of the group’s sound. In an interview with The New York Times in 2005, Jon Landau, Mr. Springsteen’s manager, said that during the recording sessions for “Born to Run” Mr. Springsteen and Mr. Clemons spent 16 hours finessing the jazzy saxophone solo on that album’s closing song, “Jungleland.”

Mr. Clemons’s charisma and eccentricity extended offstage. Wherever the band played, he made his dressing room into a shrine he called the Temple of Soul. He claimed to have played pool with Fidel Castro and won. And by many accounts, including his own, he was a champion partier on the road. He was married five times and divorced four. His fifth wife, Victoria, survives him, as do four sons: Clarence Jr., Charles, Christopher and Jarod.

Mr. Springsteen put the E Street Band on hiatus on 1989, and apart from reuniting for a recording session in 1995, the group did not play again until 1999. But by the mid-1980s, when Mr. Springsteen reached his commercial peak, Mr. Clemons had already found fame on his own. In 1985 he had a Top 20 hit with “You’re a Friend of Mine,” on which he sang with Jackson Browne, and played saxophone on records by Aretha Franklin and Twisted Sister. Recently he was featured on Lady Gaga’s album “Born This Way.”

Mr. Clemons’s first encounter with Mr. Springsteen has become E Street Band lore. In most tellings, a lightning storm was rolling through Asbury Park one night in 1971 while Mr. Springsteen was playing a gig there. As Mr. Clemons entered the bar, the wind blew the door off its hinges, and Mr. Springsteen was startled by the towering shadow at the door. Then Mr. Clemons invited himself onstage to play along, and they clicked.

“I swear I will never forget that moment,” Mr. Clemons later recalled in an interview. “I felt like I was supposed to be there. It was a magical moment. He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we fell in love. And that’s still there.”

 

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R.I.P. Ryan Dunn and i loved hearing : i'm cleaning up this world.... one douchebag at a time

Never Forget xx

I'll always enjoy this ep:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKPAWDJyUes&feature=related

 

Alan Haberman, who led effort to bring bar codes to store products in the 1970s, dead at 81

By: Valerie J. Nelson, LA Times

Supermarket executive Alan L. Haberman called the now-ubiquitous bar-code design he helped will into existence the "little footprint" that changed the retail world.

He was motivated not by slim profit margins, he later said, but by the dismal state of the pre-automated checkout stand in the early 1970s.

Haberman chaired the industry committee that settled on the bar-code symbol in 1973. The group spent more than two years deciding on the format for the bar code, invented in 1949 by two engineers, Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, who favored a bull's-eye design.

The bull's-eye ended up losing to one by IBM — the now-familiar vertical black lines anchored by a series of numbers. The widely used version of the bar code is known as the universal product code.

A year later, a jumbo pack of Wrigley's gum made history in an Ohio supermarket as the first product to be rung up using an optical scanner.

Haberman, who has been hailed as a visionary by the retail industry, died June 12 at a Newton, Mass., hospital of complications from heart and lung disease, said his son, Arthur. He was 81.


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Don Diamond, F Troop's "Crazy Cat," dead at 90

Actor Don Diamond died June 19, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. He was 90. Diamond was born on June 4th, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York. His father was Russian-born, a veteran of the United States Army in World War One, and his mother was born in New Jersey. From the years of 1938 to 1942 he studied drama at the University of Michigan, where he took on many jobs in order to pay for his studies. He finally graduated with a Bachelor's Degree. After joining the Air Corps, he learned Spanish while serving in the southwest, and also learned about the Mexican culture. After honorably leaving the army in 1946 as a first lieutenant, he broke into the radio game and became known for his portrayal of Mexicans. This led to his role in "The Adventures of Kit Carson" as Carson's sidekick, El Toro. He later became well known as Corporal Reyes on the television show Zorro. He went on to appear in over 100 television shows, as well as many full length feature films, most notably as Crazy Cat on F Troop. Don is married to a Spanish Teacher, Louisa, who is from Mexico. He leaves his wife Luisa and three daughters.

 

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