The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread #2

'Brady Bunch' Star Ann B. Davis Dead at 88

Ann B. Davis, best known as the ever-chipper live-in housekeeper Alice Nelson on the highly rated ABC series The Brady Bunch, has died in San Antonio, CNN reported. She was 88.

Davis, who earlier won two Emmy Awards for her role as the peppery secretary Schultzy on The Bob Cummings Show, died Sunday after a fall in her bathroom, CNN reported, adding that she hit her head and never regained consciousness.

The Brady Bunch, created by Sherwood Schwartz, originally aired from September 1969 to March 1974 on ABC, then spent a year in syndication, followed by several reunion films and spinoff series.

It's the story of Mike Brady (Robert Reed), a widowed architect with three sons -- Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight), and Bobby (Mike Lookinland) -- who marries Carol Ann Martin (Florence Henderson), who has three daughters: Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb) and Cindy (Susan Olsen).

Davis played the housekeeper Alice on the sitcom and occupied the center square of the checkerboard in the show's opening.

Davis, who was an avid knitter, told People magazine in a 1992 interview that the cast "got along beautifully. … "I had the boys hooking rugs and the girls doing needlepoint." She said in the story that in real life, "I basically don't do that well with children."
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Don Zimmer, who spent 66 years in professional baseball, dies at 83 (Click link for whole story!)

Baseball lost one of its lifers on Wednesday. Don Zimmer, who had been part of the game since 1949 as a player, coach, manager and advisor, passed away at age 83. Zimmer, most recently a senior advisor to the Rays, had undergone surgery to repair a leaky heart valve on April 16 and had been on a ventilator since. With the blessing of Major League Baseball, Rays third base coach Tom Foley had recently taken to wearing Zimmer’s number 66 jersey — representing the years of his tenure in baseball — in tribute.

Zimmer’s influence went far beyond Tampa Bay. Simply put, he touched just about every corner of baseball. He played for five different franchises during his 12-year major league career (1954-65), managed four others — famously overseeing the Red Sox’ collapse in 1978 and winning a division title with the Cubs in 1989 — and coaching five more. Most notably in that latter role, he served as the bench coach for Joe Torre during the Yankees’ run of four world championships and six pennants from 1996-2003. He even spent 36 games as New York’s interim manager in 1999 while Torre underwent treatment for prostate cancer.

The latter-day image of the bald, jowly Zimmer — aptly nicknamed “Popeye” for his resemblance to the cartoon character — belies the fact that he once appeared to be a star in the making. Born in Cincinnati in 1931, he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949 for a bonus of $2,500. In his 2004 autobiography, The Zen of Zim, he joked that “[M]y hometown team, the Cincinnati Reds, made a real bidding war out of it — with a counteroffer of $2,000. I’m proud to say I lived up to every penny.”

Zimmer may not have starred in the majors, but he had absorbed more than his share of baseball wisdom, which he spent the better part of the next half-century passing along to future generations. After spending a year in Japan with the Toei Flyers, he returned to the Reds organization as a minor league player-manager; he even pitched 12 games in relief at Double A! Among the players he oversaw were future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench and Hal McRae. After one more year managing in Cincinnati’s system, Zimmer spent single seasons skippering at various levels in the Cubs’ and Padres’ organizations before returning to the majors in 1971 as the third base coach for the Montreal Expos. He was set to do the same for San Diego in 1972, but 11 games into the year the club fired manager Preston Gomez, and Zimmer took the reins.

Fired at the end of the ’73 season, Zimmer caught on with the Red Sox as their third base coach under manager Darrell Johnson. Boston won the American League pennant in 1975, and in Game 6 of the World Series against the Reds he infamously sent Denny Doyle on an ill-fated run for home on a bases-loaded shallow fly ball in the ninth inning. Zimmer shouted, “No, no, no” but in the roar of the Fenway Park crowd, Doyle heard “Go, go, go” and took off, getting thrown out and sending the game into extra innings. The Red Sox eventually won on Carlton Fisk’s famous home run in the 12th inning but lost the series in Game 7.

Johnson was fired midway through the 1976 season, and Zimmer took over, piloting Boston to a 42-34 finish and third place in the seven-team AL East. That audition sufficed, and the next year, he oversaw a 97-win team in which future Hall of Famers Fisk, Jim Rice and Carl Yastrzemski were in full flower. Alas, the Red Sox could do no better than third that season. The next year, the Sox won 99 games, but it wasn’t enough; a 3-14 slide in late August and early September allowed the Yankees, once 14 games behind in July, to get back into the race. New York completed its amazing comeback by wining the Game 163 play-in via Bucky Dent’s home run. Zimmer’s overreliance on Fisk (who played 157 games) and injured third baseman Butch Hobson, who had to rearrange the bone chips in his elbows between errors (of which he made a jaw-dropping 43) helped gain Zimmer infamy, as did pitcher Bill Lee nicknaming him “The Gerbil” and openly battling him.

Few managers could survive such a collapse, but Zimmer did, at least temporarily. Boston won 91 games in 1979, though that was again good for only third place in the AL East, and the axe finally fell late in the 1980 season as the Red Sox were finishing an 83-win campaign. Zimmer spent the strike-shortened 1981 season and part of the following year managing the Rangers before being replaced by Johnson, the same man he had taken over for in Boston.

After serving two coaching stints with the Yankees, one with the Cubs and one with the Giants, Zimmer was named Cubs manager in 1988. While the team finished just 77-85 that year, the squad — led by future Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg and Greg Maddux — went 93-69 in ’89, giving Zimmer what would prove to be his only division title. Alas, Chicago lost the NLCS to the Giants in five games.

The Cubs slumped back to 77 wins in 1990, and 37 games into the 1991 season, Zimmer was fired again. That was the last time he managed a major league team, save for his 21-15 interim stint with the Yankees in 1999, which isn’t officially included in his ledger; he finished his career with an official record of 885-858, good for a .508 winning percentage.

Zimmer returned to Boston as third base coach under Hobson in 1992, then moved to Colorado for the first three seasons with the expansion Rockies (1993-95). In 1996 he rejoined the Yankees for what proved to be a fruitful run. Under Torre New York won the World Series for the first time in 18 years that season, and after falling in the Division Series in ’97, the team ripped off three straight championships from 1998-2000 and added a fourth consecutive pennant in ’01.

Of his job as bench coach, Zimmer told Esquire in 2001, “I sit next to Torre on the bench. When he plays hit-and-run that works, I say, ‘Nice goin’, Skipper,’ and if it doesn’t work, I go down to the other end of the bench, get a drink, and get out of his way.” He didn’t always stay far enough out of the way, however. In the 1999 playoffs he was struck in the face by a Chuck Knoblauch foul ball – he showed up in an army helmet with the Yankees’ logo the next night — and during Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS, the 72-year-old lunged at, and was thrown to the ground by, Boston’s Pedro Martinez after the Red Sox ace escalated a beanball war by throwing behind the head of New York’s Karim Garcia.

Once his relationship with owner George Steinbrenner inevitably strained, Zimmer left the Yankees following the 2003 season and joined the Devil Rays as an advisor. He was allowed to be in uniform during spring training and in pregame workouts as well as select road trips; it was then that he took up the custom of adding one number to his uniform every year.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi and team captain Derek Jeter — the last uniformed links to Zimmer’s time in the Bronx — learned of Zimmer’s passing during the team’s loss to the A’s on Wednesday night. Girardi choked up during the postgame press conference when asked about Zimmer, who managed him as a Cub and coached him as a Rockie and Yankee. He said he last spoke to Zimmer before his recent surgery and described him as:

“A great baseball man. A baseball lifer, a mentor to me. I had him 10 out of my first 11 years in the big leagues, so wherever he went, I went… He gave me my first opportunity, I’ll never forget that. He told me with a week to go [in spring training] that I’d made the club in 1989 but I couldn’t tell anybody. I was scared to death to tell anyone, the only person I told was [my wife] Kim.”

“He liked to have fun. I saw Zim dance on a table after we came from behind and won a game. The table broke and snapped and here came Zim down.”

Said Jeter, “Zim was around when I first came up, he taught me a lot about the game. He’s pretty much seen everything… He was always positive and liked to have fun. It’s a long season, so that’s what you miss.” Asked to recall the 2003 brawl, he added, “He was a fighter, he was intense. I think that exemplifies him. He was into the game and fun to be around.”

Elsewhere, Torre (now the executive vice president of MLB) said in a statement, “I hired him as a coach, and he became like a family member to me,” while Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner called Zimmer “an original — a passionate, old-school, one-of-a-kind baseball man.”

Indeed, they don’t get any more old school than a man who spent 66 years in the game and never drew a pay check outside it. Don Zimmer will be missed.
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Oscar-Nominated Actress Ruby Dee Dies at 91

NEW YORK (AP) — Ruby Dee, an acclaimed actor and civil rights activist whose versatile career spanned stage, radio television and film, has died at age 91, according to her daughter.

Nora Davis Day told The Associated Press on Thursday that her mother died at home in New Rochelle on Wednesday night of “natural causes.”

Dee, who frequently acted alongside her husband of 56 years, Ossie Davis, was surrounded by family and friends, she added.

"We have had her for so long and we loved her so much," Day said. "She took her final bow last night at home surrounded by her children and grandchildren."

Day added: “We gave her our permission to set sail,” said Day. “She opened her eyes, closed her eyes and away she went.”

Her long career brought her an Oscar nomination at age 83 for best supporting actress for her role in the 2007 film American Gangster. She also won an Emmy and was nominated for several others. Age didn’t slow her down.

"I think you mustn’t tell your body, you mustn’t tell your soul, ‘I’m going to retire,’" Dee told The Associated Press in 2001. "You may be changing your life emphasis, but there’s still things that you have in mind to do that now seems the right time to do. I really don’t believe in retiring as long as you can breathe."

Since meeting on Broadway in 1946, she and her late husband were frequent collaborators. Their partnership rivaled the achievements of other celebrated performing couples, such as Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.

But they were more than a performing couple. They were also activists who fought for civil rights, particularly for blacks.

"We used the arts as part of our struggle," she said at an appearance in Jackson, Mississippi, in 2006. "Ossie said he knew he had to conduct himself differently with skill and thought."

In 1998, the pair celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and an even longer association in show business with the publication of a dual autobiography, With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together.

Davis died in February 2005. At his funeral, his widow sat near his coffin as former President Clinton led an array of famous mourners, including Harry Belafonte and Spike Lee.

Davis and Dee met in 1945 when she auditioned for the Broadway play Jeb, starring Davis (both were cast in it). In December 1948, on a day off from rehearsals from another play, The Smile of the World, Davis and Dee took a bus to New Jersey to get married. They already were so close that “it felt almost like an appointment we finally got around to keeping,” Dee wrote in In This Life Together.

They shared billing in 11 stage productions and five movies during long parallel careers. Dee’s fifth film, No Way Out with Sidney Poitier in 1950, was her husband’s first. Along with film, stage and television, their richly honored careers extended to a radio show, The Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee Story Hour, that featured a mix of black themes. Davis directed one of their joint film appearances, Countdown at Kusini (1976).

Like her husband, Dee was active in civil rights issues and efforts to promote the cause of blacks in the entertainment industry. As young performers, they found themselves caught up the growing debate over social and racial justice in the United States. The couple’s push for social justice was lifelong: In 1999, the couple was arrested while protesting the shooting death of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, by New York City police.

They were friends with baseball star Jackie Robinson and his wife, Rachel — Dee played her, opposite Robinson himself, in the 1950 movie, The Jackie Robinson Story — and with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. Dee and Davis served as masters of ceremonies for the historic 1963 March on Washington and she spoke at both the funerals for King and Malcom X.

Among her best-known films was A Raisin in the Sun, in 1961, the classic play that explored racial discrimination and black frustration. On television, she was a leading cast member on the soap operas such in the 1950s and ’60s, a rare sight for a black actress in the 1950s and 60s.

As she aged, her career did not ebb. Dee was the voice of wisdom and reason as Mother Sister in Spike Lee’s 1989 film, Do the Right Thing, alongside her husband. She won an Emmy as supporting actress in a miniseries or special for 1990’s Decoration Day.

She won a National Medal of the Arts in 1995 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2000. In 2004, she and Davis received Kennedy Center Honors. Another honor came in 2007, after Davis’ death, when the recording of their memoir won a Grammy for best spoken word album, a category that includes audio books.

The role that brought her an Oscar nomination at age 83 was as the mother of Denzel Washington’s title character in Ridley Scott’s crime drama American Gangster.

Born Ruby Ann Wallace in Cleveland to parents who soon split, Dee moved to Harlem as an infant with a brother and two sisters, living with relatives and neighbors. She graduated from highly competitive Hunter High School in 1939 and enrolled at Hunter College. “I wanted to be an actor but the chances for success did not look promising,” she wrote in their joint autobiography.

But in 1940 she got a part in a Harlem production of a new play, On Strivers Row, which she later called “one giant step” to becoming a person and a performer.

In 1965, she became the first black woman to play lead roles at the American Shakespeare Festival. She won an Obie Award for the title role in Athol Fugard’s Boesman and Lena and a Drama Desk Award for her role in Wedding Band.

Most recently, Dee performed her one-woman stage show, My One Good Nerve: A Visit With Ruby Dee, in theaters across the country. The show was a compilation of some of the short stories, humor and poetry in her book of the same title.

She is survived by three children: Nora, Hasna and Guy, and seven grandchildren.
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Casey Kasem, Radio Legend and Scooby-Doo Voice Actor, Dead at 82

American Top 40 icon Casey Kasem, who carved out a lucrative side career providing the voice of Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo franchise, died early Sunday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 82.

Kasem’s daughter, Kerri, shared the news on Twitter. “Early this Father’s Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends,” she wrote. “Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. The world will miss Casey Kasem, an incredible talent and humanitarian; we will miss our Dad.”

Kasem became a radio legend as host of the syndicated American Top 40, a gig he held down for 24 years (from 1970-88 and 1998-2004).

In addition to voicing Shaggy in Scooby-Doo‘s various TV incarnations, Kasem’s distinctive voice could be heard on Sesame Street as well as a number of commercials.
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Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn dead at 54 after battle with cancer

Tony Gwynn, the Hall of Famer with a sweet left-handed swing who spent his entire 20-year career with the Padres and was one of the game's greatest hitters, died of cancer Monday. He was 54.

Gwynn, a craftsman at the plate and winner of eight batting titles, was nicknamed "Mr. Padre" and was one of the most beloved athletes in San Diego.

He attributed his oral cancer to years of chewing tobacco. He had been on a medical leave since late March from his job as baseball coach at San Diego State, his alma mater. He died at a hospital in suburban Poway, agent John Boggs said.

"He was in a tough battle and the thing I can critique is he's definitely in a better place," Boggs told The Associated Press. "He suffered a lot. He battled. That's probably the best way I can describe his fight against this illness he had, and he was courageous until the end."

In a rarity in pro sports, Gwynn played his whole career with the Padres, choosing to stay rather than leaving for bigger paychecks elsewhere. His terrific hand-eye coordination made him one of the game's greatest contact hitters. He had 3,141 hits, a career .338 average and won eight NL batting titles. He excelled at hitting singles the other way, through the "5.5 hole" between third base and shortstop.

Gwynn's wife, Alicia, and other family members were at his side when he died, Boggs said.

Gwynn's son, Tony Jr., was in Philadelphia, where he plays for the Phillies.

"Today I lost my Dad, my best friend and my mentor," Gwynn Jr. tweeted. "I'm gonna miss u so much pops. I'm gonna do everything in my power to continue to ... Make u proud!"

Gwynn had two operations for cancer in his right cheek between August 2010 and February 2012. The second surgery was complicated, with surgeons removing a facial nerve because it was intertwined with a tumor inside his right cheek. They grafted a nerve from Gwynn's neck to help him eventually regain facial movement.

Gwynn had said he believed the cancer was from chewing tobacco.

Gwynn had been in and out of the hospital and had spent time in a rehab facility, Boggs said.

"For more than 30 years, Tony Gwynn was a source of universal goodwill in the national pastime, and he will be deeply missed by the many people he touched," Commissioner Bud Selig said.

Gwynn was last with his San Diego State team on March 25 before beginning a leave of absence. His Aztecs rallied around a Gwynn bobblehead doll they would set near the bat rack during games, winning the Mountain West Conference tournament and advancing to the NCAA regionals.

Last week, SDSU announced it was extending Gwynn's contract one season.

San Francisco Giants third base coach Tim Flannery, who played with Gwynn and then coached him with the Padres, said he'll "remember the cackle to his laugh. He was always laughing, always talking, always happy."

"The baseball world is going to miss one of the greats, and the world itself is going to miss one of the great men of mankind," Flannery said. "He cared so much for other people. He had a work ethic unlike anybody else, and had a childlike demeanor of playing the game just because he loved it so much."

Gwynn played in the Padres' only two World Series and was a 15-time All-Star.

He homered off the facade at Yankee Stadium off San Diego native David Wells in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series and scored the winning run in the 1994 All-Star Game. He was hitting .394 when a players' strike ended the 1994 season, denying him a shot at becoming the first player to hit .400 since San Diego native Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941.

Gwynn befriended Williams and the two loved to talk about hitting. Gwynn steadied Williams when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the 1999 All-Star Game at Boston's Fenway Park.

Gwynn retired after the 2001 season. He and Cal Ripken Jr. -- who spent his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles -- were inducted into the Hall of Fame in the class of 2007. A wreath was being placed around his plaque in the Hall of Fame on Monday.

Also in 2007, the Padres unveiled a bronze statue of Gwynn on a grassy hill just beyond the outfield wall at Petco Park. While Gwynn was still with the Padres, then-owner John Moores donated $4 million to San Diego State for a new baseball stadium that bears the Hall of Famer's name.

Gwynn was a two-sport star at San Diego State in the late 1970s and early 1980s, playing point guard for the basketball team -- he still holds the game, season and career record for assists -- and outfielder for the baseball team.

Gwynn always wanted to play in the NBA, until realizing during his final year at San Diego State that baseball would be the ticket to the pros.

"I had no idea that all the things in my career were going to happen," he said shortly before being inducted into the Hall of Fame. "I sure didn't see it. I just know the good Lord blessed me with ability, blessed me with good eyesight and a good pair of hands, and then I worked at the rest."

He was a third-round draft pick of the Padres in 1981.

After spending parts of just two seasons in the minor leagues, he made his big league debut on July 19, 1982. Gwynn had two hits that night, including a double, against the Philadelphia Phillies. After doubling, Pete Rose, who had been trailing the play, said to Gwynn: "Hey, kid, what are you trying to do, catch me in one night?"

Gwynn also is survived by a daughter, Anisha.
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Prolific U.S. character actor Eli Wallach dies at 98: NYT

(Reuters) - Eli Wallach, an early practitioner of method acting who made a lasting impression as the scuzzy bandit Tuco in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", died on Tuesday at the age of 98, the New York Times reported.

Wallach appeared on the big screen well into his 90s in Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer" and Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" sequel and other films.

"It's what I wanted to do all my life," Wallach said of his work in an interview in 2010.

Having grown up the son of Polish Jewish immigrants in an Italian-dominated neighborhood in New York, Wallach might have seemed an unlikely cowboy, but some of his best work was in Westerns.

Many critics thought his definitive role was Calvera, the flamboyant, sinister bandit chief in "The Magnificent Seven". Others preferred him in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" as Tuco, who was "the ugly", opposite Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's classic spaghetti Western.

Years later, Wallach said strangers would recognize him and start whistling the distinctive theme from the film.

Wallach graduated from the University of Texas, where he picked up the horseback-riding skills that would serve him well in later cowboy roles, and studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse Actors Studio before World War Two broke out.

DYNAMIC ACTOR, PROLIFIC CAREER

"Wallach is the quintessential chameleon, effortlessly inhabiting a wide range of characters, while putting his inimitable stamp on every role," the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gave him an honorary Oscar in 2010, wrote in a profile on its website.

After serving as an Army hospital administrator during the war, he found work on the New York stage and took classes at the Actor's Studio, which used Method acting in which actors draw on personal memories and emotions to flesh out a role.

He appeared in "This Property Is Condemned" and ended up marrying the show's leading lady, Anne Jackson - a marriage that also led to several stage and screen collaborations.

Wallach made a name on Broadway with roles in two Tennessee Williams' works, "Camino Real" and "The Rose Tattoo," for which he won a Tony in 1951, as well as a two-year run in "Mr. Roberts."

His first movie was another Williams work, "Baby Doll" in 1956. Other major films included "How the West Was Won", "Mystic River", "The Holiday", "Lord Jim" and "The Misfits" - in which he starred with Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe with John Huston directing an Arthur Miller script - and "The Godfather Part 3."

Despite the notable movies, Wallach said it was his portrayal of the villain Mr. Freeze on the "Batman" television show of the 1960s that generated the most fan mail.

Wallach titled his autobiography "The Good, the Bad and Me: In My Anecdotage". He and his wife lived in New York and had three children.

The New York Times said his death had been confirmed by his daughter.
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Bobby Womack Dead at 70

Bobby Womack, the legendary soul singer whose career spanned seven decades, died Friday at age 70. A representative for Womack's label XL Recordings confirmed the singer's death to Rolling Stone, but said the cause of death was currently unknown.

The son of two musicians, Womack began his career as a member of Curtis Womack and the Womack Brothers with his siblings Curtis, Harry, Cecil and Friendly Jr. After Sam Cooke signed the group to his SAR Records in 1960, they released a handful of gospel singles before changing their name to the Valentinos and earning success with a more secular, soul- and pop-influenced sound. In 1964, one month after the Valentinos released their hit "It's All Over Now," the Rolling Stones put out their version, which went to Number One on the U.K. singles charts.

Three months after the death of Cooke in 1964, Womack married Cooke's widow, Barbara Campbell, and the Valentinos disbanded after the collapse of SAR Records. After leaving the group, Womack became a session musician, playing guitar on several albums, including Aretha Franklin's landmark Lady Soul, before releasing his debut album, Fly Me to the Moon, in 1968. A string of successful R&B albums would follow, including Understanding and Across 110th Street, both released in 1972, 1973's Facts of Life and 1974's Lookin for a Love Again.

After the death of his brother, Harry, in 1974, Womack's career stalled, but was revived in 1981 with the R&B hit "If You Think You're Lonely Now." Throughout most of the Eighties, the singer struggled with drug addiction, eventually checking himself into a rehabilitation center for treatment. A series of health problems would follow, including diabetes, pneumonia, colon cancer and the early signs of Alzheimer's disease, though it was unclear if any of these ailments contributed to his death. Womack was declared cancer-free in 2012.

In 2012, Womack began a career renaissance with the release of The Bravest Man in the Universe, his first album in more than 10 years. Produced by Damon Albarn and XL's Richard Russell, the album made Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2012 alongside numerous other critical accolades. "You know more at 65 than you did at 25. I understand the songs much better now," Womack told Rolling Stone at the time. "It's not about 14 Rolls Royces and two Bentleys. Even if this album never sells a nickel, I know I put my best foot forward." Upon his death, Womack was in the process of recording his next album for XL, tentatively titled The Best Is Yet to Come and reportedly featuring contributions by Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart and Snoop Dogg.

Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. "My very first thought was — I wish I could call Sam Cooke and share this moment with him," Womack said. "This is just about as exciting to me as being able to see Barack Obama become the first black President of the United States of America! It proves that, if you're blessed to be able to wait on what's important to you, a lot of things will change in life."
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Tommy Ramone, Founding Member of Influential Punk Band, Dies at 62

Drummer and producer Tommy Ramone, the last surviving original member of the influential New York punk quartet the Ramones, died Friday at his home in the Ridgewood area of Queens, New York. He was 62 and had been in hospice care following treatment for bile duct cancer.

Born Erdelyi Tamas in Budapest, Hungary, and known professionally as Tom or T. Erdelyi, Ramone played on the first three epoch-making Ramones albums, “Ramones” (1976), “Leave Home” (1977) and “Rocket to Russia” (1977). He also co-produced the latter two albums with Tony Bongiovi and Ed Stasium, respectively. He appeared on and co-produced the 1979 live Ramones opus “It’s Alive.”

After leaving the Ramones to concentrate on studio work, he co-produced the band’s 1984 album “Too Tough to Die” with Stasium. He was replaced in the lineup by Marc Bell (Marky Ramone), a former member of Dust and Richard Hell’s Voidoids.

One of the first high-profile releases to emerge from New York’s punk underground of the mid-‘70s, “Ramones” – reportedly recorded in six days on a budget of $6,400 – brought a pared-down, hyperactive style to the stuffy rock scene of the day. Tommy’s driving, high-energy drum work was the turbine that powered the leather-clad foursome’s loud, antic sound.

Tom Erdelyi emigrated to America in 1957 and grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, where he played with guitarist John Cummings – later Johnny Ramone – in Tangerine Puppets. He went on to study engineering and worked at the Record Plant (where he assisted on a 1969 Jimi Hendrix session) and other facilities.

The Ramones coalesced with the addition of fellow Queens musicians Jeffrey Hyman (aka lead singer Joey Ramone) and Douglas Colvin (bassist Dee Dee Ramone). Breaking in their act at Hilly Krystal’s Bowery club CBGB, the band was signed to Seymour Stein’s Sire Records, also the home of such other punk acts as Richard Hell, Talking Heads and the Dead Boys.

The Ramones finally disbanded in 1996 after a show at the Palace in Hollywood. Joey Ramone died of lymphoma in 2001; Dee Dee succumbed to a drug overdose in 2002; and Johnny expired from prostate cancer in 2004.

The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

Erdelyi’s other production credits included the Replacements’ major label debut “Tim” (1985) and L.A. punk unit Redd Kross’ “Neurotica” (1987). In later years, he went the acoustic route, playing bluegrass and country music with his partner Claudia Tienan in Uncle Monk.

He is survived by Tienan and an older brother. A private funeral service is planned.
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Elaine Stritch, Broadway Legend and Three-Time Emmy Winner, Dead at 89

Elaine Stritch, a Broadway legend who won three Primetime Emmy Awards in the latter part of her career, died this morning at the age of 89, according to Entertainment Tonight.

While the actress and singer made her name on the Great White Way — scoring five Tony nominations from 1955 to 2001, including a win for her one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty — TV fans might best remember her as Colleen Donaghy, irascible mother of Alec Baldwin’s network chief Jack on 30 Rock.

Stritch scored five Emmy nominations as Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for the 30 Rock role, and took home the statuette in 2007. She was nominated three other times in her career — winning Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Law & Order in 1993 and Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for the televised version of Elaine Stritch at Liberty in 2004. (Her other nod came in 1991, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special in An Inconvenient Woman; she lost that year to Ruby Dee.)

Stritch also earned a BAFTA TV nomination in 1979 for “Best Light Entertainment Performance” for her role in the British sitcom Two’s Company.

Check out video below of Stritch killing it in her final episode as Colleen, and dishing her profanity-laden audition for a role in The Golden Girls (a monologue from At Liberty).
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Report: James Garner has passed away at the age of 86

James Garner, a legendary television and movie star, has passed away at the age of 86. According to TMZ, Garner was pronounced dead at his home at 8 PM Saturday night in Los Angeles.

The Oklahoma native and U.S. Army veteran got his start in a small role on Broadway, "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" before breaking into television. He was best known for his playing Brett Maverick in "Maverick" and Jim Rockford on "The Rockford Files." Garner also had a number of great screen roles in films such as "The Americanization of Emily," "The Great Escape," "Murphy's Romance," "Victor Victoria," "Maverick," "Twilight" (1998), "Space Cowboys" and "The Notebook."

Garner earned many accolades for his work over the years including two Emmy Awards (15 nominations), an Academy Award nomination for "Romance," a Screen Actors' Guild lifetime achievement award and three Golden Globe Awards (12 nominations). He also earned the TCA Awards lifetime award in 2010.

He is survived by his wife Lois and daughter Greta.
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Marilyn Burns, Star of Original 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' Dead at 65

Marilyn Burns, who gained fame as the heroine in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror film, has died at age 65, TheWrap has confirmed. She was found dead in her home by a family member in Houston. A cause of death has not been released.

“It is with sadness that I can officially confirm that actress Marilyn Burns passed away earlier today,” said her talent manager, Chris Roe, in a statement “She was found unresponsive by a family member this morning in her Houston, TX area home. Her family asks for privacy at this time. Further details will be released later.”

After the release of the 1974 cult classic, Burns gained fame when her character, Sally, became the only survivor after the bloody rampage of Leatherface. It was her first lead role.

Coming full circle, Burns made a cameo appearance in the seventh and latest chapter in the Leatherface saga, 2013’s Texas Chainsaw 3D. It was her third Texas Chainsaw appearance, and one of her final film roles. She also appeared in the 2014 horror film The Sacrament.

Burns expressed an interest in the arts at a young age, participating in school theatrical productions. After high school, she made her first film appearance in Robert Altman‘s Brewster McCloud while attending college. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Drama in 1971.

She portrayed Linda Kasabian, who traded her testimony against Charles Manson and his “family” for immunity in the television miniseries Helter Skelter in 1976.

Burns made several other notable appearances throughout her long career as an actress, with a heavy emphasis on horror, but none would have the cultural impact of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
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TCM to Remember Lauren Bacall with Marathon on Sept. 15-16

Tribute to Include All Four Bacall-Bogart Pairings, Plus Robert Osborne's Private Screenings Interview

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will celebrate the life and career of legendary actress Lauren Bacall with a 24-hour marathon of memorable performances, including all four films in which she co-starred with husband Humphrey Bogart. TCM's tribute to Bacall, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 89, will air Monday, Sept. 15, beginning at 8 p.m. (ET), and will conclude Tuesday, Sept. 16, her 90th birthday.

"Lauren Bacall was a wonderful and generous friend of ours at TCM, and a great connection to the 'golden age of cinema,'" said TCM host Robert Osborne. "Personally, I have to admit that she never failed to make my heart beat faster and my voice to stammer when we spoke. Talk about true star quality – that was Bacall. We are truly blessed to have had her as an integral part of our TCM family."

Turner Classic Movies will open its remembrance of Bacall's extraordinary life and career with the TCM original Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall (2005), a fascinating, in-depth conversation with the star hosted by Robert Osborne. It will be followed by Bacall's film debut, the Howard Hawks classic To Have and Have Not (1944), which also introduced her to the man who would become her husband, Humphrey Bogart. Their subsequent films – The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947) and Key Largo (1948) – are also included in the marathon.

TCM's tribute to Bacall includes Young Man with a Horn (1950), with Kirk Douglas and Doris Day, in which she delivers a powerful dramatic performance frequently cited as her best. Bacall demonstrates her comic abilities in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), starring Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe; Designing Woman (1957), with Gregory Peck; and Sex and the Single Girl (1964), starring Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood and Henry Fonda. Rounding out the marathon, Bacall stars opposite Gary Cooper in Bright Leaf (1950), John Wayne in Blood Alley (1955) and Paul Newman in Harper (1966).

The following is the complete schedule for TCM's tribute to Lauren Bacall.

TCM Remembers Lauren Bacall

Monday, Sept. 15
8 p.m. – Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall (2005)
9 p.m. – To Have and Have Not (1944)
11 p.m. – The Big Sleep (1946)
1 a.m. – How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
2:45 a.m. – Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall (2005)
3:45 a.m. – Harper (1966)

Tuesday, Sept. 16
6 a.m. – Bright Leaf (1950)
8 a.m. – Young Man with a Horn (1950)
10 a.m. – Dark Passage (1947)
Noon – Key Largo (1948)
2 p.m. – Blood Alley (1955)
4 p.m. – Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
6 p.m. – Designing Woman (1957)
 
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