ladyhunter
Head of the Swing Shift
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
RIP Luther Ingram
RIP Luther Ingram
The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
- Thread starter Destiny
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Hankster
Coroner
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
Richard Jeni's Playpus Man show on UPN was so freaking funny... I loved the guy! I can't BELIEVE he'd off himself like that--the man was a good guy. I met him once when he performed at the Laff Stop in Houston--truly nice guy who greeted all the fans. I'm still upset over his death!!!
Tinkerbell said:
I read about Richard Jeni today. It's very sad.
May he rest in peace.
Richard Jeni's Playpus Man show on UPN was so freaking funny... I loved the guy! I can't BELIEVE he'd off himself like that--the man was a good guy. I met him once when he performed at the Laff Stop in Houston--truly nice guy who greeted all the fans. I'm still upset over his death!!!
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
DENVER - Actor Woody Harrelson's father, Charles Harrelson, died of a heart attack in the Supermax federal prison where he was serving two life sentences for the murder of a federal judge, officials said Wednesday.
Charles Harrelson, 69, was found unresponsive in his cell on the morning of March 15, said Felicia Ponce, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman in Washington.
Fremont County Coroner Dorothy Twellman said an autopsy showed Harrelson had severe coronary artery disease. She said he probably died in his sleep. "It appears it was very sudden."
Charles Harrelson was convicted of murder in the May 29, 1979, slaying of U.S. District Judge John Wood Jr. outside his San Antonio, Texas, home. Prosecutors said a drug dealer hired him to kill Wood because he did not want the judge to preside at his upcoming trial.
Charles Harrelson denied the killing, saying he was in Dallas, 270 miles away, at the time.
Wood, known as "Maximum John" for the sentences he gave in drug cases, was the first federal judge to be killed in the 20th century.
Charles Harrelson was transferred to Supermax, the highest-security federal prison, after attempting to break out of an Atlanta federal prison in 1995. Other inmates at Supermax, about 90 miles south of Denver, include Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing coconspirator Terry Nichols and Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph.
His son got his start in acting as Woody the bartender on "Cheers" beginning in 1985 and went on to star in films including "Natural Born Killers," "White Men Can't Jump" and "The People vs. Larry Flynt."
Woody Harrelson's publicist did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
The actor was just 7 when his father was first sent to prison, for murdering a Texas businessman. He was in college when his father was convicted of the judge's assassination.
DENVER - Actor Woody Harrelson's father, Charles Harrelson, died of a heart attack in the Supermax federal prison where he was serving two life sentences for the murder of a federal judge, officials said Wednesday.
Charles Harrelson, 69, was found unresponsive in his cell on the morning of March 15, said Felicia Ponce, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman in Washington.
Fremont County Coroner Dorothy Twellman said an autopsy showed Harrelson had severe coronary artery disease. She said he probably died in his sleep. "It appears it was very sudden."
Charles Harrelson was convicted of murder in the May 29, 1979, slaying of U.S. District Judge John Wood Jr. outside his San Antonio, Texas, home. Prosecutors said a drug dealer hired him to kill Wood because he did not want the judge to preside at his upcoming trial.
Charles Harrelson denied the killing, saying he was in Dallas, 270 miles away, at the time.
Wood, known as "Maximum John" for the sentences he gave in drug cases, was the first federal judge to be killed in the 20th century.
Charles Harrelson was transferred to Supermax, the highest-security federal prison, after attempting to break out of an Atlanta federal prison in 1995. Other inmates at Supermax, about 90 miles south of Denver, include Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing coconspirator Terry Nichols and Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph.
His son got his start in acting as Woody the bartender on "Cheers" beginning in 1985 and went on to star in films including "Natural Born Killers," "White Men Can't Jump" and "The People vs. Larry Flynt."
Woody Harrelson's publicist did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
The actor was just 7 when his father was first sent to prison, for murdering a Texas businessman. He was in college when his father was convicted of the judge's assassination.
Dynamo1
Head of the Swing Shift
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
Letterman Regular 'Bud' Melman Dies
Mar 21, 6:41 PM (ET)
By LARRY McSHANE
NEW YORK (AP) - The balding, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry "Bud" Melman on David Letterman's late night television shows has died after a long illness. The Brooklyn-born Calvert DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, the Letterman show announced Wednesday.
He made dozens of appearances on Letterman's shows from 1982 through 2002, handling a variety of twisted duties: dueting with Sonny Bono on "I Got You, Babe," doing a Mary Tyler Moore impression during a visit to Minneapolis, handing out hot towels to arrivals at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
"Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself - a genuine, modest and nice man," Letterman said in a statement. "To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him."
The gnomish DeForest was the first face to greet viewers when Letterman's NBC show debuted on Feb. 1, 1982, offering a parody of the prologue to the Boris Karloff film "Frankenstein."
"It was the greatest thing that had happened in my life," he once said of his first Letterman appearance.
DeForest, given the nom de tube of Melman, became a program regular. The collaboration continued when the talk show host launched "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS in 1994.
Cue cards were often DeForest's television kryptonite, and his character inevitably appeared in an ill-fitting black suit behind thick black-rimmed glasses.
The Melman character opened Letterman's first CBS show, too - but used his real name because of a dispute with NBC over "intellectual property." DeForest, positioned inside the network's familiar eye logo, announced, "This is CBS!"
DeForest often draw laughs by his bizarre juxtaposition as a "Late Show" correspondent at events such as the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway or the anniversary Woodstock concert that year.
His last appearance on "Late Show" came in 2002, celebrating his 81st birthday.
DeForest also appeared in an assortment of other television shows and films, including "Nothing Lasts Forever" with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.
As per his request, there will be no funeral service for DeForest, who left no survivors. Donations can be made in his name to the Actors' Fund of America.
Letterman Regular 'Bud' Melman Dies
Mar 21, 6:41 PM (ET)
By LARRY McSHANE
NEW YORK (AP) - The balding, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry "Bud" Melman on David Letterman's late night television shows has died after a long illness. The Brooklyn-born Calvert DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, the Letterman show announced Wednesday.
He made dozens of appearances on Letterman's shows from 1982 through 2002, handling a variety of twisted duties: dueting with Sonny Bono on "I Got You, Babe," doing a Mary Tyler Moore impression during a visit to Minneapolis, handing out hot towels to arrivals at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
"Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself - a genuine, modest and nice man," Letterman said in a statement. "To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him."
The gnomish DeForest was the first face to greet viewers when Letterman's NBC show debuted on Feb. 1, 1982, offering a parody of the prologue to the Boris Karloff film "Frankenstein."
"It was the greatest thing that had happened in my life," he once said of his first Letterman appearance.
DeForest, given the nom de tube of Melman, became a program regular. The collaboration continued when the talk show host launched "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS in 1994.
Cue cards were often DeForest's television kryptonite, and his character inevitably appeared in an ill-fitting black suit behind thick black-rimmed glasses.
The Melman character opened Letterman's first CBS show, too - but used his real name because of a dispute with NBC over "intellectual property." DeForest, positioned inside the network's familiar eye logo, announced, "This is CBS!"
DeForest often draw laughs by his bizarre juxtaposition as a "Late Show" correspondent at events such as the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway or the anniversary Woodstock concert that year.
His last appearance on "Late Show" came in 2002, celebrating his 81st birthday.
DeForest also appeared in an assortment of other television shows and films, including "Nothing Lasts Forever" with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.
As per his request, there will be no funeral service for DeForest, who left no survivors. Donations can be made in his name to the Actors' Fund of America.
ladyhunter
Head of the Swing Shift
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
thats's sad. I like him on David Letterman.
RIP
thats's sad. I like him on David Letterman.
RIP
Dynamo1
Head of the Swing Shift
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
'Christmas Story' Director Dies in Crash
Apr 4, 9:37 PM (ET)
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Film director Bob Clark, best known for the holiday classic "A Christmas Story," was killed with his son Wednesday in a head-on crash with a vehicle that a drunken driver steered into the wrong lane, police and the filmmaker's assistant said.
Clark, 67, and son Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were killed in the accident in Pacific Palisades, said Lyne Leavy, Clark's personal assistant.
The two men were in an Infiniti that collided head-on with a GMC Yukon around 2:30 a.m. PDT, said Lt. Paul Vernon, a police spokesman. The driver of the other car was under the influence of alcohol and was driving without a license, Vernon said.
The driver, Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, of Los Angeles, remained hospitalized and will be booked for investigation of gross vehicular manslaughter after being treated, Vernon said. A female passenger in his car also was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and released, police said.
In Clark's most famous film, all 9-year-old Ralphie Parker wants for Christmas is an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle.
His mother, teacher and Santa Claus all warn: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
A school bully named Scut Farkus, a leg lamp, a freezing flagpole mishap and some four-letter defiance helped the movie become a seasonal fixture with "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street."
Scott Schwartz, who played Flick in "A Christmas Story" and kept in touch with Clark, called Clark one of the "nicest, sweetest guys that you'd ever want to come in contact with."
"It's a tragic day for all of us who knew and loved Bob Clark," Schwartz said. "Bob was a fun-loving, jelly-roll kind of guy who will be sorely missed."
The director of The Christmas Story House in Cleveland, which was used for several exterior shots in the film, said Clark had been planning to visit in August.
"We were all very excited about meeting him," said executive director Steve Siedlecki. "It's very sad to think that that will never happen."
The house started a condolence book for Clark's family that fans who visit the house can sign, he said. Renovated to look like Ralphie's movie home, the house opened in November and has welcomed about 30,000 visitors.
Clark specialized in horror movies and thrillers early in his career, directing such 1970s flicks as "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things,""Murder by Decree,""Breaking Point" and "Black Christmas," which was remade last year.
His breakout success came with 1981's sex farce "Porky's," a coming-of-age romp that he followed two years later with "Porky's II: The Next Day."
In 1983, "A Christmas Story" marked a career high for Clark. Darrin McGavin, Melinda Dillon and Peter Billingsley starred in the adaptation of Jean Shepard's childhood memoir of a boy in the 1940s.
The film was a modest theatrical success, but critics loved it.
In 1994, Clark directed a forgettable sequel, "It Runs in the Family," featuring Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen and Kieran Culkin in a continuation of Shepard's memoirs.
In recent years, Clark made family comedies that were savaged by critics, including "Karate Dog,""Baby Geniuses" and its sequel, "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2."
Among Clark's other movies were Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton's "Rhinestone," Timothy Hutton's "Turk 182!", and Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd's "Loose Cannons."
'Christmas Story' Director Dies in Crash
Apr 4, 9:37 PM (ET)
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Film director Bob Clark, best known for the holiday classic "A Christmas Story," was killed with his son Wednesday in a head-on crash with a vehicle that a drunken driver steered into the wrong lane, police and the filmmaker's assistant said.
Clark, 67, and son Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were killed in the accident in Pacific Palisades, said Lyne Leavy, Clark's personal assistant.
The two men were in an Infiniti that collided head-on with a GMC Yukon around 2:30 a.m. PDT, said Lt. Paul Vernon, a police spokesman. The driver of the other car was under the influence of alcohol and was driving without a license, Vernon said.
The driver, Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, of Los Angeles, remained hospitalized and will be booked for investigation of gross vehicular manslaughter after being treated, Vernon said. A female passenger in his car also was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and released, police said.
In Clark's most famous film, all 9-year-old Ralphie Parker wants for Christmas is an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle.
His mother, teacher and Santa Claus all warn: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
A school bully named Scut Farkus, a leg lamp, a freezing flagpole mishap and some four-letter defiance helped the movie become a seasonal fixture with "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street."
Scott Schwartz, who played Flick in "A Christmas Story" and kept in touch with Clark, called Clark one of the "nicest, sweetest guys that you'd ever want to come in contact with."
"It's a tragic day for all of us who knew and loved Bob Clark," Schwartz said. "Bob was a fun-loving, jelly-roll kind of guy who will be sorely missed."
The director of The Christmas Story House in Cleveland, which was used for several exterior shots in the film, said Clark had been planning to visit in August.
"We were all very excited about meeting him," said executive director Steve Siedlecki. "It's very sad to think that that will never happen."
The house started a condolence book for Clark's family that fans who visit the house can sign, he said. Renovated to look like Ralphie's movie home, the house opened in November and has welcomed about 30,000 visitors.
Clark specialized in horror movies and thrillers early in his career, directing such 1970s flicks as "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things,""Murder by Decree,""Breaking Point" and "Black Christmas," which was remade last year.
His breakout success came with 1981's sex farce "Porky's," a coming-of-age romp that he followed two years later with "Porky's II: The Next Day."
In 1983, "A Christmas Story" marked a career high for Clark. Darrin McGavin, Melinda Dillon and Peter Billingsley starred in the adaptation of Jean Shepard's childhood memoir of a boy in the 1940s.
The film was a modest theatrical success, but critics loved it.
In 1994, Clark directed a forgettable sequel, "It Runs in the Family," featuring Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen and Kieran Culkin in a continuation of Shepard's memoirs.
In recent years, Clark made family comedies that were savaged by critics, including "Karate Dog,""Baby Geniuses" and its sequel, "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2."
Among Clark's other movies were Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton's "Rhinestone," Timothy Hutton's "Turk 182!", and Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd's "Loose Cannons."
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
CHICAGO (AP) -- Darryl Stingley, paralyzed after a vicious hit during an NFL exhibition game nearly 30 years ago, died Thursday. He was 55.
Stingley was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after he was found unresponsive in his Chicago home, according to Tony Brucci, an investigator with the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Stingley, a star receiver with the New England Patriots, was left a quadriplegic after he collided with Oakland's Jack Tatum while trying to catch a pass in an exhibition game on Aug. 12, 1978.
It broke Stingley's neck, and he spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Stingley regained limited movement in his right arm and operated his electric wheelchair on his own.
Stingley's son Derek, on his way to Chicago, said he didn't want to talk about his father until he had time to be with the rest of his family.
The autopsy revealed contributing factors in Stingley's death were bronchial pneumonia, quadriplegia, spinal cord injury and coronary atherosclerosis, the medical examiner's office said.
There has long been debate in Boston and Oakland, Calif. over the circumstances of the hit on Stingley.
Both Gene Upshaw, who played in the game for the Raiders, and Steve Grogan, who threw the pass for New England, said it was a collision, not a hit from behind. There was no penalty on the play, and Grogan's objection was that the hit came in a game that didn't count.
"That hit probably was not necessary in a game with no meaning," Grogan added.
It also ignited debates about the violence of the game and made Tatum, who had a reputation as one of the game's fiercest defenders, a subject of controversy.
The two players never reconciled. In 1996, they were supposed to meet for a TV appearance, but Stingley called it off after being told it was to publicize Tatum's book: "Final Confessions of NFL Assassin Jack Tatum."
Darryl Stingley was born and raised in Chicago. A star running back at John Marshall High School, he attended Purdue on a football scholarship. In 1973, he was a first-round draft pick of the Patriots, owned by Robert Kraft.
"On behalf of the Kraft family and the entire Patriots organization, we're deeply saddened by news of Darryl Stingley's death, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Stingley family at this time," team spokesman Stacey James said.
Stingley served as executive director of player personnel for the Patriots and often visited paralyzed patients. He wrote a book about his experiences entitled "Happy to Be Alive," published in 1983, and 10 years later started a nonprofit foundation in Chicago designed to help inner-city youth.
In a 1988 Associated Press interview, he talked about the day that changed his life.
"I have relived that moment over and over again," Stingley said. "I was 26 years old at the time and I remember thinking, 'What's going to happen to me? If I live, what am I going to be like?' And then there were all those whys, whys, whys?
"It was only after I stopped asking why, that I was able to regroup and go on my with my life," he said.
Stingley is survived by his wife Martine and three sons, Hank, John and Derek.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Darryl Stingley, paralyzed after a vicious hit during an NFL exhibition game nearly 30 years ago, died Thursday. He was 55.
Stingley was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after he was found unresponsive in his Chicago home, according to Tony Brucci, an investigator with the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Stingley, a star receiver with the New England Patriots, was left a quadriplegic after he collided with Oakland's Jack Tatum while trying to catch a pass in an exhibition game on Aug. 12, 1978.
It broke Stingley's neck, and he spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Stingley regained limited movement in his right arm and operated his electric wheelchair on his own.
Stingley's son Derek, on his way to Chicago, said he didn't want to talk about his father until he had time to be with the rest of his family.
The autopsy revealed contributing factors in Stingley's death were bronchial pneumonia, quadriplegia, spinal cord injury and coronary atherosclerosis, the medical examiner's office said.
There has long been debate in Boston and Oakland, Calif. over the circumstances of the hit on Stingley.
Both Gene Upshaw, who played in the game for the Raiders, and Steve Grogan, who threw the pass for New England, said it was a collision, not a hit from behind. There was no penalty on the play, and Grogan's objection was that the hit came in a game that didn't count.
"That hit probably was not necessary in a game with no meaning," Grogan added.
It also ignited debates about the violence of the game and made Tatum, who had a reputation as one of the game's fiercest defenders, a subject of controversy.
The two players never reconciled. In 1996, they were supposed to meet for a TV appearance, but Stingley called it off after being told it was to publicize Tatum's book: "Final Confessions of NFL Assassin Jack Tatum."
Darryl Stingley was born and raised in Chicago. A star running back at John Marshall High School, he attended Purdue on a football scholarship. In 1973, he was a first-round draft pick of the Patriots, owned by Robert Kraft.
"On behalf of the Kraft family and the entire Patriots organization, we're deeply saddened by news of Darryl Stingley's death, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Stingley family at this time," team spokesman Stacey James said.
Stingley served as executive director of player personnel for the Patriots and often visited paralyzed patients. He wrote a book about his experiences entitled "Happy to Be Alive," published in 1983, and 10 years later started a nonprofit foundation in Chicago designed to help inner-city youth.
In a 1988 Associated Press interview, he talked about the day that changed his life.
"I have relived that moment over and over again," Stingley said. "I was 26 years old at the time and I remember thinking, 'What's going to happen to me? If I live, what am I going to be like?' And then there were all those whys, whys, whys?
"It was only after I stopped asking why, that I was able to regroup and go on my with my life," he said.
Stingley is survived by his wife Martine and three sons, Hank, John and Derek.
Dynamo1
Head of the Swing Shift
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
Cartoonist Hart, Creator of 'B.C.,' Dies
Apr 8, 6:22 PM (ET)
ENDICOTT, N.Y. (AP) - Cartoonist Johnny Hart, whose award-winning "B.C." comic strip appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers worldwide, died at his home on Saturday. He was 76.
"He had a stroke," Hart's wife, Bobby, said on Sunday. "He died at his storyboard."
"B.C.," populated by prehistoric cavemen and dinosaurs, was launched in 1958 and eventually appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers with an audience of 100 million, according to Creators Syndicate, Inc., which distributes it.
After he graduated from Union-Endicott High School, Hart met Brant Parker, a young cartoonist who became a prime influence and co-creator with Hart of the "Wizard of Id" comic strip.
Hart enlisted in the Air Force and began producing cartoons for Pacific Stars and Stripes. He sold his first freelance cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post after his discharge from the military in 1954.
Later in his career, some of Hart's cartoons had religious themes, a reflection of his own Christian faith. That sometimes led to controversy.
A strip published on Easter Sunday in 2001 drew protests from Jewish groups and led several newspapers to drop the strip. The cartoon depicted a menorah transforming into a cross, with accompanying text quoting some of Jesus Christ's dying words. Critics said it implied that Christianity supersedes Judaism.
Hart said he intended as a tribute to both faiths.
Besides his wife, Hart is survived by two daughters, Patti and Perri. He was a native of Endicott, about 135 miles northwest of New York City, and drew his comic strip at a studio in his home there until the day he died.
Funeral arrangements had not been announced.
Cartoonist Hart, Creator of 'B.C.,' Dies
Apr 8, 6:22 PM (ET)
ENDICOTT, N.Y. (AP) - Cartoonist Johnny Hart, whose award-winning "B.C." comic strip appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers worldwide, died at his home on Saturday. He was 76.
"He had a stroke," Hart's wife, Bobby, said on Sunday. "He died at his storyboard."
"B.C.," populated by prehistoric cavemen and dinosaurs, was launched in 1958 and eventually appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers with an audience of 100 million, according to Creators Syndicate, Inc., which distributes it.
After he graduated from Union-Endicott High School, Hart met Brant Parker, a young cartoonist who became a prime influence and co-creator with Hart of the "Wizard of Id" comic strip.
Hart enlisted in the Air Force and began producing cartoons for Pacific Stars and Stripes. He sold his first freelance cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post after his discharge from the military in 1954.
Later in his career, some of Hart's cartoons had religious themes, a reflection of his own Christian faith. That sometimes led to controversy.
A strip published on Easter Sunday in 2001 drew protests from Jewish groups and led several newspapers to drop the strip. The cartoon depicted a menorah transforming into a cross, with accompanying text quoting some of Jesus Christ's dying words. Critics said it implied that Christianity supersedes Judaism.
Hart said he intended as a tribute to both faiths.
Besides his wife, Hart is survived by two daughters, Patti and Perri. He was a native of Endicott, about 135 miles northwest of New York City, and drew his comic strip at a studio in his home there until the day he died.
Funeral arrangements had not been announced.
vegaslights
Brute
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
That's so sad. R.I.P. Johnny.
That's so sad. R.I.P. Johnny.
ladyhunter
Head of the Swing Shift
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
RIP Johnny
one of my favorites too
RIP Johnny
one of my favorites too
Dynamo1
Head of the Swing Shift
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
Artist Sol LeWitt Dies at 78
Apr 9, 12:01 AM (ET)
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Sol LeWitt, an artist known for his dynamic wall paintings and as a founder of minimal and conceptual art styles, died Sunday in New York, according to published reports.
The 78-year-old artist, who was born in Hartford and lived for the last two decades in Chester, Conn., died from complications from cancer, The New York Times and The Hartford Courant reported Monday.
Much of his art was based on variations of spheres, triangles and other basic geometric shapes. His sculptures commonly were based on cubes using precise, measured formats and carefully developed variations.
LeWitt preferred to let his work speak for itself and frequently avoided media attention.
"He never felt that art has to do with the personality of the person who made it," Andrea Miller-Keller, a former Hartford curator and longtime friend, told The Courant. "It's not about the star power but about the art."
By the mid-1960s, LeWitt had begun to experiment with wall drawings. The idea was considered radical, in part because he knew they would eventually be painted over and destroyed.
LeWitt believed that the idea of his work superseded the art itself, Miller-Keller said. "The essence of LeWitt's work is the original idea as formulated in the artist's mind."
LeWitt's first wall drawing, part of a 1968 display in New York, was so striking that the gallery owner couldn't bear to paint over it. She insisted the LeWitt come and do it himself, which he did without hesitation.
LeWitt completed a traditional art program at Syracuse University in 1949, telling a reporter years later that he studied art because he "didn't know what else to do."
LeWitt, born in Hartford, was in the U.S. Army for two years during the Korean War, serving in non-combat positions in California, Japan and Korea.
In 1953 he moved to New York and held a variety of short-term jobs, including working as a night receptionist at the Museum of Modern Art. His first solo art show was at the John Daniels Gallery in New York in 1965 and he taught at several New York art schools.
He lived for much of the 1980s in Spoleto, Italy, before returning to Connecticut in the late 1980s. He is survived by a wife, Carol, and two daughters.
Artist Sol LeWitt Dies at 78
Apr 9, 12:01 AM (ET)
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Sol LeWitt, an artist known for his dynamic wall paintings and as a founder of minimal and conceptual art styles, died Sunday in New York, according to published reports.
The 78-year-old artist, who was born in Hartford and lived for the last two decades in Chester, Conn., died from complications from cancer, The New York Times and The Hartford Courant reported Monday.
Much of his art was based on variations of spheres, triangles and other basic geometric shapes. His sculptures commonly were based on cubes using precise, measured formats and carefully developed variations.
LeWitt preferred to let his work speak for itself and frequently avoided media attention.
"He never felt that art has to do with the personality of the person who made it," Andrea Miller-Keller, a former Hartford curator and longtime friend, told The Courant. "It's not about the star power but about the art."
By the mid-1960s, LeWitt had begun to experiment with wall drawings. The idea was considered radical, in part because he knew they would eventually be painted over and destroyed.
LeWitt believed that the idea of his work superseded the art itself, Miller-Keller said. "The essence of LeWitt's work is the original idea as formulated in the artist's mind."
LeWitt's first wall drawing, part of a 1968 display in New York, was so striking that the gallery owner couldn't bear to paint over it. She insisted the LeWitt come and do it himself, which he did without hesitation.
LeWitt completed a traditional art program at Syracuse University in 1949, telling a reporter years later that he studied art because he "didn't know what else to do."
LeWitt, born in Hartford, was in the U.S. Army for two years during the Korean War, serving in non-combat positions in California, Japan and Korea.
In 1953 he moved to New York and held a variety of short-term jobs, including working as a night receptionist at the Museum of Modern Art. His first solo art show was at the John Daniels Gallery in New York in 1965 and he taught at several New York art schools.
He lived for much of the 1980s in Spoleto, Italy, before returning to Connecticut in the late 1980s. He is survived by a wife, Carol, and two daughters.
Dynamo1
Head of the Swing Shift
Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
Novelist Kurt Vonnegut Dies at Age 84
Apr 12, 6:28 AM (ET)
By CRISTIAN SALAZAR
NEW YORK (AP) - Kurt Vonnegut, the satirical novelist who captured the absurdity of war and questioned the advances of science in darkly humorous works such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle," died Wednesday. He was 84.
Vonnegut, who often marveled that he had lived so long despite his lifelong smoking habit, had suffered brain injuries after a fall at his Manhattan home weeks ago, said his wife, photographer Jill Krementz.
The author of at least 19 novels, many of them best-sellers, as well as dozens of short stories, essays and plays, Vonnegut relished the role of a social critic. Indianapolis, his hometown, declared 2007 as "The Year of Vonnegut" - an announcement he said left him "thunderstruck."
Novelist Kurt Vonnegut Dies at Age 84
Apr 12, 6:28 AM (ET)
By CRISTIAN SALAZAR
NEW YORK (AP) - Kurt Vonnegut, the satirical novelist who captured the absurdity of war and questioned the advances of science in darkly humorous works such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle," died Wednesday. He was 84.
Vonnegut, who often marveled that he had lived so long despite his lifelong smoking habit, had suffered brain injuries after a fall at his Manhattan home weeks ago, said his wife, photographer Jill Krementz.
The author of at least 19 novels, many of them best-sellers, as well as dozens of short stories, essays and plays, Vonnegut relished the role of a social critic. Indianapolis, his hometown, declared 2007 as "The Year of Vonnegut" - an announcement he said left him "thunderstruck."
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