Literotica Cemetary

[Violette]

Rapper O.D.B. Collapses, Dies in Studio


NEW YORK - The rap artist O.D.B., who lived a life as wild as his lyrics, collapsed and died inside a recording studio Saturday, his record label said. He was 35.


O.D.B. had complained of chest pains before collapsing at the Manhattan studio, according to a statement from Roc-a-Fella records.


O.D.B., also known as Ol' Dirty Bastard, Dirt McGirt or his legal name of Russell Jones, was a founding member of the hit rap group the Wu-Tang Clan in the early 1990s. With his offbeat, unorthodox delivery, he segued into a successful solo career and released several hit singles.


But he was frequently in trouble with the law, mostly for drug possession.


In February 1998, he crashed the stage at the Grammy Awards and hijacked a microphone from singer Shawn Colvin (news) as she accepted an award, apparently upset over losing the best rap album Grammy to Puff Daddy (news - web sites). He complained that he spent a lot of money for new clothes because he thought he was going to win. The rapper later apologized. Later in 1998, he was wounded in a shooting during a robbery in his apartment.


In 2001 he was sentenced to two to four years in prison for drug possession; plus two concurrent years for escaping from a rehab clinic. He was released in 2003 and immediately signed with Roc-a-Fella.


O.D.B. would have turned 36 on Monday.

 

[KindaKinky]

Actress Drew Barrymore's Father Dead at 72

57 minutes ago Entertainment - Reuters

By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - John Drew Barrymore (news), the reclusive and eccentric son of acting legend John Barrymore and father of Hollywood star Drew Barrymore, died on Monday, her spokesman said. He was 72.

"He was a cool cat. Please smile when you think of him," Drew Barrymore said in a statement issued through her spokesman, Chris Miller.

There was no immediate additional information about the circumstances of his death, including where or how he died.

Known for a rebellious streak that led to numerous scrapes with the law, friends and family, Barrymore had a sporadic film career that began with Hollywood films that included "The Big Night" (1951) and "While the City Sleeps" (1956).

He was the son of John Barrymore, through the actor's brief marriage to actress Dolores Costello. John Barrymore died at 60 in 1942 of pneumonia and cirrhosis of the liver.

John Drew Barrymore said he only remembered seeing his famous father once. His mother tried to stop him from entering the family business, acting, by sending him to a military academy. However, he dropped out and signed a movie contract at age 17, taking on acting roles for which he was not prepared and which other family members found embarrassing. He got into repeated fights during his career and was arrested several times for drug use, drunkenness and spousal abuse. He had a long estrangement from his children, Drew and a son, John, and at various times was reported to be living like a hermit, a derelict or a vagabond.

Drew's mother, Jaid, had left Barrymore by the time she was born in early 1975. Drew Barrymore once said in an interview that there were times when she did not know where her father was.
She said he was the sort of man who had not owned a pair of shoes in 40 years, did not believe in material possessions and often muttered Scripture to passersby. "My father was a junkie and an alcoholic for 30 years. Nice combo, huh? So that breeds (bad) behavior. It was hard for me to deal with growing up. It was chaotic and violent and scary," she once said.

In her memoirs, "Little Girl Lost," written when she was 14, she related how her father used to practice kung-fu moves on her. When she complained about the pain, he grabbed her hand and stuck it into the flame of a candle.

She told Rolling Stone magazine, when she had gained fame with "ET" at age 7, she threw a chair at him and didn't speak to him until she was 14. She also told Rolling Stone that in 1999 she was helping her father with his legal problems and had found him a place to stay where he could be looked after. "I can't tell his lucid states from his unlucid states -- it's all sort of amalgamated together.

"I think in every family, everyone probably sits in their head and just goes a little crazy every once in a while. My dad just happens to do it all of the time. Sometimes I have a sense of humor about it. Sometimes I don't."

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Best-Selling Novelist Arthur Hailey Dies

Nov 25, 1:57 PM (ET)

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - Arthur Hailey, the best-selling author who plucked characters from ordinary life and threw them into extraordinary ordeals, died in his home in the Bahamas, his wife said Thursday. He was 84.

Hailey died in his sleep Wednesday a few hours after having dinner with two of his six children at his home in Lyford Cay on New Providence island, his wife, Sheila, said. She said doctors believe he had a stroke.

"It is obviously a shock to wake up to, but it was peaceful," she said. "Arthur was a very humble man but was delighted with the letters he used to get from readers praising his books. He was incredibly proud of them."

The British-born writer's knack for turning the mundane into thrilling tales brought 11 books published in 40 countries and 38 languages, with 170 million copies in print.

He used the nitty-gritty of bank procedures and hotel management as backdrops for page-turning plots, preferring real-life characters like managers and doctors to vampires and spies.

"I don't think I really invented anybody," Hailey said in a 2001 interview with The Associated Press. "I have drawn on real life."

In the 1968 novel "Airport," for instance, manager Mel Bakersfield faces a crisis when a mad bomber boards a flight.

The characters of "Airport" later hit movie screens, with Burt Lancaster starring as Bakersfield and Dean Martin as a womanizing pilot. The film opened the door for other disaster movies of the 1970s.

Other novels made into movies include "Hotel,""Wheels,""The Moneychangers" and "Strong Medicine."

The 1980 spoof "Airplane!" was based on Hailey's serious television screenplay, "Flight Into Danger." He had no control over the movie because the rights had been sold, but said he enjoyed the film.

Born April 5, 1920, in Luton, England, Hailey had to stop school at 14 because his parents couldn't afford to send him beyond England's free education system. He served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II, flying patrol fighters in the Middle East and transport planes in India.

Hailey left England in 1947 for Canada, where he later received citizenship (while retaining his British citizenship) and worked as a sales promotion manager for a tractor-trailer manufacturer in Toronto.

He eventually quit to write television screenplays. The TV play "Flight Into Danger" was based on Hailey's in-flight experience of imagining what it would be like to have to take the controls if the two pilots became incapacitated.

"My mind has always been a storyteller's mind," Hailey told the AP in 2001.

His first novel, "The Final Diagnosis," was published in 1959 - about a hospital pathologist who causes an infant's death by mistake.

Sheila Hailey said her husband's memory began deteriorating after two heart surgeries in recent years and a stroke two months ago.

"I began to grieve about eight weeks ago for him. He was not the man I knew and loved," she said. "He was quite fearful of crossing the line between forgetfulness and Alzheimer's and it bothered him immensely."

She said her husband's body would be cremated in a private ceremony in Nassau this weekend. She and her four sons and two daughters plan a party to celebrate his life in January, as was his wish.

 

[cookiejar]

LOS ANGELES Nov 29, 2004 — John Drew Barrymore, the sometimes troubled heir to an acting dynasty and absent father of movie star Drew Barrymore, died Monday. He was 72.

"He was a cool cat. Please smile when you think of him," Drew Barrymore said in a statement issued by her publicist's office.

No information was released about the cause of death or where in Los Angeles he died.

John D. Barrymore was part of an acting clan that included his father, the famed stage and early film actor John Barrymore, and his father's siblings, Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore. Drew Barrymore was his daughter by his third wife, Ildiko Jaid Barrymore.


John D. Barrymore was born in Beverly Hills on June 4, 1932. His mother was actress Dolores Costello.

He started his career while a teenager, appearing professionally first as John Barrymore Jr. and then as John Drew Barrymore. He had movie roles in the 1950s in "The Sundowners," "High Lonesome," "Quebec," "The Big Night," "Thunderbirds" and "While the City Sleeps."

But along the way there were problems with drugs, drunken driving and violence, domestic and otherwise. By the early 1960s he had left Hollywood for Italy to work in European movies.

In a 1962 interview with The Associated Press in Rome he made no apologies for headline-grabbing street brawls there.

"I'm not a nice, clean-cut American kid at all," he said. "I'm just a human being. Those things just happen."

By 1964 he had been married twice, to Cara Williams and to Italian actress Gabriella Palazollo, and had returned to Hollywood after making more than a dozen films overseas none of them any good by his own estimation.

By then his billing had become John Drew Barrymore, perhaps to step out of his father's shadow.

"I don't mind if my acting is compared to him," he said in an AP interview. "The trouble is that people expect me to live like him."

Later, Barrymore had sporadic film and television roles.

As a teenage star battling alcoholism herself, Drew Barrymore wrote about her father in the memoir "Little Girl Lost." He was depicted as menacing, showing up only to abuse his daughter and former wife and ask for money.

"The little bit of relationship that there was was very abusive and just chaotic," Drew Barrymore told the AP in 1990. Still, she said, "I had this fantasy in my mind, that I was going to have 'Father Knows Best' walk through the door. I wanted that so bad, and I wasn't going to face reality that it wasn't going to happen."

John D. Barrymore is also survived by a son, John Barrymore III, by his first wife.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

'Passions' Star David Bailey Dies

http://images.ibsys.com/2004/1130/3959397.jpg

Actor David Bailey, a star of the NBC daytime drama "Passions," has died in an accidental drowning.

Bailey was 71.

The show reported Bailey died on Thanksgiving Day.

The veteran actor played ruthless Alistair Crane, who was in the "Passions" story since its debut in 1999 but was only heard and never seen until Bailey took the role and gave it a face in September.

"It is with great sadness that we learned of the sudden passing of David Bailey," said the executive producer Lisa de Cazotte in a statement on the show's Web site. "He was a man of great compassion and kindness as well as an extraordinary actor. "

The actor's other television credits included the daytime dramas "Another World" and "Ryan's Hope." He also had guest roles on the nighttime dramas "Law & Order" and "Kate & Allie."

Bailey is survived by his wife, Yvonne Bailey, of Philadelphia, and a son, Xander Bailey, of Los Angeles.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Oldest American Dies at Age 114 in Ohio

DES MOINES, Iowa (Dec. 2) - America's oldest person, a 114-year-old woman who voted in every election since women earned the right in 1920 and had the thinnest file in her doctor's office, has died.

Verona Johnston died Wednesday at home in Worthington, Ohio, said her daughter, Julie Johnson.

"She just wore out," Johnson said. "She was still very sharp up until a few months ago."

Johnston moved from her native Iowa to Ohio at age 98 to live with Johnson and her husband, both in their 80s. She still considered Iowa home.

Johnson said her mother was "ready to go," and that shortly before her death she said: "Dying is hard, but everyone has to do it, and I hope I do it well."

Johnston voted in every election since women earned the right in 1920, even casting an absentee ballot in November.

Johnston lived a wholesome life, rarely visited doctors and never used the deductible on her health insurance policy, relatives said. The secretary at her doctor's office said Johnston had the thinnest file on record.

Drake University recognized Johnston as its oldest graduate. Johnston attended the first Drake Relays in 1910, when tuition was $54 per year.

Johnston is survived by her four children, who are now all past 70.

The oldest living American is now Bettie Wilson of Mississippi, and Hendrikje Van Andel of the Netherlands is the world's oldest person, according to the Gerontology Research Group. Both are 114.

Van Andel was born June 29, 1890, and Wilson was born on Sept. 13 in that year.

 

[breakwall]

No mention of Pierre Berton?

...sigh.

 

[Moi]

Joseph Hansen

Mystery Novelist Joseph Hansen, 81, Dies




LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. - Joseph Hansen, a mystery novelist known for crisp, lean prose and for creating one of his genre's first gay protagonists in the character of Dave Brandstetter, has died at the age of 81.



Hansen died of heart failure at his home on Nov. 24, his family reported. He had long suffered from respiratory illness.


He had already published five novels and a collection of short stories dealing frankly with homosexual subject matter under the name James Colton when "Fadeout," the first of 12 Brandstetter mystery novels, was released in 1970.


Brandstetter was a tough, street-smart shamus who was typical of the genre in every way except one.


"My joke was to take the true hard-boiled character in American fiction tradition and make him homosexual," Hansen told the Orange County Register in 1998. "He was going to be a nice man, a good man, and he was doing to do his job well."


San Francisco lawyer Michael Nava, who writes a series of mysteries featuring gay attorney Henry Rios, credited Hansen as a pioneer.


"Not that he was just a good gay writer, but he is right up there with Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald in terms of being one of the great California mystery writers," Nava said.


In all, Hansen wrote nearly 40 books, including mainstream novels and a series of semi-autobiographical works based on his early years as a struggling writer. He also taught fiction workshops, published poems in The New Yorker and produced a local radio show in the 1960s called "Homosexuality Today."


Hansen's wife, Jane Bancroft, died in 1994. He once described their relationship as that of a gay man and woman who happened to love each other.


"Here was this remarkable person who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We were married 51 years. So something was right about it, however bizarre it may seem to the rest of the world," he said.


The couple had a daughter who later underwent gender reassignment. He is Hansen's only survivor.

 

[KindaKinky]

Guitarist, Four Others Die in Ohio Shooting

Entertainment - Reuters

By Jim Leckrone

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - A man charged on stage and opened fire at a heavy metal band and fans at a crowded bar, killing four people and wounding two others before being killed by police, officials said on Thursday.

Among the dead was "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, guitarist for the band Damageplan, who witnesses said appeared to have been singled out by the gunman and shot several times at close range.
Some witnesses told police the 25-year-old gunman, Nathan Gale of nearby Marysville, Ohio, shouted, "You broke up Pantera" before gunning down Abbott and firing at other band members and the crowd in the Wednesday night shooting.

Pantera was a hot Grammy-nominated 'thrash' metal band in the mid-1990s that Abbott, 38, and his brother, drummer Vinnie (Paul) Abbott, formed in the 1980s. The group, from Texas, had a bitter breakup after their last album in 2000, and the Abbotts formed Damageplan, which was on tour when the shooting happened.

"There was no connection between (Gale) and the band, at least formally. We do not know the motive and maybe never will. He is dead," Columbus Police spokesman Sgt. Brent Mall told reporters outside the club, the Alrosa Villa. Gale fired more than a dozen shots both at the band and the crowd of roughly 200 patrons, at one point stopping to reload his handgun with an ammunition clip, police said. A police officer confronted Gale as he held a hostage in a headlock and was apparently attempting to flee, Mall said. The officer, James Niggemeyer, killed Gale as the hostage, who was not harmed, struggled to get out of the way.

POLICEMAN SAVED LIVES

"We believe he saved other lives" by shooting the gunman, he said.

Two people who were wounded were taken to a hospital. The band was playing the first song of its set when the gunman, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, charged the stage and began shouting and shooting, witnesses said. Some members of the audience initially thought the intruder might have been part of the band's act.

Pantera topped the U.S. album charts with its 1994 release, "Far Beyond Driven," which also yielded a Grammy nomination.
"Dimebag" Abbott's guitar work made him a "seminal figure in modern speed metal" who influenced the likes of Kiss' Ace Frehley and the late Randy Rhoads of Ozzy Osbourne's band, said Michael Molenda, editor-in-chief at Guitar Player magazine.

In the early 1980s, speed metal became the most popular form of heavy metal in the American underground. Crossing the New Wave of British heavy metal with hardcore U.S. punk, speed metal was extremely fast, abrasive and technically demanding.

Led by Metallica (news - web sites), Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer, this new wave of metal bands stood in direct contrast with the pop-oriented "glam" metal that dominated the charts during the 1980s, and they cultivated dedicated followings, according to the Web site Allmusic.com.

Pantera's songs were played regularly at the arena of the National Hockey League Dallas Stars during the team's 1999 championship season, and the Abbott brothers were friends with several team members. Former hockey player Guy Carbonneau, the Stars assistant general manager, issued a statement saying: "I was horrified to hear the news of last night's events and it never ceases to amaze me how hurtful and violent people can be. My condolences go out to the family and I wish all of those involved a speedy recovery."

After Pantera's break-up, the brothers formed Damageplan with singer Pat Lachman and bassist Bob Zilla. The band's debut album, "New Found Power" -- hailed for its "violent dissonance" by Blender magazine -- hit No. 38 on the U.S. charts earlier this year.

(Additional reporting by Michael Conlon in Chicago, Dean Goodman in Los Angeles and Mark Babineck in Houston)

 

[JennyOmanHill]

'HILLBILLIES' SONGSTER DIES

December 10, 2004 --

JERRY Scoggins, who sang "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" that introduced the comical Clampett clan on "The Beverly Hillbillies," has died. He was 93.

Scoggins, the lead singer of the Cass County Boys, died Tuesday of natural causes.

In 1962, the country-and-western singer was working as a stockbroker and singing on weekends when he was asked to record a theme song for the pilot of the television series starring Buddy Ebsen.

 

[Moi]

NFL defensive great Reggie White dies at 43

CORNELIUS, N.C. (AP) -- Reggie White, a fearsome defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers and one of the NFL's greatest players, died Sunday, his wife said. He was 43.

The cause of death was not immediately known, however White had a respiratory ailment for several years that affected his sleep, according to Keith Johnson, a pastor serving as family spokesman. An autopsy was scheduled.

``Today our beloved husband, father and friend passed away,'' White's wife, Sara, said in a statement. ``His family appreciates your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of Reggie White. We want to thank you in advance for honoring our privacy.''

White died at Presbyterian Hospital, where he was taken after his wife called 911. A police officer was outside White's Tudor-style home in a gated community, and would not let a reporter approach the house.

A two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and ordained minister who was known as the ``Minister of Defense,'' White played a total of 15 years with Philadelphia, Green Bay and Carolina. He retired after the 2000 season as the NFL's all-time leader in sacks with 198. The mark has since been passed by Bruce Smith.

``Reggie White was a gentle warrior who will be remembered as one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history,'' NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. ``Equally as impressive as his achievements on the field was the positive impact he made off the field and the way he served as a positive influence on so many young people.''

A member of the NFL's 75th anniversary team, White was elected to the Pro Bowl a record 13 straight times from 1986-98. He was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 and 1998.




``A 43-year-old is not supposed to die in his sleep,'' Johnson said. ``It was not only unexpected, but it was also a complete surprise. Reggie wasn't a sick man ... he was vibrant. He had lots and lots of energy, lots of passion.''

Johnson is the head of Christian Athletes United for Spiritual Empowerment, a ministry that White helped found. He said White had gone to see the movie ``Fat Albert'' on Christmas night with family and friends.

``He was a family person, a person who liked to have fun. Obviously, we're all going to really miss him,'' Johnson said.

White and his wife had a son and a daughter: Jeremy, a freshman at Elon University, and Jecolia, a junior in high school.

After an All-American senior season at Tennessee, White began his pro career with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL in 1984. He joined the Philadelphia Eagles, who held his NFL rights, after the USFL folded in 1985. For eight years, he was as an integral piece in Philadelphia's ``Gang Green Defense.''

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie called White ``one of the greatest men ever to play the game of football'' and said his ``legacy on and off the football field will never be forgotten.''

White played a key role in free agency -- he was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the current system.

White signed as a free agent with Green Bay in 1993 for $17 million over four years. His signing, along with a trade for Brett Favre, helped make the Packers champions again. He was the first major black player to sign with the Packers as a free agent.

``He meant as much to us off the field as much as on it,'' said Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association. ``He had his name on the lawsuit and he didn't get one penny. That's just the type of guy he was. His character, his integrity was everything any NFL player should aspire to be.''

His decision to choose the Packers was a surprise. While visiting various teams, he suggested he would prefer a major city, where he could minister to black youth.

``That's what changed the football fortunes of this franchise. It was huge,'' Packers president Bob Harlan said Sunday. ``Everyone thought the last place he would sign was Green Bay and it was monumental because not only did he sign but he recruited for Green Bay and got guys like Sean Jones to come here. He sent a message to the rest of the NFL that Green Bay was a great place to play.''

The Packers made consecutive Super Bowl appearances, including a win over New England in 1997, when White set a Super Bowl record with three sacks.

``He was just a wonderful player, first of all,'' said Seattle coach Mike Holmgren, who coached White at Green Bay. ``Then as a person, he was just the best. He was one of the leaders, along with Brett Favre, of our football team in Green Bay. I'm a better person for having been around Reggie White.''

White worked tirelessly in the offseason with inner-city youths. But his image was tarnished when he gave a speech in which he denounced homosexuality and used ethnic stereotypes. White later apologized.

White was 39 when he finished his NFL career with Carolina -- his third retirement. He retired for one day before the 1998 season, but then said God had told him he needed to play again, and he returned to the Packers.

White retired again after the 1998 season and took a year off from football. After the Packers allowed him out of his contract, White returned to play for the Panthers. His last season was disappointing. He recorded a career-low 5 1/2 sacks with only 27 tackles, and didn't show the same pass-rushing skills that made him such a force.

``I will always miss the locker room and the guys, but I know God's will for me to move on to other challenges because it's not in me like it used to be,'' White said at the time.

White spent eight years with the Eagles and six with the Packers before a final one with the Panthers.

``I had the utmost respect for Reggie White as a player,'' Favre said. ``He may have been best player I've ever seen and certainly was the best I've ever played with or against.''

Remarkably durable, White missed only one game in his last 12 seasons and started all but three games during that span.

``Reggie's records and accomplishments say it all,'' George Seifert, who coached him on the Panthers, once said. ``He is a Hall of Fame player and possibly the best defensive lineman ever to play the game.''

The A.L. Jinwright Funeral Service in Charlotte is handling arrangements.

Associated Press Writer Martha Waggoner in Raleigh and AP Sports Writers Dave Goldberg in New York, Arnie Stapleton in Wisconsin and Tim Korte in Seattle contributed to this report.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

The year isn't over yet

But thought I'd post this listing I found, courtesy of Associated Press.

Elma Lewis, 82. Her work as a fine arts teacher in Boston's black community won her a ''genius grant'' and a presidential arts medal. Jan. 1.

Etta Moten, 102. Pioneering black actress-singer; featured in show-stopping ''Carioca'' number in Astaire-Rogers film ''Flying Down to Rio.'' Jan. 2.

Lynn Cartwright, 76. Veteran actress; portrayed the older Geena Davis character in ''A League of Their Own.'' Jan. 2.

Beatrice Winde, 79. Tony Award-nominated actress (Melvin Van Peebles' ''Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death,'' 1971.) Jan. 3.

Brian Gibson, 59. Director of acclaimed films including ''What's Love Got To Do with It?'' Jan. 4. Cancer.

John Toland, 91. Won 1971 Pulitzer for nonfiction for ''The Rising Sun,'' on the Japanese empire during World War II. Jan. 4.

Jake Hess, 76. Grammy-winning singer in gospel quartets; influenced Elvis Presley. Jan. 4.

Joan Aiken, 79. Children's book author (''The Wolves of Willoughby Chase''). Jan. 4.

Kiharu Nakamura, 90. Wrote about her experiences as a geisha; consultant on movies, plays. Jan. 5.

Thomas G. Stockham Jr., 70. Engineer, won technical Oscar for research in digital-sound recording. Jan. 6.

Francesco Scavullo, 82. Fashion photographer who made beautiful women even more so; shot many Cosmopolitan covers. Jan. 6.

Ingrid Thulin, 77. Swedish actress acclaimed for work with Ingmar Bergman (''Wild Strawberries''). Jan. 7.

John A. Gambling, 73. New York broadcaster whose ''Rambling with Gambling'' show, passed from his father to him to his son, extended for decades. Jan. 8.

Philip Geyelin, 80. Pulitzer-winning journalist, credited with turning Washington Post editorial page against Vietnam War. Jan. 9.

Elizabeth Pfohl Campbell, 101. Founded WETA, Washington's first PBS station. Jan. 9.

Georgette Klinger, 88. Beauty expert who treated skin as a living organ. Jan. 9.

Alexandra Ripley, 70. Novelist selected by Margaret Mitchell's estate to write ''Scarlett,'' 1991 ''Gone With the Wind'' sequel. Jan. 10.

Spalding Gray, 62. Actor-writer who laid bare his life in acclaimed monologues like ''Swimming to Cambodia.'' Jan. 10. Apparent suicide.

Max Duane Barnes, 67. Country songwriter, wrote for greats like George Jones. Jan. 11.

Randy VanWarmer, 48. Had 1979 hit ''Just When I Needed You Most,'' then a successful Nashville songwriter. Jan. 12. Leukemia.

Uta Hagen, 84. Actress who dazzled Broadway for more than 50 years; was brutal Martha in Edward Albee's ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' Jan. 14.

Ron O'Neal, 66. His role as cocaine dealer Youngblood Priest in ''Superfly'' epitomized ''blaxploitation'' films. Jan. 14.

Olivia Goldsmith, 54. Her novel ''The First Wives Club'' became a revenge fantasy for abandoned wives. Jan. 15. Complications of plastic surgery.

Noble Willingham, 72. Played saloon owner in ''Walker, Texas Ranger''; ran unsuccessfully for Congress. Jan. 17.

Ray Stark, 88. Hollywood power broker; produced ''Funny Girl,'' ''The Way We Were.'' Jan. 17.

Jerry Nachman, 57. Colorful, award-winning journalist; editor of the New York Post, later vice president and host on MSNBC. Jan. 20. Cancer.

George Woodbridge, 73. Illustrator for Mad magazine for nearly 50 years. Jan. 20.

Bernard Punsly, 80. Last surviving member of movies' ''Dead End Kids.'' Jan. 20.

Billy May, 87. Grammy-winning composer, trumpeter; arranged such standards as ''Take the `A' Train.'' Jan. 22.

Ann Miller, 81. She fast-tapped her way to immortality in musicals like ''Easter Parade'' and ''Kiss Me Kate''; dazzled Broadway in ''Sugar Babies.'' Jan. 22.

Milt Bernhart, 77. Big band trombonist known for solo on Frank Sinatra's ''I've Got You Under My Skin.'' Jan. 22.

Bob Keeshan, 76. He gently entertained generations of youngsters as TV's mustachioed Captain Kangaroo and became an outspoken opponent of violence in children's television. Jan. 23.

Helmut Newton, 83. Acclaimed fashion photographer, explored gender roles and an icy sexuality. Jan. 23.

Eddie Clontz, 56. King of the supermarket tabloids as editor of Weekly World News. Jan. 26. Diabetes.

Jack Paar, 85. Made the ''The Tonight Show'' the talk show everybody talked about, setting the stage for Johnny Carson and others to follow. Jan. 27.

H.B. ''Hard-Boiled'' Haggerty, 78. Professional wrestler turned snarling actor and stuntman. Jan. 27.

M.M. Kaye, 95. British author of sumptuous best seller ''The Far Pavilions.'' Jan. 29.

Janet Frame, 79. Overcame mental illness to become one of New Zealand's top authors. Jan. 29.

Mary-Ellis Bunim, 57. Reality TV pioneer with MTV's ''The Real World.'' Jan. 29. Breast cancer.

Malachi Favors, 76. Jazz bassist; played with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Ensemble of Chicago. Jan. 30.

Frank Mantooth, 56. Grammy-nominated jazz musician. Jan. 30.

Robert Harth, 47. Led Carnegie Hall into an adventurous new era. Jan. 30. Heart attack.

Frances Partridge, 103. British diarist, part of the literary Bloomsbury Group. Feb. 5.

Robert Colesberry Jr., 57. Co-created the HBO drama ''The Wire'' and played a detective in it. Feb. 9. Complications from heart surgery.

Jan Miner, 86. New York stage actress best known as Madge the manicurist in Palmolive television ads. Feb. 15.

Frank del Olmo, 55. Pulitzer-winning Los Angeles Times reporter and editor, voice for Hispanics. Feb. 19. Apparent heart attack.

Don Cornell, 84. Big band singer; hits included ''It Isn't Fair.'' Feb. 23.

John Randolph, 88. Tony-winning character actor (''Broadway Bound''); Roseanne's father in ''Roseanne.'' Feb. 24.

Daniel J. Boorstin, 89. Former Librarian of Congress; million-selling historian, social critic. Feb. 28.

Jerome Lawrence, 88. Writer for stage, radio and screen, including ''Inherit the Wind,'' ''Mame.'' Feb. 29.

Mercedes McCambridge, 87. Oscar-winning actress; provided demon-possessed girl's voice in ''The Exorcist.'' March 2.

Frances Dee, 94. Actress; co-starred in the 1930s and '40s with Katharine Hepburn, Gary Cooper and her husband, Joel McCrea. March 6.

Paul Winfield, 62. Oscar-nominated stage, screen actor (''Sounder''). March 7.

Robert Pastorelli, 49. Played screwball house painter Eldin on ''Murphy Brown.'' March 8. Accidental heroin overdose.

Dave Blood, 47. Bassist with 1980s punk band the Dead Milkmen (''Punk Rock Girl.'') March 10. Suicide.

Genevieve, 83. French-born chanteuse whose mangled English was a running gag on Jack Paar's ''The Tonight Show.'' March 14.

Nathan Heard, 67. Author whose novels (''A Cold Fire Burning'') drew from his experiences in prison and on the streets of Newark, N.J. March 16.

John ''J.J.'' Jackson, 62. Helped usher in music video era as early MTV personality. March 17.

Jan Sterling, 82. Cool, conniving movie blonde of 1940s and '50s (''The High and the Mighty''). March 26.

Jan Berry, 62. Half of surf music duo Jan & Dean (''Dead Man's Curve,'' ''The Little Old Lady from Pasadena''). March 26.

Adan Sanchez, 19. Rising Mexican singer, son of balladeer Marcelino ''Chalino'' Sanchez. March 27. Car accident.

Sir Peter Ustinov, 82. Won two Oscars for an acting career that ranged from the evil emperor Nero in ''Quo Vadis'' to Agatha Christie detective Hercule Poirot. March 28.

Art James, 74. Announcer or host for a dozen TV game shows. March 28.

Alistair Cooke, 95. Urbane host of television's ''Masterpiece Theatre''; interpreter of U.S. culture for decades on BBC's ''Letter from America.'' March 30.

Carrie Snodgress, 57. Oscar-nominated actress (''Diary of a Mad Housewife''). April 1. Heart failure while awaiting liver transplant.

Pierre Koenig, 78. Innovative Los Angeles architect. April 4.

Harry Babbitt, 90. Vocalist with the Kay Kyser big band (''The White Cliffs of Dover''). April 9.

Norris McWhirter, 78. Co-founder of Guinness Book of Records. April 19.

Mary Selway, 68. Casting director (''Raiders of the Lost Ark,'' ''Gosford Park''). April 21.

Jose Giovanni, 80. French filmmaker; hit crime movies featured stars such as Jean-Paul Belmondo. April 24.

Estee Lauder, 97. Built multimillion-dollar cosmetics empire. April 24.

Hubert Selby Jr., 75. Wrote acclaimed 1964 novel ''Last Exit to Brooklyn.'' April 26.

Gilbert Lani Kauhi, 66. Jack Lord's burly sidekick on ''Hawaii Five-0.'' May 3.

Tage P. Frid, 88. Dubbed ''dean of American woodworking.'' May 4.

Rudy Maugeri, 73. Founder of 1950s group The Crew-Cuts; had a string of hits covering R&B songs. May 7.

Alan King, 76. Witty comedian, known for tirades against everyday suburban life. May 9.

Brenda Fassie, 39. South Africa's first black pop star; gave voice to disenfranchised during apartheid. May 9. Asthma.

Olive Osmond, 79. Mother of the performing Osmonds. May 9.

Phil Gersh, 92. Agent; represented Humphrey Bogart, other top stars. May 10.

John Whitehead, 55. R&B artist best known for 1979 hit ''Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now.'' May 11. Shot to death.

Syd Hoff, 91. New Yorker cartoonist; author of ''Sammy the Seal,'' ''Danny and the Dinosaur.'' May 12.

Floyd Kalber, 79. Popular Chicago anchorman; had stint on ''Today.'' May 13.

Anna Lee, 91. Film, television actress (''How Green Was My Valley,'' ''General Hospital.'') May 14.

June Taylor, 86. Emmy-winning television choreographer, founder of June Taylor Dancers. May 17.

Tony Randall, 84. Comic actor; the fastidious Felix Unger in ''The Odd Couple'' and fussbudget pal in several Rock Hudson-Doris Day movies. May 17.

Elvin Ray Jones, 76. Renowned jazz drummer; in John Coltrane's quartet. May 18.

Lincoln Kilpatrick, 72. Appeared in stage version of ''A Raisin in the Sun.'' May 18.

Roger W. Straus Jr., 87. Co-founded one of the great publishing houses, Farrar, Straus & Giroux. May 25.

Irene Manning, 81. Classically trained movie musical star (''Yankee Doodle Dandy,'' ''The Desert Song''). May 28.

William Manchester, 82. Historian who brought novelist's flair to biographies of such giants as Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy. June 1.

Nicolai Ghiaurov, 74. Bulgarian-born opera singer; one of great basses of his time. June 2.

Frances Shand Kydd, 67. Princess Diana's mother. June 3.

Nino Manfredi, 83. Italian film star, appeared in some of the finest Italian comedies of 1960s and 1970s. June 4.

Ronald Reagan, 93. Before entering politics, a popular Hollywood actor (''Knute Rockne: All-American,'' ''King's Row.'') June 5.

Barbara Whiting, 73. Actress in the 1940s and 1950s (''Junior Miss,'' TV's ''Those Whiting Girls.'') June 9.

Ray Charles, 73. Transcendent talent who erased musical boundaries with hits such as ''What'd I Say,'' ''Georgia on My Mind'' and ''I Can't Stop Loving You.'' June 10.

Egon von Furstenberg, 57. Known as ''prince of high fashion.'' June 11.

Mattie Stepanek, 13. Child poet whose inspirational verse made him a best-selling writer (''Heartsongs'') and a voice for muscular dystrophy sufferers. June 22.

Marlon Brando, 80. Revolutionized American acting with ''A Streetcar Named Desire''; created the iconic character of Vito Corleone in ''The Godfather.'' July 1.

Robert Burchfield, 81. Chief editor of Oxford English Dictionaries. July 5.

Syreeta Wright, 58. Motown recording artist and songwriter, teamed with ex-husband Stevie Wonder (''Signed, Sealed, Delivered''). July 6.

Jeff Smith, 65. Public television's ''Frugal Gourmet.'' July 7.

Isabel Sanford, 86. ''Weezie'' on ''The Jeffersons.'' July 9.

Carlo Di Palma, 79. Innovative cinematographer in films by Woody Allen (''Hannah and Her Sisters'') and Michelangelo Antonioni (''Blow-Up''). July 9.

Joe Gold, 82. Founded original Gold's Gym in 1965. July 11.

Arthur Kane, 55. Bassist for influential 1970s punk group New York Dolls. July 13. Leukemia.

Carlos Kleiber, 74. Celebrated German-born conductor. July 13

Bella Lewitzky, 88. Renowned choreographer, teacher. July 16.

David A. Wallace, 87. Influential urban planner who revived downtowns and waterfronts, notably Baltimore's Inner Harbor. July 19.

Irvin Shortess ''Shorty'' Yeaworth Jr., 78. Directed 1958 cult movie ''The Blob.'' July 19.

Jerry Goldsmith, 75. Oscar-, Emmy-winning composer for shows ranging from ''Star Trek'' to ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' July 21.

Illinois Jacquet, 81. Tenor saxophonist; played with nearly every jazz luminary of his time. July 22.

Eugene Roche, 75. Paunchy character actor; ''Ajax man'' in commercials. July 28.

Sam Edwards, 89. The town banker in ''Little House on the Prairie.'' July 28.

Virginia Grey, 87. Actress from 1920s (''Uncle Tom's Cabin'') to 1970s (''Airport''). July 31.

Don Tosti, 81. Musician, composer; blended jazz, boogie and blues to create the 1940s ''Pachuco'' sound. Aug. 2.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, 95. Acclaimed French photographer whose pictures defined the mid-20th century and inspired generations. Aug. 3.

Hunter Hancock, 88. Los Angeles disc jockey; championed rhythm and blues, early rock 'n' roll. Aug. 4.

Gloria Emerson, 75. New York Times correspondent in Vietnam; won National Book Award for ''Winners & Losers.'' Aug. 4.

Rick James, 56. Funk legend known for 1981 hit ''Super Freak.'' Aug. 6.

Fay Wray, 96. The damsel held atop the Empire State Building by the ape in ''King Kong.'' Aug. 8.

Leon Golub, 82. Artist who depicted scenes of war and oppression in large-scale figurative paintings. Aug. 8.

David Raksin, 92. Oscar-nominated composer; arranged music for Charlie Chaplin's ''Modern Times,'' wrote memorable theme for ''Laura.'' Aug. 9.

Julia Child, 91. She brought the intricacies of French cuisine to Americans through television and books. Aug. 13.

Czeslaw Milosz, 93. Polish poet and Nobel laureate known for his intellectual and emotional works about some of the worst cruelties of the 20th century. Aug. 14.

Neal Fredericks, 35. Cinematographer of the low-budget horror smash ''The Blair Witch Project.'' Aug. 14. Plane crash.

Elmer Bernstein, 82. Oscar-winning composer, scored such classics as ''To Kill a Mockingbird,'' ''The Great Escape.'' Aug. 18.

Al Dvorin, 81. Announcer who dispersed Presley fans with the phrase ''Elvis has left the building.'' Aug. 22.

Daniel Petrie, 83. Directed the movie version of ''A Raisin in the Sun,'' and won Emmy for ''Eleanor and Franklin.'' Aug. 22.

Laura Branigan, 47. Grammy-nominated pop singer known for 1982 platinum hit ''Gloria.'' Aug. 26. Brain aneurysm.

E. Fay Jones, 83. Architect; his Thorncrown Chapel in Arkansas honored as nation's top design of the 1980s. Aug. 30.

Frank Thomas, 92. One of Disney's top artists; animated the pups romantically nibbling spaghetti in ''Lady and the Tramp.'' Sept. 8.

Fred Ebb, about 76. Wrote lyrics for ''Chicago'' and ''Cabaret'' as well as ''New York, New York.'' Sept. 11.

Jerome Chodorov, 93. Playwright, co-author of ''My Sister Eileen''; later adapted it as the musical ''Wonderful Town.'' Sept. 12.

Kenny Buttrey, 59. Top Nashville session drummer; recorded hits with Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett. Sept. 12.

Johnny Ramone, 55. Co-founded the supremely influential punk band ''The Ramones.'' Sept. 15. Prostate cancer.

Virginia Hamilton Adair, 91. Poet; published her first collection of verse to acclaim at age 83 (''Ants on the Melon''). Sept. 16.

Marvin Mitchelson, 76. Hollywood divorce lawyer; pioneered the ''palimony'' concept. Sept. 18.

Russ Meyer, 82. Producer-director who helped spawn the ''skin flick'' - and later gained a measure of critical respect - for such films as ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' Sept. 18.

Skeeter Davis, 72. She topped the charts with ''The End of the World'' in 1963 and sang on the Grand Ole Opry for decades. Sept. 19.

Francoise Sagan, 69. French author, became famous in her teens for the best-selling ''Bonjour Tristesse.'' Sept. 24.

Marvin Davis, 79. Billionaire who owned 20th Century Fox in the 1980s. Sept. 25.

Ma Chengyuan, 77. Chinese museum official who saved priceless artifacts during the Cultural Revolution. Sept. 25.

Geoffrey Beene, 77. Award-winning designer whose classic styles put him at the forefront of American fashion. Sept. 28.

Scott Muni, 74. New York DJ whose encyclopedic knowledge of rock made him ''The Professor'' to generations of listeners. Sept. 28.

Richard Avedon, 81. Redefined fashion photography as an art form while achieving acclaim through his stark portraits of the powerful. Oct. 1.

Janet Leigh, 77. Wholesome beauty whose shocking murder in Hitchcock thriller ''Psycho'' is a landmark of film. Oct. 3.

Rodney Dangerfield, 82. The bug-eyed comic whose self-deprecating ''I don't get no respect'' brought him stardom in clubs, television and movies. Oct. 5.

Jacques Derrida, 74. World-renowned thinker who founded the school of literary analysis known as deconstructionism. Oct. 8.

Christopher Reeve, 52. ''Superman'' actor who became the nation's most recognizable spokesman for spinal cord research after a paralyzing accident. Oct. 10.

Betty Hill, 85. Her tale of being abducted by aliens became the subject of a best-selling book, TV movie. Oct. 17.

Anthony Hecht, 81. Won Pulitzer in poetry in 1968 for ''The Hard Hours.'' Oct. 20.

Robert Merrill, 87. Metropolitan Opera superstar with the velvet baritone, equally at home singing the national anthem at Yankee Stadium. Oct. 23.

Vaughn Meader, 68. Gained instant fame satirizing John Kennedy in the multimillion-selling album ''The First Family.'' Oct. 29.

Peggy Ryan, 80. Teamed with Donald O'Connor in movie musicals such as ''When Johnny Comes Marching Home.'' Oct. 30.

Theo van Gogh, 47. Outspoken Dutch filmmaker; great-grandnephew of Vincent. Nov. 2. Murdered, apparently by Islamic radicals.

Joe Bushkin, 87. Jazz pianist and songwriter, co-wrote early Frank Sinatra hit ''Oh! Look at Me Now.'' Nov. 3.

Howard Keel, 85. Broad-shouldered baritone in glittery MGM musicals (''Kiss Me Kate,'' ''Annie Get Your Gun''); later on ''Dallas.'' Nov. 7.

Ed Kemmer, 84. Intrepid Cmdr. Buzz Corry in the 1950s children's TV show ''Space Patrol.'' Nov. 9.

Iris Chang, 36. Best-selling author (''The Rape of Nanking''). Nov. 9. Suicide.

O.D.B., 35. The rapper (real name: Russell Jones) whose unique rhymes and wild lifestyle made him one of the most vivid characters in hip-hop. Nov. 13.

Harry Lampert, 88. Illustrator who created the superhero ''The Flash.'' Nov. 13

Cy Coleman, 75. Composer of Broadway musicals (''Sweet Charity,'' ''City of Angels''); pop songs (''The Best Is Yet to Come''). Nov. 18.

Terry Melcher, 62. Songwriter, record producer who aided the Byrds, Beach Boys; son of Doris day. Nov. 19.

Noel Perrin, 77. He catalogued his experiments in rural living in books such as ''First Person Rural.'' Nov. 21.

Larry Brown, 53. Author who wrote about the often rough, gritty lives of rural Southerners (''Big Bad Love,'' ''Dirty Work''). Nov. 24. Apparent heart attack.

Arthur Hailey, 84. Best-selling author of big novels (''Airport,'' ''Hotel''). Nov. 24.

David Bailey, 71. Veteran soap opera actor (''Another World,'' ''Passions''). Nov. 25.

Philippe de Broca, 71. French director whose 1960s films ''The Man from Rio'' and ''King of Hearts'' brought him wide renown. Nov. 26.

John Drew Barrymore, 72. The troubled heir to an acting dynasty; Drew's father. Nov. 29.

William Sackheim, 84. Television, movie writer and producer, involved in everything from ''Gidget'' to ''Rambo.'' Dec. 1.

Dame Alicia Markova, 94. One of the 20th century's greatest ballerinas, co-founder of English National Ballet. Dec. 2.

Mona Van Duyn, 83. Pulitzer-winning poet (''Near Changes''). Dec. 2.

Jerry Scoggins, 93. He sang ''The Ballad of Jed Clampett,'' theme song to ''The Beverly Hillbillies.'' Dec. 7.

David Brudnoy, 64. One of Boston's most recognized talk radio voices. Dec. 9.

''Dimebag'' Darrell Abbott, 38. Acclaimed guitarist with Grammy-nominated heavy-metal band Pantera, more recently Damageplan. Dec. 8. Shot to death during a performance.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Former Baltimore and Texas Manager Johnny Oates Dies

Dec 24, 12:47 PM (ET)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Johnny Oates, who managed the Texas Rangers to their first three postseason appearances, died early Friday. He was 58.

Oates was diagnosed with a brain tumor three years ago. His death was confirmed by John Blake, a former Rangers spokesman who worked for the organization when Oates coached in the '90s.

Oates also managed the Baltimore Orioles from 1991-94.

He spent six seasons with the Rangers, guiding them to the playoffs in 1996, '98 and '99, and shared the American League Manager of the Year award with New York's Joe Torre in 1996.

Oates resigned in 2001 after the Rangers lost 17 of their first 28 games despite the addition of $252 million free agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez. He compiled a regular season record of 797-746 and got his only postseason victory in 10 tries when the Rangers made their playoff debut, winning 6-2 at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 1, 1996. Texas lost the next three games and was swept by the Yankees in 1998 and '99.

Just over six months after leaving the Rangers, Oates was considering a return to managing when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor.

The tumor was removed in surgery in November 2001, and a wafer that delivered time-released chemotherapy was put in its place. But the tumor returned in April 2003.

Throughout his illness, Oates remained an upbeat and deeply spiritual man, thankful for the warning that he would likely die from the disease, but celebrating the chance to be with his wife, Gloria, of nearly 40 years, their three children and grandchildren.

"When you look at it, it's a blessing," he said in an April 2003 interview.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith dies

Dec. 19, 2004

Legendary British saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith, who played with a list of musicians that reads like a who’s who of the international jazz and rock music scene, has died of cancer.

Heckstall-Smith, born Richard Malden in Sept. 1934, played with the likes of John Mayall, Alexis Korner, Jack Bruce, Mick Jagger and Ginger Baker as well as fronting bands including Colosseum — an influential jazz/rock ensemble in the late 60s.

Bruce, bassist of the legendary Cream — one of the world’s first so-called super groups — described Heckstall-Smith as his “musical father.”

When Colosseum folded in 1971 Heckstall-Smith went solo and formed his own band Manchild which toured the United States supporting Fleetwood Mac and Deep Purple.

A severe spinal problem forced him to stop playing and touring for several years, but in 1981 he returned to the stage with a new band Mainsqueeze which toured supporting Bo Diddley.

Heckstall-Smith then directed his talents to Celtic folk music, African-influenced jazz and blues until illness struck again in 1992 in the shape of two severe strokes while on the operating table for a heart bypass operation.

In intensive care for six days and unable to even talk when he came round, he rehabilitated himself with children’s poetry.

A year later he was back in the studio with Bruce and in 1994 the original line-up of Colosseum reformed for a full-scale European tour the following year, releasing its first studio album for 27 years in 1997.

In his later years Heckstall-Smith divided his time between Colosseum and the hard-working Hamburg Blues Band.

His party piece was playing two horns at the same time.

In 2000 he returned to the studio again with a string of friends including Mayall, Bruce, one-time Rolling Stone Mick Taylor and Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green to record Blues and Beyond — a record he said he had always wanted to make.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Susan Sontag, Renowned Essayist and Intellectual, Is Dead at 71

28 Dec 2004

Susan Sontag, perhaps the most renowned American intellectual and essayist of the latter 20th century, and an occasional playwright and theatre director, died Dec. 27 at New York City's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the New York Times reported.

The cause was complications of acute myelogenous leukemia. Ms. Sontag had been suffering from cancer on and off for 30 years.

Ms. Sontag was the rare intellectual who achieved public fame and popular acclaim. A striking woman whose mane of dark hair was bisected by a dramatic streak of white, she was known to the small readership of the high brow journal Partisan Review and the vast audiences of "Bull Durham" (where her work is a bone of contention between the characters played by Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon) and Woody Allen's "Zelig" (in which she appeared as herself).

"A lot of my early life was spent in the theatre," she told Time Out New York in a 2000 interview. "I actually did community theatre in Tucson when I was a child. The first long thing I wrote as a child was a play. Now I want to write more plays. And I love actors. And I direct. Not my own work, however."

In August 1993, Susan Sontag made headlines by staging a production of Waiting for Godot at the Youth Theatre in Sarajevo while that city was under siege by Serb forces and subject to daily shelling and sniper fire. Local actors were used and the stage was lit by candles. Ms. Sontag triple cast the leads of Vladimir and Estragon, using a male pair, a female pair and a mixed pair.

Her final novel, "In America," published in 2000, took as its hero the renowned Polish actress Helena Modrzejewska, who emigrated to America in 1876, touring the country and introducing audiences to Ibsen's A Doll's House. "I've always wanted to write a novel where the principal character was a performer, a woman, an actress, an opera singer, a dancer," Ms. Sontag said at the time. "So I wanted to write a theatre novel, and then I wanted to write a novel about people discovering America. So the two came together when I heard of this actress who came in the 1870s."

Susan Sontag's many well-known collections of essays include "Against Interpretation," "Under the Sign of Saturn," "On Photography," and "AIDS and Its Metaphors." After publishing the unread early novels "Death Kit" and "Benefactor" in the 1960s, she returned to the form in 1992 with "The Volcano Lover," earning a bestseller. "In America" did not sell as well, and was the target of accusations of plagarism; however, it won a National Book Award.

 

[Tati]

Jerry Orbach star of Law & Order dead at 69

Law & Order star Jerry Orbach has died of prostate cancer at the age of 69, his manager confirmed Wednesday.

Orbach died Tuesday night in Manhattan. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Orbach had been diagnosed with the disease, but his manager, Robert Malcolm, said at the time that the actor should be fine, that he was playing golf and continuing to shoot episodes of his TV program.

Orbach starred as the fast-talking Detective Lennie Briscoe for 12 seasons in the original Law & Order series (he joined the cast in 1992), but left to head the spinoff Law & Order: Trial by Jury, which was set to debut next year.

Born in the Bronx, Orbach (whose parents had showbiz aspirations) studied acting at Northwestern University but dropped out because he couldn't afford the tuition. Soon after, he landed a part in the landmark 1955 Greenwich Village production of The Threepenny Opera, in which he eventually played the lead character, Mack the Knife. He had started out as an understudy.

He followed that with another landmark, The Fantasticks, still the longest-running Off-Broadway show in history. In the musical fable, he introduced the hit song "Try to Remember." Orbach finally left that show in 1961 to make his uptown debut in the musical Carnival! – and with that he became a Broadway star.

Other smashes he starred in were the musicals Promises, Promises (in which he sang the title song and "What Do Get When You Fall in Love," among other Burt Bacharach-Hal David hits) and the original production of 42nd Street, in which he sang "The Lullaby of Broadway."

Orbach won a Tony award in 1969 for Promises, Promises and was also nominated for a Tony for his roles in both Chicago and Guys and Dolls.

"I really wanted to be a serious film actor like Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift," Orbach told PEOPLE in 2000, adding that his profile turned off producers. "They'd say, 'Your nose is too big, your eyes are too droopy. You're no Tyrone Power.' But because I could sing, I kept getting jobs in musicals."

Orbach's movie career was sporadic but memorable, and included roles in Sidney Lumet's 1981 Prince of the City, 1986's F/X, 1987's Dirty Dancing – and as the voice of Lumiere, inviting Belle to "Be Our Guest" in Disney's animated 1991 Beauty and the Beast.

In 1958, Orbach married his Threepenny Opera castmate Marta Curro and had two sons, Anthony and Christopher. The couple divorced in 1975. In 1979, Orbach married actress Elaine Cancilla, who, along with his sons, survive him.

 

[KindaKinky]

Lumiere has been snuffed out.

He used to bring his car in for servicing at Manhattan Auto Group on the west side. L&O probably filmed there a few times, too. (Sad to say, but he picked the right time to leave. It would be worse to try and write Briscoe's death into the show if he were still with L&O. But it will have to be mentioned.)

 

[sticky_keyboard]

Artie Shaw - The Big Band Era has died

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Legendary US bandleader and jazz clarinettist Artie Shaw, the big band era's reluctant "King of Swing," died at the age of 94, the manager of his orchestra said. Shaw, who dominated the 1930s and '40s band scene alongside the likes of Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey, died at his home in Newbury Park, near Los Angeles, Bill Curtis said.

Although Shaw turned his back on the music world 50 years ago, his death closes the chapter on the glamour and genius of the big band era. "Artie will always be remembered by musicians as the best clarinettist that has ever lived. Most would agree that he was ahead of his time by far, even ahead of the great Benny Goodman," Curtis said.

Shaw, considered to be one of the two finest jazz clarinettists, along with Goodman, will be best remembered by fans for his 1938 recording of composer Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine."

The tune transformed Shaw, a ladies' man who was married eight times including to movie legends Ava Gardner and Lana Turner, into the reluctant pop idol of his generation. After a temporary halt to his career in 1934, Shaw, a compulsive perfectionist, quit the music business and his beloved clarinet forever at the height of his popularity and musical superstardom in 1954.

"I was very uncomfortable," he said in an interview. "I played the role called Artie Shaw. People (ask) me for autographs, so I (say), 'I got out of the Artie Shaw business about 50 years ago,'" he said. He never fully returned to the business and instead focused on arranging music and writing novellas. Years later he allowed his orchestra to reform under his name.

Shaw, who was born in 1910 and raised in Connecticut, began playing the clarinet at the age of 14 and left school the following year to begin performing with bands across the United States. He studied the work of his early jazz idols, including Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer and Louis Armstrong, before moving to New York where he would find fame as a brilliant and innovative musician. His "Interlude in B Flat" of 1935 was the first piece of what became known as "Third Stream Music."

In the late 1930s, Shaw hired the then unknown blues singer Billie Holiday as his band's vocalist, becoming the first white bandleader to hire a black woman as a full-time singer.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Influential Guitarist Hank Garland Dies

UPDATED: 5:09 pm EST December 28, 2004

Hank Garland, a guitarist who was influential on early rock and roll, died Monday at the age of 74.

Garland died of a staph infection at a hospital in Orange Park, Fla., according to his brother.

Garland had his first million-selling hit at the age of 19 with the country classic, "Sugar Foot Rag." He also was responsible for the riffs on Elvis Presley's songs "Little Sister" and "A Big Hunk o' Love."

Garland also made the album "Jazz Winds from a New Direction," which is credited as the first jazz album ever made in Nashville.

Garland was playing on the soundtrack to the Presley movie "Follow That Dream" in 1961 when he was in a car accident that left him in a coma for months.

He had to relearn to walk, talk and play the guitar.

His family plans a private memorial service.

 

[Moi]

Frank Kelly Freas

Frank Kelly Freas passed away at 4:55 this morning. He was under hospice care and with his wife, Laura, at their Los Angeles home.

Kelly was an eleven time Hugo Award winning illustrator of cover and interior art for science fiction, fantasy, advertising, and MAD Magazine. Active in the science fiction field from 1950 until weeks before his death, Kelly illustrated stories by writers such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, A. E. Van Vogt, Poul Anderson, and Frederik Pohl.

A member of First Fandom and the Dorsai Irregulars, Kelly was an official NASA mission artist and his space posters hang in the Smithsonian. He was commissioned by the Skylab I astronauts to design their crew patch and did album and CD covers for Queen. In 2000 Kelly was elected a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists.

He painted beautiful women on the noses of World War II bombers, as well as portraits of five hundred saints for the Franciscans. He both wrote and illustrated the books The Astounding Fifties, Frank Kelly Freas: The art of Science Fiction, A Separate Star, and Frank Kelly Freas: As He Sees It.

Memorial details are unknown at this time.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

An original NY Met

December 30, 2004 -- Rod Kanehl, who hit the first grand slam in the history of the Mets, has died. He was 70.

Kanehl, whose hustle endeared him to the team's fans in the dismal first years of the franchise, died Dec. 14 after suffering a heart attack several days earlier, the Mets said. A memorial service is planned next week in Cathedral City, Calif.

Kanehl had spent eight years in the Yankees' minor league system when he joined the Mets in their inaugural season of 1962. A long shot to make the team, he won the heart of manager Casey Stengel by crashing through fences to catch balls and chasing everything, a quality that also made him a fan favorite on a team that lost a then-record 120 games that first year.

He spent three seasons with the Mets, the only major league team he played for, playing every position but pitcher and catcher.

He hit .241 with 23 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 47 RBIs and hit that first grand slam at the old Polo Grounds on July 6, 1962, in a 10-3 win over St. Louis. He had 17 stolen bases in three seasons, although it seemed like more - he ran the bases with the same abandon with which he chased balls in the outfield.

When Shea Stadium opened in 1964, Kanehl's final major league season, the first few banners paid tribute to "Hot Rod" Kanehl.

 

[stripperjenna]

Ya, we miss all of them. But we need to live in the future.

 

[sweet soft kiss]

Rosemary Kennedy

The Associated Press
Updated: 12:14 a.m. ET Jan. 8, 2005WASHINGTON - Rosemary Kennedy, the oldest sister of President John F. Kennedy and the inspiration for the Special Olympics, died Friday. She was 86.

Kennedy, the third child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy, was born mentally retarded and underwent a lobotomy when she was 23. She lived most of her life in a Jefferson, Wis., institution, the St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children.

She died in a Wisconsin hospital with her brother, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, and her sisters at her side, the family said.

“Rosemary was a lifelong jewel to every member of our family,” the family statement said. “From her earliest years, her mental retardation was a continuing inspiration to each of us and a powerful source of our family’s commitment to do all we can to help all persons with disabilities live full and productive lives.”

“We know our parents and our brothers and sister who have gone before us are welcoming her joyfully home to heaven,” the family said.

Inspired Special Olympics
Rosemary Kennedy’s condition became an inspiration to her younger sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who became an activist in the field of mental retardation. Shriver later founded the Special Olympics for mentally disabled athletes, and in 1984 she took over her sister’s care after their mother had a stroke.

While Rosemary remained largely out of the public eye for more than 40 years, her retardation became public in 1960, just after her brother John was elected president. The National Association for Retarded Children mentioned in a publication that the president-elect “has a mentally retarded sister who is in an institution in Wisconsin.”

The following year, Eunice revealed more about her sister’s story in an article for The Saturday Evening Post. “Early in life Rosemary was different,” she wrote. “She was slower to crawl, slower to walk and speak. ... Rosemary was mentally retarded.”

Born Rose Marie Kennedy on Sept. 13, 1918, in Boston, she was known as Rosemary or Rosie to friends and family. Her retardation may have stemmed from brain damage at birth.

But in her own diaries before the lobotomy she chronicled a life of tea dances, dress fittings, trips to Europe and a visit to the Roosevelt White House.

Preserved by her mother’s secretary, the diaries came to light in 1995, in a book. And while they revealed no great secrets, the three diaries — written between 1936 and 1938 — described people she met and concerts and operas she attended.

Lobotomized as a young woman
But as she got older, her father worried that his daughter’s mild condition would lead her into situations that could damage the family’s reputation.

“Rosemary was a woman, and there was a dread fear of pregnancy, disease and disgrace,” author Laurence Leamer wrote in an unauthorized Kennedy biography called “The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family.” He wrote that Rosemary had taken to sneaking out of the convent where she was staying at the time.

Doctors told Joseph Kennedy that a lobotomy, a medical procedure in which the frontal lobes of a patient’s brain are scraped away, would help his daughter and calm her mood swings that the family found difficult to handle at home.

Psychosurgery was in its infancy at the time, and only a few hundred lobotomies had been performed. The procedure was believed to be a way to relieve serious mental disorders. Leamer wrote that Rosemary was “probably the first person with mental retardation in America to receive a prefrontal lobotomy.”

Rosemary lived in several private institutions before her father placed her in St. Coletta, an hour west of Milwaukee. He oversaw construction of a private house there for Rosemary and two nurses. Later, the Kennedy family gave the institution $1 million, in honor of Rose Kennedy’s 93rd birthday.

“We are forever thankful to the loving members of the St. Coletta community who cared for Rosemary, loved her, and in a very real sense became extended members of our family,” the family statement said.

During the 1980s, Eunice involved Rosemary more in the lives of her siblings and their children. She attended family gatherings in Hyannis Port, Mass., New York and elsewhere more frequently than before.

 

[sticky_keyboard]

I was so surprised (many years ago) to learn that she lived right down the road from me.

FWIW, that isn't very far away from the school James Lovell's son attended, that is referenced in Apollo 13.

There's more to us than Cheese and Packers.

 

[sweet soft kiss]

I was so surprised (many years ago) to learn that she lived right down the road from me.

FWIW, that isn't very far away from the school James Lovell's son attended, that is referenced in Apollo 13.

There's more to us than Cheese and Packers.

But thats what we like best about you Badgers...