Literotica Cemetary

[JennyOmanHill]

Indiana Jones 'Temple Of Doom' Villain Dies

Veteran Actor Starred In Over 200 Films In India

POSTED: 12:45 pm EST January 13, 2005

The veteran character actor who played one of the chief villains opposite Harrison Ford in Steven Spielberg and George Lucas' classic adventure "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" has died.

According to the Hindustan Times online, Amrish Puri died Wednesday of a brain hemorrhage in his home country of India.

He was 72.

Puri played Mola Ram, the evil nemesis who attempted to pull the heart out of Indiana Jones (Ford) during a ritual -- and near the conclusion of the film, confronted the archeologist on a rope bridge.

While he is only known for that role to American film audiences, Puri starred in over 200 films in India, reported the Times.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

First African-American Congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm, dies at 80

(Daytona Beach, Florida) Jan. 3, 2005 - Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and an outspoken advocate for women and minorities during seven terms in the House, has died. She was 80. Chisholm reportedly died on Saturday near Daytona Beach after suffering several strokes in the past months.

Chisholm was raised in a predominantly black New York City neighborhood and was elected to the US House in 1968. She was a riveting speaker who often criticized Congress as being too clubby and unresponsive. Chisholm told voters her mouth was her "greatest political asset."

She went to Congress the same year Richard Nixon was elected to the White House and served until two years into Ronald Reagan's tenure as president.

Chisholm sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1972. When rival candidate and ideological opposite George Wallace was shot, she visited him in the hospital, an act that appalled her followers.

The president of the NAACP chapter of Flagler County, Florida, said of Chisholm, "She was our Moses that opened the Red Sea for us."

The Reverend Jesse Jackson called Chisholm a "woman of great courage" who "never stopped fighting."

Chisholm once said she wanted to be remembered as someone with guts.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Spencer Dryden

Jan 13, 2:17 PM (ET)

PETALUMA, Calif. (AP) - Spencer Dryden, the drummer for legendary rock band the Jefferson Airplane, has died of cancer. He was 66.

Dryden, who died at his home Tuesday, retired from performing 10 years ago, although he hadn't been working much before that.

"I'm gone," he told the San Francisco Chronicle last May. "I'm out of it. I've left the building."

A benefit concert last year featuring Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule and raised $36,000 for Dryden, who was in the middle of two hip replacement surgeries and was facing heart surgery at the time. His Petaluma home and all his possessions had been destroyed in a fire in September 2003. He also had been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Dryden was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 for his work with the Jefferson Airplane during the band's glory years - from the breakthrough 1967 "Surrealistic Pillow" album through historic rock festivals such as Woodstock and Altamont.

Born in New York City, Dryden moved with his parents when he was an infant to Los Angeles.

He attended Glendale High School and graduated from the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad in 1955. He played in some early rock bands but soon drifted toward jazz and was working as a drummer at the Hollywood strip club the Pink Pussycat when session drummer Earl Palmer recommended him to the Airplane's manager.

He replaced Skip Spence, who went on to start another Fillmore-era San Francisco rock group, Moby Grape. During his stint with the Airplane, Dryden had an affair with the band's female vocalist, Grace Slick, and his marriage to the former Sally Mann was covered extensively in Rolling Stone magazine. He left the band in 1970.

Dryden replaced Mickey Hart in the Grateful Dead sideline country-rock band, New Riders of the Purple Sage, in February 1971 and stayed with that group until 1978.

In the '80s, he joined a group of psychedelic rock veterans called the Dinosaurs that played informally around the San Francisco Bay area along with former members of Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Country Joe and the Fish. When the other band members reunited for a 1989 Jefferson Airplane reunion album and tour, Dryden was not invited.

He last appeared in public in November, after he was already being treated for cancer, signing autographs and shaking hands at a release party for the DVD of Jefferson Airplane video clips.

He was married three times and is survived by three sons; Jeffrey, Jes and Jackson Dryden. Plans for a memorial concert are pending.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Ex-Bread guitarist Griffin dies

Former guitarist for 1970s pop group Bread and Academy Award-winning songwriter Jimmy Griffin has died.

Griffin co-founded Bread who were responsible for hits such as Make It With You, Everything I Own and Baby I'm-A Want You.

In 1970 he earned an Oscar for co-writing the song For All We Know which featured on the soundtrack of the film Lovers and Other Strangers.

He died at his home in Nashville at the age of 61 after suffering from cancer.

Griffin was raised in Nashville, Tennessee and moved to California in the 1960s before releasing Bread's debut album with David Gates and Robb Royer.

He co-wrote For All We Know with Fred Karlin and fellow Bread member Robb Royer and it went on to become a top five hit for The Carpenters.

Griffin was also responsible for writing country hits such as Conway Twitty's Who's Gonna Know and Restless Heart's You Can Depend On Me.

He left soft-rock band Bread in 1973 but rejoined three years later before the band broke up in 1977. The group reformed for a world tour in 1997.

Griffin also formed the band Black Tie with former Eagles member Randy Meisner in the 1980s and a decade later was a regular member of country band the Remingtons.

 

[sweet soft kiss]

Actress Virginia Mayo Dead at 84 - Report
Mon Jan 17, 2005 09:48 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Virginia Mayo, a 1940s screen siren who co-starred opposite such greats as Danny Kaye and James Cagney, died near Los Angeles on Monday of pneumonia and heart failure, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site. She was 84.
Mayo, whose films included "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," "White Heat" and "The Best Years of Our Lives," died in a nursing home near her residence in Thousand Oaks, California, the newspaper quoted a family friend as saying.

Famed for her peaches-and-cream complexion and curvaceous figure, the St. Louis native appeared in more than 40 films during the 1940s and '50s, equally adept at comedies and dramas.

A former vaudeville performer, she made her Hollywood debut in the 1943 movie "Jack London," starring her future husband, Michael O'Shea.

She teamed with Kaye the following year in "Up in Arms," and they reunited over the next few years in "The Kid From Brooklyn," "A Song Is Born," and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."

Perhaps her most memorable role was as the unscrupulous wife of Cagney's gangster character in the 1949 crime melodrama "White Heat."

"Jimmy was the master actor, the most dynamic star the screen ever had," Mayo told the Los Angeles Times in 1981. "His acting was so real that I was really scared half the time we were on the set."

Her other credits included "Captain Horatio Hornblower" with Gregory Peck; "The Silver Chalice" with Paul Newman; and "The Flame and the Arrow" with Burt Lancaster.

After her career faded in the early 1960s, she did stage and dinner theater work. She was married to O'Shea from 1947 until his death in 1973. She is survived by a daughter, Mary Johnston

 

[sweet soft kiss]

Ruth Warrick, ''All My Children'' star and Susan Lucci mentor, dead at 88
By Desmond Butler, Associated Press, 1/17/2005 23:09



NEW YORK (AP) Ruth Warrick, the darling of the daytime soap opera ''All My Children'' who launched her career in Orson Welles' all-time classic ''Citizen Kane'' and became a mentor to Susan Lucci, has died, ABC-TV said Monday. She was 88.

Warrick died at her New York home Saturday of complications from pneumonia, ABC said.

In ''All My Children,'' which debuted in 1970, Warrick played Phoebe Tyler Wallingford, the grande dame of the fictitious affluent town of Pine Valley. She portrayed the meddlesome and over-the-top personality so believably that her fans often had trouble distinguishing between the stylish actress and her equally sophisticated character.

Twice nominated for an Emmy for the role, Warrick often talked about how Phoebe Tyler had become an integral part of her life.

''I understand her. I may not be all Phoebe, but she is all me,'' Warrick wrote in her autobiography, ''The Confessions of Phoebe Tyler.''

Producer Jorn Winther once said of the actress: ''Obviously Ruth and Phoebe are separate and unique, yet they have much in common. All I can say with confidence is that they are both great ladies and that I love them.''

Warrick received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the role. She made her final appearance less than two weeks ago to commemorate the show's 35th anniversary.

Lucci, who plays Erica Kane on ''All My Children,'' said Warrick was her first mentor.

''Over the years she not only shared with me her talent and grace, but she did so with the entire country,'' Lucci said in the ABC statement.

Warrick, born and raised in St. Joseph, Mo., left for New York after graduating from the University of Kansas City. Her interest in acting led her to the Mercury Theater troupe, headed by Welles.

She made her Hollywood debut in 1941 in ''Citizen Kane'' as Emily Norton Kane. Welles, who co-wrote, directed and starred in the film, hand-picked her for the role of his wife because he said there were no ''ladies in Hollywood'' who fit the bill.

In 1991, Warrick was honored with a caricature on the wall of the famous New York restaurant Sardi's in honor of the 50th anniversary of her performance in the film.

Warrick later appeared in other movies, including ''The Corsican Brothers,'' with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and ''The Great Bank Robbery.''

But television turned out to be her medium. Before landing the role of Phoebe Tyler, Warrick had the starring role in the series ''Father of the Bride'' and received an Emmy nomination for her role as Hannah Cord in the long-running ''Peyton Place.'' She also appeared in two other TV series ''As the World Turns,'' from 1956-60, and ''The Guiding Light,'' from 1953-54.

Warrick seemed to find her niche in the role of Phoebe Tyler. She said that it was Welles' ''compelling hand'' that was indirectly responsible for the character's development.

Besides her acting, Warrick had a strong commitment to the arts in education. She taught at Julia Richman High School in New York as part of former President Carter's City in Schools program and was a dropout prevention consultant for the Department of Labor under former President Kennedy and for former President Johnson's Job Training Corps.

She is survived by three children, a grandson and six great-grandchildren.

 

[RoryN]

Charlie Bell, former CEO of McDonald's, at age 44.

Had a big impact there. GoActiv Meal, bottled water, orange wedges for the kids, those little milk things, the salads, "I'm Lovin' It"...he was responsible for all the new stuff.

 

[Guest]

Also for the Lit cemetary...

my two fishies.

Not even 24 hours...poor little guys didn't even see it coming.

Imma make a new rule: no naming of the fishies until they survive their first full day.

 

[Monazwx]

VIRGINIA MAYO

One Classy Lady . . .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4183411.stm

 

[Monazwx]

Here's a pic for those who don't recognize the name;

http://www.dacre.org/stills/webm/May1480.jpg

 

[nike]

Actor Lamont Bentley Killed in Car Crash

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 19) - Lamont Bentley, who was a regular in the 1990s sitcom "Moesha" and appeared frequently in television and movies, was killed in a car crash, his manager said Wednesday.

Bentley died Tuesday night when his vehicle plunged off the San Diego Freeway, manager Susan Ferris said. He was the only person in the vehicle.

Bentley, 31, played Hakeem Campbell, the longtime friend of pop singer Brandy's character, Moesha Mitchell, in the UPN sitcom "Moesha."

Bentley had appeared in a number of films, including "The Wash" and "Tales From the Hood." He also played Tupac Shakur in the TV movie, "Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story," and had appeared in guest roles on "The Parkers," "NYPD Blue" and "Clueless."

The Milwaukee native and father of two daughters began his career after moving to Los Angeles with his mother, an aspiring singer.

"This is a big year for him," Ferris said. "We were very excited because he was coming into his own. It's like a candle being snuffed right out."


01/19/05 22:43 EST

 

[KindaKinky]

Re: Also for the Lit cemetary...

Originally posted by ourladyofthehighways
my two fishies.

Not even 24 hours...poor little guys didn't even see it coming.

Imma make a new rule: no naming of the fishies until they survive their first full day.

My condolences. What breed were they?

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Also for the Lit cemetary...

My condolences. What breed were they?

A goldfish and a black moore. You know, the kind that are really hard to kill...

But the snail is still kickin though!

 

[kuryakin]

LOS ANGELES - Johnny Carson, the "Tonight Show" TV host who served America a smooth nightcap of celebrity banter, droll comedy and heartland charm for 30 years, has died. He was 79.


Johnny Carson Dead at 79

 

[JennyOmanHill]

'Tell Laura I Love Her' Singer Dies

POSTED: 8:44 am EST January 28, 2005

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Singer Ray Peterson, who climbed the charts with the 1960 hit "Tell Laura I Love Her," has died.

A memorial chapel in Tennessee says Peterson, who had been suffering from cancer, died Tuesday and will be buried Friday.

He was 65.

Peterson began singing as a child and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18 to pursue his career.

Although he had a few songs that did well, his signature hit was "Tell Laura I Love Her."

The song told the tragic story of Tommy, who died in a stock car race that he entered to raise $1,000 to buy his girlfriend a wedding ring.

 

[sticky_keyboard]

John Vernon...You won't know his name but you know his voice

Actor John Vernon of 'Animal House' Dies

By LYNN ELBER

LOS ANGELES (AP) - John Vernon, a stage-trained character actor who played cunning villains in film and TV and made his comedy mark as Dean Wormer in ``National Lampoon's Animal House,'' has died. He was 72.

Vernon died at home in his sleep Tuesday following complications from Jan. 16 heart surgery, his daughter, Kate Vernon, said Thursday.

The Canadian-born actor found satisfaction in his varied career, his daughter said.

``He loved the comedy that he was able to do, but his training was in drama and he really enjoyed the dramatic roles,'' she said.

Movie fans may know him best for his role in ``Animal House'' as Dean Wormer, who is bent on expelling the hard-partying Delta fraternity house. The movie, starring John Belushi and Tim Matheson, is one of the most popular comedies ever made.

Born in 1932 in Montreal, Vernon studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He did repertory work in England and was heard off-screen as the voice of Big Brother in the 1956 film ``1984.''

Vernon went on to work with other celebrated filmmakers including Alfred Hitchcock (``Topaz,'' 1969); Don Siegel (``Dirty Harry,'' 1971), and Clint Eastwood (``The Outlaw Josey Wales,'' 1976).

His deep, menacing voice was custom-made for the many bad guys he played.

 

[sweet soft kiss]

Max Schmeling

BERLIN (Reuters) - Former world heavyweight champion Max Schmeling, who fought two unforgettable bouts with American Joe Louis in the 1930s and fell out of favor with the Nazis after resisting Hitler's embrace, has died at the age of 99.

The Max Schmeling Foundation in Hamburg said the boxer had died at his home in Hollenstedt on Wednesday and was buried in the small town south of Hamburg on Friday.

The wife of his close friend Herbert Woltmann said Schmeling, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday in September, never recovered from a bad cold at Christmas.

"Max Schmeling was an idol for generations," said Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of a man whose warm smile and bushy eyebrows were instantly recognizable, even to Germans born decades after his retirement in 1948.

"He has remained one of the most popular and beloved sportsmen in Germany, and not only because of his boxing accomplishments.

"He was a great star but it never went to his head. We will never forget him."

Schmeling won the vacant world title when he defeated Jack Sharkey in 1930 and his sensational knockout of "Brown Bomber" Louis in 1936 confirmed his position as one of the greatest boxers of his era.

The return fight two years later, won by Louis with a first round knockout, was promoted as a battle between Nazi Germany and the United States, although Schmeling was not a Nazi and had a Jewish trainer.

POST-WAR DEPRESSION

Schmeling was born on September 28, 1905, in the village of Klein Luckow, near Prenzlau, north of Berlin.

He started his career in 1923 and in the following year he was the German amateur light-heavyweight champion.

He dominated German boxing in the late 1920s just as the gloom of post-war depression was being thrown off. Berlin was dancing the Charleston and reveling in a more physical freedom.

In 1930 Schmeling was crowned world heavyweight champion in controversial fashion when Sharkey was disqualified for a low blow which sent Schmeling to the canvas in the fourth round.

Defeats by Max Baer and Steve Hamas followed and many wrote Schmeling off, but he recovered to beat them both and earn the right to challenge Louis.

The American was undefeated in 27 fights and regarded as unbeatable when Schmeling faced him in New York on June 9, 1936, and the German silenced 60,000 spectators by knocking Louis out with a fierce right in the 12th round.

Among the 1,200 telegrams of congratulation was one from Adolf Hitler. The dictator invited him for tea - just as then presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt had done in 1932.

Schmeling had no taste for politics or for the Nazis, who told him to get rid of his Jewish trainer Joe Jacobs and stop consorting with Jewish friends.

He complained to Hitler, and Jacobs stayed on. Schmeling secretly harbored Jewish friends during the Nazi anti-Jewish pogroms.

In a 1938 rematch against Louis, facing slogans demanding: "Boycott Nazi Schmeling," he was knocked out in the first round.

Later Schmeling was philosophical. "A victory against Louis might have set me up as the Nazis' 'model Aryan', he wrote.

SURVIVED WAR

Out of favor with Hitler, Schmeling became the only top sportsman to be drafted into the German army. He was injured, survived, but lost his property and wealth.

Schmeling struggled in the years after World War II. In need of money, he returned to the ring in 1947-48 before retiring at 43 with a record featuring 70 fights -- 56 wins including 38 inside the distance, 10 defeats and four draws.

He went into business and worked for Coca Cola, staying trim well into his 90s through a daily half-hour workout.

Even though he had long retreated from public view, he was recently voted as one of the top German sportsmen of the last century, taking sixth place in a ZDF television survey in which 100,000 viewers took part.

"He was a great sportsman and hugely popular," said Otto Schily, Germany's minister for sport.

"He left an enduring mark on the sport of boxing and made it popular in Germany. He'll be remembered for his fairness and great talent."

 

[nitengale]

Max Schmeling

Very interesting life he had...

 

[sweet soft kiss]

Re: Max Schmeling

Very interesting life he had...

Yes he did. Last month PBS showed and American Experiance documentary on Joe Louis and Schemling that was very enlightening.

 

[sweet soft kiss]

Ossie Davis

The Associated Press
Updated: 11:44 a.m. ET Feb. 4, 2005NEW YORK - Ossie Davis, the actor distinguished for roles dealing with racial injustice on stage, screen and in real life, has died, an aide said Friday. He was 87.

Davis, the husband and partner of actress Ruby Dee, was found dead Friday in his hotel room in Miami Beach, Fla., according to officials there. He was making a film called “Retirement,” said Arminda Thomas, who works in his office in suburban New Rochelle and confirmed the death.

Davis, who wrote, acted, directed and produced for the theater and Hollywood, was a central figure among black performers of the last five decades. He and Dee celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1998 with the publication of a dual autobiography, “In This Life Together.”

In Miami Beach, police spokesman Bobby Hernandez said Davis’ grandson called the police shortly before 7 a.m. when his grandfather would not open the door to his room at the Shore Club Hotel. Davis was found dead and there does not appear to be any foul play, Hernandez said.

Davis had just started his movie on Monday, said Michael Livingston, his Hollywood agent.

“I’m shocked,” Livingston said. “I’m absolutely shocked. He was the most wonderful man I’ve ever known. Such a classy, kindly man.” His wife had gone to New Zealand to make a movie there, Livingston said.

Performing partnership
Their partnership called to mind other performing couples, such as the Lunts, or Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. Davis and Dee first appeared together in the plays “Jeb,” in 1946, and “Anna Lucasta,” in 1946-47. Davis’ first film, “No Way Out” in 1950, was Dee’s fifth.

Both had key roles in the television series “Roots: The Next Generation” (1978), “Martin Luther King: The Dream and the Drum” (1986) and “The Stand” (1994). Davis appeared in three Spike Lee films, including “School Daze,” “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.” Dee also appeared in the latter two; among her best-known films was “A Raisin in the Sun,” in 1961.

In 2004, Davis and Dee were among the artists selected to receive the Kennedy Center Honors.

When not on stage or on camera, Davis and Dee were deeply involved in civil rights issues and efforts to promote the cause of blacks in the entertainment industry. They nearly ran afoul of the anti-Communist witch-hunts of the early 1950s, but were never openly accused of any wrongdoing.

Davis, the oldest of five children of a self-taught railroad builder and herb doctor, was born in tiny Cogdell, Ga., in 1917 and grew up in nearby Waycross and Valdosta. He left home in 1935, hitchhiking to Washington to enter Howard University, where he studied drama, intending to be a playwright.

His career as an actor began in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem, then the center of black culture in America. There, the young Davis met or mingled with some of the most influential figures of the time, including the preacher Father Divine, W.E.B. DuBois, A. Philip Randolph, Langston Hughes and Richard Wright.

He also had what he described in the book as a “flirtation with the Young Communist League,” which he said essentially ended with the onset of World War II. Davis spent nearly four years in service, mainly as a surgical technician in an Army hospital in Liberia, serving both wounded troops and local inhabitants.

Stage debut
Back in New York in 1946, Davis debuted on Broadway in “Jeb,” a play about a returning soldier. His co-star was Dee, whose budding stage career had paralleled his own. They had even appeared in different productions of the same play, “On Strivers Row,” in 1940.

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

As black performers, they found themselves caught up in the social unrest fomented by the then-new Cold War and the growing debate over social and racial justice in the United States.

“We young ones in the theater, trying to fathom even as we followed, were pulled this way and that by the swirling currents of these new dimensions of the Struggle,” Davis wrote in the joint autobiography.

He lined up with black socialist reformer DuBois and singer Paul Robeson, remaining fiercely loyal to the singer even after Robeson was denounced by other black political, sports and show business figures for his openly communist and pro-Soviet sympathies.

While Hollywood and, to a lesser extent, the New York theater world became engulfed in McCarthyism and red-baiting controversies, Davis and Dee emerged from the anti-communist fervor unscathed and, in Davis’ view, justifiably so.

“We’ve never been, to our knowledge, guilty of anything — other than being black — that might upset anybody,” he wrote.

Friend of Malcolm X
They were friends with baseball star Jackie Robinson and his wife, Rachel — Dee played her, opposite Robinson himself, in the 1950 movie, “The Jackie Robinson Story” — and with Malcolm X.

In the book, Davis told how a prior commitment caused them to miss the Harlem rally where Malcolm was assassinated in 1965. Davis delivered the eulogy at Malcolm’s funeral, and reprised it in a voice-over for the 1992 Spike Lee film, “Malcolm X.”

Along with film, stage and television, the couple’s careers extended to a radio show, “The Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee Story Hour,” that ran on 65 stations for four years in the mid-1970s, featuring a mix of black themes.

Both wrote plays and screenplays, and Davis directed several films, most notably “Cotton Comes to Harlem” (1970) and “Countdown at Kusini” (1976), in which he also appeared with Dee.

Other films in which Davis appeared include “The Cardinal” (1963), “The Hill” (1965), “Grumpy Old Men” (1993), “The Client” (1994) and “I’m Not Rappaport” (1996), a reprise of his stage role 10 years earlier.

On television, he appeared in “The Emperor Jones” (1955), “Freedom Road” (1979), “Miss Evers’ Boys” (1997) and “Twelve Angry Men” (1997). He was a cast member on “The Defenders” from 1963-65, and “Evening Shade” from 1990-94, among other shows.

Both Davis and Dee made numerous guest appearances on television shows.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Toronto's Dan Lee, 35, drew Nemo for Pixar

http://www.mda.dds.nl/nemo-nemo.jpg

Dan Lee, Canadian character designer at Pixar Animation Studios in Berkeley, Calif., who contributed to such blockbuster hits as Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc., died Jan. 15 from lung cancer. He was 35.

The Toronto-educated Lee had fought his illness for 17 months. He was a non-smoker and lived a healthy lifestyle that included bicycling to work, said his colleagues.

Lee began working at Pixar in 1996 and worked as a sketch artist, character designer and animator. He also worked on A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2.

Characters he designed for Finding Nemo were Nemo, Marlin, Bloat, Nemo's friends and the barracuda.

The film's director, Andrew Stanton, said Lee "really nailed Nemo right off the bat.

"Some designs need a lot of working and reworking to get them right, but with Nemo, he kind of discovered him quickly and we never changed it."

The youngest of four children born to Chinese immigrants, Lee was born in Montreal and grew up in Scarborough. He graduated from the animation program at Sheridan College and worked for a time at Kennedy Cartoons in Toronto.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Pulitzer Winning Playwright Arthur Miller Dies

Roxbury, Conn. -- Arthur Miller, the famed playwright who wrote the stage classic "Death of a Salesman," has died.

He was 89.

A Pulitzer prize winner, Miller died Thursday night at his Connecticut home of heart failure, his assistant, Julia Bolus, said Friday.

Miller's family was at his bedside, Bolus said.

Miller was born Arthur Asher Miller on Oct. 17, 1915, in New York. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for "Death of a Salesman" in 1949, when he was just 33 years old.

Its main character, Willy Loman, is his most famous fictional character and came to symbolize the American dream gone wrong.

In a 1988 interview, Miller said he "couldn't have predicted" the following that the play about a salesman would garner.

Among his most controversial works was the "The Crucible."

A drama about the Salem witch trials, "The Crucible" is his most frequently performed work. Its success has endured over the years, and even earned Miller an Oscar nomination for his film adaptation of the play in 1997.

The play first earned him a Tony Award in 1953.

"The Crucible" was inspired by the repressive political environment of McCarthyism. After it was produced, the U.S. State Department refused to renew Miller's passport.

Also, in 1956, Miller was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

He was convicted of contempt in 1957 after he refused to name anyone who may have communist sympathies. The conviction was overturned on appeal.

Miller's 1956 marriage to Marilyn Monroe pushed him further into the spotlight. They divorced in 1961.

Before Monroe, Miller was married from 1940 to 1956 to Mary Grace Slattery. That marriage ended on June 11, 1956, and he married Monroe 18 days later.

Miller married a third time, to photographer Inge Morath in 1962. The marriage lasted until her death, from cancer, in 2002.

Brian Dennehy is among the actors mourning the death of Miller, whose work he performed many times on stage.

Dennehy said it's like "a piece of the universe has been disassembled."

The actor won a Tony Award in 1999 while playing Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" on Broadway.

Dennehy told The Associated Press Radio that Loman is the best character he's ever played and that Miller hit upon themes in the play that affect audiences in ways Dennehy's never seen before.

He said Miller "has always been there for all of us" as an American icon, pointing out he means a "real icon," not somebody like Britney Spears.



Thank you, Mr. Miller, for so many great works of theatre! I'll never forget seeing Dustin Hoffman's "Death of a Salesman" and the late David Dukes and Amy Irving in "Broken Glass" (the play still haunts me). So much of your work will live on indefinitely.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Doobie Brothers Drummer Knudsen Dies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Keith Knudsen, the longtime Doobie Brothers drummer who was part of the band during a string of hits that included "Taking it to the Streets" and "Black Water," died of pneumonia Tuesday. He was 56.

Knudsen had been hospitalized for more than a month, according to the band's longtime manager Bruce Cohn.

"I just saw him Sunday, just before the Super Bowl," Cohn said. "He was in good spirits. He was weak, but he was OK."

Knudsen began drumming in eighth grade and joined the Doobie Brothers in 1974. "After a week's rehearsal, I went on the road with the band," Knudsen said in his biography on the band's Web site.

The Doobies were known for incorporating gospel and jazz stylings into popular hit songs. They also were well-regarded for their live performances. Their other hits included "China Grove" and "Jesus is Just Alright."

Knudsen played with the Doobies until the band's 1982 farewell tour. During the band's hiatus, Knudsen and bandmate John McFee formed the country rock group Southern Pacific, which released four albums and had several hits.

He rejoined the band full-time in 1993.

"He's going to be missed," said Tom Johnston, the band's founder. "We're going to miss him on drums. I'm going to miss him as a buddy."

Knudsen, who lived in Sonoma County's wine country, had cancer in 1995 Johnston said.

"It left him weak and I don't think he ever fully regained all his strength," Johnston said.

He said the band was currently performing about 100 concerts a year and is scheduled to release a new album this summer.

 

[MiloDRemix]

I truly lament the loss of Johnny Cash...

 

[Beco]

Re: Toronto's Dan Lee, 35, drew Nemo for Pixar

http://www.mda.dds.nl/nemo-nemo.jpg

Dan Lee, Canadian character designer at Pixar Animation Studios in Berkeley, Calif., who contributed to such blockbuster hits as Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc., died Jan. 15 from lung cancer. He was 35.

The Toronto-educated Lee had fought his illness for 17 months. He was a non-smoker and lived a healthy lifestyle that included bicycling to work, said his colleagues.

Lee began working at Pixar in 1996 and worked as a sketch artist, character designer and animator. He also worked on A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2.

Characters he designed for Finding Nemo were Nemo, Marlin, Bloat, Nemo's friends and the barracuda.

The film's director, Andrew Stanton, said Lee "really nailed Nemo right off the bat.

"Some designs need a lot of working and reworking to get them right, but with Nemo, he kind of discovered him quickly and we never changed it."

The youngest of four children born to Chinese immigrants, Lee was born in Montreal and grew up in Scarborough. He graduated from the animation program at Sheridan College and worked for a time at Kennedy Cartoons in Toronto.

it always freaks me out these non smokers who die of lung cancer, and so young, wow!