Literotica Cemetary

[JennyOmanHill]

Denis Quilley, 75, Actor of British Stage and Screen, Dies

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 7, 2003

LONDON, Oct. 6 — Denis Quilley, a booming-voiced British actor who starred in several major West End musicals and was a mainstay at the National Theater, died here on Sunday. He was 75.

The cause was cancer, the National Theater announced.

Mr. Quilley first became ill during the run of the National's recent revival of the 1930's Cole Porter musical "Anything Goes," and poor health prevented him from joining the cast when the production was transferred to the West End.

In 1980 he won the SWET (Society of West End Theaters) Award — the precursor to the Olivier, London's equivalent of the Tony — for playing the title role of the murderous barber in "Sweeney Todd," opposite Sheila Hancock, at the Theater Royal Drury Lane. Mr. Quilley returned to the same Stephen Sondheim musical, although in a different production, during the 1990's, in a National Theater revival that found him playing first Judge Turpin and eventually the title role again .

In 1990 and 1991 he appeared in London revivals of Sheridan's "School for Scandal" and Webster's "White Devil." Mr. Quilley starred with George Hearn in the 1986 London premiere of the Tony-winning musical "La Cage aux Folles," inheriting the role originated on Broadway by Gene Barry.

But he was also well known for his work in plays and the classics, more often than not at the National.

From 1971 to 1976, parts for the National included Macbeth, Caliban in "The Tempest," Jamie in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" alongside Laurence Olivier, and Claudius in "Hamlet."

In 2000 Mr. Quilley returned to "Hamlet," this time doubling as the Gravedigger and as an unusually humane Polonius. In 2001 he played Diana Rigg's suitor in the National premiere of Charlotte Jones's play "Humble Boy."

Mr. Quilley started his career at the Birmingham Repertory Theater in 1945. He had long runs on London's West End during the 1950's in "Wild Thyme" and "Grab Me a Gondola."

In 1977 he won his first SWET Award as the high-camp military man, Terri Dennis, in the Peter Nichols play-with-music "Privates on Parade." Mr. Quilley played Dennis again opposite John Cleese in the 1982 film version of "Privates." In 1978 he starred in the London stage premiere of "Deathtrap," Ira Levin's long-running Broadway thriller.

His films also include "Life at the Top," "Anne of the Thousand Days," "Murder on the Orient Express," "Mr. Johnson," and "King David." On televison he played Lord Curzon in "A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia," starring Ralph Fiennes.

Mr. Quilley is survived by his wife, Stella, a son and two daughters.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Florence Stanley, 79, an Actress, Is Dead

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 12, 2003

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 11 — Florence Stanley, who played the gravel-voiced Bernice Fish on the television sitcom "Barney Miller" and its spinoff series, "Fish," died on Oct. 3 in Los Angeles. She was 79.

The cause was a stroke, said her husband, Martin Newman.

In "Barney Miller," which showcased the kooky goings-on at a New York City precinct house, Ms. Stanley played the wife of Abe Vigoda's character, Detective Phil Fish. Mr. Vigoda's character was so popular that in 1977 a series called "Fish" was created in which the couple reared five foster children.

Ms. Stanley also appeared in the short-lived series "Joe and Sons."

She began her career on the stage. She was in the original Broadway cast of Neil Simon's "Prisoner of Second Avenue" in 1971 and was in the Manhattan Theater Club's 1994 production of "What's Wrong With This Picture?"

On film, Ms. Stanley appeared in "Down With Love" this year and was the voice of a character in the 2001 animated Disney film "Atlantis: The Lost Empire."

In addition to her husband, Ms. Stanley is survived by two children and two grandchildren.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

As already mentioned in another thread

Bill Shoemaker Dead At 72

SAN MARINO, Calif., Oct. 12, 2003

(AP) Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker, whose 8,883 victories are the second-most in thoroughbred racing history, died Sunday. He was 72.

Shoemaker died in his sleep at his suburban home near Santa Anita racetrack, according to longtime friend and trainer Paddy Gallagher.

He had been paralyzed from the neck down since 1991, when his car veered off the freeway in San Dimas, Calif., about 30 miles from Los Angeles.

Only 4-foot-11, the superb athlete known simply as "The Shoe" throughout his career, rode for 41 years, most of them in Southern California, considered to be the most competitive circuit in America.

In 1986, at age 54, he became the oldest jockey to win a Kentucky Derby when he guided Ferdinand along a small opening on the rail and on to victory in a ride considered one of the greatest ever.

That win came 21 years after his last previous Derby win, aboard Lucky Debonair in 1965. He won America's most famous race four times, including 1959 with Tomy Lee and 1955 with Swaps.

Perhaps his most famous Derby ride was one he lost, in 1957.

Dueling toward the finish line at Churchill Downs were Gallant Man, ridden by Shoemaker, and Iron Liege, ridden by Bill Hartack.

At the sixteenth pole, Shoemaker stood up, mistaking it for the finish line. He sat back down immediately but Gallant Man lost by a nose.

Shoemaker received a 15-day suspension from the stewards.

But Gallant Man's owner, Ralph Lowe, found no fault and gave Shoemaker $5,000 and a new car. Five weeks later, Shoemaker rode Gallant Man to an eight-length victory in the Belmont Stakes.

His last race came on Feb. 3, 1990, after a yearlong tour of racetracks in North America to exhibit his skill to fans who had never seen him. A crowd of 64,573 showed up at Santa Anita to see him and his mount, Patchy Groundfrog, finish fourth in a race that was televised nationally.

All told, in his 41 years, Shoemaker rode in a record 40,350 races. His 8,883 victories meant he was in the money about half the times he got on a horse.

 

[cookiejar]

LOS ANGELES - Jack Elam, a character actor and favorite Western villain who menaced good-guy cowboys with his crazy grin, wild eyes and remorseless gunslinging in films such as "Rawhide" and "Wichita," has died, a family friend said Tuesday.


Elam, who had been in declining health in recent years, died Monday afternoon at his home in Ashland, Ore., of unspecified illness, according to longtime friend Al Hassan.


Most biographies list the actor as 86 years old, but Hassan said he was actually 84, having lied about his age as a youngster to get work.


"He was cantankerous in a great way, in a funny way," Hassan said. "He smoked, drank, all that stuff. He lived one of the best lives I've ever seen."


Elam worked as a Hollywood accountant in the 1940s and had bit parts, usually uncredited, in the films "Trailin' West" (1949), "Quicksand" (1950) and "One Way Street" (1950).


He helped arrange financing for the Robert Preston (news) film "The Sundowners" in exchange for a larger role, as the husband of actress Cathy Downs. Then came a tough-guy part in 1951's "Rawhide," starring Tyrone Power (news), which helped make him a star.


Elam, born in Miami, Ariz., didn't always play the mean old hombre — he also found himself cast as dirty old men and harmless drunks, sometimes with a humorous bent in comedies like "Support Your Local Sheriff" and "The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County."


The actor's own cockeye was the result of a childhood fight in Phoenix. The way he told it, a fellow Boy Scout stabbed him in the left eye with a pencil during a scrape at a troop meeting. He remained blind in that eye, which wandered lazily around its socket.


Elam continued working into his later years in such films as "Suburban Commando" (1991) and the TV reunion shows "Bonanza: The Return" (1993) and "Bonanza: Under Fire" (1995), his last screen credit.


But he complained about the modern villains that evolved in the 1970s, who had shades of psychological problems behind their bad behavior. "The heavy today is usually not my kind of guy," he said in the Los Angeles Times in 1977.


"In the old days, Rory Calhoun was the hero because he was the hero and I was the heavy because I was the heavy — and nobody cared what my problem was. And I didn't either," he added. "I robbed the bank because I wanted the money ... I've played all kinds of weirdos but I've never done the quiet, sick type. I never had a problem — other than the fact I was just bad."



http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031022/capt.ny1410220435.obit_elam_ny14.jpg

 

[Moi]

Singer Elliott Smith Dead in Apparent LA Suicide!


By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Brooding singer-songwriter Elliott Smith (news), who earned an Oscar nomination and widespread notice for his 1997 single "Miss Misery" from the film "Good Will Hunting," has died at age 34 in an apparent suicide, officials said on Wednesday.





The body of the musician, who had appeared to have stabbed himself in the chest, was found by his live-in girlfriend at their Los Angeles home on Tuesday, city police spokeswoman Grace Brady said.


She said there was no sign of foul play and Smith's death was being treated as an apparent suicide, pending an investigation by the Los Angeles County Coroner.


Smith had battled drug and alcohol addiction for years, a subject he used as a metaphor in some of his songs. But Luke Woode, a DreamWorks Records executive who knew him, said Smith had been sober during the past year and seemed upbeat.


"He was in the middle of writing his next record. He had recorded a good chunk of it. He was incredibly optimistic," Woode told Reuters.


In an online interview with Salon.com in 2000, Smith acknowledged the attention focused on his melancholy persona, saying he was frequently asked "Why are you so sad?"


"Just because people have a range of emotions and thoughts ... sometimes they get ecstatically happy about something and at other times ridiculously depressed, doesn't mean that there's something wrong with them," he told the Web site.


DreamWorks Records, his label, said in a statement that Smith would be remembered as "perhaps his generation's most gifted songwriter. His enormous talent could change your life in a whisper. We will miss him."


The performer's touring guitarist, Shon Sullivan, called Smith a "musical genius" and "one of the sweetest people I've ever known."


"He played all the instruments on his records," Sullivan told Billboard.com. "Having him for a friend and playing in his band was one the highlights of my life."


Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Smith began writing songs at age 14 and started performing on the local music scene as a solo artist and with some friends in the rock band Heatmiser.


His debut solo album, "Roman Candle," was released in 1994, followed by two more LPs, "Elliott Smith" in 1995 and "Either/Or" in 1997, on the influential independent label Kill Rock Stars. He also recorded three albums with Heatmiser in the early 1990s.


But his breakthrough from folk-punk obscurity to mainstream success came in 1997 when filmmaker and fellow Portland resident Gus Van Sant (news) sought Smith's permission to use some of his songs in the film "Good Will Hunting," starring Matt Damon (news), Ben Affleck (news) and Robin Williams (news).


Smith agreed and composed a handful of new songs for the film, including "Miss Misery," which went on to garner an Academy Award nomination for best original song. Smith did not win but performed "Miss Misery" during the Oscar telecast in March 1998, taking the stage alongside country star Trisha Yearwood (news) and Canadian pop songstress Celine Dion (news), who sang the winning song, "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic."


Smith signed with DreamWorks in 1998 and quickly released his fourth solo album, "XO," named one of the year's top 20 albums by Spin magazine. The following year, his cover of the Beatles' "Because" was included on the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning film "American Beauty."


His latest album, "Figure 8," was issued in 2000, and Smith had begun writing songs for his sixth solo release, a planned double album, DreamWorks said.

 

[KindaKinky]

Rod Roddy…C'mon up

Originally posted by His_sugar
'Price Is Right' announcer dies

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) --Rod Roddy, the flashy-dressed announcer on "The Price Is Right" whose booming, jovial voice invited lucky audience members to "Come on down!" for nearly 20 years, died Monday. He was believed to have been 66.

Roddy, who suffered from colon and breast cancer, died at Century City Hospital, according to his longtime agent, Don Pitts. He had been hospitalized for two months.

"He had such a strong spirit. He just wouldn't give up," Pitts said Monday.

Roddy had been ill for more than two years but continued to work as much as possible and for as long as he could, said Bob Barker, host of "The Price Is Right." Roddy had been with the game show for 17 years.

"We all admired his courage," Barker said last week. "He was always upbeat and hopeful."

Barker recounted a recent visit to his friend: "I went to the hospital and sat on the edge of his bed and we laughed the whole time we were talking. He was still having fun."

Roddy's announcing stints included "Love Connection" (1981-1985) and "Press Your Luck" (1983-1986), but "The Price Is Right" earned him his greatest fame. "The Price Is Right" remains one of the television's most popular game shows, and Roddy, with his flamboyant sport coats and booming voice, was a big part of the success.

"He started wearing those jackets when he joined the show," Barker said. "He was quite a character. He was important to the success of the show. He had the spirit of 'The Price Is Right.' It's a fun show. We did it with the hope people will forget their problems for awhile."

Roddy, whose real name was Robert Ray Roddy, was born September 18, 1937, in Fort Worth, Texas, Pitts said. According to CBS, his birth year was 1936, which would make him 67.

He was a graduate of Texas Christian University and a popular disc jockey in Texas when he decided to expand his career in Hollywood, his agent recalled.

Roddy's versatility made him a popular voice-over artist for commercials in Los Angeles, Pitts said. He got his big break in television with the 1977-1981 satire "Soap."

Disc jockey Casey Kasem, who was the first announcer on the risque series, decided he did not want to stay with it and asked Pitts if he knew someone who could take over.

"I said, 'I've got a guy who's terrific,' " Pitts said. "Rod started with 'Soap' and then his career took off."

Roddy, who taped his last show about two months ago, had colon cancer surgery on September 11, 2001, and his left breast removed last March.

The diseases appeared under control following chemotherapy but flared up again, Pitts said. The two cancers, which Roddy had said were unconnected, prompted him to become a spokesman for early detection.

"I could have prevented all this with a colonoscopy and, of course, that's the campaign I've been on since I had the first surgery," he said in a recent interview on a CBS Web site.

Breast cancer, although typically associated with women, is diagnosed in about 1,500 American men a year, Roddy said in the CBS interview.

"To everybody out there, 'Get a mammogram!' It can happen to men, too," Roddy said in the interview.

Roddy was single. The only family member he talked about was his mother, who died several years ago, Pitts said.

Funeral plans were not immediately announced.

 

[Moi]

Harry Stubbs, better known to science fiction readers as Hal Clement, passed away in his sleep last night.
Harry Clement Stubbs was born in Somerville, Massachusetts on May 30, 1922 and grew up in the Boston area. He received a BS in astronomy from Harvard, a M.Ed. from Boston University and a MS in chemistry from Simmons College.

Hal entered the Army Air Corps Reserve in World War II, earned pilot wings and lieutenant's commission, and flew 35 combat missions as copilot and pilot in Liberator (B-24) bombers with the 8th Air Force. He was recalled to active duty in 1951, and served as a squadron executive officer and as a technical instructor. He retired from the service as a full colonel.

Harry Stubbs at Millennium Philcon in 2001
He taught high school science for forty years, two in a public school and 38 at Milton Academy in Milton Massachusetts, retiring in 1987.

Hal published numerous collections and 15 novels. The most recent, Noise, was released by Tor in September of this year. His first story, "Proof", appeared in the June 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, and his first novel, Needle was serialized there in 1949.

His best known novel was first published as the serial "Heavy Planet" in Astounding in 1953. Better known as Mission of Gravity, it is one of the seminal works of hard science fiction. It deals with a mission to a space probe that has crashed on Mesklin, a fast-rotating, massive planet where the effective gravity varies from three times that of Earth's, at the equator, to 700gs at the poles. Astounding also published a nonfiction article detailing the process by which Hal had figured out the physics, biology and chemistry of the world of Mesklin.

Hal's honors included being Guest of Honor at the 1991 World Science Fiction Convention, a 1996 retro-Hugo award for his 1945 short story "Uncommon Sense," induction in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1998, and receiving SFWA's Grand Master Award in 1999.

Services will be at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Milton, Massachusetts at 10Am on Saturday, November 1.

 

[70/30]

Gregory Hines passed much too early.

 

[LukkyKnight]

John Ritter 1948-2003
https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=196567

and

Johnny Cash 1932-2003 https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=196556

Dead Johns thread? Now that's an idea that fits at lit.

 

[Violette]

Gregory Hines passed much too early.

Much, MUCH too early...

 

[Spinaroonie]

I'm praying for the day that your sig joins this graveyard.

 

[KindaKinky]

Wasn't Jack Elam the doctor in The Cannonball Run? Burt Reynolds took one look at him and "holy shit!"

Makes you wonder what response he made the angels elicit.

 

[Moi]

Reds' Stenson killed in Arizona

CINCINNATI -- Reds outfielder Dernell Stenson was found shot and killed early Wednesday in Chandler, Ariz. Stenson, 25, was playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.
No motive was immediately determined for Stenson's shooting, which Chandler police are still investigating.

"We extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to Dernell's family and his friends, teammates and coaches," the Reds said in a statement.

Chandler police issued a news release stating that officers responded around 1:45 a.m. Wednesday to a call of shots being fired. Police then discovered Stenson's body lying in the roadway at the 2200 block of West Butler Drive. Stenson apparently had been shot and run over by a vehicle. Witnesses told police that a black sport utility vehicle was involved and seen leaving the area. Mesa (Ariz.) police found a vehicle matching that description in the area of Broadway and Extension streets at around 3:45 a.m. The car, a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo, was registered to Stenson out of Georgia, where he lived in LaGrange. The driver of the vehicle is being held by Chandler police.

Originally, Stenson wasn't slated to play in Arizona. He was added to the Scorpions' roster when outfielder Wily Mo Pena was granted his wish to play Winter League ball in the Dominican Republic after spending time at Cincinnati's instructional league camp in Florida. Stenson was thriving in the AFL, ranking third in the league with a .394 batting average and fourth with a .453 on-base percentage through 18 games.

Stenson, who the Reds claimed off waivers from Boston on Feb. 25, made his Major League debut this year after spending seven years in the Red Sox minor-league system. He was a Southern League All-Star with the Reds' Double-A Chattanooga affiliate, batting .306 with 14 home runs and 76 RBIs. He also hit .237 with five home runs and 14 RBIs in 17 games with Triple-A Louisville before being promoted to the Reds on Aug. 13. Appearing in 37 games, including 20 starts, Stenson batted .247 with three home runs and 13 RBIs for the Reds.

The AFL canceled Thursday's games in Stenson's memory.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Hatfield of Righteous Brothers Dies at 63

The Associated Press

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Nov. 6) - Bobby Hatfield, who with partner Bill Medley pioneered ''blue-eyed soul'' as the Righteous Brothers with hits like ''Unchained Melody'' and ''You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling,'' died Wednesday night of undetermined causes at a hotel, his manager said. He was 63.

Hatfield's body was discovered in his bed at 7 p.m. EST, a half-hour before the duo was to perform at Miller Auditorium on the Western Michigan University campus, manager David Cohen said.

''It's a shock, a real shock,'' Cohen said during a telephone interview. Medley, who teamed with Hatfield 42 years ago, was ''broken up. He's not even coherent,'' Cohen said.

Hatfield's body was taken from the hotel about 10 p.m. directly to Lansing, where an autopsy was to be performed, Joe Hakim, an executive with the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo, told the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Miller Auditorium executive director Bill Biddle told the audience at 7:05 p.m. that the 7:30 p.m. show had been canceled because of ''a personal emergency of an unspecified nature.''

Hatfield had been sleeping most of the day in his room, Hakim said. When he didn't answer a wakeup call about 6 p.m., hotel staff and authorities entered the room and found Hatfield's body.

The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Their signature 1964 single, ''You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling,'' has been cited by numerous sources as the most-programmed song in radio history. Later 1960s hits included ''Soul and Inspiration'' and ''Unchained Melody.''

Robert Lee Hatfield was born Aug. 10, 1940 in Beaver Dam, Wis. His family moved to Anaheim, Calif., when he was 4.

Hatfield organized singing and instrumental groups in high school while helping his parents with their dry cleaning business.

An avid athlete, Hatfield considered a career in professional baseball, but found his true calling in music - a love he pursued while attending Long Beach State University, where he formed a band and performed at bars and proms.

Hatfield teamed up with Medley in 1962 as part of a five-piece group called The Paramours. According to the Righteous Brothers Web site, a black Marine called out during one of their performances, ''That was righteous, brothers!'' They renamed themselves the Righteous Brothers before the release of their first album in 1963.

After splitting up in 1968, they reunited in 1974 and returned to the top of the charts with ''Rock and Roll Heaven.''

''Unchained Melody'' was featured in the 1990 movie ''Ghost,'' and a re-recorded version earned Hatfield and Medley a Grammy nomination.

AP-NY-11-06-03 0135EST

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Ritters Lose Another Family Member

John Ritter's Mother Dies

POSTED: 12:23 p.m. EST November 13, 2003

The Ritters have lost another family member, less than two months after the unexpected death of actor John Ritter.

Dorothy Fay Ritter, the mother of John Ritter and wife of the late singing cowboy Tex Ritter, died Nov. 5 of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home in Los Angeles.

She was 88.

Like her husband and son, Dorothy Fay Ritter was a veteran of the entertainment business. She starred in several B-movie westerns in the 1930s and '40s, opposite the likes of her husband, Slim Whitaker and Horace Murphy.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Dorothy Fay Ritter's last screen was an uncredited bit role in the 1941 comedy musical "Lady Be Good," which starred Eleanor Powell, Robert Young, Ann Sothern and Red Skelton.

Tex Ritter died of a heart attack in January 1974. John Ritter died of an aortic tear in September.

Meanwhile, ABC has made another move with her late son's sitcom "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter."

When the show started about a year ago, the producers were clear they wanted the entire title used since it comes from a book of the same name.

The dad in the series, who was played by John Ritter, laid out those rules. But with his death, the dad is gone -- and so is the last part of the show's title.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

'Blondie' Star, Who Also Voiced 'Jetsons' Mom, Dies

http://www.hannabarbera.com.br/albuns/festival/jpg/fig_150.jpg

Singleton Played Blondie Bumstead In 28 Movies
POSTED: 12:20 p.m. EST November 14, 2003
UPDATED: 12:47 p.m. EST November 14, 2003

The actress who provided the voice for the mom on the classic cartoon series "The Jetsons" and starred as the title character in several "Blondie" movies, has died.

Penny Singleton was 95. She died Wednesday at a California hospital, two weeks after suffering a stroke.

Singleton was born Dorothy McNulty in Philadelphia on Sept. 15, 1908.

Her career took its first big jump in the series of "Blondie" movies based on the comic strip created by Chic Young.

She played Blondie Bumstead in 28 films from 1938 to 1950.

Singleton also provided the voice of Jane Jetson in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series.

The series only ran in prime time for a single season -- from 1962 through 1963, but Singleton's voice has been widely heard since -- as the cartoon has been widely shown in reruns.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Singleton reprised the voice role for three television specials: "The Jetsons Christmas Carol" in 1985, "The Jetsons Meet the Flintsones" in 1987 and "Rockin' With Judy Jetson" in 1988.

Her last role was the voice for "Jetsons: The Movie" in 1990.

 

[Bent]

Didnt Barry White just have a stroke? Or was that Luther Vandross?

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Didnt Barry White just have a stroke? Or was that Luther Vandross?

Barry White died.

Luther Vandross is still recovering from a stoke.

(I feel so morbid knowing facts like this!)

 

[Moi]

Tony-Winning Actress Loudon Dies at 70

By LARRY McSHANE

NEW YORK - Broadway star Dorothy Loudon, winner of the 1977 Tony Award for her portrayal of the mean-spirited orphanage manager in "Annie," died Saturday at a New York hospital. She was 70.




Loudon, who lived in New York, had been battling cancer, said her manager and longtime friend, Lionel Larner.


The three-time Tony nominee landed her most famous role as the result of a chance encounter with an old friend, director Mike Nichols (news), who had taken over as producer of the show. He quickly offered her the role of Miss Hannigan — the nemesis of the show's orphaned star.


Loudon was an instant success, winning the Tony, a Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics' Circle Award.


She later said she initially didn't want the role. "There's an old saying: `Never be in a show with kids, dogs or an Irish tenor' — and this show had all three," she once said.


Prior to her success in "Annie," Loudon was repeatedly cited as a shining star in a series of Broadway flops, including "The Fig Leaves Are Falling," a musical comedy that closed after just four performances in 1969.


In spite of that show's demise, Loudon received a Drama Desk Award for her performance and was nominated for a Tony as best actress in a musical. She was also nominated in 1979 for her work in "Ballroom"; in both cases, she lost out to Angela Lansbury (news).


Loudon later took over for Lansbury in the Broadway hit "Sweeney Todd," and she received rave reviews for her 1983 performance as a washed-up television comedienne in "Noises Off."


Loudon was born Sept. 17, 1933, in Boston, where her mother taught her to sing. She moved to New York as a teenager and received her big show business break when a nightclub owner made her a featured performer. She developed a lounge act, mixing comedy and singing, and often appeared on "The Perry Como (news) Show" and "The Ed Sullivan Show."


In 1962, Loudon made her stage debut in a Jules Feiffer play that was directed by Nichols. Her Broadway debut came a short time later in the musical comedy "Nowhere to Go But Up," which lasted just two weeks but earned her a nod as most promising newcomer in an annual survey.


Loudon is survived by two stepchildren from her marriage to the late Emmy Award-winning composer Norman Paris. The couple was married for six years before his death in 1977.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Dorothy Loudon

http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I46588-2003Nov15

Truly a stage legend. Her performance in "Noises Off" was one of the most hilarious things I ever enjoyed.

 

[Moi]

'I Can't Stop Loving You' Writer Dies

By JOE EDWARDS, Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Don Gibson, an elementary school dropout who wrote and recorded country standards like "I Can't Stop Loving You," has died, his lawyer said. He was 75.



Gibson died Monday at Baptist Hospital, said Richard Frank, who is also a longtime friend of the Grand Ole Opry star.


Gibson's songs used plain language and riveting melodies to communicate strong emotions. He sang in a rich baritone and usually wrote about solitude and sadness involving love, earning him the nickname "the sad poet."


"Simple is the only way I can write," he once said.


Gibson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.


Born on April 3, 1928, Gibson was a poor boy from Shelby, N.C., who dropped out of school in second grade. But he became a songwriting genius who sold millions of records.


"The only thing I was any good at was music," he said in a 1997 interview.


Between 1958 and the mid-1960s, Gibson's records and his compositions, including "Sweet Dreams" and "Oh Lonesome Me," were hits for himself and many other performers.


"I Can't Stop Loving You" was recorded by more than 700 artists, but Ray Charles (news) had the big pop version in 1962.


Gibson and others helped create the "Nashville Sound" in the 1960s — clean, uncluttered music that remains an influence today.


Somewhere along the way, the moody, shy kid from a sharecropping family began playing guitar. When a friend came home from Paris after World War II with records by the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, Gibson was captivated, and was experimenting with different styles by his mid-teens.


A friend helped him land a performing job with a Knoxville radio station. But things weren't what Gibson expected: The fans wanted old-time country, not Gibson's brand of crooning.


Gibson hung on to the radio job but struggled on $30 a week earned playing beer joints. One day after a radio show, Gibson started humming a melody and playing with words — not writing anything down at first, just seeing where the tune would lead.


It was the beginning of a classic — the haunting "Sweet Dreams," made famous by Patsy Cline (news) in 1963.


On June 7, 1957, he wrote two of country music's greatest songs: "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Oh Lonesome Me."


Gibson was living alone in a trailer outside Knoxville. A repo man had just picked up his vacuum cleaner and television when Gibson started strumming, exploring a swirl of words and melodies.


"When I wrote those two songs, I couldn't have been any closer to the bottom," Gibson once said.





"Oh Lonesome Me" was a hit again in 1990 by the Kentucky Headhunters.

Gibson's own recording fared modestly, but the song was a solid success for Faron Young (news) as well as Cline. Gibson quit the beer joints and took up songwriting full time.

"Don's one of the most talented people I've known," the late Chet Atkins (news) once said. Atkins produced Gibson's greatest hits. "I always name him when I talk about the most important people I've recorded."

 

[Moi]

Arthur Conley

AMSTERDAM (AP) - Arthur Conley, a 1960s soul singer and protege of Otis Redding (news), died Monday at his home in the town of Ruurlo, in the eastern Netherlands. He was 57.



Conley had been suffering from intestinal cancer and had grown progressively weak in recent weeks, said Gunter Giesen, the band leader of a group Conley was advising. Conley was born in Atlanta and started his recording career in 1959 as leader of the group Arthur and the Corvets. He was best known for his 1967 hit, Sweet Soul Music, which he co-wrote with Redding based on a number by Sam Cooke (news), Yeah, Man. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart.


Conley had several minor hits in the following two years.


He moved to Europe in the early 1970s after several tours of the continent, deciding that he was "fed up with the pressure" in the United States, said Giesen.


In the Netherlands, Conley appeared on television and radio, and ran an independent record label. In the last five years he was an adviser to the Original Sixties R&B and Soul Show, which sought to reproduce the sound and look of the heyday of soul.

 

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Chic/Power Station Drummer Tony Thompson Dead

Tony Thompson, the drummer who powered hits by the Power Station, Chic, and Diana Ross (news), and who almost joined Led Zeppelin, died in Encino, California, on Wednesday (November 12), just three days shy of his 49th birthday. Thompson had battled renal cell cancer and had undergone surgery earlier this year in an effort to combat the disease. He is survived by his wife Patrice and their two children.



Like many musicians, Thompson died without health insurance, and his family is stuck with huge medical bills. Anyone wishing to make a tax-deductible donation can do so at tonythompsonfund.com, or at nilerodgers.com.


A benefit concert will be held on December 16 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles. The lineup should be announced soon.


Thompson was born in New York City on November 15, 1954. He first got noticed while playing with LaBelle in the mid-70's, but it was with Chic that Thompson had his first major success, including Top Five albums and a Number One hit with "Le Freak" in 1978. Chic leader Nile Rodgers told LAUNCH that he and Bernard Edwards formed the band with Thompson for three main reasons: "His power--gotta be the loudest drummer I've ever worked with or heard in my life; his technical facility, which has gotta be up there with among the best of 'em; and his great sense of humor. I think that Bernard and I hired him for all three of those qualities."


Following his success with Chic, Thompson developed a reputation as an ace session drummer. He got the call to work with Diana Ross on 1980's Diana, David Bowie (news) on 1983's Let's Dance, Madonna (news - web sites) on 1984's Like A Virgin, and Mick Jagger (news) on 1985's She's The Boss, among many others.


He also joined Robert Palmer (news) and Duran Duran's John and Andy Taylor (news) in forming the Power Station, which had Top 10 hits in 1985 with "Some Like It Hot" and a cover of T. Rex's "Get It On (Bang A Gong)." Several years ago, Thompson told LAUNCH how he got involved in the Power Station. "We met in the bathroom in Sydney, Australia," Thompson said. "John Taylor (news) came over and said he was a fan of my work, and we just said, 'Let's work together, you know, let's do something.' And I thought, you know, once I left Australia, and he went off to Europe, that I'd never hear from him again. Well, I went to the south of France, and I got this phone call, and John drove down and said, 'Yeah, I'm really still interested in this doing something together.'"


Thompson got the call of a lifetime when he was asked to play with Led Zeppelin at Live Aid in 1985. Following that one-off gig, they started recording some new material, but the sessions ended after Thompson was in a serious car accident, and the music has never been released.


Other people Thompson played with included Palmer on 1985's Riptide, Rod Stewart (news) on 1988's Out of Order, Blondie leader Debbie Harry on her 1981 solo album Kookoo, and Duran Duran on 1995's Thank You.

 

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Top Hollywood Composer Michael Kamen Dies at Age 55

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar-nominated composer, conductor and arranger Michael Kamen, 55, one of Hollywood's most sought-after composers, died on Tuesday morning after suffering from multiple sclerosis for several years, his agent said.



Further details were not immediately available.


Kamen, one of Hollywood's most successful composers who worked on music for the "Lethal Weapon" series and scored "Die Hard" among many other films, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996, but did not go public about the disease until late September.


Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that causes various disabilities.


Kamen grew up in Queens, the son of liberal activists.


In the late 1960s, he helped found the New York Rock 'n' Roll Ensemble. In the 1970s, he scored ballets, served as musical director for David Bowie (news)'s "Diamond Dogs" tour and began writing scores for film.


Although he began in Hollywood working on offbeat films like "Polyester" and "Brazil," he turned more mainstream in the 1980s, working on the "Lethal Weapon" series, "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," "Mr. Holland's Opus" and "X-Men," plus the HBO series "Band of Brothers."

 

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Jonathan Brandis

Actor Jonathan Brandis, 27, who starred in the movie "The Year That Trembled," which was filmed in Ohio, was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment Wednesday. Brandis, 27, was found by friends and pronounced dead at a hospital, according to the Los Angeles coroner's office. There were no signs of violence. An autopsy was due to be performed yesterday, an investigator said. "The Year That Trembled," produced by Tyler Davidson and Scott Lax, who were living in the Cleveland area at the time, was filmed in Ohio and premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival in 2002. Brandis played Casey Pedersen, a young man who is caught up in the turmoil of the Vietnam War. "It's a terrific tragedy, and our hearts go out to the family," said Davidson, who now lives in Los Angeles.