It always amazes me when I read these lists how many have died that I hadn’t realized. The other thing is that it seems that each year a bigger portion of the list are heroes of my youth, or of my parents generation that I remeber them talking about, and it reminds me of our own mortality.
Edie Adams, 81, blond beauty who as an actress and singer won a Tony Award as Daisy Mae in Broadway’s Li’l Abner and played television foil to husband Ernie Kovacs. Cancer, Oct. 15. |
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Eddy Arnold, 89, whose mellow baritone on songs like Make the World Go Away made him one of the most successful country singers in history. Folksy yet sophisticated, he became a pioneer of “The Nashville Sound,” a mixture of country and pop styles. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966. Cause not given, May 8. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Freddie Bell, 76, forerunner in the 1950s rock ‘n’ roll era whose toe-tapping versions of Giddy Up A Ding Dong and Hound Dog inspired Elvis Presley to cover the songs. Cancer, Feb. 10. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kirk Browning, 86, who rose from music librarian at a television network to become the Emmy-winning director of the enduring series Live from Lincoln Center. Cardiac arrest, Feb. 10. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Harriet Burns, 79, the first female artist at Walt Disney Imagineering and a designer of several famous Disneyland landmarks, including Sleeping Beauty Castle and the Matterhorn ride. Complications from heart surgery, July 25. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jheryl Busby, 59, former president and chief executive of Motown Records who helped foster the careers of Boyz II Men and Johnny Gill. Natural causes, Nov. 4. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
George Carlin, 71, acerbic standup comedian and satirist whose staunch defense of free speech in his most famous routine Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television led to a key 1978 Supreme Court ruling on obscenity. Heart ailments, June 22. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cyd Charisse, 86, long-legged Texas beauty who danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager and starred in MGM musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Classically trained, she could dance anything, from a pas de deux in 1946’s Ziegfeld Follies to the lowdown Mickey Spillane satire of 1953’s The Band Wagon (with Astaire). Heart attack, June 17. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael Crichton, 66, best-selling author who made scientific research terrifying and irresistible in his stories of disaster and systematic breakdown, such as Jurassic Park, Timeline and The Andromeda Strain. Cancer, Nov. 4. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Daly, 71, British-born producer of 13 Oscar-winning movies including Platoon and The Last Emperor who helped launch the careers of many top directors and actors. Cancer, Oct. 31. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Davis, 60, singer and songwriter whose soft-rock hit I Go Crazy stayed on the charts for a then-record 40 weeks after its release in 1977. Heart attack, April 22. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bo Diddley, 79, whose real name is Ellas McDaniel, was a founding father of rock ‘n’ roll. He was known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, his distinctive “shave and a haircut, two bits” rhythm and innovative guitar effects that inspired legions of other musicians. Ill health, June 2. More on Diddley: Legendary guitarist grooved to own beat |
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Estelle Getty, 84, diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing the role in 1985 of the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV’s The Golden Girls. Dementia, July 22. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Earle H. Hagen, 88, who co-wrote the jazz classic Harlem Nocturne and composed memorable themes for The Andy Griffith Show, I Spy, The Mod Squad and other TV shows. He was heard whistling the folksy theme from The Andy Griffith Show. Cause not given, May 26. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Buddy Harman, 79, one of Nashville’s most-recorded drummers, playing on more than 18,000 recordings, including Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman, Patsy Cline’s Crazy and Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire. Congestive heart failure, Aug. 21. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Anne d’Harnoncourt, 64, longtime chief executive of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and one of the art world’s most influential women. Natural causes, June 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Isaac Hayes, 65, pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless Theme From Shaft won Academy and Grammy awards. His shaven head, gold chains and sunglasses gave him a compelling visual image. His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show South Park. Cause not given, Aug. 10. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jeff Healey, 41, blind rock and jazz musician who rose to stardom with the late 1980s hit Angel Eyes. Healey had battled cancer since age 1, when a rare form of retinal cancer claimed his eyesight. Cancer, March 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Neal Hefti, 85, Big Band trumpeter, arranger and composer of themes for the movie The Odd Couple and the Batman television series. Cause not given, Oct. 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Don Helms, 81, renowned steel guitarist who played in Hank Williams’ Drifting Cowboys band on tunes like Your Cheatin’ Heart and on country classics by Patsy Cline. Heart attack, Aug. 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charlton Heston, 84, Oscar winner who portrayed Moses and other heroic figures on film in the ’50s and ’60s and later championed conservative values as head of the National Rifle Association. With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past. Cause not given, April 5. More on Heston: A great big persona on film, in life |
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Pervis Jackson, 70, the man behind the deep, rolling bass voice in a string of 1970s R&B hits by The Spinners. Brain and liver cancer, Aug. 18. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Van Johnson, 92, whose boy-next-door wholesomeness made him a popular Hollywood star in the ’40s and ’50s with such films as Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, A Guy Named Joe and The Caine Mutiny. Natural causes, Dec. 12. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ollie Johnston, 95, last of the “Nine Old Men” who animated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Bambi and other classic Walt Disney films. Natural causes, April 14. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eartha Kitt, 81, known for the song Santa Baby was also a star from stage and screen performances. In 1945 Kitt made her Broadway debut in Carib Song and later played Catwoman on the ’60s series Batman. Her sultry attitude made her one of the first African-American sex symbols. Colon cancer, Dec 25. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Harvey Korman, 81, versatile actor and comedian who won four Emmy Awards for his work on The Carol Burnett Show and is known for raising the “second banana” role into art of the first order. Complications from ruptured aneurysm, May 29. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Heath Ledger, 28, talented actor who gravitated toward dark, brooding roles that defied his leading-man looks. Accidental prescription drug overdose, Jan. 22. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sean Levert, 39, a third of the 1980s R&B trio LeVert and son of lead O’Jays singer Eddie Levert. Short illness, March 30. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Larry Levine, 80, recording engineer who helped Phil Spector reinvent rock ‘n’ roll with his “Wall of Sound” technique and won a Grammy for his work with Herb Alpert. He was the engineer on classics such as Da Doo Ron Ron and the Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’. Emphysema, May 8. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Israel “Cachao” Lopez, 89, Grammy-winning Cuban bassist and composer who is credited with pioneering the mambo style of music. Cause not given, March 22. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bernie Mac, 50, actor and comedian who teamed up in the casino heist caper Ocean’s Eleven and gained a prestigious Peabody Award for his sitcom The Bernie Mac Show. Pneumonia, Aug. 9. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Miriam Makeba, 76, South African singer who wooed the world with her sultry voice but was banned from her own country for 30 years under apartheid. She was the first African woman to win a Grammy award. Heart attack, Nov. 10. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dick Martin, 86, zany half of the comedy team whose Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In took television by storm in the 1960s, creating such national catch-phrases as “Sock it to me!” Respiratory complications, May 24. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Anthony Minghella, 54, screenwriter, opera director and the Oscar-winning filmmaker of The English Patient. Hemorrhage, March 18. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LeRoi Moore, 46, versatile saxophonist whose signature staccato fused jazz and funk overtones onto the eclectic sound of the Dave Matthews Band. Complications from an vehicle accident, Aug. 19. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Barry Morse, 89, actor who played a detective, Lt. Philip Gerard, pursuing the wrongly accused Dr. Richard Kimble in 1960s TV series The Fugitive. Brief illness, Feb. 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Newman, 83, the Oscar-winning superstar who personified cool as the anti-hero of such films as Hud, Cool Hand Luke and The Color of Money followed by a second act as an activist, race car driver and popcorn impresario. Cancer, Sept. 26. More on Newman: Acting icon was good egg, too |
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Robert Mulligan, 83, Academy Award-nominated director of To Kill a Mockingbird who later helped launch the career of Reese Witherspoon. The New York Times wrote that in the film’s opening segment “achieves a bewitching indication of the excitement and thrill of being a child.” Heart disease, Dec. 20. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Odetta, 77, folk singer with a powerful voice who moved audiences and influenced musicians for a half-century. With her booming, classically trained voice and spare guitar, Odetta gave life to the songs by working men and slaves, farmers and miners, housewives and washerwomen, blacks and whites. Heart disease, Dec. 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Anita Page, 98, MGM actress who appeared in films with Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford and Buster Keaton during the transition from silent movies to talkies. In her sleep, Sept. 6. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Earl Palmer, 83, session drummer whose pioneering backbeats were recorded on such classics as Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti and The Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ has died. Long illness, Sept. 19. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Harold Pinter, 78, praised as the most influential British playwright of his generation and a longtime voice of political protest. Pinter’s distinctive contribution to the stage — he wrote 32 plays; one novel, The Dwarfs, in 1990; and 22 screenplays — was recognized with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. “Pinter restored theater to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of each other and pretense crumbles,” the Nobel Academy said when it announced his award. The prize gave Pinter a global platform which he seized enthusiastically to denounce the Iraq war. Cancer, Dec. 24. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Suzanne Pleshette, 70, husky-voiced star best known for her role as Bob Newhart’s sardonic wife on television’s long-running The Bob Newhart Show. Her career included roles in such films as Hitchcock’s The Birds and in Broadway plays including The Miracle Worker. Respiratory failure, Jan. 19. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sydney Pollack, 73, Academy Award-winning director who achieved commercial and critical success with the gender-bending comedy Tootsie and the period drama Out of Africa. Pollack, who often appeared on the screen himself, worked with and gained the respect of Hollywood’s best actors in a long career that reached prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. Cancer, May 26. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert Prosky, 77, character actor with hundreds of credits on stage and screen including Mrs. Doubtfire and Hill Street Blues. Complications from a heart procedure, Dec. 8. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert Rauschenberg, 82, whose use of odd and everyday articles earned him a reputation as a pioneer in pop art but whose talents spanned the worlds of painting, sculpture and dance. His “combines,” incongruous combinations of three-dimensional objects and paint, shared pop’s blurring of art and objects from modern life. Cause not given, May 12. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ralph Joseph “Jody” Reynolds, 75, rockabilly singer and songwriter whose lone hit Endless Sleep in the 1950s ushered in a wave of tragic teen pop songs. He was inducted into Nashville’s Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1999. Cause not given, Nov. 7. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leonard Rosenman, 83, film and television composer who won two Oscars and two Emmys during his 50-year Hollywood career. Heart attack, March 4. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Roy Scheider, 75, two-time Oscar nominee best known for his role as a beach town police chief in the blockbuster movie Jaws. Scheider was nominated for a best-supporting actor Oscar in 1971’s The French Connection and for best actor for 1979’s All That Jazz. No cause given, Feb. 10. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Viktor Schreckengost, 101, artist and prolific industrial designer whose ubiquitous works ranged from familiar toys and White House porcelain to innovative trucks and lawn mowers. He was a 2006 winner of the National Medal of Arts best known for his 1930s “Jazz Bowl” series, commissioned by Eleanor Roosevelt for the White House. Cause not given, Jan. 26. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Stewart, 68, who wrote The Monkees’ hit Daydream Believer and became a well-known figure in the 1960s folk music revival as a member of The Kingston Trio. Stroke, Jan. 19. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Levi Stubbs, 72, Four Tops frontman whose dynamic and emotive voice drove such Motown classics as Reach Out (I’ll Be There) and Baby I Need Your Loving. With Stubbs in the lead, the Four Tops sold millions of records and produced 20 Top 40 hits from 1963-73. In his sleep, Oct. 17. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richard Widmark, 93, who made a sensational film debut as the giggling killer in Kiss of Death and became a Hollywood leading man in Broken Lance, Two Rode Together and 40 other films. Cause not given, March 24. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stan Winston, 62, four-time Oscar-winning special-effects maestro responsible for bringing to life the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park and other iconic movie creatures. Winston created some of the most memorable visual effects in cinematic history, working on such films as Aliens, the Terminator series and Edward Scissorhands. Multiple myeloma, June 15. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richard Wright, 65, a founding member and keyboardist for Pink Floyd. Cancer, Sept. 15.
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4 comments
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December 28, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Jimmy L.
V.P. thanks for this post. I didn’t realize how many had passed away. Really makes me feel old and just how fleeting life is. I’ve looked a number of times at the “In Memoriam” section of my high school and am always shocked at the people I grew up with who are dead. I was a real Four Tops fan back in the 60’s and did not realize Levi Stubbs had died.
I would also like to apologize to you for my very rude and uncalled for comments to you a week or so ago. I had been going by the name Watchman. As Emmy pointed out we share DNA. I regret she feels to express it that way but she is her own person. I love her very much and had a knee jerk reaction to your exchange with her. I hope you will overlook my immaturity.
I also have a son who is very handicapped. He is on a ventilator and in a wheelchair. He is fed with a feeding tube. He is a very handsome, bright young man and enjoys life very much. Initially doctors told us he would die. That was nine years ago. He has been a blessing to everyone he has come into contact with. Unfortunately, his mother and I are divorced. I understand divorce is not uncommon when a couple has handicapped children. I would give my right arm if my wife and I were back together but that is only in the realm of miracles at this time. I pray for you, your wife, and your daughter. Stay a FAMILY. Whatever the future holds, V.P. FIGHT to stay a FAMILY.
Please feel free to call me anytime or email me. Good thoughts your way my friend.
December 31, 2008 at 9:28 pm
thevalleyprogressive
Jimmy L.,
I apolgize for taking so long to respond. Thank you for your post. I don’t take too many comment personally I know that emotions can run high on many topics. As least you, and the rest of us, are verbally engaged and that’s important in a democracy whether we agree or not. When I was in the military and we were about to visit a foreign country, we were always told, “whatever you do, there are three topics that you do not discuss, women, politics or religion.” I guess I never learned that lesson!
Also, thanks about your sentiment regarding family and the insight into yours. It is amazing how demanding, both physically and emotionally, having a special needs child can be. My situation cannot compare to yours and I hope I didn’t come off as over-dramatic. I truly wish you and your son the best, Happy New Year.
-VP
January 4, 2009 at 2:28 am
coffee buzz
Eartha Kitt seemed to live a fuller life than most people ever manage to do.. and it was so funny to find out that she was a voice in “The Emperor’s New Groove”
August 10, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Levine Communications Office
Bozo the Clown will never be forgotten. Have you heard of Larry Harmon’s book that just got published? “The Man Behind the Nose: Assassins, Astronauts, Cannibals, and Other Stupendous Tales” http://lcoonline.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/the-man-behind-the-nose/