The RIP Famous Person Thread

[bobo746]

Even Cujo must have heard of him

| The Australian


Singer Jon English, who starred in Jesus Christ Superstar, has died, aged 66

Jon English, the English-born singer and performer, has died.
English was only 23 when he won the role of Judas in the revolutionary new Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, alongside other future pop luminaires Marcia Hines and John Paul Young, in 1972. It it would be the start of a long career in Australian television, stage musicals and radio-friendly pop music.
He starred in Against The Wind, a TV mini-series about the early days of the Australian colony. The role earned him a logie for best new talent in 1979.
His solo musical hits included Hollywood Seven and Turn the Page. Words are not Enough (1978) was his highest rated song, reaching sixth on the Australian charts.
English moved to Australia with his parents when he was aged 12, the family settling in Sydney. He played in bands as a teenager, the last of which he left when he won the role in Jesus Christ Superstar.
He also starred in other musicals, such as The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado

[Cujo]

I've heard of him of course but I don't think he's really famous. Borderline famous maybe.

[bobo746]

What i just scraped in with that one.

[BaitongBoy]

^ Heh...One woof and a yelp...

[Iceman123]

I met John at a gig he was doing at a winery about 8 years ago. Nice guy knew everyone in the business
he told me he was on tour with Bryan Ferry when the news broke that Jerry Hall had pissed off with Mick Jagger. Ferry in bits.
The pic does him many favours - his face looked well lived in when I met him, definitely no model looks.
I have a photo of us together - I will post when the site becomes pic posting friendly.

[Cujo]

Email it to baydencrooks@gmail.com and I'll do it for you.

[palexxxx]

I met John at a gig he was doing at a winery about 8 years ago. Nice guy knew everyone in the business
he told me he was on tour with Bryan Ferry when the news broke that Jerry Hall had pissed off with Mick Jagger. Ferry in bits.
The pic does him many favours - his face looked well lived in when I met him, definitely no model looks.
I have a photo of us together - I will post when the site becomes pic posting friendly.

Back in 1979-80 I was taking guitar lessons from Bob Spencer who had been in Skyhooks (Red Symons replacement). One day I turned up for a lesson at his place and there was no answer at the door. His next door neighbour told me that he had pissed off to Sydney because Jon English had called him up to be in his band.

[Iceman123]

Email it to baydencrooks@gmail.com and I'll do it for you.

Sent, I thought about 8 years ago - it was only 5 years

[harrybarracuda]

'Dr. Strangelove,' James Bond production designer Ken Adam dies at 95

BY JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer



Ken Adam, the British production designer who gave “Dr. Strangelove” its cavernous War Room and James Bond supervillains their futuristic lairs, has died. He was 95.

Adam’s biographer, Christopher Frayling, said Adam passed away in his sleep Thursday at his home in London. Frayling called Adam “the greatest production designer for film, ever.”

MGM Studios and Eon Productions mourned the death of “our beloved friend” in a statement on the official James Bond Twitter account, hailing Adam as the person “who was so responsible for the visual style of the James Bond films.”

The Berlin-born Adam won two Academy Awards in a career that lasted into his 70s and spanned more than 70 films. He was revered for his indelible set artistry, including that for seven Bond movies. Adam was behind the Fort Knox vaults of “Goldfinger,” the iconic volcano hideaway of “You Only Live Twice” and Bond’s gadget-filled Aston Martin.

“One critic asked, ‘How did you ever get inside the volcano?’ ” Adam told the Los Angeles Times last year. “I didn’t get inside the volcano! I think that is the function of a film designer, to create something which the audience has never seen.”

In the art of production design, Adam’s work on Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classic is widely considered among the craft’s highest achievements. His enormous, expressionistic set evoked a bomb shelter with a circular, lamp-lit table in the middle, designed to suggest a poker table. It was here where Peter Sellers famously chastised a tussling Air Force general and Russian ambassador: “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here. This is the War Room!”

Adam was knighted in 2003, a first for a production designer.

Born Klaus Hugo Adam in 1921, Adam’s Jewish family fled Nazi Germany in 1934. They settled in London, where Adam became enraptured by German Expressionist films like “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” He studied architecture, a background that would later prove useful for production design.

He volunteered during World War II and was one of only a handful of German-born pilots to fly for the Royal Air Force. Later, his flying experience would inspire the ejector seat of 007’s Aston Martin.

After the war, he was hired to assist veteran designer William Cameron Menzies (“Gone With the Wind”) on the Oscar-winning 1956 film “Around the World in 80 Days.” Adam caught the eye of producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli who, after hiring him for “The Trials of Oscar Wilde,” enlisted a reluctant Adam for 1962’s “Dr. No,” the first Bond film.

Sets created by Adam – like the interior of the British Secret Service headquarters and Dr. No’s base – created a template for the franchise that would follow. He continued to be instrumental in crafting the iconic backdrops, props and torture devices that helped define the Bond world in “Goldfinger,” “Thunderball,” “You Only Live Twice,” “Diamonds Are Forever” and “Moonraker.”

While Adam’s production design on Bond allowed his fantastical imagination to roam free, working with Kubrick was a more strained process.

After “Dr. Strangelove,” Adam turned Kubrick down for “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but he later reunited with the notoriously perfectionist director on “Barry Lyndon.” During shooting in Ireland, Adam was hospitalized because of the stress.

“I was incredibly close with him,” Adam told the BBC in 2013. “It was almost like an unhealthy love affair between us. And I had a breakdown eventually.”

Still, Adam won his first Oscar in 1976 for “Barry Lyndon,” which he shared with Vernon Dixon and Roy Walker. His second came in 1995 for “The Madness of King George,” which he shared with Carolyn Scott.

Other memorable inventions included the winged automobile of 1968’s “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” the gothic home of 1993’s “Addams Family Values” and the Cold War atmosphere of 1965’s “The Ipcress File.”

Adam is survived by his wife Maria Letizia, whom he married in 1952.

'Dr. Strangelove,' James Bond production designer Ken Adam dies at 95 | The Kansas City Star

[Bobcock]

Just seen an announcement on FB that Arnie is dead.....

Somehow I think it's another hoax ......

[BaitongBoy]

^ Arnie the pig from Green Acres?...

[Bobcock]

There is only one Arnie.... thankfully

[misskit]

Hoax. Arnold Schwarzenegger dead 2016 : Actor killed by celebrity death hoax - Mediamass

[BaitongBoy]

Arnold Schwarzenegger Death Hoax Dismissed Since Actor Is ‘Alive And Well’...


Well, I suppose the above statement is as good a reason as any...

[Bobcock]

Arnie, Bob Dylan.... which forgotten celeb will arrange his own hoax for publicity?

Shame, I'd have stomached a run of his films to guarantee there would be no more....

[Gazza]

Just seen an announcement on FB that Arnie is dead.....

Ja, Ja. No doubt 'He'll be baaaack'

[barrylad66]

Keith Emerson ,founder of Emerson lake and Palmer dies at 71...RIP

[misskit]

Progressive rock legend Emerson dies



Keith Emerson, the co-founder and keyboardist of progressive rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died aged 71, according to his former bandmates.

"We regret to announce that Keith Emerson died last night at his home in Santa Monica, Los Angeles," read a statement on the band's Facebook page.

Emerson was considered one of the top keyboard players of the prog rock era.

He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Santa Monica police confirmed to the BBC.

His death was being investigated as a suicide, police added.

A police spokesman said Emerson's body was found in the early hours of Friday morning by his girlfriend Mari Kawaguchi at their flat in the Californian city.

Former bandmate Carl Palmer said: "I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of my good friend and brother-in-music, Keith Emerson.

"Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come."

Inspired by Jimi Hendrix's theatrics with the electric guitar, Emerson was famous for his showmanship and outlandish on-stage performance style.

"That part of the act was something that just felt natural to do; something that allowed me be more expressive," he told Counterculture magazine.

ELP achieved an international following and were particularly popular in Britain and Japan. Several of the group's albums, including Tarkus, Trilogy, and Brain Salad Surgery entered the top five on the British chart.

Tarkus, released in 1971, featured an opening track lasting more than 20 minutes, inspired by the fictional Tarkus character - a half-tank, half-armadillo creature that would appear on stage at gigs.

Before ELP, Emerson was a member of The Nice, which formed in 1967 but disbanded three years later.

In later life he pursued a solo career and remained active in the music business. He was forced to call off a tour in 2010 due to abnormal growth in his colon, but had a tour of Japan scheduled for next month.

His last concert took place in July 2015 at the Barbican in London, where he performed alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra in a tribute to Robert Moog, the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.

He was born in Yorkshire in 1944.

Progressive rock legend Emerson dies - BBC News

[misskit]

[harrybarracuda]

Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac author, dies at 87
BY WILL ROBINSON • @WILL_ROBINSON_



Anita Brookner, the award-winning British author and historian, died peacefully in her sleep Thursday, according to The Times. She was 87 years old.

The former professor took to writing late in her life, beginning in her fifties. In 1984, her third novel Hotel du Lac won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. And in 1990, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Brookner was born on July 16, 1928 in London and was the only child of Newson Bruckner (a Polish immigrant who fought in World War I) and Maude Schiska (a former singer). She earned a B.A. at London’s King’s College and received her doctorate in art history from Courtauld Institute of Art, a decision her mother disapproved of. “She thought I wouldn’t get married, and that would be her disappointment,” she told The Telegraph in 2009. She never did marry, a decision she made to not ever “be taken over” by a man, she said. She also had no children — a fact she regarded with sadness, she told The Telegraph. “That’s why I write,” she said. “Because I have no children.”

Brookner made history in 1967 by becoming the first woman to hold the Slade Professorship of Fine Art at Cambridge University. She later returned to Courtauld to teach from 1977 until her retirement in 1988.

Hotel du Lac was Brookner’s breakthrough novel (even if she felt her later work Latecomers should have won the big award instead, as she told The Telegraph). The drama centers on romance novelist Edith Hope, whose life starts mimicking her works. Her escape to the titular hotel doesn’t give her the reprieve she seeks.

Brookner went on to write more than 20 novels — her most recent book, At The Hairdressers, was released in 2011 as an ebook — but claimed she never found satisfaction in her accomplishments.

“It is actually quite a dynamic process, and very absorbing when you’re doing it. But when you’ve done it, you’re rather disgusted,” she told The Telegraph. “Because it’s all over, and you must do it all over again. … When it’s over, it’s over. I mean, I can’t remember my books. I can’t even remember the names. They’re so finished. … If I felt satisfaction I would question it. Because it would be temporary. And illusory. Clutching at something that has very little validity.”

Anita Brookner dead: Hotel du Lac author dies at 87 | EW.com

[Sumbitch]

“It is actually quite a dynamic process, and very absorbing when you’re doing it. But when you’ve done it, you’re rather disgusted,” she told The Telegraph. “Because it’s all over, and you must do it all over again. … When it’s over, it’s over. I mean, I can’t remember my books. I can’t even remember the names. They’re so finished. … If I felt satisfaction I would question it. Because it would be temporary. And illusory. Clutching at something that has very little validity.”

That is such an insightful and well written or spoken comment on her work as a novelist. The reason it's so meaningful to me is because of its universality. If most people were honest and read those words, my bet is it expresses the mentality of 90% of the workers in those better paying jobs everybody wants. What an expose of worker dissatisfaction.

RIP Anita. Well done.

[harrybarracuda]

Duh Duh-Duh Duuuhhhhhhh. Duh Duh Duh. Duh. Duh Duh-Duh Duh Duh Duhhhhhhhhhh.


Sylvia Anderson, voice of Thunderbirds' Lady Penelope, dies at 88
PUBLISHED
16/03/2016



Thunderbirds co-creator Sylvia Anderson, best known for voicing Lady Penelope in the hit TV show, has died aged 88.

A producer and writer, Ms Anderson created the Supermarionation puppet series with husband Gerry.

She died at her home in Bray, Berkshire, following a short illness, her daughter Dee Anderson confirmed.

"Sylvia was a mother and a legend - her intelligence was phenomenal but her creativity and tenacity unchallenged," her daughter said.

"She was a force in every way, and will be sadly missed."

Gerry Anderson died in 2012 aged 83 after suffering with Alzheimer's disease.

As well as voicing Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds from its debut in 1965 until 1968, Sylvia also worked on Joe 90, Captain Scarlet and Stingray.

Born in south London to a boxing champion and a dressmaker, she went on to have a career in television spanning five decades.

She recently worked as head of programming for HBO in the UK and had been writing a show with her daughter entitled The Last Station.

Ms Anderson said her mother "would always find time to take care of people who were suffering or in need of support".

The pair had planned a charity ball for Breast Cancer Care, which will now go ahead in May in her memory.

She is survived by her daughter, who is a singer-songwriter, son Gerry Anderson Junior, an anaesthetist, four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Speaking last September, Mrs Anderson said she had had "fun" playing a great aunt to her original character, voiced by Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike, in ITV reboot Thunderbirds Are Go.

She had a "creativity and genuine love for her characters" that touched fans around the world, her daughter said.

Behind the camera, she took on many roles for Thunderbirds, including character development and costume design.

When asked if she saw herself as a pioneer for women in television during the 1960s, Mrs Anderson was modest.

"I never waved the flag or anything about being a woman, but I was a woman with a group of men. Now and again I would get a director and I would go on set, one in particular, no names of course, and he was very, very huffy because I was a woman giving him notes on what he had shot the previous day, and I tried to do it very carefully," she said.

Sylvia Anderson, voice of Thunderbirds' Lady Penelope, dies at 88 - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

[billy the kid]

Emerson's body was found in the early hours of Friday morning by his girlfriend Mari Kawaguchi at their flat in the Californian city.

the 71 yr old has a 'girlfriend'. any pics.

[Neverna]

Keith Emerson and Mari Kawaguchi pictured in 2014

[Cujo]

Keith Emerson and Mari Kawaguchi pictured in 2014

Very cute girl.
He looks pretty good for 71, wonder why he did it?