The RIP Famous Person Thread

Khmer journalist Reach Sambath dies

Reach Sambath, a Khmer Rouge genocide survivor whose remarkable career took him from street vendor to AFP correspondent and finally spokesman of Cambodia's war crimes court, has died from a stroke. He was 47.

Published: 12/05/2011 at 05:31 PM

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Reach Sambath -- the spokesman for Cambodia's war crimes court -- shows a portrait of former Khmer Rouge minister Ieng Sary as he addresses a school in Phnom Penh in 2010.

The ever-smiling reporter covered some of the pivotal moments in Cambodia's blood-stained history for AFP, including the death of Pol Pot, the first post-regime election and the Khmer Rouge's final days.

As a child Sambath was forcibly moved from his home in eastern Cambodia to the north.

When the regime fell he walked hundreds of kilometres (miles) home and later eked out a living selling ice on street corners and ferrying passengers around Phnom Penh on a bicycle.

After winning a scholarship to India he joined AFP in 1991 and helped rebuild its presence in the country after Khmer Rouge rule and Vietnamese occupation, braving difficult and dangerous conditions in a nation traumatised by decades of bloodshed.

He left the agency in 2003 and went on to teach journalism before working as a spokesman for the UN-backed war crimes court, which in its landmark first case sentenced former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav to 30 years in jail in July.

"In many ways he embodied the resurrection of his country," said Philippe Agret, a former AFP Bangkok bureau chief, who praised Sambath's "kindness and generosity".

He added: "Starting from scratch and with the help of the international community, he educated and guided a new generation of journalists, many of whom were born during the Pol Pot years."

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Marxist Khmer Rouge regime emptied cities in the late 1970s in a bid to create an agrarian utopia, killing up to two million through starvation, overwork and genocide.

Sambath himself was not spared the horrors of the Khmer Rouge years and lost many family members during the regime, including both parents. He is survived by his wife Chhoy Chanthy and their three children.

"His personal journey, from the terror of the killing fields to his years as an AFP correspondent and finally as spokesman at the Khmer Rouge trial, is an incredible story of the triumph of courage and determination over the darkest forces of humanity," said Eric Wishart, AFP Asia Pacific regional director.

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Reach Sambath, Revered Journalism Mentor, Dies

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Reach Sambath, spokesman for the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal, talks with media as his team visits a printing house in Phnom Penh, late last year

Reach Sambath, a seasoned reporter, revered journalism mentor and an important public liaison for the Khmer Rouge tribunal, died on Wednesday from an apparent stroke.
Reach Sambath started his career as a reporter for the Agence France-Presse, where he earned the respect of fellow journalists and sources alike throughout the turbulent, violent 1990s.
He advanced his understanding journalism under a scholarship at Columbia University in New York before becoming a journalism instructor at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. There he imparted his years of experience into a new generation of Cambodian reporters, bloggers, filmmakers and other young media professionals.
He then signed on to be a public information officer with the nascent UN-backed tribunal, bridging the court’s activities to the public through public forums and other events.
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After suffering a stroke on Tuesday, Sambath was taken to Calmette Hospital, where he passed away before he could be evacuated to Bangkok for further treatment. He is survived by his wife and three children.

ECCC spokesman mourned | National news | The Phnom Penh Post - Cambodia's Newspaper of Record

McCain Foods co-founder Wallace dies in Canada age 81

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/05/2613.jpg The company is perhaps best known for its frozen chips

Wallace McCain, a billionaire Canadian frozen food mogul and philanthropist, has died aged 81.

The co-founder of the McCain Foods empire died in Toronto on Friday, after losing a 14-month battle with cancer.

He helped turn a small French fry plant into a global business, renowned for its oven chips and frozen pizzas.

Forbes Magazine ranked Mr McCain 512th on its annual list of the world's billionaires, estimating his personal net worth at $2.3bn (£1.4bn

Kenya Olympic marathon star Sammy Wanjiru dies in fall

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The Kenyan Olympic marathon champion, Samuel "Sammy" Wanjiru, has died after falling from a first-floor balcony at his home in the town of Nyahururu.

Police say they are investigating whether it was suicide or an accident.

The 24-year-old won in Beijing in 2008 in an Olympic record time, becoming Kenya's first marathon champion.

Last December, he was charged with threatening to kill his wife, Triza Njeri, assault and the illegal possession of an AK-47 assault rifle.

Mrs Njeri subsequently withdrew her accusations, saying they had reconciled.

However, Wanjiru was due to appear before a court on 23 May on the charge of illegal possession of a firearm.

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Cats legend Bob Davis passes away


Geelong legend Bob Davis has died at the age of 82.
Davis was one of the most beloved figures in the game after a long and colourful association as player, coach and commentator.
He had been unwell for some time but took a turn for the worse yesterday and was rushed to hospital, where he died last night. Geelong Football Club chief executive officer Brian Cook said Davis's "heart just gave way".

Born in 1928, Davis was a fleet-of-foot winger and half forward who played with the Cats between 1948 and 1958. He was captain from 1955 to 1958, and coached in 1956 and again from 1960-1965, leading the Cats to the 1963 premiership. Davis was inducted in the AFL Hall of Fame in 1996.
Nicknamed the "Geelong Flyer", Davis the player was known for preferring style over grunt and the Geelong teams of his era were renowned for their flair and brilliance - a legacy that stayed with the club in subsequent generations and became a hallmark of all high-achieving Geelong teams.
Mr Cook said Davis was well regarded by all generations of Cats and football fans. Geelong players will wear black armbands this week as a tribute to Davis.
"He's had that charisma to relate to people at all levels and all ages," Mr Cook said.
"He felt football was fun, it was there to be enjoyed and I think people related to that whatever age they were."
Honours he won as a player included a club best and fairest in 1957 and membership of the Geelong team of the century. He was named All-Australian in 1958 and played for Victoria 13 times. Davis coached the Cats 116 times, with his teams winning 72 of those games.
Just minutes after news of Davis’s death filtered through to the public, Gary Ablett junior tweeted: "Thanks for everything Bobby Davis ... A GFC all time great!"
Davis's legacy is greater than his formidable achievements as a participant, however. As the laconic and much-loved member of the iconic World of Sports and League Teams programs on Channel Seven, Davis helped forge relationships with Magpie Lou Richards and Tiger Jack Dyer that enthralled a generation of sports lovers.
Known as the "Three Wise Monkeys" during their time on League Teams, the trio were at the forefront of football entertainment, inspiring the Footy Show amongst many others to take a light-hearted view of the national game.
Richards said League Teams had been a success ‘"because we'd say stupid things and that's what made the show so good
We did it for years Bob and I and Jack," Richards told radio 3AW. ‘‘I'm the only one left now.’’ Fellow Geelong legend John 'Sam' Newman, recruited by Davis to Geelong in 1963, said this morning that his former coach was one of the "real indispensable people in football".
He said that despite his reputation, Davis had a hard edge.
"He was a loose cannon and a bon vivant, a man about town, but he had some very strict principles about … how sport should be played.
"He was a great ethics and morals man. He didn’t like snide football, he didn’t like untoward football. He liked to play it hard but play it fair. His outlook on the philosophy of sport was probably what remains with me most about Bob.”
Newman reflected on why Geelong’s two recent premierships gave Davis so much pleasure.
"He was a modest man he said he was the first of the non-thinking coaches, they’re his words. But he absolutely revered that football club. It like a lot of football clubs gives people everything they’ve got. They give them a great start in life. Bob capitalised on that.
"He was a rascal but he genuinely loved that football club and appreciated and admired everything that it had done for him. And that’s why it gave him great joy for it to be successful and certainly winning the premiership cup on a couple of occasions recently."
Newman, nicknamed 'Sam' by Davis, told SEN radio his former mentor was a success in his media work because of his "infectious" personality.
"He didn’t try to be anything he wasn’t. He never tried too hard…
"He never took himself too seriously. He enjoyed being exactly who he was."
Channel Seven television presenter Sandy Roberts spoke fondly to SEN radio of the "mayhem and fun" of working on World of Sports on Sunday mornings in the 1970s and 1980s.
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'Macho Man' dies in US car wreck

21/05/2011

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Randy "Macho Man" Savage, the professional wrestler known for his raspy voice, the sunglasses and bandanas he wore in the ring and the young woman named Miss Elizabeth who often accompanied him, died in a car crash Friday in Florida. He was 58.

A Florida Highway Patrol crash report said the former wrestler - whose legal name was Randy Mario Poffo - was driving a Jeep Wrangler when he lost control in Pinellas County around 9.25am (local time). The Jeep veered over the raised concrete median divider, crossed over the eastbound lanes and crashed head-on into a tree.

Police said he may have suffered a "medical event" before the accident, but the report did not elaborate, and it said officials would need to perform an autopsy to know for sure.

The report said a woman in the vehicle, identified as Barbara L Poffo, 56, suffered minor injuries. A statement from Stamford, Conn.-based World Wrestling Entertainment said the passenger was the wrestler's current wife. Both were wearing their seatbelts, according to the police report.

"Poffo will be greatly missed by WWE and his fans," the statement said.

Savage was a charismatic wrestler made famous for his "Macho Man" nickname and his "Oooh Yeah!" catchphrase. He was a champion in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation, and later Ted Turner's now-defunct World Championship Wrestling.

Poffo was under contract with WWE from 1985 to 1993 and held both the WWE and Intercontinental Championships.

"Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends. We wish a speedy recovery to his wife Lynn," WWE said.

Savage defined the larger-than-life personalities of the 1980s World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). He wore sequined robes bejewelled with "Macho Man" on the back, rainbow-coloured cowboy hats and oversized sunglasses, part of a unique look that helped build the WWF into a mainstream phenomenon.

For most of his career, his valet, Miss Elizabeth, was by his side. The woman, Elizabeth Hulette, was his real-life wife at the time. They later divorced, and Hulette died in 2003 at 42 in what was later ruled a prescription drug overdose. She was among many performers in the sport to die young.

Others include Curt "Mr Perfect" Hennig, who died of a cocaine overdose in 2003 at 44, and Chris Benoit, who killed his wife and son and then committed suicide in their Georgia home in 2007. Benoit was 40.

The WWF made Savage their champion after a win over Ted DiBiase in the main event at WrestleMania in 1988.

Savage had not appeared for a major wrestling organisation since 2004, when he performed for Total Nonstop Action.

He was at times both the most popular and most hated wrestler in entertainment. His flying elbow off the top rope was mimicked by basement and backyard wrestlers everywhere. Savage made good use of his deep, raspy voice as a corporate pitchman as well, for years ordering Slim Jim fans to "Snap into it!"

He's most known for his legendary rivalries with Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair. Wrestlers took to Twitter to let fans know Savage won't be forgotten.

"There's probably five or six of us, with Andre (the Giant) and Hogan and thankfully myself and Flair, that, when their names pop up, even if you're not a fan, you know who in the hell these people are," said former wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes. "You say, 'I know this guy. I know Macho Man Randy Savage.' He was part of that breed. We lost a good one."

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hailed Savage as one of his childhood inspirations and heroes, while Mick "Cactus Jack" Foley called Savage "one of my favorite performers."

Hogan said he and Savage had just started talking again after 10 years.

"He had so much life in his eyes and in his spirit, I just pray that he's happy and in a better place and we miss him," Hogan wrote.

While so many personalities who left the WWF for WCW like Hogan, Roddy Piper and Mean Gene Okerlund were welcomed back to the company and even inducted into the Hall of Fame, Savage never returned.

Rhodes said Savage had prudently saved his money and was content to remain out of the spotlight.

"He was a recluse, almost," Rhodes said by phone. "Whatever he was doing, he wanted that privacy. Yeah, he was out of the picture for 10 years, but he didn't want to be in the picture."

Savage was a minor league catcher in the 1970s for St Louis and Cincinnati before turning in the uniform for tights. His father, Angelo Poffo, was a longtime wrestler, and his brother, "Leaping" Lanny Poffo, was also a 1980s WWF mainstay. Condolences from fans poured in to Lanny Poffo's Facebook page on Friday.

- AP
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Singer Kathy Kirby dies aged 72

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Singer Kathy Kirby, best known for her cover version of Secret Love in 1963, has died aged 72.

She will also be remembered for representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with I Belong, coming second to Luxembourg.

During her career, Kirby had two top 10 hits and three other singles in the top 40.
In a statement, her family said the star passed away on Thursday night after suffering from a short illness.

"She will be greatly missed by her family and her many friends who have stood loyal over the years," the statement said.

Born in Essex, the star began her career working with bandleader Bert Ambrose who took her on the club circuit.

The blonde pin-up was often compared to Marilyn Monroe and, after securing her first record deal, went on to appear on several US TV programmes, such as The Ed Sullivan Show.

Kirby - whose niece Sarah is married to Sir Mark Thatcher - was one of the biggest stars of the early 1960s.

The singer, who lived in west London, made her last screen appearance in the early 80s, having largely withdrawn from the public eye.

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That's sad.

Every time this thread gets bumped to the top I check in the hope it is Margaret Thatcher. Looks as though the Grim Reaper is closing in.

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Actor Bill Hunter, seen here with a prize-winning portrait at the Archibalds in 2006, will be remembered as an audience favourite.

Aussie film star Bill Hunter dies of cancer at 71
(AP) – 22 May 2011

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Bill Hunter, the archetypal working class Australian of a multitude of movies including the quirky trio "Muriel's Wedding," ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" and "Strictly Ballroom" has died of cancer, his manager said Sunday. He was aged 71.

The prolific star of Australian movie and television screens with a distinctively broad and gravelly accent and an authoritative no-nonsense style remained an actor in demand until the end. He recently narrated a two-part television documentary about the floods and cyclone that became Australia's most expensive natural disasters early this year. He plays the legendary Australian racehorse trainer Bart Cummings and a cameo role in two Australian movies to be screened later this year.

He died late Saturday surrounded by family and friends in a Melbourne hospice where he was admitted on Monday, manager Mark Morrissey said. Colleagues who had recently worked with him were surprised he had been sick.

"Bill was much-loved, a gentleman, an inspiration to fellow actors, a journeyman and a rogue," Morrissey said.

Director Baz Luhrmann described Hunter in a statement last week as "the go-to iconic actor to synthesize quintessential Australian-ness."

The BBC's Sydney correspondent Nick Bryan wrote in 2008 that "Hunter is to Australian films what ravens are to the Tower of London. Without his portly presence, such films would be doomed to fall."

Hunter's weather-worn face has become almost omnipresent on Australian screens since he first appeared as an extra in 1957 in "The Shiralee," British-made movie set in Australia.
His real break into the industry came as a stunt man when Hollywood made "On the Beach" in his hometown of Melbourne in 1959 — a movie about survivors of a nuclear war that starred Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire.

"He watched Gregory Peck do 27 takes and thought: 'A mug could do that,'" Hunter's former wife Rhoda Roberts told Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper last week.
Hunter summed up his own approach to acting during a recent interview to promote his upcoming movie, "The Cup."

"As long as the director told me where to stand and what to say, I was happy. Anyone who says there is any more to it than that is full of (expletive)," Hunter said in a quote released Sunday by his manager.

Australia's National Film and Sound Archive head of film programming Quentin Turnour said Hunter followed in the lineage of unpolished Australian actors Chips Rafferty, who died in 1971, and John Meillon, who died in 1989. Australian audiences loved to see themselves in the laconic and gruff characters with soft hearts that they played, Turnour said.

"He's so iconically Australian. He turns typical, minimalist Australian gestures into a lot of emotional expression," Turnour said.

Hunter was born in Melbourne on Feb. 27, 1940, and raised in rural Victoria state in Australia's southeast. He was the son of a struggling country pub owner who eventually went broke. Hunter told Melbourne's The Sunday Age newspaper in 1994 that he left school at the age of 13 to become a cowboy, known in Australia as a drover, guiding cattle herds across Victoria.

He began building his career in the 1960s in Australian television crime dramas in which he specialized as hard characters who were usually policemen or criminals.
A gregarious hard drinker with an endearing knack of recalling names of people who had expected to be forgotten, Hunter was universally popular in the movie industry in which he became a stalwart with few peers.

An early career highlight came when he played a news reel camera man in the Phillip Noyce-directed movie about the media and politics in Australia in the 1950s, "Newsfront." Hunter won the Australian Film Industry's best actor award for 1978 for the role, the first of three such Australian equivalence of an Oscar that he won.

He also won acclaim for his roles as a doomed army major in Peter Weir's 1981 World War I drama "Gallipoli," a meddling dance judge in Luhrmann's 1992 romantic comedy "Strictly Ballroom," father of the bride in P.J. Hogan's "Muriel's Wedding" and an open-minded mechanic in the company of drag queens in Stephan Elliott's "Priscilla."

The two comedies "Muriel's Wedding" and "Priscilla" were made at the same time in 1994 in different parts of Australia and required Hunter to have different length hair, a beard in one and to be clean shaven in the other, the IMDb Internet Movie Database says.

Hunter also had minor roles in Luhrmann's 2008 epic "Australia" and in the U.S.-Australian television miniseries co-production "The Pacific" released last year.

He found his most youthful audience as the voice of the dentist who captured the clown fish star of the hit 2003 animated feature "Finding Nemo."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thormaturge

I check in the hope it is Margaret Thatcher. Looks as though the Grim Reaper is closing in.

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get your post prepared . . . may not have to wait too much longer.

Lady Thatcher to be honoured with State funeral
Margaret Thatcher is to be given the ultimate accolade of a State funeral when she reaches the end of her days – the first British Prime Minister since Winston Churchill to be afforded such an honour.
The Queen and Gordon Brown are both in discussions with Lady Thatcher’s private office concerning the arrangements. This does not reflect any concern over Lady Thatcher’s health, but simply the prudent long-term planning necessary for any event involving the Queen.
It has not yet been decided whether the 82-year-old former Conservative leader will lie in state in Westminster Hall. To date the only Prime Minister in the 20th and 21st centuries to be given this honour was Churchill.
There were four non-Royal State funerals in the 19th century – Nelson, Wellington, Palmerston and Gladstone.

wonder how Maggie feels knowing all this is going on ,

long way from kick starting jumbo's ......................

There should be a time limit on that State funeral.

If she lasts beyond 31st December the offer should be withdrawn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC9sEAqEjxs

'You Light Up My Life' composer kills self, police say
By Alan Duke, CNN
May 22, 2011

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In 1978, Joseph Brooks accepts an Academy Award for best new song for "You Light Up My Life."


(CNN) -- The man who composed the pop hit "You Light Up My Life" ended his own life Sunday, New York police said.

Joseph Brooks, 73, was facing charges on 11 alleged rapes and sex assaults, New York Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said.
The Oscar-winning songwriter was found dead on a couch in his Manhattan home by a friend with whom he was supposed to have lunch at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Browne said.
A plastic dry cleaning bag and a towel were wrapped around his head, with a tube connected to a helium tank attached, he said. A suicide note was found nearby, he said.
Brooks' son, Nicholas Brooks, was charged in January with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
The bruised body of swimsuit designer Sylvie Cachay, 33, was found at a chic New York hotel last December, police said.
The song, which was written as the title track for a movie, won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Grammy for Brooks.
Debby Boone's recording of "You Light Up My Life" was the number one song of 1977 on the Billboard pop chart.

eleven!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by genghis61

with a tube connected to a helium tank attached

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thought maybe they'd find him inflated and floating near the ceiling while speaking in a funny voice.

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Helium's an unusual choice I'd have thought; and according to Wiki

Inhaling helium can be dangerous if done to excess, since helium is a simple asphyxiant and so displaces oxygen needed for normal respiration. Breathing pure helium continuously causes death by asphyxiation within minutes. Inhaling helium directly from pressurized cylinders is extremely dangerous, as the high flow rate can result in barotrauma, fatally rupturing lung tissue. However, death caused by helium is rare, with only two fatalities reported between 2000 and 2004 in the United States. However there have been two cases in 2010, one in the USA in January and another in Northern Ireland in November.

Lucky nobody stuck a pin in him he would have flown around the room a dozen times.

Spin doctor Terry Jenner dies

AUSTRALIAN cricket has lost one of its finest servants, with former Test spinner Terry Jenner passing away at his Adelaide home. Jenner died at his Brighton home earlier today. His funeral will be held at Adelaide Oval on a date to be announced by the South Australian Cricket Association.
The former Test leg spinner and mentor to Shane Warne suffered a serious heart-attack last April while coaching in England.
The 66-year-old has suffered deteriorating health and his partner, Ann, today confirmed he had lost his life.
"Terry passed away peacefully today just a month and a half after the anniversary of his heart attack," she wrote on his blogsite.

"He wanted to be at home with his family and we were able to share the last few days with him.
"Many people will miss him and the world will not be the same now he has gone but, in many ways, it will be a better thing for him."
Jenner played nine Tests for Australia from 1970 to 1975 and one ODI. He also was the only Test cricketer to have been imprisoned.
He was born in Mount Lawley, WA, and was first selected as an all-rounder in grade cricket in Perth at the age of 17.
After two years of grade cricket, he was picked for Western Australia, as a bowling all-rounder.
However, the notoriously quick WACA pitch did not suit him and Jenner rarely appeared in the XI, claiming only 34 wickets in four seasons.
He moved to South Australia in 1967, playing at the more spin-friendly Adelaide Oval and became a regular member of the Redbacks
Jenner made his Test debut in the 1970–71 Australian season in the First Test of the 1970-71 Ashes series at Brisbane. He scored 0 and 2 and took 2/95, seeing him dropped straight away.
He was recalled for the Seventh and final Test of the series at the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground, where he took 3/42 as England were dismissed on the first day for 184.
The only Australian Test cricketer to be jailed – he spent two years inside for embezzlement – Jenner credited his time coaching Warne for turning his life around.
Jenner started coaching Warne during the legspinner’s brief stint at the Academy in the early 1990s, and was on hand regularly during Warne’s record-breaking Test career to refine his action.
“Working with Shane changed everything,” Jenner said late last year.
“I was out there earning the respect of people and the good news is that I felt like I'd redeemed myself for the downs I had.”
The success Jenner had with Warne opened up many avenues, including being an ABC commentator.

TERRY JENNER TIME LINE
Born Perth September 8, 1944 in Mt Lawley, Perth, WA
First class debut for WA 1963
Moved to Adelaide 1966
Claimed 389 first class wickets at 32.18 in 131 matches
Test debut 1970
Took 24 wickets in nine Tests at 31.2
Sentenced to six and a half years jail for embezzlement in 1988, the result of a gambling addiction. Released after 18 months.
Became Shane Warne’s mentor at the national cricket academy in 1990.
Travelled the cricket world as a renowned spin coach.
Suffered a serious heart attack on April 7, 2010 coaching in England.
Died in Adelaide May 25, 2011 aged 66.
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Jeff Conaway (far left, with Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta and Stockard Channing) starred in the classic 1978 movie Grease

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Pic1: Fan favourite: Conaway (top left) starred in Taxi alongside Judd Hirch, Andy Kaufman, Marilu Henner, Danny Devitio and Tony Danza
Pic 2: Banned: Conaway's on-again off-again girlfriend Vikki Lizzi was barred from being by the actor's side during his final moments

Jeff Conaway
May 27, 2011

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Actor Jeff Conaway, who was in the TV series "Taxi" and the movie "Grease," died Friday morning, his manager said.
While pneumonia was the cause of death, the doctor who treated him for drug addiction for years says it was his dependence on prescription painkillers that eventually cost him his life.
"Jeff was a severe, severe opiate addict with chronic pain, one of the most serious and dangerous combination of problems you could possibly interact with," Dr. Drew Pinsky said during a taping for Friday night's "Dr. Drew" on HLN.
"The pain seemed to be motivating him back to the opiates, and I told him for years that it was going to kill him," Pinsky said.
Conaway, 60, suffered from pneumonia and sepsis in recent weeks and had been in a medically-induced coma in an Encino, California, hospital for two weeks, manager Phil Brock said.
His family surrounded Conaway in his hospital room Thursday afternoon when he was taken off life support, Brock said.
"He was the consummate performer and entertainer," Brock said. "We're thankful his struggles are over, but we know he will be missed by legions of fans worldwide."
On hearing about his death, "Grease" co-star John Travolta said: "Jeff Conaway was a wonderful and decent man and we will miss him. My heartfelt thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this very difficult time."
Conaway's struggle with alcohol and drug addiction was chronicled in 2008 on the TV reality show "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew."
"What happens is, like with most opiate addicts, eventually they take a little too much, not much more than usual, and they aspirate, so what's in their mouth gets into their lungs," Pinsky said. "That causes a rapidly progressing and overwhelming pneumonia that they usually don't know that they have, because they're sort of too out of it because of the drugs and by the time they get to the hospital it's too late. That's what happened with Jeff."
There was no evidence he ever intentionally overdosed, Pinsky said.

YouTube - ‪Gil Scott-Heron - 'Me And The Devil' (Official HD Video)‬‏

US musician and poet Gil Scott-Heron
28 May 2011

US musician and poet Gil Scott-Heron, often called the Godfather of Rap, has died in a New York hospital aged 62.

The cause of his death is not clear, but he is believed to have become ill after returning from a visit to Europe.

Scott-Heron's material spanned soul, jazz, blues and the spoken word. His 1970s work heavily influenced the US hip-hop and rap scenes.

His work had a strong political element - one of his most famous pieces was The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

Scott-Heron's friend Doris Nolan said the musician had died at St Luke's Hospital on Friday afternoon.

"We're all sort of shattered," she told the Associated Press.

Scott-Heron was born in Chicago in 1949 - the son of former football player in Britain - and grew up in Tennessee before moving to New York.

He had a long-running song-writing partnership with pianist and flautist Brian Jackson, who he met at Lincoln University.

The pioneering style he developed while working with Jackson, mixing minimalist percussion with poetry, meant Scott-Heron was often described as the godfather of rap.

But the artist himself rejected this title.

"If there was any individual initiative that I was responsible for it might have been that there was music in certain poems of mine, with complete progression and repeating 'hooks', which made them more like songs than just recitations with percussion," Scott-Heron wrote in the introduction to his 1990 Now and Then collection of poems.

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Assisted Suicide Advocate Jack Kevorkian Reportedly Dies at Michigan Hospital
Published June 03, 2011
| FoxNews.com
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AP
Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian died in a Detroit area hospital following a short illness at the age of 83, according to a close friend and prominent attorney.
DEVELOPING: Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan pathologist who championed physician-assisted suicides, reportedly died early Friday after being hospitalized with kidney problems and pneumonia.
The 83-year-old Kevorkian died at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., his lawyer, Mayer Morganroth, confirmed to the Detroit Free Press.
Kevorkian died from a pulmonary thrombosis when a blood clot from his leg broke free and lodged in his heart, the newspaper reports.
Kevorkian was released from a Michigan prison in 2007 after serving eight years for second-degree murder. He claims to have assisted in at least 130 suicides.
Click here to read more on the reported death of Jack Kevorkian from the Detroit Free Press.
The Associated Press contributed to this report


Read more: Assisted Suicide Advocate Jack Kevorkian Reportedly Dies at Michigan Hospital - FoxNews.com

Assisted Suicide Advocate Jack Kevorkian Reportedly Dies at Michigan Hospital - FoxNews.com

Rag Trade star Miriam Karlin dies aged 85

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Actress Miriam Karlin, known to many for her role as shop steward Paddy in TV sitcom The Rag Trade, has died in London aged 85.

The actress, who became an OBE in 1975, had cancer and died in hospital.

Born Miriam Samuels in 1925, Karlin was one of Malcolm McDowell's victims in A Clockwork Orange and also had roles in The Entertainer and Room at the Top.

Sir Antony Sher, one of her former co-stars, paid tribute to her as "a great actress [and] a great lady".

Working with Karlin on the play Torch Song Trilogy had been "one of the most enjoyable experiences of my career," he said.

"She gave a tremendous performance as the Jewish mother, full of power and anger, but there was always a twinkle in her eye."

Raised as an orthodox Jew in London, Karlin was a staunch political activist and an active member of actors' union Equity.

She had been a patron of Dignity in Dying, a body that campaigns for a change to the laws on assisted dying.

The Hampstead-born actress - who lost some family members in Auschwitz - trained at Rada and performed for troops with the Entertainments National Service Association (Ensa).

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/06/548.jpg Karlin played shop steward Paddy in both incarnations of The Rag Trade

Her stage work included engagements with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She also became the first woman to play the traditionally male lead in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker.

The actress frequently played formidable Jewish matriarchs, among them Golde in the original West End production of Fiddler on the Roof.

Karlin appeared as Paddy - known for calling "Everybody out!" at regular intervals - in the original 1960s version of The Rag Trade.

She would later reprise her role when the show was revived by ITV in the 1970s.
It was her startling demise in A Clockwork Orange, though, for which some film fans will remember her best.

As the so-called "Cat Lady", she was beaten to death with a phallic-looking sculpture in Stanley Kubrick's controversial take on Anthony Burgess's novel.

West End theatre producer David Pugh was a friend of Karlin's and remembered her as "a wonderful woman."

Equity spokesman Martin Brown has also paid tribute, remembering her in The Stage as "an absolutely indefatigable campaigner and a marvellous friend".

In a statement, Lord and Baroness Kinnock said the actress had been "superbly talented in roles of every kind".

"Mim was easy to love, an infectious friend, a true comrade and a sparkling spirit."

YouTube - ‪Actress Miriam Karlin - A Clockwork Orange‬‏

'Gunsmoke' star James Arness dies at 88

Men of a certain age remember James Arness as the template of masculinity during their youth. The character of Marshal Matt Dillon became one of those male archetypes that we all measured ourselves against. It’s why I had a cowboy hat, boots and six-shooter cap guns as a small boy. I even recall Johnny Cash talking about practicing his quick draw skills against TV’s Dodge City lawman. I think about that every time I hear Cash’s “Don’t Take Your Guns To Town”.

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James Arness, the 6-foot-6 actor who towered over the television landscape for two decades as righteous Dodge City lawman Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke," died Friday. He was 88.

The actor died in his sleep at his home in Brentwood, Calif., according to his business manager, Ginny Fazer

It Ain't Half Hot Mum's Donald Hewlett dies at 90

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Donald Hewlett, who was best known for his role in the 1970s BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, has died aged 90.

The actor, who played Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Reynolds in the show, had been ill for some time, his wife told the BBC.

He died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in west London on Saturday, Therese McMurray-Hewlett said.

Hewlett was also known for his role as master of the house, Lord Meldrum, in 1990s BBC sitcom You Rang M'Lord?

The actor began his on-screen career with a small part in the 1954 comedy film Orders are Orders starring Peter Sellers, Donald Pleasence and Sid James.

He went on to have roles in numerous TV shows including The Saint, The Avengers, Doctor Who and Coronation Street.

But it was his turn as the commanding officer in It Ain't Half Hot Mum which made his name.

The series, set in British India and Burma towards the end of World War II ran on BBC One from 1974-1981.

Hewlett last appeared on TV in ITV sitcom The Upper Hand in 1995.

He is survived by his wife, Therese, and five children including daughter Siobhan, who is also an actress.

Water-skiing Asian elephant dies
ATLANTA | Fri Jun 3, 2011

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Queenie, an Asian elephant, and Liz Dane water-ski at a park in Florida in 1958. Dane’s parents once owned the elephant, who was euthanized Monday at age 58.


Queenie, a water-skiing Asian elephant who delighted fans in the 1950s, has been euthanized at the Georgia wildlife park where she lived her final years in retirement.

"She had a declining quality of life and declining health," said Micha Hogan, public relations director of the Wild Adventures Water and Theme Park in Valdosta, where Queenie had lived out of the spotlight since 2003.

The 58-year-old elephant was the star of a water-skiing show in the late 1950s at De Leon Springs, a private roadside park near DeLand, Florida that at the time was located on a major thoroughfare for tourists.

Queenie, standing atop two pontoons, was pulled around a lake by a boat as fans watched in bleachers, said Brian Polk, manager of what is now the De Leon Springs State Park.

Liz Dane said her parents purchased the young elephant in 1953 from a New York City pet store, and the following year the family took her to their private zoo in Fairlee, Vermont.

Over the years, Queenie learned a number of tricks, including water skiing and playing the harmonica, Dane told Reuters on Friday.

Queenie performed with Dane on television shows and at circuses, county fairs and De Leon Springs.

"Elephants can swim," she said. "That particular area, the water wasn't that deep. And even if she did spill over, they can swim. There was no danger."

Dane, whose parents sold Queenie to a circus in 1967, last saw the elephant in January. Queenie was euthanized on Monday.

"Obviously I was extremely sad when she died, I cried," Dane said. "But then I reflected on how she had been going downhill, her health had been declining. I'm sad, but I'm happy for Queenie. She's in a better place now."

At De Leon Springs State Park, visitors still can watch a video of Queenie performing. Polk said a live elephant water-skiing show would probably be considered unacceptable by today's standards.

"We think the time period for that has passed," he said. "People are more sensitive to animals."

YouTube - ‪"The World's Only Water-Skiing Elephant"‬‏ YouTube - ‪Crazy Water Skiing Elephant‬‏

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and an obit from PETA

Queenie, Water-Skiing Elephant, Dies at Florida Water Park
Opinion by PETA
(4 Days Ago) in Society / Animal Rights

Queenie, an Asian elephant who spent her entire life in captivity, has died at Georgia's Wild Adventures Water and Theme Park at age 59.

Queenie was only 6 months old when her owner began training her to water ski—yes, water ski—at a Florida theme park. For 15 years in the '50s and '60s, Queenie performed three or four times a day, accompanied by blasting music.

She was then sold to a traveling elephant act and then sold and resold over and over again before ending her sad days at Wild Adventures.

While water-skiing elephants may be a thing of the past, elephants in circuses today lead lives equally as bereft as Queenie's. Baby elephants used by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are torn away from their frantic mothers to be broken and trained for a life of servitude.

They spend decades in chains, trying to avoid being hit with bullhooks.

Andrew Gold, Lonely Boy singer-songwriter, dies aged 59


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Andrew Gold performing Heartaches in Heartaches at the Victoria Theatre in London as shown on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977


US singer-songwriter Andrew Gold, who enjoyed hits in the 1970s with Lonely Boy and Never Let Her Slip Away, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 59.

Another of his songs, Thank You for Being a Friend, was known to millions after being used as the theme for long-running sitcom The Golden Girls.

During the 1980s, Gold formed Wax UK with ex-10cc member Graham Gouldman.
His UK label, Dome Records, remembered him as "a hugely talented musician" with "a brilliant sense of humour".

Gold, who died on Friday of a heart attack, was the son of Ernest Gold, Oscar-winning composer of films like Exodus and It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

His mother, Marni Nixon, is a singer and actress best known for dubbing the stars of such Hollywood musicals as My Fair Lady and West Side Story.

Gold performed with Linda Ronstadt before his breakthrough as a solo artist with Asylum Records.

He went on to work with Art Garfunkel, Celine Dion, James Taylor, Sir Paul McCartney and numerous other artists.

Martin Rushent. Top UK record producer of such diverse talents as the Buzzcocks, Generation X, The Stranglers, Human League; etc. RIP.

Martin Rushent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Matt Dillon eh.

They dont make them like that anymore.

League legend Rex Mossop dies, aged 83

Manly rugby league legend and former commentator Rex Mossop has died, aged 83.
Mossop, who played rugby league and rugby union for Australia, died early today.
The former Manly-Warringah star forward, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, was admitted to Royal North Shore Hospital this year and his condition is understood to have deteriorated in the past week.

Mossop played rugby union for the Manly club and played Tests for the Wallabies between 1948 and 1951.
He switched codes in 1951, joining English club Leigh before returning to Australia.
He played for Manly-Warringah from 1956 as the cornerstone of their forward pack before retiring in 1963 at the age of 35.
He was rugby league's premier television commentator on Channels Seven and Ten from the 1970s until 1990.


League legend Rex Mossop dies, aged 83

YouTube - ‪Tonight Live: When Rex Met Julian.‬‏

youtube.com

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Originally Posted by genghis61

(CNN) -- The man who composed the pop hit "You Light Up My Life" ended his own life Sunday, New York police said.

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I never knew of the song composer guy or the singers name, but just listening to that, its a real classic and that Debbie Boone carresses it so wonderfully. :)

With the promise of a State funeral you would think Thatcher would jump at the chance.

Off a tall building, a cliff....

Clarence Clemons, Springsteen saxophone player, dies

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Clarence Clemons, the saxophone player in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, has died, aged 69, a spokeswoman for the band has said.

Clemons was taken to hospital about a week ago after suffering a stroke at his home in Singer Island, in the US state of Florida.

Known as the Big Man for his 6ft 5in frame, Clemons was credited with shaping the early sound of The Boss.

His solos powered Springsteen hits such as Born to Run and Jungleland.
Springsteen spokeswoman Marilyn Laverty confirmed the death on Saturday.

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/06/3653.jpg Clemons (left) and Springsteen worked together for nearly 40 years

, Springsteen said the loss of Clemons was "immeasurable" and that he and his bandmates were honoured to have stood beside him for nearly four decades.
The statement said: "Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him."

It added: "He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage."

Clemons had suffered from poor health in recent years, including major spinal surgery in January 2010.

At the 2009 Super Bowl, following double knee replacement surgery, he rose from a wheelchair to perform with Springsteen.

In May this year Clemons, a former youth councillor, was well enough to perform with Lady Gaga on the finale of the television show American Idol.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Clemons began playing saxophone at the age of nine after receiving one unexpectedly from his father for Christmas.

"I wanted an electric train for Christmas, but he got me a saxophone. I flipped out," he told the Associated Press news agency in a 1989 interview.

After his dreams of being a football player were dashed by a car accident, he turned to music.

Clemons hit it off immediately with Springsteen, then a singer-songwriter from New Jersey, when they first met in 1971, and the saxophonist became an original member of the E Street Band

Funny how I aint heard of most of these famous people who have popped their clogs on here

^That's ok...
This thread is to help remember some of the good ones...
Or learn about them...

:)

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Originally Posted by TizMe

League legend Rex Mossop dies, aged 83

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The Moose, i grew up listening to him call the footy.

Vale John David Brockhoff, one of rugby union’s finest

“Brock” was passionate about his rugby – and rugby revered him. David Brockhoff died yesterday, aged 83, having given a lifetime to the 15 man code that kickstarted with three years in The Scots College first XV. A rare feat.
A Life Member of the Australian and NSW Rugby Unions, he was an eight-capped Wallaby, with 26 games in the then coveted green jersey with gold, 14 caps for NSW, and 95 games for Sydney Uni, as a very loose breakaway – a “sea-guller’.
But when he became a 10 man war-of-attrition rugby coach, centres and wingers suffered pneumonia through lack of possession. They became experienced chasers.
That was the “Brock” way, and it worked a treat.
He’s rightfully been given the credit for turning Wallaby fortunes as coach.
“Brock” took over in 1974 at a time when the Wallabies had lost 26 of their last 33 internationals, with two drawn.
They were the easybeats of Test rugby.
And the renaissance started with the two-Test home series against England in 1975.
The first was at the SCG, winning 16-9 playing superb rugby. And it’s as vivid as if it happened yesterday, with “Brock”, ARU delegate Peter Falk, and myself with arms around each other’s shoulders in the shed, crying our eyes out.
The Wallabies had actually beaten England for the first time on home soil, and emotions were running high.
“The Battle of Ballymore” second Test is cemented in international rugby folklore.
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Sad about Clarence. RIP

Jackass member Ryan Dunn died in a car crash at 34, RIP :(

'Jackass' stuntman Ryan Dunn dead at 34

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US comedy stunt television show "Jackass" lost one of its stars when Ryan Dunn, known for his death-defying and often car-related pranks, died in a car accident early Monday, MTV said.
Police said the accident took place around 2:30 am (0630 GMT) in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, and that Dunn was probably speeding at the time. An unidentified passenger was also killed.
Dunn's 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 burst into flames after the crash. It was found off the road and in the woods.
"Speed may have been a contributing factor to the accident," the West Goshen Township Police Department's report read.
"Upon arrival, police located one vehicle off the road and in the woods that was fully engulfed in flames."
A photograph posted to Dunn's Twitter account about two hours before the accident showed him drinking what appeared to be alcoholic beverages with two male friends.
"We are devastated by the tragic loss of Ryan Dunn -- a beloved member of the MTV family for more than a decade," said Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music/Film Group that broadcast the "Jackass" series that ran from 2000-2002 before spinning off into a successful film franchise.
"He made us all laugh and had the tireless enthusiastic approach to life of your favorite middle school friend. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Ryan's family and friends. The Jackass brotherhood will never be the same."
The red-bearded Dunn, 34, appeared in the "Jackass" television series and the franchise's three films. He was also a cast member of reality television series "Viva La Bam," in which most of the "Jackass" original cast appeared.
"Jackass 3D" debuted with a whopping $50 million in ticket sales in October.
More recently, Dunn and "Jackass" co-star Steve-O teamed up for a June 8 episode of the NBC TV game show "Minute to Win It," and hosted the shows "Homewrecker" (MTV) and "Proving Ground" (G4 television).
One of his most famous stunts involved inserting a toy car in his rectum and then going to the doctor for an X-ray as part of his "Butt X-Ray" prank.

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Bob Pease (Robert A. Pease) was an analog integrated circuit design expert and technical author. He designed several very successful "best-seller" integrated circuits, many of them in continuous production for multiple decades. These include the LM331 voltage to frequency converter, and the LM337 adjustable voltage regulator.

Pease obtained a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) degree from MIT in 1961. He started work in the early 1960s at George A. Philbrick Researches (GAP-R). GAP-R pioneered the first reasonable-cost, mass-produced op amp: the K2-W. At GAP-R, Pease developed many high-performance op amps, built with discrete solid-state components.

In 1976, Pease moved to National Semiconductor Corporation (NSC) as a designer and applications engineer, where he began designing analog monolithic integrated circuits, as well as design reference circuits using these devices. He had advanced to staff scientist by the time of his departure in 2009.[3] During his tenure at NSC, he began writing a popular continuing monthly column entitled "Pease Porridge" in Electronic Design Magazine about his experiences in the world of electronic design and application.

Pease was the author of eight books, including Troubleshooting Analog Circuits, and held 21 patents

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Departure of chip-design legend Bob Pease prompts outpouring in Silicon Valley
Bob Pease Remembered For Pease Porridge And A Whole Lot More