The RIP Famous Person Thread

[Latindancer]

Bill Cosby daughter's Ensa dies aged 44 after contracting kidney disease


A spokesman for the comedian asked for prayers for the Cosby family and that the family be given peace at this time.
Ensa Cosby supported her father during his sexual assault trial, saying she believed racism played a big role in the scandal.
"My father is being punished by a society that still believes black men rape white women but passes off 'boys will be boys' when white men are accused … the politics of our country prove my disgust. My father has been publicly lynched in the media," she said.
Ensa Cosby appeared on one episode of The Cosby Show, which ran from 1984-1992.
Cosby lost another of his five children in 1997 when his 27-year-old son, Ennis, was shot to death while changing a flat tire near a freeway off ramp in Los Angeles.
A 22-year-old man was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Sexual assault retrial looms

Cosby is expected to face a retrial on April 2 on charges he drugged and molested a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
He has pleaded not guilty and remains free on bail.
His first sexual assault trial ended with a hung jury last June because two jurors refused to convict.
Jury selection for his retrial will start March 29.




Bill Cosby daughter's Ensa dies aged 44 after contracting kidney disease - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[harrybarracuda]

David Ogden Stiers, fussy 'M*A*S*H' doc and beloved clock from Disney's 'Beast,' dies at 75




David Ogden Stiers, best known for his role as the arrogant surgeon Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on “M*A*S*H,” died Saturday. He was 75.

His agent tweeted that he died of bladder cancer at his home in Newport, Ore., according to Variety.

For his work on the sitcom set in the Korean War, Stiers was twice Emmy-nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy or variety or music series, in 1981 and 1982. Variety recalled that he earned a third Emmy nomination for his performance in NBC miniseries “The First Olympics: Athens 1896” as William Milligan Sloane, the founder of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The actor, with his educated, resonant voice, was much in demand for narration and voiceover work, and for efforts as the narrator and as Cogsworth the clock in Disney’s hit animated film “Beauty and the Beast,” he shared a Grammy win for best recording for children and another nomination for album of the year.

Indeed, it was his voice that earned him his first screen credit — as the announcer in George Lucas’ 1971 film “THX 1138.”
Among his many credits, Stiers worked repeatedly for director Woody Allen, appearing in “Shadows and Fog,” “Mighty Aphrodite,” “Everybody Says I Love You” and “Curse of the Jade Scorpion."

On “M*A*S*H,” Stiers’ Major Winchester was witty where his predecessor, Frank Burns had been vapid. And with his Harvard education, he was a match for Alan Alda’s Hawkeye in the operating room, where the surgeons routinely performed what they often called "meatball surgery."

The show has been experiencing a popular renaissance, as it marks 35 years since a series finale that drew an astounding 106 million viewers, according to The Washington Post.

He starred in "M*A*S*H" from 1977 until 1983 and also appeared on the "Mary Tyler Moore Show," "North and South," "Star Trek: The Next Generation," amd "Regular Show," among other programs, according to Entertainment Tonight.

David Allen Ogden Stiers was born not in New England but in Peoria, Ill., Variety said, though the family moved to Eugene, Oregon, while he was in high school. He briefly attended the University of Oregon, began his professional career at the Actors Workshop in San Francisco, the California Shakespeare Festival and improv group the Committee before heading East and, starting in 1968, attending New York’s Juilliard and then joining at launch the Houseman Acting Company, where he was mentored by venerable actor and "Paper Chase" star John Houseman.

Stiers was also musically inclined: He served as the associate conductor for the Newport Symphony Orchestra in Oregon and guest-conducted dozens of orchestras around the world, said Entertainment Weekly.

In 2009, the actor revealed publicly that he was gay. He told ABC News at the time that he had hidden his sexuality for a long time because so much of his income had been derived from family-friendly programming.

David Ogden Stiers, fussy 'M*A*S*H' doc and beloved clock from Disney's 'Beast,' dies at 75 | Fox News

[SKkin]

My father[Bill Cosby] has been publicly lynched in the media," she said.

Agree. Some how some way, Bill pissed off the wrong tribe. There, I said it.

[harrybarracuda]

Agree. Some how some way, Bill pissed off the wrong tribe. There, I said it.

I think he pissed them off by drugging and raping women.

Just a guess like.

[SKkin]

I think he pissed them off by drugging and raping women.

I bought Quaaludes and Southern Comfort for this hot Sicilian girl from Cleveland back in the day...then she fucked my brains out. This happened multiple times over the course of about a year and a half. I was 19 and she was 17 when it started.

If I were to become famous and then pissed off the wrong people, that could be twisted into me drugging and raping that girl. Even though she was very willing before she took the 'ludes. Jus sayin...


edit: At the time my biggest concern was her two big brothers...but you know what they say about the flesh being weak. Did I mention she was of 100% Sicilian stock?

[BaitongBoy]

Very good point, SKkin...

And good guess, Harry...

[VocalNeal]

RIP Trevor Baylis the inventor of the clockwork radio dies aged 80


https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...aylis-obituary

[uncle junior]

Even though she was very willing

Just a guess but the willing part might be important.

[mark45y]

Jimmy Buffet's ode to Monty Hall...

Actually I think the song was written by Hillary Clinton's High School classmate and owner of "Somebody's Else's Troubles" bar in Chicago, Steve Goodman. Who also wrote "City of New Orleans" and the perfect country song "You Never Even Call Me By My Name." Steve is dead too.

[cyrille]

RIP Trevor Baylis

[SKkin]

Just a guess but the willing part might be important.

True...but many years later a gal might be convinced to remember she wasn't willing. No?

[harrybarracuda]

Who also wrote "City of New Orleans" and the perfect country song "You Never Even Call Me By My Name." Steve is dead too.

I think that honour goes to Billy Connolly.

[harrybarracuda]

True...but many years later a gal might be convinced to remember she wasn't willing. No?

Maybe, but not 57.

[harrybarracuda]

Comedy legend Sir Ken Dodd dies at his Knotty Ash home aged 90

The comedian had spent six weeks in hospital for a chest infection.



Comedy legend Sir Ken Dodd died peacefully late on Sunday in the Knotty Ash home where he was born, spent his entire life - and married his partner of 40 years on Friday.

Anne Jones - Lady Anne - was by his side when he passed away at their house in Thomas Lane.

Ken, who celebrated his 90th birthday in November, had recently spent more than six weeks in the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital battling a severe chest infection. He was allowed home nearly two weeks ago.

Doddy's agent, Robert Holmes, broke the sad news of the national treasure's death in a phone call to the ECHO at 1.20am, shortly after receiving a call from a distraught Lady Anne.

He said: "They may as well turn out the lights - the last of the music hall greats has gone.

"It is so sad, but what is so lovely is that Ken was able to marry his beloved Anne in a private ceremony at home on Friday. And, being a Knight of the Realm, there will actually be a marriage announcement in The Times on Tuesday.

"They were together for 40 years and this is the love story to end all love stories.
"I was so pleased for them both - and I am so pleased that Anne is now Lady Anne."

The much-loved veteran entertainer and Squire of Knotty Ash will be mourned by millions, especially in his beloved home city.

Robert added: "Ken was Liverpool and Knotty Ash through and through, and it is so remarkable that he died in the house he was born, grew up in and spent his whole adult life."

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/sir-ken-dodd-king-comedy-14397914

[Begbie]

Doddy died.

Did he?

No Doddy.

[mcgoo]

a few years back he went to court on money evasion charges, He had 30 offshore accounts and 300.000 GBP hidden in his house , the charges were dropped .

300k in his house eh! the bloody Scousers missed that prize

[mcgoo]

Used to see him driving his MK10 Jag on Blackpool rd Preston on his way to the show

Discomnockerated am I !

Doddy went Diddy now,s Deady

[kmart]

RIP Doddy.

Used to love his shows as a kid. He was working and doing 3-4 hour shows until quite recently apparently. Comedy and entertainment legend.

[Begbie]

a few years back he went to court on money evasion charges, He had 30 offshore accounts and 300.000 GBP hidden in his house , the charges were dropped .

300k in his house eh! the bloody Scousers missed that prize

Tax evasion. I believe he was found not guilty after trial by jury. He was guilty, but the jury liked him so much they gave him a pass.

[harrybarracuda]

Fashion Designer Hubert de Givenchy Dies at 91

7:22 AM PDT 3/12/2018 by Sam Reed






The French designer, best known in Hollywood for his relationship with Audrey Hepburn, also dressed the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy and Greta Garbo.

Fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, founder of the house of Givenchy, died at his home on Saturday. He was 91.

The French fashion house confirmed the news on social media on Monday morning, remembering the late designer as a "major personality of the world of French Haute Couture and a gentleman who symbolized Parisian chic elegance."

Current creative director Clare Waight Keller, who joined the house in 2017 following Riccardo Tisci's 12-year stint, wrote of Givenchy on Instagram, "Not only was he one of the most influential fashion figures of our time, whose legacy still influences modern day dressing, but he also was one of the chicest most charming men I have ever met. The definition of a true gentleman, that will stay with me forever."

A French aristocrat, Givenchy founded his label in 1952 at the age of 25 after a four-year stint under Elsa Schiaparelli. Early in his career, he garnered attention stateside for his artist-muse relationship with Audrey Hepburn, with whom he also developed a close personal relationship. "I’m as dependent on Givenchy as some Americans are on their psychiatrist," the actress once said of Givenchy.

The pair first met in 1953 when Sabrina director Billy Wilder sent Hepburn to the young designer's Paris atelier to take in the culture of haute couture. Hepburn and Givenchy worked together extensively following their first encounter; he was responsible for the little black dress she wore in Breakfast at Tiffany's and received costume designer credit for most of her contemporary films, including Love in the Afternoon, Funny Face, Charade and Two for the Road.

In addition to Hepburn, Givenchy also dressed screen darlings of the '50s and '60s including Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo and Grace Kelly, as well as Jackie Kennedy.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hubert-de-givenchy-dead-fashion-designer-dies-at-91-1093745

[toslti]

Just seen on the Grauniad that Stephen Hawking has died.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/...r-dies-aged-76

[harrybarracuda]

Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76




Hawking passed away due to complications from ALS. The physicist was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 21.
He was best known for his work with black holes. Hawking discovered that black holes emitted a form of radiation.

Hawking won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 among many other awards. He stunned doctors by living with the normally fatal illness for more than 50 years.

Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76 | WICS

[harrybarracuda]

The Guardian obit linked above:


The image of Stephen Hawking – who has died aged 76 – in his motorised wheelchair, with head contorted slightly to one side and hands crossed over to work the controls, caught the public imagination, as a true symbol of the triumph of mind over matter. As with the Delphic oracle of ancient Greece, physical impairment seemed compensated by almost supernatural gifts, which allowed his mind to roam the universe freely, upon occasion enigmatically revealing some of its secrets hidden from ordinary mortal view.




Of course, such a romanticised image can represent but a partial truth. Those who knew Hawking would clearly appreciate the dominating presence of a real human being, with an enormous zest for life, great humour, and tremendous determination, yet with normal human weaknesses, as well as his more obvious strengths. It seems clear that he took great delight in his commonly perceived role as “the No 1 celebrity scientist”; huge audiences would attend his public lectures, perhaps not always just for scientific edification.


The scientific community might well form a more sober assessment. He was extremely highly regarded, in view of his many greatly impressive, sometimes revolutionary, contributions to the understanding of the physics and the geometry of the universe.


Hawking had been diagnosed shortly after his 21st birthday as suffering from an unspecified incurable disease, which was then identified as the fatal degenerative motor neurone disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Soon afterwards, rather than succumbing to depression, as others might have done, he began to set his sights on some of the most fundamental questions concerning the physical nature of the universe. In due course, he would achieve extraordinary successes against the severest physical disabilities. Defying established medical opinion, he managed to live another 55 years.


His background was academic, though not directly in mathematics or physics. His father, Frank, was an expert in tropical diseases and his mother, Isobel (nee Walker), was a free-thinking radical who had a great influence on him. He was born in Oxford and moved to St Albans, Hertfordshire, at eight. Educated at St Albans school, he won a scholarship to study physics at University College, Oxford. He was recognised as unusually capable by his tutors, but did not take his work altogether seriously. Although he obtained a first-class degree in 1962, it was not a particularly outstanding one.


He decided to continue his career in physics at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, proposing to study under the distinguished cosmologist Fred Hoyle. He was disappointed to find that Hoyle was unable to take him, the person available in that area being Dennis Sciama, unknown to Hawking at the time. In fact, this proved fortuitous, for Sciama was becoming an outstandingly stimulating figure in British cosmology, and would supervise several students who were to make impressive names for themselves in later years (including the future astronomer royal Lord Rees of Ludlow).


Sciama seemed to know everything that was going on in physics at the time, especially in cosmology, and he conveyed an infectious excitement to all who encountered him. He was also very effective in bringing together people who might have things of significance to communicate with one another.


When Hawking was in his second year of research at Cambridge, I (at Birkbeck College in London) had established a certain mathematical theorem of relevance. This showed, on the basis of a few plausible assumptions (by the use of global/topological techniques largely unfamiliar to physicists at the time) that a collapsing over-massive star would result in a singularity in space-time – a place where it would be expected that densities and space-time curvatures would become infinite – giving us the picture of what we now refer to as a “black hole”. Such a space-time singularity would lie deep within a “horizon”, through which no signal or material body can escape. (This picture had been put forward by J Robert Oppenheimer and Hartland Snyder in 1939, but only in the special circumstance where exact spherical symmetry was assumed. The purpose of this new theorem was to obviate such unrealistic symmetry assumptions.) At this central singularity, Einstein’s classical theory of general relativity would have reached its limits.


Meanwhile, Hawking had also been thinking about this kind of problem with George Ellis, who was working on a PhD at St John’s College, Cambridge. The two men had been working on a more limited type of “singularity theorem” that required an unreasonably restrictive assumption. Sciama made a point of bringing Hawking and me together, and it did not take Hawking long to find a way to use my theorem in an unexpected way, so that it could be applied (in a time-reversed form) in a cosmological setting, to show that the space-time singularity referred to as the “big bang” was also a feature not just of the standard highly symmetrical cosmological models, but also of any qualitatively similar but asymmetrical model.


Some of the assumptions in my original theorem seem less natural in the cosmological setting than they do for collapse to a black hole. In order to generalise the mathematical result so as to remove such assumptions, Hawking embarked on a study of new mathematical techniques that appeared relevant to the problem.


A powerful body of mathematical work known as Morse theory had been part of the machinery of mathematicians active in the global (topological) study of Riemannian spaces. However, the spaces that are used in Einstein’s theory are really pseudo-Riemannian and the relevant Morse theory differs in subtle but important ways. Hawking developed the necessary theory for himself (aided, in certain respects, by Charles Misner, Robert Geroch and Brandon Carter) and was able to use it to produce new theorems of a more powerful nature, in which the assumptions of my theorem could be considerably weakened, showing that a big-bang-type singularity was a necessary implication of Einstein’s general relativity in broad circumstances.


A few years later (in a paper published by the Royal Society in 1970, by which time Hawking had become a fellow “for distinction in science” of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge), he and I joined forces to publish an even more powerful theorem which subsumed almost all the work in this area that had gone before.


In 1967, Werner Israel published a remarkable paper that had the implication that non-rotating black holes, when they had finally settled down to become stationary, would necessarily become completely spherically symmetrical. Subsequent results by Carter, David Robinson and others generalised this to include rotating black holes, the implication being that the final space-time geometry must necessarily accord with an explicit family of solutions of Einstein’s equations found by Roy Kerr in 1963. A key ingredient to the full argument was that if there is any rotation present, then there must be complete axial symmetry. This ingredient was basically supplied by Hawking in 1972.


The very remarkable conclusion of all this is that the black holes that we expect to find in nature have to conform to this Kerr geometry. As the great theoretical astrophysicist Subramanyan Chandrasekhar subsequently commented, black holes are the most perfect macroscopic objects in the universe, being constructed just out of space and time; moreover, they are the simplest as well, since they can be exactly described by an explicitly known geometry (that of Kerr).


Following his work in this area, Hawking established a number of important results about black holes, such as an argument for its event horizon (its bounding surface) having to have the topology of a sphere. In collaboration with Carter and James Bardeen, in work published in 1973, he established some remarkable analogies between the behaviour of black holes and the basic laws of thermodynamics, where the horizon’s surface area and its surface gravity were shown to be analogous, respectively, to the thermodynamic quantities of entropy and temperature. It would be fair to say that in his highly active period leading up to this work, Hawking’s research in classical general relativity was the best anywhere in the world at that time.


Hawking, Bardeen and Carter took their “thermodynamic” behaviour of black holes to be little more than just an analogy, with no literal physical content. A year or so earlier, Jacob Bekenstein had shown that the demands of physical consistency imply – in the context of quantum mechanics – that a black hole must indeed have an actual physical entropy (“entropy” being a physicist’s measure of “disorder”) that is proportional to its horizon’s surface area, but he was unable to establish the proportionality factor precisely. Yet it had seemed, on the other hand, that the physical temperature of a black hole must be exactly zero, inconsistently with this analogy, since no form of energy could escape from it, which is why Hawking and his colleagues were not prepared to take their analogy completely seriously.


Hawking had then turned his attention to quantum effects in relation to black holes, and he embarked on a calculation to determine whether tiny rotating black holes that might perhaps be created in the big bang would radiate away their rotational energy. He was startled to find that irrespective of any rotation they would radiate away their energy – which, by Einstein’s E=mc⁲, means their mass. Accordingly, any black hole actually has a non-zero temperature, agreeing precisely with the Bardeen-Carter-Hawking analogy. Moreover, Hawking was able to supply the precise value “one quarter” for the entropy proportionality constant that Bekenstein had been unable to determine.


This radiation coming from black holes that Hawking predicted is now, very appropriately, referred to as Hawking radiation. For any black hole that is expected to arise in normal astrophysical processes, however, the Hawking radiation would be exceedingly tiny, and certainly unobservable directly by any techniques known today. But he argued that very tiny black holes could have been produced in the big bang itself, and the Hawking radiation from such holes would build up into a final explosion that might be observed. There appears to be no evidence for such explosions, showing that the big bang was not so accommodating as Hawking wished, and this was a great disappointment to him.


These achievements were certainly important on the theoretical side. They established the theory of black-hole thermodynamics: by combining the procedures of quantum (field) theory with those of general relativity, Hawking established that it is necessary also to bring in a third subject, thermodynamics. They are generally regarded as Hawking’s greatest contributions. That they have deep implications for future theories of fundamental physics is undeniable, but the detailed nature of these implications is still a matter of much heated debate.


Hawking himself was able to conclude from all this (though not with universal acceptance by particle physicists) that those fundamental constituents of ordinary matter – the protons – must ultimately disintegrate, although with a decay rate that is beyond present-day techniques for observing it. He also provided reasons for suspecting that the very rules of quantum mechanics might need modification, a viewpoint that he seemed originally to favour. But later (unfortunately, in my own opinion) he came to a different view, and at the Dublin international conference on gravity in July 2004, he publicly announced a change of mind (thereby conceding a bet with the Caltech physicist John Preskill) concerning his originally predicted “information loss” inside black holes.


Following his black-hole work, Hawking turned his attentions to the problem of quantum gravity, developing ingenious ideas for resolving some of the basic issues. Quantum gravity, which involves correctly imposing the quantum procedures of particle physics on to the very structure of space-time, is generally regarded as the most fundamental unsolved foundational issue in physics. One of its stated aims is to find a physical theory that is powerful enough to deal with the space-time singularities of classical general relativity in black holes and the big bang.


Hawking’s work, up to this point, although it had involved the procedures of quantum mechanics in the curved space-time setting of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, did not provide a quantum gravity theory. That would require the “quantisation” procedures to be applied to Einstein’s curved space-time itself, not just to physical fields within curved space-time.


With James Hartle, Hawking developed a quantum procedure for handling the big-bang singularity. This is referred to as the “no-boundary” idea, whereby the singularity is replaced by a smooth “cap”, this being likened to what happens at the north pole of the Earth, where the concept of longitude loses meaning (becomes singular) while the north pole itself has a perfectly good geometry.


To make sense of this idea, Hawking needed to invoke his notion of “imaginary time” (or “Euclideanisation”), which has the effect of converting the “pseudo-Riemannian” geometry of Einstein’s space-time into a more standard Riemannian one. Despite the ingenuity of many of these ideas, grave difficulties remain (one of these being how similar procedures could be applied to the singularities inside black holes, which is fundamentally problematic).


There are many other approaches to quantum gravity being pursued worldwide, and Hawking’s procedures, though greatly respected and still investigated, are not the most popularly followed, although all others have their share of fundamental difficulties also.


To the end of his life, Hawking continued with his research into the quantum-gravity problem, and the related issues of cosmology. But concurrently with his strictly research interests, he became increasingly involved with the popularisation of science, and of his own ideas in particular. This began with the writing of his astoundingly successful book A Brief History of Time (1988), which was translated into some 40 languages and sold over 25m copies worldwide.


Undoubtedly, the brilliant title was a contributing factor to the book’s phenomenal success. Also, the subject matter is something that grips the public imagination. And there is a directness and clarity of style, which Hawking must have developed as a matter of necessity when trying to cope with the limitations imposed by his physical disabilities. Before needing to rely on his computerised speech, he could talk only with great difficulty and expenditure of effort, so he had to do what he could with short sentences that were directly to the point. In addition, it is hard to deny that his physical condition must itself have caught the public’s imagination.


Although the dissemination of science among a broader public was certainly one of Hawking’s aims in writing his book, he also had the serious purpose of making money. His financial needs were considerable, as his entourage of family, nurses, healthcare helpers and increasingly expensive equipment demanded. Some, but not all, of this was covered by grants.


To invite Hawking to a conference always involved the organisers in serious calculations. The travel and accommodation expenses would be enormous, not least because of the sheer number of people who would need to accompany him. But a popular lecture by him would always be a sell-out, and special arrangements would be needed to find a lecture hall that was big enough. An additional factor would be the ensuring that all entrances, stairways, lifts, and so on would be adequate for disabled people in general, and for his wheelchair in particular.


He clearly enjoyed his fame, taking many opportunities to travel and to have unusual experiences (such as going down a mine shaft, visiting the south pole and undergoing the zero-gravity of free fall), and to meet other distinguished people.


The presentational polish of his public lectures increased with the years. Originally, the visual material would be line drawings on transparencies, presented by a student. But in later years impressive computer-generated visuals were used. He controlled the verbal material, sentence by sentence, as it would be delivered by his computer-generated American-accented voice. High-quality pictures and computer-generated graphics also featured in his later popular books The Illustrated Brief History of Time (1996) and The Universe in a Nutshell (2001). With his daughter Lucy he wrote the expository children’s science book George’s Secret Key to the Universe (2007), and he served as an editor, co-author and commentator for many other works of popular science.


He received many high accolades and honours. In particular, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society at the remarkably early age of 32 and received its highest honour, the Copley medal, in 2006. In 1979, he became the 17th holder of the Lucasian chair of natural philosophy in Cambridge, some 310 years after Sir Isaac Newton became its second holder. He became a Companion of Honour in 1989. He made a guest appearance on the television programme Star Trek: The Next Generation, appeared in cartoon form on The Simpsons and was portrayed in the movie The Theory of Everything (2014).


It is clear that he owed a great deal to his first wife, Jane Wilde, whom he married in 1965, and with whom he had three children, Robert, Lucy and Timothy. Jane was exceptionally supportive of him in many ways. One of the most important of these may well have been in allowing him to do things for himself to an unusual extent.


He was an extraordinarily determined person. He would insist that he should do things for himself. This, in turn, perhaps kept his muscles active in a way that delayed their atrophy, thereby slowing the progress of the disease. Nevertheless, his condition continued to deteriorate, until he had almost no movement left, and his speech could barely be made out at all except by a very few who knew him well.


He contracted pneumonia while in Switzerland in 1985, and a tracheotomy was necessary to save his life. Strangely, after this brush with death, the progress of his degenerative disease seemed to slow to a virtual halt. His tracheotomy prevented any form of speech, however, so that acquiring a computerised speech synthesiser came as a necessity at that time.


In the aftermath of his encounter with pneumonia, the Hawkings’ home was almost taken over by nurses and medical attendants, and he and Jane drifted apart. They were divorced in 1995. In the same year, Hawking married Elaine Mason, who had been one of his nurses. Her support took a different form from Jane’s. In his far weaker physical state, the love, care and attention that she provided sustained him in all his activities. Yet this relationship also came to an end, and he and Elaine were divorced in 2007.


Despite his terrible physical circumstance, he almost always remained positive about life. He enjoyed his work, the company of other scientists, the arts, the fruits of his fame, his travels. He took great pleasure in children, sometimes entertaining them by swivelling around in his motorised wheelchair. Social issues concerned him. He promoted scientific understanding. He could be generous and was very often witty. On occasion he could display something of the arrogance that is not uncommon among physicists working at the cutting edge, and he had an autocratic streak. Yet he could also show a true humility that is the mark of greatness.


Hawking had many students, some of whom later made significant names for themselves. Yet being a student of his was not easy. He had been known to run his wheelchair over the foot of a student who caused him irritation. His pronouncements carried great authority, but his physical difficulties often caused them to be enigmatic in their brevity. An able colleague might be able to disentangle the intent behind them, but it would be a different matter for an inexperienced student.


To such a student, a meeting with Hawking could be a daunting experience. Hawking might ask the student to pursue some obscure route, the reason for which could seem deeply mysterious. Clarification was not available, and the student would be presented with what seemed indeed to be like the revelation of an oracle – something whose truth was not to be questioned, but which if correctly interpreted and developed would surely lead onwards to a profound truth. Perhaps we are all left with this impression now.


Hawking is survived by his children.


• Stephen William Hawking, physicist, born 8 January 1942; died 14 March 2018, aged 76.

[Latindancer]

In 1967, Werner Israel published a remarkable paper that had the implication that non-rotating black holes, when they had finally settled down to become stationary, would necessarily become completely spherically symmetrical. Subsequent results by Carter, David Robinson and others generalised this to include rotating black holes, the implication being that the final space-time geometry must necessarily accord with an explicit family of solutions of Einstein’s equations found by Roy Kerr in 1963. A key ingredient to the full argument was that if there is any rotation present, then there must be complete axial symmetry. This ingredient was basically supplied by Hawking in 1972.

Bleeding obvious. Shheesh....

[harrybarracuda]

Keep out of the black and into the red....

Sadly tarnished his reputation in later years with cheerful conversation on his radio show about "nig nogs".




Broadcaster and comedian Jim Bowen has died aged 80, his wife confirmed today.
Bowen, who was best known as the host of darts-based game show Bullseye in the 1980s and 1990s, began his career as a stand-up comedian in the 1960s.
The Lancashire-born former deputy headmaster rose to fame presenting Bullseye for 14 years between 1981 and 1995.

BREAKING NEWS: Bullseye host and comedian Jim Bowen dies aged 80 | Daily Mail Online