The RIP Famous Person Thread

[bobo746]

Chas and Dave singer Chas Hodges dies aged 74

Chas Hodges, of the musical duo Chas and Dave, has died at the age of 74. A statement on the pair’s Twitter account said: “It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the passing of our very own Chas Hodges.
“Despite receiving successful treatment for oesophageal cancer recently, Chas suffered organ failure and passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of this morning.”


https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...-and-dave-dies

[David48atTD]

Bob Jane, tyre businessman and car racing legend, dies aged 88


In 1965 Bob Jane opened his first tyre store in Melbourne.

Car racing legend and prominent businessman Bob Jane has died aged 88 after fighting prostate cancer.
Jane is best known for the hugely successful tyre retailer across Australia, Bob Jane T-Marts.


He is also one of Australia's most famous racing car drivers and a four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, which became the Bathurst 1000.
Jane was inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame in 2000 for his contribution to Australian racing.





Oh ... Postman Pat also passed this week

[david44]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a8560421.html

[misskit]

^

Jefferson Airplane Co-Founder Marty Balin Dead at 76

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...ead-76-730912/

[harrybarracuda]

We have lost an entertainment legend.

Geoffrey Hayes dead: Rainbow presenter dies aged 76 surrounded by family




Rainbow presenter Geoffrey Hayes has died at the age of 76, his manager announced on Monday.
The actor and TV presenter, who worked on the iconic children’s programme, passed away in hospital surrounded by his friends and family.
His manager, Phil Dale, said: "It is with great sadness that the family announce that Geoffrey passed away in hospital with his wife, Sarah, and son, Tom, by his side.


"Geoffrey Hayes was an English television presenter and actor, best known as the host of Thames Television's top-rated children's show Rainbow, and for his portrayal of Detective Constable Scatliff in the successful TV Series Z Cars for the BBC.
"The family would like to express their thanks to the many fans over the years as it always gave Geoffrey so much pleasure to know that he and his Rainbow team had given so much fun to TV and theatre audiences over the years.
"There will be no further comment at the moment and it would be appreciated if the privacy of Geoffrey's family is respected at this most difficult time."

https://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-news/...r-dies-aged-76

There are still people that think this was broadcast

[harrybarracuda]

I had no idea he was still alive, but he isn't any more.

Legendary French singer Charles Aznavour dies at the age of 94




French singer Charles Aznavour, who rose to stardom under the wing of Edith Piaf and went on to steal the hearts of millions with decades of haunting love songs, has died at the age of 94, his spokeswoman said on Monday.


He died overnight at one of his homes in the southeast of France.

Aznavour — some called him a French Frank Sinatra — was born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian in Paris to Armenian parents.

He sold more than 100 million records in 80 countries, among them “She” and “Formidable”.

He began his career peddling his music to French artists of the 1940s and 1950s such as Piaf, Maurice Chevalier and Charles Trenet.

He discovered his talent for penning songs while performing in cabarets with partner Pierre Roche, with Roche playing the piano and Aznavour singing.

It was after World War Two that Piaf took notice of the duo and took them with her on a tour of the United States and Canada, with Aznavour composing some of her most popular hits.

The young Aznavour grew up on Paris’ Left Bank. His father was a singer who also worked as a cook and restaurant manager, and his mother was an actress.

In his autobiography, “Aznavour by Aznavour”, he recalls that after a period when he tried playing the role of a tough guy, along with his teenage pals, he was goaded one evening into climbing on the bandstand to sing.

“There, I had a revelation. I saw that the girls looked at me much more, their eyes moist and their lips apart, than when I played a terror ... I was only 15 or 16, but I understood,” he wrote.

Later in his life, fans would celebrate Aznavour for his mature storytelling ability and warbly voice which, while not considered beautiful, was rich in sensitivity and range.

“I have the kind of voice that gels with the type of songs I write,” wrote Aznavour in his biography.

His ability to perform in French, Spanish, English, Italian and German also helped.

President Emmanuel Macron was a big fan of Aznavour and sang many of his songs during karaoke nights with friends when he was a student, according to former classmates.

Legendary French singer Charles Aznavour dies at the age of 94 - Music - Arts & Culture - Ahram Online

[Klondyke]

Can be seen very often at present time performances (with other singers) when watching the satellite French TV5...

[Klondyke]

Can be seen very often at present time performances (with other singers) when watching the satellite French TV5...

TV5 just starting a movie with Charlez Aznavour, Lino Ventura and Hardy Kruger "Un taxi pour Tobrouk" (1961) - Engl. subtitles

[harrybarracuda]

Vietnam's Former Communist Party Chief Do Muoi Dies at 101

(HANOI, Vietnam) — Former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Do Muoi, who worked against the French colonial government and became a committed communist, has died at age 101.
The government said in an announcement posted on its website that Muoi died late Monday night at the National Military Hospital 108 after battling a serious illness despite efforts by Vietnamese and foreign doctors to treat him.
“Comrade Do Muoi had gone through various working positions and made great contribution to the revolutionary cause of the Party and nation,” the statement said.
State media quoted Phan Trong Kinh, Muoi’s adviser, as saying that the former general secretary was admitted to the hospital nearly six months ago after having fever and breathing difficulties. Muoi had lung and kidney problems, he said adding Muoi was alert, listening to his daily news briefing but could not talk for several months.
Born Nguyen Duy Cong in suburban district of Thanh Tri in Hanoi in 1917, Muoi participated in an anti-French movement in 1936 and joined the Communist Party of Indochina, the former Communist Party of Vietnam, three years later.
He was arrested by the French colonial government in 1941 and sentenced to 10 years in jail. He escaped from prison before the uprising in 1945 under which President Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France.
Muoi rose through the ranks in the party and government. He was elected to the all-powerful Politburo in 1982 and was appointed prime minister in 1988.
He served as the head of the Communist Party for more than 6 years before stepping down in 1997. He rarely made public appearance in recent years.
No funeral arrangements have been announced.
Under a government decree, Muoi will be honored with a state funeral, which is reserved for those who have held the posts of general secretary, president, prime minister, chair-person of the National Assembly or those high-ranking officials with outstanding contributions to the country decided by the Politburo.
President Tran Dai Quang was given a two-day state funeral last week after he died of a viral illness. General Vo Nguyen Giap, the mastermind behind the defeat of the French and then the Americans, was honored with a state funeral when he died in 2013 at age 102.

Vietnam: Former Communist Party Chief Do Muoi Dies at 101 | Time

[harrybarracuda]

Barcelona singer Montserrat Caballe who ‘inspired millions’ dies aged 85

Saturday, October 06, 2018 - 09:43 AM



The star, who had been in hospital since September, was known for her bel canto technique.
The Royal Opera House said it was “saddened” to hear of the death of Caballe, who was born into a working class family in Barcelona and was singing Bach cantatas at the age of seven.
“The Spanish soprano sang with us on a number of occasions between 1972 and 1992 and inspired millions over the course of her career with her stunning voice,” it said in a statement on Twitter.


Hospital Sant Pau spokesman Abraham del Moral confirmed Caballe’s death to the Associated Press.
The star was admitted to hospital because of a gall bladder problem, Spanish media said.- Press Association

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breaki.../--874022.html

[tomcat]

...^saw her in cowgirl drag on the Barcelona stage years ago in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West: lovely voice, ridiculous costume...

[david44]

Ray Galton one of comedies greatest writers with his partner Alan Simpson

Hancok
Steptoe and Son extraxt here

[harrybarracuda]

Ray Galton, writer of classic British sitcoms, dies at 88



LONDON (AP) - Screenwriter Ray Galton, who co-wrote the landmark British comedy series "Hancock's Half Hour" and "Steptoe and Son," has died at 88.
Galton's family said Saturday that he died Friday evening after a "long and heart-breaking battle with dementia."


The London-born Galton was diagnosed with life-threatening tuberculosis as a teenager. In a sanatorium, he met another sick teen, Alan Simpson, and the pair became long-term writing partners.

Manager Tessa Le Bars called them "the fathers and creators of British sitcom."

Galton and Simpson wrote "Hancock's Half Hour" for popular post-war comedian Tony Hancock. Their biggest hit was "Steptoe and Son," a sitcom about father-and-son junk dealers, which ran between 1962 and 1974. Producer Norman Lear adapted it into the U.S. sitcom "Sanford and Son."

Simpson died last year at 87.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap...s-dies-88.html

[david44]

[harrybarracuda]

‘Walking Dead’ Actor Scott Wilson Dies at 76




Scott Wilson, an acting veteran of 50 years who was a high-profile member of the cast of “The Walking Dead” between 2010 and 2014, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 76.


His death was announced Saturday on The Walking Dead official Twitter account.

Wilson played rural farmer Hershel Greene on the series. He was a regular on “The Walking Dead” from its inception in 2010 through 2014. His character helped the resistance led by star Andrew Lincoln in battling the show’s walkers. The character lost a leg in season three and was killed off in season four.
News of Wilson’s death came shortly after it was announced at “The Walking Dead” panel at New York Comic Con that the Wilson would be among past cast members appearing in the AMC show’s ninth season, which debuts Sunday. Wilson had already filmed his scenes.

“Scott will always be remembered as a great actor and we all feel fortunate to have known him as an even better person,” AMC said in a statement. “The character he embodied on ‘The Walking Dead,’ Hershel, lived at the emotional core of the show. Like Scott in our lives, Hershel was a character whose actions continue to inform our characters’ choices to this day. Our hearts go out to his wife, family, friends and to the millions of fans who loved him. Scott will be missed.”


Wilson was born in Atlanta on March 29, 1942. He graduated high school in 1960. He left college and hitchhiked to Los Angeles to become an actor and after five years broke out in a pair of high-profile 1967 movies — as murder suspect Harvey Oberst in best picture Academy Award winner in “In the Heat of the Night,” and as murderer Richard Hickock opposite Robert Blake in Richard Brooks’ film adaptation of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood.”

Wilson played a key role in 1974’s “The Great Gatsby” in which his character killed Jay Gatsby (Robert Redford) while at his mansion swimming pool, then turned the gun on himself. He received a Golden Globe nomination in 1980 in the supporting actor category as Captain Billy Cutshaw in the thriller “The Ninth Configuration.”

He played pilot Scott Crossfield in “The Right Stuff,” a prison chaplain in “Dead Man Walking” and a victim of Charlize Theron’s serial killer in Patty Jenkins’ “Monster.” His credits included “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Hostiles,” “The Gypsy Moths,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Junebug,” “Judge Dredd,” the Shiloh film series and “Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.” He had a recurring role in several episodes of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” as Sam Braun.

Wilson was also active in the Screen Actors Guild and strongly opposed the attempts to merge SAG with AFTRA. He received the Screen Actors Guild’s Hollywood division’s Ralph Morgan Award for service to the guild’s Hollywood members in 2007. SAG noted at the time that Wilson had taken a leading role in resolving major issues such as the task force that created Global Rule One, the guild’s internal rule requiring members to work under SAG contracts anywhere in the world. He served on numerous other guild committees.

“I loved him,” said longtime friend and activist Arlin Miller. “Scott was a great actor and a wonderful man who was always looking out for the best interests of the union and his fellow actors.”

Wilson is survived by his wife, Heavenly, an artist and attorney. No memorial plans have been announced.

https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/obi...es-1202971361/

[harrybarracuda]

Arnold Kopelson, Oscar-Winning Producer of ‘Platoon’ and ‘The Fugitive,’ Dies at 83




Arnold Kopelson, the Oscar-winning producer of such films as “Platoon” and “The Fugitive,” died Monday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 83.
Kopelson’s death was confirmed Monday his wife and business partner of 42 years, Anne Kopelson.


Anne Kopelson said her husband was a consummate producer who dedicated himself wholeheartedly to every film he produced over his long career.
“He loved what he did,” Kopelson told Variety. “He loved dealing with people in making movies and he had a very, very big heart.”

Kopelson had a prolific career in the film business from the 1970s through the early 2000s. From 2007 until September, Kopelson served as a board member of CBS Corp. He became close friends with CBS controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone and was a strong supporter of former CBS chairman-CEO Leslie Moonves.

“Arnold was a man of exceptional talent whose legacy will long survive him. He also, of course, was a highly dedicated CBS board member for more than 10 years,” CBS said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to Anne and his family.”

Kopelson became wrapped up in the legal battle, now settled, between CBS and Shari Redstone earlier this year when a recent video of Sumner Redstone taken by Kopelson was introduced into the court to support CBS’ claim that Sumner Redstone was no longer capable of making his own decisions.


After attending New York University and earning a law degree, Kopelson started his career as lawyer focusing on entertainment clients before moving into film and television sales. With his future wife, Anne, he founded Inter-Ocean Film Sales in 1972 and became one of the first to specialize in funding independent films based on foreign pre-sales. He was a founding member of the American Film Marketing Assn., which launched the American Film Market. He was well regarded as having the rare combination of business acumen and a strong sense of creative material.

He moved into producing with films with indies such as 1981’s “Porky’s,” one of the most profitable films ever.

Kopelson shepherded notable films of the 1980s and 1990s including Oliver Stone’s best picture winner “Platoon,” “Falling Down,” “The Fugitive” and “Se7en.”
“Platoon” grossed nearly $140 million in the U.S. and also won best director for Stone and two additional Oscars.

A typically low-budget Kopelson affair, Oliver Stone’s passionate semiautobiographical morality tale about an Army platoon splintering between two warring commanding officers (Willem Defoe and Tom Berenger) in the midst of the Vietnam War went on to gross nearly $140 million at the box office and sweep the Oscars, including a Best Picture win for Kopelson.

After he won the Oscar for “Platoon,” Kopelson used his clout to secure financing for 1989’s “Triumph of the Spirit,” a Holocaust drama about a boxer, played by Willem Defoe, sent with his family to the Auschwitz concentration camp but still forced to compete for the Nazis. “Spirit” became the first movie shot entirely on the grounds of the Auschwitz camp in Poland.

“He worked hard to make people understand that movies can meaningful,” Anne Kopelson said. “They can have a purpose and they can be entertaining. His body of work expressed that on many levels.”

Kopelson was proud of the long road he took to bringing “Fugitive” to the screen in 1993 after many stops and starts, and screenwriters and stars attached to the project that went on to land an Oscar nomination for best picture.

In addition to his wife, Kopelson’s survivors include three children, Peter, Evan and Stephanie.

https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/ar...ve-1202972316/

[harrybarracuda]

Apartheid-era foreign affairs minister Pik Botha has died in his Pretoria home at the age of 86, his family confirmed on Friday morning.
His son, Piet Botha, who is in the band Jack Hammer, confirmed to News24 that his father died peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of the morning.
"His wife Ina was with him until the end," he said.


"He was very sick during the last three weeks and his body just couldn't take it anymore."




Piet Botha added that he would always remember his father for having the ability to immediately sort out issues if there was any trouble, and that he will miss him dearly.


Botha was admitted to a Pretoria hospital in late September.

Roelof "Pik" Botha was the world's longest-serving foreign minister. He was born in April 1932, and according to SA History Online the law graduate started in the foreign affairs department in 1953.

In April 1977, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and represented the constituency of Westdene in Johannesburg. Botha was appointed minister of mineral of energy affairs in 1994 and resigned from that post in May 1996.

Botha famously changed allegiance from the National Party to the African National Congress in 2000.

https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...-dies-20181012

[harrybarracuda]

Beer pioneer Bill Coors dies at 102




Bill Coors, a pioneer in the American brewing industry and former chairman of the Adolph Coors Company, died peacefully at his home Saturday at 102.
Molson Coors confirmed his passing in a statement published Saturday.


Bill Coors began working for his grandfather Adolph's brewing company in 1939. Twenty years later, he became company chairman, during which he created and developed the aluminum can, a key milestone for the beer industry.

"His dedication, hard work and ingenuity, helped shape not only our company but the entire beer industry," said Mark Hunter, president and CEO of Molson Coors, in a statement.

Bill Coors spent 65 years with the company as it grew from a regional brewer based in Colorado to one of the biggest beer brands in America.

According to the National Beer Wholesalers Association, MillerCoors — the brand behind Coors Light, Miller Lite, and Blue Moon — commands a 24 percent share of the U.S. beer market, behind only Anheuser-Busch.

The company said per Bill Coors' directive, no formal memorial ceremonies will be held for his passing. He is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/...02/1640595002/

[Barty]

Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft dies aged 65

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45871379

[harrybarracuda]

James Karen, best known for Poltergeist and Return of the Living Dead, has died. He was 94.

The prolific actor, who has over 200 acting credits on IMDb, died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Karen’s rep did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The actor appeared in films such as The China Syndrome which starred Jane Fonda, Invaders from Mars and The Pursuit of Happyness opposite Will Smith in which he portrayed one of the managers who hires Smith’s character.

Born in Pennsylvania to Russian immigrants, Karen got his start at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York City.

He got his big break in the original Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire and followed it with a role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?


He also got his start in TV with roles in As the World Turns, All My Childrenand Eight is Enough.

Karen often played authoritative figures, playing the manager of a medical warehouse who accidentally releases a gas that reanimates the dead in The Return of the Living Dead in 1985.


In the Poltergeist, he portrayed real-estate developer Mr. Teague who built a California housing community on top of a former cemetery which spawned the iconic moment in which Teague reveals he only removed the headstones from the graveyard but not the bodies.

Karen married singer Susan Reed in 1958 and the two divorced in 1967. They had one son. Karen remarried actress Alba Francesca in 1986.

https://people.com/movies/poltergeis...karen-dead-94/

[harrybarracuda]

Douglas Rain, Actor Who Voiced HAL in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ Dies at 90




Douglas Rain, the Canadian-born actor best known as the voice of HAL 9000 in “2001: A Space Odyssey” and its sequel “2010: The Year We Made Contact,” died Sunday at St. Marys Memorial Hospital in St. Mary’s, Ontario, according to CTV News. He was 90.


“Canadian theatre has lost one of its greatest talents and a guiding light in its development,” Stratford Festival artistic director Antoni Cimolino said in a release.

“Douglas Rain was that rare artist: an actor deeply admired by other actors. The voice of HAL in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ Douglas shared many of the same qualities as Kubrick’s iconic creation: precision, strength of steel, enigma and infinite intelligence, as well as a wicked sense of humour.”


Cimolino continued: “But those of us lucky enough to have worked with Douglas soon solved his riddle and discovered that at the centre of his mystery lay warmth and humanity, evidenced in his care for the young members of our profession. Douglas dedicated his talent to the stages of his native land, and we are proud in return to dedicate the coming season’s production of ‘Othello’ to his memory. We owe him so much.”


Rain, who had more than 100 television and film credits, performed with the Stratford Festival more than three decades in productions of everything from “Henry V” to “Homeward Bound” and “The Merchant of Venice.”

In 1972, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his role as William Cecil in “Vivat! Vivat! Regina!”

Rain is survived by two sons, one daughter and a granddaughter.

https://www.thewrap.com/douglas-rain...yssey-dies-90/


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[harrybarracuda]

And if they made it now:

[harrybarracuda]

Stan Lee Dead - Marvel Legend Dead at 95




Stan Lee has sadly passed away at the age of 95.An ambulance was reportedly called to his Hollywood Hills home on Monday morning (November 12) at he was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he died, TMZ reports.

Stan was responsible for creating many of the beloved Marvel characters you see on screen today. Some of the characters he co-created include Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Black Panther, the X-Men, and many more.

He has also made a cameo in every Marvel movie.

Stan Lee Dead ? Marvel Legend Dead at 95 | RIP, Stan Lee : Just Jared
Stan Lee Dead - Marvel Legend Dead at 95

[bobo746]

[AntRobertson]