The RIP Famous Person Thread

[Takeovers]

Keep it simple. Change title of this thread to "The RIP/RIH Famous Person Thread".

I could live with that.

[genghis61]

Last WWI combat veteran Claude Choules dies aged 110

5 May 2011


Claude Choules celebrated his 110th birthday with family in March

The world's last known combat veteran of World War I, Claude Choules, has died in Australia aged 110.

Known to his comrades as Chuckles, British-born Mr Choules joined the Royal Navy at 15 and went on to serve on HMS Revenge.

He moved to Australia in the 1920s and served in the military until 1956.

Mr Choules, who had been married to his wife Ethel for 76 years, was reported to have died in his sleep at a nursing home in his adopted city of Perth.

He is survived by three children and 11 grandchildren. His wife died three years ago.

Mr Choules' 84-year-old daughter, Daphne Edinger, told the Associated Press news agency: "We all loved him. It's going to be sad to think of him not being here any longer, but that's the way things go."

Demolition officer

Born in Pershore, Worcestershire, in March 1901, Mr Choules tried to enlist in the Army at the outbreak of WWI to join his elder brothers who were fighting, but was told he was too young.

He lied about his age to become a Royal Navy rating, joining the battleship HMS Revenge on which he saw action in the North Sea aged 17.

He witnessed the surrender of the German fleet in the Firth of Forth in November 1918, then the scuttling of the fleet at Scapa Flow.

Mr Choules remembered WWI as a "tough" life, marked by occasional moments of extreme danger.

After the war he served as a peacekeeper in the Black Sea and in 1926 was posted as an instructor to Flinders Naval Depot, near Melbourne. It was on the passenger liner to Australia that he met his future wife.


Mr Choules was a Chief Petty Officer in the Australian Navy

He transferred to the Royal Australian Navy and after a brief spell in the reserves rejoined as a Chief Petty Officer in 1932.

During World War II he was chief demolition officer for the western half of Australia. It would have been his responsibility to blow up the key strategic harbour of Fremantle, near Perth, if Japan had invaded.

Mr Choules joined the Naval Dockyard Police after finishing his service.

But despite his military record, Mr Choules became a pacifist. He was known to have disagreed with the celebration of Australia's most important war memorial holiday, Anzac Day, and refused to march in the annual commemoration parades.

He took a creative writing course at the age of 80 and recorded his memoirs for his family. They formed the basis of the autobiography, The Last of the Last, which was published in 2009.

The last three WWI veterans living in Britain - Bill Stone, Henry Allingham and Harry Patch - all died in 2009.

Another Briton, Florence Green - who turned 110 in February and was a waitress in the Women's Royal Air Force - is now thought to be the world's last known surviving service member of WWI. An American veteran, Frank Buckles, died earlier this year.


Taking to the skies on his 103rd birthday

Claude Choules was the last link with a war that wiped out a generation.
Now, like the conflict in which he fought, he has passed into history.

[kmart]

Poly Styrene. Lead singer of the tremendously influential and utterly splendid early punk group X-Ray Spex died of cancer last week. RIP.

[Thormaturge]

made a new one in the lounge

Keep it simple. Change title of this thread to "The RIP/RIH Famous Person Thread".

bin laden was infamous, so he nearly qualifies.

Maybe the thread can become "RIP the Good, the Bad and the Ugly" That way we cater for when Marmite passes too.

[genghis61]

Golfing great Seve Ballesteros dies, aged 54

AFP From: Herald Sun May 07, 2011 3:02PM


Late golf legend Seve Ballesteros waves as he appears in public for the first time after surgery on a cancerous brain tumor.

SEVERIANO Ballesteros, who died aged 54, was one of golf's all-time greats, a charismatic figure who lifted five majors, led the European challenge to the decades-long US supremacy and turned a new generation onto the sport.

For two decades, from the mid-1970s to the 1990s, 'Seve' was one of the sport's most celebrated personalities.

He collected 87 career titles and was a crucial ingredient in Europe's rediscovered love affair with the Ryder Cup, before retiring in 2007 with back problems.

Known for his flamboyant and imaginative style of play, he famously won one of his three British Open titles by playing a shot from a temporary parking lot.

Ballesteros was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour after losing consciousness at Madrid airport on October 6, 2008.

He underwent four operations to remove the tumour and reduce swelling in his skull, as well as chemotherapy. He called his battle against the tumour the "hardest challenge of my life".

"During my career I was one of the best at getting around obstacles on golf courses. Now I want to be the best at confronting the most difficult match of my life with all my strength," he had said in a statement when he revealed his illness.

Born in the village of Pedrena near the northern port of Santander on April 9, 1957, he rose from humble beginnings (his father was a greenkeeper) in Spain, a country with little or no track record for golf.

But his three older brothers were all golf pros as well as his uncle, who was Spanish professional champion four times and was sixth in the 1965 Augusta Masters.

His brother Manuel gave him a 3-iron as a present, and he sharpened his skills on the beach near his home on moonlit nights. At the age of 12, he won a caddies tournament with a score of 79.

Ballesteros announced his presence as a teenager in 1976 when he finished second at the British Open, just two years after turning pro aged 16.

He could have won. He led at the midway point but a final round of 74 left him six shots behind eventual champion Johnny Miller at Royal Birkdale.

Topping the European Tour Order of Merit that year - he would go on to do so on another five occasions - was a measure of compensation.

In 1979, aged 21, he became the youngest winner of the British Open.

A year later, he was the first European to make the breakthrough at the Augusta Masters, opening the floodgates for the likes of Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and his Spanish compatriot Jose Maria Olazabal.

That first of two Masters titles made him, at 23, the youngest winner before Tiger Woods reduced the bar in 1997.

Across the 1980s Ballesteros bestrode the green like a sporting behemoth, adding further British Open titles in 1984 and 1988 and also winning five World Match Play Championships.

His Ryder Cup exploits were equally impressive, spearheading the landmark 1985 win over the Americans, the first since 1957.

Two years later the Ballesteros-inspired Europeans won on American soil for the first time and what had been a one-way contest had been changed for ever.

His Ryder Cup partnership with compatriot Olazabal proved the most successful in the history of the event - the pair notched 11 wins with two further matches halved out of 15 pairs.

He also skippered the 1997 Ryder Cup winning team on home ground in Valderrama.

Back problems though started to trouble him in the late 1990s and his form and confidence gradually ebbed away. On July 16, 2007, he announced his retirement, although having turned 50 he was eligible for the Champions Tour and European Seniors Tour.

"I no longer have the desire and I am no longer willing to give away the things I did before," an emotional Ballesteros said at the time.

"I gave away all my teenage years and fought day and night to give my all and focus 100 percent on my golf game. I have a number of good years ahead of me and want to spend some time with my three children and friends and family."

He had already been limiting his schedule in the preceding years - a 2005 Madrid Open showing marked a brief comeback which saw him also enter the 2006 British Open Championship.

In 1988, he married Carmen Botin, the daughter of Emilio Botin, head of Santander bank and one of Spain's richest men. The couple had three children and divorced in 2004.

Ballesteros was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999, where he joined the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

Golf Digest magazine in 2000 ranked him as the greatest golfer Europe has produced.

[bobo746]

Tributes flow for boxing legend Rose

Tributes are flowing for one of Australia's sporting greats, the legendary Australian boxer Lionel Rose, who died aged 62.
Rose had been suffering from health problems since having a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralysed with speech difficulties.
Rose made Australian sporting history in 1968 when he became the first Indigenous boxer to win a world championship.
He beat Japan's Fighting Harada in Tokyo to claim the world bantamweight title.
When he returned to Australia, Rose was greeted by more than 100,000 people outside the Melbourne Town Hall.
In 1968 he was named Australian of the Year for his achievement.
Three-times boxing world champion Anthony Mundine says Rose is Australia's greatest ever fighter.
"It's very sad news and tragic news that one of the legends of the sport and possibly the best Australian fighter that's ever lived has passed away, but that's a part of life," he said.
Mundine says Rose has been an inspiration to Australian boxers and his death is a loss for all Australians.
"He was the pioneer not just for Indigenous Australians. He was the first Australian world champion, he wasn't the first Indigenous but the first Australian champion," he said.
Former Australian Boxing Federation president Brad Vocale, who is also Rose's cousin, says Rose is an Australian sporting legend.
"He created history. He made all Australians proud, especially my race my people," he said.
"He made us all very, very proud. He gave us all something to fight for and something to live for."

Mr Vocale says Rose had an incredible career as a boxer, with 53 fights for 42 wins.
"His professional record he had 53 fights, 42 wins and 11 losses," he said.
"He had a few of those losses near the end of his career when he was probably fighting for the love of fighting more so after his world championship days were well and truly over."
Rose also became a recording artist in the 1970s and had two top 10 hits - I Thank You and Please Remember Me - as a country musician.

[DrAndy]

the rich bloke who managed to marry Brigitte Bardot dies

Gunter Sachs, playboy

[Takeovers]

the rich bloke who managed to marry Brigitte Bardot dies Gunter Sachs, playboy

Like his father before he shot himself. But for a reason I can relate to. He was diagnosed with Alzheimers and did not want to go down that path.

[daveboy]

Cyclist Wouter Weylandt dies after Giro d'Italia crash

Weylandt won a stage of last year's Giro d'Italia Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt has died after crashing during Monday's third stage of the Giro d'Italia.
The Leopard-Trek rider fell at high speed during a descent about 20km (12.4 miles) from the finish of the stage from Reggio Emilia to Rapallo.
The 26-year-old lay motionless on the roadside as paramedics tried to resuscitate him.
"Despite immediate treatment there was nothing we could do," doctor Giovanni Tredici told Italian television.
"Weylandt was the victim of a fall and we are still trying to reconstruct the dynamics of what happened.
"We tried for 40 minutes to resuscitate him."

[genghis61]

Obituary: John Walker
John Walker dies at 67; founding member of the Walker Brothers
May 10, 2011

John Walker, 67, a guitarist and singer who was one of the founding members of the Walker Brothers, a 1960s rock band whose biggest hit was "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)," died of liver cancer Saturday in Los Angeles, according to his personal assistant, Polly Klemmer.

Walker and two other Americans, bassist Scott Engel and drummer Gary Leeds, moved to London in 1964 and called themselves the Walker Brothers, each adopting Walker as his surname, although they were not related. They had instant success as teen idols in the United Kingdom with their first British recording, 1964's "Love Her," and a string of hits quickly followed, including "Make It Easy on Yourself" and "My Ship Is Comin' In."

The Walker Brothers' singles "specialized in high melodrama, brilliantly augmented by string arrangements," according to the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. In the United States, the band made Billboard's top 20 pop charts with "Make It Easy on Yourself" in 1965 and "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" in 1966.

The band broke up in 1967, with the members embarking on solo careers, but had a brief reunion in the mid-1970s. Walker returned to the United States in the 1980s.

Born John Maus in New York in 1943, he moved with his family to California as a youngster. He learned to play the guitar as a teenager and began using the name Walker professionally when he was 17. Walker and Engel regularly played at Gazzari's on the Sunset Strip before joining Leeds and moving to Britain.

[genghis61]

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


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.

************
Reach Sambath, Revered Journalism Mentor, Dies


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.
more

[Mid]

^

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

[Mr Lick]

McCain Foods co-founder Wallace dies in Canada age 81

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

[Mr Lick]

Kenya Olympic marathon star Sammy Wanjiru dies in fall



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.

[bobo746]

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.

[genghis61]

'Macho Man' dies in US car wreck

21/05/2011

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

[Mr Lick]

Singer Kathy Kirby dies aged 72



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.

[Thormaturge]

^
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.

[genghis61]

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."

[genghis61]

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

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.

[Mid]

wonder how Maggie feels knowing all this is going on ,

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

[Thormaturge]

There should be a time limit on that State funeral.

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

[genghis61]

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


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.

[Thormaturge]

eleven!!!

[genghis61]

with a tube connected to a helium tank attached

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



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.