The RIP Famous Person Thread

[S Landreth]

Singer-songwriter Terry Kirkman, founding member of the Association, dies at 83The Association singer was 83

Terry Kirkman, singer, songwriter and founding member of the 1960s folk-rock band the Association, has died. He was 83.

The musician died Saturday at his home in Montclair, his wife, Heidi Berinstein Kirkman, confirmed to the Los Angeles Times. He died of congestive heart failure following a long illness.

“On a personal level, Terry was a beloved member of the Los Angeles recovery community for 38 years,” Berinstein Kirkman said in an email to The Times.

“Everything else is a blur, I’m afraid. He was an extraordinary man and the love of my life for 35 years.”

Kirkman formed the Association alongside guitarist Jules Gary Alexander and others in Los Angeles in 1965. The group comprised a large ensemble of vocalists and instrumentalists who blended a variety of sounds — from pop and rock to folk and psychedelic — in perfect harmony.

In addition to lending his vocals, Kirkman penned a number of songs for the Association, including the popular tracks “Everything That Touches You” and “Cherish.”

Before Kirkman departed the Association in 1972, the band was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including three — contemporary rock ’n’ roll group performance, performance by a vocal group and contemporary rock ’n’ roll recording — for “Cherish.” Kirkman returned when the band reunited in 1979, before leaving again in 1984.

In 2003, Kirkman and other members of the Association were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

Outside of his work for the Association, Kirkman was proud to serve as clinical director of the Musicians Assistance Program — now known as MusiCares — where he helped artists experiencing addiction.

Kirkman is survived by his wife, his daughter Sasha, his son-in-law and two grandchildren.

[dirk diggler]

Lady Cathy Ferguson: Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's wife dies aged 84

Sir Alex Ferguson credited his wife with persuading him not to retire in 2002Lady Cathy Ferguson, the wife of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has died aged 84.


The couple married in 1966, spending 57 years as husband and wife, and had three sons, including Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson.






"We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing yesterday of Lady Cathy Ferguson," a statement from the Ferguson family said.


"The family asks for privacy at this time."


Flags at Old Trafford have been lowered to half-mast as a mark of respect, and the men's and women's teams will wear black armbands in their fixtures this weekend.


Manchester United said in a statement: "Everyone at Manchester United sends our heartfelt condolences to Sir Alex Ferguson and his family on the passing of Lady Cathy, a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and great-grandmother, and a tower of strength for Sir Alex throughout his career."
Cathy and Sir Alex Ferguson first met 59 years agoCathy and Sir Alex, 81, met in 1964 while they were both working at a typewriter factory.


For 27 of their years together Sir Alex was manager of Manchester United, and Cathy is said to have played a key role in persuading him not to retire in 2002.


Writing in his autobiography, Ferguson said she had told him: "One, your health is good. Two, I'm not having you in the house. And three, you're too young anyway."


When Sir Alex did announce his retirement 11 years later, he said: "My wife Cathy has been the key figure throughout my career, providing a bedrock of both stability and encouragement.
"Words are not enough to express what this has meant to me."


Several clubs paid tribute to Cathy on social media.


Manchester City posted on X: "Everyone at Manchester City sends their condolences to Sir Alex Ferguson and his family at this very difficult time."


Arsenal offered their "heartfelt condolences", adding: "May Lady Cathy rest in peace."


Sir Alex's former club St Mirren said: "Everyone at St Mirren Football Club sends its deepest condolences to Sir Alex Ferguson and family following the sad news of the passing of Lady Cathy Ferguson."


Aberdeen, another of Sir Alex's former clubs, also sent their condolences, while Peterborough said: "Everyone at Peterborough United Football Club offers our sincere condolences to Darren Ferguson and his family on the passing of his beloved mother, Lady Cathy."

[cisco999]

Thank you for proving my point, you pathetic little man.

Doubt the owner of Margaret Bar in Angeles is upset. When he earlier had his bar named Margaretville Jimmy Buffett stopped him in his tracks with a cease and desist order.

[misskit]

Bummer.


Rudolph Isley, co-founder of R&B stalwarts the Isley Brothers, dies at 84

Rudolph Isley, a founding member of the R&B institution the Isley Brothers, died on Wednesday. He was 84.


A publicist for the group confirmed Isley's death. No cause was given.


"There are no words to express my feelings and the love I have for my brother," said Ronald Isley in a statement. "Our family will miss him. But I know he's in a better place."


Rudolph, the second eldest son of the Isley clan, and brothers O'Kelly and Ronald formed the vocal harmony group during the dawn of rock ’n’ roll in the late 1950s. They spent the ensuing decades nimbly navigating shifting styles, building a formidable body of work in the process.


Primarily a backing singer in the Isley Brothers, Rudolph retired from the group in the late 1980s, but he played a central role during the first 30 years of their existence, a period when the Isleys were one of the biggest acts in R&B.


The Isley Brothers didn't pioneer styles so much as crystallize their essences, on singles that turned into enduring classics. Their biggest hits — "Shout" and "Twist and Shout," which arrived in the late 1950s and early 1960s; "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," a smash during Motown's heyday in the 1960s; "It's Your Thing" and "That Lady," two keystones of 1970s funk — lived on not only through constant radio airplay but also through covers and sampled interpolations by the likes of the Beatles, Rod Stewart, Public Enemy, Ice Cube, the Notorious B.I.G. and Kendrick Lamar.

MORE Rudolph Isley, co-founder of R&B stalwarts the Isley Brothers, dies at 84

[misskit]

He had a lot of good innings, though.

My mom was a fan and so was I.

[helge]

RIP Michael Gambon - I knew him as the 2nd version of Prof. Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.

I haven't seen any of the Potter films, so didn't pay attention.

But now I noticed that he is the guy from the real Potter series. Dennis Potter

The Singing Detective himself.

Oh, I liked Dennis Potter.

British when Best

[harrybarracuda]

Lost in Space Actor Mark Goddard Dies at 87




Mark Goddard, an actor best known for portraying Major Don West on the original run of Lost in Space, has passed away at the age of 87. The news was confirmed in a statement from his wife, Evelyn Pezzulich, to The Hollywood Reporter. According to Pezzulich, Goddard passed away on Tuesday, October 10th in Hingham, Massachusetts. Goddard's death was reportedly caused by complications from pulmonary fibrosis.


Goddard was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on July 24, 1936. After initially have aspirations to be a professional basketball player, Goddard turned to acting, studying at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After moving to Los Angeles in 1959, Goddard quickly landed the role of Cully in the western series Johnny Ringo, alongside Don Durant and Karen Sharp. This was then followed by a three-season stint as Sgt. Chris Ballard on The Detectives. Across the 1960s, Goddard also appeared on The Rifleman, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Perry Mason, The Virginian, Gunsmoke, and The Rebel. Beginning in 1965, Goddard portrayed Major Don West on Lost in Space, which chronicled the sci-fi adventures of the Robinson family. Goddard became a staple of the fan-favorite television series, which ran until 1968.


"Before I went into it I didn't particularly want to do it," Goddard later told Pop Entertainment. "I thought, that's science fiction — I wanted to be Paul Newman not Buck Rogers! And then the pilot sold, and I was not happy... I looked like a baked potato in the oven. But it all worked out great. We had a wonderful cast of people."


In his later years as an actor, Goddard's work included The Fugitive, The Mod Squad, The Fall Guy, The Beverly Hillbillies, Barnaby Jones, Adam-12, One Life to Live, The Doctors, Strange Invaders, General Hospital, and Roller Boogie. He also, for a stint of time, operated as a Hollywood agent, and starred in a Broadway production of The Act in 1978 alongside Liza Minnelli.


Lost in Space Actor Mark Goddard Dies at 87

[S Landreth]

Lisa Lyon, pioneering female bodybuilder and inspiration for Marvel’s Elektra, dead at 70

Trailblazing female bodybuilder Lisa Lyon is reportedly dead at the age of 70 after a battle with stomach cancer.

According to TMZ, the Los Angeles native died Friday at her home in San Fernando Valley, Calif., less than a week after they reported Lyon had recently been transferred to hospice care.

Fellow muscle-maker Arnold Schwarzenegger told the outlet Lyon was “the best.”

The two of them once posed for a photo in which Lyon had Schwarzenegger hoisted on her shoulders. At the time, she stood at 5-foot-4 and weighed just 120 lbs., compared to Schwarzenegger’s 225 lbs., which is said to be the amount she could deadlift.

Lyon won the first International Federation of Bodybuilders Women’s World Pro Bodybuilding Championship in 1979. The following year, Lyon flexed for Playboy magazine. Famed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe photographed Lyon for a 1983 gallery exhibition in SoHo. Lyon even served as the initial inspiration for Frank Miller as he was creating the Marvel Comics character of Elektra.

In 2000, Lyon was inducted into the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federal Hall of Fame in recognition of her contribution to the sport.

[Happy As Larry]

Piper Laurie, Oscar nominee for Carrie and The Hustler, dies at 91

Piper Laurie, the strong-willed, Oscar-nominated actor who performed in acclaimed roles despite at one point abandoning acting altogether in search of a “more meaningful” life, died early Saturday at her home in Los Angeles.
She was 91.
Laurie died of old age, her manager, Marion Rosenberg, told the Associated Press via email, adding that she was “a superb talent and a wonderful human being”.

Piper Laurie, Oscar nominee for Carrie and The Hustler, dies at 91 | Film | The Guardian

[S Landreth]

• Suzanne Somers Dead at 76 After Breast Cancer Battle

Suzanne Somers died peacefully at home on October 15 at the age of 76, her publicist R. Couri Hay shared in a statement, noting her husband Alan Hamel, son Bruce Somers Jr., 57, and her immediate family were by her side.

"She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years," he shared, acknowledging that Oct. 16 would have been her 77th birthday. "They will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly."

In July, the Three's Company star, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2000, gave fans an update on her ongoing health battle.

"Since I have been taking time off from work, many of you have asked for more details about my health," she wrote on Instagram at the time. "As you know, I had breast cancer two decades ago, and every now and then it pops up again, and I continue to bat it down. I have used the best alternative and conventional treatments to combat it. This is not new territory for me."

And she was prepared to fight again.

"I know how to put on my battle gear," the actress, who also sold beauty and wellness products, continued. "Alan has been by my side every step of the way. I can't even explain how much he has done for me. If it's even possible, we are even closer than ever. My incredible family has been so supportive, and have helped so much by keeping the business running so you can still have access to all the wonderful products. Thank you for the continued love and support. It's only about who you love and who loves you - and I love you!"

Between her husband, son and family, she had all the love she ever needed. "Been betting on you my entire life!" Bruce Jr. commented on her post. "I love you Mom! And thank you everyone for your kind and thoughtful support and love.

Somers shot to superstardom in the '70s thanks to her role as Chrissy on the ABC sitcom Three's Company, also starring the late John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt. She was ultimately fired from the show after asking to be paid the same as Ritter.

"I probably would have never left network series," she told People in 2020. "I would have kept on going and probably been in every sitcom after that were it not to end the way it ended. But I was ostracized. So I went away."

She later acted in She's the Sheriff and Step by Step—and performed in Las Vegas. But ultimately, she found success in her wellness empire. "That was the great thing about being fired," the acclaimed author admitted to the outlet. "I would have never been able to do what I do now."

"Life is a roller coaster," she continued. "When it's high, everything is groovy and everything is great and we've had so many highs. The lows aren't as much fun, but that's when you learn. All careers hit walls. But I reinvent myself. And I keep going."

In her personal life, she hit many highs. Though she divorced husband Bruce Somers in 1968—they wed in 1965 when she was 19—she met Hamel soon after and they said "I do" in 1977.

Together, they quickly embraced their blended family. (While she shared Bruce Jr. with her ex, Hamel is dad to Stephen Hamel and Leslie Hamel from a previous marriage.)

"Kids don't know blood," Somers previously shared. "They just love you. There's no ‘Yours, mine, ours' or anything."

She especially loved being a grandmother to six. After all, "You're a parent with none of the responsibility of being a parent," she joked in 2017. "I look at all of them and I [think], ‘We made it through the rain,' as Barry [Manilow] says."

[david44]

Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, dies at 86 | National Post

END OF GREAT FINNISH

HELSINKI (AP) — Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland and global peace broker who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for his work to resolve international conflicts, died Monday. He was 86.The foundation he created for preventing and resolving violent conflicts said in a statement it was “deeply saddened by the loss of its founder and (former) chair of the board.”

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In 2021, it was announced that Ahtisaari had advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
“It is with great sadness that we have received the news of the death of President Martti Ahtisaari,” Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said in a statement. “He was president in times of change, who piloted Finland into a global EU era.”
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Niinistö described Ahtisaari in a televised speech as “a citizen of the world, a great Finn. A teacher, diplomat and head of state. A peace negotiator and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.” Regular programming on Finnish public broadcaster YLE was interrupted for Niinistö’s speech.
Ahtisaari helped reach peace accords related to Serbia’s withdrawal from Kosovo in the late 1990s, Namibia’s bid for independence in the 1980s, and autonomy for Aceh province in Indonesia in 2005. He was also involved with the Northern Ireland peace process in the late 1990s, being tasked with monitoring the IRA’s disarmament process.
“President Ahtisaari committed all his life to peace, diplomacy, the goodness of humanity, and had an extraordinary influence on our present and the future,” said Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani. “He engraved the frame of our country, and his name will remain forever in the pages of the Republic of Kosovo’s history.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called him “a visionary” and “a champion of peace” on X, formerly known as Twitter. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Ahtisaari made a “vital contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process.”
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When the Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee picked Ahtisaari in October 2008, it cited him “for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.”
Ahtisaari was the Nordic country’s president for one six-year term — from 1994 until 2000 — and later founded the Helsinki-based Crisis Management Initiative, aimed at preventing and resolving violent conflicts through informal dialogue and mediation.
Born June 23, 1937, in the eastern town of Viipuri, which is now in Russia, Ahtisaari was a primary school teacher before joining Finland’s Foreign Ministry in 1965. He spent about 20 years abroad, first as ambassador to Tanzania, Zambia and Somalia and then to the United Nations in New York.
He then joined the U.N., working at its New York headquarters, and in 1978 was appointed as the special representative for Namibia by then-U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim.
He headed the U.N. peacekeeping operation in the 1980s that led to Namibia’s independence from South Africa in 1990. Ahtisaari had become deeply involved in activities aimed at preparing Namibians for independence during his diplomatic tenure in Africa in the 1970s.
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The Namibian government was grateful for Ahtisaari’s work and later made him an honorary citizen of the country.
After returning to Finland in 1991, Ahtisaari worked as a Foreign Ministry secretary of state before being elected president in 1994. He was the first Finnish head of state to be elected directly instead of through an electoral college.
Having lived abroad for so long, he came into the race as a political outsider and was seen as bringing a breath of fresh air to Finnish politics. Ahtisaari was a strong supporter of the European Union and NATO, which Finland joined in 1995 and 2023 respectively.
His international highlight came in 1999 when he negotiated — alongside Russia’s Balkans envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin — the end to fighting in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. Ahtisaari also hosted Russian President Boris Yeltsin and U.S. President Bill Clinton at a U.S.-Russia summit in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, in March 1997.
Ahtisaari “had a great heart and he believed in the human being,” Niinistö said.
“In his speech at the Nobel celebration, Ahtisaari said that all conflicts can be resolved: ‘Wars and conflicts are not inevitable. They are caused by humans,”‘ Niinistö said. “There are always interests that war promotes. Therefore, those who have power and influence can also stop them.”
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As president, Ahtisaari traveled abroad more widely than any of his predecessors. At home, he often appeared impatient and vexed by media criticism — he was clearly much more comfortable in international circles.
He declined to run for a second term in the January 2000 presidential election, saying he wanted to devote the time he would otherwise have used for campaigning to run the rotating EU presidency, which Finland held for the first time in 1999.
After the Finnish presidency, he was offered several international positions, including in the United Nations refugee agency, but decided instead to open his own office in Helsinki which centered on mediating in international crises.
In May 2017, Ahtisaari stepped down as chairman of the Crisis Management Initiative to help resolve global conflicts but said he would continue working with the organization as an adviser. He was replaced by former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, who is now running for president.
Stubb reacted to Ahtisaari’s death on X, saying that “perhaps now more than ever, the world needs people like him.”
Ahtisaari is survived by his wife Eeva and their adult son, Markko.
CMI said Ahtisaari will be laid to rest following a state funeral. The date will be announced later.
——
Former Associated Press writer Matti Huuhtanen, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, contributed to this story.

[Happy As Larry]

Carla Bley, imaginative jazz pianist and composer, dies aged 87

Carla Bley, the American jazz composer-pianist celebrated for boldly avant-garde work as well as her uplifting and beautiful takes on the genre’s mainstream, has died aged 87.
Her death was announced by longtime partner and musical collaborator Steve Swallow, who said the cause was complications from brain cancer.

Bley’s impish, blithe yet pointed approach to her craft meant she recorded right across the jazz spectrum, from straightforwardly lovely piano pieces (the likes of Lawns became standards and hits on streaming services) to stridently political big band works and an acclaimed 1973 triple-LP jazz-rock opera, Escalator Over the Hill, with a supporting cast including country-pop singer Linda Ronstadt, Cream bassist Jack Bruce and Manfred Mann’s Paul Jones.

Born Lovella May Borg in Oakland, California in 1936, she learned piano from the age of three but dropped out of school at 14 and picked up work as a pianist in Bay Area jazz clubs. Bley then moved to New York aged 17 and worked as a cigarette girl at jazz club Birdland, later saying: “I was the one who took a picture of you and your girlfriend at the table to commemorate your being there with someone who wasn’t your wife usually. I hardly sold anything because I was listening to the music,” which included Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Count Basie and more.

She met pianist Paul Bley, marrying him in 1957 and moving back to California together, with Bley composing music for him and an LA group to improvise off of, its members including Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry.
The Bleys returned to New York, and Carla became deeply involved in the city’s free jazz scene: “I wanted to object to as many things as possible that were wrong in the world of jazz and change the whole system that existed in the music world,” she later explained.
She was a key component of the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra and its associated Guild, a union who campaigned on behalf of musicians’ working conditions. Equally politically minded was the Liberation Music Orchestra, helmed by bassist Charlie Haden who was inspired by Spanish civil war songs, Che Guevara and more – Bley was the group’s arranger and conductor, with Rolling Stone magazine’s Lester Bangs hailing her “miracles of dynamics” in a review of their self-titled 1970 album.

Having had her head turned by the Beatles, Bley also explored a fusion with pop and rock. As well as recording Escalator Over the Hill across five years with around 50 personnel, she wrote the music for the debut album by Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason and collaborated with Robert Wyatt. Having amicably divorced Bley (and kept his name), she also made a number of 1970s collaborations with second husband, trumpeter Michael Mantler; the couple also had a daughter, Karen.

She continued to reconnect with Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra (and helmed it after his death in 2014) and worked with her own self-titled big band. She released a steady stream of solo releases with German label ECM from the late 1970s onwards, culminating in a trio of albums with Swallow and saxophonist Andy Sheppard, most recently Life Goes On in 2020.

She was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018, explaining: “Sometimes I don’t know the answer to a question, so I think they must have taken something out by mistake, because ever since the operation I no longer have perfect pitch.”

Carla Bley, imaginative jazz pianist and composer, dies aged 87 | Carla Bley | The Guardian

[bangkokexpats1]

Great thread Chitown!

[harrybarracuda]

^ I suspect few here would of heard of her. Wonderful musician.

Meanwhile:


Oscar-nominated actor Burt Young dies at 83



Burt Young, the Oscar-nominated actor who played Paulie, the rough-hewn, mumbling-and-grumbling best friend, corner-man and brother-in-law to Sylvester Stallone in the "Rocky" franchise, has died.Young died Oct. 8 in Los Angeles, his daughter, Anne Morea Steingieser, told the New York Times on Wednesday. No cause was given. He was 83.
Young had roles in acclaimed films and television shows including "Chinatown," "Once Upon a Time in America" and "The Sopranos."
But he was always best known for playing Paulie Pennino in six "Rocky" movies. The short, paunchy, balding Young was the sort of actor who always seemed to play middle-aged no matter his age.
When Paulie first appears in 1976's "Rocky," he's an angry, foul-mouthed meat packer who is abusive to his sister Adrian (Talia Shire), with whom he shares a small apartment in Philadelphia. He berates the shy, meek Adrian for refusing at first to go on a Thanksgiving-night date with his buddy and co-worker Rocky Balboa, and destroys a turkey she has in the oven.
The film became a phenomenon, topping the box office for the year and making a star of lead actor and writer Stallone, who paid tribute to Young on Instagram on Wednesday night.
Along with a photo of the two of them on the set of the first film, Stallone wrote "you were an incredible man and artist, I and the World will miss you very much."
"Rocky" was nominated for 10 Oscars, including best supporting actor for Young. It won three, including best picture. Young and co-star Burgess Meredith, who was also nominated, lost to Jason Robards in "All the President's Men."
As the movies went on, Young's Paulie softened, as the sequels themselves did, and he became their comic relief. In 1985's "Rocky IV" he reprograms a robot Rocky gives him into a sexy-voiced servant who dotes on him.
Paulie was also an eternal pessimist who was constantly convinced that Rocky was going to get clobbered by his increasingly daunting opponents. His surprise at Rocky's resilience brought big laughs.
"It was a great ride, and it brought me to the audience in a great way," Young said in a 2020 interview with Celebrity Parents magazine. "I made him a rough guy with a sensitivity. He's really a marshmallow even though he yells a lot."
Born and raised in Queens, New York, Young served in the Marine Corps, fought as a professional boxer and worked as a carpet layer before taking up acting, studying with legendary teacher Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.
On stage, in films and on television, he typically played small-time tough guys or down-on-their luck working class men.
In a short-but-memorable scene in 1974's "Chinatown," he plays a fisherman who throws a fit when Jack Nicholson's private detective Jake Gittes shows him pictures proving his wife is cheating on him.
Young also appeared in director Sergio Leone's 1984 gangster epic "Once Upon a Time in America" with Robert De Niro, the 1986 comedy "Back to School" with Rodney Dangerfield, and the 1989 gritty drama "Last Exit to Brooklyn" with Jennifer Jason Leigh.
In a striking appearance in season three of "The Sopranos" in 2001, he plays Bobby Baccalieri, Sr., an elderly mafioso with lung cancer who pulls off one last hit before a coughing fit leads to him dying in a car accident.
He guest-starred on many other TV series including "M*A*S*H," "Miami Vice" and "The Equalizer."
Later in life he focused on roles in the theater and on painting, a lifelong pursuit that led to gallery shows and sales.
His wife of 13 years, Gloria, died in 1974.
Along with his daughter, Young is survived by one grandchild and a brother, Robert.

Oscar-nominated actor Burt Young dies at 83 | SHOOTonline

[S Landreth]

Laszlo Solyom, a Transitional President of Hungary, Dies at 81

Laszlo Solyom, a legal scholar who helped guide Hungary in its transition to a free-market democracy after the fall of Communism in 1989, presiding over his country’s Constitutional Court and then serving as its president from 2005 to 2010, died on Oct. 8 in Budapest. He was 81.

Marton Hovanyi, a senior lecturer at Eotvos Lorand University, where Mr. Solyom once taught law, confirmed the death but did not specify the cause, saying only that it came after a long illness.

Mr. Solyom, a law professor in Budapest, was part of a generation of Central European intellectuals who, beginning in the 1980s, laid the groundwork for the transition away from Communism through the formation of nongovernmental organizations that expanded the scope of civic society.

He was a leading figure in the Danube Circle, an environmental coalition that opposed dams and other projects along his country’s main waterway — a form of protest masked as ecological activism.

He was a founding member of the Hungarian Democratic Forum, which emerged after 1989 as the country’s main center-right party. And he took part in the Opposition Round Table Talks, a series of meetings to plan the political and legal frameworks for post-Communist Hungary.

By then he had developed a reputation for his astute scholarship on privacy rights, knowledge that made him an obvious choice to be one of the founding justices on Hungary’s Constitutional Court, the equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court. He joined it in 1989 and a year later became chief justice.

In that role he helped guide Hungary toward the rule of law and individual rights. The court struck down capital punishment, supported personal privacy protections and defended free speech.

A scholarly, reserved figure who once told an interviewer, “I don’t make friends easily,” Mr. Solyom left the court in 1998, eager to return to his academic work.

But seven years later, he was called back to public life by the Hungarian Parliament, which elected him the country’s president.

Though the presidency is, on paper, largely ceremonial, and while Mr. Solyom promised that he would be “restrained” in office, he soon asserted himself as the country’s political conscience, demonstrating and reinforcing the norms and mores that he said were necessary in a healthy democratic society.

His term coincided with a tumultuous time for the country. Its economy was growing steadily, and in 2004 Hungary joined the European Union. President George W. Bush, eager to find European allies, hailed Hungary as a shining example of a “New Europe,” in contrast to countries like Germany and France, whose leaders had rankled Mr. Bush for criticizing the invasion of Iraq.

But Mr. Solyom kept Washington at a measured distance. When Mr. Bush traveled to Budapest in 2006 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution — an uprising against the country’s Communist leaders that was brutally suppressed by the Soviet Army — Mr. Solyom endorsed a fight against terror that was “in line with international law and to honor international human rights,” a comment that many in the news media took as an unsubtle dig at his guest.

That same year Hungary faced a period of political unrest, including rioting in the streets, after Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted that he had lied about economic forecasts to improve the chances of his party, the Socialists, in national elections.

After days of demonstrations, Mr. Solyom called for Mr. Gyurcsany to resign. He refused, and even survived a vote of no confidence in Parliament. Mr. Gyurcsany remained in office three more years.

The episode turned many Hungarians against the political establishment; in a national poll in 2006, Mr. Solyom was ranked as the country’s most trusted politician, though he earned just 23 percent approval.

Close behind him, at 19 percent, was Viktor Orban, a former prime minister whose party, Fidesz, had supported Mr. Solyom’s candidacy for president in 2005. But when it came time for re-election, in 2010, Mr. Orban threw his decisive support to another candidate, Pal Schmitt.

Mr. Orban and Fidesz, with their populist, anti-establishment message, dominated the elections that year. Mr. Orban returned as prime minister, a position he still holds. In 2011 he led the passage of a new Constitution that Mr. Solyom said eroded many of the safeguards he had spent decades building.

“The drafting process had lost its dignity by descending to the level of common parliamentary wrangling,” he wrote in Heti Valasz, a weekly newspaper. But, he added, “Hungary will stay among the European democracies even under the new Constitution.”

Laszlo Solyom was born on Jan. 3, 1942, in Pecs, a city in southern Hungary, a son of Ferenc Solyom, a lawyer, and Aranka Lelkes.

As a high school student he took part in street protests during the Hungarian Revolution, though he escaped the political reprisals that followed. Later, as president, he refused to give a state award to Gyula Horn, a former prime minister who, as a young man, had supported the Soviet invasion in 1956.

Mr. Solyom received a law degree in 1965 from the University of Pecs and a doctorate in law in 1969 from Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, East Germany. He returned to work as a researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

He later taught law at Eotvos Lorand University and Peter Pazmany Catholic University, both in Budapest.

He married Erzsebet Nagy in 1966. She died in 2015. He is survived by his daughter, Beata Solyom; his son, Benedek Solyom; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

After leaving office, Mr. Solyom created a scholarship for young Hungarian researchers to study overseas. He also became a reliable critic of the Orban government but gradually withdrew from public life, especially after the death of his wife. A quietly religious man, he spent his last years translating works dealing with Roman Catholic canon law.

[Happy As Larry]

Haydn Gwynne, star of stage and screen, dies aged 66

Tributes have been paid to the acclaimed actor Haydn Gwynne who has died of cancer at the age of 66.
Gwynne, who played the sardonic assistant editor Alex Pates in Channel 4’s newsroom satire Drop the Dead Donkey, had a celebrated career on television and stage. She received Olivier and Tony award nominations as the dance teacher in Billy Elliot the Musical (in London and New York) and three other Olivier nominations for the musical productions City of Angels, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (based on Pedro Almodóvar’s film) and The Threepenny Opera.

In a statement on Friday, her agent said that Gwynne had died in hospital “surrounded by her beloved sons, close family and friends. We would like to thank the staff and teams at the Royal Marsden and Brompton hospitals for their wonderful care over the last few weeks.”

Among those paying tribute to Gwynne was Jack Thorne, whose play When Winston Went to War With the Wireless starred Gwynne at the Donmar Warehouse in London this year. Thorne said: “Haydn was the kindest, loveliest soul and a wonderful performer. She gave everything to everything.” The writer Jonathan Harvey called her “a gifted and versatile all-rounder”. Helen King, a retired police officer who is now principal of St Anne’s College, Oxford, said that Gwynne had job shadowed her for her role as Supt Susan Blake in the TV series Merseybeat. “I remember her as perceptive, hard-working and funny,” said King.

In September 2023, Gwynne withdrew from the West End revue Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, shortly before it was due to open. She had previously starred in a one-off version of the revue, celebrating Sondheim’s career in musicals. At the time of Gwynne’s withdrawal, producer Cameron Mackintosh said: “Haydn gave an unforgettable performance of Ladies Who Lunch during the Old Friends, gala premiere in May 2022 and has been an integral part of this very close-knit company ever since.” On Friday, Mackintosh announced that the evening’s performance of Old Friends would be dedicated to Gwynne’s memory and her “extraordinary career”.
Gwynne’s prominent West End theatre roles included Margaret Thatcher in Peter Morgan’s 2013 play The Audience (starring Helen Mirren as the Queen), gilded matriarch Lady Wishfort in the Restoration comedy The Way of the World (at the Donmar in 2018) and a no-nonsense judge in The Great British Bake Off Musical in 2023. Her Shakespearean roles included Queen Elizabeth in Richard III (opposite Kevin Spacey at London’s Old Vic in 2011) and Volumnia in Coriolanus for the RSC in 2017.
Rufus Norris, director of the National Theatre, said on Friday: “I was devastated to learn today of Haydn’s passing. I had been a huge fan of hers for years before finally having the opportunity to work with her on The Threepenny Opera at the National Theatre. Her unique combination of wit, wickedness, grace and fearless craft was a complete joy to be in a room with. She returned, equally brilliantly, in The Welkin several years later, and will be deeply mourned by the whole staff here, where she was universally beloved and respected.”

Memorably seen as regal and noble characters, Gwynne played Camilla as what she called a “soap-opera villainess” in Channel 4’s comedy The Windsors and portrayed Lady Susan Hussey, lady-in-waiting to Imelda Staunton’s Queen, in Netflix’s The Crown. She was also a scheming gallerist in the BBC’s Sherlock and had recurring roles on Peak Practice and Merseybeat.
Gwynne had been praised as an English lecturer in the 1989 TV mini-series Nice Work, based on David Lodge’s novel, but it was Drop the Dead Donkey that sealed her fame. She received a Bafta nomination for best light entertainment performance as Alex Pates, second in command to sadsack editor George Dent at the highly dysfunctional GlobeLink News. She played the role in the first two series of the popular comedy, her character eventually leaving GlobeLink.

Born in West Sussex, Gwynne was involved in local amdram productions and studied sociology at the University of Nottingham, during which time she did student theatre at the Edinburgh fringe. After graduating, she lectured in English at the University of Rome. She did not attend drama school and got a crucial break in 1984 when Alan Ayckbourn directed her in Sandy Wilson’s musical play His Monkey Wife, based on John Collier’s novel, in Scarborough. Gwynne had two sons with her partner, Jason Phipps.

Haydn Gwynne, star of stage and screen, dies aged 66 | Haydn Gwynne | The Guardian

[hallelujah]

Probably a name most people will know even if they're not into football:

Sir Bobby Charlton: Man Utd and England legend dies aged 86 | Football News | Sky Sports

[david44]

Bobby Charlton a stellar player for Utd and England, one of that rare breed an Englishman with his hands on the World Cup

[Bob Mason]

I have to echo David's remarks. Magnificent footballer, a true sportsman and a gentleman to boot!

Happy to say this before I am banned.

[harrybarracuda]

I have to echo David's remarks. Magnificent footballer, a true sportsman and a gentleman to boot!

Happy to say this before I am banned.

You forgot "and ticket tout".

Probably why Hal thought better of posting it in the "RIP Sporting Heroes" thread.

[S Landreth]

Weight Watchers icon Florine Mark was the bubbe of all bubbes

Florine Mark wasn’t just a bubbe or her family’s bubbe. She was THE bubbe, a grandson recalled Tuesday. She was such a bubbe that she served the role to people who didn’t even know what the word meant (Yiddish for grandmother).

During a funeral Tuesday for Mark, a Michigan business icon who was the president of Weight Watchers Group, the stories about the bubbe bubbled like a brook. She knew the rich and famous but would hang up on them if a granddaughter called. She was so thoughtful she would send a thank-you note for receiving a thank-you note.

She kept believing in people until they finally saw what she saw about them. She loved to read, play golf and give her opinion. She once showed up at a kibbutz in Israel in a limousine wearing a fur coat and 5-inch heels. She ended every letter and text with the same three words: “love, love, love.”

“She was a legend,” said Rachel Shere, a recent rabbi at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills. “She knew royalty and rocks stars but she made us normal people feel like rock stars.”

Mark has a large extended family but her clan was even bigger than that, speakers said during the service. Many filled the seats of Adat Shalom, some 900 people paying their respects. A photo of Mark beamed from a monitor on a side stage while her casket was surrounded by floral arrangements. Several of the nine relatives who spoke shed tears but the sadness kept getting trumped by joy and laughter over the life of an irrepressible woman.

A grandson, Mataan Lis, who is a member of the Israeli military, taped a message from Israel that was played at the funeral. Lis, who grew up in Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan, said his bubbe taught him many things. Among the lessons: anything is attainable, every person is important, one’s purpose in the world is to do good, and family is everything.

“You made a hell of a splash in this world,” said Lis. “You were larger than life.”

Mark’s daughter, Sheri Mark, said her mom collected stray animals and stray people. She greeted strangers with a hug and a kiss. But what she really cherished was her kin, and always wanted to spend time with them, said Sheri. She implored them to gather for a Monday dinner, then a Tuesday dinner, then a Wednesday dinner.

Florine Mark always told her children they could become whatever they wanted if they made the effort. They knew it was true because they knew her. She excelled at business during a time when women were supposed to be making dinner and cleaning the house.

Her prowess at work led to connections with heavyweights in the political and business world, said Sheri. If friends came to her with a problem, it was quickly solved because she knew everybody who was a somebody.

“If you needed something, she got it done in the blink of an eye,” said Sheri.

Florine Mark continued that breakneck pace right until the last week of her life, said Sheri. The 90-year-old dynamo continued making her personal podcasts and gave a string of media interviews about the troubling developments in the Middle East.

Now that she’s gone, which seemed impossible to several family members who spoke during the service, Sheri recalled some of the advice her mom had left for her: Be kind, make every day count, make a difference in the world.

After dozens of stories during the service, more continued to pour out, both big and small. The time she took relatives to Paris and got actor Samuel L. Jackson to take their photo. How she was the very first caller on the birthdays of every child, grandchild and great-grandchild. How she cajoled her loved ones about the importance of singing and dancing as much as possible.

[harrybarracuda]

Richard Roundtree, who played John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft, dies aged 81



Actor Richard Roundtree, best known for playing John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft, has died aged 81.
His manager Patrick McMinn confirmed his death in a statement to several US media outlets.
“Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film,” Mr McMinn said in his statement, according to Variety.
“The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”
Mr McMinn said the cause of death was pancreatic cancer, which Roundtree was diagnosed with two months ago, the New York Times reports.
Roundtree also starred in the four Shaft sequels, released between 1972 and 2019.
American actor Carl Weathers has paid tribute to "the original Shaft".
"His performance influenced so many and so much. And he was a great guy," Weathers said in a post on X.
Shaft was a rugged and streetwise character, who wore flashy leather jackets and was accompanied by a catchy theme song from Isaac Hayes.
Hayes died in 2008, and his family has paid tribute to Roundtree on X.
"His legendary role as SHAFT, transcended the screen, defining an era," the family said.
Roundtree also had a role in the groundbreaking US television slavery drama Roots in 1977 and other prominent projects of the era, including playing motorcycle daredevil Miles in 1974's Earthquake.
Among his more poignant films was 1996's Once Upon a Time … When We Were Colored, the story a tight-knit Black community confronting the racism of post-war Mississippi.
He also played opposite Peter O'Toole's Robinson Crusoe in Man Friday in 1975 and alongside Laurence Olivier's depiction of General Douglas MacArthur in 1981's Inchon.
Roundtree worked regularly until the end, with 159 acting credits to his name plus three upcoming projects yet to be released, according to IMDB.com.
He was married twice and is survived by four daughters — Nicole, Tayler, Morgan and Kelli and his son James, Variety said.
Actor Gabrielle Union paid tribute to Roundtree on X, saying working alongside him in Being Mary Jane was a "dream".
"He was simply the best and we all loved him," she said.

Link

[S Landreth]

In memoriam: Hubert Reeves (1932-2023) - News | IUCN

We mourn the passing of astrophysicist, environmentalist and writer Hubert Reeves. He died on Friday, 13 October 2023, at the age of 91.

As a renowned astrophysicist and an outstanding populariser of science, the French-Canadian scientist was also a passionate advocate for the environment. He served as president of IUCN Member organisation Humanité et Biodiversité (Humanity and Biodiversity) from 2001 to 2015, and continued as honorary president until his passing.

Reeves saw astronomy and ecology as two facets of humanity’s existence, and wrote:

“Astronomy, by telling us the story of the universe, tells us where we came from, how we came to be here today. Ecology, by making us aware of the threats to our future, aims to tell us how to stay there.”

He was born in 1932 in the Canadian city of Montreal and studied at the Université de Montréal and McGill University, before receiving his doctorate from Cornell University in 1960.

As a storyteller, he aimed to educate the public about the origins of the world. His book Patience dans l'azur ("Patience in the Blue"), which was first published in 1981, has sold more than a million copies and has been translated into more than 30 languages. Multiple books and television appearances followed, all in the name of science popularisation.

Using his platform, he championed nature conservation. For instance, during the 2012 French presidential election, Reeves wrote to mayors, members of parliament and candidates regarding biodiversity and climate change.

He was the recipient of multiple awards and recognitions across a career that spanned many decades, becoming an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991, and a Commander of France’s Légion d’honneur in 2003, in addition to receiving the Albert Einstein Award in 2001. Furthermore, in 2007 he was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the “scientific” category, and in 2016 he was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal.

[harrybarracuda]

I see Bill Kenwright has joined the choir invisible.

No doubt corrie fans may be upset, but I'm sure there will be more than a few celebrating Toffee fans.

ITV Coronation Street star dies aged 78 after long battle with illness - OK! Magazine

[S Landreth]

pity.....