The RIP Famous Person Thread

[peterpan]

Colombo star Peter Falk dies










Peter Falk, the actor who became identified as the squinty, rumpled detective Columbo, has died. He was 83.



Columbo actor Peter Falk has died at the age of 83.
The stage, television and movie star enjoyed a career which spanned more than 30 years. A statement released by family friend Larry Larson announced that Falk had passed away peacefully on Thursday evening at his home in Beverly Hills.
In 2008, the American actor's daughter Catherine Falk revealed in a court document that her father had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He was also reportedly suffering from dementia.
Falk was best known for his role as the squinting, rumpled detective Columbo in the popular American crime series. The laid-back character usually wore a raincoat, smoked a cigar and tended to use the catchphrase, "One more thing..."
The television show first hit screens in 1971 as part of the NBC Mystery Movie series and went on to enjoy success around the world.
Falk won four Emmy Awards for his role as Lieutenant Columbo - who never revealed his first name - with the show running on and off until 2003.
"He looks like a flood victim," Falk once said of the character. "You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work."
He also received Oscar nominations in the 1960s for Murder Inc, and Pocketful of Miracles. His last big screen outing was in 2009 movie American Cowslips and he also appeared in The Princess Bride.
Falk- who was born in New York City - is survived by his wife Shera and his two daughters Catherine and Jackie.

[Thormaturge]

^
That's a shame.

[nedwalk]

Bloody Hell,, I Mean He Looked An Old Bastard Back Then !

R.i.p.

[kmart]

"Oh,...just no more things.."

[Mr Lick]

Peter Falk will no doubt be remembered by millions for his exceptional style in characterising the unique detective Columbo. The hallmark scruffy raincoat was a masterpiece and could be very well be worth a bob or two. I have fond memories of the series.

R.I.P Peter, you fascinated millions of viewers with your very distinctive performance's

[bobo746]

Maybe not famous but the noise from those wipper snippers stil pisses me off.

Whipper snipper inventor George C Ballas Senior dies at 85

GEORGE C Ballas Senior, the American entrepreneur known for inventing the whipper snipper, has died. He was 85. Ballas' son, Corky Ballas, said on Wednesday that his father died of natural causes on Saturday.
"He changed the way we cut grass," Corky Ballas said.
Mr Ballas got the idea for the Weed Eater, as it is known in the US, while sitting in a car wash.
He wondered whether the idea of spinning bristles, like the ones cleaning his car, could be applied to trimming grass and weeds in areas a lawnmower couldn't reach.
He experimented with fishing wire that poked through holes in a tin can attached to the rotary of a lawn edger, and found that the spinning wires easily sliced through grass, The Houston Chronicle reported.
Mr Ballas founded his Weed Eater company in Houston in 1971 and sales flourished during the subsequent decade.

He later sold his invention to Emerson Electric. As part of his agreement with Emerson, Mr Ballas was not allowed to disclose how much he was paid, even to his family.
"A Weed Eater," Mr Ballas told the Chronicle in 1993, "comes along once in a lifetime."
Corky Ballas said his father for years was known as the Weed King.
But George Ballas, who was born in Ruston, Louisiana, was also a dance studio owner and dance was an important part of his family's life.
After his military service, Mr Ballas worked for both the Arthur Murray and Fred Astaire dance studio franchises.
He was a dance instructor, but also travelled to various cities, troubleshooting to make the outlets profitable.
After moving to Houston in the late 1950s, he built and operated the Dance City USA Studio.
With 120 instructors and 43,000 square feet of space, it was heralded as the largest dance studio in the world. He sold it in 1964.
Mr Ballas' wife, Maria Louisa Ballas, was a noted flamenco dancer who studied with famed Spanish dancer Carmen Amaya and appeared in several films.
Corky Ballas became a champion ballroom dancer, and his son, Mark Ballas, is a professional dancer. Both of them have appeared on Dancing With the Stars.
George Ballas also helped develop a Houston hotel and worked as an adjunct professor at Rice University, teaching entrepreneurship.
He is survived by his wife, three daughters, two sons and seven grandchildren

[Hampsha]

But who invented the whipper snapper?

[Mr Lick]

Anna Massey dies aged 73



The veteran actor Anna Massey has died at the age of 73, her agent said.

Massey won a string of awards for her stage and TV roles, including a Bafta for her performance as a lonely spinster in the 1986 TV adaptation of Hotel du Lac.

Her agent said in a statement: "Actress Anna Massey CBE passed away peacefully on Sunday 3rd July, with her husband and son by her side.

"She will be remembered as a loving wife and mother, a cherished grandmother, a generous colleague and, always, a consummate professional. She will be greatly missed."

Massey had been suffering from cancer, her agent said.

Her film work included roles in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy, Possession with Gwyneth Paltrow and an adaptation of The Importance Of Being Earnest.

Massey was well-known for her supporting roles, often playing a spurned or repressed maiden aunt. She received a CBE for services to drama at Buckingham Palace in 2005.

Divorced from the late actor Jeremy Brett, she was alone for 27 years until she met the Russian scientist Uri Andres at a dinner party and married him three months later.

Massey's TV period dramas included Tess Of The D'Urbervilles in 2008, Oliver Twist in 2007, and the BBC's version of Anthony Trollope's He Knew He Was Right in 2004.

Most recently, she appeared in Poirot and Midsomer Murders in 2009.

In 2006, she played Baroness Thatcher in the TV film Pinochet In Suburbia.

Massey was born into the business – both of her parents were actors and her godfather was the veteran director John Ford

[jandajoy]

RIP Anna.

She was good.

[Hampsha]

People here on TD are quite good at keeping track of the dead.

[Mr Lick]

Betty Ford Dead at 93
Former first lady Betty Ford, the widow of late President Gerald Ford, has passed away at the age of 93 near her home in Rancho Mirage, California. She co-founded the famous addiction center that bears her name in the state.

[Takeovers]

People here on TD are quite good at keeping track of the dead.

That's because we are close to it ourselves. I am 61 now and plan to live only another 30+ years, about as long as my father.

It feels strange at the moment to be of the old generation now.

[good2bhappy]

Betty Ford Dead at 93

May she have found that peace that the world cannot bring

[Mr Lick]

French choreographer Roland Petit dies at 87




French choreographer and dancer Roland Petit has died in Geneva at the age of 87, the Paris Opera Ballet has said.

Petit helped set up dance company Les Ballets des Champs-Elysees in 1945 and is credited with revolutionising ballet for his theatrical choreography.

France's Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand paid tribute to him, saying he was "one of the major choreographers of the 20th Century".

Petit is credited with creating more than 100 ballets during his career.

He married dancer Zizi Jeanmaire in 1954 and choreographed a number of pieces for her.

"With his muse Zizi Jeanmaire, he wrote some of the most beautiful pages of contemporary music hall," Mr Mitterrand said.

Born in 1924, Petit joined the Paris Opera Ballet when he was nine years old, but left when he was 20 to create and perform his own works at the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris.

After forming Les Ballets des Champs-Elysees, he remained at the company for three years as principal dancer, ballet master, and choreographer.

He then formed the Ballets de Paris in 1948, where he created The Young Girls of the Night for Margot Fonteyn.

In 1949, it was Jeanmaire's performance in Petit's production of Carmen in London that thrust the dancer into the spotlight



Petit married dancer Zizi Jeanmaire in 1954

[bobo746]

Creator of 'Brady Bunch,' 'Gilligan's Island' dies

LOS ANGELES -- Sherwood Schwartz, writer-creator of two of the best-remembered TV series of the 1960s and 1970s, "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch," has died at age 94.
Great niece Robin Randall said Schwartz died at 4 a.m. Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was being treated for an intestinal infection and underwent several surgeries. His wife, Mildred, and children had been at his side.

Sherwood Schwartz and his brother, Al, started as a writing team in TV's famed 1950s "golden age," said Douglas Schwartz, the late Al Schwartz's son.
"They helped shape television in its early days," Douglas Schwartz said. "Sherwood is an American classic, creating `Brady Bunch' and `Gilligan's Island,' iconic shows that are still popular today. He continued to produce all the way up into his 90s."
Sherwood Schwartz was working on a big-screen version of "Gilligan's Island," his nephew said. Douglas Schwartz, who created the hit series "Baywatch," called his uncle a longtime mentor and caring "second father" who helped guide him successfully through show business.
Success was the hallmark of Sherwood Schwartz's own career. Neither "Gilligan" nor "Brady" pleased the critics, but both managed to reverberate in viewers' heads through the years as few such series did, lingering in the language and inspiring parodies, spinoffs and countless standup comedy jokes.

[bobo746]

I thought mary-ann was the hot one.

[nedwalk]

Mate Its Been So Long For Me Now I,d Give Mrs Howell One

[bobo746]

Jesus mate don't go to the barber you will be jumpimg the hair on the floor.

[Mr Lick]

Googie Withers dies in Australia aged 94




Actress Googie Withers, best known for appearing in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes and TV's Within These Walls, has died in Australia aged 94.

She was born Georgette Lizette Withers in what was then British India. She died at her home on Friday.

She was the first non-Australian to be awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Her last role was in the Oscar-nominated 1996 Australian movie Shine.

Withers's family moved back to Britain from India and she began acting at age 12.

She had been given her nickname Googie by her Indian nanny.

She was working as a dancer in a West End production in London when she was offered work in 1935 as a film extra in The Girl in the Crowd.

Withers, who had three children, appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s and 40s.

She played Blanche in 1938's The Lady Vanishes, opposite Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave.

Later in her career she appeared in several television productions, including prison drama Within These Walls on ITV and the BBC's Hotel du Lac and Northanger Abbey.

In 1958, Withers moved to Australia with her husband, Australian actor John McCallum - he helped create the classic television series, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

The couple co-starred in 10 films, and they lived together in Sydney until McCallum died last year at the age of 91.

[Mr Lick]

US songwriter Jerry Ragovoy dies aged 80



US songwriter Jerry Ragovoy, who wrote songs for the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin and Elvis Presley, has died aged 80.

The Grammy award-winning musician passed away last week at the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York following complications from a stroke.

Some of his famous songs included the Stones' 1964 hit Time Is On My Side and Erma Franklin's Piece of My Heart.

He also wrote songs under the pseudonym of Norman Meade.

Born in Philadelphia as Jordan Ragovoy, the musician entered record production in 1953, working with The Castelles.

Piece of My Heart, first recorded by Franklin in 1967 was famously recorded by Janis Joplin a year later.

B.B King, Louis Jordan, Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin also recorded tracks written by Ragovoy.

He also worked as a producer for artists including Diana Ross and Dionne Warwick.

In 1973, Ragovoy walked away with his first Grammy for best score from an original cast show album, for his production work on Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times newspaper, Jim Steinblatt, a spokesman for the performance rights group ASCAP, said: "Jerry was a giant of soul, R&B and rock songwriting and record production.

"His songs were far better known than he was."


Song Artist Others

"About This Thing Called Love"Fabian"Ain't Nobody Home"Howard TateB. B. King, Bonnie Raitt"All I Know is The Way I Feel"Irma ThomasHoward Tate, The Pointer Sisters"A Wonderful Dream"The Majors"Cloudy with a Chance of Tears"The Manhattans"Cry Baby"Garnet Mimms and the EnchantersJanis Joplin"Eight Days on the Road"Howard TateAretha Franklin, Foghat"Either Side of the Same Town"Howard TateElvis Costello"Get It While You Can"Howard TateJanis Joplin"Heart Be Still"Lorraine Ellison"I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face"Baby WashingtonAretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick, Madeline Bell, Pat Thomas"I'll Make It Up to You"Garnet Mimms and the EnchantersManfred Mann"I'll Take Good Care of You"Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters"It's Been Such a Long Way Home"Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters"It Was Easier to Hurt Her"Garnet Mimms and the EnchantersChris Farlowe, Dusty Springfield"Looking for You"Garnet Mimms and the EnchantersChris Farlowe"Love Makin' Music"Barry White"Morning Light"Louis Jordan"Move Me No Mountain"Dionne WarwickHank Crawford, Chaka Khan, Soul II Soul, Love Unlimited"My Baby"Garnet Mimms and the EnchantersJanis Joplin, The Yardbirds"My Girl Awaits Me"The Castelles"One Way Love"The DriftersBryan Ferry"Pata Pata"Miriam MakebaOsibisa, Percy Faith"Piece of My Heart"Erma FranklinBig Brother and the Holding Company, Dusty Springfield, The Move, Bonnie Tyler, Faith Hill"Ring Bell"Miriam Makeba"Stay with Me"Lorraine EllisonThe Walker Brothers, Bette Midler, Terry Reid"Stop"Howard TateJames Gang, Jimi Hendrix, Band of Gypsys, Super Session"Sure Thing"Dionne Warwick"Time Is on My Side"Kai WindingIrma Thomas, The Rolling Stones, The Moody Blues"Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)"Lorraine EllisonJanis Joplin"What's It Gonna Be"Dusty SpringfieldBarbara Acklin"Where Did My Baby Go"Butterfield Blues Band"You Better Believe It"Small Faces"You Don't Know Nothing About Love"Carl HallLorraine Ellison, Renée Geyer"You Got It"Diana Ross

Jerry/Norman - Your memory lives on with the magical songs you gave to this world. R.I.P Sir.

[Moonraker]

We can add Amy Winehouse to the list

[The Fresh Prince]

Singer Amy Winehouse, 27, has been found dead at her home, the Press Association has reported.


Last month, the north Londoner pulled out of her European tour after she was jeered at her comeback gig in Serbia for appearing too drunk to perform.
For 90 minutes, she mumbled through parts of songs and at times left the stage - leaving her band to fill in.
The troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs which overshadowed her musical career in recent years.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that a 27-year-old woman had died in Camden and that the cause of death was as yet unexplained.
London Ambulance Service had been called to the flat at 1554 BST and sent two ambulances but the woman died, it said.

[alwarner]

^well i didn't see that coming.

[Gerbil]

^ No surprise there.

"Die Young and leave a good looking corpse"

Well, failed on the second bit.

Didnt like her music, but she was talented I'd admit. Waste of a life.

[klong toey]

I just listened to Tony Bennett interview on radio 4 last night.
He said she was a naturally talented jazz singer.
Never heard her sing until last night sounded good in a duet with Tony Bennett.
But guess the studio helped.