The RIP Famous Person Thread

[HermantheGerman]

Great News.
Ariel Sharon , Dead.

R.I.H.

[helge]

So sad


He should have stood trial

[Mr Lick]

Paul Crouch - obituary

Paul Crouch was an American televangelist who made a fortune but had to battle claims of sexual and financial misconduct




Paul Crouch , who has died aged 79, founded the Trinity Broadcast Network, the world’s largest Christian broadcasting empire, but in later life was dogged by allegations of financial shenanigans and sexual impropriety.

Crouch founded TBN with his wife Janice in 1973. Based on the “Prosperity Gospel” — the promise that if people make sacrifices (and donations) God will reward them with material wealth — it beams Christian-inspired programming (featuring, among other things, faith healing, biblical cartoons and sermons by such luminaries as the wonderfully-named Dr Creflo Dollar) to every continent but Antarctica 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Based in California, TBN boasts 84 satellite channels and more than 18,000 television and cable affiliates as well as a Christian amusement park in Orlando, Florida.


But the path to salvation was never smooth, and the silver-haired Crouch and his extravagantly coiffed wife faced many bumps and scrapes along the way.


On their nightly talk show, Praise the Lord, they portrayed themselves as humble folk giving themselves to God as they hoped their viewers would give by sending in donations. Their twice-yearly “Praise-a-Thons” generated some $90 million, mainly from people on low incomes. “When you give to God,” Crouch proclaimed, “you’re simply loaning to the Lord and he gives it right on back.” Those reluctant to open their wallets were warned: “If you have been healed or saved or blessed through TBN and have not contributed... you are robbing God and will lose your reward in heaven.”


The Crouches gave generously to charity, but there was a mismatch between their folksy image and the over-the-top glitz of the TBN studio, with its chandeliers, gilded imitation antiques, plush seats and regal crest based on the British lion and unicorn — plus a dove

And the disconnect was not limited to the studio. The Crouches bought a $5 million ocean-front home in the California yachting resort of Newport Beach, while workmen who helped build their 2,348 sq m private offices in Costa Mesa told reporters of handcrafted black walnut woodwork and ornate velvet furniture along with a bar, sauna and gym.




Paul Crouch


As a pioneer of the “Prosperity Gospel”, Crouch had a ready answer to those who criticised his lavish lifestyle, claiming it was proof of the rewards bestowed on him by the Almighty for all his good works. Nor did he have any time for rival Christian organisations that accused TBN of spreading blasphemy. “To hell with you!’’ he told them during a Praise-a-Thon in 1991. “Quit blocking God’s bridges or God’s going to shoot you — if I don’t.” But some remained unconvinced.

In the 1990s the Crouches had several run-ins with the Federal Communications Commission over allegations of illegal licences and were nearly taken off the air.

In 2004 it was revealed that, in 1998, Crouch had secretly paid a former TBN employee $425,000 for his silence after the man claimed to have had a homosexual tryst with Crouch during a weekend spent at a TBN-owned cabin near Lake Arrowhead, California, in 1996. Crouch, who consistently denied the allegations, explained that he had settled out of court only to avoid a costly and embarrassing trial. Given that TNB’s star turn, Benny Hinn, had once announced that “God will destroy the homosexual community of America... with fire” his caution was perhaps understandable.

But perhaps the most damaging attack on the Crouches came from within their own family.

Last year their granddaughter, Brittany Koper, and her husband’s uncle, both former TBN employees, filed lawsuits alleging financial improprieties at the network, including allegations that it had spent millions in tax-exempt “charitable assets” on personal expenses for the Crouch family; these included a private jet, 13 houses and a $100,000 air-conditioned mobile home for Jan Crouch’s pink and white poodles.

A spokesman for TBN responded that the network’s spending was in line with its mission to spread the gospel, and that the Crouches had to travel by private jet because they had had “scores of death threats, more than the President of the United States”.

The lawsuit, not yet resolved, came at a bad time for TBN, whose net income had plunged from nearly $60 million in 2006 to a loss of $18 million in 2010 — a decline it blamed on the economic crisis.

The son of a poor missionary, Paul Franklin Crouch was born at St Joseph, Missouri, on March 30 1934 and began his broadcasting career while studying Theology at Central Bible Institute and Seminary in Springfield, Missouri, by helping to build the campus’s radio station.

After graduating in 1955, he married Janice Bethany, the daughter of a prominent minister in the Pentecostal Assemblies of God. They moved to Rapid City, South Dakota, where he became associate pastor of a small church while moonlighting as a DJ.

In 1962 Crouch was appointed head of the Assemblies of God’s new motion picture and television division. In 1973 he and Jan struck out on their own.

At first the going was tough — their studio furniture consisted of folding chairs and a shower curtain. Things became rather less spartan after Crouch had a vision of a giant television screen on which he saw a silhouette of North America, criss-crossed with lines, and heard the word “satellite”. “I knew I had heard the voice of God,” he said, “and I absolutely obeyed it.”

Paul Crouch is survived by his wife and two sons, both of whom work for TBN.


Paul Crouch, born March 30 1934, died November 30 2013

[Mr Lick]

Cecile Nobrega - obituary

Cecile Nobrega was a teacher who spearheaded a 15-year campaign for England’s first public monument to black women




Cecile Nobrega, who has died aged 94, was the driving force behind the first statue of a black woman to go on permanent display in England.

The Bronze Woman — a 10ft-tall monument to motherhood, showing a black woman holding aloft her baby — was unveiled in October 2008 in Stockwell Memorial Gardens, south London. The original artist was to have been Ian Walters, creator of the statue of Nelson Mandela in London’s Parliament Square, but he died after completing only the clay maquette. The project was taken on and completed by Aleix Barbat, then still a student at the Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea.


Cecile Nobrega — a Guyana-born teacher, poet and playwright — had campaigned for “The Bronze Woman Project” since 1994. Although she did not describe herself as a feminist, she felt that women — particularly women from the underdeveloped world and those descended from the victims of the transatlantic slave trade — received insufficient recognition for their contribution to the family and to society in general.


She launched the project as a charitable organisation and set about raising the money needed, subsequently enlisting the help of an organisation called Olmec, originally set up as a charitable subsidiary of a south London housing association.


The unveiling of the statue, on October 8 2008, came shortly after the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Slave Trade, and the 60th anniversary of the arrival at Tilbury of the first Caribbean immigrants in the steamship Empire Windrush




Cecile Elise Doreen Burgan was born in Guyana (then a British colony) on June 1 1919 to Canon William Burgan and his wife Imelda; in 1949 the Canon would become the first black man to preach at Westminster Abbey.

At Bishops High School in Guyana, Cecile showed herself a gifted child — she had composed classical music and written poetry from an early age, and later produced a choral work called Twilight which was performed by national choirs in Guyana and Cuba.

In Guyana, she started two schools — a kindergarten and a vocational school for teenage girls. She also wrote plays, one of which, Stabroek Fantasy (also known as Carib Gold), was particularly successful.

In 1969, however, she found herself professionally at odds with the Guyana government and emigrated to Britain, where she retrained as a specialist teacher, working in Hertfordshire and Brent. She was active in the National Union of Teachers and in the Adult Literacy Programme, and campaigned for children with severe learning difficulties.

Her work with the International Alliance of Women (IAW) and the Commonwealth Countries League gave her the opportunity to travel, and it was at IAW conferences in New York, Kenya, Greece, Japan and India that she began to shape the idea for her sculpture The Bronze Woman

A resident of Lambeth, south London, for her last 22 years, Cecile Nobrega slowed down towards the end of her life, giving up driving, her computer, and playing the piano; but she remained active in her local pensioners’ group and in t’ai chi classes.

Her husband of 52 years, Romeo Nobrega, an accountant, died in 1994, and she is survived by their two sons and one daughter.


Cecile Nobrega, born June 1 1919, died November 19 2013

[Smug Farang Bore]

Alexandra Bastedo dead.

[toslti]

Sad to hear about her.... Her husband died last year.

[Smug Farang Bore]

Yup me too.
She was a Err big hit with me in my early days...

[harrybarracuda]

12 January 2014 Last updated at 19:06 ET Share this pageEmailPrint

Alexandra Bastedo: The Champions actress dies aged 67



Actress Alexandra Bastedo, best known for her role in the 1960s television s-fi series The Champions, has died aged 67 following a long illness.

Bastedo, who had cancer, also starred in Absolutely Fabulous, Boon and The Agatha Christie Hour.

In later life, animal rights supporter Bastedo set up the ABC Animal Sanctuary near Pulborough, West Sussex, which announced her death.

The sanctuary said the actress would be "sadly missed" by all who knew her.

The charity said on Twitter: "It is with great sadness that we announce that Alexandra Bastedo passed away this Sunday afternoon after a long illness aged 67.

"She will be sadly missed by all those who knew and worked with her, and by all the volunteers at the ABC Animal Sanctuary."

Bastedo was married to theatre producer and director Patrick Garland from 1980 until his death from an illness in April last year aged 78.

[harrybarracuda]

'Honeymooners' Actor Frank Marth Dies at 91
4:54 AM PST 1/13/2014 by Mike Barnes



Frank Marth, a veteran character actor and member of Jackie Gleason's stock company on The Honeymooners, died Sunday of congestive heart failure and Alzheimer’s disease in Rancho Mirage, Calif., a family friend told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 91.

Often cast as authority figures, Marth appeared on scores of TV shows and in many films during his more than 50 years in show business. He played a detective in Madame X (1966) opposite Lana Turner, a police lieutenant working with Richard Widmark in Madigan (1968), an Air Force man in the Gregory Peck film Marooned (1969) and a Nazi officer on the sitcom Hogan's Heroes.
The tall and slender Marth, though, is probably best remembered for his assortment of background roles on The Honeymooners, which starred Gleason and Audrey Meadows as Ralph and Alice Kramden and Art Carney as their upstairs neighbor, Ed Norton.

Marth played Harvey Wohlstetter, who hires Alice to babysit his son, Harvey Jr., as Ralph jumps to conclusions and thinks his wife is having an affair. He was one of the hoods who holds the Kramdens and Norton hostage after Ralph witnesses a bank robbery; the newsman who gets Ralph in trouble at home after he quotes the bus driver in the paper boasting that he's the "head of the household;" and the off-screen narrator of Norton's favorite TV show, Captain Video. Other "classic 39" episodes had him as Ralph's co-worker or pool-room buddy.
Before and after The Honeymooners in the mid-1950s, Marth worked with Gleason on the comedian's variety shows Cavalcade of Stars and American Scene Magazine, the latter beamed from Miami Beach, Fla.
In Meadows' 1994 book Love, Alice: My Life as a Honeymooner, Marth noted that Gleason always called him Francis. On the show, "I always felt like I was going to a party, instead of work," he recalled. "It was such a blast."
PHOTOS: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2013
Born and raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, Marth began his career on the stage and made his first TV appearance in 1949 on the series Mama.
Marth later appeared on such primetime shows as The Fugitive, Combat! The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Wild Wild West, The Big Valley, Mission: Impossible, The F.B.I., Cannon, M*A*S*H, The Streets of San Francisco, Quincy M.E., Dirty Dozen: The Series and Airwolf; on the soap operas From These Roots and The Young and the Restless; and in the 1976 telefilm The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case.
He portrayed an escaped murderer in Fright (1956) and was in such other films as Pendulum (1969), The Lost Man (1969), Telefon (1977) and Loving Deadly (1994), his final credit.
Survivors include his wife of 45 years, actress Hope Holiday, who shared a memorable night of self-pity (and quite a few drinks) with Jack Lemmon on Christmas Eve in Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960).
Services will be private.

[harrybarracuda]

Brave Kid. RIP.



Beloved teen Sam Berns dies at 17 after suffering from rare disease
By Greg Botelho, CNN
updated 7:12 AM EST, Sun January 12, 2014

(CNN) -- Saturday night could have been a moment for Sam Berns to celebrate -- standing in the middle of Gillette Stadium, flanked by some of his beloved New England Patriots, and no doubt cheered heartily by the nearly 70,000 fans surrounding him.
But it wasn't to be.
Instead of having Berns as an honorary captain in their NFL playoff with the Indianapolis Colts, the Patriots held a moment of silence for the young man who inspired them and many others as he lived with progeria, which causes premature, accelerated aging.
"Do it for Sammy!" one man yelled, piercing the quiet, in video of the ceremony on Boston.com.
Berns died Friday evening due to complications from the rare genetic disease, according to the Progeria Research Foundation.
He was 17.
"I loved Sam Berns and am richer for having known him," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. "He was a special young man whose inspirational story and positive outlook on life touched my heart."
Advances in kids' early aging disease
Kraft, one of the most well-respected owners in his sport, wasn't Berns' only fan. Far from it.
Part of it had to do with his part in the HBO documentary, "Life According to Sam," which documented his living with what is formally called Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. He spoke at a TEDx conference in October 2013 about his disease.
More than anything, Sam lived.
A student at Foxborough High School -- in his and the Patriots' hometown -- he joined the marching band, playing a specially designed snare drum. He didn't let the fact that he weighed all of 50 pounds or that the average life span of someone with progeria is 13 years discourage him. He attended his school's homecoming dance. And above all, he kept his head up.
"Even though I have many obstacles in my life, I don't want people to feel bad for me," Berns said in that TedX talk.
Progeria affects approximately one in every 4 million to 8 million infants; there are only about 200 children living with it worldwide. The genetic mutation tied to it causes those with the disease to produce the protein progerin, which blocks normal cell function.
As they age rapidly, these children suffer from a loss of body fat and hair and an inability to gain weight.
They are prone to developing osteoporosis, a disease where bones become weak and are more likely to break.
"All in all, I don't waste energy feeling bad for myself," Berns said. "I surround myself with people that I want to be with. And I keep moving forward."
That attitude influenced many, regular folks and celebrities. Those tweeting their condolences included Katie Couric, ESPN columnist Rick Reilly and many Boston-area athletes.
"The warrior, Sam Berns passed away today," tweeted the Boston Bruins' Brad Marchand. "He was an inspiration to everyone. You will be missed greatly.
"Fly High."

[harrybarracuda]

Ronny Jordan - Jazz Guitarist Ronny Jordan Dies At 51
by WENN | 15 January 2014
Legendary jazz guitarist Ronny Jordan has died. He was 51.
The musician's death was confirmed on Facebook.com on Tuesday (14Jan14). No further details have been released.
His siblings Rickey and Denise shared the news with fans on the website, writing, "We appreciate that Ronny has got many fans around the world and so we ask that you keep an eye out for further announcements in relation to his funeral arrangements."
Jordan was touted as one of the leading figures in the acid jazz movement of the 1980s and 1990s, a offshoot of the genre which incorporated elements of soul, disco, hip-hop and funk in jazz.
In 2000, his A Brighter Day album hit number 10 on the U.S. Jazz Albums chart, and the lead track of the same name featuring Mos Def peaked at number 20 on the Rap Songs chart.
Jordan was also known for his song The Jackal, which was immortalised in pop culture when actress Allison Janney lip-synced to the track on an episode of The West Wing in 2000.

[Mr Lick]

Andy Holden - obituary

Andy Holden was an athlete whose heroic consumption of ale did nothing to stop him winning




Andy Holden, who has died aged 65, was a UK record holder for the 3,000m steeplechase and an athlete of remarkable versatility, achieving the unique feat of representing Great Britain in five distance running disciplines: roads, cross-country, fells, and indoors and outdoors on track.

In an era when the enthusiastic amateur could still excel in athletics, Holden — a dentist by profession — managed to compete at the highest level without sacrificing his passion for real ale. He reputedly drank 10 pints of beer the night before winning the Bermuda marathon in 1979, a race which saw him break Ron Hill’s course record and beat a world-class field that included Charlie Spedding, who would take the bronze medal in the marathon at the Los Angeles Olympics five years later



Andy Holden (centre) chasing Dave Bedford (right) and Jack Lane (left)


John Andrew Holden was born on October 22 1948 at Leyland, Lancashire, and showed exceptional ability as an athlete from a young age . He studied Dentistry at Birmingham University and, after qualifying, remained in the West Midlands, eventually setting up his own practice at Coseley, near Dudley

He secured his first major title in 1969, when he won the English junior cross-country championships ahead of the future 10,000m world record holder Dave Bedford, and the following year competed at the Commonwealth Games. He was at the European Championships in 1971, and at the 1972 Olympics in Munich — in that year he also set the UK 3,000m steeplechase record (8m 26.4 sec).

Holden won World cross-country gold with the England team in 1979, but by now he was also making his name in marathons: he was victorious three times in the Bermuda event, and also won in Hong Kong.

His habitual good humour was sorely tested in the Belfast Marathon in 1986 when, after striding clear of the field, he was led astray by the lead car, which twice took him on the wrong route — at seven miles and again at 22. He still managed to finish second in the race (beaten by 10 seconds), but was able to joke with journalists afterwards: “It’s just one of those things which happen — it was an Irish marathon.”

Holden was a dedicated coach to hundreds of youngsters at his club, Tipton Harriers; and despite his achievements he liked nothing better than to turn out for Tipton, however small the meeting, flogging across many a muddy field in club cross-country events across Britain. It was team victories in the national cross-country championships and 12-stage road relays that he most treasured.

Noted in the close-knit athletics community for his joviality and humility, Holden was also held in awe for his ability to consume seemingly enormous quantities of ale while continuing to perform to the highest standards. At his peak, he achieved an ambition to run 100 miles and drink 100 pints in a single week; and he would regularly perform an after-race trick of drinking a pint while standing on his head — once while he was up a tree. The great Olympian Steve Cram once said to him: “I wish I was an athlete in your day — it sounded much more fun.”

In his professional life, Holden was opposed to the privatisation of dentistry, fearing that those in need could find it more difficult to access services, and he remained an NHS-only dentist throughout his career. He was a staunch supporter of the homeless charity Crisis.

On one of his training runs, Holden came across a dog which had been weighed down with bricks and left to drown in a canal. He adopted it, and Schnicky became his faithful companion, for some years enthusiastically accompanying its owner when he went running.

Andy Holden, who three years ago suffered an aortic aneurysm, is survived by his wife, Paula, and by their three sons and one daughter.


Andy Holden, born October 22 1948, died January 4 2014

[Mr Lick]

Jay Cochrane - obituary

Jay Cochrane was a tightrope walker who performed 800 high-wire acts around Niagara and became a celebrity in China




Jay Cochrane , who has died of cancer aged 69, was a Canadian tightrope walker, celebrated for high-wire acts at locations across the world.

Cochrane’s speciality was the so-called “skywalk”, undertaken on wires strung at dizzying heights between skyscrapers, gorges, mountains and other structures and natural landscapes

In 1995 he traversed the Qutang Gorge, a hair-raising journey of 2,098ft, 1,340ft above the Yangtze river, to the booming accompaniment of Ravel’s Bolero as a crowd of 200,000 watched below. It is said that a further 500 million people followed his exploit on Chinese television.

Cochrane later admitted: “When I looked across the gorge, my first thought was, 'You want me to walk across that?’ It was the first time I ever had to talk myself into a walk.”

The achievement made Cochrane a celebrity in China, where his image appeared on postage stamps and a school was named after him. A few years later he set a world record for the longest and highest night-time walk, performing on a 600ft-long, 500ft-high apparatus above Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower, then the city’s tallest building.


Since the millennium, Cochrane had been a frequent performer during the summer season at Niagara. One of the cherished ambitions of tightrope performers is to cross the Niagara Falls. The Niagara Gorge, downriver, was successfully negotiated on a number of occasions in the 19th century, first by Jean Francois Gravelet (“The Great Blondin”), dressed in spangled tights, on June 30 1859. He went on to repeat the feat riding a bicycle, pushing a wheelbarrow and blindfolded. Once, he paused midway to cook an omelette

Although Cochrane often sought permission from the authorities to walk across the Falls themselves, it was never granted. The feat was finally achieved in the summer of 2012 by the American aerialist Nik Wallenda, after a two-year legal battle with the American and Canadian authorities to gain approval



As it was, Cochrane performed more than 800 skywalking acts around Niagara. In 2002 he went from the top of the Sheraton on the Falls Hotel to the Casino Niagara Tower, at a height of 40 stories, with the Falls as a backdrop. He followed this in 2005 with the “Skylon Tower Skywalk”, from the top of the 32-storey Niagara Fallsview Casino to the 520ft summit of the Skylon Tower, a distance of 1,250ft. His performance was set to music as he talked through a microphone to the crowd below, telling the spectators what it was like to be high on the wire. He was still skywalking in Niagara in 2012, when he was 68.

James Cochrane (always known as Jay) was born at Saint John, New Brunswick, on May 1 1944 and grew up at North Bay and Sudbury, in northern Ontario; his father worked in the mining industry, his mother taught music. Jay saw his first high-wire act at a local circus when he was eight, and within days was trying to walk on his mother’s clothes line. Aged 14 he ran away to Toronto and joined a circus . He began by cleaning up after the horses and elephants, but soon came under the wing of the renowned aerialist Struppi Hanneford, known as “Princess Tajana”.




His life — not to mention his career — nearly came to an end in 1965 at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, when a 90ft-high tightrope collapsed and he fell on to a concrete floor, suffering a broken pelvis, two broken legs and other fractures. He was told that, if he ever walked again, it would be with the aid of two canes.

During his long, slow recovery Cochrane took a degree in Structural Engineering at Toronto University — a qualification that proved invaluable when he came to design and rig all his skywires: “I talk to engineers as we prepare for walks and we can speak the same language.”

By 1970 he was back, walking 50 stories high between two skyscrapers to help mark the opening of the Hudson Bay Centre tower in Toronto. “The first time, I was scared to death,” he later said. “When I finished I went, 'Hmm, what’s next?’” Two years later he set a world record when he walked back and forth 41 times for four kilometres on a 300ft-long wire 120ft above the ground at the Canadian National Exhibition, also in Toronto.

Over the years, Cochrane’s exploits became still more extravagant. In 1981 he lived for 21 days on a high wire in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1998 he walked blindfolded — live on American national television — along a 800ft-long, 300ft-high wire strung from the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. And in 2001, in Taiwan, he performed the longest ever building-to-building walk, taking more than an hour to cross between two 40-storey edifices on opposites sides of the river in Kaohsiung

Jay Cochrane is survived by two brothers and two sisters.


Jay Cochrane, born May 1 1944, died October 30 2013

[Mr Lick]

Roger Lloyd-Pack, star of Only Fools and Horses, dies aged 69



Roger Lloyd-Pack, the British actor known to millions as slow-witted road sweeper Trigger in BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, has died aged 69.

Well-known for his rubbery face and lugubrious delivery, he also appeared as Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley.

Born in Islington, north London in 1944, he was the son of Hammer horror actor Charles Lloyd-Pack and the father of actress Emily Lloyd.

His agent confirmed he died of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday night.

A versatile character actor who was at home with both comedy and drama, Lloyd-Pack studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) before making his stage debut in Northampton.

After TV appearances in The Avengers and other shows, his screen debut came in 1968 when he played a small part in The Magus.

His breakthrough came in 1981 when he was cast as Colin "Trigger" Ball, the dim but amiable road sweeper who always called Nicholas Lyndhurst's Rodney character "Dave".

"If it's a girl they're calling her Sigourney after an actress," he said of Del Boy's child-to-be. "And if it's a boy they're naming him Rodney, after Dave."

Lloyd-Pack would go on to call the role "both a blessing and a curse" and express bemusement about his popularity with audiences.

'It's extraordinary to me as an actor to find oneself in a sitcom that's been successful and goes on being successful," he said. "I can't go anywhere without anyone going on about it."

Father Ted creator Graham Linehan was among those paying tribute online.

He said: "Very sad news about Roger Lloyd Pack. Trigger was an ancestor to
Father Dougal and I'm glad I once had a chance to tell him so."

[Mr Lick]

^ Fond memories of 2 great screen characters. R.I.P. Roger.

[jizzybloke]

Gutted RIP!

[toslti]

wonderful show, decent actor

[toslti]

Some classic Trigger quotes:

Series 2, Ashes to Ashes

Trigger: You knew my Grandad Arthur, didn't you Mr Trotter.

Grandad: Yeah, I knew Arthur alright.

Trigger: He was a smashing man, he took care of me when my Mum went.

Rodney: Where was your Dad?

Trigger: He died a couple of years before I was born.


Series 2, Ashes to Ashes

Del: You're going on your holidays Tuesday, ain't yer?

Trigger: Yeah, I'm Looking forward to that Del. I've been under a bit of pressure lately, what with me Gran in hospital and me case being adjourned. It'll be nice to get away from it all. I'm gonna live it up a bit. Disco's nightclubs, golden beaches, blue skies.

Rodney: Sounds Great Trig, where'y going?

Trigger: Ireland!


Christmas 1887, The Frogs Legacy

Mike: Don't try'n be funny with me, Trigger. I'll tell you this much, I've had certificates for my beer.

Trigger: Yeah, I've had a few days off work with it as well!


Christmas 1989, The Jolly Boy's Outing

Jevon: You gotta give Del he's due's ain't ya, he did all the catering by himself.

Mickey: Leave off Jevon, can you see Delboy standing in the kitchen cutting up all them loaves. He probably got some ediot to do it for him.

Trigger: No, I made em for him.


Christmas 1989, The Jolly Boy's Outing

Trigger: What'd you think's wrong with him?

Mike: What do I think? Well, snow-blindness would be my bet, Trig

Trigger: Yeah? I thought he was pissed.


Series 7, The Class of 62

Rodney: As I was saying. On a cold, rainy night in Peckham, someone has arranged for you four to be here in in this room - together. No one knows who. And the most frightening aspect of the whole mystery - no one knows why! Now, think hard. Who would do something like that?

Trigger: Jeremy Beadle?


Series 7, The Class of 62

Del: We had Denzil in goal, we had Monkey Harris at right-back, we had...we had camaraderie.

Trigger: Was that the Italian boy


Series 7, The Class of 62

Trigger: Yeah, I'll have a beer.

Boycie: How can you drink with Slater? That's the man who stitched you up with them knocked-off green shield stamps and sent you away for 18 months!

Trigger: I know. But when I came out I got an electric blanket and a radio with 'em.


Series 7, Three Men a Women and a Baby

Mike: So?

Trigger: What?

Mike: What name have they decided on?

Trigger: If it's a girl they're calling it Sigourney after an actress, and if it's a boy they're naming him Rodney after Dave!


Christmas 1991, Miami Twice

Trigger: Going down the pub, Alan?

Alan: Oh yeah, we'll be there.

Pam: We're going down the pub, are we?

Alan: Got to be polite to Raquel and Del. We've gotta wet the baby's head

Pam: Roughly translated, that means, 'I can't wait to get down the Nags Head and get legless with Del!

Trigger: Take your time, Pam, we've gotta christian the baby first.


Christmas 1991, Miami Twice

Rodney: You see, it's fossil fuels! People do not realise the damage they're doing to this planet.

Trigger: I don't have none of them in my house, I use gas and oil.

Rodney: Trig, they are fossil fuels!

Trigger: Are they? Well, I'll switch to coal in future!


Christmas 1992, Mother Natures Son

Denzil: It's closed!

Trigger: (Checks watch) Well, it's a bit late, innit?

Del: What d'you mean 'a bit late?' You said it was open twenty-four hours a day!

Trigger: Yeah, but not at night!


Christmas 2002, Strangers On The Shore

Denzil: You ever thought of getting married, Trig?

Trigger: No, I haven't met the right person yet, but I've always had this sort of image of my perfect woman, sort of my dream girl.

Denzil: What's she like?

Trigger: Oh she's nothing to look at, very plain, little scar on her chin where she had a wart removed.


Christmas 2002, Strangers On The Shore

Trigger: Sometimes I think about the future. I don't want to end up a lonely bachelor like my cousin Ronnie. Then again he always had a strange taste in women.

Denzil: In what way?

Trigger: Well, they were men!

[harrybarracuda]

Denzil: That's Derek Trotter in there, not bloody Einstein!
Trigger: Del knows what he's talking about. And I don't see what the Beatle's manager has got to do with it anyway.

[Mr Lick]

RA - The Vicar of Dibley - Comic Relief 2007 - YouTube

[jamiejambos]

RIP Trigger you were a classic one off.

[pompeysbroke]

He stole the show in 'Only Fools and Horses'....Dry as can be...RIP Roger

[Boon Mee]

Don't Believe She Drowned



Former Playboy Playmate Cassandra Lynn Hensley, pictured, was found in a bathtub at a friend’s house in Los Angeles on Wednesday and police are looking into the death. Police said that while there was no sign of foul play the death is still under investigation. According to her Facebook account, Ms Hensley was living in northern Virginia at the days leading up to her death but was visiting a friend in Los Angeles this week. The unidentified friend found the playmate unresponsive in a bathtub.

[Mr Lick]

The career of Roger Lloyd Pack



The performance of Roger Lloyd Pack in the role of Colin 'Trigger' Ball earned him a spot in the nation's hearts as one of the most beloved characters in British TV history. With his glum demeanour and simplistic outlook in life, roadsweeper Trigger was an everyman. In the episode Heroes and Villains, where Trigger wins an award for owning the same broom for 20 years, he reveals it has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles.



Lloyd Pack studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before making his stage debut in Northampton. In 1975, he was cast in a minor role opposite John Hurt in The Naked Civil Servant.



In 1975 he worked with future Harry Potter director Mike Newell in the BBC's Play for Today series, in an episode titled Brassneck. The play was a savage satire on England, depicting the ups and downs of a self-seeking Midlands family.



In 1994 he was cast as Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley. Set in a rural village somewhere in England, the villagers are unprepared for their unorthodox new vicar, played by Dawn French. The hugely successful show ran until 2007.

[Mr Lick]

He worked with Dawn French on several projects. Here, in a 1996 episode of the comedy series Murder Most Horrid, he is pictured between French and a young Minnie Driver.



He was reunited with his Only Fools and Horses cast-mates again in 2001 for the Christmas Special, If They Could See Us Now, in which Rodney and Del Trotter lost their considerable fortunes and returned penniless to their old flat in Peckham.



Lloyd Pack was a committed socialist who campaigned for nuclear disarmament. In 2012 he spoke at a Hands Off Iran and Syria protest outside the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London.



Though Lloyd Pack was best known for his work on television, he was also a veteran of the stage. In 2004 he starred in a production of Charlotte Jones' The Dark at the Donmar Warehouse in London. Lloyd Pack played a distant father who struggles to communicate with his wife and son.