The RIP Famous Person Thread

[Happy As Larry]

Richard Sherman, songwriter for Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book, dies aged 95

Sherman and late brother Robert’s songs remain ‘quintessential lyrical voice of Walt Disney’, says company
Richard Sherman, one half of the prolific, award-winning pair of brothers who helped form millions of childhoods by penning the instantly memorable songs for Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – as well as the most-played tune on Earth, It’s a Small World (After All) – has died. He was 95.

Sherman, together with his late brother Robert, won two Academy Awards for Walt Disney’s 1964 smash Mary Poppins – best score and best song, Chim Chim Cher-ee. They also picked up a Grammy for best movie or TV score. Robert Sherman died in London at the age of 86 in 2012.

The Walt Disney Co. announced that Sherman died on Saturday in a Los Angeles hospital due to age-related illness. “Generations of moviegoers and theme park guests have been introduced to the world of Disney through the Sherman brothers’ magnificent and timeless songs. Even today, the duo’s work remains the quintessential lyrical voice of Walt Disney,” the company said in a remembrance posted on its website.


Their hundreds of credits as joint lyricist and composer also include the films Winnie the Pooh, The Slipper and the Rose, Snoopy Come Home, Charlotte’s Web and The Magic of Lassie. Their Broadway musicals included 1974’s Over Here! and stagings of Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the mid-2000s.

“Something good happens when we sit down together and work,” Richard Sherman told The Associated Press in a 2005 joint interview. “We’ve been doing it all our lives. Practically since college we’ve been working together.”
Their awards include 23 gold and platinum albums and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They became the only Americans ever to win first prize at the Moscow film festival for Tom Sawyer in 1973 and were inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2005.

President George W Bush awarded them the National Medal of Arts in 2008, commended for music that “has helped bring joy to millions”.

Most of the songs the Shermans wrote – in addition to being catchy and playful – work on multiple levels for different ages, something they learned from Disney.
“He once told us, early on in our career, ‘Don’t insult the kid – don’t write down to the kid. And don’t write just for the adult.’ So we write for grandpa and the 4-year-old – and everyone in between – and all see it on a different level,” Richard Sherman said.

The Shermans began a decade-long partnership with Disney during the 1960s after having written hit pop songs like Tall Paul for ex-Mouseketeer Annette Funicello and You’re Sixteen, later recorded by Ringo Starr.

They wrote over 150 songs at Disney, including the soundtracks for such films as The Sword and the Stone, The Parent Trap, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Jungle Book, The Aristocrats and The Tigger Movie.

It’s a Small World – which accompanies visitors to Disney theme parks’ boat ride sung by animatronic dolls representing world cultures – is believed to be the most performed composition in the world. It was first debuted at the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair pavilion ride

The two brothers credited their father, composer Al Sherman, with challenging them to write songs and for their love of wordsmithing. His legacy of songs includes You Gotta Be a Football Hero, (What Do We Do On a) Dew-Dew-Dewy Day and On the Beach at Bali-Bali. His sons went on to popularize the terms “fantasmagorical” and “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.

The Shermans teased songs out of each other, brainstorming titles and then trying to top each other with improvements. “Being brothers, we sort of short-cut each other,” Richard Sherman said. “We can almost look at each other and know, ‘Hey, you’re on to something, kiddo.’”

Away from the piano, the two raised families and pursued their own interests, yet still lived close to each other in Beverly Hills and continued working well into their 70s. When Chitty Chitty Bang Bang came to Broadway in 2005, they added new lyrics and four new songs.

Richard Sherman is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and their two children: Gregory and Victoria. He also is survived by a daughter, Lynda, from a previous marriage.
A private funeral will be held on Friday; Disney said a celebration of life service will be announced later.

Though they were estranged for a number of years, the brothers largely avoided sibling rivalry. When asked about that, Richard Sherman was philosophical, touching and jokey all at the same time – much like the trunkful of songs he wrote with his brother.

“We’re human. We have frailties and weaknesses. But we love each other very much, respect each other,” he said. “I’m happy that he’s a successful guy. That makes me a successful guy.”

Richard Sherman, songwriter for Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book, dies aged 95 | Music | The Guardian

[Happy As Larry]

Doug Ingle, frontman of rock band Iron Butterfly, dies aged 78

Doug Ingle, the frontman and organist of US rock band Iron Butterfly who wrote their major hit In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida, has died aged 78.

His son Doug Ingle Jr announced the news on social media, writing: “Thank you Dad for being a father, teacher and friend. Cherished loving memories I will carry the rest of my days moving forward in this journey of life.”
Born in Nebraska, Ingle was raised in San Diego where he formed Iron Butterfly in 1966 and signed to Atlantic Records, who released their debut album Heavy in 1968. Later that year came In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida, its title a garbled version of “in the garden of Eden” as uttered by an inebriated Ingle, who had written it while drinking a gallon of wine.

The full 17-minute version of the song occupied the second half of the album of the same name, which spent 140 weeks in the US album chart and sold more than four million copies. A three-minute radio edit also reached No 30 in the singles chart.
Ingle was on board for two further studio albums, with 1969’s Ball their highest charting LP at No 3 in the US. He left in 1971, precipitating the group’s split.

Having made millions with the band and bought a 600-acre ranch among other properties, Ingle later admitted: “I didn’t involve myself at the business level at all”, and found himself in debt to the US Inland Revenue Service. He managed a park for recreational vehicles in Los Angeles during the mid-1970s, but returned to Iron Butterfly for various tours until a final spell with the group in the mid-1990s.

In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida became an enduring hit and pop-cultural reference point, appearing in the Simpsons and inspiring cover versions by artists as varied as Slayer, the Residents, High Contrast and Boney M.

Ingle was the last surviving member of the classic Iron Butterfly lineup, after the deaths of drummer Ron Bushy, bassist Lee Dorman and guitarist Eric Brann between 2003 and 2021.

Doug Ingle, frontman of rock band Iron Butterfly, dies aged 78 | Music | The Guardian

[cisco999]

Smply one of the best to ever play basketball.

Bill Walton, Hall of Famer and UCLA legend, dies at age 71

[harrybarracuda]

Albert S. Ruddy, a colorful, Canadian-born producer and writer who won Oscars for “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby,” developed the raucous prison-sports comedy “The Longest Yard” and helped create the hit sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes,” has died at age 94.



Ruddy died “peacefully” Saturday at the UCLA Medical Center, according to a spokesperson, who added that among his final words were, “The game is over, but we won the game.”
Tall and muscular, with a raspy voice and a city kid’s swagger, Ruddy produced more than 30 movies and was on hand for the very top and very bottom, from the “Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby” to “Cannonball Run II” and “Megaforce,” nominees for Golden Raspberry awards for worst movie of the year.
Otherwise, he had a mix of successes such as “The Longest Yard,” which he produced and created the story for, and such flops as the Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller “Sabotage.” He worked often with Burt Reynolds, starting with “The Longest Yard” and continuing with two “Cannonball Run” comedies and “Cloud Nine.” Besides “Hogan’s Heroes,” his television credits include the movies “Married to a Stranger” and “Running Mates.”
Nothing looks better on your resume than “The Godfather,” but producing it endangered Ruddy’s job, reputation and his very life. Frank Sinatra and other Italian Americans were infuriated by the project, which they feared would harden stereotypes of Italians as criminals, and real-life mobsters let Ruddy know he was being watched. One night he heard gunfire outside his home and the sound of his car’s windows being shot out.
On his dashboard was a warning that he should close the production, immediately.
Ruddy saved himself, and the film, through diplomacy; he met with crime boss Joseph Colombo and a couple of henchmen to discuss the script.
“Joe sits opposite me, one guy’s on the couch, and one guy’s sitting in the window,” Ruddy told Vanity Fair in 2009. “He puts on his little Ben Franklin glasses, looks at it (the script) for about two minutes. What does this mean “fade in?” he asked.”’ Ruddy agreed to remove a single, gratuitous mention of the word “mafia” and to make a donation to the Italian American Civil Rights League. Colombo was so pleased that he urged Ruddy to appear with him at a press conference announcing his approval of the movie, a gathering that led to Ruddy’s being photographed alongside members of organized crime.
With the stock of parent company Gulf & Western dropping fast, Paramount fired Ruddy, only to have director Francis Coppola object and get him rehired. In the end, mobsters were cast as extras and openly consulted with cast members. Ruddy himself made a cameo as a Hollywood studio guard.
“It was like one happy family,” Ruddy told Vanity Fair. “All these guys loved the underworld characters, and obviously the underworld guys loved Hollywood.”
With a cast including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Robert Duvall, “The Godfather” was a critical and commercial sensation and remains among the most beloved and quoted movies in history. When Ruddy was named winner of the best picture Oscar at the 1973 ceremony, the presenter was Clint Eastwood, with whom he would produce “Million Dollar Baby,” the best picture winner in 2005. Upon the 50th anniversary of “The Godfather,” in 2022, Ruddy himself became a character. Miles Teller played him in “The Offer,” a Paramount+ miniseries about the making of the movie, based on Ruddy’s experiences.
“Al Ruddy was absolutely beautiful to me the whole time on `The Godfather’; even when they didn’t want me, he wanted me,” Pacino said in a statement. “He gave me the gift of encouragement when I needed it most and I’ll never forget it.”
Ruddy was married to Wanda McDaniel, a sales executive and liaison for Giorgio Armani who helped make the brand omnipresent in Hollywood, whether in movies or at promotional events. They had two children.
Born in Montreal in 1930, Albert Stotland Ruddy moved to the U.S. as a child and was raised in New York City. After graduating from the University of Southern California, he was working as an architect when he met TV actor Bernard Fein in the early 1960s. Ruddy had tired of his career, and he and Fein decided to develop a TV series, even though neither had done any writing.
Their original idea was a comedy set in an American prison, but they soon changed their minds.
“We read in the paper that ... (a) network was doing a sitcom set in an Italian prisoner of war camp and we thought, ‘Perfect,”’ Ruddy later explained. “We rewrote our script and set it in a German POW camp in about two days.”
Starring Bob Crane as the wily Col. Hogan, “Hogan’s Heroes” ran from 1965-71 on CBS but was criticized for trivializing World War II and turning the Nazis into lovable cartoons. Ruddy remembered network head William Paley calling the show’s concept “reprehensible,” but softening after Ruddy “literally acted out an episode,” complete with barking dogs and other sound effects.
While Fein continued with “Hogan’s Heroes,” Ruddy turned to film, overseeing the low-budget “Wild Seed” for Brando’s production company. His reputation for managing costs proved most useful when Paramount Pictures head Robert Evans acquired rights to Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel “The Godfather” and sought a producer for what was supposed to be a minor, profit-taking gangster film.
“I got a call on a Sunday. ‘Do you want to do The Godfather?”’ Ruddy told Vanity Fair. “I thought they were kidding me, right? I said, ‘Yes, of course, I love that book’ – which I had never read.”


Albert S. Ruddy, Canadian-born producer of The Godfather and Million Dollar Baby, dies at 94 - The Globe and Mail

[S Landreth]

Herbert Elfring, survivor of attack on Pearl Harbor, dies at 102

Pearl Harbor attack survivor Herbert Elfring has died at the age of 102.

The U.S. Army veteran enlisted as a private in 1940 and was just 19 years old on the day of the attack.

He was stationed at Camp Malokole, about 3 miles from Pearl Harbor, when Japanese planes flew in. He just missed a line of bullets.

Elfring was one of five survivors who attended the Dec. 7 commemoration last year.

[harrybarracuda]

I remember watching a documentary about this. The police were next to fucking useless, and no-one really gave a shit because he kidnapped desperate hookers off the streets.

If I recall correctly he tortured his victims in some horrible BDSM setup in a barn. Then, as the article says, killed them and fed them to his pigs.

Didn't get to die of natural causes, I hope he suffered a painful death.

Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton, who took victims to his pig farm, dies after prison assault - ABC News