The RIP Famous Person Thread

[Cruiser]

Well, next in line.... in her own right as we should see it, is dizzy winy Amy, who has as of today, joined the Hall of Fame in the crypt with the other rich & famous Artists & globally known heart throbs albeit for the poor, healthy, comically entertaining crowd... she has done it with her own Drugs and insane consumption doused with ignorance over drugs abuse.

Amy has hit rock bottom this afternoon in her hometown Camden home itself.

[bobo746]

Dan Peek

Dan Peek, who died in his sleep on July 24 aged 60, was a co-founder of the folk rock band America, which had a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1972 with A Horse with No Name.

The origin of America was a band Peek formed with Gerry Beckley in the late 1960s, when the pair were pupils at London Central High School at Bushey Hall, north London, a school for children with parents in the American armed forces.
The band was originally called The Days, and after Peek left for university in Virginia, another school friend, Dewey Bunnell, took his place. When Peek dropped out of university and returned to England the following year, the three musicians regrouped and formed America, developing a style which incorporated the sort of close vocal harmonies that had propelled Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to stardom.

Their debut album, America, featuring A Horse with No Name, made the top of the charts in 1972 and won them a Grammy for best new artist that year. Peek wrote some of the songs, sang high harmonies and also played lead guitar, bass, keyboards and harmonica. The group notched up eight Top 40 hits in the US charts between 1971 and 1975, including Sister Golden Hair; Ventura Highway; Tin Man; Daisy Jane; and Peek’s own composition, Lonely People, which reached No 5 in the US charts in 1974. From 1974 the band employed the services of the Beatles’ producer, Sir George Martin.

But in 1977 Peek, who had become a born-again Christian after becoming disenchanted with the rock and roll lifestyle, left the band: “I was trying to walk the walk and was just unable to do it,” he admitted later. While his two band mates continued to tour and record successfully, Peek became a solo artist with a Christian record label. He never regained the fame he had known in the early 1970s.

The son of an officer in the US Air Force, Dan Peek was born on November 1 1950 at Panama City, Florida. He moved to England in 1963 when his father was posted to a USAF base at West Ruislip.

Peek featured on America’s first seven albums, including Homecoming (1972), Holiday (1974), Hearts (1975) and Harbour (1977). After leaving the group he signed on with Pat Boone’s Lamb & Lion Records and in 1979 his single All Things Are Possible made the top of the contemporary Christian chart.


Peek remained on good terms with his former band mates, who contributed backing vocals on Love Was Just Another Word (1979). In later life Peek moved to the Cayman Islands, where he continued to record music. In 2004 he published an autobiography entitled An American Band, which explored his musical career and his spiritual journey.
Dan Peek is survived by his wife, Catherine, whom he met at school in England.

[Mr Lick]

Hollywood producer Polly Platt dies at 72



Platt was married to director Peter Bogdanovich


Hollywood producer Polly Platt, who was nominated for an Oscar for art direction, for Terms of Endearment, has died aged 72 in New York.

Platt, who was formerly married to film director Peter Bogdanovich, produced a string of successful movies including Broadcast News and War of the Roses.

Her daughter, Sashy Bogdanovich, said Platt died on Wednesday of a form of motor neurone disease.

Platt leaves two daughters and three grandsons.

Born in Illinois, she studied art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, before she began her career as a costume designer for the stage.

She worked with husband Bogdanovich, as a set designer, on films including The Last Picture Show, but they separated following his affair with the film's star Cybill Shepherd.

After the divorced in 1971, however, they maintained a working relationship on hit films such as What's Up Doc?, starring Barbra Streisand, and Paper Moon.

Platt was also known for her long professional association with Terms of Endearment director James L Brooks, and was executive vice-president of his production company, Gracie Films.

In the early 1980s she presented Brooks with a cartoon strip written by the then-unknown Matt Groening - who would later go on to create The Simpsons. Brooks went on to become a long-standing writer and developer on The Simpsons series.

[Mr Lick]

Police Academy actor Bubba Smith dies




Bubba Smith, the American football star who found fame on screen playing Hightower in the Police Academy movies, has died at the age of 66.

The 6ft 7in (2m) star won the 1971 Super Bowl with the Baltimore Colts and moved into acting in the late 70s.

He played the softly-spoken Moses H

ightower in six Police Academy films.

Smith was found dead at his home in Los Angeles. The cause of death has not been confirmed, but police have said it did not appear to be suspicious.

He began his acting career with small roles in TV shows such as Wonder Woman, Taxi and Charlie's Angels before joining the recruits in the first Police Academy movie in 1984.
Hightower became a regular character in the comedy franchise, known for his gentle nature and physical strength, which saw him lifting cars or wrestling alligators in the pursuit of bad guys.
Born Charles Aaron Smith, he made his name on the field as a fearsome defensive player for Michigan State University.
He moved into the NFL with the Baltimore Colts in 1967 and played for the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Oilers, before retiring from the sport in 1976.

[Mr Lick]

Grease actress Annette Charles dies at 63

Cha Cha was famously 'the best dancer at St Bernadette's'

Actress Annette Charles, who played Cha Cha DiGregorio, in the hit film Grease, has died at the age of 63.

The actress, who also starred in TV series Gunsmoke and The Bionic Woman, was suffering from cancer.

As Cha Cha, she memorably stole the limelight dancing the hand jive with Danny (John Travolta) at the school dance competition.

She continued acting into the late eighties, but latterly moved into teaching near her home in California.

According to reports, she had only recently been diagnosed with cancer - and died from complications linked to the disease.

A family member told US website TMZ: "Annette had recently started having difficulty breathing and when she went to the doctor she learned that she had a cancerous tumour in one of her lungs."

She died in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Her death comes two months after Jeff Conaway, who played Kenickie in the hit 1978 musical, passed away.

[nedwalk]

thats sad..i remember always trying to look up her skirt..
at least it was quick

[Cruiser]

Man.... do you always home in your gloating eyeballs under a singer's dress?

What did you expect to see, from what's already & biologically carved out and wrapped over honeycomb by some fabric?

I once had the privileged location (Standing poll position) which is 1st frontline looking up the podium and barely 2 meters away allowing me to touch the sexy lady of rock, Tina Turner as she performed on stage! One could see everything she hid under if you were outfitted with infrared glasses back in the 80s where her concert was Live at the Ahoy, in Rotterdam.

Anyway, it was reported in the papers the following day, almost 800 ppl went deaf from her concert, which included yours truly too... for the next three days. I was still working then but took the next 4 days leave to recover.

I liked Cha Cha's role and her Latino moves as she desperately wanted to prove her sexiness upon Travolta.

[bobo746]

Nancy Wake: the feisty warrior who became a hero of the Resistance

AFTER witnessing Hitler's early atrocities, she vowed to fight him any way she could. She fought so well, Nancy Wake ended up on top of the Gestapo's wanted list, saved thousands of Allied lives, played a crucial role in D-Day and received France's highest military honour.
"Nobody can beat you Nancy, nobody," Sonya d'Artois told her old Resistance comrade when Wake was awarded Australia's highest civilian honour in 2004, six decades after the French recognised her.
She was resourceful, cunning, feisty, brave and tough, once killing a German sentry with her bare hands.
"She is the most feminine woman I know until the fighting starts. Then, she is like five men," one French colleague said of her.
But, at the age of 98, Wake was finally beaten.
he White Mouse died in a London hospital on Sunday following a chest infection.After decades of confrontations with the RSL and Australian government, Wake moved back to England in 2001, aged 88 and determined to see out her days in the country which trained her as a spy and in the company of old comrades.
She was the Allies' most decorated WWII servicewoman and is revered in France as a national heroine for her Resistance work and bravery.
Wake was awarded France's highest honour, the Legion d'Honneur, as well as three Croix de Guerre and a French Resistance Medal, Britain's George Medal and the US Medal of Freedom.

[nedwalk]

So sad , indeed THE WHITE MOUSE truelly was a legend..
R.I.P. NANCY

[harrybarracuda]

Veteran broadcaster Robinson dies

Aug 13 2011
Veteran BBC broadcaster and presenter Robert Robinson has died at the age of 83 following a long period of ill health, it has been reported.
Robinson presented numerous radio and television programmes for the Corporation in a career that spanned five decades.
They included Ask the Family, Stop the Week, Call My Bluff and Radio 4's Today programme.
Following his death at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, his daughter, Susie Robinson, told the BBC: "He had a very long, productive and successful life and we'll all miss him terribly."

Robinson was born in Liverpool and went on to study at Oxford University where he met his wife of more than 40 years, the actress Josee Richard.
He began his career in magazines and newspapers, before moving into broadcasting and in 1974 was named Radio Personality of the Year following his tenure on the Today programme.
However, it was hosting quiz shows - what he referred to as his "humble calling" - that most will remember him for.
He was quizmaster on long-running game shows including Radio 4's Brain of Britain and only stood down as chairman of the show last year.
At his retirement the then-Radio 4 controller, Mark Damazer, said: "The brilliant Robert Robinson defined the art of the quiz show host.
"He presided over Brain Of Britain with sympathy for the contestants, wit and panache."

[Mr Lick]

^ Remember RR well when he chaired Call My bluff, with the lisping Frank Muir and the stuttering Paddy Campbell as captains.

Very fond memories of the man, RIP Robert

[Mr Lick]

Scott LeDoux, former heavyweight boxer, dies aged 62




Scott LeDoux, a former WBC heavyweight title contender, has died aged 62 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

The American lost to Larry Holmes on a technical knockout in July 1980 when challenging for the WBC belt.

LeDoux also fought George Foreman and Frank Bruno in a 10-year professional career that ended in 1983.

Nicknamed 'The Fighting Frenchman', LeDoux won 33 of his 50 pro fights, 22 by knockout.

LeDoux's final fight was a third-round stoppage by Britain's Frank Bruno at Wembley Arena in May 1983.

After boxing he entered politics and was a commissioner in Anoka County in his home state of Minnesota, until he stepped down in 2010 because of his declining health.

Rhonda Sivarajah, the chair of Anoka County board of commissioners said: "He was a big man with a gentle spirit. I can only imagine the sadness at losing someone so special after such a valiant battle."

LeDoux was the son of a miner who grew up in northern Minnesota. His first professional fight was in February 1974 when he knocked out Arthur Pullins in the third round in Minneapolis.

He won his first 12 fights before losing to Roy Wallace in March 1975. He fought Foreman in Utica, New York in August 1976, losing in the third round.

He earned draws with future world champion Leon Spinks and Ken Norton before being defeated by Holmes in Bloomington, Minnesota.

LeDoux also fought boxing great Muhammad Ali in a five-round exhibition bout.

ALS, a form of motor neurone disease, is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease after the New York Yankees baseball legend whose career and life were cut short by it.

[Mr Lick]

Nick Ashford, Motown Hitmaker, Dead at 70

Nick Ashford, left, who along with wife and songwriting partner Valerie Simpson, right, penned a number of Motown classics for stars like Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross, died Monday at the age of 70. He suffered from throat cancer.

Ashford and Simpson met in a church choir and penned a string of hits including You're All I Need To Get By and Chaka Khan hit, I'm Every Woman.

They also had a hit themselves in the 1980s with Solid (As A Rock).

The couple's breakthrough hit was Ray Charles's Let's Get Stoned in 1966.

Their other hits include Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing, one of several tracks written for duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross's first solo single, Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand).

[Mr Lick]

Fawlty Towers producer John Howard Davies dies at 72



John Howard Davies, who produced a string of comedy classics including Fawlty Towers and The Good Life, has died aged 72, his agent has confirmed.

Davies was head of comedy at the BBC from 1977 to 1982, launching classic shows such as Only Fools and Horses, Yes Minister and Allo, Allo!

The son of a comedy writer, he found fame as a child actor, making his debut as David Lean's Oliver Twist in 1948.

Davies died yesterday morning at his home in Blewbury, Oxfordshire.

His son William Davies said: "My father had an absolutely extraordinary career, was unfailingly supportive as a parent and will be greatly missed. He died surrounded by his family."

After various non-TV jobs, Davies joined the BBC as a production assistant in 1966.

His most notable contribution in the early days was producing the first four episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-74) with Ian McNaughton.

He went on to produce The Goodies and Steptoe and Son before briefly leaving the BBC in the early 1970s, returning a year later.

Davies went on to produce the now classic Fawlty Towers and the entire run of The Good Life, which ran from 1975 to 1978.



Davies played Oliver opposite Robert Newton


He became head of comedy at the BBC in 1978, where he launched many hit shows before being promoted again in 1982, to become head of light entertainment.

Davies then moved to Thames, where he was not so prolific, although he did produce the successful Mr Bean, starring Rowan Atkinson.

By the mid-1990s, Davies had returned to the BBC, where his credits include directing a special Easter 1996 episode of The Vicar of Dibley.



Wow, what a talented guy, his work has had me in stitches over the past few decades. Great, great work John, never to be forgotton. RIP Sir

[nedwalk]

and here i wAs thinkin about who wrote them Johnny withers songs, and ELVIS/ JAILHOUSE ROCK ETC..YEP I,M PISSED ..THATS DRUNK..FOR YOU YANKY BASTARDS

[Thormaturge]

Where's Thatcher then?

[Mr Lick]

Motown executive Esther Gordy Edwards dies at 91




Motown executive Esther Gordy Edwards - the sister of label founder Berry Gordy - has died at the age of 91.

She served as senior vice-president and was charged with exposing the unique Motown sound to international audiences.

She also led the efforts to turn Motown's original headquarters in Detroit into a museum.

Berry Gordy started the famed label, home to such artists as Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, in 1959.

A statement on the Motown Museum's website said Edwards died "surrounded by family and friends" on 24 August.

Edwards - Gordy's eldest sister - held several positions within the label but is best known for turning Motown's famed Studio A in Detroit into an attraction after the company moved to Los Angeles.

Gordy called her "one of my biggest assets at Motown".

He said: "Esther turned the so-called trash left behind after I sold the company in 1988 into a phenomenal world-class monument."

She also worked with several of Motown's biggest artists through the years such as Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye

Stevie Wonder said in a statement: "She believed in me. When I was 14 years old and many other people didn't or could only see what they could at the time, she championed me being in Motown."

"I shared with her many of my songs first before anyone else," he added



* Sorry, still no sign of Dame Margaret just yet

[jizzybloke]

John McAleese


John McAleese - Telegraph

John McAleese, who died on August 26 aged 61, led the SAS team that ended the Iranian embassy siege in central London in 1980, an event watched live on television by millions of spellbound viewers.


The SAS storming the Iranian embassy on May 5 1980 Photo: PA



John McAleese Photo: PA

The embassy, at 16 Princes Gate, Knightsbridge, had been taken over on April 30 1980 by six separatists from the oil-rich region in west Iran known as Arabistan. For six days, armed with machine guns, pistols and grenades, they held 26 people hostage as they demanded international recognition for their demands for independence.

Margaret Thatcher’s government was adamant that it would not make deals with terrorists, and as tense negotiations with the separatists continued, police surrounded the 56-room, five-storey building.

At the same time, an SAS team was assembled to launch a possible assault on the embassy under the code name Operation Nimrod.

Some 60 troops of 22 Special Air Service Regiment 56, among them then Lance-Corporal John McAleese, drove from their base in Herefordshire. They were equipped with ladders, climbing ropes and battering rams, as well as with machine guns, grenades and gas-canister launchers.

A few doors along from the embassy, the Royal School of Needlework was meticulously examined by one of the SAS soldiers, Stuart MacVicar (known as “Squash Ball” for his compact physique), because its layout was identical to that of the embassy.

Microphones were drilled into the embassy walls; commercial aircraft flying overhead were ordered to travel at lower altitudes, to drown out any suspicious noises caused by the preparations for an assault.
Meanwhile, the soldiers studied long-lens photographs, taken through the embassy windows, of the hostages in the hope that they would be able to distinguish them from their captors.
Then, on the evening of May 5, a team led by McAleese stormed the building. The assault had been ordered by the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, after the terrorists killed a hostage and threw his body outside the building.
For the first time, an SAS operation was shown live on television as both ITV and the BBC (which interrupted its coverage of the final of the world snooker championships) broadcast footage of black-clad troops in balaclavas — among them McAleese — abseiling down ropes on to the balconies on the first floor of the embassy, where it was thought that most of the hostages were being held.
In order to disorientate the terrorists, the SAS first exploded a so-called “distraction” charge, which they had lowered through a skylight.
The front window of the room were blown out by McAleese and CS gas canisters fired in through the gap. The soldiers then stormed in amid a hail of gunfire.
The raid lasted 17 minutes. All but one of the hostages were rescued. Five of the terrorists were killed; the only one to survive, Fowzi Nejad, was sent to prison — he was released in 2008.
Returning after the assault to their temporary London quarters at Regent’s Park Barracks, the SAS team was visited by the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who told them: “Makes us proud to be British.” McAleese later said: “We knew what our mission was — it was to release the hostages. My only job at this point is to get on to the balcony, place the charge, get back, blow it, turn around and go back in through the window.”
John McAleese was a Scot, originally from Laurieston, in Stirlingshire, and served in the Army for 23 years, including 17 in the SAS. He was awarded a Military Medal in 1988 for his service in Northern Ireland. After leaving, he worked as a security consultant in Iraq and Afghanistan, and had a brief media career as a host of the 2003 BBC series SAS: Are You Tough Enough?, a documentary in which members of the public experienced the proverbially gruelling SAS selection process.
He also acted as an instructor in Airsoft, the outdoor game which offers people a taste of what it is like to experience battle conditions. Participants dressed in combat gear and carrying real weapons (loaded with plastic BB pellets) mimic close-quarter modern infantry fighting.
McAleese said: “You might as well make it realistic. People read books about this SAS stuff and now they can do something similar.”
The last two years of McAleese’s life were marked by the death of his son, 29-year-old Sergeant Paul McAleese, who was serving in the 2nd Battalion the Rifles and hoped to join the special forces like his father before him. Paul was killed by an explosion in Afghanistan on August 20 2009 while attempting to rescue a wounded comrade.
After his son’s death, John McAleese appealed to the Prime Minister Gordon Brown for better resources for the troops serving in Helmand province. He said that his son had complained that there were not enough troops in Afghanistan to monitor areas for explosive devices.
John McAleese, who died in Thessaloniki, Greece, is thought to have suffered a heart attack.
As well as his son Paul, he had a daughter with his first wife. He also had a daughter and a son by his second marriage.

[baldrick]

Michael Stern Hart

"One thing about eBooks that most people haven't thought much is that eBooks are the very first thing that we're all able to have as much as we want other than air,"

Michael Stern Hart (March 8, 1947 – September 6, 2011)[1] was an American author best known as the founder of Project Gutenberg which makes electronic books freely available via the Internet. At least one version of each book is a plain text file that can be displayed on virtually any computer. Most of the early postings were typed in by Hart himself. Today, the e-texts are produced (usually scanned) by Project Gutenberg's many volunteers. The collection includes public domain works and copyrighted works included with express permission.

The mission statements for the project was:
"Encourage the Creation and Distribution of eBooks"
"Help Break Down the Bars of Ignorance and Illiteracy"
"Give As Many eBooks to As Many People As Possible"

[LooseBowels]

Nick Ashford, Motown Hitmaker, Dead at 70

Nick Ashford, left, who along with wife and songwriting partner Valerie Simpson, right, penned a number of Motown classics for stars like Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross, died Monday at the age of 70. He suffered from throat cancer.

Ashford and Simpson met in a church choir and penned a string of hits including You're All I Need To Get By and Chaka Khan hit, I'm Every Woman.

They also had a hit themselves in the 1980s with Solid (As A Rock).

The couple's breakthrough hit was Ray Charles's Let's Get Stoned in 1966.

Their other hits include Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing, one of several tracks written for duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross's first solo single, Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand).

Oh such a shame.

Dianna Ross was always a favourite of mine, and many songs written by Ashford-Simpson, and Holland-Dozier-Holland.

"Your'e all I need to get by", and "Aint nothing like the real thing", are 2 all time great songs as far as I'm concerned.

A true Motor town icon a real loss.

[Mr Lick]

US film actor Cliff Robertson dies aged 88




Hollywood actor Cliff Robertson has died at the age of 88.

He played a young John F Kennedy in the biographical 1963 film PT-109 and won an Oscar in 1968 for his performance in Charly as a mentally disabled man.

Never a top leading man, Robertson remained a popular actor from the mid-1950s onwards. His later roles included the kindly Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man movies.

His secretary said he had died in New York state of natural causes.

"My father was a loving father, devoted friend, dedicated professional and honourable man," his daughter Stephanie Saunders said in a statement quoted by Associated Press news agency.

"He stood by his family, friends, and colleagues through good times and bad. We will all miss him terribly."

[harrybarracuda]

More on Cliff Robertson:

ACTOR ROBERTSON DIES








Sunday September 11,2011


Oscar-winning actor CLIFF ROBERTSON died on Saturday (10Sep11), just one day after his 88th birthday.


The star died of natural causes in Stony Brook, New York.
Robertson won an Academy Award in 1968 for his portrayal of a mentally disabled man in Charly, an adaptation of the novel Flowers for Algernon.
He was personally picked by John F. Kennedy to play the politician in the biographical 1963 film PT-109, and also racked up credits in films including Gidget, Three Days of the Condor, Obsession and Autumn Leaves.
In later years, he found a new generation of fans playing Uncle Ben Parker in the Spider-Man film franchise.
Rob Lowe has taken to his Twitter.com page to pay tribute to the star, who played his onscreen dad in the 1983 movie Class.
Lowe writes, "Goodbye to my father in 'Class', the great Oscar winner Cliff Robertson. Lovely man, fantastic actor and full of... Class."
Meanwhile, Robertson's daughter tells the Associated Press, "My father was a loving father, devoted friend, dedicated professional and honourable man. He stood by his family, friends, and colleagues through good times and bad. We will all miss him terribly."

I never knew he won an Oscar. RIP.

[Humbert]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/11/andy-whitfield-dead-sparta-non-hodgkin-lymphoma_n_957777.html

Andy Whitfield the Australian actor who starred in the Spartacus TV series has died of non-hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 39.

[bobo746]

^ Only 39 way too young. RIP

[harrybarracuda]

^ Only 39 way too young. RIP

That's a bastard that one, it took England and Arsenal footballer David Rocastle at 33.