The RIP Famous Person Thread

[Albert Shagnasty]

"Although he did raise millions for Great Almond Childrens Hospital, and many other charities in G.B."

"Is that the hospital which treats children who are nuts ?"

"If you call children with cancer nuts then yes.."

"Clearly you are both too dull to realise that the hospital is called Great Ormond Street not Great Almond Street."



pure comedy genius - where's the button for a mass greening?

[DrAndy]

^ oranges all round

[Smug Farang Bore]

Clearly you are both too dull to realise that the hospital is called Great Ormond Street not Great Almond Street. I have done my share for the hospital as have two of my friends, one of whom was in charge of the catering, the other the staff payroll.


An almond is a nut, just in case you are both too thick to know that.

....n toyland is not Thailand..... Obviously but not to you..

[yortyiam]

"Great Almond" . What was I thinking. .

[can123]

"Great Almond" . What was I thinking. .

The only genuine connection that I know is that my mate's wife, the head of catering there, cooked trout that I had caught. With almonds.

[can123]

Clearly you are both too dull to realise that the hospital is called Great Ormond Street not Great Almond Street. I have done my share for the hospital as have two of my friends, one of whom was in charge of the catering, the other the staff payroll.


An almond is a nut, just in case you are both too thick to know that.

....n toyland is not Thailand..... Obviously but not to you..

And, there was me thinking that Stanley Unwin had died.

[Smug Farang Bore]

Don't worry the guy is quite whimsical at times.

[species]

Good. He was a really weird mother fixated prick. Wouldn't have wanted him anywhere my kids. Knighthood or not.

You sad cnut. I doubt you've managed even one percent of his achievements or happiness in your scuttled off to thailand life

Jimmy Savile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[can123]

I cannot remember hearing more glowing tributes paid to anybody in recent years. His showbiz colleagues, people who worked with him in the various hospitals, everybody cannot praise him enough. He was universally respected, admired and liked. The specialist Spinal Injuries Unit at Stoke Mandeville only exists because of his efforts. Apparently, 90% of his fortune was donated to charitable trusts.

He was a great bloke !

[daveboy]

Whats six inches long and wont be getting sucked tonight? '.........









Jimmy Savilles cigar.

[can123]

Whats six inches long and wont be getting sucked tonight? '.........









Jimmy Savilles cigar.

Well, let's hope that your cigar is well and truly seen to tonight. Please convey my best wishes to the young male smoker.

[Mr Lick]

[natalie8]

Oh no! Massive RIP.

[S Landreth]

Former CBS News commentator Andy Rooney dies

Andy Rooney, the curmudgeonly commentator who pondered everything from shoelaces to the existence of God on CBS’s “60 Minutes” news show for more than 30 years, died on Friday night at the age of 92, CBS said.

Rooney, a four-time Emmy winner, died one month after he had signed off from “60 Minutes” in October, concluding a 33-year run. A statement on CBS News’ website said he died in a New York hospital of complications following minor surgery.

Rooney was a fixture on Sunday night television, closing out the “60 Minutes” broadcast with a short rant in his “A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney” segment. Sitting in his cluttered office at a desk he made himself, Rooney delivered more than 1,000 such essays, holding hold forth on a range of topics of varying degrees of relevance.

Adjectives like crusty, cranky and crabby frequently were attached to Rooney as he took critical looks at topics such as breakfast cereals or salad dressing, often with the overriding sentiment that things just weren’t as good as they used to be.

But, peering out from under his bushy white eyebrows, Rooney also analyzed presidents, critiqued the Iraq war and considered North Korea’s nuclear threat. His commentaries won three Emmy Awards.

“Underneath that gruff exterior, was a prickly interior … and deeper down was a sweet and gentle man, a patriot with a love of all things American, like good bourbon and a delicious hatred for prejudice and hypocrisy,” “60 Minutes” colleague Morley Safer said in a statement.

Rooney was a television writer and producer earlier in his career and preferred to think of himself as a writer who appeared on television. He joined CBS in 1949 as a writer for the popular “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” show and later worked on “The Garry Moore Show.”

Beginning in 1962 he teamed with correspondent Harry Reasoner for CBS News, producing a series of specials with titles like “An Essay on Chairs” and “The Strange Case of the English Language.” In 1968 Rooney won his first Emmy for his script for “Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed.”

Rooney joined “60 Minutes” during its first season in 1968, again working as producer with Reasoner, and 10 years later his commentaries became a regular feature.

He also wrote, produced and narrated a CBS series on American life for which he won a prestigious Peabody Award.

CONTROVERSY

In 1990 he was suspended for three months after being quoted by a Los Angeles interviewer as saying blacks had “watered down their genes because the less intelligent ones are the ones that have the most children.”

The suspension was reduced to one month after CBS received thousands of calls and letters from viewers, as well as internal pressure from “60 Minutes” executive producer Don Hewitt and longtime anchorman Walter Cronkite.

Rooney denied any racist sentiments and upon his return from suspension said on the air: “Do I have any opinions that might irritate some people? You’re damn right I do. That’s what I’m here for.”

Rooney also came under fire in 2007 for saying many people joined the U.S. military because of problems in their lives and that the Army would be better off drafting soldiers from all classes of society.

Rooney was born January 14, 1919, in Albany, New York, and attended Colgate University until he was drafted into the Army in 1941. He became a correspondent for Stars and Stripes newspaper and was awarded a Bronze Star for his work during the Normandy invasion.

In 2003, Rooney was given the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award, named for his friend, the famous war correspondent, by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Rooney started a regular syndicated newspaper column in 1979 and wrote several books, including “My War,” “Pieces of My Mind” and “Sincerely, Andy Rooney.”

Rooney and wife Marguerite, who died in 2004, had a son and three daughters. Son Brian Rooney became a correspondent for ABC News and daughter Emily was a producer for ABC News before becoming host of a public affairs show in Boston.

link: Former CBS News commentator Andy Rooney dies | The Raw Story

[venturalaw]

Former Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier Has Died, AP Reports
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Family: Frazier Dies After Fight With Cancer
Published November 07, 2011 | Associated Press


Read more: Family: Frazier Dies After Fight With Cancer | Fox News

Philadelphia – He beat Muhammad Ali in the Fight of the Century, battled him nearly to the death in the Thrilla in Manila. Then Joe Frazier spent the rest of his life trying to fight his way out of Ali's shadow.
That was one fight Frazier could never win.
He was once a heavyweight champion, and a great one at that. Ali would say as much after Frazier knocked him down in the 15th round en route to becoming the first man to beat Ali at Madison Square Garden in March 1971.
But he bore the burden of being Ali's foil, and he paid the price. Bitter for years about the taunts his former nemesis once threw his way, Frazier only in recent times came to terms with what happened in the past and said he had forgiven Ali for everything he said.

Frazier, who died Monday night after a brief battle with liver cancer at the age of 67, will forever be linked to Ali. But no one in boxing would ever dream of anointing Ali as The Greatest unless he, too, was linked to Smokin' Joe.
"You can't mention Ali without mentioning Joe Frazier," said former AP boxing writer Ed Schuyler Jr. "He beat Ali, don't forget that."
They fought three times, twice in the heart of New York City and once in the morning in a steamy arena in the Philippines. They went 41 rounds together, with neither giving an inch and both giving it their all.
In their last fight in Manila in 1975, they traded punches with a fervor that seemed unimaginable among heavyweights. Frazier gave almost as good as he got for 14 rounds, then had to be held back by trainer Eddie Futch as he tried to go out for the final round, unable to see.
"Closest thing to dying that I know of," Ali said afterward.
Ali was as merciless with Frazier out of the ring as he was inside it. He called him a gorilla, and mocked him as an Uncle Tom. But he respected him as a fighter, especially after Frazier won a decision to defend his heavyweight title against the then-unbeaten Ali in a fight that was so big Frank Sinatra was shooting pictures at ringside and both fighters earned an astonishing $2.5 million.
The night at the Garden 40 years ago remained fresh in Frazier's mind as he talked about his life, career and relationship with Ali a few months before he died.
"I can't go nowhere where it's not mentioned," he told The Associated Press. "That was the greatest thing that ever happened in my life."
Though slowed in his later years and his speech slurred by the toll of punches taken in the ring, Frazier was still active on the autograph circuit in the months before he died. In September he went to Las Vegas, where he signed autographs in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel-casino shortly before Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s fight against Victor Ortiz.
An old friend, Gene Kilroy, visited with him and watched Frazier work the crowd.
"He was so nice to everybody," Kilroy said. "He would say to each of them, `Joe Frazier, sharp as a razor, what's your name?"'
Frazier was small for a heavyweight, weighing just 205 pounds when he won the title by stopping Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round of their 1970 fight at Madison Square Garden. But he fought every minute of every round going forward behind a vicious left hook, and there were few fighters who could withstand his constant pressure.
His reign as heavyweight champion lasted only four fights -- including the win over Ali -- before he ran into an even more fearsome slugger than himself. George Foreman responded to Frazier's constant attack by dropping him three times in the first round and three more in the second before their 1973 fight in Jamaica was waved to a close and the world had a new heavyweight champion.
Two fights later, he met Ali in a rematch of their first fight, only this time the outcome was different. Ali won a 12-round decision, and later that year stopped George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire.
There had to be a third fight, though, and what a fight it was. With Ali's heavyweight title at stake, the two met in Manila in a fight that will long be seared in boxing history.
Frazier went after Ali round after round, landing his left hook with regularity as he made Ali backpedal around the ring. But Ali responded with left jabs and right hands that found their mark again and again. Even the intense heat inside the arena couldn't stop the two as they fought every minute of every round with neither willing to concede the other one second of the round.
"They told me Joe Frazier was through," Ali told Frazier at one point during the fight.
"They lied," Frazier said, before hitting Ali with a left hook.
Finally, though, Frazier simply couldn't see and Futch would not let him go out for the 15th round. Ali won the fight while on his stool, exhausted and contemplating himself whether to go on.
It was one of the greatest fights ever, but it took a toll. Frazier would fight only two more times, getting knocked out in a rematch with Foreman eight months later before coming back in 1981 for an ill advised fight with Jumbo Cummings.
"They should have both retired after the Manila fight," Schuyler said. "They left every bit of talent they had in the ring that day."
Born in Beaufort, S.C., on Jan 12, 1944, Frazier took up boxing early after watching weekly fights on the black and white television on his family's small farm. He was a top amateur for several years, and became the only American fighter to win a gold medal in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo despite fighting in the final bout with an injured left thumb.
After turning pro in 1965, Frazier quickly became known for his punching power, stopping his first 11 opponents. Within three years he was fighting world-class opposition and, in 1970, beat Ellis to win the heavyweight title that he would hold for more than two years.
It was his fights with Ali, though, that would define Frazier. Though Ali was gracious in defeat in the first fight, he was as vicious with his words as he was with his punches in promoting all three fights -- and he never missed a chance to get a jab in at Frazier.
Frazier, who in his later years would have financial trouble and end up running a gym in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia, took the jabs personally. He felt Ali made fun of him by calling him names and said things that were not true just to get under his skin. Those feelings were only magnified as Ali went from being an icon in the ring to one of the most beloved people in the world.
After a trembling Ali it the Olympic torch in 1996 in Atlanta, Frazier was asked by a reporter what he thought about it.
"They should have thrown him in," Frazier responded.
He mellowed, though, in recent years, preferring to remember the good from his fights with Ali rather than the bad. Just before the 40th anniversary of his win over Ali earlier this year -- a day Frazier celebrated with parties in New York -- he said he no longer felt any bitterness toward Ali.
"I forgive him," Frazier said. "He's in a bad way."

Read more: Family: Frazier Dies After Fight With Cancer | Fox News


Family: Frazier Dies After Fight With Cancer | Fox News

[Mr Lick]

Howard's Way star Dulcie Gray dies at 95

Dulcie Gray was best known for her role in the BBC drama from 1985 - 1990

Howard's Way star Dulcie Gray has died from bronchial pneumonia, aged 95.

First finding fame in Gainsborough Pictures' melodramas in the 1940s, the actress became best known for her role as Kate Harvey in the BBC One series from 1985 - 1990.

She regularly appeared on stage, television and film opposite her actor husband, the late Michael Denison.

The actress also had a second career as a novelist, penning almost 20 books about dogged sleuth, Inspector Cardiff.

Several of her short stories were published in Herbert Van Thal's Pan Book of Horror stories.

Gray had been living at the actors' residential care home, Denville Hall, in west London, at the time she died on Tuesday.

Born in Kuala Lumpur in 1915 where her father was a lawyer, she trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where she met Denison.

They appeared in more than 100 productions together during their 59-year marriage, including their joint Broadway debut in the first New York production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband in 1996.

They were both awarded CBEs for services to drama in 1983.

Following Denison's death in 1998, Gray returned to the stage to appear in adaptations of The Ladykillers and The Lady Vanishes.

She last appeared on screen in 2000 in an episode of BBC drama Doctors.

[Mr Lick]

Former England all-rounder Basil D'Oliveira dies



Former England all-rounder Basil D'Oliveira has died at the age of 80.


Born in South Africa, D'Oliveira moved to England in 1960 due to the lack of opportunities for non-White players.

In 1968 he was named in England's squad to tour South Africa which was then cancelled as the ruling National Party refused to accept his presence.


D'Oliveira played county cricket for Worcestershire between 1964-80 and represented England in 44 Tests, scoring 2,484 runs at an average of 40.

The headlines made by D'Oliveira in 1968 marked the start of South Africa's sporting isolation.

After being added to the England squad as a replacement for the injured Tom Cartwright the South African government made it clear a 'Cape coloured' would not be welcome.

The tour was called off and the incident culminated in a ban on sporting ties with South Africa which would last until the early 1990s.

No official team from any country subsequently toured South Africa until apartheid was abolished following Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990.

Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola paid tribute to the man fondly called 'Dolly' whose health had been deteriorating for some time leading up to his death in England.

"He was a man of true dignity and a wonderful role model as somebody who overcame the most extreme prejudices and circumstances to take his rightful place on the world stage.

[Mr Lick]

Itsy Bitsy Bikini songwriter Lee Pockriss dies

Perry Como had a hit with Pockriss and Vance's Grammy-winning song Catch A Falling Star

Lee Pockriss, the songwriter behind Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and Catch A Falling Star, has died at the age of 87.

His wife Sonja said he died at home in Connecticut following a long illness.

Best known for his collaborations with Paul Vance, including the number one hit Bikini, he also worked in musical theatre and television.

Perry Como released a hit version of Catch a Falling Star in 1957, winning the singer a Grammy Award in 1959.

Born in Brooklyn, Pockriss studied musicology in New York before serving as a cryptographer for the US Air Force during World War II.

After the war, he began composing, primarily for television, where he came across Vance - and a successful partnership was born.

Among their collaborations, including Four Little Heels, Playground of My Mind and Stagecoach to Cheyenne, Bikini remains the best-known.

A number one hit for Brian Hyland in 1960, the song was widely credited with helping the bikini gain popular acceptance beyond the starlet confines of Hollywood and the French Riviera.

[DrAndy]

Robin Gibb (Beegees) will be the next to go

[Loy Toy]

Robin Gibb (Beegees) will be the next to go

Shit he doesn't look well.

[Cujo]

Sad^.

[Mr Lick]

Ruth Stone dies aged 96

2002 collection In the Next Galaxy questions the role of convention in everyday life

US poet Ruth Stone, whose career flourished in her 80s and 90s, has died in Vermont at the age of 96.

Her 1959 debut, In an Iridescent Time, was followed by 1971's Topography and Other Poems, and 1986's American Milk.

Her best-known work, including The Solution and Simplicity, came after she turned 70. In 2002, she won the National Book Award for Poetry, for In the Next Galaxy.

She received acclaim for her insights into love, death and nature.

Her second husband, poet Walter Stone, took his own life in 1959 - the year of her debut - leaving her to bring up three daughters.

In her poem All Time is Past Time, she writes: "Actually the widow thinks, he may be, in another country in disguise."

And in The Widow's Song, she asks: "If he saw her now, would he marry her? The widow pinches her fat, on her abdomen."

Other honours included a National Book Critics Circle award, two Guggenheim Fellowships and a Whiting Award. She was named as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2009 for What Love Comes To.

In the Next Galaxy, the volume of poetry which won her the National Book Award, is "a collection of sardonic, crafty poems" questioning the role of convention in everyday life.

Stone died of natural causes at her home in Ripton surrounded by family, her daughter Phoebe said.

[Mr Lick]

JFK death reporter Tom Wicker dies at 85

Tom Wicker was born in a small town in North Carolina and became a legend of US journalism

A New York Times journalist who witnessed and chronicled the death of US President John F Kennedy has died of a heart attack at the age of 85.

Tom Wicker was the only Times reporter in the Kennedy motorcade when the president was shot in the head in Dallas in November 1963.

His reporting won him wide acclaim and led to roles as Washington bureau chief and a long-serving political columnist.

Wicker died at home in Rochester, Vermont, on Friday, his wife said.

"He'd been ill with things that come from being 85," Pamela Wicker said.
"He died in his bedroom looking out at the countryside that he loved

[Mr Lick]

Wales football manager Gary Speed has died, aged 42

Comments (381)
Speed said he was satisfied with his first 10 games in charge of Wales

Wales football manager Gary Speed has died at the age of 42.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has told the BBC it appears Speed, the national manager for nearly a year, killed himself.

Cheshire Police confirmed he was found dead at 07:08 GMT at his home in Huntington, Chester. They said there were no suspicious circumstances.

Former Wales team mate Ryan Giggs said: "Words cannot begin to describe how sad I feel at hearing this awful news."

"The world has lost a great man in Gary speed I'm devastated spoke to him yesterday morning why ! Why. Why !! I'll miss him so much" Robbie Savage Former team mate, on Twitter

He said: "Our thoughts are with his family at what must be a very difficult time for them."

The FAW said: "We extend our sympathies and condolences to the family.

"We ask that everyone respects the family's privacy at this very sad time."

The FAW added: "That this tragedy should have overtaken someone so young and talented is a huge loss not only for his family and friends but a nation as a whole."

Speed, who was awarded the MBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours, leaves a wife and two children.

[Mr Lick]

Ken Russell, Women In Love director, dies at 84






Some of Ken Russell's best known work included Women In Love, The Devils, Tommy and musical The Boyfriend


Film director Ken Russell, who was Oscar-nominated for his 1969 film Women In Love, has died at the age of 84.

His son, Alex Verney-Elliott, said he died in hospital on Sunday following a series of strokes.

During his career, he became known for his controversial films including Women In Love, which featured Oliver Reed and Alan Bates wrestling nude.

He also directed the infamous religious drama The Devils and The Who's rock opera, Tommy, in 1975.

"My father died peacefully, he died with a smile on his face," Mr Verney-Elliott said.
Geoff Andrew, Head of Film Programme at BFI Southbank
"Ken Russell was a brave and fearless film-maker who didn't mind, and even enjoyed, raising the hackles of people.

He was fiercely devoted to making films about the arts, and made some wonderful work for television.

At a time when British television was dominated by kitchen sink realism along came Ken who was into symbolism and metaphor.

A classic film scene is the 1812 Overture sequence in The Music Lovers (1970).

Richard Chamberlain, as Tchaikovsky, is festooned with ribbons while people's heads are blown off by cannonballs. It's the sort of thing that only Ken Russell would have made.

He sometimes had an eccentric take, he was never less than entertaining.

In later years, he found it difficult to get financing, but he did keep turning out films of note. In the 1960s and first half of the 70s he was very important. He brightened up British cinema no end."


Russell's widow, Elize, said she was "devastated" by her husband's death, which had been "completely unexpected".

She said the director had recently agreed to direct a musical feature film of Alice In Wonderland and had been working on the script and casting.

"He also had just completed an article for The Times on a review of the re-release of his film The Devils, so he was keeping himself very busy," she added.