The RIP Famous Person Thread

[misskit]

Keeping up with the obits....a sign we're getting old.

[Mr Lick]

Coronation Street actor Geoffrey Hughes dies aged 68



Hughes featured in Keeping up Appearances for five years


The actor, who was known to millions as Coronation Street binman Eddie Yeats in the 1970s and 1980s, died "peacefully in his sleep" on Friday night.

It followed a "long courageous battle" with prostate cancer, his family said.

Hughes, who lived on the Isle of Wight, was also known for his roles as Twiggy in TV comedy The Royle Family and Onslow in Keeping Up Appearances.

He had thought he had beaten prostate cancer in 2009, but was told it had returned after collapsing at home in 2010.

Hughes first appeared in 1960s shows such as Z-Cars and The Likely Lads. He was the voice of Paul McCartney in the Beatles film Yellow Submarine.

Other roles included Vernon in Heartbeat and Uncle Keith in teen drama Skins, guest-starring in episodes of Doctor Who, Casualty, Boon and The Upper Hand.

Hughes was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant for the Isle of Wight in 2009, providing the official link between the island and royalty at formal events

[terry57]

Darryl Cotton, Australian singer. Dead at 62, 27th July 2012. Liver cancer over short period.

My mum died same age from the same disease. Might retire I think.

[Blue water dreaming]

[quote=Bugs;586770]

BTW... Heston was one of the early supporters of the Civil Rights movement, and reportedly was part of a Martin Luther King, Jr. march in 1963. Bet you Nattering Nabobs (& you know who you are) didn't know that, eh?

So what turned him into a gun fascist?

Personally I think he was just another idiot who loved to shoot at stuff and turned into a spoiled little brat when someone told him, they were going to take away his favourite toy.

[Mr Lick]

Author Maeve Binchy dies aged 72



Best-selling Irish author Maeve Binchy has died aged 72 after a short illness.

Binchy, born in Dalkey, Co Dublin, has sold more than 40 million books. Her works were often set in Ireland and have been translated into 37 languages.

They include The Lilac Bus as well as Tara Road and Circle of Friends, which were both adapted for screen.

Binchy trained as a teacher before moving into journalism and writing, publishing her first novel - Light a Penny Candle - in 1982.

She had written the novel in her spare time from her day job as a journalist at The Irish Times.

BBC Dublin correspondent Ruth McDonald said Binchy's warm, witty, perceptive stories, were read and enjoyed around the world.

In 2000, Binchy was ranked third in the World Book Day poll of favourite authors - ahead of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.

Binchy received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Book Awards in 2010, the same year her last novel, Minding Frankie, was published

[nedwalk]

Darryl Cotton, Australian singer. Dead at 62, 27th July 2012. Liver cancer over short period.

yes that was sad mate..i was a fan of ZOOT in me younger years..at least he did,nt suffer long..him and shirl will probably havin a beer together now i reckon

[Mr Lick]

US singer Tony Martin dies aged 98



Veteran American singer and actor Tony Martin has died at the age of 98.

He was best known for such romantic 1950s ballads as There's No Tomorrow and To Each His Own, and his 60-year marriage to dancer Cyd Charisse.

A peer of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, Martin also starred in movie musicals from the 1930s to the '50s, alongside stars such as Judy Garland.

Business manager Stan Schneider said he had died "peacefully" of natural causes at his Los Angeles home on Friday.

Musician and longtime friend Gabriel Guerrero described Martin as "the ultimate crooner who outlasted all his contemporaries".

He said he had "truly remained the butterscotch baritone until he was 98".

Martin was featured in 25 films, most of them made during the heyday of Hollywood musicals. His good looks saw him often cast as the romantic lead.

His first singing role came in the 1936 film Sing Baby Sing, which starred Alice Faye - one of the Fox studio's biggest stars and Martin's future first wife .



Martin and second wife Cyd Charisse were married for 60 years


He joined MGM in 1940 where he acted alongside the likes of Lana Turner, Esther Williams and the Marx Brothers.

Martin divorced Faye after two years before meeting rising dance star Charisse, whom he married in 1948.

He and Charisse, who partnered Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly during her career, were together until her death in 2008.

Martin also produced and starred in Casbah in 1948, a musical version of the 1938 film Algiers

[harrybarracuda]

*Croon* *Croon*

[terry57]

BTW... Heston was one of the early supporters of the Civil Rights movement

I always remember Charles Heston from the original " Planet of the Apes " movie.

Best one I reckon.

[harrybarracuda]

And "Soylent Green is People!".

Heston was also the NRA's prize spokesman, I wonder if they've prised it from his cold, dead hands yet?

[Looper]

What page is Charlton Heston on? He died years ago.

He would be turning in his grave if he knew that typing Charlton in Wikipedia brings up Charlton Athletic FC above him.

[harrybarracuda]

Writer Gore Vidal, 86, has died




Gore Vidal, pictured here in 2006, has died at age 86. (Genaro Molina / February 10, 2006)


by Elaine Woo July 31, 2012, 9:02 p.m.

Gore Vidal, the iconoclastic writer, savvy analyst and imperious gadfly on the national conscience, has died. He was 86.
Vidal died Tuesday at his home in the Hollywood Hills of complications of pneumonia, said nephew Burr Steers.
Vidal was a literary juggernaut who wrote 25 novels, including historical works such as “Lincoln” and “Burr” and satires such as “Myra Breckinridge” and “Duluth.” He was also a prolific essayist whose pieces on politics, sexuality, religion and literature -- once described as “elegantly sustained demolition derbies” -- both delighted and inflamed and in 1993 earned him a National Book Award for his massive “United States Essays, 1952-1992.”
Threaded throughout his pieces are anecdotes about his famous friends and foes, who included Anais Nin, Tennessee Williams, Christopher Isherwood, Orson Welles, Truman Capote, Frank Sinatra, Jack Kerouac, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Eleanor Roosevelt and a variety of Kennedys. He counted Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Al Gore among his relatives.
He also wrote Broadway hits, screenplays, television dramas and a trio of mysteries under a pseudonym that remain in print after 50 years.
When he wasn’t writing, he was popping up in movies, playing himself in “Fellini’s Roma,” a sinister plotter in sci-fi thriller “Gattaca” and a U.S. senator in “Bob Roberts.” In other spare moments, he made two entertaining but unsuccessful forays into politics, running for the Senate from California and Congress in New York, and established himself as a master of talk-show punditry who demolished intellectual rivals like Norman Mailer and William F. Buckley with acidic one-liners.
“Style,” Vidal once said, “is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.” By that definition, he was an emperor of style, sophisticated and cantankerous in his prophesies of America’s fate and refusal to let others define him.

[harrybarracuda]

What page is Charlton Heston on? He died years ago.

He would be turning in his grave if he knew that typing Charlton in Wikipedia brings up Charlton Athletic FC above him.

Good. The Addicks deserve to be above him.

[barbaro]

A lot of people checking out. Just like being born.

R.I.P. to all.

[Humbert]

RIP Gore Vidal. Courageous, outspoken and witness to some of the greatest events of the last century.

[Mr Lick]

ET and Alien special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi dies



Renowned Italian special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi, who created ET the Extra Terrestrial, has died aged 86 after a long illness.

Rambaldi worked with many Italian directors including Pier Paolo Pasolini and Dario Argento but he became world famous for his work in Hollywood.

As well as Steven Spielberg's ET, he worked on Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien and John Guillermin's King Kong in 1976.

He was awarded Oscars for all three.

Rambaldi died in hospital in the city of Lamezia Terme, in Italy's Calabria region.

He was born in Vigarano Mainarda, near Ferrara in north-east Italy, and attended Bologna's Fine Arts academy.

His introduction to cinema came in 1956 when he was asked to create a 16m (52ft) dragon for a low-budget science fiction film.

Rambaldi moved to Rome where his work drew the attention of producer Dino De Laurentiis, who brought him to Hollywood to work on King Kong.

Once in the US he became a master in the art of mechatronics - a mix of mechanical and electronic engineering used to produce special effects.

Italian director Pupi Avati described him as "a child who loved to play and make his toys".

[Mr Lick]

Willy Wonka director Mel Stuart dies at 83



Mel Stuart, the director of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, has died aged 83.

His family said he died at his Beverly Hills home after suffering from cancer.

He began his career mainly directing documentaries. The 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl's book was Stuart's second feature film.

He was nominated for an Oscar in 1965 for his documentary, Four Days in November, about the assassination of John F Kennedy.

According to his own website, Stuart made more than 180 films.

However he was best-known for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder.

He embarked on the ambitious musical fantasy after his 11-year-old daughter asked him to make a movie of the book she loved. She was also given a cameo in the film, along with her brother.


Julie Dawn Cole (second right), who played Veruca Salt, met up with Stuart and the cast at a reunion in 2011

Julie Dawn Cole, who played Veruca Salt in the movie, told the BBC she had "fond memories" of working with Stuart.

"He always said he didn't like kids and that he made a movie for adults that he hoped kids would like," she said.

"He created an amazing film that has lasted and endured against all odds as it wasn't popular at the time."

The actress last saw the director in October in New York when the cast reunited for the film's 40th anniversary.

[Mr Lick]

Sid Waddell, the voice of darts, dies aged 72




Darts commentator Sid Waddell has died at the age of 72, his manager has confirmed.

Waddell, who had been suffering from bowel cancer since last September, became known as the voice of darts for his commentary over many years on the BBC and Sky.

In a statement, his manager Dick Allix said he "died peacefully with all his family around him late last night".

Waddell also wrote BBC children's programmes Jossy's Giants and Sloggers.

He received a nomination for best scriptwriter from the Writer's Guild of Great Britain for the latter.

The broadcaster was known for his colourful and excitable commentary style.

"There's only one word for it - 'magic darts'," was among his best-known lines.

[Mr Lick]

Disabled rights pioneer Lord Morris of Manchester dies



Lord Morris's campaigning led to the 1970 Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act


Disability rights pioneer and Labour peer Lord Morris of Manchester has died at the age of 84.

As Alf Morris, he was MP for Manchester Wythenshawe from 1964 to 1997 and became the UK's first minister for the disabled in 1974.

His work led to the first disability rights legislation, 1970's Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act.

Baroness Royall, Labour leader in the Lords, said he had "transformed the lives of millions".

She said she was "deeply saddened" by the death of the peer, whom she described as a champion of disabled people.

"With his Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act - the very first act to give rights to people with disabilities - he transformed the lives of millions and millions of people throughout the world," she said.

"He championed the rights of disabled people, including injured service personnel, throughout his life and was deeply committed to public service."

Lord Morris died in hospital on Sunday after a short illness. He is survived by his wife, Irene, two sons and two daughters.

[Mr Lick]

Former heavyweight champion Michael Dokes dies aged 54




Former WBA heavyweight champion Michael Dokes has died of liver cancer, aged 54.

Dokes, who won the heavyweight title against Mike Weaver in December 1982, passed away on Saturday in Akron, Ohio.

Nicknamed 'Dynamite', Dokes fought Evander Holyfield, Donovan 'Razor' Ruddock and Riddick Bowe in a 21-year career.

Dokes had battled with cocaine addiction throughout his career, as well as serving eight years in prison.

The Ohio-born boxer turned professional in 1976 and took the WBA heavyweight title six years later in controversial circumstances after referee Joey Curtis stopped his fight with Mike Weaver in the first round.

Dokes drew the rematch with Weaver and retained the title before relinquishing it to Gerrie Coetzee in September 1983. He would never hold a world championship title again.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2000 after pleading guilty to attempted murder, second-degree kidnapping and intent to commit sexual assault against his girlfriend, and was released in 2008.

[Humbert]

Helen Gurley Brown aged 90, editor emeritus of Cosmopolitan, died too but I don't want to scare anybody by posting her picture.

[Bogon]

^ Just Google imaged her. Good idea Humbert.

R.I.P Helen.

[Mr Lick]

^^ I see your dilemma so posting a pic of her from the 1960's.



Helen Gurley Brown, the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and author of Sex and the Single Girl, has died at 90, magazine publisher Hearst says.

Brown died in New York shortly after being admitted to hospital.

Hired by Hearst to turn around Cosmopolitan three years after her 1962 best-selling book, she edited the magazine for 32 years.

Under her, the magazine became famous for encouraging women to have sex, regardless of marital status.

Brown said her aim was to tell readers "how to get everything out of life - the money, recognition, success, men, prestige, authority, dignity - whatever she is looking at through the glass her nose is pressed against".

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg paid tribute to Brown, saying that New York City had lost "a pioneer who reshaped not only the entire media industry, but the nation's culture".

"She was a role model for the millions of women whose private thoughts, wonders and dreams she addressed so brilliantly in print. She was a quintessential New Yorker: never afraid to speak her mind and always full of advice."

[Mr Lick]

Patrick Ricard of global drinks firm Pernod Ricard dies



Patrick Ricard, the French head of the global spirits company Pernod Ricard, whose father founded the Ricard firm, has died at the age of 67.

The firm said Mr Ricard had passed away on Friday. French media reports suggested he had heart problems.

Paul Ricard founded the company, which began selling the anise-flavoured liqueur pastis, in Marseille in 1932.

His son transformed the firm into the second largest wine and spirits company in the world.

He spent his entire career within the family firm and took over leadership as chairman and CEO in 1978, at the age of 33, just a few years after it had merged with its arch-rival, Pernod.

Patrick Ricard made a series of acquisitions beginning with bourbon maker Wild Turkey, in 1981, followed by Irish Distillers, then brands including whisky-maker Chivas and cognac producer Martell.

He led a buyout of UK-based competitor Allied Domecq in 2008.

The expansion into foreign markets transformed the firm into a major global player generating sales of 7.6bn euros ($9.35bn) in 2011, with some 18,000 staff worldwide.

Mr Ricard, who was named European businessman of the year by the US magazine Fortune in 2006, was married with three children.

[Mr Lick]

Hollywood director Tony Scott jumps to death from bridge



Hollywood director Tony Scott, famous for films including Top Gun, has died after jumping from a bridge in Los Angeles, authorities have said.

The Los Angeles County Coroner's office said Scott's death was being investigated as a suicide.

British-born Scott, brother of Alien director Ridley, shot to fame in the 1980s with a string of action films.

The 68-year-old's films included Crimson Tide, Days of Thunder and True Romance.

He also directed Enemy of the State and Beverly Hills Cop II.

"I can confirm that Tony Scott has passed away. The family asks that their privacy is respected at this time," Scott's spokesman, Simon Halls, said in a statement.

The coroner said Scott jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge, which spans San Pedro and Terminal Island in Los Angeles.

Lt Joe Bale, from the coroner's office, said the director was seen parking his car and jumping into the water at about 12:30 (19:30 GMT) on Sunday.