The RIP Famous Person Thread

[harrybarracuda]

Television writer-producer Glen Larson, whose works include “Magnum, P.I.” and “Battlestar Galactica,” has died of cancer at age 77.

The famed television titan died at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, of esophageal cancer late Friday, his son James told The Hollywood Reporter.

Larson wrote and produced some of the best-known prime-time television series of the 1970s and 1980s — often humorous, family-friendly programs that appealed to a wide audience.

He was behind series such as “It Takes a Thief,” starring Robert Wagner, “McCloud,” “Quincy, M.E.” and “Knight Rider,” featuring David Hasselhoff as a crime fighting hero with a superpowered Pontiac.

But Larson is perhaps best known for the 1980-1988 “Magnum, P.I.” starring a mustachioed Tom Selleck as a private investigator in Hawaii.

“Battlestar Galactica” enjoyed a shorter run — it was taken off air in 1979 after only one season, but went on to become a cult hit among loyal fans in the 2000s.

At a cost of more than $1 million per episode, Larson said the show could not be sustained, but he wished it had stayed on air for longer.

“I was vested emotionally in ‘Battlestar,’” he said in a 2009 interview with the Archive of American Television.

“I don’t feel it really got its shot, and I can’t blame anyone else; I was at the center of that.”

Both “Battlestar Galactica” and “Knight Rider” were remade in the 2000s.

- Mainstream appeal -

Larson said his popularity was not accidental. Instead, he tailored his work for an audience whose tastes he tried to predict.

“I fell in step with an audience taste-level that I knew how to judge and deliver for consistently,” he said.

While Larson enjoyed popularity and a loyal following, he did not see as much critical success.

Though nominated for three Primetime Emmy awards — two for “McCloud” and one for “Quincy M.E.” — he never took home a statue for his work.

Larson said he had no regrets about his failure to win awards, and was satisfied with having pleased audiences during his lengthy television career.

He said his shows “were enjoyable, they had a pretty decent dose of humor. All struck a chord in the mainstream.”

“What we weren’t going to do was win a shelf full of Emmys,” Larson said.

“Ours were not the kind of shows that were doing anything more than reaching a core audience. I would like to think we brought a lot of entertainment into the living room.”

Critics accused him of copying other series in his own shows, most notably with “Battlestar” which was thought to be based on “Star Wars,” a claim Larson dismissed.

“Television networks are a lot like automobile manufacturers, or anyone else who’s in commerce. If something out there catches on with the public… I guess you can call it ‘market research,’” he said.

Born in Long Beach, California, Larson started out his career in the television business as an NBC page, following a stint as a singer with the pop group The Four Preps in the 1950s.

His first television credit came in 1966 as a writer on an episode of “The Fugitive.”

Larson is also behind series such as “Alias Smith and Jones,” “B.J. and the Bear,” “Switch,” and “The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War.”

He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985.

Larson is survived by his wife Jeannie, his brother Kenneth and nine children from previous marriages.

A memorial service will be held in the near future, his son said.

[harrybarracuda]

Ian Craig, the youngest ever Australian Test cricket captain, dies aged 79
Posted 15 minutes agoSun 16 Nov 2014, 12:30pm



Australia's youngest Test cricketer Ian Craig, the nation's youngest ever captain has died aged 79.

Craig, who was the youngest player to play for his state and the youngest to score a first-class double-century, also retired young, calling it quits when just 26 years old.

Craig made his New South Wales debut as a 16-year-old in the 1951-52 season.

The next season, after becoming the youngest to score a double-ton - an unbeaten 213 against the touring South Africans - he earned a comparison which forever weighed heavily when dubbed "the next Bradman".

"I never did see myself as being another Don Bradman," he said in an interview earlier this year.

"I just enjoyed playing. I didn't have the ambition Don had."

Craig's double-century brought him to notice of national selectors, who soon after picked him for a Test match - making his Australian debut aged 17 years and 239 days.

"The kids today don't get an opportunity to play even Sheffield Shield cricket, let alone Test cricket, at the age I did," he said.

"Me being the youngest to play for Australia is one record which may never be broken."

If he was surprised to get picked for Australia, he was gobsmacked when after six Tests, he was offered the captaincy for the 1957/58 tour of South Africa.

Craig, who led his country when aged 22 years and 194 days, believed he could not decline the offer despite not feeling ensconced in the side.

"I didn't expect to get the captaincy when I did. It was premature in many respects," he said.

"But when you are offered the captaincy of Australia you don't decline it. I didn't think I had a choice."

But the young skipper found runs hard to come by and, on return to Australia, he suffered a bout of hepatitis.

Craig did not play another Test. He finished with an overall tally of 11 Tests with an average of 19.88 that did a disservice to his talents.

In 144 first-class matches, Craig scored 7328 runs at an average of 37.96, including 15 tons and 38 half-centuries.

[harrybarracuda]

ENTERTAINMENT NOV. 18, 2014 - 02:06PM JST
TOKYO —
Actor Ken Takakura has died at the age of 83, Japanese media reported Tuesday.

Takakura died of lymphoma at a hospital in Tokyo on Nov 10, NTV reported.

Takakura, who made 205 screen appearances, was best known to Western audiences for four films—the 1970 World War II film “Too Late the Hero,” “The Yakuza” with Robert Mitchum in 1975, “Black Rain” with Michael Douglas in 1989 and “Mr Baseball” with Tom Selleck in 1992.

His last film was “Dearest” in 2012, in which he starred with Beat Takeshi.

Takakura was given the Order of Culture by Emperor Akihito in 2013 for his contribution to Japan’s arts.

Japan Today

[misskit]

^By coincidence, just downloaded "The Yakusa" yesterday for viewing this evening. Looks familiar but not sure who he is.

[harrybarracuda]

I remember him from Black Rain. Not a bad movie.

[david44]

RIP Mr Lick from your fellow friends at TeakDoor...

One of the greats and has made a lasting contribution

[harrybarracuda]

This classic will live on Jimmy boy. RIP.



Motown soul singer Jimmy Ruffin has died, CNN reports. He was 78.

He had been hospitalized since September, the Detroit Free Press reports. A cause of death has not been released.

Ruffin's career in music began in the 1960's and continued until his final album in 2012. His chart-topping song, "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" was released in 1966.

He was the older brother of The Temptations lead singer David Ruffin.

Jimmy Ruffin, Motown singer, dies at 78 - 23ABC News

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pe...8-9871606.html

[Sumbitch]

Motown soul singer Jimmy Ruffin has died, CNN reports. He was 78.
He had been hospitalized since September, the Detroit Free Press reports. A cause of death has not been released.
Ruffin's career in music began in the 1960's and continued until his final album in 2012. His chart-topping song, "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" was released in 1966.
He was the older brother of The Temptations lead singer David Ruffin.

RIP, Jimmy

[Sumocakewalk]

BBC News
November 20, 2014

Mike Nichols, who won an Oscar for directing the 1967 film The Graduate, has died aged 83.

The German-born US director was also Oscar nominated for his work on Working Girl, The Remains of the Day, Silkwood and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Nichols was one of only 12 stars to win all four major US entertainment awards - an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

His last film was 2007's Charlie Wilson's War, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

The director was married to ABC News presenter Diane Sawyer - his fourth wife - whom he wed in 1988.

ABC News president James Goldston told staff Nichols died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday.

Describing him as "a true visionary", Goldston said: "No one was more passionate about his craft than Mike."

"In a triumphant career that spanned over six decades, Mike created some of the most iconic works of American film, television and theatre."

Nichols had been working on an HBO film adaptation of Master Class - the Terrence McNally play about opera star Maria Callas - starring Meryl Streep in the lead role.

The film was to reunite the director with Streep, having previously worked together on 1983's Silkwood and on stage in a 2001 production of The Seagull.

BBC News - Mike Nichols, Graduate director, dies at 83

[harrybarracuda]

British actor Richard Pasco has died, aged 88.
The stage and screen star passed away on 12 November (14) in Warwickshire, England. No more details were available as Wenn went to press.
He was best known for his theatre work, appearing in London's West End and spending more than a decade with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Over the years he shared the stage with stars including Laurence Olivier, Dame Eileen Atkins and even Grace Kelly at a poetry recital in Scotland which marked one of her rare public performances after her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Pasco also made appearances in films such as Mrs. Brown with Dame Judi Dench, and British Tv shows including Inspector Morse and Kavanagh Qc, as well a number of pictures for the iconic Hammer Horror studio in the 1960s.
He also appeared with James Bond legend Sir Sean Connery in 1960 Bbc drama Colombe, which featured a kiss between the pair that is believed to be the first televised man-on-man smooch.

[harrybarracuda]

Former four-time District of Columbia mayor and city council member Marion Barry has died at age 78.

He passed away at around midnight on Sunday at the United Medical Center in southeast D.C., his family said in a statement released by D.C. City Council.

He was released from Howard University Hospital on Saturday.

Barry has battled a number of ailments including prostate cancer and diabetes. In 2009 he received a kidney transplant.

He served as the District's mayor from 1979 to 1991, then again from 1995 to 1999. He was in his third term as the 8th Ward representative on the city council when he died.

Barry's local celebrity exploded into international fame in 1990, when he was videotaped smoking crack by federal agents.

He was arrested and sent to federal prison for six months. That time in prison, however, did not affect his political career in the city at all. He was elected to the city council just a year and a half later in 1992.

Then, he was re-elected as the D.C. Mayor in 1994.

Barry leaves behind his wife, Cora Masters, his son, Marion Christopher Barry and his two stepdaughters, Tamara Masters Wild and Lalanya Masters Abner.

In a statement released early Sunday morning, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray expressed his "deep sadness" after learning of Barry's passing.

"Marion was not just a colleague but also was a friend with whom I shared many fond moments about governing the city," he said.

"He loved the District of Columbia and so many Washingtonians loved him."

Washington, D.C. mayor-elect Muriel Bowser said in a statement: "Mayor Marion Barry gave a voice to those who need it most and lived his life in service to others.

"I – along with all Washingtonians – am shocked and deeply saddened by his passing..."

She paid condolences to the Barry family.

"He will continue to be an example to me and so many others," she added.

Barry released his autobiography "Mayor For Life, the Incredible Story of Marion Barry, Jr." in June 2014.

A recorded interview with Barry will appear on Oprah at 9:00 p.m. EST on Sunday to discuss his book, and 40 year political and civil rights career.

Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara

Marion Barry, ex-scandal-plagued Washington, D.C., mayor, dies at 78 - Orlando Sentinel

[harrybarracuda]

Dorothy "Dodo" Cheney, who was the first American woman tennis player to win the Australian Open and went on to a prolific career on the senior circuit, has died. She was 98.



Cheney died Sunday at an assisted living facility in Escondido after a period of declining health, said her son, Brian Cheney.

Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in the masters category in 2004, Cheney won more than 390 national titles, an extraordinary figure that reflects her longevity, competitiveness and proficiency at every age level, on every tennis surface and in all combinations of singles, doubles and mixed-doubles play. She won her last tournament in May 2012 in doubles — when she was 95.

Cheney liked to say she had good tennis genes. Her mother, May Sutton Bundy, was the first American woman to win the Wimbledon singles title in 1905, then repeated in 1907. She played into her late 80s and was inducted into the hall of fame in 1956. Dorothy's father, Tom Bundy, was a national doubles tennis champion who built the Los Angeles Tennis Club and became a prominent real estate investor in Los Angeles — Bundy Drive is named for him.

Dorothy May Sutton Bundy was born Sept. 1, 1916, and grew up in Santa Monica, where her family had a tennis court. A younger brother couldn't pronounce her name, so she became known as Dodo. She picked up a racket as a child and won her first tournament at age 9.

"At first I just loved to play," she told tennis writer Bud Collins for a 2004 Times article. "But the more I played, the more I loved to win."

She won the Australian national championships, precursor to today's Australian Open, in 1938, an era when few foreigners made the long journey to the major tournament. She was ranked among the top 10 U.S. female players from 1936 to 1946, and in 1946 reached No. 6 in the world rankings.

She put her tennis career on hold while attending Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., and working at a defense plant during World War II. She married Arthur Cheney, an airline pilot, in 1946, and they started a family.

It was after turning 40 that Cheney really made her mark in tennis, racking up victories at the senior level.

"Dodo was a great tennis player as a young woman," U.S. Tennis Assn. President Judy Levering told The Times in 1999. "But what she has done these past 40 years shows that life really does begin at 40."

Cheney played dozens of tournaments every year, dominating her age group as the years rolled on. In 1976 she and her daughter Christie Putnam won the USTA mother-daughter grass-court championship. They repeated the feat in 2002, when Cheney was 85.

"She is the least likely looking champion one could imagine," William J. Kellogg, president of the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2004. "She comes onto the court with her pearls and her lace and she totally disarms people. But she has an amazing zest for competition. She thrives on it. She loves it. She has a joy of life that is wonderful to see."

Added former tennis champion Ted Schroeder: "Dodo was well above average in her prime. She is an absolute nonpareil as a senior player."

Cheney also devoted considerable time to tutoring Los Angeles youths on the tennis court.

"Everything wonderful that has happened to me has been because of tennis," she told the Union-Tribune. "I like to put something back into the game for what it has given me. I hope to be sort of an inspiration for some of the younger kids that are coming along."

Cheney is survived by her son Brian of Chandler, Ariz., a standout tennis player at the University of Arizona who is now a teaching pro; daughters Christie Putnam of Escondido and May Cheney of Phoenix; eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Dorothy Cheney dies at 98; won more than 390 national tennis titles - LA Times

[david44]

Former four-time District of Columbia mayor and city council member Marion Barry has died at age 78.

He passed away at around midnight on Sunday at the United Medical Center in southeast D.C., his family said in a statement released by D.C. City Council.

He was released from Howard University Hospital on Saturday.

Barry has battled a number of ailments including prostate cancer and diabetes. In 2009 he received a kidney transplant.

He served as the District's mayor from 1979 to 1991, then again from 1995 to 1999. He was in his third term as the 8th Ward representative on the city council when he died.

Barry's local celebrity exploded into international fame in 1990, when he was videotaped smoking crack by federal agents.

He was arrested and sent to federal prison for six months. That time in prison, however, did not affect his political career in the city at all. He was elected to the city council just a year and a half later in 1992.

Then, he was re-elected as the D.C. Mayor in 1994.

Barry leaves behind his wife, Cora Masters, his son, Marion Christopher Barry and his two stepdaughters, Tamara Masters Wild and Lalanya Masters Abner.

In a statement released early Sunday morning, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray expressed his "deep sadness" after learning of Barry's passing.

"Marion was not just a colleague but also was a friend with whom I shared many fond moments about governing the city," he said.

"He loved the District of Columbia and so many Washingtonians loved him."

Washington, D.C. mayor-elect Muriel Bowser said in a statement: "Mayor Marion Barry gave a voice to those who need it most and lived his life in service to others.

"I – along with all Washingtonians – am shocked and deeply saddened by his passing..."

She paid condolences to the Barry family.

"He will continue to be an example to me and so many others," she added.

Barry released his autobiography "Mayor For Life, the Incredible Story of Marion Barry, Jr." in June 2014.

A recorded interview with Barry will appear on Oprah at 9:00 p.m. EST on Sunday to discuss his book, and 40 year political and civil rights career.

Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara

Marion Barry, ex-scandal-plagued Washington, D.C., mayor, dies at 78 - Orlando Sentinel

Crackers are not always white,RIP his spirit lives on in Toronto

[BaitongBoy]

^But Ford is done as mayor...

[harrybarracuda]

Fuck me, "Mad" Frankie Fraser has died. There will be tons of old tossers blagging today about how they were mates with him and the Kray twins.

Notorious British gangster Frankie Fraser dies in hospital aged 90
PUBLISHED ON NOV 27, 2014 9:01 AM 0 124 0 0



LONDON (AFP) - An infamous London gangster known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser has died in hospital aged 90, a former associate said on Wednesday.

In his 1960s heyday, Fraser was known as an enforcer who inflicted violence on behalf of the two gangs that dominated London, the Kray twins and the Richardson brothers.

Eddie Richardson, who formed one half of the South London crime gang leadership, described Fraser as an "old acquaintance" as he confirmed his death.

"He's had a long life and I don't think he's done too bad. He had Alzheimer's for about three years, so I don't think he knew what day it was," Richardson said.

- See more at: Notorious British gangster Frankie Fraser dies in hospital aged 90 - Europe News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Sounds like he was a nasty bastard right up to the end!

Gangster Mad Frankie Fraser has died in hospital aged 90.

The notorious gangland enforcer, who spent 42 years in prison, fell critically ill after undergoing surgery on his left leg on Saturday in Kings Hospital, south London.

Here we take a look back at his colourful life with 12 things you never knew about Mad Frankie Fraser.

1) Fraser was born in Lambeth to an Irish mother and a Canadian father.

2) He first appeared in court at the age of 13. He was hauled before magistrates after he was arrested for stealing a packet of cigarettes and was sent to an approved school as punishment.

3) He was given his nickname “Mad” Frankie because he feigned mental illness to avoid being called up during the war. He then made a living looting bombed out stores in the capital and selling goods on the black market.

4) Fraser was just 5ft 5 inches tall.

5) After the war, Fraser worked for [at]underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on his rivals. He claimed Hill paid by the stitch, so if a victim got 50 stitches he would get £50.

6) He spent a total of 42 years in prison for a string of beatings, [at]slashings and alleged pulling of teeth with pliers of rivals who crossed his gang bosses. He was last behind bars in 1989.

7) In 1953, he thumped legendary hangman Albert Pierrepoint when he was on his way to execute Derek Bentley, who was wrongly convicted of the murder of a policeman.

8) Fraser was behind the 1969 prison riots at top security HM Prison Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. He organised a sit down demonstration against alleged beatings of prisoners in segregation which soon turned violent. He was eventually overwhelmed by riot officers, receiving multiple injuries and spending six weeks in hospital.

9) He was certified insane three times and served some of his time at Broadmoor.

10) In 1991, he was shot in the head outside the Turnmills Club in Clerkenwell, London but survived. He refused to press charges against his assailant, saying: “If you play by the sword you've got to expect the sword as well.”

11) In his later years he led £45 a head minibus tours of London's gangland hots spots including the scrap-metal yard from which his friends Charlie and Eddie Richardson ran their South London crime empire.

12) He was handed an Asbo last year aged 89 after getting involved in an argument with a fellow resident at his care home in Peckham, South London over a chair. A man called Arthur had sat in the window seat and refused to move when Fraser asked him and an argument ensued. Fraser told the Sunday Mirror at the time: “In the end I went for him and got hold of him."He leapt up out of the chair and scarpered off down the corridor. "It’s a good job I didn’t catch up with him again."

[harrybarracuda]

British author P.D. James dies at 94
The mystery writer was known for her novel, Children Of Men.



Mystery writer P.D. James, whose books were frequently adapted for TV and films including 2006's Children Of Men, has died at her home in Oxford, Britain. She was 94.

James' death was announced Thursday by her publisher, Faber And Faber, according to the New York Times.

James, whose real name was Phyllis Dorothy James, penned 13 novels after turning to writing when she was in her 40s. The Scotland Yard detective character she created, Adam Dalgliesh, was well known to viewers in Britain and the US from the miniseries adaptations that ran as part of the Mystery! anthology series.

Her first novel, Cover Her Face, was published in 1962, but it was 1980's Innocent Blood that marked her breakthrough as a popular writer, according to the Times.

Before her writing career began she worked as an administrator for Britain's National Health Service. She had served as a Red Cross nurse during World War II, according to the Times. After the death of her husband in 1964, she became an administrator in forensic science and criminal law in Britain's Department of Home Affairs, experience that would later enrich her writing.

Her 1992 novel The Children Of Men was praised for its chilling depiction of a future in which women are infertile. Alfonso Cuaron adapted the book into a feature that starred Julianne Moore and Clive Owen.

More recently, James' Death Comes To Pemberley was featured as a well received installment of PBS' Masterpiece series, with Matthew Rhys and Anna Maxwell Martin the lead roles.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/...s-dies-at-94/?

[harrybarracuda]

Frank Yablans, Former Paramount President, Dies at 79



NOVEMBER 27, 2014 | 12:15PM PT
Pat Saperstein
Deputy Editor
@Variety_PatS
Frank Yablans, the president of Paramount Pictures during the fertile early ’70s era that produced films including “The Godfather” and “Chinatown,” died of natural causes Thursday at his home in Los Angeles, according to his son, ICM Partners agent Eddy Yablans. He was 79.

Renowned for a hearty sense of humor and temperamental outbursts, Yablans was later COO of MGM/United Artists and co-wrote the screenplay for “Mommie Dearest,” which he also produced.

Born in Brooklyn, Frank Yablans was brother of producer Irwin Yablans. He got his start in showbiz working for Warner Bros., Disney and Filmways, and in the late 1960s became exec VP of sales at Paramount, where he worked on marketing the hit film “Love Story.”

The success of the tearjerker led to his being named president of the studio in 1971; he held the post until 1975. Yablans was a pioneer in advocating wide openings on films like “The Godfather,” which opened on 350 screens across the country rather than just on a few screens in New York and Los Angeles, which was the custom at the time.

During that period, the studio had a run of groundbreaking films including “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Goodbye Columbus,” “True Grit,” “Serpico” and “Paper Moon.” The studio’s TV operations started to grow during that period with such hits as “Happy Days.”

As recounted in former Paramount head of production Robert Evans’ book “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” Yablans engaged in an intense fight over deal terms on “Chinatown,” which was one of the factors that led to his dismissal as president of Paramount. Evans had negotiated a piece of the gross of that film (while still head of production), and Yablans wanted to share 50-50. He was replaced by Barry Diller.

Kirk Kerkorian brought him on as vice chairman and chief operating officer of MGM from 1983 to 1985, but despite Yablans’ efforts to reduce costs by combining the historic studio with United Artists, the studio continued to face financial trouble.

He produced numerous films independently, including “Congo,” “Silver Streak” and “The Other Side of Midnight.” He also co-wrote “North Dallas Forty.”

He later founded Promenade Pictures to produce faith-based family entertainment such as the “Epic Stories of the Bible” series and was a producer on the “Rome” TV series.

He is survived by three children, four grandchildren and his longtime companion Nadia Pandolfo.

[Sumocakewalk]

Bobby Keys performs at the Highline Ballroom on August 23rd, 2012 in New York City (Photo: Brian Hineline/Corbis)

RollingStone
December 2, 2014
By Patrick Doyle

Bobby Keys, the larger-than-life saxophone player who toured with the Rolling Stones for more than 45 years and played on studio classics like "Brown Sugar" and "Live With Me," has passed away. He was 70.

"If you believe in the magic of rock & roll, which I devoutly do, it isn't in the individual," Keys told Rolling Stone in 2012. "I’ve played in bands with A-team players around, but unless they can play together, it doesn’t do any good."

"The Rolling Stones are devastated by the loss of their very dear friend and legendary saxophone player, Bobby Keys," the band said in a statement. "Bobby made a unique musical contribution to the band since the 1960s. He will be greatly missed."

“I have lost the largest pal in the world and I can't express the sense of sadness I feel, although Bobby would tell me to cheer up," Stones guitarist Keith Richards said in a statement. "My condolences to all that knew him and his love of music.”

Full article: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/n...at-70-20141202

[Sumocakewalk]

Washington Post
December 2, 2014

Bobby Keys, a Texas-born saxophonist who spent decades performing as a sideman with the Rolling Stones, supplying high-energy solos to “Brown Sugar” and other hits, but whose undisciplined behavior became too outrageous even for the fast-living rockers, died Dec. 2 at his home in Franklin, Tenn. He was 70.

The Rolling Stones confirmed his death in a statement. The cause was cirrhosis of the liver, according to the Nashville Scene newspaper.

A self-taught musician who never learned to read music, Mr. Keys brought a full-bodied, open-throttle sound to everything he played. He first worked with the Stones in 1969, during the recording of the “Let It Bleed” album, and was immediately drawn to the raw spirit of the band’s music. He became a frequent musical partner in the Stones’ recordings and concerts for more than 40 years.

His powerful tenor-sax solo on the 1971 hit “Brown Sugar,” which Mr. Keys recorded in a single take, became an indelible part of the Stones’ musical legacy. He made major contributions to dozens of other tunes, including “Miss You,” “Honky Tonk Women” and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” and appeared on many of the band’s most celebrated albums, such as “Sticky Fingers” (1971), “Exile on Main Street” (1972) and “Some Girls” (1978).

Mr. Keys had the same birthday as Keith Richards, the Stones’ guitarist and founding member, and the two shared an interest in other activities besides music. In his 2010 autobiography, “Life,” Richards called Mr. Keys “my closest pal. A soul of rock ’n’ roll, a solid man, also a depraved maniac.”

Besides his hard-hitting saxophone performances, Mr. Keys became known for his unabashed indulgence in the rock-and-roll life. In 2010, he recalled to the Observer newspaper in Britain the scene in France while the Stones were making “Exile on Main Street.”

“Hell, yeah, there was some pot around,” he said, “there was some whiskey bottles around, there was scantily clad women. Hell, it was rock-and-roll!”

Mr. Keys and Richards were infamously captured on film in 1972 when they threw a television out of a hotel window. But Mr. Keys’s heavy drinking and addiction to heroin made him undependable on stage, and he missed rehearsals and other engagements. The final straw reputedly came when Richards found him lounging with a woman in a bathtub filled with champagne when he should have been ready to play. He was dismissed from the Rolling Stones in 1973.

Full article: Bobby Keys, longtime saxophonist with the Rolling Stones, dies at 70 - The Washington Post

[harrybarracuda]

'Greatest Story Ever Told' Actress Joanna Dunham Dies at 78
2:02 PM PST 12/02/2014 by Alex Ritman



British actress Joanna Dunham, who rose to fame alongside Max Von Sydow, Charlton Heston and Dorothy McGuire in the 1965 Hollywood blockbuster The Greatest Story Ever Told, has died. She was 78 and passed away on Nov. 25, according to an obituary in The Guardian.

Having studied at RADA in London, in the same year as Beatles manager Brian Epstein, Dunham was reportedly spotted by Marilyn Monroe in New York while on tour with the Old Vic. The young actress had taken over from Judi Dench as the female lead in Franco Zeffirelli's production of Romeo and Juliet, but was recommended by Monroe to join the epic big-budget retelling of the life Jesus Christ in the role of Mary Magdalene. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards.

Following this, Dunham mixed theater work with cinema, appearing in 1970's A Day at the Beach, written by Roman Polanski, and in the 1971 British horror film The House That Dripped Blood as the wife of Denholm Elliott, alongside Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

A career mostly in U.K. television would continue in the next couple of decades, appearing in major series such as Van der Valk (1977), Love Among the Artists (1979), Are You Being Served (1984) and, later, 1992's The Hour of the Pig with Colin Firth.

[harrybarracuda]

Jean Béliveau, N.H.L. Great and Ambassador for Hockey, Dies at 83
By BRUCE WEBERDEC. 3, 2014



Jean Béliveau, the powerful, elegant skater and goal-scorer who was an idol in French-speaking Quebec from the time he was a teenager and, shortly thereafter, in the rest of Canada for his leadership of hockey’s greatest dynasty, the Montreal Canadiens, died on Tuesday. He was 83.

Since 2000, when a cancerous tumor was removed from his neck, Béliveau had survived a number of threats to his health, including strokes in 2010 and 2012.

His death was confirmed by the Canadiens.

With a naturally long stride and deceptive speed, the stick-handling finesse of a wizard and the solidity and strength to fend off checks, Béliveau was on anyone’s short list of the greatest centers to play in the National Hockey League, and perhaps the greatest before the era that brought Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

He played in 14 N.H.L. All-Star Games and was named the league’s first-team All-Star center six times. He twice won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. In 1965, after the Canadiens defeated the Chicago Black Hawks to capture the Stanley Cup, Béliveau was awarded the first Conn Smythe Trophy, from then on given annually to the most valuable player in the playoffs.

Béliveau was more than a shooter, although with a potent backhand and accurate wrist shot he led the N.H.L. twice in goals, scoring 507 in his career. He was the quintessential team leader, recognized league-wide for his competitiveness and composure and an astonishing range of skills. An expert at controlling and distributing the puck — he also led the league twice in assists — he was in general the kind of player around which any given game revolved and whose presence on the ice made his teammates better.

Early on he was deemed soft, but in the 1955-56 and 1956-57 seasons, when he won his first two championships with the Canadiens, he confronted the reputation head-on, leading the Canadiens in penalty minutes by a wide margin and sending the message that he was impossible to intimidate. It was received; from then on, he was a player whose toughness commanded respect (and a wide berth) from opponents. It helped that at 6-foot-3 and more than 200 pounds, Béliveau was among the biggest players of his time.

“Jean does everything so naturally well, he makes this game look terribly easy,” an opposing coach, Dick Irvin of the Black Hawks, who was a former coach of the Canadiens, said in 1957. “He’s not only a fast, clever skater with one of the most powerful shots in the game, but I’ve seen him go down-ice and balance the puck on the blade of his stick like a lunchroom veteran with a knifeful of peas.”

Béliveau played most of his career when the league consisted of just six teams — including, in addition to the Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Detroit Red Wings, the Chicago Black Hawks, the Boston Bruins and the Rangers. But like his contemporary Mickey Mantle, whose career in baseball began when there were just eight teams each in the American and National Leagues, Béliveau played into the expansion era when six teams were added to the N.H.L. in 1967. (Both the N.H.L. and Major League Baseball now have 30 teams.)

Regardless of the competition, Béliveau’s Canadiens were dominant, even more than Mantle’s Yankees.

He played with two generations of great players. In the 1950s he teamed with Maurice Richard, the fearsome wing known as the Rocket; Doug Harvey, the unyielding taskmaster on defense; and the Hall of Fame goaltender Jacques Plante. Then, in the 1960s, he skated alongside the nimble defenseman Serge Savard, the swift right wing Yvan Cournoyer and the cerebral center Jacques Lemaire. During his 18 full seasons, his teams won the Stanley Cup 10 times, including five in a row from 1956 to 1960.

After a hiatus, they won again in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1971, with Béliveau as team captain. (Only Henri Richard, a longtime teammate who played several years longer, ever won as many as 11.) In 1971, after the Canadiens, who finished third in the N.H.L.’s East Division, nonetheless defeated the Black Hawks in the Stanley Cup finals, Béliveau exited his playing career as a champion. At age 39, in 20 playoff games he scored six goals and had a team-high 16 assists.

Soft-spoken and well-spoken, a gentleman sportsman, Béliveau was cherished by his countrymen for his character as well as his prowess on the ice, and he became a public figure whose national stature was hard to overstate, a sports hero who traveled in the high-powered circles of business and politics and who was perceived as a worldwide ambassador for the Canadian national pastime.

In the early 1990s, then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney twice offered him the opportunity to fill a vacant Senate seat, which he declined. In 1994, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, a personal friend, considered appointing Béliveau to the highly visible and prestigious (if ceremonial) post of governor general, the monarchy’s representative in Canada. But long before that, Béliveau had become a source of Canadien — and Canadian — pride. On Jean Béliveau night in 1971, as the Canadiens and their fans celebrated his career at the Montreal Forum, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau addressed the crowd.

"Rarely has the career of an athlete been so exemplary,” Mr. Trudeau said. “By his courage, his sense of discipline and honor, his lively intelligence and finesse, his magnificent team spirit, Béliveau has given new prestige to hockey."

Jean Arthur Béliveau was born Aug. 31, 1931, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, about halfway between Quebec City and Montreal, and grew up mostly in Victoriaville, about an hour to the southeast. He was the oldest of eight children, and his childhood, “in no way remarkable,” as he described it in his autobiography, “Jean Béliveau: My Life in Hockey,” “was a typical French-Canadian Catholic upbringing, one focused on family values, strict religious observance, hard work, conservatism, and self-discipline.”

His father, Arthur Béliveau, who worked as a power company lineman, built an ice rink every winter in the family backyard, and it became a gathering place for local players as young Jean honed his talent. He began playing organized hockey at 12, and through his mid-teens he played for school and, eventually, semipro teams.

He also played baseball — as a pitcher and an infielder he aroused mild interest from professional scouts — and it was as a baseball player that he first left home at 16 to play for the summer for a team in the mining city of Val d’Or in western Quebec.

But he soon cast baseball aside. In the 1940s, Quebec hockey was a complicated web of local teams competing in leagues of different caliber, many with formal or informal ties to the Canadiens, and many players were paid despite being considered amateurs.

For a time Béliveau resisted overtures from the Canadiens, although he joined them for temporary forays — two games in the 1950-51 season when he was just 19, and three in December 1952, during which he scored five goals. He also played for teams in Victoriaville and Quebec City, earning a living — with a hockey salary and off-ice jobs in public relations arranged by the teams — that was equivalent or better than many N.H.L. players.

“Indeed for a short time I was making more than Gordie Howe or Maurice Richard,” he wrote in his memoir.

Finally, in 1953, after Béliveau, playing for the Quebec Aces, led the Quebec Senior Hockey League in scoring, the Canadiens general manager, Frank Selke, arranged for the team to purchase the entire league, largely as a means of steering Béliveau to the Canadiens the next year. By 1956, Richard, the veteran, an unstoppable bulldog of a goal scorer, and Béliveau, the upstart, a graceful, all-around genius, were the most fearsome front line tandem in the N.H.L.

“The difference between the two best hockey players in the game today is simply this,” Selke said in 1956. “Béliveau is a perfectionist; Richard is an opportunist.”

Béliveau, married Élise Couture in 1953, just before joining the Canadiens for good. She survives him, as do their daughter, Hélène, and two granddaughters.

Among Béliveau’s many distinctions, in 1956 he was the first hockey player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. After his retirement, the N.H.L. waived its usual three-year waiting period and voted him into the Hall of Fame in 1972. In 1998, The Hockey News listed him No. 7 on its list of the 100 greatest players of all time.

“When Jean Béliveau enters a room, conversations pause briefly as people silently recognize they are in the presence of greatness,” the Canadiens have written about Béliveau on their Web site, and such hyperbole is a reflection of his remarkable stature in Canada. In 2012, when he was in the hospital after a stroke, his place as a national hero was confirmed by the national leader.

“Mr. Béliveau is a great Canadian,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s statement began.

[harrybarracuda]

PUBLISHED: December 3, 2014 11:59 am
A Wolverhampton pioneer of revolutionary technology that helped Britain win WWII has died aged 99



One of the pioneers of radar technology that helped Britain win the Second World War has died at the age of 99.

Bernard Blakemore, from Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, was also part of the team that set up Beacon Radio.

Crucially, he was one of the experts that developed radar at a remote country house on the Suffolk coast during the early stages of the war.

His work enabled Britain’s pilots to receive early warning signals that would prove crucial in in the Battle of Britain.

Mr Blakemore went on to become one of the trailblazers in commercial radio, launching Wolverhampton’s first station, Beacon Radio, in April 1976. He also co-founded The Wolf in 1997. His wife of 64 years, Mary, said her loving husband was a ‘dedicated radio buff’.

She said: “His work during the war was something that gave him a great amount of pride. Radio was a big part of his life and to do his bit for the war effort was something he remembered fondly. He was very much a Wolverhampton man. To bring a radio station here was a big thing for Bernard.”

Mr Blakemore, who grew up in Newbridge Crescent and attended St Chad’s College for boys, joined the BBC in the mid-1930s as an engineer. He was initially based in Daventry, home of the first short wave transmitters of the Empire Service, now known as the BBC World Service.

On September 3, 1939, he was ordered to get every transmitter on full power for an important announcement. A few hours later, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain broadcast that Britain was at war with Germany.

Mr Blakemore was released for war service the next day and commissioned to the RAF. He was immediately dispatched to Bawdsey Manor, a country house on the Suffolk coast. There he joined Robert Watson-Watt’s team that was tasked with developing Radio Direction Finding, later to be known as radar – Britain’s secret weapon that would make it possible to detect enemy aircraft by bouncing radio waves off them.

The team perfected radar and built the connections between radar stations and RAF airfields. Their work would prove crucial in the summer of 1940, when this combination of early warning and brave pilots brought victory in the Battle of Britain.

Speaking to the Express & Star in 2011, Mr Blakemore described Bawdsey as ‘a magical sort of place’. Following the war he achieved the rank of wing commander and was stationed in Ceylon, where he where he worked on Radio SEAC, broadcasting to allied forces across India and South Asia.

He returned to Wolverhampton and married Mary in 1950, the daughter of Alderman Frank Myatt, a Mayor of Wolverhampton. The couple had three daughters and a son, and now have six grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Mr Blakemore served on Wolverhampton Council, representing Tettenhall, before joining Associated Television (ATV) as a deputy controller. In 1976 he joined a consortium including former Express & Star editor Clem Jones and founded Beacon Radio, to bring a bright and commercial sound to listeners in the Black Country.

Broadcast from its studios at 267 Tettenhall Road, the station became a major success, expanding in 1987 to cover Shropshire. It was taken over by Orion Media in the late 1990s and recently became Free Radio.

Expressing his sadness at Mr Blakemore’s passing, Phil Riley, chief executive of Orion Media, said: “The original entrepreneurs who set up commercial radio in the UK in the early-mid 70s were a hardy bunch. Stations like Beacon really broke the mould, helping create the vibrant commercial radio industry we have today – and Bernard was part of that original band.”

Mr Blakemore also held other positions in television and engineering firms during his working life. He died on November 25. The funeral will be a private family affair.

Mary added: “Bernard was very much a family man. He led a full life right to the end and was still interested in politics and current affairs. He will be missed by many people.”

[toslti]

^ Bugger... nearly made the ton!

[panama hat]

99 - out.

Bradman can empathise

[harrybarracuda]

Rock Musician And Faces Member Ian McLagan Dies Aged 69
by Ed Biggs | 04 December 2014



Some sad news has come from the world of music today, with the announcement that Ian McLagan, keyboardist with British rock legends the Faces and musical collaborator with other big name artists, has died at the age of 69.

A statement on the musician’s official website said that McLagan died on Wednesday in Austin, Texas, having suffered a stroke the previous day. He was a highly respected figure in the industry, and his CV paints a picture of somebody constantly behind the scenes throughout rock history.

McLagan was a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee in 2012 as part of the wider Small Faces / Faces nomination. Having been a founding member of the Small Faces, who released a highly praised album in 1968 called Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake, he stayed with the band when original singer Steve Marriott left and Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood joined and changed their name to the Faces.

When the Faces split in 1975, McLagan went on to work with the Rolling Stones for a number of years, both in the studio and on tour during the mid to late ‘70s. He was a member of English folk artist Billy Bragg’s backing band The Blokes throughout the late '90s and early '00s.

In addition to a solo career, during which he released many albums, McLagan was very much in demand as a session musician, and worked for Joe Cocker, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen among many others.

He was musically active right up until his death. In 2014, he was a founding member of rock supergroup The Empty Hearts, which he formed with Blondie drummer Clem Burke and The Cars guitarist Elliot Easton and which released its self-titled debut album back in August.

Just earlier this week, the Rolling Stones were mourning the death of another collaborator. Saxophonist Billy Keys, who played on many of the Stones early ’70s records like Exile On Main St., died on December 2nd of cirrhosis of the liver.