The RIP Famous Person Thread

[reddog]

Good riddance to the murderous communist terrorist.
If only Bob had not had Josiah Tonongara assassinated during the peace talks,Tonongara was military and pragmatic and wanted a unified govt.
Bob was political and wanted unlimited power with the help of the British, to their eternal shame.
Bob,with current PM mnangagwa had 20,000 civilians slaughtered to show his power over the other terrorist group Zipra-Zapa led by Nkomo.
The British Govt knew and did say nothing then knighted Bob.
Then he went on to destroy a country by fear,murder and corruption.

[harrybarracuda]

Carol Lynley, actress of ‘The Poseidon Adventure’, has died aged 77




(Credit: NBC Television)
Carol Lynley, actress of ‘The Poseidon Adventure’, has died aged 77

September 6, 2019

Carol Lynley, the American actress best know for her role in 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, has passed away at the age of 77.

Lynley’s close friend, fellow actor Trent Dolan, confirmed her death after she suffered a heart attack on September 3, 2019 at her home in Pacific Palisades, California.

Having started life as a child model, Lynley was handed her first acting breakthrough in 1959 with the then controversial picture Blue Denim. Lynley, who played the role of fifteen-year-old Janet Willard, performed in its initial run on Broadway before reprising the role for a Hollywood remake. Dealing with the issues of teenage pregnancy and the then-illegal topic of abortion, both the theatre production and film version was highly debated at the time.

From there Lynley went on to star in films such as Return to Peyton Place, Bunny Lake is Missing, The Pleasure Seekers, The Cardinal, and, of course, the Ronald Neame-directed film The Poseidon Adventure which went on to win two Academy Awards.

Lynley married publicist Michael Selsman when she was 18 and the relationship lasted from 1960-64 and the two had their daughter, Jill.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/carol-lynley-actress-died-aged-77/

[harrybarracuda]

‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ Actor John Wesley Dies at 72





John Wesley, the actor best-known for playing Dr. Hoover on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” has died. He was 72.
Wesley died from complications due to a long battle with multiple myeloma, his family confirmed to Variety.

Gerry Pass, Wesley’s manager and producer, said in a statement, “John Wesley was a gift to the world, for his kindness and grace are immortalized in his works of theatre, TV and film. I am heartbroken to have lost a dear friend today.”

Born on Aug. 3, 1947 in Lake Charles, La., John Wesley Houston went on to hold degrees from the University of California, San Diego and the University of San Diego. Before he began acting, Wesley served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. Over his expansive career, Wesley worked with talent including Denzel Washington, Albert Finney, Barbra Streisand, Tim Burton and Morgan Freeman.

Wesley holds more than 100 film and television credits, including “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Missing in Action,” “Big Fish,” “Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot,” “Always Outnumbered” with Laurence Fishburne and “Martin.” He also enjoyed cameos on “Frasier,” “The Jefferson’s,” “Benson” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Most recently, he co-starred in 2016’s “The Midnighters,” a true crime thriller directed by Julian Fort. His last project was “Second Acts,” a short film created by Gerry Pass and directed by Anya Adams.

Wesley also appeared on the stage in Ionesco’s “Macbett” and Lillian Hellman’s “Toys in the Attic” at the Old Globe Theatre, as well as “An American Clock” by Arthur Miller and “Wild Oats” at the Mark Taper Forum.

Wesley is survived by his wife, Jenny Houston; his mother, Hazel Baskin; his daughters, Kimiko Kamiel Houston and Kinshasha Houston; stepson, Kyler Richie; siblings and grandchildren.

https://variety.com/2019/tv/obituaries-people-news/john-wesley-dead-dies-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-1203328013/

[harrybarracuda]

Indonesia's former President Habibie dies, aged 83




JAKARTA -- Bacharudin Jusuf Habibie, former president of Indonesia, died on Wednesday. He was 83.
"He [died] due to old age and because he suffered from heart failure," Habibie's youngest son, Thareq Kemal Habibie, told a news conference on Wednesday evening.

Habibie, born on June 25, 1936, was vice president of the country when the authoritarian Suharto regime fell in 1998, and was promoted to become the third leader of the country as Suharto was forced to step down.

He is widely credited for the democratization of the country, allowing freedom of speech and overseeing the country's first democratic legislative election in 1999. One of his most important -- and controversial -- decisions was approving a referendum for what was then East Timor province, which led to its independence from Indonesia. His tenure lasted only a year and a half, but he remained influential in Indonesia's political sphere.

Before entering politics, he was a renowned aviation engineer, having studied at RWTH Aachen University, in what was then West Germany, where he received a doctoral degree in 1965. He served as vice president of the German aerospace manufacturer Messerschmitt Bolkow Blohm, now part of Airbus.

He was respected by many in Indonesia, and was the nation's only technocrat leader. He is also widely seen by Indonesians as the person who started the national aviation industry from scratch.

As an aviation engineer, he was widely respected in Germany, which he called a second home. He was also largely known as a clean and respectable figure in Indonesia, many of whose politicians are regarded as corrupt.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Obituaries/Indonesia-s-former-President-Habibie-dies-aged-83

[Ukan Kizmiaz]

[harrybarracuda]

Charlie Cole dead: Tianamen Square 'Tank Man' photographer dies, aged 64




Charlie Cole, one of the people who photographed the iconic Tank Man protestor at Tianamen Square, has died, aged 64.
The solitary figure obstructing a set of tanks in a 1989 pro-democracy protest in China has long been one of the most famous images of all time, and one that represents peaceful resistance.
It happened after hundred of civilians were killed by the 200,000-strong People’s Liberation Army in a brutal crackdown on student pro-democracy protesters.

In 1990, Cole – who lived in Bali, Indonesia – won the World Press Photo award for his image.
Cole was a photographer for Newsweek and took the picture with a telephoto lens from a hotel balcony on 5 June 1989.
Three other people caught the image, but Cole’s is the one that’s framed so the man was featured in the bottom left corner.
After he took the photo, Cole hid the undeveloped film in the bathroom, knowing Chinese security would attempt to track him down.
Indeed, his room was broken into, but the film was not found. He later spoke of his belief that the protestor would be killed.
Pictures of the Tank Man are still banned in China.
Cole’s cause of death is unknown.



https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-a9103506.html

[harrybarracuda]

[harrybarracuda]

Ric Ocasek.... and that makes three.

[misskit]

Who’s gonna drive you home tonight?

Goodbye, Ric.

[harrybarracuda]

Former French president, Jacques Chirac dies at 86




A former President of France, Jacques Chirac,has died at the age of 86, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
France’s National Assembly stood for a minute of silence after learning of the news, with one deputy gasping loudly when it was announced by assembly president Richard Ferrand.

The conservative Chirac was best known abroad for his staunch opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
At home, perhaps his greatest legacy was his acknowledgement, for the first time, of the French state’s role in the wartime round-up and arrest of Jewish people to Nazi death camps.
Chirac was president of France from 1995-2007.

Under his presidency, France entered into the single European currency and abolished compulsory military service.
Chirac also cut the presidential term of office from seven to five years.
He disappeared from public life in recent years. He reportedly suffered from severe ill-health.

https://dailypost.ng/2019/09/26/form...hirac-dies-86/

[Latindancer]

HIV whistleblower who saved thousands of lives in China dies aged 59

Dr Shuping Wang revealed the burgeoning HIV epidemic in rural China, which was spread through unsafe blood and plasma collection practices in the 1990s.

A medical researcher who sacrificed her career and risked her life to reveal the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C in China's poorest regions has died while hiking in the US, aged 59.
Dr Shuping Wang is estimated to have saved tens of thousands of lives through pressuring the government to act after finding many blood and plasma donors - who were often poor farmers selling their blood for money - were being infected with HIV and Hepatitis C due to unsafe collection practices in the 1990s.
After alerting health officials to her findings, Dr Wang was fired from her job at a for-profit plasma collection centre in Henan, China.
Years later, after relocating to the Zhoukou Health Bureau, she began testing blood samples for the conditions using kits purchased with her own money.
After discovering a significant number of HIV infections in the city, she again reported her findings to officials but was rejected.

In response to her advocacy, she was allegedly beaten "with a wooden baton" and her clinic vandalised.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/hiv-whis...IU6AfCTZEzbYGI

[misskit]

Get out your black armbands, all you old fogies. A legend has passed.

Ginger Baker: Legendary Cream drummer dies aged 80


Ginger Baker, one of the most innovative and influential drummers in rock music, has died at the age of 80.


A co-founder of Cream, he also played with Blind Faith, Hawkwind and Fela Kuti in a long and varied career.


His style combined the lyricism of jazz with the crude power of rock. One critic said watching him was like witnessing " a human combine harvester ".


But he was also a temperamental and argumentative figure, whose behaviour frequently led to on-stage punch-ups.

Nicknamed Ginger for his flaming red hair, the musician was born Peter Edward Baker in Lewisham, south London, shortly before World War Two.


His bricklayer father was killed in action in 1943, and he was brought up in near poverty by his mother, step-father and aunt.


A troubled student, he joined a local gang in his teens and became involved in petty theft. When he tried to quit, gang-members attacked him with a razor.

MORE. https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/enterta...-arts-49827436

[Neverna]

Sunshine of your love - Cream

[HuangLao]

Thanks Kitty and Nev for the worthy mention...

[lom]

Not to forget another super group he was part of - Baker Gurvitz Army.



RIP, we have lost another great musician.

[Looper]

[taxexile]

^
well worth watching

[Seekingasylum]

Frankly, it's truly astonishing that he made it this far given his smoking and heroin addictions. I imagine it was his raging biliousness and sheer irascibility that kept him going - many thought him a total cvunt.
Still, two albums were bought for me as a young teenager that turned me onto real music - Disraeli Gears and Surrealistic Pillow. Now that he and Bruce are gone Clapton is truly unique.

[Luigi]

Sunshine of your love - Cream

Thanks for that.

One of the first riffs I learned at around 12/13 yrs old. But by then it was a Lenny Kravitz song.


Remember my dad saying 'Kids nowadays' to my uncle when I mentioned that.

Interesting to see the Royal Albert Hall back then, have been watching Adele play there the last few days.

Though only the last two songs are worth watching/listening to.

[Loy Toy]

That makes Eric Clapton the lone surviving member of Cream.

Baker played drums very similarly to how Mitch Mitchel played with the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

RIP Ginger.

[harrybarracuda]

An enthusiastic rock drummer indeed but I always felt he lacked the subtlety and range of skills of Billy Cobham.

[Eliminator]

Hard to compare as far as I could say as different music, both great.

[harrybarracuda]

It seems it's rock star week.

LYNYRD SKYNYRD FOUNDING BASSIST LARRY JUNSTROM DIES AGED 70




Founding Lynyrd Skynyrd member and .38 Special bassist Larry Junstrom has died at the age of 70. The news was broken through a Facebook post by .38 Special. Read the post below (at the link - Harry).

Junstrom formed Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964, alongside vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, drummer Bob Burns and guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, under the initial name of My Backyard. The band would go on to gain worldwide success across numerous albums and members, popularising Southern rock with their break into the mainstream.


Junstrom left Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1971, joining .38 Special in 1976. Junstrom’s bass-playing career would span several decades, as he stayed with the band until 2014, appearing on all 12 of their studio albums.

https://guitar.com/news/music-news/lynyrd-skynyrd-founding-bassist-larry-junstrom-dies-aged-70/

[harrybarracuda]

And the trio is complete.

Average White Band’s saxophone player Molly Duncan dies aged 74



Malcolm ‘Molly’ Duncan, the saxophonist for funk band Average White Band, has died at age 74. The musician had been battling cancer before tragically passing away. The Scottish band paid tribute to their friend on social media, writing: ‘We are saddened to learn of the passing of our old friend and tenor player, Molly Duncan. ‘He had a recent bout with cancer, and so one half of the ‘Dundee Horns’ is with us no more.

‘His was the world-famous sax solo on Pick Up The Pieces, but apart from that he was one of the funniest and most charming people you could ever meet. ‘He was a founding member of the band – also from Dundee Art College, as are Roger Ball and Alan Gorrie – and will be sorely missed. ‘His son, Dan, was with him at the end, and our condolences are with him and other family members.’ The star and his bandmate Roger Ball were known as the Dundee Horns after attending art college in the city in together. Average White Band formed back in 1972, going on to release hits like Pick Up The Pieces and School Boy Crush.

Fans and friends of the late star have been sharing tributes on social media, with fellow funk band James Brown Is Annie writing: ‘Sad news this morning. It’s with a heavy heart that we mourn the passing of our good friend, Malcolm ‘Molly’ Duncan. ‘A legendary Scottish musician with Average White Band, Molly took us under his wing when he produced our first album. A fine man, a good soul, a rare talent.’

https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/09/average-white-bands-saxophone-player-molly-duncan-dies-aged-74-10889555/?ito=newsnow-feed

[harrybarracuda]

Francis Currey, Who at 19 Was a Hero in Battle, Dies at 94


Days after a massacre of G.I.s, he was a one-man onslaught in the face of German tanks, earning a Medal of Honor. Only two other honorees from World War II now survive.




The town of Malmedy in the Ardennes region of Belgium is remembered for one of the most notorious war crimes against American prisoners in World War II. More than 80 unresisting G.I.s were shot to death on the town’s outskirts by members of a German SS armored division in December 1944, soon after their surrender on the second day of the Battle of the Bulge, a surprise counterattack by the Germans bringing huge Allied casualties along a broad front.

Four days after what became known as the Malmedy massacre, Francis Currey, a lanky 19-year-old Army private in the 30th Infantry Division, carried out an extraordinary feat of arms to repulse an onslaught by the First SS Panzer Division a few miles from where its members had committed the massacre.

“Doughboy Throws Arsenal at Nazis,” read a headline in The New York Times.

Private Currey and other infantrymen were in foxholes, backing up American antitank troops.

The Germans overran the antitank positions. But during the next 24 hours, Private Currey wielded his M-1 rifle, a bazooka, a Browning automatic rifle, two types of machine guns and an assortment of grenades to knock out several German tanks and rescue wounded Americans.

He received the Medal of Honor in July 1945, by which time he had been promoted to sergeant.

The citation said, “Through his extensive knowledge of weapons and by his heroic and repeated braving of murderous enemy fire, Sgt. Currey was greatly responsible for inflicting heavy losses in men and material on the enemy, for rescuing five comrades, two of whom were wounded, and for stemming an attack which threatened to flank his battalion’s position.”

Mr. Currey died on Tuesday at his home in Selkirk, N.Y., near Albany. He was 94. His death, which was confirmed by his son Michael, leaves two veterans who received the Medal of Honor in World War II still living.

Charles Coolidge, 98, was cited for bravery in France while an Army technical sergeant. Hershel Williams, 96, was decorated for heroism in the battle for Iwo Jima while a Marine corporal.

In recalling his exploits of Dec. 21, 1944, long afterward, Mr. Currey once told The Times Union of Albany, “It was just one day of nine months of steady combat.”

But it was an extraordinary day.

The firefight began about 4 a.m. with the American antitank units overrun. Private Currey and at least five other infantrymen, from their division’s 20th Regiment, withdrew to an abandoned factory that had been used as an American military hospital before its doctors and patients were pulled out in the face of the German offensive.

Private Currey and another G.I., braving fire from German infantrymen and tanks, raced across a road and grabbed bazooka rockets and antitank grenades from a smashed American halftrack.

After firing a bazooka to disable a tank, Private Currey shot three Germans in the doorway of a nearby stone house with his Browning weapon, then knocked down part of its wall with his bazooka, collapsing it on the Germans inside.
At that point, he saw that five G.I.s from the antitank unit had been cut off and were being fired on by German armor. He hurled grenades at those tanks, sending their crews fleeing into the remnants of the house, then blasted the house with machine-gun fire, saving the trapped Americans, two of them wounded.

Private Currey, incurring only a minor wound, then joined other squad members in speeding away in a jeep with the two injured soldiers, guided only by dim headlamps in the darkness, with Mr. Currey riding shotgun in case German soldiers spotted them.

“We did not have the slightest idea of where we were in the middle of Belgium,” Mr. Currey was quoted as saying by Michael Collins and Martin King in “Voices of the Bulge” (2011), recalling that nighttime ride.

The G.I.s were, in fact, stopped by another American regiment’s roadblock and suspected of being enemy infiltrators — English-speaking German troops wearing American uniforms.

“They did not believe our story until we talked to someone who had some brains,” Mr. Currey recalled. “The next day they moved us back to our regiment.”

Francis Sherman Currey was born on July 29, 1925, in Loch Sheldrake, N.Y. He was orphaned at 12 and reared by foster parents on a farm in the nearby town of Hurleyville.

He joined the Army in June 1943, a week after graduating from high school, a six-footer but weighing only 130 pounds.

By the time the European war ended, he had been awarded a Silver Star and a Bronze Star for exploits after the events at Malmedy and three Purple Hearts, in addition to his Medal of Honor.

He was later a veterans’ counselor in Albany.

Lt. Col. Joachim Peiper, the commander of the troops who committed the massacre, was tried by an American military tribunal along with many of his men and spent more than 10 years in prison.

In addition to his son Michael, Mr. Currey is survived by his wife, Wilma (French) Currey; another son, Jonathan; his daughter, Kathy Domery; seven grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

In the late 1990s, Mr. Currey became the first Medal of Honor recipient to be portrayed as a G.I. Joe action figure. In his later years, he was honored at an annual parade in Hurleyville.

Mr. Currey had become the leader of his 48-member platoon in the final months of his combat duty. But he found it difficult to forge bonds with his men, since they were mostly replacements whom he barely knew. Only four or five soldiers from the original platoon roster were still with him. The toll of casualties had mounted.

“I couldn’t buddy up with anyone outside of them,” Mr. Currey told Gerald Astor for the Battle of the Bulge oral history “A Blood-Dimmed Tide” (1992). “A guy in the platoon was killed and it was horrible, I couldn’t remember his name.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/us/francis-currey-dead.html