The RIP Famous Person Thread

[Neverna]

Stirling Moss was and he didn't even get a mention.

He did.

Post 4960 in this thread: teakdoor.com/famous-threads/21898-rip-famous-person-thread (The RIP Famous Person Thread)

[harrybarracuda]

^
Not famous, sorry.

Not among the great unwashed, no.

[harrybarracuda]

Indian actor Irrfan Khan dies at 53 from colon infection




SINGAPORE - Acclaimed Indian actor Irrfan Khan died in Mumbai on Wednesday (April 29) at the age of 53, after being hospitalised for a colon infection.

He had been battling cancer since March 2018, when he was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour.

In a statement, a spokesperson said: "After having been struck by lightning in 2018 with the news of a rare cancer, he took life as it came and fought the many battles that came with it. Surrounded by his love, his family for whom he most cared about, he left for heaven, leaving behind truly a legacy of his own."

Khan, who made his film debut in Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay (1988), worked predominantly in Hindi cinema. Nair and Khan went on to collaborate again in the critically-acclaimed The Namesake (2006) and New York, I Love You (2009).

But he gained significant international acclaim after a string of high profile Hollywood roles, including Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Life of Pi (2012), Jurassic World (2015) and Inferno (2016).

His highest-grossing Hindi release came with the critically-acclaimed comedy-drama Hindi Medium (2017), which also spawned the sequel, Angrezi Medium. The release of the film in March was cut short because of the coronavirus and turned out to be his last.

https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/indian-actor-irrfan-khan-dies-at-53-from-colon-infection

[NamPikToot]

RIP John Horton Conway



Inventor of Game of Life, looks like COVID took him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Horton_Conway

[Iceman123]

Not among the great unwashed, no.

who is next the lollipop man? Or has he not crossed over yet?

[harrybarracuda]

who is next the lollipop man? Or has he not crossed over yet?

Oh do get the chip off the shoulder just because you and your ilk are not worthy of an obituary in a national newspaper.

[harrybarracuda]

Jill Gascoine: Pioneering British actress dies at 83




British actress Jill Gascoine, known for her roles in such TV dramas as The Gentle Touch and The Onedin Line, has died at the age of 83.

In the 1980s she played Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in ITV's The Gentle Touch, the first British police drama with a woman in the main role.

She continued playing the character in spin-off C.A.T.S. Eyes, and was Letty Onedin in The Onedin Line in the 1970s.

She died after a long illness, her family told BBC News.

Her second husband was fellow actor Alfred Molina, who in 2016 confirmed his wife was "in a very advanced stage" of Alzheimer's disease.

Born in London in 1937, Gascoine started out in theatre before landing roles in such TV series as Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green and Rooms.

She also appeared in saucy comedy Confessions of a Pop Performer opposite Robin Askwith, who remembered her on Twitter as being "terrific in every way".

She spent four years on The Onedin Line before spending the next five on The Gentle Touch.

After moving to Los Angeles with Molina in the 1990s, she went on to become a novelist.

In 2009, it was announced that Gascoine would be returning to the UK to join the cast of EastEnders, playing the role of Glenda Mitchell.

But she withdrew from the BBC soap on her first day of filming, leading to her role being given to Glynis Barber.

"Having spent the last 15 years working in America... I felt on arrival I lacked the right experience to film such a big continuing drama," she said at the time.

"I have tremendous respect for EastEnders and the cast so I don't want to let the show or my fellow cast members down."

Actor Jake Wood, who plays Max Branning in EastEnders, said Gascoine had helped him at an early age.

"My very first TV job was aged 11 in The Gentle Touch," he wrote on Twitter. "I have never forgotten her generosity and kindness to me.

"Her welcoming me to the industry with such open arms and encouragement inspired me to want to become an actor."

Comedian Susan Calman also paid tribute, describing C.A.T.S. Eyes as her "absolute favourite show".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-52471574

[harrybarracuda]

Talking of obituaries, there's a nice one in the NYT for Tim Brooke-Taylor.

Who knew he wrote this?

[Happy As Larry]

Tony Allen, legendary drummer and Afrobeat co-founder, dies aged 79 (The Guardian)

The Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, who is credited with creating Afrobeat along with his old bandmate Fela Kuti, died suddenly at the age of 79 in Paris on Thursday, his manager said. “We don’t know the exact cause of death,” Eric Trosset said, adding it was not linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
“He was in great shape,” said Trosset. “It was quite sudden. I spoke to him at 1pm then two hours later he was sick and taken to Pompidou hospital, where he died.”

Tony Allen: Afrobeat’s master on Hugh Masekela, Damon Albarn and friction with Fela Kuti

Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti’s band, Africa ’70, in the 60s and 70s. During that time the pair created Afrobeat, combining west African musical styles such as highlife and fuji music with US jazz and funk. Afrobeat went on to become one of the totemic genres of 20th-century African music.
Over Allen’s thrilling beat, Kuti laid out his revolutionary and pan-African message, which led him to become one of the abiding icons of the struggle for freedom across the continent. “Few people have the kind of communication that Fela and I had when we played music,” Allen said.
Allen and Kuti recorded about 40 albums as Africa ’70, before parting ways after a mythic, 26-year collaboration, with Allen citing Kuti’s disorganisation and debts to him as the reason for his departure. Such was the hole that Allen left in his band, Kuti required several drummers to replace him.
Of his singular style, Allen said: “I try to make my drums sing and turn them into an orchestra. I don’t bash my drums. Instead of bashing, I caress. If you caress your wife, you’ll get good things from your wife; if you beat her, up I’

Born in Lagos in 1940, Allen taught himself to play drums at the age of 18, drawing inspiration from the US jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, as well as contemporary African music. He has attributed his versatility to the need to make a living as a jobbing musician in Lagos in the early 60s. “Latin American, African horns, jazz, highlife … you had to be able to play it all because in the club they asked for it,” he said.


In 1969, touring the US for the first time with Kuti, a meeting with west coast jazz drummer Frank Butler inspired him to practise every morning on pillows, making his sticks bounce off them while he was rolling. “It adds flexibility,” he said. “Very effective. Effortless – that’s what I tried to catch from [Butler].” As part of Kuti’s band, he would sometimes drum for six hours without a break.
The British musician and producer Brian Eno has called Allen “perhaps the greatest drummer who ever lived”.
In 1984, Allen moved to London, and by the turn of the millennium had settled in Paris. In the 2000s, he added dub and electronica to his solo output – sometimes to the ire of Afrobeat purists – and became an in-demand collaborator for a younger generation of musicians, among them Jarvis Cocker, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Sébastien Tellier.

On Blur’s 2000 song Music Is My Radar, Damon Albarn sang: “Tony Allen really got me dancing.” The pair would begin regular collaborations soon after. Allen sometimes participated in Albarn’s Africa Express residencies on the continent. He was the drummer in the supergroup, the Good, the Bad & the Queen, also featuring Clash bassist Paul Simonon, which released albums in 2007 and 2018. In 2008, Allen, Albarn and Flea formed the supergroup Rocket Juice and the Moon.re she’ll be your enemy.”

Allen was dismissive, however, of a wave of Afrobeat-inspired indie bands such as Vampire Weekend that emerged at the end of the 2000s. “They write the basslines and the horns … but what about the drums? The drummer comes and doesn’t know what to play, because that is the bit with the discipline. He will play what he knows, which doesn’t fit the music.”
His most recent album was Rejoice, a collaboration with Hugh Masekela. The pair met in Nigeria in the 70s, when Allen was playing with Kuti.
This year he planned to work on what he described as a “travel album”, playing with young musicians in Nigeria, London, Paris and the US, “because I want to take care of youngsters – they have messages and I want to bring them on my beat,” he told the Guardian.
Allen, who described himself as a “simple, gentle guy”, lived in the Paris suburb Courbevoie.

[David48atTD]

^ Beat me to it (pun intended)

[NamPikToot]

RIP Dave Greenfield - last saw him in walcot village hall in Bath.

Dave Greenfield: The Stranglers keyboard player dies at 71






The Stranglers keyboard player Dave Greenfield has died at the age of 71 after testing positive for Covid-19.


Greenfield died on Sunday having contracted the virus after a prolonged stay in hospital for heart problems.


He penned the band's biggest hit, Golden Brown, a song about heroin, which went to number two on the UK singles chart in 1982.


The Stranglers bass player Jean-Jacques "JJ" Burnel paid tribute to Greenfield as a "musical genius".


He said: "On the evening of Sunday May 3rd, my great friend and longstanding colleague of 45 years, the musical genius that was Dave Greenfield, passed away as one of the victims of the Great Pandemic of 2020.


"All of us in the worldwide Stranglers' family grieve and send our sincerest condolences to [Greenfield's wife] Pam."


Drummer Jet Black added: "We have just lost a dear friend and music genius, and so has the whole world.


"Dave was a complete natural in music. Together, we toured the globe endlessly and it was clear he was adored by millions. A huge talent, a great loss, he is dearly missed."

(Left to right) Dave Greenfield, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Jet Black and Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers in 1980
The Stranglers formed in 1974 in Guildford, Surrey. Greenfield, who originated from Brighton, joined within a year and they went on to be associated with the punk era.


He was soon known for his distinctive sound and playing style on instruments including the harpsichord and Hammond electric organ. Critics compared his sound to that of Ray Manzarek from The Doors.


In an interview with the band's website, however, the man himself said he was more influenced by a couple of other famous keyboard players.


"The only tracks by the Doors I knew were Light My Fire & Riders on the Storm," said Greenfield. "Before I joined my main influences were probably Jon Lord [Deep Purple] and then Rick Wakeman [Yes]."


In the same interview he said he always considered the Stranglers to be "more new wave, than punk", and also admitted to having had an interest in the occult, evident from him wearing a pentagram pendant in many early band pictures.


"The Pentagram represents the microcosm (as opposed to the macrocosm)," he said. "The relation between the self and the universe. I studied (not practiced) the occult quite intensively in those days."


'Musical skill and gentle nature'
Golden Brown, perhaps Greenfield's finest moment, eventually won them an Ivor Novello award; however his bandmates initially discarded the song and did not consider it a single.


The band's other hits include No More Heroes, Peaches and Something Better Change. They continued touring and recording after original frontman Hugh Cornwell left in 1990.


Cornwell posted on Twitter he was "very sorry" to hear of his old bandmate's passing.


"He was the difference between The Stranglers and every other punk band," wrote Cornwell.


"His musical skill and gentle nature gave an interesting twist to the band. He should be remembered as the man who gave the world the music of Golden Brown."


Current vocalist and guitarist Baz Warne described Greenfield as "a true innovator" and a "musical legend".


"The word genius is bandied around far too easily in this day and age, but Dave Greenfield certainly was one," said Warne.


The band recently postponed their farewell tour from this summer due to the pandemic.

[Latindancer]

RIP: Retired NASA Scientist Hal Doiron, a climate skeptic & a member of the team that developed the Apollo Lunar Module landing software

RIP: Retired NASA Scientist Hal Doiron, a climate skeptic & a member of the team that developed the Apollo Lunar Module landing software | Climate Depot

[harrybarracuda]

My Boy Lollipop hitmaker Millie Small dies aged 73




Millie Small has died at the age of 73.

The 'My Boy Lollipop' hitmaker suffered a stroke, according to her friend and manager, Chris Blackwell, who also co-produced the 1964 hit, which became one of the top-selling ska songs of all time.

Chris paid a touching tribute to Millie, who he described as ''a really sweet person'', ''very funny'' and ''really special''.

He told the Jamaica Observer: ''I would say she's the person who took ska international because it was her first hit record.

''It became a hit pretty much everywhere in the world.

''I went with her around the world because each of the territories wanted her to turn up and do TV shows and such, and it was just incredible how she handled it.

''She was such a sweet person, really a sweet person. Very funny, great sense of humour. She was really special.''

The Island Records founder - who was speaking from New York - told the publication he hadn't seen Millie, who died in England, in over a decade.

Chris discovered Millie's music early on and persuaded her father, an overseer on a sugar plantation in Jamaica, to allow him to become her manager and take her to England in late 1963 when she was old enough to travel by herself.

Millie had said: ''I hadn't planned on being a star, but I always wanted to be a singer, and I felt like it was my destiny to go to England.''

Chris was the one who suggested a cover of the R&B song 'My Boy Lollipop', which was originally recorded by Barbie Gaye in 1957.

And the song continues to be adored to this day and is still played on radio stations across the globe.

The ska hit was held off the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in 1964 by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and it made it to number two in the UK.

The arrangement is credited to Ernest Ranglin, who plays the guitar, and the saxophone solo was replaced by the harmonica.

Millie had insisted that Rod Stewart played the mouth organ, but he denied this.

Millie's later releases, 'Sweet William' and 'Bloodshot Eyes' charted in the UK at number 30 and 48.

In 2012, Millie said she was planning to record new music and play in Jamaica for the first time in 40 years.

The singer/songwriter released three albums during her career, the LP 'My Boy Lollipop', 1965's 'Sings Fats Domino' and 1970's 'Time Will Tell'.



https://www.contactmusic.com/news/my-boy-lollipop-hitmaker-millie-small-dies-aged-73_6310835

[Happy As Larry]

Florian Schneider, Kraftwerk co-founder, dies aged 73



Co-founder of hugely influential electronic pop group, who has died of cancer, had a UK No 1 hit with The Model in 1982


Florian Schneider, who as one of the founding members of German group Kraftwerk changed the sound of pop music forever, has died aged 73 of cancer.The news was confirmed to the Guardian by one of his musical collaborators, who said Schneider had died a week ago and had a private burial. It was also confirmed via Sony Berlin.
Born in 1947, Schneider was the son of Paul Schneider-Esbelen, a noted architect who designed Cologne’s airport. Schneider first played music in various groups while studying in Düsseldorf, beginning in a band called Pissoff. Operating in the experimental, open-minded rock scene dubbed “krautrock” in the British press, he formed the group Organisation with Ralf Hutter, the pair later forming Kraftwerk in 1970.

Kraftwerk: where to start in their back catalogue


Schneider played the flute, violin and guitar, though often filtered through electronic processing. His interest in electronic music grew. “I found that the flute was too limiting,” he later said. “Soon I bought a microphone, then loudspeakers, then an echo, then a synthesiser. Much later I threw the flute away; it was a sort of process.”
After three albums with Hütter in the mid-70s, Kraftwerk released Autobahn and expanded to a quartet. The album was composed primarily on synthesisers, and its highly original sound and witty lyrics made it a hit, reaching the Top 5 in the UK and US.




Kraftwerk in 1976, with Schneider, left. Photograph: Gijsbert Hanekroot/RedfernsAdding ever-more sophisticated synthesisers and drum machines, and with Hütter’s distinctive vocals, the group went on to release a series of albums that became hugely influential on pop music, particularly the four-album run of Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978) and Computer World (1981). They described their music as industrielle volksmusik: “folk music of the factories”, as translated by David Bowie.
As well as being forefathers of the synthpop that would dominate the 1980s and beyond, the title track of Trans-Europe Express was sampled in 1982 by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soul Sonic Force for one of the earliest hip-hop hits, Planet Rock, while Computer World was hugely influential on the house and techno music that emerged from Chicago and Detroit that decade.
Their work also brought them into the orbit of the Berlin-dwelling Bowie and Iggy Pop – in a TV documentary, Pop recalled that he and Schneider once went shopping for asparagus together. Bowie’s track V-2 Schneider is thought to be a tribute to him.

Sign up for the Sleeve Notes email: music news, bold reviews and unexpected extras



Known for his enigmatic, somewhat faraway smile, Schneider worked on all of the group’s studio albums, including The Man-Machine, which yielded their biggest hit: The Model, a melancholy synthpop song which topped the UK charts in 1982.
Following their final studio album to date, Tour De France Soundtracks in 2003, and a return to touring, Schneider left the group in 2008.
No reason was given for his departure, and he has maintained a mostly low profile since. Hütter told the Guardian in 2009 that Schneider “worked for many, many years on other projects: speech synthesis, and things like that. He was not really involved in Kraftwerk for many, many years,” and in 2017 said that the pair had “not really” spoken since Schneider left.
In 2015, Schneider released a new piece of music, Stop Plastic Pollution, in collaboration with producer Dan Lacksman. He said the track, released to raise awareness about pollution, was inspired by “taking a swim in the ocean at the coasts of Ghana, watching fishermen catch nothing but plastic garbage in their nets”.
Those paying tribute to Schneider include Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, who said they were “absolutely devastated” and that he was one of their heroes. Ultravox’s Midge Ure said he was “way ahead of his time”, while producer Thomas Dolby said: “Another of my great heroes gone.”
Techno star Nina Kraviz tweeted: “What would electronic music be without Kraftwerk? RIP,” and film director Edgar Wright said: “To say he was massively influential and changed the very sound of music, is somehow still a understatement.”

The Guardian

[misskit]

^ Just the mention of Kraftwerk causes me to have acid flashbacks.

[Troy]

^ scary fast driving down the autobahn for me...

[harrybarracuda]

^^ The start of three musicians?

Brian Howe dead: Bad Company frontman dies of cardiac arrest aged 66




Bad Company frontman Brian Howe has died at the age of 66, a family member has confirmed.

The singer died from cardiac arrest, a relative told US gossip publication TMZ.

Born in Portsmouth in 1953, Howe started his music career in heavy metal band White Spirit before teaming up with American singer and guitarist Ted Nugent.

He eventually became Nugent's lead singer on his album Penetrator, but later left in an attempt to pursue a solo career.

Following an introduction by Foreigner's Mick Jones, Howe joined Bad Company as the band's vocalist in 1983.

He replaced Paul Rodgers and appearing in the 'super group' alongside Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell.

He co-wrote the majority of the group's biggest album Holy Water with producer Terry Thomas, with the record eventually going platinum and hitting number 35 on the Billboard chart.

He left the group in 1994, and claimed that he had become "tired of doing all the work."

"Leaving Bad Company was not a difficult decision," he said in an interview at the time.

"It had got to the point where nobody was contributing anything to songwriting and quite frankly, the band was getting very very sloppy live.

"I quite simply, along with Terry Thomas, got tired of doing all the work and then getting nothing but resentment for it from Mick and Simon."

Howe went on to release three solo albums. His last solo release, a single titled Hot Tin Roof, came out in 2017.
He previously had a heart attack in 2017.

https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/brian-howe-death-heart-attack-a4435106.html

[harrybarracuda]

Survived a tiger attack but was killed by something much smaller.

Siegfried & Roy star Roy Horn, 75, dies due to complications from coronavirus



Roy Horn of magician and entertainer double act Siegfried and Roy has passed away aged 75 due to complications caused by the coronavirus. He passed away on Friday in a Las Vegas hospital following a battle against coronavirus, his publicist confirmed.


Roy Horn, whose real name is Uwe Ludwig Horn, was born in Nordenham, Lower Saxony, Germany in 1944, and was well known for his performances in Sin City.

Siegfried & Roy star Roy Horn, 75, dies due to complications from coronavirus - Mirror Online

[misskit]

I’ll have to wear a black armband when I run into town today. Home town hero dead. I am saddened by Lil’ Richard’s death.


Little Richard, Founding Father of Rock Who Broke Musical Barriers, Dead at 87



Little Richard, a founding father of rock and roll whose fervent shrieks, flamboyant garb, and joyful, gender-bending persona embodied the spirit and sound of that new art form, died Saturday. He was 87. The musician’s son, Danny Jones Penniman, confirmed the pioneer’s death to Rolling Stone, but said the cause of death was unknown.

Starting with “Tutti Frutti” in 1956, Little Richard cut a series of unstoppable hits – “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip It Up” that same year, “Lucille” in 1957, and “Good Golly Miss Molly” in 1958 – driven by his simple, pumping piano, gospel-influenced vocal exclamations and sexually charged (often gibberish) lyrics. “I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it,” Elton John told Rolling Stone in 1973. “I didn’t ever want to be anything else. I’m more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think. Jerry Lee is a very intricate piano player and very skillful, but Little Richard is more of a pounder.”

MORE Little Richard, Rock Pioneer Who Broke Musical Barriers, Dead at 87 - Rolling Stone

[Saint Willy]

RIP Lil Richard.

[harrybarracuda]

Comedian Jerry Stiller has died at the age of 92



Comedian Jerry Stiller has died at the age of 92 from natural causes, it has been confirmed.

The US comic’s passing was confirmed by his son Ben Stiller, who wrote on Twitter: “I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad.”

Stiller was best known for starring as George Costanzas’ father Frank, on NBC’s Seinfeld before going on to play play Arthur Spooner on The King of Queens.

He also delivered memorable turns in films such as Heavyweights, The Heartbreak Kid and both of the Zoolander movies alongside Ben Stiller.

Jerry Stiller dead: US comedian dies at the age of 92

[headhunter]

RIP Lil Richard.

my hereo in the 60's every Saturday at my mates house,who had a piano I used to do my party piece,RIP IT UP.those day I could get my leg up on the piano.
talking about a leg up,those who saw the film,THE GIRL CANT HELP IT little Richard belting out the song as JAYNE MANSFIELD walked down the isle in the show,
THAT BODY SENT ME,shaking all over.

[harrybarracuda]

THAT BODY SENT ME,shaking all over.

That was Johnny Kidd and the Pirates.

[harrybarracuda]

Beloved Comic Actor Fred Willard Dies At 86





LOS ANGELES, CA — Four-time Emmy Award-winner Fred Willard has died, his agent, Mike Eisendstadt, announced Saturday.
Willard was 86 years old.

Younger audiences became acquainted with him when he was cast as the TV father of actor Ty Burrell on the ABC sitcom "Modern Family."

He was known to generations as a comedy actor in ensemble movies such as "Waiting for Guffman," "A Mighty Wind," and "Best in Show."

Earlier audiences knew him as Jerry Hubbard, sidekick to actor Martin Mull in the 70's talk show spoof "Fernwood Tonight."

Beloved Comic Actor Fred Willard Dies At 86 | Patch

[beachbound]

Very funny man.

Best in Show..



A clip from his days on Fernwood Tonight. Eerily prophetic.