The RIP Famous Person Thread

[S Landreth]

• Juanita Castro, sister of Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro, dies in Miami

Juanita Castro, the sister of Cuban rulers Fidel and Raúl Castro who worked with the CIA against their communist government, has died in Miami at 90. Florida had been her home since shortly after fleeing the island nearly 60 years ago.

Journalist María Antonieta Collins, who co-wrote Juanita Castro's 2009 book, "Fidel and Raúl, My Brothers. The Secret History," wrote on Instagram that she died on Monday.

"Juanita Castro was ahead of us on the path of life and death, exceptional woman, tireless fighter for the cause of her Cuba that I love so much," Collins wrote.

The Cuban government and media had not mentioned her death as of Wednesday.

In her book, Juanita Castro, a staunch anti-communist, wrote that she began collaborating with the CIA shortly after the United States botched the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

She had originally supported her older brothers' efforts to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista, raising money and buying weapons. She became disillusioned when Fidel Castro became a hard-line communist after taking power in 1959 and pushed those who disagreed out of his government.

When her home in Cuba became a sanctuary for anti-communists in the early 1960s, Fidel Castro warned his sister not to get involved with the "gusanos," or worms as the government called those who opposed the revolution.

She said in her book that it was the wife of Brazil's ambassador to Cuba who persuaded her to meet with a CIA officer during a 1961 trip to Mexico City. She said she told the agent that she didn't want any money, and would not support any violence against her brothers or others.

She said the CIA used her to smuggle messages, documents and money back into Cuba hidden inside canned goods. They communicated with her via shortwave radio, playing a waltz and a song from the opera Madame Butterfly as signals that her handlers had a message for her.

She remained on the island while their mother was alive, believing that protected her from Fidel's full wrath.

"My brothers could ignore what I did or appear to ignore it so as not to hurt my mom, but that didn't mean I didn't have problems," she wrote. After their mother died in 1963, "everything was becoming more dangerously complicated."

Castro fled Cuba the following year, after Raúl helped her get a visa to Mexico. She never saw her brothers again.

"I cannot longer remain indifferent to what is happening in my country," she told reporters upon her arrival in Mexico. "My brothers Fidel and Raúl have made it an enormous prison surrounded by water. The people are nailed to a cross of torment imposed by international Communism."

Because her work for the CIA had been clandestine and not publicly known, many Cuban exiles feared she was a communist spy when she arrived in the U.S. a year later. She later helped found a CIA-backed nonprofit organization that worked against the Castro government.

She eventually settled into a quiet life in Miami, where she ran a Little Havana pharmacy and became a respected member of the Cuban-American community. She became a U.S. citizen in 1984.

Luis Zúñiga Rey, who was a political prisoner in Cuba before being expelled in 1988, said Wednesday that he met Juanita Castro during local radio interviews.

"She was serious but always kind and respectful," he said. "As the sister of the Cuban dictators, she always tried to keep her family background from interfering with her fellow Cubans here in Miami."

Her opposition to Fidel Castro "showed a lot of bravery," he said.

"Imagine what it is like to challenge your powerful brother and what that means at a personal level," he said.

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba until 2008, when he turned power over to Raúl, who had been his second-in-command. Raúl Castro then spent a decade as Cuba's leader.

When Fidel's serious health problems in 2006 led to street celebrations in Little Havana, Juanita Castro took no joy. He was still her brother, even though she fought against his government.

"In the same way that people are demonstrating and celebrating, I'm showing sadness. I respect the position of everyone who feels happy about his health problems, but they have to respect me also," she told The Associated Press. "It's my family. It's my brothers. It doesn't matter. We are separated for political reasons, ideological reasons, but that's it."

Fidel Castro died in 2016 at 90, while Raul, 92, is living in retirement. The eldest brother, Ramon, died in 2016 at 91.

[harrybarracuda]

Shirley Anne Field: Alfie actress dies aged 87



Actress Shirley Anne Field has died aged 87, her family has said.

She starred in films such as Alfie, opposite Sir Michael Caine, and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - alongside Albert Finney.

Field also appeared in a huge number of popular TV series including The Bill, Doctors, Murder She Wrote, Last of the Summer Wine and Upstairs, Downstairs.

A statement from her family said she would be "greatly missed".

"It is with great sadness that we are sharing the news that Shirley Anne Field passed away peacefully on Sunday... surrounded by her family and friends," the family said.

"Shirley Anne will be greatly missed and remembered for her unbreakable spirit and her amazing legacy spanning more than five decades on stage and screen."

Born in Forest Gate, Newham, in 1936, Field first established herself as a model in the 1950s.

She later moved into acting, featuring in the 1956 comedy Loser Takes All and musical film It's A Wonderful World.

Field's breakthrough came in the 1960s following her role as Tina Lapford in The Entertainer opposite the late Laurence Olivier.

She went on to star in a string of films, television series and stage productions.

Among her other hit films were 1962's The War Lover alongside the late Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner and 1985's rom-com My Beautiful Laundrette with Daniel Day-Lewis.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67687117

[S Landreth]

NIDRA BEARD DIES….

US singer and founder member of the 80s band Dynasty, NIDRA BEARD, died on Friday 8th December. She was aged 71 and its known that she had been fighting cancer for some time. The Solar Records website announced the news with this posting: “We are so saddened to find out that we have lost our BEAUTIFUL Nidra Elizabeth Beard of Dynasty to cancer. She was a beautiful soul with a kind heart who always saw the best in everyone. We know she is with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as she was a firm and faithful believer.. we send our love and condolences to her family and all who loved her. Our Solar family will never be the same and we still fight on to preserve our great history and Legacy…. Nidra, you will NEVER be forgotten … We love you…”

Ms Beard was born in Detroit and after working in a band called DeBlanc, she eventually became the lead singer in the group Dynasty – a band put together by music biz exec, Dick Griffey and Leon Sylvers III as a vehicle for the unique dance/disco/soul sound that was the dubbed “Sound Of Los Angeles Records” – Solar! Dynasty were originally conceived as a trio – – Kevin Spencer, Linda Carriere and Nidra Beard. And as a trio, the group’s biggest success was their 1980 Sylvers-produced album, ‘Adventures In The Land Of Music’. (below). The group enjoyed more success when Sylvers himself joined the line up. He also add his brother Foster – thus making Dynasty a quintet. During this period Nidra married Leon Sylvers. They were to divorce a couple of years later.

In 1983 Dynasty split up only to reform (again as a trio – William Shelby, Kevin Spencer and Nidra Beard) in 1988. Their 1988 album ‘Right Back Atcha’ yielded a couple of hits but once again the group quickly disbanded.

Ms Beard continued as a songwriter – her biggest success being Shalamar’s #1 hit “A Night To Remember.’ Then, three years ago, Dynasty reformed and released the singles ‘Escape’ and “I Can Tell’ both featuring Ms Beard on lead vocals.

[misskit]

André Braugher, star of 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' and 'Homicide,' dies at 61



André Braugher, an Emmy Award-winning dramatic actor who translated his studied deadpan into comedic genius as Capt. Raymond Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, has died. He was 61.


His publicist, Jennifer Allen, said Braugher died Monday after a brief illness.


Braugher spent 100 episodes playing Det. Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life on the Street, where he won a primetime Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series. He won his second Emmy for the FX miniseries Thief, in which he played the leader of a heist crew. Braugher also acted in memorable movies like Glory, Spike Lee's Get on The Bus, Primal Fear and City of Angels.

MORE Andre Braugher, 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine,' 'Homicide,' 'City of Angels' actor, dies : NPR

[harrybarracuda]

Trying to remember where I last saw him and it came to me:

The Mist and Frequency.

Decent actor.

RIP.

[helge]

Decent actor.

Great face when he played grumpy, which he always did

[misskit]

Andre Braugher’s Publicist Reveals He Died of Lung Cancer

Andre Braugher died after a battle with lung cancer, the actor’s publicist revealed Thursday.


Upon announcing Andre Braugher’s death on Monday, his longtime publicist Jennifer Allen said that the Emmy-winning actor had died after a “brief illness.” Now, she’s sharing more about the ailment that led to Braugher’s death at age 61.


She told The New York Times on Thursday that the actor was diagnosed with lung cancer just a few months ago. Braugher never publicly revealed his diagnosis; as NYT notes, the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star was a private person who told the New York Times Magazine in 2014 that he’d “stopped drinking alcohol and smoking years ago.”


Braugher won his first Emmy in 1996 for his breakout role on NBC’s Homicide as the detective Frank Pembleton. His other Emmy win came a decade later for the 2006 FX miniseries Thief. He would go on to earn a total of 11 Emmy nominations, including for the role that best defined the later years of his career: Captain Ray Holt in the procedural comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/andre-...=home?ref=home

[harrybarracuda]

And Matthew Perry's COD was apparently Special K.

[S Landreth]

• Comedian Kenny DeForest dies after New York City ebike crash

The comedian Kenny DeForest has died after a bike accident in New York, his friend and fellow comedian Ryan Beck confirmed.

DeForest, 37, best known for his appearances on talkshows such as Late Night with Seth Meyers and the Late Show with James Corden, was riding an e-bike on 8 December when he crashed.

Earlier reports suggested DeForest was struck by a car, but now Beck has confirmed he has received more information indicating it was not a hit and run. Rather, DeForest may have crashed his bike somehow at the intersection of Rogers Avenue and Sterling Place in Brooklyn and no other vehicle was involved.

Beck said: “We’ve learned more information today from an EMS report. Kenny was on an e-bike and crashed. I spoke with crossing guards at the area today, and am still in search of more information. There is no police report because it was not a hit and run as first understood.”

NYPD was reportedly not called to the scene unlike cases involving a cyclist being killed by a car.

The comedian was transported to Brooklyn’s Kings County hospital, where he underwent brain surgery to remove a piece of his skull and relieve pressure from a brain bleed.

He died there, surrounded by friends and family, according to a GoFundMe set up by Beck for DeForest’s family.

“Kenny’s final moments included some of his favorite songs, stories of his childhood, and memories of his extensive positivity and joy for life,” the GoFundMe page said.

The GoFund Me has surpassed its $150,000 goal.

[S Landreth]

• Colin Burgess, original member of AC/DC, dies aged 77

The Australian drummer Colin Burgess, an original member of the hard-rock band AC/DC in the early 1970s, has died, the band confirmed on its social media accounts. He was 77.

“Very sad to hear of the passing of Colin Burgess,” says an unsigned post on the band’s official Facebook page late Friday. “He was our first drummer and a very respected musician. Happy memories, rock in peace Colin.”

No cause of death was given.

Burgess was recruited in November 1973 to help form AC/DC with Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar and his brother Angus on lead guitar, lead vocalist Dave Evans and bassist Larry Van Kriedt.

The band fired Burgess in February 1974, accusing him of being drunk on stage; he later said someone had spiked his drink. He was followed by a succession of drummers and filled in for one for a few months in 1975.

Before AC/DC, Burgess played with the Australian rock group the Masters Apprentices, which was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame in 1998.

[helge]

OK

I'll roll over and into the tool shed, doing a drum solo in his honour.

Might nip a snaps on the way.

Till later

[S Landreth]

• Kuwaiti leader Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed dies aged 86

Kuwait's leader Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah has died at the age of 86, Kuwaiti state TV announced.

The sheikh had led the oil-rich nation for the last three years after taking over from his half brother, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

The crown prince, 83-year-old Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has been named as his successor.

Kuwait has announced 40 days of mourning and government offices are to close for three days.

"With great sadness and sorrow, we mourn... the death of Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah" a statement aired on state TV said.

Sheikh Nawaf was named crown prince in 2006 and took over as emir in 2020.

Born in 1937, he was the fifth son of Kuwait's former ruler Sheikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah.

He was defence minister when Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait in 1990, sparking the beginning of the Gulf War, and later went onto serve as interior minister.

Compared to his predecessor, who served as emir for more than a decade and shaped the country's foreign policy for 50 years, Sheikh Nawaf's time as ruler was relatively short.

Kuwait - which has a population of 4.8 million, including 3.4 million foreign workers - has the world's sixth-largest known oil reserves and is a major US ally.

The emirate's parliament has the most powers of any elected body in the Gulf and opposition MPs openly criticise the Sabahs.

However, the ruling family retains full control over key government and executive posts and the emir has the last say in political matters. He also has the power to override or dissolve parliament, and call elections.

Regular programming on TV channels has been cut following the announcement.

[misskit]

Laura Lynch, Founding Member of the Dixie Chicks, Dead at 65

Laura Lynch, a founding member of the Dixie Chicks (now the Chicks) who played on the country act’s first three albums, has died at the age of 65.


Lynch died following injuries sustained in a car accident on a highway outside of El Paso, Texas, TMZ first reported and the Texas Department of Public Safety later confirmed. Lynch’s former Chicks bandmates also confirmed Lynch’s death in a statement on social media.

“We are shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Laura Lynch, a founding member of The Chicks,” Emily Strayer, Martie Maguire, and Natalie Maines wrote in their tribute to Lynch.

“We hold a special place in our hearts for the time we spent playing music, laughing and traveling together. Laura was a bright light…her infectious energy and humor gave a spark to the early days of our band. Laura had a gift for design, a love of all things Texas and was instrumental in the early success of the band. Her undeniable talents helped propel us beyond busking on street corners to stages all across Texas and the mid-West.”


Lynch, along with Robin Lynn Macy and sisters Martie and Emily Erwin (now Maguire and Strayer), co-founded the Dixie Chicks in the late-Eighties, with Lynch serving as upright bassist and co-lead vocalist. That quartet released two albums together — 1990’s Thank Heavens for Dale Evans and 1992’s Little Ol’ Cowgirl — before Macy departed the band, leaving them a trio.

As a three-piece, the Dixie Chicks with Lynch recorded one more album, 1993’s Shouldn’t a Told You That. That LP featured the work of steel guitarist Lloyd Maines, who introduced the Erwin sisters to his daughter Natalie, who ultimately replaced Lynch in the trio. Five years later, the then-Dixie Chicks would release their breakout 1998 album Wide Open Spaces.

Laura Lynch, Founding Member of the Dixie Chicks, Dead at 65

[misskit]

[misskit]

South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun of Oscar-winning film 'Parasite' is found dead

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Lee Sun-kyun, a popular South Korean actor best known for his role in the Oscar-winning movie “Parasite," was found dead in a car in Seoul on Wednesday, authorities said, after weeks of an intense police investigation into his alleged drug use.


Police and emergency officers initially found Lee in what they believed was an unconscious state in the car parked on a street in northern Seoul. Emergency officers later confirmed he was dead, according to Seoul's Seongbuk police station.


Police had been searching for Lee, 48, after receiving a report that he was missing, Seongbuk police said.


They refused to provide further details including whether they had determined Lee killed himself. But South Korean media outlets including Yonhap news agency said that Lee's family earlier Wednesday reported to police that he left home after writing a message similar to a suicide note.


Lee's body was later transported to a nearby Seoul hospital, according to Seongbuk police.


Lee appeared in “Parasite,” which won Oscars for best picture and three other categories in 2020. The class satire was the first non-English-language film to win best picture in the then-92-year history of the Academy Awards, and was the first South Korean movie ever to win an Oscar. In the film, Lee played the head of a wealthy family.


In 2021, he won a Screen Actors Guild award for “cast in a motion picture” for his role in the same film. He was nominated for best actor at the International Emmy Awards for his performance in the sci-fi thriller “Dr. Brain” last year, as well.


Even before “Parasite," Lee had been a popular actor in South Korea for a long time. He rose to stardom for his role in a hit TV drama series, “Coffee Prince (2007),” and gained mainstream popularity with the medical drama “Behind The White Tower (2007)," “Pasta (2010)” and "My Mister (2018).”


Lee had undergone police probes into allegations that he used illegal drugs at the residence of a bar hostess. The investigation prompted extensive tabloid coverage. Lee insisted he was tricked into taking the drugs and that he did not know what he was taking, according to Yonhap.

South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun of Oscar-winning film 'Parasite' is found dead

[katie23]

"in the film, Lee played the head of a wealthy family"

I initially thought that the one who died was the dad of the lead guy (from the poor family). Turned out that it was the dad from the rich family. He was a handsome man and a good actor. Parasite was a great film with lots of good actors.

RIP Mr Lee Sun Kyun.

[misskit]

Comedian Tom Smothers, one-half of the Smothers Brothers, dies at 86

Tom Smothers, half of the Smothers Brothers and the co-host of one of the most socially conscious and groundbreaking television shows in the history of the medium, has died at 86.


The National Comedy Center, on behalf of his family, said in a statement Wednesday that Smothers died Tuesday at home in Santa Rosa, California, following a cancer battle.


“Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years,” his brother and the duo’s other half, Dick Smothers, said in the statement. “Our relationship was like a good marriage — the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another. We were truly blessed.”

When “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” debuted on CBS in the fall of 1967 it was an immediate hit, to the surprise of many who had assumed the network’s expectations were so low it positioned their show opposite the top-rated “Bonanza.”


But the Smothers Brothers would prove a turning point in television history, with its sharp eye for pop culture trends and young rock stars such as the Who and Buffalo Springfield, and its daring sketches — ridiculing the Establishment, railing against the Vietnam War and portraying members of the era’s hippie counterculture as gentle, fun-loving spirits — found an immediate audience with young baby boomers. The show reached No. 16 in the ratings in its first season.


It also drew the ire of network censors, and after years of battling with the brothers over the show’s creative content, the network abruptly canceled the program in 1970, accusing the siblings of failing to submit an episode in time for the censors to review.

MORE Tom Smothers of the Smothers Brothers dies at 86 | AP News

[misskit]

Mom always liked you best!

This was one television program my family always watched together. Loved these guys.

[harrybarracuda]

Jacques Delors, statesman who shaped European Union, dies at 98



Former European Commission President Jacques Delors, a key figure in the creation of the euro currency, has died aged 98 on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Jacques Delors Institute, a think tank he founded.
Delors, a Socialist, had a high-profile political career in France, where he served as finance minister under President François Mitterrand in the early 1980s, before becoming president of the EU Commission in 1985.
His 10-year presidency remains the longest in the institution’s history and shaped the outlines of modern-day Europe.
Under Delors, the European Union changed considerably, introducing a number of key reforms including the Single European Act, the Schengen Agreement, the Erasmus student exchange program, an overhaul of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Economic and Monetary Union, which later led to the creation of the Euro currency.

Jacques Delors, statesman who shaped European Union, dies at 98 | CNN

[S Landreth]

• Richard Hunt, Sculptor Who Transformed Public Spaces, Dies at 88

Richard Hunt, a prolific sculptor whose towering metalwork became a mainstay of American public art, and whose 70-year career drew the attention of presidents from Lyndon B. Johnson to Barack Obama, died on Saturday at his home in Chicago. He was 88.

The death was confirmed by Mr. Hunt’s studio and by his biographer, Jon Ott. The cause was not given.

Mr. Hunt, a son of Chicago’s South Side, was 19 years old in 1955 when he attended the open-casket funeral of Emmett Till, the young Black Chicagoan who grew up near Mr. Hunt and who was tortured and killed by white men, his body mutilated, while visiting Mississippi, a murder that helped ignite the civil rights movement. That searing experience was a shaping influence on Mr. Hunt’s career and nudged him to experiment with welding and with forging discarded materials into art.

His work drew early acclaim. Two years after Emmett’s funeral, while Mr. Hunt was still a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York purchased one of his sculptures, a steel work called “Arachne.”

In 1964, Mr. Hunt became a visiting artist at Yale. In 1968, President Johnson appointed him to the National Council on the Arts. And in 1971, when he was 35, the Museum of Modern Art displayed more than 70 of Mr. Hunt’s works in a retrospective exhibition.

In an appraisal of Mr. Hunt’s art that year, the critic Hilton Kramer wrote in The New York Times that “there are really very few American sculptors of Mr. Hunt’s generation who have produced a comparable body of work so early in their development.”

But because he was based in Chicago, not New York, Mr. Kramer added, “his reputation here has remained that of an outsider.”

Mr. Hunt’s sculptures blended classical techniques honed at the Art Institute, where he began taking classes as a child, with self-taught soldering and welding. Using unusual methods for that time, he would scrounge in alleys for scrap metal or pick up parts left over from car crashes to use in his art.

He was quoted as saying, “Sculpture is not a self-declaration but a voice of and for my people — over all, a rich fabric; under all, the dynamism of the African American people.”

Mr. Hunt became known for his soaring pieces of public art, more than 160 of which have been displayed across the country, according to his studio. Those include “Swing Low,” a 1,500-pound work of welded bronze that hangs from a ceiling at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and “Flight Forms,” an imposing work of welded stainless steel outside Chicago’s Midway International Airport. Other works by him have been installed in locations as varied as a sculpture garden in Kansas, a museum in Kentucky and a playhouse in Michigan.

A recently completed work, which depicts a bird taking flight from a book, is set to be displayed at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago once that facility opens. Mr. Obama, who visited Mr. Hunt in the days before his death, has called Mr. Hunt “one of the greatest artists Chicago ever produced.” The city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, said in a statement that the sculptor made an “indelible impact on our city and our world.”

Richard Howard Hunt was born on Sept. 12, 1935, in Chicago, the first of two children born to Cleophus Howard Hunt, a barber, and Etoria Inez Henderson Hunt, a librarian. He took an early interest in art, often visiting Chicago’s museums, where he was captivated by works from Africa. As a young teenager, he began taking classes at the Junior School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Mr. Hunt is survived by his daughter, Cecilia, an artist, and his sister, Marian, a retired librarian.

Mr. Hunt would say that his attendance at the Till funeral nearly 70 years ago helped establish the course for his career. Like Emmett, he had been a Black teenager from Chicago who sometimes traveled to the South to visit relatives. He was quoted as saying that what happened to Emmett “could have happened to me.”

“That really set the tone for his entire artistic life, which was really focused around representing freedom, and freedom in every sense,” Mr. Ott, the biographer, said.

Even as his work drew the attention of art collectors and political leaders, Mr. Hunt spent much of his adult life sleeping on a mattress on the floor of his Chicago studio, which had no television, few amenities and huge piles of scrap metal with which he and his colleagues would build.


Richard Hunt

[harrybarracuda]

I hope he got shot, that would be really fucking funny.

Gaston Glock dead: Creator of one of the world's most famous firearms dies at 94


Gaston Glock, the creator of one of the world's most well-known firearms, died Wednesday at age 94.


His death was announced on the Glock company's website, with a memorial message displayed on its front page. No cause of death was given.


Gaston Glock dead: Creator of one of the world'''s most famous firearms dies at 94 | Washington Examiner

[S Landreth]

• Dick Nunis, who helped expand Disney's theme park ambitions around the globe, dies at age 91

Dick Nunis, who helped expand The Walt Disney Company's in-person entertainment ambitions from a single theme park in California to locations around the world during a four-decade career with the entertainment giant, has died. He was 91.

Disney said in a statement Wednesday that Nunis died in Orlando, Florida, surrounded by family. It gave no cause of death.

Nunis began his career at Disney in 1955, training future employees of the soon-to-open Disneyland in Anaheim, California, alongside Walt Disney, who was the father-in-law of Nunis' college friend, Ron Miller, an eventual company CEO. By the time Nunis retired in 1999 after 44 years at the company, he was chair of Walt Disney Attractions, overseeing a theme park empire that spanned around the world, from Florida to France to Japan.

“What started as a summer job training future Disneyland employees would ultimately become a storied 44-year career at Disney," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in the statement. “Dick took the values and philosophies he learned directly from Walt and incorporated them into everything he did at Disney.”

Nunis helped Disney open what would become the roughly 25,000-acre (10,000-hectare) theme park resort outside Orlando, Florida, known as Walt Disney World. He also consulted on plans for Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris while serving on the Walt Disney Productions Board of Directors.

Nunis is survived by his wife Mary, three children and six grandchildren.

[misskit]

‘Batman Begins’ Actor Tom Wilkinson Dead at 75



Two-time Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson, known for his roles in The Full Monty, Batman Begins, and Shakespeare in Love, has passed away at age 75.


The British actor's agent sent a statement to news outlets on behalf of his family.


“It is with great sadness that the family of Tom Wilkinson announce that he died suddenly at home on December 30. His wife and family were with him," the statement read. “The family asks for privacy at this time.”


Wilkinson was born in 1948 in northern England's Yorkshire, and grew up in Canada and in Cornwall, where his family operated a pub. He studied literature at the University of Kent, but took up acting in school and subsequently attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.


He worked primarily in television for the first two decades of his career, before making his breakthrough in film with The Full Monty in 1997, in which he played a laid-off steel mill foreman-turned-male stripper, and for which he won an award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He went on to appear in a string of big-budget movies, including Rush Hour and The Patriot, but earned attention from the Academy Awards with his roles in the 2001 indie film In the Bedroom and the 2007 George Clooney thriller Michael Clayton.


He received an Order of the British Empire appointment in 2005 for "for services to drama." He lived in London with his wife, fellow actor Diana Hardcastle. The couple had two children.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-fu...=home?ref=home

[Happy As Larry]

John Pilger, campaigning journalist, dies aged 84

Celebrated Australian journalist and documentary film-maker covered conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Biafra

The renowned Australian journalist and documentary film-maker John Pilger has died aged 84, his family have announced.
A statement posted to his account on X said: “It is with great sadness the family of John Pilger announce he died yesterday 30 December 2023 in London aged 84.
“His journalism and documentaries were celebrated around the world, but to his family he was simply the most amazing and loved Dad, Grandad and partner. Rest In Peace.”
Throughout his career, Pilger was a strong critic of western foreign policy and his native country’s treatment of Indigenous Australians.

John Pilger working on ITV’s The Timor Conspiracy, originally screened in 1994, on the human tragedy caused by the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975. Photograph: Carlton Television
In his last column for the Guardian, in 2015, he condemned how “aboriginal people are to be driven from homelands where their communities have lived for thousands of years”.
Born in Bondi, New South Wales, Pilger relocated to the UK in the 1960s, where he went on to work for the Daily Mirror, ITV’s former investigative programme World in Action and Reuters.

He covered conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Biafra, and was named journalist of the year in 1967 and 1979. Pilger had a successful career in documentary film-making, creating more than 50 films and winning a number of accolades includes honours at the Baftas.

In 1979, the ITV film Year Zero: The Silent Death Of Cambodia revealed the extent of the ruling Khmer Rouge’s crimes. Pilger won an Emmy award for his 1990 follow-up ITV documentary, Cambodia: The Betrayal.
Pilger also made the 1974 ITV documentary Thalidomide: The Ninety-Eight We Forgot, about the campaign for compensation for children after concerns were raised about birth defects when expectant mothers took the drug.

John Pilger in ITV’s Breaking the Silence, Truth and Lies in the War on Terror in 2003. Photograph: ITV/Rex Features
Kevin Lygo, the managing director of media and entertainment at ITV, said: “John was a giant of campaigning journalism. He had a clear, distinctive editorial voice which he used to great effect throughout his distinguished filmmaking career. His documentaries were engaging, challenging and always very watchable.

“He eschewed comfortable consensus and instead offered a radical, alternative approach on current affairs and a platform for dissenting voices over 50 years.
“John’s films gave viewers analysis and opinion often not seen elsewhere in the television mainstream. It was a contribution that greatly added to the rich plurality of British television.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with John’s family, friends and colleagues at this sad time.”

Pilger made a number of films about Indigenous Australians such as The Secret Country: The First Australians Fight Back in 1985 and Utopia in 2013, as well as writing a bestselling book, A Secret Country, which explored the politics and policies of Australia.
His last film, The Dirty War on the National Health Service, was released in 2019 and examined the threat to the NHS from privatisation and bureaucracy. It was described by the Guardian’s film critic Peter Bradshaw as “a fierce, necessary film”.
In 2003, Pilger received the Sophie prize for “30 years of uncovering the lies and propaganda of the powerful, especially as they relate to wars, conflict of interests and economic exploitation of people and natural resources”.

John Pilger talks to journalists outside Horseferry Road magistrates court in London in 2010 after Julian Assange was remanded in custody. Photograph: Felix Clay
Pilger was a vocal supporter of Julian Assange and visited the WikiLeaks founder in the Ecuador embassy in London where he sought asylum after facing charges related to the publication of thousands of classified documents.
Assange’s wife, Stella, wrote on X: “Our dear dear John Pilger has left us. He was one of the greats. A consistent ally of the dispossessed, John dedicated his life to telling their stories and awoke the world to the greatest injustices.
“He showed great empathy for the weak and was unflinching with the powerful. John was one of Julian’s most vocal champions but they also became the closest of friends. He fought for Julian’s freedom until the end.”

The former Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters, who has also supported Assange, said of Pilger: “I miss you my friend, what a great man you were. We will carry you in our hearts forever, you will always be there to give us strength. Love R.”
Pilger edited the 2005 book Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and its Triumphs, in which he summed up his journalistic values. “Secretive power loathes journalists who do their job, who push back screens, peer behind façades, lift rocks,” he said. “Opprobrium from on high is their badge of honour.”

He is survived by his two children, Sam and Zoe.

[helge]

A man with his heart in the right place.


As far as I know