Literotica Cemetary

[JennyOmanHill]

Former NFL Player Darrell Russell Killed

Dec 16th - 5:47am

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Darrell Russell, a former standout NFL and Southern California defensive lineman whose promising career was derailed by drugs, was killed in a high-speed car crash early Thursday.

Russell, 29, was a passenger in a car driven by former USC teammate Michael Paul Bastianelli that went out of control about 6 a.m. and hit a curb, tree, newsstand, fire hydrant, light pole, another tree and an unoccupied transit bus, Lt. Paul Vernon said.

Both Russell and Bastianelli, 29, were unconscious when firefighters arrived. Russell died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Bastianelli died at UCLA Medical Center.

"He was a hell of a guy," Raiders receiver Jerry Porter said. "He just never found the strength to get going again after the all the trouble he got into."

The 6-foot-5, 325-pound Russell, the No. 2 overall pick by Oakland in the 1997 draft, had a promising start in the NFL before substance abuse problems ruined his career. He had 28 1/2 sacks in five seasons with Raiders, making the Pro Bowl in 1998 and 1999.

"Darrell was a good guy, he really was. He was a big kid like me that had a big heart," said former Raiders offensive lineman Lincoln Kennedy. "He couldn't say no to anybody. That's what had a big deal with his demise, especially in the NFL, because he couldn't let his friends go, from San Diego. He couldn't let his past go. He always wanted to try to take care and do for other people. It ended up bringing him down."

Russell was suspended three times for violating the league's substance abuse policy and his career never really recovered. After being released by the Raiders at the end of his second suspension, he played briefly for the Washington Redskins in 2003 and was released in training camp by Tampa Bay the following year.

Russell's first suspension came after he failed a drug test, forcing him to miss the first four games of the 2001 season. The NFL does not disclose details of substance-abuse violations. The league's policy covers a wide range of issues, including the illegal use of drugs and the abuse of alcohol, prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Russell was then suspended again in January 2002 for testing positive for the club drug Ecstasy. He was released by the Raiders in October 2003, shortly after being reinstated by the league.

"He became so big and so much into himself that he didn't want to do what it took to stay in the league," Kennedy said. "He had a couple of chances and he could just never right the ship, could never get it right. ... As much as I tried to help him, I had to realize that, he's ultimately a grown man, he's going to have to make his own decisions. That's always the way I've treated people, with respect. The reason I'm so upset now is that I wish I could have done more to maybe prevent this."

Russell tested positive for drugs again and was suspended indefinitely in July 2004.

In September 2002, prosecutors dropped rape charges against Russell, claiming they could not prove he videotaped a woman being raped by two of his friends in January 2002.

Russell talked about his problems this summer at the NFL's rookie symposium, which is used to teach new players what pitfalls to avoid in their careers.

"He was trying to teach people that, 'I am a prime example of what not to do in certain situations,'" Raiders safety Calvin Branch said.

Kennedy last talked to Russell about a year ago, when Russell said he was hoping to get his life back in order so he could resume his NFL career. That never happened and his friends are left to wonder what might have been if Russell had been able to keep himself clean.

"The sky's the limit. He would still be dominating today," Kennedy said. "I might have had a chance to play with him in a couple of Pro Bowls if he had just lived up to the potential of what he first showed in college and a little bit in the league."

 

[sweet soft kiss]

'Oddfather' Gigante dies in prison at 77

BY JOHN MARZULLI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Vincent (Chin) Gigante, the Genovese crime family boss known as "The Oddfather" for a long-running insanity act that had him shuffling around Greenwich Village in a bathrobe, died yesterday in a Missouri prison hospital.

Gigante, who was 77, apparently suffered a heart attack.

Still the official boss of the Genovese family, Gigante died in the same federal prison infirmary in which Gambino boss John Gotti, Luchese boss Anthony (Tony Ducks) Corallo and former Genovese boss Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno all drew their final breaths.

"He's the last of the old-time bosses. It's over, they're all dead," said retired NYPD organized crime Detective Joseph Coffey.

Prison staff found Gigante unresponsive yesterday at 5:15 a.m. and attempted CPR, said Al Quintero, spokesman for the U.S. Medical Center in Springfield, Mo.

Gigante was serving a 12-year sentence for racketeering, plotting to whack Gotti for the unsanctioned murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano and obstructing justice by pretending to be nuts. He was slated to be released in 2010.

Gigante spanned multiple generations of wiseguys, earning his bones as a driver and bodyguard for the crime family's namesake, Vito Genovese. His ties to those founding .fathers of the New York mob probably explains why the Genovese clan is still the largest and most powerful of the city's beleaguered five families.

"He learned from the old masters," said Matt Heron, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's organized crime section in New York. "But at the end of the day, he was still a criminal and died in prison. That's not someone to look up to."

Gigante was born March 29, 1928, the third of five sons to Italian immigrant parents. An older brother, Mario, 80, is reputedly on the crime family's ruling panel. Another brother, the Rev. Louis Gigante, is chairman of a South Bronx housing group and a retired priest in the New York Archdiocese.

He got the nickname Chin either from his mother calling him Vincenzo, or from his days as an amateur boxer managed by gangster Thomas Eboli in the 1940s.

Gigante won 21 bouts as a light-heavyweight, according to the book "Five Families" by Selwyn Raab, attracting the eye of Vito Genovese, who was plotting to overthrow then-boss Frank Costello.

As Costello entered his Central Park West apartment building on May 2, 1957, an assassin stepped from the shadows, snarling, "This is for you, Frank." Costello survived, and a doorman fingered Gigante as the gunman.

Costello claimed he did not see his assailant and Gigante was acquitted. Soon after, Costello stepped down as boss of the family started by Charles (Lucky) Luciano and Genovese took over. Gigante's star was on the rise.

The crazy act debuted around 1970 when Gigante was found mentally unfit to stand trial for trying to bribe the entire Old Tappan, N.J., police force. Gigante became a familiar figure mumbling to himself and walking the streets of Greenwich Village near his Triangle social club on Sullivan St.

In 1990, five years after he succeeded Philip (Benny Squint) Lombardo as boss, FBI agents serving a subpoena on Gigante found him standing in his shower, clad in the tattered bathrobe, holding an umbrella.

But in 2003, the feds compiled jailhouse evidence of Gigante talking lucidly on the phone, and he admitted his fakery in federal court.

"He was good at his 'Looney Tunes' act, and it served him well, but in the end, Chin was the victim of his own crazy scheme," said Jerry Capeci, author of the Web site ganglandnews.com.

Gigante is survived by his five children with wife Olympia, and three more with paramour Olympia Esposito.

"John Gotti got the publicity, but Gigante had more power, prestige and wealth," said Raab. "Gotti badmouthed every other boss, but the only rival Gotti feared was Chin."

 

[linuxgeek]

Joseph L. Owades

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Microbrewing pioneer Joseph L. Owades, the biochemist credited with inventing light beer and creating the formula for several leading brands including Samuel Adams Boston Lager, died Friday. He was 86.

Owades died of heart failure at home, his brother, Henry Owades, of Norwalk, Conn., said Tuesday.

After receiving a doctorate in biochemistry from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1950, Joseph Owades took a job in fermentation science and began developing yeast for use in food and beverages, eventually developing a process to remove the starch from beer, making it lower in carbohydrates and calories.

After stints working for several beer companies, and running a consulting firm helping both Miller and Budweiser develop beer, he moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1982 and became a pioneer in the microbrewing industry.

He is credited with creating the formulas for Samuel Adams, Tuborg, New Amsterdam Beer, Pete's Wicked Ale and Foggy Bottom Beer, among others.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Singer Enzo Stuarti Dies of Heart Failure

Dec 19, 5:37 AM (ET)

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) - Enzo Stuarti, an Italian tenor who performed in Broadway musicals and at Carnegie Hall, and did popular TV commercials plugging a spaghetti sauce, has died of heart failure.

Stuarti, 86, died Friday, family members said.

Larry Stuart said his father appeared in more than a dozen Broadway productions, including "Around the World in 80 Days,""South Pacific" and "Kiss Me Kate."

He performed under the names Larry Lawrence and Larry Stuart before taking the name Enzo Stuarti, his son said.

Stuarti was a frequent guest on television talk shows, including the Ed Sullivan Show, the Mike Douglas show and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Besides his singing career, Stuarti appeared in commercials for Ragu spaghetti sauce, delivering the "That's a nice" line about the sauce.

"Those commercials helped his fame," his son said.

Stuarti's albums, which covered everything from pop to opera, included "Enzo Stuarti Arrives At Carnegie Hall" and "Bravo Stuarti! Soft and Sentimental."

Stuarti was born on March 3, 1919, in Rome. He moved to Newark, N.J., in 1934, joining family members who had fled to the U.S. years earlier.

After serving in the Merchant Marines during World War II, Stuarti returned to Italy for several years, his family said.

He returned to the United States in 1951 and appeared on Broadway. He later appeared in concerts with symphony orchestras and in clubs in New York and Las Vegas.

"All the Italian favorites were calling cards of his act," his son said.

His other passion was race cars. Stuarti once test drove cars for the Ferrari Racing Cars in the 1940s in Italy, the family said.

Stuarti and his second wife, Thelma, retired to her hometown of Midland in 2004.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Phyllis Gretzky dies at 64

Had battled lung cancer since 2004
Dec. 20, 2005
CANADIAN PRESS

Phyllis Gretzky was the glue that held her family together.

Gretzky, who had battled lung cancer since being diagnosed in the autumn of 2004, died last night. She was 64.

"Throughout my career, she was in the background but she was the glue," Wayne Gretzky said at the time of her diagnosis. "She's always been the toughest in the family."

The Hockey Hall of Famer and coach of the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes took a leave of absence from the Coyotes and from his position as executive director of Canada's Olympic hockey teams on Dec. 17 to fly home as his mother's condition worsened.

Phyllis Gretzky died at Brantford General Hospital surrounded by her five children at about 10 p.m. last night following a bout of pneumonia that resulted in her being admitted to hospital Thursday.

"This has definitely been hard on everybody," son Glen Gretzky told the Brantford Expositor. "It's been a long 10 months and this is a very sad day."

Brother Brent, who plays for the Motor City Mechanics, also took a leave of absence from the United Hockey League team to be by his mother's side.

The down-to-earth mother of five was perhaps the least known of the Gretzky family as she tried to maintain privacy for all her children amid the spotlight of son Wayne's celebrity status.

Wayne's phenomenal success created much curiosity about the family. His father was comfortable in the public eye, while his mother preferred to keep a low profile. She sought to maintain a normal lifestyle, and the community around her respected that.

Phyllis Hockin was born and raised in Paris, Ont., of British ancestry. She was a descendant of Sir Isaac Brock, a general with British forces during the War of 1812.

She was 15 when she met Walter Gretzky, then 18, at a wiener roast on the Gretzky family farm, where their daughter Kim lives today.

"I took one look and knew she was the one for me," Walter Gretzky wrote in his book.

He described her as a "very attractive, strong-willed and popular girl."

She would attend his Jr. B hockey games, and he'd go watch her play softball.

They married three years later, in 1960, at the Anglican church in Paris, and they settled in Brantford. They purchased a home on Varadi Ave., and never left.

Wayne Douglas Gretzky was their firstborn child, and he learned how to play hockey on a backyard rink as his brothers would do after him.

The family grew. Kim arrived in 1963, Keith in 1967, Glen in 1969 and Brent in 1972.

Walter was away with Wayne at a hockey tournament in the United States when Brent was born.

"Phyllis remembers that when I walked into her room in the maternity ward the first thing I said to her was, `We won, we won,'" Walter recalled. "She looked at me like I was crazy and said, `It's a boy, Walter.'"

Hockey was always front and centre in the Gretzky family. New curtains for the living room once were vetoed in favour of skates for the boys.

For their 25th wedding anniversary in 1985, Wayne bought his parents a blue Cadillac. He'd tried on several occasions to buy them a new home but they declined. They didn't want to be seen as living off Wayne's fame. They did put on an addition, and Wayne's wife, Janet, gave them a pool.

Walter Gretzky's 1991 stroke at age 53, just after he'd retired from Bell Canada, resulted in a trying time for the entire family. His recovery was a painfully slow process. He wrote his book about it — On Family, Hockey and Healing — and a made-for-TV movie aired on CBC in November.

Phyllis Gretzky is survived by husband Walter, five children and 12 grandchildren.

 

[linuxgeek]

John Diebold

src

Computer visionary Diebold dead at 79

December 27, 2005, 12:37 PM EST

NEW YORK -- John Diebold, the business visionary who preached computerization as the future of worldwide industry during the era of Elvis and Eisenhower, died Monday at his suburban home. He was 79.

Diebold passed away in Bedford Hills, N.Y., from esophageal cancer, said his nephew, John B. Diebold.

Although Diebold is now hailed as a prophet of the computerized future, his zeal for computers was less than widespread in the 1950s. After graduating from the Harvard Business School in 1951, he was hired by a New York management consulting firm.

But he was fired three times by the company over his insistence that clients should consider computerizing. "I was too early," he once said. "It was before the first computer was installed for business use."

The native of Weehawken, N.J., then laid out his bold vision of a computerized future with his 1952 book "Automation," which presented the radical notion of using programmable devices in daily business. The influential book, since hailed as a management classic, was reissued on the 30th and 40th anniversaries of its publication.

Oddly enough, his vision of the future was conceived while serving in the Merchant Marines during World War II. He watched the ship's anti-aircraft fire control mechanisms, with its crude self-correcting mechanisms, and envisioned adapting the technology for business use.

Diebold, who held degrees in business and engineering, was also responsible for a dozen books _ including nine that collected his speeches and scholarly articles.

In 1954, when Elvis Presley was recording in Sun Studios and President Eisenhower was in the White House, Diebold launched his consulting firm John Diebold & Associates. That year, General Electric unveiled the first full-scale computer system for a business.

Diebold was now the go-to guy in a brand-new way of doing business. Over the next half-century, he provided counsel to AT&T, IBM, Boeing and Xerox, along with the cities of Chicago and New York and the countries of Venezuela and Jordan.

He was appointed by President Kennedy in 1963 to the U.S. delegation for the inaugural U.N. Conference on Science and Technology for Developing Countries.

A perfect example of Diebold's influence on daily life was his firm's 1961 creation of an electronic network for the Bowery Savings Bank in New York. The system allowed immediate updates of all transactions, allowing customers to bank at any branch.

His company also developed a network that changed the way hospitals keep their records, allowing researchers to collect medical records and statistics electronically.

Some of his ideas took time to reach fruition. In 1963, Diebold presented newspaper executives with a plan to use keyboards for inputting stories that could be edited on computer consoles _ a system that did not became standard until the 1980s.

Diebold is also survived by his wife, Vanessa, along with daughter Joan and son John. Funeral arrangements were incomplete, said his nephew.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Longtime Oriole Hendricks Dead of Heart Attack

Thursday, December 22, 2005

BALTIMORE, Dec. 21 -- Elrod Hendricks, who spent a team-record 37 years with the Baltimore Orioles as a player and coach, died Wednesday, December 21st, of a heart attack at a local hospital, a source with the team confirmed. Hendricks would have turned 65 on Thursday.

Hendricks was attending a dinner at the BWI Marriott in Linthicum when he fell unconscious. He was taken to the Baltimore-Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, where he died shortly after arriving. He is survived by his wife, Merle, and six children, four from a previous marriage.

"I'm shocked," Orioles Manager Sam Perlozzo said when reached late Wednesday night. Hendricks had left a message on Perlozzo's phone earlier on Wednesday.

"He sounded just as peachy and perky as ever," Perlozzo said. "You wouldn't believe how good he sounded."

Perlozzo said he saved the message because it had not come in clearly and he wanted to replay it later. "I'm probably now going to keep it on my phone," he said.

The popular Hendricks, who had been the longest tenured on-field member of the organization, suffered through various health problems the past two years, including a stroke on April 14 of this year and testicular cancer in 2003. Though he appeared to be fully recovered from the stroke, the Orioles, citing health concerns, decided at the end of this season not to renew his contract as bullpen coach.

"Everybody was worried after the stroke, but he seemed fine and was his normal self," Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons said on Wednesday night.

Hendricks, who had been the bullpen coach for the past 28 seasons, was disappointed with the decision. At the time, he said he would not accept a position with the team in community relations.

But Hendricks, who had spent much of his time in Baltimore promoting the Orioles in the community, eventually relented and accepted the position. On Monday, Hendricks, dressed as Santa Claus, appeared in downtown Baltimore with several players at an Orioles Christmas party for 100 children from the Harriet Tubman Elementary School and the City Springs Elementary School.

"He played Santa and was yelling 'Ho ho ho' and was as happy as can be giving out presents," said Gibbons, who attended the event. "Obviously this comes as a shock and out of nowhere. My respects go out to his family and his children."

Hendricks began his playing career with the Orioles in 1968, hitting .202 in 79 games. Perhaps his best moments on the field came in 1970, when he hit .364 against Cincinnati in the World Series, which Baltimore won in five games. Hendricks hit .273 in 24 postseason games with the Orioles and New York Yankees.

He played in the majors for 12 years, accumulating a .222 batting average in 658 games. For all but one of those seasons, Hendricks wore an Orioles uniform.

Hendricks became Earl Weaver's bullpen coach in 1977. He was inducted into the Orioles' Hall of Fame in 2001, becoming the first person still active with the team to be enshrined.

"Elrod was always a smiling face," Gibbons said. "I remember he yelled at me if I walked by him and didn't say hello."

 

[JennyOmanHill]

'Wonderful Life' Actress Brunetti Dies

LOS ANGELES Dec 24, 2005 — Argentina Brunetti, a character actress who played the worried wife of Mr. Martini in the classic film "It's a Wonderful Life," has died. She was 98.

Brunetti died in her sleep Tuesday in Rome, said Ben Ohmart, whose Boalsburg, Pa.,-based publishing house, BearManor Media, released Brunetti's autobiography. She had moved to Rome last year to live with her son, Mario, and his family, he said.

Brunetti starred in dozens of films and television shows over a career spanning more than 50 years.

She portrayed Dean Martin's mother in the 1953 comedy "The Caddy," in which Martin sings "That's Amore" to her, and performed with Desi Arnaz in the 1949 film "Holiday in Havana."

Her TV credits include "Hopalong Cassidy," "The Untouchables," "Kojak" and "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1907, Brunetti followed her Sicilian mother, actress Mimi Aguglia, into the theater. Beginning with a walk-on role at age 3 in the opera "Cavalleria Rusticana," Brunetti performed throughout Europe and South America.

Her Hollywood career began in 1937 with contract work dubbing the voices of Jeanette MacDonald and Norma Shearer into Italian. She earned her first credited role as an Italian immigrant in Frank Capra's 1946 holiday film "It's a Wonderful Life," in which James Stewart's character helps her large family buy a house.

Her autobiography, "In Sicilian Company," which chronicles her family's show business adventures, was released in October. She also hosted a weekly blog, "Argentina Brunetti's Hollywood Stories."

"She not only hoped for a better world, but did many things to make it happen and for this she will be truly missed by family and friends," said a release on her Web site.

 

[linuxgeek]

Patrick Cranshaw

src

'Old School' actor Cranshaw dies at 86

Best known for his role as 'Blue' in the 2003 comedy

Sunday, January 1, 2006; Posted: 3:08 p.m. EST

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Patrick Cranshaw, who achieved cult-like status as fraternity brother "Blue" in the 2003 comedy "Old School," has died. He was 86.

The veteran character actor died of natural causes Wednesday at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, his personal manager, Jeff Ross, told the Los Angeles Times.

Throughout his career spanning nearly 50 years, Cranshaw had dozens of roles, including a bank teller in "Bonnie and Clyde" and a demolition derby owner in "Herbie: Fully Loaded" (2005). Other credits included "Bandolero" (1968), "Best in Show" (2000) and "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994), as well as television series "Mork & Mindy" and "The Dukes of Hazzard."

But he was probably best known for his role as elderly frat boy Joseph "Blue" Palasky in "Old School," starring Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn.

In the hit comedy, he was about to wrestle two topless girls but dies of an apparent heart attack from overexcitment. After singing "Dust in the Wind" at Blue's funeral, Ferrell's character calls out in agony: "You're my boy, Blue!"

Fans would yell the signature line whenever they saw the actor and erected Web sites paying homage to his "Old School" character. He was even invited to meet with the Texas Rangers when they played the Angels in Anaheim.

"It was a great experience and an acknowledgment for him," Ross said. "He loved the recognition and would turn back and say, 'I'm your boy Blue."'

Cranshaw was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 1919 and became interested in acting while entertaining American troops before World War II.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Character actor Vincent Schiavelli dies

ROME (AP) — Character actor Vincent Schiavelli, who appeared in scores of movies, including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Ghost, died Monday, December 26th, at his home in Sicily. He was 57.

He died of lung cancer, said Salvatore Glorioso, mayor of Polizzi Generosa, the Sicilian village where Schiavelli resided.

The New York-born Schiavelli, whose gloomy look made him perfect to play creepy or eccentric characters, made appearances in some 150 film and television productions, according to the Internet Movie Database.

In Fast Times at Ridgemont High, he played the science teacher Mr. Vargas, who was married to the character portrayed by Lana Clarkson.

Schiavelli also appeared as Salieri's valet in Amadeus, as Cuckoo's Nest patient Frederickson, the subway ghost in Ghost, the organ grinder in Batman Returns and as Chester in The People vs. Larry Flynt. He was selected in 1997 by Vanity Fair as one of the United States' best character actors.

Schiavelli studied acting at New York University's School of the Arts.

He also wrote three cookbooks and many food articles for magazines and newspapers, possibly inheriting his love for cooking from his grandfather, who had been a cook for an Italian baron before moving to the United States, according to IMDB.

His books include Many Beautiful Things, which was published in 2002 and is a compilation of recipes and anecdotes about his visits to Polizzi Generosa, the small hilltop town that was his grandparents' birthplace.

"He was a great friend, a great chef and a great talker," Glorioso, who has known Schiavelli for almost four years, said in a telephone interview.

"With a smooth, witty conversation, he would make everything look more colorful. I've lost a brother," he said.

Schiavelli also had worked in Italy, including in 2001 when he directed a theater piece in Sicily based on nine fables.

 

[Violette]

Updated: 01:00 PM EST
Grammy-Winning Singer Lou Rawls Dies
Music Icon Loses Fight With Lung Cancer
By JEFF WILSON, AP

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 6) - Lou Rawls, the velvet-voiced singer who started as a church choir boy and went on to record such classic tunes as "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," died Friday of cancer. He was 72.

Rawls died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was hospitalized last month for treatment of lung and brain cancer, said his publicist, Paul Shefrin. His wife, Nina, was at his bedside when he died.

Rawls' family and Shefrin said the singer was 72, although other records indicate he was 70.

Rawls' deep, smooth voice was his trademark, and he used it in a variety of genres.

"I've gone the full spectrum, from gospel to blues to jazz to soul to pop," Rawls once said on his Web site. "And the public has accepted what I've done through it all."

A longtime community activist, Rawls played a major role in United Negro College Fund telethons in the 1980s that raised more than $200 million. In the '60s he often visited schools, playgrounds and community centers.

Rawls' introduction to music came in his hometown of Chicago from his grandmother, who loved gospel. He moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s to join a touring gospel group, the Pilgrim Travelers.

After a two-year stint in the Army, Rawls rejoined the Pilgrim Travelers in Los Angeles, where he sang with his childhood friend Sam Cooke. Rawls performed with Dick Clark at the Hollywood Bowl in 1959, and he later he opened for The Beatles at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

Rawls was playing small blues and R&B clubs in Los Angeles when his four-octave range caught the ear of a Capitol Records producer, who signed him to the label in 1962.

His debut effort, "Stormy Monday," recorded with the Les McCann Trio, was the first of his 52 albums. In 1966, his "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing" topped the charts and earned Rawls his first two Grammy nominations.

He won three Grammys in a career that spanned nearly five decades and included the hits "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)," "Natural Man" and "Lady Love." He released his most recent album, "Seasons 4 U," in 1998 on his own label, Rawls & Brokaw Records.

But his trademark will always be "You'll Never Find," released in 1976 and written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, architects of the classic "Philadelphia Sound."

Rawls also appeared in 18 movies, including "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Blues Brothers 2000," and 16 television series, including "Fantasy Island" and "The Fall Guy."

In 1976, Rawls became the corporate spokesman for the Anheuser-Busch Cos. breweries.

Rawls was diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2004 and brain cancer in May 2005.

Besides his wife, Rawls is survived by four children: Louanna Rawls, Lou Rawls Jr., Kendra Smith and Aiden Rawls.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete, Shefrin said.


01/06/06 12:26 EST

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Brooklyn actor who said 'Time to make the doughnuts' dies at 83

AP New York

NEW YORK -- Michael Vale, the actor best known for his portrayal of the sleepy-eyed Dunkin' Donuts baker who said "Time to make the doughnuts," has died at age 83.

Vale died Saturday, December 24th, in New York of complications from diabetes, his son-in law Rick Reil said.

Vale's long-running character for the doughnut maker's ad campaign, Fred the Baker, lasted 15 years, until he retired in 1997.

Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Donuts said in a statement that Vale's character "became a beloved American icon that permeated our culture and touched millions with his sense of humor and humble nature."

Vale was born in Brooklyn and studied acting at the Dramatic Workshop in New York with classmates Tony Curtis, Ben Gazzara and Rod Steiger.

The veteran of the Broadway stage, film and television appeared in more than 1,300 TV commercials.

 

[sweet soft kiss]

Barry Cowsill, missing since Katrina, found dead

Thu Jan 5, 2006 10:16 PM ET

By Chris Morris

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The body of Barry Cowsill, singer-bassist for the '60s pop act the Cowsills, has been discovered in New Orleans, more than four months after he went missing when Hurricane Katrina hit the city. He was 51.

Cowsill's body was recovered December 28 from the Chartres Street Wharf, according to Dr. Louis Cataldie, head of the state hurricane morgue. The body was identified January 3, based on dental records. A cause of death was not determined.

A Wednesday posting on the Cowsill family's Web site brought the discovery to light.

Cowsill had not been heard from since he left a message on his sister Susan's cell phone September 1. A former member of the Cowsills and the Continental Drifters and a fellow New Orleans resident, Susan was unhurt in the disaster.

With Susan, mother Barbara and brothers Billy, Bob, John and Paul, Barry Cowsill was a member of the popular Rhode Island band that bore the family name. The group charted eight pop singles from 1967-69; its biggest hits, "The Rain, the Park and Other Things" and the title song from the musical "Hair," both reached No. 2 nationally.

The Cowsills served as the model for the Partridge Family, a fictitious family band fronted by David Cassidy and Shirley Jones, whose 1970-74 TV series spawned its own run of hits.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

 

[Beco]

Thu Jan 5, 2006 10:16 PM ET

By Chris Morris

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The body of Barry Cowsill, singer-bassist for the '60s pop act the Cowsills, has been discovered in New Orleans, more than four months after he went missing when Hurricane Katrina hit the city. He was 51.

Wow, I completly forgot about him/them until now. RIP Barry Cowsill.

 

[linuxgeek]

My Lai Pilot Hugh Thompson

src

Hugh Thompson Jr. (April 15, 1943 – January 6, 2006), a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot honored for rescuing Vietnamese civilians from his fellow GIs during the My Lai massacre, has died at age 62.

Early in the morning of March 16, 1968, Thompson, door-gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta came upon U.S. ground troops killing Vietnamese civilians in and around the village of My Lai.

They landed the helicopter in the line of fire between American troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians and pointed their own guns at the U.S. soldiers to prevent more killings.

Colburn and Andreotta had provided cover for Thompson as he went forward to confront the leader of the U.S. forces. Thompson later coaxed civilians out of a bunker so they could be evacuated, and then landed his helicopter again to pick up a wounded child they transported to a hospital. Their efforts led to the cease-fire order at My Lai.

In 1998, the Army honored the three men with the prestigious Soldier's Medal, the highest award for bravery not involving conflict with an enemy. It was a posthumous award for Andreotta, who had been killed in battle three weeks after My Lai.

"It was the ability to do the right thing even at the risk of their personal safety that guided these soldiers to do what they did," Army Maj. Gen. Michael Ackerman said at the 1998 ceremony. The three "set the standard for all soldiers to follow."

Lt. William L. Calley, a platoon leader, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killings, but served just three years under house arrest when then-President Nixon reduced his sentence.

Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson,_Jr.

 

[sweet soft kiss]

One of the Best

Jack Snow, 62; All-Pro Split End Had 11-Year Career With L.A. Rams
By Shav Glick, Times Staff Writer

Jack Snow, a Pro Bowl split end who played 11 years with the Los Angeles Rams before becoming part of its radio broadcast team, died Monday night. He was 62.

Snow, who had been battling a staph infection over the last two months, died at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, said Duane Lewis, a Ram spokesman.

A consensus All-American at Notre Dame before becoming the Rams' first draft choice in 1965, Snow played his entire career with Los Angeles before retiring in 1975. In 1967 he was named to the Pro Bowl after catching 28 passes for eight touchdowns and 735 yards, a 26.2-yard average.

During his career the 6-foot 2-inch, 210-pound Snow caught 340 passes for 6,012 yards and 45 touchdowns.

He and his son, J.T., a Gold Glove-winning first baseman who played for the San Francisco Giants for the last several seasons, were estranged from 1996 to 1998 in a high-profile family split. They patched up their differences when Jack Snow's wife, Mary Carol, was battling cancer. She died in 1998.

Before that, for several years, J.T. did not speak with his father or mother.

"Those things have all been rectified, and it's fun being a part of his life again," Jack said in 2002 when J.T. Snow played for the Giants in the World Series against the Angels.

The elder Snow, a color analyst on Ram broadcasts, was last in the booth Nov. 20 during a home game loss to Arizona.

He still ranks among the team leaders in several receiving categories.

"The guy ran the best patterns of any receiver during our period," former teammate and Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones said. "He was one of the few guys we had that would go across the middle and catch that football. He was tough, tough as nails."

In recent years, Snow helped out during practice, voluntarily, mostly with receivers.

"I remember my first year. Obviously I'm a free-agent nobody and one of the last guys in the receiver line, and he was always paying particular attention to me, making sure my details were right and giving me positive feedback," Ram receiver Dane Looker said recently.

Notre Dame recruited Snow from St. Anthony's High in Long Beach and he played the 1962-63-64 seasons with the Fighting Irish. In his senior year he was ranked second nationally in receptions while setting a Notre Dame single-season record of 60 catches for 1,114 yards and nine touchdowns. In the season opener against Wisconsin, Snow caught passes for 217 yards — a school single-game best at the time — and two touchdowns.

He also was a member of the 1965 College All-Star team.

"He was a great teammate, one of the hardest-working guys that I played with," Jones said. "A terrible loss, a terrible shocker. Jack was a young man."

Snow's is the latest of a series of contagious infections that have plagued the Rams, which moved to St. Louis 10 years ago. In 2003, five players developed drug-resistant infections after suffering turf burns, and two or three San Francisco 49ers developed infections after playing the Rams early that season, according to the Associated Press. The outbreak was the subject of an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In August, then-linebackers coach Joe Vitt was hospitalized three days with a staph infection in his left hand. Vitt took over as head coach of the Rams in October, when Mike Martz was found to have endocarditis, a bacterial infection of the heart's lining.

In addition to son J.T., Snow is survived by daughters Michelle and Stephanie.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.

 

[sticky_keyboard]

Jack Snow, 62; All-Pro Split End Had 11-Year Career With L.A. Rams

He was one of those guys I always enjoyed watching play - except when he was playing against the Packers. He was quite a receiver. I always wondered if J.T. was any connection to him.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[RoryN]

Oscar winner Shelley Winters dies at 85

January 14, 2006

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. --Shelley Winters, the forceful, outspoken star who graduated from blond bombshell parts to dramas, winning Academy Awards as supporting actress in "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "A Patch of Blue," has died. She was 85.

Winters died of heart failure early Saturday at The Rehabilitation Centre of Beverly Hills, her publicist Dale Olson said. She had been hospitalized in October after suffering a heart attack.

The actress sustained her long career by repeatedly reinventing herself. Starting as a nightclub chorus girl, advanced to supporting roles in New York plays, then became famous as a Hollywood sexpot.

A devotee of the Actors Studio, she switched to serious roles as she matured. Her Oscars were for her portrayal of mothers. Still working well into her 70s, she had a recurring role as Roseanne's grandmother on the 1990s TV show "Roseanne."

In 1959's "The Diary of Anne Frank," she was Petronella Van Daan, mother of Peter Van Daan and one of eight real-life Jewish refugees in World War II Holland who hid for more than a year in cramped quarters until they were betrayed and sent to Nazi death camps. The socially conscious Winters donated her Oscar statuette to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

In 1965's "Patch of Blue," she portrayed a hateful, foul-mouthed mother who tries to keep her blind daughter, who is white, apart from the kind black man who has befriended her.

Ever vocal on social and political matters, Winters was a favored guest on television talk shows, and she demonstrated her frankness in two autobiographies: "Shelley, Also Known as Shirley" (1980) and "Shelley II: The Middle of My Century" (1989).

She wrote openly in them of her romances with Burt Lancaster, William Holden, Marlon Brando, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable and other leading men.

"I've had it all," she exulted after her first book became a best seller. "I'm excited about the literary aspects of my career. My concentration is there now."

Typically Winters, she also had a complaint about her literary fame: While reviewers treated her book as a serious human document, she said, talk show hosts Phil Donohue and Johnny Carson "only want to know about my love affairs."

Winters, whose given name was Shirley Schrift, was appearing in the Broadway hit "Rosalinda" when Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn offered her a screen test. A Columbia contact and a new name -- Shelley Winters -- followed, but all the good roles at the studio were going to Jean Arthur in those days.

Winters' early films included such light fare as "Knickerbocker Holiday," "Sailor's Holiday," "Cover Girl," "Tonight and Every Night" and "Red River."

When her contract ended, Winters returned to New York as Ado Annie in "Oklahoma!"

She would soon be called back and signed to a seven-year contract at Universal, where she was transformed into a blonde bombshell. She vamped her way through a number of potboilers for the studio, including "South Sea Sinner," with Liberace as her dance-hall pianist, and "Frenchie," as wild saloon owner Frenchie Fontaine, out to avenge her father's murder.

The only hint of her future as an actress came in 1948's "A Double Life" as a trashy waitress strangled by a Shakespearian actor, Ronald Colman. The role won Colman an Oscar.

"A Place in the Sun" in 1951 brought her first Oscar nomination and established her as a serious actress. She desperately sought the role of the pregnant factory girl drowned by Montgomery Clift so he could marry Elizabeth Taylor. The director, George Stevens, rejected her at first for being too sexy.

"So I scrubbed off all my makeup, pulled my hair back and sat next to him at the Hollywood Athletic Club without his even recognizing me because I looked so plain. That got me the part," she recalled in a 1962 interview.

Winters received her final Oscar nomination, for 1972's "The Poseidon Adventure," in which she was one of a handful of passengers scrambling desperately to survive aboard an ocean liner turned upside down by a tidal wave. By then she had put on a good deal of weight, and following a scene in which her character must swim frantically she charmed audiences with the line: "In the water I'm a very skinny lady."

Although she was in demand as a character actress, Winters continued to study her craft. She attended Charles Laughton's Shakespeare classes and worked at the Actors Studio, both as student and teacher. She appeared on Broadway as the distraught wife of a drug addict in "A Hatful of Rain" and as the Marx Brothers' mother in "Minnie's Boys."

Among her other notable films: "Night of the Hunter," "Executive Suite," "I Am a Camera," "The Big Knife," "Odds Against Tomorrow," "The Young Savages," "Lolita," "The Chapman Report," "The Greatest Story Ever Told," "A House Is Not a Home," "Alfie," "Harper," "Pete's Dragon," "Stepping Out" and "Over the Brooklyn Bridge."

During her 50 years as a widely known personality, Winters was rarely out of the news. Her stormy marriages, her romances with famous stars, her forays into politics and feminist causes kept her name before the public. She delighted in giving provocative interviews and seemed to have an opinion on everything.

Robert Mitchum once told her: "Shelley, arguing with you is like trying to hold a conversation with a swarm of bumblebees."

The revelations in her autobiographies provided endless material for interviewers and gossip writers. She wrote of an enchanted evening when she and Burt Lancaster attended "South Pacific" in New York, dined elegantly, then retired to his hotel room.

"This chance meeting proved to be the beginning of a long but painful romance," she wrote. "Despite the immediate and powerful chemistry between us, the love and the friendship, some wise part of me knew that he would never abandon his children while they were young and needed him."

She also told of a dalliance with William Holden after a studio Christmas party. In a glamorous, real-life version of the play "Same Time, Next Year," they continued their annual Yuletide rendezvous for seven years.

She wrote that despite their intimacy, they continued to refer to each other as "Mr. Holden" and "Miss Winters," and when they met on the set of the 1981 film "S.O.B." she said, "Hello, Mr. Holden." He smiled and replied, "Shelley, after your book, I think you should call me Bill."

Shirley Schrift was born on Aug. 18, 1920, and grew up New York, where she appeared in high school plays.

"My childhood is a blur of memories," she wrote in the first of her autobiographies. "Money was so scarce in my family that at the age of 9 I was selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door.

"It was during this stage of my life that I developed a whole fantasy world; reality was too unbearable. Every chance I got, I was at the movies. I adored them."

Working as a chorus girl and garment district model helped finance her drama studies. She gained practical training by appearing in plays and musicals on the summer Borscht Circuit in the Catskill mountains.

During the Detroit run of a musical revue, she married businessman Paul "Mack" Mayer on Jan. 1, 1942. He entered the Army Air Corps, and after the war, the pair found they had little in common. They divorced in 1948.

Winters' second and third marriages were brief and tempestuous: to Vittorio Gassman (1952-1954) and Anthony Franciosa (1957-1960). The combination of a Jewish Brooklynite and Italian actors seemed destined to produce fireworks, and both unions resulted in headlines.

A daughter, Vittoria, resulted from the marriage to Gassman. She became a successful physician.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

One of my all-time favorites

Oscar winner Shelley Winters dies at 85

Ms. Winters was truly an amazingly honest woman! I adored her tv interviews (anyone remember her on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show where she was in a fur coat with supposedly nothing on underneath?).

"A Patch of Blue" still resonates in my mind, and she was perfect as Rosanne's Grandmother!

A true treasure; I hope they present a special day of some of the many memorable roles she portrayed on the big screen.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Ex-NHL player Marc Potvin dies at 38

Kalamazoo, MI (Sports Network) - Marc Potvin, head coach of the United Hockey League's Adirondack Frostbite and a former National Hockey League player, was found dead in a hotel room on Friday, January 13th.

Potvin, who played parts of seven seasons with four NHL teams, was 38 years old. The cause of death will not be determined until an autopsy is completed.

The Frostbite were scheduled to play the Kalamazoo Wings Friday night. That game has been postponed.

Potvin had been Adirondack's head coach since midway through the 2003-04 season. The Frostbite currently stand in second place in the UHL's Eastern Division with a 21-12-2 record and 44 points.

"We are deeply saddened by this loss today," said UHL president/CEO Richard Brosal. "Marc was not only a respected coach in this league, but also a great friend to us all."

A ninth-round choice of Detroit in the 1986 NHL draft, Potvin participated in 14 games with the Red Wings between the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons. He later played with Los Angeles, Hartford and Boston and was a member of the 1992-93 Kings team that reached the Stanley Cup finals.

The right wing's final NHL season came with the Bruins in 1995-96.

Potvin is survived by his wife, Maria, and the couple's two children.



An autopsy was performed on Marc Potvin on Saturday, but a final report will not be released for another two to three weeks.

 

[linuxgeek]

Wilson Pickett

src

Soul Pioneer Wilson Pickett Dies at 64

Wilson Pickett, the Alabama-born soul singer who brought a raw groove and growling energy to 1960s R&B music with hits such as "In the Midnight Hour" and "Mustang Sally," died Thursday. He was 64.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member died at a hospital near his Reston, Va. home after suffering a heart attack, according to a statement released by his personal manager, Margo Lewis. Chris Tuthill, of the management company Talent Source, said Pickett had been suffering from health problems for the past year.

Pickett's career spanned four decades. Before slowing down in 2005, he had continued to perform, earning a Grammy nomination for the 1999 album "It's Harder Now," which also received three W.C. Handy Awards, the in-genre trophy for blues and soul recordings.

Despite his longevity as a recording artist, Pickett's career was defined by his raspy, forceful delivery on a run of 1960s R&B hits, among them "Land of 1000 Dances," "Funky Broadway" and the telephonically titled "634-5789."

The singer was nicknamed "the Wicked Pickett" for his gruff power, and no recording captured that intensity more famously than the revving 1966 hit "Mustang Sally," released by Atlantic Records. That song and "In the Midnight Hour" were touchstone hits for young 1960s music fans. They were revived memorably for a new generation by the 1991 Alan Parker film "The Commitments" and its hit soundtrack. The popular film's plot is about a scruffy collective of young Irish musicians and their ill-fated attempt to meet and perform with their hero, Pickett.

Pickett never appears in that film (he did show up in two less-celebrated movies, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 1978 and "Blues Brothers 2000") but he tapped into the film's spirit and success by performing at the Los Angeles and New York premieres of the movie. That was a shining moment, but his own youth had been as gritty and melancholy as the hard-luck North Dublin characters in "The Commitments."

Pickett was born March 18, 1941, in Prattville, Ala., and his earliest music experience was in Baptist church choirs. His home life, as the youngest of 11 children, was less uplifting.

"The baddest woman in my book … my mother," the singer told author Gerri Hirshey for the book "Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music." "I get scared of her now. She used to hit me with anything, skillets, stove wood…(one time I ran away and) cried for a week. Stayed in the woods, me and my little dog."

He recalled that he got another beating when his preacher grandfather caught him with a copy of Louis Jordan's raucous but tame hit, "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens." Eventually, Pickett had enough and as a teen he went north to live his father in Detroit. There, Pickett performed in the gospel harmony group the Violinaires in the 1950s, but by the end of the decade he was pushing into more secular sounds, as were many of his contemporaries who had brought their Southern church sounds north but were ready to revamp them.

In 1959, Pickett became a member of the Falcons, along with future Memphis soul notables Joe Stubbs (brother of Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops), Sir Mack Rice and Eddie Floyd. The Falcons hit "I Found a Love" helped land Pickett a deal with Atlantic Records. There, he hooked up with the famous producer Jerry Wexler.

Wexler would be a guiding hand during the 1965 sessions for Stax Records that included the memorable recording of "In the Midnight Hour," a hit that found Pickett delivering a performance that was both polished and raw at the same time. Wexler, whose resume includes famous sessions with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and Dusty Springfield, said those Pickett tapings were easily among his most memorable moments.

"There was something about those records and Wilson's voice — those were some of the funkiest, deepest grooving, in-the-pocket recordings I ever heard," Wexler said Thursday from his home in Florida. "The thing about Wilson was he was just a great screamer, but he did it with control. James Brown would scream and it was a scream, but Wilson could scream notes. His voice was powerful, like a buzz saw, but it wasn't ever out of his control. It was always melodic."

Wexler described Pickett as a "black panther" in those days before the term took on its political connotation. The nickname spoke to the singer's glower and confidence, but those same attributes may have hindered Pickett's career. Steve Cropper, the guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, was a key sideman in the soul explosion of the 1960s and he co-wrote "In the Midnight Hour" with Pickett.

Cropper said Thursday that the same passion that made magic on vinyl could rub people raw in person — it was also one of the reasons that Pickett's career never earned the acclaim showered on smoother singers such as Al Green and Sam Cooke or the fiery but charismatic Otis Redding.

"It's absolutely true, and I think some of that had to do with Wilson himself," Cropper said. "He could be difficult, and he didn't really reach out to people. It wasn't like Otis — if you met Otis, he was your best friend on the spot. He engaged people. Wilson was more distant and sometimes he had that angry-at-the-world attitude. But if you got in a studio, he was amazing. Just amazing."

The seesaw between ability and recognition was made clear in a Times review from 1982 of the singer's show at a local club; months earlier, Brown had sold out the venue, but Pickett came to the stage to find the room half empty. Still, he raced though an intense performance that included "dramatic spoken passages, extended vocal cadenzas (usually delivered in falsetto) and dropping to bended knees … to scream," the reviewer wrote. Somehow, it all worked, thanks to Pickett's "sheer command and a singularly candid sense of humor."

Pickett is survived by two sons, Lynderrick and Michael, and two daughters, Veda and Saphan. A viewing is being arranged in Virginia next week, and then he will be interred with his mother, Lena, in Louisville, KY.

 

[sweet soft kiss]

Sex Change Surgeon Dies

Wilson Pickett was one of my all time favorites... Marvin Gaye with a growl...

and now a less celebrated name

Sex Change Doctor Dead At 82
TRINIDAD, Colorado, Jan. 18, 2006(AP) Dr. Stanley Biber, a small-town physician who said he performed more than 4,500 sex change operations in his career, has died, a friend and funeral home owner said. He was 82.

Biber died in Pueblo, where he had been hospitalized for complications from pneumonia. The cause of death was not announced Tuesday.

"We've lost a tremendous friend in our community," said Mary Winter, owner of the Cormi Funeral Home in Trinidad, a town of 9,300 near the Colorado-New Mexico border.

Winter said Monday that Biber was her family's doctor for generations. "He was just a great man," she said. She said no public services had been scheduled.

Biber, an Iowa native, moved to Trinidad in 1954 after serving as an Army surgeon in South Korea. As the town's only general surgeon, he delivered babies, removed appendixes and performed other more routine operations.

He told The Associated Press in a 2000 interview that he performed his first sex-change operation in 1969. A social worker he had met through a welfare case asked for the surgery, and he agreed after talking to a New York physician who had done some sex reassignment operations, and getting sketches from Johns Hopkins University.

Word spread, and at one point he was performing 150 transsexual operations a year, he said.

He stopped doing surgery in 2003 and closed his practice in 2004, at age 81, saying insurers refused to renew his malpractice coverage. He said the companies gave no reason but he suspected it was because of his age.

Biber was a former Las Animas County commissioner and also had a small ranch east of Trinidad.

Residents of Trinidad have said the town was largely accepting of Biber's sex change practice. Former Trinidad Mayor Harry Sayre said in 2004 that Biber was a pillar of the community.

"I consider him probably one of the outstanding leaders in Trinidad of the last century," Sayre said. "He and I had our battles many years ago, but I consider him a real true friend."

Biber's protege, Dr. Marci Bowers, underwent a sex-change operation several years ago and now performs an average of five such operations a week in Trinidad.

"I think he put the operation on the world map," Bowers said. "He made it safe, reproducible and functional and he brought happiness to an awful lot of people. And when you wanted a voice of reason, he was always there."

 

[Tati]

Tony Franciosa

Actor Anthony Franciosa, best known for his magazine-executive role on NBC's 1968-71 series The Name of the Game, died Thursday at UCLA Medical Center after suffering a massive stroke, according to his publicist. He was 77.

The actor's wife of more than 35 years, Rita, and other family members were present.

Franciosa also was once married to Oscar winner Shelley Winters, who died last weekend at age 85.

A product of the New York streets, the tough guy was born Anthony Papaleo (Franciosa was his mother's maiden name). "Getting in the first blow was something I learned in childhood," he once told an interviewer, according to the Associated Press.

After working in odd jobs and sometimes sleeping in flophouses, at 18 he attended an audition for actors at the YMCA. He later studied at the Actors Studio and the New School for Social Research, which was where he met Winters.

Among his movies were A Hatful of Rain (he also played the role earlier, on Broadway), A Face in the Crowd, Wild Is the Wind, The Long Hot Summer, Rio Conchos and The Pleasure Seekers.

Besides Winters, Franciosa was married to writer Beatrice Bakalyar and real estate agent Judy Kanter, with whom he had a daughter, Nina. His lasting marriage was to Rita Thiel, a German fashion model. They had sons Christopher and Marco.

 

[KindaKinky]

Chris Penn Found Dead at 43

https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=404423

Click on this link for more information.

 

[JennyOmanHill]

Former Rams Receiver Ron Jessie Dies

Tue Jan 17, 6:36 PM ET

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Ron Jessie, a former receiver who played 11 seasons in the NFL, has died. He was 57.

Jessie died Friday after suffering a heart attack in his Huntington Beach home, said Brandon Jessie, one of his two sons.

Jessie was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the eighth round of the 1971 draft, but was traded that summer to the Detroit Lions, where he played for four seasons. Detroit traded him to the Los Angeles Rams in 1975 for a first-round draft pick.

Jessie's best year was 1976, when he made the Pro Bowl after catching 34 passes for 779 yards and six touchdowns for the Rams.

He was a member of the 1979 team that went to the Super Bowl, but injuries prevented him from playing in the 31-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He played two more years with the Buffalo Bills before retiring after the 1981 season. He finished his career with 265 receptions for 4,276 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Jessie played college football at the University of Kansas, where he was also an All-American long jumper.

Jessie is survived by his wife, Sharon; a daughter, Felicia; and another son, Ron Jr.