Literotica Cemetary

[JennyOHill2]

Royals LHP Splittorff dies at 64 after fighting cancer

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Paul Splittorff, the winningest pitcher in Kansas City Royals history and a popular broadcaster for the team, died Wednesday, 10 days after his family announced he was battling oral cancer and melanoma. He was 64.

The Royals said Splittorff died at his home in the Kansas City suburb of Blue Springs, Mo., of complications from skin cancer.

Fans first noticed on opening day in 2009 that his speech had become slurred. He had kept his health issues strictly private until his plight was reported by columnist Greg Hall in the online site “KC Confidential.”

“He didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him,” said Royals broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre.

Drafted by the expansion Royals in the 25th round in 1968, Splittorff spent his entire 15-year career in Kansas City. A big, blond and bespectacled left-hander with a high leg kick, he often appeared to squint into the catcher’s mitt as though he was having trouble seeing the sign. This sometimes proved disconcerting to hitters who wondered if they should be ready to bail out if the ball came flying toward their head.

He retired during the 1984 season with a club-record 166 victories.

“When you’ve known somebody for so long and they’ve been such a big part of your life, it’s never easy to say goodbye,” Frank White, the Royals’ eight-time Gold Glove-winning second baseman, told The Associated Press. “Our kids went to the same schools and grew up together. I have so many memories of Paul.”

Hall of Fame second baseman George Brett called Splittorff’s death a tremendous loss for the community and the team.

“He helped put the Kansas City Royals on the map and was such a great player for so many years,” Brett told KMBZ radio. “He wasn’t a real boisterous guy in the clubhouse. He just went about his work quietly and let everybody else get the headlines.”

After making his major league debut on Sept. 23, 1970, Splittorff became a mainstay in the rotation. His best year was 1973 when he went 20-11, the Royals’ first 20-game winner.

Splittorff was not a hard thrower but had command of several pitches and always prepared carefully for every outing.

“He really got the most out of his ability,” said Denny Matthews, the Royals’ hall of fame radio broadcaster who called every major league game Splittorff pitched and became his close friend.

In 15 seasons, Splittorff was 166-143 with a 3.81 ERA. He also holds the Royals record for starts (392) and innings pitched (2,554 2-3).

He was particularly effective in the Royals’ memorable playoff battles with the New York Yankees in the 1970s and ‘80s. Against a Yankees’ lineup stocked with left-handed hitters, he was 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA.

He was also teased by former teammates for holding the informal record of giving up the longest home run in Kauffman Stadium history — a shot by Chicago White Sox slugger Dick Allen that carried almost to the top of the hill behind left field.

“Some people say Bo Jackson hit one farther,” White said with a grin. “Bo’s was higher, but Dick Allen’s was all the way to the back of the hill. Paul got to where he could laugh about it, too.”

 

[JennyOHill2]

'Grease' Actor Jeff Conaway Dead at 60

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'Grease' actor Jeff Conaway died Friday at age 60, Radar Online reports and The Hollywood Reporter confirms. The news comes just a day after reports that the star would be taken off life support.

Radar calls it "the end a long, sad road of addiction that made him one of Hollywood's cautionary tales." Conaway, known for his roles as Bobby Wheeler on 'Taxi' and T-Bird Kenickie in 1978's iconic 'Grease,' was a New York native who battled substance abuse for much of his career.

Conaway was checked into an L.A. hospital on May 11. As of May 26, he was reported to have been experiencing no brain activity. A source told Radar that Conaway's feeding tube had been removed as of Thursday afternoon and that "Jeff is in no pain whatsoever."

Conaway rocketed to fame in 1978 with his starring role in 'Grease' and in the same year began a three-year run on 'Taxi.' Roles dried up in the 1980s as his addictions worsened, but Conaway later found steady work on the sci-fi hit 'Babylon 5.'

Conaway, who had no children, was married twice -- once to Olivia Newton-John's sister Rona from 1980 to 1985, and again to Kerri Young in 1990.

In 2008, a disheveled and unhealthy Conaway joined celebrity doctor Drew Pinsky's VH1 show, 'Celebrity Rehab,' to address his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Sadly, his sobriety attempt failed and last year, the actor was injured in a fall while under the influence of OxyContin and methadone.

This time, in May of 2011, it was originally reported that Conaway was hospitalized due to a prescription drug overdose, but Pinsky later insisted the star was suffering from pneumonia and sepsis, a dangerous blood infection. Pinsky tweeted on May 21, "We all need to pray for him. Not doing well today suddenly."

Of his televised problems with addiction, Conaway told THR in 2009, "I think people are just enamored with other people's problems because they have enough of their own, and they want to stop thinking about their own and think about somebody else's for a while. I think that's what television is all about, really."

Earlier this year, Conaway and on-and-off-again girlfriend Victoria Spinoza filed restraining orders against each other. The night before Conaway was hospitalized, Spinoza paid him a visit that ignited controversy within the star's family.

Conaway's sister, Carla Shreve, filed a May 18 restraining order against Spinoza, alleging that after a recent breakup, Conaway feared for his life.

"He had just secured an apartment ... and was calling friends and family anxious to start this part of his life without her," reads Shreve's restraining order request, obtained by PEOPLE.

The magazine calls Conaway's rocky relationship with Spinoza "volatile," noting restraining orders each filed against the other earlier in 2011. Spinoza's friend and spokesperson, Aubry Fisher, tells PEOPLE Spinoza cared for Conaway for seven years and deems the new restraining order "horrible and wrong."

"When Vikki went to visit Jeff in the hospital, she sat by his side," Fisher said, referencing the day before the restraining order went through. "They were in the process of reconciling."

 

[clutch1]

He took such good care of himself, who would've figured.

 

[JennyOHill2]

He took such good care of himself, who would've figured.

It certainly wasn't a surprise. Just very sad.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Jack Kevorkian Dead: Assisted Suicide Advocate Dies At Age 83

Jack Kevorkian, the controversial assisted suicide advocate, has died at a Detroit-area hospital at the age of 83.

Kevorkian's attorney and friend, Mayer Morganroth, told The Associated Press that he died early Friday morning at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, where Kevorkian had been hospitalized for kidney and respiratory problems.

"He says nurses played classical music by Kevorkian's favorite, Johan Sebastian Bach, before he died," the AP reports.

An official cause of Kevorkian's death is not yet known.

Kevorkian, a proponent of "right-to-die" legislation, earned the nickname "Doctor Death" after a string of assisted suicides in the 1990s.

He was released from a Michigan prison in 2007 after serving eight years of a 10 to 15-year sentence for second-degree murder. (Kevorkian was acquitted in three earlier trials; a fourth ended in a mistrial.)

In the 1999 case, Kevorkian administered a deadly combination of drugs to Thomas Youk, who was suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, the devastating neurodegenerative disease that can lead to paralysis. It was captured on video and broadcast on "60 Minutes."

"It's not necessarily murder," Kevorkian told Mike Wallace in an interview. "But it doesn't bother me what you call it. I know what it is."

Kevorkian, who was trained as medical pathologist but stripped of his medical license, admitted to being present in at least 130 suicides of terminally ill patients between 1990 and 1999. He also developed a suicide machine, which according to WIRED, was essentially an automated drip hooked up to an IV needle that patients could personally trigger.

Many groups and individuals were vehement in their opposition to Kevorkian and his views. In 1995, the American Medical Association called him a "reckless instrument of death" who "poses a great threat to the public," The New York Times reports.

But others hailed Kevorkian as a hero.

"I think that Dr. Kevorkian was a man who sought out humanity," said Frank Kavanaugh, a member of the board of directors of the Final Exit Network, a non-profit and right-to-die organization. "He was a very controversial figure, but I think even critics would agree that because of that, hospice care has really boomed in the United States."

Kevorkian's attorney told the Detroit Free Press that he was present at the time of his death, as was his niece.

"It was peaceful," he told the paper. "He didn't feel a thing."

 

[FiestyRedHead]

I worked across the street from his office back in the 80's

Watched them wheel out a body a few times.

 

[HB1965]

'Gunsmoke' actor James Arness dies at age 88

(CNN) -- Former "Gunsmoke" actor James Arness, who played Marshal Matt Dillon in the western TV series for 20 years, died Friday from natural causes, according to his website. He was 88.

Over the two decades of "Gunsmoke" episodes from 1955 to 1975, Arness worked with hundreds of actors, some of them just up-and-comers such as Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds and Charles Bronson. He also worked with Bette Davis.

Arness left behind a letter to his fans, which was posted on his website after his death:

"I had a wonderful life and was blessed with some many loving people and great friends. The best part of my life was my family, especially my wife, Janet. Many of you met her at Dodge City so you understand what a special person she is," Arness wrote.

"I wanted to take this time to thank all of you for the many years of being a fan of 'Gunsmoke,' 'The Thing,' 'How the West Was Won' and all the other fun projects I was lucky enough to have been allowed to be a part of. I had the privilege of working with so many great actors over the years.

EW: Why Arness was greatest TV Western lawman

"I was honored to have served in the army for my country. I was at Anzio during WWII and it makes you realize how very precious life is," Arness wrote.

"Thank you again for all the many letters, cards, emails and gifts we received from you over the years. You are and always have been truly appreciated," he concluded.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 26, 1923, Arness later served in the Army and was sent in 1944 to Anzio, the Italian beach that the Army said was the setting for the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind.

Arness was wounded in his right leg and received the Purple Heart.

According to an Army website, during the four months of the Anzio Campaign, the Allied VI Corps experienced more than over 29,200 combat casualties (4,400 killed, 18,000 wounded, and 6,800 prisoners or missing) and 37,000 noncombat casualties. German combat losses were estimated at 27,500 (5,500 killed, 17,500 wounded, and 4,500 prisoners or missing), according to the Army.

Arness' acting debut was in a movie called "The Farmer's Daughter" opposite Loretta Young.

He worked for John Wayne's film production company Batjac and made movies with Wayne including "Islands in the Sky," "Hondo," "The Sea Chase" and "Big Jim McLain."

Arness also acted in the 1951 sci-fi classic "The Thing," and his 6-foot-7 height made the creature more believable, according to his website.

After "Gunsmoke," Arness continued acting in television in the mini-series "How the West Was Won" in 1978-79 and "McLain's Law" in 1981-82.

In addition to his wife, Arness is survived by two sons and six grandchildren. The services will be private.

 

[phrodeau]

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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - They shared a stage at Disneyland five days a week for nearly three decades and died within a day of each other.

Betty Taylor, who played Slue Foot Sue in Disney's long-running Golden Horseshoe Revue, passed away Saturday - one day after the death of Wally Boag, who played her character's sweetheart, Pecos Bill.

The 91-year-old Taylor died at her home in Washington state, Disneyland announced on its web site. Boag, who was 90, died Friday. He was a resident of Santa Monica, Calif.

The causes of death were not announced and attempts to contact relatives for comment were not immediately successful.

"Betty's role as leading lady in Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Revue helped turn it into the longest-running stage show in entertainment history," George Kalogridis, the president of Disneyland Resort, said in a statement. "It is a tragic coincidence that her passing comes just one day after the death of longtime co-star Wally Boag."

Boag, a former vaudeville performer, signed a two-week contract with Walt Disney in 1955. He originated the role of Pecos Bill in the revue, taking the stage three times a day and logging nearly 40,000 performances before retiring in 1982.

Most of those shows were alongside Taylor, who joined the revue a year after Hoag. Her run on the show - which closed in 1986 - lasted nearly 45,000 performances.

The Golden Horseshoe Revue is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running stage production in show business history.

"Wally was instrumental in the development of live entertainment during the early years of both Disneyland Park and Walt Disney World Resort," Kalogridis said. "His characters will continue to live in the hearts of our guests, while his larger-than-life personality will forever make him the true Clown Prince of Disneyland."

Boag's comedic timing influenced generations of performers, including actor Steve Martin, who called Boag his "hero." Martin tweeted Saturday that Boag was "the first comedian I ever saw live, my influence, a man to whom I aspired."

Boag and Taylor both appeared on television in "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color."

And before joining Disney, Boag appeared in a number of films during the 1940s, including "Without Love," starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and "The Thrill of Romance," with Esther Williams.

He later appeared in Disney films such as "The Absent-Minded Professor," ''Son of Flubber" and "The Love Bug."

Born in Seattle, Taylor began taking dance lessons at age 3. At 14, she sang and danced in nightclubs across the country, and by 18, led her own band called Betty and Her Beaus, which included 16 male musicians and appeared regularly at the Trianon Ballroom in Seattle.

In 1956, while living in Los Angeles and performing as a drum player with a musical group, Taylor heard about auditions for a song -and-dance job at Disneyland. She got the gig, which she held for 30 years, leading to appearances on a USO tour of Greenland and Newfoundland and a show for President Richard Nixon and his family in The White House.

She performed at the park until 1987, but continued to appear in special events, such as Walt Disney's Wild West, a 1995 retrospective at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press

 

[phrodeau]

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Andrew Gold, the American singer-songwriter who enjoyed success in the 1970's with his hits 'Lonely Boy' and 'Thank You for Being a Friend', has died aged 59. Andrew Gold passed away at his home in Encino California on Friday June 3rd, 2011 from a suspected heart-attack, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Gold, who was also suffering from renal cancer, will be remembered primarily as a songwriter and session-musician. Shortly after finishing high school, he began playing in Linda Ronstadt's back-up band, and would later lend his guitar and piano talents to recordings by James Taylor, Carly Simon and Jackson Browne. Despite being considered a master musician by his peers, Gold never learned to read music. His mother, the singer Marni Nixon said, "We gave him lessons on piano and guitar, but somehow he found it easier to just listen to something and play it by ear". Gold's father Ernest Gold wrote the Academy Award-winning score for the movie 'Exodus', starring Paul Newman.

Andrew's first hit solo single, 'Lonely Boy', reached No. 7 in the Billboard singles chart in 1977.

Andrew Gold is survived by his wife Leslie Kogan, his mother, two sisters Martha Carr and Melani Gold Friedman, and his daughters Emily, Victoria and Olivia from his marriage to Vanessa Gold.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Cosby Show Actress Clarice Taylor Dies

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Clarice Taylor, who played Bill Cosby's mother on The Cosby Show, died at age 93, her rep tells PEOPLE.

She succumbed to heart failure and was surrounded by family when she passed.

Taylor earned an Emmy nomination in 1986 for her recurring role as Dr. Cliff Huxtable's mother, Anna Huxtable, on the long-running sitcom.

A performer on stage, radio, TV and film for over five decades, the actress was a member of the New York stage group, the Negro Ensemble Company, and helped to pave the way for African-American actors in the early 1960s.

Her own big break came that decade when she landed the role of Harriet, David's grandmother, on Sesame Street. She also starred alongside Liza Minnelli in 1970's Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon and played Grady's Cousin Emma on Sanford and Son.

Taylor is survived by her two sons, William and James, and her four grandchildren.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Ex-Tiger Jim Northrup, '68 Series star, dead at 71

DETROIT — Former Detroit Tigers outfielder Jim Northrup, who hit a decisive two-run triple in Game 7 of the 1968 World Series, died Wednesday. He was 71.

Longtime friend Bill Wischman said Northrup died after having a seizure at an assisted living facility in Grand Blanc. Wischman says Northrup had been in poor health for some time and had been at the home for about a month because of Alzheimer's disease.

Northrup spent parts of 12 seasons in the major leagues.

His seventh-inning triple off the St. Louis Cardinals' Bob Gibson in the final game of the 1968 series broke open a scoreless game and scored Norm Cash and Willie Horton. Detroit went on to win 4-1.

He also played for Montreal and Baltimore and later worked as a sportscaster with the Pass Sports network, in the 1980s and '90s.

"He was an astute student of the game," said Wischman, who hired Northrup for the network and became a close friend. "He loved the game."

Northrup was heavily involved with community and charity work, including an effort to help Polish orphans, Wischman said.

"He was completely unselfish with his time," Wischman said.

Northrup was born in Breckenridge, Mich., and signed with the Tigers in 1960 as an amateur free agent. Detroit traded him to Montreal in 1974.

He made his major league debut in 1964. In 1,392 major league games, he hit 153 home runs, drove in 610 runs and batted .267.

In addition to having Alzheimer's, Northrup also battled rheumatoid arthritis for many years, Wischman said.

"As ill as he was, he never complained," the friend said.

Northrup is survived by his wife, Patty; children Kamil, Azaria, Jim, Paige and Kate; and seven grandchildren

 

[JennyOHill2]

Andy Robustelli, Giants’ Hall of Fame Defensive End, Dies at 85

Andy Robustelli, the Giants’ Hall of Fame defensive end in their glory years of the late 1950s and early ’60s, when shouts of “DEE-fense” rang from the stands at Yankee Stadium, died in Stamford, Conn., his hometown. He was 85.

His death, at Stamford Hospital, resulted from complications of recent bladder surgery, a daughter-in-law, Terry Robustelli, said.

In the autumn of 1956, the Giants, one of the N.F.L.’s oldest franchises, finally vied with baseball’s Yankees as a glamour attraction on New York’s sports scene. The Giants’ offense featured stars like Charlie Conerly, Frank Gifford, Kyle Rote, Alex Webster and Roosevelt Brown.

But it was the defensive alignment, featuring Robustelli, Roosevelt Grier, Dick Modzelewski and Jim Katcavage on the line, Sam Huff at middle linebacker, and a secondary led by Emlen Tunnell, that captured the fans’ imagination. They evoked a celebrity aura, captured in the television documentary “The Violent World of Sam Huff.”

“Never in the history of football had fans gone to a stadium to root for a ‘DEE-fense,’ ” Gifford, a Hall of Fame halfback and receiver, recalled in his memoir, “The Whole Ten Yards.”

Robustelli was a 19th-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1951 out of tiny Arnold College in Milford, Conn., but he became a hard-hitting tackler, at 6 feet 1 inch and 230 pounds, and a superb pass-rusher with a keen sense of how an opponent’s plays were developing.

He played in eight N.F.L. championship games, two with the Rams and six with the Giants after joining them in 1956. He was a first-team All-Pro six times, received the Maxwell Club’s Bert Bell Award as the N.F.L.’s most outstanding player in 1962 and recovered 22 fumbles. He missed only one game in his 14 seasons, in the last three doubling as a Giants assistant. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

In 1974, Robustelli joined the Giants’ front office as director of operations, essentially the general manager, and tried with little success to rebuild a losing team before leaving the post in 1978.

Robustelli, at right end, was part of a storied Giants defensive line that included Grier at right tackle, Modzelewski at left tackle and Katcavage at left end. They played together from 1956 to 1962, a remarkable stretch for a unit in football’s trenches.

aAndrew Richard Robustelli was born on Dec. 6, 1925, in Stamford, where his father, Lucien, was a barber, and his mother, Katie, was a seamstress.

He played football, basketball and baseball at Stamford High School, served in the Navy during World War II, then played end on offense and defense at Arnold, a school with only a few hundred students. (It was later absorbed by the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.)

As a rookie with the Rams, Robustelli had virtually no chance of beating out the star receivers Tom Fears and Crazy Legs Hirsch but won a job at defensive end for the Rams team that captured the 1951 N.F.L. championship.

When he was traded to the Giants in 1956, he became a key figure in a 4-3 alignment — four down linemen and three linebackers — installed by Landry.

The Giants defeated the Chicago Bears, 47-7, in the 1956 N.F.L. championship game on a frozen Yankee Stadium field, aided by sneakers from Robustelli’s sporting goods store in Stamford. They won five division titles between 1958 and 1963 but lost in the championship game each time.

After retiring as a player at the end of the 1964 season, Robustelli expanded his business interests, opening a travel agency and a sports marketing business in Stamford. Ten years later, on his return to the Giants as director of operations, he inherited a team that had won only two games the previous season.

He soon hired Bill Arnsparger, the architect of the Miami Dolphins’ defense, to replace Webster, the former Giants halfback, as head coach, but the Giants continued to founder.

Their woes climaxed in November 1978 with “the fumble,” a botched Giants handoff that was run into the end zone by the Philadelphia Eagles’ Herm Edwards for a game-winning touchdown on the final play. John McVay, who had replaced Arnsparger two years earlier, was fired after that season, and Robustelli, who had been planning to leave, returned to his business interests after five losing seasons.

Robustelli is survived by his sons Richard, Robert, Thomas, Christopher, Michael and John; his daughters Laura Salvatore, Andra Compo and Tina Salvatore; 29 grandchildren; and 6 great-grandchildren. His wife, Jeanne, died in April

 

[phrodeau]

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http://www.theolympian.com/2011/06/06/1678250/nz-mourns-death-of-shrek-the-famously.html

NZ mourns death of Shrek the famously shaggy sheep
By NICK PERRY | Associated Press • Published June 06, 2011


WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealanders were mourning the loss of the country's most famous sheep Tuesday, a shaggy national icon named Shrek who was renowned for avoiding being shorn for years.

Shrek captured the public's imagination in 2004 after he evaded the annual shearing roundups for the previous seven years by hiding in caves on his farm on the South Island. When finally found, he was clad in an astonishing 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of wool.

That's about five times a typically annual shearing from Shrek's breed, the Merino sheep prized for some of the softest wool.

In a country where sheep outnumber people by nearly 10 to one, Shrek's story of stubbornness and guile appealed to many. After his capture, Shrek was shorn on live TV in a broadcast that was picked up around the world. His story inspired three books.

"He was quite an elderly statesman," said owner John Perriam. "He taught us a lot."

Until becoming sick three weeks ago, Shrek toured the country, commanding $16,000 for appearances and getting the star treatment wherever he went. In one appearance, Shrek was shorn atop a large iceberg that was floating near the South Island coast.

Shrek was one of about 17,000 sheep on the the 27,000-acre (11,000-hectare) Bendigo farm in the small town of Tarras. Perriam believes Shrek was able to survive the winters and avoid detection by moving about a series of sheltered caves and by munching on small native shrubs.

"It's bizarre that we missed him seven years in a row," Perriam said. "But from his point of view, it was the perfect environment."

After Shrek became a star, Perriam gave him his own barn and showroom.

Shrek even had a personal caregiver look after him when he became sick, before the sheep was euthanized Monday at age 17.

Perriam said that as well as laying claim to being New Zealand's woolliest sheep, Shrek may also have been its oldest. Most sheep live for no more than six years before being slaughtered.

Since Shrek's death, tributes have been pouring in online, including on the Facebook page "R.I.P Shrek the Sheep."

Perriam is planning a funeral service and will ask a friend to scatter Shrek's ashes atop Mt. Cook, New Zealand's tallest mountain.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Alan 'Mr. Fabulous' Rubin, Blues Brothers Trumpet Player, Dead at 68

Sad news for Blues Brothers fans, as the Los Angeles Times reports that the band's trumpet player, Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin has died Wednesday, June 8. The 68-year-old was suffering from lung cancer and passed away at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Rubin had played in the 'Saturday Night Live' house band in the 1970s before joining John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's blues/soul/R&B supergroup. He was often sought after as one of the best session horn players around, recording and performing with Duke Ellington, Blood Sweat and Tears, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, his wife told the LA Times.

Born in New York in 1943, Rubin began playing the trumpet at the age of 10 and was admitted into the world-renowned Juilliard School of Music when he turned 17. After dropping out at 20, the young trumpeter hit the road with legendary singer Robert Goulet.

He is known as 'Mr. Fabulous' for his role in the 1980 film 'The Blues Brothers' and 1998's 'Blues Brothers 2000' as a head waiter turned suit-adorned hermano of soul. Rubin is survived by his wife, Mary Moreno Rubin, and two siblings, Sharyn Soleimani and Marshall Rubin.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Clarence Clemons Dies

He was the "Big Man" that Bruce Springsteen leaned on, both figuratively and literally, to provide the soul and heart of the legendary E Street Band. Now, that light has gone out.

Clarence Clemons, the larger-than-life sax man in the world's greatest backing band, died Saturday of complications from a stroke suffered last week, a spokesman said. He was 69.
Clemons and Springsteen have been tethered together for 40 years, starting with a rainy night in Asbury Park in 1971 when the horn player sat in with the unknown and struggling songwriter at a local bar. He was soon in Springsteen's backing band and was a part of his debut, 'Greetings From Asbury Park.'

Springsteen released a statement on his website following his friend's death:

"Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner, and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band."

In the E Street Band, his horn playing was an essential part of the scrappy yet oft-huge sound on records like 'Thunder Road' and 'Jungleland.' It's Clemons who 'The Boss' leans on in his most iconic album, 'Born to Run' and he raved about the artwork in Clemons' memoir, 'Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales.'

"When you open it up and see Clarence and me together, the album begins to work its magic," Springsteen wrote. "Who are these guys? Where did they come from? What is the joke they are sharing? A friendship and a narrative steeped in the complicated history of America begins to work and there is music already in the air."

And while guitarist Steven Van Zandt gets to cozy up with Springsteen night after night, trading backing vocals during their marathon concerts, it's always Clemons who has been introduced last by the E Street Band's boss.

That level of respect has been shared by E Street devotees for decades.

Clemons did not depend solely on Springsteen, though, and scored a hit of his own alongside Jackson Browne with 1985's 'You're a Friend of Mine.' He also did a bit of acting in the 1980s, on TV in 'Diff'rent Strokes' and films like 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.'

Fans of the gritty HBO drama 'The Wire' will remember his 2-episode stint as Roman.

In 1989, about 17 years into his tenure in E Street, Springsteen called and informed Clemons he was breaking up the band. He was on tour with Ringo Starr at the time and Clemons said the Beatle looked on with concern, believing the saxophonist was being told about a death.

"[Springsteen] said he wanted to try something new, do something different," Clemons explained in the Phoenix Gazette. "It was quite a shock; you go through all the emotions of a divorce, all the emotions, instantly. I didn't say much to him. I just said, 'Good luck.' But before long I started to see the good side."

Ten years later, Springsteen reformed the band and they've produced some of their most inspired work in their history, including the post-9/11 'The Rising' and 2007's rollicking 'Magic.'

Clemons is the second member of the band to pass away in recent years. In 2008, organ and accordionist Danny Federici lost a fight with melanoma, a type of skin cancer.

While he allowed fans into his world as a musician, Clemons didn't speak much about his personal life. The Norfolk, Virginia native was married five times in his lifetime and is survived by four sons, Clarence III, Charles, Christopher and Jarod.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Ryan Dunn, 'Jackass' star, dead at 34

Ryan Dunn, whose crazy stunts were chronicled on MTV’s extreme series “Jackass,” died in a car accident early Monday morning near his home in Pennsylvania. He was 34.

"We're deeply saddened by the passing of a member of the MTV family, Ryan Dunn," MTV tweeted on Monday morning. "Our hearts and thoughts are with his friends and family."

According to the West Goshen Police Department, Dunn's 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 went off the road in West Goshen and was in flames. An unidentified passenger was also in the car. Dunn and the passenger died around 3 a.m. as a result of their injuries from accident. Excessive speed may have a contributing factor in the accident, police said.

On Monday morning, Johnny Knoxville, the head of the “Jackass” clan, tweeted: “Today I lost my brother Ryan Dunn. My heart goes out to his family and his beloved Angie. RIP Ryan, I love you buddy.”

"Jackass' " Jason "Weeman" Acuña tweeted Monday of Dunn: "I MISS YOU BUD!! You were always a happy kick-ass dude!!"

Dunn appeared in all three "Jackass" films and even ventured outside the wild antics in projects including NBC’s "Law & Order: SVU" and the straight-to-DVD film "Blonde Ambition," starring Jessica Simpson.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Peter Falk, TV’s Detective Columbo, Dies at 83

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter Falk, the stage and movie actor who became identified as the squinty, rumpled detective in "Columbo," which spanned 30 years in prime-time television and established one of the most iconic characters in movie police work, has died. He was 83.

Falk died Thursday in his Beverly Hills home, according to a statement released Friday by family friend Larry Larson.

In a court document filed in December 2008, Falk's daughter Catherine Falk said her father was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

"Columbo" began its history in 1971 as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie series, appearing every third week. The show became by far the most popular of the three mysteries, the others being "McCloud" and "McMillan and Wife."

Falk was reportedly paid $250,000 a movie and could have made much more if he had accepted an offer to convert "Columbo" into a weekly series. He declined, reasoning that carrying a weekly detective series would be too great a burden.

Columbo presented a contrast to other TV detectives. "He looks like a flood victim," Falk once said. "You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work."

NBC canceled the three series in 1977. In 1989 ABC offered "Columbo" in a two-hour format usually appearing once or twice a season. The movies continued into the 21st century. "Columbo" appeared in 26 foreign countries and was a particular favorite in France and Iran.

Columbo's trademark was an ancient raincoat Falk had once bought for himself. After 25 years on television, the coat became so tattered it had to be replaced.

Peter Michael Falk was born Sept. 16, 1927, in New York City and grew up in Ossining, N.Y., where his parents ran a clothing store. At 3 he had one eye removed because of cancer. "When something like that happens early," he said in a 1963 Associated Press interview, "you learn to live with it. It became the joke of the neighborhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him."

When Falk was starting as an actor in New York, an agent told him, "Of course, you won't be able to work in movies or TV because of your eye." Falk would later win two Oscar nominations ("Murder, Inc.," 1960; "Pocketful of Miracles," 1961) and collect five Emmys.

After serving as a cook in the merchant marine and receiving a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University, he worked as an efficiency expert for the budget bureau of the state of Connecticut. He also acted in amateur theater and was encouraged to become a professional by actress-teacher Eva La Gallienne.

An appearance in "The Iceman Cometh" off-Broadway led to other classical parts, notably as Joseph Stalin in "The Passion of Joseph D." In 1971 Falk scored a hit in Neil Simon's "The Prisoner of Second Avenue."

Falk made his film debut in 1958 with "Wind Across the Everglades" and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in "Murder, Inc." Among his other movies: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," ''Robin and the Seven Hoods," ''The Great Race," ''Luv," ''Castle Keep," ''The Cheap Detective," ''The Brinks Job," ''The In-Laws," ''The Princess Bride."

Falk also appeared in a number of art house favorites, including the semi-improvisational films "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence," directed by his friend John Cassavetes, and Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire," in which he played himself. Falk became prominent in television movies, beginning with his first Emmy for "The Price of Tomatoes" in 1961. His four other Emmys were for "Columbo."

He was married to pianist Alyce Mayo in 1960; they had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, and divorced in 1976. The following year he married actress Shera Danese. They filed for divorce twice and reconciled each time.

When not working, Falk spent time in the garage of his Beverly Hills home. He had converted it into a studio where he created charcoal drawings. He took up art in New York when he was in the Simon play and one day happened into the Art Students League.

He recalled: "I opened a door and there she was, a nude model, shoulders back, a light from above, buck-ass naked. The female body is awesome. Believe me, I signed up right away."

Falk is survived by his wife Shera and his two daughters.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Laura Ziskin, Producer of ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Pretty Woman,’ Dies at 61

LOS ANGELES — Laura Ziskin, a prominent Hollywood producer who ventured into the largely male world of special-effects movies to become a shaping force behind the blockbuster “Spider-Man” franchise, died at her home in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 61.

The cause was complications of breast cancer, said Steve Elzer, a spokesman for Sony Pictures. After receiving a diagnosis of advanced breast cancer seven years ago, she became an advocate of cancer research and helped raise money for it.

In a field where women are a minority, Ms. Ziskin had a number of commercial and artistic successes, including “No Way Out” (1987), the taut melodrama that helped make Kevin Costner a star; “What About Bob?,” a 1991 comedy with Bill Murray that she also helped write; “To Die For” (1995), a black comedy starring Nicole Kidman; and “As Good as It Gets,” a 1997 romance with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt that earned best-acting Oscars for both.

As executive producer of “Pretty Woman” (1990), the megahit fairy tale about a romance between a prostitute and a business tycoon, Ms Ziskin insisted on an ending in which Julia Roberts has changed Richard Gere as fully as he has changed her.

“I didn’t want a movie whose message would be that some nice guy will come along and give you nice clothes and lots of money and make you happy,” Ms. Ziskin told People magazine.

“Pretty Woman” established Julia Roberts as a superstar and stands among the most successful box-office romances of all time.

Ms. Ziskin had never produced a special-effects movie when she took on “Spider-Man” (2002), based on the Marvel Comics superhero, but it became a box-office juggernaut, earning almost $115 million its opening weekend, a record then. With Tobey Maguire as a socially awkward superhero who can swing from buildings, the movie offered both dazzling digital effects and teenage angst, a combination that proved irresistible to audiences.

Ms. Ziskin went on to help produce its two sequels as well as a third, the “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which is scheduled to open in 2012.

Ms. Ziskin broke one barrier in 2002 when she became the first woman to produce the annual Academy Awards show (the 74th) on her own. She produced the show again in 2007.

A native of Southern California, Laura Ellen Ziskin was born on March 3, 1950, and graduated from the University of Southern California film school in 1973. Her first job was writing for “The Newlywed Game” and “The Dating Game.” As an assistant to Jon Peters at Barbra Streisand’s Barwood Films, she got her first screen credit in 1978 as associate producer of “Eyes of Laura Mars,” starring Faye Dunaway.

When her marriage to the screenwriter Julian Barry ended in divorce, leaving her with a young daughter, Julia, Ms. Ziskin became a full-time producer and took the child along from location to location until Julia finally protested.

In 1994, Ms. Ziskin became president of Fox 2000 Pictures, a newly created film division of 20th Century Fox. During her five years there she oversaw movies like “Courage Under Fire” (1996), a military drama with Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan; “Volcano” (1997), a disaster film with Tommy Lee Jones; Terence Malick’s 1998 film adaptation of James Jones’s “Thin Red Line”; and the Brad Pitt vehicle “Fight Club” (1999), a box-office failure that became a success on DVD.

In 2008 she produced an hourlong telethon, “Stand Up to Cancer,” which raised nearly $100 million for cancer research. It was broadcast live on ABC, CBS and NBC simultaneously.

“I got a bad case of cancer in 2004,” Ms. Ziskin told Variety at the time. “When you’re diagnosed with cancer, the last thing you want to do is join a movement. You kind of just want to crawl in a hole.”

But after watching former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” she realized, she said, “the power of the medium in which I work to affect how people think.”

She had touched on the subject of cancer in 1991, when she produced “The Doctor,” with William Hurt as a doctor who learns he has throat cancer.

Ms. Ziskin’s survivors include her husband, the screenwriter Alvin Sargent, who wrote a number of films she produced, including three “Spider-Man” movies; her daughter, Julia Barry; her brothers Ken and Randy; a sister, Nina Ziskin; and her mother, Elaine Edelman

 

[eyer]

Bruce Springsteen's Eulogy for Clarence Clemons

'Clarence doesn’t leave the E Street Band when he dies. He leaves when we die'

"This is a slightly revised version of the eulogy I delivered for Clarence at his memorial," says Springsteen. "I’d like to thank all our fans and friends who have comforted us over the past difficult weeks."

~ ~ ~​

I’ve been sitting here listening to everyone talk about Clarence and staring at that photo of the two of us right there. It’s a picture of Scooter and The Big Man, people who we were sometimes. As you can see in this particular photo, Clarence is admiring his muscles and I’m pretending to be nonchalant while leaning upon him. I leaned on Clarence a lot; I made a career out of it in some ways.

Those of us who shared Clarence’s life, shared with him his love and his confusion. Though "C" mellowed with age, he was always a wild and unpredictable ride. Today I see his sons Nicky, Chuck, Christopher and Jarod sitting here and I see in them the reflection of a lot of C’s qualities. I see his light, his darkness, his sweetness, his roughness, his gentleness, his anger, his brilliance, his handsomeness, and his goodness. But, as you boys know your pop was a not a day at the beach. "C" lived a life where he did what he wanted to do and he let the chips, human and otherwise, fall where they may. Like a lot of us your pop was capable of great magic and also of making quite an amazing mess. This was just the nature of your daddy and my beautiful friend. Clarence’s unconditional love, which was very real, came with a lot of conditions. Your pop was a major project and always a work in progress. "C" never approached anything linearly, life never proceeded in a straight line. He never went A… B…. C…. D. It was always A… J…. C…. Z… Q… I….! That was the way Clarence lived and made his way through the world. I know that can lead to a lot of confusion and hurt, but your father also carried a lot of love with him, and I know he loved each of you very very dearly.

It took a village to take care of Clarence Clemons. Tina, I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you for taking care of my friend, for loving him. Victoria, you’ve been a loving, kind and caring wife to Clarence and you made a huge difference in his life at a time when the going was not always easy. To all of "C’s" vast support network, names too numerous to mention, you know who you are and we thank you. Your rewards await you at the pearly gates. My pal was a tough act but he brought things into your life that were unique and when he turned on that love light, it illuminated your world. I was lucky enough to stand in that light for almost 40 years, near Clarence’s heart, in the Temple of Soul.

So a little bit of history: from the early days when Clarence and I traveled together, we’d pull up to the evenings lodgings and within minutes "C" would transform his room into a world of his own. Out came the colored scarves to be draped over the lamps, the scented candles, the incense, the patchouli oil, the herbs, the music, the day would be banished, entertainment would come and go, and Clarence the Shaman would reign and work his magic night, after night. Clarence’s ability to enjoy Clarence was incredible. By 69, he’d had a good run, because he’d already lived about 10 lives, 690 years in the life of an average man. Every night, in every place, the magic came flying out of C’s suitcase. As soon as success allowed, his dressing room would take on the same trappings as his hotel room until a visit there was like a trip to a sovereign nation that had just struck huge oil reserves. "C" always knew how to live. Long before Prince was out of his diapers, an air of raunchy mysticism ruled in the Big Man’s world. I’d wander in from my dressing room, which contained several fine couches and some athletic lockers, and wonder what I was doing wrong! Somewhere along the way all of this was christened the Temple of Soul; and "C" presided smilingly over its secrets, and its pleasures. Being allowed admittance to the Temple’s wonders was a lovely thing.

As a young child my son Sam became enchanted with the Big Man… no surprise. To a child Clarence was a towering fairy tale figure, out of some very exotic storybook. He was a dreadlocked giant, with great hands and a deep mellifluous voice sugared with kindness and regard. And… to Sammy, who was just a little white boy, he was deeply and mysteriously black. In Sammy’s eyes, "C" must have appeared as all of the African continent, shot through with American cool, rolled into one welcoming and loving figure. So… Sammy decided to pass on my work shirts and became fascinated by Clarence’s suits and his royal robes. He declined a seat in dad’s van and opted for "C’s" stretch limousine, sitting by his side on the slow cruise to the show. He decided dinner in front of the hometown locker just wouldn’t do, and he’d saunter up the hall and disappear into the Temple of Soul.

Of course, also enchanted was Sam’s dad, from the first time I saw my pal striding out of the shadows of a half empty bar in Asbury Park, a path opening up before him; here comes my brother, here comes my sax man, my inspiration, my partner, my lifelong friend. Standing next to Clarence was like standing next to the baddest ass on the planet. You were proud, you were strong, you were excited and laughing with what might happen, with what together, you might be able to do. You felt like no matter what the day or the night brought, nothing was going to touch you. Clarence could be fragile but he also emanated power and safety, and in some funny way we became each other’s protectors; I think perhaps I protected "C" from a world where it still wasn’t so easy to be big and black. Racism was ever present and over the years together, we saw it. Clarence’s celebrity and size did not make him immune. I think perhaps "C" protected me from a world where it wasn’t always so easy to be an insecure, weird and skinny white boy either. But, standing together we were badass, on any given night, on our turf, some of the baddest asses on the planet. We were united, we were strong, we were righteous, we were unmovable, we were funny, we were corny as hell and as serious as death itself. And we were coming to your town to shake you and to wake you up. Together, we told an older, richer story about the possibilities of friendship that transcended those I’d written in my songs and in my music. Clarence carried it in his heart. It was a story where the Scooter and the Big Man not only busted the city in half, but we kicked ass and remade the city, shaping it into the kind of place where our friendship would not be such an anomaly. And that… that’s what I’m gonna miss. The chance to renew that vow and double down on that story on a nightly basis, because that is something, that is the thing that we did together… the two of us. Clarence was big, and he made me feel, and think, and love, and dream big. How big was the Big Man? Too fucking big to die. And that’s just the facts. You can put it on his grave stone, you can tattoo it over your heart. Accept it… it’s the New World.

Clarence doesn’t leave the E Street Band when he dies. He leaves when we die.

So, I’ll miss my friend, his sax, the force of nature his sound was, his glory, his foolishness, his accomplishments, his face, his hands, his humor, his skin, his noise, his confusion, his power, his peace. But his love and his story, the story that he gave me, that he whispered in my ear, that he allowed me to tell… and that he gave to you… is gonna carry on. I’m no mystic, but the undertow, the mystery and power of Clarence and my friendship leads me to believe we must have stood together in other, older times, along other rivers, in other cities, in other fields, doing our modest version of god’s work… work that’s still unfinished. So I won’t say goodbye to my brother, I’ll simply say, see you in the next life, further on up the road, where we will once again pick up that work, and get it done.

Big Man, thank you for your kindness, your strength, your dedication, your work, your story. Thanks for the miracle… and for letting a little white boy slip through the side door of the Temple of Soul.

SO LADIES AND GENTLEMAN… ALWAYS LAST, BUT NEVER LEAST. LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE MASTER OF DISASTER, the BIG KAHUNA, the MAN WITH A PHD IN SAXUAL HEALING, the DUKE OF PADUCAH, the KING OF THE WORLD, LOOK OUT OBAMA! THE NEXT BLACK PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES EVEN THOUGH HE’S DEAD… YOU WISH YOU COULD BE LIKE HIM BUT YOU CAN’T! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE BIGGEST MAN YOU’VE EVER SEEN!... GIVE ME A C-L-A-R-E-N-C-E. WHAT’S THAT SPELL? CLARENCE! WHAT’S THAT SPELL? CLARENCE! WHAT’S THAT SPELL? CLARENCE! … amen.

I’m gonna leave you today with a quote from the Big Man himself, which he shared on the plane ride home from Buffalo, the last show of the last tour. As we celebrated in the front cabin congratulating one another and telling tales of the many epic shows, rocking nights and good times we’d shared, "C" sat quietly, taking it all in, then he raised his glass, smiled and said to all gathered, "This could be the start of something big."

Love you, "C".

~ ~ ~​

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bruce-springsteens-eulogy-for-clarence-clemons-20110629

 

[Johnny_Ray_Wilson]

Dick Williams, Hall of Fame Manager, Dies at 82

When you wanted to win, this was your go-to guy.


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports...of-fame-manager-1590252.html?cxtype=ynews_rss



LAS VEGAS — Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams, who won two World Series titles with Oakland and led two other franchises to pennants, died Thursday from a ruptured aortic aneurysm at a hospital near his home in Henderson, Nev. He was 82.

Williams, a former Singer Island resident, led six teams over a 21-year career as a major-league manager. His final season in a dugout was in 1989 at old Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach where he managed the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association, a 35-and-over league stocked mostly with former major leaguers.

Although the senior league lasted only a season and a half, it allowed Williams to return to the Singer Island home he had built in 1968, the year after he won Manager of the Year for leading the Boston Red Sox to the World Series.

Williams also managed the Oakland A's, California Angels, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Montreal Expos, with whom he spent spring trainings in West Palm Beach from 1977-81.

"I played under Dick and respected him a great deal. He was probably the top two or three favorite managers of all time," said Andre Dawson, a Marlins' special assistant who played for Williams in Montreal. "He had already won with two different organizations (when he got to Montreal). He was a student in that manner. He knew the game in and out.

"Pitchers probably felt a little intimidated by him. He didn't have a lot of patience if you weren't getting the job done."

Williams, known for his no-bull attitude, also led the A's to two consecutive World Series titles (1972, '73), and the Padres to the 1984 National League crown. He and Hall of Famer Bill McKechnie are the only managers to reach the World Series with three different teams.

Marlins manager Jack McKeon was general manager of the Padres when he hired Williams in 1982. "I liked him because he was a firey-type guy who I thought could bring stability to the franchise and bring a culture change."

"He wouldn't be afraid to jerk you out of a game if you didn't do something. If you didn't throw the ball over the plate he wasn't afraid to let you know about it. He was tough but he was always successful. He had a unique style but he was always a winner," McKeon said.

When Williams was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008, one of the first calls he received was from one of his former pitchers, Goose Gossage.

Norma Williams, Dick's wife, answered the phone.

"I said 'this is the guy who should have walked Kirk Gibson,' Gossage told The Palm Beach Post in 2008. "And she just cracked up.'

San Diego was facing the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of the 1984 World Series when the Padres trailed 5-4 in the eighth inning.

Williams, the manager, instructed Gossage, his closer, to walk Gibson. Gossage refused, and the two argued before Williams relented.

Two pitches later, Gibson hit a three-run homer into the upper deck that clinched the series for the Tigers.

The two entered Cooperstown together in 2008. Williams, then 79, was elected on the Veterans Committee ballot, almost 20 years after he last managed in the majors.

"I could never understand why Dick wasn't put into the Hall of Fame earlier,' Gossage said at the time. "He didn't have to take a back seat to anyone."

Williams was known as the master of the turnaround, a reputation started after he led Boston, who had finished ninth in the 10-team American League in 1966, to the 1967 World Series, Boston's first trip there since 1946. The "Impossible Dream" team eventually lost to St. Louis in seven games.

"Dick Williams' lasting legacy will be his innate ability to lead, turning franchises into winners wherever he managed," Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson said. "No one wore the mantle of 'Hall of Famer' more proudly than Dick. We will miss him in Cooperstown."

Williams' three years in Oakland were successful, yet tumultuous.

He led the A's to 101 wins and a division title his first year in 1971 before being swept by Baltimore in the AL championship series.

He then won World Series titles the next two years with Charley Finley's brash team led by Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers and Catfish Hunter.

Fed up with Finley's meddling style, Williams resigned after the 1973 title instead of sticking around for what turned out to be a third straight championship season.

Williams had an overall record of 1,571-1,451 in 21 seasons.

Williams also played 13 years in the majors for the Dodgers, Orioles, Indians, A's and Red Sox. He had a .260 career average with 70 homers and 331 RBI as mostly a part-time player. He retired after the 1964 season and soon began his career as a manager.

He was back in Cooperstown, N.Y., last month when he managed both teams at the Hall of Fame Classic at Doubleday Field in a legends contest featuring six Hall of Famers and 20 former major league stars. Dawson was with him at Cooperstown and said the two talked about old times.

"I respected him and admired him for the simple reason that, as a young player, I didn't feel pressured. He didn't bother me. He just said have fun go out and play the game to the best of your ability."

There will be no funeral services.

Post staff reporter Joe Capozzi contributed to this report.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Alice Playten, an Actress of Small Frame, Big Voice, Dies at 63

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Alice Playten, a versatile character actress and musical comedy voice whose piping wail earned her comparisons to a baby Ethel Merman, died in Manhattan. She was 63 and lived in Manhattan.

The cause was heart failure following a lifelong battle with juvenile diabetes, complicated by pancreatic cancer, said her husband, Joshua White.

Ms. Playten was a two-time Obie winner, for the satirical revue “National Lampoon’s Lemmings” and “First Lady Suite,” the Michael John LaChiusa chamber musical, in which she played Mamie Eisenhower. She was called “a comic genius” by Marilyn Stasio in her New York Post review of the Mark O’Donnell comedy “That’s It, Folks!”

She made her stage debut at 11 playing Marie’s little boy in the Metropolitan Opera’s 1959 original production of “Wozzeck.” It began a career that spanned 52 years.

Barely five feet tall, Ms. Playten was a natural comedian whose infectious laugh was the high-pitched snicker of an irrepressible mischief-maker. But she was also a serious actress who evolved from playing children’s roles like Baby Louise in the original Broadway production of “Gypsy” to Emma in Michael Weller’s drama “Spoils of War” and Grandma Gellman in the Tony Kushner-Jeanine Tesori musical, “Caroline, or Change.”

Her Tony-nominated supporting performance in “Henry, Sweet Henry,” a 1967 Broadway musical adapted from the Peter Sellers movie “The World of Henry Orient,” was a sensation. As remembered in William Goldman’s book “The Season,” Ms. Playten’s show-stopping rendition of “Nobody Steps on Kafritz” was “the incandescent performance that all musicals need.” He quoted an unidentified critic’s description of her as “‘a miniature Ethel Merman, a real little star.” She was only 20. Despite the acclaim, the show only lasted for 10 weeks.

Alice Plotkin was born Aug. 28, 1947 in Manhattan. Hoping to be a dancer, she studied at the Metropolitan Opera ballet school. When the Met was casting “Wozzeck,” they couldn’t find a boy to play the young son of Marie and Wozzeck, so Ms. Playten, who was petite and boyish, was cast in the role. When Karen Moore, who played the original Baby Louise in “Gypsy,” outgrew the part, Ms. Playten succeeded her.

Other Broadway roles included Bet in “Oliver!” Ermengarde in “Hello, Dolly!” and appearances in “George M!,” “Rumors” and “Seussical.” The most important among her many Off Broadway credits included the Al Carmines musical “Promenade,” and Mrs. Shlemiel in a musical adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “Shlemiel the First.”

In “Lemmings,” a 1973 revue satirizing Woodstock, whose cast included John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Christopher Guest, Ms. Playten’s hyper-enthusiastic character, Megagroupie, excitedly informed the crowd that “pure rock sound can kill” and summoned the audience to put its collective head against an amplifier for the show’s mass-suicide finale, “Megadeath.”

Ms. Playten appeared in several movies, including Ridley Scott’s “Legend,” in which, encrusted in layers of prosthetic makeup, she was the Goblin creature, Blix.

In addition to her husband, who founded the Joshua Light Show — a provider of light shows for rock acts — she is survived by a brother, Stephen, of Port Washington, N.Y.

Ms. Playten enjoyed a secondary career doing voiceovers of cartoon characters and children in commercials. She was a frequent guest on “The Dick Cavett Show” and “A Prairie Home Companion.”

Perhaps her most famous role offstage was in a classic Alka- Seltzer commercial in which she played a bubbly newlywed crowing over her first home-cooked meal, a gigantic dumpling, while her husband discreetly sips Alka-Seltzer. As he realizes he has signed up for a lifetime of indigestion, she scours a cookbook for exciting new recipes that include marshmallowed meatballs, sweet and sour snails, creamed duck delight, and poached oysters.

 

[JennyOHill2]

Margaret Tyzack, Award-Winning Actress, Dies at 79

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Margaret Tyzack, a stalwart British actress who won myriad awards for her stage performances, including a Tony, but who was best known in the United States for her roles in the public television series “The Forsyte Saga” and “I, Claudius,” died in London. She was 79.

Her death was announced by her agent, Pippa Markham, who did not specify a cause.

Ms. Tyzack, was first and foremost a theater performer whose stage résumé was long and formidable. She won a Laurence Olivier Award, the London equivalent of a Tony, for playing the boozy, fiercely distressed Martha in a 1981 revival of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

She won another Olivier two years ago as Mrs. St. Maugham, the haughty grandmother of an unruly granddaughter, in Enid Bagnold’s arch, emotionally incisive 1950s comedy “The Chalk Garden,” a performance that Charles Spencer, writing in The Guardian of London, called “perhaps the greatest performance of her long career.”

Her Mrs. St. Maugham was “at once imperious, funny and spiteful,” Mr. Spencer wrote. “Her acting is an object lesson in comic timing, and she delivers the epigrammatic dialogue with superb panache.”

Ms. Tyzack appeared twice in featured roles on Broadway. In 1983, as the Countess of Rousillon in “All’s Well That Ends Well,” she was nominated for a Tony. Her next Broadway role, in 1990, was Lotte Schoen, an official of the Preservation Trust who plays foil to a flamboyantly eccentric tour guide (played by Maggie Smith), in Peter Shaffer’s comedy “Lettice and Lovage.”

That production appeared first in London, and was almost kept from opening in New York because of union rules that require special permission for the casting of foreign actors in Broadway productions, permission that is usually granted only to international stars of indisputable singularity or box-office drawing power.

Ms. Smith, who was given dispensation, refused to appear on Broadway unless Ms. Tyzack was also allowed to join the cast, arguing that their onstage chemistry and Ms. Tyzack’s gifts fulfilled the requirement of singularity. Actors’ Equity, the union, finally agreed. Frank Rich, writing in The New York Times, called Ms. Tyzack’s performance “flawless,” and she won a Tony for it.

Ms. Tyzack first came to prominence in 1967, when she appeared as Winifred, sister of Soames Forsyte, the lead character in “The Forsyte Saga,” a 26-week series produced by the BBC that traced the fortunes of an upper-middle-class British family through 40-some years on either side of the turn of the 20th century.

A hoity-toity soap opera about hoity-toity people, it was hugely popular; English churches were said to have rescheduled Sunday evening services so that congregants would not have to choose between worshiping and watching. Acquired by American public television in 1969, it proved to be equally popular in the United States, though without reports of religious disturbance.

Ms. Tyzack also appeared in the title role of “Cousin Bette,” a BBC series based on the Balzac novel about a manipulative spinster, and in “I, Claudius,” based on Robert Graves’s novel about the life of the Roman emperor Claudius (played by Derek Jacobi). Ms. Tyzack played Antonia Minor, Claudius’s mother.

Ms. Tyzack was born on Sept. 9, 1931. Sources differ as to her birthplace, but most indicate it was in Essex, east of London. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began her professional career in the early 1950s at a repertory company in central England, where she spent two years performing in a play a week for nearly 50 weeks a year, a veritable apprenticeship in professional acting.

“We weren’t spoiled or indulged,” she said in a 2009 interview. “It was very hard work, and the paying customer came first. It was expected that they would hear every word, even if they were sitting far from the stage. If you were warned for inaudibility on Wednesday and still couldn’t be heard on Thursday, you’d be sacked on Friday. You had to learn quickly.”

Ms. Tyzack was married to Alan Stephenson, a mathematics professor; they had a son, Matthew. Complete information about survivors was not available.

She appeared in a handful of movies, including two directed by Stanley Kubrick, “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “A Clockwork Orange.” More recently she appeared in Woody Allen’s “Match Point.”

Ms. Tyzack’s final stage role was Oenone, the elderly nurse to the queen, in Nicholas Hytner’s 2009 production of “Phèdre” at the National Theater in London, which starred Helen Mirren. It was the year she won the Olivier for “The Chalk Garden,” and she used the attention to make public statements about the dearth of significant theatrical roles for older women. The roles being written for them, she was widely quoted as complaining, amounted to a load of clichéd old nonsense. She was sick of being offered parts where the characters were old and crone-like or withering away, she said.

“If you watch TV or listen to the radio for a week, you would get the impression that everyone over the age of 60 has no control over their faculties,” she said to one reporter. To another she said, “I don’t want us to be treated with kid gloves, but a fraction of respect would come in handy.”

 

[JennyOHill2]

Betty Ford Dies: Former First Lady Dead At Age 93

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Betty Ford said things that first ladies just don't say, even today. And 1970s America loved her for it.

According to Mrs. Ford, her young adult children probably had smoked marijuana – and if she were their age, she'd try it, too. She told "60 Minutes" she wouldn't be surprised to learn that her youngest, 18-year-old Susan, was in a sexual relationship (an embarrassed Susan issued a denial).

She mused that living together before marriage might be wise, thought women should be drafted into the military if men were, and spoke up unapologetically for abortion rights, taking a position contrary to the president's. "Having babies is a blessing, not a duty," Mrs. Ford said.

The former first lady, whose triumph over drug and alcohol addiction became a beacon of hope for addicts and the inspiration for her Betty Ford Center in California, died at age 93, family friend Marty Allen said Friday.

Details of her death and where she died were not immediately available, and Allen, chairman emeritus of the Ford Foundation, said he would not comment further until he received instruction from the family.

While her husband served as president, Betty Ford's comments weren't the kind of genteel, innocuous talk expected from a first lady, and a Republican one no less. Her unscripted comments sparked tempests in the press and dismayed President Gerald Ford's advisers, who were trying to soothe the national psyche after Watergate. But to the scandal-scarred, Vietnam-wearied, hippie-rattled nation, Mrs. Ford's openness was refreshing.

Candor worked for Betty Ford, again and again. She would build an enduring legacy by opening up the toughest times of her life as public example.

In an era when cancer was discussed in hushed tones and mastectomy was still a taboo subject, the first lady shared the specifics of her breast cancer surgery. The publicity helped bring the disease into the open and inspired countless women to seek breast examinations.

Her most painful revelation came 15 months after leaving the White House, when Mrs. Ford announced that she was entering treatment for a longtime addiction to painkillers and alcohol. It turned out the famously forthcoming first lady had been keeping a secret, even from herself.

She used the unvarnished story of her own descent and recovery to crusade for better addiction treatment, especially for women. She co-founded the nonprofit Betty Ford Center near the Fords' home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 1982. Mrs. Ford raised millions of dollars for the center, kept close watch over its operations, and regularly welcomed groups of new patients with a speech that started, "Hello, my name's Betty Ford, and I'm an alcoholic and drug addict."

Mrs. Ford was a free spirit from the start. Elizabeth Bloomer, born April 8, 1918, fell in love with dance as a girl in Grand Rapids, Mich., and decided it would be her life. At 20, despite her mother's misgivings, she moved to New York to learn from her idol Martha Graham. She lived in Greenwich Village, worked as a model, and performed at Carnegie Hall in Graham's modern dance ensemble. "I thought I had arrived," she later recalled.

But her mother coaxed her back to Grand Rapids, where Betty worked as a dance teacher and store fashion coordinator and married William Warren, a friend from school days. He was a salesman who traveled frequently; she was unhappy. They lasted five years.

While waiting for her divorce to become final, she met and began dating, as she put it in her memoir, "probably the most eligible bachelor in Grand Rapids" – former college football star, Navy veteran and lawyer Jerry Ford. They would be married for 58 years, until his death in December 2006.

When he proposed, she didn't know about his political ambitions; when he launched his bid for Congress during their engagement, she figured he couldn't win.

Two weeks after their October 1948 wedding, her husband was elected to his first term in the House. He would serve 25 years, rising to minority leader.

Mrs. Ford was thrust into a role she found exhausting and unfulfilling: political housewife. While her husband campaigned for weeks at a time or worked late on Capitol Hill, she raised their four children: Michael, Jack, Steven and Susan. She arranged luncheons for congressional wives, helped with her husband's campaigns, became a Cub Scout den mother, taught Sunday school.

A pinched nerve in her neck in 1964, followed by the onset of severe osteoarthritis, led her to an assortment of prescription drugs that never fully relieved the pain. For years she had been what she later called "a controlled drinker, no binges." Now she began mixing pills and alcohol. Feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated, she suffered an emotional breakdown that led to weekly visits with a psychiatrist.

On Aug. 9, 1974, Gerald Ford was sworn in as the only chief executive in American history who hadn't been elected either president or vice president.

Mrs. Ford wrote of her sudden ascent to first lady: "It was like going to a party you're terrified of, and finding out to your amazement that you're having a good time."

Her 2 1/2 years as first lady certainly looked fun. Mrs. Ford embraced pop culture, donning a mood ring, dancing "the Bump" with Tony Orlando, joining in the CB radio craze. In contrast to the stilted Nixon years, the Fords were known for rollicking White House parties with popular performers and dancing late into the night.

She became the first first lady to appear on a TV sitcom, doing a cameo on the "Mary Tyler Moore Show." (Nine years later, Moore would check into the Betty Ford Center for alcohol treatment.)

She was 56 when she moved into the White House, and looked more matronly than mod. Ever gracious, her chestnut hair carefully coifed into a soft bouffant, she tended to speak softly and slowly, even when taking a feminist stand.

"There is joy in recovery," she wrote, "and in helping others discover that joy."

 

[JennyOHill2]

Character actor Roberts Blossom dies at 87

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Roberts Blossom, 87, a veteran character actor who played the old, white-bearded next-door neighbor who befriends young Macaulay Culkin in the movie “Home Alone,” died July 8 at a nursing home in Santa Monica, Calif. No cause of death was reported.

Mr. Blossom, who grew up in Cleveland, worked in the New York theater scene as a young man. He formed a multimedia avant-garde theater troupe called Filmstage.

He won three Obie Awards for his performances in off-Broadway productions during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. He also appeared on Broadway, including in Edward Albee’s adaptation of Carson McCullers’s “The Ballad of the Sad Cafe” and Sam Shepard’s “Operation Sidewinder.”

Mr. Blossom starred in the 1974 cult horror movie “Deranged,” in which he played a demented farmer who digs up his domineering mother’s corpse and takes it home — then digs up other bodies to keep her company before he begins hunting live victims.

He’s best known in films as a character actor whose credits include “The Hospital,” “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Escape From Alcatraz,” “Resurrection” and “Doc Hollywood.”

He played “old man Marley” in “Home Alone” (1990).

Mr. Blossom was also a poet, and his works were published in several books. He was the subject of the 2000 documentary “Full Blossom: The Life of Poet/Actor Roberts Blossom,” directed by James Brih Abee.

 

[RoryN]

He’s best known in films as a character actor whose credits include “The Hospital,” “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Escape From Alcatraz,” “Resurrection” and “Doc Hollywood.”

I can't believe they left out Christine.

"And that's about the finest smell in the world...except maybe for pussy."