The Rest In Peace and Remembrance Thread

[unchoopfan]

Don Diamond, F Troop's "Crazy Cat," dead at 90


Actor Don Diamond died June 19, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. He was 90. Diamond was born on June 4th, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York. His father was Russian-born, a veteran of the United States Army in World War One, and his mother was born in New Jersey. From the years of 1938 to 1942 he studied drama at the University of Michigan, where he took on many jobs in order to pay for his studies. He finally graduated with a Bachelor's Degree. After joining the Air Corps, he learned Spanish while serving in the southwest, and also learned about the Mexican culture. After honorably leaving the army in 1946 as a first lieutenant, he broke into the radio game and became known for his portrayal of Mexicans. This led to his role in "The Adventures of Kit Carson" as Carson's sidekick, El Toro. He later became well known as Corporal Reyes on the television show Zorro. He went on to appear in over 100 television shows, as well as many full length feature films, most notably as Crazy Cat on F Troop. Don is married to a Spanish Teacher, Louisa, who is from Mexico. He leaves his wife Luisa and three daughters.


Alan Haberman, who led effort to bring bar codes to store products in the 1970s, dead at 81

By: Valerie J. Nelson, LA Times

Supermarket executive Alan L. Haberman called the now-ubiquitous bar-code design he helped will into existence the "little footprint" that changed the retail world.

He was motivated not by slim profit margins, he later said, but by the dismal state of the pre-automated checkout stand in the early 1970s.

Haberman chaired the industry committee that settled on the bar-code symbol in 1973. The group spent more than two years deciding on the format for the bar code, invented in 1949 by two engineers, Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, who favored a bull's-eye design.

The bull's-eye ended up losing to one by IBM — the now-familiar vertical black lines anchored by a series of numbers. The widely used version of the bar code is known as the universal product code.

A year later, a jumbo pack of Wrigley's gum made history in an Ohio supermarket as the first product to be rung up using an optical scanner.

Haberman, who has been hailed as a visionary by the retail industry, died June 12 at a Newton, Mass., hospital of complications from heart and lung disease, said his son, Arthur. He was 81.

[amayo]

PETER FALK DEAD AT 83

Peter Falk has died at age 83, reports KTLA in Los Angeles and Variety. The beloved Columbo star died at his home in Beverly Hills last night.

The actor had been suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease, according to his daughter, Catherine Falk.

In 2009, a judge established a conservatorship for the ailing actor after a court battle between Catherine and wife of more than 30 years, Shera Falk.

Falk won four Emmys for his starring role in Columbo.

[David Paleg]

Comic book artist Gene Colan dies at 84
Jun 24, 4:29 PM (ET)
By MATT MOORE and ULA ILNYTZKY


NEW YORK (AP) - Comic book artist Gene Colan, whose career spanned seven decades and illustrated the adventures of characters like Dracula, Batman, Daredevil and the wise-cracking fowl Howard the Duck, has died in the Bronx at age 84.

Longtime friend and biographer Clifford Meth told The Associated Press that Colan died late Thursday at Calvary Hospital from complications of liver disease and cancer. A private funeral will be Sunday.

Colan's impact on the industry was undeniable, developing a style both subtle and emotional that imbued characters he drew with a sense of vitality that seemed to leap off the pages. His work drew him the nickname Gene "The Dean" Colan.

Born in New York on Sept. 1, 1926, Colan began working in comics in 1944, drawing for "Wings Comics," before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps where he was stationed in the Philippines at the end of World War II. When he was discharged, he joined Timely Comics, the precursor to Marvel and then drew for National Comics, now DC.

He returned to Marvel in the 1960s as the industry entered what is widely known as comics' Silver Age. That period saw the revitalization of classic heroes from the 1940s, such as Superman, Batman and Green Lantern at DC, as well as the creation of Marvel's Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Captain America and Daredevil.

Full story at Iwon/AP News.

[unchoopfan]

Nick Charles, longtime CNN sports anchor and Showtime/Versus boxing voice, dead at 64

Nick Charles, who began his rise in the TV industry after driving cabs in his hometown of Chicago and spent much of his career as a sports voice on CNN and Showtime, died Saturday following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 64.

Charles began at CNN on the network's first day, June 1, 1980, and covered nearly every sporting event over the years. He was paired with Fred Hickman for most of the next two decades on "Sports Tonight," a show that beat ESPN in ratings when the upstarts were battling for viewers. To this day, he and Hickman remain one of the longest-lasting anchor duos in television.

He also hosted his own program, Page One with Nick Charles, until leaving the network in 2001. Charles anchored Turner's coverage of The Goodwill Games in 1986 (Moscow), 1990 (Seattle), and 1994 (St. Petersburg, Russia) and covered boxing during the Goodwill Games in New York City in 1998.

Beginning in 2001, Charles hosted Showtime's ShoBox: The New Generation. As a boxing commentator, he interviewed major boxing figures including Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. He also hosted boxing on Versus, a sports network. Nick won the Boxing Writer's Association 2007 Broadcaster award. In 2008, he won the Sam Taub Award for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism. Charles was also the winner of several cable ACE awards.

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Fred Steiner, Hollywood composer, dead at 88
Composed classic 50's and 60's TV themes for "Perry Mason," "Rocky and Bullwinkle"

By Randy Lewis, L.A. Times

Television and film music composer Fred Steiner, creator of the bold and gritty theme for the "Perry Mason" TV series and one of the composers of the Oscar-nominated score for "The Color Purple," died Thursday, June 23. He was 88.

One of the busiest composers working in Hollywood in the 1950s and '60s, Steiner also crafted music for "Gunsmoke," "The Twilight Zone," "Star Trek," "Have Gun, Will Travel," "Rawhide," "Hogan's Heroes" and other TV series.

Frederick Steiner was born Feb. 24, 1923, in New York City, the son of violinist, composer and arranger George Steiner. He began playing the piano at 6 and took up the cello at 13. He received a scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, where he studied with composer Normand Lockwood.

The serious, classical music aspect of Steiner's life was a counterweight to the lighthearted character of one of his more widely recognized compositions, the jaunty Broadway-style theme he wrote for "The Bullwinkle Show" — a later incarnation of "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle" — and the charged-up, forthright Dudley Do-Right theme used in the series.

Steiner contributed music to more than two dozen episodes of the original "Star Trek" TV series, music that resurfaced in 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and, most recently, for "Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II." He also provided music, although uncredited, for "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" in 1983.

[unchoopfan]

Elaine Stewart, actress and game show hostess, dead at 81
Starred in "Brigadoon," appeared on 70's game shows "Gambit" and "High Rollers"

Elaine Stewart, 81, an actress who appeared in a string of films in the 1950s and after taking a break to start a family appeared on the 1970s TV game shows "Gambit" and "High Rollers," died Monday at her home in Beverly Hills after a long illness, said her agent, Fred Wostbrock.

Born Elsy Steinberg on May 31, 1930, in Montclair, N.J., Stewart beat out hundreds of young models in 1952 to earn a photo layout in See Magazine, winning the title of “Miss See,” and was signed by MGM to a film contract. That year, she landed her first film role in the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis comedy Sailor Beware.

Her first starring role came in the 1953 crime drama "Code Two." She also appeared in "Brigadoon," "The Adventures of Hajji Baba," "The Tattered Dress" and "Night Passage" among other films.

In all, Stewart appeared in 18 films in the ’50s and graced the cover of Life magazine on March 22, 1953, in a cover story with the headline, “Budding Starlet Visits the Folks in Jersey.”

On Dec. 31, 1964, Stewart married prolific game show creator Merrill Heatter (she earlier was married to actor Bill Carter) and retired from show business to start a family. But in 1972, she returned to TV as the co-hostess of the Heatter-Quigley game show Gambit, and the pairing of Stewart and emcee Wink Martindale gave CBS a daytime hit. Later, Stewart joined Alex Trebek for NBC nighttime game show High Rollers.

[EZ103.3FM]

'83 legend Lorenzo Charles dies in crash
(from espn.com)
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Lorenzo Charles, the muscular forward whose last-second dunk gave underdog North Carolina State a stunning win in the 1983 national college championship game, was killed Monday when a bus he was driving crashed along a highway, a company official said.

Elite Coach general manager Brad Jackson said Charles, 47, worked for the company and was driving one of its buses on Interstate 40. No passengers were aboard.

Charles grabbed Dereck Whittenburg's 30-foot shot in the 1983 title game and dunked it at the buzzer to give the Wolfpack a 54-52 win over heavy favorite Houston and its second national title, sending coach Jim Valvano spilling onto the court, scrambling for someone to hug in what has become one of the lasting images of the NCAA tournament.

"It's a terrible day for the '83 team, a terrible day," Whittenburg said. "He's just a positive, a warm spirit. On the court, he never smiled. He was a competitor. He was tough and all that. Off the court. He was a gentle giant. Man, he came with that bubbly smile."

Whittenburg said he was recently with Charles at the memorial service for former NC State assistant Ed McLean, who had passed away in late April, and then saw him when Whittenburg was honored at a Wolfpack game earlier this season.

"You get him on the court. He was like a big bear. Off the court, a wonderful, wonderful kid," Whittenburg said.

Sidney Lowe, Charles' teammate and NC State's coach through last season, said he was just with Charles two weeks ago.

"His smile. Always a good guy. Always. He always made you feel like he was excited to see you,'' said Lowe by telephone, who was audibly upset over Charles' death. "That's what I remember about him. He had the biggest smile. He was excited to see you. He was always just so positive. We talked about things. He always just had the right thing to say. He didn't talk much but when he did he was profound and supportive. He's just a good guy."

Charles secured his spot in NC State lore 28 years ago in the final moments of the Wolfpack's matchup with Houston in the national championship game.

"It's still kind of amazing to me that ... people are still talking about it," Charles said in an excerpt from his comments about the championship game on his NC State web page. "I remember when (it) first happened, I figured I would have my 15 minutes of fame and that would be it. Here we are and it is still a conversational piece. I don't really think that was the only great Final Four finish that has been played since then, but for some reason people just single out that game and talk about it. Maybe because it was such a David and Goliath thing."

Police released little about the one-vehicle crash that took Charles' life. Video shows the windshield broken out with tree limbs sticking through the window frame. The rear wheels of the bus were on an embankment, leaving the right front tire elevated from the road.

Charles finished his college career two years after the championship win with 1,535 total points -- 15th on the school's scoring list -- and his .575 shooting percentage in 1985 remains a school record for seniors.

In the 1983 run, NC State entered the tourney with a 17-10 record, having beaten Virginia to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and an automatic berth into the national field. Charles made two free throws with 23 seconds left in the West Regional finals against the Cavaliers to give the Wolfpack a 63-62 victory and the spot in the Final Four.

Their semifinal win over Georgia sent them to the matchup with Houston, which featured future NBA greats Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexer. The Cougars, nicknamed "Phi Slama Jama" for their high-flying attack, were ranked No. 1 and had beaten No. 2 Louisville handily in the semifinals.

Michael Young, director of basketball operations at Houston, was a member of that team. He told KRIV-TV in Houston that he had never quite gotten over Charles' heroics.

"For him to dunk the ball at that moment to win the game, it was one of the most heartbreaking moments I have ever felt in my whole career," Young said. "Twenty-eight years later, it's still with me. Every day somebody asks me about it. I thought I was going to get away with it today and then you called me. I'm very sorry to hear what happened."

Lowe said Charles never liked to have the spotlight on him about making the historic shot.

"He was very humble about it to the point of almost feeling uncomfortable or embarrassed that people would talk about it," Lowe said. "He never was a person that thought he was better than anyone. He never acted that way. When he made the shot, he turned around like 'What?' He didn't realize how big that play was. He was very humble. That was his personality and character. If you talk about it. He wouldn't gloat. He stayed humble. That's who he was."

Lowe and Whittenburg stayed in the public eye by becoming head coaches. Lowe was fired as coach of his alma mater in March.

"Lorenzo was just happy with his life," Lowe said. "He certainly would have loved to have played longer in the NBA. He was one of those guys that never complained. He never complained about this or that opportunity. He just went on with his life and accepted it. He got involved in other things and be involved with. You never saw in a bad mood. I have never talked to him or seen him in a bad mood. I never talked to him where he had one negative thing about anybody. He never had a negative thing to say. The way he lived his life."

The 1983 team has now lost four members: Valvano, who died of cancer in 1993; McLean, who died unexpectedly on April 27; walk-on Quinton Leonard, who died at age 44 of a heart attack in 2006; and Charles.

"It's just hard to grasp," Lowe said. "It's just sad now when you talk about that team who have passed away. It's very difficult. You talk about special moments in your life and relationships you have and things you cherish and that's something no one can ever take away from us. We experienced something a lot of athletes will never experience. We have a bond that will never be broken. When I tell you he was a loyal friend to the end -- he was. He was a loyal friend to the end."

New NC State coach Mark Gottfried said he was with Charles on Sunday night after he had come by the team's camp earlier in the day.

"I'm just shocked and saddened," Gottfried said. "Our whole staff sat around with him for a half-hour and told stories (Sunday). We had camp going on and he just came by the camp."

Gottfried said he had reconnected with Charles last week after landing the Wolfpack job in the spring after his stint as an ESPN analyst. Gottfried said Charles played against his Alabama team when he was a junior with the Tide.

"We shared stories about our playing days," Gottfried said. "We had a great time reminiscing. He was so full of life. I'm so stunned. Not only did NC State lose one of the all-time greats as a human being, everyone loved him. He was a big-hearted guy. Everyone from the NC State family is calling. They're all so saddened and stunned."

NC State retired Charles' No. 43 jersey in 2008, the 25th anniversary of the championship.

Thurl Bailey, one of Charles' teammates on the championship team, said it's tough to accept that the player who made the game-winning dunk is gone.

"But I heard someone say, I was talking to them on the phone about this, that Jimmy V finally found somebody to hug," Bailey told WRAL-TV.

Arizona State coach and former NC State coach Herb Sendek recalled the time he got to know Charles during his 1996-2006 coaching tenure with the Wolfpack.

"It's hard to express the tremendous loss that so many are feeling right now with this tragedy," Sendek said. "Lorenzo was a wonderful person and one of the true legends in NC State basketball history. His game-winning basket against Houston in the 1983 national championship game is forever carved on the minds of anybody who has ever followed the sport."

ACC commissioner John Swofford said Charles' play had an uplifting impact.

"As a former player, he made us believe in the amazing and all of us in the ACC send out our thoughts and prayers to his entire family," Swofford said in a statement.

Charles played one season in the NBA, averaging 3.4 points in 36 games with the Atlanta Hawks in 1985-86, and played internationally and in the Continental Basketball Association until 1999.

[David Paleg]

Australian Idol Judge Found Dead at 36
by Joyce Eng, TVGuide.com
Jul 1, 2011 09:25 AM ET

Former Australian Idol judge and Sony Music executive Jay Dee Springbett was found dead Thursday in his Sydney apartment. He was 36.

His death is not suspicious, police tell the Sydney Morning Herald. Springbett's friends had been unable to contact him for a while and called emergency services. Springbett was already dead by the time paramedics arrived.

"The Australian Idol family is deeply saddened by the passing of Jay Dee," Fremantle Media, which owns the Idol properties, said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with his family and all at Sony Music."

Springbett joined Australian Idol in its seventh and final season in 2009, earning a reputation as a nice guy. He was also an A&R executive at Sony for more than six years, where he fostered the careers of such artists as Human Nature and Guy Sebastian.

"Jay Dee was so very enthusiastic and passionate about his family, his music projects and his plans for the future," Sony said in a statement. "[He] was a great friend and larger-than-life charismatic character who will be missed enormously."

[EZ103.3FM]

Hall of Famer John Mackey dies

Pro Football Hall of Famer John Mackey, who helped revolutionize the position of tight end as an offensive weapon, died on Wednesday. He was 69 and had suffered from dementia for years.

Mackey played 10 seasons for the Baltimore Colts and San Diego Chargers, catching 331 passes for 5,236 yards and 38 touchdowns. As president of the NFL Players Association after the AFL-NFL merger, he fought to improve players' pension benefits and access to free agency.

Enshrined in 1992, Mackey was the second player elected to the Hall of Fame as a tight end. He played in five Pro Bowls and was named All-NFL at his position three times.

In a statement posted by NFL spokesman Greg Aiello on Twitter, commissioner Roger Goodell called Mackey "one of the great leaders in NFL history, on and off the field."

"He was a Hall of Fame player who redefined the tight end position. He was a courageous advocate for his fellow NFL players as head of the NFL Players Association," Goodell said. "He worked closely with our office on many issues through the years, including serving as the first president of the NFL Youth Football Fund. He never stopped fighting the good fight. Our thoughts are with Sylvia and the Mackey family on the loss of our good friend."

In a pair of Twitter entries, current NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith paid tribute to Mackey.

"John Mackey has inspired me and will continue to inspire our players. He will be missed but never forgotten" reads a post on Smith's Twitter page.

A previous post reads: "John Mackey is still a leader. As President of the NFLPA he led the fight for fairness with brilliance and ferocious drive."

His plight eventually led the NFL and the players' union to establish the "88 Plan" -- named for his uniform number -- providing for nursing home care and adult day care for retired players suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

In 2010, Sylvia Mackey pledged to donate her husband's brain upon his death to a Boston University School of Medicine study of brain damage in athletes. The university's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy is researching potential links between repeated concussions and CTE, a condition which mirrors symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

As the first president of the post-merger players' union, Mackey started fighting for improved salaries and benefits for players. In July 1970, he organized a players' strike that resulted in an additional $11 million in pensions and benefits, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Mackey also filed and won an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL which eliminated the so-called "Rozelle Rule," named for then-commissioner Pete Rozelle, which mandated equal compensation for teams that lost free agents and had the effect of limiting free-agent signings. The ruling set the stage for the players' union to eventually achieve full free agency.

"We were a fractured group until John began putting permanence in [the union's] day-to-day operations," said teammate and former union president Ordell Braase, according to The Sun. "He had a vision for that job, which was more than just putting in time and keeping the natives calm. You don't get anything unless you really rattle the cage."

Drafted in 1963 from Syracuse, Mackey, at 6-foot-2 and 224 pounds, helped revolutionize the position of tight end by bringing the added dimension of speed, forcing defenses to account for him not only as a blocker but as a breakaway threat.

"Previous to John, tight ends were big strong guys like [Mike] Ditka and [Ron] Kramer who would block and catch short passes over the middle," former Colts coach and fellow Hall of Famer Don Shula said, according to The Sun. "Mackey gave us a tight end who weighed 230, ran a 4.6 and could catch the bomb. It was a weapon other teams didn't have."

If Mackey did not run past defenders, he ran through them.

"Defensive backs fell off of him like gnats," said Baltimore Colts teammate Jerry Hill, according to The Sun. "John didn't have a fluid gait -- he looked like a plowhorse -- but you didn't want to touch him for fear of getting caught up in the wheels."

"Sometimes you had a sense that, given the option, John would rather run over you than outrun you," added former Colts teammate Bob Vogel, according to The Sun.

In 1966, six of Mackey's nine touchdown receptions came on plays of 50 yards or more. His speed led the Colts to use him as a kick returner in his rookie season.

He caught 35 passes for 726 yards and a career high 20.7-yard average as a rookie in 1963, when he was selected to the Pro Bowl.

Mackey also played a crucial role in the Colts winning Super Bowl V in 1971. His catch of a Johnny Unitas pass that had been deflected by two other players -- Colts receiver Eddie Hinton and Dallas Cowboys defender Mel Renfro -- went for 75 yards and a touchdown. The Colts won 16-13 on Jim O'Brien's 32-yard field goal with 5 seconds left.

Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and general manager Ozzie Newsome also offered their condolences on Mackey's passing.

"I was fortunate to get to know John and Sylvia personally, and I was struck by her love and loyalty throughout the difficult times of his illness," Bisciotti said. "John set the standard by which tight ends are measured on the field, and he will be sorely missed not only by his family, but also by the entire Baltimore community. "

"John revolutionized the tight end position during his Hall of Fame career, and he laid the foundation on and off the field for modern NFL players," Newsome added.

Syracuse named Mackey, who played for the Orange from 1960-62, to its all-century team in 1999 and retired his No. 88 in 2007. His legacy is remembered yearly when the John Mackey Award is bestowed upon the player deemed college football's best tight end.

[Scott Reppert]

Hall Of Fame Manager Dick Williams Passes Away At 82

LAS VEGAS (AP)—Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams, who led the Oakland A’s to two consecutive World Series titles, has died in Las Vegas.

Williams’ friend, Bob Blum, said Williams died Thursday at his home. He was 82.

Williams managed the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A’s, California Angels, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners during a 21-year career.

He was the second manager to win pennants with three different clubs.

Williams won World Series titles with the A’s in 1972 and 1973, and an American League pennant with the Red Sox in 1967. He won a National League pennant with the Padres in 1984.

One Of Scott's Best Friends Has Passed Away

Robert R. “Bob” Furr, 54, of Core departed this earth to join his wife and his Savior on July 4, 2011 at Allegheny General Hospital surrounded by his loving family.

Bob was born on August 21, 1956 in Fairmont, WV to the late Robert R. Furr, Sr. and Lefa Foltz Furr.

Bob was licensed in the Church of God and was a devoted Pastor and Evangelist, traveling across the country holding revivals.Bob loved his family and being around people,
but devoted his life to the Lord and bringing others to the saving power of God.

Bob was a member of the Mt. Morris Gospel Tabernacle and is survived by his son Robert “Rob” J. Furr and his wife Kristi of New Stanton, PA.
In addition to his parents, Bob was preceded in death by his loving wife, Cathy Lynn Forquer Furr, who passed away on May 6, 2011.

Online condolences may be extended to the family at http://www.mcculla.com.

[David Paleg]

The "Great Impostor" Who Crashed Emmys, All-Star Games Dead
First Posted: 7/7/11 Updated: 7/8/11

Barry Bremen, a Detroit-area businessman whose fun-loving, gate-crashing stunts led him to shoot layups before NBA All-Star games, accept an Emmy Award for best supporting actress and flee from veteran baseball manager Tommy Lasorda, died of cancer at age 64.

Sometimes called the "Great Impostor," Bremen became known to millions during the 1980s for sneaking onto professional courts and fields donning chicken suits as well as player and umpire uniforms - capers that required such accomplices as baseball player George Brett and golfer Jack Nicklaus.

He died June 30 in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he lived with his wife, Margo. A memorial service was held for family and friends Tuesday in Southfield, following a funeral and burial in Phoenix.

Some of his more famous exploits included being chased off the field by Lasorda - then the Los Angeles Dodgers manager - during warm-ups for the 1986 All-Star game, and slipping onto the stage to accept an Emmy award in 1985 for Betty Thomas of "Hill Street Blues" before she could make her way to the microphone.


Full story at http://weirdnews.aol.com/2011/07/07/bar ... 92191.html

[Lester]

Former first lady Betty Ford dies at the age of 93
(CNN) -- Betty Ford, the widow of late President Gerald Ford and a co-founder of an eponymous addiction center in California, has died at the age of 93, according to the director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/08/betty. ... ?hpt=hp_t1

[jag]

Former Motorhead guitarist Michael "Wurzel" Burston had died at the age of 61.



Tim Butcher, longtime bass technician for frontman Lemmy Kilmister, revealed the news on his Facebook.com page on Saturday.

Also: More stars we've lost in 2011

In a post, he wrote, "RIP Wurzle, Great guitarist and a complete gent... we will miss you...".

The rocker joined Motorhead in 1984 and played with the band for 11 years, appearing on six studio albums. His "Wurzel" nickname stemmed from his resemblance to the fictional character Worzel Gummidge.

After he left Motorhead, Burston played for several other punk and metal bands, including WVKEAF and Disgust. He reunited with his former bandmates in 2009, joining them for a gig at London's Hammersmith Apollo, where they performed their classic song "Ace of Spades" together.

He formed his own band, Leader of Down, but plans to release an album last year never materialized.

Burston reportedly died of ventricular fibrillation, caused by cardiomyopathy, better known as heart disease.

[unchoopfan]

Rob Grill, Grass Roots lead singer, dead at 67
Rob Grill, lead singer, songwriter and bass player of the '60s rock group the Grass Roots died Monday, July 11, from complications related to injuries he suffered in a fall earlier this month at his home. He was 67.

Grill joined The Grass Roots in 1967 as a replacement for bass player Kenny Fukomoto. One of two songs offered by Dunhill Records to the group at that time was "Let's Live For Today." Grill recorded the track with the band, which reached the top 10 in the heart of the "Summer of Love." Between 1967 and 1972, the band recorded 15 Billboard Top 40 hits, including Top 10 hits "Midnight Confessions" and "Sooner or Later." In more recent years, Grill and the band toured with the Monkees in 1986. In 2001, the band released "Symphonic Hits," which featured Grill's vocals and a string quartet playing Grass Roots hits.

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Raymond Jones, Chic keyboardist, dead at 52
Raymond Jones, 52, keyboardist for the disco and R&B group Chic who had a versatile career as a songwriter, producer and musician with a variety of artists, died July 1 of pneumonia. He was 52.

Jones was only 19 when he joined Chic and played on such hits as "Le Freak" and "Good Times." He later wrote and produced songs for several Spike Lee films, including "School Daze" in 1988 and "Do the Right Thing" in 1989.

His songwriting credits included "Stay With Me Tonight" which was a hit for Jeffrey Osborne, and he performed with the Talking Heads, Chaka Khan and Tom Tom Club, among others. Jones also was musical director for "The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show" on Fox and released several solo albums.

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Allan Eckert, writer of Ohio's outdoor drama 'Tecumseh!', dead at 80
Allan Eckert, who wrote children's books, TV scripts, historical fiction and the play "Tecumseh!" that has drawn millions to central Ohio since 1973, died Thursday at his home in Corona, Calif., according to his publisher, the Jesse Stuart Foundation. A cause of death was not given.

"Tecumseh!," a drama about the Shawnee leader, performed annually in Chillicothe, Ohio, was adapted from Eckert's book "The Frontiersmen." Eckert also wrote for the Emmy-winning series "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom." His children's book "Incident at Hawk's Hill" won a Newbery Honor in 1972 and was made into a television movie.

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Lee Vines, veteran television announcer/actor, dead at 92
Lee Vines, a veteran television announcer for "What's My Line?" and other game shows, died Saturday, July 9, at a North Hollywood convalescent hospital of complications from a fall and pneumonia, said his wife, Catherine.

Besides appearing on "What's My Line?" in the 1950s, he also was the announcer for "Hallmark Hall of Fame," "The Name's the Same," "Password All-Stars" and other TV programs. He had occasional acting roles on TV including on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

[Scott Reppert]

Here's The Story...Of A Man Who Just Died:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sherwood Schwartz, writer-creator of two of the best-remembered TV series of the 1960s and 1970s, "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch," has died at age 94.

Great niece Robin Randall said Schwartz died at 4 a.m. Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was being treated for an intestinal infection and underwent several surgeries. His wife, Mildred, and children had been at his side.

Sherwood Schwartz and his brother, Al, started as a writing team in TV's famed 1950s "golden age," said Douglas Schwartz, the late Al Schwartz's son.

"They helped shape television in its early days," Douglas Schwartz said. "Sherwood is an American classic, creating 'Brady Bunch' and 'Gilligan's Island,' iconic shows that are still popular today. He continued to produce all the way up into his 90s."

Sherwood Schwartz was working on a big-screen version of "Gilligan's Island," his nephew said. Douglas Schwartz, who created the hit series "Baywatch," called his uncle a longtime mentor and caring "second father" who helped guide him successfully through show business.

Success was the hallmark of Sherwood Schwartz's own career. Neither "Gilligan" nor "Brady" pleased the critics, but both managed to reverberate in viewers' heads through the years as few such series did, lingering in the language and inspiring parodies, spinoffs and countless standup comedy jokes.

Schwartz had given up a career in medical science to write jokes for Bob Hope's radio show. He went on to write for other radio and TV shows, including "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet."

He dreamed up "Gilligan's Island" in 1964. It was a Robinson Crusoe story about seven disparate travelers who are marooned on a deserted Pacific Island after their small boat wrecks in a storm. The cast: Alan Hale Jr., as Skipper Jonas Grumby; Bob Denver, as his klutzy assistant Gilligan; Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer, the rich snobs Thurston and Lovey Howell; Tina Louise, the bosomy movie star Ginger Grant; Russell Johnson, egghead science professor Roy Hinkley Jr.; and Dawn Wells, sweet-natured farm girl Mary Ann Summers.

TV critics hooted at "Gilligan's Island" as gag-ridden corn. Audiences adored its far-out comedy. Schwartz insisted that the show had social meaning along with the laughs: "I knew that by assembling seven different people and forcing them to live together, the show would have great philosophical implications."

He argued that his sitcoms didn't rely on cheap laughs. "I think writers have become hypnotized by the number of jokes on the page at the expense of character," Schwartz said in a 2000 Associated Press interview.

"When you say the name Gilligan, you know who that is. If a show is good, if it's written well, you should be able to erase the names of the characters saying the lines and still be able to know who said it. If you can't do that, the show will fail."

"Gilligan's Island" lasted on CBS from 1964 to 1967, and it was revived in later seasons with three high-rated TV movies. A children's cartoon, "The New Adventures of Gilligan," appeared on ABC from 1974 to 1977, and in 2004, Schwartz had a hand in producing a TBS reality show called "The Real Gilligan's Island."

The name of the boat on "Gilligan's Island" — the S.S. Minnow — was a bit of TV inside humor: It was named for Newton Minow, who as Federal Communications Commission chief in the early 1960s had become famous for proclaiming television "a vast wasteland."

Minow took the gibe in good humor, saying later that he had a friendly correspondence with Schwartz.

TV writers usually looked upon "The Brady Bunch" as a sugarcoated view of American family life.

The premise: a widow (Florence Henderson) with three daughters marries a widower (Robert Reed) with three sons. (Widowhood was a common plot point in TV series back then, since networks were leery of divorce.) During the 1970s when the nation was rocked by social turmoil, audiences seemed comforted by watching an attractive, well-scrubbed family engaged in trivial pursuits.

Schwartz claimed in 1995 that his creation had social significance because "it dealt with real emotional problems: the difficulty of being the middle girl; a boy being too short when he wants to be taller; going to the prom with zits on your face."

The series lasted from 1969 to 1974, but it had an amazing afterlife. It was followed by three one-season spinoffs: "The Brady Bunch Hour" (1977), "The Brady Brides" (1981) and "The Bradys" (1990). "The Brady Bunch Movie," with Shelley Long and Gary Cole as the parents, was a surprise box-office hit in 1995.

It was followed the next year by a less successful "A Very Brady Sequel."

Sherwood Schwartz was born in 1916 in Passaic, N.J., and grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. His brother, already working for Hope, got him a job when Sherwood was still in college.

"Bob liked my jokes, used them on his show and got big laughs. Then he asked me to join his writing staff," Schwartz said during an appearance in March 2008, when he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "I was faced with a major decision — writing comedy or starving to death while I cured those diseases. I made a quick career change."

Besides his wife, Schwartz's survivors include sons Donald, Lloyd and Ross Schwartz, and daughter Hope Juber.

[Greg Goodfellow]

And somewhere in Heaven, the Skipper, Gilligan and the Howells are berating Schwartz, demanding their cut from the residuals.

[unchoopfan]

Roberts Blossom, veteran actor and "Home Alone" neighbor, dead at 87



Roberts Blossom, a veteran character actor who played the old, white-bearded next-door neighbor who befriends young Macaulay Culkin in the hit movie "Home Alone," has died. He was 87.

Blossom died Friday of natural causes at a nursing home in Santa Monica, said his daughter, Deborah.

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.

But 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."

Then there was his role as "old man Marley" in the 1990 family comedy "Home Alone."

"That's certainly the one he gained the most recognition from, and people still remember him from that," said Deborah Blossom. "He was very happy with the outcome of that movie and its popularity, and he was very happy to be recognized for it."

With a laugh, she added: "I think he'd rather be recognized for that than 'Deranged.' "

[unchoopfan]

Jerry Ragovoy, legendary songwriter/producer, dead at 80
Penned "Time Is On My Side," "Cry Baby," "Piece Of My Heart"

By: Al Kooper/Billboard.com

Jerry Ragovoy, composer of "Time Is On My Side," "Piece Of My Heart," "Get It While You Can," and "Cry, Baby" and producer of songs by Dionne Warwick, Bonnie Raitt, Howard Tate, Paul Butterfield and many others, passed away in New York City Wednesday of complications from a stroke. He was 80.

Ragovoy began his career in the early 1950s as a music buyer for an appliance store in downtown Philadelphia. In 1953 he produced his first recording, "My Love Awaits Me" by the Castelles.

Later, in a staff job at Philadelphia's Chancellor Records, Ragovoy began as an arranger on tracks cut by national heartthrob, Frankie Avalon. He soon resigned and packed up for the journey to New York, where he felt his talents would be more appreciated.

Around this time he began writing songs with another soul songwriter-producer, Bert Berns, including "Cry Baby" by Garnet Mimms, a hit in 1963. Ragovoy worked extensively with Mimms during the 1960s, and co-wrote such songs as "A Quiet Place," "Look Away" and "Baby Don't You Weep." During that time, he wrote a song for jazz trombonist Kai Winding, "Time Is on My Side," that was covered by Irma Thomas -- and then by the Rolling Stones, resulting in the group's first U.S. Top 10 hit. (That song and many others were written by Ragovoy under the pseudonym of Norman Meade.)

Ragovoy also co-wrote with Mort Shuman, George David Weiss, Jacob Brackman and Elvis Costello. His songs were performed by Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Janis Joplin, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Barry White, Erma Franklin, Lorraine Ellison, Howard Tate, Miriam Makeba ("Pata, Pata"), and dozens if not hundreds of others.

Joplin recorded many of his songs and included three on her final album, "Pearl," which was released not long after her death in 1970.

Ragovoy is also renowned for founding and operating New York's Hit Factory studio, where he tutored such future producers as Bill Szymczyk and Art Polhemus. In his offtime, he rented out the studio, eventually selling it and semi-retiring to Atlanta. He moved back to New York in the early 2000s but quickly resettled in Stamford, Conn., which was his last residence.

[genlock]

Who had Amy Winehouse in the dead pool? At age 27, in London.

[DJSHOCKLEY]

Amy Winehouse chooses death over Rehab...

http://news.yahoo.com/singer-amy-wineho ... 48160.html


Troubled singer Amy Winehouse, known for her smoky soul voice and her struggle with drink and drugs, has been found dead at her flat in north London, police said. She was 27 years old.

The Grammy award-winning soul singer with her trademark beehive battled with well-documented addictions that she documented in her hit single "Rehab". Her death is being treated as unexplained, Scotland Yard said.

"Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square shortly before 4:05 pm (1505 GMT) today, Saturday 23 July, following reports of a woman found deceased," a police statement said.

"On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Enquiries continue into the circumstances of the death. At this early stage it is being treated as unexplained."

London Ambulance Service said it had been called to the flat at 3:54 pm (1454 GMT) and sent two ambulances.

Police officers remained on duty outside her home Saturday.

There was no immediate comment from her agents.

[Oldiesdude]

Sure, there was Barbie. But what may turn out to be the true lasting legacy of Mattel co-founder Elliot Handler was the creation of Hot Wheels.

Handler died Thursday of heart failure at 95, a veteran of the toy industry since the end of World War II. The Los Angeles resident didn't think Barbie would be a success when wife Ruth came up the idea in 1959. It became of one of the two products that would define Mattel.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... s-barbie/1