Farewell To The Captain
Captain Lou Albano
RIP 1933-2009
LordsofPain.com just reported that WWE Hall of Famer Captain Lou Albano (Louis Vincent Albano) has passed away. He was 76 years old.
Captain Lou enjoyed a 40+ year career in the pro wrestling business as a wrestler and manager. He was a one-on-a-kind personality and a longtime favorite of wrestling fans.
The “manager of champions” guided 15 different tag teams and 4 singles competitors to championship gold. Fans may remember that his association with Cyndi Lauper helped usher in The Rock & Wrestling Connection, which helped mainstream pro wrestling and helped lead to the first Wrestlemania.
I’d like to extend my deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Captain Lou Albano. He shall be missed.
Mad Men Get A Little Cheeky
Special thanks to hellcat for sending this pic my way!
Remembering Mary Jo Kopechne
Mr. Malden shall be deeply missed
RIP Karl Malden
1912-2009
USA Today reports…
Actor Karl Malden dies at 97
The family of Karl Malden says the actor who won an Oscar for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire has died at age 97.
Malden’s family informed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences of his death on Wednesday. Malden served as the academy’s president from 1989-92.
He made his screen debut in the 1940 movie They Knew What They Wanted, and was praised for his role as Mitch in the 1951 classic A Streetcar Named Desire.
His greatest fame came as Detective Mike Stone in the 1970s TV series The Streets of San Francisco, in which he co-starred with Michael Douglas.
Malden also was a pitchman for American Express in a series of commercials airing over 21 years.
Millions of fans feel the loss
RIP Michael Jackson
1958-2009
Rolling Stone reports…
Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
by David Browne
Michael Jackson, one of the most talented and eccentric performers in pop history, died of apparent cardiac arrest at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles at 2:26 p.m. PT today, June 25th. According to reports, he collapsed in his Los Angeles-area home and paramedics arriving on the scene found the superstar with no pulse; he was immediately rushed to the hospital. Although confusion about his status lingered (a spokesman for Sony Music, Jackson’s one-time home, said he was just hearing “rumors” at 3:20 p.m. PT), Jackson was reportedly in a coma, and his death was confirmed just before 3:30 p.m. PT.
Jackson’s health, which has been the source of speculation for nearly two decades, had recently returned to the headlines. Next month, Jackson was set to start a series of 50 sold-out concerts at London’s O2 arena, but the singer postponed the first four shows of the “This Is It!” run in May and had reportedly not shown up for some rehearsals.
Over the course of a career that started 40 years ago, with the Jackson 5′s first hit, 1969′s “I Want You Back,” Jackson was a towering and constantly enigmatic presence in pop music — a giant on the level of Presley, Sinatra and Dylan. He set an almost impossibly high standard in pop music on numerous levels: as a record maker (the silky funk and R&B on albums like Thriller and Off the Wall), dancer (his Moonwalk remains one of the most imitated steps), fashion icon (sequined gloves), video auteur (lavish clips for “Beat It” and “Thriller”
and record seller (1982′s Thriller was the Number One selling album of all time until it was recently deposed by the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975). His singing and music took in gospel, hard rock, funk, and middle-of-the-road balladry, and his vision of himself as an all-around entertainer propelled him to heights rarely seen in pop history.
Remembering a True 1970s Star
RIP Farrah Fawcett
1947-2009
Yahoo News reports…
‘Charlie’s Angel’ Farrah Fawcett dies at 62
A winsome smile, tousled hair and unfettered sensuality were Farrah Fawcett‘s trademarks as a sex symbol and 1970s TV star in “Charlie’s Angels.”
But as her life drew to a close, she captivated the public in a far different way: as a cancer patient who fought for, then surrendered, her treasured privacy to document her struggle with the disease and inspire others.
Fawcett, 62, died Thursday morning at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, nearly three years after being diagnosed with anal cancer. Ryan O’Neal, the longtime companion who returned to her side when she became ill, was with her.
“After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away,” O’Neal said. “Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world.”
In the end, Fawcett sought to offer more than that, re-emerging in the spotlight with a new gravitas.
In “Farrah’s Story,” which aired last month, she made public her painful treatments and dispiriting setbacks — from shaving her golden locks before chemotherapy could claim them to undergoing experimental treatments in Germany.
Remembering The Tonight Show Legend
RIP Ed McMahon
1923-2009
The Los Angeles Democrat-Herald reports…
‘Tonight’ sidekick Ed McMahon dies in LA at 86
Ed McMahon, the loyal “Tonight Show’’ sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding “H-e-e-e-e-e-ere’s Johnny!’’ for 30 years, died early Tuesday. He was 86.
McMahon died shortly after midnight at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his wife, Pam, and other family members, said his publicist, Howard Bragman.
Bragman didn’t give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a “multitude of health problems the last few months.’’
McMahon broke his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of financial problems as his injuries prevented him from working.
Doc Severinson, “Tonight’’ bandleader during the Carson era, said McMahon was a man “full of life and joy and celebration.’’
“He will be sorely missed. He was one of the greats in show business, but most of all he was a gentleman. I miss my friend,’’ Severinson said in a statement.
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One of my favorite personalities
Just got the news that acor David Carradine died in Bangkok. Evidently, he chose to end his own life. He shall be missed.
RIP David Carradine
1936-2009
From Yahoo News…
Actor David Carradine found dead in Bangkok
Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series “Kung Fu” who also had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, confirmed the death of the 72-year-old actor. He said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but he could not provide further details out of consideration for his family.
The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation cited unidentified police sources as saying Carradine was found Thursday hanged in his luxury hotel room.
It said Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot a movie and had been staying at the hotel since Tuesday.
The newspaper said Carradine could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday, and that his body was found by a hotel maid at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. The name of the movie was not immediately available.
It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the room’s curtains. It cited police as saying he had been dead at least 12 hours and there was no sign that he had been assaulted.
A police officer at Bangkok’s Lumpini precinct station would not confirm the identity of the dead man, but said the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park hotel had reported that a male guest killed himself there.
Carradine was a leading member of a venerable Hollywood acting family that included his father, character actor John Carradine, and brother Keith.
In all, he appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby. One of his prominent early film roles was as singer Woody Guthrie in Ashby’s 1976 biopic “Bound for Glory.”
But he was best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin priest traveling the 1800s American frontier West in the TV series “Kung Fu,” which aired in 1972-75.
RIP Dom Deluise
1933-2009
Thanks for all the laughter! You will be missed!
You are not a number. You are a free man.
Patrick McGoohan
RIP 1924-2009
Just learned of the passing of one of my personal heroes and role models, Mr. Patrick McGoohan. He shall be missed. Here’s a noice article from The Guardian, across the pond.
Patrick McGoohan: The Prisoner actor dies aged 80
Patrick McGoohan, the Emmy award-winning actor who created and starred in 1960s TV show The Prisoner, has died at the age of 80.
The actor’s son-in-law, film producer Cleve Landsberg, said today that McGoohan had died yesterday in Los Angeles after a short illness.
McGoohan was best known as the title character Number Six in surreal drama The Prisoner, which aired on ITV in the UK. He played a former spy who is held captive in a small village and constantly tries to escape.
He also won two Emmys for detective drama Columbo, playing different characters, with the first coming in 1974 and the other 16 years later.
More recently, McGoohan appeared as King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart.
McGoohan, who was born in New York but raised in England and Ireland, came to screen prominence in ITV’s early 1960s drama series Danger Man, in which he played a secret agent.
He was also considered for the lead role in the first James Bond movie, Dr No, before Sean Connery was cast.
However, it was The Prisoner, which aired originally on ITV between 1967 and 1968, with which he was chiefly associated, writing some of the episodes himself under a different name.
His character, Number Six, spent the entire time attempting to escape from a prison – which was disguised as a holiday camp – and trying to find out the identity of his captor, the elusive Number One. He repeatedly declared: “I am not a number – I am a free man!”
In 2000, McGoohan reprised his most famous role in an episode of The Simpsons. His last acting job came in 2002, voicing a character in animation Treasure Planet.
ITV is currently remaking The Prisoner in conjunction with American cable channel AMC.It is due to air later this year.
McGoohan’s other film acting credits include Ice Station Zebra, Escape from Alcatraz, Scanners and A Time to Kill.