Veteran actor Harry Morgan, most famous to modern audiences as Colonel Potter from the MASH  and After MASH TV series, has passed away.  Here at The Silver State Chronicles, we fondly remember him as Bill Gannon, partner of Sgt Joe Friday in the 1960′s incarnation of Dragnet.

He shall be missed.

A nice article at The Muskegon Chronicle…

Actor Harry Morgan went from Muskegon High School performer to Emmy winner
By Megan Hart

Harry Morgan came a long way from the young man who acted in Muskegon High School productions.

Morgan, who was best known for the role of Col. Sherman T. Potter on the TV series “M*A*S*H,” died Wednesday at age 96.

He was born Harry Bratsburg and graduated from Muskegon High School in 1933. He later attended Muskegon Junior College (now Muskegon Community College), where he was also active in drama.

Morgan left Michigan for good to perform in New York and on the East Coast in the late 1930s. He broke into film and moved to California shortly before Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941, which was the subject of a feature in Monday’s Chronicle.

Morgan performed in more than 100 films and TV shows, spanning more than six decades. His last appearance was in the “M*A*S*H 30th Anniversary Reunion” in 2002. Some of his notable roles were in the 1960 film “Inherit the Wind,” and in the TV series and film “Dragnet.” He won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series for his role as Col. Potter in 1980.

He returned to Muskegon only once, to film a Lifesavers commercial in 1978 with two Muskegon High School students.

“I don’t think I ever enjoyed myself more than going to high school, here,” Morgan told The Chronicle in 1978. “I was very enthusiastic about coming back, and it’s regretful that it’s too short a time to visit. There really was no reason to come back before. Most of my close friends and relatives have gone elsewhere. I’ve been invited to the class reunions, but the arrangements were too complicated.”

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I overheard a twentysomthing begging for change comment on the matter say “Dude, that’s like, ironic!”  Read more at Wired’s Gadget Lab…

Owner of Segway Company Dies in Segway Accident
By Brian X. Chen

The owner of Segway died on Sunday riding one of his company’s electric scooters off a cliff and into a river.

The 62-year-old millionaire Jimi Heselden crashed into the River Wharfe in Northern England while inspecting his North Yorkshire estate, according to multiple reports.

Heselden was riding a rugged-country version of the Segway, which was also recovered at the scene, according to the Telegraph.

Unveiled in 2001, the Segway was invented by Dean Kamen, who dreamed of launching a transportation revolution. The scooter contains five gyroscopes linked to a set of computers to monitor a rider’s center of gravity.

Heselden, chairman of Hesco Bastian and a former miner who earned millions from defense contracts, purchased the Segway company in early 2010.

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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.

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Special thanks to hellcat for sending this pic my way!Similar Posts:

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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.

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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.

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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.

“Her big message to people is don’t give up. No matter what they say to you, keep fighting,” Alana Stewart, who filmed Fawcett as she underwent treatment, said last month. NBC estimated the May 15, 2009, broadcast drew nearly 9 million viewers.

In the documentary, she also recounted her efforts to unmask the source of leaks from her UCLA Medical Center records, which led a hospital employee to plead guilty to violating a federal privacy law for selling celebrities’ information to the National Enquirer.

“There are no words to express the deep sense of loss that I feel,” Stewart said Thursday. “For 30 years, Farrah was much more than a friend. She was my sister, and although I will miss her terribly, I know in my heart that she will always be there as that angel on the shoulder of everyone who loved her.”

Other “Charlie’s Angels” stars also paid tribute.

“Farrah had courage, she had strength, and she had faith. And now she has peace as she rests with the real angels,” Jaclyn Smith said.

Said Cheryl Ladd: “She was incredibly brave, and God will be welcoming her with open arms.”

Kate Jackson said she would remember Fawcett’s “kindness, her cutting, dry wit and, of course, her beautiful smile. Today when you think of Farrah remember her smiling because that is exactly how she wanted to be remembered, smiling.”

Fawcett became a sensation in 1976 as one-third of the crime-fighting trio in “Charlie’s Angels.” A poster of her in a clingy, red swimsuit sold in the millions and her full, layered hairstyle became all the rage, with girls and women across America mimicking the look.

She left the show after one season but had a flop on the big screen with “Somebody Killed Her Husband.” She turned to more serious roles in the 1980s and 1990s, winning praise playing an abused wife in “The Burning Bed.”

Born Feb. 2, 1947, in Corpus Christi, Texas, she was named Mary Farrah Leni Fawcett by her mother, who said she added the Farrah because it sounded good with Fawcett. As a student at the University of Texas at Austin, she was voted one of the 10 most beautiful people on the campus and her photos were eventually spotted by movie publicist David Mirisch, who suggested she pursue a film career.

She appeared in a string of commercials, including one where she shaved quarterback Joe Namath, and in such TV shows as “That Girl,” “The Flying Nun,” “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Partridge Family.”

She was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006. According to the American Cancer Society Web site, an estimated 5,290 Americans, most of them adults over 35, will be diagnosed with that type of cancer this year, and there will be 710 deaths.

As she underwent treatment, she enlisted the help of O’Neal, who was the father of her now 24-year-old son, Redmond.

This month, O’Neal said he asked Fawcett to marry him and she agreed. They would wed “as soon as she can say yes,” he said, but it never happened.

Fawcett, Jackson and Smith made up the original “Angels,” the sexy, police-trained trio of martial arts experts who took their assignments from a rich, mysterious boss named Charlie (John Forsythe, who was never seen on camera but whose distinctive voice was heard on speaker phone.)

The program debuted in September 1976, the height of what some critics derisively referred to as television’s “jiggle show” era, and it gave each of the actresses ample opportunity to show off their figures as they disguised themselves as hookers and strippers to solve crimes.

Backed by a clever publicity campaign, Fawcett — then billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majors because of her marriage to “The Six Million Dollar Man” star Lee Majors — quickly became the most popular Angel of all.

Her face helped sell T-shirts, lunch boxes, shampoo, wigs and even a novelty plumbing device called Farrah’s faucet. Her flowing blond hair, pearly white smile and trim, shapely body made her a favorite with male viewers in particular.

The public and the show’s producer, Spelling-Goldberg, were shocked when she announced after the series’ first season that she was leaving television’s No. 5-rated series to star in feature films. (Ladd became the new “Angel” on the series.)

But film turned out to be a platform where Fawcett was never able to duplicate her TV success. Her first star vehicle, the comedy-mystery “Somebody Killed Her Husband,” flopped and Hollywood cynics cracked that it should have been titled “Somebody Killed Her Career.”

The actress had also been in line to star in “Foul Play” for Columbia Pictures. But the studio opted for Goldie Hawn instead. Fawcett told The Associated Press in 1979 that Spelling-Goldberg sabotaged her, warning “all the studios that that they would be sued for damages if they employed me.”

She finally reached an agreement to appear in three episodes of “Charlie’s Angels” a season, an experience she called “painful.”

After a short string of unsuccessful movies, Fawcett found critical success in the 1984 television movie “The Burning Bed,” which earned her an Emmy nomination.

As further proof of her acting credentials, Fawcett appeared off-Broadway in “Extremities,” playing a woman who seeks revenge against her attacker after being raped in her own home. She repeated the role in the 1986 film version.

Not content to continue playing victims, she switched type to take on roles as a murderous mother in the 1989 true-crime story “Small Sacrifices” and a tough lawyer on the trail of a thief in 1992′s “Criminal Behavior.”

She also starred in biographies of Nazi-hunter Beate Klarsfeld and photographer Margaret Bourke-White.

In 1995, at age 50, Fawcett stirred controversy posing partly nude for Playboy magazine. The following year, she starred in a Playboy video, “All of Me,” in which she was equally unclothed while she sculpted and painted.

Fawcett’s most unfortunate career moment may have been a 1997 appearance on David Letterman’s show, when her disjointed, rambling answers led many to speculate that she was on drugs. She denied that, blaming her strange behavior on questionable advice from her mother to be playful and have a good time.

In September 2006, Fawcett, who at 59 still maintained a strict regimen of tennis and paddleball, began to feel strangely exhausted. She underwent two weeks of tests that revealed the cancer.

“I do not want to die of this disease. So I say to God, `It is seriously time for a miracle,’” she said in “Farrah’s Story.”

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RIP Ed McMahon

1923-2009

The Los Angeles Democrat-Herald reports…

‘Tonight’ sidekick Ed McMahon dies in LA at 86
By LYNN ELBER
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.
David Letterman paid tribute to McMahon as a “true broadcaster’’ and key part of Carson’s show.

“Ed McMahon’s voice at 11:30 was a signal that something great was about to happen. Ed’s introduction of Johnny was a classic broadcasting ritual — reassuring and exciting,’’ Letterman said, adding, “We will miss him.’’

Letterman’s bandleader, Paul Shaffer, said McMahon “defined professionalism in broadcasting.’’

Jerry Digney, who was McMahon’s longtime publicist, said McMahon was the most “courtly, good-natured person you could ever meet’’ and that he brought “elegance, humor and a new sense of importance’’ to the role of second banana.

McMahon and Carson had worked together for nearly five years on the game show “Who Do You Trust?’’ when Carson took over NBC’s late-night show from Jack Paar in October 1962. McMahon played second banana on “Tonight’’ until Carson retired in 1992.

“You can’t imagine hooking up with a guy like Carson,’’ McMahon said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1993. “There’s the old phrase, hook your wagon to a star. I hitched my wagon to a great star.’’

McMahon, who never failed to laugh at his Carson’s quips, kept his supporting role in perspective.

“It’s like a pitcher who has a favorite catcher,’’ he said. “The pitcher gets a little help from the catcher, but the pitcher’s got to throw the ball. Well, Johnny Carson had to throw the ball, but I could give him a little help.’’

“And now h-e-e-e-e-e-ere’s Johnny!’’ was McMahon’s trademark opener for each “Tonight’’ show, followed by a small, respectful bow toward the star. McMahon’s style was honed during his youthful days as a carnival hawker.

The highlight for McMahon came just after the monologue, when he and Carson would chat before the guests took the stage.

“We would just have a free-for-all,’’ he said in the AP interview. “Now to sit there, with one of the brightest, most well-read men I’ve ever met, the funniest, and just to hold your own in that conversation. … I loved that.’’

When Carson died in 2005, McMahon said he was “like a brother to me,’’ and recalled bantering with him on the phone a few months earlier.

“We could have gone on (television) that night and done a ‘Carnac’ skit. We were that crisp and hot.’’

McMahon’s medical and financial problems kept him in the headlines in his last years. It was reported in June 2008 that he was facing possible foreclosure on his Beverly Hills home. By year’s end, a deal was worked out allowing him to stay in his home, but legal action involving other alleged debts continued.

Among those who had stepped up with offers of help was Donald Trump.

“When I was at the Wharton School of Business I’d watch him every night,’’ Trump told the Los Angeles Times in August. “How could this happen?’’

McMahon even spoofed his own problems with a spot that aired during the 2009 Super Bowl promoting a cash-for-gold business. Pairing up with rap artist MC Hammer, he explained how easy it is to turn gold items into cash, jokingly saying “Goodbye, old friend’’ to a gold toilet and rolling out a convincing “H-e-e-e-e-e-ere’s money!’’

Born Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. on March 6, 1923, in Detroit, McMahon grew up in Lowell, Mass. He got his start on television playing a circus clown on the 1950-51 variety series “Big Top.’’ But the World War II Marine veteran interrupted his career to serve as a fighter pilot in Korea.

He joined “Who Do You Trust?’’ in 1958, its second year, the start of his long association with Carson. It was a partnership that outlasted their multiple marriages, which provided regular on-air fodder for jokes.

While Carson built his career around “Tonight’’ and withdrew from the limelight after his retirement, McMahon took a different path. He was host of several shows over the years, including “The Kraft Music Hall’’ (1968) and the amateur talent contest “Star Search,’’ whose competitors included over the years Justin Timberlake, Usher, LeAnn Rimes, Adam Sandler and Rosie O’Donnell.

He was a longtime co-host of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon, a Labor Day weekend institution, and was co-host with Dick Clark of “TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes.’’

McMahon and Clark also teamed up as pitchmen for American Family Publishers’ sweepstakes, with their faces a familiar sight on contest entry forms and in TV commercials. McMahon was known for his ongoing commercials for Budweiser as well.

He had supporting roles in several movies, including “Fun With Dick and Jane’’ (1977) and “Just Write’’ (1997). He took on his first regular TV series job in the 1997 WB sitcom “The Tom Show’’ with Tom Arnold.

McMahon released his autobiography, “For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times,’’ in 1998. In it, he recounts the birth of “Tonight.’

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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.

He reprised the role in a mid-1980s TV movie and played Caine’s grandson in the 1990s syndicated series “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.”

He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s two-part saga “Kill Bill.”

The character, the worldly father figure of a pack of crack assassins, was a shadowy presence in 2003′s “Kill Bill — Vol. 1.” In that film, one of Bill’s former assassins (Uma Thurman) begins a vengeful rampage against her old associates.

In “Kill Bill — Vol. 2,” released in 2004, Thurman’s character comes face to face again with Bill himself. The role brought Carradine a Golden Globe nomination as best supporting actor.

Bill was a complete contrast to his TV character Kwai Chang Caine, the soft-spoken refugee from a Shaolin monastery, serenely spreading wisdom and battling bad guys in the Old West. He left after three seasons, saying the show had started to repeat itself.

After “Kung Fu,” Carradine starred in the 1975 cult flick “Death Race 2000.” He starred with Liv Ullmann in Bergman’s “The Serpent’s Egg” in 1977 and with his brothers in the 1980 Western “The Long Riders.”

But after the early 1980s, he spent two decades doing mostly low-budget films. Tarantino’s films changed that.

“All I’ve ever needed since I more or less retired from studio films a couple of decades ago … is just to be in one,” Carradine told The Associated Press in 2004.

“There isn’t anything that Anthony Hopkins or Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery or any of those old guys are doing that I couldn’t do,” he said. “All that was ever required was somebody with Quentin’s courage to take and put me in the spotlight.”

One thing remained a constant after “Kung Fu”: Carradine’s interest in Oriental herbs, exercise and philosophy. He wrote a personal memoir called “Spirit of Shaolin” and continued to make instructional videos on tai chi and other martial arts.

In the 2004 interview, Carradine talked candidly about his past boozing and narcotics use, but said he had put all that behind him and stuck to coffee and cigarettes.

“I didn’t like the way I looked, for one thing. You’re kind of out of control emotionally when you drink that much. I was quicker to anger.”

“You’re probably witnessing the last time I will ever answer those questions,” Carradine said. “Because this is a regeneration. It is a renaissance. It is the start of a new career for me.

“It’s time to do nothing but look forward.”

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1933-2009

Thanks for all the laughter!  You will be missed!

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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.

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Bettie Page

RIP 1923-2008

CNN reports…

1950s pinup model Bettie Page dead at 85

“She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality,” said agent Mark Roesler in a written statement. “She is the embodiment of beauty.”

Page, said to be one of the most photographed people of the past century, became a recluse in recent decades. Yet, her images continued to be used around the world to market Bettie Page action figures, clothing lines and other merchandise.

“Her popularity as an underground, guilty pleasures phenomenon has continued to soar despite the fact that the reclusive Page disappeared almost a half century ago, leading many to believe that one of the most photographed individuals of the 20th century was already dead.” Roesler said.

The Web site, BettiePage.com, logs about 20 million hits a month, Roesler said. A TVGuide.com poll recently placed Bettie Page as the “ultimate sex goddess,” outscoring others such as Marilyn Monroe.

Page was born to a poor family in Tennessee on April 22, 1923. While her birth certificate spelled her name “Betty,” she changed the spelling later in life to “Bettie.”

At a time when few women pursued a college education, Page earned a bachelor of arts degree in education from Peabody College in Tennessee in 1944, according to her official biography.

Her teaching career, however, was hampered by her looks, she said.

“I couldn’t control my students, especially the boys,” she is quoted as saying.

After her modeling career ended, Page returned to Peabody College to work on a master’s degree, the bio said. Her Southern drawl and a refusal to sleep with a Hollywood producer hampered her acting career, according to her bio.

“I didn’t like his looks,” Page said. “I wouldn’t have gone to bed with him anyway. He was a creep. He drove off in his big car and scolded me, ‘You’ll be sorry.’ I wasn’t.”

Page said she regretted not accepting studio boss Jack Warner’s offer of another screen-test, but it came while she was trying to save her marriage to her first husband, Billy Neal.

Her modeling breakthrough began after she divorced Neal in 1947 when she met a police officer whose hobby was photography. He suggested the black bangs, which became her trademark, her bio said. Not long after, her images were everywhere, gracing magazine covers and locker pin-ups.

Page wore nothing but a Santa hat in Playboy’s January 1955 centerfold. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner said her appearance in his magazine’s first year was a milestone

“She became, in time, an American icon, her winning smile and effervescent personality apparent in every pose,” Hefner said.

“A kinky connection was added by Irving Klaw’s spanking, fetish and bondage photos, which became part of the Bettie Page mystique,” Hefner said. “They were playful parodies that are now perceived as the early inspiration for Madonna’s excursions into the realm of sexual perversion.”

Perhaps the most memorable photos of Page were her bondage poses, which she said were all pretend.

“I never understood how anyone believed those poses were sexy,” she later said. “To be tied up? I don’t get it.”

“She was a remarkable woman, truly someone that changed the social norms, not only here in this country, but also around the world,” Roesler said. “While Jackie Robinson was changing the racial attitudes, Bettie Page was changing our attitudes on sex. She became a James Dean type of ‘rebel’ figure as she allowed people to be less inhibited and look at sex in a different way.”

Saucy photos of Paige in skimpy clothing or none at all helped to lead the way for the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

Page suddenly disappeared from the scene in 1958. It was only decades later revealed that she re-emerged to explain that she underwent a religious conversion and moved to Florida.

Her life took a dark turn starting in 1978 after her third marriage failed, Roesler said.

Page went through “some mental instability, violent mood swings, and serious trouble with the law” and was eventually diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, according to her bio.

Page reappeared in public in December 2003 for Playboy’s 50th anniversary party, where she made a grand entrance with Anna Nicole Smith.

It was the only time in the past 50 years that Page allowed her photograph to be taken, Roesler said.

A private funeral service is planned for Tuesday. Page will buried at Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles, just a few feet away from Monroe

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S.D Jones
RIP 1945-2008

SLAM Wrestling reports…

S.D. Jones dies in Antigua
By GREG OLIVER

Special Delivery Jones, one of the regular faces in the World Wrestling Federation heyday of the 1980s, died Sunday in Antigua, following a stroke two days ago. He was 63.

Remembered fondly by fans as a solid competitor who could believably get in the ring with the superstar giants, even if he didn’t win very often, Jones was last seen on a national broadcast at the WrestleMania 22 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in Chicago, where he inducted “Mr. U.S.A.” Tony Atlas.

Born Conrad Efraim on March 30, 1945, in Antigua, in the West Indies, he befriended Johnny Rodz in New York City while he was still working for the phone company. His wrestling career began in the mid-’70s, working for the WWWF, and heading on the road to the Mid-Atlantic territory, and Los Angeles, where he would win the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship with Porkchop Cash; Jones would later team with Tom Jones (no relation) to win the titles again. For some of the time, he was known as Roosevelt Jones, before the more familiar S.D., or Special Delivery, Jones came into prominence.

Irregardless of his success elsewhere, the 6-foot-1, 260-pound Jones will always be remembered as a quality carpenter for the WWWF and WWF, capable of winning matches or losing believably. Often, Jones would team with bigger name stars, like Andre the Giant or Rocky Johnson to battle some despicable tag teams.

At the first WrestleMania, in 1985 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Jones lost to King Kong Bundy is nine seconds. In March 2004, Jones told SLAM! Wrestling’s Steven Johnson that he was concerned that such a beating in front of a national audience would damage his career.

“I didn’t want to do it,” Jones said. But McMahon persuaded him that a humiliating loss to Bundy would achieve the company’s goal of developing a monstrous rival to the likes of Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. After some contemplation, Jones took his medicine. “Bundy was the man then,” he said. On the plus side, Jones was not in the ring long enough to risk injury and, for good measure, “made a big, big, big, big payday.”

In a 2005 interview with SLAM! Wrestling’s Dave Hillhouse, Jones matter-of-factly addressed his career, and his role as enhancement talent. “Everybody knows it’s a show — promoters call the shots. Everybody knows that. Sometimes you don’t care, sometimes you care. Honestly, I knew there was no way I was going to get to that main championship, that’s for sure. I never even thought about it. A lot of us guys, we knew there was no way we were going to get up there,” he explained. “I was comfortable because I knew what they wanted. They want you to be there for Hulk Hogan and Pedro Morales; they want you to be an S.D. Jones, to be a Johnny Rodz. After a while you just get comfortable where you are, and that’s it. You’re doing a job, you’re making a living, and you just keep on going.”

At the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony for Atlas, Jones told stories about being on the road with his “best friend,” including impromptu weightlifting challenges in Egypt, Norway and Spain. No shrinking violet himself, Jones talked about lifting over 500 pounds himself; of course, Atlas could lift over 600 pounds.

Jones and Atlas met in 1980 in Allentown, Penn., and soon were a tag team, aiming for the WWWF tag titles. “We tried and we tried and we tried. I could not do it. I was the one that killed the tag, so I had to step aside,” Jones told the WWE Hall of Fame audience. Rocky Johnson replaced him in the tag and he and Atlas were soon champs — but they couldn’t get along, losing after three weeks.

After 22 years in the ring, Jones called it quits, lost a significant amount of weight, and began working for the New York Daily News, driving newspapers.

About eight months ago, he retired and moved back to his native Antigua. His remains are at Straffie’s Funeral Home in St John’s, Antigua.

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• 

That voiceover legend Don LaFontaine has passed away.  He shall be missed.

Don LaFontaine

RIP 1940-2008

CNN reports the bad news…

‘In a world’ voiceover master dies at 68

Don LaFontaine, the voiceover king whose “In a world …” phrase on movie trailers was much copied — and much parodied — has died, according to media reports. He was 68.

LaFontaine died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, according to ETOnline, “Entertainment Tonight’s” Web site. He died from complications from pneumothorax, a collapsed lung that causes air to build in the pleural cavity, his agent, Vanessa Gilbert, told “ET.”

LaFontaine, who was born in Duluth, Minnesota, began as a voice actor in the mid-1960s while working as a recording engineer, according to his Web site. His strong, slightly gravelly voice was featured on trailers for thousands of films, including “The Godfather,” “Fatal Attraction” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” For a time in the late ’70s, LaFontaine was the official voice of Paramount Pictures.

His favorite work was one he did for the 1980 film “The Elephant Man,” he said in interviews, but whether the film was Oscar-caliber or a bomb waiting to blow, he handled every assignment equally.

“My philosophy is that you have to really believe what you’re reading, even if you think the film’s a piece of junk,” he told Swindle magazine. “Even the worst picture is someone’s favorite film, and that someone is the fan I am always talking to.”

He also provided the voice for hundreds of commercials for companies such as General Motors, Ford, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and many others, according to his Web site.

The good-humored LaFontaine was willing to poke fun at himself, particularly in a recent ad for Geico insurance, in which he gave dramatic flair to a woman’s story about her car accident. He also voiced the trailer for “The Simpsons Movie,” in which his descriptions were mimicked by commentary from the film’s characters.

But LaFontaine was most famous for his phrase “In a world …,” used by seemingly dozens of movies determined to create an otherworldly atmosphere.

LaFontaine told CNN that the scripts gave him the cues for his delivery.

“They dictate how they want to be read,” he told “Showbiz Tonight” in 2005. “It’s pretty much straightforward stuff because you know the context of the film generally going in. If it’s something like ‘King Kong,’ you have a pretty good idea of how you`re going to say it. It’s going to be a big adventure thing. And I let the [script] more or less guide what I’m going to say.”

He added that there was no secret to his movie trailer work: “I really think this is one of the few industries where everything is right up there,” he told CNN. “What you see is what you get.”

Still, he noted, it’s not like he could use his movie-trailer voice everywhere.

“If I tried to use that voice in public,” he said, “they’d be calling security.”

LaFontaine is survived by his wife, actress and singer Nita Whitaker, and three children, Christine, Skye and Elyse

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Isaac Hayes RIP
1942-2008

CNN reports…

Soul legend Isaac Hayes dies

Soul singer and arranger Isaac Hayes, who won Grammy awards and an Oscar for the theme from the 1971 action film “Shaft,” has died, sheriff’s officials in Memphis, Tennessee, reported Sunday.

Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Schular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department.

Paramedics attempted to revive him and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., the sheriff’s department said.

No foul play is suspected, the agency said in a written statement.

Hayes was a longtime songwriter and arranger for Stax Records in Memphis, playing in the studio’s backup band and crafting tunes for artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave in the 1960s.

He released his first solo album in 1967.

In 1971, the theme from “Shaft” became a pop hit and won an Academy Award for best original theme song. The song and the movie score also won Grammy awards for best original score and movie theme.

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• 

Bobby Murcer 1946-2008

Just got word that one of my favorite sports broadcasters, Bobby Murcer, passed away today. The AP reports…

Ex-Yanks star, broadcaster Bobby Murcer dies at 62

By BEN WALKE

NEW YORK (AP) Bobby Murcer succeeded Mickey Mantle, played in pinstripes with Don Mattingly and watched proudly from the broadcast booth when the New York Yankees returned to power.

A cherished link from former Yankees greats to the club’s current stars, Murcer died Saturday due to complications from a malignant brain tumor, the team said. He was 62.

In his final moments, Murcer was surrounded by family at Mercy Hospital in his hometown of Oklahoma City, the Yankees said. A five-time All-Star outfielder, he spent nearly four decades with New York as a player, executive and announcer.

“Bobby Murcer was a born Yankee, a great guy, very well-liked and a true friend of mine,” owner George Steinbrenner said. “I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife Kay, their children and grandchildren. I will really miss the guy.”

Murcer was diagnosed with a brain tumor on Christmas Eve 2006 after having headaches. He had surgery that week in Houston and doctors later discovered the tumor was malignant. Determined to be around his beloved Yankees, Murcer returned to the broadcast booth last year and briefly this season.

The only person to play with Mantle and Mattingly, the popular Murcer hit .277 with 252 home runs and 1,043 RBIs in 17 seasons with the Yankees, San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs. He made the All-Star team in both leagues and won a Gold Glove.

“All of Major League Baseball is saddened today by the passing of Bobby Murcer, particularly on the eve of this historic All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, a place he called home for so many years,” commissioner Bud Selig said. “Bobby was a gentleman, a great ambassador for baseball, and a true leader both on and off the field. He was a man of great heart and compassion.”

Always a fan favorite in New York and known for his folksy manner as a broadcaster, Murcer won three Emmy Awards for live sports coverage. His most dramatic words came during his time as a player on one of the saddest days in Yankees history.

Murcer delivered one of the eulogies in Ohio after captain Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash in August 1979. The team flew home after the funeral and, that night, Murcer hit a three-run homer and then a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to beat Baltimore 5-4.

A tearful Murcer fell into the arms of teammate Lou Piniella after the game and gave his bat to Munson’s wife.

“There is no way to explain what happened,” Murcer said. “We used every ounce of strength to go out and play that game. We won it for Thurman.”

The Yankees learned of Murcer’s death Saturday after a 9-4 victory in Toronto. Visibly upset, players such as Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte spoke softly about how much Murcer meant to them.

“He touched everybody,” Rivera said.

“One of the greatest Yankees of all-time,” Alex Rodriguez added. “One of the greatest human beings I ever met.”

It was the second consecutive summer that the Yankees lost a former star and beloved broadcaster. Hall of Fame shortstop Phil Rizzuto died in August 2007.

Now, the Yankees are mourning Murcer.

“If there’s a Hall of Fame for people, he’s in it,” Reggie Jackson said. “He was such a good person, and he was appreciative of the people who cared so much for him.”

Touted by many in New York as the next Mantle — they were both from Oklahoma, played shortstop and came with strokes fit for Yankee Stadium’s short right-field porch — Murcer made his major league debut as a 19-year-old player in 1965.

After serving in the U.S. Army during the 1967-68 seasons, Murcer homered on opening day in front of President Nixon in 1969 at Washington to launch a career as a full-time player.

Murcer moved from shortstop to third base to begin that year, but soon was in center field, Mantle’s old spot. Murcer also took over Mantle’s locker.

“That was supposed to be the tag. You know, he was going to follow Mantle and do it with ease,” said Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who managed the Yankees from 1996-2007. “He certainly understood it. It’s not easy, but he wore the mantle with a lot of class and never shied away from the responsibility.

“Bobby was a great human being. He really zeroed in on the person he was with, and he was a lot of fun. A lot of class. He’s going to be missed.”

Murcer spent most of his career in pinstripes. He was traded to San Francisco for Bobby Bonds after the 1974 season and was with the Chicago Cubs when the Yankees won the World Series in 1977 and 1978.

He came back to the Yankees during the 1979 season. He had a pinch-hit grand slam in the 1981 opener and was a part-time player when he reached the World Series for the only time later that year, with New York losing to the Dodgers.

“Just a wonderful person, a great teammate and a heck of a baseball player,” Piniella said in Chicago after managing the Cubs to a victory over San Francisco. “It’s a sad day.”

During his career, Murcer had a three-homer game, hit for the cycle and once homered in four straight at-bats.

Smart at the plate, he beat out Willie Mays in 1971 to lead the majors in on-base percentage. The next year, Murcer set career highs with 33 homers and 96 RBIs, and led the AL in total bases and runs. He finished with more career walks (862) than strikeouts (841).

Murcer made the All-Star team for five straight seasons, starting in 1971.

“He was a tough man,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, fighting back tears. “He was a great Yankee, but probably more importantly he was a great friend. He always put others first. He played the game the right way. He got what life was about, and that was making life better for the people around you.”

Murcer retired in June 1983 and moved into the broadcast booth that season, working as a color analyst on radio. He served one year as assistant general manager of the Yankees, returned as an announcer in 1989 and stayed in the booth as New York won four World Series titles from 1996-2000.

“He always had that bright smile and that positive spin on everything,” Yankees slugger Jason Giambi said. “He was the type of guy who never had a bad day.”

Murcer also served as chairman of B.A.T., the Baseball Assistance Team charity that provides financial help and other support to players in need.

“I’ve never met a more genuine person,” Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay said. “What he went through the last couple of years no one should ever have to go through, but he went through it with such grace. He was an amazing, amazing guy. He was a piece of work in the best way possible.”

A family service will be held within the next several days in Oklahoma City. In addition, a celebration of Murcer’s life will be held at a date to be determined, the Yankees said.

Murcer is survived by his wife, his children, Tori and Todd, and his grandchildren.

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