2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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"Everyone Should be aware that you're just a screen grab away from infamy."
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Jewel Akens, R&B singer (The Birds and the Bees), 79

LA Times - Jewel Akens, 79, the R&B crooner whose song "The Birds and the Bees" vaulted him into short-lived fame in the mid-1960s, died Friday (March 1) of complications from back surgery at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, said his wife, Eddie Mae.

Akens began his career in the late 1950s, working with Eddie Daniels and guitar legend Eddie Cochran, and later recorded singles with the Four Dots doo-wop group.

In 1965, he was singing with an ensemble called the Turnarounds when record producer Herb Newman brought them "The Birds and the Bees," written by his teenage son. The rest of the group disliked the tune, but Akens decided to record it solo.

It became an instant hit, rising to the No. 3 spot on the Billboard pop chart in 1965.

"Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees, and the flowers and the trees," went the catchy tune, which was later covered by Dean Martin and others.

"No doubt you're already singing the chorus," wrote the Vancouver Province in 2002 when it featured the song on a top-10 list of one-hit wonders.

None of Akens' later singles enjoyed the success of "The Birds and the Bees," but he went on to tour with the Monkees in the 1970s and performed into his 70s.

Jewel Eugene Akens was born Sept. 12, 1933, in Houston, the seventh of nine children in a working-class family. He became interested in music early in life, singing for the church choir as a child.

In 1950, Akens moved with his family from Texas to Los Angeles, where he graduated from Fremont High School. There, he met his future wife, Eddie Mae, whom he married in 1952.

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Alvin Lee, guitarist/singer (Ten Years After), 68

Reuters - British blues-rock guitarist Alvin Lee, who was best known for his performance with rock band Ten Years After at Woodstock in 1969, died on Wednesday (March 6) at age 68, his family said.

"With great sadness we have to announce that Alvin unexpectedly passed away early this morning after unforeseen complications following a routine surgical procedure," the family said in a statement on the singer's official website.

They did not say what sort of procedure Lee underwent or where the musician died.

Lee and Ten Years After rose to international prominence after a much-lauded performance at the 1969 Woodstock music festival in New York state.

The band's song "I'm Going Home," which featured Lee's singing and extended guitar solos, opened the band to bigger audiences after it was included in the documentary "Woodstock" in 1970.

Ten Years After's biggest hits followed Woodstock, including "Love Like a Man" in 1970 and "I'd Love to Change the World" in 1971.

Lee formed Ten Years After in 1966 but left the band in 1973 to focus on a solo career only to reform the group in 1988.

In a 1975 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Lee lamented how after the Woodstock performance audiences wanted more rock-driven songs from the band.

"We had respectful audiences then who would appreciate a jam or a swing," Lee said. "But after Woodstock, the audience got very noisy and only wanted to hear things like 'I'm Going Home.'"

He added: "I've always been much more of a guitar picker but I began to feel forced into a position of being the epitome of a rock and roll guitarist."

Ten Years After released 11 studio albums between 1966 and 2008. Lee put out 14 solo albums, the most recent was "Still on the Road to Freedom" in 2012.

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Bobby Rogers, R&B singer (The Miracles), 73

CNN - Bobby Rogers, an original member of Motown staple The Miracles, has died, the group's longtime front man Smokey Robinson announced Sunday.
Rogers was 73.

"Another soldier in my life has fallen," Robinson said in a statement. "Bobby Rogers was my brother and a really good friend. He and I were born on the exact same day in the same hospital in Detroit. I am really going to miss him. I loved him very much."

Claudette Robinson, another member of the Miracles, said that while Rogers was her cousin, he was more "like a brother to me." On her website, she said he died about 6:30 a.m. Sunday (March 3).

"Bobby will be missed and mourned by many," said Robinson, who was once married to Smokey Robinson and serves as the Miracles spokeswoman. "Rest in peace, my brother of 'song.' "

Robinson, Rogers and the rest of the Miracles were a cornerstone act for writer-producer Berry Gordy's infant Motown Records, putting songs such as "Shop Around," "Tracks of My Tears" and "The Tears of a Clown" on the R&B and pop charts throughout the 1960s. After Robinson left the group, the Miracles had a No. 1 hit with "Love Machine" in 1976.

When the group disbanded in the late 1970s, Rogers started an interior design business. The Miracles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
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Claude King, country singer/songwriter, 90

CMT.com - Singer-songwriter Claude King, best remembered for his 1962 hit "Wolverton Mountain," died Thursday (March 7) at his home in Shreveport, La., at age 90.

Born near Keithville, La., he spent the '40s and early '50s working as a construction engineer. Performing music in area clubs and on TV and radio, he met Tillman Franks, who also managed Johnny Horton and was a talent agent for the Louisiana Hayride on KWKH/Shreveport.

After recording for independent labels, King first hit the chart in 1961 with two Top 10 singles -- "Big River, Big Man" and "The Comancheros." A year later, he released "Wolverton Mountain," which spent nine weeks at the top of Billboard's country songs chart and peaked at No. 6 on the pop chart. He co-wrote the song with veteran songwriter Merle Kilgore.

King later enjoyed three additional Top 10 hits among more than two dozen singles he released on Columbia through 1972. As an actor, King appeared in two feature films, Swamp Girl and Year of the Wahoo, and the 1982 TV miniseries The Blue and the Gray.

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Kenny Ball, jazz trumpeter/singer, 80

The Guardian (UK) - Jazz trumpeter Kenny Ball has died of pneumonia in hospital in Basildon, Essex. He was 82.

He had not played with his band – the Jazzmen – since a concert in Chemnitz, Germany, in January, when he left hospital to make the gig. Ball is survived by his partner and his son, Keith, who had joined his father on stage.

Ball, who lived in Essex, found fame with a string of hits including "Midnight in Moscow," which got to number two on the Billboard U.S. Singles Chart in 1961. The track sold more than a million copies around the world. He formed the band with the trombonist John Bennett in 1958.
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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This is about a month old, but I just heard Tom Griswold talking about this on a 'Bob & Tom' show last week.
Petro Vlahos, Special-Effects Innovator, Dies at 96
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/movie ... .html?_r=0
Petro Vlahos, a special-effects pioneer who developed the blue-screen and green-screen process that allowed Dick Van Dyke to dance with penguins in “Mary Poppins,” the blue-skinned Na’vi to live among floating mountains in “Avatar,” and TV weather reporters to point at sun and rain symbols that only their viewers can see, died on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles. He was 96.
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His death was announced by Ultimatte, the company that he and his son, Paul, founded in 1976.

The technology Mr. Vlahos perfected, earning him Oscar and Emmy awards, creates the illusion that actors or settings filmed separately are in the same place. It has made it possible for young actors to play their own twins and share scenes with them; for princesses in galaxies far, far away to send hologram messages; and for nonexistent, distant worlds and their wildlife to appear real in convincing detail.

“His inventions made a whole genre of film possible — a genre that seems to make more money than any other,” said Bill Taylor, the Oscar-winning visual-effects supervisor, speaking at an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences event the day before Mr. Vlahos died. “He created the whole of composite photography as we know it.”

In an interview with the BBC, Robin Shenfield, president of the Mill, a British visual-effects studio, summarized Mr. Vlahos’s contribution and talent as “that fundamental ability to take lots of elements from lots of places and seamlessly mesh them,” creating “a new convincing reality.”

Mr. Vlahos did not come up with the original idea for the film industry’s blue-screen method; it had been used in Hollywood as early as “The Thief of Bagdad” (1940). But he refined it, to say the least, and developed a way to minimize the unfortunate side effects of earlier methods, like the strange, unwanted glow that might surround objects. Glassware, cigarette smoke and hair blowing in the wind had been particular problems.

Mr. Vlahos’s breakthrough was a complex laboratory process that separated blues, greens and reds before recombining them. He called it “the color difference traveling matte scheme.” (Whether filmmakers choose to use a blue screen or a green one is sometimes a simple matter of choosing the color that no actor in the scene is wearing.)

An early use of the technology was in the 1959 film “Ben-Hur,” a multiple Oscar winner perhaps best known now for its chariot-race scene, which could not have been done so vividly and convincingly without Mr. Vlahos’s contributions. It was his method as well in “The Birds,” Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 movie in which Tippi Hedren is almost pecked to death by the angry title characters.

His technology was also used in the first “Star Wars” trilogy, in Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy,” in Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” and in the science-fiction series “Doctor Who.”

But a complete list of his handiwork would be almost impossible to compile. Mr. Vlahos held at least 35 movie-related patents, and as they expired others in the industry put his discoveries to their own uses. As The Hollywood Reporter wrote last week, “every green- or blue-screen shot today employs variants of the Vlahos technique.”

Petro Vlahos was born on Aug. 20, 1916, in Raton, N.M., a small town near the Colorado border. He received an engineering degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1941 and worked for the Douglas Aircraft Company and Bell Laboratories before joining the Motion Picture Research Council after World War II, having been recommended by a contact at MGM.

In addition to his son, Mr. Vlahos’s survivors include his wife, Virginia; a daughter, Jennie Vlahos Gadwa; a stepson, James Bentley; and a stepdaughter, Sandra Bentley King.

Mr. Vlahos received a special Emmy Award in 1978 for the Ultimatte video-matting device and five special Academy Awards: in 1961, 1965, 1993, 1994 and 1995. Sometimes those were shared with colleagues. (He shared the 1995 award with his son.)

Later in life he was outspoken about his belief that he had gotten less than his fair share of the credit for his special-effects work, particularly regarding the 1965 prize. That Oscar, for “the conception and perfection of techniques for color traveling matte composite cinematography,” also went to Ub Iwerks and Wadsworth E. Pohl.

“All three of us got the same Oscar,” Mr. Vlahos said in a 2009 video interview with Jeff Foster, author of “The Green Screen Handbook,” although “they didn’t invent anything.”

“Today I would have handled it differently,” Mr. Vlahos said. “You get older. You get tougher.”
"It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much." - Yogi Berra
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Derek Watkins, trumpeter, 68

BBC News - Derek Watkins, the British trumpet player who played on every James Bond film soundtrack from Dr No to Skyfall, has died aged 68.

He died at home in Esher, Surrey, on Friday (March 22) after a lengthy illness - Philip Biggs, editor of the Brass Herald said.

Watkins was described as "Mr Lead" by jazz great Dizzy Gillespie; as well as the Bond films he played with the Beatles, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Frank Sinatra, the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra during his lengthy career.

The trumpeter played with the BBC Big Band and performed for prominent jazz musicians Johnny Dankworth, Maynard Ferguson and Benny Goodman.

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Joe Weider, bodybuilding pioneer and publisher, 93

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Joe Weider, the fitness and bodybuilding guru who built a magazine empire that included such publications as Muscle and Fitness, Shape and Men's Fitness, died on Saturday (March 23) at age 93, his publicist said.

Weider, also known for creating the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding contest and mentoring a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, died of heart failure, publicist Charlotte Parker said.

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Eddie Bond, singer/songwriter/producer, 79

AllVoices.com - Rockabilly Hall of Fame member Eddie Bond died March 20 at his home in Bolivar, Tennessee as a result of complicatons from Alzheimer's Diesase at the age of 79.

Interested in music from an early age, he won his first guitar by selling the most garden seed in a competition, he taught himself how to play guitar by imitating stars like Hank Williams from the radio. Bond released his first single in 1955. Although he never had a big hit; as one of the performers of early rock'n'roll music, then known as rockabilly, Bond toured with Elvis Presely, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Warren Smith, and Roy Orbison. He also was a regular performer on the Louisiana Hayride.

Bond continued to perform on stage a regular on “The Ralph Emery Show” and the “Grand Ole Opry”; as well as, DJ – he spent 17 years at KWAM in Memphis - and host his own televison show in Memphis. Bond owned a nightclub where stars like Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs got their start, was a professional wrestling promoter who launched the career of Jerry “The King” Lawler, and was even a police chief in Finger, Tennessee.

Movie buffs are very familiar with Sheriff Buford Pusser and the film “Walking Tall”; but few know it was Bond who brought the Sheriff to national acclaim when he wrote a song about the Pusser and his activities in the 1970's.

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Harry Reems, porn actor (Deep Throat), 65

LA Times - Harry Reems, who starred with Linda Lovelace in the 1972 pornographic film "Deep Throat" and became a cause celebre in Hollywood after he was convicted on federal obscenity charges related to the movie, has died. He was 65.

Reems, who had pancreatic cancer and other ailments, died Tuesday (March 19) at a Salt Lake City veterans hospital. His death was confirmed by the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Healthcare System.

The son of a small-time bookie and a housewife, he was born Herbert Streicher on Aug. 27, 1947, in New York City. At 18, he joined the Marines but received a hardship leave when his father became terminally ill.

Returning to New York in 1967, he acted in experimental and Off-Off-Broadway productions but turned to adult films when he couldn't pay his bills, according to a 2011 New York magazine article titled "The Afterlife of a Porn Star."

He went on to appear in more than 100 hard-core films that included 1973's "The Devil in Miss Jones." Reems also was interviewed in the 2005 documentary "Inside Deep Throat."

In the late 1970s, he moved to Los Angeles and secured a role as a coach in "Grease" but was let go because filmmakers feared his notoriety would jeopardize the box office in the South, according to the New York profile.

"Acting was my true love," Reems told the magazine, "and I buried that possibility by going into adult films."

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Floyd McRae, R&B singer (The Chords), 80

VintageVinylNews.com - Floyd "Buddy" McRae, the last surviving member of the 50's Doo Wop group The Chords, died on Tuesday (March 19) in Bronx, NY. McRae was second tenor in the group which formed in 1951 but wasn't discovered until three years later when their performance was seen in a subway station in New York. They signed with Cat Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic, and Jerry Wexler had them cover the Patti Page hit Cross Over the Bridge. for their first release.

It was the flip side of the record that took off on radio. Sh-Boom was the first R&B record to cross over to white audiences and make it to the top ten (three others, the Dominoes' Sixty Minute Man, the Orioles' Crying in the Chapel and the Crows' Gee had previously made the top twenty but didn't crack the top ten). It rose up the charts to number 9 on the Pop chart and number 3 on the R&B chart.

The group tried to find another hit and went through a number of personnel and name changes (Chords was changed to Chordcats after another Chords was found to exist and, eventually to the Sh-Booms) but their fame was fleeting and they broke up in 1960.

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Henry Bromell, screenwriter/producer (Homeland, Northern Exposure), 65

Washington Post - Henry Bromell, a novelist and short-story writer who brought a literary quality to some of the most acclaimed dramatic TV series of the past two decades, including “Homeland,” “Northern Exposure” and “Homicide: Life on the Street,” died March 18 at a hospital in Santa Monica. He was 65.

The cause was an apparent heart attack, said his agent, Peter Benedek.

Mr. Bromell spent the past 23 years writing, producing and directing TV dramas noteworthy for their resonant characters and sharp dialogue. He shared an Emmy last year as a writer and executive producer on “Homeland,” the Showtime series about a CIA agent who suspects an American war hero is a terrorist-in-waiting.

One reason he was hired on “Homeland” was his personal history: His father had been a CIA station chief in the Middle East in the 1950s. His background also inspired him to write “Little America,” a 2001 novel about a son who struggles to ferret out the truth about his father’s life as a spy.

His TV career began on a fluke in 1990, when writer-producer John Falsey, whom he had never met, called to thank him for his help getting into the Iowa Writers’ Workshop a dozen years earlier. He asked Mr. Bromell to help him write his new show, “Northern Exposure.”

Mr. Bromell took Falsey up on his offer and began writing for the CBS series, which went on to win seven Emmys and two Peabody awards for its poetically comedic depiction of culture clash in a fictional Alaska town.

He went on from “Northern Exposure” to be a writer and executive producer for “Homicide: Life on the Street,” the NBC series that debuted in 1993.

He made his film directing debut in 2001 with “Panic,” a quirky movie about the midlife crisis of a professional hit man, played by William H. Macy.

Mr. Bromell was born in New York and was a graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts. He launched his literary career in his early 20s when his short stories began appearing in the New Yorker. He made his debut as a novelist in 1983 with “The Follower,” which Los Angeles magazine described as “an oddly didactic novel” about a waiter and aspiring actor who becomes a victim of mistaken identity.

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Bobby Smith, R&B singer (The Spinners), 76

Detroit Free Press - Bobby Smith, longtime lead singer of The Spinners, died Saturday (March 16) in Orlando of complications from pneumonia and the flu, his family said. He was 76.

Smith had been diagnosed with lung cancer in November. His final performance came in mid-February during the Soul Train Cruise, said Peck. Smith, who had missed several gigs since his cancer diagnosis, was present on the cruise but not expected to perform during The Spinners' set. Then the group began to perform its 1974 hit Then Came You.

"Like something out of a movie, Bobby shoots right out onstage and, showman that he is, grabs a mike and sings right on cue," Peck recounted. "The audience went bananas."

Smith joined the group in 1956 when it was known as the Domingoes. Frustrated with frequent misspellings, group members soon sought a new name, and it was the suggestion of Smith, a lifelong car buff, that won the day: "Spinners" was a nickname for high-end hubcaps.

Smith, whose first name was periodically spelled Bobbie, was lead voice on the group's first hit, 1961's That's What Girls Are Made For, produced with Harvey Fuqua, a link that led the group to Motown Records two years later.

Smith and the Spinners enjoyed only minimal success during their Motown tenure, but broke big after signing with Atlantic Records in 1971 at the suggestion of Aretha Franklin. A stream of hits followed with Smith's prominent vocals: I'll Be Around, Could It Be I'm Falling in Love, One of a Kind (Love Affair), Then Came You, Games People Play.

As the group maintained a busy touring and recording schedule, Smith left Detroit for New Jersey in the 1980s, later settling in Florida.

Henry Fambrough, the group's lone surviving original member, warmly remembered his friend and groupmate of more than half a century.

"Bobby was a regular, down-to-earth, good-natured person, the kind of guy who'd give you his shirt," Fambrough said. "And ever since I've known him, he was just a natural showman."

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Michael Roarty, marketing executive (Anheuser-Busch), 84

AP - Michael Roarty, a marketing executive behind many of the ad campaigns that made Anheuser-Busch a beer superpower, died March 16. He spent 43 years at the brewer, retiring as executive vice president in 1994. Its share of the U.S. market more than doubled, to 43 percent, during his tenure. He oversaw campaigns such as "This Bud's for You" as well as "Know When to Say When" and got the brewer into sports marketing.
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Phil Ramone, recording industry producer/engineer, 72

LA Times - Phil Ramone, the veteran record producer whose work with A-list artists including Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon made him one of the most respected figures in the music industry, died Saturday at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Billboard reported. He was 72.

Ramone was hospitalized last month following an aortic aneurysm.

Born in South Africa, Ramone studied classical violin at New York's Juilliard School before moving behind the board. His extensive credits include Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks," Billy Joel's "52nd Street" and Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years," for which he shared the Grammy Award for album of the year. Throughout his career Ramone won 14 Grammys.

More recently he'd helmed "Just a Little Lovin'," Shelby Lynne's 2008 tribute to Dusty Springfield, and Tony Bennett's "Duets II" set from 2011. He also reteamed that year with Simon for the acclaimed "So Beautiful or So What." Ramone is also credited with a number of technical innovations, including helping to popularize the compact disc.

"Our industry has lost an immense talent and a true visionary and genius," Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said in a statement. "Everyone who encountered Phil came away a better person for it, professionally and personally."

Ramone is survived by his wife and three sons.

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Mal Moore, collegiate athletics administrator (Univ. of Alabama), 73

ESPN.com - Mal Moore, long-time University of Alabama athletics director, died Saturday morning (March 30) at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., from complications related to health issues that forced him to step down only 10 days ago. He was 73.

Moore was hospitalized in Birmingham, Ala., on March 11 with pulmonary problems, and transported to Duke University Medical Center later that week for additional tests and treatment. The University of Alabama announced Moore's decision to step down as athletics director on March 20, effective immediately. He was to take on the role of special assistant to university president Judy Bonner after his retirement.

Moore had served as Alabama's athletics director since 1999, and was associated with University of Alabama athletics for more than 50 years. He played football at Alabama under Paul "Bear" Bryant and graduated in 1963. He was also a longtime assistant coach under Bryant and has been a part of 10 national championship football teams as a player, coach and athletic director.

When he signed on as director of athletics, the Crimson Tide football team hadn't won a championship in seven years. It took a few coaching searches -- Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price and Mike Shula never panned out -- until he found his man in Nick Saban. The two built a dynasty in the years since Moore introduced Saban at a news conference when he said the new coach "signified a new era of Crimson Tide football."

Saban turned the ship around largely with the help of Moore who helped facilitate millions of dollars of improvements to the program's infrastructure, most recently building a new two-story, 37,000 square-foot $9 million strength-and-conditioning facility that took all of five months to complete. "All the support he's given to our program," Saban said at the time of Moore's resignation, "he certainly deserves a tremendous amount of credit for any success we've had."

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Reid Flair, pro wrestler (son of Ric Flair), 25

LA Times - Reid Flair, the 25-year-old son of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, died Friday (March 29) in Charlotte, NC. Details surrounding his death are unknown at this time.

Flair's agent, Melinda Morris Zanoni, released the following statement: "We are heartbroken to confirm that Ric's son, Reid, has passed away today March 29, 2013 in Charlotte, NC. The investigation into the cause of death is ongoing. Reid was an incredible son, brother, friend, and professional wrestler. No words can describe the grief that Ric and his family are experiencing and they do request privacy during this devastating time."

According to wcnc.com, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police received a call around 10:30 a.m. ET that a man was unresponsive in a hotel room. Police identified the man as Reid Flair. Foul play is not suspected at this time.

Reid Flair had been wrestling in Japan occasionally for the last year to improve his skills in the ring. He was in the U.S. and scheduled to tour with his father this weekend. He was expected to be signed by WWE at some point in the future, as his father has recently rejoined the company.

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Richard Griffiths, actor (Harry Potter), 65

LA Times - British actor Richard Griffiths, best known for playing muggle Uncle Vernon Dursley in the "Harry Potter" movies, died Thursday (March 28) at University Hospital in Coventry, England, from complications following heart surgery, his agent, Simon Beresford, told the Associated Press. He was 65.

Large in body and presence, Griffiths appeared in character roles in dozens of films and TV shows, but made his biggest mark as the boy wizard's grumpy uncle. He won a Tony Award for his role as a charismatic teacher in "The History Boys," and reprised the part in the 2006 film adaptation of the school drama. Born in northeast England's Thormaby-on-Tees in 1947 to parents who were deaf and mute, Griffith had a knack for nonverbal expression.

He spent a decade with the Royal Shakespeare Co., and had parts in movies including "Withnail and I," "Gandhi," "The Naked Gun 2 1/2" and "Hugo." Griffiths' last major stage role was in a West End production of Neil Simon's comedy "The Sunshine Boys" last year opposite Danny DeVito. The pair had been due to reprise their roles in Los Angeles later this year.

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Hugh McCracken, guitarist/session musician

Noise11.com - Hugh McCracken, who played the guitar solo on “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” on Paul McCartney's “Ram,” and also played on sessions for McCartney's “Red Rose Speedway,” John Lennon's “Double Fantasy” and many other albums, died Thursday (March 28), reports Noise11.com. McCracken had been battling leukemia.

Though he was known for his work with Paul McCartney, he also played on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's “Wedding Album,” “Double Fantasy” and "Milk and Honey” albums, Yoko Ono's “It's Alright (I See Rainbows),” “Season of Glass,” “A Story” and on “Walking on Thin Ice.”

He was a popular session guitarist, appearing on Aretha Franklin's ‘Young, Gifted and Black’, Marie Gabrielle's ‘Restless Angel’, Peter Allen's ‘Tenterfield Saddle’, Bette Midler’s debut, Hall & Oates' ‘Abandoned Luncheonette’, Van Morrison's ‘T.B. Sheets’, Paul Simon's ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’, Steely Dan's ‘Katy Lied’, Billy Joel's ‘The Stranger’ as well as other albums for Carly Simon, Foreigner, B.B. King, Roberta Flack, Neil Diamond, Yoko Ono, Graham Parker, Gordon Lightfoot, Janis Ian and Dr John.

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Robert Zildjian, founder Sabian Cymbal Co., 89

Reuters - Robert Zildjian, founder of Sabian, one of the largest cymbal makers in the world, died March 28, according to the company's website. He was 89.

Zildjian ran the second-largest cymbal manufacturer in the world behind only the Avedis Zildjian Company, according to several music equipment websites.

His family began the Avedis Zildjian Company in Boston in 1928. Zildjian founded Sabian Inc in 1981 in New Brunswick, Canada, after leaving his family's company as a result of a dispute with his brother.

The company's website did not give a cause of death.

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Gordon Stoker, tenor singer (The Jordanaires), 88

LA Times - Gordon Stoker, the lead tenor in the Jordanaires vocal group that backed Elvis Presley, died Wednesday (March 27) at his home in Brentwood, Tenn., after a lengthy illness, his son, Alan, told the Associated Press. He was 88.

Stoker joined the Jordanaires in 1950, two years after they formed in Missouri. He originally played piano for the group. They caught the attention of Presley in the mid-1950s when they performed with Eddy Arnold at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

hen Presley burst onto the national scene in 1956 on Steve Allen's TV show, Stoker and the Jordanaires were with him. They also sang on the original New York RCA studios recordings of "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel" and other hits.

The gospel harmony quartet, whose lineup changed over the years, performed as Presley's primary backup on stage and in the studio until 1968. The singers can be heard on "It's Now or Never," "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," "Teddy Bear" and "Don't," among others. Their film appearances with Presley in the '50s and '60s included "King Creole," "G.I. Blues" and "Girls! Girls! Girls!"

When Presley began performing two shows a night in Las Vegas, the Jordanaires bowed out. After his death in 1977, they recorded tribute albums featuring his familiar songs.

As a member of the Jordanaires, Stoker also performed with Patsy Cline on "Crazy," "I Fall to Pieces" and "Sweet Dreams," and with Ricky Nelson on "Traveling Man" and "Hello Mary Lou." The group provided backing vocals for Sissy Spacek in the 1980 bio-pic of Loretta Lynn, "Coal Miner's Daughter."

Stoker was born Aug. 3, 1924, in Gleason, Tenn., and began playing piano professionally at age 15. When he joined the Jordanaires, he already knew many of the spiritual numbers they performed.

"He could play by ear," said John Rumble, senior historian at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. "Anything he could hear on the radio, he could play it."

The Jordanaires, who recorded many gospel albums on their own, were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

Post by just saying »

Roger Ebert, the legendary film critic, died today, his long-time employer, The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Ebert had been wrestling with cancer for years. He had lost his voice and his jaw, but he still kept up an unrelenting pace, reviewing more than 200 movies a year for the paper. On his blog and on twitter, he chronicled his struggle with cancer and just two days ago, he penned a post saying he was taking a "leave of presence."
Ebert was 70
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... ritic-dies
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

Post by just saying »

Margaret Thatcher, Britain's Iron Lady, Dead at 87
Margaret Thatcher, the first woman ever to serve as prime minister of Great Britain and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century, has died at age 87
http://abcnews.go.com/International/mar ... d=13644011
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Actor and comedian Jonathan Winters dies at 87

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/showbiz/j ... ?hpt=hp_t2

CNN) -- Jonathan Winters, the wildly inventive actor and comedian who appeared in such films as "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and "The Loved One" and played Robin Williams' son on the TV show "Mork & Mindy," has died. He was 87.

Winters died Thursday evening of natural causes at his home in Montecito, California, according to business associate Joe Petro III.
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Pat Summerall Dead At 82

DALLAS — Pat Summerall, the deep-voiced NFL player-turned-broadcaster who spent half of his four decades calling sports famously paired with John Madden, died Tuesday. He was 82.

Susie Wiles, Summerall’s daughter, said her father died in Dallas.

“He was an extraordinary man and a wonderful father,” Wiles said. “I know he will be greatly missed.”

Summerall was part of network television broadcasts for 16 Super Bowls. His last championship game was for Fox on Feb. 3, 2002, also his last game with longtime partner Madden. The popular duo worked together for 21 years, moving to Fox in 1994 after years as the lead team for CBS.

At the end of their final broadcast together, Madden described Summerall as “a treasure” and the “spirit of the National Football League” in a tribute to the partner that complemented the former coach so well.

“You are what the NFL is all about, what pro football is all about, and more important, what a man is all about and what a gentleman is all about,” Madden sa
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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George Beverly Shea Dies, 104


CHARLOTTE, N.C. — George Beverly Shea, the booming baritone who sang to millions of Christians at evangelist Billy Graham’s crusades, has died after a brief illness. He was 104.

Spokesman Brent Rinehart of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association says Shea died Tuesday night after a brief illness.

Shea was well-known as a gospel soloist before he and Graham met in the early 1940s. He joined Graham’s crusade team in 1947 and stayed until Graham’s declining health ended most of the evangelist’s public appearances nearly 60 years later.

Besides his distinctive voice, Shea was known for his trademark rendition of “How Great Thou Art” and his inspirational “The Wonder of It All.”
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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USA Today founder Neuharth dies in Florida at 89
Apr 20, 3:46 AM (ET)
By MIKE SCHNEIDER

COCOA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Al Neuharth changed the look of American newspapers when he founded USA Today, filling the newspaper with breezy, easy-to-comprehend articles, attention-grabbing graphics and stories that often didn't require readers to jump to a different page.

Critics dubbed USA Today "McPaper" when it debuted in 1982, and they accused Neuharth, of dumbing down American journalism with its easy-to-read articles and bright graphics. USA Today became the nation's most-circulated newspaper in the late 1990s.

The hard-charging founder of USA Today died Friday in Cocoa Beach, Fla. He was 89. The news was announced by USA Today and by the Newseum, which he also founded.

Jack Marsh, president of the Al Neuharth Media Center and a close friend, confirmed that he passed away Friday afternoon at his home. Marsh said Neuharth fell earlier this week and never quite recovered.

Sections were denoted by different colors. The entire back page of the news section had a colored-weather map of the entire United States. The news section contained a state-by-state roundup of headlines from across the nation. Its eye-catching logo of white lettering on a blue background made it recognizable from a distance.

"Our target was college-age people who were non-readers. We thought they were getting enough serious stuff in classes," Neuharth said in 1995. "We hooked them primarily because it was a colorful newspaper that played up the things they were interested in - sports, entertainment and TV."

USA Today was unlike any newspaper before it when it debuted in 1982. Its style was widely derided but later widely imitated. Many news veterans gave it few chances for survival. Advertisers were at first reluctant to place their money in a newspaper that might compete with local dailies. But circulation grew. In 1999, USA Today edged past the Wall Street Journal in circulation with 1.75 million daily copies, to take the title of the nation's biggest newspaper.

Full story at IWON / AP News .
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Woodstock singer Havens, 72, dies of heart attack
Apr 22, 5:25 PM (ET)
By MESFIN FEKADU

NEW YORK (AP) - Richie Havens, who sang and strummed for a sea of people at Woodstock, has died of a heart attack Monday, his family said in a statement. He was 72.

Havens, a folk singer and guitarist, was the first performer at the three-day 1969 Woodstock Festival. He returned to the site during the 40th anniversary in 2009.

"Everything in my life, and so many others, is attached to that train," he said in a 2009 interview with The Associated Press.

Havens was born in Brooklyn. He was known for his crafty guitar work and cover songs, including his well-received impersonation of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman."

The singer's website said he had kidney surgery years ago and that he never recovered enough to perform concerts like he used to.

Havens performed at Bill Clinton's presidential Inauguration in 1993. He has released more than 25 albums. His last album was 2008's "Nobody Left to Crown."

"I really sing songs that move me," he said in an interview with The Denver Post. "I'm not in show business; I'm in the communications business. That's what it's about for me."

A public memorial will be planned for a later date.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Award-winning children's author Konigsburg dies
Apr 21, 11:55 PM (ET)

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - E.L. Konigsburg, an author who twice won one of the top honors for children's literature, has died. She was 83.

Her son Paul Konigsburg says the longtime Florida resident died Friday at a hospital in Falls Church, Va., where she'd been living for the past few years with another son. She had suffered a stroke a week before she died.

She won the John Newbery Medal in 1997 for her book "The View from Saturday" and in 1968 for "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." The Newbery is one of the top honors for children's literature. Her family says she wrote 16 children's novels and illustrated 3 picture books.

Her first book, "Jennifer, Hecate, MacBeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth" was also a Newbery honor book in 1968, making her the only author to be a winner and runner-up in the same year.

Click here to find out more!
In 1997, the Newbery committee called her story of a sixth grade Academic Bowl team and their coach "a unique, jubilant tour de force characterized by good humor, positive relationships, distinctive personalities and brilliant story telling."

Konigsburg said in an interview with The Associated Press at the time: "The award represents a kind of validation that I find just most gratifying."

In 2004, she told The Dallas Morning News that she built her characters and plots by imagining situations what-if situations with her children, grandchildren and students.

"I think most of us are outsiders," she said. "And I think that's good because it makes you question things. I think it makes you see things outside yourself."

Her stories were also adapted for movies and television. Ingrid Bergman starred as Mrs. Frankweiler in a 1973 film adaptation of Konigsburg's book called "The Hideaways."

Konigsburg grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in chemistry. She married David Konigsburg in 1952, and the couple lived in several cities before settling in the Jacksonville, Fla., area.

Konigsburg, who had two sons and a daughter and five grandchildren, started writing and illustrating children's books when her youngest child began kindergarten. Her husband died in 2001.
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Chrissy Amphlett, lead singer of the Australian rock band the Divinyls, died Saturday in New York after a long battle with breast cancer, according to the Associated Press. She was 53.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/mu ... 6058.story
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Allan Arbus, known to many of us at the psychiatrist Maj. Sidney Freedman from M*A*S*H, has died at age 95.

The actor, who was married to photographer Diane Arbus, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles, reports The New York Times.

Arbus, who was born in New York, was a TV regular in the 1970s and '80s, appearing on Taxi, Starsky & Hutch, Matlock and other shows. But it was his M*A*S*H character that became his best-known role
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/peop ... 5/2106421/
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Former Braves Pitcher RIck Camp Passes Away At 59

Rick Camp, former reliever/starter for the Atlanta Braves has passed at the age of 59.

I remember watching "The Rick Camp Game" on WTBS...

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... d=45775320
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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George Jones, dead at 81

George Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/20 ... z2Ra2bzfvG
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Tri State news veteran passes away.

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Tribune news editor dies after cancer fight
Published 10:30am Friday, April 26, 2013
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Veteran journalist and news editor of The Tribune Teresa Moore, 51, died this morning at the Community Hospice Care Center in Ashland, Ky., following a three-year battle with cancer.

Moore, who went into the hospice on Tuesday, had been on medical leave from the newspaper since November.

The Marshall University graduate joined The Tribune staff in 2002 as a reporter covering the Lawrence County Courthouse after a career in radio broadcast journalism. Part of that beat included the Lawrence County Commission. County Auditor Jason Stephens, who was on commission at that time, recalls Moore’s professionalism.

“She worked hard to cover the commissioners,” Stephens said. “She was a staple at the commissioners’ meetings. I used to joke with her that we should write a novel about what happened that you couldn’t put in the newspaper.”

Moore also covered the Lawrence County Common Pleas Courts where County Prosecutor Brigham Anderson called her a colleague and a friend.

“She was a pleasure to work with,” Anderson said. “She did an excellent job of keeping up with the day-to-day operations of the courts.”

In the spring of 2010 Moore was elevated to the post of news editor for The Tribune and moved her beat from the county to covering the city of Ironton including its government operations.

“My first thought is what a wonderful person who treated everyone fairly and with respect,” Mayor Rich Blankenship said.

Moore also reported on the initial work of the grass-roots beautification organization, Ironton in Bloom, that over the past four years has improved the city with a variety of landscaping projects.

“Teresa was one of the first to get on board with Ironton in Bloom and shared our vision as we made our first baby steps,” Carol Allen, IIB president, said. “We will be forever grateful for all she has done to make Ironton a better place to live. She is a special lady.”

One of Ironton’s premier events is the Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade, the longest continuous Memorial Day parade in the country. Moore’s coverage of the event was a tradition at the newspaper, spending long hours interviewing parade participants and the thousands who lined the streets to watch.

Spearheading the organization of the parade has been for decades Lou Pyles.

“We worked together on the parade for a long time,” Pyles said. “She was one of the loveliest, nicest persons I have ever met, always so nice and helpful. She was a special friend and did a wonderful job at what she did. This is a real heartbreaker to lose her like this. She has been so courageous in this battle. I hate losing wonderful people like this in our lives. I really treasured our friendship.”

Throughout her career at The Tribune Moore received numerous awards for her reporting including 25 individual and group awards from the Ohio Associated Press. She took first place for best investigative work in 2005 for her series, “Death of a Hospital,” about the closure of River Valley Health Systems. She was also honored with an AP community service award for starting the “Lawrence County’s Most Wanted” series that helped catch probation violators.

Another community organization Moore reported on frequently was the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District and its work to clean up illegal dumps across the county.

“She has truly been a very great friend,” director Dan Palmer said. “I think she has done a splendid job with our stories. I remember the days she has gone out with us and walked the roads with us. She was never one to invoke sympathy. In the times you would see her you knew she was suffering but she continued to do her work. She never complained. Very admirable. It makes you reflect. One good person.”
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Re: 2013 Obits: R.I.P. and Remembrance thread

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Ray Harryhausen dead at 92


Ray Harryhausen, the legendary special effects designer who breathed life into mythological beasts and inspired generations of sci-fi filmmakers with his trademark stop-motion animation, died Monday in London. He was 92.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... z2SdqqARaX
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