Celebrity Deaths – They’re Still Dyin’ Even If I Forgot To Mention It

This year is already getting away from me. I forgot to do January deaths and now I plum near forgot to get the list for Feb. So, to get back on track, I have no clever witticisms, smart alec remarks or anything else. Let’s just view the best in memoriam list this side of the Oscars with this 2 fer.

 

January

Mario Cuomo – 82 – Governor of NY – Jan. 1

Donna Douglas – 82 – Ellie Mae Clampett – Jan 1

Stuart Scott – 49 – Sports journalist – Jan 4

Rod Taylor – 84 – Actor Time Machine, Inglourious Basterds – Jan 7

Curtis Lee – 75 – Singer Pretty Little Angel Eyes – Jan 8

Taylor Negron – 57 – Actor Fast Times at Ridgemont High – Jan 10

Melvin Gordon – 95 – CEO of Tootsie Roll – Jan 20

Ernie Banks – 83 – Mr. Cub – Jan 23

Danny McCulloch – 69 – Bassist The Animals – Jan 29

 

February

Stewart Stern – 92 – Screenwriter Rebel Without a Cause, Sybil – Feb 2

Richard Bonehill – 67 – Lando’s co-pilot in Return of the Jedi – Feb 4

Dave Corriveau – 63 – Co-founder of Dave & Buster’s – Feb 7

Jerry Tarkanian – 84 – HOF Basketball coach – Feb 11

Bob Simon – 73 – Journalist 60 Minutes – Feb 11

Gary Owens – 80 – TV Announcer – Feb 12

Louis Jourdan – 93 – Actor Swamp Thing – Feb 14

Lesley Gore – 68 – Singer It’s my Party, Judy’s Turn to Cry – Feb 16

Harris Wittels – 30 – Writer Parks & Rec – Feb 19

Leonard Nimoy – 83 – Spock – Feb 27

 

And Abe Vigoda is still alive.

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2014 Is Dead … So Are These Celebs

Yes boys & girls, this is the last dead celebrity update for this year. It seems that this past year has been full of a lot of surprises in the celebrity death front. I am really going to have to think about the predictions for next year. It isn’t a dead on science anymore. See what I did there? Ok, in order get the crickets to stop chirping, we will get right to it.

Mary Ann Mobley – 77 – Actress, Miss America – Dec. 9

Judy Baar Topinka – Illinois Comptroller – Dec. 10

Robert Taylor – 70 – Animator/Director The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat – Dec. 11

Norman Bridwell – 86 – Author Clifford the Big Red Dog – Dec. 12

Booth Coleman – 91 – Actor, Dr. Zaius Planet of the Apes (original) – Dec. 15

Christine Cavanaugh – 51 – Voice Actor; Rugrats, Dexter’s Laboratory – Dec. 22

Joe Cocker – 70 – Singer – Dec. 22

Edward Hermann – 71 – Actor; Gilmore Girls, Lost Boys) – Dec. 31

Think that is everyone. Have to admit, I dozed off a few times typing this … New Year’s day and all. I will be putting together my predictions for the coming year in the next day or so … probably tomorrow at work.

Celebrity Death Watch November

I apologize for the non-creative title this time around. Work pretty much sucks lately and it has sucked my motivation for just about everything right out of me. Despite that, I need to get the death list out because … Celebrity deaths! I’m saving my energy for the fast approaching year end wrap up and next year’s predictions. Needless to say, I really didn’t pay much attention this month so, here is what I remember.

 

Big Bank Hank – 58 – Rapper The Sugar Hill Gang – Nov. 11

Glen A. Larson – 77 – writer/producer of the best 70s & 80s tv shows ever – Nov. 14

Jane Byrne – 81 – First female mayor of Chicago – Nov. 14

Pat Quinn – 71 – NHL Coach Flyers, Leafs, Canucks – Nov. 23

Marion Barry – 78 – Mayor of D.C and coke enthusiast – Nov. 23

 

I’ll be in a better mood for the predictions and yada yada yada. I need a good airing of grievances to get me turned around me thinks.

 

Celebrity Death Watch – They Come In Threes

Three months that is. Sorry I have slacked off for so long. Been crazy this summer. Not going to get into all kinds of discussion, let’s just get right to it. Going to be a long read with 3 months to catch up on. Forgive me if I miss anyone, 3 months is a lot of dead celebs to remember. There was one that comes off the perennials list … Eli Wallach passed on. I am getting better at this prediction thing. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

 

June

Ann B. Davis – 88 – Alice on The Brady Bunch – June 1

Don Zimmer – 83 – Baseball player, & manager of the CUBS – June 4

James McNair – 63 – writer & comedian – June 7

Rick Mayall – 56 – Comedian/Actor The Young Ones – June 9

Ruby Dee – 91 – Actress – June 11

Casey Kasem – 82 – Voice of Shaggy – June 15

Daniel Keyes – 86 – Author Flowers for Algernon June 15

Eli Wallach – 98 – Actor The Good, The Bad and the Ugly – June 24

Mary Rodgers – 83 – Author Freaky Friday June 26

Meshach Taylor – 67 – Actor Designing Women, Mannequin – June 28

 

July

Eileen Ford – 92 – co-founder of Ford Models – July 9

Curt Gentry – 83 – Author Helter Skelter – July 10

Tommy Ramone – 65 – The Ramones – July 11

Thomas Berger – 89 Author Little Big Man – July 13

Johnny Winter – 70 – Blues guitarist – July 16

Elaine Stritch – 89 – Actress – July 17

James Garner – 86 – Actor The Rockford Files, Maverick – July 19

Thor-Eirik Gulbrandsen Mykland – 74 – Don’t know who he is but his name is Thor – July 25

James Shigeta – 85 – Actor Die Hard – July 28

Dick Smith – 92 – Makeup artist Godfather, Exocist, Amedeus – July 30

 

August

James Brady – 73 – Press Secretary, shot during Regan assasination attempt – August 4

Marilyn Burns – 65 – Actress The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original) – August 5

Charles Keating – 72 – Actor All My Children, Another World – August 8

Robin Williams – 63 – Actor/Comedian – August 11

Lauren Bacall – 90 – Actress – August 12

Stephen Lee – 58 – Actor – WarGames, La Bamba – August 14

Don Pardo – 96 – Announcer Saturday Night Live – August 18

James Foley – 40 – Photojournalist – August 19

John Sperling – 93 – Founder, University of Phoenix – August 22

Richard Attenborough – 90 – Actor/Director/Producer – August 24

Jimi Jamison – 63 – Singer Survivor – August 31

May’s Dead Celebrities – Get ‘Em In The Ground Before It Gets Hot!

In the good old summer TIME! I don’t know what song that is (I think it’s from a movie) but a local car dealer Harry Schmerler used to sing that one line in one of his commercials for some reason. He called himself the singing Ford dealer. He is long since gone and he really has nothing to do with this other than the summertime line. Summertime is finally fast approaching. The celebs that kicked in May got to experience their very last non-spring. Good thing they took off before the warm weather. Heat and dead bodies is almost as good a combo as snow and the color yellow. Let’s get to it shall we?

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. – 95 – Actor 77 Sunset Strip – May 2

Dick Ayers – 90 Comic book artist Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider – May 4

Jackie Lyn Taylor – 90 – Actress Our Gang – May 5

Tony Genaro – 72 – Actor Tremors, Scorpion King – May 7

Harry Potter – 72 – Australian TV journalist (guess the wizard thing didn’t work out) – May 8

Roger L. Easton – 93 – inventor of GPS – May 8

Jeb Stuart Magruder – 79 – Nixon Aide during Watergate – May 11

Vernon Lewis – 36 – stuntman/comedian – May 11

H.R. Giger – 74 – Artist designer of Alien – May 12

Allan Folsom – 72 – Author The Day After Tomorrow – May 16

Gordon Willis – 82 – Cinematographer Gofather series, Annie Hall – May 18

Jerry Vale – 83 – Singer, Actor – May 18

Donald Levine – 86 – Developed the first action figure – May 22

Manuel Uribe – 48 – World’s third heaviest person – May 26

Maya Angelou – 86 – Author, poet, singer – May 28

Butler Blue 1 – 13 – American Bulldog mascot for Butler University – May 30

 

At least May was technically spring so there should have been a lot of reproducing to replace these fallen famous folks.

 

March Celebrity Deaths, They Didn’t Fool Anyone

Now that it is April 2^nd, I can tell you that I was oh so clever and said no one famous died in March as an April Fools joke. HAHAHA!

Right. Now let’s get on to what we are really here for … dead folks who were famous when they weren’t dead. I am getting more and more straightforward on these. Just seems like something I need to do lately. Here we go with those who went.

 

David Brenner – 78 – Comedian – March 15

Fred Phelps – 84 – Hat monger – March 19

Ken Forsse – 77 – Inventor of Teddy Ruxpin – March 19

James Rebhorn – 65 – Actor Independence Day, Homeland – March 21

Kate O’Mara – 74 – Actress Doctor Who, Dynasty – March 30

H. Richard Black – 92 – Artist , created Smokey Bear and Mr. Clean – March 30

Frankie Knuckles – 59 – Godfather of house music – March 31

Charles Keating – 90 – Bad guy in savings & loan crisis – March 31

 

Ok, so there weren’t a lot of deaths but there were at least some. Until next time.

The Prodigal Blogger Returns … But These Celebs Won’t

I am back. I have neglected even the most basic part of my blog. The pointless and sometimes creepy obsession with dead celebrities. As it has been MANY months since I have done my updates, (and I lost the list I was keeping of deadies) I will do the best I can to remember who died since September. YES! SEPTEMBER! I am such a “dead” beat.  While the reports of my death have not even surfaced, I will report on the deaths that I am sure everyone already knows about. I need to catch up so I can do my new year predictions soon with the death of this year.

 

September

Frederik Pohl – 93 – Sci-Fi writer – Sept. 2

Ariel Castro – 53 – Scum – Sept. 3

Cal Worthington – 92 – Crazy car dealer – Sept. 8

Ray Dolby – 80 – Yeah, THAT Dolby – Sept. 12

Jerry G. Bishop – 77 – Original Svengoolie – Sept. 15

 

October

Tom Clancy – 66 – Author; Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games – Oct. 1

Andy Pafko – 92 – Baseball Player Chicago Cubs – Oct. 8

Ed Lauter – 74 – Actor – Oct. 16

Jon Locke – 86 – Sleestack leader on original Land of the Lost – Oct. 19

Marcia Wallace – 70 – Mrs. Krabappel – Oct. 25

Lou Reed – 71 – Singer/songwriter –Oct. 27

Pete Haycock – 62 – Guitarist; Climax Blues Band – Oct. 30

 

November

Charlie Trotter – 54 – Chef – Nov. 5

Brian Griffin – 8 – Dog – Nov. 24

Paul Walker – 40 – Actor – Nov. 30

 

That pretty much wraps it up. It won’t be long before new deaths and new predictions bring us all together once again.

 

Dead Celebs – Simple As That

It’s time for me to get off my butt and update you on the deaths of people who are apparently more important than the 1,000s of soldiers killed or children murdered on our streets every day. Wow, that was uncharacteristically political and socially conscious of me. I need to stop that. Seems like it was a shorter list this month. Once again, it was a month full of unexpected passings. Let’s review … shall we?

 

Charles Foley – 82 – Co-creator of Twister – July 1

Paul Jenkins – 74 – Actor Waltons, Dynasty – July 1

Dan Van Patten – 60 – Drummer Berlin – July 2

Douglas Engelbart – 88 – Inventor of the mouse – July 2

Michael Mastromarino – 49 – illegal body parts harvester – July 7

Amar Bose – 83 – Founder of Bose – July 12

Cory Monteith – 31 – Actor on Glee – July 13

Mel Smith – 60 – The albino in The Princess Bride – July 19

Helen Thomas – 92 – Journalist, White House Press Corp – July 20

Dennis Farina – 69 – Actor – July 22

Frank Castillo – 44 – Ex-Cubs pitcher – July 28

Eileen Brennan – 80 – Actress – July 28

 

Celebrity Deaths – June Fridge Fillers

Another month has come and gone and here we are hitting the summer stride. Can’t tell by the weather really but … yeah, it’s summer. Hopefully those on this month’s list aren’t hanging around waiting to be brought back because the temps WILL heat up soon, and that, that would just be kinda gross.

 

Deacon Jones – 74 – Football player – June 3

Esther Williams – 91 – Swimmer/Actress – June 6

Slim Whitman – 90 – Country singer – June 19

Bill Krause – 78 – Founder of Kum & Go convenience stores – June 19

James Gandolfini – 51 – Actor – June 19

Gary David Goldberg – 68 – TV Screenwriter/Producer – June 22

Richard Matheson – 87 – Author I Am Legend – June 23

Bobby “Blue” Bland – 83 – Blues singer – June 23

Alan Myers – 58 – Drummer Devo – June 24

Matt Osborne – 55 – Wrestler Doink the Clown – June 28

Jim Kelly – 67 – Martial Artist/Actor Enter the Dragon – June 29

 

I wonder if it is wrong for me to laugh any time I think of Kum & Go. Anyway, since the list was so short this time around, and to reward you for hanging out, here is a little tribute to Mr. Whitman. I hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

Ollie Williams Says – THEY DEAD!

I know, I am a week late. Forgive me. Been busy with the diabetes and all. Actually, I can’t blame everything on that. I have just been lazy. So, here it is, plain and simple. They lived, they died, I am telling you about it.

Chris Kelly – 34 – Rapper – May 1

Jeff Hanneman – 49 – Guitarist Slayer – May 2

David Morris Kern – 103 – Developed Orajel – May 3

Al Fritz – 88 – Developer of Schwinn Sting-Ray – May 7

Ray Harryhausen – 92 – Stop motion animation genius – May 7

Aubrey Woods – 85 – Singing candy store guy in Willy Wonka – May 7

 

Big dry spell here huh …

 

Dick Trickle – 71 – NASCAR driver and owner of fun name to say – May 16

Ray Manzarek – 74 –  The Doors – May 20

Leonard Marsh – 80 – Co-founder of Snapple – May 21

Ed Shaughnessy – 84 – Drummer on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson – May 24

Bill Howell – 83 – Developed Miller Lite – May 25

Andrew Greeley – 85 – Priest and Author – May 29

Jean Stapleton – 90 – Edith Bunker – May 31

 

That’s all for now. None of these were on any of my pools or list ever. Maybe next month. Dick Trickle. It’s just fun to say. Too soon?