Rangerland Forum Information

[Kusand]

AP reporting Pavarotti is dead.

[Dunc]

Madeleine L’Engle - author of "A Wrinkle in Time" - dead at 88

[Lester Patrick]

Charlotte Zucker:

It's all who you know in Hollywood - or Shorewood - and no one knew that better than Charlotte Zucker.

So when Jerry and David Zucker began making their movies, they knew just who they wanted to cast.

"She was in 17 movies," said son David.

Her roles included some of the more notable lines and sight gags in their films.

"She was the Lipstick Lady in 'Airplane,' " he said. "She kept putting her lipstick on during turbulence, and she got her face all messed up."

Other credits included a bank scene in "Ghost" with Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. She was a judge in "Ruthless People," with Danny DeVito.

In "Naked Gun," she played the secretary hypnotized by Ricardo Montalban's character, falling into a zombielike state and saying, "I must kill Papshmir."

"She was always game for anything we threw at her," David said

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=658385

[Giac]

Jane Wyman dead at 93

Jane Wyman, an Academy Award winner for her performance as the deaf rape victim in "Johnny Belinda," star of the long-running TV series "Falcon Crest" and Ronald Reagan's first wife, died Monday morning at 93.

Wyman died at her Palm Springs home, said Richard Adney of Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in Cathedral City. No other details were immediately available.

Wyman's film career spanned from the 1930s, including "Gold Diggers of 1937," to 1969's "How to Commit Marriage," co-starring Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason. From 1981 to 1990 she played Angela Channing, a Napa Valley winery owner who maintained her power with a steely will on CBS' "Falcon Crest."

[Giac]

Jazz great Joe Zawinul dies at 75

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Joe Zawinul, the jazz keyboardist who soared to fame as one of the creators of jazz-rock fusion with the band Weather Report, has died, a hospital official said. He was 75.

Zawinul died early Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Vienna's Wilhelmina Clinic said, without giving details. He had been hospitalized since last month and suffered from a rare form of skin cancer, said Risa Zincke, his manager, according to the Austria Press Agency.

Zawinul won acclaim for his keyboard work on chart-topping Miles Davis albums such as "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew," and was a leading force behind the so-called "Electric Jazz" movement.

In 1970, Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter founded Weather Report and produced a series of albums including "Heavy Weather," "Black Market," "I Sing the Body Electric," and the Grammy-winning live recording "8:30."

[Giac]

'Match Game's' Brett Somers dies at 83

WESTPORT, Connecticut (AP) -- Actress and comedian Brett Somers, who amused game show fans with her quips on the "Match Game" in the 1970s, has died, her son said. She was 83.

Somers died Saturday at her home in Westport of stomach and colon cancer, Adam Klugman said Monday.

Hosted by Gene Rayburn, "Match Game" was the top game show during much of the 1970s. Contestants would try to match answers to nonsense questions with a panel of celebrities; much of the humor came from the racy quips and putdowns.

Shows from the 1973-79 run, featuring regulars like Somers, Richard Dawson and Charles Nelson Reilly, are still seen on cable TV's GSN (formerly Game Show Network).

Somers married actor Jack Klugman, the future star of the television shows "Quincy" and "The Odd Couple," in 1953. The two separated in 1974, but never divorced.

[Giac]

'Wheel of Time' author dead at 58

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- Author Robert Jordan, whose "Wheel of Time" series of fantasy novels sold millions of copies, has died of a rare blood disease, his aide said Monday. He was 58.

Jordan, whose real name was James Oliver Rigney Jr., died Sunday at the Medical University of South Carolina of complications from primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, his personal assistant, Maria Simons, said. The disease attacks the body's major organs; in Jordan's case, it caused the walls of his heart to thicken.

He wrote a trilogy of historical novels set in Charleston under the pen name Reagan O'Neal in the early 1980s. Then he turned his attention to fantasy and the first volume in his Wheel of Time epic, "The Eye of the World," was published in 1990 under the name Robert Jordan.

[Kusand]

'Wheel of Time' author dead at 58

This sucks. As much as some of the later books dragged, Book 11 was great. And it was so close to finished. Hopefully whoever ghostwrites it can capture his style. Apparently his health took a bad turn two weeks ago and he started to dictate as much as he could regarding plot and the story.

[Lester Patrick]

Famed French Mime Marcel Marceau

In mime, Marceau said, gestures express the essence of the soul's most secret aspiration. "To mime the wind, one becomes a tempest. To mime a fish, you throw yourself into the sea."

He created the figure of Bip, the melancholy, engaging clown with a limp red flower in his hat, 60 years ago this year.

"The mime Marceau will forever be the character of Bip," Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in a statement confirming the performer's death.

"He became one of the best-known French artists in the world. His students and the showbusiness world will miss him."

A veteran of dozens of films, one of his best remembered roles was a speaking cameo in "Silent Movie," made by American director Mel Brooks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070923/ts_nm/...lK8D4exuCcE1vAI

[Lester Patrick]

Actress Alice Ghostley:

Ms. Ghostley made more than 90 television appearances in a career that spanned six decades. She was a regular on the situation comedy "Bewitched" from 1966 through 1972, playing Esmeralda, a shy, bumbling witch whose spells never worked, who caused unintentional havoc whenever she sneezed and who turned invisible when she became nervous.

From 1986 through 1993, she played a more-than-usually wacky neighbor, Bernice Clifton, on the hit show "Designing Women." In one episode, plastic surgery gone awry gives her a pig's nose, which she wears with aplomb, then with mounting embarrassment until it is repaired. She also appeared in "Evening Shade," "Love, American Style" and "Mayberry R.F.D."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...4/BATASCB8E.DTL

[Lester Patrick]

Olympic Great Al Oerter.

Oerter won gold medals in 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968. Oerter and Carl Lewis are the only track and field stars to capture the same event in four consecutive Olympics. Oerter, however, is the only one to set an Olympic record in each of his victories.

Born in New York City, Oerter eschewed coaching and conventional training methods to mold himself into a fierce competitor who performed his best when the stakes were highest.

He worked for years at Grumman in Bethpage, which is where my father got to know him. RIP.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/su...rter-obit_N.htm

[Tex]

Olympic Great Al Oerter.
He worked for years at Grumman in Bethpage, which is where my father got to know him. RIP.

Did he and your dad work on the LM? Or another project? i have a thing about space stuff, so I hadda axe.

[Lester Patrick]

Did he and your dad work on the LM? Or another project? i have a thing about space stuff, so I hadda axe.

No, Oerter worked in the Data Processing department (in what capacity, I don't know), and my father was the IBM rep for Grumman. That's how their paths crossed.

[Lester Patrick]

Bob Owen, a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Ice Hockey team, which won the gold.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/hock...a.ap/index.html

[Giac]

Bud Ekins, Stuntman

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bud Ekins, a renowned off-road racer and stuntman who performed the famous motorcycle jump over barbed wire in "The Great Escape," died Saturday. He was 77.

Ekins died of natural causes at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, family spokesman Paul Bloch said.

Ekins, a friend and mentor of fellow biker Steve McQueen, had a stunt career that lasted for 30 years and appeared in dozens of movies, including "Diamonds Are Forever," "Earthquake" and "The Blues Brothers." He also had bit parts in about a dozen films.

[Lester Patrick]

Werner Von Trapp

Werner von Trapp, 91, a member of the musical family made famous by the 1965 movie The Sound of Music, died Thursday at his home in Waitsfield, Vt. The cause of death was not announced.

The Sound of Music was based loosely on a 1949 book by his stepmother, Maria von Trapp, who died in 1987. It tells the story of an Austrian woman who married a widower with seven children and teaches them music.

Born in 1915 in Zell am See, Austria, Mr. von Trapp was the fourth child and second son of Captain Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead. In the movie, Werner von Trapp was depicted by the character named Kurt.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/obituaries/...sician__91.html

[Tex]

Werner Von Trapp

well, the Hills are alive...

[Giac]

'WKRP's' 'Mama Carlson' dead at 87

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Actress Carol Bruce, perhaps best known for her role as Mama Carlson on television's "WKRP in Cincinnati," has died. She was 87.

Bruce died October 9 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in suburban Woodland Hills, spokeswoman Jaime Larkin said in a news release.

[Lester Patrick]

The last of the Rat Pack...Joey Bishop

http://www.accessatlanta.com/entertainment...bit_Bishop.html

[Giac]

'From Here to Eternity' actress Kerr dies

Deborah Kerr, who shared one of Hollywood's most famous kisses and made her mark with such roles as the correct widow in "The King and I" and the unhappy officer's wife in "From Here to Eternity," has died. She was 86.

[Lester Patrick]

For us oldtimers here: Singer Teresa Brewer:

Teresa Brewer, a bold-voiced singer whose novelty hit "Music! Music! Music!" established her as a jukebox favorite in the 1950s and secured her four-decade career performing in nightclubs and on Las Vegas stages, died Wednesday at her home in New Rochelle, N.Y., at age 76. She had progressive supranuclear palsy, a brain disorder.

Ms. Brewer was a veteran radio performer at 19 in 1950 when "Music! Music! Music!" became a pop-chart smash with its bouncy Dixieland-ensemble backup and command to "put another nickel in, in the nickelodeon."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...9/MNLLSRPK4.DTL

[Giac]

Former Green Bay great McGee dies in fall

MINNEAPOLIS -- Max McGee, the free-spirited Green Bay Packers receiver who became part of Super Bowl lore after a night on the town, died when he fell while clearing leaves from the roof of his home. He was 75.

Police were called to his home in suburban Deephaven on Saturday afternoon, Sgt. Chris Whiteside said. Efforts to resuscitate failed.

I just lost my best friend," former teammate Paul Hornung told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "(His wife) Denise was away from the house. She'd warned him not to get up there. He shouldn't have been up there. He knew better than that."

McGee caught the first touchdown pass in Super Bowl history in 1967, a game he expected to watch from the sideline. When it was over, he had caught seven passes for 138 yards and two TDs and Green Bay -- coached by the great Vince Lombardi -- had beaten the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.

[Giac]

Country legend Porter Wagoner dies at age 80

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- Porter Wagoner was known for a string of country hits in the '60s, perennial appearances at the Grand Ole Opry in his trademark rhinestone suits, and for launching the career of Dolly Parton.

Like many older performers, his star had faded in recent years. But his death from lung cancer Sunday, at 80, came only after a remarkable late-career revival that won him a new generation of fans.

The Missouri-born Wagoner signed with RCA Records in 1955 and joined the Opry in 1957, "the greatest place in the world to have a career in country music," he said in 1997. His showmanship, suits and pompadoured hair made him famous.

He had his own syndicated TV show, "The Porter Wagoner Show," for 21 years, beginning in 1960. It was one of the first syndicated shows to come out of Nashville and set a pattern for many others.

[Giac]

Pioneering TV chef dead at 63

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Friedman Paul Erhardt, a German-born cook known as "Chef Tell" who was one of America's pioneering television chefs, has died. He was 63.

Erhardt died of heart failure on Friday at his home in Upper Black Eddy, about 25 miles east of Allentown, his family said.

Erhardt's jolly personality, thick German accent and wit made him a fixture on television shows such as "Regis and Kathie Lee" and comedy skits on "Saturday Night Live." He was also said to be the inspiration for the Swedish chef on "The Muppet Show."

This post has been edited by Giac: Oct 30 2007, 01:49 PM

[DanTRQ]

He will no longer mess with your stuff.....

Robert Goulet, singer and office gremlin

[Tex]

He will no longer mess with your stuff.....

Robert Goulet, singer and office gremlin

so long Jaune Tom...

[Lester Patrick]

Paul Tibbets...the pilot of the Enola Gay

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21578185/

Tibbets, then a 30-year-old colonel, never expressed regret over his role. He said it was his patriotic duty and the right thing to do.

“I’m not proud that I killed 80,000 people, but I’m proud that I was able to start with nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did,” he said in a 1975 interview.

“You’ve got to take stock and assess the situation at that time. We were at war. ... You use anything at your disposal.”

[Giac]

Ramones ex-manager, stars' realtor murdered, police say

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Linda Stein, a former manager of the Ramones who later became known "the realtor for the stars," was found beaten to death in her posh Fifth Avenue apartment, police said Thursday.

There was no indication of forced entry when police, responding to a 911 call, found Stein's body late Tuesday night, authorities said.

Stein, 62, was one of New York's top real estate brokers and was known for her list of celebrity clientele, which included Madonna, Sting, Michael Douglas and Angelina Jolie.

[Giac]

John Woodruff, 92; 1st black athlete to win gold at 1936 Olympics in Berlin

John Woodruff, the black American runner who won the 800 meters in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the face of Adolf Hitler and his "master race" agenda, has died. He was 92.

Woodruff, the last surviving gold medalist from that U.S. team that included the legendary runner Jesse Owens, died Tuesday at an assisted living center near Phoenix, said Rose Woodruff, his wife of 37 years.

Nicknamed "Long John" for his nearly 10-foot stride, Woodruff was a lanky 21-year-old freshman at the University of Pittsburgh with just three years of competitive running under his belt when he sailed to the racially charged scene in Berlin.

On Aug. 4, 1936, he won the 800 meters using one of the most astonishing tactics in Olympic history. Boxed in by the pack of runners, he literally stopped in his tracks, then moved to the third lane and passed everyone to win the race in 1:52.9.

[Giac]

George Osmond, Osmond family patriarch, dies at 90

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- George Osmond, father of the famous singing family The Osmond Brothers, has died. He was 90.

Osmond died Tuesday morning at home, likely from natural causes related to his age as he had not been ill, family spokesman Kevin Sasaki told The Associated Press. Additional details and an official cause of death were not immediately available.

The death was first reported by "Entertainment Tonight's" Web site and was confirmed later by a spokeswoman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Osmond was a member.

[Denis Lemieux]

John Woodruff, 92; 1st black athlete to win gold at 1936 Olympics in Berlin

[Lester Patrick]

George Osmond, Osmond family patriarch, dies at 90

I was just reading another obit for him and saw this:

Osmond's first two sons, Virl and Tom, developed degenerative hearing disorders that affected their speech, which led Osmond and his wife to form a foundation. Now known as the Children's Miracle Network, it raises funds for children's hospitals.

I knew about the sons being deaf, but didn't know about the foundation.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...4&cset=true

[mhurley]

Norman Mailer dead at 84. Is Gore Vidal smiling?

[teddyc]

Norman Mailer dead at 84. Is Gore Vidal smiling?

Mailer Article

Mailer had views on almost everything.

The '70s: "the decade in which image became preeminent because nothing deeper was going on."

Poetry: A "natural activity ... a poem comes to one," whereas prose required making "an appointment with one's mind to write a few thousand words."

Journalism: irresponsible. "You can't be too certain about what happened."

Technology: "insidious, debilitating and depressing," and nobody in politics had an answer to "its impact on our spiritual well-being."

[Lester Patrick]

There's now only one left:

Barbara West Dainton, 96, one of the last two known survivors in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, died Oct. 16 at a nursing home in Camborne, England, according to Peter Visick, a distant relative.

Dainton, born in Bournemouth in southern England on May 24, 1911, was too young to remember the night when the huge liner, on its maiden voyage from England to New York, hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic in April 1912, killing about 1,500 people, including her father, Edwy Arthur West.

He waved farewell as the lifeboat carrying Barbara; her mother, Ada; and her sister, Constance, was lowered into the ocean, according to Karen Kamuda of the Titanic Historical Society in Indian Orchard, Mass. His body was never recovered.

Dainton returned to England after the accident. She married in 1952.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/c...5&cset=true

[Giac]

'Marty' director dies at 87

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Delbert Mann, who transformed Paddy Chayefsky's classic teleplays "Marty" and "The Bachelor Party" into big-screen triumphs and helped bring TV techniques to the film world, died Sunday. He was 87.

Mann died of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son Fred Mann said Monday.

Mann's 1955 feature version of "Marty" won four Oscars: best picture and director, best actor for Ernest Borgnine and best screenplay for Chayefsky. The low-budget film with mostly little-known actors told the stark, poignant story of Borgnine's 34-year-old Brooklyn butcher who felt he was too ugly to find love. His life is changed when he meets an equally shy but sweet woman played by Betsy Blair.

"I knew we had a good story because I had already done it on television," Mann once told The Associated Press. "But I certainly never expected it to be the hit that it turned out to be."

Using techniques he brought from television, Mann took a mere 16 days to shoot the film version of "Marty," plus an additional three days for retakes. This compared with 45 days for typical features of that time, with epic pictures running far beyond that.

[Lester Patrick]

Joe Nuxhall, youngest Major League player ever, long time Cincinnati Reds broadcaster

Nuxhall and play-by-play announcer Marty Brennaman described the Big Red Machine's two World Series titles in the 1970s, Pete Rose's return as player-manager and then banishment for gambling in the 1980s, and another World Series championship in 1990.

Nuxhall's place in baseball lore was secured the moment he stepped onto a big-league field. With major league rosters depleted during World War II, he got a chance to pitch in relief for the Reds on June 10, 1944.

No one in modern baseball history has played in the majors at such a young age — 15 years, 10 months, 11 days old. He got two outs against St. Louis before losing his composure, then went eight years before pitching for the Reds again.

"When you think of all the individuals that played at the major league level and you're the youngest in the history of the game and in the Guinness Book of Records, it does make you in awe of it," Nuxhall said on the 50th anniversary of his debut

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7454254?MSNHPHMA

[Sed]

RIP Mr. Whipple

[Giac]

Pro Football Hall of Fame member Jim Ringo

Pro Football Hall of Fame member Jim Ringo passed away early this morning after a short illness. He was two days shy of his 76th birthday....

....Ringo starred in the National Football League for 15 seasons after the Green Bay Packers selected him out of Syracuse in the seventh round of the 1953 draft. He played for the Packers from 1953-1963 and the Philadelphia Eagles from 1964-67. He overcame numerous injuries to start in a then-record 182 consecutive games from 1954 to 1967. In all, Ringo earned All-NFL acclaim seven times, voted to 10 Pro Bowls, and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1960s. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

[Giac]

'Hogan's Heroes' actress Valdis dies

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The actress who played Col. Klink's sexy blond secretary Hilda on "Hogan's Heroes" and married the show's star, Bob Crane, has died. She was 72.

Patricia Crane died on Oct. 14, a spokeswoman for the Orange County coroner's office confirmed Monday. On stage, Crane was known as Sigrid Valdis....

...Crane played Hilda for five seasons on "Hogan's Heroes," the 1965-71 CBS situation comedy about Allied prisoners in a World War II German POW camp. Hilda and Bob Crane's Col. Hogan flirted playfully in front of the screen, but in 1970 were married for real - on the show's set.

[Giac]

Journeyman pitcher Kennedy dead at 28

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Joe Kennedy, a journeyman left-hander who pitched for three major league teams last season, died at his in-laws' home Friday. He was 28.

After going to bed early, Kennedy woke up at about 1:15 a.m. Friday and collapsed as he was leaving a bedroom at the home of his wife's parents, Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue took Kennedy to Brandon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, she said.

Kennedy spent seven years in the majors, playing last season with Oakland, Arizona and Toronto. He also spent time with Tampa Bay and Colorado and had a 43-61 career record with a 4.79 ERA in 222 appearances.

[jburns]

Cum on feel the noize. Of the dead.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071126/us_nm/quietriot_death_dc

[Andy from the LE...]

Cum on feel the noize. Of the dead.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071126/us_nm/quietriot_death_dc

Guess things got too wild, wild, wild.

[Tex]

Guess things got too wild, wild, wild.

we'll never know, either, because, well, it's in Vegas...

[Sed]

Guess things got too wild, wild, wild.

Early coroner's reports indicate that he succumbed to an acute metal health disorder - it drove him mad.

[Nilan 666]

Symptoms include, banging of the head.

[Sed]

Symptoms include, banging of the head.

Slade's Dyskinesia is always a tragedy. Look what it's done to these youth:



And this poor bastard's in the end stages:

[Tex]

And this poor bastard's in the end stages:

rather amazing that the cure was a haircut. I'm in remission, now...

[Lester Patrick]

Sean Taylor of the Washington Redskins:

Taylor, the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft following an All-American season at the University of Miami, was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging the key femoral artery and causing significant blood loss.

"According to a preliminary investigation, it appears that the victim was shot inside the home by an intruder," Miami-Dade County police said in a statement. "We do not have a subject description at this time."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071127/ap_on_.....bVG1qgp8XIr0F

[Giac]

Dr. Robert Cade, UF Researcher Who Invented Gatorade, Dies At 80

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Dr. Robert Cade, who invented the sports drink Gatorade and launched a multibillion-dollar industry that the beverage continues to dominate, died Tuesday of kidney failure. He was 80.

His death was announced by the University of Florida, where he and other researchers created Gatorade in 1965 to help the school's football players replace carbohydrates and electrolytes lost through sweat while playing in swamp-like heat.

Now sold in 80 countries in dozens of flavors, Gatorade was born thanks to a question from former Gator Coach Dwayne Douglas, Cade said in a 2005 interview with The Associated Press.