may 2005 > final credits > last link on the left

Deep Throat >permalink<

American political secret

Deep Throat "The thing that stuns me is that the goddamn secret has lasted this long." -- former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee.

The identity of the person whose 'leaks' ultimately led to the downfall of an American president was finally made public. W. Mark Felt, a former deputy associate director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was "Deep Throat," the inside source that provided the Washington Post newspaper with confidential information and the advice to "follow the money."

Deep Throat was the insider reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein relied on to fuel a series of breaking news articles in the Post that focused public attention on what was soon to be known as the "Watergate Scandal." The story of the Washington Post's coverage was brought to the movie screen as "All The President's Men" in 1976. The role of Deep Throat was played by Hal Holbrook.

For more about the man and the mystery behind the Watergate scandal, visit the Last Link Deep Throat tribute page.

May 31, 2005 at age 33. Public and family pressures.

Franklin Barton >permalink<

Writer, producer, TV executive

Born in Chicago, Barton started out as a reporter and eventually headed the Chicago News Room for CBS News. Moving to New York, he began writing for television, contributing to several episodes of "Matinee Theatre" and the "Robert Montgomery Presents Hour."

Barton re-located to California in the 1960s. He first worked on "The Nurses," a hospital drama that was part of a TV trend that included "Ben Casey" and "Dr. Kildare." Barton then wrote for "Arrest & Trial," a series that featured the first half of each episode dealing with a crime's investigation and the second half the trial. Almost three decades later, the format was revived for use in the "Law & Order" franchise. "Arrest & Trial" lasted only one year during the 1963 season, airing thirty 90 minute episodes.

Barton also wrote for "The Law and Mr. Jones," "The Invaders," "Judd for the Defense" and "The Virginian." In the late 1970s, he became the vice president of program development for CBS, and became a producer at Universal Studios. His production credits include the made for TV movies "Seventh Avenue" and "Ransom for Alice," as well as episodes of "Hawaii 5-0." He later became senior vice president of television at Warner Bros., working there until retirement.

May 31, 2005 at age 87.

Jaime Mendoza-Nava >permalink<

Film composer

Jaime Mendoza-Nava Mendoza-Nava was born in La Paz, Bolivia. His father was a lawyer and his mother was the city's first female mayor. A child prodigy, Mendoza-Nava had composed, performed and organised a children's orchestra by the age of 11. After studying in South America, he trained in piano and composing at New York's Juilliard School. In 1950, he won the Spanish Prize at Madrid's Royal Conservatory of Music for completing the five-year doctoral program in a single year. The following year, he was named director of Bolivia's National Symphony Orchestra.

In 1953, Mendoza-Nava immigrated to Los Angeles. Working for Disney, he composed music for such 1950s television series as "The Mickey Mouse Club" and "Zorro." In 1961, he assumed the role of music director at United Productions of America. There he worked on the theatrical cartoon series "Mr. Magoo." He soon launched an independent film post-production company, and during a forty-year career in motion pictures, he composed music for more than three hundred feature films, television episodes, animated pieces, documentaries and commercials.

Among his credits are minor classics such as 1964's "Ballad of a Gunfighter," the 1965 Ed Wood scripted "Orgy of the Dead," 1975's "A Boy and His Dog" and "Aloha, Bobby and Rose."

May 31, 2005 at age 79. Complication from diabetes.

Jessica Aulik >permalink<

Youngest person to scale Canada's highest peak

Jessica Aulik For Aulik, climbing was all about the journey. Originally from Calgary, Alberta she became the youngest person to scale Mount Logan, Canada's highest peak, in 1998 at the age of 17. The mountain is located in Kluane National Park in the southwest corner of the Yukon Territory, and rises to 5,959 metres or 19,551 feet. It is the second highest peak in North America, after Mount McKinley at 6193 metres or 20,320 feet, in Alaska. Last year, Aulik climbed both montains.

Aulik had moved to Fairbanks to attend the University of Alaska, studying photo-journalism. She was climbing Logan n a more difficult ascent when she was caught in an avalanche on its east ridge at about 2,900 metres (9,500 feet). Wet snow that fell on the mountain in recent weeks had produced unstable conditions conducive to snow slides. She fell 450 metres (1,500 feet).

Aulik was climbing with 34-year-old Chris Davis, from Fairbanks. The slide started about 20 feet in front of Davis, but missed him and hit Aulik instead. Davis wasn't injured and managed to make his way down to her. It was too late: Aulik was dead by the time he found her. Not having a satellite phone to call for help, Davis returned to the pair's base camp. Their expedition was scheduled to last until June 25, and Davis could have been stranded until then. A TransNorth helicopter pilot was flying in the area and spotted the avalanche and Aulik's body. He then picked up Davis.

Aulik is the 12th climber to die on Logan since 1973. In 1983, Jessica's father Nick, a heli-ski guide, was killed in an avalanche when Aulik was 2. Her dreams included climbing Mount Everest and working for National Geographic.

Just a few days before the May 31 avalanche, a storm trapped three climbers near Logan's summit for three days.

Alex Snigurowicz, Erik Bjarnason and Don Jardine were part of an eight-member team scaling Logan to celebrate the 40th anniversary of North Shore Search and Rescue that operates out of Vancouver. The men were volunteers on the team, and suffered hypothermia and frostbite requiring the amputation of some extremities after surviving high winds and minus 30 degree temperatures.

May 31, 2005 at age 24. Head injuries.

Milt Burton >permalink<

Skydiver

Milt Burton would try just about anything once. The Edmonton born man was fearless in his adventures, which ranged from scuba diving to piloting small planes. Along the way, he suffered broken ribs, broken wrists, broken collarbones, broken legs and a concussion. Then he found his true love: skydiving. He would eventually record 8,000 jumps over his lifetime

After studying Business Administration at the Nothern Alberta Institue of Technology, Burton's brother Rolly introduced him to the sport of skydiving. His enthusiasm for the sport led him to operate one of Northern Alberta's first skydiving schools, Aero Skydive, near the town of Radway. In 1988, he earned a bronze medal at the World Skydiving Championship as part of the Plaid Jackets team.

Embracing the sport in Edmonton, Burton eventually ran his own skydiving operation in Santa Barbara, California. However, in November, 1992 his dream was shattered when a local skydiver using one of his tandem rigs was involved in an accident that killed the person he was jumping with. Burton was held responsible for allowing a non-certified person to use his tandem system. A total of $668,670 in judgements were levied against Burton

Burton started over, this time as a Hollywood skydiving stuntman. He earned enough air-time to qualify for membership in the Screen Actors Guild. However, he only appeared in one film, 1998's forest-fire adventure "Firestorm," which starred Howie Long. Tragedy struck the film when veteran parachutist Keith Perepelkin died after his main chute failed during a stunt where he jumped from a helicopter. The stunt was performed in British Columbia and was found to be in violation of the film's Canadian permit. The movie's original screenwriter, fellow Canadian Graham Yost of "Speed" fame, claimed the filmmakers changed his material so much that he demanded his name be taken off the credits

In 2004, Burton started a new business called Skydive Costa Rica, located in the town of Esterillos. The 35-bed hotel/resort catered to those seeking skydiving, surfing, kayaking and other adventure sport thrills. On May 31, Burton was in the air ready to perform a tandem jump with an inexperienced client. Being strapped into the cumbersome diving rig may have had a dire consequence.

Rolly was in contact with Milt's staff on the island, and it is suspected that the plane he was flying in hit a squall and broke apart in mid-air. The Cessna 206 plummeted into the ocean. The plane was carrying six; only one survived.

Plucked from the ocean a day after the crash, William Slattery had suffered severe dehydration, sunburn and muscular injuries. He described the last moments of the flight as being like riding a rollercoaster. At 800 meters (2,600 feet) he heard the pilot yell "Jump!" Slattery survived the descent, but two others did not. Their bodies were later discovered, still tangled in the lines of their parachutes.

The bodies of two others were eventually recovered, one of them washing ashore. All had suffered extensive physical trauma. The body of the plane's owner, Milt Burton, was the last to be found.

The crash was the second air accident in less than a week in the Costa Rica area. On May 27, a plane, also a Cessna 206, went down taking the lives of three local residents, one of them a director at a local television station.

May 31, 2005 at age 53.

Jan Heyne >permalink<

Wife, Nickelback manager

Timothy Heyne and his wife, Jan, were the first two victims in a violent spree that eventually killed three and injured five. The alleged attacker, 38-year-old Toby Whelchel, committed suicide in a Southern California Wal-Mart the day after shooting the Heynes.

The Heynes were visiting friend Steve Mazin. Mazin, Whelchel's former attorney, was shot and killed along with Jan. Timothy suffered serious injuries but survived. The next day, Whelchel pistol-whipped Carole Nordella and attacked two of her children as part of his attempt to steal a truck. Nordella later died in hospital. A pool maintenance man was also beaten when he tried to intervene. A deputy arriving at the Nordella home was wounded during a gunfight at the house. Whelchel then drove to a Wal-Mart store and shot himself in the head as officers surrounded the store.

Whelchel had a history of violent outbursts. He had been court-martialed by the Air Force in 1999 and dismissed from the Los Angeles Air Force Base for failing to obey his superiors and for failure to report for duty. He had a criminal record in Florida, Indiana and California, including charges of resisting arrest and battery on a police officer.

Timothy Heyne was a manager for rock bands such as Nickelback, Oleander, Cinderella and Default. Nickelback hails from Hanna, Alberta.

May 30, 2005 at age 50. Gunshot wound.

Leslie Smith >permalink<

Car manufacturer

For several decades after World War II, Leslie Smith was the world's largest automaker. He also made the world's smallest cars - literally. Smith was the founder, president and chief executive of Matchbox Toys.

Matchbox cars were introduced in 1953 after Lesle teamed up with schoolhood chum and fellow UK Navy vet Rodney Smith (no relation), together investing £600 to set up a die-casting business in an abandoned London pub, making engine parts and window blades for Ford and Vauxhall. Britain's government soon commandeered all available zinc for its efforts in the Korean War, robbing the fledgling firm of its primary manufacturing component. Rodney Smith soon left the firm, and was replaced with Jack Odell.

Also a Smith boyhood chum, Odell was admonished by his town's local council for die-casting in his home. He had been making small toys for his daughter, whose school did not allow any toy that could not fit into a matchbox.

In 1953, when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, Smith and Odell created a miniature version of her coronation coach. More than a million copies were sold. They soon released a dump truck, a cement mixer and a road roller, and after their success in Britain, the toys were soon introduced in the United States.

By 1962 they were turning out 50 million cars a year under the name Lesney's Matchbox, more than all of the world's major automobile producers combined. The firm's name was a combination of the founder's first names and the size of the cars they manufactured.

The models were known for craftsmanship and realistic detail, and are prized by collectors, with vintage models sometimes topping thousands of dollars at auction. To make the models, Lesney designers visited automakers and private collectors, taking exhaustive measurements and often working from original blueprints. The resulting models, built at one-forty-sixth to one-sixty-fourth scales, featured wheels that turned, doors, hoods and trunks that opened and Perspex windows. Their only competition was Dinky, a division of Meccano, which had been the market leader before the war and the only one to survive it.

Smith was sensitive to labour relations, and knew that women were the best toymakers. He organised convoys of double-decker buses allowing every worker to transport their children to and from school. Lesney's women produced a million Matchbox toys a week. By the 1960s, Lesney had 13 factories and a staff of 6,000 churning out a million Matchbox cars a day. Smith was also the first to use lead-free paint in his toys.

Lesney soon faced stiff competition from Corgi, Bluebird, Bayco and chiefly the Hot Wheels cars made by Mattel. Matchbox responded with its Superfast range of sports cars and dragsters, which they tested exhaustively on their factory floors. However, Mattel was not burdened with the costs of research required to maintain the level of accuracy that Lesney set for itself, and the U.S. company's fantasy cars were not bound by actual adherence to road design.

The Matchbox cars continue to be sold worldwide, although they are now manufactured by Mattel, who bought the line from Tyco in 1997 after they acquired it from Universal Toys in 1982 when Lesney had slipped into bankruptcy. Lesney avoided Asian cost-efficiencies but paid a dire price.

Smith was made a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1968. His company never had more that 75 models in production at any one time. To own a complete set of his own works, he had to buy the models from a dealer late in life because he had never bothered to collect them himself.

May 30, 2005 at age 87. Cancer.

Don McGaffin >permalink<

TV newsman

In today's 500 channel universe, every local TV news department with a rating share has a team of hard-hitting reporters and consumer watchdogs. It wasn't always that way, and one of the pioneers in the field was Don McGaffin.

McGaffin brought his tough and gritty style to television screens in Seattle, Washington, working at KOMO and KING in the 1970s and early 1980s. Colleagues said that if he were born a few years earlier, McGaffin would have worn a hat with a press badge tucked into the hatband. He helped define local news as a powerful player in journalism, working as a reporter, commentator and consumer advocate.

McGaffin's tackling of issues was among the first of its kind and fearless in its nature. His coverage of fire injuries and deaths caused by flammable children's nightwear led to legal changes in clothing regulations. He uncovered a list of prominent Seattle citizens whom the Seattle Police Department considered enemies. McGaffin read on the list on air, and among the names were himself, Seattle mayor Charley Royer and several city council members. He exposed the capture and killing of orcas for aquarium displays.

In the late 1970s, McGaffin travelled to El Salvador to cover the war for his station. He and his cameraman, Randy Partin, were captured by local rebels who snagged them while they were interviewing residents in a bombed-out area. Partin later theorised the guerillas released the pair because McGaffin just kept talking and was so obnoxious they gave them back.

May 29, 2005 at age 78. Injuries sustained in a fall.

John D'Amico >permalink<

NHL linesman

He was the last of his kind from the National Hockey League's six-team era, yet nobody ever paid for tickets to see him work. He did his best when nobody noticed he was there. Over 23 years, he worked 1,689 regular-season NHL games and 247 playoff contests, including 52 games in Stanley Cup final series. John D'Amico was a linesman.

While it is the referee who makes the big calls during a game, it is the role of the linesman to watch and wade into the action behind the plays. Broken noses and cut faces are the badges worn by those who separate the league's biggest hitters when fights break out, and D'Amico was always called in to officiate in the league's most prominent games. His zebra stripes were often blood-soaked, and looked like the punchline to that old joke: black and white and red all over.

D'Amico started off as referee, officiating his first game on October 12, 1964. After serving 22 games in the role, he became a linesman. When he hung up his skates in 1987, he moved to the NHL's front office as a supervisor of officials. He returned to the ice just once in 1988 when he saw an official go down with an injury. He arrived at Maple Leaf Gardens within minutes.

Like many hockey players, D'Amico had his rituals and superstitions. He would take three strips of black tape, six to eight inches long -- one for each period -- and stick them on a chair. Before each period, he'd take one strip of tape and chew on it during play. He would also spend hours in his hotel room before a game and practise dropping pucks with both hands so he could be good at using either arm. D'Amico was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.

May 29, 2005 at age 67. Acute myeloblastic leukemia.

Margaret Russell >permalink<

Oldest Californian

Russell held the record as California's oldest living person for nearly a year. She was the seventh oldest living American and the fourteenth oldest person in the world.

Russell was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma on October 31, 1892, just after the area became the Oklahoma Territory. She grew up in Baltimore where her family manufactured wood-burning stoves. Russell moved to Los Angeles in 1927, operating boarding houses and teaching at private Christian schools. She did not believe in doctors or medicines, but she once fainted in her classroom and was taken to a physician who told her to take it easy, that she had a bad heart and needed to lose weight.

Russell enjoyed music and loved to sit in the sun. She would often tell folks that she wasn't sleeping -- but meditating, spending many hours a day in prayer. Her advice to others was to "get out early in the morning, drink lots of water and avoid doctors." She did not take prescription medicines and had never undergone any surgery, but in recent years had become demented, blind and deaf.

With Russell's death, the oldest living person in California now is Marion Higgins, who turned 112 on June 26, tying the previous record-holder, Elma Corning, who died July 12, 2004.

May 29, 2005 at age 112.

Oscar Brown Jr. >permalink<

Singer, songwriter

Oscar Brown Jr. Brown grew up in Chicago and was rapping street poems to the pulse to Shakespeare's beat some five decades ago, earning him the nicknames "The High Priest of Hip" and "The Grandpap of Rap." Writing was his gift and he never abandonned it.

Brown wrote a dozen musicals, including "Buck White" which starred Muhammad Ali during a brief run on Broadway in 1969, and more than 1,000 songs. He is best known for the songs "The Snake," "Signifying Monkey," and Miles Davis' "All Blues." Nina Simone was so impressed with Brown's 1960 debut album, "Sin and Soul ... and Then Some," that she covered three of his songs on her albums. Brown's album featured lyrics he added to jazz instrumentals such as Nat Adderley's "Work Song," Bobby Timmons "Dat Dere," Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue" and Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man." His songs have been recorded by Joni Mitchell, Mahalia Jackson, Diahann Carroll, Lena Horne, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, the Nashville Teens and Al Wilson.

In 1962, Brown hosted "Jazz Scene U.S.A.," a television program broadcast from the West Coast that introduced jazz to a nationwide audience (the series was produced by Steve Allen). Eighteen years later, he hosted "From Jump Street: The Story of Black Music" on PBS. Brown worked as an actor on TV's "Brewster Place," and appeared in the movies "Up Against The Wall," "Sunday In Paris" and "Original Gangstas." Brown was once summoned by the mayor of Gary, Indiana., who wanted to promote local talent. Brown threw a contest, and the winners were the Jackson Five.

Brown served two years in the U.S. Army, and at the age 21, spent five years hosting "Negro Newsfront," the first black radio news programme in the country. He was also active in the civil rights movement, and twice ran for public office, failing to be elected in his bids for the Illinois state Senate and Congress in 1948 and 1952, respectively.

May 29, 2005 at age 78. Respiratory failure and complications from a blood infection.

Percy Strother >permalink<

Blues singer

A native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Strother made his way to the twin cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul and found a community of blues artists that included Mojo Buford, Big Walter Smith and Willie Walker. Strother found most of his fame in Europe until he recorded his 1992 album "A Good Woman Is Hard to Find." The title track was named best blues song of the year by Living Blues magazine.

Strother's story is one of survival. When Percy was 8 or 9, his sharecropper father was hanged for allegedly killing a white man. His mother never recovered from the loss and died within a few years, leaving Percy and his five siblings on their own. To avoid orphanages, the children moved around the country, winding up in the midwest in the late 1960s.

To match his deep, soulful voice on stage, Strother wore voluminous capes and flashy snakeskin boots. As always, Strother was dressed to the nines for his last gig on April 15.

May 29, 2005 at age 58. Liver cancer.

Robert Rempel >permalink<

High-tech executive

Laser What was once an exotic tool confined to experimental labs is now used by the average homeowner to line up pictures frames on a wall and to watch their favourite movies. It was Rempel who took the Gordon Gould-invented laser and in the early 1960s figured out a way to mass produce it. His Silicon Valley based company, Spectra-Physics, allowed the laser to enter the world of surgery, surveying and home entertainment.

Rempel took up extreme sports in his fifties after he retired, and enjoyed helicopter skiing and skydiving well into his seventies. Laser inventor Gordon Gould died September 16, 2005.

May 29, 2005 at age 79. Cancer.

Shirley Eder >permalink<

Show business columnist

Prior to the arrival of dedicated 24-hour cable channels, celebrity junkies got their fix via the columns found in daily newspapers. For four decades, beginning in the early 1960s, Detroit's Shirley Eder was one of the most widely read.

Eder In her native New York, Eder began her career on radio station WINS at the age of 17, hosting daily war-time radio programs focusing on women's issues. One of Eder's friends was an impressionist and she performed on the shows as 'Bette Davis' or 'Katharine Hepburn.' Soon enough, the real stars started stopping by.

Eder went on to report on entertainment for three different New York radio stations. She debuted on TV in 1951, as host of "Women Talk It Over." Despite following her husband to Detroit, she continued to cover the Cannes Film Festival, the Oscar Awards and notable movie premieres. Eder was the only recipient of the Publicists Guild Press Award not based in either New York or Los Angeles.

Eder enjoyed journalistic coups that included interviews with the likes of Brigitte Bardot (by sneaking into BB's dressing room), Bob Dylan, and a 22-year-old director named Steven Spielberg (as a favour to Shirley's old friend Joan, as in Crawford).

Carol Channing credits Eder for saving the musical "Hello Dolly" from being scrapped. In previews, the musical was not well received before heading to Broadway. Eder wrote a column praising the musical and it soon became a smash on stage and in film.

Eder's non-confrontational style led to the Detroit's Free Press being able to track down former President Gerald Ford for a 1981 story about the opening of his library in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Eder simply dialed Bob Hope's home phone number and asked him to pass the phone to his house guest Gerald.

Frequent guests at Eder's Michigan house included Rock Hudson, Tiny Tim and Paul McCartney. She had cameos in several films, often playing a star-struck fan or an entertainment journalist, as in 1963's "Palm Springs Weekend."

May 29, 2005 at age 85. Alzheimer's disease.

Jean Negroni >permalink<

French actor and theatre director

Negroni was one of the most respected figures in the French theater. He was the founder and director of the theater Maison de la Culture André Malraux de Créteil. Negroni appeared in a number of movies in a film career that spanned 50 years. His best known film may be the classic short sci-fi film "La Jetee," the inspiration for the great "Twelve Monkeys." Full tribute available at Rusty's Obituaries at EInsiders.

May 28, 2005 at age 84.

Daniel Sales >permalink<

Film producer and distributor

The big business of Hollywood is often created by a lot of small guys. Sales was bigger than most. After graduating from Brown University in Florida, Sales moved to New York to work in the film business. By 1984, he had produced the independent film "The Way It Is," marked the film debut of Steve Buscemi and Vincent Gallo.

Moving to Los Angeles, Sales formed Cinequanon Pictures, which produced films and distributed hundreds of titles worlwide. One of Cinequanon's more remarkable failures was 1998's "I Woke Up Early The Day I Died." Despite a now-memorable cast (including Billy Zane, Tippi Hedren, Ron Perlman, Christina Ricci, Andrew McCarthy, Eartha Kitt, Tara Reid, John Ritter, Rick Schroder, Leif Garrett, Karen Black, Sandra Bernhard, Bud Cort, and Max Perlich), the film was perhaps doomed by its screenplay, written by Edward D. Wood Jr. of "Plan 9 From Outer Space" fame. It was said that when Wood's house burnt down, this script was one of the few items he chose to rescue.

Migrating away from less proven fare, Sales was successful concentrating on videogame film adaptations such as "Bloodrayne," "Alone in the Dark," and "House of the Dead." As a teenager, Sales was ranked by the United States Chess Federation as a child prodigy.

May 27, 2005 at age 46.

Leonard Marvin Kempf >permalink<

Safety engineer

Yield! Today they are everyday objects: motorcycle helmets, seat belts and "Yield" signs. There was a time when they didn't exist. It was Leonard Kempf who helped bring them into our modern world.

After serving as a submarine sonar operator for the U.S Navy in World War II, Kempf found work with International Harvester as a safety engineer. He then worked at the Army's Jefferson Proving Ground and at the Thiokol Chemical Corp., later working at the Pentagon as a civilian employee of both the Army and the Navy.

Kempf was then tasked to develop and promote a wide array of safety devices now take for granted, including safety helmets, traffic safety signs and vehicular seat belts.

May 27, 2005 at age 79. Stroke.

Eddie Albert >permalink<

Actor

While most will remember Eddie Albert for playing the fish-out-of-water Oliver Wendell Douglas on TV's "Green Acres," he was also a singer, spy, sex educator, trapeze artist, circus clown and environmental crusader. In fact, Earth Day (April 22) is his birthday.

From 1965 to 1971, Albert appeared as the bewildered Park Avenue lawyer who settled in a rural town with his glamourous wife and found himself perplexed by the town's cast of unusual characters. For more about the other sides of this enigmatic entertainer, visit the Last Link Eddie Albert tribute page.

May 26, 2005 at age 99. Pneumonia, following a decade afflicted by Alzheimer's disease.

Lloyd Doug Dugger >permalink<

Country singer

Dugger In the church of country music, Dugger was the chaplin. He earned that moniker because of his unique religious singing style. His career started shortly after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II when he saw a T. Texas Tyler show at an American Legion club. Although Dugger primarily played banjo, he was invited to play bass with the band and he toured with Tyler until 1956.

Dugger had hits with the songs "Bummin' Around" and "Deck of Cards." He was inducted into the Country Legends Association Hall of Fame as a "living legend" in 2003. He also headed a syndicated radio program, "Legends and Legends in the Making," which featured established country stars and new talent.

May 26, 2005 at age 79. Congestive heart failure.

Rusty's Roundup at Entertainment Insiders >permalink<

Added May 26, 2005 -- a summary of movie & TV folks you might not have heard of

Jerry Zimmer - pianist
Bat Latiff - famous Malaysian child actor
Curtis Jenkins - propmaker
Edward McAvoy - production designer and art director
Brian Wesley Green - Disney animator
Jerry Luthart - propmaker and construction foreman
Omar Kavur - award-winning Turkish writer, producer and director
Zoila Conan - 1930s actress who was also a stage manager and story analyst
Mark Estrin - screenwriter turned winery owner
Mahipal - Hindi actor
Natalya Gundareva - award-winning Russian actress
Bob Kaiser - head color timer for Technicolor labs
Stella Zazvorkova - Czech actress who starred in the 1996 Best Foreign Film Oscar winner

Ben Peters >permalink<

Grammy winning country songwriter

Ben Peters Peters is best known for his 14 number one hits that crossed over from country to pop audiences, including "Daytime Friends and Nighttime Lovers," "Kiss An Angel Good Morning," "Turn the World Around," and "Before the Next Teardrop Falls." His hits were recorded by Eddy Arnold, Ray Charles, Freedie Fender, Engelbert Humperdinck, Alan Jackson, George Jones, Brenda Lee, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrell, Dean Martin, Ronnie Milsap, Lorrie Morgan, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Conway Twitty, and Tammy Wynette. Four of Peter's number one's were recorded by Charley Pride.

Peters recorded albums for Liberty and Capitol Records but chose songwriting over life on the road. He won a Grammy for Best Country Song in 1972 for "Kiss An Angel Good Morning," two Country Music Association Awards, and 27 writer awards from BMI, the music publishing company. Peters is also an International Music Songwriter Hall Of Fame Inductee.

May 25, 2005 at age 71. Pneumonia.

Domenic Troiano >permalink<

Guitarist

Domenic Troiano Despite earning a reputation among critics and fellow musicians as Canada's premier guitarist during the 1960s and 1970s (and appearing on recordings for Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, Etta James, and Todd Rundgren among countless others) success and fame always eluded Troiano.

Troiano was born in Italy and became a naturalized Canadian in 1955. At the age of sixteen, he had a brief stint playing with Ronnie Lane and the Disciples. He spent a year playing for the Ronnie Hawkins Band (replacing Robbie Robertson). He then joined a Toronto blues club house band that were known variously as The Five Rogues, The Rogues and eventually, Mandala. After seeing one of Mandala's shows in Toronto, Bo Diddley recommended the group to Chicago's Chess Records. At Chess, Mandala recorded their first single, "Opportunity," which became a hit in Canada in 1967.

Frustrated by the lack of industry support within Canada, Troiano and two other Mandala members moved to Arizona, forming Bush, an electric-blues based band that won a contract with ABC/Dunhill. Due to internal legal battles, the label released Bush's album without promotion, and Bush dissolved in 1971.

Troiano soon found work playing for the James Gang (replacing Joe Walsh). Under his direction, the James Gang charted new musical territory but lost their fan base along the way. While still with the James Gang, Troiano released two solo albums. After several albums, Troiano left the group (he was replaced by Tommy Bolin).

It wasn't long before Troiano found work with another group, this time playing for the Guess Who (replacing Randy Bachman) in 1974, just as public interest in the group was declining. Burton Cummings pulled the plug on the group the next year.

By the time the 1970s ended, Troiano released three more albums under his own name. In 1981, he formed Black Market, a no-frills power trio that disbanded after one album. Tired of performing with groups, Troiano did session work, and by the 1990s became a successful composer for film and television soundtracks. Among his nearly twenty screen credits are TV's "Night Heat," "Diamonds" and "Hot Shots." He also produced the 1998 film "Death By Dawn."

Troiano was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996. In memory of his dedication to music, the Domenic Troiano Guitar Scholarship has been established. Complete information can be found at domenictroiano.com.

May 25, 2005 at age 59. Prostate cancer.

Donovan Leighton >permalink<

Tuskegee airman

The Tuskegee Airmen didn't earn their name until years after World War II. Formed in 1941, the American unit was stationed in Tuskegee, Alabama, and trained nearly 1,000 black pilots. Around 14,000 others were trained as support staff. Their story was told in the 1995 HBO TV movie "The Tuskegee Airmen."

When he died, Leighton was thought to be the oldest surviving member of the flying unit. Although he never saw combat, he played a key role in the success of the airmen. Leighton provided training and lent insights into the unit's B-25 bomber workings, the result of his experience as a crew chief with the U.S. Army Air Corps 99th Fighter Squadron and 447th Bomb Groups.

May 25, 2005 at age 98. Pneumonia.

Graham Kennedy >permalink<

Australian TV icon

Graham Kennedy Kennedy was first seen on Australian TV screens when television first came to Melbourne in 1957. Just 23 years old, and with no experience in front of a camera, he began a career that was to last four decades, earning him the title of the "King" of Australian television and the nickname 'Gra-Gra.' Kennedy, however, described the time as forty years of terror. Kennedy won 19 of his nation's Logie awards, including seven gold statuettes. The awards are named after Scottish inventor John Logie Baird, a pioneer in the development of television. After retiring from television 15 years ago, he spent the last years of his life as a recluse.

Kennedy started in radio in 1951 as part of what would today be called today a 'morning zoo' team in Melbourne. Just 18-years-old, Kennedy already had a genius for comic timing and barely-acceptable scatological wit. When Kennedy was hired to host "In Melbourne Tonight," he did not even own a television set, and had only watched TV once in his father's garage. What he had done on radio came to television, and for 90 minutes live every night, he cut up commercials, interviewed guests and introduced performers and singers, all with a sort of Chaplinesque ingenuity. He once took what was to be a scheduled 20-second spot to 33 minutes of improvised comedy. The sponsors loved it.

Kennedy often brought his labrador dog into the studio to assist with a canned dog food commercial. When the dog showed no interest in the product, Kennedy proceeded to eat the stuff straight from the can. On another occasion, the dog mistook a camera for a tree and relieved himself on live TV.

Kennedy's other shows included "The Graham Kennedy Show," "Blankety Blanks," "Coast to Coast" and "Graham Kennedy's Funniest Home Video Show." He was also part of the blossoming film scene during the early 1970s, with appearances in "Don's Party," "The Club," "Travelling North" and "The Odd Angry Shot." He also had a supporting role in 1984's "The Killing Fields."

Those who knew Kennedy in private found him to be a very different from the irreverent, crass (almost to the point of smut) dirty old man character that he created for broadcast. Friends say he was a shy, reclusive person who rather detested vulgarity.

May 25, 2005 at age 71. Complications arising from pneumonia.

Honi >permalink<

Sea lion

One of the Edmonton Valley Zoo's longest residents has died. Honi, a South American sea lion, was a member of the zoo for a time longer than most of the staff working there. In recent weeks, the zoo's veterinarian staff and keepers worked to make Honi as comfortable as possible after she stopped eating. At the time of her death, Honi was considered one of the oldest sea lions in North America. Honi arrived at the zoo in 1980.

As one of the zoo's more popular attractions, Honi delighted visitors by playing with fishsicles, a frozen treat that she played with before eating. The zoo still has two sea lions, Inga and Nauticus, and Honi was considered the most laid back of the three. Officials said the remaining sea lions seem to be doing well, adding that it's difficult to gauge their emotions. Honi had given birth to a sea lion which ended up at a zoo in France.

A spokesman for Zoocheck Canada said it's not unusual for an animal to die at the ripe old age of 27. The average lifespan of a sea lion in the wild is 18 years.

May 25, 2005 at age 27. Geriatric organ failure.

Ismail Merchant >permalink<

Film producer

Ismail Merchant During cinema's 110 year history, there have been but a handful of creative partnerships that left behind them a lasting body of work. Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell produced some of Britain's more interesting and complex films of the 1940s and 1950s. Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman built the first modern film-franchise around an Ian Fleming protagonist by the name of Bond, James Bond.

Ismail Merchant, with partner/director James Ivory, defined the period-piece genre with intelligent, literate and seemingly sumptuous costume dramas. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, theirs is the longest partnership in cinema's history. For more about this colourful cinematic entrepreneur, visit the Last Link Ismail Merchant tribute page.

May 25, 2005 at age 68. Complications from abdominal surgery.

Robert Jankel >permalink<

Car designer

Robert Jankel Deciding that cars with four wheels was too ordinary, Jankel designed one with six. After all, the only other six-wheeled automobiles ever made appeared on Gerry Anderson's 1960s TV classic "The Thunderbirds" (a pink Roll's Royce model driven by Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward), and on the racing circuit as 1970's Tyrrell team Formula One car. Jankel's entry was known as the Panther Six.

A showstopper at London's 1977 Motorfair, Jankel's vehicle was actually created to be driven on the road, boasting a top speed of 200 mph. However, only two Panther Sixes were ever made -- due to tire-manufacturer Pirelli's inability to deliver unique low-profile tyres for the four front wheels. Nevertheless, the car drew worldwide attention.

Robert Jankel built his first car in 1954, based on a wrecked Austin Seven, at the age of 16. He tested for his driver's permit in a car of his own design, certainly a first. In 1970, he restored a vintage 1930s Rolls-Royce that was used for a family holiday to Spain. There he sold it there to a bullfighter for £10,000, and soon received requests for similarly renovated cars. A year later he set up his own business called Panther Westwinds, based in the garage of his house in Weybridge, Surrey.

Jankel started out making among the world's first "replicars", combining the lines of 1930s sports cars with reliable modern engines. He was soon building a car a week, and his creations later appeared in movies such as 1979's "The Golden Lady" (a James Bond spoof), and 1996's "101 Dalmatians" starring Glenn Close. Elton John was among the customers of Jankel's extreme rarities. However, the company faced bankruptcy in 1979 and was sold to a South Korean fur trader.

Despite the setback, Jankel started producing "stretch" versions of luxury cars, such as those made by Mercedes-Benz and Range Rover, under his Le Marquis brandmark. The quality of his work was so high that his company's six-door version of the Rolls-Royce Silver Spur was even marketed by Rolls itself. For Range Rover he built a number of vehicles for Middle East customers, including a 6x6 hunting vehicle and a 6x6 all-terrain station wagon. Jankel's company became experts in armour-plating, leading to deals with the Jordanian government, and Toyota to make armoured cars for the United Nations.

Jankel was also among Britain's most successful deer farmers, using the animals primarily to keep the grass down on his 15-acre Surrey estate. He bought the Panther name back from Korean ownership in 2001, and was finalising a new sports car design intended for production in the United States when he died.

May 25, 2005 at age 67. Pancreatic cancer.

Sunil Dutt >permalink<

Actor, government minister

Sunil Dutt Dutt was a popular politician and one of the first actors from India's movie industry to enter politics. He had been elected five times as a member of parliament for his local Bombay constituency, last serving as India's sports minister. He successfully juggled politics and an acting career -- his latest movie had just begun shooting earlier in May, 2005.

A versatile actor, Dutt appeared in his nation's blockbusters "Mother India" (which won an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Film category in 1956), "Waqt" (Time) and "Milan" (Union), films that were part of a career spanning five decades. He also directed six movies. He first became a star in the 1950s and appeared in over 100 films.

Dutt's son, Sunjay, made his Bollywood debut in 1981, the same year his mother, legendary actress Nargis, died of cancer. Nargis and Sunil first met on the set of "Mother India," and he saved her life, pulling her to safety when sets on the production caught fire. Sunil Dutt's last film, "Munnabhai MBBS," in which he starred alongside his son, was released in 2004. Reportedly, Jimmy Carter once called Dutt "the Robert Redford of India".

May 25, 2005 at age 75 Heart attack.

Daniel Heilicher >permalink<

Record label owner

Daniel and his brother Amos started in the record business in 1933. Prohibition had just been repealed, and small owner-operated beer parlours were opening across the United States. "Every one of those places needed a jukebox," Amos figured, and the Heilichers were the ones to supply them.

As the jukebox records wore out, the brothers sold the used ones in their store. By 1947, they acquired the distribution rights for Mercury Records, and by 1955 they added Columbia Records. They also bought rights to older records and sold them at a discount on a label they merged with, Pickwick International.

The brothers started producing records on their own label called Soma -- "Amos" spelled backward. The label had hits with two of the oddest sounding songs of the 1960s: "Muleskinner Blues" by the Fendermen and "Surfin' Bird" by the Trashmen.

For their record distribution business, they pioneered a computer-based inventory system that had retailers return half of a ticket that was attached to every record sold to them. The returned tickets told the brothers which records were selling and how fast. The brothers also dabbled in pinball machines and a chain of Circus Pizza restaurants.

The Heilichers sold Pickwick and their Musicland retail shops in 1977 to American Can Co. Both brothers lost their executive positions and signed contracts saying they wouldn't compete in the music business for 10 years.

May 24, 2005 at age 81. Cancer.

Mohammed Saeed Khan >permalink<

Actor

Commonly known as Rangeela, Mohammed Saeed Khan was one of Pakistan's most popular film comedians. Prior to acting, Khan painted film billboards for an industry (combined with India) turns out more movies than the rest of the world combined. When first coming to his nation's attention as a body building competitor, it was during a television program to show his body that the audience cheered and hooted -- taking him for a joker -- that Khan realised his future lay in comedy.

In nearly 300 Urdu and Punjabi-language movies, Rangeela (which means 'colourful character') amused viewers more with facial expression and body movement than with words. He also directed and produced several hit movies. Despite his one-time popularity, one of his eight daughters from three marraiges complained that her father died largely unsung by fans or government.

May 24, 2005 at age 68. Heart attack, renal failure.

Vivian Cash >permalink<

Wife, Johnny Cash and mother, Roseanne Cash

Johnny and Vivian, 1958 Vivian and Johnny met at a roller-skating rink three weeks before Cash was sent to Germany while serving for the U.S. Air Force. While he was overseas, they exchanged more than 10,000 pages of love letters. Vivian was using the letters as the basis for an autobiography tentatively titled "I Walked the Line." The book is scheduled to be published in 2006. Cash died in September, 2003.

When Cash was on tour with Elvis, Vivian asked Johnny what he thought of all the women fans swooning over him. Cash replied, "You don't have a thing to worry about. I always walk the line." The remark became the title of one of Cash's early hits.

The couple married in 1954, and by 1958, they moved to California and bought Johnny Carson's old house. The cedar park bench they enjoyed along a river in San Antonio, Texas (complete with the carved inscription "Johnny Loves Vivian") is now under that city's lock and key.

May 24, 2005 at age 71. Complications from surgery for lung cancer.

Billy Smart Jr. >permalink<

Circus heir

Billy Smart Junior was one of ten children born to a cigar-smoking, stetson-hatted father, the creator of Billy Smart's Circus. He had 22 uncles and aunts. In 1946, he first appeared in the sawdust ring as an assistant equestrian director. At 13, he made his debut with a performing pony and soon was a competent presenter of animals, eventually looking over the presentation and training of the circus' elephants.

While his brothers Ronald and David looked after the show's business side, Billy looked after publicity and promotion. And of course Henry the Horse dances the waltz The Smart Circus became the first televised show to attract an audience of over 20 million in the UK during the 1950s. Their vast, 6,000 seat four-mast tent soon featured a wild west show, with Billy playing the role of Davy Crockett and later Wyatt Earp, leading victory over maurauding "Red Indians."

Smart saw the potential of adding big name celebrities not usually associated with a three-ring stage. Among those who survived the "Elephant Walk of Death" were Tommy Steele, Jayne Mansfield, Hattie Jacques, and Radio 1 DJs Tony Blackburn and John Peel. Joan Crawford, however, refused.

Smart's ideas weren't always well-received, and his show was not without danger or detractors. He once spray-painted five of his elephants white, yellow, blue, cream and pink. He also introduced rock'n'roll music into their performance. On one occasion, the show was playing in an English town that was situated over a coal-mine. The elephants suddenly ran amok, sensing an explosion that occurred miles beneath the ground. They stampeded into the ring towards a packed audience. One of the circus' longtime residents, the elephant Birma, turned herself broadside to the rest of the herd to halt their passage. The circus soon attracted early protests from animal rights activists. The tires of its trucks, and even Smart's Rolls-Royce, were often slashed.

By 1971, Billy Smart's Circus gave shows only at its winter quarters, and the family soon created the Royal Windsor safari park. The circus' big herd of elephants, along with some of its horses, were sold to the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. The Smart family then concentrated on producing television shows.

Ironically, it was television that brought an end to Smart's career. Aware of the microscope that the TV camera represented, he sought cosmetic surgery to remove bags under his eyes. The optic nerve in his right eye was acccidently severed, ending his career as an elephant trainer.

In February, 1986, an auction of Smart's winter quarters, equipment, costumes and props ended the era of Britain's biggest travelling circus. Among the items sold was an elephant-sized telephone (ideal for trunk calls) and a giant typewriter (which had been used by baby elephant Gigi to type both her name and that of "Idiot" for her trainer).

Smart appeared in three films made at the circus, "Circus of Horrors" in 1959, "Berserk" in 1967, and "Circus of Fear," also in 1967. He retired to Monaco and became involved in property deals. He was often seen visiting Prince Rainier's circus festivals in Monte Carlo. The Billy Smart circus name is now leased to Tony Hopkins, who had once worked for Smart as a balloon seller.

May 23, 2005 at age 70. Cancer.

Cicely Paget-Bowman >permalink<

Actress

While primarily known as a stage actress during her five decade long career, Paget-Brown might best be remembered for her film role as Lady Queensberry in 1960's "The Trials of Oscar Wilde," alongside Peter Finch and James Mason. She first won acclaim on the English stage as Kitty Verdun in 1928's "Charley's Aunt," playing opposite Rex Harrison and Joan Marion.

In 1938, she appeared in "Light Relief," a comedy sketch show for BBC television in the earliest days of that medium. She made her film debut in 1935's "I Give My Heart." During World War II, she was an ambulance driver. After the war she took small parts in 1950's "The Miniver Story," 1953's "Isn't Life Wonderful?" and 1956's "The Man Who Never Was."

In the 1960s, Paget-Bowman moved to the small screen, taking parts in such UK TV series as "Z Cars," "Dixon of Dock Green," "Danger Man," and "Father, Dear Father." She was Hatty, the housekeeper, in the 1967 mini-series "The Forsyte Saga."

May 23, 2005 at age 97.

E. Harris Nober >permalink<

Smoke alarm innovator

Nober Luckily for most of us, the only time we are aware of the smoke detector on our homes is when the battery needs replacing. That annoying periodic beep seems to be loud enough to rouse the dead ... and it was E. Harris Nober that helped decide exactly how loud that beep should be.

As a professor of communications disorders at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, in 1978 Nober set up a test in 80 homes involving random alarms set off by remote control. He wanted to make sure that people who slept behind closed doors, those who had drunk alcohol the previous night, parents of newborns and other people whose circumstances might affect their reactions could awaken, call the fire department and leave the house within three minutes. His work set the standard noise level for most of the smoke alarms on the market today.

Nober also designed an alarm equipped with a strobe light that would awaken the deaf. He developed a way of manipulating the visual alarm system to indicate, by the frequency of its flashes, what exactly was making the noise, whether it was a baby-minding alarm or a knock at the front door. He was often called upon as an expert witness in cases that involved smoke detectors. Nober was rewarded for his work with the Career Award in Hearing from the American Association of Audiology in 1988.

May 23, 2005 at age 77. Liver cancer.

Merle Shafer >permalink<

Nebraska's oldest man

Merle Madison "Shorty" Shafer Shafer had worked as a farmer and as construction worker at a nearby Navy ammunition depot. He loved bowling, playing cards and was still driving at 100.

Shafer had eight grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren, and Rena Murman said religion was probably the most important part of her father's life. He was married to Elsie Melvin for 72 years, from 1929 until her death in 2001.

Nebraska ranks third in the United States for percentage of population that reaches 100. Nationwide, one out of 17,000 Americans reaches 110, and in Nebraska it's one out of 9,000. Shafer was the sixth oldest man in Nebraska history and one of the 600 oldest people in the world. The oldest person in state history was Clara Huhn, who died in 2000 at the age of 113, and was among the 100 oldest people in the world. Helen Stetter, 111, is the oldest person living in Nebraska, and Rosabelle Fenstermaker was the oldest person with Nebraska ties, also at 111, now living in Orange County, California.

May 23, 2005 at age 108.

Waldemar Seyssel >permalink<

Brazilian TV star

Arrelia Waldemar Seyssel was born New Year's Eve, 1905 into a family of travelling circus performers. The grandson of a French count from Grenoble, Waldemar was disinherited after he eloped with a circus performer instead finishing studies to become a lawyer. He began his clowning carreer in 1922, and in 1927 he took the name "Arrelia," a Portuguese word meaning 'irritation.'

Seyssel and his brother performed around Brazil with their own circus until the early 1950s, when he got his first break in television, becoming the first Brazilian clown to appear on TV. In 1953, he got his own show, "Arrelia's Circus," which was broadcast until 1974.

Seyssel made his first movie appearance in 1948 "Tormented Clown." He went on to make 10 more films, including 1954's "Destino em Apuros" (Destiny in Trouble), which according to some sources was Brazil's first film made in colour.

May 23, 2005 at age 99. Pneumonia.

Bernard Kamber >permalink<

Hollywood press agent

The films of Woody Allen are often populated by characters that seemed born of stereotype. Kamber was a template.

Kamber got his start as an advance man for United Artists in the 1930s, travelling across the country to promote films prior to their openings. After serving as a tour manager for stars performing for the troops in World War II, he managed to snap up press agent duties for Hopalong Cassidy, Rita Hayworth, Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Clark Gable, Helen Hayes and Gina Lollabrigida.

Working for Burt Lancaster, Kamber managed the Oscar campaign for "Marty," which took best picture in 1955, as well as "Separate Tables" and "Elmer Gantry."

Kamber's bigger-than-life persona was first captured on film in 1970's "The Plot Against Harry." The film languished on Hollywood shelves for two decades before being well received at the Toronto, New York and Park City film festivals. Kamber also appeared in Woody Allen's tribute to Borscht Belt comedians, "Broadway Danny Rose."

Kamber was a longtime member of the New York Friars Club, serving on the board of governors holding the title of historian. He worked at Technicolor until retiring at age 90.

May 22, 2005 at age 94.

Terry Carisse >permalink<

Canadian country singer

Terry Carisse Carrise released seven albums in the 1970s and 1980s and charted 32 singles in Canada. The Canadian Country Music Association awarded him six male-vocalist-of-the-year trophies. The Ottawa-based singer was known for penning such songs as "Sparkle in Her Eyes," "Love Sweet Love" and "Windchip." His songs have been recorded by the Mercey Brothers, Bill Anderson, Charlie Louvin, Carroll Baker, Marie Bottrell, Ralph Carlson and Kenny Chesney.

Carisse's 1978 debut album, The Story of the Year, became the story of the year in country music when every single from the album made Top 20 in the Canadian charts.

May 22, 2005 at age 62. Cancer.

Thurl Ravenscroft >permalink<

Voice of Tony the Tiger

His voice was heard by hundreds of millions through his work in movies, TV and at Disneyland theme parks, yet few knew his name. To a generation of sugar-addicted breakfast cereal fans, the growl "They're Grrreeaat!" belonged only to Tony The Tiger, and Tony's voice belonged to Thurl Ravenscroft.

While attending the Otis Art Institute in California, Ravenscroft was encouraged to audition at Paramount to be a studio singer. He soon found himself backing up Bing Crosby, Jack Benny and Rudy Vallee on radio. During World War II, he served as a navigator in the U.S. Air Transport Command. Among the notables carried on board his flights were Winston Churchill and Bob Hope.

After the war, Ravenscroft formed The Mellomen, who backed everyone from Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney to Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. They worked for the Disney studios in film, television and records. The Mellomen eventually formed the core of the Norman Luboff Choir, and they also took on commercial work, cutting spots for Kellogg's and up to 28 different beer accounts. They also could be heard on Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies cartoons for Warner Bros. It was through jingle work that Ravenscroft became the voice of Tony The Tiger, the ambassador of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes since 1952. Ravenscroft's last Tony the Tiger commercial was taped in the fall of 2004.

In 1966, Dr. Seuss and Chuck Jones teamed up to do "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" for CBS television. Thurl provided the voice of the Grinch and was later heard in other Seuss projects such as "Horton Hears a Who," "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Lorax." As a member of the Johnny Mann Singers, Ravenscroft sang on 28 albums and once performed for President Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev at the White House.

Ravenscroft's voice work has been heard in Disney's "Cinderella," "Dumbo" and "Lady and the Tramp." He can be heard at various Disney park attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and the Enchanted Tiki Room. He was the master of ceremonies at Disneyland's opening day in 1955.

May 22, 2005 at age 91. Prostate cancer.

Bill Dearth >permalink<

Actor

Bill Dearth At 6'1" and 250 pounds, Dearth was usually cast as the cop. He once quipped that he deserved a gold shield for his work.

Dearth got the acting bug early, playing Peter Rabbit in the third grade. He also had an interest in weightlifting, and won a wrestling scholarship to attend college, where he majored in theatre arts while playing on the football team. After graduating, he went on to earn a masters degree in speech and theatre from Temple University.

Dearth moved to Los Angeles from Cleveland, and it didn't take him long to find work, appearing against no less than Sir Laurence Olivier in an uncredited role in 1976's "Marathon Man."

To supplement his acting work, Dearth had a career as a dialect coach. Known as the "Speech Mechanic," he worked with actors such as Nick Nolte and Jeff Fahey. He picked up so much work he had to quit teaching speech at a local L.A. college.

Dearth's TV credits range from 1970's "Mary Tyler Moore" to 2005's "CSI," with appearances on "Dynasty," "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," "Matlock," "Coach," "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Cold Case." On the big screen he was seen in "48 Hrs.," "Rhinestone," Wes Craven's "Chiller" and last appeared in 2005's "Officer Down," finally receiving a promotion playing a ... police commissioner.

May 21, 2005 at age 58.

Chung Se-yung >permalink<

Founder, Hyundai Motors

Known in the west as a manufacturer of small cars, Hyundai was once Korea's largest business conglomerate until it was forced to downsize in recent years by the country's government. At one time it made everything from "ships to chips." Chung Se-yung helped to build the company into the world's fifth largest carmaker.

Chung's older brother, Chung Ju-yung, formed Hyundai Group in 1947 as a construction company. Se-yung joined the company in 1957 after earning his master's degree in political science in the United States. In 1967, he became the first chief executive of Hyundai Motor Co.

Hyundai started out by manufacturing British Fords under licence, buying parts from Mitsubishi of Japan. In 1974, the new company produced Korea's first home-grown car, the Pony, earning Se-yung the nickname "Pony Chung". The Pony was first exported to Canada, and was re-badged as the Excel when it was introduced to the United States in 1986. Hyundia set a record for selling the most automobiles in its first year of business in the U.S. -- a staggering 126,000 vehicles.

Initially well received, the Excel's old Mitsubishi underpinnings led to quality and reliability issues. Hyundia's follow-up model, the Sonata, although the company's first in-house design, still featured many Mitsubishi designs and parts, which made its quality suffer tremendously and sales plummeted.

However, the Hyundia Group, with its strengths as the world's largest shipbuilder, and second in computer memory chips, had the resources to weather the financial storm to the point of buying its chief domestic competitor, Kia, thereby controlling 75% of the Korean market.

In 1988, Hyundai overhauled its motor division, and emerged with a product that tied with Honda for initial brand quality in a 2004 survey/study from J.D. Power and Associates, second only to Toyota. That same year, the company started construction of the most technologically-advanced auto-plant in the entire world at a cost of $1.1 billion. The facility is located in Montgomery, Alabama and it opened the day before Se-yung died. The plant will roll out 300,000 vehicles a year, adding to Hyundai's annual production of 3 million vehicles with world-wide revenues of $27 billion.

Chung Se-yung's brother, Mong Hun, controlled Hyundai's electronics and construction and engineering division until August, 2003 when he committed suicide by jumping off the 12th floor of Hyundai headquarters while under investigation for illegally transferring money to North Korea. Founder of Hyundai, and Se-yung's older brother, Ju-yung, died March 28, 2001 at the age of 85.

May 21, 2005 at age 76. Pneumonia.

Howard Morris >permalink<

Actor and director

Howard Morris For all his creative work behind the camera, Morris will be best remembered for playing hillbilly Ernest T. Bass on "The Andy Griffith Show." Bass wooed local women by throwing too-large rocks through their windows and reciting doggerel that Morris made up each time the cameras rolled. Although Morris appeared in only five episodes, the role left a lasting impression and even incited the creation of a web site. However, there was much more to Morris than "It's me! It's Me! It's Ernest T!"

Morris played a large part in the pioneering and golden age of television. After a successful career in radio (once involving a job that required him to impersonate inanimate objects such as boxing gloves and a chopping block), Morris first came to national attention when he joined Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca and Carl Reiner on "Your Show of Shows." The live, 90-minute comedy-variety program ran on NBC from 1950 to 1954 and featured scripts written by such then unknown luminaries as Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen. A television reunion of the show, called "The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special," won two Emmys in 1967.

After "Shows" ended in 1957, Morris moved to Hollywood. Through his association with Carl Reiner, he directed an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show," the first of dozens of TV programs that Morris helmed. In addition to directing the pilot episode of "Get Smart," he shot "Hogan's Heroes," "Gomer Pyle," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Love American Style" and "One Day at a Time." Morris also directed a number of feature films such as 1968's "With Six You Get Eggroll," 1969's "Don't Drink the Water" written by Woody Allen and starring Jackie Gleason, and 1978's "Goin' Coconuts" with Donny and Marie Osmond.

As an actor, he appeared in the films "Boys' Night Out," "The Nutty Professor", "High Anxiety," and "Splash," and on TV his credits include "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "The Twilight Zone," "The Bob Newhart Show," "Trapper John" and "Baywatch."

Morris also provided voices for cartoon characters. He was Fred Flintstone's boss, Mr. Slate, the voice of Gerald McBoing-Boing, Atom Ant in "The Atom Ant Show," Beetle Bailey and General Halftrack in "Beetle Bailey and His Friends," and Jughead Jones and Big Moose Mason in "The Archie Show."

Morris ran an advertising agency with such lucrative accounts as Kellogg's and McDonald's. He claimed his beach house at Malibu had arches on top of it. His commercials won a Clio Award, and he provided the voice of the Qantas Airlines koala ("I hate Qantas"). He was also the voice of the Hamburglar, making off with Mayor McCheese's lunch in spots for McDonald's.

Morris was married and divorced five times, twice to the same woman.

May 21, 2005 at age 85. Heart ailment suffered in recent years.

Olav Neuland >permalink<

Estonian film director

Estonia, nestled along the Gulf of Finland between Latvia and Russia, is not well known for its film industry. Among the few directors to emerge from the tiny nation of 1.3 million inhabitants was Olav Neuland, who specialised in chronicling the Baltic nation's history. His best-known work was 1979's "Tuulte Pesa" (Nest of Winds), a drama set in Estonia in the aftermath of World War II. Made when the country was still under the Soviet umbrella, the film barely passed the censorship authorities. Estonia regained its freedom in 1991, with the collapse of European communism.

Neuland directed a handful of other films and wrote scripts for several Estonian television series. His latest major project was as assistant director for the 2002 historical drama "Names in Marble," which portrays Estonia's struggle for independence in 1918. A keen amateur pilot, Neuland apparently lost control of his ultralight and crashed near Estonia's capital city, Tallinn.

May 21, 2005 at age 58. Ultralight crash.

Sol Stetin >permalink<

Labour leader

UNION! Stetin charged one of the most ambitious labour campaigns in America's anti-union South. The effort, which ended in 1980, successfully organised 3,500 workers at 12 textile mills.

Stetin led the drive to unionize the J.P. Stevens textile company when he was president of the Textile Workers Union of America. In the middle of the Stevens drive, Stetin engineered a merger of his 174,000-member union with the larger Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. The merger made more money and manpower available for the Stevens campaign.

After quitting high school, Stetin became a semi-professional basketball player despite standing just 5-foot 4-inches. In 1930, he took a job at a dye shop for 32 cents an hour, and became an active union shop steward and organiser. Stetin played a pivotal role in creating the American Labor Museum. The J.P. Stevens case was one of America's largest and most publicized unionization drives since World War II and it was the basis of the 1979 movie "Norma Rae." The film provided Sally Field with an Oscar for Best Actress (and the chance to make "You like me, you really, really like me" a go-to line for talk-show comedians of the day).

May 21, 2005 at age 91. Leukemia.

Stephen Elliott >permalink<

Actor

Stephen Elliott Although Elliott had been acting on New York stages since he was 22, it was not until he was in his fifties that he became an overnight success. He was known for playing authority figures in such movies as 1971's "The Hospital," 1974's "Death Wish," 1975's "The Hindenburg" and "Cutter and Bone" (aka "Cutter's Way") in 1981. He might best be remembered for portraying Dudley Moore's nemesis in the 1981 comedy "Arthur."

Elliott's television career began in 1949 in a series of live plays on the DuMont network. He appearred on the short-lived 1975 CBS prime-time soap "Beacon Hill" before playing Jane Wyman's former husband on "Falcon Crest." His final television role was as Judge Harold Aldrich, a recurring character on CBS's "Chicago Hope."

May 21, 2005 at age 86. Congestive heart failure.

Subodh Mukherjee >permalink<

Veteran Bollywood filmmaker

Although he is credited with only making nine films, Mukherjee's influence in Hindi cinema can still be seen today. His 1957 film "Paying Guest" is known for its remarkable mix of music, colour, and glamour, and made the film's lead, Dev Anand, a superstar in his country. Mukherjee also wrote and produced the film, which broke Bollywood box office records.

In 1961, Mukherjee struck gold again with "Junglee." Described as mega-musical blockbuster, it spearheaded the era of family dramas set within a musical format, peppered with lavish dance routines. Outstanding music scores were a hallmark of Mukherjee's films.

Mukherjee's fortunes changed with his 1970 flop, the ambitious musical "Abhinetri." He did not mount another film until 1982's "Teesri Aankh" which had no better success. Mukherjee retired soon thereafter.

May 21, 2005 at age 84. Blood cancer.

Victor Wouk >permalink<

Hybrid auto entrepreneur

The passage of the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1970, a law mandating a rapid 95 percent reduction in auto emissions, caused Victor Wouk to drop a Mazda rotary engine and an electrical charging system of his own invention into his 1972 Buick Skylark. He took out the Buick's original V-8, replacing it with an engine less than half its size, and the car became the Clean Car Incentive Program of the Environmental Protection Agency's prototype against which other vehicles would be tested. His Skylark met the strict emission standards, got 30 miles to a gallon of gas and had a top speed of 85 miles an hour.

Despite his vehicle's breakthroughs, the EPA declined to produce more of the cars for nationwide tests and Wouk's experiments ended. He always said the agency had never adequately explained its decision.

Wouk's innovations, including his recharging system which was driven by a car's braking action, formed the basis of the first hybrid to be offered to consumers, the Toyota Prius. Wouk was the brother of novelist Herman Wouk, who wrote "The Caine Mutiny," "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance." Wouk spent World War II working on uranium enrichment for Westinghouse Research Laboratories in Pittsburgh as part of the Manhattan Project. His doctoral dissertation at the California Institute of Technology showed it was not necessary for chains to be dragged under gasoline trucks to disperse static electricity saved the transport industry $1.3 million a year.

May 19, 2005 at age 86. Cancer.

Carina Stephenson >permalink<

Reality show contestant

It seems reality holds too much for some to bear. And it seems reality TV may hold too much for some in particular. Carina Stephenson's suicide is the second in three months in connection with the genre, and the third high-profile tragedy since such shows started airing a half-decade ago.

The program in question was called "The Colony." It was produced by Britain's History Channel, was filmed in Australia and it reflected the lives of convicts and settlers in that country 200 years ago. While reports suggest Stephenson was happy about her involvement with the show, her death came just as the program was about to be aired in her native England. Her body was found in woods near her home near South Yorkshire. Carina's mother said she had been troubled by her sexuality and recently revealed to her family that she was gay. The screening of the series has been delayed by the History Channel until September "out of respect." The program has already been shown in Australia.

Carina's death has raised questions in the British media about the potential emotional damage caused by reality TV shows. Earlier in 2005, Najai Turpin, a contestant in the U.S. reality show "The Contender" shot himself in a car beside his girlfriend weeks before the series was to be aired. In 1997, Sinisa Savija committed suicide after becoming the first contestant to be voted off Sweden's "Expedition: Robinson." In 2004, Jose Maria, the winner of the first Portugal edition of the show "Big Brother," threatened to kill himself by jumping off a bridge (two policemen eventually hoisted him to safety).

Age 17. Last seen alive May 19, found May 21, 2005. Suicide.

Edward G. Schwarm >permalink<

Electrical engineer

"Houston, we have a problem."

When failure was not an option, Schwarm rose to the task. Men from Earth His daughter, Claudia Gere, said of her father, "He was an inventor, and he always looked at problems from a practical view." When Apollo 13's hydrogen fuel cell blew out on its trip to the moon, Schwarm drew on his 1950s work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to help solve the crisis.

During World War II, Schwarm supervised a 120-member crew maintaining and repairing B-24 bombers. Returning to civilian life, he worked for A. C. Spark Plug, developing bombsite navigation systems. He later designed flight simulator supercomputers to train pilots for flying the DC-8 jet. At MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory (now Draper Labs), he worked on technology for NASA, creating backup systems that would help get astronauts back to Earth should their propulsion systems fail. He designed the Apollo program's self-contained guidance systems for its command and lunar landing modules. His work allowed Neil Armstrong to walk on the moon, and help Jim Lovell and crew succesfully manage power on their ill-fated mission.

His company, Edward G. Schwarm Associates, developed backup power systems for large computer data centres, and his clients included countries that needed systems to supply power to citizens, including Saudi Arabia and Bosnia.

An avid traveller, Schwarm and his wife of 62 years traveled to all seven continents and sailed around the world three times. In 2004, he assisted in studies exploring the possibility of high-speed electric trains from Boston to New York City. Schwarm owned 11 patents for innovations in space aviation and electronic power systems.

May 20, 2005 at age 82. Skin cancer.

J.D. Cannon >permalink<

Actor

J.D. Cannon Character actors are a special breed. They bring instant credibility to secondary roles, and over time become the familiar faces that viewers just quite can't seem to place. J.D. (John Donovan) was among the best and most prolific.

Between 1960 and 1991, Cannon made guest appearances on nearly all the most popular television shows of the day. His more than 85 TV credits include "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," "The Defenders," "Murder, She Wrote," "Remington Steele," "The Fall Guy," "B.J. and the Bear," and "The Mod Squad." Cannon was affiliated with numerous Quinn/Martin productions such as "The Untouchables," "The F.B.I.," and The Invaders."

Cannon will be best remembered for two roles. In the 1963-1967 series "The Fugitive," he played the cowardly neighbour of Dr. Richard Kimble, who was accused of murdering his wife. Kimble was on the run for four years until the neighbour finally came forward, clearing him in the show's highly rated final two episodes.

Cannon also played Chief of Detectives Peter B. Clifford on "McCloud," the 1970-1977 NBC police drama that starred Dennis Weaver as a deputy U.S. marshal on temporary assignment in Manhattan.

Cannon's credits also included the 1978 miniseries "Ike: The War Years" and the 1979 miniseries "Ike," both starring Robert Duvall. He played "Society Red" in the 1967 prison drama "Cool Hand Luke," alongside Paul Newman and George Kennedy. His last screen appearance was in a 1991 episode of "Law & Order."

May 20, 2005 at age 83.

Henry Corden >permalink<

The second voice of Fred Flintstone

Yabba Dabba Two Montreal-born Henry Corden was the voice of cartoon caveman Fred Flintstone for nearly three decades, taking over from Fred's original voice Alan Reed, who died in 1977. Reed had been doing Flintstone since the character was created in 1960.

Corden moved to New York as a child, and after a brief career as a radio actor he ventured to Hollywood in the 1940s. His deep voice, jet-black hair and ethnic looks led him to be usually cast as villains in small movie parts. His first acting role was in the 1947 Boris Karloff film "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" alongside Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. He also appeared in 1952's "The Black Castle," and Cecil B. DeMille's 1952 self-remake of "The Ten Commandments."

In addition to acting in such classics as "Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion," Corden also appeared in dozens of TV shows, including "Dragnet," "Perry Mason," "Gunsmoke," "I Dream of Jeannie," "Police Story," "Welcome Back Kotter," "Hogan's Heroes," "Get Smart" and "The Monkees."

In the 1960s, Corden became a voice actor for Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and was first heard on "Jonny Quest," "Josey and the Pussycats" and "The New Tom & Jerry Show." Corden also contributed to "The Atom Ant Show," "The Jetsons," "Scooby-Doo," "The Smurfs" and "The Simpsons." He did voice-overs in a string of commercials, including a bit as a fish for StarKist tuna.

"The Flintstones" was loosely based on the Jackie Gleason show "The Honeymooners," and Corden tweaked his role to approximate Gleason's Ralph Kramden everyman character. It was the first prime-time animated series, and Corden had been a guest-voice on a number of episodes early in the series. He can still be heard as Fred in commercials for Pebbles cereal that are currently airing.

May 19, 2005 at age 85. Emphysema.

Linda Martinez >permalink<

Composer and pianist

Linda Martinez A child prodigy, Martinez began her piano studies at age 4 with the Yamaha Music Education System. In 1991 she won Yamaha's International Junior Original Concert Composition Competition in Tokyo, competing against students from around the world. She also won in the jazz instrumental category of the Los Angeles Music Center's Spotlight Awards in 1992. Her career was remarkable enough to draw the attention of the media, appearing on CNN when she was 18 and on "CBS Sunday Morning" as part of a segment on young composers.

In 1998, she landed the keyboardist spot for Fox TV's "The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show," and she toured with Destiny's Child in 2000. Martinez was named the grand prize winner in the Turner Classic Movies Young Film Composers Competition in 2003. The award gave her the opportunity to compose a new score for a 1925 silent film, Edward F. Cline's "The Rag Man." She also composed new music for TCM for another silent film, Sam Taylor's "Exit Smiling." Martinez also collaborated with Laura Karpman on scores for the History Channel's "Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids" and PBS' "Living Edens."

May 19, 2005 at age 29. Suicide.

Richard Lewine >permalink<

Broadway producer, TV executive

Richard Lewine Lewine brought Broadway to television, and was considered as the last surviving Broadway composer of the 1930s. One of his most popular Broadway works was "Make Mine Manhattan," a 1948 musical review that starred Sid Caesar.

Lewine was a vice president for CBS television from 1952 to 1961. In 1957, he was the network's vice president in charge of colour production. Through his office Lewine brought first-rate music specials to the air, such as Leonard Bernstein's "Young People's Concerts." Lewine also produced several specials that starred British playwright Noel Coward, pairing him with Mary Martin and Claudette Colbert. He brought Julie Andrews to American screens in 1957 in a Rodgers and Hammerstein production of "Cinderella," and a year later Lewine produced "Aladdin," with music by Cole Porter.

The live broadcast of "Cinderella" attracted 107 million viewers. It made Andrews, who was performing in "My Fair Lady" then, a national star. The broadcast was not recorded, but a black and white kinescope (made by a film camera pointed at a TV monitor) of the complete rehearsal (without breaks) was discovered and restored in 2002. The recording was shown at the Museum of Television and Radio in Los Angeles that year.

As an independent producer, Lewine created the 1963 ABC music series, "Hootenanny." Barbra Streisand sought out Lewine to produce her TV special "My Name Is Barbra" in 1965. Lewine won an Emmy for the program. He also produced the documentary film "The Days of Wilfred Owen" about the 20th century British poet. The film was narrated by Richard Burton. He co-wrote several reference books including, "The Encyclopedia of Theater Music: A Comprehensive Listing of More Than 4,000 Songs From Broadway and Hollywood" in 1964, and "Songs of the American Theater" in 1973.

May 19, 2005 at age 94.

Bobby Thompson >permalink<

Bluegrass banjoist

Influential musician Bobby Thompson has been credited with inventing the "melodic" playing style of the banjo, and is regarded as one of the top bluegrass and jazz style banjoists to pick up the instrument. Earl Scruggs praised Thompson's playing and said, "I think he has done a lot for the banjo. He was the first one to play that (melodic) style of banjo that I ever heard. And there has never been anyone to top him." His playing style was said to have influenced Eric Weissberg, Ben Eldridge and Bela Fleck.

Thompson was in great demand as a studio musician, recording with Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, Tammy Wynette, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe, Dolly Parton, Perry Como, Eddy Arnold, Les Paul, Connie Smith, Merle Haggard, Trini Lopez, the Monkees, Olivia Newton-John, Melanie, Jimmy Buffett, Dr. Hook, Leon Russell and Neil Young. He was also a member of Area Code 615, a dream team of cutting edge Nashville musicians in the late 1960s.

Thompson played banjo on the theme from "Hee Haw" and movie soundtracks such as "Coal Miners' Daughter," "Five Easy Pieces," "Smokey & the Bandit (I&II)" and "Urban Cowboy."

May 18, 2005 at age [68]. Multiple Sclerosis.

Paul Tate >permalink<

Father, Sharon Tate

On August 9, 1969, actress Sharon Tate ("Valley of the Dolls") and four others were murdered inside a house she rented from producer and songwriter Terry Melcher. She was married to director Roman Polanski, and was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.

Paul Tate made his daughter's death the focus of life. He soon resigned as lieutenant colonel for U.S. Army Intelligence and launched his own investigation into the slayings, even going undercover as a hippie for four months to come up with leads in the case. However, police arrested Charles Manson on October 12, 1969 solely as a result of their own efforts. Manson was later convicted of masterminding the murders, along with his followers Susan Atkins, Charles "Tex" Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten. In addition to the slayings at the Tate residence, they were also convicted for murdering Leno and Rosemary La Bianca the night after Tate's murder.

Tate and his wife Doris wrote numerous letters to California parole officials arguing against the release of any member of the Manson "family." Doris made the first victim impact statement ever heard in California courts. Doris died of cancer in 1992.

The owner of the house where Tate was murdered, Terry Melcher, died November 19, 2004. For more about the Manson case, visit Court TV's Crime Library. Had Steve McQueen attended the house that night in August as planned, history might have recorded a much different outcome of events.

May 18, 2005 at age 82. Congestive heart failure.

Claude-Marie Boucaud >permalink<

World War I veteran

Boucaud Of the 8.5 million French soldiers who served in the First World War, only 9 survive. When they numbered ten, Boucaud was second oldest to Maurice Floquet, his senior by a year. Together the surviving members are known as "les poilus" (the hairy ones).

Boucaud's military service began December 20, 1914, and he was wounded twice, first by shelling and later by a machine gun that crushed his ankle. After the war he became a mechanic for France's railroads, eventually becoming an engineer before retiring at age 58 (in 1946). He was received his country's Military Cross and Legion Of Honour awards.

Always in a suit and tie, Boucaud kept a daily journal and was proud of the fact he could still read his newspaper without glasses.

May 17, 2005 at age 109.

Frank Gorshin >permalink<

Actor and impressionist

The Riddler Frank Gorshin made a career out of being someone else. As an impressionist, he arrived on the scene alongside Rich Little and Vaughan Meader during the days of the Ed Sullivan television variety show. He will be best remembered as the questionable green-suited Riddler on the 1960s camp TV show "Batman." For more about this talented and versatile actor, visit the Last Link Frank Gorshin tribute page.

May 17, 2005 at age 72. Lung cancer, emphysema and pneumonia.

Keith Miller >permalink<

Synthesizer player

Moog Synthesizer Miller's first group was the soul band St. Louis Union, which won a Melody Maker beat group competition in 1965. The grand prize was a record contract with Decca and an appearance in "The Ghost Goes Gear" (described by Miller as one of the worst of the swinging 60s films).

After the band split up in 1967, Miller backed up Rod Stewart and toured with the Steve Gibbons Band. His expanding session work involved him with the latest synthesisers, especially the complex, hugely expensive Synclavier. He was soon programming synthesisers for the likes of Robert Plant, Viv Stanshall, Rick Wakeman, Culture Club, Ultravox, Paul McCartney and Pete Townshend. He played the Moog solo on Sniff 'N' The Tears' 1978 hit "Driver's Seat" and toured Europe and America with the group.

After building his own studio in Muswell Hill, north London, he contributed to films and TV shows such as "Star Wars," "Chariots Of Fire," "Blake's Seven," "The Young Ones" and "Red Dwarf."

May 17, 2005 at age 58. Brain haemorrhage.

Albert Marshall >permalink<

Last surviving British WWI cavalryman

When Albert Marshall and 800 others charged over the top of the trenches of Flanders with drawn swords, they met German gunfire. No more than seven or eight came back. A white flag soon told the Germans that it was all right to come out so that they could bury the dead.

Casserly was shot in the hand and spent much of 1917 recovering in England. He returned to duty the following year and later received the French Legion of Honour. He was once captured by the Germans, but was freed because they were short of rations. At the time of his death, Albert "Smiler" Marshall was one of only about a dozen remaining British survivors of the First World War. He is thought to have been the last English cavalryman to have charged with a drawn sword. A natural horseman, Marshall was still riding in his early nineties.

May 16, 2005 at age 108.

Clinton Walter Kersey Sr. >permalink<

Clown minister

His working life was with the U.S. government. In his retirement, Kersey was a clown with a mission. In 1985, he took and taught courses in clown ministries in the Virginia area. He was a fixture at local festivals, hospitals and nursing homes. He travelled to Italy and Panama in a clown persona he called "Mr. Eve." His wife was also a clown minister and was known as "Otto."

After the war, Kersey taught high school and later worked for state departments of education and health. He was the personal property director of the U.S. U.S. General Services Administration, a job he held until his retirement in 1985. It was then he took up clowning at the Northern Virginia Community College and Columbia Baptist Church.

May 16, 2005 at age 84. Heart attack.

Marie Geddes >permalink<

Hunger striker

Marie Geddes Weeks before her death, Geddes became a public focal point in the draw to attention of conditions at Alberta's long-term care facilities. Citing such concerns that long-term care staff were so overworked that residents had to wait days for a bath, Geddes staged a hunger strike. The diabetic senior was forced to start eating four days after the protest began when her health faltered.

Alberta's long-term care centres had come under scrutiny in the weeks before Geddes' death. A recent provincial auditor general report concluded that one third of the province's long term care centres were failing in basic standards such as adequate staffing. In the last provincial budget, the Alberta Long-Term Care Association had asked for an $86 million funding boost for long-term care facilities. Instead it received only $10 million from the Klein government.

After her protest in April, Geddes' health was descibed as not being the same after the four-day hunger strike. She was in and out of hospital three times before taking a final turn for the worse. In addition to a number of illnesses, the Camrose senior recently contracted pneumonia. Alberta Health officials say they don't believe the hunger strike was responsible for her death, but it may have contributed to her failing health.

May 16, 2005 at age 86.

Vince Viverito >permalink<

Actor

Vince Viverito was a fixture on Chicago theatre stages but he was best known for appearances on television's "The Sopranos," "Law and Order," "Crime Story" and "Hill Street Blues."

By training, Viverito was an electrical engineer. He came to acting late in life but once before an audience he was rarely out of work. His career in Chicago theater lasted more than two decades and he was a member of several national musical touring companies. On film, he was Liza Minnelli's boyfriend in "Rent-a-Cop," Steven Segal's uncle in the Andrew Davis movie "Above the Law," and had roles in Brian De Palma's "The Untouchables" and the quirky Jim Jarmusch film "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai."

May 16, 2005 at age 62. Brain cancer.

Mahipal Bhandari >permalink<

Bollywood actor

Bhandari was such a revered Hindi cinema icon that he was simply known as Mahipal. He made 100 films in just three decades, including 1975's "Jai Santoshi Ma" (which broke Bollywood box office records and remains one of Hindi cinema's biggest box-office successes). In later years, Mahipal shunned publicity, preferring to write poetry and travel the world with his wife.

May 15, 2005 at age 86. Cardiac arrest.

Theola Kilgore >permalink<

Rhythm and blues singer

Kilgore Kilgore began singing in churches in the Oakland, California area. Through a friend, she met J. W. Alexander, Sam Cooke's manager. He in turn introduced her to singer/producer/writer Ed Townsend. In the early 1960s, "answer records" were popular. Answer records were the musical equivalent of movie sequels, and responded to songs that were popular. Kilgore's first big hit was an answer to Cooke's "Chain Gang," entitled "Sound of My Man Working on a Chain Gang," written by Townsend. Her next big hit, "The Love of My Man," was an adaptation of "The Love of God," originally done by the Soul Stirrers, and reached Number 21 on the pop charts, and Number 3 on the R&B charts.

Townsend as a singer scored with his 1958 song "For Your Love." It reached Number 13 on the pop charts and was covered by Peaches and Herb and the Righteous Brothers. He later produced two of Marvin Gaye's albums but was uncredited probably because of a lawsuit Motown had pending with the Isley Brothers and Townsend. The Isley Brothers had cut a song at Townsends' recording studio while under contract to Motown. Motown won the suit and the rights to the song. During the court proceedings, Townsend's studio mysteriously went up in flames.

May 15, 2005 at age 79.

Zina Provendie >permalink<

Actress, drama coach

Zina Provendie came to the New York stage in her early twenties and went on to appear in more than 200 stage productions in the 1930s and 1940s. When television arrived, she was seen in such programs as "Studio 57," "Kraft Television Theater," "77 Sunset Strip," "The Real McCoys" and "Gunsmoke." On the big screen, she appeared in 1958's "The Badlanders" and 1960's "All the Fine Young Cannibals" in uncredited roles. The latter film was the inspiration for the name of the popular 1980s UK ska/dub band Fine Young Cannibals.

Provendie served as the head drama coach at Metro Goldwyn Mayer studios from 1957 to 1966. Her students included Anthony Michael Hall, Chuck Norris, Richard Chamberlain, Gina Lollobrigida, Stephanie Powers and Demi Moore.

May 15, 2005 at age 91. Pneumonia.

Ed Kelleher >permalink<

Playwright, screenwriter and journalist

Ed Kelleher's writing output was as prolific as it was varied. After graduating from Fordham, New York City's Jesuit University, he wrote the "Drive-In Saturday" movie column as 'Edouard Dauphin' for Creem magazine, the cheeky alternative to Rolling Stone. He was a publicist for CBS records in the early 1970s, and was singer-songwriter Melanie's tour manager and personal publicist. He also served on the editorial staff of Billboard and Cashbox.

In addition to his work with music, Kelleher also wrote for the stage. His theater credits include "Space Cadets," "Ace of Diamonds" (co-written with Melanie), and "Stand-Ins" (about the lives of film-doubles for Bette Davis, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich) which was adapted for the screen in 1997.

Kelleher's film writing credits include several cult classics of the B-movie kind: "Invasion of the Blood Farmers," "Shriek of the Mutilated," "Prime Evil," "Lurkers," "Madonna" and "Voodoo Dolls." Several of these titles were adaptations of novels he co-wrote with Harriette Vidal. His last screenwriting project was "Tom Neal," an essay about the ill-fated star of the 1945 classic film noir "Detour" which was co-produced by Kelleher's uncle, Martin Mooney. Neal was a boxer with a Harvard law degree who later went to prison for killing his wife.

Kelleher also wrote a biography of the Plasmatics punk rock performance artist Wendy O. Williams entitled "Your Heart in Your Mouth," and "David Bowie: A Biography in Words and Pictures." From 1986 to 2002, Kelleher was an associate editor and critic for Film Journal International.

May 14, 2005 at age 61. Degenerative brain disease.

Jimmy Martin >permalink<

Bluegrass singer

The "King of Bluegrass" as Jimmy Martin was known, was fired at the age of 21 for singing on the job at a paint factory. He then travelled to see the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Talking his way backstage, he persuaded bluegrass legend Bill Monroe to sing a couple of songs with him. Monroe hired him, and he sang lead and played guitar with Monroe's Blue Grass Boys until 1953. Together they recorded "Uncle Pen," "I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome," "My Little Georgia Rose" and "Letter From My Darlin'."

In 1954, Martin teamed up with the Osborne Brothers. Recording sessions with the group for RCA Records yielded "20/20 Vision" and "Save It! Save It." The next year, Martin founded his own band called the Sunny Mountain Boys. Banjoist J.D. Crowe was a member from 1956 to 1960. In 1958, Martin charted with "Rock Hearts," which went to Number 14. It was his highest position ever, coming close again with the 1964 Top 20 trucker anthem "Widow Maker."

Martin recorded several bluegrass standards, including "Rock Hearts," "Sophronie," "Hold Watcha Got," and "The Sunny Side of the Mountain." He was a frequent collaborator, and is best known to younger audiences for appearing on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 1972 album "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Honor in 1995, and his life was the subject of a documentary film King of Bluegrass: The Life and Times of Jimmy Martin, which was released in 2003. Martin acted in two dozen films during the 1940s and 1950s, including "Four Jills in a Jeep," "The Dalton’s Women," "King of the Bullwhip" and "The Black Lash."

Martin designed his own tombstone. It stands as tall as he did, bears his photo and is topped by the legend "Now Sings in Heaven." It also is engraved with every one of his achievements through to his induction into the Hall of Honor. The one accolade Martin held closest to his heart never came -- inclusion in the Grande Ole Opry Hall of Fame.

May 14, 2005 at age 77. Bladder cancer and congestive heart failure.

Michael Lee McLean >permalink<

Casting director

In the early 1960s, McLean began working in the casting department for movies such as "The Boston Strangler," "The Sound of Music," "Patton," and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." He struck out on his own to manage actors including John Phillips, Dennis Hopper, and Paul Reubens (aka "Pee Wee Herman").

McLean had remarkable luck promoting Australian and New Zealand talent. He is credited with launching the careers of Jack Thompson, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Peta Wilson and Simon Baker.

May 14, 2005 at age 63. Cancer.

Craig Morrison >permalink<

Coordinator and construction foreman

Morrison's behind the scenes artistry graced such films as "White Men Can't Jump," "The General's Daughter," "Life is a House," "Dante's Peak" and "Paulie." Full tribute available at Rusty's Obituaries at EInsiders.

May 13, 2005 at age 52.

George Dantzig >permalink<

Mathematician

The work of the mathematician is rarely seen, but George Dantzig has greatly influenced how everyday modern life takes place. Affecting everything from the scheduling of tanker fleets to diet planning, his development of linear programming has allowed a variety of industries to achieve the most efficient, lowest-cost way to achieve desired objectives. If it absolutely, positively has to get there ... it was Dantzig's work that most likely showed the way.

Dantzig developed linear programming -- essentially a decision-support tool -- while working for the U.S. Defense Department after World War II. It was a mathematical model that included all variables of any given manufacturing, scheduling or distribution scenario. He also invented the "simplex method," an algorithm for solving linear programming problems, at about the same time. Dantzig's work coincided with the development of computers and led to an explosion of applications. The initial benefactor of his work was the petroleum industry in the octane blending of gasoline. Soon port facilities, financial modelling and airplane scheduling all used Dantzig's methods.

An anecdote from Dantzig's student days at Berkeley illustrates his aptitude for problem solving. Arriving late for a class, he copied down from a blackboard what he thought was a homework assignment. The problem seemed to be a little harder to do than the usual, and Dantzig later apolgised to his professor for taking so long to finish the assignment. Several weeks later, Dantzig found his professor banging on the front door of his apartment. What Dantzig had copied off the blackboard was not homework but a famous long-unsolved problem in the field of statistics. The incident inspired an episode in the film "Good Will Hunting." Dantzig was awarded the U.S. National Science Medal by Gerald Ford in 1975.

One of the first to use linear programming in the practical application of airline ticket reservations was Philip Fellows, who died March 22, 2005. Leonid Khachiyan, who expanded on Dantzig's work, died April 29, 2005.

May 13, 2005 at age 90. Complications from diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Richy Victor >permalink<

Television pioneer and entrepreneur

Beatle souvenirs The early days of television has provided entertainment history with an endless parade of interesting characters. Richy Victor certainly was one of them, and the most famous of his early 1960s brainstorms still makes frequent appearances on e-Bay to this day.

Victor started out in the early 1950s at ABC's WLS Channel 7 in Chicago. Not only was early TV a hot-bed of invention, Chicago's brand of broadcasting viewed the medium as being distinct from theater or film, and focused on the at-home audience, producing informal, low-budget but popular variety shows.

As stage manager of the "Super Circus" program, one of Victor's responsibilities was to squirt water in people's faces and throw pies at them. There was an audience and a band, but no writers and no format. He directed "Serial Theater" on Saturdays, an eight-hour long show that featured a host who wore a pith helmet and safari jacket on a set that was empty except for a talking fake moose on the wall.

On the other end of the spectrum, he also created "First Freedom," an award-winning and ground-breaking early 1960s program that allowed the public to share opinions on specific issues. The program was one of the first to be shot on the street with videotape rather than film.

Victor eventually became the news director at WLS, but he still found time for less serious pursuits. In 1962, he created a spoof of the Kennedy family with a board game called "New Frontier-Ola." But his biggest claim to fame came in 1964.

After the Beatles had played nearby Detroit, Victor paid $400 for the bedsheets from the hotel where the Fab Four stayed. He cut the sheets into one-inch squares, and complete with certifications of authenticity, he sold them worldwide. The swatches have recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity through sales on internet auction sites.

While on vacation in Portugal, Victor was struck by a train. His ashes were scattered off that nation's coast.

May 13, 2005 at age 80. Train accident in Lisbon, Portugal.

Rusty's Roundup at Entertainment Insiders >permalink<

Added May 13, 2005 -- a summary of movie & TV folks you might not have heard of

Joe Barone - fireman turned actor turned playwright
Bob Gardiner - ‘sculptimation’ pioneer
Norman Bird - British character actor
Albert "Gus" Wing - skydiving camera man
Jack Gleason - Emmy nominated film editor
Charles Schulthies - special effects technician
Mariana Levy - Mexican actress
Renee Faure - French actress
Lila Dulali - Indian actress

In addition to providing near daily updates of celebrity passings, Rusty is also engaged in time travel. His site is going backwards in time on a month-by-month basis, adding neat nuggets of reflection on the folks who made the movies what they are. This week, he's set the dial on his way-back machine to November, 2000.

Eddie Barclay >permalink<

French music producer

Barclay was France's most successful record producer. His stable of singers included Jacques Brel, Leo Ferre, Mireille Mathieu, Claude Nougaro and Brigitte Bardot. It was Bardot who first introduced Barclay to Saint Tropez in the late 1950s, and encouraged him to buy a plot of land there.

In the late 1920s, Barclay's parents owned a large bar in Paris. Eddie left school at age 15, and learned more behind the bar than he had managed at school. He would often sneak away to the Hot Club de France to hear Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt.

Barclay had changed his name from Edouard Ruault to make it sound more American. He started his career as a jazz pianist, a music form popular in France despite it having been banned by the Nazis during the German occupation. He founded Barclay's club, Europe's first discothèque. In 1949, he set up his first record label "Blue Star" which issued recordings in the form of 78 rpm discs.

In 1955, Barclay had visited the United States where he saw the new revolution in recording, microgroove 45s and 33 rpm LPs. He made a deal with Mercury Records and returned to France with 60 masters. Not only did he introduce the microgroove to Europe, he issued many American records for the first time there, including albums by Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, Sammy Davis Jr. and Duke Ellington. His company sold 1.5 million copies of The Platters' "Only You," and he hired a 24-year-old Quincy Jones to be his company's musical director.

Barclay also co-wrote songs, including "Quand tu m'embrasses" with Charles Aznavour (later recorded by Josephine Baker). Barclay composed several film scores, including Jean-Pierre Melville's 1955 gangster thriller "Bob le Flambeur."

In 1978, Barclay sold his label and moved to Saint-Tropez where he was famous for holding exclusive parties, transforming himself into a leading light of the Riviera social set. Barclay married nine times, and his last marriage was in June of 2002 at the age of 81.

May 12, 2005 at age 84. Heart attack.

Edward White >permalink<

Colour TV engineer

Colour bars After White served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II, he obtained a master's degree in electrical engineering from Harvard University in 1947. He then began working as the chief television engineer for RCA, which owned the NBC network. NBC and CBS were in fierce competition to develop the first colour television system, standing to profit from the manufacture of broadcast equipment, cameras and television sets. White's family recalled at the time that there were a lot of vacuum tubes lying around the house with which he built a colour TV set by hand.

CBS was first out of the box, broadcasting colour TV to a handful of U.S. East Coast stations in 1951. However, the system had technical weaknesses, primarily that the signal was not compatible with millions of black-and-white sets already in American homes. A subsequent RCA lawsuit over technical issues and the Korean War stalled the CBS colour effort, which allowed RCA to eventually win the race to develop a system that could broadcast both to colour and black-and-white sets.

In 1951, White jumped from RCA to CBS to work as that network's chief electronics engineer. He served on the NTSC (National Television System Committee), which developed the standards for colour TV broadcasting still used today. In some quarters, NTSC stood for "Never Twice the Same Colour."

Ironically, White was colour blind. His wife, artist Jean White, died three days after Edward, succumbing to pneumonia. They were married for 63 years.

May 12, 2005 at age 89. Abdominal aneurysm.

Monica Zetterlund >permalink<

Jazz singer and actress

Monica Zetterlund Zetterlund was one of Sweden's best-known artists with a career spanning five decades. After starting out as a singer in her father's band, she recorded more than 20 records, from "Swedish Sensation" in 1958 to "Bill Remembered" in 2000.

Zetterlund won international acclaim after touring the United States in the early 1960s. She performed on the "Steve Allen Show" and was best known for her 1964 recording of "Waltz for Debbie" with the Bill Evans trio. She also sang with jazz greats Arne Domnerus, Zoot Sims, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis.

As an actress, Zetterlund starred in more than a dozen Swedish movies, TV-series and stage plays, including the film adaptation of Vilhelm Moberg's books "The Emigrants" and "The New Land." The movies were released in 1971 and 1972, and starred Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann in the continuing saga.

Zetterlund suffered from scoliosis, a disease that twists the spine. In the later stages of her career, she often had to be helped onto the stage and sang sitting down. According to media reports, Zetterlund was smoking in bed when a fire started.

May 12, 2005 at age 67. Apartment fire.

Alfred Finnigan >permalink<

World War I veteran and oldest man in Wales

Looking back, Finnigan said of his wartime experience "It was a ridiculous war and a lot of my friends died." He also hated the fact that horses got injured too.

Finnigan qualified for military service just as he turned 18. He encountered some difficulty in joining up as he was only 5-feet 3-inches tall and had a vision weakness in one eye. It was his experience with horses that spoke for him, and he soon found himself leading teams of six or eight horses pulling 18-pounder guns through western France.

Finnigan survived many harrowing battles during the Great War (suffering only a horse bite), but his life nearly ended a decade later. Unable to find work in Britain, he moved to Australia but had no better luck there. In 1927, he signed on as a deck hand aboard a three-masted sailing ship to work his passage home. Crossing the South Pacific, he was swept off the deck during a typhoon. He managed to scramble back onboard by catching one of the ship's trailing lines.

Finnigan was awarded the French Légion d'Honneur in 1998. He married after his return from Australia but decided against having any children. "I am not prepared to produce cannon fodder for the army or for industry," he once declared. At the time of his death, his government's social security had no record of anyone older in the country.

May 11, 2005 at age 108.

Frankie LaRocka >permalink<

Musician, A&R executive

LaRocka was a drummer for David Johansen, John Waite and Bryan Adams. He later became an "Artist and Repertoire" man, responsible for seeking out and signing new talent for Epic Records. LaRocka signed the Spin Doctors and co-produced their multi-platinum debut "Pocket Full of Kryptonite."

May 11, 2005 at age 51. Complications from heart surgery.

Campbell M. Lucas >permalink<

Judge, entertainment law mediator

While Campbell M. Lucas is not a household name, most of his clients are well known to even those with just a passing interest in the movies. He heard cases involving a who's-who of Hollywood, from Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Ovitz to Rip Torn and Dennis Hopper.

Lucas mediated a dispute between Aaron Spelling and a roofing contractor over repairs done at the producer's mansion. He settled a case between the Beach Boys' Mike Love and Brian Wilson over song authorship, and resolved issues between the National Enquirer and Brad Pitt. He served for 18 months as discovery referee in the complex dispute between Walt Disney and former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg over bonuses. Katzenberg was eventually awarded a reported $250-million settlement.

Lucas' involvement in entertainment cases began in the 1970s when writer Richard Bach sued Paramount Pictures to prevent the release of the movie "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" because of differences between his book and the screenplay. Lucas let the movie open while he compared the versions, and ultimately decided that Paramount yank the film out of theatres, forcing a rewrite of significant portions of the film. The order was precedent setting. A similar lawsuit came about years later between Warner Brothers, Mario Puzo and actor Marlon Brando in connection with the 1978 movie "Superman." However, in that case the movie wound up making so much money that all the parties settled somewhat amicably but much richer nonetheless.

May 10, 2005 at age 80. Melanoma.

Elmer T. Miller >permalink<

FBI agent, forensic scientist

When it came to grass and glass evidence, no one could do it better than Elmer Miller.

He began his career as a chemist for the Virginia Department of Agriculture before enlisting in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He joined the FBI as a special agent in 1950, eventually serving as section chief of the FBI laboratory's geology and petrology section. There his major scientific work concerned the analysis of glass and soil evidence, and his methods of analyzing evidence became the standard for forensic laboratories and courts around the world. He was later named a fellow of the National Academy of Forensic Science. He retired from the Bureau in 1978.

Miller continued to consult and work cases on a private basis until 1997. At age at 80, he assisted in the acquittal of a wrongfully convicted death row inmate in South Dakota.

May 10, 2005 at age 88. Alzheimer's disease.

Jerry and Terry Humphrey >permalink<

Mountain climbing twins

It wasn't their first ascent to the summit of North America's highest peak, but it proved to be their last. Twins Jerry and Terry Humphrey were on their way back down Mount McKinley and were overdue at camp from their overnight assault on its 20,320 foot summit. They were climbing the West Buttress route, considered the mountain's least technical route. The weather was clear, winds were moderate and conditions were not particularly icy.

More climbers fall coming down than going up, possibly due to fatigue. A guided expedition camped at 17,200 feet went to investigate, discovering the bodies just below the extremely steep Denali Pass, just 100 feet above camp. The Humphreys were not roped together, and it was possible that one of them fell against the other, both then falling about 1,000 feet.

95 people have died on the central Alaska mountain in records dating back to 1932. The brothers were the first deaths of the 2005 climbing season. One person died on McKinley last year after being hit by a falling rock. In 2004, the Humphreys successfully scaled the peak. At the time of the accident, Jerry's son, Jeremy, was on a solo climb on McKinley.

May 10, 2005 at ages 55. Fall.

John Ford >permalink<

NASA launch engineer

Liftoff On the eve of America's return to space, one of the primary figures in the success of the space shuttle passed away.

After graduating from Boston University, John Ford worked as an engineer for ITT Grinnel and worked at the company's nuclear power plants. In 1987, he started working in the U.S. space shuttle program for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. During his 18-year career at NASA, he developed software for the analysis of data coming the main engines during launch operations. He supported 88 shuttle missions from Huntsville Operations Support Center in Alabama, priding himself on never missing a shuttle launch.

Ford didn't say much about his job, and due its top-secret nature relatives did not learn the magnitude of his efforts until after his death. His siblings said he always liked to help with math and computer homework, and that he was very analytical and loved computers. Ford received numerous commendations and awards from Rockwell, Boeing, the United States Space Alliance, and NASA.

May 10, 2005 at age 48. Cardiac arrest.

Jay Marshall >permalink<

Magician/ventriloquist

Jay Marshall Marshall liked to bill himself as "one of the better of the cheap acts." However, the Society of American Magicians thought differently, electing him dean of the society in 1992. His peers referred to him as "perhaps the foremost comedy magician of his generation."

Marshall was also a noted historian of stage magic and wrote several books on the subject. In 1926, when Marshall was 7 years old, he saw Harry Houdini perform, but fell asleep during the show. It is not commonly remembered that Houdini's act would sometimes take an hour or longer, and while his stunts usually would take just minutes to complete, audiences would be left staring at a curtain while Harry read the newspaper or eat supper unseen. No wonder audiences fell asleep.

Marshall's own act did not incorporate spectacular illusions or escape stunts. He concentrated on card tricks and sleight of hand, combining it with ventriloquism. Tired of carting bulky props and dummies, he simply dressed his left hand in a white glove with rabbit ears. He named his stage partner "Lefty." Occasionally, "Righty," on Marshall's other hand, would join to sing trios. Lefty was later donated to the Smithsonian Institution.

While such an act may seem cornball today, Marshall made 14 appearances on the Ed Sullivan television show in the 1950s and 1960s. When he played Las Vegas, he was one of the few acts chosen by Liberace and Frank Sinatra to open for them. At Marshall's request, his cat, Alley Bongo, had been smuggled in by a nephew to accompany him during his last days in a Chicago hospital.

May 10, 2005 at age 85. Complications from a series of heart attacks.

Li Cairong >permalink<

Oldest woman in the world, unconfirmed

Born November 12, 1885, Li Cairong from south China had hoped to attend the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. If she had done so, she would have been 123 and the oldest person to have ever lived.

Cairong While Chinese officials are recognising Cairong as her country's oldest person, the Guinness Book of World Records has yet to issue a statement verifying her status among world supercentenarians (persons over 110). To add to the confusion, Chinese media reported that Li's birth date had been notarised and was thus considered official, but list her age as 120 in keeping with the Chinese custom of considering a baby one year old at birth. If confirmed, Cairong would have been the third-oldest person ever recorded, behind Jeanne Calment (122 years and 164 days), and Shigechiyo Izumi at 121 years (although this claim is in dispute).

Li, who lived in a village near the city of Foshan, cared for herself and helped feed the family's chickens, attributing her longevity to keeping a peaceful nature, a regular diet and an optimistic outlook.

According to several web sites, the oldest living person in the world is Hendrikje Van Andel-Schipper, who was born in the Netherlands on June 29, 1890. The oldest man is listed as Emiliano Mercado Del Toro, of Puerto Rico, born August 21, 1891.

May 10, 2005 at age 119, unconfirmed. Natural causes.

Gordon Craddock >permalink<

Independent film distributor

In 1963, Craddock became an independent film distributor, operating out of Atlanta, Georgia. The business, Craddock Films, was first run out of his house. Among the better known films he handled were "Pippi Longstockings" and the original "House of Wax."

As the U.S. Internal Revenue Service began cracking down on people claiming investments in failed movies as tax shelters, they used Craddock's screening room to view the films. The IRS later began calling Craddock as an expert witness in trials against people who falsely used the tax shelter.

The Craddock family (both parents, seven children and their housekeeper) made national news when they lived in a fallout shelter for three days in 1967 as part of a Civil Defense research project.

May 9, 2005 at age 82.

Martha Montgomery >permalink<

Goldwyn Girl

Martha Montgomery The Goldwyn Girls, organised by movie producer Samuel Goldwyn, toured around the world during the 1940s promoting Hollywood. The beautiful dancers also appeared in movies, mostly Goldwyn's own musicals.

In addition to travelling to Britain and Central and South America with the group, Montgomery appeared in a dozen films, usually credited as "showgirl," "pretty girl," "cameo girl" or simply Goldwyn Girl. She was often paired with song and dance man Danny Kaye. Her screen career ended after her 1947 marriage to film composer Alfred Newman. Newman won nine Academy Awards and died in 1970.

In 1989, Montgomery donated $1 million to the Univeristy of Southern California, who now hold Newman's personal papers. Her gift largely paid for the Alfred Newman Recital Hall built on the campus. In 1998, 20th Century Fox dedicated its renovated scoring stage in his honour.

Montgomery is the mother of Oscar nominated composers David and Thomas Newman, and the aunt of Oscar and Grammy winning composer Randy Newman.

May 9, 2005 at age 84.

Peter Pang >permalink<

Founder, COLD-fX

Pang was a leading researcher in the field of combining traditional Chinese herbal remedies with western medical practises. And he might have been on the track to solving the problem of the common cold.

Pang was the chair of the Department of Physiology at the University of Alberta, Canada in the late 1980s. He later founded the Edmonton-based firm CV Technologies which makes COLD-fX -- a ginger-based cold-prevention tablet. The product was tested and is used by the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos professional sports team franchises. Other testimonials for Pang's product can be found here.

Pang was killed in a car crash in a remote area in China. He was a passenger in a car en route to a business meeting when it crashed. Pang retired from CV Technologies in 2002.

May 9, 2005 at age 63. Automobile accident.

Stanley H. Silverman >permalink<

Television writer

During the 1950s and 1960s, Silverman worked for Ziv Productions, a low-budget outfit that produced a number of popular action shows in the early days of television. Silverman wrote for "Sea Hunt," "Science Fiction Theatre," "Lock Up," and "Harbor Command." Silverman later had success writing for such network shows as "Have Gun Will Travel," "The Farmer's Daughter," "Flipper," "The Green Hornet," and the soaps "The Secret Storm" and "Another World."

During the 1960s, Silverman often partnered with screenwriter Robert Lees aka J.E. Selby. Lees was blacklisted during the McCarthy era after pleading the 5th Amendment during testimony before House Un-American Activities committee hearings to avoid incrimminating himself and others during the notorious Communist witchhunt of the early 1950s. In 1999 Lees had a prominent role in protesting the decison to award director Elia Kazan a lifetime achievment Oscar (Kazan named names and continued to work while others were blacklisted). In 2004, Lees was found decapitated in his appartment. His neighbour was also killed.

May 9, 2005 at age 90.

Nasrat Parsa >permalink<

Afghani pop star

Nasrat Parsa Parsa began performing as a young boy, appearing on a radio show in Kabul at the age of seven. He left Afghanistan with his family for Pakistan when he was 12, and later moved to India. Since he started recording in 1989, he produced 10 best-selling albums, and eventually settled in Germany. Parsa was one of Afghanistan's most popular musicians, even after the former Taliban government had outlawed singing and playing music.

In May, 2005, Parsa was on a tour in Canada promoting his latest effort, Dil, a collection of soft melodies. After performing in Toronto, he played Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre May 8. Parsa was approached by fans outside his hotel after the performance and a scuffle broke out. The singer was reported to have fallen down a flight of concrete stairs after being punched. He was rushed to hospital and was pronounced dead. 19-year-old Ahmad Froog has been charged with manslaughter in connection with Parsa's death.

Parsa's brother, Najib, said the attack followed trouble at the concert, when some in the audience called for faster, livelier songs. According to some, Parsa's death is indicative of growing violence at Afghan concerts. During another recent Vancouver concert, a person was stabbed. Some Toronto venues have refused to host Afghan musicians. Shahab Azim, who knew Parsa since childhood, has made Afghani concert violence a frequent issue on his web site.

May 8, 2005 at age 36. Injuries sustained in a fall.

Todd Kauppila >permalink<

Los Alamos nuclear lab scientist

Boom! Los Alamos was the site of the Manhattan Project, the U.S. World War Two facility that developed the world's first atomic bomb. In 2004, the installaton was shut down for two weeks due to security concerns, and Kauppila was fired by director Pete Nanos on September 23.

It seems an investigation discovered that two classified computer disks were thought to be missing. Kauppila said he was fired because he did not immediately return from a family vacation in connection with the investigation. He claimed he was made a scapegoat over the disks, which investigators concluded never existed. The mistake was blamed on a clerical error.

Pete Nanos did not specify why he was leaving. He had been criticised by many for his hard-nosed efforts to stop financial abuses and security lapses. After he was fired, Kauppila accepted a job as a contractor at Bechtel Nevada, a research company that works with Los Alamos and other national laboratories. Kauppila's death came two days after he publicly rejoiced over news that the lab's director was leaving.

May 8, 2005 at age 41. Hemorrhagic pancreatitis.

Walter Skinner >permalink<

Judge

As a federal district court judge, Skinner oversaw the Woburn-Grace water contamination case in 1986. The case, in which plants owned by W. R. Grace and Beatrice Foods were alleged to have contaminated public water supply, served as the basis for the book and movie "A Civil Action." Skinner was played by John Lithgow.

The film portrayed Skinner as a corporate flunky, but in reality he was described as a "workhorse." After being appointed to the federal bench in 1974, he began to eliminate a court backlog by opening his session an hour early each morning. As head of his state's criminal division, he once prosecuted four members within his office for requesting bribes.

Frustrated by non-functioning elevators in his courthouse (his court was on the fifteenth floor), Skinner once called in the press and threatened to sentence a defendant up on tax evasion charges to time served in the elevator.

May 8, 2005 at age 77.

Robert Freedom >permalink<

Surgeon

In late 1980 and early 1981, more than 30 babies died at Toronto, Canada's Hospital for Sick Children. In March, 1981 Freedom told several of his relatives that "someone is killing our babies" after he learned that large amounts of the heart drug digoxin had been found in a baby who died earlier that month. Days later, he repeated the comment to Metro Toronto Police. On March 25, 1981, Sick Kids nurse Susan Nelles was accused of murdering baby Justin Cook. Two days later, she was charged with murdering three other infants.

A royal commission, headed by Justice Samuel Grange of the Supreme Court of Ontario, investigated 36 deaths at the hospital. Freedom provided a vital link in the murder investigation when he told investigators that an intravenous line could slowly infuse the heart medication into a baby's body over several hours, making it possible for Nelles to have given the drug to infants before she went off duty.

Freedom received the Council Award of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and in 2000, he was named to the Order of Ontario.

May 7, 2005 at age 64. Renal failure as a result of diabetes.

Joe Grant >permalink<

Animation writer

Joe Grant Grant was once the head of the Character Model Department at Walt Disney, and worked on the studio's first feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." He quit the studio in 1949 ... but missed the job so much that he returned to it in the 1990s.

Grant began his career at the Disney studio in 1933 as a conceptual artist and story man. He was hired by Disney from the offices of the Los Angeles Record, where he drew editorial cartoons. During the studio's first Golden Age, it was Grant who shaped the characters of "Snow White," transferring such things as warts from the dwarfs to the witch (years later Grant admitted that the witch was based on one of his neighbours). He was also in charge of the story for "Fantasia" and "Dumbo," and he came up with the idea for "Lady and the Tramp," one of the few original stories that Disney turned into an animated feature.

When Grant returned to the studio after a five decade absence, he was the only Disney artist to have worked on both versions of "Fantasia" (it was he who selected the music for the productions). Back at the drawing board, Grant created many of Disney's more recently celebrated characters, such as Mrs. Potts in "Beauty & the Beast," Abu in "Aladdin," Meeko, Flit and Grandmother Willow in "Pocahontas," Cri-kee in "Mulan" and he created 2004's Academy Award nominated short, "Lorenzo."

During his time away from Disney, Grant ran several successful businesses, including a greeting card company (Castle Ltd.) and a ceramics studio (Opechee Designs).

More than 70 of Grant's caricatures are permanently housed at the Smithsonian Institute. He was named an official Disney Legend at a ceremony in 1992. Grant received a Ruben Award from the National Cartoonists Society in 1996, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association presented him with a special award for career achievements in 2002. It came as no surprise to those who knew Joe that he died while seated at his drawing table in his home.

May 6, 2005 at age 96.

Universal Music Group's record-pressing plant in Gloversville, New York. >permalink<

The platter that matters One of the largest record manufacturing plants in the United States has closed its doors, ending an era that began with the birth of rock 'n' roll.

In 1953, the Brunswick Radio Corporation of America moved to Gloversville, a small city in the Adirondack foothills in New York State. In 1962, Brunswick joined Decca Records, who six years later merged with MCA Records, which settled into a revolving door pattern of corporate owners, ending with French-based Vivendi Universal. In its glory days, more than 600 employees worked around the clock at the plant, pressing the hits of Bill Haley and The Comets, Marty Robbins, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Neil Diamond, Tom Jones, Olivia Newton John and Conway Twitty.

Initally producing 78 rpm records, the plant churned out 45s, LPs, cassettes and eight-tracks. Although the end of vinyl had been prophesized since 1982, the facility was never upgraded to make CDs. About 20 small companies still make vinyl records, catering to a small niche market of deejays, hip-hop fans, audio purists and nostalgia buffs. A one-tme $1.7 billion sales market had fallen to $19 million. Universal will still sell some vinyl records, but they will be manufactured by other companies.

May 6, 2005 at age 52. Pressing financial concerns.

Charlie Muse >permalink<

Batting helmet creator

Batter up! Up until the early 1950s, when a baseball batter took a beanball to the head, it was usually lights out and goodnight nurse. It took Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Branch Rickey and Charlie "The Colonel" Muse to bring a military-like protective helmet to the big league to replace the cloth caps sported by players of the day.

It wasn't easy. Players laughed at the first helmets, calling them miner's helmets, claiming the only players who would wear them were sissies. However, after the Atlanta Braves' Joe Adcock was beaned so severely by the Brooklyn Dodgers' Clem Labine in 1954 that he was unconscious for 15 minutes, the Dodgers ordered all players to begin wearing helmets. Other teams quickly followed.

May 5, 2005 at age 87.

Edgar Ponce >permalink<

Mexican TV star

Edgar Ponce Ponce was a popular star of his country's telenovelas (soap operas). While filming a commercial for "Solo Para Mujeres" (For Women Only), a live male striptease show, Ponce was one of four motorcycle riders injured when a car plowed into the group. He died later in a Mexico City hospital.

The accident occurred during unauthorized filming late at night on a main road in the cityity. The producer of the commercial did not request police assistance for the filming, and acknowledged that he did not have permission to film. He also stated that Televisa, for whom the spot was being produced, had nothing to do with the filming.

In Mexico City, motorcycle riders are restricted to driving on side lanes. The commercial placed the riders in the centre lanes, where a speeding vehicle struck them from behind. The vehicle's driver was to be tested for impaired driving, and has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Police said the producer could be held responsible for the actor's death.

May 5, 2005 at age 30. Car accident.

Elisabeth Fraser >permalink<

Actress

Elisabeth Fraser Fans of early television will remember the antics of Ernie G. Bilko, a U.S. Army motor pool sergeant stationed at Fort Baxter, Kansas. Bilko, played by Phil Silvers, was a heartless and opportunistic con-man whose comedic exploits were the basis of "The Phil Silvers Show," which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 (and can be seen on speciality networks to this day).

Bilko was such a morally dispicable character that the show's writers had to soften his image with a love interest. That role fell to Elisabeth Fraser, who played Sgt. Hogan, Bilko's on again/off again girlfriend.

In 1940, Fraser appeared on Broadway, just six weeks out of high school, in "There Shall Be No Night." The play won the 1940-41 Pulitzer Prize and she won a contract with Warner Bros. Fraser was featured in over 30 films, including "The Man Who Came to Dinner," "Death of a Salesman," "The Glass Bottom Boat," "The Graduate," and "Nine to Five." She appeared on TV in such shows as "Ben Casey," "Bewitched," "The Addams Family," "Mannix," "Maude" and "The Monkees." A collection of memorabilia from her stage, film and television career is on display at the Library of Performing Arts in New York's Lincoln Plaza Center.

May 5, 2005 at age 85. Congestive heart failure.

Herb Sargent >permalink<

Television writer and producer

Every weekend for an entire generation, the name "Herb Sargent" rolled up through the end credits of the TV show "Saturday Night Live." Little did we know at the time that he was primarily responsible for shaping "Weekend Update" with its hosts Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Dennis Miller. According to Lorne Michaels, longtime SNL producer, it was Sargent who named the troupe the Not Ready for Prime Time Players.

After being discharged from serving in the Army Air Force in the Pacific during World War II, Sargent moved to New York in the late 1940s, where he began writing for radio. Moving to television in the early 1950s, he wrote for "The Colgate Comedy Hour," "The Victor Borge Show," "The Perry Como Show," "The Tonight Show" with Steve Allen, and "That Was the Week That Was," whose cast included David Frost. He wrote the screenplay for the film "Bye Bye Braverman," and worked on television specials for Bing Crosby, Milton Berle, Perry Como, Sammy Davis Jr., Alan King, Paul McCartney, Lily Tomlin and Burt Bachrach.

Al Franken, current host of Air America and a SNL writer for many years, said Sargent would pitch jokes that were fully formed. When one of Sargent's several ex-wives died, he complained, "They are dying faster than I can marry them."

Sargent received six Emmy Awards and six Writers Guild Awards in his career. He also served 14 years as president of the Writers Guild of America, East. Sargent was also a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Songwriters Guild of America and of the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (New York).

May 5, 2006 at age 81. Heart attack.

John Judnich >permalink<

Sound engineer

Today's rock concert fans take great sound for granted. Even though they may often just play pre-recorded vocal tracks, the public address systems used by modern artists are a far cry from those provided for fans and bands in years gone by. Goes to eleven Beatles enthusiasts will recall the more than modest and spartan Shure PA columns used for their Shea Stadium shows (and images of Ringo turning his own drum set around at Madison Square Gardens). The evolution of arena and stadium rock sound was propelled by the work of John Judnich.

Judnich began his career recording demos for folksingers such as Tim Hardin. He also was Lenny Bruce's sound man, recording the comedian's 1965 Berekeley concert that was featured in the documentary "Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth." Judnich designed and installed the sound system for the legendary Whiskey A-Go-Go night club on L.A.'s Sunset Strip where he engineered live sessions for Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and the Doors.

In 1967, Judnich helped produce a series of weekly shows at the Shrine Auditorium for acts such as Traffic and Fleetwood Mac. He was the engineer on Frank Zappa's first solo album, "Lumpy Gravy." The recording marked the starting point of Zappa's serious music and featured the classic line "The way I see it, Barry, this should be a dynamite show."

In the late 1960s, Judnich partnered with Bob Bogdanovitch and created Tychobrae Sound Systems. The company developed the first full-size travelling PA systems that are now a modern fixture of hockey rink rock shows and large scale outdoor venues. He was the onsite sound engineer for bands such as the Rolling Stones, and also built sound studio mixing boards for folks like Brill Building legend Jerry Goffin.

May 5, 2005 at age 67. Liver cancer.

June MacCloy >permalink<

Actress

Another screen icon of Hollywood's golden age is no longer with us. June MacCloy was a statuesque actress whose looks and mannish voice set her apart during a screen career that only lasted a decade.

After a brief stint in several New York vaudeville productions, MacCloy was signed by Paramount Pictures in 1930. As was often the case in the days of the studio system, she was 'lent' to United Artists, where she made her feature debut in "Reaching for the Moon" with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. The film also featured Bing Crosby's first credited role.

Although she received positive notices for her performance, MacCloy's career never took off. After a few features, she made nine short films, including three directed by Fatty Arbuckle, working under the alias William Goodrich to distance himself from the taint of scandal that never lapsed after being accused of raping a starlet. In 1940, MacCloy starred alongside the Marx Brothers in "Go West" in which she tried to seduce Groucho during the film's climactic train ride. It was her last role despite Groucho's invitation for her to appear in further Marx movies. She spent much of the 1930s as a touring band singer before retiring.

May 5, 2005 at age 95.

Mark Boyle >permalink<

Light show innovator

Boyle's work Light shows. There was a time when concerts by popular musical acts were advertised with the proviso "Light Show By ...". In the four decades since those words first appeared on handbills plastered on light poles, light shows have become a given for any modern public event -- from wrestling events to political pronouncements. The origins of the modern light show can be traced to one man: Mark Boyle.

Long before summers of love, Boyle first experimented with light projection systems as far back as 1962. Using powerful Aldiss projectors, he would mix film, 35mm slides and dangerous mixes of chemicals to create endlessly mutating backdrops.

Besides his interest in light shows, Boyle was a serious avant garde painter. His works were once displayed at the Indica Gallery. It was at this gallery and at about this time that John Lennon first met Yoko Ono.

In 1967, Boyle was a regular fixture at London's UFO nightclub, and quickly formed a partnership with the psychedelic group Soft Machine, providing "lights" for their shows. By then Boyle was throwing acid directly onto zinc slides and manipulating them between plates of glass, leaving spellbound audiences to figure out what kind of drugs the show was on. Jimi Hendrix, who was living in the UK at the time, saw Boyle's work and hired him for his 1968 tour of America. Boyle's innovative light shows were quickly adopted by Andy Warhol, for his Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and Lou Reed's Velvet Underground.

In 2005, the Tate Gallery in Liverpool mounted an exhibition called The Summer Of Love which features Boyle's work. Of note is the timeline which details the growth of the psychedelic era. For more about lights shows and the Fillmore concert scene, read Glenn O'Brien's surprisingly clear recollection of events.

May 4, 2005 at age 70.

Neal "Big Daddy" Pattman >permalink<

Harmonica virtuoso

Neal As a teenager, Pattman played music for cash on the streets of Athens, Georgia. He later told a journalist "I couldn't get jobs like other people, but I started playing the harp and got to making lots of money with it."

Pattman specialised in the countrier side of blues music, and he would break up his playing with wild whoops and cries in the style of Sonny Terry, who also grew up in the same Athens neighbourhood.

Like many blues musicians, Pattman's recognition came late in life. His recorded works date only from the 1990s. His 1999 "Prison Blues" CD featured Cootie Stark, Taj Mahal, and Lee Konitz.

In addition to his unique performance style, Pattman was distinguished by the fact that he was one-armed. At the age of seven, he lost his right arm in an accident with a wagon wheel on the family farm.

May 4, 2005 at age 79. Cancer.

David Batchelor >permalink<

Sound mixer

Oh to have been David Batchelor. On his first day on the job at the British Broadcasting Corporation, he was asked to escort Brigitte Bardot to a recording studio. It must have seemed all downhill after that -- all he could do at the time was stare at his shoes during the elevator ride. However, Batchelor redeemed himself professionally by becoming Britain's leading sound mixer in the dynamic world of television commercials.

Batchelor's talents were so inate that John Lloyd, the producer of the spy spoof spots that Rowan Atkinson shot for American Express, would ask him if the takes were any good based solely on what Batchelor heard while on location.

Batchelor was regarded in the industry as a man generous with his time and help, and the possessor of a fine wit. Peter Glossop, an Oscar-nominated sound mixer, first met him when they were boom operators on "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi." When Glossop hired him to work on Alex Cox's "Walker," he neglected to tell Batchelor that the film location was Nicaragua and in an active war zone. When he was picked up at the airport, Batchelor said calmly, when informed about the filming conditions, that he would probably need some kind of hat.

May 3, 2005 at age 64. Liver cancer.

Pierre Moerlen >permalink<

Drummer

When fans of the eclectic movement known as art-rock were in need of some mental space-travelling, their favourite destination was often the planet Gong. It is there that Pierre Moerlen first landed in 1974. Founded by Australian guitarist Daevid Allen (ex-Soft Machine), Gong was an ever-shifting line-up of musicians that included such names as Robert Wyatt, Gary Wright, Steve Hillage, Bill Bruford, Mick Taylor, and Allen Holdsworth. An attempt at delineating the Gong story can be found their entry at Allmusic.com.

When the original group folded, Moerlen, among others, carried on the Gong name as Pierre Moerlen's Gong. Moerlen also appeared on several of Mike (Tubular Bells) Oldfield's recordings during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Moerlen then toured as resident 'pit' drummer for musicals such as Evita and Les Miserables.

In the last few years, Moerlen was involved in the revivals of Brand X and his own version of the Gong franchise. He retired to Strasbourg, Austria where he taught drum and percussion seminars. It was there he died in his sleep.

For more about Pierre Moerlen, visit his official site for an extensive discography, and Gong's site for a detailed tribute.

May 3, 2005 at age 52.

Peter West >permalink<

Documentary filmmaker

After serving as a film trainee with BBC Northern Ireland, West moved to London in the early 1960s where he became part of a film generation whose careers were forged by the birth of BBC2. The British broadcaster's second national channel focused on the arts and feature documentaries, and it brought West in contact with the leaders of Britain's free cinema movement. Among those West developed a lasting friendship was Lindsay Anderson, who went on to direct such seminal 1960s films as "If ..." and "O Lucky Man."

While at the BBC, West worked as an editor on numerous groundbreaking films, such as "Orders From Above" about the Katyn massacre (a World War II mass execution of up to 22,000 Polish prisoners of war shot by Soviet forces). His work also reflected a lighter side -- his 1977 film about the National Theatre was so cheeky and provocative that it was nearly shelved. A film about a taxidermist stuffing a lion was a transparent take on British icons in the age of Margaret Thatcher. Included was a sequence in which newspaper clippings of Conservative ministers were boiled down to make papier-mache.

In the last 15 years, West taught editing and documentary production at the National Film and Television School and the London Film Academy, where his popular classes were peppered with anecdotes from the early days of 'anything goes' filmmaking.

May 3, 2005 at age 65. Stomach aneurysm.

Bob Hunter >permalink<

Co-founder of Greenpeace

Bob Hunter Hunter, once a columnist for the Vancouver Sun in the 1960s, first came to prominence in 1971 when he and a group of environmentalists sailed a rusty 80-foot fishboat called the Phyllis Cormack, later renamed the Rainbow Warrior, from Vancouver to Alaska in a campaign to stop a nuclear weapons test on Amchitka in the Aleutian Islands. Five months after the voyage, the U.S. halted all nuclear tests in the Aleutians, and Amchitka is now a bird sanctuary. Initially signing on as a reporter, Hunter remained on board for 45 days.

In 1972, with Patrick Moore, David McTaggart and Paul Watson, Hunter helped found Greenpeace. The organisation's name came about at the end of a speech made by Hunter in a church basement. He yelled out "Peace!" and someone in the audience responded with the word "green." "Let's make it a green peace," Hunter yelled back. He became its first president in 1973, and he led Greenpeace through its transformation into an international group present in 40 countries, with more than 2.5 million members worldwide. It was Hunter that established the in-your-face communication style that became a Greenpeace trademark.

Hunter spearheaded campaigns against whaling and seal hunting, as well as nuclear testing and the dumping of toxic waste into the oceans. In the late 1980s, Hunter left Greenpeace and returned to his journalistic roots, joining the Sea Shepherd Society, a splinter group closer in spirit to Hunter's original vision. By then he had charted a definable course for Greenpeace and added the phrases "eco-warrior" and "mind bomb" to modern vernacular. He became the ecology news specialist for CHUM's Citytv and was also known in Toronto for his early morning show, Paper Cuts, where he would appear in his bathrobe and comment on the stories of the day. Starting in 1982, Hunter also wrote 10 episodes of the classic Canadian TV series, The Beachcombers.

Hunter was honoured as one of Time magazine's Eco Heroes of the 20th Century. He won a number of awards for his writings, including a Governor General's Award in 1991 for his work Occupied Canada: A Young White Man Discovers His Unsuspected Past. In 2001, he ran unsuccessfully for the Liberals in an Ontario byelection. He lost by almost 4,000 votes to Michael Prue of the NDP. In 2002, he called for the Liberals and the Green Party of Ontario to form an electoral alliance.

For more about Hunter's background and the process that led to Greenpeace, visit the B.C. BookWorld site, or read the Greenpeace tribute.

May 2, 2005 at age 63. Prostate cancer.

Alfredo Rastelli >permalink<

Musical clown

Alfredo Rastelli spent 77 of his 81 years in the ring, and was recognised by Prince Rainier with a special lifetime achievement award.

Rastelli was born into circus life in Paris while his family was on the road. His father was an acrobat, who often performed hundreds of backwards somersaults in sequence (his record was said to be 508). Alfredo's mother was the daughter of a Brazilian circus owner. By the time he was 16, Rastelli had a solo music act, playing 22 instruments during each performance. His speciality was to play two trumpets or two concertinas and the drums, simultaneously.

In the early 1930s the family was forced to leave Europe after they were suspected of being Italian spies, and they then based their act in Britain. The family toured with the skating show "Holiday on Ice," performed at the New York Expo of 1964, and appeared with Ella Fitzgerald at the Olympia in Paris. They were best known for a routine started by Alfredo's grandfather, called Chocolate and Company. The act stayed in the family for six decades, with the roles handed down to sons.

In 2000, at the International Circus Festival in Monaco, Prince Rainier awarded Rastelli a citation in recognition of his career. Two years later Rastelli won the Golden Clown award in Copenhagen.

May 1, 2005 at age 81.

Isabelle "Sis" Lennon Miller >permalink<

Mother, the Lennon Sisters

The Lennon Sisters (Dianne, Janet, Peggy and Kathy) were a staple of "The Lawrence Welk" television show from 1955 to 1967. Thanks to exposure on the Welk show, the sisters charted in 1956 with "Tonight You Belong to Me." The song reached Number 16. A lesser hit, "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)," was popular five years later.

The Lennon Sisters, aged 16, 14, 12 and 9, made their national debut with Welk on his Christmas program in 1955 and became one of the show's most popular acts. They left the program in the late 1960s, eventually securing their own television show with Jimmy Durante.

Miller was the mother of 12. One daughter preceded her in death. One of the girls was a high school classmate of Lawrence Welk Jr. After seeing the singing sisters perform at a local lodge, he told his dad he should put them on his show. After seeing them audition, Welk hired them on the spot.

Miller's first husband, Bill Lennon, who also managed his four daughters, was shot to death on a golf course on August 12, 1969. Witnesses described that three shots were fired, the last one at close range to the head. At the time, the U.S. Secret Service was investigating a man who allegedly wrote a letter to former President Johnson making threats because he could not get permission to marry one of Lennon's daughters. As Lennon's murderer was not immediately apprehended, tapings of "Jimmy Durantee presents the Lennon Sisters Hour" were done on a closed set, with family members serving as the audience.

In 1998, Isabelle married Joe Miller, who had been her high school sweetheart (they broke up 60 years earlier and had married others).

May 1, 2005 at age 85. Congestive heart failure.

Jack Lowe Endler >permalink<

Disc Jockey

Endler was a disc jockey and rhythm-and-blues enthusiast known to Washington D.C. area radio listeners in the 1940s and 1950s as Jackson Lowe. He was known as "the little Jewish guy with a limp" (a result of childhood polio) who championed black music. He would go to area venues such as Birdland, the Hayloft, the Melody Inn, and the Cotton Club to not only hear the music he loved but to later play it on the air and promote it.

Lowe introduced a number of local performers to Ahmet Ertegun, who founded Atlantic Records in 1947. Ertegun would hear groups on Lowe's show, and soon Lowe became Ertegun's guide to the clubs, cafes, and theaters where the music was played. At one of the Washington stations where he worked, Lowe played rhythm-and-blues instead of following the station's gospel music format. The station fired him but had to bring him back to quell the uproar from listeners.

His weekly amateur talent show gave a boost to local musicians such as Pearl Bailey and Louie Bellson. Other discoveries included the Clovers, who would go on to record several hits, including "Devil or Angel," "Blue Velvet" and "Love Potion No. 9." Lowe also discovered Jimmy McPhail, who would go on to perform with Duke Ellington, and a young woman named Shirley Horn.

Jack Lowe Endler was born in Brooklyn. He sang with choirs in college, appeared in several off-Broadway plays and had bit parts in a few movies. He broke into radio in New York doing live drama and for a time was the radio voice of Popeye.

May 1, 2005 at age 89. Emphysema.

Michael "Big Mike" O'Brien >permalink<

Mountain climber

For the second time in four days, Mount Everest has claimed a life. On April 29, 2005 Sean Egan died of a heart attack resulting from a respiratory infection. On May 1, Seattle climber Mike O'Brien fell into a crevasse.

Both Egan and O'Brien sought the challenge of Everest so that others may benefit from their quests. Egan was part of a team setting up wireless internet connections on the mountain to serve in medical research. O'Brien saw scaling Everest as a way to bring attention to and raise funds for research into Huntington's disease. O'Brien lost his mother in 1996 and his sister in 1999 to the disease, and he knew he had a 50-50 chance of getting it, too.

While Egan had hoped to enter record books as the oldest Canadian to reach the highest point on the planet, O'Brien and his younger brother Christopher had hoped to become the first American team including brothers to attain the summit. Their team arrived at base camp in Nepal on April 12. While ascending the mountain, O'Brien and his climbing party decided to head back down to their base camp because of snowstorms and avalanches.

They were crossing the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, a jumble of unstable blocks of ice, when O'Brien plunged to his death. The Khumbu Icefall has claimed the lives of many climbers. Freezing temperatures at night and the warm sun during the day make the ice unstable and unpredictable. Climbers use lightweight aluminum ladders tied together by ropes as bridges to cross over ice crevices as deep as 100 feet.

Nicknamed "Big Mike" because of his 6-foot-7 frame, O'Brien spent his summers as a white-water rafting guide on the Wenatchee and other Washington state rivers. The O'Brien brothers scaled more than 25 peaks around the world, including Cho Oyu located north of Everest -- the world's sixth-highest peak, in 2000.

A total of 1,583 people from 65 countries have climbed Mount Everest. Around 185 climbers have died on its slopes. O'Brien is the eighth American to die on Everest. For more about Michael O'Brien, visit his family's Hereditary Disease Foundation web site.

May 1, 2005 at age 39. Injuries sustained during a fall.

final credits - may 2005

Deep Throat >permalink<

Franklin Barton >permalink<

Jaime Mendoza-Nava >permalink<

Jessica Aulik >permalink<

Milt Burton >permalink<

Jan Heyne >permalink<

Leslie Smith >permalink<

Don McGaffin >permalink<

John D'Amico >permalink<

Margaret Russell >permalink<

Oscar Brown Jr. >permalink<

Percy Strother >permalink<

Robert Rempel >permalink<

Shirley Eder >permalink<

Jean Negroni >permalink<

Daniel Sales >permalink<

Leonard Marvin Kempf >permalink<

Eddie Albert >permalink<

Lloyd Doug Dugger >permalink<

Rusty's Roundup at Entertainment Insiders >permalink<

Ben Peters >permalink<

Domenic Troiano >permalink<

Donovan Leighton >permalink<

Graham Kennedy >permalink<

Honi >permalink<

Ismail Merchant >permalink<

Robert Jankel >permalink<

Sunil Dutt >permalink<

Daniel Heilicher >permalink<

Mohammed Saeed Khan >permalink<

Vivian Cash >permalink<

Billy Smart Jr. >permalink<

Cicely Paget-Bowman >permalink<

E. Harris Nober >permalink<

Merle Shafer >permalink<

Waldemar Seyssel >permalink<

Bernard Kamber >permalink<

Terry Carisse >permalink<

Thurl Ravenscroft >permalink<

Bill Dearth >permalink<

Chung Se-yung >permalink<

Howard Morris >permalink<

Olav Neuland >permalink<

Sol Stetin >permalink<

Stephen Elliott >permalink<

Subodh Mukherjee >permalink<

Victor Wouk >permalink<

Carina Stephenson >permalink<

Edward G. Schwarm >permalink<

J.D. Cannon >permalink<

Henry Corden >permalink<

Linda Martinez >permalink<

Richard Lewine >permalink<

Bobby Thompson >permalink<

Paul Tate >permalink<

Claude-Marie Boucaud >permalink<

Frank Gorshin >permalink<

Keith Miller >permalink<

Albert Marshall >permalink<

Clinton Walter Kersey Sr. >permalink<

Marie Geddes >permalink<

Vince Viverito >permalink<

Mahipal Bhandari >permalink<

Theola Kilgore >permalink<

Zina Provendie >permalink<

Ed Kelleher >permalink<

Jimmy Martin >permalink<

Michael Lee McLean >permalink<

Craig Morrison >permalink<

George Dantzig >permalink<

Richy Victor >permalink<

Rusty's Roundup at Entertainment Insiders >permalink<

Eddie Barclay >permalink<

Edward White >permalink<

Monica Zetterlund >permalink<

Alfred Finnigan >permalink<

Frankie LaRocka >permalink<

Campbell M. Lucas >permalink<

Elmer T. Miller >permalink<