Celebrity Death Watch - the rest of 2024
Jul. 26th, 2025 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fauxkloreContinuing catching up on celebrity death watch. I’ll probably take a break to write about some other things after finishing up 2024, but will try to get up to date on this soon.
Celebrity Death Watch - October 2024: David Turnham was a New York Times journalist who wrote about police corruption. Susie Bering was a golf champion. SuEllen Fried was an anti-bullying activist. Luis Tiant pitched for the Boston Red Sox in the 1970’s. Ethel Kennedy was the widow of Robert F. Kennedy and a human rights advocate in her own right. Lily Ledbetter was an activist for equal-pay. Richard Secord was an Air Force major general who conducted covert operations in Laos and led the only successful rescue of American POWs during the Vietnam war. Liam Payne was a member of the boy band One Direction. Mitzi Gaynor was an actress, notable for playing Nellie Forbush in the film version of South Pacific. Phil Lesh was the bassist for and a founding member of the Grateful Dead.
Teri Garr was a comedic actress, who appeared in such films as Tootsie and Young Frankenstein.
Celebrity Death Watch - November 2024: Jonathan Haze was an actor who played Seymour Krelboined in the original (1960 non-musical) Little Shop of Horrors movie. Jim Hoagland was a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Washington Post. Bernard Marcus was the cofounder of Home Depot. Dorothy Allison was a feminist writer, most famous for Bastard Out of Carolina. Elizabeth Nunez was a novelist whose books include Anna In-Between. Ella Jenkins wrote and performed music for children. Sandra Gilbert was a feminist literary critic, best known for writing The Madwoman in the Attic. Tim Sullivan was a science fiction writer. Thomas E. Kurtz co-developed the BASIC programming language. Shel Talmy was a record producer who worked with the Who, the Kinks, David Bowie, and many others. Andy Paley was a musician who performed with The Modern Lovers and composed music for SpongeBob SquarePants. Mike Pinera played guitar for Iron Butterfly and wrote the song Ride Captain Ride. Alice Brock inspired the song Alice’s Restaurant. Cyndy Szekeres wrote and illustrated children’s books. Barbara Taylor Bradford was a prolific novelist. Bob Bryar was the drummer for My Chemical Romance from 2004 - 2010. Helen Gallagher was a Tony award winning actress. Hal Lindsay was a doomsday preacher who wrote The Late Great Planet Earth. Gabriel Escaper founded Melia Hotels. Shalom Nagar executed Adolf Eichmann.
Quincy Jones was a record producer, composer, and arranger, who won 28 Grammy awards.
Bela Karolyi was a gymnastics coach, best known for training Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton, and Kerri Strug. Some of his proteges called his coaching style abusive. In addition, Larry Nasser’s sexual abuse of young female gymnasts happened at the Karolyi Ranch.
Arthur Frommer wrote travel books. During my first trip to Europe (my college graduation present), I relied heavily on Frommer’s Europe on 25 Dollars a Day. I have used several other Frommer guidebooks over the years and found them reasonably reliable.
Chuck Woolery hosted the original daytime version of Wheel of Fortune, as well as other game shows, including Love Connection and Scrabble. He was also a musician and wrote advertising jingles.
Celebrity Death Watch - December 2024: Marvin Laird co-created the musical Ruthless! Nikki Giovanni was a poet. Donald Blitzer co-invented the plasma display. Michael Cole was an actor, best known for his role on The Mod Squad. Diane Delano was an actress who played the police sergeant on Northern Exposure. Dick van Arsdale played basketball for the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns. Mike Brewer (of Brewer & Shipley) wrote the song One Toke Over the Line. David Mallett wrote the Garden Song. Arlene Agus co-founded Ezrat Nashim, the first American Jewish feminist organization, and popularized the observance of Rosh Hodesh (the new month) as a women’s holiday. Richard Perry was a record producer who worked with artists ranging from Barbra Streisand to Julio Iglesias to Carly Simon. Olivia Hussey was an actress, best known for playing Juliet in the 1968 movie of Romeo and Juliet.
The Amazing Kreskin was a mentalist who appeared frequently on late night television. In other words, he was a con man.
Anita Bryant was a singer, anti-gay activist, and shill for orange juice.
Berrien Moore III studied complex systems and was the founding director of Climate Central. I knew him when I worked on the Closed Environmental Life Support System (CELSS) project at NASA Ames as a grad student.
Rickey Henderson played baseball, primarily for the Oakland A’s. He holds records for career stolen bases (leading to the moniker “Man of Steal”), runs, unintentional walks, and leadoff home runs.
Jimmy Carter was the president of the U.S. from 1977-1981. He was more successful as an ex-president, particularly noted for his work with Habitat for Humanity and working to eliminate dracuculiasis (Guinea worm disease). He also failed to understand anything at all about the Middle East.
Linda Lavin was an actress who was probably best known for the TV sitcom Alice. More significantly, she sang “You’ve Got Possibilities” in Its a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman and “The Boy From …” in The Mad Show on Broadway.
Celebrity Death Watch - October 2024: David Turnham was a New York Times journalist who wrote about police corruption. Susie Bering was a golf champion. SuEllen Fried was an anti-bullying activist. Luis Tiant pitched for the Boston Red Sox in the 1970’s. Ethel Kennedy was the widow of Robert F. Kennedy and a human rights advocate in her own right. Lily Ledbetter was an activist for equal-pay. Richard Secord was an Air Force major general who conducted covert operations in Laos and led the only successful rescue of American POWs during the Vietnam war. Liam Payne was a member of the boy band One Direction. Mitzi Gaynor was an actress, notable for playing Nellie Forbush in the film version of South Pacific. Phil Lesh was the bassist for and a founding member of the Grateful Dead.
Teri Garr was a comedic actress, who appeared in such films as Tootsie and Young Frankenstein.
Celebrity Death Watch - November 2024: Jonathan Haze was an actor who played Seymour Krelboined in the original (1960 non-musical) Little Shop of Horrors movie. Jim Hoagland was a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Washington Post. Bernard Marcus was the cofounder of Home Depot. Dorothy Allison was a feminist writer, most famous for Bastard Out of Carolina. Elizabeth Nunez was a novelist whose books include Anna In-Between. Ella Jenkins wrote and performed music for children. Sandra Gilbert was a feminist literary critic, best known for writing The Madwoman in the Attic. Tim Sullivan was a science fiction writer. Thomas E. Kurtz co-developed the BASIC programming language. Shel Talmy was a record producer who worked with the Who, the Kinks, David Bowie, and many others. Andy Paley was a musician who performed with The Modern Lovers and composed music for SpongeBob SquarePants. Mike Pinera played guitar for Iron Butterfly and wrote the song Ride Captain Ride. Alice Brock inspired the song Alice’s Restaurant. Cyndy Szekeres wrote and illustrated children’s books. Barbara Taylor Bradford was a prolific novelist. Bob Bryar was the drummer for My Chemical Romance from 2004 - 2010. Helen Gallagher was a Tony award winning actress. Hal Lindsay was a doomsday preacher who wrote The Late Great Planet Earth. Gabriel Escaper founded Melia Hotels. Shalom Nagar executed Adolf Eichmann.
Quincy Jones was a record producer, composer, and arranger, who won 28 Grammy awards.
Bela Karolyi was a gymnastics coach, best known for training Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton, and Kerri Strug. Some of his proteges called his coaching style abusive. In addition, Larry Nasser’s sexual abuse of young female gymnasts happened at the Karolyi Ranch.
Arthur Frommer wrote travel books. During my first trip to Europe (my college graduation present), I relied heavily on Frommer’s Europe on 25 Dollars a Day. I have used several other Frommer guidebooks over the years and found them reasonably reliable.
Chuck Woolery hosted the original daytime version of Wheel of Fortune, as well as other game shows, including Love Connection and Scrabble. He was also a musician and wrote advertising jingles.
Celebrity Death Watch - December 2024: Marvin Laird co-created the musical Ruthless! Nikki Giovanni was a poet. Donald Blitzer co-invented the plasma display. Michael Cole was an actor, best known for his role on The Mod Squad. Diane Delano was an actress who played the police sergeant on Northern Exposure. Dick van Arsdale played basketball for the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns. Mike Brewer (of Brewer & Shipley) wrote the song One Toke Over the Line. David Mallett wrote the Garden Song. Arlene Agus co-founded Ezrat Nashim, the first American Jewish feminist organization, and popularized the observance of Rosh Hodesh (the new month) as a women’s holiday. Richard Perry was a record producer who worked with artists ranging from Barbra Streisand to Julio Iglesias to Carly Simon. Olivia Hussey was an actress, best known for playing Juliet in the 1968 movie of Romeo and Juliet.
The Amazing Kreskin was a mentalist who appeared frequently on late night television. In other words, he was a con man.
Anita Bryant was a singer, anti-gay activist, and shill for orange juice.
Berrien Moore III studied complex systems and was the founding director of Climate Central. I knew him when I worked on the Closed Environmental Life Support System (CELSS) project at NASA Ames as a grad student.
Rickey Henderson played baseball, primarily for the Oakland A’s. He holds records for career stolen bases (leading to the moniker “Man of Steal”), runs, unintentional walks, and leadoff home runs.
Jimmy Carter was the president of the U.S. from 1977-1981. He was more successful as an ex-president, particularly noted for his work with Habitat for Humanity and working to eliminate dracuculiasis (Guinea worm disease). He also failed to understand anything at all about the Middle East.
Linda Lavin was an actress who was probably best known for the TV sitcom Alice. More significantly, she sang “You’ve Got Possibilities” in Its a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman and “The Boy From …” in The Mad Show on Broadway.
