Book of Condolence Thread

[bysshe]

Majel Roddenberry, widow of 'Trek' creator, dies

[bysshe]

Mark Felt, the former FBI official who became 'Deep Throat,' dies

[I am a Ghost]

Jack Douglas has died.

Peter

[EPbabe]

Legendary Russian ballerina Olga Lepeshinskaya, who performed with the Bolshoi Ballet for 30 years during the Soviet era, has died at age 92, Russian news agencies reported Saturday.

She joined the Bolshoi in 1933 and during her 30-year-career was awarded the Stalin Prize, the highest artistic accolade given under the hardline Soviet rule of Joseph Stalin, four times.

[Jose]

Harold Pinter (78) dies of cancer.
I've been in so many plays that he wrote...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/de...ld-pinter-dies

[Uncleskinny]

Here.

Peter

[Jose]

Sopranos actor John Costelloe (47) commits suicide.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rchemel/sopr...ls-self-4c?w=1

[Jose]

Dave Dee (65) dies of cancer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7820435.stm

Pop singer Dave Dee dies aged 65

Dave Dee (pictured) had eight top 10 hits with Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
British pop star Dave Dee has died at the age of 65, following a three-year battle with cancer.

The singer continued playing gigs with band members Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich until close to the end of his life, record plugger Sean Cooney said.

"He didn't let it get him down. He was defying it," Mr Cooney added.

The group had eight top 10 hits, including a UK number one single in 1968 with The Legend of Xanadu, in which Dee famously cracked a whip.

A spokeswoman for the family said that Dee died in Kingston Hospital in Surrey on Friday morning following "a long and courageous battle" with cancer.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich - named after the five friends' nicknames - first entered the UK chart in December 1965 with You Make it Move, which peaked at number 26.

Subsequent singles included Hold Tight!, Bend It! and Save Me.

Between 1965 and 1969 they spent more weeks in the UK singles charts than any other band.

Two of their albums charted - their eponymous debut, in 1966, followed a year later by If Music Be the Food of Love... Prepare for Indigestion.

Charity work

In 1969 Dee left the group for a short-lived solo career, but they reformed in the 1990s with Dee as lead vocalist once again.

They had recently been performing dates in the UK and Germany and were due to play another eight concerts before the end of April.


The Legend of Xanadu helped the group to find success in the US
Dee performed his last gig in Eisenburg, Germany on 20 September last year.

The singer, whose real name was David Harman, came from Wiltshire and was originally a police officer before turning his hand to music.

In the 1970s he was a founding committee member of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity and was actively involved in fundraising and increasing the profile of the organisation, for more than 30 years.

He later worked as a magistrate in Cheshire.

He is survived by his wife Joanne, daughter Olivia, twin sons Ashley and Elliot, and by Lesley, his partner during his final two years.

[I am a Ghost]

Veteran sports broadcaster David Vine dies of heart attack

Last updated at 4:22 PM on 12th January 2009


David Vine, who hosted A Question Of Sport,has died of a heart attack aged 73
Veteran sports broadcaster David Vine has died of a heart attack aged 73.
Vine fronted a huge list of shows, including It's A Knock Out, Miss World, the Eurovision Song Contest, Wimbledon, Match Of The Day, Grandstand and the Olympics.

He also hosted A Question Of Sport and Ski Sunday.
Vine, who celebrated his birthday earlier this month, died last night at his home near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
He had triple heart by-pass surgery several years ago.
His publicist Paul Madeley said that since Vine's retirement he remained working as a consultant for the BBC.
He described Vine as 'a true and utter gentleman at all times.
He said: 'I don't know of anybody who is regarded as he was in terms of his professionalism and dedication, whether he was presenting or commentating.
'He was like a member of my family. He was that close.'
Vine, who was from Devon, worked on various newspapers as well as for ITV and the BBC.
Affectionately known for his spectacles and jumpers in the 1970s, Vine also worked on The Superstars.
With his knack for improvisation, Vine spent a quarter of a century working on the major snooker tournaments.
According to the BBC, 18 million people watched as 'Viney' waited until the early hours of the morning to interview Dennis Taylor after his epic win against Steve Davis in 1985.
Vine tackled John McEnroe after an outburst at Wimbledon, asking him: 'What right have you got to call anyone an incompetent fool?'
Vine told the BBC: 'He told me he'd never talk to me again after that but he did the following day.'

According to Mr Madeley, in more recent years Vine had been a possible contender to commentate on Dancing On Ice, but he decided that 'quite a lot of time was required'.
He leaves behind three children from his first marriage - Kim, Martin and Katherine.
His first wife died and he married again in 1972 and they had a son named Christian.
Vine had four grandchildren - Ben, Georgia, Oliver and Emily.
Mr Madeley, who had represented Vine for nearly 20 years, said he had a lengthy conversation with him at his recent birthday celebrations.
He said his health had not been good in recent times, as he had had a hip replacement as well as the heart surgery.
Mr Madeley said of the hip replacement: 'That was successful, but not 100%. It was something that was getting there.'
Vine's last big job for the BBC before he retired was covering the weightlifting for the 2000 Olympics.
Announcing his retirement from presenting 40 years of television sport, Vine said: 'I've got to go some time, and now is the right time.'
While Vine's expertise was still drawn upon in his retirement, he also kept himself busy designing and renovating, Mr Madeley said.

[Kewpie]

Patrick McGoohan (1928 -2009)



I bet someone will post another RIP thread.

[vivabob]

Patrick McGoohan (1928 -2009)

I bet someone will post another RIP thread.

i nearly did

Patrick McGoohan, the creator and star of cult classic The Prisoner, has died aged 80.

He died after a short illness, his son-in-law, film producer Cleve Landsberg, said.

McGoohan played the title character Six in the surreal 1960s show filmed in Portmeirion in Wales.

He also won two Emmy Awards for his work on the Peter Falk detective drama Columbo.

In more recent years he appeared as King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart.

[Jukebox Jury]

Patrick MacGoohan (1928 -2009)

I bet someone will post another RIP thread.

Kewpie
I was just about to!!!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7829267.stm

I watched The Prisoner in 1983..... at the age of 20 I was hugely influenced by it's anti establishment / refuse to co-operate with the system style....
There was many a time under Maggie's Britain, when signing on the dole and being asked my number..... you can imagine my reply

I read recently someone is remaking it as a series or a film......

Nice one Patrick....

PS there was a poster on here under the name Patrick MacGoohan for a while.

Jukebox Jury

[Franissey]

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

no, no, no!
i like Patrick MacGoohan!
he shouldn't die
i know he was old, but still
i guess should just stop reading this thread anymore

[dunya]

I too enjoyed the programme. Sorry to hear the news.

[crimes]

Very sad news

[Jose]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28661103/

Fantasy Island’ star Ricardo Montalban dies
Mexican-born actor, 88, became a star in splashy MGM musicals

Gregg DeGuire / Getty Images file
Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as Mr. Roarke in TV's "Fantasy Island," died Wednesday morning at age 88.


updated 4:34 p.m. ET Jan. 14, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV’s “Fantasy Island,” died Wednesday morning at his home, his family said. He was 88.

Montalban’s death was first announced at a city council meeting by president Eric Garcetti, who represents the district where the actor lived. He died “from complications of advancing age,” his son-in-law, Gilbert Smith, later said.

“He was so gracious, and Aaron was always humbled by Ricardo’s gratitude for ’Fantasy Island,” said Candy Spelling, wife of the late Aaron Spelling, who created the show. “I miss him already, and wish his family well.”

Montalban had been a star in Mexican movies when MGM brought him to Hollywood in 1946. He was cast in the leading role opposite Esther Williams in “Fiesta,” and starred again with the swimming beauty in “On an Island with You” and “Neptune’s Daughter.”

But Montalban was best known as the faintly mysterious, white-suited Mr. Roarke, who presided over a tropical island resort where visitors fulfilled their lifelong dreams — usually at the unexpected expense of a difficult life lesson. “I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island,” he told arriving guests.

Montalban had already coined a cultural catchphrase before the show, which ran from 1978 to 1984. As the celebrity spokesman for mid-1970s models of the Chrysler Cordoba, Montalban unwittingly opened himself up to endless imitation when he described the car’s optional seats as being “available in soft, Corinthian leather.”

More recently, he appeared as villains in two hits of the 1980s: “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan” and — in line with his always-apparent sense of humor about himself — the farcical “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad.”

‘He was just a marvelous human being’
Montalban’s longtime friend and publicist David Brokaw said the actor was “exactly how you’d imagine him to be” off camera. “What you saw on the screen and on television and on talk shows, this very courtly, modest, dignified individual, that’s exactly who he was,” Brokaw said.

Raul Yzaguirre, longtime president of National Council of La Raza, called Montalban “a hero” and noted the actor’s contributions to his community. Montalban helped found the ALMA Awards, which honor and encourage fair portrayals of Latinos in entertainment.

“He was just a marvelous human being and an inspiration to be around,” Yzaguirre said. “I hope his spirit pervades more of Hollywood — the spirit of humility and excellence and giving back to the community and just plain decency.”

Between movie and TV roles, Montalban was active in the theater. He starred on Broadway in the 1957 musical “Jamaica” opposite Lena Horne, picking up a Tony nomination for best actor in a musical.

Montalban also toured in Shaw’s “Don Juan in Hell,” playing Don Juan, a performance critic John Simon later recalled as “irresistible.” In 1965 he appeared on tour in the Yul Brynner role in “The King and I.”

“Fantasy Island” received high ratings for most of its run on ABC, and still appears in reruns. Mr. Roarke and his sidekick, Tattoo, played by the 3-foot, 11-inch Herve Villechaize, reached the state of TV icons. Villechaize died in 1993.





(Mr. Montalban on the right)

[cornelius blaze]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28661103/

Fantasy Island’ star Ricardo Montalban dies
Mexican-born actor, 88, became a star in splashy MGM musicals

Gregg DeGuire / Getty Images file
Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as Mr. Roarke in TV's "Fantasy Island," died Wednesday morning at age 88.


updated 4:34 p.m. ET Jan. 14, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV’s “Fantasy Island,” died Wednesday morning at his home, his family said. He was 88.

Montalban’s death was first announced at a city council meeting by president Eric Garcetti, who represents the district where the actor lived. He died “from complications of advancing age,” his son-in-law, Gilbert Smith, later said.

“He was so gracious, and Aaron was always humbled by Ricardo’s gratitude for ’Fantasy Island,” said Candy Spelling, wife of the late Aaron Spelling, who created the show. “I miss him already, and wish his family well.”

Montalban had been a star in Mexican movies when MGM brought him to Hollywood in 1946. He was cast in the leading role opposite Esther Williams in “Fiesta,” and starred again with the swimming beauty in “On an Island with You” and “Neptune’s Daughter.”

But Montalban was best known as the faintly mysterious, white-suited Mr. Roarke, who presided over a tropical island resort where visitors fulfilled their lifelong dreams — usually at the unexpected expense of a difficult life lesson. “I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island,” he told arriving guests.

Montalban had already coined a cultural catchphrase before the show, which ran from 1978 to 1984. As the celebrity spokesman for mid-1970s models of the Chrysler Cordoba, Montalban unwittingly opened himself up to endless imitation when he described the car’s optional seats as being “available in soft, Corinthian leather.”

More recently, he appeared as villains in two hits of the 1980s: “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan” and — in line with his always-apparent sense of humor about himself — the farcical “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad.”

‘He was just a marvelous human being’
Montalban’s longtime friend and publicist David Brokaw said the actor was “exactly how you’d imagine him to be” off camera. “What you saw on the screen and on television and on talk shows, this very courtly, modest, dignified individual, that’s exactly who he was,” Brokaw said.

Raul Yzaguirre, longtime president of National Council of La Raza, called Montalban “a hero” and noted the actor’s contributions to his community. Montalban helped found the ALMA Awards, which honor and encourage fair portrayals of Latinos in entertainment.

“He was just a marvelous human being and an inspiration to be around,” Yzaguirre said. “I hope his spirit pervades more of Hollywood — the spirit of humility and excellence and giving back to the community and just plain decency.”

Between movie and TV roles, Montalban was active in the theater. He starred on Broadway in the 1957 musical “Jamaica” opposite Lena Horne, picking up a Tony nomination for best actor in a musical.

Montalban also toured in Shaw’s “Don Juan in Hell,” playing Don Juan, a performance critic John Simon later recalled as “irresistible.” In 1965 he appeared on tour in the Yul Brynner role in “The King and I.”

“Fantasy Island” received high ratings for most of its run on ABC, and still appears in reruns. Mr. Roarke and his sidekick, Tattoo, played by the 3-foot, 11-inch Herve Villechaize, reached the state of TV icons. Villechaize died in 1993.





(Mr. Montalban on the right)

oh dear poor old Khan

[I am a Ghost]

Used to love the TV show, never read a book though...


Rumpole of the Bailey creator John Mortimer dies

* Alison Flood
* The Guardian, Friday 16 January 2009
* Article history

Rumpole of the Bailey creator John Mortimer, 85, died this morning following a prolonged illness. His family said in a statement that they were by his side when he passed away.

Mortimer, who lived in what was formerly his father's house in the Chilterns, had been in a London hospital until a few days before Christmas before coming home, after which his condition deteriorated, said Tony Lacey, Mortimer's editor at Penguin.

The novelist, playwright and former barrister, who was born in London in 1923, was known and loved for the comic lawyer Rumpole, whose dedication to cheap wine and motto "never plead guilty", has been his most enduring creation. "He would announce to me on the phone that he thought he ought to 'do a Rumpole' on asbos or weapons of mass destruction, or some similar topic about which he felt particularly strongly. Rumpole and John became increasingly fused," said Lacey. Mortimer originally wrote the series for television, later spinning it off into a series of books and radio programmes.

Up until his death he was producing more than one book a year, with his confinement to a wheelchair not stopping him from touring a one-man show around the country.

His time as a barrister saw him representing many divorce clients and murderers, with his famous court appearances including the radical magazine Oz's censorship trial, the Linda Lovelace so-called Deep Throat case and numerous others involving alleged pornography. "I found criminal clients easy and matrimonial clients hard," he said. "Matrimonial clients hate each other so much and use their children to hurt each other in beastly ways. Murderers have usually killed the one person in the world that was bugging them and they're usually quite peaceful and agreeable."

His friend, the novelist Margaret Drabble, said today: "He was a great fighter, a great figure, and his record in defending literature and attacking censorship was absolutely brilliant. And he did it with such good humour - it was very hard to get cross with John. He was so unpompous about his defence of literature."

Indeed, his writing always seemed more of a vocation than his legal work, which he said was much harder than being a lawyer, despite having less disastrous results. "If you write a bad book, no one goes to prison which is rather a relief."

Mortimer worked with the Crown Film Unit during the war, writing a number of novels before turning to the theatre. He has also written a range of film scripts, and plays for television and radio, including A Voyage Around My Father, an adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, and the Rumpole plays, which won the British Academy Writer of the Year Award.

He wrote a trilogy of political novels about the rise of an ambitious Tory MP - Paradise Postponed, Titmuss Regained and The Sound of Trumpets, as well as four volumes of autobiography, receiving a knighthood for his services to the arts in 1998.

"John didn't believe in the afterlife. He borrowed a joke of his father's that eternity sounded frightfully like spending every day in the lounge of a Trusthouse Forte hotel," said Lacey. "I wouldn't wish the hotel lounge on him of course – he would find it torture, he was so easily bored – but it's hard to think he's gone. At least we're lucky enough to have Rumpole to remind us just how remarkable he was."

The author - who would start writing at around 5am, regularly having a glass of champagne first thing in the morning - said that "No one should grow old who isn't ready to appear ridiculous". "Dying," he opined, "is a matter of slapstick and prat falls".

"Even though he was so ill, there was still a great sense of shock when I learned of his death - at some level he seemed indestructible. He was always fantastically upbeat and funny, full of stories - but there was a measure of self-doubt there, underneath all the charm and confidence, about his literary status and how he would finally be seen," Tony Lacey, his editor of many years at Penguin books said. "He was forever asking 'how am I doing? Is it time for me to give up?'"

"He was the last of the great lunchers, a real throw back to the glory days of the 70s and 80s in publishing, I used his name shamelessly to get the best seats at The Ivy or Sheekey's. He was terrifically well informed, an avid news consumer, and if I arrived late for lunch he would always be buried in Private Eye, reading it from cover to cover - and he always knew more than was printed, about any story."

"For me he was the dream author, forever anxious to get onto the next project. He was working on another Rumpole, to be called Rumpole and the Younger Generation, which unusually was to be set in Oxford. When I last saw him, four or five days before Christmas in hospital, he assured me he was determined to get on with it. He had finally started to dictate it because his eyesight had got so bad - he had always written in longhand and his handwriting was diabolical, indescribable - and I was amazed at how fluent it was. He had completed three or four chapters, it was shaping up very well, very nicely plotted - and it's a great shame that we now will never see the book."

[bysshe]

oh dear poor old Khan

That man had amazing cleavage.