I've never been one to be starstruck but Anthony Bourdain was someone I came to respect tremendously for the range of talent he possessed. Being a foodie his breaking bread with people of every walk of life was something I too always tried to emulate. Tonight as I watch his last show from Berlin and knowing how he ended his life it is hard to not see the pain that went unnoticed. I am genuinely sad. Pay attention to the people in your lives, make sure they are okay and they know you are there for them. You never know when you might save a life. Blessings.
I just his last show. I'm not sure when they actually taped it as it still seemed fairly cold there. He seemed pretty content with his role. He must have been battling a lot psychological issues. Its really sad that he had to end his life. RIP!
Jon Paul Steuer, the first Alexander Rozhenko in Star Trek: The Next Generation, shot himself. He was 33.
Eunice Gayson, The First Bond Girl, Dies At 90 - N.Y. Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/obituaries/eunice-gayson-dead-bond.html Eunice Gayson, the British stage and film actress who earned a place in cinema history as the first Bond girl, died on Friday. She was 90. Ms. Gayson appeared in the first James Bond film, “Dr. No,” from 1962, as the sultry Sylvia Trench. She meets the British spy Bond (Sean Connery) at the elegant club Le Cercle over a game of cards. It was the first time he introduced himself as “Bond. James Bond.” Ms. Gayson repeated the role in “From Russia With Love” (1963), but the character was cut from subsequent movies after filmmakers decided to introduce a new “Bond girl” in every film. Ms. Gayson, who trained as an opera singer, came to “Dr. No” after performing the role of Baroness Elsa Schraeder in the 1961 London production of “The Sound of Music.” After appearing in the Bond films, she acted in television shows, among them two 1960s spy series, “The Saint” (which starred a future James Bond, Roger Moore) and “The Avengers.” She remained a fixture in London theater. Among other productions, she appeared in the comedy “The Grass Is Greener” in 1971 and, in the early ’90s, in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” as the grandmother. But it was as Sylvia Trench that she will no doubt be best remembered. In Ms. Gayson’s first scene with Mr. Connery, Bond sees her across the green felt-covered table clad in a crimson off-the-shoulder gown and asks her her name. “Trench,” she replies. “Sylvia Trench.” Whereupon Mr. Connery introduces himself: “Bond. James Bond.” It would become the movie franchise’s signature line. Movie viewers did not hear Ms. Gayson’s voice, however. Her lines were dubbed over by Nikki van der Zyl, a voice artist and dialogue coach who worked on several of the Bond films.
Longtime Elvis Presley drummer D.J. Fontana has died at 87. https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/new...fontana-has-died/ar-AAyDzJc?OCID=ansmsnnews11
Joe Jackson, patriarch of America's most famous musical clan, father ... Joe Jackson, musical family patriarch, dead at 89 Joe Jackson, Father of Michael and Janet Jackson, Dead at 89 Joe Jackson, Father to Michael and Janet, Dies of Pancreatic Cancer ... Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson dies at 89 Joe Jackson, Patriarch of the Jackson 5, Has Died at 89
"Harlan Ellison, Provocative Sci-Fi Writer of ‘Star Trek,’ ‘A Boy and His Dog,’ Dies at 84" (Variety.com - Thursday, 6/28/18)
Met him once in a bookstore in Boston, He was doing one of those "famous writer at work in our front window" promos and I dropped by to buy a half a dozen hard sci-fi novels for a long train trip that I expected to be dreary, He saw me and disapproved of one of my selections-- John Wyndham's "Day of the Triffids"-- and wandered around and pulled things I "should be reading" instead. I remember he picked a couple of things by TJ Bass and the "Orn/Omnivore/Ox" trilogy by Piers Anthony, both of which turned out to be great choices. I still think "Harlequin/Ticktockman" is the best short story sci/fi fantasy the sixties produced... and I reread "The Glass Teat" a couple years ago and was struck by how well it stood up for a book by someone too close to the subject. He was mostly just too honest to wander very far into wrong-- but I still don't know why he thought Zalman King was going to be The Next Big Thing. Ellison outlasted Emmett Grogan, Lou Reed, Jim Carroll-- but it feels like there's a whole demographic group of artists and quasi-artists kind of melting away into history...
I completely forgot that Jim Carroll was added to the list of "people who died" nearly a decade ago,.
Leonard Maltin with a remembrance of Harlan Ellison -- however, I actually think the Outer Limits episode being ripped-off was "Soldier"... I will never, ever forget how I first met celebrated science-fiction author Harlan Ellison. I was attending a morning showing of James Cameron’s breakthrough movie The Terminator in 1984, and signing in with the publicist on duty. When Harlan heard me say my name he approached me and offered a friendly hello. Then he told me why he was there: he had heard from reliable sources that the movie had taken key story ideas from his past work, specifically an episode of The Outer Limits called “Demon with a Glass Hand.” The theater wasn’t crowded but we sat in separate rows, not far from each other. My experience watching this now-famous movie was punctuated by Harlan’s outbursts and expletives. (“Jesus Christ!” “I can’t believe it” and such.) He later told me he fully intended to sue—a process that, I learned, was not uncommon to him—and sure enough, he won. The producers were forced to insert a credit for him in the closing crawl of the picture. http://leonardmaltin.com/rememering-harlan-ellison/ Arline Martel and Robert Culp in "Demon With A Glass Hand" Michael Ansara and Lloyd Nolan in "Soldier" Harlan Ellison, Intensely Prolific Science Fiction Writer, Dies At 84 - N.Y. Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/...olific-science-fiction-writer-dies-at-84.html
Choreographer Gillian Lynne of 'Cats' fame dies at age 92. https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertain...e-dies-at-age-92/ar-AAzsBFY?OCID=ansmsnnews11
Ashamed that I only now just discovered this and a bit shocked that it hadn't been mentioned here. Walter Bahr passed away on June 18. Aged 91, he was the last living member of the USA's 1950 World Cup team that defeated England 1-0. Sadly, he's probably more recognized in this country in general as being the father of Chris and Matt, two former NFL placekickers who each won Super Bowl rings. A very belated R.I.P.
Yeah I think I saw it somewhere in the boards. Sadly, non soccer fans didn't know who he was. I'm sure they knew/know Matt & Chris from the NFL though.
Steve Ditko, Spider-Man Co-Creator & Legendary Comics Artist, Dies At 90 - Hollywood Reporter https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/steve-ditko-dead-spider-man-creator-was-90-1125489 Artist Steve Ditko, who co-created Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Stan Lee, has died. He was 90. The New York Police Department confirmed his death. No cause of death was announced. Ditko was found dead in his apartment on June 29 and it is believed he died about two days earlier. In 1961, Ditko and Lee created Spider-Man. Lee, the editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics, gave Ditko the assignment after he wasn't satisfied with Jack Kirby's take on the idea of a teen superhero with spider powers. The look of Spider-Man — the costume, the web-shooters, the red and blue design — all came from Ditko. Spider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy No. 15. The comic was an unexpected hit, and the character was spun off into The Amazing Spider-Man. Ditko helped create such classic Spider-Man characters as Doctor Octopus, Sandman, the Lizard and Green Goblin. Starting with issue No. 25, Ditko received a plot credit in addition to his artist credit. Ditko's run ended with issue No. 38. In 1963, Ditko created the surreal and psychedelic hero, Doctor Strange. The character debuted in Strange Tales No. 110, and Ditko continued on the comic through issue No. 146, cover dated July 1966. The reclusive Ditko was known as the "J.D. Salinger" of comics. From the 1970s on, he rarely spoke on the record, declining almost every interview request. He sat out the publicity booms that accompanied the Spider-Man films and the Doctor Strange movie. “We didn’t approach him. He’s like J.D. Salinger. He is private and has intentionally stayed out of the spotlight like J.D. Salinger," Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson told Hollywood Reporter in 2016. "I hope he goes to see the movie, wherever he is, because I think we paid homage to his work." Ditko maintained a Manhattan studio until his death, where he continued to write and draw, though how much, and what unpublished material remains, is unknown.
The Times has a fine obit for Mr. Ditko... Steve Ditko, Influential Comic-Book Artisit And Co-Creator Of Spider-Man, Dies at 90 - N.Y. Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/07/obituaries/steve-ditko-dead-spider-man.html
Tab Hunter, 86 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/...column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news Tab Hunter, the tall, blond, blue-eyed movie star who as a teenage idol in the 1950s was one of the last products of the Hollywood studio system — and who made an unlikely comeback in a very un-Hollywood film when he was almost 50 {John Waters' Polyster} — died on Sunday in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 86. His death was confirmed by his spouse, Allan Glaser, who said the cause was cardiac arrest after a blood clot moved from Mr. Hunter’s leg to his lung. Arthur Gelien was 17 when the agent Henry Willson gave him a new name and added him to a roster of clients that included Rock Hudson, Robert Wagner and Rory Calhoun. “Acting skill,” Mr. Hunter said in his 2005 autobiography, “Tab Hunter Confidential” (written with Eddie Muller), “was secondary to chiseled features and a fine physique.”
Adrian Cronauer, The Real 'Good Morning Vietnam' DJ - BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44897634 Adrian Cronauer, who served as inspiration for Robin Williams' breakout character in the 1987 film "Good Morning, Vietnam", has died in Virginia aged 79. Like his eponymous character, Cronauer was a radio presenter in Saigon in 1965 and 1966 known best for his enthusiastic early morning greeting and penchant for playing rock'n'roll tunes to raise American troops' morale during the Vietnam War. But Hollywood took a lot of liberties in its depiction of the air force sergeant. Cronauer joined the US air force, doing his training in San Antonio and Wichita Falls, Texas. His first deployment was to the island of Crete in Greece - where he spent a year-and-a-half and developed his signature radio greeting. Keen to travel, Cronauer says he actually volunteered for a transfer to Vietnam, where he was hired initially as a news director for Armed Forces Radio there. After his morning presenter left, he took up the 06:00 Dawn Buster show mantle, greeting troops with an enthusiastic yell of: "GOOOOOOOOD morning, Vietnam!" Cronauer shunned traditional favourites and shelved them for music of the time: treating US troops to jams from the Righteous Brothers, Tom Jones and the Beatles.He told the Fayetteville Observer he wanted to serve as an antidote to the homesickness and culture shock affecting thousands of young American men over in Vietnam, who in their teens and twenties had been picked up and "dumped in a totally alien environment". But Cronauer was never the local celebrity or subversive that late comedy star Robin Williams made him out to be. The role instead became a showcase for the frenetic Williams, who ad-libbed much of the broadcast depictions. Williams acknowledged that the real-life Cronauer was not the "radio desperado" he portrayed.
Chiyo Miyako, the world’s oldest person (born May 2, 1901) died Sunday (July 22nd) at age 117. https://apnews.com/27f64cb0e0034083ab5e6d154469bc39 Her death was confirmed Friday by Kanagawa prefecture, her home state south of Tokyo.