 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
News and Entertainment
Buddy Arnold - Jazz saxophonist who played with luminaries like Buddy Rich, Tommy Dorsey and Stan Kenton and recorded four solo albums of his own for Capitol Records, who spent many years in prison for drug-related offenses, but who in 1992 founded the Musicians' Assistance Program, a drug and alcohol treatment program for musicians, died Nov. 9 in Los Angeles after open heart surgery at age 77.
Just Betzer - Danish movie producer best known for his 1987 film "Babette's Feast" which won the Oscar for best foreign-language film in 1988, who was one of Denmark's leading movie producers and distributors, died Nov. 6 of a heart attack in his home in Denmark at age 59.
Robert Brown - Scottish actor who appeared in nearly 60 films since the 1940's, but who is best known for roles in several James Bond films including "The Spy Who Loved Me" (as Admiral Hargreaves), and as Sir Miles Messervey in four subsequent films, "Octopussy", "A View to a Kill", "The Living Daylights" and "License to Kill", died the week of Nov. 11 in Swanage, England at age 85.
Art Carney - Oscar and Emmy winning actor best known for his role as sewer worker Ed Norton, sidekick to Jackie Gleason in the 1950's TV series "The Honeymooners", but who was also known for his movie roles including the Oscar-winning role in 1974's "Harry and Tonto" as well as other films like "The Late Show", "Sunburn", "Roadie" and "Last Action Hero", died Nov. 9 in Chester, CT of undisclosed causes at age 85.
Al Corey - A fixture in the Maine music scene for more than 50 years, well-known in the area as saxophonist and leader of El Corey's Big Band (His real first name was Elias), and who owned Al Corey's Music Center in Waterville, Maine since the 1940's, still in operation today, died Nov. 9 in Waterville, ME at age 86.
Bill Crider - Longtime newsman with the Associated Press best known for an incident in 1962 when he was shot in the back during the riots over integration at the University of Mississippi, who went on to become a member of the AP civil rights team in the 1960s, covering the struggles of desegregation across the South, died Nov. 9 in New Orleans after a long illness at age 83.
Cameron Duncan - Award-winning New Zealand filmmaker who captured the hearts of New Zealanders after being diagnosed with cancer, whose countrymen and "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson, helped raise thousands of dollars to send him to the U.S. for treatment, died Nov. 12 in Houston, TX of renal failure at the age of 17.
Hal England - Stage actor who guest starred in dozens of TV shows from the 1960's to the 2000's, shows like "My Favorite Martian", "Bewitched" (as the lovesick warlock Waldo), "Sanford and Son", "Barnaby Jones" and "Murder She Wrote", died Nov. 6 in Burbank, CA of heart failure at age 71.
Reggie Groff - Martial arts instructor and film company owner, who founded both the Maine Karate Association and Groff Films, Inc. which specializes in Direct Response Television (infomercials), died Nov. 13 in Portland, ME at age 67.
Anna Eatman Harris - Dressmaker for Broadway stars and maid to Broadway and Ziegfeld Follies star Marilyn Miller in the 1920's, died Nov. 7 in Washington, DC of anemia at age 103.
Anthony "Wolf" Jones - Bodyguard for Sean "P. Diddy" Combs during a December 27, 1999, incident in which Diddy and protégé rapper Shyne (Jamal Barrow) were accused of firing weapons inside a Manhattan nightclub, who was arrested with Combs fleeing the scene of the shooting, but who was later acquitted of all charges, was shot to death on Nov. 11 outside a nightclub in Atlanta at age 36.
Narayan Keshavan - Veteran Indian-American journalist and political lobbyist, who was executive director of the Indian American Forum for Political Education and a long-time player in Indo-US relations, who had just appeared on CNN and was interviewed by Lou Dobbs on for a piece on the outsourcing of technology jobs to India, collapsed and died of a heart attack on Nov. 13 in New York City at age 53.
Irv Kupcinet - Legendary gossip columnist, who wrote about celebrities for the Chicago Sun-Times for over 60 years, who became a television personality on the Emmy-winning "At Random" interview show, who played one season in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1935 and even broadcast several games for the Chicago Bears, and whose daughter Karyn was murdered in Nov. 1963 in a case that's never been solved and has been the subject much conjecture in relation to the JFK assassination, died Nov. 10 in Chicago at age 91.
Dorothy Loudon - Broadway star who won a Tony Award in 1977 for her portrayal of the mean-spirited orphanage manager in the smash musical "Annie", who also had notable roles in "Sweeney Todd" and "Ballroom", and who was a frequent guest on such programs as "The Perry Como Show" and "The Ed Sullivan Show", died Nov. 15 in New York City of cancer at age 70.
Andy Moss (aka Andre Este) - Trinidad-born singer who toured South America (and possibly Europe) claiming to have been a member of The Platters during 1958 and 1959 on their hits "Remember When" and "Only You", but who was not known to any of the members of the Platters during that period, died in poverty on Oct. 22 of Parkinson's disease in Santiago, Chile at age 77.
Eduardo Palomo - Sexy, long-haired Mexican television star who appeared in dozens of TV serials including his best-known role as Juan de Diablo in "Corazon Salvaje", who had recently crossed over to U.S. TV, appearing "Kingpin" and the upcoming "A Day Without a Mexican", died of a heart attack on Nov. 8 in Glendale, CA at age 41.
Richard Pearson - Obituary writer for The Washington Post, who wrote hundreds of obituaries for the paper since 1977, died Nov. 11 of pancreatic cancer in Arlington, VA at age 54.
James "Spider" Rich - Guitarist and songwriter, best known for co-writing the familiar hit song "Yakety Sax" for Boots Randolph, which was later a hit for Chet Atkins and became the theme song for "The Benny Hill Show", died Nov. 9 in Winchester, TN at age 80.
Dorothy "Fay" Ritter - Actress and widow of the late singing cowboy Tex Ritter and mother of the late comedic actor John Ritter, who appeared in a string of "B" westerns opposite her husband in the 1940's as Dorothy Fay (strangely enough, the only non-B movie she appeared in was the 1940 classic "The Philadelphia Story"), and who was reported as dead in an obituary by the London Daily Telegraph in 2001 (John had to contact the obituaries desk himself to prove his mother was very much alive), died Nov. 5 after a long illness in Woodland Hills, CA at the age of 88.
Stefano Rolla - Italian screenwriter and film director who worked on films like "Sacco and Vanzetti", "Deep Red" and "My Name Is Nobody" (with Henry Fonda), who unveiled the film "Clown in Kabul" (about Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams' travels to post-Taliban Afghanistan) at the 2002 Venice Film Festival and who was in Nasiriya, Iraq filming a documentary about peacekeeping forces there, was killed in the car bomb attack on the Italian military headquarters in Nasiriya on Nov. 12 along with 26 other people. He was 65 years old.
Grady Shadburn - Albany, Georgia children's TV show host known as Captain Mercury on the show originating from WALB and broadcast in southwest Georgia, who showed cartoons and Three Stooges episodes while wearing a flight suit and commanding the 'Spacescope', died Nov. 11 in Albany, GA at age 71.
Penny Singleton - Actress best known for the 28 films she made playing "Blondie", based on the popular Chic Young comic strip about the misadventures of a small town family, which also starred Arthur Lake (died 1987) as Dagwood Bumstead, and who later became the voice of Jane Jetson in the television cartoon series "The Jetsons", died Nov. 12 in Los Angeles at age 95.
Bill Smillie - Actor who appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, including the films "Die Hard 2", "Singles" and "The Philadelphia Experiment", and on TV in "The Bill Cosby Show", "The West Wing", "Charmed" and "Married With Children", died Nov. 12 in Los Angeles of cancer at age 78.
Guy Speranza - Singer and guitarist for the 1970's and 80's heavy metal group Riot, who performed on the band's first three studio records, 1977's "Rock City", 1979's "Narita" and 1981's "Fire Down Under", died Nov. 8 in Orlando, FL of pancreatic cancer at age 47.
Tony Thompson - Noted session drummer who was a member of two supergroups in the 1970's and 80's, the disco-funk group Chic who had big hits with "Le Freak", "Good Times" and "Dance, Dance, Dance" and later superstar rock group Power Station (which included Robert Palmer) who had top 10 hits with "Some Like It Hot" and "Get It On", died Nov. 12 in Los Angeles of renal cell cancer at age 47.
Kellie Waymire - Familiar and prolific TV actress who may be best known for playing crewman Elizabeth Cutler on "Enterprise", the latest Star Trek series, but who is also a semi-regular on HBO's "Six Feet Under" playing Melissa, and who appeared as a guest in a slew of TV shows including "Friends", "CSI", "Judging Amy", "X-Files", "The Practice", "Ally McBeal" and "Seinfield", died Nov. 13 of an aneurysm in Los Angeles at age 35.
Wesley "Speedy" West - Steel guitar virtuoso who bridged the western swing and rockabilly eras with eye-popping steel guitar licks, who contributed to thousands of country music sessions, who had numerous solo recordings but who is best remembered for his recordings with partner Jimmy Bryant in the 1950's and 60's, died Nov. 15 in Broken Arrow, OK at age 79.
Randy Wong - Houston radio personality known as "Mister Randy" on KTBZ-FM, died Nov. 7 of pancreatic cancer in Houston at age 53.
Jimmy Woolsey - Pianist and composer who played with such bands as the Glenn Miller and Jackie Gleason orchestras, as well as with Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, who wrote "As Time Goes By" and "USO Boogie" for Glenn Miller, and whose two-night a week piano-playing stint at a New Jersey restaurant garnered him a nomination as Oldest American Worker, died Nov. 7 in Sussex, NJ at age 103.
Sports
Scott Hartman - Tennessee high school decathlon champion and track and field record-holder, whose sporting career ended in 1987 while competing at the University of Tennessee, when an errant hammer, thrown in practice, struck him in the back of the head causing a catastrophic brain injury, died Oct. 12 in Brentwood, TN at age 36.
Joe Kleinerman - Runner and track coach who was a key figure in developing the New York Road Runners Club, the group that put together the New York City Marathon, died Nov. 11 in New York City at age 91.
Lloyd Pettit - Radio and TV play-by-play announcer for the NHL Chicago Blackhawks from 1961 until 1975, who co-owned the Milwaukee Admirals AHL team, who with his wife Jane Bradley, donated the money to build Milwaukee's Bradley Center, which hosts the Admirals, and Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette University basketball games, and who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986, died Nov. 11 in Milwaukee at age 76.
David Silveti - Third-generation Mexican matador, who was known as King David to his fans, who rose to the top of his profession despite physical and mental ailments that dogged him for years, whose ability to communicate passionate involvement in what he was doing made him a leading star in the sport, was found dead at his family ranch in the city of Salamanca, Mexico on Nov. 12 with a bullet hole to his head in an apparent suicide at the age of 48.
Dick Squires - Noted platform tennis player and racket sport magazine publisher, who won three national titles in the sport, who published the magazines Tennis Buyer's Guide and Tennis USTA, and who wrote several books on the sport including "Play Platform Tennis" (I must admit I have no idea what 'platform tennis' is), died Nov. 12 of emphysema in Rowayton, CT at age 72.
Ned Wulk - Head basketball coach at Arizona State from 1958 until 1982, who coached the Sun Devils to 17 winning seasons and 9 NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 1980-81 team which finished 24-3 with a number 3 national ranking, who coached such future NBA players as Lafayette Lever, Byron Scott and Joe Caldwell, and for whom the court at Wells Fargo Arena is named, died Nov. 15 in Tempe, AZ of cancer at age 83.
Art and Literature
Helen Friedman Blackshear - Author and poet who wrote or edited about a dozen books, including collections of poetry, memoirs, history and fiction, and who served as Alabama's poet laureate from 1995 to 1999, died Nov. 11 in Tuscaloosa, AL at age 92.
Derk Bodde - Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and author of several influential books on China including "Tolstoy and China" and "Peking Diary: A Year of Revolution", the first full-length account of the Chinese revolution by a neutral observer, died Nov. 3 in Philadelphia at age 94.
Mohamed Choukri - One of Morocco's greatest contemporary authors, whose tales about his experiences with drugs and homosexuality were banned in Morocco, whose best known book was "For Bread Alone", and who had friends like greats Jean Genet, Paul Bowles and Tennessee Williams, died Nov. 15 of cancer in Tangiers, Morocco at age 68.
Ann Cornelisen - American expatriate writer who wrote highly-praised books about her life and work in poverty-stricken southern Italy, including the titles "Torregreca: Life, Death, Miracles", "Vendetta of Silence" and "Women of the Shadows: Wives and Mothers of Southern Italy", died Nov. 12 in Rome, GA (not Italy!) at age 77.
Roseline Delisle - Internationally renowned ceramic artist known for her style that was distinctive for its perfectly crafted forms and geometric surface decorations, whose works are in the collections of art museums around the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, died Nov. 12 in Santa Monica, CA of ovarian cancer at age 50.
Gordon Onslow Ford - Renowned metaphysical painter who was the last living member of the Parisian Surrealists group of the 1930's led by Andre Breton, whose "Line, Circle, Dot" trademark became the focal point for his paintings, who taught and influenced numerous prominent artists including Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, and Arshile Gorky, and whose paintings are in collections at some of the worlds most prominent museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Tate Gallery in London and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, died Nov. 9 in Inverness, CA at age 90.
Giles Gordon - Prominent Scottish literary agent whose clients included Vikram Seth, Sue Townsend, Fay Weldon and Peter Ackroyd, who himself had published six novels and who was known for his deep love of writers and the written word, died Nov. 13 in Edinburgh, Scotland from injuries suffered in a fall at his home two weeks earlier. He was 63 years old.
Nola Langner - Award-winnng illustrator and author of more than 30 children's books, including the notable "Earrings!", "Half a Kingdom" and "Happy Silly Birthday to Me", died Oct. 28 of heart failure in New York at age 73.
Mario Merz - Famed Italian artist known for using whatever materials he could find to make art, including bottles, pillows and umbrellas, which gave rise to the art from known as 'arte povera' (poor art) in the late 1960's, and whose signature pieces are igloo shapes made from stone, wood and canvas, died Nov. 9 in Milan, Italy at age 78.
Betty Moynihan - Author, historian and syndicated columnist, who wrote about women of the old West and was best known for her biography "Augusta Tabor: A Pioneering Woman", died Oct. 26 in Lakewood, CO at age 84.
Miquel Martí i Pol - Nobel prize-nominated Catalan poet, who was highly regarded as a cantautor (singer-poet), accompanying himself on a guitar on several albums recorded in the 1950's, whose volumes of poems include "Paraules al vent" ("Words in the Wind") and "La Fabrica" ("The Factory"), died Nov. 11 of respiratory failure in Roda de Ter, Spain at age 74.
Marvin Smith - Famed Harlem photographer with his identical twin brother Morgan Smith (died 1993), who strove to bring light to the positive happenings in Harlem (portrayed by the general media as a community of hustlers and other low-life types), who were the subject of a 1995 PBS documentary, and whose retrospective was published in the 1998 book "Harlem: The Vision of Morgan and Marvin Smith", died Nov. 9 in New York City at age 93.
Michael Sutty - British sculptor who produced busts and figurines, mostly of uniformed military personnel, in ceramic, clay, china and porcelain, and whose works were described as so complex and technically difficult that they were "unmakeable", died Nov. 5 in England at age 66.
Politics and Military
Rev. Canaan Banana - Zimbabwe's first post-independence president starting in 1980, which was largely a ceremonial position and taken over by prime minister Robert Mugabe in 1987, who was later convicted and jailed on a sodomy conviction, died Nov. 10 after a long illness in Marare, Zimbabwe at age 67. (And he gets my funny name of the year vote as well).
Robert Hodges - Oldest known U.S. war veteran, who fought in France during World War I and who was the grandson of slaves, died Nov. 10 in New Bern, NC at age 112.
John E. Lyle - U.S. congressman from Texas who served as a Democrat for five terms from 1945 to 1954, who later served on Presidential Commissions under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Reagan, died Nov. 11 in his sleep in Houston at age 93.
A. James Manchin - Colorful West Virginia political figure, who as a Democrat served as state representative, secretary of state and state treasurer beginning in the 1950's, and who was known for his booming voice and his dramatic speeches on the House floor, died suddenly on Nov. 3 of a heart attack in Fairmont, WV at age 76.
Brigitte Sauzay - Well-known French diplomat and one of the most influential women in Europe, known for her work bolstering Germany-France relations, who served as translator for French President Francois Mitterrand and advisor to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who wrote several books and co-founded the Berlin-Brandenburg Institute for German-French Cooperation, died Nov. 11 in Paris of unreleased causes at age 55.
Ted C. Wills - Mayor of Fresno, California from 1969 to 1977, who pushed for major redevelopments in the area, and who lost re-election in 1977 by only 118 votes, died Nov. 6 in Fresno at age 91.
Social and Religion
Jim Borin - Australian bridge champion and columnist for The Age, who with his wife Norma became bridge playing phenoms, winning the Australian Open Butler Tournament eight times in a 12 year period, and who wrote the 1981 book "Our Precision Style", died Nov. 13 in Melbourne, Australia of heart failure at age 68.
John Daniels - North Carolina man who in 1990 strangled his 77-year-old aunt, Isabelle Crawford, after she refused to give him money, who then stole $70 from her purse to buy cocaine, was executed by lethal injection on Nov. 14 in Raleigh, NC at age 46.
C. Z. Guest (Lucy Douglas Guest) - New York socialite and authority on gardening, a perennial selection on the best-dressed list who was considered one of America's classic beauties, who produced several notable gardening books including "First Garden" and wrote a gardening column that appeared in over 350 newspapers, and who had an astounding list of society friends including Truman Capote, Ernest Hemingway and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, died Nov. 8 in Old Westbury, CT at age 83.
Mitoyo Kawate - Japanese woman who became the oldest document person in the world just two weeks ago after the death of Kamato Hongo, died Nov. 13 in Hiroshima, Japan at age 114.
Rev. Jerry Pereira - President of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, who studied the ministry under Billy Graham, and who urged conservatives and moderates to work together to convert more people to Christianity rather than focusing on their differences, died Nov. 7 in Swannanoa, NC of cancer at age 50.
Hava Rexha - Albanian woman who was perhaps the world's oldest person, who claimed to be born in 1880 and married in 1894, but whose documentation was never authenticated by Guinness Book (she would also have been the oldest person ever documented), died Nov. 8 in Shushice, Albania at age 123.
Edward L. Schempp - Social activist who won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1963 (School District of Abington Township v. Schempp) which effectively banned Bible-reading in schools, who had sued his children's school district in Abington, Pennsylvania after his son was punished for refusing to read the Bible in school (his family were strict Unitarians), died Nov. 8 of heart failure in Hayward, CA at age 95.
Cyla Wiesenthal - Concentration camp survivor who was married for 67 years to famed Nazi hunter Simon Weisenthal, who is credited with bringing about 1,100 Nazi criminals to justice, died Nov. 10 in Vienna, Austria at age 95.
Business and Science
Stephen Benton - Inventor of the white-light transmission holography, or the rainbow hologram, in 1968 (holographs are light wave patterns on film or glass with images that appear three dimensional), whose research has been used to create three-dimensional CT and MRI images for medical diagnoses, and which are widely used on credit cards and driver's licenses to thwart counterfeiters, died Nov. 9 of brain cancer in Boston at age 61.
Charles L. Brown - President and chairman of AT&T from 1977 until 1986, who made the decision to settle the government's antitrust case by dismantling the company in 1982, creating the 7 "Baby Bells" in 1984, died Nov. 12 in Richmond, VA at age 82.
Seymour Cohn - New York real estate mogul who was chairman of Sylvan Lawrence Company which had holdings valued at more than $1 billion, and who also was a stalwart of New York racing and breeding for more than 50 years, died Nov. 13 in New York City at age 92.
Dr. Donald Griffin - Zoologist who founded the controversial field of animal study known as cognitive ethology, the study of animal thinking and consciousness, who in 1978 suggested that animals have the ability to think and reason and that scientists should study these mental processes, and whose work has been both praised and panned in the scientific community, died Nov. 7 in Lexington, MA at age 88.
Dr. Paul Janssen - Belgian researcher who founded the international pharmaceutical company Janssen Pharmaceutica, which employs 16,000 people worldwide, and makes prescription medications ranging from anti-psychotic drugs to anti-fungal medication, died Nov. 11 while in Rome for a conference at age 77.
Jack Mehrman - Minnesota man who was part of a groundbreaking medical procedure in 1954, who served as a human heart-lung machine for his 4-year-old son during life-saving open heart surgery, who during the procedure had tubes from the boy's body running into his major arteries, carrying clean, oxygenated blood from his body back to his son (his son Bradley is now 53 years old), died Oct. 20 in Brooklyn Park, MN at age 75.
Dr. William Montgomery - Pioneering surgeon who originated many techniques that are now widely used in operations on the throat and the vocal cords, who operated on luminaries such as actor Jack Klugman when he was suffering from vocal cord paralysis, and who wrote the textbook "Surgery of the Upper Respiratory System", died Nov. 7 of bladder cancer in Brookline, MA at age 80.
Linda C. Quinn - Securities specialist and influential figure at the Securities and Exchange Commission in the 1980's and 1990's, who during her tenure there oversaw regulatory changes that reduced barriers to foreign investment in the United States, and who was called "one of the most important authorities on securities regulation in the last 25 years", died Nov. 11 of breast cancer in Dalton, MA at age 55.
Laurence Tisch - Self-made billionaire who oversaw the Loews Corporation, a financial corporation with assets of over $70 billion, including a hotel chain, a tobacco company, an insurance firm and an offshore drilling company, who spent nine tumultuous years as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of CBS Inc. from 1986-95, died Nov. 15 in New York City of cancer at age 80.
Return to Top