In Memoriam: Celebrity Deaths

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

35 minutes ago, MissAlmond said:

Actress Joan Staley has died, age 79.

I'm a sucker for The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and The Case of the Double Entry Mind is one of my favorite Perry Mason episodes.  R.I.P. Ms. Staley.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/joan-staley-dead-actress-ghost-mr-chicken-roustabout-was-79-1258516

https://deadline.com/2019/11/joan-staley-dead-the-ghost-and-mr-chicken-77-sunset-strip-actress-1202797420/

https://comicbook.com/dc/2019/11/30/joan-staley-batman-dick-van-dyke-show-actress-dead-at-79/

Oh no! How sad!

[Brookside 6.3k]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50619991

Irving Burgie, composer of the iconic Day-O, dies at age 95.  I challenge you to get through the day without this as an earworm - a happy earworm though!

[Blergh 12.9k]

2 hours ago, Brookside said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50619991

Irving Burgie, composer of the iconic Day-O, dies at age 95.  I challenge you to get through the day without this as an earworm - a happy earworm though!

Mr. Burgie wrote a catchy tune,to be sure- yet the lyrics of having to labor throughout the night for nothing but a 'drink of rum' were somewhat sad. 

However; it did help propel the Harlem-born Harry Belafonte into fame as a singer which he would use to have an illustrious acting career.

 RIP, Mr. Burgie.

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

14 hours ago, Brookside said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50619991

Irving Burgie, composer of the iconic Day-O, dies at age 95.  I challenge you to get through the day without this as an earworm - a happy earworm though!

And he died from heart failure apparently. I didn’t know that he was sick.

[Calamity Jane 5.2k]

On 11/10/2019 at 1:47 PM, MikaelaArsenault said:

Oh that’s very sad!

A sixth-grade girl in our school district, 12 years old, daughter of a local judge, well cared for and loved, died one night of an asthma attack.  So shocking and almost unbelievable, but it happens.  

[MisterGlass 3.3k]

Shelley Morrison, who played Rosario on Will & Grace, has passed away.  Rest in peace.

[Bastet 45.9k]

3 minutes ago, MisterGlass said:

Shelley Morrison, who played Rosario on Will & Grace, has passed away.

I didn't watch the show, but during that time she was my friend's landlord; I remember her as a nice woman with good stories.

[kariyaki 15.8k]

1 hour ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

And he died from heart failure apparently. I didn’t know that he was sick.

Pretty much everybody who lives to be that age is going to die of heart failure. Doesn’t mean they’re sick, just means they’re old.

[BW Manilowe 13.1k]

From CNN: Auburn Football Legend and Heisman Trophy Winner Pat Sullivan Dies

He died due to cancer. He was 69 years old.

[bobalina 647]

RIP Sister Sixto.

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

6 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

Shelley Morrison, who played Rosario on Will & Grace, has passed away.  Rest in peace.

She died from heart failure after a brief illness.

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

Different articles are saying that Shelley either died of heart failure or heart failure after a brief illness.

[Blergh 12.9k]

What's especially ironic about the recently deceased performer known as Shelley Morrison who originally shot to fame playing the Puerto Rican Catholic nun Sister Sixto was she was born in the Bronx, her original name was Rachel Mitrani- and her parents were Sephardic Jews. Well, despite changing her name, Miss Morrison DID celebrate her Hispanic heritage and gave heart to her roles. RIP, Mrs.Dominguez!

[SunnyBeBe 26.0k]

She had a long career doing what she loved. I enjoyed her work. 

[meowmommy 6.4k]

16 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Pretty much everybody who lives to be that age is going to die of heart failure. Doesn’t mean they’re sick, just means they’re old.

Heart failure is actually a very specific disease that not everyone gets, and young people get it, too.  It means failure of the myocardium, the heart muscle, to pump blood effectively, due to either thinning or thickening of the left ventricular wall, and there are multiple potential causes.  It's not a heart attack and it's not cardiac arrest. 

Now, if you see an obituary that says the person died of cardiac arrest and no underlying cause is given, feel free to roll your eyes.  100% of people die in cardiac arrest...just means the heart stopped beating.  

[BooksRule 4.7k]

I guess this counts as a celebrity death.  Li'l Bub the 'internet cat sensation' has died at the age of 8.  She was a cutie (and the only other internet cat I recognized apart from Grumpy Cat).

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/02/entertainment/lil-bub-cat-death-trnd/index.html

[Mindthinkr 42.0k]

Robert K. Massie has passed. He wrote a lot of historical books about the Romanovs. Including the book Nicholas and Alexandra on which the movie was based upon. Obit is in the N.Y.Times. Sorry I can’t post links. 

[doodlebug 51.2k]

37 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

Robert K. Massie has passed. He wrote a lot of historical books about the Romanovs. Including the book Nicholas and Alexandra on which the movie was based upon. Obit is in the N.Y.Times. Sorry I can’t post links. 

Tremendous author.  He also wrote superb biographies of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.  He also wrote an excellent book describing the search for the remains of Nicholas and Alexandra and their children including the forensic and DNA evidence used to prove their identities after their bones were discovered.

[Blergh 12.9k]

Amazingly enough that Mr. Massie and his first wife Suzanne were motivated to   move mountains  (including no small amount of red tape re getting documents from the Soviets in the mid 1960's) when writing about Czar Nicholas II of Russia and his wife Princess Alix of Hesse due their own  identification being the parents of a hemophiliac son (Robert IV who, incredibly, HAS survived his father at age 63).    RIP, Mr. Massie  and , END Alzheimer's ! 

[Hiyo 3.4k]

Not a good time to be a young entertainer in Korea...

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/korean-actor-cha-in-ha-dead-dies-at-27-1203422020/

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

12 hours ago, BooksRule said:

I guess this counts as a celebrity death.  Li'l Bub the 'internet cat sensation' has died at the age of 8.  She was a cutie (and the only other internet cat I recognized apart from Grumpy Cat).

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/02/entertainment/lil-bub-cat-death-trnd/index.html

That’s sad to hear about.

12 hours ago, BooksRule said:

I guess this counts as a celebrity death.  Li'l Bub the 'internet cat sensation' has died at the age of 8.  She was a cutie (and the only other internet cat I recognized apart from Grumpy Cat).

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/02/entertainment/lil-bub-cat-death-trnd/index.html

Lil Bub died in her sleep on December 1, 2019. According to her owner, Lil Bub had been fighting a bone infection at the time of her death.

[MissAlmond 7.5k]

On 12/1/2019 at 9:07 PM, MisterGlass said:

Shelley Morrison, who played Rosario on Will & Grace, has passed away.  Rest in peace.

On 12/1/2019 at 9:13 PM, Bastet said:

I didn't watch the show, but during that time she was my friend's landlord; I remember her as a nice woman with good stories.

I didn't watch Will & Grace either but upon seeing photos/clips of Morrison's other roles, I remembered her from watching The Flying Nun reruns and Troop Beverly Hills. R.I.P. Ms. Morrison.  

[MissAlmond 7.5k]

13 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Robert K. Massie has passed. He wrote a lot of historical books about the Romanovs. Including the book Nicholas and Alexandra on which the movie was based upon. Obit is in the N.Y.Times. Sorry I can’t post links. 

For reasons long forgotten, I chose to read Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra as one of my middle school book reports.  It not only gave me a richer understanding of events leading to WWI but also led me to read an abridged version of War and Peace.  I still follow royal families today and find it interesting how some of Nicholas and Alexandra's kin are clueless about aspects of current times as they were back in the day.  So thank you Mr. Massie and R.I.P.  

Edited Tuesday at 02:42 PM by MissAlmond

[GHScorpiosRule 43.0k]

13 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Robert K. Massie has passed. He wrote a lot of historical books about the Romanovs. Including the book Nicholas and Alexandra on which the movie was based upon. Obit is in the N.Y.Times. Sorry I can’t post links. 

I enjoyed his books. I read the one where he wrote about the massacre of the Romanovs, and how DNA exposed the last of the charlatan, who had claimed to be Anastasia. His writing wasn't dry or boring, like other authors I've read (not on this subject, but like, Culloden). And I loved it so much I got the book he wrote about Nicholas and Alexandra.

Time for a re-read I think.

[Mindthinkr 42.0k]

8 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Time for a re-read I think.

I think so too. I read this many years ago and feel as though I would get so much more out of it now that I’m older and understand more. 

[MissAlmond 7.5k]

13 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Robert K. Massie has passed. He wrote a lot of historical books about the Romanovs. Including the book Nicholas and Alexandra on which the movie was based upon. Obit is in the N.Y.Times.  Sorry I can’t post links. 

Here you go -

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2019/12/02/robert-massie-author-who-popularized-russian-history-dead-90/2592816001/

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/12/03/writer-and-historian-robert-k-massie-dead-at-90-a68448

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/robert-massie-popularized-russian-history-dead-90-67451042

[Mindthinkr 42.0k]

Thanks @MissAlmond 

[tessaray 7.2k]

D.C. Fontana.  A sad day for Star Trek fans.

https://www.startrek.com/news/dc-fontana-1939-2019?fbclid=IwAR33lahi2_vgSI8i-rSsspTsTKWKJUUaDVu3Jr7EhSc4YrkuIbxVxesKV1s

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

1 hour ago, tessaray said:

D.C. Fontana.  A sad day for Star Trek fans.

https://www.startrek.com/news/dc-fontana-1939-2019?fbclid=IwAR33lahi2_vgSI8i-rSsspTsTKWKJUUaDVu3Jr7EhSc4YrkuIbxVxesKV1s

Died of a brief illness apparently.

[MisterGlass 3.3k]

3 hours ago, tessaray said:

D.C. Fontana.  A sad day for Star Trek fans.

Rest in peace.  She wrote the essential original series episode Journey to Babel, which introduced Spock's parents.  Here is another article from Den of Geek.

[Pallas 7.7k]

And her Times obituary.  As Spock once observed, "On that day, I shall mourn." 

[tessaray 7.2k]

2 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

Rest in peace.  She wrote the essential original series episode Journey to Babel, which introduced Spock's parents.  Here is another article from Den of Geek.

If you are a Trek fan, you will remember how Harlan Ellison would go on and on about City on the Edge of Forever.  There was an interesting anecdote in "Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Star Trek Teleplay" where she admitted to being terrified of his reaction to her changing a scene that became the one where Edith Keeler slipped on the stairs and Kirk caught her, with a resulting lecture by Spock on how she had to die. It really was an improvement over what Harlan had originally written, especially in the sense of how well she understood television and how to create real impact in the smallest of scenes.  (ETA: I know she wasn't the only one who worked on it, of course.) 

She deserved a wider canvas but I am selfishly glad she was part of ST.  

1 hour ago, Pallas said:

And her Times obituary.  As Spock once observed, "On that day, I shall mourn." 

Indeed. 

I know the Times has made a big deal about doing better with women's obituaries but she definitely earned it. 

[BW Manilowe 13.1k]

From Primetimer: TV Mega-Producer Leonard Goldberg Dies at 85, Due to Fall-Related Injuries He, of course, was—with the late Aaron Spelling—Executive Producer of, among other TV shows, numerous 1970’s hit action/police procedural shows which aired on ABC (such as Starsky & Hutch, & the original versions of S.W.A.T. & Charlie’s Angels), as well as ABC’s other shows, The Love Boat & the original Fantasy Island. For the last 10 TV seasons, he was also the Executive Producer of the CBS hit police procedural, Blue Bloods, starring Tom Selleck.

Edited 20 hours ago by BW Manilowe · Reason: To reword some information included.

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

7 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

From Primetimer: TV Mega-Producer Leonard Goldberg Dies at 85, Due to Complications From a Fall He, of course, was—with the late Aaron Spelling—Executive Producer of, among other TV shows, numerous 1970’s hit action/police procedural shows which aired on ABC (such as Starsky & Hutch, & the original versions of S.W.A.T. & Charlie’s Angels), as well as ABC’s other shows, The Love Boat & the original Fantasy Island. For the last 10 TV seasons, he was also the Executive Producer of the CBS hit police procedural, Blue Bloods, starring Tom Selleck.

He died as a result of injuries sustained in a fall.

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

https://deadline.com/2019/12/leonard-goldberg-hollywood-tributes-jaclyn-smith-scott-rudin-barry-diller-1202801835/

[BW Manilowe 13.1k]

44 minutes ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

He died as a result of injuries sustained in a fall.

And I said “complications from a fall”, which I think is essentially the same thing. But I went ahead & reworded it.

Edited 20 hours ago by BW Manilowe · Reason: To add a comment.

[bmasters9 1.4k]

10 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

From Primetimer: TV Mega-Producer Leonard Goldberg Dies at 85, Due to Fall-Related Injuries He, of course, was—with the late Aaron Spelling—Executive Producer of, among other TV shows, numerous 1970’s hit action/police procedural shows which aired on ABC (such as Starsky & Hutch, & the original versions of S.W.A.T. & Charlie’s Angels), as well as ABC’s other shows, The Love Boat & the original Fantasy Island. For the last 10 TV seasons, he was also the Executive Producer of the CBS hit police procedural, Blue Bloods, starring Tom Selleck.

Are you sure he was on The Love Boat? Last I recall, that one was Spelling/Cramer.

[spiderpig 9.7k]

3 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

He died as a result of injuries sustained in a fall.

As someone 16 years younger than Leonard Rosenberg, I can attest to the long-lasting effects of a fall when you age.  Instead of jumping in and out of the shower as you did in your younger years, you have to think about placing your feet.  I'm still suffering from neck and hip injuries from a tub slip three months ago.  It really sucks, and you can't believe it happened to you.

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

5 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

And I said “complications from a fall”, which I think is essentially the same thing. But I went ahead & reworded it.

Sorry.

[BW Manilowe 13.1k]

3 hours ago, bmasters9 said:

Are you sure he was on The Love Boat? Last I recall, that one was Spelling/Cramer.

Well, the obit included it, so I did too. Checking Google (Wikipedia is begging for money right now), they list 4 Exec Producers for The Love Boat: Aaron Spelling, Leonard Goldberg, Douglas S. Cramer (whom I believe also had a title of Executive in Charge of Production), & Alan Rafkin.

21 minutes ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

Sorry.

You really don’t have to apologize.

[MikaelaArsenault 1.9k]

https://deadline.com/2019/12/robert-walker-jr-dies-star-trek-actor-and-son-of-hollywood-stars-was-79-1202802504/

[bmasters9 1.4k]

On Hart to Hart: Leonard and Aaron together w/Rona II and Columbia Pictures Television...

[opus 6.3k]

Actor Ron Leibman

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/06/entertainment/actor-ron-leibman-dies-trnd/index.html

[Bastet 45.9k]

32 minutes ago, opus said:

Actor Ron Leibman

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/06/entertainment/actor-ron-leibman-dies-trnd/index.html

Aww.  He will always be Freddie Ugo from my favorite awful movie, Rhinestone.  But I've seen him in so many things, and always enjoyed him - never more than when he was playing a slimeball, which is a sure sign of good acting.