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In Memoriam: Entertainment Industry Celebrity Deaths


Message added by Mr. Sparkle,

Reminder:

This thread is for deaths of celebrities in the entertainment business only. No notices about politicians, please. 

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Oh yeah, it's scary how much of the Blues Brothers cast is gone: Belushi, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Donald Duck Dunn, Mr. Fabulous, Matt Guitar Murphy, Carrie Fisher, John Candy, James Brown, and now Aretha.

Dan Aykroyd and Judy Belushi Pisano both made very nice tributes to Aretha on Twitter.

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Just read that Fox News put up a picture of Patti LaBelle instead of Aretha in their story of her death.  Good golly, how do you make that mistake?  It's not like her death was unexpected, so they had to scramble to put together the story.  

When it was made public earlier this week that her death was imminent, a co-worker and I were comparing memories of The Blues Brothers.  Made me realize I really need to re-watch that movie.  So many great scenes, but Aretha belting out that song in those pink slippers is a classic.  

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The Midnight Special featured one unforgettable performance after another, but none that I ever loved as much.   And I hope Ray was at the piano when she got there, so they could sing it one more time:

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9 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I just read that this is the anniversary of Elvis's death.....man...

In 1938, Robert Johnson died on this day as well.

6 hours ago, Vixenstud said:

Been listening to Aretha most of the day and came to the conclusion that I have about 5-6 favorite tracks of hers:

Jimmy Lee

 

 

 

I love Jimmy Lee - I sang it loudly and badly on the drive to work today. 

RIP Aretha.

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1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

Oh yeah, it's scary how much of the Blues Brothers cast is gone: Belushi, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Donald Duck Dunn, Mr. Fabulous, Matt Guitar Murphy, Carrie Fisher, John Candy, James Brown, and now Aretha.

Dan Aykroyd and Judy Belushi Pisano both made very nice tributes to Aretha on Twitter.

Add John Lee Hooker to the list of dearly departed cast members, too. 

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Elvis, Robert Johnson, Robin Wms, and now Aretha.  August 16th is becoming as bad as being a 27yr old musician.  And today is Mr. Roamyn’s birthday. 

Edited by roamyn
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Poor Cissy Houston.  What a coincidence that she sang back up for both Elvis and Aretha, and they happened to die on the very same day, 41 years apart---and also an exact week after what would have been Whitney's birthday. 

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My favorite Aretha memory - preparing Christmas ham with oh-so-full-of-herself Martha Stewart:

Love that Aretha brought her own Vernor's ginger ale and piled on coconut in front of an astonished Martha.

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7 hours ago, UYI said:

AntennaTV ran that episode of the now original Murphy Brown last night. I don’t know if it was scheduled & her death yesterday was coincidental, or if AntennaTV rearranged the schedule & aired the ep with Aretha because she died yesterday.

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One of the things I loved about Aretha Franklin was her ability to poke fun at herself. I think it was her in that Snickers commercial where the WHITE guy was acting like a diva-but we saw Ms. Franklin whining until she had a bite, then she turned into that guy.??? Of course Betty White and Abe Vigoda followed suit.

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2 hours ago, BizBuzz said:

I follow Ken Levine's blog, and I just knew he would post some obscure story about Aretha that hardly no one else would refer to ... I was not disappointed.  I am providing the link to his post instead of just sharing the video he referred to, because the story is important.  

Aretha standing in for Pavoratti ... just chills.

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2018/08/my-favorite-aretha-franklin-moment.html?m=1

I remember watching that performance when she stood in for Pavorotti, and when she was finished I just sat on the sofa with my mouth open.  No disrespect to Pavoratti, but she sang the hell out of Nessun Dorma.  I don't even think the audience was expecting her to be that good.

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The news of Aretha's passing reminded me of a story that a friend of mine told me.  Many years ago about once he was in Vegas watching a female impersonator doing Aretha Franklin and up front there was a woman laughing and having a great time.  They brought up the lights to see that was Aretha herself and she loved the performance.

And just because no one else posted it, my favorite Aretha song: Chain of Fools

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On 8/16/2018 at 8:06 PM, Calvada said:

Just read that Fox News put up a picture of Patti LaBelle instead of Aretha in their story of her death.  Good golly, how do you make that mistake?  It's not like her death was unexpected, so they had to scramble to put together the story.  

"Chain Of Fools," indeed.

 

On 8/16/2018 at 8:06 PM, Calvada said:

*headdesk*

Like we say in the South, "Bless their hearts," aka "They can go fuck themselves," preferably with chainsaws.

Edited by DollEyes
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Aretha's cover of The Band's "The Weight" with Duane Allman's slide guitar.

Producer Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Records founder Ahmed Ertegun, engineer Tom Dowd, FAME studio owner Rick Hall who passed last January and now Aretha. The people that gave us that great classic era of Atlantic Records and Muscle Shoales R&B are gone.

Edited by VCRTracking
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On ‎2018‎-‎08‎-‎17 at 12:04 AM, spiderpig said:

My favorite Aretha memory - preparing Christmas ham with oh-so-full-of-herself Martha Stewart:

Love that Aretha brought her own Vernor's ginger ale and piled on coconut in front of an astonished Martha.

Loved that segment, but I didn't see anything but R-E-S-P-E-C-T from Martha.  I think they had a mutual respect thing going on.

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I watched the segment, too. And I do think that Martha was, um, not quite accustomed to featuring recipes with the ingredients that Aretha used, even though she wouldn't say anything negative.   Plain old yellow mustard(!) -- and since I'm from Michigan, I got a kick out her using Vernor's, which is a basting staple in the area where I grew up. I loved Aretha's no-nonsense answers to her questions,  while you also have to acknowledge that no ham in Martha's house would go to the table looking like the one in the picture.

Edited by rur
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1 hour ago, rur said:

I watched the segment, too. And I do think that Martha was, um, not quite accustomed to featuring recipes with the ingredients that Aretha used, even though she wouldn't say anything negative.   Plain old yellow mustard(!) -- and since I'm from Michigan, I got a kick out her using Vernor's, which is a basting staple in the area where I grew up. I loved Aretha's no-nonsense answers to her questions,  while you also have to acknowledge that no ham in Martha's house would go to the table looking like the one in the picture.

Vernor's-with Va-Va-Voom!  seems like just the sort of ingredient Aretha would favor. 

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She was also part of the huge ensemble cast of Robert Altman's 1975 classic movie Nashville and her song which closes the movie, "It Don't Worry" me is my favorite of the film:

Edited by VCRTracking
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Ms. Aretha died without a Will.   

I am banging my head on the desk over here.    How do these artists not get Wills.   They make millions, yet don't think what will happen to that money -- and the rights to their songs -- after they pass.

 

PSA of the Day -- Get a Will.   Even if you think you don't need one -- you need one.    Don't know who to talk to?   Your local or state bar association has a referral service.    Don't like who you are referred to?   Ask around.   Ask your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, your hairdresser.   SOMEONE knows a good Estate attorney.   Hell PM me if you are really stuck.   I know a few.

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1 hour ago, merylinkid said:

Ms. Aretha died without a Will.   

I am banging my head on the desk over here.    How do these artists not get Wills.   They make millions, yet don't think what will happen to that money -- and the rights to their songs -- after they pass.

I really don't get how she didn't have a will. She saw so many of her peers die suddenly and leave their families in a bad financial way. Her illness was over a course of months, if not years. She has a special needs son that will be financially dependent on others for the rest of his life.

I know its a topic none of us like to think about, but given that we never heard of her blowing her money or having financial issues of any sort, its really shocking that she did not have her affairs in order before she died.

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2 hours ago, merylinkid said:

Ms. Aretha died without a Will. 

My mind is boggled by some of the people who have a will rather than a trust, but intestate really gets my eyebrows climbing.  Even if she just wanted things divided up equally among her kids the way they will be by law, she'd have made things quicker, much more immune to anyone contesting that division of assets (and, let's be real, people go crazy when there's far less money than her estate on the table), and more private with a trust or a will.  I saw an article quoting her long-time entertainment lawyer saying he advised her for years to set up a trust; I'm curious why she declined (some simple sense of "I'll deal with that later" should give way to a diagnosis of a disease that rarely ends well).

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  I'm not surprised when people don't have wills, no matter how much money, assets, etc., they have to protect.  Some people are afraid to make a will.  They truly believe it means they're writing their death warrant, even when they're as ill as Ms. Franklin was.  This is a deeply emotional issue for some, especially since they usually have family/friends who told them anecdotes for years about John Doe writing a will and was dead by next week.

7 hours ago, BetterButter said:

R.I.P. Ms. Harris.  

1 hour ago, BetterButter said:

Shocked by this.  RIP Mr. Zadan.  

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I will always love Barbara Harris' line as Peggy Sue's mom in Peggy Sue Got Married when she thought Peggy's boyfriend was pressuring her to have sex.  "Peggy, you know what a penis is?" Peggy nods.   Her mother then implores her to "Stay away from it!!"  I love that cheesy movie.

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Celebrity journalist Robin Leach dies at age 76

There will be no more champagne wishes and caviar dreams for Robin Leach.

The famed celebrity journalist — best known for his work on TV’s “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” — died Thursday night at the age of 76, according to the Las Vegas-Review Journal.

Leach had been hospitalized since Nov. 21 after suffering a stroke in the Mexican resort city of Cabo San Lucas.

Edited by Moose135
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