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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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47 minutes ago, BW Manilowe said:

From NBC News: Annie Glenn, Widow of Late Astronaut and US Senator John Glenn, Dies of Coronavirus 

She was 100 years old & is survived by their son & daughter.

One of my favorite parts of THE RIGHT STUFF is the relationship between John and Annie Glenn played by Ed Harris and Mary Jo Deschanel. So sweet. I love the scene when Annie doesn't want to talk to vice president Lyndon Johnson on TV (because she has a stutter), John backs her and so do the rest of the Mercury astronauts. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, festivus said:

I used to watch dog shows and that was the thing that was brilliant about Best in Show. It was barely a parody. I adore that movie.

I have always assumed that Fred's character in Best In Show was a parody of Joe Garagiola Jr's co-hosting duties for several years of the Westminster Dog Show.  His real performance wasn't terribly far off from Fred's character.  Even so, he was a warm, amusing guy.

Edited by SuprSuprElevated
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This is a really sweet article about John and Annie Glenn.

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200519/annie-glenn-john-glennrsquos-widow-dies-from-covid-19-at-100

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Her parents joined a monthly card club called the “Twice 5 Club,” which included John Glenn’s parents. She and John, who was 17 months younger, shared a playpen from whence a quintessential love story would take root.

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Dale Butland, who worked in John Glenn’s office for some two decades, said, “Their 73-year marriage was the stuff of fairy tales and one of the great love stories of all time. For those who knew and loved them, it simply wasn’t possible to think of one without the other. During World War II, the Korean war and two flights into outer space, Annie patiently waited for her John to come home.

“Since December of 2016, John’s been patiently waiting for his Annie. Today, they’re both where they always wanted to be: together — for all eternity.

“God speed, Annie Glenn.”

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Bunty said:

Since December of 2016, John’s been patiently waiting for his Annie. Today, they’re both where they always wanted to be: together — for all eternity.

“God speed, Annie Glenn.”

Oh how beautiful.  

But DAMMIT.   Why coronavirus.   

So well played in All the Right Stuff.    I was looking for the Astronaut Wives Club forum and couldn't find it.   

My favorite Annie Glenn story is when she got home from her intensive stuttering cure looked at John and said "something I've been wanting to say to you for years -- Pick up your socks, John."   

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On 5/16/2020 at 2:54 PM, rubaco said:

Fred Willard has died of natural causes. I've been watching him since the 1970s (Fernwood 2Night). 

I loved Fernwood tonight. My brother and I used to watch it together( I was about by brother about 15). Hubby, who is younger than me had never watched it. We watched the first 3 episodes on YouTube last night and I laughed so hard I had tears, hubby laughed.

Parts of it would be lost if you weren’t around in the late 70’s, but the episode where Dr Osgood reported on his study that leisure suits cause cancer and then brought out his rats who he had created small leisure suits for...

I have loved Martin Mull and Fred Willard ever since then, RIP Fred.

It is really weird that one of the last episodes of Modern Family was Phil giving the eulogy for his dad, played by Fred Willard.

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On 5/19/2020 at 2:33 AM, Hiyo said:

I'm sure our parents were saying that when their cultural icons were dying too.

And it was just as true, and just as sad.  But because all of us were little clueless a-holes we didn't realize how true it was, let alone how true it was going to turn out to be for us.

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Yes, it is cyclical. Our parents went through it, their parents went through it, our kids and their kids will...it's a generational thing.

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7 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

And it was just as true, and just as sad.  But because all of us were little clueless a-holes we didn't realize how true it was, let alone how true it was going to turn out to be for us.

 

2 hours ago, Hiyo said:

Yes, it is cyclical. Our parents went through it, their parents went through it, our kids and their kids will...it's a generational thing.

Do you remember on The Muppet Show they would do these sketches featuring "Wayne and Wanda" the "Singing Duo"?They were always introduced by Sam the Eagle as "wholesome" entertainment and the joke was they'd never get past the first verse because something went wrong onstage. As a kid I'd wonder "What IS this?"

latest?cb=20060925201611

Years later I found out about this duo of singers Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald, who starred in a whole bunch of movies in the 30s and 40s always as a romantic pairing and I realized that's what the Muppets were parodying! Nelson and Eddy were incredibly popular in their day but now nobody knows who they are. Anyone who would remember them died years ago. Part of it I'm guessing is they were old fashioned even back in the 30s. They weren't singing the pop music of the day which was jazz and blues based. It was as white as can be:

 

 

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3 hours ago, Hiyo said:

Yes, it is cyclical. Our parents went through it, their parents went through it, our kids and their kids will...it's a generational thing.

True! Remember last year when Valerie Harper lost her valiant and incredibly lengthy fight against cancer? It was hard finding folks under 40 who remembered her as Rhoda and that was sad enough. 

However, almost no one under 50 seemed to recall her fantastic co-star Nancy Walker who'd played Rhoda's meddling,smothering, impossible but still incredibly charming mother Ida Morgenstern on both Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda! I mean, it was supposed to be a one-shot guest character but Miss Walker's chemistry with Mary, Rhoda and even Phyllis (albeit offscreen at that point) proved so instantaneously dynamic that she became a semi-regular on MTM and a permanent costar on the latter show!  Alas, Miss Walker died in 1992 and the two shows haven't been rerun enough for newer generations to consider her character as timeless a pop icon as even the Three Stooges! 

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I've just noticed today that there are many references to various celebrities that have passed such as George Harrison, Mary Tyler Moore, Elizabeth Taylor, etc.  If you're interested there is a thread on this site about a show called Autopsy: The Final Days that cover their life and death. Not morbid, but, medically and biographically focused.  It can be found here: 

 

I've just starting watching it. I've learned a lot that I never dreamed about how these icons really lived and died. 

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On 5/18/2020 at 5:17 PM, kieyra said:

(I had a memory blip from the last post because I thought George Harrison had been gone for a long time. Is it common for celebrities to have posthumous social media presences now?)

The same thing happened to me recently when a friend shared a post from Divine's Facebook page.  I was surprised to learn that Divine was alive, because I thought he died decades ago.  Nope, just someone maintaining an official Facebook for him.

It makes sense to me when someone dies and someone just keeps managing the account.  But George Harrison died in 2001, which means that years later someone started up his official Twitter.  (Divine died in 1988!)  Which is fine, but the fact that it's just his name with no other designation is a little off to me.  I guess they expect that followers understand that most celebrities don't manage their own social media anyway.  It comes off a little Weekend at Bernie's to me though. 

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19 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Years later I found out about this duo of singers Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald, who starred in a whole bunch of movies in the 30s and 40s always as a romantic pairing and I realized that's what the Muppets were parodying! Nelson and Eddy were incredibly popular in their day but now nobody knows who they are. Anyone who would remember them died years ago. Part of it I'm guessing is they were old fashioned even back in the 30s. They weren't singing the pop music of the day which was jazz and blues based. It was as white as can be:

They were massively popular back then, partially because what they sang was less "white", whatever that would have been at that time, but European.  Remember that between 1880 and 1920 there had been a massive influx of European immigrants who would have reacted very enthusiastically  to this light opera material.

I didn't like them either when I was younger, but as with so much antique popular culture Turner Classic Movies has schooled me.  Along the the lively Turner Classic Movies board here on this site. Which I know you participate in.  So I'm kind of shocked for you to say that everybody who might remember them  is dead - when you must know that their films have gained new fans over the years who were born long after those films were made.

Edited by ratgirlagogo
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3 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

They were massively popular back then, partially because what they sang was less "white", whatever that would have been at that time, but European.  Remember that between 1880 and 1920 there had been a massive influx of European immigrants who would have reacted very enthusiastically  to this light opera material.

I didn't like them either when I was younger, but as with so much antique popular culture Turner Classic Movies has schooled me.  Along the the lively Turner Classic Movies board here on this site. Which I know you participate in.  So I'm kind of shocked for you to say that everybody who might remember them  is dead - when you must know that their films have gained new fans over the years who were born long after those films were made.

I guess what I mean is they're not referenced anyway at all in modern media. Like the Simpsons have a minor character based on  Like obviously people who are classic movie enthusiasts know about  them and YouTube video clips of them do get lots of views. That's how it goes. Many things that were very popular end up becoming extremely "niche" as time goes on. 

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Governor Mike DeWine has ordered all flags in Ohio to be lowered at half mast in honor of Annie Glenn:

This past Monday, May 18, flags in Nevada flew at half mast for Roy Horn. Normally the Strip lights would be lowered too, but that's not possible now. His ashes are on their mantle.

When I think of Nancy Walker what comes to mind is Murder By Death, which not many people seem to be familiar with anymore. It makes great fun of all the murder mystery detective tropes, and Truman Copote parodies himself! Also one of the best 'gotchas!' at the end. Thinking about it, everyone from that movie is gone now.

The Looney Tunes and Warner Bros cartoons from the 40s and 50s include many pop culture references that, like Nelson and Jeanette, today's kids and younger people wouldn't recognize.

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20 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

When I think of Nancy Walker what comes to mind is Murder By Death, which not many people seem to be familiar with anymore. It makes great fun of all the murder mystery detective tropes, and Truman Copote parodies himself! Also one of the best 'gotchas!' at the end. Thinking about it, everyone from that movie is gone now.

That movie was hysterical. Two Two Twain. Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Alec Guinness, etc. So many big names are gone. Maggie Smith and James Cromwell are still with us.

Edited by TexasTiffany
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Murder by Death! I've been watching Mystery & Suspense Fiction on the Great Courses Plus and every time the lecturer mentions Sam Spade and Effie I imagine Peter Falk and Eileen Brennan. the gun shot hole in the dinner jacket, the muscle man magazines...

As an aside, while I'm sure the professor is knowledgeable I do doubt his credibility when he keeps referring to "The Sign of the Four" as "The Sign of Four", especially when a cover page of the story appears on screen as he's talking. It's like listening to a biblical scholar saying Revelations instead of Revelation.

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18 hours ago, BetterButter said:

[Possible trigger warning? Details on her self-harming and suicide]

This has been eating at me since I saw the news last night.

I'm a huge wrestling fan, I disn't know Hana. 

The article leaves out the fact that after the photos with her cat, she posted multiple pictures of her bloodied and self-mutilated body and a "suicide note." Someone replied they were calling the police, but it was too late. Twitter has taken the tweet down, but the pictures are on Reddit, and gut-wrenching.

To think that people were so cruel and that she felt that she had no alternative breaks my heart. Apparently one of the people who had been tormenting her posted a YT video toasting her death.

RIP, Sweet Girl.

Man, between Hana and Shad, what a week for wrestling.

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I'm not familiar with Lynn Shelton's work as a director but I have been watching Marc Maron's stand up comedy for close to thirty years as he went from cynical young guy to grumpy middle age. It was so great that he found someone and was finally happy. I feel so bad for him.

 

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I don't follow fashion and know almost nothing about models, so I don't know how much of a celebrity Zara Abid was outside of Pakistan. The 28 year old model is presumed to have died in a plane crash last Friday (the casualties have not officially been named, but the reports said that only two men survived), and now trolls are posting horrible things about her on social media, all under the guise of religion*.  

I am thoroughly disgusted with much of the human race.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52794940

 

* Please note that I am not bashing Islam, just the horrible people using their misogynistic interpretation of it. All three of the major monotheistic religious traditions have sects with extremely misogynistic fundamentalists.

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2 hours ago, Rose Quartz said:

That's too bad.  I actually remember him best as John, the leader of the Visitors, on the '80s V miniseries.  He had just the right mix of nice on the surface and creepy underneath.

In movies, among other roles, in The China Syndrome he was the ruthless Chairman of the Board of the fictional company that ran the Ventana nuclear power plant, which 1 of the shift supervisors (played by Jack Lemmon) suspected of having a critical design flaw that should necessitate the plant to be shut down permanently, following an unexpected, serious, turbine trip (which, of course, happened at the same—inopportune—time as filming at the plant for a local TV station’s news special on “energy in California”); the accident was (illegally) caught on film by the anchor of the energy special (Jane Fonda) & her cameraman (Michael Douglas). As the energy company Herd’s character worked for was trying to get a second nuclear power plant, Point Conception, licensed & online at the same time as the troubled Ventana nuclear plant, his character basically was a “stop at nothing” kinda guy, including murder, once he heard the problems at Ventana were bad enough there could be a meltdown making a good chunk of Southern California uninhabitable for quite awhile, if not permanently, & still murderous once he found out the licensing of the Point Conception nuclear plant might not happen. His character ordered a car accident that injured, but was meant to kill, the sound guy who was working on the energy special with Fonda & Douglas’ characters (he was the sound guy); he was enlisted by Lemmon’s, Fonda’s & Douglas’ characters to transport a set of faked radiographs of pipe joints in the damaged facility to an anti-nuclear power meeting after Lemmon’s character’s life was threatened & because Fonda‘s & Douglas’ characters felt their lives were now threatened because of how much they knew about the damaged nuclear plant. When the bogus radiographs never got to the anti-nukes meeting, Lemmon’s character was persuaded to come speak about the issues at Ventana at the meeting. Instead, he ended up detouring to the Ventana plant because he was being followed by a hit squad from the company Herd’s character worked for & that was the only place Lemmon’s character knew he was safe. So he took over the power plant’s Control Room by taking the security guard’s gun, & demanded to go on TV with Jane Fonda’s character interviewing him about the safety issues at the plant. Herd's character was still trying to stop Lemmon’s character all the way to the end. He ordered the people Lemmon’s character worked with, who were also presumably his friends, to cause another “turbine trip” scenario to happen & interrupt what he was trying to tell the public about the safety at the plant; followed by the local SWAT team busting into the control room & shooting Lemmon’s character dead, also under orders from Herd’s character. Only the turbine trip that was caused was worse than the original 1 & it looked to have caused more damage, but not “China Syndrome” type damage where there’s a meltdown large enough to reach to China.

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6 hours ago, Rose Quartz said:

That's too bad.  I actually remember him best as John, the leader of the Visitors, on the '80s V miniseries.  He had just the right mix of nice on the surface and creepy underneath.

I love that miniseries! He did a good job playing John. He was quick to throw Diana under the bus (or ship?) when he had the chance with Pamela but at the end he did admit defeat and planned to leave without destroying the planet unlike Diana. 

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He was quick to throw Diana under the bus (or ship?) when he had the chance with Pamela but at the end he did admit defeat and planned to leave without destroying the planet unlike Diana. 

And then Diana shot him in the back for it, after letting him know how she was the one in charge all that time...it was a great scene.

 

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I only recognize the OG V.  All others are imposters (LOL).  But Richard Herd did a great job as usual.  I had forgotten Herd played the family patriarch in Get Out until Jordan Peele shared condolences in the link below.  Loved the Viagra exchange between the two for developing that character.  Such a wonderful character actor. R.I.P. Mr. Herd.  

https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/26/jordan-peele-pays-tribute-wonderful-richard-herd-death-shares-iconic-get-scene-12762106/

Edited by MissAlmond
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(edited)

Character actor Anthony James who played

Spoiler

the killer

in In the Heat of the Night as well as roles in Unforgiven, High Plains Drifter, and Return to Witch Mountain has died, age 77.

https://deadline.com/2020/05/anthony-james-dead-unforgiven-in-the-heat-of-the-night-1202946110/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/anthony-james-dead-actor-unforgiven-heat-night-was-77-1296310

 

Edited by MissAlmond
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6 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I remember him from many movie and tv roles but never knew his name.  

R.I.P., Mr. James (Mr. Anthony)

Yes, he had just one of those faces that popped up everywhere, those sunken eyes and hollow cheecks, The A Team, Naked Gun, Vanishing Point, he was all over. 

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The opening words of the Deadline obituary for Anthony James tickled me:  Anthony James, an instantly recognizable character actor who often played the creepy guy ...

Yep.

(The Hollywood Reporter opened its obituary in a similar way; there's just something about the phrasing in that one that amused me.)

Looking up his credits, I realized he hadn't worked on screen in quite a long time.  So I was pleased to read in the obits that it was by choice; he retired from acting to focus on his painting.

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Marge Redmond who played Sister Jacqueline in The Flying Nun and Sister Ligouri in The Trouble With Angels has died, age 95.  Ms. Redmond died February 10.  Her death was revealed in the latest SAG-AFTRA magazine.  No cause of death was disclosed. 

https://deadline.com/2020/05/marge-redmond-dies-sister-jacqueline-flying-nun-obituary-1202946274/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/marge-redmond-dead-sister-jacqueline-flying-nun-was-95-1140978

https://www.thewrap.com/marge-redmond-actress-known-for-playing-sister-jacqueline-on-the-flying-nun-dies-at-95/

Edited by MissAlmond
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