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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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On ‎11‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 2:14 PM, UYI said:

Actress Ann Wedgeworth has passed away. Many will remember her as Lana from Three's Company, but I remember her as Dylan McDermott's Aunt Fern in Steel Magnolias, who made a mean bleeding armadillo groom's cake (but didn't have enough counter space to make a snake-shaped cake, mind you)! RIP, Ann.

http://www.welovesoaps.net/2017/11/ann-wedgeworth-dead-at-83.html

My fave role I recall her in was playing Charles Durning's wife Murleen in "Evening Shade" as  a somewhat flaky but good-hearted soul who, it turned out was the birth mother of Hal Holbrook's character's much younger wife who'd she been the only one in town who'd accepted her from the start!  Yeah, she could have been a one-note joke but Miss Wedgeworth gave her good textured depth. RIP, Miss Wedgeworth!

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1 hour ago, BetterButter said:

Someone else said they "haz a sad" when John Hillerman (Higgins on Magnum, P.I.) died last week. Now it's my turn. 

People can think &/or say whatever they want about Bill Cosby, but Earle Hyman's Grandpa Russell ("Slide") Huxtable (who was supposed to have been the slide trombone player with a supposedly well-known jazz group called The Jazz Caravan--hence the nickname "Slide") was 1 of my favorite characters on The Cosby Show. I especially liked that, while his values were similar to those passed on to his son, Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable (Cosby's character), & he could be as strict as Cliff with Cliff's kids, he also got into occasional bits of fun with the grandkids. And with his death, I think that means all 4 actors who played the Huxtable grandparents & the Hanks grandparents (Clair's parents) have now passed.

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12 hours ago, magdalene said:

Dementia at 64?  I didn't know you could get it that young.  Scary.  And so sad.

It really is extremely sad, and very traumatic on the whole family, no matter at what age the disease starts.

 

My mom was diagnosed with early onset Alzeimer's disease at age 60 (signs started at age 57 already).  She is also 64 at the moment, just like Malcolm Young, and is now in what is known as Stage 7 of Alzheimer's disease (which is the final stage).  Won't go into details here on what that entails, but google it if you are interested in how and why the body just shuts down.

 

It truly is one of the hardest diseases to live with, for both patient and family.  My deepest sympathy and empathy goes out to Mr Young's family.

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5 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

And with his death, I think that means all 4 actors who played the Huxtable grandparents & the Hanks grandparents (Clair's parents) have now passed.

Ethel Ayler, who played Clair's mom, Carrie, is still alive.

Edited by Dee
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On ‎11‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 2:25 PM, Bastet said:

That was just on TV one night this week, and of course I had to watch it yet again, even though I've seen it numerous times and have the DVD.  I primarily associate her with Steel Magnolias, Evening Shade, and Roseanne (Dan's mom, even though she only played the role in one episode).

I liked Anne Wedgeworth in everything I saw her in.  They should have kept her as Dan's mom.  She was excellent/perfect in the role.  I also liked that Aunt Fern was Jackson go to person in Steel Magnolias.  She made little Jackson's Halloween costume, was watching little Jackson when Shelby was in the hospital, etc.  The scene where Maylin goes to pick up little Jackson at  Aunt Fern's after Shelby has died, always makes me cry.

In an interview about Three's Company, it was revealed Anne asked to leave the show because she didn't think her character was going anywhere.  John Ritter said it made absolutely no sense that Jack Tripper, who chased after just about anything in a skirt, would turn down a gorgeous woman like Anne/Lana.

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1 hour ago, Snipsa said:

It really is extremely sad, and very traumatic on the whole family, no matter at what age the disease starts.

 

My mom was diagnosed with early onset Alzeimer's disease at age 60 (signs started at age 57 already).  She is also 64 at the moment, just like Malcolm Young, and is now in what is known as Stage 7 of Alzheimer's disease (which is the final stage).  Won't go into details here on what that entails, but google it if you are interested in how and why the body just shuts down.

 

It truly is one of the hardest diseases to live with, for both patient and family.  My deepest sympathy and empathy goes out to Mr Young's family.

I'm sorry abt your mother @Snipsa.  That's a hard diagnosis so young.

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Mel Tillis has died at 85. I always was intrigued by the fact that, somewhat like Carly Simon, he was able to use his singing abilities to express himself even though he had to deal with that speech impediment. Moreover, by openly acknowledging the challenges he had to face, he  was a great deal of inspiration to others who shared it. RIP, Mr. Tillis!

yahoo.com/music/longtime-country-singer-songwriter-mel-tillis-dies-17032564.html

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2 hours ago, Blergh said:

Mel Tillis has died at 85. I always was intrigued by the fact that, somewhat like Carly Simon, he was able to use his singing abilities to express himself even though he had to deal with that speech impediment. Moreover, by openly acknowledging the challenges he had to face, he  was a great deal of inspiration to others who shared it. RIP, Mr. Tillis!

yahoo.com/music/longtime-country-singer-songwriter-mel-tillis-dies-17032564.html

FYI... Your link doesn't work.

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From news-sentinel.com (my local evening newspaper, which recently went to an online-only format): Chicago White Sox "Jungle Jim" Rivera Dead at 96 

He died on November 13, 2017. He was originally from Puerto Rico, by way of New York City. After his retirement from Major League Baseball, he & his first wife's brother bought Captain's Cabin, a restaurant in the northern Indiana lakes area between my hometown & South Bend. He lived in this area until his death.

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3 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Or, as Bette Davis put it when she was told that someone she hated had died but she was only allowed to say good things about the dead, "He's dead.  Good!"

She said that regarding Joan Crawford. 

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54 minutes ago, cpcathy said:

Good riddance.

I heard that the families of his victims were called prior to the release of the news to the media.

They were. At least that's what I remember reading in, I think, USA Today. They said Sharon Tate's sister called them about Manson's death.

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I am sad to hear about Della Reese's passing, I grew up watching Touched By an Angel and her and Roma Downey's continued friendship was very touching to me.  I also vaguely remember flipping through a Jet magazine and seeing a throwback pic of a young Reese posed up against a doorframe at the Johnny Carson (maybe?) show with a cigarette in her mouth and very un-Tess look in her eye.  I was shook to my very core.

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1 hour ago, AntiBeeSpray said:

:( Dang it. Loved her in Touched by an Angel. RIP Ms./Mrs./Miss Reese.

That now makes 2 of the lead cast of Touched by an Angel who've passed on (Roma Downey & Valerie Bertinelli are the survivors). If you remember, Valerie played, like, a new apprentice angel/angel in training named Gloria, who worked with Tess, Monica & Andrew during the last 46 eps/probably the last 2 seasons of the show).

I think I'd have called her Miss or Ms. Reese. Her married name was Lett.

She was an ordained minister; in 1979, after taping an appearance on what was then Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, she almost died from at least 1 cerebral aneurysm (she was saved by 2 brain surgeries); she also sang the theme song to TBAA.

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3 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

Loved ones of murder victims are victims, too.

I do feel sympathy for him losing both his wife and his unborn son. I hope he and the other family members find some measure of comfort from the news.

Damn shame that Manson outlived Bugliosi. I guess its time to crack open Helter Skelter and do a re-read.

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1 hour ago, Rosiejuliemom said:

So, I guess Death had to balance the books by taking Della Reese as well as Charles Manson?

You will be missed, Della.

You can fuck right off to Hell, Charlie.

That was my immediate thought when I heard about Della: that were being punished for celebrating Manson's demise. *sigh* We couldn't go ONE DAY of just hearing some good news...

Anyway, my mom was said to hear about Della, she loved Touched by an Angel.

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Dammit.   RIP Ms. Reese.   A DAMN fine lady.    Touched by an Angel could have been really preachy.   But it wasn't.   The whole point every show was to deliver one simple message "God loves you."   No thundering condemnation of sin.   No thou must nots.    Just that one short simple message.  

 

As for Manson, I always feel for the LaBianca family.   They were just a nice, upper middle class couple who ran a jewelry store.   Manson and his followers murdered them just because.   Mr. and Mrs. LaBianca tend to get lost in the stories because they weren't famous like Sharon Tate.   Heck the heir to the Folger fortune, Abigail Folger,  was with Sharon Tate that night and also murdered.   I had to go look her name up.   Here is a list of all those killed by the Manson family, may they Rest in Peace:

 

Gary Hinman

Sharon Tate and her unborn child

Jay Sebring

Abigail Folger

Wojciech Frykowski

Steven Parent

Leno LaBianca

Rosemary LaBianca

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1 hour ago, merylinkid said:

Mr. and Mrs. LaBianca tend to get lost in the stories because they weren't famous like Sharon Tate. 

I always hear "the Tate-LaBianca murders," and Tate and the LaBiancas get identified by their full names, then it's just "and six others" in recaps of the events.  Sometimes Sebring would get named in local coverage/conversation, because he was a semi-famous hair stylist in Hollywood.

There were two other murders, attributed to different Manson followers, separate from the famous two-night killing spree; those really get lost!

Edited by Bastet
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2 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I always hear "the Tate-LaBianca murders," and Tate and the LaBiancas get identified by their full names, then it's just "and six others" in recaps of the events.  Sometimes Sebring would get named in local coverage/conversation, because he was a semi-famous hair stylist in Hollywood.

There were two other murders, attributed to different Manson followers, committed prior to the famous two-night killing spree.

Shea and Hinman? Or was Shea after?

I know Manson thought he killed Bernard Crowe, but Crowe didn't die.

What always freaked me out were the odd deaths surrounding the Family after Tate-LaBianca.

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13 minutes ago, Rosiejuliemom said:

Shea and Hinman? Or was Shea after?

You're right - only Hinman was before.  Shea was killed after (and his body wasn't found until years later), when he was suspected of talking to the police.  Thanks for the clarification; I'll edit my original post.

Edited by Bastet
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29 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I always hear "the Tate-LaBianca murders," and Tate and the LaBiancas get identified by their full names, then it's just "and six others" in recaps of the events.  Sometimes Sebring would get named in local coverage/conversation, because he was a semi-famous hair stylist in Hollywood.

There were two other murders, attributed to different Manson followers, separate from the famous two-night killing spree; those really get lost!

I always felt sorry for Steven Parent's family.  He was the young man who was visiting the caretaker and was driving out just as the killers were walking up the driveway  Do you know how his family was notified of his murder?  A police officer went to their home, gave his father a card with a number on it, told him to call it, and then left.  Mr. Parent called, and it was the County Coroner's Office.  Mr. Parent told them his name, that he had been told by a police officer to call, and they told him his son had been involved in a shooting.  Mr. Parent asked is he was dead, and they told him they had a body, and gave a physical description, which of course matched.   Can you imagine being told in this way that your child had been murdered?  Stories like this demonstrate why the victims' rights movement was a huge thing in the 70s and 80s, arising mostly out of the women's movement and dealing with the way sexual assault and domestic violence victims were treated, but also organizations like Parents of Murdered Children.  

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1 hour ago, Bastet said:

You're right - only Hinman was before.  Shea was killed after (and his body wasn't found until years later), when he was suspected of talking to the police.  Thanks for the clarification; I'll edit my original post.

Not a problem. I wasn't sure myself and had to double-check.

 

If only Steven Parent had left five minutes earlier...

Edited by Rosiejuliemom
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