In Memoriam: Entertainment Industry Celebrity Deaths

[Inquisitionist]

Louis Jourdan has died at age 93.  He was so dreamy in Gigi.

 

Son Louis Henry Jourdan died of a drug overdose in 1981. His wife, Berthe Frederique “Quique” Jourdan, to whom he was married for more than six decades, died last year.

 

Married for over 60 years -- wow.

[ABay]

Merde.

 

Gigi is one of my favorite movies and I was just thinking of it the other day. "She is Not Thinking of Me" is one of the best examples of why letterboxing is better than pan and scan--you miss the crowning moment when Gaston pours the champagne down Liane's top.

Edited February 15, 2015 by ABay

[Irlandesa]

I was sad to read about him.  At his age, it's not a shock but I always had some fantasy about meeting him. 

 

Gigi remains one of my favorite movie musicals to watch.

[Ohwell]

I don't know what else to add about Louis Jordan, except that I thought he was the epitome of the suave, handsome gentleman who was sometimes a cad in movies.  And I mean that in the most positive way. : )

[BetterButter]

RIP Lesley Gore

[Bastet]

Well, I'll have to cue up You Don't Own Me in her memory.

[UYI]

When I was a weird teenage girl who loved listening to music much older than her, I absolutely LOVED Lesley Gore. I got a greatest hits CD of hers when I was 12 (in 2001) for Christmas, and I listened to it constantly. "It's My Party" went to #1 in 1963, and "You Don't Own Me" to #2 in 1964 (kept from #1 from by the Beatles' first US #1, "I Want to Hold My Hand"), and I loved them both, but this is probably my favorite song of hers:

 

 

RIP. 

 

ETA: Trivia: Lesley's brother is Michael Gore, a composer who won the Oscar for Best Original Score for the movie Fame, and also composed the theme of Terms of Endearment.

Edited February 16, 2015 by UYI

[legaleagle53]

We're only six weeks into 2015, and I've already lost count of how many of the celebrities I grew up watching, enjoying and admiring have left us.  Time is moving way too fast, dammit -- SLOW DOWN!

[Ohwell]

Lesley Gore.  R.I.P. 

[merylinkid]

Damn.   I am definitely crying now.   You would cry too.

[magicdog]

 As a tribute song,  I'd go with "Off And Running"  - which she recorded back in 1966.  A very underrated song.

 

RIP Ms. Gore.

[roseha]

I don't know what else to add about Louis Jordan, except that I thought he was the epitome of the suave, handsome gentleman who was sometimes a cad in movies.  And I mean that in the most positive way. : )

 

If anyone hasn't seen it, I recommend the film Letter from an Unknown Woman, in which he definitely plays a less sympathetic role.  It's a brilliant film by Max Ophuls.

[Ohwell]

He also played a heartless cad in The Best of Everything, one of my favorite soap opera movies.

[BoogieBurns]

Harris Wittels, from Parks and Rec (writer and a small part in the cast) passed away at 30. He was also part of the Analyze Phish podcast and he invented the word humblebrag. 

[legaleagle53]

He was only 30?  I have no words to express how tragic that is, especially if it was drug-related, as that report seems to suggest.  Fuck drugs.

[Princess Sparkle]

Addiction is a bitch, isn't it?  Ugh, that's just so sad.

[LeeLeePanda]

Real aka Ahmad Givens from VH1's Real Chance of Love passed away today at 33. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in 2013, and things took a turn despite him responding well to chemotherapy initially. Real Chance of Love was one of my guilty pleasures, and it saddens me that cancer took him, especially at such a young age.

http://touch.madamenoire.com/all/513331#1

[redlaces]

He had gorgeous hair and seemed like a sweet guy. So weird when people your age die from something like Cancer.  RIP

[Snowprince]

Ben Woolf of American Horror Story: Freakshow has died of injuries sustained when hit by a car last Thursday.

 

He was 34.

 

https://tv.yahoo.com/news/ben-woolf-ahs-star-dead-34-being-sideswiped-001500456-us-weekly.html

Edited February 24, 2015 by Snowprince

[SistaLadybug]

Oh, Meep.  How horrible.  I'm so sad to hear that.

[Writing Wrongs]

Leonard Nimoy died:

http://news.yahoo.com/leonard-nimoy-logical-spock-star-trek-dies-83-050004136.html;_ylt=A0LEV1cgqfBUTc4AMJBXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

[SistaLadybug]

*GASP* OH NO!!!

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Ah, hell, I was afraid of that. RIP, Mr. Nimoy, and thank you for bringing to life such an iconic character.

[bmasters9]

*GASP* OH NO!!!

Oh no! is right. He made original 60s NBC Trek worth watching (I saw it through from the three remastered DVD releases). 

[Bastet]

I wondered if this might be coming when I read he was hospitalized with COPD; my uncle died from that at only 60 years of age.

 

Nimoy is one of those actors I can immediately identify despite not ever actually seeing him in anything (no, I have never watched Star Trek) because he was such a part of pop culture.

[AntiBeeSpray]

*GASP* OH NO!!!

I know :(. Felt exactly the same. 

 

RIP Mr. Spock, you'll be missed.

[Writing Wrongs]

I've been rewatching Fringe, so he's been on my radar lately.

[ABay]

Well, that just sucks.

 

One of my earliest internet memories is mourning Roddenberry's death among other fans. That was back in the listserv text-only days. Crap.

[UYI]

RIP, Mr. Nimoy. He directed one of my favorite movies, Three Men and a Baby. (SHUT UP, I loved that movie when I was 12 and I still do!)

 

Also, there's this:

 

[ElleryAnne]

Damn.  It's rare that news of a celebrity death can actually bring a tear to my eye, but this one did.  RIP Mr. Nimoy.

[FormerMod-a1]

I had forgotten he was in the hospital so this is more surprising than it should be for me.  And really, really sad.  I loved him as Spock, of course, but I also loved him in everything from In Search Of to Fringe.  I also loved his unique voice.

[legaleagle53]

Now I'm reliving Spock's death scene in Star Trek II.  Farewell, Mr. Nimoy, and thank you.

 

I'll bet Bill Shatner is devastated!

[kassa]

I remember seeing him on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, reminiscing about old town Boston, Buzzy's Roast Beef, tossing subs over the wall to the inmates in the yard at the jail...

[Chaos Theory]

I just came here to report on the death of Nimoy but I guess someone beat me to it. It says something about a series that began and ended (not counting the movies) before I was born that still effect me so.

[BizBuzz]

I have made a thread for us to celebrate his (Leonard Nimoy) life here.

[legaleagle53]

What's really sad is that he missed the 50th Anniversary of the debut of Star Trek by just a little over 18 months.  He had already started sharing some behind-the-scenes bits from the shooting of the pilot episode as a kind of countdown tribute, and I was looking forward to hearing more about the show's beginnings.

[Constantinople]

I had forgotten he was in the hospital so this is more surprising than it should be for me.  And really, really sad.  I loved him as Spock, of course, but I also loved him in everything from In Search Of to Fringe.  I also loved his unique voice.

 

In addition to making it enjoyable, his voice and his role as Spock made In Search Of seem plausible.

 

He was also a music video star in the 80s

 

[Snowprince]

A montage of Mr Nimoy as Mission Impossible's Andrew "The Great" Paris, seasons 4 and 5.

 

[Ohwell]

I know he did other stuff, but he'll always be Spock to me.  R.I.P.

[satrunrose]

RIP Mr Spock. I kind of want to cry right now.

[Snowprince]

I know he did other stuff, but he'll always be Spock to me.  R.I.P.

I think despite the title of his 1975 autobiography (I Am Not Spock), Mr Nimoy would agree with you....as do I.

[Kromm]

I think despite the title of his 1975 autobiography (I Am Not Spock), Mr Nimoy would agree with you....as do I.

When the Trekkers almost rioted after he came out with that, he published a follow up book called "I Am Spock".

[Inquisitionist]

Damn, Daniel Von Bargen, aka Mr. Kruger on Seinfeld, has passed away at age 64, reportedly after a long illness.

[Bastet]

God, I still remember that 911 tape.

 

I just watched an episode of Judging Amy yesterday in which he guest starred, and thought - as I do every time I see him in something - how he's one of my favorite "hey, it's that guy" actors.

[BetterButter]

Albert Maysles, Pioneering Documentarian, Dies at 88

[Inquisitionist]

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has the Maysles' Grey Gardens scheduled for this Sunday morning, March 8. 

[applecrisp]

Damn, Daniel Von Bargen, aka Mr. Kruger on Seinfeld, has passed away at age 64, reportedly after a long illness.

 

Very sad about this and also Nimoy.  Von Bargan was in a lot of good stuff and was a great character actor.  I remember him fondly as George's boss, Mr. Kruger on Seinfeld.  He was only on four episodes but I remember them so well and  have not watched a Seifeld show in years. So sad. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

Sam Simon, Co-Creator of the Simpsons died at the age of 59.

 

RIP sir :(.

[cpcathy]

RIP, Mr Simon. He wrote some wonderful episodes of Cheers, and he was a devoted defender of animals.

[Bastet]

I had never heard of him (I'm one of the three people who never watched The Simpsons) until it popped up on some animal welfare newsletters that he donated the bulk of his quite significant fortune to charity, mostly animal and nature related, when he got his terminal diagnosis.

 

Here's an article about that.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Bastet