In Memoriam: Entertainment Industry Celebrity Deaths

[GreekGeek]

It says a lot that she and John Wayne respected each other a great deal.

 

What blows my mind even more is that he and Katharine Hepburn did the same.  I have little use for John Wayne, but that always gives me pause.

I think there's a lot to respect in people who say what they think and are true to themselves, even if a lot of people disagree with them. All of the above fit the bill. Ah, the good ol' days, when people with different opinions could respect each other and not accuse each other of lacking brains or a heart!

[legaleagle53]

I'm glad she wore the red wig.  That's how we'll remember you, Mo--as a beautiful, flaming red-head.

 

THIS.  And the thing is that she really was one of the most beautiful women in the world back in the day.

 

I think the reason that she commanded so much respect from everyone is that she had something of a dignified, regal air about her -- you would automatically want to call her "Ma'am" or "Ms. O'Hara."  And the women she played were always what used to be called "men's women" -- women who were strong and independent and who could keep up with any man because they understood men and how men think, women who were deeply feminine but expected nothing less than to be treated as equals worthy of respect, dignity and courtesy at all times.

 

She is truly irreplaceable.  Again, rest in peace, Ms. O'Hara.

Edited October 25, 2015 by legaleagle53

[VCRTracking]

I always loved this story about when she played John Candy's mom in Only the Lonely. Candy had this big, fancy trailer while Maureen was in this little, dinky trailer. When John found out about this he was incensed and complained to the producers that she deserved a trailer like his. "She was in The Quiet Man! She worked with 'The Duke'!" but the producers said there wasn't any more money in the budget. Candy told them to give his trailer to O'Hara while he'd be in the "Honeywagon", which is a row of little portable bathrooms on a film location with a cot and a sink in each. That's where he slept for three days until the embarrassed producers "found the money" and gave Miss O'Hara a big trailer too.

Edited October 25, 2015 by VCRTracking

[Spartan Girl]

I liked that story too. She remained quite close with John Candy: she said in her book that he reminded her a great deal of Charles Laughton (her costar from Hunchback of Notre Dame).

[roamyn]

I didn't know that.

What a lovely and honored gesture.

[VCRTracking]

[Spartan Girl]

Now I hope that she met up with John Candy somewhere too. That would be awesome: Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, and John Candy all hanging out together reminiscing about the old days...

[legaleagle53]

Now I hope that she met up with John Candy somewhere too. That would be awesome: Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, and John Candy all hanging out together reminiscing about the old days...

 

And Lucille Ball.  She and Lucy were good friends who had worked together on a movie early on in their careers, and it was Maureen who introduced Lucy to Desi Arnaz -- reluctantly, because Maureen knew about Desi's reputation as a womanizer and even tried to warn Lucy about it before she introduced them.

[Spartan Girl]

And Lucille Ball.  She and Lucy were good friends who had worked together on a movie early on in their careers, and it was Maureen who introduced Lucy to Desi Arnaz -- reluctantly, because Maureen knew about Desi's reputation as a womanizer and even tried to warn Lucy about it before she introduced them.

Ooh yes, I read that story in her memoir too. Maureen said "Be careful, he's a lady killer." To which Lucy replied, "And here comes his next victim." LOL.

[UYI]

Now I hope that she met up with John Candy somewhere too. That would be awesome: Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, and John Candy all hanging out together reminiscing about the old days...

 

And Natalie Wood, and Brian Keith. 

[BW Manilowe]

Deadwood actor Ralph Richeson Dead at Age 63.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ralph-richeson-dead-deadwood-actor-835086

[Ohwell]

I remember him on Deadwood.  RIP

[legaleagle53]

Another bad week for celebrities, it seems:  Al Molinaro of Happy Days is gone.  http://tvline.com/2015/10/30/al-molinaro-dead-at-96-happy-days/

[magicdog]

I adored Al!  I knew him as Al first before seeing him in repeats of The Odd Couple (where he played Murray the cop).  I also seem to remember him playing in a paper towel commercial in the late 80s/very early 90s.

 

He was 96?  Wow!  I had no idea he was that old!  R.I.P. Mr. Molinaro.

[roamyn]

What a horrible last few weeks it's been.

RIP Big Al.

[Kromm]

[merylinkid]

Thank you Kromm.   That was the best way to sum this up.    RIP Big Al.   Yep, yep, yep.

[merylinkid]

Fred Thompson, actor, Senator and former presidential candidate has passed away at the age of 73.

 

Rough week.

[Blergh]

 Would it be considered horrible for me to be saddened re Senator  Thompson's agonizing death yet  relieved in the knowledge  that he will be making no more reverse mortgage commercials? Sorry but I hate ads  that encourage the elderly and others to risk homelessness  in their   waning years for fast cash .

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Fred Thompson, actor, Senator and former presidential candidate has passed away at the age of 73.

 

Rough week.

 

RIP, Arthur Branch, you crotchety old bastard. And that's a compliment.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Cobalt Stargazer

[Spartan Girl]

Rough week indeed. We'll miss you, Arthur Branch.

[magicdog]

RIP, Arthur Branch, you crotchety old bastard.

 

 

I thought that was Adam Schiff (played by Steven Hill)?  Arthur was savvy, but way smoother.  Either way, he will be missed. 

[VCRTracking]

This makes me sad:

 

Melissa Mathison, ‘E.T.’ Screenwriter and Ex-Wife of Harrison Ford, Dies at 65

[merylinkid]

This one was a gut punch.   ET was such a great movie.   

 

But honestly, why did they have to mention she was Harrison Ford's ex-wife in the headline?   She had recognition in her own right.

[Ambrosefolly]

This one was a gut punch.   ET was such a great movie.   

 

But honestly, why did they have to mention she was Harrison Ford's ex-wife in the headline?   She had recognition in her own right.

Maybe, but I think it should be allowed because not only is Harrison still a huge star, but they were married for two decades and had two children together. 

[merylinkid]

I'm cool with mentioning it in the body of the article itself, but why is it part of the headline?

[Bastet]

But honestly, why did they have to mention she was Harrison Ford's ex-wife in the headline?   She had recognition in her own right.

 

Sizable chunks of the average Lauren Bacall obituary were taken up by talk of Humphrey Bogart.  What chance did Harrison have?  Very frustrating.

[Inquisitionist]

I'm cool with mentioning it in the body of the article itself, but why is it part of the headline?

 

Click-bait.  I hope folks who recognized only Ford's name will actually click through and read the obituaries.  Mathison leaves an impressive legacy.  I've never watched The Black Stallion, but can still remember Sisket & Ebert raving about it when it was release.

[amaranta]

I've never watched The Black Stallion, but can still remember Sisket & Ebert raving about it when it was release.

 

If you get the time and the chance, you really should.  One of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen.  Why yes, I own a copy.

 

R.I.P. Ms. Mathison. 

 

 

[roamyn]

I read it, and I knew abt The Black Stallion and ET , but I never knew all the rest.

Impressive resume and talent, indeed.

[opus]

George Barris, designer of 1966 Batmobile:

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/george-barris-dead-batmobile-1201634668/

[BetterButter]

Gunnar Hansen, Texas Chainsaw Massacre villain, dies aged 68

[BW Manilowe]

Charlie Dick, Widower of Country Singer Patsy Cline, Dies at Age 81.

http://m.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/6754076/charlie-dick-widower-of-patsy-cline-dies-at-81?utm_source=twitter

[BW Manilowe]

Legendary New Orleans Singer-songwriter Allen Toussaint Dies at 77

http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2015/11/allen_toussaint_dies.html

Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Dies at 96

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0SZ1T020151110

Actress Betsy Drake, Third Wife of Cary Grant (She Also Introduced Him to LSD), Dies at 92

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/betsy-drake-dead-cary-grant-838970

Edited November 11, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[giovannif7]

TVLine is reporting that Nathaniel Marston (One Life To Live, As The World Turns) has passed away as a result of injuries sustained in a recent car accident.

[Jaded]

TVLine is reporting that Nathaniel Marston (One Life To Live, As The World Turns) has passed away as a result of injuries sustained in a recent car accident.

How absolutely awful. I'm not sure I would have wanted to live with all those injuries after a crash like that though. I hope he's at peace now.

[BW Manilowe]

How absolutely awful. I'm not sure I would have wanted to live with all those injuries after a crash like that though. I hope he's at peace now.

What I found interesting was that his Mother's Facebook post said that had he lived he would've been left a quadriplegic, on a ventilator, & unable to speak.

I wonder if that has to do with the level his neck injury was at, or what? (I'm from a medical/neurosurgical family but I don't know) I'm curious about it because when the late actor Christopher Reeve was injured all those years ago in his horseback riding accident (he was injured at basically the very top of his neck), he was left a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic... BUT he could still speak following the accident.

[BW Manilowe]

Jackass Star Vincent "Don Vito" Margera (Bam Margera's Uncle) Dead at Age 59, of Kidney & Liver Failure

http://m.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jackass-star-vincent-don-vito-margera-bams-uncle-dead-at-59-20151511

[MaryMitch]

Sorry - old news,  deleted.

Edited November 17, 2015 by MaryMitch

[bmasters9]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/jim-perry-game-show-king-dies-at-82-1.2668049

 

Jim Perry, of the 1978-81 NBC Card Sharks, and of the 1983-89 $ale of the Century (which started right on my second birthday, believe it or not), has just now passed on.

[legaleagle53]

I remember him well from Card Sharks and $ale of the Century, but I had no idea that he had been an institution in Canada long before he hosted those two game shows here, especially considering that he wasn't even born in Canada.

[wilsie]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3328909/Keith-Michell-played-King-Henry-VIII-dies-aged-88.html

Keith Michell died on November 20.  I remember the first performance I saw him in was The Six Wives of Henry VIII.  He was wonderful. 

[Inquisitionist]

I'm not sure I've ever seen Keith Michell as anything BUT Henry VIII.  He was magnificent.

[wilsie]

I saw Keith Michell in a movie with Carol Burnett called The Tenth Month,  And a lot of Murder She Wrote episodes and I really liked him in those.  But he really was magnificent as Henry VIII.

[legaleagle53]

I'm not sure I've ever seen Keith Michell as anything BUT Henry VIII.  He was magnificent.

 

Not only was he magnificent, but he was the definitive Henry VIII, just as Glenda Jackson was the definitive Elizabeth I in the spinoff/sequel about her.

[Demented Daisy]

Soap legend David Canary Dies at 77

[giovannif7]

Sad day in the soap world - David Canary, who played twins Adam and Stuart Chandler on All My Children, has passed away. He set the bar incredibly high for playing the decades-long roles of two very different and distinct characters.

[NewDigs]

That's sad. I spent many many happy hours in Pine Valley. Many of them alternately loathing and loving Canary's characters.

Bolding mine.

Jerry Parr, the Secret Service agent who saved the late Former President Reagan's life during the 1981 assassination attempt by John Hinckley, has died at 85.

http://wane.com/2015/10/10/secret-service-agent-who-saved-reagan-after-shooting-dies/

(He had the Presidential limo turned around to go to George Washington Hospital, instead of the White House, when Reagan began complaining of chest pain & bleeding from the mouth after the shooting)

You mean they didn't just automatically transport him to an ER? Wonder if that's "normal".

RIP Jerry and esp. (to me) Canary.

[merylinkid]

RIP David Canary.   Hate Adam and Love Stuart all you want, but David Canary was a hell of an actor.

[scarynikki12]

You mean they didn't just automatically transport him to an ER? Wonder if that's "normal".

 

I'm only going off the comparable scene in The West Wing season 2 premiere In The Shadow of Two Gunmen Part 1 but, when Head of Secret Service Ron Butterfield and President Bartlet are in the limo on the way back to the White House after that shooting, Bartlet is insisting they return to the scene (the staff, reporters and onlookers were still there) and then that they go to the hospital when he sees that Ron's hand is bleeding from being shot.  The two characters argue for a bit and, finally, Ron loudly tells him "I HAVE to put you inside the White House, Mr. President.  This isn't something we discuss."  The driver refusing to heed Bartlet's demands to turn the limo around during this exchange support what Ron says.  It's only when Ron sees blood coming out of Bartlet's mouth, and quickly realizes he's been shot, that the destination changes to the hospital, at which point the driver complies.  The West Wing prided itself on being as authentic as possible, especially in the early seasons, so I always just assumed that Secret Service protocol was that, in the event of a shooting, the President and his family MUST be transported directly to the White House barring serious injury.  No idea if that's still the case.