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In Memoriam: Entertainment Industry Celebrity Deaths

Kromm

By Kromm
in Everything Else TV

Mr. Sparkle
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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SusanM

SusanM

(edited)

Linking because of info about Sondheim's mother

Quote

He had a solitary childhood, which involved verbal abuse from his chilly mother. He received a letter in his 40s from her telling him that she regretted giving birth to him. He continued to support her financially and to see her occasionally but didn't attend her funeral.

Wow. What stood out was she wrote that to him AFTER he had achieved a lot of success not after he served a prison term or something.  Jeeze. Talk about having a toxic parent.

Edited by SusannahM
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Bastet
Bastet

Piss up a rope, Val Kilmer.  If your physical illness got so bad that your life utterly sucked and no end to that suffering was in sight, so that suicide was or seemed to be the best of the available

wilsie
wilsie
BetterButter
BetterButter

Olivia Newton-John Has Died At 73

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Wildcard

Wildcard

1 hour ago, GreekGeek said:

My favorite Sondheim musical is an odd one: Assassins. I missed the original run but was fascinated by it after seeing the 2004 revival. My second favorite is Follies. I loved how Sondheim could write in the musical style of so many genres.

Can I sit next to you? My last live theater before COVID was the Signature Theater's "Assassins". I love that musical.

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GreekGeek

GreekGeek

30 minutes ago, Wildcard said:

Can I sit next to you? My last live theater before COVID was the Signature Theater's "Assassins". I love that musical.

Sure!

I was supposed to see it in March of 2020 and...you know. I'm scheduled to see it in January.

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MissAlmond

MissAlmond

5 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

Stephen Sondheim, Titan of the American Musical, Is Dead at 91

A tragedy tonight!

Shocked, when I shouldn't be shocked since Stephen Sondheim was 91.  But still, what a tremendous loss this is!  Like others, I'm gutted.  R.I.P. Mr. Sondheim and thank you, thank you, thank you.  

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Vermicious Knid

Vermicious Knid

I heard this on NPR while driving around and actually gasped out loud. Got to my destination and sat in the car to finish the whole segment, which played many snippets of his songs. I'm sure at least one was Bernadette Peters, who was taken far too early. He had Tonys, an Oscar, a Grammy, and the Pulitzer prize, in addition to a slew of other awards. He was quietly gay and finally married his partner in 2017.

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GreekGeek

GreekGeek

5 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

I heard this on NPR while driving around and actually gasped out loud. Got to my destination and sat in the car to finish the whole segment, which played many snippets of his songs. I'm sure at least one was Bernadette Peters, who was taken far too early. He had Tonys, an Oscar, a Grammy, and the Pulitzer prize, in addition to a slew of other awards. He was quietly gay and finally married his partner in 2017.

Bernadette Peters is still alive. She tweeted about Sondheim's death.

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Spartan Girl

Spartan Girl

(edited)

This is going to sound like blasphemy, but I thought the movie versions of Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd were okay. Yes, Sweeney Todd could have had better leads, especially Mrs. Lovett. After Emma Thompson slayed the Lincoln Center version in 2015 it seems like a missed opportunity that she never was considered! Into the Woods had a very strong cast and Meryl SLAYED “Last Midnight.” But I think I’m going to rent the proshot state version Into the Woods today just because.

Edited by Spartan Girl
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Browncoat

Browncoat

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

This is going to sound like blasphemy, but I thought the movie versions of Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd were okay. Yes, Sweeney Todd could have had better leads, especially Mrs. Lovett. After Emma Thompson slayed the Lincoln Center version in 2015 it seems like a missed opportunity that she never was considered! Into the Woods had a very strong cast and Meryl SLAYED “Last Midnight.” But I think I’m going to rent the proshot state version Into the Woods today just because.

I thought Into The Woods was fine.  But I was incredibly disappointed with Sweeney Todd because of the casting -- almost all of the casting.  Tim Burton was probably the best choice of director, but I cannot believe that the choices he made for the cast were his best options.  I mean, if the song says, "What a nice plump frame what's his name has... had... has", maybe you should cast someone who isn't rail thin.

And now I want Shepherd's pie.

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GreekGeek

GreekGeek

7 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I thought Into The Woods was fine.  But I was incredibly disappointed with Sweeney Todd because of the casting -- almost all of the casting.  Tim Burton was probably the best choice of director, but I cannot believe that the choices he made for the cast were his best options.

For me, it was the realistic bloodiness of the movie Sweeney Todd that took away from the music. Blood on stage doesn't have the same effect. I have the same issue with West Side Story: it starts out with stylized fighting expressed through dance but then turns into actual fights with real weapons and death. 

None of this detracts from Sondheim's scores though.

 

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bobalina

bobalina

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

This is going to sound like blasphemy, but I thought the movie versions of Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd were okay. Yes, Sweeney Todd could have had better leads, especially Mrs. Lovett. After Emma Thompson slayed the Lincoln Center version in 2015 it seems like a missed opportunity that she never was considered! Into the Woods had a very strong cast and Meryl SLAYED “Last Midnight.” But I think I’m going to rent the proshot state version Into the Woods today just because.

Sweeny Todd was recorded for Great Performances years ago with Angela Lansbury. If you can find it you'll see how stinky the movie really is. The show, like so many of Mr. Sondheim's works, was brilliant.

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magicdog

magicdog

Loved A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum!  

The movie didn't age well but still a fun watch.  Seeing it live on stage will never not be fun!

Same with West Side Story!  

I always sit and watch when those movies turn up.

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Spartan Girl

Spartan Girl

28 minutes ago, bobalina said:

Sweeny Todd was recorded for Great Performances years ago with Angela Lansbury. If you can find it you'll see how stinky the movie really is. The show, like so many of Mr. Sondheim's works, was brilliant.

I have watched that version long before the movie came out, and yes it was brilliant.

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MissAlmond

MissAlmond

(edited)
1 hour ago, magicdog said:

Loved A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum!  

The movie didn't age well but still a fun watch.  Seeing it live on stage will never not be fun!

Miles Gloriosus basking in the wonders of himself remains a favorite.

[SOLDIERS]
Look at those arms!
Look at that chest!
Look at them!

[MILES]
Not to mention the rest.
Even I am impressed!

Edited by MissAlmond
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GreekGeek

GreekGeek

14 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Not Bernadette Peters? Oh shoot, I was thinking of Madeline Kahn who was only 57. She performed in Company. Looking it up also brought up that Zero Mostel was only 62.

I agree that Madeline Kahn was gone far too soon. And I did not realize--or had forgotten-- that Mostel died so young. 

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SusanM

SusanM

3 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

I agree that Madeline Kahn was gone far too soon. And I did not realize--or had forgotten-- that Mostel died so young

IT's actually a real kick in the pants when you start looking up favourite stars of yesteryear and find that very often they died young.  My most recent example of this was Lou Costello - dead at 52.  To me, in most of his movies, he already looked like he was in his 50s!

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MissAlmond

MissAlmond

Curley Culp, NFL Hall of Fame nose tackle for Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Oilers has died, age 75.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32728072/curley-culp-hall-fame-nose-tackle-kansas-city-chiefs-houston-oilers-dies-75

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/hall-of-fame-defensive-lineman-curley-culp-a-key-member-of-the-chiefs-super-bowl-iv-team-dies-at-age-75/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/27/sport/nfl-curley-culp-dies/index.html

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MissAlmond

MissAlmond

(edited)

Virgil Abloh artistic director for Louis Vuitton has died, age 41.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/style/virgil-abloh-dead-cancer-louis-vuitton-fashion-designer-1235053629/

https://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/virgil-abloh-rip

https://www.gq.com/story/virgil-abloh-has-died

https://www.vogue.com/article/virgil-abloh-has-died-aged-41

https://www.instyle.com/fashion/virgil-abloh-died

From LVMH Twitter page:

 

Edited by MissAlmond
added fashion industry links
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Bastet

Bastet

On 11/26/2021 at 4:17 PM, ABay said:

He looked pretty bad when Colbert had him on...a month ago?

I don't think he looked pretty bad there, I think he looked 91.

Like others have said, you can't be shocked when a 91-year-old dies, but he's such a longstanding influential presence I did indeed gasp when I read the news (especially since he was still out and about until the end); as the LA Times obituary read, "No one can feign shock when a nonagenarian shuffles off his mortal coil, but the magnitude of Sondheim’s death feels seismic."

I'm not generally a fan of movie musicals (I can use one hand to name those I love, and those I like could be condensed to the second hand if need be), but I love stage musicals.  And he revolutionized the genre in a way that made it appeal to me in a way it never had before.

This is enormous.  I knew virtually nothing about him outside his work until reading his obits, so it's not a "personal" loss like I on rare occasions feel with celebrities I don't know yet respond to in terms of their work, activism, and what I know of their personal life, and I'm not sad in that way.  But I am ... something.  Something I can't really describe, but it's whatever happens when a tremendous artist dies -- leaving behind works that will live on - and influence other works that will live on - in perpetuity, a legacy few achieve, but also causing a sense of loss that the artist himself no longer exists.

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ABay

ABay

Mileage obviously varies but I gasped when I saw him on Colbert in September. It was a drastic change from the last time I'd seen him on TV, which I think was the 90th birthday party last year. Whatever. We were lucky to have had him for as long as we did and, as someone with a lifelong love of musicals, I mourn his leaving but celebrate his legacy.

 

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Blergh

Blergh

2 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Arlene Dahl, Actress in ‘One Life to Live,’ ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth,’ Dies at 96

Well, one sure can't say that she lived a conventional or mundane life and it sure was a long one! 

BTW, I wonder if she ever crossed paths with fellow Minneaopolis native- Charles 'Sparky' Shulz  (either there in or in California) who was only born a few years earlier .

In any case, RIP, Miss Dahl! 

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GreekGeek

GreekGeek

On 11/29/2021 at 9:32 PM, SmithW6079 said:

Maybe this should go over in "Unpopular Opinions," and I realize it's sacrilege, but other than "West Side Story" and "Gypsy" (for which he write the lyrics), I never cared for Sondheim's musicals. 

I get where you're coming from. I went to the "Sondheim on Sondheim" show back in 2010, and after a couple of hours of cynical not-quite-melodious not-quite-love songs, I was ready for some simple-minded "love/dove moon/June" tunes. But he wrote so much in so many styles that it's unusual to find someone who doesn't like any of his musicals.

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Blergh

Blergh

(edited)

According to the website, Eddie Mekka (born Rudolph Edward Mekjian) died on November 27,2021 at age 69. His most famous role was as Carmine 'The Big Ragu'  Ragusa on Laverne & Shirley (1976-1983)   -  Shirley's semi-steady who sang and danced- a lot!  Anyway, one can't deny he was talented! RIP, Mr. Mekka. 

https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/eddie-mekka-carmine-the-big-ragu-ragusa-on-laverne-and-shirley-died.4734087/

Edited by Blergh
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meowmommy

meowmommy

1 minute ago, Blergh said:

According to the website, Eddie Mekka (born Rudolph Edward Mekjian) died on November 27,2021 at age 69.

Awww.  He was hands down my favorite character on that show.  Cute as a button and a great dancer.

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magicdog

magicdog

2 hours ago, Blergh said:

According to the website, Eddie Mekka (born Rudolph Edward Mekjian) died on November 27,2021 at age 69. His most famous role was as Carmine 'The Big Ragu'  Ragusa on Laverne & Shirley (1976-1983) 

Not Carmine!!  The Big Ragoo is no more!!

It always bugged me that he and Shirley weren't allowed to marry by the series' end!  I know there was a lot of friction between TPTB and Cindy Williams and she ended up being written out (marrying a guy who had never been introduced before!) but at least she could have married Carmine and they could have gone off together.  

I would never have even known of the classic Tony Bennett song, "Rags To Riches" if it weren't for Carmine's entrances!

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Bastet

Bastet

While of course I remember Eddie Mekka as Carmine, I mostly think of him as the guy Mae dances with in the bar in A League of Their Own and as Grady, Jenna's sidekick, on Guiding Light around the same time; I liked him well enough in the old role but thought nothing of it, and then was tickled to see him pop up again.  Sixty nine is too young to die, and my heart goes out to his loved ones.

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MissAlmond

MissAlmond

5 hours ago, magicdog said:

I would never have even known of the classic Tony Bennett song, "Rags To Riches" if it weren't for Carmine's entrances!

Carmine's entrances was the first thing that popped into my head!  R.I.P. Mr. Mekka.  

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Macbeth

Macbeth

(edited)
On 11/26/2021 at 7:42 PM, SusannahM said:

Linking because of info about Sondheim's mother

Wow. What stood out was she wrote that to him AFTER he had achieved a lot of success not after he served a prison term or something.  Jeeze. Talk about having a toxic parent.

It's amazing Sondheim survived that childhood with his sanity.

He, and we, are very lucky he was mentored by the legendary Oscar Hammerstein II.  I believe the angels had a hand in making sure those two met.  More than anything he needed a true parent to emulate.  And he made sure to mentor others as he had been.

Here is Broadway's tribute to Mr. Sondheim:

 

 

 

Edited by Macbeth
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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

17 hours ago, meowmommy said:

Awww.  He was hands down my favorite character on that show.  Cute as a button and a great dancer.

I always had a crush on Carmine. I'm sorry he and Shirley didn't end up together. 

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AstaCharles

AstaCharles

8 hours ago, MissAlmond said:

Carmine's entrances was the first thing that popped into my head!  R.I.P. Mr. Mekka.  

My favorite entrance was when  he appeared on Happy Days : the Fonz and Richie are about to fight some tough guys in the school gym.  Carmine comes in as backup , and he's singing and dancing - the bad guys laugh at him. Then  Fonzie points out that Carmine was a boxer too .

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Blergh

Blergh

1 hour ago, AstaCharles said:

My favorite entrance was when  he appeared on Happy Days : the Fonz and Richie are about to fight some tough guys in the school gym.  Carmine comes in as backup , and he's singing and dancing - the bad guys laugh at him. Then  Fonzie points out that Carmine was a boxer too .

Even though, alas, vaudeville, tap dancing, etc. were already considered passé by L&S's debut, I like that Mr. Mekka showed the home audience via Carmine that tough guys CAN sing and dance. IOW, IMO, he was a latter-day Gene Kelly and it's too bad he was born a few decades too late to have been considered a matinee idol - or leading man's bruising but musical sidekick in much the same way Cass Elliott had herself wanted to headline in traditional vaudeville  when she grew up- only to have that be virtually dead when she came of age . I also think that Mr. Mekka deserved a better show (and showcase) for his talents than L&S! 

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magicdog

magicdog

4 hours ago, Blergh said:

he was a latter-day Gene Kelly and it's too bad he was born a few decades too late to have been considered a matinee idol - or leading man's bruising but musical sidekick

Agreed!  There was even an episode in which Carmine was going to leave town and he takes down an autographed picture of Gene from the wall.  Gene was still alive at that time and I wonder if it was real or not.  Either way, he was definitely in the same vein!  Class act all the way!

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