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In Memoriam: Entertainment Industry Celebrity Deaths


Message added by Mr. Sparkle,

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This thread is for deaths of celebrities in the entertainment business only. No notices about politicians, please. 

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Madame Wu, famed California restaurateur, dies at 106.

Madame Wu’s Garden became a destination for Hollywood elite when it opened in 1959, known for its cuisine and decor as much as for its elegant host. At Madame Wu’s Garden, Mae West favored the cold melon soup, Gregory Peck and Paul Newman enjoyed the shrimp toast and crab puffs, while Princess Grace of Monaco preferred the Peking roast duck, according to the LA Times. “Everybody in this town knows Madame Wu,” the late television host Merv Griffin once told the newspaper. “One of the dearest, sweetest, most elegant women I’ve ever known.”

Wu also wrote cookbooks, appeared regularly on television and became active with charity work, particularly at City of Hope cancer center after her daughter, Loretta, died of breast cancer aged 34.

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20 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Just read that Loretta Lynn passed away, age 90. Sorry that I didn't copy the link.

I just heard it too.  She’s now reunited with her Dooley and BF Patsy.  And even tho I’m not a Country fan, her music, perseverance, and influence had a major impact on all female singers.

RIP Coal Miner’s Daughter.

ETA:  I meant Patsy.  Sorry, Mrs. Cline.

Edited by roamyn
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2 minutes ago, roamyn said:

I just heard it too.  She’s now reunited with her Dooley and BF Patty.  And even tho I’m not a Country fan, her music, perseverance, and influence had a major impact on all female singers.

RIP Coal Miner’s Daughter.

A hell of a singer that lived a full life. I’ll miss her, but like you said, she’s with all the other people she lost, so I won’t be sad.

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I remember going to my town’s(now long-closed)one-screen movie theater to watch Coal Miner’s Daughter, especially the scene where the kids all get new shoes from the mail-order catalog, and seeing the baby and thinking “That’s got to be Crystal Gayle.”

RIP, Loretta.
 

Just now, smittykins said:

I remember going to my town’s(now long-closed)one-screen movie theater to watch Coal Miner’s Daughter, especially the scene where the kids all get new shoes from the mail-order catalog, and seeing the baby and thinking “That’s got to be Crystal Gayle”(although now I think Loretta was already married when she was born).

RIP, Loretta.
 

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1 hour ago, smittykins said:

where the kids all get new shoes from the mail-order catalog, and seeing the baby and thinking “That’s got to be Crystal Gayle.”

I didn’t realize, until reading Mrs. Lynn’s obit, that Crystal’s real name was Brenda.  She had glorious hair.

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I don't even like country music, but I love "Coal Miner's Daughter" -- the song and the movie (which was filmed near where I grew up).  Loretta was a force to be reckoned with, and she'll be missed.

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10 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I don't even like country music, but I love "Coal Miner's Daughter" -- the song and the movie (which was filmed near where I grew up).  Loretta was a force to be reckoned with, and she'll be missed.

Yes. I agree.  I am not a fan of country music but her Coal Miner's daughter and Dolly Parton's Coat of many colors are special to me.

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Loretta Lynn's life was a total hillbilly shit show, which produced some terrific music.  I love quite a few of her songs:  Coal Miner's Daughter, Don't Come Home a Drinkin', The Pill, her duets with Conway Twitty (especially "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man"), and the Van Lear Rose album she did with Jack White.

In addition to her infamous husband, she outlived two of her children and one of her grandchildren.

She had such an eclectic collection of friends in the music industry, including Poison's Bret Michaels, who said on Instagram:

Quote

My heart is beyond heavy today as I have just learned of the passing of my good friend Loretta Lynn. I saw her a few weeks ago, & we sang some songs together. She was an incredible person, an incredible human being & an incredible talent who forged the way for women in the entertainment industry. I just spent time on her ranch, visiting with her & family. Singing songs & riding around on the ATVs & dirt bikes. One of the best days of my life was Thanksgiving when she sang Every Rose Has Its Thorn in the studio with me. She will forever be loved & missed.

The Tennessean has a nice collection of social media posts in tribute to her.

Edited by Bastet
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Smiling at the number of people on the interwebs whose eulogies for Loretta start with, “I don’t like country music BUT…”   I feel like that would get a “Bless your heart!” from her.

The coal miner’s daughter and Coolio, within a few days!  I’d love to hear *that duo.

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One thing that must be said about Mrs. Lynn is that she had the gift of composing and singing from way back which saved her from being totally trapped and overwhelmed with a drunken,cheating  and abusive husband while raising four children- and all the way across the country from her loved ones!  Yes, she could have just written those songs and sung them around her kids  with no one else hearing them but she DID sing them to a wider audience and that was her salvation. I definitely think she'll be looking forward to being reunited with her own mother Clara Webb Butcher as well as the two children and grandson she outlived. I'd like to think she may get some answers about her son's sudden death which she never accepted the official explanation for!

RIP, Mrs. Lynn and thanks for speaking (and appealing ) to a much larger population than you could have imagined!

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27 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Who was the second of Loretta’s children to die?  I remember her son Jack drowning, but don’t remember hearing abt another, plus a grandchild?

He gets all the attention because he died young (in his mid-thirties), but many years later the oldest of her six kids - the daughter with whom she "grew up together" since Loretta was a frakkin' kid when the baby was born - died about ten years ago, in her mid-60s, of emphysema. 

The oldest of her 20+ grandkids, a son of Jack (the one who drowned), died about six years ago when he was in his late 40s.  I don't know the cause of death.

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Photographer Douglas Kirkland who made portraits of celebrities as Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Charlie Chaplin and special photographer for films including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid2001: A Space OdysseyThe Sound of Music, and Titanic has died, age 88.

https://deadline.com/2022/10/douglas-kirkland-dead-photographer-celebrities-movie-shoots-1235135547/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/douglas-kirkland-dead-photographer-marilyn-monroe-1235233633/

https://petapixel.com/2022/10/04/hollywoods-favorite-photographer-douglas-kirkland-dies-age-88/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/douglas-kirkland-canadian-artist-who-famously-photographed-marilyn-monroe-dead-at-88-1.6605796

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20 hours ago, Blergh said:

One thing that must be said about Mrs. Lynn is that she had the gift of composing and singing from way back which saved her from being totally trapped and overwhelmed with a drunken,cheating  and abusive husband while raising four children-

He may have been a drunken, cheating abuser, but Doolittle Lynn was instrumental in her success.  He bought her her first guitar, and encouraged her to play and sing in public.  Doo was definitely a source of consternation, but without him, she may never have left Butcher Holler.

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2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

He may have been a drunken, cheating abuser, but Doolittle Lynn was instrumental in her success.  He bought her her first guitar, and encouraged her to play and sing in public.  Doo was definitely a source of consternation, but without him, she may never have left Butcher Holler.

Not an invalid point, and Mrs. Lynn herself said that 'Doolittle' or 'Mooney' was the one who believed in her talent more than anyone and encouraged her to play. Yes, it seems likely that he did it in no small part so he'd have a steady source of monies for  booze, women of relaxed morals, new cars and other toys but he DID do this. BTW, Mrs. Lynn said she only learned his actual  legal name of 'Oliver Vanetta Mooney, Jr.' when they were at the courthouse getting married!  That wouldn't be her last shock on her wedding day. She also said that the motel bathroom where they honeymooned was the very first time she ever saw a running water commode  which scared her because she thought it might somehow flush her away(and she minced no words about how she was totally unprepared for sex on her wedding night).

Still, unlike Miss Parton or even the tragic late Miss Judd, Mrs. Lynn had had no wish to LEAVE her hometown  that  she'd later call Butcher Holler since she didn't consider herself or her large family poor despite how much they all struggled and she was happy being with them. It was only because she had married Mooney and he decided to relocate to Washington State (almost in B.C., Canada), that she left the family and home she'd loved.  It would make an interesting Twilight Zone story about whether she would have truly contented herself staying there the rest of her life had she not married Mooney or whether she'd have married  a sober, faithful man who'd have treated her like China when she got older  (or not at all) had she not fallen for him in her early teens.  And would she have done more with her talent than just sing songs around her loved ones and maybe write them down for fun but never perform them elsewhere? It's interesting to ponder.

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11 hours ago, MissAlmond said:

I met the late Judy Tenuta backstage after one of her shows years ago. She was so down to earth and chill. She even signed my program calling me a petite flower.

Edited by Bookish Jen
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19 hours ago, MissAlmond said:

Comedian Judy Tenuta known as “The Love Goddess” has died, age 72.

I remember her schtick back in the 80s.  I didn't realize she was that old!!  RIP, along with your accordion.

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19 hours ago, MissAlmond said:

Comedian Judy Tenuta known as “The Love Goddess” has died, age 72.

I was hit and miss on her comedy in general (and probably more miss than hit), but I fondly remember the special with Rita Rudner, Paula Poundstone, Stephanie Hodge, and Ellen DeGeneres that put Tenuta on my radar.  And I know she was an outspoken ally of the LGBTQ+ community, plus had some delightfully pointed things to say about beauty standards.  I'm sorry to hear cancer got her barely into her seventies.

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3 hours ago, ebk57 said:

Robert Brown died in September and I just found out.  Although my crush was Bobby Sherman, I really loved him in "Here Come the Brides".  Damn... 

Indeed!  I only came across the show recently which has been airing on cable on weekends.  He was certainly my favorite Bolt brother!!  What shocked me was that he was already in his 40s when the show began!  RIP Mr. Brown.

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8 hours ago, ebk57 said:

Robert Brown died in September and I just found out.  Although my crush was Bobby Sherman, I really loved him in "Here Come the Brides".  Damn... 

Recently wondering how many OG Perry Mason guest stars were still alive and Robert Brown crossed my mind. Interesting to learn Brown's father was private butler to Teddy Roosevelt and FDR's mother.  

5 hours ago, magicdog said:

He was certainly my favorite Bolt brother!! 

Yes indeed. Jason Bolt had the sexiness and the voice to match. How else could he get those women to move to Seattle? LOL. R.I.P. Mr. Brown.

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1 hour ago, MissAlmond said:

Lenny Lipton, who wrote the poem Puff the Magic Dragon as a college freshman that later became a Peter, Paul and Mary hit has died, age 82.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/lenny-lipton-dead-puff-magic-dragon-1235235205/

The Internet Archive has Lenny Lipton’s documentary of People’s Park in Berkeley:  
archive.org/details/cbpf_00002

His name may not be familiar to many, but his works are a legacy on par with anyone’s.

Brain cancer is a terrible fate, but at least Lenny Lipton lived a full life.

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7 hours ago, MissAlmond said:

Lenny Lipton, who wrote the poem Puff the Magic Dragon as a college freshman that later became a Peter, Paul and Mary hit has died, age 82.

I grew up with that song!  I got my love of folk music from my parents (Dad especially) because he loved the storytelling aspect of the genre (which separated it from many other forms of music).  He had many albums from that era from PP&M, The Kingston Trio and The Chad Mitchell Trio among many others.  I got to take him to see Peter Paul and Mary many years later and it was great to see them live- unchanged pretty much.

I also grew up with the cartoon that was inspired by the song.  

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20 hours ago, ebk57 said:

Robert Brown died in September and I just found out.  Although my crush was Bobby Sherman, I really loved him in "Here Come the Brides".  Damn... 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/robert-brown-dead-here-come-the-brides-1235231988/

I don't want to say it's funny because of the circumstances, but I just saw that too --  a Roger Corman production of Richard III was on last week, and I looked him up to make sure it was Jason Bolt.  At 95, he had a good run; RIP, sir. 

ETA: I should have read his obituary first. He was a much more interesting person than I'd ever have thought.  

Edited by Miss Anne Thrope
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3 hours ago, magicdog said:

I grew up with that song!  I got my love of folk music from my parents (Dad especially) because he loved the storytelling aspect of the genre (which separated it from many other forms of music).  He had many albums from that era from PP&M, The Kingston Trio and The Chad Mitchell Trio among many others.  I got to take him to see Peter Paul and Mary many years later and it was great to see them live- unchanged pretty much.

I also grew up with the cartoon that was inspired by the song.  

A group of friends and I got thrown out of a bar because of that song!  To be fair, we were singing it very very loudly and very very badly. 

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On 10/9/2022 at 10:20 PM, ebk57 said:

Robert Brown died in September and I just found out.  Although my crush was Bobby Sherman, I really loved him in "Here Come the Brides".  Damn... 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/robert-brown-dead-here-come-the-brides-1235231988/

I disliked Jeremy, loved Joshua, and liked Jason.  I’m sorry to hear that he passed, but he an incredibly long, active life.

I think only David, Bobby, Susan and Brigitte are left.

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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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