Thursday, August 5, 2010

Lorene Yarnell Jansson

Half of the Shields and Yarnell mime team -- via the Kansas City Star

Bruce Garvey

Canadian newspaperman -- via the Toronto Star

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Mitch Jayne

Bassist of The Dillards -- via John Trout's Bluegrass World. Best known to most as the Darlings in "The Andy Griffith Show," The Dillards pioneered electrified bluegrass and founded the California sound that morphed into country rock.

Bernie West aka Bernard Wessler

Sitcom writer started out as comedian -- via the L.A. Times

Chris Dagley

British jazz drummer -- via Jazzwise

Derf Scratch aka Frederick Milner III

Bassist for Fear -- via Pitchfork

David William

Former Stratford Shakespeare Festival director -- via lfpress. Here's a nice, thorough appreciation of him from the Telegraph --

Bobby Hebb

The man who wrote and sang the hit "Sunny" -- via the L.A. Times

Morrie Yohai

The man who invented Cheez Doodles -- via the New York Times

Robert F. Boyle

Genius film art director worked extensively with Hitchcock -- via the New York Times


Robert Boyle Accepts an Honorary Oscar
Uploaded by celebitchy. - Videos of family and friends from around the world.

Dan Resin aka Dan Wrzesien

Actor who played Dr. Beeper in "Caddyshack," and the Ty-D-Bol man! Via the Philadelphia Inquirer

Jacques Montouroy

Humanitarian worker -- via Yahoo News

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Frances Kuyper

"Cake lady" was innovator and pioneer in the decoration of baked goods -- via the L.A. Times

Alvin Boretz

Prolific writer for TV and radio -- via alt.obits and legacy.com

Tom Mankiewicz

Screenwriter, and expert script doctor -- via the L.A. Times

Monday, August 2, 2010

Mitch Miller

The old maestro -- musician, music producer and TV host -- via the New York Times. He was hopelessly corny, hated rock and roll, tried to get Sinatra to record novelty records. Yet he was immensely successful in music in the period between the Swing Era and rock and roll -- a time of syrupy ballads and overwrought crooning. He created and hosted "Sing Along with Mitch" in the early 1960s -- this hokey concept epitomized the suffocating whiteness we all yearned to escape from as kids. Still, I have the albums at home, and they did teach me the American song literture that predated the American Song Book. Follow the bouncing ball!

William Bowen Rogers

Documentary filmmaker with a unique niche -- he specialized in projects that were shown in museums. Via the Dallas Morning News

Joel Crager

One of the most distinctive announcers of network TV -- via musicradio77.com. Best remembered for his intros to the "ABC Sunday Night Movie" --

Suso Cecchi D’Amico


Brilliant Italian screenwriter who brought us such classics as "Bicycles Thieves," "Big Deal on Madonna Street" and "The Leopard" -- via the BBC

Friday, July 30, 2010

John Aylesworth

Comedy writer and producer, best known as the creator of "Hee Haw" -- via the Palm Springs Desert Sun