Saturday, January 22, 2011

Phyllis K. Robinson

Brilliant copywriter -- via the New York Times.

Park Wan-suh

Writer -- via Arirang.

Darryl Rusell

School district employee who mentored many kids -- via the Denver Post.

Tullia Zevie

Activist -- via legacy.com. After spending WWII in exile, she returned and became a pillar of Italy's Jewish community.

Gus "Ozark Ike" Zernial

MLB left-fielder -- via the San Francisco Chronicle.

Eedhara Veera Venkata Satyanarayana

Film director, writer and producer -- via the Times of India.

Donna Atwood

Skater -- via the Kansas City Star. An early Ice Capades star, she one of two human models for the ice-skating sequence in "Bambi."

Mossie Hancock

Pianist, educator, broadcaster -- via the CBC.

Cleve Mathews

The first news director for National Public Radio -- via NPR.

Purushottam Das Jalota

Devotional singer -- via the Mumbai Mirror.

Penny Tweedie

Photographer -- via the Guardian.

Svemirka Mijatovic

Brave and compassionate doctor -- via the Guardian.

Reynolds Price

Novelist, poet, dramatist, essayist and teacher -- via the New York Times.

George Crowe

Fabulous athlete who starred in basketball, and an MLB All-Star -- via the University of Indianapolis.

Elder "Whitey" White

Former MLBer -- via Bill Schenley, groups.google.com/group/alt.obituaries.

C.B. Beringer

MLB coach -- via the Star-Telegram.

Moshe Yess

Singer, composer, performer -- via the Torah News.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Theoni V. Aldredge

Costume designer for stage and screen -- via Playbill. She won an Oscar for "The Great Gatsby"; she won Tonys for "Annie," "Barnum" and "La Cage aux Folles."

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Tom Gentry

Jazzman -- via the News-Herald.

Jean-Marc Cochereau

Conductor -- via Oregon Music News.

Cristian Paturca

Democracy activist -- via the Canadian Press. He wrote the protest song "Imnul Gonlailor," which became a rallying anthem for anti-Communist protestors.

Zoe Dominic

Photographer of dance and theatre -- via the Guardian.

Milton Rogovin

Photographer and social activist -- via the New York Times. He captured the lives of those at the "bottom" of society, with respect and grace.

R. Sargent Shriver

Founding head of the Peace Corps, creator of many national anti-poverty programs, ambassador -- via the New York Times. "In our society that is so self-absorbed, begin to look less at yourself and more at each other. Learn more about the face of your neighbor and less about your own.”

Georgia Carroll Kyser

Model, singer and actress -- via the Chapel Hill News Observer. She was pictured in so many ads from 1936 to 1946 that she has been informally referred to as "the first supermodel."

Kay Mills

Writer and journalist -- via the L.A. Times.

Michael Langham

Actor, director and influential theatrical manager -- via Playbill. He held sway at such institutions as Stratford, the Guthrie the La Jolla, and Julliard.

Eva von Berne aka Eva Plentzner von Scharneck

The last surviving silent film actress from Germany -- via voy.com.

Stephanie Glaser

Actress -- via World Radio Switzerland.

Chris Jenkyns

Writer/producer/art director -- via forum.bcdb.com. He worked primarily in animation, especially for Jay Ward ("Rocky & Bullwinkle," "George of the Jungle"), but for live-action shows such as "The Carol Burnett Show" as well.

Steve Prestwich

Drummer, guitarist, singer and songwriter -- via the Daily Telegraph.

George Ogg

Guitarist -- via the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel.

Alex Kirst

Drummer for the Nymphs and the Iggy Pop Band -- via the OC Weekly.

Don Kirshner

Music publisher, producer and manager -- via Billboard. "The Man with the Golden Ear" started as the manager for Connie Francis; he moved on to co-own Aldon Music, which was a large part of the Brill Building Era of songwriting -- Goffin/King, Mann/Weil, Lieber/Stoller, Neil Sedaka, Phil Spector, Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach . . . the list goes on and on. He even discovered Kansas -- the band, not the state.

He provided the music for the Saturday morning TV hit "The Monkees"; when the stars insisted on actually playing the music they sang on the show, Kirshner quit and created "The Archies," an animated music/cartoon show based on the classic comic strip. Later still, he created "In Concert"/"Don Kirshner's Rock Concert," an influential live-music series.

Some of the hits he published: "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "The Locomotion," "I'm a Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville" . . .

Monday, January 17, 2011

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Flo Gibson

Recorder of audio books -- via the New York Times. She got her start as a radio actress, then moved into reading books for listeners, chalking up over 1,000 titles in the course of her career.

Toshiyuki Hosokawa

Actor -- malaysiasun.com.

Barry Hobart aka Dr. Creep

TV horror-movie show host -- via WHIOTV. He was the infamous "Dr. Creep" in Dayton, Ohio's "Shock Theater," from 1972 to 1983.

Harvey James

Rock guitarist -- via undercover.fm.