Friday, September 16, 2011

Frances Bay

Character actress -- via the L.A. Times.

Eddie Marshall

Drummer and composer -- via the San Francisco Chronicle.

Barry Craig aka A Produce

Musician and producer -- via the L.A. Weekly.

Marcos Plonka

Actor and comedian -- via faceshuk.jewpi.com.

Silvia Glogner

Actress -- via voy.com.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Carlos Ballesteros

Actor and director -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

Jesse Jefferson

MLB pitcher -- via masnsports.com.

Mary Fickett

Actress -- via the New York Times.

Jordan Belson

Experimental filmmaker -- via the New York Times.

Christopher Small

Musicologist -- via the New York Times. Fascinatingly, he redefined music as a verb, not a noun; as a ritual, not a product (he lays its commodification at the feet of capitalism). A bold thinker!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Wade Mainer

The "grandfather of bluegrass" -- via the Washington Post. A vital link between the pre- and post-commercial country music scene.“'What we was playin’ in the ’30s was true country music — no electric instruments, no copyrights,' he once said. 'Something’d happen and someone’d write a song about it — nobody owned it, nobody’d know who wrote it. The music just told a story.'"

Carl Oglesby

Anti-war activist and writer -- via Yahoo News.

Ilse Lowenstam

Physician who developed new ways to combat addictions -- via the L.A. Times.

Richard Hamilton

The father of Pop Art -- via the New York Times. His 1956 collage, “Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?” is considered the first work in the movement.
He also famously designed the Beatles' "White Album" cover and its poster collage lyric sheet insert and photo portraits --

Arthur Evans

Gay activist and writer -- via my.firedoglake.com.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Hugh Fox

Writer, novelist, poet and anthropologist -- via dougholder.blogspot.com.

Donald L. Taffner

TV exec - via the L.A. Times. On the one hand, he brought Benny Hill to America adn created "Three's Company"; on the other hand, he imported "Rumpole of the Bailey."

Janusz Morgenstern

Film director -- via poland.pl.

Keith Tantlinger

Mechanical engineer and inventor -- via the New York Times. He perfected the design of the international cargo container.

Al Hall

Long-time director and producer of "Bozo's Circus" at WGN -- via the Chicago Tribune.

Andy Whitfield

Actor -- via the Sacramento Bee and Associated Press.

Finn Martin

Saxophonist -- via the Daily Mail.

Jonathan Exley

Photographer -- via Hollywood Today.

Charles Dubin aka Charles Samuel Dubronevski

Television director -- via the New York Times.

John Hoover

Artist -- via the Anchorage Daily News.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Cliff Robertson

Oscar-winning actor -- via the New York Times. His astonishing talent was never rewarded as fully as it should have been. He was blackballed for identifying studio bigwig David Begelman as a crook in 1977. Nonetheless, his work memorializes him. He had significant roles in "Picnic" and "The Naked and the Dead"; he played Joe Clay in the original TV broadcast of "Days of Wine and Roses." He was magnificent in "Underworld U.S.A.," "P.T. 109," "The Best Man," "Charly," "Three Days of the Condor," "The Pilot," and, finally, as Uncle Ben in the Raimi "Spiderman" trilogy. (On the corny side, he was "Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers" in an early live-TV sci-fi show, and guest villain "Shame" in the 60's "Batman" TV show.) A talented guy with integrity -- a rare combo.