Friday, January 9, 2015

Lance Percival

Comedic actor and singer -- via Digital Spy.



Milton Hebald

Sculptor -- via the L.A. Times. His work is seen by thousands -- for instance, formerly at JFK and still outside the Delacorte in Central Park.



Robbie Bean

Teacher and activist -- via the Denver Post.

Bill Hart

Stuntman and actor -- via legacy.com.

Ramon "Ray" Gipson

Lead singer of the G-Clefs -- via the Salem News. Their big hit: "I Understand." I love "Ka-Ding-Dong."



Andrae Crouch

Gerry Fisher

Cinematographer -- via the Telegraph. I am surprised he is not better-known -- he DP'ed many excellent films, including "The Go-Between," "Man in the Wilderness," "Juggernaut," "Mr. Klein," "Wise Blood," Losey's "Don Giovanni," "Wolfen," and "Highlander." He started as a camera operator in 1947, working on films such as "The Bridge on the River Kwai," "The Sundowners," and "Cleopatra."

Terry Becker

Actor, producer, and director -- via legacy.com. AKA Solomon Becker. In front of the camera, his biggest impression was made as Chief Sharkey in the preposterous but beloved '60s TV series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea."

King Sporty

Songwriter, DJ, musician, and music producer -- via soulandjazzandfunk.com. AKA Noel G. Williams. He wrote "Buffalo Soldier."



Noel Cobb

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Rod Taylor

Actor -- via Variety. An important member of Australian dramatic radio, Taylor moved on to film and TV and stage in America, and is best known for his roles in "The Time Machine," "The Birds," and "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (he was the voice of Pongo). His last screen role was a cameo as Churchill in Tarentino's "Inglorious Basterds."





Takao Saito

Cinematographer -- via Yahoo News. One of the "Kurosawa-gumi," the ensemble of actors, artists, and technicians that helped make Kurosawa's films come to life. Beginning as a camera operator on "One Wonderful Sunday" in 1947, he continued in this capacity through "Ikiru," "Seven Samurai," "I Live in Fear," "Throne of Blood," "The Lower Depths," "The Hidden Fortress," "The Bad Sleep Well," and "Yojimbo." He served as DP for "Sanjuro," "High and Low," and "Red Beard." He helped Kurosawa make the transition to color in "Dodes'ka-den," pushing through to even more amazing work in "Kagemusha," "Ran," "Dreams," and "Rhapsody in August." One of the greats.





Michele Serros

Writer -- via the L.A. Times.

Bridget Turner

Actress -- via the Telegraph.

Khan Bonfils

Actor -- via the Huffington Post.

Julia Neary

Actress and teacher -- via the Chicago Sun-Times.

Roger Kitter

Actor -- via Chortle.

Pino Daniele

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist -- via the Huffington Post.

Ganesh Patro

Playwright and screenwriter -- via greatandhra.com.

Chitresh Das

Dancer -- via Mercury News.

http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_27273521/pandit-chitresh-das-renowned-indian-dance-master-dies

Lance Diamond

Singer and musician -- via Buffalo Business Journal.

Sacvan Bercovitch

Scholar, critic, writer, and teacher -- via the New York Times.



Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Yolande Donlan

Actress -- via the Guardian.

Janos Zsombolyai

Matthew Cogley

Singer, guitarist, and songwriter -- via Digital Spy.

Rene Vautier

Filmmaker -- via Ouest France. He was sentenced to prison for making anti-colonialist films, one, "Afrique 50," was banned for 40 years. See it below.

Janet Halliday Ervin

Writer -- via legacy.com.

The Charlie Hebdo killings

12 are killed at Paris satirical weekly -- via the Telegraph. The dead include several staffers from Charlie Hebdo and two police officers. This post will update periodically as more information comes in.

Here is a complete lit of victims:

Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier, artist and publishing director

Jean "Cabu" Cabut, lead cartoonist

Bernard "Tignous" Verlhac, cartoonist

Georges Wolinski, cartoonist

Bernard "Uncle Bernard" Maris, economist and columnist

Phillipe Honore, cartoonist

Michel Renaud -- former journalist

Mustapha Ourrad -- copy editor

Elsa Cayat -- columnist and analyst

Frederic Boisseau -- building maintenance worker

Franck Brinsolaro -- police officer

Ahmed Merabet -- police officer

They were humorists. They were telling jokes, provoking thought, for crying out loud. Proof positive that the people who can't take a joke are dangerous. Without humor, there's no freedom. It's ironic, but not funny, that one of the slain officers was a Muslim.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Steve Wiley

Music-store owner and music writer -- via the Arizona Republic.

Joyce Lamont

Radio host -- via KARE-TV.

Ahuti Prasad

Actor -- via the Sakshi Post.

Upendra Trivedi

Actor -- via zeenews.india.com.

Lewis Rudolph

Jeff Golub

Guitarist -- via Billboard.

Lam Po-chuen

Voice actor -- via Young Post.

Abdullah Hussain

Novelist and writer -- via the Malaysia Chronicle.

Deborah Bone

Mental health nurse -- via the BBC. The inspiration for Pulp's "Disco 2000."

Stu Miller

Former MLB pitcher -- via ESPN.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Ninon Sevilla

Actress and dancer -- via El Universal. AKA Emelia Perez Castellanos. A great star in Mexico and Cuba, who did much to popularize the rhumba.







Miller Williams

Poet, translator, and editor -- via the New York Times.



(William) Patrick Gowers

Composer best known for his film and choral scores -- via Slipped Disc. He was the music director for the groundbreaking production of "Marat/Sade," and scored several film and TV works. He may be best remembered for his work on the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series.





Alvin Jett

Blues guitarist -- via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Tom LaBrie

Waterbed pitchman and late-night TV host -- via the Sacramento Bee.




DEATHCETERA: A weekly roundup of mortality-related news

Not many stories about death this week -- which, ironically, is just fine by me. Sometimes grief and thoughts of mortality must ebb.

DEATH

Do you mind if we broadcast your husband’s death? Really? Too bad – from Charles Ornstein via ProPublica and the New York Times


Man seeks to reunite cremains with dead man’s survivors – via Rachel Southmayd at heraldonline.com.


MOURNING

Second slain NYPD officer buried; some police protests continue – via Ashley Fantz, Ben Brumfield, and Holly Yan at CNN


FUNERALS

Rising funeral costs are crippling – from Lucy Berry at al.com



OBITS



Shelly Bordas

Actress and teacher -- via John Moore at the DCPA. Once again, here's a prime example of a life that might be overlooked by big media, but one that made a lot of impact. Shelly's grit was incredible; another huge component of the story is the fact that a creative community of, quite literally, hundreds got on the same page and pitched in to help her and her son -- not just with money, but with time and care and support. I feel very lucky to be even a weensy, tangential part of the scene.

Bob Usher

Former MLB player -- via legacy.com.

Melvin Jackson

Blues musician -- via Yahoo News.

Michael Kennedy

Classical music writer and critic -- via the Telegraph.