Thursday, May 7, 2015

Craig Gruber

Marcia Brown

Multiple Caldecott Medal-winning Illustrator -- via the New York Times. Who doesn't love her?





Katy Jones

Journalist and TV producer -- via the Guardian.

Val E. Lewton

Exhibition designer, and artist -- via the Washington Post.


Anne Warren Smith

Writer -- via the Corvallis Gazette-Times.


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Errol Brown

Singer and songwriter, best known as the front man of Hot Chocolate -- via the Guardian. Biggest hits: "You Sexy Thing" and the original version of "Brother Louie."



Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Ann Barr

Journalist and writer -- via the Guardian.


Ellen Albertini Dow

Actress -- via Deadline. Best known for her more recent comedic roles, she spent decades on stage, performing comedy, mime, and Yiddish theater.

Eva Aeppli

Artist -- via bzbasel.ch.

Travis Hill

Trumpeter -- via the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Revaz "Rezo" Chkheidze

Film director -- via Democracy & Freedom Watch.

Su Wenmao

Erin Myers

Actress -- via the Chicago Sun-Times.

Norman Thaddeus Vane

Writer and director -- via the Hollywood Reporter. AKA Norman Theodore Vein. 

Jose Canalejas

Actor -- via El Mundo.

Alfred Schreyer

Fiddler and singer -- via wyborcza.pl.



Monday, May 4, 2015

Konstantyn Kuzminsky

Performance poet -- via svoboda.org.

Philip S. Goodman

Clarice Carson

Soprano -- via the Toronto Globe & Mail.




Joseph Lechleider

Jean Lescot

Actor -- via panoranews. AKA Jean Wajsbrot.

Nigel Terry

Actor -- via the Guardian. Best known for his roles in films such as "Excalibur," "The Lion in Winter," and "Caravaggio."




Ruth Rendell

Maya Plisetskaya

One of the 20th century's great ballerinas -- via the New York Times.

Michael Blake

Amar Laskri

Film director -- via El Watan.

Grace Lee Whitney

Actress -- via the New York Daily News. AKA Mary Ann Chase. Best known for her role as Yeoman Rand on the original "Star Trek" series, she would prefer to be remembered as someone who overcame some serious addictions. (And in the Star Trek universe, she eventually role to the rank of Commander!)

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Stuart Archer

World War II bomb disposal officer -- via the Telegraph. He dismantled more than 200 bombs successfully; awarded the George Cross. Either the luckiest man in the world or the one with the biggest balls, I'm not sure which. The truth I believe lies somewhere between and is termed bravery. Some of his experiences were related in James Owen's "Danger UXB."






Maria Elena Velasco

Actress, comedian, singer, songwriter, dance, film producer and director -- via the Huffington Post. Best known for her comedic person, La India Maria.







Stephen Milburn Anderson

Film producer and director -- via Variety. Best known for "South Central."






Ronald Senator

Composer -- via CBS New York.

Steven Goldmann

Film and music video director -- via All Access.



Carlos Calderon Fajardo

Writer -- via Peru This Week.





Patachou

Singer and actress -- via Le Figaro. AKA Henriette Ragon. Played Yvette Guilbert in Renoir's "Can Can."






The Last Mr. Bigg

Rapper -- via Billboard. AKA Donald Maurice Pears.

Gopulu

Cartoonist -- via mykollywood.com. AKA S. Gopalan.

Cleto Augusto

Actor -- via legacy.com.

Alex Stevens

Actor, stunt coordinator, and stuntman -- via Facebook. Best known for his work as the Werewolf in the TV horror/soap series "Dark Shadows," and as the comic, pratfalling baker in a taped bit that appeared often in early episodes of "Sesame Street."







Friday, May 1, 2015

Bill Valentine

Ray Jackson

John "Johnny" Kazian

Acrobat, wingwalker, and stuntman -- via findagrave.com.

Teresa Castello Yturbide

Folklorist and writer -- via Informador. AKA Girasola, Pascuala Corona.

Colin Sauer

Violinist -- via the Telegraph. His recording of the Douglas Coates violin concerto, long thought lost, resurfaced to acclaim in 2006.

Richard LaSalle

Film and television composer -- via legacy.com. Born in Louisville, Colorado on January 18, 1918, he attended the University of Colorado. LaSalle began writing for local radio, then performed around the region as a pianist and an orchestra leader from 1940 to 1955. His film credits include "Tank Battalion" (1958), "Deadly Duo" (1962), "40 Guns to Apache Pass" (1967), "Piranha" (1972), TV movies such as "The Amazing Captain Nemo," "Fire!", and "Back to the Planet of the Apes"; and TV shows such as "F Troop," "Land of the Giants," "Room 222," and "Wonder Woman."

Too soon: on not listing some of the young deceased

I've recently passed on posting obituaries on 22-year-old Peter Cronkite and 19-year-old Sawyer Sweeten. In general, I try to focus on obituaries overlooked by the mainstream media. This is not to say that these young men, and others who die tragically, such as recent progeria victim Hayley Okines, did not make significant and lasting contributions to humanity in their short lives. However, their stories are told far more eloquently on sites and via journalism that can adequately foreground and emphasize the issues involved with their deaths. They deserve better and more thorough attention than I can give them. Thanks for listening.

Ben E. King

Legendary soul and R& B singer and songwriter -- via the BBC. AKA Benjamin Earl Nelson. As the lead singer of the Drifters, he had hits with "There Goes My Baby," "This Magic Moment," and "Save the Last Dance for Me"; as a soloist, he recorded more classics, including "Stand by Me," "Spanish Harlem," and "Don't Play That Song."