Friday, March 4, 2011

Fateh Singh Rathore

Animal conservationist -- via the Telegraph. He risked death and bodily harm to save tiger populations in India.

Rosemary Gill

Children's television producer -- via the Telegraph. Her expert ministrations helped make the British show "Blue Peter" a long-lasting success.

Paul Marcus

TV director, script editor and producer -- via the Guardian. Among his distinctive creations: "Maigret" with Michael Gambon, and "Prime Suspect" with Helen Mirren.

Irena Kwiatkowska

Actress -- via thenews.pl.

John Haines

Poet -- via the Anchorage Daily News.

Roc Dukati aka Jamie Lee

Rapper -- via the Boston Herald.

Tom Herde

Exceptional photojournalist -- via the Boston Globe.

Paquito Diaz aka Francisco Bustillos Diaz

Film actor and director -- via the Manila Bulletin. An iconic villain in the Philippines movie industry, he could play comedy as well.

Warren Cassell

Bookstore owner -- via greenwichtime.com.

Anne Compoccia

Neighborhood activist -- via the Villager.

Walter Zacharius

Publisher -- via the Wall Street Journal. From romance novels to "instant" books to smut to born-again Christian sci-fi, he printed it all!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Thor Vilhjalmsson

Writer -- via sagenhaftes-island.is.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Loy Clingman

Rockabilly singer/songwriter -- via obitsutah.com.

Hazel Rowley

Biographer -- via the Australian. Here is her brilliant account of trying to get her biography of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir published in France --

Scott "Red" Cary

Pitched for the 1947 Senators -- via Bill Schenley and groups.google.com/group/alt.obituaries.

Henry Africa aka Norman Jay Hobday

Creator of the fern bar -- via the San Francisco Chronicle. Although the title to this creation, a swanky and overdecorated type of establishment that catered to upscale singles in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is disputed by another San Francisco institution, Perry's, Africa holds the distinction to date. (The lemon drop martini was created in his place as well.)

Ryan Hawks

Freeskier -- via the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

Roald Reitan

Baritone -- via the News Tribune.

Wally Yonamine

Athlete -- via the Daily Yomiuri. He was the first Japanese American to play pro football, for the 49ers, in 1947. He then played pro baseball for the Yomiuri Giants and the Chunichi Dragons. He is the only American in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

John "Mike" Lounge

Astronaut -- via space.com.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Eddie Brandt

Pianist -- writer -- cartoonist -- movie memorabilia expert -- owner of Saturday Matinee video store, a trove of obscure gems. Via the Hollywood Reporter.

Agnes Davies

Female snooker pioneer -- via the Guardian.

Brian Burland

Writer -- via the Bermuda Sun.

Diane Izzo

Singer/songwriter -- via WBEZ.

Mark Ryan

Guitarist who turned to playwriting -- via the Independent.

Harvey Dorfman

Sports psychologist -- via Yahoo Sports.

Eugene Fodor

Violinist -- via violinist.com. A child prodigy from Denver, Fodor was the first American to win the Tchaikovsky in Moscow, in 1974. His later life was marred by substance abuse, but he kept turning out brilliant performances as late as 2008.


Monday, February 28, 2011

Jane Russell

Actress -- via the Hollywood Reporter. A buxom beauty of a film star, she could act but was rarely given the opportunity to do so. She was so breathtakingly attractive that her pairing with Marilyn Monroe in "gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is still a kitschy classic.
She started with a bang in the Howard Hughes drama "The Outlaw":

She did good work in "The Paleface," "His Kind of Woman," and "The Tall Men."



In later life, she became a spokesperson for the Playtex 18-Hour Bra, "for us full-figured gals."
For someone who was judged primarily for her appearance, she displayed great panache on camera. The best analysis of her career is here in the L.A. Times --

Netiva Ben-Yehuda

Writer, editor and broadcaster -- via the Jerusalem Post.

Bill Dunaway

Former owner, editor and publisher of the Aspen Times -- via the Aspen Times.

A. Frank Willis

Folk and country musician -- via the Telegram.

Harrell "Buddy" Jones

Drummer -- via gibson.com.

Annie Girardot

Actress in film and television -- via contactmusic.com. She was in such landmark films as "Rocco and his Brothers," "The Piano Teacher" and "Cache."

Gary Winick

Director and producer -- via MTV. Among his films: "Tadpole," "13 Going on 30," the live-action "Charlotte's Web" and "Letters to Juliet." As usual, the most effective overview of his career comes from the L.A. Times --

Choi Ko-eun

Filmmaker -- via the L.A. Times.

Rob Samsel

Comic-book shop owner, and early writer and editor for Wizard Magazine -- via bleedingcool.com.

Oscar obit reel: who they left out

An interesting bit from E! Online -- who got left out of the Oscar death reel? Why? Deadline Hollywood weighed in as well . . .

Hy Rosen

Editorial cartoonist -- via the Albany Times-Union. A moving eulogy by Paul Grondahl.

Emmanuel "Manny" Fried

Playwright -- via WNED.

Abbas Amiri

Actor -- via the Tehran Times.

Moacyr Scliar

Writer -- via the CBC.

Tom McMinn Jr

Vagabond -- via the Centre Daily Times.

Jens Winther

Trumpeter, composer, arranger, bandleader -- via Politiken.

Eddie Kirkland aka the Gypsy of the Blues

Bluesman -- via AOL News.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Mark Tulin

Bassist -- via ryanfunk.wordpress.com. His career stretched from the Electric Prunes to Smashing Pumpkins.

Suze Rotolo

Teacher, painter and illustrator -- via the New York Daily News. She will be forever remembered as the girl on the cover of Bob Dylan's "The Freewheeling Bob Dylan" album; she was his girlfriend and muse for a time.

Michael Zimring

Agent and radio actor -- via the L.A. Times.

Andy Jurinko

Artist who specialized in art on the subject of baseball. He was a Phillies fan -- via the New York Times.