Monday, July 16, 2012

Jon Lord

Organist, keyboardist, composer; founder and long-time leader of hard rock pioneers Deep Purple -- via the New York Times.















Bob Babbitt aka Robert Kreinar

Bassist with the legendary Funk Brothers, the studio band at Motown Records -- via the Detroit News. The master of the funky bottom, rivaled in his time only by Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone. A genius.

He played on more than 200 top 40 hits. Think about alllllllllllll the brilliant songs he played the bass line on -- "Ball of Confusion," "Scorpio," "Oh How Happy," "Cool Jerk," "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours," "War," "Mercy Mercy Me," "Midnight Train to Georgia" -- and his ultimate creation, the masterpiece "Just My Imagination." Cannot praise him too highly. He got it.















Kitty Wells aka Ellen Muriel Deason, "The Queen of Country Music"

First female country-music star -- via the New York Times.








Donald J. Sobol

Writer; creator of schoolboy mystery-solver Encyclopedia Brown -- via nj.com.


Maurice Chevit

Actor -- via news.round.co.uk.

Toby Robertson

Former artistic director of the Prospect Theatre Company -- via the Guardian.


Hiren Bhattacharyya

Poet -- via The Hindu.


Ben Kynard

Saxophonist, composer and arranger -- via kansascity.com. He wrote the jazz standard "Red Top."





Sunday, July 15, 2012

Gerrit Komrij

Poet, novelist, librettist, translator, critic, journalist and playwright -- via the Volkskrant.nl.

Ruud van Henert

Film director -- via luvgirlgroup.blogspot.com.




Sebastijan Pecjak

Champion darts player -- via pdc.tv.


Mouss Diouf aka Pierre Mustapha Diouf

Actor and comedian -- via Liberation.

Dolphy aka Golay aka Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Sr.

Philippines' King of Comedy; performer on stage, and in film, TV, and radio -- via the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Benedetto Ghiglia

Film composer -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.



Dennis Flemion

Percussionist and half of the band The Frogs -- via Matador Records.

Lol Coxhill aka George W. Lowen Coxhill

Saxophonist and raconteur -- via the Guardian.




Zhou Ruchang

Literary scholar -- via the Telegraph. His overwhelming focus was the 17th-century novel by Cao Xueqin, "The Dream of the Red Chamber."


Sunil Janah

Photographer -- via the New York Times.

George Stoney

Filmmaker, teacher and innovator -- via the New York Times. A "dean of documentary filmmakers," his "All My Babies" is on the National Film Registry. He taught film at NYU for 40 years; and he founded public-access television. Pretty amazing.





Richard D. Zanuck

Film producer -- via the New York Times. Thanks to and despite his famous film producer father Darryl F. Zanuck, Richard became one of the era's most successful and interesting film producers himself. He worked on, among many others, "Jaws," "Driving Miss Daisy," "Cocoon," "The Sting," "The Sound of Music" . . .




Calvin Marsh

Baritone -- via the New York Times. Another Margalit Fox classic obit -- she writes so wonderfully. The use of "forsaking" in the first sentence is a textbook example of le mot juste.



Philip Fradkin

Memorable writer whose subject was the American West -- via the New York Times.


Celeste Holm

Actress on stage, on film and TV -- via CNN. She was the first Ado Annie in "Oklahoma!"; she won an Oscar for her work in "Gentlemen's Agreement," and did notable work in films such as "All About Eve" and TV roles such as the Fairy Godmother in the second broadcast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella."










Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Michael J. Ybarra

Extreme sports journalist -- via the New York Times.


Fritz Pauer

Jazz pianist -- via londonjazz.blogspot.com.

Jacqueline Law Wai Kuen

Actress -- via The Star.


Ivan Seykyra

Rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, director and screenwriter -- via noisecreep.com.

Meera Bandopadhyay



Classical vocalist -- via the Hindustan Times.

Isuzu Yamada

Actress on stage and in films -- via the Japan Times. A leendary performer who made films with Ozu, Mizoguchi, Nakuse and Kurosawa, and many others. Among her best-remembered films: "Osaka Elegy," "Tokyo Twilight," "Throne of Blood" (she played Lady Washizu, the Lady Macbeth character, above), "Yojimbo" and "The Lower Depths." Her range and subtlety were unmatched.







"Uncle" Lionel Batiste

Drummer and vocalist with the Treme Brass Band; a New Orleans music icon -- via the New York Times.





Eric Gaudibert

Composer -- via codexflores.com.





Robert Sabatier

Writer and poet -- via france24.com.


Rosemary Dobson

Poet, illustrator, editor and anthologist -- via the Sydney Morning Herald.


Paul Bargas

Minor-league pitcher -- via CBS Sports. Very sad -- he passed away at the age of 24 from brain cancer.


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

John Kapualani Koko

Bassist and singer with the Makaha Sons -- via HawaiiNewsNow.

Doris Schade

Actress -- via Der Speigel.


Harekrishna Behera

Classical dance master -- via the Hindu.




Jean Cox

Heldentenor -- via artsjournal.com.

Franz Crass

Bass-baritone -- via hugoshirley.blogspot.com. Hugo Shirley has written a wonderful memorial, survey and evaluation of this remarkable singer -- in words, photos, audio and video. I'm not even going to try to writer my own take on the subject. Go to it and read/watch/listen to it! It is brilliant.

Youssef Dawoud

Actor -- via the Saudi Gazette.


James Grout

Actor -- via the BBC.

Mirjam Polkunen

Writer -- via yle.fi.

Hans Villius

Historian, and TV and radio personality -- via the Aftonbladet.

Mary Fedden

Artist -- via the Guardian.