Singer and composer -- via the Washington Post. Best known for singing "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"; also co-wrote "Kokomo."
Interesting, overlooked, and significant obituaries from around the world, as they happen, emphasizing the positive achievements of those who have died. Member, Society of Professional Obituary Writers.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Danny Roundfield
Basketball player -- via Sports Illustrated. He died saving his wife from drowning.
Bill Tillman
Saxophonist -- via Spinner. Best known for his work with Blood, Sweat and Tears, he also played with Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, and the Coasters; he also served as music director for Gladys Knight.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Phyllis Diller
Comedian -- via TMZ. A real pioneer -- she got her big break at The Purple Onion in 1955, and did standup, TV and film comedy ever after. Women comics were few and far between. Up to that time, save for exceptions such as Moms Mabley, Jean Carroll, and Rusty Warren, women were stooges or props in comedy. Diller made inroads in a male-dominated industrythat paved the way for a whole new legion of great talent that just happened to be female.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Tony Scott
Film director and producer -- via TMZ. Among his best films: "The Hunger," "Top Gun," "True Romance," "Crimson Tide," and "Man on Fire." My personal favorite -- the bizarre and wildly entertaining "True Romance."
William Windom
Actor -- via tvmediainsights.com. Although his obits will draw in opening adjectives such as "character" and "journeyman," he simply was a very good performer. He racked up hundreds of credits, primarily on TV -- he starred in the 1963-1966 sitcom "The Farmer's Daughter," the Thurberesque "My World and Welcome to It," and was a regular on "Murder, She Wrote," as Dr. Hazlitt, but played good guys and bad guys, creeps and authority figures, on dozens of series. He was at the center of one of Rod Serling's greatest scripts, "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar," on "Night Gallery"; he memorably played the tragic Commodore Dekker on the Star Trek episode "The Doomsday Machine."
In film, he notably played the prosecutor in "To Kill a Mockingbird," and the killer in "The Dectective." On stage, he took his affection for and effectiveness with the delicate whimsies of James Thurber and did extensive touring with a one-man show of the author's work. He was a craftsperson as well as an artist, willing to do his best with just about any role, big or small. A real inspiration!
In film, he notably played the prosecutor in "To Kill a Mockingbird," and the killer in "The Dectective." On stage, he took his affection for and effectiveness with the delicate whimsies of James Thurber and did extensive touring with a one-man show of the author's work. He was a craftsperson as well as an artist, willing to do his best with just about any role, big or small. A real inspiration!
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