Rolling Obituary Thread: 2019

he was a very funny comedic actor

"Mean" Gene Okerlund

https://news.avclub.com/r-i-p-wwe-personality-and-legendary-interviewer-mean-1831433229

I grew up watching Einstein as Super Dave Osborne on John Byner's show "Bizarre." Great stuff.

Hammer Films Producer Roy Skeggs:

http://petercushingblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/hammer-films-producer-roy-skeggs-dies.html

(Countdown to at least one post in the 'shockingly old' thread once people who didn't know realize who his brother is.)

That'll be me then.

RIP Funkhouser.

Albert and Bob, together

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/456595/Modern-Romance-Movie-Clip-You-Want-Happiness-.html

Nine minutes of madness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdOYE7IWouo

Whoa, this day.

Just In: The "Captain" Daryl Dragon of 70s pop music husband-and-wife duo Captain & Tennille has died at age 76. https://t.co/jBN5N0oQQS

— NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) January 2, 2019

RIP, he was on some good Beach Boys/Dennis Wilson stuff

how the heck was he known professionally as "the Captain" and not fuckin DARYL DRAGON

lol my thoughts exactly

a 70s porn star was already using that name, probably

Pegi Young:
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8492082/pegi-young-dead

Oof RIP

Daryl Dragon was quite an odd man, going by Toni Tennille's memoir. Seems to have suffered from serious OCD his whole life, and probably schizophrenia in his later years.

Thanks for all the great tunes, Captain.

gutted about Pegi

RIP, amazing lady

didn't the Captain live in a trailer behind Sunset Sound in the nineties?

or the Village Recorder or something

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi7mmLtIixw

aw pegi :(

That'll be me then.

Brooks took his stage surname for obvious reasons. Their dad was a "lol ethnics" character comedian as Parkyakarkus, successful in radio and film, who died onstage at a Friar's Roast benefit for hospitals. The hilarity continued backstage as doctors left their dinner to cut his chest open with a penknife and attempt to defibrillate him by stripping a lamp cord.

Joe Casely-Hayfiord, fashion designer. He was 62.

Yeah I saw that on Susie Bubble’s Instagram, but I was also struck that she was happy to be seen visiting Bicester Village outlets. I thought that was super uncool for tourists ? Is this a thing now?

Every so often Bicester Village hires a coach and fills it with fashion editors, who are also given gift cards for their day trip. In Susie’s case, she might just be buying toddler clothes (her partner is one of my editors at work).

For a brief time I was in touch with Joe C-H for work, and he was kind and quick to respond when to be honest he could legitimately have ignored me.

Nancy Roman, Nasa’s first Chief of Astronomy

https://sh-s7-live-s.legocdn.com/is/image/LEGO/21312_alt3

Herb Kelleher, innovative founder of Southwest Airlines (first to dress flight attendants in hot pants, to name one innovation)

Man, massive news we all missed! The legendary Al Reinert, director of THE moon landing documentary For All Mankind -- which also produced a legendary soundtrack, Eno's Apollo -- passed on, initial news announced yesterday:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Former-Chronicle-reporter-Al-Reinert-co-writer-13504713.php

I showed that to my daughters just a month ago - what a gem.

aw no :(

Howell Begle, who was a key figure via his pro bono support of Ruth Brown in getting royalties and more to any number of African American musicians from earlier years who'd been cheated out of them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/howell-begle-lawyer-who-championed-penniless-randb-stars-dies-at-74/2019/01/03/fdf1ac7e-0e32-11e9-84fc-d58c33d6c8c7_story.html?utm_term=.bb6514e3f36c

Percussionist-composer Alvin Fielder, founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.

Alan R. Pearlman, founder of ARP Instruments:
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2019/01/06/arp-founder-alan-r-pearlman-has-died/

^ was just about to post that one :(

Eric Haydock, bassist for the Hollies from '62-'66

https://bestclassicbands.com/eric-haydock-obituary-1-6-19/?fbclid=IwAR0GGwtiK7RmlxLgfqk85EQ94VDEV3x4zCkb8pARcoktiM6fZEd1RVEQo-g

Victor "The Mascara Snake" Hayden died in December.

:(

jimmy hannan, old timey entertainment fellow

We made this little tribute to one of our favorite people ever in the world of comedy, the one and only Bob Einstein.

(And yes, I did give him the car..) pic.twitter.com/0cVMIERSL1

— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) January 5, 2019

Clydie King

https://m.facebook.com/451295254997830/posts/1917555085038499/

Ron Smith, seminal 2000ad artist.

We're very sorry to hear that Judge Dredd artist Ron Smith has passed away. From co-creating Chopper to the weird Otto Sump and the wonderful Mayor Dave, he was an incredible artist with a career spanning decades. Our deepest sympathies to his family.

Droid tribute by @PyeParr pic.twitter.com/sbLqGJHooa

— 2000 AD (@2000AD) January 10, 2019

RIP, best Dredd artist.

rip, second-best dredd artist behind the also-recently-deceased carlos ezquerra

Victor "The Mascara Snake" Hayden died in December.

Would probably have never known about this but for this thread. RIP Victor.

http://www.beefheart.com/victor-hayden-rip/

Indian filmmaker Mrinal Sen

https://variety.com/2018/film/asia/mrinal-sen-indian-film-director-dead-dies-1203096782/

Verna Bloom

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/verna-bloom-dead-dies-animal-house-1203104909/

^ whoa, I never put it together that the single mother in Medium Cool, the abandoned wife in The Hired Hand, and the sad lady in the bar in After Hours were all the same actress, let alone that she was also in the likes of Animal House

and Mary, Mother of Christ.

Oh fuck no, he was my friend.

I'm very sorry, suzy x

Wow, pretty young ... rip.

The first time I met him, the Guardian sent me to interview him at 4AD the morning after the Jarvis moons Jacko Brits, both of us had stinking hangovers and had to drink about a gallon of tea each to get through the task at hand. Still delightful and intelligent in an inclusive way, had zero side. Latterly he’d been head of the design department at UCA Epsom (and was posting absolutely as normal on FB on Thursday, so this must be sudden, which makes it worse).

Yeah just running through the classic covers in my head he did — what an achievement.

Alasdair Gray was maybe my first favourite author and a very important formative influence on my tastes and sense of humour. Was so good to visit Glasgow, my ancestral town, with my dad this summer and to see his murals
RIP

RIPs.

Trying to remember that Anthony Burgess pull-quote on the cover of Lanark. Something like “Heaven needed a shattering work from Scotland in the modern idiom. This is it.”

Interesting interview with Vaughan Oliver here: https://www.longlivevinyl.net/cover-star-vaughan-oliver-interview/

Simon Raymonde just now on Oliver:

https://m.facebook.com/?_rdr#!/story.php?story_fbid=10158151851003714&id=502913713

For a split second I thought Simon died, too ...

RIP Jack Scott , rockabilly singer who did “The Way I Walk”

Norma Tanega, folksinger and songwriter (including "You're Dead" the What We Do In The Shadows series theme). It seems she ended up teaching in Claremont, California, and knew a friend of mine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_Tanega

Simon Raymonde just now on Oliver:

is this publicly readable anywhere?

memorial threads by J0hn D4rnielle:

this is hard news. I will tell you a story https://t.co/4vdrQzvEro

— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) December 29, 2019

and Emma Anderson:

Absolutely gutted to hear about Vaughan Oliver.
Someone asked me recently if working with him had been ‘claustrophobic’ as he seemed to thrust his ideas onto the artists and he didn’t seem to care what they felt about his designs.
Well, I’ll tell you what happened.. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/hckA503rbe

— Emma Anderson 🇪🇺 (@evjanderson) December 29, 2019

Warren Defever:

he was a beast he used to send me naked selfies before it was cool. he put a wedding photo from his first marriage on the back of our single the b-side was called Your Word Against Mine. when i slept in the apt above the 4ad office you could hear him howling late into the night pic.twitter.com/3M8mgp2NsA

— Warren Defever (@hisnameisalive) December 29, 2019

Nice focus on Alasdair gray in the National today, if you can find it

Neil Innes

Deeply saddened by the death of Neil Innes. I fell for Neil’s humour and humanity with the Rutland Weekend Television album in 1976. Big fan ever since and saw/met him many but not enough times. Loved his brilliant witty music, loved him. Mankind will miss his wry sagely wisdom.

— Mark Lewisohn (@marklewisohn) December 30, 2019

Ugh. RIP :(

:(

great story-teller as well as a songwriter whose pastiches i often prefer to the original

RIP, but at least he’ll live on in the form of all the money Eric Idle ripped him off for over the decades

Oh fuck, what a way to end the year.

RIP Neil ;_; The Rutles are only the band the Beatles could have been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lplGAiqgPwQ

RIP Neil ;_; The Rutles are only the band the Beatles could have been.

Sad news, he could probably have been a successful mainstream singer-songwriter if he'd so chosen, instead of being fleeced by the least popular member of Monty Python. Still, maybe Eric Idle could chip in for the funeral costs?

Horrible news. The Rutles yes, but he was brilliant in the Bonzos too. RIP.

F Eric Idle forever. I bet Innes never outed himself as a Tory either.

Is this where I mention his "Silver Jubilee" single?

Apparently, it was someone else's idea...

Seeing reports that legendary industrial artist/designer and film designer Syd Mead (BLADE RUNNER, TRON, ALIENS) has died but no confirmation.

I read there's confirmation on his Facebook but I can't see it

News was first reported by John McElroy, the publisher of Autoline, who has interviewed Mead on his webcast in the past. pic.twitter.com/e0ymc3SQzX

— cartoonbrew.com (@cartoonbrew) December 30, 2019

Jazz guitarist Vic Juris.

Norma Tanega

Wow, I like her music. I'd only heard the song from the tv show before. Definitely up there with E-40 among the great artists from Vallejo CA.

Former NBA commissioner David Stern

I made a new one.

Rolling Obituary Thread: 2020

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/article_b3410680-2677-11ea-a4a7-e3253f3bf2f5.html

Obit for Haitian vodou percussionist Daman FanFan Louis who died earlier in December. He lived in Haiti, then NYC, and for the past 8 years in New Orleans. He received a second line sendoff.

listening to david klion and others discussing norman podhoretz's MAKING IT (1967) on their stitcher podcast know your enemy and looking up to check when norman p died (he didn't yet, he's 90!), when midge decter died (ditto, she's 92!!), when gertrude himmelfarb died (30 dec 2019 aged 97, hence relevant to this thread's interests if not ilx's politics)

if you want to live for nearly ten decades be a neocon :0

By coincidence, I too had cause to Google Norman Podhoretz recently. after reading Janet Malcolm's piece about the MAKING IT reissue, excerpted here https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/03/22/norman-podhoretz-making-it/

I do like this review Malcolm quotes (by 'Wilfred Sheed, a prominent critic and novelist of the time'):

In this mixture of complacency and agitation, he has written a book of no literary distinction whatever, pockmarked by clichés and little mock modesties and a woefully pedestrian tone…. Mediocrities from coast to coast will no doubt take Making It to their hearts and will use it for their own justification…. In the present condition of our society and the world, I cannot imagine a more feckless, silly book.

Besides seeing Podhoretz's name in things like MAD magazine, I had no idea who or what he was (maybe a figure like Lionel Trilling, who seems equally obscure in the UK?) so the right wing politics were something of a surprise.

the podcast is good and even (very briefly) mentions lionel trilling

I only know about Podhoretz, Decter, and Himmelfarb from reading Gore Vidal.

Does this mean John Podhoretz and William Kristol are going to be around another 30 years? Greeeeaaaaaat.

N Podhoretz's rag Commentary was skewered regularly in Woody Allen films