The Celebrity Obituary Thread

[The Schofield Kid]

I just heard on the news that American born Aussie Actor Gus Mercurio has passed away. I tried Google news but they had no matches for the search. I have a link to wikipedia.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Mercurio

EDIT: found an article at the Sydney Morning Herald.

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/people/actor-gus-mercurio-dies-aged-82-20101207-18oa7.html

[Jed Cooper]

Prior to the pummeling the Jets took from the Patriots last night, I heard sad news that NFL legend Don Meredith passed away.



Don Meredith, Howard Cosell & Frank Gifford

You can read more here: Don Meredith/Boston.com

Man, he loved to belt out a tune every once in a while.  I remember seeing a clip of him singing 'I Was The One' during one broadcast and someone was attempting to get his mike and he said, "Waitaminute! I'm singing!"  I thought it was cool because it was one of Elvis' lesser known ballads from the 1950s.

Seemed like a hell of a friendly person.  So sad.  RIP, guy 

[LCat]

I think I just read that Elizabeth Edwards died. RIP

[KC]

I heard just this morning that her illness had entered the terminal stage. Unfortunately, you are correct; she died today at the age of 61.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/us/08edwards.html

A Political Life Filled With Cruel Reversals
By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

Elizabeth Edwards, who as the wife of former Senator John Edwards gave America an intimate look at a candidate’s marriage by sharing his quest for the 2008 presidential nomination as she struggled with incurable cancer and, secretly, with his infidelity, died Tuesday morning at her home in Chapel Hill, N.C. She was 61.

Her family confirmed the death, saying Mrs. Edwards was surrounded by relatives when she died. A family friend said Mr. Edwards was present. On Monday, two family friends said that Mrs. Edwards’s cancer had spread to her liver and that doctors had advised against further medical treatment.

Mrs. Edwards posted a Facebook message to friends on Monday, saying, “I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces — my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope.” She added: “The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that.”

R.I.P.

[Lin Sunderland]

I was sorry to learn of Elizabeth Edwards passing.  She was in the news a few times in the UK over the years and her passing was reported in our morning news.  She was so young  61 is nothing these days.

RIP

[Jed Cooper]

To stay on topic I just looked up Mr. Kershner on IMDB and sad to say I'm not very familiar with his work.  I don't remember liking Never Say Never Again or Robocop 2 when I saw them but would like to see Eyes Of Laura Mars.  I remember the ads for this on tv way back when but haven't seen the film.

I recently watched Eyes Of Laura Mars.... didn't like it.  

[Jed Cooper]

I only learned of this recently.  Mr. Nielsen may not be a major celebrity, but it's sad news nonetheless.  For the longest time I could never make sense of "Softly, As I Leave You".  I mean, I understand the concept and the so-called story behind it (I've read that this is questionable) but for Elvis to speak all the way through until harmonizing at the very end with Sherrill was confusing.  Elvis was a singer.  A great one at that.  Why, then, perform this song this way?  The recording was nominated for a grammy.  Wouldn't that have been a kick in the head had it won?!  Elvis talks and gets nominated!  Weird, but that's just me.  Elvis also had Nielsen double with him on It's Now Or Never/O Sole Mio, which I also thought was strange.  He just couldn't hit the high notes like he used to and needed help.  'Nuff said.  No disrespect to Mr. Nielsen as an artist, he was indeed an incredible vocalist.  It's too bad these two didn't record more as a duet.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Nielsen.       Sherrill Nielsen         ElvisNews.com

Sherrill with his wife, Brenda



A typical 1970s concert outfit



Sherrill and The King

[Lin Sunderland]

Blake Edwards died yesterday aged 88.   I think perhaps he will be most remembered for Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Pink Panther movies.

RIP Blake.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/blake-edwards-the-clown-prince-of-comedy-dies-aged-88-2162645.html



With his wife Julie Andrews

http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com/a/images/julie.andrews.blake.edwards.jpg

[KC]

Here's a link to the New York Times obit for Blake Edwards:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/movies/17edwards.html

A lifelong depressive, Mr. Edwards told The New York Times in 2001 that at one point his depression was so bad that he became “seriously suicidal.” After deciding that shooting himself would be too messy and drowning too uncertain, he decided to slit his wrists on the beach at Malibu while looking at the ocean. But while he was holding a two-sided razor, his Great Dane started licking his ear, and his retriever, eager for a game of fetch, dropped a ball in his lap. Trying to get the dog to go away, Mr. Edwards threw the ball, dropped the razor and dislocated his shoulder. “So I think to myself,” he said, “this just isn’t a day to commit suicide.” Trying to retrieve the razor, he stepped on it and ended up in the emergency room.

 

R.I.P.

[KC]

There is one Blake Edwards-Eastwood connection: Edwards wrote the original screenplay for City Heat. Can't resist quoting this rather long passage from Richard Schickel's Clint Eastwood (p. 395-396):

Before [City Heat] was finished—before it was started—it became the playground for much trickier Hollywood rituals. Indeed, it developed into something like a paradigmatic conflict between someone trying to conduct business as usual, Hollywood style, and someone fully intending to do business as usual, Eastwood style. The script, under another title, had been submitted to Warners by its writer, Blake Edwards, who intended to direct it as well. It was a period piece, set in Kansas City in 1933, during the waning days of Prohibition, and it featured a bantering relationship between private eye Mike Murphy and police detective Lieutenant Speer, who had once been partners on the force but were now on the outs. The freelance investigator is a raffish sort, the cop more dour and often obliged to rescue his pal from the potentially deadly consequences of his insouciance. It had something of the air of those quick, tough little movies Warner Bros. used to make about once a month in the thirties, which Clint had always enjoyed.

When the studio passed it on to him, however, he passed on it—too talky. There the matter might have rested, except that "Blake was kind of a bad boy," says Clint. He sent the script to Sondra Locke, proposing that she again play the part of an heiress in difficulty. She—as Edwards surely expected she would—mentioned the offer to Clint and asked him why he hadn't liked the script. He replied that he hadn't entirely hated it and, rereading it, began to see self-satirizing possibilities in what he calls "the Pat O'Brien part," a sort of superego in a snap brim, imagining Burt Reynolds—then doing rather disheveled sequels to his Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run successes—as the piece's Cagneyish id, the high-stepping Murphy, and giving Sondra a chance at a colorfully comedic part.

So it was done—handshakes all around—and then immediately undone. It turned out that Edwards had been using Locke to get to Clint. He announced that he had actually—well, er—promised the part to his daughter. This precipitated a small Eastwoodian explosion. There was also talk at some point of using Edwards's wife, Julie Andrews, in the role of Murphy's secretary. This brought outraged yelps from Reynolds. He had just worked with her, under Edwards's direction, in The Man Who Loved Women, and was not eager to repeat the experience. Clint, predictably dismayed by these shenanigans, threatened to withdraw.

A project-saving compromise was reached when all parties agreed not to employ any loved ones in the picture, but, needless to say, Clint remained wary. This was to be a back-lot picture—as thirties crime stories had always been—and now Edwards was insisting that a house be rented for him in Bel-Air so he did not have to make the long daily commute from his house in Malibu to the Warners and Universal lots where he would be working. The need for a car and driver was also mentioned. What was not being mentioned were certain rewrites that Edwards had promised Clint, who was aware, as well, that Reynolds was growing increasingly skittish with the situation. Of Edwards, Clint said to a studio executive, "This guy is just on a different planet."

Actually he was just on Planet Hollywood. Edwards had been around town since the forties, when he began his career as an actor, had gone on to large success in television (Peter Gunn) and features (Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Pink Panther and its sequels, 10) and obviously knew all its ropes. Indeed, he had recently made a vicious, hilarious satire on Hollywood, S.O.B. He should have known better. Certainly he should have known his leading man's reputation better.

Clint had had enough. "I'll tell you what," he said, "why don't we do this some other time, on some other script down the line that we both like?"

Warner Bros., however, decided to persist. The studio liked this attractive star pairing in a picture they were confident could be a hot Christmas release. So they fired Edwards. And turned the project over to Clint, though both Malpaso and Reynolds's company, Deliverance, would eventually share production credit. That and Clint's billing ahead of him were all right with Reynolds—"He's taller than I am," he wisecracked.

In the finished film, Edwards is credited as "Sam O. Brown" (think about the initials for a second). The other credited screenwriter is Joseph Stinson, who had done the script for Sudden Impact.


Screencap from City Heat, slightly cropped.

[TWOMULES]

R.I.P. Sherrill Nielsen

R.I.P. Blake Edwards

Thank you Mr. Edwards, for the The Pink Panther films.

[Jed Cooper]

There is one Blake Edwards-Eastwood connection: Edwards wrote the original screenplay for City Heat. Can't resist quoting this rather long passage from Richard Schickel's Clint Eastwood (p. 395-396):

In the finished film, Edwards is credited as "Sam O. Brown" (think about the initials for a second). The other credited screenwriter is Joseph Stinson, who had done the script for Sudden Impact.


Screencap from City Heat, slightly cropped.

Wow, thanks for posting that, KC.  It's unfortunate we're left with the product that eventually became City Heat.  It's one of my least favorite Eastwood films, even with Reynolds co-starring.  I can only imagine what Blake Edward's version would've been like had he directed.

RIP Mr. Edwards  

[higashimori]

 R.I.P. MR. Blake Edwards. 

[bdc28]

RIP Teena Marie....just heard she just passed. Soo sad.

[Jed Cooper]

Myrna Smith, member of The Sweet Inspirations and backup singer for Elvis, passed away recently.  Myrna Smith

In this photo with The Sweet Inspirations, Myrna is on the far right.



Myrna with Elvis.



I received the following via email, being a member of Elvis Insiders but I don't have a link:

Remembering Myrna Smith

We regret to inform you of the passing of Myrna Smith on Christmas Eve. Myrna was a singer and song-writer, and a member of the group Sweet Inspirations, who recorded and performed with Elvis from 1969-1977. She also sang back-up for other stars including Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family.

[dane with no name]

Pete Postlethwaite has passed away



http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/cultural-capital/2011/01/actor-dies-british-pete

Ever since I first saw him in In the name of the father, this actor has made a deep impression in me.
Usual Suspects cemented that impression for good.
Even when I saw him in crappy movies he alwats shone bright.
Seeing him for the last time as a sick old dying man in Inception is now just plain scary... 

RIP Pete. You shall be missed.

[Lin Sunderland]

RIP Pete.

One of his movies Brassed Off in which he played the band leader was brilliant.   He will be remembered for so many different roles.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12108117

[Gant]

Great actor, too young... very sad.
R.I.P Pete.

[The Schofield Kid]

Bill Erwin passed away last week. The name may not be familar but his face will be. He appeared in over 200 movies and tv series. I'll always remember him as the old man in an episode of Seinfeld.

I only thought of him a few weeks ago when I watched Home Alone and Planes, Trains and Automobiles again in which he made brief appearances in.

EDIT: According to IMDB he made an appearance in an episode of Rawhide too.

– Incident of the New Start (1961) … Parker (as William Erwin)



http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0259984/



RIP Bill.

[higashimori]

Another great lost, a big comedian !  63 years old was still young to die. R.I.P Pete.       Also... R.I.P Bill.