The Celebrity Obituary Thread

[KC]

"Gunsmoke" and "How The West Was Won" star James Arness has passed on. He was 88

http://jamesarness.com/

Just heard about James Arness on the radio. Here's a link to the New York Times obit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/arts/television/james-arness-marshal-on-gunsmoke-dies-at-88.html



R.I.P.

[Lin Sunderland]

I loved Gunsmoke.  Matt Dillon was a hero of mine and I loved Chester from the series too.





RIP James.

[Lin Sunderland]

Miriam Karlin a wonderful British comedy actress.  Best known for her part in the TV series The Rag Trade.  She played a union rep and was forever blowing her whistle and shouting "Everybody out" when the management didn't please her.   There were a number of stars from that series who went on to become household names.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13639043




RIP Miriam

[TWOMULES]

R.I.P. James Arness

[Jed Cooper]

RIP, sir.   

[Doug]

R.I.P. James Arness

R.I.P.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/arts/television/james-arness-marshal-on-gunsmoke-dies-at-88.html

To be honest I had no idea he was still alive.  But he was 88.  I loved Gunsmoke growing up.  I used to watch it all the time.

[higashimori]

 R.I.P. James Arness

[higashimori]

" Spanish writer, activist Jorge Semprun dies aged 87 "

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110607/en_afp/spainliteraturesemprun

 

PARIS (AFP) – Spanish writer, left-wing activist and former culture minister Jorge Semprun died in Paris on Tuesday aged 87, his grandson Thomas Landman said.

Semprun, who went into exile in France with his family after the Spanish Civil War, died "very peacefully" at home, Landman said.

Semprun was born on December 10, 1923, in Madrid, the son of a leading politician and the grandson of a former prime minister.

Living most of his life in France, where his family eventually settled after the Republicans were driven out of Madrid in 1937, Semprun adopted French as his working language.

 

He also wrote for the cinema and contributed major screenplays for Alain Resnais, with "La Guerre est Finie" (The War is Over) and "Stavisky", and for Costa Gavras, with the classic political dramas "Z" and "L'Aveu" (The Confession).

All but "Stavisky" starred Yves Montand, about whom Semprun later wrote an acclaimed biography.

 R.I.P. MR. Semprun

 

[Jed Cooper]

Leonard B. Stern, creator of Mad Libs, has passed away

Leonard B. Stern

[higashimori]

" Clarence Clemons, Springsteen’s Soulful Sideman, Dies at 69 "

 By BEN SISARIO

 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/arts/music/clarence-clemons-e-street-band-saxophonist-dies-at-69.html?_r=1&nl=nyregion&emc=ura1

 

Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, whose jovial onstage manner, soul-rooted style and brotherly relationship with Mr. Springsteen made him one of rock’s most beloved sidemen, died on Saturday at a hospital in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 69.

The cause was complications of a stroke he suffered last Sunday at his home in Singer Island, Fla., a spokeswoman for Mr. Springsteen said.

In a statement released Saturday night, Mr. Springsteen called Mr. Clemons “my great friend, my partner.”

“With Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music,” he added. “His life, his memory and his love will live on in that story and in our band.”   

 

   R.I.P. Clarence

[The Schofield Kid]

I was stunned to open the paper and see that story. I had heard nothing on the news or in the papers about his stroke last week.

The headline in today's paper was a little misleading too.

"Springsteen loses his sax appeal"

Reading that I thought Clarence had quit the band after all these years, but reading the story and my chin just hit the paper. Totally shocked.

RIP Clarence. Thanks for the music and memories. I love the live version of Tenth Ave Freeze out but will be a little down now whenever I hear Springsteen sing, "And the big man joined the band."

[Lin Sunderland]

RIP Clarence

I heard it yesterday on the news. I was shocked and saddened

[KC]

For someone who spent most of his life handling poisonous snakes, Bill Haast certainly lived to a ripe old age!

Bill Haast, a Man Charmed by Snakes, Dies at 100

[KC]

Just heard it on the radio ... Peter Falk has passed away at 83.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-peter-falk-obit,0,7288457.story



R.I.P.  (And special condolences to Christopher.)

[Christopher]

I just saw it online.

[TWOMULES]

R.I.P. Peter Falk

[higashimori]

 

Peter Falk, Rumpled and Crafty Actor on ‘Columbo,’ Dies at 83

 http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na

 Good-bye Columbo........

[Aline]

I'm sorry too.

I'm a bit afraid of making jokes on the board and this thread is really not appropriate for them but KC's comment was too much so blame her for that.

(And special condolences to Christopher.)

 

[The Schofield Kid]

RIP Columbo. 

A great actor. Will never be forgotten.

[KC]

 http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na

 Good-bye Columbo........

Here is the direct link to the Times obit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/arts/television/peter-falk-columbo-actor-dies-at-83.html

Things I did not know about Peter Falk:

Mr. Falk had a glass eye, resulting from an operation to remove a cancerous tumor when he was 3 years old.

Peter Michael Falk was born in Manhattan on Sept. 16, 1927, and lived for a time in the Bronx, near Yankee Stadium, but grew up mostly in Ossining, N.Y, where his father owned a clothing store and where, in spite of his missing eye, he was a high school athlete. In one story he liked to tell, after being called out at third base during a baseball game, he removed his eye and handed it to the umpire.

“You’ll do better with this,” he said.

He returned to the stage as well, as Stalin, the title role, in Paddy Chayefsky’s “Passion of Joseph D,” which earned him solid reviews in spite of the show’s brief run (14 performances). Mr. Falk played Stalin “with brilliant unsmiling ferocity,” Howard Taubman wrote in his largely positive review in The Times.