Obituaries for 2020

[musiclady]

Max Von Sydow: The Exorcist and Flash Gordon actor dies aged 90

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51803195

The Seventh Seal was an interesting, albeit strange movie.

RIP Max.  You made us Americans of Swedish descent proud.

[truth_seeker]

 a younger Max Von Sydow, was the male lead in the movie about Swedish immigrants in Minnesota, titled "The Emigrants" Trail with femle lead Liv Ullman.

Karl Oskar and Kristina.


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About the four book series, including The Emigrants

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emigrants_(novel_series)

The author

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

http://archive.northwoodsandwaters.org/story/the-carl-and-lena-kajsa-linn-house-a-k-a-the-karl-oskar-house/

Lena Kasja is Moberg's sinspiration for his lead female, Kristina.

In real life, Lena Kasja was the older, 1/2 sister of my great grandmother.

Lena Kasja had traveled from Sweden to Minnesota, per the book, with her husband Karl Oscar

My greatgrandmoother and a sister, came years later. Lena Kasja's mother had died young. So her father, Jonas Petersson Falk, remairried, had to more daughters, and came to America to be with his older children.

Author Vilhem Moberg came to America in 1948, inspired that he and many Swedes, had relatives in the Minnesota region. Moberg, already a successful  Swedish author, wanted to tell their story.

He lived in the Chisage Lakes area, riding his bicycle around. He came to be well known, for his presence, and interviewing people about the stories.

Later in Moberg's life, he lived in Carmel California and Laguna Beach, where he continued writing.

Still later he returned to Sweden where he drowned possibly suicide.

He was a notable voice against Nazism, the USSR, etc.

[musiclady]

a younger Max Von Sydow, was the male lead in the movie about Swedish immigrants in Minnesota, titled "The Emigrants" Trail with femle lead Liv Ullman.

Karl Oskar and Kristina.


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Loved the books.  Loved the movie.

[jmyrlefuller]

Lyle Waggoner
Actor dies at 84



Waggoner is most famous for his seven-year run as announcer and cast member on The Carol Burnett Show from 1967 to 1974. He left Burnett in an effort to become a leading actor but never achieved that, mainly serving as a guest actor (including multiple appearances on The Love Boat and Fantasy Island as separate characters) other than his second-best-known role, that of Steve Trevor, on Wonder Woman in the 1970s. He also had a side business, Star Waggons, that customized tour buses. Notably, Waggoner was the first nude centerfold in Playgirl magazine.

Waggoner died this morning from cancer.

Obituary from TMZ

IMDB

Wikipedia

[GrouchoTex]

McCoy Tyner, Jazz Piano Powerhouse, Is Dead at 81
Mr. Tyner, who first attracted wide notice as a member of John Coltrane’s groundbreaking quartet, influenced virtually every pianist in jazz

And he was excellent whenever he recorded and played as a leader himself . . .

McCoy Tyner, "Blues on the Corner"

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McCoy Tyner, "Blues for Gwen"

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. . . not to mention having a whack at a classic Coltrane entry with an excellent guitarist plus his Coltrane teammate Elvin Jones drumming . . .

Grant Green, "My Favourite Things"

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RIP Mr. Tyner. The John Coltrane Classic Quartet is now together again in heaven . . .

John Coltrane, "Impressions"

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@EasyAce

Don't forget the Jazztet (Killer Joe).
 

[jmyrlefuller]

Stuart Whitman
Actor dies at 92



Whitman was a leading actor for 20th Century Fox in the 1950s and 1960s and also starred in television at the same time. He was particularly known for his war films (The Longest Day, The Day and the Hour) and Westerns (Rio Conchos and the TV series Cimarron Strip), later deciding a lead role on television was too confining. He continued to act until 2000.

Whitman died from complications of skin cancer March 16.

Obituary from The Hollywood Reporter

Wikipedia

IMDB

[skeeter]

Stuart Whitman
Actor dies at 92



Whitman was a leading actor for 20th Century Fox in the 1950s and 1960s and also starred in television at the same time. He was particularly known for his war films (The Longest Day, The Day and the Hour) and Westerns (Rio Conchos and the TV series Cimarron Strip), later deciding a lead role on television was too confining. He continued to act until 2000.

Whitman died from complications of skin cancer March 16.

Obituary from The Hollywood Reporter

Wikipedia

IMDB

Man had no idea he was still with us. RIP

[Applewood]

Lyle Waggoner
Actor dies at 84

...
Waggoner died this morning from an unspecified illness. It is not known whether the coronavirus was a factor in his death based on current information.

My rant:  Does then media have to always mention the coronavirus even in an obituary where it's not known whether this virus caused or contributed to the decedent's death?  Sheesh!  It's like these so-called journalists are being paid extra every time they use the word "coronavirus." 

Rant done.

As to Mr. Waggoner:  Sorry to hear of his passing.  He was basically the straight man while the rest of the Carol Burnett cast was doing the gags.  That takes some good acting. 

Sorry he never made it as a leading man.  He surely had the looks for it. 

Rest in peace, Mr. Waggoner. 

[jmyrlefuller]

My rant:  Does then media have to always mention the coronavirus even in an obituary where it's not known whether this virus caused or contributed to the decedent's death?  Sheesh!  It's like these so-called journalists are being paid extra every time they use the word "coronavirus." 

Rant done.

That was me. (I usually write the summaries with my own prose, using others' obits and biographies as a source.) Forgive me, but it is a pertinent topic and, barring any comment from the authorities or family, worth noting given the circumstances.

[Gefn]

Vittorio Gregotti, Modernist Architect, Dies in Pandemic at 92

Vittorio Gregotti, an Italian modernist architect, theorist and city planner whose monumental projects included opera houses, arenas — like Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium — and even an entire suburb, died on Sunday at a hospital in Milan. He was 92.

Mr. Gregotti had been infected by the coronavirus and died of pneumonia, according to Michele Reginaldi, a former partner at his firm. Mr. Gregotti’s wife, Marina Mazza, was hospitalized with Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, Italian news reports said.

As of Monday, Italy had recorded more than 24,700 confirmed cases of Covid-19 — the most outside of China — with more than 1,800 of them fatal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/arts/vittorio-gregotti-dies.html

[mountaineer]

That was me. (I usually write the summaries with my own prose, using others' obits and biographies as a source.) Forgive me, but it is a pertinent topic and, barring any comment from the authorities or family, worth noting given the circumstances.

His death was due to cancer, the family said.

[jmyrlefuller]

Roger Mayweather
Former world champion boxer and Floyd's uncle dies at 58



Mayweather at various times held IBO, WBA and WBC world titles in the super-featherweight, light welterweight and welterweight divisions during the 1980s, amassing a 59-13 record over the course of his career. In the late 1990s, with his nephew Floyd Mayweather Jr. beginning his boxing career, Roger acted as Floyd's trainer. Floyd went on to an undefeated 50-0 record, one of the greatest boxers of all time, under both Roger and his brother Floyd Sr., also a prominent boxer (as was their brother Jeff).

Roger died March 17 following a several-year-long battle with diabetes and punch-drunk syndrome.

Obituary from TMZ

Wikipedia

[jmyrlefuller]

His death was due to cancer, the family said.

Revised accordingly. Thank you.

[Applewood]

Sorry, @jmyrlefuller   I thought it came from an obit writer.  Feel free to give me this:    or this:   


Anyway, thank you for the correction. 

[TomSea]

Stuart Whitman
Actor dies at 92



Whitman was a leading actor for 20th Century Fox in the 1950s and 1960s and also starred in television at the same time. He was particularly known for his war films (The Longest Day, The Day and the Hour) and Westerns (Rio Conchos and the TV series Cimarron Strip), later deciding a lead role on television was too confining. He continued to act until 2000.

Whitman died from complications of skin cancer March 16.

Obituary from The Hollywood Reporter

Wikipedia

IMDB

And passed on from complications of skin cancer of all things, well, great actor, great films.

We love the sun but this happens, I know in states with a lot of sun.

It'd be nice if Westerns still owned Prime Time.


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[TomSea]

Catherine Hamlin: Grief in Ethiopia as trailblazing Australian doctor dies

Getty images at link.

No-one came to meet Catherine Hamlin the day she arrived at a tiny airport in Ethiopia in 1959.

More than 60 years later, the news of the Australian gynaecologist’s death at the age of 96 was met with an outpouring of grief in the country she had made her home.

That is because of the work Dr Hamlin - along with her late husband, Reginald - did transforming and, in some cases, saving the lives of tens of thousands of women who had been cast out of their communities.

Read more at:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-51965688

[TomSea]

Former Tibetan Political Prisoner Tashi Phuntsok Dies at 60
2020-03-19

Former political prisoner Tashi Phuntsok, 60, has died in Lithang (in Chinese, Litang) county, a Tibetan region in Sichuan province, where the monk had staged protests against deforestation by China and suffered beatings in jail, an exile source told RFA.

“He was severely beaten while in prison and he became chronically ill after release from jail. He passed away on March 17th in Lithang county,” said Geshi Tsering Dorjee from Drepung Gongpa Monastery in southern India.

The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said three of his close aides now living in exile had confirmed his death, giving the date as March 16.

Read more at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/monk-death-03192020213222.html

[jmyrlefuller]

Kenny Rogers
Former First Edition frontman turned country singer dies at 81



Rogers had a musical career spanning 60 years. In his early years he waffled between a number of different genera, including doo-wop ("That Crazy Feeling"), jazz (as a member of Bobby Doyle's combo) and folk (as a replacement bassist for the New Christy Minstrels). In 1966, several of the Minstrels, including Rogers, split off to form The First Edition, which began as a psychedelic rock band (see "Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Condition Was In)") but soon evolved into a country/western rock ensemble.

When the First Edition disbanded in 1976, western songs remained a regular part of Rogers's repertoire, and his signature song "The Gambler" remains his most well-known. In the 1980s, he reinvented himself as a country-pop love song artist with songs such as "Lady" and "You Decorated My Life." He continued to chart country hits through 2004's "I Can't Unlove You." Overall, 20 of Rogers's songs reached the top of the country charts.

In addition to music, he was the namesake of a short-lived chicken restaurant franchise, Kenny Rogers Roasters. He occasionally acted, including a role in the film Six Pack and several TV-movie adaptations of his own songs.

Rogers died March 20 of natural causes.

Obituary from Variety

Wikipedia

[TomSea]

Wow, that's a shocker... I did not know but see even on youtube, some songs by him before the New Christy Minstrels and the First Edition, he had a very long career.  Rest in peace, thanks for the "Gambler" and the many other songs you performed.


1958, 'For You Alone", I had no idea he sang that long ago:

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His singing with Dolly Parton of course, is music legend and was a hugely successful partnership, I'm sure she will comment.

Decent cover of "Love Is Strange":

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He also sang with Dottie West, whom I am a bit of a fan of. I think the wikipedia entry on Dottie West indicates, Kenny did some of this with Dottie to help jump  start her career after it was having problems:

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Some of his music, his hits really were for the commercial market, some I'm a bit indifferent to but you can't argue with success.

Another duet, with Kim Carnes, "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer":


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Boy, Dolly still looks good from pictures I've seen of her.

That song "Ruby, Don't take your love to town", that really is a very, very good song.

[Gefn]

RIP The Gambler. Like that song. He had a beautiful  voice

He has some body of work with really neat trivia here

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0737006/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

I always think he’s also been on “Seinfeld” but it’s just a name mention.

[verga]

Kenny Rogers
Former First Edition frontman turned country singer dies at 81

Wikipedia

RIP

[EasyAce]

The record that started it for Rogers . . .

The First Edition, "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)"

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RIP.

[Applewood]

Rest in peace, Mr. Rogers and thank you for so many great tunes.

[sneakypete]

Former Tibetan Political Prisoner Tashi Phuntsok Dies at 60
2020-03-19

Former political prisoner Tashi Phuntsok, 60, has died in Lithang (in Chinese, Litang) county, a Tibetan region in Sichuan province, where the monk had staged protests against deforestation by China and suffered beatings in jail, an exile source told RFA.

@TomSea

He was a brave man to stand up to the monsters that run China,and his heroism should be acknowledged globally.

[musiclady]

Kenny Rogers, in addition to being a great singer, hosted a program I really liked called, "The Real West."

RIP, Mr. Rogers.