Obituaries for 2021

[mountaineer]

This may be one of those "good riddance" obits:

'Amityville Horror' killer Ronald DeFeo dies in prison at 69
DeFeo convicted of killing mother, father, 2 sisters and 2 brothers
March 15, 2021

"Amityville Horror" killer Ronald DeFeo — who killed his six family members in 1974 on Long Island — has died behind bars, according to officials.

DeFeo died Friday while serving a 25 years-to-life sentence at Sullivan Correctional facility in Fallsburg, New York, officials told Newsday. He was 69.

DeFeo was transferred to Albany Medical Center and pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m. ...

FOX News.
See also NY Post

[mountaineer]

Yaphet Kotto, Actor in 'Homicide: Life on the Street,' 'Live and Let Die,' and 'Alien,' Dies at 81
 The New Yorker received an Emmy nom for portraying Idi Amin but passed on playing Lando Calrissian and Jean-Luc Picard.
10:30 PM PDT 3/15/2021
 by Mike Barnes


Yaphet Kotto, the compelling character actor who portrayed police lieutenant Al Giardello on Homicide: Life on the Street, a space traveler in Alien and a supervillain in Live and Let Die, has died. He was 81.

In a message posted on Facebook, Kotto's wife, Tessie Sinahon, said that the actor died Monday. "I'm saddened and still in shocked of the passing of my husband Yaphet of 24 years," she wrote.

A presence at 6-foot-4 and more than 240 pounds in his prime, Kotto also was known for his eerie Emmy-nominated performance as the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in Raid on Entebbe, a 1976 NBC movie. ...

Hollywood Reporter

[PeteS in CA]

This may be one of those "good riddance" obits:FOX News.
See also NY Post

He died too old.

[mountaineer]

 Mar 17, 2021 9:57am PT
James Levine, ‘America’s Top Maestro’ Until Career Crashed in Scandal, Dies at 77
Chris Willman

James Levine, one of the most renowned conductors of the modern era, whose career at the helm of the Metropolitan Opera crashed amid sexual abuse allegations in 2018, has died at age 77.

He was reported Wednesday to have died at home in Palm Springs on March 9. No cause of death was given, nor was there any explanation for why the passing of such a world-renowned figure was not revealed for eight days.

Levine was one of the few conductors since Leonard Bernstein and Leopold Stokowski to become a household name — borne out when Disney updated its classic “Fantasia” film as “Fantasia 2000” and it was Levine brought in to fill the on-and off-screen conducting role occupied by Stokowski in the original movie. ...

Although his 21st century career included leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra as well, Levine had his greatest renown conducting the Metropolitan Opera from 1971 through 2017. That’s where his career ended when scandal erupted in 2017.; the Met fired him in 2018, following an internal investigation that “uncovered credible evidence that Mr. Levine engaged in sexually abusive and harassing conduct toward vulnerable artists in the early stages of their careers.”

The New York Times reported last year that Levine had received $3.5 million to leave in a confidential settlement following a lawsuit and countersuit. Levine had sued the Met for breach of contract and defamation for $5.8 million after he was fired in March 2018, and the opera company countersued. ...

Variety

[mountaineer]

Iconic Boston Marathon runner Dick Hoyt has died at 80
By April Siese
March 18, 2021 / 3:07 AM / CBS News

Iconic Boston Marathon runner Dick Hoyt died Wednesday at the age of 80. Hoyt, a fixture in the race for decades, died in his sleep after dealing with a series of health issues, his family said.

Hoyt first ran the Boston Marathon in 1980 while pushing his son, Rick, in a wheelchair. Rick was born a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, CBS Boston reports.

The two began racing in marathons across the country in 1977. Hoyt retired from the Boston Marathon in 2014 but his son continued to participate with the help of Bryan Lyons, who replaced Hoyt in 2015. ...

[PeteS in CA]

Thanks! I just posted just posted this news on a couple of FB groups for runners.

[mountaineer]

Having attended a lot of Boston marathons over the past 25 years - some where Mr. M was running and a few where he was a spectator - I've seen the Hoyts. The crowd always gave them a big cheer as they went past.

[PeteS in CA]

Having attended a lot of Boston marathons over the past 25 years - some where Mr. M was running and a few where he was a spectator - I've seen the Hoyts. The crowd always gave them a big cheer as they went past.

There are several Boston runners in the FB groups to which I posted (groups focused on particular trail run organizers). I think several may post memories.

[verga]

Stupid Screen got all blurry, i'm not crying you're crying.

[Elderberry]

Glynn Lunney, flight director who led from 'trench' to the moon, dies

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-031921a-flight-director-glynn-lunney-obituary.html

March 19, 2021


Glynn Lunney, "Black Flight," seen during the
Apollo 13 mission in April 1970. Lunney called
Apollo 13 the best of his career. (NASA)

— An engineer who was involved from the start in NASA's efforts to launch the first astronauts into space and who later led Mission Control through some of its most challenging and triumphant hours, flight director Glynn S. Lunney has died at the age of 84.

Lunney's death on Friday (March 19) was confirmed by NASA. A family friend said that Lunney died after a long illness.

"Glynn was the right person for the right time in history," Mark Geyer, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement. "His unique leadership and remarkably quick intellect were critical to the success of some of the most iconic accomplishments in human spaceflight."

"While he was one of the most famous NASA alumni, he was also one of the most humble people I have ever worked with. He was very supportive of the NASA team and was so gracious in the way he shared his wisdom with us," said Geyer.

Lunney was working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as a co-op student in 1958, when he was recruited by the newly-formed NASA at the age of 22. The youngest member of the Space Task Group, he and his colleagues at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, were charged with figuring out how to send the first astronauts into space.

Initially, Lunney was assigned to develop the simulated missions that were used to train other flight controllers. His position for the early Project Mercury flights was at a remote tracking station.

"I was at the Bermuda station," he said in a 1999 NASA oral history interview. "Bermuda is 800 miles [1,300 km] or so out in the ocean away from Florida, where we launched [the missions], and the place where the vehicle went into orbit was about halfway in between."

"Since this was at the very horizon from the Cape [Canaveral, Florida] and going out of sight, there was some question about how well we could know whether the vehicle was in orbit or not. So I started off as a flight dynamics officer at the control center in Bermuda, and I was there for a number of the flights — both unmanned and manned."

After the 1962 launch of John Glenn on the first U.S. crewed mission to orbit Earth, Lunney worked the final three original astronaut missions from the Mercury Control Center in Florida, before becoming chief of the flight dynamics branch.

[mountaineer]

Lakers Legend Elgin Baylor Dies At 86
By CBSLA Staff
March 22, 2021 at 12:06 pm

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Los Angeles Lakers legend Elgin Baylor has died. He was 86.

His death from natural causes was announced by the team Monday morning. Baylor’s wife, Elaine, and daughter, Krystal, were at his side when he died.  ...

“Elgin was THE superstar of his era – his many accolades speak to that,” Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said in a statement. “But more importantly he was a man of great integrity, even serving his country as a U.S. Army reservist, often playing for the Lakers only during his weekend pass.”  ... Full story

[mountaineer]

'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf' Actor George Segal Dead At 87
March 23, 2021  10:29 PM ET
Vanessa Romo

Actor George Segal who first became a star alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand has died at 87 after a career on stage, film and television that spanned more than 60 years.

The Oscar-nominated actor who recently wrapped up an eighth season on the ABC show The Goldbergs, died on Tuesday morning of complications from bypass surgery, his wife, Sonia, said in a statement.  ...

Segal was born on Feb. 13, 1932, and raised in Great Neck, N.Y. He began his entertainment career as a banjo player and went on to serve in the U.S. Army before graduating from Columbia University with a degree in drama.  ...

More at NPR

[verga]

More at NPR

RIP. My two favorite movies with him were, "The Duchess and the dirtwater fox" Costar Goldie Hawn, and "Fun with Dick and Jane" Never mind his co star in that one.

[Gefn]

RIP. My two favorite movies with him were, "The Duchess and the dirtwater fox" Costar Goldie Hawn, and "Fun with Dick and Jane" Never mind his co star in that one.

The original “Fun with Dick and Jane” was a good movie, it’s also the first movie I ever saw him in.

I’m glad he did work recently on “The Goldbergs” so his younger fans will know him as Grandpa Goldberg.


I especially liked the scene in that show where you showed up as Santa Claus for your grandchildren but your entire outfit was blue and white, and you had a Star of David on a chain that would put Flavor Flax’s clocks to shame.

Rest In Please, Sir. You will be missed.

[mountaineer]

I especially liked the scene in that show where you showed up as Santa Claus for your grandchildren but your entire outfit was blue and white, and you had a Star of David on a chain that would put Flavor Flax’s clocks to shame.

I never saw "Goldbergs," but that sounds hilarious!

[jmyrlefuller]

I remember Segal from the sitcom Just Shoot Me. He was the highlight of that show.

[verga]

I remember Segal from the sitcom Just Shoot Me. He was the highlight of that show.

I completely forgot about that. Great show. He knew how to bring out the best in that cast.

[Gefn]

Jessica Walter, Arrested Development and Archer Star, Dead at 80

Jessica Walter, award-winning actress and Arrested Development star, has died. She was 80.

Her daughter, Brooke Bowman, confirms to PEOPLE. Walter died in her sleep on Wednesday while staying at her home in New York City.

"It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom Jessica. A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off," Bowman said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. "While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class and overall joie de vivre."

Deadline was the first to report the news.

Walter's impressive career spanned nearly five decades and featured in a variety of roles including a turn in Clint Eastwood's directorial debut, Play Misty for Me to The Flamingo Kid. She also earned Emmy nominations for her work in both Trapper John M..D. and Streets of San Francisco. Walter won later won the coveted award for her role in Amy Prentiss.

https://people.com/tv/jessica-walter-dead-at-80-arrested-development-star/

[mountaineer]

Jessica Walter Dies: Emmy-Winning ‘Arrested Development’, ‘Archer’ Actress Was 80
By Tom Tapp   
March 25, 2021 11:24am

Jessica Walter, the award-winning actress whose career spanned five decades, passed away in her sleep at home in New York City on Wednesday, March 24. She was 80.

Walter’s career included everything from a standout turn in Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut, Play Misty for Me, to The Flamingo Kid and her Emmy-nominated turns on Trapper John M..D. and Streets of San Francisco. For her performance as Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development, Walter earned yet another Emmy nomination (Outstanding Supporting Actress) and two SAG nominations.

Walter won an Emmy starring in Amy Prentiss, an Ironside spinoff in the mid-1970s about a young San Francisco police detective. She also voiced Malory Archer on FXX’s animated series Archer. ...  Deadline

[Gefn]

Jessica Walter, Arrested Development and Archer Star, Dead at 80


https://people.com/tv/jessica-walter-dead-at-80-arrested-development-star/

Rest In Peace Lucille Bluth and Mallory Archer, and the mom in “Dinosaurs” I will miss you.

[mountaineer]

I remember her from a "Law and Order" episode from 1995 where her eyes shot daggers at ADA McCoy after he had her mob lawyer husband (played by her real-life husband Ron Leibman) arrested. She was a beautiful woman and an excellent actress.

[mountaineer]

Former GOP Chairman, Tennessee Sen. Bill Brock dies at 90
By TRAVIS LOLLER, Associated Press 2 hrs ago


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former Tennessee Sen. Bill Brock, whose long career in Washington included a key role in rebuilding the Republican Party after the Watergate scandal, died Thursday morning. He was 90.

Brock had been hospitalized in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, due to pneumonia last week, said Scott Golden, the Tennessee Republican Party chairman.

He died “peacefully, surrounded by his family,” according to a statement from Brock's family.

Brock was an official with his family’s Brock Candy Co. when he turned to politics and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1962.  ...

Associated Press via MSN News

[skeeter]

Jessica Walter Dies: Emmy-Winning ‘Arrested Development’, ‘Archer’ Actress Was 80
By Tom Tapp   
March 25, 2021 11:24am

Jessica Walter, the award-winning actress whose career spanned five decades, passed away in her sleep at home in New York City on Wednesday, March 24. She was 80.

Walter’s career included everything from a standout turn in Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut, Play Misty for Me, to The Flamingo Kid and her Emmy-nominated turns on Trapper John M..D. and Streets of San Francisco. For her performance as Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development, Walter earned yet another Emmy nomination (Outstanding Supporting Actress) and two SAG nominations.

Walter won an Emmy starring in Amy Prentiss, an Ironside spinoff in the mid-1970s about a young San Francisco police detective. She also voiced Malory Archer on FXX’s animated series Archer. ...  Deadline

”Get off my back, Evelyn!” I’ll have to cue up Play Misty For Me tonight.

[sneakypete]

I remember her from a "Law and Order" episode from 1995 where her eyes shot daggers at ADA McCoy after he had her mob lawyer husband (played by her real-life husband Ron Leibman) arrested. She was a beautiful woman and an excellent actress.

@mountaineer

I am a HUGE fan of "Law and Order,SVU" especially,and I am constantly amazed at the quality of the bit actors they can hire to play a role in one,or at most, 2 episodes. I am serious about this. They are so good it's a rare episode that I don't pause the play and look up the actress or actor on IMDB to see what else they had done.

Then there are MONSTER (in EVERY sense of the word) series like Game of Thrones,and you see actors and actresses nobody but their mama's had ever heard of,giving Oscar-worthly performances with every episode!

Say what you will,but streaming media has been "berry,berry gud" to fledgling actors and actresses because there must about 100 x or more jobs today than there was before wi-fi and streaming services.

[jmyrlefuller]

To the WNY/WNY expat crowd ( @DCPatriot , @verga ):

Rick Azar died at 91.
https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/legendary-7-eyewitness-news-broadcaster-rick-azar-has-died