Legends dropping like flies

http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/wi...on-‘mash’-was-84/ar-BBxLCQl?OCID=ansmsnnews11 :cry:
William Christopher Dies: Father Mulcahy Actor On ‘M.A.S.H.’ Was 84.
William Christopher, the actor best known as Father Mulcahy on the classic sitcom M.A.S.H., died today following a battle with lung cancer. He was 84, and died in his Pasadena home according to his son, John, who made the news public.
Born in Evanston, Illinois in 1932, Christopher got his start as a stage actor in the 1950s before moving into television and film. Christopher held a variety of guest roles on many 1960s shows including The Andy Griffith Show, The Patty Duke Show, and The Men from Shiloh; he would also land recurring roles on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – as Private Lester Hummel-, That Girl and Hogan’s Heroes.
Christopher landed his most famous role in 1972, replacing the actor who portrayed Father Mulcahy in the M.A.S.H. pilot. He would remain a series mainstay throughout the show’s 11 season run, and would reprise the character on the short-lived M.A.S.H. spinoff AfterMASH.
Christopher also held guest roles on shows such as The Love Boat, Good Times, Murder, She Wrote, and Mad About You among many others.
Christopher, whose son, Ned, is autistic, was an advocate for people with autism, devoting time to the National Autistic Society and recording public service announcements.
 
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mike-connors-dead-star-mannix-was-91-969213 :cry:
As the heroic good guy on the CBS action series, he was among the highest-paid TV actors in the early 1970s. He played basketball for John Wooden at UCLA.
Mike Connors, who took a punch as well as anyone while playing the good-guy private detective on the long-running Saturday night action series Mannix for CBS, has died. He was 91.
A former basketball player for legendary coach John Wooden at UCLA, Connors died Thursday,The Hollywood Reporter confirmed. No other details were immediately available.

Mannix, the last series from Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s famed TV company Desilu Productions to air, ran for eight seasons from September 1967 until April 1975. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible), the hit show featured an electric theme from jazz great Lalo Schifrin and starred Connors as a noble Korean War veteran.
The first season of the series had Mannix employed at Intertect, a large Los Angeles detective agency run by Lew Wickersham (Joseph Campanella). But he wasn't the corporate type, and starting with the second season, Mannix was on his own, working out of his home office at 17 Paseo Verde.

Mannix drove several hot automobiles during the series’ run (some souped up by George Barris), including a 1969 Dodge Dart, a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda convertible and a 1974 Dodge Challenger. He was often seen bailing out of these cars when the brakes were tampered with — that is, when he wasn’t getting beaten up or shot at by the bad guys. (By one count, Mannix was shot 17 times and knocked unconscious 55 times on the show.) His athleticism and striking dark looks were perfect for the role.
Though Mannix was criticized for being excessively violent when it aired, Connors said in a 1997 interview with the Los Angeles Times that the series was tame by modern-day standards.
“We did have car chases and fights,” he recalled, “but when you compare them to shows that are on now, we were very, very low-keyed.”
For all the physical abuse, the broad-shouldered Connors became one of the highest-paid stars on television, earning $40,000 an episode at the height of the show’s ratings run. (He sued CBS and Paramount in May 2011, claiming he was never paid royalties on the show and was owed millions of dollars.)

Connors received four Emmy nominations from 1970-73 and six Golden Globe noms from 1970-75 but won just once, picking up a trophy from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1970. The only Emmy the show ever received was given that year to Gail Fisher, who played Peggy Fair, Mannix’s prim and steady secretary (she was widow of a cop killed in the line of duty). Fisher was one of the first African-American actresses to have a regular series role on TV.
"I loved the show, I loved doing it, and it had no negatives as far as I was concerned," Connorssaid during a 2014 interview.
"The show itself started a whole new era of detective shows, because this wasn’t the usual cynical private eye a la Humphrey Bogart. It was more a show about an all-around normal human being. The character of Joe Mannix could be taken advantage of by a pretty face, he could shed a tear on an emotional level, he was very close to his father and his family, so he was more a normal personality with normal behavior. I think that’s a part of why the show was so successful."

Two other producers on the show, Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, were veteran movie screenwriters whose work included White Heat (1949), starring James Cagney.

The Armenian-American actor also was recognizable for three other series: Tightrope (1959-60), in which he starred as an undercover agent infiltrating organized crime; Today’s FBI (1981-82), in which he played an FBI supervisor; and the syndicated series Crimes of the Century (1989), which he hosted. He played Robert Mitchum’s wartime comrade in the 1988-89 miniseries War and Remembrance.

Born Krekor Ohanian in Fresno, Calif., on Aug. 15, 1925, Connors served in the Army Air Force during World War II, then came to Westwood on a basketball scholarship. While aiming for law school, he developed a passion for acting and appeared in several plays. He was encouraged by Oscar-winning writer-director William Wellman (A Star Is Born), who spotted him while he played for the Bruins.

At one point, he was represented by future James Bond producer Cubby Broccoli.

Connors got his professional start in 1952 in an RKO release, Sudden Fear, as Touch Connors (Touch had been his nickname at UCLA). He continued in small roles for a number of years, with turns in Island in the Sky (1953), starring John Wayne, and as a herder in The Ten Commandments (1956) with Charlton Heston.

He made his TV debut in 1954 with a role on Ford Theatre and continued with numerous small roles while gaining recognition as a heavy in such Westerns as Gunsmoke, Maverick, Wagon Train and Cimarron City.

He changed his name to Mike Connors in 1958 and appeared in such movies as Live Fast, Die Young (1958) and Situation Hopeless … But Not Serious (1965), which starred Alec Guinness. He landed one of his best early movie roles in the 1966 remake of Stagecoach, playing the cardsharp.

Throughout his career, which spanned nearly 50 years, Connors made numerous guest-star appearances on such shows as The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, The Millionaire, The Untouchables, The Fall Guy, The Love Boat, Walker, Texas Ranger, Murder, She Wrote, Burke’s Law, Diagnosis Murder (where he returned as Joe Mannix) and, in 2007, Two and a Half Men.

He voiced the character Chipacles in Disney’s animated series Hercules.
Other film credits included Sudden Fear  opposite Joan Crawford; Too Scared to Scream, which he also produced; Avalanche Express  James Dean: Race With Destiny(1997), as studio head Jack Warner; and Gideon (1999).
Connors, who was married for more than 65 years to the former Mary Lou Willey, was active in charitable organizations, including Operation Missing Persons, an educational program to promote awareness of the neurological disorder dystonia. He also served as a spokesperson for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Duane Byrge contributed to this report.
 
http://pagesix.com/2017/01/26/allma..._medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_1431617 :cry:
Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks fatally shot himself in front of his wife in Florida, according to law enforcement records.

A police dispatcher noted that Trucks’ suicide Tuesday night in West Palm Beach was witnessed by his wife, Melinda, the Daily Mail reported, citing police reports.
The wife called 911 to frantically report that her “husband just shot himself” with a pistol.
That call for help came at 6:02 p.m. Tuesday from the couple’s waterfront Villa Del Lago condo complex. The 911 call identified the victim as “Claude,” Trucks’ given name.

The legendary drummer, 69, had been dogged by financial woes for years, The Mail reported, citing local court records.
In 2011, Trucks sold his Palm Beach home for $2 million — even though it might have been worth twice that — perhaps to settle an $800,000 mortgage.
The condo where he died Tuesday was purchased for $500,000 in 2014.

The IRS last year filed a pair of liens against that condo, looking for Trucks to pay $540,000 in back taxes from 2013 and 2014.
Trucks was an original 1969 member of the Jacksonville-rooted Allman Brothers, along with Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Berry Oakley, Dickey Betts and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson.
He’s survived by his wife, four children and four grandchildren.
Rolling Stone magazine named the 100 best drummers in rock history last year and pegged Trucks — and bandmate Johanson — at No. 71.
 
Its gotta be more then just financial woe's when someone off's themselves like that. Could be a Robin Williams depression medication thing, or more then likely illicit drugs or a combination of both.
 
http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainm...at-76/ar-AAmR1G3?li=AAggSpD&OCID=ansmsnnews11 :cry: Described as having a "melliciferous" voice:
Singer Al Jarreau, a multiple Grammy winner for his jazz and R&B songs like “Breakin’ Away,” died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 76.
He had been hospitalized recently and cancelled his upcoming tour dates.
A statement on his website said in part, “He will be missed. His 2nd priority in life was music. There was no 3rd. His 1st priority, far ahead of the other, was healing or comforting anyone in need. Whether it was emotional pain, or physical discomfort, or any other cause of suffering, he needed to put our minds at ease and our hearts at rest. He needed to see a warm, affirming smile where there had not been one before. Song was just his tool for making that happen.”
His hit songs included “We’re in This Love Together,” “After All,” “Boogie Down,” “Never Givin’ Up,” and the theme song to the TV series “Moonlighting,” for which he wrote the lyrics.
He is survived by his wife, Susan, and son Ryan.
 
RIP Chuck Berry! For those who play rock-n-roll guatar know what a genus player he was. Instrumental in all of rock and roll! They should have parade in his honor!!!!

[youtube]EOrMg3pY7hw[/youtube]

[youtube]6ROwVrF0Ceg[/youtube]
 
e-beach said:
RIP Chuck Berry! For those who play rock-n-roll guatar know what a genus player he was. Instrumental in all of rock and roll! They should have parade in his honor!!!!

Yes, an absolute true legend
 
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-me-chuck-barris-20170321-story.html :cry:
Chuck Barris, creator of 'The Gong Show' and 'The Dating Game,' dies at 87
Jevon PhillipsBy Jevon Phillips•Contact Reporter
March 22, 2017, 12:55 PM
Chuck Barris, “The Gong Show” creator and host who claimed — though never too seriously — that he doubled as a CIA assassin during the height of his game show popularity, has died at his home in Palisades, N.Y. He was 87.
The popular game show creator, producer and host died Monday of natural causes, a representative for his wife said.
The “Gong Show” was among a handful of Barris’ creations that dominated the TV game show landscape in the 1960s. He launched “The Dating Game” in 1965, which was an instant hit with numerous imitations. Barris followed with "The Newlywed Game," "The Game Game," “The $1.98 Beauty Show” and a Mama Cass special, among others.
"Those were the happiest days of my life," Barris said in a 2002 interview with the Los Angeles Times. "It was Camelot."
 
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http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainm...-don-rickles-dies-at-90/ar-BBzuEB9?li=BBnb7Kz :cry:
Legendary comic Don Rickles, a rapid-fire insulting machine who for six decades earned quite a living making fun of people of all creeds and colors and everyone from poor slobs to Frank Sinatra, has died. He was 90.

Rickles died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles of kidney failure, publicist Paul Schrifin announced.

Sarcastically nicknamed "Mr. Warmth," Rickles had mock disdain for stars, major public figures and all those who paid to see him, tweaking TV audiences and Las Vegas showroom crowds with his acerbic brand of takedown comedy. A good guy and devoted husband away from the stage, Rickles the performer heartlessly laid into everyone he encountered - and they loved it.

After toiling in relative obscurity for years as a more conventional stand-up comedian, Rickles unwittingly discovered his biggest laughs came when he turned the table on his hecklers. His career then skyrocketed after he insulted the hot-tempered Sinatra, who normally did not take kindly to such treatment.
When the superstar singer and actor walked into a Hollywood club in 1957 where Rickles was performing, the comedian greeted the "Chairman of the Board" from the stage: "Make yourself at home Frank. Hit somebody." Sinatra roared - with laughter.
With Sinatra's endorsement, Rickles began his comedic assault on people famous and not so famous - Jews, Asians, African Americans, the Irish, Puerto Ricans, red-headed women, short guys, you name it - with tremendous results. He referred to stupid people as "hockey pucks," and in 1959, he signed for his first Las Vegas appearance, in the lounge of the Hotel Sahara.

In 1985, when Sinatra was asked to perform at Ronald Reagan's second Inaugural Ball, he insisted that Rickles accompany him for a comedy routine. Rickles, naturally, did not spare the president ("Am I going too fast for you, Ronnie?" he asked) and considered that performance among the highlights of his career.
Rickles was still going strong in June 2012 when, during the American Film Institute's tribute to actress Shirley MacLaine, he joked that he "shouldn't make fun of the blacks. President Obama is a personal friend of mine. He was over to the house yesterday, but the mop broke."

Rickles honed his reputation in numerous appearances on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts that ran on NBC from the mid-1970s to the mid-80s. The specials provided a perfect venue for Rickles to unleash his caustic brand of humor on such visiting dignitaries as Sinatra, Reagan, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Kirk Douglas, Sammy Davis Jr. and Mr. T.
Johnny Carson provided Rickles a late-night stage by making him one of The Tonight Show's most-frequent guests. On one memorable moment in 1968, Rickles cozied up to a half-naked Carson during a sketch with two Japanese female masseuses and said, "I'm so lonely, Johnny!" Carson threw him in a bathtub. More recently, he was a regular guest on Late Show With David Letterman, in which the CBS host treated Rickles like royalty.

Don Rickles during an interview with host Johnny Carson on May 31, 1991© Gary Null/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Don Rickles during an interview with host Johnny Carson on May 31, 1991
Rickles intermittently played in movies, highlighted by Kelly's Heroes (1970), where he co-starred with Clint Eastwood as Sgt. Crapgame, an Army black-marketer who had no compunction about cutting favorable deals with the Nazis.
He also played opposite beach bunny Annette Funicello in such movies as Pajama Party (1964) and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), appeared as a Vegas slime-ball in Martin Scorsese's Casino (1975) and voiced the cranky Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story films.

Donald Jay Rickles was born in the New York borough of Queens on May 8, 1926. Following high school, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, then studied acting and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
At age 32, Rickles landed a small part in Robert Wise's submarine drama Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), starring Clark Gable. Two years later, he was cast in The Rat Race with Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds.

Not surprisingly, Rickles found there weren't many leading roles for a paunchy 5-foot-6 balding man. So, he worked up a nightclub act. After his Sinatra encounter, he perfected his bite and would land gigs in all the Vegas hotels: the Riviera, the Golden Nugget, the Desert Inn and the Sahara.
Rickles would come onstage accompanied by the old Spanish bullfight song "La Virgen de la Macarena," a subtle signal that someone was about to be metaphorically gored.
Flush with his casino successes, Rickles cut two best-selling comedy albums in the '60s: Hello, Dummy! and Don Rickles Speaks.
Success as a star of his own TV series eluded him. He played Naval Petty Officer Otto Sharkey in NBC's CPO Sharkey, which ran from 1976-78, and a used car salesman and father of Richard Lewis in Daddy Dearest, quickly canceled by Fox in 1993. He had two series titled The Don Rickles Show; each ran a handful of episodes. For one season in the '80s, he hosted ABC's Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders with singer Steve Lawrence.

Rickles' TV guest appearances include episodes of The Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, Burke's Law, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., I Dream of Jeannie, I Spy, Get Smart (alongside his buddy, Don Adams), Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Sanford and Son, The Bernie Mac Show and Hot in Cleveland.
In 1965, Rickles married Barbara Sklar, who survives him. The couple, who often vacationed with deadpan comic Bob Newhart and his wife, Virginia, had two children, Mindy and Larry. His son, who produced the HBO documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project, died in December 2011 at age 41.
 
Joanie loved Chachi, etc., but didn't seem to care much for life after 'Happy Days'. Battling whatever combination of mental illness and/or drug addiction. Its always such a shame.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/22/entertainment/happy-days-star-erin-moran-dead/index.html

moran_double_1348754709158_161419_ver1.0_640_480.jpg
 
Woah!, she's the same age as me, was just talking about the Fonz today with the kids and how much of a great show Happy Days was, rest well Erin
 
Those pics caught me by surprise. Looked just like what I'd post but I just couldn't remember doing it.

So maybe the father wasn't quite a legend, but he had a hit and an Oscar winning son. Wonder what the final verdict will be on Cuba Gooding Sr.

[youtube]aH_IpIC14ZA[/youtube]
 
Dauntless said:
Those pics caught me by surprise. Looked just like what I'd post but I just couldn't remember doing it.

So maybe the father wasn't quite a legend, but he had a hit and an Oscar winning son. Wonder what the final verdict will be on Cuba Gooding Sr.

[youtube]aH_IpIC14ZA[/youtube]

Was found dead in a car with drug parephanelia, possibly drug overdose?
 
Nicky Hayden, this is bad, when he was only out on a bike ride..

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-23/former-world-champion-nicky-hayden-dies/8549242?pfmredir=sm
 
007 in 007 movies. Roger Moore is gone.

As Bond he said he's found he lives longer by not trusting anyone. That's a lot of mistrust, 89 years.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/movies/roger-moore-dead-james-bond.html?_r=0
 
LOL @ Slacker

Everyone's got their viewpoint

Besides its the day in age where pedestrians are getting wiped out looking down and not up. One a few days ago, got smoked by the train, I dunno if it was at the stations or some crossing. My guess is the crossing. They used to have actual arms that move down, now they are cheaping out and only using zig zag barriers and sound.

But lets keep this on track
Roger Moore died at age 89 which is a good long life.
Chris Cornell committed suicide at age 53 which is sad that he felt that way and needed to end his life.
But hey google is bad, duckduckgo is better....
April

Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director of The Silence of the Lambs, Stop Making Sense, and Philadelphia, died April 26, 2017. He was 73.

Erin Moran, the former child star who played Joanie Cunningham in the sitcoms "Happy Days" and "Joanie Loves Chachi," died April 22, 2017. She was 56

John Giles, the founder of The J. Geils Band, known for such peppy early 80s pop hits as "Freeze Frame" and "Centerfold," died April 11, 2017. He was 71.

Don Rickles was 90.
Don Rickles was 90. (Mark J. Terrill)

Don Rickles, the hollering, bald-headed comic whose barrage of barbs upon the meek and the mighty endeared him to audiences and his peers for decades, died April 6, 2017. He was 90.

March

Brian Oldfield, a shot put pioneer and Munich Olympian who helped popularize the spin technique in both the shot put and discus, died March 31, 2017. He was 71.

Dallas Green, the tough-talking manager who guided the Philadelphia Phillies to their first World Series championship, died March 22, 2017. He was 82.

David Rockefeller, the billionaire philanthropist who was the last of his generation in the famously philanthropic Rockefeller family, died March 20, 2017. He was 101.

Jimmy Breslin, the chronicler of wise guys and underdogs, who became the brash embodiment of the old-time, street-smart New Yorker, died March 19, 2017. He was 88.

Chuck Berry was 90.
Chuck Berry was 90. (Lionel Cironneau)

Chuck Berry, American guitarist, singer and songwriter, died March 18, 2017. He was 90.

James Cotton, a Grammy Award-winning blues harmonica master, whose full-throated sound backed such blues legends as Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Howlin' Wolf, died March 16, 2017. He was 81.

February

Judge Joseph Wapner, who presided over "The People's Court" during the heyday of the reality courtroom show, died Feb. 26, 2017. He was 97.

Bill Paxton, who played an astronaut in "Apollo 13" and a treasure hunter in "Titanic," died Feb. 25, 2017. He was 61.

Norma McCovey, whose legal challenge under the pseudonym "Jane Roe" led to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision that legalized abortion, died Feb. 18, 2017. She was 69.

Al Jarreau, a singer and musician, died Feb. 12, 2017. He was 76.

Packy was 54.
Packy was 54. (Ross William Hamilton)

Packy, the beloved elephant at the Oregon Zoo, died Feb. 9, 2017. He was 54.

Richard Hatch, perhaps best known for playing Captain Apollo in the original "Battlestar Galactica" film and TV series, has died Feb. 7, 2017. He was 71.

Irwin Corey, the wild-haired comedian and actor who was known for his nonsensical style and who billed himself as iThe Worldis Foremost Authority, died Feb. 6, 2017. He was 102.


January

Mary Tyler Moore was 80.
Mary Tyler Moore was 80. (Universal Studio)

John Hurt, known for his role as "The Elephant Man," died Jan. 27. He was 77.

Barbara Hale, known for her work as Della Street on "Perry Mason," died Jan. 27. She was 94.

Mike Connors, who played a hard-hitting private eye "Mannix," died Jan. 26. He was 91.

Mary Tyler Moore, the television actress and Oscar nominee, died Jan. 25. She was 80.

Miguel Ferrer, known for roles in "NCIS: Los Angeles" and "Crossing Jordan, died Jan. 19. He was 61.

Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, died Jan. 16. He was 82.

William A. Hilliard, a former editor of The Oregonian, died Jan. 16. He was 89.

John E. Cook, a former Tigard Chamber of Commerce president, and former mayor of Tigard, died Jan. 14, 2016. He was 90.
 
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