Bring Out Your Dead! The celebrity death thread....

Barbara Hale -

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/arts/television/barbara-hale-who-played-perry-masons-loyal-secretary-dies-at-94.html

Hasn't been the best of times for progressive rock recently:

http://teamrock.com/news/2017-01-31/john-wetton-dies-aged-67

Professor Irwin Corey.

http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/Irwin-Corey-102-comic-who-styled-himself-as-the-Worlds-Foremost-Authority-has-died.html

"Why do you wear tennis shoes?" he was once asked.

"Well, that's a two-part question," he began. "First you ask why. Well, why has been plaguing man since time immemorial.

"Statesman, philosophers, educators, teachers, scientists have been asking the ultimate why. And in these few moments allocated me, it would be ludicrous on my part — for the sake of brevity — to delve into the ultimate why.

"Do I wear sneakers? Yes."

I was going to post him. I doubt many people here are even old enough to remember him.

ska said:

I was going to post him. I doubt many people here are even old enough to remember him.

Well, some of us remember our grandparents telling us about him !

*cough cough*

ll, right

Al Jarreau ... dead at 76. RIP

Nicolai Gedda, the opera tenor, passed away a few weeks ago, but it was only announced recently. It was in the NYTimes late last week.

Al Jarreau?!? No!!!

Junie Morrison

Original Funkateer- Ohio Players, PFunk and more

http://www.okayplayer.com/news/walter-junie-morrison-dead-at-62.html

I hadn't realised that Dick Bruna died this week... Any parent who's read the delightful Miffy books to their small children and grandchildren will be sad to hear this news.

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-39007462

Clyde Stubblefield

You heard James Brown? He's the beat. Drummer Extraordinaire. Most beautifulest left hand in the world. RIP

He unintentionally created the funky drum line that created hip hop...Icon

From the Times's obituary:

In 2000, Mr. Stubblefield was diagnosed with bladder cancer, which he survived, but he faced daunting medical bills of approximately $90,000.

Last year, after Prince died, Mr. Stubblefield revealed that the singer had paid those bills in full, asking that the gesture be kept private. It was a testament to the force of Mr. Stubblefield’s artistic gift and influence — the two men had never met.

.

.

(My own left hand got a little spastic.)

English singer-songwriter and pianist, Peter Skellern. Dead at the age of 69.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/feb/19/peter-skellern-obituary

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

marksierra said:

English singer-songwriter and pianist, Peter Skellern. Dead at the age of 69.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/feb/19/peter-skellern-obituary


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

Wow. Really only 69? He seemed like an old soul when I first saw him in the late 70s.

Norma McCorvey, the anonymous plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, died in Texas at age 69. The landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in the U.S. also reshaped the nation’s social and political landscapes. Ironically, she later became an anti abortion pro life activist.

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

RIP Bill Paxton, died from surgery complications at 61. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bill-paxton-dead-61-article-1.2982645

Thank you for the detail. I'm not sure why it matters; our reports say 'unknown surgery' and it just feels unfinished.

Sad news indeed.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/26/us/judge-joseph-wapner-dead/index.html

Robert Osborne, film historian and beloved host of Turner Classic Movies, has died at 84.

So sad. I wondered where he was.

Joni Sledge

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/12/joni-sledge-group-sister-sledge-dies-60

oh Ridski, Murray Ball of Footrot Flats fame has gone!

(I had no idea of Dave Dobbyn's Kiwi background, I'm such a dag. Slice of Heaven will never be the same...)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/12/footrot-flats-creator-murray-ball-dies-aged-78-cartoon-new-zealand

Joni Sledge, from the group Sister Sledge, passed away March 11th at the age of 60 in her home.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/12/519909181/we-are-family-singer-joni-sledge-dies-at-60

joanne said:

oh Ridski, Murray Ball of Footrot Flats fame has gone!

(I had no idea of Dave Dobbyn's Kiwi background, I'm such a dag. Slice of Heaven will never be the same...)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/12/footrot-flats-creator-murray-ball-dies-aged-78-cartoon-new-zealand

Also http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-12/murray-ball-new-zealand-cartoon-footrot-flats-creator-dies/8347596

I have copies of most of the Footrot Flats cartoon books. They're even more precious now.