DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

[MisterCairo]

Just read about this. Songwriter Curly Putman (Green Green Grass of Home) died at age 85:


https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...ter-of-green-green-grass-of-home-dies-aged-85

 

[LizzieMaine]

Baseball legend Ralph Branca has died at the age of 90, and as everybody knew would happen, the headline on his obituary remembers him for a single pitch he threw on an October afternoon sixty-five years ago. But he was far more than that single pitch -- he was also the last surviving member of the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, and the very first member of that famous team to befriend one Jack Roosevelt Robinson. He embraced the integration of the Dodgers from the moment of Robinson's arrival, and they remained close long after both had left baseball. Branca was one of the pallbearers at Robinson's funeral in 1972.

Branca broke in with the Dodgers in 1944, as a teenage rushed-to-the-big-leagues wartime prospect, but he made his mark in 1947, winning 21 games to lead the staff, and continued as one of the best pitchers in the National League thru that infamous 1951 season. The following spring training, he was injured in camp, and never regained his former effectiveness. He was traded to the Tigers, drifted around for a few years, and retired at the end of the 1956 season.

He was among the small number of ex-Dodgers to appear at a solemn farewell ceremony on the day demolition began at Ebbets Field in 1960, and a few years later he resurfaced as the co-host -- with Howard Cosell, no less -- of the New York Mets' pregame radio show. Branca here proved himself an adept commentator who could have a more substantial career in broadcasting had he so chosen. In 1963, he briefly regained the national spotlight setting a record for consecutive games won on the NBC-TV game show "Concentration." He never returned to baseball as a coach, manager, or executive, but remained an avid fan.

The day after his infamous pitch in 1951, Branca married Ann Mulvey, daughter of one of the Dodgers' minority owners. They remained together until her passing earlier this year.

 

[belfastboy]

Baseball legend Ralph Branca has died at the age of 90, and as everybody knew would happen, the headline on his obituary remembers him for a single pitch he threw on an October afternoon sixty-five years ago. But he was far more than that single pitch -- he was also the last surviving member of the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, and the very first member of that famous team to befriend one Jack Roosevelt Robinson. He embraced the integration of the Dodgers from the moment of Robinson's arrival, and they remained close long after both had left baseball. Branca was one of the pallbearers at Robinson's funeral in 1972.

Branca broke in with the Dodgers in 1944, as a teenage rushed-to-the-big-leagues wartime prospect, but he made his mark in 1947, winning 21 games to lead the staff, and continued as one of the best pitchers in the National League thru that infamous 1951 season. The following spring training, he was injured in camp, and never regained his former effectiveness. He was traded to the Tigers, drifted around for a few years, and retired at the end of the 1956 season.

He was among the small number of ex-Dodgers to appear at a solemn farewell ceremony on the day demolition began at Ebbets Field in 1960, and a few years later he resurfaced as the co-host -- with Howard Cosell, no less -- of the New York Mets' pregame radio show. Branca here proved himself an adept commentator who could have a more substantial career in broadcasting had he so chosen. In 1963, he briefly regained the national spotlight setting a record for consecutive games won on the NBC-TV game show "Concentration." He never returned to baseball as a coach, manager, or executive, but remained an avid fan.



The day after his infamous pitch in 1951, Branca married Ann Mulvey, daughter of one of the Dodgers' minority owners. They remained together until her passing earlier this year.

Lizzie: Thank you this post, it is fitting and lovely

 

[Frunobulax]

Baseball legend Ralph Branca has died at the age of 90, and as everybody knew would happen, the headline on his obituary remembers him for a single pitch he threw on an October afternoon sixty-five years ago. But he was far more than that single pitch -- he was also the last surviving member of the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, and the very first member of that famous team to befriend one Jack Roosevelt Robinson. He embraced the integration of the Dodgers from the moment of Robinson's arrival, and they remained close long after both had left baseball. Branca was one of the pallbearers at Robinson's funeral in 1972.

Branca broke in with the Dodgers in 1944, as a teenage rushed-to-the-big-leagues wartime prospect, but he made his mark in 1947, winning 21 games to lead the staff, and continued as one of the best pitchers in the National League thru that infamous 1951 season. The following spring training, he was injured in camp, and never ]

Thanks Liz. You learned me a couple of things with that post.



Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[MisterCairo]

Sad news, Florence Henderson of the Brady Bunch has died, aged 82:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/florence-henderson-actress-obit-1.3867171

 

[Frunobulax]

Sad news, Florence Henderson of the Brady Bunch has died, aged 82:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/florence-henderson-actress-obit-1.3867171

Didn't see that one coming.

 

[Worf]

Didn't see that one coming.

Been saying that a LOT this year... haven't we....

Worf

 

[MisterCairo]

Fidel Castro has died, aged 90:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/fidel-castro-obit-1.3869212

 

[Kirk H.]

Ron Glass, Emmy-Nominated Actor Known for ‘Barney Miller’ and ‘Firefly,’ Dies at 71

I was just watching a rerun of Barney Miller the other night.......RIP Detective Harris

 

[MisterCairo]

And I was just thinking about Firefly, and Ron Glass's character.

A truly class act.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/ron-glass-dead-barney-miller-firefly-1.3869745

 

[Stearmen]

 

[LizzieMaine]

And I was just thinking about Firefly, and Ron Glass's character.

A truly class act.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/ron-glass-dead-barney-miller-firefly-1.3869745

Detective Harris was one of the funniest TV characters of the Seventies -- and sort of epitomized that whole period for me: vain, self-absorbed, completely unaware of his own fatuousness. A lesser actor would have made that character extremely difficult to like, but Glass pulled it off beautifully. "Blood On The Badge!"

 

[Zombie_61]

Just because people usually seem to be curious about the cause when a celebrity passes, "Glass died Friday of respiratory failure, his agent, Jeffrey Leavett, told The Associated Press on Saturday."

After reviewing the list of his body of work on IMDb.com, I realized the only things I'd seen him in were Barney Miller and Firefly/Serenity. Even if those two sources alone are how most people know of him, I think that's a pretty good legacy.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I suddenly remembered one of my favorite of his long list of credits -- an "All In The Family" episode in which Archie and Mike remember a particular incident in two different ways, reflecting their own prejudices, involving "a black guy with a knife." In Archie's memory, the "black guy" is a fierce, menacing militant in a dashiki and a giant Afro, brandishing a huge switchblade. In Mike's version, the "black guy" is a shuffle-footed "yassuh boss" character with a tiny penknife. Glass plays both versions of the character, and how he didn't break up laughing at his own performances is quite a marvel to me.

 

[Fading Fast]

I suddenly remembered one of my favorite of his long list of credits -- an "All In The Family" episode in which Archie and Mike remember a particular incident in two different ways, reflecting their own prejudices, involving "a black guy with a knife." In Archie's memory, the "black guy" is a fierce, menacing militant in a dashiki and a giant Afro, brandishing a huge switchblade. In Mike's version, the "black guy" is a shuffle-footed "yassuh boss" character with a tiny penknife. Glass plays both versions of the character, and how he didn't break up laughing at his own performances is quite a marvel to me.

I vaguely remember that episode (it's got to be 40 or so years since I saw it) and liked that it showed both Archie and Mike as having prejudices that impacted their perceptions of what really happened.

 

[MisterCairo]

It is of course inevitable, but this this heartbreaking none the less.

Andrew Sachs, who fled Germany with his family to England just before the war, and later became known as the beloved Manuel in Fawlty Towers, has died, aged 86:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/andrew-sachs-fawlty-towers-obit-1.3877962

I had the pleasure and honour to meet him when he played the character Manuel in a Christmas pantomime in Hamilton Place, Hamilton, Ontario, in I recall 1984. My father managed to get us a meeting post show in his dressing room. He autographed the cover of the record album I'd bought my father for Christmas of two episodes of the show, along with the programme from the show.

 

[MisterCairo]

 

[LizzieMaine]

"He's from Barcelona." RIP to a great character comedian.

 

[ChiTownScion]

"He's from Barcelona." RIP to a great character comedian.

"I speak Eeenglish well. I learn from a book..."

 

[Zombie_61]

Character actor Don Calfa, arguably best known for the role of mortician Ernie Kaltenbrunner in The Return of the Living Dead, has died at the age of 76. I met him at the 2010 Monsterpalooza convention, and he was just a down-to-earth guy who happened to be an actor for a living. When I asked him if it bothered him that he was cast mostly to play "oddball" characters, he joked, "Look at me. What else am I gonna' play?" Then he added, "I'm the luckiest son-of-a-***** working today. I get to have fun acting like an idiot, and they pay me for it. I think the joke's on them, 'cause I'd almost do it for free."