DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

[Fading Fast]

Somehow, being an American might not have excluded him from the role, after all Robert Vaughn became so Anglicised that he too could made a good job of Bond. As for turning the role down, that's exactly what George Lazenby did, and he, like West, was at an all time low.
And don't forget, Lazenby is an Aussie, not a Brit.

There must be something different about being an actor out of work. I've been out of work and struggling to find a new job/direction a few times in my somewhat turbulent career. At those low points, had someone offered me the equivalent job to playing James Bond in my field, little quibbles about this or that wouldn't have mattered at all - I'd have taken the job.

Food, clothing and shelter seem so much more important than the nuances of an American playing a British actor or further typecasting. But again, something about being an actor must change that equation as I don't know about Lazenby, but I believe I've read that West struggled financially for some time after Batman.

I wonder what thoughts went through West's mind as he was standing at the bus stop waiting to head home to his shabby apartment that he might not make rent on after he turned down one of the most coveted roles in history that always comes with a big payday?

 

[Worf]

There must be something different about being an actor out of work. I've been out of work and struggling to find a new job/direction a few times in my somewhat turbulent career. At those low points, had someone offered me the equivalent job to playing James Bond in my field, little quibbles about this or that wouldn't have mattered at all - I'd have taken the job.

Food, clothing and shelter seem so much more important than the nuances of an American playing a British actor or further typecasting. But again, something about being an actor must change that equation as I don't know about Lazenby, but I believe I've read that West struggled financially for some time after Batman.

I wonder what thoughts went through West's mind as he was standing at the bus stop waiting to head home to his shabby apartment that he might not make rent on after he turned down one of the most coveted roles in history that always comes with a big payday?

I know about being broke and looking for work BUT acting was not just his job, it was his career.... What would it have looked like if he'd taken the role of Bond only to be laughed off the planed? I play bass and sing lead in a band, I'd rather languish in obscurity than be known as the guy who took over the duties in an iconic band and stunk. Anonymity before ignominy...

Worf

 

[kaiser]

Helmut Kohl, ex German Chancelor, and a very integral part of the fall of the iron curtain and the reunification of Germany.

R.I.P. Hemut

 

[Fading Fast]

Helmut Kohl, ex German Chancelor, and a very integral part of the fall of the iron curtain and the reunification of Germany.

R.I.P. Hemut

I believe he was the one who decided or "okayed" the exchange of the all-but worthless East German Mark (another example of how Karl Marx's economic ideas work in the real world versus just sounding good in a book) at the crazy generous rate of one-to-one for the very successful (capitalist) West German Mark to "smooth" the reunification process.

While it was a complete economic give-away to those holding East German Marks (there were some steps taken to not let speculators benefit as much), Kohl saw the bigger picture / value of reunification and pushed it all forward.

After something works, it all looks easy. But he made some hard decisions to pull that reunification off.

 

[vitanola]

I believe he was the one who decided or "okayed" the exchange of the all-but worthless East German Mark (another example of how Karl Marx's economic ideas work in the real world versus just sounding good in a book) at the crazy generous rate of one-to-one for the very successful (capitalist) West German Mark to "smooth" the reunification process.

While it was a complete economic give-away to those holding East German Marks (there were some steps taken to not let speculators benefit as much), Kohl saw the bigger picture / value of reunification and pushed it all forward.

After something works, it all looks easy. But he made some hard decisions to pull that reunification off.

Marx and Engles were brilliant in their analysis of Capitalism as a system. Unfortunately their prescriptions for it's perceived ills were not quite as prescient.

 

[Zombie_61]

Stephen Furst, arguably best known for playing Flounder in the 1978 movie Animal House, has died of complications from diabetes according to his son Nathan. He was 63 years old.

 

[Frunobulax]

Bill Dana, comedian, writer and member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame, has passed at 92.



Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[MisterCairo]

Michael Bond, the creator of Paddington Bear, has died, aged 91:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/paddington-bear-michael-bond-1.4181236

 

[MisterCairo]

Also just learned that actor Michael Nyqvist (Swedish original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol) has died from lung cancer, aged only 56:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/actor-michael-nyqvist-dies-1.4180773

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Pierre Henry, composer & musician, said to be one of the fathers of electro music, died yesterday (5th) aged 89.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Bill Dana, comedian, writer and member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame, has passed at 92.

Sent directly from my mind to yours.

"Bronco Brucie" (from records), Jose Jimenez, and other characters. I found out recently that his real last name was Szathmary, and that his brother Irving (which phrase sounds like the setup to a joke: "Take my brother Irving . . .") wrote the theme to Get Smart!

 

[Frunobulax]

"Bronco Brucie" (from records), Jose Jimenez, and other characters. I found out recently that his real last name was Szathmary, and that his brother Irving (which phrase sounds like the setup to a joke: "Take my brother Irving . . .") wrote the theme to Get Smart!

Yeah, I didn't know the Get Smart thing until I read his obit.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The only man ever to play in both the World Series and the NBA Championship Series has died at the age of 86. 6-foot-7 Gene Conley broke into baseball as an intimidating young pitcher with the Boston Braves in 1952, and after the club moved to Milwaukee he was a key member of the pitching staff for the Brave squad that beat the Yankees in the 1957 World Series. The same year he came up to the Braves, he joined the Boston Celtics as a forward, and except for a hiatus in the middle fifties when he focused entirely on baseball, he continued to split time between the two sports thru the 1963 season.

Conley's most famous exploit happened as a member of the Boston Red Sox. During a stifling hot afternoon in New York in 1962, Conley and teammate Pumpsie Green got off a traffic-jammed team bus in search of a restroom -- and ended up in a bar, where, over an undetermined number of beers they hatched a plan to go to Israel and start a baseball academy on a kibbutz. Green, considering his options, decided to head to Washington instead, where the Sox were scheduled to play next, but Conley, with a malty desire to bring the ways of the diamond to the Holy Land, made his way to a travel agency and bought a plane ticket for Jerusalem -- only to finally be stopped at the airport due to his lack of a passport. Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, a man not without a sense of humor, fined Conley $1500, but promised to give it back at the end of the season if the would-be baseball missionary kept his nose clean for the rest of the year.

He had a long career in the paper industry after retiring from sports, and he never did make it to Israel.

 

[MisterCairo]

Joan Lee, wife of Stan Lee, has died, aged 93:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/obit-joan-lee-stan-lee-1.4194313

 

[MisterCairo]

Nelson Ellis, from shows such as True Blood and movies such as The Help, has died from heart related issues at age 39:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/nelsan-ellis-dead-1.4196527

 

[Bushman]

George Romero, the man who invented the modern zombie, is dead at 77

I never particularly cared for zombie movies, but as a huge horror fan, that's a deep hit. RIP

 

[MisterCairo]

This is sad, 77 is too soon these days. I am a zombie fan so this hits close to home.

Maybe he will rise again... one never knows....

 

[2jakes]

Martin Landau, Oscar Winner for 'Ed Wood,' Dies at 89
His résumé includes 'Mission: Impossible,' 'Tucker: The Man and His Dream' and 'North by Northwest.' It does not, however, include 'Star Trek.’

Martin Landau, the all-purpose actor who showcased his versatility as a master of disguise on the Mission: Impossible TV series and as a broken-down Bela Lugosi in his Oscar-winning performance in Ed Wood, has died. He was 89.

 

[MisterCairo]

He will always be Commander John Koenig in Space: 1999. One of my favourites from childhood.

God speed...

 

[Benzadmiral]

When I saw Landau in the first episodes of Mission: Impossible, he looked familiar, though I couldn't place him right away. Now, seeing a lot of 1950s and 1960s TV Westerns and cop dramas on MeTV and Heroes & Icons, I realize that I'd seen him on The Rifleman, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, and as a Dracula-like character on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. He said after his M: I days that the role of Rollin Hand "almost ruined" him as an actor. But I think without that clout and exposure, he'd have been stuck playing villains and henchmen for a very long time.

His IMDb bio mentions that he and Barbara Bain divorced after 26 years of marriage in 1993. Their daughter, Juliet Landau, had a memorable turn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as recurring, and loony, vampire character Drusilla.