DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

[V.C. Brunswick]

Comedian Joan Rivers died today at age 81

1933-2014
R.I.P.

 

[Feraud]

Sad news. I enjoyed her acerbic humor.

 

[LizzieMaine]

People who only know her as a camp figure have no idea how transgressive she was in the world of comedy in the 1960s. The idea still held then that only men could be successful stand-up comics -- but Rivers, along with Phyllis Diller, broke that rule and made sure it stayed broken. Every female comic working today owes her a moment of silence.

 

[Fading Fast]

People who only know her as a camp figure have no idea how transgressive she was in the world of comedy in the 1960s. The idea still held then that only men could be successful stand-up comics -- but Rivers, along with Phyllis Diller, broke that rule and made sure it stayed broken. Every female comic working today owes her a moment of silence.

Thank you for that. I had no idea of her past as my girlfriend and I were, truly, just saying, there most have been more to her than the kinda goofy (is the word we used, "camp" is better) character we came to know her as and, in truth, didn't really enjoy. But we knew there had to be more. No one survives that long in that industry without real skills.

 

[1mach1]

R. I. P.
I was not a fan, but my wife always liked her.

 

[HadleyH]

Anyone that says looks don't count is lying. Of course they do. Even babies go to the attractive face. It's the way humans work.
Joan Rivers

and

I hate housework! You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months later you have to start all over again.
Joan Rivers


Now she makes Angels laugh.....thank you and rest in Peace dear Joan.

 

[Old Rogue]

People who only know her as a camp figure have no idea how transgressive she was in the world of comedy in the 1960s. The idea still held then that only men could be successful stand-up comics -- but Rivers, along with Phyllis Diller, broke that rule and made sure it stayed broken. Every female comic working today owes her a moment of silence.

Well said, Lizzie.

RIP Joan, thanks for a lifetime of laughs.

 

[Kirk H.]

James Bond Villain Richard Kiel Dies at 74. Jaws. I just saw The spy Who Loved Me on TV the other day.

 

[Seth Duzan]

He was my favorite Bond villain, yes even in Moonraker...

 

[stevew443]

I don't know how this one was missed. She was one of my game show favorites while growing up and a fine actress too. Polly Bergen. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/actress-polly-bergen-dead-84-article-1.1946794

 

[Doctor Strange]

The multi-talented Geoffrey Holder:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/a...pher-and-man-of-flair-dies-at-84.html?src=twr

"These are cola nuts..."

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

He also did adverts for Marx toys in the early '70s.

 

[LizzieMaine]

He's one of those personalities I had completely forgotten had ever existed -- but at the mention of his name I can instantly remember every 7-Up ad he ever did.

 

[Matt Crunk]

He's one of those personalities I had completely forgotten had ever existed -- but at the mention of his name I can instantly remember every 7-Up ad he ever did.

I will always remember Geoffrey Holder best as VooDoo Priest Baron Samedi in the Bond film Live And Let Die.

 

[Matt Crunk]

This name probably won't mean a lot to those living outside of Northern Alabama and the Tennessee Valley, but legendary radio and TV personality Benny Carle passed away October 2nd at age 89. He's most famously known for his early 60's acting role as the telegraph operator, Amos, on TV's The Rifleman series starring Chuck Connors.

Carle's career spanned eight decades and was an on-air performer during television's "Golden Era." Starting in the late 40s, Carle began on radio, then moved to TV, hosting many shows including Western Theater, Circle Six Ranch, and The Benny Carle Show, which ran uninterrupted for 30 years. He hosted a live children's TV show each afternoon from 1948 -65 on Birmingham Channels 13 and 6 as a TV Cowboy and from 1965 -75 on Channels 23, 31 and 48 in Decatur and Huntsville as a Carnival Barker in his famous zebra-striped coat.

In the early days when TV was all live, Carle gained notoriety as the first to perform on live camera, and the first to entertain large groups of children each day as live guests on his shows. Benny's love for children won him the admiration and loyalty of thousands of Alabama families. As his popularity grew throughout the South his method and style were copied by TV stations all over America. A tireless fundraiser, he helped raise millions for Cerebral Palsy and other diseases by hosting live broadcast telethons annually.

In 1965 Benny became owner and manager of TV23 in Decatur, changed the Channel to 48 and moved the station to Huntsville. He sold that facility and moved to Florence in 1977 to begin WBCF-AM/FM/TV. The family-owned facilities are operated by his son, Benji Carle.

With Capt. Kangaroo.

I got to know Benny personally in later years, along with his son Benji, when I co-owned an ad agency and placed a lot of advertising with their Florence radio/TV station. They were very good people. Sad news indeed.

 

[dh66]

Sad to hear about Carle.

And Holder, he was the coolest Bond badguy, the only reason Roger Moore makes it onto my list of acceptable other-than-Connery 007s.

 

[stevew443]

The multi-talented Geoffrey Holder:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/a...pher-and-man-of-flair-dies-at-84.html?src=twr

"These are cola nuts..."

Many years ago when I lived in New Jersey and my wife worked for the local paper, Geoffrey gave a show at the local community college. My wife contacted his people to set up an interview, and he agreed. We had the interview over supper and he was a very warm and engaging gentleman who laughed easily. During the show he would wander in the audience and would frequently zero in on my wife and myself, and after the show he invited us to go out dancing with him. However he wanted to go dancing in New York City and my wife and I had to get up for work very early the following morning, so we declined.

 

[Feraud]

I was shocked to read actress Elizabeth Pena passed away at 55 after a brief illness.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/15/showbiz/elizabeth-pena-dies-modern-family/index.html
She was amazing in Lone Star with Chris Cooper.

 

[Doctor Strange]

She was a great actress with enormous presence, and she elevated everything she appeared in.

One show I especially remember her for that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere is the one-season-wonder TV series Shannon's Deal, a very smart lawyer show created by John Sayles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon's_Deal

 

[Bruce Wayne]

RIP Oscar Dela Renta.