DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

[Bushman]

Debbie Reynolds, like her daughter Carrie Fisher, was a cultural icon, and a wonderful person. She sang my favorite song in "Singin' in the Rain", and like her daughter, her talent went far beyond the silver screen. A talented singer, voice actress, theater performer and avid film lover, Debbie, like Carrie, was a person who was larger than life, who reached for the stars, and took life with a smile. Their passings are unbelievably heartbreaking. Two cultural icons in two days, and mother and daughter no less. I can't imagine how the family must be feeling right now.

May they rest in peace, both of them.

 

[AmateisGal]

Debbie Reynolds, like her daughter Carrie Fisher, was a cultural icon, and a wonderful person. She sang my favorite song in "Singin' in the Rain", and like her daughter, her talent went far beyond the silver screen. A talented singer, voice actress, theater performer and avid film lover, Debbie, like Carrie, was a person who was larger than life, who reached for the stars, and took life with a smile. Their passings are unbelievably heartbreaking. Two cultural icons in two days, and mother and daughter no less. I can't imagine how the family must be feeling right now.

May they rest in peace, both of them.

I loved her in The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Singin in the Rain. Such a terrible loss to lose mother and daughter like that. I pray for their family.

 

[sheeplady]

This may seem trite, but how sad for Debbie Reynolds (as a mother) to outlive her daughter, Carrie Fisher, even if only for a day... undoubtedly one of the saddest days of her life.

 

[MisterCairo]

Richard Adams, author of Watership Down - 95

It's been such a whirlwind over Carrie Fisher and now her mum (we were just saying yesterday how terrible to outlive a child), I'd not noticed this. Adams seemed to have had a great innings.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/richard-adams-watership-down-author-dies-1.3913323

 

[GHT]

This may seem trite, but how sad for Debbie Reynolds (as a mother) to outlive her daughter, Carrie Fisher, even if only for a day... undoubtedly one of the saddest days of her life.

It's not trite at all, outliving your child is an extremely painful experience, the fact that Miss Reynolds only lived a day longer could be because her grief accelerated her demise. Some people, having social media as a platform, an anonymous platform at that, seem to elevate celebrity status to that of sainthood. One lady here in the UK wrote to a daily newspaper agony aunt, admitting that she found it difficult to come to terms with the death of Princess Diana, this was six months after the event. When I read it, I thought: "Get real." Not that I would say such a thing, or even post it as a comment on the paper's website, and I've only used it now as an example of how revered celebrity status has become.
There's another unsaid taboo about celebrity deaths, premature deaths that is. They can consume drugs and alcohol on an industrial scale, then add the documented dangers of tobacco and you have an agenda for an early appointment with the grim reaper. Not that we, mere mortals, should ever suggest that celebrities are not only mortal, but irresponsible too.
The cult of this celebrity worship is so often whipped up by the media. There are those who are genuinely saddened by the passing of someone they have been a fan of for most of their life, and that's a good thing too, but these days there seems far too many people like the example of the lady still coming to terms with Princess Diana's death.
Perhaps it's me seeing too much into it, but I do remember that the death of Buddy Holly and the rest of those in that plane, didn't get elevated to sainthood. In fact, Bobby Vee was brought in to replace Buddy Holly and the tour went on.

 

[Zombie_61]

...the fact that Miss Reynolds only lived a day longer could be because her grief accelerated her demise...

I have no doubt. Stress can have any number of effects on the human body, and losing a loved one is surely one of the more stressful times someone can experience during their life.

Also, although Ms. Fisher had recently made some vague comments about her mother's health issues, the family has now disclosed Miss Reynolds had a series of small strokes in recent years that, although not devastating, did have an impact on her overall health.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A few years back, Debbie Reynolds was supposed to be deeply involved in a project to bring back the lamented PBS '30s-movie TV series "Matinee At The Bijou," to the point of distributing a promotional trailer for it, and suddenly that all disappeared. I assumed her health had taken a turn, as it often will at that age.

As far as the cult of celebrity goes, I think what's especially noticeable this year is that most of the celebrities who've died have been iconic figures in the lives of people in their forties -- which just happens to be the age group where you'll find many influential people in the media. So that's who they write about. People my brother's age, who were grade-school kids when the Star Wars craze hit in the late seventies, have just seen a major piece of their childhood pass -- it's really not Carrie Fisher the actual woman they're grieving, it's what she symbolized to them. And people of any generation will do that.

 

[MisterCairo]

Another member of the Beatles' history has died. Allan Williams, one of their first promoters who took them to Germany and was oft called their first manager, has died aged 86:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/allan-williams-beatles-1.3917570

Williams, far left -

 

[LizzieMaine]

One of the great advocates for the music and popular culture of the 1930s died yesterday at the too-young age of 62. Rich Conaty began "The Big Broadcast" on Fordham University radio station WFUV-FM in 1973, just as the 1930s nostalgia craze was being rudely shoved aside by The Cult of The Fifties, and he kept at it, broadcasting four hours every Sunday night right up thru this year until what turned out to be his final broadcast on November 7th.

His program was legendary among '30s enthusiasts on the East Coast, and was widely swapped on cassettes until the Internet extended his reach worldwide. Rich had one of the world's leading collections of original 78rpm records from the 1920s and 1930s, and ranked as one of the most knowledgeable people around in a field where knowledge is dying off faster that it's being replaced. He will be very, very, very missed.

 

[Stearmen]

William Christoper. Best known for his caricature Father Mulcahy on MASH.

 

[Kirk H.]

William Christoper. Best known for his caricature Father Mulcahy on MASH.

I remember watching an interview with him. He told a story about the time that the cast was in a parade. They all had been drinking and he said that he was three sheets to the wind and he heard parade goers commenting " Oh the shame of those actors, getting that nice priest drunk like that"
MASH was a classic.

 

[Doctor Strange]

One of the great advocates for the music and popular culture of the 1930s died yesterday at the too-young age of 62. Rich Conaty began "The Big Broadcast" on Fordham University radio station WFUV-FM in 1973, just as the 1930s nostalgia craze was being rudely shoved aside by The Cult of The Fifties, and he kept at it, broadcasting four hours every Sunday night right up thru this year until what turned out to be his final broadcast on November 7th.

His program was legendary among '30s enthusiasts on the East Coast, and was widely swapped on cassettes until the Internet extended his reach worldwide. Rich had one of the world's leading collections of original 78rpm records from the 1920s and 1930s, and ranked as one of the most knowledgeable people around in a field where knowledge is dying off faster that it's being replaced. He will be very, very, very missed.

Just saw this, what an awful way to start the year. Rich Conaty was a tremendous resource, and The Big Broadcast a national treasure. Oy.

 

[Trenchfriend]

William Christopher, M*A*S*H's "Father Mulcahy".

 

[Giftmacher]

That's sad, so many has passed already

 

[AmateisGal]

William Christoper. Best known for his caricature Father Mulcahy on MASH.

He was also in a few episodes of Hogan's Heroes. Always enjoyed his performance.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

He was also in a few episodes of Hogan's Heroes. Always enjoyed his performance.

He was also Lester from Gomer Pyle

 

[Zombie_61]

Another notch in 2016's belt. Jeffrey Hayden, veteran director, producer, and writer for theater, film, and television, and husband of actress Eva Marie Saint for 65 years, died on December 24th at the age of 90 after a year of cancer treatment.

Edit: Make that two more notches. Perhaps only notable in certain circles, but George Kosana, best known as Sheriff McClelland in Night of the Living Dead (1968), was found dead in his home on Friday; he was 81 years old.

 

[MisterCairo]

Indian actor Om Puri has died, aged 66. I saw him most recently in the Hundred Foot Journey with Helen Mirren. He appeared in several European and American films, alongside a great body of work in "Bollywood".

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/actor-om-puri-obituary-1.3923822

 

[Denton]

John Berger, a great writer and a committed thinker. His work for television, including the series Ways of Seeing, is wonderful too.

Good obituary here:

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/postscript-john-berger-1926-2017

 

[GHT]

Peter Eardley Sarstedt: 10 December 1941 – 8 January 2017, an English singer-songwriter & instrumentalist. He recorded a number of successful albums and singles, beginning in the 1960s. He was best known for writing and performing the single "Where Do You Go To My Lovely?", which topped the UK Singles Chart in 1969 and won an Ivor Novello Award.