Archive for the ‘Obits’ Category

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Obit watch: February 14, 2019.

Thursday, February 14th, 2019

Lyndon LaRouche, one of the 20th Century’s greatest cranks. LaRouche PAC.

Defining what Mr. LaRouche stood for was no easy task. He began his political career on the far left and ended it on the far right. He said he admired Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan and loathed Hitler, the composer Richard Wagner and other anti-Semites, though he himself made anti-Semitic statements.

…

He condemned modern music as a tool of invidious conspiracies — he saw rock as a particularly British one — and found universal organizing principles in the music of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.

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In Mr. LaRouche’s view, Mr. Johnson continued, “true Platonists believe that industrialization, technology and classical music should be used to bring wealth and enlightenment to the citizens of the world.”
He added: “The Aristotelians are trying to stop them by using not only sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll but also environmentalism and quantum theory. With their bag of brainwashing techniques, they hope to trick civilization into destroying itself, bringing on a new dark ages in which the world’s riches will be firmly in the hands of the oligarchs.”

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After Barack Obama was elected in 2008, Mr. LaRouche warned that the new president was in “grave and imminent danger” of being assassinated by the “British Empire,” a familiar target of Mr. LaRouche’s.

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But Mr. LaRouche was heartened by the election of President Trump, though he perceived a British conspiratorial hand reaching into the United States to foment efforts to “politically paralyze” the president and bring about his impeachment.

He was rather oddly obsessed with the British royal family. From a recent editorial on the LaRouche PAC web site calling for his exoneration:

The frame-up and jailing of LaRouche, facilitated by years of lying media vilification of LaRouche and his movement, which continues to this day, was carried out by the same British-run political apparatus—in many cases, by the same individual hit-men, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller—that today is out to topple the President of the United States.

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Because LaRouche’s proposed war on drugs against London’s Dope, Inc. banking apparatus was never implemented, a drug epidemic today is poisoning our nation and the world.

They don’t make them like that any more.

Posted in Law, Obits, Politics | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 13, 2019.

Wednesday, February 13th, 2019

Rick Schmidt, former owner of Kruez Market in Lockhart.

Kreuz Market first opened in 1900. Rick’s father, Edgar “Smitty” Schmidt, purchased it in 1948, and Rick and his brother Don Schmidt bought the legendary Lockhart barbecue restaurant from their father in 1984. Don retired from the family business in 1997, and in 1999, Austin-native Rick relocated Kreuz Market from its previous location on Main Street to Colorado Street, near Town Branch creek, following a public dispute with his sister, Nina Sells, who inherited the old brick building on Main Street.
Sells converted the original Kreuz Market location into Smitty’s Market, while Schmidt opened his massive, red-brick building about a mile up the road. The family feud made headlines in Austin and landed the family on an episode of the CBS newsmagazine “48 Hours.″

Posted in Beef, Food, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 11, 2019.

Monday, February 11th, 2019

Great and good friend of the blog Borepatch, who has probably forgotten more about popular music than I know, sent over a couple of obits that I missed.

Bonnie Guitar passed away in January at the age of 95.

Ms. Guitar was best known for her recording of “Dark Moon,” a Top 20 country single on the Dot label that crossed over to the pop Top 10 in 1957. The record, a haunting nocturne sung in a clear-toned alto, was, along with Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight” — which reached the pop Top 40 the same year — one of the earliest records by a female country singer to cross over to the pop chart.

…

But the achievement for which Ms. Guitar never really received her due, perhaps because she decided to remain in her native Washington instead of resettling in a major recording center like Los Angeles or Nashville, was her trailblazing work as a studio maven and entrepreneur. Over seven decades she did everything from engineer recordings to scout talent and run a record label.

And Sanger D. “Whitey” Shafer also died in January. He was perhaps most famous for writing “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” and “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind”.

In 2004, Shafer earned a different kind of hit, as his own recording of “All My Ex’s” appeared on the soundtrack of the hit video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Few country songwriters of his generation can claim that, and it’s one of many reasons we’ll not see his like again.

Tribute from “Austin City Limits”. Obit from Saving Country Music. Obit from WFAA.

Posted in Music, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 8, 2019.

Friday, February 8th, 2019

Albert Finney.

Mr. Finney was nominated five times for an Oscar, four for best actor: as the title character in “Tom Jones,” Tony Richardson’s 1963 adaptation of the Henry Fielding novel; as Poirot in “Murder on the Orient Express”; as an aging, embittered actor in Peter Yates’s 1983 version of “The Dresser”; and as an alcoholic British consul in a small town in Mexico in John Huston’s “Under the Volcano,” based on the Malcolm Lowry novel. His performance in “Erin Brockovich” earned him a supporting actor nomination.

Frank Robinson, who became the first black manager in MLB when he took over the Cleveland Indians:

Robinson made his debut as the majors’ first black manager with the Cleveland Indians on April 8, 1975, 28 years after Jackie Robinson (no relation) first took the field with the Dodgers. Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson’s widow, threw out the ceremonial first ball.
Frank Robinson, who was still an active player, punctuated the historic occasion by hitting a home run in his first at-bat, as the designated hitter, leading the Indians to a 5-3 victory over the Yankees.

Posted in Movies, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 5, 2019.

Tuesday, February 5th, 2019

This one goes out to Borepatch and Weer’d Beard: Jacqueline Steiner, who co-wrote “M.T.A.”. That song (also known as “Charlie on the M.T.A.”) later became a huge hit for the Kingston Trio:

The song remains embedded in Boston’s collective unconscious and is something of an unofficial city anthem.

Thing I did not know: it was originally written for a guy running for mayor in 1949. He only got one percent of the vote, and was later blacklisted as a Communist.

Also among the dead: Albert J. “Chainsaw Al” Dunlap, notorious corporate raider.

Posted in Music, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 4, 2019.

Monday, February 4th, 2019

By way of Lawrence, THR obit for Julie Adams.

Edited to add: NYT obit.

She was most famous for “Creature from the Black Lagoon” (which I still haven’t seen). But her list of credits is extensive, including “McQ” and “The Last Movie”.

And she did a whole bunch of TV work: Jimmy Stewart’s wife on “The Jimmy Stewart Show”, guest shots on “Perry Mason”, “Ironside”, “The Bold Ones: The New Doctors”…

…and “Mannix”. (“Then the Drink Takes the Man”, “Little Girl Lost”). And she was the drunken wife of the dead scientist in the “Mr. R.I.N.G” episode of “Kolchak: The Night Stalker“.

(Oddly enough, she came up in passing Saturday night. The main topic of discussion was the annoying (to me, anyway) tendency of “Kolchak”‘s writers to kill off the more attractive women. The hot girl in the bathing suit in “Firefall”, the lab worker in “The Energy Eater”, the Air Force captain in “Legacy of Terror”, etc.)

As an administrative side note: I’ve been thinking about posting this for a while, but finally decided to make it explicit. If your IMDB credits include an entry for “Mannix”, you will automatically get an obit watch entry here. Please feel free to contact me with any omissions.

Posted in 1970s, Admin, Mannix, Movies, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 2, 2019.

Saturday, February 2nd, 2019

NYT obit for Dick Miller.

This one goes out to Mike the Musicologist: Sanford Sylvan, noted baritone. He did a lot of work with John Adams: among other roles, he was the first Chou En-lai in “Nixon in China” and Leon Klinghoffer in “The Death of Klinghoffer”.

His recordings, many with Mr. Breitman, include programs of Schubert, Fauré, Jorge Martin and Virgil Thomson, as well as a luminous, delicate 1991 release, “Beloved That Pilgrimage,” which includes Theodore Chanler’s “Eight Epitaphs,” Barber’s “Hermit Songs” and Copland’s “Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson.” Mr. Sylvan took part in the New York premiere of Mr. Adams’s opera “A Flowering Tree” in 2009, and also performed contemporary works by composers like Peter Maxwell Davies, Philip Glass, John Harbison and Charles Fussell.

Finally, Captain Rosemary Mariner, United States Navy (ret.). She was one of the first six women to go through naval flight training, the first to fly an attack jet, and the first woman to command a naval aviation squadron. She also had a leading role in removing the restrictions on women flying combat missions.

When she retired from the Navy in 1997, Captain Mariner “had become one of the nation’s leading advocates for equal opportunity in the military,” Deborah G. Douglas wrote in “American Women and Flight since 1940” (2005).
Captain Mariner logged 17 landings on aircraft carriers and more than 3,500 flight hours in 15 different aircraft.

Posted in 1970s, History, Mannix, Movies, Music, Obits, Planes, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 31, 2019.

Thursday, January 31st, 2019

Lawrence sent me the “Variety” obit for character actor Dick Miller.

He was hella prolific. Among his credits: the pawn shop guy in “The Terminator”, the sleezy land developer in the original “Piranha”, “Gremlins”, “Chopping Mall”, “Twilight Zone: The Movie”…

…and a lot of TV guest shots, including “Police Squad!” (“In Color!”), “Dragnet 1967”, and, yes, “Mannix” (“Falling Star”, “The Cost of a Vacation”).

He also appeared in “W*A*L*T*E*R”, which is one of those curious side notes in television history.

Speaking of curious side notes, Meshulam Riklis passed away a few days ago at the age of 95. He was a prominent financier, but became somewhat famous in the 1980s for what happened after he married his second wife…

…Pia Zadora.

His devotion to Ms. Zadora included inviting Golden Globe Awards voters to private screenings of “Butterfly” (1982), a film he produced for her, and promoted her candidacy in a media campaign — all for someone considered a lightweight competing with the likes of Kathleen Turner, Howard E. Rollins Jr. and Elizabeth McGovern for best new star of the year in a motion picture.
When Ms. Zadora won the award — a shock in Hollywood and beyond — it was assumed that Mr. Riklis had somehow engineered her victory, although he and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which runs the Golden Globes, denied the accusation.

Posted in 1970s, Mannix, Movies, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 24, 2019.

Thursday, January 24th, 2019

Mary Boyd Higgins, trustee of the Wilhelm Reich estate and legacy.

When she was appointed trustee, in March 1959, Ms. Higgins had her work cut out for her.
She quickly discovered that most of Dr. Reich’s personal papers, which he had wanted sealed for 50 years before anyone could see them, had been stolen; she had to start litigation to retrieve them. He wanted his Maine property turned into a museum; she would need to become an expert in museum design. She also studied copyright law in seeking to have his books republished.

I wasn’t originally going to post this, but then it occurred to me that this obit gives me a flimsy excuse to embed this video:

Posted in Law, Music, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 22, 2019.

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019

Tony Mendez, legendary CIA officer.

A technical operations officer, he specialized in creating counterfeit documents as well as counterfeit people, perfecting tricks used by Hollywood, con men and magicians. He was an expert in “exfiltration,” the art of spiriting people out of hostile situations. (The last C.I.A. cable he received before the rescue mission said, “See you later, exfiltrator.”) And he was a master of disguises.

He was most famous for his role in smuggling six US diplomats out of Iran during the hostage crisis.

Before their rescue, the six had managed to escape from a building near the American Embassy. They were sheltered and protected for two months by Canadian diplomats, including the country’s ambassador to Iran, Kenneth D. Taylor, who helped engineer their rescue.
Canadian and American officials were trying to figure out how to get them out when Mr. Mendez devised the elaborate plan that would carry the day. He had them pose as a Canadian film crew scouting for a place in Tehran to shoot a movie. He supplied them with fake Canadian identities and instructed them in the proper mind-set to pass through armed Iranian security; and he led the way, pretending to be the crew’s production manager.

As I’m sure everyone knows, this became the basis for the movie “Argo“. He also wrote several books (the only one I’ve read is “Argo”) and has another one forthcoming.

Some of the six State Department employees whom Mr. Mendez had escorted to safety, euphemistically called “houseguests,” said in emails to his wife that he was the bravest man they had ever known.
“Not a surprise that Tony slipped away quietly,” two of them, Mark Lijek and Cora Amburn-Lijek, wrote. “What else would you expect from the master of disguise?”

Posted in Heroism, History, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 16, 2019.

Wednesday, January 16th, 2019

I wanted to give the Carol Channing obit a chance to shake out before posting it. I’m kind of glad I did: now they’re leading off the obit with the Hirschfeld drawing, which fills me with delight down to the bottom of my coal black heart.

By the time she returned to the role on Broadway in October 1995, Ms. Channing had played Dolly more than 4,500 times, missing only one performance — in June of that year, when she left the show for a day to fly to New York from San Diego to accept a Tony Award for lifetime achievement. She had appeared onstage in a cast, a neck brace and a wheelchair, and with viruses that would have felled anyone with lesser determination. (By her own count, she went on to surpass the 5,000 mark.)

…

Ms. Channing’s own motion picture career never really took off, although she received an Academy Award nomination and won a Golden Globe for her performance in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (1967). She did enjoy some success on television, and in her later years she did a lot of cartoon voice-over work. But the theater was her natural home.

As Lawrence pointed out to me yesterday, she was also in “Skidoo“. (Honest to Ghu, I thought that had been released on Criterion, but apparently not.)

This one goes out to my friend Todd: Alan R. Pearlman, synthesizer pioneer and founder of ARP Instruments.

ARP’s analog synthesizers — particularly the compact, portable ARP Odyssey, introduced in 1972 — grew ubiquitous in pop and electronic music. By the mid-1970s, ARP was the leading synthesizer manufacturer, commanding 40 percent of the market and outselling its predecessors and competitors, Moog and Buchla.
ARP sounds were central to numerous songs, including Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein,” Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon,” Kraftwerk’s “The Robots,” Underworld’s “Rez,” Nine Inch Nails’ “The Hand That Feeds” and the early-1980s version of the theme to the television series “Doctor Who.”
The five-note signature motif of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was played on an ARP 2500 synthesizer, which is seen in the film. An ARP 2600, mixed with natural sounds, provided the voice of R2-D2 in the first “Star Wars” movie.

Posted in Geek, Movies, Music, Obits, Theatre | 1 Comment »

Obit watch: January 10, 2019.

Thursday, January 10th, 2019

Carlos Sánchez, best known as Juan Valdez in the commercials for Colombian coffee.

(Hattip on this to my beloved and indulgent sister-in-law.)

Posted in 1970s, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 8, 2019.

Tuesday, January 8th, 2019

Rosenda Monteros, prominent Mexican actress.

She was perhaps most famous in the US as Petra, Chico’s romantic interest in the 1960 version of “The Magnificent Seven”.

Interesting side note from the obit:

“The Magnificent Seven” was shot in Mexico, where a government censor kept a close eye on the production to make sure that Mexicans were depicted positively. Mr. Sturges told The New York Times in 1960 that the censor was “an autocrat” who operated “on the theory that anything debatable should be stricken out.”
Mr. Sturges took note of one major change to the script: Instead of setting out to hire American fighters from the start, the farmers at first tried to buy guns for themselves.

Posted in Guns, Movies, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 7, 2019.

Monday, January 7th, 2019

Brian Garfield, noted author.

He was probably best known for Death Wish and the movies based on it, but he was prolific in both the mystery/suspense and western genres. (He was also a past president of both the Western Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America.)

Mr. Garfield was rarely involved in the film adaptations of his books, deliberately extricating himself from a process he found distasteful even though it meant giving up control. (His 1975 novel “Hopscotch,” which won an Edgar Award, was an exception: He adapted it into a comedy starring Walter Matthau in 1980.)
“I’m not really patient enough to put up with that, and I learned that the credit ‘associate producer’ means you’re the only person who’s willing to associate with the producer,” he said in an interview with the website PopMatters in 2008.

I’ve heard that “Hopscotch” is a swell movie: I haven’t seen it yet, but it is on our list.

Posted in Books, Movies, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 5, 2019.

Saturday, January 5th, 2019

Ringo Lam, noted Hong Kong film director.

I need to rewatch “City on Fire” (and watch “School on Fire” and “Prison on Fire“). I saw it once, back when there was a theater on Riverside Drive that showed Hong Kong movies at midnight. But as I recall, when they showed “City on Fire” they somehow got the reels out of order…

Doug Johnson, longtime Houston weatherman for KPRC. Tribute from KPRC, which includes the chicken. When I was growing up in Houston, my family’s news and weather came from Ron Stone and Doug Johnson. I never met the man, but he sure seemed like (and was, by all accounts I’ve heard) a good guy.

Posted in 1970s, Movies, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

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