David Kelly: Irish Actor, Dead at 82...

David Kelly
(11 July 1929 – 12 February 2012)


David Kelly was an Irish stage and screen actor, who had regular roles in several film and television works from the 1950s onwards. Dublin-born Kelly also played feckless builder Mr O'Reilly in Fawlty Towers. He was well known to Irish audiences for his role as Rashers Tierney in Strumpet City. He was also known by worldwide audiences for his role as Grandpa Joe in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
But is perhaps best remembered for riding a motorbike naked in the comedy film Waking Ned.

He earned a Screen Actors' Guild nomination for the 1998 film.

Kelly was married to actor Laurie Morton and had two children.

In a 50-year career, Kelly's roles ranged from the dramatic to the comedic.

In his native Ireland, he is well known for the historical drama mini-series Strumpet City, which starred co-starred Peter O'Toole and Peter Ustinov.

In 2005, he received a life­time achieve­ment award at the Irish Film and Tele­vi­sion Awards. He also received a Helen Hayes award for A Moon for the Misbegotten.


Kelly's final film role was in the 2007 British fantasy film Stardust, as a deceptively nimble, high-kicking wall guard.

The actor died in hospital after a short illness. He is survived by his wife Laurie, his son David and daughter Miriam.

RIP

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Whitney Houston: American Singer, Dead at 48...

Whitney Elizabeth Houston
(August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012)




Whitney Houston was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all time. Her awards include two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards in her lifetime. Houston was also one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. Inspired by prominent soul singers in her family, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousin Dionne Warwick, and her godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing with her New Jersey church's junior gospel choir at age 11.

After she began performing alongside her mother in night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis.

Houston released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification.

Houston's first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992). The film's original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Its lead single "I Will Always Love You", became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996).

On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead in a suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in Beverly Hills, California, with her head submerged in the bathtub.

At the time of this posting, the cause of death was not immediately known.

RIP

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Angelo Dundee: American Boxing Trainer, Dead at 90...

Angelo Mirena
(August 30, 1921 – February 1, 2012)




Angelo Dundee was an American boxing trainer and cornerman. He never boxed himself, but became the most famous cornerman in the world as the trainer of Muhammad Ali.

Hired to train the then 18-year-old Cassius Clay soon after the young Kentuckian’s gold medal triumph at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Dundee remained continually at Ali’s side right up until his crushing, one-sided defeat by the rising Larry Holmes in October, 1980.

Dundee’s association with Ali tended to obscure the rest of what was a remarkable resume: he worked with 15 other world champions, among them Sugar Ray Leonard, José Napoles, George Foreman, Jimmy Ellis, Carmen Basilio and Luis Rodriguez.

Angelo Dundee was inducted into boxing’s International Hall of Fame in 1994.

With his wife, Helen, he had a son and a daughter.

Dundee died in Tampa, Florida, a month after attending Ali's 70th birthday party in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17, 2012.

RIP

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Gary Speed: Football Player, Dead at 42...

Gary Andrew Speed, MBE
(8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011)





Gary Speed was a Welsh football player and manager. He was captain of the Wales national football team until he retired from international football in 2004. He remains the most capped outfield player for Wales and the second overall, having appeared 85 times at senior level between 1990 and 2004, playing mainly as a left-side attacking midfielder. Speed was appointed manager of Sheffield United in 2010, but he left the club after a few months in December 2010 to manage the Wales national team.

Speed played professionally for Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United. Rarely troubled by injury or suspension, he held the record for the most appearances in the Premier League at 535, until it was surpassed by David James.

Including his appearances in The Football League and cup competitions, he made 840 domestic appearances, in addition to 85 full caps at international level. He played in the Leeds United team that won the Football League First Division championship in 1991–92, the year before the FA Premier League was formed. He also played in consecutive FA Cup finals for Newcastle United, losing to Arsenal in 1998 and to Manchester United in 1999.

Speed was found dead on the morning of 27 November 2011. His wife Louise found his body hanged in the garage of their home in the village of Huntington, Cheshire. The police announced that they were not treating his death as suspicious.

On January 30, 2012, a coroner ruled that there was not enough evidence to suggest that Gary Speed intended to take his own life.

RIP

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Harry Morgan: American Actor, Dead at 96...

Harry Bratsberg
(April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011)




Harry Morgan was an American actor. He was widely known for his roles as Pete Porter in both December Bride (1954–1959) and Pete and Gladys (1960–1962), Officer Bill Gannon on Dragnet (1967–1970), Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey (1972–1974).

He was best known for his long-running portrayal of Col. Potter on M*A*S*H (1975–1983) and AfterMASH (1983–1984). Additionally, Morgan appeared in more than 100 films.

Morgan was married twice — first to Eileen Detchon, from 1940 until her death in 1985. He had four sons with her: Christopher, Charles, Paul, and Daniel.

He then married Barbara Bushman Quine (granddaughter of silent film star Francis X. Bushman) in 1986; the marriage lasted until his death.

The actor died at his Los Angeles home in California, at the age of 96. According to his son Charles, he had been recently treated for pneumonia.

RIP

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Joe Frazier: American Boxer, Dead at 67...

Joseph William "Joe" Frazier
(January 12, 1944 – November 7, 2011)




Joe Frazier, also known as Smokin' Joe, was an American professional boxer and Olympic and Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a one-fight comeback in 1981.

Winner of 27 out of 32 fights, Frazier only lost 4 times in his career, twice to George Foreman and twice to Muhammad Ali.

Frazier was diagnosed with liver cancer in late September 2011. Within a few weeks, the cancer had metastasized. By November 2011, he was under hospice care. The former Heavyweight Champion, succumbed to liver cancer at the age of 67.

He was later buried at the Ivy Hill Cemetery, a short drive from the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia, USA.

RIP

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Andy Rooney: American Writer, Dead at 92...

Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney
(January 14, 1919 – November 4, 2011)




Andy Rooney was an American radio and television writer. He was most notable for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney," a part of the CBS News program 60 Minutes from 1978 to 2011. His final regular appearance on 60 Minutes aired October 2, 2011.

Rooney began his career in newspapers while in the Army when, in 1942, he began writing for Stars and Stripes in London during World War II.

In 1943, flying with the Eighth Air Force, he was one of six correspondents who flew on the second American bombing raid over Germany. Later, he was one of the first American journalists to visit the Nazi concentration camps near the end of World War II, and one of the first to write about them.

For his service as a war correspondent in combat zones during the war Rooney was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal and Air Medal.

Rooney's 1995 memoir, My War, chronicles his war reporting. In addition to recounting firsthand several notable historical events and people, Rooney describes how it shaped his experience both as a writer and reporter.

Rooney joined CBS in 1949, as a writer for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.

Though Rooney has been called Irish-American, he once said "I'm proud of my Irish heritage, but I'm not Irish. I'm not even Irish-American. I am American, period."

Rooney was married to Marguerite "Margie" Howard for 62 years, until she died of heart failure in 2004.

Rooney was hospitalized on October 25, 2011, after developing postoperative complications from an undisclosed surgery, and died less than five weeks after his last appearance on 60 Minutes.

RIP

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