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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Steve Jobs: American Inventor/Entrepreneur, Dead at 56...

Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs
(February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011)





Steve Jobs was an American inventor and entrepreneur. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs was co-founder and previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney.

In the late 1970s, Jobs — along with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, engineered one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series.

In 2003, Jobs was diagnosed with a pancreas neuroendocrine tumor. Though it was initially treated, he reported a hormone imbalance, underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and appeared progressively thinner as his health declined. On medical leave for most of 2011, Jobs resigned as Apple CEO in August that year and was elected Chairman of the Board.

He died of respiratory arrest related to his metastatic tumor.

RIP

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Dolores Hope: American Singer/Philanthropist, Dead at 102...

Dolores Hope, DC*SG
(May 27, 1909 – September 19, 2011)




Dolores Hope was an American singer, philanthropist and wife of actor/comedian Bob Hope.

Dolores Hope received numerous honors during her lifetime, including the Dame of St. Gregory with Star (one of a very select few women named Dame of St. Gregory with Star).

Hope died of natural causes at her home in Toluca Lake, California. She was 102 years old.

RIP

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Cliff Robertson: American Actor, Dead at 88...

Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III
(September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011)




Cliff Robertson was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly. On television, he portrayed retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin in the 1976 Return to Earth, played a fictional character based on Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms in the 1977 adaptation of John Ehrlichman's Watergate novel The Company, and portrayed Henry Ford in the 1987 Ford: The Man and the Machine.

His last well-known film appearances were in 2002 through 2007 as Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man film trilogy.

Robertson died in Stony Brook, New York one day after his 88th birthday.

RIP

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Roberts Blossom: Actor, Dead at 87...

Roberts Scott Blossom
(March 25, 1924 – July 8, 2011)





Roberts Blossom was an American theater, film and television actor and poet. He is best known for his roles as Old Man Marley in Home Alone and as Ezra Cobb in the horror film Deranged. He is also remembered for his supporting roles in films such as Christine and Escape from Alcatraz.

Blossom died of natural causes. He resided in a nursing home in Santa Monica, California at the time of his death.

RIP

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Bubba Smith: Amer. Footballer/Actor, Dead at 66...

Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith
(February 28, 1945 – August 3, 2011)





Bubba Smith was an American professional football player who became an actor after his retirement from the sport. He first came into prominence at Michigan State University, where he twice earned All-American honors as a defensive end on the Spartans football team.

The imposing 6-foot-7 Smith retired from the NFL in 1976 after stints as a defensive lineman with the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers. He appeared twice in the Pro Bowl while playing for the Colts. After retiring from football, Smith turned to acting, most notably starring as Moses Hightower in all but one of the Police Academy films.

The 10-year NFL veteran and "Police Academy" franchise star Smith died in his Los Angeles home. Authorities believe that he died of natural causes though no official cause of death was announced.

RIP

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Amy Winehouse: Singer/Songwriter, Dead at 27...

Amy Jade Winehouse
(14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011)





Amy Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys.

Winehouse died at her home in Camden, London. on July 23, 2011. A coroner's inquest reached a verdict of misadventure. The report released on 26 October 2011 explained that Winehouse's blood alcohol content was more than five times the legal drink-drive limit.

RIP

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James Arness: American Actor, Dead at 88...

James King Arness
(May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011)





James Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years. Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in five separate decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987) and four more made-for-TV Gunsmoke movies in the 1990s. In Europe Arness reached cult status for his role as Zeb Macahan in the western series How the West Was Won. His younger brother was actor Peter Graves.

James Arness disdained publicity and banned reporters from the Gunsmoke set. He was said to be a shy and sensitive man who enjoyed poetry, sailboat racing, and surfing. TV Guide dubbed him "The Greta Garbo of Dodge City".

Arness was married twice, first to Virginia Chapman from 1948 until their divorce in 1960 and then wasmarried to Janet Surtees from 1978 until his death. He had two sons, Rolf and Craig and daughter Jenny Lee.

Arness died of natural causes at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles. He is interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

RIP

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Clarence Clemons: Musician, Dead at 69...

Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr.
(January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011)



Clarence Clemons was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a Friend of Mine", a duet with Jackson Browne. As a guest musician he also featured on Aretha Franklin's classic "Freeway of Love".

RIP

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Betty Ford: US First Lady, Dead at 93...

Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford
(April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011)




Betty Ford was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during the presidency of her husband Gerald Ford. As First Lady, she was active in social policy and created precedents as a politically active presidential wife. Throughout her husband's term in office, she maintained high approval ratings despite opposition from some conservative Republicans who objected to her more moderate and liberal positions on social issues.

Pro-choice on abortion and a leader in the Women's Movement, she gained fame as one of the most candid first ladies in history, commenting on every hot-button issue of the time, including feminism, drugs, abortion, and gun control. She also raised awareness of addiction when she announced her long-running battle with alcoholism in the 1970s.

Betty Ford died of natural causes at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, USA.

RIP

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Peter Falk: American Actor, Dead at 83...

Peter Michael Falk
(September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011)



Peter Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo. He appeared in numerous films such as The Princess Bride, The Great Race and Next, and television guest roles and was nominated for an Academy Award twice (for 1960's Murder, Inc. and 1961's Pocketful of Miracles), and won the Emmy Award on five occasions (four for Columbo) and the Golden Globe award once.

Falk died at his longtime Roxbury Drive Beverly Hills home. The cause of death was later revealed as cardiorespiratory arrest, with pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease as underlying causes. Falk was survived by his wife and two daughters.

Falk is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

RIP

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Dana Wynter: Actress, Dead at 79...

Dana Wynter
(8 June 1931 – 5 May 2011)




Dana Wynter was a German-born British actress, who was brought up in England and Southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than forty years beginning in the 1950s, most notably in the original version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

In 1956, Wynter married her only husband, celebrity attorney Greg Bautzer. In 1981 she divorced him. She and Bautzer had one child — Mark Ragan Bautzer.

For years, Wynter, divided her time between her homes in California and Glendalough, County Wicklow, Ireland.

She died of congestive heart failure at Ojai Valley Community Hospital's Continuing Care Center, California, USA.

RIP

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Jackie Cooper: Child Actor, Dead at 88...

Jackie Cooper
(September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011)





Jackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination. At age 9, he was also the youngest performer to have been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role—an honor that he received for the film Skippy.

A child star in "Our Gang" Cooper was more widely known as Perry White in the Superman films.

Cooper served in the United States Navy during World War II and remained active in the reserves for the next several decades, reaching the rank of Captain. He was married three times: first to June Horne (1944-1949), with whom he had one son, John "Jack" Cooper III. He was married to Hildy Parks from (1950-1951) and to Barbara Kraus from 1954 until her death in 2009. Cooper and Kraus had three children — Russell, Julie and Cristina.

He died in a Beverly Hills hospital after a short illness. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery in honor of his naval service.

RIP

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Jeff Conaway: American Actor, Dead at 60...

Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway
(October 5, 1950 - May 27, 2011)





Jeff Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5.

Conaway appeared in the original cast of the Broadway musical Grease, as an understudy to several roles including that of the lead male character, Danny Zuko. He and his friend John Travolta reunited in the 1978 motion picture musical Grease, in which Travolta played Zuko and Conaway his buddy Kenickie.

Conaway was married three times. His first short-lived marriage, at 21, to a dancer he had been seeing for two years, was annulled.[4] His second marriage, from 1980 until their divorce in 1985, was to Rona Newton-John, sister of his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John. His third marriage was to Keri Young from 1990 until their divorce.

On May 11, 2011, Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of substances believed to be pain medication. On May 26, 2011, Conaway's family took him off life support after doctors decided there was nothing they could do to revive him. Conaway died the following morning. An autopsy performed on Conaway revealed that he died of various causes, including pneumonia and encephalopathy attributable to drug overdoses.

RIP

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