Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Trumpty Dumpty
Apologies to Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

In Memoriam - 2016


My own list of notable people (and others) we lost in 2016 whose time on this planet left some impression, big or small, on me. Of course, like all the other lists, it doesn't include everybody, so feel free to remark on anyone you'll miss in the comments.
  
Vilmos Zsigmond
June 16, 1930 – January 1, 2016
Cinematographer
Close Encounters of the Third Kind; The Deer Hunter

Frank Armitage
September 5, 1924 – January 4, 2016
Animation artist
Sleeping Beauty (1959); The Jungle Book (1967)

Pat Harrington Jr.
August 13, 1929 – January 6, 2016
Actor
One Day at a Time

Richard Libertini
May 21, 1933 – January 7, 2016
Actor
The In-Laws (1979); All of Me

David Bowie, née David Robert Jones
January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016
Singer / Musician / Composer / Actor
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars;
Hunky Dory; Let’s Dance;
Labyrinth

David Marguiles
February 19, 1937 – January 11, 2016
Actor
Ghostbusters (1984); The Sopranos

Brian Bedford
February 16, 1935 – January 13, 2016
Actor
Robin Hood (1973); Nixon

Alan Rickman
February 21, 1946 – January 14, 2016
Actor
Die Hard; Dogma; the Harry Potter films; Love Actually

Dan Haggerty
November 19, 1942 – January 15, 2016
Actor
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams

Glenn Frey
November 6, 1948 – January 18, 2016
Musician / Singer / Composer
Founding member of The Eagles
“Take It Easy”; “Lyin’ Eyes”; “Smuggler’s Blues”; “The Heat Is On”


Abe Vigoda
February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2017
Actor
The Godfather; Barney Miller; Joe Versus the Volcano; Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Paul Kantner
March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016
Musician / Singer / Composer
Founding member of Jefferson Starship
Surrealistic Pillow

Bob Elliott
March 26, 1923 - February 2, 2016
Comedian

Joe Alaskey
April 17, 1952 - February 3, 2016
Actor / Voice-over artist / Comedian
Tiny Toon Adventures; Rugrats; Casper (1995); Duck Dodgers

Maurice White
December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016
Musician / Singer / Composer
Founder of Earth, Wind & Fire
“Shining Star”

Daniel Gerson
August 1, 1966 – February 6, 2016
Screenwriter / Voice-over artist
Monsters Inc.; Big Hero 6

Johnny Duncan
December 7, 1923 – February 8, 2016
Actor
Batman and Robin serial; Plan 9 From Outer Space; Spartacus

George Gaynes
May 3, 1917 – February 15, 2016
Actor
Tootsie; To Be or Not To Be (1983); Police Academy

Harper Lee
April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016
Author
To Kill a Mockingbird

Umberto Eco
January 5, 1932 – February 19, 2016
Author
The Name of the Rose

Douglas Slocombe
February 10, 1913 – February 22, 2016
Cinematographer
Raiders of the Lost Ark; The Lavender Hill Mob; The Lion in Winter

Tony Burton
March 23, 1937 – February 25, 2016
Actor
The Rocky films

George Kennedy
February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016
Actor
Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte; The Dirty Dozen; Death on the Nile

Tony Dyson
April 13, 1947 – March 4, 2016
Special effects designer
The Star Wars Saga; Altered States

Paul Ryan
September 23, 1949 – March 7, 2016
Comic artist
Batman; Superman; The Amazing Spider-Man; The Avengers

Michael White
January 16, 1936 – March 7 2016
Film producer
Monty Python and the Holy Grail; The Rocky Horror Picture Show

George Martin
January 3, 1926 – March 8, 2016
Music producer / Musician / Composer
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; Yellow Submarine; “Live and Let Die”; “Goldfinger”

Keith Emerson
November 2, 1944 – March 11, 2016
Musician / Composer
Founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
“Trilogy”

Sylvia Anderson, née Sylvia Thomas
March 27, 1927 – March 15, 2016
Film & television producer / Writer / Voice-over artist
Thunderbirds; Captain Scarlet and the Mysterions

Larry Drake
February 21, 1949 – March 17, 2017
Actor
L. A. Law; Darkman; Tales from the Crypt

Garry Shandling
November 29, 1949 – March 24, 2016
Comedian / Actor
It’s Garry Shandling’s Show; The Larry Sanders Show


James Noble
March 5, 1922 – March 28, 2016
Actor
Benson; Being There; Airplane II: The Sequel


Patty Duke
December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016
Actor
The Miracle Worker; It Takes Two; Hail to the Chief
 
Ronnie Corbett
December 4, 1930 – March 31, 2016
Actor / comedian
The Two Ronnies; Casino Royale (1967)

Bill Henderson
March 19, 1926 – April 3, 2016
Singer / actor
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension; Clue; City Slickers

Erik Bauersfeld
June 28, 1922 – April 3, 2016
Voice-over artist
Return of the Jedi

Doris Roberts
November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016
Actor
Alice; Soap; Everbody Loves Raymond

Guy Hamilton
September 16, 1922 – April 20, 2016
Film director
Goldfinger; Live and Let Die; Evil Under the Sun

Prince, née Prince Rogers Nelson
June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016
Singer / Musician / Composer
Purple Rain; 1999; “Raspberry Beret”

Madeleine Sherwood
November 13, 1922 – April 23, 2016
Actor
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Papa Wemba, née Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba
June 14, 1949 – April 24, 2016
Singer / Musician
Emotion

Madeleine Lebeau
June 10, 1923 – May 1, 2016
Actor
Casablanca

William Schallert
July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016
Actor
Mighty Joe Young (1949); Them!; The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes; The Twilight Zone; True Blood

Makiko Futaki
June 19, 1958 – May 13, 2016
Animator
My Neighbor Totoro; Princess Mononoke; Spirited Away

Darwyn Cooke
November 16, 1962 – May 14, 2016
Comic book writer / artist
DC: The New Frontier; Catwoman

Alan Young
November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016
Actor
Androcles and the Lion (1952); The Time Machine (1960); Mr. Ed; DuckTales

Burt Kwouk
July 18, 1930 – May 24, 2016
Actor
A Shot in the Dark; Goldfinger; The Return of the Pink Panther


Muhammad Ali
January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016
Boxer / activist

Bill Richmond
December 19, 1921 – June 4, 2016
Film / television writer
The Carol Burnett Show; All In the Family; Kate & Allie


Peter Shaffer
May 15, 1926 – June 6, 2016
Playwright / screenwriter
Amadeus; Equus

Janet Waldo
February 4, 1920 – June 12, 2016
Voice-over artist
The Jetsons; Wacky Races; Josie and the Pussycats

Mihaly “Michu” Meszaros
October 1, 1939 – June 12, 2016
Performer
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Henry McCullough
June 21, 1943 – June 14, 2016
Musician / Composer
With a Little Help From My Friends; Jesus Christ Superstar; Red Rose Speedway

Ann Morgan Guilbert
October 16, 1928 -  June 14, 2016
Actor
The Dick Van Dyke Show

Anton Yelchin
March 11, 1989 – June 19, 2016
Actor
Star Trek (2009); Fright Night (2011)

Robin Hardy
October 2, 1929 – July 1, 2016
Film director
The Wicker Man (1973)

Michael Cimino
February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016
Film director / screenwriter / producer
The Deer Hunter

Eric Bergren
April 27, 1954 – July 14, 2016
Screenwriter
The Elephant Man

Fred Tomlinson
December 18, 1927 – July 17, 2016
Singer
Monty Python’s Flying Circus; The Two Ronnies

Garry Marshall
November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016
Director / producer / actor
The Dick Van Dyke Show; Happy Days; Laverne and Shirley; Mork & Mindy

Marni Nixon
February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016
Singer
The King and I; West Side Story; My Fair Lady

David Huddleston
September 17, 1930 – August 2, 2016
Actor
Blazing Saddles; Santa Claus: The Movie; The Big Lebowski

Terence Bayler
January 24, 1930 – August 2, 2016
Actor
The Rutles; Monty Python’s Life of Brian; Time Bandits; Brazil

Kenny Baker
August 24, 1934 – August 13, 2016
Actor
The Star Wars Saga; Time Bandits; Amadeus

Fyvush Finkel
October 9, 1922 – August 14, 2016
Actor
Brighton each Memoirs; Nixon; Rugrats

Jack Riley
December 30, 1935 – August 19, 2016
Actor / voice-over artist
The Bob Newhart Show; High Anxiety; Rugrats


Marvin Kaplan
January 24, 1927 – August 25, 2016
Actor / voice-over artist
Alice; Top Cat; It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Gene Wilder
June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016
Actor / screenwriter / director
 The Producers (1968); Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; Blazing Saddles; Young Frankenstein; Stir Crazy; The Woman in Red

Jon Polito
December 29, 1950 – September 1, 2016
Actor
Miller’s Crossing; Homicide: Life on the Street; The Big Lebowski

Leslie H. Martinson
January 16, 1915 – September 3, 2016
Film / television director
Batman (1966); The Brady Bunch

Edward Albee
March 12, 1928 - September 16, 2016
Playwright
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

W. P. Kinsella
May 25, 1935 – September 16, 2016
Author
Shoeless Joe

C. Martin Croker
January 10, 1962 – September 17, 2016
Animator / voice-over artist
Space Ghost Coast to Coast

Charmian Carr
December 27, 1942 - September 17, 2016
Actor / Singer
The Sound of Music

Bill Nunn
October 20, 1953 – September 24, 2016
Actor
Spider-Man (2002)

Herschell Gordon Lewis
June 15, 1926 – September 26, 2016
Film director
Monster A Go-Go

Rod Temperton
October 9, 1949 – October 5, 2016
Songwriter / music producer / musician
“Thriller”

Michiyo Yasuda
April 28, 1939 – October 5, 2016
Animator
Kiki’s Delivery Service; Spirited Away; Ponyo

Steve Dillon
March 22, 1962 – October 22, 2016
Comic book artist
Preacher; The Punisher

Pete Burns
August 5, 1959 – October 23, 2016
Musician
Founder of Dead or Alive
“You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”

Kevin Curran
February 27, 1957 – October 25, 2016
Television writer
Late Night with David Letterman; Married… With Children; The Simpsons

Leonard Cohen
September 21, 1934 – November 7, 2016
Singer / musician / songwriter / poet / author / artist
“Hallelujah” “First We Take Manhattan”

Robert Vaughn
November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016
Actor
The Magnificent Seven (1960); Teenage Cave Man; Battle Beyond the Stars; Superman III

Lupita Tovar
July 27, 1910 – November 12, 2016
Actor
Dracula (1931, Spanish language version)

Tom Neyman
November 23, 1935 – November 12, 2016
Actor
Manos: The Hands of Fate

Peter Sumner
January 29, 1942 – November 22, 2016
Actor
Star Wars

Andrew Sachs
April 7, 1930 – November 23, 2016
Actor
Fawlty Towers; Revenge of the Pink Panther; History of the World, Part I

Florence Henderson
February 24, 2016 – November 24, 2016
Actor
The Brady Bunch

Ron Glass
July 10, 1945 – November 25, 2016
Actor
Barney Miller; Firefly; Rugrats

Fritz Weaver
January 19, 1926 – November 26, 2016
Actor
Creepshow

Alice Drummond
May 21, 1928 – November 30, 2016
Actor
Ghostbusters (1984); Awakenings; To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar

Peter Vaughan
April 4, 1923 – December 6, 2016
Actor
Time Bandits; Brazil; The Remains of the Day; Death At a Funeral (2007)

John Glenn
July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016
Astronaut / aviator

Alan Thicke
March 1, 1947 – December 13, 2016
Actor / composer
Diff’rent Strokes Theme; The Facts of Life Theme

Bernard Fox
May 11, 1927 – December 14, 2016
Actor
Bewitched; Munster, Go Home!; The Rescuers; Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo; The Mummy (1999)

Fran Jeffries
May 18, 1937 – December 15, 2016
Actor / Singer
The Pink Panther (1963)

Zsa Zsa Gabor
February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016
Actor
Touch of Evil; A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Liz Smith
December 11, 1921 – December 24, 2016
Actor
The French Lieutenant’s Woman; A Private Function; The Vicar of Dibley; Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

George Michael
June 25, 1963 – December 25, 2016
Singer / composer
Founding member of Wham!
“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”; “Careless Whisper”; “Faith”

George S. Irving
November  1, 1922 – December 26, 2016
Actor
All In the Family; The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

Don “Duck” Edwing
1934 – December 26, 2016
Cartoonist
Mad Magazine

Carrie Fisher
October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016
Actor / author
The Star Wars Saga; The Blues Brothers; Postcards From the Edge

Debbie Reynolds
April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016
Actor / singer
Singin’ In the Rain; Charlotte’s Web (1973); Rugrats

Tyrus Wong
October 25, 1910 – December 30, 2016
Artist / animation designer
Bambi

William Christopher
October 20, 1932 – December 31, 2016
Actor
M*A*S*H; The Fortune Cookie; Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.