R.I.P. Tony Curtis

1925-2010

Elvis wanted to look like Tony Curtis. ELVIS.

R.I.P. Dennis Hopper

From my my post about the 1956 epic, Giant

R.I.P. Richard Gladwell

It saddened me to hear this past Sunday of the recent passing of Richard Gladwell. Gladwell was the host of a program played on NPR stations called With Heart and Voice. With Heart and Voice was "a weekly program of choral and organ music." I say "was," because I assume the show will be no more. I was encouraged required forced to go to Sunday school and attend church services until I graduated from high school. Consequently, I haven't been a regular church goer ever since. The closest I've come to being one again has been listening to With Heart and Voice every Sunday on my NPR station during my long, morning run (which I do, ironically, religiously). It has always reminded me of the great old Hook & Hastings pipe organ echoing throughout the church of my youth. Adieu, Richard Gladwell.

"Trumpet Tune in D," by David Johnson (the theme to With Heart and Voice):

"I'm going to buy your songs one day."

Peace to Michael Jackson. Nothing left to prove. A life even more tragic than Elvis'? How is that possible? The comparisons will come, don't you know. This will be repeated ad nauseum for the next few days, but--the King of Pop is dead. Love live the King!

R.I.P. Ed McMahon

On The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the '70s
Ed McMahon, TV icon, is gone. When I was growing up, he was everywhere on television. I think at one time during the early 1980s he was on The Tonight Show, Star Search, and TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, as well as hosting the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. But he will probably be most remembered (at least by moi) for his repartee and banter with Johnny Carson, all those many, late nights:

R.I.P. Horton Foote

"Playwright, screenwriter Horton Foote dies at 92"
Horton Foote (March 14, 1916 - March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter probably best known for writing the screenplay to the 1962 film, To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he earned an Academy Award. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1995 for his play, The Young Man From Atlanta. His other writing credits include Tender Mercies (1983) and The Trip to Bountiful (1985). Two years ago I went to Wharton (his birthplace/hometown) to get pictures of the Plaza Theatre on the last night of its acting company's performance of Foote's "Mockingbird" screenplay. I wondered if he was in attendance that night.

R.I.P. Harvey Korman

I nearly did a post on the passing of Alexander Courage (composer of the original Star Trek theme) earlier this week, but I hesitate to posts concerning such things. It would be too easy to blog about people passing away all the time, because it seems to happen so frequently, and I don't want to dwell on maudlin things. Yet I just couldn't fail to do something for Harvey Korman. I never missed an episode of The Carol Burnett Show on CBS when I was very young (6 or 7 years old). I think it came on Sunday nights, and my little sister and I thought he and Tim Conway were very funny. I felt like I knew them both. Obviously, he was brilliant in the Mel Brooks films Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety (his scenes with Cloris Leachman are hilarious), and as a kid, I also liked him in things like Americanthon and even Herbie Goes Bananas. And then there was his role as Count de Monet in History of the World: Part 1. On The Carol Burnett Show, he would play straight man to Tim Conway, and more often than not, "lose it" due to something Conway did (it seems like it was just yesterday I was watching these on a large, wood-paneled television set in my parents house):


"Speedo Airlines"

"The Dentist Sketch"

"Intermezzo for Two Pianos"

R.I.P. Neil Aspinall

GETTY
"Neil Aspinall, the 'fifth Beatle', dies aged 66"

Another of The Beatles inner inner circle is gone. Neil Aspinall never got to write his memoir (as far as I know). He would have had some stories to tell! Aspinall was a childhood mate of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, attending the Liverpool Institute with both. He was with the group back in their Johnny and The Moondogs and The Silver Beatles days. No doubt there'd be no "Beatles" had Neil Aspinall not existed.

Aspinall and McCartney, circa 1968 (pic from)
He was a big part of The Beatles Anthology (behind and in front of the camera). In fact, based on what I read in The Longest Cocktail Party, Aspinall began amassing material for a Beatles documentary way back in the mid to late sixties. At that time, the title for it was going to be The Long and Winding Road, but I could be wrong.

R.I.P. "Sexy Sadie"

"Maharishi Mahesh Yogi dies"

The Beatles with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Wales, late '67 or early '68
What did The Beatles do in 1968, at the very pinnacle of their popularity and fame? They packed up and headed to Rishikesh, India, for a few weeks of a Transcendental Meditation teacher-training course. Luxury it was not. They were focused on the spiritual, not the material. And they did it together. They were a real "group"! And although the Rishikesh experience ended on a sour note*, they did write a ton of great songs, many of which ended up on my favorite Beatles album, The Beatles ("The White Album").



*From the Wikipedia entry:

Controversy surrounded the Beatles and their relationship with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during a 1968 TM teacher-training course they attended in Rishikesh, India. John Lennon (who left the course with a "bad taste", and described his "partings" as "not always as nice as I'd like them to be,") was inspired to write the song "Sexy Sadie" about the Maharishi, with the refrain "what have you done? You made a fool of everyone".

A popular rumor of the time involved Mia Farrow, although her autobiography is ambiguous on the matter. According to several authors, Alexis Mardas (Magic Alex) deliberately engineered these rumors because he was bent on undermining the Maharishi's influence on the Beatles.

George Harrison's statement, "Now, historically, there's the story that something went on that shouldn't have done—but nothing did," is supported by comments made by Sir Paul McCartney in his approved biography. In a recent article carried by the Telegraph.co.uk, Deepak Chopra, cited in the article as a confidant of both Maharishi and George Harrison, addresses the rumors surrounding Maharishi and the Beatles, saying that there was no truth in the theory that Maharishi was womanizing.

R.I.P. Kevin Dubrow

"Quiet Riot lead singer Kevin Dubrow dies"

Metal health'll drive you mad.

R.I.P. Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time author L'Engle dies

R.I.P. Marvin Zindler

"Channel 13's Marvin Zindler dies at 85"
Growing up in Galveston, I watched Marvin Zindler on Channel 13 in Houston, frequently. His "Rat and Roach" reports, generally ending with his famous expression "Sliiiiimmmee in the Ice machine!", were local favorites. Zindler's legend began in 1973, when his reporting led to the closing of Texas' best known "bawdy house," as Zindler called it — a notorious La Grange brothel known as the Chicken Ranch. A best friend's mother is a Zindler. Uncle Marvin attended his Bar Mitzvah dressed completely in white, wearing glasses with blue lenses. He sort of stood out.

R.I.P. Calvert DeForest

"Letterman regular 'Bud' Melman dies"

R.I.P. James Brown

the Godfather

R.I.P. Syd Barrett

"Syd Barrett, founder of Pink Floyd, dies"
Remember when you were young,
you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.

Now there's a look in your eyes,
like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.

"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (Gilmour, Waters, Wright)


Syd Barrett (Wikipedia entry)

R.I.P. Billy Preston

1946-2006
"Billy Preston, 59; Dazzling, Troubled Keyboardist Known as the `Fifth Beatle'"

Like it or not, this is what he'll be most remembered for doing.

Beatle George brought Billy into the studio while the Fabs were struggling through the beginning of their breakup period, hoping his presence would add a spark. I'd say the goal was achieved!

The Wikipedia page for Preston has this information about his "Beatles phase":

"...he was probably best known for his work with the Beatles. He played on their 1970 album Let It Be and on the songs 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' and 'Something', from 1969's Abbey Road. Signed to their Apple label, in 1969, Preston released the album That's the Way God Planned It and a single of the same name (produced by George Harrison). His relationship with Harrison continued after the break up of The Beatles; he was the first artist to record 'My Sweet Lord' (the single flopped), and he was on several of George's 70's solo albums..."
It's Billy Preston and the Billy Preston Trio!!

R.I.P. Chris Penn

Chris Penn was found dead in California. No word, as of yet, of the cause. I just heard about this (9:34 PM central time). It's a shock. His IMDb page.

In several of his films, he typically played the main character's best friend, or something similar, so I felt like I knew him. He had a likeable, harmless quality. My favorite film of his is the excellent At Close Range. He of course plays the brother of Sean Penn in that one. He was also good in a very small role in the underappreciated Coppola film Rumble Fish (Stewart Copeland's soundtrack is awesome).