Elaine Stritch
 

NEW YORK (AP) — Elaine Stritch, the brash theater performer whose gravelly, gin-laced voice and impeccable comic timing made her a Broadway legend, has died. She was 89.

Although Stritch appeared in movies and on television, garnering three Emmys and finding new fans as Alec Baldwin's unforgiving mother on "30 Rock," she was best known for her stage work, particularly in her candid one-woman memoir, "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty," and in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Company."

A tart-tongued monument to New York show business endurance, Stritch worked well into her late 80s, most recently as Madame Armfeldt in a revival of Sondheim's musical "A Little Night Music." She replaced Angela Lansbury in 2010 to critical acclaim.

In 2013, Stritch — whose signature "no pants" style was wearing a loose-fitting white shirt over sheer black tights — retired to Michigan after 71 years in New York City and made a series of farewell performances at the Carlyle Hotel: "Elaine Stritch at the Carlyle: Movin' Over and Out."

Stritch was a striking woman, with a quick wit, a shock of blond hair and great legs. She showed them off most elegantly in "At Liberty," wearing a loose fitting white shirt, high heels and black tights.

In the show, the actress told the story of her life — with all its ups, downs and in-betweens. She frankly discussed her stage fright, missed showbiz opportunities, alcoholism, battle with diabetes and love life, all interspersed with songs she often sang onstage.

"What's this all been about then — this existential problem in tights," Stritch said of herself at the end of the solo show, which opened off-Broadway in November 2001, transferred to Broadway the following February and later toured. It earned her a Tony Award in 2002 and an Emmy when it was later televised on HBO.

In "Company" (1970), Stritch played the acerbic Joanne, delivering a lacerating version of "The Ladies Who Lunch," a classic Sondheim song dissecting the modern Manhattan matron. Stritch originated the role in New York and then appeared in the London production.

Among her other notable Broadway appearances were as Grace, the owner of a small-town Kansas restaurant in William Inge's "Bus Stop" (1955), and as a harried cruise-ship social director in the Noel Coward musical "Sail Away" (1961). She also appeared in revivals of "Show Boat" (1994), in which she played the cantankerous Parthy Ann Hawks, and Edward Albee's "A Delicate Balance" (1996), portraying a tart-tongued, upper-crust alcoholic.

Each generation found her relevant and hip. She was parodied in 2010 on an episode of "The Simpsons" in which Lisa Simpson attends a fancy performing arts camp. One class was on making wallets with Elaine Stritch and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Stritch got a kick out of it. "That's worth being in the business for 150 years," she said with a laugh.

Stritch's films include "A Farewell to Arms" (1957), "Who Killed Teddy Bear?" (1965), Alain Resnais' "Providence" (1977), "Out to Sea" (1997), and Woody Allen's "September" (1987) and "Small Time Crooks" (2000). She also appeared in many American TV series, most notably a guest spot on "Law & Order" in 1990, which won Stritch her first Emmy.

Back in 1950, she played Trixie, Ed Norton's wife, in an early segment of "The Honeymooners," then a recurring sketch on Jackie Gleason's variety show "Cavalcade of Stars." But she was replaced by Joyce Randolph after one appearance.

More than a half-century later, Stritch was back at the top of the sitcom pyramid with a recurring role in "30 Rock," winning her another Emmy in 2007 as best guest actress in a comedy.

She was also well known to TV audiences in England, where she starred with Donald Sinden in the sitcom "Two's Company" (1975-79), playing an American mystery writer to Sinden's unflappable British butler. Stritch also starred in "Nobody's Perfect" (1980-1982), appearing with Richard Griffiths in this British version of the American hit "Maude."

She starred in the London stage productions of Neil Simon's "The Gingerbread Lady" and Tennessee Williams' "Small Craft Warnings." It was in England that Stritch met and married actor John Bay. They were married for 10 years. He died of a brain tumor in 1982.

Stritch made her Broadway debut in 1946 in "Loco," a short-lived comedy by Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert. She was first noticed by the critics and audiences in the 1947 revue "Angel in the Wings." In it, she sang the hit novelty song "Civilization," which includes the immortal lyrics, "Bongo, Bongo, Bongo, I don't want to leave the Congo."

The actress understudied Ethel Merman in the Irving Berlin musical, "Call Me Madam" (1950). Stritch never went on for Merman in the role of Sally Adams, vaguely modeled after Washington party-giver Perle Mesta, but she did take over the part when the show went out on the road.

Stritch then appeared in revivals of two Rodgers and Hart musicals, "Pal Joey" (1952), in which she stripteased her way through "Zip," and "On Your Toes" (1954).

Stritch sang "Broadway Baby" in a historic 1984 concert version of Sondheim's "Follies," performed at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. The concert, which also featured Lee Remick, Barbara Cook, Mandy Patinkin and George Hearn, was recorded by RCA.

In "At Liberty," she delivered "I'm Still Here," Sondheim's hymn to show-business survival, a number she once described as "one of the greatest musical theater songs ever written."

In 2005, after nearly 60 years in show business, Stritch made her solo club act debut, appearing at New York's posh Carlyle Hotel and was brought back frequently. She lived in the Carlyle's Room 309 for a decade.

A documentary, "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me," premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival the week before she left New York, showing a feisty Stritch as she reacted with anger, frustration and acceptance at her increasingly evident mortality. Asked what she thought of the film, she replied: "It's not my cup of tea on a warm afternoon in May." The film was released in 2014.

In the recent Broadway revival of "A Little Night Music," Stritch played a wheelchair-bound aristocrat who offers dry and hysterical pronouncements in her half-dozen scenes, and mourned the loss of standards in her big song "Liaisons," in which she looked back on her profitable sexual conquests of dukes and barons. She might as well have been speaking of theater itself.

"Where is skill?" she asked. "Where's passion in the art, where's craft?"

"You know where I'm at in age?" she said backstage, in her typical wit and sass. "I don't need anything. That's a little scary — when you know that the last two bras you bought are it. You won't need any more. I'm not going to live long for any big, new discovery at Victoria's Secret."

http://news.yahoo.com/elaine-stritch...hT62sAjAVXNyoA

James Garner, 86
 

Actor James Garner, whose whimsical style in the 1950s TV Western "Maverick" led to a stellar career in TV and films such as "The Rockford Files" and his Oscar-nominated "Murphy's Romance," has died, police said.

Although he was adept at drama and action, Garner was best known for his low-key, wisecracking style, especially with his hit TV series, "Maverick" and "The Rockford Files."

His quick-witted avoidance of conflict provided a refreshingly new take on the American hero, contrasting with the steely heroics of John Wayne and the fast trigger of Clint Eastwood.

Well into his 70s, the handsome Oklahoman remained active in both TV and film. In 2002, he was Sandra Bullock's father in the film "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." The following year, he joined the cast of "8 Simple Rules ... For Dating My Teenage Daughter," playing the grandfather on the sitcom after star John Ritter, who played the father, died during the show's second season.

It was in 1957 when the ABC network, desperate to compete on ratings-rich Sunday night, scheduled "Maverick" against CBS's powerhouse "The Ed Sullivan Show" and NBC's "The Steve Allen Show." ''Maverick" soon outpolled them both.

At a time when the networks were crowded with hard-eyed, traditional Western heroes, Bret Maverick provided a fresh breath of air. With his sardonic tone and his eagerness to talk his way out of a squabble rather than pull out his six-shooter, the con-artist Westerner seemed to scoff at the genre's values.

His first film after "Maverick" established him as a movie actor. It was "The Children's Hour," William Wyler's remake of Lillian Hellman's lesbian drama that co-starred Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine.

He followed in a successful comedy with Kim Novak, "Boys Night Out," and then fully established his box-office appeal with the 1963 blockbuster war drama "The Great Escape" and two smash comedies with Doris Day — "The Thrill of It All" and "Move Over Darling." Garner also appeared opposite Julie Andrews in two critically acclaimed movies, 1964's The Americanization of Emily and 1982's Victor/Victoria.

Throughout his long film career, Garner demonstrated his versatility in comedies ("The Art of Love," ''A Man Could Get Killed," ''Skin Game"), suspense ("36 Hours," ''They Only Kill Their Masters," ''Marlowe"), Westerns ("Duel at Diablo," ''Hour of the Gun," ''Support Your Local Gunfighter").

In the 1980s and 1990s, when most stars his age were considered over the hill, Garner's career remained strong.

He played a supporting role as a marshal in the 1994 "Maverick," a big-screen return to the TV series with Mel Gibson in Garner's old title role. His only Oscar nomination came for the 1985 "Murphy's Romance," a comedy about a small-town love relationship in which he co-starred with Sally Field.

Unlike most film stars, Garner made repeated returns to television. "Nichols" (1971-72) and "Bret Maverick" (1981-82) were short-lived, but "The Rockford Files" (1974-80) proved a solid hit, bringing him an Emmy.

Among his notable TV movies: "Barbarians at the Gate" (as tycoon F. Ross Johnson), "Breathing Lessons," ''The Promise," ''My Name Is Bill W.," ''The Streets of Laredo," and "One Special Night"


http://www.legacy.com/ns/obituary.as...&pid=171793033
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Dr. Gordon “Gordy” Klatt
 

http://media.thenewstribune.com/smed...Gr.AuSt.5.jpeg

Dr. Gordon “Gordy” Klatt, who founded Relay For Life, dies at 71

Obit here.

Robin Williams
 

It is with heavy heart I post this. He was one of my favorite actors, comedian and just an amazing person.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/robin-wi...cide-1.2733770

Was on cnn

Killed himself

So sad rip

Nooooooooo!!!!! Fuck. This one hits me hard. Thank you for posting. I just watched The Birdcage today and was thinking how much I loved him.

I watched Mrs. Doubtfire and Patch Adams yesterday.. thinking the same thing, that man had amazzzzzing talent. Heartbreaking to know he was hurting so much that suicide seemed the only escape to him.

Damn! I hate this! I loved this man's talent and grew up watching him. It's like he has always been there as long as I can remember, like an old friend...even though I did not personally know him, his comedy helped me through a terrible childhood. He brought smiles to the hearts and faces of so many people. I am saddened that the depression battled him so strongly.
RIP Robin! You will be greatly missed.

Afterthought, according to the CDC there are nearly 40,000 deaths by suicide yearly. Be well ya'll.

I'm in schock. A genius. He and Jonathan Winters brilliance will be remembered. Depression is a killer

Goodbye Mr. Keating, I miss you already....
 

http://i53.tinypic.com/2cx9u0h.gif

sad....
and numb....
and sorry he hurt so bad when he made so many laugh and go on.

Robin.
 

I know, this is really kicking my ass too. :(

Noooooooo not Robin! :watereyes: :overreaction:

My tribute to Robin Williams, July 21, 1951 - August 11, 2014.

Here.

R.I.P Robin
 

When I was still in High school, I would come home and my cousin Andrew would generally have something playing on the stereo. At time it would be Pearl Jam, U2 or the Lemonheads. He was also a comedy fan, and a big one of Robin Williams. He would had his stand up comedy on CD and many a time I would come home to Robin talking about coming home with Hagen Dasz ice cream, to save him from the evils of women's pms. It made me laugh.

Me and my cousin were extremely close, and in 2003 his passing absolutely killed me. He suffered from depression, and also drank to stave off the demons. Sadly, he drank too much one night and drove himself home and hit an 18 wheeler.

I know I didn't know Mr Williams personally, but for me my cousin lived on in all the things he loved, and the passing of Mr. Williams has re opened that gash in my heart.

Depression is not something that should be swept under the rug and not talked about. I hope that his light, that now brightens heaven a little more, is a reminder to everyone to get help when needed and help others who may be struggling.

Lauren Bacall is dead at the age of 89.

RIP:bunchflowers:

rip robin williams
 

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/trib...n-williams/19/



suicide is a very personal issue for me...my father died at age 26...rip papa

I still can't believe Robin Williams is gone, I haven't said much but depression is hell. I had no idea he suffered so much, he was good at masking his pain. The world lost a great man.

RIP Joan Rivers. :(

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...tml?1409861308

http://api.ning.com/files/VKskDRIb0e...ersPresent.jpg

RIP (((( Joan ))))) ty for all the years you made me laugh ~ and ty for being so supportive to our community for so many years ~

wooops I forgot and ty for NOT using Mj's plastic surgeon ~

This has been hard emotionally for me, 2 verrryyyyyy important people that influenced my younger years and instilled deep meaningful laughter... RIP Robin and Joan. You are deeply loved and missed...

I remember hiding and listening to her cassette tape as a kid, she made laugh and I will miss her on Fashion Police.

http://timedotcom.files.wordpress.co...2943.jpg?w=420


i am weepy and dont know why...ugh

Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy dead at 93
 

(Reuters) - S. Truett Cathy, the founder of the U.S. fast food chain Chick-fil-A which drew protests two years ago when its president made public statements opposing same-sex marriage, died on Monday aged 93, the company said on its website.

Cathy, who was Chick-fil-A's chairman emeritus, died at home in the presence of loved ones, the privately held Atlanta-based company said. It did not disclose a cause of death.

In 2012 the chicken sandwich chain made headlines when its president Dan Cathy -- the founder's son -- made comments to the Baptist Press citing "prideful" supporters of same-sex marriage and defending the company's support of "the biblical definition of the family unit."

The comments ignited a cultural firestorm, triggering protests including "kiss-ins" by same-sex couples outside some stores, as well as support from social conservatives and fans of its products.

Chick-fil-A issued a statement saying its culture is "to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect - regardless of their belief, creed, race, sexual orientation or gender."

S. Truett Cathy, a native of the U.S. state of Georgia and a devout Southern Baptist, founded Chick-fil-A in 1967.

The company, which operates from 1,800 locations in 40 U.S. states, is known for its mix of religion and business as well as its fried chicken sandwiches and waffle fries.

All locations are closed on Sundays to allow employees "a day for family, worship, fellowship or rest," according to the company's website.

http://news.yahoo.com/chick-fil-foun...A5XzEEc2VjA3Nj

Polly Bergen, Versatile Actress, Singer Dies At 84
 

NEW YORK (AP) — Emmy-winning actress and singer Polly Bergen, who in a long career played the terrorized wife in the original "Cape Fear" and the first woman president in "Kisses for My President," died Saturday, according to her publicist. She was 84.

A brunette beauty with a warm, sultry singing voice, Bergen was a household name from her 20s onward. She made albums and played leading roles in films, stage musicals and TV dramas. She also hosted her own variety series, was a popular game show panelist, and founded a thriving beauty products company that bore her name.

In recent years, she played Felicity Huffman's mother on "Desperate Housewives" and the past mistress of Tony Soprano's late father on "The Sopranos."

Bergen won an Emmy in 1958 portraying the tragic singer Helen Morgan on the famed anthology series "Playhouse 90." She was nominated for another Emmy in 1989 for best supporting actress in a miniseries or special for "War and Remembrance."

Bergen was 20 and already an established singer when she starred with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in her first movie, "At War With the Army." She joined them in two more comedies, "That's My Boy" and "The Stooge."

In 1953, she made her Broadway debut with Harry Belafonte in the revue "John Murray Anderson's Almanac." In 1957-58 she starred on the musical-variety "The Polly Bergen Show" on NBC, closing every broadcast with her theme song, "The Party's Over."

Also during the 1950s, she became a regular on the popular game show "To Tell the Truth."

Bergen published the first of her three advice books, "The Polly Bergen Book of Beauty, Fashion and Charm" in 1962. That led to her own cosmetics company, which earned her millions.

Bergen became a regular in TV movies and miniseries, most importantly in the 1983 epic "The Winds of War" and the 1988 sequel, "War and Remembrance." She appeared as the troubled wife of high-ranking Navy officer Pug Henry, played by Robert Mitchum.

Mitchum also had the key role in the landmark 1962 suspense film, "Cape Fear," as the sadistic ex-convict who terrorizes a lawyer (Gregory Peck) and his wife (Bergen) and daughter because he blames Peck for sending him to prison. The film was remade in 1991 by Martin Scorsese.

In 1964's "Kisses for My President," Bergen was cast as the first female U.S. president, with Fred MacMurray as First Gentleman. (In the end, the president quits when she gets pregnant.) When Geena Davis portrayed a first woman president in the 2005 TV drama "Commander in Chief," Bergen was cast as her mother.

Among her other films was "Move Over, Darling" (1963) with Doris Day and James Garner, Susan Seidelman's 1987 "Making Mr. Right," and John Waters' 1990 "Cry-Baby," with Johnny Depp.

Bergen employed the same zeal in reviving her performing career after a series of personal setbacks of the 1990s. She played successful dates at cabarets in New York and Beverly Hills.

When she was refused an audition for the 2001 Broadway revival of "Follies," she contacted composer Stephen Sondheim. He auditioned her and gave her the role of a faded star who sings of her ups and downs in show business. The show-stopping song, "I'm Still Here," was reminiscent of Bergen's own saga. She was nominated for a Tony award for her role.

In 2002 she played a secondary role in the revival of "Cabaret" and the following year she was back on Broadway with the comedy "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks."

Nellie Paulina Burgin was born in 1930 in Knoxville, Tennessee, into a family that at times relied on welfare to survive. They family eventually moved to California, and Polly, as she was called, began her career singing on radio in her teens.

"I was fanatically ambitious," she recalled in 2001. "All I ever wanted to be was a star. I didn't want to be a singer. I didn't want to be an actress. I wanted to be a star."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_5854996.html
___

Rob Bironas, 36, former Titans kicker
 

Rob Bironas, who worked his way through odd jobs and the Arena Football League before becoming one of the NFL's most accurate kickers, died in a car crash. He was 36.

The Titans released Bironas in March after nine seasons. The Tennessean reported that Bironas worked out for the Detroit Lions and for Tampa Bay during the offseason.

Bironas married Rachel Bradshaw, daughter of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, in June.

"Rob made a significant impact as a player in his nine years with the team and more importantly touched many lives in the Nashville community off the field," the team said in a statement.

Bironas was the fourth most-accurate kicker in NFL history, connecting on 85.7 percent of his kicks (239 of 279). Only David Akers made more field goals (247) between 2005 and 2013 than Bironas. For kickers with 100 or more field goals since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, Bironas ranked third making 75.2 percent of his kicks from 40 yards or longer (94 of 125).

He finished as the Titans' second all-time leading scorer with 1,032 points, and he set a franchise record scoring triple digits in seven straight seasons. He also set an NFL record in 2011 in hitting a field goal from at least 40 yards in 10 consecutive games.

Bironas made a franchise-record 11 game-winning field goals during his career, including a 60-yarder against the Indianapolis Colts in 2006 that remains the longest field goal in Oilers or Titans history. Bironas kicked an NFL single-game record eight field goals in a 2007 victory over the Houston Texans, including a 29-yard game-winner as time expired. That helped him make his only Pro Bowl, the same year he was an Associated Press All-Pro.

http://news.yahoo.com/former-titans-...7120--spt.html

Christopher Hogwood

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/ar...2RI%3A10%22%7D


Christopher Hogwood, whose Academy of Ancient Music was a key ensemble in the period-instrument movement, striving to perform early music as the composer intended and as audiences were first presumed to have heard it, died on Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, England. He was 73.

Rebecca Driver, a spokeswoman for the orchestra, said Mr. Hogwood had been ill for several months but did not specify the cause of death...

Mr. Hogwood, a conductor, harpsichordist and scholar for whom an “authentic sound” was paramount, co-founded the Early Music Consort, which focused on medieval and Renaissance music, in 1967, but the paucity of information regarding historically accurate performance styles troubled him. The Academy, which he established in 1973 as “as a sort of refugee operation for those players of period instruments who wanted to escape conductors,” initially focused on 17- and 18th-century music.

Lily McBeth, teacher who became reluctant symbol of transgender rights movement, dies at 80
 

LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. (AP) — Lily McBeth, the teacher whose battles with school boards in conservative areas of New Jersey made her a reluctant symbol of the transgender rights movement, has died. She was 80.

McBeth died Sept. 24 near her home in Little Egg Harbor after a long illness, her daughter Maureen said.

"She was very much at peace with her life," Maureen McBeth said. "She just wanted to be who she was."

The former William McBeth had undergone sex reassignment surgery in 2005 after nine years of substitute teaching in Eagleswood Township, and she sought to continue in the job.

But vocal opposition from some parents concerned about the impact of a transgender teacher on young students led to a contentious debate that ended with her rehiring. She later substituted at the Pinelands Regional school district as well.

The schools' 2006 decisions to keep her on as a substitute were hailed around the nation as a model of tolerance and acceptance of transgender Americans. But she resigned in frustration in 2009 after getting only a handful of assignments. The schools said they had permanent substitutes and outside subs were only called when the permanent subs were unavailable.

Steven Goldstein, founder of the Garden State Equality rights group, said McBeth never wanted to become a symbol of anything, but became one nonetheless.

"It is so much easier to understand an issue with a human face, and Lily became the human face of transgender rights for many people," he said. "She did so much to increase understanding and awareness of transgender people just by being strong and being who she was."

Goldstein called McBeth one of the most important figures in New Jersey civil rights history in the last two decades.

After selling his physical therapy marketing company, William McBeth moved from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to New Jersey, where he got a substitute teaching job in Eagleswood, a community 17 miles north of Atlantic City. After his 2005 surgery, he sought to return as a substitute, which drew vocal opposition from some parents.

But many students were unfazed, particularly those that remembered her as a competent male teacher.

McBeth was a ukulele player and an avid carver of wooden decoy ducks. She acted in local theater productions, sang in a church choir and was active in a group seeking to re-establish clam populations in Barnegat Bay.

She donated her body to a medical school for research and physician training; funeral arrangements were private, her daughter said.

In a 2009 interview with The Associated Press, McBeth said she treasured interacting with students in the classroom.

"I tried to be an example of something you might want to be when you grow up: a kind, caring person," she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/transgender-te...pUZvYAXsxXNyoA

Jerrie Mock, first woman to fly solo around the globe, dies at 88
 

Newark native Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the globe, has died in her sleep at her home in Quincy in northern Florida. She was 88.

Mock was 38 and a full-time mother of three living in Bexley when she took off from Port Columbus on March 19, 1964. A licensed pilot for only seven years who had never flown farther than the Bahamas, Mock crossed both oceans in the Spirit of Columbus, an 11-year-old Cessna freshly painted to cover cracks and corrosions.

The last she heard from the Columbus control tower: “Well, I guess that’s the last we’ll hear from her.”

There were mechanical problems, storms and communication breakdowns. She mistakenly landed at a restricted air force base in Egypt and was detained until darkness fell.

In Saudi Arabia, the 5-foot brunette exited the plane to a silent crowd that patiently waited for the pilot to emerge. When they realized she was the pilot, the people erupted in cheers, appreciating the oddity that a woman was the flier.

“There’s no man!” they exclaimed.

Mock arrived back in Columbus 29 days later on the night of April 17, 1964, to a cheering crowd of 5,000. There were local accolades, some television appearances and a medal from President Lyndon B. Johnson.

As the 50th anniversary of Mock’s flight approached, her sister, Susan Reid, of Newark, helped raise $48,000 for a bronze statue that in September 2013 was dedicated at The Works, a museum in Newark.

A similar statue was unveiled in April at Port Columbus.

By then Mock had retired to Florida, in poor health but still modest about having “a little fun in my airplane.”

“There were dozens of women who could have done what I did,” Mock said in a recorded message played to the Columbus crowd, “All I did was have some fun. Statues are for generals, or Lincoln."

Bill Kelley was at the Port Columbus unveiling. A history buff, Kelley had pushed for 30 years for the statue, for which Mock’s sister was the model.

“He wanted her in flats (shoes),” his wife, Mary, said. But Mr. Kelley deferred to her and to Reid. who insisted that Mock be portrayed wearing the short, tapered “kitten heels” she always put on when she got out of the plane.

To Cliff Kelling, the statue looked just like the homemaker who had entrusted her safety to him and other Lane Aviation mechanics who prepared her plane for the flight.

“You kind of wonder who’s going to take a single-engine aircraft that’s got some wear on it and fly it around the world,” Kelling, a pilot and retired aviation-mechanics professor, said at the time. When told the pilot was a woman, “All I could do was admire her.”

Why she was never mentioned with the likes of other aviation heroes is often attributed to the times: President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated the previous fall, the Beatles had just arrived in America, and the Vietnam conflict was heating up.

Kelling attributed it to male chauvinism and the fact that Mock made it home alive.

“Amelia Earhart was lost, and that was news,” he said. “Jerrie Mock wasn’t lost, and that wasn’t news.”

At the Port Columbus unveiling, Mock’s daughter, Valerie Armentrout, said that her mother finally “will take her rightful position with Eddie Rickenbacker and (astronaut) Sally Ride.”

Growing up in Newark, Geraldine “Jerrie” Fredritz wanted something different. “I did not conform to what girls did,” she once said, adding, “What the girls did was boring.”

After her family took a short airplane ride at the local airport, 7-year-old Jerrie announced that she wanted to be a pilot. A few years later, as she listened to after-school radio broadcasts about the adventures Earhart, her heroine, she expanded her goal from flying across Ohio.

“I wanted to see the world,” she said. “I wanted to see the oceans and the jungles and the deserts and the people.”

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stor...-obituary.html

USA! USA!
 

Still brings to mind the study Nickel and Dimed

Indeed
 

Founder of Paul Revere and the Raiders dies
 

Paul Revere, a teenage businessman who found an outlet for his entrepreneurial spirit in the form of a campy rock 'n' roll band that capitalized on his name, wore Revolutionary War-era costumes and cranked out a string of grungy hits in the mid-1960s, has died. The founder of Paul Revere and the Raiders was 76.

Revere died Saturday of cancer at his home in Garden Valley, Idaho, his longtime manager Roger Hart told the Associated Press. After a near-constant touring schedule in recent years, Revere retreated six months ago to his adopted home state because of health issues, said his tour manager, Ron Lemen.

Along with singer and saxophonist Mark Lindsay, Revere, a keyboard player, formed a band called the Downbeats in Boise in 1959. Within a few years they would become Paul Revere and the Raiders, string together top-10 pop hits including "Kicks," "Hungry" and "Good Thing" and become fixtures of Dick Clark's weekday afternoon TV show "Where the Action Is."


"Just Like Me," a 1965 hit written by Revere and Lindsay, made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

Born Paul Revere Dick on Jan. 7, 1938, in Harvard, Neb., he grew up on a farm near Boise, where he learned to play piano. While still a teenager he opened a barbershop. At 18, with three barbershops to his name, he sold them to buy a drive-in restaurant and put together the band to attract young customers.

After some local success the Downbeats moved to Portland, Ore., in 1960 and with encouragement of their new manager, radio disc jockey Hart, renamed themselves Paul Revere and the Raiders. They recorded a 1963 version of "Louie Louie" that was eclipsed by another Portland garage band, the Kingsmen, but the Raiders were on their way to Hollywood.

Joined by early core members Drake Levin on guitar, Mike Smith on drums and Phil Volk on bass, the group performed a choreographed show in elaborate outfits complete with tri-cornered hats, brightly colored frock coats, white hose and knee-high black leather boots. In 1964, they signed a contract with Columbia Records as the label's first rock act and caught Clark's eye.

"From day one, we've always been a party band that accidentally had some hit records and accidentally got on a hit television series," Revere said in a 2000 interview with the Associated Press.

"We were visual and fun and crazy and were America's answer to the British music invasion. ... We just happened to be at the right time and had the right name and had the right gimmick."

Producer Terry Melcher honed the band's hard-edged, guitar-driven sound with Lindsay, the front man, providing the vocals. The blond Revere was content to remain in the background playing organ.

Besides performing as the house band on "Where the Action Is" beginning in 1965, Paul Revere and the Raiders appeared on Clark's later "Happening" shows as well as "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Tonight Show" and as themselves on the "Batman" TV show in 1966.

The band had 20 consecutive hits and reached its peak with John D. Loudermilk's "Indian Reservation" at No. 1 in 1971, but a revolving door of band members and changing musical tastes led to its decline. Revere maintained a busy pace of touring and appearing at state fairs, casinos and clubs.

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituar...006-story.html

Marian Seldes
 

Actress Marian Seldes, the Tony Award-winning star of "A Delicate Balance" who was a teacher of Kevin Kline and Robin Williams, a muse to playwright Edward Albee and a Guinness Book of World Records holder for most consecutive performances, died Monday at age 86.

Marian Seldes made her Broadway debut in 1947 in a production of "Medea," starring the versatile actress Judith Anderson, and later appeared in hits such as "Equus" and "Deathtrap." Her most recent Broadway outing was in Terrence McNally's "Deuce" in 2007, starring opposite Angela Lansbury.

Seldes was nominated for a Tony five times, for her performances in "A Delicate Balance," ''Father's Day," ''Deathtrap," ''Ring Round the Moon" and "Dinner at Eight." She won in 1967 for "A Delicate Balance" and won her second Tony in 2010 for lifetime achievement.

Her collaborations with Albee included "Three Tall Women," which won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for drama, "The Play About the Baby," ''Tiny Alice" and "Father's Day."

But she moved easily from role to role, from Chekhov's "Ivanov" to Peter Shaffer's "Equus," from Ira Levin's "Deathtrap" to Tony Kushner's "A Bright Room Called Day" and Tina Howe's "Painting Churches." Her off-Broadway credits also include "The Ginger Man" and "Painting Churches."

Seldes' reliability and professionalism sealed her place in the Guinness World Records for a time after playing every performance during the run of "Deathtrap" from 1978 to 1982 — a total of 1,809 performances. Her record as most durable actress has since been broken by Catherine Russell, who logged over 11,000 performances in the off-Broadway production of "Perfect Crime."

From 1969 to 1992, she served on the faculty of the Juilliard School, teaching the craft of acting to such pupils as Kline, Williams, Patti LuPone, Laura Linney, Mandy Patinkin and Christopher Reeve.

Seldes also acted in films, in "Mona Lisa Smile," ''Home Alone 3" and "Celebrity." On television she appeared in "Nurse Jackie" and played Candice Bergen's aunt in "Murphy Brown" and Mr. Big's mother in "Sex and the City." She also wrote two books: a memoir, "The Bright Lights: A Theater Life," and a novel, "Time Together."

Seldes, a slim and elegant woman who often wore her hair pulled back, studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse and made her professional debut at age 17 in Robinson Jeffers' "Medea," with Anderson.

Her other Broadway credits include "Crime and Punishment," ''The Chalk Garden," ''The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore," Oliver Hailey's "Father's Day," for which she won a Drama Desk Award, Arnold Wesker's "The Merchant" and Kanin's "A Gift of Time."

In 1995, she was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame, marking 50 years in the profession, but she missed the ceremony because — typically — she was on tour with "Three Tall Women" in Los Angeles.

- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/ns/obituary.as....x24tCzxO.dpuf

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Geoffrey Holder, the Tony-winning actor, dancer and choreographer known to millions as Baron Samedi in Bond movie Live and Let Die, has died at 84.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29505646


http://www.latimes.com/local/obituar...007-story.html