RIP

[Kobi]

Anne Meara, the loopy, lovable comedian who launched a standup career with husband Jerry Stiller in the 1950s and found success as an actress in films, on TV and the stage, has died.

Born in Brooklyn on Sept. 20, 1929, she was a red-haired, Irish-Catholic girl who struck a vivid contrast to Stiller, a Jewish guy from Manhattan's Lower East Side who was two years older and four inches shorter.

As Stiller and Meara, they appeared in comedy routines that joked about married life and their respective ethnic backgrounds. They logged 36 appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and were a successful team in Las Vegas, major nightclubs, on records and in commercials (scoring big for Blue Nun wine with their sketches on radio).

They were beloved New Yorkers, well known to their Upper West Side neighbors. The marriage lasted, but the act was dissolved in the 1970s as Meara resumed the acting career she had originally sought. She appeared in such films as "The Out-of-Towners," ''Fame," ''Awakenings" and, directed by her son, "Reality Bites."

Meara was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for her supporting role on "Archie Bunker's Place," along with two other Emmy nods, most recently in 1997 for her guest-starring role on "Homicide." She won a Writers Guild Award for co-writing the 1983 TV movie "The Other Woman."

She also appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, including a longtime role on "All My Children" and appearances on "Rhoda," ''Alf" and "The King of Queens." She shared the screen with her son in 2006's "Night at the Museum."

Meara also had a recurring role on CBS' "Murphy Brown" and on HBO's "Sex and the City." In 1975, she starred in CBS' "Kate McShane," which, though short-lived, had the distinction of being the first network drama to feature a woman lawyer.

She made her off-Broadway debut in 1971 in John Guare's award-winning play "The House of Blue Leaves." A quarter-century later, she made her off-Broadway bow as a playwright with her comedy-drama, "After-Play."

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bos...&pid=174930394

[Kobi]

Betsy Palmer, the veteran character actress who achieved lasting, though not necessarily sought-after, fame as the murderous camp cook in the cheesy horror film "Friday the 13th," has died at age 88.

Palmer had appeared in numerous TV shows dating to the early 1950s Golden Age of Television. Among them were such classic dramas as "Kraft Theatre," ''Playhouse 90" and "Studio One."

Her film credits included "Mr. Roberts" with Henry Fonda, "The Long Gray Line" with Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara, "Queen Bee" with Joan Crawford, and "The Tin Star" with Fonda and Anthony Perkins.

Other TV credits included "Knot's Landing," ''The Love Boat," ''Newhart," ''Just Shoot Me" and "Murder, She Wrote." She also appeared in several Broadway plays, including "Same Time, Next Year" and "Cactus Flower."

- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bos....1ZymirPT.dpuf

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I remember her most from the show I've Got A Secret. Another woman who spoke to my inner lesbian. Sigh.

[DapperButch]

The death of the U.S. Vice President's son. The Vice President lost his first wife and one year old daughter in 1972. He was at his two young sons' bed sides in the hospital 18 days after the accident, when he was sworn into the Senate. Senator Biden spend 4 hours each way on a train to D.C. and back to DE everyday, so he could be home with his children at night and then, after they grew up and out, he still did it in order to be with his second wife. That would be for 36 years, for those who are counting his terms.

Beau Biden was 46 years old and died of brain cancer.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...forged-n367296

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

The death of the U.S. Vice President's son. The Vice President lost his first wife and one year old daughter in 1972. He was at his two young sons' bed sides in the hospital 18 days after the accident, when he was sworn into the Senate. Senator Biden spend 4 hours each way on a train to D.C. and back to DE everyday, so he could be home with his children at night and then, after they grew up and out, he still did it in order to be with his second wife. That would be for 36 years, for those who are counting his terms.

Beau Biden was 46 years old and died of brain cancer.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...forged-n367296

Thank you for posting the incredibly sad news about the untimely death of Joe Biden"s son, Beau.

Learning about this today brought to mind the experience of a dear friend of mine, in Berlin. She watched both her mother and her mother's sister, her aunt, die rather suddenly from brain cancer. And it changed her, in so many ways. Stemming the tide of unfathomable sorrow nearly always affects a person deeply, but I couldn't help but remember my friend Len.



Thanks for sharing, Dapper.

[Kobi]

Actor Dick Van Patten, perhaps best known as patriarch Tom Bradford on the '80s series Eight Is Enough, has died. He was 86.

The actor was born in Kew Gardens, New York, in 1928 and began his career as a child star and model. He made his Broadway debut when he was 7 years old in Tapestry in Gray. He went on to appear in nearly 30 more Broadway shows.

Van Patten made the jump to television with the role of Nels Hansen in I Remember Mama, which ran from 1949 to 1957.

He also went on to act in numerous other TV shows including The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Happy Days, The Love Boat and, more recently, Arrested Development, That '70s Show and Hot in Cleveland.

He also acted in various Disney films, along with three movies directed by Mel Brooks (High Anxiety, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.) In 2009, Van Patten penned an autobiography, Eighty Is Not Enough, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

http://www.people.com/article/dick-v...s-topheadlines

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I loved him as the King of Druidia in Spaceballs.

Wonder how many people here actually know what I am talking about.

[Kobi]

Patrick Macnee, the British-born actor best known as the stylish secret agent John Steed in the 1960s TV series "The Avengers," has died. He was 93.

"The Avengers" had its debut in the United States in 1966 and ran for eight years in syndication.

Macnee's character in the series was accompanied by a string of beautiful women who were his sidekicks. The most popular was Diana Rigg, who played junior agent Emma Peel from 1965 to 1968.

Macnee also appeared in "Hamlet", "A Christmas Carol," ''Until They Sail," ''Les Girls," and ''Young Doctors in Love." He also had a notable role in the cult comedy classic "This Is Spinal Tap" as British entrepreneur Sir Denis Eton-Hogg. -

See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bos....dzBE6Uxh.dpuf

[Kelt]

Architecture geeks will morn his passing.



Donald Wexler, Architect Who Gave Shape to Palm Springs, Dies at 89

Here is a really great short video about his contribution to steel frame and off site pre-fab work. It's Vimeo so I can't embed it. Enjoy.




"Donald Wexler, an architect whose innovative steel houses and soaring glass-fronted terminal at the Palm Springs International Airport helped make Palm Springs, Calif., a showcase for midcentury modernism, died on Friday at his home in Palm Desert. He was 89.

His son Gary confirmed his death.

Mr. Wexler, a disciple of the California architect Richard Neutra, went to Palm Springs in the early 1950s to work for William Cody, a leading practitioner of the style known as Desert Modern. “Wexler worked from an existing Desert Modern vocabulary — indoor-outdoor spaces, walls of glass, a focus on mountain views, all very spare and minimal — and applied it to all sorts of buildings over the years,” said Peter Moruzzi, an architectural historian and the founder of the Palm Springs Modern Committee, a preservation group. “He had a profound influence not just on Palm Springs but on the entire Coachella Valley.” - New York Times

[Gemme]

Yogi Berra passes away.



Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher renowned as much for his dizzying malapropisms as his record 10 World Series championships with the New York Yankees, has died. He was 90.

Berra died of natural causes Tuesday at his home in New Jersey, according to Dave Kaplan, the director of the Yogi Berra Museum.

"While we mourn the loss of our father, grandfather and great-grandfather, we know he is at peace with Mom," Berra's family said in a statement released by the museum. "We celebrate his remarkable life, and are thankful he meant so much to so many. He will truly be missed."

[Kobi]

Billy Joe Royal, a pop and country singer best known for the 1965 hit “Down in the Boondocks,” died on Tuesday. He was 73.

He hit the charts with two other songs by Joe South, “Hush” and “I Knew You When,” and ended the decade in the Top 20 with “Cherry Hill Park” (1969).

In the 1980s, after signing with Atlantic Records in Nashville, Mr. Royal turned out a steady stream of country hits, beginning with “Burned Like a Rocket,” which reached the country Top 10 in 1985 and was climbing when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. As a gesture of respect, D.J.s stopped playing the song. He followed up with “I’ll Pin a Note to Your Pillow,” a cover version of the Aaron Neville hit “Tell It Like It Is” and others.

Obit