R.I.P CELEBRITY DEATHS(NON WRESTLING) 2017

[topdollar]

I watched the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour with my folks when I was a kid. He was a great entertainer who also starred in the original True Grit with John Wayne. RIP.

[jimsteel]

Joseph Bologna, an actor, playwright and screenwriter who was so memorable as the egotistical King Kaiser in the 1982 comedy classic My Favorite Year, has died. He was 82.

Bologna died Sunday morning at City of Hope hospital in Duarte, Calif. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years ago, said his wife of 52 years, actress and screenwriter Renee Taylor.

Bologna received an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay, shared with his wife and David Zelag Goodman, for his work on Lovers and Other Strangers (1970). The couple had first written it for Broadway in a 1968 production directed by Charles Grodin.

They penned 22 plays in all, including It Had to Be You, Bermuda Avenue Triangle and If You Ever Leave Me I'm Going With You!

Bologna and Taylor penned and starred in the semi-autobiographical Made for Each Other (1971), which Newsweek called "the best love story & comedy of the year," and co-wrote and co-directed Love Is All There Is (1996), which marked one of the first feature appearances for Angelina Jolie.

The duo also won an Emmy Award for writing the 1973 Marlo Thomas TV special Acts of Love and Other Comedies.

Bologna's most notable onscreen appearance came as the slick King Kaiser, clearly modeled after comedy legend Sid Caesar, in the classic My Favorite Year. Producer Mel Brooks, one of Caesar's writers on Your Show of Shows in the 1950s, insisted that first-time movie director Richard Benjamin use Bologna, and Caesar reportedly was delighted.

"I love Sid," Bologna told People magazine in 1982. "He was a pro, and he did his thing. But he was, like, nuts."

Bologna was able to attend a 35th anniversary celebration of the film on July 27.

[jimsteel]

Sir Bruce Forsyth, the veteran entertainer and presenter of many successful TV shows, has died aged 89.

The former Strictly Come Dancing host had been unwell for some time and was in hospital earlier this year after a severe chest infection.

His long career in showbusiness began when he was aged just 14.
He became Britain's best-paid TV star, famous for hosting game shows like The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right and The Price is Right.

[jimsteel]

Actor Sonny Landham, who appeared in “Predator” and “48 Hrs,” died from congestive heart failure Thursday in Lexington, Ky. He was 76.

The actor, who was part Seminole and part Cherokee, was best known for portraying Native American tracker Billy Sole in Arnold Schwarzenegger-starrer “Predator” in 1987. However, he did not appear in the film’s sequels.

Landham’s early work in the 1970s included several X-rated films, but after appearing in Walter Hill’s 1979 street-gang thriller “The Warriors,” Landham often portrayed the tough guy in 1980s films including roles in “Action Jackson” and “Lock Up.” With over 50 acting credits to his name, Landham continued to appear in films through the 1990s.

[TTX]

RIP Bruce.

[Bazzy]

R.I.P Bruce "Good game good game" Forsyth

[jimsteel]

Dick Gregory, Trailblazer of Stand-Up Comedy, Dies at 84

He broke ground at the Playboy Club in Chicago and on Jack Paar's 'Tonight Show,' then became a potent activist for civil rights.
Dick Gregory, a pioneering force of comedy in the 1960s who parlayed his career as a stand-up into a life of social and political activism, has died Saturday of heart failure, his rep confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 84.

"It is with enormous sadness that the Gregory family confirms that their father, comedic legend and civil rights activist Mr. Dick Gregory departed this earth tonight in Washington, D.C.," his son, Christian Gregory said via a statement from his father's rep. "The family appreciates the outpouring of support and love and respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time."

"He was one of the sweetest, smartest, most loving people one could ever know," his publicist of 50 years, Steve Jaffe, tells THR. "I just hope that God is ready for some outrageously funny times." A full statement and details of Gregory's funeral will be released Sunday, Jaffe said.

According to an Aug. 17 statement written by his son, Gregory was recently hospitalized.

Regarded as the first African-American comic to perform regularly in front of white audiences, Gregory appeared on all of the top TV talk shows of the 1960s and '70s.

[TTX]

Ahh Dick Gregory...quite the mouth from what I've heard. RIP.

[TTX]

Jerry Lewis has passed.

He was 91

[jimsteel]

R.I.P.