R.I.P. CELEBRITY DEATHS 2019(NON WRESTLERS)

[jimsteel]

Bradley Bolke, Chumley the Walrus on 'Tennessee Tuxedo' Cartoons, Dies at 93

[TTX]

Used to really enjoy Chumley. RIP.

[jimsteel]

Windsor Davies: It Ain't Half Hot Mum actor dies aged 88

Actor Windsor Davies, who starred in the popular sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum and two Carry On films, has died at the age of 88.
The British star played the role of Battery Sergeant Major Williams in It Ain't Half Hot Mum, which followed the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party and was broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981.

His character - a no-nonsense platoon leader - had a love-hate relationship with the theatrical troupe and became known for barking: "Shut up!" while also calling them "lovely boys".

Before securing his most famous part he had appeared in an episode of Doctor Who in 1967, and would later play a starring role in Carry On Behind in 1975, Carry On England in 1976, and rugby comedy Grand Slam in 1978.

Davies also enjoyed a decade-long stint as the antiques dealer Oliver Smallbridge in another sitcom, Never The Twain, which aired from 1981 to 1991.

[TTX]

One of IB's favorites. Sad as always. RIP.

[Bazzy]

R.I.P actor Windsor Davies

[jimsteel]

Kaye Ballard, star of ‘The Mothers-in-Law,’ dead at 93


Ballard had been fighting kidney cancer, Gordon said Tuesday.

A boisterous comedian and singer as well as an actress, Ballard appeared in Broadway musicals and nightclubs from New York to Las Vegas.

She starred with Eve Arden in the 1960s sitcom “The Mothers-In-Law.” The series marked a high point in a career that began when Ballard was 12 and lasted into the 21st century.

[jimsteel]

James Frawley, the Emmy-winning director who brought both the Monkees and the Muppets to screen success during a prolific television and film career spanning five decades, has died. He was 82

Frawley was born in Houston in September 1936 and gravitated toward acting, first on stage and then in classic 1960s television fare such as Gunsmoke, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Perry Mason, My Favorite Martian, Dr. Kildare, The Outer Limits and I, Spy.

Frawley’s career took a major turn in 1966 when he set aside acting to step behind the camera as the director of an experimental new NBC series, The Monkees. Inspired by Beatlemania, the primetime music and comedy series introduced a “pre-feb” version of the Fab Four with Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones, Peter Took and Mickey Dolenz as a daft pop troupe channeling their own riff on the frenetic charms of the Beatles films Help! and A Hard Day’s Night.

The Monkees lasted 58 episodes spread over two seasons but its pop-culture legacy and popularity went far beyond that, especially when the show’s band scored authentic chart hits that became pop classics, among them Last Train to Clarksville, Daydream Believer, Steppin’ Stone and I’m a Believer.

In 1967 Frawley won an Emmy for directing an episode of the Monkees titled Royal Flush and he was nominated again a year later for another episode, The Devil and Peter Tork. He would add two more Emmy nominations in later decades for his work on the 1997 pilot of Fox’s Ally McBeal and the 2000 pilot of NBC’s Ed.

His credits in television also include Columbo, Magnum, P.I., Grey’s Anatomy, The Practice, Wonderful World of Disney, Cagney & Lacy, That Girl, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Melrose Place, and Smallville.

The sharp but loopy improvisational energy of The Monkees made a big impression on Jim Henson who more than a decade later flew Frawley to the London set of The Muppet Show to discuss a big-screen adventure based on the syndicated television series.

The two bonded and Frawley signed on to direct The Muppet Movie, the 1979 puppet epic that tracks an intrepid amphibian named Kermit the Frog on his quest for Hollywood fame and introduces him to new friends like Fozzy Bear, Miss Piggy and Gonzo. The film’s all-star cameos gave Frawley a chance to direct Orson Welles, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin and Mel Brooks.

[jimsteel]

Steve Bell, former ABC News anchor and Ball State professor, dies at 83

Steve Bell, a former ABC News anchor and Ball State University professor, died Friday at age 83.

Bell worked for ABC News and was named an anchor for Good Morning America in 1975.

Bell joined Ball State in 1992 as the Edmund F. And Virginia B. Ball endowed chair of telecommunications and eventually was a telecommunications professor before he retired in 2007.

In January 2008, Bell was a recognized with an honor degree from Ball State.

“Steve Bell brought real-world knowledge about journalism to the classroom and our production facilities, sharing his keen storytelling skills with our students,” Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns said. “We are very proud that he was able to serve Ball State as an outstanding and committed member of our campus community."

During his career, Bell covered the Vietnam War, Watergate scandal, assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy, reporting from Southeast Asia, and served as the Hong Kong bureau chief.

[jimsteel]

Grammy-Winning R&B Singer James Ingram Dies at 66



Grammy-winning R&B singer James Ingram has died at age 66, according to multiple media reports. The news was first reported by Tuesday by Ingram's longtime friend and creative partner Debbie Allen on social media.

"I have lost my dearest friend and creative partner James Ingram to the Celestial Choir," Allen wrote. "He will always be cherished, loved and remembered for his genius, his love of family and his humanity. I am blessed to have been so close. We will forever speak his name."

The exact details of when or how Ingram died are unknown.

According to Billboard.com Ingram won two Grammy awards during his career: His song "One Hundred Ways" won best male R&B performance in 1981 and his duet with Michael McDonald on "Yah Mo B There" won best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals in 1984. Ingram was also nominated for back-to-back best original song Oscars in 1993 and 1994, for co-writing "The Day I Fall in Love" from Beethoven's 2nd and "Look What Love Has Done" from Junior.

[jimsteel]

And here is #22 and we havent finished January yet




Dick Miller, ‘Gremlins’ and ‘Terminator’ Actor, Dies at 90

Dick Miller, a prolific screen actor best known for his role as Murray Futterman in the 1984 classic horror film “Gremlins,” has died. He was 90.

With a career spanning more than 60 years, Miller has made hundreds of on screen appearances, beginning in the 1950s with legendary director and producer Roger Corman. It was then that he starred as Walter Paisley – a character the actor would reprise throughout his career – in the cult classic “A Bucket of Blood,” before going on to land roles on projects such as “The ‘Burbs,” “Fame” and “The Terminator.”

Miller also boasts a long history of high-profile director partnerships, working with the likes of James Cameron, Ernest Dickerson, Martin Scorsese, John Sayles and, perhaps most notably, Joe Dante, who used Miller in almost every project he helmed.

In one of Dante’s earlier films, “Piranha,” Miller played Buck Gardner, a small-time real estate agent opening up a new resort on Lost River Lake. The only catch? A large school of genetically altered piranha have accidentally been released into the resort’s nearby rivers. Next up was a police chief role in the 1979 film “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” before reprising the Walter Paisley mantle as an occult bookshop owner in Dante’s 1981 horror film “The Howling.”

Other notable appearances include the 1986 cult favorite “Night of the Creeps,” where he shared the screen with Tom Atkins as a police ammunitions officer named Walt – he supplies Atkins with some necessary firepower in the face of an alien worm-zombie invasion – and a pawnshop owner in James Cameron’s 1984 hit “The Terminator; the same year he appeared in yet another of Dante’s films, “Gremlins.”

Most recently, Miller reprised the role of Walter Paisley for a final time as a rabbi in Eben McGarr’s horror film “Hanukkah.”

Miller is survived by his wife Lainie, daughter Barbara and granddaughter Autumn.

Dante called him “one of his most treasured collaborators,” writing, “I ‘grew up’ (kinda) watching Dick Miller in movies from the 50s on and was thrilled to have him in my first movie for Roger Corman.