R.I.P. CELEBRITY DEATHS 2020(NON WRESTLERS)

[jimsteel]

Co-Founder of the First ‘Star Trek’ Convention Elyse Rosenstein Has Died

Elyse Rosenstein, one of the organizers of the first Star Trek convention, suddenly passed away yesterday. A retired science teacher, she was undergoing rehabilitation for a broken leg when she passed.

[jimsteel]

Navy offensive lineman David Forney dies at age 22

Forney, who was to graduate in May, played in 39 straight games for the Midshipmen

Navy offensive lineman David Forney has died at the age of 22, the school announced Saturday. Forney was found unresponsive at Bancroft Hall on the Navy campus in Annapolis, Maryland. Official cause of death has not been determined, but foul play is not suspected.

"Words cannot express our pain and sorrow," said Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo. "First and foremost, our deepest condolences to the Forney family. The Navy Football Brotherhood is not a team, we are a family. We are devastated to have lost one of our brothers. We all loved -- and will always love -- David. We pray for strength during this most difficult time."

Forney was one of the foundations of Navy's triple-option rushing attack during his first three years with the program. The Walkersville, Maryland, native played in 39 consecutive games and was a three-year letter winner.

"There is no tighter bond or commitment to each other than found within the Navy football family. To lose a brother is devastating to these young men who grow closer every minute during their four years at the Academy," said athletics director Chet Gladchuk. "We are a community that is in emotional pain today. Our deepest condolences to his immediate family and all of his friends. David's memory and the influence he had on everyone he touched will live on and remain an inspiration forever within the annals of Navy football and the Brigade of Midshipmen."

Forney was set to graduate in May with a degree in political science. He was a member of the 9th Company and was assigned to become a cryptologic warfare officer.

[jimsteel]

Real-Life 'Hidden Figures' Mathematician Katherine Johnson Dead at 101

Katherine Johnson -- the mathematician portrayed by Taraji P. Henson in the Oscar-nominated film "Hidden Figures" -- has died.

NASA announced the pioneering figure died Monday. It was her groundbreaking math work that helped calculate the trajectories for Alan Shepard's history-making journey in space. She was also the one who gave the go-ahead for John Glenn's mission into orbit.

Johnson, who was initially rejected by NASA when she first applied, was tasked by Glenn to check the computer's work by redoing all the math done by a computer that had been programmed with the orbital equations that would control the trajectory of the capsule in Glenn's Friendship 7 mission.

And, as part of the pre-flight checklist, Glenn asked engineers to "get the girl" to run the same numbers through the same equations that had been programmed into the computer ... by hand. Glenn famously said, "If she says they're good then I'm ready to go." The mission went on without a hitch.

"Hidden Figures" was released in 2016 to much acclaim. It earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Octavia Spencer was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Johnson was honored at the 2017 Oscars.

Johnson, who retired in 1986 from NASA, authored or co-authored 26 research projects. She recalled her greatest contribution to space exploration the calculations that helped with Project Apollo's Lunar Lander -- the moon-orbiting Command Service Module.

She was born on August 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. She was famous before even her NASA days ... she was one of 3 black students handpicked to integrate West Virginia's graduate school. Johnson graduated from West Virginia State College in 1937 ... earning degrees in mathematics and French.

Johnson arrived at NASA before it was known by those letters. She started at NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) in 1953. It became NASA five years later.

[jimsteel]

Creator Of LEGO's Yellow Minifigures Jens Nygaard Knudsen Has Died Aged 78

Jens Nygaard Knudsen is responsible for creating the tiny characters that millions of children around the world have payed with since they were launched in 1978.

He passed away at a hospice in Anker Fjord, Denmark, last week (Wednesday 19 February), while being treated for motor neuron disease.

[jimsteel]

Colombo Underboss John 'Sonny' Franzese Dead at 103

John 'Sonny' Franzese, Sr., an Italian-American mobster who served as a Colombo crime family underboss and even had his finger in the movie biz ... is dead.

Franzese was an organized crime wheeler and dealer for decades, but he also dabbled in film. Franzese helped finance the '72 iconic porn flick, "Deep Throat." BTW ... it cost $22k to produce and grossed as much as $50 million. He also helped finance "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre."

Sonny served as an underboss of the Colombo family from 1964 to 1967, when he was sentenced to 50 years for bank robbery. He was paroled in '78 but prison became a revolving door. He went back and forth 6 times for crimes that included extortion.

He may have done worse ... in 2006, he talked about techniques for mob murders with a man who turned out to be a secret government informant who was wired. One of the things he said ... he put nail polish on his fingertips before murdering someone to avoid leaving fingerprints at the scene of the crime ... of course, to blunt DNA testing.

Interesting fact ... His son, John Franzese, Jr., testified against him in one of the trials. It marked the first time the son of a New York mobster turned state's evidence on his dad.

Sonny died in a nursing home in upstate New York. One of his daughters was by his side when he passed. We're told he died of natural causes.

Sonny was dubbed "The nodfather" for falling asleep during one of his trials.

When he was released for the last time in June 2017, he was the oldest federal inmate in the U.S. at age 100.

Franzese was born in Naples, Italy in 1917. He and his family moved to NYC when he was a child.

[jimsteel]

Baby Peggy, Child Star of Silent Films, Dies at 101

Before Shirley Temple, she was the young queen of Hollywood, earning $1 million a year, but her movie career did not last long.
Diana Serra Cary, the silent film sensation known as Baby Peggy whose career in Hollywood came to a crashing halt when she was the ripe old age of six, has died. She was 101.

Cary, who from 1921 through 1924 appeared in as many as 150 short films and a handful of popular features, died Monday in Gustine, California, according to Rena Kiehn of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum.

Without uttering a word onscreen, the emotive child actress with the distinctive bob haircut starred as Little Red Riding Hood in 1922 in a short film of the same name and in Hansel and Gretel (1923) in another short; took part in a bullfight in Carmen Jr. (1924); escaped from a burning building in The Darling of New York (1923); and ran a lighthouse in the heart-tugging Captain January (1924).

Most of her films have been lost; many were destroyed in a raging fire that consumed the old Century Film Co. studios in 1926.

[jimsteel]

Co-founder of Mazzy Star David Roback dies at 61

The co-founder of iconic 90s band Mazzy Star, David Roback, has reportedly died at age 61.

Emerging from the Paisley Underground scene in California during the 80s, Roback formed Mazzy Star with vocalist Hope Sandoval.

As a duo hailing from Santa Monica, Sandoval served as the primary lyricist while Roback produced the music.

Roback produced all of Mazzy Star’s recordings while playing guitar, keyboard and piano.

The band broke into the mainstream with 1993’s “Fade Into You.”

While deep in the Paisley Underground scene, Roback was also in Opal and Rain Parade.

[on_the_edge]

Grim reaper been busy with some interesting choices.

[jimsteel]

Clive Cussler, the US author of the popular Dirk Pitt novels, has died at the age of 88.

He wrote 25 books in the adventure series, including Sahara and Raise the Titanic, and sold more than 100 million copies of his novels in total.

Cussler's 1992 thriller Sahara was adapted for the big screen in a 2005 film starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz.

The writer, whose books have been published in more than 40 languages

[jimsteel]

Ben Cooper, a familiar face from dozens of TV westerns and the Twilight Zone

He played a foil to both Lucas McCain and Matt Dillon. He was 86

Marshal Matt Dillon was the law and order in Dodge City on Gunsmoke, but for a moment another man handled the law. In season ten, a fresh character popped up named Breck Taylor. This dapper lawyer played a prominent part in two episodes, "Breckinridge" and "Two Tall Men," before vanishing from the show. At the time, it seemed as if he was intended to be a new recurring character, a legal foil to Dillon. He was played by Ben Cooper.

Born in Connecticut, Cooper began his acting career as an adolescent on Broadway stages. He maintained his boyish looks as an adult, which made him a popular character actor for portraying young hotshots. A role as the handsome bandit Turkey Ralston in the 1954 film Johnny Guitar, opposite Joan Crawford, served as his breakthrough.


Marshal Matt Dillon was the law and order in Dodge City on Gunsmoke, but for a moment another man handled the law. In season ten, a fresh character popped up named Breck Taylor. This dapper lawyer played a prominent part in two episodes, "Breckinridge" and "Two Tall Men," before vanishing from the show. At the time, it seemed as if he was intended to be a new recurring character, a legal foil to Dillon. He was played by Ben Cooper.

Born in Connecticut, Cooper began his acting career as an adolescent on Broadway stages. He maintained his boyish looks as an adult, which made him a popular character actor for portraying young hotshots. A role as the handsome bandit Turkey Ralston in the 1954 film Johnny Guitar, opposite Joan Crawford, served as his breakthrough.

Cooper on Adam-12, The Twilight Zone and Bonanza
From there, Cooper became a familiar face on 1960s television, particularly in Westerns. Beyond Gunsmoke, he appeared on Bonanza, Wagon Train (as the title character in "The Tom Tuckett Story"), Rawhide, Laramie, Johnny Ringo and more. The Rifleman gave him one of his most memorable parts, as a fiery gunslinger in "Face of Yesterday." His character bears striking resemblance to a ghost from Lucas McCain's past in the Civil War, and nearly proves to be his downfall. Of course, the hero wins out.

Speaking of the Civil War, Cooper turned up as a mustachioed Confederate soldier in "Still Valley," a Faustian, magical war story told in the third season of The Twilight Zone.

Elsewhere, Cooper appeared five times on Perry Mason, played an astronaut on The Time Tunnel, and worked as a fellow LAPD officer on an episode of Adam-12.

Cooper continued to work well into the 1990s, most notably in a recurring role as the Director on The Fall Guy. His final role was on Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, four decades after his breakout.