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

[jimsteel]

David Paul – One of the ‘Barbarian Brothers’ passes away

The bodybuilding and fitness generation start the day with the horrible news that one of the Barbarian Brothers, David Paul has passed away at the age of 62.

The death of David was confirmed by his twin brother Peter. David passed away just two days before his birthday. He was born 8 March, 1957 – Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

The cause of death is not yet known, but sources close to this site believe he died in his sleep.

David and Peter were very popular in the 1980’s and early 90’s. They were also regulars at Gold’s Gym in Venice, California.

David and Peter shot to fame when they started to feature in their own films and as well playing small parts in some big budget films.

David Paul, first discovered with his twin brother for their muscular physiques and good looks, starred in films such as The Barbarian Brothers and evolved with excellent comedic timing to star in Twin Sitters, babysitting a couple of evil rich kids.

Aside from acting, David has had many celebrated shows of his photography all around the US and developed his cinematographic abilities to create and shoot original films such as Faith Street Corner Tavern, which was spotlighted in International Film Festivals. David Paul excels before and behind the camera.

[jimsteel]

Former Wales rugby star Matthew J Watkins dies at 41 after seven-year battle with cancer

Former Wales rugby international Matthew J Watkins has died aged 41 after being diagnosed with cancer seven years ago.

He was diagnosed with a rare form of pelvic cancer in 2013. In 2018, he discovered the cancer had spread to his spine and in January this year revealed it had spread to his head.

He had originally put the soreness in his back down to the hip injury which had led to his retirement from the game in 2011, but was refereed for an MRI scan which identified the cancer in May 2013.

In recent years he has helped raise thousands of pounds with fundraising events for Welsh cancer centre Velindre, where he was receiving treatment.

Husband to wife Stacey and father to sons Siôr and Tal, Watkins was capped 18 times for Wales between 2003 and 2006 and was a hugely popular player during his time at Newport RFC, Llanelli, Gloucester and Dragons.

He was part of the Wales team that pulled off a historic win over Australia under Mike Ruddock.

After playing youth rugby with Newbridge and Pontllanfraith, he was a regular figure for Newport RFC for five years between 1997 and 2002, making 118 appearances before joining Llanelli.

He then went on to make more than 100 appearances for the Scarlets and also played for Gloucester before signing for the Dragons in 2009.

Watkins, from Oakdale, near Blackwood, retired in 2011.

[jimsteel]

Joyce Gordon, Who Broke the Glasses Ceiling on TV, Dies at 90

As a bespectacled pitchwoman, she defied a stereotype. She was also a screen actors’ labor leader and a familiar voice (“The number you have reached is no longer in service”).

During the germinal days of television, just by being herself, the actress Joyce Gordon made a gender stereotype anachronistic.

“I’m not a glamour girl — most women aren’t,” she volunteered in a 1961 interview. “I’m an attractive, up-to-date young woman — glasses and all.”

Confident and, clinically, farsighted, Ms. Gordon, who died at 90 on Feb. 28, became famous as “The Girl With the Glasses,” for un-self-consciously wearing her signature eyeglasses on camera as she delivered live, on-air advertising pitches for products like Crisco and Duncan Hines cake mixes.

For all the headlines that her eyewear inspired, though, Ms. Gordon was also known for her voice. She reached radio listeners and television viewers through commercials and promotional announcements. Moviegoers heard her in dubbed foreign films — as a stand-in, for example, for Claudia Cardinale in Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West,” released in the United States in 1969.

And, her agent said, she was the voice in the ubiquitous recording that advised telephone callers in the 1980s and ’90s that “the number you have reached is no longer in service.”

Her daughter, Melissa Grant, confirmed Ms. Gordon’s death, in Manhattan.

Ms. Gordon was credited with blazing other trails professionally. According to the Screen Actors Guild, she broke ground in 1966 as the first woman to head a local unit of the union when she was elected president of the New York branch in 1966. She was the first woman to serve as an announcer on a network TV broadcast of a national political convention, in 1980 on ABC, and the first to do on-air promotions for a network, plugging news and sports programs on NBC for four decades.

“Her stature as a pitchwoman and voice-over talent was indispensable in convincing the advertising industry to take seriously the concerns of commercial performers in the early days of that contract,” said Gabrielle Carteris, the president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Ms. Gordon pitched many household goods and personal products on television, but, as one interviewer wrote, she “has probably done more for the eyesight of the American woman than all the professionals and their lectures.”

Her glasses were not a prop.

She had been squinting into the camera while rehearsing a commercial when an advertising agency representative, observing her in the studio, suggested that she wear her glasses on air. He assured her that he would persuade the sponsor to agree to what would be a radical departure from convention at a time when society still subscribed to Dorothy Parker’s acerbic aphorism “Men seldom make passes/At girls who wear glasses.”

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“Gradually, I realized what he was driving at,” Ms. Gordon said of the agency man. “The glasses give me identity and authority.”

Moreover, she said, “people tend to feel that I’m natural.”

She went on to be profiled in Broadcasting magazine in 1960 under the headline “The TV Girl Who Wears Glasses.” TV Guide put her on the cover as the first woman to wear glasses while appearing under her own name as a “TV hostess.” (“I enjoy being myself instead of playing a part,” she was quoted as saying.)

[jimsteel]

Game Of Thrones Actor Max Von Sydow Dies Aged 90

Best known for his roles in The Exorcist and Game of Thrones, von Sydow appeared in more than 100 films and TV series throughout his life.

Max von Sydow’s film credits span more than six decades, including roles in iconic films such as Minority Report (2002), Shutter Island (2010) and The Exorcist (1973), where he played the doomed Father Lankester Merrin.

One of the most memorable roles of his career was in The Seventh Seal (1957), which included an eerie scene where his character played a game of chess against Death itself.

The veteran actor continued working in later life, voicing a character in The Simpsons in 2014 and playing the mysterious Three-Eyed Raven in Game of Thrones in 2016. He also played Lor San Tekka in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).

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Allen Bellman Passed away at 90, Illustrated Captain America

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R.D. Call, ‘Into The Wild,’ ‘Last Man Standing’ Actor, Dies at 70

Roy Dana (R.D.) Call, an actor who appeared in such films as “Last Man Standing,” “Born on the Fourth of July” and several other films alongside Sean Penn, died on Feb. 27 of back surgery complications, his family announced. He was 70.

The Utah native was born Feb. 16, 1950 and came to Los Angeles in 1975 to pursue his career in acting, attending Lee Strasberg Acting School and Lonny Chapman’s L.A. Repertory Theater Group. His first major television performance was in the drama “Barnaby Jones,” episodes of which were directed by Leo Penn, Sean Penn’s father. He went on to appear on “The X-Files,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “V” and “Trapper John M.D,” and had a recurring role in Stephen King’s “Golden Years.”

Call acted alongside Penn in seven films that began with “At Close Range” in 1986, followed by “Colors,” “State of Grace,” “The Weight of Water,” “I Am Sam” and “Babel.” He also appeared in “Into the Wild,” a film directed by Penn. He’s appeared in over 24 major feature films include “Last Man Standing,” “Born on the Fourth of July” and “Waterworld.”
The actor was known to have a love for live performance and often said “acting just wasn’t real unless you were willing and able to perform live theater,” according to the family’s statement. Some of Call’s stage performances included “Blackout,” “Speed of Darkness,” “Drift,” and “Good Bobby.”

Call, who struggled with alcoholism, celebrated his 26th year of sobriety this year. The actor wrestled with major back pain the past few years and had surgery in 2019 and again this year on Feb. 24 to address the problem.

“R.D was as tough as nails on the outside, but a real gentleman on the inside,” said his family. “He could be very intimidating at first sight or even a little scary to some. But once you got to know him, his directness turned into a kid fondness for getting to know people. He was who he was, honest, direct, genuine, and funny, he had a great sense of humor and there was no pretense or phoniness.”

[jimsteel]

Emmy-Winning TV Writer Earl Pomerantz Dies at 75

Earl Pomerantz, an Emmy-winning television writer who worked on numerous sitcoms over the years, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 75.

The announcement was made by Pomerantz’s friend, TV writer Ken Levine, on Levine’s personal blog.

Over the course of his career, Pomerantz wrote scripts for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Rhoda,” “The Tony Randall Show,” “Phyllis,” “Taxi,” “Cheers” and “The Cosby Show,” which he also ran for a period of time. He also was creator and executive producer on “Major Dad” and “Best of the West” and served as a creative consultant on “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Lateline” and “According to Jim.” He won two Emmy Awards, one in 1976 for serving on the writing team of “The Lily Tomlin Special” and another in 1985 for “The Cosby Show.”

Born in Canada, he got his start in television writing for “The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour” for his brother Hart Pomerantz and Lorne Michaels before moving to Hollywood.

In his blog post, Levine described Pomerantz as a “very different type of comedy writer” and said that “his humor came from celebrating humanity and pointing out the silly absurd things we all do and can relate to.”

“He was never mean spirited,” Levine said. “I don’t think he could write a real put down joke. Shows that derived laughs out of humiliation held no interest for him. Earl believed that comedy was meant to provide joy.”

In what would end up being Pomerantz’s final blog post, the writer expressed gratitude toward his audience. Titled “Intermission,” the post says the following: “Troubling eye problem. Can’t write. Be back when I can. In the meantime, thanks for the company. I’ve never had more fun writing. So long. And as The Cisco Kid used to say, ‘See you soon, Ha!'”

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'7th Heaven' Actor Lorenzo Brino Dead at 21

Tragic news has come out regarding one member of the 7th Heaven family. Lorenzo Brino, who starred on the show when he was younger, has died at the age of 21 as a result of a car crash, as TMZ reported on Sunday. Brino, who was the only occupant of his vehicle, reportedly lost control of his Toyota Camry and it struck a pole. The crash reportedly occurred earlier this week, but the name of the victim, Brino, was only recently confirmed, as TMZ went on to note.

TMZ reported that Brino was part of a quadruplet and all of them appeared on 7th Heaven on a rotating basis from 1999 to 2007. Brino first appeared on the show when Annie Camden gave birth, and the episode was ultimately one of the most-watched episodes of the series.

[Bazzy]

Roy Hudd actor , comedian and author aged 83 from Croydon , England R.I.P

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Beloved ‘Modern Family’ Bulldog Dies Days After Filming Final Episode

Beatrice had played Stella on the show since 2012.

Beatrice the French bulldog, best known for playing Stella on the hit TV series “Modern Family,” has reportedly died just days after the show’s final episode wrapped.

The dog succumbed last week to unknown causes. She was approximately 10 years old, The Blast reported.