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

[on_the_edge]

I thought Marsalis had passed a week or so ago.

[jimsteel]

Mort Drucker, Master of the Mad Caricature, Is Dead at 91

His illustrations of celebrities for Mad magazine’s movie and television satires inspired countless cartoonists. Actors, politicians and others knew they had made it when he drew them.

Mort Drucker, a longtime contributor to Mad magazine known for his caricatures of actors, politicians and other celebrities, died on Wednesday at his home in Woodbury, N.Y. He was 91.

His longtime friend, John Reiner, confirmed the death.

Mr. Drucker, who specialized in illustrating Mad’s movie and television satires, inspired several generations of cartoonists. “To me, he’s the guy,” the caricaturist Drew Friedman said. “I used to imitate his work in Mad when I was a kid. I wanted to be Mort Drucker; I even loved his name.”

Mr. Drucker’s facility was best expressed in multi-caricature crowd scenes. His parody of the 1986 Woody Allen film, “Hannah and Her Sisters,” opened with a panel depicting a Thanksgiving dinner that, in addition to most of the movie’s ensemble cast, included caricatures of Mr. Allen’s first wife, Louise Lasser; the film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel; Mayor Ed Koch of New York; and Mad’s mascot, Alfred E. Neuman. His drawing for a 1970 Time magazine cover, “Battle for the Senate,” now in the National Portrait Gallery, featured a pileup of 15 individually characterized political figures, including President Richard M. Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew. Mad’s takeoff on the MGM retrospective feature “That’s Entertainment,” published in 1975, required Mr. Drucker to caricature more than two dozen stars.

“I think I’ve drawn almost everyone in Hollywood,” he told The New York Times in 2000.
ImageMr. Drucker’s drawing for a 1970 Time magazine cover, “Battle for the Senate,” is now in the National Portrait Gallery.
Mr. Drucker’s drawing for a 1970 Time magazine cover, “Battle for the Senate,” is now in the National Portrait Gallery.Credit...Mort Drucker

Some of Mr. Drucker’s most inventive works were double satires. The 1963 Mad piece “East Side Story,” written by Frank Jacobs, is a parody of “West Side Story” as played out by prominent international figures. Nikita Khrushchev, Fidel Castro and Charles de Gaulle are among the many world leaders drawn cavorting against photographed backdrops of New York City streets. “It’s a Blunderful Life,” written by Stan Hart and published in 1996, updated “It’s a Wonderful Life” to star Richard Nixon as Bill Clinton’s guardian angel.

A self-taught freelance cartoonist who had worked on war, western, science fiction and romance comic books as well as personality-driven titles like The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and The Adventures of Bob Hope, Mr. Drucker came to Mad in late 1956, soon after Al Feldstein succeeded Harvey Kurtzman, the magazine’s founder, as editor. Mad had run only occasional TV and movie satires, but Mr. Drucker’s arrival “changed everything,” the pop-culture critic Grady Hendrix wrote in a 2013 Film Comment appreciation of Mad’s movie paro

dies.

[TTX]

Oh that's a rough one. Loved Mort. RIP.

[jimsteel]

Dieter Laser: HUMAN CENTIPEDE Actor Has Passed Away at the age of 78. Horror fans will forever remember the German actor for his turns as Dr. Heiter in The Human Centipede (First Sequence) and demented warden Bill Boss in The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence).

He was born in Kiel. On a cold winter afternoon at the age of sixteen, Dieter Laser went to the stage door of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg at that time the most famous theatre in Germany and he asked the doorman how to become an actor. There was an extra missing for the Christmas fairy tale afternoon-performance for children and 30 minutes later he stood on stage among a bunch of “sailors”. That was the beginning of his career as an extra. – He had grown up in a fundamentalist Christian sect where the Theatre was regarded as devil’s work. As a brainwashed believer he had to hazard the consequences. Therefore he made a deal with the devil: ‘I will become an actor and I’ll pay later on – in hell!’ – Watching as an extra the famous actors “The Gods” by doing their marvelous work during rehearsals and performances became his “drama school”. Gradually he got a word to speak in a play – then two words – even a sentence – a tiny part – another little part – and one day he suddenly got a contract and overnight his dream had come true: he now was a real actor with whom the “Gods” shook hands. – After 14 passionate years on stage and as a co-founder and member of the board of the meanwhile most famous German theatre, the Schaubuehne in Berlin, he decided to become a freelancer and got his first work for the cinema: the title role in John Glueckstadt. For this performance he won the German Film Award in Gold. Since then, and besides countless guest appearances on the most important stages of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxemburg, with parts like Don Juan, Valmont, Peer Gynt, Macbeth, Captain Ahab etc. Dieter Laser played in about 65 films, at times co-starring with “Gods” like Burt Lancaster, Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Glenn Close, John Malkovich etc.

[jimsteel]

Malcolm Dixon, diminutive actor who appeared in ‘Return of the Jedi’ and ‘Time Bandits,’ dead at 66

The 4-foot-1 performer is best known for his roles as an Ewok warrior in “Return of the Jedi” and Strutter in the 1981 British fantasy film “Time Bandits.”

Born in a northeastern English village in 1953, Dixon was discovered in his youth at an ice skating rink by a talent agency. After working on an ice show, he caught the attention of Muppets creator Jim Henson, according to Fantha Tracks.

His first notable film role came in 1971, when he was tapped to play one of the Oompa-Loompas in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”

[jimsteel]

Eagles great, NFL champion Pete Retzlaff dies at age 88

Pete Retzlaff, who never caught a pass in college but caught 452 of them during his brilliant 11-year career with the Eagles, died Friday.

He was 88.

Retzlaff, whose No. 44 is one of only nine numbers retired by the Eagles, was a five-time Pro Bowler, first-team all-pro and 1989 inductee into the Eagles Hall of Fame.

"Pete was proud to have played his entire career in Philadelphia," the Retzlaff family said in a statement. "Our family can't thank the Eagles and the wonderful fans enough for their support that bolstered his playing years and beyond. Pete set lofty goals for himself. He believed in hard work, honesty, and always giving 100 percent effort. Throughout his life, he believed in giving back to the community as a thank you for what they gave to him. Thank you to all of Philadelphia."

Retzlaff was the Lions’ 22nd-round draft pick in 1953 out of South Dakota State, where he was a fullback, but he didn't make the team team and spent two years in the Army before the Eagles acquired his rights on waivers.

He was 25 when he finally made his NFL debut in 1956, and he didn’t become a major contributor until his third season. But from 1958 through 1966, he caught 430 passes for 7,13 yards and 47 touchdowns, ranking 6th in the NFL during that span in receptions, fourth in yards and 13th in TDs.

No player in history drafted as late as Retzlaff had as many yards, catches or TDs.

Only six players in franchise history have made more Pro Bowls — teammate Chuck Bednarik, plus Reggie White, Brian Dawkins, Jason Peters, Donovan McNabb and Pete Pihos.

Retzlaff played his entire 11-year career with the Eagles and made Pro Bowls after the 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964 and 1965 seasons. He was a first-team all-pro in 1965, when he had 1,190 receiving yards, breaking long-time teammate Tommy McDonald’s franchise record of 1,146, set three years earlier.

To this day, 54 years after he retired, Retzlaff ranks 2nd in Eagles history with 7,412 receiving yards, trailing only Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael (8,978).

He’s also still 3rd in Eagles history with 452 receptions, behind only (589) and Zach Ertz (525), who passed him this past season. And his 47 TD catches are 5th-most in franchise history.

When he retired after the 1966 season, Retzlaff ranked 7th in NFL history in catches and 6th in receiving yards.

[jimsteel]

Oilers' Colby Cave, 25, dies after suffering brain bleed

Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave died Saturday morning after suffering a brain bleed earlier in the week. He was 25.

Cave was airlifted Tuesday to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto and had been in a medically induced coma after having emergency surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing pressure on his brain.

Emily Cave and other family members were unable to visit Cave in the hospital over the past few days because of COVID-19 rules.

[jimsteel]

Hilary Heath, Actress in 'Witchfinder General,' Dies of COVID-19 Complications at 74

She worked alongside Vincent Price in three movies, then turned to producing 'An Awfully Big Adventure,' 'Nil by Mouth' and 'Rebecca.'

Hilary Heath, the British actress and producer who starred opposite Vincent Price in the American International Pictures horror films Witchfinder General, The Oblong Box and Cry of the Banshee, has died. She was 74.

Dwyer died last week of complications from COVID-19, her godson, Alex Williams, wrote on Facebook.

After retiring from acting, Heath produced Mike Newell's An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), starring Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman, and Nil by Mouth (1997), written and directed by Gary Oldman.

She was married to talent agent Duncan Heath from 1974 until their 1989 divorce, and they launched the agency Duncan Heath Associates, which was sold to ICM in 1984. He is now co-chairman of Independent Talent Group.

Born on May 6, 1945, in Liverpool, England, Hilary Dwyer studied ballet and the piano as a child and then appeared as a stage actress for the Bristol Old Vic.

After working on The Avengers and other TV series, she made her big-screen debt as the terrified niece Sara Lowes in the gruesome Witchfinder General (1968), directed and co-written by Michael Reeves. (The filmmaker died soon after the movie's release at age 25 of an alcohol and barbiturate overdose.)

Following a turn in The Body Stealers (1969), she reunited with Price in Edgar Allan Poe's The Oblong Box (1969) and Cry of the Banshee (1970).

[jimsteel]

Willy Wonka Actor Tim Brooke-Taylor Dies From Coronavirus

British comedian and actor Tim Brooke-Taylor died on Sunday from COVID-19. He was 79. Brooke-Taylor's death was confirmed by his agent. The entertainer had a long career in entertainment and was a huge star in the U.K. in the 1970s due to his work on the series The Goodies. He also appeared as a scientist in the iconic 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

At the start of his career, Brooke-Taylor was a member of Cambridge University's Footlights revue, a group that saw the rise of several generations of British comic talent. He went on to break into both television and radio comedy alongside John Cleese and Graham Chapman, both of whom would become members of Monty Python.

Along with Graham Garden and Bill Oddie, Brooke-Taylor formed The Goodies, who in addition to the hit BBC series, also scored a hit single, "Funky Gibbon" in 1975. Outside of television work, Brooke-Taylor was also a panelist on the BBC's comic quiz show, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue for more than 40 years.

Born July 17, 1940, Brooke-Taylor also appeared in the Doctor Who audio story "The Zygon Who Fell to Earth" in 2008 with the entertainer playing Mims, a Zygon taking the shape of a human.

[jimsteel]

Michael McCarthy, the ‘SNL’ veteran and Second City member, is dead at 61

hough he shared stages at the Second City with talented folks who would go on to become stars — Steven Carell and Amy Sedaris among them — Michael Clayton McCarthy was an influential and inspiring presence on the national comedy scene for decades. Beloved, too.

McCarthy — performer and writer and pal to everyone he met — died Wednesday at the North Side home he shared with his wife, the acclaimed performer and writer Susan Messing, and teenage stepdaughter Sofia Mia Canale. The cause of death was cancer. He was 61 years old.

“He was great, the kind of person who never forced me to open up and talk to him, but always made himself available,” said 17-year-old Sofia. “And I always wanted to talk to him because he was genuinely so wonderful to talk to.”

McCarthy, his friends say, was inspired as a kid to become a comedy writer by watching the “Dick Van Dyke Show.” He was born in Cleveland on Feb. 15, 1959. He came to Chicago in 1980 and was hired as Second City’s first intern. By the time he was 24 he had joined the writing staff of “Saturday Night Live.”