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

[jimsteel]

John Andretti, one of racing’s most versatile, dies after battle with cancer

John Andretti, whose diverse resume included victories in NASCAR, IndyCar and the Rolex 24, died Thursday after a lengthy battle with cancer, Andretti Autosport announced. He was 56.

Andretti was a versatile driver who competed and won in the NASCAR Cup Series and the CART IndyCar Series. He was the first driver to attempt the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 doubleheader in 1994, finishing 10th at Indy for A.J. Foyt Racing and 36th at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Billy Hagan.

He also was among the winning sports car team in the overall title at the 1989 Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. In the NHRA, he raced a Top Fuel dragster in 1993 and reached the semifinals of a national event at Atlanta.

Andretti is survived by his wife, Nancy, and children Jarrett, Olivia and Amelia.

He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017. In a tweet posted Andretti Autosport (owned by John’s cousin, Michael), the team said John Andretti “vowed to fight back and use his voice to help spread the word of prevention and early detection. He fought hard and stole back days the disease vowed to take away.

“He helped countless others undergo proper screening and in doing so, saved lives. We will forever carry with us John’s genuine spirit of helping others first and himself second. Our prayers today are with Nancy, Jarrett, Olivia and Amelia, with our entire family, and with fans worldwide. We urge all our followers to, please, #CheckIt4Andretti.”

The nephew of racing legend Mario Andretti raced in NASCAR’s premier series full time from 1994-2003, including six seasons with Petty Enterprises.

He won the 400-mile race at Daytona International Speedway in July 1997. On April 18, 1999, his last Cup win came in the No. 43 Pontiac at Martinsville Speedway, where he gave team owner Richard Petty a lift into victory lane.

He also made 12 starts in the Indianapolis 500 with a best of fifth in 1991. His lone CART victory came in the 1991 season opener at the Surfers Paradise circuit in Australia

[jimsteel]

Fred Silverman Dies: Legendary TV Executive & Producer Was 82

Fred Silverman, the legendary television producer and executive behind such groundbreaking shows as All in the Family, Soap and Hill Street Blues, and the only executive to creatively run CBS, ABC and NBC, died Thursday at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was 82.

Silverman’s knack for identifying hit shows in the making and programming them into memorable primetime nights led Time magazine to crown him “The Man with the Golden Gut” in 1977.

“There are a lot of things that I can point to that I think are proud achievements,” Silverman said in a 2001 interview with the TV Academy Foundation. “Most importantly, I had the opportunity to kind of stretch the medium a little bit, to do some things that had never been done before.

He started his career at WGN-TV in Chicago and WPIX in New York City. The young Silverman so impressed the top executives at CBS that he was named head of CBS daytime programming at 25.

At CBS, Silverman was responsible for a new wave of hit comedy, drama and varoety series including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, The Waltons, Good Times, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, Kojak, Cannon, The Jeffersons, and the animated — and later iconic — Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

Another popular Happy Days spinoff of the late 1970s was Mork & Mindy, which dropped Robin Williams’ oddball alien into his own series and launched the future Oscar winner’s career. Williams called out the executive in a Roots-themed bit on his manic 1979 comedy album Reality … What a Concept, shouting, “I found you, Fred Silverman! I found youuuuuu!”

Silverman reinvented the television miniseries with the Peabody- and Emmy-award winning Roots, which drew massive ratings over multiple nights in January 1977 and fueled a golden era of the format. He also reintroduced game shows to the network’s daytime slate, including The Price Is Right, which remains on air today.

[jimsteel]

Last Battle of Britain flying ace Paul Farnes dies aged 101

Farnes was last surviving pilot with the accolade of having downed at least five planes


The last surviving ace who fought in the Battle of Britain has died, aged 101.

Wg Cmdr Paul Farnes was one of 3,000 Allied pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain, considered to be the first decisive battle to be fought entirely in the air. He died peacefully at his home on Tuesday morning, The Times reported. There are now just two surviving Battle of Britain pilots left.

Farnes, a Hurricane pilot, was the last surviving ace, an accolade referring to those who brought down at least five enemy planes. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal, the highest honour in the air force for non-officers.

Last year, he was the only airman in good enough health to attend the annual memorial service which commemorates the pilots who fought in the war. The group are known as ‘the few’ after the famous line Winston Churchill’s speech: “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”

In the first month of the Battle of Britain, Farnes destroyed five enemy planes and damaged another. By the end of the war, he had destroyed six enemy aircraft, possibly destroyed another, and damaged a further six. His record led him to be presented with the medal in October 1940 and commissioned as an officer.

Farnes initially joined the RAF as a volunteer reserve in 1938, the year before the second world war broke out, but moved to Gloucestershire’s No501 Squadron in the regular RAF, with whom he fought in the Battle of France in May 1940.

Despite his achievements, Farnes recently said he had “no particular feelings” about the battle, adding that he “quite enjoyed it really”. He also dismissed claims that his fellow pilots were brave, saying: “I don’t think the average chap was brave at all. He was trained to do a job and did it well.”

Farnes went to serve in Malta, North Africa, and Iraq, and led two squadrons in the UK before retiring from the RAF in 1958. He then set up a hotel in Worthing, West Sussex.

[TTX]

I remember John...RIP. RIP Paul as well.

And then there's Fred Silverman......well he made a ton of bad decisions but I still hope he's in a better place.

[on_the_edge]

Jan 30, 2020 17:51:14 GMT -5 TTX said:

I remember John...RIP. RIP Paul as well.

And then there's Fred Silverman......well he made a ton of bad decisions but I still hope he's in a better place.

Are you talking about Fred's personal life or his TV decisions?

[TTX]

TV decisions. Nearly killed Saturday Morning cartoons 20 years before the networks finally did.

[on_the_edge]

Jan 31, 2020 8:15:19 GMT -5 TTX said:

TV decisions. Nearly killed Saturday Morning cartoons 20 years before the networks finally did.

Ah ok did not know about that. His other moves were pretty good.

[jimsteel]

Former NILE/DIVINE HERSY Bassist Joe Payne Dead at Age 35

Joe Payne, who has played bass in bands like Nile and Divine Heresy has passed away. He was only 35 years old. No cause of death is known at the time of this posting. His former bandmate, Divine Heresy guitarist Dino Cazares, broke the news.

[jimsteel]

Bad first month in 2020


44 Deaths

[jimsteel]

Alan Harris dead – Brit Star Wars actor who played bounty hunter Bossk passes away at 81

The star appeared in all three of the original trilogy films as different characters, the most famous of which was Bossk in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

"During his 30-year career he worked as a background artist and stand in for dozens of productions including Flash Gordon, Superman, Space 1999, UFO, Doctor Who and The Protectors.

"He worked on all three original Star Wars films with his most notable role being that of Bossk the reptilian bounty hunter tasked with tracking down the Millennium Falcon in The Empire Strikes Back.

"Years after making the Star Wars films, Alan began a new career attending science fiction conventions and comic-cons all over the world."