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

[jimsteel]

Robert Conrad, Star of TV's 'The Wild Wild West,' Dies at 84

Renowned for doing his own stunts, he also starred on such shows as 'Hawaiian Eye' and 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' and on the miniseries 'Centennial.'
Robert Conrad, the athletic, two-fisted actor who starred as Secret Service agent James West and did his own spectacular stunts on the 1960s futuristic CBS Western The Wild Wild West, has died. He was 84.

"He lived a wonderfully long life and while the family is saddened by his passing, he will live forever in their hearts," family spokesman Jeff Ballard told People magazine. No other details of his death were immediately available.

Conrad, among the actors employed by Warner Bros. Television to appear on the studio's stable of shows starting in the 1950s, first gained attention for playing Tom Lopaka, a partner in a detective agency, on ABC's Hawaiian Eye.

The Chicago native also was known for starring as real-life World War II pilot Maj. Greg "Pappy" Boyington on NBC's 1976-78 period drama Baa Baa Black Sheep (later known in syndication as Black Sheep Squadron), one of the first series created by Stephen J. Cannell.

Conrad, though, always said that the performance he was most proud of was his turn as the French-Canadian trapper Pasquinel in James Michener's Centennial, the 16 1/2-hour, 12-episode miniseries about the evolution of the American West that aired on NBC in 1978-79.

He said Michener was on the set during production and told him that he "played the character better than he had written it," Conrad noted during a 2006 chat for the website The Interviews: An Oral History of Television.

On The Wild Wild West, the lithe, blue-eyed Conrad starred as a government agent, working for President Ulysses S. Grant, who employed modern technology to combat villains in the 19th century. Jim West, who wore his spiffy clothes a bit too tight, rode a champion horse and had an eye for the ladies, was paired with Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), a master of disguise.

The show was "James Bond as a cowboy," and indeed, series creator Michael Garrison had once owned the movie rights to Ian Fleming's first 007 novel, Casino Royale. Wild Wild West lasted four seasons, on the air from September 1965 through April 1969, and attracted another legion of fans in reruns.

Conrad and stuntman Whitey Hughes usually choreographed the show's acrobatic fights (the scripts gave them an amount of time to do them, and they figured things out). Near the end of one season, Conrad said he almost was killed when he fell 14 feet onto a cement floor; he suffered what he described as a "six-inch linear fracture with a high temporal concussion."

Concerned that they would lose the star of their show, CBS executives insisted a stunt double step in for Conrad, but that practice lasted only a couple of episodes, and, after a summer of healing, he was soon back "breaking things," just as he always did.

He was one of the few actors to have been inducted into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame.

[TTX]

Grim Reaper has been busy.

[topdollar]

RIP to Kirk Douglas, Orson Bean & Robert Conrad. Kirk's a true Hollywood legend & from what I've heard a classy gentleman. I always enjoyed Orson's appearances on Match Game. He was a very funny man. I also liked to watch Robert on both Black Sheep Squadron & Wild Wild West reruns. Once again, celebrity deaths come in three. RIP to all.

[jimsteel]

Dancer and Actress Paula Kelly Dead at 76

A statuesque stunner, her early career was in modern dance, with such companies as Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey.

A stage actress first, she excelled in "Something More!" (1964) and "Sophisticated Ladies" (1981), among other Broadway successes, and in the lauded West Coast production of "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" (1971).

She broke into TV as the choreographer of many variety specials as well as a performer, singing a duet with show-biz legend Gene Kelly on his 1966 special "Gene Kelly in New York, New York" and appearing in Quincy Jones's star-studded 1973 special "Duke Ellington... We Love You Madly."

In 1968, Kelly performed a show-stopping dance set to the song "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" on the Oscars.

The following year, Kelly showed off her dancer's body on the pages of Playboy in an artful shoot by Lawrence Schiller, the layout having the distinction of being the first to show pubic hair in the magazine's history.

Having played the role onstage, Kelly was a stand-out as Helene in the 1969 film adaptation of "Sweet Charity," one of her most lasting impressions in the medium. She also appeared in "The Andromeda Strain" (1971), "Soylent Green" (1973), "Uptown Saturday Night" (1974), and "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling" (1986).

Kelly was a series regular for a season of "Night Court" (1984), earning an Emmy nomination, and made many episodic TV appearances, perhaps most memorably as housekeeper Marguerite on a 1987 episode of "The Golden Girls."

Another of Kelly's most searing TV performances was on "The Women of Brewster Place" (1989), which earned her a second Emmy nomination. Among her many other honors, Kelly received three NAACP Image Awards.

By 1999, she had retired from acting.

[TTX]

I remember her brief run on Night Court. After the pilot, she was the legal aide. Never had much to do but she played the role well.

[jimsteel]

Nanny McPhee actor Raphael Coleman dead at 25 after collapsing while out for jog

Raphael shot to fame in 2005 after appearing as Eric Brown in the hit film Nanny McPhee.

Former child actor Raphaël Coleman, who appeared in Nanny McPhee, has died at the age of 25.

His mum and stepfather took to social media to say their son had passed away after collapsing while out on a run on Friday.

Carsten Jensen wrote on Facebook that Coleman had no "prior health problem" when he tragically died.

Coleman shot to fame in 2005 after appearing as Eric Brown in the hit film Nanny McPhee.

Throughout his movie career he also had roles in It's Alive, Edward's Turmoil and The Fourth Kind.

[on_the_edge]

Another young one. So sad.

[jimsteel]

Country Singer Daniel Lee Martin Commits Suicide Amid Child Sex Abuse Arrest. HE WAS 54

Daniel Lee Martin died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound ... this according to the Pasco Sheriff's Office in Florida.

Martin was arrested January 27th after the alleged victim, a child, told cops Martin exposed himself to them while the 2 were sitting on a sofa. Cops say the victim claimed Martin fondled himself and shared pornographic images. Cops went on to say there were numerous incidents where the victim spent the night at Martin's home.

[jimsteel]

CAROLINE Flack has been found dead at her London flat after taking her own life.

Former Love Island host Caroline, 40 – who was due in court next month on charges of assaulting her boyfriend – was found in her new flat today.

The TV presenter, aged 40, took her own life after a worried friend who was staying with her went to the shops, leaving her alone at her London flat.

The producer friend couldn't get back into the flat when she returned. She called Flack's father Ian who gained entry to the flat where he found the star's body.

Her management team described her as 'vulnerable' and criticised the CPS for pushing ahead with the case despite her boyfriend Lewis Burton saying he did not want to press charges. He had said she hit him with a lamp at her former home in Islington in December and as part of her bail conditions the pair were banned from contacting each other.

[jimsteel]

Blue Jays legend Tony Fernandez dies at 57

Tony Fernandez, a former Blue Jays shortstop who won a World Series title in Toronto in 1993, has died, according to reports out of his native Dominican Republic. Fernandez, who had been battling kidney problems and had suffered a stroke, was 57.

Fernandez, a longtime fan favourite in Toronto, made his Blue Jays debut in 1983 at age 21 and became a mainstay in the Jays’ lineup by 1985, helping the Jays claim their first division title that year.

Fernandez won four consecutive Gold Glove awards between ’85 and 1990 for his defensive prowess.

The Jays traded the switch-hitting Fernandez along with fellow fan favourite Fred McGriff to the San
Diego Padres in a deal that brought Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar to Toronto and set the table for the first of Toronto’s two World Series titles.

Fernandez, a five-time all-star who also played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers, returned to Toronto to help the team to its second World Series crown, starting at shortstop as Toronto defeated the Philadelphia Phillies.

Fernandez, among those honoured on the Blue Jays’ Level of Excellence inside the Rogers Centre, had two more stints with the Blue Jays, where he ended his career in 2001.