R.I.P. CELEBRITY DEATHS 2021(NON WRESTLERS)

[jimsteel]

Eric Jerome Dickey: Best-selling US author dies at 59

he US writer wrote 30 novels about breathless relationships and thrilling adventures involving young African American characters.

They included Friends & Lovers, Milk In My Coffee, Cheaters and Finding Gideon.

He also wrote a series of Marvel comics about a love story between Storm from the X-Men and the Black Panther.

[jimsteel]

Coronation Street and Brookside star Alan Igbon dead at 68
The star who also appeared in Boys from the Black Stuff passed away 'peacefully'

Alan appeared in several soaps and shows during his career such as Corrie, Brookside and Boys from the Black Stuff.

The actor played Jason Grimshaw's estranged dad Tony Stuart in Corrie in 2014

[jimsteel]

'ER' Star Dearon 'Deezer D' Thompson Dead at 55

Deezer D, best known for his role as nurse Malik McGrath on "ER" has died ... TMZ has learned.

The actor, whose real name was Dearon Thompson, was found unresponsive at home Thursday morning in Los Angeles. His brother, Marshawn, tells us the family believes he died of a heart attack, but there is not yet an official cause of death.

The actor underwent major heart surgery in 2009 -- a 6-hour procedure to replace his aorta and fix a leaky heart valve.

Deezer D appeared on almost 200 episodes of ER from 1994 through 2009. Not only was Thompson an actor, but he was also a motivational speaker and a performer in the Christian and underground hip hop communities.


Thompson also had a role in 'Romy and Michele' and was known for his roles in the films "CB4" and "Fear of a Black Hat."

[jimsteel]

Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda passed away at 93

[TTX]

RIP Tommy.

[jimsteel]

'Bob's Burgers' Animator Dave Creek Dead at 42 After Skydiving Accident



Dave Creek -- best known as lead character designer for the popular FOX animated series "Bob's Burgers" -- has died following a skydiving accident.

Dave died Thursday after suffering injuries in a skydiving accident last weekend ... though at this moment it's unclear exactly what his specific injuries were.

[jimsteel]

Michael Apted: TV documentary pioneer and film-maker dies aged 79

Film director Michael Apted, best known for the Up series of TV documentaries following the lives of 14 people every seven years, has died aged 79.

He also directed Coal Miner's Daughter, Gorillas In The Mist and the 1999 Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.

The original 7 Up in 1964 set out to document the life prospects of a range of children from all walks of life.

The show was inspired by the Aristotle quote "give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man".

The first 7 Up show was followed by 14 Up at the start of the next decade, which interviewed the same children as teenagers - and the pattern was set right up until 63 Up in 2019.

Throughout all those intervening years ITV viewers became engrossed with the stories of private school trio Andrew, Charles and John, of Jackie who went through two divorces, of Nick who went from jobless and homeless to Liberal Democrat councillor, and of working class chatterbox Tony, whose life ambition was to become a jockey.

[jimsteel]

Ed Bruce, Classic Country Singer-Songwriter, Dead at 81


rolific country singer-songwriter and Arkansas Country Music Award Lifetime Achievement recipient, Ed Bruce, has passed at 81.

Country music has lost another legend. Influential singer-songwriter Ed Bruce, died in Clarksville, Tennessee January 8, 2021 of natural causes. He was 81.

Best known for his chart-topping hit “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be

[jimsteel]

Member of famed Tuskegee Airmen dies from coronavirus

One of the famed Tuskegee Airmen - the first Black pilots in the segregated U.S. military and among the most respected fighter pilots of World War II - has died from complications of the coronavirus, it was announced Friday.

Theodore Lumpkin Jr. was just days short of his 101st birthday.

Lumpkin, a Los Angeles native, died Dec. 26, according to a statement from Los Angeles City College, which he attended from 1938 to 1940.

Lumpkin was drafted in 1942 and assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Tuskegee Airmen escorted bombers in Europe.

Lumpkin wasn't a pilot because his eyesight wasn't good enough, but he served as an intelligence officer who briefed pilots on missions, according to the Los Angeles Times, which confirmed his death through his son, Theodore Lumpkin III.

fter the war, he earned an undergraduate sociology degree at the University of Southern California, became a social worker with Los Angeles County and after retiring went into a second career in real estate.

In 2007, the Tuskegee Airmen were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. He also was among the surviving airmen invited to attend the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009.

[jimsteel]

SOAP VET JOHN REILLY PASSES AWAY

John Reilly, beloved to soap fans as GH’s Sean Donely and PASSIONS’s Alistair Crane, has passed away at the age of 84. The Chicago native joined GH in 1984, staying through 1995, and also visited in 2013 (he reprised the role in 2008 on the GH spin-off NIGHT SHIFT). From 2005-08, he was a Harmony resident as the patriarch of the Crane clan.