Celebrity Death Thread 2011

[HecticArt]

Well it's already looking like it's going to be another rough year to be a celebrity.
(We'll adjust as necessary.)

The list of those that will be missed from 2011:


JANUARY
Pete Postlethwaite, actor "Jurassic Park-2" "Romeo + Juliet""Inception" and "The Usual Suspects," (Cancer) 01.02.11
Richard Winters, American army officer and World War II veteran, basis of book and miniseries Band of Brothers, (Parkinson's disease.) 01.02.11
Patricia Smith, Actress "The Spirit of St. Louis", "The Bob Newhart Show", "The Debbie Reynolds Show" (heart failure) 01.02.11
Anne Francis, Actress "Forbidden Planet", "The Twilight Zone", (Pancreatic cancer) 01.02.11
Gerry Rafferty,Singer-songwriter "Stealers Wheel", (Liver failure) 01.04.11
Phil Kennemore, Bassist "Y&T", (lung cancer) 01.07.11
Margaret Whiting, American pop singer "A Tree in the Meadow", "Moonlight in Vermont" (natural causes) 01.10.2011
David Nelson, Actor "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", (colon cancer) 01.11.11
Don Kirshner, Record producer and songwriter, host "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert", (heart failure) 01.17.11
Edgar Tafe l, American architect "Taliesin Fellowship" 01.18.11
Sargent Shriver, Diplomat and activist, U.S. vice-presidential candidate (1972), (Alzheimer's disease) 01.18.11
Jack LaLanne, Fitness and nutritional expert, (pneumonia) 01.23.11
Charlie Callas, Comedian and actor "Silent Movie", "Switch" 01.27.11

FEBRUARY
Peggy Rea, Actress "Grace Under Fire," "The Dukes of Hazzard", "Step by Step", "The Waltons", (heart failure) 02.05.11
Gary Moore, Northern Irish rock guitarist and singer (Thin Lizzy), (heart attack). 02.06.11
Kenneth Mars, Actor "Young Frankenstein," "Malcolm in the Middle," "The Producers," "The Little Mermaid", (pancreatic cancer) 02.12.2011
Len Lesser, Actor "Seinfeld," "Everybody Loves Raymond", (cancer-related pneumonia) 02.16.2011
Dave Duerson, Football player "Bears," "Cardinals," "Giants," (suicide) 02.17.2011
Nicholas Courtney, Actor "Doctor Who" ( ??? ) 02.22.2011
Duke Snider, Baseball Hall of Famer "Dodgers," "Mets," "Giants" (Natural Causes) 02.27.2011
Jane Russell, Actress "The Outlaw," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", (respiratory illness) 02.28.2011

MARCH
Mike Starr, Bassist "Alice in Chains" (Suspected overdose) 03.08.2011
Rick Martin, Hockey player "Buffalo Sabres," "Los Angeles Kings" (heart attack) 03.13.2011
Nate Dogg, Rapper (heart failure) 03.15.2011
Michael Gough, Actor "Sleepy Hollow," "Batman" (short illness) 03.17.2011
Ferlin Husky, Country music singer, (heart failure) 03.17.2011
Drew Hill, Football player "Los Angeles Rams," "Houston Oilers" (stroke) 03.18.2011
Warren Christopher, Secretary of State, (complications from kidney and bladder cancer) 03.18.2011
Pinetop Perkins, Blues musician (cardiac arrest) 03.21.2011
Loleatta Holloway, Soul and disco musician, (heart failure) 03.21.2011
Elizabeth Taylor, Actress "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," "Cleopatra," "BUtterfield 8" (heart failure) 03.23.2011
Roger Abbott, Actor and comedian "Royal Canadian Air Farce" (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) 03.26.2011
Geraldine Ferraro, Politician, U.S. Representative and Vice Presidential nominee (multiple myeloma) 03.26.2011
Mel McDaniel, American country music singer "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On" (cancer) 03.31.2011

APRIL
Sidney Lumet, Film director "12 Angry Men," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Network" (lymphoma) 04.09.2011
Elisabeth Sladen, Actress "Doctor Who," "The Sarah Jane Adventures" (cancer) 04.19.2011
Tim Hetherington, Photojournalist and filmmaker (Restrepo), (mortar attack) 04.20.2011
Gerard Smith, Musician "TV on the Radio" (Lung cancer) 04.20.2011
Poly Styrene, Musician "X-Ray Spex", (breast cancer) 04.25.2011
Phoebe Snow, Songwriter "Poetry Man", (brain hemorrhage) 04.26.2011
Yvette Vickers, American actress "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman", singer and model "Playboy" (unknown causes) 4.27.2011

MAY
Osama bin Laden, Founder of Al-Qaeda, (shot) 05.02.2011
Jackie Cooper, American actor "Skippy, Our Gang, Superman" and director "M*A*S*H" (short illness) 05.03.2011
Robert Traylor, American basketball player "Bucks, Cavaliers, Hornets" (suspected heart attack) 05.11.2011
Mel Queen, American baseball player "Reds, Angels, Blue Jays" (cancer) 05.13.2011
Harmon Killebrew, American Hall of Fame baseball player "Twins, Royals" (esophageal cancer) 05.17.2011
"Macho Man" Randy Savage, "American professional wrestler" (car crash & natural causes) 05.20.11
Paul Splittorff, American baseball player and broadcaster " Royals" (complications from melanoma) 05.25.2011
Jeff Conaway, American actor "Grease, Taxi, Babylon 5" (overdose of substances) 05.27.2011
Gil Scott-Heron, "American poet, musician and author" 05.27.2011
Andy Robustelli, American Hall of Fame football player "Rams, Giants" (unknown causes) 05.31.2011

JUNE
Jack Kevorkian, American right to die activist (pulmonary thrombosis) 06.3.2011
James Arness, American actor "Gunsmoke" (natural causes) 06.3.2011
Andrew Gold, American singer-songwriter "Lonely Boy", "Thank You for Being a Friend" (heart attack) 06.3.2011
John Henry Johnson, American Hall of Fame football player "49ers, Steelers" (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy) 06.03.2011
Alan Rubin, American trumpeter "The Blues Brothers" (lung cancer) 06.8.2011
Seth Putnam, American musician "Anal Cunt" (heart attack) 06.11.2011
Carl Gardner, American singer "The Coasters" (heart failure and vascular dementia) 06.12.2011
Clarence Clemons, American saxophonist "E Street Band" (stroke) 06.18.2011
Ryan Dunn, American reality television star "Jackass, Viva La Bam" (car accident) 06.20.2011
Peter Falk, American actor "Columbo" (dementia and Alzheimer's disease) 06.23.2011

JULY
Cy Twombly, American painter (cancer) 07.5.2011
John Mackey, American Hall of Fame football player "Colts, Chargers" (frontotemporal dementia) 07.06.2011
Dick Williams, American Hall of Famer baseball player and manager "Oakland Athletics" (ruptured aortic aneurysm) 07.07.2011
Betty Ford, American First Lady (1974–1977) and co-founder of addiction clinic (natural causes) 07.08.2011
Roberts Blossom, 87, American actor "Doc Hollywood, Escape from Alcatraz, Home Alone" (natural causes) 07.08.2011
Edson Stroll, American actor "McHale's Navy" (cancer) 07.18.2011
Amy Winehouse, British singer-songwriter "Rehab" (could not be determined) 07.23.2011
Dan Peek, American singer-songwriter "America" (sleep) 07.24.2011
Christopher Mayer, American actor "The Dukes of Hazzard, Santa Barbara, Liar Liar" (natural cause) 07.24.2011

AUGUST
Bubba Smith, American football player "Colts" and actor "Police Academy" (natural causes) 08.03.2011
Annette Charles, American actress "Grease" (lung cancer) 08.03.2011
Francesco Quinn, Italian-born American actor "Platoon, The Young and the Restless" son of Anthony Quinn (heart attack) 08.05.2011
Fred Imus, American songwriter and radio talk show host, brother of Don Imus (sleep) 08.06.2011
Jani Lane, American musician "Warrant" (alcohol poisoning) 08.11.2011
Pete Pihos, American Hall of Fame football player "Eagles" (Alzheimer's disease) 08.16.2011
Jerry Leiber, American songwriter "Stand By Me", "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "Kansas City" (cardiopulmonary failure) 08.22.2011
Nickolas Ashford, American R&B singer and songwriter "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (throat cancer) 08.24.2011

SEPTEMBER
Mary Fickett, American actress "All My Children" (Alzheimer's disease) 09.08.2011
Cliff Robertson, American actor "Charly, Spider-Man, PT 109" (natural causes) 09.10.2011
Andy Whitfield, Welsh-born Australian actor "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) 09.11.2011
Isabell Masters, American politician "third-party candidate for President of the United States" (sleep) 09.11.2011
Frances Bay, Canadian character actress "Happy Gilmore, Blue Velvet, The Middle" (pneumonia) 09.15.2011
Tom Wilson, Sr., American cartoonist "Ziggy" (sleep) 09.16.2011
Norma Holloway Johnson, American federal judge "first African American woman to serve as a district court chief judge' (stroke) 09.18.2011
Dolores Hope, American philanthropist, widow of Bob Hope (natural causes) 09.19.2011
Frank Driggs, American Grammy Award-winning jazz producer, musician and archivist (natural causes) 09.20.2011
Sylvia Robinson, American singer "Mickey & Sylvia" music producer and record label executive (heart failure) 09.29.2011

OCTOBER
Doris Belack, American actress "Law & Order, One Life to Live, Tootsie" (natural causes) 10.04.2011
Charles Napier, American actor "The Silence of the Lambs, The Blues Brothers" (collapsing) 10.05.2011
Steve Jobs, American computer entrepreneur and inventor "co-founder of Apple Inc." (pancreatic cancer) 10.05.2011
Al Davis, American football coach and team owner "Oakland Raiders" (not yet been released) 10.08.2011
Mikey Welsh, American artist and musician “Weezer” (not yet been released) 10.08.2011
Ray Aranha, American actor "Dead Man Walking, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Married People" (not yet been released) 10.09.2011
Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist "developer of C programming language" (not yet been released) 10.12.2011
Paul Leka, American pianist, arranger and songwriter "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, Green Tambourine" (natural causes) 10.12.2011
Patricia Breslin, American actress "The People's Choice, Peyton Place, The Twilight Zone, wife of Art Modell" (pancreatitis) 10.12.2011
Dan Wheldon, British IndyCar driver (racing accident) 10.16.2011
Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan leader "1969–2011" (shot) 10.20.2011
John McCarthy, American computer scientist "creator of LISP and the term AI" (heart disease) 10.23.2011

NOVEMBER
Leonard Stone, American actor "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (cancer) 11.02.11
Sid Melton, American character actor "The Golden Girls, Green Acres, The Danny Thomas Show" (pneumonia) 11.02.11
Cory Smoot, Flattus Maximus "GWAR" (not yet been released) 11.03.11
Andy Rooney, American journalist "60 Minutes correspondent (1978–2011)" (surgical complications) 11.04.11
Joe Frazier, American boxer "World Heavyweight Champion (1970–1973)" (liver cancer) 11.07.11
Andrea True, Adult film star and disco singer "More More, More", (heart failure)
Bil Keane, American cartoonist "The Family Circus" (heart failure) 11.08.11
Heavy D, Jamaican-born American rapper "Now That We Found Love" and actor "The Cider House Rules, Life" (pneumonia) 11.08.11
Gary Garcia, American musician "Buckner & Garcia, Pac-Man Fever, WKRP Theme" (not yet been released) 11.17.11
John Neville, British-born Canadian actor "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The X-Files" (Alzheimer's disease) 11.19.11
Patrice O'Neal, American actor and comedian "Web Junk 20, The Opie and Anthony Show" (complications from stroke) 11.29.11

DECEMBER
Bill McKinney, American actor "Deliverance, The Outlaw Josey Wales" (cancer) 12.01.2011
Alan Sues, American comic "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (heart attack) 12.01.2011
Dan Biggers, American actor "In the Heat of the Night, The Slugger's Wife" (not yet been released) 12.05.2011
Dobie Gray, American singer "The 'In' Crowd", "Drift Away" (caner) 12.06.2011
Harry Morgan, American actor "M*A*S*H, Dragnet" (pneumonia) 12.07.2011
Susan Gordon, American child actress "The Five Pennies, My Three Sons, The Twilight Zone" (cancer) 12.11.2011
Billie Jo Spears, American country music singer "Blanket on the Ground" (cancer) 12.14.2011
Booie, "California's smoking chimpanzee" (unknown) 12.15.2011
Christopher Hitchens, British writer "God Is Not Great and commentator" (esophageal cancer) 12.15.2011
Dan Frazer, American actor “Kojak, As The World Turns” (cardiac arrest) 12-16-2011
Kim Jong-il, North Korean Supreme Leader “since 1994” (heart attack) 12-17-2011
Doe Avedon, American actress “The High and the Mighty” and model (pneumoni) 12-18-2011
Lynn Samuels, American radio personality ”Sirius XM” (unknown) 12-24-2011
Houston Antwine, American football player “Boston/New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, AFL All-Star (1963–1968)” (heart failure) 12-26-2011
Don Mueller, American baseball player “New York Giants, Chicago White Sox, MLB All-Star (1954, 1955)” (unknown) 12-28-2011
Kaye Stevens, American singer and actress (breast cancer and blood clots) 12-28-2011



These are the rules.
The celebrity in question must be deceased.
They must have been a celebrity prior to their death.
If there is a question that they are a celebrity, their status must get a second vote by another DRC member.

Thanks to WolfViper for helping with the updates.

 

[HecticArt]

London (CNN) -- Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite, who starred in "Inception" and "The Usual Suspects," has died at the age of 64, his agent said Monday.

Highly intense, with a bulbous nose, high cheekbones and ruddy complexion, the actor was immediately recognizable in films ranging from the second "Jurassic Park" movie to "Romeo + Juliet."

It was for his role as Daniel Day-Lewis's father in the IRA drama "In the Name of the Father" that he got his only Oscar nomination, for best supporting actor. He lost out to Tommy Lee Jones for "The Fugitive."

He also starred in the British brass band movie "Brassed Off," and worked with Steven Spielberg on the slave revolt story "Amistad."

Spielberg reportedly called him "the best actor in the world," prompting Postlethwaite to respond that what the director actually said was that he "thought he was the best actor in the world."

He made his name as part of a cohort of great British actors including Bill Nighy, Anthony Sher, Jonathan Pryce and Julie Walters at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, England, in the 1970s.

He returned to the Everyman in 2008 to play King Lear in Shakespeare's great tragedy.

He was awarded the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, in 2004.

Postlethwaite died of cancer, British media reported.

 

[jef]

Actress Anne Francis dies at age 80 - USATODAY.com

Just watched Forbidden Planet yesterday, too...

 

[Jon]

The singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, whose songs such as Stuck in the Middle with You, Baker Street and Get it Right Next Time soundtracked the 1970s, has died aged 63 after a long illness.

His family said he died at home peacefully with his daughter Martha this morning.

The Scot was born in Paisley, near Glasgow, played with Billy Connolly's folk outfit the Humblebums, and co-founded the soft-rock group Stealer's Wheel, before enjoying a successful solo career. Baker Street, released in 1978, was still netting him £80,000 a year more than 30 years later.

Rafferty endured battles with the music industry – once taking three years to disentangle contracts – and a problem with alcohol. When he was a child his mother would drag him round the streets of Glasgow, rather than risk his suffering violence at the hands of his Irish-born father, who would often come home drunk.

Gerry Rafferty dies aged 63 | Music | The Guardian


I'm going to have that sax solo from Baker Street stuck in my head all day.

 

[Jon]

Well it's already looking like it's going to be another rough year to be a celebrity.
(We'll adjust as necessary.)

The list of those that will be missed from 2011:

Pete Postlethwaite, actor "Jurassic Park-2" "Romeo + Juliet""Inception" and "The Usual Suspects," Cancer

These are the rules.
The celebrity in question must be deceased.
They must have been a celebrity prior to their death.
If there is a question that they are a celebrity, their status must get a second vote by another DRC member.

I just watched The Usual Suspects on Saturday. Awesome flick. He was good in it even for a supporting role.

 

[Casual Fan]

Sweet. Dueling Celebrity Death Threads. Maybe HecticArt can list all the people we're sad to see go, and Jon can list all the ones that lived way too long. :hhh:

Keith Richards may fall into both categories some day...we'll be sad to see him go, but he's used all nine lives and then some...

 

[Jon]

Sweet. Dueling Celebrity Death Threads. Maybe HecticArt can list all the people we're sad to see go, and Jon can list all the ones that lived way too long. :hhh:

Keith Richards may fall into both categories some day...we'll be sad to see him go, but he's used all nine lives and then some...

Yeah, but Keith Richards is never going to die. If it hasn't happened by now it ain't gonna. When there's Nuclear Fallout it'll be the roaches and Keith Richards.

 

[Wolf]

How about Joan Rivers, she added so much plastic surgery on her. She might die and still add another layer on her to make her live longer.

 

[Casual Fan]

The singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, whose songs such as Stuck in the Middle with You, Baker Street and Get it Right Next Time soundtracked the 1970s, has died aged 63 after a long illness.

His family said he died at home peacefully with his daughter Martha this morning.

The Scot was born in Paisley, near Glasgow, played with Billy Connolly's folk outfit the Humblebums, and co-founded the soft-rock group Stealer's Wheel, before enjoying a successful solo career. Baker Street, released in 1978, was still netting him £80,000 a year more than 30 years later.

Rafferty endured battles with the music industry – once taking three years to disentangle contracts – and a problem with alcohol. When he was a child his mother would drag him round the streets of Glasgow, rather than risk his suffering violence at the hands of his Irish-born father, who would often come home drunk.

Gerry Rafferty dies aged 63 | Music | The Guardian


I'm going to have that sax solo from Baker Street stuck in my head all day.

That's a bummer. Baker St. was 1970's FM radio. That song had a reasonably killer guitar solo for being basically an easy listening tune.

 

[TX WJ]

How about Joan Rivers, she added so much plastic surgery on her. She might die and still add another layer on her to make her live longer.

She has been dead for years.

 

[HecticArt]

She has been dead for years.

LOL.

Looks like Za Za is in the batters circle.

 

[JHDK]

jon, hectic....good luck with the fight. so one needs to die...but another mod needs to end it. hey aaron? where are u??

 

[Aaron]

That's a bummer. Baker St. was 1970's FM radio. That song had a reasonably killer guitar solo for being basically an easy listening tune.

Good song, and you're right about that guitar solo... but I think my favorite of his was "Right Down the Line" :note:

 

[Casual Fan]

Good song, and you're right about that guitar solo... but I think my favorite of his was "Right Down the Line" :note:

Yeah, that was cool, too. Reminds me of driving around in my mom's station wagon with the radio on, circa 1976. I was four.

My kids will grow up with memories of sports talk radio and NPR in dad's car, because pop music sucks today. :bigcry:

 

[kingchuck69]

The death of Gerry Rafferty is quite sad.

This man had several great tunes. As a matter of fact, I was listening to a 1978 AT40 some time ago and most of the songs on the countdown sucked. Almost nothing but disco and butt rock from Styx and Foreigner. However, "Baker Street" was #2 on the countdown. It was clearly one of the better songs on the 40.

This is a man who should have enjoyed his fame but ended up drowning it in a sea of booze. My heart goes out to his family.

 

[Jon]

Yeah, that was cool, too. Reminds me of driving around in my mom's station wagon with the radio on, circa 1976. I was four.

My kids will grow up with memories of sports talk radio and NPR in dad's car, because pop music sucks today. :bigcry:

I know a few youngsters who are into their parents stuff. I know I was when I was a kid. That's how I got so big into Johnny Cash and The Who.

 

[Casual Fan]

I know a few youngsters who are into their parents stuff. I know I was when I was a kid. That's how I got so big into Johnny Cash and The Who.

Eclectic...Johnny is an alt-country hero now.

Record producers, TV and auto tuners have ruined pop music. Doesn't matter if you can't sing...all you need is a big set of knockers.

 

[builder_j]

Eclectic...Johnny is an alt-country hero now.

Record producers, TV and auto tuners have ruined pop music. Doesn't matter if you can't sing...all you need is a big set of knockers.

Or have a song that can be turned into a ring tone.

 

[sbv71]

That's a bummer. Baker St. was 1970's FM radio. That song had a reasonably killer guitar solo for being basically an easy listening tune.

Great song. I really like the Foo Fighters cover version too.

 

[Wolf]

John McCarthy Roll was one of the six victims that died in the 2011 Tucson shooting

John McCarthy Roll (February 8, 1947 – January 8, 2011) was a United States federal judge, who had served as the chief judge for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Roll died after being shot along with at least 17 others while attending a constituent outreach event held by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Casas Adobes, near Tucson, Arizona.