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Raymond Briggs dead according to the BBC Breakfast. Edit: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/10/snowman-author-raymond-briggs-dies-aged-88/

RIP - what a brilliant creation the snowman was

Clean bill of health: Tippi Hedren: Showed up on Melanie Griffith's Instagram for her birthday this year. Looks good. Mamie Van Doren: Very active Tweeter and just wrote a book. Also the ex-wife of living centenarian Ray Anthony. Wonder how long their son will live! Carroll Baker: retired for nearly 20 years but appeared on the Hollywood Reporter podcast in 2021 and sounded very sharp. Obviously can't tell with just audio, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt that she isn't bedridden or a melting wax dummy or whatever. Marla Gibbs: looks and sounds terrific, still acts and does talk shows/game shows. Leslie Caron: did an hour-long Q&A this June. Voice is definitely a little shakier than it used to be, but nothing else that seems especially eyebrow-raising. Barbara Eden: Doesn't really act anymore but regularly does conventions and looks to be as sharp as ever. Nothing questionable here. Mitzi Gaynor: Regular Tweeter, still seems in great shape. Barbara Bain: still pops up in the occasional thing here and there. Looks and sounds good in recentish interviews. Angie Dickinson: last recorded on video in 2019, though the Daily Mail caught her walking about last year. Unless she's declined in the past few years during COVID, seems fine Rita Moreno: probably needs no comment. Norman Lear likely slipped her the immortality juice. Gena Rowlands: not especially active but pops up on her son's Instagram from time to time (most recently July 16). No obvious signs of poor health. Lois Smith: acts regularly in high-profile stuff and just won a Tony. Seemed sharp in the acceptance speech. Claire Bloom: looked great in a lengthy 2017 interview with Norman Lloyd and still acts. Barbara Barrie: appeared at some Broadway premieres last year. Has looked virtually the same for decades now. Hmm...: Joanne Woodward: has had Alzheimer's for ~15 years now. Hasn't been photographed since 2013. Recent documentary about her and Paul Newman implies she doesn't remember her husband or her career. Frances Sternhagen: hasn't acted in a decade or so. Don't see anything from her after 2013. Never a huge name, though, and could feasibly just be peacefully retired Vivian Pickles: hasn't acted this century and don't see anything from her since this Criterion post from 2012, so who knows TL;DR pretty much all of them seem to be fit as a fiddle, with Woodward as the only one known to be in failing health. So... might as well just pick one at random! Went with Bloom.

(Wiki) Gene LeBell dead

Mary Ellin Barrett, author (wrote three novels and Irving Berlin: a Daughter's Memoir), daughter of Irving Berlin, died last month at 95: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/arts/music/mary-ellin-barrett-dead.html

(Wiki) Hushang Ebtehaj dead

Sir Miles Warren, NZ architect (Warren and Mahoney, Christchurch Town Hall) and gardener (Ohinetahi) mentioned here before, dead at 93. Also a Member of the Order of New Zealand and one of the Twelve Local Heroes of Christchurch (2004-2009). Only three are still alive, 7 have died since the project started in 2004. Living ones: Frank Dickson (ca. 1932) former Canterbury Savings Bank chief executive Sir Tipene O'Regan (1939) Maori leader, academic Sir Richard Hadlee (1951) Cricketer.

Juan Manuel Santos, Colombian politician who served as the 32nd President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016, is 71 today. Lucas Till, American film and television actor known for his role as Havok in "X-Men: First Class" (2011), "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014) and "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016), is 32 today. He later starred in the title role of the CBS reboot of "MacGyver".

If only the committee had picked her in 2022 she would have survived the year.

(Wiki) Hushang Ebtehaj dead, as mentioned in another thread

Samantha Womack reveals breast cancer diagnosis: https://www.itv.com/news/2022-08-09/samantha-womack-reveals-own-breast-diagnoses-in-olivia-newton-john-tribute

Olivia Newton-John puts me on 5 too.

7th hit for me with Olivia Newton-John's passing.

Fifth hit for @gcreptile in three categories Third Pulitzer Prize winner for @Banana bringing up eight hits in total

David McCullough is a hit for Banana and me. Game moves on, nothing to see here.

Pat Caroll and Judith Durham are two hits for me here bringing my tally up to six

Former UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who resigned as leader of the House of Commons in Tony Blairs Labour government in 2003 over the Iraq war, died on this day in 2005 aged 59 while walking in the Scottish countryside

On this day in 1995, English American actress Ida Lupino died aged 77. She had a 48 year career starring in 59 films and branching out into directing 8 films herself too. Some of her best known film credits include The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), High Sierra (1941) with Humphrey Bogart, Junior Bonner (1972) with Steve McQueen and They drive by night (1940) with George Raft. Some smallee lesa known film credits include High Finance- a British film made in 1933, Yours for the asking (1936) a comedy starring George Raft and Dolores Costello, Ladies in retirement (1941) and Escape me never (1947) with Errol Flynn. A personal and career struggle struck Ida in 1934 when she caught polio from a contaminated swimming pool , which severely affected her ability to work. Her contract with Paramount pictures totally fell apart shortly after her diagnosis. She did eventually recover and directed a film in 1949 called Never fear which was based loosely on her polio ordeal. She credits her struggle with illness as being key in her shifting her work focus to use more of her intellect in terms of directing and producing films and focusing on roles that elevated her above just being beautiful eye candy.

On this day in 1986 Roy Cohn , a prominent american lawyer, prosecutor and chief counsel for Joseph McCarthy during the notorious McCarthy political witch-hunt in the US in the 1950s died aged 59 from AIDS complications . A controversial figure, many of his critics have accused him of demagogury tactics in his style of arguing when pursuing prosecutions. In 1951 Cohn played a key prominent role in the famous espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg that resulted in their execution. A trial that a number of historians feel established their guilt at some level but not the case for their execution which was given impetus by political meddling and overblown exagerated bombastic rhetoric and arguing by the likes of Cohn.

On this day 41 years ago in 1981 Danish diver Stefanie Clausen died aged 81. She won a gold medal at the 1920 Olympics.

Already sorted that in January – I chopped off your lowest-hanging Dick and moved everyone below it up a place, with your sub Eva Marie Saint at #25. If you still want me to punish you for e.g. sex reasons let me know.

Polly-Louisa Salmon, better known by her stage name GFOTY is an English pop singer. GFOTY (abbreviation of Girlfriend of the Year). At this hour... she's alive. Walter Mondale... no. Bibliogryphon... Where's your candidate number 21?

Only few days after death of Brian James another Australian rugby legend and national team player, Mark Harris died at 72 years after long battle with cancer: https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/rugby-league-legend-mark-harris-passes-away/ff603274-08f0-430a-89e8-75e9868bad84

Australian Rugby player Brian James, who won the 1968 Rugby League World Cup with Australia, and also played for St. George and South Sydney, dead at 76 years: https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2020/01/11/vale-brian-james/

Irish Broadcaster Marian Finucane passed away at 69 years. https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0102/1104037-marian-finucane/