Death Anniversary Thread

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Its 16 years since the death of Desmond Dekker, ska/rocksteady/reggae singer, from a heart attack, aged 64. 

 

After success in his native Jamaica, his 1967 release 007 (Shanty Town) brought him his first UK hit, reaching number 15; the follow-up, The Israelites, reached number 1 and the followingyear It Mek also reached the top ten. 

 

Following his UK success, Dekker relocated to the UK in 1969, enjoying further chart success, most notably with You Can Get it if You Really Want, reaching number 2.

 

 

Here's Desmond's grave in Streatham Park cemetery (via Twitter @helenbarrett, via @StreathamSoc)

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

American actor Larry J. Blake died on this day 40 years ago, aged 68.

 

[Hell 1,334]

African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota George Floyd died on this day 2 years ago, aged 46.

 

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On this day in 2005  indian film director,  producers and screenwriter  Ismail Merchant died aged 68.

He was the lifelong partner both professionally and personally of fellow film director  James Ivory and they formed the hugely successful film production company Merchant Ivory productions together.

Ismail directed films such as  The Courtesans of Bombay, Lumiere and Company, Cotton Mary and produced films such as Roseland  Heat and dust,  A room with a view,  Howards end , The remains of the day, Savages and The Golden bowl.

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Friz Freleng died on this day 27 years ago, aged 89.

If you know about the history of animation, you should absolutely know who Freleng was. But for those who don't...

 

Freleng was from Kansas City, and one of his friends growing up was Walt Disney. Disney moved to Hollywood in 1923, and Freleng eventually began working for him in 1927. He worked on the live-action/animation hybrid Alice Comedies and the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons.

 

In 1933, Freleng joined Schlesinger Productions to work on cartoons there. In 1935, he directed I Haven't Got a Hat, which introduced the character of Porky Pig for the first time. He originally looked like this:

 

Freleng would continue to create characters for the now-Warner Bros. Cartoons, including Yosemite Sam in 1945, Sylvester and Tweety in 1947, and Speedy Gonzales in 1955.

 

Freleng, along with his supervisor David DePatie, would form their own studio, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, in 1963. They animated the opening and closing titles of The Pink Panther. The character itself would soon become the mascot of the company, with The Pink Panther Show debuting in 1969.

Freleng and DePatie sold the studio to Marvel Comics in 1980, and it would become Marvel Productions. Freleng retired from animation in 1986, and died in 1995. Following his death, Cartoon Network aired a tribute bumper.

 

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Leeds Utd legend Don Revie died 33 years ago today.

[The Immortal 632]

Italian racing driver Vittorio Brambilla died on this day, 21 years ago aged 63. Nicknamed the "Monza Gorilla" for his aggressive driving style, he only won a single Formula 1 race back in 1975 and was lucky enough to survive a head injury in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix in a pileup which would kill F1 driver Ronnie Peterson.

 

 

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Its the 80th anniversary of the death of John Romulus Brinkley (wikipedia, worth a read if you're not familiar with him), aka John Richard Brinkley, US quack doctor, Nazi sympathiser, Kansas gubernatorial candidate & radio pioneer, who at one time was worth millions, but died penniless owing to the number of law suits brought against him for malpractice, wrongful death and fraud. He had no proper accredited qualifications, obtaining his medical degree via a diploma mill.

 

He became known as the 'goat gland' doctor, thanks to his practice of transplanting goat's testicular glands into men to restore/enhance virility. 

 

 

He died, aged 56, after suffering three heart attacks and the amputation of a leg.

 

(via Chris Coates @MulberryCoates, twitter)

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British cartoonist Jack Edward Oliver died on this day 15 years ago, aged 64.

 

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On this day in 2005  twice Oscar nominated actor  Eddie Albert died aged 99.

 

His oscar nominations were for best supporting actor  in Roman Holiday (1954) and The Heartbreak Kid (1973).

 

Some of the other numerous films he starred in include  The Perfect Marriage,  Eagle Squadron, Four mothers, The Longest day  and the  famous 1950s musical  Oklahoma  whose lead stars were Jane Powell and Howard Keel.

Eddie Alberts career suffered as a result of the hollywood blacklisting of suspected    communists or communist sympathisers . His career survived long term,  some believe because of his military service softening  harsh attitudes but his mexican actress  wife Margos  career  never recovered with her 'outspoken ' views against  Spanish dictator Franco counting against her.

In his later years Eddie Albert  regularly appeared on US Primetime soap  Falcon Crest as Carlton Travis against the feisty wealthy matriarch  Angela Channing played by Jane Wyman. 

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Canadian actor and television personality Paul Soles died on this day a year ago, aged 90.

 

 

American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s Jimmie Rodgers died on this day 89 years ago, aged 35.

 

 

American naval officer, and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, NASA astronaut and painter Alan Bean died on this day 4 years ago, aged 86.

 

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Jawaharlal Nehru died on this day 58 years ago, aged 74.

Nehru attended Trinity College beginning in 1907, and started to become interested in Indian politics at the time. He returned to India in 1912, and in 1920, led a civil disobedience movement in what is now the state of Uttar Pradesh. Beginning in 1927, Nehru began to draft ideas for an Indian declaration of independence, and read out a pledge for independence on New Years' Eve in 1929.

 

Following India's eventual independence in 1947, Nehru was appointed as Prime Minister, a position he would hold until his death. He oversaw religious conflicts between the Hindu nation and the Muslim East (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistans. In 1962, the Sino-Indian War occurred when Chinese troops invaded disputed territory (this was DURING the Cuban Missile Crisis, by the way), which saw an Indian defeat. Despite this loss, Nehru was still beloved by India, seen as a founding father, and his cremation the day after his death was attended by 1.5 million people.

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American politician who served as the U. S. representatives for Texas’s 3rd congressional district in Congress from 1991 to 2019 Sam Johnson died on this day 2 years ago, aged 89.

 

 

Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1982 to 1993 Poul Schlüter died on this day a year ago, aged 92.

 

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

American biochemist John Howard Northrop died on this day 35 years ago, aged 95.

 

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On this day in 1984  legendary  british stand up comedian  Eric Morecambe  died after his third heart attack aged  58. He was one half of the comedy  double act Morecambe and Wise with his professional comedy partner Ernie Wise  .

Theyir partnership was hugely successful on stage and screen and  they worked together from 1941 until Eric's death in 1984 .

[Drewsky1211 4,691]

Phil Hartman died on this day 24 years ago, aged 49.

In 1975, Hartman began to attend comedy classes by the improv group The Groundlings, and became a member of the group in 1979. There, he met Paul Reubens, and together, they created the character of Pee-wee Herman. This led to an HBO show in 1981, and Tim Burton's directorial debut with Pee-wee's Big Adventure in 1985 (Hartman had considered quitting acting until he saw the film's success).

 

In 1986, Hartman joined Saturday Night Live. One of the characters he created for the show was the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, and he did impressions of people such as Ronald Reagan, Frank Sinatra, and Bill Clinton. He left the show in 1994.

 

Hartman also did voice acting during this time. In 1986, he voiced Mr. Wilson and Dennis' dog Ruff in the animated Dennis the Menace show in its first season, and also voiced background characters in The Smurfs. In 1991, he gained his biggest voice roles in The Simpsons. Beginning in season 2, he voiced the lawyer Lionel Hutz and the actor Troy McClure. Before his death, he was planned to have been the voice for Zapp Brannigan in Futurama.

Unfortunately, Hartman's life had a tragic end.

On May 27, 1998, Hartman and his wife Brynn got into a domestic argument, and he decided to go to bed. Around 3 AM the next morning, Brynn fatally shot Hartman in his sleep. After confessing to two of her friends (one friend promptly called the authorities after arriving at the house and seeing Hartman's body), Brynn locked herself in the bathroom and committed suicide with the same gun.

[The Ashes Urn 1,353]

American businessman and developer of timber and mineral lands John Munro Longyear died on this day 100 years ago, aged 72.

 

 

 

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Its seven years since Scottish musician and arranger John/Johnny Keating died. He was 87 and had been suffering from Lewy Body dementia. He worked with artists as diverse as Ted Heath (not that one) to Eden Kane, including the music score for the 1967 film Hotel (based on the Arthur Hailey novel).

 

UK readers probably know him best for his performance of Johnny Todd, the theme from Z Cars (and Everton FC), arranged by Norrie Paramour.

 

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How soon he was forgotten...

Harambe, 6 years ago today.

 

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On this day in 1750  Emperor Sakuramachi , the 115th Emperor of Japan died aged 30.

 

He  ascended to the chrysanthemum throne  in 1735 after his father Emperor  Nakamikado abdicated in his favour. 

       He was  thought by many to be the reincarnation of  legendary regent of Japan Prince Shotoku  who was credited with creating  the earliest  constitution of Japan known as the seventeen article  constitution  which rather than being a constitution in the traditional  legalistic sense  that we think of today but was a constitution  rooted in Buddhism and confucianism with a primary focus on morals and virtue in politics,  government and the leaders in society. 

 

Emperor  Sakuramachi  was pretty much  political leader of Japan in name only  as the military  dictators effectively had most of the power. 

However he did work with  the leader of the military  to create a restoration of some imperial/ royal rites including the return of spiritual shinty rituals  including harvest festival which had stopped and effectively  put into abeyance  for nearly 300 years.

 

 

He had four children  via two women-his wife and concubine  and abdicated from the throne aged just 27 in favour of his eldest son and took the title of  Daijo  Tenno,  which simply means retired Emperor. 

He  died less than three years later aged 30.

 

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king of the united kingdom and the dominions of british empire, and emperor of india from 20 january 1936 until his abdication in December of the same year Edward VIII died on this day 50 years ago, aged 77.

 

 

American actor Don MacLaughlin died on this day 36 years ago, aged 79.

 

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40 years since Col H Jones won his VC at Goose Green.

 

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On this day in 2005  Liberal Democrat MP  Patsy Calton  died from  breast cancer aged 56. She was first diagnosed with cancer in 1997 and it returned early 2005. 

 

Patsys political career began in Stockport Metropolitan council  were she rose to the level of deputy leader but was first elected to the House of Commons in 2001  , beating sitting conservative MP  Stephen  Day  but only just- she achieved an ultra slim majority of 33.

She was relected in 2005  with a much increased majority of over 4000 despite  not being well enough to  campaign for votes. 

 Patsy died less than four weeks after  she was relected and just five days  after she was sworn back in the House of Commons seriously ill in a wheelchair by speaker  Michael Martin.  Martin broke with convention at Patsys swearing in and shook her hand and kissed her saying Welcome home Patsy. 

I think what happened to Patsy is terribly  sad so I hope this doesn't sound  cruel or insensitive  but I genuinely  struggle to put myself in her shoes  and understand why when she was clearly  dying  after her cancer returned in her  spine in February 2005  she bothered to put herself forward for reelection? 

Perhaps some rules over nomination papers? I'm not sure but I do vaguely recall there was some muted criticism of the situation just after she died but it obviously didn't gain much traction because of the sadness of the circumstances and  fear of seeming heartless.

[Drewsky1211 4,691]

Winfield Scott died on this day 156 years ago, aged 79.

Scott joined the US Army in 1808, and his first war was the War of 1812- in which he fought on the Canadian front. He was promoted to brigadier general. Later, he would serve in several of the Indian Wars, including negotiating the treaty that ended the Black Hawk War of 1832. Scott was promoted to Commanding General of the Army in 1841, and soon found himself in the Mexican-American War, where he led American forces to victory by besieging Mexico City in 1847- this led to the acquisition of the modern states of California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of Colorado and New Mexico. His final battle was the Battle of Bull Run in 1861, where, after a crushing defeat by Confederate forces (and also due to his poor health), he retired from service.

 

Scott was also a politician. As an Anti-Jacksonian, he joined the Whig Party in the 1830s. He attempted to gain their presidential nomination in each election beginning in 1840, before successfully being nominated in 1852. At the time, the party was largely divided due to the issue of slavery (northern Whigs opposed it and southern Whigs supported it). Scott's landslide defeat to Franklin Pierce (who served under him in the Mexican-American War) caused the final collapse of the Whig Party, and its members joined the antislavery Republican Party or the nativist Know Nothing Party.

 

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American catcher and coach in Major League Baseball and spy Moe Berg died on this day 50 years ago, aged 70.