Death Anniversary Thread

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On this day in 1921   Dimtrios Rallis , former Prime Minister of Greece, (the 78th Prime Minister to be exact) died aged 77.

 

He was  descended from an old Greek  political family  and both his son and grandson became Greek Prime ministers too. His son regarded as a quisling Prime minister during the World War two  German occupation of Greece and his grandson a Conservative Prime minister in the 1980s.

It was Dimtrios  cabinet that authorised  reinstating King Constantine  on the throne of Greece.

He died of cancer aged 77 in Athens.

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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

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Pope Paul VI died on this day 44 years ago, aged 80.

 

Paul was born as Giovanni Montini in 1897. He entered the seminary in 1916, and was ordained in 1920. Montini was appointed as the Archbishop of Milan in 1954, and as a cardinal in 1958.

 

Paul became pope in 1963 following the death of Pope John XXIII. At the time, the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican- better known as Vatican II- was being held, which was an attempt to modernize the Catholic Church in an ever-growing secular world. Among the changes made to the Catholic doctrine were permission of vernacular language instead of Latin in the Mass, the option to eat meat on Fridays, and allowing the use of some secular, contemporary music during the liturgy. The council also called for interfaith dialogue between other religions and Christian sects.

 

Paul was known for traveling during his papacy, and was the first to visit six continents- and the first to visit Africa; a trip to Uganda in 1969. During a trip to the Philippines in 1970, Paul was lightly stabbed by an attempted assassin. Paul's words even made it to the Moon- he was one of 73 world leaders to participate in the Apollo 11 goodwill messages, with the disc containing them being left behind by the astronauts.

 

Paul died of a heart attack, and was succeeded by the short-reigning John Paul I (who took the second part of his papal name from Paul himself). In 2018, Paul was canonized, earning his sainthood.

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6 hours ago, Gooseberry Crumble said:

 

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

"died" yeah right........

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2 hours ago, Bibliogryphon said:

"died" yeah right........

Oh I've  heard of the theories regarding  Dr David Kelly's death but I hadn't realised similar suspicious were around  Robin Cook too?

If memory serves me right  another former Blair cabinet member died shortly after Robin Cook- Mo Mowlam. 

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Thirty-nine years since the death of German singer/performance artist Klaus Nomi (nee Sperber). Born in Germany in the latter stages of the war, he worked as an usher at the Deutsche Oper, entertaining colleagues with songs after performances. He also sang opera at the gay disco Kleist Casino.

 

He emigrated to USA in 1972, settling in New York, performing off-Broadway and coming to the attention of the East Village arts fraternity with his performance of Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix from Saint-Saens' Samson & Delilah.

He, along with friend and fellow performer Joey Arias, was selected by David Bowie to appear as performer/backing singer on a 1978 edition of Saturday Night Live.

 

Nomi died aged 39, from complications caused by AIDS, one of the first arts figures to die so.

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American general of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, Ira C. Eaker, died on this day 35 years ago, aged 91.

 

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3 hours ago, Gooseberry Crumble said:

Oh I've  heard of the theories regarding  Dr David Kelly's death but I hadn't realised similar suspicious were around  Robin Cook too?

If memory serves me right  another former Blair cabinet member died shortly after Robin Cook- Mo Mowlam. 

 

It would only be the harshest conspiracy theorist that assigned any suspicion to the death of Mo Mowlam but Tony Blair was less than impressed at how popular she was following the Good Friday agreement.

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25 minutes ago, Bibliogryphon said:

 

It would only be the harshest conspiracy theorist that assigned any suspicion to the death of Mo Mowlam but Tony Blair was less than impressed at how popular she was following the Good Friday agreement.

Oh no please don't  misunderstand  me- i didn't mean to suggest that  there is a conspiracy  behind  Mo Mowlams death.  She died of a brain tumour.  No I just meant that shortly after the 2005 general election  win for labour two of Blairs original  cabinet members died.  I find clusters of deaths can sometimes  have a kind of symbolic or end of an era sense or vibe to them . I think their reduced majority,  the near certainty Blair wouldn't stand again and the deaths of 2 former cabinet  ministers created that beginning of the end for new Labour feel in the air   That's what I am trying to explain poorly- not conspiracy! 

I remember feeling similar when Barbara Stanwyck,  Greta Garbo,  Ava Gardner and Bette Davis all died within about six months.  It felt like the beginning of the end of the divas from the golden era of Hollywood. 

It's just the way my mind works sometimes!

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American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917 Hiram Johnson died on this day 77 years ago, aged 78.

 

 

American singer songwriter, musician and record producer Rick James died on this day 18 years ago, aged 56.

 

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On this day in 2005  Canadian  born American journalist and TV news presenter  Peter Jennings died aged 67 from lung cancer. 

He was the sole anchor of ABC  News World News tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005. 

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Red Adair, considered to be one of the most famous firefighters of all time, died on this day 18 years ago, aged 89.

"I've done made a deal with the devil. He said he's going to give me an air-conditioned place when I go down there, if I go there, so I won't put all the fires out." - Adair, unspecified date

 

After serving in a bomb disposal unit in World War II, Adair began to work in the oil industry. He and fellow worker Myron Kinley pioneered a method of using a shaped charge to snuff the flames. Adair formed his own oil firefighting company in 1959, and put out over 2,000 oil fires worldwide over the course of his career. In 1962, Adair gained international attention by extinguishing the Devil's Cigarette Lighter fire in Algeria, a natural gas well fire that had been burning for half a year, by using his shaped charge method. The 1968 film Hellfighters, starring John Wayne, was loosely based on this event.

 

Adair retired from firefighting in 1993- and he had made his DeathList debut the previous year. Adair would make seven more appearances from 1994 to his death.

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Nurse and Journalist who joined the French Resistance and later the Special Operations Executive during World War II Nancy Wake died on this day 11 years ago, aged 98.

 

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American model, film and television actress and nightclub singer, Joi Lansing, died on this day 50 years ago, aged 43.

 

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On this day in 1973 australian cricketer  Jack Gregory,  who played internationally  for his countrys national team between 1920-1928, died aged 77.

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On this day in 2005  american actress Barbara  Bel Geddes,  best known for playing Miss Ellie  in legendary  US soap Dallas - the matriarch of the powerful  texan oil family the Ewings, died from lung cancer aged 82.

Her work in Dallas and the role of Miss Ellie is by far what she is most famous for but prior to it she had a good body of work in Broadway theatre  including in Cat on a hot tin roof , was nominate for a best supporting actresses Oscar for 1948 film I remember mama and starred  in Alfred Hitchcocks  psychological thriller  Vertigo in 1958 alongside  James Stewart and Kim Novak.

She stayed with Dallas until the penultimate season in 1990, with many fans feeiing it a shame she did not appear in the final season  but there are contradictory rumours about why she left the show.  Some say she wanted a pay rise and was refused, others say she was concerned  about the quality of the shows writing .She retired from acting and went to live in Maine. 

In her latter years she had a degree of success writing some childrens books and designing her own line of greetings cards. 

 

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Glen Campbell died on this day 5 years ago, aged 81.

 

In 1967, Campbell recorded the songs "Gentle on My Mind" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", earning him four Grammys combined. Campbell would soon get his own variety hour television show in 1969, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. The show, which featured comedy skits and musical performances by major musicians (ex. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Linda Ronstadt), ran until 1972, and is credited with launching the career of Anne Murray.

 

Campbell would see continued popularity in the 1970s, earning number-one hits with his 1975 signature song "Rhinestone Cowboy", and 1977's "Southern Nights" (the latter of which was featured in the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, released three months before his death).

 

Campbell would also endeavor into acting roles. He co-starred in 1969's True Grit, earning him an Oscar nomination for the film's title track. Later, he would star as Chanticleer the rooster in the 1991 Don Bluth animated film Rock-a-Doodle.

 

Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in December of 2010, announcing his diagnosis in June of the following year. He was moved into a care home in 2014, and was nominated for another Oscar for his song "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" in his documentary film Glenn Campbell: I'll Be Me (which focused on his 2011-12 farewell tour)- the film holds a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Campbell first appeared on the DeathList in 2016, and died the following year... 2017's eighth hit on the eighth day of the eighth month of the year, to be precise.

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American film director, producer, screenwriter and author Melville Shavelson died on this day 15 years ago, aged 90.

 

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Its fifteen years since the death of Joybubbles.

Born blind, Josef Carl Engressia Jr. developed an early interest in telephones. At age 7 he discovered that by whistling into the phone he could activate certain operator switches; this evolved into a sideline during his student days, whereby "Whistler", as he was nicknamed, sold long-distance phone calls to how fellow students for $1 each. A Canadian operator reported him and he was suspended from University (though later reinstated and graduated).

 

As a result of childhood sexual abuse, he reverted to a childlike sate in 1988, claiming that he was 5 years old, and legally changed his name to Joybubbles in 1991. In 1998 he travelled to Pittsburgh to listed to several hundred Mister Rogers' Neighborhood episodes from the archive. He ran a phoneline in the 80's called Zzzzyzzerrific Funline, which had the distinction of being the last listing in the directory.

 

He died aged 58, with natural causes cited as cause of death, contributed to by congestive heart failure on his death certificate, though no definitive cause has been disclosed.

 

He's named as an early inspiration of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and has been the subject of many newspaper, magazine and radio features, including BBC radio's A Call From Joybubbles.

 

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On this day in 2004  Canadian American actress Fay Wray, most famous for the  role  of Ann Darrow in legendary  1933 film King Kong,  died aged 96.

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American actress of stage and screen Patricia Neal died on this day 12 years ago, aged 84.

 

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Helen Rollason died on this day 23 years ago, aged 43.

Rollason began her career in broadcasting in 1981 as a radio sportscaster. By 1984, she had began to make sports content as a producer for Channel 4. Rollason would soon join the BBC program Newsround as the show would add more coverage of sports. 

 

In 1988, Rollason provided coverage of the Summer Olympics in Seoul, and in 1990, became the first female presenter of Grandstand. Rollason would continue to cover the Olympics in 1992 and 1996, and would become an advocate for disability sporting competitions, such as the Paralympics and the Blind Golfers' Championships. In 1996, Rollason was named as TRIC's Sports Presenter of the Year.

 

In 1997, Rollason was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer, and was given three months to live. She managed to outlast the doctor's prognosis by two years, during which she treated her illness with a combination of chemotherapy and holistic medicine. Making her only appearance on the DeathList in 1999, Rollason remains the youngest ever hit.

 

Several sports awards have posthumously been named after Rollason.

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On this day in  1985 , one of Australia's  most highly ever rated rugby players  Clive Churchill died aged 58 from cancer.

 

He spent the majority of his career successfully  playing for and managing the South Sydney Rabbitohs enjoying a total of 8 premiership wins -5 as player , 3 as manager. 

He captained the national team 24 times in test matches and was the most caped Kangaroos player at the time of his retirement. 

To this day there is a prestigious  rugby medal  awarded in his honour. 

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American comedian and actor Bernie Mac died on this day 14 years ago, aged 50.

 

 

American actress and model Sharon Tate died on this day 53 years ago, aged 26.

 

 

American musician, best known for being a principal songwriter, the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, of which he was a founding member and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 1960s Jerry Garcia died on this day 27 years ago, aged 53.

 

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English guitarist Paul Samson died on this day 20 years ago, aged 49.