Death Anniversary Thread

[dimreaper 822]

West German terrorist, criminal mastermind, and member of the Volksfrei Movement, Hans Gruber died on this day 36 years ago.

[Toast 16,274]

11 minutes ago, dimreaper said:

West German terrorist, criminal mastermind, and member of the Volksfrei Movement, Hans Gruber died on this day 36 years ago.

 

Loved him in Die Hard.

[time 8,701]

Its 22 years since the death of poet, singer, songwriter, humourist Jake Thackray, aged 64.

This is from 1979.

[Drewsky1211 4,870]

George Michael died on this day 8 years ago, aged 53.

- Michael's real name was Georgios Panayiotou- his father was a Greek immigrant to the UK.

- In 1981, Michael would form Wham with Andrew Ridgeley. 1984 was the band's definitive year, with songs such as "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Everything She Wants", and "Careless Whisper" topping music charts all around the world:

- Michael would go solo beginning in 1987, with his singles "I Want Your Sex" and (of course) "Faith" also being mega-hits. Later on in his career, Michael would become more political, with 2002's "Shoot the Dog" mocking the Blair administration:

- Michael would come out as gay in 1998 following his arrest for engaging in lewd behavior in a public bathroom. He would make the song "Outside" to lampoon the incident:

The police officer who arrested him would attempt to sue Michael for $10 million due to slander, but this case would be dismissed by the court. Michael's other legal troubles included his addiction to marijuana- still illegal to be smoked recreationally in the UK.

- Michael died from an enlarged heart on Christmas Day in 2016. This is a case of life imitating art because...

Congratulations to those who managed to win Whamageddon this year.

[The Ashes Urn 1,364]

American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager Billy Martin died on this day 35 years ago, aged 61.

 

[Phantom 2,555]

70 years ago, Johnny Ace killed himself while playing Russian Roulette. He was just 25

[Drewsky1211 4,870]

Jack Benny died on this day 50 years ago, aged 80.

- Benny's real name was Benjamin Kubelsky. He would learn to play violin at a young age, and would begin performing in vaudeville shows at the age of 17. Among the people he performed with included the young Marx Brothers, and their mother Minnie Marx would invite Benny to join their touring act- Benny's parents forbid him, but he remained lifelong friends with the comedians.

- Benny would breakout as a radio star, hosting The Jack Benny Program from 1932 to 1955, playing a comedically fictionalized version of himself. It was also a TV show that ran from 1950 to 1965 (running concurrently with the radio show for its first five years), and won two Emmys.

- Benny would occasionally act in film, and has been claimed to have had an uncredited cameo in Casablanca. He planned to star in The Sunshine Boys, with his role ultimately going to George Burns (who he handpicked to replace him when his health began to fail- Burns ended up winning an Oscar for the role).

- Benny was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early December of 1974 and died within a month. His legacy includes Benny Hill taking his nickname after his own stage name, the voice of Squidward allegedly being based off his own vocal performances, and the Back to the Future joke where Doc presumes he is Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Treasury (Benny and Reagan were good friends in real life).

[The Ashes Urn 1,364]

Canadian professional hockey defenceman Doug Harvey died on this day 35 years ago, aged 65.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,870]

Jacques Delors died on this day a year ago, aged 98.

- Delors was a banker before he entered politics, and after being elected to the European Parliament in 1979 would become the chairman of its Economic and Monetary Affairs committee. He would serve there for two years.

- Delors would then become the Minister of Finance during the Mitterand administration, and was at one point considered to be on Francois Mitterand's shortlist of prime minister candidates.

- Delors is most well known for his role as the president of the European Commission, being deemed the architect of the modern European Union. He was appointed to this role in 1985, and in 1989 would begin to devise the euro to unify all currencies of EU members. This would lead to its official creation in 1992- as well as this famous 1990 The Sun cover deriding the idea of replacing the pound:

Delors would serve until 1995.

- Delors was encouraged to run for president in France's 1995 election due to favorable polling results, but he would decline (Jacques Chirac ended up winning). He would found the Notre Europe public policy institute in 1996 and serve as its director for the rest of his life.

- Delors made four appearances on the DeathList, from 2020 until his death. He was the 19th and final death of the 2023 list.

[The Ashes Urn 1,364]

American composer and pianist Amy Beach died on this day 80 years ago, aged 77.

 

 

 

[Drewsky1211 4,870]

Jerry Orbach died on this day 20 years ago, aged 69.

- Orbach got his start in theatre, notably in the original 1960 off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks. Other plays of note he would act in included Lili and Guys and Dolls, the latter of which ended up getting him nominated for a Tony Award.

- Orbach was most famous for his television career, and would often appear on Murder, She Wrote as Harry McGraw- in 1987 his character would receive a spinoff show, The Law & Harry McGraw. He also starred in several Law and Order series as Lennie Briscoe, appearing in nearly 300 episodes.

- In film, Orbach is best-known for voicing Lumiere in Disney's Beauty and the Beast:

- Orbach died after a ten-year battle with prostate cancer.

[The Ashes Urn 1,364]

American writer, critic and public intellectual Susan Sontag died on this day 20 years ago, aged 71.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,870]

Pele died on this day 2 years ago, aged 82.

- Pele's real name was Edson do Nascimento. He was named after Thomas Edison, but the I was purposefully omitted. His father Dondinho was also a notable soccer/football player and mentored him, leading Pele to go professional with Santos FC at just 15 years old.

- Pele competed for Brazil in the 1958 World Cup, and to this day is the youngest player to win the tournament (aged 17), scoring two goals in the final match. He would also play in the 1962 and 1970 World Cups, in which Brazil also won.

- After retiring from Brazilian soccer/football in 1974, Pele would join the New York Cosmos team, playing with them for three years before his official retirement in 1977, competing against his former team, Santos- with him scoring the winning goal. 

- Pele would be given an honorary knighthood in 1997, and in later years would be given many awards, considered to be one of (if not the) greatest soccer/football player of all time- being named the International Olympic Committee's Athlete of the Century in 1999 (over other 20th century figures such as Jesse Owens or Babe Ruth).

- Pele was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2021 and died after a 15-month battle. He made one appearance on the DeathList, and was the 14th and last hit of the 2022 list. His centenarian mother Celeste would outlive him by a year and a half.

[The Ashes Urn 1,364]

American composer, lyricist and songwriter Leo Robin died on this day 40 years ago, aged 89.

 

[Drewsky1211 4,870]

Luise Rainer died on this day 10 years ago, aged 104.

- Rainer got inspired to become an actress after watching a circus act, and in 1928 would begin appearing in German theatre.

- In 1934 Rainer would be spotted by an MGM talent scout, and the following year she emigrated to the US to star in Hollywood movies. Her first film was 1935's Escapade. She disliked seeing her face up close on the screen but it was a critical success.

- In 1936 Rainer starred The Great Ziegfield, which netted her her first Oscar- and the following year she would win another one for starring in The Good Earth. The other film of note she starred in during this time was 1938's The Toy Wife (which has nothing to do with toys).

- After her 3-year contract with MGM expired, Rainer would retire from the film industry, only occasionally starring in plays. She would make a career comeback in 1984 by guest starring in an episode of The Love Boat as twin sisters, and in 1997 starred in The Gambler (alongside Michael Gambon).

- Rainer died just two weeks before turning 105. She made only one appearance on the DeathList, in 2014, and was that year's tenth and last hit.

[The Ashes Urn 1,364]

American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author Artie Shaw died on this day 20 years ago, aged 94.

 

 

 

 

 

[Drewsky1211 4,870]

Betty White died on this day 3 years ago, aged 99.

- White was a television pioneer, being the first woman to produce a scripted sitcom when she made Life With Elizabeth in 1953. It would run concurrently with her variety show The Betty White Show, notable for having a recurring Black guest (Arthur Duncan) in the segregation era- leading to Southern TV stations boycotting the show. The '60s would see her as a staple game show panelist, and she would marry Password host Allen Ludden in 1963.

- White would begin to see a career resurgence when she began starring as Sue Ann Nivens in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, starting in 1973 during the middle of the series' run. In 1985 she would land her most famous TV role- Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls, in which she won an Emmy for it and would be nominated for one until the show ended in 1992:

- White would have yet another career resurgence starting when she starred in a Super Bowl ad for Snickers (alongside Abe Vigoda):

This ad would lead fans to rally support online wanting her to host an episode of Saturday Night Live- which happened in May of 2010. This soon led her to star as Elka Ostrovsky in Hot in Cleveland, which ran until 2015.

- White died just 17 days before her 100th birthday- which was widely anticipated to happen by the media:

- White would appear on the DeathList a total of five times, from 2017 until the year she died. She is the latest ever hit for the list, with her death being announced just five hours before the new list was supposed to go up (she would've taken the top spot according to her DeathList obit).

[The Ashes Urn 1,364]

American athlete, actor and author Woody Strode died on this day 30 years ago, aged 80.

 

[time 8,701]

4 minutes ago, The Ashes Urn said:

American athlete, actor and author Woody Strode died on this day 30 years ago, aged 80.

 

I bought his autobiography years ago, I really must read it someday!

[Drewsky1211 4,870]

Shirley Chisholm died on this day 20 years ago, aged 80.

- Chisholm's maiden name was St. Hill, and she was the daughter of Barbadian immigrants to the US. She would major in sociology in college, and would become an active participant in local politics.

- In 1964, Chisholm would be elected to the New York state assembly, and in 1968 would become the first Black woman to be elected to the US House of Representatives. During her tenure she would primarily work on food issues (working with freshman senator Bob Dole to expand the food stamp program), and was also known for taking a feminist side to things by hiring a majority of women to her personal staff.

- Chisholm would run for president in the 1972 election, and was the first African-American to run for a major party ticket. While she did not win the Democratic primary, she did win the New Jersey primary and got 430,000 votes cast for her.

- Chisholm retired from Congress after the 1982 midterm, and became a professor at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She would remain active in politics, endorsing Jesse Jackson during his two unsuccessful runs for president, and would be nominated as the US ambassador to Jamaica by Bill Clinton in 1993- this nomination was rescinded when she rejected it due to poor health.