Death Anniversary Thread

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On this day in 2016 Gerald Grosvenor,  the 6th Duke of Westminster and one of the richest men in the UK,  died aged 64.

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On this day in 2007  Tony Wilson,  a key figure in the Manchester  music scene, owner of independent record label  Factory records (which signed artists such as  Joy Division/New Order and The Happy Mondays),  founder and manager of Manchesters famous  Hacienda Nightclub  and a  presenter  on Granada  television- died aged 57.

His strong involvement and advocacy on behalf of Manchester earned him the nickname  'Mr Manchester '.

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Isaac Hayes died on this day 14 years ago, aged 65.

 

In the 1960s and 70s, Hayes was best known as a soul musician, with his best known work being the theme to the film Shaft, which earned him an Oscar.

 

To more recent generations, Hayes is best known as the voice of Chef from South Park. Hayes would voice the character from the show's premiere in 1997 to the season 9 episode "Die Hippie, Die" in 2005.

Later that season, the episode "Trapped in the Closet" aired. This episode mocked the ideas of the Church of Scientology- of which Hayes had been a member since 1993. While Hayes defended series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone after the episode's premiere, on March 13, 2006 (four months later), a statement issued in Hayes' name was made asking him to be released from his contract with Comedy Central. Parker and Stone obliged, and killed Chef off in the season 10 premiere nine days later- which made allusions to Scientology "brainwashing" him.

 

It was later reported that Hayes had suffered a stroke in January of 2006, leaving him incapacitated. Hayes' son Isaac Hayes III revealed that his father's entourage decided that he leave the show- all of whom were Scientologists.

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On this day in 1999  Jennifer Patterson, british  celebrity cook, author, food journalist,  television presenter and all round  showbiz personality  died aged 71.

Most famous for her tv show The  two fat ladies along with Clarissa Dickson Wright.

 

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Is 28 years since the death of Kay Petre*, racing driver who memorably contested the title of fastest woman at Brooklands with Gwenda Stewart in the 1930s.

Born in Canada, she was educated in England, returning to Canada in her 20s; as a young widow, she remarried English solicitor & pilot Henry Petre who introduced her to racing cars.

She held the Brooklands lap record 3 times, 124mph in a Bugatti, then a Delage at 129.58mph, both in 1934, then in 1935, once more in the Delage, reascing 134.75mph (broken three days later by Stewart at 136.95mph).

 

She was a fixture around the circuits until 1937, when practising for a 500k race in an Austin Seven, she was shunted by Reg Parnell, causing her to crash, whereby she was seriously injured, and never raced competitively again.

 

She turned to journalism, and whilst in France covering the 1939 Monte Carlo rally, was involved in another accident, in which her passenger Reggie Empson was killed, and she was badly injured; she, along with the lorry driver also involved, was charged with manslaughter, though proceedings were halted by her return to the UK and the subsequent outbreak of war. Empson's widow, Stella, began civil proceedings, settling out of court.

 

Post war she was employed as a 'colour consultant' by Austin. Following the death of her husband, she remained in London, dying in a Camden care home in 1994, aged 91.

 

*Not to be confused with Kay, Peter.

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American sportscaster Ted Husing died on this day 60 years ago, aged 60.

 

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On this day in 2009, Eunice Kennedy  Shriver,  american activist,  philanthropist,  founder of the special Olympics and member of the famous American political  dynasty the Kennedys,  died aged 88.

 

She was also the mother in law of Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

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Robin Williams died on this day 8 years ago, aged 63.

 

Here's a fact regarding Williams' death: on the day Williams committed suicide, BBC Three aired a rerun of the Family Guy episode "Family Guy Viewer Mail #2". It was an anthology episode, and the second segment revolved around Peter wishing that everyone was Robin Williams and getting a "Midas touch"-like ability to turn people into him. Peter's power grows further out of control to the point where he transforms his family. Peter then attempts multiple times to commit suicide, with each attempt failing due to everything he touches turning into Robin. Eventually, Peter sends the Robins out into the world to make others laugh, and cuts off his hands to prevent more from being created.

 

News of Williams' death broke just as the episode ended, causing the channel to pull a rerun scheduled to air that Friday, and also led to the removal of Peter's suicide attempts on ITV2's broadcast.

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Media magnate, Viacom founder, CBS boss, billionaire (and coffin tease) Sumner Redstone died on this day two years ago at 97, likely from complications of heart disease and dementia.

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South African-American virologist and physician Max Theiler died on this day 50 years ago, aged 73.

 

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American actress Anne Ramsey* died 34 years ago today.

She became interested in theatre at college, and subsequently appeared in several Broadway productions during the 50s, during which time she met and married fellow thespian Logan Ramsey. Together they started the Theatre of The LIving Arts in a declining theatre operation in Philadelphia.

 

She began a successful Hollywood career in the 70s, appearing alongside her husband in  7 productions, but is probably mostly remembered for her roles as Mama Fratelli in The Goonies and as the eponymous Momma in Throw Momma from The Train (for which she earned Academy Award & Golden Globe nominations).

 

She had a distinctive 'slurred speech', caused by removal of part of her tongue and jaw to combat oesophageal cancer. The cancer later returned and claimed her life aged 59.

 

 

*Not to be confused with Aaron Ramsey.

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On this day in 1596  Hamnet Shakespeare,  a fraternal twin and only son of playwright  William Shakespeare,  died aged 11.

 

His death is debated , seen and speculated on by many scholars of history and literature , as being a likely key influence on some of Shakespeares  writing- especially  Hamlet , Twelfth Night( a story about a thought to be dead fraternal twin) and Romeo and Juliet. 

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On this day 8 years ago in 2014, Hollywood legend  Lauren  Bacall died aged 89 in New York. 

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Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, died on this day 58 years ago, aged 56.

 

Like Bond, Fleming was a spy- he worked for the Naval Intelligence Division in World War II, and was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye: monitoring Spain to see if they formed an alliance with the Axis powers (which never occurred). Fleming would name his estate in Jamaica after the operation, and began writing the James Bond series of books there beginning in 1952, starting with Casino Royale and ending after 14 books with the posthumous Octopussy and The Living Daylights compilation book.

 

Fleming also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, released a few months after his death.

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US Navy aviator Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. died on this day 78 years ago, aged 29.

 

 

American actress Loretta Young 22 years ago, aged 87.

 

 

American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor Les Paul died on this day 13 years ago, aged 94.

 

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American film and stage actor Henry Fonda died on this day 40 years ago, aged 77.

 

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Its 34 years since the death of Jean-Michel Basquiat, New York artist. he was the first black artist to achieve international acclaim. Part of the "Neo-expressionism" movement, his art focused on social injustice and black culture and identity.

(picture by Warhol)

 

He began smoking pot in his teens, and ran away from home aged 15 after his father caught him.

 

He progressed to cocaine and then heroin - "The more money Basquiat made, the more paranoid and deeply involved with drugs he became," wrote journalist Michael Shnayerson.

 

Its suggested that his drug use was a way of coping with being a black man in a predominantly white environment (i.e. the art world). A contemporary & friend of Andy Warhol, it's said his heroin addiction exacerbated by Warhol's death.

 

Basquiat was discovered unresponsive by his girlfriend in his Manhattan apartment and was pronounced DOA from a heroin overdose on arrival at hospital. He was 27.

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On this day in 1904  british tennis player and former World number one player  William  Renshaw  died from an epileptic convulsion  aged 43.

He won 12 major titles during his tennis career,  7 Wimbledon  titles in mens singles- a record that was shared with Pete Sampras  until 2017  when it was surpassed   by  Roger Federer who won an 8th. 

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HG Wells died on this day 76 years ago, aged 79.

Wells is credited with bringing the genre of science fiction into the mainstream. His first novel, The Time Machine, was published in 1895: a story about a scientist travelling 800,000 years into the future and discussing his adventure with visitors. This was followed by The Island of Doctor Moreau in 1896, The Invisible Man in 1897, and The War of the Worlds in 1898. Wells would later be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times (1921, 1932, 1935, 1946).

 

Wells was also a philanthropist, co-founding Diabetes UK in 1934- he himself was a diabetic.

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On this day in 2006 , Olympic boxer  Payao  Poontarat,  the first thai person to win an Olympic medal in any  sport,  died aged 49 from motor neuron disease. 

He won bronze medals in boxing at the 1976 Olympics. 

He was also latterly a politician in Thailands House of representatives. 

 

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British writer Terence Feely died 22 years ago today, aged 72.

Born & brought up in Liverpool, he found a job on a Middlesbrough provincial newspaper on graduation. He soon tired of this and moved to London, working on Fleet Street.

 

He began writing film scripts, one of which was purchased by Alfred Hitchcock (though no film seems to have been produced). Venturing into television he wrote scripts for the popular programmes of the day, No Hiding Place,  The Avengers, The Saint, Thunderbirds, before bringing Callan to the screen.

 

Moving to the British subsidiary of Paramount, he was partly responsible for the production of Lindsay Anderson's If...

 

He joined Patrick McGoohan and David Tomblin in setting up Everyman films, producers of The Prisoner, for which he also wrote episodes. The 70s & 80s saw more of his scrips, for programmes such as U.F.O., Space: 1999, The Persuaders & The Protectors

 

As well as writing for TV, he also created the ITV Series The Gentle Touch, and its spin-off C.A.T.S. Eyes.

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American professional baseball executive George Weiss died on this day 50 years ago, aged 78.

 

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English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale died on this day 112 years ago, aged 90.

 

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Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis died on this day in 1865 (157 years ago) from a gangrenous wound likely caused by a beating. 

 

Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp was born on 1st July 1818, in modern-day Budapest, and was awarded a medical degree from the University of Vienna in 1844, six years after giving up his law studies to turn to medicine. While working in the Vienna General Hospital, he noticed that fatal cases of Childbed Fever were incredibly common in mothers delivered by doctors who had not long prior performed autopsies. He put two and two together and realised that there was a correlation between the bacteria found in corpses and Childbed Fever. This was when he decided to introduce a system that was then laughed at, but now, especially now, incredibly commonplace: washing one's hands. To prove that his theories were correct he conducted a series of experiments and gathered data that revealed that mothers were more likely to survive giving birth if the doctor/midwife delivering the child had washed their hands beforehand. Cases of Childbed Fever drastically decreased following the implementation of his practice. However, he was mentally troubled and was eventually confined to an asylum, where the guards beat him regularly. He died as a result of gangrene contracted via a wound inflicted in one of these beatings. 

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On this day in 1995  british mountain climber  Alison Hargreaves  died aged 33 whilst descending the summit of the worlds second highest mountain-K2 in Pakistan. 

 

She was very accomplished in the field having successfully scaled Mount Everest alone without  supplementary oxygen or the support of a Sherpa team, solo climbed all the greath north faces of the Alps in a single season-a world first. 

A number of climbers died in the same tragic expedition as Alison including notable american mountain climber Rob Slater  aged 34.

Alison left behind two young children and tragically her son Tom died in 2019 also while mountain climbing abroad and like his mum trying to accomplish rare feats.