Death Anniversary Thread

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Hugely successful  american  stage actress  Marian Seldes, who won the prestigious Tony  theatre awards  five times, died on this day in 2014 aged 86.

 

On this day in 1951 american industrialist and founder of the Kelloggs food manufacturing company  Will Keith Kellogg,  died aged 91.

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American musician and songwriter Eddie Van Halen died on this day 2 years ago, aged 65.

 

 

American actor Scott Wilson died on this day 4 years ago, aged 76.

 

 

Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers Anwar Sadat has been assassinated on this day 41 years ago, aged 62.

 

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Emperor Juntoku of Japan died on this day 780 years ago, aged 44.

Born as Prince Morinari, Juntoku was the son of emperor Go-Toba. In 1198, his father abdicated in favor of his big brother Tsuchimikado, and he did the same in favor of Juntoku in 1210.

 

In 1221, Juntoku's father invited several warriors from Kyoto to a festival searching for allies, and one was killed when they revealed their loyalty to the shogunate over the empire. Eastern Japan then began to rebel, and Go-Toba went to fight against the Hojo clan- he failed, and he and his sons were exiled. Juntoku was forced to abdicate the throne, and his child son Chukyo became emperor- his reign lasted only two months.

 

Juntoku would live on Sado Island (west of the city of Niigata) for the remaining 21 years of his life, and is interred in a mausoleum there.

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Wrong thread...

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Its 29 years since the death of Irish actor Cyril Cusack.

He made his debut as a child, but then went through education before joining Dublin's Abbey Theatre, leading to a theatre, film and TV career lasting 60 years. Fluent in both Irish and English, he had a starring role in the first feature film made entirely in the Irish language (Poitín , 1978). He's also the father of the other acting Cusacks, Sinéad, Sorcha,  Niamh and Catherine (but not John), and director Padraig.

 

He died aged 82, from motor neurone disease (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease).

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American jazz drummer Ed Blackwell died on this day 30 years ago, aged 62.

 

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American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe died on this day 173 years ago, aged 40.

 

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On this day in 1959 italian american tenor and actor Mario Lanza died aged just 38 from a pulmonary embolism.  

A  popular Hollywood star in the 1940s and 1950s. 

He started singing professionally age 16 and had a succesful career on stage singing in opera. He performed at the Hollywood bowl in 1947 ,impressed many and was signed  up by Louis B Mayer to MGM on a 7 year contract.  

His first credited film was 'That midnight kiss' in 1949  with Kathryn Grayson and Ethel Barrymore .

 

Other film credits include  The Great Caruso (1951),  The Toast of New Orleans (1950) and The Student Prince (1954) were he provides the dubbed on singing  voice  for Edmund  Purdom who replaced Mario in the role after he was sacked by MGM.Accounts differ on whether he was sacked for putting on weight and mot being able to fit into his costume or whether it was because of a clash of ideas and personality in a strong  series of disagreements.  He could be quite passionate about creative artistic differences as well as maybe being a bit of a male diva!

 

Serenade (1956) is another one of his more noted films alas with Warner Bros but his career post MGM never quite hit the same heights overall. 

For his final film role in 1959 film 'For the first time ' he needed to lose weight   His overeating and long struggle with addiction to alcohol was taking its toll. 

He was put on something called the twilight sleep treatment for weight loss which required him to be immobile and lying down in bed most of the term.

This unconventional treatment was doomed to fail and likely lead to the  pulmonary embolism  that killed him after months struggling with heart issues and pneumonia. 

 

His devastated wife committed suicide months after she was widowed. 

 

 

 

 

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On this day in 2008,  British journalist and News Presenter  Bob Friend  died aged 70.

 

He was one of the original news anchors  on Sky News when it launched in 1989 but he began his career at the BBC as the Northern Ireland correspondent  on the Today programme on Radio 4 during a particularly brutal era of sectarian violence.  He spent 20 years at the BBC. 

 

 

Apparently  Tom Cruise during a brief trip to London watched Sky News,  spotted Bob and as a result decided his face fitted so to speak and as a result secured him a number of cameo roles in  movies  including Mission Impossible and  Independence Day.

 

Bob died of a brain tumour. 

 

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Franklin Pierce died on this day 153 years ago, aged 64.

Pierce was the son of future New Hampshire governor Benjamin Pierce. The younger Pierce was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1828, and to the US House in 1832. Pierce would later be elected as a senator in 1836, resigning in 1842. Pierce would later serve in the Mexican-American War, and was notably injured when his horse fell into a ditch after being startled, falling on him.

 

Pierce was nominated as a "dark horse" candidate when James C. Dobbin endorsed him during the 1852 Democratic National Convention, winning 254-42 in the electoral vote count. The 1852 election was the final election in which a Whig Party candidate would run.

 

Despite being a northerner, Pierce was against the abolitionist movement, passing the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 in which the newly-created Kansas and Nebraska Territories could decide whether slavery would be legal or not. This led to a period of violence within the territories, in which up to 200 were killed- now known as "Bleeding Kansas". This disenfranchised northern Democrats, and in 1856, they nominated James Buchanan for president instead of the incumbent Pierce.

 

During his post-presidency, Pierce took a pacifist stance during the Civil War, but also criticized Abraham Lincoln for the suspension of habeas corpus. Pierce was an avid drinker and died of cirrhosis of the liver.

 

During his college years, Pierce befriended The Scarlet Letter author Nathaniel Hawthorne, and was present when he died while they were visiting the White Mountains in New Hampshire in 1864.

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American architect and industrial designer Bertrand Goldberg died on this day 25 years ago, aged 84.

 

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Its 40 years since the death of Argentine actor Fernando Lamas.

Beginning his career in Argentine he relocated to Hollywood, signing a contract with MGM, playing 'Latin-lover' type roles, and occasional singing roles in musicals. His first starring role was in The Merry Widow, opposite Lana Turner. More leading roles followed opposite Elizabeth Taylor, Rosalind Russell and Esther Williams and more, but never felt he shook off the @latin-lover' tag. He also appeared on Broadway, gaining a Tony nomination for Happy Hunting with Ethel Merman, and on TV with several roles in Jane Wyman Presents and guesting in Shirley Temple's Storybook, and in The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour, before moving to European cinema.

 

Returning to the US, he mainly appeared in guest roles in TV, also directing episodes, including episodes of Falcon Crest starring his son Lorenzo.

 

He was scheduled to appear in short-lived US show Gavilan, playing opposite Patrick Macnee, but was taken ill, with what was diagnosed as pancreatic cancer, of which he later died, aged 67.

 

He was famously lampooned by Billy Crystal, who frequently appeared as him in Saturday Night Live.

 

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American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution John Hancock died on this day 229 years ago, aged 56.

 

 

British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955 Clement Attlee died on this day 55 years ago, aged 84.

 

 

American lawyer corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for President Wendell Willkie died on this day 78 years ago, aged 52.

 

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On this day in 2006  british professional  snooker player Paul Hunter died aged 27  from a rare form of cancer in his stomach. 

 

He was a three times snooker maters champion  in 2001,2002 and 2004- recovering from a point deficit to win 10-9 in all three  victories. In the 2004-04 season he reached a career high of being the number 4 ranking player in the world.

 

In 2016  the masters trophy was renamed  the Paul Hunter trophy after the late Yorkshire man. 

As a result of his good looks Paul Hunter became known as the "Beckham of the Baize"- an obvious reference to the football player David. 

 

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Alec Douglas-Home died on this day 27 years ago, aged 92.

Douglas-Home would first be elected to Parliament in 1931. He was defeated by Tom Steele in the 1945 election, but beat him in a rematch election in 1950. He inherited his father's seat in the House of Lords upon his death in 1951, and would be its leader from 1957 to 1960.

 

In 1963, Harold Macmillan resigned as prime minister due to health concerns, and Douglas-Home was elected as the leader of the conservative party (defeating Macmillan's wanted successor Lord Hailsham). Four days into his ministry, he renounced his peerage to be elected to the House of Commons. He attended the funeral of John F. Kennedy during his ministry, and in 1964, foiled the plans of some university-aged attempted kidnappers by giving them beer.

 

Douglas-Home and the Conservatives narrowly lost to the Labour Party in 1964, and Harold Wilson succeeded him as PM. He would step down from parliament in 1974, but was awarded a life peerage later that year, reclaiming his earldom. Douglas-Home would make two consecutive appearances on the DeathList, both at number 46, and was the sixth hit of 1995.

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Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, writer, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist Che Guevara died on this day 55 years ago, aged 39.

 

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It's 49 years since the death of Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

 

Born to cotton pickers in Arkansas, she began as a child singing gospel and playing guitar, alongside her mother in a travelling evangelical troupe. She first recorded aged 23, four tracks for Decca Records, their first gospel recordings. One of the tracks, Rock Me, is cited as influencing Elvis Presley, Little Richard & Jerry Lee Lewis.

 

She was ostracised by a segment of the Gospel community for performing in secular settings, such as Harlem's Cotton Club (alongside Cab Calloway); her 1944 recording of Strange Things Happening Every Day is considered by some as the first rock n roll record.

 

In 1970, she suffered a stroke, severely affecting her ability to perform, and had a leg amputated as a result of diabetes. In 1973, on the eve of a scheduled recording session she suffered a further stroke, and died aged 58.

 

She was posthumously inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 as an "early influence".

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American professional baseball shortstop and manager Dave Bancroft died on this day 50 years ago, aged 81.

 

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14 hours ago, Gooseberry Crumble said:

 

On this day in 2006  british professional  snooker player Paul Hunter died aged 27  from a rare form of cancer in his stomach. 

 

He was a three times snooker maters champion  in 2001,2002 and 2004- recovering from a point deficit to win 10-9 in all three  victories. In the 2004-04 season he reached a career high of being the number 4 ranking player in the world.

 

In 2016  the masters trophy was renamed  the Paul Hunter trophy after the late Yorkshire man. 

As a result of his good looks Paul Hunter became known as the "Beckham of the Baize"- an obvious reference to the football player David. 

 

That brings back memories, there were so many angry drive bys his thread had to be renamed so as not to show up on search engines!

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Stephen Gately, Irish singer and member of the hugely successful boyband Boyzone , died on this day in Spain in  2009 from an from an undiagnosed heart condition aged just 33.

 

 

 

On this day in 2010  australian soprano  Joan Sutherland  died aged 83 in her home in Switzerland. 

She was the first australian to win a grammy award.

[Drewsky1211 4,052]

Orson Welles died on this day 37 years ago, aged 70.

On Halloween Eve in 1938, Welles broadcast an episode of his show The Mercury Theatre on the Air- that week was a play-by-play adaptation of HG Wells' The War of the Worlds. Although Welles repeatedly stated during the broadcast that the events taking place were fictional, many listeners either did not tune in when Welles made said announcements, or believed that the "alien" invaders were Nazi Germans, and not extraterrestrials. This led to mass panic.

 

In 1941, Welles directed, produced, co-wrote, and starred in the film Citizen Kane. The film was nominated for nine Oscars, winning one for Best Original Screenplay, and is nowadays considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. Welles would continue to make films until 1974. During the 1940s, Welles was also known for his marriage to Rita Hayworth (they married in 1943, and divorced in 1947, having a daughter together).

 

Welles recorded his lines as the voice of Unicron (one of the main villains of the film) for Transformers: The Movie five days before his death, and it was reported that his "voice was apparently so weak by the time he made his recording that technicians needed to run it through a synthesizer to salvage it". Welles died of a heart attack.

[The Ashes Urn 1,331]

American character actor James Seay died on this day 30 years ago, aged 78.

 

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Russian-born actor Yul Brynner died on this day 37 years ago, aged 65.

 

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On this day 18 years ago in 2004 american actor Christopher Reeve,  best known for playing Superman in the movie franchise from the late 1970s to the late 1980s , died aged 52. 

He had been suffering numerous  medical problems and compliance since he was paralysed from the neck down after a horse riding accident during  an equestrian competition  in 1995 in Virginia. 

 

His widow Dana Reeve  sadly died less than 18 months after Christopher of lung cancer aged just 44.

 

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On this day in 1993 british actor and bodyguard  John Bindon, who had strong connections and involvement with Londons  underworld and gangsters in the 1960s and 1970s, with suggestions by some that Bindon himself was a gangster running rackets died aged 50.

 

 

 

 

He was discovered by director Ken Loach who felt he was the ideal fit  for the role of a violent husband in 1967 film Poor Cow .

 

He also had a role in Michael Caine film Get Carter.

He dated Vicky Hodge,  the daughter of a baronet, which helped give him a route into the British aristrocracy and their social circles.  Even travelling to the island of Mustique  were he met Princess Margaret. 

Bindon himself and a number of biographies and books on the era  claim he had a brief sexual relationship with Princess Margaret and that relationship and association caused quite a bit of concern among the security services and her royal protections officers. 

 

John Bindon had a notorious  bad temper and was known to be extremely violent at times.In the late 1970s he went on trial accused of murdering British criminal John Darke.  He pleaded self defence saying he feared for his life and the jury was persuaded by this- with a little help from famous actor Bob Hoskins who spoke casual a character witness for him at his trial.

The dramatic court case however did damage his reputation in acting/showbiz circles and future acting work became nearly impossible for  him to get.

 

At one point he was hired to be the chief bodyguard for Led Zeppelin when they embarked upon their US tour. A number of violent incidents on the tour involving Bindon resulted in the bands manager years later saying hiring Bindon was one of his biggest ever professional mistakes .

 

 

He became reclusive in his latter years, shunned by many, and died in his London flat reportedly of cancer.

 

 

Random fact- The size and length of John Bindons manhood was legendary and he reportedly  developed a party trick of removing his underwear at parties and hanging 5 half pint glasses of lager from his penis such was its length and strength. 

A party trick   that rumour has it Princess Margaret was most intrigued by when she heard the gossip about it and requested he perform the party trick in front of her for her pleasure and amusement!