RIP

[Bèsame*]

Originally Posted by NavyButch

Chris Cornell, the powerful, dynamic singer whose band Soundgarden was one of the architects of grunge music, has died at 52.

Mr. Cornell died Wednesday night in Detroit, said his representative, Brian Bumbery, in a statement that called the death “sudden and unexpected” and that said the singer’s family would be “working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause.”

Mr. Cornell was born in 1964 in Seattle and helped form Soundgarden 20 years later. Sub Pop, then a fledgling record label, released the group’s first single, “Hunted Down,” in 1987, as well as two subsequent EPs. The group’s debut album, “Ultramega OK,” came a year later.

“Badmotorfinger,” released in 1991, benefited from the swell of attention that was beginning to surround the Seattle scene, where Soundgarden, along with Nirvana and Pearl Jam, were playing a high-octane, high-angst brand of rock ’n’ roll. Soundgarden’s musical journeys tended toward the knotty and dark, plunging into off-kilter meters and punctuated by Mr. Cornell’s voice, which could quickly shift from a soulful howl to a gritty growl.

Three of Soundgarden’s studio albums have been certified platinum, including “Superunknown,” from 1994, which featured “Black Hole Sun,” “Fell on Black Days,” “Spoonman” and “My Wave.”

The group — which includes the guitarist Kim Thayil, the bassist Ben Shepherd and the drummer Matt Cameron — disbanded in 1997, but it reunited in 2010 and performed regularly since then. In a review of a 2011 concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, The New York Times chief pop critic Jon Pareles called Soundgarden “one reunited band that can pick up right where it left off.” In 2012, it released “King Animal,” its first album in 16 years, which Mr. Pareles said “sounds like four musicians live in a room, making music that clenches and unclenches like a fist.”

The group played at the Fox Theater in Detroit on Wednesday night, and it had been scheduled to perform in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday at the Rock on the Range festival.

Mr. Cornell appeared to be active on social media in the hours before his death. A post on his Twitter account on Wednesday announced that the group had arrived in Detroit, and a clip of the group’s 2012 release “By Crooked Steps” was posted to his official Facebook page hours before his death.

Mr. Cornell had admitted in interviews to struggling with drug use throughout his life. In a 1994 Rolling Stone article, he described himself as a “daily drug user at 13,” who had quit by the time he turned 14.

After Soundgarden disbanded in 1997, Mr. Cornell returned to heavy drug use, he told The Guardian in a 2009 interview, describing himself as a “pioneer” in the abuse of the opiate OxyContin, and saying that he had gone to rehab.

Mr. Cornell released five solo albums during and after his time with Soundgarden, starting with the 1999 LP “Euphoria Morning.” His 2007 album “Carry On” featured an acoustic cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” that served as the inspiration for a well-received version of the song on “American Idol.” He contributed the song “Seasons” to the soundtrack of “Singles,” Cameron Crowe’s love letter to the Seattle music scene, and performed alongside other members of Soundgarden in the film.
Chris Cornell - "Seasons" Video by Micheleland

In 2001, after Rage Against the Machine’s lead singer, Zack de la Rocha, left the group, Mr. Cornell and members of the band formed Audioslave. The group released three albums before announcing its split in 2007.

Rage Against the Machine posted a message on Twitter honoring Mr. Cornell shortly after news of his death began to spread online.

In November 2016, Mr. Cornell hit the road for the first time with another supergroup of sorts, Temple of the Dog, which features a blend of members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The group was formed a quarter-century ago as a tribute to Andrew Wood, the lead singer of the Seattle bands Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone, who died in March 1990 of a heroin overdose.

Speaking to The New York Times, Mr. Cornell said the group had decided to finally bring its songs to life to honor Mr. Wood. “I thought, well, this is one thing that I can do to remind myself and maybe other people of who this guy is and was and keep his story and in a way his life with us,” he said.

Sad news to learn of his suicide. He had a unique grunge sound and his voice was so unique. His sound will echo thru the 90's.

[Kobi]

Dina Merrill, a beautiful, blonde actress with an aristocratic bearing known as much for her wealthy origins, philanthropy and marriage to actor Cliff Robertson as for her work in film and television, died on Monday. She was 93.

Her parents were Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, and her second husband, Wall Street’s E.F. Hutton.

In 1983, on the occasion of Merrill’s musical comedy debut in a revival of Rodgers and Hart’s 1936 musical ”On Your Toes,” the New York Times gushed, “Long regarded as the essence of chic, the epitome of class and such a persuasive purveyor of charm and charity that she could have a rightful claim to fame as an eloquent spokesman — and fund-raiser — for a slew of worthy causes, Miss Merrill has evoked instant recognition and elegant associations, more so for her persona than for her stage and screen performances.”

As Merrill hit the feature scene in the late 1950s, she was marketed as a replacement for Grace Kelly and certainly shared that actress’s elan. Merrill played nurse Lt. Duran, the love interest of Tony Curtis’ character, in Blake Edwards’ 1959 popular submarine comedy “Operation Petticoat,” and in 1960’s “Butterfield 8,” in which Elizabeth Taylor’s prostitute character has a relationship with a married man played by Laurence Harvey, Merrill played Harvey’s wife. Reviewing the latter film, the New York Times said that in her role Merrill is “lovely and simple.”

Also in 1960, the actress had a supporting role in Fred Zinnemann’s critically hailed “The Sundowners,” starring Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr as a couple trying to make their way in rural Australia.

Merrill had the lead female role opposite Burt Lancaster in John Frankenheimer’s 1961 effort “The Young Savages,” a social-issues film about poverty and crime in which Lancaster plays a assistant district attorney from the streets and Merrill his limousine-liberal wife — who in one (for the time) harrowing scene is threatened by gang members at knifepoint.

In Vincente Minnelli’s 1963 film “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” the actress played an elegant potential mate for Glenn Ford’s widower who is disapproved of by the titular Eddie.

Merrill, who, by the 1960s, was spending more time working in television than on films, also appeared in the 1965 Bob Hope comedy “I’ll Take Sweden”; in starring roles in 1973 Western “Running Wild” opposite Lloyd Bridges and 1974 family film “Throw Out the Anchor!” opposite Richard Egan; and in supporting roles in 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic “The Greatest,” Robert Altman’s 1978 film “A Wedding,” Sidney Lumet’s 1980 film “Just Tell Me What You Want” and John Cusack-James Spader thriller “True Colors.” She was also among the many celebrities with small roles in Altman’s 1992 Hollywood satire “The Player.”

Merrill made her feature debut in the 1957 Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn office comedy “Desk Set” and her last credited bigscreen appearance in the 2003 poker-themed film “Shade,” starring Sylvester Stallone.

The actress’s relatively recent TV credits include A&E’s 2002 remake of “The Magnificent Ambersons” and a guest gig as a judge on A&E’s legal drama “100 Centre Street” the same year. In 1984 she had a series regular on the brief thriller series “Hot Pursuit.” She had a role in “Roots: The Next Generations,” among other TV movies and miniseries, and she guested on a wide variety of series beginning with “Four Star Playhouse” in 1955 and “Playhouse 90,” and on through “Dr. Kildare,” “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Night Gallery,” “The Odd Couple,” “The Love Boat” and, of course, “Murder, She Wrote.”

She and husband Cliff Robertson appeared as guest villains on “Batman,” she as Calamity Jan, he as Shame. They also starred together in the 1968 telepic “The Sunshine Patriot,” directed by Joseph Sargent.

In addition to the 1983 appearance in musical “On Your Toes,” Merrill appeared onstage in 1991 among the rotating cast in the Off Broadway staged reading of the play “Wit and Wisdom.”

[Kobi]

Roger Moore, whose 12-year run as James Bond in the ’70s/’80s turned him into a Hollywood icon, has died. He was 89.

Moore — who remains the longest-serving Bond actor — succeeded Sean Connery as 007 No. 3 in the early ’70s. All told, he appeared in seven Bond pics: Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) and A View to a Kill (1985).

His pre-Bond work included the UK TV series Ivanhoe (1959-1959) and (most memorably) The Saint (1962-69), as well as ABC’s Maverick, in which he played the English-accented cousin of James Garner’s titular card shark.

[CherylNYC]

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/22/mo...cycling-italy/


Nicky Hayden dies five days after cycling crash
By Aimee Lewis and Jill Martin, CNN
Updated 1853 GMT (0253 HKT) May 22, 2017

American Nicky Hayden won the MotoGP world championship in 2006.

American MotoGP rider Nicky Hayden dies aged 35
Hayden was involved in a cycling crash five days ago
He was crowned MotoGP world champion in 2006
(CNN)Former MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden has died five days after being involved in a cycling accident in Italy, according to Italy's ANSA news agency and Red Bull Honda, a sponsor of Hayden. He was 35.

Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP world champion, had been hospitalized at the Maurizio Bufalini Hospital in Cesena, Italy, following the accident last week.
"It is with great sadness that Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has to announce that Nicky Hayden has succumbed to injuries suffered during an incident while riding his bicycle last Wednesday," Red Bull Honda posted on its website Monday.
"The nicest man in Grand Prix racing"

Thanks for the memories, Nicky. #RideOnKentuckyKid pic.twitter.com/BX4VvGgKWC

— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) May 22, 2017
The statement also said that fiancée Jackie, mother Rose and brother Tommy, who flew in from the US, were at his side.
"On behalf of the whole Hayden family and Nicky's fiancée Jackie I would like to thank everyone for their messages of support -- it has been a great comfort to us all knowing that Nicky has touched so many people's lives in such a positive way," Tommy Hayden said.
"Although this is obviously a sad time, we would like everyone to remember Nicky at his happiest -- riding a motorcycle. He dreamed as a kid of being a pro rider and not only achieved that but also managed to reach the pinnacle of his chosen sport in becoming World Champion. We are all so proud of that.
"Apart from these 'public' memories, we will also have many great and happy memories of Nicky at home in Kentucky, in the heart of the family. We will all miss him terribly."
Nicky was a great sportsman, a true gentleman and a friend. We'll never forget him. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/Tc49KNUeFP

— Repsol Honda Team (@HRC_MotoGP) May 22, 2017
The American, who had been racing for Red Bull Honda's World Superbike team, collided with a car near Rimini on May 17 while training. He had been in the intensive care unit at the hospital in Cesena.
A statement released Friday by the hospital confirmed he had sustained multiple injuries, including "serious cerebral damage."
"Throughout his career Nicky's professionalism and fighting spirit was greatly valued and carried him to numerous successes, including his childhood dream of being crowned MotoGP World Champion with Honda in 2006," Red Bull Honda said. "As well as being a true champion on the track, Nicky was a fan favourite off it due to his kind nature, relaxed demeanour, and the huge smile he invariably carried everywhere.
"Nothing says more about Nicky's character than the overwhelming response expressed by fellow racers and his legions of fans over the past few days. Jackie and his family are truly grateful for the countless prayers and well wishes for Nicky."
Nicky Hayden 1981-2017. We all will miss you pic.twitter.com/k0uyowmv9Z

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) May 22, 2017
Hayden, from Owensboro, Kentucky, was treated at the scene and taken to a hospital near Rimini before being transferred to the facility in Cesena.
"Hayden will be deeply missed by the paddocks he has graced throughout an incredible career, his millions of fans around the world, and by all those closest to him," MotoGP said on its website. "We wish to pass on our sincerest condolences to his family, friends, team and colleagues as we sadly bid farewell to the 'Kentucky Kid' far too soon -- a true legend of the sport, and to all those who knew him."
Marilia Brocchetto and Sarah Chiplin contributed to this reporting.

[*Anya*]

‘Game of Thrones’ Actor Neil Fingleton Dies at 36

Neil Fingleton, who played the colossal warrior Mag the Mighty on “Game of Thrones,” died from heart failure on Saturday. He was 36.

Fingleton was the U.K.’s tallest man at seven feet, seven inches in height. In addition to “Thrones,” Fingleton appeared in “Doctor Who,” Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and “X-Men: First Class.”

His death was announced Sunday by Tall Person Club’s Facebook page.

“Sadly it has come to our attention that Neil Fingleton Britain’s Tallest man passed away on Saturday,” the statement reads. “Neil became Britain’s Tallest man in 2007 passing the height of Chris Greener. Neil started off in basketball in the USA before becoming an actor and starring in the X-Men First Class and also recently in the Game of Thrones. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family.”

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/game...36-1201996907/