RIP

[Kobi]

Actor Dick Van Patten, perhaps best known as patriarch Tom Bradford on the '80s series Eight Is Enough, has died. He was 86.

The actor was born in Kew Gardens, New York, in 1928 and began his career as a child star and model. He made his Broadway debut when he was 7 years old in Tapestry in Gray. He went on to appear in nearly 30 more Broadway shows.

Van Patten made the jump to television with the role of Nels Hansen in I Remember Mama, which ran from 1949 to 1957.

He also went on to act in numerous other TV shows including The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Happy Days, The Love Boat and, more recently, Arrested Development, That '70s Show and Hot in Cleveland.

He also acted in various Disney films, along with three movies directed by Mel Brooks (High Anxiety, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.) In 2009, Van Patten penned an autobiography, Eighty Is Not Enough, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

http://www.people.com/article/dick-v...s-topheadlines

------------------------------------


I loved him as the King of Druidia in Spaceballs.

Wonder how many people here actually know what I am talking about.

[Kobi]

Patrick Macnee, the British-born actor best known as the stylish secret agent John Steed in the 1960s TV series "The Avengers," has died. He was 93.

"The Avengers" had its debut in the United States in 1966 and ran for eight years in syndication.

Macnee's character in the series was accompanied by a string of beautiful women who were his sidekicks. The most popular was Diana Rigg, who played junior agent Emma Peel from 1965 to 1968.

Macnee also appeared in "Hamlet", "A Christmas Carol," ''Until They Sail," ''Les Girls," and ''Young Doctors in Love." He also had a notable role in the cult comedy classic "This Is Spinal Tap" as British entrepreneur Sir Denis Eton-Hogg. -

See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bos....dzBE6Uxh.dpuf

[Kelt]

Architecture geeks will morn his passing.



Donald Wexler, Architect Who Gave Shape to Palm Springs, Dies at 89

Here is a really great short video about his contribution to steel frame and off site pre-fab work. It's Vimeo so I can't embed it. Enjoy.




"Donald Wexler, an architect whose innovative steel houses and soaring glass-fronted terminal at the Palm Springs International Airport helped make Palm Springs, Calif., a showcase for midcentury modernism, died on Friday at his home in Palm Desert. He was 89.

His son Gary confirmed his death.

Mr. Wexler, a disciple of the California architect Richard Neutra, went to Palm Springs in the early 1950s to work for William Cody, a leading practitioner of the style known as Desert Modern. “Wexler worked from an existing Desert Modern vocabulary — indoor-outdoor spaces, walls of glass, a focus on mountain views, all very spare and minimal — and applied it to all sorts of buildings over the years,” said Peter Moruzzi, an architectural historian and the founder of the Palm Springs Modern Committee, a preservation group. “He had a profound influence not just on Palm Springs but on the entire Coachella Valley.” - New York Times

[Kobi]

Burt Shavitz, the Maine beekeeper and co-founder of Burt's Bees whose face and untamed beard have been featured on thousands of cases of natural cosmetics, died Sunday of respiratory complications in Bangor, Maine. He was 80.

Born in 1935, he spent his childhood in New York. After serving in the Army in Germany and a brief stint as a photographer, Shavitz left for Maine and began his celebrated eccentric lifestyle as a hippie who made his livelihood selling honey.

According to The Associated Press, Shavitz' life was altered by a chance encounter with a hitchhiker, Roxanne Quimby. He struck up a friendship with the single mother, impressed with her self-reliance and back-to-land ethos.

In the 1980s she began making products from his beeswax. A business partnership soon resulted and Burt's Bees was born, with Shavitz' image as a key feature of the product labels.

In 1994 Quimby moved Burt's Bees to North Carolina, and the business partnership dissolved. He received an undisclosed monetary settlement and 37 acres of land in a remote corner of Maine. In 2007, Clorox purchased Burt's Bees for $925 million.

After separating from the business end of Burt's Bees, Shavitz returned to a reclusive, minimalist lifestyle. He famously lived in a cluttered house with no running water and enjoyed watching wildlife. His life was featured in the 2013 documentary "Burt's Buzz."

"Burt Shavitz, our co-founder and namesake, has left for greener fields and wilder woods. We remember him as a wild�]bearded and free�]spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker, a lover of golden retrievers, a reverent observer of nature and the kind face that smiles back at us from our Hand Salve."

- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bos....4UoFhmsP.dpuf

-------------------------------


Thanks for the almond creme stuff.

[Kobi]

Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of late music legend Whitney Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown, died on July 26, surrounded by her family, at Peachtree Christian Hospice in Duluth, Georgia. She was 22.

Story

[Kobi]

Lynn Anderson, country music singer most famous for the hit "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden," has died, according to the Associated Press. She was 67.

After beginning her country music career in 1966, she became a regular singer on "The Lawrence Welk Show" from 1967 to 1969. This exposure to a broad national audience paved the way for her crossover hit and signature song, "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden." The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard country chart and No. 3 on the Billboard pop chart. She won a Grammy Award and "Female Vocalist of the Year" from the Country Music Association in 1971.

Further hits followed, including "You're My Man," "How Can I Unlove You," and "Cry." She frequently made guest appearances on television throughout the 1970s, including a starring role in an episode of "Starsky & Hutch." She continued to record and release music throughout her career, with her last album, "Bridges," released in June, 2015.

In addition to music, she was an avid equestrian, winning several national and world championships. She also bred Quarter Horses and Paint Horses. She won the title of "California Horse Show Queen" in 1966.




-------------------------------------


I still have that record.

[C0LLETTE]

Flora MacDonald 89. Remarkable Canadian politician. If I wasn't typing on a miserable mini IPad, I'd type out her whole obituary. A most magnificent woman....and she spent her later years voting NDP.

[Gemme]

Yogi Berra passes away.



Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher renowned as much for his dizzying malapropisms as his record 10 World Series championships with the New York Yankees, has died. He was 90.

Berra died of natural causes Tuesday at his home in New Jersey, according to Dave Kaplan, the director of the Yogi Berra Museum.

"While we mourn the loss of our father, grandfather and great-grandfather, we know he is at peace with Mom," Berra's family said in a statement released by the museum. "We celebrate his remarkable life, and are thankful he meant so much to so many. He will truly be missed."

[Kobi]

Billy Joe Royal, a pop and country singer best known for the 1965 hit “Down in the Boondocks,” died on Tuesday. He was 73.

He hit the charts with two other songs by Joe South, “Hush” and “I Knew You When,” and ended the decade in the Top 20 with “Cherry Hill Park” (1969).

In the 1980s, after signing with Atlantic Records in Nashville, Mr. Royal turned out a steady stream of country hits, beginning with “Burned Like a Rocket,” which reached the country Top 10 in 1985 and was climbing when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. As a gesture of respect, D.J.s stopped playing the song. He followed up with “I’ll Pin a Note to Your Pillow,” a cover version of the Aaron Neville hit “Tell It Like It Is” and others.

Obit

[Kobi]

Ken Taylor, Canada's ambassador to Iran who sheltered Americans at his residence during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis has died.

Taylor kept the Americans hidden at his residence and at the home of his deputy, John Sheardown, in Tehran for three months. Taylor facilitated their escape by arranging plane tickets and persuading the Ottawa government to issue fake passports.

Born in 1934 in Calgary, Taylor was heralded as a hero for helping save the Americans — a clandestine operation that had the full support of then Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark's government.

Some of Taylor's exploits in Iran in 1979 were later portrayed in the 2012 Hollywood film, "Argo." Taylor and others felt the film underplayed the role he and Canada played.

The six U.S. diplomats managed to slip away when their embassy was overrun in 1979. They spent five days on the move, then took refuge at the Canadian Embassy for the next three months. Taylor immediately agreed to take them in without checking with the Canadian government.

The CIA consulted with Canadian officials on how to organize a rescue, and Canada gave permission for the diplomats to be issued fake Canadian passports.

After returning from Iran, Taylor was appointed Canadian Consul-General to New York City. In 1980, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada along with his wife Pat and other Canadian personnel involved in the escape, and was also awarded the United States Congressional Gold Medal that same year.

He returned to the University of Toronto for several years as the Chancellor of Victoria College.

Taylor left the foreign service in 1984 and served as Senior Vice-President of Nabisco from 1984 to 1989.

He was the founder and chairman of public consulting firm Taylor and Ryan.

Taylor moved the United States and lived in New York City until his death.

----------------------
Thank you Mr. Ambassador.

[Kobi]

Marty Ingels, a comedian, actor and talent agent who was married to actress Shirley Jones for nearly 40 years, has died in Los Angeles. He was 79.

Beginning in the 1960s Ingels appeared in episodes of several TV shows, including "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "Bewitched" and co-starred in the 1962 series "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster."

He also had small movie roles.

The raspy-voiced actor later did voice work for hundreds of cartoons, commercials and video games. He voiced Pac-Man in the 1982 animated series.

Ingels also ran a talent agency that booked movie stars such as John Wayne and Cary Grant for TV commercials.

[Kobi]

Robert Loggia, gravelly-voiced character actor from "Scarface," "The Sopranos," and "Big," has died of Alzheimer's disease according to The Associated Press. He was 85.

Loggia's gruff voice and tough-guy looks found him plenty of work in the movies and on TV as both criminal and crime-fighter. He played a Miami drug lord usurped by Al Pacino in "Scarface" (1983), a sadistic crime boss in David Lynch's "Lost Highway" (1997), and as violent ex-con Feech La Manna in several episodes of "The Sopranos."

He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor playing hard-nosed private detective Sam Ransom in "Jagged Edge" (1985). He was nominated for an Emmy in 1989 when he starred in the series, "Mancuso, FBI."

In "Big" (1988) he showed off his lighter side, famously dancing on a foot-operated keyboard with Tom Hanks. He was also nominated for another Emmy as a guest star on the sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle," which referenced his humorous turn as the celebrity endorser of Minute Maid orange tangerine juice in the late 1990s.

His iconic voice found its way into Disney's "Oliver & Company" (1988) as well as the hit video game "Grand Theft Auto III." He also voiced himself in an animated appearance on "Family Guy" among countless other roles.

----------------------

My favorite Robert Loggia memory:

[storyspinner70]

Scott Weiland - former frontman for Stone Temple Pilots and current lead of Velvet Revolver passed away Thursday in his sleep on a tour stop. He was 48.