At the risk of being pigeon-holed as The Grim Reaper, Vidal "Ooo La La" Sassoon died today after a lenghty battle with leukemia. Leukemia won. Sassoon was 84.
Sassoon rose to prominence in the hair styling industry back in 1963 when he put his own personal twist on the old "bob" haircut. According to sources, Sassoon's "geometric haircuts seemed to be severely cut, but were entirely lacquer-free, relying on the natural shine of the hair for effect." I won't pretend to know what that means.
George "Goober" Lindsey has gone to that big, greasy auto garage in the sky.
Lindsey was best known (probably only known) for his role as Goober Pyle, cousin to Mayberrry's first mechanic, Gomer Pyle. Lindsey originally auditioned for the role of Mayberry's mechanic, but lost the part to Jim Nabors. When Nabors left the show to star in Gomer Pyle USMC, Lindsey took over at the service station, spending the next seven years on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D..
As a boy, Lindsey liked to hang around his Aunt Ethel's gas station, where the mechanics wore felt caps to keep the grease and oil from dripping into their hair. Those caps were the inspiration for Goober's trademark "beanie," however it sparked a huge copyright infringement lawsuit by one Jughead Jones. In the end, Jones relented and allowed Goober to wear the cap, but only if Goober agreed to marry Big Ethel.
Adam Yauch, a founding member of the hip hop trio known as the Beastie Boys, died today after a three-year battle with cancer of the parotid salivary gland. Yauch was 47.
That sucks. I've never even heard of someone getting cancer of the salivary gland.
I have to admit that I was not much of a Beasties fan when they first came along. Being a rock/new wave guy in my 80's heyday I rejected their white boy rap, much to the dismay of my younger Skipolini's co-workers who loved to play Licenced to Ill while we slung pie on those hot summer nights.
But nowadays when I hear You Gotta Fight or Girls come on the radio, I'll turn it up and appreciate the goofy genius that was the Beasties.
Once upon a time I used to do these Celebrity Death blog posts; however with the advent of Facebook they hardly seem necessary anymore. The celebrity in question is still clutching his chest when the Facebook posts begin popping up; "RIP Random Celebrity." "I'll forever miss and never forget Somebody Famous."
As such, it seems somewhat pointless to continue writing these posts on a blog which no one reads anymore.
Well fuck off, I'm writing it anyway.
Age Storhaug
1938 - 2012
Norwegian gymnast, Age Storhaug, "for years having fought against the cancer," is dead at the age of 74.
Espen Jansen, some other Norwegian gymnast, was quoted as saying "He has always had a twinkle in his eye and found pleasure in holding on. Virtually all his life he has been every day of the gymnastics hall."
What the hell does "fond pleasure in holding on" mean? Found pleasure in holding on to gymnastics apparatus? Found pleasure in not dying? Stupid Norwegians.
Anyway, Storhaug competed in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympic games in Rome, Italy and Tokyo, Japan respectively. And now he's dead.
Former NBA coach, Dick Harter, died on March 12 at the age of 81.
Harter began his career as the head coach at the University of Oregon. He went on to coach at Penn State before beginning his career in the NBA as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons. His first NBA head coaching position was with the Charlotte Hornets.
I really couldn't care less about all the basketball stuff, and in fact have never heard of Harter. I wrote all this just to say that, Like Dick Hoover, with a name like that he should have gone into porn.
Rock guitarist, Ronnie Montrose, died yesterday due to complications from prostate cancer. The complication? It killed him. Montrose was but 64.
Montrose got his start as a sideman for Van Morrison's 1971 album, "Tupelo Honey." He continued working as a sideman with Boz Scaggs, and the Edgar Winter Group. Montrose also had the honor of playing Edgar Winter's hits "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride."
Of course, Montrose is probably best known for his 1973 band (Montrose. Duh) featuring a skinny, young Sammy Hagar on lead vocals.
Godspeed, Ronnie. Ride that bad motor scooter right through those pearly gates.
Monkees singer, Davy Jones, died today in Florida, the victim of a heart attack. Jones was 66.
Jones appeared on The Monkees with fellow mandrills, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith and Mickey Dolenz. Many of us also remember Jones' appearance on The Brady Bunch when Marsha had promised that he'd appear at the school prom. "Girl, look what you've done to me. Me, and my whole world."
News of her death, while stunning to most is not terribly stunning to many. Don't ask what that means.
Houston's drug addiction issues were well publicized, and frankly I blame ex-husband and enabler, Bobby Brown for taking her down the rabbit hole.
Whitney's death, like Robert Hegyes, represents another nail in the coffin of my youth. Houston exploded onto the scene in 1985 with her first album, "Whitney Houston" and that soul-soaring single Saving All My Love for You. I was 20-years old, in all my black, high-top Reebok, mullet sporting glory.
Her appearance in The Bodyguard simply cemented her star power, despite a rather clunky script and Costner's bad haircut and old-man style slacks pulled up to his nipples.
Details regarding the cause of death are still unknown. I will update once her people get back to me.
Please excuse Juan Luis Pedro Philippo DeHuevos Epstein for the remainder of this lifetime. You see, I am sorry to report that my Juan passed away today at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in New Jersey, the victim of an apparent heart attack.
Juan was always a good boy and became interested in theater at an early age. His first big break came when he landed a role in the off-Broadway play, Naomi Court, which lead to work ON Broadway.
Of course most people remember my Juan for his role as a sweathog on the 1975-79 ABC series, Welcome Back Kotter. His father and I were so proud of him for landing that role. You should have seen the two of us and Juan's 10 siblings,all crowding around our little black and white teevee in our two-room Brooklyn tenement when the show aired Thursday nights at 8:00 on ABC.
Well, after Kotter faded from the airwaves, my Juan went on to numerous television appearances; too many to go into now, and frankly too much to think about under the circumstances.
I hope you enjoyed having Juan in your class. He always spoke so highly of you and Julie. Thank you for the positive influence you had on my Juan.
Sincerely,
Epstein's mother (Mrs. Bibbermann)
Robert Hegyes also holds the honor of being the first Random Celebrity Update to ever appear here at Hey Joe. Yes, he leaves quite a legacy indeed. And while it's already appeared as a theme song Thursday, I think it's appropriate that we replay it today in honor of Robert.
Actor Harry Morgan, passed away today at the age of 96.
Morgan was best known for his role as Sherman T. Potter on the looooong running tv show, M*A*S*H*. Morgan also gained fame as anally retentive LA Police Detective, Bill Gannon on Dragnet.
Today's Theme Song Thursday is in honor of Harry. My apologies in advance for the suck-ass theme song below. I tried to find one from M*A*S*H* but apparently copyright issues prevent them from being posted on YouTube. And Harry doesn't appear in the Dragnet theme. SO, you lucky dogs get to enjoy a little AfterMASH, where all the minor characters from M*A*S*H* went to kill their careers.
I honestly don't even remember this show and considering it only aired from 83-84, the peak of my "no life" years, chances are good that whenever it was on I was at home watching teevee with my parents. That is after I completed my shift at Skipolini's.
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