Hey Joe

Dropping like flies

Bo Diddley

1928 - 2008

Rock and blues pioneer, Bo Diddley, passed away today at the age of 79. Diddley had been ill for several months and a failing heart put the old bluesman to rest.

Known for the "Bo Diddley beat," a rumba/hambone like beat, Bo influenced scores of performers, including Elivs, both Presley and Costello, Bruce Springsteen, George Thorogood, The Who and The Rolling Stones.

 

Yves Saint Laurent

1936 – 2008

Designer and odd duck, Yves Saint Laurent died after a year-long battle with brain cancer. He was 71.

R.I.P.

Do you remember that movie Lorenzo's Oil?

It starred Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte? It was about a kid "with a disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his father decides to learn all about it and tackle the problem himself."

I'm sorry to say that the kid, Lorenzo Odone, died May 30, 2008 from complications of aspiration pneumonia. Lorenzo suffered from Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) the disease chronicled in the movie. He was 30.

Lorenzo Odone

1978 - 2008

R.I.P.

Harvey Korman

1927 – 2008

 

And so it is that Harvey Korman claims the distinction of being #3 in the "They always go in 3's" club.

Reports are sketchy at this moment, but it appears he died from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm at UCLA Medical Center.

Very sad. I enjoyed the comedy stylings of Korman and Conway and company on the old Carol Burnett Show.

Here's a little known fact; Harvey Korman was the voice of The Great Gazoo.

Bye Harvey.

R.I. Pollack

Sydney Pollack

1934 – 2008

 

Director, producer and sometime actor, Sydney Pollack has died at the age of 73. The cause: cancer.

Pollack's biography is a Hollywood laundry list of hits, beginning with the directing of such early television shows as The Fugitive and Dr. Kildare to monster movie hits like The Way We Were, Three days of the Condor, Tootsie, Out of Africa and The Firm.

Pollack had more than thirty acting credits, both for television and movies, notably Michael Clayton, The Sopranos and Tootsie.

R.I.P.

Dick Martin

1922 - 2008

Death has finally socked it to Dick Martin.

Martin, the surviving half of the comedy team of Rowan & Martin, died Saturday of respiratory complications at the age of 86.

Martin is best known for the 1960's variety show, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, on which they skewered the war, the establishment, and other hot topics of the time.

Dan Rowan died from lymphatic cancer in 1987.

R.I.P.

(Mondavi shown here toasting his own death)

Robert Mondavi

1913 - 2008

"Vinter" (that's wine maker to you and me) Robert Mondavi passed away yesterday at his home in Yountville, California at the age of 94.

Perfectly aged, he was.

R.I.P.

 

Joan Hunter Dunn

1915 - 2008

 

The muse of late poet, John Betjeman's "famous" wartime poem, A Subaltern's Love Song, died last week at the age of 92.

Betjeman spied the young Ms. Dunn while she was working in a cafeteria and was instantly smitten. He wrote his poem fantasizing about their possible life together. Upon completion of the poem he sought her out to ask her permission to have it published, where then she told him to fuck off. I just made that up. Of course Dunn gave her blessing.

I'm not sure when the poem first appeared. My "research" indicates that it may have appeared first in Horizon Magazine; however there is also speculation (on my part) that it was first published in Betjeman's collection, New Bats in Old Belfries, because the article says that as well. Doesn't much matter really.

Lest you think me incredibly cultured and well-rounded to be familiar with this obscure poem, well your right. Why don't the rest of you meat heads turn off American Idol and expand your minds?

Losers.

R.I.P.

1943 – 2008

Stanley Kamel

 

American character actor, Stanley Kamel, was found dead in his Hollywood home on Tuesday, April 8, the victim of a heart attack.

I never watched the TV show, Monk but I guess he played Monk's psychiatrist, Dr. Charles Kroger.

But even if you never watched Monk, you know the face. He's been in a s*itload of things since his first appearance on Mission Impossible back in 1969.

R.I.P. Hope he was cremated.

Charlton Heston

1923 - 2008

Dead at the age of 84.

4-7-08 - I posted this late Saturday night. I was tired  and not up to a long post so I just stuck to the facts; age and current state of being.

But I felt I should add just a little more info for old Charlton's obit.

Everyone remembers him from the Planet of the Apes movies, Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments; all those blockbusters. But I think my personal CH favorite is the 1973 "dystopian" gross out, Soylent Green.

Heston plays  21st Century New York detective, Robert Thorn, investigating the murder of a high level executive of the Soylent Corporation, a company that produces food rations that serve as food for most of the world's population. Touted as being produced from "high-energy plankton," Soylent Green is the latest and greatest "food" substance. During the course of his investigation, Thorn discovers the horrifying truth about Soylent Green crackers, and just how far man has fallen.

What's creepy about this movie is that though it was filmed in 1973, many of the issues it addresses are very relevant today. The movie takes place in the year 2022. Pollution has basically poisoned the earth and airborne pollution has "produced a year-round heatwave from the greenhouse effect."

The one thing I don't like about this movie are the clothes that Heston's character wears. I don't know if they're supposed to be futuristic or what but they really suck. Everything is beige or off-white except for his blue pimp-type cap. With his Members Only looking jacket and ascot he looks like a cross between Huggy Bear and Freddie Jones.

R.I.P.

Sean LeVert (center)

1968 – 2008

Things are not looking good for Marc Gordon (far right). Brother best be lookin' both ways when he crosses the street.