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Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor and artist.

Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label. He also had comedy albums released every decade for over 50 years, receiving 11 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album nominations during his career, and winning the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album for Crank(y) Calls in 1996.

Winters has also appeared in hundreds of television show episodes/series and films combined, including eccentric characters on The Steve Allen Show, The Garry Moore Show, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters (1972–74), Mork & Mindy, Hee Haw and in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Winters had a dramatic role in the The Twilight Zone episode "A Game of Pool" (episode 3.5 on October 13, 1961)

After voicing Grandpa Smurf on The Smurfs (1986–89) and Papa Smurf in The Smurfs (2011 film), Winters's final feature film was The Smurfs 2 in 2013, which will be dedicated in his memory.

Jonathan Winters was inducted to the Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960 with 1 star.

Jonathan Winters cause of death

Jonathan Winters died on April 11, 2013, in Montecito, California, of natural causes. Jonathan Winters was 87 years old at the time of his death. He is survived by his two children: Jay Winters, and Lucinda Winters.

Jonathan Winters Montage Part 1 - Orinda Film Festival 2003

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (October 13, 1925 - April 8, 2013) was a British Conservative Party politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman to have held the office. A Soviet journalist called her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.

Margaret Thatcher Cause of Death

Margaret Thatcher died on 8 April 2013 at The Ritz Hotel in London after suffering a stroke. Margaret Thatcher was 87 years old at the time of her death.

She had been staying at a suite in The Ritz Hotel since Christmas after having difficulty with stairs at her Chester Square home. She had suffered from poor health for several years.

- Late Entry -

Frances Wolfe (March 4, 1926 – March 4, 2013), known by her stage name, Fran Warren, was an American popular singer.

One of the singer's biggest hits was the 1947 "Sunday Kind of Love." Fran Warren was also an actress who appeared in an Abbott and Costello film.

Fran Warren cause of death

Fran Warren died of natural causes in Connecticut on March 4, 2013.  Fran Warren was 87 years old at the time of her death.

Fran Warren - Sunday Kind of Love

"A Sunday Kind of Love" was composed by Barbara Belle, Anita Leonard, Stan Rhodes, and Louis Prima and was published in 1946.  The song was first recorded November 11, 1946. He released the song as a single in January, 1947 and it became permanently identified as the signature song for its vocalist, Fran Warren.

Sol Yurick (January 18, 1925 – January 5, 2013) was an American novelist. He was perhaps best known for his book The Warriors which became a major motion picture.

Yurick's first novel, The Warriors, appeared in 1965. It combined a classical Greek story, Anabasis, with a fictional account of gang wars in New York City. It inspired the 1979 film of the same name.

His other works include: Fertig (1966), The Bag (1968), Someone Just Like You (1972), An Island Death (1976), Richard A (1981), Behold Metatron, the Recording Angel (1985), Confession (1999).

Sol Yurick cause of death

Sol Yurick died of complications from lung cancer. Sol Yurick was 87 years old at the time of his death (January 5, 2013)

Norman Alden (September 13, 1924 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor who has performed in television programs and motion pictures since first appearing on The 20th Century Fox Hour in 1957. He provided the voice of Kay in The Sword in the Stone film in 1963 and received Oscar buzz for his role in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. His acting career began in 1957 and lasted nearly 50 years; he finally retired in 2006 at the age of 82.

He portrayed Coach Leroy Fedder in the 1970s television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Johnny Ringo in the 1955 western and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. He also voiced the ringmaster, Hank, on the animated television series, Devlin. He also played the lead in the film Andy.

Other roles that he has portrayed include Major Truman Landon in Tora! Tora! Tora!. He provided the voice of Kranix in the 1986 film Transformers: The Movie. He was in one episode of Dallas as Senator William Orloff. In Season 1 of The Dukes of Hazzard he played the part of Sheriff Lacey of Springville in the episode "Deputy Dukes"; he returned to the role in the second season episode "The Ghost of General Lee". He appeared as Lou Caruthers, the owner of the coffee shop in Back to the Future and the color-blind cameraman Bill in Ed Wood. He could also be seen in the episode of Murder She Wrote "'Keep The Homefries Burning" in 1986. In the 1970 roller derby movie Kansas City Bomber starring Raquel Welch, Kevin McCarthy and Helena Kallianiotes he plays the part of Horrible Hank Hopkins who has an unrequited love interest in K.C. Carr, played by Raquel Welch.

Norman Alden cause of death
Norman Alden died from natural causes in his Los Angeles, California home. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Sharon Hayden.
Norman Alden was 87 years old at the time of his death.

* 40 years before Twilight, there was Dark Shadows.   Motion picture version of "Dark Shadows", starring Johnny Depp, is scheduled to release in 2012.

John Herbert Frid (December 2, 1924 – April 13, 2012) was a Canadian theater, television, and film actor, best known for having played the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows.

Jonathan Frid cause of death
Jonathan Frid died of natural causes on April 14, 2012, at Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario.
Jonathan Frid was 87 years old at the time of his death.

The Tragic Loves of Barnabas Collins - "I Wasn't Her" 

Beryl Davis (March 16, 1924 – October 28, 2011) was a British big band singer; born into a show business family, her father was Harry Davis, and her sister is Lisa Davis Waltz, a teen actress in the 1950s and 1960s.

Born in Plymouth, England, she began to sing for her father's band, and became popular singing for British and Allied troops during World War II. Glenn Miller discovered her in London, and she sang for the Army Air Force Orchestra.

She moved to Los Angeles post-war with her father's big band, and with Frank Sinatra for one year on "Your Hit Parade."

She was part of "The Four Girls" singing group, with Jane Russell, Rhonda Fleming, and Connie Haines. They recorded sixteen singles, and albums that became best sellers.

Beryl Davis Cause of Death
Beryl Davis died from complications of Alzheimer's disease.
Beryl Davis was 87 years old at the time of her death.

"Bluebirds in the Moonlight" (Beryl Davis, 1939)

Connie Haines - Beryl Davis - Rhonda Fleming - Jane Russell

Roger Williams (born Louis Weertz, October 1, 1924 – October 8, 2011) was an American popular music pianist. As of 2004, he had released 116 albums.

In 1955 Williams recorded "Autumn Leaves", the only piano instrumental to reach #1 on Billboard's popular music chart.   In 1966 he had another Top Ten hit with the song "Born Free" from the motion picture soundtrack. His other hits include "Near You", "Till", "The Impossible Dream", "Yellow Bird", "Maria", and "The Theme from Somewhere in Time". Billboard magazine ranks him as the top selling piano recording artist in history with 18 gold and platinum albums to his credit. Williams was known as the "Pianist to the Presidents" having played for nine administrations beginning with Harry S. Truman. His last White House performance was in November 2008 for a luncheon hosted by former First Lady Laura Bush.

Roger Williams cause of death
He died on October 8, 2011, one week after his 87th birthday of pancreatic cancer.

Autumn Leaves Roger Williams 1955

Roger Williams Excerpts From Vegas 2010 part 2

Linda Christian (November 13, 1923 – July 22, 2011) was a Mexican movie actress, who filmed films in Mexican cinema and in Hollywood, her career reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. She played Mara in the last Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film Tarzan and The Mermaids (1948). She is also noted for being the first Bond girl, appearing in a 1954 TV adaptation of the James Bond novel Casino Royale. In 1963 she starred in an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, "An Out for Oscar".

Linda Christian Cause of Death
Linda Christian died of colon cancer.  Linda Christian was 87 years old at the time of her death.

 Linda Christian & Tyron Power (January 27, 1947)

Roberts Scott Blossom (March 25, 1924 - July 8, 2011) was an American actor and poet.

Blossom won three Obie awards. After his long career, Roberts Blossom is perhaps best known for a small role in Home Alone.

In the thriller Deranged, Blossom played the leading role as killer Ezra Cobb. In the Oscar-winning film drama The Great Gatsby (1974), he was accompanied on-screen by Robert Redford. He won the Soapy Award for his role on Another World, on which he appeared from 1976-1977. In 1990 he starred in Home Alone as Kevin McCallister's (Macaulay Culkin) snow-shoveling neighbor, Old Man Marley. In the comedy Doc Hollywood (1991), he appeared on-screen with Michael J. Fox.

He retired from acting in the late-1990s to pursue writing poetry. He lived in Berkeley, California, and resided in Southern California until his passing on July 8, 2011.

Roberts Blossom cause of death
Roberts Blossom died of natural causes.  Roberts Blossom was 87 years old at the time of his death.

"Deranged" movie trailer (1974 Roberts Blossom A.I.P.)

Norma Zimmer (July 13, 1923 – May 10, 2011) was a vocalist, best remembered for her 22-year tenure as Lawrence Welk's "Champagne Lady" on The Lawrence Welk Show.

Zimmer sang with a quartet called The Girlfriends along with Betty Allan and others. They sang backup for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, and others. Their coup was to be hired as backup for the famous Bing Crosby version of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas".

As her two sons were growing up, she decided to give it up to raise her children. Welk told her it was all right for her to quit the road tours, but he asked her to stay on the television show until he could find another singer. Each week, a new girl came on as a possible replacement, but Welk kept asking Zimmer to come back the following week. That went on for 20 years. As the show's Champagne Lady, Zimmer sang one solo and often a duet (usually with Jimmy Roberts); she frequently danced with Welk at the end of the show.

Norma Zimmer Cause of Death
Norma Zimmer stopped performing publicly since she was suffering from a neurological disorder. She died peacefully on May 10, 2011 at her Brea, California home.
Norma Zimmer was 87 years old at the time of her death. She was survived by her two sons, Ron and Mark, as well as three grand children.

Norma Zimmer on The Lawrence Welk Show: Hold Me, Thrill Me
** Recommended **

William Campbell (October 30, 1923 – April 28, 2011) was an American actor who appeared in supporting roles in major film productions and also starred in several low-budget B-movies, including two cult horror films.

Campbell has obtained cult status for his guest starring roles on Star Trek, appearing first as the mischievous super-being Trelane (in part a parody of Liberace, whom Campbell resembled), in an episode of the original series called "The Squire of Gothos". Campbell also appeared twice as the Klingon Captain Koloth. Campbell first played Koloth on the original Star Trek series in the classic episode "The Trouble With Tribbles." He reprised the Koloth role on the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, some thirty years later. Campbell appeared at several Trek conventions in the 1980s and 1990s and many Star Trek fans consider Campbell's portrayal of the Trelane character as the first introduction of the "Q culture" to the series. (The Q are an omnipotent race made part of The Next Generation, then Deep Space 9 and Voyager series.) His last appearance was at the convention organized by Creation Entertainment at the Las Vegas Hilton in August 2006.

He died quietly on April 28, 2011, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.

Irvin Kershner (April 29, 1923 – November 27, 2010) was an American film director and occasional actor, best known for directing Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Never Say Never Again and RoboCop 2.

After Empire Strikes Back, Kershner directed Never Say Never Again (Sean Connery's return to the role of James Bond); the HBO film Travelling Man starring John Lithgow and Jonathan Silverman; for which Kershner was nominated for an ACE Award; and RoboCop 2. He also directed several episodes of the television series seaQuest DSV, and he made his debut as an actor in the Martin Scorsese film, The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), playing Zebedee, the father of the apostles James and John. He played a film director in Steven Seagal's On Deadly Ground.

Death of Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner died at his Los Angeles home after a long illness (unspecified).
Irvin Kershner was 87 years old at the time of his death.

Empire Stikes Back - trailer (unofficial, created by a fan)

Armand "Army" Archerd (January 13, 1922 – September 8, 2009) was a columnist for Variety for over fifty years before retiring his "Just for Variety" column in September 2005. In November 2005, Archerd began blogging for Variety and was working on a memoir when he died.

Life and career
Archerd was born in The Bronx, New York and graduated from UCLA in 1941. He was hired by Variety to replace columnist Sheilah Graham (former girlfriend of F. Scott Fitzgerald) in 1953. His "Just for Variety" column appeared on page two of Daily Variety and swiftly became popular in Hollywood. Archerd broke countless exclusive stories, reporting from film sets, announcing pending deals, giving news of star-related hospitalizations, marriages, and births. In 1984, he was given a star on the Hollywood's Walk of Fame, in front of Mann's Chinese Theater, where he had emceed dozens of movie premieres.

One of his most significant scoops was in his July 23, 1985, column, when he printed that Rock Hudson, despite denials from the actor's publicists and managers, was undergoing treatment for AIDS.

Archerd was Jewish and a strong proponent of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Holocaust awareness. He was married to Selma Archerd, a former actress; they lived in Westwood, California.

Death of Army Archerd
Archerd died at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center from of a rare form of mesothelioma, "thought to be the result of his exposure to asbestos in the Navy during WWII."

Josephine Owaissa Cottle (April 5, 1922 - June 27, 2009), better known as Gale Storm, is an American actress and singer, who starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show.

Television & Music Career
Storm's television career skyrocketed from 1952 to 1955, with her starring role in My Little Margie. The show was originally a summer replacement for I Love Lucy. It ran for 126 episodes.

Storm's popularity was capitalized upon in The Gale Storm Show (aka Oh! Susanna).  This show ran for 143 episodes between 1956 and 1960. Both of her series were shown countless times in reruns.

Gale Storm had several top ten songs. She headlined in Las Vegas and appeared in numerous stage plays.

Death of Gale Storm
Storm lived alone in Monarch Beach, California, near her two sons and their families, until failing health in recent years forced her into a convalescent home in Danville, California.  Cause of death is not known.
Gale Storm was 87 years old at the time of her death

I Hear You Knocking Gale Storm

 Gale Storm - Ivory Tower

Gale Storm's Filmography & Discography continues on next page

Filmography
Murder, She Wrote (1 episode, 1989)
The Love Boat (1 episode, 1979)
Burke's Law (2 episodes, 1964-1965)
The Gale Storm Show (83 episodes, 1956-1960)
Shower of Stars (1 episode, 1957)
What's My Line? 11/17/1975 (Episode #388) (Season 9 Ep 12)Mystery Guest
The Ford Television Theatre (1 episode, 1955)
Celebrity Playhouse (1 episode, 1955)
Robert Montgomery Presents (1 episode, 1955)
My Little Margie (76 episodes, 1952-1955)
The Unexpected (1 episode, 1952)
Woman of the North Country (1952)
The Texas Rangers (1951)
Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951)
The Bigelow Theatre (2 episodes, 1950-1951)
Hollywood Theatre Time (1950) TV series
Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)
The Underworld Story (1950)
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950)
The Kid from Texas (1950)
Abandoned (1949)
Stampede (1949)
Walk a Crooked Mile (1948)
The Dude Goes West (1948)
It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)
Swing Parade of 1946
Sunbonnet Sue (1945)
G.I. Honeymoon (1945)
Forever Yours (1945)
Where Are Your Children? (1943)
Campus Rhythm (1943)
Nearly Eighteen (1943)
Revenge of the Zombies (1943)
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher (1943)
Rhythm Parade (1942)
Foreign Agent (1942)
Smart Alecks (1942)
Lure of the Islands (1942)
Man from Cheyenne (1942)
Freckles Comes Home (1942)
Red River Valley (1941)
Jesse James at Bay (1941)
Let's Go Collegiate (1941
Gambling Daughters (1941)
Saddlemates (1941)
City of Missing Girls (1941)
Merry-Go-Roundup (1941)
Uncle Joe (1941)
One Crowded Night (1940)
Tom Brown's School Days (1940)

Recordings

Singles
1956: I Hear You Knocking/Never Leave Me (Dot 15412) (#2)
1956: Memories Are Made of This/Teenage Prayer (Dot 15436)
1956: Why Do Fools Fall in Love/I Walk Alone (Dot 15448)
1956: I Ain't Gonna Worry/Ivory Tower (Dot 15458) (#6)
1956: Tell Me Why/Don't Be That Way (Dot 15474)
1956: Now Is The Hour/A Heart Without A Sweetheart (Dot 15492)
1956: My Heart Belongs To You/Orange Blossoms (Dot 15515)
1957: Lucky Lips/On Treasure Island (Dot 15539)
1957: Dark Moon/A Little Too Late (Dot 15558) (#4)
1957: On My Mind Again/Love By The Jukebox Light (Dot 15606)
1957: Go 'Way From My Window/Winter Warm (Dot 15666)
1957: I Get That Feeling/A Farewell To Arms (Dot 15691)
1957: You/Angry (Dot 15734)
1957: South Of The Border/Soon I'll Wed My Love (Dot 15783 )
1958: Oh Lonely Crowd/Happiness Left Yesterday (Dot 15861)
1960: I Need You So/On Treasure Island (Dot 16057)
1960: Please Help Me I'm Falling/He Is There (Dot 16111)