Year: 2006

 

Darren McGavin (born William Lyle Richardson; May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006) was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and also his portrayal in the movie A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears. He also appeared as the tough-talking, funny detective in the TV series Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.

Death of Darren McGavin
Darren McGavin died of natural causes in a Los Angeles-area hospital.
Darren McGavin was 83 year old at the time of his death.

He was buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Oh Fudge! – from the movie "A Christmas Story"
Darren McGavin is the father

Darren McGavin Filmography continues on next page

Darren McGavin Filmography

1940-1970
A Song to Remember (1945)
Counter-Attack (1945)
Kiss and Tell (1945)
She Wouldn’t Say Yes (1946)
Fear (1946)
Queen for a Day (1951)
Summertime (1955)
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
A Word to the Wives (1955)
The Delicate Delinquent (1957)
Beau James (1957)
The Case Against Brooklyn (1958)
Bullet for a Badman (1964)
The Great Sioux Massacre (1965)
Gunsmoke" Joe Bascome (1966)
African Gold (1966)
Mission Mars (1968)
Anatomy of a Crime (1969)
The Challenge (1970)

1971-1990
Mooch Goes to Hollywood (1971)
Mrs. Pollifax – Spy (1971)
Happy Mother’s Day, Love George (1973) (also director and producer)
43: The Richard Petty Story (1974)
B Must Die (1975)
The Demon and the Mummy (1976)
No Deposit, No Return (1976)
Airport ’77 (1977)
Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978)
Zero to Sixty (1978)
Hangar 18 (1980)
Firebird 2015 AD (1981)
A Christmas Story (1983)
The Natural (1984)
Turk 182 (1985)
Flag (1986)
Raw Deal (1986)
From the Hip (1987)
Dead Heat (1988)
In the Name of Blood (1990)

1991-1999
Captain America (1991)
Blood and Concrete (1991)
Perfect Harmony (1991)
Happy Hell Night (1992)
Billy Madison (1995)
Still Waters Burn (1996)
Small Time (1996)
Pros and Cons (1999)

Television work
Crime Photographer (1951 – 1952)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955. Episode 13 : The Cheney Vase)
Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer (1956 – 1959)
Riverboat (1959 – 1961)
The Legend of Jud Starr (1967)
Custer, ABC series with Wayne Maunder (1967)
Mission: Impossible (1967)
The Outsider (1967) (pilot episode)
The Outsider (1968 – 1969)
The Forty-Eight Hour Mile (1970)
The Challenge (1970)
The Challengers (1970)
Berlin Affair (1970)
Tribes (1970)
Banyon (1971) (pilot episode)
The Death of Me Yet (1971)
The Night Stalker (1972)
Something Evil (1972)
The Rookies (1972) (pilot episode)
Here Comes the Judge (1972)
Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole (1972)
The Night Strangler (1973)
The Six Million Dollar Man (1973) (pilot episode)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974 – 1975)
Crackle of Death (1976)
Brinks: The Great Robbery (1976)
Ike: The War Years (1978)
The Users (1978)
A Bond of Iron (1979)
Donovan’s Kid (1979)
Ike (1979) (miniseries)
Not Until Today (1979)
Love for Rent (1979)
Waikiki (1980)
The Martian Chronicles (1980) (miniseries)
Magnum, P.I. (1981)
Freedom to Speak (1982) (miniseries)
Small & Frye (1983) (canceled after six episodes)
The Baron and the Kid (1984)
The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. (1984)
My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985)
The O’Briens (1985) (sitcom pilot)
Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson (1987)
Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro’s (1987)
Inherit the Wind (1988)
The Diamond Trap (1988)
Murphy Brown (1989)
Around the World in 80 Days (1989) (miniseries)
Kojak: It’s Always Something (1990)
Child in the Night (1990)
By Dawn’s Early Light (1990)
Clara (1991)
Perfect Harmony (1991)
Miracles and Other Wonders (1992–199?)
Mastergate (1992)
The American Clock (1993)
A Perfect Stranger (1994)
Fudge-A-Mania (1995)
Derby (1995)
Touched by an Angel ([1997, guest appearance)
X-Files ([1999, two episodes)

 

William Dennis Weaver (June 4, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an Emmy Award-winning American actor, best known for his work in television, including roles on Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud and in Steven Spielberg’s feature-length directorial debut, the cult TV movie Duel in 1971.

Death of Dennis Weaver
Dennis Weaver died of complications from cancer, in Ridgway, Colorado, United States.  Dennis Weaver was 81 year old at the time of his death.

# 

#

Dennis Weaver – Duel (1971)

 

Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (a role which earned him five Emmy Awards), and as landlord Ralph Furley on the television sitcom Three’s Company in the 1980s.

Death of Don Knotts
Don Knotts died at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California from pulmonary and respiratory complications related to lung cancer. He had been undergoing treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the months before his death, but had gone home after he reportedly had been getting better. Long-time friend Andy Griffith visited Knotts’ bedside a few hours before he died. His wife and his daughter stayed with him until his death.

Knotts’ obituaries cited him as a huge influence on other entertainers. Musician and fan J.D. Wilkes said this about Knotts: “Only a genius like Knotts could make an anxiety-ridden,passive-aggressive Napoleon character like Fife a familiar, welcome friend each week. Without his awesome contributions to television there would’ve been no other over-the-top, self-deprecating acts like Conan O’Brien or Chris Farley.”

Knotts is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

His hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia, has begun creation of a statue of the actor that will be placed in a special memorial park along the river and Don Knotts Boulevard.

Don Knotts – Funniest Moments as Barney Fife

Don Knotts’ Biography & Filmography continues next page

Early life
Knotts was born in the university town of Morgantown, West Virginia, the son of Elsie L. (née Moore) and William Jesse Knotts. His father’s family had been in the United States since the 17th century, originally settling in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland.His father had been a farmer, but suffered a nervous breakdown and lost his farm. The family (including Don’s two brothers) was supported by Don’s mother, who ran a boarding house in town. Knotts’ father suffered from schizophrenia and alcoholism and died when Don was 13 years old. Some time later, Knotts graduated from Morgantown High School.

At 19, Knotts was drafted into the Army and served during World War II as part of a traveling GI variety show and as a nurse, including in the Pacific Theater.

Early roles
After performing in many venues (including a ventriloquist act with a dummy named Hooch Matador), Knotts got his first major break on television in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow where he appeared from 1953 to 1955. He came to fame in 1956 on Steve Allen’s variety show, as part of Allen’s repertory company, most notably in Allen’s mock “Man in the Street” interviews, always as a man extremely nervous. The laughs grew when Knotts stated his occupation — always one that wouldn’t be appropriate for such a shaky person, such as a surgeon or explosives expert.

In 1958, Knotts appeared in the movie No Time for Sergeants alongside Andy Griffith. The movie, based on the play and book of the same name, began a professional and personal relationship between Knotts and Griffith that would last for decades.

Andy Griffith Show
In 1960, when Griffith was offered the opportunity to headline in his own sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968), Knotts took the role of Barney Fife, the deputy — and originally cousin — of Sheriff Andy Taylor (portrayed by Griffith). Knotts’ five seasons portraying the deputy on the popular show would earn him five Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy.Andy Griffith Show

Personal life
The actor was married to college sweetheart Kathryn (Kay) Metz from 1947-64 and to Loralee Czuchna from 1974-83. He had two children from his first marriage, Karen and Thomas. He was married to actress Francey Yarborough at the time of his death.
 

Filmography

Film
No Time for Sergeants (1958)
Wake Me When It’s Over (1960)
The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961)
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) (cameo)
Move Over, Darling (1963)
The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)
The Reluctant Astronaut (1967)
Rowan & Martin at the Movies (1968)
The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968)
The Love God? (1969)
How to Frame a Figg (1971)
The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)
No Deposit, No Return (1976)
Gus (1977)
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)
Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978)
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979)
The Prize Fighter (1979)
The Private Eyes (1981)
Cannonball Run II (1984)
Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987)
Big Bully (1996)
Cats Don’t Dance (1997)
Pleasantville (1998)
Tom Sawyer (2000)
Chicken Little (2005)
Air Buddies (2006)

Television
Search for Tomorrow (1953-1955)
The Steve Allen Show (1956-1960)
The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1965, 1966, 1967)
The New Steve Allen Show (1961-1963)
The Don Knotts Show (1970-1971)
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1972)
The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972)
I Love a Mystery (1973)
Steve Allen’s Laugh Back (1975)
Fantasy Island (1978-1979)
Three’s Company (1979-1984)
The Little Troll Prince (1985)
Return to Mayberry (1986)
Johnny Bravo
Matlock (1987-1995)
What a Country (1987)
Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987)
Timmy’s Gift: A Precious Moments Christmas (1991)
Jingle Bells (1999)
Quints (2000)
Hermie: A Common Caterpillar (2003)
Odd Job Jack (2003)
8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter (2003)
Hermie and Friends (2004)
Robot Chicken (2005)
That 70’s Show (2005)
Las Vegas (2005)

Buy from Amazon.com: Wilson Pickett CDs

Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American R&B/Rock and Roll and soul singer. Known for his raw, raspy, passionate vocal delivery, he recorded some of the most incendiary soul music of the twentieth century. A major figure in the development of Southern soul music, his recordings between 1963 and 1973 left behind a legacy of some of the deepest, funkiest soul music ever to emerge from the South. The impact of his recordings also resulted in his 1991 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Wilson Pickett’s Death
Wilson Pickett died of a heart attack January 19, 2006,
Wilson Pickett was 64 years old at the time of his death

###

Wilson Pickett In the Midnight Hour

 

 

From Amazon.com: Shelley Winters DVD

Shelley Winters (August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress. 

Winters died on January 14, 2006 of heart failure at the Rehabilitation Centre of Beverly Hills at the age of 85 a few hours after she married DeFord; she had suffered a heart attack on October 14, 2005. Ex-husband Anthony Franciosa died of a stroke five days later.

Academy awards

• 1951 Best Actress in a Leading Role A Place in the Sun – Nominated
• 1959 Best Actress in a Supporting Role The Diary of Anne Frank – won
• 1965 Best Actress in a Supporting Role A Patch of Blue – won
• 1972 Best Actress in a Supporting Role The Poseidon Adventure – nominated

Shelley Winters From "The Balcony" (1963)

 

Buy from Amazon.com: Lou Rawls CD, DVD

Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was a Chicago-born American soul music, jazz, and blues singer. Known for his smooth vocal style, Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game." Rawls released more than 70 albums, sold more than 40 million records, appeared as an actor in motion pictures and on television, and voiced-over many cartoons. He had been called "The Funkiest Man Alive".

Death of Lou Rawls
Rawls died on January 6, 2006 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications of the cancers.  Lou Rawls was 74 years old at the time of his death.

Lou Rawls is well known for:

• Phrase "Yeahhhh, buddy!"
• Songs "Lady Love", "You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine", "Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing"
• Captain from TV Show Bay Watch