Year: 2008

Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 60s and on. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives for modern jazz and bebop

Following a long setback of health problems and a serious lip injury in 1992 where he ruptured his upper lip and subsequently developed an infection, Hubbard was again playing and recording occasionally, even if not at the high level that he set for himself during his earlier career. His best records ranked with the finest in his field

Death of Frederick Hubbard
On December 29, 2008, Hubbard’s hometown newspaper, The Indianapolis Star reported that Hubbard died from complications from a heart attack suffered on November 26 of the same year. Billboard magazine reported that Hubbard died in Sherman Oaks, California

Freddie Hubbard – Misty

Freddie Hubbard’s discography continues next page

Freddie Hubbard Discography

This is my top 10 famous death stories in Hollywood – 2008

I came up with the list by considering three factors: 1) How much I like them personally, 2) How much they contributed to entertainment industry, 3) Shock value. 

So, you are likely to disagree with me.  But it’s OK.

1. Paul Newman (83)
2. Charlton Heston (83)
3. Richard Widmark (93)
4. Heath Ledger (28)
5. Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother murdered
6. Sydney Pollack (73)
7. Eddy Arnold (89)
8. Harvey Korman (81)
9. Don LaFontaine (68)
10. Jo Stafford (90)

Feel free to reply with your own top 10 deaths of 2008.

It’s not easy to trim out the others and come up with only 10, but that’s the beauty of it. 

Hollywood deaths 2008, dead celebrities

Robert Graham (August 19, 1938 – December 27, 2008) was a sculptor based in the state of California in the United States of America. His monumental bronzes commemorate the human figure and are featured in public places across America.

Graham’s work included statues of past presidents, Los Angeles Olympic Gateway, and countless more all over The United States.

Robert Graham died 70 years old, surrounded by his family, including Oscar winning actress Angelica Huston (married since 1992)

Ann Savage (February 19, 1921 – December 25, 2008) was a motion picture actress for over sixty years. She is mainly remembered as the cigarette-puffing femme fatale in Detour (1945) and other Hollywood B-movies and film noirs of the 1940s. Savage and Detour co-star Tom Neal made four movies (Klondike Kate, Two Man Submarine, Unwritten Code, and Detour) and one television show (Gangbusters) together.

Death of Ann Savage
Ann Savage died in her sleep on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008, from complications following a series of stroke. She is buried next to D’Armand at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in Los Angeles, California

Merry Christmas
Singer of "Santa Baby" Eartha Kitt dies on Christmas Day 2008

Eartha Mae Kitt (January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American actress, singer, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her role as Catwoman in the 1960s TV series Batman, and for her 1953 Christmas song "Santa Baby". Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world".

Death of Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008. Ironically as she is mostly known for her Christmas hit Santa Baby.

Career
Kitt started her career as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company and made her film debut with them in Casbah (1948). A talented singer with a distinctive voice, her hits include "Let’s Do It", "Champagne Tatse", "C’est si bon", "Just an Old Fashioned Girl", "Monotonous", "Je cherche un homme", "Love for Sale", "I’d Rather Be Burned as a Witch", "Uska Dara", "Mink, Schmink", "Under the Bridges of Paris", and her most recognizable hit, "Santa Baby". Kitt’s unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in the French language during her years performing in Europe. She had some skill in other languages too, which she demonstrates with finesse in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances

Eartha Kitt – Santa Baby

Eartha Kitts Awards and Filmography continues next page

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1960 Hollywood Walk of Fame – 6656 Hollywood Boulevard.
• 2001 Annie Award for Best Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Featured Film – The Emperor’s New Groove
• 2007 Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production – The Emperor’s New School
• 2007 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – The Emperor’s New School
• 2008 Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production – The Emperor’s New School
• 2008 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – The Emperor’s New School

Nominations

• 1966 Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama – I Spy
• 1978 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical – Timbuktu!
• 1996 Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – Living Single
• 2000 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical – The Wild Party
• 2000 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – The Wild Party

Filmography
Casbah (1948)
New Faces (1954)
The Mark of the Hawk (1958)
St. Louis Blues (1958)
Anna Lucasta (1959)
Saint of Devil’s Island (1961)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1965) (voice)
Synanon (1965)
All About People (1967) (short subject) (narrator)
Up the Chastity Belt (1971)
Friday Foster (1975)
All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story (1983)
The Serpent Warriors (1985)
The Pink Chiquitas (1987) (voice)
Dragonard (1987)
Master of Dragonard Hill (1989)
Erik the Viking (1989)
Living Doll (1990)
Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)
Boomerang (1992)
Fatal Instinct (1993)
Unzipped (1995)
Harriet the Spy (1996)
Ill Gotten Gains (1997)
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)
The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story (1998) (voice)
The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) (voice of Yzma)
The Making and Meaning of We Are Family (2002)
The Sweatbox (2002) (documentary)
Anything But Love (2002)
Holes (2003)
On the One (2005)
Preaching to the Choir (2005)
Kronk’s New Groove (2005) (voice of Yzma)
And Then Came Love (2007)

Robert Mulligan (August 23, 1925 in The Bronx, New York – Died December 20, 2008 Lyme, Conn) is an American film and television director.

In 1957 Robert Mulligan directed his first motion picture (Fear Strikes Out) and five years later received wide acclaim and Academy award and Directors Guild of America nominations for To Kill a Mockingbird. In the same year, he also directed a film with stars Rock Hudson and Burl Ives, called The Spiral Road, based on the book by Jan de Hartog.

Death of Robert Mulligan
Robert Mulligan died of had heart disease.
Robert Mulligan was 83 years old at the time of his death

In 1972 he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director and another Directors Guild Award for the highly successful Summer of ’42.

He is the brother of actor Richard Mulligan who is best remembered for his television roles of Burt Campbell in the sitcom Soap and of Dr. Harry Weston in Empty Nest.

Robert Mulligan’s biography & filmography continues next page

Employed by the CBS network, Mulligan began his television career at the bottom of the ladder, working as a messenger boy. He worked his way up, learning the business to where in 1948 he was directing important dramatic series. In 1959 he won an Emmy Award for directing The Moon and Sixpence, a made-for-television production that marked the American small-screen debut of Sir Laurence Olivier.

Selected filmography
The Man in the Moon (1991)
Clara’s Heart (1988)
Kiss Me Goodbye (1982)
Bloodbrothers (1978)
Same Time, Next Year (1978)
The Nickel Ride (1974)
The Other (1972)
Summer of ’42 (1971)
The Pursuit of Happiness (1971)
The Stalking Moon (1969)
Up the Down Staircase (1967)
Inside Daisy Clover (1965)
Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965)
Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
The Spiral Road (1962)
Come September (1961)
The Great Impostor (1961)
The Rat Race (1960)
Fear Strikes Out (1957)

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (February 23, 1932 – December 18, 2008) (born Majel Leigh Hudec in Columbus, Ohio) was an American actress, and producer. She was also the widow of television director/producer/writer and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.

As a result of her marriage to Gene Roddenberry and the fact that she has been in every Star Trek series, she is sometimes referred to as "the First Lady of Star Trek". She and Gene Roddenberry were married in Japan on August 6, 1969, after the cancellation of the original Star Trek series.

Death of Majel Roddenberry
Barrett died December 18, 2008 as a result of complications from leukemia.
Majel Roddenberry was 76 years old at the time of her death

She appeared in the original Star Trek series as Nurse Christine Chapel, and also had a role in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

She was also the voice of the USS Enterprise computer in almost every spin-off of the 1960s cult series

William Mark Felt, Sr. (August 17, 1913 – December 18, 2008) was a former agent of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, who retired in 1973 as the Bureau’s Associate Director. After thirty years of denying his involvement with reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Felt revealed himself on May 31, 2005 to be the Watergate scandal whistleblower called "Deep Throat."

Death OF William Mark Felt
At 12:45pm on December 18, 2008, Felt died of congestive heart failure in his sleep at a hospice care facility in Santa Rosa, California. He was 95 years old. His death was reported in the Washington Post by Bob Woodward.

On December 17, 2008, paramedics were called to McCready’s home in Nashville after an apparent suicide attempt; they transported her to a hospital after finding wounds on her wrists.

Malinda Gayle "Mindy" McCready (born November 30, 1975, in Fort Myers, Florida) is an American country music singer. Active since 1996, she has recorded a total of four studio albums. Her debut album, 1996’s Ten Thousand Angels, was released on BNA Records and was certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA, while 1997’s If I Don’t Stay the Night was certified gold. 1999’s I’m Not So Tough, her final album for BNA, was commercially unsuccessful, and she was dropped from the label. A self-titled fourth album followed in 2002 on Capitol Records.

Mindy McCready:Guys Do It All The Time

Samuel John "Sam" Bottoms (October 17, 1955 – December 16, 2008) was an American actor and producer.

He is perhaps best remembered for his role as Lance Johnson, a Navy Gunner’s Mate stationed on a river boat in Francis Ford Coppola’s 20th century opus, Apocalypse Now.

Bottoms earlier appeared with Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales.

At the age of 16 while watching the shooting of the film The Last Picture Show, which his older brother Timothy was starring in, Peter Bogdanovich decided to give him a screen test. Sam ended up getting the part of Billy in the movie.

Death of Sam Bottoms
Sam Bottoms died of glioblastoma multiforme, a brain tumor.
Sam Bottoms was 53 years old at the time of his death.

Bottoms was born in Santa Barbara, California, the third son of James "Bud" Bottoms (a sculptor and art teacher) and Betty (Chapman). He is the brother of actors Timothy Bottoms, Joseph Bottoms and Ben Bottoms.

The Last Picture Show – Sam Bottoms as Billy

Sam Bottom’s Television & Filmography continues on next page

>

Television
NYPD Blue (2004)
My Neighbor’s Daughter (1998)
Mercenary II: Thick & Thin (1997)
The X Files (1995)
Zooman (1995)
Murder, She Wrote (1989-1991)
21 Jump Street (1990)
Island Sons (1987)
The Witching of Ben Wagner (1987)
Gringo mojado (1986)
No Earthly Reason (1984)
Return to Eden (1983)
Desperate Lives (1982)
East of Eden (1981)
The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1978)
Greatest Heroes of the Bible (1978)
Marcus Welby, M.D. (1976)
Cage Without a Key (1975)
Lucas Tanner (1974)
Savages (1974)
Doc Elliot (1974)

[edit] Filmography
Finishing the Game (2007)
SherryBaby (2006)
Winter Passing (2005)
Shopgirl (2005)
Havoc (2005)
Seabiscuit (2003)
Looking Through Lillian (2002)
True Files (2002)
Shadow Fury (2001)
The Unsaid (2001)
Joseph’s Gift (1998)
Snide and Prejudice (1997)
Project Shadowchaser III (1995)
Sugar Hill (1994)
The Trust (1993)
North of Chiang Mai (1992)
Dolly Dearest (1992)
Ragin’ Cajun (1991)
After School (1988)
Gardens of Stone (1987)
Hunter’s Blood (1987)
Prime Risk (1985)