Year: 2011

Laura Ellen Ziskin (March 3, 1950 – June 12, 2011) was an American film producer. In 1990, she was the sole executive producer of the hit comedy Pretty Woman. Ziskin became the first woman to produce the Academy Awards telecast alone, producing the 74th Academy Awards in 2002 and the 79th Academy Awards in 2007.

Ziskin’s biggest success to date came with the hit comedy Pretty Woman in 1990, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, which Ziskin executive produced for Touchstone Pictures.

Laura Ziskin returned to the big screen with the highly anticipated feature version of Spider-Man. The film was released on May 3, 2002 to good reviews from critics, went on to break box office records, and became the highest grossing film of 2002. The success of the film led to two sequels, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. In 2002, Ziskin was also awarded the Crystal Award by Women in Film for her efforts at expanding the role of women in the entertainment industry.

Laura Ziskin Cause of Death
Ziskin died of breast cancer at her home in Santa Monica, California on June 12, 2011, aged 61.

Leonard B. Stern (December 23, 1923 – June 7, 2011) born in New York City NY, was one of the creators, with Roger Price, of the word game Mad Libs.

Leonard Stern was a successful television writer who wrote for such now classic series such as Get Smart, The Honeymooners, the Phil Silvers Show, The Steve Allen Show and Steve Allen’s Tonight Show. He also was a writer for the 1952 Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee version of The Jazz Singer and several Abbott and Costello films, among others. In the 1970s, he produced and directed the TV series McMillan and Wife, which starred Rock Hudson.

Leonard Stern cause of death
On June 7, 2011, Stern died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Stern is survived by his wife of 55 years, actress Gloria Stroock, as well as a son, Michael Stern, a daughter, Kate Stern, two grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. Funeral services were scheduled Friday at Mt. Sinai.

James King Arness (May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke for 20 years. His brother was actor Peter Graves. Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Marshal Matt Dillon in five separate decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987) and four more made-for-TV Gunsmoke movies in the 1990s. In Europe Arness reached cult status for his role as Zeb Macahan in the western series How the West Was Won.

James Arness was in two Sci-Fi Classics – The original THING as the monster, and as the FBI man in THEM.

Arness has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1751 Vine Street. In 1981

James Arness Cause of Death
James Arness died of natural causes at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles, California on June 3, 2011.  James Arness was 88 years old a the time of his death

Gunsmoke “The Killer”, James Arness is Sheriff Dillon

Andrew Maurice Gold (August 2, 1951  – June 3, 2011) was an American singer, musician and songwriter. His work includes the Top 10 single "Lonely Boy" (1977), as well as the singles "Thank You for Being a Friend" (1978), and "Never Let Her Slip Away" (1978).

"Thank You for Being a Friend" was a theme song for "The Golden Girls"

Andrew Gold was a prolific multi-instrumentalist as artist, producer, film composer, session musician, actor, painter, and singer.

Andrew Gold was born in Burbank, California, and later joined a family business. His mother is singer Marni Nixon (who provided the singing voice for numerous actresses, notably Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady); his father was Ernest Gold, the Academy Award-winning composer for the movie Exodus. He has two younger sisters. Gold began writing songs at the age of 13.

Andrew Gold Cause of Death
Gold died on June 3, 2011, Andrew died in his sleep at age 59 from Heart Attack. He leaves behind his wife, Leslie Kogan; daughters Emily, Victoria and Olivia and his mother, Marni Nixon.

Andrew Gold – Lonely Boy 

Andrew Gold – Thank you for being a friend

Andrew Gold – Official Website

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian (May 26, 1928 – June 3, 2011) was an Armenian-American pathologist, right-to-die activist, painter, composer, and instrumentalist. He is best known for publicly championing a terminal patient’s right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he claimed to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He famously said that "dying is not a crime".

Between 1990 and 1998, Kevorkian assisted in the deaths of 130 terminally ill people.

Beginning in 1999 Kevorkian served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. He was released on parole on June 1, 2007, on condition that he would not offer suicide advice to any other person.

An oil painter and a jazz musician, Kevorkian marketed limited quantities of his visual and musical artwork to the public.

Jack Kevorkian Cause of Death
Jack Kevorkian was hospitalized for pneumonia and a kidney-related ailment.  He died when a blood clot broke from his leg and became lodged in his heart.

Jack Kevorkian : Dr. Death – "I Am Honest And Is There A God ?"

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Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt (September 13, 1947 – June 2, 2011), also known as Geronimo ji-Jaga, was a high ranking member of the Black Panther Party. The Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted him in a COINTELPRO operation, which aimed to "neutralize Pratt as an effective BPP functionary." Pratt was tried and convicted of the kidnap and murder of Caroline Olsen in 1972, and spent 27 years in prison, eight of which were in solitary confinement. Pratt was freed in 1997 when his conviction was vacated. He was working as a human rights activist up until the time of his death. Pratt was also the godfather of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. He died of a heart attack in his adopted country, Tanzania, on June 2, 2011.

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Clarice Taylor (September 20, 1917 – May 30, 2011) was an American stage, film and television actress.

Clarice Taylor was known for her recurring role on television on The Cosby Show as Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable (Bill Cosby)’s mother, Anna Huxtable. She was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1986 for the role. She also played Harriet on Sesame Street and appeared as Grady’s cousin Emma on Sanford and Son.

In 1971 she played Birdie in Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty For Me.  Taylor appeared in the hit musical The Wiz, as Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North.

Clarice Taylor Cause of Death
Taylor died on May 30, 2011 of heart failure. She was survived by her two sons, William and James, and five grandchildren.  Clarice Taylor was 93 years old at the time of her death.

Purlie! "The World is Comin’ to a Start" (Don Scardino – 1981 TV Cast) 
Clarice Taylor (as Idella) appears at 1:38

Gil Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and 80s, and for his collaborative soul works with musician Brian Jackson.  Scott-Heron remained active until his death, and in 2010 released his first new album in 16 years, entitled I’m New Here.

Gil Scott-Heron influenced later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul.

Scott-Heron’s recording work is often associated with black militant activism and has received much critical acclaim for one of his most well-known compositions "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

Gil Scott-Heron Cause of Death
Gil Scott-Heron died on the afternoon of May 27, 2011, at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York City, after becoming sick upon returning from a European trip. Cause of death is not known.

It was revealed in 2008, that Gil Scott-Heron was HIV positive.

Gil Scott-Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
70’s When Gil Scott-Heron was younger

Gil Scott-Heron – ‘I’m New Here’ (released 2010)
Mellow & older Gil Scott-Heron

Jeffrey Charles William Michael Conaway (October 5, 1950 – May 27, 2011, known by his stage name, Jeff Conaway, was an American actor, best known for his roles in the movie Grease, and the US TV series Taxi and Babylon 5. He also directed the 1992 film Bikini Summer 2.

Jeff Conaway Cause of Death
On May 11, 2011, Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of what was believed to be pain medication, and was taken to a hospital in Encino, California, where he was listed as being in critical condition and in a coma.  After the initial reports, Dr. Drew Pinsky, who had treated Conaway for substance abuse, said the actor was suffering not from a drug overdose but rather from “pneumonia with sepsis”, for which he was placed into an induced coma.

Official cause of death (announced October 1, 2011)
5 months later, Los Angeles County coroner ruled his death accidental.  Jeff Conaway died mn May 27, 2011, after 2 weeks in a comma.
Jeff Conaway was 60 years old at the time of his death.

Conaway appeared on VH1’s ‘Celebrity Fit Club’ in 2008 and later on ‘Celebrity Rehab,’ where he admitted to being addicted to cocaine, painkillers and alcohol.

Related Story:
In the movie Grease, Kenickie’s dance partner was Cha Cha, played by Annette Charles.  Annette Charles died in August 3, 2011 from Cancer. 

•  Annette Charles, Cha Cha from “Grease”, died 63

Taxi: Reverend Jim’s driving test
(Jeff Conway is a good looking guy with long hair)

Important Background Story:
Joseph Brooks was waiting for a trial on charges of sexually assaulting of more than a dozen women.  He allegedly lured the women to his apartment to audition for movie roles.  He was indicted on June 23, 2009. He was being tried by Manhattan’s state Supreme Court for 91 counts and charged with rape, sexual abuse, criminal sexual act, assault, and other charges.

A month ago, Joseph Brooks’ son was accused of murdering a swimsuit designer.

 

Joseph Brooks (March 11, 1938 – May 22, 2011) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, and composer. He composed the hit song "You Light Up My Life" for the film of the same name that he also wrote, directed, and produced.

In the 1960s Brooks was a composer of advertising jingles, including highly successful ones for Pepsi, "You’ve Got a Lot to Live", and Maxwell House, "Good to the Last Drop Feeling".

In October 1977 "You Light Up My Life" reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 popularity charts where it held the top position for 10 consecutive weeks, which was then the longest run at #1 in the chart’s history. With sales of over four million copies in the United States alone, the song ultimately became the biggest hit of the 1970s. It also hit #1 Adult Contemporary and was even a Top 10 "Country" single. The passionate ballad also earned Brooks a Grammy Award for Song of the Year as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Golden Globe Award and an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Award. The song was Debby Boone’s first solo hit record and only Top 40 Pop hit.

Joseph Brooks Cuase of Death
Police reported on May 22, 2011, that Brooks was found dead by a friend of an apparent suicide. He was 73 years old. His body was found in his Upper East Side apartment with a plastic dry cleaning bag around his head and a towel around his neck. His body was near a helium tank with a hose on it and a suicide note.

Debby Boone You light up my life