Year: 2014

Mitch Leigh (born Irwin Michnick; January 30, 1928 – March 16, 2014) was an American musical theatre composer and theatrical producer best known for the musical Man of La Mancha.

He also composed the jingle: “Nobody Doesn’t Like Sara Lee”. He established Music Makers, Inc., in 1957 as a radio and television commercial production house and is its creative director.

Leigh won a Tony Award for composing the music for Man Of La Mancha. He was also nominated for a Tony Award as the director of the revival of The King and I.

He received the Contemporary Classics Award from the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame for “The Impossible Dream.”

The Impossible Dream-Man of La Mancha

David Norris Brenner (February 4, 1936 – March 15, 2014) was an American stand-up comedian, actor and author. The most frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the 1970s and 80s, Brenner was a pioneer in the genre of observational comedy.

Brenner was a writer, director or producer of 115 television documentaries and headed the documentary units of Westinghouse Broadcasting and Metromedia, winning nearly 30 awards including an Emmy, before moving to comedy. His first paid gig was at The Improv in June 1969, and then frequently performed at clubs in Greenwich Village. After making his national television debut in 1971, on the The Tonight Show, he became the show’s most frequent guest, with 158 appearances. He guest-hosted for Johnny Carson 75 times between 1975 and 1984, putting him fifth on the list of Carson’s favorite and most frequent guest hosts. Brenner was ranked No. 53 on Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. “At one point, he had appeared more often on major TV talk shows than any other entertainer. He also wrote five books,  and starred in four HBO Specials.

David Brenner cause of death

Brenner died on March 15, 2014, at the age of 78 from cancer at his Manhattan home. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, his three sons, Cole, Wyatt, Slade and his grandson, Wesley.

David Brenner on The Tonight Show

Glenn Edward McDuffie (May 31, 1927 – March 14, 2014) was an American retired World War II soldier. He was known for being the subject of Alfred Eisenstaedt’s photograph V-J Day in Times Square. He was kissing nurse Edith Shain because World War II ended.

McDuffie was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina.

Glenn Edward McDuffie cause of death

Glenn McDuffie died on March 14, 2014 in Dallas, Texas from a heart attack.  He was 86 years old at the time of his death.

Related Story: Edith Shain, Girl In WWII Time Square Kiss Picture, Dies 91

Cynthia Lynn (born Zinta Valda Zimilis; April 2, 1937 in Riga, Latvia – March 10, 2014) was a Latvian born American actress. 

Lynn is most notable for her portrayal of Fraulein Helga in Hogan’s Heroes during the first season (1965-66). She returned to the series in the 1968 episode, “Will the Blue Baron Strike Again”, for a background part, and again in the 1971 episode, “Easy Come, Easy Go”, as Eva, another background part. She last acted in 1975 in an episode of Harry O.

She wrote an autobiography titled Escape to Freedom with co-author Edward Ansara.

Cynthia Lynn cause of death

Cynthia Lynn died on March 10, 2014, from multiple organ failure after being stricken with hepatitis. She is survived by her daughter, Lisa Brando, whose father was Marlon Brando.  Cynthia Lynn was 76 years old when she died.

Sheila Margaret MacRae (September 24, 1920 – March 6, 2014) was an English actress and author. She appeared in such films as Pretty Baby (1950), Caged (1950), Backfire (1950) and Sex and the Single Girl (1964).

On television, MacRae played herself in an episode of I Love Lucy, “The Fashion Show” in which she asks Lucy to participate in a Hollywood fashion show organized by Don Loper and featuring actors’ wives as models.

MacRae later played Alice Kramden on 52 episodes of The Jackie Gleason Show (between 1966 and 1970). She was not the first actress to play Alice; Audrey Meadows remains best-known for the role.

Sheila MacRae cause of death

Sheila MacRae died in Englewood, New Jersey, from natural causes at the Lillian Booth Actor’s Home. No funeral was planned as she had been a devout Christian Scientist.  Sheila MacRae was 93 years old at the time of her death.

James John “Jim” Lange (August 15, 1932 – February 25, 2014) was an American game show host and disc jockey. He was known to listeners in the San Francisco and Los Angeles radio markets with stints at several stations in both markets, racking up over 45 years on the air. Lange was also known to television viewers as the host of several game shows, including The Dating Game.

Lange’s network television career began in San Francisco with The Ford Show in 1962, where he was the announcer for and sidekick to host Tennessee Ernie Ford. Three years later he would sign on to host The Dating Game. While still on-air at KSFO, he commuted to Los Angeles to tape the TV program.

His other game shows included $100,000 Name That Tune, The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime, Hollywood Connection, Bullseye and the ABC version of The New Newlywed Game, as well as short-lived shows including, Spin-Off, Triple Threat and Give-n-Take.

Lange also appeared as himself on Bewitched, Laverne & Shirley, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and Moesha. He appeared as a celebrity player on Scrabble during their 1988 “Game Show Host Week”, and on Hollywood Squares for their “Game Show Week” in December 2002.

In later years, he lived in Marin County, California, with his wife, Michigan native Nancy Fleming, former Miss America 1961, whom he married in 1978.

Jim Lange cause of death

Jim Lange died of a heart attack at their home in Mill Valley, California on February 25, 2014. Jim Lange was 81 years old at the time of his death.

The Dating Game (1973) With Jim Lange.

Francis “Franny” Beecher (September 29, 1921 – February 24, 2014), also known as Frank Beecher, was the lead guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets from 1954 to 1962, and is best remembered for his innovative guitar solos combining elements of country music and jazz. He composed the classics “Blue Comet Blues”, “Goofin’ Around”, “Week End”, and “Shaky” when he was the lead guitarist for Bill Haley and the Comets. He continued to perform with surviving members of the Comets into 2006. In 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Beecher as a member of the Comets by a special committee, aimed at correcting the previous mistake of not inducting the Comets with Bill Haley.

Franny Beecher cause of death

Beecher died on February 24, 2014 in his sleep from natural causes. Franny Beecher was 92 years old at the time of his death.

Best Solos Riff’s Of Franny Beecher

Roger Hill (July 31, 1948 – February 20, 2014) was an American actor.  A lifelong New Yorker, Roger Hill spent most of his 20-year career in theater.

Hill played the role of Cyrus in the 1979 film The Warriors. He also portrayed the character of Lil John in the 1974 film The Education of Sonny Carson, and took on the role of Ernest Clay in the 1976 TV Movie Hazzard’s People starring John Houseman. After his work in The Warriors, Hill performed in the ABC Daytime soap opera One Life to Live playing the part of Alex Lowndes from 1983-1984.

Hill was chosen to portray the doomed gang lord Cyrus in The Warriors after the original actor chosen for the part, a real life gang leader, mysteriously disappeared just before filming started.

In 2006, Hill filed a lawsuit of $250,000 against Take-Two for using his voice and depiction in the Warriors video game. He claimed that it would not have been difficult for Take-Two to pay, since the game made $37 million. A spokesman for Take-Two stated that the company “has a valid third-party license for the rights to use Roger Hill’s likeness and the character of Cyrus in The Warriors video game and related marketing materials”.

Hill was the father of Big Brother editor, Chris W. Hill.

Roger Hill cause of death.

The cause of death was not disclosed. Roger Hill was 65 years old at the time of his death.

Can You Dig It? – The Warriors

Shirley Temple Black (April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American film and television actress, singer, dancer and public servant, most famous as a child star in the 1930s. As an adult, she entered politics and became a diplomat, serving as United States Ambassador to Ghana and later to Czechoslovakia, and as Chief of Protocol of the United States.

Temple began her film career in 1932 at the age of three.

Shirley Temple was a lifelong smoker.

Shirley Temple cause of death

Shirley Temple died on February 10, 2014. She was at her home in Woodside, California, surrounded by family and caregivers. Despite her family claiming she died of natural causes, according to her death certificate, revealed on March 3, 2014, it was actually due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  A lifelong smoker, she avoided revealing her habit in public to avoid setting a bad example to her fans. She is survived by her three children, as well as a granddaughter and two great-grandchildren.  Shirley Temple was 85 years old at the time of her death.