Year: 2018

Ray Sawyer (February 1, 1937, Chickasaw, Alabama, United States – December 31, 2018) was an American singer best known as a vocalist with the 1970s rock band, Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Though primarily a backing vocalist and occasional percussionist on congas or maracas, he sang lead on their hit song “The Cover of Rolling Stone” and was a recognisable presence in the band due to the eyepatch and cowboy hat he wore. He was also the uncle of the vocalist of Wild Fire, Zack Sawyer.

Dr. Hook had many hit singles such as “Sylvia’s Mother”, “Cover of a Rolling Stone”, “A Little Bit More”, “Only Sixteen”, “Walk Right In”, “Sharing the Night Together”, “When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman”, “Better Love Next Time”, “Sexy Eyes”, “Girl Can Get It”, and “Baby Makes Her Bluejeans Talk”.

No cause of death was given.

Dr Hook & The Medicine Show – “Cover Of The Rolling Stone”
Ray Sawyer with eyepatch

Kenneth Ronald Berry (November 3, 1933 – December 1, 2018) was an American actor, dancer and singer. Berry starred on the television series F Troop, The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D. and Mama’s Family. He also appeared on Broadway in The Billy Barnes Revue, headlined as George M. Cohan in the musical George M! and provided comic relief for the medical drama Dr. Kildare, with Richard Chamberlain in the 1960s.

Berry died in Burbank, California on December 1, 2018 at the age of 85.  Cause of death has not been disclosed

Mama’s Family Clip – Mama and Vinton (Ken Berry)

Ken Berry (tap dancer) 1950s

Stephen McDannell Hillenburg (August 21, 1961 – November 26, 2018) was an American animator, cartoonist, and marine-biology teacher. He was the creator of the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants (1999–), which he also directed, produced, and wrote. It has gone on to become the fifth longest-running American animated series.

Illness and death

Hillenburg disclosed to Variety magazine in March 2017 that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a terminal illness that affects and causes the death of neurons that control the brain and the spinal cord. He released a statement to the publication, in which he said that he would continue to work on SpongeBob SquarePants “for as long as [he is] able.” He added, “My family and I are grateful for the outpouring of love and support. We ask that our sincere request for privacy be honored during this time.” At the time, Hillenburg was in the early stages of the disease, according to a source close to him.

Hillenburg died on November 26, 2018, at the age of 57, from complications from ALS.

Favorite Lines from Spongebob

Bernardo Bertolucci (March 16 1941 – November 26 2018) was an Italian director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), The Sheltering Sky, Little Buddha, Stealing Beauty and The Dreamers. In recognition of his work, he was presented with the inaugural Honorary Palme d’Or Award at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. From 1979 until his death in 2018, he was married to screenwriter Clare Peploe.

Bertolucci died in Rome on 26 November 2018, at the age of 77 of lung cancer.

Katherine MacGregor, Harriet Oleson on ‘Little House on the Prairie’m dies 93

Katherine “Scottie” MacGregor (born Dorlee Deane McGregor; January 12, 1925 – November 13, 2018) was an American actress, best known for her role as Harriet Oleson in Little House on the Prairie.

She was married to actor Bert Remsen from 1949 to 1950 and to actor, director, and teacher Edward G. Kaye-Martin, 14 years her junior, from August 1969 to October 1970.

While recovering from alcoholism, MacGregor converted to Hinduism. She was unable to appear in the series finale of Little House on the Prairie, as she was on pilgrimage to India at the time of the episode’s filming.

MacGregor died on November 13, 2018 at the age of 93, in Los Angeles, CA. No cause was given

Caroline Ingalls meets Harriet Oleson for the 1st time

Katherine MacGregor as Harriet Oleson (green dress)