Celebrity deaths, illness, divorce and remembrance
Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty (November 29, 1940 – January 19, 2007) was a Canadian singer and songwriter. He was most widely known as a founding member of the 1960s musical group The Mamas & the Papas.
Dennis Doherty’s Death:
Denny Doherty died on January 19, 2007 at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, from kidney failure following surgery on an abdominal aneurysm.
Saddam Hussein (April 28, 1937 – December 30, 2006), was the President of Iraq from July 16, 1979, until April 9, 2003
Saddam was hanged on the first day of Eid ul-Adha, December 30, 2006, despite his wish to be shot (which he felt would be more dignified). The execution was carried out at "Camp Justice," an Iraqi army base in Kadhimiya, a neighborhood of northeast Baghdad. The execution was videotaped on a mobile phone, showing Saddam being taunted before his hanging. The video was leaked to electronic media, becoming the subject of global controversy.
* Comment closed. hollywoodmemoir.com doesn’t discuss politics.
Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the thirty-eighth President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the fortieth Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974. He was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, and became President upon Richard Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974.
Death of Gerald Ford
President Gerald Ford died in Rancho Mirage, California of arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis.
Gerald Ford was 93 years and 165 days old at the time of his death.
Prior to 1973, Ford served for over eight years as the Republican Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives; he was originally elected to Congress in 1948 from Michigan’s 5th congressional district.
As president, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War, even as South Vietnam, a former ally, was invaded and conquered by North Vietnam. Ford did not intervene in Vietnamese affairs, but did help extract friends of the U.S. Domestically, the economy suffered from inflation and a recession under President Ford. One of his more controversial decisions was granting a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. In 1976, Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but ultimately lost the presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.
Gerald Ford – 1976 TV Ad
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James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006), commonly referred to as “The Godfather of Soul” and “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” was an American entertainer recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th century popular music. He was renowned for his shouting vocals, feverish dancing and unique rhythmic style.
James Brown’s Cause of Death
James Brown died from congestive heart failure. James Brown was 73 years at the time of his death.
Birth name: May 3, 1933 James Joseph Brown, Jr.
Born: Barnwell, South Carolina, United States
Origin: Augusta, Georgia
Died: December 25, 2006 (aged 73)
Atlanta, Georgia
Genre: R&B, soul, funk, Rock and Roll
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, dancer, bandleader, record producer
Instruments: Vocal percussion, guitar, harmonica, bass, keyboards, drums and other percussion instruments
Years active 1956 – 2006
Label: Federal, King, Try Me, Smash, People, Polydor, Scotti Bros.
Joseph Roland "Joe" Barbera (March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an animator, cartoon artist, storyboard artist, television director, television producer, and co-founder, together with William Hanna, of Hanna-Barbera. The studio produced popular cartoons such as The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Top Cat and Yogi Bear, as well as the musical film, Charlotte’s Web.
Death of Joseph Barbera
Joe Barbera died at the age of 95 of natural causes at his home in Studio City, Los Angeles on December 18, 2006, ending a seventy-year career in animation. His wife Sheila was at his side when he died.
Early years
Joseph Barbera (pronounced bar-BEAR-uh) was born in the Little Italy section of Manhattan, New York, to immigrants of Lebanese descent.
Career
Early career
Barbera started his career as a tailor’s delivery boy. During the Great Depression, he tried unsuccessfully to become a magazine cartoonist for a magazine called The NY Hits Magazine. Additionally, he once told of a letter that he wrote to Walt Disney asking for advice about getting started in the animation industry. Barbera said that Disney wrote back and replied that "its a tough business" and that he (Barbera) should seek another line of work. Undeterred by Disney’s comments, Joe Barbera pressed forward.
In 1932, he joined the Van Beuren Studio as an animator and scriptwriter. He worked on cartoons such as Cubby Bear, and Rainbow Parades and also co-produced Tom and Jerry (a couple of boys, unrelated to his later cat-and-mouse series). When Van Beuren closed down in 1936, Barbera moved over to the MGM studios.
Teaming with William Hanna
Lured by a substantial salary increase, Barbera left Terrytoons and New York for the new MGM cartoon unit in California in 1937. The following year, he teamed up with William Hanna to direct theatrical short cartoons; Barbera was the storyboard/layout artist, and Hanna was in charge of the timing. Their first venture was Puss Gets the Boot (1940), the first Tom and Jerry film, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best (Cartoon) Short Subject.
Hanna and Barbera’s 17-year partnership on the Tom & Jerry series resulted in 7 Academy Awards for Best (Cartoon) Short Subject, and 14 total nominations, more than any other character-based theatrical animated series. Hanna and Barbera were placed in charge of MGM’s animation division in late 1955; however, this proved short-lived as MGM closed the division in 1957. They subsequently teamed up to produce the series The Ruff & Reddy Show, under the name H-B Enterprises, soon changed to Hanna-Barbera Productions. By using the limited animation techniques, Hanna and Barbera could provide programming for networks at reduced cost.
By the late 1960s, Hanna-Barbera Productions had become the most successful television animation studio, producing hit television programs such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!.
Later career
Hanna-Barbera had been a subsidiary of Taft Broadcasting (later Great American Communications) since 1967. The studio thrived until 1991, when it was sold to Turner Broadcasting. Hanna and Barbera stayed on as advisors and periodically worked on new Hanna-Barbera shows, including the What-a-Cartoon! series.
He served as creative consultant for the 1993 motion picture, Tom and Jerry: The Movie for Miramax Films and Film Roman. Hanna-Barbera, received eight Emmys, including the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1988.
Their strengths melded perfectly, critic Leonard Maltin wrote in his book Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. Barbera brought the comic gags and skilled drawing, while Hanna brought warmth and a keen sense of timing. Maltin wrote:
"This writing-directing team may hold a record for producing consistently superior cartoons using the same characters year after year – without a break or change in routine."
Hanna, who died in 2001, once said he was never a good artist but his partner could "capture mood and expression in a quick sketch better than anyone I’ve ever known."
After Hanna’s death, Barbera remained active as an executive producer for Warner Bros. Animation on direct-to-video cartoon features as well as television series such as What’s New, Scooby-Doo? and Tom and Jerry Tales. In the Tom and Jerry cartoon "The Mansion Cat" from 2000, Barbera was the houseowner’s voice actor. He also wrote, co-storyboarded, co-directed and co-produced the theatrical Tom and Jerry short The KarateGuard in 2005, thus returning to his and Hanna’s first successful cartoon format. His final animated project was the direct-to-video feature Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale, which came out on DVD in the U.S. on October 2, 2007.
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Ahmet Ertegün (July 31, 1923 – December 14, 2006) was the Turkish American co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records and chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum, described as "one of the most significant figures in the modern recording industry". He also co-founded the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League.
2006 injury and death
Aged 83, Ahmet Ertegün was injured after a fall at a Rolling Stones performance in New York on October 29, 2006 for the 60th birthday of former US President Bill Clinton. Ertegün slipped and hit his head backstage. Although he was initially in stable condition, Ertegün soon took a turn for the worse. This announcement was made by Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page during the band’s induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame. Ertegün slipped into a coma and died later, with his family by his side, at New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
He was buried December 18 in the Garden of Sufi Tekke, Özbekler Tekkesi in Sultantepe, Üsküdar, ?stanbul, next to his brother, his father, and his shaikh great-grandfather ?eyh ?brahim Edhem Efendi, who was once the head of the tekke in his native Turkey. At the garden were hundreds of mourners, including his wife Mica, members of the Ertegün family, Turkish dignitaries and entertainers including Atlantic artist Kid Rock
Michael Jonas Evans (Mike Evans) (November 3, 1949 – December 14, 2006), was an American actor and co-creator of the show Good Times.
Evans is most famous for the recurring role of Lionel Jefferson on All in the Family and was the first (and eventually final) actor to play Lionel on the spin-off The Jeffersons. He played Lionel on The Jeffersons for much of its 11-year run, with the majority of his appearances occurring from 1979-1983. Opera singer/actor Damon Evans (no relation to Michael) played the role for a few years of The Jeffersons, as Michael was occupied in the production of Good Times. He returned after Good Times was cancelled in 1979.
Evans died of throat cancer at his mother’s home in Twentynine Palms, California at the age of 57. The announcement of his death was not released until a week later.
Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an Emmy Award-winning American actor known for his role as Frank Barone on the 1996-2005 CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and as a singing and dancing Frankenstein’s Monster in the writer-director Mel Brooks’ film spoof Young Frankenstein (1974). Boyle, who won an Emmy Award in 1996 for a guest-starring role on the science-fiction drama The X-Files, won praise in both comedic and dramatic parts following his breakthrough performance in the 1970 film Joe.
Death of Peter Boyle
On December 12, 2006, Boyle died in New York City at New York Presbyterian Hospital after suffering from multiple myeloma and heart disease; he was 71. At the time of his death, Boyle had completed the film All Roads Lead Home and was scheduled to appear in Chatham. The end credits of The Santa Clause 3 include a dedication to his memory.
Peter Boyle as A Monster
Early life and career
Boyle was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania of Irish descent, the son of Alice and Peter Boyle, Sr. He moved with his family to nearby Philadelphia. His father was a Philadelphia TV personality from 1951-1963 who, among many other things, played the Western-show host Chuck Wagon Pete, and hosted the afterschool children’s program Uncle Pete Presents the Little Rascals, which showed vintage Little Rascals and Three Stooges comedy shorts and Popeye cartoons.
Boyle attended St. Francis de Sales school and West Philadelphia Catholic High School. After high school Boyle spent three years as a novice of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or De La Salle Brothers, a Catholic teaching order. He lived in a house of studies with other novices and earned a BA from La Salle University in Philadelphia in 1957, but left the order because he did not feel called to religious life. While in Philadelphia, he worked as a cameraman on the cooking show Television Kitchen, hosted by Florence Hanford.
After graduating from Officer Candidate School in 1959, he was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy, but his military career was shortened by a nervous breakdown.
In New York City, Boyle studied with acting coach Uta Hagen while working as a postal clerk and a maitre d’. He went on to play Murray the cop in a touring company of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, leaving the tour in Chicago, Illinois and joining The Second City improv comedy ensemble there. He had a brief scene as the manager of an indoor shooting range in the critically acclaimed 1969 film Medium Cool, filmed in Chicago.
Screen and theater
Boyle gained acclaim for his first starring role, playing the title character, a bigoted New York City factory worker, in the 1970 movie Joe. The film’s release was surrounded by controversy over its violence and language. It was during this time that Boyle became close friends with the actress Jane Fonda, and with her he participated in many protests against the Vietnam War. After seeing people cheer at his role in Joe, Boyle refused the lead role in The French Connection (1971), as well as other movie and TV roles that he believed glamorized violence. His next major role was as the campaign manager for a U.S. Senate candidate (Robert Redford) in The Candidate (1972). He also played an Irish mobster opposite Robert Mitchum in The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973).
Boyle had another hit role as Frankenstein’s monster in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein, in which, in an homage to King Kong, the monster is placed onstage in top hat and tails, grunt-singing and dancing to the song "Puttin’ on the Ritz". Boyle said at the time, "The Frankenstein monster I play is a baby. He’s big and ugly and scary, but he’s just been born, remember, and it’s been traumatic, and to him the whole world is a brand new alien environment. That’s how I’m playing it". Boyle met his wife, Loraien Alterman, on the set of Young Frankenstein while she was there as a reporter for Rolling Stone. He was still in his Frankenstein makeup when he asked her for a date. Through Alterman and her friend Yoko Ono, Boyle became friends with John Lennon, who was the best man at Boyle and Alterman’s 1977 wedding. Boyle and his wife have two daughters, Lucy and Amy.
Boyle received his first Emmy nomination for his acclaimed dramatic performance in the 1977 television film Tail Gunner Joe, in which he played Senator Joseph McCarthy. Yet he was more often cast as a character actor than as a leading man.
His roles include the philosophical cab driver "Wizard" in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), starring Robert De Niro; the attorney of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (played by Bill Murray) in Where the Buffalo Roam (1980); a corrupt space mining-facility boss in the science-fiction film Outland (1981), opposite Sean Connery; Boatswain Moon in the 1983 pirate comedy Yellowbeard, also starring Cheech and Chong, Madeline Kahn, and members of the comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus; a mental patient who belts out a Ray Charles song in the comedy The Dream Team (1989), starring Michael Keaton; the title character’s cab driver in The Shadow (1994), starring Alec Baldwin; the father of Sandra Bullock’s fiancee in While You Were Sleeping (1995); the hateful father of Billy Bob Thornton’s prison-guard character in Monster’s Ball (2001); and Old Man Wickles in the comedy Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). In cameo roles, he can be seen as a tough police officer in Malcolm X (1992), and as a drawbridge operator in Porky’s Revenge (1985). In 1992, he starred in Alex Cox’s Death and the Compass, an adaptation of Jorge Luis Borges’ La Muerte y la Brujula. However, the film was not released until 1996.
His New York theater work included playing a comedian who is the object of The Roast, a 1980 Broadway play directed by Carl Reiner. Also in 1980 he co-starred with Tommy Lee Jones in an Off-Broadway production of playwright Sam Shepard’s acclaimed True West. Two years later, Boyle played the head of a dysfunctional family in Joe Pintauro’s less well-received Snow Orchid, at the Circle Repertory.
In 1986, Boyle played the title role of the acclaimed but short-lived TV series Joe Bash, created by Danny Arnold. The comedy-drama followed the life of a lonely, world-weary, and sometimes compromised New York City beat cop whose closest friend was a prostitute, played by actress DeLane Matthews.
Later life and career
In 1990, Boyle suffered a stroke that rendered him speechless for six months. After recovering, he went on to win an Emmy Award in 1996 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his appearance on The X-Files. In the episode, "Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose", he played an insurance salesman who can see selected things in the near future, particularly others’ deaths. Boyle also guest starred in two episodes as Bill Church in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He appears in Sony Music’s unaired Roger Waters’ music video "Three Wishes" (1992) as a scruffy genie in a dirty coat and red scarf, who tries to tempt Waters at a desert diner.
Boyle was perhaps most widely known for his role as the deadpan, cranky Frank Barone in the popular CBS television sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, which aired from 1996 to 2005. The show was shot in Los Angeles, to which Boyle commuted from his New York City home. He was nominated for an Emmy seven times for this role, but never won (beaten out multiple times in the Supporting Actor category by his co-star Brad Garrett), though fellow co-stars Garrett, Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, and Boyle’s TV wife Doris Roberts won at least one Emmy each for their performances.
In 1999, he had a heart attack on the set of Everybody Loves Raymond. He soon regained his health and returned to the series. In 2001, he appeared in the Academy Award winning feature Monster’s Ball as the bigoted father of Billy Bob Thornton’s character.
Introduced by comedian Carlos Mencia as "the most honest man in show business", Boyle made guest appearances on three episodes of the Comedy Central program Mind of Mencia — one of which was shown as a tribute in a segment made before Boyle’s death — in which he read hate mail, explained the "hidden meanings" behind bumper stickers, and occasionally told Mencia how he felt about him.
Starting in late 2005, Boyle and former TV wife Roberts appeared in TV commercials for the 75th anniversary of Alka-Seltzer, reprising the famous line, "I can’t believe I ate that whole thing!" Although this quote has entered into popular culture, it is often misquoted as, "…the whole thing." Boyle had a role in all three of The Santa Clause films. In the original, he plays Scott Calvin’s boss. In the sequels, he plays Father Time.
Legacy, Remembering Peter Boyle
On October 18, 2007, which would have been Boyle’s 72nd birthday, his friend Bruce Springsteen, during a Madison Square Garden concert with the E Street Band in New York, dedicated "Meeting Across the River", segueing into "Jungleland", in memory of Boyle, stating: "An old friend passed away a while back — we met him when we first came to New York City… Today would have been his birthday."
Awards and nominations
Emmy Award
Nomination (1977) — Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special: Tail Gunner Joe
Nomination (1989) — Guest Actor in a Drama Series: J.J. Killian in Midnight Caller episode "Fathers and Sins"
Win (1996) — Guest Actor in a Drama Series: Clyde Bruckman in The X-Files episode "Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose"
Nominations (1999-2005) — Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Everybody Loves Raymond
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award
The cast of Everybody Loves Raymond was nominated for Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series each year from 1999-2000 and 2002-2006. Boyle was additionally nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series in 2002.
Filmography
The Group (1966)
The Virgin President (1968)
Medium Cool (1969)
The Monitors (1969)
Joe (1970)
Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)
T.R. Baskin (1971)
The Candidate (1972)
F.T.A. (1972)
Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1973)
Steelyard Blues (1973)
Slither (1973)
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
Kid Blue (1973)
Crazy Joe (1974)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Swashbuckler (1976)
F.I.S.T. (1978)
The Brink’s Job (1978)
Hardcore (1979)
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
Where the Buffalo Roam (1980)
In God We Tru$t (1980)
Outland (1981)
Hammett (1982)
Yellowbeard (1983)
Johnny Dangerously (1984)
Turk 182 (1985)
Surrender (1987)
Walker (1987)
The In Crowd (1988)
Red Heat (1988)
The Dream Team (1989)
Speed Zone! (1989)
Funny (1989)
The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story’ (1990)
Solar Crisis (1990)
Men of Respect (1991)
Kickboxer 2: The Road Back (1991)
Nervous Ticks (1992)
Death and the Compass (1992)
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
Malcolm X (1992)
The Shadow (1994)
Killer (1994)
The Santa Clause (1994)
Exquisite Tenderness (1995)
Born to Be Wild (1995)
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Final Vendetta (1996)
Milk & Money (1996)
That Darn Cat (1997)
Species II (1998)
Dr. Dolittle (1998)
Monster’s Ball (2001)
The Cat Returns (2002)
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
Bitter Jester (2003)
Imagine New York (2003)
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (November 25, 1915 – December 10, 2006) was a Chilean military officer and dictator. He was President of the Government Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1974 and, by decree of the Junta, President of Chile from 1974 until the return of civilian rule in 1990.
Death of Pinochet
Pinochet suffered a heart attack on the morning of December 3, 2006, and subsequently the same day he was given the last rites. On December 4, 2006, the Chilean Court of Appeals ordered the release of his house arrest. On December 10, 2006 at 13:30 local time (16:30 UTC) he was taken to the internsive care unit. He died of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema, surrounded by family members, at the Military Hospital at 14:15 local time (17:15 UTC). His last word was Lucy, the name of his wife (Lucia Hiriart).
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Robert Bernard Altman (February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his work with an Academy Honorary Award.
His films MASH and Nashville have been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Death of Robert Altman
Altman died on November 20, 2006 at age 81 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles. According to his production company in New York, Sandcastle 5 Productions, he died of complications from leukemia. Altman is survived by his wife, Kathryn Reed Altman; six children, Christine Westphal, Michael Altman, Stephen Altman (his set decorator of choice for many films), Connie Corriere, Robert Reed Altman and Matthew Altman; 12 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren
Motion pictures
The Delinquents (1956) (Altman’s big-screen directorial debut)
The James Dean Story (1957) (documentary) (co-dir: George W. George)
The Katherine Reed Story (1965) (short documentary)
Pot au feu (1965) (short)
Girl Talk (1966) (ColorSonics short starring Bobby Troup)
The Party (1966) (ColorSonics short starring Robert Fortier)
Speak Low (1966) (ColorSonics short starring Lili St. Cyr)
Ebb Tide (1966) (ColorSonics short starring Lili St. Cyr)
Countdown (1968)
That Cold Day in the Park (1969)
MASH (1970)
Brewster McCloud (1970)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Images (1972)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Thieves Like Us (1974)
California Split (1974)
Nashville (1975)
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976)
3 Women (aka Robert Altman’s 3 Women) (1977)
A Wedding (1978)
Quintet (1979)
A Perfect Couple (1979)
Health (1980)
Popeye (1980)
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
Streamers (1983)
Secret Honor (1984)
O.C. & Stiggs (1984) (released in 1987)
Fool for Love (1985)
Beyond Therapy (1987)
Aria (1987) – segment: Les Boréades
Vincent and Theo (1990)
The Player (1992)
Short Cuts (1993)
Prêt-à-Porter also known as Ready to Wear (1994)
Kansas City (1996)
The Gingerbread Man (1998)
Cookie’s Fortune (1999)
Dr. T & the Women (2000)
Gosford Park (2001)
The Company (2003)
A Prairie Home Companion (2006), also distributed as The Last Show
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