Author: John

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Penny Marshall, ‘Laverne & Shirley’, ‘Big,’ ‘A League of Their Own’, dies 75

walk of fame

Carole Penny Marshall (October 15, 1943 – December 18, 2018) was an American actress, director and producer. She was the daughter of Marjorie Marshall, a tap dance teacher, and Tony Marshall, a film director and producer. Her parents’ background in entertainment, along with her brother, Garry Marshall’s, background as a comedy writer and her sister’s background as a casting director and producer, gave rise to Marshall’s career in the industry. She rose to fame in the 1970s for her role as Laverne DeFazio on the television sitcom Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983), receiving three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her portrayal.

Marshall progressed to directing films in the 1980s, making her directorial debut with Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986) before directing Big (1988), which became the first film directed by a woman to gross more than $100 million at the U.S. box office. Her subsequent directing credits have included Awakenings (1990), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, A League of Their Own (1992), Renaissance Man (1994), The Preacher’s Wife (1996), and Riding in Cars with Boys (2001). She has also produced Cinderella Man (2005) and Bewitched (2005), as well as episodes of the sitcom According to Jim.

On April 10, 1971, Marshall married actor/director Rob Reiner, who adopted her daughter and gave her his last name. Her marriage to Reiner ended in 1981 but Reiner and Marshall have five grandchildren.

Marshall had a brief relationship with singer Art Garfunkel in the mid-1980s, and he credits her with helping him through his depression. Their friendship stayed strong even after their romantic relationship ended. Garfunkel would later say of Marshall, “Everything changed. Penny is a sweet human being who can bring anybody down to earth. We had a lot of laughs, great sex, and a ton of party nights.”[31]

In 2010, it was reported that Marshall had been diagnosed with lung cancer that had metastasized to her brain, but she revealed in 2012 that she was in remission.

Marshall passed away on December 17, 2018 from complications of diabetes.

Laverne and Shirley – Take My Plants. Please!

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Ken Berry, TV Actor in ‘Mama’s Family,’ ‘F Troop,’ ‘Mayberry R.F.D,’ Dies 85

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

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George Bush, 41st US President, Dies 94

George Herbert Walker Bush (June 12, 1924 – November 30, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Prior to assuming the presidency, Bush served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. As a member of the Republican Party, he had previously been a U.S. Representative, Ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence. During his career in public service, he was known simply as George Bush; from 2001 until his death, he was often referred to as “George H. W. Bush”, “Bush 41”, or “George Bush Sr.” to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States.

George Bush Cause of Death

Bush suffered from vascular parkinsonism, a form of Parkinson’s disease that had forced him to use a motorized scooter or wheelchair since at least 2012. He died on November 30, 2018, aged 94, at his home in Houston, Texas.

President Bush Super Bowl LI Coin Toss, February 2017

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Stephen Hillenburg, ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ Creator, Dies 57

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

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Bernardo Bertolucci, ‘Last Tango In Paris’ Director, Dies 77

walk of fame Supporting Actor Streetcar Named Desire 1951

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.

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Scott English, Producer & ‘Mandy’ Songwriter, Dies at 81

Scott English (Sheldon David English, January 10, 1937 – November 16, 2018) was an American songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the co-writer of “Brandy” with Richard Kerr (and in Pittsburgh, he is best known for the DooWop ballad “High on a Hill”). This song became a No. 1 hit for Barry Manilow in 1974, under the revised title of “Mandy”. English had also released a single of “Brandy”, which reached No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1971, and entered the US charts in March 1972.

Cause of death is not known.

Scott English – Brandy 1975

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William Goldman, Writer, ‘Butch Cassidy,’ ‘Princess Bride,’ Dies 87

Supporting Actor Streetcar Named Desire 1951Supporting Actor Streetcar Named Desire 1951

William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist, before turning to screenwriting. He won two Academy Awards for his screenplays, first for the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and again for All the President’s Men (1976).

His other works include his thriller novel Marathon Man and comedy-fantasy novel The Princess Bride, both of which Goldman adapted for the film versions.

Goldman died in New York City on November 16, 2018, due to complications from colon cancer and pneumonia.

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Roy Clark, ‘Hee Haw’ star, dies 85

Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer and musician. He is best known for having hosted Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre.

During the 1970s, Clark frequently guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and enjoyed a 30-million viewership for Hee Haw. Clark was highly regarded and renowned as a guitarist, banjo player, and fiddler. He was skilled in the traditions of many genres, including classical guitar, country music, Latin music, bluegrass, and pop. He had hit songs as a pop vocalist (e.g., “Yesterday, When I Was Young” and “Thank God and Greyhound”), and his instrumental skill had an enormous effect on generations of bluegrass and country musicians. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1987, and, in 2009, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He published his autobiography, My Life in Spite of Myself, in 1994.

Clark married Barbara Joyce Rupard on August 31, 1957, and they had five children. He made his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the Roy Clark Elementary School was named in his honor in 1978.

Roy Clark Cause of Death

Clark died on November 15, 2018, at 85 at his Tulsa home due to complications of pneumonia.

Roy Clark play Guitar, Banjo and Fiddle

Hee Haw Season 01 – Episode 1º(Full Episode),Loretta Lynn,Buck Owens,Charley Pride,Roy Clark

Roy Clark: Yesterday, When I Was Young – 1969

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

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)

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Stan Lee, Marvel Comics creator, dies 95

Stan Lee (December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic-book writer, editor, film executive producer, actor, and publisher. He was formerly editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, and later its publisher and chairman before leaving the company to become its chairman emeritus, as well as a member of the editorial board. He was also known for making several cameo appearances in Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

Lee died at the age of 95 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California on November 12, 2018, after being rushed there in a medical emergency earlier in the day.

In late September 2012, Lee underwent an operation to insert a pacemaker, cancelling planned appearances at conventions.

On July 6, 2017, his wife for 69 years, Joan, died of complications from a stroke. She was 95 years old.