Author: John

Ken Ober (July 3, 1957 – November 15, 2009)was an American game show host, comedian, and actor.

Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, he was raised in Hartford, Connecticut. Ober hosted four game shows over the course of his career. He received his break after appearing as a contestant on Star Search. He was most widely known for his role on the MTV game show Remote Control, which he hosted for three seasons, spanning 1987 to 1989, then in reruns for an additional two years. Ober was known among ’90s and ’00s audiences for his hosting jobs on Make Me Laugh, Smush, and the ESPN game show Perfect Match.

In 1995, Ober hosted a Los Angeles talk radio show with former Brady Bunch star Susan Olsen. The show, known as Ober and Olsen, aired on 97.1 KLSX. (Olsen had previously appeared on an episode of Remote Control that featured Brady Bunch cast members competing.)

In 2002, Ober served as supervising producer for Colin Quinn’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, which was a reunion of sorts; Quinn was the announcer on Remote Control. He was also a guest on one episode.

Ober starred in the Blues Traveler video for the song "Hook". He also had a smaller role in the same band’s videos for "Run-Around" and "The Mountains Win Again".

He served as a producer for the CBS comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine, and is also known for a series of Jenga commercials.

Death of Ken Ober
Ken Ober died at his home in Santa Monica on November 15, 2009 at the age of 52. According to friends, Ober had been feeling ill and was complaining of headaches, chronic chest pain, and flu-like symptoms the previous afternoon and did not meet them later as planned.

John Allen Muhammad (December 31, 1960 – November 10, 2009) was a spree killer from the United States. With his younger partner, Lee Boyd Malvo, he carried out the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks, killing 10 people. Muhammad and Malvo were arrested in connection with the attacks on October 24, 2002, following tips from alert citizens. Born John Allen Williams, Muhammad joined the Nation of Islam in 1987 and later changed his surname to Muhammad. Drawings by Malvo describe the murders as part of a "jihad" (Arabic for "struggle in the way of God"). At Muhammad’s trial, the prosecutor claimed that the rampage was part of a plot to kill his ex-wife and regain custody of his children, but the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support this argument

Death of John Allen Muhammad

Muhammad was executed by lethal injection on November 10, 2009, at 9:11 PM EST at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia. He declined to give a last statement before his execution. His family plans to claim the body for burial in Muhammad’s native Louisiana.

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Carl Ballantine (born Meyer Kessler; September 27, 1917 – November 3, 2009) was an American actor, magician and comedian. Billing himself as "The Great Ballantine," "The Amazing Ballantine" or "Ballantine: The World’s Greatest Magician," his vaudeville-style comedy routine involved transparent or incompetent stage magic tricks, which tended to flop to the wisecracking Ballantine’s mock chagrin.

Ballantine is probably best remembered as Lester Gruber, one of the PT boat sailors in the ABC sitcom McHale’s Navy (1962-1966), starring with Ernest Borgnine, Joe Flynn and Tim Conway. He made his only appearance on Broadway as Lycus the slave merchant in the 1972 revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum starring Phil Silvers.[2] His most recent film appearance was in Aimee Semple McPherson, a 2006 biopic about the female evangelist.

Ballantine’s wife was actress Ceil Cabot (March 8, 1927 – January 24, 2000) He was known as an inveterate smoker of Cuban stogies.

Death of Carl Ballantine
Carl Ballantine died of natural causes on November 3, 2009 at his Hollywood, California home. He is survived by his daughters actress Sara Ballantine and Molly and his sister Esther Robinson.

Carl Ballantine

Soupy Sales (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009) was an American comedian, actor, and radio-TV personality and host. He was best known for his long-running local and network children’s television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales; a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his trademark.

From 1968 to 1975, he was a regular panelist on the syndicated revival of What’s My Line? and appeared on several other TV game shows. During the 1980s Sales hosted his own show on WNBC-AM in New York City.

Death of Soupy Sales:
Soupy Sales is died of cancer at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx.
Soupy Sales was 83 years old at the time of his death

* Cyndy Lauper’s father from the video "Girls just wanna have fun"

Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009), better known by his ring name Captain Lou Albano, was an American professional wrestler, manager and actor. With an over-the-top personality and a penchant for boisterous declarations, Albano was the epitome of the antagonistic manager that raised the ire of wrestlers and incited the anger of spectators. Throughout his forty-two-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and 4 singles competitors to championship gold. A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubber band facial piercings, and loud outfits, he was the forefather of the 1980s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Connection. Collaborating with Cyndi Lauper, Albano helped usher in wrestling’s crossover success with a mainstream audience. Capitalizing on his success, he later ventured into Hollywood with various television, film, and music projects.

Death of Lou Albano
Lou Albano was 76 years old at the time of his death.

Al Martino (born Alfred Cini, October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an Italian American singer and actor. Allmusic journalist Steve Huey states, "Martino was one of the great Italian American pop crooners, boasting a string of hit singles and albums that stretched from the early 1950s all the way into the mid 1970s. However, he was perhaps even better known for his role in The Godfather as singer Johnny Fontane, a character supposedly based on Frank Sinatra, but with eerie similarities to Martino’s own career."

In the U.S., Martino had eleven Top 40 hits in the Billboard pop singles chart in the 1960s and 1970s, with 1963’s "I Love You Because" (#3) and 1964’s "I Love You More and More Every Day" (#9) both reaching the Top Ten. He also sang the title song for the film, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), and is credited in the end titles of the film.

Apart from singing, Martino played the role of Johnny Fontane in the 1972 film The Godfather, as well as singing the film’s theme, "I Have But One Heart (O Marenariello)". He played the same role in "The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III, as well as The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980.

Death of Al Martino
Al Martino died at his childhood home in Springfield, Pennsylvania.
Al Martino was 82 years old at the time of his death.

Al Martino – I have but one heart

I don’t believe I saw anything on this website about Jim Carroll. He recently passed away but everyone seems too concerned with Swayze to care about him…sad.

Mary Allin Travers (November 9, 1936 – September 16, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter who was a member of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, along with Peter Yarrow and Noel "Paul" Stookey. Together, they formed one of the most successful folk-singing groups of the 1960s

Mary Travers Biography
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Travers attended the Little Red School House but she was expelled in the 11th grade. She lived in Greenwich Village, New York, as a high school student. Travers married Barry Feinstein and two daughters were born to them. The marriage ended in divorce. In 2005 she was diagnosed as having leukemia but the treatment went well.

The group Peter, Paul and Mary launched in 1961 and broke up in 1970, after which Travers pursued a solo career, recording five albums on her own. The group reformed in 1978 and have since toured extensively and issued many new albums. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

Death of Mary Travers
The Associated Press reported that Mary Travers died on September 16, 2009. The cause was cancer, said her spokeswoman, Heather Lylis. She had battled leukemia for several years.

Peter, Paul and Mary – Puff The Magic Dragon

Henry Gibson (September 21, 1935 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor and songwriter, best known as a cast member of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In and for his recurring role as Judge Clark Brown on Boston Legal.

Personal life of Henry Gibson
On April 6, 1966, he married Lois Joan Geiger, with whom he had three sons: Jonathan David Gibson, Charles Alexander Gibson and James Gibson.She died on May 6, 2007

Gibson spent three years as part of the Laugh-In television show’s cast. He often played "The Poet," reciting poems with "sharp satirical or political themes".Gibson would emerge from behind a stage flat, wearing a Nehru jacket and "hippie" beads and holding an outlandishly large artificial flower. He would state the "[Title of poem] — by Henry Gibson", bow stiffly from the waist, recite his poem, and return behind the flat

Death Henry Gibson
On September 14, 2009, Gibson died of cancer at his home in Malibu, California, a week before his 74th birthday.

The Poetry Of Henry Gibson: A Tribute

Henry Gibson’s filmography continues next page

Filmography
The Nutty Professor (1963)
Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)
The Outlaws Is Coming (1965)
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1968-1971)
Evil Roy Slade (1972)
Every Man Needs One (1972)
Charlotte’s Web (1973) – Wilbur (voice)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
The Mini-Munsters (1973) – Mr. Grundy (voice)
Nashville (1975)
The New Original Wonder Woman (1975) – Nickolas
The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1976)
The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
Escape from Bogen County (1977)
Halloween is Grinch Night (1977)
The Night They Took Miss Beautiful (1978)
Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill (1979)
A Perfect Couple (1979)
The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t (1979) – Igor, Count Dracula’s butler
The Blues Brothers (1980) – Head Nazi
For the Love of It (1980)
HealtH (1980)
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)
The Smurfs (1981)
Tulips (1981)
Nashville Grab (1981)
The Biskitts (1982)
Quincy M.E. (ep. "Murder on Ice") (1983)
The Wuzzles (1985)
Slow Burn (1986)
The Blinkins (1986)
Galaxy High School (1986)
Monster in the Closet (1987)
Long Gone (1987)
Innerspace (1987)
Switching Channels (1988)
The ‘Burbs (1989)
 Around the World in 80 Days (1989)
Night Visitor (1989)
Brenda Starr (1989)
The Magic Balloon (1990)
Return to Green Acres (1990)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Tune in Tomorrow… (1990)
Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1993)
Vault of Horror I (1994)
AAAHH!!! Real Monsters (1994)
The Bears Who Saved Christmas (1994)
Cyber Bandits (1995)
Daisy-Head Mayzie (1995) – The Cat in the Hat (voice)
Escape to Witch Mountain (1995) – Ravetch
Santo Bugito (1995)
Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day (1996)
Bio-Dome (1996)
Mother Night (1996)
Asylum (1997)
Stranger in the Kingdom (1998)
Rocket Power (1999)
Magnolia (1999)
Sunset Beach (1999)
Mullitt (2000)
The Luck of the Irish (2001) (TV)
Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand (2002)
The Year That Trembled (2002)
Teddy Bears’ Picnic (2002)
No Prom for Cindy (2002)
The Commission (2003)
The Goldfish (2003)
Never Die Alone (2004)
Boston Legal (2004-2008)
Wedding Crashers (2005)
Trapped Ashes (2006)
Big Stan (2008) 

 

Patrick Wayne Swayze (August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best-known for his roles as romantic leading men in the films Dirty Dancing and Ghost and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was listed by People magazine as its "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1991.

Health and death of Patrick Swayze
Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late January 2008, and underwent chemotherapy and other treatments at the Stanford University Medical Center. On March 5, 2008, a Reuters article reported that Swayze "has a very limited amount of disease, and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far". Swayze’s doctor confirmed that the actor was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but insisted he was not as close to death as reports suggest. Specifically, Swayze was diagnosed with a type of pancreatic tumor called Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm (IPMN).

Swayze acknowledged that his chain smoking probably "had something to do with" the development of his disease. Research has shown a link between cigarette smoking and the development of cancer of the pancreas. Swayze died on September 14, 2009, at age 57.

Patrick Swayze – She’s Like the Wind