Debby Constantino was born in 1962, in Nevada and died on September 22, 2015.
She has starred on several hit shows about paranormal activity.
She and her husband, Mark, specialized in EVP (electronic voice phenomena).
Debby and Mark have been married since 1989.
They had a daughter together named Debbie.
They starred on shows like Dead Famous, Paranormal Activity, and Ghost Adventures.
They both lectured and were famous for going on live ghost hunts.
She was best known for starring on shows with her husband like: “Dead Famous,” “Paranormal State” and “Ghost Adventures.
Sadly, Debby and Mark were estranged and she had moved out into an apartment.
Police were called to the apartment at 8:00 a.m. on Sept. 22 after one of her roommates was found dead.
Police founded Debby at her daughter’s apartment, where she was being held hostage by Mark. At 1:30 p.m., The couple had a earlier dispute that ended in her dog and husband charged and arrested for the assault on her, apparently she was abusive to her kids.
Both Mark and Debby was found dead.
She survived two children.
Debby Constantino passed away at 52 yrs old allegedly she was shot.
Thursday 17 December 2015
Saturday 12 December 2015
Barry Schweid, American news correspondent, Died at 83
Barry Schweid was born on July 30, 1932, in New York City and died on December 10, 2015.
He graduated from Columbia University in 1953 and from its journalism school in 1954.
Barry served in the Army as a public relations specialist.
Barry then joined the AP’s New York City bureau and transferred to Washington in 1959.
He was assigned to cover major U.S. Supreme Court decisions 6 yrs after.
In the early 1970s, Barry was tapped to chronicle the globe-trotting Kissinger.
Barry was also inducted into the Washington Society of Professional Journalists’ Hall of Fame in 2002.
Schweid also covered the negotiations at Camp David that President Jimmy Carter brokered to reach a historic peace treaty in 1977 between Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin.
Barry had many scoops.
Barry had reported on a Sunday in April 1980 that Cyrus Vance was resigning as secretary state because he disagreed with the Carter administration’s decision to send a military mission to try to rescue the American hostages in Iran, which as unsuccessful.
Barry Schweid chronicled the Cold War and then its end with the implosion of the Soviet Union, filing news alerts from officials traveling with Secretary of State James Baker.
Barry retired in 2012.
He left behind his wife, Nina Graybill of Washington; and a sister.
Barry Schweid passed away at 83 yrs old, allegedly due to complications from a degenerative neurological condition.
He graduated from Columbia University in 1953 and from its journalism school in 1954.
Barry served in the Army as a public relations specialist.
Barry then joined the AP’s New York City bureau and transferred to Washington in 1959.
He was assigned to cover major U.S. Supreme Court decisions 6 yrs after.
In the early 1970s, Barry was tapped to chronicle the globe-trotting Kissinger.
Barry was also inducted into the Washington Society of Professional Journalists’ Hall of Fame in 2002.
Schweid also covered the negotiations at Camp David that President Jimmy Carter brokered to reach a historic peace treaty in 1977 between Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin.
Barry had many scoops.
Barry had reported on a Sunday in April 1980 that Cyrus Vance was resigning as secretary state because he disagreed with the Carter administration’s decision to send a military mission to try to rescue the American hostages in Iran, which as unsuccessful.
Barry Schweid chronicled the Cold War and then its end with the implosion of the Soviet Union, filing news alerts from officials traveling with Secretary of State James Baker.
Barry retired in 2012.
He left behind his wife, Nina Graybill of Washington; and a sister.
Barry Schweid passed away at 83 yrs old, allegedly due to complications from a degenerative neurological condition.
Jon Gadsby, writer and comedian, Died at 62
Jonathan Ernest "Jon" Gadsby was born on November 1, 1953, and died on December 12, 2015 from cancer.
He was a New Zealand television comedian and writer, most well-known for his role in the comedy series McPhail and Gadsby co-starring alongside David McPhail.
Jonathan was born in Derbyshire, England and went to school in Invercargill when his family moved to New Zealand.
He studied law at the University of Otago, he worked at Radio Dunedin.
Jonathan entered television with David McPhail in the comedy A Week of It, before the pair went on to the successful and long-running political satire McPhail and Gadsby.
Jonathan Gadsby appeared in numerous television programmes, several films, and wrote more than 20 books, mainly for children.
He wrote for The New Zealand Herald, Metro and The Listener, and performed corporate speaking.
Jonathan was the former editor of Christchurch magazine Avenues.
In 2008, Jonathan received a conviction for drink-driving, after being stopped at a checkpoint in December 2006.
In 2011, Jonathan was convicted of his fourth drink-driving charge, having been stopped with a breath alcohol reading 2.5 times in excess of the legal limit.
Jonathan passed away on December 12, 2015 after a battle with cancer.
He was a New Zealand television comedian and writer, most well-known for his role in the comedy series McPhail and Gadsby co-starring alongside David McPhail.
Jonathan was born in Derbyshire, England and went to school in Invercargill when his family moved to New Zealand.
He studied law at the University of Otago, he worked at Radio Dunedin.
Jonathan entered television with David McPhail in the comedy A Week of It, before the pair went on to the successful and long-running political satire McPhail and Gadsby.
Jonathan Gadsby appeared in numerous television programmes, several films, and wrote more than 20 books, mainly for children.
He wrote for The New Zealand Herald, Metro and The Listener, and performed corporate speaking.
Jonathan was the former editor of Christchurch magazine Avenues.
In 2008, Jonathan received a conviction for drink-driving, after being stopped at a checkpoint in December 2006.
In 2011, Jonathan was convicted of his fourth drink-driving charge, having been stopped with a breath alcohol reading 2.5 times in excess of the legal limit.
Jonathan passed away on December 12, 2015 after a battle with cancer.
Tokyo Rose, Typist and broadcaster, merchant, Died at 90
Iva Toguri, better known as “Tokyo Rose,” died on September 26, 2006 at the age of 90; she was an American-born Japanese woman who hosted a Japanese propaganda radio program aimed at U.S. troops during World War II.
After college, she visited Japan and was stranded there after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Forced to renounce her U.S. citizenship, Toguri found work in radio and was asked to host “Zero Hour,” a propaganda and entertainment program aimed at U.S. soldiers.
After the war, she was returned to the U.S. and convicted of treason, serving 6 years in prison. Her father was a Japanese-American who owned an import shop.
Caught between two cultures, Iva Toguri aspired to be like all American teenagers.
She wanted to become a doctor and attended UCLA, graduating in 1941, but then there was a twist of fate.
Born July 4, 1916, in 1942, the U.S. government rounded up Japanese-Americans and put them in internment camps.
Iva’s family was relocated to such camps, but she didn’t know about it.
The letters between her and her parents stopped, and she was suddenly isolated without information about their lives.
She needed a job, so she went to an English-speaking newspaper and got a position listening to short-wave-radio newscasts and transcribing them.
Iva then got a second job with Radio Tokyo as s typist, helping to type out scripts for programs broadcast for GI’s in Southeast Asia.
Then, she was unexpectedly asked to host a show called the “Zero Hour,” an entertainment program for U.S. soldiers.
Her feminine, American voice was meant to reach the U.S. soldiers.
Toguri called herself "Orphan Ann," but she quickly became identified with the name "Tokyo Rose", a name that was coined by Allied soldiers and that predated her broadcasts.
After the Japanese defeat, Toguri was detained for a year by the United States military before being released for lack of evidence.
Department of Justice officials agreed that her broadcasts were "innocuous".
But when Toguri tried to return to the US, a popular uproar ensued, prompting the Federal Bureau of Investigation to renew its investigation of Toguri's wartime activities.
She was subsequently charged by the United States Attorney's Office with eight counts of treason.
On September 29, 1949, the jury found Toguri guilty on a single charge: Count VI, which stated, "That on a day during October, 1944, the exact date being to the Grand Jurors unknown, said defendant, at Tokyo, Japan, in a broadcasting studio of The Broadcasting Corporation of Japan, did speak into a microphone concerning the loss of ships."
She was fined $10,000 and given a 10-year prison sentence, with Toguri's attorney Collins lambasting the verdict as "Guilty without evidence".
She was sent to the Federal Reformatory for Women at Alderson, West Virginia.
She was paroled after serving six years and two months, released January 28, 1956, and moved to Chicago, Illinois.
On January 15, 2006, the World War II Veterans Committee awarded Toguri its annual Edward J. Herlihy Citizenship Award, citing "her indomitable spirit, love of country, and the example of courage she has given her fellow Americans".
According to one biographer, Toguri found it the most memorable day of her life.
After college, she visited Japan and was stranded there after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Forced to renounce her U.S. citizenship, Toguri found work in radio and was asked to host “Zero Hour,” a propaganda and entertainment program aimed at U.S. soldiers.
After the war, she was returned to the U.S. and convicted of treason, serving 6 years in prison. Her father was a Japanese-American who owned an import shop.
Caught between two cultures, Iva Toguri aspired to be like all American teenagers.
She wanted to become a doctor and attended UCLA, graduating in 1941, but then there was a twist of fate.
Born July 4, 1916, in 1942, the U.S. government rounded up Japanese-Americans and put them in internment camps.
Iva’s family was relocated to such camps, but she didn’t know about it.
The letters between her and her parents stopped, and she was suddenly isolated without information about their lives.
She needed a job, so she went to an English-speaking newspaper and got a position listening to short-wave-radio newscasts and transcribing them.
Iva then got a second job with Radio Tokyo as s typist, helping to type out scripts for programs broadcast for GI’s in Southeast Asia.
Then, she was unexpectedly asked to host a show called the “Zero Hour,” an entertainment program for U.S. soldiers.
Her feminine, American voice was meant to reach the U.S. soldiers.
Toguri called herself "Orphan Ann," but she quickly became identified with the name "Tokyo Rose", a name that was coined by Allied soldiers and that predated her broadcasts.
After the Japanese defeat, Toguri was detained for a year by the United States military before being released for lack of evidence.
Department of Justice officials agreed that her broadcasts were "innocuous".
But when Toguri tried to return to the US, a popular uproar ensued, prompting the Federal Bureau of Investigation to renew its investigation of Toguri's wartime activities.
She was subsequently charged by the United States Attorney's Office with eight counts of treason.
On September 29, 1949, the jury found Toguri guilty on a single charge: Count VI, which stated, "That on a day during October, 1944, the exact date being to the Grand Jurors unknown, said defendant, at Tokyo, Japan, in a broadcasting studio of The Broadcasting Corporation of Japan, did speak into a microphone concerning the loss of ships."
She was fined $10,000 and given a 10-year prison sentence, with Toguri's attorney Collins lambasting the verdict as "Guilty without evidence".
She was sent to the Federal Reformatory for Women at Alderson, West Virginia.
She was paroled after serving six years and two months, released January 28, 1956, and moved to Chicago, Illinois.
On January 15, 2006, the World War II Veterans Committee awarded Toguri its annual Edward J. Herlihy Citizenship Award, citing "her indomitable spirit, love of country, and the example of courage she has given her fellow Americans".
According to one biographer, Toguri found it the most memorable day of her life.
Friday 11 December 2015
Douglas Hoylman, American crossword puzzle solver, Died at 72
Douglas John Hoylman was born on July 2, 1943, in Kalispell, Mont and died December 2, 2015.
He was an American crossword puzzle solver.
Douglas Hoylman skipped a grade in high school.
Then earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964 and a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Arizona in 1969.
Reportedly he told the newspapers, he completed 20 to 30 crossword puzzles a week,and has a young boy he loved reading.
Hoylman settled in the Washington area around 1970 and retired from Geico in the 1990s.
Douglas began competing in crossword tournaments in the mid-1980s by filling out a qualifying puzzle, and he won his first tournament in 1988.
Douglas entered other championships came in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2000.
He also had three second-place finishes and three third-place finishes.
Earlier this year, Douglas has finished in the top 40, which is said to be highly unusual for a man of 72.
He has competed in 81 tournaments between 1993 and 2009, at the Washington unit of the North American Scrabble Players Association.
His single best performance was in 2006, when he won a divisional title.
Douglas trivia expertise came in handy in 1999 when a friend and crossword competitor, Trip Payne, appearing on the TV game show “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire,” and use his ask a friend option to call Douglas.
Douglas Hoylman passed away at 72 yrs old due to heart disease.
He was an American crossword puzzle solver.
Douglas Hoylman skipped a grade in high school.
Then earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964 and a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Arizona in 1969.
Reportedly he told the newspapers, he completed 20 to 30 crossword puzzles a week,and has a young boy he loved reading.
Hoylman settled in the Washington area around 1970 and retired from Geico in the 1990s.
Douglas began competing in crossword tournaments in the mid-1980s by filling out a qualifying puzzle, and he won his first tournament in 1988.
Douglas entered other championships came in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2000.
He also had three second-place finishes and three third-place finishes.
Earlier this year, Douglas has finished in the top 40, which is said to be highly unusual for a man of 72.
He has competed in 81 tournaments between 1993 and 2009, at the Washington unit of the North American Scrabble Players Association.
His single best performance was in 2006, when he won a divisional title.
Douglas trivia expertise came in handy in 1999 when a friend and crossword competitor, Trip Payne, appearing on the TV game show “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire,” and use his ask a friend option to call Douglas.
Douglas Hoylman passed away at 72 yrs old due to heart disease.
Wednesday 9 December 2015
Fayard Antonio Nicholas, American choreographer, dancer and actor, Died at 91
Fayard Antonio Nicholas died on January 24, 2006 at the age of 91; he was an American choreographer, dancer and actor.
Fayard Nicholas was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 2001, along with his brother.
Heading west in 1934, to Hollywood, California, Fayard and Harold appeared in the films Kid Millions (1934), The Big Broadcast (1936) and Black Network.
They made their Broadway debut in a version of the Ziegfeld Follies, alongside the likes of Bob Hope and Ethel Merman, in 1936.
That same year, while performing in Manchester, England, as part of the cast of the touring show Blackbirds, the brothers were introduced to and developed an appreciation for a number of highly regarded European ballet companies.
By the start of the 1940s, the Nicholas Brothers were international celebrities.
The two men starred in several hit films, including Stormy Weather (1943) with Cab Calloway and Lena Horne, and acquired a reputation as the finest dance team in America.
Fayard Nicholas was one-half of The Nicholas Brothers, a famous African-American tap dancing team who appeared in several movies and became one of the famous and most beloved dance team of all time.
Self-taught, Fayard learned how to dance watching vaudeville shows while their parents played in the orchestra pit.
He then would teach the routines to his younger brother.
Fayard was considered the gregarious one of the duo; Harold was more withdrawn and introspective.
The Nicholas Brothers grew up in Philadelphia, the sons of musicians who played in their own band at the old Standard Theater, their mother at the piano and father on drums.
At the age of three, Fayard was always seated in the front row while his parents worked, and by the time he was ten, he had seen most of the great black Vaudeville acts, particularly the dancers, including such notables of the time as Alice Whitman, Willie Bryant and Bill Robinson.
He was completely fascinated by them and imitated their acrobatics and clowning for the kids in his neighbourhood.
The Nicholas Brothers have headlined shows all over the world. They have appeared in every major television show, nightclub and theater in America and performed for the troops in Viet Nam in 1965.
The Nicholas Brothers have received many tributes and awards, which include: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, The Kennedy Center Honors (presented by President George Bush), and an honorary doctorate degree from Harvard University.
They are also proud of the some of students they have taught tap.
They include Debbie Allen, Janet Jackson, and Michael Jackson.
In April 1995, the Nicholas Brothers received the "Dance Magazine" Award around the same time as the opening of Harold's latest film, "Funny Bones", and in April 1996 they completed a very successful residency at Harvard and Radcliff as Ruth Page Visiting Artists in
Fayard Nicholas was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 2001, along with his brother.
Heading west in 1934, to Hollywood, California, Fayard and Harold appeared in the films Kid Millions (1934), The Big Broadcast (1936) and Black Network.
They made their Broadway debut in a version of the Ziegfeld Follies, alongside the likes of Bob Hope and Ethel Merman, in 1936.
That same year, while performing in Manchester, England, as part of the cast of the touring show Blackbirds, the brothers were introduced to and developed an appreciation for a number of highly regarded European ballet companies.
By the start of the 1940s, the Nicholas Brothers were international celebrities.
The two men starred in several hit films, including Stormy Weather (1943) with Cab Calloway and Lena Horne, and acquired a reputation as the finest dance team in America.
Fayard Nicholas was one-half of The Nicholas Brothers, a famous African-American tap dancing team who appeared in several movies and became one of the famous and most beloved dance team of all time.
Self-taught, Fayard learned how to dance watching vaudeville shows while their parents played in the orchestra pit.
He then would teach the routines to his younger brother.
Fayard was considered the gregarious one of the duo; Harold was more withdrawn and introspective.
The Nicholas Brothers grew up in Philadelphia, the sons of musicians who played in their own band at the old Standard Theater, their mother at the piano and father on drums.
At the age of three, Fayard was always seated in the front row while his parents worked, and by the time he was ten, he had seen most of the great black Vaudeville acts, particularly the dancers, including such notables of the time as Alice Whitman, Willie Bryant and Bill Robinson.
He was completely fascinated by them and imitated their acrobatics and clowning for the kids in his neighbourhood.
The Nicholas Brothers have headlined shows all over the world. They have appeared in every major television show, nightclub and theater in America and performed for the troops in Viet Nam in 1965.
The Nicholas Brothers have received many tributes and awards, which include: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, The Kennedy Center Honors (presented by President George Bush), and an honorary doctorate degree from Harvard University.
They are also proud of the some of students they have taught tap.
They include Debbie Allen, Janet Jackson, and Michael Jackson.
In April 1995, the Nicholas Brothers received the "Dance Magazine" Award around the same time as the opening of Harold's latest film, "Funny Bones", and in April 1996 they completed a very successful residency at Harvard and Radcliff as Ruth Page Visiting Artists in
Tuesday 8 December 2015
Lawrence Herkimer, cheerleading innovator, Died at 89
Lawrence Russell Herkimer was born on October 14, 1925, and died on July 1, 2015.
He was an American innovator in the field of cheerleading.
Lawrence created the Herkie cheerleading jump, which was named after him, and received a patent for the pom-pom.
Lawrence described his contribution to the field as taking it "from the raccoon coat and pennant to greater heights".
He was born in Muskegon, Michigan.
As a cheerleader at Southern Methodist University, Lawrence developed what became known as the Herkie by accident while intending to perform a split jump.
The move features one arm extended straight up in the air and the other on one's hip, with one leg extended straight out, and the other bent back.
At SMU, Lawrence formed a national organization for cheerleaders and created a cheerleading-oriented magazine called Megaphone.
Lawrence started his first cheerleading camp in 1948 at Sam Houston State Teachers College (now Sam Houston State University) with 53 participants, funded with $600 he had borrowed from a friend of his father-in-law.
By the following year, enrollment had grown to 350 participants.
Shortly thereafter, Lawrence was making more money from his summer programs than he was teaching the remainder of the year at Southern Methodist, so he gave up teaching and took up the cheerleading business full-time.
His camps had as many as 1,500 instructors teaching tens of thousands of students nationwide each summer, and his Cheerleader Supply Company was successfully retailing skirts and sweaters for cheerleading squads.
Lawrence sold his cheerleading camp program in 1986 for $20 million.
It was originally purchased by the BSN Corporation, which sold it to the Prospect Group in June 1988, with Herkimer staying on to run the business.
By 1990, Lawrence expected the business to bring in $50 million in revenue.
Lawrence Herkimer passed away due to heart failure on July 1, 2015, at the age of 89, in Dallas, Texas.
He was an American innovator in the field of cheerleading.
Lawrence created the Herkie cheerleading jump, which was named after him, and received a patent for the pom-pom.
Lawrence described his contribution to the field as taking it "from the raccoon coat and pennant to greater heights".
He was born in Muskegon, Michigan.
As a cheerleader at Southern Methodist University, Lawrence developed what became known as the Herkie by accident while intending to perform a split jump.
The move features one arm extended straight up in the air and the other on one's hip, with one leg extended straight out, and the other bent back.
At SMU, Lawrence formed a national organization for cheerleaders and created a cheerleading-oriented magazine called Megaphone.
Lawrence started his first cheerleading camp in 1948 at Sam Houston State Teachers College (now Sam Houston State University) with 53 participants, funded with $600 he had borrowed from a friend of his father-in-law.
By the following year, enrollment had grown to 350 participants.
Shortly thereafter, Lawrence was making more money from his summer programs than he was teaching the remainder of the year at Southern Methodist, so he gave up teaching and took up the cheerleading business full-time.
His camps had as many as 1,500 instructors teaching tens of thousands of students nationwide each summer, and his Cheerleader Supply Company was successfully retailing skirts and sweaters for cheerleading squads.
Lawrence sold his cheerleading camp program in 1986 for $20 million.
It was originally purchased by the BSN Corporation, which sold it to the Prospect Group in June 1988, with Herkimer staying on to run the business.
By 1990, Lawrence expected the business to bring in $50 million in revenue.
Lawrence Herkimer passed away due to heart failure on July 1, 2015, at the age of 89, in Dallas, Texas.
Sunday 6 December 2015
Fang Jing, China Central Television news anchor, Died at 44
Fang Jing was born in June 1971, and died on November 18, 2015.
She was an anchorwoman of China Central Television (CCTV).
Fang hosted several programs, including the prime-time military program Defence Watch.
In 2009, Fang came under suspicion of spying for Taiwan.
Fang started working for CCTV in 1994 after graduating from China's top school for broadcasting and spent four months at Harvard University as a visiting scholar.
She hosted a number of shows including the three day live coverage of the Transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong and other millennium celebrations.
In 2009, Fang Jing was accused of disclosing state secrets to a man from Taiwan and receiving money from him.
Fang denied the accusation, but no longer hosted CCTV's Defence Watch program after March 1, 2009.
Fang suffered from cancer and received treatment in Taiwan, where she passed away on 18 November 2015, aged 44.
She was an anchorwoman of China Central Television (CCTV).
Fang hosted several programs, including the prime-time military program Defence Watch.
In 2009, Fang came under suspicion of spying for Taiwan.
Fang started working for CCTV in 1994 after graduating from China's top school for broadcasting and spent four months at Harvard University as a visiting scholar.
She hosted a number of shows including the three day live coverage of the Transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong and other millennium celebrations.
In 2009, Fang Jing was accused of disclosing state secrets to a man from Taiwan and receiving money from him.
Fang denied the accusation, but no longer hosted CCTV's Defence Watch program after March 1, 2009.
Fang suffered from cancer and received treatment in Taiwan, where she passed away on 18 November 2015, aged 44.
Rodney Milnes, British opera critic, Died at 79
Rodney Milnes Blumer was born on July 26, 1936, and died on December 5, 2015.
He was an English music critic, musicologist, writer, translator and broadcaster, with a particular interest in opera.
Born in Stafford, Rodney attended Rugby School and studied history at Christ Church, Oxford University, before working in publishing.
Rodney was an opera critic of Harpers and Queen (1970 to 1990), opera critic of The Spectator (1988 to 1990), Evening Standard (1990 to 1992), and Chief Opera Critic The Times (1992 to 2002).
He was associate editor of Opera from 1976, deputy editor from 1984, and editor between 1986 to 1999.
There he honed his reputation as a "trenchant and entertaining writer, with a strong background in literature and theatre, and wide musical sympathies".
In his final editorial for Opera, Rodney wrote "Thank you to all of those who have written in outrage cancelling their subscriptions, and then not done so.
Thank you to all readers for being so patient with my bêtes noires. I know I’m wrong about surtitles (like hell I am) and they’re here to stay.
So are sponsors and their lordly, impertinent ways. Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t really feel that a century that starts with Lilian Baylis and ends with Chris Smith is one that has seen a lot in the way of progress".
Rodney translated various operas under his original name, including Rusalka, The Jacobin, Osud, Don Chischiotte, Pollicino, Undine, Giovanna d'Arco, Die drei Pintos and Tannhäuser.
Rodney Milnes contributed entries on Massenet and his operas in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
He was consultant editor of the Viking Opera Guide, and revised and updated A Concise History of Opera in 1987.
Rodney was a contributor to Opera on Record Vol 1 (Carmen), Vol 2 (Thais and Don Quichotte) and Vol 3 (The stage works of Weill).
Rodney passed away at age 79 in December 2015.
He was an English music critic, musicologist, writer, translator and broadcaster, with a particular interest in opera.
Born in Stafford, Rodney attended Rugby School and studied history at Christ Church, Oxford University, before working in publishing.
Rodney was an opera critic of Harpers and Queen (1970 to 1990), opera critic of The Spectator (1988 to 1990), Evening Standard (1990 to 1992), and Chief Opera Critic The Times (1992 to 2002).
He was associate editor of Opera from 1976, deputy editor from 1984, and editor between 1986 to 1999.
There he honed his reputation as a "trenchant and entertaining writer, with a strong background in literature and theatre, and wide musical sympathies".
In his final editorial for Opera, Rodney wrote "Thank you to all of those who have written in outrage cancelling their subscriptions, and then not done so.
Thank you to all readers for being so patient with my bêtes noires. I know I’m wrong about surtitles (like hell I am) and they’re here to stay.
So are sponsors and their lordly, impertinent ways. Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t really feel that a century that starts with Lilian Baylis and ends with Chris Smith is one that has seen a lot in the way of progress".
Rodney translated various operas under his original name, including Rusalka, The Jacobin, Osud, Don Chischiotte, Pollicino, Undine, Giovanna d'Arco, Die drei Pintos and Tannhäuser.
Rodney Milnes contributed entries on Massenet and his operas in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
He was consultant editor of the Viking Opera Guide, and revised and updated A Concise History of Opera in 1987.
Rodney was a contributor to Opera on Record Vol 1 (Carmen), Vol 2 (Thais and Don Quichotte) and Vol 3 (The stage works of Weill).
Rodney passed away at age 79 in December 2015.
Saturday 5 December 2015
Luiz Carlos Miele, Brazilian artist and musical producer, Died at 77
Luiz Carlos Miele was born on May 31,1938, in Rio de Janeiro and died on October 14, 2015.
He was a producer, actor, writer, Brazilian artist, musical producers and director of shows.
Luiz started his professional career as an announcer for the radio stations Excelsior, Tupi and Nacional.
In 1959 Luiz moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he met the composer Ronaldo Bôscoli.
Together they formed the duo Miele & Bôscoli, responsible for the direction and production of various shows, and music programs on television stations.
After the death of comedian Manuel de Nobrega in 1976, he then presents The Praça da Alegria on Rede Globo, leaving the air in 1979.
The program included the participation of Ronald Golias.
On television, Luiz worked in the direction and production of the musical programs Gala Evening and Cara & Crown (with Dori Caymmi and Sylvia Telles), the TV Rio.
He was also apart of the following: Two in the balance sheet (jazz and bossa nova), The Apartment (with Cyl Farney and Odete Lara), King River, The 7 Sins (with Fernando Barbosa Lima) and Musical in Bossa 9, on TV Excelsior, O Fino da Bossa, Show in Simonal and Elis Special on TV Record, Hello Dolly, Dick & Betty 17 (with Dick Farney and Betty Faria), Fantastic (musical direction), Elis Especial, Praça da Alegria, Sandra & Miele, A hundred years show, Viva Marilia and Battle of the Stars, as well as music festivals, on Rede Globo, a man - a woman (with Tuca), Cassio Muniz Show (creation of trade) and Program Flávio Cavalcanti (essential musical) on TV Tupi, Miele & Co. and His & Her (with Leila Richers), in Headline TV, Cocktail and Cocktail at SBT, and Little School of Noise on TV Record.
At the end of 2011 Luis preformed in the film The Adventures of Agamemnon, the reporter playing the father of Agamemnon Mendes quarry .
In 2012 Luiz starred in the miniseries The Brado Resounding in the role of "Nicodemo Cabral, Senator."
He plays the mogul Jack Parker, the novel Generation Brazil, in 2014.
In 2014 Luiz starred in the miniseries The Web, in the role of former Senator Walter Gama.
In August 2014, part of the Famous dance in the program Domingão Faustão.
In 2014, Luiz interprets the stallion neighbor Gustavo Pennaforte, in the episode "She is the Owner of Everything" sitcom betray and Scratching It's Only Starting, channel Multishow.
Luis Carlos Miele passed away at 77 yrs old.
He was a producer, actor, writer, Brazilian artist, musical producers and director of shows.
Luiz started his professional career as an announcer for the radio stations Excelsior, Tupi and Nacional.
In 1959 Luiz moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he met the composer Ronaldo Bôscoli.
Together they formed the duo Miele & Bôscoli, responsible for the direction and production of various shows, and music programs on television stations.
After the death of comedian Manuel de Nobrega in 1976, he then presents The Praça da Alegria on Rede Globo, leaving the air in 1979.
The program included the participation of Ronald Golias.
On television, Luiz worked in the direction and production of the musical programs Gala Evening and Cara & Crown (with Dori Caymmi and Sylvia Telles), the TV Rio.
He was also apart of the following: Two in the balance sheet (jazz and bossa nova), The Apartment (with Cyl Farney and Odete Lara), King River, The 7 Sins (with Fernando Barbosa Lima) and Musical in Bossa 9, on TV Excelsior, O Fino da Bossa, Show in Simonal and Elis Special on TV Record, Hello Dolly, Dick & Betty 17 (with Dick Farney and Betty Faria), Fantastic (musical direction), Elis Especial, Praça da Alegria, Sandra & Miele, A hundred years show, Viva Marilia and Battle of the Stars, as well as music festivals, on Rede Globo, a man - a woman (with Tuca), Cassio Muniz Show (creation of trade) and Program Flávio Cavalcanti (essential musical) on TV Tupi, Miele & Co. and His & Her (with Leila Richers), in Headline TV, Cocktail and Cocktail at SBT, and Little School of Noise on TV Record.
At the end of 2011 Luis preformed in the film The Adventures of Agamemnon, the reporter playing the father of Agamemnon Mendes quarry .
In 2012 Luiz starred in the miniseries The Brado Resounding in the role of "Nicodemo Cabral, Senator."
He plays the mogul Jack Parker, the novel Generation Brazil, in 2014.
In 2014 Luiz starred in the miniseries The Web, in the role of former Senator Walter Gama.
In August 2014, part of the Famous dance in the program Domingão Faustão.
In 2014, Luiz interprets the stallion neighbor Gustavo Pennaforte, in the episode "She is the Owner of Everything" sitcom betray and Scratching It's Only Starting, channel Multishow.
Luis Carlos Miele passed away at 77 yrs old.
Julia Wilson Dickson, English dialect coach, Died at 66
Julia Wilson Dickson was born in 1949 in Brighton, East Sussex, England and died on October 16, 2015.
She was an English dialect coach (Braveheart, In Bruges, Chocolat).
Dickson attended Guildford high school for girls, and then on to the Central School of Speech and Drama, London. She was a teacher.
Julia’s profound technical knowledge combined with an intellectual and emotional understanding of both text and dialogue, and musicality she helped gain greater recognition for the work of dialect coaches within the British film industry.
She was the daughter of Olivia (nee Rudder) and her father Philip Wilson-Dickson, who worked at the Home Office.
Julia coached Robert de Niro on Frankenstein in 1994 and Helena Bonham Carter on Mighty Aphrodite in1995.
She also coached Julianne Moore for The End of the Affair in 1999, Glenn Close on Albert Nobbs in 2011, and Eddie Redmayne for the performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything in 2014, that won him an Oscar.
She worked on several of Peter Hall productions, on stage with Dustin Hoffman as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at Phoenix theatre, London, in1989 and Vanessa Redgrave as Lady Torrance in Orpheus Descending (Haymarket, 1988), and Judi Dench.
She also worked with Anthony Hopkins in the title roles of Antony and Cleopatra (at the National Theatre, 1987.
Dickson also worked with the casts of Sam Mendes’s 1995 productions of Company and The Glass Menagerie, Max Stafford-Clark’s Royal Court productions of The Queen and I (1994) and Our Country’s Good (1988), Peter Wood’s 1994 The Beaux’ Stratagem, and Peter Gill’s 1989 Juno and the Paycock.
Her work in television productions including Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (1989), The Camomile Lawn (1992), The Lost Prince (2003), Wolf Hall (2015), and series including Spooks, Doctor Who, The Good Wife and EastEnders.
Julia Wilson Dickson passed away at 66 due to a brain haemorrhage.
She was an English dialect coach (Braveheart, In Bruges, Chocolat).
Dickson attended Guildford high school for girls, and then on to the Central School of Speech and Drama, London. She was a teacher.
Julia’s profound technical knowledge combined with an intellectual and emotional understanding of both text and dialogue, and musicality she helped gain greater recognition for the work of dialect coaches within the British film industry.
She was the daughter of Olivia (nee Rudder) and her father Philip Wilson-Dickson, who worked at the Home Office.
Julia coached Robert de Niro on Frankenstein in 1994 and Helena Bonham Carter on Mighty Aphrodite in1995.
She also coached Julianne Moore for The End of the Affair in 1999, Glenn Close on Albert Nobbs in 2011, and Eddie Redmayne for the performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything in 2014, that won him an Oscar.
She worked on several of Peter Hall productions, on stage with Dustin Hoffman as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at Phoenix theatre, London, in1989 and Vanessa Redgrave as Lady Torrance in Orpheus Descending (Haymarket, 1988), and Judi Dench.
She also worked with Anthony Hopkins in the title roles of Antony and Cleopatra (at the National Theatre, 1987.
Dickson also worked with the casts of Sam Mendes’s 1995 productions of Company and The Glass Menagerie, Max Stafford-Clark’s Royal Court productions of The Queen and I (1994) and Our Country’s Good (1988), Peter Wood’s 1994 The Beaux’ Stratagem, and Peter Gill’s 1989 Juno and the Paycock.
Her work in television productions including Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (1989), The Camomile Lawn (1992), The Lost Prince (2003), Wolf Hall (2015), and series including Spooks, Doctor Who, The Good Wife and EastEnders.
Julia Wilson Dickson passed away at 66 due to a brain haemorrhage.
Thursday 3 December 2015
Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian film director, Died at 94
Dead, Michelangelo Antonioni on the 30th of July 2007 at the age of 94, he was an Italian film director, screenwriter, editor, and short story writer.
Born into a prosperous family of landowners in Ferrara, Emilia Romagna, in northern Italy on the 29th of September 1912, in 1940, Antonioni moved to Rome, where he worked for Cinema, the official Fascist film magazine edited by Vittorio Mussolini.
However, Antonioni was fired a few months afterward. Later that year he enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia to study film technique, but left it after three months. He was drafted into the army afterwards.
During the war Antonioni survived being condemned to death for his membership in the resistance.
In 1943, he travelled to France to assist Marcel Carné on Les visiteurs du soir and then began a series of short films with Gente del Po (1943), a story of poor fishermen of the Po valley.
After the Liberation, the film stock was stored in the East-Italian Fascist "Republic of Salò" and could not be recovered and edited until 1947 (the complete footage was never retrieved).
These films were neorealist in style, being semi-documentary studies of the lives of ordinary people.
Antonioni then signed a deal with producer Carlo Ponti that would allow artistic freedom on three films in English to be released by MGM.
The first, Blowup (1966), set in Swinging London, was a major international success.
The script was loosely based on the short story The Devil's Drool (otherwise known as Blow Up) by Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar.
Although it dealt with the challenging theme of the impossibility of objective standards and the ever-doubtable truth of memory, it was a successful and popular hit with audiences, no doubt helped by its sex scenes, which were explicit for the time. It starred David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave.
The second film was Zabriskie Point (1970), his first set in America and with a counterculture theme.
The soundtrack carried popular artists such as Pink Floyd (who wrote new music specifically for the film), the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones.
In 1994 he was given the Honorary Academy Award "in recognition of his place as one of the cinema's master visual stylists." It was presented to him by Jack Nicholson.
Months later, the statuette was stolen by burglars and had to be replaced.
Previously, he had been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay for Blowup.
Antonioni's final film, made when he was in his 90s, was a segment of the anthology film Eros (2004), entitled "Il filo pericoloso delle cose" ("The Dangerous Thread of Things").
The short film's episodes are framed by dreamy paintings and the song "Michelangelo Antonioni", composed and sung by Caetano Veloso.
Antonioni is recognizably the product of the mild, uneventful plains of northern Italy that form the background for several of his films.
Reserved and unexpansive in manner, he has said that the experience most important to his development as a filmmaker and as a man was his upbringing in a settled, bourgeois, provincial home, with a sufficiency of money; a traditional education; a code of reserve and self-discipline; and the leisure and ease necessary for a detached view of people and of life.
He attended school in Ferrara and went to the university at Bologna, though he continued to live at home and commuted daily to his studies.
Born into a prosperous family of landowners in Ferrara, Emilia Romagna, in northern Italy on the 29th of September 1912, in 1940, Antonioni moved to Rome, where he worked for Cinema, the official Fascist film magazine edited by Vittorio Mussolini.
However, Antonioni was fired a few months afterward. Later that year he enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia to study film technique, but left it after three months. He was drafted into the army afterwards.
During the war Antonioni survived being condemned to death for his membership in the resistance.
In 1943, he travelled to France to assist Marcel Carné on Les visiteurs du soir and then began a series of short films with Gente del Po (1943), a story of poor fishermen of the Po valley.
After the Liberation, the film stock was stored in the East-Italian Fascist "Republic of Salò" and could not be recovered and edited until 1947 (the complete footage was never retrieved).
These films were neorealist in style, being semi-documentary studies of the lives of ordinary people.
Antonioni then signed a deal with producer Carlo Ponti that would allow artistic freedom on three films in English to be released by MGM.
The first, Blowup (1966), set in Swinging London, was a major international success.
The script was loosely based on the short story The Devil's Drool (otherwise known as Blow Up) by Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar.
Although it dealt with the challenging theme of the impossibility of objective standards and the ever-doubtable truth of memory, it was a successful and popular hit with audiences, no doubt helped by its sex scenes, which were explicit for the time. It starred David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave.
The second film was Zabriskie Point (1970), his first set in America and with a counterculture theme.
The soundtrack carried popular artists such as Pink Floyd (who wrote new music specifically for the film), the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones.
In 1994 he was given the Honorary Academy Award "in recognition of his place as one of the cinema's master visual stylists." It was presented to him by Jack Nicholson.
Months later, the statuette was stolen by burglars and had to be replaced.
Previously, he had been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay for Blowup.
Antonioni's final film, made when he was in his 90s, was a segment of the anthology film Eros (2004), entitled "Il filo pericoloso delle cose" ("The Dangerous Thread of Things").
The short film's episodes are framed by dreamy paintings and the song "Michelangelo Antonioni", composed and sung by Caetano Veloso.
Antonioni is recognizably the product of the mild, uneventful plains of northern Italy that form the background for several of his films.
Reserved and unexpansive in manner, he has said that the experience most important to his development as a filmmaker and as a man was his upbringing in a settled, bourgeois, provincial home, with a sufficiency of money; a traditional education; a code of reserve and self-discipline; and the leisure and ease necessary for a detached view of people and of life.
He attended school in Ferrara and went to the university at Bologna, though he continued to live at home and commuted daily to his studies.
William Byrd Wilkins, American actor, Died at 50
William Byrd Wilkins was born on January 19, 1965 in Louisburg, North Carolina, and died on October 31, 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
He was an American actor, in Running Scared and Doctor Who.
The actor played in the Doctor Who (TV Series), A Town Called Mercy (2012), The U (TV Movie), in 360 as a social worker and in Overnight Delivery in 1998 as the Bouncer.
William Byrd Wilkins passes away at 50 due to pancreatic cancer.
He was an American actor, in Running Scared and Doctor Who.
The actor played in the Doctor Who (TV Series), A Town Called Mercy (2012), The U (TV Movie), in 360 as a social worker and in Overnight Delivery in 1998 as the Bouncer.
William Byrd Wilkins passes away at 50 due to pancreatic cancer.
Dick Maugg, known for Bartles & Jaymes ads, Died at 83
Dick Maugg was born in Longview, Washington, and died on July 28, 2015.
He was known as the silent half of the Bartles & Jaymes duo from the brand’s of the 1980s commercials.
Dick had studied business at the University of Washington.
Dick Maugg is known as the wine cooler pitchman.
The commercials began with a “Hello” from Bartles, played by Dave Rufkahr, and ended with, “Thank you for your support”. This made the Bartles & Jaymes drink a top seller.
Dicks acting career was very short-lived.
He was in sales and building construction before landing the role with the E&J Gallo wine cooler brand.
Hal Riney was charged with overseeing the Bartles & Jaymes ads.
A cattle rancher named Rufkahr got the job for the part of Bartles.
The role of Ed Jaymes was given to Maugg the night before the first shoot.
The pair went on to make over 200 ads together.
He left behind his wife and 3 children. Rufkahr passed away in 1996.
Dick Maugg passed away at 83 yrs old.
He was known as the silent half of the Bartles & Jaymes duo from the brand’s of the 1980s commercials.
Dick had studied business at the University of Washington.
Dick Maugg is known as the wine cooler pitchman.
The commercials began with a “Hello” from Bartles, played by Dave Rufkahr, and ended with, “Thank you for your support”. This made the Bartles & Jaymes drink a top seller.
Dicks acting career was very short-lived.
He was in sales and building construction before landing the role with the E&J Gallo wine cooler brand.
Hal Riney was charged with overseeing the Bartles & Jaymes ads.
A cattle rancher named Rufkahr got the job for the part of Bartles.
The role of Ed Jaymes was given to Maugg the night before the first shoot.
The pair went on to make over 200 ads together.
He left behind his wife and 3 children. Rufkahr passed away in 1996.
Dick Maugg passed away at 83 yrs old.
Luz Marina Zuluaga, Colombian beauty queen, Died at 77
Luz Marina Zuluaga Zuluaga was born on October 31, 1938, and died on December 2, 2015.
Luz was a Colombian director and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1958.
She was the first Colombian woman to win the Miss Universe pageant, and the only Miss Colombia to win until 56 years later, when Paulina Vega became Miss Universe 2014.
Luz Zuluaga was born in Pereira.
She moved to Manizales, (Department of Caldas) as a small child and grew up there.
Luz applied for the Miss Caldas contest, and she won in 1957.
Luz went on with her training towards the Miss Colombia contest and arrived in Cartagena, hoping to win the Miss Colombia title.
Pereira is part of the Caldas department.
Risaralda was made a department in 1966 some years after her election.
She was Miss Pereira, Miss Caldas, Miss Colombia and then Miss Universe.
After years outside the spotlight, Luz made headlines again when she married a medical doctor and moved to the United States.
In 1966, Luz returned to Manizales and became involved with the city council as well as with the state's institute of tourism, of which she eventually became director.
Luz has three sons and a daughter.
She passed away on December 2, 2015 at the age of 77 at her home in Manizales.
Luz was a Colombian director and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1958.
She was the first Colombian woman to win the Miss Universe pageant, and the only Miss Colombia to win until 56 years later, when Paulina Vega became Miss Universe 2014.
Luz Zuluaga was born in Pereira.
She moved to Manizales, (Department of Caldas) as a small child and grew up there.
Luz applied for the Miss Caldas contest, and she won in 1957.
Luz went on with her training towards the Miss Colombia contest and arrived in Cartagena, hoping to win the Miss Colombia title.
Pereira is part of the Caldas department.
Risaralda was made a department in 1966 some years after her election.
She was Miss Pereira, Miss Caldas, Miss Colombia and then Miss Universe.
After years outside the spotlight, Luz made headlines again when she married a medical doctor and moved to the United States.
In 1966, Luz returned to Manizales and became involved with the city council as well as with the state's institute of tourism, of which she eventually became director.
Luz has three sons and a daughter.
She passed away on December 2, 2015 at the age of 77 at her home in Manizales.
Marc Breslow, American game show director, Died at 89
Marc Breslow was born in 1926, and died on December 1, 2015.
He was an American television director, specializing in game shows for Mark Goodson Productions.
Marc was the director throughout the CBS and syndicated run of Match Game during the 1970s and early 1980s, as well as the CBS and syndicated run of Card Sharks during the late 1980s, and was the original director of the 1972 version of The Price Is Right.
Marc was relieved of his position as director of The Price Is Right by Mark Goodson in 1986 due to clashes with the show's former host, Bob Barker.
Paul Alter replaced Breslow as director of The Price Is Right, though Breslow remained on The Price Is Right credits until 1996 under the title of Creative Consultant as part of a 10-year, $1 million severance package.
Marc continued to direct other shows for Mark Goodson Productions.
Marc Breslow passed away on December 1, 2015 at the age of 89.
He was an American television director, specializing in game shows for Mark Goodson Productions.
Marc was the director throughout the CBS and syndicated run of Match Game during the 1970s and early 1980s, as well as the CBS and syndicated run of Card Sharks during the late 1980s, and was the original director of the 1972 version of The Price Is Right.
Marc was relieved of his position as director of The Price Is Right by Mark Goodson in 1986 due to clashes with the show's former host, Bob Barker.
Paul Alter replaced Breslow as director of The Price Is Right, though Breslow remained on The Price Is Right credits until 1996 under the title of Creative Consultant as part of a 10-year, $1 million severance package.
Marc continued to direct other shows for Mark Goodson Productions.
Marc Breslow passed away on December 1, 2015 at the age of 89.
Wednesday 2 December 2015
Art Buchwald, American humorist, Died at 81
Dead, Arthur "Art" Buchwald on January 17, 2007 at the age of 81, he was an American humorist best known for his long-running column in The Washington Post, which in turn was carried as a syndicated column in many other newspapers.
Born to an Austrian-Hungarian Jewish immigrant family on October 20, 1925, he was the son of Joseph Buchwald, a curtain manufacturer, and Helen Klineberger, who later spent 35 years in a mental hospital.
He was the youngest of four, with three older sisters—Alice, Edith, and Doris.
Buchwald's father put him in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in New York City when the family business failed during the Great Depression.
Buchwald was moved about between several foster homes, including a Queens boarding house for sick children (he had rickets) operated by Seventh-day Adventists.
In 1949 he left USC and bought a one-way ticket to Paris.
Eventually, he got a job as a correspondent for Variety in Paris.
In January 1950, he took a sample column to the offices of the European edition of The New York Herald Tribune.
Titled "Paris After Dark", it was filled with scraps of offbeat information about Parisian nightlife.
Buchwald was hired and joined the editorial staff.
His column caught on quickly, and Buchwald followed it in 1951 with another column, "Mostly About People".
They were fused into one under the title "Europe's Lighter Side".
Buchwald also enjoyed the notoriety he received when U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower's press secretary, Jim Hagerty, took seriously a spoof press conference report claiming that reporters asked questions about the president's breakfast habits.
After Hagerty called his own conference to denounce the article as "unadulterated rot," Buchwald famously retorted, "Hagerty is wrong.
I write adulterated rot."
On August 24, 1959, TIME magazine, in reviewing the history of the European edition of The Herald Tribune, reported that Buchwald's column had achieved an "institutional quality."
In 1988, Buchwald made headlines not for his popular column, but for his lawsuit against Paramount Pictures over a script idea.
He believed that his idea was used as the basis for the film Coming to America, starring Eddie Murphy. After a lengthy court battle, the two sides reached a settlement in 1995.
Around this time, Buchwald wrote the 1994 memoir Leaving Home.
He again explored his own experiences in I’ll Always Have Paris (1996).
Buchwald’s last book, Too Soon to Say Goodbye (2006), chronicles his time at a hospice after being told he only had a short time to live because of kidney problems.
He defied doctor’s expectations and lived long enough to reflect on his own passing in this work.
Buchwald later wrote about his depression, hoping to share with others the ability to endure such pain.
He also suffered a series of setbacks to his health.
When his kidneys started to fail, he refused dialysis, and instead, prepared for his own death.
Born to an Austrian-Hungarian Jewish immigrant family on October 20, 1925, he was the son of Joseph Buchwald, a curtain manufacturer, and Helen Klineberger, who later spent 35 years in a mental hospital.
He was the youngest of four, with three older sisters—Alice, Edith, and Doris.
Buchwald's father put him in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in New York City when the family business failed during the Great Depression.
Buchwald was moved about between several foster homes, including a Queens boarding house for sick children (he had rickets) operated by Seventh-day Adventists.
In 1949 he left USC and bought a one-way ticket to Paris.
Eventually, he got a job as a correspondent for Variety in Paris.
In January 1950, he took a sample column to the offices of the European edition of The New York Herald Tribune.
Titled "Paris After Dark", it was filled with scraps of offbeat information about Parisian nightlife.
Buchwald was hired and joined the editorial staff.
His column caught on quickly, and Buchwald followed it in 1951 with another column, "Mostly About People".
They were fused into one under the title "Europe's Lighter Side".
Buchwald also enjoyed the notoriety he received when U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower's press secretary, Jim Hagerty, took seriously a spoof press conference report claiming that reporters asked questions about the president's breakfast habits.
After Hagerty called his own conference to denounce the article as "unadulterated rot," Buchwald famously retorted, "Hagerty is wrong.
I write adulterated rot."
On August 24, 1959, TIME magazine, in reviewing the history of the European edition of The Herald Tribune, reported that Buchwald's column had achieved an "institutional quality."
In 1988, Buchwald made headlines not for his popular column, but for his lawsuit against Paramount Pictures over a script idea.
He believed that his idea was used as the basis for the film Coming to America, starring Eddie Murphy. After a lengthy court battle, the two sides reached a settlement in 1995.
Around this time, Buchwald wrote the 1994 memoir Leaving Home.
He again explored his own experiences in I’ll Always Have Paris (1996).
Buchwald’s last book, Too Soon to Say Goodbye (2006), chronicles his time at a hospice after being told he only had a short time to live because of kidney problems.
He defied doctor’s expectations and lived long enough to reflect on his own passing in this work.
Buchwald later wrote about his depression, hoping to share with others the ability to endure such pain.
He also suffered a series of setbacks to his health.
When his kidneys started to fail, he refused dialysis, and instead, prepared for his own death.
Michael Kidd, American film and stage choreographer, Died at 92
Michael Kidd died on December 23, 2007, at the age of 92, he was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s.
Born Milton Greenwald in New York City on the Lower East Side on August 12, 1915, the son of Abraham Greenwald, a barber, and his wife Lillian, who were refugees from Czarist Russia.
He moved to Brooklyn with his family and attended New Utrecht High School.
He studied chemical engineering at the City College of New York, in 1936 and 1937, but left after being granted a scholarship to the School of American Ballet.
He toured the country as a member of the corps de ballet of Lincoln Kirstein’s Ballet Caravan, and performed in roles that included the lead in Billy the Kid, choreographed by Eugene Loring, which featured an orchestral arrangement by Aaron Copland.
Kidd's first choreography on Broadway was for E.Y. Harburg's Finian's Rainbow, a lyrical musical that explored racial prejudice.
Kidd won his first Tony Award for that play.
However, his next Broadway musicals were not successful.
They were Hold It, a college musical, and the Kurt Weill/Alan Jay Lerner musical Love Life, directed by Elia Kazan, which both had short runs in 1948.
Next came Arms and the Girl (1950), directed by Rouben Mamoulian, with Pearl Bailey and Nanette Fabray, also a flop.
Kidd's work for the 1954 film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers brought him acclaim.
The film was directed by Stanley Donen, with music by Saul Chaplin and Gene de Paul and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.
It was written directly for the screen and based on the short story "The Sobbin' Women", by Stephen Vincent Benét, which was based in turn on the ancient Roman legend of The Rape of the Sabine Women.
He initially turned down the assignment, recalling in 1997: "Here are these slobs living off in the woods.
They have no schooling, they are uncouth, there's manure on the floor, the cows come in and out—and they're gonna get up and dance? We'd be laughed out of the house."
In 1975 Kidd surprised critics by starring in the Michael Ritchie cult film Smile (1975), a devilishly wicked and clever satire on beauty pageants.
The versatile Michael also directed occasionally for both film (Danny Kaye's Merry Andrew (1958)) and TV (All in the Family (1971), Laverne & Shirley (1976).
The Academy rectified this awkward situation by awarding him an honorary trophy in 1997 for his outstanding services to the art of dance, joining an extremely small and illustrious group that includes Jerome Robbins ("West Side Story") and Onna White ("Oliver").
Kidd believed that dance needed to derive from life, saying that his "dancing is based on naturalistic movement that is abstracted and enlarged” and that "all my movements relate to some kind of real activity".
He always wanted dance to serve the story, and when beginning a new work he would write a scenario, explaining how the plot drove the characters to dance.
His biggest influences were Charlie Chaplin, "because he expressed through movement the aspirations of the little man", and the dancer and choreographer Léonide Massine, "because he expressed more than just balletic ability—he was always a character on stage, an exaggerated character, which I do all the time: an exaggeration of ordinary movement".
Born Milton Greenwald in New York City on the Lower East Side on August 12, 1915, the son of Abraham Greenwald, a barber, and his wife Lillian, who were refugees from Czarist Russia.
He moved to Brooklyn with his family and attended New Utrecht High School.
He studied chemical engineering at the City College of New York, in 1936 and 1937, but left after being granted a scholarship to the School of American Ballet.
He toured the country as a member of the corps de ballet of Lincoln Kirstein’s Ballet Caravan, and performed in roles that included the lead in Billy the Kid, choreographed by Eugene Loring, which featured an orchestral arrangement by Aaron Copland.
Kidd's first choreography on Broadway was for E.Y. Harburg's Finian's Rainbow, a lyrical musical that explored racial prejudice.
Kidd won his first Tony Award for that play.
However, his next Broadway musicals were not successful.
They were Hold It, a college musical, and the Kurt Weill/Alan Jay Lerner musical Love Life, directed by Elia Kazan, which both had short runs in 1948.
Next came Arms and the Girl (1950), directed by Rouben Mamoulian, with Pearl Bailey and Nanette Fabray, also a flop.
Kidd's work for the 1954 film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers brought him acclaim.
The film was directed by Stanley Donen, with music by Saul Chaplin and Gene de Paul and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.
It was written directly for the screen and based on the short story "The Sobbin' Women", by Stephen Vincent Benét, which was based in turn on the ancient Roman legend of The Rape of the Sabine Women.
He initially turned down the assignment, recalling in 1997: "Here are these slobs living off in the woods.
They have no schooling, they are uncouth, there's manure on the floor, the cows come in and out—and they're gonna get up and dance? We'd be laughed out of the house."
In 1975 Kidd surprised critics by starring in the Michael Ritchie cult film Smile (1975), a devilishly wicked and clever satire on beauty pageants.
The versatile Michael also directed occasionally for both film (Danny Kaye's Merry Andrew (1958)) and TV (All in the Family (1971), Laverne & Shirley (1976).
The Academy rectified this awkward situation by awarding him an honorary trophy in 1997 for his outstanding services to the art of dance, joining an extremely small and illustrious group that includes Jerome Robbins ("West Side Story") and Onna White ("Oliver").
Kidd believed that dance needed to derive from life, saying that his "dancing is based on naturalistic movement that is abstracted and enlarged” and that "all my movements relate to some kind of real activity".
He always wanted dance to serve the story, and when beginning a new work he would write a scenario, explaining how the plot drove the characters to dance.
His biggest influences were Charlie Chaplin, "because he expressed through movement the aspirations of the little man", and the dancer and choreographer Léonide Massine, "because he expressed more than just balletic ability—he was always a character on stage, an exaggerated character, which I do all the time: an exaggeration of ordinary movement".
Evel Knievel, American daredevil and entertainer, Died at 69
Dead, Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel on November 30, 2007 at the age of 69, he was an American daredevil and entertainer, born in Butte, Montana on October 17, 1938, Knievel ended high school after his sophomore (second) year and got a job in the copper mines with the Anaconda Mining Company as a diamond drill operator.
However, he preferred motorbiking to all this "unimportant stuff", as he put it.
He was then promoted to surface duty where he drove a large earth mover.
Knievel was fired when he made the earth mover do a motorcycle-type wheelie and drove it into Butte's main power line. \
The incident left the city without electricity for several hours.
Without work, Knievel began to find himself in more and more trouble around Butte.
After a police chase in 1956 in which he crashed his motorcycle, Knievel was taken to jail on a charge of reckless driving.
When the night jailer came around to check the roll, he noted Robert Knievel in one cell and William Knofel in the other.
Raised by his grandparents in Butte, a copper-mining town, he began doing motorcycle stunts as a teenager.
Knievel married hometown girlfriend, Linda Joan Bork, in 1959. They separated in the early 1990s.
They had four children, Kelly, Robbie, Tracey and Alicia.
After Evel retired, he managed Robbie's stunt career.
Knievel married his longtime partner, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel in 1999.
They divorced a few years later but remained together.
Knievel had 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
In 1999, he underwent a liver transplant after nearly dying of hepatitis C, which he believed he had contracted from a blood transfusion after one of his many violent spills.
Knievel started the Butte Bombers, a semi-pro hockey team.
To help promote his team and earn some money, he convinced the 1960 Olympic Czechoslovakian hockey team to play the Butte Bombers in a warm-up game to the Olympics.
Knievel was ejected from the game minutes into the third period and left the stadium.
When the Czechoslovakian officials went to the box office to collect the expense money the team was promised, workers discovered the game receipts had been stolen.
The United States Olympic Committee wound up paying the Czechoslovakian team's expenses to avoid an international incident.
After the birth of his first son, Kelly, Knievel realized that he needed to come up with a new way to support his family financially.
Using the hunting and fishing skills his grandfather had taught him, Knievel started the Sur-Kill Guide Service.
He guaranteed that if a hunter employed his service and paid his fee, they would get the big game animal they wanted or he would refund their money.
Business was very good until game wardens realized that Knievel was taking his clients into Yellowstone National Park to find prey.
Knievel, 29, used his own money to have actor/director John Derek produce a film of the Caesars' jump.
To keep costs low, Derek used his then-wife Linda Evans as one of the camera operators.
It was Evans who filmed Knievel's famous landing.
On the morning of the jump, Knievel stopped in the casino and placed his last 100 dollars on the blackjack table (which he lost), stopped by the bar and had a shot of Wild Turkey and then headed outside where he was joined by several members of the Caesars staff, as well as two showgirls.
After doing his normal pre-jump show and a few warm up approaches, Knievel began his real approach.
When he hit the takeoff ramp, he felt the motorcycle unexpectedly decelerate.
However, he preferred motorbiking to all this "unimportant stuff", as he put it.
He was then promoted to surface duty where he drove a large earth mover.
Knievel was fired when he made the earth mover do a motorcycle-type wheelie and drove it into Butte's main power line. \
The incident left the city without electricity for several hours.
Without work, Knievel began to find himself in more and more trouble around Butte.
After a police chase in 1956 in which he crashed his motorcycle, Knievel was taken to jail on a charge of reckless driving.
When the night jailer came around to check the roll, he noted Robert Knievel in one cell and William Knofel in the other.
Raised by his grandparents in Butte, a copper-mining town, he began doing motorcycle stunts as a teenager.
Knievel married hometown girlfriend, Linda Joan Bork, in 1959. They separated in the early 1990s.
They had four children, Kelly, Robbie, Tracey and Alicia.
After Evel retired, he managed Robbie's stunt career.
Knievel married his longtime partner, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel in 1999.
They divorced a few years later but remained together.
Knievel had 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
In 1999, he underwent a liver transplant after nearly dying of hepatitis C, which he believed he had contracted from a blood transfusion after one of his many violent spills.
Knievel started the Butte Bombers, a semi-pro hockey team.
To help promote his team and earn some money, he convinced the 1960 Olympic Czechoslovakian hockey team to play the Butte Bombers in a warm-up game to the Olympics.
Knievel was ejected from the game minutes into the third period and left the stadium.
When the Czechoslovakian officials went to the box office to collect the expense money the team was promised, workers discovered the game receipts had been stolen.
The United States Olympic Committee wound up paying the Czechoslovakian team's expenses to avoid an international incident.
After the birth of his first son, Kelly, Knievel realized that he needed to come up with a new way to support his family financially.
Using the hunting and fishing skills his grandfather had taught him, Knievel started the Sur-Kill Guide Service.
He guaranteed that if a hunter employed his service and paid his fee, they would get the big game animal they wanted or he would refund their money.
Business was very good until game wardens realized that Knievel was taking his clients into Yellowstone National Park to find prey.
Knievel, 29, used his own money to have actor/director John Derek produce a film of the Caesars' jump.
To keep costs low, Derek used his then-wife Linda Evans as one of the camera operators.
It was Evans who filmed Knievel's famous landing.
On the morning of the jump, Knievel stopped in the casino and placed his last 100 dollars on the blackjack table (which he lost), stopped by the bar and had a shot of Wild Turkey and then headed outside where he was joined by several members of the Caesars staff, as well as two showgirls.
After doing his normal pre-jump show and a few warm up approaches, Knievel began his real approach.
When he hit the takeoff ramp, he felt the motorcycle unexpectedly decelerate.
Tuesday 1 December 2015
Joan Bosch Palau, Spanish film director, Died at 89
Joan Bosch Palau also called Juan Bosch was born on May 31, 1925 in Barcelona, and died on November 17, 2015.
He was a Spanish film director and screenwriter.
Joan Bosch Palau has been a director since 1957.
He worked on marked trails to 1983, A Rolls for Hippolytus.
Joan participated in the script, alone or in collaboration with others, of several movies and many others of their own.
Joan also directed some short films.
His parents were Joan Bosch Palau Dalmau and Maria Estrada.
Jacinto Goday, an architect who shoots his first film, in 1944.
He and producer Joan Bosch offered to collaborate on the project as an assistant director to accept this willingly.
His work lasted over time until when Joan Bosch left in May 1946 to Morocco to film military service had not yet been completed.
The same film would end up being titled The Adventures of Captain Guido (1946).
Joan Bosch Palau passed away at 89 years old.
He was a Spanish film director and screenwriter.
Joan Bosch Palau has been a director since 1957.
He worked on marked trails to 1983, A Rolls for Hippolytus.
Joan participated in the script, alone or in collaboration with others, of several movies and many others of their own.
Joan also directed some short films.
His parents were Joan Bosch Palau Dalmau and Maria Estrada.
Jacinto Goday, an architect who shoots his first film, in 1944.
He and producer Joan Bosch offered to collaborate on the project as an assistant director to accept this willingly.
His work lasted over time until when Joan Bosch left in May 1946 to Morocco to film military service had not yet been completed.
The same film would end up being titled The Adventures of Captain Guido (1946).
Joan Bosch Palau passed away at 89 years old.
Jan Monrad, Danish comedian and entertainer, Died at 64
Jan Monrad was born on March 18, 1951, in Amager, Copenhagen and died November 20, 2015.
He was a Danish comedian and entertainer before his death.
After, Jan and Soren Rislund formed the duo Monrad & Rislund in 1978.
Both comedians delivered plat, in a good way, satire during the 1980s in satire program Friday Open on Danish Radio P3.
Jan also worked at Ekstra Bladet for 14 years, where he work as back-skibent, reviewer and travel reporter.
He left behind his wife, the lived in Holbaek in the northwestern part of new Zealand, together.
Jan Monrad passed away at 64 yrs old due to a blood clot in the lungs.
He was a Danish comedian and entertainer before his death.
After, Jan and Soren Rislund formed the duo Monrad & Rislund in 1978.
Both comedians delivered plat, in a good way, satire during the 1980s in satire program Friday Open on Danish Radio P3.
Jan also worked at Ekstra Bladet for 14 years, where he work as back-skibent, reviewer and travel reporter.
He left behind his wife, the lived in Holbaek in the northwestern part of new Zealand, together.
Jan Monrad passed away at 64 yrs old due to a blood clot in the lungs.
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