Tuesday 27 June 2017

Paolo Limiti, Italian television presenter, Died at 77

Paolo Mario Limiti was born on May 8, 1940, in Milan and died on June 27, 2017.

He was an Italian lyricist, journalist, radio and television writer and presenter.

He started his career as a journalist, then in 1960 he started a long collaboration with Mike Bongiorno as author of his radio and television programs.

Be became especially acive from the mid-1960s as a lyricist, his first hit was Dionne Warwick's "Silent Voices", and he then wrote songs for Mina, Claudia Mori, Mia Martini, Ornella Vanoni, Peppino di Capri, Iva Zanicchi, Albano Carrisi among others.

Paolo was also a successful television presenter, who mainly hosted nostalgic shows about vintage music and about the history of entertainment.

Paolo Limiti received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2014.

Paolo Limiti passed away at 77 years old.

Friday 16 June 2017

Fred Cogley, Irish sports broadcaster, Died at 82

Fred Cogley was born on June 27, 1934 and died on June 14, 2017.

He was an Irish sports commentator and TV presenter.

Cogley worked for the Raidió Éireann and later Raidió Telefís Éireann for 49 years.

Cogley covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1952 to 1996 and twelve football World Cups, however, Cogley was best known as the "voice of rugby".

Fred Cogley passed away at 82 years old.

Thursday 15 June 2017

A. R. Gurney, American playwright, Died at 86

Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. was born on November 1, 1930 and died on June 13, 2017.

He was sometimes credited as Pete Gurney.

Albert was an American playwright, novelist and academic.

Gurney was known for works including The Dining Room (1982), Sweet Sue (1986/7), Love Letters (1988), and The Cocktail Hour (1988).

Gurney's series of plays about upper-class WASP life in contemporary America have been called "penetratingly witty studies of the WASP ascendancy in retreat.

He married into the Goodyear family and had four children.

After a while he relocted to New York to be near the theater, television, and publishers while he was on sabbatical from MIT.

A. R. Gurney passed away at 86 years old.

Thursday 8 June 2017

Stanley Weston, American licensing agent & inventor of the actionfigure, Died at 84

Stanley Weston was born on April 1, 1933, in New York City and died on May 1, 2017.

He was an American inventor and licensing agent who created the G.I. Joe toy line in 1963, as well as the very concept of the action figure.

Stanley later sold the rights to his invention, which he called "outfitted action figures", to Hasbro just $100,000 dollars.

Then later, he created his own company, Leisure Concepts, which represented and licensed products based on the likeness of Farah Faucet, Star Wars, and Nintendo.

In the 1980s, he oversaw the creation of the ThunderCats animated series (1985–1989), which spawned the successful ThunderCats toyline.

Stanley Weston passed away at 84 years old.

Wednesday 7 June 2017

Andy Cunningham, British magician, puppeteer and actor, Died at 67

Andrew "Andy" Cunningham was born on May 13, 1950 and died on June 5, 2017.

He was an English actor, puppeteer and writer.

Cunningham was perhaps best known as the creator and main writer of the children's BBC television series, Bodger & Badger, in which he acted as Simon Bodger and his pet, Badger.

Cunningham was also the uncredited puppeteer of Ephant Mon, Jabba the Hutt's Head of Security in Return of the Jedi (1983).

He studied at the University of Cambridge, where he read English.

Cunningham was in a long-term relationship with co-star Jane Bassett who played Mousey in Bodger & Badger.

But, they later separated but remained good friends.

Andy Cunningham passed away at 67 years old.

Viviane Gauthier, Haitian dancer, Died at 99

Viviane (or Vivianne) Gauthier was born on March 17, 1918, and died on June 1, 2017.

She was a Haitian dancer and teacher of Haitian folkloric dance.

Gauthier studied Haitian folklore with Katherine Dunham-trained Lavinia Williams of which she is considered the heir.

Gauthier eventually opened the Viviane Gauthier School of Dance in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

One of her students has opened a dance company in Paris and another is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in the United States.

The Haitian-American singer Riva Nyri Précil is another alumna of her dance school.

Many famouse Haitian dancers and dance teachers have received training from her at some point in their career, including Lynn William Rouzier, Joëlle Donatien Belot, Jean Appolon, Mikerline Pierre and Lionel St. Surin.

Viviane Gauthier passed away at 99 years old.

Thursday 1 June 2017

John Noakes, British television presenter, Died at 83

John Noakes was born John W. Bottomley on March 6, 1934, in Shelf near Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and died on May 28, 2017.

He was an English television presenter and personality,

Noakes was best known for co-presenting the BBC children's magazine programme Blue Peter in the 1960s and 1970s.

Noakes was the show's longest-serving presenter, with a tenure that lasted 12 years and 6 months.

Sallie Hinchcliffe (née Hampson) and Arthur W. Bottomley were his parents.

On 30 June 2015, he was reported missing from his home in Andratx, Majorca: he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease some years before.

Noakes was found the same day, close to his home, having fallen into grass in a storm drain.

After marrying his wife Vicky, in 1965, the couple moved to Majorca in 1982.

He died at the Son Espases Hospital in Palma.

John Noakes passed away at 83 years old.