Death List Members in the News
May 2007
Charles Nelson Reilly
January 2007
Bobby Hamilton
December 2006
Gerald Ford
November 2006
Jack Palance
August 2006
Fidel Castro, Kirk Douglas, John Madden
July 2006
Keith Richards, Ozzy Osbourne, Gerald Ford, Tony Stewart, Phyllis Diller,
B.B. King, Dale Jarrett, Arnold Palmer
May 2006
Keith Richards, David Blaine
April 2006
Tony Stewart, Gerald Ford, B.B. King, Queen Elizabeth, Mickey Rooney, Bob
Barker, Harry Morgan, Charlton Heston, David Blaine, Vin Scully, Muhammad
Ali, Hugh Hefner, Arnold Palmer, Jerry Lewis
March 2006
Courtney Love, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, Jerry Lewis, Osama Bin Laden,
Queen Elizabeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Gerald Ford
February 2006
Walter Cronkite, Brian Dennehy, Don Knotts, Willie Mays, Vin Scully, Tony
Bennett, Courtney Love, Bob Barker
January 2006
Gerald Ford, Tony Stewart, B.B. King, Walter Cronkite, William Shatner, Courtney
Love, Nick Nolte
December 2005
Richard Pryor, Ozzy Osbourne & Queen Elizabeth, Nick Nolte, Hugh Hefner,
Tony Bennett, Tony Stewart, David Blaine
November 2005
George Michael, Courtney Love, William Shatner, Muhammad Ali
October 2005
Rosa Parks, William Shatner, Joe Namath, B.B. King, Jerry Lewis, Tony Stewart,
Arnold Palmer, Richard Pryor, Jack Klugman, Michael Waltrip, Hugh Hefner,
Dale Jarrett
September 2005
Courtney Love, Ozzy Osbourne, B.B. King, Michael Waltrip, Willie Nelson, Courtney
Love, Jerry Lewis, Arnold Palmer
August 2005
William Shatner, Vin Scully, Ron Popeil, Hugh Hefner, Dale Jarrett, Keith
Richards, Ozzy Osbourne, John Madden, Courtney Love, Richard Pryor, Sterling
Marlin, Tony Stewart, Tony Bennett, Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis
July 2005
Muhammad Ali, Courtney Love, Kirk Douglas, Bob Barker, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony
Stewart, Dale Jarrett, Phyllis Diller, Michael Waltrip, Gerald Ford, Mickey
Rooney, Jack Klugman, Keith Richards, Nick Nolte, Rosa Parks,
Luther Vandross
June 2005
Jim Otto, Vin Scully, Tony Bennett, Gerald Ford, Tony Stewart, Queen Elizabeth,
Muhammad Ali, Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Klugman, John Madden
May 2005
Michael Waltrip, Queen Elizabeth, Fidel Castro, Tony Stewart, Walter Cronkite,
Arnold Palmer, B.B. King, George Michael, Vin Scully, Keith Richards, Don
Knotts, Brian Dennehy, Michael Waltrip, Wilford Brimley, Ozzy Osbourne, Willie
Mays, Bob Barker, Nick Nolte, Jim Otto
April 2005
Larry Hagman, Richard Pryor, Willie Mays, Phyllis Diller, David Blaine, Tony
Stewart, Queen Elizabeth, Muhammad Ali, Nick Nolte and William Shatner, B.B.
King, Ozzy Osbourne, Rosa Parks, Luther Vandross, Pope John Paul II
March 2005
Ozzy Osbourne, Pope John Paul II, Courtney Love, Phyllis Diller, Vin Scully,
Fidel Castro, Ed Asner, Bob Barker, B.B. King, Arnold Palmer, Keith Richards,
Muhammad Ali, Jack Palance, Jack Klugman, Sterling Marlin, Joe Namath, Charlton
Heston, Jerry Lewis, Horatio Sanz
February 2005
Pope John Paul II, Wilford Brimley, Tony Stewart, Queen Elizabeth, Willie
Nelson, B.B. King, Ozzy Osbourne, Dale Jarrett, Fidel Castro, Phyllis Diller,
Courtney Love, Gerald Ford, Larry Hagman, Rosa Parks, Mickey Rooney, Hugh
Hefner
January 2005
January 30 - Willie Mays
January 27 - Ozzy Osbourne
January 27 - Arnold Palmer
January 26 - B.B. King
January 25 - Vin Scully
January 24 - John Madden
January 23 - Johnny Carson, Dead at age 79
January 23 - Brian Dennehy
January 21 - Ozzy Osbourne
January 20 - Kirk Douglas
January 16 - William Shatner
January 13 - Rosa Parks
January 12 - Jerry Lewis
January 12 - Courtney Love
January 12 - Pope John Paul II
January 11 - Willie Nelson
January 10 - Mickey Rooney
January 5 - Gerald Ford
January 3 - Bob Barker
December 2004
Richard Pryor, Queen Elizabeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Keith Richards, Rosa Parks,
Nick Nolte, Don Knotts
November 2004
Kirk Douglas, Ozzy Osbourne, Arnold Palmer, Jerry Lewis, Larry Hagman, Johnny
Carson, Queen Elizabeth, B.B. King, Muhammad Ali
October 2004
Courtney Love, Keith Richards, Tony Bennett, Fidel Castro, Ernest Borgnine,
Mickey Rooney, Willie Nelson, Jack Klugman, Jack Palance, Pope John Paul II,
Hugh Hefner, Rodney Dangerfield
September 2004
Courtney Love, Arnold Palmer, Rosa Parks, Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Barker,
Nick Nolte, Tony Bennett
August 2004
Arnold Palmer, Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Barker, Brian Dennehy, Ernest Borgnine,
Rosa Parks, Walter Cronkite, Willie Mays, Pope John Paul II, Fidel Castro,
Julia Child, Jerry Lewis, Mickey Rooney, Joe Namath, B.B. King
July 2004
Rosa Parks, Courtney Love, Fidel Castro, Nick Nolte, Don Knotts, Larry Hagman,
Kirk Douglas, William Shatner
January 30, 2005: A-Mays-ing day for KC, Baseball great pays visit to Negro Leagues shrine
The
greatest living ballplayer stood outside the field of legends and stared through
the chicken wire. Willie Mays could not go in. The lights were too bright.
So Willie Mays stood in the small entryway at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and he looked in as people milled around the field of legends and touched the statues of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston and other legends now dead and gone. It was an odd scene.
"Why did they start calling you the Say-Hey Kid?" someone asked Mays through the chicken wire.
"The writers did that," Mays said softly. "Back when I played in this league, people just called me ‘Buck.' "
For years now, people have tried to get Willie Mays to come to this museum. Mays, many people will say, is the most complete baseball player ever. And Mays started his baseball career in the Negro Leagues; he played for the Birmingham Barons in the late 1940s. All the great Negro Leagues players who were still living had come through the museum — Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Monte Irvin, Larry Doby — but not Willie Mays. He simply had not found the time.
When Barry Bonds walked through the museum a couple of years ago, he was so moved he took out his cell phone right then and called Mays, his godfather.
"You gotta see this place," Bonds said.
Saturday, Willie Mays arrived. He had come to town for Steve Palermo's dinner to raise money for spinal-cord research. He wore a San Francisco Giants jacket and carried around two pairs of glasses, which he wore interchangeably. Mays, like his father before him, has glaucoma. Also, a certain ringing buzzes constantly in his ears. And he doesn't move around quite as well as he did. Mays is 73 years old.
He still looks like Willie Mays.
"Welcome home," the museum's marketing director, Bob Kendrick, said.
"Welcome home?" Willie Mays asked back.
A crowd gathered around. Kendrick told a little bit about the statues on the field — "They say Oscar Charleston was you before you," he said as he pointed to the statue in center field — and Mays occasionally nodded, but mostly he kept looking back to the field. A photographer snapped a picture.
"Aren't you sick of taking pictures of me?" Mays asked, not unkindly.
"I like you," the photographer said.
"I know," Mays said.
The museum tour began — this was a star-studded group with commentator Bob Costas and actor Michael Badalucco among others — but Willie Mays stayed back. The lights were too much for his eyes.
Mays stayed back and took off his jacket and leaned on the statue of Buck O'Neil. He looked out over the field and talked to the real Buck O'Neil.
"Lot of good ballplayers out there," Mays said.
"Oh yeah," O'Neil said.
"Third base there, Ray Dandridge. I played with Ray Dandridge in Minneapolis."
"Is that right?"
"Yes sir. You know, on TV they appraised a Minneapolis jersey of mine for, what was it, $80,000," Mays said. He was talking about a recent "Antiques Roadshow," where someone brought in a 1951 Minneapolis Millers uniform that had been worn by Mays.
"Whew," O'Neil said. "You say $80,000?"
"Yeah," Mays said. He had an odd look on his face — maybe sadness. It's hard to imagine what it must be like to be Willie Mays, the greatest living ballplayer, hard to imagine how it feels to have heard every question a thousand times, to have accepted every compliment a million times, to have a dirty, junky old jersey of yours sell for the price of a Mercedes-Benz. Joe DiMaggio is gone. Mickey Mantle is gone. Ted Williams is gone. To so many people, Willie Mays doesn't just represent 660 home runs or a hat flying off in mid-stride or the catch at the 1954 World Series. No, he represents a lost time, a lost place, a certain kind of lost hero. He represents baseball when it was a game.
To millions of people, he represents childhood.
It must be tough after all these years for a 73-year-old man with sensitive eyes and a full lifetime behind him to still represent childhood to people.
"This is some place," Mays said to O'Neil. But he had not moved. The tour had come all the way around, but Willie Mays stood there by Buck and Buck's statue the whole time.
Along the way, Mays mentioned a few players he remembered from the Negro Leagues days — "Wilmer Fields could really hit the ball … Willie Wells was in Memphis, I remember … Leon Day was older by the time I saw him, but he could hit and pitch."
Someone brought up Whitey Ford.
"I always hit Whitey Ford," Mays said, and for an instant he smiled, and it was the same smile you see in an old photograph of Mays playing stickball in New York when he was the greatest and most joyous baseball player anyone had ever seen. The smile disappeared quickly. The lights were still bright in his eyes.
"I'd like to go around the museum," he told Buck O'Neil, "but I have to get my eyes right."
Buck O'Neil nodded. Mays put on his Giants jacket. He said he was going back to the hotel to get ready for the dinner. In the car back to the hotel, a friend would say, Willie Mays would get emotional, maybe even cry a little.
"He had not thought about those days for a long time," the friend said.
But as Willie Mays walked out, the greatest living ballplayer's eyes were dry as looked back for a moment and gazed over the field of legends.
"You know," he said, "I really don't need to see it. I lived it."
from the Kansas City Star, Joe Posnanski
January 27, 2005: Ozzy Osbourne to perform with Black Sabbath at annual Roskilde Festival
COPENHAGEN,
Denmark (AP) - Ozzy Osbourne and his band, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath,
will be one of the top names at this year's Roskilde Festival, one of Europe's
largest music events, organizers said Wednesday.
British-born Osbourne and the group will perform in Roskilde, 40 kilometres west of Copenhagen, taking place June 30-July 3. It will be the band's sole summer festival appearance, organizers said in a statement, adding Green Day and The Dears were also on the 2005 program for the four-day festival.
Last year, 75,000 tickets were sold for the outdoor event where more than 150 artists performed on Roskilde's six stages, including the Pixies, Morrissey, Sahara Hotnights and Avril Lavigne.
Osbourne, who grew up in Birmingham, central England, rose to stardom with heavy metal group Black Sabbath in the 1970s before launching a solo career.
First held in 1971, the festival in Roskilde, 40 kilometres west of the capital, Copenhagen, was inspired by the 1969 Woodstock Festival in upstate New York. The event, which in recent years has appeared on MTV, attracts visitors from throughout Europe and the United States.
from CTV
January 27, 2005: Arnold Palmer Marries in Hawaii
KAHUKU,
Hawaii - At 75, Arnold Palmer feels like a kid again after saying, "I
do." Palmer married fiancee Kathleen Gawthrop in an intimate beachside
ceremony on Oahu's North Shore.
"I feel like a 25-year-old," he said Thursday.
The couple exchanged nuptials Wednesday evening in a beach cottage near the Arnold Palmer Course at the Turtle Bay Resort, where the four-time Masters champion will play at this weekend's Champions Tour event.
"She's a great lady. I've known her for a long time. We've been engaged for some time and dated before that," Palmer said. "She's just very special."
The wedding ceremony, held as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, was private and small.
"The minister, the bride and the groom. That was it," Palmer said.
And it wasn't entirely on a whim.
"The timing may be a little spontaneous, but we've been looking for a way to get married quietly and this presented that opportunity," Palmer said.
The 62-time PGA Tour winner was all smiles as he prepared for the tournament, but most of the players weren't aware of the newlywed on tour.
"I'm happy for him," said Hale Irwin, who attended University of Colorado about the same time as Gawthrop. "They're happy together and I think this is wonderful.
"I was hoping it would happen. In fact, I told him last fall, 'It's time.' So he finally took my advice."
The Golden Bear was married once before. His wife of 45 years, Winnie, died in 1999.
Gawthrop, of Tiburon, Calif., has three children from a prior marriage and five grandchildren.
Palmer, who has two daughters and seven grandchildren, said the honeymoon has already started.
"It started about a year and a half ago and hopefully it will last for another 10 or 15 years," he said.
from the Associated Press, Jaymes Song
January 26, 2005: B.B. King plans to wrap up this winter on the road
Retirement--or
even slowing down--still isn't in the cards for blues legend B.B. King, who
celebrates his 80th birthday on Sept. 16.
King, who continues to play well over 100 concerts each year, recently wrapped up a lengthy stretch of early winter dates, and he'll be back on the road in late February. Confirmed dates are in the itinerary below.
During his 60-plus-year recording career, King--who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987--has released more than 50 albums.
His latest album of new material, "Reflections," hit stores in 2003. The set includes his renditions of three songs previously recorded by Louis Armstrong, as well as songs that have been recorded by Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson and others.
King has a major role in the 2004 film "Lightning in a Bottle," which captures the Feb. 7, 2003 "Salute to the Blues" benefit concert at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. Besides King, the bill for the concert included Buddy Guy, John Fogerty, Bonnie Raitt, Mos Def and India.Arie, among many others.
The film--executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Paul G. Allen and Jody Patton, and directed by Antoine Fuqua--tells a history of the blues by juxtaposing performances from the concert with backstage interviews, rehearsals and archival clips.
from liveDaily
January 25, 2005: Pull Up a Chair, Spend Some Time With a Legend
I spent time with Chick Hearn chatting before games about rings, kids and the Grocery Store Bagger, sat next to Red Smith in Fenway Park covering the Bucky Dent playoff game between the Yankees and Red Sox and talked well into the night at Billy Goat Tavern with my inspiration, Mike Royko, the great Chicago newspaper columnist.
I also had the privilege of dining, listening to his stories and working alongside Jim Murray at a couple of Super Bowls.
Sunday was another day for the memory bank.
It
was a lucky Sunday, beyond the weekly opportunity of spending time with the
daughter who these days prefers to be called Miss Radio Personality, because
on this Sunday Vin Scully agreed to appear on the father/daughter radio show
on XTRA Sports.
Scully, I'm told, almost never makes himself available for these kinds of interviews, but right from the start, after asking Miss Radio Personality to send him an 8x10 glossy, he was as gracious, engaging and funny as you might expect, talking about Barry Bonds, Murray, his reluctance to write a book about himself, chair covers, and the nickname his family has given him, "Clouseau," you know, he said, "Inspector Clouseau, because that's my ability around the house."
Right to the heart of the matter, when asked about the possibility of retiring, he said, "I have two years to go, this year, '05, and '06, and I always remember a wonderful line: If you want to make God smile, tell him your plans. My contract goes through '06, and after that we'll just see."
But would the only voice that most Dodger fans know — with apologies to Rick Monday — ever really consider retirement?
"I don't think I could retire," Scully said. "After all these years it would be pretty hard to turn the key in the ignition and just shut it down…. There's an old story, when you're sitting in a hotel room you can actually hear the meter of your life ticking away and you say to yourself, 'What the heck am I doing in Cincinnati?'
"So those are the things that haunt you as the years go by, but at the same time I don't think I could ever just sit looking out the window guessing whether I'd see a Ford or Chevrolet."
Miss Radio Personality, obviously her father's daughter, then asked, "Do you think the McCourts can keep paying you? Because there are a lot of questions about their money," and Scully said, "Bless your heart, Tracy and T.J., it was wonderful talking to you."
Sure was, but then why no book to bring it all together?
"I feel after all these years I've said enough," Scully said. "I just feel I've emptied out pretty much and don't have anything else to say. In fact, the older I get, the more relaxed you get, and the more I've realized the only thing I want to do is follow the ball between the lines. Whatever opinion I might have I'd just as soon keep it to myself."
Scully and Murray were pals, of course, and Scully once introduced Murray by saying if he ever had to be stranded on an island with a man, he would have probably liked it to have been with Murray.
The daughter then asked, "So if you were stranded on an island with a woman, who would it be?" And Scully said, "Well, of course, with my wife. You knew that, Tracy." I would've been a little worried had he said Salma Hayek. I don't need competition like that.
"Jim Murray gave me one of the great compliments of my life," Scully said. "They were publishing a compilation of his columns and he asked me to do him a favor and write the foreword. I said, 'Oh no, Jim.' And he said, 'You promised,' and so I did.
"The whole foreword was a salute to Jim Murray and his incredible ability to handle just about every emotion and every scene. Vic Hunter was a mutual friend and he asked me twice the same day to play golf with him, and I couldn't do it. That day at Riviera he dropped dead on the second hole. Jim Murray began his column: 'Yesterday my friend Vic Hunter picked up on No. 2 at Riviera.'
"That was the punch line of my foreword, and they sent me a letter telling me the foreword was wonderful, they published the book and I couldn't wait to read the foreword. I get down to that knockout line, and somebody changed it and the line said, 'Yesterday my friend Vic Hunter picked up a No. 2,' which meant absolutely nothing.
"When I saw Jim after that, I said I tried to write for years, I was a correspondent for the [New York] Times, when I was in college I was the sports editor, but I never felt like a writer until they damaged that great line."
There were some more stories, not enough time, but lots of laughs after I reminded him he owed me $957 for advising me to go along with the wife and paying for chair covers for Kelly's wedding to the Grocery Store Bagger.
"Tracy, are you listening?" Scully said. "When the day comes, be sure to give me a call."
WHEN HE hung up, the calls began coming in from folks who wanted to share their warmth for Scully, the way he broke the news to them of Don Drysdale's death and how important it was to hear his voice year after year.
And a caller named Mike offered this interesting tidbit: "When Vin came here he challenged himself not to call them the Brooklyn Dodgers, and charged himself a quarter every time he did. And he did for about half the season, and what a class guy, he paid the money to a charity, something like $470, I believe."
I'll give him that, and deduct the charitable contribution as a good deed, but then he still owes me $487 for the chair covers.
from the L.A. Times, T.J. Simers
January 24, 2005: Madden was top choice for MNF skit
ABC's
first choice for the infamous "Monday Night Football" dropped towel
episode wasn't Terrell Owens -- it was announcer John Madden.
For reasons that are unclear, Madden couldn't find the time to perform for the skit. Owens, the Philadelphia Eagles receiver, filled in for him in the steamy sketch that drew viewer protests and a network apology, ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson said yesterday.
In the spoof that preceded the football game Nov. 15, "Desperate Housewives" actress Nicollette Sheridan persuaded Owens to skip the game by dropping the towel wrapped around her and jumping into his arms.
ABC initially thought it would be funny to have the, uh, less attractive Madden as the subject of Sheridan's ardor, McPherson said.
The towel-dropping was another last-minute addition to the script that plainly backfired, said Marc Cherry, executive producer of "Desperate Housewives," who helped write it.
Cherry said it was all a mistake. But he and McPherson both said they were surprised at the reaction.
"I feel really bad about it," Cherry said. "I didn't want to upset people. I didn't realize that 'Monday Night Football' was such a family viewing experience. I wouldn't let my 5-year-old watch beer commercials with big-busted cheerleaders, but that's just me."
Sheridan, appearing before television writers yesterday, said the purpose was simply to amuse people.
"Taking a pop culture incident like that and having it take precedence over the underlying problems of the world was absurd," Sheridan said.
from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
January 23, 2005: Famed TV Entertainer Johnny Carson Dead
LOS
ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian Johnny Carson, the king of U.S. late-night television
as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" for nearly 30 years -- and the
last face millions of Americans saw before drifting off to sleep -- died on
Sunday at age 79.
Carson's topical opening monologues and on-air banter with sidekick Ed McMahon and bandleader Doc Severinsen made his show a cultural touchstone, and his death saddened many in Hollywood who got their first big break on the program.
"Mr. Carson passed away peacefully early Sunday morning" surrounded by family members, nephew Jeff Sotzing said in a statement. He died from emphysema at his Malibu, California, home, NBC said.
Carson hosted "The Tonight Show" from the fall of 1962 to the spring of 1992, dominating late-night TV and helping launch the careers of dozens of entertainers, including Joan Rivers, David Letterman, Robin Williams, George Carlin and Carson's successor, Jay Leno.
"No single individual has had as great an impact on television as Johnny. He was the gold standard," Leno said in a statement. "This is a tremendous loss for everyone who Johnny made laugh for so many years."
Aspiring comedians knew that being motioned over to the guest couch by Carson after performing their stand-up routine could instantly transform them from virtual unknowns to stars.
"This is the end of an era," Rivers, a frequent guest host on the show, told Reuters. "With Carson you went on once. You had his blessing, and the world knew you were funny."
Talent booked on Carson's show spanned generations. His very first guest in 1962 was Groucho Marx. Seven years later, some 45 million viewers tuned in to the on-air wedding of the falsetto-singing Tiny Tim to flower-child bride Miss Vicki.
SIGNATURE SWING
Introduced by McMahon nightly with the rallying cry of "Heeeeeeere's Johnny!," the lanky Carson would saunter onto the stage to open the show with his monologue, capped by his signature golf swing to usher in the rest of the show.
Known for his boyish looks and low-key, Midwestern charm, Carson was the perfect foil for a wide range of guests -- from movie stars to small-town eccentrics and wild animals. He was a master ad-libber, and many of the show's most celebrated moments were unscripted.
Carson said one of his favorites was a segment in which actor Ed Ames, who
played Daniel Boone's Indian sidekick on a 1960s TV show, threw a tomahawk
at a cowboy target, landing the weapon in the crotch area of the drawing.
As sustained peels of laughter died down, Carson quipped, "I didn't even
know you were Jewish," igniting another round of guffaws from the audience.
Other memorable routines included "Stump the Band," sketch comedy bits performed by "The Mighty Carson Art Players" and "Carnac the Magnificent," in which Carson would sit at his desk in a large turban to guess the punch lines of jokes contained in envelopes presented to him by McMahon.
Carson's final "Tonight Show" broadcast aired on Friday, May 22, 1992, and was seen by 55 million viewers.
"I am one of the lucky people in the world. I have found something I liked to do, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it," a teary-eyed Carson said as he closed the show for the last time. "I bid you a very heartfelt good night."
In later years, Carson rarely ventured into the public eye. In a 2002 Esquire magazine interview, Carson said he was content spending his retirement occupied with boating and playing poker with friends. He even refused a personal appeal from NBC Chairman Bob Wright to join in celebrating the network's 75th anniversary in an all-star special.
After a 1999 quadruple bypass heart operation, Carson cut back on his tennis and travel. An on-air smoker for many years in an era before cigarettes were taboo on TV, he was diagnosed with emphysema in 2002. But friends said he kept up with current events.
Former producer and friend Peter Lassally said recently that Carson occasionally wrote jokes that he would send to Letterman, who lost out to Leno in the competition to replace Carson at NBC but whom Carson regarded as his rightful heir.
"All of us who came after are pretenders," Letterman told the syndicated TV show "Access Hollywood." "We will not see the likes of him again. He gave me a shot on his show and in doing so gave me a career. A night doesn't go by that I don't ask myself, 'What would Johnny have done?"'
A former amateur magician and ventriloquist, Carson began his career as a radio announcer in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1948 after a stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was a writer on the popular variety series "The Red Skelton Show" and hosted his first TV show, "Carson's Cellar," in 1951.
He also hosted the early ABC game show, "Who Do You Trust," where he was paired with McMahon for the first time in 1958.
Carson replaced Jack Paar as "The Tonight Show" host in October 1962, bringing a cooler and more easy-going demeanor to the job. Paar died last January. Steve Allen, the show's first permanent host, died in October of 2000.
Carson's family said there would be no memorial service.
from Reuters, Steve Gorman (Additional reporting by Sarah Tippit from Los Angeles)
January 23, 2005: Art, politics don't mix for 'Trumbo' star Dennehy
One
of the minor hassles of being a celebrity is that it can be difficult to travel
unobtrusively. Being stopped by people on the street and in airplanes happens
all the time to actor Brian Dennehy. It's part of the job description. He
just wishes people would get it right.
"I was flying first-class once — and I only fly first-class if someone else is paying for it — and there was a guy in the compartment who was just bursting," he explained. "Finally, he couldn't take it any longer. He looks at me and he says: 'Brian Keith!'
" 'Dead,' I said.
" 'Brian Donlevy?'
" 'Even deader,' I said. Finally some guy rescues him. 'That's Brian Dennehy.'
" 'Almost dead,' I told him."
Not only is Dennehy still very much among the living, but he's also keeping pleasantly busy. A familiar presence on television and in movies (even more ubiquitous if you confuse him with Charles Durning, as a caller did during a recent local radio interview), the two-time Tony winner (playing Willy Loman in 1999's "Death of a Salesman" and James Tyrone in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" in 2003) has lately been working on the road.
Local audiences might have seen him last April in a touring production of "The Exonerated." He's returning to Minneapolis in another reader's theater-style production this winter. "Trumbo" is a play culled from the letters of the blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo ("Spartacus," "Exodus," "Roman Holiday"), who refused to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee and was jailed as one of the infamous "Hollywood 10" in 1950.
Dennehy didn't know Trumbo, who died in 1976. But, in his mid-60s, Dennehy is old enough to know others in Hollywood who found themselves blacklisted — denied work because of their alleged ties to the Communist Party or their refusal to testify before Congress during America's "Red Scare" days.
Dennehy said he was drawn to the role, which he also played off-Broadway as part of a series of rotating big-name actors, because of those connections and by the sheer quality of the words.
"The essential element for any actor, it seems to me, is good dialogue, and this guy was probably one of the great American letter writers of the 20th century," Dennehy said. "He had a huge literary output — plays, screenplays, essays, political writings. The letters that this play is drawn from are very funny, passionate, political, and they include a tremendous amount of social criticism."
Social and political criticism among artists is back in vogue today. A number of actors and musicians became active in the 2004 presidential campaign, taking an ideological stand that alienated some of their fans.
Ironically, Dennehy has about as much tolerance for that as he does for being mistaken for Brian Keith.
"To be perfectly honest, the minute an actor opens his mouth and somebody else's lines don't come out, I head for the door," he said. "Actors are the last people — I guess rock 'n' roll stars might be even worse — who should be talking about politics."
Dennehy cites a few exceptions of politically articulate artists: Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. Most of the rest, he suggests, might be better off keeping their mouths shut.
"I have no problem with people doing whatever they want to do politically," he said. "But, with a couple of exceptions, I'm not tremendously impressed by the level of debate that I hear from these people. It seems like received wisdom rather than something they've thought out themselves. P. Diddy? I can do without his political analysis for the rest of my life."
At the same time, he thinks audiences — especially young audiences — would benefit from seeing a show like "Trumbo" because it can connect them to an especially fertile time in America's ongoing political dialogue.
"There's an amazing, powerful, interesting history of radical activism in this country that's been almost completely ignored," he said. "And if you're a young person who's got some brains and some questions, there are a lot of answers in some of these characters who have come before."
Dennehy freely concedes that a play like "Trumbo" would be far less likely to succeed without a marquee name such as his attached to it. The list of actors who played the title character off-Broadway includes Nathan Lane, F. Murray Abraham, Gore Vidal, Richard Dreyfuss and Christopher Lloyd. But getting a new drama onstage without a household name in New York can be a difficult proposition.
"It's one of the sad things," he said. "It seems like the median age of the audience these days is 50. There's really a diminution in the life of the mind that's going on."
Dennehy isn't sure what the implications are, but he's pretty sure they're not very good for his profession.
"I think that live theater is slowly and inexorably moving the way of Ukrainian folk dancing; at some point, it'll be happening in a basement with 18 people sitting there," he said. "You can only hope that it's the right 18 people who can keep theater alive."
What: "Trumbo," starring Brian Dennehy
When: Tuesday-next Sunday
Where: Pantages Theatre, 910 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.
Tickets: $42.50-$29.50
from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Dominic P. Papatola
January 21, 2005: Ozzy Osbourne slams rumours of his death!
Ozzy
Osbourne has slammed rumours he is dead.
The eccentric rocker was forced to make an official statement saying he was alive and well after Hollywood gossip spun out of control.
The former 'Black Sabbath' frontman, whose drink and drug addictions were
notorious for years, was said to have died yesterday (20.1.05) after falling
seriously ill in London.
The star's spokesman Jay Maroic said he was forced to contact Ozzy's wife,
Sharon, to confirm the Los Angeles rumours weren't true after he was bombarded
with calls from reporters and fans.
Maroic said Ozzy and Sharon, who shot to fame with reality TV show 'The Osbournes',
had simply flown to Britain for a relaxing week at their rural home.
He added the rumours were "very upsetting" for the close-knit family.
He added: "I can absolutely tell you that Ozzy is fine despite all these crazy rumours.
"I have spoken to Sharon and she told me that everything was okay despite what people are hearing.
It is totally not true and we have no idea where this has come from. Ozzy and Sharon are in Britain enjoying some quiet time together. Things like this are very upsetting for the family."
Ozzy Osbourne Is Not Dead
OZZY OSBOURNE is alive and kicking, despite Internet rumours to the contrary.
The rocker's publicists have been inundated with calls since early this morning (20JAN05) following reports that the BLACK SABBATH frontman had died.
Top aide JAY MOROSE says, "I don't normally pay these things any attention, but I got so many calls I felt I had to check.
"I can assure you Ozzy's fine and these rumours are not true."
The reports arose after Ozzy and his wife SHARON missed a scheduled appearance on last Thursday's (13JAN05) THE TONIGHT SHOW - and ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER had to fill in for them at the last minute.
Morose adds, "I'm still not sure what happened with that. All I know is they were booked and didn't make it to the show."
Ozzy is currently holed up in Britain recording an all-star tsunami aid benefit single with daughter KELLY, ROD STEWART and SIR ELTON JOHN among others.
from Femalefirst.co.uk
January 20, 2005: Charges Against Kirk Douglas Dropped
A
man suing movie veteran Kirk Douglas following a Beverly Hills car accident
has decided to drop the case, just days before going to trial.
Financial salesman John Robert sought compensation of more than $50,000 for lost earnings and medical expenses after the crash, which happened in 2002.
Robert claimed he was "clipped" by the 88-year-old actor's car while he was standing by the rear door of his own vehicle. The plaintiff alleged his car was damaged and he suffered a hernia.
But now Robert's attorney Paul Fegen says in a statement, "After due consideration, Mr. Robert decided because he didn't have insurance and because Mr. Douglas denied responsibility, in the interest of justice he would drop the case."
Fegen advised Robert that it would be tough swaying a jury to stand against the beloved Spartacus star.
from the World Entertainment News Network
January 16, 2005: William Shatner Wins Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor
The
Golden Globe Awards were held tonight, Sunday the 16th and TOS star William
Shatner was named Best Supporting Actor for his role as 'Denny Crane' in BOSTON
LEGAL. Shatner took the stage and triumphantly uttered, "William Shatner."
"I really wanted to win," Shatner told Yahoo News afterward backstage, where he answered questions about playing sinister attorney 'Denny Crane' after three decades of being typecast as 'Captain James T. Kirk' "It's all pa.rt of the fun of acting. Acting is like being in a sandbox and pretending, so this is part of the pretense."
TNG star Patrick Stewart and screenwriter John Logan (STAR TREK NEMESIS) both lost as Best Actor in a Series, Mini-Series, or Television Movie for THE LION IN WINTER and Best Screenplay for THE AVIATOR, respectively.
from TrekWeb.com
January 13, 2005: Medical records show Rosa Parks had dementia as early as 2002
DETROIT
(AP) -- Civil rights icon Rosa Parks has suffered from dementia since at least
2002, medical records show.
The records, released by a federal judge Wednesday, show that when Parks was transferred from one doctor's care to another's in October 2002, the first doctor shared notes indicating that Parks suffered from "progressive dementia." However, it is unclear from the records how long she had the condition, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Parks' mental state is at issue because of a lawsuit filed on her behalf over the song "Rosa Parks" by hip-hop duo OutKast. Parks' lawyers claim she was defamed when her name was used without her permission.
Some of Parks' relatives have argued that she never would have agreed to the lawsuit if she had understood it.
"I'm not a doctor, but I know, dementia or not, my Auntie would never, ever go to this length to hurt some young artists trying to make it in the world," said Rhea McCauley, Parks' niece and the family's spokeswoman. "As a family, our fear is that during her last days Auntie Rosa will be surrounded by strangers trying to make money off of her name."
Parks' lawyer first filed a lawsuit against OutKast and record company BMG in 1999. A judge dropped OutKast from the suit, and Parks' lawyers filed a second suit in August against several record and distribution companies and stores that sold the song.
It is not clear from the records released Wednesday whether Parks had dementia when the first suit was filed. However, she did have it before the August suit.
Defense attorneys for the record companies had requested that Parks testify in the case. However, Parks' lawyer said the 91-year-old could not testify because of her physical and mental state.
In October, the Free Press filed a motion to make public any sealed medical records in the lawsuits. On Monday, U.S. District Judge George Steeh agreed to release certain medical information that related to Parks' mental state and was relevant to the case.
Parks was 42 when she refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955. Her arrest triggered a 381-day boycott of the bus system organized by a then little-known Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
from the Associated Press
January 12, 2005: Film critics honour Jerry Lewis
I'm
here today to praise Jerry Lewis, not bury him. When the Los Angeles Film
Critics Association originally announced they were giving the slapstick comedian
its coveted Career Achievement Award, though, I thought they had gone collectively
insane.
What career? What achievement?
The whole affair seemed preposterous. After all, these are the esteemed L.A. film critics, not another gathering of French admirers who have fawned over Lewis for decades and turned their devotion into a U.S. joke.
But now, as the date for the tribute arrives -- the Association fetes the 78-year-old Lewis, along with other 2004 award winners, tomorrow night at the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles -- I'm willing to call the gesture both shrewd and deserved.
Shrewd because LAFCA knows its stamp of approval means something in Hollywood, and deserved because the career achievement of Jerry Lewis actually is significant, even remarkable. You just have to mine the distant past for that vein of gold -- the treasures that he starred in, often wrote and sometimes directed in the early days.
So try to forget the bloated telethon Jerry Lewis (his physical condition was due to medication for serious illnesses). Or the mercurial eccentric who is prone to producing heirs, living in paranoia and shooting his mouth off in astonishingly stupid ways. Lewis once reportedly denounced all female comics as unworthy, even the legendary Lucille Ball, because women are good for little but producing babies. Incroyable!
Okay, that is a lot to forget. But the recent DVD debuts of a series of Lewis' best films have served to bridge the gap between the sad clown of today and the virtual genius of the late 1940s through the 1960s.
What clinched the deal for me was watching The Stooge (1953) for the first time in years. It was one of his pictures with Dean Martin, with whom Lewis had catapulted to stardom in the 1940s as a stage and radio comedy duo. Their mercurial partnership lasted a decade, 1946-56, and then permanently soured.
In The Stooge, Lewis plays second fiddle to leading man Martin and steals every scene he is in. At that time, Lewis embodied a profound innocence.
His deft performance went far beyond the slapstick, as hilarious as his pratfalls were, and created a complex portrait of an Everyman struggling against an elitist and judgmental society. That is no mean trick.
There were other films, in Lewis' solo career also, that propelled him to superstardom in the 1960s. The Bellboy (1960), Cinderfella, The Ladies' Man, The Errand Boy, It's Only Money, The Nutty Professor, The Patsy, The Disorderly Orderly and The Family Jewels kept Lewis on screen almost constantly. Even when the movies were disappointing, Lewis usually came up with a revival vehicle to deliver it in. The Nutty Professor is a classic of its kind. Behind the camera, Lewis was the first director to develop video-assist technology that has since helped to revolutionize film directing.
Inevitably, Lewis' manic act wore thin. The 1970s were a bust. But, in 1983, Lewis reminded Hollywood he was still a potent force by co-starring with Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's The King Of Comedy, a serious drama about a comic who is stalked by an overzealous fan. I remember talking with De Niro backstage at the Oscars after he had won for Raging Bull. Instead of bragging about his own trophy, De Niro chose to enthuse about his upcoming chance to work with Lewis -- whom he greatly admired.
That was a revelation then. The feeling is again renewed. Jerry Lewis should be praised. Tomorrow and forever.
from the Toronto Sun, Bruce Kirkland
January 12, 2005: Courtney Love wins back full custody of daughter
Courtney
Love is celebrating after winning back full custody of her daughter Frances
Bean Cobain.
The rocker lost custody of Cobain -- whose father is late rocker Kurt Cobain -- in 2004 after she was hit with multiple lawsuits for drug possession and assault.
But a judge in Los Angeles has decided her daughter is better off with her mother and granted her custody in court Jan. 11.
Love's former mother-in-law Wendy O'Connor was named the guardian of the 11-year-old last year.
Meanwhile, Love caused a fuss outside the courthouse when she had police arrest journalist Richard Lee.
The rocker told the authorities Lee had been stalking her.
from the World Entertainment News Network
January 12, 2005: Vatican confirms papal trip to Germany
VATICAN
CITY -- The Vatican said Tuesday that Pope John Paul II will visit Germany
this summer for the church's World Youth Day, but had no plans to travel to
his native Poland in June as some had expected.
The brief statement by papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said elections were being held this year in Poland, implying this could be the reason for passing up the trip.
The ailing 84-year-old pontiff has cut back on foreign travel, but aides have long insisted he would make the trip to Cologne, Germany, in mid-August for an event that draws hundreds of thousands of young Catholics from around the world.
"For this year, no trip is planned by the Holy Father to Poland, a country in which elections will be held in 2005," Navarro-Valls said.
His statement did not elaborate, but Polish politicians have been looking into possible dates for the election, with the governing party reportedly considering June 19. Poland's Roman Catholic primate said last year the pope hoped to visit his homeland then, but the visit was never confirmed.
Several observers in Warsaw said the Vatican appeared to be using Polish elections as a pretext for backing away from planning a papal visit to Poland this year.
"Saying that the pope will not visit Poland because of upcoming elections is just a diplomatic excuse," said Zbigniew Nosowski, the editor of Wiez, a Catholic monthly magazine. "The pope visited Poland at times of elections and other political events."
Nosowski did note, however, that papal visits have always "influenced people's voting behavior."
Michal Czaplicki, a Warsaw-based political analyst, said the pope probably just "needed an excuse."
"It's bizarre, and it might be connected to the fact the pope is reducing travels abroad," Czaplicki said. "And probably in internal Vatican politics, the Polish lobby lost this time to those saying Germany is more important."
Nosowski said he still hoped the Vatican would reverse its position.
John Paul has also been invited to visit Ireland and Northern Ireland this year, but there has been no confirmation of that trip.
from the Associated Press
January 11, 2005: Willie Nelson raises $75,000 at tsunami aid concert
Country
music star Willie Nelson is elated after raising $75,000 for victims of the
Dec. 26 tsunami during his charity show in Texas.
Nelson and his fellow performers' Jan. 9 show at the Austin Music Hall sold out in less than seven hours, generating $75,000 for the Red Cross, UNICEF and Care.
"There really are a lot of people who would like to do something. We're glad to offer those people opportunities to help out in different ways," the veteran musician said.
Performers at the concert included Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison, the Joe Ely Band, Patty Griffin, Alejandro Escovedo, Ray Price and Spoon.
from the World Entertainment News Network
January 10, 2005: Fox bans Super Bowl ad with Mickey Rooney's bare rear
LOS
ANGELES — Mickey Rooney's bare end zone won't be part of the Super Bowl
advertising blitz, Fox TV said Friday.
The network rejected a cold remedy commercial that includes a brief shot of the 84-year-old actor's behind, said Fox Sports spokesman Lou D'Ermilio.
"Our standards department reviewed the ad, and it was deemed inappropriate for broadcast television," he said.
The commercial for the over-the-counter product Airborne is set in a sauna and depicts Rooney panicking when someone coughs. His towel drops as he rushes out, revealing his rear.
Fox's decision wasn't affected by fallout from last year's Super Bowl halftime show on CBS, which included a flash of Janet Jackson's breast, D'Ermilio said.
"Our standards and practices haven't changed," he said.
The Federal Communications Commission levied a $550,000 fine against CBS parent company Viacom over the Jackson incident. Viacom is contesting the fine.
Rooney, whose films include the Andy Hardy series and National Velvet, said he was disappointed by Fox's move and hoped the network would reconsider.
"I would never do anything that's in bad taste. ... I've been a family entertainer all my life," Rooney told The Associated Press. "We're not selling sex, we're selling a health product."
Rooney and his wife, Jan, are touring nationally in a stage production, Let's Put on a Show.
Rider McDowell, co-owner of Carmel-based Airborne Inc., also defended the ad Friday: "There's nothing titillating about this spot, nor was there intended to be a sexual aspect to it."
The company has filed a complaint with the FCC to try to reverse Fox's decision, although McDowell said it was somewhat understandable "given the prevailing climate of censorship about nudity on television shows."
In a Jan. 3 letter to the commission, attorneys for Airborne argued the ad is not indecent and asked the FCC to either order Fox to run the ad during the game or ask Fox to provide more information on why it rejected it.
An FCC spokeswoman told USA Today that the commission, which responds to complaints after a broadcast, would never issue such an order, the newspaper reported Friday.
Given that it would cost $1.2 million to air the 15-second ad during the Feb. 6 football championship game, the company won't spend that kind of money if it can't be assured maximum effect, McDowell said.
"We had to come up something sensational that would leave people with a lingering buzz or chuckle," he said. "To edit that out would be to emasculate the ad somewhat."
from the Associated Press
January 5, 2005: Gerald Ford in hospital for yearly checkup
Former
President Gerald Ford underwent two days of hospital tests as part of his
annual physical, his chief of staff said Tuesday.
''President Ford is at Eisenhower Medical Center having tests associated with his annual physical,'' spokeswoman Penny Circle said midday from the Ford office in Rancho Mirage. She emphasized ''nothing is wrong.''
Ford, 91, didn't complete his physical during a pre-Christmas exam so he returned to the center on Monday and stayed overnight, Circle said. He was expected back at his Rancho Mirage home Tuesday afternoon.
After the death of former President Ronald Reagan on June 5, Ford became the nation's oldest living former president.
from the Monterey Herald
January 3, 2005: No retirement plans for Bob Barker, 81
Put aside those rumors about Bob Barker retiring as host of "The Price Is Right." The 81-year-old Barker will stick around for his 34th season of the CBS game show.
In his first 33 years with "The Price Is Right," Barker has won 13 Emmys as host and three Emmys as one of the show's executive producers. While there had been rumors that he was reaching the end of his tenure, Barker has decided to stick around as television's longest-running game show hot.
"I was considering retiring this year and going into body building with the thought in mind of becoming governor of California," cracks Barker. "But I decided instead to stay with the body I have and the job I have."
In addition to his daily job prodding college students and senior citizens to guess the prices of jet skis, common household items and new cars, Barker is also contracted to tape a series of prime time "The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular" specials this spring.
"Bob Barker and 'The Price Is Right' are cornerstones of CBS Daytime," says Barbara Bloom, CBS' senior vice president of daytime Programs. "We're thrilled that Bob has agreed to continue for another year, no doubt delighting his legions of fans across the country."
"The Price Is Right" premiered on CBS on Sept. 4, 1972, and Barker has hosted since the beginning. He received a Daytime Television Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1999 and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in June 2004.
from Zap2it.com
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