Rolling Obituary Thread: 2016

the deathzing is the coldest of zings

schlafly really was one of the most odious public figures in late-20th-century america. rest in piss.

she was a real sweet lady until the end

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/phyllis-schlafly-ban-foreign-players-major-league-baseball-because-they-take-jobs-ought-go-a

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/11/phyllis-schlafly-endorses-trump-in-st-louis/

what a tumor of a person.

Sad to see Richard Neville go - that BBC drama The Trials Of Oz was a big influence on my teenaged self.

Not sid to see Phyllis Schafly go at all.

Wikipedia says soul singer Clifford Curry died yesterday in Knoxville, Tenn. Haven't seen anything else out there that confirms this, but Rob Galbraith, who worked with and knew Curry for decades, reported that Curry had been taken off life support Monday. His big hit was "She Shot a Hole in My Soul."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WywQZhpjdms

Saw it last night by way of an ilx0r's FB post about it being reacted to by another ilx0r. First ilx0r was apparently a good friend of his.

Leslie H Martinson, director of about a thousand TV shows

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/leslie-martinson-dead-batman-director-921817

Prince Buster

RIP Lewis Merenstein who produced Van Morrison's Astral Weeks & John Cale's Vintage Violence

Looks like someone updated Clifford Curry's wikipedia page with his birthdate. Here's the obit

"Curry was scheduled to perform a few songs at a show at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, at the Holiday Inn Cedar Bluff with friends Billy Swan, Dickey Lee, The Swingin' Medallions, Buzz Cason and Kitty Wampus. The show will go on as a tribute to Curry. For more information call 865-573-2501."

Sounds like some kind of bill! I think I saw Clifford play once, as part of a package show that supported the release of a collection of Nashville R&B.

RIP the Lady Chablis, the Savannah-based trans performer.

http://savannahnow.com/news/2016-09-08/i-just-try-be-who-i-am-savannah-midnight-fans-mourn-celebrate-lady-chablis

(I think she might have been the first still-living trans woman I was aware of when I was growing up.)

Transgender actress Alexis Arquette, at 47.

http://laist.com/2016/09/11/rip_alexis_arquette.php

The one that said "Die you motherfuckers!!!!" in Pulp Fiction.

oh wow alexis arquette, RIP

Kim McGuire, "Hatchet-Face" from Cry-Baby, at 60:

http://www.avclub.com/article/rip-kim-mcguire-cry-babys-hatchet-face-242694

http://www.factmag.com/2016/09/16/don-buchla-dies-synthesizer/

http://vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/shoeless-joe-author-w-p-kinsella-has-died

Edward Albee

Aw. I only got around to reading 'Who's Afraid...' about a month ago.

C. Martin Croker, voice of Zorak and Moltar among others, age 54.
http://comicbook.com/popculturenow/2016/09/18/voice-artist-c-martin-croker-has-passed-away/

Charmian Carr
http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/THE-SOUND-OF-MUSICs-Liesl-Charmian-Carr-Dies-at-73-20160918#

Oh man at Croker... WAY too young.

Curtis Hanson, damn.

Oh, jeez. RIP.

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/curtis-hanson-dead-la-confidential-1201866310/

Holy shit. That guy is one of the journeyman greats, from White Dog to 8 Mile and all points in between.

i don't think he fits "journeyman" or "great," really, but i liked 3 of his films alright. LA Confidential needed to end 10 minutes sooner.

The official said paramedics responded to a call of an unconscious man at Hanson’s home at about 4:52 p.m. on Tuesday. He was pronounced dead at the scene. According to TMZ, which first reported the news, it appears as though Hanson died of a heart attack; while the LAPD spokesperson could not confirm that specific information, he said Hanson died of “natural causes.”

He had been retired in recent years and was reported to be suffering from Alzheimer’s.

jeez

why was he alone?

rip

Jerry Corbetta, singer from Sugarloaf.

http://bestclassicbands.com/sugarloaf-jerry-corbetta-obituary-9-18-16/

Jacques Chirac.

Or maybe not

http://67.media.tumblr.com/68033e28422faf86a13a46e43649295c/tumblr_inline_nd6k8pGkSk1rfps19.gif

Maybe so.

... or, indeed, maybe not, they're waiting on the UN to decide.

i don't think he fits "journeyman" or "great," really

For a second there I thought I got "journeyman" wrong, but I think I got it right. He cut his teeth under both Roger Corman and Sam Fuller, and graduated from their mentorships into a highly adept genre director whose movies did not need him but which certainly were the better for his involvement. Like, anyone could have directed "The Hand That Rocked The Cradle" or "River Wild," and the only thing that ties together "LA Confidential," "Wonder Boys" and "8 Mile" is his extreme competence. (And also Dante Spinotti's work on the first two, which is peerless.) Even "In Her Shoes" is elevated above what someone else might have made of it. Things got shaky after that, but it sounds like his health was declining. Alzheimer's is a horrible thing, and it looks like early onset, too (which is what got my dad at the same age).

No doubt about Ciampi
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/16/former-italian-president-carlo-azeglio-ciampi-dies-at-95

http://tnne.ws/2cYFlYc

Nashville songwriter John D. Loudermilk

That's breakin' my mind, RIP John D.

Holy fuck I must stop reading short-update threads from the bottom up.

My Nashville Scene obituary on John D. Loudermilk

Nice! All sorts of interesting detail. Had almost forgotten he was related to the Louvins until you mentioned Sand Mountain. I assume you have read the Charlie Louvin book?

No, I haven't read the Louvin book. I met him a few times, interviewed him a couple times, including once near the end of his life. Saw him completely incapacitated trying to perform, telling dirty jokes instead of singing, etc. Never gave up. I was at the 2007 Country Music Hall of Fame event for Loudermilk. They were taking questions. Someone said, ask him if he's a nudist. I said, you're putting me on, I'm not asking him that. But I'm telling you, he's a nudist. On the way out, I heard someone say, John is a nudist, a nut. So a couple years later I'm talking to Charlie Louvin at a record store. I mention I'd seen his cousin John. Yeah? Well, you got to be real careful when you go to his house, don't go without askin'. Why's that, Charlie? Because he and his wife like to walk around in that house and in the yard with no clothes on! They're nudists!
Check out some Loudermilk at this insanely detailed site--if there's anything more to know about the songs, I can't imagine where it would be. And definitely check out Stan Robinson's "N-u-t-h-i-n-g"--Stan was the Black Crowe's father--and a Pamela Law's "When the Band Plays the Blues," Roberto Carlos' "Road Hog" and the winner--Benny Hill doing a Dylan-"Chimes of Freedom" folk parody in '65 under the name of John D. QuieterCustard, "What a World." And Bob Luman's "Interstate 40," Loudermilk was Dylanesque in his sheer range and playfulness.

And, James, I was with Louvin a few weeks before he died,a shadow of himself, at a downtown Nashville spot, where he watched someone perform a Louvins tune, tears in his eyes. Drove up from way south of town in his Cadillac and drove himself back home all by himself. Crazy.

Charlie's book is one of the best music bios I've ever read

Here's the Loudermilk site, btw--http://www.ihesm.com/#bio

http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/2016/09/24/dural-leader-buckwheat-zydeco-passes-away/90910752/

accordionist, bandleader, keyboard player too...

goddamn, too young!

Spike Lee is reporting on FB that Bill Nunn (Radio Raheem in Do The Right Thing) has passed on.

My Dear Friend, My Dear Morehouse Brother- Da Great Actor Bill Nunn As Most Of You Know Him As Radio Raheem Passed Away This Morning In His Hometown Of Pittsburgh. Long Live Bill NUNN. RADIO RAHEEM Is Now RESTING IN POWER. RADIO RAHEEM WILL ALWAYS BE FIGHTING DA POWERS DAT BE. MAY GOD WATCH OVER BILL NUNN.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKv3GyABu8Q/