Rolling Obituary Thread 2026

The thread of the dead.

James Grauerholz, William S. Burroughs' longtime assistant/manager/editor/everything else. When I called Burroughs in Kansas to request an interview as a high school student, I spoke to Grauerholz. (Didn't get the interview.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3atJxdNJGc

(xpost)

Legendary Japanese psych-rock guitarist Munehiro Narita (High Rise, etc.).

Damn shame I never saw him live.

co-founder of Sega Games David Rosen, 95
(also a pilot in the Korean War!)

Andrew Bodnar, bassist for (Graham Parker &) the Rumour who also appeared on Nick Lowe's "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" with Bob Andrews (both got a co-writing credit), Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives," The Pretenders' Learning to Crawl, and a few of Garland Jeffreys's best records.

correction, he played on the Pretenders' cover of "Thin Line Between Love and Hate," not the entire album

Molly Parkin, painter novelist and journalist, 93

Andrew Bodnar was a favorite of mine, RIP :( Glad I got to see one of the Rumour reunion shows.

biographer/author Michael Schumacher, aged 75

i’d forgotten all about molly parkin. i used to have some sort of vague ongoing connection with her - it must have been back when i worked in a bookshop.

Béla Tarr

Only 70, I had assumed he was quite a bit older

Dunno why you would associate him with longevity

Bye bye Béla

damn, one of the greats imo. RIP Bela

RIP Béla, I will endeavour to actually watch Sátántangó this year in your honour. I've only had it on DVD for what, ten years?

RIP

RIP, Werckmeister Harmonies would be in my top 10 films of this century. One of these days I'll rewatch Sátántangó too.

I've got the Curzon box and have been trying to motivate myself enough to crack it open. Guess this is it.

i had about half the curzon box on £5 dvds from fopp so i didn't bother, but there's a lot of non-feature extras and it's a bump in quality. expensive though.

So did I but mine was a present so yay for me I guess.

Extremely sad news to wake up to. I'm glad he lived long enough to see his all of his work return to circulation in spectacular quality - it used be so difficult to see his films and even more difficult to do so in decent quality. (One of my most memorable filmgoing experiences was seeing Sátántangó in 35mm at Lincoln Center, years after the DVD fell out-of-print and years before it was finally restored in 4K.)

Only 70, I had assumed he was quite a bit older

I saw him at his last NYC appearance 16 months ago, and I was stunned how unhealthy he looked. In 2011, he was at the NYFF to present his final film, and on that gorgeous, unseasonably warm October afternoon, he walked onstage and said "what are you doing here? It's beautiful outside!" He looked great striding along with the ponytail and the shades on his head.

In fact, you can see him here at the free talk he gave at the festival (maybe even the same day):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxHNl2H8IO0

Now flash forward to June 2023, and he looked frail and physically unsteady, hunched over and tremoring while using a cane. I would've guessed he was easily in his 70s, maybe in his 80s. (He was 68.)

But he was still as sharp as ever and still had the same fire - when someone asked about making a film, he got worked up, whipped out his iPhone and basically said: "You have THIS in your pocket. You don't need anything else, just fucking make your movie and don't let anyone else tell you that you can't."

Afterwards he sat outside, smoking another cigarette (I'm guessing he never cut back) and when people asked him to sign their DVD's, he agreed while saying "promise not to sell this, I already saw one script I signed yesterday on fucking eBay."

He was never going to make another movie, but he was dedicated to mentoring and teaching new and uncompromising filmmakers. An Elephant Sitting Still is perhaps the best film made from one such filmmaker, though sadly the same person committed suicide before it ever saw release.)

(IIRC that free talk was probably the same day and before his film was scheduled to play - he probably gave the talk and walked over to Alice Tully afterwards. The NYFF's schedule is usually packed pretty tight that way.)

Martin Chivers, footballer.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/07/martin-chivers-former-tottenham-england-southampton-striker-dies-aged-80

Aldrich Ames, CIA agent who spied for the Soviet Union - died in prison, aged 84

The NYT obituary for Ames is a very entertaining read in its vociferousness. RIP to all those people Ames exposed

Michael Reagan

Rest In Piss

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the city's paper of record.

(Actually, it won't officially die until May 3.)

Just read about Bob Pulford, a Leaf mainstay when I was a kid and watched hockey:

https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2026/01/06/bob-pulford-the-engine-of-the-maple-leaf-dynasty-in-the-1960s/

In the HOF, too. 16 seasons, never more than 30 goals, never fewer than 10.

Terry Yorath, ex dirty Leeds scum

I used to deal with him when I worked in the bookies when he was Jacko's assistant. He was such a rude, arrogant glowering presence. If you knocked him back on a price that had gone his puce bald head would start glowing an even brighter shade of puce. Horrible guy. tbh.

So RIP then?

Looked like a serious boozer to me.

peace was not a word to associate with Tel!

oh he was a boozer, in fact he was let go during his last period at Town for a drink driving incident

Actually from late 2025:

Marcia Rodd, actress who was very memorable (actually unbelievable) in Alan Arkin's Little Murders (1971) which was her film debut after doing Broadway, and was also acclaimed for her work in Jonathon Demme's Handle with Care, aka Citizens Band (1977), 87.

Yorath's son died in front of him aged 15 and he, being an unreconstructed man of a certain age, decided on drinking rather than counselling (according to a clip I just saw there).

Gabby Logan is his daughter and that's why she disappeared in the middle of MOTD last night.

Marcia Rodd also played Maude's daughter Carol in the All In The Family episode that was a backdoor pilot for Maude, but quit after the show was picked up for series and was replaced by Adrienne Barbeau.

I used to deal with him when I worked in the bookies when he was Jacko's assistant. He was such a rude, arrogant glowering presence. If you knocked him back on a price that had gone his puce bald head would start glowing an even brighter shade of puce. Horrible guy. tbh.

― calzino, Thursday, 8 January 2026 11:17 (seven hours ago)

So RIP then?

― Wilfried Nuance (Tom D.), Thursday, 8 January 2026 11:25 (seven hours ago)

Rest in puce, surely?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/movies/bahram-beyzaie-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DVA.y69j.Vha3CKOF6pCF&smid=nytcore-ios-share

RIP Bahram Beyzaie, pioneer in Iranian film and theatre

T.K. Carter, best known for playing Nauls in The Thing

Bob Weir

British character actor Derek Martin.

Lovely memory here from The Curious Orange.

Farewell Derek Martin. R.I.P.

Derek once came in to do a Fat Fighters sketch. Marjorie introduces him to the group, "he plays a character from EastEnders, but not one of the main ones". Derek roared with laughter. He was a really good sport & top bloke.https://t.co/6zozl0Da6R

— Paul Putner (@RealPaulPutner) January 11, 2026

92! I had not idea he was that old.

The thumbnail made me think Matt Lucas had died and was somehow 92.

erich von däniken (90)

https://childofatlantis.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img_0141.png

was just reading about that.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/takotsubo-cardiomyopathy-broken-heart-syndrome

Wow at the list of causes.

Can see it: sadness, depression.

someone else well known died of this a few years back, I now can't remember who

Well, at first look-up, these are the most seemiingly plausible so far,

Joe Garcia (2022): Just two days after his wife, Irma, was killed in the tragic Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, 46-year-old Joe Garcia collapsed and died. Family members and doctors pointed to signs of broken heart syndrome as the sudden cause of his passing. [NBC News]
Debbie Reynolds (2016): The Hollywood icon suffered a fatal stroke just one day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher. Before passing, she told her son, "I want to be with Carrie," and medical professionals and public consensus widely attributed her rapid decline to the intense emotional stress of heartbreak.{UNC Health Southwestern

I seem to recall a statement he made at the time to the effect that he wasn't going to party or chase womenfolk but instead devote himself to work.

ah ha, it was Joe Garcia.

I've seen bad cases as early as college, and these were people who were generally upbeat and had it together until they were heartbroken. I do recall someone being in actual physical pain which was alarming and I talked about it to a relative who was a doctor - he explained to me how depression can actually lead to intense physical pain in some cases. I was never aware of that before and it's something I've kept in mind.

On a related note, as I've gotten older, I'm a little startled by how unsympathetic most people I know seem to be towards anyone who's heartbroken, like it's some juvenile or immature or crazy thing they're doing, but it's strange the more I think about it because if people really want to believe in idealized love or ideal romance, I think you have to accept that such things aren't possible unless people are also susceptible to the intense pain that would have to come from its loss or failure. I would say that's the case here - as a loss, not a failure obviously - and it's terribly sad.

Also cites Johnny Cash, who died four months after June, but he had a lot of other longstanding health problems, and kept recording almost 'til the day he died, so may not have been totally dysfunctional after her passing

This was a long time ago so I don't know where I can find it again, but Marty Stuart told a really sad story about sitting next to Johnny sometime after June died, and Johnny broke down in tears, telling Stuart that you can't imagine the pain and to hold on and treasure his wife as long as she was still here. He was definitely hurting, and when his health crashed again, leading to respiratory failure, I think it was accepted that he didn't have it in him to really fight for his life anymore and just wanted to die.

Marty Stuart is kind of a Johnny-on-the-Spot for all things Country and Country Rock.

Yeah, but that seems plausible too: he may have been just slogging on, still working but depressed/sorrowful as hell. One thing I've never gotten, though, is how you fight an illness, other than, you know, taking your meds etc., but that doesn't seem like fighting, unless you're fighting the urge to just stop taking your meds etc. (and maybe that's what it is, so I'll shut up now.)

On a related note, as I've gotten older, I'm a little startled by how unsympathetic most people I know seem to be towards anyone who's heartbroken, like it's some juvenile or immature or crazy thing they're doing

One thing I've never gotten, though, is how you fight an illness
I read something a while back that said this expression was kind of overused, which made sense at the time but I can't recall the full argument.

I don't think Johnny went through this, but after a quick search, found this article explaining how you die after giving up on life - harrowing stuff.

My mum had Broken Heart Syndrome, she travelled to Germany for xmas two years ago and meanwhile a beloved pet died at home; she collapsed on the plane and had to be hospitalized. She's fine now.

But I also believe grief for a deceased partner or loved one can affect people's health in other ways, so wouldn't assume Satrapi's morte de tristesse is that. Judging by wikipedia in French they use the other term for the condition, takotsubo syndrome, after a pot used for fishing octopus in feudal Japan; apparently the shape the heart assumes under the condition resembles these.

Should mention my mum being on a trip is relevant here because it's usually triggered by the combination of grief and physical stress. Also it's usually not fatal and people tend to recover fully. It's a gendered condition, as well - affects women more, and post-menopausal women most of all. Often mistaken for a heart attack.

That's fascinating, Daniel. So glad your mum's recovered.

We think this happened to my maternal grandmother, and was missed when she fell and broke her arm. She was dead within that week.

Veteran character actor James Handy, 81, stabbed to death by the son of his girlfriend:

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers responded to a home in Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday morning after a 911 caller said, "I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin."

Anthony Head, 72

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0p0rz4n0mo

oof. Rough couple of years for the Buffy cast.

oh no that's terrible

Anthony Head possibly best remembered in the UK as being the male half of the Gold Blend Couple of course. His brother was Murray Head of One Night in Bangkok fame!

Yes, peeved that Gold Blend has been written out of the BBC report.

Reactivating the BBC/ITV feud of yesteryear perhaps

But this was in the article:

“Head first found fame in the UK in the 1980s as the face of Nescafe coffee adverts on TV.
He was part of the Gold Blend couple alongside Sharon Maughan, with their coffee-themed romance ads becoming popular between 1987 and 1993.”

I think that's added since I read it

did these ads also come to the US? that sounds familiar.

they're on youtube

Anthony Head possibly best remembered in the UK as being the male half of the Gold Blend Couple of course. His brother was Murray Head of One Night in Bangkok fame!

If you’re of a certain age, I imagine. For everyone else he’s Giles.

Read that his partner died in December, what an awful fucking year for their family.

People always cite that (awful) Anya speech from The Body as an all time great Buffy moment, but personally I always remember his pretty matter-of-fact talk with Buffy about her failure to kill Angel as a high point for the series and character both. He added so much to the show and character.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdAe8LO6mMg

otm, Buffy doesn't work at all without him

Kanya King, founder of MOBO Awards, 57.

Radio 4 news was playing a clip of the Gold Blend ad when I switched on. Recognised it instantly. INSTANT-ly.

Yes he will always be Giles to me. But when I discovered the Gold Blend ads, that was also a glorious day.

Giles is the best. For all its faults the show allowed him to show a certain

…range that his other roles did not

Nooooooo Giles ;_;

Yeah I loved him on Buffy. He was perfect for that role.

I had an ex that was obsessed with that show in the 90s and I suggested she watch the original film, which she was unaware of... it didn't go well! she hated it

well yeah the film is horrible

He was also in Motherland recently.

Head was a fine actor, and you have to hand it to him for gamely enduring perhaps the most hilariously vicious put-down in the history of TV:

"Oh, poor Watcher. Did your life pass before your eyes? Cuppa tea, cuppa tea, almost got shagged. Cuppa tea."

So that's ... three major Buffy cast members down? Oof.

... and Donald Sutherland & Luke Perry were in the film

xp plus the actor who played lorne on angel (and doyle, but that was so long ago now)

If you’re of a certain age, I imagine. For everyone else he’s Giles

Also had a delicious late-career run as evil Footie Club Tycoon Rupert on Ted Lasso:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhKL-nWoC5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzi8k9nBrdU

Yeah he was great in that -fun to see him play an absolutely irredeemable prick

Steve Almaas of Suicide Commandos, Beat Rodeo has died at 69

https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2026/06/05/twin-cities-punk-legend-steve-almaas-of-suicide-commandos-has-died?utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e227_tv2_tp1_a1demoo4dhg0z6

RIP, ephemeral legend. Everyone once in a while someone would point him out somewhere in NYC, sometimes in the audience at Beat Rodeo's regular Monday night gig at the Ludlow Street Cafe, when they had basically become a cool cover band.

Longtime character actor James Handy, killed by his girlfriend's son. (Per his mother, he was suffering from severe paranoia and had stopped taking his medication.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/us/james-handy-stabbed-dead-la-top-gun-jumanji.html