2014 Those Who Have Passed – Part 2

And so today we continue with our look back at those who passed in 2014 …

July ~

James Garner

He was born James Scott Bumgarner on April 7, 1928 in Norman, Oklahoma. After a rough upbringing by his stepmother, Garner joined the Merchant Marines but suffered from seasickness. He returned to Los Angeles and finished high school before joining the Army and serving in Korea.

In 1954, Garner landed a non-speaking role in the Broadway show, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial where he was able to watch Henry Fonda night after night and develop his style. Garner then began acting in TV commercials and in 1957 changed his name to Garner when he landed the lead role of Bret Maverick in the Western comedy Maverick. (1957 to 1960) He soon became a household name.

Garner went on to star in a variety of films during the 1960s including The Great Escape (1963), Grand Prix (1966) and Marlowe (1969). The 1970s saw Garner hit his stride as private investigator Jim Rockford in the television series The Rockford Files for which he received an Emmy for Best Actor.

During the 1980s, Garner starred in Polaroid camera commercials and performed as characters that were a bit darker and less self-deprecating than those he had played before. He went back to comedy in the 1990s, acting opposite Mel Gibson in a theatrical remake of Maverick. He starred in My Fellow Americans in 1996 and Space Cowboys in 2000.

 

James Garner died on July 19 in Brentwood, California. He was 86 years old. Garner’s remains were cremated and his ashes given to his family.

 

Theodore Van Kirk

Theodore (Dutch) Van Kirk was the last surviving member of the 12-man crew that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan and ended WWII.  Van Kirk was born on February 27, 1921 in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. He joined the Army Air Force just two months before Pearl Harbor, in October 1941, and flew with the 97^th Bomb Group, the first operational B-17 Flying Fortress group in England.

The plane was called the Red Gremlin and included Paul Tibbits as pilot and Tom Ferebee as bombardier with Van Kirk as navigator. They flew 58 missions and returned to the U.S. in June 1943. But in late 1944, the three were selected for a top-secret mission and trained to fly the B-29 Super Fortress, the plane that would drop the first atomic bomb.

The 13-hour mission to Hiroshima was flown on August 6, 1945 in the B-29 known as Enola Gay: Tibbets piloted the plane, Ferebee was bombardier, and Van Kirk navigated. When asked in 1995 if he would take part in the bombing again, Van Kirk replied, “Under the same circumstances -- and the key words are 'the same circumstances' -- yes, I would do it again. We were in a war for five years. We were fighting an enemy that had a reputation for never surrendering, never accepting defeat. It's really hard to talk about morality and war in the same sentence.”

Van Kirk wrote a book, My True Course, in 2012, a biography about his life and the war. Van Kirk was well known on the aviation circuit, lecturing and signing books at air museums around the country.

Thomas Van Kirk died on July 28. He was 93-years-old. Van Kirk was buried in Riverview Cemetery in Northumberland, Pennsylvania.

August ~

Lauren Bacall

She was known for her sultry voice and those noir movies of the 1940s, many of which she appeared along side her husband, Humphrey Bogart. She was born Betty Joan Perske on September 16, 1924 in New York City. Her father was an alcoholic who abandoned the family when she was 6-years-old. Her mother changed their name to Bacall, her maiden name.

Bacall worked in the theatre as a model before being discovered in 1943 by the wife of a famous Hollywood producer. Bacall did a screen test and was encouraged to change her name to Lauren; something she never fully approved of. Her first film was To Have and Have Not with Humphrey Bogart when she was just 19-years-old.

The two fell in love during filming and Bogart divorced his wife.  Bogart and Bacall were married on May 21, 1945. Bacall did more movies including The Big Sleep (1946), where she established herself as the “femme fatale” character. She also starred in Dark Passages (1947) and Key Largo (1948), opposite Bogart. Bacall became selective of the films she did during the 1950s and developed a reputation for being “difficult.”

Bogart died in 1957 of lung cancer. Bacall rallied her career and took to the boards, appearing on Broadway in Goodbye, Charlie (1959),

Cactus Flower (1965) and Applause (1969). She married Jason Robards Jr. in 1961, but the couple divorced in 1969.

Bacall wrote her first biography, By Myself in 1978 where she described her life with Bogart and his difficult death. She wrote her second book, Now, in 1994. She appeared in a few films in the early 2000's but overall distained Hollywood. In 2005, she followed up with her third book, By Myself and Then Some.

Lauren Bacall died in Manhattan of a stroke on August 12: she was one of the last stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She was 89-years-old. Bacall was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California next to Bogie.

Robin Williams

He was known for his fast-paced humor and memorable television and film characters, and was, yet again, another comedian who left us too soon.

Robin McLaurin Williams was born on July 21, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois. Williams studied acting and attained a full scholarship to the Julliard School in 1973, which he attended with Christopher Reeve, Mandy Patinkin and William Hurt. Williams moved to California where he did stand-up comedy around San Franscisco and L.A. during the mid-1970s. He went on to do Inprov at LA Improv and The Roxy before being cast as a loveable alien in Mork and Mindy (1978 – 1982).

 

Williams was prolific in films, starring in close to 70 movies including, Popeye (1980), The World According to Garp (1982), Good Morning Vietnam (1987) Dead Poets Society (1989), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), The Birdcage (1996), One Hour Photo (2002) and Night at the Museum (2006 and 2014) He also voiced several film cartoon characters and did several HBO comedy specials.

Williams credited Jonathan Winters, Peter Sellers and Richard Pryor with influencing his style of comedy and delivery.  Throughout his life, Williams won an Academy Award, two Emmy’s, six Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild awards and five Grammy’s.

Robins Williams committed suicide on August 11 at his home in Paradise Cay, California. He was 63 years old. Williams was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the San Francisco Bay.

September ~

Joan Rivers

She was known as a sharp-talking comedian who appeared numerous times on The Tonight Show. Joan Rivers was born on June 8, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York.

Rivers began her career in theatre in the late 1950s, but her big break came when she appeared on The Tonight Show in 1965. Johnny Carson helped her develop her comedic style, and she went on to host a rival show, The Late Show with Joan Rivers; the first woman to host a late night network talk show.

Rivers went on to host other talk shows, did various

red-carpet interviews during award programs and starred in a reality show with her daughter Melissa Rivers called Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? Rivers was also known as a writer, producer and comedian.

Joan Rivers died on September 4 from cardiac arrest occurring during minor surgery. She was 81-years-old. Rivers was cremated and a private memorial service was held in Manhattan.

 

Bruce Morton

He was a life-long correspondent who reported on the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and the Watergate hearings for CBS News, and later for CNN.

Bruce Alexander Morton was born on October 28, 1930 in Norwalk, Connecticut but grew up in Chicago. Morton began working in television news in New York City in 1952. He joined ABC News in 1962 and was stationed in London.

In 1964 he joined CBS and worked from Washington, D.C. as a Congressional correspondent. From 1974 to 1977, Morton co-anchored the CBS Morning News with Hughes Rudd. Morton left CBS in 1993 to work at CNN, from which he retired from in 2006.

During his tenure in broadcast news, he won a Peabody Award in 1976 and a total of six Emmy Awards for news and documentaries.

Bruce Morton died on September 5 at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 83-years-old.

 
 

October ~

Paul Revere

He was the founder and keyboard player for an American rock band that was extremely popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Paul Revere Dick was born on January 7, 1938 in Harvard Nebraska. Revere formed a band, The Downbeats, which changed its name to Paul Revere and the Raiders in 1960 when they released their first album. The instrumental “Like, Long Hair” went to No. 38 on the Billboard chart and the group began appearing more in public. Revere became known as “the madman of rock and roll" for his outlandish Colonial costumes and performances on stage.

In 1965, the band moved to Los Angeles and began emulating the sounds of the British bands. They appeared on numerous TV shows including Dick Clark’s Where the Action Is, Happening ’68, The Ed Sullivan Show and It’s Happening. By the late 60’s, the band’s popularity was fading. Band member, Mark Lindsay took more control of the group’s sound, shortened the name to The Raiders and soon had them back on track, releasing their biggest hit Indian Reservation in 1971. But by the mid-70s, their sound was again out of style. Lindsey left the group to go solo, but Revere added more musicians and continued as an oldies act.

The 1980s and 90’s saw numerous groups revive old Raiders tunes, but the original band released few songs or albums. Paul Revere announced his retirement from the band in August 2014: the band now tours as Paul Revere’s Raiders.

Paul Revere died of cancer on October 4 at his home in Garden Valley, Idaho. He was 76 years old. Revere is buried in Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise, Idaho.

 

Ben Bradlee

He was the executive editor of The Washington Post who challenged the federal government over the right to publish the Pentagon Papers during the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s.

Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee was born on August 26, 1921 in Boston, Massachusetts. Bradlee grew up in a wealthy family and served as a naval communications officer during WWII. After the war, Bradlee worked for the Office of U.S. Information and Education Exchange – the federal propaganda unit.

In 1954, he began working for Newsweek in France but was forced to leave the country in 1957 after interviewing Algerian guerrillas. Bradlee was appointed executive editor of the Washington Post newspaper in 1965. He covered the presidential campaigns of John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. In fact, Bradlee and the Washington Post were the major forces behind demanding that the government publish the Pentagon Papers during the Nixon Administration. Bradlee backed reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward during their quest to find answers to the Watergate break-in, which eventually led to Nixon’s resignation as President of the United States.

Bradlee published his autobiography in 1995, A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures. He was interviewed extensively by PBS Newshour host, Jim Lehrer in 2005 for an hour-long documentary, which aired in June 2006.

Ben Bradlee died on October 21 of natural causes due to Alzheimer’s disease. He was 93-years-old. Bradlee is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

November ~

Marion Barry

Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. was born on March 6, 1936, the son of a sharecropper, in Itta Bena, Mississippi. Barry grew up in a segregate south and was well aware of racial divisions. During college, he became active with civil rights and joined the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and began leading sit-ins and marches around the South. While pursuing his doctorate degree, he was appointed leader of the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), a U.S. civil rights organization formed by students in the 1960s. In 1965, he moved to Washington, D.C. to found and manage an SNCC office.

In 1971, Barry ran as an at-large member of the D.C. Board of Education. He won and was soon appointed president of the board. In 1974, he was elected as an at-large member of the first elected Washington City Council, serving as chair of the D.C. Committee on Finance and Revenue.

Barry decided to run for mayor of the city in 1978 and won in a close contest. He went on to hold the position of Mayor from 1979 to 1991. He became known as a symbol of African-American political leadership. But in 1990, he did not seek re-election to a fourth term after his arrest for drug use. He served six months in a federal prison before being released in 1992. Two months later, Barry was running for a city council seat, which he won with 70% of the vote.

By 1994, Barry had once again won the mayoral race and held one more term as D.C. Mayor from 1995 to 1999. From 2002 to 2014, he was active on the D.C. Council. Many times, Barry’s foibles brought him to the front of media attention but he always bounced back.

Marion Barry died of cardiac arrest on November 23 at the United Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He was 78 years old. Barry is buried at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Mike Nichols

He was born Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky on November 6, 1931 in Berlin, Germany. His family escaped the Nazis and moved to New York City in 1939. Nichols became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. in 1944 and attended school in Manhattan. He attended the University of Chicago but dropped out to pursue acting. In 1955, he joined the Compass Players, the predecessor to Chicago’s Second City Improv troupe. He and Elaine May formed an Improv comedy team in 1958, performing satirical comedy in New York City and across the country. They went on to release three comedy albums, and in 1960 opened on Broadway in An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May. They broke up soon after but remained friends and appeared in several plays together.

During the 1960s, Nichols began directing plays. He won a Tony Award for his directing of Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite and The Graduate with a total of 9 Tony Awards, in all. Nichols moved from theatre to film, directing Catch-22, Silkwood, Working Girl, Primary Colors, and The Birdcage.  In all, he directed 27 theatre plays and 22 movies, winning 9 Tony Awards, 4 Drama Desk Awards, 7 Academy Awards and 17 Golden Globes for producing/directing.

Mike Nichols died on November 19 from a heart attack at his home in Manhattan. He was 83 years old.

 

December ~

Joe Cocker

John Robert (Joe) Cocker was born on May 20, 1944 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. He began singing in public at the age of 12 and in 1960 formed his first group, The Cavaliers. By 1961, Cocker had adopted a stage name, Vance Arnold, and started a new group: Vance Arnold and The Avengers. Cover songs and blues were their mainstay until Cocker did a solo album for Decca in 1964. When it flopped, Cocker dropped his stage name and formed a new group known as Joe Cocker’s Big Blues, but again had no luck gaining an audience for his music.

Cocker then formed The Grease Band in 1966, and his career took off. Their first single was Marjorine, but it was the rearrangement of a Beatles hit, I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends that made the Top Ten on the Billboard chart and eventually rose to the number one spot. But The Grease Band was short-lived; Cocker dissolved it in 1969 just before heading to America for a 48-city tour.

The U.S. tour included more than 30 musicians and the tour band was named Mad Dogs and Englishmen. The group recorded a live album and several songs made the Top Ten list in the U.S. But the travel was taking a toll on Cocker and family members requested that he return to England. It would be more than a dozen years before he hit his musical stride.

In 1982, Cocker recorded a duet with Jennifer Warnes for the soundtrack of the 1982 film An Officer and A Gentleman. Up Where We Belong was an international hit and the duo won a Grammy and an Academy Award for the song. Cocker was now turning out number one hits and recording movie soundtracks. He had made a name for himself as a rock/blues singer and would go on to record more than 40 albums in his lifetime.

Joe Cocker died December 22 of lung cancer in Crawford, Colorado. He was 70 years old.

Luise Rainer

She was the first actor to win Oscars back-to-back during the Golden Age of Hollywood films: Luise Rainer was born on January 12, 1910 in Dusseldorf, Germany. In 1926, she auditioned for a play and was soon studying under the direction of Max Reinhardt.

She was “discovered” by MGM in 1934 and considered to be the next Greta Garbo. She appeared in her first film, Escapade in 1935. One year later, she received her first Oscar for The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Then in 1937, she received a second Oscar for The Good Earth making her the first actor to have been awarded an Academy Award in consecutive years. But Hollywood was not kind and Rainer left the film industry in 1938 after being considered for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind. All told, Rainer was in 13 films during her life, including The Gambler in 1997.

 

Rainer married American playwright Clifford Odets in 1937 and divorced three years later. In 1945, she married publisher Robert Knittel who died in 1989. Rainer has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and also on the Boulevard der Stars in Berlin, Germany.

Luise Rainer died December 30 from pneumonia in London. She was 104 years old.

 

Miss Me, But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me

I want no rites in a gloom filled room

Why cry for a soul set free

Miss me a little - but not too long

And not with your head bowed low

Remember the love that we once shared

Miss me - but let me go …

~ Anonymous

May 2015 bring you happiness, health, wealth and wisdom!

~ Joy

Remembering Those Who Passed in 2014 – Part 1

It seems that I just wrote this column for 2013 a few months ago – Amazing how quickly time passes, and with it so many who influenced us and left their imprint on the world …

January ~

Russell Johnson

You may not remember the name but if you’re over the age of 40 you will probably remember “The Professor” on Gilligan’s Island – Russell Johnson.

 

Johnson was born on November 10, 1924 in Pennsylvania.  After high school he served as a second lieutenant and flew 44 combat missions in the Pacific Theatre during World War II as a bombardier aboard a B-24 Liberator.

After the war, Johnson studied acting at the Actors’ Lab in Hollywood and began his acting career in 1952, taking movie roles that were mainly in westerns. He played opposite Audie Murphy, (a personal friend), Ronald Reagan, William Shatner, and June Allison. Johnson then moved into the science fiction television genre appearing in The Twilight Zone and Outer Limits episodes. 

From 1964 to 1967, Johnson played the part of Professor Roy Hinkley, an amazing inventor who sailed into fame aboard the S.S. Minnow to Gilligan’s Island. (Although Johnson’s character was great at building inventions; he could not, as Johnson once pointed out, fix the hole in the boat.) After the show ended, Johnson appeared in The Big Valley, Lassie,

That Girl, and Gunsmoke. In the 1980s he made regular appearances on the TV show Dallas and the soap opera Santa Barbara.

Russell Johnson died on January 16 of kidney failure at his home in Bainbridge Island, Washington. He was 89 years old.

Ruth Duccini

The last of the original female Munchkins from the movie, The Wizard of Oz died in January. Ruth Robinson Duccini was born in Rush City, Minnesota on July 23, 1918. Duccini was cast in the movie after arriving in California with a troupe of dwarfs. She later met her husband, Fred Duccini while working at MGM.

Duccini told reporters that she was proudest of her work at the Douglas Aircraft Factory during WWII. Because of her size, she could fit into tight places and became one of the thousands of Rosie the Riveters who worked at defense plants around the country. Duccini went on to act in the 1981 movie, Under the Rainbow and Memories of Oz in 2001.

Duccini died on January 16 in Las Vegas from natural causes. She was 95 years old. She is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Prescot, Arizona. (Only one Munchkin remains; Jerry Maren who played a member of the Lollipop Gang. On January 24, 2015, he will turn 95 years old.)

February ~

Shirley Temple

Although she did many things during her adult life including a stint as a U.S. Ambassador and U.S. Representative at the United Nations General Assembly; Shirley Temple Black was best known as the perky child with the blond curls who could sing and dance her way into your heart.

Born April 23, 1928, Shirley Temple began acting when she was three-years-old. She was Hollywood’s number one box office star from 1935 through 1938 with Curly Top, Bright Eyes and Heidi. She was considered “the nation’s greatest weapon against the Depression.” Once she became a teen, her film popularity waned and by 1950 she had retired from the industry – at the age of 22.

Temple married for the first time in 1945 and had a daughter, but divorced in 1949 and regained her maiden name. Then in 1950, she met Charles Alden Black, a WWII Navy intelligence officer and a well-to-do California resident. The couple had two children and had been married for 54 years until Mr. Black’s death in 2005.

Temple Black began her diplomatic career in 1969 as a representative at a United Nations General Assembly session. She served a U.S. Ambassador to Ghana from 1974 to 1976 and as the first and only female U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992. She also served on several boards including the Walt Disney Company, Bank of America and the National Wildlife federation.

Shirley Temple Black died on February 10 at her home in Woodside, California. She was 85-years-old. Her remains were cremated and her ashes given to her family.

Harold Ramis

Here was a man who could make us laugh with his acting and his writing. Harold Ramis wrote some of the most popular comedies of all time: Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day and National Lampoon’s Animal House, to name a few.

Harold Ramis was born on November 21, 1944 in Chicago. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri he returned to Chicago and began writing for local newspapers, but comedy was in his blood and soon he was writing joke for Playboy Magazine.

He began studying with Second City’s Improv comedy troupe. He left for a while and was replaced by John Belushi. Ramis returned and by 1974 he, Belushi, Bill Murray, Joe Flaherty, Gilda Radner and Christopher Guest were starring in The National Lampoon Show. Ramis went on to become head writer for SCTV from 1976 to 1979. During this time, he wrote National Lampoon’s Animal House. The film became the highest grossing comedy ever, bringing in over $141-million.

Ramis was known for his tongue-in-cheek view of corporate America. His love of Improv remained a part of his movies, which included his close friends and writing buddies, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. Ramis wrote, directed and/or performed in over thirty films.

Harold Ramis died on February 24 in Chicago of complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis. He was 69.

March ~

David Brenner

He was known as the pioneer of observational comedy – humor based on everyday events. But David Brenner not only did stand-up comedy, he wrote, produced or directed over 100 TV documentaries.

David Norris Brenner was born on February 4, 1936 to Jewish parents in Philadelphia. His father was a vaudeville comedian and Brenner followed in his footsteps when he began at the Improv in 1969.

He debuted on The Tonight Show in 1971 and continued to appear on the show over 150 times; Johnny Carson’s most frequent guest. Brenner also sat in the host’s chair 75 times between 1975 and 1984. In 1986, Brenner was given his own late-night talk show, but it lasted only one season.

Brenner had also headed up the documentary divisions for Westinghouse Broadcasting and Metromedia, writing, producing or directing 115 documentaries for television. He also write five books: Soft Pretzels With Mustard (1983), Revenge is the Best Exercise (1984), Nobody Ever Sees You Eat Tuna Fish (1986), If God Wanted Us to Travel... (1990), and I Think There's a Terrorist in My Soup: How to Survive Personal and World Problems with Laughter—Seriously (2003).

David Brenner died on March 15 at his home in Manhattan from cancer. He was 78. His final request was for $100 in small bills to be placed in his left sock "just in case tipping is recommended where I'm going."

Jeremiah Denton, Jr.

Jeremiah Denton, Jr. – It’s a name few of us recognize. But this was the first man to confirm that American POW’s were being subjected to horrendous abuse and torture in Vietnam.

Denton was born on July 15, 1924. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943 and graduated three years later. He was credited with developing the “Haystack Concept” strategy during the Cold War. This tactic provided a way to conceal aircraft carriers from radar by mixing them in with commercial ships.

Denton served as a naval aviator during the Vietnam War, commanding Attack Squadron  VA-75. Then on July 18, 1965 Commander Denton was leading 28 planes on a bombing mission when his plane was shot down over the city of Thanh Hoa. Denton and his navigator/bombardier, Lieutenant Bill Tschudy were taken prisoner by the North Vietnam.

Denton and Tschudy were held for eight years – four in solitary confinement. Then in 1966, Denton was forced to take part in a television press conference to supposedly show how American POWs were being treated. During that interview, Denton repeatedly blinked his eyes using Morse code to spell out T-O-R-T-U-R-E. This was the first time that officials were able to confirm that Americans were being abused by the North Vietnamese.

On February 12, 1973, Denton and Tschudy were both released along with other American POWs during Operation Homecoming. In 1974, Denton became the commandant of the Armed Forces Staff College and worked at the college until 1977 when he retired with the rank of Rear Admiral. In 1980, Denton ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate and won. He ran again in 1986 but lost his re-election bid.

Jeremiah Denton, Jr. died on March 28 from a heart ailment in Virginia Beach. He was 89-years-old. Denton is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

 

 

April ~

Mickey Rooney

A lifelong actor, he began performing before he was two-years-old with a career that spanned over 80 years. Mickey Rooney acted in Vaudeville, radio, Broadway, film and television making him one of the most popular celebrities of the 20^th century.

 

Mickey Rooney was born Joseph Yule, Jr. on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were both Vaudeville actors and Rooney became part of his parents act when he was 17-months–old. His first appearance in a film was in 1926 and the following year played the lead in the first Mickey McGuire film. It was during this time that he took the stage name of Mickey Rooney.

In 1937, Rooney played the part of Andy Hardy in A Family Affair, which led to another 20 films starring the character. He appeared with Judy Garland in Babes in Arms in 1939 and they went on to do several films together. Rooney also acted in dramas; his first was with Spencer Tracy in Boys Town in 1938 for which he won a Juvenile Academy Award.

As he became older, Rooney also acted in movies with Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Gleason and Anthony Quinn.  When his box office star began to fade, Rooney appeared in four television shows from 1954 to 1993.

Rooney was also known for his many marriages, eight in all. In 2011, Rooney filed elder abuse charges against his stepson Christopher Aber, and appeared before the Senate to speak out about senior abuse and what needs to be done.

Mickey Rooney died during his sleep on April 6 at the home of his son, Mark Rooney in Studio City, California. He was 93-years-old. Rooney is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Kevin Sharp

He was a country singer, a motivational speaker and a cancer survivor who lost his fight in 2014. Kevin Grant Sharp was born on December 10, 1970 in Redding California. He dreamed of becoming a singer when he grew up. As a teenager, he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and given little chance of surviving. Sharp underwent radiation treatments, which caused his hair to fall out and never grow back.

During this time, Sharp met record producer David Foster through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants the wishes to children and teens with life-threatening illnesses. After two years of treatments his cancer went into remission, and Sharp created a demo tape, which he sent to Foster.

By November 1996, Sharp released his debut album, Measure of a Man. His first hit, Nobody Knows went to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and stayed there for four weeks. Two other songs from the album, She’s Sure Taking It Well and If You Love Somebody both made it into the Top 5 Country Singles.

In 1997, Sharp was named New Touring Artist of the Year by the Country Music Association and nominated for the Top Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music. He also became a spokesperson for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and received the foundation’s Wish Granter of the Year award.

Sharp continued singing but also became a motivational speaker, telling of his battle with caner and how his dreams of being a country singer came true. In 2004, he wrote about his bout with cancer in the book, Tragedy’s Gift.

Kevin Sharp died on April 19 at his home in Fair Oaks, California from complications due to past surgeries. He was 43-years-old.

May ~

Jerry Vale

He was one of the popular crooners of the 1950s – Jerry Vale, (born Genaro Louis Vitaliano) began his career singing while shining shoes in New York City. He changed his name after high school and started landing supper club dates all around New York. Between 1955 and 1974, Vale released over 30 studio albums and had over 40 hits on the Hot 100 or Adult Contemporary charts.

Vale’s version of the Star-Spangled Banner, which was recorded in 1963, was played at sporting events around the country for years. He received a Gold Record award for this and frequently sang at Yankee Stadium games. He appeared in the movies Goodfellas, and Casino, playing himself. He also appeared on the TV series The Sopranos.

   

Jerry Vale died of natural causes on May 18 at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 83-years-old. He is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, California.

Maya Angelou

The terms poet, writer, actress and singer describe her just as well as civil rights activist, historian and public speaker do; Maya Angelou was born as Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St Louis.

Raised by her paternal grandmother, Marguerite learned about racial discrimination first-hand in Arkansas. She won a scholarship to the San Francisco Labor School where she studied dance and drama. A few weeks after graduating she gave birth to a son and found ways to support him while still performing and writing. In 1954, Angelou toured Europe with the opera production of Porgy and Bess. Then in 1958, she joined the Harlem Writer’s Guild and began writing her memoir, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Published in 1970, the book made the bestsellers list. She wrote over 30 books during her lifetime.

Angelou worked with Malcom X and Dr. Martin Luther King to advance the causes of Civil Rights. She served on two presidential committees, wrote and delivered the poem On the Pulse of the Morning at the inauguration of President Clinton, and penned Amazing Peace, a poem she wrote for George Bush in 2005. In 2010, President Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the country’s highest civilian honor.

Maya Angelou died on May 28 at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was 86-years-old. Angelou was cremated and her ashes scattered.

June ~

Ann B. Davis

She was another child star, beginning her acting career at the age of six. Ann B. Davis and her twin sister, Harriet were born on May 5, 1926 in Schenectady, New York.  She graduated college with a degree in drama and speech, and by 1953 was appearing on ABC’s Jukebox Jury television show.

In 1955, Davis was cast as Charmaine “Schultzy” Schultz, the secretary on The Bob Cummings Show where she stayed for four years: She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for two of those years. In 1960, Davis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

During the 1960s, she appeared on The John Forsythe Show and did numerous commercials for the Ford Motor Company. Then in 1969, she landed the role she would be best remembered for… Alice Nelson, the housekeeper on The Brady Bunch TV show. 

Davis appeared on the show from 1969 through 1974 and had cameo roles in all the Brady movies. In her later years, Davis took to the stage, performing in Arsenic and Old Lace and did a world-tour of Crazy for You.

Ann B. David died on June 1 at a hospital in San Antonia, Texas after sustaining a subdural hematoma from a fall. She was 88-years-old. Davis was buried at Saint Helena’s Columbarium and Memorial Gardens in Boerne, Texas.

 

Casey Kasem

He spent almost 60 years on the air as a disc jockey, voice actor and radio personality. Kemal Amen “Casey” Kasem was born on April 27, 1932 in Detroit, Michigan.

Kasem did his first radio show during high school and soon after began a professional career in broadcasting. After a suggestion from a general manager, Kasem changed his radio patter and began to intermingle tidbits about the artists during their music. He began supplementing his income by hosting dance hops at local TV stations and was "discovered" by Dick Clark.

Clark hired him to co-host a daily teen show in 1964. By the mid-1960s, he was appearing in guest roles on Hawaii Five-O and Ironside. By the end of the 1960s, Kasem was working as a voice-actor, voicing one of his most popular characters – Shaggy on the cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! He continued to voice Shaggy for over 40 years.

In 1970, he, along with three others, launched the weekly radio program American Top 40 – where he counted down from the #40 song of the week to #1 while mixing in dedications, trivia and history about the groups and singers. Kasem would voice the show for 18 years until 1988 when he left due to a contract dispute. Quick to bounce back, he signed a 15-million contract to host Casey’s Top 40 – a show he did for another ten years.

In 2013, it was reported that Kasem was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Due to family squabbles, which led to court orders, Kasem’s last year was controlled by fights between his wife, Jean Kasem and daughter Kerri, from his first marriage. On June 6, Kasem had to be removed from a hidden location in Washington State and taken to a hospital where he was admitted in critical but stable condition.

Casey Kasem died on June 15 at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington. He was 86-years-old. Kasem reportedly had requested to be buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale but his wife had his remains shipped to Canada and then, later to Oslo, Norway where he was buried at Western Cemetery on December 16, 2014.

Next week, we’ll conclude this look back at those who passed between July and December, 2014.

Here’s wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year!

~ Joy