Dead Celebs - 2003

[William Ronald]

A supposedly true story from a friend's mom.

A 12 year old girl somehow gets backstage at one of Katherine Hepburn's plays and runs into her. (I think the girl accidentally opened a dressing room door.) The actress said, "Who the hell are you?"

It has been a while since I heard the story, so I am probably leaving some details out.

A lot of good people have passed on of late. Katherine Hepburn and Gregory Peck were great actors, who were also remarkable human beings with strength and dignity. I fear it will be a long time before we see their like again.

If I recall correctly, Gregory Peck's first film was a WWII propaganda piece about heroic Soviet resistance fighters. Even in that film, you could see the seed of his later performances.


Sad to here about William Marshall. I remember seeing the first Blacula film and thought that the ending was perfectly logical for the character and the movie. (I try to avoid spoilers.) I had no idea that he was on Pee-Wee's playhouse.

 

[Jamdin]

And Buddy Ebsen died on Sunday, June 6th.

Good night Jed Clampett & Barnaby Jones

 

[Celtavian]

re

It's going to be hard watching a whole generation of great performers and people in general die. We're going to have to watch this many times in our lives.

All the great actors and performers I enjoyed watching while growing up have gotten old. I don't know if I'm crotchety, but it doesn't seem like the up and coming talent can hold a torch to the people we are losing and will lose soon enough. It's a shame.

*lights a candle for those who have passed on*

May they rest in peace.

 

[Mark]

I remember someone saying (might have been Ebert) something along the lines that while we are growing up (no matter when) the film stars are our heroes, but the older we get, the more they are our peers, or younger, and no longer impress us in that manner.

We'll miss those who pass, but it is getting to be a long list of notables this year rather quickly.

Still, lots of good talent out there, even if we do see it in a different light.

 

[Villano]

Holy Crap!

I just happen to do a search for a movie review and I hit a site with this bit of news I hadn't heard before:

ACTOR TREVOR GODDARD COMMITS SUICIDE

June 8, 2003: Muscleman actor Trevor Goddard, a former boxer who once had a recurring role on the TV series JAG and plays a pirate in the upcoming movie "Pirates of the Caribbean," died in an apparent suicide, investigators said Monday. He was 37. Goddard's body was found in his North Hollywood home on Sunday by a woman who also lived at the location, according to Officer Grace Brady, a police spokeswoman. Police said they could not disclose her relationship to Goddard. An autopsy was planned Monday but the death had already been classified as suicide with prescription drugs, said Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County coroner's office. Corral said Goddard was in the midst of a divorce and his estranged wife, Ruthann, was in San Francisco during the weekend. The couple has two young sons. Born in Perth, Australia, Goddard's work as a professional boxer led to an acting role in a beer commercial. From there he had a small role in the 1994 action film "MEN OF WAR" and played the martial-arts fighter Kano in 1995's_ MORTAL KOMBAT,_ based on the popular fighting video game. In 1998, Goddard began a recurring part on the military TV series JAG as Lt. Cmdr. Michael "Mic" Brumby, a role he played until 2001. Other film credits include 1998's DEEP RISING, an uncredited role in 2001's car-theft thriller GONE IN 60 SECONDS and the role of Grapple in Disney's 2003 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL. Unfortunately, he'll probably best be remembered for the commercial where he enters a kitchen after a kangaroo messes a woman's floor ands says, "I can clean that floor, mate!" Other roles on TV include guest starring on THE X-FILES, 18 WHEELS OF JUSTICE, NOWHERE MAN, SILK STALKINGS and others. He will be missed.

 

[Liquid Snake]

Cuban music legend Compay Segundo from "Buena Vista Social Club" died last Sunday.

And Cuban music icon Celia Cruz died today.

 

[Mark]

Originally from StarTrek.com

07.21.03 Matt Jefferies, Enterprise Designer, Dies at 82

Walter "Matt" Jefferies, the art director who designed the original U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 for Gene Roddenberry in the 1960's, passed away early this morning. He was 82. Exact cause of death is not known at this time, but Jefferies had been battling cancer, and had recently been given the all-clear by doctors.

His mark on the world is indelible; if ever a single image of a vessel can claim instant recognition throughout the world, it is the Starship Enterprise.

Obsessed with flight, Matt was a pilot who loved nothing more than the freedom that flight afforded oneself. To be in the air was his raison d'être and it fed his imagination which informed his later design work. In recent years, ill health and poor vision meant he was no longer able to partake in his favorite activity.

...as a pilot himself, I guess he used the call numbers from his own plane for the original ship...

 

[Richards]

I would imagine he was the inspiration for the "Jefferies tubes" on all Federation vessels.

Johnathan

 

[myrdden]

I would imagine he was the inspiration for the "Jefferies tubes" on all Federation vessels.

Johnathan

That is correct. It was a small homage to the designer of the original series Enterprise.

Myrdden

 

[mojo1701]

I always wondered why they were called 'Jeffries' tubes.

Anyway, being still a minor, I only saw Gregory Peck in one performance, and that was because we were reading the novel To Kill a Mockingbird in english class. He was great, and I feel that Atticus Finch really deserved being named #1 hero by the AFI.