In Remembrance...2008

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TV and literary critic John Leonard, who Kurt Vonnegut once called "the smartest man who ever lived", died Wednesday from complications of lung cancer. He was 69.

 

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Native American ballerina Rosella Hightower died November 4 after a stroke. She was 88.

 

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South African singer Miriam Makeba died today after collapsing on stage. She was 76.

 

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Yep. Welcome to MichaelCrichton.com

That's sad. He will be missed.

 

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American stage actor Michael Higgins, best known for playing Frank Strang in the original production of Equus, died November 5 of heart failure. He was 88.

Higgins won two Obie awards (for The Crucible and Reunion) and appeared in a few films, including The Stepford Wives.

 

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Mitch Mitchell, drummer and last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was found dead. He was 61.

 

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Paula Goodspeed, an American Idol contestant, was found dead outside Paula Abdul's apartment, apparently a suicide. She was 30.

 

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Howard Reig, the longtime announcer for NBC Nightly News, died yesterday. He was 87.

Reig also worked as a radio actor and did voiceovers for commercials.

 

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Reg Varney, best known for playing Stan Butler on the British sitcom On the Buses, died yesterday. He was 92.

Varney was also the first person to use an ATM.

 

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Comedy scriptwriter Irving Brecher died Monday. He was 94.

Brecher wrote for Milton Berle and the Marx Brothers among others. He created the long running radio series The Life of Riley and was nominated for an Oscar for writing Meet Me In Saint Louis.

His autobiography The Wicked Wit of the West, is due to come out early next year.