DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

He did radio commercials for the Zayre chain of discount department stores for years in New England. If you listened to Red Sox games on the radio in the '70s, you knew him even if you had no idea who he was.

It's hard to believe Alex Trebek had hosted "Jeopardy" for that long. I still think of him as "the new guy" that replaced Art Fleming.

And Geoffrey Palmer, for me, will always be Reggie Perrin's dimwit brother-in-law. "Bit of a cockup on the catering front..."

 

I've been known to say that it sometimes seems as if there are only about 27 actors in the U.K. and five of them are Olivia Colman. He was another two or three.

 

I have been telling my wife for years there are precisely 25 actors of each sex in the UK. Glad to know I am not the only one to have noticed this!

 

Indubitably.

 

Diego Armando Maradona, probably the best football (and not soccer...) player ever. I wasn't born when Pele was at his prime, but I was lucky enough to admire the legend Maradona.

 

The good news is that they are all excellent performers and put much of Hollywood to shame. Britain produces actors, Hollywood produces celebrities (they may begin as decent actors but soon devolve into celebrityhood.)

 

I was reminded of this:

 

David Prowse, the guy who was inside the Darth Vader suit:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/n...rs-man-behind-darth-vader-mask-was-85-1161826

 

I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Prowse at a convention here in southern California some time around 1990 give-or-take. Return of the Jedi had been out of the theaters for a while and The Phantom Menace hadn't yet been announced, so Mr. Prowse was relegated to a table in a rather empty back room of the center where no one but me seemed to even notice him. Despite his displeasure with Lucasfilm (and George Lucas in particular) over his specific lack of Star Wars publicity, he couldn't have been nicer to everyone he spoke with and seemed to have a good-natured sense of humor. Normally I would think 85 years was a "good run" but, based on that encounter, I got the sense that he wasn't someone who would generally be described as a "happy" man. Rest in peace Mr. Prowse, and thank you.

 

Longtime Tyler Paper columnist Walter E. Williams dies at 83

https://tylerpaper.com/news/local/l...cle_1f8fb7dc-34cd-11eb-9892-23bfeff07033.html

 

Professor Williams was one of my big formative influences on politics and philosophy.

Vaya con Dios, Doc...

 

Mine too.

 

In our travels in Europe/Gr Britain I convinced my wife we had to attend soccer matches for cultural reasons.....she thought I was selling her a bill of good except watching the fans was usually more entertaining than the match itself and she learned to enjoy going.

 

Not really a star, although.................Ancient (in every sense of the term)French president (1974 - 1981) Valery Giscard d'Estaing, has died from complications of COVID-19 aged 94.
Some may remember back in 2009, when the British monarchy was shaken by the revelation of a passionate love affair between himself & Lady Di in a novel he wrote entitled, The Princess & The President. Many took it for fact rather than fiction.



Au revoir Monsieur le President.

 

I had the pleasure of seeing him speak at the University of Dayton many moons ago. He was a very intelligent and interesting man, and very personable.

"A mugger and a politician are the same thing, but the thief won't bore you by explaining why they're taking your money."
-W. Williams

 

I heard about this in the most roundabout way. Hugh Keyes-Byrne, English-Australian actor best known outside Australia for being the baddie in two Mad Max films (first and fourth), died on December 1st, aged 73.

Photos to follow when I can.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Keays-Byrne

 

"GOODBYE"!

https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/enter...y-on-laverne-shirley-dies-at-age-73-1.5219165

Another piece of my childhood gone...

 

“It's hard to believe Alex Trebek had hosted "Jeopardy" for that long. I still think of him as "the new guy" that replaced Art Fleming.”

I have way too many moments like this nowadays. Moments that could be/should be posted in the “you Know You Are Getting Old When” thread.

 

You aren't alone. I thought the same thing until I saw some of the publicity photos of Mr. Trebek from his early Jeopardy days with the mustache and dark hair and remembered he'd been doing the show for quite a while.

 

General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager has passed away.