Obituaries

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Rock drummer for some important acts, and TV/movie actor.


Mickey Jones (June 10, 1941 – February 7, 2018) was an American musician and actor. His career as a drummer had him backing up such artists and bands as Trini Lopez, Johnny Rivers, Bob Dylan, and Kenny Rogers and The First Edition. Jones had 17 gold records from his musical career of over two decades.[1] After the break-up of The First Edition in 1976, Jones concentrated on his career as a character actor, where he made many appearances on film and television.[2]

Much more here.


John Perry Barlow (October 3, 1947 – February 7, 2018) was an American poet and essayist, a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, and a cyberlibertarian[2] political activist who had been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He was also a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Freedom of the Press Foundation. He was Fellow Emeritus at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, where he had maintained an affiliation since 1998.[3]

Much more here.

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British astrophysicist, determined that supermassive black holes are at galactic centers

Donald Lynden-Bell CBE FRS (5 April 1935 – 5 February 2018) was a British theoretical astrophysicist. He was the first to determine that galaxies contain supermassive black holes at their centres, and that such black holes power quasars. Lynden-Bell was President of the Royal Astronomical Society (1985-87) and received numerous awards for his work, including the inaugural Kavli Prize for Astrophysics. He worked at the University of Cambridge for his entire career, where he was the first director of its Institute of Astronomy.


More here.

[beechnut79]

Just yesterday I learned of the passing of Lari White. Now a pretty much forgotten country singer, she had an impressive string of hits during the 1990s which included "Lead Me Not", "That's My Baby" and "Now I Know". She later turned her attention toward the gospel side of music. She was 52 and leaves behind a husband, songwriter Chuck Cannon, and three children. Cause of death was a rare form of cancer.

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Reginald Eurias Cathey[1][2][3] (August 18, 1958 – February 9, 2018) was an American actor of stage, film, and television.

He was best known for his roles as Norman Wilson in The Wire, Martin Querns in Oz, Dr. Franklin Storm in the 2015 reboot of Fantastic Four, and Freddy Hayes in House of Cards, the latter earning him three consecutive Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, including a win in 2015.[4]

More at Wikipedia


John Gavin (born Juan Vincent Apablasa; April 8, 1931 – February 9, 2018) was an American actor who was the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–86) and the President of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–73). He was best known for his performances in the films Imitation of Life (1959), Spartacus (1960), Psycho (1960), and Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), playing leading roles in a series of films for producer Ross Hunter.

Likewise.

Participant in the most famous game of water polo ever -- Hungary vs. the Soviet Union, 1956 Olympic Games:

István Hevesi (April 2, 1931 – February 9, 2018) was a Hungarian water polo player who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics and in the 1960 Summer Olympics.
He was born in Eger.

Hevesi was part of the Hungarian team which won the gold medal in the 1956 tournament. He played three matches.
Four years later he was a member of the Hungarian team which won the bronze medal in the 1960 Olympic tournament. He played five matches and scored one goal.

Of course.

[beechnut79]

Over the weekend I heard of the passing of another much forgotten lady of music. Jo Mapes, a fixture on the Chicago folk music circuit during the 1950s and 1960s who later sacrificed her career upon starting a family, died Feb. 2 at the age of 86. She was a regular performer at the Gate of Horn, a Chicago music club that spawned the likes of Bob Gibson and was also the writer of songs covered by the likes of the Monkees, the Association and Spanky and Our Gang. A fellow Chicago folk singer described her as not only a great entertainer but also at the time drop-dead gorgeous, sort of like Marilyn Monroe with a guitar.

Once she started her family, however, she pretty much withdrew from the scene and thereafter only performed occasionally. She also took a job as an entertainment writer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Was also once offered a gig but turned it down because she couldn't perform her own material. The gig went to Judy Collins. It was her unwillingness to sacrifice her family for her career which prevented her from becoming as big a name as Ms. Collins or Joan Baez.

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Crooner Vic Damone:

Vic Damone (June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop and big band singer, actor, radio and television presenter, and entertainer who is best known for his performances of songs such as "You're Breaking My Heart" (a number one hit), the number four hit "On the Street Where You Live" (from My Fair Lady), and "My Heart Cries for You" (also No. 4).[2]

Much more from Wikipedia.

Comedian Marty Allen:

Marty Allen (born Morton David Alpern; March 23, 1922 – February 12, 2018) was an American comedian, actor, and veteran of World War II. He worked as a comedy headliner in nightclubs, as a dramatic actor in television roles, and was once called "The Darling of Daytime TV". He also appeared in films.


More here.,
[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Damone#cite_note-2][/url]

[Eric the Green]

(02-13-2018, 04:09 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Crooner Vic Damone:

Vic Damone (June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop and big band singer, actor, radio and television presenter, and entertainer who is best known for his performances of songs such as "You're Breaking My Heart" (a number one hit), the number four hit "On the Street Where You Live" (from My Fair Lady), and "My Heart Cries for You" (also No. 4).[2]

Much more from Wikipedia.

Comedian Marty Allen:

Marty Allen (born Morton David Alpern; March 23, 1922 – February 12, 2018) was an American comedian, actor, and veteran of World War II. He worked as a comedy headliner in nightclubs, as a dramatic actor in television roles, and was once called "The Darling of Daytime TV". He also appeared in films.

[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Damone#cite_note-2][/url]

More here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Allen

I saw him recently in a re-run of Tattle Tales on Buzzr network

Familiar people. We'll miss you, and bon voyage into the next world and back.

[Eric the Green]

(02-13-2018, 11:24 AM)beechnut79 Wrote: Over the weekend I heard of the passing of another much forgotten lady of music. Jo Mapes, a fixture on the Chicago folk music circuit during the 1950s and 1960s who later sacrificed her career upon starting a family, died Feb. 2 at the age of 86. She was a regular performer at the Gate of Horn, a Chicago music club that spawned the likes of Bob Gibson and was also the writer of songs covered by the likes of the Monkees, the Association and Spanky and Our Gang. A fellow Chicago folk singer described her as not only a great entertainer but also at the time drop-dead gorgeous, sort of like Marilyn Monroe with a guitar.

Once she started her family, however, she pretty much withdrew from the scene and thereafter only performed occasionally. She also took a job as an entertainment writer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Was also once offered a gig but turned it down because she couldn't perform her own material. The gig went to Judy Collins. It was her unwillingness to sacrifice her family for her career which prevented her from becoming as big a name as Ms. Collins or Joan Baez.

You Were On My Mind cover
https://youtu.be/mWNAs9uKzBI

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Art Van Elslander, furniture retail magnate in Michigan:

Warren — Art Van Elslander built a furniture-store empire of 181 locations from a single store.
Known for his debonair style, the founder of Art Van Furniture was a philanthropist who gave millions to charities and causes, including collecting and hauling 3 million bottles of water to Flint. In 1990, he wrote a personal check for $200,000 to save Detroit’s Thanksgiving parade.

Archie “Art” Van Elslander died Monday after battling lung cancer for several months. He was 87.
The first store, known then as Art Van’s, opened in 1959 on Gratiot at 10 Mile in what is now Eastpointe. It has since grown from Michigan to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.

“He is a true icon in Michigan and Detroit,” Art Van Furniture CEO Kim Yost said Monday. “Every single award over six decades that was ever created (in the furniture industry), Mr. Van received. We see him as the king of Detroit. Let there be no mistake, whether it’s saving the parade, or giving back millions of dollars year after year to communities we’ve served, no one will leave a mark in terms of Detroit as he will.”

Yost, speaking Monday from Art Van’s flagship store in Warren, said until very recently he talked daily to “the chairman” on the phone — often shortly after Mr. Van Elslander had wrapped up his morning workout. He always asked “what was next” for the business. In an interview with The Detroit News in late November 2015, Mr. Van Elslander said he’d never retire.

“I don’t think I will,” he said then. “I think I’ll die in the saddle. When you’re having fun and really enjoying it, why on earth would you quit?”

Mr. Van Elslander sold the company in 2017 to a Boston-based private equity firm. After the sale, son Gary Van Elslander became Art Van Furniture’s president. Another son, David Van Elslander, became president of Art Van PureSleep. Both sons have since left the company.

His death comes as the furniture chain continues to expand into states throughout the Midwest and into Canada. Yost said the company will open its first store in Windsor this fall. Last week, the company opened five locations in Missouri and Illinois.

At the time of the sale, Art Van Elslander vowed he would continue his rich philanthropic heritage. He and his company have donated tens of millions of dollars to Michigan charities and causes.

In December, he donated $20 million to the Solanus Casey Center, a Catholic charity center in Detroit that’s named after the priest who is in the process of being canonized a saint. The donation paid homage to the friendship between Casey and Mr. Van Elslander’s father, a spokeswoman said.

The Van Elslander Family Foundation contributed the lead gift to support the expansion of St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit; that included naming rights to a new 144-bed patient tower known as Van Elslander Pavilion. The Mary Ann Van Elslander Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was named after his wife, Mary Ann, “for the family’s support and Mary Ann’s longtime volunteer commitment to the Special Care Nursery,” according to St. John Providence.

One campaign, the Art Van Charity Challenge, awarded $8 million across eight years to nonprofits in the areas where Art Van has furniture or PureSleep mattress stores.

Mr. Van Elslander is also the man known for saving America’s Thanksgiving Parade.
When the parade was in danger of shutting down because of shaky finances, Mr. Van Elslander stepped forward with his checkbook. A consistent corporate donor since then, his company became the main sponsor in 2013, picking up an annual tab well into six figures. Until 2015, Mr. Van Elslander himself rode in the procession. He ceded that role to sons Gary and David, who rolled down Woodward in convertible Mustangs, but he watched from an office building along the route.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement the city has lost one of its greatest supporters and philanthropists.
“Furniture may have been Art Van Elslander’s business, but Detroit always has been his heart,” Duggan said. “Art’s kindness and generosity seemed to have no limits. There will never be another ‘Art Van.’ He will be terribly missed and fondly remembered.”

Dan Loepp, chairman of the Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation, echoed that sentiment. The foundation stages the annual parade through downtown Detroit.

“Art Van was a true force in our community and we will greatly miss his tireless commitment to the parade and the many remarkable things he made possible throughout our region and state,” Loepp, who is also president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, said in a statement.


Tony Michaels, president and CEO of The Parade Company, which is the parade foundation’s marketing and operating division, also expressed the group’s condolences.

Wujek Calcaterra & Sons funeral home in Sterling Heights is handling the funeral arrangements, which had not been finalized by the family Monday night.

Mr. Van Elslander is survived by 10 children, 32 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

ithibodeau@detnews.com
Twitter: @Ian_Thibodeau
Staff Writers Neal Rubin and Maureen Feighan contributed.

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One  of the last surviving thespians from the silent-film era:

Lassie Lou Ahern (June 25, 1920 – February 15, 2018) was an American actress, best known for her recurring appearances in the Our Gang films.

Born in 1920 in Los Angeles, California, Lassie Lou Ahern was the daughter of Fred and Elizabeth Ahern, and was the third in a family of four children. Ahern got her acting career started in 1923 in the silent film The Call of the Wild, produced by Hal Roach. Also making her first screen appearance was her older sister Peggy Ahern.[1] It was the actor Will Rogers who recommended that Ahern's father put Ahern and her sister in show business. She went on appearing in many Our Gang films under the Hal Roach Studio, including Cradle Robbers, and was one of the last surviving Our Gang members.[2]

In 1927, another studio, Universal Studios, was in the process of making Uncle Tom's Cabin. Not satisfied with the boys who auditioned for the role as Little Harry, Ahern was contacted and requested to take the part. Her acting in the film turned out to be a success and she won the best reviews of her career. Despite this, her career as a child actress ended the same year, with Little Mickey Grogan being her last silent film and her only movie to feature her in a starring role (alongside Frankie Darro).[3] A crowdfunding campaign was started in 2016 to finance a restoration project for the film, following a similar campaign in 2015 to acquire a digital copy of Little Mickey Grogan in Paris.[4]

In 1932, she teamed up with her sister Peggy and started putting up performances that included dancing, singing, and playing instruments. The duo was billed as "The Ahern Sisters" and mostly appeared in nightclubs and hotels. Lassie later went on to work as a dance teacher at the Ashram Health Spa, where many known stars were students. During the 1970s, she made several guest appearances in television shows such as The Odd Couple.[5]

From Wikipedia.

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The first, most effective, and probably least-objectionable  of televangelists:


Billy Graham
1918 — 2018
Official Obituary

BILLY GRAHAM, EVANGELIST TO THE WORLD, DEAD AT AGE 99

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 21, 2018—Evangelist Billy Graham died today at 7:46 a.m. at his home in Montreat. He was 99.

Throughout his life, Billy Graham preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to some 215 million people who attended one of his more than 400 Crusades, simulcasts and evangelistic rallies in more than 185 countries and territories. He reached millions more through TV, video, film, the internet and 34 books.

Born Nov. 7, 1918, four days before the armistice ended World War I, William Franklin “Billy” Graham Jr. grew up during the Depression and developed a work ethic that would carry him through decades of ministry on six continents.

“I have one message: that Jesus Christ came, he died on a cross, he rose again, and he asked us to repent of our sins and receive him by faith as Lord and Savior, and if we do, we have forgiveness of all of our sins,” said Graham at his final Crusade in June 2005 at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York.

While Graham’s primary focus was to take this message to the world, he also provided spiritual counsel to presidents, championed desegregation, and was a voice of hope and guidance in times of trial. In 2001, he comforted his country and the world when he spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At three global conferences held in Amsterdam (1983, 1986, 2000), Graham gathered some 23,000 evangelists from 208 countries and territories to train them to carry the message of Jesus Christ around the world.

During the week of his 95th birthday in 2013, Graham delivered his final message via more than 480 television stations across the U.S. and Canada. More than 26,000 churches participated in this My Hope project, making it the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s largest evangelistic outreach ever in North America.


Graham, a country boy turned world evangelist, who prayed with every U.S. president from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama, was raised on a dairy farm in Charlotte. Back then, “Billy Frank,” as he was called, preferred baseball to religion. “I detested going to church,” he said when recalling his youth.

But in 1934, that changed. At a revival led by traveling evangelist Mordecai Fowler Ham, 15-year-old Graham committed his life to serving Jesus Christ. No one was more surprised than Graham himself.

“I was opposed to evangelism,” he said. “But finally, I was persuaded by a friend [to go to a meeting]…and the spirit of God began to speak to me as I went back night after night. One night, when the invitation was given to accept Jesus, I just said, ‘Lord, I’m going.’ I knew I was headed in a new direction.”

Several years later, Graham’s “new direction” led him to the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida), and later, Wheaton College in suburban Chicago, where he met fellow student Ruth McCue Bell, the daughter of medical missionaries in China. The couple graduated and married in the summer of 1943. Mr. and Mrs. Graham and their five children made their home in the mountains of North Carolina. They were married for 64 years before Ruth’s death in 2007.

After two years of traveling as a speaker for the Youth for Christ organization, Billy Graham held his first official evangelistic Crusade in 1947; but it was his 1949 Los Angeles Crusade that captured the nation’s attention. Originally scheduled to run for three weeks, the “tent meetings” were extended for a total of eight weeks as hundreds of thousands of men, women and children gathered to hear Graham’s messages.

On the heels of this campaign, Graham started the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which was incorporated in 1950. Since 2000, Graham’s son, Franklin, has led the Charlotte-based organization, which employs some 500 people worldwide.

Billy Graham may be best known, however, for his evangelistic missions or “Crusades.” He believed God knew no borders or nationalities. Throughout his career, Graham preached to millions in locations from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Zagorsk, Russia; and from Wellington, New Zealand to the National Cathedral in Washington. In 1973, Graham addressed more than one million people crowded into Yoido Plaza in Seoul, South Korea—the largest live audience of his Crusades.



Preaching in Johannesburg in 1973, Graham said, “Christ belongs to all people. He belongs to the whole world.…I reject any creed based on hate…Christianity is not a white man’s religion, and don’t let anybody ever tell you that it’s white or black.”

Graham spoke to people of all ethnicities, creeds and backgrounds. Early in his career, he denounced racism when desegregation was not popular. Before the U.S. Supreme Court banned discrimination on a racial basis, Graham held desegregated Crusades, even in the Deep South. He declined invitations to speak in South Africa for 20 years, choosing instead to wait until the meetings could be integrated. Integration occurred in 1973, and only then did Graham make the trip to South Africa.

A 1977 trip to communist-led Hungary opened doors for Graham to conduct preaching missions in virtually every country of the former Eastern Bloc (including the Soviet Union), as well as China and North Korea.

Graham authored 34 books, including his memoir, Just As I Am (Harper Collins, 1997), which remained on The New York Times best-seller list for 18 weeks.

In 1996, Graham and his wife, Ruth, received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award Congress can bestow on a private citizen. He was also listed by Gallup as one of the “Ten Most Admired Men” 61 times—including 55 consecutive years (except 1976, when the question was not asked). Graham was cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations and by the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith.

Throughout his life, Graham was faithful to his calling, which will be captured in the inscription to be placed on his grave marker: Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“There were a few times when I thought I was dying, and I saw my whole life come before me…” said Graham at his Cincinnati Crusade on June 24, 2002. “I didn’t say to the Lord, ‘I’m a preacher, and I’ve preached to many people.’ I said, ‘Oh Lord, I’m a sinner, and I still need Your forgiveness. I still need the cross.’ And I asked the Lord to give me peace in my heart, and He did—a wonderful peace that hasn’t left me.”

Billy Graham is survived by his sister Jean Ford; daughters Gigi, Anne and Ruth; sons Franklin and Ned; 19 grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren. His wife, Ruth, died June 14, 2007, at age 87, and is buried at the Billy Graham Library. A private funeral service is planned at the Billy Graham Library, on a date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the ongoing ministry of evangelism at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, online at BillyGraham.org or via mail, sent to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28201. Notes of remembrance can be posted at BillyGraham.org


The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is a nonprofit organization that directs a range of domestic and international ministries, including: Franklin Graham Festivals, Will Graham Celebrations, The Billy Graham Library, The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, SearchforJesus.net, the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team of crisis-trained chaplains, My Hope with Billy Graham TV ministry and others. Founded in 1950 by Billy Graham, the organization has been led by Franklin Graham since 2000. The ministry employs some 500 people worldwide and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, with additional offices in Australia, Canada, Germany and Great Britain.

https://memorial.billygraham.org/official-obituary/

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I am reminded that the journalistic magnate William Randolph Hearst once gave the message about a young pastor:

"Pump Graham."

[pbrower2a]

Actress Nannette Fabray

Nanette Fabray (born Ruby Bernadette Nanette Fabares; October 27, 1920 – February 22, 2018) was an American actress, singer and dancer. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and became a musical theatre actress during the 1940s and 1950s, winning a Tony Award in 1949 for her performance in Love Life. In the mid-1950s, she served as Sid Caesar's comedic partner on Caesar's Hour, for which she won three Emmy Awards, as well as co-starring with Fred Astaire in the film musical The Band Wagon. From 1979 to 1984, she appeared as Katherine Romano on the TV series One Day at a Time.

Fabray overcame a significant hearing impairment and was a long-time advocate for the rights of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Her honors for representing the handicapped included the President's Distinguished Service Award and the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award.

At the age of 19, Fabray made her feature film debut as one of Bette Davis's ladies-in-waiting in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939). She appeared in two additional motion pictures that year for Warner Bros., The Monroe Doctrine and A Child Is Born but was not signed to a long-term studio contract. She next appeared in the stage production Meet the People in Los Angeles in 1940, which then toured the United States in 1940–1941. In the show, she sang the opera aria "Caro nome" from Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto while tap dancing. During the show's New York run, Fabray was invited to perform the "Caro nome" number for a benefit at Madison Square Garden with Eleanor Roosevelt as the main speaker. Ed Sullivan was the master of ceremonies for the event and the famed host, reading a cue card, mispronounced her name as "Nanette Fa-bare-ass." After this embarrassing faux pas, the actress changed the spelling of her name from Fabares to Fabray.[3]

Artur Rodziński, conductor of the New York Philharmonic, saw Fabray's performance in Meet the People and offered to sponsor operatic vocal training for her at the Juilliard School. She studied opera at Juilliard with Lucia Dunham during the latter half of 1941 while performing in her first Broadway musical, Cole Porter's Let's Face It!, with Danny Kaye and Eve Arden.[4] She decided that she preferred musical theatre over opera and withdrew from the school after five months. She became a successful musical theatre actress in New York during the 1940s and early 1950s, starring in such productions as By Jupiter (1942), My Dear Public (1943), Jackpot (1944), Bloomer Girl (1946), High Button Shoes (1947), Arms and the Girl (1950), and Make a Wish (1951). In 1949, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Susan Cooper in the Kurt Weill/Alan Jay Lerner musical Love Life. She received a Tony nomination for her role as Nell Henderson in 1963 for Mr. President 1963 after an eleven-year absence from the New York stage.[3] Fabray continued to tour in musicals for many years, appearing in such shows as Wonderful Town and No, No, Nanette.

In the mid-1940s, Fabray worked regularly for NBC on a variety of programs in the Los Angeles area. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, she made her first high-profile national television appearances performing on a number of variety programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show, Texaco Star Theatre, and The Arthur Murray Party.
She also appeared on Your Show of Shows as a guest star opposite Sid Caesar. She appeared as a regular on Caesar's Hour from 1954 to 1956, winning three Emmys. Fabray left the show after a misunderstanding when her business manager, unbeknownst to her, made unreasonable demands for her third season contract. Fabray and Caesar did not reconcile until years later.

In 1961, Fabray starred in 26 episodes of Westinghouse Playhouse, a half-hour sitcom series that also was known as The Nanette Fabray Show and Yes, Yes Nanette.

Fabray appeared as the mother of the main character on several television series such as One Day at a Time, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Coach, where she played mother to real-life niece Shelley Fabares. Like her aunt, Shelley Fabares also appeared on One Day at a Time.

Fabray made 13 guest appearances on The Carol Burnett Show. She performed on multiple episodes of The Dean Martin Show, The Hollywood Palace, Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall and The Andy Williams Show. She was a panelist on 230 episodes of the long-running game show The Hollywood Squares as well as a mystery guest on What's My Line?
She appeared in guest-starring acting roles on Burke's Law, Love, American Style, Maude, The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote. On the PBS program Pioneers of Television: Sitcoms, Mary Tyler Moore credited Fabray with inspiring her trademark comedic crying technique.

In 1953, Fabray played her best-known screen role as a Betty Comden-like playwright in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical The Band Wagon with Fred Astaire and Jack Buchanan. The film featured Fabray, Astaire, and Buchanan performing the classic musical number "Triplets", which was included in That's Entertainment, Part II. Fabray's additional film credits include; The Subterraneans (1960), The Happy Ending (1969), Harper Valley PTA (1978), Amy (1981), and Teresa's Tattoo (1994).

Fabray's most recent work was in 2007, when she appeared in The Damsel Dialogues, an original revue by composer Dick DeBenedictis, with direction/choreography by Miriam Nelson. The show, which was performed at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, California, focused on women's issues with life, love, loss, and the workplace.

More at Wikipedia.

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Major criminal in Argentina's Dirty War:

Luciano Benjamín Menéndez (19 June 1927 – 27 February 2018) is a former Argentine general and convicted human rights violator and murderer. Commander of the Third Army Corps from 1975 to 1979, he played a prominent role as a murder of social activists.


As head of the III Army Corps, Menéndez supervised the operations of the 5th Mountain Infantry Brigade during Operativo Independencia against Marxist People's Revolutionary Army (Argentina) (Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, ERP) guerrillas in Tucumán Province. The Baltimore Sun reported at the time, "In the jungle-covered mountains of Tucuman, long known as "Argentina's garden," Argentines are fighting Argentines in a Vietnam-style civil war. So far, the outcome is in doubt. But there is no doubt about the seriousness of the combat, which involves 2,000 or so leftist guerrillas and perhaps as many as 10,000 soldiers."[1]

During last week of August 1975 he was instrumental in putting down the ERP-led armed uprising in the city of Córdoba aimed at stopping the deployment of the elite Córdoba based 4th Airborne Infantry Brigade in Tucumán province that resulted in the deaths of at least 5 policemen and practically the whole of the parachute brigade was called in to restore order and stand guard at strategic points around the city of Córdoba for the remainder of the year, after the bombing of the Córdoba city police headquarters and radio communications centre.[2] In all, 293 servicemen and policemen were killed combating left wing terrorism between 1975 and 1976.[3]
He ordered mass arrests of hundreds of trade union members, students, teachers, journalists and anyone else suspected of collaborating with left-wing guerrillas.Menendez summed up his feelings on the anti-guerrilla operations:

Quote:"We have to act drastically. Operacion Independencia can't just consist of a roundup of political prisoners, because the army can't risk the lives of its men and lay its prestige on the line simply to act as a kind of police force that ends up by turning over X-number of political prisoners to some timorous judge... who will apply lenient punishment which in turn will be cancelled out by amnesties granted by ambitious politicians courting popularity. We're at war, and war obeys another law: he who wipes out the other side wins." [4]

Justice Minister Ricardo Gil Lavedra, who formed part of the 1985 tribunal judging the military crimes committed during the Dirty War would later go on record saying that "I sincerely believe that the majority of the victims of the illegal repression were guerrilla militants".[5]
He was briefly Federal Interventor (Receiver) of the important Province of Córdoba in 1975, and served as the Commander of the Third Army Corps from September 1975 until September 1979. He and was known for his aggressive and vulgar discourse against Chileans:

Quote:«Si nos dejan atacar a los chilotes, los corremos hasta la isla de Pascua, el brindis de fin de año lo hacemos en el Palacio La Moneda y después iremos a mear el champagne en el Pacífico» (Translation: «If they let us attack the Chileans, we'll chase them to Easter Island, we'll drink the New Year's Eve toast in the Palacio de La Moneda, and then we'll piss the champagne into the Pacific»).[6]

At the end of 1979 Major-General Menéndez was sacked as commander of the Cordoba-based Third Army Corps after a dispute over tactics against guerrillas. Menéndez said Lieutenant-General Roberto Eduardo Viola, the army chief, had failed to end left-wing subversion.[7] Menéndez's nephew, Mario Benjamín Menéndez, was the Commander of the Argentine troops during the 1982 Falklands War, and was the islands' military governor during the brief occupation.

..............

After the dictatorship ended in 1983, Menéndez (as a top officer) fell outside the purview of the Ley de Obediencia Debida ("Law of Due Obedience") and was accused of nearly 800 crimes. In 1988 he was indicted with 47 homicides, 76 instances of torture (4 of them followed by death) and 4 kidnappings of minors, but the Supreme Court voided most of the indictments as a result of the Ley de Punto Final ("Full Stop Law").[citation needed]

In 1990, days before his trial was to begin for the remaining accusations, President Carlos Menem pardoned him as well as more than 60 left-wing guerrillas.[8] In a televised address to the nation, Menem said, "I have signed the decrees so we may begin to rebuild the country in peace, in liberty and in justice ... We come from long and cruel confrontations. There was a wound to heal."[9] Lieutenant-General Félix Martín Bonnet, commander of the Argentine Army at the time, welcomed the pardons as an "inspiration of the armed forces, not only because those who had been their commanders were deprived of their freedom, but because many of their present members fought, and did so, in fulfillment of express orders."[10] In 1998 he assembled party, Nuevo Orden Republicano.

Menéndez was involved in the forced disappearance of several Italian citizens, and was indicted in Spain, from where judge Baltasar Garzón asked the Argentine authorities for his arrest. In 1998 a case involving 30 summary executions and murders of political prisoners was reopened against Menéndez, who was detained for a few days and refused to give a statement; he was later set free again.

The laws that had stopped the prosecution of crimes committed during the dictatorship (passed during the first years of democracy) were voided by the Argentine Supreme Court in June 2005[11] and repealed by Congress in 2006, and Menem's pardons were rescinded shortly afterwards. Menéndez was again brought before justice, this time accused of the kidnapping, torture and murder of four members of the Workers' Revolutionary Party. In the trial that ended on 24 July 2008, he was found guilty and sentenced to a life sentence, to be served in a regular prison.[12]

In August 2008, Menéndez, along with fellow general Antonio Domingo Bussi, was found guilty of the forced disappearance and murder of politician Guillermo Vargas Aignasse and sentenced to a further life sentence.[13]

According to the Human Rights NGO, "Project Disappeared," he personally supervised and directed torture and executions. He was responsible for the camp of "La Perla" (located in Córdoba), in which 2200 persons were killed. He was later indicted by Spanish Judge Baltazar Garzón, who issued an arrest warrant against him.[14]

Menéndez was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Tucumán Province Court of Appeals on August 28, 2008, on the charge of crimes against humanity.[15]“We had to take action in the war started by the Marxist terrorists,” Menéndez said before sentencing. “No country has ever tried its armed forces for what its government asked of it”, he added in his defence and in protest at the trials.[16]

On 4 July 2014 Menéndez and Luis Estrella were found guilty of ordering the murder of Enrique Angelelli, bishop of La Rioja, Argentina, in August 1976. He received an additional life sentence.[17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_Be...%C3%A9ndez

[Marypoza]

(05-12-2016, 02:07 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: William Joseph Schallert[1] (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in many films and in such television series as Perry Mason; The Smurfs; Jefferson Drum; Philip Marlowe; The Rat Patrol; Gunsmoke; Star Trek; The Patty Duke Show; 87th Precinct; The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis; The Waltons; Hawaii Five-O, Quincy, M.E.; The Partridge Family; Bonanza; Wanted: Dead or Alive; Leave It to Beaver; The Dick Van Dyke Show; Love, American Style; Get Smart; Lawman; Combat!; The Wild Wild West; and in later years, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Medium and True Blood.

As with many other character actors with long careers, Schallert's face was more recognizable than his name.[2]

William "Bill" Schallert was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Edwin Francis Schallert, a longtime drama critic for the Los Angeles Times, and Elza Emily Schallert (née Baumgarten), a magazine writer and radio host.[1] He began acting while a student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and, in 1946, helped found the Circle Theatre with Sydney Chaplin and several fellow students. In 1948, Schallert was directed by Sydney's father, Charlie Chaplin, in a staging of Somerset Maugham's Rain.[3]

Schallert appeared in supporting roles on numerous television programs since the early 1950s, including four episodes (and three different characters) in Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre between 1958 and 1961. He was in Gunsmoke (season 3, episode 16 "Twelfth Night") in 1957 and (season 4, episode 16 "Gypsum Hills Feud") in 1958 and The Partridge Family, as a very humble folk-singing guitar player with "Stage Fright", in 1971. He appeared three times as Major Karl Richmond on NBC's Steve Canyon, starring Dean Fredericks in the title role.
Schallert also appeared in several movies. One of his early cinematic roles was a brief uncredited performance as a police detective in The Reckless Moment (1949) with Joan Bennett and James Mason. He had roles in The Man from Planet X (1951) with Robert Clarke, The Tarnished Angels (1958) with Robert Stack, Blue Denim (1959) with Brandon deWilde, Pillow Talk (1959) with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, Speedway (1968) with Elvis Presley, The Jerk (1979) with Steve Martin, Teachers (1984) with Nick Nolte, and Innerspace (1987), in which he played Martin Short's doctor. Schallert also played (uncredited) an ambulance attendant in the early minutes of the 1950s sci-fi classic, Them! (1954). He was a founding member of the Circle Players at The Circle Theatre, started in 1946, now known as El centro theatre.

Schallert starred in Philbert, an innovative 1964 TV pilot for ABC, which combined live action camera work and animation. Created by Warner Brothers animator Friz Freleng and directed by Richard Donner, ABC backed out of the series shortly before full production was to begin, though the completed pilot was released in theaters by Warner Brothers as a short subject.
Schallert was probably best known as Martin Lane on The Patty Duke Show. He also appeared as a wise teacher, Mr. Leander Pomfritt, on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and as The Admiral on Get Smart. On the two former shows he worked opposite actress Jean Byron. Schallert made three guest appearances on CBS's Perry Mason between 1957–1962, including the role of Donald Graves in the series' fifth episode, "The Case of the Sulky Girl", and Dr. Bradbury in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Misguided Missile". He played the role of Nilz Baris in the Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles", and much later in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Sanctuary", in which he played Varani, a Bajoran musician.
Schallert played the role of Carson Drew in the television series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977–1979), featuring Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew.

In addition to his onscreen performances, Schallert did voiceover work for numerous television and radio commercials over the years. Among these were a recurring role as "Milton the Toaster" in animated commercials for Kellogg's Pop-Tarts.[4]
Schallert had the rare distinction of appearing in both the original movie version of In the Heat of the Night (1967) and the later NBC TV version in 1992. In 2004, TV Guide recognized Schallert's portrayal of Martin Lane on The Patty Duke Show as No. 39 on its list of "50 Greatest TV Dads."[5]

Schallert served as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) from 1979 to 1981, and afterwards remained active in SAG projects, including serving as a Trustee of the SAG Pension and Health Plans since 1983, and of the Motion Picture and Television Fund since 1977. (His former co-star and television daughter, Patty Duke, also served as SAG president from 1985 to 1988.) During Schallert's tenure as SAG President, he founded the Committee for Performers with Disabilities, and in 1993, he was awarded the Ralph Morgan Award for service to the Guild.

Schallert continued to work steadily as an actor in later life, appearing in a 2008 episode of How I Met Your Mother, the HBO television movie Recount (2008) as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, the HBO series True Blood and his distinctive voice continues to bring him work for commercial and animation voiceovers. 2009 appearances included a guest role on Desperate Housewives on March 15, 2009, in which he played the role of a small newspaper editor, and he also appeared in an episode of According to Jim. More recently, he appeared in the January 21, 2010 pilot episode of The Deep End on ABC as a retiring CEO with Alzheimer's Disease. He also made an appearance on Medium on the February 5, 2010 episode and a cameo on the June 26, 2011 season premiere of True Blood as the Mayor of Bon Temps. He played Max Devore, a secondary antagonist, in the A&E adaptation of Bag of Bones.

In 2010, Schallert made a series of Public Service Announcement videos with Patty Duke and other castmates from The Patty Duke Show for the Social Security Administration, which can be found at http://www.ssa.gov.[6] His last television appearance came in 2014 on an episode of the sitcom 2 Broke Girls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Schallert

-- l remrmber him as Patty Duke's Dad. She's dead too

[pbrower2a]

Please pardon me for this personal swipe at the President.

Arch-hypocrite President Trump is now giving an address on Billy Graham at the great evangelist's state funeral. Yes, Billy Graham did attend a Billy Graham attended a Billy Graham crusade while he was young. He praised Billy Graham for getting large crowds to see him at such venues as the old Yankee Stadium. He said more about Billy Graham being an American than about any influence upon the President's faith.

Donald Trump is simply a nominal Christian, the sort who magically becomes a Christian when the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are around but seems to love the sermon but go back to his money-grubbing, grandiose ego trips, and crass hedonism. It is not the fault of Billy Graham.

I think that most of us would concur that the best thing that he could do for himself and America, in view of the culture that he is part of, would be to commit his life to Jesus as Billy Graham called nominal Christians like him to do and so conduct his life. Not one depravity of this President is "Christian".

[pbrower2a]

Human-rights advocate in China.


Li Boguang (Chinese: 李柏光; pinyin: Lǐ Bóguāng; October 1968 – 26 February 2018) was a Chinese legal scholar and human rights activist. In his capacity as the director of the Quimin Research Institute in Beijing,[4] Li supported farmers in seeking compensation for confiscated farmland. He was arrested in 2004 following his involvement in the Tangshan protest, which led to international attention being paid to his plight by human rights groups.[5]

Li was the victim of a physical assault in 2016.[6] He died in February 2018, with the Chinese government attributing his death to liver disease.[7]* This provoked controversy, with media outlets considering his demise to be "suspicious",[2][8][9] given the Chinese government's track record on human rights.[1]

Li studied Philosophy, Politics and Law at university, obtaining his Masters and Doctoral degrees from Peking University. In 1997, he became Professor of Law at Hainan University, but lost the role after being arrested the following year.[3]

Li became known to the international community in 2004 as a result of his efforts to promote the rights of farmers in the Tangshan protest. Along with Yu Meisun and Zhao Yan, Li provided an advice to the farmers in Hebei Province who were resettled to make way for the Taolinkou reservoir, some 100 km (62 mi) east of Beijing. The farmers asserted that their compensation was not received as a result of corruption and misappropriation by officials from the local Government.[10] Led by Zhang Youren, a peasant activist, more than 11,000 displaced farmers signed a petition calling for the dismissal of the Municipal Party Secretary, Zhang He. Boguang aided the peasants in the organisation of the protest, gaining him international attention, and resulting in his arrest[11]. However, he was subsequently released.[11] As a direct result of the Tangshan Protest Zhang Youren was detained, and a crackdown on rights activists was instigated by the authorities.[12][13]

In the same year, Li published an article which examined the impact of corruption on the lives of farmers. The article, entitled "Can Citizens Dismiss a Mayor" was published in Modern Civilisation Pictorial, No 12.[14] Reportedly, Li Boguang also advised farmers in Fu’an, a coastal city in the North of Fujian Province. Once again, farmers sought to create and deliver a petition to the central government regarding a land dispute.[15]

A hallmark of the protests in both Fujian and Hebei was the immense pressure that was put on villagers by the police force to denounce Li Boguang and his fellow activists.[16] This culminated in December, 2004, when Li was arrested by the police in Fu’an. He was charged with defrauding farmers.[17] Police reportedly searched his home in Beijing, confiscating computers and documents.
In March 2005, AFP reported that Li had been released on condition that he remain in Beijing and have no contact with farmers or others seeking to petition the government about abuses by local officials.[18][19] The actual date of release was later reported as 21 January.[20]

There have been claims that Li was affiliated with the Fangzhou Congregation, a Chinese house church situated in Beijing's Chaoyang district.[21] Other members of the influential church include Gao Zhisheng and Yu Jie, founder of the Chinese branch of International PEN.[22] He also defended multiple Christians who had been arrested by the government, protecting them from perceived persecution.[23]

Li Boguang's death was reported by the Chinese government on 26 February 2018, with the cause of death attributed to liver disease.[7]
However, this description courted controversy, with activists and media outlets alike considering his demise to be "suspicious",[9] and allegations that the government report was not credible. Bob Fu, president of China Aid, demanded that the Chinese government provide a transparent account of Li's death.[2] Christian Solidarity Worldwide also considered the death to be "suspicious", and refuted the official account as Li's health was very good prior to his death.[24] The death served to return attention to China's human rights record and the welfare of those who oppose the authorities.[25] The government's treatment of Li was already under scrutiny following the assault perpetrated by men with alleged ties to the Communist Party of China in 2016,[6] and further threats which had allegedly been levied against him.[9]

International commentators remarked on the similarity between Li's death and that of Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo in 2017.[26]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Boguang

*Liver cancer is rare except among alcoholics. Alcoholism is rare in China. My comment.
[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Boguang#cite_note-26][/url]

[pbrower2a]

Composer of The Fantasticks, Harvey Schmidt

Harvey Lester Schmidt (September 12, 1929 – February 28, 2018) was an American composer for musical theatre and illustrator. He was best known for composing the music for the longest running musical in history, The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway for 42 years from 1960 - 2002.

Schmidt was born in Dallas, Texas. He attended the University of Texas to study art, but when he met Tom Jones* at the University he started to accompany the drama student on the piano. They soon started writing musicals together, the first being a revue. However, after serving in the Army, Schmidt moved to New York and worked as a graphic artist for NBC Television and later as an illustrator for Life, Harper's Bazaar, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune.[1][2]

All of Schmidt's major musicals were written with lyricist Tom Jones. The work the duo is known for is the musical The Fantasticks which ran off-Broadway from 1960 - 2002 for a total of 17,162 performances. He also collaborated on the 1995 feature film adaptation. In 1992 he received the Tony Award, Tony Honor for "The Fantasticks," then in its 33rd year.

The team followed with the Broadway musical 110 in the Shade in 1963, which ran for 330 performances on Broadway and earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Composer and Lyricist for Schmidt and Jones. I Do! I Do! followed in 1966, which brought Mary Martin and Robert Preston to the Broadway stage in a 2-person musical and ran for 560 performances. Jones and Schmidt were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist and Best Musical.

They both appeared in a revue of their songs, The Show Goes On, at the York Theatre Company in 1997. The run was extended several times and the show was recorded on the DRG label.
Schmidt was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

His recording, Harvey Schmidt plays Jones and Schmidt was released in 2005.[3]
Schmidt and Jones wrote a musical of Thornton Wilder's Our Town and it took them thirteen years to write, only to have the rights pulled by Wilder's nephew.[4]

Schmdt and Jones were both inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in July 2012.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Schmidt

*Not to be confused with the singer Tom Jones

[pbrower2a]

William H.T. “Bucky” Bush, a wealthy investor and the brother and uncle of presidents, died Feb. 28 at his home in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 79.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush ( R ) confirmed his uncle’s death but did not describe the cause.

“Bucky” Bush, the brother of President George H.W. Bush, uncle of President George W. Bush and youngest son of Sen. Prescott S. Bush of Connecticut, was also active in Republican politics. He chaired his nephew’s presidential reelection campaign in Missouri. At the time, he recounted that he used to babysit the future 43rd president of the United States.

Mr. Bush also was co-founder and chairman of Bush O’Donnell Investment Advisors in St. Louis. Before that, he was president of Boatmen’s National Bank of St. Louis. He also served on the boards of corporations and foundations, including WellPoint Inc., now Anthem, the parent company of multiple Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurers.

At one WellPoint board meeting in 2010, Mr. Bush collapsed, bringing an abrupt end to a consumer campaign against insurance premium hikes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obi...03338ffe7b

[pbrower2a]

A fine conductor.


Jesús López Cobos (25 February 1940 – 2 March 2018) was a Spanish conductor.[1][2]


López Cobos was born in Toro, Zamora, Spain. He studied at Complutense University of Madrid and graduated with a degree in philosophy. Later he studied conducting with Franco Ferrara and with Hans Swarowsky at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

From 1981 to 1990 he was general music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and from 1984 to 1988 he was music director of the Orquesta Nacional de España. From 1986 to 2001 he served as music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and from 1990 to 2000 he was principal conductor of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. From 2003 to 2010 he served as music director of the Teatro Real in Madrid.[3] He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.[4]

López Cobos died in Berlin, Germany, on 2 March 2018, age 78 of cancer-related causes.