MetaFilter posts tagged with obituary

Savant who inspired Rain Man dies

h0p3y — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:27:26 -0800

Kim Peek, who inspired the title character in the film Rain Man, has died.

And All Will Turn to Silver Glass

bearwife — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:38:23 -0800

Mexican modernist silversmith Antonio Pineda has died. Here are some samples of his work. A photo rich interview with him in Taxco dates from 2005.

Milorad Pavic, RIP

OmieWise — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:39:48 -0800

Milorad Pavic, 1929-2009

Girl, Interrupted

ocherdraco — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:12:28 -0800

Girl, Interrupted: The Life and Death of Brittany Murphy "Part of the shock surrounding Murphy's death is clearly related to her age, though it may also be attributed to the fact that Murphy has been in the public eye for over 15 years, starting out in Hollywood when she was 14... It's something we've watched progress this entire decade: young women who are held up as the next big thing (Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears) and then brushed aside or openly mocked after they no longer fit an expected mold. It is both a story of self-destruction and mass-destruction, the business of creating and destroying a star; sometimes it's caused by internal forces, and sometimes it's fed by the rest of the world."

Dan O'Bannon, gone to the great outerspace oil refinery in the sky

Artw — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:26:12 -0800

Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, probably best known for his work on Alien, as well numerous other science fiction films, has passed away age 63.

Roy E. Disney Has passed away.

Badgermann — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:48:24 -0800

Roy E. Disney, son of Disney Company co-founder Roy O. Disney and nephew of Walt Disney, and the last Disney family member actively involved with the company, passed away today from stomach cancer. While he worked for the Disney Corporation on and off over the course of his life, he produced some of the "True-Life Adventures", and heading the Disney Animation through a second golden age (Little Mermaid, Alladin, Beauty and the Beast, etc). He was also integral in replacing the head of the company not once (his cousin's husband and Walt's son-in law, Ron Miller in 1984), but twice (Michael Eisner in 2006, ironically, the person he helped install in 1984). For those of us born after Walt passed away in 1966, Roy's uncanny resemblance to his uncle helped created a public face to keep the Disney ideals alive for later generations.

Good Night and Joy be With You All

jeffen — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:38:50 -0800

Liam Clancy has died. Liam, last surviving member of the hugely popular Clancy Brothers, strongly influenced Bob Dylan but also became an interpreter of Dylan's work.

Abyssal chthonic resonator

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:59:19 -0800

RIP Robert Holdstock, writer of the Mythago Wood series and many other award winning fantasy novels.

The quiet goalkeeper: Robert Enke (1977-2009)

starzero — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:41:28 -0800

Yesterday evening, Robert Enke, goalkeeper of Germany's national soccer team, committed suicide. At a press conference today, his wife revealed, that he had been suffering from depression for 6 years and had been in therapy. He covered it up out of fear to lose custody of his adopted daughter and his career as a professional footballer. Despite being the favorite candidate for the goalkeeper position in the German national team at the upcoming World Cup 2010, Enke's hit several professional and personal setbacks in his life. The popular keeper was also a prominent supporter of animal rights and appeared in a PETA campaign. Enke is another recent victim of depression in German professional football, a condition that already forced Germany's rising star, Sebastian Deisler, to end his career in 2007. The Guardian's Raphael Honigstein reminds German football, that sometimes you cannot go back to business as usual and Sweden's retired Patrick Andersson writes a personal tribute to his friend and former teammate.

Armin Gessert passed away.

lundman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:03:36 -0800

Armin Gessert, the creator of the classic Giana Sisters game and more recently a remake on Nintendo DS no less, passed away (German) on Sunday Nov 9, 2009. Giana has quite the fan following, and has been ported to pc, 32k among others. Also, previously 1. Translated here: English

RIP Carl Ballantine

ObscureReferenceMan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:53:37 -0800

Carl Ballantine passed away at age 92. He was probably most famous for his role in McHales Navy. And with appearances in TV and movies too numerous to mention - a favorite of mine was a cute movie called "Just You and Me, Kid" (George Burns, and a young Brooke Shields) as Reinhoff the Remarkable. But I loved him as the bumbling magician, "Ballantine The Great" (I hope that YT link works - I'm at work and can't tell).

RIP Gerhardt 'Jerry' Fuchs

setanor — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:39:12 -0800

Gerhardt 'Jerry' Fuchs, drummer for the bands Maserati (video) and The Juan MacLean died last night of injuries sustained while trying to jump of a disabled elevator in Brooklyn following an event for The Uniform Project (previously).

RIP Brother Blue

alms — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:34:24 -0800

From the middle of the middle of me, to the middle of the middle of you, RIP Brother Blue, master storyteller, deep soul extraordinaire. Video: Brother Blue does King Lear. (5 minutes) Super BeLive! featuring Brother Blue, from Cambridge Community Access Television. (25 minutes)

Claude Lévi-Strauss est mort

wfitzgerald — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:16:06 -0800

Claude Lévi-Strauss has died just short of his 101st birthday. An anthropologist, and one of the founding "structuralists," he has been a strong influence in many fields, including anthropology, linguistics, sociology, literary criticism and philosophy.

Lawrence Halprin: July 1, 1916 - October 25, 2009

otherwordlyglow — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:58:30 -0800

Influential landscape architect Lawrence Halprin has died at the age of 93. "He was the single most influential landscape architect of the postwar years," said Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation. "He redefined the profession's role in cities." Noted projects include The Sea Ranch a 5,000-acre residential development on the coast of Sonoma county in northern California; Ghirardelli Square, the first major adaptive re-use project in the United States, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C; and a new trail from which to experience Yosemite Falls. He was truly a pioneer in his field. For a generation that often divided landscape practice into landscape art versus ecological design, Halprin’s works and his writings demonstrate how to link creative artistic impulses with the ecological sciences. He excelled at connecting phenomenological experience with environmental awareness and ethics. Halprin considered the design process as important as the end result. He analyzed user needs to create diagrams and designs. He developed a design methodology involving client and user in which their desires were synthesized into a final design statement. His work is archived at the University of Pennsylvania. His death at 93 ends a long, creative life that left a distinctive imprint across many landscapes.

Soup's Gone

wendell — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:01:54 -0800

Soupy Sales has died. Mark Evanier explained his appeal years ago, adding a bit more today. An entire live Soupy Sales Show from 1965 on YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3.In his honor, throw a pie or two (filled with shaving cream, of course, let's not waste food). [} [} [} I can't think of a better tribute than the fact that Soupy was name-checked in a movie review just last week: "(In 'Law Abiding Citizen', Gerald Butler's) impersonation of the tragic hero is undercut by his weird resemblance to Soupy Sales. You start hoping that Shelton will kill somebody with a custard (or puffer-fish) pie to the face."

Ludovic Kennedy, 1919-2009

Electric Dragon — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:29:08 -0800

Sir Ludovic Kennedy has died at the age of 89. Kennedy was a journalist, broadcaster and long standing campaigner against miscarriages of justice and the death penalty and for euthanasia. Kennedy's most famous investigation was into the 10 Rillington Place murders. Kennedy's book of that name showed up numerous flaws in the police inquiry and trial of Timothy Evans, which had led to Evans' conviction and execution. This work was highly significant in the halting and later the abolition of the death penalty in Britain. He was also active in investigating the miscarriages of justice related to IRA terrorism cases of the 70s and 80s: the Guildford Four, the Maguire Seven and the Birmingham Six. In later years, Kennedy was best known as a campaigner for the right to euthanasia, and chaired the Voluntary Euthanasia society (now Dignity In Dying). On the lighter side, he hosted a series of interviews with Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling (aka Peter Cook) called "A Life In Pieces", and interviewed Jim Hacker several times in "Yes Minister".

Captain Lou Albano, 1933-2009

not_on_display — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:06:28 -0800

Captain Lou Albano, legendary wrestler and entertainer, died today at the age of 76. He and Cyndi Lauper raised $4 million for Multiple Scleriosis causes, while at the same time ushering in the age of Rock and Wrestling. He was also Mario ... C'mon, let's do the Mario! Also, he was the only one on TV with a rubber band in his beard. Long Live the Captain!

Barry Letts (1925-2009)

feelinglistless — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:06:45 -0800

Barry Letts, classic Doctor Who producer, has died. Barry became producer of the programme in Jon Pertwee's first year and was then instrumental in casting Tom Baker as his replacement and Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith and co-created The Master. His contribution in terms of selecting talent and collaborators did much to define the legacy of the programme. This is a great loss.

A beetle in a model's ear. Photographer/artist Irving Penn has passed on.

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:22:23 -0800

"The quest to undercut fashion’s standards of perfection, and to find beauty in the disdained, overlooked or overripe, runs throughout Mr. Penn’s career. In an otherwise pristine still life of food, he included a house fly, and in a 1959 close-up, he placed a beetle in a model’s ear." So long, Irving Penn.

RIP, Mama

pazazygeek — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:23:58 -0800

Laura Mae Gross, founder and owner of Babe's and Ricky's Inn in Leimert Park (a gem of an artistic community in Los Angeles), died this past Saturday. Some consider Babe's and Ricky's Inn to be a well-kept Los Angeles secret, but their Monday Night Jam (and $10 soul food buffet) is famous and beloved by many. The songs on Babe's & Ricky's myspace page are presumably performed by the house bands, The Mighty Balls of Fire (Friday/Saturday nights) and Johnny Mastro & The Mama's Boys (Thursday nights). Whatever night you show up there, however, you're perfectly within your rights to expect to be blown away by a revolving cast of incredible blues musicians from all over Los Angeles doing their thang. Some come from nearby Watts and South Central, others from East LA, others from the valley, the westside, some from MUCH farther away. Their official website boasts having played host to music legends, the likes of B.B. King and Eric Clapton, but it's the local blues players (mavens and naifs alike) that make it the treasure that it is. Up until now, you could have also expected to see Laura Mae Gross, known to many as mama, at the door. I have a personal favorite memory of her: I went to Babe's and Ricky's one night on a date, at my suggestion. As a modern lady, I always rush to pay for myself (this has caused me some dating confusion, but I digress). I walked right up to mama and pulled out my wallet to pay the $10 cover, but she vehemently refused -- and insisted my date pay. Somehow this delighted the both of us and set the stage for a really lovely evening. Sometimes it's crowded, and sometimes it's nearly empty (you can see mama in the background at her regular spot by the door, eclipsed by the dancing couple, in that video), but the bands never disappoint. Mama will be missed terribly, I can only imagine how much by those that knew her, but even to nearly complete strangers like me.

R.I.P. Mercedes Sosa

lunit — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:44:06 -0800

Mercedes Sosa, a beloved Argentinian folk singer, passed away today. Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has ordered an official period of mourning. Known as the "voice of the voiceless ones" and affectionately as "La Negra", her music was deeply political. Over the course of her career, she produced over 70 albums and helped to popularize Nueva Canción (previously on Metafilter), a movement in Latin American music that combines folk music with contemporary influences and political lyrics.

Remember them all

Abiezer — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:54:52 -0800

Marek Edelman dies aged 90. A leader of the Jewish Fighting Organisation in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Dr. Edelman survived to later fight in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and in the post-war years was a key figure in preserving the memory of his fallen comrades-in-arms.

the girl with kaleidoscope eyes

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:52:30 -0800

Though many have long suspected that the title of John Lennon's Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds was a barely-concealed reference to the drug he was so fond of, Lennon himself always maintained otherwise, as in this interview with Dick Cavett, explaining that the inspiration for the fanciful name was from his son Julian, who'd brought him a drawing of his nursery school friend. That friend, one Lucy O'Donnell, just passed away.

Bernie Fuchs, Illustrator

Bron — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:11:26 -0800

Bernie Fuchs, one of the all-time greats of American illustration, has passed away. A phenomenally talented artist, he didn't start studying to be an artist until an industrial accident the year after high school cost him 3 fingers, and ended his dream of becoming a professional jazz trumpeter. (And he lost those fingers on his drawing hand!) He began his commercial art career at New Center Studio in Detroit, working on illustrations for the auto companies. In a few short years, it was off to NYC, where he was soon dazzling the best in the business. "I don't know who the hell did this, but the business is never going to be the same." After mastering the existing illustration styles of the day, he went on to create his signature style of transparent washes of oil color, all grounded with spectacular draughtsmanship and a stunning sense of design. An article on his career and technique. Flickr set Gallery RIP, Bernie Fuchs, and thanks for the work.