Year: 2010

Steve Landesberg (November 23, 1936  – December 20, 2010) was an American actor, comedian, and voice actor best known for his role of Arthur P. Dietrich on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller.

Death of Steve Landesberg

Landesberg died from colon cancer on December 20, 2010, aged 74. Initial reports of Mr. Landesberg’s death, relying on numerous biographical sources, said he was 65.

In acknowledging that he was actually nine years older, his daughter said he had provided varying birth dates over the years. "He got kind of a late start in show business," she explained, "so he tried to straddle the generations. He fooled the whole world. People were surprised to think he was even 65."

 Barney Miller: Dietrich Does Gregory Peck

Don Van Vliet (January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American musician and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians he called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12 studio albums. Noted for his powerful singing voice with its wide range, Van Vliet also played the harmonica, saxophone and numerous other wind instruments. His music blended rock, blues and psychedelia with free jazz, avant-garde and contemporary experimental composition. Beefheart was also known for exercising an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians.

Death of Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart)
Captain Beefheart died of complications from multiple sclerosis
Captain Beefheart was 69 years old at the time of his death

Captain Beefheart & Magic Band – Sure ’nuff ‘n Yes I do 

Neva Louise Patterson (February 10, 1920 – December 14, 2010) was an American character actress.

Her first feature movie was the 1953 film Taxi; other film credits include The Buddy Holly Story, All of Me, and as Cary Grant’s fiancee in An Affair to Remember.

Her television credits included Nichols, The Governor & J.J., and as Eleanor Dupres in V, which she reprised in V: The Final Battle. She made guest appearances on The Defenders, Ironside, Barnaby Jones, The Dukes of Hazzard, and St. Elsewhere.

Patterson died from complications from a broken hip at age 90.

 

Joseph Don "Dandy Don" Meredith (April 10, 1938 – December 5, 2010) was an American football quarterback, sports commentator and actor. He played nine full seasons in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys.

Death of Don Meredith
Don Meredith died on December 5, 2010, at the age of 72 after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

Jon D’Agostino (John P. D’Agostino Sr.) (June 13, 1929 – November 28, 2010) was an Italian-American comic-book artist best known for his Archie Comics work. As well, under the pseudonym Johnny Dee, he was the letterer for the lead story in the Marvel Comics landmark The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963), as well as other seminal Marvel comics.

D’Agostino is not the French comics artist Tony D’Agostino, a.k.a. Tony Dagos, whose early work was signed "D’Agostino". He is also not the concurrent early-Marvel letter John Duffy a.k.a. John Duffi, although he is listed as such in some databases.

Death of Jon D’Agostino
Jon D’Agostino died of bone cancer in Ansonia, Conn.
Jon D’Agostino was 81 years old at the time of his death

Leslie William Nielsen, OC (February 11, 1926 – November 28, 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. Although his acting career crosses a variety of genres in both television and films, Nielsen achieved his greatest successes in the comedy films Airplane! and The Naked Gun. His portrayal of serious characters seemingly oblivious to (and complicit in) their absurd surroundings gives him a reputation as a comedian.

Nielsen’s lead roles in the films Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure came long before he considered a turn to comedy. His deadpan delivery as a doctor in 1980’s Airplane! marked a turning point in Nielsen’s career, one that would make him, in the words of film critic Roger Ebert, "the Olivier of spoofs." Nielsen appeared in over 100 films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying over 220 characters.

Death of Leslie Nielsen
In November 2010, Nielsen was admitted to a Fort Lauderdale, Florida hospital for pneumonia. On November 28, Nielsen’s nephew announced to the CJOB radio station that Nielsen had died in his sleep around 5:30 p.m. EST, surrounded by family and friends. His nephew reflected on Nielsen’s life, "He was truly a nice man. A very caring, naturally funny guy in day-to-day life, not just because someone wrote something on paper for him. He was a very tender-hearted man. He was one of my best friends and I loved him dearly. I’ll miss him greatly."

 Please turn down volume for this video

Naked Gun – Umpiring

Irvin Kershner (April 29, 1923 – November 27, 2010) was an American film director and occasional actor, best known for directing Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Never Say Never Again and RoboCop 2.

After Empire Strikes Back, Kershner directed Never Say Never Again (Sean Connery’s return to the role of James Bond); the HBO film Travelling Man starring John Lithgow and Jonathan Silverman; for which Kershner was nominated for an ACE Award; and RoboCop 2. He also directed several episodes of the television series seaQuest DSV, and he made his debut as an actor in the Martin Scorsese film, The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), playing Zebedee, the father of the apostles James and John. He played a film director in Steven Seagal’s On Deadly Ground.

Death of Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner died at his Los Angeles home after a long illness (unspecified).
Irvin Kershner was 87 years old at the time of his death.

Empire Stikes Back – trailer (unofficial, created by a fan)

Lawrencia "Bambi" Bembenek (August 15, 1958 – November 20, 2010), known as Laurie Bembenek, was a Playboy bunny, turned police officer, then convicted of murdering her husband’s ex-wife in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 28, 1981.

Her story garnered national attention after she escaped from Taycheedah Correctional Institution and was recaptured in Canada, an episode which inspired a TV movie and the slogan "Run, Bambi, Run". Upon winning a new trial, she pled no contest to second-degree murder and was sentenced to time served and ten years probation. Since then, she had sought to have the sentence overturned.

Bembenek was a former Milwaukee police officer who had been fired and had gone on to sue the department, claiming that it engaged in sexual discrimination and other illegal activities. She worked briefly as a waitress at a Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Playboy Club. At the time of her arrest, she was working for Marquette University’s Public Safety Department, in downtown Milwaukee.

Death of Lawrencia Bembenek
On November 16, 2010, WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee reported that Bembenek was slipping in and out of consciousness and near death in a hospice care center, suffering from liver and kidney failure. On November 20, 2010, she died at a hospice facility in Portland, Oregon, aged 52

Bembenek had written a book about her experience, titled Woman on Trial (ISBN 0-00-215746-2). Since her release, she had various legal and personal problems. She was arrested again on marijuana possession charges, filed for bankruptcy, developed hepatitis C and other health problems. She also admitted to being an alcoholic. She legally changed her name to Laurie Bembenek in 1994.

In 1996, she moved to Washington.

In 2002, Bembenek either fell or jumped from a second-story window, breaking her leg so badly that it had to be amputated below the knee. Bembenek claimed that she had been confined in an apartment by handlers for the Dr. Phil television show and was injured while attempting to escape.

Henryk Mikolaj Górecki (December 6, 1933 – November 12, 2010) was a composer of contemporary classical music.

Death of Henryk Mikolaj Górecki
Henryk Mikolaj Górecki died on 12 November 2010, in his home city of Katowice, of complications due to a lung infection. Henryk Mikolaj Górecki was 76 years old at the time of his death.

Henryk Górecki – Symphony of Sorrowful Songs