Mary Fickett, Longtime ‘All My Children’ actress, dies 83

Mary Fickett (May 23, 1928 – September 8, 2011) was an American actress, best-known for her roles in the American television dramas, The Edge of Night — as Sally Smith (1961), and as Dr. Katherine Lovell (1967-68) — and as Ruth Parker Brent on All My Children (1970-1996; 1999-2000).

Mary Fickett cauase of death
In 2007, Fickett moved in with her daughter, Bronwyn Congdon, in Colonial Beach, Virginia, where she remained bedridden. Fickett died September 8, 2011, aged 83, at her Callao, Virginia home, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

All My Children: After the Tornado, Ruth and Joe Find Tad
Mary Fickett as Ruth

Salvatore Licitra, Italian tenor, dies 43

Salvatore Licitra (August 10, 1968  – September 5, 2011) was an Italian operatic tenor.

Salvatore Licitra Cause of Death
On 27 August 2011, Licitra sustained severe head and chest injuries when he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while riding his motor scooter and crashed into a wall in Modica, Ragusa, Sicily. He remained in a coma for nine days in the Garibaldi Hospital in Catania and was pronounced clinically dead on September 5, 2011. According to the Italian paper Il Messaggero, his body will lie in state in the Catania’s opera house, the Teatro Massimo Bellini.

Salvatore Licitra sings "E Lucevan le Stelle" from Tosca

David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards, Chicago blues great dies 96

David "Honeyboy" Edwards (June 28, 1915 – August 29, 2011) was a Delta blues guitarist and singer from the American South.

David "Honeyboy" Edwards Cause of Death
On August 29, 2011, Honeyboy Edwards died peacefully at his home of congestive heart failure at around 3 a.m.

David "Honeyboy" Edwards – Gamblin’ Man

Michael Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles, Cy Youung winner, commits suicide 59

Michael Kendall Flanagan (December 16, 1951 – August 24, 2011) was an American left-handed pitcher, front office executive, and color commentator. With the exception of four years with the Toronto Blue Jays (1987–1990), he was most associated with the Baltimore Orioles during almost all of his time in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Career highlights and awards

  • All-Star (1978)
  • World Series champion (1983)
  • 1979 AL Cy Young Award
  • 1979 AL TSN Pitcher of the Year

Michael Flanagan cause of death
On August 24, 2011 police discovered a body on his property but could not immediately determine the identity because the wounds were so severe. The body was later identified as Flanagan, with the cause of death determined to be a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. Police said that Flanagan was distressed about financial issues. WBAL-TV reported that Flanagan was still despondent by perceived failures during his tenure in the Orioles’ front office.

Nick Ashford of Ashford & Simpson dies 70

Nickolas Ashford (? – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946 in The Bronx) were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists. They met at Harlem’s White Rock Baptist Church in 1963. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined aspiring solo artist and former member of the Ikettes, Josie Jo Armstead, at the Scepter/Wand label where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap ("Never Had It So Good"), Maxine Brown ("One Step At A Time"), as well as the Shirelles and Chuck Jackson. Another of the trio’s songs "Let’s Go Get Stoned" gave Ray Charles a number one U.S. R&B hit in 1966. That same year Ashford & Simpson joined Motown where their best-known songs included "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough", "You’re All I Need To Get By", "Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)". As performers, Ashford and Simpson’s best-known song is "Solid" (1984 US and 1985 UK). The duo was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

Nick Ashford  Cause of Death
Nick Ashford died August 22, 2011, from complications of throat cancer

Ashford & Simpson – Solid

Ross Barbour, Last original member of Four Freshmen, dies 82

The Four Freshmen is a multiple (six) Grammy-nominated American male vocal band quartet that blends open-harmony jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires (Glenn Miller), The Pied Pipers (Tommy Dorsey), and The Mel-Tones (Artie Shaw), founded in the barbershop tradition. The Four Freshmen is considered a vocal band because the singers accompany themselves on guitar, trumpet, bass, and drums, among other instrumental configurations.

The group tours internationally to sold-out audiences and records jazz harmonies since its late ’40s founding in the halls of the Jordan School of Music at Butler University (Indianapolis).

Ross Barbour cause of death
The last surviving founding member Ross Barbour died on August 20, 2011 from lung cancer in Simi Valley, California.  Ross Barbour was 82 years old at the time of his death

Related Blog
Bob Flanigan, Four Freshmen Founder, Dies 84 (May 15, 2011)

Gualtiero Jacopetti, Maker of ‘Mondo Cane,’ Dies 91

Gualtiero Jacopetti (September 4, 1919 – August 17, 2011) was an Italian director of documentary films.

Gualtiero Jacopetti was born in Barga, in northern Tuscany. With Paolo Cavara and Franco Prosperi is the originator of Mondo films, also called shockumentaries.

The movie’s theme song, "More," was nominated for an Oscar.

Mondo Cane – Movie Trailer

 Mondo Cane(1962) – More. (Ti guardero nel cuore)
Originally instrumental – lyrics were added later

Robert Breer, Pioneer of Avant-Garde Animation, Dies 84

Robert Breer (1926 – August 12, 2011)

Robert Breer, an animator whose use of novel techniques to set lines and forms scrambling across the screen opened up a new language for film, died on Aug. 11 at his home in Tucson. He was 84.

 Swiss Army Knife with Rats and Pigeons – Robert Breer (1980)

REcreation (Robert Breer)

Jani Lane, Singer, Glam Metal Band Warrant Died 47

Jani Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald, February 1, 1964 – August 11, 2011) was an American recording artist and the lead vocalist, frontman, lyricist and main songwriter for the glam metal band Warrant.

As lead vocalist with Warrant, Lane wrote three Top 40 hit singles: "Heaven," "Down Boys" and "Sometimes She Cries" for Warrant’s debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich which peaked at number 10 on the billboard 200. and another three Top 40 hit singles: "Cherry Pie," "I Saw Red," and "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" (the intro to "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" was performed by Lane’s older brother Eric Oswald; see Warrant) for the second album Cherry Pie which peaked at number 7 on The Billboard 200. Lane also co-wrote and performed with Warrant the song "The Power" in the 1992 movie "The Gladiator." Lane also had an unreleased project titled "Jabberwocky" which has become an underground fan favorite world wide.

Lane was featured on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club 2

Jani Lane cause of death
Jani Lane was found dead at a Comfort Inn hotel in Woodland Hills, California on August 11, 2011. The official cause of death has not yet been released.

Warrant – Heaven
Jani Lane is the lead singer

Warrant – Cherry Pie
Jani Lane is the singer

Warrant is an American glam metal band from Hollywood, California, that experienced success from 1989-1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. The band first came into the national spotlight with their debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, and one of its singles, "Heaven," reached #1 in Rolling Stone and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band continued its success in the early 1990s with the 2x Platinum album Cherry Pie and the gold album Dog Eat Dog, both albums providing more charted singles. The band continued performing and recording albums throughout the 1990s and the 2000s despite several changes to their line up.