Archive - Jun 2007

Joel Siegel (July 7, 1943 – June 29, 2007) was an American film critic for the ABC morning news show Good Morning America for over 25 years. Born to a Jewish family and raised in Los Angeles, California, he graduated cum laude from UCLA. During college, he worked to register black voters in Georgia, and he spoke frequently of having met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He also worked as a joke writer for Senator Robert F. Kennedy and was at the Ambassador Hotel the night the senator was assassinated.

Death
Joel Siegel died of complications from colon cancer on June 29, 2007, in New York
Joel Siegel was 63 years old when he died.

In 1981 he joined "Good Morning America" as a film critic. While Siegel worked at his reviewing, he wrote the book for The First, a Broadway musical based on the story of Jackie Robinson, for which he received a Tony Award nomination in 1982.

Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne (March 31, 1929 – June 26, 2007) was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Claiborne is best known for founding Liz Claiborne Inc. which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500

Death
She had been advised in 1997 that she had a rare form of cancer affecting the lining of the abdomen. Liz Claiborne died on June 26, 2007 at the age of 78, following a long battle with the cancer. Liz Claiborne was 78 years old when she died.

In retirement, Claiborne and Ortenberg founded a foundation that distributed millions in funding to environmental causes including funding the television series Nature on PBS television and nature conservancy projects around the world.

Christopher Michael Benoit (May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler who wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Benoit ascended to the top of his profession, holding the World heavyweight championship in both WCW and WWE, becoming one of the most popular and respected competitors in professional wrestling in the process. 

Chris Benoit's Death

On June 25, 2007, Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel were found dead in their Fayetteville, Georgia, home at around 2:30 p.m. EDT. Lieutenant Tommy Pope of the Fayette County, Georgia Sheriff's Department reported to ABC News that police entered Benoit's home on a "welfare check" after several missed appointments, leading to concerns. Pope also stated the police were not searching for any suspects outside of the house, as the instruments of death were located at the scene of the crime.

Detective Bo Turner of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department told television station WAGA-TV that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide. The station reported that investigators believe that Benoit murdered his wife and son over the weekend and hanged himself sometime on Monday.

Richard Bell (March 5, 1946 - June 15, 2007) was a Canadian musician. Known for his session and live performance work, he is perhaps best remembered as the pianist for Janis Joplin and her Full Tilt Boogie Band and was a keyboardist with The Band during the 1990s.

Death of Richard Bell
Bell died after a long battle with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer, on June 15, 2007 in a Toronto hospital. Richard Bell was 61 years old at the time of his death.

Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit, "Yakety Sax" (Theme music for "The Benny Hill Show") . Randolph was a major part of the "Nashville Sound" for most of his professional career.

Death
On July 3, 2007, Randolph died at Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He was 80 years old.

Biography 
Randolph was born in Paducah, Kentucky and raised in Cadiz, Kentucky, attending high school in Evansville, Indiana.

At the end of World War II, Boots Randolph played saxophone, trombone and vibraphone in the United States Army Band. After his service in the Army, he played with Dink Welch's Kopy Kats in Decatur, Illinois from 1948-1954. He briefly resided in Louisville, Kentucky before returning to Decatur to start his own group. He left Decatur in 1957.

During his more than forty year career, Randolph performed in hundreds of venues alongside many artists in pop, rock, jazz, and country music. He played on several albums with Elvis Presley and also performed on soundtracks for a number of Presley's motion pictures.

Mr. Randolph recorded for Monument Records in Nashville and played on Roy Orbison's 1963 hit, "Mean Woman Blues." He was also featured on "Little Queenie" by REO Speedwagon, "Java" by Al Hirt, "Turn On Your Lovelight" by Jerry Lee Lewis, and "Rockin' 'Round The Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee.

In 1977, Randolph opened a successful club of his own in Nashville's "Printers Alley." He also frequently appeared on the television program "Hee Haw".

His final solo studio album "A Whole New Ballgame" was released June 12, 2007.

Clip of Benny Hill Show - Featuring Yakety Sax

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