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)

Eugene "Gene" Colan (September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011) was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series. He co-created the Falcon, the first African-American superhero in mainstream comics.

Colan was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2005.

Gene Colan cause of death
Gene Colan died, following complications from liver disease and a broken hip received in a fall.  Gene Colan was 84 years old at the time of his death.

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Gene Colan's Work in 1976

Bob Flanigan (August 22, 1926 – May 15, 2011), was an American tenor vocalist and founding member of The Four Freshmen, a jazz vocal group

Flanigan, who was born in Greencastle, Indiana, was a respected trombonist, and also played bass guitar with the outfit for several decades, beginning on September 20, 1948, and sang the top part.

After retiring from performing in 1992, Flanigan maintained the band's name and was responsible for the group's changing cast of performers.

Bob Flanigan Cause of Death
Bob Flanigan died of congestive heart failure at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 15, 2011. Bob Flanigan was 84 years old at the time of his death.

Four Freshmen - Poinciana (1952) Bob Flanigan on Bass
You can see Beach Boys and Manhattan Transfer were influenced by their style.

 A Visit with Bob Flanigan of The Four Freshmen

Jonah J. "Bud" Greenspan (September 18, 1926 – December 25, 2010) was a film director, writer, and producer, mostly known for his sports documentaries.

Death of Bud Greenspan
Greenspan died of Parkinson’s disease on December 25, 2010, at the age of 84 in New York City.

 Greg Louganis - Film by Bud Greenspan

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

Patricia Neal (January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. She won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in the drama Hud (1963).

During the filming of The Fountainhead (1949), Neal had an affair with her married co-star, Gary Cooper, whom she had met in 1947 when she was 21 and he was 46. By 1950, Cooper's wife, Veronica, had found out about the relationship and sent Neal a telegram demanding they end it. Neal became pregnant by Cooper, but he persuaded her to have an abortion.

Death of Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal died at her home in Edgartown, Massachusetts on Martha's Vineyard, August 8, 2010, of lung cancer.

Patricia Neal & Gary Cooper  - "The Fountainhead"

Breaking news, more coming 

Maurice Jarre (September 13, 1924 - March 29, 2009) was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores for motion pictures, particularly those of David Lean: Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984). All three of these scores won Academy Awards. Other notable scores of his include The Message (1976), Dead Poets Society (1989) and Ghost (1990). Jarre was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Death of Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre died of cancer.
Maurice Jarre was 84 year old at the time of his death

Tom O'Horgan (May 3, 1926 - January 11, 2009 ) is an American theatre and film director and composer.

O'Horgan made his Broadway directorial debut in 1968 with the ground-breaking musical Hair, garnering a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical. Additional Broadway credits include Lenny, with Cliff Gorman as controversial comedian-satirist Lenny Bruce, Jesus Christ Superstar, Dude, Inner City, The Leaf People, and I Won't Dance.

O'Horgan won three Drama Desk Awards for his direction of the off-Broadway plays, Lenny, Futz!, and Tom Paine, and was named Theatrical Director of the Year by Newsweek in 1968.

Tom O'Horgan was battling with Alzheimer's disease, but died of natural cause.
Tom O'Horgan was 84 years old at the time of his his death

Martin Patterson "Pat" Hingle (July 19, 1924 - January 3, 2009) was an American actor.

Hingle is traditionally known for playing judges, police officers, and other authority figures. One of his notable roles is the father of the character played by Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass (1961). While he is probably best known in recent times for playing Commissioner Gordon in the 1989 film Batman and its three sequels, Hingle has a long list of television and movie credits to his name, going back to 1948. Among them are Hang 'Em High (1968), Sudden Impact (1983), Road To Redemption (2001), When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? (1979), Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive (1986), The Grifters (1990), Citizen Cohn (1992), Muppets from Space, and Shaft (2000). Along with Michael Gough, who played Alfred Pennyworth, he is one of only two actors to appear in all of the first four Batman films.

In the 1997 revival of the musical 1776, Hingle played Benjamin Franklin, with Brent Spiner as John Adams. In 2002, he was a regular cast member of ABC's series The Court. He also played Horace in 1995's "The Quick and the Dead".

Recently, he appeared in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, as the original owner of Dennit Racing.

Death of Pat Hingle
He died of blood cancer on January 3rd, 2009.

Actor Pat Hingle - In His Own Words

Biography of Pat Hingle continues next page

Early life
Hingle was born Martin Patterson Hingle in Denver, Colorado, the son of Marvin Louise (née Patterson), a schoolteacher and musician, and Clarence Martin Hingle, a building contractor. Hingle enlisted in the U.S. Navy in December 1941, dropping out of the University of Texas. He served on the destroyer USS Marshall during World War II. He returned to the University of Texas after the war and earned a degree in radio broadcasting.

Near fatal 1960 accident
In 1960, he had been offered the title role in Elmer Gantry, but could not do it due to a near fatal accident; caught in an elevator in his West End Avenue apartment building that had stalled between the second and third floors, he crawled out, trying to reach the second floor corridor, lost his balance and fell 54 feet down the shaft, fracturing his skull, wrist, hip and most of the ribs on his left side, breaking his left leg in three places and losing the little finger on his left hand. He lay near death for two weeks and his recovery took more than a year.

Buy From Amazon: Golden Girls and other Estell Getty Movies 

Estelle Getty (July 25, 1923 – July 22, 2008) was an Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning actress (theatre and screen). In her later years, she retired from acting and was battling Lewy Body dementia.

Death of Estelle Getty
On July 22, 2008, at approximately 5:30 a.m. PDT, Getty died in her Hollywood Boulevard home in Los Angeles from natural causes (according to her manager), three days before her 85th birthday.

Each of Getty's former Golden Girls co-stars reflected on her death: Rue McClanahan told the Associated Press, "Don't feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia." Bea Arthur said in a statement, "Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her." Betty White remarked, "The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us."

In honor of Estelle, Lifetime TV, which airs The Golden Girls, announced that it will air ten episodes of the series featuring the best of Sophia on Friday, July 25. Fans can vote for their favorite episode on Lifetime's website. The winning episode will be aired last in the marathon.

Related Pages: Deaths of Golden Girls Cast

• Rue McClanahan, 'Golden Girls', dies from stroke 76 (2010-06-02)
  
• Golden Girls TV star Bea Arthur dies 86 (2009-04-25)
• FYI: Betty White (88) is alive and well.

* Buy From Amazon: Golden Girls and other Estell Getty Movies

Estelle Getty Biography
Getty was born Estelle Scher. She got her start in the Yiddish theater, and her most important early role was playing Harvey Fierstein's mother on Broadway in the play Torch Song Trilogy. However, she is best known for her role as Sophia Petrillo on the popular 1980s sitcom, The Golden Girls. In it, she played the wise-cracking old Sicilian mother of Dorothy Zbornak, who was the show's main protagonist, played by Beatrice Arthur. Getty was actually one year younger than Arthur. 

She was married to Arthur Gettleman (from whose name she adapted her stage name) from 1946 until his death in 2004. Getty had two grown sons: Carl Gettleman, who lives in California, and Barry Gettleman, who lives in Florida.

She wrote her autobiography, with Steve Delsohn, titled If I Knew Then, What I Know Now. . .So What? (Contemporary Books, 1988).

In 1991 Estelle Getty opened her heart to her nephew, Steven Scher (age 29), who was in the final stages of AIDS and near death in 1991. With Steve's parents living in England and his friends no longer able to care for him in Greensboro, North Carolina, Estelle had Steve flown out to California where she admitted him to hospice care. Steve died in January 1992. An extensive account of her act of charity was published in STAR Magazine.

In 2000, she stopped making public appearances after revealing that she had Parkinson's Disease and osteoporosis. In 2002, it was revealed to the media that she was also suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. It was later discovered that she actually had Lewy Body Dementia, and both the Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diagnoses were incorrect. In 2003, there was a Golden Girls reunion hosted on the Lifetime television network but Getty did not appear in it due to her failing health.

Awards

Emmy Awards
1992 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - The Golden Girls - (Nominated)
1991 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - The Golden Girls - (Nominated)
1990 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - The Golden Girls - (Nominated)
1989 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - The Golden Girls - (Nominated)
1988 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - The Golden Girls - (Won)
1987 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - The Golden Girls - (Nominated)
1986 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - The Golden Girls - (Nominated)

Golden Globe Awards
1991 - Actress In A Supporting Role - Series, Mini-Series Or Television Movie - The Golden Girls - (Nominated)
1986 - Actress In A Leading Role - Musical Or Comedy Series - The Golden Girls - (Won)
1985 - Actress In A Leading Role - Musical Or Comedy Series - The Golden Girls - (Nominated)

Johnny Grant (May 9, 1923 – January 9, 2008) was an American radio personality, television producer, and the honorary mayor of Hollywood. The honorary mayor was present at Hollywood community functions, including the unveiling of new stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. An intersection just north of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue is designated "Johnny Grant Way."

Grant died in bed at his apartment in the Roosevelt Hotel, the night of January 9, 2008 at the age of 84

In 1954, Grant had a significant role in the Paramount film White Christmas, portraying "Ed Harrison," an Ed Sullivan-type TV show host.

He is a retired major general in the California State Military Reserve, a volunteer backup and support force of the California National Guard. He is the only person ever to twice receive an Order of California, the state's highest honor. He was the first recipient of the highest honor awarded by the USO, the United Service Organizations. He has been chairman of the Los Angeles City Fire Commission, the Los Angeles County Social Service Commission and the Burbank, California, Police Commission. Most recently he has been a member of the Los Angeles City Cultural Heritage Commission.

Grant has won the Emmy Award twice. He was also chairman of the "Hollywood Christmas Parade" and head of the Hollywood Walk of Fame committee.

Related Blog - Angelyne to Succeed Johnny Grant?

 
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Lilian Ellison (July 22, 1923 – November 2, 2007) better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah, was a female professional wrestler who was marketed by World Wrestling Entertainment for holding the record for the longest title reign by any athlete in any professional sport. She was well known as being the first NWA and WWF Women's Champion.

Fabulous Moolah's Death

Fabulous Moolah died iin Columbia South Carolina.
Fabulous Moolah was 84 years old at the time of her death.

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Championships and accomplishments

• National Wrestling Alliance
  NWA Women's Championship (5 times) (First)
• World Wrestling Federation
  WWF Women's Championship (4 times) (First)
• WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)

Amazon.com: Marcel Marceau's Videos, Books, and more

Marcel Mangel (March 22, 1923 – September 22, 2007), better known by his stage name Marcel Marceau, was a well-known mime artist, among the most popular representatives of this art form world-wide.

Marceau passed away on September 22, 2007. He died of a heart attack in his house of Cahors (France); he was 84.

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I hate mimes. But, never gave them a chance. I guess I am close minded. So, I am willing to give it a shot and learn more about the world of mime just for the sake of Celebrating Marcel Marceau's life.

I know one of his quotes - "Don't let the mime speak they will not stop" (something like that)

I knew of his name for some reason the name Marcel Marceau was very familiar to me. I didn't know it was a name of a world famous mime.

If you look at the youtube clips of him you can tell Marcel is a good mime (and very popular). I wouldn't mind seeing his show.

God bless Marcel Marceau