Complications

Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney (January 14, 1919 – November 4, 2011) was an American radio and television writer. He was most notable for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", a part of the CBS News program 60 Minutes from 1978 to 2011. His final regular appearance on 60 Minutes aired October 2, 2011.

Rooney's "end-of-show" segment on 60 Minutes, "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" (originally "Three Minutes or So With Andy Rooney"), began in 1978

In 1990, Rooney was suspended without pay for three months by then-CBS News President David Burke, due to the negative publicity around his saying that "too much alcohol, too much food, drugs, homosexual unions, cigarettes [are] all known to lead to premature death."

Andy Rooney Cause of Death
Aney Rooney was hospitalized on October 25, 2011 for developing postoperative complications, and died 10 days later (November 4, 2011).  He died about a month after his last appearance on 60 Minutes.
Aney Rooney was 92 years old at the time of his death.

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

Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 12, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American female singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for her 1975 hit "Poetry Man."

Phoebe Snow has performed with a numerous artists including Lou Rawls, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dave Grusin, Avenue Blue with Jeff Golub, Garland Jeffreys, Jewel, Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Queen, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Jackson Browne, Dave Mason, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs, Cyndi Lauper, Roger Daltrey, Chaka Khan, CeCe Peniston, Take 6, Michael Bolton, Thelma Houston, Mavis Staples, Laurie Anderson, Tracy Nelson, and The Sisters of Glory (with whom she performed at the second Woodstock festival), among others.

Phoebe Snow Cause of Death
Snow suffered a brain hemorrhage on January 19, 2010 and slipped into a coma, enduring bouts of blood clots, pneumonia, and congestive heart failure. Snow died on April 26, 2011.  Phoebe Snow was 60 years old at the time of her death.

In 1997, she sang the Roseanne theme song a cappella during the closing moments of the final episode.

Phoebe Snow Poetry Man

Phoebe Snow - Roseanne Finale Ending song

Phoebe Snow's Official Website

Geraldine Hoff Doyle (July 31, 1924 — December 26, 2010) was the real-life model for the World War II era We Can Do It posters, an embodiment of the iconic World War II character Rosie the Riveter.

Because the We Can Do It poster was created for an internal Westinghouse project, it did not become widely known until the 1980s, when it began to be used by advocates of women's equality in the workplace.

In 1942 Geraldine found work as a metal presser in a Michigan factory. (As men started enlisting and being drafted into military service for World War II, women began to support the war effort by taking on roles, including factory work, that were formerly considered "male only.")

Because she was a cello player, Geraldine feared a hand injury from the metal pressing machines and soon left the factory. During the brief time she worked there a wire photographer took a picture of her. That image - re-imagined by graphic artist J. Howard Miller while working for the Westinghouse Company's War Production Coordinating Committee -- became the basis for the poster Miller created during a Westinghouse anti-absenteeism and anti-strike campaign.

Doyle didn't know she was the model for We Can Do It until 1984, when she came across the original photograph in a 1940's back issue of Modern Maturity Magazine.

Death of Geraldine Doyle
Geraldine Doyle died in Lansing, Michigan, due to complications from arthritis.
Geraldine Hoff Doyle was 86 years old at the time of her death.

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.

* Andy Irons is a surfing world's super star - equivalent to Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods.

Andy Irons (July 24,1978 – November 2, 2010) was a professional surfer. Irons learned to surf on the dangerous and shallow reefs of the North Shore in Kauai, Hawaii, and won three world titles (2002, 2003, 2004), three Quiksilver Pro France titles (2003, 2004, 2005), two Rip Curl Pro Search titles (2006 and 2007) and 19 elite tour victories. On September 3, 2010 he won the Billabong Pro in Tahiti.

Death of Andy Irons
Irons died on November 2, 2010; according to The Association of Surfing Professionals, "he had reportedly been battling with dengue fever, a viral disease." Professor Robert Booy, an infectious disease academic, was suspicious of this, saying that dengue fever deaths are rare. According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, in his hotel room was found the painkiller methadone and the sedative zolpidem. Investigators have ruled out foul play as a cause. He was found lying on the bed on his back by two hotel staff after he had failed to respond to knock on the door and they went in to investigate

Eddie Fisher is the father of actress Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia from Star Wars)

Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and entertainer, who was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and having his own TV show. He has the distinction of having been married to Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, and Connie Stevens. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered scandalously unwelcome publicity at the time.

Fisher has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for Recording, at 6241 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for TV, at 1724 Vine Street.

Death of Eddie Fisher
Fisher died on September 22, 2010, of complications from hip surgery at a hospital in Berkeley, CA.  Eddie Fisher was 82 years old at the time of his death

Eddie Fisher - Oh My Papa [1954]

Star Location: 7001 Hollywood Blvd

Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive. One of the most influential figures in American popular music during the 1950s and early 1960s, both as the head of Artists & Repertoire at Columbia Records and as a best-selling recording artist, he is sometimes thought of as the creator of what would become karaoke with his NBC-TV series, Sing Along with Mitch. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in the early 1930s, Miller began his musical career as an accomplished player of the oboe and English horn, and recorded several highly regarded classical albums featuring his instrumental work. But he is best remembered as a conductor, choral director, television performer and recording executive.

Death of Mitch Miller
Mitch Miller died of complications from surgery
Mitch Miller was 99 years old at the time of his death

Mitch Miller - Santa Claus is comin' to Town

Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a Senator from 1959 to 2010 and was the longest-serving senator and the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress.

On June 27, 2010, Byrd became ill and was admitted to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax County, Virginia, for what was assumed to be heat stroke and dehydration.  However, other medical conditions emerged and Byrd was described as "seriously ill."  Robert Byrd died at approximately 3 a.m. EDT the next day at age 92

* Comment disabled for political figure *

Fess Elisha Parker, Jr.
Born: August 16, 1924 Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Died: March 18, 2010 (aged 85) California, United States

Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. was an American film and television actor best known for his 1950s portrayals of Davy Crockett for Walt Disney and of Daniel Boone in the late 1960s. He was also known as a wine maker and resort owner-operator.

Death of Fess Parker
Fess Parker died of complications from old age.
Fess Parker was 85 years old at the time of his death.

Fess Parker's Filmography continues next page

Fess Parker Filmography

    * Harvey (1950)
    * No Room for the Groom (1952)
    * Untamed Frontier (1952)
    * Springfield Rifle (1952)
    * Take Me to Town (1953)
    * The Kid from Left Field (1953)
    * Island in the Sky (1953)
    * Thunder Over the Plains (1953)
    * Dragonfly Squadron (1954)
    * Them! (1954)
    * The Bounty Hunter (1954)
    * Battle Cry (1955)
    * Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955)
    * The Great Locomotive Chase (1956)
    * Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956)
    * Westward Ho, The Wagons! (1956)
    * Old Yeller (1957)
    * The Light in the Forest (1958)
    * The Hangman (1959)
    * Alias Jesse James (1959)
    * The Jayhawkers! (1959)
    * Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
    * Smoky (1966)
    * Daniel Boone: Frontier Trail Rider (1966)

Television

    * City Detective, (1 episode, 1955)
    * Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1962-1963)
    * Daniel Boone (lead cast member from 1964-1970, with Ed Ames, Patricia Blair, Darby Hinton, and Veronica Cartwright)
    * Climb an Angry Mountain (1972)
    * The Fess Parker Show (1974) (unsold pilot)

Koko Taylor born Cora Walton, September 28, 1928 – June 3, 2009) was an American blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough and powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings.

Death of Koko Taylor
Taylor died on June 3, 2009, after complications from a surgery on May 19, 2009. Her final performance was at the Blues Music Awards, on May 7, 2009.

I'm a Woman - KoKo Taylor

Jane Randolph, born Jane Roemer (October 30, 1915 - May 4, 2009), was an American film actress. She was born in Youngstown, Ohio and died in Gstaad, Switzerland.

After growing up in Kokomo, Indiana, she moved to Hollywood in 1939 in an attempt to start a movie career. She was eventually picked up by Warner Bros. and appeared in bit movie roles in 1941.

She made 20 films between 1941 and 1948, then married Jaime del Amo, who would help develop Del Amo Shopping Center on family land in Torrance. 

In 1942, RKO picked up the contract of the poised actress and she received a leading lady role in Highways by Night (1942). She became known for her roles in film noir, which included Jealousy (1945) and Railroaded! (1947), and in a few popular but inexpensive horror films, including Cat People (1942) and The Curse of the Cat People (1944).

One of her last movies was the comic thriller Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). A year later she married and retired to Spain and began the life of a socialite. In later years she returned to Los Angeles, but also maintained a home in Switzerland.

Death of Jane Randolph
Jane Randolph died May 4 in Gstaad, Switzerland, after surgery on a broken hip.
Jane Randolph was 93 at the time of her death

Cat People - Original Trailer 1942

Jack Lawrence (April 7, 1912 – March 15, 2009) was an American Academy Award-nominated songwriter who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

Death of Jack Lawrence
Lawrence died following a fall in his home in Redding, Connecticut on March 16, 2009

One of the first major songs he wrote upon getting out of the service was "Yes, My Darling Daughter", introduced by Dinah Shore on Eddie Cantor's radio program, which was Shore's first record. Another Jack Lawrence song that introduced a new artist was "If I Didn't Care", which introduced the world to The Ink Spots. And, although Frank Sinatra was already a well-known big band singer, Lawrence's "All or Nothing at All" was Sinatra's first solo hit.

"Linda", a popular song, was written by Jack Lawrence and published in 1946. The song was actually written when Lawrence was in the service during World War II, taking its name from the then five-year-old daughter of his attorney, Lee Eastman. (His daughter was Linda Eastman, future first wife of the Beatle Paul McCartney.)

Lawrence wrote the lyrics for "Tenderly", Rosemary Clooney's trademark song (in collaboration with composer Walter Lloyd Gross), as well as the English language lyric to "Beyond the Sea" (based on Charles Trenet's French language song "La mer"), the trademark song for Bobby Darin. Another French song for which Lawrence wrote an English lyric was "La goualante de pauvre Jean", becoming "The Poor People of Paris".

Together with Richard Myers he wrote "Hold My Hand", which was nominated for the 1954 Academy Award for Best Song.

Rosemary Clooney - Tenderly - Written by Jack Lawrence
Yes, Rosemary was George Clooney's Aunt

Dennis Yost passed away of respiratory failure, on December 7, 2008, at the age of 65 

Dennis Yost was a singer & a drummer of Classics IV, a pop rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, in 1965. Their signature songs include "Spooky" and "Stormy".

Dennis Yost became seriously ill. On July 11, 2006, while recovering at home in a suburb of Cincinnati, Yost fell down a flight of stairs and suffered serious brain trauma. Although Yost subsequently underwent a significant amount of rehabilitation, he was never again able to perform. Since Yost's unique voice was integral to the Classics IV sound, his injury effectively placed the group on hiatus.

To assist Yost and his wife with their medical bills, a benefit concert was held on March 25, 2007, at Rhino's Live in Cincinnati, Ohio, the benefit was originally thought up by Yost's close friend Jon "Bowser" Bauman. Many musical entertainers and some surprise guests from the 1950’s through the 70’s performed some of their biggest chart-topping hits in tribute to Dennis Yost, backed by local favorites, BlueStone Ivory and Classics IV guitarist Brian Correll. An interesting note to the benefit concert is that it didn't benefit Dennis or his wife financially. Without question the benefit was a huge boost for Dennis allowing him to see and visit with so many old friends, but the expenses far exceeded the money raised leaving the whole event in the red.

Dennis Yost passed away of respiratory failure, on December 7, 2008, at the age of 65

Irving Brecher (January 17, 1914, New York City -  November 17, 2008, Los Angeles) enjoyed early success as a screenwriter for the Marx Brothers; he was the only writer to get sole credit on a Marx Brothers film including At the Circus in 1939 and Go West in 1940. He was also one of the numerous uncredited writers on the screenplay of 1939's The Wizard of Oz. Some of his other screenplays were Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), Ziegfeld Follies (1946) and Bye Bye Birdie (1963).

He wrote and directed Sail A Crooked Ship starring Ernie Kovacs and a young Robert Wagner.
He received an Academy Award nomination in 1944 for his screenplay of Meet Me in St Louis.
His memoir is scheduled for 2008 publication by Ben Yehuda Press

Death of Irving Brecher
Irving Brecher died of age-related causes at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Irving Brecher was 94 years old at the time of his death.