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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

Norma Zimmer (July 13, 1923 – May 10, 2011) was a vocalist, best remembered for her 22-year tenure as Lawrence Welk's "Champagne Lady" on The Lawrence Welk Show.

Zimmer sang with a quartet called The Girlfriends along with Betty Allan and others. They sang backup for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, and others. Their coup was to be hired as backup for the famous Bing Crosby version of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas".

As her two sons were growing up, she decided to give it up to raise her children. Welk told her it was all right for her to quit the road tours, but he asked her to stay on the television show until he could find another singer. Each week, a new girl came on as a possible replacement, but Welk kept asking Zimmer to come back the following week. That went on for 20 years. As the show's Champagne Lady, Zimmer sang one solo and often a duet (usually with Jimmy Roberts); she frequently danced with Welk at the end of the show.

Norma Zimmer Cause of Death
Norma Zimmer stopped performing publicly since she was suffering from a neurological disorder. She died peacefully on May 10, 2011 at her Brea, California home.
Norma Zimmer was 87 years old at the time of her death. She was survived by her two sons, Ron and Mark, as well as three grand children.

Norma Zimmer on The Lawrence Welk Show: Hold Me, Thrill Me
** Recommended **

Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), better known by his stage name Nate Dogg, was an American musician.

Death of Nate Dogg
Nate Dogg died on March 15, 2011 in Long Beach, California. In 2007, Nate Dogg had a massive stroke, and another stroke in 2008, however it is unknown if that contributed to his death.
Nate Dogg was 41 years old at the time of his death

Nate Dogg - I Got Love

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.

Nan Martin
Born: Decatur, Illinois, U.S.
Died: Malibu, California, U.S. (82 years old)

Nan Martin (July 15, 1927 – March 4, 2010) was an American actress who starred in movies and on television.

Born in Decatur, Illinois and raised in Santa Monica, California, her first film role was The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956). Her other film roles included The Mugger (1958), Doctor Detroit (1983), All of Me (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) where she played the role of Amanda Krueger, the mother of killer Freddy Krueger. Her last film role is in 2005's Thicker than Water.

Martin starred on Mr. Sunshine. Her other well known roles were in the 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds and on the soap opera Santa Barbara. She had a recurring role on the ABC hit TV series The Drew Carey Show as Mrs. Lauder. She made many guest appearances on various television series, some of those appearances range from Ben Casey, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, and Star Trek: The Next Generation  as Victoria Miller in the season 1 episode "Haven", and she played Rose, the secretary of murderer Alex Brady in the Columbo television movie, Murder, Smoke and Shadows.

She appeared on two episodes of The Golden Girls: first as the mean-spirited and nasty Frieda Claxton, who was told to drop dead by Rose Nylund, which she did. She also portrayed Philomena, a friend of Sophia Petrillo's from Sicily, who claimed that Dorothy was really her daughter and not Sophia's.

Death of Nan Martin
Nan Martin died of complications of emphysema.
Nan Martin was 82 years old at the time of her death.

Nan Martin on Drew Carey Show as Mrs. Lauder (Boss)
(first 1 minute)

Nicholas James Adenhart (August 24, 1986 - April 9, 2009, born in Silver Spring, Maryland) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He made his major league debut as the starting pitcher on May 1, 2008, against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim, California.

Adenhart earned his first career victory on May 12, 2008, against the Chicago White Sox in Anaheim, giving up four earned runs in 5? innings en route to a 10-7 Angels victory.

He opened the 2009 season in the Angels' major league rotation.

Death of Nick Adenhart
Nick Adenhart was killed in a felony hit-and-run car accident, mere hours after he pitched in a game. Police reported that an individual driving a minivan blew through a red light, causing a 2 car crash which killed 3 people, including Adenhart. It was also reported that the the person driving the van fled the scene, but was later caught and charged with felony hit-and-run, and that one of the other men killed in the crash was also affiliated with the Angels organization. Adenhart was 22-years-old.

Natasha Jane Richardson (May, 11 1963 - March 18, 2009) was a British actress known for her performances on stage and screen. She was a member of the Redgrave family and the daughter of the actress Vanessa Redgrave and the director/producer Tony Richardson. Richardson rose to international stardom with her Tony award-winning performance as Sally Bowles in the musical play Cabaret in New York City on Broadway in 1998.

Death of Natasha Richardson
Natasha Richardson died after skiing accident. Her life-support equipment had been disconnected a day after the accident.
Natasha Richardson was 45 years old at the time of her death.

At approximately 7:00 pm, New York time, Liam Neeson's publicist issued this statement to the press:

Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.

Nick Reynolds is the father of folk songs, paved the way for Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

Nick Reynolds (July 27, 1933 San Diego, California - October 1, 2008 San Diego, California) American folk musician and recording artist. One of the founding members of The Kingston Trio group, whose largely folk-based material captured international attention during the late fifties and early sixties.

Death of Nick Reynolds
Nick Reynolds died on October 1, 2008, in San Diego, CA
Nick Reynoldswas 75 years old at the time of his death

Nick Reynolds lived the last years of his life comfortably and well in Coronado, California with his wife Leslie. For eight years, Nick joined John Stewart to do a “Trio” fantasy camp in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition to a dinner with a question and answer session, fantasy campers joined Reynolds and Stewart on stage to perform a song, becoming for that one moment a member of a "Kingston Trio," the group whose contributions to folk, pop, and world music constitute Nick Reynolds' musical legacy.

Nick Reynolds' biography continues next page

The man who never returned

Biography
Growing up in Coronado Island, California, his passions as a kid growing up were tennis, skin-diving and singing with his family. His father, a Navy captain, was an avid guitar player who brought back songs from his travels around the world. He taught Nick the guitar and ukulele, and the family spent many nights singing and harmonizing for pure enjoyment. Nick enrolled in Menlo College in 1954 as a business major, and met Bob Shane in an accounting class. They soon started hanging out, drinking, and chasing women together, and this, in turn, led to playing music, initially as a way of being popular at parties -- Shane's guitar and Reynolds' bongos became a fixture at local frat gatherings, and after a few weeks of this, Shane introduced Reynolds to Dave Guard.

Shane returned to Hawaii for a time to work for his father's sporting goods company. Guard and Reynolds began playing with Joe Gannon on bass and singer Barbara Bogue, and became Dave Guard & the Calypsonians. Reynolds then left for a time following his graduation and was replaced by Don McArthur in a group that was known as the Kingston Quartet, and in a resulting shuffle, Reynolds and Shane (back all the way from Hawaii) were brought back into the group, now rechristened the Kingston Trio. Their initial approach to music was determined by the skills that each member brought or, more accurately, didn't bring to the trio -- Nick Reynolds sang a third above the melody, swapped his ukulele for a tenor guitar, and his bongos for a conga drum. Reynolds provided the group with an ebullient vocal style, superb harmonizing, and an ability to convey tender lyrics with a touching intimacy. The trio disbanded in 1967 but was revived in the seventies under the direction of original member Bob Shane, and continues to the present although Shane retired from performing in 2004. When the Trio disbanded, Nick moved to Oregon where he spent twenty years ranching and raising 4 children.

In 1981 the Trio reunited, featuring Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds, Dave Guard, John Stewart, George Grove, Roger Gambill. A PBS Reunion Special DVD was recorded, hosted by Tommy Smothers and featuring special guest Mary Travers. In 1983, Nick Reynolds collaborated with John Stewart and Lindsey Buckingham on a new album/CD "Revenge of The Budgie" with seven new recordings.

In the mid-eighties Reynolds moved back to California and rejoined the Trio in 1987/1988. He sang and played with them happily for another 11 years, then retired for the second time in December, 1999. Folk Music Archives interviewed the Trio in San Antonio and New York City when Nick Reynolds, a founding 1958 member performed his last full-time performance with the group during a concert with the San Antonio Symphony.