Hollywood Memoir

This is my top 15 famous death stories in Hollywood – 2012

As always, my list will be different than yours.

Top 15 Hollywood Deaths of 2012

1. Ernest Borgnine (95)
2. Andy Griffith (86)
3. Dave Brubeck (91)
4. Etta James (73)
5. Andy Williams (84)
6. Tony Martin (98)
7. Dick Clark (82)
8. Donna Summer (63)
9. Larry Hagman (81)
10. Kitty Wells (92)
11. Robin Gibb (62)
12. Celeste Holm (95)
13. Phyllis Diller (95)
14. Whitney Houston (48)
15. Jack Klugman (90)

Sentimental Mentions (not in order)

• Dorothy McGuire of McGuire Sisters (84)
• Herb Reed, last original member of the Platters (83)
• Don Cornelius, “Soul Train,” (75)
• Michael Clarke Duncan, Actor, ‘Green Mile’ (54)
• Richard Dawson, ‘Family Feud’ TV host (79)
• Mike Wallace , ’60 Minutes’, Broadcasting legend (93)
• Johnny Otis, Singer, ‘Willie and the Hand Jive’ (90)
• Sherman Hemsley, Comedian, ‘George Jefferson’ (74)

Top “Not From Hollywood” death

• Neil Armstrong, astronaut, first man on moon, dies 82

Top 10 Shocking Hollywood Deaths 2012

1. Whitney Houston (48)
2. Larry Hagman (81)
3. Michael Clarke Duncan, Actor, ‘Green Mile’ (54)
4. Don Cornelius, “Soul Train,” commits Suicide (75)
5. Robin Gibb, Singer, Bee Gees co-founder (62)
6. Donna Summer, Queen of Disco (63)
7. MCA Adam Yauch, Beastie Boys Rapper (47)
8. Junior Seau, NFL great, died in apparent suicide (43)
9. Dick Clark, ‘American Bandstand’ (82)
10. Kathryn Joosten, ‘Desparate Housewives’ actress (72)

Harry Carey, Jr. (May 16, 1921 – December 27, 2012) was an American actor. He appeared in over 90 films (several were Westerns directed by John Ford) and numerous television series.

Carey made eleven films with actor John Wayne, starting with Red River and ending with Cahill U.S. Marshal.

Carey collaborated frequently with director John Ford, a close friend, and became a regular in what was commonly called the John Ford Stock Company. He appeared in such notable Ford films as 3 Godfathers (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Wagon Master (1950), Rio Grande (1950), The Long Gray Line (1955); Mister Roberts (1955), The Searchers (1956), Two Rode Together (1961), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Carey wrote a book about his experiences working with Ford titled “Company of Heroes: My Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company”, published in 1994.

Between 1955 and 1957, Carey appeared as ranch counselor Bill Burnett in the serial Spin and Marty, seen on Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club.[1] In the 1960s, Carey appeared on such shows as Have Gun – Will Travel, The Legend of Jesse James, Wagon Train, Gray Ghost, Whispering Smith, Tombstone Territory, The Rounders, Bonanza, and Gunsmoke.

For his contribution to the television industry, Harry Carey Jr. was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6363 Vine Street. In 2003, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Harry Carey Jr. Cause of Death

Harry Carey Jr. died Thursday of natural causes.
Harry Carey Jr. was 91 years old at the time of his death

Harry Carey, Jr at the Lone Pine Film Festival, 2007

They Rode Their Trails Together: Ben Johnson Harry Carey Jr

Fontella Bass (July 3, 1940 – December 26, 2012) was an American soul singer, best known for the 1965 R&B hit “Rescue Me”, which she also co-wrote.

Her health started fading after a series of strokes beginning in 2005.

Fontella Bass cause of death

Fontella Bass died at a St. Louis hospital from complications of a heart attack suffered in early December 2012. Fontella Bass was 72 years old at the time of her death

Fontella Bass – Rescue Me (Shindig 1965)

Jacob Joachim “Jack” Klugman (April 27, 1922 – December 24, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was best known as Felix Unger’s sloppy roommate Oscar Madison in the American television series The Odd Couple (1970-1975), for his starring role in Quincy, M.E. (1976-1983), as Juror #5 in 12 Angry Men, and his multiple appearances on The Twilight Zone.

A heavy smoker, Klugman was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1974. In 1989, he lost a vocal cord to cancer, but continued to act on stage and television, though he was left with a raspy, scratchy voice.

Jack Klugman cause of death

Klugman died at the age of 90 at his home in Northridge, California, with his wife, Peggy, at his side. He is survived by his sons, David and Adam, and two grandchildren.

Charles Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning’s memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973) and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon (1975), along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He won a Tony award for his portrayal of Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1990.

Durning was honored with the Life Achievement Award at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award Ceremony on January 27, 2008. On July 31, 2008 he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to that of one of his idols, James Cagney.

Military service

For his military service on World War II, Durning was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Heart medals. Additional awards include the World War II Victory Medal.

Durning participated in the Normandy Invasion of France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and was among the first troops to land at Omaha Beach.

Charles Durning cause of death

Charles Durning died of natural causes at his home in Manhattan, New York on December 24, 2012. Durning was 89. In his obituary, the Los Angeles Times called Durning “the king of character actors”.

David Warren “Dave” Brubeck (December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer considered to be one of the foremost exponents of progressive jazz. He wrote a number of jazz standards, including “In Your Own Sweet Way” and “The Duke”. Brubeck’s style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother’s attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music is known for employing unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities.

His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote the saxophone melody for the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s best remembered piece, “Take Five”

Dave Brubeck cause of death

Brubeck died of heart failure on December 5, 2012, in Norwalk, Connecticut, one day before his 92nd birthday.

Inducted to the Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960

Dave Brubeck – Take The ‘A’ Train – 1966

Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, producer and director most known for playing J. R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and for playing Major Anthony “Tony” Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. His films include Fail-Safe, Superman, JFK, Nixon and Primary Colors. His TV appearances continued in international soap operas and with guest roles on shows such as Desperate Housewives into the 21st century. In 2012 he reprised his role as J.R. Ewing in an updated version of Dallas.

Larry Hagman was the son of the actress Mary Martin. A long-time drinker, he underwent a life-saving liver transplant in 1995, and although a member of a 12-step program, he publicly advocated marijuana as a better alternative to alcohol.

Larry Hagman cause of death
Larry Hagman died November 23, 2012, at Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas, Texas from complications of the cancer.  Larry hagman was 81 years old at the time of his death

Major Harris III (February 9, 1947 – November 9, 2012) was an American R&B singer, associated with the Philadelphia soul sound and The Delfonics (early 1970s-1974).

In the early 1970s, he took over from Randy Cain as a member of The Delfonics; he quit the group to go solo in 1974. Signing with Atlantic Records, Harris scored a string of R&B hits in the United States, including the Top Ten single “Love Won’t Let Me Wait”, which peaked at #5 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and #37 in the UK Top 50. Written by Bobby Eli and Vinnie Barrett, “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. on 25 June 1975.

When his success as a soloist subsided, Harris returned to the Delfonics, and continued to tour with one of two touring ensembles that used the name in the 1990s and 2000s. Major was a cousin to the late Philadelphia record producer and arranger, Norman Harris.

Harris died in a Richmond, Virginia hospital from congestive heart and lung failure at the age of 65

Major Harris – Love won’t let me wait

Han Suyin (September, 12 1917 – November 2, 2012) was the pen name of Elizabeth Comber, born Rosalie Elisabeth Kuanghu Chow. She was a Chinese-born Eurasian author of several books on modern China, novels set in East Asia, and autobiographical works, as well as a physician. She lived in Lausanne until her death and wrote in English and French.

In 1955, her best-known work, A Many-Splendoured Thing, was made into a Hollywood film, with a musical theme that became popular song and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In her autobiography My House Has Two Doors, she distanced herself from the film, saying that although the film was shown for many weeks at the Cathay Cinema in Singapore to packed audiences, she never went to see it, and that the film rights were sold to pay for an operation on her adopted daughter who was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. Much later, the movie itself was made into a daytime soap opera, which ran from 1967 to 1973 on American TV.

Han Suyin cause of death

She died in Lausanne on 2 November 2012, aged 95. She is survived by two daughters, Tang Yung Mei and Chew Hui Im.

Matt Monro – Love is a many splendored thing

Natina Tiawanna Reed (October 28, 1979 – October 26, 2012) was an American actress, rapper, singer, teen idol and songwriter in the R&B trio Blaque. On most of Blaque’s songs, Reed is featured as a rapper, except on “Mind of a King” where she sings the song entirely on her own. She is also known as Blaque’s rapper. Reed was a protégée of the late rapper Left Eye.

Reed contributed her own raps to many of Blaque’s past singles, including “808”, “Can’t Get it Back” and “Bring It All to Me” (remix)

In 2001, Reed was engaged to rapper Kurupt. In 2002, she gave birth to their son Tren Brown after the group was dropped from their label. Reed and Kurupt were separated.

Reed was the cousin of former Destiny’s Child member Farrah Franklin.

Natina Reed cause of death

Reed died on October 26, 2012, two days shy of her 33rd birthday, in a car accident as she was walking on a state highway in Atlanta, Georgia.

The accident happened about 10:30 p.m. near Lawrenceville, Georgia on U.S. Highway 29 near Hamilton Road. No charges are expected, said Gwinnett police. Police and firefighters arrived to find a bystander performing CPR on Reed at the scene. She was pronounced dead a short time later at Gwinnett Medical Center. A preliminary investigation indicates that Reed was in the roadway when she was struck. Only the vehicle’s driver and a passenger witnessed the impact. The driver of the vehicle was determined to be not at fault, and there are no charges pending.

Blaque – Bring it All to Me (Natina Reed rapping)