Celebrity deaths, illness, divorce and remembrance
Kim Jong-il (February 16, 1942 – December 17, 2011), was the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).
Kim’s death was reported by North Korean state television on 19 December 2011. The tearful presenter announced that he had died two days earlier of “physical and mental over-work” whilst travelling via train to an area outside Pyongyang.
*Comment disabled for political figure.
Billie Jo Spears (January 14, 1937 – December 14, 2011) was an American country music singer. She reached the top-10 of the Country music charts five times between 1969 and 1977, her biggest hit being “Blanket on the Ground”, which, in 1975, became her only number one. She was known for her bluesy voice.
Billie Jo Spears cause of death
Billie Jo Spears died of cancer on December 14, 2011
Billie Jo Spears was 74 years old at the time of her death.
Billie Jo Spears – Blanket On The Ground
Harry Morgan (April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter in M*A*S*H (1975–1983), Pete Porter in both Pete and Gladys (1960–1962) and December Bride (1954–1959), Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet (1967–1970), and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey (1972–1974). He appeared in more than 100 films.
Harry Morgan Cause of Death
Harry Morgan died after treated for Pneumonia.
Harry Morgan was 96 years old at the time of his death.
Dobie Gray (July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011) was an African American singer and songwriter, whose musical career spanned soul, country, pop and musical theater. His hit records included “The ‘In’ Crowd” in 1965, and “Drift Away”, which was one of the biggest hits of 1973, sold over one million copies, and remains a staple of radio airplay.
Dobie Gray cause of death
Dobie Gray’s cause of death is not yet released.
Dobie Gray was 71 years old at the time of his death.
Dobie Gray – Drift away: He is the original singer, NOT Uncle Kracker
Hubert Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer. He was best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as guitarist in Howlin’ Wolf’s band. His singular playing was characterized by “wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions”. Sumlin was listed as number 43 in the Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Hubert Sumlin cause of death
Hubert Sumlin died on December 4, 2011, in a hospital in Wayne, New Jersey, of heart failure
Hubert Sumlin was 80 years old at the time of his death.
Hubert Sumlin & David Johansen – Killing Floor (Hubert Sumlin on guitar)
Alan Grigsby Sues (March 7, 1926 – December 1, 2011) was an American comic actor widely known for his roles on the 1968–1973 television series Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. Sues’ on-screen persona was campy, outrageous and contained verbal slapstick; typical of his humor was a skit that found him following a pair of whiskey-drinking cowboys to a Wild West bar and requesting a frozen daiquiri. Sues’ recurring characters on the program included Big Al the Sportscaster and Uncle Al the Kiddie’s Pal. He also parodied castmate JoAnne Worley when she left the show, appearing in drag.
He was the only known gay man on TV at that time.
Alan Sues cause of death
Alan Sues died of heart attack.
Alan Sues was 85 years old at the time of his death
Laugh-In – Uncle Al, the kiddies Pal
Bill McKinney (September 12, 1931 – December 1, 2011) was an American character actor whose most famous role was the sadistic mountain man in the movie Deliverance. McKinney was also recognizable for his performances in seven Clint Eastwood films, most notably as Union cavalry commander Captain “Redlegs” Terrill in The Outlaw Josey Wales.
He appeared in First Blood (1982), Against All Odds (1984), Heart Like a Wheel (1983), Back to the Future Part III (1990), and The Green Mile (1999). As well as films, McKinney has appeared in the classic TV movie The Execution of Private Slovik (1974), while guest-starring on some of the top TV shows, including The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Starsky and Hutch, The A-Team, Murder, She Wrote and Columbo.
Bill McKinney Cause of Death
Bill McKinney was died of esophagus cancer. He smoked for 25 years when he was younger.
Bill McKinney was 80 years old at the time of his death.
*Late entry: to be re-filed
Andrea True (July 26, 1943 – November 7, 2011) was an American adult film star and singer from the disco era. In addition to her given name, she had multiple stage names, including Inger Kissin, Andrea Travis, Catherine Warren, Singh Low, and Singe Low.
She is best known for the disco tune “More, More, More”, released in 1976, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart in 1976.
Porn
Andrea True appeared in more than 60 hardcore porn films throughout the 1970s and early to mid-1980s, and distinguished herself as one of the more recognizable porn stars in the early New York adult film industry.
More, More, More.
During her heyday as a porn actress, True was hired by a real estate business in Jamaica to appear in their commercials. During her stay on Jamaica, a political crisis gripped the island, and no one was allowed to leave with any money. Not wanting to lose her hard-earned pay, True asked her friend, record producer Gregg Diamond, to travel to the island and produce a track for her, which she would finance locally. Diamond arrived with a composition in hand, to which True added her vocals. The result of their collaboration was “More, More, More.”
Andrea True cause of death
Andrea True died on November 7, 2011, at a hospital in Kingston, New York, near her home in Woodstock. The cause of her death was not made public. In line with her wishes, she was cremated. Andrea True was 68 years old at the time of her death.
More, More More – Andrea True Connection (HQ Audio)
Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.
He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups. Motian played an important role in freeing the drummer from strict time-keeping duties.
Biography
Motian became a professional musician in 1954, and briefly played with pianist Thelonious Monk. He became well known as the drummer in pianist Bill Evans’s trio (1959–64), initially alongside bassist Scott LaFaro and later Chuck Israels.
Subsequently he played with pianists Paul Bley (1963-4) and Keith Jarrett (1967–76). Other musicians with whom Motian performed and/or recorded in the early period of his career included Lennie Tristano, Warne Marsh,Lee Konitz, Joe Castro, Arlo Guthrie (Motian performed briefly with Guthrie in 1968-69, and performed with the singer at Woodstock), Carla Bley, Charlie Haden, and Don Cherry. Motian subsequently worked with musicians such as Marilyn Crispell, Bill Frisell, Leni Stern, Joe Lovano, Alan Pasqua, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Bill McHenry, Stephane Oliva, Frank Kimbrough, and many more.
Stephen Paul Motian cause of death
Paul Motian died on November 22, 2011 of myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone marrow disorder. Paul Motian was 80 years old at the time of his death
Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden & Paul Motian – Germany 1972
William Aloysius Keane (October 5, 1922 – November 8, 2011), better known as Bil Keane, was an American cartoonist notable for his work on the long-running newspaper comic The Family Circus, which began its run in 1960 and continues in syndication.
Keane was the president of the National Cartoonists Society from 1981 to 1983 and was the emcee of the Society’s annual awards banquet for 16 years.
Bil Keane cause of death
Bil Keane died from congestive heart failure at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona (near Phoenix)
Bil Keane was 89 years old at the time of his death.
Family Circus Official Website
