Hollywood Memoir

Dolores Fuller (born Dolores Eble; March 10, 1923 – May 9, 2011) was an American actress and songwriter best known as the one-time girlfriend of the low-budget film director Edward D. Wood, Jr. She played the protagonist’s girlfriend in Glen or Glenda, co-starred in Wood’s Jail Bait, and had a minor role in Bride of the Monster. Later, Elvis Presley recorded a number of her songs written for his films.

Ed Wood (1994 film)
Fuller was portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker in Tim Burton’s 1994 Wood biopic Ed Wood.

Dolores Fuller Cause of Death
Dolores Fuller died at her Las Vegas home after a long illness.
Dolores Fuller was 88 years old at the time of her death.

Jail Bait Preview

Cornell Dupree (December 19, 1942 – May 8, 2011) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis and Steve Gadd, appeared on David Letterman, and written a book on soul and blues guitar: Rhythm and Blues Guitar ISBN 0-634-00149-3. He reputedly recorded on 2,500 sessions.

Cornell Dupree also worked with Joe Cocker, Paul Simon, Bonnie Raitt and Mariah Carey.

He played on Brook Benton’s "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love", and is featured on two tracks of Peter Wolf’s 1998 album, Fool’s Parade. He is also known for playing the opening guitar riff on Aretha Franklin’s "Respect"

Cornell Dupree Cause of Death
Cornell Dupree died of emphysema while waiting for lung transplant.
Cornell Dupree was 69 years old at the time of his death.

Rainy Night in Georgia – Brook Benton

Aretha Franklin – Respect [1967]

Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros Sota (April 9, 1957 – May 7, 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport’s leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. He gained attention in the golfing world in 1976, when at the age of 19 he finished second at the British Open. A member of a gifted golfing family, Ballesteros won five major championships between 1979 and 1988, the British Open three times, and The Masters twice. He was also successful in the Ryder Cup, helping the European team to five wins both as a player and captain, and won the World Match Play Championship a record-tying five times. He is best known for his great short game, and his erratic driving of the golf ball. He is generally regarded as the greatest Spanish golfer of all time.

Seve Bellesteros Cause of Death
On 6 May 2011, his family released a press release announcing that Ballesteros’s neurological condition had "suffered a severe deterioration". He died within hours of the announcement in the early hours of 7 May 2011. 

Tiger Woods said of Ballesteros that he was "one of the most talented and exciting golfers to ever play the game"

John Joseph Maus (November 12, 1943 – May 7, 2011), known professionally as John Walker, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the founder of The Walker Brothers, who had their greatest success in the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom.

The Walker Brothers sold about 23 million albums and disbanded in the late 60s.

John Walker Cause of Death
In 2010 Walker was diagnosed with liver cancer from which he died, at his home, in Los Angeles on 7 May 2011.
JohnWalker was 67 years old at the time of his death

The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore) – Walker Brothers

 John Walker – Kentucky Woman (of The Walker Brothers)

John Walker’s Official Website

Related:
Kevin McCarthy, ‘Body Snatchers’, Prolific Actor, Dies 96 (September 11, 2010)

Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter; June 8, 1931 – May 5, 2011) was a German-born British actress, who was brought up in England and Southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than forty years beginning in the 1950s, most notably in the original version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Dana Wynter Cause of Death
Dana Wynter died on 5 May 2011 from congestive heart failure at the Ojai Valley Community Hospital’s Continuing Care Center; she was 79 years old. She had suffered from heart disease in later years, and was transferred from the hospital’s intensive care unit earlier in the day. Her son Mark said she was not expected to survive, and "she stepped off the bus very peacefully", 33 days short of her 80th birthday.

Danny Kaye: ON THE DOUBLE  (with Dana Wynter)

Related:
Kevin McCarthy, ‘Body Snatchers’, Prolific Actor, Dies 96 (September 11, 2010)

Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, librettist, stage director, and screenwriter. His credits include the stage musicals West Side Story and Gypsy and the film The Way We Were.

Arthur Laurents’s Notable Work
    * West Side Story – 1957 – Tony Nomination for Best Musical
    * Gypsy – 1959 – Tony Nomination for Best Musical
    * Hallelujah, Baby! – 1967 – Tony Award for Best Musical
   
Direction
    * Gypsy – 1974 – Tony Nomination for Best Direction of a Musical
    * La Cage aux Folles – 1983 – Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical
    * Gypsy – 2008 – Tony Award nomination as Best Director of a Musical

Arthur Laurents Cause of Death
Arthur Laurents died from complications of pneumonia.
Arthur Laurents was 93 years old at the time of his death.

Almost Unnoticed Deaths page is updated with below item

• May 5, 2011: Claude Choules, Last known World War I combatant, of 70 million survivors, dies 110.  British sailor witnessed surrender of German in 1918.

Go to: Almost Unnoticed Deaths

Sada Carolyn Thompson (September 27, 1927 — May 4, 2011) was an American stage, film and television actress.

Sada Thompson was nominated for the Emmy Award nine times in total. Additional television credits include Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Love Boat, Father Dowling Mysteries, Andre’s Mother, Cheers, Indictment: The McMartin Trial, and Law & Order.

Thompson’s feature films include The Pursuit of Happiness, Desperate Characters and Pollock.

Sada Thompson Cause of Death
Sada Thompson died in Danbury, Connecticut of lung disease.
Sada Thompson was 83 years old at the time of her death.
In addition to her daughter, Liza, she was survived by her husband, a former executive for Pan American Airlines, and a brother, David.

Mary Murphy ( January 26, 1931 – May 4, 2011) was an American film actress of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She was born in Washington, D.C., before moving to Los Angeles. Shortly out of high school she was signed to appear in films for Paramount Pictures in the late 1940s.

Murphy first gained attention 1953, when she played a good-hearted girl who tries to reform Marlon Brando in The Wild One. The following year, she appeared opposite Tony Curtis in Beachhead, and the year after that as Fredric March’s daughter in the thriller The Desperate Hours, which also starred Humphrey Bogart. She co-starred with actor-director Ray Milland in his Western A Man Alone. She appeared in dozens of television series including Perry Mason, I Spy and Ironside. She was long absent from the big screen before acting in 1972 with Steve McQueen in the Sam Peckinpah film Junior Bonner. She had retired from acting by the 1980s.

Mary Murphy Cause of Death
Mary Murphy died from heart disease complications on May 4, 2011; she was 80 years old.

 Johnny meets Kathie (Marlon Brando & Mary Murphy ) – The Wild One(1953)

Jackie Cooper (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, TV director, TV producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to transition to an adult career. He is also the youngest performer to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, an honor he received for the film Skippy (film) (1931).

Jackie Cooper dated Judy Garland when he was 14. He dated Joan Crawford when he was 17.

Jackie Cooper’s other notable movies, mostly as a child or teen actor, included "The Champ" (1931), "Treasure Island" (1934), "The Return of Frank James" (1940) and "Ziegfeld Girl" (1941).

Jackie Cooper worked as director on M*A*S*H (TV series) and The White Shadow earned him Emmy awards.

Jackie Cooper found renewed fame in the 1970s and 1980s as Daily Planet editor Perry White in the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve.

Jackie Cooper has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1501 Vine Street.

Jackie Cooper Cause of Death
Jackie Cooper passed away on May 3, 2011 after a short illness.

Columbo – Candidate For Crime – Ending – Jackie Cooper as a bad guy.