Johnny Sheffield Dies at 79

Johnny Sheffield, the former child actor who played Boy in the Tarzan movie series starring Johnny Weissmuller in the late 1930s and ’40s and later starred in the Bomba, the Jungle Boy film series, has died. He was 79.

Sheffield died Friday of a heart attack at his home in Chula Vista about four hours after he fell off a ladder while pruning a palm tree, said his wife, Patty.

“He was a jungle boy to the end,” she said, noting that her husband of 51 years wasn’t too high in the tree when he fell, but “sometimes he was way up there.”

Tom Bosley, Happy Days’ Dad, Dies 83

Thomas Edward "Tom" Bosley (October 1, 1927 – October 19, 2010), was an American actor, best known for his starring and supporting roles on the television shows Happy Days, Murder, She Wrote, and Father Dowling Mysteries, as well as the title role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello!

Bosley’s best known role is the character Howard Cunningham, Richie Cunningham’s father, in the long-running sitcom Happy Days. Bosley was also known for portraying Sheriff Amos Tupper on Murder, She Wrote. He also portrayed the titular Father Frank Dowling on the TV mystery series, Father Dowling Mysteries. In 2004, Bosley guest starred as a toy maker named Ben-Ami on the series finale of the Christian video series K10C: Kids’ Ten Commandments. Among myriad television appearances, one notable early performance was in the "Eyes" segment of the 1969 pilot episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Joan Crawford.

Death of Tom Bosley
Tom Bosley is died of Lung Cancer
Tom Bosely was 83 years old at the time of his death

Tom Bosley in Commercial – (Blue Jacket & Glasses)

Barbara Billingsley, June Cleaver on “Leave It to Beaver”, TV mom, dies 94

Barbara Billingsley (December 22, 1915 – October 16, 2010) was an American film, television, voice and character actress of stage, who in her five decades of television came to prominence in the 1950s in the big screen in The Careless Years opposite Natalie Trundy, followed by her best-known role, that of June Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver and its sequel Still the Beaver (also known as The New Leave It to Beaver).

After Leave it to Beaver
When production of the show ended in 1963, Billingsley had become typecast as saccharine sweet and had trouble obtaining acting jobs for years. She traveled extensively abroad until the late 1970s. After an absence of 17 years from the public eye (other than appearing in two episodes of The F.B.I. in 1971), Billingsley spoofed her wholesome image with a brief appearance in the comedy Airplane! (1980), as a passenger who could "speak jive". She became the voice of Nanny and The Little Train on Muppet Babies from 1984 to 1991.

Death of Barbara Billingsley
Barbara Billingsley died of polymyalgia at her home in Santa Monica, California on October 16, 2010, at the age of 94. She is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

 The State vs. Beaver.Pt.1 of 3

 

 Stewardess I Speak Jive! – AIRPLANE!

 

Simon MacCorkindale of “Falcon Crest” Dies of Cancer

Simon MacCorkindale of “Falcon Crest” Dies of Cancer
LONDON (AP) — British actor Simon MacCorkindale, who starred on British television in “Casualty” and in the United States in “Falcon Crest,” has died at age 58.

MacCorkindale died Thursday of bowel cancer in a London clinic, publicist Max Clifford said.

Stephen Cannell, prolific TV writer-producer, dies 69

Stephen Joseph Cannell (February 5, 1941 – September 30, 2010) was an American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor who was also the founder of Stephen J. Cannell Productions.

Cannell has created or co-created nearly 40 television series, mostly crime dramas, including The Rockford Files, The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings, and The Commish. In the process he had, by his own count, scripted more than 450 episodes, and produced or executive produced over 1,500 episodes.

Death of Stephen J. Cannell
Stephen J. Cannell died September 30, 2010, due to complications associated with melanoma.

Stephen J. Cannell (himself) on the logo

For many years, Cannell’s office was at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, though his shows (with the exception of Hunter and The Greatest American Hero) were almost always distributed by Universal Studios. The closing logo  of his production company features him typing, before throwing the sheet from his typewriter whereupon it animates to become his company logo against a black screen (the one sheet of paper lands on a stack of paper forming a letter C) It was updated often, the main differences being Cannell’s clothes, sometimes new awards were in the background and (rarely) a new office for the live-action part. Early examples are also notable for Cannell smoking a pipe as he types. 

Tony Curtis, Hollywood Icon, Dies 85

* Tony Curtis was once married to actress Janet Leigh (Psycho, 1960) and fathered actresses Jamie Lee Curtis

Tony Curtis (June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010) was an American film actor. He played a variety of roles, from light comedy, such as the musician on the run from gangsters in Some Like It Hot, to serious dramatic roles, such as an escaped convict in The Defiant Ones, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. From 1949, he appeared in more than 100 films and made frequent television appearances.

Tony Curtis cemented his reputation with breakthrough performances such as in the role of the scheming press agent Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) with Burt Lancaster and an Oscar-nominated performance as a bigoted escaped convict chained to Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones. He did both screen comedy and drama together and became the most sought after star in Hollywood: Curtis’ comedies include Some Like It Hot (1959) and Sex and the Single Girl (1964), and his dramas include The Outsider (1961), the true story of WW II veteran Ira Hayes, and The Boston Strangler (1968), in which he played the self-confessed murderer of the film’s title, Albert DeSalvo. The latter film was praised for Curtis’ performance.

Curtis also appeared frequently on television; he co-starred with Roger Moore in the TV series The Persuaders!. Later, he co-starred in McCoy and Vega$. In the early 1960s, he was immortalized as "Stony Curtis," a voice-over guest star on The Flintstones.

Throughout his life, Curtis enjoyed painting, and since the early 1980s, painted as a second career. His work commands more than $25,000 a canvas now. In the last years of his life, he concentrated on painting rather than movies

Death of Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis died in bed at his Las Vegas home, on September 29, 2010, at 9:25 PM of cardiac arrest.  Tony Curtis was 85 years old at the time of his death.

Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis

Joe Mantell, Academy Nominated actor, `Marty,’ `Chinatown’ dies 94

Joseph "Joe" Mantell (December 21, 1915 – September 29, 2010) was an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as "Angie" in the 1955 film Marty, which earned the Best Picture Award, and the Best Actor Oscar for Mantell’s co-star, Ernest Borgnine.

Mantell also appeared in Storm Center (1956) and Chinatown (1974). In the latter he played Lawrence Walsh, partner of private eye Jake Gittes, and the agency’s primary photographer. He delivered the film’s famous last line, "Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown." The character of Walsh reappeared in The Two Jakes.

Mantell’s other notable credits include "The Birds," "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room" and several episodes of "The Twilight Zone."

Death of Joe Mantell
Joe Mantel died after a long illness.  Joe Mantel was 94 years old at the time of his death.

 Joe Mantell – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Guilty Witness
Joe Mantell is Stanley, the first person in the scene

Greg Giraldo, ‘Last Comic Standing’ judge, dies of overdose 44

Greg Giraldo (December 10, 1965 – September 29, 2010) was an American stand-up comedian, television personality, insult comic and former lawyer. He died Wednesday, September 29, 2010, after being hospitalized on September 25 for an overdose of prescription medication.

Greg has appeared in Comedy Central’s annual roasts roasting Chevy Chase, Pam Anderson, William Shatner, Jeff Foxworthy, Flavor Flav, Bob Saget, Joan Rivers, Larry the Cable Guy, and David Hasslehoff, as well as the TBS roast of Cheech & Chong.

Giraldo served as a judge during season seven of the NBC reality competition show Last Comic Standing.

Death Greg Giraldo
On September 25, 2010, Giraldo overdosed on prescription pills in his New Jersey hotel room; he was discovered by a friend after failing to appear at a scheduled concert in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. It is not known if the overdose was accidental or a suicide attempt. Giraldo’s management company told the press the following day that he’d had "an accidental overdose, and he is in critical condition." On September 29, 2010, friend and fellow comedian Jim Norton confirmed the death of Greg Giraldo, due to complications from the overdose. His family was with him at the time of his death.

Gloria Stuart, Titanic actress, dies 100

Gloria StuartGloria Frances Stuart (July 4, 1910 – September 26, 2010) was an American actress. Over a Hollywood career that has spanned more than 70 years, Stuart appeared on stage, in television and film, and was best known for her roles as Claude Rains’ sweetheart in The Invisible Man and as Old Rose in her Academy Award nominated role in the film Titanic.

Stuart was an activist and became a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild, but her career with Universal was disappointing. She moved to 20th Century Fox, and by the end of the decade had appeared in 42 films, including Busby Berkeley’s Gold Diggers of 1935 and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Among the stars she appeared with was Melvyn Douglas, Lionel Barrymore, Dick Powell, Raymond Massey, Boris Karloff, and Shirley Temple. Stuart was a versatile female lead, but was never given the roles that would make her a major star, a source of great frustration.

1996, Stuart landed the character of 100-year-old Rose, at the heart of James Cameron’s epic Titanic. Stuart was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She is still the the oldest person ever to have been nominated for an Oscar.

Death of Gloria Stuart
Gloria Stuart died from natural causes in her sleep at her home in West Los Angeles on September 26, 2010.  Gloria Stuart was 100 years old at the time of her death.

Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Motion Picture, 1998)

Admin’s Note: This movie tells a story about Frankie Lymon’s life and death.  It also gives us a better understandnig on Zola Taylor (1938 – 2007), the female member from The Platters.  It showed young Little Richard when he was starting out.  The movie fed my need to know more.

Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998) is an American romantic drama, directed by Gregory Nava. The screenplay was written by Tina Andrews. The film stars Halle Berry, Vivica A. Fox, Lela Rochon and Larenz Tate.

The motion picture is a biographical film of the brief but intense life of R&B/Rock & Roll singer Frankie Lymon, who was part of the R&B group Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers for one year. Moreover, the film highlights the three women in his life.

Movie Plot
Lymon was thirteen years old when the teenage group Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers erupted from radios and jukeboxes with their 1956 hit, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" and appeared in the movie Rock, Rock, Rock (1956).

After Mr. Rock and Roll (1957), Lymon started a solo singing career, but it all fell apart. Lymon’s career was over by the time he was eighteen years old, and he died of a heroin overdose seven years later.

Jumping from the 1950s to the 1980s, the film traces the rise and fall of Lymon in a series of flashbacks as courtroom claims on Lymon’s royalties are outlined by three women: Zola Taylor of the Platters, Elizabeth Waters , and schoolteacher Emira Eagle

Why do fools fall in love – movie trailer

Franklin Joseph "Frankie" Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of a New York City-based early rock and roll group, The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid teens. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African American members, Frankie Lymon, Jimmy Merchant and Sherman Garnes, and two Puerto Rican members, Herman Santiago and Joe Negroni.

The Teenagers’ first single, 1956’s "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and those of the Teenagers fell into decline. By age 25, he was found dead in his grandmother’s bathroom from a heroin overdose.

Zola Taylor (March 17, 1938 – April 30, 2007) was an American singer. She was the only female member of The Platters from 1954 to 1962, when the group produced most of their popular singles.

Taylor was the second of Frankie Lymon’s three wives. In 1984, on behalf of Emira Lymon, a lawyer and artist’s agent sued to wrest the copyright of Frankie’s hit song "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" away from the current owner. The case became confused when it looked like Lymon had a second and possibly a third widow. Elizabeth Waters claimed to have married Lymon in 1964 in Maryland. However, it turned out she had been married to someone else at the time.

Zola Taylor claimed to have married Lymon in Mexicali, Mexico around 1965, but could not produce a marriage license. The first hearing, held in Philadelphia, was decided in favor of Waters being Lymon’s first wife. Emira Eagle, his third wife, appealed and won a reversal based on her claim that she was Lymon’s first wife.

In 1990, Taylor was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Platters.

Death of Zola Taylor
Taylor was retired from the music business when she died in Los Angeles at age 69, from pneumonia, following a series of strokes.