Obit Lineup

[nacho]

And Dick Francis...

Obit here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3411283.stm

Happened during the Snowpocalypse,which means it isn't real!

[nacho]

The Father Dowling guy died:

Mystery Author Ralph McInerny (Father Dowling Mysteries) Dies at Age 80

[nacho]

Haig died:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Haig

Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr. (December 2, 1924 – February 20, 2010) was a United States Army general who served as the United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.[1] He also served as Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, the number-two ranking officer in the Army,[2] and as Supreme Allied Commander Europe commanding all U.S. and NATO forces in Europe.

A veteran of the Korean War and Vietnam War, Haig was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, and the Purple Heart.[3]

On February 20, 2010, Haig died from complications from a staphylococcal infection after being hospitalized at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on January 28, 2010.[4]

[Disco Dust]

The immortal "Boner" from Growing Pains is missing and feared suicidal...stay tuned.

[RottingCorpse]

I think Nacho posted this in another thread.

I never realized he was Walter 'Chekov' Koenig's son.

[nacho]

Yeah, I put it in the TV news thread over in the TV forum.

[RottingCorpse]

Andrew Koenig Dead: 'Growing Pains' Actor's Body Found After Suicide

[Cassander]

Corey Haim dead at 38!  OD'd. 

[nacho]

Corey Haim dead at 38!  OD'd. 

Dude...you need to back that shit up with proof!  That's a big deal!

Actor Corey Haim, 38, is dead after an accidental drug overdose. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed that Haim, who battled substance addiction for several years, was found unresponsive in an Oakwood apartment and pronounced dead at Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center at 2:15 a.m. this morning. His mother, according to FOX station KTLA, was in the apartment at the time.

A small part of the 80's just died...

There's a new star in the sky tonight.  And it is licensed to drive.

[Cassander]

I totally DD'd the OD!

[Sirharles]

Merlin Olson died.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AkGR1G3DSf1Ey7YrLJ4FIpY5nYcB?slug=ap-obit-olsen&prov=ap&type=lgns

[RottingCorpse]

"Do you like movies about Gladiators?"

'Mission: Impossible' star Peter Graves dies in LA

LOS ANGELES – Peter Graves, the tall, stalwart actor likely best known for his portrayal of Jim Phelps, leader of a gang of special agents who battled evil conspirators in the long-running television series "Mission: Impossible," died Sunday.

Graves died of an apparent heart attack outside his Los Angeles home, publicist Sandy Brokaw said. He would have been 84 this week.

Graves had just returned from brunch with his wife and kids and collapsed before he made it into the house, Brokaw said. One of his daughters administered CPR but was unable to revive him. Graves' family doctor visited the house and believed he had a heart attack, Brokaw said.

Although Graves never achieved the stardom his older brother, James Arness, enjoyed as Marshall Matt Dillon on TV's "Gunsmoke," he had a number of memorable roles in both films and television.

Normally cast as a hero, he turned in an unforgettable performance early in his career as the treacherous Nazi spy in Billy Wilder's 1953 prisoner-of-war drama "Stalag 17."

He also masterfully lampooned his straight-arrow image when he portrayed bumbling airline pilot Clarence Oveur in the 1980 disaster movie spoof "Airplane!"

Graves appeared in dozens of films and a handful of television shows in a career of nearly 60 years.

The authority and trust he projected made him a favorite for commercials late in his life, and he was often encouraged to go into politics.

"He had this statesmanlike quality," Brokaw said. "People were always encouraging him to run for office. But he said, 'I like acting. I like being around actors.'"

Graves' career began with cheaply made exploitation films like "It Conquered the World," in which he battled a carrot-shaped monster from Venus, and "Beginning of the World," in which he fought a giant grasshopper.

He later took on equally formidable human villains each week on "Mission: Impossible."

Every show began with Graves, as agent Phelps, listening to a tape of instructions outlining his team's latest mission and explaining that if he or any of his agents were killed or captured "the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions."

The tape always self-destructed within seconds of being played.

The show ran on CBS from 1967 to 1973 and was revived on ABC from 1988 to 1990 with Graves back as the only original cast member.

The actor credited clever writing for the show's success.

"It made you think a little bit and kept you on the edge of your seat because you never knew what was going to happen next," he once said.

He also played roles in such films as John Ford's "The Long Gray Line" and Charles Laughton's "The Night of the Hunter," as well as "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell," "Texas Across the River" and "The Ballad of Josie."

Graves' first television series was a children's Saturday morning show, "Fury," about an orphan and his untamed black stallion. Filmed in Australia, it lasted six years on NBC. A western, "Whiplash," also shot in Australia, played for a year in syndication, and the British-made "Court-Martial" appeared on ABC for one season. In his later years, Graves brought his white-haired eminence to PBS as host of "Discover: The World of Science" and A&E's "Biography" series.

He noted during an interview in 2000 that he made his foray into comedy somewhat reluctantly.

Filmmakers Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker had written a satire on the airplane-in-trouble movies, and they wanted Graves and fellow handsome actors Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen and Robert Stack to spoof their serious images.

All agreed, but Graves admitted to nervousness. On the one hand, he said, he considered the role a challenge, "but it also scared me."

"I thought I could lose a whole long acting career," he recalled.

"Airplane!" became a box-office smash, and Graves returned for "Airplane II, The Sequel."

Born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Graves adopted his grandfather's last name to avoid confusion with his older brother, James, who had dropped the "U" from the family name.

He was a champion hurdler in high school, as well as a clarinet player in dance bands and a radio announcer.

After two years in the Air Force, he enrolled at the University of Minnesota as a drama major and worked in summer stock before following his brother west to Hollywood.

He found enough success there to send for his college sweetheart, Joan Endress. They were married in 1950 and had three daughters — Kelly Jean, Claudia King and Amanda Lee — and six grandchildren.

Graves credited the couple's Midwest upbringing for a marriage that lasted more than 50 years in a town not known for long unions.

"Hollywood or New York ... can be very flighty and dangerous places to live, but the good grounding we had in the Midwest ethic I think helped us all our lives," he said.

[Cassander]

Is there a term for the shock-to-shamed-grief you feel when you hear that someone you've thought has been dead for a long time has died?

[nacho]

Corey Haim dead at 38!  OD'd. 

Dude...you need to back that shit up with proof!  That's a big deal!

Actor Corey Haim, 38, is dead after an accidental drug overdose. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed that Haim, who battled substance addiction for several years, was found unresponsive in an Oakwood apartment and pronounced dead at Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center at 2:15 a.m. this morning. His mother, according to FOX station KTLA, was in the apartment at the time.

A small part of the 80's just died...

There's a new star in the sky tonight.  And it is licensed to drive.

Jeez...

And now comes another sad bit of news in the aftermath of Corey Haim's death. According to media reports, his family has little money left to pay for the funeral of the '80s teen idol, so a Paypal fund has been set up his Corey's official website.

In addition, most of Haim's personal belongs are being auctioned away on eBay.

"I have been given most all of Corey's belongings to put on eBay to sell for the family to pay for his funeral expenses," one listing by family friend Scott Schwartz reads. "Corey had no savings and his family is really in need!"

Schwartz is best known to '80s fans for playing "Flick" in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story. According to Schwartz's eBay listings, Corey Haim had "no savings and his family is really in need."

One item for sale right now is an Italian suit jacket worn by Haim. The starting bid is $399.95

Longtime friend Corey Feldman told Larry King this week that he was "angry, hurt and sad" by the public's reaction.

"Where were all these people the last 10 years, the last 15 years, of Corey's life," Feldman asked the talk show host. "Where were all these people to lend a handout, to reach out to him and say, you're a legend, you're an amazingly talented wonderful person who's never really gone out of his way to hurt anyone, other than himself?"

"In this entertainment industry, in Hollywood, we build people up as children, we put them on pedestals, and then, when we decide they're not marketable anymore, we walk away from them," he added. "Then we taunt them and we tease them … It's okay for society as a whole to poke fun at, to point fingers at, us as human beings. Why is it okay to kick somebody when they're down? I don't think it should be tolerated anymore."

[nacho]

God...sad news.

Greatest American Hero's Robert Culp dead at 79

Greatestamericanherotvposter008 Actor Robert Culp, best known to '80s fans for his role as Bill Maxwell in The Greatest American Hero, has died at age 79.

Culp was rushed to the hospital in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning after falling and hitting his head during a walk outside his home, the L.A. Times reports. No foul play is suspected.

The actor starred alongside William Katt in Greatest American Hero from 1981 to 1986. He also appeared as "Mayor Tyler" in the movie Turk 182. Much of his career work was in television, including guest spots on Murder She Wrote, Hotel, Matlock and Who's The Boss.

Culp will probaly always be best known for appearing alongside Bill Cosby in the hit 1960s television series I Spy. Another notable movie role was playing the president in 1994's The Pelican Brief.