Archive for April, 2005

Actress Debralee Scott, 52

Posted: Sunday, April 24th, 2005 10:38 pm

AMELIA ISLAND, Florida (AP) - Actress Debralee Scott, who appeared in the sitcom “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” and some of the “Police Academy” movies, has died, her family said. She was 52. … Read full obituary


“Halloween” co-writer Debra Hill, 54

Posted: Sunday, April 24th, 2005 4:45 pm

Another one missed (a big one for us horror fans)! From March 8, 2005:

Screenwriter and producer Debra Hill, best known for her work on the 70s horror classic Halloween, has died in Los Angeles aged 54. Hill, who had been suffering from cancer, co-wrote the 1978 film, which starred Jamie Lee Curtis as a babysitter terrorised by a psychopath. …

Hill also worked with [John] Carpenter on Escape From New York and The Fog. … Read full obituary


Former Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, 94

Posted: Saturday, April 23rd, 2005 4:37 pm

It was a strong heart, his doctor said, that allowed Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen to hang on for so long as the rest of his body failed.

But the end finally came at 6pm yesterday with Sir Joh, 94, dying surrounded by his family in a little hospital room in his home town of Kingaroy, about 250 kilometres north-west of Brisbane. … Read full obituary


Sir John Mills, 97

Posted: Saturday, April 23rd, 2005 1:32 pm

Actor, director, father of Hayley Mills and Juliet Mills. … Read full obituary


TV preacher Dr. Gene Scott, 75

Posted: Thursday, April 21st, 2005 3:47 pm

Dr. Gene ScottMissed this one back in February [the 21st]; apparently many news sources were sluggish about getting around to printing Dr. Scott’s obit. And after checking the lame, boring obits still available online, I went back to the source where I stumbled across the news by accident: rotten.com. Be warned, however, that the rest of rotten.com is extremely offensive to most audiences, so browse the site only at your own risk! — JR

You’re watching Dr. Gene Scott’s program, already in progress.

It’s “not a lot of hooey — just straight talk” from a man everybody’s encountered at one time or another while flipping from channel to channel. His face looms large against the Ultimatte blue background, and he radiates forth a righteous indignation. He’s the richest television star in world history, and he could easily hold a Guinness record for spending the most time live on the air in front of millions of people.

“You ever meet Christians? You wish you could shove a pipe in their mouth. Anything to shut them up.”

He’s unpredictable, entertaining, ridiculous and brilliantly inspired. There he is again: puffing a cigar, harassing a visibly shaken staff, delivering hateful missives against the FCC. He’s the Bill Hicks of adult preachers, cracking jokes with impeccable timing and delivery. … Read full bio


“Judy in Disguise” singer John Fred (Gourrier), 63

Posted: Monday, April 18th, 2005 6:59 pm

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) — John Fred Gourrier, best known for his 1960s hit “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)” died Friday at Tulane Hospital after being ill for months, his former manager said. He was 63. … Read full obituary


Panthers coach Sam Mills, 45

Posted: Monday, April 18th, 2005 5:37 pm

Sam Mills managed to inspire two generations of players, first as a player and then as a coach. Despite a smaller stature than normal for linebackers in pro football, Mills became a standout in the USFL and then the NFL, where he played for the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers. … Read full obituary


Tejano “grand dame” Laura Canales, 50

Posted: Monday, April 18th, 2005 1:59 pm

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Laura Canales, who paved the way for women to infiltrate the genre of Texas border music known as Tejano, has died. She was 50.

Canales, a Kingsville native, had been hospitalized since March 28 for a gall bladder operation. … Read full obituary


Feminist icon Andrea Dworkin, 59

Posted: Monday, April 11th, 2005 6:57 pm

The American feminist icon, writer and campaigner Andrea Dworkin, who linked pornography to rape and violence, died at the weekend, her agent said today. She was 59 years old. … Read full obituary

Related:
“Deep Throat” star Linda Lovelace


Actress Barbara Bel Geddes, 82

Posted: Monday, April 11th, 2005 6:02 am

Barbara Bel Geddes, who played Miss Ellie Ewing in the long-running TV series “Dallas,” died Monday of lung cancer in Northeast Harbor, Maine. She was 82. … Read full obituary


Brenda Starr creator Dale Messick, 98

Posted: Thursday, April 7th, 2005 3:56 pm

PENNGROVE, Calif. Apr 7, 2005 — Dale Messick, whose long-running comic strip “Brenda Starr, Reporter” gave her entry into the male world of the funny pages, has died at age 98. … Read full obituary


Monaco’s Prince Rainier, 81

Posted: Wednesday, April 6th, 2005 4:55 am

Prince Rainier III of Monaco, Europe’s longest-reigning monarch, died today at the age of 81 in a hospital overlooking the tiny state he turned into a billionaires’ paradise. …

The prince is expected to be buried next to his wife [Grace Kelly], who died after a car crash in 1982, following at least a week of mourning in the principality. … Read full obituary


Author Saul Bellow, 89

Posted: Tuesday, April 5th, 2005 4:32 pm

NEW YORK — Nobel laureate Saul Bellow, a master of comic melancholy who in Herzog, Humboldt’s Gift and other novels both championed and mourned the soul’s fate in the modern world, died Tuesday. He was 89. … Read full obituary


Pope John Paul II: Full obit

Posted: Saturday, April 2nd, 2005 8:10 pm

VATICAN CITY (CNN) — Pope John Paul II was remembered Saturday as a “champion of human freedom,” a “tireless advocate of peace” and a man with a “wonderful sense of humor” who was easy to talk to. …

He was 84. … Read full obituary


BREAKING: Pope John Paul II

Posted: Saturday, April 2nd, 2005 12:01 pm

Obit to come.


Chicken magnate Frank Perdue, 84

Posted: Friday, April 1st, 2005 9:34 am

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) — Frank Perdue, who transformed a backyard egg business into one of the nation’s largest poultry processors using the folksy slogan, “It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken,” has died. He was 84. … Read full obituary