Dead Celebrity Alert

Lucie Aubrac, a hero of the French Resistance whose dramatic life story became a hit film, has died. She was 94. … Read full obituary

Former Boston lead singer Brad Delp’s death at his Atkinson, N.H., home was the result of suicide, Delp’s family and police said. … Read full story

Related:
Brad Delp, lead singer of Boston, 55

Actor Gareth Hunt, star of The New Avengers, has died of pancreatic cancer aged 65, his agent has announced.

Hunt played the role of Mike Gambit in the TV series, alongside Joanna Lumley’s Purdey and Patrick Macnee as John Steed. … Read full obituary

NYACK, N.Y. Hezekiah Easter, Rockland County’s first black elected official and a tireless civil rights advocate, has died. He was 85. Easter died at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. The cause of death was liver cancer. … Read full obituary

Lanna Saunders, actress and wife of actor Lawrence Pressman died at the age of 65 in Sherman Oaks, CA due to complications of Multiple Sclerosis. … Read full obituary

Eustace Lycett, a 43-year Disney veteran who won Academy Awards for his special photographic effects in MARY POPPINS and BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, passed away on Nov. 16, 2006. He died of natural causes at Park Vista at Morningside Nursing Home in Fullerton, California. He was 91. … Read full obituary

Betty Hutton, the stage and film star best known for playing the title role in the movie version of Annie Get Your Gun, has died at the age of 86 in Palm Springs, California, according to published reports. An official statement on her death is expected tomorrow. Hutton, who lived as a virtual recluse towards the end of her life, was born Elizabeth June Thornburg in Battle Creek, Michigan on February 26, 1921 … Read full obituary

BOSTON (AP) — Martha B. Sosman, one of three Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court judges who voted against the landmark decision legalizing gay marriage in the state, has died, the court said Sunday. She was 56. …Read full obituary

Ernie Ladd, a talented football player who made his name nationally as a wrestler, died overnight, according to family members. … Read full obituary

LOS ANGELES — Richard Jeni, a standup comedian who played to sold-out crowds, was a regular on the “Tonight Show” and appeared in movies, died of a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, police said Sunday. … Read full obituary

Brad Delp, the lead singer for the rock band Boston, was found dead on Friday in his home in Atkinson, N.H. The Associated Press reported that a police spokesman said Mr. Delp apparently died alone and that there was no indication of foul play. The cause of death is under investigation and a report is to be released Monday, The A.P. reported. Mr. Delp was 55. … Read full obituary

Actor John Inman, most famous for the comedy Are You Being Served?, has died in London aged 71, his spokesman said.

Inman made his name in the 1970s show as Mr Humphries, whose catchphrase “I’m free!” entered popular culture. …

Inman’s long-term partner, Ron Lynch, is said to be “devastated” at his death. … Read full obituary

BERKELEY, Calif. — Ernest Gallo, who parlayed $5,900 and a wine recipe from a public library into the world’s largest winemaking empire, died Tuesday at his home in Modesto. He was 97. … Read full obituary

Former Missouri Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton, whose star-crossed nomination as vice presidential candidate on the disastrous 1972 Democratic ticket sealed his place in American political history, died Sunday morning of heart and respiratory ailments. He was 77. … Read full obituary

More info on “the disastrous 1972 Democratic ticket,” from Wikipedia:

In 1972, Richard Nixon appeared unbeatable. When Senator George McGovern won the Democratic nomination for President, virtually all of the high-profile Democrats such as Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale and Birch Bayh turned down offers to run on the ticket.

Having been declined by the “name” Senators, McGovern turned to lesser-known candidates, and Eagleton, who had opposed the Vietnam War, was selected on July 14 with only a minimal background check. Eagleton made no mention of his earlier hospitalizations. Newspapers soon revealed them. McGovern and Eagleton initially joked about the case with Eagleton saying he would undergo a psychiatric examination if other candidates (e.g., Nixon) would do the same. But the charges kept coming. Columnist Jack Anderson wrote a column falsely accusing Eagleton of being arrested for drunk driving — a charge that Anderson had to retract.

McGovern said he would back Eagleton “1000%”, but on August 1, Eagleton withdrew at McGovern’s request and was replaced by Kennedy in-law Sargent Shriver.

A Time magazine poll taken at the time found that 77 percent of the respondents said “Eagleton’s medical record would not affect their vote.” Nonetheless, the press made frequent references to his shock therapy, and McGovern feared that this would detract from his campaign platform.

McGovern’s handling of the controversy was an opening for the Republican campaign to raise serious questions about his judgement. In the general election, the Democratic ticket won only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.