Tag Archives: obituary

We couldn’t get out of January without losing another rock legend. Billboard reports: Jefferson Airplane guitarist, vocalist and founding member Paul Kantner has died. He was 74. Kantner passed away on Thursday (Jan. 28) of multiple organ failure, following a heart attack earlier in the week. From 1965-1972, Jefferson Airplane was a pioneer in the Bay Area counterculture psychedelic rock …

This time it’s not a hoax. Via the New York Daily News: The long-time television fixture’s daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, told the Associated Press her father passed away peacefully in his sleep while staying at her Woodland Park, New Jersey, home. Vigoda made his mark on the small screen playing the weary and bladder-challenged Sgt. Phil Fish on “Barney Miller” …

Man, 2016 has been hard on the entertainment world. TMZ reports: Glenn Frey, a founding member and guitarist of the Eagles, has died TMZ has learned. Frey had been battling intestinal issues for months and had surgery in November. We’re told in the last few days his condition took a turn for the worse. Glenn co-wrote and sang most of …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Actor Dan Haggerty of “Grizzly Adams” fame died early Friday of cancer, said his longtime friend and manager Terry Bomar. He was 73. Haggerty learned he had cancer of the spine in August and died at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Bomar said. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Haggerty was a product …

The Guardian reports: Alan Rickman, one of the best-loved and most warmly admired British actors of the past 30 years, has died in London aged 69. His death was confirmed on Thursday by his family. Rickman had been suffering from cancer. A star whose arch features and languid diction were recognisable across the generations, Rickman found a fresh legion of …

Well, fuck. The BBC reports: Singer David Bowie has died at the age of 69 from cancer. His son, film director Duncan Jones, confirmed the news and a statement was issued on his social media accounts. “David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer,” it said, asking for privacy for his family. …

Well, damn. Via the New York Daily News: Chart-topping R&B singer Natalie Cole, who followed her legendary father into the music business with hits like “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” and “Unforgettable,” died at age 65. “Natalie Cole, sister beloved & of substance and sound. May her soul rest in peace,” tweeted the Rev. Jesse Jackson on New Year’s …

Actor turned Fox News pundit Wayne Rogers died yesterday at age 82. Via CNN: Rogers, who portrayed the wise-cracking Army surgeon “Trapper” John McIntyre in the first three seasons of TV’s “M*A*S*H,” died Thursday, his publicist Rona Menashe told Reuters. Rogers died of complications from pneumonia in Los Angeles, Menashe told Reuters. Rogers’ Trapper John was one half of “M*A*S*H”‘s …

Via the Guardian: Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, founding member and singer in the British heavy metal band Motörhead, has died at the age of 70 shortly after learning he had been diagnosed with cancer. The band announced on their Facebook page that Lemmy learned of the disease on 26 December, and was at home when he died. Lemmy, born Ian Fraser …

The man who convinced the APA to stop classifying homosexuality as a mental illness died on Friday at the age of 83. Via the Washington Post: In the tumult of the 1960s, psychiatry found itself under siege. Critics said the field lacked scientific standards — failing to help many truly troubled people while medicating or institutionalizing others who suffered from …

NBC News reports: Not long after the U.S. military repealed its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Air Force Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen [on the right in the above photo] married her longtime partner, becoming one of the first American service members to be wed in a same-sex ceremony. On Monday, nearly five years to the day after the repeal was signed …

The Desert Sun reports: George Zander, who was a prominent activist in the Coachella Valley’s LGBT community, died Thursday, his husband said. Zander, 71, died “in loving arms and in very little pain,” his husband, Chris Zander, said in a Facebook post. “His passion and strength has paved the road for many of us to follow and build from. His …

Extra reports: Holly Woodlawn, a transgender trailblazer known as one of Andy Warhol’s Superstars in the early ’70s, has died at 69. Woodlawn had battled brain and liver cancer, and was mentioned by Caitlyn Jenner in a first-season episode of “I Am Cait” as being in need of thoughts and prayers. Over the summer, thousands of dollars was raised by …

Oscar-nominated actor Robert Loggia, best known for his performances in Scarface and Big, has died at the age of 85. Variety reports: Loggia died Friday in Los Angeles, his widow Audrey confirmed to Variety. Loggia had been battling Alzheimers Disease for the past five years. He was nominated for a Supporting Actor Academy Award for “Jagged Edge” in 1986 for …

Billboard reports: Scott Weiland, the former frontman for rock bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, has died, his Facebook page confirmed early Friday morning (Dec. 4). “Scott Weiland, best known as the lead singer for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, passed away in his sleep while on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota, with his band The Wildabouts,” …

Former US Senator, actor, and ad pitchman Fred Thompson died of lymphoma today at the age 72. NBC News reports: Thompson, a towering, burly man with a deep, Southern-inflected voice, parlayed his fame as a key investigator of the Watergate scandal into a TV and movie career before he was elected to finish the Senate term of Al Gore of …

Legendary Yankees catcher and famed wordsmith Yogi Berra has died at the age of 90.  Yahoo Sports has the obituary: New York Yankees icon, and Hall of Fame catcher, Yogi Berra has died at the age of 90 late Tuesday night. The Yogi Berra Museum was first to break the news, which was confirmed by MLB. On the field, Berra …

From the Hollywood Reporter: Jack Larson, forever typecast as the overeager cub reporter Jimmy Olsen on the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman, has died. He was 87. Larson, who later produced several films written and/or directed by his longtime companion, the late Oscar nominee James Bridges, died Sunday at his home in Brentwood, The New York Times reported. Further …

Jackie Collins, whose 32 novels have sold over 500 million copies in more than 40 languages, has died of breast cancer at the age of 77. CNN reports: People magazine reported that Collns was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer six-and-a-half years ago and chose to keep the illness private. The magazine said she confided in her three adult daughters, …

Noted author and neurologist Oliver Sacks, who came out earlier this year, has died of cancer at the age of 82. USA Today reports: Sacks, 82, wrote in a Times essay in February that he was in the late stages of a melanoma that had spread to his liver. He died at his home in New York City, longtime personal …