Rest In Peace: The R.I.P. Thread

[GNC]

Mike Fenton, legendary casting director whose name you'll have seen in the credits of scores of TV and movies:
Obit

Without him, Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., American Graffiti, Chinatown and countless others would be very different. An expert at what he did (choosing the perfect actors for their roles). RIP.

 

[Stillill]

That's so sad. Albert Pierrepoint, the hangman who executed Ellis, used to stand at her grave apologising to her.

Did you consider laying flowers?

Went there today and put some flowers In the area where the headstone was. Not great photos but only taken on an old iPhone.

 

[escargot]

Went there today and put some flowers In the area where the headstone was. Not great photos but only taken on an old iPhone.View attachment 33378View attachment 33377

Wow, thank you, how very kind! I am touched and so is Techy.
Yellow roses. They mean friendship. I bet you knew that.

 

[Bad Bungle]

Went there today and put some flowers In the area where the headstone was. Not great photos but only taken on an old iPhone.View attachment 33378View attachment 33377

I read that the headstone (Ruth Hornby 1926-1955) was destroyed by her son shortly before he commited suicide.

 

[ramonmercado]

An explorer who recreated voyages, both legendary and historical.

Tim Severin

Born: September 25th, 1940

Died: December 18th, 2020

The explorer, writer and film maker, Tim Severin, best known for the Brendan Voyage where he sailed from Ireland to Newfoundland to prove that the 6th century Irish saint could have reached the Americas 900 years before Columbus, has died at his home in west Cork at the age of 80. ...

... it was while he was still an undergraduate there at Keble College in 1961 that he sought to recreate his first ancient journey, retracing on motorbike Marco Polo’s 13th-century journey into Asia.

Six years later he followed in the footsteps of Spanish conquistadors and others sailing down the Mississippi river, but it was his decision to try to follow in the footsteps of St Brendan and cross the Atlantic in a leather-bound boat in 1976 that caught the public imagination.

Studying the Latin texts of the Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (The Voyage of St Brendan the Abbot) which dates back to at least 800 AD and tells the story of Brendan’s (circa 489-583), Severin sought to follow in the Irish saint’s steps.

“I recreated the boat of St Brendan and set out to see what would happen, and it was in that way that I discovered for me, the fascination of travel wasn’t just space but being able to go back in time, and . . . that new dimension opened for me on the Atlantic,” he later said. ...

On May 17th, 1976, Severin and his three fellow crew men, led by sailing master George Moloney from Dublin, rowed out of Brandon Creek on the Dingle Peninsula, the spot where St Brendan is reported to have departed almost 1,500 years earlier to begin what would prove a 7,200km epic journey. ..

Severin undertook voyages to retrace the journey of Sinbad the Sailor from The One Thousand and One Nights in 1980 and 1981, and the voyages of legendary figures from Greek mythology such as Jason and the Argonauts in 1984 and Ulysses in 1985.

He followed the knights of the First Crusade by riding on horseback to Jerusalem in 1987 and 1988. He rode with Mongol horsemen in 1990 to mark the 800th anniversary of the birth of Genghis Khan. That story was published in 1993 as The Search for Genghis Khan. ...

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and...r-best-known-for-the-brendan-voyage-1.4448332

 

[Kondoru]

A sad loss

A real genuine explorer...dont see many of those these days.

 

[Stillill]

Wow, thank you, how very kind! I am touched and so is Techy.
Yellow roses. They mean friendship. I bet you knew that.

No, I didn’t know that. They were the healthiest looking flowers I could find in Tesco. It was bitterly cold there,my toes were numb. Got the usual sympathy from the wife, “you’re fault,you should dress more sensibly “.

 

[Stillill]

I read that the headstone (Ruth Hornby 1926-1955) was destroyed by her son shortly before he commited suicide.

Yes I’ve read that. I never saw the original but there have been numerous stones placed there over the years. The last one was broken and thrown under the bush you can see in the top left of the photos. There was an inscribed one put there about four to five years ago although I’m not sure if it was destroyed or stolen.

 

[escargot]

I read that the headstone (Ruth Hornby 1926-1955) was destroyed by her son shortly before he commited suicide.

Can remember walking along a street in my home town, pushing a pram with my two toddlers in, thinking about 'Andy' soon after hearing about his death.

It seemed to me he'd never had a chance in life. He'd have been better off being taken abroad somewhere to live. Poor bloke.

 

[Beresford]

Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers has died aged 78.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55524795

 

[GNC]

Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers has died aged 78.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55524795

Must admit I didn't think he was looking too healthy on that BBC4 Ready Steady Go documentary a few months ago. First act to hit No.1 in the UK charts with their first three singles. Not a bad legacy. Their cash-in film is dreadful, mind you. RIP.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers has died aged 78. ...

Damn ...

I was a pre-teen when the Merseybeat / British Invasion thing broke, and it had a major effect on me. IMHO Gerry and the Pacemakers were the one group besides the Beatles that best projected the incredibly exuberant and infectious excitement that turned a trend into a mania.

Yes, I know Gerry became best known and most loved for the ballads / anthems. For me, though, it was the raw 'zing' of the Pacemakers' upbeat tunes that earned him a cherished place in my memory. In the Seventies and Eighties I would often play their greatest hits album to illustrate pure rock joy to increasingly jaded music buffs.

RIP Gerry ...

 

[Yithian]

Must admit I didn't think he was looking too healthy on that BBC4 Ready Steady Go documentary a few months ago. First act to hit No.1 in the UK charts with their first three singles. Not a bad legacy. Their cash-in film is dreadful, mind you. RIP.

Was talking to a friend a while back--same age as me with parents the same age as mine. He's very much into rock music, but when I was listening to a compilation of British 60s stuff like Gerry & The Pacemakers, the Spencer Davis Group, Manfred Man, and The Hollies etc., he opined that it was 'alright', but it didn't really mean/say anything to him.

Tastes are tastes, of course, I acknowledge that, but I was surprised. To me those bands and their hits feel almost like cultural history--stuff my parents played that filled the airwaves during my childhood alongside the newer bands of the 70s and 80s. Back when we all consumed the same media, it was just there all the time, just as Sinatra was for your grandparents: you had to acknowledge it even if it wasn't your own cool, modern thing.

But to him, nothing.

So goodbye, Gerry Marsden.
RIP

 

[Bad Bungle]

Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers has died aged 78.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55524795

Heart attack ?

 

[Beresford]

Heart attack ?

Certainly heart related. The article on the BBC website has been expanded to include a tweet from a friend who described the illness as an infection in the heart.

 

[Beresford]

First act to hit No.1 in the UK charts with their first three singles. Not a bad legacy.

Ironically the next band to achieve this was another Liverpool group - Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

 

[Yithian]

Ironically the next band to achieve this was another Liverpool group - Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

I can only guess two of those No.1s..

 

[Beresford]

I can only guess two of those No.1s..

The Power Of Love was the third number one.

 

[oxo66]

Ironically the next band to achieve this was another Liverpool group - Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Yes, but Jive Bunny broke that pattern

 

[Beresford]

Yes, but Jive Bunny broke that pattern

No accounting for taste.

 

[Lord Lucan]

Tanya Roberts, one of Charlie's Angels and 007's sidekick has passed away. Such a beauty:

Tanya Roberts, Bond Girl and 'That '70's Show' Star, Dies at 65

She also starred in the fifth and final season of ABC's 'Charlie's Angels' and appeared in the cult films 'The Beastmaster,' 'Body Slam' and 'Sheena: Queen of the Jungle.'
Tanya Roberts, the actress best known for playing a Bond girl in A View to a Kill and Midge Pinciotti on That '70's Show, has died. She was 65.

The actress collapsed while out walking her dogs on Dec. 24, and was admitted to Cedar-Sinar Hospital in Los Angeles. She died on Sunday her longtime friend and rep Mike Pingel told The Hollywood Reporter. It was not Covid-19 related, no cause of death has been given but Roberts was not ill in the days leading up to her death.

"I'm devastated. She was brilliant and beautiful and I feel like a light has been taken away. To say she was an angel would be at the top of the list. She was the sweetest person you'd ever meet and had a huge heart. She loved her fans, and I don't think she realized how much she meant to them," Pingel told THR.

Born Victoria Leigh Blum, Roberts had a career modeling and appearing in television adverts before turning to film acting in 1975 with the horror flick Forced Entry. She had a number of roles in films that would later have a cult following including the 1977 comedy Racquet and the 1982 fantasy epic The Beastmaster. She was also the lead in Columbia Pictures' 1984 adventure movie Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, which despite its reported $25 million budget was a huge flop but went on to gain cult status.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tanya-roberts-bond-girl-and-that-70s-show-star-dies-at-65

 

[Bigphoot2]

A familiar face from Hammer horror movies has passed away

Barbara Shelley 1932 – 2021
STARBURST is saddened to hear that legendary British actor Barbara Shelley has died, aged 88.
A versatile actor, she was famous for her genre roles, appearing in several Hammer productions and other classic horror and sci-fi movies and TV shows.
From her work in low budget fare such as Cat Girl (1957) and Blood of the Vampire (1958) to higher profile films like Village of the Damned (1960) and her work with Hammer, which included The Gorgon (1964), Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966), and Quatermass and the Pit (1967), she became a cult icon and was a popular guest at conventions around the world.
etx

https://www.starburstmagazine.com/barbara-shelley-1932-2021

 

[GNC]

Tanya Roberts is a shock, but maybe because I vividly remember her in The Beastmaster and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. RIP.

Barbara Shelley was great, very elegant lady, but when she was possessed by evil you knew about it! She always appreciated the horror movies that made her name. RIP to her too.

 

[Lord Lucan]

In perhaps the greatest Fortean twist of 2021 so far, it's now being reported that Tanya Roberts (former Charlie's Angel & Bond Girl) is still alive!

Tanya Roberts Still Alive, Rep Confirms

Former Bond girl and “Sheena: Queen of the Jungle” star Tanya Roberts was mistakenly announced as dead late Sunday night.

Her rep Mike Pingel told Variety that although her husband, Lance O’Brien, was originally told she had died, the hospital called Monday morning to report she was still alive. However, Pingel said that Roberts remains in the ICU in “dire” condition.

TMZ first reported that she was still alive.

Roberts played Stacey Sutton in the 1985 James Bond film “A View to a Kill” as well as Midge Pinciotti on “That ’70s Show” between 1998 and 2004.

The 65-year-old performer was admitted to Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles after collapsing on Christmas Eve.

She appeared in films including “The Beastmaster” (1982), “Sheena: Queen of the Jungle” (1984), “Body Slam” (1987) and “Night Eyes” (1990).

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/tanya-roberts-not-dead-1234878434/

This is great news, especially for Tanya herself!

 

[Anome]

Sorry to hear about both of those. Especially as the hosts of the Hammer podcast I listen to are big fans of Barbara Shelley, so they'll probably be quite down about it.

[EDIT]OK, I'm happy to hear Tanya Roberts isn't dead, then. Still kind of sad about Barbara Shelley.

 

[ChasFink]

She's dead again.

Tanya Roberts is dead, partner says after premature death declaration
The news comes after Roberts' representative mistakenly declared her dead a day prior

Tanya Roberts, the one-time Bond girl and "That '70s Show" actress, died on Monday night following an incorrect statement from her representative that she had died one day prior.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainme...ead-after-premature-declaration-from-publicst

 

[Peripart]

Perhaps we should re-convene tomorrow, and if Ms Roberts is still dead then, we'll call it official.

Sorry for the dark humour. I'd like her to still be alive, but it seems unlikely now.

 

[GNC]

If she has come back to life, we have some questions to ask her. Seriously, though, what a humiliating series of news stories to go out on. She didn't deserve that.

 

[ChasFink]

Yes, apologies if anyone thought my post was in poor taste; I sometimes feel the need to laugh at sad times. And she really did deserve better. It seems she slipped away slowly, though, so I doubt she was aware of the situation.

 

[escargot]

It's getting like the time I cremated the cat and he came back.