PETER BOGDANOVICH
BORN: July 30, 1939 in Kingston, New York
DIED: January 6, 2022 (aged 82) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Complications from Parkinson's Disease
Peter Bogdanovich began his career in filmmaking way back in the early 1960's when he wrote as a film critic for the highly influential magazine Cahiers Du Cinema, a French magazine that talked about the direction of filmmaking where "New Wave" directors such as Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard wrote essays. Bogdanovich decided to follow in the footsteps of those filmmakers and began directing his own low-budget independent movies in 1966. Five years after his directorial debut, he directed a coming-of-age drama that gained wide acclaim. The Last Picture Show starred a very young Jeff Bridges, Cybil Shepherd and Cloris Leachman and garnered 8 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Bogdanovich. He continued to make interesting films for the next 40 odd years including Paper Moon, Daisy Miller, Mask, Texasville and Noises Off.
SIDNEY POITIER
BORN: February 20, 1927 in Miami , Florida
DIED: January 6, 2022 (aged 94) in Beverly Hills, California
CAUSE: Cardiopulmonary Failure
He moved to New York City at the ripe age of 16 to become an actor, and failed at his first audition because he couldn't read the script. After joining, then leaving the Army, he returned to New York after improving his reading skills and got a chance to work with the American Negro Theatre. At that time, most black actors were known for their ability to sing. Well, Poitier couldn't sing and decided to develop his dramatic skills instead. He worked in the theatre for a few years, gaining small bit parts in movies, until 1955 when he was cast in Blackboard Jungle opposite Glenn Ford. That role made Hollywood sit up and take notice of his talents. A few years later he would star opposite Tony Curtis in the prison break-out film The Defiant Ones, and Poitier's future was solidified. A Raisin In The Sun, Lillies Of The Field, To Sir, With Love, In The Heat Of The Night, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, Sneakers plus dozens of other great films would follow. He became the first black actor to win an Academy Award as Best Actor for his role in Lillies Of The Field in 1964. He's received many acting awards since, many "legacy" awards and honours, and even the Presidential Medal Of Freedom in 2009 for all of his work advancing the black arts and communities around the world. He was one of my very favourite actors and one hell of a human being to boot!
MICHAEL LANG
DIED: January 8, 2022 (aged 77) in New York, New York
CAUSE: Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
You may not know the name, but you absolutely know what he did. Without Michael Lang, it is very possible there would never have been a Woodstock, the music festival not the bird that Snoopy hung out with. (Although, the bird was named after the festival, so maybe...). He moved from New York to Florida when he was 23 to open a head shop. While there, he started to promote concerts in the Miami area. He produced the Pop And Underground Festival in 1968 that featured Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and John Lee Hooker to name a few. He moved back to Woodstock, New York and began planning a festival event with Artie Kornfeld. It was originally going to take place in Woodstock, hence the name, but the festival had to move to nearby Bethel last minute. The rest, as they say, is history! Unfortunately, Lang was also behind the disaster that was Woodstock '99.
BOB SAGET
BORN: May 17, 1956 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DIED: January 9, 2022 (aged 65) in Orange County, Florida
CAUSE: Subdural Hematoma from an accidental fall
Bob Saget began his stand-up comedy career in his early 20's and started to gain a following in many clubs across the country. Soon, he would become one of the most popular actors working on television . In 1987, he won the role of Danny Tanner on "Full House", a show that would become more and more popular as the years went on. He was on that show for more than 12 years, appearing in 192 episodes. Overlapping his time on that show for many years he was the host of another hugely popular program of the time, "America's Funniest Home Videos". Saget was easily the most recognizable person on TV for over a decade. It was always a shock to me to learn how "blue" Saget's stand-up routines were because of his white-bread persona on TV, but he was absolutely hilarious on stage. His death was a shock to everyone, friends, fans and family, and was surrounded in mystery for a while when it came out Saget had been infected with Covid-19.
RONNIE SPECTOR
BORN: August 10, 1943 in New York, New York
DIED: January 12, 2022 (aged 78) in Danbury, Connecticut
CAUSE: Cancer
Born Veronica Yvette Bennett, and along with her sister Estelle and cousin Nedra Talley, Ronnie Spector formed the singing trio known first as the Darling Sisters, and later as the Ronettes. They began singing around Washington Heights, where they lived, while they were still in high school. As they began to garner some attention, they sought out record producer Phil Spector and were quickly signed to his Philles Records label in 1963. A string of hits followed, none bigger than "Be My Baby" that went to Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. Ronnie's relationship with Phil Spector was rocky at best, but they married in 1968, after the Ronettes broke up, and she started going by the name Ronnie Spector. When the Spectors separated in 1972, she began recording solo songs and revived the Ronettes with two new people. She had a slight resurgence in 1986 when she was featured on Eddie Money's hit song "Take Me Home Tonight". Her last solo album was released in 2016 titled English Heart.
MEAT LOAF
BORN: September 27, 1947 in Dallas, Texas
DIED: January 20, 2022 (aged 74) in Nashville, Tennessee
CAUSE: Possible complications from Covid-19
He was born Marvin Lee Aday and adopted the moniker "Meat Loaf" early in his life. His classmates gave him the name based on his initial, M.L., and his size, 240 pounds in the seventh grade. It didn't keep him from acting in plays and developing a talent for music. His early bands didn't accomplish much on the record scene, but they did open for bigger bands like The Who, Them, The Stooges and MC5. Soon he'd join the Los Angeles production of the musical Hair, which led to recording some of the songs for Motown, which led to appearing on Broadway. In 1973 he was part of the original L.A. cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on stage, which led to his appearance in the film in 1975. But nothing could top his first solo album released in 1977, Bat Out Of Hell. That album went on to sell more than 15 million units in the US alone, and approximately 40 million worldwide! He'd release 12 albums in all, but none coming anywhere close to the success of Bat Out Of Hell. Meat Loaf continued to act as he recorded albums, making some memorable appearances in Wayne's World, Leap Of Faith, The Mighty and Fight Club.
LOUIE ANDERSON
BORN: March 24, 1953 in Saint Paul, Minnesota
DIED: January 21, 2022 (aged 68) in Las Vegas, Nevada
CAUSE: Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Less than a couple of weeks after one stand-up legend, Bob Saget, passed away, we lost another. Louie Anderson was huge in the 1980's, literally and figuratively. He became one of the biggest stand-up comedians around in a time when many were gaining prominence. His self-deprecating style and his slow and steady approach was hilariously refreshing at the time. He gained national recognition after appearing on "The Tonight Show" on November 20, 1984, his network premiere. He'd soon gain a few roles on TV and in movies, small parts mostly, as in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Coming To America. But he continued to draw sold out crowds for his stand-up routines, filming specials for pay TV along the way. He had a fairly successful animated show in the mid-'90's called "Life With Louie" where he won a couple of Daytime Emmy awards. Between 2016 and 2019 he received critical praise for his role on "Baskets" opposite Zach Galifianakis on FX, winning a Primetime Emmy award for his role of Christine Baskets. Growing up, he was easily one of my favourites to watch on the late night circuit.
HOWARD HESSEMAN
BORN: February 27, 1940 in Lebanon, Oregon
DIED: January 29, 2022 (aged 81) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Complications of Colon Surgery
For all the things I've seen Howard Hesseman perform in over the last 40 years or so, he will always be Dr. Johnny Fever to me. His role on "WKRP In Cincinnati" was iconic and I could never imagine anyone else playing that part. He appeared in over 150 TV shows and movies in his career, showing up in "Dragnet", "Rhoda", "Sanford And Son", "Baretta" and "Laverne And Shirley" all before landing the role of Johnny Fever in 1978. After "WKRP" he starred in another successful show for almost 100 episodes, "Head Of The Class". Some films you may remember him in include This Is Spinal Tap, Doctor Detroit, Clue and About Schmidt. But as Johnny Fever, he received his only Emmy nominations, two in fact. I guess I wasn't the only one who thought he was great in that role. Booooooooggggggeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
IVAN REITMAN
BORN: October 27, 1946 in Komarno, Czechoslovakia
DIED: February 12, 2022 (aged 75) in Montecito, California
CAUSE: Unknown
Even though he was born in the former Czechoslovakia, Ivan Reitman's family moved to Canada as refugees when he was only four years old, so we're claiming him! He started his producing career in Toronto with CITY-TV (if you're familiar with Toronto, you're familiar with CITY). Soon after he was producing films, the first two for his friend and fellow Canadian David Cronenberg, Shivers in 1975 and Rabid in 1977. He then produced a movie that would make Reitman's name known to all; National Lampoon's Animal House. From there he'd become one of the most successful directors in Hollywood when he helmed such blockbusters as Stripes, Ghostbusters, Twins, Kindergarten Cop and Dave. Reitman was by no means the auteur that Fellini or Bergman were, but he sure knew how to entertain, making his perfect comic timing well known to all. The last movie he produced was Ghostbusters: Afterlife from 2021, directed by his son, Jason.
SALLY KELLERMAN
BORN: June 2, 1937 in Long Beach, California
DIED: February 24, 2022 (aged 84) in Woodland Hills, California
CAUSE: Heart Failure
Before there was Loretta Swit, there was Sally Kellerman. Well, kind of. I'm talking about M*A*S*H of course. Kellerman became an instant star after appearing in Robert Altman's take on the Korean War when she played Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan at the 4077th. She was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for that role, only her fifth in film. She'd go on to appear in many other movies and TV shows, but she never regained the popularity she had back in 1970. She did, however, have a song named for her; in the mid-1970's she was dating one of the singers from the band Grand Funk Railroad, Mark Warner, and he wrote the song "Sally" for her. So, that's kinda cool.
WILLIAM HURT
BORN: March 20, 1950 in Washington, D.C.
DIED: March 13, 2022 (aged 71) in Portland, Oregon
CAUSE: Bone Cancer
William Hurt was one of the most sought-after actors in the 1980's, and rightfully so. He turned in fantastic performances in movies like Altered States (his first film), The Big Chill, Kiss Of The Spider Woman (Academy Award winner), Children Of A Lesser God, Broadcast News and The Accidental Tourist. He was nominated for 3 other Academy Awards in his time, and 6 Golden Globe Awards as well. His TV appearances were just as memorable; "Damages", "Endgame", "Goliath". He was in many Broadway plays, always gaining huge raves. Early on, Hurt attended Tufts University for theology, but decided his love for acting was too strong and enrolled at the Julliard School for acting....thank God! He was certainly one of the better actors of the last 40 years.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT
BORN: May 15, 1937 in Prague, Czechoslovakia
DIED: March 23, 2022 (aged 84) in Washington, D.C.
CAUSE: Cancer
I won't pretend I know a lot about Madeleine Albright, but I do know she was a very important figure in American politics. She became a U.S. citizen in 1957, nine years after her family fled Prague. When one of her former professors, Zbigniew Brzezinski, took the position of National Security Advisor to the newly elected President Jimmy Carter, he asked her to join as the committee's congressional liaison. When Carter lost the election in 1980, she left the White House to become a professor, but Washington came calling once again in 1992 when Bill Clinton was elected President. He nominated her as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in '93 and she held that position for Clinton's first term. When he was elected to a second term, Albright was tapped as the new Secretary Of State, the first woman to hold that position and, at the time, the highest ranking woman in American government history. In 2012, then President Barak Obama awarded Albright with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom.
TAYLOR HAWKINS
DIED: March 25, 2022 (aged 50) in Bogota, Columbia
CAUSE: Unknown
Every year someone will say "Did you hear so-and-so died today?" and I'll be stunned by the news. Hearing of the death of Taylor Hawkins was that moment for me this year. I couldn't believe it; he was relatively young, part of one of the most successful bands on the planet, in phenomenal shape....it just didn't make any sense to me. Not to mention I had tickets to the next Foo Fighters' concert in Toronto sitting in my Ticketmaster wallet. He began his drumming successes with a couple of Canadian acts, first with Sass Jordan and then for a couple of years with Alanis Morissette. When Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters were planning their tour after the release of their second album, where Grohl played all the drum parts, he called Hawkins to ask him if he knew of a drummer looking to join the tour. Hawkins volunteered himself, saying he wanted to be part of a band and not just a drummer for a solo act, even though Morissette was much bigger than the Foo Fighters at the time. There he would stay for the next 25 years while performing in many side projects and alongside some of the biggest musicians to ever play or sing. There was no doubt about his drumming prowess, but what I always loved about Hawkins was that he consistently looked like he was having the time of his life when he performed in front of a crowd. His energy will be missed in this world.
ESTELLE HARRIS
BORN: April 22, 1928 in New York, New York
DIED: April 2, 2022 (aged 93) in Palm Desert, California
CAUSE: Natural Causes
She got her start in Hollywood way back in....1977??? Yup, she got started late, after years of small plays and Summer Stock productions, Harris began appearing in tons of television commercials in the 1970's. Her first well known movie was 1984's Once Upon A Time In America, where she appeared for about thirty-eight seconds. From there she had a few small roles until Jerry Seinfeld came calling. Her life would change after appearing as George Constanza's mother in 27 episodes of "Seinfeld". Her hilarious work on that show would lead to dozens of appearances on TV shows and movies through the 1990's and 2000's. But that voice of hers would garner even more fame as Mrs. Potato Head in all the Toy Story incarnations.
GILBERT GOTTFRIED
BORN: February 28, 1955 in New York, New York
DIED: April 12, 2022 (aged 67) in New York, New York
CAUSE: Ventricular Tachycardia
A third icon of the stand-up stage leaves us, and it's only April! Gilbert Gottfried was definitely an acquired taste, but I thought he was brilliantly hilarious. He got his start back in 1970 when, as a fifteen year old, he got on stage in New York to do the routine he'd been practicing at home with his family as his audience. Soon he'd be travelling the stand-up circuit, gaining a reputation as one of the filthiest comics around. He had a knack for making his audience very uncomfortable as evidenced by his great telling of the dirtiest joke of all time, "The Aristocrats". He showed up as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" in 1980, but it wasn't for him. You'd see his mug in dozens of TV shows and movies along the way as well, one of my faves being his short turn in Beverly Hills Cop II. With his grating voice (which wasn't his real speaking voice, by the way), he made a very successful career as a voice-over artist in many children's shows and movies as well. But he was always a comic first, and the best of the best loved him.
MIKE BOSSY
BORN: January 22, 1957 in Montreal, Quebec
DIED: April 15, 2022 (aged 65) in Roemere, Quebec
CAUSE: Lung Cancer
Before Wayne Gretzky came into the NHL, there was this other brilliant goal scorer that was breaking records all over the place. His name was Mike Bossy, and he was one of my first hockey heroes when I was very young. At the time, it was still a unique thing to score 50 goals in an NHL season. Bossy did it for 9 straight years, including scoring a then record 53 goals in his rookie season. He was a sensation in Junior hockey before being drafted 15th overall in the 1977 NHL Draft (yes, 12 teams passed on him, the Rangers and the Maple Leafs twice each!) when he scored an average of 77 goals a season in four years with the Laval National. He only played 10 seasons in the NHL, having to retire at the age of 30 because of persistent back problems. In those 10 years though he scored 573 goals! If he played another 10 years, who knows how many he would have potted?? Bossy was elected into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1991 and his number 22 was retired by the New York Islanders.
LIZ SHERIDAN
BORN: April 10, 1929 in Rye, New York
DIED: April 15, 2022 (aged 93) in New York, New York
CAUSE: Natural Causes
Not even a couple of weeks after George Constanza's mother passed away at the age of 93, Jerry Seinfeld's mom passes at the same age, his TV mom that is. Liz Sheridan began her showbiz career as a dancer and singer in the 1950's, working in nightclubs in America and the Caribbean. She would appear in some plays on Broadway in the 1970's before moving to Los Angeles and starting out on television. She would appear in many popular shows such as "Kojak", "Archie Bunker's Place", "Gimme A Break", "St. Elsewhere" and "The A-Team". In 1986 she landed a recurring role on the popular sitcom "ALF", and then in 1990 was cast as Jerry's mom on "Seinfeld".
GUY LAFLEUR
BORN: September 20, 1951 in Thurso, Quebec
DIED: April 22, 2022 (aged 70) in Kirkland, Quebec
CAUSE: Lung Cancer
As a young boy growing up in Toronto in the 1970's, and a lover of all things "Maple Leafs", it was difficult to explain why my favourite hockey player was a French guy that played on the hated Montreal Canadiens. A week after Mike Bossy left us, the man who I tried to emulate on the ice passed away, Guy "The Flower" Lafleur. There were some similarities between the two superstars; each of them were Junior hockey sensations in Quebec, each scored goals with relative ease in the NHL, each smoked about 6 packs a day as each died of lung cancer. But there was something more about Lafleur. He was also a phenomenal playmaker and one of the most explosive skaters on the ice. The kind of numbers Lafleur put up in the 1970's were just ridiculous...he was definitely the "Gretzky" of his era. A winner of 5 Stanley Cups, three Art Ross Trophys as leading scorer, 2 Hart Trophys as league MVP, he was easily the best player on the ice at any time. He had his number 10 retired by the Canadiens in 1985, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1988. When I started playing hockey at five years of age, all I wanted to be was Guy Lafleur. In fact, after I became a fairly good skater, I was given the nickname "Guy" because of the way I modelled my style on Lafleur. It's tough to watch your heroes go, but it was so much fun watching him when he played!
NAOMI JUDD
BORN: January 11, 1946 in Ashland, Kentucky
DIED: April 30, 2022 (aged 76) in Leiper's Fork, Tennessee
CAUSE: Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound
She was the mother-half of the most successful mother-daughter Country act of all time. When Naomi and her daughter Wynonna decided to join forces back in 1983, nobody could have predicted their success. In nine years together, before they broke up because of Naomi's troubles with hepatitis C in 1991, they garnered 20 Top Ten hits, including 15 Number One's! They were the Top Vocal Duo at the Academy Of Country Music Awards from 1984 to 1990, the Country Music Association Awards from 1985 to 1991, and winners of 5 Grammy Awards. They were just the best of the best in a genre that I never listened to, but I could certainly respect their successes. Naomi also tried her hand at acting a few times in those feel-good Christmas-type movies you see during the holidays, following her more successful actress daughter, Ashley. Apparently, Naomi had struggled with depression and high anxiety for a number of years and her mix of meds may have been a contributing factor in her final decision.
FRED WARD
BORN: December 30, 1942 in San Diego, California
DIED: May 8, 2022 (aged 79) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Unknown
One of the first movies I remembering loving Fred Ward in was a little feature from 1990 called Miami Blues which starred Alec Baldwin. It was a dark comedy/thriller and Fred Ward was absolutely perfect! He instantly became one of my favourite character actors. He consistently leant his humour and acting chops to a number of films I enjoy watching to this day; Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Tremors, The Player, Bob Roberts, Short Cuts and so many more! He started out in the 1970's doing experimental theatre and some TV until he got a break starring alongside Clint Eastwood in 1979's Escape From Alcatraz. He went on to appear in more than 80 films and TV shows. I'll definitely miss seeing his mug pop up in any new productions, but there is a wealth of fine performances to look back on.
RAY LIOTTA
BORN: December 18, 1954 in Newark, New Jersey
DIED: May 26, 2022 (aged 67) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
CAUSE: Unknown
This was another shocker, especially since it seems like there was nothing really wrong with him. Ray Liotta just went to sleep one night and his body seemed to say "OK, that's it.". So weird. He rose to fame rather quickly in the world of acting. After 35 or so episodes on "Another World", Ray got a part opposite Pia Zadora in The Lonely Lady, not the Oscar calibre production he'd be a part of soon enough. His very next movie role was in the action/comedy Something Wild where he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. A fantastic performance followed in Dominick And Eugene. Then more accolades for playing "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in Field Of Dreams, and super-stardom after appearing in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. From there, some questionable acting decisions followed, but you always knew you were in for a good, intense performance when you saw a Ray Liotta movie. He was busy filming a new movie in the Dominican Republic when his heart just stopped beating.
RONNIE HAWKINS
BORN: January 10, 1935 in Huntsville, Arkansas
DIED: May 29, 2022 (aged 87) in Peterborough, Ontario
CAUSE: Pancreatic Cancer
It didn't take long for Ronnie Hawkins to start his music career. By the time he graduated high school he had formed his first band, The Hawks, in Arkansas. He met Levon Helm in the late 1950's and they started to play together soon after. Helm and Hawkins came to Canada together to fill the gap that was missing rockabilly blues and soul music in the Great White North. Hawkins liked it so much up here he decided to stay and became a permanent resident in 1964, right around the time Helm and the rest of his backing band decided to branch out. That backing band called themselves The Band and had huge success in the music biz. Hawkins kept pumping out album after album, gaining a few Top 10 hits in Canada along the way. He was a favourite on Canadian talk shows, specials and concerts for decades. He was named an Honorary Officer of The Order Of Canada in 2013 for his 50 years in the Canadian music industry and his tireless work with the Schizophrenia Society Of Ontario. Born in Arkansas, but a true Canadian through and through,
PHILIP BAKER HALL
BORN: September 10, 1931 in Toledo, Ohio
DIED: June 12, 2022 (aged 90) in Glendale, California
CAUSE: Emphysema
Another one of my favourite character actors, I got into the brilliance of Philip Baker Hall in his later years. I first remember watching him in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and thought he was spot on perfect. But my favourite role of his turned out to be in Hard Eight (or Sydney as it's sometimes known as) filmed a few years before Magnolia. His acting career started back in the 1970's when he appeared in a few movies and TV shows like "M*A*S*H", "Emergency" and "Good Times". He gained more recognition in the 1980's after appearing in Three O'Clock High, Say Anything..., Midnight Run and a few episodes of "Family Ties". Then came his fabulous role of the book detective on "Seinfeld" and he was getting parts in everything afterwards. He ended up appearing in more than 180 movies and TV shows throughout his career, and I thoroughly enjoyed him in every one I saw.
JAMES CAAN
BORN: March 26, 1940 in New York, New York
DIED: July 6, 2022 (aged 82) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Heart Attack
Another one of my favourite actors is gone. James Caan made some iconic films in his time, starting way back in the mid-1960's. He started on television in an episode of "Route 66" in 1961, but soon gained attention in film, being nominated for a Golden Globe Award as New Star Of The Year for his role in The Glory Guys. In 1969 he starred in Francis Ford Coppola's movie The Rain People starting a relationship with the director that led Caan to his most famous role, Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Tons of audience favourites followed; Cinderella Liberty, The Gambler, Funny Lady, Rollerball, Thief, Misery, Honeymoon In Vegas (a big guilty pleasure of mine), and on and on. He appeared in more than 130 movies and TV shows throughout his career, and was always the guy you couldn't look away from when he was onscreen. Just a great talent.
BOB RAFELSON
BORN: February 21, 1933 in New York, New York
DIED: July 23, 2022 (aged 89) in Aspen, Colorado
CAUSE: Lung Cancer
He was one of the most successful filmmakers of the 1970's, helming critical favourites like Five Easy Pieces and The King Of Marvin Gardens, both starring Jack Nicholson. One of Rafelson's first projects as a producer was with his partner Bert Schneider. They came up with an idea for a television show based on the misadventures of a rock n' roll band. The idea eventually formed into "The Monkees", one of the most popular TV shows of the late 1960's, and an Emmy Award winner. His first feature film was The Monkees driven film Head in 1968, which also had an appearance by Jack Nicholson. Other notable films directed by Rafelson include the remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Stay Hungry, Black Widow and Blood And Wine. His two Academy Award nominations were for Five Easy Pieces in 1970.
TONY DOW
BORN: April 13, 1945 in Los Angeles, California
DIED: July 27, 2022 (aged 77) in Topanga, California
CAUSE: Liver Cancer
He had a little stage acting under his belt before going to an open casting call for a new TV show about the All-American family. He landed the role of the "older brother" and will be remembered for it forever. Dow played Wally Cleaver on "Leave It To Beaver" from 1957 to 1963, over 230 episodes. Unfortunately , when you do well at your job as a kid actor, you're libel to get type-cast finding it difficult to find other work. He did star in the first daytime soap opera aimed at a teen audience in "Never Too Young", but that only lasted a couple of years. He'd make appearances in many other TV shows, but would always come back to Wally, either in reunion shows or as a parody. In the late '80's and into the '90's he turned his talent to directing a few episodes of TV shows of the day. But for millions and millions of people he'd be remembered fondly as the Beav's older brother Wally.
NICHELLE NICHOLS
BORN: December 28, 1932 in Robbins, Illinois
DIED: July 30, 2022 (aged 89) in Silver City, New Mexico
CAUSE: Heart Failure
She began her career in show business as a singer and dancer back in the 1950's, touring at times with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton. She can be seen in the film version of Porgy And Bess from 1959 as a dancer, which led to stage roles and modelling. In 1964 she appeared in an episode of a show called "The Lieutenant" which was produced by Gene Roddenberry. When he was casting for a new show that took place in outer space, Roddenberry asked Nichols to read for a part. At first, she turned him down, preferring to act and dance on stage, but she finally gave in and took the role of Nyota Uhura on the new show called "Star Trek". Nichols became one of the first African American women to have a major recurring role on television at the time and, in doing so, became an icon. From 1966 to 1969, she appeared in 69 episodes of the groundbreaking series. She'd go on to play that role in six motion pictures and numerous TV shows, both real and animated. Later in life, Nichols worked with NASA to help recruit minorities and women into the space program, to boldly go where...you know.
BILL RUSSELL
BORN: February 12, 1934 in Monroe, Louisiana
DIED: July 31, 2022 (aged 88) in Mercer Island, Washington
CAUSE: Unknown
Regarded as one of the best players the National Basketball Association has ever seen, Bill Russell was just a winner everywhere he went. In his 13-year career in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, from 1956 to 1969, his team won the championship 11 times! He is tied with Henri Richard of the NHL for the sports individual to win 11 team championships. Even before the NBA, Russell led his university to two consecutive NCAA Championships. He was a defensive specialist when he played, and still managed to average more than 15 points per game for his career. But it was his rebounding that made everyone stand up and cheer. He is second all-time in number of rebounds made and rebounds per game, and remains one of only 2 men to capture 50 rebounds in ONE GAME! (The other is Wilt Chamberlain). He was league MVP five times and a 12-time All-Star. After his passing, the NBA retired the number 6 league wide, the only time the league has done so. A true legend of the game.
VIN SCULLY
BORN: November 29, 1927 in The Bronx, New York
DIED: August 2, 2022 (aged 94) in Hidden Hills, California
CAUSE: Natural Causes
He had one of the most remarkable careers in sports broadcasting history and was "the voice" of baseball for millions of fans across the United States. Vin Scully began his broadcasting career in 1949 at Fordham University. The famous baseball announcer Red Barber recruited Scully to the CBS Radio Network for its college football coverage. Barber was so impressed with Scully's straightforward, factual style that he invited him to join the Brooklyn Dodgers' broadcast in 1950. Vin Scully stayed as the voice of the Dodgers, both in Brooklyn and when they moved to Los Angeles, for 67 remarkable years, retiring in 2016. He announced the World Series, Division Championship games, All-Star games, baseball's Game Of The Week, even many football games throughout his career. His voice was unmistakable , even if you were a moderate fan of baseball in the last more-than-half century. There will never be another Vin Scully.
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
BORN: September 26, 1948 in Cambridge, England
DIED: August 8, 2022 (aged 73) in Santa Ynez Valley, California
CAUSE: Bone Cancer
One of my very first crushes in entertainment all because of the movie Grease. Hell, I didn't even know she was a chart-topping singer when I watched her in that film. Her family moved to Australia when she was a child, and she formed her first all-girl singing group in school there when she was just 14. She began acting in High School and would soon be known as a double threat, triple if you count her beauty. She started to appear on Australian TV on their talent shows back in 1965, which led to her releasing her first single, "Till You Say You'll Be Mine", in 1966. In 1971 she released her first album, If Not For You, and the title track, written by Bob Dylan, shot up to number one on the US Adult Contemporary list. From there she'd release more than 50 albums and 70 singles, selling more than 100-million records making her one of the top selling artists of all-time! Six of her albums landed in the Top 10 in America, three all the way to number one. She had 5 number one singles and 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart. When Grease hit the theatres, everyone who didn't really know who she was, like me, instantly fell for her. She was a huge talent, winning 4 Grammy Awards and dozens of other awards throughout her almost 60 year career.
ANNE HECHE
BORN: May 25, 1969 in Aurora, Ohio
DIED: August 11, 2022 (aged 53) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Injuries From Traffic Collision
Anne Heche lived the actors' dream; she landed a big role right out of high school when she auditioned for the part of Victoria Hudson on "Another World". She appeared on 72 episodes of that soap opera, which led to more TV and film roles. She was memorable in early films like I'll Do Anything, A Simple Twist Of Fate, The Juror, Volcano and Wag The Dog. She started dating Ellen DeGeneres in 1997, the entertainment industry's first gay super-couple, and her career started to really take off, appearing in major film releases like Six Days, Seven Nights opposite Harrison Ford, the remake of Psycho and appearing famously on "Ellen", along with a recurring role on "Ally McBeal". Unfortunately, after her breakup with DeGeneres in 2000, Heche's struggles with mental health came to the forefront. She wrote a book detailing the abuse from her early childhood and how it had affected her for a great many years. There were many news stories regarding Heche having, in her own words, "psychotic breaks", which led to her being a Hollywood outcast. It was a shame her struggles became the focus of the talented actress, and the odd circumstances around her death didn't help matters.
WOLFGANG PETERSEN
BORN: March 14, 1941 in Emden, Nazi Germany
DIED: August 12, 2022 (aged 81) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Pancreatic Cancer
In the late 1980's and into the 1990's, just about every actor around wanted to work with Wolfgang Petersen. After making a few movies in his native Germany, he made another German film that gained wide-release and almost unanimous praise, Das Boot in 1981. The tale of a World War II submarine was dramatic, action filled, and highly claustrophobic. The initial theatrical release clocked in at two and a half hours, but there have been subsequent releases that run over 4 hours. The movie received 6 Academy Award nominations, but didn't win any. The next film Peterson helmed was the fan-favourite The Never-Ending Story, a visually fantastic fantasy. More popular movies followed, mostly in the action/conspiracy genre; In The Line Of Fire, Outbreak, Air Force One, The Perfect Storm, Troy.
MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
BORN: March 2, 1931 in Privolnoye, Soviet Union
DIED: August 30, 2022 (aged 91) in Moscow, Russia
CAUSE: Severe And Prolonged Illness
Depending on where you lived in the 1980's and 1990's you either thought a great deal about Gorbachev or really didn't think much of him at all. I was rather young when he helped to end the Cold War with the United States, along with Ronald Reagan, and started to talk about being "friends" with each other. He was one of the first to say things in the Soviet Union had to change if it wanted to still be a major power in the world. He introduced a policy he called "glasnost" which gave more powers to the Russian people when it came to Freedom Of Speech and The Press. And although he was still a believer in Communist ideals, he also knew the value of a more Democratic style. He was a major player in the reunification of Germany in 1989 as well. Because of Gorbachev's style and ideas, many people in his own country didn't respect him, and many people in the West didn't trust him. But he was definitely one of the most important political figures of the last 100 years.
BERNARD SHAW
BORN: May 22, 1940 in Chicago , Illinois
DIED: September 7, 2022 (aged 82) in Washington, D.C.
CAUSE: Pneumonia
He was not the famous playwright that died in 1950, but was the famous journalist that had a great near-40 year career bringing us the news of the day. Shaw began in his hometown of Chicago in 1964 as a news anchor and reporter for WNUS. This led him to a job as a Washington correspondent for CBS news in 1971, where he stayed until 1977. He moved to ABC News for a few years until signing on with the new cable network CNN in 1980. When Shaw covered the attempted assassination of then President Ronald Reagan in 1981, people started to look at CNN as a reputable news network. Some of his most famous and harrowing reporting came from being on the ground during The Gulf War in the early 1990's. He has anchored the news, reported on some of the most important political issues of the day, and moderated Presidential debates. He was awarded the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 1994.
QUEEN ELIZABETH II
BORN: April 21, 1926 in London, England
DIED: September 8, 2022 (aged 96) in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
CAUSE: Natural Causes
Well, I mean, what can you say about Queen Elizabeth II?? One of the most iconic figures of the 20th and 21st Century. It's so strange to think, at 50 years old, I've never known another monarch of Britain. She had a remarkable reign, longest England has ever seen, with brilliant highs and drastic lows. She saw 14 US Presidents come and go, 15 British Prime Ministers, ruled through wars, recessions, economic prosperity, celebrations and tragedies far too many to list here. We all knew she wouldn't be around forever, but when the end came, it came quick, the World mourned. And now, so weird to say, we have the first King Of England that much of the world's population has ever seen! What a legacy...
JEAN-LUC GODARD
BORN: December 3, 1930 in Paris, France
DIED: September 13, 2022 (aged 91) in Rolle, Switzerland
CAUSE: Assisted Suicide
Along with fellow filmmakers like Francois Truffaut, Jacques Demy and Eric Rohmer, Godard helped bring the style of French New Wave cinema to the masses in the 1960's. Rejecting the "studio system", he began experimenting with sound, editing and a style of realness, or cinema verite, that caught on with audiences and critics alike. His very first feature film, Breathless from 1960, broke away from many conventions of cinema at the time, especially his use of jump cuts and his almost guerrilla-like camerawork. Including short films, features, anthologies and video, Godard wrote or directed over 100 films in his 70 year career. He has been largely recognized as one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th Century and has directly influenced scores of other filmmakers, from Scorsese to Tarantino, Soderbergh to Linklater and so many others.
HENRY SILVA
BORN: September 23, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York
DIED: September 14, 2022 (aged 95) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Natural Causes
I'm not sure if many people know who Henry Silva was, but he was always a favourite of mine when he showed up on the screen, big and small. He would probably be most remembered playing opposite Frank Sinatra in a couple of movies; Ocean's 11 in 1960 and The Manchurian Candidate in 1962. But he appeared in more than 140 films and TV shows throughout his 50 year career, starting way back in 1952. He was usually cast as a bad guy or gangster, and he played those roles to a tee. In the '60's and '70's he made a lot of films in Europe, mostly Italy, making him a very familiar face in Spaghetti Westerns of the day. But he'd always show up in American made movies opposite such huge stars as Sinatra, Burt Reynolds and Charles Bronson. He was a really great character actor that always held my attention whenever he was on screen.
MAURY WILLS
BORN: October 2, 1932 in Washington, D.C.
DIED: September 19, 2022 (aged 89) in Sedona, Arizona
CAUSE: Unknown
Before Rickey Henderson, before Lou Brock, the best base-stealer in the game of baseball was Maury Wills. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers right out of high school in 1950, but toiled in the minors for years before making his Major League debut in 1959. In his first full season in 1960, Wills became the first National League player since 1923 to steal 50 bases in a season. Just 2 seasons later, in 1962, Wills broke the Major League record for stolen bases, previously held by Ty Cobb with 96 swipes in 1915, stealing 104 bases. That record stood until 1974 when Lou Brock stole 118 for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was selected as the National League MVP for that season. But Wills was more than just speed; he was a great shortstop, winning 2 Gold Gloves, a career .281 hitter, a seven-time All Star and a three-time World Series champ.
LOUISE FLETCHER
DIED: September 23, 2022 (aged 88) in Tarn, France
CAUSE: Unknown
Louise Fletcher started appearing in television shows way back in the late 1950's, shows like "Lawman", "Maverick" and "The Untouchables". She'd appear in just one film in the 1960's, A Gathering Of Eagles, and in just her fourth film role she would become a household name. It was her role as Nurse Ratched in 1975's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest that would shoot Fletcher into the actor's stratosphere. Her incredible performance in that film garnered her an Academy Award, along with a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award, as the Best Actress in a Motion Picture. From there she would go on to appear in over 150 movies and TV shows, but never regaining the enormous success from 1975.
COOLIO
BORN: August 1, 1963 in Los Angeles, California
DIED: September 28, 2022 (aged 59) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Possible Cardiac Arrest
Born Artis Leon Ivey Jr, the artist we all knew as Coolio achieved huge success in the rap world in the mid 1990's. From the release of his first solo album, It Takes A Thief in 1994, everybody knew who he was. That album contained my favourite song of his (although my knowledge of his songs is limited), "Fantastic Voyage", which went all the way to Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1995 he released a song from the movie Dangerous Minds called "Gangsta's Paradise" which was a Number One hit all over the world. The song also won Coolio a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a solo artist. All in all, Coolio was nominated for 6 Grammy Awards in his career. Because of his success with his videos, he'd show up in a bunch of TV shows and movies through the years as well. He passed away at a friend's house and there is an open investigation to find the cause of his death, although the police have said they don not suspect foul play.
LORETTA LYNN
BORN: April 14, 1932 in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky
DIED: October 4, 2022 (aged 90) in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee
CAUSE: Unknown
For over 60 years Loretta Lynn was a mega-star in the world of Country Music. Soon after winning a talent competition in Tacoma, Washington, Lynn was signed to a record contract in 1960 and became an immediate success. Through her grand career she released more than 50 albums and was part of another 36 compilation albums. Of her 50 solo albums, 30 of them landed in the Top 10 of the U.S. Country Music Charts, an incredible 11 all the way to Number One! Her singles success was even greater, charting 24 Number One hits on the Country Charts. Her 1970 song "Coal Miner's Daughter", an autobiographical tale of her upbringing, became so popular that it inspired Lynn to write a book in 1976 using the same title, then an Academy Award winning film in 1980 starring Sissy Spacek as Lynn. There are a handful of names that personify the Country Music genre and Loretta Lynn will always be near the top of that list, even for people like me that never listen to it. A true icon to be sure.
ANGELA LANSBURY
BORN: October 16, 1925 in London, England
DIED: October 11, 2022 (aged 96) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Natural Causes
When I was around 12 years old, a new program appeared on television about an English writer who solved murders. It was intriguing and the lead actress was personable and funny at times. Of course I'm talking about "Murder, She Wrote", an multi-award winning mystery program that lasted an incredible 264 episodes over 12 seasons. I had no idea who Angela Lansbury was before this show. Many years later I realized she was a huge star of stage and screen since the 1940's!! Her incredible career lasted more than 80 years, a monumental achievement. There is not nearly enough space here to detail her phenomenal career, but here are some eye-popping stats; appearance in more than 15 Broadway plays (most famously in "Mame" from 1966 to 1968 and "Gypsy" from 1973 to 1975), more than 60 films (most famously in The Manchurian Candidate in 1962, Bedknobs And Broomsticks in 1971 and Beauty And The Beast in 1991), and around 50 television shows/movies. The accolades she's acquired through the years is remarkable as well; Eight Tony Award nominations, winning 6 times; 4 Academy Award nominations, winning once (an Honorary Award); 15 Golden Globe nominations, winning 6 times; and an incredible 18 Emmy Award nominations....but never winning even one. She was truly a legend in the world of entertainment.
ROBBIE COLTRANE
BORN: March 30, 1950 in Rutherglen, Scotland
DIED: October 14, 2022 (aged 72) in Larbert, Scotland
CAUSE: Multiple Organ Failure
He was born Anthony Robert McMillan, but when he got into acting in his 20's, he decided to create a stage name and borrowed the last name from his favourite jazz musician, John Coltrane. He was a popular figure in British films and television early on, not getting his big break until 1993 when he landed the role of Dr. Edward Fitzgerald in "Cracker". He played a criminal psychologist on the show, showing us all how good he was in drama and comedy. But his most popular role, by far, would come almost a decade later when he was chosen to play the giant with a heart of gold, Hagrid, in the Harry Potter series of films. He appeared in all 9 of the Harry Potter films and was always a fan favourite. Unfortunately, later in life, Coltrane suffered terribly from osteoarthritis, keeping him away from acting for many years.
LESLIE JORDAN
BORN: April 29, 1955 in Chattanooga, Tennessee
DIED: October 24, 2022 (aged 67) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Traffic Accident (medical episode)
He didn't begin acting in TV and films until his 30's and soon became a very recognizable character on both. He was usually cast for his small size and his distinctive Southern drawl. Even though he appeared in more than 40 films, he was much more familiar to audiences on the small screen. Early on you could spot him on popular shows like "The Fall Guy", "Night Court", "Murphy Brown", "Newhart" and "Perfect Strangers". I would guess most people, like me, became a huge fan of his because of his 17 appearances as Beverley Leslie on "Will And Grace", starting in 2001. He was hilarious in that role and won an Emmy Award in 2006 for his talent. Most recently he appeared as Phil in the sitcom "Call Me Kat" opposite Mayim Bialik. In fact, he was on his way to shooting scenes for the show when this most unfortunate accident occurred.
JERRY LEE LEWIS
BORN: September 29, 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana
DIED: October 28, 2022 (aged 87) in Nesbit, Mississippi
CAUSE: Unknown
There were a lot of things Jerry Lee Lewis did in his life that were questionable to say the least. He was married seven times, twice before he divorced his other wife. He married his 13 year old cousin when he was 22, and had a child with her when she was just 14. He allegedly wanted to kill Elvis at Graceland when he showed up with a gun in 1976. But, beyond all that craziness, and so much more, he is rightfully revered as one of the innovators of a genre of music affectionally called Rock N' Roll. In 1957, Lewis released a couple of singles that shaped the way we hear rockabilly music; "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On" and "Great Balls Of Fire". From there he would release 40 studio albums and 75 other singles, topping the singles' charts 12 times. In 1986 he was one of the first inductees into the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame. He was wild to watch, exciting to listen to, and will always be remembered as one of the greatest Rock N' Rollers ever.
AARON CARTER
BORN: December 7, 1987 in Tampa, Florida
DIED: November 5, 2022 (aged 34) in Lancaster, California
CAUSE: Unknown
It's always sad when a young pop star falls by the wayside because of one thing or another, but it usually has to do with drugs. Aaron Carter became a huge pop star in the late 1990's and early 2000's when he released his self-titled album in 1997 at the ripe age of 10. Even though that album did well, it was nothing compared to his next album, Aaron's Party (Come And Get It), released in 2000. That album went three times platinum in the United States and went to Number Four on the Billboard Chart. All in all he sold more than 10-million records worldwide. Unfortunately, Carter was said to suffer from bad anxiety and abused prescription medications to help him with that. He was arrested a few times for smoking/possessing marijuana and speeding in his car. He began having difficult relationships with his siblings, especially his more famous brother Nick who is part of the Backstreet Boys. Just a tragic end to a troubled life.
JOHN ANISTON
BORN: July 24, 1933 in Chania, Greece
DIED: November 11, 2022 (aged 89)
CAUSE: Unknown
If you have watched "Days Of Our Lives" any time in the last 37 years, you know exactly who John Aniston was. He played Victor Kiriakis since 1985, more than 3,500 episodes!! You may also know John Aniston as the father of Jennifer, who appeared on a TV show called "Friends" for a while. His family moved from Greece to the United States when he was just 2 years old. He served in the US Navy after college and began acting professionally in the 1960's. He would show up in a few films and TV shows throughout his career, but he never achieved nearly as much fame and fortune than his time on "Days Of Our Lives". He was certainly an icon in the world of Soap Operas and was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Daytime Emmys earlier this year.
GALLAGHER
BORN: July 24, 1946 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina
DIED: November 11, 2022 (aged 76) in Palm Desert, California
CAUSE: Organ Failure
Another iconic comedian gone before the end of the year. Born Leo Anthony Gallagher Jr., we all knew him by one name, and he was the original prop comic, doing things on stage that nobody had before. He began his career in 1969 and quickly earned time on the stage of The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Soon, his popularity would take him to "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson" and "The Mike Douglas Show" to name a couple. His irreverent humour and observational comedy was always accompanied by his main prop, the "Sledge-O-Matic". He would destroy a variety of items on stage using his giant sledgehammer, most famously big watermelons. As silly as it seems now, he was one of the most popular comics of the 1980's. A series of heart attacks through the years left him very weak in his later days and led to his death.
BORJE SALMING
BORN: April 17, 1951 in Salmi, Sweden
DIED: November 24, 2022 (aged 71) in Nacka, Sweden
CAUSE: ALS
Another National Hockey League legend leaves us this year, but this one hits much closer to home. Growing up loving everything Toronto Maple Leafs in the late 1970's, the name Borje Salming was synonymous with excellence. He could do no wrong as a defenceman for the Boys In Blue. It was known all over Toronto how important a figure Salming was as the first European hockey star in the NHL. There were others that came before him, but he was easily the best of those few. Salming adopted to the North American way of playing hockey better than any other European before him, which endeared him to the crowd like no other before him. He played 17 years in the NHL, all but one of them with the Leafs. He was named to six All-Star games, playing in three of them, had his number "21" retired by the Leafs, and became the first Swedish player in NHL history to be inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1996. He currently ranks 18th all-time for points by a defenceman. Just days before his passing, Salming was honoured by the Maple Leafs and thousands of fans in an emotional ceremony in Toronto. It was a nice way to say goodbye to the man who brought so much to this city over the years.
IRENE CARA
BORN: March 18, 1959 in New York, New York
DIED: November 25, 2022 (aged 63) in Largo, Florida
CAUSE: Unknown
This one was a bit of a shock as I always think of Irene Cara as a 20-something year old disco dancing on TV somewhere. I couldn't believe she was already 63, yet still way too young to go. She started out as a child, recording a Spanish-language album for the Latin market and appearing with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr. and Roberta Flack in a concert tribute to Duke Ellington. By the time she was 12 she was a regular in the band on the children's show "The Electric Company". She went on to appear on Broadway, received critical acclaim for her performance in "Roots: The Next Generations" which aired on TV in 1979, and then blew everyone away when she starred in Fame in 1980. If singing the main song for the movie Fame wasn't enough, in 1983 she could be heard just about every 5 minutes on the radio and on MTV with her mega-hit "Flashdance...What A Feeling". That song was a number one hit in multiple countries, became a Gold Record in the USA and earned her an Academy Award and two Grammys. Such a huge talent gone far too soon.
CHRISTINE McVIE
BORN: July 12, 1943 in Lancashire, England
DIED: November 30, 2022 (aged 79) in London, England
CAUSE: Unknown brief illness
While most people in the world loved listening to Stevie Nicks sing for Fleetwood Mac, I always much preferred Christine McVie. Not only was she a better singer in my eyes, or ears, but she was a hugely talented songwriter. She wrote or co-wrote some of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits including "The Chain", "Little Lies", "Say You Love Me", "You Make Loving Fun", "Hold Me" and "Don't Stop". She began playing with Fleetwood Mac back in 1970 when they were still a Blues band with the great Peter Green. When Green left the band, the others moved to America, teamed up with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, and the rest is music history. She would leave the band, come back, leave again, record solo albums, come back again, and through it all was that wonderfully mellow voice and great piano playing. In large part because of her contributions to the band, Fleetwood Mac are members of the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame and became one of the biggest selling bands ever.
GAYLORD PERRY
BORN: September 15, 1938 in Williamston, North Carolina
DIED: December 1, 2022 (aged 84) in Gaffney, South Carolina
CAUSE: Complications from COVID-19
When people talk about great Major League pitchers of the 1960's and 1970's we hear names like Gibson, Koufax, Seaver, Carlton and so on. The name that is usually left out for some reason is Gaylord Perry even though he was right there with the greatest of the greats. In his 22-year career in The Majors he recorded 314 wins (17th all-time), 3,534 strikeouts (8th all-time), a career ERA of 3.11, and pitched in 5,350 innings of baseball (6th most all-time). He was the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award as the best pitcher of the year in both the American and National Leagues (AL in 1972 and NL in 1978). The greatest thing about Perry was how he got into batters' heads. He used a "spitball" early in his career, rubbing a foreign object on the ball to make it move more than it should when thrown. He became so famous for this pitch that batters were always on edge when they faced him, never knowing if or when Perry would toss his "spitter". Perry used that to great advantage through his career and threw far less spitballs than anybody would have guessed. He was elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1991.
BOB McGRATH
BORN: June 13, 1932 in Ottawa, Illinois
DIED: December 4, 2022 (aged 90) in Norwood, New Jersey
CAUSE: Complications from a Stroke
I'm not sure if anybody taught me more as a child than Bob McGrath. He was such a familiar face to me growing up, it was like he was a member of the family. I'm sure millions of people felt the same way, especially if you were born in the early 1970's like I was. He began working with Mitch Miller on his popular singalong show "Sing Along With Mitch" in the early 1960's. He then released a few successful albums in Japan before joining the cast of a new children's educational show called "Sesame Street" in 1969. McGrath played Bob Johnson, the resident music teacher, from it's inception until 2016, almost 50 years!! He seemed like the nicest guy in the world and his smiling face was always a great way to start a day.
KIRSTIE ALLEY
BORN: January 12, 1951 in Wichita, Kansas
DIED: December 5, 2022 (aged 71) in Tampa, Florida
CAUSE: Colon Cancer
Here was another shocker to end 2022. Nobody knew Kirstie Alley was even sick, including her family! She was diagnosed with colon cancer not long before it took her life. Most of us first remember seeing Alley when she joined the cast of "Cheers", one of the most popular shows on television, in 1987. But you probably saw her a few times before that, like in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan in 1982, or on "The Love Boat" in 1983. But she became a household name when she began her role as Rebecca Howe on "Cheers". She made some bad movie choices when her star started to shine; Loverboy, the Look Who's Talking series, Madhouse. But she came back strong in 1997 starring in her own sit-com "Veronica's Closet" where she received her 8th Emmy Nomination. She was regarded as one of the funniest women on television for a long time, and deserved every accolade. It was very sad to hear of her sudden passing.
STEPHEN "tWITCH" BOSS
BORN: September 29, 1982 in Montgomery, Alabama
DIED: December 13, 2022 (aged 40) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Suicide
It just goes to show you, mental illness is a real disease, and can get to anybody...even those that seem to have it all. "tWitch" used his incredible abilities to further himself in entertainment, first as a choreographer and then as a full out dancing giant. When he appeared on the show "So You Think You Can Dance" in 2007, everybody loved him, but he didn't make it to the Top 20. The next season, he tried out again and ended up coming in second place. He became a favourite on the show, returning to dance in many routines with the contestants, winning an Emmy for a performance in 2009. One of his biggest fans was Ellen DeGeneres and, when it was time to replace her former DJ on her show, she asked "tWitch". He started on DeGeneres' show in 2014 and was there until the day the show ended in 2022. His future was so bright, he had, what appeared to be, a wonderful home life with a loving wife and three beautiful children. It's hard to believe how someone with such a great future could have so many problems, but, unfortunately it happens all too often. I will miss watching "tWitch" dance.
PELÉ
BORN: October 23, 1940 in Tres Coracoes, Brazil
DIED: December 29, 2022 (aged 82) in Sao Paulo, Brazil
CAUSE: Colon Cancer
When people have conversations about sports, any sport, there is usually a discussion about "The Greatest". In baseball it is usually Babe Ruth, or Ted Williams, or Willie Mays. In hockey it's normally Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr or Gordie Howe. In soccer, it's Pelé...and that's it. Sure there were other soccer stars through history, but the name Pelé always rose to the top. He was what some call a "wunderkind". He was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento and was called Pelé because he kept on mispronouncing his favourite player as a kid, Bilé. Otherwise "pelé" has no meaning. He began playing professionally at the age of 15, when many said at the time that he'd be the greatest footballer to ever play the game. He scored goals at a rate never seen before or since. At the ripe age of 17, in 1958, Pelé would represent his country at the World Cup for the first time. At the time he was the youngest player to participate in a World Cup game. He would score 6 goals in 4 matches that he played in, leading his team to the title. Four years later, he was ranked the best player in the world and helped Brazil win a second straight title, although he was injured for most of the tournament. In 1966, after being fouled relentlessly in the World Cup, and Brazil being eliminated early, he said he'd never play a World Cup match again. Luckily, he decided otherwise, and came back to play in 1970, winning a third World Cup and became a true legend as he assisted or scored in 53% of Brazil's goals through the tournament. His list of individual accomplishments are far too long to list here. The term "GOAT" is used far too often in today's vernacular, but anyone can truly state that Pelé was the Greatest Of All Time!
BARBARA WALTERS
BORN: September 25, 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts
DIED: December 30, 2022 (aged 93) in New York, New York
CAUSE: Natural Causes
Just the day before, a name that is synonymous with soccer, Pelé, passed away. On this day, a name synonymous with excellence in broadcast journalism leaves us. Barbara Walters, in just about all measures, was one of the best at what she did. She began her amazing 60+ year career as a journalist in the early 1950's at an NBC affiliate in New York writing for a children's program that was directed by Roone Arledge, the man who would one day create the show "20/20". After a few other stops, Walters joined the writing team at "The Today Show" in 1961, soon becoming the weather girl and light-hearted segment producer. In 1976 she became the co-anchor of the ABC Evening News with Harry Reasoner, and in 1979 started a new show called "20/20" alongside Hugh Downs. By now she was at the top of her game and was one of the most admired broadcast journalists around, woman or man. Her yearly interview specials with world leaders, celebrities and sports figures were some of the highest rated shows ever. In the late 1990's, she help to create the TV show "The View" which became a huge hit and is still going strong to this day. Walters was recognized for her talents with scores of awards and honours and will always be remembered as one of the best in the biz.
ANITA POINTER
BORN: January 23, 1948 in Oakland, California
DIED: December 31, 2022 (aged 74) in Los Angeles, California
CAUSE: Cancer
In 1969, at the age of 21, Anita Pointer decided to leave her job as a secretary to join her two sisters, Bonnie and June, and created a singing trio. Thank goodness she did! The Pointer Sisters were one of the biggest acts in the 1970's and '80's, selling millions of records and having hit after hit. It's strange to think this great R and B act had their first big success as a Country trio, but they did. In fact, after the release of their hit song "Fairytale" in 1974, they became the first black female group to perform at The Grand Ole Opry. They had even more success a few years later with hits like "Fire" in 1978, "He's So Shy" in 1980, "Slow Hand" in 1981 and the ultra-popular "I'm So Excited" in 1982. This success came after Bonnie left the group in 1977 and sister Ruth joined. They scored at least 7 Top-10 hits on the Billboard charts through the '80's, and Anita was there all the way. She released a solo album in 1987 titled Love For What It Is that had moderate success.
