The singer Donovan (who still lives, despite some claims to the contrary), did one of my favorite little humorous songs, “Intergalactic Laxative”.
Graham Kerr happened to cross my mind today. I used to watch him back in the 70s when I was first figuring out how to cook. He’s now 91.
One of my favorite films is Once Upon a Time in the West, staring Claudia Cardinale. She’s still around at 87.
I met him close to 30 years ago, when I was working for Quaker Oats. We had a booth at the national AARP convention; at that point, Graham had transitioned his cooking style to healthy foods, and we had hired him to conduct healthy-cooking demonstrations at our booth.
I helped him set up and take down after several of his demos, and we were able to chat for a while – it was a lovely conversation, and he was tickled that not only did I remember him from The Galloping Gourmet, but I’d watched his newer, healthy-eating shows. Truly a nice guy.
Also still with us is Sherry Jackson, who was in that episode with Ted Cassidy. (She’s on my “Twilight Zone” themed Death Pool list.)
Queen of Scream Queens, Barbara Steele is still with us at 87. Mario Bava’s Black Sunday (1960) was her signature film, but she was also in Roger Corman’s The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), Federico Fellini’s 8½ (1963), David Cronenberg’s Shivers (1975), Joe Dante’s Piranha and Louis Malle’s Pretty Baby (both 1978)
Lee Adams, lyricist, and Charles Strouse, composer, are remembered for Bye Bye Birdie. Adams is still with us at 100, though we lost Strouse three weeks ago at 96. Since Bye Bye Birdie might not be your choice earworm, here’s a sweet little song they wrote for a musical written by Mel Brooks.
One of the vocalists (the female) of a song so many of us are likely familiar with has died at 88. Reposez en paix.
“da-ba-da-ba-da, da-ba-da-ba-da”…..
Illustrator Quentin Blake (just mentioned in the “Trivia Questions with Two Answers” thread) turned 92 last December.
Pete Davidson. Seriously, I could have sworn that I read a few months ago that he had either OD’d or died by suicide. No offense to Pete, but either of those deaths would track.
I was surprised when I heard Andy Dick was still alive because I thought he had OD’d years ago…
Must be the Dick Effect.
duh-duh da-da duh-duh da-da
duh-duh da-da duh-duh
dee-de-dee dee-de-dee dee-de-dee
Lalo Schifrin will soon be 93
There was this movie on that had Susannah York in it, and I got wondering, was she related to Michael? Well, no, neither of them were born York. Susannah is gone, but Michael, who has always seemed old-ish to me, turned 83 this year.
And it is blindingly obvious why he chose a stage name, instead of acting under the travesty his parents laid upon him: Michael Hugh Johnson.
Sidney Kibrick is 96. [Woim in the Little Rascals]
It’s a bad sign when you’re only thirty-one and people are expressing surprise that you’re still alive.
Whenever I read of the death of someone famous that hasn’t been predicted to be soon by most sources, I immediately check as many online sources as possible to see if this is true. Unfortunately, I usually soon find that they aren’t dead. A lot of online sources are more about being clickbait than about being true.
Just came across this headline. Jimmy Swaggart, 90, in Critical Condition After Suffering Cardiac Arrest: ‘Needs a Miracle from Heaven’. I kind of forgot about this guy.
I’m putting my kiddo to bed to an old Disney music compilation CD. There’s a song from Babes in Toyland on it. In my search to confirm it was performed by the Scarecrow himself, Ray Bolger, I was surprised to learn that Babes lead Tommy Sands is still alive at 87.
(The following track is “The Monkey’s Uncle” written by the Sherman Brothers for fellow Babes alum Annette Funicello backed by… The Beach Boys.)
A Mandela Effect one here: I get my new edition of Scientific American, note the back cover after I casually toss it onto the chair when I get home-Lech Walesa as the guest of honor at some cruise meeting…wha? I would have sworn on a pack of bibles that he died about 10 years ago. So maybe it’s the weak Mandela Effect (where one person is confused with another, as happened with Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko), and I am thinking of another Polish politician who came to power after the fall of the Soviet Union and was the one I saw in the obit in question.