No one here gets out alive. Dead artist thread.

[WebWarlock]

James Brown. Free at last.

Very long Tribune piece here, http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... i-news-hed

Warlock

[WebWarlock]

Yvonne De Carlo dead at 84.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/200701 ... L1C80.html

'Munsters' Star Yvonne De Carlo Dies

Jan 10, 3:45 PM (ET)

By BOB THOMAS

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Yvonne De Carlo, the beautiful star who played Moses' wife in "The Ten Commandments" but achieved her greatest popularity on TV's slapstick comedy "The Munsters," has died. She was 84.

De Carlo died of natural causes Monday at the Motion Picture & Television facility in suburban Los Angeles, longtime friend and television producer Kevin Burns said Wednesday.

De Carlo, whose shapely figure helped launch her career in B-movie desert adventures and Westerns, rose to more important roles in the 1950s. Later, she had a key role in a landmark Broadway musical, Stephen Sondheim's "Follies."

But for TV viewers, she will always be known as Lily Munster in the 1964-1966 horror-movie spoof "The Munsters." The series (the name allegedly derived from "fun-monsters") offered a gallery of Universal Pictures grotesques, including Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, in a cobwebbed gothic setting.

As if anyone couldn't guess she had quite an impact on a young Web Warlock. Creepy could be sexy.

Warlock

[urnofosiris]

Darlene Conley is no more...

http://www.cbs.com/daytime/bb/about/justin/

Beloved B&B Actress, Darlene Conley, Passes Away

January 15, 2007, LOS ANGELES, CA … Internationally renowned daytime drama actress Darlene Conley, who played the vividly colored, comedic and tough dame with a heart of gold, Sally Spectra on The Bold and the Beautiful, died on January 14, 2007 from cancer.

“Darlene understood better than anyone that each moment of airtime was precious”, said Bradley P. Bell, Executive Producer and Head Writer of The Bold and the Beautiful. “She constantly entertained us with every move, every breath, every inflection of her voice. Whether she was the villain, the damsel, the sexpot, or the comedienne, Darlene was brilliant. An extraordinary actress of film, radio, stage and television, my family had the privilege and honor of Darlene gracing our shows for three decades. She was truly one-of-a-kind. We will miss her beyond measure.”

“Darlene was a beloved member of the CBS family for many years,” said Barbara Bloom, Senior Vice President of Daytime, CBS, “Her talent, wit, and energy made her a force to be reckoned with and her loss is immeasurable. She’ll be greatly missed but also greatly remembered.”

Born in Chicago, Illinois on July 18, 1934, of Irish-German heritage, she was discovered at age 15 by legendary Broadway impresario Jed Harris who cast her as the Irish maid in a touring production of the 19th century melodrama The Heiress, which starred Basil Rathbone. After graduating high school, she toured the country with classical theater companies before appearing in Shakespearean roles on Broadway with the Helen Hayes Repertory Theater. She later appeared in a Broadway revival of the Night of the Iguana, with Richard Chamberlain, and in David Merrick’s musical The Baker’s Wife. Her Los Angeles theater credits included Cyrano de Bergerac and Night of the Iguana (both with Chamberlain), The Time of the Cuckoo with Jean Stapleton and Ring Around the Moon with Michael York.

Alfred Hitchcock cast Conley in her first feature film, The Birds, and she worked with John Cassavetes in Faces and Minnie & Moscowitz. Conley also appeared in The Valley of the Dolls, Play it as it Lays and Lady Sings the Blues, as well as Tough Guys, with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.

Conley has appeared in a host of made for television films, mini-series and vintage prime-time dramatic series including Robert JFK & His Times, The Fighter, The Choice, Return Engagement and The President’s Plane is Missing as well as The Cosby Show, Murder, She Wrote, Cagney & Lacey, Little House on the Prairie, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Highway to Heaven.

Daytime television became home to Conley, who once said “It (daytime) is really the best medium today for women of a certain age to do something really flashy; it’s where what we do well as actresses matters.” Conley portrayed Edith Baker on Days of Our Lives, Louie on Capitol and Trixie Monahan on General Hospital before being given the role of the nefarious Rose de Ville, by the late William J. Bell, on The Young and Restless. When Bell co-created The Bold and the Beautiful with his wife Lee Phillip-Bell, he envisioned a special role for Conley, the role of Sally Spectra. Conley showcased her dramatic range and abilities with the character, and over the years has portrayed an exotic repertoire of offbeat flamboyant characters within the role. As Sally, Conley was a master of disguises including Mae West, a German spy, an Italian gigolo, a nun, and even a rendition of another B&B character, Massimo Marone.

For her portrayal of Sally Spectra on The Bold and the Beautiful, Conley was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards and six Soap Opera Digest Awards.

Additionally, Conley has the distinction of being the only daytime star to be chosen by the world famous Madame Tussaud’s to have her character, Sally Spectra, displayed in their gallery of wax figures, in both Amsterdam and Las Vegas.

Conley is survived by her son, Raymond Woodson, ex-husband Bill Woodson, sisters Carol Fontana and Sharon Wilson, a host of nieces and nephews, her long time friend and caretaker, Eva Hansen and her manager of 24 years, Sandra Siegal. Service arrangements are pending.

[JustSkipIt]

I'm not sure how big a story it is elsewhere but in Austin this was the top story today. Molly Ivins died of Breast Cancer:

Columnist Molly Ivins, acerbic Bush critic, dies of cancer

Thu Feb 1, 10:01 AM ET

CHICAGO (AFP) - Best-selling author and syndicated columnist Molly Ivins, whose biting wit and down-home humor often speared the policies of fellow-Texan
President George W. Bush, has died after a battle with breast cancer. She was 62.
ADVERTISEMENT

Ivins was so passionate about her work that she dictated her last two columns after she became too weak to write, her editor wrote in a memorial.

Like so many before, those columns attacked Bush's policies and urged readers to stand up against the war in
Iraq.

"We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell," she urged in a column dated January 11.

But even as she was dying, Ivins never lost her sense of humor.

"The president of the United States does not have the sense God gave a duck," she said in her second to last column.

Ivins began focusing her wit and investigative skills on Bush after he unseated her friend, former Texas Governor Ann Richards, in the first election he had ever won.

She wrote several books about Bush, including the bestseller "Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush" and "Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America."

Bush described Ivins in a White House statement as "a Texas original . . . loved by her readers and by her many friends, particularly in Central Texas.

"I respected her convictions, her passionate belief in the power of words, and her ability to turn a phrase. She fought her illness with that same passion. Her quick wit and commitment to her beliefs will be missed."

In 2003, David Broder of The Washington Post remarked: "If there is a shrewder, funnier observer of the American scene writing today than Molly Ivins, I do not know her."

Ivins was a frequent speaker at political rallies and a strong supporter of the
American Civil Liberties Union, which she credits with defending the US Constitution's Bill of Rights.

Ivins never married and divided charitable bequests in her will between the ACLU and her cherished Texas Observer magazine, which she edited from 1970 to 1976 before leaving for The New York Times, Creators Syndicate said.

[Willowlicious]

Anna Nicole Smith reported dead.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070208/ap_ ... le_smith_3

She was very easy to make fun of, but what a pathetically sad end to a rather tragic life.

[Bound2Her]

Damn, I was just about to post this. I just heard about it a few minutes ago.

Doesn't look like there's too much information on it, but I'm betting it was overdose, wouldn't be too shocking. She left her new born son and everything. :(

[urnofosiris]

She had a daughter last year and her 20 year old son died shortly after the birth of his sister. They both died far too young.

[WebWarlock]

Comic Richard Jeni:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... i-news-hed

Comic Jeni Dies in Apparent Suicide

By ANA BEATRIZ CHOLO
Associated Press Writer
Published March 11, 2007, 9:31 PM CDT


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.

Police found the 49-year-old comedian alive but gravely injured in a West Hollywood home when they responded to a call Saturday morning from Jeni's girlfriend, Los Angeles Police Officer Norma Eisenman said.

Eisenman said the caller told police: "My boyfriend shot himself in the face."

Jeni died at a nearby hospital.

Eisenman said suicide had not been officially confirmed and the investigation was continuing. An autopsy on Jeni would be done Monday, said Lt. Fred Corral from the investigation division of the coroner's office.

Jeni regularly toured the country with a standup act and had starred in several HBO comedy specials, most recently "A Big Steaming Pile of Me" during the 2005-06 season.

Another HBO special, "Platypus Man," won a Cable ACE award for best standup comedy special, and formed the basis for his UPN sitcom of the same name, which ran for one season.

Jeni's movie credits included "The Mask," in which he played Jim Carrey's best friend, "The Aristocrats," "National Lampoon's Dad's Week Off," and "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn."

He had guest appearances in the TV shows "Everybody Hates Chris," "Married: With Children," and updated versions of the game shows "Hollywood Squares" and "Match Game."

Frazer Smith, standup comedian who often opened for Jeni and the emcee at the Ice House, where Jeni often performed, said young comedians looked up to him.

"He was probably one of the best standup comedians in the last 50 years," said Smith. "He had tons and tons of material. He was looked up to by all the young comedians, a total pro."

The Brooklyn-born comic first received national attention in 1990 with the Showtime special "Richard Jeni: Boy From New York City." Two years later, his "Crazy From the Heat" special attracted the highest ratings in Showtime's history.

Jeni became a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show" during Johnny Carson's reign and continued to appear after Jay Leno took over as host.

He also wrote comic material for the 2005 Academy Awards, which was hosted by his friend Chris Rock.

Warlock

[SySnootles]

Kurt Vonnegut died.

[maudmac]

Oh my God.

Kurt Vonnegut was a person I guess I somehow felt was immortal.

What a sad day.

[WebWarlock]

Damn, I was just reading about Kurt Vonnegut as well.

I agree Maudmac, I actually thought he was going to be around forever. He had a Mark Twain quality about him, darkly humorous, often vitrolicly satrical, and yet somehow still wildly optimissitic.

My favorite book of his is actually a collevtion of short stories and plays called "Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons" it is such an odd little book.

I personally felt "Slaughterhouse Five" should rank far above "Catch 22" as the "counter-culture" bible. It is much better book.

Tim

[maudmac]

They were talking about him on NPR this morning and they played some clips from interviews he'd done in the last few years. It's as much a joy to listen to him speak as it is to read him - you never know what's going to come next, but it will always be delightful, even if dark.

I think I will endeavor to view more aspects of my life through the lens of humor. It really is all so ridiculous and Kurt Vonnegut's passing has reminded me of that. Strange to find something uplifting about someone's death, but I like to think he would be pleased. I know I'll be happier.

[gorn]

Don Ho died.

EDIT (Monday night) - What, no love for Don Ho out there? The "Tiny Bubbles" guy?

[maudmac]

Rest in peace, Tammy Faye.

[GayNow]

Entertainer, Businessman Griffin Dies
By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer

2 hours ago

LOS ANGELES - Merv Griffin, the big band-era crooner turned impresario who parlayed his "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" game shows into a multimillion-dollar empire, died Sunday. He was 82.

Griffin died of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his family that was released by Marcia Newberger, spokeswoman for The Griffin Group/Merv Griffin Entertainment.

From his beginning as a $100-a-week San Francisco radio singer, Griffin moved on as vocalist for Freddy Martin's band, sometime film actor in films and TV game and talk show host, and made Forbes' list of richest Americans several times.

His "The Merv Griffin Show" lasted more than 20 years, and Griffin's said his capacity to listen contributed to his success.

"If the host is sitting there thinking about his next joke, he isn't listening," Griffin reasoned in a recent interview.

But his biggest break financially came from inventing and producing "Jeopardy" in the 1960s and "Wheel of Fortune" in the 1970s. After they had become the hottest game shows on television, Griffin sold the rights to Coca Cola's Columbia Pictures Television Unit for $250 million in 1986, retaining a share of the profits.

"My father was a visionary," Griffin's son, Tony Griffin, said in a statement issued Sunday. "He loved business and continued his many projects and holdings even while hospitalized."

When Griffin entered a hospital a month ago, he was working on the first week of production of a new syndicated game show, "Merv Griffin's Crosswords," his son said.

In recent years, Griffin also rated frequent mentions in the sports pages as a successful race horse owner. His colt Stevie Wonderboy, named for entertainer Stevie Wonder, won the $1.5 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2005.

Griffin started putting the proceeds from selling "Jeopardy" and "Wheel" in treasury bonds, stocks and other investments, but went into real estate and other ventures because "I was never so bored in my life."

"I said `I'm not going to sit around and clip coupons for the rest of my life,'" he recalled in 1989. "That's when Barron Hilton said `Merv, do you want to buy the Beverly Hilton?' I couldn't believe it."

Griffin bought the slightly passe hotel for $100.2 million and completely refurbished it for $25 million. Then he made a move for control of Resorts International, which operated hotels and casinos from Atlantic City to the Caribbean.

That touched off a feud with real estate tycoon Donald Trump. Griffin eventually acquired Resorts for $240 million, even though Trump had held 80 percent of the voting stock.

"I love the gamesmanship," he told Life magazine in 1988. "This may sound strange, but it parallels the game shows I've been involved in."

In 1948, Freddy Martin hired Griffin to join his band at Los Angeles' Coconut Grove at $150 a week. With Griffin doing the singing, the band had a smash hit with "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts," a 1949 novelty song sung in a cockney accent.

Doris Day and her producer husband, Marty Melcher, saw the band in Las Vegas and recommended Griffin to Warner Bros., which offered a contract. After a bit in "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," starring Day and Gordon MacRae, he had a bigger role with Kathryn Grayson in "So This Is Love." But after a few more trivial roles, he asked out of his contract.

In 1954, Griffin went to New York where he appeared in a summer replacement musical show on CBS-TV, a revival of "Finian's Rainbow," and a music show on CBS radio. He followed with a few TV game show hosting jobs, notably "Play Your Hunch," which premiered in 1958 and ran through the early 1960s. His glibness led to stints as substitute for Jack Paar on "Tonight."

When Paar retired in 1962, Griffin was considered a prime candidate to replace him. Johnny Carson was chosen instead. NBC gave Griffin a daytime version of "Tonight," but he was canceled for being "too sophisticated" for the housewife audience.

Westinghouse Broadcasting introduced "The Merv Griffin Show" in 1965 on syndicated TV. Griffin never underestimated the intelligence of his audience, offering such figures as philosopher Bertrand Russell, cellist Pablo Casals and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer-philosopher-historians Will and Ariel Durant as well as movie stars and entertainers.

He was also a longtime friend of former President Reagan and his wife, Nancy.

"This is heartbreaking, not just for those of us who loved Merv personally, but for everyone around the world who has known Merv through his music, his television shows and his business," Nancy Reagan said in a statement. "Ronnie and I knew Merv for more years than I can even remember, more than 50 I'm sure."

When the Reagans returned to California in 1988 after eight years in the White House, Griffin and Hilton threw a $25,000-a-table homecoming gala for the couple.

Mrs. Reagan said Griffin "was there for me every day after Ronnie died" in 2004.

With Carson ruling the late-night roost on NBC in the late 1960s, the two other networks challenged him with competing shows, Griffin on CBS and Joey Bishop (later Dick Cavett) on ABC. Nothing stopped Carson, and Griffin returned to Westinghouse.

A lifelong crossword puzzle fan, Griffin devised a game show, "Word for Word," in 1963. It faded after one season, then his wife, Julann, suggested another show.

"Julann's idea was a twist on the usual question-answer format of the quiz shows of the Fifties," he wrote in his autobiography "Merv." "Her idea was to give the contestants the answer, and they had to come up with the appropriate question."

"Jeopardy" started in 1964 and the more conventional game show "Wheel of Fortune" was begun in 1975.

"The loss of a dear friend has made it difficult to focus on Merv's enormous contribution to the world of entertainment," said Pat Sajak, host of "Wheel of Fortune."

"That will come in time; for now, like his family and so many of his close friends, I'm dealing with deep sadness and the realization that I will never hear that wonderful laugh of his again. He meant so much to my life, and it's hard to imagine it without him."

Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. was born in San Mateo, south of San Francisco on July 6, 1925, the son of a stockbroker. An aunt, Claudia Robinson, taught him to play piano at age 4, and he soon was staging shows on the back porch.

"Every Saturday I had a show, recruiting all the kids in the block as either stagehands, actors and audience, or sometimes all three," he wrote in his 1980 autobiography. "I was the producer, always the producer."

After studying at San Mateo Junior College and the University of San Francisco, Griffin quit school to apply for a job as pianist at KFRC radio in San Francisco. The station needed a vocalist instead. He auditioned and was hired.

Griffin attracted the interest of RKO studio boss William Dozier, who was visiting San Francisco with his wife, Joan Fontaine.

"As soon as I walked in their hotel room, I could see their faces fall," the singer recalled. He weighed 235 pounds. Shortly afterward, singer Joan Edwards told him: "Your voice is terrific, but the blubber has got to go." Griffin slimmed down, and he spent the rest of his life adding and taking off weight.

Griffin and Julann Elizabeth Wright were married in 1958, and their son, Anthony, was born the following year. They divorced in 1973 because of "irreconcilable differences."

"It was a pivotal time in my career, one of uncertainty and constant doubt," he wrote in the autobiography. "So much attention was being focused on me that my marriage felt the strain." He never remarried.

Besides his son, Griffin is survived by his daughter-in-law, Tricia, and two grandchildren.

The family said an invitation-only funeral Mass will be held at a later date at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.

___

Associated Press writers Beth Harris and Jeff Wilson contributed to this story.

[maudmac]

There went Pavarotti. I knew he'd been sick, but still I'm sorry to see him go.

Tenor Luciano Pavarotti dead at 71

Did any of you ever see him live? I saw him several years ago. I hadn't really wanted to go at the time (not a big opera fan) and went only because my mother wanted us to go. But I was glad I went, because it was really beautiful. I understand his voice was on the wane by then, but it was still a fantastic and powerful performance. I'm glad I got to see him.

[gorn]

I had the pleasure of seeing him a few times, twice in New York years ago, once in Tokyo. The Tokyo concert was his farewell tour, back in June '04. Like you said, his voice was on the wane. He sounded tired and was out of breath a lot, but there were these moments when he would suddenly hit it like in the old days, and just listening you felt like you were suddenly soaring over the theater. And it was stunning, literally stunning to hear a voice like that live and remember what he was like in his prime. I know he was sick for a while, but I'm still very sad he's gone.

People probably said this when Caruso died, but I don't think we'll ever hear a voice like that again. Not in our lifetime.

[GayNow]

Actress Alice Ghostley Dies at 81
By Associated Press


LOS ANGELES - Alice Ghostley, the Tony Award-winning actress best known on television for playing Esmeralda on "Bewitched" and Bernice on "Designing Women," has died. She was 81.

Ghostley died Friday at her home in Studio City after a long battle with colon cancer and a series of strokes, longtime friend Jim Pinkston said.

Ghostley made her Broadway debut in "Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952." She received critical acclaim for singing "The Boston Beguine," which became her signature song.

Miles Kreuger, president of the Los Angeles-based Institute of the American Musical, said part of Ghostley's charm was that she was not glamorous.

"She was rather plain and had a splendid singing voice, and the combination of the well-trained, splendid singing voice and this kind of dowdy homemaker character was so incongruous and so charming," Kreuger said.

In the 1960s, Ghostley received a Tony nomination for various characterizations in the Broadway comedy "The Beauty Part" and eventually won for best featured actress in "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window."

From 1969 to 1972, she played the good witch and ditzy housekeeper Esmeralda on TV's "Bewitched." She played Bernice Clifton on "Designing Women" from 1987 to 1993, for which she earned an Emmy nomination in 1992.

Ghostley's film credits include "To Kill a Mockingbird," "The Graduate," "Gator" and "Grease."

She was born on Aug. 14, 1926, in Eve, Mo., where her father worked as a telegraph operator. She grew up in Henryetta, Okla.

After graduating from high school, Ghostley attended the University of Oklahoma but dropped out and moved to New York with her sister to pursue theater.

"The best job I had then was as a theater usher," she said in a 1990 Boston Globe interview. "I saw the plays for free. What I saw before me was a visualization of what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be."

She was well aware of the types of roles she should pursue.

"I knew I didn't look like an ingenue," she told The Globe. "My nose was too long. I had crooked teeth. I wasn't blond. I knew I looked like a character actress.

"But I also knew I'd find a way," she added.

Ghostley, whose actor husband, Felice Orlandi, died in 2003, is survived by her sister, Gladys.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Gatito Grande]

Deborah Kerr has passed away.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/la-me-kerr19oct19,0,7327670.story

I think there's a reason "The Kiss" (in From Here to Eternity) was so famous: for a lot of people (of all ages, but especially young---of all genders, but especially female) Deborah Kerr was sort of a stand-in for all of us, discovering just HOW FREAKIN' EXCITING sex---Good Sex!---could be. In revealing how "I never knew it could be like this", I think she inspired a lot of us to go out and find that Good Sex, EVEN if (as in the movie) it broke societal taboos.... Out

GG Well, then there's the little matter that I mentally edit out Burt Lancaster in that scene, and replace him w/ myself! Out

[JustSkipIt]

I can't believe that. I told my wife (because she has this thing about wanting to know when movie stars die. Then she forgets and says she didn't know and I say I told you and she says oh yeah (OT)) and she was like, "but she's not old!" But 86 seems reasonably old to have lived a full and spectacular life.

Thoughts.

[gorn]

I'm ashamed to say ... I didn't know she was still alive. Don't you hate it when that happens? Anyway, I loved her in "The King & I." As much as I love both Chow Yun Fat and Jodie Foster, they really had no business remaking that.

[Knock yourself out]

Deborah Kerr seemed to play a nun all the time and, for me, she was never better than in Black Narcissus. And she was in my favourite scary film, The Innocents.

[gorn]

RIP, Evel Knievel ....

[gorn]

RIP, Ike Turner ...

I have a hard time saying anything nice about a wife-beater, but I think this is a guy who paid his dues. He could've been remembered in the same class as Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, or Elvis Presley; instead, he goes down in history as the man who beat Tina Turner.

[WebWarlock]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... &cset=true

Singer Dan Fogelberg, 56, Dies of Cancer

NEW YORK - Dan Fogelberg, the singer and songwriter whose hits "Leader of the Band" and "Same Old Lang Syne" helped define the soft-rock era, died Sunday at his home in Maine after battling prostate cancer. He was 56.

His death was announced in a statement released by his family through the firm Scoop Marketing, and it was also posted on the singer's Web site.

"Dan left us this morning at 6:00 a.m. He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side," it read. "His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him."




Fogelberg discovered he had advanced prostate cancer in 2004. In a statement then, he thanked fans for their support.

"It is truly overwhelming and humbling to realize how many lives my music has touched so deeply all these years," he said.

Fogelberg's music was in the vein of fellow sensitive singer-songwriters James Taylor and Jackson Browne, and was powerful in its simplicity.

He didn't rely on the volume of his voice to convey his emotions; instead, they came through in the soft, tender delivery and his poignant lyrics. Songs like "Same Old Lang Syne" -- in which a man reminisces after meeting an old girlfriend by chance during the holidays -- became classics not only because of his performance, but for the engaging story line, as well.

Fogelberg's heyday was in the 1970s and early 80s, when he scored several platinum and multiplatinum records, fueled by such hits as "The Power of Gold" and "Leader of the Band," a touching tribute he wrote to his father, a bandleader. Fogelberg put out his first album in 1972.

Among his more popular albums were "Nether Lands," which included the song "Dancing Shoes," and "Phoenix," which had one of his biggest hits, "Longer," a song about enduring love.

Fogelberg's songs tended to have a weighty tone, reflecting on emotional issues in a serious way. But in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 1997, he said it did not represent his personality.

"That came from my singles in the early '80s," he reflects. "I think it probably really started on the radio. I'm not a dour person in the least. I'm actually kind of a happy person. Music doesn't really reflect the whole person.

"One of my dearest friends is Jimmy Buffett. From his music, people have this perception that he's up all the time, and, of course, he's not. Jimmy has a serious side, too."

Later in his career, he wrote material that focused on the state of the environment, an issue close to his heart. His last album was 2003's "Full Circle," his first album of original material in a decade.

A year later he would receive his cancer diagnosis, forcing him to forgo a planned fall tour. After his diagnosis, he urged others to get tested.

Survivors include his wife, Jean.

* __

On the Net:

Dan Fogelberg: http://www.danfogelberg.com

Tim

[Gatito Grande]

I'm terribly sad about this: Dan Fogelberg was virtually the soundtrack to my life circa late high school/early college.

GG May he rest in peace---his music will never die! Out

[umgaynow]

wow I'm shocked to hear about Dan Fogelberg...so young...I really detested his music for a number of years, through no fault of his...my college roomie played it constantly and on cassettes that were worn out so it sounded like he was singing underwater...that aside I really did enjoy some of his music once I got over that musical trauma...such a shame when anyone dies this young...but it's always the talented ones isn't it? Just wait, Vanilla Ice will live to be 100

[russ]

Obituary Oscar Peterson, 82

ANGELA PACIENZA

The Canadian Press

December 24, 2007 at 2:40 PM EST

TORONTO — Politicians and musical luminaries expressed shocked condolences and shared fond memories Monday after hearing reports that jazz great Oscar Peterson had died at age 82.

“What can you say about playing with somebody who was such a giant, who made such a huge contribution to jazz piano?” asked jazz guitarist Lorne Lofsky, who worked with Peterson off and on in the 1980s and 1990s, and was part of his quartet that played Carnegie Hall and toured Europe.

“It was very challenging to play with him in many different ways. You know, I learned a lot from playing with him and it was great, what I would call on-the-job training ... playing in a situation like that where you never know what's going to happen from one moment to the next.”

Reports said Mr. Peterson died at his home of kidney failure, at age 82.

Tracy Biddle, whose late father Charles was a close friend of Mr. Peterson's and a pillar of the Montreal jazz community, was floored when she heard the news.

“He really put Montreal on the map of jazz,” Ms. Biddle said in an interview in Montreal. “I believe that on a grander scale, the impact he had on the black community and on the whole musical community was huge.”

“He broke out of Canada. He's one of the first people. We talk of Celine Dion and Shania Twain and Alanis Morissette and Bryan Adams. Oscar Peterson did what they did years ago as a black person. So what he's done is incredible.”

The keyboard titan, who recorded almost 200 albums, played alongside the greats of the jazz world: Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald.

“It makes you want to sing,” the late Fitzgerald once said of Peterson's piano work.

Peterson's style, somewhere between swing and bop, was considered technically dazzling, keenly aware of the roots of jazz and fearless in its improvisational scope. While some critics said he used too many notes in his music, others said the 100-plus notes allowed for a dazzling work of art.

“There's an extreme joy I get in playing that I've never been able to explain,” Mr. Peterson said in a 1996 interview. “I can only transmit it through the playing; I can't put it into words.”

Throughout his life, Mr. Peterson was showered with awards, honorary degrees and national honours.

He collected eight Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award in 1997, hundreds of prizes from the jazz community, the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement and was a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 2005 Canada Post marked his contribution to music with a 50-cent stamp.

The world-renowned pianist toured extensively during his career, bringing his easy-swinging sounds to virtually every major concert hall around the globe, and recording some of the country's most distinctive music including “Canadiana Suite” and “Hymn to Freedom.”

Mr. Peterson was frequently invited to perform for various luminaries including the Queen and U.S. President Richard Nixon.

“The piano is like an extension of his own physical being,” composer Phil Nimmons, who helped create “Canadiana Suite,” said in 1975 of his long time friend.

“I'm amazed at the speed of his creativity. I am not talking about mere technical capabilities, although his are awesome. I'm speaking of the times when you find him under optimum conditions of creativity. His mind can move as quickly as his fingers and that is what is so astounding.”

One of the first black artists to achieve prominence in the white-dominated music industry of the 1950s, Mr. Peterson spent a great deal of his life acting as a spokesman for minority rights, drawing on his experiences growing up in the impoverished St. Antoine district of Montreal.

Mr. Peterson began playing the piano and trumpet as a young boy under the stern tutelage of his father, Daniel Peterson, a West Indian immigrant who worked as a railway porter.

He continued with his piano studies under the watch of his older sister Daisy after tuberculosis damaged his lungs at age six.

At 14, Peterson earned his first break, winning the CBC's national amateur contest (and $250). With his father's permission, Mr. Peterson dropped out of school to focus on his budding career.

As the only black member of a dance band, he was frequently subjected to the racism of the decade. One of the first black artists to achieve prominence in the white-dominated music industry of the 1950s, Mr. Peterson spent a great deal of his life acting as a spokesman for minority rights, drawing on his experiences growing up.

The manager of Montreal's Ritz-Carlton Hotel once phoned band leader Johnny Holmes two days before a big event to declare that blacks weren't welcome in the hotel. The manager eventually backed down after Mr. Holmes threatened to put a notice in local newspapers saying the hotel barred blacks.

“In all the years that Oscar and I have been friends, he'd never really lamented or even discussed the discrimination that he suffered as a child and as a young man,” said Gene Lees, a long time friend of Peterson's who also penned the musician's biography, The Will to Swing. “(It's) a magnificent triumph of the human spirit.”

International exposure came in 1948 when Norman Granz, producer of Jazz at the Philharmonic, heard Mr. Peterson on Montreal radio and later invited the 24-year-old to New York to play as a surprise guest at the prestigious Carnegie Hall. After the performance, the young talent joined the troupe and toured North America with them for two years.

Mr. Peterson, whose career was managed by Mr. Granz for more than 30 years, formed a trio in 1951 with Ray Brown on bass and Charlie Smith on drums and continued playing with the prestigious group.

His most famous threesome was with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown who were often cited as one of the world's finest jazz combos.

“You saw the greatness immediately,” Mr. Ellis once said of Mr. Peterson. “He was awesome right away — always.”

Although Mr. Peterson was one of Canada's leading artistic exports, he was frequently mistaken as an American because of his Jazz at the Philharmonic performances.

“I've achieved a funny kind of status in Canada,” he once said. “Most of it comes because I went to the United States and other places, and as a result of Canadians having seen me repeatedly on the television shows of people like Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin . . . I think that has weighed heavily with Canadians.”

But he loved his home country and had lived in Mississauga, Ont., since the late 1950s.

He was also well known for his kindness towards young artists, having tutored many an aspiring pianist.

Diana Krall credits Mr. Peterson for prompting her to pursue a musical career after catching one of his concerts as a young girl.

“You inspire me to no end every day,” she told him in 2005 during a ceremony unveiling a Canada Post stamp in his honour.

In his efforts to coach youth, Mr. Peterson helped open Toronto's Advanced School of Contemporary Music in 1960 only to see his beloved project fail due to financial difficulties three years later. He didn't give up, serving as an adjunct music professor at York University in the mid-1980s and as its chancellor in the early 1990s.

Arthritis became a problem for the charming musician in the 1980s, causing him some pain in his hands and difficulty in walking yet he never seemed to slow down.

In 1993, at 68, he suffered a stroke which incapacitated his left hand. Mr. Peterson recovered and resumed performing two years later.

He then released “A Summer Night in Munich,” a live recording of old and new material; an instructional CD-ROM; and “Trail of Dreams,” a musical portrait of Canada commemorating the Trans Canada Trail.

“Age doesn't seem to enter into my thought to that great an extent,” he said in 2001. “I just figure that the love I have of the instrument and my group and the medium itself works as a sort of a rejuvenating factor for me.”

Mr. Peterson leaves behind wife, Kelly, and their daughter Celine.

[jay/wt4evr]

Today Benazir Bhutto was killed
She wasn't an artist, or maybe yes
She was the artist of peace, she was the one who brought a little of peace in her world.
Goodbye

[Willowlicious]

Well, this hasn't been a good week for young actors. Brad Renfro died a few days ago, and now Heath Ledger. Geez.

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