IN MEMORIUM

T

he following is a list of musicians, actors and writers who passed away during 2010.

JANUARY 2010

4 January: Monday. Tony Clarke, British musician and record producer (The Moody Blues) dies of emphysema at the age of 68.

4 January: Monday. Neil Christian, British singer, dies of cancer at the age of 66. With Neil Christian and the Crusaders, he worked with Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page and Joe Meek. He also had a solo hit single in 1966 with That’s Nice.

11 January: Monday. Mick Green, British rock and roll guitarist (Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, dies at the age of 65.

13 January: Wednesday. Teddy Pendergrass, American soul singer, dies of complications from colorectal cancer at the age of 59.

16 January: Friday. Carl Smith, American country singer-songwriter, dies after long Smith was the husband of June Carter (later June Carter Cash) and Goldie Hill, the drinking companion of Johnny Cash, and the father of Carlene Carter. He was one of country's most successful male artists during the 1950s, with 30 Top 10 Billboard hits, including 21 in a row. Smith's success continued well into the 1970s, when he had a charting single every year except one.

17 January: Sunday. Erich Segal, 72, American professor, author (Love Story), and screenwriter (Yellow Submarine), heart attack.

18 January: Monday.  Kate McGarrigle, 63, Canadian folk singer with her sister Anna, dies of clear-cell sarcoma.

27 January: Wednesday. Shirley Collie Nelson, 78, American country singer, ex-wife of Willie Nelson dies.

27 January: Wednesday. Zelda Rubinstein, 76, American actress (Poltergeist, Picket Fences), dies of natural causes. She was 4’ 3” tall.  

27 January: Wednesday. J. D. Salinger, 91, American author of The Catcher in the Rye, dies of natural causes.

FEBRUARY 2010

5 February: Friday. British actor Ian Carmichael, 89, dies, leaving behind his wife, Kate Fenton, 55. His first wife, Pym, had died in 1983. Carmichael is survived by his daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

6 February: Saturday. Sir John Dankworth, saxophonist, dies aged 82, leaving behind his widow, Dame Cleo Laine, one son and a daughter.

14 February: Sunday. Dick Francis, 89, writer of thriller books, dies of natural causes.

14 February: Sunday. Doug Fieger, lead singer of The Knack, dies of cancer, aged 57. He was best known for the 1979 hit song, My Sharona.

MARCH 2010

10 March: Micky Jones, Welsh singer and guitarist with the progressive rock band Man, passes away peacefully at the age of 63. He had spent the last five years in and out of hospital due to the re-occurrence of a brain tumour. He leaves behind a legacy in his son, George, who plays guitar in the current line-up of Man and with The Spectaculars.

10 March 2010: Wednesday. Actor Corey Haim, a teen idol in the nineteen-eighties dies of an accidental drug overdose, aged 38. Some of his most well known roles include The Lost Boys, License to Drive, Dream a Little Dream and Lucas. Corey Haim co-starred with Corey Feldman numerous times during his career, the pair even garnered the nickname “The Two Coreys”.

14 March: Sunday. Peter Graves, actor and star of Mission Impossible, dies at the age of 83.

18 March: Thursday. Actor Fess Parker dies, aged 85, of natural causes.

24 March: Wednesday. Robert Culp, actor and scriptwriter, dies aged 79. Best known for his television work, he became internationally famous in the role of Kelly Robinson in I Spy, alongside Bill Cosby. Culp also appeared in numerous other television shows including: Bonanza, The Golden Girls, The Nanny, The Girls Next Door and Wings.

APRIL 2010

7 April: Wednesday. Actor Christopher Cazenove dies aged 66.

8 April: Thursday. Malcolm McLaren, former manager of the Sex Pistols, died aged 64.

13 April: Tuesday. Peter Steele, frontman of the band Type O Negative, dies aged 48.

MAY 2010

1 May: Saturday. Actor John Forsythe dies aged 92. He an actor who starred in three television series spanning four decades: Bachelor Father, Charlie’s Angels and Dynasty. His role of Blake Carrington in the latter 1980s soap opera is the role for which he is best remembered.

2 May: Sunday. Lynn Redgrave dies aged 67. She was from a very well-known British family of actors and made her theatrical debut in 1962. Redgrave won a New York Film Critics Award for her role in the 1966 film Georgy Girl, which also gave her nominations for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. In 1967 Lynn Redgrave left theatrical acting

9 May: Sunday. Talented singer, actress and dancer Lena Horne dies in NYC at the age of 92. When she was just 16, Lena joined the chorus of the Cotton Club and became a 9 nightclub performer. She went to Hollywood and starred in a handful of movies before returning to her true love to be a singer.

16 May: Sunday. Heavy rock vocalist and songwriter Ronnie James Dio dies at the age of 67 after battling stomach cancer. He performed with Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell and his own band Dio. He was known for his powerful voice and for popularizing the "devil's horns" hand gesture in metal culture.

24 May: Monday. Paul Grey, bassist with Slipknot, dies in his hotel room.

29 May: Saturday. Actor Dennis Hopper dies at the age of 74. He fought a painful battle with prostate cancer and succumbed at his home in Venice, California, surrounded by friends and family. Hopper was best known for his work in films such as Rebel Without a Cause, Easy Rider, The American Friend, Apocalypse Now, and Blue Velvet.

JUNE 2010

6 June: Sunday. Marvin Isley, formerly of the Isley Brothers, dies aged 56.

13 June: Jimmy Dean, 81, country music singer, actor and sausage brand businessman, dies.

JULY

9 July: Friday. Actress Vonetta McGee, 65, passes away after a heart attack.

16 July: Friday. Actor James Gammon dies from cancer, aged 70, of the adrenal glands and liver.

27 July: Tuesday. Actor Maury Chaykin dies aged 61.

AUGUST 2010

8 August: Sunday. Actress Patricia Neal, 84, dies. She was the ex-wife of the author, Roald Dahl, also deceased.

8 August: Sunday. British musician Jack Parnell, bandleader on The Muppet Show and jazz drummer, dies aged 87.

15 August: Sunday. Robert Wilson, 53, bassist with the Gap Band, dies.

18 August: Wednesday. Kenny Edwards, bassist and guitarist, dies. Edwards, 64, was a songwriter and producer who worked with Linda Ronstadt in the 1980s - 90s.

18 August: Wednesday. George David Weiss, a songwriter, dies aged 89. Weiss and Louis Armstrong co-wrote What A Wonderful World.

SEPTEMBER 2010

3 September: Friday. Wesley C Watson, affectionately nicknamed Wally Gator, passes away in Brooklyn, New York. Gator had played drums for many stars like Lionel Hampton, Cab Callaway, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Wilson Picket, Liberace and others.

3 September: Friday. Actor Kevin McCarthy, 96, dies of natural causes in a hospital in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

11 September: Saturday. Actor Harold Gould dies of prostate cancer, aged 86. Gould was famous for being on Rhoda and The Golden Girls.

22 September: Sunday. Eddie Fisher dies aged 82. He was a singer/ performer who, between 1950 and 1956, had seventeen songs in the Top 10 charts, and thirty five in the Top 40.

26 September: Sunday. Actress Gloria Stuart dies aged 100. She is most memorable for her performance as an elderly passenger in the film Titanic, when she was 87.

28 September: Tuesday. Director Arthur Penn, dies from congestive heart failure, in NYC, aged 88. Penn is famous as the director of Bonnie and Clyde.

29 September: Wednesday. Actor Tony Curtis, star of over 150 films since the 1950s, dies at the age of 85, after going into cardiac arrest at his home in Las Vegas.

OCTOBER 2010

4 October: Monday. Actor Sir Norman Wisdom dies at the age of 95. Wisdom excelled at playing comic characters such as Norman Pitkin.

4 October: Monday. Film director Roy Ward Baker dies aged 93.

4 October: Monday. Solomon Burke, 70, soul singer, dies in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

4 October: Monday. British actor Simon MacCorkindale dies of cancer, aged 58.

4 October: Monday. Stuart Cable, drummer with the Stereophonics, dies when he chokes on his own vomit following a 3-day drinking binge.

10 October: Sunday. Joan Sutherland, Australian opera singer, dies aged 83.

19 October: Tuesday. Actor Tom Bosley, 83, dies after contracting a serious staph infection. He played one of the most iconic roles in TV, as the father of Richie Cunningham, in The Happy Days.

19 October: Tuesday. Bob Guccione dies of cancer, in Texas, aged 79. He was the founder of Penthouse magazine.

20 October: Wednesday. Ari Up, real name Ariane Forster, singer with the British band the Slits, dies after a serious illness, aged 48.

24 October: Sunday. Director Lamont Johnson, 88, dies of congestive heart failure.

25 October: Monday. Gregory Isaacs, 59-year-old reggae singer, dies of liver cancer in London.

25 October: Monday. Joseph Stein, playwright most famous for writing Fiddler On The Roof, died aged 98.

28 October: Thursday. Actor James MacArthur, 72, dies of natural causes in Hawaii. MacArthur was best known as the actor who played Danno in Hawaii Five-O.

NOVEMBER 2010

3 November: Wednesday. Composer Jerry Bock, 81, dies. He was famous for his work on the Broadway musical, Fiddler On The Roof.

5 November: Friday. Actress Jill Clayburgh, 66, dies after suffering from leukemia since 1989.

11 November: Thursday. Italian film producer, Dino De Laurentiis dies, aged 91.

27 November: Saturday. Film director Irvin Kershner dies of lung cancer. He was famous for directing The Empire Strikes Back, part of the Star Wars movie chronology.

27 November: Saturday. Actress Neva Patterson dies aged 90. She had acted for 60 years in around 100 film and TV appearances.

28 November: Sunday. Actor Leslie Nielsen, 84, dies of pneumonia. Nielsen had been acting for 60 years and was best known for his role as the doctor in Airplane! He played funny characters in comedies, such as Detective Frank Drebin in the Naked Gun TV series. He passed away in his sleep, at around 5:30 pm, in a hospital in Florida. His wife, Barbaree Earl Nielsen, and loved ones were at his bedside.

DECEMBER 2010

14 December: Tuesday. Comedy director Blake Edwards, 88, dies after suffering from pneumonia. Edwards was married to the actress and singer, Julie Andrews.

14 December: Tuesday. Don Van Vliet, 69, 1970s rock musician known as Captain Beefheart, dies after suffering from multiple sclerosis.

14 December: Tuesday. Bernard Wilson, US soul singer, dies, aged 64. Wilson is best remembered as the singer with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.

14 December: Tuesday. Agatha Von Trapp, the eldest daughter in the Von Trapp family, dies at the age of 97. Agatha was a member of the family that escaped from the Nazis in Austria, during WWII, and was the inspiration for the Sound of Music. She leaves behind four surviving members of the Trapp Family Singers.

14 December: Tuesday. Bobby Farrell, 61, the lead singer in Boney M, dies in St Petersburg. His fame was highest in the 1970s.

27 December: Monday. American singer-songwriter Tina Marie dies aged 53.

T

he following is a list of musicians, actors and writers who passed away during 2011.

JANUARY 2011

4 January: Tuesday. Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, 63, famous for Stuck in the Middle with You and

Baker Street

, dies of liver failure at home. In November 2010, Rafferty was admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital as he had been an alcoholic for many years. He is survived by his daughter Martha, granddaughter Celia and brother, Jim Rafferty.

16 January: Sunday. British actress Susannah York, star of Tom Jones dies.

16 January: Sunday. Former Bolton Wanderers and England footballer Nat Lofthouse dies aged 85. 

FEBRUARY 2011

6 February: Sunday. Former Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore, 58, is found dead in a hotel room on the Costa del Sol. Belfast-born Moore was on holiday at the Kempinski Resort Hotel in Estepona, where he was found in the early hours. After his time with the Irish rock band, Moore went on to forge a successful solo career, including a string of top 40 hits such as Parisienne Walkways  in 1979 and Out in the Fields  in 1985. He was still actively touring.

MARCH 2011
1 March: Tuesday. Hollywood actress Jane Russell, star of The Outlaw and Blondes Have More Fun, dies aged 89.

18 March: Friday. Original bassist with the Shadows, Jet Harris, dies of cancer at home on the Isle-of-Wight, aged 71. He was an integral part of the birth of British rock and roll.   

Originally posted on Thursday 20^th January 2011