Sorry for the somewhat irreverent title, but is it just me or are we losing a particularly high number of elderly celebrities this month? Every time I hear of someone having died, now, I begin to wonder who's going to be next.
Although a lot of the stars that have passed lately have been roughly in thier 80`s I think its still a shock when you are used to seeing thier faces on the screen and have followed thier careers for many years.
At least we have the knowledge that these people have followed a career which they have enjoyed and have been luckier than most for getting paid in thier particular line of work
Now they can do what they enjoy in peace wherever they are!
xx
There's obviously one hell of a casting call going on in the Great Beyond at the moment...
name='faginsgirl']Although a lot of the stars that have passed lately have been roughly in thier 80`s I think its still a shock when you are used to seeing thier faces on the screen and have followed thier careers for many years.
At least we have the knowledge that these people have followed a career which they have enjoyed and have been luckier than most for getting paid in thier particular line of work
xx
Faginsgirl is right about the sense of loss and that we can reflect upon the good times they had (and gave us). I take deaths very badly. Pat Kirkwood's decline and death really upset me, despite her 'great' age, and I've since been even more beset with worry for others we haven't seen for a long time - Alfred Burke, Alan Whicker, Eleanor Parker, Vera Lynn, many others over 80.
I mentioned in a post at 'John Mortimer RIP', I think, that this month has reminded me of January 1990, when Gordon Jackson, Terry Thomas, Ian Charleson (from AIDS tragically), Ava Gardner and others left us. On the same day as Ava's death, a violent storm almost killed actor Gordon Kaye.
For me, the 'dropping like flies' feeling first struck me in 1977, when Elvis, Marc Bolan and (again on the same day) Maria Callas died in a short space of time. But 1980, aged 15, and 1984 (19) are the worst I've experienced in showbusiness terms.
1980 - Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Sellers, Yootha Joyce, Hattie Jacques, Steve McQueen, and, not long before Christmas, John Lennon.
1984 - Tommy Cooper, Diana Dors, Eric Morecambe and Leonard Rossiter were all significant losses as we need cheering up. They were 'replaced' by the likes of Ben Elton aggressively describing THE most personal sexual habits and parts of the body. Very different from the double-entendres of the Carry On team ...who've also been 'dropping like flies' over the years.
People who try to make us happy, like Morecambe & Wise =
God and his 'mysterious ways' =
Tony Hart, the latest loss.
Alfred Burke was recently on-stage appearing in a small role in Oedipus at the National. More power to him
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?l...spl=moreimages
Bless you, Harbottle. That's wonderful news. He's one of my favourite actors and is now aged 90.
[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Golden-Generation-Post-war-British-Theatre/dp/0749472]The Golden Generation: New Light on Post-war…Amazon.co.uk: Dominic Shellard: Books[/ame]
Just heard that Tony Hart has passed away.
Sorry to say that composer/arranger Angela Morley has also died. Some will remember her better as Wally Stott, who was associated with Hancock's Half Hour on TV and the film, When Eight Bells Toll.
Wally Stott was a woman?
I never knew that....
name='Geoffers']Sorry to say that composer/arranger Angela Morley has also died.
Another passing. R.I.P. Ms. Morley.
As I wrote elsewhere 2009 has started off very sadly.
name='Dandelion']Wally Stott was a woman?
I never knew that....
Wally had a Sex change, his name was in the credits for 'Peeping Tom' and his Orchestra backed Dusty Springfield on 'All I see is you'
There is a saying that things happen in three's. So far this year we've had three's multiplied by three. Very sad.
It would be ghoulish to think 'who's next'.
There are websites for that sort of thing..................name='EHV_Emmetts']It would be ghoulish to think 'who's next'.
name='Geoffers']Sorry to say that composer/arranger Angela Morley has also died. Some will remember her better as Wally Stott, who was associated with Hancock's Half Hour on TV and the film, When Eight Bells Toll.
How odd. I was looking at her website yesterday. R.I.P.
Not to make light of this (as you may have read in my earlier posts here) but when I saw the name Wally Stott along with "composer" I was thinking that was the writer of pop classic Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep. In fact, that singer-songwriter is LALLY Scott. What an extraordinary similarity! Of course, I must add my sympathies for another loss. That's three today - Tony Hart, Wally Stott and (breaking news from Steve Crook) actress Kathleen Byron. RIP to all. A dreadful week for all us showbusiness fans.
Damn it, now Angela Morley as well! Terrible. 2009 is shaping up to be horrendous in so many aspects!
Smudge
name='Moor Larkin']There are websites for that sort of thing..................
Many apologies.
name='faginsgirl']Although a lot of the stars that have passed lately have been roughly in thier 80`s I think its still a shock when you are used to seeing thier faces on the screen and have followed thier careers for many years.
At least we have the knowledge that these people have followed a career which they have enjoyed and have been luckier than most for getting paid in thier particular line of work
Now they can do what they enjoy in peace wherever they are!
xx
Good point, and not just paid more but more work of theirs preserved, too. May they all RIP.
By co-incidence I've just been reading a long (and rather fascinating) paper on mortality statistics in the Northern Hemisphere. Apparently the highest number of deaths (especially among the elderly) is usually recorded in the month of January (It's August for those of us below the equator). January 3rd was listed as a day when the numbers often peak.
Interestingly, Feburary seems to be a bad month for Rock stars....statistically speaking.
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