Stephen J. Cannell (1941-2010)

Geez, Grim Reaper. I thought we agreed you would lay off a while after working overtime the last week to deprive us of so much talent? Now you have gone and taken Stephen J. Cannell. He was a uber-producer responsible for many of the time I pent within television in the ’80’s and early ’90’s. Cannell created an amazing forty--forty television series. Many writers in Hollywood would give their left arms for just one.

Cannel was the mastermind of such series as The A-Team, The Rockford Files, The Greatest American Hero, 21 Jump Street, Hunter Wiseguy, Riptide, Stingray, Silk Stalkigs, Booker, The Commish, Hard castle & McCormmick, and many, many more.

In in later years, Cannell was a prolific novelist as well as a television writer. He was a creative force who will be sorely missed.

Godspeed, Mr. Cannell.

Tony Curtis (1925-2010)

Jamie Lee Curtis confirmed this morning her father died last night of cardiac arrest in his Las Vegas home Wednesday night. This has not been a good week for Hollywood and the Grim Reaper. We have lost Arthur Penn, Eddie Fisher, Gloria Stuart, and now screen legend Tony Curtis. Curtis was a throwback to classic, perhaps mythic, Hollywood of decades ago.

I have been a Curtis fan for a long time. Some of my favorite of his films are Spartacus, Houdini, Operation; Petticoat, Boeing Boeing, The Great Race, and my personal favorite, The Defiant Ones, for which he received a Oscar nomination. I even recall fondly his voice appearance as Stony Curtis on an episode of The Flintstones.

My appreciation for his films has deepened as I have gotten older and more discerning in my entertainment choices. While Curtis had a well earned reputation for playing the tough guy/ladies man, he deserves much credit for his diversity I roles. He plausibly played a wide number of character types, including drag.

It was the brief time period in the early ’90’s when VH-1 began airing Hollywood Babylon, a rather tawdry series exposing the darker side of Hollywood, that I first realize Curtis was a representative of a classier Hollywood that was dead and gone. From time to time, he would tell an anecdote from those days which stood in stark contrast to te tabloid material the bulk of the show presented. The stories told, along with the obvious joy he had in once being a part of them, was a bittersweet reminder of a fading Tinsel Town.

A very large part of that Tinsel Town is now gone forever. Godspeed, Mr. Curtis.

No More Writning Fan Letters to Sky's Niece, Penny

Gloria Winters has passed away.

George Steinbrenner (1930-2010)

The New York Yankees owner who lead the team to eleven pennants and seven world championships died of a massive heart attack this morning. He certainly made baseball interesting over the years.

It is poetic for him to pass away the day of the MLB All Star game.

Godspeed, Mr. Steinrenner.

Robert Byrd (1917-2010)

De mortuis nil nisi bonum.

Robert Byrd (1917-2010)

De mortuis nil nisi bonum.

Jimmy Dean (1928-2010)

He was far more than a sausage entrepreneur:

Jimmy Dean (1928-2010)

He was far more than a sausage entrepreneur:

Rue McClanahan (1934-2010)

Rue McClanahan died of a stroke early this morning, following the deaths of Bea Arthur and Estelle Getty in the last two years. Betty White is the only surviving member of The Golden Girls.

This is not a good time to be an '80's icon, no?

Godspeed, ms. McClanahan.

Rue McClanahan (1934-2010)

Rue McClanahan died of a stroke early this morning, following the deaths of Bea Arthur and Estelle Getty in the last two years. Betty White is the only surviving member of The Golden Girls.

This is not a good time to be an '80's icon, no?

Godspeed, ms. McClanahan.

Dennis Hopper (1936-2010)

This one really stings, Death.Godspeed, Mr. Hopper.

Dennis Hopper (1936-2010)

This one really stings, Death.Godspeed, Mr. Hopper.

Gary Coleman (1968-2010)

Gary Coleman has passed away in a Provo, Utah hospital after a fall caused a severe ntercranial hemorrhage.

I am like everyone else my age. I watched Diff’rent Strokes, The Kid with the Broken Halo, and The Kid with the 200 IQ, and pretty much any other television movie or sitcom that called for a precious kid. Just to show I had poor taste in television growing up, I even remember Coleman as “The Cosmic Whiz Kid” in an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

Coleman had a pretty rough life. He was born with kidney disease which required frequent dialysis and eventually two transplants. He was cheated out of and had to sue his parents for millions in royalties from his acting career, which for over a decade now has consisted of mocking himself. Now is not the time to elaborate o his personal legal troubles in recent years.

He came in eighth place in the 2003 California recall election for governor when he was not even running. There is an accomplishment, no?

Something tells me his death is going to become a laugh line for comedians over the next few days, so I will lay off. I will give him credit for providing quite a bit of entertainment for me over the years.

Godspeed, Mr. Coleman.

Gary Coleman (1968-2010)

Gary Coleman has passed away in a Provo, Utah hospital after a fall caused a severe ntercranial hemorrhage.

I am like everyone else my age. I watched Diff’rent Strokes, The Kid with the Broken Halo, and The Kid with the 200 IQ, and pretty much any other television movie or sitcom that called for a precious kid. Just to show I had poor taste in television growing up, I even remember Coleman as “The Cosmic Whiz Kid” in an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

Coleman had a pretty rough life. He was born with kidney disease which required frequent dialysis and eventually two transplants. He was cheated out of and had to sue his parents for millions in royalties from his acting career, which for over a decade now has consisted of mocking himself. Now is not the time to elaborate o his personal legal troubles in recent years.

He came in eighth place in the 2003 California recall election for governor when he was not even running. There is an accomplishment, no?

Something tells me his death is going to become a laugh line for comedians over the next few days, so I will lay off. I will give him credit for providing quite a bit of entertainment for me over the years.

Godspeed, Mr. Coleman.

Robert Culp (1930-2010)

First Peter Graves, now Robert Culp. Our greatest television secret agents are passing on.

Godspeed, Mr. Culp.

Senator Strom Thurmond (1902-2003)

Former Senator Strom Thurmond Dies at 100. We knew this day was going to come soon. 'Ole Strom (and that's not disrespectful, FYI for you non-South Carolinians) was an institution. It was often said in political circles in SC that the sun doesn't rise or set without Strom Thurmond's say-so. I was a gofer for his 1996 reelection campaign. He had more energy than I did--and he had 70 years on me.

Strom was beyond criticism. He could have been reelected if he were in an iron lung at Walter Reed. You can be sure that South Carolina is going to be virtually shut down for the next 30 days in mourning.

Rest in preace, Senator.

Leon Uris Dead at 78

Exodus author dead at 78. Exodus is an excellent history of the Jewish experience from the turn of the century to the establishment of the nation of Israel. It is a must read for any philosemitic or student of history. I'm sorry to see Uris pass away.

Al Hartley, R.I.P.

Veteran comic book artist Al Hartley died on Tuesday at age 81. Hartley was best known to comic fans for his work on Archie Comics, for Marvel's Patsy Walker, and for one very odd Thor story that ran in Journey Into Mystery #90. For much of his career, Hartley worked with the Archie company and with an outfit called Spire Christian Comics for which he wrote and drew 59 one-shot Christian comic books -- many featuring the Archie characters -- liberally laced with Biblical quotes and deeply religious themes.

It is also of note that his father was the co-sponsor of the famous Taft-Hartley Act.