So many in fact that I had to divide them into sports and non-sports to keep this from being a post with double-digit notations.
Goodbye to Hal Blaine at the age of 90.
Blaine's drumming was a key part of the "Wrecking Crew" the studio band that is heard on about every hit that you can name in the 60s.
Blaine was in high demand through the 70s, but as technology advanced in the 80s, actual drumming wasn't needed as much and at one time was working as a security guard after a divorce and rarely working in the music business.
Goodbye to another star from the music world as Ryan sends word of the passing of Dick Dale at the age of 81.
The king of the surf guitar suffered for years from various medical issues, that Dale claimed that forced him to tour until the end of his life.
Dale almost lost a leg after a swimming injury and a pollution-related infection followed up to cause damage along with future problems with diabetes, renal failure, and spinal damage.
Dale's peak rose and fell with the surf age of the 1960s, but never had problems finding work.
Dale was also known for his work with the Fender company on improving amplifiers with guitars to improve sound and durability.
Dale might be best remembered by Ryan for the spoof film "Back to the Beach" from 1987, which Ryan always seemed to get a kick out of when he was small.
The film starred Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello (Go figure) and the recently in the news Lori Loughlin.
Goodbye to Jan-Michael Vincent at the age of 73 with Lefty Koch getting the assist.
Vincent, who acted in many films and shows, but was best known for his starring role in "Airwolf" on CBS for three seasons.
Even more, than anything that Vincent did in his profession, he was known for his wild behavior in private with arrests for drug use, drunk driving, assault, and several automobile accidents.
Of all of those notes, what do I remember best about Vincent?
His role in the Disney film- "World's Greatest Athlete" that my mom took me to when I was five at one of the three theatres in town (two defunct, the other has transitioned away from films) Henry's Theatre.
Vincent's role as "Nanu", who was discovered in the jungle along with pet tiger Harry and trained to be a decathlete by the inspiring coaching tandem of John Amos and Tim Conway.
I was a kid that attended a lot of those Disney films at the time (I remember seeing the various Kurt Russell vehicles at Henry's as well), so that might have been more memorable to me than anything else that Vincent worked on, even though I might not have seen it more than once since that day!
Goodbye to Marshall Brodien at the age of 84.
Brodien played "Wizzo the Wizard" on the WGN version of "The Bozo Show" from 1968-94, which covered both my time as a child and Ryan's.
Hagerstown was never a WGN town, but I did watch "Bozo" a lot as a kid in my Ohio time and Ryan always made a point of watching it when we would visit Ohio.
However, I don't have memories of Brodien as Wizzo, my recollections are of his magic commercials as himself as he owned a company that sold various magic kits and tricks to kids.
Goodbye to Jed Allan at the age of 84.
Best known for his soap opera work, especially as "C.C. Capwell" the head of the family that the NBC soap "Santa Barbara" revolved around. That soap was a favorite of the lovely Cherie, so when we were dating, I watched more than my share of Santa Barbara!
Allan had been a versatile character actor (three years on Lassie) and an even longer run than "Santa Barbara" on another NBC soap "Days of Our Lives", but I remembered Allan even before most of those (Lassie was before my time) for one special role- Host of "Celebrity Bowling" which ran in syndication from 1971-78.
Celebrity Bowling was this strange show that matched two teams of two players, which usually starred celebrities of various fame battling each other in ten frames of competition.
I always found stuff like this entertaining and campy, but where else could you see William Shatner in a long sleeve printed silk shirt attempting to convert a spare?
Finally, Goodbye to Birch Bayh at the age of 91.
Bayh, a three-term Senator from Indiana, is best remembered for his work as the "Father of Title IX", the act that bars gender discrimination from any institution that takes federal funding.
Title IX is still spoken of to this day as it still affects how college athletic programs allocate their funds and even what sports stay and go in an attempt to keep the legal level playing field.
Bayh ran for President in 1976 and finished 3rd in both Iowa and New Hampshire before a 7th in Massachusetts that ended his campaign.
Bayh was then defeated in a bid for a fourth term by Dan Quayle in 1980 as part of the "Reagan Wave" that crushed several long-time Democratic members of the Senate.
No comments:
Post a Comment