Cleaning out the Inbox- Non-Sports Passings

     As we finish up clearing out the various passings from the inbox as we near 2021, today's sad news adds another sad log on the pile of a year that has been just plain horrid.

Let's all hope together for a better year in 2021...

Goodbye to Dawn Wells at the age of 82.

Wells, who is best remembered as "Mary Ann" from the 60s TV program "Gilligan's Island" and one of the protagonists of the question considered by so many people since the show began- Mary Ann or Ginger?

Wells didn't have another starring vehicle after Gilligan's Island, but always stayed busy in guest roles on television shows, many theatre productions, and stayed very involved with the Gilligan franchise and its various reunion films and specials along with voice work on the cartoon show of the early 80s, Gilligan's Planet where Wells voiced both Mary Ann AND Ginger.

Wells wrote a memoir and Gilligan's themed cookbook and worked in recent years as an ambassador for MeTV, which currently runs Gilligan's Island in syndication.

Wells also was very busy on the convention and paid appearances circuit and was regarded as one of the nicer celebrities to meet in those situations.

Wells also owned and operated "Wishing Wells", a collection that catered to making clothing for those with limited mobility and has difficulty finding things that are easy to put on and take off.

Goodbye to Chad Stuart at the age of 79.

Stuart was one half of the British pop duo "Chad and Jeremy" in the 60s with hits such as "Yesterday's Gone" and "A Summer Song", which is still used on commercials occasionally and as recently as last year by Coors Light.

While "A Summer Song" reached number two in the United States in 1964, Chad and Jeremy are even more remembered for their television appearances as "The Redcoats" on The Dick Van Dyke Show and as themselves on Batman when their voices are stolen by Catwoman as well as an appearance on "The Patty Duke Show" and others.

Chad and Jeremy were the rare act of the British Invasion that was a bigger hit in the United States than in their native Great Britain. notched eleven top 100 hits in the U.S. from 1964-66, while not even "A Summer Song" reached the charts in the U.K.

My best guess is that Chad and Jeremy were bigger in the States than at home because of those television appearances and because of those guest roles, Chad and Jeremy are remembered by generations that may not have noticed them.

Goodbye to David Lander at the age of 73.

Lander was best known for his portrayal of "Squiggy" on the 70s television program "Laverne and Shirley" with Squiggy's constant companion "Lenny" played by Michael Mckean.

The gimmick with Lenny and Squiggy was usually this- Laverne or Shirley would be talking amongst themselves and describing it as disgusting, slimy, or something like that with Lenny and Squiggy then bursting through the door with Squiggy bellowing "hello!".

Lander was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1984 and transitioned to voice work, but also served was connected to baseball in two ways.

It was Lander who played the radio commentator in the baseball film "A League of Their Own" and Lander also worked as a scout for the Angels and Mariners in their personnel departments.

Goodbye to Warren Berlinger at the age of 83.

The character actor worked often in from the 50s-80s and you'll see him in many films and television shows of the age.

Berlinger had a co-starring rule in an Elvis Presley flick "Spinout" and a brief TV series of his own entitled "Warren" that starred Berlinger as an Archie Bunker-type character.

Berlinger also guested on "Happy Days" in an episode where the army attempted to draft Fonzie, a small part in "Cannonball Run", and a cameo in the last role that I remember him "That Thing You Do".

Goodbye to Paul Sarbanes at the age of 87.

Sarbanes served in the House of Representatives for three terms and was part of the judiciary committee to impeach Richard Nixon before winning five terms as Maryland Senator.

Sarbanes was known locally as the "Stealth Senator" because the word in Maryland was that Sarbanes was invisible until it was time to be re-elected and then he re-emerged.

Sarbanes likely would have won re-election in 2006 for another term, but he was frustrated with the "Stealth Senator" term and he wasn't getting to chair committees despite his long-term service.

The inbox still has plenty left and I was busy today, so I didn't have a chance to write about the Cavaliers first loss to the Knicks.

Back soon with more...