THOSE WE LOST IN 2024, PART 2

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JULY 2024

 

JON LANDAU
Date of death:	July 5, 2024
Age at death:	63
Cause of death:	Cancer
About:	Jon Landau was an American film producer who won an Academy Award for Best Picture for producing James Cameron's epic romantic disaster film Titanic (1997). He was also nominated for producing Cameron's epic science fiction films Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). As of 2024, these are three of the four highest-grossing films of all time.
By the way:	Avatar: Fire and Ash, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, which were produced by him prior to his death, will be released posthumously.

  

SHELLEY DUVALL
Date of death:	July 11, 2024
Age at death:	75
Cause of death:	Complications from diabetes
About:	Shelley Duvall was an American actress and producer. Known for her collaborations with Robert Altman and for playing eccentric characters, she won a Cannes Film Festival Award and was nominated for a British Academy Film Award and two Emmy Awards.
By the way:	She has the longest neck I have ever seen on an actress, this is her as Olive Oyl in the film Popeye (1980):

 

RICHARD SIMMONS
Date of death:	July 13, 2024
Age at death:	76
Cause of death:	Complications from a previous day's fall, with heart disease a contributing factor;
About:	Milton Teagle "Richard" Simmons was an American fitness instructor and television personality. He was a promoter of weight-loss programs, most prominently through his television show, The Richard Simmons Show and later the Sweatin' to the Oldies line of aerobics videos. Simmons began his weight-loss career by opening his gym Slimmons in Beverly Hills, California, catering to the overweight in a supportive atmosphere, and he became widely known through exposure on television and through the popularity of his consumer products. He was often parodied and was a frequent guest on late-night television and radio talk shows, such as the Late Show with David Letterman and The Howard Stern Show.
By the way:	On his birthday, July 12, Simmons stated in an interview  that he is grateful to be alive for another day. He died the next day.

 

SHANNEN DOHERTY
Date of death:	July 13, 2024
Age at death:	53
Cause of death:	Breast cancer
About:	Shannen Doherty was an American actress known for her roles including Beverly Hills, 90210, Little House on the Prairie and Charmed. She also starred in many movies, including Heathers.
By the way:	The terms of her divorce agreement were finalised the day before her death, and a Los Angeles judge declared the couple officially divorced two days after she died.

 

BOB NEWHART
Date of death:	July 18, 2024
Age at death:	94
Cause of death:	Newhart died from complications of several short illnesses.
About:	George Robert Newhart was an American comedian and actor. Newhart was known for his deadpan and stammering delivery style. Beginning his career as a stand-up comedian, he transitioned his career to acting in television. He received numerous accolades, including three Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2002.
By the way:	A favourite quote: "I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'." -       Bob Newhart

 

SANDY POSEY
Date of death:	July 20, 2024
Age at death:	80
Cause of death:	Complications from dementia
About:	Sandra Posey was an American popular singer who enjoyed success in the 1960s with singles such as her 1966 recording of Martha Sharp's compositions "Born a Woman" and "Single Girl". She was often described as a country singer, although, like Skeeter Davis (to whom she has been frequently compared),her output varied. Later in her career, the term "countrypolitan", associated with the "Nashville sound", was sometimes applied. Posey had four hit singles in the United States, three of which peaked at number 12 on the Hot 100.
By the way:	‘Born a Woman’ preceded Helen Reddy’s ‘I Am Woman’, which heralded Women’s Lib.  Lyrics of ‘Born a Woman’: Verse 1 It makes no difference if you're rich or poor Or if you're smart or dumb A woman's place in this old world Is under some man's thumb [Verse 2] And if you're born a woman You're born to be hurt You're born to be stepped on Lied to, cheated on and treated like dirt Ah, if you're born a woman You're born to be hurt [Verse 3] A woman's lot is to give and give And go on givin' A woman's got to love and lose And go on livin' [Verse 4] Well, I was born a woman I didn't have no say And when my man finally comes home He makes me glad it happened that way Because to be his woman No price is too great to pay  Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXMap-Vyo2w

 

JOHN MAYALL
Date of death:	July 22, 2024
Age at death:	90
Cause of death:	Unknown
About:	John Mayall OBE was an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer who was a singer, guitarist, harmonica player and keyboardist.   John Mayall band was a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and many other superstars. He is credited with helping develop the English take on urban, Chicago-style rhythm and blues that played an important role in the blues revival of the late 1960s. At various times, his band the Bluesbreakers included Clapton and Jack Bruce, later of Cream; Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac; Mick Taylor, who played for five years with the Rolling Stones; Harvey Mandel and Larry Taylor of Canned Heat; and Jon Mark and John Almond, who went on to form the Mark-Almond Band. Although Mayall never approached the same heights of fame as some of his band members, he was still performing in his late 80s.
By the way:	Mayall was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical influence category in 2024 and was known as the "Father of British blues".

 

AUGUST 2024

 

PHIL DONAHUE
Date of death:	August 18, 2024
Age at death:	88
Cause of death:	His family’s statement said only that death followed a long illness.
About:	Phil Donahue was an American media personality, writer, film producer, and the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, later known simply as Donahue, was the first popular talk show to feature a format that included audience participation. The show had a 29-year run on national television that began in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967 and ended in New York City in 1996. Donahue's shows often focused on issues which Americans were interested in discussing in the United States when there was a limited platform for listening to multiple sides, such as abortion, consumer protection, civil rights, and war issues. Donahue was one of the most influential talk show hosts and was often referred to as the "king of daytime talk".
By the way:	Donahue was nominated for 20 Daytime Emmy Awards during his broadcasting career, winning eight for Outstanding Talk Show Host. In 2024, Donahue was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.

 

MIKE LYNCH
Date of death:	August 19, 2024
Age at death:	59
Cause of death:	In August 2024, Lynch celebrated his acquittal in the San Francisco trial with a cruise on the family superyacht, Bayesian. He was joined by his wife and daughter and nine invited guests, including two lawyers from his defense team. In the early hours of 19 August, the yacht sank off the coast of Sicily, outside the port of Porticello, during a powerful storm, with 22 people on board. Lynch, his teenage daughter Hannah, four guests, and one member of the crew died.
About:	Michael Lynch was a British technology entrepreneur who co-founded Autonomy Corporation, Invoke Capital and Darktrace. He had various other roles, including in an advisory capacity. He was described in the press as the British equivalent of the American businessman Bill Gates. The sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 led to accusations of fraud and resulted in civil litigation in the UK in 2019. The case was decided largely in favour of Hewlett-Packard. In 2023, Lynch was extradited to the United States to face criminal charges. He went on trial in San Francisco in March 2024 and in June was found not guilty on all counts.
By the way:	Lynch had an estimated worth of £852 million in 2023.

 

SEPTEMBER 2024

 

SERGIO MENDES
Date of death:	September 5, 2024
Age at death:	83
Cause of death:	Complications from long COVID
About:	Sérgio Mendes was a Brazilian musician whose career took off with worldwide hits by his band Brasil '66. He released 35 albums and was known for playing bossa nova, often mixed with funk. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2012 as a co-writer of "Real in Rio" from the animated film Rio.
By the way:	A three-time Grammy award winner and Oscar nominee, Mendes last performed in November 2023 to sold out and wildly enthusiastic houses in Paris, London and Barcelona.

 

JAMES EARL JONES
Date of death:	September 9, 2024
Age at death:	93
Cause of death:	Not disclosed
About:	James Earl Jones was an acting great known for his distinctive voice - most famously as Star Wars villain Darth Vader and Mufasa in The Lion King. He also appeared in Conan The Barbarian, played the father of Eddie Murphy's character in Coming to America, starred in The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games, and was one of just a select group of entertainers who have won the quadruple EGOT prizes - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. He died surrounded by family members, his agent said, with stars including Mark Hamill and Colman Domingo paying tribute. "RIP dad," posted Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, Vader's son, in the Star Wars films.
By the way:	He was one of a select group of entertainers who have won the quadruple EGOT prizes - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards.

 

JOHN ASHTON
Date of death:	September 26, 2024
Age at death:	76
Cause of death:	Cancer
About:	John Ashton was an American actor, known for his roles in the Beverly Hills Cop films, Some Kind of Wonderful, and Midnight Run.
By the way:	His motto, taken from his high school drama teacher, was "Think Big, Work Hard, Have a Dream, and Make a Difference".

 

DAME MAGGIE SMITH
Date of death:	September 27, 2024
Age at death:	89
Cause of death:	Not diclosed
About:	Born in Essex in 1934, Dame Maggie Smith became internationally recognised and one of the most versatile, accomplished and meticulous performers of her generation, winning two Oscars, several BAFTAs and numerous other awards during her career. At the National Theatre and Old Vic, she excelled in both tragedy and comedy, moving easily from Shakespeare to Noel Coward, to Restoration comedy to Ibsen. She was best known for playing Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, in Downton Abbey, and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, but her CV also included performances in Death On The Nile, Gosford Park, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel, and The Lady In The Van, the adaptation of Alan Bennett's memoirs.
By the way:	King Charles III released a statement: "As the curtain comes down on a national treasure, we join all those around the world in remembering with the fondest admiration and affection her many great performances, and her warmth and wit that shone through both on and off the stage."

 

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON
Date of death:	September 28, 2024
Age at death:	88
Cause of death:	Not disclosed. He previously requested for the first three lines of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on the Wire" on his tombstone: Like a bird on the wire Like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free
About:	Born in Texas, Kris Kristofferson was a country music legend who started his music career in the mid-1960s. Despite being a singer himself, many of his songs were best known for their performances by others, including Ray Price's US number one hit For the Good Times and Janis Joplin's 1971 single Me And Bobby McGee. In the mid-1980s he joined forces with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings to create the country supergroup The Highwaymen, releasing three albums before all four returned to their solo careers. On the big screen, he won the 1976 Golden Globe Award for best actor after his performance in the romantic drama A Star Is Born opposite Barbra Streisand.
By the way:	Kristofferson, under pressure from his family, joined the U.S. Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, attaining the rank of captain. He became a helicopter pilot after receiving flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He also completed Ranger School. During the early 1960s, he was stationed in West Germany as a member of the 8th Infantry Division. During this time, he resumed his music career and formed a band. In 1965, after his tour in West Germany ended, Kristofferson was given an assignment to teach English literature at West Point. Instead, he decided to leave the Army and pursue songwriting. His family disowned him because of his career decision; sources are unclear on whether they reconciled.

 

RON ELY
Date of death:	September 29, 2024
Age at death:	86
Cause of death:	Not disclosed.
About:	Ron Ely was an American actor and novelist, best known for portraying Tarzan in the 1966–1968 NBC series Tarzan and playing the lead role in the film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975). He hosted the Miss America pageant telecast in 1980 and 1981.
By the way:	On October 15, 2019, Ely's son Cameron, then 30 years old, stabbed Ron Ely’s wife (former Miss Florida and married 1984) Valerie Ely to death at the family's home in Hope Ranch, California, a coastal residential community in Santa Barbara. Police officers were called to the scene for a "family disturbance" and killed Cameron Ely, claiming he posed a threat to officers. An autopsy found Cameron was in the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy before he died.