Sunday, 29 December 2019

RIP, 2019

As it is still that "bit in the middle", before we start winding up again towards our Grand New Year's Eve party, I think it is time - as is traditional here at Dolores Delargo Towers - to open the Book of the Dead 2019.

It's quite a list (again)...



Ray Sawyer (US singer, Dr Hook)
Dean Ford (British (Scottish) singer, Marmalade: Ob-la-di Ob-la-da)
Daryl Dragon (US singer and pianist, "The Captain" of Captain & Tennille)
Julia Grant (British trans woman, the subject of a pioneering "fly-on-the-wall" BBC documentary A Change Of Sex)
Joe Casely-Hayford (British fashion designer, Gieves & Hawkes)
Larry Cunningham (US singer, The Floaters Float On)
Carol Channing (US singer, actress, comedienne and legend)
Windsor Davies (British actor: It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Never The Twain)
Masazo Nonaka (Japanese inn-keeper, World's oldest man, 113)
Kaye Ballard (US actress and singer, The Ritz, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In)
Michel Legrand (French composer and lyricist, Windmills Of Your Mind, Les Parapluies De Cherbourg, Summer of '42)
Martha Ross (British actress, mother of Paul and Jonathan Ross)
James Ingram (US singer, Yah Mo Be There)
Stewart Adams (British chemist, inventor of Ibuprofen)
Jeremy Hardy (British comedian, panellist on Radio 4 I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue)
Clive Swift (British actor and comedian, "Hyacinth"'s husband "Richard" in Keeping Up Appearances)
Sylvia Kay (British TV character actress, Just Good Friends, Shelley)
Rosamunde Pilcher (British author, The Shell Seekers)
Albert Finney (British actor, Tom Jones, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Murder on the Orient Express)
Patricia Nell Warren (US author, the first gay-themed best-selling novel The Front Runner)
John Haynes (British publisher, writer and car enthusiast, founded Haynes Manuals)
Marcia Falkender (British political adviser and "power behind the throne" of PM Harold Wilson; later became a Baroness at his behest)
Gordon Banks (British footballer, renowned goalkeeper for the England national team)
Dick Churchill (British RAF squadron leader, last survivor of the Great Escape)
Lee Radziwill (US socialite, sister of Jackie Kennedy)
John Stalker (British Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and later a TV personality)
Ethel Ennis (US jazz singer, sang the National Anthem acapella at Richard Nixon's 1973 presidential inauguration)
Paul Flynn (British politician, MP for Newport West for 32 years)
Fred Foster (US record producer, launched the careers of Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson)
Karl Lagerfeld (German couturier and legend: Chloé, Fendi, Chanel)
Peter Tork (US musician and actor, The Monkees)
Stanley Donen (US film director, Singin' in the Rain, On the Town, Funny Face)
Tony Pike (British-Australian founder of Ibiza's legendary celebrity party venue Pike's Hotel, setting for Wham's Club Tropicana video)
Mark Hollis (British musician and singer-songwriter, co-founder of the band Talk Talk)
André Previn (German-US conductor, composer and pianist; famous collaborator with Morecambe & Wise)



Katherine Helmond (US actress, Soap, Brazil)
Tania Mallet (British actress, "Tilly Masterson" in Goldfinger)
Keith Flint (British vocalist, lead singer of The Prodigy)
Luke Perry (US actor, Beverly Hills 90210)
Jacques Loussier (French jazz pianist and composer, his reworking of Bach's Air on the G String was used for the Hamlet cigar advertisements in the UK)
Magenta Devine (British television presenter, Rough Guides, Network 7)
Jan-Michael Vincent (US actor, Airwolf)
Danny Kustow (British rock guitarist, Tom Robinson Band)
Dick Dale (US "surf" guitarist, Miserlou [featured in the Pulp Fiction soundtrack])
Dame Mary Warnock (British moral philosopher and academic, chaired the committee of inquiry into human fertilisation and embryology)
Scott Walker (US-British singer songwriter and legend, the Walker Brothers)
Ranking Roger [Charlery] (British musician and vocalist, The Beat: Mirror in the Bathroom, Hands Off...She's Mine)
Agnès Varda (French film director, "mother of the French New Wave")
John Quarmby (British character actor, The Hotel Inspector in Fawlty Towers)
Sandy Ratcliff (British actress, "Sue Osman" in the early days of Eastenders)
Bibi Andersson (Swedish actress, Imgmar Berman films: The Seventh Seal, Persona)
Les Reed (British songwriter: Delilah, It's Not Unusual, There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World))
Ken Kercheval (US actor, "Cliff Barnes" in Dallas)
Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg
Edward Kelsey (British voice actor, "Joe Grundy" in The Archers, "Baron Greenback" in Danger Mouse)
Peter Mayhew (British actor, "Chewbacca" in Star Wars)
Alvin Sargent (US screenwriter: Ordinary People, Paper Moon, Spider-Man)
Nan Winton (British broadcaster, first female newsreader on BBC television)
Irene Sutcliffe (British actress, "Maggie Clegg" in Coronation Street)
Freddie Starr (British comedian)
Brian Walden (British journalist, broadcaster and former MP)
Doug McAvoy (British trade union leader, National Union of Teachers)
Doris Day (US singer, actress and legend: Que Sera, Sera, Secret Love, Pillow Talk, Sentimental Journey)
I. M. Pei (Chinese-US architect, supercentenarian, designed the notorious pyramid at the Louvre)
Bob Hawke (Australian statesman, former Prime Minister)
Herman Wouk (US author (and supercentenarian): The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, War and Remembrance)
Niki Lauda (Austrian Formula 1 racing driver, three-time world champion)
Andrew Hall (British character actor, "Russell" in Butterflies)
Judith Kerr (German-British children's author and illustrator, The Tiger Who Came To Tea)



Claus von Bülow (Danish-British socialite, accused then acquitted of attempted murder of his wife)
Stephen Thorne (British stage, radio and TV actor, "Omega" in Doctor Who: The Three Doctors)
John Tidmarsh (British journalist and broadcaster, presented Outlook on the BBC World Service for 34 years)
Paul Darrow (British actor, "Avon" in Blake's 7)
Dr John ([Malcolm John Rebennack] US blues singer, songwriter and musician)
Sylvia Miles (US actress, Midnight Cowboy, Farewell, My Lovely, Evil Under The Sun)
Franco Zeffirelli (Italian director and producer of operas, films and television: Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew)
Gloria Vanderbilt (US heiress, model, designer, writer and artist)
Mohammed Morsi (Egyptian politician, former President ousted in a military coup)
Philippe Zdar (French musician and producer, founder member of house music band Cassius)
William Simons (British (Welsh) actor, appeared in every episode of long-running TV series Heartbeat)
Judith Krantz (US "bonk-buster" author: Scruples, Princess Daisy, Mistral's Daughter)
Dave Bartholomew (US musician and composer, co-writer with Fats Domino, and supercentenarian: Ain't That a Shame, I Hear You Knocking, My Ding-a-Ling)
Bryan Marshall (British character actor, Long Good Friday, The Spy Who Loved Me)
Douglas Fielding (British actor, "Sergeant Alec Quilley" in Z-Cars from 1969 to the end of the series in 1978)
Max Wright (US actor, "Willie Tanner" in the sitcom ALF)
Glyn Houston (British (Welsh) character actor, Z-Cars, Doctor Who)
Christopher Booker (British journalist, sceptic and satirist, co-founder of Private Eye)
Arthur Ryan (Irish retail magnate, founder of Primark)
Arte Johnson (US comedian, the "German stormtrooper" in Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In: "verrry interrresting")
John McCririck (British racing pundit and eccentric television "celebrity")
João Gilberto (Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist, the "father of bossa nova")
Rip Torn (US character actor, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Men in Black, Larry Sanders Show)
Ross Perot (US billionaire businessman and independent presidential candidate in 1992)
Freddie Jones (British character actor, The Elephant Man, Emmerdale , Jackanory; father of Toby Jones)
Duncan Lamont (British (Scottish) jazz saxophonist and composer, wrote the theme to Mr Benn)
César Pelli (Argentine-US architect: Canary Wharf Tower, Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur)
Rutger Hauer (Dutch actor, Blade Runner, Batman Begins)
Jeremy Kemp (British character actor, Colditz, Z-Cars)
Hal Prince (US musical producer and director and legend, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Phantom of the Opera)
Barrington Pheloung (Australian composer, Inspector Morse theme)
Anna Quayle (British actress, "The Baroness" in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Toni Morrison (US author, first black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature)
Joe Longthorne (British singer, impressionist and variety show entertainer)
Henri Belolo (French music producer and promoter; co-founder of the Ritchie Family and Village People)



Kary Mullis (US biochemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, sceptic of the theory of HIV as the cause of AIDS)
Richard Williams (Canadian-British animator and director, Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Peter Fonda (US actor, Easy Rider)
Jeffrey Epstein (US financier, philanthropist and convicted sex offender)
Princess Christina of the Netherlands (youngest sister of Queen Beatrix)
Richard Booth (British bookseller, eccentric, and self-proclaimed "King of Hay-on-Wye")
Freda Dowie (British character actress, Distant Voices, Still Lives, The Omen, Our Friends in the North)
Tim Bell (British public relations guru, masterminded Margaret Thatcher's election campaigns)
Sheila Steafel (South African-British actress, comedienne and singer, The Good Old Days, Ghosts of Motley Hall)
Hans Rausing (Swedish-British multi-millionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tetra-Pak milk cartons empire)
Terrance Dicks (British author, Dr Who novels based upon the TV series, and its regular script editor)
Valerie Harper (US actress and comedienne, Rhoda)
Laurent Sinclair (French keyboard player and composer, Taxi Girl - Cherchez Le Garçon)
LaShawn Daniels (US songwriter, Say My Name [for Destiny's Child], The Boy Is Mine [for Brandy and Monica])
Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwean dictator, homophobe and bigot)
Peter Nichols (British playwright, Privates on Parade, Georgy Girl)
Ric Ocasek (US singer, songwriter and musician, The Cars: My Best Friend's Girl, Drive)
Jacques Chirac (French statesman, former Prime Minister and President)
Lady Anne Berry (British plantswoman, built Rosemoor Garden in Devon and later donated it to the Royal Horticultural Society)
Jessye Norman (US opera singer and legend)
Peter Sissons (British TV newsreader and presenter, BBC and ITN)
Karel Gott (Czech singer, "the Frank Sinatra of the East")
Diahann Carroll (US singer and actress, "Dominique Deveraux" in Dynasty
Barrie Masters (British singer-songwriter, Eddie and the Hotrods)
Ginger Baker (British drummer, founder-member of Cream)
Juliette Kaplan (British character actress, battleaxe "Pearl Sibshaw" in Last of the Summer Wine)
Malcolm "Molly" Duncan (British (Scottish) jazz saxophonist, Average White Band; played the solo on Pick Up The Pieces)
Reg Watson (Australian television producer, Neighbours, Prisoner Cell Block H, Crossroads)
Stephen Moore (British actor, "Marvin the Paranoid Android" in Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, "Kevin's Dad" in Harry Enfield & Chums)
Alexei Leonov (Russian cosmonaut, first man to do a spacewalk)
Scotty Bowers (US "pimp"/faciltator of illicit sexual encounters for the stars of 1950s-70s Hollywood)
Leah Bracknell (British soap actress, pioneering lesbian character "Zoe Tate" in Emmerdale)
Deborah Orr (British (Scottish) journalist and columnist, New Statesman, The Guardian)
Raymond Leppard (British composer and musician, revivalist of Baroque music in the 1960s)
Anne Phelan (Australian actress, "Myra Desmond" in Prisoner: Cell Block H)



Robert Evans (US movie mogul, head of Paramount Studios and film producer: Marathon Man, Chinatown; known as "The Godfather of Hollywood")
Gay Byrne (Irish broadcaster, for 37 years the host of RTE's Late Late Show)
Brian Mawhinney (British (Northern Irish) politician and peer, former chairman of the Conservative Party)
Andrea Newman (British author, Bouquet Of Barbed Wire)
Frank Dobson (British politician, health secretary under Tony Blair and unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of London)
Field Marshal Lord Bramall (British military hero, former chief of the defence staff; falsely accused of child abuse in Operation Midland)
Jean Fergusson (British actress, "Marina" in Last of the Summer Wine)
Terry O'Neill (British photographer, famous for portraits of the stars of the 60s and 70s and the Royal Family; executive producer: Mommie Dearest)
Iain Sutherland (British (Scottish) musician, Sutherland Brothers & Quiver: The Arms of Mary)
Gary Rhodes (British Michelin-star-winning restaurateur and television chef)
Sir Jonathan Miller (British theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist, medical doctor, co-founder of Beyond the Fringe, prominent atheist and campaigner for gay rights)
Clive James (Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet, translator and memoirist; and (adopted) "national treasure" in the UK)
Irving Burgie (Barbadian composer, The Banana Boat Song (Day-O), Mary's Boy Child)
Mariss Jansons (Latvian conductor)
Andrew "Greedy" Smith (Australian vocalist, musician and songwriter, Mental As Anything)
Caroll Spinney (US puppeteer, "Big Bird" and "Oscar the Grouch" in Sesame Street)
René Auberjonois (US actor, Benson, Star Trek: Seep Space Nine)
Marie Fredriksson (Swedish singer and musician, Roxette)
Barrie Keeffe (British playwright and screenwriter, Long Good Friday)
Gershon Kingsley [Götz Gustav Ksinski] (German-American composer and synthesizer pioneer, wrote the pop hit Popcorn)
David Bellamy (British botanist, author, campaigner and popular TV character for his presenting style)
Danny Aiello (US character actor, Moonstruck, Madge's Papa Don't Preach video)
Sheila Mercier (British actress and supercentenariam, "Annie Sugden" in Emmerdale Farm)
Robert Walker Jr. (US actor, "Charlie X" in Star Trek)
Anna Karina (French actress, star of "New Wave" cinema, former wife of Jean-Luc Godard)
Nicky Henson (British actor, Fawlty Towers, Eastenders)
Kenny Lynch (British singer, songwriter, comedian, actor and "national treasure")
Claudine Auger (French actress, Bond Girl "Domino" in Thunderball)
William Higgins (US gay porn producer and director: The Young & The Hung, The Pizza Boy - He Delivers, Big Guns)
Tony Britton (British actor, Don't Wait Up, Robin's Nest, The Day of the Jackal)
Emanuel Ungaro (French fashion designer, The House of Ungaro)
Allee Willis (US songwriter, September, Boogie Wonderland, I'll Be There for You [theme from Friends])
Sue Lyon (US actress, Lolita)
Jerry Herman (US musical theatre composer and songwriter, Hello, Dolly!, Mame, La Cage aux Folles, Mack and Mabel)

RIP, just about all.


STOP PRESS:
Alasdair Gray (British (Scottish) artist and author)
Neil Innes (British writer, comedian and musician, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Rutland Weekend Television)
Marion Chesney (British (Scottish) authoress, aka MC Beaton, creator of "Hamish Macbeth" and "Agatha Raisin")
Neville Buswell (British soap actor, "Deirdre"'s first husband "Ray Langton" in Coronation Street)

17 comments:

  1. Who is the woman middle row ( top photo ) far right

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's Sandy Ratcliff ("Sue" from Eastenders). She unfortunately had a lot of problems that meant she never had much of a career after leaving the series. Jx

      Delete
  2. Jesus, a list of who managed to live in 2019 would be shorter.

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    Replies
    1. Ermmmm... Olivia de Havilland, Kirk Douglas, Dick Van Dyke, Harry Belafonte, Betty White, Eva Marie Saint, Sydney Poitier, Mel Brooks, David Attenborough, Glynis Johns, Tony Bennett and Angela Lansbury are still with us. For the moment.

      Unfortunately, so are Anita Bryant, Kim Kardashian, Eminem, Paris Hilton, Mike Pence, Vladimir Putin, Mel Gibson and Chris Brown.

      Hey Ho. This time next year? Jx

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    2. You forgot Mitzi Gaynor! And Baby Peggy, the last surviving silent movie star. Are we just listing our favourite old people? Alan Bennett is still around, and Barry Cryer. All three Goodies. Jackie Mason. Bernard Cribbins. Richard Wilson AND Annette Crosby.

      And Tom Baker!!!!!

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    3. "Cheer yourself up by reminding yourself of your favourite old people" is very much the motto of bbc Radio Four.

      RIP Jeremy Hardy. And Doris Day, Neil I Ness and Uncle Tewwance

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    4. Preaching to someone who already knows, dear. However, to list every single person still alive over a certain age would take too long for a short response to a comment on my blog.

      Check this site if you want to wade through the long list - it's fascinating... Jx

      Delete
    5. PS I have reported to them (repeatedly) that they still have Joan Fontaine as alive (and I notice they've missed the deaths of Hal Prince and Sylvia Miles)... jx

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    6. Well, maybe they'd just like to think she is. Running that site must get depressing. They probably deliberately miss people out.

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    7. The love for Neil Innes out there, as a person as much as a singer songwriter /comic, is huge and really uplifting.

      Ditto Jeremy Hardy, the obits for him really disproved the idea that comics need to be mean spirited and self absorbed. And I've loved everyone's tributes to Terrance Dicks

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  3. Im still recovering from Carol Channing and Jean Fergusson myself. I also saw where Lee Mendelson just died, who put the animated cartoon Peanuts on air. I still watch the damn cartoons every holiday.

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    Replies
    1. Miss Day, Miss Channing, Miss Harper, Miss Carroll, Miss Norman, Miss Helmond, Miss Devine, Miss Steafel, Mr Higgins and Mr Herman - not a brilliant year for us gentlemen-who-are-light-in-their-loafers, no. Jx

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  4. Some old friends in your list. And more than a few whose work I admired.

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    Replies
    1. "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot", and all that... Jx

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  5. Gosh so many wonderful and talented people.
    And still not even a line on our 'Death Bingo' Game

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