Dolores Keane obit

Irish folk singer Dolores Keane dies aged 72

 

She was not on the list.

Irish folk singer Dolores Keane has died. She was 72.

The popular musician died peacefully in her sleep at her home in Caherlistrane, Co Galway overnight.

A member of the renowned Keane family, she first came to prominence performing with her aunts Rita and Sarah.

She performed with De Dannan in the mid-1970s and recorded several albums with then husband John Faulkner, before embarking on a solo career.

She enjoyed national and international success.

Her 1988 recording of Dougie MacLean's Caledonia was among her most well-known recordings, but her repertoire spanned the decades, leading the late Nanci Griffith to describe her as someone who had "a sacred voice".

In the RTÉ series Hand Me Down in the early 1980s, she spoke of how it was second nature to her to sing with her relatives, given the traditions passed on to her from a young age.

Dolores Keane said she had been singing from the age of two and spoke about how musicians such as Willie Clancy and others were regular visitors to her home place as she was growing up.

"I can never remember actually learning any of those songs, actually sitting down and trying to learn them … but I heard them sung so often, I just had them in the head all the time. I could sing most of the songs with Sarah and Rita, definitely all of them by 11 or 12."

Musicians would regularly travel to the house for a session, "which made it all the merrier", sometimes staying for a weekend, sometimes for a week.

The original family home of Carragh Cottage was the location for the filming of a subsequent documentary on the occasion of Dolores Keane's 70th birthday.

The generational involvement in music took in her brothers Seán and Matt, sister Theresa and several nieces and a grandniece.

In the programme she spoke about the impact singing had on her life: "Music is part of me so much, I couldn't envisage life without music."

Funeral arrangements have yet to be finalised but Dolores Keane is expected to be laid to rest in her native Caherlistrane on Friday.

Tánaiste Simon Harris paid tribute to Ms Keane, calling her "one of Ireland's greatest singer-songwriters".

"Dolores possessed a voice that could reach deep into your soul," he said in a statement.

"A voice that could carry a sense of joy, but also sorrow in each and every note ...

"My deepest condolences to her family, friends and huge circle of fans."

Matt Clark obit

'Back to the Future' ActorMatt Clark Dead

 He was not on the list.

Matt Clark -- whose acting career spanned decades in film and TV working alongside some of Hollywood's biggest stars -- has died.

His family tells TMZ ... Clark -- arguably best known for his bartender role in "Back to the Future: Part III" and the TV sitcom "Grace Under Fire" -- died in his Austin, Texas home Sunday morning from complications after back surgery.

Clark appeared in several Westerns on the big and small screens alongside the likes of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne ... and he appeared in the '80s cult classic "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension."

He also appeared on the series "Grace Under Fire" ... along with classic shows including "Bonanza," Kung Fu," and "Dynasty."

His family tells us ... Clark was an "actor's actor" who loved and respected the job, but was not concerned with stars and fame. He was impressed when working with good people who loved their families. He felt "lucky" about his career ... and "he died the way he lived, on his terms."

He was 89.

After working at various jobs, he joined a local D.C. theatre group. He later became a member of New York's Living Theatre company and worked off-Broadway and in community theatre in the late 1950s.

Clark directed the 1988 film Da, as well as one episode from the television series CBS Schoolbreak Special and two episodes from the television series Midnight Caller. He also wrote the story for the 1970 film Homer.

Clark died on March 15, 2026 at his home in Austin, Texas from complications of spinal surgery at the age of 89.

 

Filmography

Film

Year     Title     Role     Notes

1964    Black Like Me            Mugger in Alley         

1967    In the Heat of the Night          Packy Harrison           

Will Penny      Romulus Quint           

1969    The Bridge at Remagen          Corporal Jellicoe        

1970    Macho Callahan          Jailer   

Monte Walsh   Rufus Brady   

1971    The Beguiled   Scrogins         

The Grissom Gang      Joe Bailey       

1972    The Cowboys  Smiley

Pocket Money American Prisoner     

The Culpepper Cattle Co.       Pete    

The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid           Bob Younger  

Jeremiah Johnson        Qualen

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean         Nick the Grub

1973    Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid  J.W. Bell         

Emperor of the North Pole      Yardlet

White Lightning          Dude Watson  

The Laughing Policeman        Coroner          

1974    The Terminal Man      Gerhard          

1975    Hearts of the West       Jackson           

1976    The Outlaw Josey Wales         Kelly  

1977    Vengeance       Grover

Outlaw Blues  Billy Bob       

1978    The Driver       Red Plainclothesman  

1979    Dreamer          Spider 

1980    Brubaker         Roy Purcell    

Ruckus            Cece   

1981    The Legend of the Lone Ranger         Sheriff Wiatt   

An Eye for an Eye      Tom McCoy   

1982    Some Kind of Hero     Mickey           

Honkytonk Man          Virgil  

1983    Love Letters    Chuck 

1984    The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension       Secretary of Defense  

Country           Tom McMullen          

1985    Tuff Turf          Stuart Hiller    

Return to Oz   Uncle Henry   

1986    Let's Get Harry           Walt Clayton  

1989    House III: The Horror Show  Dr. Tower       

1990    Back to the Future Part III      Chester the Bartender

Cadence          Bean Sr.          

1991    Class Action    Judge Symes  

A Seduction in Travis County Dobbs 

1992    Frozen Assets  J. F. Hughes   

1993    The Harvest     Hank  

1995    Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh       Honore Thibideaux    

Mother Ben Wilson     

1997    Hacks  Bus Driver      

1998    Homegrown    Sheriff Stanley Kroopf           

Claudine's Return        Pauline           

1999    Five Aces        Phillip 

A Stranger in the Kingdom     Judge Forest Allen     

2000    South of Heaven, West of Hell           Burl Dunfries 

2004    Killer Diller     Barge Captain

2007    Rocking the Boat: A Musical Conversation and Journey       —N/a  Documentary

2010    The Way          Father Frank   

2013    42        Luther 

2014    A Million Ways to Die in the West     Old Prospector           

Television

Year     Title     Role     Notes

1966    Ben Casey       Patient Episode: "Where Did All the Roses Go?"

1966    Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre        Paco Perez       Episode: "One Embezzlement and Two Margaritas"

1967    T.H.E. Cat       Killer   Episode: "The Blood-Red Night"

Dundee and the Culhane         Smith   2 episodes

The Rat Patrol Corporal Meekin         Episode: "The Kingdom Come Raid"

Death Valley Days      Montana Joe    Episode: "Lost Sheep in Trinidad"

1969    N.Y.P.D.          Eddie Anders  Episode: "Face on the Dart Board"

Bonanza          Fantan Episode: "The Witness"

1969, 1970      The Name of the Game           Harris / Frankie           2 episodes

1973    The Waltons    Mr. Hennessey            Episode: "The Fawn"

Kung Fu          Niebo  Episode: "The Elixir"

1974    The Rookies    Joey Hughes    Episode: "The Late Mr. Brent"

The Execution of Private Slovik         Dunn   Television film

Melvin Purvis: G-Man            Charles Parlmetter

The Great Ice Rip-Off Georgie

This Is the West That Was      Buffalo Bill Cody

1975    The Kansas City Massacre      Vernon Miller

1975–1979      Little House on the Prairie      Seth Berwick / Eric Boulton   3 episodes

1977    Dog and Cat    Lieutenant Arthur Kipling       6 episodes

1978    Lacy and the Mississippi Queen         Reynolds         Television film

Lucan  Jake Jones       Episode: "Thunder God Gold"

1979    The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang      George Newcomb       Television film

1981    The Children Nobody Wanted            Bill Westbrook

1981, 1982      Dynasty           Frank Dean     2 episodes

1982    In the Custody of Strangers    Mike Raines    Television film

1983    Highway Honeys        Wolfe Crawley

The Winds of War       Hansen            Episode: "Into the Maelstrom"

ABC Afterschool Special        Phil Cranston  Episode: "Andrea's Story: A Hitchhiking Tragedy"

1985    Magnum, P.I.   Jack Damon    Episode: "A Pretty Good Dancing Chicken"

1985    Love, Mary     Fennie Groda  Television film

Out of the Darkness    John Hubbard

Hardcastle and McCormick    Sheriff Dale Cutler      Episode: "The Career Breaker"

1987    The Quick and the Dead         Doc Shabitt     Television film

CBS Summer Playhouse         Matt     Episode: "Travelin' Man"

The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues           Sergeant Grinder         Television film

1988    War and Remembrance           Chief Clark (Northampton)     Episode: "Part V"

CBS Schoolbreak Special       Pawnshop Clerk          Episode: "Gambler"

1989    Terror on Highway 91 Jim Warren      Television film

Midnight Caller           Pete Holden    Episode: "Bank Job"

Blind Witness  Lieutenant Schapper   Television film

1993    Dead Before Dawn     John DeSilva

Barbarians at the Gate Edward A. Horrigan Jr.

1993–1995      Grace Under Fire        Emmet Kelly   4 episodes

1994    Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman      Homeless Man            Episode: "All Shook Up"

1995    A Season of Hope       Wallace Porter Television film

Screen Two     Doug Kinross  Episode: "Crazy for a Kiss"

She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal        Paula Coughlin           Television film

Lonesome Dove: The Series   Reverend Bantry         Episode: "The Bride"

1995–1996      The Jeff Foxworthy Show      Walt Bacon     12 episodes

1996    Raven Hawk   Ed Hudson      Television film

Trilogy of Terror II      Roger Ansford

1996, 2001      Walker, Texas Ranger Cooper's Friend / Hank Cotton           3 episodes

1997    The Visitor      Monroe            Episode: "The Devil's Rainbow"

Touched by an Angel  Markus Cavanaugh     Episode: "Venice"

1998    The Pretender  Lyle Bowman  Episode: "Crash"

The Practice    Jesse Manning Episode: "Body Count"

2000    Chicago Hope Clarence Gates            Episode: "Everybody's Special at Chicago Hope"

William C. Dietz obit

Sci-Fi gaming author, William C. Dietz has passed away

 

He was not on the list.

William C. Dietz, 80, an author most notable in the gaming world for creating books and novels around popular gaming franchises, has passed away.

The news came on Sunday, March 15, with his family updating his personal Facebook account, confirming the news.

It’s not quite clear when and how he passed. We just know it’s official as of Sunday, March 15. There is no obituary posted as of yet in Washington state, where Dietz is often attributed to having lived and studied.

For those unfamiliar with his work, Dietz was primarily a sci-fi author, covering his own themes in the Andromeda Wars trilogy, among other sci-fi works. Though with his notoriety in the space, many gaming franchises contracted Dietz to write novels for their games, offering extra story context for popular franchises. His list of gaming work involves the following:

 

Halo: The Flood (2003)

StarCraft II: Heaven’s Devils (2010)

Mass Effect: Deception (2012)

Resistance: The Gathering Storm (2009)

Star Wars – Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire (1997)

Star Wars – Dark Forces: Rebel Agent (1998)

Star Wars – Dark Forces: Jedi Knight (1998)

Star Wars – Escape from Dagu (Canceled) (2004)

Many of these works were follow-on storylines fans of the genres and franchises could read into. Some of which had tie-ins to the games specifically, such as The Flood with Halo’s original launch. The Flood offered quite a bit more perspective on who the Covenant and The Flood were at the time, with future games later expanding on the two threats.

The Star Wars trilogy that was released had direct story relations to the Star Wars Jedi Knight games. Katar is still an OP Jedi in the extended universe, but it’s largely not canon for those very reasons.

Meanwhile, the book, like StarCraft II, was released as part of the initial Wings of Liberty launch in Spring 2010. Heaven’s Devils followed Jim Raynor’s backstory during the Guild Wars, providing essential context for his character arc in StarCraft II’s campaign.

The Mass Effect book was originally announced in 2010, but was later published in 2012, in time for Mass Effect 3. It had some continuity issues with the world-building in the trilogy, but it is still a strong piece on the extended lore and universe of Mass Effect.

John Perkins obit

Civil rights veteran John Perkins, who preached racial reconciliation, dead at 95

“He will always be remembered as one who tried to get the races to come together,” said Constance Slaughter-Harvey.

 He was not on the list.

Pioneering pastor and civil rights leader John Perkins left the world Friday, but his family and friends say his light will long remain.

“He will always be remembered as one who tried to get the races to come together,” said Constance Slaughter-Harvey, who represented the pastor after he was tortured by Mississippi law enforcement officers in 1969. “Anybody who could take that kind of beating and be so forgiving is an extraordinary man.”

Perkins, 95, died under hospice care. His funeral service is set for March 21 at the New Horizon Church in Jackson.

His family shared a picture of him holding hands with his wife, Vera Mae. The family quoted her as saying she loves him and thanking God for their 74 ½ years of marriage.

Perkins, who penned the 1976 memoir, “Let Justice Roll Down,” wrote more than a dozen books. His last was “One Life Well Lived,” a book on how to live with purpose and passion.

On March 5, Elizabeth Perkins posted about one of the last moments with her father. She said she sat beside him, took his hand and sang one of his favorite songs, “Jesus Loves the Little Children.”

“As I sang, Daddy gently squeezed my hand, a quiet ‘amen’ in the early morning light,” she wrote. “Even in this season, the love of Jesus still fills the room.

“Daddy has lived a life fully given to God. It has not always been an easy life, but it has been a faithful one, marked by courage, reconciliation, justice, forgiveness, and hope.”

The John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation works to raise up young leaders dedicated to reconciliation, she wrote. “We believe reconciliation is still possible, communities can still be restored, and the love of Christ still transforms lives.”

Born into poverty in New Hebron in 1930, Perkins’ mother died of malnutrition, and his father left his life years later.

His brother, Clyde, fought in World War II and enjoyed freedoms he had never experienced before in segregated Mississippi.

Like many other Black veterans who returned home from that war, he became a victim of violence when an officer gunned him down.

After Perkins’ family warned him he might be next, he left the state, one of about 6 million African Americans involved in the Great Migration from the South to other parts of the nation.

He landed in California, where in 1951 he married his wife and where their son, Spencer, was later born. Drafted into the Korean War, Perkins served in Okinawa, Japan, for three years before returning home.

One day in 1957, Spencer came home singing, “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” The song moved Perkins, who became a Christian. A year later, he was ordained as a Baptist minister.

In 1960, he and his family, which had grown to include four children, returned to Mississippi. A year later, he started the Mendenhall Ministries, which gave birth to a church, a daycare center, a youth program, a cooperative farm, a thrift store, a housing repair ministry, a health center and an adult education program. His wife ran a daycare center that later became part of the Head Start program.

In the past, the young people who made it out of the community never returned, but Perkins encouraged them to get their college degrees, said the Rev. Dolphus Weary, who worked with and succeeded Perkins at Mendenhall Ministries and later became executive director of Mission Mississippi, a ministry dedicated to promoting racial reconciliation among Christians in Mississippi. “He instilled in us the idea of coming back.”

In 1965, Perkins organized a voter registration drive in Simpson County, drawing the ire of the powers that be.

Four years later, he led a Christmas boycott in Mendenhall to protest white businesses’ refusal to hire Black employees. Officers jailed protesters, and when Perkins went to bail them out, they brutalized him.

“They beat John, cut his hair with dull scissors and stuck a fork up his nose,” said Slaughter-Harvey, who became the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1970.

As a result of that torture, he suffered a heart attack and part of his stomach had to be removed because of ulcers.

Despite that torture, Perkins bore no malice against those officers, Slaughter-Harvey said. “I’ve always respected his extraordinary forgiveness. He had an impact on my life and so did his wife, Vera, and their children.”

Doug Huemmer, who spent nights in jail with Perkins in 1969 and 1970, said while Perkins was involved in work some described as civil rights activities, his work should be viewed as in the tradition of the Great Protestant Reformation ministers, such as John Calvin, Martin Luther and George Fox.

Perkins sought to eliminate racism, corruption and sin in the white and Black American Protestant Church, Huemmer said. “John and I shared the belief that we have a great country, but we have succumbed to a spiritual decadence that is destroying the American character.”

Quoting a prominent university professor, he said, “In America, we could have built a Chartres Cathedral. Instead, we built Las Vegas.”

In his final conversation with Perkins, he said the pastor told him, “Complete submission to God is the beginning of wisdom.”

In 1978, Perkins became friends with Klansman-turned-minister Tommy Tarrants, who later served for a dozen years as president of the C.S. Lewis Institute. Books and the narrative, “The Preacher and the Klansman,” detailed their lives and friendship.

Perkins began to speak at churches, colleges and conventions across the nation. He served as a religious adviser to Jimmy Carter and other presidents who followed.

He later established the Christian Community Development Association, which focused on bringing the love of Christ to America’s most impoverished communities. “Other people became dedicated to what he had taught because they saw that it works,” Weary said.

Perkins’ teaching also helped lead to the 1992 creation of Mission Mississippi, which encouraged Christians to cross racial lines to develop friendships.

Weary led the organization for more than a dozen years. “We’re gonna be together in heaven,” he said. “Why can’t we be together on this earth?”

After Spencer’s unexpected death at 44 in 1998, the Perkins foundation created the Spencer Perkins Center to serve under-resourced children and families in west Jackson. The center also provided affordable housing to low- to moderate-income families.

John Perkins’ daughters, Elizabeth and Priscilla, serve as co-presidents for the Perkins foundation.

His memoir inspired the band Switchfoot to write “The Sound (John Perkins Blues).” The pastor’s “life of service and compassion is a tangible demonstration of what it means to live a life of love,” said band co-founder Jon Foreman. “Love is the loudest song we could sing. Louder than racism. Louder than fear. Louder than hatred. John Perkins said it right, ‘Love is the final fight.’”

John Alford obit

John Alford Dies In Prison: Controversial British Soap Star Was 54

 

He was not on the list.

John Alford, a British actor with a checkered history with the law, has died at the age of 54.

Alford, who starred in BBC kids soap Grange Hill and ITV fireman drama London’s Burning, died in prison after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two teenage girls. He reverted back to his birthname John Shannon after his acting career.

“John Shannon died in prison on 13 March 2026. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate,” a Prison Service spokesman told the BBC.

Alford was jailed in January for eight and a half years after being convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a 14-year old and charges of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to a 15-year-old girl.

The incident took place in Hertfordshire, UK in 2022 and Alford stood trial at St Albans Crown Court in September.

It was not Alford’s first run in with the law; he was convicted of supplying drugs in 1999 and imprisoned for nine months after a sting by the News of the World and its controversial reporter Mazher Mahmood.

In 2006, he was convicted of drunk driving after a crash and in 2018, he plead guilty to two counts of resisting an officer and given a community order.

Alford broke through with his role in Grange Hill, a popular kids TV show that ran from 1978 to 2008. He played Robbie Wright.

He later scored a role as Billy Junfan Ray, a fireman in ITV drama London’s Burning, and starred in the show for five years. However, he was fired after his 1999 conviction.

He didn’t work much after with only a few small roles in films such as Mike Bassett: England Manager and The Hatton Garden Job, which also starred Matthew Goode, Larry Lamb and Joely Richardson. He also appeared on Channel 5 reality series Trust Me – I’m a Beauty Therapist in 2006.

Actor

David Calder, Phil Daniels, Matthew Goode, Larry Lamb, and Clive Russell in The Hatton Garden Job (2017)

The Hatton Garden Job

5.6

Prison Guard

2017

 

Wounded (2011)

Wounded

7.1

Griz

2011

 

Casualty (1986)

Casualty

6.2

TV Series

Dave MooreTaxi Driver

2009–2010

2 episodes

 

Provoked (2006)

Provoked

6.4

Legal Aid Solicitor

2006

 

Mile High (2003)

Mile High

7.1

TV Series

Dean

2003

1 episode

 

Real Crime (2001)

Real Crime

7.4

TV Series

John Bindon - Dramatic reconstructions

2002

1 episode

 

Colin Blumenau, Nula Conwell, Peter Ellis, Trudie Goodwin, Jon Iles, Gary Olsen, Eric Richard, John Salthouse, Tony Scannell, Jeff Stewart, and Mark Wingett in The Bill (1984)

The Bill

6.7

TV Series

Patrick HarperDarrenSteve Weller

1990–2002

3 episodes

 

Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001)

Mike Bassett: England Manager

6.8

Deano

2001

 

Black Cab

6.1

TV Series

Billy

2000

1 episode

 

London's Burning (1988)

London's Burning

7.1

TV Series

BillyBilly Ray

1993–1998

71 episodes

 

John Alford: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Music Video

John Alford

1996

 

The Sand Angels (1996)

The Sand Angels

7.1

Video

Body in shed

1996

 

John Alford: If

Music Video

John Alford

1996

 

John Alford: Blue Moon

Music Video

John Alford

1996

 

Starting Out (1973)

Starting Out

TV Series

Joe

1992

1 episode

 

The Chief (1990)

The Chief

6.9

TV Series

Eddie Deakin

1991

1 episode

 

Grange Hill (1978)

Grange Hill

7.2

TV Series

Robbie Wright

1985–1990

113 episodes

 

Liza Goddard and Nigel Planer in Roll Over Beethoven (1985)

Roll Over Beethoven

5.9

TV Series

Miles

1985

1 episode

 

Bernard Holley in Now and Then (1983)

Now and Then

7.2

TV Series

Peter Elston - Then

1983–1984

13 episodes

 

Rob Heyland in One by One (1984)

One by One

7.6

TV Series

Schoolboy

1984

1 episode

 

Brenda Blethyn in The First Part of Henry the Sixth (1983)

The First Part of Henry the Sixth

7.4

TV Movie

Master Gunner's Boy

1983

 

Rowan Atkinson, Griff Rhys Jones, Mel Smith, and Pamela Stephenson in Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979)

Not the Nine O'Clock News

7.9

TV Series

The 'Not' team's sonShane Edmonds

1982

3 episodes

 

Self

Newsnight (1980)

Newsnight

6.1

TV Series

Self - Former Actor

2016

1 episode

 

Panorama (1953)

Panorama

7.0

TV Series

Self

2014

1 episode

 

What's the Score? (2014)

What's the Score?

7.4

Self

2014

 

Trust Me I'm a Beauty Therapist

4.1

TV Series

Self

2006

10 episodes

 

Celebrity Fear Factor UK

4.0

TV Series

Self

2004

1 episode

 

National Television Awards

TV Special

Self - Award Presenter

1996

 

Kate Heavenor, Tim Vincent, and Chris Jarvis in Fully Booked (1995)

Fully Booked

6.6

TV Series

Self

1995–1996

2 episodes

 

Zoë Ball in Live & Kicking (1993)

Live & Kicking

7.0

TV Series

Self

1996

1 episode

 

Simply the Best: CITV Awards

TV Special

Self

1995

 

Noel Edmonds in Noel's Christmas Presents (1993)

Noel's Christmas Presents

TV Special

Self - Special Guest

1993

 

Cilla Black in Surprise! Surprise! (1984)

Surprise! Surprise!

5.1

TV Series

Self

1991

1 episode

 

Going Live! (1987)

Going Live!

7.3

TV Series

Self

1988

1 episode

 

Behind the Scenes at Grange Hill

TV Special

Self

1988

 

Keith Chegwin, John Craven, Sarah Greene, Mike Read, and David Icke in Saturday SuperStore (1982)

Saturday SuperStore

6.5

TV Series

Self

1986

1 episode

 

Archive Footage

The Video Pool (1984)

The Video Pool

TV Series

Self (archive footage)

1996

1 episode

 

Phil Campbell obit

Phil Campbell, Longtime Motörhead Guitarist, Dies at 64

 He was not on the list.

A statement by Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons has announced that guitarist Phil Campbell has died aged 64. Campbell joined Motörhead in 1984 and remained a core member until the band’s end in 2015 following the death of frontman Lemmy Kilmister.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Philip Anthony Campbell, who passed away peacefully last night following a long and courageous battle in intensive care after a complex major operation,” the statement read.

“Phil was a devoted husband, a wonderful father, and a proud and loving grandfather, known affectionately as ‘Bampi.’ He was deeply loved by all who knew him and will be missed immensely. His legacy, music and the memories he created with so many will live on forever.

“We kindly ask that our family’s privacy is respected during this incredibly difficult time.”

MetalTalk will have more about the man who, with Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons, kept the spirit of classic hard rock alive, soon.

Philip Anthony Campbell was born in Pontypridd on 7 May 1961, and started playing guitar when he was 10-years-old, inspired and influenced by guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, Jan Akkerman, Michael Schenker and Todd Rundgren. At the age of 12, Campbell met Lemmy after a Hawkwind gig and asked him for an autograph. By the age of 13, Campbell was playing semi-professionally with a cabaret band called Contrast. He later played with a pub-rock band called Roktopus (not to be confused with Rocktopus) at gigs in and around South Wales. He bought his first Les Paul in 1978 at a New Year's Day guitar sale at a shop on Ealing Broadway, London. The guitar was later stolen but returned.

In 1979, Campbell formed the heavy metal band, Persian Risk, playing on their 7" singles, "Calling For You" (1981) and "Ridin' High" (1983). Compilation albums have been issued which feature some of his work with Persian Risk.

On 8 February 1984, following the departure of Brian Robertson, Motörhead held auditions for a new guitarist, narrowing the candidates down to two guitarists: Michael "Würzel" Burston and Philip Campbell. Though Lemmy had first planned on hiring only one guitarist, he hired both Würzel and Campbell upon hearing them play together.

On 14 February 1984, Motörhead were the musical guest for The Young Ones episode "Bambi". One of the band's most popular compilations, No Remorse, followed shortly, it was released on 15 September. Campbell subsequently toured the world with the band and remained a constant member of Motörhead until they disbanded.

On 28 December 2015, band founder and sole constant member Lemmy died. The following day, drummer Mikkey Dee announced that Motörhead had disbanded, stating: "We will not be doing any more tours or anything. And there will not be any more records. But the fire survives, and Lemmy lives on in the hearts of everyone."

In April 2020, Campbell opened up about how hard it was to see Lemmy struggle towards the end of his life saying that Lemmy “wasn’t quite himself” and that he had been “ageing a little bit more” on Motörhead’s final tour. He also admitted that the end of Motörhead was not easy to adjust to at first.

John Fisher Burns obit

John Fisher Burns Has died

 He was not on the list.

Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent

John Fisher Burns, a towering figure in international journalism and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, passed away on March 12, 2026, in Cambridge, England, at the age of 81. Known for his courageous and thorough reporting from some of the world's most volatile regions, Burns dedicated four decades to The New York Times, earning a reputation as "the dean of American foreign correspondents" despite his British origins.

Born in Nottingham, England, on October 4, 1944, Burns's early life saw his family relocate to Canada in 1962. He pursued his education at McGill University in Montreal, where he studied politics and economics, before furthering his academic pursuits in Soviet Studies at Harvard and Chinese at Cambridge University. This foundational knowledge in international affairs and languages would prove invaluable to his distinguished career.

Burns began his journalistic journey with The Globe and Mail of Canada, notably serving as one of the few Western journalists in China during the Cultural Revolution from 1971 to 1975. His insightful dispatches from Beijing caught the attention of The New York Times, which he joined in 1975. This marked the beginning of an extraordinary tenure that would see him report from ten foreign bureaus across the globe.

His early assignments with The New York Times included reporting from the metropolitan section before he transitioned to foreign correspondent roles. From 1976 to 1980, he was based in Johannesburg, covering significant events in Africa, for which he and two colleagues received a George Polk Award in 1978. He then served as bureau chief in Moscow from 1981 to 1984, deepening his expertise in Cold War dynamics.

A defining moment in his career came during his time as Beijing bureau chief from 1984 to 1987. In July 1986, Burns was incarcerated by the Chinese government on fabricated espionage charges, enduring six days of detention before being expelled from the country. The charges were later dropped, and The New York Times received an apology, highlighting the risks inherent in his pursuit of truth.

Burns's commitment to frontline reporting earned him his first Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1993 for his "courageous and thorough coverage of the destruction of Sarajevo and the barbarous killings in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina." His vivid accounts brought the brutal realities of the conflict to a global audience, demonstrating his profound empathy and unwavering dedication.

He continued to cover critical global events, serving as New Delhi bureau chief from 1994 to 1998, with responsibility for the Indian subcontinent and adjoining regions. His impactful reporting on the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan earned him a second Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1997, further cementing his legacy as a preeminent foreign correspondent.

In the later stages of his career, Burns led the Baghdad bureau from 2004 to 2007, providing crucial insights into the Iraq War, where he was famously dubbed "the most dangerous man in Iraq" by regime officials for exposing atrocities. He concluded his illustrious career as the London bureau chief from 2007 to 2013, retiring from The New York Times in 2015.

John Fisher Burns's legacy is one of fearless journalism, profound integrity, and an unyielding commitment to bearing witness to history. His reporting not only informed but also shaped public understanding of complex international conflicts and human struggles. He is remembered as a journalist who consistently prioritized on-the-ground observation and empirical dispatches, leaving an indelible mark on the field of foreign correspondence.

Burns also frequently appeared on PBS. He has been called "the dean of American foreign correspondents.

Wendy Playfair obit

Prison and Home and Away acting icon Wendy Playfair dead aged 99

 

She was not on the list.

Wendy Playfair, the veteran Australian actor known for roles in Prisoner and Home and Away, has died at the age of 99 after a career spanning more than five decades across television, film, theatre and radio.

The actress, who worked extensively in Australian television from the 1960s until her retirement in 2013, appeared in a number of other well-known productions including Packed to the Rafters.

Her death was announced in a statement posted on a Prisoner fan page on social media, which said she passed away peacefully on Wednesday (11.03.26) – five months before what would have been the actress’ 100th birthday.

Podcast host Matt Batten broke the news online.

He had interviewed Wendy back in 2022, and he posted photos of Wendy on his page alongside the tribute: "The Playfair family have just advised me of the passing of the beautiful and incredibly talented Wendy Playfair, who has died peacefully at the age of 99.

"Wendy enjoyed a remarkable career that spanned many decades across Australian theatre, television and radio. She was a highly respected performer who contributed enormously to the Australian performing arts industry.

“Many fans will fondly remember Wendy for her role as Minnie Donovan, the formidable “Top Dog” of Wentworth Detention Centre in the iconic Australian television series Prisoner. Her portrayal of Minnie Donovan remains one of the memorable characters in the show’s history.

“Beyond television, Wendy was also highly respected for her extensive work in radio drama, performing in many radio plays throughout her career and bringing countless characters to life through her voice and storytelling.

"A few years ago, I had the great privilege of sitting down with Wendy for an interview on my podcast Talking Prisoner. It was an absolute honour to spend time with such a gracious, intelligent and elegant woman who shared wonderful stories about her life and career in the industry.

"Wendy was deeply respected by her peers and loved by audiences. Her contribution to Australian entertainment will never be forgotten.

"On behalf of myself and the entire Talking Prisoner community, we send our deepest condolences to Wendy’s family, friends and the many fans who admired her work.

"Wendy Playfair leaves behind a truly extraordinary legacy."

 

Actress

Rebecca Gibney, Erik Thomson, Angus McLaren, Jessica Marais, and Hugh Sheridan in Packed to the Rafters (2008)

Packed to the Rafters

7.5

TV Series

Moira Beckett

2013

1 episode

 

Alison Bell in Laid (2011)

Laid

7.2

TV Series

Old Lady

2011

1 episode

 

Richard Roxburgh in Rake (2010)

Rake

8.5

TV Series

Elspeth

2010

1 episode

 

Claudia Karvan, Matt King, and Rodger Corser in Spirited (2010)

Spirited

7.9

TV Series

Geisela Mackenzie

2010

1 episode

 

Charlotte Gainsbourg and Morgan Davies in The Tree (2010)

The Tree

6.5

Aunt Harriet

2010

 

Accidents Happen (2009)

Accidents Happen

6.0

Mrs. Smolensky

2009

 

Home and Away (1988)

Home and Away

5.1

TV Series

Audrey LongMrs. Grey

2005–2009

3 episodes

 

Jack Campbell, John Howard, Judith McGrath, Tammy Macintosh, John Waters, Andrew Supanz, and Mirrah Foulkes in All Saints (1998)

All Saints

7.1

TV Series

Gloria MayberryHannah 'Bubba' Rosen

2000–2003

2 episodes

 

Don't Blame the Koalas (2002)

Don't Blame the Koalas

7.6

TV Mini Series

Mrs. Smythe

2002

1 episode

 

Big Sky (1997)

Big Sky

7.2

TV Series

Mrs. Toohey

1997

1 episode

 

Gary Sweet in Cody (1994)

Cody

7.2

TV Series

Mrs. Unwin

1994

1 episode

 

Terra Nullius

5.4

Short

1993

 

Penny Cook, Lorrae Desmond, Grant Dodwell, Shane Porteous, Syd Heylen, Anne Tenney, Brian Wenzel, and Shane Withington in A Country Practice (1981)

A Country Practice

6.8

TV Series

Lillian PalmerGwen BowmanVal Jackson

1982–1992

5 episodes

 

Melissa Jaffer and Tim McKenzie in Swap Shop (1988)

Swap Shop

TV Series

1988–1990

 

Rebecca Gilling in Return to Eden (1986)

Return to Eden

7.1

TV Series

Rena McMaster

1986

8 episodes

 

Rachel Ward, Anna Crawford, Sean Garlick, Robin Mason, Bradley Meehan, Rebecca Rigg, and Richard Terrill in Fortress (1985)

Fortress

7.0

Old Woman

1985

 

Maggie Kirkpatrick in Prisoner (1979)

Prisoner

8.2

TV Series

Minnie DonovanMinnie

1983–1984

33 episodes

 

Lorraine Bayly in Carson's Law (1983)

Carson's Law

8.2

TV Series

Nola Douglas

1983

1 episode

 

Tim Elston and John Stanton in Bellamy (1981)

Bellamy

8.0

TV Mini Series

Milly

1981

1 episode

 

Judy McBurney, Tim Page, and Gwen Plumb in The Young Doctors (1976)

The Young Doctors

6.2

TV Series

Mrs. Steele

1980

1 episode

 

Glenview High (1977)

Glenview High

7.5

TV Series

1979

1 episode

 

Father, Dear Father in Australia (1978)

Father, Dear Father in Australia

6.4

TV Series

Mrs. Trown

1978

1 episode

 

Shimmering Light (1978)

Shimmering Light

4.9

TV Movie

Gwen Stuart

1978

 

Noni Hazlehurst and John Meillon in Bit Part (1978)

Bit Part

TV Movie

Emma

1978

 

Say You Want Me

7.1

TV Movie

1977

 

Number 96 (1972)

Number 96

7.2

TV Series

Mrs. Dawson

1977

2 episodes

 

Ride a Wild Pony (1975)

Ride a Wild Pony

6.1

Mrs. Quayle

1975

 

Things That Go Bump in the Night

TV Series

Audrey

1974

1 episode

 

The Evil Touch (1973)

The Evil Touch

6.9

TV Series

1974

1 episode

 

Matlock Police (1971)

Matlock Police

7.5

TV Series

Ethel Parker

1973

1 episode

 

Three to Go (1971)

Three to Go

5.8

Mother (segment "Judy")

1971

 

Hunter (1967)

Hunter

8.5

TV Series

Mrs. West

1968

1 episode

 

Homicide (1964)

Homicide

7.7

TV Series

Ann RadfordJennifer Chandler

1967–1968

2 episodes

 

Nigel Lovell and Sue Condon in Divorce Court (1967)

Divorce Court

TV Series

1967

1 episode

 

The Affair (1965)

The Affair

TV Movie

1965

 

Diana Davidson and Grant Taylor in The Funnel Web (1962)

The Funnel Web

TV Movie

Irene Charlton

1962

 

The Slaughter of St Theresa's Day (1960)

The Slaughter of St Theresa's Day

TV Movie

Wilma Cartwright

1960

 

Self

Talking Prisoner (2021)

Talking Prisoner

9.1

Podcast Series

Self

2022

1 episode

 

Unto You

TV Special

Self

1959

 

Archive Footage

Walt Disney in The Magical World of Disney (1954)

The Magical World of Disney

8.3

TV Series

Mrs. Quayle (archive footage)

1979

2 episodes

Lewis E. Lehrman obit

Remembering Lewis E. Lehrman (1938–2026)

 

He was not on the list.

With deep sadness and eternal hope, we announce the death of Lewis E. Lehrman, co-founder and co-chairman of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Lew passed on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, surrounded by his family, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 87.

Widely regarded as a renaissance man, Lew was the grandson of immigrants who over the course of an extraordinarily fruitful life achieved success as a businessman, civic leader, policy advocate, and philanthropist, while also making enduring contributions as a writer, historian, public intellectual, and institution builder. His greatest joy and happiness was in his 60-year marriage to his beloved wife Louise, and the family they created together, including five children—Leland, John, Thomas, Eliza, and Peter—fifteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, all of whom survive him. In his autobiography, Lew wrote that “my life—so much of what I cherish—is all about Louise. She made my life worth living.”

In the late 1980s, Lew formed a partnership with his friend Richard Gilder that would eventually create institutions and programs that would touch the lives of millions of people. Under Lew’s strategic direction, and fueled by Dick’s generous financial support, they built the Gilder Lehrman Collection, which would become the largest collection of rare American manuscripts in private hands in the country, and the core asset of their later initiatives. In 1990, partnering with Gettysburg College, Lew and Dick founded the Lincoln Prize, which because of its unprecedented size—$50,000—helped elevate the whole field of Abraham Lincoln and Civil War studies, as well as book prizes across the publishing world. In 1994, they founded the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to conduct their first teacher seminar, on the Transatlantic Slave Trade, led by David Brion Davis at Yale. Over the next thirty years, the Institute would grow and diversify to a point where Lew regarded it as his most important legacy, after his own family.

From childhood, Lew was a person of action and of ideas. A multi-sport athlete and natural leader as a schoolboy, Lew graduated from the Hill School in Pennsylvania and then Yale University, where he majored in History while also pursuing interests in literature, philosophy, and politics. He was awarded a Carnegie Teaching Fellowship in his final year at Yale, before completing an MA in History at Harvard, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. Though he suspended his promising academic career to return to help build the family business back home in Pennsylvania, and then to serve in the US Army, Lew never lost his deep interest in history and his passion for ideas at the highest level.

The family business emerged as “Rite Aid,” which went public in 1968, with Lew as President and largest shareowner. The company grew rapidly, growing ten-fold in just eight years. Lew continued as President until 1977, and Chair of the Executive Committee until 1981, when he resigned from all positions in order to run for Governor of New York.

Lew’s campaign for the governorship made history. A political outsider who had never held office, Lew earned the nomination of the Republican, Conservative and Statewide Independent parties and mounted a powerful campaign. To the surprise of many, Lew came within 3% of defeating the Democratic candidate, Mario Cuomo. Analysts afterwards noted that while Cuomo carried heavily Democratic New York City by a wide margin, Lew actually carried 53 of the 57 upstate counties. Significantly, supporters of both men recalled the high level of civility and intellectual exchange that characterized their debates. In later years the two men collaborated on historical projects centered on Abraham Lincoln, whom they both admired ardently.

Through the 1980s, Lew continued to offer policy advice on economic issues to members of the Reagan administration and Republican congressional leaders. At President Reagan’s request, Lew served for three years as the founding Chairman of Citizens for America, a national civic organization focused on economic and defense policies. Meanwhile, Lew remained involved with the Lehrman Institute, a think tank he had founded in 1972 to promote an interdisciplinary approach to the study of public policy and which had partnered with the Association Jacques Rueff to establish a Jacques Rueff Memorial Prize in honor of the French economist and statesman (and former Minister of Finance for Charles de Gaulle). Europe’s most eloquent proponent for the gold standard and monetary order, Rueff had become Lew’s most important intellectual mentor and a close friend during the 1970s. He also served on the boards of the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Manhattan Institute where he participated in the development of conservative economic and national defense policies. A steadfast advocate for a return to the gold standard, Lew co-authored with Rep. Ron Paul The Case for Gold: A Minority Report of the U.S. Gold Commission in 1982, a topic to which he would return repeatedly in his later writings. The broad range of Lew’s intellectual and cultural interests is reflected in the other institutions he supported. At various times, he served as Chair of the Yale University Committee on Humanities, and as a trustee of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Morgan Library, and the New-York Historical Society.

A major personal turning point came in the mid-1980s. Having become interested in Christianity while a student at Yale, over time Lew heard a calling to the Catholic Church. Born and raised Jewish, he studied the faith in depth and discussed his decision at length with friends and family, and then, perhaps also moved by meeting with Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1983, Lew was baptized and confirmed a Catholic at St. Thomas More Church in New York in 1985. He remained a devout Catholic to the end of his life, inspired by the witness of Pope Leo XIII, St. John Paul II, and St. Teresa of Calcutta, who influenced his thought and writings regarding the Declaration of Independence, the dignity of the human person, and Catholic social teaching.

In 1987 Lew returned to the business world, joining Morgan Stanley and eventually serving as Managing Director and chief operating officer of Morgan Stanley Asset Management. In that role, he oversaw investment portfolios for institutions and individuals, while developing new investment strategies particularly in international markets. Propelled by his success at Morgan Stanley, in 1990 he left to join as Chairman of Lehrman Bell Mueller Cannon, an economic forecasting and political analysis firm and to found his own investment company, Ten Squared, based in Greenwich, which was later succeeded by L. E. Lehrman & Company, the firm he headed until his death.

In 1997, Lew and Dick founded the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale and launched the Frederick Douglass Book Prize, to honor the best book in the field each year. At the same time, they decided to donate their collection of American documents, valued at more than $250 million, to the Gilder Lehrman Institute. They charged the Institute with using the Collection to improve the teaching and learning of American history at every level, from grade school through high school and college, and among the general public. Under the leadership of President James G. Basker, a Barnard College, Columbia University professor whom Lew and Dick recruited to join the effort, the Gilder Lehrman Institute has grown to become the nation’s leading nonprofit working in history and civics education, serving more than 38,000 schools and 107,000 teachers—and through them, more than 12 million K–12 students. It has become a national presence, serving schools in all fifty states.

With Lew’s encouragement, two more book prizes were added, the George Washington Prize in 2005 and the Military History Prize in 2013. Lew served on the boards of all four, every year bringing his wealth of knowledge and keen intellect to the selection process, and then delivering incisive remarks about the winning books at the awards ceremonies themselves. He thrived on the constant flow of new books and ideas, and the company of people who valued them as he did. In 2004, Lew and Dick, with their friend Roger Hertog, sponsored the Gilder Lehrman Institute in partnership with the New-York Historical Society to mount the largest exhibition ever devoted to Alexander Hamilton. To Lew’s delight, Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton won the inaugural George Washington Prize in 2005. And then in 2015 the Gilder Lehrman Institute began a partnership with Lin-Manuel Miranda and his family, and the producers of the Broadway musical Hamilton, to create “EDUHAM,” an educational program that by 2025 had brought the special drama of history through theater into the lives of more than one million students in New York City and across the country.

In these years, Lew also returned to his original vocation as an historian. In 2008 he authored Lincoln at Peoria, an important correction of the tendency among some historians to deny or downplay Lincoln’s opposition to slavery. In 2013, Lew published The American Founders and Lincoln “by littles”, both collections of earlier essays. Meanwhile, he wrote again on economic topics, including the enduring issues of inflation and monetary disorder, producing The True Gold Standard (2012) and Money, Gold, and History (2013). The books kept coming, including two with a focus on the virtues of great leaders in wartime: Churchill, Roosevelt, & Company: Studies in Character and Statecraft (2017) and Lincoln & Churchill: Statesmen at War (2018). Then, while fighting the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s disease, he offered his final work and autobiography, The Sum of It All (2023), calling special attention to the pivotal moment of his life, meeting his bride-to-be Louise, in a chapter titled “Walking West on East 80th.” One often found Lew happiest writing from and hosting family and friends at the homestead farm that he and Louise so joyfully nurtured over fifty years in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, which lies some 30 minutes from Gettysburg, and whose hallowed battlefield and speech by Lincoln encouraged him to the end.

Lew received many honors in his lifetime, including honorary degrees from Babson College, Marymount University (VA), St. Thomas Aquinas College, Lincoln College (IL), and Gettysburg College. Among other recognitions, he received the Cardinal Cooke Award for service to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, as well as the William E. Simon Prize for Social Entrepreneurship from the Manhattan Institute and the Alexander Hamilton Legacy Award from the New York State Society of the Cincinnati. Crowning all of them was the National Humanities Medal, presented to Lew in the White House by President George W. Bush in 2005.

Lew remained all his life committed to education through institutions he built and led, and through his own writing, teaching, and mentoring of students of all ages. He lectured and taught at Yale, Oxford, Notre Dame, Gettysburg College, and countless other colleges and schools. At the Gilder Lehrman Collection, he rejoiced in personally showing student groups his favorite documents by Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Alexander Hamilton, and others. He offered mentorship and encouragement to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other young people, whether the children of friends or the less privileged young people he met while lecturing and making public appearances.

Lew’s character, talent, and warm personality attracted the admiration of all who met him, from presidents and professors, to working people and schoolchildren. Those who worked for him tended to remain loyal and stay with him for many years, even decades. The same was true of his innumerable friendships, formed from childhood through his long career and into the last years of his life. Lew will be deeply missed by all those who knew him, and by the millions of others who benefited from his lifetime of good works.

Lew was supported in his final years by a team of dedicated nurses and caregivers, who were closely attentive to both his physical and spiritual wellbeing. To them the Lehrman family is forever grateful. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer (869 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10065) on Saturday, April 11 at 10:30 a.m.