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."

Tom Brown obit

Lions say Canadian Football Hall of Famer Tom Brown has died at age 89

 He was not on the list.

VANCOUVER — Canadian Football Hall of Famer Tom Brown, a three-time CFL all-star who won a Grey Cup with the B.C. Lions in 1964, has died, the team said Monday. He was 89.

A two-time winner of the CFL’s top lineman award, Brown played in 97 regular-season games with the Lions from 1961 to 1967.

“In addition to being one of the best defensive players in our team’s history, Tom played a major role in helping the B.C. Lions take the next step in becoming champions,” Lions director of community partnerships Jamie Taras said in a statement.

Brown was a part of the Lions’ defensive unit known as the “Head Hunters.” He also played in the 1963 Grey Cup before helping the Lions win their first league championship the following year.

There was no immediate word on the timing or cause of death. Funeral arrangements weren’t available.

“A great player, teammate, and family man, he will be missed by our organization a great deal,” Taras said. “Our thoughts go out to his wife, Marnie, and their entire family at this difficult time.”

Brown is a charter member of the BC Lions Wall of Fame. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1984 and the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.

Brown played high school football in Minneapolis and helped the University of Minnesota Gophers to a national college title in 1960.

The Heisman Trophy runner-up was drafted by the Baltimore Colts but instead chose to sign a three-year contract with the Lions.

He played collegiately at the University of Minnesota, and won the Outland Trophy in 1960 as the nation's best lineman.

Awards and highlights

Grey Cup champion (1964)

2× CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award (1963, 1964)

Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (1964)

3× DeMarco–Becket Memorial Trophy (1962, 1963, 1964)

3× CFL All-Star (1962, 1963, 1964)

3× CFL West All-Star (1962, 1963, 1964)

National champion (1960)

Outland Trophy (1960)

UPI Lineman of the Year (1960)

Unanimous All-American (1960)

Chicago Tribune Silver Football (1960)

First-team All-Big Ten (1960)

Second-team All-Big Ten (1959)

Canadian Football Hall of Fame (Class of 1984)

College Football Hall of Fame

Orion Samuelson obit

Chicago broadcast legend Orion Samuelson dies at 91

 He was not on the list.

CHICAGO — Chicago has lost a broadcasting legend. And farmers across America have lost an advocate and friend.

Orion Samuelson died Monday, WGN Radio announced.

Samuelson brought agriculture to life through his decades of reports on WGN Radio and television. 

Samuelson spent 60 years broadcasting until his retirement in 2020.

He grew up on his family’s dairy farm in Wisconsin, then went into the radio business.

He joined WGN Radio in 1960 and announced the news of President Kennedy’s Assassination.

He hosted a show called Top of the Morning on WGNTV during the 1960s.

Samuelson went on to host a farm show with Max Armstrong that was syndicated to 150 small TV markets across the country.

His love of the farming beat took him to 44 countries over the years. He was known  as “the American farmer’s best friend” and is in the Radio Hall of Fame.

Samuelson would have been 92 on March 31.

He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003.

Samuelson was born on a dairy farm in Ontario, Wisconsin, near LaCrosse. Growing up on the farm Samuelson was expected to take over the family business, but a leg disease made it impossible to do heavy work. He considered becoming a Lutheran pastor before deciding on six months of radio school. His early work was based in Wisconsin, at WKLJ in Sparta, WHBY in Appleton, and WBAY-TV/AM in Green Bay.

Samuelson was heard on WGN radio in Chicago for sixty years as the station's head agriculture broadcaster from 1960 through 2020, getting the job after his predecessor Norm Kraft abruptly resigned from his position on-air. In May 1960, one of Mr. Samuelson's first assignments for WGN was to emcee the National Barn Dance, a long running program that WGN had just acquired when WLS radio discontinued its association with Prairie Farmer magazine. WLS had converted to "The Station With Personality" and started playing rock 'n' roll. Three years into his tenure at WGN, Samuelson was the staffer who read the news of the John F. Kennedy assassination. His career led him to have dinner at the White House and travel to 43 countries  including Cuba, where he shook hands with Fidel Castro, Moscow where he met with Mikhail Gorbachev, and England to broadcast live from the Royal Agricultural Show. He traveled with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Prime Minister of India to see the Taj Mahal. He interviewed and/or met every US president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Donald Trump, including John F. Kennedy (when he was still a Senator), Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, and additionally, after he was 20 years out of the Oval Office, Harry S. Truman.

During the 1960s, Samuelson hosted an early-morning show on WGN-TV, Top 'O' the Morning, first with organist Harold Turner, then with Max Armstrong. From 1975 to 2005, Samuelson was the host of U.S. Farm Report, a weekly television newsmagazine dedicated to agriculture. U.S. Farm Report continued without Samuelson after his departure. Samuelson hosted a similar show, This Week in Agribusiness, along with his longtime collaborator Max Armstrong, until his retirement, and continues to make occasional commentaries on that show with Armstrong as host. Both shows aired on 190 Midwest stations via first-run syndication.

Politically, Samuelson was a Republican; he supported the production of ethanol fuel from corn, to help American farmers. In 2004, Dennis Hastert approached Samuelson about running for office against Barack Obama in the 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois; Samuelson, though he was eager to enter the race, was forced to decline due a throat infection that doctors and his wife warned would be fatal if he attempted the campaign.

On the lighter side, Samuelson and a studio group dubbed the "Uff da Band" once recorded covers of Yogi Yorgesson's novelty songs I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas and Yingle Bells. Samuelson held the same position in the broadcasting industry for 60 consecutive years through 2020, second only to Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network announcer Vin Scully.

In 2001, Samuelson was named a laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and was awarded the Order of Lincoln – the highest award bestowed by the State of Illinois. The University of Illinois presented Samuelson with the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters. He was honored at the 2010 Wisconsin Corn/Soy Expo in Wisconsin Dells. Samuelson received a custom-engraved Norwegian horse plaque to commemorate the occasion from presidents of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, the Wisconsin Soybean Association, the Wisconsin Agri-Services Association, and the Wisconsin Pork Association. On December 9, 2010, the southwest corner of E. Illinois St. & N. Cityfront Plaza Dr. was named 'Orion Samuelson Way' by the city of Chicago. In 2014 he was awarded the VERITAS award by American Agri-Women (AAW) Organization

Kiki Shepard obit

Kiki ShepardDead at 74

 She was not on the list.

Kiki Shepard -- the longtime cohost of the legendary music showcase "Showtime at the Apollo" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

LaShirl Smith, Kiki's rep, tells TMZ ... she suffered a massive heart attack in Los Angeles on Monday, adding her passing was completely unexpected.

Shepard became a familiar face to millions of viewers during her long run on "Showtime at the Apollo" from 1987 to 2002, where she shared the stage with Steve Harvey and helped introduce aspiring performers at the iconic Harlem theater.

Over the years, she continued working in television with appearances on shows including "A Different World," "Baywatch," "Baywatch Nights," "NYPD Blue," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Mind Your Business." She also appeared in the film "Blackjack Christmas."

She later made her mark on Broadway, appearing in productions like "Bubbling Brown Sugar," "Reggae," "Your Arms Too Short to Box With God," and "Porgy and Bess."

Her career in entertainment began long before Apollo. She started out as a professional dancer in the early 1970s, performing around the world, including with the D.C. Repertory Dance Company.

 

Kiki was 74.

 

RIP

Actress

Highly Favored (2025)

Highly Favored

TV Series

Lavesta Crawley

2025

 

Rolonda Watts, Drew Sidora, Caryn Ward, BeBe Winans, Chloe Elise Ellis, Columbus Short, Brely Evans, and Bryce Xavier in Mind Your Business (2024)

Mind Your Business

7.3

TV Series

Mildred

2024–2025

7 episodes

 

James Pickens Jr., Ellen Pompeo, and Chandra Wilson in Grey's Anatomy (2005)

Grey's Anatomy

7.6

TV Series

Erika Desai

2024

1 episode

 

Adam Lazarre-White, Charmin Lee, Dawnn Lewis, and Leigh-Ann Rose in Blackjack Christmas (2022)

Blackjack Christmas

6.0

Yollette

2022

 

Obba Babatundé and Kenya Moore in Dolls of Voodoo (2013)

Dolls of Voodoo

3.3

2013

 

E-Day

Short

Doreen Quibbs

2011

 

Tichina Arnold, Terry Crews, Tequan Richmond, Vincent Martella, Tyler James Williams, and Imani Hakim in Everybody Hates Chris (2005)

Everybody Hates Chris

7.6

TV Series

Kiki Shepard

2009

1 episode

 

Kiki Shepard in Sunday Evening Haircut (2005)

Sunday Evening Haircut

9.9

Short

Althea

2005

 

Live in Hollywood

TV Series

Host

2003

 

Jamal the Funny Frog: Beach (2002)

Jamal the Funny Frog: Beach

TV Short

Polly, Oyster #1

2002

 

Jamal the Funny Frog: Dentist (2002)

Jamal the Funny Frog: Dentist

TV Short

Polly

2002

 

Showtime

TV Series

Co-Host

2002

 

Kathleen Quinlan, Julie Warner, Tony Danza, Christopher McDonald, and Dixie Carter in Family Law (1999)

Family Law

6.7

TV Series

Martha Morgan

2002

1 episode

 

NYPD Blue (1993)

NYPD Blue

7.8

TV Series

Marta

2001–2002

3 episodes

 

Mike O'Malley, Anthony Clark, Jean Louisa Kelly, and Liza Snyder in Yes, Dear (2000)

Yes, Dear

6.9

TV Series

Ticket Agent

2001

1 episode

 

Oh Yeah! Cartoons (1998)

Oh Yeah! Cartoons

7.3

TV Series

NaomiPollySun

1998

2 episodes

 

Conan the Adventurer (1997)

Conan the Adventurer

5.1

TV Series

Baru

1998

1 episode

 

Miss Evers' Boys (1997)

Miss Evers' Boys

7.1

TV Movie

Sadie

1997

 

David Hasselhoff in Baywatch Nights (1995)

Baywatch Nights

3.8

TV Series

Madame TrudorCharlene

1995–1996

2 episodes

 

Hulk Hogan, Felicity Waterman, and Robin Weisman in Thunder in Paradise (1994)

Thunder in Paradise

5.4

TV Series

Trelawny

1994

10 episodes

 

Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, David Hasselhoff, David Chokachi, Gena Lee Nolin, and Jaason Simmons in Baywatch (1989)

Baywatch

5.5

TV Series

Sophie Jones

1993

2 episodes

 

Kim Delaney in Lady Boss (1992)

Lady Boss

5.2

TV Mini Series

Warner Franklin

1992

 

Jasmine Guy, Sinbad, Darryl M. Bell, Charnele Brown, Kadeem Hardison, Dawnn Lewis, Lou Myers, Cree Summer, and Glynn Turman in A Different World (1987)

A Different World

7.1

TV Series

Dr. SutherlandVanna Black

1991–1992

2 episodes

 

Danny Glover, Forest Whitaker, Robin Givens, and Gregory Hines in A Rage in Harlem (1991)

A Rage in Harlem

5.9

Chorus Dancer

1991

 

Richard Gere in The Cotton Club (1984)

The Cotton Club

6.6

Dancer

1984

 

Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Ted Ross, and Nipsey Russell in The Wiz (1978)

The Wiz

5.7

Emerald City Citizen (uncredited)

1978

 

Choreography

Hairspray (1988)

Hairspray

7.0

assistant choreographer

1988

 

Showtime at the Apollo (1987)

Showtime at the Apollo

6.7

TV Series

choreographer

1987

1 episode

 

Producer

Highly Favored (2025)

Highly Favored

TV Series

producer

2025

 

Thanks

A Good Death (2025)

A Good Death

Short

Very Special Thanks

2025

 

Marcus B Caribbean Comedy Series

Video

special thanks

2012

 

COC Elite (2009)

COC Elite

TV Series

special thanks

2009

1 episode

 

Self

Golden Hearted

Self

Completed

 

Sherri Shepherd in Sherri (2022)

Sherri

5.7

TV Series

Self

2023–2024

2 episodes

 

The Big Scoop with Coop (2014)

The Big Scoop with Coop

7.8

TV Series

Self

2024

1 episode

 

Josh Gates in Josh Gates Tonight (2020)

Josh Gates Tonight

8.0

TV Series

Self

2020

1 episode

 

Bj Korros in The Hollywood Moment at Home Edition (2020)

The Hollywood Moment at Home Edition

1.5

TV Series

Self

2020

1 episode

 

Celebrity Poker Gala (2020)

Celebrity Poker Gala

TV Series

Self - Celebrity

2020

 

Music and Medicine (2020)

Music and Medicine

Podcast Series

Self

2020

 

To Her Own Rhythm (2015)

To Her Own Rhythm

Self

2015

 

David L. Roberts in Who Makes Movies? (2005)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House

6.2

Self

2013

 

Straight from the Horses Mouth (2009)

Straight from the Horses Mouth

6.5

Video

Self

2009

 

Celebrities in the Basement (2008)

Celebrities in the Basement

TV Series

Self - interviewee

2008

2 episodes

 

In the Cutz (2005)

In the Cutz

5.0

TV Series

Self

2006

1 episode

 

Bid Whist Party Throwdown

8.7

TV Series

Self - Host

2005–2006

4 episodes

 

Showtime

TV Series

Self

2002–2003

19 episodes

 

Showtime in Harlem II

TV Series

Self

2003

 

Showtime at the Apollo (1987)

Showtime at the Apollo

6.7

TV Series

Self - Co-Host

1987–2002

97 episodes

 

Archive Footage

Carol Alt, Hulk Hogan, and Chris Lemmon in Thunder in Paradise II (1994)

Thunder in Paradise II

4.4

Video

Trelawny (archive footage)

1994

 

Bob Tullius obit

IMSA Mourns Loss of Hall of Famer Bob Tullius at Age 95

 

He was not on the list.

SEBRING, Fla. – IMSA Hall of Famer Robert Charles “Bob” Tullius, a success on the race track and an innovator away from it, died Monday at age 95 in Port Orange, Fla. – only a few miles from Daytona International Speedway which fueled so many of his dreams and achievements over decades of dedication to auto racing.

“Bob Tullius was one of the true originals in American sports car racing,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “He was a visionary competitor, a gifted team leader, and a gentleman whose presence elevated every paddock he entered. His success with Group 44 and his decades of innovation and excellence left an unmistakable imprint on IMSA’s history and on the countless people he inspired along the way.

“We mourn the loss of a Hall of Famer, a pioneer, and a dear friend to our community. On behalf of everyone at IMSA, we extend our deepest condolences to Bob’s family, friends, former teammates, and the many fans who cherished his remarkable legacy.”

One of motorsport’s esteemed multi-Hall of Famers, Tullius co-founded the iconic Group 44 team where he earned 10 IMSA GTP class wins as a driver in his famed Jaguar XJR-5s and XJR-7s in the mid-1980s – a time when he also claimed a treasured GTP class victory in the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans. His final win as a driver came a year later in the 1986 three-hour race at Daytona.

Years earlier, the versatile talent Tullius even entered the 1973 Daytona 500, but did not qualify for the race after being collected in a multi-car crash during a qualifying race.

Certainly, this penchant for earning headlines was evident from his earliest days in the sport – a bold career choice necessitated when his supervisor at the Kodak Company where he worked in the 1960s told him he must pick between his day job there or his “night job” on the race track.

Ultimately, that decision proved correct and Tullius’ contributions to racing history began in earnest in 1966, when he drove a Dodge Dart to victory in the inaugural SCCA Trans Am Series race at Sebring International Raceway – then a “support event” to the world-renowned Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, where so much of the racing world’s attention is focused for this Saturday’s historic 74th running.

In all, Tullius won 21 times in a multi-year tenure in Trans Am primarily driving Triumphs and he was fittingly, not only among the inaugural Trans Am Hall of Fame class but was the very first person inducted in an esteemed group that included fellow honorees Roger Penske and the late Parnelli Jones.

In its 25-years, Tulius’ Group 44 – also co-founded by Brian Fuerstenau and fellow New York native Dick Gilmartin – combined for 14 national titles and more than 300 wins in the IMSA GTP endurance races, SCCA Club Races and SCCA Trans Am Series. He fielded the car that another IMSA legend, Hurley Haywood, drove to the 1988 Trans Am title.

Tullius earned legendary status for the versatility and success he showed behind the wheel, but it was absolutely equaled by his next-level business-acumen out of the cockpit.

After his racing career, Tullius focused on team promotion and public relations. He proved the value of having a strategic and skilled public relations department long before that was such an integral part of race team organization. And he was especially proud of the attention he brought and the professionalism he expected in that aspect of the sport – demonstrating the great benefits of acquiring major long-term corporate sponsors.

“We started the practice of reaching out to the press, auto dealerships and sponsor affiliates,” Tullius told RACER Magazine. “My staff were the first real marketing professionals in motorsports. We had a PR team and would go into markets in advance of races with promotional materials for stores, TV, radio and newspapers. It was 24-7 leg work.”

For his efforts on track and beyond, Tullius was inducted into the Sebring Hall of Fame in 2014, the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2015, the British Sports Car Hall of Fame in 2017, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2018. He was inducted into the IMSA Hall of Fame in 2025.

Not surprisingly, the reaction from the racing world to news of Tullius’ passing has provoked massive amounts of tributes. So many wanting to show their respect, with the word, “legend” the recurring theme.

“On a very personal note, Bob was a lifelong hero of mine,” Doonan said. “Bob and my grandfather (John W. Doonan) were very close friends and met – just by chance – in a London restaurant on their way back to the states from Le Mans.  Because they both lived in the same area of Virginia/Maryland, they shared racing stories, plane stories, car stories, and true friendship from then on.

“I first met Bob at the IMSA 500-mile race at Road America in 1982, a day I will never forget.  My last visit with Bob was last year at his Florida home when we presented him his IMSA Hall of Fame medal.  Rarely does it come to be that one gets the chance to induct one of their heroes into the Hall of Fame.  In this case, I cherish the fact that I could.”

Tullius is survived by his daughter, his daughter in law, his eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren and was preceded in death by his son, Russel.

A celebration of life will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to the Humane Society in Tullius’ name.

Len Deighton obit

Len Deighton, spy novelist and author of The Ipcress File, dies aged 97

British writer brought wit, realism and class consciousness to cold war espionage fiction, reshaping the genre in the 1960s 

He was not on the list.

Len Deighton, the British author whose subversive spy novels helped redefine the genre in the 1960s, has died aged 97.

Best known for his debut, The Ipcress File, Deighton went on to write more than 30 books over a career spanning four decades, establishing himself as one of the most distinctive voices in postwar fiction. His work, often compared to that of John le Carré, combined meticulous research with wit and sharp observations about class and bureaucracy.

Published in 1962, The Ipcress File was an immediate success, selling millions of copies worldwide. It introduced readers to an unnamed sardonic working-class intelligence officer who stood in stark contrast to the glamorous archetype embodied by Ian Fleming’s James Bond (Dr No, the first in the Bond film series, was released in the same year).

The novel’s success led to a film adaptation in 1965, starring Michael Caine in what would become a defining role. Caine reprised the character – now named Harry Palmer – in subsequent films. Decades later, the story was revisited in a 2022 television adaptation starring Peaky Blinders’ Joe Cole.

The author was born Leonard Cyril Deighton in Marylebone, London, in 1929. His father was a chauffeur and mechanic, and his mother was a hotel cook. As a child growing up in wartime London, Deighton saw his neighbour, the pro-Nazi spy Anna Wolkoff, arrested – a real-life drama that may have inspired the kinds of plots he would later construct in his novels.

Deighton’s education was disrupted by the second world war, during which he was moved to an emergency school. After leaving school, he worked as a railway clerk before national service with the Royal Air Force. After his demobilisation, he used a grant to study at Saint Martin’s School of Art and later the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1955.

Before turning to fiction, Deighton pursued a varied career. He worked as a flight attendant for British Overseas Airways Corporation and later as an illustrator in London and New York, producing advertising and designing more than 200 book covers. Among these was the first UK edition of On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

His interest in food also became a significant strand of his career. He had worked as a sous chef at the Royal Festival Hall, and later developed what became known as the “cookstrip” – a cartoon-style guide to cooking. These were published in a series for the Observer, helping to popularise Mediterranean cuisine in Britain, and anthologised in two books, Action Cook Book (1965) and Où Est Le Garlic? (1965).

Deighton started writing The Ipcress File while on an extended stay in the Dordogne region of France in 1960. Its success launched a prolific writing career that included numerous bestselling novels, many featuring recurring characters and interlinked storylines.

Deighton’s fiction often drew praise for its complex narrative structure. When he first submitted The Ipcress File to Jonathan Cape, the publisher of Ian Fleming, he was encouraged to simplify it; instead, he took the manuscript to Hodder & Stoughton.

His work also stood apart in the genre for its realism. In contrast to the exoticism associated with much earlier spy fiction, his novels emphasised bureaucracy, institutional rivalries and the moral ambiguities of intelligence work. He also included footnotes on the arcane details of spycraft. “Deighton reinvented the spy thriller, bringing in a new air of authenticity and playing with its form,” wrote Jeremy Duns in the Guardian in 2009.

Deighton became increasingly private towards the end of his career. He was married twice, first to the illustrator Shirley Thompson and later to Ysabelle de Ranitz, with whom he had two sons.

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.

Paul A. Geremia obit

Paul A. Geremia

April 21, 1944 - March 14, 2026 

He was not on the list.

Paul Albert Geremia of Providence, died peacefully on March 14 with loved ones by his side. A master of acoustic blues, Paul spent more than 55 years performing, writing, and recording. He recorded 11 albums, received a Grammy nomination in 2002, and was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Born, as he liked to say, in the Providence River Delta, he was known for his wit, storytelling, and deep devotion to the blues. He was predeceased by his parents, Albert C. Geremia and Anne Ciaccia Geremia, and his sister, Linda Geremia Holmes. He is survived by his nieces, Amy Holmes-Hughes and Kelly Holmes-Hollinger; his great-nephews, Jackson, Trenton, Kaden Hollinger, and Logan Hughes and by Janet Isserlis. In lieu of flowers, donations in Paul’s memory may be made to Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center or HopeHealth Hospice.

Achievements

Geremia's rendition of Fred McDowell's "Get Right Church" was the opening track on Preachin’ the Blues: The Music of Mississippi Fred McDowell (Telarc), which earned a Grammy Award nomination in 2002.

Two of his Red House releases, Gamblin’ Woman Blues and Self Portrait in Blues, were both nominated for W.C. Handy Awards.

Geremia was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in 2013

Discography

Just Enough (Folkways Records, 1968)

Paul Geremia (Sire Records, 1971)

Hard Life Rockin' Chair (Adelphi Records, 1973)

I Really Don't Mind Livin' (Flying Fish Records, 1982)

My Kinda Place (Flying Fish, 1986)

Gamblin' Woman Blues (Shamrock Records, 1992)

Self Portrait in Blues (Shamrock Records, 1994)

Live From Uncle Sam's Backyard (Red House, 1997)

The Devil's Music (Red House, 1999)

Love, Murder and Mosquitos (Red House, 2004)

Love My Stuff (Red House, 2011)

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.’”