Audrey Beth Davis obit

Audrey Beth Davis Dies: Retired Entertainment Publicist Was 82

 

She was not on the list.

Audrey Beth Davis, a retired entertainment publicist who worked with The Lippin Group, has died. She was 82.

Davis’ colleagues from Lippin announced that she died of natural causes on Friday in Pennsylvania, surrounded by friends, family and caregivers.

Born Oct. 17, 1943 in Brooklyn, Davis graduated from Midwood High School in 1960 before going on to work for producer Goodson Todman on The Match Game.

Transitioning to public relations, Davis joined Stone Assocates in the 1970s before joining partner Dick Lippin‘s new company Lippin & Grant, which became The Lippin Group. She stayed with the firm until her retirement in 2008.

During her tenure as a television publicist, Davis worked on shows like The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, The Love Boat, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and more.

Davis is survived by sister Rhonda and husband Jim, sister Sharon, niece Rebecca and husband Konrad, nephew Hank and wife Karen, and great nieces and nephews Jake, Sarah, Zoe and Hannah. In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to St. Francis Home.

Jojje Wadenius obit

Popular musician Jojje Wadenius has died

Daughter: “Sudden death”

 He was not on the list.

Musician Georg "Jojje" Wadenius has died.

His daughters confirm this in a statement.

Wadenius turned 80 years old.

Georg "Jojje" Wadenius was active in several different genres, including music for children.

He has both written the music and sung famous children's songs. Wadenius has released the children's albums "Good' good'" and "Kiss, kiss, true, true" with lyrics by Barbro Lindgren .

He is behind the theme song for the children's program "Kalle's Climbing Tree" and the music in "The Uncle Who Doesn't Want to Be Big".

Played in several famous bands

Wadenius has played in the Swedish groups Made in Sweden and Solar Plexus as well as the American jazz rock group Blood, Sweat & Tears .

Wadenius co-founded Made in Sweden in 1968 and began playing in Solar Plexus in 1971.

The following year he moved on to Blood, Sweat & Tears, which he was a part of for four years.

He later helped restart Made in Sweden, then with Tommy Körberg as a permanent member, writes TT.

Collaborated with many stars

His international career as a musician took off after he moved to the United States in the late 70s.

For several years he was part of the house band of one of American television's most iconic shows, "Saturday Night Live," where he played with stars such as Aretha Franklin and James Brown .

During the 80s, he toured with artists such as Luther Vandross , Simon & Garfunkel , and Diana Ross.

Wadenius was a frequently hired studio musician. He has made appearances on Backstreet Boys ' "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" and Kent's "Sverige", among others.

He has also collaborated with Pugh Rogefeldt , Cornelis Vreeswijk and Siw Malmkvist .

Jojje Wadenius was active as a musician until the end. Just six days ago he was on stage with Helen Sjöholm .

Daughters' grief

He leaves behind two daughters, Annika Wadenius Erlich and Jennifer Gilman.

Annika Wadenius Erlich writes about the death on Facebook.

"It is with great sadness that Jennifer Gilman and I share the news of the sudden passing of our father Georg Wadenius. Our family will share more information about memorial services and ways to honor his legacy and memory soon."

Jojje Wadenius was 80 years old.

Seymour Bernstein obit

Seymour Bernstein

Pianist, composer, teacher, and author 

April 24, 1927 – April 30, 2026

He was not on the list.

A pianist, composer, and revered pedagogue who famously traded the prestige of the concert stage for the intimacy of the classroom at the height of his career, Seymour Bernstein died on April 30, 2026, in Damariscotta, Maine. He was 99.

The defining choice of his life arrived in 1977. At the age of 50, Bernstein was a celebrated performer who had made his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, playing the world premiere of Heitor Villa-Lobos's Piano Concerto No. 2. Yet, at the peak of his public career, he abruptly retired from the concert stage. He chose to retreat to a one-room rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a space that served as both his home and studio for over 50 years. This decision was not a surrender but a profound pivot toward teaching and composing, driven by his belief that the social world is unpredictable, whereas art provides a predictable foundation to direct into everyday life.

His path to that quiet Manhattan studio began in Newark, New Jersey, where he discovered the piano at his aunt's house. By age 15, he was already supervising the practice of younger pupils under the guidance of his teacher Clara Husserl. Two years later, he won the Griffith Artist Award, gaining local fame as a performer before graduating from Weequahic High School in 1945. His understanding of music's deeper purpose crystallized during the Korean War. Serving in the U.S. Army, he gave concerts on the front lines and for top military leaders. This experience cemented his conviction that music was a vital force for connection, capable of dispelling loneliness and discontent.

Following the war, Bernstein studied with a staggering roster of legendary musicians, including Alexander Brailowsky, Sir Clifford Curzon, George Enescu, and Nadia Boulanger, as noted by Wise Music Classical. Despite this exposure to the grandeur of the classical elite, he remained grounded in his belief that true artistry required profound personal authenticity. He often stated that his primary ambition in teaching was to amalgamate the musician with the person so that they were one and the same. If a student felt inadequate as a musician, he warned, they would inevitably feel inadequate as a person.

This philosophy defined his long tenure as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Music and Music Education at New York University and permeated his influential book, "With Your Own Two Hands: Self-Discovery Through Music," which has been translated into multiple languages. His quiet dedication eventually caught the attention of actor Ethan Hawke, who directed the critically acclaimed documentary "Seymour: An Introduction," according to The New York Times. The film brought Bernstein a late-life resolution, introducing his gentle wisdom to a global audience and earning him an honorary doctorate from Shenandoah University. As he reflected on his journey, he observed that music, like life, is about dissonances, harmonies, and resolution, noting that one cannot truly enjoy the resolution without first experiencing the dissonance.

Seymour Bernstein leaves behind a legacy that transcends the notes on a page. He will be remembered not merely as a prodigy who conquered the concert hall, but as a master teacher who recognized that the ultimate masterpiece a musician can craft is their own character. By stepping out of the spotlight, he illuminated the lives of countless students, proving that the most profound artistic triumphs often happen in the quietest rooms.

Gwen Farrell obit

'M*A*S*H'Actress Gwen Farrell Adair Dead at 94

She was not on the list. 

Key points

Gwen Farrell Adair, an actress known for multiple roles on M*A*S*H who later became a boxing referee, has died at 94.

Adair portrayed several different nurses across the show's 11-season run.

She also appeared in movies like The Towering Inferno and Coffy.

Gwen Farrell Adair, the actress best known for her performances on M*A*S*H, has died. She was 94.

The actress' son, Keith Farrell, confirmed his mother's death in a GoFundMe page established to help cover funeral costs.

"Beyond her accomplishments, Gwen was so much more to her family," her loved ones wrote in the GoFundMe description. "She was a grandmother, a guiding light, and a steady source of love and wisdom. She had a way of making those around her feel supported, understood, and cared for without needing recognition."

Her family continued, "Her passing leaves a deep void in our hearts, one that cannot be filled. We will miss her voice, her strength, and the quiet comfort she brought into our lives. While we are heartbroken, we are also incredibly grateful for the life she lived and the legacy she leaves behind."

Deadline reported that the actress died of natural causes in Sherman Oaks, Calif., on Thursday.

Born in Austin in 1972, Adair made her screen debut in the second episode of M*A*S*H in 1972, playing an uncredited nurse. She went on to appear in over a dozen episodes in the medical dramedy's first season, and was later credited as Nurse Butler, Nurse Wilson, Lt. Baker, Nurse Able, Nurse Gwen, and an anesthetist across seven more of the show's 11 seasons.

Adair also made her film debut in 1972 in the blaxploitation movie Black Gunn. She went on to appear in small roles in films like The Towering Inferno, Coffy, Soylent Green, Earthquake, and Billy Jack Goes to Washington. She also acted in a 1975 episode of Starsky & Hutch.

Adair switched up her career in 1980 when she entered the boxing world as a referee. "With confidence, fairness, and unwavering composure, she earned the respect of fighters, trainers, and fans alike," her family wrote in the GoFundMe description. "She didn't just do the job; she broke barriers and proved that strength comes in many forms."

The actress' family asked for financial support in the wake of her death. "As we navigate this difficult time, we are asking for support to help cover funeral and memorial expenses, as well as any related costs that come with laying a loved one to rest with the honor and dignity she deserves," they wrote. "Any contribution, no matter the size, means so much to our family. If you are unable to donate, we truly appreciate you sharing this page and keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers."

The family added, "We are deeply grateful for the love and support during this time of grief."

 

Actress

Alan Alda, David Ogden Stiers, Gary Burghoff, William Christopher, Jamie Farr, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, and Loretta Swit in M*A*S*H (1972)

M*A*S*H

8.5

TV Series

NurseNurse WilsonNurse Gwen ...

1972–1983

26 episodes

 

Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977)

Billy Jack Goes to Washington

4.5

Reporter

1977

 

Starsky and Hutch (1975)

Starsky and Hutch

7.0

TV Series

Diane Sills (uncredited)

1975

1 episode

 

Fred Astaire, William Holden, Paul Newman, Richard Chamberlain, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, O.J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner, Susan Blakely, and Jennifer Jones in The Towering Inferno (1974)

The Towering Inferno

7.0

Party Guest (uncredited)

1974

 

Charlton Heston, Victoria Principal, Geneviève Bujold, Ava Gardner, Lorne Greene, George Kennedy, Marjoe Gortner, Lloyd Nolan, Richard Roundtree, and Barry Sullivan in Earthquake (1974)

Earthquake

5.9

Woman in Street (uncredited)

1974

 

Pam Grier in Coffy (1973)

Coffy

6.8

Waitress in Club (uncredited)

1973

 

Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Joseph Cotten, Chuck Connors, Richard Fleischer, Paula Kelly, Brock Peters, Walter Seltzer, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Russell Thacher in Soylent Green (1973)

Soylent Green

7.0

Woman in Confessional Line (uncredited)

1973

 

Black Gunn (1972)

Black Gunn

5.8

Woman at B.A.G. Headquarters (uncredited)

1972

 

Self

ESPN Top Rank Boxing (1980)

ESPN Top Rank Boxing

7.4

TV Series

Self - Referee (as Gwen Adair)

1993

1 episode

 

Art Becker obit

Former Arizona State basketball, ABA star Art Becker dies at 84

 

He was not on the list.

Art Becker, who starred on Arizona State's basketball teams in the early 1960s and later became a two-time ABA All-Star, died on April 30. He was 84.

Becker died at his Tempe home under hospice care surrounded by family, said his wife, Lynn.

Becker also had two stints as head men's basketball coach at Scottsdale Community College (1974-81 and 1993-96), where he also served as athletic director. Becker's son Mark was the star center on Tempe McClintock's 1986 state basketball championship team.

Art Becker had battled prostate cancer for 25 years, Lynn said, and was recently diagnosed with leukemia.

"Many of the coaches from Scottsdale tell the same story," she said. "Many of them never had the chance to be a head coach until Art hired them. People like B.B. Fontenet and Bike Medder. All those people are so grateful and indebted to Art for that."

Fontenet played for SCC's men's team. Medder coached the women's basketball team at the college.

Joe Caldwell, Becker's ASU teammate in the 1960s, visited Art every day in the last few weeks, Lynn said.

"Joe calls Art his brother," Lynn said. "He's been by every day to see his brother. So touching."

Becker, who played his high school basketball at Phoenix Camelback, where he was a 6-foot-7 forward, has been inducted into several halls of fame, including Arizona State in 1989 and Scottsdale Community College in 2016, as well as the National Alliance of Two-Year Collegiate Athletic Administrators in 2016.

He averaged 12.5 points and 6.7 rebounds across six ABA seasons. He made All-Star teams in 1968 and '72. In 1970, he helped the Indiana Pacers win the ABA championship. After every season, Art and Lynn would return to Tempe to live in the summer.

"We knew at the time with the ABA, especially at Indianapolis, we were living a dream," said Lynn, who was married for more than 60 years to Art. "We loved every minute of it."

Will Worosylla was hired by Becker to lead SCC's men's basketball program from 2010-15, often having him on the bench during games.

"Art led an amazing life," Worosylla said. "He's in, I think, four different Halls of Fame. He was the president of the NJCAA, but more importantly, he was a great mentor and a great friend.

"When he hired me at SCC, I told him I had one condition and that was that he sat on our bench. I learned so much from him on how to be a better coach."

He won a championship in the ABA with the Indian Pacers with others players such as Bob Netolicky, Roger Brown, Billy Kellar, Freddie Lewis, Tom Thacker, Mel Daniels and coach Bobby Leonard.

 

 

Personal information

Born    January 12, 1942

Akron, Ohio, U.S.

Died    April 30, 2026 (aged 84)

Tempe, Arizona, U.S.

Listed height   6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)

Listed weight  205 lb (93 kg)

Career information

High school     Camelback (Phoenix, Arizona)

College            Arizona State (1961–1964)

NBA draft        1964: 3rd round, 22nd overall pick

Drafted by       St. Louis Hawks

Playing career 1967–1973

Position           Power forward / small forward

Number           34, 43, 14

Career history

1967–1969      Houston Mavericks

1969–1971      Indiana Pacers

1971–1972      Denver Rockets

1972    New York Nets

1972    Dallas Chaparrals

Career highlights

ABA champion (1970)

2× ABA All-Star (1968, 1972)

First-team All-WAC (1963)

Second-team All-WAC (1964)

Career ABA statistics

Points  5,160 (12.5 ppg)

Rebounds        2,604 (6.3 rpg)

Assists 410 (1.0)

Bobby Murray obit

Grammy winning guitarist Bobby Murray dies

 

He was not on the list.

(April 30, 2026) The Detroit Blues Society posted the bad news this evening of the passing of legendary guitarist Bobby Murray, a past Lifetime Achievement Award winner from the society, and a revered musical force in the city. He was 72. Murray developed his style first in the Bay Area clubs, becoming a popular player. Marriage brought him to Detroit, where he became a local staple on stages and an artist who helped shape generations of Motor City musicians.

He is best known for his work with Etta James, serving as her guitarist during her later-career resurgence. His contributions to her Grammy-winning albums Let’s Roll and Blues to the Bone were described as a “study in discipline” — sharp, expressive lines that never crowd the vocal but deepen its emotional pull.

Murray’s résumé also includes collaborations with blues and soul greats such as Albert King and Albert Collins. In each setting, he brought a clean, authoritative tone and a deep understanding of the tradition, making him a first-call player for artists who valued substance over showmanship.

Just as important was his role on the local Detroit scene, where Murray remained a steady presence, mentoring younger musicians and helping sustain the city’s blues lineage. He was also absolutely revered by fellow musicians in the city.

Concert company 2 Stones Events posted: In the nearly 25 years we’ve been booking musicians, probably in the thousands by now, we’ve never met a musician as humble, sweet, caring, kind, and talented as Bobby Murray. As classy as it gets. The late Etta James could’ve chose ANY guitarist, but she had Bobby by her side on the road for 23 years.

In addition to his music, Murray was an advocate for citizens through his two decades as part of the Better Business Bureau. May he rest in peace.

Merle Bettenhausen obit

Merle Bettenhausen Passes Away at 82

 

He was not on the list.

Speedway, Indiana (April 29, 2026)………The inspirational Merle Bettenhausen, who overcame the odds to continue to race and win despite an accident that took his right arm, passed away on the morning of April 29, 2026, 26 days following a massive stroke. He was 82 years old.

Born on June 9, 1943, the Tinley Park, Illinois racer grew up in the famed Bettenhausen racing family. His father, Tony Bettenhausen, captured both the 1951 AAA and 1958 USAC National Championship. In 1961, Tony was killed in a practice crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when Merle was just 17 years old.

Merle’s older brother, Gary Bettenhausen, scored four USAC national driving championships in Sprint Cars and Silver Crown cars, and made 21 starts at the Indianapolis 500. Merle’s younger brother, Tony Bettenhausen Jr., made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts and later became a team owner on the Indy Car circuit.

All three brothers were racers to the core, and by 1968, Merle was making his own name in the USAC ranks, winning the first of his eight career National Midget feature events at Indianapolis Raceway Park that year for car owner Ed Loniewski.

Merle added additional wins in 1969 and 1970 for car owner Bob Lockard at Michigan’s Spartan Speedway, Arizona’s Manzanita Speedway and Texas’ Moody & Clary Speedway. He won for Howard Lehmann at Granite City, Illinois in 1971 and at Indiana’s Whitewater Valley Speedway in 1972. Merle also wheeled brother Gary’s ride to victory in 1972 at Manzanita.

Exactly seven weeks following his most recent USAC National Midget win, Merle got the call to drive in the 200-mile Indy Car race in July 1972 at Michigan International Speedway. Just four laps into the event, Merle’s life changed forever.

After tangling with fellow driver Mike Hiss in turn two, Merle’s car slammed the outside wall. The incident resulted in the loss of his right arm above the elbow as well as extensive burns to his face. Merle spent two months at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, but soon vowed to race again, somehow, someway.

With the aid on an artificial limb, complete with an accompanying hook to grip the steering wheel, Merle was back in the cockpit of a USAC National Midget in June 1973 at Lost Creek, Kentucky, 11 months to the day following his accident. Despite an 18th place finish in the feature, he qualified an impressive fourth and won his heat race. Merle was officially back.

Nothing signified Merle’s return to racing more than the August 31, 1973, USAC National Midget feature at Johnson City,Tennessee’s Sportsman Speedway. There, in his 14th race back after injury, Merle swung to the outside of Billy Engelhart on the final turn to win by inches in a miraculous photo finish. Making the feat even more remarkable was the fact that Merle drove the final 37 laps of the 40-lapper without the aid of the power steering.

Merle continued to compete through the 1974 season, stating that he thought of himself as a much better and smarter racer post-injury. In fact, he ranked second in the USAC National Midget points entering July.

However, shortly after brother Gary’s accident in a champ dirt car at Syracuse, New York, on July 4, 1974, Merle announced his sudden retirement from racing at the age of 31. It had been something he was contemplating even before Gary’s accident.

“My brother Gary getting hurt at Syracuse is only part of the reason for me doing this,” Merle stated to USAC News at the time. “I've been considering quitting for several weeks and had more or less made up my mind on the way to Syracuse. I think this will be fairer to my wife and my seven-week-old daughter. I don't have any definite plans but I love auto racing and I hope to be involved in it for the rest of my life.”

Bettenhausen did stay involved, selling tires and fuel at racetracks across the country for several years, and he also worked brother Tony Jr.’s Indy Car team. Furthermore, in 1974, Merle was appointed to the Indiana Youth Council by Indiana Governor Otis R. Bowen.

With USAC, Merle made 203 career National Midget starts, 37 National Sprint Car starts, three Indy Car starts, three Silver Crown starts and even a single Stock Car start.

In 1970, he made his first two career Indy Car starts, charging 24th to 8th at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Mile, then went 11th to 7th at the Sacramento Mile. He was named the 1971 Hoosier Hundred Rookie of the Year for his 10th place result at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

In both 1970 and 1971, Merle captured the World Midget Championship in New Zealand, and in 1974, was the recipient of USAC’s Jim Blunk Memorial Sportsmanship Award presented to the individual contributing most to the image of the professional Midget racer.

David Allan Coe obit

David Allan Coe Dies: “Outlaw” Country Singer Who Wrote Defiant ‘Take This Job And Shove It’ Was 86

He was not on the list.

David Allan Coe, the country singer-songwriter who helped define Nashville’s “outlaw” sound of the 1970s and ’80s, and wrote “Take This Job and Shove It,” the song that would become the anthem of disaffected workers during the economic upheaval of the decade, died at a hospital Wednesday, April 29. He was 86.

His death was announced by his wife to Rolling Stone magazine. A cause and exact location of death were not disclosed. Coe reportedly was hospitalized several years ago with Covid-19 and had mostly retreated from public appearances since then, though it is not known whether Covid played a part in his passing.

Along with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Jessi Colter and others, Coe was a major part of the “outlaw country” movement that swept Nashville in the mid-1970s, offering listeners a rougher, rawer, more rebellious back-to-the-roots approach to country than the slick, string-heavy pop-ish “Nashville Sound,” or “Countrypolitan,” that had been dominant since the 1960s.

While Coe was a noted country singer in his own right, with hits, written by others, including “You Never Even Call Me by My Name,” “Tennessee Whiskey” and “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile,” his most lasting impact was perhaps as a songwriter. His “Take This Job and Shove It,” with its smack-you-in-the-face opening lyric (“Take this job and shove it/I ain’t workin’ here no more/A woman done left and took all the reasons/I was working for”) was a massive and influential hit for the singer Johnny Paycheck in 1977.

The song was so popular that it inspired a feature film comedy of the same name in 1981. Directed by Gus Trikonis and starring Robert Hays, Barbara Hershey, Art Carney, and David Keith, the Take This Job And Shove It cast also included Coe and Paycheck in small roles.

Several years before “Take This Job…” became a smash, Coe wrote “Would You Lay With Me (in a Field of Stone),” a song that became a 1974 hit for a teenaged Tanya Tucker.

Born September 6, 1939, in Akron, Ohio, Coe did time in reformatories during his youth and, from 1963 to 1967 was imprisoned in Ohio for possession of burglary tools. His first album, 1970’s Penitentiary Blues, features songs he wrote while in prison. Four years later he recorded the album The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy, which he publicized by performing in a sparkly suit and a mask.

Unlike the more conservative, clean-cut country stars of the ’60s, Coe and the other “outlaws” took on a biker look – Coe himself had been part of a biker gang – that included long hair, beards, tattoos and cowboy hats. One of his hits, 1976’s “Longhaired Redneck,” summed up the image in one song title. The look, as well as the sounds, would make a lasting impact on country music.

Throughout his long popularity, Coe toured with Willie Nelson, Neil Young and even Kid Rock. Along the way, he wrote and recorded albums and songs that pushed boundaries with their racy lyrics, particularly on the 1978 album Nothing Sacred and 1982’s Underground Album. Sexually explicit, the songs also included lyrics that were racist and homophobic, songs he would later regret. In a 2001 Billboard magazine interview, he said, “Those were meant to be sung around the campfire for bikers, and I still don’t sing those songs in concert.”

In later years Coe had serious tussles with the IRS, causing debt, bankruptcy and the lost of publishing rights to even his biggest hits. His final album, in which he collaborated with heavy metal’s Dimebag Darrell and other former members of Pantera, was released in 2006.

Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.

Actor

Beer for My Horses (2008)

Beer for My Horses

4.9

Gypsy Gene

2008

 

Rebel Meets Rebel: Nothin' to Lose

Music Video

David Allan Coe (as Rebel Meets Rebel)

2006

 

Brad William Henke and Sam Trammell in Going to California (2001)

Going to California

7.9

TV Series

Arlin

2002

1 episode

 

Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings in Stagecoach (1986)

Stagecoach

5.9

TV Movie

Ike Plummer

1986

 

Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash in The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986)

The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James

6.2

TV Movie

Whiskeyhead Ryan

1986

 

Take This Job and Shove It (1981)

Take This Job and Shove It

5.0

Mooney

1981

 

Lady Grey (1980)

Lady Grey

5.7

Black Jack Donovan

1980

 

Earl Owensby in Seabo (1978)

Seabo

5.3

Rebstock

1978

 

Composer

Lesbian Ho'Down at the Bunnyranch

7.1

Composer

2000

 

Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings in Stagecoach (1986)

Stagecoach

5.9

TV Movie

Composer

1986

 

Earl Owensby in Seabo (1978)

Seabo

5.3

Composer

1978

 

David Allan Coe: The Mysterious Rhinestone (1975)

David Allan Coe: The Mysterious Rhinestone

7.0

TV Movie

Composer

1975

 

Writer

Take This Job and Shove It (1981)

Take This Job and Shove It

5.0

song

1981

 

Soundtrack

Ethan Hawke, Keith David, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong in The Lowdown (2025)

The Lowdown

7.3

TV Series

performer: "You Never Even Called Me by My Name"

2025

1 episode

 

Jay J. Bidwell and Carmen Nixon in Sue Bob & Hank (2017)

Sue Bob & Hank

Short

performer: "If That Ain't Country"writer: "If That Ain't Country"

2017

 

Dwayne Johnson in Ballers (2015)

Ballers

7.6

TV Series

writer: "Take This Job and Shove It" (uncredited)

2016

1 episode

 

Will Forte and Kristen Schaal in The Last Man on Earth (2015)

The Last Man on Earth

7.4

TV Series

performer: "The Fish Aren't Bitin' Today"writer: "The Fish Aren't Bitin' Today" (uncredited, uncredited)

2015

1 episode

 

Johnny Knoxville and Jackson Nicoll in Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

6.5

performer: "You Never Even Called Me by My Name"

2013

 

Travis Pastrana in Nitro Circus (2009)

Nitro Circus

7.6

TV Series

performer: "Take This Job and Shove It"writer: "Take This Job and Shove It"

2009

1 episode

 

Squidbillies (2005)

Squidbillies

6.6

TV Series

Soundtrack ("The Okaleechee Dam Jam")

2008

1 episode

 

John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, and Sacha Baron Cohen in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

6.6

performer: "Walking Bum"

2006

 

Jason Lee, Jaime Pressly, Ethan Suplee, Eddie Steeples, and Nadine Velazquez in My Name Is Earl (2005)

My Name Is Earl

7.8

TV Series

writer: "Take This Job And Shove It"

2006

1 episode

 

Mary-Louise Parker in Weeds (2005)

Weeds

7.9

TV Series

performer: "Don't Bite the Dick"

2005

1 episode

 

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things

6.2

performer: "Linda Lovelace"writer: "Linda Lovelace"

2004

 

Big Eden (2000)

Big Eden

7.3

performer: "A Sad Country Song"writer: "A Sad Country Song"

2000

 

Version A, 1 sheet

Office Space

7.6

writer: "Shove This Jay-Oh-Bee"

1999

 

Nice Guys Sleep Alone (1999)

Nice Guys Sleep Alone

5.7

performer: "You Never Even Call Me By My Name"

1999

 

John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, and Patrick Swayze in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

6.8

performer: "Stand By Your Man"

1995

 

Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, and Yeardley Smith in The Simpsons (1989)

The Simpsons

8.6

TV Series

writer: "Take This Job and Shove It" (uncredited)

1994

1 episode

 

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988)

Mystery Science Theater 3000

8.6

TV Series

writer: "Take This Job and Shove It"

1989

1 episode

 

Hit the Road Running (1983)

Hit the Road Running

6.7

performer: "Hit the Road Running"

1983

 

Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, and Ralph Macchio in The Outsiders (1983)

The Outsiders

7.0

performer: "Jack Daniels If You Please"

1983

 

Take This Job and Shove It (1981)

Take This Job and Shove It

5.0

lyrics: "I Love Robbing Banks", "Take This Job and Shove It"music: "I Love Robbing Banks", "Take This Job and Shove It"performer: "You Can Count on Beer", "How Good It Used to Be", "I Love Robbing Banks"

1981

 

El Paso Wrecking Corp.

6.9

writer: "Take This Job and Shove It" (uncredited)

1978

 

Ernie Sigley in The Ernie Sigley Show (1974)

The Ernie Sigley Show

6.8

TV Series

writer: "Would You Lay with Me (in a Field of Stone)"

1974

1 episode

 

Music Department

Hit the Road Running (1983)

Hit the Road Running

6.7

singer: title song

1983

 

Thanks

Tennessee Whiskey: The Dean Dillon Story (2017)

Tennessee Whiskey: The Dean Dillon Story

7.8

special thanks

2017

 

Self

Take This Job

Video

Self

2017

 

Heartworn Highways Revisited (2015)

Heartworn Highways Revisited

7.1

Self

2015

 

Squidbillies (2005)

Squidbillies

6.6

TV Series

Self (uncredited)

2008

1 episode

 

American Music: Off the Record (2008)

American Music: Off the Record

6.6

Self

2008

 

Field of Stone

Self

2007

 

Johnny Cash: God's Gonna Cut You Down (2006)

Johnny Cash: God's Gonna Cut You Down

7.6

Music Video

Self (uncredited)

2006

 

CMT Outlaws 2005 (2005)

CMT Outlaws 2005

TV Special

Self - Performer

2005

 

CMT Outlaws (2004)

CMT Outlaws

9.6

TV Special

Self - Performer

2004

 

David Allan Coe: Live at Billy Bob's Texas (2002)

David Allan Coe: Live at Billy Bob's Texas

Video

Self

2002

 

Earl Owensby, the Man... the Myth (1997)

Earl Owensby, the Man... the Myth

Video

Self

1997

 

Roy Orbison in Episode #13.3 (1982)

Sing Country

TV Series

Self

1987

1 episode

 

World Championship Wrestling (1985)

World Championship Wrestling

8.1

TV Series

Self - Entertainer

1986–1987

2 episodes

 

Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash, Larry Gatlin, Tom T. Hall, and Waylon Jennings in Johnny Cash: The First 25 Years (1980)

Johnny Cash: The First 25 Years

8.4

TV Special

Self

1980

 

Atoka (1979)

Atoka

Self

1979

 

90 Minutes Live (1976)

90 Minutes Live

5.4

TV Series

Self

1978

1 episode

 

All You Need Is Love (1977)

All You Need Is Love

7.6

TV Series

Self

1977

1 episode

 

Townes van Zandt in Heartworn Highways (1976)

Heartworn Highways

7.8

Self

1976

 

David Allan Coe: The Mysterious Rhinestone (1975)

David Allan Coe: The Mysterious Rhinestone

7.0

TV Movie

Self

1975

 

Archive Footage

Tennessee Whiskey: The Dean Dillon Story (2017)

Tennessee Whiskey: The Dean Dillon Story

7.8

Self (archive footage)

2017

 

Rare Southern Gospel Singing Celebration

Video

Self - Performer (archive footage)

2010

 

Gordon Snell obit

Gordon Snell, children’s author and husband of Maeve Binchy, dies aged 93

Snell also wrote scripts for RTÉ, including the popular children’s show Wanderly Wagon

He was not on the list. 

Gordon Snell, the children’s author, journalist and husband of the late Maeve Binchy, has died aged 93.

He published his first book for children, The King of Quizzical Island, in 1978, following it up with Amy’s Wonderful Nest, Tina and the Tooth Fairy and The Supermarket Ghost, among others.

He met Binchy in the 1970s, when she was appointed to the London office of The Irish Times. The pair married in 1977 and moved to Ireland in the early 1980s. Binchy died in 2012; the couple had no children.

Snell was born in 1932 in Singapore, where his father worked as a surveyor. In 1942 his mother brought him to Australia to settle him into boarding school. She had intended to return to Singapore almost immediately but could not do so after the Japanese invasion began.

After moving to Ireland he wrote scripts for RTÉ, including for the popular children’s show Wanderly Wagon.

In 2009 Binchy revealed that Snell had had a heart-bypass operation.

In a 2023 Irish Times interview with the writer Henrietta McKervey, Snell said: “Maeve and I always said we were very lucky, first to have met each other but also that we realised we were lucky. It’s one of the most important things.”

Music Department

Look and Read (1967)

Look and Read

8.1

TV Series

lyricslyricist

1971–1984

16 episodes

 

Writer

Crackerjack! (1955)

Crackerjack!

6.6

TV Series

writer

1958

1 episode

 

Additional Crew

Hands Across the Sky

TV Movie

libretto

1960

 

Self

Open House with Gloria Hunniford (1998)

Open House with Gloria Hunniford

3.5

TV Series

Self

1999

1 episode

 

Leap in the Dark (1973)

Leap in the Dark

7.8

TV Series

Self

1973

7 episodes

 

Adrian Smith obit

Adrian Smith of Cincinnati Royals, Kentucky Wildcats fame dies at 89

 

He was not on the list.

Anderson Township resident Adrian Smith has died at age 89.

If you don't recognize the name, Greater Cincinnati basketball aficionados knew him as "Odie," a talented 6-foot-1 guard from Farmington, Kentucky who won a national championship with the Kentucky Wildcats, an Olympic gold medal in Rome in 1960 and was named the 1966 NBA All-Star Game MVP, which came complete with a Ford Galaxie as a prize. Smith kept the vehicle in great condition over the years and kept it proudly on display.

Adrian Smith's time with Kentucky Wildcats

Though he originally only had a scholarship offer at Murray State, which was withdrawn, Smith started at Northeast Mississippi Junior College. He excelled enough there to warrant a look from the legendary Adolph Rupp and Kentucky's "Big Blue."

Smith finally got some playing time in relief his junior year, then became a starter as a senior, averaging 12.4 points per game. His team became known as "The Fiddlin' Five," and the Wildcats went on to win the 1957-58 NCAA National Championship with an 84-72 win over Seattle University. Seattle featured a future NBA Hall of Famer named Elgin Baylor. Another member of the "Fiddlin' Five" that you may not be aware of was the father of NBC football analyst and former Cincinnati Bengal Cris Collinsworth. Lincoln Collinsworth was a 6-foot-3 guard.

The team was called "The Fiddlin' Five," as Rupp said they were known for "fiddlin' around and fiddlin' around" before pulling out a game.

Gold medal for Adrian Smith in 1960

Smith was drafted in the 15th-round by the Cincinnati Royals in 1958. (The Royals originated in Rochester, New York, moved to Cincinnati, moved to Kansas City-Omaha, and are now the Sacramento Kings.)

He elected to join the Army, played on the Army All-Star Team and made the 1960 team that won gold in the Rome Olympics. That team also featured two other future Cincinnati Royals in Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas. The 1960 Olympic team was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Adrian Smith played for Cincinnati Royals from 1961-1969

Smith served as "The Big O" Oscar Robertson's back-up originally, but became a starter in 1964-65, averaging 15.1 points per game and shooting 46% from the field and 83% on free throws. There was no 3-point shot, but many have commented how Smith would have been a long-distance threat.

In 1966, the NBA All-Star Game came to Cincinnati Gardens, and Smith scored 24 points in 26 minutes to lead the East to victory and win the coveted Ford Galaxie. It would be his only All-Star Game.

Smith would play for the San Francisco Warriors, then the ABA Virginia Squires, before his pro career was up in 1972.

Adrian Smith funeral arrangements

Smith's visitation is at 11 a.m. at T.P. White in Mount Washington, with the funeral service at noon.

Smith was the fifth of six children of Oury and Ruth Smith of Farmington, Kentucky. The family lived in a farmhouse that had no electricity and no indoor plumbing. He was nicknamed "Odie" after a comedian on the Grand Ole Opry. As a child, he attended a three-room schoolhouse in rural Graves County, Kentucky. Because the family didn't have money for a basketball, he learned to shoot one his mother made from rolling up his dad's socks.

Smith enrolled to play basketball at Northeast Mississippi Junior College (now known as Northeast Mississippi Community College). After Smith excelled on the court, Northeast coach Bonner Arnold convinced legendary University of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp to send a scout to see Smith, and UK offered a scholarship.

Smith didn't see much action his junior season until Kentucky's star guard, Vernon Hatton, went out with an appendectomy, and for seven games, Smith averaged 16.3 points. As a senior, Smith was a starter and averaged 12.4 points per game. The Wildcats' team, known as the "Fiddlin' Five", beat Seattle University 84–72 to win the 1957–58 national championship, led by 30 points from Hatton and 24 from Johnny Cox. Smith averaged just under 14 points in UK's four NCAA tourney wins, including seven in the championship game.

Smith graduated from Kentucky with a business degree.

Instead of attempting to make the Royals, Smith joined the U.S. Army, where he played on the Army's All-Star team and in 1960 was selected to play on the eventual undefeated U.S. men's basketball team that won the gold medal in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy. The team went 8–0 in the Olympics, led by future hall-of-famers Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, and Jerry West, although in the opening win against host Italy, Smith was the team's leading scorer, with 17 points scored. The team's average margin of victory in the eight games was 42.4 points per game.

Smith began his professional career in the 1961–62 NBA season. During his first three seasons, he served as a backup guard behind Oscar Robertson and Bucky Bockhorn, averaging about 20 minutes per game with scoring averages of 7.2, 8.9, and 9.4, respectively.

In his fourth season of 1964–65, he became a starter in the Royals' backcourt alongside Robertson. Playing over 34 minutes per game, he averaged 15.1 points per game, with a .456 field goal percentage and .830 free throw percentage.

The 1965–66 season was both his most productive and noteworthy. He averaged a career-high 18.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game as the Royals went 45–35 and, in the Eastern Division semifinals, extended the Boston Celtics to a fifth and deciding game before falling to the eventual NBA champions. On December 15 he scored a career-high 34 points against the Celtics, and followed that up on January 5 with another career-high of 35 points. During the season, Smith was selected to the 1966 NBA All-Star Game and, surprisingly for a game that including sixteen future Hall-of-Famers, Smith was named MVP after he scored 24 points in 26 minutes. It was his only All-Star appearance, and for winning the MVP award, he received a new Ford Galaxie car.

In his sixth NBA season, 1966–67, Smith averaged 16.6 points per game and led the NBA with a .903 free throw percentage and, for the fourth time, the durable Smith led the league in games played. In 1967–68, Smith averaged 15.6 points per game in his last year as a starter. In 1968–69, playing primarily as a backup to Robertson and Tom Van Arsdale, Smith averaged 9.6 ponts per game.

Career history

1959–1960      USAF All-Stars

1961    Akron Goodyear Wingfoots

1961–1969      Cincinnati Royals

1969–1971      San Francisco Warriors

1971–1972      Virginia Squires

Career highlights

NBA All-Star (1966)

NBA All-Star Game MVP (1966)

NCAA champion (1958)

Career NBA and ABA statistics

Points  8,750 (11.3 ppg)

Rebounds        1,626 (2.1 rpg)

Assists 1,739 (2.3 apg)

Denys Overholser obit

Denys Overholser, Stealth Pioneer Whose Work Led to the F-117, Dies at 86

 He was not on the list.

Denys Overholser, the Lockheed Martin engineer whose insights on the mathematics of radar cross section led directly to the first operational stealth attack airplane and permanently reshaped combat aircraft design and tactics, died April 28 at the age of 86.

Overholser came up with the idea of the “Hopeless Diamond” faceted stealth aircraft, wrote the patent for the F-117 Night Hawk stealth attack aircraft, and also earned a place in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Much of his work at Lockheed and other defense industrial organizations remains classified.

Ben Rich, the aerospace engineer who headed Lockheed’s Skunk Works advanced projects unit from 1975-1991, recalled in an early 1990s interview that Overholser—“one of my young guys”—came to him with the idea for a new approach to stealth. Overholser had read a forgotten 1962 paper on radar wave scattering, or diffraction, by the Russian mathematician Pyotr Ufimtsev; a paper that the Russian military itself had ignored. The Air Force’s foreign technology unit had translated the paper in 1971.

In his memoir, “Skunk Works,” Rich said “the paper was so obtuse and impenetrable that only a nerd’s nerd would have waded through it.” In the interview, Rich said he asked Overholser, “is this what you do with your free time?” 

Until the 1970s, the effort to reduce radar cross section had been limited to radar-absorbing materials and internal structure, as used on the SR-71 reconnaissance airplane and the D-21 reconnaissance drone. 

Ufimtsev’s research showed that shaping could dramatically attenuate the radar return of an object, and the work also provided the basis for calculating the radar cross section—radar reflectivity—of objects. Reducing the RCS of an aircraft could allow it to get quite close to a target before being detected by radar, and potentially, the aircraft might not be detected at all.

Holding up a legal pad, Rich summarized some of Ufimtsev’s findings, saying “if I hold it straight up and down like this, it’s one RCS (value). But if I rotate it 45 degrees,” creating a diamond, or kite shape, and tilting it, “I cut RCS by more than half, because of the way radar travels along the edges.”

Looking for ways to get the Air Force interested in new, classified technologies, Rich put Overholser to work on developing ways “faceting” could be applied to aircraft, as well as methods to accurately measure RCS with the computer power then available. Overholser, at 36, was heading up seminal work on the combat aircraft of the future. It was also brave work because Rich said his predecessor, the legendary Kelly Johnson, was not a believer in the whole idea and said so at every opportunity. 

Overholser came up with a computer program he called “Echo 1” that could calculate RCS for a portion of an aircraft covered by a series of flat surfaces, or facets.  These could then be added to other calculations to obtain an overall RCS for the design. He then drafted the “Hopeless Diamond,” a faceted aircraft concept which Overholser said would have 1,000 times less radar reflectivity than Lockheed’s D-21. A full-size combat aircraft, he told Rich, could have the radar return “of an eagle’s eyeball.”

The work soon led to an Air Force program called XST, for “Experimental Survivable Testbed.” Lockheed and Northrop—which was pursuing stealth along a different path—were given secret contracts to design small, low-observable aircraft to prove out the concept. Northrop’s approach had been to assess RCS of compounds curves and edge shape, and worked better in a forward view, but Lockheed’s approach worked better overall at that point. Lockheed won and built two demonstrators called “Have Blue.” Although both crashed, neither accident was due to stealth, and Lockheed received an Air Force contract to build an operational prototype, which became the YF-117. That in turn led to the F-117, which was phenomenally successful in the 1991 Gulf War and in some later conflicts.

As supercomputers became more powerful, it became possible to calculate RCS for an entire aircraft at once. The basic principles Overholser ported over from the mathematical theory continue to serve as the basis for modern stealth.  

Overholser grew up in Texas and earned degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering from Oregon State University, later adding degrees in systems engineering and operations research. He worked on missile projects for Boeing and was one of the first engineers in that company to be chosen for training on computers. He moved to Skunk Works in 1964, hired because he was familiar with computers at a time when most aerospace math was still done on slide rules.  

Greg Ulmer, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics—of which Skunk Works is a division—issued a statement to employees on April 29 saying Overholser’s worked “unlocked stealth technology.”

Overholser went largely unsung and “in the world of classified programs, that was exactly the point,” Ulmer said. “He spent decades shaping history far from public view through work that demanded brilliance, discipline, and a rare depth of character.” His work on stealth “would reshape airpower forever,” Ulmer said., adding that Overholser’s work was “the Rosetta stone” of stealth.

Overholser received the first-ever award of the National Defense Industrial Association for “Combat Survivability,” and was decorated by the Secretaries of the Air Force and Defense for his contributions to military technology.

Ulmer said Overholser had the rare knack of being a teacher who could “demystify complex concepts and make others feel capable of solving problems they never thought they could.” In later years, Overholser was a consulting engineer for the Pentagon and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratories. 

“Our hearts are with his family, loved ones and all who had the privilege of knowing him,” Ulmer said. “We are profoundly grateful for his life, his service, and the extraordinary legacy he leaves behind.”

David Hamilton, who was director of the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office from 2003-2007, said “Denys freely gave countless hours of tutoring and mentoring to many other engineers far more junior. He helped ferment the follow-on generations who continue to pioneer new methods in aircraft survivability. It was his reaching out to help others that elevated him to true unique hero status within the class of engineers and program managers who had the task to bring wild ideas to reality and into operational capabilities for the nation. He was a class act who will be severely missed by the aviation combat survivability community.”

Overholser enjoyed another distinction, having been elected to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He wrestled in high school and college, but the honor stemmed mainly from his contributions to aerospace technology.  

John Garrett obit

John Garrett: A broadcasting legend and a legendary human

John Garrett, marvellous entertainer, fine hockey player and all around good human died Tuesday at 74

 He was not on the list.

The always-at-ease, always-ready-to-laugh persona he presented on television was his true self. He was kind and generous. He cared for the people around him.

Those are base qualities for success in life and for success in the public sphere in general.

If he hadn’t been a funny goalie or funny broadcaster, maybe he’d have been a musician.

When he was young, his mother Marvel signed him and his six siblings — Joan, Bert, Evelyn, Eldon, Greg and Murdoch — up for piano lessons. She knew that it would get her kids credits for school, but she also knew it would serve them well in life.

So young John did his mother proud and got his grade 8 piano certification from the Royal Conservatory of Music. And he got his grade 2 in theory, too.

It became something of a lifelong habit; in 2020, with people mostly staying home to slow the spread of COVID-19, the man we know as Cheech got serious about his piano playing again. Years before, he’d given his daughter Krista his old piano. A couple years ago his family bought him a new keyboard and when the world stopped in March 2020, he started playing his piano more seriously again.

Musical talent is a family tradition: his younger brother Greg worked as a music teacher and still leads a choir in Ontario.

John Garrett, marvellous entertainer, fine hockey player and all around good human died Tuesday at 74 of what are believed to be natural causes. He had been in Utah to cover the Utah Mammoth vs. Vegas Golden Knights playoff series. Sportsnet announced his passing on Wednesday morning.

Along with daughters Sarah, Krista — and her children — he leaves his wife Sharon, his partner of more than 50 years.

Born June 17, 1951 in Trenton, Ont., he grew up in the small community of Glenn Miller just outside of Trenton. His father was also named John and was a school teacher and principal; mother Marvel was a homemaker.

Even as his parents pushed him academically, he proved to be an excellent goalie and played two seasons of Jr. A hockey for the Peterborough Petes, starting when he was 18. After two seasons of junior hockey he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 1971.

He played a seasons in the Blues’ system, but never got a sniff of NHL action as the Blues opted to give a series of NHL journeymen starts over the young goalie. Before the 1972-73 season, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, but with the NHL club well-staffed in goal by Tony Esposito and Gary Smith, there wasn’t much hope for Garrett here either. Rather than being farmed out to the Blackhawks’ top farm team in Dallas, he split the season between the AHL’s Richmond Barons, who were actually the top affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, and the WHL’s Portland Buckaroos, a club filled with veteran pros who had long ago given up on their NHL dreams.

And so when the World Hockey Association’s Minnesota Fighting Saints came calling in the summer of 1973, he jumped.

The upstart league had the players at heart, he always argued. Rare were the opportunities in the NHL for 22 year old goalies like Garrett, but in Minnesota he quickly grew into a star. His first season he split starts evenly with Mike Curran. The next season, 1974-75, he made the bulk of the starts and helped the Fighting Saints make the semifinals where they lost to the eventual Avco Cup runners-up the Quebec Nordiques. Playing goal for Quebec was Garrett’s future Vancouver Canucks teammate Richard Brodeur.

The WHA may have revolutionized professional hockey by bringing in teenagers and signing star players to huge contracts, but by Garrett’s third season in Minnesota, the seams were starting to burst. The Saints drew strong crowds but struggled to sell much more than tickets. Despite not having a TV deal and minimal support from the business community — the NHL’s North Stars drew most of the attention — Saints ownership spent big on player salaries.

Eventually the money ran out; the team was confirmed as bankrupt as 1975 came to a close. The players voted to play on but went without pay for six weeks. After receiving just one paycheque in 1976, the team voted to not board a flight to Cincinnati on Feb. 28, 1976. That proved to be the end of the Saints. The team’s better players quickly found themselves scattered across the league; in Garrett’s case he landed with the Toronto Toros, who would become the Birmingham Bulls. After two seasons in the south, he joined the New England Whalers.

Re-branded as the Hartford Whalers, they would be one of the four teams to survive the collapse of the WHA in 1979 and jump to the NHL. After eight seasons as a pro, Garrett had finally made the NHL.

He played six NHL seasons in all, first with the Whalers, then with the Nordiques and finally with the Canucks. For the rest of his life he would speak up for what the WHA did for hockey, pointing directly to his own experience as a young player.

“It was a chance for the game to expand for sure. But for players’ rights, after the WHA, in the ’80s and ’90s, look at the rights and freedoms that the players started to get. They were all created because there was a rival league and you got to choose,” he told Postmedia in 2023. “Like in my case I’m playing behind Tony Esposito and Gary Smith, so it’s, ‘Oh, yeah, you go and play in Dallas, go play in Dallas for two or three years. And if one of those guys screw-up, well, then we’ll give it a chance.’

“And the 18-year-old draft and instead of, ‘Ah well, we’re not going to draft anybody till they’re 20 because then we don’t have to pay to develop.’ The owners had all the rights. And then the WHA came in.”

His arrival in Vancouver is well-told but remains hilarious. With the Canucks lacking an experienced backup to Richard Brodeur, GM Harry Neale traded for Garrett on Feb. 4, 1983. The Canucks faced the Toronto Maple Leafs the following night; Brodeur took a shot in the side of the head, damaging his eardrum. Garrett stepped in and then started the next night in New Jersey.

Brodeur had been named as the Canucks’ representative for the NHL All-Star game two days later, but clearly couldn’t play. The timing of his injury, plus the NHL’s policy of having each team represented by at least one player meant that the easiest solution was to simply name Garrett as Brodeur’s replacement, even though he’d only been a Canuck for three days.

Garrett very nearly stole the show on a Tuesday night in Long Island and looked set to win the MVP for the game until Wayne Gretzky erupted for four goals in the third period. The powers that be had no choice but to award the Great One the game MVP, which came with a car as a prize.

After Garrett’s time as a colour commentator on Canucks broadcasts came to an end in 2023, he was honoured by the city of Vancouver with a John Garrett Day. (Ken Sim, mayor of the time, was a high school pal of Garrett’s broadcast teammate John Shorthouse).

As part of the ceremony, Garrett was given a plaque, which partly read: “Wayne Gretzky is a puck hog and stole all the glory and a Pontiac Firebird from John.” When the plaque was unveiled, there were guffaws. The meal served that day, was, of course, his favourite meal: burgers and fries.

The day also happened to be McHappy Day, which led Garrett to quip to Postmedia: “It’s John Garrett McHappy Day.”

Garrett retired as a player in 1985 and was briefly hired by Harry Neale to be his assistant general manager, but Neale was fired weeks later and new GM Jack Gordon didn’t carry on with the AGM plan, so Garrett, still under contract, was relegated to third-string goalie duty, showing up to practices but left with not much else to do. Late in the season he was sent back to AHL Fredericton where he played the final three games of his career.

The next fall, Hockey Night in Canada’s John Shannon tapped Garrett to be a broadcaster. He was a quick study. Shannon told him to just tell the viewers what he knew best. He quickly realized that personality was also an important skill for a colour commentator and by the time he arrived full-time on Canucks broadcasts in 2002, he had polished his routine.

Working first with Jim Hughson and then later, most famously, John Shorthouse, he won the hearts of Canucks fans. His love of ketchup, of burgers and fries, of meeting with fans, became legendary.

He was always ready to share time with everyone who met him. He’d always express delight when fans would show up with his 1985-86 O-Pee-Chee hockey card, which depicted him in his goalie gear but noted “now assistant general manager” on the front. The silliness of the scene was fitting for a guy who became known so much for his personality.

Shorthouse once called him the best teammate he ever had. Sportsnet host Dan Murphy, who served as their off-ice chaperon for years and was with Garrett in Utah, covering the Vegas-Utah series, said his friend was in great spirits till the very end.

After Garrett’s passing, stories have been shared widely by colleagues and fans alike, all highlighting what a kind person he was.

He will be missed.

 

Born    June 17, 1951

Trenton, Ontario, Canada

Died    April 27, 2026 (aged 74)

Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.

Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)

Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)

Position           Goaltender

Caught Left

Played for        WHA

Minnesota Fighting Saints

Toronto Toros

Birmingham Bulls

New England Whalers

NHL

Hartford Whalers

Quebec Nordiques

Vancouver Canucks