Jack Shea obit

Jack Shea Dead: Ex-DGA Prexy and ‘Jeffersons’ Director Was 84

Helmer was Emmy-nommed for 'Designing Women' 

He was not on the list.

TV director Jack Shea, who served three terms as Directors Guild of America president, died Sunday in Tarzana from complication from Alzheimer’s. He was 84.

Shea, the recipient of the DGA’s 1992 Robert Aldrich Award, worked for 40 years in television directing and producing, mostly in sitcoms including 110 episodes of “The Jeffersons” and 91 episodes of “Silver Spoons.” He also worked on “The Ropers,” “Sanford & Son,” “Designing Women” (earning an Emmy nomination), “The Charmings,” “Growing Pains” and “The Waltons.”

Shea directed multiple Bob Hope holiday and comedy specials from 1956-66, including many taped overseas.  He also was co-founder with his wife Patt Shea of Hollywood-based Catholics in Media Associates.

Shea served as DGA president from 1997-2002.

“Jack was a tremendous president – a unifying force and a dedicated leader,” said Jay D. Roth, national exec director of the DGA. “He truly loved the DGA and spent nearly 50 years in its service, working all the while to bring other members – women, minorities and members of the directorial team – into Guild service. Jack, who was originally from New York, worked tirelessly to strengthen the bonds between the Guild’s East Coast and West Coast members.”

Shea was a native of  New York City and began as a stage manager at NBC in New York in 1950, working on “Philco Playhouse,” among other programs. He served two years in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, stationed in Los Angeles as a TV and motion picture director producing educational films.

Shea is survived by his wife, four children and six grandchildren.

Donations may be made in the name of Jack Shea to Regis High School, 55 E. 84th Street, New York, N.Y. 10028.

A service for family, friends and professional acquaintances will be held at 10 a.m. on May 9 at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church,11360 Valleyheart Drive, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Director

Alex Datcher, Scott Grimes, Sherman Hemsley, Bianca Lawson, Joseph Maher, and Dorien Wilson in Goode Behavior (1996)

Goode Behavior

6.8

TV Series

Director

1996–1997

2 episodes

 

Tamera Mowry-Housley and Tia Mowry in Sister, Sister (1994)

Sister, Sister

6.3

TV Series

Director (directed by)

1995–1996

3 episodes

 

Maura Tierney, John Amos, Lynnie Godfrey, and T.E. Russell in 704 Hauser (1994)

704 Hauser

4.9

TV Mini Series

Director

1994

5 episodes

 

Della Reese, Larenz Tate, Mariann Aalda, Redd Foxx, Sylver Gregory, and Naya Rivera in The Royal Family (1991)

The Royal Family

7.3

TV Series

Director

1991–1992

5 episodes

 

Growing Pains (1985)

Growing Pains

6.6

TV Series

Director

1991

6 episodes

 

Jason Bateman, Dan Ponce, Sandy Duncan, Jeremy Licht, and Josh Taylor in Valerie (1986)

Valerie

6.6

TV Series

Director

1990–1991

3 episodes

 

Sunday Dinner

5.5

TV Series

Director

1991

4 episodes

 

Carol & Company (1990)

Carol & Company

7.4

TV Series

Director

1990

1 episode

 

Heather Locklear, Alan Ruck, Jerry Levine, Hallie Todd, and Holland Taylor in Going Places (1990)

Going Places

7.1

TV Series

Director

1990

1 episode

 

Shades of LA (1990)

Shades of LA

8.0

TV Series

Director

1990

1 episode

 

Joe Pantoliano, Christopher Meloni, Ned Eisenberg, Ann Morgan Guilbert, and Andy Hirsch in The Fanelli Boys (1990)

The Fanelli Boys

7.5

TV Series

Director

1990

 

Stephanie Faracy and Martin Mull in His & Hers (1990)

His & Hers

TV Series

Director

1990

3 episodes

 

Jennifer Aniston, Mayim Bialik, Pamela Brull, Luke Edwards, and Kevin Scannell in Molloy (1990)

Molloy

6.6

TV Series

Director

1990

1 episode

 

Sugar and Spice (1990)

Sugar and Spice

6.2

TV Series

Director

1990

3 episodes

 

Married to the Mob (1989)

Married to the Mob

5.2

TV Movie

Director

1989

 

Hot Prospects

TV Movie

Director

1989

 

The Cavanaughs (1986)

The Cavanaughs

7.7

TV Series

Director

1988–1989

2 episodes

 

Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Finis Henderson III, Myra J., Cherie Johnson, Shawn Skie, and Michael Warren in A Little Bit Strange (1989)

A Little Bit Strange

5.9

TV Movie

Director

1989

 

Mary-Kate Olsen, John Stamos, Andrea Barber, Candace Cameron Bure, Dave Coulier, Lori Loughlin, Bob Saget, Jodie Sweetin, Blake Tuomy-Wilhoit, Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit, and Scott Weinger in Full House (1987)

Full House

6.8

TV Series

Director

1989

2 episodes

 

The Cheech Show

7.6

TV Movie

Director

1988

 

First Impressions

5.5

TV Series

Director

1988

1 episode

 

Matthew Perry and Kiel Martin in Boys Will Be Boys (1987)

Boys Will Be Boys

7.0

TV Series

Director

1988

2 episodes

 

Dori Brenner, Brandon Call, Paul Eiding, Garette Ratliff Henson, Cork Hubbert, Caitlin O'Heaney, Judy Parfitt, Christopher Rich, and Paul Winfield in The Charmings (1987)

The Charmings

6.8

TV Series

Director

1987–1988

13 episodes

 

Annie Potts, Delta Burke, Jean Smart, and Dixie Carter in Designing Women (1986)

Designing Women

7.2

TV Series

Director

1986–1988

14 episodes

 

Karen's Song (1987)

Karen's Song

5.0

TV Series

Director

1987

1 episode

 

Dan Hedaya, Mandy Ingber, Jean Kasem, Carlene Watkins, Timothy Williams, and Aaron Moffatt in The Tortellis (1987)

The Tortellis

5.2

TV Series

Director

1987

3 episodes

 

Sweet Surrender (1987)

Sweet Surrender

5.4

TV Series

Director

1987

1 episode

 

Elliott Gould, Natasha Bobo, Scott Grimes, Katie O'Neill, Ke Huy Quan, and Dee Wallace in Nothing Is Easy (1986)

Nothing Is Easy

6.9

TV Series

Director

1987

1 episode

 

Erin Gray, Ricky Schroder, and Joel Higgins in Silver Spoons (1982)

Silver Spoons

6.1

TV Series

Director

1982–1987

92 episodes

 

Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur, and Betty White in The Golden Girls (1985)

The Golden Girls

8.2

TV Series

Director

1986

1 episode

 

Our Time

4.8

TV Series

Director

1985

1 episode

 

Soleil Moon Frye in Punky Brewster (1984)

Punky Brewster

6.5

TV Series

Director

1984

1 episode

 

Mr. Success

TV Movie

Director

1984

 

Kangaroos in the Kitchen

TV Movie

Director

1982

 

Pen 'n' Inc.

TV Movie

Director

1981

 

Wendy Hooper, U.S. Army

TV Movie

Director

1981

 

The Grady Nutt Show

TV Movie

Director

1981

 

Marla Gibbs in Checking In (1981)

Checking In

6.2

TV Series

Director

1981

4 episodes

 

Norman Fell and Audra Lindley in The Ropers (1979)

The Ropers

5.9

TV Series

Director

1979–1980

22 episodes

 

Dena Dietrich in But Mother! (1979)

But Mother!

TV Movie

Director

1979

 

Marla Gibbs, Paul Benedict, Franklin Cover, Sherman Hemsley, Roxie Roker, Isabel Sanford, and Berlinda Tolbert in The Jeffersons (1975)

The Jeffersons

7.5

TV Series

Director

1975–1979

110 episodes

 

In the Beginning (1978)

In the Beginning

6.1

TV Series

Director

1978

1 episode

 

Barry Nelson and Mason Reese in Mason (1977)

Mason

6.3

TV Movie

Director

1977

 

Insight (1960)

Insight

7.6

TV Series

Director

1960–1977

9 episodes

 

Roxy Page

TV Movie

Director

1976

 

What's Happening!! (1976)

What's Happening!!

7.0

TV Series

Director

1976

1 episode

 

Zero Intelligence

TV Special

Director

1976

 

Kate McShane (1975)

Kate McShane

6.4

TV Series

Director

1975

1 episode

 

Salt and Pepe

TV Movie

Director

1975

 

Bob Crane and Patricia Harty in The Bob Crane Show (1975)

The Bob Crane Show

6.0

TV Series

Director

1975

1 episode

 

Richard Thomas, Will Geer, Judy Norton, Ellen Corby, Kami Cotler, David W. Harper, Michael Learned, Mary Beth McDonough, Eric Scott, Ralph Waite, and Jon Walmsley in The Waltons (1972)

The Waltons

7.6

TV Series

Director

1972–1975

8 episodes

 

Apple's Way (1974)

Apple's Way

6.6

TV Series

Director

1974

3 episodes

 

Jodie Foster and Christopher Connelly in Paper Moon (1974)

Paper Moon

7.0

TV Series

Director

1974

2 episodes

 

Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson in Sanford and Son (1972)

Sanford and Son

7.9

TV Series

Director

1972–1974

15 episodes

 

Love Thy Neighbor (1973)

Love Thy Neighbor

7.6

TV Series

Director

1973

 

The Magical World of Disney (1954)

The Magical World of Disney

8.4

TV Series

Director

1971

2 episodes

 

The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove (1971)

The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove

6.7

TV Movie

Director (directed by)

1971

 

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969)

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour

6.9

TV Series

Director

1969–1971

9 episodes

 

The Monitors (1969)

The Monitors

4.6

Director

1969

 

Death Valley Days (1952)

Death Valley Days

7.5

TV Series

Director

1965–1969

14 episodes

 

Kam Fong, Al Harrington, Jack Lord, and James MacArthur in Hawaii Five-O (1968)

Hawaii Five-O

7.4

TV Series

Director

1969

1 episode

 

Dayton's Devils (1968)

Dayton's Devils

5.6

Director

1968

 

Bob Hope in The Bob Hope Show (1950)

The Bob Hope Show

7.4

TV Series

Director

1956–1967

41 episodes

 

Malibu U. (1967)

Malibu U.

8.1

TV Series

Director

1967

1 episode

 

Frank Aletter, Mike Mazurki, Jack Mullaney, Cliff Norton, and Joe E. Ross in It's About Time (1966)

It's About Time

6.0

TV Series

Director

1967

1 episode

 

Bob Hope and Eva Renzi in A Bob Hope Comedy Special (1966)

A Bob Hope Comedy Special

8.4

TV Special

Director

1966

 

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963)

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

7.6

TV Series

Director

1966

1 episode

 

Brooke Adams, Brian Corcoran, Joel Davison, and Burl Ives in O.K. Crackerby! (1965)

O.K. Crackerby!

7.1

TV Series

Director

1965

2 episodes

 

Hollywood Talent Scouts (1965)

Hollywood Talent Scouts

6.6

TV Series

Director

1965

1 episode

 

The Bob Hope Comedy Special

TV Special

Director

1965

 

The Jerry Lewis Show (1963)

The Jerry Lewis Show

6.9

TV Series

Director

1963

2 episodes

 

The Littlest Hobo (1963)

The Littlest Hobo

7.7

TV Series

Director

1963

2 episodes

 

Bob Hope Christmas Show

TV Special

Director

1962

 

Buster Keaton and Ed Wynn in The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers (1962)

The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers

TV Special

Director

1962

 

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956)

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

8.1

TV Series

Director

1960

1 episode

 

The Jerry Lewis Timex Show

TV Special

Director

1960

 

The Jerry Lewis Show

TV Movie

Director

1958

 

The Jerry Lewis Show (1958)

The Jerry Lewis Show

7.2

TV Special

Director

1958

 

Muscular Dystrophy Telethon

TV Special

Director

1957

 

The Jerry Lewis Show

TV Series

Director

1957

 

Producer

Marla Gibbs, Paul Benedict, Franklin Cover, Sherman Hemsley, Roxie Roker, Isabel Sanford, and Berlinda Tolbert in The Jeffersons (1975)

The Jeffersons

7.5

TV Series

producer

1978–1979

24 episodes

 

In the Beginning (1978)

In the Beginning

6.1

TV Series

producer

1978

1 episode

 

Roxy Page

TV Movie

producer

1976

 

Slither

6.8

TV Movie

producer

1974

 

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969)

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour

6.9

TV Series

producer

1969–1971

8 episodes

 

Insight (1960)

Insight

7.6

TV Series

producer

assistant producer

associate producer

1960–1970

22 episodes

 

Writer

Erin Gray, Ricky Schroder, and Joel Higgins in Silver Spoons (1982)

Silver Spoons

6.1

TV Series

story

1983–1984

2 episodes

 

Marla Gibbs, Paul Benedict, Franklin Cover, Sherman Hemsley, Roxie Roker, Isabel Sanford, and Berlinda Tolbert in The Jeffersons (1975)

The Jeffersons

7.5

TV Series

story by

written by

1977–1979

3 episodes

 

Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Jimmy Stewart (1978)

Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Jimmy Stewart

8.3

TV Special

written by (as John Shea)

1978

 

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Jack Klugman (1978)

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Jack Klugman

7.9

TV Special

Writer (as John Shea)

1978

George Jones - # 51

He was number 51 on the list.

George Jones, country superstar, dies at 81

Country legend George Jones: 1931-2013

The country singer touched the world with countless hit songs.

George Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81.

Jones died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, according to his publicist Kirt Webster.
With one of the most golden voices of any genre, a clenched, precise, profoundly expressive baritone, Jones had No. 1 songs in five separate decades, 1950s to 1990s. He was idolized not just by fellow country artists, but by Frank Sinatra, Pete Townshend, Elvis Costello, James Taylor and countless others. "If we all could sound like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones," Waylon Jennings once sang.

In a career that lasted more than 50 years, "Possum" evolved from young honky-tonker to elder statesman as he recorded more than 150 albums and became the champion and symbol of traditional country music, a well-lined link to his hero, Hank Williams. Jones survived long battles with alcoholism and drug addiction, brawls, accidents and close encounters with death, including bypass surgery and a tour bus crash that he only avoided by deciding at the last moment to take a plane.
His failure to appear for concerts left him with the nickname "No Show Jones," and he later recorded a song by that name and often opened his shows by singing it. His wild life was revealed in song and in his handsome, troubled face, with its dark, deep-set eyes and dimpled chin.

In song, he was rowdy and regretful, tender and tragic. His hits included the sentimental "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes," the foot-tapping "The Race is On," the foot-stomping "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair," the melancholy "She Thinks I Still Care," the rockin' "White Lightning," and the barfly lament "Still Doing Time." Jones also recorded several duets with Tammy Wynette, his wife for six years, including "Golden Ring," ''Near You," ''Southern California" and "We're Gonna Hold On." He also sang with such peers as Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard and with Costello and other rock performers.
But his signature song was "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a weeper among weepers about a man who carries his love for a woman to his grave. The 1980 ballad, which Jones was sure would never be a hit, often appears on surveys as the most popular country song of all time.

Jones won Grammy awards in 1981 for "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and in 1999 for "Choices." He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and in 2008 was among the artists honored in Washington at the Kennedy Center.

Jones continued to make appearances and put out records, though his hit records declined.
"I don't want to completely quit because I don't know what to do with myself," he said in 2005. "I'll be out there as long as the people want me to be out there."

Jones was a purist who lamented the transformation of country music from the family feeling of the 1950s to the hit factory of the early 21st century. He was so caught up in country, old country, that when a record company executive suggested he record with James Taylor, Jones insisted he had never heard of the million selling singer-songwriter. He was equally unimpressed when told that Neil Young had come to visit backstage and declined to see him, saying he didn't know who he was. He did listen to the Rolling Stones, only because of the guitar playing of Keith Richards, a country fan who would eventually record with Jones.

Asked about what he thought about Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and other young stars, Jones said they were good but they weren't making traditional country music.

"What they need to do really, I think, is find their own title," he said.

In 1991, country star Alan Jackson dedicated his hit song "Don't Rock the Jukebox" to Jones, asking in the song that country music remain faithful to the Jones style instead of drifting toward rock 'n' roll.
Jones was born Sept. 12, 1931, in a log house near the east Texas town of Saratoga, the youngest of eight children. He sang in church and at age 11 began performing for tips on the streets of Beaumont, Texas. His first outing was such a success that listeners tossed him coins, placed a cup by his side and filled it with money. Jones estimated he made more than $24 for his two-hour performance, enough to feed his family for a week, but he used up the cash at a local arcade.

"That was my first time to earn money for singing and my first time to blow it afterward," he recalled in "I Lived to Tell it All," a painfully self-critical memoir published in 1996. "It started what almost became a lifetime trend."

The family lived in a government-subsidized housing project, and his father, a laborer, was an alcoholic who would rouse the children from bed in the middle of the night to sing for him. His father also noted that young George liked music and bought him a Gene Autry guitar, with a horse and lariat on the front, that Jones practiced on obsessively.

He got his start on radio with husband and wife team Eddie & Pearl in the late 1940s. Hank Williams once dropped by the studio to promote a new record, and Jones was invited to back him on guitar. When it came time to play, he froze.

"Hank had 'Wedding Bells' out at the time," Jones recalled in a 2003 Associated Press interview. "He started singing it, and I never hit the first note the whole song. I just stared."
After the first of his four marriages failed, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1951 and served three years. He cut his first record when he got out, an original fittingly called "No Money in This Deal."
He had his first hit with "Why Baby Why" in 1955, and by the early '60s Jones was one of country music's top stars.

"I sing top songs that fit the hardworking, everyday loving person. That's what country music is about," Jones said in a 1991 AP interview. "My fans and real true country music fans know I'm not a phony. I just sing it the way it is and put feeling in it if I can and try to live the song."

Virginia Gibson obit

 

Virginia Gibson: Singer, actress and dancer who starred in hit musicals of the 1940s and ’50s has died

She was not on the list.

The pert dancer, singer and actress Virginia Gibson brightened several film musicals of the 1950s, notably the classic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), in which, as one of the brides, she danced in the barn-raising sequence, one of the most exhilarating numbers in movie history, and led the rest of the girls in the song “June Bride”.

Three years later she won a Tony nomination for her performance on Broadway in the musical Happy Hunting, which starred Ethel Merman.

She was born Virginia Gorski in 1925 in St Louis, and she began her stage career dancing with the St Louis Municipal Opera. She made her Broadway debut in the chorus of a revival of the Rodgers and Hart musical A Connecticut Yankee (1943), and was steadily employed in the New York theatre for the rest of the 1940s, performing in the chorus or corps de ballet for one show after another.

Billed as Virginia Gorski, she danced in the zany revue Laffing Room Only (1944), starring Olsen and Johnson, and a Twenties satire starring Joan McCracken, Billion Dollar Baby (1945). In High Button Shoes (1947) she performed Jerome Robbins’ demanding choreography for his acclaimed ballet sequences, before playing in Look Ma, I’m Dancin’! (1948), starring Nancy Walker, followed by the revue Along Fifth Avenue (1949), which starred Walker and Jackie Gleason.

Spotted by a talent scout for Warner Bros, she was signed to a contract and made her screen debut (as Virginia Gibson) in Tea for Two (1950), arguably the most joyous of the cheery musicals the studio made with Doris Day. It is likely that the studio would have promoted Gibson with more zest had Day not been such a successful star for them. In Tea for Two, loosely inspired by the 1920s stage hit No, No, Nanette, Gibson played a dancer who had a showcase balletic solo to the tune of “I Only Have Eyes for You”, which she climaxed with a whirlwind pirouette. She also participated in a peppy Charleston routine, and had a running gag attempting to persuade a producer to watch her emote.

She had a non-dancing part as a college student in Goodbye, My Fancy (1951), starring Joan Crawford, but had a substantial role in Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951) as one of a trio (with Virginia Mayo and Lucille Norman) performing in Las Vegas while seeking rich husbands; but the film was a mundane remake of Gold Diggers of Broadway. Her vivacious dancing buoyed a mediocre musical set at a military academy, About Face (1952), a remake of an earlier hit, Brother Rat.

One of Gibson’s better roles was in another remake, Stop, You’re Killing Me (1952), a reworking with songs of the classic Edward G Robinson gangster comedy, A Slight Case of Murder. Broderick Crawford took over the leading role of a bootlegger who courts respectability with the repeal of prohibition, and Gibson was his daughter, who falls in love with a cop (Bill Hayes), the son of a society matron (Margaret Dumont).

Gibson’s subsequent minor role in She’s Back on Broadway (1953) indicated waning interest by the studio, and she moved to MGM to play her finest screen role, as Liza, who is wooed by Ephraim Pontipee (New York City Ballet’s Jacques D’Amboise) in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The barn-raising “June Bride” and the ensemble number “Spring, Spring, Spring” all showed Gibson to her advantage. She then played Niobe, one of Jane Powell’s back-to-nature health faddist sisters in Athena (1954).

Television and the stage lured her back to New York, and in 1955-56 she was a regular performer on The Johnny Carson Show. In 1956 she starred in a 14-minute sponsored short promoting colored telephones, Once Upon a Honeymoon, in which she played a composer’s wife, dancing round her home as a guardian angel grants her wishes for fresh furnishings, and her husband writes a hit song. Directed by Gower Champion, the short has acquired a cult following.

She then appeared in her final film, playing one of the secretaries of fashion editor Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) in Stanley Donen’s entrancing Funny Face, starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, released in 1957.

In December 1956, Gibson opened on Broadway in the musical Happy Hunting, playing the daughter of Ethel Merman in a tale of a brash Philadelphia widow intent on attending the marriage of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier. Though considered a second-rate show, it ran for almost a year because of Merman’s star power and professionalism, though she was later to call it her worst Broadway experience. (Merman and leading man Fernando Lamas disliked each other to the extent that he would try to obstruct her curtain call.)

Merman and Gibson were friends from the moment when Merman (who had cast approval) watched Gibson audition. The creative team asked Merman if she would like to see Gibson dance. “I know nothing about dancing,” said Merman. “If you say she can dance, that’s fine with me.” The pair shared the show-stopping duet “Mutual Admiration Society” and the couple also took part in the hit comedy number “A New Fangled Tango”. Nominated for a Tony for best featured actress in a musical, Gibson lost to Edith Adams in Li’l Abner.

For over a decade from the early 1960s, Gibson co-hosted the children’s television documentary program Discovery.

Theatrical Appearances

 

    A Connecticut Yankee (Dancing Girl), 1943–44, Martin Beck Theater, New York

    Laffing Room Only (Dancer). 1944-45, Winter Garden Theater, New York

    Billion Dollar Baby (Chorine, Dancer), 1945–46, Alvin Theater, New York

    No, No, Nanette (Nanette), 1947, St. Louis Municipal Opera

    Babes in Toyland (Jill), 1947, St. Louis Municipal Opera

    High Button Shoes (corps de ballet), 1947, New Century Theatre, New York

    Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'! (Snow White), 1948, Adelphi Theatre, New York

    Along Fifth Avenue (Singer, dancer), 1949, Broadhurst Theatre, New York

    Bitter Sweet (Dolly), 1949, St. Louis Municipal Opera

    Bloomer Girl (Daisy), 1949, St. Louis Municipal Opera

    Irene (Helen), 1949, St. Louis Municipal Opera

    The Vagabond King (Lady Mary), 1949, St. Louis Municipal Opera

    The New Moon (Julie), 1949, St. Louis Municipal Opera

    Whoopee! (Harriet Underwood), 1950, St. Louis Municipal Opera

    The Great Waltz (lead dancer) 1953, Los Angeles Civic Light Opera and San Francisco Light Opera

    Happy Hunting (Beth Livingstone), 1956–57, Majestic Theatre, New York

 

Filmography

 

    Tea for Two Warner Brothers, 1950

    Painting the Clouds With Sunshine Warner Brothers, 1951

    Goodbye, My Fancy Warner Brothers, 1951

    About Face Warner Brothers, 1952

    Stop, You're Killing Me Warner Brothers, 1952

    She's Back on Broadway Warner Brothers, 1953

    Seven Brides for Seven Brothers MGM, 1954

    Athena MGM, 1954

    So This Is Hollywood (TV sitcom) 1955

    I Killed Wild Bill Hickok The Wheeler Company, 1956

    Once Upon a Honeymoon Jerry Fairbanks Productions, 1956

    Funny Face Paramount Pictures, 1957

Dave Kocourek obit

 Former tight end Dave Kocourek dies of dementia; brain donated for research

 He was not on the list.

Dave Kocourek, who won AFL championship rings with the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders, died at 75 on Wednesday night as a result of progressive dementia on Marco Island.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Lee Kocourek, who said Kocourek's brain has been donated to Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE).

Kocourek, a tight end, became one of many former NFL players and athletes who have donated their brains to the CSTE Brain Donation Registry so that researchers can better understand the effects of repeated head trauma on the nervous system and develop strategies for prevention, treatment and ultimately a cure.

Kocourek was one of more than 200 former NFL Players who have received assistance from Plan 88.

The plan is named after the late Hall of Famer John Mackey, who wore that number as tight end for the Baltimore Colts. Since the plan's beginning in 2007 more than $16 million has been distributed to former NFL players and their families, according to the NFL Player Care program.

'More than anything else, Dave was a real smart, intelligent guy, playing football,' said former teammate and Hall of Fame receiver Lance Alworth when he learned of Kocourek's passing. 'He worked hard, he was a coach's dream. He was a great player, great teammate and really nice guy. He and his wife Mary Lee made a great team after football. I don't have the words to express what I feel.'

Other survivors include son Todd and his wife Andrea, and grandchildren Sophia and Roman; daughter Kelee Todecki, husband John and grandchildren Maggie and Mimi.

Kocourek will be cremated. Tentative visitation has been set for May 10 at Hodges-Josberger Funeral Home on Marco Island, with services at 10 a.m. on May 11 at San Marco Catholic Church.

Kocourek first began his professional career, after starring at University of Wisconsin, with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1959. In 1960, he went to the Los Angeles Chargers in the fledgling American Football League.

A year later the franchise became the San Diego Chargers. He played five season with them, earning a championship ring in 1963.

Mary Lee Kocourek said Dave was the first player chosen in the expansion draft when the Miami Dolphins became part of the AFL. He was an offensive captain in 1966.

Kocourek garnered a second ring in his two years following with the Raiders, Between San Diego and Oakland he played in seven league championship games, including a Super Bowl.

In 1961 he caught 55 passes, good for 1,055 yards, the first AFL tight end to surpass 1,000 yards in a season, averaging 19.2 yards a catch, scoring four touchdowns.

Kocourek once said, 'I was pretty intimidating with my size, weighing around 245 pounds (at 6-foot-5). I definitely was a challenge.'

The Chargers added would-be Hall of Famer Lance Alworth and Paul Lowe at running back in 1963. Alworth teamed with Kocourek and Lowe with Keith Lincoln to make a dynamic offense that trounced the Boston Patriots, 51-10 to win the AFL championship that year.

Paul Maguire, former NFL and ESPN football analyst, battled for the same position as Kocourek on the Chargers in 1963.

'Jack Faulkner, the Chargers defensive backs coach was my defensive coach in High school (Youngstown, Ohio), I thought I had a few things going,' Maguire recalled. As it turned out Maguire became a defensive back and punter.

Maguire spoke fondly of his relationship with the Kocoureks, They became godparents to Maguire's daughter Kristin Lee (after Mary Lee).

'I'm just sad,' Maguire said. 'I will remember David as a player, friend, father and husband, I wouldn't have been at NBC if not for him.'

Al BeMiller recalls Kocourek from their high school days in Illinois. Kocourek starred at J. Sterling Morton High School and BeMiller at Wheaton. They went on to play football at the University of Wisconsin. They joined again when they played for the Chargers in 1960 and opened a restaurant and bar with Maguire.

'Dave was a good, solid guy with high morals,' BeMiller said. 'He worked hard for everything he got. You go through life with few best friends, but he was one of mine.'

BeMiller's wife, Wanda, remembers Kocourek for his smooth moves on the dance floor.

'We went to many former players conventions together. He and I won a jitterbug contest,' she said. 'The four of us would always be together at the conventions. He was a good dude.'

The late Al Davis was one of the early coaches that Kocourek played with while with the Raiders. Davis, Sid Gilman and Chuck Noll all ended up in the Hall of Fame.

Kocourek played for Davis in 1967 and 1968, winning his second championship ring in 1967.

Before his own death, Davis said, 'I love Dave, he was an excellent contributor to every team he played on. He could catch, he could block. He had a very nice lady in Mary Lee. I told him, ?Give her anything she wants.' They were friends of mine, a great part of the Silver and Black (Raiders) family.'

The Kocoureks first came to Marco Island when Dave Kocourek was a sales manager for Deltona Corporation in the 1970s. He was on the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors for many years, serving as broker for Marco Beach Realty and Prudential Realty, Mary Lee said. Both became prominent realtors on Marco Island.

He was one of the Marco Eagle's first swamis when it began a weekly NFL column with former football players predicting the games. At the time it was Kocourek, Dave Rice, Don Healy and Terry Dean. He was crowned King of the Swamis in 2006.