Billy Gabor obit

Syracuse great, NBA star Billy Gabor dies at age of 97

 He was not on the list.

Syracuse, New York -- Billy Gabor, who played at Syracuse University and in the NBA for the Syracuse Nationals, died on Tuesday at the age of 97.

Gabor died after a brief battle with pneumonia. He had turned 97 on May 13 and was believed to be the oldest living former NBA player. He had been living for the past several years in Jupiter, Florida.

Gabor’s son, Bill, confirmed the news on Tuesday.

. A 5'11" guard/forward known as "Billy the Bullet", Gabor played collegiately at Syracuse University in the 1940s. He averaged 12.1 points per game during his freshman year before joining the United States Army Air Corps in 1943. He returned to Syracuse in 1945 and played three more seasons, finishing with a (then) team-record 1,344 career points. Gabor's jersey was retired by Syracuse University on March 1, 2009.

Gabor spent his professional career with the Syracuse Nationals of the National Basketball League and later the National Basketball Association. He played with Syracuse until injuries forced him into retirement in 1955. In his NBA career, Gabor averaged 9.8 points per game and logged one NBA All-Star Game appearance. He won a league championship with Syracuse in 1955.

When Gabor first began playing basketball at Syracuse, there was a freshman and varsity team. He started all the freshmen games and then would suit up for the varsity game. Gabor started his first game on varsity against Cornell in 1942–43 season and scored 22 points. He started every game after that.

Gabor holds many school records, including:

Only person to lead the team in scoring all four years they took the court

First to score 400 points in a single season

First to score over 1,000 points in a career

He held the all-time scoring record until Dave Bing bested it.

On May 1, 2009, Gabor was invited back to the Carrier Dome to see his jersey number 17 retired.

In his time at Syracuse University, Gabor was a member of Theta Chi Fraternity.

Career information

High school     Binghamton Central

(Binghamton, New York)

College            Syracuse (1942–1943, 1945–1948)

NBA draft        1948: — round, —

Drafted by       Rochester Royals

Playing career 1948–1955

Position           Point guard

Number           35, 7

Career history

1948–1955      Syracuse Nationals

Career highlights

NBA champion (1955)

NBA All-Star (1953)

2× Second-team All-American – Helms (1946, 1947)

Third-team All-American – TSN (1946)

No. 17 retired by Syracuse Orange

Career NBA statistics

Points  2,997 (9.8 ppg)

Rebounds        448 (1.8 rpg)

Assists 626 (2.0 apg)

Paul Darrow obit

Blake's 7 actor Paul Darrow dies at 78

 He was not on the list.

British actor Paul Darrow, best known for his role as Kerr Avon in sci-fi BBC TV series Blake's 7, has died at the age of 78 following a short illness.

Most recently, Darrow voiced soundbites for independent radio stations Jack FM and Union Jack, where he was known as the "Voice of Jack".

The character of Avon was second-in-command on Blake's 7, which ran for four series between 1978 and 1981.

Darrow shared a flat with John Hurt and Ian McShane while studying at Rada.

While best-known for his Blake's 7 role, he appeared in more than 200 television shows, including Doctor Who, The Saint, Z Cars, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Little Britain.

The Surrey-born actor also enjoyed a significant stage career, including four seasons at the Bristol Old Vic and roles in the West End.

In the mid-1960s, Paul Darrow married actress Janet Lees-Price, who he met when they co-starred in the popular ITV show Emergency Ward 10.

They were together for 48 years before she died in 2012.

Ian Walker, CEO of the Jack brand, said: "Paul Darrow has been Jack's shining star. Over the past 12 years I have had the pleasure of spending countless hours with Paul listening to his life stories and have shared many bottles of his favourite Bordeaux, whilst enjoying his quirky jokes and sense of humour.

"When we first launched Jack in the UK, we cast over 85 voices for the role and we could not have asked for anyone more unique. Paul's rich tones and flippant delivery style always brought a smile to everyone who knew him and of course heard him on Jack FM and Union Jack radio. I could not have asked for a better friend."

Tim Parker, programme director at Jack FM, added: "What an amazing, colourful character Paul was. He has mixed with the greats over the last 50 years and had a story to tell you for every occasion. His voice acting skills were like no other. We will remember and celebrate his character, personality and amazing skills for years to come."

Maureen Marrs, Darrow's friend and PA, said: "Over three decades I have been Paul's confidante and have had the immense privilege of being part of his life. A star has gone out today; the world will be a darker place without him."

Filmography

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1964    Dr. Strangelove            Navigator Lt. Sweets            Uncredited

1970    Mister Jerico            Receptionist    

1971    The Raging Moon            Doctor

2002    Die Another Day            Doctor

2006            Battlespace            Horondo the Computer            Direct-to-video

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1963    The Odd Man            Salesman            Episode: "A Pattern of Little Silver Devils"

1965–1966            Emergency Ward 10            Mr Verity   56 episodes

1967    The Saint     Omar            Episode: "The Gadic Collection"

1968    Virgin of the Secret Service Sayid            Episode: "The Pyramid Plot"

Frontier            Captain Hume            Episode: "His Lordship"

1968, 1978            ITV Playhouse            Anthony Eden / Julian            2 episodes

1969    The Newcomers            Cedric McDermott            2 episodes

Special Branch            Lawyer            Episode: "Smokescreen"

Coronation Street   Doctor            2 episodes

1969–1971            The Flaxton Boys            Captain Sterman / Wellington Moth / The Venerable            3 episodes

1969, 1973            Z-Cars            Trench/Jerry Shand            3 episodes

1970            Manhunt         Eddie            Episode: "The Losers"

1970, 1985            Doctor Who     Captain Hawkins / Tekker Doctor Who and the Silurians/Timelash

1971    The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes Doctor Hart            Episode: "A Message from the Deep Sea"

1973    Lord Peter Wimsey            Mr Tallboy Serial: "Murder Must Advertise"

1974            Churchill's People            Marcellus            Episode: "Pritan"

1974–1975            Within These Walls            Dr Green   2 episodes

1974, 1976            Dixon of Dock Green            Tony Kinsley/Pearce            2 episodes

1975    The Poisoning of Charles Bravo            Charles Bravo   3 episodes

Prometheus: The Life of Balzac  Cador            Episode: "The Human Comedy"

The Legend of Robin Hood            Sheriff of Nottingham            TV miniseries

1976            Couples           Ralph Hewitt  6 episodes

Killers  Edward Abinger            2 episodes

When the Boat Comes In            Barford            Episode: "A Pillowful of Buttercups"

1977    Rooms            Peter Wishart            3 episodes

Yes, Honestly            Bernard            Episode: "The Man Who Shot Bernard Vallance"

1978–1981            Blake's 7          Kerr Avon    51 episodes

1979            Penmarric        Robert Yorke  1 episode

1980            Hammer House of Horror            Andrews            Episode: "Guardian of the Abyss"

Drake's Venture            Thomas Doughty            TV movie

1983            Dombey & Son            James Carker TV miniseries

1985            Maelstrom       Oliver Bridewell

1989            Storyboard     George            Episode: "Making News"

1990    Cluedo            Mr. Jeremy Hope            Episode: "A Bridge Too Far"

Making News            George            6 episodes

1991    Dark Justice  Perth            Episode: "Nowhere to Hide"

Fiddlers Three            Reggie Parsons            Episode: "The Man Most Likely To"

1991–1992, 2009            Emmerdale      Eddy Fox/Patrick            12 episodes

1992            Haggard          Jack            Episode: "Mad Jack"

1992    Science Fiction  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle            Episode: "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Link"

1996    Pie in the Sky Colin Wilkes            Episode: "New Leaf"

2000    The Strangerers            C.D.            6 episodes

Rough Magik            Mr Moon   TV movie

2002            Hollyoaks         Judge            1 episode

2004    Little Britain            Conservative MP

2005    Twisted Tales    Mr De Vere            Episode: "Flat Four"

2009–2011, 2013–2014            Law & Order: UK            Prentice          7 episodes

2014    Toast of London            Duncan Clench            Episode: "Desperate Measures"

Video games

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1996    Gender Wars            Professor Jonathan Henry Smythe            Voice actor

1997    Queen: The eYe            Voices            Voice actor, also wrote the novelisation based on the game

1998            MediEvil           Zarok            Voice actor

2000            Imperium Galactica II: Alliances            English version, various voices

2001    Hostile Waters Walker

2003    Primal            Ferai Shaman/The Watcher

2005            MediEvil: Resurrection            Zarok

2006    Star Wars: Empire at War  Grand Moff Tarkin

2011    Star Wars: The Old Republic            Overseer Tremel/Additional voices

2014    Elite Dangerous            MinuS            Voice actor, DLC pack

2015            Contradiction: The Interactive Murder Mystery Movie            Paul Rand    FMV

2019            MediEvil           Zarok            Archive sound, dedicated to Paul Darrow

Radio and CD audio dramas

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1998–1999            Blake's 7          Kerr Avon    2 stories: "The Sevenfold Crown" and "The Syndeton Experiment"

2001–2004            Kaldor City      Kaston Iago     6 episodes

2005    Doctor Who - The Monthly Adventures            Guidance         Serial: "The Next Life"

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright            Cromwell        

2010            Rebecca's World - Journey to the Forbidden Planet            Narrator

2012–2016            Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles            Kerr Avon/Narrator            17 episodes

2013–2020            Blake's 7: The Classic Audio Adventures            Kerr Avon    33 episodes

Blaine Earon obit

Blaine Allen Earon

d. June 3, 2019

 

He was not on the list.

Blaine Allen Earon, age 90, of Hoschton passed away Monday, June 3, 2019. Mr. Earon grew up in Altoona, PA and attended Altoona High School.  He enlisted in the Navy after high school and is a World War II veteran.  After his honorable discharge, he played collegiate football at Duke University and played defensive end for the Blue Devils in 1949 to 1951. He was known for his quickness at the position.  Under the guidance of Hall of Fame Coach Wallace Wade, he achieved both first-team All-American, first-team All-Southern Conference, and Lineman of the Week honors for his crucial defensive plays upsetting Georgia Tech in 1949.  He also was named “Player of the Week” by the AP in 1949 and All-Conference in 1950 and 1951.  Mr. Earon was a 1950 AP All-American selection and named to the Duke Legends of Football in 1997.  Selected by Detroit in the 1952 NFL Draft, he appeared in two NFL World Championship games in 1952 and 1953, winning both.  In 1953 he married Betty Talley of Laurinburg, NC and left the Lions after two years to start a family.  Following his football career, he became a sales manager for 39 years at Florida Steel Corporation in NC, SC, and finally settled in GA.  Blaine played a big role in major construction projects throughout the Southeast by furnishing steel for high rises, hospitals, highways, nuclear structures, bridges, dams, schools, stadiums, malls and military bases.  Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Betty Earon; sons Craig Earon and wife Sandy of Hiawassee, Michael Earon and wife Wendy of Jefferson; daughters Sheree Whigham and husband Ed of Jefferson, Stacy Milner and husband Lat of Hoschton; 10 grandchildren; 13 great grandchildren and a host of other relatives. A Service of Celebration will be held at 11:00 am Friday, June 7, 2019 at Lawson Funeral Home Chapel.  Rev. Roman D. Roldan will be officiating.  Honorary pallbearers are his grandchildren Chris, Alex, Andy, Kerry, Zach, Kacie, Shane, Haley, Josh and Matt.  The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.  In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Hospice of Northeast Georgia at themedicalcenterfoundation.org.  Arrangements by Lawson Funeral Home, 4532 Hwy 53, Hoschton, GA, 30548, www.lawsonfuneralhome.org, 706-654-0966.

ersonal information

Born    January 15, 1929

Altoona, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Died    June 3, 2019 (aged 90)

Hoschton, Georgia, U.S.

Listed height   6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)

Listed weight  195 lb (88 kg)

Career information

High school     Altoona Area

College            Duke

NFL draft        1952: 19th round, 226th overall pick

Career history

Detroit Lions (1952–1953)

Awards and highlights

2× NFL champion (1952, 1953)

First-team All-American (1950)

First-team All-SoCon (1950)

Second-team All-SoCon (1949)

Julian Euell obit

Julian Euell, R.I.P.

 

He was not on the list.

Julian Euell passed away on June 3rd. He was 90. As a bassist in the 1950s he performed and recorded with John Coltrane, Mal Waldron, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Jackie McLean, Randy Weston, Gigi Gryce, and many others. In the 1960s he directed the arts program for HARYOU-ACT where he hired such artists as Romare Bearden and touched the lives of such young men as Larry Willis and Kareem Abdul Jabar. In the 1970s he was Assistant Secretary for Public Service at the Smithsonian where he oversaw all the jazz programs including the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz that Martin Williams produced. In the late 1980s he directed the Oakland Museum in California and then returned east in the early 1990s to direct the Louis Armstrong House. In his later years he would return to the bass to sit in at Washington, DC area clubs. Along the way he studied at Juilliard, earned a bachelor's from NYU and a PhD from George Washington and help raise five children.

Euell first began playing bass in 1944, and served in the Army from 1945 to 1947. He played with Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, and Art Taylor in 1947 but quit music from 1949 to 1952, working in a post office. In 1952 he studied under Charles Mingus and then attended Juilliard from 1953 to 1956, studying with Stuart Sankey, and Frederick Zimmermann. He also took classes at New York University between 1951 and 1954, and received a bachelor's in sociology from Columbia University; In 1954-55 he taught there. His musical associations at the time included Elmo Hope (1952), Benny Harris (1952–53), Charlie Rouse (1953–54), Joe Roland (1955), Freddie Redd (1956), Gigi Gryce (1956–57), and Phineas Newborn (1957). After this he began doing social work in New Jersey and was less active as a performer, though he continued playing with Mal Waldron (1958–60), Randy Weston (1959), Abbey Lincoln (1959–60), Charles Mingus, and Kenny Dorham.

In the 1960s Euell worked in Harlem directing an arts program (1962–66) and then returned to school, receiving a Ph.D. from George Washington University in 1973. He was Assistant Secretary for Public Service at the Smithsonian from 1970 to 1982, and was partly responsible for the institution's increasing interest in jazz history. From 1983 to 1988 he directed the Oakland Museum History-Arts-Science and from 1991 to 1995 was director of the Louis Armstrong House. He returned to semiregular performing in the 1980s and 1990s.

Bingo O'Malley obit

Revered Pittsburgh Stage Actor Bingo O'Malley Dies At 86

 

He was not on the list.

In the past half-century, Pittsburgh theater hasn’t seen many actors dominate local stages for as long as Bingo O’Malley did. From the mid-1970s into the new millennium, the Pittsburgh native took on a range of ambitious roles for a host of local troupes, and earned the admiration of audiences and fellow theater artists alike.

On stage, “He was so absolutely grounded in any moment, you couldn’t take your eyes off him,” says Melissa Martin, a writer and director who first met O’Malley in the ’80s. “Everybody wanted Bingo for every role he was right for.”

O’Malley died Sunday in hospice at age 86. Megan Gorecki, his niece, says O’Malley had been weakened since April following a surgery for a detached retina, but that no immediate cause of death was available.

O’Malley worked for decades as a juvenile-probation officer and school social worker. He was a self-taught actor who said he began performing almost inadvertently, getting a part in a community-theater production of “The Rainmaker” in the late 1950s, while stationed as a Navy radarman in Key West.

For about two decades, starting in the mid-'70s, O’Malley was among the city's busiest actors. He was a particular mainstay at City Theatre, where he worked frequently with artistic director Marc Masterson.

“Everybody was always courting Bingo to get him to do something,” says Masterson. “What he brought to the process was this deep well of humanity – who he was as a person.”

Masterson recalls O’Malley’s turns in productions of “Nuts” and “Incommunicado,” the latter starring O’Malley as poet Ezra Pound.

Over the years, O’Malley also played Andrew Carnegie; Clarence Darrow; Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman”; an accused Nazi war criminal in Robert Shaw’s “The Man in the Glass Booth”; and a promiscuous, persecuted gay man from Berlin in Martin Sherman's Holocaust drama “Bent.” In a 2009 profile, O’Malley said his own favorite roles included the 14th Earl of Gurney, a British aristocrat who thinks he’s Jesus, in Peter Barnes's classic 1969 satire “The Ruling Class.”

O’Malley’s last role on in a full-scale stage production was as Shelley Levene, a desperate real-estate salesman, in barebones productions’ 2009 staging of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glenn Ross.”

O’Malley was a long-time friend and mentor to barebones founder and artistic director Patrick Jordan, his junior by several decades. Jordan says O’Malley helped guide almost every show since the troupe’s inception, in 2003. Jordan who acted in seven shows with O’Malley -- including three with barebones -- says his was a presence you couldn’t ignore.

“I’ve been in the room with actors who were known as divas, but when Bingo was there, no one was a diva,” he says. In 2018, Jordan named barebones’ theater space, in Braddock, after O’Malley.

Martin, who directed “Glengarry” for barebones, continued working with O’Malley there.

“He shaped all of our lives … everybody in town, she says. “He was genuinely, deeply loved. The only thing he was better at than acting was being Bingo.”

O’Malley also did occasional film work, with small roles in Pittsburgh-shot features including George Romero’s “Creepshow” (1982), Curtis Hanson’s “Wonder Boys” (2000); Scott Cooper’s “Out of The Furnace” (2013), with Christian Bale; and the 2007 Spike TV miniseries “The Kill Point.” In 1981, O’Malley played famed Pittsburgh painter John Kane in a lauded, one-man WQED-TV production.

O’Malley grew up working-class in Oakland, the youngest of four children. Gorecki, his niece, confirms that “Bingo” was his legal name. (“My family loved Bing Crosby,” O'Malley once said.) His work history included stints as a door-to-door bible salesman and even, in the mid-’60s, a two-year-stint as a Catholic priest at Our Lady of Fatima, in Hopewell, Pa.

Some of O'Malley's earliest successes on local stages came in the 1970s and with avant-garde Lab Theatre; decades later, the company’s head, Bill Royston, called O’Malley “the finest actor I ever worked with.”

“When he's acting, it's not ‘realism,’” said Royston. “He creates real people. It’s something that’s so intuitive that it goes beyond traditional training.”

Many found echoes of O’Malley’s day job in social work in his stage endeavors. Jordan said he's seen O'Malley go out of his way to break up bar fights. "He couldn't stand an injustice," says Jordan.

“The reason he was such a brilliant actor is he had such enormous compassion and empathy,” says Martin. “He was never there for any assertion of ego.”

O’Malley, who lived in Bethel Park, had no children and never married. Many of the theater artists he worked with over the years agreed he could have prospered anywhere as an actor. But O’Malley seldom worked outside Pittsburgh. (Masterson, who left City Theatre only to return as artistic director in 2018, did bring O’Malley to Kentucky a couple times to work with his Actors Theatre of Louisville.)

“He just loved the city,” says Gorecki. “He loved everything about Pittsburgh … his family, his friends and the theater.”

Gorecki said O’Malley did not want a memorial. However, Jordan says he is working with Masterson at City Theatre on an event to honor O’Malley.

Filmography

Film

Year     Title     Role     Notes

1981    Knightriders    Sheriff Rilly   

1982    Creepshow      Jordy's father and The Doctor Different roles in the same segment of the film.

1987    Lady Beware   Man in Window         

1988    The Kid Brother          Mr. Nitan        

1988    Dominick and Eugene Abe    

1989    Heartstopper    Dr. Beransky  

1990    Two Evil Eyes Ernest Valdemar          (segment "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar")

1992    Bob Roberts    Robert Roberts Sr.      

1993    The Cemetery Club     Judge  

1993    Money for Nothing     Old Man         

1995    Backstreet Justice        Rocky's Foreman       

1995    Houseguest      Ticket Vendor 

1996    Diabolique       Gannon          

2000    Wonder Boys  Wordfest Party Guest 

2001    The Bread, My Sweet CEO   

2007    Graduation      Mr. Ryerson   

2009    My Bloody Valentine 3D        Officer Hinch 

2009    Homecoming   Elderly Proprietor       

2009    Deadtime Stories: Volume 1   Dr. Marsten     (segment "House Call")

2010    Love & Other Drugs   Sam    

2011    River of Darkness       Virgil Van       

2011    Super 8            Mr. Harkin     

2012    Death from Above      Crazy Leonard

2013    Riddle  Hal     

2013    Out of the Furnace      Rodney Baze Sr.        

2014    Twin Reflex    Jonathan Crowe         

2015    All Saints Eve Sheriff Doug Brewer 

2015    Transylvanian Curse   Ancient One   

2017    A Fancy Piece of Homicide    Thomas Anderson      

Television

Year     Title     Role     Notes

1990    Equal Justice   Old Time Attorney      1 episode (pilot)

1991    The 10 Million Dollar Getaway         Rudy Elrich     TV movie

1991    Guilty Until Proven Innocent  Judge Mollen   TV movie

1991    Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace     Jackie Mahoney          TV movie

1992    Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore   Judge Stoneburner       TV movie

1992    What She Doesn't Know        Judge   TV movie

2007    The Kill Point Bernard Kazmacki      8 episodes

2016    Outsiders         Ira Nichols      3 episodes

Lawrence Leathers obit

Lawrence Leathers, Grammy-Winning Jazz Drummer, Victim Of Suspected Murder

 

He was not on the list.

A wave of shock and sadness moved through the jazz community on Sunday, with news of the death of Lawrence Lo Leathers, a drummer with a steadfast presence in the modern jazz mainstream.

Leathers was 37. He was killed on Sunday in the hallway of an apartment building on East 141st Street in the Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven, according to Detective Martin Brown of the NYPD. The police have arrested a suspect in connection to the incident.

According to police sources, Leathers was involved in a dispute with his girlfriend when he was assaulted by another individual, who put him in a chokehold. He lost consciousness and was later pronounced dead.

E.J. Strickland, a drummer who served as a big brother of sorts to Leathers, remembered him on Instagram as "one of the most musical, swingingest, honest drummers out here. Whenever I saw him play, I learned a great deal more about accompaniment, feel, & touch."

Leathers is best known to the global jazz audience for his affiliations with pianist Aaron Diehl and singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. He won two Grammy awards backing Salvant, as a member of the Aaron Diehl Trio; the most recent was in 2017 for Dreams and Daggers (Mack Avenue), much of which was recorded live at The Village Vanguard in New York. You can hear him take a characteristically crisp drum solo on Bob Dorough's "Devil May Care," beginning at 4:25.

Speaking with me in 2017, Salvant recalled the circumstances of the recording: "I was feeling really overwhelmed by the venue, and on Tuesday night I was really nervous and shy, and not doing anything. Wednesday got a little more relaxed, Thursday got a lot more relaxed. And then they started recording on Friday — so it was back to Square One, being so aware of the recording, which is horrible."

With one set left in the run, the band gathered in the club kitchen. "Lawrence Leathers, the drummer, he kind of pulled us all together and gave us a Snakes on a Plane type of speech," Salvant said. "Like: 'We gotta do this! What have we been doing? Let's get to our s***!' "

That exhortative quality is one thing musicians may miss about Leathers, who was also a pillar of the informal but musically vital scene in New York, presiding over late-night sessions at Smalls Jazz Club and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. The SmallsLIVE website lists 277 archived shows that include Leathers, most recently with the JC Stylles Organ Quartet in late April. (Leathers was scheduled to play there again tonight, in an after-hours jam session.)

"He had an acute social awareness," Diehl tells NPR Music. "He knew how to observe situations and people, and because of that he knew exactly how to engage. This directly translated into his musicianship. He was always aware of everyone and everything around him, with the objective to be supportive, to groove, and to simply lift the bandstand with euphoria. Every time I played with Lawrence Leathers, there was some kind of levitation going on."

Singer and WBGO announcer Lezlie Harrison worked with Leathers on multiple occasions, and considered him a dear friend. "He always greeted me with a stately bow, a beautiful smile and that mischievous twinkle in his eye," she says. "Lawrence was fiercely passionate about the music and the tradition. His swing was full of so much soul and fire. He was one of the best cats to hang with on and off the bandstand."

Lawrence Lo Leathers was born on Nov. 23, 1981 in Lansing, Mich., where he began banging on the drums as a toddler. He encountered his first musical mentor in the gospel church: Joe Lane, who was playing in services, and soon became his first drum teacher.

"I've never seen anyone in my life pick up any instrument he wanted to and play it almost instantly," says Lane, who remained close with Leathers. "And not just music. He did that with everything. Anything that he wanted to. The hardest thing about this whole thing is, he was a guy who was very difficult not to love."

Leathers was playing professionally by 15. He moved to New York to attend the Juilliard School, where he met Diehl and bassist Paul Sikivie, along with other future collaborators. (Juilliard also brought him into the orbit of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; here's amateur footage of Marsalis jamming on "Cherokee" at Smalls in 2011, with the Aaron Diehl Trio as a rhythm section.)

In a 2012 interview with the variety web series Capsulocity, Leathers gave a brief rundown of his journey, as well as a précis of his style. "I don't play a whole lot of flashy stuff," he reflects. "Listening, that's one of my biggest assets."

He also reflects on the total commitment required of a jazz artist: "You have to have this feeling — you know what I mean? — that it's your life."

Jerry Krall obit

Former Buckeye leading rusher Jerry Krall passes away at 92

The Buckeyes have lost a great one.

 

He was not on the list.

Ohio State has lost a member of the Buckeye family. Jerry Krall, who played for the Scarlet and Gray from 1945-49 passed in Rossford, Ohio on June 2. According to his obituary published in The Toledo Blade, Krall passed away “peacefully and with his family by his side." He was under hospice care as he dealt with complications of cancer according to his son, Chris.

Krall was one of 10 children and the youngest of seven boys. Before playing for Ohio State, Krall attended Toledo’s Libbey High School. According to his obituary, his mother did not want Krall to play football but his older sister signed him up anyway when he was a sophomore at Libbey. Krall was a co-captain and helped Libbey to two City League championships in a row. He was named first-team All-City and All-Ohio and was the state's player of the year as a senior.

As one of the top high school players in the country, Krall narrowed his college decision down to Ohio State and Michigan. According to his obituary, he decided between the Buckeyes and the Wolverines by a flip of a coin. The Scarlet and Gray were lucky the coin landed their way, as Krall lettered all four years at Ohio State, one of the first players to accomplish that feat for the Buckeyes.

Krall went on to lead the Scarlet and Gray in rushing, passing and receiving in 1949. In the 1950 Rose Bowl, Krall rushed for 50 yards and threw for another 20 as Ohio State beat the University of California 17-14 with a field goal in the final two minutes. That 1949 Buckeye team included a number of talented players, including Vic Janowicz who went on to win the Heisman Trophy the next season. Despite the talent on the roster, Krall managed to be the team's leading rusher and was eighth in the Big Ten with 606 yards and four touchdowns. Ohio State finished the year 7-1-2 and won the Big Ten before the Rose Bowl win against Cal.

For his Buckeye career, Krall rushed for 1,435 yards and scored 11 touchdowns on 317 carries. He also threw for six additional scores. Krall played for three different head coaches during his time with the Scarlet and Gray, Carroll Widdoes in 1945, Paul Bixler in 1946 and Wes Fesler in 1948 and 1949.

He played professional football halfback and defensive back who played for the Detroit Lions.

Alistair Browning obit

Award-winning Kiwi actor Alistair Browning dies after battle with cancer

 

He was not on the list.

An award-winning New Zealand actor has died after a long battle with cancer.

Alistair Browning, 65, was in palliative care at Palmerston North's ​Arohanui Hospice when he died in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Browning's career in theatre and film spanned more than four decades. He appeared in blockbusters such as Lord of The Rings, befriended David Bowie, and received seven awards for acting, including Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film at the 2001 New Zealand Film Awards, and one for directing.

Browning was best known internationally for his role as Damrod, one of the soldiers who capture Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and roles in TV shows Xena, Hercules, and Power Rangers.

But many Kiwis may know him from classic New Zealand soaps Gloss and Shortland Street in the 1980s and 1990s, or more recently the 2014 crime show The Brokenwood Mysteries and the TV movie Siege.

Siege was a dramatisation of the 2009 Napier standoff in which gunman Jan Molenaar holed up in his house for three days after a shootout with police.

Browning also tread the boards of almost every theatre in New Zealand, performing in classic works of famous playwrights from Shakespeare to Arthur Miller.

When David Bowie died in 2016, after his own 18-month struggle with cancer, Browning reminisced to Stuff about working with the mega-star musician.

They met in 1982 while filming Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, Browning's first feature film.

The pair, who were roughly the same age, clicked, becoming drinking buddies while working on scenes together in Rarotonga.

"We talked about art, music and books," Browning said.

"He was having trouble with writing his album at the time. One night he said to me 'f... art and let's dance'."

That album was Bowie's 15th studio album, Let's Dance, which was released the following year in 1983.

A friend and colleague Jennifer Ward-Lealand posted a Facebook message on behalf of Browning's sister Heather Browning, who thanked the Hospice staff for the care and support they provided her brother.

The family asked that friends, family or anyone who wished to show their support to make a donation to Arohanui Hospice in Browning's memory.

Actor

Kate Harcourt and Desmond Kelly in The Pact (2018)

The Pact

Short

Extra #2

2018

 

Eryn Wilson, Tim W. Kelly, David Van Horn, Fraser Brown, Shara Connolly, Phil Brown, Emmett Skilton, Chelsie Preston Crayford, Ben Van Lier, Phil Peleton, Ian Bell, Matt Whelan, Andrew Blair, Adam Jonas Segaller, Alexandra Corin Johnston, Akira Matsumoto, Jade Albany Pietrantonio, and Holly Shervey in American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story (2017)

American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story

7.5

TV Mini Series

Judge Matkovic

2017

10 episodes

 

Kieran Foster in West of Eden (2017)

West of Eden

4.8

Lionel McKinley

2017

 

Campbell Cooley, Brennan Mejia, Michael Taber, James Davies, Yoshi Sudarso, and Claire Blackwelder in Power Rangers Dino Charge (2015)

Power Rangers Dino Charge

6.5

TV Series

ZenowingSilver Ranger (voice)

2016

8 episodes

 

Antonia Prebble, David de Lautour, Dan Musgrove, Esther Stephens, and Pana Hema Taylor in Westside (2015)

Westside

8.0

TV Series

Dieter

2016

1 episode

 

Nancy Brunning and Temuera Morrison in The Patriarch (2016)

The Patriarch

7.1

Mr. Mervyn Williams

2016

 

Restoration (2015)

Restoration

8.4

Short

Benjamin

2015

 

Neill Rea and Fern Sutherland in The Brokenwood Mysteries (2014)

The Brokenwood Mysteries

7.9

TV Series

Paul Winterson

2014

1 episode

 

Erroll Shand and Venetia Verner in Passion in Paradise (2014)

Passion in Paradise

TV Series

2014

1 episode

 

Shopping (2013)

Shopping

6.5

Terry

2013

 

Missing Person

Short

David

2012

 

Siege (2012)

Siege

6.5

TV Movie

Inspector Mike O'Leary

2012

 

Kate Elliott in Bliss (2011)

Bliss

6.7

TV Movie

Wedding Registrar

2011

 

Matt Sadowski, Aly Purrott-Armstrong, Brandon Jay McLaren, Monica May, and Chris Violette in Power Rangers S.P.D. (2005)

Power Rangers S.P.D.

6.9

TV Series

Green Monster (voice)

2005

1 episode

 

Us

7.6

Short

Man

2005

 

Luella Miller (2005)

Luella Miller

3.2

Craig

2005

 

Not Only But Always (2004)

Not Only But Always

7.3

TV Movie

Blake Edwards

2004

 

Futile Attraction (2004)

Futile Attraction

5.4

Dudley Earnsworth

2004

 

Maiden Voyage (2004)

Maiden Voyage

3.8

TV Movie

Howard

2004

 

Fracture (2004)

Fracture

6.4

Gordon Peet

2004

 

Power Rangers DinoThunder (2004)

Power Rangers DinoThunder

6.9

TV Series

Pollinator (voice)

2004

1 episode

 

Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, and Andy Serkis in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

9.0

Damrod

2003

 

Mike Edward, Craig Hall, Luanne Gordon, Dion Murphy, Mark Sant, and Boyd Bishop in The Strip (2002)

The Strip

7.3

TV Series

Cameron

2003

1 episode

 

Power Rangers Ninja Storm (2003)

Power Rangers Ninja Storm

6.5

TV Series

Jake

2003

1 episode

 

Terror Peak (2003)

Terror Peak

3.6

TV Movie

Dirksen Thatcher

2003

 

Revelations: The Initial Journey (2002)

Revelations: The Initial Journey

7.5

TV Series

Patrick

2003

1 episode

 

Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, and Andy Serkis in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

8.8

Damrod (uncredited)

2002

 

Rain (2001)

Rain

6.9

Ed

2001

 

Jackson's Wharf (1999)

Jackson's Wharf

6.6

TV Series

Craig Royal

1999–2000

7 episodes

 

Promo poster

Vertical Limit

6.0

'Ali'

2000

 

Jack of All Trades (2000)

Jack of All Trades

7.7

TV Series

George Washington

2000

1 episode

 

Ryan Gosling in Young Hercules (1998)

Young Hercules

5.7

TV Series

Real Skourous

1999

1 episode

 

William Shatner in A Twist in the Tale (1999)

A Twist in the Tale

7.1

TV Series

Lancelot Dulac

1999

1 episode

 

Lucy Lawless in Xena: Warrior Princess (1995)

Xena: Warrior Princess

6.8

TV Series

King

1999

1 episode

 

Kevin Sorbo in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995)

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

6.5

TV Series

BronaghMeniskos

1997–1998

4 episodes

 

Duggan

6.6

TV Series

Simon Doyle

1998

1 episode

 

Riding High (1995)

Riding High

7.1

TV Series

Max Townsend

1995–1996

 

Shortland Street (1992)

Shortland Street

4.6

TV Series

Barry Harrison

1992

21 episodes

 

Alexander Graham Bell: The Sound and the Silence (1991)

Alexander Graham Bell: The Sound and the Silence

7.1

TV Movie

Dr. Clarence Blake

1991

 

Undercover (1991)

Undercover

TV Movie

Eddie

1991

 

The End of the Golden Weather (1991)

The End of the Golden Weather

6.3

Robin Hood

1991

 

Shark in the Park (1989)

Shark in the Park

7.7

TV Series

Steven Long

1990

1 episode

 

Windrider (1986)

Windrider

5.1

Cram

1986

 

Second Time Lucky (1984)

Second Time Lucky

5.1

Technician 1

1984

 

David Bowie, Takeshi Kitano, Tom Conti, Ryûichi Sakamoto, and Jack Thompson in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

7.2

De Jong

1983

 

Lorraine Bayly, Paul Cronin, Susan Hannaford, Andrew McFarlane, Richard Morgan, and Steven Tandy in The Sullivans (1976)

The Sullivans

6.9

TV Series

Ray Kirk

1981

2 episodes

 

Archive Footage

Rain: Promotion Reel

Video

Ed (archive footage)

2003

Donald M. Fraser obit

A Minnesota politician for four decades, Don Fraser dies at 95

 He was not on the list.

A soft-spoken and unassuming man, Don Fraser had staying power in the elected offices he held in St. Paul, Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis over his nearly 40-year political career.

He advocated for ideas ahead of his time, pushing for human rights reform while in Congress and championing the power of early childhood education during his years as mayor of Minneapolis. He remains the longest-serving mayor in the city's history.

"In his own quiet way, he always won the day," said George Latimer, former mayor of St. Paul.

Fraser died Sunday morning at home in Minneapolis, surrounded by family. He was 95.

Fraser was born in 1924 in Minneapolis. He attended the University of Minnesota before briefly serving in the Pacific theater during World War II. While working as an attorney, he became active in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in the 1940s and worked on political campaigns, including Hubert H. Humphrey's 1948 race for U.S. Senate.

His own political career began in 1954 when he was elected to the state Senate. He served for seven years before becoming a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1963 to 1979.

"He was not your prototypical politician," said his son, Tom Fraser. "He persuaded people by the power of his argument, not the volume of his speech."

In 1978, Fraser gave up his U.S. House seat to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Humphrey, who had died earlier that year. Fraser lost the DFL primary election to businessman Bob Short because he lacked rural voter support, in part because of his work to pass laws protecting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

"The political opposition didn't matter to him," Tom Fraser said. As a teenager, Don Fraser had canoed in the Boundary Waters, and he continued to take his family there well into his 80s.

Kevin Proescholdt, conservation director for Wilderness Watch, worked with Fraser as a volunteer wilderness advocate and credits him with the passage of the BWCA Wilderness Act.

"Don remained steadfast in fighting for protection of the BWCAW throughout the time, even when his advocacy for protecting this gem may have cost him votes," Proescholdt said.

Losing the election offered him an opportunity to get out of D.C. and return to Minneapolis, where Fraser was first elected mayor in 1979.

"He relished the opportunity to return home," his son said. "He truly found the mayoral job to be the most rewarding of his career because he could translate his ideas into action more quickly."

Among Fraser's accomplishments as mayor was ridding the police department of its ingrained politics. Until Fraser was elected, the department was riven by political factions that backed one mayoral candidate or another -- and to the victorious faction went the spoils of top jobs and plumb assignments. Fraser put an end to that by appointing an outsider from New York City -- Tony Bouza -- as police chief.

A recent biography of Fraser includes a quote from Bouza during his tenure as chief: "Oh, my God, after all the cretins and bastards I have worked for, I was owed Don Fraser. The city was owed Don Fraser. I love the guy. He's thoughtful, decent, intelligent, tough. He's everything you would want in a mayor. He's absolutely wonderful."

Outside of his elected offices, Fraser was a dedicated father to his six children, his son remembered. He was a relaxed and tolerant one, too, Tom Fraser said — at one point, a jungle gym was allowed in the living room. He also enjoyed swimming, canoeing, sailing and weekly games of tennis, which he played into his mid-80s.

Fraser was also an avid tinkerer, his son said. He was the go-to person for any computer fixes and enjoyed spending time in his shop, where he worked on radio-controlled cars and boats.

Fraser suffered the loss of two daughters -- one hit by a car as a young girl on her way to school, and another who committed suicide at age 26.

Latimer remembers Fraser as someone who thought deeply and had a quiet strength. His length of service spoke to his integrity and the trust his constituents put in him each election year, Latimer said Sunday night.

"I never heard a word from him, in all the hours we spent privately, that he would not have said publicly," Latimer said. "There was no wall between the public and the private him."

For Latimer, Fraser falls into the group of Minnesota leaders — Walter Mondale, Hubert Humphrey and Orville Freeman — who lived with a simple dedication to do good and be just.

"I don't think he was ever understood for the greatness he represented," Latimer said.

In a statement, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar called him a "true champion for good."

"As a congressman he fought for the environment and human rights and exposed human rights abuses around the world. As the Mayor of Minneapolis he advocated for early childhood education," she said. "His mission? Ideas matter in politics. He lived that."

Fraser's wife, Arvonne, was a trailblazer for women's rights and ran as lieutenant governor on Latimer's ticket in the 1986 gubernatorial race, which they lost in the DFL primary. Arvonne died in August 2018 at age 92.

Dick Stewart obit

TV host Dick Stewart Has died 

He was not on the list.

Stewart was an American singer, bandleader, actor, television host, and author. From 1959 to 1963, he hosted the popular televised music show, KPIX Dance Party.

Stewart was born in Davenport, Iowa on April 22, 1928. In his preschool years, his family moved to Oakland, California.Stewart attended Cleveland Grammar School and Oakland High School in Oakland. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Stewart attended radio school on the GI bill.

For seven years, Stewart was a host for Southern California local television shows.

Stewart had a few acting roles. One was as Everett in the 1953 film The Glass Web which was directed by Jack Arnold. Other films include Good Morning, Miss Dove in 1955 and That's the Way of the World in 1975.

Stewart took over the show, on 23 February 1959, to 1963, filling the position of the previous host Ted Randall who had resigned. Stewart got the position after being the winner in a series of auditions which were broadcast live. For the show Stewart would make his own choice and pick which records would be played instead of relying on an automated computerized system. He once said that he would "rather pick records that are wrong, and have fun with then, than be right to the point of dullness". One of his aims was to give the youngsters a more exciting, literate type of music. He would occasionally slip in some big band type music such as Lionel Hampton or Henry Mancini. Sometimes he would play the B-sides of singles which had local viewers playing both sides of the record.

Stewart was a radio DJ for KFSO on Sundays with an hour show.

As a singer, he performed at venues like the Off Broadway. In early 1962 he had a single out on the Penthouse label. It was "I Believe" bw "Without You". It was produced by George Motola. Around 1963, he recorded "I'll Change", which was produced by Al Hazan. The song was possibly intended for release on the Ava label but was rejected.

Stewart was the first host of the ABC-TV & Chuck Barris Game Show Beauty Pageant called The Dream Girl of 1967 from Monday December 19, 1966 to Friday June 23, 1967 except Bob Barker (Future Ex-Host of "The Price is Right" Guest Host for Monday-Friday June 12–16, 1967 for promoting Chuck Barris' New Game Show THE FAMILY GAME also on ABC-TV before Wink Martindale Hosted and his 2 Hostess are Beverly Adams (December 19–23, 1966) & Karen Valentine (December 26, 1966 – August 25, 1967.)

Dick Stewart remarried to Anne Randall. He had three children with his former wife, and raised them with Randall.

Stewart flew his own North American T-6 Texan, and survived a graveyard spiral.

In July 1994, Stewart retired to Sun City, Arizona. On May 31, 2019, his wife Anne announced that he had died earlier that day, at the age of 91.

Actor

That's the Way of the World (1975)

That's the Way of the World

6.0

Mel Cooper

1975

 

Robert Douglas, Kipp Hamilton, Jennifer Jones, Peggy Knudsen, and Robert Stack in Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955)

Good Morning, Miss Dove

7.0

Dr. Adams Temple (uncredited)

1955

 

The Glass Web (1953)

The Glass Web

6.6

Everett (uncredited)

1953

 

Producer

Bo Derek in Fantasies (1981)

Fantasies

3.1

associate producer

1981