Animated Views Celebrity Obituary Thread

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Post by NatalieTheLionQueen » March 24th, 2011, 4:21 am

All morning in the news was talking about her. She is a great actress. Rest In Peace Ms. Taylor, you were a great actress.

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Post by EricJ » March 24th, 2011, 1:59 pm

GeorgeC wrote:At the rate famous smurfs are smurfing lately, do you think they'll be any smurfs left over 70???

For smurf's sake, you know that smurfs alway smurf in groups of 3!
(George....You know how Ben occasionally picks on ME for tasteless buddy-jocularity in the wrong thread?
Let's give it a rest and keep it to where it actually has some contextual meaning; you're starting to get a little free with your responses, and a little too group-happy.)

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Post by Randall » March 24th, 2011, 8:21 pm

Valid point.

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » March 24th, 2011, 8:38 pm

Listen, guys, I'll agree to drop "smurfing" but honestly this underscores something else I've been noticing lately. (I was getting annoyed by smurfs, too.. although the original Peyo stories that have been translated into English aren't that bad.)

Where's the enforcement to stop threads like "I Hate Toy Story 3" or "This movie sucks?" from going on forever in cycles. Those threads should have been closed when we all know where those guys were headed. That makes a bigger mockery of the Forums than anything I or even Eric's done. Honestly -- no joking here.

You can get me to stop doing stuff if you ask nicely. I'm a big boy, no problem...

What's going on with carl and Dusty is beyond annoying. It's pathological. The strings need to be cut somewhere.

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Post by Ben » March 26th, 2011, 10:18 am

Don't worry...I have the scissors out...


Back in the Elizabeth Taylor topic (whoa, such a shame that something as sad as this news should be hijacked by more rants), the younger cool cats may remember her as Wilma's mom in the 1994 Flintstones movie (not that many of us want to remember the 1994 Flintstones movie!), but she's much more memorable in a slew of terrific performances in the 50s and 60s.


Cool bit of real life: my partner Jen's Dad, Jim, worked at the MGM British Studios during its golden age of those years, when Taylor's relationship with Richard Burton was the pioneering Brangelina of its time. The pair were there making The Yellow Rolls-Royce in the mid/late 60s when one afternoon, Burton couldn't find his then-new wife Taylor anywhere on the lot. Remember that this was when the couple were the most famous faces on the planet. Burton walks into Jim's workshop (they became friends on Where Eagles Dare) and shouts out, "Has anyone here seen my wife!?"

"No", Jim deadpans, "What's she look like?" :!: :D 8)

GeorgeC

Re: RIP, Elizabeth Taylor; 1932-2011

Post by GeorgeC » March 28th, 2011, 11:26 pm

That's a great story, Ben!

Jen's Dad had impeccable comedy timing.
Great punchline! :lol:

GeorgeC

RIP, Diana Wynn Jones; author of "Howl's Moving Castle"

Post by GeorgeC » March 29th, 2011, 5:48 pm

http://www.toonzone.net/news/articles/3 ... 934---2011


Diana Wynn Jones, author of many children's books, but best known for "Howl's Moving Castle," passed away 26 March 2011, aged 76. She passed away from health issues related to lung cancer. She is survived by three sons from a marriage.

"Howl's Moving Castle" was the basis for a successful Japanese feature film adaptation. The film was nominated for the Academy Award category of Best Animated Feature. The anime feature was a huge hit in Japan and briefly held the record for highest-grossing animated feature in that country. It has since been released worldwide on DVD and dubbed into English.

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Post by Ben » March 29th, 2011, 6:23 pm

Thanks, George. He was one of life's really genuine "blokes", as we say over here, and he's missed daily. Another fun fact: he built the Millennium Falcon, which is about as cool as anyone gets, in my book!

GeorgeC

Re: RIP, Elizabeth Taylor; 1932-2011

Post by GeorgeC » March 29th, 2011, 6:41 pm

OMG!

Your gal's late dad would be like a GOD to the people on the Replica Prop Forum!

There are a couple of nuts there who don't realize the logistics of shipping a multi-ton full-scale starship overseas! They're upset that the full-scale Falcon wasn't kept intact and shipped back to the US but generally aren't aware that scrapping/junking large props and sets is part of the film business like it or not. Unless the piece fits into a backlot and is useable (doesn't take up space needed for new film production), it'll end up rotting in pieces like BOTH life-scale Falcon's did. Try explaining the facts of life to these guys and it goes in one ear and out the other without being processed.
(Learned recently from The Making of The Empire Strikes Back that two Falcon's were built. The one in the original Star Wars was not a full-build. Enough of one side was built to let the actors go up the ramp into the "ship's insides." There separate shootings set pieces for the interior and cockpit of the Falcon used in the first two movies; only the cockpit was reused for Jedi. All Falcon exteriors in Jedi were either miniatures or matte paintings. Only the Falcon built for Empire was a "full-scale 360-degree replica."

(Yeah, right! As if a lightspeed-capable Falcon ever really existed... There are some people who still believe there were castaways lost from a "three-hour tour.")

Yeah, he would have at least been a big hero to those guys.

Say anything related to the original Star Wars trilogy, they just go ape over there!

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Post by Ben » March 30th, 2011, 2:14 pm

His personal work diaries are priceless too. Back when Empire was known as "Star Wars 2" (yes, the real original working title), he has an entry on one Friday that says "Finished up on Star Wars 2". Flick the pages to the following Monday, and it reads, "Start on Flash Gordon". What a fantastic way to work! Unfortunately, he wasn't on Jedi or Temple Of Doom: Jim was asked (one of the few construction crew members personally requested by name) but was "asked" by his wife to retire just before production began.

GeorgeC

RIP, Jackie Cooper, "Our Gang" and Superman's Perry White

Post by GeorgeC » May 4th, 2011, 7:06 pm

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2 ... at-age-88/

The last living major "Rascal" I'm aware of has passed away.

The obit says Jackie Cooper passed away the other day after recent illness. He was 88.

I can remember seeing him in "Superman: The Movie" in 1978. He really was Perry White for a generation or two of fans. Besides, J. Jonah Jameson (brought to life so well by J.K. Simmons in the three Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies), I can't think of a more memorable, bombastic boss for a supehero character. At least Perry never sent "Kryptonite-killers" after Superman!

It was much later that I connected Jackie Cooper to a blond-haired boy who appeared in episodes of "The Little Rascals" ("Our Gang" theatrical shorts rebranded for TV syndication). It was kind of weird seeing two opposite ends of somebody else's life in film.

Cooper wasn't the icon that Elizabeth Taylor was but he sure was a reassuring presence and very good character actor in films and TV. I think I'll miss him more than most icons...

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Post by Randall » May 4th, 2011, 8:17 pm

I never saw him in much else other than the Superman films, but for that role alone he will be well remembered.

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Post by Ben » May 6th, 2011, 3:48 am

Ahhhh.

Even though he really hadn't done anything in a long while, you still kind of knew he was out there. And to think his Superman role was intended for Keenan Wynn!

GeorgeC

Randy "Macho Man" Savage, RIP

Post by GeorgeC » May 20th, 2011, 5:25 pm

Beloved 80's wrestling icon and continuing ambassador of the WWE, Randy Savage, passed away this Friday after a car accident. His brother released a statement saying that early medical investigation appears to show that the Macho Man suffered a heart attack while driving his Jeep Wrangler. The Wrangler went off the road and straight into a tree killing Randy Savage on impact. Savage was 58.

Savage was part of a cast of outlandish, memorable wrestlers in WWE's previous WWF organization. (WWF was forced to rebrand itself after a lawsuit by the World Wildlife Federation claimed exclusive rights to the initials "W W F"... And just when you thought PETA, the Sea Shepherds, and ELF were bad enough!) The iconic 80's line-up also featured the Iranian-born Iron Sheik, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Captain Lou Albano, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ivan Volkoff, Bobby the Brain Heenan, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jesse "The Body" Ventura at various times.

(Hey, I'm NOT a pro wrestling fan but it was NEXT-TO-IMPOSSIBLE not to know about these guys back then...! I also watched a few episodes of their animated series.)

Savage has lent his distinctive swaggering voice to animation a few times. He guest-voiced an episode of "Dial M for Monkey" where he portrayed the universe's greatest wrestler... NONE of the Earth's superheroes were able to defeat him but he was impressed by the spirit of Monkey and spared the Earth.

**********

And news like this comes in 2's and 3's....

There are also reports that 60-year-old actor Jeff Conaway is in a coma. He's best known for playing Bobby Wheeler in "Taxi" as well as starring as Security Chief Garibaldi's second/successor in "Babylon 5."

Conaway's had a decades-long history of health and addiction issues following difficulties in his career and personal life. Conaway has been in rehab several times including a season of "Celebrity Rehab."


*********

I normally read this stuff and go on but geez, fan or not, I grew up watching these guys in the 1980s! Hard to see icons and familiar faces end this way...

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Post by Ben » May 21st, 2011, 3:48 pm

George...even for us, this really isn't anywhere close to what this site is all about, save for voicing some obscure characters. Popular old-timers, movie stars, even celebrities that we would have heard of - we just let'cha post these obits without much to say about them, but this one? :)

I don't mind them mostly, and it's nice to remember people for sure, but in many cases they're well outside the lines, and this one isn't even fringe! Didn't we have a "George's RIP Thread" around before the Forum upgrade? Me thinks it's time to resurrect that so that you have a place to lump many of these RIP posts.

Just...y'know...sayin'... :)

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