Monday, February 28, 2011

John Warhola, American museum founder (The Andy Warhol Museum) and brother of Andy Warhol, died from pneumonia he was , 85

John Warhola  played a pivotal role in maintaining the legacy of his younger brother, pop artist Andy Warhol, assigned responsibility by their father on his deathbed to ensure that Andy attended college and serving as a trustee of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts after his brother's death in 1987 died from pneumonia he was , 85. Warhola oversaw the establishment of The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in Medzilaborce, Slovakia.

(May 31, 1925 – December 24, 2010)

Warhola was born May 31, 1925, in Pittsburgh, the second of three sons of Andrij and Julia Warhola.[1] Shortly before his death in 1942, his father asked Warhola to take responsibility for Andy's college education.[2][1] Warhola's son recalled that his grandfather had said that "Your role is to take care of Andy and make sure he goes to school, because he's going to be successful someday".[1] Warhola attended vocational school himself and used the proceeds of savings bonds that his father had set aside to pay for Andy's first two years at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, and used the money he earned at a series of jobs to pay for Andy's final two years in college.[1]
After Warhol graduated from college and moved to New York City, Warhola kept in touch with his brother on a regular basis, calling him weekly until his death. As part of Andy Warhol's will, Warhola was named as one of the trustees of an organization that would support the arts. As vice president of the foundation for two decades, Warhola helped oversee the creation of museums dedicated to Warhol's work in their native Pittsburgh and in the area of Slovakia where his parents had grown up. Established in 1991, the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art was given some two dozen works of Warhol, as well as other pieces created by the eldest Warhola brother, Paul.[2] Warhola was an active participant at The Andy Warhol Museum located in Pittsburgh's North Side neighborhood, often speaking with children visiting the museum about his brother's work.[3]
A resident of Freedom, Pennsylvania, Warhola died at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh at the age of 85 due to pneumonia on December 24, 2010.[2][3] He was survived by three sons and two grandchildren, as well as by his older brother Paul.[3]

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K. Karunakaran, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Kerala (1977; 1981–1987; 1991–1995), died from a stroke he was , 92

Kannoth Karunakaran was a senior politician from Kerala, India belonging to Congress party died from a stroke he was , 92. He was a former Chief Minister of Kerala, Home minister of Government of Kerala, and Minister for Industries of Government of India. He was one of the most influential persons in Kerala politics for several decades and was affectionately called "Leader" by Congress activists. He was often criticized for apparent nepotism.[1]

( July 5, 1918 - December 23, 2010)

Early life

Karunakaran was born on 5 July 1918 at Chirackkal in Kannur District to Shri.Thekkedathu Ramunni Marar and Smt. Kannoth Kalyani Amma with birth star “Karthika". His father Ramunni Marar was a 'sirastadar', a government job under the then British Malabar state government. He had two elder brothers (Kunjiraman Marar and Balakrishnan Marar) and a younger brother (Damodaran Marar aka Appunni Marar). Their only sister Devaki died when she was merely 5 years old.
As a young boy, Karunakaran was passionate about swimming, football and volleyball. He also demonstrated ample interest in painting. During his early years, while being admitted to the lower primary school, he insisted not to add the caste name 'Marar' to his official name at the school unlike the normal practice of those days. He started his school education in Vadakara LP School and continued through Andalloor and then Chirakkal Raja's School till eighth standard. Later, he had to undergo prolonged treatment due to an eye-related disorder, and was thus relocated (with his elder brother Kunjirama Marar) to the home of his uncle Puthenveettil Raghavan Nair at Vellanikkara, a village, ten kilometer away from Thrissur. The two brothers would later actively participate in the prevailing Indian freedom movement since an early age. The stay at Thrissur would transform their life altogether and engulf them into the politics and trade union activism that was brewing up in the region.
After continuing the school at Sarkar High School, Thrissur (presently Govt. Model Boys High School, Thrissur), Karunakaran wanted to pursue his career in drawing and painting. He joined the Maharaja's Technical Institute (MTI), Thrissur for a Diploma in Design and Drawing. Although he earned the Diploma with a Gold Medal, except for a short stint at a Fine Arts Institute in Thrissur he did not take up painting as a profession and instead turned his attention completely towards the political issues. However, as an artist, he recalls in his biography, his paintings were appreciated well and many of them would fetch a price as good as Rs.500 per piece.
In 1937, Karunakaran joined the flood relief camps that were conducted by V.R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan, C. Achyutha Menon, R.M. Manakkalath and other leaders of Prajamandalam, an early freedom struggle movement in Cochin State. He became a member of the Indian National Congress and began to wear Khadi. He also participated intensively in the trade union activities in the vast Thattil rubber estates where his uncle Raghavan Nair was a 'writer'. During this time, he would spare his artistic skills and labour in helping the workers' union (later INTUC) for their wall writings and campaigns. Gradually, he was picked up by Panampilly Govinda Menon as his most favourite follower. In due course, Karunakaran rose to a level of the senior-most Leader of the Indian National Trade Union Congress(INTUC). The INTUC later became one of the largest trade unions in India having with over 4 million memberships today.

Karunakaran is the founder of United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1970. He evinced utmost care in ensuring cordiality, unity and understanding among the constituent parties, and he commanded absolute control and due respect from them.
His closeness to the Nehru family begins from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and culminated and pinnacled during the tenure of Smt. Indira Gandhi and Shri. Rajiv Gandhi. Karunakaran played the role of King Maker in finding out a successor to Rajiv Gandhi. Being the senior mostensuing elections of 1977.
Karunakaran has been the Chief Minister of Kerala four times. He took charge as Chief Minister for the first time on 25-3-1977. However he tendered his resignation on 25-4-1977, immediately following certain references by the Kerala High Court in what came to be known as Rajan case.
He took charge as Chief Minister again on December 28, 1981. However, this ministry did not last long. He resigned on 17 March 1982, following the withdrawal of support by a member of the Kerala Congress (M). Midterm elections to the 7th Kerala Legislative Assembly was held on May 19, 1982. The Ministry with Shri. K.Karunakaran as Chief Minister assumed office on 24 May 1982 and continued till 1987. On June 24, 1991, Shri.K.Karunakaran took charge again as Chief Minister of Kerala for the fourth term, and resigned on March 16, 1995, making way for A.K.Antony to take up the Chief Ministership.
After A. K. Antony was elected as Kerala chief minister in 2001, Karunakaran was on the warpath with the Government led by his own party and the party high command. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to regain supremacy in the Kerala wing of the Indian National Congress, the dissidents led by him landed up in the bad books of the Congress high command. With the sharp increase in factional meetings held all over Kerala, mostly led by his son K. Muraleedharan, Indian National Congress suspended Muraleedharan from the party.
As a veteran parliamentarian, whose career stretches over five decades, Karunakaran has been elected three times to Rajya Sabha and to Lok Sabha twice. He was a member of Rajya Sabha during 1995-97, 1997–98 and 2004-2005. He has been elected to Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram in 1998 and from Mukundapuram constituency in 1999. Karunakaran served as the Minister for Industries in the Union Cabinet for one year in 1995.
With Muraleedharan being pushed to the verge of political orphanage, Karunakaran left his party and formed a new political outfit with him as the President. Thus, on 1 May 2005, Karunakaran formed a new party in Kerala National Congress (Indira). Later, the new party was renamed to Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran). Later, Karunakaran merged his party with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), despite opposition from many senior leaders like T. M. Jacob who has since left the party. K Karunakaran and his daughter Padmaja returned to their parent party (Indian National Congress) following a spilt . However his son Muraleedharan dissociated himself from his father and continued in NCP.A great Leader who gave a helping hand to the Minorities and supported them.

Death

Karunakaran died on 23 December 2010 at Ananthapuri Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He was suffering from respiratory problems, fever and other age related diseases. His condition worsened following a stroke and the death occurred when he had a cardiac arrest. His death was confirmed by doctors at 5:30 PM. It was coincidental that his death and Narasimha Rao's death was on same date. Karunakaran had played key role in backing the Rao Government and later Rao had dismissed Karunakaran from the chair of Chief Minister of Kerala[2][3]. His funeral was attended by the prime minister Manmohan Singh and the AICC chief Sonia Gandhi.

Controversies

K. Karunakaran was the home minister of Kerala during the emergency period. After the Emergency, the Rajan case rocked Kerala politics like no other issue before and Karunakaran was forced to step down as the case attracted national attention. It was a habeas corpus petition filed by T.V. Eachara Warrier seeking the state machinery produce his son Rajan (a student of Regional Engineering College ,Calicut who actively participated in protests against the emergency declared by the Indira government), in court. Rajan was allegedly killed by the police at Kakkayam police torture camp and the body disposed off Mad. The legal battle lead by Rajan's father became one of the most remembered human rights fight in the state[4] and the legal struggle by his father T V Eachara Warrier had diminished the popularity of Karunakaran.The book Memories of a father is a lamentation of a father over his son's brutal death. He was an accused in the palmolein corruption case, which was pending before the supreme court at the time of his death.
Karunakaran will be remembered for his strong stand against Naxalism in Kerala and for completely removing its roots from the society.

Biographies

1. The first Biography on him titled 'K.Karunakaran' was written by Vrindavanam Venugopalan. Published by Islamiya Books, Aluva in 1992

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Fred Foy, American radio and television announcer (The Lone Ranger), died from natural causes he was , 89

Frederick William Foy was an American radio and television announcer, who used Fred Foy as his professional name  died from natural causes he was , 89. He is best known for his narration of The Lone Ranger. Radio historian Jim Harmon described Foy as "the announcer, perhaps the greatest announcer-narrator in the history of radio drama."[1]
Shortly after graduating from high school in 1938, Foy began in broadcasting with a part-time position at WMBC, a 250-watt independent station in Detroit. He moved to WXYZ in 1942, but World War II interrupted his radio career.

(March 27, 1921 – December 22, 2010)

WWII

He was inducted August 28, 1942, entering the American armed forces September 11, 1942. Attached to the 14th Special Service Company, Sergeant Fred Foy became the American voice on Egyptian State Broadcasting, delivering news and special programs to the Allied Forces in Cairo. He handled the distribution throughout the Middle East of American recordings, in addition to local broadcasts of Command Performance, Mail Call, Personal Album, Radio Bric-a-Brac and Front Line Theatre. He also announced The American Forces Programme. For Stars and Stripes he did American News Letter, a weekly summary of news from America, plus sport flashes and items from various theatres of war. For Cairo cinemas, he announced Headline News of the Day. Foy helped stage and announce USO sponsored programs, including a Jack Benny broadcast from Cairo to New York and an Andre Kostelanetz concert with Lily Pons.
Foy scripted his own shows, including Up To Scratch, a lively program of the current hit tunes, and Shows on Parade, which he hosted. When he wrote and directed Christmas Overseas, broadcast from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, in the Holy Land it received top honors from Washington. Featuring Christmas music by the Franciscan Boys’ Orphanage Choir, the program opened with a Christmas story offering reasons for fighting the War. Working with Stars and Stripes, he created and announced a program airing World Series play-by-play to GIs. He also scripted, directed and acted with the American Red Cross during the 1945 War Fund Campaign. Foy received a commendation for voluntarily remaining at his post during the hours from August 10, 1945 until final August 15 confirmation of the Japanese surrender, making the latest news available at all times during the news emergency prior to the surrender. He was discharged on January 3, 1946 at Camp Atterbury in Indiana.

Radio

After the war, Foy returned to WXYZ in Detroit. He took over the position of announcer and narrator for radio's The Lone Ranger beginning July 2, 1948 and continuing until the series ended on September 3, 1954. He understudied the title role and stepped into the part on March 29, 1954 when Brace Beemer had laryngitis. His long run as announcer and narrator of The Lone Ranger made the Foy's distinctive voice a radio trademark. He was also heard on radio's The Green Hornet and Challenge of the Yukon.[2][3]
His stentorian delivery of the program's lead-in thrilled his audience for years and helped the program achieve even greater popularity and status. Most radio historians agree that Foy’s Lone Ranger introduction is the most recognized opening in American radio:
Hi-Yo, Silver! A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi-Yo Silver"... The Lone Ranger! With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early West. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoof-beats of the great horse Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again![4]

Television

In 1955, Foy reprised his famous “Return with us now...” opening narration for The Lone Ranger television series (1949-57). In 1961, Foy joined the ABC announcing staff in New York. For ABC Television he spent five years as announcer and on-camera commercial spokesman for The Dick Cavett Show. He was also the announcer for The Generation Gap and other network quiz shows. For ABC Radio he narrated the award-winning news documentary, Voices in the Headlines, as well as serving as host and narrator for the ABC's radio drama series, Theatre 5 (1964-65). He narrated network documentary specials in tribute to Sir Winston Churchill, JFK, Herbert Hoover and others. As spokesman for national advertisers, Foy represented Colgate, General Motors and Sinclair. Foy stayed with ABC until 1985.

Awards

Fred Foy was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in March 2000 and received the Golden Boot Award from the Motion Picture and Television Fund in August, 2004.
Foy performed his "Return with us now..." Lone Ranger opening narration live at the Hollywood Bowl in August, 2000, with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and conductor John Mauceri. In 1986, he wrote his autobiography, Fred Foy from XYZ to ABC: A Fond Recollection, and he has also released a 45-minute CD/cassette of memories, Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch.

Death

Fred Foy died on December 22, 2010 of natural causes. [5]

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Enzo Bearzot , Italian World Cup-winning football manager and player.died he was , 83

Vincenzo "Enzo" Bearzot [1] was an Italian association football player and manager .died he was , 83. He is best known for having led the Italian national football team to a triumph in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

 
(26 September 1927 – 21 December 2010)

 Playing career

Born in Aiello del Friuli, in the friulian Province of Udine in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Bearzot had a moderately successful playing career as a centre back. He made his debut in professional football with Pro Gorizia in 1946, a team he left in 1948 to join Serie A giants Internazionale. After three seasons with the Nerazzurri, Bearzot moved to Sicily and joined Catania for three more seasons. This was then followed by a long period at Torino, where he played from 1954 to 1964, except for a short stint back at Internazionale in 1956–57. He retired in 1964, aged 37.
In his playing career, Bearzot totalled 251 appearances in Italy's Serie A, being called up once to play for Italy, making his debut on 27 November 1955 in a 0–2 1955–56 Central European International Cup match defeat to Hungary.[2]

Managerial career

After having ended his playing career, Bearzot became assistant coach of Torino, working alongside Italian managers Nereo Rocco and Giovan Battista Fabbri. He successively moved in Tuscany to take his first head coaching job in Tuscany at the helm of Serie C side Prato.
However, Bearzot did not go on a club career, and chose instead to start working for the Italian Football Federation: first as under-23 head coach, then as assistant coach of Ferruccio Valcareggi in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. After the German World Cup, Bearzot was appointed as assistant coach of Fulvio Bernardini, and was then promoted head coach of Italy in 1977. It was Bearzot who drove the national team to fourth place in the 1978 FIFA World Cup,[3] obtained thanks to one of the most exciting playing styles in the competition. This performance was repeated in the 1980 European Championship, hosted by Italy.[3]
In the 1982 FIFA World Cup, after poor performances in the three first matches, Bearzot announced the so-called silenzio stampa (press silence) in order to avoid the raising critics from the Italian press. Following that, the Italian team finally started to play its best football, defeating Argentina and Brazil in the second round, Poland in the semi-final and Germany in the Final, leading his team to the first World Cup since 1938.[3]
Italy did not qualify for the Euro 1984.[3] Bearzot resigned after the 1986 FIFA World Cup, which saw Italy being defeated in the round of 16 by France.[3] Bearzot was criticised during the latter tournament for relying to heavily on players from the 1982 team, as some of them were past their best form by 1986.[3]
After a long period of inactivity, Bearzot was appointed President of the FIGC Technical Sector (Settore Tecnico, the main football coaching organization of Italy) in 2002. He left this office in 2005.
Bearzot died on 21 December 2010 in Milan, aged 83.[4][5][6]

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Elmo Gideon, American artist and sculptor died he was , 86

Gideon is an American Master Artist and Sculptor of the 20th and 21st centuries died he was , 86. His paintings and sculptures include some of the world’s most known subjects, including the famous Gideon Holocaust Collection.
Signed Gideon (early works were sometimes signed E. Gideon), his works cover nearly the entire spectrum of artistic creativity; Abstract, Impressionistic, Modernistic, Portraits, Landscapes, Seascapes, Sculptures and more.
Gideon has been described as an “artist who borders on being an elemental force” [1] whose own ambitions guided him in the development of revolutionary paints and sculpting compounds, technique and form and application that enabled him to create over 20,000 original works of art during his life.

(11 January 1924 - 21 December 2010) 


Gideon’s Youth (1924–1942)

Gideon was born in 1924 in the small town of Overland Park, Kansas. As a child born into a poor mid-west family, growing up during The Great Depression and Dust Bowl made life very difficult.[2] His family was struggling to survive and had little time or interest to assist their son with what they saw as a passing fancy rather than a talent that should be nurtured.
Even through these struggles, his interest in art persevered from an early age. As early as five years old, motivated by his own inner drive, he would fashion paint brushes from twigs, rags and pieces of cotton. He spent hours carving, with only a pocket knife, and painting figures with tiny rags on a stick.
One of these figures was from the long-running cartoon strip “Bringing Up Father” (a.k.a. Maggie & Jiggs). He entered his carving of Jiggs in a school art contest and won first prize—25 cents. With his winnings, Gideon was then able to go to the dime store and purchase two very small cans of paint at 10 cents each, the first real paints he had ever had.
At the age of 12 he created a remarkable portrait of his grandfather done in blue chalk he had picked up from the hardware store. Many of the items he made, including the 78 year old carving of Jiggs, are still in his possession today.
Gideon’s early teenage years were spent traveling from state to state with his father and uncle, both of whom were alcoholic drifters. Working whenever he could find someone who would hire a child, Gideon took on several jobs including working on a farm picking fruit and vegetables, working in a laundry, as a janitor for a church, in a donut shop glazing donuts, in an ice cream manufacturing plant and becoming an experience-trained house painter.
When he turned 15, Gideon traveled to Inglewood, CA. He joined a CCC Camp (Civilian Conservation Corps). These camps were designed to give people something to do and keep them off the streets during The Great Depression. However, it also attracted a lot of undesirables a few of whom, immediately, began harassing young Gideon. When he learned about their plan to shave his head and paint it green, he left.
Gideon went to stay with his aunt and uncle in Chicago. They lived in a two-story wooden house with two bedrooms and a bath upstairs. His aunt's mother slept in one of the bedrooms and Gideon had to sleep on a cot at the foot of her bed. While in Chicago, he worked in a machine shop and began training as a welder. He eventually became a certified welder and iron worker for Chicago Bridge & Iron, a skill he would later come to use extensively in his sculptures.
While there, he entered the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts[3] where he was enrolled in an evening nude figures charcoal class, the first class you were required to take. Just getting to the school was extremely difficult taking hours of walking in all types of weather. The age-old "When I was a kid, I had to walk miles, to and from school, in knee-deep snow and driving sleet" was a reality for Gideon. Within a few months, someone offered him a job and he left the Academy.

The War and Holocaust (1943-1946)

In 1943, even though as a welder he had received a military deferment, Gideon went to Kansas City, Missouri and enlisted in the Army. He remembers the train, with all of the new inductees, pulling into the station outside of Camp Blanding, Florida and being met by the 66th Division Band. Gideon was placed in Field Artillery. However, shortly after his arrival, he was 1 of 100 men chosen to undergo Army Ranger training simultaneously with basic training. Upon completion of training and intense testing, he was one of a few in his division who actually became an Army Ranger.
Corporal Gideon was sent to England with the 66th “Black Panther” Division where he awaited orders. His division was scheduled to be a part of the infamous Battle of the Bulge. While crossing the English Channel, their boats were torpedoed resulting in many casualties. Luckily, Gideon was uninjured although he witnessed countless ships in the division exploding and set ablaze. The division, severely under strength, was then rerouted to the front lines in Southern France where Gideon found himself manning a howitzer with the remnants of the 66th.
Of his experiences in Southern France, Gideon writes:
"After we crossed the English Channel, we all got in trucks, 10 to 13 to each vehicle. It was bitter cold. We headed to Southern France and went directly to the frontlines, but our convoy of trucks and men got lost on the country roads.
"The big guns were going off, trying to pin down our location. The whole sky would light up, like being in the middle of a great fireworks display. Nonetheless, it was very dangerous to get that close to the German lines.
"Only one of our boys could speak a little French, and we finally settled in the woods and made our stand. We built small huts out of anything we could find. Anywhere from two to five guys would sleep in them, but most of us lived in pup tents. We packed snow all around the tents to keep the cold air from blowing in. Every night the Germans would start shooting at us; thousands of tracer bullets streaming over our heads. I could almost reach up and touch them. The sky lit up like 4 July, only it wasn't a party. They were firing at us, and it was very much for real.
"We killed a lot of Germans while we were there, and spent a lot of time firing above them so the shrapnel would rain down on them and their gun positions. It was bitterly cold but we couldn't build fires at night for risk of giving up our position. I had icicles on my helmet and shoulders most of the time. Rain, sleet, snow, mud… we lived in it. Sometimes, we could build small fires in the daytime and dry out a little. Imagine crawling into a three foot high pup tent filled with frozen mud, it's snowing outside and you're trying to get some sleep. There was mud all over our boots—and we didn't take them off, either.
"All we had for lunch was a peanut butter sandwich, but we sure had plenty of cigarettes. Each man was issued a carton a week, like it or not. For a toilet we would dig a trench in the frozen ground. No frills. Just cold."
Even while engulfed in the war, Gideon continued his passion to draw and sketch, storing his sketches and meager drawing implements in a cardboard canister of the type used to pack howitzer shells.[4]
Gideon was reassigned to the 42nd “Rainbow” Division in Salzburg, Austria. At this time, Austria was overwhelmed with homeless civilians, displaced persons liberated from the concentration camps and SS captives. The aftermath of war created a nightmarish logistical problem for the Allies. As an Army Ranger, Gideon was charged with the task of guarding some of the SS captives and tending to the displaced persons.
Gideon witnessed first hand things that have haunted both his dreams and his waking hours through all the intervening years. He watched the endless trails of lost human beings trundling along the roadsides in an attempt to find their way back home through the ashes and the rubble that were the legacy of World War II.
He had seen the fighting of war, perhaps the worst in history, and now he served as an eyewitness to its Genocide and the awful aftermath. Obsessed by the visions he experienced during the war, Gideon would go on to paint and sculpt some of the most harrowing and poignant images of post-Holocaust Europe ever produced.
Ironically, at that time, Gideon had never heard of the famous European artists Gauguin, Renoir or Van Gogh and had no idea of the historic implication the time spent in Europe during the war years would have on his future. This can be seen, today, in his Holocaust Collection. In certain circles he is known as the "Holocaust Man."
Consisting of his sketches from the frontlines, more than 3 dozen original paintings and nearly a dozen sculptures (some life-size), Gideon’s Holocaust collection remains an artistic journal to this horrific time in human history.
Although this collection is still privately held by Gideon, images of the works can be viewed at www.gideonart.com/holocaust or in print or online in the award-winning book, The Holocaust Chronicle on pages 389, 426 and 599. Editor-in-Chief David Hogan wrote of Gideon’s Holocaust works: “The pieces are striking, and have considerable impact on the printed page. I’m very taken by Gideon’s work.”[5]

After the War (1946 – present)

Commercial & Decorative Years

After the war, Gideon settled in Miami, Florida with “decorations for valor, memories of the kind of combat duty that scars you somewhere inside, and $300.”.[1] Shortly after his arrival in Miami, he got married and had two children. With a family to raise, he became involved in commercial enterprises. He worked painting houses on Miami Beach, as well as painting blouses and other decorative items for sale locally. He briefly attended the Terry Art School in Miami with assistance from the GI Bill, but quickly dedicated most of his waking hours to making a living through his art.
Throughout the 1950s and 60’s, Gideon was contracted by many businesses to provide original works en masse. From an orange juice producer in Lakeland, Florida to large art prints and reproduction companies, to famous hotels, Gideon was in high demand and considered the “Top-Selling U.S. Artist”.[3]
Although difficult to count in retrospect, it is probable that Gideon produced over 10,000 original works[6] for such entities as the Fontainebleau Hotel (Miami Beach, Florida), Jamaica Inn (Jamaica), Aruba Hotel (Aruba), El Rancho Hotel (Port-au-Prince, Haiti), International Inns (Washington DC), Duck Key Hotel (Florida), Rooney Plaza (Miami), Dunes Motel (Miami), Americana Hotel (Miami Beach),[7] Montmartre Hotel (Miami), Doral Beach Hotel (Miami), Key Biscayne Hotel (Miami), Sands Hotel (Las Vegas), Howard Johnson Hotel (Las Vegas), Voyager Hotel (Miami), Ocean Reef Hotel & Country Club (Miami), Kraft Foods, Burdines Department Store, Richards Department Store, Tip Freeman Pictures, and Turner Pictures.
For two years prior to Castro taking control, Gideon kept an apartment in Cuba where he worked during the week. He would fly home on weekends to be with his family as well as to load up necessary supplies for the return trip. While at home, he made his own paint and sculpting materials which he then used in Cuba.
At that time, there were only two major hotels in Cuba. The Hotel Nacional hired him to furnish approximately 1,000 original paintings. The Havana Hilton also hired him to create another 800 - 900 original paintings. During his stay in Cuba, Gideon painted, framed and hung these original pieces in both hotels. Gideon then went south of Cuba to the Isle of Pines, where he produced 7 or 8 bas relief sculptures which he, personally, hung on the walls in the auditorium of El Colony Hotel. To this day, Gideon is unaware of the fate of these works. More than likely, these pieces are lost forever.
Sculpting, in one form or another, has always been a part of Gideon's life. In 1957, The Pub, an up-scale restaurant in Coral Gables, Florida, contracted with Gideon to sculpt three trees in the center of the dining room. The 30-inch (760 mm) trunks reached from the floor to a 12-foot (3.7 m) ceiling. The limbs from the three trees spanned approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) and came together where they were fastened to the ceiling. The sculpting material used to build these beautiful, realistic trees was and continues to be another creative facet of Gideon's vast repertoire. As a final touch, rufus, long twigs with leaves and sharp ends, were then inserted into the ceiling. These sculpted trees gave the restaurant patrons the unique experience of dining "outside" while, actually, dining inside.
A huge success, Gideon was contracted to sculpt more trees for other famous landmarks including Jordan Marsh Department Store, the Constellation Hotel (in Toronto), and Maas Department Store.
These projects are all examples of Gideon's ability to produce, unassisted, quantities of work en masse. It wasn’t uncommon for him to receive single orders for 500 or more original works. For nearly 25 years, this type of commercial decorative art work allowed Gideon to make ends meet and support his family.

Discovery & Innovation

In one respect, Gideon is no different than so many other artists struggling to survive—dealing with the tremendous expense of purchasing art supplies in order to satisfy the need to create. Gideon soon realized that a small $75 tube of paint would not go very far—and that was just one color! Another problem with the tubes of paint was the slow drying process and lack of pliability.
Early on, he began a life-long quest to develop a formula for manufacturing large quantities of paint that would not crack or turn yellow with time, and that was also quick drying and pliable.
As a child, his daughter Terry recalls, “that there were always pieces of cardboard covered with globs of paint laying around the house. He would mix color pigment, oil, etc. in five gallon buckets, stirring with a big stick. He did all of this with no knowledge of chemistry.”
Gideon could not afford a new drill to make the mixing process easier so he bought a used 3/4" drill from a relative for $10. Over the years, when the drill would break he would weld it and keep going. He still has that drill! Without the years of experimentation and eventual development of his own paint, he would never have been able to produce the volume of work that exists today. Gideon firmly believes that the exorbitant cost of art supplies can stifle creativity in people who might, otherwise, pursue a life in art.
For nearly 60 years, almost all of Gideon’s original works were created from Gideon’s own paint recipes. Today, these formulas remain close to Gideon and are not available to the public.[8]
While coming up with his paint formula Gideon was, simultaneously, working on various sculpting compounds that would not fall apart but, rather, would become very solid and hard. The result of this difficult endeavor is a vast collection of sculptures varying in size from small clay studies measuring several inches, to heavy compounds with steel welded frames standing more than seven feet tall and weighing several thousand pounds. The wide variety of beautiful finishes is indescribable.
Like his paints, Gideon’s sculpting formulas and compounds are not available to the public and remain valued secrets known only to Gideon.

Serious Work & Reclusion

With family life and the commercial art taking most of his time, Gideon still managed to learn, experiment and create what he calls his “serious work.”
Immediately after his return from the war, Gideon began painting and sculpting creative, serious art work. He did this both for his own study, as well as to sell individually to serious art collectors.
For decades, Gideon created hundreds of magnificent serious works of art, both painting and sculpture. His heavy, thick paint was often a staple signature of his unique works. As early as the 1950s, Gideon began painting his world-famous “old men” and harbor scenes. Coupled with heavy sculptured frames that Gideon made himself, these classics are highly sought by private collectors.
Early on, Gideon had dozens of “One Man Shows” [9] and had won many awards. Well-known at the time, Gideon did as any other up-and-coming artist does and made waves with these events and personal galleries locally and abroad.[10]

Gideon Painting an Old Man, July 1998 (Miami, Florida).
However, in the early 1970s, nearing 50 years of age Gideon closed the door on public life in the arts. Tired of being worked to the edge with commercialism and decorative art, Gideon decided he had his share of art shows and dealers and sought to focus on his serious works.
During an interview by the Clearwater Sun in 1963, Gideon said “At first I painted things the public liked and could pay for… Now I do this sort of thing for myself.” [3]
For the next few decades, Gideon created thousands of serious sketches, paintings and sculptures. He operated his own private art gallery in Miami, Florida, selling some works to private collectors directly as he needed to survive. He never dealt with third-party galleries, auction houses or dealers again.
Over the years, Gideon has created one of the largest, most prolific collections of art work by one man. In modern day, this private collection consists of over 5,000 original works and is still housed and kept by Gideon. Although in recent years, Gideon has begun searching for another entity, such as a private collector or museum or “treasure hunter”,[11] to acquire this collection and share it and his life story with society and generations to come.

The Later Years: Gideon in the 21st Century

Unfortunately, the poor environment Gideon has been forced to work in during the past 60 years has taken its toll on his health. The many chemicals and various epoxies involved in his work, have caused breathing problems. Since the 1990s, Gideon has suffered from COPD and diminished breathing capacity.
Thursday, April 12, 2001 was declared “Gideon Day” with an official Proclamation by the Miami-Dade County Office of the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners whereby Mayor Alex Penelas and Commissioner Javier Souto proclaimed “[We] call upon the good people of Miami-Dade County to join me in recognizing this extraordinary artist and citizen for all of his invaluable contributions to this community as well as the culture of South Florida.” [12]
In November 2002, Gideon left Miami after 56 years and moved to Thomasville, Georgia in an effort to get away from city life and rest peacefully. At 78 years of age, the relocation of his life’s work was a huge undertaking and one that he doesn’t want to repeat. Gideon’s private art works required nearly a dozen large moving trucks and countless trips and man hours.
In 2004, Gideon was diagnosed with a very rare and debilitating disease, Myasthenia Gravis. Plagued with double vision, lack of muscle control, difficulty eating and swallowing and breathing failure, Gideon has truly struggled to continue to paint and sculpt.
Gideon passed away just after 3:00am on Tuesday, December 21, 2010 from a lengthy illness.

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Marcia Lewis, American musical theatre actress and singer, died from cancer she was , 72.


Marcia Lewis was an American character actress and singer died from cancer she was , 72.. She has been nominated twice for the Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Chicago and Grease) and twice for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Chicago and Rags).

(August 8, 1938 – December 21, 2010)

 Biography

Lewis was born in Melrose, Massachusetts and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1] She was a registered nurse at the The University of Cincinnati Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, New York and received her RN from the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing in Cincinnati in 1959.[2][3]

Stage and television

Lewis made her Broadway debut in the original production of Hello, Dolly!, taking over the role of Ernestina. Additional theater credits include The Time of Your Life (1969), Annie, taking over the role of Miss Hannigan in April 1981, Rags (1986) (nominee, Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical), Roza (1987), Orpheus Descending with Vanessa Redgrave (1989), and the 1990 revival of Fiddler on the Roof as Golde. Lewis appeared in the 1994 revival of Grease as Miss Lynch, and was nominated for the Tony Award, Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She appeared as the Matron in the 1996 revival of Chicago. For her work, she received nominations for the Tony Award, Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.Cite error:
She appeared at the Off-Broadway Theatre of the Zanies in An Impudent Wolf (1965), the Players Theatre in Who's Who Baby? (1968), and Playwrights Horizons in Romance Language in 1984 and When She Danced in 1990.[4]
Lewis toured in Cabaret as Fraulein Schneider and appeared in Chicago at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, for three months.[3] Her television credits include guest appearances on The Bob Newhart Show (1975), Baretta (1975), The Bionic Woman (1976), Happy Days (1977, 1979), the TV movie When She Was Bad (1979) and Kate and Allie (1988).[5]

Cabaret and recording

As a singer, Lewis performed in most of the leading cabarets and supper clubs in Manhattan, including Rainbow & Stars, Upstairs at the Duplex, Upstairs at the Downstairs, Grande Finale, Reno Sweeney's, Freddy's Eighty-Eights, Town Hall, The Village Gate, and the Russian Tea Room. Lewis also appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall.[6][3][2]
Lewis' solo album Nowadays (1998), a collection of showtunes and standards recorded with the Mark Hummel Quartet, is available on the Original Cast Records label.[2]

Personal life

Lewis and Fred D. Bryan, a Nashville financial adviser, were married on June 24, 2001.[7][1] Lewis died on December 21, 2010, at her home in Brentwood, Tennessee, of cancer, aged 72.[
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John Alldis, British chorus master and conductor died he was , 81.

John Alldis [1] was an English chorus-master and conductor died he was , 81..
After his education at Felsted, Alldis studied as a choral scholar under Boris Ord at King's College, Cambridge, from 1949 to 1952.

(10 August 1929 – 20 December 2010)

After leaving Cambridge University, Alldis quickly became highly regarded as a choral conductor. In 1966, the London Symphony Orchestra engaged him to form and direct its first standing choral group. However, he switched to the London Philharmonic Choir [2] in 1969, with which he remained until 1982, preparing choruses for many celebrated performances with Sir Adrian Boult, Otto Klemperer, Leopold Stokowski, Sir Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink, Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta and Daniel Barenboim.
In 1962, Alldis founded the professional, 16-member John Alldis Choir, which launched itself with the world premiere of Alexander Goehr's A Little Cantata of Proverbs and his name was identified with the choir thereafter. Contemporary music figured importantly in its repertory, with first performances of works by Malcolm Williamson, Richard Rodney Bennett and Harrison Birtwistle, many of which were captured on the Argo label. In 1967, he prepared the John Alldis Choir for the first European performance of Stravinsky's Requiem Canticles, conducted by Pierre Boulez. The choir's 1972 recording of Justin Connolly's Verse, Op. 7b, was re-released in 2008 on the Lyrita label. The choir also participated in many opera recordings for Decca and RCA, featuring artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Janet Baker, Joan Sutherland and Kiri Te Kanawa.
In 1970, Alldis directed his choir in the first performance and recording of Pink Floyd’s rock album Atom Heart Mother.[1] In 1975, he directed the choir in the Westminster Abbey performance of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert—a recording that was to be the last one made by the great bandleader. He also conducted the London Philharmonic Choir and brass section in the recording of David Bedford’s Star Clusters, available on the Classicprint label. In 1977, he recorded Sounds of Glory for Arcade Records, a celebration of choral classics, which won a gold disc.
Alldis conducted a number of other ensembles, in music ranging from the Renaissance to the present. From 1966 to 1979, he led the choir of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. From 1971 to 1977, he served as joint chief conductor of Radio Denmark, mainly leading its Danish State Radio Chorus. From 1979 to 1983, he conducted the Groupe Vocal de France, recording music by Francis Poulenc and Gabriel Fauré. From 1989 to 1990, he was music director and consultant for the Cameran Singers in Israel and briefly became guest conductor of the Hallé Choir in Manchester. From 1978 to 1987, he conducted the American Choral Symposium in Manhattan, Kansas. From 1985 to 1998, he was a permanent guest conductor with the Netherlands Chamber Choir, with whom he made several CDs including English Choral Music on the Globe label. From 1989 to 1997, he guest-conducted the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus and the Central Philharmonic Society of China in Beijing. In 2002, he conducted the Lyon Opera in the first performance of Messa Sulenna by the Corsican composer Jean-Paul Poletti. From 1975 to 2003, John Alldis served on the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust, and from 1971 to 2004 he conducted the Wimbledon Symphony Orchestra.
Alldis won Grammy Awards for his work with Sir Adrian Boult and Sir Georg Solti, was an Honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, and in 1994 was named a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He was married to the violinist and teacher Ursula Alldis, and had two sons, Dominic and Robert.

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Jacqueline Courtney, American actress (Another World, One Life to Live), died from metastatic melanoma she was , 64

Jacqueline Courtney  was an American actress best known for her work on daytime soap operas  died from metastatic melanoma she was , 64.
After short stints on The Edge of Night and Our Five Daughters, Courtney became famous for her role as Alice Matthews Frame on Another World; she played the role from the show's debut in May 1964 until July 1975.

(September 24, 1946 – December 20, 2010)

In 1975, Courtney and the actor playing her love interest, George Reinholt, were fired, allegedly for "storyline purposes". Head writer Harding Lemay reported in his memoir, Eight Years in Another World, that Courtney was fired because she was a bad actress, although she did have huge popularity with the soap audience. In reality, conflict brewed backstage because many longtime actors, including Courtney, were trying to protect their characters' integrity in the face of Lemay's changing scripts. After being dismissed by producer Paul Rauch, Courtney went on to play Pat Kendall on ABC's One Life to Live until 1983, when the network fired her just before bringing Paul Rauch in as producer.

Courtney reconciled her differences with Another World and started back on the show as Alice on the 20th anniversary show in May 1984. She played the role until the next year when she was fired due to lack of story for the character. In 1989 she returned for the show's 25th anniversary and for Mackenzie Cory's funeral.
After a small role as madame Diane Winston on Loving in 1987, Courtney retired from acting, though she appeared, alongside Reinholt, on the TV special 50 Years of Soaps: An All-Star Celebration in 1994.
Courtney died on December 20, 2010, after a bout with metastatic melanoma[1]. She was survived by a daughter, Jennifer, from her marriage to Carl Desiderio from 1970 to 1978.
Preceded by
N/A
Actress playing the "Alice Matthews Frame" character on Another World
1964-1975
Succeeded by
Susan Harne

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Steve Landesberg, American actor (Barney Miller, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), died from colorectal cancer he was , 74

 Steve Landesberg  was an American actor, comedian, and voice actor known for his role as the tall, erudite, unflappable police detective Arthur P. Dietrich on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller died from colorectal cancer he was , 74.

(November 23, 1936 – December 20, 2010)


 Career

Landesberg was born in New York City, New York to a milliner mother and a grocery store-owner father.[1] He was part of improv group New York Stickball Team, which performed several shows that were aired on cable television shortly after Barney Miller went off the air.
Landesberg made guest appearances on the TV shows The Rockford Files, Law & Order, Saturday Night Live, The Golden Girls, Ghost Whisperer, That 70's Show and Everybody Hates Chris. He starred in Starz's original show Head Case as Dr. Myron Finkelstein. He appeared in the motion pictures Wild Hogs, Leader of the Band, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.



Quote

Landesberg is credited with the quote "Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense."[2]

Death

Landesberg died from colon cancer on December 20, 2010, aged 74. Initial reports of Mr. Landesberg’s death, relying on numerous biographical sources, said he was 65.[3] He is survived by his widow Nancy Ross Landesberg and a daughter.
In acknowledging that he was actually nine years older, his daughter Elizabeth said he had provided varying birth dates over the years. "He got kind of a late start in show business," she explained, "so he tried to straddle the generations. He fooled the whole world. People were surprised to think he was even 65."[4]


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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Magnolia Shorty, American rapper, was shot.during a drive by shooting she was 28

 Magnolia Shorty, born Renetta Lowe, was an American rapper in the New Orleans-based bounce music scene was shot.during a drive by shooting she was 28.[1] She and Ms. Tee (Trishell Williams) were the first women signed to Cash Money Records.[2] Her 1997 debut album Monkey on the Dick (often stylized Monkey On Tha D$ck) is considered a bounce classic, and she "was already considered a legend of bounce music" at the time of her death.[2] Offbeat said the album exemplifies "the eccentric New Orleans elements of sexuality, comedy and hard edged dance rhythms."[3] In his 2007 book Triksta, Nik Cohn credits Magnolia Shorty with his own discovery of bounce, and the third chapter of that book is named after her debut album.[4]

(1982 – December 20, 2010)


Magnolia Shorty was discovered by Birdman.[5][6] She got her nickname from Soulja Slim, also known as Magnolia Slim, because both had grown up in New Orleans' dangerous Magnolia Projects.[7] Nicknamed "Queen of Bounce," she collaborated with many Cash Money artists beginning in the 1990s, including Juvenile and Hot Boys.[4] She was first featured on Juvenile's 1997 song "3rd Ward Solja."[8] In 2009 she appeared at the SXSW music festival[9] and won Best Bounce Song at the Underground Hip-Hop Awards in New Orleans.[2] She was a member of Lil Wayne's Cash Money crew in the early 1990s, and she was collaborating as well as working on her second album on the Cash Money/Young Money label in 2010.[10]


She was shot and killed in a car with Jerome Hampton in a double homicide in New Orleans.[11][12] Police described the crime as a drive-by shooting.[13]


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Colin Burgess, the original drummer of AC/DC, passed away on Dec. 16, 2023, at the age of 77

Colin Burgess Colin Burgess, original drummer for AC/DC.   PETER CARRETTE ARCHIVE/GETTY ...