/ Stars that died in 2023

Monday, November 23, 2009

Jeanne-Claude died she was 74

Artist Jeanne-Claude, who created the 2005 Central Park installation "The Gates" and other large scale "wrapping" projects around the globe with her husband Christo, has died. She was 74.


Jeanne-Claude died Wednesday night at a New York hospital from complications of a brain aneurysm, her family said in an e-mail statement.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he spoke with Christo on Thursday morning and offered condolences on behalf of all New Yorkers.

"The Gates" festooned 23 miles of Central Park's footpaths with thousands of saffron drapes hung from specially designed frames.

More than 5 million people saw "The Gates," and it was credited with injecting about $254 million into the local economy.

Christo — the more famous of the duo — was saddened, the family statement said, but remains "committed to honor the promise they made to each other many years ago: that the art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude would continue." That includes completing their current installation, "Over The River, Project for the Arkansas River, State of Colorado" and "The Mastaba" a project in the United Arab Emirates.

The Colorado project — which they had done parts of on and off for decades — involves spanning miles of the river with woven fabric. They chose the location near Canon City because of its river rapids and access to roads and footpaths. It is expected to be realized by summer 2013 at the earliest, according to the couple's office.

Their other projects include wrapping the Reichstag in Germany, the Pont Neuf in Paris, the Kunsthalle in Bern, Switzerland and a Roman wall in Italy.

A 1991 project involved thousands of bright yellow and blue umbrellas positioned across miles of inland valleys in Japan and California.

Their projects required mammoth manpower and miles of fabric and other materials. For the umbrella project, a total of 1,880 workers were used. They recycled all materials following each project.

The couple said they never accepted any sponsorship and financed all their temporary installations through the projects, including the sale of their preparatory drawings, collages, scale models and original lithographs.

The Mastaba (the Arabic word for bench) envisions a pyramid-like structure made of 410,000 brightly colored oil barrels stacked horizontally and rising 492 feet high and 984 feet wide.

"Hundreds of bright colors, as enchanting as Islamic mosaics, will give a constantly changing visual experience according to the time of the day and the quality of the light," the artists' Web site says of the project.

The couple was looking at five possible sites for the project at the time of Jeanne-Claude's death, their office said.

The two artists met in Paris in 1958 and had been collaborating for 51 years on temporary public arts projects. They made their home in Manhattan, where they had lived for 45 years.

Jeanne-Claude, who sported signature orange-dyed hair, once said that the couple, like parents who wouldn't favor one child over another, felt that, "each project is a child of ours."

But she added that their favorite project was, "the next one."

Plans for a memorial will be announced at a later date, but the family said they will donate her body to science, as was her wish. more

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Samak Sundaravej died he was 74

Samak Sundaravej died he was 74. Sundaravej was a Thai politician who briefly served as the Prime Minister of Thailand and Minister of Defense in 2008, as well as the leader of the People's Power Party in 2008.
(June 13, 1935 – November 24, 2009)

Samak was born in Bangkok, Thailand to Sewok Eak Phraya Bumrungrajabhariphan (Samien Sundaravej) and his wife Khunying Umphan Bumrungrajabhariphan (Umphan Sundaravej). He is of Chinese descent (ancestral surname Lee (李)).[1] He has five siblings. Samak studied at Saint Gabriel's College, Assumption Commercial College and Thammasat University. He also received diplomas from Chulalongkorn University and Bryant & Stratton College.[2]

Beside from being a politician, Samak was a well-known television chef. For seven years until the military coup of September 2006, he hosted a cooking show called Tasting, Ranting on the Thailand ITV television network and Royal Thai Army Radio and Television. He said that once he became prime minister, he would also resume his career as a TV chef and has done so. On September 9, 2008, the full bench of the Constitutional Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for Samak to maintain his television career, to work in a private company while holding the office of prime minister, and disqualified him from office. .[3][4]

Samak was married to Khunying Surat Sundaravej, a financial adviser to the Charoen Pokphand Group. They have two children with her.

At age 74 Samak admitted he had liver cancer and underwent laser surgery to remove a tumour and was treated at Bumrungrad Hospital on October 2, 2008. He was discharged on October 25.[51][52]

On the morning of November 24, 2009, it was reported that at 8:48a.m. Samak had died at Bumrungrad International Hospital after fighting liver cancer, at the age of 74.[53] Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai prime minister said, "My family and I express profound sorrow for the passing away of HE [His Excellency] Samak but I will not be able to attend his funeral."[54] Samak's funeral will be held at the Wat Benchamabophit temple.[55]


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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Ken Ober died he was 52

Ken Ober

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ken Ober, who hosted the 1980s MTV game show "Remote Control" and helped produce the shows "Mind of Mencia" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine," has died.
(July 3, 1957 – November 15, 2009)

His agent, Lee Kernis, says Ober was found dead Sunday in his Santa Monica home. Kernis says Ober complained of headaches and flu-like symptoms on Saturday night but the cause of his death wasn't clear.

Ober hosted five seasons of "Remote Control" beginning in 1987. Contestants in lounge chairs were asked pop-culture questions from categories such as "Dead or Canadian?" The show featured early appearances by comedians Adam Sandler, Denis Leary and Colin Quinn.


Ober, who was born Ken Oberding in Massachusetts, is survived by his parents and a brother.

Monday, November 16, 2009

John Muhammad was excuted he was 48


Washington-area sniper John Allen Muhammad was executed Tuesday by lethal injection, a Virginia prisons spokesman said.

The mastermind behind the Washington-area sniper attacks of 2002 that terrorized the nation's capital was declared dead at 9:11 p.m. ET, said Larry Traylor, director of communications for the Virginia Department of Corrections.

"There were no complications; Mr. Mohammad was asked if he wished to make a last statement," Traylor told reporters outside the the Greenville Correctional Center. "He did not acknowledge this or make a last statement whatsoever."

In fact, Mohammad, 48, said nothing from the time he entered the death chamber accompanied by guards at 8:58 p.m., Traylor said.

"After he was placed on the gurney and strapped down, he was very emotionless," Traylor said.

A curtain was drawn and a volunteer team of executioners inserted two catheters -- one in each arm -- through which the drugs that caused his death were to flow, Traylor said.

At 9:06 p.m., when the curtain was drawn back, "They asked him right after that, 'Mr. Muhammad, do you have any last words?' " recalled Jon Burkett, a reporter for WTVR who witnessed the execution from the second row of the gallery.

"He didn't say anything. At 9:07 you could see him twitch a lot. You could see him blinking a lot. You could see his breathing increase." After about seven deep breaths, at 9:08 p.m., he lay motionless, Burkett said.

Three minutes later, a physician working for the Department of Corrections pronounced him dead.

In a statement read on behalf of the lawyers for and family of Muhammad, defense lawyer Jon Sheldon said, "We deeply sympathize with the families and loved ones who have to relive the pain and loss of those terrible days; our sympathies also extend to the children of John Muhammad who, with humility and self-consciousness, today lost a father and a member of their family.

"To all those families and the countless citizens across the country who bore witness and continue to do so to those tragic events, we renew our condolences and we offer our prayers for a better future."

Among the witnesses were about a dozen members of the prosecution task force.

"He died very peacefully, much more than most of his victims," said Paul Ebert, the Virginia prosecutor who won the death penalty conviction. "I felt a sense of closure, and I hope that they did, too."

Bob Meyers, whose 53-year-old brother Dean was shot dead while pumping gas in Virginia, called Tuesday's spectacle "surreal."

"Watching the life be sapped out of somebody intentionally was very different and an experience I'd never had," he told CNN's "Larry King Live."

"I'd watched my mother die of natural causes, but that was very different."

He said he may have attained some closure, "but I would say that pretty much was overcome just by the sadness that the whole situation generates in my heart. That he would get to the place where he did what he did, and that it had to come to this."

Meyers said he has forgiven Muhammad for two reasons: "One is that God calls for me to do that in the Bible, and the second thing is related to that. If I don't, it rots me from the inside out. It doesn't really hurt John Muhammad or anybody that I have bitterness against."

The execution came hours after Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine denied a last-minute clemency request Tuesday for Muhammad.

Kaine's announcement came a day after the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case.

During three weeks in October 2002, Muhammad and accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, then 17, killed 10 people and wounded three, while taunting police with written messages and phoned-in threats and demands.

During two trials and in years of appeals, Muhammad had professed his innocence. One of his trials included testimony from Malvo, whose youth excluded him from consideration for the death penalty

Muhammad's attorney had argued his client was not given sufficient time to file his final appeal, but said Tuesday -- after the high court and the governor declined his request for a stay -- that he would make no further efforts to delay the matter.

In a written statement issued earlier Tuesday, lawyer Sheldon accused Virginia of racing to "execute a severely mentally ill man who also suffered from Gulf War Syndrome the day before Veterans Day."

Muhammad met Tuesday with J. Wyndal Gordon, his former stand-by attorney in his Maryland trial, in which he represented himself.

"His attitude was strong, it was sturdy," Gordon told reporters. "Mr. Mohammad maintains his innocence in this case, and he always has. He is not remorseful, although he does extend his condolences to the families. What these families went through is tragic in every level. Given the injustices in this case, what Mr. Mohammad went through is equally as tragic."

Gordon said he does not consider Mohammad to be insane. "However," he added, "I am not a psychiatrist or a psychologist."

The lawyer said Muhammad's last meal was "chicken and red sauce, and he had some cakes."

Muhammad, who opted not to select a spiritual adviser, met during the afternoon with his immediate family and lawyers, said Traylor.

Muhammad leaves four children and two ex-wives, both of whom appeared Monday on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Muhammad's first wife, Carol Williams, showed a letter in which he asked her to visit him on his execution day. "Carol, I miss my family for the past eight years," he wrote, referring to the time he has been incarcerated. "I don't want to be missed the day that these devils murder my innocent black ass."

Asked about his father, Lindbergh Williams said his feelings about the death penalty had not softened with the approach of the execution. "If you commit a crime, you can pay the time," he said.

Asked whether he believes his father regrets what he did, the younger Williams said, "Yes, I really do."

Mildred Muhammad, the sniper's second ex-wife and the mother of three of his children, told CNN on Monday that she last saw him in 2001 at a custody hearing and had not sought to visit him in prison.

"I had emotionally detached from John when I asked him for a divorce," she told CNN. "And my emotions were severed when he said that you have become my enemy and as my enemy, I will kill you."

She has asserted that she was her ex-husband's target, and she blamed the first Gulf War for changing his personality.

"He went from someone who was always happy, that knew what direction he was going in, and was focused, to a person that was totally confused, depressed all the time, and didn't know how to do or get to where he wanted to be."

She said he never received counseling after his return to the United States.

But lawyer Gordon disputed her account, saying that Muhammad "was absolutely not affected by his time in the Gulf War. We did discuss that."

Edward Woodward died he was 79


Edward Albert Arthur Woodward died he was 79. Woodward was an English actor and singer.
(1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009)

Originally a Shakespearean stage actor, he was best known for his roles in the 1960s-1970s television spy series Callan, the 1973 film The Wicker Man, the 1980 Australian biographical film drama Breaker Morant and his lead role in the 1980s American television series The Equalizer.








Woodward was an only child, born in Croydon to working-class parents Edward Oliver Woodward and Violet Edith Woodward (nee Smith).[1] He attended Eccleston Road and Sydenham Road Schools in Croydon and the Elmwood School in Hackbridge, near Wallington, as well as Hinchley Wood School, all in Surrey. He then attended Kingston College.Woodward wanted to become an actor but initially in the post World War II period became an associate member of RADA while taking amateur roles. Wanting to train as a journalist he eventually took work in a sanitary engineer's office before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

He was reputedly torn between becoming an actor or a professional footballer. Woodward was on the books of Leyton Orient and Brentford, making three appearances in the Football League for the latter; however, a serious knee injury kept him out of the game for over a year. He began as stage actor at the Castle Theatre, Farnham, in 1946. After graduation from RADA he worked extensively in repertory companies as a Shakespearean actor throughout England and Scotland, making his London debut in Where There's A Will in 1955 and also starred in the film adaptation that same year.

His work in the West End included Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet (1955), as well as Cyrano de Bergerac (1971). Having established himself, he also worked in Broadway theatre in New York and in Australia. Woodward first appeared on Broadway in Rattle of a Simple Man (1963) and the musical comedy High Spirits (1964–1965), which won three Tony Awards, followed by the 1966 comedy The Best Laid Plans.

Woodward made his film debut in the 1955 screen adaptation of R. F. Delderfield's play, Where There's a Will. He went on to make occasional appearances, until taking the role of Police Sergeant Neil Howie in the thriller The Wicker Man in 1973. Many critics have cited the final scene in The Wicker Man as one of the greatest visual shots in cinema history. Woodward was offered a cameo role in the 2005 remake but declined. He also appeared in the 1982 film Who Dares Wins, also known as "The Final Option", as Commander Powell.[citation needed]

Woodward played the title role in the 1980 Australian biographical film drama Breaker Morant, which was highly acclaimed and his presence brought the film worldwide attention. Woodward also had a supporting role in the 2007 action comedy Hot Fuzz. His last lead film role was that of the Reverend Frederick Densham in A Congregation of Ghosts; the story of an eccentric vicar who is said to have alienated his congregation and preached to cardboard cut-outs.

During his career Woodward appeared in many television productions. His casting as Guy Crouchback in an early 1967 adaption of Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy established him as an actor of quality and standing. Guy Crouchback was the central figure in Waugh's iconic three novels set against the background of Britain's involvement in World War II. Although, this black and white TV adaption is now much less well known than a 2001 colour adaption with Daniel Craig playing the part of Crouchback.

In 1967 he was cast as David Callan in the ITV Armchair Theatre play A Magnum for Schneider, which later became 1960s spy series Callan, one of his early television roles and one in which he demonstrated his ability to express controlled rage. His iconic performance assured the series success from 1967 to 1972, with a film appearing in 1974.

In smaller roles, Woodward made a cameo appearance on the BBC's Morecambe and Wise Show and his name was used in a joke: When asked by Eric Morecambe who would ever appear in one of Ernie Wise's 'little plays what he wrote', Ernie replied "Edward Woodward would." Another joke starts "Do you know why Edward Woodward has so many Ds in his name?"[citation needed] He also appeared opposite Laurence Olivier in a 1978 episode "Saturday, Sunday, Monday" of Laurence Olivier Presents.

The success of Callan typecast him somewhat, but the enduring success of the genre allowed him to gain leading roles in similar productions, though none would prove as iconic as "Callan".[2] In 1977 he starred in two series of the BBC2 dystopian drama 1990, about a future Britain lurching into totalitarianism.[3]

The late 1970s were spent on both stage and film, but it was not until he took the lead role in the 1980s American television series The Equalizer as a British former intelligence operative that he found recognition and popularity exceeding that of Callan. The series ran from 1985 until 1989. After filming a few episodes of the third season, Woodward suffered a massive coronary. For several episodes, additional actors were brought in to reduce the workload on Woodward as he recovered from the condition. The first episode filmed following Woodward's heart attack involved his character being severely injured by a KGB bullet, providing Woodward with a chance to rest over several episodes. Later in the season, Woodward resumed his full duties and carried the show through an additional, fourth season during the 1988-1989 season.

Subsequently he starred in the short-lived CBS series "Over My Dead Body", which ran in 1990, playing a mystery writer who gets involved solving real crimes. In 1994 and 1997 Woodward starred in the BBC drama Common As Muck in which he played a binman called "Nev".

In 1993, Woodward appeared in the Welsh-language drama, Tan ar y Comin. Versions were made in both English and Welsh, and Woodward appeared in both, being specially coached in the latter since he did not speak a word of the language.[4]

His career continued with TV guest star roles including an appearance in The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Mr. Jones (aka Philip, codename 'Flavius') in the series La Femme Nikita. He also guest starred with his son Tim and grandson Sam as a London gangster family in a special storyline for The Bill in 2008. In March 2009, he joined EastEnders, playing Tommy Clifford.

His capability as tenor enabled him to record twelve albums of songs, as well as three albums of poetry and fourteen books to tape. His vocal capability and acting skill enabled him to make a number of appearances when time allowed on the BBC's Victorian era music hall programme, The Good Old Days.

Woodward was a wargamer and hosted a series of programmes for Tyne Tees Television about the hobby with fellow enthusiast Peter Gilder, who built and owned the beautiful Gettysburg diorama used for one of the gaming scenes from the 1974 film Callan.

Woodward was married twice. His first marriage was to the actress Venetia Barrett (born Venetia Mary Collett) from 1952 to 1986. They had two sons: Tim Woodward (born 1953) and Peter Woodward (born 1956), both of whom became actors, as well as a daughter, the Tony Award-nominated actress Sarah Woodward (born 1963). Woodward left Barrett for actress Michele Dotrice, the daughter of his contemporary Roy Dotrice. Woodward married Dotrice in New York in January 1987. Their daughter, Emily Beth (born 1983), was present at the ceremony.[5]

Woodward underwent triple bypass surgery in 1996 and quit smoking volatile fter two heart attacks. In February 2003 it was announced that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.[6]

Edward Woodward died at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro on 16 November 2009 at the age of 79. He had lived in Hawker's Cove, Cornwall, near Padstow and had been suffering from various illnesses, including pneumonia. [7][8]

Bruce King died he was 85

Bruce King died he was 85. King was an American politician who served three terms as the governor of the state of New Mexico. He was a Democrat.

(April 6, 1924 – November 13, 2009)


King was born in 1924 in Stanley, New Mexico. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he attended the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

King's career in politics began when he was elected to the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners in 1954. He was re-elected and served as the chairman of the board during his second term. In 1959, he was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives. He served five consecutive terms in the House and during three of his terms he was Speaker of the House.

From 1968 to 1969, King was chairman of the state Democratic Party. In 1969 he was also the president of the State Constitutional Convention.

In 1970, King was elected as governor, defeating Republican Pete V. Domenici. He served as governor from 1971 until 1975, 1979 until 1983 and from 1991 until 1995. His terms were non-consecutive because the New Mexico constitution did not allow a governor to succeed him or her self prior to 1991. King became the first governor who could succeed himself and ran for re-election in 1994, but was defeated for a fourth term by Republican Gary E. Johnson.

Governor King was severely criticized by writer Roger Morris in The Devil's Butcher Shop: The New Mexico Prison Uprising for his mishandling of the New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot which led to the deaths of 33 inmates, although other estimates are higher. It is suggested in this work that the corruption and brutality tolerated under King's administration were contributing factors to the high level of violence in the riot.

King was married for 61 years until his wife's death in December 2008. He was the father of current New Mexico attorney general Gary King.

King was recovering from a heart procedure in September 2009 to adjust the pacemaker that was implanted after he had a heart attack in 1997. He died in Stanley on November 13, 2009.[1]

Alftred Cervi died he was 92

Alfred Nicholas Cervi was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball League (NBL) and National Basketball Association (NBA). One of the strongest backcourt players of the 1940s and 1950s, he was always assigned to defend against the opposing team's best scoring threat. He earned the nickname Digger because of his hard-nosed style of defense.[1]

(February 12, 1917November 9, 2009)


Born in Buffalo, New York, Cervi attended East High School in his hometown, where he captained the baseball and basketball teams and achieved All-City honors in both sports. He dropped out of school after his junior year when he was recruited by the Buffalo Bisons of the newly-formed NBL.[2] He played in all of the Bisons' nine games in 193738, the franchise's only season of existence.[3]

He never attended college. Instead, he served five years in the United States Army Air Forces from 1940 through 1945.[1][4]

After the conclusion of World War II, he joined the Rochester Royals, another NBL franchise entering its first year of operations. He immediately experienced success as the team captured the 1945–46 league title after sweeping the best-of-five championship series from the Sheboygan Red Skins. The Royals returned to the finals the following two seasons, but lost to the Chicago American Gears and Minneapolis Lakers in four games each.[3] Cervi made the All-NBL First Team in 1947 and 1948.[5] In the first of those two campaigns, he was named the circuit's Most Valuable Player as the leading scorer with 632 points.[1][3]

His time with the Royals lasted only three seasons.[3] After discovering that other teammates were being paid more than his $7,500 annual salary, he requested a $3,500 raise, which was denied by team owner Les Harrison. As a result, instead of moving with the Royals to the Basketball Association of America (BAA) after the 1948 campaign, Cervi stayed in the NBL and joined the Syracuse Nationals, who met his salary demands and appointed him player-coach.[1][3]

Besides being named to the All-NBL First Team for a third straight year in 1949, he also earned Coach of the Year honors. After the BAA-NBL merger to form the NBA prior to the 1949–50 campaign, he continued to serve in the dual capacity role until his retirement as an active player in 1953.[5]

The Syracuse teams he piloted took on his relentlessly competitive nature. He played a major role in the development of Dolph Schayes.[6]

The Nationals qualified for the playoffs in eight of the nine seasons that he coached the ballclub, including three trips to the NBA Finals. They were twice defeated by the Lakers, first in six games in 1950 and then in seven in 1954. The pinnacle of Cervi's coaching career was leading his squad to the NBA Championship over the Fort Wayne Pistons in seven games in 1955.[5]

When the Nationals began the 1956–57 campaign at 4–8, he was replaced by team captain Paul Seymour.[7]

He succeeded George Senesky as coach of the Philadelphia Warriors in 1958,[8] but left after one season to accept a more lucrative job in the trucking business as an area manager for Eastern Freightways, Inc. in Rochester, New York. In 1960 Cervi declined to accept a two-year offer to coach the Lakers in its first campaign in Los Angeles because his wife was reluctant to leave the Rochester area. He lived in the suburb of Brighton for the last 58 years of his life.[1]

Cervi was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.[9] He received similar honors from the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.[10]

He died on November 9, 2009 in Rochester, New York at the age of 92.[4]

Ellen Holly best known for her groundbreaking role as Carla Gray on the daytime television series One Life to Live died she was 92

Ellen Holly Ellen Holly.   DISNEY GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT VIA GETTY Ellen Holly, born on October 31, 1930, in New York City, passed aw...