RIP Famous People Thread

[Vegas Vic]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

He isn't dead yet, and he might warrant his own thread when he does. Former President Carter as entered hospice care. They don't say his condition, but I wouldn't be surprised if he goes soon.

Jimmy Carter is a good man who truly loved his country. Although many do not agree with his political philosophy, it's hard to find anyone who would disagree with that.

From time to time, I'll go back and watch the Carter/Reagan debate. It almost seems surreal watching these two guys debate the issues while remaining respectful toward each other. Unfortunately, those days are long gone.

[CrimsonFox]

my first encounter with Belzer was....wait for it...as a stand up comedian on various late night comic specials .

I then Saw him in the Henry Winkler michael keaton comedy Night shift as a murderous pimp and then as a gay stage manager in Al Pacino's author author.


People were amazed I knew his name. I would see him pop up in so many of these little roles in movies and tv.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Richard Belzer appeared as Det. Munch on Homicide, Law & Order, SVU, Trial By Jury, The Wire, 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Beat, Arrested Development and The X-Files among others and was the first actor to play the same character on 10 different live-action shows.

RIP pic.twitter.com/C3kXGhbq2Z

— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) February 19, 2023

That first pic looks like the X-Files with Langley. I don't remember him in that but he does fit that world seeing as he is a lizard person.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Vegas Vic

Jimmy Carter is a good man who truly loved his country. Although many do not agree with his political philosophy, it's hard to find anyone who would disagree with that.

Not if they've paid attention.

[CrimsonFox]

oh wow Richard Belzer was Henry Winkler's cousin

[NobodyHere]

Sounds like Tom Sizemore is going to be in this thread soon.

[Edward64]

Yup, gone. RIP

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Sounds like Tom Sizemore is going to be in this thread soon.

While he played some great roles in some really iconic movies in the 90’s (at least for me), it sounds like he was a garbage human.

[QuikSand]

David Lindley, RIP

David Lindley Dead: Guitarist for Jackson Browne and Others Was 78 - Variety

The 20 seconds or so he gets in the middle of the "Stay" bit here are just pure musical bliss, IMO. A little flat steel guitar, a little prominent falsetto, and some gentures and grunts to please the audience to no end. I love it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Damn Last surviving original member of the band

LYNYRD SKYNYRD Guitarist GARY ROSSINGTON Dead At 71 - BraveWords

[Edward64]

Free Bird, Sweet Home Alabama, Gimme Three Steps ...

[Lathum]

Tuesdays gone in the best.

[cartman]

He was the inspiration for the song "That Smell" after smashing his car into a tree, and he also survived the plane crash that killed the other members of the band.

[GrantDawg]

Skynryd's music just hits my soul. Just such a tragedy what happened.

[CrimsonFox]

Goodbye to my weet childhood neighbor Joyce SIlvester. Her and her husband was the epitome of the charming soft spoken British couple. She was like a second mom. We've known them since before I was born. I hadn't spoken to her in ages and heard she was pretty senile for some time. But I remember her so fondly.

[stevew]

Oh this isn’t bumped for Mitch McConnell?

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by stevew

Oh this isn’t bumped for Mitch McConnell?

you got me excited.

[GrantDawg]

Robert Blake, acquitted murderer, dies at 89.

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[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

you got me excited.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Robert Blake, acquitted murderer, dies at 89.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

Baretta was not "acquitted murderer" but "acquitted of murder"

[GrantDawg]

No, I was right the first time.

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[miami_fan]

Bud Grant, NFL Hall of Fame coach who led Vikings to four Super Bowls, dies at 95 | CNN

Not a huge surprise because guys did play in multiple pro sports leagues, I learned all of this today.

Prior to his coaching success, Grant was drafted into both the NBA and NFL. He played two seasons in the NBA for the Minneapolis Lakers, winning the inaugural NBA Championship in his rookie season in 1950.

Grant left the NBA to join the NFL as a player for the Philadelphia Eagles. After two seasons, Grant headed to Canada, where he spent 14 seasons as a player and later a coach for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He coached the Blue Bombers to four Grey Cup wins before returning to the NFL to coach the Vikings.

RIP Coach.

[Critch]

Dick Fosbury, inventor of the Fosbury flop high jump has flopped his last.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Critch

Dick Fosbury, inventor of the Fosbury flop high jump has flopped his last.

He might get one more chance if Corncob TV airs a final season of Coffin Flop.

[cartman]

Dick Fosbury, the inventor of the Fosbury Flop high jump method, passed away at the age of 76.

Dick Fosbury, who won an Olympic gold medal with the ‘Fosbury Flop,’ dies at 76

[QuikSand]

I know this is kinda open-ended, but Dick Fosbury occupies a specific place in history and people's knowledge/recollection of it.

-Fosbury, and specifically the "Fosbury Flop," is generally regarded as part of trivia canon, the sort of thing you are supposed to know if you are worth a damn as a serious trivia guy

-Even more specifically, by contrast I think that nothing else in the entire world of high jumping qualifies as such... no other athlete, record-holder, etc is really considered fair game for trivia... just this one specific guy and his innovation (by name)

I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there who are noteworthy for one specific thing, and widely/well remembered for that and that alone. Fosbury just feels like a sports world shining example of this phenomenon.

We could call it the "Eli Whitney Award" perhaps.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there who are noteworthy for one specific thing, and widely/well remembered for that and that alone. Fosbury just feels like a sports world shining example of this phenomenon.

We could call it the "Eli Whitney Award" perhaps.

Would Buster Douglas qualify?

[cartman]

To me, his being memorable was coming up with a new way of attempting something in a genre that had been pretty stable for millennia. Track and Field is seeing who can run the fastest, jump the farthest, jump the highest, or throw the farthest. The way to attempt all of those had been basically unchanged since ancient times. He not only tried a different way to jump, he fundamentally changed how everyone approached high jumping. Something similar was the introduction of spinning to throw a shotput in the 1970s, but that was an adaptation of the technique used for throwing a discus.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Would Buster Douglas qualify?

Buster Douglas beating Tyson was one of the first "where were you" memories that I have.

I was at a friend's house that weekend and I remember, since the fight was in Japan, waking up to sportscenter running the story and the still shots from the fight. To 10-11 year old kids at the time Tyson was unbeatable.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I know this is kinda open-ended, but Dick Fosbury occupies a specific place in history and people's knowledge/recollection of it.

-Fosbury, and specifically the "Fosbury Flop," is generally regarded as part of trivia canon, the sort of thing you are supposed to know if you are worth a damn as a serious trivia guy

-Even more specifically, by contrast I think that nothing else in the entire world of high jumping qualifies as such... no other athlete, record-holder, etc is really considered fair game for trivia... just this one specific guy and his innovation (by name)

Generally agreed, though in studying old Online Quiz League questions, these have also popped up concerning high jumpers:

At the 1948 London games, Alice Coachman became the first black American woman to win an Olympic gold medal by prevailing in what athletics event? (HIGH JUMP)

What Asian country won its first two gold medals at this summer's Olympics, including a shared gold medal between high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim and his Italian competitor Gianmarco Tamberi? This country will make its first men's soccer World Cup appearance next year as the host country.

Spoiler

QATAR

Which Bulgarian, who won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, is the current women's world record holder in the high jump?

Spoiler

Stefka KOSTADINOVA

For our purposes, I don't think the last one would be asked (that might have even been an OQL UK question, they seem to put more emphasis on track/field sports). The second one was more a current events question. The first one...maybe worth filing away. (And yes, OQL has a good number of "WTF??" questions.)

------

Other examples...the Biellmann spin maybe? Though I don't know if that's as famous (and she wasn't actually the first to perform the move). Bannister and the 4:00 mile?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I know this is kinda open-ended, but Dick Fosbury occupies a specific place in history and people's knowledge/recollection of it.

-Fosbury, and specifically the "Fosbury Flop," is generally regarded as part of trivia canon, the sort of thing you are supposed to know if you are worth a damn as a serious trivia guy

-Even more specifically, by contrast I think that nothing else in the entire world of high jumping qualifies as such... no other athlete, record-holder, etc is really considered fair game for trivia... just this one specific guy and his innovation (by name)

I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there who are noteworthy for one specific thing, and widely/well remembered for that and that alone. Fosbury just feels like a sports world shining example of this phenomenon.

We could call it the "Eli Whitney Award" perhaps.

How quickly people forget "The triple Lindy"

[Critch]

The film of the old ways of doing the high jump look like something out of Monty Python when you've grown up used to the Fosbury flop.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by cartman

To me, his being memorable was coming up with a new way of attempting something in a genre that had been pretty stable for millennia. Track and Field is seeing who can run the fastest, jump the farthest, jump the highest, or throw the farthest. The way to attempt all of those had been basically unchanged since ancient times. He not only tried a different way to jump, he fundamentally changed how everyone approached high jumping. Something similar was the introduction of spinning to throw a shotput in the 1970s, but that was an adaptation of the technique used for throwing a discus.

It is just insane to think that someone said to all the coaches, athletes, experts, etc, that you're doing this all wrong. I don't even know if I can find another sports equivalent.

[Ksyrup]

I'm shocked the old guard didn't attempt to outlaw what Fosbury did as against the rules to protect themselves from looking like fools and being one-upped by someone who dared to challenge the status quo. Or maybe they did and that isn't part of a 5 minute explanation of everything leading up to the Olympics or the aftermath.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It is just insane to think that someone said to all the coaches, athletes, experts, etc, that you're doing this all wrong. I don't even know if I can find another sports equivalent.

Close, though not exactly: Skate Skiing.

The wiki article doesn't mention it, but it was definitely a source of contention in World Cup and Olympic competition in the 70s & 80s, until eventually everyone agreed that you'd have separate "classic" and "freestyle" events. My source is that I skiied competitively in the 80s.

[CrimsonFox]

RIP all those people that were left off the memorium of the oscars

[Edward64]

Every year there seems to be someone that is left out that should have been included.

I wonder if those were intentional because "not important enough" or if they truly were missed by the research dept. If it was research dept, you'd think it's easy enough to fix.

[Ghost Econ]

RIP to Bobby Caldwell. The smoothest white man to ever live.

[Ksyrup]

His biggest hit is the theme music for SXM's Yacht Rock channel. I watched a video of him performing it about 10 years ago and he still had his voice.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Every year there seems to be someone that is left out that should have been included.

I wonder if those were intentional because "not important enough" or if they truly were missed by the research dept. If it was research dept, you'd think it's easy enough to fix.

I can't think it's anything but a clique thing. People with the power to leave people off swing their **** around.

people left out: Anne Heche, Leslie Jordan, Paul Sorvino, Tom Sizemore, Gilbert Gottfried, Charlbi Dean, Tony Sirico, Barbara Walters, and Topol

Seriously no one cares if the oscars run long anymore. That's what DVRs with fast forward button is for. Contrarily what we want from the oscars is for them to be funny.

[CrimsonFox]

oh yeah, *starts another fire* also ROBERT BLAKE!

[cuervo72]

Should someone like Barbara Walters though? She wasn't in the film industry.

[Ksyrup]

I wouldn't consider Gilbert Gottfried either. Paul Sorvino seems inexcusable though.

[GrantDawg]

There is actually several on that list that wouldn't really qualify. It is not just a "dead celebrity" list. It is supposed to be a list of major contributors to the film industry. People famous for TV and barely worked in film don't fit.

[CrimsonFox]

Gilbert Gottfried is an icon!

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

Gilbert Gottfried is an icon!

I'll never forget his performance in Problem Child 2

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

Gilbert Gottfried is an icon!

A comedy icon, yes.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I'll never forget his performance in Problem Child 2

His performances in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane and Beverly Hills Cop 2 are legendary!

[cartman]

the prolific actor Lance Reddick passed away at the age of 60.

Actor Lance Reddick from The Wire, John Wick, and Destiny dead at 60 - Polygon

[Ghost Econ]

RIP Lt. Daniels.