Holy smokes, this sucks.
RIP Andy.

James Gammon, a squint-eyed, froggy-voiced character actor who was best known as the manager in the baseball film comedy “Major League,” one of the rough-hewn American types — cowboys, rednecks and the alcoholic family patriarchs in the plays of Sam Shepard — that were his specialty, died Friday at his home in Costa Mesa, Calif.

He was 70. The cause was cancer of the adrenal glands and the liver, said his wife, Nancy.

He began his career in the 1960s, appearing on “Gunsmoke,” “Bonanza,” “The Wild Wild West,” “The Virginian” and other television westerns; he made his movie debut in 1967, as a member of the chain gang in “Cool Hand Luke.” He appeared in projects in other genres — in a recurring role on the cop show “Nash Bridges,” he played Don Johnson’s father — but westerns and outlaw pictures were his bread and butter. He played a redneck murder victim in “Natural Born Killers” and the revered cattle rancher Charles Goodnight in the television mini-series based on Larry McMurtry’s novel “Streets of Laredo,” a follow-up to “Lonesome Dove.” He also appeared in “Cold Mountain” “Urban Cowboy” and “Appaloosa.”

“Major League” (1989) was the biggest hit of his career. In it he played Lou Brown, the flinty but paternalistic manager of the Cleveland Indians, who roar back from last place with a roster of misfits and improbably win the pennant. Though not the familiar rural milieu, it wasn’t exactly a stretch for him; Brown was essentially a good-guy sheriff in a baseball cap. (He reprised the role in “Major League II” in 1994.)

Mr. Gammon’s first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his wife, the former Nancy Kapusta, whom he married in 1972, he is survived by a brother, Phillip, of Northridge, Calif.; a sister, Sandra Glaudell, of Ocala, Fla.; two daughters, Allison Mann of Costa Mesa and Amy Gammon of West Hollywood; and two grandchildren.

Jack Tatum, aka "The Assassin"


From ESPN.com
Jack Tatum’s playing style was true to his nickname. He was “The Assassin.’’

I was lucky enough to cut my teeth covering the NFL during the 1970s in Pittsburgh. Back then, no matchup was more anticipated than Pittsburgh Steelers-Oakland Raiders. Part of the reason was Tatum, who made sure receivers venturing into the middle of the field did so at their own risk.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2010/0727..._tatum_300.jpgAP Photo/Richard DrewJack Tatum (32), who came from an era of hard running and harder hits, died Tuesday.


What is forgotten is how physical the game was in the 1970s. That was the age of great defense, hard running and harder hits. Situation substitution wasn’t part of 1970s football. Cornerbacks were allowed to mug receivers at the line of scrimmage or downfield.

And safeties? Well, the words safety and receiver simply didn’t match up in those days. Tatum, who died Tuesday at 61, played the position like a linebacker. He hit like no other safety in football.

It was probably fitting that one of his notable hits came against the Steelers. I remember sitting in the auxiliary press box at Three Rivers Stadium during the 1972 playoffs. The Raiders were about to squeak out a come-from-behind victory over an upstart Steelers team. In the final seconds, Terry Bradshaw fired a prayer of a pass toward Frenchy Fuqua.

Tatum saw the ball and Fuqua, so naturally you knew a collision was coming. Tatum’s hit caused the ball to fly backward into the hands of running back Franco Harris. The "Ultimate Hit" led to the "Immaculate Reception" as Harris caught the ball just before it hit the ground and scored the winning touchdown.

After Tatum’s career was over, I saw him at a celebrity flag football game during a Super Bowl. He led a chorus of former Raiders players who blasted eventual Hall of Fame receiver Lynn Swann of the Steelers for not being tough enough. Tatum and the Raiders made Swann a target back in those days.

What’s a shame is the Darryl Stingley incident during a preseason game in 1978. Tatum delivered his usual "Assassin-style" hit, but Stingley never walked again. Tatum didn’t show compassion for Stingley, opening the door for plenty of criticism.

Tatum’s style might have been outlawed in this new age of football. Research continues into the long-term damage the game inflicts on players. Had he played in the 21st century, Tatum might have had to donate his salary to charity because the league office would be fining him every week.

Maury Chaykin, a Canadian character actor who appeared in numerous films and television shows including "Entourage," has died, his manager told the Associated Press.

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Chaykin died in Toronto on Tuesday – his birthday. He was 61, and had been battling kidney problems, according to the AP.

Among the films on Chaykin’s resume: “Dances With Wolves,” “The Postman,” “Owning Mahoney,” “Mystery, Alaska,” and “A Life Less Ordinary.” He had also appeared in television roles on “C.S.I.,” “Boston Legal,” and “Entourage.”

Most recently, Chaykin was a regular on the HBO Canada sitcom “Less Than Kind.”

Chaykin is survived by his wife, the actress Susannah Hoffman, and a daughter, Rose.

Oscar-Winner Patricia Neal Dies at 84 After a Tragic Life
Thompson on Hollywood


Patricia Neal, winner of both Academy and Tony awards, died at her home in the northeastern US state of Massachusetts Sunday at the age of 84, The New York Times reported. The cause of her death was not immediately known, but the newspaper noted that Neal had suffered three strokes early in her career and was semi-paralyzed and unable to speak for a long time after that.

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Neal started out strong as a Hollywood leading lady, a beautiful and powerful character actress in such films as The Fountainhead, co-starring her lover Gary Cooper, The Day the Earth Stood Still, A Face in the Crowd and Hud, for which she won the best actress Oscar in 1964.

The actress made her movie debut in the 1949 comedy "John Loves Mary", where she played opposite the late former president Ronald Reagan.

She later starred in the screen version of John Patrick's play "The Hasty Heart" (1950), in which she played a nurse who tries to comfort a dying soldier, and "The Breaking Point" (1950), which was based on Ernest Hemingway's novel "To Have and Have Not", The Times said.

In 1964, Neal received an Oscar for best actress for her performance in the movie "Hud", where she appeared with Paul Newman.

But a year later she had three strokes that left her in a coma for three weeks, The Times said.

Following these crises, she was able to learn to walk and talk again.

Despite a severely impaired memory that made it difficult to remember lines, she returned to the screen in 1968 in the movie "The Subject Was Roses".

Married to author Roald Dahl, she gave birth to five children. One was brain-damaged in a 1960 taxi accident when he was a baby, another succumbed to measles in 1962. Tessa Dahl and her daughter Sophie both became screenwriters. Neal went on to suffer three strokes in 1964 and had to relearn, badgered by her husband, how to walk and talk.

She resumed her award-winning career in films and television with The Subject was Roses and The Homecoming: A Christmas Story.

Dahl and Neal broke up in 1983.

A.P. quotes her as follows from her 1988 autobiography, As I Am: “Frequently my life has been likened to a Greek tragedy, and the actress in me cannot deny that comparison.”

A great actress. Sad to see her go...

Vonetta McGee, who starred as Luva in "Blacula" and who was featured in "Repo Man," passed away recently. She was 65. RIP Vonetta McGee.

'The Muppet Show' bandleader Jack Parnell dies at 87


LONDON (AP) — British jazz drummer Jack Parnell, who served as bandleader on "The Muppet Show," has died aged 87, his family said Monday.

The family said Parnell died at his home in Southwold, eastern England, on Sunday following a yearlong battle with cancer.

Parnell was born in 1923, the son of a showbiz family — his father was a music hall performer and his uncle ran a string of theaters — and began drumming professionally as a teenager. During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force and performed in a band at the headquarters of Bomber Command.

Later, Parnell joined the renowned Ted Heath jazz band before leading his own ensembles.

As musical director at British broadcaster ATV from the late 1950s, he oversaw the music for long-running variety show "Sunday Night at the London Palladium," produced specials featuring Tom Jones and Barbra Streisand, composed theme tunes and served as musical director of "The Benny Hill Show."

In 1976, ATV began producing "The Muppet Show," a musical variety show with a cast of Jim Henson puppets and celebrity human guest stars.

Parnell conducted the orchestra for the whole of the series' five-year run, although the ostensible bandleader was the pop-eyed Muppet conductor, Nigel.

Parnell retired from ATV in 1982 but continued to perform with bands near his home well into his 80s.

He is survived by his wife, Veronica, two daughters and three sons — two of them drummers.

was he the drummer behind animal? if so he was amazing. :(

David L. Wolper, an award-winning movie and television producer best known for the groundbreaking mini-series “Roots,” died on Tuesday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif.

He was 82.

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The cause was congestive heart failure and complications of Parkinson’s disease, said Dale Olson, Mr. Wolper’s publicist.

Mr. Wolper produced hundreds of films and television shows, including the hit 1983 mini-series “The Thorn Birds,” a romantic drama set in Australia, with Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. But the work with which he was most closely associated was “Roots,” shown in eight parts on ABC in 1977.

The saga of an African-American family’s journey from Africa to slavery and emancipation, based on the best-selling book by Alex Haley, “Roots,” with a cast including LeVar Burton, Ben Vereen and many others, was not the first mini-series, but it was the first to have a major influence not just in the ratings but in American culture. One of the highest-rated entertainment programs in television history, it went on to win nine Emmy Awards and ignited a lively national discussion about race.

Another of Mr. Wolper’s productions, “The Hellstrom Chronicle” (1971), a film concerned with mankind’s real and imagined difficulties with insects, won an Academy Award.

Mr. Wolper initially made his mark as a producer of documentaries and later focused on fictionalized accounts of historical events. He drew his share of criticism: it was sometimes suggested that his documentaries were not sufficiently probing, that his so-called docudramas took too many liberties with the facts, that he was more showman than historian.

Critics were also cool to many of his big-screen productions, which included “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium” (1969), “I Love My Wife” (1970) and “One Is a Lonely Number” (1972), although he received good reviews for some, notably “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971) and “L.A. Confidential” (1997), which won two Oscars.

“The Bridge at Remagen” (1969), about a World War II battle in Germany, was probably the Wolper movie that attracted the most attention — not for what was on the screen, but because his production company was run out of Czechoslovakia when the Soviet Army invaded.

Mr. Wolper scored an early success in 1963 with the television documentary “The Making of the President 1960,” based on Theodore H. White’s best-selling book about John F. Kennedy’s quest for the White House. It won four Emmys, including program of the year.

Other noteworthy television projects in the 1960s included the series “Biography,” “Hollywood and the Stars” and “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.” In the 1970s he branched out into sitcoms, producing “Chico and the Man” and “Welcome Back, Kotter” with James Komack.

Married three times, Mr. Wolper is survived by his wife of 36 years, the former Gloria Hill; two sons, Mark and Michael, and a daughter, Leslie, by his second wife, the former Margaret Dawn Richard; and 10 grandchildren.

Mr. Wolper remained active as a producer of mini-series and documentaries well into the 1990s. Besides “The Thorn Birds,” his noteworthy later productions included “North and South” (1985). In 2002 he revisited his most famous production with the television special “Roots: Celebrating 25 Years.”

Mr. Wolper was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 1989.