RIP — 2022 Edition

[Bact PhD]

I didn’t think I would be starting this thread less than twelve hours into 2022.

Dan Reeves, one-time coach of the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons, complications from a long illness, 77.

www.ajc.com/sports/breaking-former-falcons-coach-dan-reeves-dies-at-77/GOUJ5FUZCVCFZE3NTQX6PXGZZI/?outputType=amp

The Reeves family issued a statement: “Legendary NFL player and coach Dan Reeves passed away early this morning, peacefully and surrounded by his loving family at his home in Atlanta, GA. He passed away at age 77 due to complications from a long illness. His legacy will continue through his many friends, players and fans as well as the rest of the NFL community. Arrangements are still to be determined.”

It was a career of milestones: More than 200 wins, 50 playoff appearances, two Super Bowl wins, a touchdown pass thrown in the Ice Bowl.

[AnBr]

Peter Bogdanovich at 82

[LFC]

Sidney Poitier at age 94.

[Bact PhD]

Jan 7, 2022 15:52:35 GMT LFC said:

Sidney Poitier at age 94.

Amen.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn6w255CGkk

[goldenvalley]

Jan 7, 2022 16:06:08 GMT Bact PhD said:

Jan 7, 2022 15:52:35 GMT LFC said:

Sidney Poitier at age 94.

Amen.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn6w255CGkk

I had forgotten how musically skilled he was.  

[Rue Bella]

I just saw he died. Very sad. His movies were big when I was young and seeing a lot of them. My favorite was In the Heat of the Night. That's really stood the test of time.

Lilies of the Field, A Patch of Blue, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Defiant Ones....


As for the singing in Lilies of the Field, that was dubbed. 

[Bact PhD]

Lani Guinier, one-time Clinton nominee, 71, from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/civil-rights-lawyer-professor-lani-guinier-dead-at-71/2022/01/07/6ea42060-7031-11ec-b1e2-0539da8f4451_story.html

“I have always wanted to be a civil rights lawyer. This lifelong ambition is based on a deep-seated commitment to democratic fair play — to playing by the rules as long as the rules are fair. When the rules seem unfair, I have worked to change them, not subvert them,” she wrote in her 1994 book, “Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in Representative Democracy.”
Clinton, who knew Guinier going back to when they both attended Yale’s law school, nominated her to the Justice Department post in 1993. But Guinier, who wrote as a law professor about ways to remedy racial discrimination, came under fire from conservative critics who called her views extreme and labeled her “quota queen.” Guinier said that label was untrue, that she didn’t favor quotas or even write about them, and that her views had been mischaracterized.
Clinton, in withdrawing her nomination, said he hadn’t read her academic writing before nominating her and would not have done so if he had.

[Bact PhD]

This one is a bit unexpected. Bob Saget, of “Full House” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” fame, 65 (in full, via Hollywood Reporter):

Bob Saget, the stand-up comedian known for starring on Full House and hosting America’s Funniest Home Videos, died Sunday, the Orlando Sheriff’s Department confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 65.
According to the department, deputies responded to a call about a man who was found unresponsive at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lake hotel. Saget was pronounced dead on the scene, and there was no sign of drug use or foul play.
TMZ was first to report the news.
The Philadelphia native got his start with a stint on CBS’ The Morning Program in 1987, just before landing his breakout role as Danny Tanner on ABC’s popular family sitcom Full House, which ran from fall 1987 through May 1995.

[andydp]

Dwayne Hickman of Dobie Gillis fame.

[Bact PhD]

Jan 10, 2022 1:28:11 GMT andydp said:

Dwayne Hickman of Dobie Gillis fame.

Eighty-seven, with his last credit in 2001. If you had asked me, off the top I would have thought he had died 5 or 6 years ago.

[Bact PhD]

Another entertainment figure more closely aligned with the Silent Generation/early Baby Boomers—Ronnie Spector, 78:

abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/60s-icon-ronnie-spector-sang-baby-dies-78-82230668

Ronnie Spector, the cat-eyed, bee-hived rock ‘n’ roll siren who sang such 1960s hits as “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You” and “Walking in the Rain” as the leader of the girl group The Ronettes, has died. She was 78.

Spector died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer, her family said. “Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humor and a smile on her face. She was filled with love and gratitude,” a statement said. No other details were revealed.

[Bact PhD]

Another one from the “if you had asked me, I would have said I thought he had died several years ago” category. Turns out Joe B. Hall, Kentucky men’s basketball coach from the early 1970s to mid-‘80s, lived well into old age, passing at age 93. From ESPN:

www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/33070946/joe-b-hall-won-national-titles-kentucky-player-coach-dies-93

Joe B. Hall, who succeeded legendary coach Adolph Rupp at Kentucky and led the Wildcats to an NCAA men's basketball championship, has died at the age of 93.

Hall is one of only three men to both play on and coach an NCAA championship team (1949, 1978) and is the only one to do so for the same school.

[snip]

During his 13 years as Kentucky coach, from 1972 to 1985, Hall led the team to 297 victories. The most memorable was the 1978 NCAA title in which Hall led the Wildcats to their fifth championship. Hall followed in the colossal footsteps of Rupp, who won 876 games over 41 seasons at Kentucky.

The Wildcats went 30-2 in 1977-78 and won their first NCAA title in 20 years, beating Duke 94-88 in St. Louis behind 41 points from Jack "Goose" Givens. It was Kentucky's fifth championship and first in 20 years. More than 10,000 fans greeted the returning team at Blue Grass Airport.

[snip]

The then-56-year-old Hall resigned as Kentucky coach in March 1985, saying, "I didn't want to be an old coach."

[LFC]

Meatloaf, age 74.

[LFC]

Ugh. It appears that Mr. Loaf was a bit of an anti-masker / anti-vaxxer. Apparently not full blown but quite possibly enough to kill himself.

The singer’s vaccine status isn’t known, but TMZ reported that he had recently spoken out against planned vaccine mandates in Australia.

In May, he posted a clip of Eric Clapton’s anti-lockdown song “Stand and Deliver,” and, in what appears to be one of his last interviews, Meat Loaf appeared to be losing patience with pandemic measures.

Speaking to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August last year, he told the interviewer “I hug people in the middle of COVID,” and said: “I understood stopping life for a little while, but they cannot continue to stop life because of politics. And right now they’re stopping because of politics.”

The singer went on to complain about being asked to wear a mask on a plane, stating that he didn’t believe paper masks were as good at N95s at stopping the coronavirus from spreading. “We had to go on the airplane with the paper masks and then on the way back, we got a Nazi: ‘Get your mask on now!’ They’re power-mad now,” he told the paper.

After the interviewer replied “Oh, God. We’re being controlled by everybody,” the singer responded ominously: “Yeah, I know. But not me. If I die, I die, but I’m not going to be controlled.”

[pnwguy]

Jan 21, 2022 15:58:31 GMT LFC said:

After the interviewer replied “Oh, God. We’re being controlled by everybody,” the singer responded ominously: “Yeah, I know. But not me. If I die, I die, but I’m not going to be controlled.”

Maybe he got his wish

[LFC]

Comedian Louie Anderson, age 68.

[AnBr]

Meat Loaf appeared to be losing patience with pandemic measures.

And we would be a lot closer to the end if it weren't for the like of him discouraging the very measures we need to take to contain it. In that case, good riddance.

[Art Vandelay]

Ventures guitarist Don Wilson

[AnBr]

Haven't heard of the Ventures in a very long time.

[Art Vandelay]

Thank you for posting that video. I guess we have dated ourselves.

[goldenvalley]

Jan 25, 2022 22:45:33 GMT Art Vandelay said:

Thank you for posting that video. I guess we have dated ourselves.

I've heard that song for years but thought it was early Beach Boys.  

[AnBr]

[LFC]

After listening to those two tunes again I feel like I should be watching a 60s movie about teens on the beach.

[goldenvalley]

Howard Hesseman...best known to me as Dr. Johnny Fever of WKRP in Cincinnati.  

[Rue Bella]

Jan 31, 2022 0:12:08 GMT goldenvalley said:

Howard Hesseman...best known to me as Dr. Johnny Fever of WKRP in Cincinnati.  

Funny program.  Johnny Fever was my favorite.