March 2011 Celebrity Deaths

March 2011 Celebrity Deaths

March in memoriam

In March we said farewell to many beloved figures, including a famous composer, a grunge legend and a princess.

Scrod down to read about the notable lives of:

Knut the polar bear

Nate Dogg

Mike DeStefano

Geraldine Ferraro

1935-2011

Three-term congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro passed away at a Massachusetts hospital, where she was being treated for this disease.  In 1984 Ferraro became the first woman vice presidential candidate on a major U.S. party ticket.  Ferraro was 75.   

Elizabeth Taylor

1932-2011

Elizabeth Taylor was a Hollywood legend known for her many films, two Academy Award wins (for a 1966 classic and an emotional drama), her many marriages, AIDS activism and an unlikely friendship with a fallen pop star. She died of congestive heart failure at age 79.

Loleatta Holloway

1946-2011

She was a Chicago-born disco and soul singer, best known for her 1980 hit about love, who influenced a number of performers, including a singer-turned-actor who sampled the soul icon for his one-time hit. She died from heart failure at age 64.

Pinetop Perkins

1913-2011

He was a famed blues piano player who still played regularly at clubs before his death at age 97. Throughout his career, he collaborated wither several legendary musicians, which as this blues icon and this guitar god.

Ferlin Husky

1925-2011

He was a pioneering country singer in the 1950s and 1960s who had more than 50 hits. Husky was instrumental in introducing a new style of country music. He died at age 85.

Oliver Humperdink

1949-2011

Oliver Humperdink was a well-established pro wrestling manager from the 1970s through the early 1990s  whose health deteriorated after a nearly fatal accident. He died at age 62.

Knut the polar bear

2006-2011

Knut was a major attraction at the Berlin Zoo but shocked visitors watched him die in his pen. The pearly-white bear was only 4 years old.

Michael Gough

1913-2011

He was a longtime British actor best known for his fatherly figure in a superhero film franchise about a caped crusader. Gough appeared in more than 100 films. He died at the age of 94.

Nate Dogg

1969-2011

He was a West Coast hip-hop crooner who created and popularized a style of singing rap. He rose to fame collaborating with some of the biggest names in the business and was known as hip-hop's hook man. He died at age 41 of complications from multiple strokes.

Smiley Culture

1963-2011

Smiley Culture was a British reggae star who rose to fame in the 1980s. Watch some of his music videos. He died at the age of 48 from a reported self-inflicted stab wound. 

Princess Antoinette

1920-2011

Antoinette was the princess of a European microstate and the daughter of royalty. Her younger brother married a movie star. She died at the age of 90.

Marty Marion

1916-2011

Marty Marion was a renowned shortstop who later went on to manage the team he played for and another MLB team. He earned nicknames for his shape and style. He died at the age of 93.

Richard Wirthlin

1931-2011

Richard Wirthlin, a chief strategist and pollster, helped steer the political career of one of the most revered Republican presidents and was known as the prince of polling. He died at the age of 80.

Todd Cerney

1953-2011

This Nashville musician wrote the 1980s love ballad "I'll Still Be Loving You" and had a five-week No. 1 country hit in 2001. He died at the age of 57.

Mike Starr

1966-2011

Mike Starr was the former bassist for an iconic grunge-rock group who in his last several years battled serious drug and alcohol addiction. The troubled musician even sought help on a reality TV series. He died at the age of 44.

Hugh Martin

1914-2011

Hugh Martin composed one of the best-known Christmas tunes of all time and has song credits on a classic film. He died at the age of 96.

Hazel Rowley

1951-2011

Hazel Rowley was an acclaimed biographer who wrote about several famous figures, including the love life of a renowned philosopher. Get her books. She died at the age of 59.

Blair River

1981-2011

Blair River was the 575-pound spokesman for an Arizona hamburger joint that touted its high-calorie menu. He died from complications of pneumonia at the age of 29.

Mike Lounge

1946-2011

Mike Lounge was a veteran shuttle astronaut who flew into orbit on three different missions, including the first after a major space disaster. He went on to represent astronauts' interests for the space agency before retiring in 1991. Lounge died at the age of 64.

Leonard Lomell

1920-2011

Leonard Lomell, considered a World War II hero, found "by pure luck" and disabled guns hidden by the Germans on D-Day. Some believe his actions ensured the success of the liberation invasion to end the war. He died at the age of 91.

Ryan Hawks

1985-2011

Ryan Hawks was a professional big-mountain skier who was part of a group of hard-core freestyle skiers. He died from injuries sustained in a fall during a national competition. Hawks died at the age of 25.

Johnny Preston

1939-2011

Johnny Preston was a pop singer who had a No. 1 hit in 1960 with a teenage tragedy song followed by another adolescent hit. He died at the age of 71.

Mike DeStefano

1967-2011

Mike DeStefano was a stand-up comic who gained fame after appearing on a televised comedy show and a reality show. He battled drug addiction and carried a life-threatening virus. He was scheduled to star in a one-man show before his death at the age of 43.

Jean Bartel

1923-2011

Jean Bartel was the 1943 winner of a long-standing beauty competition despite refusing to participate in a tradition. She apparently wowed judges with a Cole Porter hit.

 She died at the age of 87.

Joe Morello

1928-2011

Joe Morello was a legendary jazz drummer best known for his time with a famous jazz quartet, with which he played on some of the best-selling jazz records of all time. He died at the age of 82.

Richard Martin

1951-2011

Former NHL star Richard Martin scored a rookie record in his second professional season. His career was cut short after a severe injury. Martin died at the age of 59.

Mitchell Page

1951-2011

Mitchell Page was an MLB outfielder who came up with an impressive record and later became a hitting coach for another professional team. He died at the age of 59.

Jack Hardy

1947-2011

 

Jack Hardy was a folk singer, playwright and promoter credited with influencing several famous 1970s and 1980s artists, such as this prominent folksinger. He toured for almost 40 years. Hardy died at the age of 63.

 

Source:Specials

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James Dean secret revealed

James Dean secret revealed

James Dean molestation kept secret by Taylor
During making of 'Giant,' actor confessed that he was abused by minister as a child
It was a Hollywood secret Elizabeth Taylor took with her to the grave — well, almost.

When the late actress spoke to journalist Kevin Sessums back in 1997, she had one big-time revelation that had to wait until after she was gone.
The shocker concerned James Dean, her friend and handsome co-star in the classic film "Giant," which was released in 1956. Dean died a year earlier at age 24 in a car crash, and received a posthumous Oscar nomination for his performance in the movie.
"I loved Jimmy," Taylor told Sessums, writing in a Daily Beast item. (Taylor passed away in L.A. at age 79 of congestive heart failure, and was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, Calif., Thursday.)
"I'm going to tell you something, but it's off the record until I die. OK?"
In the chat 14 years ago, Taylor revealed: "When Jimmy was 11 and his mother passed away, he began to be molested by his minister. I think that haunted him the rest of his life. In fact, I know it did. We talked about it a lot. During 'Giant' we'd stay up nights and talk and talk, and that was one of the things he confessed to me."




Sessums points out that Taylor never published her own tell-all memoir about her life or her famous friends.

"I would have to give up today," she said in the 1997 chat. "And dive into yesterday. You can't predict tomorrow. And my life has had so many startling tomorrows that I don't think they've stopped."

Source:Msnbc

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Elizabeth Taylor Eyes

Elizabeth Taylor Eyes

 

Mystery over Taylor's true eye color

In death, as in life, it is her eyes that haunt.
After Hollywood's grande dame Elizabeth Taylor passed away, people paid their online respects, searching out her biography, baby pictures, good works (AIDS foundation), her relationships both familial (children, Richard Burton) and famous (Michael Jackson, Andy Warhol). Yet most unique were those eyes, and people wanted another look into them as they sought out "elizabeth taylor eyes," "elizabeth taylor violet eyes pictures," and "elizabeth taylor's eye close up."

Could someone's eyes truly be purple? If photos or her namesake perfume -- Violet Eyes, which debuted just last spring -- weren't proof enough, eyewitness accounts certainly testify to those riveting orbs. A remembrance by Hollywood Reporter film critic Todd McCarthy recalled a meeting in the 1970s, when the actress had essentially retired from the big screen. "What should abruptly stop me in my tracks," he wrote, "but a pair of eyes unlike I've ever beheld, before or since; deep violet eyes of a sort withheld from ordinary mortals that were suddenly looking up into mine from mere inches away."



David Stratton, a film critic for the Australian, also swooned in a 1973 encounter following a festival premiere of her movie "Night Watch": "I was ushered into her presence at the official reception and found myself transfixed by her famous violet eyes. I have never seen eyes of that color before or since and I don't believe cinemagoers were able to appreciate how remarkable they were."

Eye of the Beholder

Violet is indeed a rarity, more so than green eyes, although theories as to what makes them purple vary. Color, of course, is determined by how much melanin pigment the eye has and, to get really scientific, those variations in single nucleotide polymorphisms (thankfully shortened to SNPS) near the OCA2 gene, which are responsible for the color of eyes, hair, and skin. Then again, the simplest explanation would be the same one her doctor gave her mother when describing baby Elizabeth's double row of eyelashes: a "mutation," according to the 1996 book Elizabeth.

Those eyes inspired longing, envy, and a few beauty products: Chicago optical company Wesley-Jensen created violet contact lenses in the 1980s. Before their debut, a W-J spokesperson told The New York Times, "pictures of Elizabeth Taylor are pasted all over our R&D lab." A California ocularist, one of the few in the world to create artificial eyeballs, fulfilled one patient's request for "Elizabeth Taylor eyes."

If you wondered what the scent of violet eyes might be, that would be "light shades of purple rose and violet peony, combined with velvety accents of white peach" with a "voluptuous blend of cedar wood and amber [to] convey the power, sensuality, and mystery of Elizabeth Taylor's eyes."


 Source: OMG

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Newman's early tribute to Taylor

Newman's early tribute to Taylor

Paul Newman Called Elizabeth Taylor 'a Helluva Actress'

Superstar to superstar. To Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor was "a functioning voluptuary … a courageous survivor, a helluva actress and someone I am extremely proud to know."

Even in the sanitized 1958 MGM version of Tennessee Williams's potent drama in which they costarred, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – with the sultry Newman as the drunkard ex-athlete Brick and an indelible Taylor as his neglected wife, Maggie the Cat – the two sent audiences' pulses racing. But they were more than simply sex symbols. Both proved themselves Academy Award-level actors and world-class humanitarians.

Now, sadly, they are both gone. Newman died at age 83, in 2008, and Taylor, at 79, early Wednesday morning.

Fortunately, their performances remain – as does a tribute Newman paid Taylor on behalf of Turner Classic Movies.

"What can you say about a legend?" Newman muses at the beginning of the four-minute video love letter. Acknowledging but not dwelling upon her remarkable violent eyes or stunning beauty, Newman instead concentrates on her screen presence, "her volatility, her sense of truth."

"On the screen," he said, "her very presence seemed to radiate charm."

And while "she practically grew up in front of the camera," Newman noted, "her life has not been an easy or a private one, but a series of tribulations, serious illnesses, senseless tragedy and lost love."

Left a widow during the making of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof when the private plane carrying her husband, impresario Mike Todd, crashed in New Mexico, Taylor continued acting as Maggie, finding the work therapeutic. "I was overwhelmed with her professionalism," Newman said.

"One thing for sure: She is not afraid to take chances in front of people. I find a lot of actors who reach the top, they become very protective of themselves, and self-indulgent, but not Elizabeth," added Newman. "I was always staggered by her ferocity."

Source: People

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Taylor's son's emotional statement

Taylor's son's emotional statement

Michael Wilding, Liz Taylor’s Son, Emotional Family Statement
Elizabeth Taylor’s son, Michael Wilding, released an emotional, heartfelt statement on behalf of the entire family, including the actress’ other three children, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton, 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren, after her tragic death earlier this morning.

“My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love,” Wilding, 58, said in a statement Wednesday. “Though her loss is devastating to those of us who held her so close and so dear, we will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world.”

“Her remarkable body of work in film, her ongoing success as a businesswoman, and her brave and relentless advocacy in the fight against HIV/AIDS, all make us incredibly proud of what she accomplished. We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts.”


The Hollywood legend had been hospitalized six weeks ago with a condition she had struggled for years – a congestive heart failure that resulted in her death at the age of 79.

A private funeral for the family and really close friends will be held later this week. The family asks for fans to not send flowers, but contribute to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation instead. You can send condolences and pay tribute to Dame Taylor via an official Facebook page.









Read More: Bumpshack

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Elizabeth Taylor Through the Years

 Elizabeth Taylor Through the Years

Elizabeth Taylor Through the Years

Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor has led a big life. "'The more the better' has always been my motto," she once said. Indeed with three Oscars, eight marriages, 12 best-selling fragrances, and countless carats of gemstones, she is a one-woman epic, dressed for the part with towering sculptures of ebony hair and artfully blended sweeps of jewel-toned shadow. Yet, despite her timeless beauty, juicy personal history, and legendary film performances, her most extraordinary role has been that of a tireless fundraiser for AIDS awareness. For Taylor, living large means giving big.

Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed film goddess whose sultry screen life was often upstaged by her stormy personal life, died Wednesday at age 79.
She died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized for about six weeks.

 1942: A 10-year-old Taylor lit up the screen in her first film, "There's One Born Every Minute."

 1944: Following the runaway success of "National Velvet," the ebony-haired 12-year-old filmed "Courage of Lassie."

 1949: The teenage "Little Women" star began to make her transition into adult roles with buoyant waves and a come-hither stare.

 1953: Taylor drew attention to her strong brows and famous violet eyes with a trendy pixie style in "The Girl Who Had Everything." Offscreen, she gave birth to Michael Howard Wilding, her son with second husband Michael Wilding.

 1954: The star of "Rhapsody" and "Elephant Walk" swept back her short locks with a sweet band of flowers.

 1954: Classic screen siren! Taylor wore her hair in a wavy pageboy the year she starred in "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and "Beau Brummell."

 1961: A well-coiffed Taylor won her first Oscar for her role in "Butterfield 8." Merely two weeks before the ceremony, the pneumonia-struck star called stylist Alexandre of Paris to her hospital bed to revive her spirits with one of his gravity-defying bouffants. "She was held up by three nurses while I created her famous artichoke cut," the hairdresser recalled.

 1963: Taylor starred alongside fiance Richard Burton in "The V.I.P.s." To play a wealthy socialite, she adorned her glossy bun with her own emeralds.

 1967: Assuming the role of a bored millionairess in "Boom!," she wore a fanciful floral headdress courtesy of Tiziani of Rome designer, Karl Lagerfeld. (Offscreen, she picked up her second Oscar from her role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?")

 1969: The mother of four adopted a bohemian look that included a crown of braids coiled over loose locks.

 1974: Sporting her trademark voluminous curls and a deep tan, the star of "The Driver's Seat" presented at the Academy Awards.

 1985: With her salt-and-pepper pouf and well-defined brows, the 53-year-old took on the '80s looking better than ever.

 1986: Perhaps as a nod to her recent nuptials to seventh husband Larry Fortensky, Taylor added fresh flowers and trailing white ribbons to her short coif.

 1992: The breathtaking 60-year-old presented at the Academy Awards in fuchsia lipstick and lavender lined eyes.

 1993: She borrowed a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond daisy necklace in which to receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars. After the evening, "Elizabeth Taylor decided it was her good-luck necklace and bought it," the jeweler's Muffie Potter once told InStyle.

 1998: Stylish even in strife, Taylor let her hair go strikingly silver following a surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. "True glamour comes from within," she said at an event thrown in her honor by the CFDA. "It radiates from the soul."

 2000: Taylor was named a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

 2007: She turned 75 as a cinema legend, the head of a billion dollar fragrance empire, and a tireless fundraiser for AIDS research. Naturally, she wore bombshell red lipstick to her birthday party.

 2011: Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed film goddess whose sultry screen life was often upstaged by her stormy personal life, died Wednesday at age 79.
She died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized for about six weeks.

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