Larry Harmon, who made clowning a business, has passed away at age 83. Mr. Harmon wasn’t the original Bozo, but entertained a generation of kids by licensing the Bozo name and likeness to local TV stations nationwide. Now, 50+ years later, Bozo is still a national icon.
So, RIP, Bozo. Rest in the [...]
Scott Kalitta, two-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion, was killed in a qualifying accident yesterday.
I love racing, and always am sad when someone loses his life in any form of the sport. Scott’s father is the legendary racer Connie Kalitta, who I recollect from pictures in drugstore-bought racing magazines from years ago. Television [...]
The nation’s first sports journalist, Jim McKay, has passed away at age 86. I grew up watching Wide World of Sports on teevee; I have seen countless Olympic Games.
Jim McKay was in all of them. Not doing play-by-play, but bringing an obvious passion and a deep understanding of the sport to the television [...]
November 30, 2007 – 9:28 pm
A daredevil’s daredevil, Evel Knievel, has passed away at age 69.
I’ve always been a fan of daredevils, and man, he was the King.
Footage of the stunt that still makes my stomach clench up:
RIP, Evel.
-k-tbbs tags: RIP
Technorati Tags: Evel Knievel
November 19, 2007 – 9:36 pm
Beloved TV advertising icon, Dick Wilson, known to a generation as Mr. Whipple, has passed away at age 91.
George Whipple, the character, ran a small grocery where he guarded the Charmin display, admonishing customers,
Please, don’t squeeze the Charmin.
A simple slogan like that was part of popular culture for a good many years. There were [...]
November 7, 2007 – 10:20 pm
Hank Thompson, another country singer whose stardom slightly predates my interest in the genre, has passed away at age 82. Hank was yet another one of my grandparent’s favorites, and I doubtless was first exposed to his music at their farmhouse atop a rocky Kansas hill.
I came to like and enjoy Hank’s music, along [...]
October 30, 2007 – 12:37 am
Porter Wagoner, legendary country singer who never donned a rhinestone suit that didn’t become him, has passed away at age 80.
My first recollection of him is watching his TV show, which started in 1960, and ran for 21 years. I watched at my grandparents’ house when we were there visiting, early in the show’s [...]
Boots Randolph, saxophonist and session musician of Yakkety Sax fame, has passed away at age 80.
And his session music work included the following:
As a session musician, he played on Elvis Presley’s “Return to Sender,” Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman,” Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Round the Christmas Tree” and “I’m Sorry,” REO Speedwagon’s “Little Queenie,” Al Hirt’s [...]
Hy Zaret, who wrote the hauntingly beautiful lyrics to Unchained Melody, has passed away at age 99. The boomer that I am, I remember the Righteous Brothers’ rendition of the song the best. The song was recorded over 300 times, and ASCAP listed it as one of the 25 most-performed works of the 20th [...]
Beverly Sills, legendary opera singer, has passed away at age 78. My knowledge of fine arts could be summarized on a small Post-It using a wide tip pen; she had a passion and an interest in promoting the finer arts that impressed even such a rube as I.
And I know a good set of pipes [...]
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