Johannes Heesters, Dutch actor and singer, died from a stroke he was 108.

Johan Marius Nicolaas "Johannes" Heesters was a Dutch actor, singer, and entertainer with a career dating back to 1921 died from a stroke he was 108.. Active almost exclusively in the German-speaking world from the mid-1930s, he was a controversial figure for his actions during the Second World War and his success in Nazi Germany.^[1] Heesters was considered one of the oldest stage performers in history.

(5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011) 

Early life

Heesters was born in Amersfoort, Netherlands, the youngest of four sons. His father Jacobus Heesters (1865–1946) was a salesman and his mother Geertruida Jacoba van den Heuvel (1866–1951), a homemaker.

Heesters in 1919 (age 16)

Heesters was fluent in German from a very early age having lived for several years in the household of a German great uncle from Bavaria.^[2] Heesters decided to become an actor and a singer at the age of sixteen and began vocal training. Heesters specialized in Viennese operetta very early in his career, and made his Viennese stage debut in 1934 in Carl Millöcker's Der Bettelstudent (The Beggar Student).

Nazi Germany

Heesters after a performance on stage in 1923, age 19

Aged 31, Heesters permanently moved to Germany with his wife and daughters in 1935. During his time there, he performed for Adolf Hitler and visited the Dachau concentration camp which made him a controversial figure for many Dutch.^[3] Joseph Goebbels placed Heesters on the Gottbegnadeten list as an artist considered crucial to Nazi culture.^[4]
Heesters is known to have funded the German war machine by donating money to the weapons industry.^[5] While he became a very controversial figure in the late 1970s, Heesters always denied these accusations despite reliable evidence.^[6]
Heesters befriended several high-ranking Nazi-officials and SS-officers.^[7] Mr. "Jopie" also performed regularly for people such as Hitler and Goering,^[8] with the former being known to have been an avid admirer of his acting skills.^[9][10] He met Hitler several times and was reportedly Hitler's favorite actor^[11] in the role of Danilo.^[12] Throughout the war Heesters continued to perform for German soldiers in camps and barracks. He always denied having visited concentration camps, although he did have knowledge of their existence.^[13]
According to German author Volker Kühn, Heesters did in fact perform for the SS in Dachau concentration camp. For this claim he uses as evidence the testimony of Dachau inmate Viktor Matejka who worked for the SS and told Kühn he pulled the curtain when Heesters performed in 1941.^[14][15] According to German writer Jürgen Trimborn however, the interview with Matejka may not be reliable as it occurred some fifty years after the performance was said to have taken place.^[16] In December 2009, Heesters lost his libel suit against Kühn.^[17] While acknowledging having visited the camp, Heesters denied having performed as entertainment for the SS troops. In its ruling, the German court did not find that Kühn's allegations were true, but rather that too much time had passed for an accurate determination of fact to be made.^[18]
Heesters' signature tune was Count Danilo Danilovitch's entrance song "Da geh' ich ins Maxim" from Franz Lehár's Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow).

After the war

Heesters with his future wife Louisa Ghijs in 1928

Heesters worked extensively for UFA until almost the end of the Second World War (his last wartime movie being Die Fledermaus, produced in 1945) and easily made the transition from the Nazi-controlled cultural scene to post-war Germany and Austria, appearing again in a number of films. These included Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach and the 1957 version of Viktor und Viktoria. Heesters stopped making movies around 1960 to concentrate on stage and television appearances and on producing records.
In later years Heesters spoke fondly of Hitler as a person, but condemned his political stance.^[19] In the 1990s, he and his wife toured Germany and Austria with Curth Flatow's play Ein gesegnetes Alter (A Blessed Age), which was also televised in 1996. On 5 December 2003, he celebrated his 100th birthday with a television special Eine Legende wird 100 (A legend turns 100) on the ARD television channel.

Heesters' second wife Simone Rethel

On his 100th birthday Heesters received the title "Kammersänger". In December 2004, aged 101, Heesters appeared in Stuttgart at the Komödie im Marquardt theatre in a show commissioned on the occasion of his 100th birthday, Heesters – eine musikalische Hommage. In 2005 aged 102 he was featured as a soloist in a major concert tour with the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg under the direction of Scott Lawton.
On 5 December 2006 Heesters celebrated his 103rd birthday with a concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus. On 5 December 2007 he celebrated his 104th birthday with a concert at the Admiralspalast, Berlin, and in February 2008 he performed in his home country for the first time in four decades amidst protests against his Nazi associations.
Heesters apologised for calling Adolf Hitler a "good chap" on the popular German TV show Wetten, dass..? on Saturday, 13 December 2008, aged 105. He said that he had said something stupid and horrible and asked for forgiveness.^[20] In addition, German media suggested that he had failed to understand the show's satirical nature.^[21]
Heesters became less active in his last years and played smaller roles, as he began to lose his eyesight due to macular degeneration and could not perform on stage for long periods of times. Unable to read a teleprompter, he had to memorize his lines before a show.

Personal life

My secret to a long, healthy life is love and passion; age differences do not matter.

—Johannes Heesters, December 2010^[22]

Johannes Heesters as Franz Joseph I of Austria

Heesters had two daughters by his first wife Louisa Ghijs, whom he married in 1930. After her death in 1985, he remarried in 1992; his second wife, Simone Rethel (born 1949), is a German actress, painter, and photographer. His younger daughter Nicole Heesters is a well-known actress in the German-speaking world, as is his granddaughter Saskia Fischer.
In December 2010, the 107-year-old Heesters announced that he had quit smoking for his then 61-year-old wife: "She should have me as long as possible."^[23]
On 1 January 2008, he fell down some stairs in his holiday house in Tyrol and broke two ribs.^[24]
On 29 November 2011, he suddenly fell ill, developing a fever, and was rushed into hospital.^[25] He was operated on to fit a heart pacemaker and following a good recovery, was allowed home less than a week later, on 4 December, in time to spend his 108th birthday the next day with family. He did not feel strong enough to make the planned stage appearance to sing in celebration of his birthday and also had missed the premiere of his last film, Ten. Due to a relapse in his condition, on 17 December he was readmitted to hospital, where he subsequently suffered a stroke,^[26] dying on Christmas Eve 2011.^[27] He is survived by two daughters, five grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.^[28][29]

Discography

Albums

• 1965: Jetzt geh' ich ins Maxim
• 2003: Ich werde 100 Jahre alt

Singles

• 1937: "Ich werde jede Nacht von ihnen träumen"
• 1939: "Musik, Musik, Musik" (featuring Marika Rökk)
• 1941: "Liebling, was wird nun aus uns beiden"
• 1941: "Man müßte Klavier spielen können"
• 1949: "Das kommt mir spanisch vor"
• 1949: "Tausendmal möchte' ich dich küssen"
• 1998: "Ich werde 100 Jahre alt" (song)
• 2007: "Generationen" (featuring Claus Eisenmann)

Honours, decorations, awards

• 1984: Bavarian Order of Merit
• 1993: Berlinian Order of Merit
• 2000: Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna
• Bambi in 1967, 1987, 1990, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
• 2001: Platinum Romy (TV award)
• 2003: Goldene Kamera
• 2004: Kammersänger

Filmography

1924: Cirque hollandais 1934: Bleeke Bet 1935: De Vier Mullers 1936: Die Leuchter des Kaisers 1936: Der Bettelstudent 1936: Das Hofkonzert 1937: Wenn Frauen schweigen 1937: Gasparone 1938: Nanon 1938: Immer wenn ich glücklich bin..! 1939: Hello Janine! 1939: Das Abenteuer geht weiter 1939: Meine Tante – Deine Tante 1940: Liebesschule 1940: Die lustigen Vagabunden 1940: Rosen in Tirol 1941: Immer nur … Du! 1941: Jenny und der Herr im Frack 1941: Illusion 1942: Karneval der Liebe 1944: Es lebe die Liebe 1944: Glück bei Frauen 1944: Es fing so harmlos an 1944: Frech und verliebt (1948) 1946: Die Fledermaus (1946) 1946: Renée / Renée XIV. Der König streikt 1947: Wiener Melodien 1949: Liebe Freundin 1950: Wenn eine Frau liebt 1950: Hochzeitsnacht im Paradies 1951: Professor Nachtfalter 1951: Tanz ins Glück 1951: Die Csardasfürstin 1952: Im weißen Rößl 1953: Die geschiedene Frau 1953: Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach

1953: Schlagerparade 1953: Hab' ich nur Deine Liebe 1954: Stern von Rio 1955: Bel-Ami 1955: Gestatten, mein Name ist Cox (Film) 1956: Ein Herz und eine Seele / …und wer küßt mich 1956: Opernball 1956: Heute heiratet mein Mann 1957: Bel Ami. Der Frauenheld von Paris 1957: Viktor und Viktoria 1957: Von allen geliebt 1958: Bühne frei für Marika! 1958: Besuch aus heiterem Himmel / Jetzt ist er da aus USA 1958: Frau im besten Mannesalter 1959: Die unvollkommene Ehe 1960: Am grünen Strand der Spree (TV, part 5) 1961: Junge Leute brauchen Liebe 1968: Unsere liebste Freundin (TV) 1973: Hallo, Hotel Sacher…Portier (TV, episode 2) 1974: Hochzeitsnacht im Paradies (TV) 1980: Liebe bleibt nicht ohne Schmerzen (TV) 1982: Sonny Boys (TV) (Carl-Heinz Schroth) 1984: Die schöne Wilhelmine (TV four part series) 1985: Otto – Der Film 1991: Altes Herz wird nochmal jung 1993: Zwei Münchner in Hamburg 1994: Silent Love (Short film) 1995: Grandhotel 1996: Ein gesegnetes Alter (TV) 1999: Theater: Momo (TV) 2001: Otto – Mein Ostfriesland und mehr (TV) 2003: Zurück ins Leben 2008: 1½ Ritter – Auf der Suche nach der hinreißenden Herzelinde 2008: Wege zum Glück 2011: Ten (short film)

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Bernard Gert, American philosopher, died he was 77.

Bernard Gert was a moral philosopher known primarily for his work in normative ethics, as well as in medical ethics, especially pertaining to psychology died he was 77..

(October 16, 1934 – December 24, 2011)

His work has been called "among the clearest and most comprehensive on the contemporary scene", "far more detailed and more concretely worked out" and "systematic" than competing comprehensive ethical theories.^[1] Because it avoids pitfalls associated with other dominant ethical theoretical approaches (such as deontology, utilitarianism, contractarianism, and virtue ethics), Gert's moral theory "provides what many people are looking for".^[1]

Life

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Gert studied philosophy at Cornell University. He was a professor at Dartmouth College for fifty years, from 1959-2009. Upon his death in 2011, he was the Stone Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Emeritus at Dartmouth. He also had other adjunct and visiting appointments, including being a fellow of the Hastings Center, an independent bioethics research institution. He died in 2011 in North Carolina.^[2][3]
A source of notoriety among his contemporaries was that his family became a family of philosophers: his two children, Joshua and Heather, both became philosophers, and both married two other philosophers.^[4]

Metaethics

Definition of morality

Gert advocates the following definition of morality:

Morality is an informal public system applying to all rational persons, governing behavior that affects others, and includes what are commonly known as the moral rules, ideals, and virtues and has the lessening of evil or harm as its goal.^[5]

Morality as known to all

According to Gert, his theory counts as a natural law theory because he holds that all moral agents must be able to understand it in order to count as moral agents. In other words, "moral judgments can only be made about those who know what kind of behavior morality prohibits, requires, discourages, encourages, and allows."^[6]

Harm as the central moral concept

According to Gert, harm (or "evil") is the central moral concept.^[7][8] Gert believes harm is what all rational creatures seek to avoid. He advances the following five-concept account of harm:

• death
• pain
• disability
• loss of freedom
• loss of pleasure.^[9]

He maintains that commonsense morality is far more concerned with prohibiting (and discouraging) evil than with requiring (or encouraging) people to enhance goods or benefits.^[9]

Rationality and impartiality

On Gert's view, the bases for morality are rationality and impartiality.
On Gert's conception of rationality, it is irrational to fail to be averse to harm. Everyone avoids harm insofar as they are rational. Rationality does require that we avoid harming ourselves without an adequate reason. A rational person would not cause his own pain unless it were for an adequate reason, for example, to cure a disease. Even a masochist causes pain in himself for a reason, presumably for pleasure. This helps show that no rational being seeks to harm himself for its own sake.
The sort of adequate reason in question involves avoiding any of the five basic evils or obtaining of any of the following basic goods:

• pleasure
• freedom
• ability
• consciousness

According to Gert, acting rationally does not always require acting morally.^[10] For example, it is not irrational to set a trap for someone who is wearing an Armani suit so that they fall into a swimming pool in front of a video camera, since the pleasure one can get out of watching the video constitutes an adequate reason for harming the other person. It would also be rational for a sadist to torture other people for fun provided the sadist could get away with it.
There are five sorts of irrational desire according to Gert: seeking death, pain, disability, loss of freedom, or loss of pleasure.^[9] We arrive at moral rules by extending these objects of irrational desire to others. Rationality, alone, does not require this. However, if we adopt the principle of impartiality, whereby we apply the rules without regard to who gains or loses, we extend these prohibitions to others. This results in rules such as do not kill, do not cause pain, do not disable, and so forth.

Why be moral?

On Gert's view, there are several reasons to act morally.^[10] The primary one is i) that someone else will be harmed.^[8][10] While it is rational not to care about others, the fact that they will be harmed is enough of a reason itself.
Other reasons to act morally include ii) that acting immorally will corrupt one's own character, and iii) that some forms of immoral action can make the world inhospitable to oneself, such that in some cases it is irrational to act immorally toward others.^[10]

Normative ethics

Ten moral rules

In his book Common Morality: Deciding What to Do, Gert proposes ten moral rules which, if followed, create a moral system. The rules are as follows:^[9]

1. Do not kill
2. Do not cause pain
3. Do not disable
4. Do not deprive of freedom
5. Do not deprive of pleasure
6. Do not deceive
7. Keep your promises
8. Do not cheat
9. Obey the law
10. Do your duty.

The first five of these rules directly prohibit harming other people. Thus, they can be summarized with the slogan, 'do not harm'. The second five rules get their force from the fact that if it were generally allowed that those rules be broken, many harms (and losses of benefits) would result. They can be summarized with the slogan, 'do not violate trust'.

Exceptions to the rules: the two-step procedure

Gert holds that the moral rules are not absolute, but admit of exceptions.^[11] To determine whether a moral rule applies in a certain case or whether there is an exception, Gert advises people to follow what he calls the "two step procedure."^[9] The first step is to ascertain all morally relevant information about the scenario at hand in order to make a justified evaluation. The second step is to consider the consequences of other people knowing that they can violate the moral rule in similar circumstances.^[9]
An example of this would be if you were to consider violating rule #9 (breaking the law) in order to run a red light. You evaluate the scenario and notice that there are no cars around and running the red light will not cause any harm, however, you do not want other people to know that they can run red lights too, because that would lead to more car accidents, which is indirectly causing pain and death. Another example of violating the moral rules would be killing in self-defense. If you evaluate the situation, you find that if you do not kill the other person, they will violate one of the moral rules and kill you. Also, it would be acceptable in this scenario for other people to know that killing in self-defense is allowable.

Moral ideals

Moral ideals, according to Gert, are objectives to lessen the amount of harm or evil in the world. These differ from moral rules, which are requirements that people avoid performing certain kinds of actions which produce harms to others. Morality encourages, but does not require, people to live up to moral ideals. Examples of moral ideals are the objectives of reducing the incidence of domestic violence or of breast cancer.
What Gert calls utilitarian ideals are objectives to increase the amount of good in the world. For example, the objective of giving poor children extra presents for Christmas.

Categorizing Gert's moral theory

Although his moral system shares similarities to deontology, rule utilitarianism, and contractarianism, Gert does not ally himself with any of those positions.^[1][12][13] He writes, "I think that my view is best characterized as a natural law theory . . . in the tradition of Hobbes".^[14] He also writes, "my view has been characterized as Kant with consequences, as Mill with publicity, and as Ross with a theory."^[12]
However, when Walter Sinnott-Armstrong once labeled the theory as "a sophisticated form of negative objective universal public rule consequentialism",^[15] Gert replied that "there may be no point in denying that I am some form of consequentialist".^[16]

Sources

By Bernard Gert

• The Morality Monographs
  • The Moral Rules: A New Rational Foundation for Morality, Harper and Row, 1970.
  • Morality: A New Justification of the Moral Rules, Oxford University Press, 1988.
  • Morality: Its Nature and Justification, Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Morality: Its Nature and Justification, Revised Edition, Oxford University Press, 2005.
• Common Morality: Deciding What to Do, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Bioethics: A Systematic Approach, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2006
• Hobbes: Prince of Peace, Polity Press, 2010.

Commentaries on Gert's work

• Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and Robert Audi, eds., Rationality, Rules, and Ideals: Critial Essays on Bernard Gert's Moral Theory, Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.

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Sergio Buso, Italian footballer and coach, died he was 61.

Sergio Buso  was an Italian football coach and goalkeeper died he was 61..

(3 April 1950 – 24 December 2011)

Playing career

Buso started his professional career with hometown club Padova, then moving to Bologna in 1972. During his three years at Bologna, Buso also played the UEFA Cup Winners Cup and the Mitropa Cup, and won a Coppa Italia in 1974. He successively played with several other teams such as Cagliari, Novara, Taranto and Pisa, before to retire in 1986 after a single season with Lucchese.^[1]

Coaching career

After his retirement, Buso decided to stay at Lucchese as assistant coach. In 1989 he joined Taranto as youth coach, and filled the same role at Modena between 1990 and 1993. In 1993–94 he then took his first role as head coach at Trento.
After a short stint as Foggia assistant, Buso became assistant/youth team coach at his former club Bologna, a role he filled since 1995.^[1] In 1999 he was promoted as caretaker head coach of the then-Serie A club, replacing Carlo Mazzone until the appointment of new permanent boss Francesco Guidolin.^[1] During this period he was defined as "Treccani of football" by then-chairman Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara because of his extensive competence.^[1] He then left Bologna in 2000 to accept an offer from Serie C2 club Taranto, leading his side to direct promotion by the end of the season.
In 2001 he left Taranto to become new goalkeeping coach at Venezia under Cesare Prandelli. He then became Franco Colomba's assistant at S.S.C. Napoli the following season, following him at Reggina one year later.
In 2004 he was appointed goalkeeping coach of newly-promoted Serie A club Fiorentina, a role he left after a few weeks to become new head coach after the resignation of Emiliano Mondonico. His stint as Fiorentina boss turned out to the worse after a string of four consecutive defeats left the Viola in deep relegation zone, leading the board of directors to replace him with Dino Zoff. He then tried his luck as head coach of Serie B club Catanzaro, being however dismissed after a few weeks due to poor results.
In 2006 he accepted to serve as Roberto Donadoni's assistant in the Italian national team, a role he took until 2008. He then re-joined Donadoni during his short-lived period as head coach of Napoli.^[1]

Death

Buso died on 24 December 2011, succumbing to a serious form of leukemia from which he had suffered for years.[

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Monte Amundsen, American opera and musical singer, died she was 81.

Monte Amundsen ^[1] was an American opera and musical singer who appeared on Broadway in Marc Blitzstein's musical Juno in 1959, which starred Shirley Booth died she was 81..

(January 15, 1930 – December 24, 2011)

Biography

Composer Marc Blitzstein was reportedly so delighted with Amundsen that he expanded her role in Juno (musical) to include three major songs: I Wish It So, For Love, and My True Heart, as well as a duet with Shirley Booth, The Bird Upon The Tree. The show was not a success, but Amundsen's well-received performance is preserved on the original cast recording. In 1964 she appeared in another ill-fated musical, Cafe Crown, which closed after two performances. She made many appearances at The Muny, including Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella (1969); Marie Esterhazy in Blossom Time (1966); Gretel in Hansel & Gretel (1966); Barbara in Milk and Honey (1964); Anna Belle in Robin Hood (1961); Resi in The Great Waltz (1961); Gretchen in The Red Mill (1960) and Adele in Die Fledermaus (1958).^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

She was briefly married to dancer Tommy Rall^[2] and later married opera star Giorgio Tozzi, with whom she had two children, Jennifer and Eric. Giorgio Tozzi's death came seven months before her own.^[3]


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Bruce Ruxton, Australian veterans' representative and advocate, President of the Victorian RSL (1979–2002), died he was 85.

Bruce Carlyle Ruxton, AM, OBE was an Australian ex-serviceman and President of the Victorian Returned and Services League from 1979 to 2002 died he was 85..

(6 February 1926 – 23 December 2011) 

Early life

Ruxton grew up in Kew, Victoria. He attended Melbourne High School.

War service

Ruxton enlisted in the Australian Army on 22 February 1944, and was employed as a company cook. He served in World War II in the South West Pacific Area, the Netherlands East Indies and Balikpapan in Borneo, and for three years he served in Japan with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, as a rifleman in the 2/25 Australian Infantry Battalion of the 7th Division. He was discharged on 12 January 1949 but was not promoted beyond the rank of Private.

Representing the war veterans

After his war service, he became a vocal spokesman on behalf of war veterans and their families, ensuring they received their pensions and entitlements. As the Second World War veterans grew older, he lobbied on their behalf regarding issues such as nursing homes and retirement accommodation.^{[citation needed]}
Following two years of ill-health due to viral pneumonia contracted during a visit to Boer War sites, Ruxton resigned as President of the Victorian RSL in June 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Advocacy

Along with RSL National President, Brigadier Alf Garland, Ruxton was a staunch opponent of the Multifunction Polis (MFP), a Japanese funded technology city proposed in 1987 for the north of Adelaide. Ruxton said it would become "a Jap city".^[1]
In 1980 Ruxton achieved national media coverage with his strong criticism of the Northcote City Council in Victoria, after strongly left-wing Councillors supported a number of policies that were anathema to those traditionally held by the RSL. These included the flying of the Eureka flag rather than the Australian flag from the Northcote Town Hall, and support for an Australian republic.^[2] Ruxton claimed 'ethnics and anti-British elements' were responsible for a lack of patriotism.^[3] Ruxton was also incensed at the refusal of Scottish-born Councillor Brian Sanaghan to renew his oath of allegiance to the Queen after being re-elected to the Northcote Council in 1980.^[4] Pressure from Ruxton resulted in Sanaghan's place on the Council being declared vacant.^[5]
Ruxton's referred to the Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu as a "witch doctor" during Tutu's visit to Victoria in 1986, an outburst he later acknowledged he regretted.^[6]
In the 1998 Constitutional Convention for the Republic he represented monarchist group Safeguard the People.^[7] On 31 January 1992, Ruxton stated that the RSL and its membership: "will never agree to this country becoming a republic. We are proud to be associated with the Queen, who is our patron, and who, as this country's head of State, has never once put a foot wrong. Show me a politician with such a record."^[8] Ruxton has consistently argued that the Australian flag and the Queen, as our head of state, guarantee that Australia will remain a free democracy, and that a republican form of government in Australia could become totalitarian.^[9]
In 1991, Ruxton appeared on the Nine Network's Midday television show with host Ray Martin, to advocate Australia remaining a monarchy, in a live televised debate with singer Normie Rowe and radio broadcaster Ron Casey. The debate got out of hand, with Normie Rowe and Ron Casey physically brawling on live TV. The following day, Ruxton said: "As for Ron Casey, he deserved a good punch in the nose. He certainly did not do his cause any good. We have enough problems to fix up without arguing and fighting over whether Australia should become a republic."^[10]

Popular culture

A character originally from Australia You're Standing In It (and later in Fast Forward), Bruce Rump, was based on him. Bruce Rump would rant in a voice similar to Ruxton's, sometimes reaching a violent frenzy and ending with the non sequitur "... and that's why we should keep the bloody flag the same!" The send ups of Bruce Rump would often also be send ups of long running Australian children's TV series Romper Room, referred to as "Rumper Room".^{[citation needed]}
Ruxton made fun of himself by releasing a rap single, in which he lampooned his own persona. A song by Melbourne punk band Res-Heads was named after Ruxton.^[11]

Honours

In 1975 he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), an Officer of the Order (OBE) in 1981, and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1996. In 1997 he received the Chevalier of Order of Merit from Jacques Chirac. He also received the Légion d'honneur.

Death

He died on 23 December 2011, following the development of dementia. He was 85.^[12][13] His funeral service included a Masonic tribute as well as full RSL honours.^[14][15]


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Aydın Menderes, Turkish politician, son of Adnan Menderes, died he was 65.

Aydın Menderes was a Turkish politician. He was a deputy, who represented various parties from 1977 to 2002  died he was 65.. He was the youngest son of former prime minister Adnan Menderes.^[1][2]

 

^{(May 5, 1946 in Ankara–December 23, 2011 Ankara)} 

Personal life

Aydın was born in 1946 as the third son of Adnan and Berrin Menders in Ankara. His father, who was prime minister since 1950 in office, was ousted by the 1960 military coup, tried and executed in 1961 along with two other government ministers.^[2][3]
Following completion of his secondary education at the TED Ankara College in 1964, he attended Ankara Academy of Commerce and Economics, graduating in 1968. He entered trade business first, switched over to politics in 1970. In 1976, Aydın Menderes completed his military service at Iskenderun.^[3]
His brother Yüksel committed suicide in 1972, and the other brother Mutlu died in a traffic accident in 1978. Aydın Menderes became crippled following a traffic accident in 1996, and was dependent on wheelchair since then.^[2]
He died on December 23, 2011 in a hospital in Ankara, where was treated for a long time. He was survived by his wife Ümran, whom he married to in 1991.^[3]

Politics career

Aydın Menders entered politics as the leader of Democtraic Party's Aydın Province organization in 1970. Following the 1977 general election, he entered the parliament as deputy of Konya Province from the Justice Party (AP).^[1]
He was among the politicians, who were banned from the active politics for a time of ten-years after the 1980 military coup. In 1993, he established the "Great Change Party" (BDP) and became its leader. In 1994, his party merged into the Democrat Party (DP), which was relaunched in 1992 after its closure in 1980. Aydın Menderes was elected its leader and served at this post until 1995.^[1][3]
at the 1995 general election, he was elected Deputy of Istanbul from the Islamist Welfare Party (RP). The next year, he became deputy party leader. After the bann of the party in 1998, Aydın Menderes shifted to Virtue Party (FP), another Islamist party, and was elected deputy of Istanbul Province at the 1999 general election. After a while, he reseigned from the Virtue Party.^[1][3]
In the 2002 general election, he ran for a seat in the parliament from the True Path Party (DYP) in Aydın. However, the DYP failed to gain any seat in the parliament. In 2007, the DYP and the Motherland Party (ANAP) merged to form and to revive the historical Democratic Party (DP). Aydın Menderes quit the politics after Hüsamettin Cindoruk became leader of the party in May 2009.^[1][3]

Writing career

In 2003, Aydın Menderes began to write for the newspaper Tercüman. He wrote later columns for the daily Yeni Asır.
Between 1987 and 2005, he published some books on his political thoughts.

Works

• Tarihte Bir Yolculuk (1987), Dergah Yayınları
• Aydın Menderes ve Siyasette Yeni Yönelişler (1992), Dergah Yayınları (Söyleyişlerinden bir secme)
• Yirmibirinci Yüzyıla Girerken Dünya ve Türkiye (1995, Demokrat Parti Yayınları
• Yirmibirinci Yüzyıla Girerken Demokrat Partinin Misyonu, Demokrat Parti Yayınları)
• Gelenekten Güncele (1999), Gün Yayıncılık
• Devletin Alınyazısı (2005), Kızılelma Yayınları

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Tripuraneni Maharadhi, Indian screenwriter, died he was 82.

Tripuraneni Maharadhi born Tripuraneni Balgangadhar Rao in a zamindaar family in Pasumarru in Krishna district, is a dialogue writer turned screenwriter in Telugu Cinema died he was 82..^[1][2]

Career

He worked in about 150 films and also wrote several books. Before entering into film industry he worked as journalist for the magazines like Zameen Raithu, Golkonda and Telugu Desam.
Later, he went to Chennai on the basis of a job in Radio station and settled as a writer in film industry. He started off his film career by writing dialogues to dubbed films as he has grip on various languages. His first film was ‘Rodhanu Yodhulu’, which was the Telugu version of Tamil film ‘Sivaganga Seemai’ and his first straight Telugu film was NTR’s ‘Bandipotu’ in 1963.
He first met NTR on the sets of ‘Mana Desam’. Some of his other films which earned him reputation were ‘Sathi Arundhati’, ‘Kanchukota’, ‘Niluvu Dhopidi’, ‘Pethamdaarlu’, ‘Simhasanam’, ‘Devudu Chesina Manushulu’, etc.

Filmography

As writer

• Bandipotu (1963)
• Kanchukota (1967)
• Niluvu Dopidi (1968)
• Pettandarlu (1970)
• Desoddharakulu (1973)
• Devudu Chesina Manushulu (1973)
• Paadi Pantalu (1976)
• Kurukshetram (1977)
• Ram Robert Raheem (1980)
• Hema Hemeelu (1980)
• Praja Rajyam (1983)
• Simhasanam (1986)
• Santhi Sandesam (2004)

As Producer

• Rythu Bharatam (1994)

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Francis Nigel Lee, British-born American theologian, died from a motor neurone disease he was 77,

Francis Nigel Lee  was a Christian theologian died from a motor neurone disease he was 77,. Lee was particularly known for the large number of academic degrees he earned from a variety of institutions. He obtained B.A, LL.B. and M.A. degrees from the University of Cape Town, L.Th., B.D., M.Th. and Th.D degrees from the University of Stellenbosch, and Ph.D from Orange Free State University, and several other doctorates from unaccredited institutions, including D.Min., S.T.D. and D.Hum. degrees from Whitefield Theological Seminary.^[2]

^{(5 December 1934 – 23 December 2011[1])}

Lee was born in Westmorland in the UK, but emigrated as a child to South Africa, where he became a minister. Lee moved to the USA, where he served as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, as Professor of Philosophy at Shelton College, New Jersey and as Academic Dean of Graham Bible College in Bristol, Tennessee.^[2] Lee then moved to Australia, where he served as Professor at the Presbyterian Church of Queensland Theological Hall.
Stuart Piggin notes that Lee "exuberantly led the resurgence of Reformed theology among Queensland Presbyterians."^[3]
Lee was a firm advocate of the historicist method of interpretation in Christian eschatology.


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Evelyn Handler, American academic, President of the University of New Hampshire (1980–1983) and Brandeis University (1983–1991), died from a traffic collision she was 78.

Evelyn Erika Handlerserved from 1980 to 1983 as the University of New Hampshire's fourteenth, and first female, president died from a traffic collision she was 78.. Handler was the first woman in the country to be named president of a publicly supported land grant university. She was credited with bringing in $15 million in federal grants for a science and engineering research center.^[1] 

(née Sass; May 5, 1933 – December 23, 2011) 

 In 1983, Handler was inaugurated as President of Brandeis University, where she was also the first woman to hold that position. Notable achievements during her tenure include the initiation of The Volen National Center for Complex Systems, the strengthening of life sciences at Brandeis, admission to the Association of American Universities, and founding membership in the University Athletic Association. After leaving Brandeis in 1991, Handler was a research fellow and associate of the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University, and a senior fellow at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. From 1994 to 1997, she served as California Academy of Sciences' executive director and CEO.

Earlier in her career, she was Dean of Sciences and Mathematics, and professor of biological sciences at Hunter College, where she had earned her undergraduate degree. Dr. Handler earned M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from New York University, and a J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center. Her scholarly work includes many publications on myelogenous leukemia.
Handler was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences. Additionally, she was elected to the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences in 1979, and served as a director of the Student Loan Corporation (Stamford, CT). She held honorary degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, Rivier College and Hunter College. She was killed when she was struck by a car on December 23, 2011.^[1]


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Denise Darcel, French actress, aneurysm she was 87.

Denise Darcel was a French actress who also made films in Hollywood aneurysm she was 87..^[2]

^{(8 September 1924 – 23 December 2011)} 

Born as Denise Billecard^[3] in Paris, she was college educated.^[4] According to a friend, whom she met in Paris during World War II, she was a passenger in an L-5 Stinson light observation aircraft on VJ Day to see the celebration from the air. The pilot, James Helinger Sr., a US Army Air Corps glider pilot (the friend) was at the controls, while they flew under several bridges along the Seine and finally, under the Eiffel Tower, with the crowds below.^[5]
She was a cabaret singer in Paris after World War II before being spotted by Hollywood. Denise came to the United States in 1947^[6] and became an American citizen in 1952.^[3]
Her first film appearance of note was in Battleground (1949). She appeared on Broadway in the musical Pardon Our French in 1950. She made quite an impression in Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950) opposite Lex Barker, then co-starred with Robert Taylor in Westward the Women (1952) and Glenn Ford in Young Man with Ideas (1952). In 1953, she was seen in the swimming musical Dangerous When Wet, which starred Esther Williams (1953). Her most important film was Vera Cruz (1954) where she played the female lead opposite Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster. Her last film (1961) was Seven Women from Hell.
After her film and television career began to wane, Darcel, aged 41, became an ecdysiast (stripper), appearing in West Coast theatres in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Oakland, and Los Angeles. She retired from stripping after a few years and returned to the cabaret circuit, making a few appearances on television. In 1991,^[7] she was cast as "Solange La Fitte" in the Los Angeles 20th anniversary revival of the musical Follies, produced by the Long Beach Civic Light Opera. She would later repeat the role of Solange in 1995 for revivals in Houston and Seattle.
Married three times and divorced twice, Darcel remained close to her two sons, Chris and Craig. Online music store iTunes recently made Darcel's album, Banned in Boston, available for purchase alongside actress Lizabeth Scott's album, Lizabeth.
In September 2009, she was honored with the Cinecon Career Achievement Award, presented in Hollywood at a banquet held at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel. Prior to the ceremony, a new 35mm color print of her 1953 film, Flame of Calcutta, was screened at the Egyptian Theatre. After the screening, at the banquet, she cheerfully announced to the audience, "I'm back". She died in December 2011, aged 87, after emergency surgery to repair a ruptured aneurysm.^[8][9]

Filmography

• To the Victor (1948) (uncredited) as Bar Singer
• Thunder in the Pines (1948) as Yvette Cheron
• Battleground (1949) as Denise
• Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950) as Lola
• Westward the Women (1951) as Fifi Danon
• Young Man with Ideas (1952) as Dorianne Gray
• Dangerous When Wet (1953) as Gigi Mignon
• Flame of Calcutta (1953) as Suzanne Roget
• Vera Cruz (1954) as Countess Marie Duvarre
• The Martha Raye Show (1954) as herself
• Gamble on Love (DuMont game show, 1954; replaced by Ernie Kovacs)
• The Milton Berle Show (1 episode, 1956)
• Tightrope as Terri (1 episode, 1960)
• Seven Women from Hell (1961) as Claire Oudry
• Naked City as Madeleine Douvay (1 episode, 1962)
• Combat! as Annette (1 episode, 1963)

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