Ivan Dixon died at 76

Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III was born in Harlem, the son of a grocery store owner. When he was young, Dixon lived in the brownstone at 518 W. 150th St. in Harlem. Living on the same block were Josh White, Ralph Ellison and the Hines brothers (Gregory and Maurice).[2] He graduated from the Lincoln Academy in Gaston County, North Carolina, [3] and went on to earn a drama degree from North Carolina Central University in 1954,[2] where the theater troupe is known as the Ivan Dixon Players.[3] In 1957, he appeared on Broadway in the William Saroyan play Cave Dwellers. In 1959, he co-starred in Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking drama Raisin in the Sun, the first produced Broadway play by an African-American woman.

In his best-known role, Dixon appeared as POW Staff Sergeant Ivan Kinchloe in the ensemble of the hit television program Hogan's Heroes. "Kinch" was the communications specialist; he was frequently ordered by Colonel Hogan (portrayed by Bob Crane) to encode a message and send it to Allied Headquarters in London, a submarine, or to the French underground. Dixon played Kinchloe from 1965 to 1970, making him the only original actor on Hogan's Heroes not to remain for the entire series. Hogan's Heroes ended in 1971, by which time Kenneth Washington had succeeded Dixon.

From 1970 to 1993, Dixon worked primarily as a television director on such series and TV-movies as Trouble Man, The Waltons, The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, Magnum, P.I., and The A-Team. He also directed the controversial 1973 feature film The Spook Who Sat by the Door based on a novel by Sam Greenlee, about the first black CIA agent, who takes his espionage knowledge and uses it to lead a black guerrilla operation in Chicago, Illinois. The New York Times wrote in 2008.
Although The Spook caused controversy and was soon pulled from theaters, it later gained cult status as a bootleg video and in 2004 was released on DVD. At that time Mr. Dixon told The Times that the movie had tried only to depict black anger, not to suggest armed revolt as a solution.[2]
Occasionally returning to acting, he played a doctor and leader of a guerrilla movement in the controversial 1987 ABC miniseries Amerika, set in post-Soviet invasion Nebraska.

After his career as an actor and director, Dixon was the owner-operator of radio station KONI (FM) in Maui. In 2001, he left the islands for health reasons and sold the radio station in 2002.[4]
Ivan Dixon died on March 16, 2008, aged 76, Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina due to complications from kidney failure.[5]

Martha "Sunny" von Bulow died she was 76

She was born Martha Sharp Crawford aboard a railcar in Manassas, Va., on Sept. 1, 1932, daughter of utilities tycoon George Crawford, who died when she was 4. In addition to her two children from her first marriage, Sunny von Bulow is survived by Cosima Pavoncelli, a daughter from her marriage to von Bulow. Pavoncelli sided with her father during the trials.

NEW YORK — Martha "Sunny" von Bulow, an heiress who spent the last 28 years of her life in oblivion after what prosecutors alleged in a pair of sensational trials were two murder attempts by her husband, died Saturday at age 76.

She died at a nursing home in New York, her children said in a statement issued by family spokeswoman Maureen Connelly.

Sunny von Bulow was a personification of romantic notions about high society _ a stunning heiress who brought her American millions to marriages with men who gave her honored old European names.

But she ended her days in a coma, showing no sign of awareness as she was visited by her children and tended around the clock by nurses.

In the 1980s, she was the offstage presence that haunted her husband's two sensational trials in Newport and Providence, R.I.

At the first trial, in 1982, Claus von Bulow was convicted of trying twice to kill her by injecting her with insulin at their estate in Newport, R.I. That verdict was thrown out on appeal, and he was acquitted at a second trial in 1985.

The murder case split Newport society, produced lurid headlines and was later made into the 1990 film, "Reversal of Fortune," starring Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons.

Claus von Bulow is now living in London, "mostly taking care of his grandchildren," said Alan Dershowitz, the defense lawyer who handled the appeal and won his acquittal at the second trial. He wrote the book "Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bulow Case," on which the movie was based. Dershowitz said there was "overwhelming" evidence that her coma was self-induced _ caused by a "large ingestion of drugs, and Claus had nothing to do with it," Dershowitz said.

"There are no winners in a case like this," he added.

Claus von Bulow's main accusers were his wife's children by a previous marriage to Austrian Prince Alfred von Auersperg _ Princess Annie-Laurie "Ala" von Auersperg Isham and Prince Alexander von Auersperg. They renewed the charges against their stepfather in a civil lawsuit a month after his acquittal.

Two years later, Claus von Bulow agreed to give up any claims to his wife's estimated $25 million-to-$40 million fortune and to the $120,000-a-year income of a trust she set up for him. He also agreed to divorce her, leave the country and never profit from their story.

Sales of Sunny von Bulow's property brought $4.2 million from her oceanfront estate in Newport, $6.25 million from her 12-room apartment on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and $11.5 million from the art and antiques from the homes.

Prosecutors contended that Claus von Bulow wanted to get rid of his wife to inherit a large chunk of her wealth and be free to marry a mistress. The defense countered by painting Sunny von Bulow, who suffered from low blood sugar, as an alcoholic and pill popper who drank herself into a coma.

Claus Von Bulow was accused of injecting his wife with insulin first in December 1979, causing a coma from which she revived. Prosecutors said he tried again a year later, on Dec. 21, 1980, and the 49-year-old heiress fell into what her children on Saturday called "a persistent vegetative state." more

Paul Benedict died he was 70

Paul Benedict (September 17, 1938 – December 1, 2008) was an American character actor who made numerous appearances in television and movies beginning in the 1960s. He is probably best recognized for his roles as The Number Painter on the PBS children's show Sesame Street, and as the quirky English neighbor "Harry Bentley" on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons.
Benedict was born in Silver City, New Mexico, the son of Alma Marie (née Loring), a journalist, and Mitchell M. Benedict, a doctor.[1] He grew up in Massachusetts. As a young man, he suffered from acromegaly, a pituitary disorder that affects the extremities and face, which accounted for his slightly oversized jaw and large nose.

As could be heard in his other film and TV roles, he had a slight English accent even when not in character as Bentley. Benedict played the director of the Richard III production in the 1977 movie The Goodbye Girl starring Richard Dreyfuss, in which Richard was to be portrayed in the play as a stereotypical gay man. He was in a short scene in the 1984 mockumentary film This is Spinal Tap, playing the awkward desk clerk who checks in the band. In the 1990 film The Freshman, he played the condescending NYU film school professor of Matthew Broderick's main character. He also made a memorable appearance as the incorrectly assumed title character in the 1996 film Waiting for Guffman, another mockumentary involving many of the same writers and actors.



Benedict also played the role of a slave trader in Dino De Laurentiis' Mandingo opposite James Mason and Perry King in 1975. Perhaps his best known movie role was of the reverend Lundquist in the 1972 Sydney Pollack film Jeremiah Johnson.
In addition to his varied film and television roles, Benedict was an accomplished theater actor as well, having appeared on Broadway multiple times, notably in Eugene O'Neill's 2-character play Hughie in 1996 (performing with Al Pacino) at Circle in the Square, and more recently in The Music Man in 2000–2001.In 2007, Benedict performed as "Hirst" in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[2]



As a director, Benedict directed Frank Conroy's Any Given Day on Broadway. Off-Broadway, he directed the original production of Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, and Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney's The Cathy and Mo Show, which won an Obie Award.[3]
On December 1, 2008, Benedict was found dead at his home by his brother in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. He was 70 years old.

Odetta dies at 77 she was an American music legend

Known as Odetta, was an African-American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement." Her musical repertoire consists largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and '60s, she was a formative influence on dozens of artists, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin.

She was born in Birmingham, Alabama, grew up in Los Angeles, California, and studied music at Los Angeles City College. Having operatic training from the age of 13, her first professional experience was in musical theater in 1944, as an ensemble member for four years with the Hollywood Turnabout Puppet Theatre, working alongside Elsa Lanchester; she later joined the national touring company of the musical Finian's Rainbow in 1949.

In 2008, at the age of 77, she launched another national tour, with concerts in Albany, New York and other cities, singing strongly and confidently from a wheelchair.[4] [5] Her set in recent years includes "This Little Light of Mine (I'm Gonna Let It Shine)",[6] Lead Belly's "The Bourgeois Blues",[7] [8] [6] (Something Inside) So Strong", "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" and "House of the Rising Sun".[5]
In November 2008, Odetta's health began to decline and she began receiving treatment at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. She was slated to perform at Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20, 2009. [9]
On December 02, 2008, Odetta died from heart disease in New York City.[

December 31 1930 - December 2 2008),

Mc Breed Died at 37

Who was Eric Breed? He was better known as better known as MC Breed. Eric was born June 12, 1971 in Flint, Michigan. He died November 22, 2008. Breed had suffered from kidney failure, according to The Detroit News and The Flint Journal. [18] On November 22, 2008, Breed pasted away in his sleep while at a friend's home in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Breed was a Flint, Michigan-based rapper best known for his singles "Ain't No Future in Yo Frontin", which peaked at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100 [3], and "Gotta Get Mine", featuring 2Pac, that made it to #6 on the Hot Rap Singles. [3]

Breed is also known as the first commercially successful rapper to come out of the Midwest. [4] MC Breed's first album was released with rap group DFC and was entitled MC Breed & DFC for independent record label, SDEG Records. His solo debut was 1992's 20 Below, after which he released 1993's The New Breed. He would go on to have a very extensive discography and have a very long career that was at times successful, but he never fully broke into the mainstream. His highest charting album was 1994's Funkafied, which peaked at #106 on the Billboard Hot 200. Through his career he would align himself with various rap scenes. Early in his career with DFC, he and the group were independents, as one of the first groups out of the Midwest. However, later in his career he aligned himself with the West Coast, taking on more of a G-Funk sound [5] and befriending West Coast rapper Too Short. Still later, he realigned himself once again with the Dirty South for 1995's Big Baller.[6]

Breed released two more albums with Wrap Records - 1996's To Da Beat Cha'all and 1997's Flatline - to fulfill his contract with the label.[7] In 1998, Breed signed a deal with Power Records, who had distribution through Roadrunner Records, and released the album, It's All Good, in 1999.[8] 2 For The Show, a compilation showcasing some of Breed's famous collaborations with 2Pac, Too Short, and more, followed later that year.[9] In 2000, Breed starred in the straight-to-video movie, Dollar, alongside Shannon Greer, and released a soundtrack for it, which featured his smash hit, "Ain't No Future In Yo' Frontin'".[10] Breed also released a compilation that year titled The Thugz, Vol. 1, and featured Too Short, Richie Rich, Bootleg of The Dayton Family, and more. It would end up being his last release with Power Records.[11]

In 2001, Breed released his 13th album, The Fharmacist, with an up-start independent label based out of Detroit, Michigan called Fharmacy Records.[12] The album featured the Jazze Pha produced hit, "Let's Go To The Club", and a guest appearance from Bootleg of The Dayton Family.[13] The album liner notes advertised many upcoming releases, including a collaboration album between Breed and Bootleg under the group name "Flintstones", and a movie starring Breed with an accompanying soundtrack titled Got To Get Mine. No other releases came to fruition, and Fharmacy Records soon diminished.
Breed re-emerged in 2004 with a new deal through Urban Music Zone Entertainment, a subsidiary label of Psychopathic Records, to release his album The New Prescription[14]. The album was released in August of that year with national distribution through RED Distribution/Sony, and featured ESHAM, who was signed to Psychopathic Records at the time. The album didn't receive much promotion, but a music video was made for the album's only single, "Rap Game".[15]

On May 11, 2006, Breed was sentenced to one year in prison for violating probation in failure to pay over $200,000 in child support.[16] On April 3, 2008, Breed was arrested in Flint, Michigan following an in-store autograph signing session on warrants for about $220,000 in unpaid child support.[17] On September 5, 2008 the rapper was hospitalized and placed on life-support after he collapsed when his kidneys failed during a game of pickup basketball. [19]
Before his sudden passing, Breed was preparing to release a DVD documentary about his life titled, Where Is MC Breed?[20]. He was also working on a new album, titled The Original Breed: Swag Heavy, which was intended to be released through his former label, Ichiban Records[21]. Although the project was still in development, Breed had reached out to many of his friends to help create the album, such as producers Erotic D, Ant Banks, Jazze Pha, and Colin Wolfe, as well as rappers The D.O.C., Spice 1, and Too Short[22]. Breed stated the album was half finished in September of 2008 when he was released from the hospital after being on life support for two days[23].

Studio albums Year Album Chart Positions
U.S.
U.S. Hip-Hop

1991 MC Breed & DFC 142 38

1992 20 Below 155 40

1993 The New Breed 156 17

1994 Funkafied 106 9

1995 Big Baller 143 17

1996 To Da Beat Ch'all - 34

1997 Saucy - -

1998 Flatline - 48

1999 It's All Good 180 41

2000 The Thugz, Vol. 1 - 64

2000 Rare Breed - -

2001 The Fharmacist - -

2004 The New Prescription - -


Compilations

Year
Album
1995
The Best of Breed
1999
2 for the Show
2002
Chopped and Screwed
2004
The Mix Tape
2007
The Hits

Dee Dee Warwick Soul singer died she was 63

Dee Dee Warwick was an African-American soul singer. She was born Newark, New Jersey as Delia Mae Warrick. Following the example of her elder sister, Dionne Warwick, she changed her surname from Warrick to Warwick in the early 1960s.
She is best-known for her hits during the 1960s, including the #13 R&B hit I'm Gonna Make You Love Me, co-written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff and later covered by Diana Ross & the Supremes, The Temptations, and Play. She is also a two time Grammy nominee for "Foolish Fool" and "She Didn't Know".
Recordings of both her Mercury Records years and her Atco years are available on CD and hopefully her RCA, Kama Sutra, Heritage and Private Stock Records will follow. In late 2006 Dee Dee returned to much success singing background for Dionne in concert and also was part of the "Family First" song in the Tyler Perry movie and soundtrack for "Daddy's Little Girls"
In January 2008 Dee Dee is featured in the title song from Dionne's gospel album "Why We Sing" and was continuing background work with her sister
In February 2008, Dee Dee continued her background vocals for Dionne's one woman show "My Music and Me" in Europe.

(September 25, 1945 - October 18, 2008),

Chart singles
1963: You're No Good (Jubilee) (#117 US) - The original recording of this song. It was later covered by Betty Everett, The Swinging Blue Jeans and Linda Ronstadt, all of whom had hits with it.
1965: Do It With All Your Heart (Blue Rock) (#124 US)
1965: We're Doing Fine (Blue Rock) (#96 US, #28 R&B)
1966: I Want To Be With You (Mercury) (#41 US, #9 R&B)
1966: I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (Mercury) (#88 US, #13 R&B) - The original recording of this song. Later jointly covered by Diana Ross & The Supremes and The Temptations, who took it to the US top 10.
1967: When Love Slips Away (Mercury) (#92 US, #43 R&B)
1969: That's Not Love (Mercury) (#106 US, #42 R&B)
1969: Ring of Bright Water (Mercury) (#113 US)
1969: Foolish Fool (Mercury) (#57 US, #14 R&B)
1970: She Didn't Know (She Kept On Talking) (Atco) (#70 US, #9 R&B)
1970: Cold Night In Georgia (Atco) (#44 R&B)
1971: Suspicious Minds (Atco) (#80 US, #24 R&B)
1975: Get Out Of My Life (Private Stock) (#73 R&B)

Ben Weider died at 85

Benjamin "Ben" Weider (February 1, 1923 - October 17, 2008) was the co-founder of the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) along with brother Joe Weider. He was a Jewish businessman from Montreal well-known in two areas: Bodybuilding and Napoleonic history.

In bodybuilding he founded and ran a physical fitness and sporting goods company bearing his name. He was IFBB president until October 29th 2006, when he announced his retirement. He donated a gym to the Israeli Knesset.
In Napoleonic circles Weider was known as a forceful advocate of the theory that Napoleon was assassinated by a member of his entourage during his exile in Saint Helena. He co-authored a book, The Murder Of Napoleon, with Sten Forshufvud about this. Weider also founded the International Napoleonic Society, of which he was the President, and has written numerous articles for this organization.[1]
In 1975 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Officer in 2006.[1] In 2000, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec. On October 12, 2000, he received the French Legion of Honor. Weider was also a 1984 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, member of the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame, Commander of the Venerable Order of St. John of Jeursalem and had several honorary doctorate degrees. The Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at the Florida State University History Department has recently created the Ben Weider Chair in Revolutionary Studies.
From 1998 to 2005, Ben Weider was Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of the 62nd (Shawinigan) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA. In 2005, he was promoted to be the Honorary Colonel of that military unit. In October 2006 Ben Weider unexpectedly retired as president of the IFBB.
In 2008, he was awarded the lifetime achievement award at the Arnold Classic 2008.