In 2024, we've experienced the loss of several luminaries in the world of entertainment. These beloved figures—actors, comedians, musicians, singers, and coaches—have touched our lives with their talent, passion, and dedication. They've left an indelible mark on our hearts and shaped the world of entertainment in ways that will continue to inspire and influence generations to come.
Among the incredible actors who bid farewell this year, we mourn the loss of a true chameleon who effortlessly.
Born in Sealy, Texas, Long began his musical career in 1925 playing banjo for Frank Davis' Louisiana Jazz Band, based in Houston. He switched from the banjo to the guitar after moving to Chicago, where he appeared at the 1933 World's Fair with Texas Guinan's Cuban Orchestra.
In early 1944, Ink Spots leader Bill Kenny offered Long a position with the group. He stayed with them until 1985, and eventually moved to New York City, where he taught and wrote music.
In later life he retired to Houston where his daughter Anita set up a homey museum commemorating the Ink Spots and dedicated to Long in particular.
Long celebrated his 105th birthday in April 2009 and resided at his Houston home until his death in June 2009.
Bob Bogle — co-founder of legendary Tacoma garage-rock band, the Ventures, and the architect behind the distinctive guitar sound of early hits "Walk, Don't Run" and "Perfidia" — has died.
Mr. Bogle, a resident of Vancouver, Wash., was 75 when he died on Sunday. He suffered from Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and had been too frail to play with the Ventures in his waning years. But he lived long enough to see his band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2008.
Mr. Bogle became ill over the weekend and was taken to a hospital where he died, according to Ventures co-founder Don Wilson, Mr. Bogle's friend and musical collaborator for more than five decades.
"Even though you know it's gonna happen, when it does, it's like a bomb dropping on you," said Wilson, who lives in Sammamish.
"Boy, I tell you, he's the brother I never had," he said. "And he is much more than any brother could be. He and I were partners for, like, 52 years. And to tell you the honest truth, we had never, ever had an argument in all that time — never."
Friends, peers and admirers recalled the lack of ego that accompanied Mr. Bogle's virtuosity.
"He was a very creative, talented person," said Buck Ormsby of the Fabulous Wailers, the Tacoma band that paved the way for the Ventures with their 1959 hit "Tall Cool One."
"He looked like he was so relaxed in everything he did," Ormsby said. "... And he was a great guy, just one of the nicest guys you'll ever want to meet."
Seattle radio disc jockey Mark Christopher spearheaded a campaign to get the long-overlooked Ventures into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when he was with Seattle oldies station KBSG-FM.
"It was just a privilege to meet him and just an honor to know that he did get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and saw that before his time," Christopher said. "That was a biggie for me. I just wanted to make sure the guys, because they were getting older, at least got to see something like that before their time came."
Wilson recalled selling cars in Seattle in the late '50s, when Mr. Bogle walked into his dealership one day. Wilson was struggling to make commission. And when he learned that Mr. Bogle worked construction, Wilson asked if he could get him a job.
"That's why we started working together," Wilson said. "And then we found out that we each knew a few chords on the guitar, you know, and we had a lot of free time on our hands. But neither of us owned a guitar."
The two men bought a pair of guitars and a chord book at a downtown Tacoma pawnshop in 1958, aspiring only to find easier work headlining local nightclubs. But fate had so much more in store for them.
The Ventures scored their first hit with a remake of a Chet Atkins song called "Walk, Don't Run" in 1960. It would become one of the most influential songs in rock history, sparking a remarkable run that saw the Ventures chart with 38 albums between 1960 and 1972 en route to more than 100 million records sold.
"That song started a whole new movement in Rock 'n' Roll. The sound of it became 'surf music' and the audacity of it empowered guitarists everywhere," said Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty, as he inducted the Ventures into the rock hall of fame last year. "Every guitar player on this planet knows what I'm talking about."
While Nokie Edwards eventually took over as lead guitarist for the ventures, Wilson recalled how Mr. Bogle laid the foundation for the Ventures' innovative sound.
"If you listen to 'Walk, Don't Run' and 'Perfidia,' the lead guitar is just totally unique," Wilson said. "He used that vibrato bar — they call it a whammy bar — and he used it like nobody else.
"Nobody had heard anything like it. That was why 'Walk, Don't Run' was such a monster hit. I run across so many people, guitar players — famous ones — and they say the first song I learned was 'Walk, Don't Run'.
Of him, the great manager Leo Durocher said "a buffoon is a drunk on a hitting spree". In the 1954 season, he was often used as a pinch-hitter for Monte Irvin, and came through with an incredible number of clutch hits.
In the first game of the 1954 World Series, Rhodes had a pinch hithome run in the bottom of the tenth inning off Bob Lemon to win the game.[2] The next day he delivered a pinch hit single in the fifth inning and then remained in the game to play left field. In the seventh inning he hit a homer off Early Wynn to help ensure the victory.[3]
Roy Campanella, the Brooklyn Dodger catcher, said of Durocher and his action of pinch-hitting Rhodes: "If they have to pinch hit Rhodes for Irvin, they must be hurting."Willie Mays mocked this assumption in his autobiography. Mays considered Rhodes to be a "fabulous hitter", as did Durocher, who wrote in his autobiography, "...boy could he hit!", while commenting on Rhodes atrocious fielding abilities. [1]
After his sports career, Dusty Rhodes worked for a friend on a tug boat for 25 years, a job which Dusty said he loved. Dusty stated after his career when asked why his career was so short, "After Durocher left the Giants, baseball wasn't fun anymore."
Rhodes retired to Boca Raton, Fla., then to Henderson, Nev., with Gloria, his wife of 30 years.
"He loved baseball. He loved his kids. He loved his wife," Turco said. "I don't know in what order. But he was a funny guy. He would tell you a story and you'd fall on the floor."
Over the last two years, Rhodes battled heart problems, diabetes and emphysema, which resulted in frequent visits to hospital emergency rooms, Turco said.
He was on his way to a regular medical check-up when he went into cardiopulmonary arrest, dying a few hours later at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas, according to a spokeswoman for the Clark County coroner's office.
In addition to his wife, Rhodes' survivors include three children from a previous marriage; a sister; and 11 grandchildren.
Tomoji Tanabe the worlds oldest living man has died. Tanabe was a Japanese supercentenarian and, at the time of his death at age 113, the oldest living man in the world. Tanabe became the oldest man in Japan following the death of Nijiro Tokuda, who was 111 at the time, on 12 June 2006. Upon the death of 115-year-old Emiliano Mercado del Toro on 24 January 2007, he assumed the title of the oldest validated man in the world. He was the last verified man born in 1895.
(18 September 1895 – 19 June 2009)
Tanabe was the seventh-oldest validated person in the world and the third-oldest in Japan. In spite of being the youngest "oldest living man" since 1999 at his title accession in January 2007, at the time of his death, Tanabe ranked 10th among the oldest men ever and was only one day removed from tying American supercentenarian, Johnson Parks (1884–1998), at 9th. In addition, Tanabe is one of only eleven men ever to reach the verified age of 113 without dispute.
Born in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, Tanabe worked as a civil engineer at the city office.[1] He is survived by eight children, 25 grandchildren and 54 great-grandchildren.[2] He credited total abstinence from alcohol as the secret to his longevity.[3] On his 112th birthday, he stated: "I want to live forever. I don't want to die", as he received 100,000 yen ($870) and flowers from the local mayor. Tanabe (Guinness Book of World Records' oldest living male, June 2007) was "extremely healthy". He ate vegetables and drank milk daily.[4][5]
A former city land surveyor,[6] Tanabe, on his 113th birthday said "I am happy. I eat a lot. I don't want to die yet." Last year, he said he wanted to "live indefinitely."[7][8] Tanabe received a giant tea cup engraved with his name and date of birth plus birthday gifts, flowers and US $ 1,000 cash from Miyakonojo Mayor Makoto Nagamine. A Miyakonojo official said: "His favorite food is fried shrimp, but we've heard that he's cut back on oily food. He's said he wants to live for another 10 years, that he doesn't want to die."[9]
However after his last birthday, Tanabe's health went down quickly. He had mostly been bed-ridden since early May 2009 and could not eat, due to a chronical heart condition. On June 19, 2009, Tanabe died in his sleep of heart failure at his home in southern Japan. He was 113 years, 274 days old.[10] Upon Tanabe's death, English World War I veteran Henry Allingham, age 113, became the world's oldest living man.
Simon Oates died he was 77. Oates was an English actor best known for his roles on television.
(6 January 1932 – 20 May 2009)
Born in Canning Town, East London, and subsequently moving to Finchley in his teens, Oates trained as a heating engineer for his father's firm, before becoming an actor. Working in theatrical rep during the 1950s he was leading man at York Theatre Royal for some years, before getting a big break in television in the science fiction series Doomwatch as Dr. John Ridge, for which he is perhaps best known. (Co-stars included John Paul as Dr. Spencer Quist and Robert Powell as Toby Wren). He appeared regularly as Anthony Kelly in the 1960s espionage series The Mask of Janus and its spin-off series The Spies. His many guest appearances include: The Avengers, Man in a Suitcase, Department S, Jason King, The New Avengers, The Professionals and Bergerac. Oates also appeared as John Steed in the 1971 stage adaptation of The Avengers with Sue Lloyd and Kate O'Mara. He also appeared in the West End in the Francis Durbridge thriller, "Suddenly at Home". He worked extensively in theatre in Great Britain, the West End and indeed, the world throughout his career, both as an actor and a director, and lived in Canada for some time where he had a touring theatre company. His son, Justin Brett, also an actor, said that his father was offered the role of James Bond in Diamonds are Forever (1971), but that Sean Connery changed his mind and returned to the role. Other sources suggest that Oates was in the running before Roger Moore was confirmed as 007 for Live and Let Die (1973).[1] In tandem with his straight acting career, Simon also appeared many times as a stand-up comic and compere, working with such stars as Tom Jones, Sandie Shaw, and The Who. He also appeared at the London Palladium with Dorothy Squires. He directed Woman in a Dressing Gown, starring Brenda Bruce at The Vaudeville Theatre. He also directed many musicals and straight plays on the touring circuit. Simon died on Wednesday 20th May 2009 following protracted illness, and is survived by his wife, Jaki and three children.
Mort Abrahams, associate producer of the first two "Planet of the Apes" films and producer of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." TV series, died of natural causes May 28 in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He was 93. Abrahams also had a story credit on sequel "Beneath the Planet of the Apes."
His other credits include "Tales of Tomorrow" which featured live TV performances by James Dean, Paul Newman, and Rod Steiger; "General Electric Theater" hosted by Ronald Reagan; as well as "Route 66," "The Third Man" TV series and "The Kraft Suspense Theater."
His feature film credits as associate producer, producer and executive producer included "Dr. Doolittle," "Goodbye Mr. Chips," "Luther," "Man in the Glass Booth," "Lost in the Stars" and "Separate Tables." He was executive producer of "The Greek Tycoon," and his last credit was as producer of "Seven Hours to Judgement."
His career in television began in 1950 when he produced "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet."
From 1989-1994 he served as producer-in-residence for the Center for Advanced Film and Television at AFI.read more
The Rev. Vernon C. King, a member of the King Center board in Atlanta and nephew of Martin Luther King Jr., has died, the family announced Saturday. The Rev. King, youngest son of Martin Luther King Jr.’s only brother, A.D. King Sr., died suddenly Friday in Greensboro, N.C. He was 48. The cause of death was not provided.
King was a graduate of Morehouse College and had pastored several churches in Georgia and North Carolina over the years. At the time of his death, he was senior pastor of St. James Baptist Church in Greensboro. In addition to the King Center board in Atlanta, he served on the Southern Christian Leadership Conference board of directors, an organization Martin Luther King Jr. co-founded. In a statement, first cousin Martin Luther King III called him “a wonderful man who served God and humanity with remarkable dedication and a beautiful spirit of humility.” The Rev. King is survived by his wife, Robin Scott King of Washington, D.C.; two daughters, Victoria Chelsea and Venus Chantel King; his mother, Naomi B. King; a sister, Dr. Alveda C. King; and brother, the Rev. Derek B. King Sr. He was preceded in death by a brother, Mr. Alfred King II; and a sister, Darlene King.
Huey Long was an African American singer and musician and the last living member of the Ink Spots.
In later life he retired to Houston where his daughter Anita set up a homey museum commemorating the Ink Spots and dedicated to Long in particular.
