Ken Ober died he was 52

Ken Ober
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ken Ober, who hosted the 1980s MTV game show "Remote Control" and helped produce the shows "Mind of Mencia" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine," has died. (July 3, 1957 – November 15, 2009) His agent, Lee Kernis, says Ober was found dead Sunday in his Santa Monica home. Kernis says Ober complained of headaches and flu-like symptoms on Saturday night but the cause of his death wasn't clear. Ober hosted five seasons of "Remote Control" beginning in 1987. Contestants in lounge chairs were asked pop-culture questions from categories such as "Dead or Canadian?" The show featured early appearances by comedians Adam Sandler, Denis Leary and Colin Quinn. Ober, who was born Ken Oberding in Massachusetts, is survived by his parents and a brother.

John Muhammad was excuted he was 48

Washington-area sniper John Allen Muhammad was executed Tuesday by lethal injection, a Virginia prisons spokesman said.

The mastermind behind the Washington-area sniper attacks of 2002 that terrorized the nation's capital was declared dead at 9:11 p.m. ET, said Larry Traylor, director of communications for the Virginia Department of Corrections.

"There were no complications; Mr. Mohammad was asked if he wished to make a last statement," Traylor told reporters outside the the Greenville Correctional Center. "He did not acknowledge this or make a last statement whatsoever."

In fact, Mohammad, 48, said nothing from the time he entered the death chamber accompanied by guards at 8:58 p.m., Traylor said.

"After he was placed on the gurney and strapped down, he was very emotionless," Traylor said.

A curtain was drawn and a volunteer team of executioners inserted two catheters -- one in each arm -- through which the drugs that caused his death were to flow, Traylor said.

At 9:06 p.m., when the curtain was drawn back, "They asked him right after that, 'Mr. Muhammad, do you have any last words?' " recalled Jon Burkett, a reporter for WTVR who witnessed the execution from the second row of the gallery.

"He didn't say anything. At 9:07 you could see him twitch a lot. You could see him blinking a lot. You could see his breathing increase." After about seven deep breaths, at 9:08 p.m., he lay motionless, Burkett said.

Three minutes later, a physician working for the Department of Corrections pronounced him dead.

In a statement read on behalf of the lawyers for and family of Muhammad, defense lawyer Jon Sheldon said, "We deeply sympathize with the families and loved ones who have to relive the pain and loss of those terrible days; our sympathies also extend to the children of John Muhammad who, with humility and self-consciousness, today lost a father and a member of their family.

"To all those families and the countless citizens across the country who bore witness and continue to do so to those tragic events, we renew our condolences and we offer our prayers for a better future."

Among the witnesses were about a dozen members of the prosecution task force.

"He died very peacefully, much more than most of his victims," said Paul Ebert, the Virginia prosecutor who won the death penalty conviction. "I felt a sense of closure, and I hope that they did, too."

Bob Meyers, whose 53-year-old brother Dean was shot dead while pumping gas in Virginia, called Tuesday's spectacle "surreal."

"Watching the life be sapped out of somebody intentionally was very different and an experience I'd never had," he told CNN's "Larry King Live."

"I'd watched my mother die of natural causes, but that was very different."

He said he may have attained some closure, "but I would say that pretty much was overcome just by the sadness that the whole situation generates in my heart. That he would get to the place where he did what he did, and that it had to come to this."

Meyers said he has forgiven Muhammad for two reasons: "One is that God calls for me to do that in the Bible, and the second thing is related to that. If I don't, it rots me from the inside out. It doesn't really hurt John Muhammad or anybody that I have bitterness against."

The execution came hours after Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine denied a last-minute clemency request Tuesday for Muhammad.

Kaine's announcement came a day after the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case.

During three weeks in October 2002, Muhammad and accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, then 17, killed 10 people and wounded three, while taunting police with written messages and phoned-in threats and demands.

During two trials and in years of appeals, Muhammad had professed his innocence. One of his trials included testimony from Malvo, whose youth excluded him from consideration for the death penalty

Muhammad's attorney had argued his client was not given sufficient time to file his final appeal, but said Tuesday -- after the high court and the governor declined his request for a stay -- that he would make no further efforts to delay the matter.

In a written statement issued earlier Tuesday, lawyer Sheldon accused Virginia of racing to "execute a severely mentally ill man who also suffered from Gulf War Syndrome the day before Veterans Day."

Muhammad met Tuesday with J. Wyndal Gordon, his former stand-by attorney in his Maryland trial, in which he represented himself.

"His attitude was strong, it was sturdy," Gordon told reporters. "Mr. Mohammad maintains his innocence in this case, and he always has. He is not remorseful, although he does extend his condolences to the families. What these families went through is tragic in every level. Given the injustices in this case, what Mr. Mohammad went through is equally as tragic."

Gordon said he does not consider Mohammad to be insane. "However," he added, "I am not a psychiatrist or a psychologist."

The lawyer said Muhammad's last meal was "chicken and red sauce, and he had some cakes."

Muhammad, who opted not to select a spiritual adviser, met during the afternoon with his immediate family and lawyers, said Traylor.

Muhammad leaves four children and two ex-wives, both of whom appeared Monday on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Muhammad's first wife, Carol Williams, showed a letter in which he asked her to visit him on his execution day. "Carol, I miss my family for the past eight years," he wrote, referring to the time he has been incarcerated. "I don't want to be missed the day that these devils murder my innocent black ass."

Asked about his father, Lindbergh Williams said his feelings about the death penalty had not softened with the approach of the execution. "If you commit a crime, you can pay the time," he said.

Asked whether he believes his father regrets what he did, the younger Williams said, "Yes, I really do."

Mildred Muhammad, the sniper's second ex-wife and the mother of three of his children, told CNN on Monday that she last saw him in 2001 at a custody hearing and had not sought to visit him in prison.

"I had emotionally detached from John when I asked him for a divorce," she told CNN. "And my emotions were severed when he said that you have become my enemy and as my enemy, I will kill you."

She has asserted that she was her ex-husband's target, and she blamed the first Gulf War for changing his personality.

"He went from someone who was always happy, that knew what direction he was going in, and was focused, to a person that was totally confused, depressed all the time, and didn't know how to do or get to where he wanted to be."

She said he never received counseling after his return to the United States.

But lawyer Gordon disputed her account, saying that Muhammad "was absolutely not affected by his time in the Gulf War. We did discuss that."

Edward Woodward died he was 79

Edward Albert Arthur Woodward died he was 79. Woodward was an English actor and singer.
(1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009)

Originally a Shakespearean stage actor, he was best known for his roles in the 1960s-1970s television spy series Callan, the 1973 film The Wicker Man, the 1980 Australian biographical film drama Breaker Morant and his lead role in the 1980s American television series The Equalizer.

Bruce King died he was 85

Bruce King died he was 85. King was an American politician who served three terms as the governor of the state of New Mexico. He was a Democrat.

(April 6, 1924 – November 13, 2009)

King was born in 1924 in Stanley, New Mexico. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he attended the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

King's career in politics began when he was elected to the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners in 1954. He was re-elected and served as the chairman of the board during his second term. In 1959, he was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives. He served five consecutive terms in the House and during three of his terms he was Speaker of the House.

From 1968 to 1969, King was chairman of the state Democratic Party. In 1969 he was also the president of the State Constitutional Convention.

In 1970, King was elected as governor, defeating Republican Pete V. Domenici. He served as governor from 1971 until 1975, 1979 until 1983 and from 1991 until 1995. His terms were non-consecutive because the New Mexico constitution did not allow a governor to succeed him or her self prior to 1991. King became the first governor who could succeed himself and ran for re-election in 1994, but was defeated for a fourth term by Republican Gary E. Johnson.

Governor King was severely criticized by writer Roger Morris in The Devil's Butcher Shop: The New Mexico Prison Uprising for his mishandling of the New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot which led to the deaths of 33 inmates, although other estimates are higher. It is suggested in this work that the corruption and brutality tolerated under King's administration were contributing factors to the high level of violence in the riot.

King was married for 61 years until his wife's death in December 2008. He was the father of current New Mexico attorney general Gary King.

King was recovering from a heart procedure in September 2009 to adjust the pacemaker that was implanted after he had a heart attack in 1997. He died in Stanley on November 13, 2009.^[1]

Alftred Cervi died he was 92

Alfred Nicholas Cervi was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball League (NBL) and National Basketball Association (NBA). One of the strongest backcourt players of the 1940s and 1950s, he was always assigned to defend against the opposing team's best scoring threat. He earned the nickname Digger because of his hard-nosed style of defense.^[1]

(February 12, 1917 – November 9, 2009)

Born in Buffalo, New York, Cervi attended East High School in his hometown, where he captained the baseball and basketball teams and achieved All-City honors in both sports. He dropped out of school after his junior year when he was recruited by the Buffalo Bisons of the newly-formed NBL.^[2] He played in all of the Bisons' nine games in 1937–38, the franchise's only season of existence.^[3]

He never attended college. Instead, he served five years in the United States Army Air Forces from 1940 through 1945.^[1][4]

After the conclusion of World War II, he joined the Rochester Royals, another NBL franchise entering its first year of operations. He immediately experienced success as the team captured the 1945–46 league title after sweeping the best-of-five championship series from the Sheboygan Red Skins. The Royals returned to the finals the following two seasons, but lost to the Chicago American Gears and Minneapolis Lakers in four games each.^[3] Cervi made the All-NBL First Team in 1947 and 1948.^[5] In the first of those two campaigns, he was named the circuit's Most Valuable Player as the leading scorer with 632 points.^[1][3]

His time with the Royals lasted only three seasons.^[3] After discovering that other teammates were being paid more than his $7,500 annual salary, he requested a $3,500 raise, which was denied by team owner Les Harrison. As a result, instead of moving with the Royals to the Basketball Association of America (BAA) after the 1948 campaign, Cervi stayed in the NBL and joined the Syracuse Nationals, who met his salary demands and appointed him player-coach.^[1][3]

Besides being named to the All-NBL First Team for a third straight year in 1949, he also earned Coach of the Year honors. After the BAA-NBL merger to form the NBA prior to the 1949–50 campaign, he continued to serve in the dual capacity role until his retirement as an active player in 1953.^[5]

The Syracuse teams he piloted took on his relentlessly competitive nature. He played a major role in the development of Dolph Schayes.^[6]

The Nationals qualified for the playoffs in eight of the nine seasons that he coached the ballclub, including three trips to the NBA Finals. They were twice defeated by the Lakers, first in six games in 1950 and then in seven in 1954. The pinnacle of Cervi's coaching career was leading his squad to the NBA Championship over the Fort Wayne Pistons in seven games in 1955.^[5]

When the Nationals began the 1956–57 campaign at 4–8, he was replaced by team captain Paul Seymour.^[7]

He succeeded George Senesky as coach of the Philadelphia Warriors in 1958,^[8] but left after one season to accept a more lucrative job in the trucking business as an area manager for Eastern Freightways, Inc. in Rochester, New York. In 1960 Cervi declined to accept a two-year offer to coach the Lakers in its first campaign in Los Angeles because his wife was reluctant to leave the Rochester area. He lived in the suburb of Brighton for the last 58 years of his life.^[1]

Cervi was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.^[9] He received similar honors from the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.^[10]

He died on November 9, 2009 in Rochester, New York at the age of 92.^[4]

Victor Mizzy died he was 93

Victor Mizzy died he was 93. Mizzy was an American composer for television and movies whose best-known works are the themes to the 1960s television sitcoms Green Acres and The Addams Family. He also penned top-20 songs from the 1930s to 1940s.

(January 9, 1916 – October 20, 2009)

Vic Mizzy was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended New York University.^[1] As a child, he played accordion and piano, and was largely self-taught as a composer.^[1] During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy, where he wrote some of his song hits.^[1]

Mizzy had two children with his first wife, gracie Small, who as a 1930s child singer had been known as "The Little Girl With The Big Voice", and who remained popular (especially on radio) through the 1950s.^{[citation needed]} One of her daughters, Patty Keeler, a singer and songwriter, often worked with songwriter Doc Pomus.^{[citation needed]}

In the late 1930s, Mizzy, based in New York City,^[1] began composing a string of popular songs. These would include Doris Day's 1945 hit "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time".^[1] Other Mizzy compositions included "There's a Faraway Look in Your Eye" and "Three Little Sisters", both co-written with lyricist Irving Taylor and both sung by the Andrews Sisters; "Take It Easy" (also with lyricist Taylor), "Pretty Kitty Blue Eyes", "The Whole World Is Singing My Song", "Choo'n Gum", "The Jones Boy" (a 1953 hit for The Mills Brothers), and "With a Hey and a Hi and a Ho-Ho-Ho".^[1]

Mizzy broke into television circa 1959, composing music for Shirley Temple's Storybook and the themes for Moment of Fear, Klondike and Kentucky Jones.^[1] During the 1960s, he wrote themes and scores for the hit shows Green Acres, The Addams Family, as well as for other sitcoms including The Pruitts of Southampton, The Double Life of Henry Phyfe, Captain Nice, The Don Rickles Show, and Temperature's Rising.^[1] He also wrote the scores for five Don Knotts films including The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and The Reluctant Astronaut,^[1] releasing those scores on a CD companion to the two films' DVD releases.^{[citation needed]} Other work includes scores for the William Castle films The Night Walker and The Busy Body, and underscores for the TV series The Richard Boone Show and Quincy. as well as for such TV movies as Terror on the 40th Floor.^[1] He also worked with Sam Raimi for the outtake music of Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.

Mizzy died at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California on October 17, 2009, aged 93.^[2] He was predeceased by a daughter who died in 1995; another daughter survived him.^[1]

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Don Lane he was 76

Don Lane died he was 76,^[1] born Morton Donald Isaacson, was an American-born Australian entertainer, talk show host and singer..(13 November 1933 – 22 October 2009)

Lane was born in New York City to a Jewish father (Jacob) and a Catholic mother (Dolly), who later converted to Judaism. He had two siblings. He was raised in The Bronx, where he attended DeWitt Clinton High School and was classmates with Judd Hirsch and Garry Marshall.

Lane began his working life as a nightclub performer and singer, usually doing a mix of comedy and singing. He appeared at many clubs in Hawaii, Los Angeles and New York. He briefly appeared on one episode of the Ed Sullivan program in the late 1950s as one half of a double act. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in the early 1950s and was commissioned as an officer and served in the artillery. Lane later toured for two years entertaining the troops.

He says that he took his stagename 'Lane' from Frankie Laine. He worked alongside Johnny Carson, Sammy Davis, Jr., Wayne Newton and others. Lane also played Professor Harold Hill in the Las Vegas production of The Music Man.

Irish comedian Dave Allen presented a talk show on Sydney television for TCN-9 in 1965. He was sacked,^[1] some say for his trademark anti-Catholic humour. Nine producer John Collins looked for replacement hosts to fill in for the rest of the season, and found Lane working in the well-known nightclub the Copacabana in Hawaii. While in the United States, John Collins asked Las Vegas performer Wayne Newton if there was anybody he should consider as a replacement; Newton's answer was "Don Lane".

Lane was given the host's chair for six weeks. He planned to base his version of the show on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Lane's run was variously referred to as The Tonight Show, Tonight with Don Lane, and Sydney Tonight. Within a month, Nine settled on Lane as permanent host, with the result that his initial six-week contract was extended to forty weeks.

Work on a coaxial cable linking Melbourne with Sydney had begun in June 1959, and was completed on 5 February 1963. On 7 July 1965 Lane appeared on a then-innovative live split-screen link with Graham Kennedy via the cable.

In March 1968, Lane was charged with importing marijuana into Australia, and was remanded in custody. He strenuously protested his innocence, claiming that the drugs were planted into his jacket pocket by a former business associate who wanted revenge, and was found not guilty, being defended by barrister Marcus Einfeld.

He returned to nightclub work in the United States, including stints at Las Vegas.

Lane appeared in the U.S. sketch comedy series Wow, hosted by Ken Berry, which also featured Cheryl Ladd and Steve Martin. He came back to Australia in 1975 to appear at a benefit concert for the victims of Cyclone Tracy.

While in Sydney in 1976, Don Lane was chosen to replace Ernie Sigley as host of the Melbourne-based The Ernie Sigley Show. The night before, after filming for the first show of the season was completed, Sigley had criticized Nine Network boss Kerry Packer. Packer contacted Lane, and the two flew down to Melbourne. Sigley was fired that afternoon and Lane took his place.^[2] The show was renamed as The Don Lane Show, and it ran until 1983. In absolute terms, Lane's stint on The Don Lane Show was to make him the most highly paid performer on Australian television, and The Don Lane Show was and still is the highest rated variety program in Australian television history.^[3]

Lane's replacement of Ernie Sigley was to result in ongoing resentment, culminating in a stoush where Lane punched Sigley at the Logies ceremony in 1988.^[2]

Uri Geller, Doris Stokes and broadcaster Kevin Arnett regularly appeared on The Don Lane Show discussing psychic and paranormal themes. On one occasion, the skeptic and debunker James Randi was invited onto the program. A heated exchange occurred at the end of the interview, which led to Lane saying, "we're going for a commercial break and you can piss off. We'll be back with Diana Trask". Lane then walked off the set, sweeping the props from the small table, to audience applause. The aftermath of the event led to a national and personal apology to Randi, which was televised through the Nine Network.

The Don Lane Show ended on 13 November 1983, his 50th birthday. His final episode ran for two and a half hours and featured such stars as Sammy Davis, Jr., Phyllis Diller, and David Bowie as well as musical appearances by John Farnham and Colleen Hewett. After the conclusion of The Don Lane Show he moved back to the United States for two years, living in Los Angeles.

By 1987 he was back in Australia as a personality for Network Ten, hosting programs like You've Got to Be Joking, Late Night Australia and the 1987 presentation of the TV Week Logie Awards.

In 1993, Lane made a guest appearance on the very last episode and closing segment of the comedy program The Late Show on Australia's ABC network. He also hosted American NFL broadcasts, which included live broadcasts from Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII. Don also covered NCAA basketball for the ABC and was a colour commentator for the NBL on Foxtel.

In 1994, Lane hosted two specials for the Nine Network, The Best of The Don Lane Show. Each special was two hours dedicated to the most memorable moments from The Don Lane Show.

Don Lane was honoured in a 1996 episode of This Is Your Life dedicated to him and his career in television. The episode featured tributes from John Farnham, Billy Connolly, Bert Newton, and Garry Marshall.

He was also involved in a special entitled Don Lane's America, and hosted such programs as The Mad Mad World of Sports and 40 Years of Television.

In 2003 Lane was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards Hall of Fame.

In 2007 Don Lane released his "tell all" auto-biography entitled Never Argue With a Mug. The book follows Lane's career and explains show-business scandals in detail that he had personally experienced.

In June 2008, it was announced that Don Lane was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and had been living in a care facility. News of Lane's condition was saddening for the entertainment community in Australia who viewed him as a TV legend. The news explained the lack of public appearances Don had made since his induction into the Logie Awards Hall of Fame.

He married Jayne Ambrose, a talent agent, with whom he had a son, PJ Isaacson (also known as PJ Lane). PJ moved to the United States to further his basketball career, although he became an entertainer in his own right. He moved temporarily to Sydney in 2009 to look after his ailing father.

Although Lane and Ambrose divorced later, they remained good friends and Ambrose was his agent for the rest of his life.

Lane forged an enduring partnership with Bert Newton, an Australian comedian and entertainment personality. Newton had hitherto been strongly identified with Australian TV icon Graham Kennedy. Both Lane and Newton maintain that the first time they met was on-air, during the first episode of the Don Lane Show. Each describes that there was instant 'chemistry', and that they never made any deliberate attempt to build the relationship; it just happened.

It is widely believed that Lane christened Newton Moonface. However, Newton later claims that Lane asked writer Mike McColl-Jones for Newton's childhood nickname, and McColl-Jones tipped Newton off about this; Newton and McColl-Jones then made up the nickname and McColl-Jones fed Lane the false information. In any case, the nickname stuck.

Newton took much pleasure in sending up Lane's singing, sometimes by playing his records at half-speed while miming Lane's performance. Lane sometimes responded in kind by "sending up" Newton's own record, The Bert and Patti Family Album.

Logie Awards were made in each state separately during the 1960s and early 70s, since it was technically difficult to broadcast live programming interstate. Don Lane performed in Sydney, while Graham Kennedy held the same timeslot in Melbourne.

New South Wales Logies:Milesago

• 1966: Most Popular Male and Most Popular Live Show (Tonight with Don Lane)
• 1967: Most Popular Male and Most Popular Live Show (Tonight with Don Lane)
• 1968: Best Male Personality and Best Show (Tonight with Don Lane)
• 1969: Best Male Personality and Best Show (Tonight with Don Lane)
• 1970: Best Male Personality and Best Local Show (Tonight Show with Don Lane)
• 1974: Most Popular Male and Most Popular Show (The Don Lane Show)

National Logie awards:

• Gold Logie
• Most Popular Male Personality
• Victoria: Most Popular Male
• Most Popular Show

Lane died from a dementia-related illness caused by Alzheimer's disease on 22 October 2009.^[4] where during the last eighteen months of his life, due to his deteriorating health, he was forced from his Sydney apartment into Montefiore Nursing Home in Randwick in Sydney's east.^[5] A private Jewish funeral ceremony attended by close family and friends was held at Macquarie Park Cemetery a day after his passing.^[6]

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