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.
Adams attended Fork Union Military Academy in 2001 and recorded 58 tackles, 22 sacks, and two interceptions in 10 games. He was a three year starter at Cambridge Academy, a small private school which only had an 8-man football team, where he was a dominant wide receiver and defensive end. His coach during high school was former University of South Carolina quarterback, Steve Taneyhill. In 2000, his team won the state title. During that year, Cambridge shut out four different teams, beating one team 80–0. They had suffered only one loss that season to arch-rival King Academy. He had 158 career receptions for 4,394 yard and 65 touchdowns, as well as 341 tackles, 10 interceptions, and 33 sacks in his career, and was a two-time All-state honoree. He chose Clemson over Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. He had narrowed down his choices to North Carolina and Clemson, then signed with Clemson after the Tar Heels unexpectedly rescinded their offer. At Cambridge, he was named to the Greenwood Touchdown Club/Index-Journal All-Lakelands Team (which included four counties).In 2003, as a redshirt freshman, he did not see much action as the second-team defensive end, only totaling 15 tackles and a sack.
In 2004, he had 35 tackles with 8 sacks, and two blocked punts playing on special teams. For his hard work on special teams, Adams was awarded the 12th Man Award for Clemson's defense. Adams considered coming out for the NFL Draft after his sophomore year, but after the underclassman panel gave him a conservatively low ranking he decided to stay for his junior year.
Adams' 2005 junior year was the year he broke out. Adams totaled 56 tackles, 9.5 sacks, and forced three fumbles while starting at boundary defensive end.
For Adams' senior year, 2006, he was slated to be among the best defensive ends in the college football. Adams lived up to his reputation by starting all 12 games, recording 12.5 sacks,causing 2 fumbles and recovering 3. By the end of the 2006 season, Adams recorded a total of 28 career sacks, tying the school record set by Michael Dean Perry (1984–1987)[1]. In addition, Adams was named to all five official All-America teams acknowledged by the NCAA in 2006, one of seven unanimous All-Americans that year.
Adams was chosen by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the 4th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, despite his admissions during interviews at the scouting combine of previous marijuana use.[4] He signed a six-year deal with the Buccaneers on July 26th, 2007, worth $46 million, with $18.6 million guaranteed. He registered his first solo sack against the Atlanta Falcons in week 11 of the 2007 season.
At the end of the 2007 season Adams had 35 tackles, 6 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in 2007, he led all 2007 rookies with his six sacks. This performance gained him a place in the 2007 NFL All-Rookie team. He also played in Tampa Bay Buccaneers playoff loss to the New York Giants and finished the game with five tackles and one sack. Against the Colts on Week 5, he blocked a field goal attempt by Adam Vinatieri.
In 2008, Adams recorded two sacks against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. He recorded his first career interception and returned it for his first career touchdown in a Week 3 overtime win over the Chicago Bears. The following week, Adams recorded another interception off of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to seal a Buccaneers victory. In Week 8, in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Adams recorded two sacks.
On October 19, 2009, Adams was traded to the Chicago Bears for a second-round draft pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.[5]. In 10 games for the Bears, Adams had 7 combined tackles, 1 pass deflection and 1 forced fumble.[6]
Adams was taken to the emergency room in Greenwood, South Carolina on the morning of January 17, 2010, after his girlfriend found him at home. He was pronounced dead at 8:21 a.m. ET. The coroner confirmed, after an autopsy, that Adams died of cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart.[7] Neither Adams nor his relatives knew about any kind of medical condition he may have had. At the time of his death, neither drug abuse nor foul play was suspected. Full toxicology tests will likely not be available for at least two months.[8]
Glen William Bell, Jr.[1] died he was 86. Bell. Jr was an American businessman who founded the fast food chain Taco Bell.
(September 3, 1923 – January 17, 2010)
He served in the US Marine Corps during World War II. Bell left military life in 1946, and started his first hot dog stand called Bell's Drive-In in San Bernardino in 1948.[2] In 1952, he sold his hot dog stand and built his second that sold hot dogs and hamburgers. Shortly thereafter, he started selling 19 cent tacos out of a side window. Between 1954 and 1955, he opened three Taco Tias in Los Angeles area, eventually selling those restaurants and opening four El Tacos with a new partner in the Long Beach area.
In 1962, he decided to go solo and sold the El Tacos to his partner and opened his first Taco Bell. Bell franchised his restaurant in 1964.[2] His company grew rapidly, and the 868 restaurant chain was later sold to PepsiCo in 1978 for $125 million in stock.
Edward E. Chuman, a tough businessman with a flair for theatrics who proved a natural for professional wrestling, riled crowds as the masked manager "Dr. X" and staged shows that featured an incendiary mix of heroes and villains.
Mr. Chuman, 62, died of heart failure Friday, Jan. 15, in his Roselle home, said his wife, Pam. He had just returned from a hospital after a bout with pneumonia and had suffered long-standing lung problems related to Legionnaires' disease that he contracted about 12 years ago, his wife said.
Mr. Chuman promoted wrestling in several states for the National Wrestling Alliance, an organization that dates to the late 1940s but in recent years has played second fiddle to the nationally televised events of World Wrestling Entertainment. As a promoter for alliance shows, he put together crowd-pleasing events at venues ranging from barrooms to auditoriums in towns across the Midwest.
"There's an art to wrestling, and either you get it or you don't, and he got it," said Joe Cabibbo, who wrestles as "The Sheik." "He was a master of it."
With extensive contacts throughout the industry, Mr. Chuman was a manager and adviser to wrestlers including the "Awesome Kong," one of the top female grapplers, said Rico Mann, who designs wrestling belts.
In a sometimes crazy business, he maintained a reputation as an honest broker.
"He was just the most honest guy I ever met in the entertainment business, where there's sharks for managers," Cabibbo said. "He never took a nickel extra."
As a boy, Mr. Chuman, who grew up in Hillside and attended Proviso West High School, watched wrestling with his grandfather and idolized "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, said his friend Phil Wills.
He was working as a manager at a Kmart when he ran into the wrestler Angelo Poffo, who offered Mr. Chuman a chance to climb into the ring, Wills said. Wrestling as "Sidney Bockabella," he performed in all sorts of dives in southern Illinois and Kentucky, where fans sometimes took the staged matches a little too seriously.
"Ed had a lot of stories where they believed it a little too much, and things got hairy," Wills said.
She was born Chilton Searcy near Fern Creek, Kentucky, the daughter of Chesley Hunter Searcy, a lawyer, and Lillian Searcy, a pianist. At the age of 5 she was taught a couple of piano chords by her father, who was an amateur musician who played by ear. She studied music appreciation at the University of Louisville. During the 1930s and 1940s she played violin for the Louisville Orchestra. She got a job as a music librarian at the Louisvilleradio station WAVE, where country music performers Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart were regular performers. She showed them some songs she had written, and they convinced her to publish them; since she had little experience in the commercial music world, she gave them partial credit, and so the songs "Slow Poke" and "You Belong to Me" were published with credits given as King/Stewart/Price. The former became a big hit for King, with a vocal by Stewart; the latter was a major hit for Jo Stafford, and later was covered by The Duprees. She was said to be happy with the arrangement, even though she had to share credit for songs she wrote herself, being grateful for the break she got in this way. Subsequently, she wrote other songs under her name only, including "Never Look Back" in 1954.
She was married for 65 years to Louisville businessman Robert L. Price, and had a daughter, two grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Robert Price died in 2000.
Price died in her home town of Louisville on January 14, 2010. She was 96 years of age.
, and guesting on other radio station, Carl performed on the Grand Ole Opry. In 1950, he signed with Columbia Records and with WSM radio. Carl became one of the most recognizable country singers of the 1950s. He charted 30 Top 10 singles in that decade, including “Loose Talk,” “Wicked Lies,” and “You Are the One.”
Smith had 41 chart singles during the 1950s, including the hits "Are You Teasing Me," "Back Up Buddy," and "Hey Joe!"
Smith was a member of the Grand Ole Opry but left in 1956 to try his hand at acting. He appeared in two westerns, "The Badge of Marshal Brennan" and "Buffalo Gun." From 1964 to 1969, he hosted 190 episodes of "Carl Smith's Country Music Hall" on Canadian television. In the late 1970s, he retired from the music business, but later recorded for the Gusto label in 1983. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2003.
June Carter (who later married Johnny Cash). The couple had a daughter in 1955, Rebecca Smith, who later became known as country singer Carlene Carter. She died in 2005.
In 1956, Carl Smith quit the Grand Ole Opry and focused on an acting career
. He joined the Philip Morris Country Music Show and began touring the United States. He also made regular appearances on the Ozark Jubilee.
In 1957, Carl and June Carter divorced. The same year, Carl married Goldie Hill. Throughout the 1960s, Carl’s career began to slow, though he did chart several Top 10 singles, including “Take My Ring Off Your Finger,” and “Deep Water".
WHAS-AM morning talk show host Francene Cucinello died Friday after suffering a brain aneurysm earlier in the week.
According to WHAS-AM’s Web site, www.84whas.com, Cucinello, 43, suffered a heart attack Monday, followed by the aneurysm Wednesday. She died at 3:15 p.m. Friday at Norton Hospital.
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., a regular guest on Cucinello’s show, released a statement Friday saying that the radio host was “driven by compassion for those around her.”
“She woke up every morning excited to use her position to help make people’s lives better,” Yarmuth said in the statement. “And that’s exactly what she did — entertaining and informing us, always giving back, personally helping people find jobs, and so much more. The more time I spent with her, the more I respected her intellect and admired her generosity. I am devastated for the loss to this community and heartbroken for the loss of my friend. My thoughts and prayers are with her mother and all of her friends.”
Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson released a separate statement about Cucinello’s death.
“While we didn’t always agree on the issues, Francene had a special way of spurring people to talk about subjects important to our community and our state,” Abramson said in the statement.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear also issued a statement: "I considered her a friend, despite her tough questions, and I enjoyed our frequent interviews on her show. People felt like they knew Francene because she was so open and honest, and her death is a terrible blow to the community."
Kentucky attorney general Jack Conway, in a statement, called Cucinello’s death a “terrible tragedy.”
He recalled seeing her at a play on the issue of cyber-safety that the two attended a few weeks ago at Fern Creek High School.
“She contributed greatly to the public discourse in Kentucky,” Conway said in the statement. “Her listeners were her cause, and I loved that passion. It was never a 9-to-12 radio job for her. … She carried her commitment with her at all times.”
Conway added that Cucinello frequently followed up with him after he was a guest on her show to “make certain we were taking action” on matters.
“When I was on her show talking about the issues, I knew she and her listeners were holding me accountable,” Conway added. “I always found her well-researched, and she will be missed.”
Cucinello came to Louisville in 2003, following the departure of controversial radio host John Ziegler.
She focused her show on state and local politics and hot-button issues affecting residents in Kentucky and Southern Indiana.
Last year, as the economy soured, she opened up the airwaves on Fridays to companies that wanted to advertise job openings. In February 2009, she also partnered with Bellarmine University to produce “Job Jam,” a free seminar for people looking for work.
In addition to her work as a radio show host, Cucinello also was a columnist for LEO Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Louisville.
Robert “Bobby” Charles Guidry, the reclusive south Louisiana songwriter of hits for Fats Domino, Frogman Henry and Bill Haley & the Comets, died early Thursday after collapsing at home in Abbeville, his manager said. He was 71.
Known professionally as Bobby Charles, he wrote “Walking to New Orleans,” one of Domino's most beloved songs; “(I Don’t Know Why I Love You) But I Do,” an enduring classic by Henry; and “See You Later Alligator,” a smash for Haley at the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll.
A reluctant performer, Mr. Charles largely disappeared after participating in the Band’s 1976 farewell concert The Last Waltz. He preferred to release the occasional album while living quietly, an enigma whose songs were more famous than he was. Along the way he dealt with a litany of personal disasters ranging from fires to floods to cancer.
Mr. Charles agreed to stage a “comeback” at the 2007 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell, only to back out at the last minute, citing health issues. Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack, Marcia Ball, guitarist Sonny Landreth and other admirers performed his songs in his absence.
"He was the champion south Louisiana songwriter," Landreth said. "Everybody had a favorite Bobby Charles song. He had the gift."
Mr. Charles grew up poor in Abbeville, the son of a gas company truck driver. At 14, he joined a band that entertained at high school dances.
“Nobody in my family wanted me to get into the music business, but I always loved it,” he said during a 2007 interview. “The first time I heard Hank Williams and Fats Domino, it just knocked me down. When I was a kid, I used to pray to be a songwriter like them. My prayers were answered, I guess.”
Leaving a cafe one night, Mr. Charles bid farewell to friends with “see you later, alligator.” As the cafe door closed behind him, a drunken stranger replied, “after ‘while, crocodile.” Not sure he heard correctly, he went back inside and asked the stranger to repeat it.
That couplet inspired him to write “See You Later Alligator.” He sang it over the phone and landed a recording contract, sight unseen, from Chicago blues and R&B label Chess Records. The company’s owners assumed he was black until he stepped off the plane in Chicago.
As a burgeoning teen idol, he hit the road with other Chess artists, the only white guy on the bus. Not all audiences appreciated such integration. The threats soured him on touring. So did the occasional bullet fired his way.
“I never wanted to be a star,” he said. “I’ve got enough problems, I promise you. If I could make it just writing, I’d be happy. Thank God I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of people do my songs.”
In the 1970s, Mr. Charles wrote a song called “The Jealous Kind.” Joe Cocker recorded it in 1976, followed by Ray Charles, Delbert McClinton, Etta James and Johnny Adams. Kris Kristofferson and Gatemouth Brown covered Mr. Charles’ “Tennessee Blues,” as did newcomer Shannon McNally. Muddy Waters recorded “Why Are People Like That”; so did Houma guitarist Tab Benoit on his Grammy-nominated 2006 album “Brother to the Blues.”
He could not play an instrument or read music. Songs popped into his head, fully formed. To capture them, he’d sing into the nearest answering machine; sometimes he’d call home from a convenience store pay phone.
“I can hear all the chords up here,” he said, pointing to his brain, “but I can’t tell you what they are.”
He counted Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Willie Nelson and James Taylor among his friends and fans. Mickey Raphael, the longtime harmonica player in Willie Nelson's band, appears on Mr. Charles' forthcoming CD. He once encountered Mr. Charles at Nelson's studio outside Austin, Tex.
"He said he wanted to record some music, and he was bringing some musicians," Raphael recalled. "He said, 'This is my guitar player, Neil.' And it was Neil Young.
"He was so unpretentious and laid-back. On further investigation, you'd find out he wrote all these incredible songs."
In his younger years, Mr. Charles raised all kinds of hell. His rogue’s resume included scrapes with the law, a busted marriage, and general excess. “To love and lose -- I know that pain,” he said. “And cocaine killed so many of my friends.”
For a time in the 1970s, he laid low in Woodstock, N.Y. But mostly Mr. Charles holed up in the bosom of south Louisiana, waiting for the next song to come along. Or the next calamity.
For years, he lived on the Vermilion River outside Maurice, La. In the mid-’90s, his house burned down. He moved into a trailer on the grounds of Dockside Studios in Maurice, a favorite haunt. Despondent, he hit the road with one of his four sons and washed up at Holly Beach, a hamlet with 300 permanent residents on the Gulf of Mexico southwest of Lake Charles.
“I’m a Pisces. I love water,” he said. “There’s nothing like a wave to wash away your problems and clean out your mind.”
In Holly Beach, Mr. Charles disappeared for a decade. But in the summer of 2005, Hurricane Rita found him. He escaped just ahead of the storm, then later returned to find his house had washed away.
David Grunfeld / The Times-PicayuneBobby Charles on the grounds of his property outside Abbeville, La., in 2007. The reclusive songwriter preferred to live quietly, out of the limelight.He moved to a two-bedroom trailer amid the grand oaks of an eight acre property outside Abbeville. He kept his address and phone number secret, and cast a wary eye toward strangers and acquaintances alike.
“They all want to meet Bob Dylan or Willie Nelson. They say, ‘Man, I got a song for Bob Dylan.’ I think Bob Dylan writes most of his own. So does Willie. I don’t even sing any of mine to them.
“Some people have to depend on somebody else to make a living. And that gets tiresome, man, carrying a load like that. It gets to the point where you’re afraid to open your mouth in front of anybody.”
Despite being swindled out of some publishing rights and songwriting credits along the way, his annual royalties afforded him a comfortable living. When, for instance, Frogman Henry’s version of “But I Do” landed on the “Forrest Gump” soundtrack, Mr. Charles received a royalty check.
Mr. Charles was happiest in the studio. He often scheduled recording sessions to coincide with the full moon. "His approach was unorthodox," said Sonny Landreth, who often recorded with Mr. Charles at Dockside. "It wasn't like recording in Nashville, which is very organized, with musical charts."
Recent compositions occasionally contained ecological messages. The issue of clean water was especially important to him, Raphael said. "He'd call me up and say, 'I'm so mad about this, I had to write a song,'" Raphael said. "You'd listen to the song, and know he was mad as hell, but he always put a positive spin on it."
In 2003, Mr. Charles and Jim Bateman, his manager for the past three decades, gathered recordings spanning 20 years for the double-CD “Last Train to Memphis,” released via Charles’ own Rice ‘n Gravy Records. Guest musicians included Neil Young, Fats Domino, Willie Nelson, Delbert McClinton and Maria Muldaur.
Mr. Charles’ voice, graced with a slight, Randy Newman-esque drawl, remained strong in his later years, as did his gift for pairing lyrics and melody. He was due to release a new album, "Timeless," next month. Co-produced by Mr. Charles and Rebennack, it contains mostly new songs, and is dedicated to Domino. While recording, "he had lots of energy, and was very productive," Landreth said. Rebennack "had that affect on him."
Mr. Charles recently injured his back in a fall, but remained intensely focused on finishing "Timeless." "He kept saying, 'I've got to get this out. I want to hold it in my hands,'" Bateman said. "It's like he had a premonition."
Mr. Charles saw the final design for the album's artwork, but died weeks before its scheduled Feb. 23 release.
Had he lived, he was unlikely to hit the road to promote his new CD. In recent years, he tended to keep to himself. Most days, he ate alone at an Abbeville seafood joint where the waitress mixed his preferred cocktail -- a Grey Goose martini on the rocks -- as he parked his car.
“I don’t really have anybody,” Mr. Charles said in 2007. “I just don’t have a whole lot in common with the people I went to school with. I still love them as my friends, but I don’t have anything to say to ‘em. They wouldn’t believe half the (stuff) that happened to me anyway.
“But when I get around Mac Rebennack or Fats or somebody like that, then I’m in my world.”
Gaines Adams died he was 26. Adams was an American football defensive end in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round in the 2007 NFL Draft and in 2009 was traded to the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Clemson. 
In 2008, Adams recorded two sacks against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. He recorded his first career interception and returned it for his first career touchdown in a Week 3 overtime win over the Chicago Bears. The following week, Adams recorded another interception off of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to seal a Buccaneers victory. In Week 8, in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Adams recorded two sacks.
