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.
Robert "Squirrel" Lester has died he was 67.( first on the right) was the second tenor, in the Chicago based singing group, The Chi-Lites.
(August 16, 1942 – January 22, 2010)
Lester was born in McComb, Mississippi.He was included in the recent Chi-Lites line-up, along with group leader Marshall Thompson, lead vocalist Frank Reed, and backing vocalist, Tara Thompson.
An inductee at the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, Lester was 67 years old at the time of his death.The Chi-lites were originally called the Hi-Lites, but had to change their name as there was a similarity with another groups name at the time.
The Hi-Lites released material on the Dakar and Ja-Wes labels before the groups name change.
The 'C' in the groups 'Chi-Lites' name derived from their hometown's city, Chicago.
Prior to the first incarnation Eugene Record, Clarence Johnson and Robert Lester recorded with the group The Chanteurs, who released material on the Renee Records imprint in 1959.
Another band, during that period, entitled The Desidero's, featured Marshall Thompson and Creadel Jones within it's ranks and that duo departed that group and joined ranks with the other trio.
The five comprised the Hi-Lites, which later became the Marshall and the Chi-Lites.
The group released the single 'I'm So Jealous' under that new band title in 1964.
Clarence Johnson then departed the group and they then became the Chi-Lites.
By 1968, the group had been signed to the Brunswick Records imprint, where Eugene began his long and fruitful collaboration with, the singer / songwriter, Barbara Acklin.
In 1969 they acheived their first national hit with the song 'Give It Away' beginning a successful period that would reap many musical rewards throughout the Seventies.
In 1971, they released the song 'Have You Seen Her', which charted in the U.S. and the U.K. respectively, reaching the number 3 spot.
There then followed a series of chart entries, including 'Oh Girl' in 1972, 'Homely Girl' in 1974, 'It's Time For Love' in 1975 and 'You Don't Have To Go' in 1976.
In 1973, Creadel Jones left the group and Eugene Record departed in late 1976 for a short solo career at Warner Brothers (a period which included the excellent offering, 'Overdose Of Joy').
Eugene's departure was instigated by legal difficulties at Brunswick Records that meant the group could not be promoted in the way they previously were.
By 1980, Eugene, Lester, Creadel and Marshall reformed the group, whilst Carl Davis set up the Chi-Sound label, recruiting Gene Chandler as it's vice-President.
Albums:
I Like Your Lovin (Brunswick 1969)
Give It Away (Brunswick 1969)
(For God's Sake) Give More Power To The People (Brunswick 1971)
I Like Your Lovin, Do You Like Mine? (Brunswick 1971)
Brynley John "Jack" Parry[1] was a Welsh former professional footballer. During his career he made almost 100 appearances for Swansea Town and 138 appearances for Ipswich Town between 1951 and 1955.
(11 January 1924 – 20 January 2010) To see more of who died in 2010click here
Robert Brown Parker[1] died he was 77. Parker was an Americancrime writer. His most famous works were the novels about the private detectiveSpenser. ABC television network developed the television series, Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the late 1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character were also produced. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area.[4] Parker was 77 when he died of a heart attack at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts; discovered at his desk by his wife Joan, he had been working on a novel[2][5][6]. The Spenser novels have been cited by critics and bestselling authors such as Robert Crais, Harlan Coben and Dennis Lehane[7] as not only influencing their own work but reviving and changing the detective genre.[8].
(September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010)
Parker was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.[1][9] On August 26, 1956, Parker married Joan H. Parker,[1] whom he claimed to have met as a toddler at a birthday party.[10] (They spent their childhoods in the same neighborhood.[11])
Parker and his wife had two sons, David and Daniel. Originally, Parker's character Spenser was to have the first name "David", but he didn't want to omit his other son. So Parker removed the first name completely and to this day, Spenser's first name remains unknown and rarely referred to.[12]
Parker wrote his first novel[13] in 1971 while at Northeastern University. He became a full professor in 1976, and turned to full-time writing in 1979 with five Spenser novels to his credit.[9]
Parker's popular Spenser novels are known for his characters of varied races and religions. According to critic Christina Nunez, Parker's "inclusion of [characters of] other races and sexual persuasions" lends his writings a "more modern feel".[14] For example, the Spenser series characters include Hawk and Chollo, African-American and Mexican-American, respectively, as well as his Jewish girlfiend, Susan, various Russians, Ukrainians, Chinese, a gay cop, Lee Farrell,[15], and even a gay mob boss, Gino Fish.[16] The open homosexuality of both his sons gives his writing "[a] sensibility," Ms. Nunez feels, "[which] strengthens Parker's sensibility [toward gays]." In 1985 Spenser was made into a successful television series, Spenser for Hire which starred Robert Urich, Avery Brooks and Barbara Stock[17].
Parker created female detective Sunny Randall at the request of actress Helen Hunt, who wanted him to write a part for her to play.[1] He wrote the first book, and the film version was planned for 2000,[9] but never materialized.[13] However, his publisher liked the character and asked him to continue with the series.[13]
Aside from crime writing, Parker also produced several Western novels, including Appaloosa, [18] and children's books. In 1994 he collaborated with Japanese photographer Kasho Kumagai on a coffee table book called Spenser's Boston, exploring the city through Spenser's "eyes" via high quality, 4-color photos. In addition to Parker's introduction, excerpts from several of the Spenser novels were included.[19]
Parker and his wife created an independent film company called Pearl Productions, based in Boston. It is named after their German short-haired pointer, Pearl.[13]
Note that there is another Robert B. Parker (1905-55) whose mystery novels of the 1950s are being reprinted by Hard Case Crime starting with Passport to Peril in July of 2009.
Parker received three nominations and two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He received the first award, the "Best Novel Award" in 1977, for the fourth novel in the Spenser series, Promised Land.[20] In 1990 he shared, with wife Joan, a nomination for "Best Television Episode" for the TV series B.L. Stryker; however, the award went to David J. Burke and Alfonse Ruggiero Jr. for Wiseguy.[21]
In 2002 he received the Grand Master Award Edgar for his collective oeuvre.[22]
Jennifer Lyon was a contestant on the popular series, Survivor. Lyon placed fourth in the 2005 season of Survivor: Palau.
The 37-year-old reality TV star was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer a few months after she finished Surivor but fought the disease with rounds of chemotherapy and other treatments.
Lyon was born in the city of Boulder City, Nevada, then moved around in cities in Washington and Oregon until we landed in The Dalles, Oregon, a small town along the Columbia River. She attributed her love and adventure and travel to my parents who would regularly pack us three kids into our Volkswagen Squareback and travel to various locations. She loved camping in the outdoors and seeing different places along the way.
She grew up playing many sports; softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, track and water-skiing in the summer. After high school, her thirst for adventure was growing so that she left to spend a year in Spain as an exchange student. Her family had always welcomed people from around the world to live with them. She played soccer and received her BS in Nutrition Science. She also live in London, England, and was a nanny for two years.
She settled in Los Angeles for the last seven years . She dabbled in photography and acting, She was a nutrition counselor for a non-profit government agency called WIC, continued nannying.
Ida Mae Martinez Selenkow died she was 78. Martinez was an American professional wrestler in the 1950s, known as Ida Mae Martinez. After her retirement in 1960, she appeared in the 2004 documentary Lipstick & Dynamite about the early years of female wrestling in North America. In addition to wrestling, Martinez was a yodeler, releasing the CD The Yodeling Lady Ms. Ida also in 2004. Martinez also obtained a Master's Degree in Nursing and was one of the first nurses in Baltimore to work with AIDSpatients.
(September 9, 1931 – January 19, 2010)
After watching a female professional wrestling match between Johnny Mae Young and Gloria Barattini, Martinez sought out promoter Billy Wolfe.[1] Wolfe invited her to train in Columbus, Ohio.[1] She debuted in August 1951 in Ohio.[1] She won the Championship of Mexico in 1952.[1][3] She held the title until 1953.[2]
She retired in 1960 after remarrying.[1] In the 1980s, she became a board member for the Cauliflower Alley Club.[1] Martinez also was featured in the 2004 documentary about women's wrestling, Lipstick & Dynamite.[1] In 2006, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame awarded her the Senator Hugh Farley Award for her contribution in and outside of the ring.[3]
Martinez was born to a prostitute mother and unknown father.[1] She believed she was of Spanish descent.[1] Her guardians were abusive towards her,[3] and she left home sometime between the ages of 13 and 15 to live with her cousin.[1][3] She attended Norwich Free Academy,[1] but eventually dropped out of high school.[3] In addition to school, she worked as a yodeler and singer at country and minstrel shows.[1]
Martinez married at age 17 and claimed that her husband was abusive.[1] She remarried in 1960 to a man with whom she had two daughters, I. Ryan and Traci.[1] She received her GED in 1971, an Associate's Degree in nursing in 1975, and a Bachelor's Degree in nursing in 1980.[1][3] Ten years later she received her Master's Degree in Nursing from the University of Maryland.[1] She was inducted into the Nursing Honor Society Sigma Theta Tau.[2] She was one of the first nurses in Baltimore to care for AIDS patients.[1] She also published writings about her work with AIDS patients.[2]
In addition to her musical career, Kate McGarrigle took engineering courses at McGill University.[5]Kate and Anna's 1975 self-titled debut album was chosen by Melody Maker as Best Record of the Year.[6] Their albums Matapedia (1997) and The McGarrigle Hour (1999) won Juno Awards. In 1999 Kate and Anna received Women of Originality awards and in 2006 SOCAN Lifetime Achievement awards.[7]
McGarrigle was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and established The Kate McGarrigle Fund at the McGill University Health Centre, which she set up in 2008 to raise awareness of sarcoma, a rare cancer that affects connective tissue such as bone, muscle, nerves and cartilage.
She died of clear cell sarcoma on January 18, 2010, aged 63 at her home in Montreal, according to her brother-in-law, Dane Lanken.[9] Her sister Anna wrote on their website: "Sadly our sweet Kate had to leave us last night. She departed in a haze of song and love surrounded by family and good friends. She is irreplaceable and we are broken-hearted. Til we meet again dear sister." [1]
She made her last public appearance, with Rufus and Martha Wainwright, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, just six weeks before her death. The show raised $55,000 for the Kate McGarrigle Fund.
Jennifer Lyn Jackson [3][1] died she was 40, Jackson was from Cleveland, Ohio, she was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for April 1989. She was also one of three finalists for the magazine's 35th Anniversary pictorial. Outtakes from her Playmate pictorial, which was shot by Arny Freytag,[3] appeared in Playboy Special Editions
She was found dead by her husband, James Thompson, in her home in Westlake, Ohio on January 22, 2010 of an apparent drug overdose.[1][2]
