Marva Wright has died at age 62.

Marva Wright, the New Orleans blues and gospel singer who left her job as a school secretary to sing around the world, died Tuesday of complications from two strokes suffered last summer. She was 62.

Ms. Wright died at the eastern New Orleans home of her eldest daughter, where she had been living since her health went into decline last year.

She sang traditional jazz and gospel standards but was better known for sultry, sometimes bawdy blues standards, including "Heartbreakin' Woman" and "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean."

She released a series of albums on local and international record labels, and frequently performed in Europe and at blues festivals around the country. With her band, the BMWs, she drew large crowds for performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

"She truly was and will remain the Blues Queen of New Orleans," said Adam Shipley, Ms. Wright's manager. "I cherish all the time I spent with her. She was one of the highlights to ever grace the stage at Tipitina's."

Enormously popular among fellow musicians, Ms. Wright moved easily between gospel spirituals and bawdy blues romps. She released a series of albums on local and international record labels, and frequently performed in Europe and at blues festivals around the country. She drew large crowds for her performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell. Her annual Christmas concerts at Tipitina's featured a broad range of singers and musicians.

Ms. Wright grew up on First Street in Central City alongside Jo "Cool" Davis and Sammy Berfect, also destined to impact the city's gospel community. As a child, she listened to her mother sing and play piano at Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. Her mother had attended McDonogh 24 elementary school with future gospel legend Mahalia Jackson.

"My mother would go to the national Baptist convention," Ms. Wright once said. "When it convened in Chicago (where Jackson had moved), Mahalia would say, 'Girl, you don't need to get no hotel. Stay with me.' That's what my mother would do. I met Mahalia when I was 9 years old, but I never realized she was that popular until I got older."

As she considered leaving her secretarial post at Eleanor McMain Secondary School to embark on a career as a singer, she wrestled with the idea of performing sacred gospel music in secular clubs. She consulted with her old friend Davis, who urged her to make the leap.

Keith Spera / The Times-PicayuneMarva Wright, right, and guitarist Tab Benoit perform at the Democratic National Convention delegates welcoming party in Denver on August 24, 2008.

"You can only go so far in gospel," Davis said. "I'd put Marva in a category with Mavis Staples. People want to sing, they are inspired to sing. But not everybody has that raw, natural talent, like Marva. Somebody that talented has to go another route."

She nurtured her early career in Bourbon Street clubs, including the Old Absinthe Bar. In 1990, while working at the Bourbon Street Gospel and Blues Club, she met "60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley. They became close friends; up until his death, Bradley introduced Ms. Wright for her Jazz Fest performances.

While some performers look down on Bourbon Street venues, Ms. Wright understood their role in launching her career. "I love Bourbon Street," she said in 2008. "If it wasn't for Bourbon Street, I wouldn't be where I'm at now. You meet a lot of people from all over the world."

In the 1990s, her audience at the Uptown club Muddy Waters occasionally included a daughter of then-Vice President Al Gore, and Gore's wife, Tipper. That led to an invitation to perform at the White House during the Clinton years.

Hurricane Katrina inundated her rented home near the intersection of Morrison and Crowder in eastern New Orleans with nearly 8 feet of water. She and her second husband, Anthony Plessy, moved to Bel Air, Maryland, near the homes of Plessy's adult children. During her year in Maryland, Ms. Wright was not impressed with the culinary sensibilities of her home-in-exile.

"I cooked gumbo without the essentials -- our crabs and shrimp," she recalled in 2008. "And they didn't have hot sausage. Somebody sent me some crab boil seasoning. I used that. I'll never forget, I cooked gumbo for Thanksgiving. I put in chicken and smoked sausage -- I don't do that here because I don't need to."

She finally returned to the New Orleans area and settled in Harvey. From January 2007 through March 2008, Ms. Wright was featured most weekends in the Ritz-Carlton's On Trois Lounge. After parting ways with the Ritz, she returned to Bourbon Street with her band, the BMWs - an acronym for the "Band of Marva Wright."

In August 2008, Ms. Wright was part of the delegation of Louisiana artists who performed at the Denver welcoming party for Democratic National Convention delegates. On a stage in a Colorado Convention Center ballroom, Ms. Wright sang "A Change Is Gonna Come," accompanied by guitarist Tab Benoit and others. Irma Thomas, Terence Blanchard and Randy Newman were also part of the show.

In 2009, Ms. Wright suffered two strokes. She was first hospitalized in mid-May after what was described as a "minor" stroke. She recovered sufficiently to start performing once again.

However, she returned to the hospital after another, more traumatic stroke on June 6. In the difficult weeks and months that followed, she underwent dialysis treatments and was fed via a feeding tube.

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Fess Parker died he was 85

Fess Parker, whose star-making portrayal of frontiersman Davy Crockett on television in the mid-1950s made him a hero to millions of young baby boomers and spurred a nationwide run on coonskin caps, Parker died he was 85.

Parker, who played another pioneer American hero on television's "Daniel Boone" in the 1960s before
becoming a successful Santa Barbara hotel developer and Santa Ynez Valley winery owner, died of complications from old age at his home near the winery, said family spokeswoman Sao Anash.







In Tennessee, the series took on special meaning. Crockett grew up in East Tennessee, and "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" made it into many Nashville homes with its beloved lines: Born on a mountain top in Tennessee, Greenest state in the land of the free... Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded one of three popular versions of the song. A used copy of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" even made it into our home back in the days of the record player, compliments of an older cousin.

After playing Davy Crockett, Fess Parker donned his coonskin cap again to play neighboring Kentucky's heroic Christian frontiersman and hunter Daniel Boone from 1964 to 1970 in the somewhat faith-based series of the same name. There is little doubt that Boone spent time in Tennessee. A tree in Washington County, Tennessee reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar [killed a bear] on [this] tree in the year 1760."
The Daniel Boone series co-starred actor and singer Ed Ames--whose Christmas songs are perennial radio favorites--as Boone's Indian friend, Mingo, for the first four seasons. Then Country-Western singer Jimmy Dean, whose first big hit (recorded in Nashville) was 1961's "Big Bad John," became Parker's sidekick, Josh Clements, from 1968 to 1970.
According to The American Christian Hall of Fame, Daniel Boone wrote in 1816: "The religion I have is to love and fear God, believe in Jesus Christ, do all the good to my neighbor, and myself that I can, do as little harm as I can help, and trust on God's mercy for the rest."
Although he starred in other shows and movies, Fess Parker will always be remembered for his roles as Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. He did much to popularize these early Tennessee and Kentucky frontiersmen and to make them part of America's pop culture in the 1950s and 1960s and even to this day through reruns and DVDs.

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Alex Chilton died he was 59

Alex Chilton died he was 59 . Chilton was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer best known for his work with the pop-music bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial sales success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was not repeated in later years with Big Star and in his indie music solo career on small labels, but he did draw a loyal following in the indie and alternative music fields.

(December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010)

Chilton grew up in a musical family; his father, Sidney Chilton, was a jazz musician. A local band recruited the teenager in 1966 as their lead singer after learning of the popularity of his vocal performance at a talent show at Memphis' Central High School; this band was The Devilles, later renamed Box Tops. At a conservative school in a largely conservative city, Alex and his band made a huge impression on the students who attended the talent show. He was different, and his style attractive. The new group recorded with Chips Moman and producer/songwriter Dan Penn at American Sound Studio and Muscle Shoals' FAME Studios.

As lead singer for the Box Tops, Chilton enjoyed at the age of 16 a number-one international hit, "The Letter." The Box Tops went on to have several other major chart hits, including "Cry Like a Baby" (1968) and "Soul Deep" (1969). The group's songs were written by Penn, Moman, Spooner Oldham and other top area songwriters, with Chilton occasionally contributing a song. By late 1969, only Chilton and guitarist Gary Talley remained from the original group, and newer additions replaced the members who had departed. The group decided to disband and pursue independent careers in February 1970.

Chilton then began performing as a solo artist, maintaining a working relationship with Penn for demos. During this period he began learning guitar by studying the styles of guitarists like Stax Records great Steve Cropper, recording his own material in 1970 at Ardent Studios with local musicians like producer Terry Manning and drummer Richard Rosebrough, and producing a few local blues-rock acts. His 1970 recordings and productions from that time frame were released years later in the 1980s and 1990s on albums like Lost Decade (New Rose Records) and 1970 (Ardent Records).

After a period in New York City, during which Chilton worked on his guitar technique and singing style (some of which was believed to have been influenced by a chance meeting with Roger McGuinn at a friend's apartment in New York, when Chilton was impressed with McGuinn's singing and playing), Chilton returned to Memphis in 1971 and joined the power-pop group Big Star, with Chris Bell, recording at engineer John Fry's Ardent Studios. Chilton and Bell co-wrote "In The Street" for Big Star's first album #1 Record, a track later known as the theme song of That '70s Show.

The group's recordings met little commercial success but established Chilton's reputation as a rock singer and songwriter; later alternative music bands like R.E.M. would praise the group as a major influence. During this period he also occasionally recorded with Rosebrough as a group they called The Dolby Fuckers; some of their studio experimentation was included on Big Star's album Radio City, including the recording of "Mod Lang." Rosebrough would occasionally work with Chilton on later recordings, including Big Star's Third album and Chilton's 1975 solo record Bach's Bottom.

Moving back to New York in 1977, Chilton performed as "Alex Chilton and the Cossacks" with a lineup that included Chris Stamey (later of The dB's) and Richard Lloyd of Television at venues like CBGB, releasing an influential solo single, "Bangkok" (b/w a cover of the Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine"), in 1978. This period learning from the New York CBGB scene marked the beginning of a key change for Chilton's personal musical interests away from multi-layered pop studio recording standards toward a looser, animated punk performance style often recorded in one take and featuring fewer overdubs. There he made the acquaintance of punk band the Cramps. He brought them to Memphis, where he produced the songs that would appear on their Gravest Hits EP and their Songs the Lord Taught Us LP.

In 1979, Chilton released, in a limited edition of 500 copies, an album called Like Flies on Sherbert, produced by Chilton with Jim Dickinson at Phillips Recording and Ardent Studios, which featured his own interpretations of songs by artists as disparate as the Carter Family, Jimmy C. Newman, Ernest Tubb, and KC and the Sunshine Band, along with several originals. While criticized by some as a druggy mess, this album is considered by many to be a lo-fi masterpiece. Sherbert, which included backing work by Memphis musicians including Rosebrough, Memphis drummer Ross Johnson, and Lisa Aldridge, has since been reissued several times.

Beginning in 1979 Chilton also co-founded, played guitar with, and produced some albums for Tav Falco's Panther Burns, which began as an offbeat rock-and-roll group deconstructing blues, country, and rockabilly music.

Chilton moved to New Orleans in the early 1980s, while also touring regularly with Panther Burns and occasionally as a solo artist, as documented in his poorly received 1982 solo release Live in London.

After a six month span of working outside music at tree-trimming and dishwashing jobs in New Orleans, he resumed playing with Panther Burns in 1983. His new association with New Orleans jazz musicians (including bassist René Coman) marked a period in which he began playing guitar in a less raucous style and moved toward a cooler, more restrained approach, as heard in Panther Burns' 1984 Sugar Ditch Revisited album, produced by Jim Dickinson.

Immediately upon completing the recording in mid-1984, Chilton returned his focus to his own solo career. He stopped playing regular gigs with Panther Burns and took with him the group's bassist, Coman. Chilton then formed a trio with Coman and Memphis jazz drummer Doug Garrison. The trio immediately began touring intensely and recording at Ardent Studios, releasing in 1985 an EP, Feudalist Tarts, that featured his versions of songs by Carla Thomas, Slim Harpo, and Willie Tee, and releasing in 1986 No Sex. The latter EP contained three originals, including the extended mood piece, "Wild Kingdom," a song highlighting Coman's jazz-oriented, improvisational bass interplay with Chilton.

During this period, in his recordings Chilton began frequently to use a horn section consisting of Memphis veteran jazz performers Fred Ford, Jim Spake, and Nokie Taylor to imbue the soul-oriented pieces among his repertoire with a postmodern, minimalist jazz feel that distinguished his interpretative approach from that of a simple soul revivalist style. Chilton forged a new direction for his solo work, eschewing effects and blending soul, jazz, country, rockabilly and pop. Coman left Chilton's solo trio at the end of 1986 to pursue other projects, forming (with Garrison) The Iguanas, three years later, with other New Orleans musicians; both would record occasionally with Chilton after departing.

Chilton was featured in the song "Alex Chilton" by American rock band The Replacements on their 1987 album Pleased to Meet Me, on which Chilton was a guest musician.

Touring and recording as a solo artist from the late-1980s through the 1990s with bassist Ron Easley and eventually drummer Richard Dworkin, Chilton gained a reputation for his eclectic taste in cover versions, guitar work, and laconic stage presence.

Chilton included on 1987's High Priest a cover of "Raunchy," his instrumental salute to Sun Records guitarist Sid Manker, a friend of his father from whom he'd once taken a guitar lesson; this song was also a standard in his early Panther Burns repertoire. Along with four upbeat originals, High Priest also included other covers like "Nobody's Fool," a song originally written and recorded in 1973 by his old mentor Dan Penn. His EP Black List contained a cover of Ronny & the Daytonas' "Little GTO," along with an original song, "Guantanamerika." He also produced albums by several artists beginning in the 1980s, including the Detroit group The Gories, occasionally producing Panther Burns albums well into the 1990s.

In the 1990s, Chilton recorded an acoustic solo record of jazz standards in New Orleans' Chez Flames studio with producer Keith Keller, entitled "Cliches", and continued with a live CD released in 2004, Live in Anvers.

Since the mid-1990s, he added to his schedule concerts and recordings with the reunited Box Tops and a version of Big Star that included two members of The Posies, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. A new Big Star album, entitled In Space, with songs penned by this lineup, was released September 27, 2005, on Rykodisc.

Chilton was present at his home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and evacuated on September 4, 2005.

Chilton continued to perform live yearly, with sporadic solo, Box Tops and Big Star shows in theatres and at festivals around the world.

Chilton was taken to the hospital in New Orleans on March 17, 2010, complaining of health problems, and died the same day of a suspected heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Laura, and son, Timothy.^[1][2]

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Ron Lundy died he was 75

Ron Lundy died he was 75. Lundy was a radio announcer in New York City from the early-1960s to 1997.
(June 25, 1934 – March 15, 2010)

Born June 25, 1934, Lundy started as a record librarian in Memphis, Tennessee for radio station WHHM. He went to work at WDDT in Greenville, Mississippi, then WLCS in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
In 1960, Lundy left Baton Rouge and moved on to WIL in St. Louis, where he became known as the "Wil' Child". Bob Whitney, who hired Lundy at WIL, described his audition tape as a combination of "country and crawfish pie."^[1]
He began employment with WABC (AM) during September 1965. He was known for his phrase "Hello Love... this is Ron Lundy from the Greatest City in the World!" Lundy remained at WABC up until its conversion to Talk radio on May 10, 1982.
In February 1984, Lundy resurfaced at New York's oldies station WCBS-FM in the mid-morning slot, following former WABC colleague Harry Harrison. According to program director Joe McCoy, the station created the slot especially for Lundy, reducing other shifts from four hours to three.^[2]
In June, 1997, Lundy's WCBS-FM show was awarded the 1997 "BronzeWorld Medal" at the New York Festivals Radio Programming Awards for the "best local personality".
Lundy retired from WCBS-FM on September 18, 1997. Upon retiring from radio, Ron and his wife Shirley moved to the small town of Bruce, Mississippi.
Lundy was inducted the St. Louis Hall Radio Hall of Fame on January 1, 2006, with a banquet held June 10, 2006.
Ron Lundy died of a heart attack on March 15, 2010. He had recently been recovering from a previous heart attack after being dehydrated. He was 75.

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Peter Graves died he was 83

Peter Aurness ,^[1][2][3][4] known professionally as Peter Graves, has died he was 83. Graves was an American film and television actor. ^[5] He was known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967-1973. He has an older brother, actor James Arness (born 1923) of the long-running Gunsmoke western series, which aired on CBS from 1955-1975.

(March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010)

Graves was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Ruth (née Duesler, died September 1986), a journalist, and Rolf Cirkler Aurness (July 1894 - July 1982), a businessman descendants of Norwegian and German immigrants. The original paternal family name was "Aursnes," but when paternal grandfather Peter Aursnes immigrated from Norway to New York City in 1887, he changed the name to "Aurness."
He attended Southwest High School (Class of 1944) and spent two years in the United States Army Air Force before he enrolled at the University of Minnesota, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
Graves appeared in more than seventy films, TV series and TV movies.^[6] He is especially well known for the following roles:

• The rancher (Broken Wheel Ranch) and adoptive single father, Jim Newton, to a son played by child actor Bobby Diamond on the 1950s NBC television series Fury. The other costars were William Fawcett, who played the housekeeper and general ranch hand Pete Wilkey, and Roger Mobley, who appeared as Joey's friend Homer "Packy" Lambert.
• Price, a World War II German spy pretending to be a prisoner of war in the film Stalag 17
• A father on the run from the law in Night of the Hunter
• Jim Phelps, the leader of the elite Impossible Missions Force in the iconic CBS TV series Mission: Impossible
• Major Noah Cooper, commander of the Fighting 69th squadron in the NBC TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
• Captain Clarence Oveur in the comedies Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel^[7]
• Colonel John Camden on the WB Network TV series 7th Heaven, with Barbara Rush as his wife, Ruth

From 1960–1961, Graves starred as leading character Christopher Cobb in 34 episodes of the TV series Whiplash. In the story line, Cobb is an American who arrives in Australia in the 1850s to establish the country's first stagecoach line, using a bullwhip rather than a gun to fight the crooks that he encounters. The series also starred Anthony Wickert as Dan. Graves also starred in Court Martial as well as guest roles in such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Route 66.
In 1967, Graves was recruited by Desilu Studios to replace Steven Hill as the lead actor on Mission: Impossible. Graves played Jim Phelps, the sometimes gruff leader of the Impossible Missions Force or IMF, for the remaining six seasons of the series.
After the series ended in 1973, Graves played a cameo-type support role in the feature film Sidecar Racers in Australia which was released in 1975. Graves also made a guest appearance in the teen soap opera Class of '74 in mid-1974, playing himself.


In 1988, a Hollywood writers' strike resulted in a new Mission: Impossible series being commissioned. Graves was the only original cast member to return as a regular (although others made guest appearances). The series was filmed in Australia, and Graves made his third journey there for acting work. The new version of Mission: Impossible lasted for two seasons, ending in 1990. Bookending his work on Mission: Impossible, Graves starred in two pilot films called Call to Danger, which were an attempt to create a Mission: Impossible-style series in which Graves played a government agent (the Bureau of National Resources) who recruited civilians with special talents for secret missions.^[8][9] The 1960s version of the pilot, according to Patrick White in The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier, is credited with winning Graves the role of Phelps; after Mission: Impossible ended in 1973, Graves filmed a second version of the pilot, but it did not sell as a series. The concept was later used in the 1980s adventure series Masquerade.

During the 1990s, he hosted the documentary series Biography on A&E. He also acted in a number of films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which subsequently featured running jokes about Graves' Biography work and presumed sibling rivalry with Arness. The films that have been featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 include SST: Death Flight, It Conquered the World, Beginning of the End, and Parts: The Clonus Horror. The movie Killers from Space was featured in The Film Crew, Michael J. Nelson's follow-up to MST3K. Graves himself parodied his Biography work in the film Men in Black II, hosting an exposé television show.
In the 1996 film update of Mission: Impossible, the character of Phelps was reimagined as a traitor who murdered three fellow IMF agents, a decision that disappointed Graves. Jon Voight was cast as Phelps.^[10]
On October 30, 2009 Graves was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[11]
In 2009, AirTran Airways featured Graves in a series of web-only "Internetiquette" videos in which Graves appeared in a pilot's uniform and references classic Airplane! lines.^[12] The videos were part of an AirTran Airways campaign to promote their in-flight wireless Internet access.^[12]
In the summer of 2009, Graves signed on as a spokesperson for reverse mortgage lender; American Advisors Group (AAG).^[13] Graves appeared in a national commercial in which he educated seniors about the benefits of reverse mortgages.^[14]
Graves was married to Joan Endress from 1950^[2] until his death. Their marriage produced three daughters: Kelly Jean, Claudia King and Amanda Lee.^[15] Graves had six grandchildren.
Graves died of a heart attack on March 14, 2010,^[16] four days prior to his 84th birthday. The actor had just returned from brunch with his wife and children, collapsing before he could enter the house. Although one of his daughters administered CPR, she could not revive him.

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Corey Haim died he was 38

Corey Haim, a 1980s teen heartthrob for his roles in "Lucas" and "The Lost Boys" whose career was blighted by drug abuse, has died. He was 38.



 (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010





Haim died at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.

An autopsy will determine the cause of death and there were no other details, she said. Police Sgt. Michael Kammert said there's no evidence of foul play.

Haim had flulike symptoms before he died and was getting over-the-counter and prescription medications, Police Sgt. William Mann said. The cause of death is unknown, Mann said.

"He could have succumbed to whatever (illness) he had or it could have been drugs. Who knows?" Mann said. "He has had a drug problem in the past."

Earlier, police officials told CBS Radio News that the actor died of an apparent drug overdose, though it's unknown what kind of drug was involved.



Haim was taken by ambulance to the hospital from an apartment in Los Angeles near Burbank. The enormous complex is known as Oakwood and is popular with young actors, Kammert said.

Haim acknowledged his struggle with drug abuse to The Sun in 2004.

"I was working on Lost Boys when I smoked my first joint," he told the British tabloid.

"I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack," he said.

Haim said he went into rehabilitation and was put on prescription drugs. He took both stimulants and sedatives such as Valium.

"I started on the downers which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck," he said. "But one led to two, two led to four, four led to eight, until at the end it was about 85 a day."

In 2007, he told ABC's "Nightline" that drugs hurt his career.

"I feel like with myself I ruined myself to the point where I wasn't functional enough to work for anybody, even myself. I wasn't working," he said.

The Toronto-born actor got his start in television commercials at 10 and earned a good reputation for his work in such films as 1985's "Murphy's Romance" and his portrayal of Liza Minelli's dying son in the 1985 television film "A Time to Live."

His career peaked and he became a teen heartthrob with his roles in the 1986 movie "Lucas," and "The Lost Boys," in which he battled vampires.

In later years, he made a few TV appearances and had several direct-to-video movies. He also had a handful of recent movies that have not yet been released.


But in 1997 he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing debts for medical expenses and more than $200,000 in state and federal taxes.

His assets included a few thousand dollars in cash, clothing and royalty rights.

In recent years, he appeared in the A&E reality TV show "The Two Coreys" with his friend Corey Feldman. It was canceled in 2008 after two seasons. Feldman later said Haim's drug abuse strained their working and personal relationships.

In a 2007 interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Haim called himself "a chronic relapser for the rest of my life."
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Merlin Olsen died he was 69

Merlin Jay Olsen^[1] died he was 69. Olsen was a former American football player in the National Football League and an actor. He played his entire 15-year career with the Los Angeles Rams and was elected to the Pro Bowl in 14 of those seasons, a current record shared with Bruce Matthews. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

(September 15, 1940 - March 11, 2010)

Born to Lynn Jay and Merle Barrus Olsen in Logan, Utah, Sep 15, 1940, Olsen was the second of nine children, and the first son, of the couple. He had three brothers and five sisters: Colleen, Clark, Lorraine, Gwen, Phil, Winona, Ramona, and Orrin.

He married Susan Wakley on March 30, 1962, and they had three children: Kelly, Jill, and Nathan, and four grandchildren. Olsen belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was a passionate fisherman, his favorite being fly fishing.

He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2009^[2] and underwent three courses of chemotherapy. In January 2010 he filed a lawsuit against NBC Studios, NBC Universal, and 20th Century Fox for exposing him to asbestos.^[3]

Olsen's brother Orrin announced that he passed away on March 11, 2010 from his struggle with cancer. ^{[4] [5]}

Olsen attended Utah State University and was a three-year letterman in football as a defensive tackle. In football, as a senior, he was a consensus All-American selection (making the vast majority of All-America teams) and was the winner of the Outland Trophy. After Olsen's junior year of 1960 he was also named All-American by the Football Writers Association of America and Newspaper Enterprise Association. He was also All-Conference in both 1960 and 1961. Olsen and Utah State were in the 1960 Sun Bowl, losing to New Mexico State, 20-13. Led by Olsen, the Aggie defense held the New Mexico State Aggies to just 44 rushing yards on 32 carries.

The Aggie defense Olsen anchored as a senior gave up an average of 50.8 rushing yards (which led the nation), 88.6 passing yards, and 139.4 total yards which all still stand as school records for defense. The 1961 Aggie defense gave up an average 7.8 points a game, which is second in team history behind Olsen's 1960 team, which allowed 6.5 points per game.^[6] Additionally, the Aggie defense held four opponents to less than 100 total yards. One, the University of Idaho, was held to a school-record 23 total yards, with the Aggies winning 69-0.

The Aggies, not known as a national power football program, finished 10th in both the AP and UPI post-season polls, the only time that has occurred in school history. The Aggies had a combined 18-3-1 record during Olsen's junior and senior seasons under coach John Ralston and were conference champions those two seasons as well.

Olsen played in the East-West Shrine Game in 1961 and in 2003 was voted to the game's Hall of Fame.^[7] He also played in the Hula Bowl after his senior season and was voted MVP of the game.^[8]

Olsen is a member of the State of Utah’s Sports Hall of Fame, the Utah State University Sports Hall of Fame and USU’s All-Century Football Team. In 2000, he was selected by Sports Illustrated as one of the State of Utah’s Top 50 Athletes of the Century. He was voted to the All-Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1969 he was voted to the Newspaper Enterprise Association All-Time All-America team with collegiate greats such as Bronco Nagurski, Red Grange, Jim Thorpe, and O.J. Simpson, among others. ^[9]

In 2008 Olsen was named to the 75th Anniversary All-Sun Bowl Team to commemorate the Sun Bowl Association's Diamond Anniversary. ^[10]

Utah State University announced the intention to name its football field after Olsen during a ceremony in Logan during halftime of the USU-St. Mary’s basketball game on December 5, 2009.^[11] HOF Sculptor Blair Buswell is creating a bronze sculpture that will sit at the entrance to Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium.

Olsen also was a three-time academic All-American at Utah State and graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Kappa Phi in 1962 with a degree in finance.

Coming out of college, Olsen had offers from both Los Angeles of the NFL and the Denver Broncos of the rival American Football League. He chose the security of the NFL and signed with the Rams. Olsen's first contract was for around $50,000 for two years, plus a signing bonus. It was 1962, and the average football player salary at the time was around $12,000 a year. He was the first USU Aggie to be drafted in the 1st round of the NFL draft.

Olsen played professionally (from 1962 to 1976) for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. A leading defensive star of his era, he missed only two games in his 15-season NFL career. He was named the NFL's Rookie of the Year in 1962 and was First-team All-Pro in 1964, and 1966 through 1970. He was voted Second-team All-Pro in 1965, 1973 and 1974.

Olsen almost ended up on offense, but was later moved to the defensive line after a few experiments in practice. Soon he became part of one of the best front fours in NFL history. Deacon Jones, Rosey Grier, and Lamar Lundy joined Olsen on the defensive line in 1963 that was nicknamed "The Fearsome Foursome." He was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week for week 12 in 1965. Olsen scored his first touchdown in that game.

Throughout the 1960s, this quartet terrorized opposing offenses. Olsen's play helped the Rams to the playoffs in 1967 and 1969. He was voted the club's Outstanding Defensive Lineman from 1967-70 by the Los Angeles Rams Alumni. In week 14, 1967, Olsen and the rest of the Fearsome Foursome were named the AP NFL Defensive Players of the Week for their performance against the Baltimore Colts.

In the 1970s, Olsen continued his dominant play at defensive tackle and his eleven sacks in 1972 were second on the team. After week 8 in 1972, Olsen was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in his career.

The Rams won the NFC West crown in 1973 through 1976 thanks in part to the play of Olsen. They ranked first in the NFL in run defense in 1973 and 1974 and finished second in sacking opposing passers both years. In 1973 Olsen was voted the NFLPA NFC Defensive Lineman of the Year and the next season, 1974, he was voted the Bert Bell Award as the NFL MVP as voted by the Maxwell Club. Olsen accepted the award "on behalf of all who toil in the NFL trenches".

Three brothers – Merlin, Phil, and Orrin – all played in the NFL, with Merlin and Phil Olsen playing together for the Rams from 1971-1974. A nephew, Hans, son of his brother, Clark, also played professional football.

In 1975 and 1976, the Rams defense finished second in the NFL against the run while ranking in the top five in sacking opposing quarterbacks and compiling a 22-5-1 record over those two seasons.

Olsen's last game was the NFC Championship game in 1976 at Bloomington, Minnesota. The Vikings took advantage on a freak play early in the game. A blocked field goal returned 90 yards for a touchdown shocked the Rams in the first quarter. The defense was later victimized by a couple of big plays by the Vikings. The Rams came up short, losing 24-13, bringing the storied career of the Rams finest defensive tackle to an end.

Olsen made the Pro Bowl a record 14 times throughout his career, only missing it on his final year. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982. In 1999, he was ranked number 25 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Following his retirement as a player, Olsen went to television as a color commentator, teaming with Dick Enberg on NBC's coverage of the AFC throughout the 1980s.

He and Enberg also teamed for the Rose Bowl Game broadcast beginning with the 1980 Rose Bowl through the 1988 Rose Bowl.

He also enjoyed success as an actor. When Little House on the Prairie actor Victor French left to star in his own comedy Carter Country in 1977, Olsen was tapped to play Michael Landon's new sidekick Jonathan Garvey for several years. One memorable quote from Merlin during the series, "I don't know a thing about football" was when Charles and Jonathan were to coach a boys football team. A couple of years later, Landon cast Olsen as the masquerading priest Father Murphy.

Olsen was the commercial spokesman for FTD Florists for many years.

Olsen's most recent television acting work was in the short-lived 1988 TV series Aaron's Way, in which he played the lead role. Olsen has often co-hosted the Children's Miracle Network telethons, a humanitarian organization founded in 1983 by Marie Osmond and John Schneider.

He also appeared in many Sigma Chi Fraternity promotional campaigns; Merlin, along with his brother Phil, was a Life Loyal Sig, Significant Sig (given to members for distinguishing acts outside the fraternity) and a member of the Order of Constantine (given for service to the Fraternity).

Olsen donated one of his cleats, which were bronzed, to be used during the annual football rivalry between two Las Vegas high schools, Eldorado High School and Chaparral High School, which both opened in 1973. Each year, Olsen presented the "trophy" in the ceremony at the rivalry game.

He was named the Walter Camp Man of the Year in 1982 and Athlete of the Century for the state of Utah. During halftime of a basketball game between Utah State, Olsen's alma mater, and Saint Mary's on December 5, 2009, it was announced that the turf inside Romney Stadium, home stadium for Utah State's football program, would be named Merlin Olsen Field in Olsen's honor. A sculpture of Olsen will also be unveiled in a plaza south of the stadium during an official dedication ceremony in Fall 2010.^[12]

Olsen was voted to the California Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2010, along with Bill Walton, Dwight Stones, Jim Otto, among others. ^[13]

• Olsen acted in the movie The Undefeated opposite John Wayne and Rock Hudson in 1969.

• Had two brothers, Phil Olsen and Orrin Olsen, play in the NFL while he was still active.

• Olsen is also mentioned in the film Anchorman, as Will Ferrell humorously claims he is friends with Olsen to try to impress Veronica Corningstone.

• Olsen was mentioned in a commercial for the National Association for the Self Employed (NASE) on the Free Speech Radio Network in 2007.

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