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.
Irwin Barker was a Canadian comedian and writer. He wrote for This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Rick Mercer Report, and was nominated for four Gemini Awards as a writer and one as stand-up performer for his 2005 performance at the Halifax comedy Festival. Barker was also nominated for three Writers’ Guild of Canada Screenwriter’s awards, and won the award in 2008. He was also a regular writer and contributor for CBC Radio's The Debaters.
(June 13, 1952 – June 21, 2010)
In June 2007, Barker was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare type of terminal cancer. He joked that his doctor had given him twelve months to live, "but my lawyer says he can get it down to eight".
After his diagnosis, he was active as an inspirational speaker on how he used humour as a vital coping mechanism in his personal fight against cancer. He was a headline performer at numerous cancer fundraisers, as well as a keynote speaker for conferences dealing with cancer and palliative care.
His first year of cancer treatment was the subject of a CTV documentary entitled “That’s My Time.” The documentary debuted at the 2008 Atlantic Film Festival and was nationally televised in September 2008.
Reactions to Barker’s presentations on comedy and cancer have been overwhelmingly positive. In Barker's own words. “Cancer has my body but not my spirit, and I’ll continue to make jokes, not so much about cancer, but in spite of it.”[citation needed]
In 1908 the family moved to Marhamchurch, where he lived until 1948. He left school at 14 and was later called up for service in both the First and Second World Wars. However, Lucas did not serve due to a pre-diagnosed heart condition.[2] Instead, Lucas helped on the family farm during the First World War. Lucas married Ivy Nancekivell in 1926 and took over the family farm. Lucas was a breeder of Devon cattle and Devon longwool sheep and started a dairy farm in the early 1940s. In 1948 he relocated to live with his family at Poughill, where he continued to live after Ivy's death in 1963. In 1950, Lucas started playing bowls, which he continued to play until the age of 100.
Lucas was a member of Bude Town Council from 1959–1970, as well as vice chairman. His daughter said "He has worked hard in his working life and was a teetotaller and non-smoker and since he has been elderly has been well cared for".[3][4] Lucas was the last living British male born in the 19th century and the Victorian era
Christopher Mark Sievey was an Englishmusician and comedian known for fronting the band the Freshies in the late 1970s and early 1980s and for his comic persona Frank Sidebottom from 1984 onwards.[2]
(25 August 1955 – 21 June 2010)
The character was instantly recognisable by his large spherical head, styled like an early Max Fleischer cartoon. This was initially made from papier-mâché, but later rebuilt out of fibreglass.[3]
Frank, usually dressed in a 1950s-style sharp suit, was portrayed as an aspiring pop star from the small village of Timperley near Altrincham, Cheshire. His character was cheerfully optimistic, enthusiastic, and seemingly oblivious to his own failings. Although supposedly 35 years old (the age always attributed to Frank irrespective of the passage of time), he still lived at home with his mother, to whom he made frequent references. His mother was apparently unaware of her son's popularity. Frank sometimes had a sidekick in the form of "Little Frank", a hand puppet who was otherwise a perfect copy of Frank.
Comedy character Mrs Merton started out as Frank's sidekick on his radio show "Radio Timperley", and the similarity of the characters is evident, exuding a sense of great ambition which belies a domestic lifestyle in the North of England. Sidebottom's former "Oh Blimey Big Band" members include Mark Radcliffe and Jon Ronson, and his driver was Chris Evans.[3]
Frank was first revealed to the world on a 12 inch promotional record which came free with the Chris Sievey-created video game The Biz for the ZX Spectrum computer in 1984. The Frank Sidebottom character was initially created to be a fan of Sievey's band the Freshies but the popularity of the character led Sievey to focus his output on Frank Sidebottom comedy records, many of which were released on Marc Riley's 'In Tape' record label of Manchester[4] and previous to that, the 'Regal Zonophone' label.
He reached cult status in the late 1980s/early 1990s thanks to extensive touring of the country, and focusing on large towns such as St Helens. Performances were often varied from straightforward stand-up comedy and featured novelty components such as tombola, and a lot of crowd interaction. Sometimes the show also included lectures. Contrasting against the alternative comedians of the time, Frank Sidebottom's comedy was family-friendly, if a little bizarre for some.
Frank also had his own comic strip in the children's weekly comic Oink! which was launched around the mid 1980s as the children's alternative to Viz.
Frank was perhaps most popular in the North West of England, where his success was caught up in that of the Madchester scene, and for a time was a regular on regional ITV station Granada. He even featured as a reporter on its regional news programme, Granada Reports. At one point Frank had his own television show on ITV entitled Frank Sidebottom's Fantastic Shed Show.[5] He also made numerous appearances on Channel 4, including the British version of the game show Remote Control which was presented by Anthony H Wilson, where each week he would pose "Frank's Fantastic Question" to the contestants.[6] He also made several appearances on the Television South/ITV Saturday morning children's show No. 73.[7]
Frank faded into obscurity in the late 1990s, rarely appearing either on TV or live appearances. A one-off performance at Manchester's Club Indigo Vs Manic Street Mania in December 2005 seemed to be the catalyst for a comeback.
In 2006, Frank reappeared in Greater Manchester on local television channel, Channel M. His new show, Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show in B/W, featured celebrity guests and animation. The first showing of each show was in black and white ("so you don't have to turn the colour down"), whilst subsequent repeats were shown in full colour. He has also made five appearances on Iain Lee's programme on London's LBC as well as on numerous community radio stations.
A recent appearance has been as a "test card" shown late at night on Channel M, where he and Little Frank ramble on and sing songs whilst framed in a parody of the classic "Test Card F". On 6 March 2007, in an episode of the Podge and Rodge Show, he appeared in their 'Sham-Rock' talent section, performing a medley of songs by the Smiths. He received an overall score of 22 points from judges James Nesbitt and Glenda Gilson, putting him in first place for all the series' acts so far.
Frank starred in his own exhibition of drawings, animation and cardboard at London's Chelsea Space Gallery next to Tate Britain between 4 July–4 August 2007. He also appeared at "Late" at Tate Britain on 3 August 2007. [14][15][16]
He appeared in the Series 3 Christmas special of BBC Scotland's Videogaiden, performing 'Christmas is Really Fantastic', and later appeared on the Series 3 Awards show, and the final web-exclusive episode ("Closedown").
In late 2009 and early 2010 he supported John Cooper Clarke on a UK tour.
Sievey was diagnosed with cancer in May 2010.[19] On Monday, 21 June 2010, Sievey died at Wythenshawe Hospital after collapsing at his home in Hale, Cheshire. He was 54 years old.[20][21] Sievey left a daughter Asher (aged 31) and two sons: Stirling, 31, and Harry, 18, who was still living with Sievey's ex-wife Paula. After it was reported that Sievey had died virtually penniless and was facing a "pauper's funeral" provided by state grants,[22] a grassroots movement on various social networking websites quickly rallied round and donated significant sums to help out with the costs, raising £6,500 in a matter of hours. The appeal closed on Monday 28th June with a final balance of £21,631.55 from 1632 separate donations..[23]
Sievey's funeral was held on 2nd July 2010 at Altrincham Crematorium. The private service was attended by more than 200 members of his family, friends and former colleagues.[24]
On 8th July 2010, over 5,000 fans of Frank Sidebottom gathered for a party at the Castlefield Arena in Manchester to celebrate Sievey's life. The acts included Badly Drawn Boy and surviving members of 'Frank's Oh Blimey Big Band' who played in tribute. To see more of who died in 2010 click here
(born Thomas Bennett Sim; 12 July 1942 – 21 June 2010)
Primarily known as a blues vocalist with a trademark gravel-voiced sound, in the 1960s he recorded with beat groupsThe Boston Dexters and then The Buzz, who recorded one single with producer Joe Meek in 1966. In the 1970s White was the first artist to sing live on Top Of The Pops[2], and he provided the vocals for Robbie Coltrane to mime to as Big Jazza McGlone in John Byrne's award-winning television series Tutti Frutti in 1987.
Mixed fortunes in the 1970s after the Boston Dexters split saw him hosting his own TV show on Scottish Television and performing in working men's clubs, followed by a spell when he returned to stonemasonry. He told the Scotsman: "Everyone wanted me to be somebody else. I did a series for STV in the 1970s, my own show, and I ended up in a monkey suit – it was incredibly embarrassing – and doing working men's clubs. I got hooked into that, anything to make a living." During this time White was drinking heavily, a habit he kicked in 1980.[3]
In the same year White reformed the Dexters with a changing line-up that over the years included guitarist Jim Condie and jazz pianist Brian Kellock, with whom he also recorded a duet album. Billed as Tam White & The Dexters, the band built up a solid and loyal following for their live appearances, which generally sold out. In addition to being "a fixture" at the Edinburgh Jazz And Blues Festival[4], there were also support slots for many better-known blues artists including BB King, Al Green and Van Morrison.[5] As the Dexters split for a second time, collaborations with musicians such as guitarist Neil Warden, the harmonica player Fraser Speirs and bassist Boz Burrell eventually developed into a permanent lineup known as The Shoestring Band, who continued performing together either as a trio or a larger band until Burrell's death in 2006. After this White re-formed the Dexters again and continued to be a firm favourite at the box office.
Tam White began acting on television in 1990, playing John Maguire in "The Wreck On The Highway" by Colin MacDonald. His most notable appearances include Paper Mask, The Negotiator, Braveheart, Cutthroat Island, Orphans, and two roles in Taggart, once in 1992 and once in 2000.
He also had roles in Rebus: Black and Blue, playing Rico Briggs, The Legend of Loch Lomond, Goodbye, Mr Steadman and Man Dancin'.
His latest television appearance's was playing Tony Macrae in EastEnders in late 2003 and early 2004, followed by a brief stint in 2009 in the BBC Scotland soap River City.
A fitness enthusiast, he died of a heart attack after a gym session in Edinburgh on 21 June 2010.[6]
Acclaimed songwriter Larry Jon Wilson, whose flannel-warm baritone voice and deeply lyrical storytelling made him a worthy and intriguing musical contemporary of Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt and others, died Monday afternoon in Roanoke, Va. Mr. Wilson suffered a stroke while visiting family. He was 69.
“The South will never be the same,” said Jerry DeCicca, who co-produced Wilson’s intimate, self-titled “comeback” album that came out in 2009 on Drag City Records. It was Wilson’s first album in nearly 30 years. DeCicca, who called Wilson “My hero and friend,” said, “He never stopped giving himself to his art.”
Raised in Georgia, Mr. Wilson began writing songs when he was 30, after he’d celebrated a birthday, mourned the passing of his father, accepted the delivery of a Martin guitar and learned that his then-wife was pregnant, all within the same 24-hour period. He developed a distinct and unusual guitar style that served the songs he wrote about churchyards, poets and bucolic Georgia bottomland.
“People who’ve called me a great guitar player . . . I think they haven’t studied my guitar playing,” he said in a 2009 Tennessean interview. “It’s very limited, and I’m aware of that. But it properly accompanies what I play. Anything more would obscure it, and anything less wouldn’t hold it up.”
Jim McGuire, who has photographed many of Nashville’s greatest musicians, said of Mr. Wilson, “He was an artist of the highest order.” That artistry was depicted on four albums Mr. Wilson made for Monument Records in the 1970s, in a documentary film called Heartworn Highways and in the recent, self-titled album that was recorded while he played guitar and sang in a 15th floor hotel room in Perdido Key, Fla.
Those recordings, along with the still-talked-about concerts he played at small venues such as Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe and Decatur, Ga.’s Eddie’s Attic, established for Mr. Wilson a legend and reputation more significant than his modest commercial successes. Mr. Wilson didn’t so much refuse industry ladder climbing so much as he never got around to it.
“He was pretty different,” said famed publisher Bob Beckham, who signed Wilson to a deal with Combine Music in 1975. “He doesn’t fit the image, whatever the image is. . . . Back then, unique characters came along with the song.”
For his part, Mr. Wilson did not regret his decisions to step aside from mainstream motivations.
“Some people have used the ‘Outlaw’ tag effectively for a career move, but I don’t think ‘career move’ has ever entered my thinking,” he said. “When I was in Nashville, we did the streets an awful long time, and we weren’t exactly holding prayer meetings. I loved my drinking days. I stopped in the 1980s, but they were good. I’m not ashamed of any of it.”
After 29 years without a release, the Larry Jon Wilson album caused fans and critics to reexamine Mr. Wilson’s art and impact. The album wasn’t a chart hit, but it reintroduced the singer-songwriter to an international audience, some members of which weren’t even born when Mr. Wilson released his other albums. He toured in the United Kingdom, hung out with indie rockers and told his stories to fans and journalists. Mr. Wilson’s stories were less, and more, than linear. Presented with a question, he’d offer up elliptical poetry that might have something to do with the line of inquiry. And then he might offer up a song to illustrate his ever-shifting line of thought.
“Thank God I touched a few forsaken lives,” he once sang, by way of a modest thank you.
Robert Steven Perez, Honduran reggaeton musician known in the art as "Perry" was killed today in a street in the capital, police said. Te-nia 21. One of the most important singers of reggaeton from Honduras was killed in his car. The young singer had received telephone threats.While the homicide did not reach the levels of violence in the deaths of 2Pac and Notorious BIG in the U.S., the urban genre claimed its first victim.
Perez was hit in the neck by a bullet from one of two individuals on a motorcycle when the artist was traveling in his car. The bullet exited through the rear window of the vehicle.
"The Perry" had left his residence shortly before the colony Enmedio The Ranch, east of Tegucigalpa, where he was followed by criminals, police said in a statement.
Perez was a member of the renowned company BuLLaKa Musik.
The authorities have ruled out robbery as a motive for the murder, found in the car because all the belongings of the artist, including more than $ 300 in cash and two checks in his name for about $ 4.500.
According to police, "El Pery" recently had denounced death threats via cell phone. Steven Robert Perez Rodriguez was born in Tegucigalpa on February 15, 1989, his parents are Alex Humberto Perez and Alba Luz Rodriguez and made married life with the former television presenter of a youth program and also the granddaughter of former President Roberto Suazo Cordova, Davner Suazo , with whom he fathered a hija.Trabajaba in the family business selling used clothing and according to his personal website on social networking site Facebook, a student at Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (Unitec), but did not specify what career was studying; also had its own music studio where he helped other artists to record their albums.
He had composed several songs that sound like local radio and even after classification of the National Team to South Africa 2010 World Cup, made the famous song "Dame Gol."
Weeks ago the same way participated in a series of concerts organized by several official sponsors of the national team, called "Wheel of Dreams", in which he shared the stage with other artists, such as The Bohemians of Regueeton, Sherry and Sheyla, Bullaka Family, among others.
His first foray was in a rap rock band called Freestyle, which was characterized by mixed genres. He was noted for his versatility, acting ability and stage presence.
"Ella me Enamora" was the first song I recorded "The Pery" professionally four years ago, and that opened the doors of the art world in Honduras. He devoted himself after throwing his second single, "Desperate," which was located at the top of the charts.
A relative who spoke to TIME Journal said "do not know who and why had threatened Robert Steven, however, recalled that four years ago the boy was kidnapped for several days," he says. He continues, "the police captured the kidnappers and they went to prison, since that time, the boy was subjected to constant death threats," says TIME.
The wife of "El Pery, the television presenter spent Davner Suazo minutes after the event and was the first family to see the body of the singer."They killed the Pery, what the message was right," cried the girl he fathered a child with the musician.
The former host of Channel 54 experienced several fainting spells and was saved by police, arrived minutes after the parents of the now defunct singer.. According to the reggaeton family would have received messages like: "beware dog going to kill you." The Perry began his career at age 17, but it was not until 2008 when highlighted national issues such as: "Tattooing in the Heart," "Desperate," "She love me," among others . To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Bobby Meide, drummer for longstanding local rock band the Flamin' Ohs, passed away yesterday morning, only a few weeks after being diagnosed with a neurological disorder called Korsakoff's syndrome.
Born August 1, 1950, died peacefully on Sunday, June 20, 2010
"I have played with Bobby since 1970. I am heartbroken," Flamin' Ohs lead singer Robert Wilkinson wrote on the band's Facebook page.
The Flamin' Ohs have been active on the local scene for over 30 years; their most recent album, Long Live the King, was released in 2005 and was awarded as "Best Local CD" by the Minnesota Music Academy. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Minnesota Country Rock Hall of Fame.
Information on Meide's memorial service has yet to be announced. In the meantime, here's a classic Flamin' Ohs video for the song "I Remember Romance": To see more of who died in 2010 click here
Irwin Barker was a Canadian comedian and writer. He wrote for This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Rick Mercer Report, and was nominated for four Gemini Awards as a writer and one as stand-up performer for his 2005 performance at the Halifax comedy Festival. Barker was also nominated for three Writers’ Guild of Canada Screenwriter’s awards, and won the award in 2008. He was also a regular writer and contributor for CBC Radio's The Debaters.
a keynote speaker for conferences dealing with cancer and palliative care.
