Andy Albeck, American film executive, President of United Artists (1978–1981), died from heart failure he was , 89

 Andreas "Andy" Albeck  was an American movie executive, who was president and chief executive of United Artists, died from heart failure he was , 89 during a time when it released two films by Woody Allen, along with two films in both the James Bond and Rocky film series. He also oversaw production of Martin Scorcese's Raging Bull, a movie frequently mentioned as one of the films considered the greatest ever, as well as Heaven's Gate, the box office bomb that led to the studio's demise as an independent studio.


(September 25, 1921 – September 29, 2010)

Biography

Albeck was born on September 25, 1921, in Vladivostok, Russia. His father was a Danish executive with a shipping firm, while his mother was a Russian escaping the Bolshevik Revolution. His family was taken aboard an American naval vessel to Yokohama, Japan, where Albeck was raised and educated at St. Joseph College^[1]. His first connection to the film industry was in 1939, when he became a sales representative for Columbia Pictures in what was then the Dutch East Indies, present day Indonesia. He came to United Artists when the company made the 1951 acquisition of Eagle-Lion Films, the British film company he had been working for.^[2]
His first marriage, to Nelly Stal, produced two children, Johannes and Nina. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1958 Albeck remarried Lotte Jamel,^[2] whom he had met in 1952 when she had been brought to the United States by her cousin Mickey Marcus, a colonel in the United States Army and Israel's first general. Albeck later had Marcus's experience during World War II and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War made into the 1966 United Artists film Cast a Giant Shadow, starring Kirk Douglas.^[3]
Albeck worked his way up through the sales department at United Artists, earning promotions to become president of its broadcasting division and senior vice president of operations. In 1978, Transamerica Corporation chose him to head the studio after its former chairman Arthur B. Krim left with a group of executives to form Orion Pictures, picking Albeck for his ability to control costs and his positive relationship with wary Transamerica executives. Author Steven Bach, who served as head of production at United Artists under Albeck,^[4] wrote, "Andy Albeck was not show business; that much was clear," in his book Final Cut.^[2][5]
During his tenure at United Artists, the studio produced The French Lieutenant's Woman starring Meryl Streep, Manhattan and Stardust Memories by director Woody Allen and the James Bond films Moonraker and For Your Eyes Only. Albeck also oversaw two films in the Rocky series, both of which were box office successes. Raging Bull, with Robert DeNiro playing the role of Jake LaMotta, was a critical success that went on to be ranked on the American Film Institute's top 100 films of all time.^[2] Albeck's undoing was the film Heaven's Gate, which went several times over its original budget and earned little in box office revenue in the wake of overwhelmingly negative reviews, such as by Vincent Canby of The New York Times, who called the film a "an unqualified disaster" when it was released in November 1980.^[6] In the following weeks Albeck was named chairman of United Artists and removed from his post as president, resigning from the firm in February 1981 in the wake of media reports that he had been forced to retire. In the wake of losses amounting to $44 million, making it what was then the biggest money losing film in history, the studio was purchased in May 1981 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from Transamerica to form MGM/UA in a deal valued at $380 million.^[2][7][8]
In his retirement, he operated the award-winning Albeck Family Christmas Tree farm in Lafayette Township, New Jersey, growing blue spruce trees on a 200 acres (81 ha) farm.^[3] A resident of Manhattan, Albeck died there at the age of 89 on September 29, 2010, at NYU Langone Medical Center due to heart failure.^[3] He was survived by his second wife, Lotte, as well as by his son and daughter from his first marriage, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.^[2]

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Georges Charpak, Polish-born French physicist, Nobel laureate. died he was , 86

 

Georges Charpak was a French physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1992.^[2]

(8 March^[1] 1924 – 29 September 2010) 

Life

Georges Charpak was born in the village of Dąbrowica in Poland (now Dubrovytsia, Ukraine). Charpak's family moved from Poland to Paris when he was seven years old.

Vidéo: Interview avec Georges Charpak
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During World War II Charpak served in the resistance and was imprisoned by Vichy authorities in 1943. In 1944 he was deported to the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, where he remained until the camp was liberated in 1945. After graduating from the Lycée Joffre in Montpellier, in 1945 he joined the Paris-based École des Mines, one of the most prestigious engineering schools in France. The following year he became a naturalized French citizen.

        

He graduated in 1948, earning the French degree of Civil Engineer of Mines (equivalent to a Master's degree) and started working for the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He received his PhD in 1954 from Nuclear Physics at the Collège de France, Paris, where he worked in the laboratory of Frédéric Joliot-Curie.
In 1959, he joined the staff of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva. This is where he invented the multiwire proportional chamber, which he patented and that quickly superseded the old bubble chambers, allowing for better data processing. He eventually retired from CERN in 1991.
In 1980, Georges Charpak became professor-in-residence at École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles in Paris (ESPCI) and held the Joliot-Curie Chair there in 1984. This is where he developed and demonstrated the powerful applications of the particle detectors he invented, most notably for enabling better health diagnostics. He is indeed the co-founder of a number of start-up in the biomedical arena, including Molecular Engines Laboratories, Biospace Instruments and SuperSonic Imagine – together with Mathias Fink.
He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences on 20 May 1985.
Georges Charpak was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1992 "for his invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber", with affiliations to both École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles (ESPCI) and CERN. This was the last time a single person was awarded the physics prize.
In March, 2001 Charpak received Honorary degree Ph.D from University of the Andes, Colombia in Bogotá.^[3]
In France, Charpak was a very strong advocate for nuclear power. Prof. Charpak was a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.^[4]

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Dolores Wilson, American opera singer, died from natural causes she was , 82

Dolores Mae Wilson  was an American coloratura soprano who had an active international opera career from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. Beginning her career with major theatres in Europe, she performed in six seasons at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City during the 1950s. She is perhaps best known for originating the title role in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe at the Central City Opera in 1956. After abandoning her opera career, she embarked on a second career as a musical theatre actress; making several appearances on Broadway in the following decades.




(August 9, 1928 – September 28, 2010)

Tony Curtis American actor (Some Like It Hot, Spartacus, The Defiant Ones), died from cardiac arrest. he was , 85,

Tony Curtis  was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s died from cardiac arrest. he was , 85,. He acted in over 60 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama. In his later years, Curtis made numerous television appearances.
Although his early film roles were partly the result of his good looks, by the latter half of the 1950s he became a notable and strong screen presence. He began proving himself to be a “fine dramatic actor,” having the range to act in numerous dramatic and comedy roles. In his earliest parts he acted in a string of "mediocre" films, including swashbucklers, westerns, light comedies, sports films, and a musical. However, by the time he starred in Houdini (1953) with his wife Janet Leigh, "his first clear success," notes critic David Thomson, his acting had progressed immensely.^[1][2]

(June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010)

Greg Giraldo, American comedian (Comedy Central Roast), died from a accidental prescription drug overdose he was , 44

Greg Giraldo was an American stand-up comedian, television personality, and retired lawyer, died from a accidental prescription drug overdose he was , 44 Giraldo was best known for his appearances on Comedy Central's televised roast specials, as well as for his work on that network's television shows Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, and the programming block Stand-Up Nation, the latter of which he hosted.


(December 10, 1965 – September 29, 2010)

Early life

Giraldo was born in The Bronx and was raised in Queens.^[1] He attended Regis High School. He was the oldest son of immigrant parents from Colombia (father) and Spain (mother), and was raised Roman Catholic.^[2] He attended Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas Foundation's international summer scholarship program.^{[citation needed]} He went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Columbia University and a law degree from Harvard Law School.^[3]

Before becoming a comedian Giraldo worked as a lawyer, spending less than a year as an associate for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom ^[4] before changing his occupation. Despite his prior career, Giraldo rejected that persona and very rarely discussed his days as a lawyer.

Career

Giraldo performed regularly at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan. Giraldo was a regular panelist on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. Additionally, he was the star of the short-lived Common Law, and also starred in several pilots, including The Greg Giraldo Show and Gone Hollywood for Comedy Central. The New York Times has praised Giraldo as "a talented comedian with a winning personality." In 2004, he was featured in the spoken-word Lazyboy song, "Underwear Goes Inside the Pants."
Giraldo performed more than a dozen times on The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and appeared regularly on The Howard Stern Show. He has also appeared as a member of the panel in the NBC show The Marriage Ref.^[3] He had two half-hour specials on Comedy Central Presents, wrote segments for Last Call with Carson Daly, and Giraldo was a panelist on Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time special.
Giraldo said on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on July 7, 2005, that he had quit drinking alcohol.^{[citation needed]} His series Friday Night Stand-Up with Greg Giraldo began on Comedy Central in late 2005 and ran until 2006. His CD Good Day to Cross a River was released 2006 on Comedy Central Records.
Giraldo appeared in Comedy Central's annual roasts,^[3] roasting Chevy Chase, Pam Anderson, William Shatner, Jeff Foxworthy, Flavor Flav, Bob Saget, Joan Rivers, Larry the Cable Guy, and David Hasselhoff, as well as the TBS roast of Cheech & Chong.

Giraldo was a regular on Comedy Central's television series Lewis Black's Root of All Evil. Giraldo was one of the Advocates lobbying for their side to be considered the "root of all evil." He won in two of his nine appearances. Giraldo served as a judge during season seven of the NBC reality competition show Last Comic Standing.^[3]
In 2008, Giraldo appeared in venues across the United States as the headlining act of the Indecision '08 Tour, produced by Comedy Central. In 2009, Midlife Vices was released, his only one-hour special for Comedy Central.

Personal life

Giraldo was married twice, telling an interviewer in October 2009, "I got married when I was 24. And that didn't last very long at all."^[2] In that same interview, he said he had been living apart from his second wife for a year and was in separation proceedings, and that his oldest son was age nine.^[2] At the time of his death, he had three children and was divorced.^[3][5]

Death

On September 25, 2010, Giraldo overdosed on prescription medication.^[6] After he failed to appear for a scheduled performance at the Stress Factory, police officers found him in his hotel room at the Hyatt Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and rushed him to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in that town.^[5] TMZ reported that he had been in a coma for four days when his family had life support removed.^[7] He died on September 29, 2010.^[5][8]

Discography

• Lazyboy TV (2004) Asylum Records
• Good Day to Cross a River (2006) Comedy Central Records
• Midlife Vices (2009) Comedy Central Records

Audio/video

• The Comedy Hall of Fame Archives: "Greg Giraldo (1965–2010)"

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Clifford B. Hicks American writer and editor (Popular Mechanics, Alvin Fernald series) died he was , 90

Clifford B. Hicks was an American writer and magazine editor, best known for his children's books chronicling the adventures of Alvin Fernald died he was , 90.


(August 10, 1920 – September 29, 2010)

Biography

Hicks was born in Marshalltown, Iowa in 1920.^[1] He graduated cum laude from Northwestern University, then served as a U.S. Marine during World War II, earning the Silver Star. In 1945, he joined the staff of Popular Mechanics magazine, and became a special projects editor in 1963. He wrote the magazine's Do-It-Yourself Materials Guide and edited the Do-It-Yourself Encyclopedia.^[1]
In 1959, Hicks penned his first children's book, First Boy on the Moon, which was dubbed Best Juvenile Book of the Year by the Friends of American Writers. The next year, he wrote The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald,^[1] the first of a series of books about a boy who relies on his "Magnificent Brain" to solve problems.^[2] The books inspired a pair of two-part Disney television movies: The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton (1974), and The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper (1976).^[3]
Hicks wrote one non-fiction children's book, The World Above (1965), which discusses the Earth's atmosphere and the universe beyond.^[4] In 1971, he began the Peter Potts series,^[1] which follows the misadventures of a small town boy who often gets into trouble "by accident".^[5] Hicks also wrote a two-act play, Alvin Fernald, Mayor for a Day (1992), which was based on one of his Alvin Fernald books.^[1]
On September 29, 2010, Hicks died at his home in Brevard, North Carolina at the age of 90.^[6]

Children's books authored by Clifford Hicks

Alvin Fernald series

• The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald - 1960 (illustrated by Charles Geer)
• Alvin's Secret Code - 1963
• Alvin Fernald, Foreign Trader - 1966
• Alvin Fernald, Mayor for a Day - 1970
• Alvin Fernald, Superweasel - 1974
• Alvin's Swap Shop - 1976
• Alvin Fernald, TV Anchorman - 1980
• The Wacky World of Alvin Fernald - 1981
• Alvin Fernald, Master of a Thousand Disguises - 1986
• Alvin Fernald's Incredible Buried Treasure - 2009

Peter Potts series

• Peter Potts - 1971
• Pop and Peter Potts - 1984
• Peter Potts Book of World Records - 1987

Other children's books

• First Boy on the Moon - 1959
• The World Above - 1965

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Mickey Freeman, American comedian and television actor (The Phil Silvers Show) died he was , 93

 Joe Mantell  was an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as "Angie" in the 1955 film Marty,^[1] which earned the Best Picture Award  died he was , 93.

(né Mantel; born December 21, 1915 – died September 29, 2010)

Mantell appeared in Storm Center (1956) and Chinatown (1974). In the latter he played Lawrence Walsh, partner of private eye Jake Gittes. He delivered the film's famous last line, "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown."
The character of Walsh reappeared in The Two Jakes. He had a small role in Hitchcock's The Birds.^[2] Mantell appeared frequently in series television, including two episodes of The Twilight Zone: "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room" (in a starring role) and "Steel".
Mantell was born in Brooklyn, New York to Polish Jewish immigrant parents. His name was originally spelled "Mantel" and accented on the first syllable, but at the beginning of his acting career Mantell added the extra "L" and changed the pronunciation to "Man-TELL". On September 29, 2010, Mantell died in Tarzana, California, aged 94.^[3][4]

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