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.
David M. Bailey was the son of Presbyterianmissionairies and was raised in Beirut, Lebanon. He spent some of his youth in Germany where he learned to play the guitar, played in some bands, and began writing songs. Upon returning to the United States , he attended Grove City College; he then got married and entered corporate America. He soon was diagnosed with a Glioblastomabrain tumor that was to have killed him in 6 months. He quit his job and decided to tour and write songs as long as he could. In 2003, he was one of half a dozen winners at the Kerrville New Folk Competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival.[1] In late 2008 David was diagnosed with a recurrence of Glioblastoma. On November 20, 2008, Bailey had surgery to remove a cyst and new tumor.[2][3][4] His trials with the initial occurrence of glioblastoma, and the initial recurrence in 2008, were discussed Sanjay Gupta's book "Cheating Death". On October 2, 2010, Bailey died from complications due to the cancer.[5]
Other
While living in Grove City he became fond of the New Wilmington Missionary Conference, and performed there for many years. His children have grown up going as well.
His music has been compared to that of James Taylor, Jim Croce and Cat Stevens.[4][6]
William Wallace "Bill" Norton, Jr. was an American screenwriter who wrote movies characterized by their action scenes, featuring such Hollywood stars as Angie Dickinson, Burt Lancaster, Burt Reynolds and John Wayne died from a heart attack he was , 85,. Later in life, Norton would be convicted of gun running in France when he tried to send arms from the United States to aid Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland. He later moved to Nicaragua after being released from prison and shot and killed an intruder in his Managua home then spent a year living in Cuba where he became disillusioned with Communism and was smuggled from Mexico into the U.S. by his ex-wife.
Norton was born on September 24, 1925, in Ogden, Utah, where his parents owned a ranch which they lost during the Great Depression.[1] His family moved to Berkeley, California and then El Monte. He attended El Monte High School, where he was class president.[2] During World War II, Norton enlisted in the United States Army and served in Europe. He started writing, using his life experience of growing up poor and serving in the military, and some of his plays were produced by local theater companies. He joined the Communist Party in his youth and in 1958 was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, though he did not name anyone.[1][2]
He wrote for the television series The Big Valley, which was broadcast from 1965 to 1968.[3] His big screen breakthrough came with his script for the 1968 film The Scalphunters, set in the antebellum West, with the movie starring Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis and Shelley Winters. Other screenplays that Norton wrote included the Angie Dickinson vehicle Big Bad Mama directed by Roger Corman and the 1975 John Wayne detective film Brannigan. Films he wrote that starred Burt Reynolds included Sam Whiskey, White Lightning and Gator. When asked by a nurse the day before he died if she would know any of Norton's films, he replied "I don't think your I.Q. is low enough".[1]
After moving to Ireland in the mid-1980s, Corman was angered by attacks staged against Roman Catholic residents of Northern Ireland. He flew back to the United States and purchased a number of guns to bring back to Ireland to supply the Irish National Liberation Army.[2] When the van they shipped was found in Le Havre, France with two submachine guns, 12 rifles, 23 revolvers and thousands of rounds of ammunition, Norton and his wife were arrested and were both convicted.[2] Sentenced to two years in prison, he was released after 19 months while his wife served five months before her release on medical grounds.[3] Norton and his wife were subject to a U.S. warrant on the gun smuggling charges and were granted asylum in Nicaragua.[2] After bandits broke into his house in Managua, he was able to find a gun and shot and killed one of the robbers.[1]
He relocated to Cuba in the 1990s, but rapidly became disenchanted with life under Communism. He moved again, this time to Mexico, and sought the help of his daughter and his first wife to bring him back into the United States. He met his family members in Tijuana and they smuggled him back across the U.S. border. He settled in Santa Barbara, California, where he chose to paint as a hobby, but spent years worrying that the FBI would arrest him, until a lawyer convinced him that he had nothing to worry about.[1] He wrote a script called Exiled in America based on his experiences, which was produced by Paul Leder.[3]
Death
Norton died in Santa Barbara of a heart attack at the age of 85 on October 1, 2010. He was survived by his second wife, Eleanor, as well as by two daughters and a son, writer / director Bill L. Norton.[3] He also had eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His first marriage, to the former Betty Conklin, had ended in divorce.[1]
Stephen Joseph Cannell was an American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor, and the founder of Stephen J. Cannell Productions died from complications from melanoma he was , 69,.
(pronounced /ˈkænəl/; February 5, 1941 – September 30, 2010)
Aaron-Carl Ragland better known simply as Aaron-Carl was an American electronic dance musician. He died of cancer he was , 37.[1]
(born 1973 - died 30 September 2010)
In 1999, he was the founder of Detroit, Michigan-based Wallshaker Music, an independent record label and music production company specializing in soulful Tech-House music. Aaron-Carl was also the founder and CEO of W.A.R.M.T.H. International Inc.
In addition to his own label, he also released materials on some of house and techno's most respected labels, including Ovum and the Underground Resistance, a sub-label Soul City[2] as well as Rebirth, Metroplex, Subject Detroit and Universal France.
He has remixed to many Detroit techno artists, like Underground Resistance, Scan 7, DJ Bone, Aux 88 & Kelli Hand. In addition, he has remixed various house, R&B and other mainstream artists, including Dajae, GusGus, Manu Dibango, N'Dambi (with Keite Young) and Kindred the Family Soul, CeCe Peniston ("Above Horizons") and Michelle Weeks.
Aaron Carl's single "My House" got licensed by Josh Wink's label, Ovum Recordings, and became Aaron's first Billboard Top 40 Dance/Club hit.
Aaron-Carl's music has been showcased in various feature films, most notably Maestro, a house music documentary by Josell Ramos, which featured original tracks "Sky" and "Oasis". Aaron-Carl also appears in The Godfather Chronicles -- The Ghetto Tech Sound of Detroit. His remix of rapper Johnny Dangerous' "Topsy Turvy", in which Aaron-Carl makes a cameo appearance is featured in Pick Up the Mic, a documentary by Alex Hinton.
Discography
Singles
"My House" (Ovum Recordings label - made it to US Billboard Top 40 Dance/Club chart)
Michael Joseph Sobran, Jr. was an American journalist and writer, formerly with National Review and a syndicated columnist died from diabetes he was 64. He was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
(February 23, 1946 – September 30, 2010)
Academic and professional career
Sobran graduated from Eastern Michigan University and received a Bachelor of Arts in English. He studied for a graduate degree in English, concentrating on Shakespearean studies, following his graduation. In the late 1960s, Sobran lectured on Shakespeare and English on a fellowship with the university.
In 1972, Sobran began working at William F. Buckley Jr.'s National Review magazine. (During the 1970s, he frequently used the byline M.J. Sobran.) He stayed 21 years, 18 as senior editor, before being removed from the publication amidst controversial charges.
Along with his work at National Review, Sobran spent 21 years as a commentator on the CBS Radio "Spectrum" program series and was a syndicated columnist, first with the Los Angeles Times, and later with the Universal Press Syndicate. In 2007, his newsletter discontinued distribution by the U.S. mail.
Sobran wrote a column for the Catholic newsweekly The Wanderer entitled Washington Watch from 1986 to 2007. He also had a monthly column that appears in Catholic Family News. He wrote the "Bare Bodkin" column for Chronicles. Additionally, his essays have appeared in The Human Life Review, Celebrate Life!, and The Free Market. Sobran was media fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.[1]
Sobran was named the Constitution Party's vice presidential nominee in 2000, but withdrew in April 2000 citing scheduling conflicts with his journalistic commitments. [2]
In 2001 and 2003 Sobran spoke at conferences organized by Holocaust denierDavid Irving,[3] sharing the podium with Paul Fromm, Charles D. Provan, and Mark Weber, director of the Institute for Historical Review. In 2002 he spoke at the Institute for Historical Review's annual conference.[4] Referring to his appearance at IHR conferences, historian Deborah Lipstadt wrote, "Mr. Sobran may not have been an unequivocal [Holocaust] denier, but he gave support and comfort to the worst of them."[5]Writing in the National Review, Matthew Scully said, "His appearance before that sorry outfit a few years ago ... remains impossible to explain, at least if you’re trying to absolve him."[6]
Sobran was fired from National Review in 1993 and was accused of being an anti-Semite (most notably by Norman Podhoretz). Podhoretz wrote that "Joe Sobran's columns ... [are] anti-Semitic in themselves, and not merely 'contextually.'" Buckley disagreed with Podhoretz's accusation, noting that he "deemed Joe Sobran's six columns contextually anti-Semitic. By this I mean that if he had been talking, let us say, about the lobbying interests of the Arabs or of the Chinese, he would not have raised eyebrows as an anti-Arab or an anti-Chinese."[7]
One such comment was that the New York Times "really ought to change its name to Holocaust Update."[8] Sobran claimed that founder William F. Buckley told him to "stop antagonizing the Zionist crowd," and Buckley accused him of libel and moral incapacitation.[9] Sobran also complained of "a more or less official national obsession with a tiny, faraway socialist ethnocracy."[10]
At the time of his dismissal from National Review, Sobran wrote that Buckley kowtowed to the liberal Manhattan social elite. Shortly after Buckley's death in 2008, Sobran wrote that the two had reconciled: "My employment ended unhappily, much to my regret now, but I rejoice to say we patched things up a year or so ago."[11]
Political philosophy
Through much of his career, Sobran identified as a paleoconservative and supported strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. In 2002 Sobran announced his philosophical and political shift to libertarianism (paleolibertariananarcho-capitalism) citing inspiration by theorists Murray Rothbard and Hans-Hermann Hoppe.[12] He has referred to himself as a "theo-anarchist."[13]
Sobran said Catholic teachings are consistent with his opposition to abortion and the Iraq War. He also argued that the 9/11 attacks were a result of the U.S. government's policies regarding the Middle East. He claimed those policies are formed by the "Jewish-Zionist powers that be in the United States."[14]
Books and other publications
Sobran was the author of many books, including one about William Shakespeare, Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time (1997), wherein he endorsed the aberrant Oxfordian theory that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of the plays usually attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon.
At the time of his death, he was working on two books: one concerning Abraham Lincoln's presidency and the United States Constitution, and another about de Vere's poetry.
He is also the author of:
Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions – Human Life Press – 1983
Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time – Free Press 1997
Hustler: The Clinton Legacy – Griffin Communications 2000
Sobran has produced a number of published articles and speeches, including:
Anything Called a Program is Unconstitutional – Griffin Communications – 2001
The Church Today: Less Catholic Than the Pope? – National Committee of Catholic Laymen – 1979
Biography
