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.
Belva Offenberg was a third-generation Jewish American who was raised in New York City.[3] She graduated from Barnard College in 1939 with a degree in history.[3] Plain lived in the Short Hills section of Millburn, New Jersey.[4]
Before breaking into publishing, Belva Plain wrote short stories for magazines while raising her three children. She sold her first story to Cosmopolitan at age 25 and "contributed several dozen to various women's magazines until she had three children in rapid succession."[1] Her first novel, Evergreen, was published in 1978. It topped the New York Times bestseller list for 41 weeks and was made into a TV miniseries.[5]Evergreen followed the character Anna, "a feisty, redheaded Jewish immigrant girl from Poland in turn-of-the-century New York, whose family story continues through several decades and three more books.".[1]
The New York Times summed up her career
Strong-willed women, many of them Jewish and red-haired as well, appear again and again in Ms. Plain’s fiction. Some of her novels use historical settings — “Crescent City,” published in 1984, was set in the Jewish community of Civil War-era New Orleans. Other books tell stories about contemporary issues, sometimes inspired by the headlines — divorce (“Promises”), adoption (“Blessings”), child sexual abuse (“The Carousel”) or babies accidentally switched at birth (“Daybreak”). All of them are full of passion, but there is very little explicit sex.[1]
At her death, there were over 30 million copies of her twenty-plus novels in print in 22 languages.[1] Twenty of her novels appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.[1] Plain did not own a computer, and wrote all of her novels long-hand on a yellow pad.[3] "A disciplined worker, she wrote for several hours in the morning five days a week. She produced a 500- or 600-page novel every year or so." [1]
Personal life
Plain was married to her husband, Irving Plain, for more than forty years. He died in 1982.
Helen Mary Malcolm , usually known by her middle name,[1] was one of the first two female announcers on BBC Television died she was, 92,.. She became a household name in the UK during the 1950s.[2]
(15 March 1918 – 13 October 2010)
Biographical sketch
The granddaughter of Victorian actress Lily Langtry, who was the mistress of King Edward VII of England,[3] Mary was brought up in Poltalloch, Argyll, Scotland. Until the age of 16, she attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington, London. She began her television career in 1948, having gained broadcasting experience on the radio during the Second World War. As more and more men were called up to fight, women became increasingly in demand to fill posts at the BBC. Mary Malcolm was taken on and worked for the Home Service as a continuity announcer from March 1942. With the relaunch of the BBC's television service after the war she worked alongside Sylvia Peters and McDonald Hobley with the trio averaging ten days work a month each.[4]
At this time, all television programs were introduced by an in vision host or hostess and broadcasts were normally live. Malcolm received no training and became known for her spoonerisms: "By the end of the day I was tired, and when I came to the weather forecast I just read it out without really trying. My biggest fear was 'drain and rizzle', which I said more than once."[2] With the advent of commercial rival ITV in 1955, the BBC’s reliance on announcers diminished. Commercial breaks quickly became popular such that the BBC decided audiences no longer needed a hostess to soothe them.[5] Malcolm left the BBC in 1956 although she continued to appear as a guest on various programs including an episode of the comedy series The Goodies.[6] Her autobiography, Me, was published in 1956.
Ashraf o-Sadat Mortezaie, known professionally as Marzieh was a Tehran-born singer of Persian traditional music died from cancer she was , 86..[1]
(1924 – 13 October 2010)
Marzieh started her career in the 1940s at Radio Tehran and cooperated with some of the greatest 20th century Persian songwriters and lyricists like Ali Tajvidi, Parviz Yahaghi, Homayoun Khorram, Moeini Kermanshahi and Bijan Taraghi. Marzieh also sang with the Farabi Orchestre, conducted by Morteza Hannaneh, a pioneer of Persian polyphonic music, during the 1960s and 1970s. Her first major public performance was in 1942, when, though still a teenager, she played the principal role of Shirin at the Jame Barbud opera house in the Persian operetta Shirin and Farhad.[2]
Following the Islamic Revolution of 1979 public performances and broadcasts of record albums by solo female singers were banned outright for ten years. Ayatollah Khomeini had decreed: "Women's voices should not be heard by men other than members of their own families."[2]
She told the Daily Telegraph that in order to continue her vocal practice she used to walk by night from her home in the historic north-Tehran Niavaran foothills to her cabin in the mountains, where she would sing next to a roaring waterfall: "Nobody could hear me. I sang to the stars and the rocks."[3] Upon the death of Khomeini the successor mullahs suggested that she could resume singing, provided that she undertook never to sing for men. She refused, declaring, "I have always sung only for all Iranians," and in 1994 she left Iran forever due to the political repression, making her new home in Paris.[3]
She performed several concerts in Los Angeles, California and Royal Albert Hall (London) in 1993, 1994 and 1995. The Paris-based composer Mohammad Shams and the Persian tar soloist Hamid Reza Taherzadeh were the main musicians who worked with Marzieh in exile. France 3, a regional TV news and entertainment channel, has compared Marzieh's singing voice to those of legendary songstresses Édith Piaf and Maria Callas.[4] On the other hand, the European press have also compared her to Vanessa Redgrave and Melina Mercouri for her willingness to put political and human-rights beliefs ahead of her career, even her own safety.[2]
Death
Marzieh died of cancer in Paris on 13 October 2010, aged 86.[1][5]Maryam Rajavi, one of the leaders of an Iranian opposition group, delivered her eulogy: "Marzieh was the symbol of protest and revolt in Iranian art against the fascism of velayat-e faqih (absolute clerical rule).... Hail to Marzieh; the great, brave and pious woman who 16 years ago joined the Iranian Resistance and offered her complete support and compassion, and, in so doing, blended art with the love for freedom and the magnum opus of human qualities."[6]
Janet MacLachlan was an American character actress who had roles in such television series as The Rockford Files, Alias and The Golden Girls died from cardiovascular complications she was , 77,.
MacLachlan died on October 11, 2010 at the age of 77 in at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles. She is survived by a daughter.[2] MacLachlan resided in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. [1]
Solomon Burke was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Some sources claim that he was born in 1936, others say 1938, but in a 2002 interview with Philadelphia Weekly Burke stated that he was born in 1940.[1] He began his adult life as a preacher in Philadelphia, and soon moved on to hosting a gospelradio show. He met fellow preacher Martin Luther King, Jr. several times.[2] Artistically, Burke was influenced by the music of the church, as well as by Little Richard.[3]
In the 60s, Burke signed with Atlantic Records and began moving towards more secular music. His first hit was "Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)", a cover of a country song. Though well-received by both peers and critics, and attaining a few moderate pop and several major R&B hits, Burke never could quite break through into the mainstream as did Sam Cooke or Otis Redding, who covered Burke's "Down in the Valley" for 1965's Otis Blue. Burke's best known song is "Cry to Me", which was a hit twice: first in the 60s, and again in the 1980s when it was used in the film – and appeared on the soundtrack for – Dirty Dancing.
In 1964, with Bert Berns and Jerry Wexler, he wrote and recorded "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", his most prominent bid for an enduring soul standard. Almost immediately covered by The Rolling Stones the same year, other well-known versions include one by Wilson Pickett and another, a decade and a half later, in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers.
Burke enjoyed a special relationship with the Catholic Church throughout his life and in 2000, he and his family were invited to perform at the Jubilee of the Family at the Vatican. He was invited back to the Vatican by both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI for the Christmas celebration.
Burke was also an undertaker and had a mortuary business in Los Angeles.[4] He was trained as a mortician early in his life and had worked in his uncle's funeral parlor.[5]
In 1987, he appeared in the movie The Big Easy as Daddy Mention.
He was mentioned throughout the 1995 Nick Hornby novel High Fidelity.
2000s
Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. His career was to some degree revived in 2002, with the release of Don't Give Up on Me on Fat Possum Records and produced by Joe Henry,[6] where he sang songs written specifically for the album by various leading recording artists, including Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello and Tom Waits. Don't Give Up on Me won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003.
He appeared in the concert held on April 30, 2003 to commemorate the opening of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, TN. A DVD of the concert is available from PBS, and features two of his performances.
He is featured in the 2004 movie Lightning in a Bottle, singing "Turn on Your Love Light" and "Down in the Valley". Also in 2004, Solomon appeared on Junkie XL's album, Radio JXL: A Broadcast From the Computer Hell Cabin, performing "Catch Up To My Step". Also in 2004 he was featured on the song "I Pray On Christmas" from the Blind Boys Of Alabama album Go Tell It On The Mountain, which won a Grammy for Best Traditional Gospel Album. In 2004, Burke also recorded a duet with Italian soul singer Zucchero. The two artists performed Zucchero's hit "Diavolo in me" (Devil in Me), on the duets album Zu & Co. Burke was also a guest at a London show in May 2004 in which Zucchero presented the album. This performance is included on Zucchero's DVDZu & Co. - Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
In 2005, he appeared as a special guest with Jools Holland on his autumn tour of the United Kingdom, including two sell-out shows at London's Royal Albert Hall.
In September 2006, Burke returned to his country roots with the release of a 14-track country album titled Nashville,produced by Buddy Miller. It included guest vocals from Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch and Patty Loveless. The sessions produced the first recording Griffin's "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)", which she brought to Burke because of his association with King and that era.[2] The album peaked at #55 on the BillboardTop Country Albums chart.
Solomon was joined by a host of top country stars and backed by Buddy Miller and his Band at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee on September 25, 2006 for a one-off concert to celebrate the release of Nashville. The concert was filmed by HDNet and was released on DVD in Europe on September 17, 2007.
On September 28, 2006, Burke was among the several rock, soul, and country legends who sang along with Jerry Lee Lewis at the live concert "Last Man Standing" at the Sony Music Studio in New York. The two duets were "Who Will the Next Fool Be" and "Today I Started Lovin' You Again".
In February 2007, Burke performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and later on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The Tonight Show performance was accompanied by The Tonight Show Band members and bandleader Kevin Eubanks on lead guitar. On Late Night he performed with Buddy Miller "That's How I Got To Memphis", from Burke's album Nashville.
As one of the early artists at Atlantic Records, in 2007 Burke honored Ahmet Ertegün, the co-founder of Atlantic Records and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Burke co-hosted the March 2007 celebration of Ertegun's life's work at Lincoln Center in New York, participated in the American Master's documentaryAtlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built, and in December 2007, Burke performed at the private after-party after the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at The O2 in Greenwich, London, along with Ben E. King, Percy Sledge and Sam Moore.
In January 2008, Solomon went back to the recording studio to record with the producer/drummerSteve Jordan. The album titled Like a Fire has songs written specifically for Burke by Ben Harper, Eric Clapton, Jesse Harris, Keb' Mo', Meegan Voss and Steve Jordan and was released on June 10, 2008. This album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album of 2008.[7]
Burke joined Widespread Panic on stage for None of Us Are Free at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles on June 20, 2008.
He performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival on June 15, 2008, and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival on June 22, 2008, and for the first time in his career at England's Glastonbury Festival on June 29, 2008. This was part of his European 2008 Summer Tour, and included concerts in Portugal, England, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Austria, France, Switzerland, Norway, Slovakia and Sweden.
In January 2009, Burke joined legendary record producer Willie Mitchell at Mitchell's Royal Studio in Memphis to work together on a new recording—an album titled "Nothing's Impossible" which was released on April 6, 2010. It was the first time Burke and Mitchell had worked together in their careers. Burke also put on his record label hat when his label, The One Entertainment Systems, signed Clarence Fountain and Sam Butler and their most recent project, Stepping Up And Stepping Out. It was Clarence Fountain's first project after having left the Blind Boys of Alabama.
On July 24, 2009, Burke played at the Open-air stage in Charlton Park for the WOMAD Music Festival, held in Wiltshire, England.
Burke celebrated his 70th birthday in March 2010 and toured Japan for the first time in May 2010, before his "Year of the Dream Love Tour" across Europe in July and August 2010, including dates in Spain, Italy, England, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Serbia, Bulgaria and Switzerland.
Burke's last performance was at the 40th annual Bumbershoot: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival, on Saturday, September 4, 2010.
In October 2010, his final album Hold on Tight[8] was released, recorded in the ICP-studios in Brussels. It contains 13 songs written by Dutch pop/soul band De Dijk translated into English for performance by Burke.
Personal life
Burke fathered 21 children (14 daughters and 7 sons),[9] had 90 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.[6] Several of his children and grandchildren have had successful careers in various facets of the music industry, though none is as renowned as their patriarch. One of his grandsons, Novel, released his first studio album in October 2008. His daughter, Candy Burke, was a backing singer at many of Burke's performances including the July 2008 Juan-les-Pins concert where she performed a rendition of "I Will Survive" to rapturous applause from the crowd. She also appears in the 2003 North Sea Jazz Festival DVD with her father.
Death
On October 10, 2010, Burke died at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport while on a plane from Los Angeles that had just landed. He had been due to perform with De Dijk in Amsterdam on October 12.[10] The cause of death was not immediately clear; according to his family, Burke died of natural causes.[11]
Alison Stephens was an English classical mandolin player and film musician died from cervical cancer she was , 40.[1]
Originally from Bromley, Kent, Stephens was educated at James Allen's Girls' School and Haileybury and began playing the mandolin at the age of seven, inspired by a father who had played the instrument during the second world war.[2] She was the first graduate in the instrument from Trinity College of Music in London.[3] She gave her first public performance of a concerto at the Barbican Hall in 1987 and subsequently gave recitals all over the world. She played for opera and ballet companies and was a performer on the scores of films such as The Queen, The Golden Compass, Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Fantastic Mr. Fox.
(1 March 1970, Bickley, Kent – 10 October 2010)
Death
Stephens was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2008,[4] and was treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. After undergoing a second round of treatment in 2009 with a new form of radiation therapy, tomotherapy, she made a full recovery and spent much of the last two years of her life fundraising for cancer charities. In June 2010, the cancer returned and Alison died at the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge on October 10.
Belva Plain, née Offenberg[1], was a best-selling American author of mainstream women's fiction died she was , 95. She was born in New York City.[2]
Belva Offenberg was a third-generation Jewish American who was raised in New York City.[3] She graduated from Barnard College in 1939 with a degree in history.[3] Plain lived in the Short Hills section of Millburn, New Jersey.[4]
