Teena Marie American singer and composer. died she was , 54.

Mary Christine Brockert, better known by her stage name Teena Marie,  was an American singer, songwriter and producer died she was , 54.. She was known as Tina^[1] before taking the stage name Teena Marie; she later acquired the nickname of Lady Tee (sometimes spelled Lady T) given to her by mentor, collaborator, and friend Rick James. She was known for her distinctive soulful vocals which initially caused many listeners to believe she was African American. Her success in R&B and soul and loyalty to these genres would earn her the title Ivory Queen of Soul. She played rhythm guitar, keyboards and congas. She also wrote, produced, sang and arranged virtually all of her songs since her 1980 release, Irons in the Fire, which she later said was her favorite album.

(March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010)

 Biography

Early life (1956–1978)

Mary Christine, or Tina as she was called, was the fourth of five children born in Santa Monica^{[citation needed]} to construction worker Thomas Leslie Brockert and his wife, home renovator Mary Anne. She spent her early childhood in Mission Hills. Her ethnic heritage was Portuguese, Italian, Irish and Native American. In 2005, while visiting Louisiana, she had discovered that her paternal ancestors once lived in New Orleans.^[2][3][4]

Brockert took to singing naturally, performing Harry Belafonte's Banana Boat Song by age two. She also developed a fondness for singing the songs of Motown, and her self-professed “Gift from God” would become fine-tuned as the years progressed.
Brockert's parents began sending her out on auditions when she was eight years old, which netted an acting role on The Beverly Hillbillies, credited as Tina Marie Brockert.^[5] She also sang at the wedding of actor Jerry Lewis' son when she was 10 years old. Reared in a Roman Catholic household, Teena learned to play the piano under the tutelage of two nuns and later taught herself the guitar, bass, and congas. She would go on to form a semi-professional R&B band with younger brother Anthony and their cousin.
In the early 70s, after the family moved to Venice, Los Angeles, Brockert spent her adolescent years in the historically black Venice enclave of Oakwood, nicknamed "Venice Harlem". There, she would acquire a strong spiritual influence from neighborhood matriarch Berthalynn Jackson, an African American who would become her godmother.^[6][7][8]
While attending Venice High School, Brockert joined the Summer Dance Production, and also had the female lead in the school's production of The Music Man.^[9]
After graduating, Brockert juggled auditioning for various record companies with studying English Literature at Santa Monica College. She credited her love of reading with helping her to write the lyrics she's known for.

Motown era (1979–1982)

In 1976, Brockert (as lead singer member of a band she assembled which included long time friend Mickey Boyce) gained an introduction to Motown Records staff producer Hal Davis (best known for his work with Brenda Holloway and the Jackson 5). This led to an audition for a film about orphans being developed by Motown. The project was shelved, but label boss Berry Gordy decided to sign her as a solo act, impressed with her singing but having no need for a musical group. She recorded unreleased material with a number of different producers over the next few years, before being spotted by labelmate Rick James who was immediately impressed with her sound. (Some of the earlier unreleased material has since been made available on compilation.) At the time, James, already established as a successful recording artist, was on tap to produce for Diana Ross but changed his mind and decided to work with Brockert. The result was debut album release, Wild and Peaceful. The album was, at one point, due to be credited to "Teena Tryson", but ultimately was put out under Teena Marie, the name by which she would be known throughout her career. It scored Teena Marie her first top-ten R&B hit, "I'm Just a Sucker for Your Love" (#8 Black Singles Chart),^[10] a duet with James. Neither the album nor its packaging had her picture on it, and many radio programmers incorrectly assumed she was African-American during the earliest months of her career.^[10] This myth was disproved when she performed her debut hit with James on Soul Train in 1979, becoming the show's first white female guest (she would appear on the show eight more times, more than any other white act).
In 1980, her second album, Lady T, would have her portrait on the cover upon its release. It's also noted for having production from Richard Rudolph (husband of R&B singer Minnie Riperton, who died a year earlier). Teena Marie had asked Berry Gordy to contact Rudolph and secure his input as Rick James was unavailable and she felt unprepared to be sole producer of her own material. Rudolph intended for the song he penned, "Now That I Have You", to be sung by his wife, but it was later given to Teena Marie.^[11] Rudolph also co-composed the single "Behind The Groove", which reached number 21 on the black singles chart and reaching #6 on the U.K. singles chart in 1980.^[10] The song would also be included on the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the Fever 105 soundtrack.^[12] Another notable track, "Too Many Colors," featured Rudolph and Riperton's then 7-year-old daughter, Maya Rudolph, who became Teena Marie's god-daughter.
Also in 1980, Teena Marie released her third LP, Irons in the Fire, for which she handled all writing and production herself, including the horn and rhythm arrangements of her band and all backing vocals, all considered rare at the time for a female artist.^[10] The single "I Need Your Lovin'" (#37 Pop, #9 Black Singles) brought Teena Marie her first top 40 hit. This single also peaked at #28 in the UK chart. That same year, Teena Marie appeared on James' hugely successful album, Street Songs, with the duet "Fire and Desire". In an interview, Teena Marie said she had a fever at the time yet managed to record her vocals in one take. After the session, she was driven to a hospital. The two would perform the single at the 2004 BET Awards, which would be their last TV appearance with one another as Rick James died later that year.^[13]
Teena Marie continued her success with Motown in 1981, with the release of It Must Be Magic (#2 Black Albums Chart), her first gold record, which included her then biggest hit on R&B, "Square Biz" (#3 Black Singles). Other notable tracks include "Portuguese Love" (featuring a brief, uncredited cameo by James, #54 Black Singles), the title track "It Must be Magic" (#30 Black Singles), and album only track "Yes Indeed", which she cited as a personal favorite.^{[citation needed]}
In 1982, Teena Marie got into a heated legal battle with Motown Records over her contract and disagreements about releasing her new material.^[14] The lawsuit resulted in "The Brockert Initiative", which made it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing new material for that artist. In such instances, artists are able to sign and release with another label instead of being held back by an unsupportive one. Teena Marie commented on the law in an LA Times article, saying, "It wasn't something I set out to do. I just wanted to get away from Motown and have a good life. But it helped a lot of people, like Luther Vandross and the Mary Jane Girls, and a lot of different artists, to be able to get out of their contracts."^[15] She left Motown as the label's most successful white solo act.

Epic era (1983–1990)

Contacted by Epic Records in the Fall of 1982 after expressing dismay over her Motown contract, Teena Marie signed a worldwide deal with the Columbia Records' subsidiary that also allowed her to establish her own publishing company, Midnight Magnet. Epic released the concept album Robbery, which featured the hit "Fix It" (#21 R&B), as well as "Shadow Boxing" and "Casanova Brown." The latter was one of a number of tracks Teena Marie would write over the years about her real-life romance with one-time mentor Rick James. The relationship had ended by that point, but the two would continue a sometimes tempestuous friendship, until James' death in August 2004. In 1984, Teena Marie released her biggest-selling album, Starchild. It yielded her biggest hit "Lovergirl", which peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart^[16] in March 1985. It also peaked at #9 on the R&B chart. The label also released the moderate R&B hit "Out on a Limb", which peaked at #56 on the R&B chart, but didn't break the Hot 100. "14k" was featured on the soundtrack of the film Goonies (1985) but was not a hit (only making the U.S. R&B charts at #87).
In 1986, Teena Marie released a rock music-influenced concept album titled Emerald City. It was controversial with her established fan base and not as successful as its predecessors. She also recorded another rock-influenced track, "Lead Me On", co-produced by Giorgio Moroder, for the soundtrack of the box office hit film, Top Gun (1986). In 1988, however, she returned to her R&B and funk roots, releasing the critically-acclaimed album Naked to the World. That album contained the hit "Ooo La La La", which reached the top of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and was her only #1 single on that chart. During her 1988 Naked to the World concert tour, she suffered a fall and was hospitalized for six months.
Teena Marie released Ivory in the fall of 1990 and it scored no pop hits, but it did experienced two R&B hits: "Here's Looking at You" (#11 R&B) and "If I Were a Bell" (#8 R&B).

Hiatus, Passion Play and Black Rain (1991–2003)

During the 1990s, Teena Marie's classic R&B, soul, and funk records were either sampled by hip-hop artists or covered by R&B divas. Teena Marie herself is regarded as something of a pioneer in helping to bring hip-hop to the mainstream by becoming one of the first artists of her time to rap one of her singles—the aforementioned "Square Biz". In the hip-hop portion of that song, she mentions some of her inspirations: Sarah Vaughn, Johann Sebastian Bach, Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, and Nikki Giovanni, "just to name a few". In 1996, the Fugees paid tribute to her by interpolating the chorus of her 1988 hit, "Ooo, La, La, La", into its own "Fu-Gee-La", which was a huge hit.
In the fall of 1994, Teena Marie released Passion Play on her independent label, Sarai Records.^[17] Lacking the backing of a major label, this album sold less well than her earlier work, but was well received by fans.^{[citation needed]}
Subsequently, Teena Marie devoted most of her time to raising her daughter Alia Rose^[18] (who has since adopted the stage name "Rose Le Beau" and is pursuing her own singing career). During the late 1990s, Teena Marie made appearances (as herself) on the TV sitcoms, The Steve Harvey Show and The Parkers. She also began work on a new album, titled Black Rain. She was unable to secure a major label deal for this, and did not want to put it out on her own Sarai label in light of the modest sales of Passion Play. However, a version pressed for promotional purposes was widely bootlegged among fans. This contained the tracks, "The Mackin' Game", "I'll Take the Pressure", "Baby, I'm Your Fiend", "My Body's Hungry", "Ecstasy", "I'm on Fire", "Watcha Got 4 Me", "Black Rain", "1999", "Butterflies", "Spanish Harlem", "Blackberry Playa", "The Perfect Feeling", and "Rainbow Outro". Some of these tracks resurfaced on the later albums: La Doña, Sapphire, and Congo Square; in some cases (e.g. "The Mackin Game") in significantly reworked versions.

La Doña to Congo Square, and her final years (2004–2010)

After a 14-year sabbatical from the national spotlight, Teena Marie returned to her musical career by signing with the Classics sub-label of the successful hip-hop label, Cash Money Records. She released her comeback album, La Doña, in 2004, and follow up Sapphire, in 2006. La Doña became a gold-certified success (and the highest-charting album of her career, peaking at #6 on the Billboard 200 chart) on the basis of the Al Green-sampled "I'm Still In Love" (#23 R&B, #70 Pop) and a duet with the late Gerald Levert, "A Rose by Any Other Name". Teena Marie was nominated for a 2005 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Still in Love". Teena Marie quickly followed this success with the release of Sapphire in 2006. While sales were not as great this time around (the album peaked at #24 on the Pop Chart), the release did give her yet another R&B Top-40 hit, "Ooh Wee" (#32); it also reunited her (on "God Has Created" and "Cruise Control") with Smokey Robinson, the early Motown mentor whose style she had emulated on early hits such as "Young Love". Teena Marie parted ways with Ca$h Money records after the release of Sapphire.
On September 19, 2008, Teena Marie performed in concert at B.B. King's Blues Club in New York City. Teena took this time to play a couple of finished tracks from her upcoming album, Congo Square, and she received a positive response from the crowd. Congo Square was released on June 9, 2009 on Stax/Concord Records. She has described the album as "personal and spiritual" and indicated that it was more jazz-influenced than most of her previous work. "Can't Last a Day", a duet with Faith Evans, leaked to the Internet in March 2009. Teena Marie says of Evans, "It was after I had recorded the song ("Can't Last a Day") I got the idea to put Faith on it. I’ve always loved Faith and her vocal style. She reminds me of me. Her correlation with Biggie — having a career with him and without him — reminds me of me and Rick. I feel like she’s a younger me. Of the younger ladies, she’s the one I love most.”^[19]
Meanwhile, with regard to her early-life inspirations for Congo Square, in January 2010 Teena Marie told Lee Tyler, editor of Blues & Soul magazine: "I wanted to do songs that reflected the things that I loved when I was growing up. Every single song on the record is dedicated to someone, or some musical giant that I loved. 'The Pressure' is dedicated to Rick James; 'Can't Last a Day' is dedicated to the Gamble & Huff sound - the Philly International sound'. Then 'Baby I Love You' and 'Ear Candy' are dedicated to Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield - with memories of riding down Crenshaw in LA in jeeps and bumping to music on ``the 808 i.e. Roland TR-808 drum machine. While 'Miss Coretta' is, of course, dedicated to Mrs. Coretta Scott King, the late wife of Dr. Martin Luther King."^[20]
Sales-wise, the album proved another success, reaching the Top 20 on Billboard's Top 200, and giving Teena Marie yet another Top 10 R&B chart entry. In 2010, Teena Marie continued to be a headliner on the Las Vegas Strip, appearing regularly at the Las Vegas Hilton and other venues until just before her death.
At the time of her death, Teena Marie had completed her 14th CD and was also working on jazz and inspirational CDs. In addition, she was in the midst of her writing her memoir.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Teena Marie, who never wed, gave birth to a daughter in 1991, whom she named Alia Rose,^[21] who, as of 2009, sang under the name Rose LeBeau.^[22]
Throughout her career, Teena Marie had lived in Inglewood, California and Encino before settling in Pasadena in the mid-1980s.
In addition to Maya Rudolph, Teena Marie was godmother to Marvin Gaye's daughter Nona Gaye. She also cared for Rick James' son, Rick Jr. and family friend Jeremiah O'Neal. Lenny Kravitz posted a video in which he revealed that Teena Marie had taken him into her home and helped him when he was struggling early in his career.^[23][24] Teena's hobbies included archery, drawing, and writing poetry.^{[citation needed]}

Death and memorials

Around 2004, Teena Marie lay sleeping in a hotel room when a large picture frame fell and struck her in the head. The blow caused a serious concussion that would result in momentary seizures for the rest of her life. She had suffered a grand mal seizure just one month before her death.^[25]
On the afternoon of December 26, 2010, Teena Marie was found unresponsive by daughter Alia Rose at her home in Pasadena, California.^[26][27] As of December 30, 2010, an autopsy was performed by the Los Angeles County coroner, who found no signs of apparent trauma or discernible cause of death.^[27] Eventually it was concluded that Teena Marie died of natural causes.^[27][28]
A memorial was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery on January 10, 2011. Among the luminaries who attended were her long-time idol Smokey Robinson, LisaRaye, Sinbad, Tichina Arnold, Stevie Wonder, and Tata Vega.

Discography

Main article: Teena Marie discography

Studio albums

• Wild and Peaceful (1979)
• Lady T (1980)
• Irons in the Fire (1980)
• It Must Be Magic (1981)
• Robbery (1983)
• Starchild (1984)
• Emerald City (1986)
• Naked to the World (1988)
• Ivory (1990)
• Passion Play (1994)
• La Doña (2004)
• Sapphire (2006)
• Congo Square (2009)

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Jessie Rae Scott, American gubernatorial First Lady (1969–1973), widow of North Carolina governor Bob Scott, died after a long illness she was , 81.

Jessie Rae Scott was the First Lady of North Carolina from 1969 to 1973 and the widow of former North Carolina Governor Robert W. Scott died after a long illness she was , 81.. ^[1][2] Scott unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for North Carolina's labor commissioner in 1976 and served as the state coordinator for Jimmy Carter presidenital campaign.^[1] She also acted as the chief lobbyist for North Carolina's Equal Rights Amendment for women.^[1]

(1929 - December 26, 2010)

Biography

Early life

Scott was born Jessie Rae Osborne in Swepsonville, North Carolina,^[2] to Albert and Rosa Lee Osbourne.^[3] She received a bachelor's degree from Greensboro Women's College,^[2] which is now part of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.^[1]
Scott married her husband, Robert W. Scott, in 1951.^[2] The two had met in third grade and began dating in high school.^[1]

First Lady

Scott served as the First Lady of North Carolina from 1969 to 1973.

Later life

In 1982, Scott became the chairwoman of the North Carolina chapter of the American Cancer Society.^[2] The American Cancer Society honored her with its Sword of Hope award that same year and granted her honorary life membership in the organization in 1995.^[2]
Jessie Rae Scott died at the Hillcrest Convalescent Center in Durham, North Carolina, on December 26, 2010, at the age of 81.^[2] She had been hospitalized since July 2010 due to complications from a fall.^[2] Her funeral was held at the Hawfields Presbyterian Church in Mebane, North Carolina.^[4]

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Bernard Wilson, American singer (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes), died from a stroke and heart attack. he was , 64

 Bernard Wilson was a second tenor and baritone R&B, funk and soul music vocalist, who was a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and thus helped to define the “Sound of Philadelphia” in the 1970s died from a stroke and heart attack. he was , 64.^[1]

(1946 – December 26, 2010)

Early career

Wilson was a North Philadelphia native who grew up in the Strawberry Mansion neighberhood. His parents died while Wilson was still young and he was thereafter raised by his grandmother. He attended Bok Technical High School, but left home at the age of 16 to seek fame and fortune as an entertainer.^[2] In 1970, Wilson joined the evolving line-up of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, which featured Harold Melvin – another native of Philadelphia. With the addition of Teddy Pendergrass to the group and the release of their first record, the Bluenotes achieved great success. Their self-titled LP with Philadelphia International Records overseen by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, landed three singles on the Billboard charts. It was this early-to-mid 1970s lineup that had such hits as "If You Don't Know Me by Now," "The Love I Lost," "Don't Leave Me This Way," and "Bad Luck." Other chart toppers for the band such as "I Miss You" and "Wake Up Everybody, from their5 self-titled platinum record soon followed. Wilson stayed with the Bluenotes through six albums and then left the group in 1977, shortly after Teddy Pendergrass's departure, to pursue a solo career.^[3]

Later career

Wilson had hoped to recover from his illnesses and sing gospel, however the last time he performed was during the 1990s, at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

Death

Wilson died on December 26, 2010, at the age of sixty-four, due to complications of a stroke and heart attack.

Discography

With Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes

• Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes (1972)
• Black & Blue (1973)
• To Be True (1975)
• Wake Up Everybody (1975)
• Reaching for the World (1976)^[4]
• Now Is the Time (1977)

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Aron Abrams, American screenwriter and television producer (Everybody Hates Chris, King of the Hill) died he was , 50

Aron Abrams, was an American screenwriter and television producer whose works ranged from Everybody Hates Chris to Grounded for Life. Born in Emerson, New Jersey, Abrams landed several projects with famed producer Dino De Laurentiis before establishing himself as a comedy writer died he was , 50.

(February 3, 1960 - December 25, 2010)

Career

Abrams began his career in the 1990s, writing and producing episodes for shows like the short-lived Fired Up and Maggie.
Abrams then began to write for popular shows 3rd Rock from the Sun, Grounded for Life, King of the Hill (which he also served as a consulting producer) as well as Glenn Martin DDS and Everybody Hates Chris.^[1]

Death

On Christmas morning, 2010, Abrams was found dead in his luxury hotel suite by staff. Foul play was not suspected.^[2] Abrams is survived by his wife Lynn, his children, niece and brother, Ian (also a writer). His final TV job was as a consulting producer on the Fox comedy Bob's Burgers.

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Bud Greenspan, American Olympic filmmaker, died from Parkinson's disease. he was , 84

Jonah J. "Bud" Greenspan  was a film director, writer, and producer known for his sports documentaries  died from Parkinson's disease. he was , 84.


(September 18, 1926 – December 25, 2010)

Career

Greenspan was born in New York City. He overcame a lisp in adolescence and went into sports broadcasting after graduating from New York University.^[1] In 1947 Greenspan became sports director at New York City's WMGM (AM), at that time the largest sports radio station in the US, when he was 21 years old. When he left WMGM, Greenspan began contributing articles to magazines while also producing television commercials.
He dabbled in documentary filmmaking in 1952, with The Strongest Man in the World, a 15-minute feature on weightlifter John Davis, but he began his filmmaking career in earnest in 1964, accompanying Jesse Owens to West Berlin to film Jesse Owens Returns to Berlin. In 1967, he formed his own film company, Cappy Productions, Inc., with wife Cappy Petrash Greenspan (deceased 1983). He and his wife had one son. After his wife's death, Greenspan ran Cappy Productions with his companion Nancy Beffa.
Several hour-long productions followed. Greenspan won his first Emmy for 1976's The Olympiad, 22 hour-long documentary specials on the Olympics (including Jesse Owens Returns to Berlin). The series was broadcast in 80 countries. In 1977, he branched into docudrama with the two-hour movie of the week biography of gold-medalist Wilma Rudolph. Wilma, starring Cicely Tyson, featured Denzel Washington in his first movie role. In 1979, he launched the first of several vignette series: This Day in Sports, which aired on CBS, featured 365 30-second film shorts highlighting exciting sports moments from years past. It was followed in 1980 by the similar Olympic Moments, Olympic Events and Olympic Vignettes.
In addition to his prolific film work, Greenspan continued working in other media. He was a contributing editor for PARADE magazine. He also authored a number of books, including several on the Olympics, a book of sports bloopers called Play It Again, Bud, and We Wuz Robbed, which addresses sports controversies. Great Moments in Sports, his first album, went gold and led him to produce 18 more spoken word albums.

Awards and recognition

Greenspan's work was recognized many times. He received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Directors Guild of America in 1995 and from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at the 2006 Annual Sports Emmy Awards. In 1996, he received a George Foster Peabody Award to recognize "distinguished and meritorious public service",^[2] cited as one of the industry's most prestigious awards.^[3]
Greenspan received the Olympic Order award in 1985, at which time International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch said, "Mr. Greenspan has been called the foremost producer, writer and director of Olympic films; more than that, he is an everlasting friend of the Olympic family."^[4] In 2004, Greenspan was inducted as a "Special Contributor" into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. His visual and musical The Spirit of the Olympics is on display permanently at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1994, Greenspan was inducted in the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In 2006, he was given the Al Schoenfield Media Award by the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Death

Greenspan died of Parkinson's disease on Christmas Day 2010, at the age of 84 in New York City.^[5]

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Carlos Andrés Pérez, Venezuelan politician, President (1974–1979; 1989–1993), died from a heart attack. he was , 88

Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez , also known as CAP and often referred to as El Gocho (due to his Andean origins), was a Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993 died from a heart attack. he was , 88. His first presidency was known as the Saudi Venezuela due to its economic and social prosperity thanks to enormous income from petroleum exportation. However, his second period saw a continuation of the economic crisis of the 1980s, and saw a series of social crises, a popular revolt (denominated Caracazo) and two coup attempts in 1992. In May 1993 he became the first Venezuelan president to be forced out of the office by the Supreme Court, for the misappropriation of 250 million bolívars belonging to a presidential discretionary fund. After more than two years of house arrest, Pérez was released in September 1996.

(27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010)

Early life and education

Carlos Andrés Pérez was born at the hacienda La Argentina, on the Venezuelan-Colombian border near the town of Rubio, Táchira state, the 11th of 12 children in a middle-class family. His father, Antonio Pérez Lemus, was a Colombian-born coffee planter and pharmacist of Spanish and Canary Islander ancestry who emigrated to Venezuela during the last years of the 19th century. His mother, Julia Rodríguez, was the daughter of a prominent landowner in the town of Rubio and the granddaughter of Venezuelan refugees who had fled to the Andes and Colombia in the wake of the civil war that ravaged Venezuela in the 1860s.
Pérez was educated at the María Inmaculada School in Rubio, run by Dominican friars. His childhood was spent between the family home in town, a rambling Spanish colonial-style house, and the coffee haciendas owned by his father and maternal grandfather. Influenced by his grandfather, an avid book collector, Pérez read voraciously from an early age, including French and Spanish classics by Jules Verne and Alexandre Dumas. As he grew older, Pérez also became politically aware and managed to read Voltaire, Rousseau, and Marx without the knowledge of his deeply conservative parents.

The combination of falling coffee prices, business disputes, and harassment orchestrated by henchmen allied to dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, led to the financial ruin and physical deterioration of Antonio Pérez, who died of a heart attack in 1936. This episode would force the widow Julia and her sons to move to Venezuela's capital, Caracas, in 1939, where two of Pérez's eldest brothers had gone to attend university. The death of his father had a profound impact on the young Pérez, bolstering his convictions that democratic freedoms and rights were the only guarantees against the arbitrary, and tyrannical, use of state power.
In Caracas, Pérez enrolled in the renowned Liceo Andrés Bello, where he graduated in 1944 with a major in Philosophy. In 1944, he enrolled in the Law School of the Central University of Venezuela. However, the intensification of his political activism would prevent Pérez from ever completing his law degree.

Political life

The political life of Carlos Andrés Pérez began at the age of 15, when he became a founding member of the Venezuelan Youth Association and a member of the National Democratic Party, both of which were opposed to the repressive administration of General Eleazar López Contreras, who had succeeded the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez in 1935. He also co-operated with the first labour unions in his region. When he moved to Caracas, in 1939, he started an ascendant political career as a youth leader and founder of the Democratic Action (AD) party, in which he would play an important role during the 20th century, first as a close ally to party founder Rómulo Betancourt and then as a political leader in his own right.
In October 1945, a group of civilians and young army officers plotted the overthrow of the government run by General Isaías Medina Angarita. At the age of 23, Pérez was appointed Private Secretary to the Junta President, Rómulo Betancourt, and became Cabinet Secretary in 1946. However, in 1948, when the military staged a coup against the democratically elected government of Rómulo Gallegos, Pérez was forced to go into exile (going to Cuba, Panama and Costa Rica) for a decade. He temporarily returned to Venezuela secretly in 1952 to complete special missions in his fight against the new dictatorial government. He was imprisoned on various occasions and spent more than two years in jail in total. In Costa Rica, he was active in Venezuelan political refugee circles, worked as Editor in Chief of the newspaper La República and kept in close contact with Betancourt and other AD leaders.
In 1958, after the fall of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Pérez returned to Venezuela and participated in the reorganization of the AD Party. He served as Minister of Interior and Justice from 1959 to 1964^[1] and made his mark as a tough minister and canny politician who successfully neutralized small, disruptive and radical right-wing and left-wing insurrections, the latter Cuban-influenced and Cuban-financed, that were being staged around the country. This was an important step in the pacification of the country in the mid to late 1960s, the consolidation of democracy and the integration of radical parties into the political process.
After the end of the Betancourt administration and the 1963 elections, Pérez left government temporarily and dedicated himself to consolidating his support in the party. During this time, he served as head of the AD in Congress and was elected to the position of Secretary General of AD, a role that was crucial in laying the ground for his presidential ambitions.

First term as president

In 1973, Carlos Andrés Pérez was nominated to run for the presidency for AD. Youthful and energetic, Pérez ran a vibrant and triumphalist campaign, one of the first to use the services of American advertising gurus and political consultants in the country's history. During the run up to elections, he visited nearly all the villages and cities of Venezuela by foot and walked more than 5800 kilometers. He was elected in December of that year, receiving 48.7% of the vote against the 36.7% of his main rival. Turnout in these elections reached an unprecedented 97% of all eligible voters, a level which has not been achieved since.
One of the most radical aspects of Pérez's program for government was the notion that petroleum oil was a tool for under-developed nations like Venezuela to attain first world status and usher a fairer, more equitable international order. International events, including the Yom Kippur War of 1973, contributed to the implementation of this vision. Drastic increases in petroleum prices led to an economic bonanza for the country just as Pérez started his term. His policies, including the nationalization of the iron and petroleum industries, investment in large state-owned industrial projects for the production of aluminium and hydroelectric energy, infrastructure improvements and the funding of social welfare and scholarship programmes, were extremely ambitious and involved massive government spending, to the tune of almost $53 billion. His measures to protect the environment and foster sustainable development earned the Earth Care award in 1975, the first time a Latin American leader had received this recognition.
In the international arena, Pérez supported democratic and progressive causes in Latin America and the world. He opposed the Somoza and Augusto Pinochet dictatorships and played a crucial role in the finalizing of the agreement for the transfer of the Panama Canal from American to Panamanian control. In 1975, with Mexican President Luis Echeverría, he found SELA, the Latin American Economic System, created to foster economic cooperation and scientific exchange between the nations of Latin America. He also supported the democratization process in Spain, as he brought Felipe González, who was living in exile, back to Spain in a private flight and thus strengthened the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE).
Towards the end of his first term in office, Pérez's reputation was tarnished by accusations of excessive, and disorderly, government spending. His administration was often referred to as Saudi Venezuela for its grandiose and extravagant ambitions. In addition, there were allegations of corruption and trafficking of influence, often involving members of Pérez's intimate circle, such as his mistress Cecilia Matos, or financiers and businessmen who donated to his election campaign, known as the "Twelve Apostles". A well-publicized rift with his former mentor Betancourt and disgruntled members of AD all pointed to the fading of Perez's political standing. By the 1978 elections, there was a sense among many citizens that the influx of petrodollars after 1973 had not been properly managed. The country was importing 80% of all foodstuffs consumed. Agricultural production was stagnant. The national debt had skyrocketed. And whilst per capita income had increased and prosperity was evident in Caracas and other major cities, the country was also more expensive and a significant minority of Venezuelans were still mired in poverty. This malaise led to the defeat of AD at the polls by the opposition Social Christian Party. The newly elected president, Luis Herrera Campíns, famously stated in his inaugural speech that he was "inheriting a mortgaged country."

After the first term

Carlos Andrés Pérez maintained a high profile in international affairs. In 1980, he was elected president of the Latin American Association of Human Rights. He collaborated with Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere in the organization of the South-South Commission. He actively participated in the Socialist International, where he served as Vice-President for three consecutive terms, under the presidency of Willy Brandt from West Germany. Willy Brandt and Carlos Andrés Pérez, together with the Dominican Republic's José Francisco Peña Gómez, expanded the activities of the Socialist International from Europe to Latin America. In 1988, he became a Member of the Council of Freely-Elected Heads of Government, established by the former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. He was elected Chairman of the Harvard University Conference on Foreign Debt in Latin America, in September 1989,^{[citation needed]} and received the Henry and Nancy Bartels World Affairs Fellowship at Cornell University.^[2]

Second term as president

In February 1989, at the beginning of his second term as president, he accepted an International Monetary Fund proposal known as the Washington consensus. In return for accepting this proposal, the International Monetary Fund offered Venezuela a loan for 4.5 billion US dollars. This cooperation with the IMF came about weeks after his victory in the 1988 presidential election, and a populist, anti-neoliberal campaign during which he described the IMF as "a neutron bomb that killed people, but left buildings standing" and said that World Bank economists were "genocide workers in the pay of economic totalitarianism".^[3] Poor economic conditions led to attempts to revolutionize the political and economic structure of Venezuela, but the implementation of the neoliberal reforms (and in particular the liberalisation of petrol prices, which caused an immediate increase in the cost of petrol to consumers and rises in fares on public transport^[4]) resulted in massive popular protests in Caracas, the capital. Carlos Andrés Pérez crushed the protest with the national guard, causing a large number of deaths—estimates range from 500 to 3000, and resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency. The protest is now referred to as the Caracazo.
In 1992, his government survived two coup attempts. The first attempt took place 4 February 1992, and was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Hugo Chávez, who was later elected president. With the attempt having clearly failed, Chávez was catapulted into the national spotlight when he was allowed to appear live on national television to call for all remaining rebel detachments in Venezuela to cease hostilities. When he did so, Chávez famously quipped on national television that he had only failed "por ahora"—"for now". The second, and much bloodier, insurrection took place on 27 November 1992.

Impeachment

On 20 March 1993, Attorney General Ramón Escovar Salom introduced action against Pérez for the misappropriation of 250 million bolivars belonging to a presidential discretionary fund, or partida secreta. The issue had originally been brought to public scrutiny in November 1992 by journalist José Vicente Rangel. Pérez and his supporters claim the money was used to support the electoral process in Nicaragua. On 20 May 1993, the Supreme Court considered the accusation valid, and the following day the Senate voted to strip Pérez of his immunity.^[5] Pérez refused to resign, but after the maximum 90 days temporary leave available to the President under Article 188 of the 1961 constitution, the National Congress removed Pérez from office permanently on 31 August.^[5]

Post-presidency

Pérez' trial concluded in May 1996, and he was sentenced to 28 months in prison.^[5]
In 1998 he was prosecuted again, this time on charges of embezzlement on public funds, after secret joint bank accounts held with his mistress, Cecilia Matos, were discovered in New York.^[6] Before the trial, he was elected to the Senate of Venezuela for his native State of Táchira, on the ticket of his newly founded party, Movimiento de Apertura y Participación Nacional (Apertura), thus gaining immunity from prosecutions. However, as the newly approved 1999 Constitution of Venezuela dissolved the Senate and created a unicameral National Assembly, Pérez lost his seat. In 1999 he ran again for the National Assembly, but did not gain a seat.^[6]
On 20 December 2001, while in Dominican Republic, a court in Caracas ordered his detention, on charges of embezzlement of public funds. On 3 February 2002 he was formally asked in extradition.^[6] After that, he self-exiled in Miami, Florida, from where he became one of the most vehement opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. On 23 October 2003, at 81 years old, he suffered a stroke that left him partially disabled.^[7] On 24 February 2005 he was prosecuted for his responsibility in the Plan Ávila he endorsed while President in 1989, to allow the Army to repress the citizenry during the Caracazo, causing the death of hundreds of civilians.^[6]

Personal life

At the age of 26 he married his first cousin Blanca Rodriguez with whom he had six children: Sonia, Thais, Martha, Carlos Manuel, María de Los Angeles and María Carolina. In the late 1960s, he began an extramarital relationship with his then secretary Cecilia Matos, and fathered Matos' daughters, María Francia and Cecilia Victoria Pérez, while married to Blanca Rodríguez. Sources conflict as to whether or not Perez ever divorced Rodriguez and married Matos. ^[8][9]. Until his death (see below) he was living in exile since 1998 with Matos, dividing his time between his homes in Miami, the Dominican Republic and New York. In 2003, he suffered a debilitating stroke that seriously affected his mental and physical abilities. On 31 March 2008, the secretary general of Acción Democrática, Henry Ramos Allup, announced that Pérez wanted to return to Venezuela from exile, to spend his last years in Caracas.^[10]

Death

On 25 December 2010, he was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Miami, where he died that afternoon. The cause of death was initially reported as having been a heart attack,^[11] but was later referred to as "respiratory failure".^[12] Chávez offered condolences, but commented that he hopes Pérez's way of governing would not return to the country: "May he rest in peace. But with him ... may the form of politics that he personified rest in peace and leave here forever."^[13] Pérez's relatives in Miami said that Pérez would be buried in Miami and that they have no intention of returning his remains to Venezuela until Chávez is no longer in office.^[13] Less than 24 hours before the burial Blanca Rodríguez managed to get a court order to stop the ceremony. It was reported that Miami relatives agreed to her wish to return Pérez's body to Venezuela^[14] but later they denied having reached to an agreement.^[15]

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Maurice Rioli, Australian VFL player and politician, member of the NT Legislative Assembly for Arafura (1992–2001), died from a heart attack. he was , 53

Maurice Rioli was an Australian rules football player from St Marys Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League, who also played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League and the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League died from a heart attack.he was , 53. After retiring from football he became a politician in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly.

Regarded as one of the great players of his era, Rioli was one of the first aboriginal footballers to have a significant impact on Victorian football and was named in the centre for the Indigenous Team of the Century. A highly skilled and solidly built centreman with exquisite ball-handling skills and lightning reflexes, Rioli was a renowned performer on the big stage.^[2]

(1 September 1957 – 25 December 2010[1])

 Early days

Born into a famous footballing family on Melville Island off the coast of the Northern Territory, the young Rioli learnt the game at the Garden Point Orphanage on the island. From there, he joined St Marys in the Darwin competition for the 1974-75 season; football in the top end is played during the summer months, or 'wet season'. Scouts from the South Fremantle club in Perth spotted the eighteen year old tyro and lured him to West Australia to join his brother for the coming season. At this stage in his sporting life, Rioli was also an excellent amateur boxer, who some thought good enough to go to represent Australia at the Olympics. He later won state amateur titles at light middleweight and welterweight.^[3]
However, he chose to sign on as a professional footballer and quickly won a reputation as brilliant, elusive centreman. During this era, Rioli was one of a number of brilliant aboriginal players in the WAFL who caught the eyes of recruiting scouts from the VFL clubs in Victoria. South Fremantle, under ex-Richmond player Mal Brown, were a form team of the competition, playing in three consecutive WAFL grand finals between 1979 and 1982, including winning a premiership in 1980. Rioli won the Simpson Medal as best player afield in the 1980 and 1981 Grand Finals. He transferred to Richmond for the 1982 VFL season, after playing 121 games for South Fremantle between 1975 and 1981.^[4]

Immediate impact In Victoria

To this point, few aboriginal players had had extended careers in the VFL. On his arrival, which coincided with the transfer of the Krakouer brothers to North Melbourne, Rioli spoke about the racial taunts and obstacles faced by indigenous players in the game. Rioli chose to shrug much of the racism off, and he was certainly possessed with an intense concentration on the field. His reputation as a boxer probably helped to avoid confrontation during a game - Rioli was a scrupulously fair competitor who found no trouble with the umpires.^{[citation needed]}
The Tigers awarded Rioli the number 17 made famous by Jack Dyer.^[5] Richmond supporters quickly warmed to their much-heralded recruit, who specialized in the audacious baulk, the pinpoint foot pass and the lightning-fast handball. His ability to work the ball out of packs and congestion was uncanny. Although his leg speed wasn't very fast, his quick mind appeared several steps ahead of the play and he had no problem adjusting to the faster tempo of Victorian football. It was just as well, because the Tigers opted to play him in his favoured centre position where Geoff Raines had dominated. For the previous five years, Raines had been the best player in the team (winning three best and fairest awards) and acknowledged as the best centreman in the competition, but he was moved to accommodate Rioli.^[6] The change worked well and Richmond finished the season on top of the ladder for the first time since 1974. The Tigers booked a berth in the Grand Final with a comfortable win in the semi final against Carlton.
Pitted once more against Carlton, Richmond went into the big match as a slight favourite. However, the Tigers lost the match after leading at half-time. Rioli created history by winning the Norm Smith medal as best afield, the first aborigine and first player from a losing team to do so.^[6] Shortly after, Rioli won the club's best and fairest to cap an amazing first season. But problems lay immediately ahead. Raines approached the club and requested a contract commensurate with Rioli's earnings. When refused, Raines walked out and asked for a clearance to Collingwood. Other prominent players fell into financial dispute with the club and left; the decimated team struggled and finished third-last in 1983.
But Rioli had another stellar season, again winning the best and fairest, finishing runner-up in the Brownlow medal and winning West Australian and All-Australian selection.^[5] An acknowledged star of the game and the best player at the club, Rioli continued to stand out in a mediocre team. He represented Australia at Gaelic football against Ireland and was an immediate choice for West Australia in state of origin matches. However, after finishing second in the Richmond best and fairest in 1985, he dropped a bombshell on the club.

Aborted move to Sydney

In the summer of 1985–86, the new private owner of the Sydney Swans, flamboyant and controversial doctor Geoff Edelsten, had been frantically signing talent on massive contracts to play for his team. Rioli was announced as one of his many signings. It was the salary cap that saved Rioli from leaving for Sydney. After rumours that he would either join Essendon or return to South Fremantle, he eventually returned to the Tigers midway through the 1986 season.^[5][7] Rioli performed patchily through the season and the next, when Richmond finished last for only the third time in its history. Rioli captained Western Australia in the state game that year against his team-mate Dale Weightman, who led Victoria.

Later career

Following the 1987 season, at only 30 years of age, Rioli decided that his time in Melbourne was up and headed back to South Fremantle to be appointed as captain. In his absence, the football landscape in the west had altered dramatically with the formation of the West Coast Eagles. Rioli opted to play at the lower level and the scheduling of seasons allowed him to captain-coach the Waratahs club in Darwin during the summer. He was still good enough to win All-Australian honours for a third time after the 1988 Bicentennial Carnival. In 1990, he finished as a player in Perth after 166 games for South Fremantle, but continued as a player in Darwin until 1991. He followed that with a two year stint as non-playing coach of the Waratahs. In 1993, he was invited by the AFL to present the Norm Smith medal at the Grand Final. Fittingly, it was won by another Territorian Aborigine, Michael Long (Essendon) who had played at St Marys in Darwin, where Rioli had started his senior football a generation before.

Political career

After permanently relocating with his family to Darwin, Rioli was elected as the member for Arafura in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for the Australian Labor Party in 1992. He held this position until 2001 when he retired from parliament. Although he played football for almost a decade in Perth and only six years in Melbourne, Rioli is still recognised as one of the best known Northern Territorians. He was a trailblazer for indigenous Australian football players at the elite level of the game and was an acknowledged elder statesman among aborigines that played the game.
In 2007 Rioli was working as a Community Services manager for the Tiwi Islands Council.^[8]

Family

In 1972, Maurice's older brother Sebastian Rioli, became one of the first Aboriginal footballers from the Northern Territory to move to Western Australia to play football for South Fremantle. Maurice followed in 1975 and became the most successful footballer of the eight Rioli brothers. Brothers Cyril Jr and Willie also played league football for South Fremantle, and John, Manny and Laurence also moved to Fremantle, but returned to Darwin without playing senior football.^[9] Willie was drafted by Hawthorn in 1990, but did not make his AFL debut. Maurice is the uncle of current Hawthorn player Cyril Rioli (son of Cyril Jr) and former Essendon player Dean Rioli (son of Sebastian).^[10][11]

Career highlights

• Norm Smith Medal 1982
• Richmond Best and Fairest 1982, 1983
• Interstate Games:- 13
• All Australian: 1983, 1986, 1988

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