/ Stars that died in 2023

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Joanne Siegel, American widow of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, model for Lois Lane died she was , 93.

Joanne Siegel  was an American model who in the 1930s worked with Superman creator Joe Shuster as the model for Lois Lane, Superman's love interest died she was , 93.. She later married Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel and sued for restoration of her husband's authorship copyright in the Superman character.

(December 1, 1917 – February 12, 2011)

Siegel was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1917, the daughter of Hungarian immigrants.[1] Her birth name was Jolan Kovacs. In 1935, while still attending high school, Kovacs placed an advertisement in Cleveland's The Plain Dealer offering her services as a model.[1] The ad stated: "Situation Wanted — Female ARTIST MODEL: No experience."[2] Joe Shuster, who was working on a new comic character, Superman, responded to the ad. Prior to the modeling sessions, Shuster's co-creator, Jerry Siegel, had developed an idea for a journalist to be Superman's love interest, Lois Lane. Shuster hired Kovacs as a model for Lane, and his depiction of Lane was based on his drawings of Kovac's hairstyle and facial features. Interviewed in 1996 by The Plain Dealer, she recalled, "I remember the day I met Jerry in Joe's living room. Jerry was the model for Superman. He was standing there in a Superman-like pose. He said their character was going to fly through the air, and he leaped off the couch to demonstrate."[2][3] The New York Times wrote, "Ms. Siegel was the first in a long line of Lois Lanes, who have included Phyllis Coates, Noel Neill, Teri Hatcher, and Erica Durance on television, as well as Margot Kidder and Kate Bosworth in the movies."[1]
Following her modeling work for Shuster, Kovac worked as an artist's model, sometimes using the professional name Joanne Carter. She worked for a ship builder in California during World War II. After the war, Kovacs moved to New York, where she ran into Jerry Siegel at a costume ball to raise money for cartoonists.[1] Both had been married and divorced previously, and the two were married in 1948.[2] They lived in Connecticut and New York before moving to California in the 1960s. They remained married until Jerry Siegel's death in 1996 and had a daughter, Laura, who later recalled, "My father said she not only posed for the character, but from the day he met her it was her personality that he infused into the character. She was not only beautiful but very smart and determined, and she had a lot of guts; she was a courageous person."[2][4] In a profile of Siegel, NPR noted, "Though a number of actresses played [Lois Lane] on television and in the movies over the years, Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel always said that his wife, Joanne ... inspired the character of Lois Lane."[5]
Despite the success of Superman in comic books, television and motion pictures, Siegel and Shuster had sold the copyright to Detective Comics for $130,[1] and the Siegels led a modest lifestyle. Their daughter recalled, "My mother and father lived in complete poverty for many, many years."[2] Joanne Siegel worked for a time as a car salesman in Santa Monica, California, to help support the family. Siegel lived in the Marina Del Rey section of Los Angeles in her later years.[2]
Siegel devoted herself to reclaiming the original Superman copyright. At one point, she called the publisher of Superman and said, "How can you sit by and continue to make millions of dollars off of a character that Jerry co-created and allow him to live in this unbelievable poverty?"[2] In the late 1970s, DC Comics agreed to pay both Siegel and Shuster a stipend of $20,000 per year for life, but Joanne Siegel was not satisfied and continued the fight, even after her husband died in 1996. She filed a lawsuit in 1999 seeking partial ownership of the Superman character.[6] In 2006, Siegel won partial summary judgment in a lawsuit with DC Comics. The Court found that Joanne Siegel and her daughter had successfully recaptured the Superboy copyright in 2004 and opined that the television program Smallville was infringing the Siegels' copyright.[7] In 2008, Siegel secured a further ruling from a federal court in Los Angeles restoring her husband's co-authorship share of the original Superman copyrights.[8][9] In a 72-page decision, the Court ruled that Jerry Siegel was entitled to claim a share of the United States copyright to Superman, while leaving intact DC Comics' international rights to the character.[8] Following the ruling, Joanne Siegel told the press, "We were just stubborn. It was a dream of Jerry's, and we just took up the task."[8]
Siegel died on February 12, 2011 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica.[4][6] Following her death, Siegel's lawyer noted, "All her life she carried the torch for Jerry and Joe — and other artists. There was a lot of Lois Lane in Joanne Siegel."[1
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Vipindas, Indian cinematographer and director, died from a short illness he was , 72.

Vipindas  was an Indian cinematographer and director  died from a short illness he was , 72.. He has cinematographed more than 200 films in Malayalam alone, and has directed a couple of films.
 

(1938 – 12 February 2011)

Biography

Vipindas was born on 1938 in Pazhayannoor, Thrissur, Kerala, as the son of Pallippatta Sankaran Nair and Lakshmi Amma. He shifted to Chennai when he was fifteen, to study photography. He had no formal education in photography but he was able to assist veteran Bollywood cinematographer Beevashom for three years. He also studied violin under maestro Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan during his early days.
Vipindas started his film career with the Tamil film Thalattu, for which he was the director also. He debuted in Malayalam through Prethangalude Thazhvara. It was followed by Prathidhwani, directed by him but cinematographed by veteran director I. V. Sasi. This film established the successful collaboration of Sasi and Vipindas. He worked as a cinematographer with Sasi in about twenty five films. He has also collaborated with several master directors including P. A. Backer, Fazil, Hariharan, Joshiy, K. Madhu, Padmarajan and Bharathan. His last work was Thathwamasi, directed by Sunil.[1]
He died on 12 February 2011.[2]

Slected filmography

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Frank Whitten New Zealand actor (Outrageous Fortune), died from cancer he was , 68,

Frank Whitten  was a New Zealand television actor. He was more recently known for playing Ted "Grandpa" West in the New Zealand television show Outrageous Fortune died from cancer he was , 68.


 ( 1942 – 12 February 2011)

Life and career

Frank Whitten grew up in the Waikato Region in the 1950s. Around 1963, "with very little experience and even less money", he left for England to become an actor. Over the next eighteen years Whitten worked in a children's theatre company that developed plays with, and for, working-class children. He also spent time as an improvisational tutor at leading British drama school the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
In 1982 Whitten returned to New Zealand and began acting in theatre. Two years later, he appeared as an exploitative guru of a commune in Trespasses, the movie spin off of police show Mortimer's Patch. The same year, Whitten played the enigmatic farmer who strides into the isolated rural world of a young child in Vigil, the first feature directed by Vincent Ward. In the mid eighties he joined the serial Heroes, playing roadie to a group of young musicians. He followed this role by playing one of the main roles on historical drama Heart of the High Country, based on the novel by English author Elizabeth Gowans.[citation needed]
Whitten had a role in the short film Accidents, and small roles in the romance Arriving Tuesday, Zilch, The Returning, and two international thrillers, Chill Factor and Hot Target.

Television

On television, he made guest appearances on Erebus: The Aftermath, Gloss, The Chosen, The Ray Bradbury Theatre and Mysterious Island, the live action remake of Peter Pan and the award-winning miniseries The Leaving of Liverpool, which followed two English children transplanted to Australia after World War 2. In 2007, his ongoing role on Outrageous Fortune won him a best supporting actor award at the Air New Zealand Screen Awards. He also played the older man in the Speights Southern Man advertisements well known for his saying, "Good on ya, mate!"

Trifecta

Frank Whitten penned the stage drama Trifecta.

Death

Frank Whitten died on 12 February 2011, aged 68.[1][2] The official media statement stated that "[he] died peacefully in his sleep"[3] following a short battle with cancer[4]

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Bad News Brown, Canadian rapper and harmonica player, died after he was beaten and shot, he was , 33

Paul Frappier  better known by his stage name Bad News Brown (at times, also as BNB and Briz Brown), was a Montreal-based Canadian entertainer, musician, and hip hop MC of Haitian origin died after he was beaten and shot, he was , 33. He was well-known for pairing the sound of his chief instrument, the harmonica, with hip-hop beats and rhymes. Frappier started busking in Montreal taking his signature sound as a teenager to the streets and subway stations of Montreal. He later toured and opened for many well-known hip hop acts or as background musician. He also appeared as an impromptu host in Music for a Blue Train, the 2003 documentary about busker musicians in the Montreal Metro subway train system. In 2009, he established his own record label Trilateral Entertainment Inc and released his debut studio album Born 2 Sin. He was murdered in Montreal, Canada, and his body was found there on February 12, 2011. The long feature film BumRush featuring him in a leading role is premiering on 1 April 2011.

(May 8, 1977 – February 11, 2011)

Beginnings

Born in Haiti to a Haitian father and a Filipino mother,[3] Paul Frappier moved at a young age to Quebec, first living in Saint-Lazare and Hudson before settlng in Montreal living with his adopted Québécois family in Montreal's Little Burgundy area. At school he suffered from dyslexia and struggled. He left home in his teenage years, and quickly discovered a talent for the harmonica that could earn him a living by busking on the street and in Montreal Metro stations. "Busking was the smartest thing I ever did in my life," he says. "It paid my bills, bought me my studio, and within two years I estimate 50 per cent of the city knew I existed."
Brown developed his sound by playing in the streets, combining his skill as a blues/jazz harmonica player with his love of hip-hop. He adopted his stage name from the suggestion of fellow Montreal rapper, Misery, which coincidentally was the name of his childhood favourite WWF wrestler, Allen Coage (nicknamed Bad News Brown).
Brown quickly became accredited as the best busker of Montreal by the weekly arts and music magazine, the Montreal Mirror.[4]
Frappier lived with his girlfriend Natasha. He was also the father of a two-year-old boy Izaiah, for whom he had joint custody.[2]

Music career

Brown's debut album, Born 2 Sin, released in September 2009 on his own indie label Trilateral Entertainment Inc is difficult to categorize due to the different styles employed, but Brown termed it... "Harmonic Hip-Hop" or "Electronic Triptronic Melodic Harmonics". Intelligence is a classic Hip-Hop track featuring beats, scratching, and a cinematic production sound, while Back On It possesses a sexy and laidback vibe. The title track Born 2 Sin is a fusion of hip-hop and soul.
Brown crafted the tracks on Born 2 Sin with production assistance from the likes of Haig V, Primal, Parafino, C4, Made By Monkeys and Edi Burgz. Brown is quoted as saying "Haig is one of the main producers on the album, with six tracks. He’s a long-time friend who has worked with the likes of Bran Van 3000 and Muzion. I used to listen to and watch him in his studio back in the day, and I used a lot of his instrumental tracks on this album. I went through his archives, picked out stuff I liked, went home, worked on them, brought them back, and we worked it from there.
Born 2 Sin was released on iTunes July 28, 2009 and in stores on August 18, 2009. The album was distributed by Fontana North/Universal Music Canada.
The album was chosen as "disc of the week" in Vol.25 No.10 of the Montreal Mirror weekly newspaper. "Snappy and lighthearted, the title track of the debut from Montreal's "harmonic hip hop" man is at odds with the predominating slinky, deep-blue club thumpers, many of which are produced by Zoobone’s capable Haig V. Sly raps and a functioning fusion of house, hip hop and R&B vibes abound, and Brown's secret weapon, his harmonica—plaintive and insistent as a hungry housecat—integrates itself effortlessly"[5]

Brown's single, Feeling Me On as part of the Universal Music compilation, Hip Hop Rai 2 that sold over 50,000 units in Europe.[4]
"All signs suggest that the wait was worth it. His long overdue album dropped in August, and now the artist is preparing to step up his game. A Newcomer to the industry but a veteran of the craft. Bad News is ready to show off his skills to the world." -Naked Eye Magazine [6]
The hip-hop MC along with his signature sound took him from his beginnings as a teenage busker in the streets of Montreal to touring 200+ venues opening for Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Aerosmith, The Eagles, N.E.R.D., Soulja Boy, Ciara, Common, Lloyd Banks, Jadakiss, John Legend, Gym Class Heroes, Ice Cube, Booba and Sinik and accompanying on stage Nas, Ice T, Cypress Hill, De La Soul and Daniel Merriweather.
Brown frequently took on the role of a motivational speaker addressing youthful audiences and participating in multifold charities. As part of the "Music With Meaning" tour in 2009 for example, he spoke to an audience of mostly teenage boys in a youth detention center.

Film career

Music for a Blue Train

Brown's reputation as Montreal's best street performer even led him to be chosen as the host for the 2003 documentary film Music for a Blue Train, a bluesy portrait of the musicians who busk in Montreal’s metro. The documentary was written and directed by Mila Aung-Thwin of EyeSteelFilm and produced by Germaine Ying Gee Wong for the National Film Board of Canada.

BumRush

At the time of his murder, Brown was acting in an upcoming film about Montreal street gangs. The film entitled BumRush was being directed by Québécois film director Michel Jetté and portrays Frappier in a leading role as "Loosecanon", a high ranking violent gang leader on a fictional "Rue I.B. 11." in Montreal[7] Brown was partly producing the film and was involved in casting. Some of his original works from his album Born 2 Sin was planned to be incorporated in the soundtrack of the film. The film is scheduled to premiere in April 1, 2011 in Canadian movie theaters and Jetté announced that it would also serve as a tribute to the slain artist.[7]

Death

Brown was killed on the night of February 11–12, 2011. Police said "there was evidence of violence at the scene".[8] His body was found in an industrial area near the Lachine Canal in Montreal.[9] He was reportedly preparing for a show in Quebec City that was to be held a day later.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Information
2009 Born 2 Sin

Mixtapes

  • 2009: G'd Up From the Street Up

Singles

Year Title Album

2009 Soul Clap non-album single
Touch Her Body Born 2 Sin
Born 2 Sin
2011 Harm's Delight non-album single

Filmography

Acting
Production
  • 2011: BumRush - co-producer

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Tom Carnegie, American sports announcer (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) died he was , 91

Tom Carnegie, (born Carl Kenagy); was the public address announcer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1946 to 2006[2].

( September 25, 1919[1] – February 11, 2011)


His signature calls while at IMS were "He's on it" and "It's a new track record," which were said many times during his tenure. Carnegie died on February 11, 2011 at age 91[3].
Carnegie's father was a Baptist minister, which led to moving the family during Carnegie's childhood from Connecticut to Waterloo, Iowa, Pontiac, Michigan and finally Kansas City, Missouri. Carnegie graduated from William Jewell College in 1942, a four year liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri, 40 miles north of Kansas City. Carnegie was afflicted with a 'polio type' illness while in college during his junior year which led to partial paralysis in his leg. Before being afflicted, Carnegie played on his college baseball team.
The illness led to his entering into extemporaneous speech and debate competitions, and was quickly a star debater. During one such competition he entered a sports radio contest, which he won.
Upon graduation, Carnegie took his first radio job with WOWO radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana, before taking a job in Indianapolis, Indiana. While in Fort Wayne, Carnegie broadcast Fort Wayne Pistons games. While living in Waterloo, Iowa, Carnegie would listen to radio broadcasts of a young Ronald Reagan and credits Reagan with being one of his main broadcasting inspirations and influences.
While in Indianapolis, Carnegie would announce antique car shows and was approached in 1946 by new Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman about being the Speedway's announcer. It was 20 years before Hulman began to pay Carnegie for his work. Carnegie would serve in this capacity until his retirement in 2006 and became "the voice of the Speedway". His signature phrases race fans came to know and love hearing included, as a driver would come down the front stretch to take the green flag signaling the start of the driver's qualifying four lap run, "...annnnnd heeeeeeeeeeee's ON-IT!". And, following a particularly good qualifying run, "...race fans, you are not going to believe this....iiiit's a nnnnnnewwwwww traaaaack record!"
In addition to his PA work at the Speedway, Carnegie, from 1953 until retiring in 1985, was sports director for WRTV, originally WFBM-TV, in Indianapolis.
Carnegie also served as the PA announcer for the Indiana State High School Basketball championships during this time. He, along with his broadcast partner Hilliard Gates, coined the elongated called of "Heee missed it." Carnegie had a small role in the 1986 film Hoosiers, where he portrayed the PA announcer at the championship game held at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University.

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Steve Dacri, American magician, died from cancer he was , 58.

Stephen "Steve" Robert Dacri was an accomplished sleight-of-hand magician who worked for nearly 30 years at his craft earning him the moniker "The Fastest Hands in the
 World. died from cancer he was , 58.

(March 22, 1952 – February 11, 2011)  

He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and died on February 11, 2011 from colon cancer, leaving a wife, Jan, and a son, Jesse.

Dacri's interest in magic began at the age of six when his parents gave him a Mandrake the Magician magic set. Within a few years, he was performing magic at family and community gatherings.[2]
“I grew up watching Red Skelton, Abbott & Costello, The Three Stooges, The Amazing Ballantine and Jackie Gleason. I always knew I wanted to be able to entertain people like they did,” Steve wrote.[3]
Dacri's joy in entertaining audiences for the majority of his life was clear to everyone who crossed his path. In a blog post dated March 18, 2010, he wrote,




Career Appearances

  • Bellagio
  • Broadcast Television
  • Corporate Conventions & Expositions
  • Cruise Ships
  • Desert Inn
  • Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay
  • Harrah's, Lake Tahoe
  • Las Vegas Hilton Shimmer Showroom - where he performed his last show in 2010* Magic Castle
  • MGM Grand
  • Mirage
  • Radio City Music Hall
  • Riviera
  • Secret Pagoda Showroom, Caesar's Magical Empire, Caesar's Palace
  • The Stardust
  • The Venetian
  • Wynn
  • Vegas Video Network Behind the Curtain

Writer & Director Credits, Television & Film

  • Bounty Hunters
  • Emergency Call
  • Magic Notebook

Producer Credits

  • Lemonade Stand, a Youtube Video [1]
  • Magic Party Show, a Home Video
  • Magic Secrets, a Home Video
  • Meet the Players, a Mockumentary [2]

Interactive Dinner Theatre Productions

  • All American High School Reunion
  • Mario & Mary's Wedding
  • Nathan & Nina's Jewish Italian Wedding

Broadcast Television Appearances

Books

  • Commercial Close-Up (1978)
  • Fooling People (1983)

Awards

  • 2008 MERLIN Award (the Oscar of the magic world) for 2008 Best Close-up Magician in the World.[6]
  • Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star[7]
  • 2008 and 2009 International Close-Up Magician of the Year

Celebrity Quotes

  • “Steve really does have the fastest hands in the world, believe me... he’s fantastic!” – Regis Philbin
  • “Steve is my favorite magician.” – Bob Hope
  • "David Blaine...move over!" - The Magic Circle, London
  • "Steve is really a fantastic magician." - Ed McMahon
  • "The finest card worker in the business." - Tony Curtis


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Roy Gussow, American sculptor, died from a heart attack he was 92.

Roy Gussow  was an American abstract sculptor known for his public pieces often crafted from polished stainless steel died from a heart attack he was 92.. Examples of his work can be founded outside the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C., City Hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the New York City Family Court building in Manhattan, and the Tulsa Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[1]

(November 12, 1918 – February 11, 2011)

Biography

Early life

Gussow was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 12, 1918, to Abraham and Mildred Gussow.[1] He was one of three siblings.[1] Gussow was Jewish.[2] He enrolled at Farmingdale State College originally intending to pursue a career as a farmer, but switched majors and earned a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture in 1938.[1]

Sculptor

He joined the United States Army during World War II. Gussow met painter George Kachergis while serving in France.[1] Kachergis encouraged Gussow to enter the fields of art and design.[1] He enrolled at the IIT Institute of Design in Chicago following the end of World War II and studied under cubist sculptor Alexander Archipenko.[1] Archipenko took Gussow to Woodstock, New York, in 1946, where he attended summer school.[1] He met his future wife, Mary Maynard, while in Woodstock.[1]
Gussow taught sculpture and art at Bradley University in Illinois, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the North Carolina State University School of Design, now known as the College of Design, in Raleigh, North Carolina.[1] He returned back to New York City, settling in Manhattan in 1962.[1] In 1964, Gussow moved to Long Island City, becoming one of the first artists to take up residence in what was then an industrial section of the Queens neighborhood. Gussow created both his home and sculpture studio inside a former silver plating factory.[1] He resided and worked in Long Island City for the rest of his life.

Works

Gussow created an abstract sculpture, designed by José de Rivera, which was dedicated outside the Smithsonian's Museum of History and Technology, now called the National Museum of American History, in 1967. The piece is one of the first abstract sculptures to be placed at a major public building in Washington D.C.[1] The sculpture consists of a 16-foot long curved stainless steel ribbon placed atop a granite column.[1] The piece, which stands 24 feet tall, is located at the entrance to the museum facing the National Mall.[1]
In 1974, Gussow's "Three Forms 7-31-75" was dedicated outside of the New York City Family Court building at Lafayette and Leonard Streets in the Civic Center section of Lower Manhattan. The eight-feet tall sculpture, which has a mirror stainless steel finish like many of Russow's public works, stands on a two foot base constructed of granite.[1] The sculpture was removed in 2010 for restoration.[1]
Gussow also created "Crystal," which was placed outside of city hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1983.[1] Gussow designed "Crystal" as six "wedge-shaped facets" which reflect clouds as they float over the city of Harrisburg.[1] This particular sculpture stands at seventeen feet tall.[1]
Some examples of Gussow's other public sculptures can be found at North Carolina State University, outside the Xerox building in Rochester, New York, and the Civic Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[1] His smaller works are housed at prominent museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) and the Guggenheim Museum.[1]
Roy Gussow died of a heart attack in Queens, New York, on February 11, 2011, at the age of 92.[1] His wife, Mary, died in 2004.[1] He was survived by three daughters - Jill, Mimi and Olga - two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.[1] His daughter, Jill Gussow, is also an artist.[2]

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Dickey Betts died he was 80

Early Career Forrest Richard Betts was also known as Dickey Betts Betts collaborated with  Duane Allman , introducing melodic twin guitar ha...