/ Stars that died in 2023

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

St. Clair Lee, American musician (Hues Corporation) died he was , 66.

St. Clair Lee  was an American R&B vocalist with the band The Hues Corporation, which had a top ten record on the R&B and pop music charts called "Rock The Boat" died he was , 66.. The single went to number one in 1974 and sold over two million copies.[1]
 

(April 24, 1944 – March 8, 2011) 

Early life

Lee was born Bernard St. Clair Lee Calhoun Henderson in San Francisco, California. When he was born, someone at the hospital put both family names into his full name title and mistakenly wrote "St. Clair" instead of Sinclair – resulting in a long name for his birth record. When he was a young man, he found out that "Sinclair" means "Big Bear" and that the Indian side of his family were Blackfoot that had migrated down from Canada to Oklahoma. It was this discovery that led him to decide to wear his trademark headband.[2] He attended Santa Monica College.

Career

The Hues Corporation was formed in 1969, in Santa Monica and began playing frequently in Palm Springs and Las Vegas. In Vegas, Lee worked at Circus Circus. During this time, he worked on the same stages with Frank Sinatra, Milton Berle, Nancy Sinatra and Glen Campbell. When the band secured a record deal, Lee started to record and tour with the band regularly. Before their first big hit, they also contributed to the soundtrack of the blacksploitation film Blackula.
The success of The Hues Corporation is greatly tied to the musicianship Lee worked with on their biggest selling album Freedom For The Stallion. In 1973, he was in the studio with some of RCA's best talent, including: Jim Gordon, Hal Blaine, and Dennis Budimir, as well as Larry Carlton, Joe Sample, and Wilton Felder of The Crusaders – and many others.[3]
Touring with the band took Lee to Europe, South America, The Far East and Australia. He performed for Queen Elizabeth at the same event with Dionne Warwick. He performed with The Jackson 5 in Radio City Music Hall. Lee also shared bills with The Commodores, The Spinners, Dolly Parton and with Dinah Shore many times on her TV program. Lee could perform soul, jazz, and R&B - as the group was very versatile.
After a second moderate success (Rockin' Soul) with the band and a few more records, The Hues Corporation disbanded in 1978 and then reformed in later years. Lee continued to tour and perform with the band up until his death.[4]

Legacy

The song Rock the Boat, by The Hues Corporation, has been included on hundreds of soundtracks and compilation records since the early 1990s.

Discography

With The Hues Corporation

  • 1978: Your Place or Mine (Warner Bros.)
  • 1977: I Caught Your Act (Warner Bros.)
  • 1975: Rockin' Soul (RCA Victor)
  • 1975: Love Corporation (RCA)
  • 1973: Freedom for the Stallion (RCA)
  • Ultra Dance (RCA)

To see more of who died in 2010 click here

Mike Starr, American bassist (Alice in Chains, Sun Red Sun). died his (body was found on this date) he was , 44

Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr  was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.[1]
 

(April 4, 1966 – March 8, 2011)

Career

In the mid 1980s, Jerry Cantrell began a band called Diamond Lie which included drummer Sean Kinney and Starr on bass. Cantrell's roommate, singer Layne Staley, also agreed to join while having Cantrell join his funk project which ended shortly thereafter. Diamond Lie gained attention in the Seattle area and eventually took the name of Alice in Chains. The band was later signed to a record deal with Columbia Records and enjoyed extensive success via record sales and radio play in the grunge rock movement of the early 1990s. Starr was with the group for the Facelift and Dirt albums and the Sap EP. He was most often seen playing several variations of a Spector NS-2 bass guitar through an Ampeg SVT all-tube head and Ampeg 8x10" speaker cabinets.
Starr departed the group while it was touring behind the album Dirt. According to former singer Layne Staley, in a Rolling Stone article from February 1994, Starr's departure from Alice in Chains stemmed from "just a difference in priorities. We wanted to continue intense touring and press, Mike was ready to go home." [2] Starr, however, mentioned on an episode of Celebrity Rehab that he was kicked out of the band due to his budding drug addiction. The unreleased track "Misery, Crack Pipes, and Gothic Main Lines" from this time frame makes allusion to Starr's use.
Starr later played bass for the band Sun Red Sun, which featured Ray Gillen and Bobby Rondinelli, both former members of Black Sabbath. The project was cut short by Gillen's death in 1993.
Starr was reported to be working with his new band which included touring with the band Days of the New. Starr expressed excitement about the new music he wrote, and was in the process of recording at the time of his death.

Personal life

Starr was later featured in the third season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2010, which documented his treatment for methadone addiction beginning in August 2009 at the Pasadena Recovery Center. His subsequent stint staying in a sober living environment was then documented on the spinoff Sober House. He and fellow recovering addicts Mackenzie Phillips and Tom Sizemore appeared in the eighth episode of Celebrity Rehab's fourth season to provide testimonials about their recovery to that season's patients. During this appearance, Starr marked six months and seven days of sobriety.
Both Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney criticized the show Celebrity Rehab, calling it "disgusting". However, they stopped short of criticizing their former bandmate and expressed hope that Starr would turn his life around. Kinney also thanked Starr along with all other members of Alice In Chains both past and present within the liner notes of Alice in Chains' Black Gives Way to Blue album.
"I totally back Mike and I back his efforts to get clean and remain somebody that I and the band really care about — he’s a friend of ours, you know, and we wish him the best." ~ Jerry Cantrell[3]
"So I don't support that show at all and I think it's pretty disgusting. But Mike getting his life together or anybody doing that, I'll support that." ~ Sean Kinney[4]
On February 18, 2011, Starr was arrested and booked on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance (six pills of Oxymorphone, and six pills of Alprazolam) in Salt Lake City, Utah.[5][6]

Death

On March 8, 2011, at 1:42PM, police were called to Starr's home in Salt Lake City where they found the musician's body; Starr was 44. Reports later surfaced that Starr's roommate had seen him mixing Methadone and anxiety medication hours before he was found dead.[7][8] A private memorial was held for Starr at Experience Music Project in Seattle on March 20, 2011. There were roughly 400 people in attendance, including former bandmates Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney, according to Mike Inez.[9]

Discography

With Alice in Chains


With Sun Red Sun


To see more of who died in 2010 click here

Frank Dezelan, American baseball umpire (1958–1970) died he was , 80.

Frank John Dezelan was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League for five seasons. He was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania died he was , 80..

(December 29, 1929 – March 7, 2011)

Born to immigrants from Yugoslavia who settled in Johnstown, Dezelan served in the United States Navy during the Korean War. He played baseball during military service, and on the sandlots of Cambria County. He spent thirteen years umpiring in baseball before ending his career due a brain tumor.[2][3]
His umpiring career was launched in a dentist's chair, according to his family. While being treated by his dentist, Richard Goldberg, Frank discussed his love of baseball, and Goldberg suggested that he become an umpire. Dezelan decided to heed the advice and was accepted into the Al Somers Academy of Professional Umpiring in Daytona Beach, Florida.[2]
After graduating in 1958, Dezelan began his umpiring career in the Northern League that year and returned for the 1959 season. According to a story told by former and longtime major league umpire Bruce Froemming, Dezelan and his crew were scheduled to work a minor league doubleheader in which future Hall of Famer Earl Weaver was managing. Notorious for mixing it up with umpires, Weaver got into a pregame argument over some tree limbs that jutted into fair territory. Dezelan ejected the argumentative Weaver before the game even began.[2]
Dezelan moved up to the South Atlantic League in 1960 and 1961 and to the Pacific Coast League from 1962 to 1963. He then worked in the Southern League in 1964 and 1965 and in the International League from 1966 through 1968. In addition, he would be an umpire in the National League for the last weeks of the season from 1966 to 1968, then full time from 1969 to 1970.[2] When the National League umpires began wearing numbers in 1970, Dezelan was assigned number 6.
During his career, Dezelan worked some Major League milestones involving some of its biggest star players. He was behind home plate when Willie Mays hit his 600th career home run in 1969. He was part of the umpiring crew at the 1970 All-Star Game that ended with Pete Rose colliding with catcher Ray Fosse at home plate, and also worked the inaugural game at Three Rivers Stadium during the 1970 season.[4]
In 1971 Dezelan had surgery to remove a brain tumor, which ended his career when he was 42. He survived six brain operations over the next four decades.[2] He demonstrated extraordinary courage and strength in the face of his health challenges. Known for his broad, beaming smile and firm handshake, he was widely admired for his energetic approach to life. Frank approached each endeavor in life with optimism and full enthusiasm balanced with humility.
According to his son Daryl, Dezelan loved to work games with pitchers Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson, because they worked so efficiently, and with outfielder Roberto Clemente because he never argued over calls, but just held his head high and played the game. Additionally, he worked with many of the most notable players and coaches in Major League history, including Sparky Anderson, Carl Yastrzemski and Willie Stargell, amongst others. Irene Dezelan, his wife of 52 years, noted that her husband made it to the big leagues when there were more U.S. senators than major league umpires. The couple raised five children, three daughters and two sons, in the Pittsburgh area.[2]
Frank Dezelan died in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, at the age of 81.[2] He is noted in the archives of The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

To see more of who died in 2010 click here

Adrián Escudero, Spanish footballer died he was , 83.

Adrián Escudero García  was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker died he was , 83..
He was the all-time leading goalscorer for Atlético Madrid with 170 goals, having appeared for the club in 13 La Liga seasons, and more than 350 official games.

(24 November 1927 – 7 March 2011)

Club career

Escudero arrived at Atlético Madrid in late 1945, from local amateurs Club Deportivo Mediodía. He ended his first season in La Liga with ten games and two goals, but netted in double digits in eight of the following ten seasons, most notably contributing with 28 goals combined as the Colchoneros won back-to-back national championships, in the early 1950's.
On 8 March 1953, Escudero scored Atlético's 1000th goal in the top division, in a 2–3 away loss against Celta de Vigo, through a penalty kick.[1] At the end of 1957–58, he did not have his contract renewed and decided to retire from football, aged only 30. He scored 170 league goals in 287 matches with his only professional club, a best-ever.
Escudero continued working with Atlético de Madrid in the following years, first as youth team coach, then as assistant manager. After the sacking of Rafael García Repullo (his former teammate) early into the 1963–64 season, he was an interim for one round, a 1–2 loss at Valencia CF on 29 December 1963.
Escudero died on 7 March 2011 in his hometown of Madrid, at the age of 83.[1]

International career

Escudero gained three caps for Spain in three 1/2 years, his debut coming on 7 December 1952 in a friendly with Argentina, played in Madrid (0–1 loss).
In his only official appearance, on 17 March 1954, he scored against Turkey for the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The third playoff match ended 2–2 in Rome, and the Spaniards were eliminated after a drawing of lots.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 17 March 1954 Stadio Olimpico, Roma, Italy  Turkey 2–2 2–2 1954 World Cup qualification

Honours

Atlético Madrid


To see more of who died in 2010 click here

Samuel Hazard Gillespie, Jr. American lawyer and politician, died from pancreatic cancer he was , 100,

Samuel Hazard Gillespie Jr.  was an American lawyer and politician from New York died from pancreatic cancer he was , 100,.

(July 12, 1910 – March 7, 2011)

Biography

Gillespie was born in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey, and attended Yale College (1932) and Yale Law School (1935).
He gained experience as the principal assistant for 15 years to then U.S. Solicitor General John W. Davis, and argued four cases in the United States Supreme Court. Gillespie was President of the New York State Bar Association from 1958 to 1959, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1959 to 1961.
Gillespie was senior counsel at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City and had been a member of the firm since 1948. At one point in his career he represented a number of actors and actresses including Mary Pickford and Maurice Chevalier.
Gillespie was a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Federal and American Bar Associations, the New York County Lawyers Association, the American Judicature Society, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Skull and Bones society at Yale.[citation needed]

Recent years

He was Chairman of the American Skin Association and a member of the Piermont Public Library Board of directors. Gillespie was President of the Tappan Zee Preservation Coalition, Inc.
Gillespie was married to Frances P Gillespie from 1977 to 1995, and their boat called "the Venture" was taken for a sail up and down the Hudson River, when it was not sailing down the Intracoastal.[1]
Gillespie died of pancreatic cancer on March 7, 2011, at his home in Nyack, Rockland County, New York.

To see more of who died in 2010 click here

Jean Bartel, American actress, Miss America 1943 died she was , 87.

 Jean Bartel was Miss California and Miss America 1943 died she was , 87.. She won the talent and swimsuit awards at the national pageant. At 5 feet 8 inches tall, Bartel was the tallest pageant winner at the time.[3] There had been comparisons between Bartel and popular blond actress Carole Lombard.

(October 26, 1923 – March 6, 2011) 


Bartel initially entered the pageant after learning one of the judges was Broadway actor and producer W. Horace Schmidlapp. As talent counted for 50% of the score, she thought it was a way to launch her career on Broadway. This tactic worked. Not only was she chosen as Miss America after a vocal performance the press hailed as a "forceful and dramatic style," but she landed a career on Broadway and an agent that booked her on tours in South America, the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and in every State of the Union except Maine.[5] In 1946 she appeared on stage in "The Desert Song" at the New York City Center for Music and Drama.
Bartel was the first Miss America to refuse to pose in her swimsuit after the pageant,[6] a choice that eventually led to Catalina Swimwear dropping their sponsorship and starting the Miss USA Pageant.
She sold more Series E bonds in 1943 than any other United States Citizen, amounting to over $2.5 million.[7] Eighty percent of those bonds were sold to women.
Bartel was also the first college student to win the title of Miss America. After visiting her sorority sisters around the country, she and her traveling companion developed the idea of awarding scholarships to those who competed in the Miss America Organization.[8] The Miss America Organization is now the world's largest provider of scholarships for women in the world.[9]
Bartel, from Los Angeles, California, worked for many years on Broadway and in television, including starring in her own travel series, It's a Woman's World,[10][11] as well as performing for seven months in South America.[12]
Bartel died on March 6, 2011, and the Miss America Organization issued a statement calling her "one of our most beloved Miss Americas."[13]

To see more of who died in 2010 click here

Marie Andrée Bertrand, Canadian criminologist, feminist and anti-prohibitionist died se was , 85..

Marie-Andrée Bertrand  was a French-Canadian criminologist, a feminist and an anti-prohibitionist died she was , 85...


(1925 – March 6, 2011)

Biography

Bertrand started her career as a social worker for female offenders, mainly prostitutes[1]. In 1963, she received a Masters degree from the Université de Montréal. She went on to study criminology at the School of Criminology, University of California, Berkeley, where she got her Ph.D. in 1967. She held a professorship in criminology at the School of Criminology, Université de Montréal. She continued to work, until her death, doing research, teaching and publishing. In 1999/2000 and again in 2000/2001, she taught a course on "Gender, Colour and Legal Norms" in the Masters Program at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Onati, Spain.

Main areas of research

The focus of Bertrand's research was on three areas: drug policy, the treatment of women by criminal justice agencies, and, more generally, critical, feminist theory concerning criminology and sociology of law. Among her main works is an international comparison of female criminality (1979, 2003) and a comparative analysis of women's prisons(1998).

Activism

Bertrand went beyond mere academic work in several fields. As a young professor, she served as vice president of the Le Dain Commission, which was charged to look into the effects of non-medical drugs. The commission's final report came out in favour of legalizing marijuana[2]. Later, she joined Marco Pannella and his International Antiprohibitionist League, becoming eventually president of the organization. Among her causes was also the abolition of prisons, which goal she called "a necessary utopia"[3]. But first and last, she was an untiring feminist. As late as 2007, she is being quoted as saying: "A retired feminist does not easily repose and has no desire to do so"[4].

Publications (Selection)

  • Self-image and social representations of female offenders : a comparative study of female criminality in seven countries, Doctoral thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 1967. Reprint: Self image and social representation of female offenders: a contribution to the study of women's image in some societies. Ann Arbor, Michigan 1974.
  • La femme et le crime. Montréal 1979.
  • Perspectives féministes sur le droit pénal », Actes du Premier sommet mondial : Femmes et multidiniensionnalité du pouvoir, Montréal. 1990, pp. 138-140.
  • From La donna delinquente to a postmodern deconstruction of the "woman question" in social control theory. In: The Journal of Human Justice, 5, 2, Spring 1994, pp. 43-57.
  • The place and status of feminist criminology in Germany, Denmark, Norway and Finland. In: N. Rafter und F. Heidensohn (Hrsg.): International Feminist Perspectives on Criminology - Engendering a Discipline. 1995, S. 107–124.
  • Constructivism and postmodernism seen from feminism. In: Politischer Wandel, Gesellschaft und Kriminalitatdiskurse. Festschrift in Honour of Fritz Sack, Trutz von Trotha, editor, Baden-Baden, Nomos Publishing Co., 1996, pp. 167-181.
  • Women in Prisons: A Comparative Study. In: Caribbean Journal of Criminology and Social Psychology, 1996, 1, 1, pp. 38-58
  • Prisons pour femmes. (with Louise Biron et al.) Montréal 1998.
  • Le Droit comme Instrument de Mondialisation. In: J. Feest (Hrsg.): Globalization and Legal Cultures. Onati 1999, S. 113–139.
  • Incarceration as a Gendering Strategy. In: Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 1999, 14, 1, pp. 45-60 (Sondernummer über Gender, Ethnizität, (Hetero)Sexualität und Normen. Herausgegeben von Marie-Andrée Bertrand).
  • Les femmes et la criminalité. Montréal 2003.
  • Le reve d'une societé sans risques. In: Drogues, santé et societé. Band 4, Nr. 2, Dezember 2005, S. 9–41.
  • Comparing women's prisons: epistemological and methodological issues. In: D. Nelken (Hrsg.) Contrasting Criminal Justice. Aldershot 2006, 117-135.

To see more of who died in 2010 click here

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...