/ Stars that died in 2023

Monday, March 11, 2013

Wilson Greatbatch, American engineer, inventor of the implantable cardiac pacemaker, died he was 92.


Wilson Greatbatch  was an American engineer and inventor. He held more than 350 patents and was a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Lemelson–MIT Prize.[1][2]

(September 6, 1919 – September 27, 2011)

Early years

Greatbatch was born in Buffalo, New York and attended public grade school at West Seneca High School West Seneca.[1] He entered military service and served during World War II, becoming an aviation chief radioman before receiving an honorable discharge in 1945.[1] He attended Cornell University as part of the GI Bill, graduating with a B.E.E. in electrical engineering in 1950; he received a master's degree from the University of Buffalo in 1957.[1]

The Chardack-Greatbatch pacemaker

The Chardack-Greatbatch pacemaker used Mallory mercuric oxide-zinc cells (mercury battery) for its energy source, driving a two transistor, transformer coupled blocking oscillator circuit, all encapsulated in epoxy resin, then coupled to electrodes placed into the myocardium of the patient's heart. This patented innovation led to the Medtronic company of Minneapolis commencing manufacture and further development of cardiac pacemakers.[3]

The Greatbatch lithium-iodide battery cell



In 1968, Catalyst Research Corporation of Baltimore, Maryland developed and patented a lithium battery cell (USA patent 4049890). The cell used two elements at near ends of the electrochemical scale, causing a high voltage of 2.8V and an energy density near the physical maximum. Unfortunately, it had an internal impedance which limited its current load to under 0.1 mA and was thus considered useless.
Greatbatch sought to introduce this invention into the pacemaker industry, which could readily utilize a high impedance battery. The early work was conducted in a rented area of the former Wurlitzer Organ Factory in North Tonawanda, New York. Ralph Mead is understood to have headed the early electrochemical development. Greatbatch introduced the developed WG1 cell to pacemaker developers in 1971, and was met with limited enthusiasm. The lithium-iodide cell manufactured by WG is now the standard cell for pacemakers, having the energy density, low self-discharge, small size and reliability needed.
In the cell as developed for cardiac pacemaker application, the anode is lithium and the cathode a proprietary composition of iodine and poly-2-vinyl pyridine, neither of which is electrically conductive, however after processing by mixing and heating to ~ 150 °C for 72 hours the components react with each other to form an electrically conductive viscous liquid which, while still molten, is poured into the cell where it cools to form a solid. When the liquid contacts the lithium anode it creates a monomolecular layer of semiconducting crystalline lithium iodide. As the cell is discharged by the current load of the pacemaker, the reaction between the lithium anode and iodine cathode forms a growing barrier of lithium iodide, which being resistive causes the terminal voltage of the cell to decrease approximately as an inverse function of the volume of the barrier. Pacemaker designers use this characteristic to permit detection of incipient 'end of life' of the pacemaker's lithium cell.

Philanthropy

Greatbatch donated funds to Houghton College New York to create a graduate program in music.

Death

Wilson Greatbatch died at the age of 92 on September 27, 2011.[4][5]

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Sunday, March 10, 2013

David Croft, British television comedy writer and producer (Are You Being Served?, Dad's Army), died he was 89.

Major David John Croft OBE , born David John Andrew Sharland, was an English writer, producer and director. He is particularly noted for producing and co-writing a string of popular BBC sitcoms including Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi!, 'Allo 'Allo! and You Rang, M'Lord?.

(7 September 1922 – 27 September 2011)

Early life

Croft was born into a showbiz family: his mother, Annie Croft (1896–1995), was a famous stage actress and his father, Reginald Sharland (1886–1944), had a successful career as a radio actor in Hollywood. His first public appearance was at age 7, when he was seen in a commercial which aired in cinemas.[1] After that, his acting career in films "began and ended"[2] with his uncredited appearance as Perkins in the film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). Croft was educated at St John's Wood Preparatory School and Rugby School in Warwickshire.[3] He married theatrical agent Ann Callender on 2 June 1952, and they had seven children.[4] Croft enlisted in the Royal Artillery in 1942. He served during the Second World War in North Africa, India and Singapore. After contracting rheumatic fever in North Africa, was sent home to convalesce and then underwent officer training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was posted to India, arriving as the war in Europe ended, and was assigned to the Essex Regiment, rising to the rank of Major. When his military service ended he began working in the entertainment industry, as an actor, singer and writer, eventually settling as a TV producer.
Croft relocated to the Northeast of England to work at Tyne Tees Television, where he produced many editions of the variety show The One O'Clock Show. For Tyne Tees Croft also directed and produced the admags Ned's Shed and Mary Goes to Market, as well as producing his first sitcom, Under New Management, set in a derelict pub in the North of England.[5]

Career

After leaving Tyne Tees Television to work at the BBC in the mid-1960s, he produced a number of the Corporation's popular sitcoms such as Beggar My Neighbour, Further Up Pompeii! and Hugh and I. It was while producing Hugh and I that he was introduced to actor Jimmy Perry, who handed him an unsolicited script for a pilot called The Fighting Tigers about the British Home Guard during the Second World War. Croft liked the idea. The two men co-wrote nine series of the show, which was retitled Dad's Army, as well as a feature film and a stage show based on it.[6]
While Dad's Army was still running, Croft began to co-write Are You Being Served? with Jeremy Lloyd. He was to continue both writing partnerships for the rest of his career in several hit series including It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi!, 'Allo 'Allo! and You Rang, M'Lord?. His last full series Oh, Doctor Beeching!, broadcast from 1995 to 1997, was co-written with Richard Spendlove. He created a television pilot in 2007, entitled Here Comes The Queen, with Jeremy Lloyd. This pilot starred Wendy Richard and Les Dennis, but because of Wendy Richard's death the show never went to a full series.[7]
As a producer, Croft's regular practice was to signal the end of an episode with the caption "You Have Been Watching ...", followed by vignettes of the main cast.

Death

David Croft died in his sleep on 27 September 2011, at his home in Portugal. He was 89 years old.[8]

Awards and honours

Croft became an Officer of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire with Jimmy Perry in 1978 for services to television. He also received the 1981 Desmond Davis award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, for his outstanding contributions to the industry.[9]
Croft's awards include:

Production and writing career

In addition to writing most of the episodes of these television series, Croft also worked as producer, director and, later, executive producer.

Written with Jimmy Perry

Written with Jeremy Lloyd

Written with Richard Spendlove



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Uan Rasey, American film trumpeter (Chinatown, Singin' in the Rain), died from heart ailment he was 90.


Uan Rasey was an American musician, best known for his studio work as a trumpet player. He was first trumpet of the MGM film studios orchestra from 1949 until the early 1970s, and performed on the soundtracks of many motion pictures.[2] As a teacher, Rasey had a reputation as one of the most exacting and inspiring trumpet teachers of his and subsequent generations.


(August 21, 1921 – September 26, 2011[1])

Biography

Uan Rasey was born in Glasgow, Montana where his father practiced law and his mother taught piano. Following initial music studies on the violin, he became attracted to the trumpet after listening to early jazz greats including Louis Armstrong, Cootie Williams, Roy Eldridge, and others whom he heard, sometimes weekly, via national radio broadcasts that reached the remote great plains of Eastern Montana. At the age of seven, his family purchased a mail-order trumpet for him from the Montgomery Ward catalog. It came with an instruction booklet, which became his initial guide in learning to play. When he was ten, Rasey contracted polio and spent nearly a year recuperating, but did not let the disease deter him from his passion for music and the trumpet.[citation needed]
He continued with his trumpet studies in his hometown of Glasgow, until his family moved to Los Angeles in 1937, where he began his professional playing career in the road and show bands of Sonny Dunham, Bob Crosby, and other big bands of the swing era as well as working on nationally televised radio shows. From 1947 onwards, Rasey worked regularly in Hollywood film studios, and was a pioneer in bringing the raucous and sexy sounds of jazz as well as big band styles into the classical tradition of the film studio orchestra.[citation needed]
In 1949, he became first trumpet with the MGM film studio orchestra, playing on all the major MGM soundtracks from the Golden Age of Hollywood including An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, Gigi, West Side Story (at United Artists), My Fair Lady (at Warner Bros.), Two For The See Saw, and Bye Bye Birdie (at Columbia Pictures), along with many others. Perhaps his best known soundtrack performance was for the movie Chinatown (1974), featuring trumpet solos that brought him recognition and praise from the film studio community and the general public, an uncommon event in soundtrack recording at that time.[citation needed]
Rasey was expelled twice from the musician’s union for his outspoken support for the working musician, an issue with which he remained actively involved until his death.[citation needed]
He lived in Southern California, where he taught privately and continued to pursue his passion for music and the trumpet. His accomplishments were recognized in May 2009 by the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) with their award of the ITG Honorary Award, the guild's most prestigious award.[2] He performed on nearly every MGM film score from the late 1940s until the early 1970s, along with film scores from many other motion picture studios as he did not work exclusively for MGM. He was highly skilled in all genres of music, from classical to big band lead playing and nearly everything in-between. He is recorded most of the Tom and Jerry cartoons of the 1950s and 60s.[citation needed]
Rasey worked continuously at Capitol Records and other audio recording studios in the Southern California area from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. He was featured playing lead on all tracks, together with other well-known trumpet players, including Pete Candoli, Conrad Gozzo, Shorty Sherock, Mannie Klein and Joe Triscari.[citation needed]


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Harry Muskee, Dutch blues singer and musician (Cuby + Blizzards). died from cancer he was 70.


Harry "Cuby" Muskee  was the singer of the blues band Cuby + Blizzards, which he co-founded with Eelco Gelling. Muskee was born in Assen, and died in Rolde aged 70.

(10 June 1941 – 26 September 2011)

Biography

Muskee was born during the war in the Wilhelmina Hospital in Assen. Early on, he lived with his mother at his grandmother's place, because his father was captured and transported to Germany. Only after the war – when he was four years old – he saw his father for the first time. The family moved to Rotterdam, but returned to Assen after two years. His mother suffered from multiple sclerosis and could not properly care for her child. Because his father, a fire chief, was mostly away from home, his grandmother largely took care of Muskee.
At the age of ten Muskee became member of the soccer club Achilles 1894 and at fifteen he went for his first guitar lessons. At high school he came into contact with jazz and Dixieland music. Together with the brothers Henk and Jaap Hilbrandie he founded the band The Mixtures. From this band emerged later on the Old Fashioned Jazz Group. This band mostly played at school dances in Assen.
Through listening to the American Forces Network radio station – for U.S. soldiers stationed in nearby Germany – Muskee came into contact with blues music. When he discovered the album Live at Newport by John Lee Hooker, he decided that he also wanted to make this kind of music. In 1961, when Muskee was 20 years years old, his mother died, and a year later his grandmother died. Shortly afterwards, Muskee broke through with The Blizzards.
After the breakup of Cuby + Blizzards – in 1972 – he toured around with formations like Red White 'n Blue, the Harry Muskee Band, the Muskee Gang and Muskee. Ultimately, the original name Cuby + Blizzards proved to be the most catchy and under this name, assisted by the Groningen guitarist Erwin Java, Muskee toured for many years around the world. In addition, he presented music programs on Radio Drenthe. For the same channel, he made a study tour through the southern states of the United States in search of the roots of the blues. A statue of Harry Muskee was placed in Grolloo, in 1997.
Muskee died in Rolde on 26 September 2011 due to the effects of cancer.[1]


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Jerry Haynes, American actor, died from Parkinson's disease he was 84.


Jerome Martin "Jerry" Haynes  was an American actor from Dallas, Texas. He is most well known as Mr. Peppermint, a role he played for 30 years as the host of one of the longest-running local children's shows in television, the Dallas-based Mr. Peppermint (1961–1969), which was retitled Peppermint Place for its second run (1975–1996). He also had a long career in local and regional theater and appeared in more than 50 films. A 1944 graduate of Dallas' Woodrow Wilson High School,[1] he was the father of musician and lead singer Gibby Haynes of the group Butthole Surfers.[2][3]

(January 31, 1927 – September 26, 2011)

Early life

He was born in Dallas, Texas to Louise Schimelpfenig Haynes and Fred Haynes. In 1990, Haynes was inducted into Woodrow Wilson High School's Hall of Fame.[1] Jerry graduated from Southern Methodist University after attending Louisiana State University and Yale.

Acting career

The "Mr. Peppermint" years

Haynes began his most famous role in 1961, playing a character who wore a red- and white-striped jacket and straw hat and carried a candy-striped magic cane. The original show ran for nine years as a live show, with Mr. Peppermint talking with a variety of puppet characters and including everything from cartoons to French lessons.
Early in the run of his show, an accident of fate made Haynes the first to report the Kennedy assassination on local news, together with his program director, Jay Watson. During lunch on the day of the shooting, the two men watched the Presidential motorcade pass on Main Street, and less than a minute later heard the deadly shots after the limousine turned onto Elm Street. The men quickly located and interviewed eyewitnesses, going on the air shortly later:
“ I ran three blocks back to the station, and Jay got some eyewitnesses and brought them over. He and I were the first to go live on local TV and report the terrible moment. I went home that afternoon, and Doris and I gathered our children around and discussed it as best we could. There was no direct discussion about it on Mr. Peppermint the next week. I didn’t feel qualified to counsel the viewers on it. We just behaved in a subdued and respectful manner. ”
— Jerry Haynes on the Kennedy assassination[3]
During these early years, the show began at 7:30 AM and ran for one hour, competing in its last half hour with the national CBS broadcast of Captain Kangaroo but usually winning its time slot. National trends shifted, however, and in 1970, the show was replaced by a talk program for the adult audience. After the Federal Communications Commission called in 1975 for more educational programming for children, the show was retooled as "Peppermint Place," a taped half-hour magazine-style program. The show continued in that format for over 20 years, eventually being syndicated to 108 markets nationwide before ending its run in 1996.

Other television and film work


Haynes in the 2007 Red River, New Mexico Fourth of July parade
Most of Haynes' film career was in made-for-television films, especially those set in his native Texas. His first film role was in the 1981 docudrama Crisis at Central High, about the integration of Little Rock's Central High School, filmed in Dallas. Texas-themed films in which he has appeared — mostly based on true stories — include Houston: The Legend of Texas (1986), A Killing in a Small Town (1990, aka Evidence of Love), Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story (1992), Texas Justice (1995), Don't Look Back (1996), and It's in the Water (1997).
His chief feature film roles included 1984's Places in the Heart, as Deputy Jack Driscoll, and in the 1985 Patsy Cline biopic Sweet Dreams as Owen Bradley, Cline's record producer. He also played minor roles in RoboCop (1987) and Boys Don't Cry (1999).
He also appeared as himself, partly through archive footage, in four documentary films discussing the Kennedy assassination: Rush to Judgment (1967), 11-22-63: The Day the Nation Cried (1989), Stalking the President: A History of American Assassins (1992), and Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film (1998).
In 1996 the Lone Star Film & Television Awards honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He regularly appeared in the Red River, New Mexico, Fourth of July parade in a peppermint-colored Jeep.

Health

Haynes was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in early 2008, and then was later diagnosed with a heart condition for which he received an artificial pacemaker. His doctors later revised their opinions to determine that he had a less aggressive form of Parkinson's.[4] Haynes died on September 26, 2011, from complications due to the diseases.[5] He was 84.

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David Zelag Goodman, American screenwriter (Straw Dogs), died from progressive supranuclear palsy he was 81.


David Zelag Goodman (right) with Sam Peckinpah
David Zelag Goodman  was a playwright and screenwriter for both TV and film.[6] His most prolific period was from the 1960s to the early 1980s. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Lovers and Other Strangers,[7] though he did not win. He co-wrote, with Sam Peckinpah, the screenplay for 1971's controversial Straw Dogs. He died less than two weeks after the remake was released. Other films that he wrote or co-wrote included Logan's Run, Monte Walsh, and Farewell My Lovely. He also wrote a number of the episodes of the Untouchables in the early 1960s.
Born in Manhattan, he majored in English at Queens College, then studied at Yale Drama School in 1958.[8] At age 24, his play, High Named Today, which was to have starred Jane Wyatt on Broadway, ended up running briefly Off Broadway in February 1954.[9] He was often sought as a "script doctor" because he could quickly identify screenplay flaws, as when Sherry Lansing brought him in to work on the thriller Fatal Attraction. According to his friend, the film and television producer Zev Braun, Goodman said to Lansing of the Glenn Close character: "You can't let her off the hook. You should kill her. Let's drown her!" [10]
Until his death, he was married for 61 years to Marjorie Goodman. Their daughter Kevis Goodman is an associate professor of English at UC Berkeley.[11]

(January 15, 1930 – September 26, 2011)

Partial filmography



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Jessy Dixon, American gospel musician, died he was 73.


Jessy Dixon  was an American gospel music singer, songwriter, and pianist, with success among audiences across racial lines. He garnered seven Grammy award nominations during his career.
Musicians with whom he worked include Paul Simon, Andrae Crouch, DeGarmo & Key and most recently Bill Gaither in the Homecoming series of concerts. He wrote songs for Amy Grant, Natalie Cole, Cher, and Diana Ross. [1]
Dixon was an ordained minister with Calvary Ministries International of Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

(March 12, 1938 – September 26, 2011)

Biography

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Dixon sang and played his first song at the age of five. As a youngster he moved to Chicago, where he was discovered by James Cleveland, one of the first artists to sing and record Jessy Dixon's compositions, "God Can Do Anything But Fail," and "My God Can Make A Way." The organizers of the Newport Jazz Festival invited him to perform his new song, "The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling," at New York's Radio City Music Hall in 1972. After the performance, Dixon and The Jessy Dixon Singers were requested to do four encores. Paul Simon (of Simon & Garfunkel fame), was in the audience and invited Dixon to share the stage with him as lead vocalist on NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live.
Dixon found himself touring with Simon across the U.S., France, Canada, Scandinavia, Israel, and Japan. Dixon's affiliation with Simon lasted eight years, during which time he recorded two albums, Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin' (1974) and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975), both of which sold a million copies.
Bill and Gloria Gaither invited him to sing at a Homecoming video taping. Dixon was a favorite on the series, and has traveled all over the United States and abroad surprising gospel audiences with his stirring performances of "It's A Highway To Heaven," "Operator", "Leaving On My Mind", "Blood Bought Church", "The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling", "Lord Prepare Me To Be A Sanctuary", and "I Am Redeemed". Dixon performed in the show, Black Nativity with The Jessy Dixon Theater Group.[citation needed]

Death

Dixon was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, and waged a very hard battle against the disease. Dixon died on September 26, 2011 at his home in Chicago, aged 73. [2][3]

Quotes

  • Natalie Cole: "Jessy's music is just like him, beautiful."
  • Bill Gaither: "I have traveled with Jessy Dixon for the past several years and never have I been with an artist with more heart. He is the real thing."
  • Bette Midler: "I've heard Jessy Dixon sing many times and in all of gospel music, Jessy Dixon is my favorite. Jessy Dixon has the gospel soul."
  • Diana Ross: "There's an element in Jessy's music that can't be mistaken. That element is love, and wow do I feel it."


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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...