In 2024, we've experienced the loss of several luminaries in the world of entertainment. These beloved figures—actors, comedians, musicians, singers, and coaches—have touched our lives with their talent, passion, and dedication. They've left an indelible mark on our hearts and shaped the world of entertainment in ways that will continue to inspire and influence generations to come.
Among the incredible actors who bid farewell this year, we mourn the loss of a true chameleon who effortlessly.
Jennifer Lyon was a contestant on the popular series, Survivor. Lyon placed fourth in the 2005 season of Survivor: Palau.
The 37-year-old reality TV star was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer a few months after she finished Surivor but fought the disease with rounds of chemotherapy and other treatments.
Lyon was born in the city of Boulder City, Nevada, then moved around in cities in Washington and Oregon until we landed in The Dalles, Oregon, a small town along the Columbia River. She attributed her love and adventure and travel to my parents who would regularly pack us three kids into our Volkswagen Squareback and travel to various locations. She loved camping in the outdoors and seeing different places along the way.
She grew up playing many sports; softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, track and water-skiing in the summer. After high school, her thirst for adventure was growing so that she left to spend a year in Spain as an exchange student. Her family had always welcomed people from around the world to live with them. She played soccer and received her BS in Nutrition Science. She also live in London, England, and was a nanny for two years.
She settled in Los Angeles for the last seven years . She dabbled in photography and acting, She was a nutrition counselor for a non-profit government agency called WIC, continued nannying.
Ida Mae Martinez Selenkow died she was 78. Martinez was an American professional wrestler in the 1950s, known as Ida Mae Martinez. After her retirement in 1960, she appeared in the 2004 documentary Lipstick & Dynamite about the early years of female wrestling in North America. In addition to wrestling, Martinez was a yodeler, releasing the CD The Yodeling Lady Ms. Ida also in 2004. Martinez also obtained a Master's Degree in Nursing and was one of the first nurses in Baltimore to work with AIDSpatients.
(September 9, 1931 – January 19, 2010)
After watching a female professional wrestling match between Johnny Mae Young and Gloria Barattini, Martinez sought out promoter Billy Wolfe.[1] Wolfe invited her to train in Columbus, Ohio.[1] She debuted in August 1951 in Ohio.[1] She won the Championship of Mexico in 1952.[1][3] She held the title until 1953.[2]
She retired in 1960 after remarrying.[1] In the 1980s, she became a board member for the Cauliflower Alley Club.[1] Martinez also was featured in the 2004 documentary about women's wrestling, Lipstick & Dynamite.[1] In 2006, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame awarded her the Senator Hugh Farley Award for her contribution in and outside of the ring.[3]
Martinez was born to a prostitute mother and unknown father.[1] She believed she was of Spanish descent.[1] Her guardians were abusive towards her,[3] and she left home sometime between the ages of 13 and 15 to live with her cousin.[1][3] She attended Norwich Free Academy,[1] but eventually dropped out of high school.[3] In addition to school, she worked as a yodeler and singer at country and minstrel shows.[1]
Martinez married at age 17 and claimed that her husband was abusive.[1] She remarried in 1960 to a man with whom she had two daughters, I. Ryan and Traci.[1] She received her GED in 1971, an Associate's Degree in nursing in 1975, and a Bachelor's Degree in nursing in 1980.[1][3] Ten years later she received her Master's Degree in Nursing from the University of Maryland.[1] She was inducted into the Nursing Honor Society Sigma Theta Tau.[2] She was one of the first nurses in Baltimore to care for AIDS patients.[1] She also published writings about her work with AIDS patients.[2]
In addition to her musical career, Kate McGarrigle took engineering courses at McGill University.[5]Kate and Anna's 1975 self-titled debut album was chosen by Melody Maker as Best Record of the Year.[6] Their albums Matapedia (1997) and The McGarrigle Hour (1999) won Juno Awards. In 1999 Kate and Anna received Women of Originality awards and in 2006 SOCAN Lifetime Achievement awards.[7]
McGarrigle was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and established The Kate McGarrigle Fund at the McGill University Health Centre, which she set up in 2008 to raise awareness of sarcoma, a rare cancer that affects connective tissue such as bone, muscle, nerves and cartilage.
She died of clear cell sarcoma on January 18, 2010, aged 63 at her home in Montreal, according to her brother-in-law, Dane Lanken.[9] Her sister Anna wrote on their website: "Sadly our sweet Kate had to leave us last night. She departed in a haze of song and love surrounded by family and good friends. She is irreplaceable and we are broken-hearted. Til we meet again dear sister." [1]
She made her last public appearance, with Rufus and Martha Wainwright, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, just six weeks before her death. The show raised $55,000 for the Kate McGarrigle Fund.
Dan Fitzgerald, the coach who built Gonzaga into a national basketball power but resigned before the school began its current run of NCAA tournaments, has died at the age of 67.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Fitz. He's had a huge impact on how we still run the program, how we work, how we prepare. What we do and what we achieve now has Fitz's imprint all over it.
Fitzgerald collapsed Tuesday evening in a restaurant in the suburb of Airway Heights. He was pronounced dead at Deaconness Medical Center in Spokane, according to a nursing supervisor at the hospital.
The cause of death was not immediately released.
Fitzgerald recruited John Stockton to campus, took the Bulldogs to their first NCAA tournament in 1995, and built the coaching staff of Mark Few, Dan Monson and Bill Grier that has put the Bulldogs in every NCAA tournament since the 1999 season.
Fitzgerald was 252-171 as coach from 1978 to 1997, and also served as athletic director.
"He was an unforgettable personality," Stockton told The Spokesman-Review. "He was loyal -- incredibly loyal -- above all. He was there for anything and everything I've ever needed, ever asked for."
Fitzgerald stepped down in December 1997 after a school investigation determined he had been collecting and spending some athletic department funds without the knowledge of the university controller's office, a possible violation of NCAA rules. Fitzgerald contended that none of the money went to players or into his own pocket.
In recent years he had worked as community relations manager for the Northern Quest Casino.
Fitzgerald took Gonzaga to its first NCAA tournament in 1995, and he recruited the players who went to the final eight in 1999. Only Hank Anderson (291) coached more victories for Gonzaga.
Fitzgerald served as head coach from 1978 to 1981, and then from 1985 to 1997. He spent four years concentrating on his duties as athletic director, including renovating the basketball arena that became known as The Kennel.
Known throughout Spokane simply as "Fitz," the coach had a big personality and his imprint remains on the Gonzaga program, which is currently ranked No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today poll (No. 15 AP).
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Fitz," Few told The Spokesman-Review. Few, who is three victories from passing Fitzgerald on the Gonzaga list of coaching wins, was brought to campus in the early 1990s as a low-paid assistant.
"He's had a huge impact on how we still run the program, how we work, how we prepare," Few said. "What we do and what we achieve now has Fitz's imprint all over it."
Adams attended Fork Union Military Academy in 2001 and recorded 58 tackles, 22 sacks, and two interceptions in 10 games. He was a three year starter at Cambridge Academy, a small private school which only had an 8-man football team, where he was a dominant wide receiver and defensive end. His coach during high school was former University of South Carolina quarterback, Steve Taneyhill. In 2000, his team won the state title. During that year, Cambridge shut out four different teams, beating one team 80–0. They had suffered only one loss that season to arch-rival King Academy. He had 158 career receptions for 4,394 yard and 65 touchdowns, as well as 341 tackles, 10 interceptions, and 33 sacks in his career, and was a two-time All-state honoree. He chose Clemson over Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. He had narrowed down his choices to North Carolina and Clemson, then signed with Clemson after the Tar Heels unexpectedly rescinded their offer. At Cambridge, he was named to the Greenwood Touchdown Club/Index-Journal All-Lakelands Team (which included four counties).In 2003, as a redshirt freshman, he did not see much action as the second-team defensive end, only totaling 15 tackles and a sack.
In 2004, he had 35 tackles with 8 sacks, and two blocked punts playing on special teams. For his hard work on special teams, Adams was awarded the 12th Man Award for Clemson's defense. Adams considered coming out for the NFL Draft after his sophomore year, but after the underclassman panel gave him a conservatively low ranking he decided to stay for his junior year.
Adams' 2005 junior year was the year he broke out. Adams totaled 56 tackles, 9.5 sacks, and forced three fumbles while starting at boundary defensive end.
For Adams' senior year, 2006, he was slated to be among the best defensive ends in the college football. Adams lived up to his reputation by starting all 12 games, recording 12.5 sacks,causing 2 fumbles and recovering 3. By the end of the 2006 season, Adams recorded a total of 28 career sacks, tying the school record set by Michael Dean Perry (1984–1987)[1]. In addition, Adams was named to all five official All-America teams acknowledged by the NCAA in 2006, one of seven unanimous All-Americans that year.
Adams was chosen by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the 4th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, despite his admissions during interviews at the scouting combine of previous marijuana use.[4] He signed a six-year deal with the Buccaneers on July 26th, 2007, worth $46 million, with $18.6 million guaranteed. He registered his first solo sack against the Atlanta Falcons in week 11 of the 2007 season.
At the end of the 2007 season Adams had 35 tackles, 6 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in 2007, he led all 2007 rookies with his six sacks. This performance gained him a place in the 2007 NFL All-Rookie team. He also played in Tampa Bay Buccaneers playoff loss to the New York Giants and finished the game with five tackles and one sack. Against the Colts on Week 5, he blocked a field goal attempt by Adam Vinatieri.
In 2008, Adams recorded two sacks against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. He recorded his first career interception and returned it for his first career touchdown in a Week 3 overtime win over the Chicago Bears. The following week, Adams recorded another interception off of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to seal a Buccaneers victory. In Week 8, in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Adams recorded two sacks.
On October 19, 2009, Adams was traded to the Chicago Bears for a second-round draft pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.[5]. In 10 games for the Bears, Adams had 7 combined tackles, 1 pass deflection and 1 forced fumble.[6]
Adams was taken to the emergency room in Greenwood, South Carolina on the morning of January 17, 2010, after his girlfriend found him at home. He was pronounced dead at 8:21 a.m. ET. The coroner confirmed, after an autopsy, that Adams died of cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart.[7] Neither Adams nor his relatives knew about any kind of medical condition he may have had. At the time of his death, neither drug abuse nor foul play was suspected. Full toxicology tests will likely not be available for at least two months.[8]
Glen William Bell, Jr.[1] died he was 86. Bell. Jr was an American businessman who founded the fast food chain Taco Bell.
(September 3, 1923 – January 17, 2010)
He served in the US Marine Corps during World War II. Bell left military life in 1946, and started his first hot dog stand called Bell's Drive-In in San Bernardino in 1948.[2] In 1952, he sold his hot dog stand and built his second that sold hot dogs and hamburgers. Shortly thereafter, he started selling 19 cent tacos out of a side window. Between 1954 and 1955, he opened three Taco Tias in Los Angeles area, eventually selling those restaurants and opening four El Tacos with a new partner in the Long Beach area.
In 1962, he decided to go solo and sold the El Tacos to his partner and opened his first Taco Bell. Bell franchised his restaurant in 1964.[2] His company grew rapidly, and the 868 restaurant chain was later sold to PepsiCo in 1978 for $125 million in stock.
Edward E. Chuman, a tough businessman with a flair for theatrics who proved a natural for professional wrestling, riled crowds as the masked manager "Dr. X" and staged shows that featured an incendiary mix of heroes and villains.
Mr. Chuman, 62, died of heart failure Friday, Jan. 15, in his Roselle home, said his wife, Pam. He had just returned from a hospital after a bout with pneumonia and had suffered long-standing lung problems related to Legionnaires' disease that he contracted about 12 years ago, his wife said.
Mr. Chuman promoted wrestling in several states for the National Wrestling Alliance, an organization that dates to the late 1940s but in recent years has played second fiddle to the nationally televised events of World Wrestling Entertainment. As a promoter for alliance shows, he put together crowd-pleasing events at venues ranging from barrooms to auditoriums in towns across the Midwest.
"There's an art to wrestling, and either you get it or you don't, and he got it," said Joe Cabibbo, who wrestles as "The Sheik." "He was a master of it."
With extensive contacts throughout the industry, Mr. Chuman was a manager and adviser to wrestlers including the "Awesome Kong," one of the top female grapplers, said Rico Mann, who designs wrestling belts.
In a sometimes crazy business, he maintained a reputation as an honest broker.
"He was just the most honest guy I ever met in the entertainment business, where there's sharks for managers," Cabibbo said. "He never took a nickel extra."
As a boy, Mr. Chuman, who grew up in Hillside and attended Proviso West High School, watched wrestling with his grandfather and idolized "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, said his friend Phil Wills.
He was working as a manager at a Kmart when he ran into the wrestler Angelo Poffo, who offered Mr. Chuman a chance to climb into the ring, Wills said. Wrestling as "Sidney Bockabella," he performed in all sorts of dives in southern Illinois and Kentucky, where fans sometimes took the staged matches a little too seriously.
"Ed had a lot of stories where they believed it a little too much, and things got hairy," Wills said.
Jennifer Lyon was a contestant on the popular series, Survivor. Lyon placed fourth in the 2005 season of Survivor: Palau.
She grew up playing many sports; softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, track and water-skiing in the summer. After high school, her thirst for adventure was growing so that she left to spend a year in Spain as an exchange student. Her family had always welcomed people from around the world to live with them. She played soccer and received her BS in Nutrition Science. She also live in London, England, and was a nanny for two years.
