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.
Maura's career in television and radio began at several stations throughout the region, including WAEB in Allentown, Pennsylvania, KQV in Pittsburgh, WIP in Philadelphia, and QVC, based in West Chester, Pennsylvania.[1] During his career, Maura's on-air names included Jim Lloyd, Jim Hamilton and J.J. Media.[1][2] Maura joined WCAU in Philadelphia, where he worked as the station's main announcer for twenty years, until his retirement due to illness.[1]
J.J. Maura died from cancer on July 28, 2010, in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania, at the age of 61.[1][2] He was survived by his wife, Lois (Deutsch) Maura; four children - Lisa, Ann, Russell and David; and 12 grandchildren.[1]
Derf "Fred" Scratch [Frederick Milner III] was best known as the original bass guitarist for, and former member of the punk rock band Fear died he was 59. [3]
Scratch played bass for Fear since the band's formation in 1977. Scratch met John Belushi during this time in Los Angeles. Belushi loved Fear and was their biggest booster; the two became good friends and cocaine abusers -- this period is well documented in the Bob Woodward book 'Wired'. Belushi got Fear a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live that essentially ended in a semi-planned melee.
After their Saturday Night Live appearance, they recorded their debut album The Record, now a classic punk album. Scratch not only played bass on most of the record, he played saxophone on the song "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones" (while lead singer Lee Ving played bass, as they had been doing the song live). Scratch also co-wrote one song with Ving on the album, "Fresh Flesh", and wrote and sang lead vocal on another, "Getting The Brush". Scratch was also seen with the band in the movie The Decline of Western Civilization and on an episode of Casey Kasem's syndicated America's Top 10 TV show.
Fear hung on until the mid-1980s, eventually breaking up due to the death of the Hollywood punk scene and Ving's increasing interest in acting and performing country music. During the punk revival generated by Nirvana in the 1990s, vocalist Lee Ving did one final performance with the original lineup of Fear before putting together a new version of Fear containing no original members other than himself.
Scratch, wishing to concentrate on guitar and saxophone, sold the Fender bass he used on The Record to then-Minutemen bassist Mike Watt. Watt played the instrument on another future punk classic, the 1982 release What Makes A Man Start Fires?
Raised in Oxford, Mississippi, Wright played all levels of basketball in Memphis – high school, collegiate and professional. Wright was selected a Third Team All-America by the Associated Press as a sophomore at the University of Memphis.
After being selected seventh overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1996 NBA Draft out of the University of Memphis, Wright moved on to the Atlanta Hawks in 1999. He was traded to theMemphis Grizzliesin 2001, but returned to the Hawks in 2006.
On February 16, 2008, he was involved in a multi-player trade, going from Atlanta to Sacramento for Mike Bibby.[2]
He held career averages of 8.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, playing in 778 (793 including playoffs) NBA games over 13 seasons.
Contents
Personal life
Wright founded the Sierra Simone Wright Scholarship Fund after the death of his infant daughter in March 2003. During the summer of 2003, he returned to the University of Memphis to finish his degree. His father Herb was a professional basketball player who competed in Finland.
During his first stint in Atlanta, Wright and three other Memphis-native NBA players (Todd Day, Penny Hardaway and Elliot Perry) provided financial assistance to Travis Butler, a Memphis orphan whose tragic story garnered national attention. [3]
Wright was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated; initiated Spring 1996 to the Kappa Beta Chapter (The 12 Disciples of the Diamond).
Disappearance and death
Wright left his ex-wife's home on 18 July 2010, and was not seen or heard from again. His family filed a missing persons report on July 22. [4][5] After Wright's body was found on July 28 in a wooded area by Hacks Cross Road, it was reported that a 9-1-1 call had been received from his cell phone in the early morning of July 19; the caller was speaking with the dispatcher when gun shots rang out. [6] The case is being investigated as a homicide. [7]
Ravi Baswani was a well known Indian film actor, most famoust for his role in Sai Paranjpe's Chashme Buddoor (1981) and Kundan Shah's cult comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), for which he won Filmfare Best Comedian Award in 1984 died of a heart attack he was 63. He was noted for his comic timing and underplaying of a character in the true sense of th word. In a career spanning 30 years he acted in some 30 films. He died in Haldwani, on his way to Delhi from hill station Nainital, to where he had traveled to scout for locations for his upcoming directorial feature which was also to be his debut in that role.[1][2]
(September 29, 1946 – July 27, 2010)
Early life and education
Ravi Baswani was born and brought up in Delhi, where he later did his graduation from Kirori Mal College (KMC), Delhi University, he was also part of the KMC dramatic society at the college.[3]
Career
He started his career in 1981 with Chashme Buddoor and did many successful films as a comedian and/or as a character artist. He also appeared very many times on Indian television. He went on to work in films like the cult Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Chhota Chetan, Ab Aayega Maza and Naseeruddin Shah's first directorial venture, Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota. As a television actor, he acted in numerous TV serials, including, the popular comedy serial, Idhar Udhar on Doordarshan in the 1980s, wherein he acted along side Pathak sisters, Supriya Pathak and Ratna Pathak.[4] More recently he was seen in character roles in films like [[Bunty Aur Babli[] and Pyar Tune Kya Kiya. [5] In 2004, when Film and Television Institute of India, Pune revived its acting course after 26 years, he became its coordinator and a teacher, along with Naseeruddin Shah, who also redesigned the course, Baswani however resigned the next year.[6][7]
Baswani died following a massive heart attack on July 27, 2010. He was returning from Nainital to Delhi, where he had to hunt for location for his directorial debut film, set in the hills. He was unmarried. [8][5]
Filmography
Monsoon (2006) .... Baba
Anthony Kaun Hai? (2006) .... Dr. Lashwani
Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota: What If...? (2006) (as Ravi Vaswani) .... Papaji
The Film (2005) .... Film-maker Kanti Gulati
Bunty Aur Babli (2005) .... B.B.'s first victim
Lucky: No Time for Love (2005) .... Mr. Negi
It Could Be You (2005) .... Dhillon Sr
Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya... (2001) .... Vispy – Jai's boss
Chal Mere Bhai (2000) (as Ravi Vaswani) .... Waitor
Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai (1998) .... Orphanage manager
Chhota Chetan (1998) .... Raja
Ghar Bazar (1998) (uncredited) .... Movie actor
Return of Jewel Thief (1996) .... Trikal Trivedi
Laadla (1994) (as Ravi Vaswani)
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993) .... Albert Sullivan
Raunaq (1993) .... Ravi
Jaan Tere Naam (1992) .... Hotel employee
Zevar (1987) .... Sundeep
Peechha Karro (1986) .... Hari Harihara
Ghar Sansar (1986) .... Banwari
Love 86 (1986) .... Havaldar Pandu
Main Balwan (1986)
Ab Ayega Mazaa (1984) .... Suresh'Sidey'
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) .... Sudhir Mishra
Dhat Tere... Ki (1983) .... Madhukar Sharma (Maddy)
Maury Alan Chaykin was an American-Canadian actor died of kidney failure he was 61. Best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, he was also known for his work as a character actor in many films and on television programs.[1]
(July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010)
Personal life
Chaykin was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Irving J. Chaykin (1912–2007), was born in Brooklyn, and was a professor of accountancy at City College of New York.[2] His mother, Clarice Chaykin (née Bloomfield), was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but raised in Montreal, Quebec since the age of three. She graduated from Beth Israel Hospital nursing school in Newark, New Jersey.[3] Chaykin's maternal uncle, George Bloomfield, is a Canadian writer/director/producer.
Raised in New York City, Chaykin studied drama at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He subsequently moved to Toronto, Ontario, where he resided until his death. He was married to Canadian actress Susannah Hoffmann, with whom he had one daughter, Rose. Best known for having played Jen Pringle in the Anne of Avonlea series, Hoffmann had a supporting role in a 2002 episode of the television series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, in which Chaykin starred.
Death
Maury Chaykin died in Toronto on July 27, 2010, his 61st birthday, from complications of a heart valve infection.[4]
Career
Chaykin was known for portrayals of blustery supporting characters. One of his rare leading roles was Nero Wolfe. Chaykin first played the legendary detective in The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000), an A&E telefilm adaptation of the 1953 novel by Rex Stout. Timothy Hutton costarred in the production as Archie Goodwin. The New York Times reported Chaykin's "undisguised delight" at starring in the promotion for The Golden Spiders: "There's an extraordinary billboard up on Sunset Boulevard right now, with a humongous photograph of my face. ... I drive by it constantly, back and forth, back and forth."[5] The original movie's success led to the weekly series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, which played for two seasons on A&E and continues to air internationally. Chaykin and Hutton had worked together previously, albeit briefly, in the 1985 film Turk 182; and they worked together subsequently, in the 2006 film Heavens Fall.
Chaykin had his first starring role in Whale Music, a 1994 film in which he played a burned-out rock star, a character based largely on Brian Wilson. Chaykin was named Best Actor at the 15th Genie Awards for his portrayal.
Two of Chaykin's early motion picture roles brought him public recognition: computer programmer Jim Sting in WarGames and prosecution witness Sam Tipton in My Cousin Vinny. Chaykin also had roles on the television series Seeing Things and Emily of New Moon as well as a recurring role as the intergalactic gourmand Nerus (a nod to Nero Wolfe)[6] in Stargate SG-1. In 1990, he had a small but pivotal role in the film Dances with Wolves, portraying Major Fambrough.
I got this strange call from Chlotrudis ... I thought it was a disease. It's a society for independent film and they said, "We're giving you The Career So Far Award. Not The Lifetime Achievement Award. We hope you will do a lot more indie films." They want to fly me down to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Last year's winner was Philip Seymour Hoffman. I looked up their website and they are legit. Nero Wolfe raised orchids. Maybe he had a rare form of Chlotrudis.
In 2009, he was subject to worldwide media coverage, when Amazonas State Police launched an investigation into the claims that murders had been ordered in order to boost ratings on his program.[2]
(12 August 1958 – 27 July 2010)
Early and personal life
Souza was born in Manaus, Amazonas. He obtained degrees at the College of Business São Luiz Gonzaga and the State College Basílio Machado. Souza also attended the Center for Study of Human Behavior and University Nilton Lins.[3] He is married with four children.[3]
In 1979, Souza became a police officer,[4] but was fired after he was arrested for pension fraud and petrol theft in 1987.[5]
Career
Political career
He was first elected in 1998 by the Liberal Party. He later took leadership of the Social Christian Party. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Amazonas in 2000, and was re-elected in 2002. In 2003 he was made Parliamentary his political career was threatened,[4] as he had already been expelled from the assembly in 2009.[6]
Broadcasting career
He began presenting Canal Livre in 1989.[4] The program which was described as "investigative journalism aimed at fighting crime and social injustice,"[5] ran until late 2008.[4] The program, which drew a large audience, showed police raids and arrests, with presenters often following police chases in a helicopter.[7] It was one of the most popular shows in Manaus.[4]
Criminal accusations
In 2009, Souza attracted international media attention when he was accused of hiring hitmen to kill five people to increase the ratings of his program.[2][8] Suspicions were raised because he was frequently first to the scene of a crime, gathering graphic footage of the victims.[9] A former police officer, Moacir Jorge da Costa, claimed he carried out one of the murders.[7] Souza and his legal team denied Souza's involvement with the murders.[8] Souza's son, Raphael, was arrested and is currently in prison facing charges of homicide, drug trafficking and illegal gun possession.[4]
Weapons, ammunition and cash were discovered at Souza's home when the police conducted a search.[4][8]
In October 2009, he was presented with charges of murder, drug-trafficking, intimidation of witnesses, illegal carrying of arms and formation of a criminal gang.[10] He was also expelled from the state assembly.[6] After an arrest warrant was issued, Souza disappeared and 60[11] civil and federal[12] police began to search for him.[1] Road blocks were mounted to try to stop him from leaving Manaus.[10] He subsequently gave himself up to police on October 9, 2009.[13] He repeatedly proclaimed his innocence.[14] His brother, vice-mayor Carlos Souza, requested that when sent to prison he have his own cell and be separated from fellow inmates.[12] Vanessa Lima, the former producer of the program, was arrested in December 2009.[15]
Death
Souza, who suffered of Budd–Chiari syndrome, died on 27 July 2010 of a heart attack.[16] He died a hospital in Sao Paulo, where he had been in since March 2010.[17]
Joseph J. Maura, Jr., often professionally credited as J.J. Maura, was an American television announcer and voiceover artist. Maura worked as the announcer for WCAU-TV, the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for twenty years. [1] 
