Lonnie Mack (1941 - 2016)

Lonnie Mack Lonnie Mack, the blues-rock pioneer who influenced an entire generation of guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards, died Thursday at a medical facility near his home in Smithville, Tennessee. Mack was 74. Alligator Records confirmed the guitar great’s death, adding that Mack had died of natural causes. In […]

William Keeler (1908 - 1987)

Both of William Keeler’s paternal and maternal grandfathers, George B. Keeler and Nelson F. Carr, were white men who had settled in Cherokee territory and married Cherokee women. They were notable for their roles in founding the community that is now Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Carr owned the sawmill and grist mill in town. George Keeler was […]

Frank Grouard (1850 - 1905)

Frank Grouard’s origins are the center of much speculation and controversy. He is variously described as having been American Indian, half-Indian, French-Creole or half-Black, the son of the early Black American Fur Company mountain man, John Brazeau. Grouard himself, in his biography dictated to journalist Joseph DeBarthe in 1891, was born in the Society Islands […]

Helen Jackson (1830 - 1885)

Helen Jackson was born Helen Maria Fiske in Amherst, Massachusetts, the daughter of Nathan Welby Fiske and Deborah Waterman Vinal Fisk. Helen’s father was a minister, author, and professor of Latin, Greek, and philosophy at Amherst College. She had two brothers, both of whom died soon after birth, and a sister Anne. They were raised […]

Chief Seattle (1786 - 1866)

Chief Seattle’s mother Sholeetsa was Dkhw’Duw’Absh (Duwamish) and his father Shweabe was chief of the Dkhw’Suqw’Absh (the Suquamish tribe). Seattle was born around 1780 on or near Blake Island, Washington. One source cites his mother’s name as Wood-sho-lit-sa. The Duwamish tradition is that Seattle was born at his mother’s village of Stukw on the Black […]

Black Kettle (1803 - 1868)

Little is known of chief Black Kettle’s life prior to 1854, when he was made a chief of the Council of Forty-four, the central government of the Cheyenne tribe. The Council met regularly at the Sun Dance gatherings, where they affirmed unity. After 1850, Cheyenne-US relations were conducted under the Treaty of Fort Laramie. But, the […]

Black Elk (1863 - 1950)

Black Elk was born into an Oglala Lakota family in December 1863 along the Little Powder River (at a site thought to be in the present-day state of Wyoming). According to the Lakota way of measuring time (referred to as Winter counts), Black Elk was born “the Winter When the Four Crows Were Killed on […]

Chief Joseph (1840 - 1904)

Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it in Americanist orthography, popularly known as Chief Joseph or Young Joseph (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), succeeded his father Tuekakas (Chief Joseph the Elder) as the leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) band of Nez Perce, a Native American tribe indigenous to the Wallowa Valley in northeastern Oregon, in the interior Pacific […]

Guy Hamilton (1922 - 2016)

Guy Hamilton Guy Hamilton, who directed four James Bond films, has died aged 93. Former 007 actor Sir Roger Moore tweeted that he was “incredibly, incredibly saddened to hear the wonderful director Guy Hamilton has gone to the great cutting room in the sky. 2016 is horrid”. Hamilton directed Sir Roger in Live and Let […]

David Gest (1953 - 2016)

David Gest David Gest was spotted looking frail and tired as he sat anxiously on the tube last week – days before he was found dead in a London hotel room. The 62-year-old, whose body was found at the Four Seasons hotel in Canary Wharf yesterday morning, was photographed after getting on a tube at […]

Blackjack Mulligan (1942 - 2016)

Blackjack Mulligan Blackjack Mulligan, a former professional wrestler and a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, has died. He was 73. Robert Windham, better known as Blackjack Mulligan, the patriarch of the Windham wrestling family that includes three performers on the current WWE roster, passed away. Windham had been in poor health for some […]

Ronnie Corbett (1930 - 2016)

Ronnie Corbett Ronnie Corbett, one of Britain’s most popular entertainers, who was a regular television fixture for more than 50 years, has died aged 85. Corbett first came to fame on The Frost Report in the 1960s but was best known as one half of The Two Ronnies with his comedy partner, Ronnie Barker, who […]

James Noble (1922 - 2016)

James Noble James Noble, the actor best known for his role as the absent-minded governor on the hit 1980s sitcom “Benson,” died on Monday in Norwalk, Conn. He was 94. Douglas Moser, a family spokesman, said Mr. Noble, who lived in Norwalk, had a stroke a few days before his death, in a hospital. Mr. […]

Ken Howard (1944 - 2016)

Ken Howard  Ken Howard, the current national president of SAG-AFTRA who came to fame as the supportive inner-city high school basketball coach on the 1970s CBS drama The White Shadow, died Wednesday. He was 71. Howard, who got laughs as Hank Hooper, the CEO of Kabletown, the cable company that buys NBC from General Electric, […]

Joe Garagiola Sr (1926 - 2016)

Joe Garagiola Sr Joe Garagiola, who spent nine forgettable seasons in the major leagues as a weak-hitting catcher and then parlayed his witty tales of life as a baseball underachiever into a far more notable career as a folksy broadcaster and television personality, died on Wednesday in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 90. Major League Baseball […]

Tommy Dorsey (1905 - 1956)

Tommy Dorsey’s first band was formed out of the remains of the Joe Haymes band, and so began Dorsey’s long-running practice of raiding other bands for talent. If he admired a vocalist, musician or arranger, he would think nothing of taking over their contracts and careers.[citation needed] Dorsey had a reputation for being a perfectionist. […]

Al Bowlly (1898 - 1941)

Al Bowlly was born in Lourenço Marques in the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique, to Greek and Lebanese parents who met en route to Australia and moved to South Africa, where he was brought up in Johannesburg. After a series of odd jobs across South Africa in his youth, namely as a barber and jockey, […]

Red Nichols (1905 - 1965)

Red Nichols was born on May 8, 1905 in Ogden, Utah, United States. His father was a college music professor, and Nichols was a child prodigy, because by twelve he was already playing difficult set pieces for his father’s brass band. Young Nichols heard the early recordings of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, and later […]

Steve Brodie (1919 - 1992)

Steve Brodie appeared in more than two hundred films, mostly from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s. He worked at various studios, including MGM, RKO and Republic Pictures, appearing mostly in westerns and B-movies. He played supporting roles in the majority of his films, including the 1947 film noir classic Out of the Past and […]

David Street (1917 - 1971)

David Street was born Patrick Devlin in Los Angeles, California. While in high school, he formed a trio that sang in local theaters. Street was a singer on the network programs Meet Me at Parky’s[2]:222-223 and The Sealtest Village Store. In the 1940s, Street had two programs that were distributed via electrical transcription. The David Street Song […]

Lisa Gaye (1935 - 2016)

Lisa Gaye was born Leslie Gaye Griffin in Denver, Colorado to Frank Henry Griffin, a painter, and Margaret Griffin, an actress. The Griffin family moved from Denver to Los Angeles, California, in the 1930s to be close to the developing film industry. Her mother, actress Margaret Griffin, was determined that Gaye and her siblings make their […]

Joe Santos (1931 - 2016)

Joe Santos  Joe Santos, best known for playing Lt. Dennis Becker, the frustrated L.A. policeman pal of James Garner’s private detective on The Rockford Files, died Friday, his agent, Alicia Beekman, confirmed. He was 84. Santos’ son son Perry told TMZ that his father suffered a heart attack at his Los Angeles home Wednesday and was put […]

Daryl Coley (1955 - 2016)

Daryl Coley Gospel singer Daryl Coley died this week at age 60, his son Te’Ceion Coley confirmed on Instagram. “I’m broken-hearted but full of joy that God Allowed me to be fathered by such an awesome man, father and friend,” Te’Ceion wrote Wednesday (March 16) on Instagram. Coley charted 14 entries on the Top Gospel […]

Frank Sinatra Jr (1944 - 2016)

Frank Sinatra Jr Some sons run from their fathers. Others ride their fathers’ coattails. Frank Sinatra Jr., who died Wednesday of a heart attack at 72, charted an even rockier middle course. “I was never a success,” he told The Washington Post’s Wil Haygood in 2006. “Never had a hit movie or hit TV show or hit […]

Gogi Grant (1924 - 2016)

Gogi Grant Gogi Grant, one of the premier vocalists of the 1950s and 1960s, is known for her crystal clear voice, perfect pitch, and strong vocal range. She was born Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg on September 20, 1924, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Alexander and Rose Jacobsen Arinsberg, first generation Americans whose parents had come from England […]

Gil Hill (1931 - 2016)

Gil Hill  Former Detroit City Council president and Detroit police official Gil Hill has died today. Gil Hill passed away at 4:51 p.m. at Sinai Grace Hospital, said hospital spokeswoman Bree Glenn. He was 84. The cause of death was respiratory illness — he had been battling respiratory issues for the last two years, and was admitted to […]

Lennie Baker (1946 - 2016)

Lennie Baker Leonard Baker, a member of the band Sha Na Na, died Wednesday in Weymouth, Mass., his nephew David Baker confirmed Friday in an obituary on the website of a local funeral home. He was 69. Lennie Baker was a people person. He had many friends and truly enjoyed time spent with all of them. His […]

Trevor Howard (1913 - 1988)

Trevor Howard was born in Cliftonville, Kent, England, the son of Mabel Grey (Wallace) and Arthur John Howard. He was educated at Clifton College (to which he left in his will a substantial legacy for a drama scholarship) and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), acting on the London stage for several years […]

John Clements (1910 - 1988)

Sir John Selby Clements, CBE (25 April 1910 – 6 April 1988) was an English actor and producer who worked in theatre, television and film. John Clements attended St Paul’s School and St John’s College, Cambridge then worked with Nigel Playfair and afterwards spent a few years in Ben Greet’s Shakespearean Company. He made his first […]

Basil Dearden (1911 - 1971)

Basil Dearden was born at 5, Woodfield Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex to Charles James Dear, a steel manufacturer, and his wife, Florence née Tripp. Dearden graduated from theatre direction to film, working as an assistant to Basil Dean. He later changed his own name to Dearden to avoid confusion with his mentor. He first began working as a […]