Legendary actor, Cliff Robertson has passed away this week. While he starred in so many films over the years, he won an Oscar for “Best Actor” for the film, “Charly”, in 1968. He is most well known for his role as Uncle Ben Parker, in Sam Raimi’s, “Spiderman”, trilogy. Cliff Robertson was 88 years old.
Kev
I never watched, “Spartucus: Blood & Sand”, but I hear that Andy Whitfield is a well respected talented actor, but since he was a cancer victim, that also gets my respect. Andy Whitfield, died of lymphoma cancer, on Sept. 11th, 2011. It’s always sad that people die of cancer at such a young age. He was only 39.
Kev
Jani Lane, started off as a drummer at the age of 4, because his older brother Eric, was already a good guitarist, so he learned to play drums with him. Jani got inspired into rock music by his sister Vicky and his parents. Throughout the years, Jani would play drums for various bands as a kid. In high school, Jani was a superstar in his football team as he was an amazing quarterback player. He was so good at football that he was offered a scholarship to different colleges. The only thing though, Jani was more interested in becoming a rock n’ roll musician than being a football player. At this time, he wanted to become a singer fronting a band instead of being a drummer.
Right after Jani graduated from high school, Jani joined the band Cyren as a drummer. He also performed for bands Dorian Grey and Plain Jane. Jani later started to take vocal lessons with professional vocal coach, Ron Feldman to learn how to sing. Jani first made his singing debut at Fern Park Station in Fern Park, Florida.
In July of 1984, the band Warrant formed by guitarist Erik Turner. Jani joined the band in 1986 as lead singer replacing Adam Shore. Warrant is most famous for anthems: “Cherry Pie”, “Heaven”, “Down Boys”, and more.
Jani Lane was found dead at a Comfort Inn Hotel in Woodland Hills, California, he was 47 years old.
Kev
Bubba Smith, who is the former NFL star and actor most famous for his role as Hightower in the “Police Academy” comedy series has passed away. He played for the NFL from 1967 – 76, then he retired to become a full time actor. Bubba was found dead in his home in Los Angeles, he was 66 years old.
Damn, a sad loss in the movie industry. I love all the Police Academy movies and Hightower has always been my favorite character. Sad.
Kev
Amy Winehouse began singing at the age of 9, after taking interest in singing after her father, Mitchell Winehouse would sing around the house. Mitchell would sing Amy, Frank Sinatra songs as a child and her interest in singing grew from there. Her family later sent Amy to Susi Earnshaw Theatre School for further training on Amy’s singing. Amy began playing guitar at the age of 13 and started to write her own songs. She was mostly interested in jazz and soul music.
In 2003, she was signed to a major label and released her debut album, “Frank”, which was pretty successful and critics gave it positive reviews. In 2006, she teamed up with Mark Ronson and they wrote two songs together, “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good”. Those songs were later included on Amy’s album “Back To Black” which went to No. 7 on the Billboard 200.
For years, she had struggled with drug addiction & alcohol. She also had problems in her personal life with her ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil and she suffered mental health problems. Amy Winehouse was found dead today in her London home, she was 27 years old. She now joins the list of musicians who died at 27 such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain.
Sad loss to the music industry but she had it coming. She’s in a better place now.
Kev
The music world, lost another great one. Clarence Clemons, known for being the prominent member of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band from 1972 until now. He was most recognizable for his talent in his incredible sax playing. Whenever he plays the sax, you know it’s Clarence playing right away. He was also one of the coolest sax players who was such a badass on stage. He was an important member of the E Street Band.
Clarence had other projects over the years, other than the E Street Band though. He made several solo albums in his career. He also did side projects being a special guest sax player for Aretha Franklin on “Freeway of Love” and he even played for Twister Sister on their song, “Be Chrool for Your Scuel”.He even performed in concert with the Grateful Dead once.
Clarence was also a part time actor in Hollywood. He had cameos in TV shows such as “Diff’rent Strokes”, “Nash Bridges”, “The Simpsons”, and “The Wire”. He also had acting roles in films such as “New York, New York” and “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”.He also appeared on an episode of Weird Al’s children’s show “The Weird Al Show”.
As a child, Clarence grew up listening to jazz music and he first picked up the sax at the age of 9. In Sept. of 1971, that’s when Clarence first met Bruce Springsteen. Clarence was recommended to check out Bruce Springsteen play with his band at a club called, The Student Prince. Clarence asked Bruce if he could join his band, so Bruce gave him an audition, of course, Clarence was in.
Clarence suffered a stroke on June 12, he died from complications of the stroke on Sat. June 18th. RIP Big Man. My heart goes out to Springsteen, the E Street Band, his family, friends and fans. This is a sad day in the music world. I’m sure the E Street Band will continue without him, but honestly, it’s not the E Street band without him. The E Street Band will never be the same, no matter who replaces him as a sax player. This sucks. He was the reason I listened to the Street Band.
Kev
Famous for his role as Kenickie for the musical movie, “Grease” and also for “Taxi”, “Babylon 5”, actor Jeff Conaway has died today. He had lots of health and personal issues over the years. He was suicidal and had depression issues. According to his wikipedia, the reason he turned out this way because he was a victim of a pedophile and child pornographers when he was a child. He became a drug addict as a teenager. He has been a long time cast member for Dr. Drew Pinsky’s show, “Celebrity Rehab”. Dr. Drew Pinsky said he did not die of a drug overdose but “pneumonia with sepsis”. Jeff Conaway, was 60 years old.
Kev
When I was a kid, I started watching professional wrestling because of none other than, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, a wrestler who is most well known for his famous catchphrase, “Oooooh yeeeaaahhh”.
That’s when I became addicted to old school WWF. I still watch wrestling today because of him. Randy Savage is, in my opinion, the true legend of wrestling. There is none other like him. He was also one of the best performers in professional wrestling who had the best microphone skills than any other wrestler in history. He put on some pretty amazing promos over the years.
Randy Savage worked for WWE from 1985 – 1994, having some of the most memorable feuds against Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Ultimate Warrior… being a few of his most well known opponents. Throughout the years of WWF, he had managers Jimmy Hart, Bobby Heenan and Classie Fredie Blassie by his side. Later in the years, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage teamed up together for a tag team called, The Mega Powers. Randy Savage retired from WWF in 1991 after beating “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan to become “King of the Ring”.
Later that year, Savage made a WWF comeback to feud with Jake the Snake Roberts. Around then, that’s when the relationship storyline with Miss Elizabeth began. This is where Ric Flair comes in to feud with Randy Savage, Ric tries to steal Miss Elizabeth from Randy Savage. This is Randy Savage’s most famous storyline. The Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage feud was a classic.
After the feud was over, Randy teamed up with the Ultimate Warrior to form a tag team called, the Ultimate Maniacs where they continued to feud with Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect. In 1993, Randy Savage became a color commentator instead of a wrestler, then he retired from WWF for good in 1994, to join Ted Turner’s wrestling company, WCW.
In WCW, Randy Savage would continue to feud with Flair until Savage joined Hulk Hogan’s, nWo group in 1997. Randy Savage retired from WCW in 1999. In 2004, Randy Savage made a return to wrestling for Jeff Jarrett’s “TNA”. Randy only stayed there for a year. He mostly feuded with Jeff Jarrett.
After, Savage’s brief TNA run, Savage retired from wrestling for good. He started to star in a string of “Slim Jim” commercials, which he is also most famous for. Last year at the San Diego Comic Con, Randy Savage appeared via satellite to promote the upcoming Mattel WWE action figures. That was the last we heard from Randy Savage in the wrestling business.
This is a very sad loss for the wrestling industry. The wrestling world lost a great one. I am pretty devastated. He has a been a favorite of mine for years. I was hoping for a Randy Savage WWE comeback but it’s never going to happen now. He was one of the greats. An inspiration. A hero to us all. He will be missed. RIP, the “Macho Man”, Ooooooohhhh yeah. Snap into it!
Kev
Actress, Hilary Swank is in the news again. About what? It’s about her looks, of course. This never ending debate on whether she’s “hot” or “not”. What do I think about her? I’m going to side with her, and say that she’s “hot”.
And here is why….
She’s a normal and natural beauty. I don’t think she’s had plastic surgery like most celebs. She also doesn’t hide her so called, “ugly” looks like most celebs. Do you want to know why so many actresses like Megan Fox, Pam Anderson, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johannson, etc., all look so beautiful and perfect? Because plastic surgery and way too much make-up is what makes them hot women. How much do you want to bet that those women I listed, if they had their make up off, they would be much uglier than Hilary Swank.
I think Hilary is a beautiful woman. I would even date her if I could. You can’t deny that she’s not bad to look at. Look at her see through dress she’s wearing. Do they look like breast implants to you? No. Definitely not. They look like a good size rack and natural looking. You’d be insane to not have her in the bed with you.
If people are calling her ugly, then she must be doing something right. She doesn’t have to be “hot” and she doesn’t have to be a plastic barbie doll like most celebs. That’s how she is and she’s just being herself. She wears make up too but not as bad as other celebs.
She also happens to be one of the best actresses out there. I admired her acting talent for a long time. “Million Dollar Baby” was her best role, obviously. If you think she’s ugly, there are even uglier actresses out there than her. How about: Rosie O’ Donnell, Kristen Stewart, Miley Cyrus, Courtney Love, Rumer Willis, etc.
Nothing wrong with Hilary. It all comes down with jealousy when it comes to Hilary. Calling her ugly was pretty disrespectful, in my opinion. Hilary needs to be respected. She has talent and a two time Oscar winner. She’s also an icon, like her or not. I first heard about Hilary through her movie, “Boys Don’t Cry”, which is an amazing flick by the way. Hilary is wonderful and I would even like to meet her in person sometime.
Kev
Jackie Cooper was born with acting. Yes, that’s right, he was born with it. Jackie started acting in Hollywood film at the age of 3, when he appeared as an extra in films with his grandmother. Later he started starring in a bunch of films with legendary actor, Lloyd Hamilton. Jackie never won an Academy award but he was the very first young star to be nominated for an Academy Award for “Best Actor in a Leeding Role” for the film, “Skippy”. As he got older, he started several collaborations with legendary actor, Wallace Beery, with “Treasure Island” being their most well known film.
As an adult, Jackie served in the U.S. Army for World War II. After the war, he started to star in a bunch of TV shows such as, “The People’s Choice” and CBS’s “Hennessey”.
In the late 1970’s, Jackie Cooper became a more well known and mainstream actor when he got casted as Perry White for Richard Donner’s, “Superman: The Movie”, he played the Daily Planet head honcho. Jackie starred as Perry White in all 4 Superman films. Jackie announced retirement from film, but he still kept directing some episodes for the TV show, “Superboy”. Jackie Cooper died in Beverly Hills, California. He was 88 years old.
Kev
K'Brocking 
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