Death List Members in the News
May 2007
Charles Nelson Reilly
January 2007
Bobby Hamilton
December 2006
Gerald Ford
November 2006
Jack Palance
August 2006
Fidel Castro, Kirk Douglas, John Madden
July 2006
Keith Richards, Ozzy Osbourne, Gerald Ford, Tony Stewart, Phyllis Diller,
B.B. King, Dale Jarrett, Arnold Palmer
May 2006
Keith Richards, David Blaine
April 2006
Tony Stewart, Gerald Ford, B.B. King, Queen Elizabeth, Mickey Rooney, Bob
Barker, Harry Morgan, Charlton Heston, David Blaine, Vin Scully, Muhammad
Ali, Hugh Hefner, Arnold Palmer, Jerry Lewis
March 2006
Courtney Love, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, Jerry Lewis, Osama Bin Laden,
Queen Elizabeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Gerald Ford
February 2006
Walter Cronkite, Brian Dennehy, Don Knotts, Willie Mays, Vin Scully, Tony
Bennett, Courtney Love, Bob Barker
January 2006
Gerald Ford, Tony Stewart, B.B. King, Walter Cronkite, William Shatner, Courtney
Love, Nick Nolte
December 2005
December 10 - Richard Pryor, Dead at 65
December 9 - Ozzy Osbourne & Queen Elizabeth
December 7 - Nick Nolte
December 6 - Hugh Hefner
December 4 - Tony Bennett
December 3 - Tony Stewart
December 2 - David Blaine
November 2005
George Michael, Courtney Love, William Shatner, Muhammad Ali
October 2005
Rosa Parks, William Shatner, Joe Namath, B.B. King, Jerry Lewis, Tony Stewart,
Arnold Palmer, Richard Pryor, Jack Klugman, Michael Waltrip, Hugh Hefner,
Dale Jarrett
September 2005
Courtney Love, Ozzy Osbourne, B.B. King, Michael Waltrip, Willie Nelson, Courtney
Love, Jerry Lewis, Arnold Palmer
August 2005
William Shatner, Vin Scully, Ron Popeil, Hugh Hefner, Dale Jarrett, Keith
Richards, Ozzy Osbourne, John Madden, Courtney Love, Richard Pryor, Sterling
Marlin, Tony Stewart, Tony Bennett, Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis
July 2005
Arnold Palmer, Richard Pryor, Courtney Love, Jerry Lewis, Muhammad
Ali, Kirk Douglas, Bob Barker, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Stewart, Dale Jarrett,
Phyllis Diller, Michael Waltrip, Gerald Ford, Mickey Rooney, Jack Klugman,
Keith Richards, Nick Nolte, Rosa Parks, Luther Vandross
June 2005
Jim Otto, Vin Scully, Tony Bennett, Gerald Ford, Tony Stewart, Queen Elizabeth,
Muhammad Ali, Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Klugman, John Madden
May 2005
Michael Waltrip, Queen Elizabeth, Fidel Castro, Tony Stewart, Walter Cronkite,
Arnold Palmer, B.B. King, George Michael, Vin Scully, Keith Richards, Don
Knotts, Brian Dennehy, Michael Waltrip, Wilford Brimley, Ozzy Osbourne, Willie
Mays, Bob Barker, Nick Nolte, Jim Otto
April 2005
Larry Hagman, Richard Pryor, Willie Mays, Phyllis Diller, David Blaine, Tony
Stewart, Queen Elizabeth, Muhammad Ali, Nick Nolte and William Shatner, B.B.
King, Ozzy Osbourne, Rosa Parks, Luther Vandross, Pope John Paul II
March 2005
Ozzy Osbourne, Pope John Paul II, Courtney Love, Phyllis Diller, Vin Scully,
Fidel Castro, Ed Asner, Bob Barker, B.B. King, Arnold Palmer, Keith Richards,
Muhammad Ali, Jack Palance, Jack Klugman, Sterling Marlin, Joe Namath, Charlton
Heston, Jerry Lewis, Horatio Sanz
February 2005
Pope John Paul II, Wilford Brimley, Tony Stewart, Queen Elizabeth, Willie
Nelson, B.B. King, Ozzy Osbourne, Dale Jarrett, Fidel Castro, Phyllis Diller,
Courtney Love, Gerald Ford, Larry Hagman, Rosa Parks, Mickey Rooney, Hugh
Hefner
January 2005
Willie Mays, Ozzy Osbourne, Arnold Palmer, B.B. King, Vin Scully, John Madden,
Johnny Carson, Brian Dennehy, Kirk Douglas, William Shatner, Rosa Parks, Jerry
Lewis, Courtney Love, Pope John Paul II, Willie Nelson, Mickey Rooney, Gerald
Ford, Bob Barker
December 2004
Richard Pryor, Queen Elizabeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Keith Richards, Rosa Parks,
Nick Nolte, Don Knotts
November 2004
Kirk Douglas, Ozzy Osbourne, Arnold Palmer, Jerry Lewis, Larry Hagman, Johnny
Carson, Queen Elizabeth, B.B. King, Muhammad Ali
October 2004
Courtney Love, Keith Richards, Tony Bennett, Fidel Castro, Ernest Borgnine,
Mickey Rooney, Willie Nelson, Jack Klugman, Jack Palance, Pope John Paul II,
Hugh Hefner, Rodney Dangerfield
September 2004
Courtney Love, Arnold Palmer, Rosa Parks, Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Barker,
Nick Nolte, Tony Bennett
August 2004
Arnold Palmer, Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Barker, Brian Dennehy, Ernest Borgnine,
Rosa Parks, Walter Cronkite, Willie Mays, Pope John Paul II, Fidel Castro,
Julia Child, Jerry Lewis, Mickey Rooney, Joe Namath, B.B. King
July 2004
Rosa Parks, Courtney Love, Fidel Castro, Nick Nolte, Don Knotts, Larry Hagman,
Kirk Douglas, William Shatner
December 10, 2005: Pioneering Comedian Richard Pryor Dies
Richard
Pryor, the groundbreaking comedian whose profanely personal insights into
race relations and modern life made him one of Hollywood's biggest stars,
died of a heart attack Saturday. He was 65.
Pryor died after being taken to a hospital from his home in the San Fernando Valley, said his business manager, Karen Finch. He had been ill for years with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system.
Music producer Quincy Jones described Pryor as a true pioneer of his art.
"He was the Charlie Parker of comedy, a master of telling the truth that influenced every comedian that came after him," Jones said in a statement. "The legacy that he leaves will forever be with us."
Pryor lived dangerously close to the edge, both on stage and off.
He was regarded early in his career as one of the most foul-mouthed comics in the business, but he gained a wide following for his universal and frequently personal routines. After nearly losing his life in 1980 when he caught on fire while freebasing cocaine, he incorporated the ordeal into his later routines.
His audacious style influenced generations of stand-up artists, from Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock to Robin Williams and David Letterman, among others.
"There are many different kinds of comedians … the observational humorist, the impressionist, the character creator, the physical comedian, the self-deprecator, and the dirty-joke teller. What made Richard Pryor so brilliant is he was able to incorporate all these styles at once," comedian Damon Wayans wrote on Pryor's Web site.
A series of hit comedies and concert films in the '70s and '80s helped make Pryor one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood, and he was one of the first black performers to have enough leverage to cut his own deals. In 1983, he signed a $40 million, five-year contract with Columbia Pictures.
His films included "Stir Crazy," "Silver Streak," "Which Way Is Up?" and "Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip."
Throughout his career, Pryor focused on racial inequality, once joking as the host of the Academy Awards in 1977 that Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier were the only black members of the Academy.
Pryor once marveled "that I live in racist America and I'm uneducated, yet a lot of people love me and like what I do, and I can make a living from it. You can't do much better than that."
But he battled drug and alcohol addictions for years, most notably when he suffered severe burns over 50 percent of his body while freebasing at his home. An admitted "junkie" at the time, Pryor spent six weeks recovering from the burns and much longer from his addictions.
He battled multiple sclerosis throughout the '90s.
In one of his last movies, the 1991 bomb "Another You," Pryor's poor health was clearly evident. Pryor made a comeback attempt the following year, returning to standup comedy in clubs and on television while looking thin and frail, and with noticeable speech and movement difficulties.
In 1995, he played an embittered multiple sclerosis patient in an episode of the television series "Chicago Hope." The role earned him an Emmy nomination as best guest actor in a drama series.
"To be diagnosed was the hardest thing because I didn't know what they were talking about," he said. "And the doctor said `Don't worry, in three months you'll know.'
"So I went about my business and then, one day, it jumped me. I couldn't get up. … Your muscles trick you; they did me."
Despite his health troubles, he was happy and in good humor in his final days, said his wife Jennifer Lee Pryor.
"He will be missed, but will forever live in thousands and thousands of hearts and continue to impact and inspire people with his truth and his pain, which he turned into comedy brilliantly," she said.
While Pryor's material sounds modest when compared with some of today's raunchier comedians, it was startling material when first introduced. He never apologized for it.
Pryor was fired by one Las Vegas hotel for "obscenities" directed at the audience. In 1970, tired of compromising his act, he quit in the middle of another Vegas stage show with the words, "What the (blank) am I doing here?" The audience was left staring at an empty stage.
He didn't tone things down after he became famous. In his 1977 NBC television series "The Richard Pryor Show," he threatened to cancel his contract with the network. NBC's censors objected to a skit in which Pryor appeared naked save for a flesh-colored loincloth to suggest he was emasculated.
"I wish that every new and young comedian would understand what Richard was about and not confuse his genius with his language usage," comedian Bill Cosby said through a spokesman Saturday.
In his later years, Pryor mellowed considerably, and his film roles looked more like easy paychecks than artistic endeavors. His robust work gave way to torpid efforts like "Harlem Nights" and "Brewster's Millions."
"I didn't think `Brewster's Millions' was good to begin with," Pryor once said. "I'm sorry, but they offered us the money. I was a pig, I got greedy."
"I had some great things and I had some bad things. The best and the worst," he said in 1995. "In other words, I had a life."
Recognition came in 1998 from an unlikely source: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington gave Pryor the first Mark Twain Prize for humor. He said in a statement that he was proud that, "like Mark Twain, I have been able to use humor to lessen people's hatred."
Born in 1940 in Peoria, Ill., Pryor grew up in his grandmother's brothel. His first professional performance came at age 7, when he played drums at a night club.
Following high school and two years of Army service, he launched his performing career, honing his comedy in bars throughout the United States. By the mid-'60s, he was appearing in Las Vegas clubs and on the television shows of Ed Sullivan, Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson.
His first film role came with a small part in 1967's "The Busy Body." He made his starring debut as Diana Ross' piano man in 1972's "Lady Sings the Blues."
Pryor also wrote scripts for the television series "Sanford and Son," "The Flip Wilson Show" and two specials for Lily Tomlin. He collaborated with Mel Brooks on the script for the movie "Blazing Saddles."
Later in his career, Pryor used his films as therapy. "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling," was an autobiographical account of a popular comedian re-examining his life while lying delirious in a hospital burn ward. Pryor directed, co-wrote, co-produced and starred in the film.
"I'm glad I did `Jo Jo,'" Pryor once said. "It helped me get rid of a lot of stuff."
Pryor also had legal problems over the years. In 1974, he was sentenced to three years' probation for failing to file federal income tax returns. In 1978, he allegedly fired shots and rammed his car into a vehicle occupied by two of his wife's friends.
Even in poor health, his comedy was vital. At a 1992 performance, he asked the room, "Is there a doctor in the audience?" All he got was nervous laughter. "No, I'm serious. I want to know if there's a doctor here."
A hand finally went up.
"Doctor," Pryor said, "I need to know one thing. What the (blank) is MS?"
Pryor was married six times. His children include sons Richard and Steven, and daughters Elizabeth, Rain and Renee.
Daughter Rain became an actress. In an interview in 2005, she told the Philadelphia Inquirer that her father always "put his life right out there for you to look at. I took that approach because I saw how well audiences respond to it. I try to make you laugh at life."
From the Associated Press, Jeremiah Marquez
December 9, 2005: Osbourne's Royally Bad Memory
Rocker
OZZY OSBOURNE's much anticipated meeting with British monarch QUEEN ELIZABETH
II didn't go quite as planned - because he has totally forgotten what they
talked about.
The BLACK SABBATH star, who performed in front of the Queen at UK charity bash The Royal Variety performance last month (NOV05) with the likes of CHARLOTTE CHURCH and SIR CLIFF RICHARD, can only recall thinking how attractive the 79-year-old still is.
He says, "She looked at me and she goes, 'Oh, so this is what they call variety now is it?'
"One thing about her, she's got great skin on her face. She's still a very good-looking woman I think.
"You know what? I've met her twice now, and each time I don't know what I've said to her.
"I can remember my first wife's mother's telephone number, but I can't remember what I said 10 minutes ago."
From contactmusic.com
December 7, 2005: Drug Use Evidence Admissible in Nolte Case
SANTA
MONICA, Calif. -- A lawsuit by parents of a teenager who says she was raped
during a party at Nick Nolte's home can include evidence of previous drug
and alcohol use by the actor and his son, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Nolte's publicist has said the actor was not home during the party. However, the lawsuit claims he was negligent, contending that the home had "a long history of furnishing drugs and/or alcohol to minors."
The suit states the girl, then 15, was given the date-rape drug GHB and sexually assaulted at a party on Jan. 25, 2003.
Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg said prior behavior is "certainly relevant" to the case. He denied a motion by defense attorneys to limit questioning of witnesses to what happened the night of the party.
A motion by attorneys for Nolte and his son argued that broader questioning was irrelevant to the case and would cause "unwarranted annoyance and embarrassment." Nolte's son, who was a minor at the time of the incident, was not named in the suit.
An after-hours call seeking comment from Nolte's attorney Tuesday night was not immediately returned.
A defendant in the lawsuit, Nicholas Woodring, was convicted last year of having sex with a minor.
From the Associated Press
December 6, 2005: Hefner Choses Final Resting Place
Hugh
Hefner wants to be buried next to Marilyn Monroe. The Playboy founder has
had an ornate vault earmarked alongside the screen goddess at Los Angeles'
Westwood Ceremony - because he thinks she is "the major sex symbol of
the 20th century."
The 79-year-old magazine mogul - renowned for his love of blondes - thinks the plot next to the "Some Like It Hot" star is the ideal final resting place.
He told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, "My dear friends Mel Torme, Buddy Rich and Dorothy Stratton are buried in Westwood Cemetary. When I found the vault next door to Marilyn was available it seemed natural."
Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Minnie Ripperton are also buried in the celebrity graveyard.
From BANG Showbiz, All Headline News, William J Brown
December 4, 2005: Tony Bennett Says He Was the First 'American Idol'
Tony
Bennett first broke out in the last days of vaudeville and now he's defining
cool for a whole new generation of fans on MTV. Bennett is being honored for
that lifetime of song at the Kennedy Center in Washington tonight.
Tony Bennett: It's the best thing that could happen to an American citizen, you know, just to have all of those people respecting you, and there's something unforgettable about it.
My son, Danny, manages me, and he did a brilliant job of getting me on MTV. And everybody was shocked that the audience — the young audience — liked the songs that I did. I've sustained all these years as a result of just doing quality songs. The public enjoys quality.
Rosemary Clooney and I had caught the tail end, the very tail end, of vaudeville, where you just go from town to town, and your teachers are really the audiences. If you do something good, they'll be enthusiastic. If it's not that good, there'd be a lukewarm applause. And that's how you learned, you know.
Rosemary Clooney and I, we were the first American Idols.
I had a passion to do the two things, you know, singing and paint, and the Smithsonian Institute has accepted one of my paintings, and that's going to happen, so I'm thrilled about that.
Getting the award at the Kennedy Center is one of the— I know it's absolutely the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me.
From ABC News
December 3, 2005: NASCAR's Tony Stewart can drive to bank
NEW
YORK — Tony Stewart's best year in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series reached
the bottom line Friday, with the two-time champion setting a record for earnings
in a season.
Stewart picked up $6,173,633 from the points fund set up by series sponsor Nextel and NASCAR, and added $517,000 in contingency awards from sponsors. Combined with the prize money earned during the 36-race season, Stewart's total of $13,578,168 surpasses the previous mark of $10,979,757 set by Jeff Gordon in 2001.
Stewart, who earlier in the day had a migraine headache that caused him to miss a breakfast at which he was to collect several checks from sponsors, was feeling a lot better on stage Friday night during the formal awards ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Stewart is a lifelong racer, a driver who says he ranks making money below winning races, earning championships and merely driving the car.
When told he has earned $48.4 million in his Cup career, the 34-year-old Stewart rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"I'm not going to give the checks back," he said, grinning. "But we didn't start racing because we thought we'd be collecting a big check at the end of the season."
Runner-up Greg Biffle, a Vancouver, Wash., native, got a points-fund check for $2,624,124.
From the Associated Press
December 2, 2005: Magician Casts His Spell on Wounded Troops in Texas
FORT
SAM HOUSTON, Texas – International man of mystery, David Blaine, stopped
by Brooke Army Medical Center here Nov. 22 to perform "street magic"
for the wounded warriors recovering at the hospital.
Blaine performed three shows at the center - in the Amputee Care Center, the Burn Center and the hospital auditorium - for different groups of patients.
Well known for his on-the-spot magic tricks, Blaine thrilled his BAMC audience with his street-style magic as he moved about the rooms performing sleight of hand and card tricks for the patients.
Internationally famous for changing the face of magic, Blaine's magic has been featured on ABC with 15 million viewers tuning in.
Blaine is often called the "Ice Guy" - after freezing himself in a solid block of ice for three days in 2000. One center patient from New York, Marine Cpl. Merlin German, remembered watching Blaine as he emerged from the ice block in Times Square. Now recovering from burns sustained in the global war on terrorism, German was pleased Blaine took the time to come see the wounded.
"He was very inspiring to me," German said, adding that Blaine, who invited him and his parents to a show in New York after he recovers, now sees him as a friend.
After his Nov. 22 shows, Blaine said he was so moved by the wounded troops that he returned Nov. 23 and 25 to personally visit with them.
Sgt. Kevin Downs was one patient who received a personal visit from Blaine as a special birthday gift.
"I was very surprised and appreciative of David Blaine's visit to support our wounded soldiers," said Downs. "I will always remember my 21st birthday because David and everyone else in the room sang 'Happy Birthday' to me."
Blaine, who has performed on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" and for presidents, picked up a new fan base with his visit to Brooke.
From American Forces Press Service, Nelia Schrum (Brooke Army Medical Center Public Affairs Office)
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