Novella Nelson –
Actress, singer, mean old mammy.
December 17, 1938 – September 3, 2017.
Aged 77 years.
Most recognized for: She’d been landing small to medium roles in movies & TV shows for the last 40 years. Her most famous performances would be as abusive foster mother Mrs. Tate in the Denzel Washington film “Antwone Fisher” and voodoo queen Mobu in “Weekend at Bernies 2.” She also recorded a few albums that no one bought in the early 70’s.
Holger Czukay –
Musician, Danziger, weird noise maker.
March 24, 1938 – September 5, 2017.
Aged 79 years.
Most recognized for: Holger was the eccentric founder, leader, & bassist for krautrock group Can… who were kinda the German version of Pink Floyd. Regarded as one of the pioneers of sampling, his work wound up being sampled extensively. Perhaps the horror of learning his music was incorporated into a Kanye West song is what dropped him.
Ultiminio “Sugar” Ramos –
Boxer, Cuban, killer pugilist.
December 2, 1941 – September 3, 2017.
Aged 75 years.
Most recognized for: He actually beat a few fukkers to death. Most notably, in a 1963 title bout against world featherweight champion Davey Moore. The nationally televised deathmatch drew the ire of Pope John XXIII and became the inspiration for the Bob Dylan tune “Who Killed Davey Moore?” Yep. That’s a 2nd Dylan song about a boxer, for those of you keeping score at home.
Murray Lerner –
Filmmaker, Oscar winner, one trick pony.
May 8, 1927 – September 2, 2017.
Aged 90 years.
Most recognized for: His breakthrough 1967 documentary “Festival” covered the Newport Folk Festival over 4 years… and captured rare early performances from some of the era’s most prolific acts. Immediately afterward, Murray got into a groove (or rut, depending on how you look at it) of cranking out rock docs about the Isle of Wight Festival‘s 1968-1970 run… and eventually, milked that cow dry.
Gastone Moschin –
Actor, Italian, US cinema one hit wonder.
June 8, 1929 – September 4, 2017.
Aged 88 years.
Most recognized for: In the Godfather II, he played the neighborhood extortionist Don Fanucci, also referred to as the ‘Black Hand.’ Although his US screen time was cut short by De Niro, he was an award winning actor in Italian film & TV. If he’d leaned to speak English, he could have done more that just ‘wet his beak’ in Hollywood.
Dave Hlubeck –
Guitarist, songwriter, Southern man.
August 28, 1951 – September 3, 2017.
Aged 66 years.
Most recognized for: Not only did he found Southern rock band Molly Hatchet in 1971, he was also the principal songwriter for all their hits… including the all-too-familiar “Flirtin’ with Disaster.” After leaving the band in ’86, he returned to lend what little credibility an “only original member” could to a rag-tag cover band calling themselves Molly Hatchet… which was last seen playing on the suburban Catholic church festival circuit.
Happy 52nd birthday to Carlos Irwin Estévez… better known as Mr. Charlie Sheen, and resident of the #5 spot in 2017’s Lucky 13.
As of late, he’s been busy fending off lawsuits from former sex partners, starring in a ridiculous elevator movie that has something to do with 9/11, and showing the world just how geriatric the cast of Major League is looking these days.
Keep up the good work, Carlos… and stay positive.
Walter Becker –
Musician, producer, handsome devil.
February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017.
Aged 67 years.
Most recognized for: As a co-founding member and guitarist for jazz-rock band Steely Dan, he bought us hits like “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” and “Reelin’ in the Years.” After their first few years, Walt & co-founder Donald Fagen moved away from touring to become a studio only band for a while. A wise move when considering how attractive they must’ve appeared onstage.
Cormac Murphy-O’Connor –
Archbishop of Westminster (Emeritus,) Cardinal, funny hat enthusiast.
August 24, 1932 – September 1, 2017.
Aged 85 years.
Most recognized for: He was once considered to be a frontrunner to succeed John Paul II in the 2005 race to the Papacy. Aside from that, his Eminence was the first to perform a handful of routine clerical duties in the presence of the British monarchy in several hundred years… which is supposed to be some big fukken deal.
Shelley Berman –
Actor, writer, another neurotic jewish comedian.
February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017.
Aged 92 years.
Most recognized for: Long before playing Larry David’s dad on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Shelley was a Second City improv comic. His fame grew from a wildly popular onstage gimmick where he’d have a conversation with himself by holding an imaginary phone receiver to his face. Apparently, people were a helluva lot easier to entertain in the 50’s.
Richard Anderson –
Actor, TV G-man, kid from Jersey.
August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017.
Aged 91 years.
Most recognized for: He appeared in dozens of films in the ’50, but his small screen resume is even more impressive. With too many titles to list in this forum, he seemed to have a part in just about every popular TV show between 1965 & 1985. The role that earned him his own action figure was bossman Oscar Goldman on “The 6 Million Dollar Man” & “The Bionic Woman.” Anyway, he dead.
Rollie Massimino –
Basketball coach, upset king, pasta fiend.
November 13, 1934 – August 30, 2017.
Aged 82 years.
Most recognized for: During his 19 year tenure as head coach for Villanova, he led the Wildcats to one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Entering the 1985 NCAA tournament as an 8 seed, they overcame Patrick Ewing & the Georgetown Hoyas in the finals. A spry old fart to the end, he was still coaching at some po-dunk NAIA school in Florida when the final buzzer sounded.