Tag Archives: obit

Joan Didion, the storied author and New Journalism icon best known for books like Play It as It Lays, The White Album, and The Year of Magical Thinking, died Thursday, The New York Times reports. She was 87. Didion died at her home in Manhattan after a battle with Parkinson’s …

Graeme Edge, drummer and co-founding member of the Moody Blues, has died at the age of 80. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted British prog band announced Edge’s death Thursday. No cause of death was revealed. “It’s a very sad day. Graeme’s sound and personality is present in everything …

Peter Scolari, the actor who starred alongside Tom Hanks in the Eighties sitcom Bosom Buddies and won an Emmy for his work on Girls, has died at the age of 66. Scolari’s rep Ellen Lubin Sanitsky confirmed the actor’s death to Deadline, adding that Scolari died Friday morning following a …

Michael Constantine, who portrayed the father of Nia Vardalos’ Toula Portokalos in the 2002 blockbuster My Big Fat Greek Wedding, died on August 31st at his home in Reading, Pennsylvania, The New York Times reports. He was 94. The film — which Rolling Stone‘s Peter Travers called “heartfelt and hilarious …

Ron Bushy, the steadfast drummer for hard rock group Iron Butterfly who appeared on the group’s 1968, 17-minute rock opus “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” died Sunday at the age of 79. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed. “Ron Bushy, our beloved legendary drummer of Iron Butterfly, has passed away peacefully, with …

UB40 saxophonist and founding member Brian Travers died Sunday, August 22nd, after a lengthy battle with cancer, according to a statement from the band. He was 62. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our comrade, brother, founding UB40 member and musical legend, Brian David Travers,” …

Charlie Robinson, whose five-decade acting career included playing series mainstay Mac Robinson the court clerk on Night Court, died on Sunday in Los Angeles due to cardiac arrest and cancer complications, as Variety reports. He was 75. Starring in numerous TV, film and theater productions, Robinson’s enduring role was as …

Hilton Valentine, original guitarist for the Animals who featured on songs like “The House of the Rising Sun,” died Friday at the age of 77. ABKCO Music, the band’s label, confirmed Valentine’s death Friday. “Our deepest sympathies go out to [Valentine]’s family and friends on his passing this morning, at …

Duke Bootee, the pioneering rapper who co-wrote and appeared on Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s classic “The Message” — Number One on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time — died Wednesday at the age of 69. Born Edward Fletcher, the rapper died at …

John “Ecstasy” Fletcher, rapper and founding member of the pioneering hip-hop group Whodini, has died at the age of 56. The group’s Grand Master Dee confirmed Fletcher’s death to Variety. No cause of death was provided. News of Fletcher’s death was first revealed by the Roots’ Questlove, with many others …