The RIP Thread

[Frothy Afterbirth]

Denny Laine, Wings and Moody Blues musician, dies age 79
5th December 2023, 12:08 PST
By Mark SavageMusic correspondent, BBC News


Getty

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Andre Braugher, star of ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ and ‘Men of a Certain Age,’ dies at 61
By Emily St. Martin, Nardine Saad
Dec. 12, 2023 Updated 9:51 PM PT


(Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press)

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Lee Sun-kyun: Parasite actor, 48, found dead in apparent suicide
27th December 2023, 04:13 PST
By Kelly Ng & Jake Kwonin Singapore and Seoul


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South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film Parasite, has been found dead in an apparent suicide in central Seoul.

Police found the body of the actor, who was 48, in a car near a city park on Wednesday. They believe Lee took his own life, Yonhap news agency reports.

Police said earlier they had received a report that he had left his home after writing a note.

He had been under investigation for alleged illegal drug use since October.

Lee's body was taken to Seoul National University Hospital after police located his car near Waryong Park. Reports say his family have refused an autopsy and he will be buried on Friday.

Police have begun an investigation to establish the details around his death, including when he arrived at the scene where his body was found, and the time of his death.

In Parasite, Lee played the patriarch of the wealthy Park family which is infiltrated by members of a poor family posing as unrelated individuals. The vicious social satire won four Oscars, including best picture.

Yonhap reported that he was suspected of taking drugs such as marijuana and ketamine with a hostess at a bar in Seoul. He had said that though he took what she gave him, he had not known that they were illicit drugs.

The hostess had reportedly told the police that he used drugs at her home multiple times - something he denied. He had earlier requested through his lawyer to take a lie detector test.

His drug tests had returned negative or inconclusive results, the report added.

Police said they regretted that Lee had died in the midst of investigations, but that the inquiry had been "conducted with [his] consent", News1 Korea reported. Lee underwent three rounds of questioning, with one session last Saturday lasting 19 hours, according to Yonhap.

Lee's agency, HODU&U Entertainment, said in a statement: "There is no way to contain the sorrow and despair. We respectfully ask that you refrain from spreading false facts based on speculation... so that [Lee's] final journey will not be unfair."

News of his death sparked strong reactions online.

"I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for him. Rest in peace," read a comment on one of the news reports.

"Aren't celebrities human? People can make mistakes in their lives. It's so sad," said another.

There was also praise for his work.

One fan, writing on X (formerly Twitter), wrote: "I laughed and cried a lot while watching your acting. Thank you."

The actor, who was married to actress Jeon Hye-jin and had two young sons with her, had a career spanning more than two decades.

He starred as the lead in dozens of films and TV shows, becoming a household name through the 2010s.

He rose to international fame with Parasite, as it became the first non-English language film to win the Best Picture Oscar.

In South Korea, celebrities are held to high standards of propriety.

Lee had a squeaky-clean, family-man image prior to his alleged drug use, but reports that emerged from the investigation caused considerable damage to his reputation.

Speaking to reporters in late October before going into a police station for questioning, he said: "I sincerely apologise for causing great disappointment to many people by being involved in such an unpleasant incident.

"I feel sorry for my family, which is enduring such difficult pain at this moment."

Lee was dropped from No Way Out, a mystery TV series that began shooting in October. According to reports, some businesses were seen taking down posters and advertisements featuring Lee from their stores.

Drug offences, including those involving usage of marijuana, are considered serious crimes in South Korea. Consumption of marijuana carries prison sentences of up to five years.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed a crackdown on drugs. This year, the country's authorities expanded its drug crimes department and the national police chief promised "a total war" on drug crimes.

Lee is not the only South Korean celebrity who had been investigated for drug use recently. Earlier this month, K-pop star G-Dragon was cleared of drug allegations after weeks of investigations.

Actor Yoo Ah-in is currently standing trial for drug use.

Additional reporting by Fan Wang

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ADDENDUM:
Lee Su-Kyun was never found with drugs on him or had any in his possession, in his car, or at his home. His drug & blood tests were all negative. Nor were there any in another actor that was also accused and under police investigation. Accusations of drug use was never founded or verified. This was a hit piece by his accuser, the S. Korean media, and police because in S. Korea you're deemed guilty in the eyes of the public from the start without evidence or first being charged. The intensity of Asian public & media scrutiny is so much worse than a lot of western tabloids.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dK_MvbOOvT0

[Frothy Afterbirth]

Tom Smothers, one half of TV comedy legends the Smothers Brothers, dies at 86
Updated December 27, 20231:12 PM ET
By The Associated Press


Louis Lanzano/AP

Tom Smothers, half of the Smothers Brothers and the co-host of one of the most socially conscious and groundbreaking television shows in the history of the medium, has died at 86.

The National Comedy Center, on behalf of his family, said in a statement Wednesday that Smothers died Tuesday at home in Santa Rosa, California, following a cancer battle.

"Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years," his brother and the duo's other half, Dick Smothers, said in the statement. "Our relationship was like a good marriage — the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another. We were truly blessed."

When "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" debuted on CBS in the fall of 1967 it was an immediate hit, to the surprise of many who had assumed the network's expectations were so low it positioned their show opposite the top-rated "Bonanza."

A surprise TV hit that ran into the censors

But the Smothers Brothers would prove a turning point in television history, with its sharp eye for pop culture trends and young rock stars such as the Who and Buffalo Springfield, and its daring sketches — ridiculing the Establishment, railing against the Vietnam War and portraying members of the era's hippie counterculture as gentle, fun-loving spirits — found an immediate audience with young baby boomers. The show reached No. 16 in the ratings in its first season.

It also drew the ire of network censors, and after years of battling with the brothers over the show's creative content, the network abruptly canceled the program in 1970, accusing the siblings of failing to submit an episode in time for the censors to review.

Nearly 40 years later, when Smothers was awarded an honorary Emmy for his work on the show, he jokingly thanked the writers he said had gotten him fired. He also showed that the years had not dulled his outspokenness.

"It's hard for me to stay silent when I keep hearing that peace is only attainable through war," Smothers said at the 2008 Emmy Awards as his brother sat in the audience, beaming. He dedicated his award to those "who feel compelled to speak out and are not afraid to speak to power and won't shut up and refuse to be silenced."

During the three years the show was on television, the brothers constantly battled with CBS's censors and occasionally outraged viewers as well, particularly when Smothers joked that Easter "is when Jesus comes out of his tomb and if he sees his shadow, he goes back in and we get six more weeks of winter." At Christmas, when other show hosts were sending best wishes to soldiers fighting overseas, Smothers offered his to draft dodgers who had moved to Canada.

In still another episode, the brothers returned blacklisted folk singer Pete Seeger to television for the first time in years. He performed his song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," widely viewed as ridiculing President Lyndon Johnson for the Vietnam War. When CBS refused to air the segment, the brothers brought Seeger back for another episode and he sang it again. This time, it made the air.

After the show was canceled, the brothers sued CBS for $31 million and were awarded $775,000. Their battles with the network were chronicled in the 2002 documentary "Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour."

"Tom Smothers was not only an extraordinary comedic talent, who, together with his brother Dick, became the most enduring comedy duo in history, entertaining the world for over six decades — but was a true champion for freedom of speech, harnessing the power of comedy to push boundaries and our political consciousness," National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson said in a statement.

Thomas Bolyn Smothers III was born Feb. 2, 1937, on Governors Island, New York, where his father, an Army major, was stationed. His brother was born two years later. In 1940 their father was transferred to the Philippines, and his wife, two sons and their sister, Sherry, accompanied him.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the family was sent home and Maj. Smothers remained. He was captured by the Japanese during the war and died in captivity. The family eventually moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach, where Smothers helped his mother take care of his brother and sister while she worked.

On the nightclub circuit, a mix of folk music and sibling rivalry

The brothers had seemed unlikely to make television history. They had spent the previous several years on the nightclub and college circuits and doing TV guest appearances, honing an offbeat comedy routine that mixed folk music with a healthy dose of sibling rivalry.

They would come on stage, Tom with a guitar in hand and Dick toting an upright bass. They would quickly break into a traditional folk song — perhaps "John Henry" or "Pretoria." After playing several bars, Tom, positioned as the dumb one, would mess it up, and then quickly claim he had meant to do that. As Dick, the serious, short-tempered one, berated him for failing to acknowledge his error, he would scream in exasperation, "Mom always liked you best!"

They continued that shtick on their show but also surrounded themselves with a talented cast of newcomers, both writers and performers.

Among the crack writing crew that Smothers headed were future actor-producer Rob Reiner, musician Mason Williams and comedian Steve Martin, who presented Smothers with the lifetime Emmy in 2008. Regular musical guests included John Hartford, Glen Campbell and Jennifer Warnes.

Bob Einstein, now better known as stuntman Super Dave Osborne, had a recurring role as Officer Judy, a dour Los Angeles police officer who once cited guest Liberace for playing the piano too fast. Leigh French, as the hippie earth mother in the segment "Share a Little Tea With Goldie," always appeared to have been drinking something brewed through more than just tea leaves.

The brothers had begun their own act when Tom, then a student at San Jose State College, formed a music group called the Casual Quintet and encouraged his younger brother to learn the bass and join. The brothers continued on as a duo after the other musicians dropped out, but because their folk music repertoire was limited, they began to intersperse it with comedy.

Their big break came in 1959 when they appeared at San Francisco's Purple Onion, then a hot spot for new talent. Booked for two weeks, they stayed a record 36. Booked into New York's Blue Angel, they won praise from The New York Times, which described them as "a pair of tart-tongued singing comedians." But to their disappointment, they couldn't get on "The Tonight Show," then hosted by Jack Paar.

"Paar kept telling our agent he didn't like folk singers — except for Burl Ives," Smothers told The Associated Press in 1964. "But one night he had a cancellation, and we went on. Everything worked right that night."

The brothers went on to appear on the TV shows of Steve Allen, Ed Sullivan, Garry Moore, Andy Williams, Jack Benny and Judy Garland. Their comedy albums were big sellers and they toured the country, especially colleges.

Television first came calling in 1965, casting them in "The Smothers Brothers Show," a sitcom about a businessman (Dick) who is haunted by his late brother (Tom), a fledgling guardian angel. It lasted just one season.

Shortly after CBS canceled the "Comedy Hour," ABC picked it up as a summer replacement, but the network didn't bring it back in the fall. NBC gave them a show in 1975 but it failed to find an audience and lasted only a season.

The brothers went their separate ways for a time in the 1970s. Among other endeavors, Smothers got into the wine business, launching Remick Ridge Vineyards in Northern California's wine country.

"Originally the winery was called Smothers Brothers, but I changed the name to Remick Ridge because when people heard Smothers Brothers wine, they thought something like Milton Berle Fine Wine or Larry, Curly and Mo Vineyards," Smothers once said.

"We just kept resurfacing"

He and his brother eventually reunited to star in the musical comedy "I Love My Wife," a hit that ran on Broadway for two years. After that they went back on the road, playing casinos, performing arts centers and corporate gatherings around the country, remaining popular for decades.

"We just keep resurfacing," Smothers commented in 1997. "We're just not in everyone's face long enough to really get old."

After a successful 20th anniversary "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in 1988, CBS buried the hatchet and brought them back.

The show was quickly canceled, though it stayed on the air long enough for Smothers to introduce the "Yo-Yo Man," a bit allowing him to demonstrate his considerable skills with a yo-yo while he and his brother kept up a steady patter of comedy. The bit remained in their act for years.

Smothers married three times and had three children. He is survived by his wife Marie, children Bo and Riley Rose, and brother Dick, in addition to other relatives. He was predeceased by his son Tom and sister Sherry.

Correction Dec. 27, 2023

An previous version of this story said Smothers' father was a Navy major. In fact, he was an Army major. And a reference to San Jose State University should have said San Jose State College.

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Actor Tom Wilkinson, known for 'The Full Monty' and 'Michael Clayton,' dies at 75
DECEMBER 30, 20233:55 PM ET
Juliana Kim


Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

British actor Tom Wilkinson, known for his roles in The Full Monty and Batman Begins, died on Saturday. He was 75.

His death was confirmed by his family in a statement shared by his publicist.

"It is with great sadness that the family of Tom Wilkinson announce that he died suddenly at home on December 30th. His wife and family were with him. The family asks for privacy at this time," his family said in a statement.

Wilkinson's acting career began nearly five decades ago on the British stage and British television. Soon, Wilkinson impressed audiences around the world with his role in the popular 1997 British comedy The Full Monty about a group of men who, after losing their jobs at a steel plant, form a male striptease act.

Four years later, Wilkinson gained even more critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his role as a father coping with the death of his son in the drama film In the Bedroom.

He went on to pursue even more ambitious, complicated roles in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Michael Clayton and Batman Begins.

In a 2005 interview with Fresh Air, Wilkinson attributed his interest and skill in acting to his childhood. Wilkinson had long believed he would become a farmer like the generations in his family before him. After his family lost their farm, Wilkinson experienced an identity crisis that turned out to be a boon for creativity.

"I think in a certain sense, rootlessness, in that sense, is quite good for an actor," he said. "It's not necessarily going to make an actor, but it means they are much more wide-ranging in the things that they will allow themselves to be influenced by, that they're perhaps not as set in their cultural ways as perhaps they could be if they had that thing which we crudely call a strong sense of themselves."

On Saturday, Scott Derrickson, director of the film The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which Wilkinson starred in, wrote on X: "Goodbye Tom Wilkinson, an amazing talent and wonderful human being."

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Starsky & Hutch actor David Soul dies aged 80

Actor and singer best known for starring role in 1970s police series has died, says his wife, Helen Snell

Betsy Reed
Editor, Guardian US


ABC Photo Archives/Disney via Getty Images

The actor David Soul, best known for his role in the television series Starsky & Hutch, has died at the age of 80, his wife, Helen Snell, said in a statement.

“David Soul – beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother – died yesterday after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family,” she said in the statement. “He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend.”

“His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.”

The British American actor was best known for his role as Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson on Starsky & Hutch, the American action TV series which ran from 1975 to 1979. Other notable roles include Joshua Bolt in the comedy western Here Comes the Bride, from 1968 to 1970, and as Officer John Davis in the 1973 film Magnum Force. Soul was also a singer with such hits as Don’t Give Up on Us and Silver Lady, which both went to number one in the UK.

Born on 28 August 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, Soul grew up in a religious family of Norwegian descent. His father, Richard Solberg, was a Lutheran minister and a history professor. “The atmosphere was strict when I was growing up but tempered by love,” Soul recalled to the Guardian in 2012. “We were a very, very religious family – we weren’t fundamentalists, just very worshipful and gave credit to God for almost everything.”

The family lived a peripatetic lifestyle to accommodate his teaching, moving from Berlin to Mexico City and eventually settling in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Soul graduated high school. While studying for a year at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, he was inspired by students who taught him to play guitar and shifted his focus to music, eventually performing in clubs in Minneapolis.

He began performing on stage in the mid-60s, and was a founding member of the Firehouse Theater in Minneapolis. Soul gained attention for his stage work touring the country with the group, particularly as the “Covered Man” on the Merv Griffin show in 1966 and 1967, where he sang while wearing a mask. Shortly thereafter came his first television appearance on Flipper. He signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1967 and began a series of guest appearances, including on Star Trek, before landing the role on Here Comes the Bride.

Soul moved to the UK in the mid-1990s, where he forged a new career on the West End stage in productions such as Comic Potential and Blood Brothers. He became a British citizen in 2004.

Soul was married five times: to Mim Solberg, in 1964; to actress Karen Carlson, with whom he shares one son, in 1968; to Patti Sherman in 1980, with whom he shares three children; and actress Julia Nickson in 1987, with whom he shares daughter China Soul, a singer-songwriter. He met Snell in 2002 on the set of the British stage production Deathtrap, and the couple married in 2010.

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Jesse Jane, Porn Star Who Appeared On ‘Entourage,’ Found Dead At 43
Story by Marco Margaritoff



Jesse Jane, an adult film star who also appeared in “Entourage” (2005) and “Starsky & Hutch” (2004), was reportedly found dead Wednesday in Moore, Oklahoma, alongside her boyfriend Brett Hasenmueller. Jane, whose real name was Cindy Howell, was 43 years old.

Lt. Francisco Franco of the Moore Police Department told The New York Times officers had discovered the couple during a welfare check at 11 a.m. at their home. He believes they died of a drug overdose; medical examiners have yet to determine their causes of death.

Jane graduated with honors from Moore High School in 1998 and modeled for local retailers before landing a Hooters advertisement. She was made regional training coordinator before becoming a Hawaiian Tropic model and entering the adult film industry.

Jane’s uncredited acting debut was “Bikini Girl” opposite David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson in 2003’s “Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.” The Fort Worth, Texas native went on to have a prolific adult film career — and lead the highest-budget movie series in its history.

The first “Pirates” (2005) entry reportedly cost $1 million and was the most expensive adult movie ever made at the time. “Pirates II: Scagnetti’s Revenge” (2007) saw Jane reprise her role as first officer for a group of sailors and dethrone the original with an $8 million budget.

“I got into porn right at the perfect time, when porn stars mattered,” she told GQ in 2018. “They were big, glamorous. You walked into a room, you turned heads. Everybody knew who you were because they actually had to buy your products or DVDs, everything.”

Jane added that “the internet killed the business” by prioritizing “shock value.”

The introduction of high-definition cameras, meanwhile, reportedly spurred Jane to get her breasts “redone” — as the new equipment made her original implants look unnatural. Jane was already broadening her horizons, however, as an actor and entrepreneur.

The adult film star managed to cross over from porn to Hollywood with parts in “Starsky & Hutch” opposite Ben Stiller, “Middle Men” with Giovanni Ribisi and HBO’s “Entourage.” Jane retired from porn in 2007 but later resourcefully created her own line of sex toys.

The native Texan reportedly returned to Oklahoma at that time, as her family had settled there when she was a teenager, and told CNBC in 2009 that she had treated porn “like a job” — which allowed her to buy a house, pay her bills and feed her son.

The investigation into Jane and Hasenmueller’s deaths is ongoing.

Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.

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The great Jim South who ran World Modeling Talent Agency for nearly 44 years until his death in 2020 (RIP), the premiere place where all aspiring porn stars and models first go to when they first land in LA always told them his number one advice is to never get into drugs. Sadly many didn't listen to this.

[Frothy Afterbirth]

Carl Weathers Dies: ‘Rocky' & ‘Predator' Star Who Appeared In ‘Happy Gilmore', ‘The Mandalorian' & More Was 76
Story by Erik Pedersen


© Provided by Deadline

Carl Weathers, who starred as Apollo Creed in the first four Rocky films and appeared in Predator, The Mandalorian, Happy Gilmore, Action Jackson and dozens of other films and TV shows, died today, his family announced. He was 76.

"We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers," his family said in a statement. "He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, February 1st, 2024. … Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner, and friend."
Born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Weathers appeared in more than 75 films and TV shows during his 50-year screen career. He appeared in nine episodes of the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian over its three seasons, playing Greef Karga, the head of the Bounty Hunters Guild. The character became close to Pedro Pascal's Mando as the series progressed. Weathers was a 2021 Emmy nominee for the role and also directed a pair of episodes in Season 2 and 3.

Last month, Lucasfilm confirmed a Mandalorian feature film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, was in the works, with series creator Jon Favreau to direct. It's unclear whether Pascal or any other of the series' cast will be involved in the film, which is slated to begin production sometime this year.

He also voiced Combat Carl in the Oscar-winning Toy Story 4 (2019) and after originating the character for the 2013 TV special Toy Story of Terror.

Other credits include his 1988 star turn in Action Jackson, which earned in an NAACP Image Award nom and came after he starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1987's Predator.

But he is best known for playing Apollo Creed, the heavyweight champion of the world who gave journeyman Philly boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) a shot at the title in 1976's Rocky. Weathers reprised the role in Rocky II (1979), which featured a title rematch with Balboa, and 1982's Rocky III, where he trained Balboa to fight the rising Clubber Lang (Mr. T). Creed's final film in the franchise was Rocky IV (1985), where he was killed in the ring by Russian heavyweight Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).

Weathers also had a memorable turn as Derick "Chubbs" Peterson opposite Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore, playing the title character's golf coach. Peterson was a pro golfer who was forced to leave the tour after losing his hand to an alligator; his wooden replacement hand was the source of many gags.

He was badly injured while filming a fall stunt during the Happy Gilmore shoot, leading to years of terrible pain. "I didn't know it until years later, but I fractured two vertebrae and osteophytes grew out and connected, and it did a kind of self-fuse in a really bad place," he told GQ in a 2020 interview. "There were three or four years there where I was just in excruciating pain."

After playing linebacker at San Diego State University - he gave the 1987 commencement address there - Weathers went undrafted but signed with the Oakland Raiders. He didn't play in the NFL but joined the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League and played there from 1971-73.

He began his screen career during that era with guest shots in such hit TV series as Good Times, Kung Fu, S.W.A.T., The Six Million Dollar Man and Cannon. As the decade went on, he appeared in episodes of Starsky and Hutch, Barnaby Jones, Switch, The Streets of San Francisco and others popular shows.

Weathers began amassing film credits in 1975 with a pair of blaxploitaton pics, Bucktown and Friday Foster. His other movie roles included Semi-Tough (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), Death Hunt (1981) and Hurricane Smith (1992).

But his career took off in America's bicentennial year.

Carl Weathers and Sylvester Stallone in ‘Rocky'
Stallone was a nascent actor and screenwriter when United Artists released Rocky, the underdog-boxer drama that would enter the cultural zeitgeist. Weathers was cast as Creed, the beloved, star-spangled and understandably cocky heavyweight champion who sees dollar signs and good publicity by giving a local lug a title shot. Enter Rocky Balboa, who gets the gig in part due to his catchy nickname, "The Italian Stallion." He's a southpaw journeyman and part-time enforcer for a loan shark who beats the marrow out of sides of beef as part of his training - which Balboa takes seriously.

Creed? Not so much. He's more interested in promoting the fight than training for it. When the two finally enter the ring amid a jingoistic sea of red, white and blue - Creed enters the ring dressed as Uncle Sam - it turns into a bout for the ages, with both men beating the snot out of each other. Some bloody faces and broken ribs later, the final bell sounds. The fighters embrace each other, with Creed memorably saying, "Ain't gonna be no rematch," to which Balboa replies, "Don't want one."

The film won Best Picture and two others Oscars on 10 nominations, which included Best Actor and Original Screenplay for Stallone, and Bill Conti's theme song "Gonna Fly Now" topped the Billboard Hot 100.

It also set up Creed-Balboa II.

Rocky II was a smash and featured the champion rematch - which this time had a different result. And it led to Rocky III, which introduced the world to champion bouncer-turned-actor Mr. T and his catchphrase "I pity the fool." Asked for his prediction on the fight with Balboa, Lang replies, looking into the camera: "Pain."

Weathers would play Creed once more, in the Cold War-tinged Rocky IV. His aging character agrees to an exhibition match with the stoic Soviet behemoth Drago, which does not end well for the ex-champ.

Weathers also had an emerging career as a TV director. Along with The Mandalorian, in the past few years he helmed episodes of Chicago Med, FBI, Law & Order, The Last O.G., Hawaii Five-O, For the People, 18 Wheels of Justice, Strong Medicine and Pensacola: Wings of Gold.

Patrick Hipes and Mike Fleming Jr. contributed to this report.

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Don Murray Dies: ‘Bus Stop’, ‘Knot’s Landing’ Actor Was 94
By Greg Evans February 2, 204 1:56pm


Everett Collection

Don Murray, who rose to fame co-starring with Marilyn Monroe in 1956’s Bus Stop and enjoyed a prolific career that stretched into the 21st Century with Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017, has died. He was 94.

His death was announced by his son Christopher to The New York Times. No additional details were provided.

Murray was Oscar-nominated for his debut performance as Beauregard “Beau” Decker, the lovestruck cowboy who falls for Monroe’s saloon singer Cherie in Joshua Logan’s Bus Stop, an adaptation of the William Inge play.

A conscientious objector during the Korean War who fulfilled his service obligation by working in German and Italian refugee camps, Murray became known for building an acting career in what were once called “message” movies, films with socially responsible themes. In Fred Zinnemann’s A Hatful of Rain (1957), he played a morphine-addicted war veteran, and in 1962 starred as a closeted (and blackmailed) gay senator in Otto Preminger’s Advise & Consent

Numerous other films would follow, including a co-starring role opposite Steve McQueen in 1965’s Baby the Rain Must Fall. In 1972 he appeared in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes as a governor out to destroy a pair of earth-stranded apes, and in 1986 he played the father of Kathleen Turner’s title character in Peggy Sue Got Married.

Murray also had a busy television career, most prominently in a starring role on Knot’s Landing (1979–1981). He co-starred with Otis Young in the short-lived 1968-69 Western series The Outcasts, a series notable for teaming a Black actor with a white actor: Their characters had fought on opposite sides of the Civil War before becoming bounty-hunting partners.

Born in Hollywood on July 31, 1929, Murray made his Broadway debut in 1951 in Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo, and would return to the stage in 1955’s The Skin of Our Teeth, a performance that attracted the attention of director Logan and got him the role in Bus Stop. Murray would return to Broadway more than five times over the next two decades, appearing in plays such as Same Time, Next Year and, in 1975, the Norman Conquests trilogy.

In 1970, Murray co-wrote and directed The Cross and the Switchblade, a drama starring Pat Boone as a minister seeking to bring religion to Chicago street gangs.

His first of two marriages was to Hope Lange, who had co-starred with Murray and Monroe in Bus Stop. He later married actress Elizabeth Johnson.

Information on survivors was not immediately available.

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Toby Keith, country singer-songwriter, dies at 62 after stomach cancer diagnosis
By KRISTIN M. HALL
Updated 9:59 PM PST, February 6, 2024


People’s Choice Country Award, Sept. 28, 2023, Ph-George Walker IV

Toby Keith, a hit country crafter of pro-American anthems who both riled up critics and was loved by millions of fans, has died. He was 62.

The “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” singer-songwriter, who had stomach cancer, died peacefully Monday surrounded by his family, according to a statement posted on the country singer’s website. “He fought his fight with grace and courage,” the statement said. He announced his cancer diagnosis in 2022.

The 6-foot-4 singer broke out in the country boom years of the 1990s, writing songs that fans loved to hear. Over his career he publicly clashed with other celebrities and journalists and often pushed back against record executives who wanted to smooth his rough edges.

He was known for his overt patriotism on post 9/11 songs like “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” and boisterous barroom tunes like “I Love This Bar” and “Red Solo Cup.” He had a powerful booming voice, a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and range that carried love songs as well as drinking songs.

Among his 20 No. 1 Billboard hits were “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” “As Good As I Once Was,” “My List” and “Beer for My Horses,” a duet with Willie Nelson. His influences were other working class songwriters like Merle Haggard and he tallied more than 60 singles on the Hot Country chart over his career.

Throughout the cancer treatments, Keith continued to perform, most recently playing in Las Vegas in December. He also performed on the People’s Choice Country Awards in 2023 as he sang his song “Don’t Let the Old Man In.”

“Cancer is a roller coaster,” he told KWTV during an interview aired last month. “You just sit here and wait on it to go away. It might never go away.”

Keith worked as a roughneck in the oil fields of Oklahoma as a young man, then played semi-pro football before launching his career as a singer.

“I write about life, and I sing about life, and I don’t overanalyze things,” Keith told The Associated Press in 2001, following the success of his song “I’m Just Talking About Tonight.”

Keith learned good lessons in the booming oil fields, which toughened him up, but also showed him the value of money.

“The money to be made was unbelievable,” Keith told the AP in 1996. “I came out of high school in 1980 and they gave me this job December of 1979, $50,000 a year. I was 18 years old.”

But the domestic oil field industry collapsed and Keith had not saved. “It about broke us,” he said. “So I just learned. I’ve taken care of my money this time.”

He spent a couple seasons as a defensive end for the Oklahoma City Drillers. But he found consistent money playing music with his band throughout the red dirt roadhouse circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.

“All through this whole thing the only constant thing we had was music,” he said. “But it’s hard to sit back and say, ‘I’m going to go make my fortune singing music, or writing music.’ I had no contacts.”

Eventually his path took him to Nashville, where he attracted the interest of Mercury Records head Harold Shedd, who was best known as a producer for the hit group Alabama. Shedd brought him to Mercury, where he released his platinum debut record “Toby Keith,” in 1993.

“Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” his breakout hit, was played 3 million times on radio stations, making it the most played country song of the 1990s.

But the label’s focus on global star Shania Twain overshadowed the rest of the roster and Keith felt that the executives were trying to push him in a pop direction.

“They were trying to get me to compromise, and I was living a miserable existence,” Keith told the AP. “Everybody was trying to mold me into something I was not.”

After a series of albums that produced hits like “Who’s That Man,” and a cover of Sting’s “I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying,” Keith moved to DreamWorks Records in 1999.

That’s when his multiweek hit “How Do You Like Me Now?!” took off and became his first song to cross over to Top 40 charts. In 2001, he won the male vocalist of the year and album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, exclaiming from the stage: “I’ve waited a long time for this. Nine years!”

Keith often wore his politics on his sleeve, especially after the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in 2001, and early on he said he was a conservative Democrat, but later claimed he was an independent. He played at events for Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the latter giving him a National Medal of the Arts in 2021. His songs and his blunt opinions sometimes caused him controversy, which he seemed to court.

His 2002 song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” included a threat — “We’ll put a boot in your ass — It’s the American way” — to anyone who dared to mess with America.

That song got pulled from a patriotic ABC Fourth of July special after producers deemed it too angry for the show. Singer-songwriter Steve Earle called Keith’s song “pandering to people’s worst instincts at a time they are hurt and scared.”

Then there was the feud between Keith and The Chicks (formerly called the Dixie Chicks), who became a target of Keith’s ire when singer Natalie Maines told a crowd that they were ashamed of then-President George W. Bush. Maines had also previously called Keith’s song “ignorant.”

Keith, who had previously claimed that he supported any artist’s freedom to voice their opinion about politics, used a doctored photo of Maines with an image of Saddam Hussein at his concerts, further ramping up angry fans.

Maines responded by wearing a shirt with the letters “FUTK” onstage at the 2003 ACM Awards, which many people believed was a vulgar message to Keith.

Keith, who had acknowledged that he holds onto grudges, walked out of the ACM Awards in 2003 early because he had gotten snubbed in earlier categories, causing him to miss out when he was announced as entertainer of the year. Vince Gill accepted on his behalf. He came back the next year and won the top prize for a second year in a row, along with top male vocalist and album of the year for “Shock ’n Y’all.”

His pro-military stance wasn’t just fodder for songs, however. He went on 18 USO tours to visit and play for troops. He also helped to raise millions for charity over his career, including building a home in Oklahoma City for kids with cancer and their families.

After Universal Music Group acquired DreamWorks, Keith started anew again, starting his own record label, Show Dog, in 2005 with record executive Scott Borchetta, who launched his own label Big Machine at the same time.

“Probably 75% of the people in this town think I’ll fail, and the other 25% hope I fail,” he said that year.

Later the label became Show Dog-Universal Music and had Keith, Trace Adkins, Joe Nichols, Josh Thompson, Clay Walker and Phil Vassar on its roster.

His later hits included “Love Me If You Can,” “She Never Cried In Front of Me,” and “Red Solo Cup.” He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.

He was honored by the performance rights organization BMI in November 2022 with the BMI Icon award, a few months after announcing his stomach cancer diagnosis.

“I always felt like that the songwriting was the most important part of this whole industry,” Keith told the crowd of fellow singers and writers.
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This story has been corrected to show that Keith participated 18 USO tours, not 11.

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Interesting thing I found, Henry Rollin's letter to Toby Keith from 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YDjTvJhuxw