Quote from: Uomo Senza Nome on May 21, 2023, 09:02:09 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 19, 2023, 06:05:57 PMActor ("Mars Attacks!", "100 Rifles", "The Running Man") and former NFL player (running back for the Cleveland Browns 1957 to 1965) Jim Brown passed away on May 18th at the age of 87.

Cause of death hasn't been released yet.

Jim Brown wasn't just some running back who played for the Browns 60 years ago. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes who ever lived.

In high school, Brown earned 13 letters playing football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and running track.

Brown broke all kinds of records in American Football at the college and professional level and is widely considered the best running back to have ever play the game, certainly the standard to which all others who aspire to greatness are compared. In NFL football the "Jim Brown Award" is given to the best Running Back every year. He was also an excellent kicker. in 1956, ".... a 61–7 Syracuse rout of Colgate, he rushed for 197 yards, scored six touchdowns, and kicked seven extra points for a school-record 43 points." A record that stands to this day.  Brown was so good in the pros he actually drug Cleveland into a Championship in 1964, the last year they ever won and they were runner-ups in 1965.

In 1965 the owner of the Browns, Art Modell, made the terrible decision to force Brown to choose between acting or football. Brown picked acting. Modell really regretted that later and said it was among the worst decisions he ever made.

The Lacrosse Hall of Fame regards him as the greatest lacrosse player who ever lived. The "Jim Brown Award" is given every year to the MVP in lacrosse. While he played they had to alter the rules because he was literally unstoppable.

Jim Brown served in the US Army Reserve for four years while playing professional football attaining the rank of Captain.

100 Rifles was one of the worst movies ever made by a major studio in that era with a full size budget and a disaster that sank his budding career. Before that however he played in The Dirty Dozen, an excellent work of fiction about a bunch of criminals recruited for a suicide mission during WWII. He was in several other films that were hits of that era such as Ice Station Zebra and Riot. I recommend all three films.

That info I did not know.

I only ever knew him as an actor.

While he was an amazing athlete, he did have a darker side where he was a serial abuser of women he was in relationships with. Most of the time the women would drop the charges, as is common in domestic relationships where abuse occurs. This eventually landed him prison for a short stint for vandalism of his ex-wife's car. 

He claimed that incarceration doesn't work, but he never got in trouble again after that. 

Actor Ray Stevenson, best known for his roles in "Punisher: War Zone", HBO's "Rome", "The Book of Eli" and others, passed away at age 58 on May 21st, 2023. He passed away in Italy where he was filming a movie. 

Cause of death hasn't been released yet.

Tina Turner passed away today at age 83 in Switzerland.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 24, 2023, 02:27:24 PMTina Turner passed away today at age 83 in Switzerland.

Well damn...

My wife always said that Tina Turner was put on this Earth to show white women how to dance in heels.  (edit: evidently my wife borrowed that line from John Denver) The woman was amazing in those heels.

One of my favorite memories of her was when I worked at MSG and she did a tour right after Beyond Thunderdome came out.  At one point in the show, she ran backstage for a costume change between songs, then the lights dimmed and the opening bars of We Don't Need Another Hero started to play as she walked slowly back onstage, only a single spotlight following her, and she was dressed in a long, dark cloak with the hood up and wrapped tight around her.  She got to a spot in the center of the stage close to the edge and started to sing the opening lines, still cloaked and hooded.  You didn't realize it at first but the part of the stage she was on was slowly rising into the air, a circle about the size of a large manhole cover.  By the time the chorus came she was 20' in the air over the stage. That's when she threw off the cloak and it fell down to the audience revealing her in the "Aunty Entity" outfit, and as she belted out the chorus she started to dance.  20' over the stage, which itself was 15' high, wearing pumps with 4" heels, the woman proceeded to sing and dance like she had all the room in the world.  No net.  No safety harness, just Tina, a microphone, and the spotlight.  It was easily the greatest performance I saw in all my years at MSG.

Aunty found her way...home

 

That sounds like it was an amazing sight to see, NT2C.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 24, 2023, 05:10:01 PMThat sounds like it was an amazing sight to see, NT2C.

It was, Chimp, indeed it was...  Watch this clip.  It's 20 years after I saw that performance and they changed a few things (gave her things to hold onto) but it's almost exactly the same stage.


This is really hitting me hard.  My voice is hoarse and my handkerchief is soaked.  She was an extraordinary woman.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 24, 2023, 02:27:24 PMTina Turner passed away today at age 83 in Switzerland.

Sad to hear this. Amazing singer, amazing actress, amazing life. Amazing lady

 

My all-time favorite Tina Turner performance happens to be... no Tina Turner song at all, but this piece with Chuck Berry:


No white people were harmed during the recording of this video.


What a loss.

Quote from: NT2C on May 24, 2023, 05:27:09 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 24, 2023, 05:10:01 PMThat sounds like it was an amazing sight to see, NT2C.

It was, Chimp, indeed it was...  Watch this clip.  It's 20 years after I saw that performance and they changed a few things (gave her things to hold onto) but it's almost exactly the same stage.

This is really hitting me hard.  My voice is hoarse and my handkerchief is soaked.  She was an extraordinary woman.

That woman was the epitome of the word magnificent.
The stars in the sky will be a bit dimmer tonight.

Ed Ames, age 95
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ed-ames-daniel-boone-star-013418317.html
Lost another one from my childhood.
Farewell Mingo 

Robert Hanssen, FBI double agent who spied for the USSR & Russia found dead in prison, with no cause of death given. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65816862

Barry Newman, Actor and Musician passes at 92.

https://people.com/barry-newman-obituary-7508079

His biggest movie was Vanishing Point, It was a nihilistic Smokey and the Bandit, before there was a Smokey and the Bandit. The debut Dodge Challenger with the 440 Motor also was featured prominently in the film. He was in a number of other successful, well known films as well.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628017/

Kowalski is no longer out there.   

Another WWE/WWF legend has passed on.

The Iron Sheik (born Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri) passed away today at the age of 81.

Pat Robertson has died at age 93.

WARNING: Pretty much any article about him will include significant discussions of both politics and religion, as those were the two major focuses in his life. This is being posted due to him being a well-known figure.

https://apnews.com/article/pat-robertson-dead-christian-broadcasting-700-club-91299d0953c014ca6860fe545cac793e

Unabomber Ted Kaczynski found dead in prison cell

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/unabomber-ted-kaczynski-found-dead-164100875.html

Quote from: flybynight on June 10, 2023, 01:10:59 PMUnabomber Ted Kaczynski found dead in prison cell

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/unabomber-ted-kaczynski-found-dead-164100875.html

https://youtu.be/VROals3gCYM

Well, buh-bye.