*Official* In Memoriam Thread

[madducks]

Jay Thomas who had recurring guest roles on "Mork & Mindy" as deli owner Remo DaVinci, the love interest of Rhea Perlman's Carla Tortelli on "Cheers," and tabloid talk show host Jerry Gold on "Murphy Brown" has died of cancer at age 69. RIP Jay Thomas.



In addition to his work on TV, many know Thomas from his annual holiday season appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman," where he'd retell what Letterman once called "the greatest talk show story of all time."

[swampdragon]

Jay Thomas who had recurring guest roles on "Mork & Mindy" as deli owner Remo DaVinci, the love interest of Rhea Perlman's Carla Tortelli on "Cheers," and tabloid talk show host Jerry Gold on "Murphy Brown" has died of cancer at age 69. RIP Jay Thomas.



In addition to his work on TV, many know Thomas from his annual holiday season appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman," where he'd retell what Letterman once called "the greatest talk show story of all time."

I heard him doing a shift on Sirius within the past month

[Fresno Bob]

Jay Thomas who had recurring guest roles on "Mork & Mindy" as deli owner Remo DaVinci, the love interest of Rhea Perlman's Carla Tortelli on "Cheers," and tabloid talk show host Jerry Gold on "Murphy Brown" has died of cancer at age 69. RIP Jay Thomas.



In addition to his work on TV, many know Thomas from his annual holiday season appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman," where he'd retell what Letterman once called "the greatest talk show story of all time."

he'll always be Eddie LeBeck to me, excellent story too, I'd never heard it

[revo]

Rollie Massimino, who led Villanova to the 1985 men's NCAA Basketball championship, died at age 82. RIP.

[revo]

Walter Becker, co-founder of Steely Dan, dead at age 67. RIP.

[swampdragon]

Walter Becker, co-founder of Steely Dan, dead at age 67. RIP.

these are obsessively fascinating -

[revo]

Frank Vincent, who made a career of playing mafiosi including, most famously, Billy Bats in Goodfellas, died at age 78. RIP.

[revo]

Grant Hart, the drummer and vocalist for pioneering indie rock band Husker Du, has died. He was 56.

Ken Shipley, who runs the band's record label Numero Group, told The Associated Press that Hart died Wednesday of cancer at his home in St. Paul, Minn.

Hart formed Husker Du with bassist Greg Norton and guitarist Bob Mould, with whom he shared singing duties, in St. Paul in 1978. The band began as a punk outfit before moving into alternative rock. The trio broke up in 1987 and Hart launched his solo career.

[fuhrdog]

Frank Vincent, who played tough guys and mobsters in "The Sopranos" and a number of director Martin Scorsese movies, died Wednesday at age 80. Vincent portrayed Phil Leotardo for several seasons in the HBO drama, and memorably co-starred as Billy Batts in Scorsese's "Goodfellas," before that appearing in "Casino" and "Raging Bull."

Now go get your shine box.

[senorsheep]

Heel manager or heel commentator, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan was the absolute best at what he did. Thank you, Weasel, for a lifetime of laughs.

[TranaGreg]

Here's an interesting one - Stanislav Petrov, the man who single-handedly averted WWIII, dies at 77

Petrov, an official with Russia’s early-warning missile system, was charged with determining whether the United States had opened intercontinental fire on the Soviet Union. Just after midnight on Sept. 26, 1983, all signs seemed to point to yes.

The satellite signal Petrov received in his bunker indicated that a single Minuteman missile had been launched and was headed toward the East. Four more missiles appeared to follow, according to satellite signals, and the protocol was clear: notify Soviet Air Defense headquarters in time for the military’s general staff to consult with Yuri V. Andropov, the Soviet leader. A retaliatory attack, and nuclear holocaust, would likely ensue.

Yet Petrov, juggling a phone in one hand and an intercom in the other, judged that the red alert was a false alarm. Soviet missiles, armed and ready, remained in their silos. And American missiles, apparently minutes from impact, seemed to vanish into the air.

“I had a funny feeling in my gut,” Petrov told The Washington Post in 1999. “I didn’t want to make a mistake. I made a decision, and that was it.” He celebrated with half a litre of vodka, fell into a sleep that lasted 28 hours and went back to work.
...
Petrov said he was initially skeptical of the launch because only a handful of missiles had been fired — “when people start a war,” he told The Post, “they don’t start it with only five missiles” — and because Soviet ground-based radar had shown no evidence of an attack.

[revo]

Chuck Low, most famously known as "Morrie" from Goodfellas, died at age 89.

[revo]

Comedian Ralphie May died of cardiac arrest at age 45. RIP.

[revo]

NBA, ABA & Harlem Globetrotter legend and Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins died at age 75. RIP.

[dslaw]

YA Tittle died yesterday. 1963 NFL MVP and in the HOF.