Happy 2014 to all visitors and followers of
All That I Love!
.
This is the first post of 2014. As we are starting a new year, we must to look back at the celebs we lost last year. We said goodbye to some of our favorite stars in 2013 – from Paul Walker and James Gandolfini to Annette Funicello, Lou Reed, Joan Fontaine and many others.
Notable Celebrity Deaths of 2013
Paul Walker, 40
Paul Walker, the star of “The Fast and The Furious” franchise died in a car crash on the Saturday following Thanksgiving following a his attendance at a charity event. An LA native, Walker began his on screen career with some television roles in the ’80s before segueing into film.
Mindy McCready, 37
Although only 37 at the time of her death, McCready had worked in the music industry for two decades and recorded five studio albums and had 12 songs on the Billboard country singles chart. She died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Roger Ebert, 70
Roger Ebert died following a long battle with cancer. A film critic, he won a Pullitzer in 1975 and “Ebert’s television career began the year he won the Pulitzer, first on WTTW-TV, the Chicago PBS station, then nationwide on PBS and later on several commercial syndication services. Ebert and Siskel even trademarked the ‘two thumbs up.'”
Annette Funicello, 70
Rising to stardom from her time on “The Mickey Mouse Club” as a Mouseketeer in the 1950s, Annette Funicello passed away from complications related to her multiple sclerosis. “She wrote of her triumphs and struggles in her 1994 autobiography, ‘A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes’ — the title taken from a Disney song. In 1995, she appeared briefly in a television docudrama based on her book. And she spoke openly about the degenerative effects of MS.”
Tom Clancy, 66
Tom Clancy, the prolific author who is best known for creating the character Jack Ryan, passed away at age 66. “In 1979, Clancy began ‘Patriot Games,’ in which he invented his hero, CIA agent Jack Ryan. In 1982, he put it aside and started ‘The Hunt For Red October,’ basing it on a real incident in November 1979, in which a Soviet missile frigate called the Storozhevoy attempted to defect.”
James Gandolfini, 51
James Gandolfini, best known for his work as Tony Soprano on “The Sopranos” passed away at the age of 51 from a heart attack. At the time, he was vacationing in Italy. Over the course of his career, Gandolfini won a Golden Globe, three Emmys, three individual SAG Awards, and two ensemble SAG Awards. This year, following his death, he was nominated for a number of awards for his work on “Enough Said.”
Joan Fontaine, 96
Joan Fontaine won an Academy Award for her work in Alfred Hitchock’s “Suspicion” and was nominated two other times (including for Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” a year before suspicion). “Fontaine had minor roles in several films in the 1930s, but received little attention and was without a studio contract when she was seated next to producer David O. Selznick at a dinner party near the decade’s end. She impressed him enough to be asked to audition for ‘Rebecca,’ his first movie since ‘Gone With the Wind’ and the American directorial debut of Hitchcock.”
Cory Monteith, 31
One of the stars of FOX’s “Glee,” Cory Monteith was found dead this summer in a hotel room in Canada. It was later confirmed that the actor died of a drug overdose. Born in Canada, Monteith had built a career that started with smaller television roles and eventually found himself on the FOX musical hit and in a number of movies.
Peter O’Toole, 81
Peter O’Toole is perhaps best known for his work in “Lawrence of Arabia,” but that is just one of a number of great performances by the actor. “A month before his 80th birthday in 2012, O’Toole announced his retirement from a career that he said had fulfilled him emotionally and financially, bringing “me together with fine people, good companions with whom I’ve shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits.”
Lisa Robin Kelly, 43
Lisa Robin Kelly, one of the stars of “That ’70s Show” passed away over the summer at an addiction treatment facility. “Unlike some of her co-stars — Grace, Ashton Kutcher and Laura Prepon — Kelly fell out of the spotlight after appearing on the sitcom until she started making headlines for personal troubles.”
Dennis Farina, 69
Dennis Farina passed away at age 69 this past July. “For three decades, Farina was a character actor who displayed remarkable dexterity, charm and toughness, making effective use of his craggy face, husky frame, ivory smile and ample mustache. He could be as dapper as Fred Astaire and as full of threat as Clint Eastwood. His gift has been described as wry, tough-guy panache, and audiences loved him for it.”
Jeff Hanneman, 49
Born in 1964, Jeff Hanneman, one of the founding members of the band Slayer, passed away due to liver failure earlier this year. From the band’s Facebook page: “Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away… He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed.”
Karen Black, 74
Over the course of her career, Karen Black appeared in over 100 films and more than one award nomination. “Known for her full lips and thick, wavy hair that seemed to change color from film to film, Black often portrayed women who were quirky, troubled or threatened. Her breakthrough was as a prostitute who takes LSD with Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda in 1969’s ‘Easy Rider,’ the hippie classic that helped get her the role of Rayette Dipesto, a waitress who dates — and is mistreated by — an upper-class dropout played by Jack Nicholson in 1970’s ‘Five Easy Pieces.'”
Ray Harryhausen, 92
Born in 1920, Ray Harryhausen was entranced by film as early as 1933 when he first saw “King Kong.” He built his career as “a special effects master whose sword-fighting skeletons, six-tentacled octopus, and other fantastical creations were adored by film lovers and admired by industry heavyweights.”
Lou Reed, 71
At the age of 71, Velvet Underground singer Lou Reed passed away this October following a liver transplant in May. A graduate of Syracuse University, Reed began recording in the mid- to late-’60s and today is considered one of the seminal figures of rock.
Eileen Brennan, 80
Eileen Brennan passed away at the age of 80 as a result of bladder cancer. A regular on the first season of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” Brennan went on to find success in films appearing in “The Last Picture Show,” “The Sting,” “Private Benjamin” (she would reprise her film role in the television series), “Murder by Death, and cult classic “Clue.”
Clive Burr, 56
A drummer for Iron Maiden, Clive Burr suffered from multiple sclerosis. He played drums on the first three Iron Maiden albums, “Iron Maiden,” “Killers,” and “The Number of the Beast.” He had, reportedly, been in poor health for a number of years prior to his death.
Esther Williams, 91
The synchronized swimmer turned movie star died in her sleep in her Los Angeles home. The Olympic hopeful, who was discovered by MGM after the 1940 Olympics were canceled due to World War II, went on to star in countless films before retiring from acting in the early ’60s.
Tom Laughlin, 82
“The “Billy Jack” star died of complications from pneumonia at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks in Los Angeles. The Milwaukee native — who wrote, directed and produced “Billy Jack” — also battled celiac disease and suffered from strokes later in life. He is survived by his wife, a sister and three children.
Ray Manzarek, 74
The Doors keyboardist died in Germany after a long battle with bile duct cancer. The Chicago native formed The Doors with frontman Jim Morrison in the mid-’60s. “Light My Fire,” “Break on Through (to the Other Side),” and “Hello, I Love You” were among their biggest hits.
Sara Montiel, 85
Sara Montiel most known as Sarita Montiel died in Madrid, at 85. Sara was the first Spanish actress to make success it in Hollywood and is best known for her roles in international blockbusters such as “Vera Cruz” (1954) co-starring with Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster, and directed by Robert Aldrich. From then on she combined filming highly successful vehicles, recording songs in five languages and performing live all over the world.
Richard Matheson, 87
Richard Matheson, a prolific American science fiction author, died at 87, in Los Angeles. During a career that spanned more than 60 years, Matheson wrote more than 25 novels and nearly 100 short stories, plus screenplays for TV and film. Several of his novels were made into movies as “I Am Legend” (1954) and his 1956 “The Shrinking Man”. Matheson also was a major contributor to Rod Serling’s classic TV series “The Twilight Zone”.
R.I.P.
All That I Love 