More Tributes...

January's not looking so good after all. Here's another list of brief celebrity tributes.

1. Mike Connors, 1925-2017, R.I.P.

Born Krekor Ohanian, Mike Connors' early films and TV appearances were credited to "Touch Connors." He was using Mike Connors by the time his best-known role, that of TV's Joe Mannix in the Mannix series, came along. Connors seemed to be universally liked by those who knew him and worked with him.

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2. John Hurt, 1940-2017, R.I.P.

Actor and voice actor John Hurt, known for roles in The Elephant Man, Alien, the Harry Potter movies, and so many others, has died at the age of seventy-seven.

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3. Barbara Hale, 1922-2017

Ms. Hale was best known for her role as Perry Mason's secretary, Della Street, in both the Perry Mason TV series and the later Mason TV movies.

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Thanks for your time.

Catching Up with the Celebrity Tributes

Well, finally I found time to do this post!

We're almost done with January, and it's been relatively free of celebrity deaths that meant much to me personally. However, this month has seen a handful that I'd like to mention here and now. Due to time limitations (my own), I'll keep my comments to a minimum.

1. Mary Tyler Moore, 1936-2017, R.I.P.

Well, this was a shock. Actress Mary Tyler Moore was a sitcom icon, after having appeared in not just one but two of what were arguably some of the best sitcoms of all time, The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. If this multiple Emmy winner had done nothing more than those two shows -- but she did quite a bit more -- she'd be memorable.

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2. Miguel Ferrer, 1955-2017, R.I.P.

I'd been aware of Miguel Ferrer, son of Jose Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney (and cousin of George Clooney), since I saw him in RoboCop... but of all his roles -- usually of the "tough guy" types -- I most enjoyed seeing him as the sarcastic and abrasive FBI agent, Albert Rosenfield in TV's Twin Peaks. Ferrer died of throat cancer at the age of 61. He reprised his role on Showtime's Twin Peaks revival, which will be aired in 2017.

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3. Dick Gautier, 1931-2017, R.I.P.

I was a fan of Dick Gautier's from the mid-sixties and on, from appearances on shows such as Get Smart and Mister Terrific. Later on I enjoyed him in Mel Brooks' TV sitcom, When Things Were Rotten, where Gautier played Robin Hood.

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4. Tommy Allsup, 1931-2017, R.I.P.

Allsup was touring with Buddy Holly in early 1959, and famously "lost" a coin toss with Ritchie Valens that kept Allsup off the plane that crashed, killing Holly, Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson.

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5. William Peter Blatty, 1928-2017, R.I.P.

Blatty was the author of 1971's The Exorcist, and its Academy Award-winning screenplay. This is a story that scared the living crap out of people, both in print and in the theaters. I've read the book and seen the movie, and enjoyed both.

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Thanks for your time.

I Haven't Forgotten...

I've been busy -- very busy -- and there are a few celebrity deaths I wanted to note that kinda slipped by in the past few days. That's (probably) gonna be my next post. I'm still busy.

Sorry.

Thanks for your time.

No Resolutions, Please!

Well, fellow babies, we made it through that pile of crap that was better known as 2016! Additionally, no one that I admire has died in the past few days. "Yay" to that.

So what's in store for 2017? Good question. I only know what my intentions are for this blog.

First of all, I should let y'all know that I've recently been considering dropping this blog altogether. Ideas just haven't been coming lately (with the exception of a month of creativity during last April's A-Z Challenge). So, although I note at the top of this blog that "It's Not Just About Comic Books and Dead Celebrities," during 2016, it pretty much was!

During 2017, I'll try to come up with some original stuff. If I fail at that, this blog probably won't make it to 2018. No, really. Let someone else chronicle the deaths of the well-known. My blog was never meant to list every last one of them anyway. After all, last year's entries left out (among others) such notables as David Bowie, Prince, Florence Henderson, and the one I most regret omitting, Alan Rickman. (I guess that last one was such a shock I was too stunned to give it a timely mention.)

So, no promises about what's to come. I'd probably only break them anyway. (Hell, I've done it before...) Let's just hope we're all still here by the end of 2017. ("All" means me, my readers, and... Oh, hell, ALL of us. No telling if this planet's even going to be here in a year, right?)

On that cheerful note... Thanks for your time.