Tributes, Tributes, Even MORE Tributes...

I thought I'd never get around to finishing this one!

Boy, there are a lot of celebrity tributes this time around. But then again, I haven't posted any for over two months, so I guess we're not doing too badly in the death department, overall. Not like 2016, certainly! Of course, the year's still relatively young...

Anyway, in absolutely no real order, here are short tributes (Yes, short. For me, that is. I'm nothing if not merciful, fellow babies!) to eleven celebrities of note (to me, anyway) who've passed away since late January.

1. Chuck Berry, 1926-2017, R.I.P.

Seminal rock'n'roller Chuck Berry has died at the age of ninety. Berry died on March 18th, pronounced dead after police responded to a 911 call. What can you say about Chuck Berry? Well, a lot, actually, much more than I'm going to attempt here. Berry, often called the "granddaddy of rock'n'roll" and other similar titles, is known for a long, long string of hits, including "Johnny B. Goode," "Maybellene," "You Never Can Tell," "Rock and Roll Music," "Wee Wee Hours," "Carol," "No Particular Place to Go," "My Ding-a-Ling" (groan), "Sweet Little Sixteen," "Too Much Monkey Business," "Back in the U.S.A.," "Memphis, Tennessee," "Reelin' and Rockin'," "Nadine..."  He was also known for several bouts with the law over the years, for various offenses including transporting a minor across state lines, misdemeanor marijuana possession, tax evasion, and for installing a camera in the women's restroom of a restaurant he owned! Berry toured extensively, and was well-known for travelling without a band. For each gig, he would hire a local band, assuming that any band should and would know his songs!

Here's my own favorite Chuck Berry song, a lesser-known tune called "Havana Moon!"

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2. Chuck Barris, 1929-2017, R.I.P.

Chuck Barris, creator of TV's The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, The Gong Show, and many other game (and non-game) shows (Anybody remember the $1.98 Beauty Show?), has died at the age of  eighty-seven from natural causes. He also wrote the hit song "Palisades Park" for Freddy Cannon in 1962. (That was the first 45 rpm record my older sister ever bought. I still have the copy she used to own, with a #1 sticker on its label.) He was also known for his infamous "unauthorized autobiography," Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, in which he claimed to have worked for the CIA as an assassin! (The CIA has gone on record denying Barris' involvement with them. But then again, this is the CIA we're talking about...) His autobiography was made into a movie in 2002, starring Sam Rockwell and Drew Barrymore, and directed by George Clooney. Barris died on March 21st. 

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3. Bill Paxton, 1955-2017, R.I.P.

Actor and director Bill Paxton has died at the age of sixty-one. Paxton died on February 25th, after a stroke which occurred following heart surgery. Personally, my favorite Paxton roles include the obnoxious older brother Chet (one of his earliest roles) in 1985's Weird Science, his role as Wyatt Earp's younger brother Morgan in 1993's Tombstone, and his portrayal of the lead character, Bill Henrickson, in HBO's Big Love (from 2006 to 2011).

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4. Bernie Wrightson, 1948-2017, R.I.P.

Artist and illustrator Bernie -- also known as "Berni" -- Wrightson, died on March 18th after a long battle with brain cancer. Wrightson was probably best known for his co-creation of DC Comics' Swamp Thing and for illustrating an editon of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

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5. Dan Spiegle, 1920-2017, R.I.P.

Long-time comic artist Dan Spiegle passed away on January 28th. He was ninety-six. Spiegle was probably best known for his comics featuring various TV show and movie characters, everything from Hopalong Cassidy to Scooby-Doo. He worked as a cartoonist and comic artist from 1949 until 2011, and his artwork graced such companies as Dell, DC, Marvel,  and Dark Horse, among many, many others.

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6. Robert Osborne, 1932-2017, R.I.P.

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Robert Osborne, who died on March 6th of natural causes at the age of eighty-four, was a film historian and the primary host on the Turner Classic Movies channel. He started his long career as an actor at Desilu Studios.

7. James Cotton, 1935-2017, R.I.P.

James Cotton was a blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter who had played with the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Gregg Allman, Santana and the Grateful Dead, among many others. He died on March 16th. Cotton was eighty-one.

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8. Sib Hashian, 1949-2017, R.I.P.

John Thomas "Sib" Hashian, the drummer with the killer afro pictured on the back of the band Boston's first album (and elsewhere, of course), died at the age of sixty-seven on March 22nd, while performing on a rock legends cruise. Sib's granddaughter Jasmine is the daughter of Sib 's daughter Lauren and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

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9. Jay Lynch, 1945-2017, R.I.P.

Underground comix icon Jay Lynch (also known as Jayzey Lynch, and no relation to yours truly) died at the age of seventy-two on March 5th. Lynch was involved in the earliest days of the undergrounds, and is probably best known for Bijou Funnies, and his characters Nard n' Pat. He was a major contributor to Topps' Wacky Packages series of trading cards.

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10. Skip Williamson, 1944-2017, R.I.P.

March was not a good month for underground cartoonists. Mervyn "Skip" Williamson, a contemporary of Jay Lynch, died on March 16th. Williamson, probably best known for the underground comix character Snappy Sammy Smoot, was seventy-two.

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11. Judge Joseph Wapner, 1919-2017

Joseph Wapner, presiding judge on the first incarnation of television's The People's Court, died on February 26th. And just a bit of trivia, here: When he was in high school, Wapner briefly dated a then-unknown Lana Turner! Wapner was ninety-seven.

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Whew! Thanks for your time.