In Memorial Thread

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Richard "Rick" Blackburn (16 November, 1942 - 30 November, 2012) was a Nashville music executive.^[1] He was a former president of Atlantic Records in Nashville and shared his skill withMercury Records and Epic Records.^[2] Blackburn was known for hiring top artists like Ricky Van Shelton and George Jones and for dropping Johnny Cash off at Nashville Records around 1985 or 1986. He retired from the music industry in the 1990s and died in his Tennessee home of kidney failure.


Reinhold Weege (December 23, 1949 - December 1, 2012) was an American television writer, producer and director. He was born in Chicago,Illinois.^[1]
Weege wrote for several television series, including Barney Miller and M*A*S*H. In 1981, he created the series Park Place. In 1984, he created the hitsitcom Night Court which ran for nine seasons on the NBC broadcast television network.^[1] Weege owned Starry Night Productions, which producedNight Court until 1989, when Weege left the series after six seasons. He also produced the short-lived sitcom Nikki and Alexander in 1989.^[2] He was nominated for four Emmy Awards during his career, one for Barney Miller and three for Night Court.^[3]
Weege died at age 62 in La Jolla, California of natural causes.


Dee Harvey (1965 - December 1, 2012) was an American singer. He was at one time signed to Motown Label and recorded his first album, Just as I Am with Motown in 1991.
Harvey was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Trezevant High School. Harvey was known for his 1991 hit "Leave well enough alone" and for once singing with Harry Belafonte in 1989. In 2010, He mainly performed as a backup singer to Rod Stewart. He died, aged 47, in California.


Hilmar Guenther Moore (July 28, 1920 – December 4, 2012) was an American rancher and the mayor of Richmond, Texas. He was appointed mayor of Richmond in 1949 and remained in office until his death in 2012, making him "probably the longest-serving elected official in the US," according to a 2008 BBC News report.^[1] He was honored with a life-size statue at City Hall in October 2008.^[2]
Moore's father, John Jr., served as a two-term Mayor of Richmond and a two-term judge in Fort Bend County, Texas.^[3] The elder Moore's father, John Sr., was a United States Congressman and Secretary of State of Texas.^[3][4]
Moore died in December 2012.^[5][6][7] His widow, Evelyn Moore, was appointed to serve out the remainder of his term


Eileen "Mike" Pollock (1926-2012) and Robert Mason Pollock were married American television screenwriters and producers best known as writers on the long-running 1980s series Dynasty, its spin-off series The Colbys and the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion.^[1]
The second-season additions of the Pollocks and Joan Collins (in the role of Alexis) are generally credited with Dynasty's subsequent rise in the ratings;^[2] the series eventually became #1 in 1985.^[3] The Pollocks "soft-pedaled the business angle" of the show and "bombarded viewers with every soap opera staple in the book, presented at such a fast clip that a new tragedy seemed to befall the Carrington family every five minutes."^[2]
The Pollocks brought the daytime series The Doctors its highest ratings in the early 1970s.^[2] They also wrote for General Hospital from 1976 to 1977. In 1997, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to them.^[4]
On December 5, 2012 it was announced that Eileen Pollock had died, aged 86, from undisclosed causes.

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Jeni LeGon (August 14, 1916 – December 7, 2012) was an American dancer, dance instructor, and actress. She was one of the first African-American women to establish a solo career in tap.
She was born Jennie Bell in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were Hector Ligon, a chef who also worked as a railway porter, and Harriet Bell Ligon, a housewife. She graduated from Sexton Elementary School in 1928, and at the age of thirteen got her first job in musical theater. She eventually auditioned for the chorus line of band leader Count Basie and was selected.
LeGon and her half-sister, Willa Mae Lane, formed a song-and-dance team. They were given the opportunity to go to Detroit and work with nightclub owner Leonard Reed. While there, they received an offer to travel to Hollywood and perform with composer Shelton Brooks. Upon arrival, they discovered there was, in fact, no job. LeGon heard about auditions being held by Ethel Waters' former manager, Earl Dancer. The audition was for a film that Fox Studios was producing. She won the part and subsequently appeared in dance numbers in several musicals.
While in Hollywood, LeGon had the opportunity to work with performers such as Ethel Waters and Al Jolson. She danced with Fred Astaire and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, becoming the first African-American woman to do so on screen. During this time, she was given a role in Hooray for Love, which led MGM to offer her a long-term contract, making LeGon the first African-American woman to receive such an opportunity. In 1969, LeGon settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she taught tap and point. In 1999, the National Film Board of Canada released Grant Greshuk’s prize-winning documentary Jeni Le Gon: Living in a Great Big Way.


Eddie "Guitar" Burns (February 8, 1928 – December 12, 2012)^[3] was an American Detroit blues guitarist, harmonica player, singer and songwriter.^[2]His career spanned seven decades, and in terms of Detroit bluesmen, Burns was deemed second only in stature to John Lee Hooker.


ack Clem Hanlon (February 15, 1916 - December 13, 2012^[1]) was an American child actor known for his role in Our Gang and silent films.^[2]According to Variety, at the time of his death he was the oldest living person to appear in the Our Gang comedies and likely the last surviving cast member of the Buster Keaton silent classic The General.^[3]
Hanlon was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and was raised by his grandmother in Culver City, California. He started acting at age 10. His first role was in Buster Keaton's 1926 film, The General, before appearing in two 1927 Our Gang/Little Rascals silent shorts: The Glorious Fourth and Olympic Games. He had what was characterized as a breakout performance in the 1929 William Wyler-directed part-talkie The Shakedown, co-starring James Murray and Barbara Kent.^[2] He also had minor roles in Romance, where as an uncredited extra he got his first on-screen kiss from Greta Garbo.^[2]
Between 1930 and 1933, Hanlon appeared in eight more films before giving up his acting career in 1932. After graduating from high school, he playedminor league baseball and served as an Army Air Corps paratrooper during World War II. After the war, Hanlon, worked as a furniture mover for Allied Van Lines. He was married to Jean Hanlon from 1940 until her death in 1977.^[2] He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1994. He stayed friends with fellowOur Gang alumnus and Las Vegan, Jay R. Smith.


Willie Ackerman (May 1, 1939 - December 13, 2012^[1] was a professional American drummer whose career began in 1957 and ended in the 1980s. He performed with Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, The Monkees and many other acts. Ackerman was an RCA Studios artist.
Ackerman was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He became a Hee Haw drummer, and was also at one time a drummer at the Grand Ole Opry. He recorded Marty Robbins' "El Paso" song in 1959,Wings of a Dove in 1960 and The Grand Tour in 1974 along with George Jones. He died in his sleep at his home and left behind his wife Jeannie Ackerman and son Trey Ackerman.

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Gil Friesen (March 19, 1937 – December 13, 2012) was an American music and film executive known for becoming chairman of A&M Records in 1977 to 1990 after he sold it for $500 million, co-founder of the Classic Sports Cable Network and executive of The Breakfast Club in 1985. Born into a musical family in Pasadena, CA, Friesen was a student at UCLA when he began his show-business career in the mail room at Capitol Records ^[1] in California and later became a senior member of Kapp Records.^[2] He once served as a promoter to Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, The Carpenters, The Police and to Janet Jackson.


Larry Donnell Andrews (died December 13, 2012) was an American criminal and anti-crime advocate. He was convicted of murders which he committed in 1986. He was the inspiration for the character of Omar Little, portrayed by Michael K. Williams, on HBO series "The Wire"
Robert J. "Bob" Derleth (June 9, 1922 – December 16, 2012) was an American football lineman. He played college football for the University of Michigan Wolverines football teams in 1942, 1943, 1945 and 1946—missing the 1944 season due to military service. He also played professional football for the Detroit Lions in 1947



orman Joseph Woodland (also known as N. Joseph Woodland and N. J. Woodland; September 6, 1921 – December 9, 2012) was best known as one of the inventors of the barcode, for which he received US Patent 2,612,994 in October 1952.

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Robert Harper Odell (March 5, 1922 – December 15, 2012) was an American football player who, as a college senior at the University of Pennsylvania, won the Maxwell Award in 1943. In 1944 he was drafted in the second round (15th overall) by the Chicago-Pittsburgh Cardinals-Steelers but served in the United States Navy from 1944 through 1946. The Pittsburgh Steelers offered Odell $8,000 to play for the 1946 season. However, his doctor recommended that he give up football due to a knee injury suffered while playing basketball. He was the head football coach at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1960s and at Williams College from 1971 to 1986. With a record of 75-49 in 16 years as the head coach at Williams, Odell ranks third in career wins behind Dick Farley and Charlie Caldwell. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Famein 1992.
He died of kidney disease in a nursing home in 2012.


Robert J. "Bob" Derleth (June 9, 1922 – December 16, 2012) was an American football lineman. He played college football for the University of Michigan Wolverines football teams in 1942, 1943, 1945 and 1946—missing the 1944 season due to military service. He also played professional football for the Detroit Lions in 1947.


James Francis Whalen, Jr. (May 20, 1943 – December 18, 2012) was a professional American football tight end.^[1]
Whalen was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He played in the American Football League for the Boston Patriots, and then in the National Football League for the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles. Whalen played college football at Boston College and was selected in the third round of the 1965 AFL Draft. He was also drafted in the fourth round of the 1965 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.


Boyd Owen Bartley (February 11, 1920 – December 21, 2012) was a Major League Baseball player.^[1] He played shortstop for theBrooklyn Dodgers in nine games during the 1943 Brooklyn Dodgers season. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the military during World War II


Marva Whitney (born Marva Ann Manning, May 1, 1944 - December 22, 2012), was an American funk singer.^[1] Whitney was considered by many funk enthusiasts to be one of the "rawest" and "brassiest" music divas.

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Cliff Osmond (born Clifford Osman Ebrahim) (February 26, 1937 - December 22, 2012) was an American character actor and television screenwriter best known for appearing in films directed by Billy Wilder. A parallel career as an acting teacher coincided with his other activities.
Osmond was born in Jersey City's Margaret Hague Medical Center, raised in Union City, New Jersey. He was a graduate of Thomas A. Edison grammar school, Emerson High School, and Dartmouth College (BA in English). He received his Masters Degree in Business Administration fromUCLA, and advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. in Theater History at UCLA.
He appeared in four of Billy Wilder's comedies, beginning with Irma la Douce (1963) as the police sergeant. He played the songwriter Barney Millsap in Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), which used new comedic song lyrics by Ira Gershwin set to unused tunes composed by his brother George. Osmond also appeared in two later Wilder films a co-starring role as Purkey opposite Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie (1966), and The Front Page (1974). Osmond was also seen in menacing roles as Pap in the 1981 TV adaptation of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.^[1]
Osmond made more than 100 appearances in TV shows or movies between 1962 and 1996. During that period he guest-starred in at least half a dozen Gunsmoke episodes, an episode ("The Gift", 1962) of the original The Twilight Zone, Here's Lucy (1974), All in the Family (1975), The Bob Newhart Show (1975), and Kojak (1976).
Also a screenwriter, Osmond was nominated for a Writer's Guild Award for writing an episode of Streets of San Francisco (1973). He also wrote and directed the features film The Penitent (1988), starring Raul Julia and Armand Assante.
As an actor received a Best Actor award for his UCLA performance of Berthold Brecht's Baal, and the Joseph Jefferson acting award for a Chicago stage appearance in Shaw's You Never Can Tell.
In addition to his acting and writing careers, Osmond was an acting teacher and coach in Los Angeles. In the fall of 2004, he was visiting professor in acting and Guest Resident Artist atGeorgetown University, teaching two acting courses and directing Ibsen's A Doll's House.
In 2010, he wrote a book about his career and acting: Acting is Living: Exploring the Ten Essential Elements in any Successful Performance.
Cliff Osmond died on December 22, 2012, of pancreatic cancer


Charles James "Chuck" Cherundolo, Jr. (August 8, 1916 – December 22, 2012) was an American football player and coach. He playedcenter and linebacker for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cleveland Rams, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers. He was born in Old Forge, Pennsylvania.

Ray Collins (November 19, 1936 - December 24, 2012) was an American musician.
Collins grew up in Pomona, California singing in his school choir, the son of a local police officer. He quit high school to get married.^[1]

He started his musical career singing falsetto backup vocals for various 'doo-wop' groups in the Los Angeles area in the late 1950s and early 1960s,^[1] including Little Julian Herrera and the Tigers.^{[citation needed]} In 1964, Collins, drummer Jimmy Carl Black, bassist Roy Estrada, saxophonist Dave Coronado, and guitarist Ray Hunt formed The Soul Giants. Hunt was eventually replaced by Frank Zappa, which turned the group into the Mothers of Invention.^[1] Ray was the lead vocalist on the Mothers early albums, including Freak Out!, Absolutely Free and Cruising with Ruben & the Jets. He contributed to other Zappa projects through the mid-1970s.^[1]
Collins resided in Claremont, California, until his death on December 24, 2012. He was 76 years old.


Fontella Bass (July 3, 1940 – December 26, 2012) was an American R&B soul singer best known for her 1965 hit, "Rescue Me".

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December 26, 2012, Al Mandell, 92, American wrestling and boxing executive, natural causes..


Harvey Maurice Evers (June 6, 1930 – December 22, 2012) was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name, Rip Hawk. He began his wrestling career in the Mid-Western United States before joining Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in the early 1960s. In the company, he teamed with fellow wrestler Swede Hanson as the "Blond Bombers," and the duo held several championships. In the 1970s, he worked as a booker in JCP<b style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><b>

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Henry George "Dobe" Carey, Jr. (May 16, 1921 – December 27, 2012), known as Harry Carey, Jr., was an American actor. He appeared in over 90 films including several John Ford Westerns, as well as numerous television series.
respected character actor like his father, Carey appeared in several Westerns. He made four films with director Howard Hawks. The first was Red River, which featured both Carey and his father in separate scenes, followed by Monkey Business, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Rio Bravo. Carey is credited in Rio Bravo but his scenes were cut, prompting Carey to speculate that Hawks either didn't like his outfit or cut the scene because he called Hawks "Howard" instead of "Mr. Hawks."^[1]
Carey made eleven films with actor John Wayne, starting with Red River and ending with Cahill U.S. Marshal.
Carey collaborated frequently with director John Ford, a close friend, and became a regular in what was commonly called the John Ford Stock Company. He appeared in such notable Ford films as 3 Godfathers (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Wagon Master (1950), Rio Grande(1950), The Long Gray Line (1955); Mister Roberts (1955), The Searchers (1956), Two Rode Together (1961), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Carey wrote a book about his experiences working with Ford titled "Company of Heroes: My Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company", published in 1994.
Between 1955 and 1957, Carey appeared as ranch counselor Bill Burnett in the serial Spin and Marty, seen on Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club.^[2] In the 1960s, Carey appeared on such shows as Have Gun - Will Travel, The Legend of Jesse James, Wagon Train, Gray Ghost, Whispering Smith, Tombstone Territory, The Rounders, Bonanza, and Gunsmoke.
A DVD version of The Adventures of Spin & Marty was released in December 2005 as part of the Walt Disney Treasures series. Carey was interviewed by Leonard Maltin on the 50th anniversary of the series' debut as a DVD bonus feature.
In 1985, Carey played an aging biker "Red" in the movie Mask.
In 1990, Carey appeared in the film Back to the Future Part III in a saloon scene set in 1885. In 1993, he made a cameo in the film Tombstone as Marshal Fred White.
Carey appeared in Tales from the Set, a series of video interviews in which he discussed various individuals with whom he worked. The series debuted in France at the Epona Festival, an event devoted to horses, in October 2007. In 2001, Carey's life and career was documented in a feature length documentary, Dobe And A Company Of Heroes. In 2009, Carey and his partner Clyde Lucas completed Trader Horn: The Journey Back, a remembrance of the 1931 adventure film featuring the elder Carey. The younger Carey accompanied his father to Africa for the filming, the first motion picture filmed in Africa by a major studio.
Carey attempted to produce a feature film called Comanche Stallion, a project which John Ford considered making in the early 1960s, based on the 1958 book by Tom Millstead.

Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman (April 27, 1922 – December 24, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actor.
Klugman began his career in the late 1940s on the stage. He later moved on to television and film work with roles in 12 Angry Men (1957) and Cry Terror! (1958). During the 1960s, he guest starred on numerous television series. Klugman won his first Primetime Emmy Award for his guest starring role on The Defenders, in 1964. He also made a total of four appearances on The Twilight Zone from 1960 to 1963.
In 1970, Klugman reprised his Broadway role of Oscar Madison in the television adaptation of The Odd Couple, opposite Tony Randall. The series aired from 1970 to 1975. Klugman won his second and third Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for his work on the series. From 1976 to 1983, he starred in the title role in Quincy, M.E. for which he earned four Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
A long-time smoker, Klugman was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1974. The cancer returned in 1989. During the course of treatment, Klugman lost a vocal cord which left him with a raspy voice.
Klugman married actress Brett Somers in 1953. The couple had two children before separating in 1974. They never divorced and were still married when Somers died in 2007. He married Peggy Crosby, with whom he lived since 1988, the following year. Klugman died on December 24, 2012 at the age of 90. His cause of death is unknown, most likely natural causes since his family has said he was fine up until his unexpected death.

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Mike Auldridge (December 30, 1938 – December 29, 2012) was widely acknowledged as a premier resophonic guitar (the instrument formerly referred to as a Dobro) player. He played with The Seldom Scene for many years, creating a fusion of bluegrass with jazz, folk and rock.
Born in Washington, D.C.,^[1] Auldridge started playing guitar at the age of 13. His main influence through his early years was Josh Graves who also sold him his first Dobro.^[2] A 1967 graduate of The University of Maryland, Auldridge worked as a graphic artist for a commercial art firm in Bethesda,Maryland and then for the now defunct Washington Star-News. He did not start playing music full-time until the Washington Star-News folded in 1976.
Auldridge last played with Darren Beachley and The Legends of the Potomac bluegrass band^[3] Past bands include Emerson and Waldron, Cliff Waldron and the New Shades of Grass, Seldom Scene (of which he was a founding member), Chesapeake, The Good Deale Bluegrass Band, and John Starling and Carolina Star (which featured three original members of The Seldom Scene). Mike was also a member of the touring bands of Lyle Lovett and Emmylou Harris.
Auldridge worked with Paul Beard (Beard Guitars) to produce the Beard Mike Auldridge Models of square-neck resophonic guitars, including an 8-string version.
Just one day prior to his 74th birthday, he died on December 29, 2012 in hospice care in Silver Spring, Maryland after a lengthy battle with cancer.

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Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., KCB (/ˈʃwɔrtskɒf/;^[1] August 22, 1934 – December 27, 2012) was a United States Army general who, while he served as Commander of U.S. Central Command, was commander of coalition forces in the Gulf War.

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He will be missed.... for sure will all the guys he managed and fans that admire him..
William Alvin "Bill" Moody (April 10, 1954 – March 5, 2013), better known by his ring names Paul Bearer and Percival Pringle III, was a professional wrestling manager and former wrestler best known for his time in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (later WWE)