Our Daily Dead

NY Times
Thurl Ravenscroft, who provided the long, rumbling “They’re Grrrrreeeat!” for Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger and voiced a host of Disney characters, died here on Sunday. He was 91. The cause was prostate cancer, said Diane Challis Davy, director of Pageant of the Masters, a program in Laguna Beach for which he provided the narration for 20 years.

For more than 50 years, Mr. Ravenscroft was the affable voice of Tony the Tiger, TV’s popular cartoon pitchman for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes.

“I’m the only man in the world that has made a career with one word: Grrrrreeeat!” Mr. Ravenscroft told The Orange County Register in 1996. “When Kellogg’s brought up the idea of the tiger, they sent me a caricature of Tony to see if I could create something for them. After messing around for some time I came up with the `Grrrrreeeat!’ roar, and that’s how it’s been since then.”

He also lent his voice to characters on thrill rides at Disneyland, including the Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Haunted Mansion, and he supplied voices for the films “Cinderella,” “The Jungle Book,” “Mary Poppins,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Lady and the Tramp” and many others.

The Independant
Eric Frank Searle, photographer and monster hunter: born Staines, Middlesex 18 March 1921; died Fleetwood, Lancashire 26 March 2005.

Driving along the south shore of Loch Ness in the mid-1970s you would have come across a hand-painted sign announcing “The Frank Searle Loch Ness Investigation”. A bleak stretch of waste ground by the loch shore at Foyers was home to Frank Searle’s isolated blue caravan and exhibition centre, and provided a base for perhaps the most colourful and controversial character ever to join in the hunt for the Loch Ness monster.

Searle became a local celebrity in the 1970s for capturing more pictures of Nessie than anyone else in history. But his dedication to his monster hunt bordered on the obsessive, and stories of his eccentric behaviour were legendary, even inspiring a character in the 1995 film Loch Ness, in which Keith Allen played a fiercely territorial monster investigator. But this fictional representation little prepared for the bizarre real-life tale uncovered in a documentary on Searle’s 14 years at Loch Ness, The Man Who Captured Nessie.

In the context of the Nessie phenomenon, Frank Searle was a paradox. Although a passionate champion of the monster’s existence, he will be remembered as the person who did most damage to serious scientific investigation by attracting ridicule and disrepute. This was all down to Searle’s role as the monster’s resident portrait photographer, and the infamous images that became an all too common tabloid currency.

In 1969 Searle gave up his job as a greengrocer in London, to relocate to Loch Ness. He relished the change, and spent his first three years in a tent on the loch shore. To keep him company through long winter nights, Searle successfully advertised for “Girl Fridays” to join the hunt.

Nessie: Seven years in search of the monster

McQuay Stables
Hollywood Dun It was by the great Hollywood Jac 86 and out of Blossom Berry, an own daughter of Dun Berry. During his show career, Hollywood Dun It was the National Reining Horse Association Futurity Reserve Champion, the NRHA Derby Champion and the Superstakes Champion. A 2000 NRHA Hall of Fame inductee, the beautiful dun stallion is the NRHA’s Leading All-Time Sire of Reining Horses, with sons and daughters whose earnings have surpassed the $4 Million mark!

Hollywood Dun It get - known for their attractive looks and extreme trainability - have won such prestigious reining events as the NRHA Futurity, Derby, and Superstakes, National Reining Breeders Classic, All American Quarter Horse Congress Futurity, Southwest Reining Horse Association Futurity, Tradition Futurity, and numerous others. Dun It produced AQHA World Champions and multiple NRHA World and Reserve World Champions and was selected as the first Breyer Animal Creations reining horse in 1998.

Clip clop…clip clop…clip clop. Hay! “You’ve got two empty halves of coconut and you’re bangin’ ‘em together.” OK, we give. We’re having a Python flashback brought on by two parts Odeur d’Stall, one part L’eau d’Loch Ness and one part Flocons Givrés (Frosted Flakes). Simmer 5 minutes on low.

Thurl Ravenscroft had an interesting name and quite the voice. In case you find your Self searching for that unique baby name: Thurl is of Irish origin and apparently means ‘Strong Fort’. Given Mr. Ravenscroft’s many voice credits this should be altered to ‘Strong Voice’ we think.

In the ODDjobs category: Frank ‘The Nessie Hunter’ Searle began searching a new plane of existence recently. Frank’s career was a bit of a tough road, but we’ll give him credit for recruiting ‘Girl Fridays’ to help him through the hard times.

And our ODDhorses insisted that we pass along news of the death of Hollywood Dun It - greatest of reining horses.

We promise to stop horsing around, keep the monsters in the closet and send our donation along to help save the tigers.

LA Times
Howard Morris, the comedic actor who provided memorable support for Sid Caesar on the landmark “Your Show of Shows” in the 1950s and later played rock-throwing hillbilly Ernest T. Bass on “The Andy Griffith Show,” has died. He was 85. Morris, who had heart problems in recent years, died Saturday at his home in Hollywood, said his son David, who was with him when he died.

During his 60-year career in show business, Morris worked as an actor, director and voice-over artist. Morris directed such feature films as the comedies “With Six You Get Eggroll,” starring Doris Day; “Who’s Minding the Mint?,” starring Jim Hutton; and “Don’t Drink the Water,” starring Jackie Gleason.

He also directed episodes of numerous television series, including the pilot for “Get Smart,” and he was a Clio Award-winning director of commercials.

As a voice-over artist, Morris was the longtime voice of the Qantas Airlines koala. He also provided the voice of Gerald McBoing-Boing in Columbia cartoons in the 1950s, and he was the voice of television’s Atom Ant in “The Atom Ant Show,” Beetle Bailey and General Halftrack in “Beetle Bailey and His Friends,” and Jughead Jones and Big Moose Mason in “The Archie Show.”

As a character actor, he appeared in films such as “Boys’ Night Out,” starring Kim Novak; Jerry Lewis’ “The Nutty Professor”; and Mel Brooks’ “High Anxiety,” “Life Stinks” and “History of the World: Part I.”

Morris first came to national attention when he joined Caesar, Imogene Coca and Carl Reiner on “Your Show of Shows,” the live, 90-minute comedy-variety program that ran on NBC from 1950 to 1954.
More Howard Morris at Amazon.com

LA Times
Stephen Elliott, a veteran character actor best known as the bullying millionaire father in the film “Arthur,” died of congestive heart failure Saturday at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, his family said. He was 86.

Most of Elliott’s success in films came after he reached the half-century mark, often playing authority figures in such movies as “The Hospital” (1971), “Death Wish” (1974) and “The Hindenburg (1975). His portrayal of Burt Johnson, Dudley Moore’s nemesis in “Arthur,” was praised by the New York Times as one of the 1981 film’s many “standout” performances.

“Even to smaller parts, he could bring a dignity and truthfulness to a role that I thought was very, very special,” said Walter Seltzer, a producer and longtime friend who lived near the actor in Sherman Oaks.

He was born Elliott Pershing Stitzel in 1918 in New York City. His mother, a victim of that year’s great flu epidemic, died soon after he was born. He was raised in Manhattan by his father, who worked in the textile business, and a stepmother. Elliott studied with noted acting instructor Sanford Meisner from 1940 to 1942 at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, before serving in the merchant marine during World War II. After returning, he made his Broadway debut in 1945 in “The Tempest.”

“He often said to me that he viewed himself as a born actor,” said his stepson David Hirson of Manhattan. “He was most comfortable when he was on stage.”

He was always proudest of his stage work, including playing Dr. Thomas Stockmann in the 1971 Lincoln Center production of Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People,” Hirson said. Elliott received a Drama Desk Award for his role in 1969’s “A Whistle in the Dark,” and he was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Monsieur Coulmier in the 1967 Broadway revival of “Marat/Sade.”

Egads! (Now why is it that sometimes we say Egad! and sometimes Egads! ???). Yesterday it was two distinguished mathematicians. Today we’ve two fine and accomplished actors who have left the stage for the last time. Could this be some ODD version of Noah at work?

(Slight aside: Bill Cosby’s Noah routines from Is A Very Funny Fellow
still bring tears to our ODD eyes.) (Slight aside, slight reprise. We’ve been tossing in a few iTunes links here and there - let us know how they are working will you? Gracias.)

Howard Morris was an accomplished actor and director. He jumped up to national attention on Sid Cesar’s ‘Your Show of Shows’. This was live TV at its best and the DVDs are well worth the purchase. Sit down with your kids (or your parents or just grab your friendly Uniformed Officer of the United States Government (but no peeking at the mail)) and watch these classics.

By the way take note that Howard Morris’ mother died in the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. This pandemic is said to have killed more people worldwide than all those who died in WWI.

Stephen Elliott also has a long list of film and TV credits. Remember St. Elsewhere? More recently Mr. Elliott appeared as Judge Harold Aldrich in Chicago Hope.

What will the morrow bring? Stay tuned, buy yourself a hoodie and a hat, then keep a watch out for heavy rains.

NY Times
Dr. George B. Dantzig, a mathematician who devised an algorithm that helped create linear programming, now a vital tool in computing, industry and other fields, died on May 13 at his home in Stanford, Calif. He was 90. The cause was complications from diabetes and heart disease, his family said.

Dr. Dantzig, who was an emeritus professor of operations research and computer science at Stanford University, began his career working for the federal government, analyzing labor and military statistics. While making calculations for the Air Force in 1947, Dr. Dantzig developed the simplex algorithm, which enabled mathematicians, economists and others to consider large numbers of variables in broad-reaching decisions about the production and allocation of airplanes, their parts and raw materials.

He performed his research with primitive calculators, but the completion of the simplex algorithm coincided with the development of the computer, soon allowing more complicated problems to be solved in markedly less time. The field that resulted, called linear programming, has been applied subsequently to utilities, oil refineries, investments and the steel industry to aid in planning and efficiency under uncertain conditions. It has also been used to prepare cost-effective nutritional diets and coordinate the routes of commercial aircraft.

Dr. Dantzig explained his methods in a landmark book published in 1963, “Linear Programming and Extensions.”

NY Times
Leonid Khachiyan, a Russian-born mathematician who helped to advance the field of linear programming, which is used by computer scientists to schedule complex rosters of airline flights and to solve problems in finance and industry, died on April 29 at his home in South Brunswick, N.J. He was 52. The cause was a heart attack, his family said.

Computer scientists and mathematicians say his work helped revolutionize his field. Dr. Khachiyan (pronounced KA-tchee-an), who began his career at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, had been a professor of computer science at Rutgers since 1992.

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In 1979, while a researcher at the academy, Dr. Khachiyan published a paper in a Russian mathematics journal that helped to demonstrate that certain problems in linear programming could be solved practically and in a reasonable amount of computing time. Computer scientists had previously relied on a method using the simplex algorithm to review and order vast stores of information.

In his paper “A Polynomial Algorithm in Linear Programming,” Dr. Khachiyan proposed using an ellipsoid algorithm in approaching theoretical problems believed to be too demanding for the simplex method, and “turned the field on its head,” said Dr. Michael D. Grigoriadis, a professor of computer science at Rutgers.
Khachiyan’s linear programming algorithm
A computer study of the use of Khachiyan’s algorithm in linear programming

NY Times
Ellis B. Page, an education professor who developed an early computer program for grading written essays, died Tuesday near his home in McLean, Va. He was 81. The cause was pneumonia, his family said.

Dr. Page was widely published in the field of educational psychology and edited books on the subject. He spent many years researching the use of computers as learning tools. His work developing a computer essay grading program came decades before students would even use computers to write essays.

“He was doing something for which there wasn’t yet a use, which is why it was so forward thinking,” said Randy Bennett, a research scientist at Educational Testing Service.

Ellis Batten Page was born in 1924 in San Diego. He served in the Marine Corps in World War II. After graduating from Pomona College and teaching in secondary schools, he earned a master’s degree from San Diego State University and a doctorate in education from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1958. He retired as a professor of educational psychology from Duke University in 2002.

Dr. Page began testing his first program in 1966 while a professor at the University of Connecticut. Mainframe computers then filled entire rooms and were used mostly to make complex calculations quickly. “The idea that computers could work with language as they did with numbers was very novel,” said Michael Zieky, also of the Educational Testing Service and a former graduate student of Dr. Page’s.
The computer moves into essay grading: updating the ancient test. : An article from: Phi Delta Kappan

Apparently there has been an attack on the very fundamentals of modern society and no one noticed. Certainly there was no elevation of the current terror alert level. Not only have two eminent mathematicians - George Dantzig and Leonid Khachiyan - put down their chalk for the last time, but BOTH we tell you, BOTH were experts in Linear Programming. This has to be a conspiracy.

Um, what? Oh right, this is math we are on about and we forgot that most of you have a shift into neutral reaction to math. Not only math, but Monday AND math, thus twice the sheer terror. Get a grip, have a Cup o’Joe
, sit up straight and pay attention.

You need linear programming (LP). You depend on it. LP problems are optimization problems such as: determination of profit maximums, cost minimization, and the analysis of the Game of Chicken from Rebel Without A Cause. You wouldn’t get from here to there without LP: the airlines use it to schedule flights (OK, maybe this tis a bad example, eh?).

And now of course what you dread the most come Monday: a Pop Quiz.

Fly Right Baby