Our Daily Dead

What a busy few days it has been…Don Knotts, Darren McGavin, Dennis Weaver, Lou Gish, Octavia Butler and Clifton James just to recap the past couple days. Four thespians, one writer and one musician. Anubis had best set the table for some lively conversation, dinner theater and a wee bit of percussion it doth seem from here.

Now sometimes with this blog of a diary and all these guests we do look in the mirror hunting - in vain of course - for that first little bit of grey. Today however we found a way to quantify all this worry and angst as The Independent Online thoughtfully published a bit about a University of Southern Denmark report, “The Influence of Environmental Factors on Facial Ageing”. The Independent also thankfully shortened the whole thing down to the basics: “Do you look your age?” Certainly not natch. But! Guess what two factors were most responsible for those little problem areas on your face? Give up?

Depression and sun exposure were the biggest factors in making you look old before your time.

Oh boy now we are really in trouble. Good thing alcohol wasn’t listed in the above as the ODDones are known to head outside with a case of beer when depression strikes. We thought a bullet dodged had we.

Unfortunately we also continued reading the article. Alcohol it seems only makes us look younger while we are drunk and try as we might here at ODD Galactic HQ we have been completely unable to stay drunk all the time.

We gave up on the article at this point, gathered up three or four bottles of Newton’s finest, and went outside to be most decidedly and seriously depressed, but at a leisurely pace so as not to stress ourselves. After a little while we started looking younger again.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Don Knotts, Darren McGavin, Dennis Weaver, Lou Gish, Octavia Butler, Clifton James, thespian, Anubis, blog, diary

The Independent Online

Clifton James, drummer: born Chicago 2 October 1936; married (one son, five daughters); died Chicago 16 February 2006.

One of the stars of early rock’n'roll, Bo Diddley recorded several of the genre’s defining songs and influenced everyone from Buddy Holly to the White Stripes via the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. The drummer Clifton James provided the primal beat and criss-cross rhythms on nearly all of the singles and album tracks Diddley recorded for the Chess label between 1955 and 1970.

Not content with backing Diddley on sides such as “I’m a Man”, “Diddley Daddy”, “Road Runner”, “Who Do You Love”, “Cops & Robbers” and “Mona”, and, alternating with Frank Kirkland, on tour, James was a mainstay with Chess Records. In that capacity, he toured and recorded with Willie Dixon, the Flamingos, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf.

Born in Chicago in 1936, Clifton James drove his mother and 13 siblings crazy with his drumming. “I first started learning to play drums on chair bottoms, tin cans, and anything you know, I could find to beat on - even a few heads,” he told Mick Vernon on a UK visit to appear with Bo Diddley on Ready Steady Go in 1965. As a teenager, he played with Memphis Slim and Elmore James. He met Diddley in 1953.

Technorati Tags: Clifton James, Bo Diddley

LA Observed
From the LA Observed web site: Author Steven Barnes is reporting on his blog (picked up by Boing Boing, where Cory Doctorow calls the news confirmed) that Octavia Butler has died in Seattle following a fall at her home yesterday.

Her Wikipedia entry has been updated to attribute her death at age 58 to a stroke. As a science fiction writer Butler won the Hugo and Nebula awards, and also was the recipient in 1995 of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (or “genius” grant.) She was born in Pasadena and graduated from Pasadena City College, which lists a bibliography of works by her and about her.

And from the LA Times:
Octavia E. Butler’s first creation in the world of science fiction was herself.

Before anybody told her that black girls do not grow up to write about futuristic worlds, Butler, the daughter of a shoeshine man and a maid, was already fashioning a place for herself in a white-dominated universe.

By remaining dedicated to her craft, sweeping floors and working as a telemarketer to pay the bills; by suffering the indignities that come with being among the first; and eventually winning a MacArthur Foundation grant, Butler carved a place for herself — and helped write a new world into existence.

Technorati Tags: LA Observed, Boing Boing, Octavia Butler

MSNBC
Dennis Weaver, the diffident deputy Chester Goode in the TV classic western “Gunsmoke” and the canny New Mexico deputy solving New York City crime in “McCloud,” has died. The actor was 81.

Weaver died of complications from cancer Friday at his home in Ridgway, in southwestern Colorado, his publicist, Julian Myers, announced Monday.

“He was a wonderful man and a fine actor and we will all miss him,” Burt Reynolds, who played alongside Weaver in “Gunsmoke,” said Monday.

Weaver was a struggling actor in Hollywood in 1955, earning $60 a week delivering flowers when he was offered $300 a week for a role in a new CBS television series, “Gunsmoke.” After nine years as Chester, who he played with a stiff-legged gait, he was earning $9,000 a week.

When Weaver first auditioned for the series, he found the character of Chester “inane.” He wrote in his 2001 autobiography, “All the World’s a Stage,” that he said to himself: “With all my Actors Studio training, I’ll correct this character by using my own experiences and drawing from myself.”

The result was a well-rounded character that appealed to audiences, especially with his drawling, “Mis-ter Dil-lon.”

Technorati Tags: Dennis Weaver, TV, Gunsmoke, McCloud

While we were out surfing…more ODD public service with these handy tips for those of you considering that little cruise. Ahoy now matey!

And of course you’ve seen by now that George Michael was found slumped over in his car suffering of course from a bit too much Wham! Insult to injury followed with his arrest and the headline in the Sun reading “Careless Spliffer”. Um, what? In case you are not hep to 1930’s West Indian AllWords.com says that “spliff” means a cigarette that contains canabis. AllWords thoughtfully adds that another term used here is joint. And thus a spliffer is one who partakes of spliffs - a dope or doper some might say. Hard to keep the Faith in these trying times, eh? And just to round this out do you know George’s real name? Dare we say this? Oh, but of course. Let us just call this his “booking” name: Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou.

And back for a moment to Don Knotts - take a read about one Andy Griffith style PD you might take a liking too. Remember to carefully read through the Village of Glendale web site before you move. And perhaps you should consider some whistling lessons. And, ok, one last thing and then we’ll stop…honest. Said Glendale is known apparently for its rare Black Squirrels and indeed has a statue of same. Think twice about that move now because as we learned today from Infospigot squirrels do attack.

Also in the News Just In category comes this notice from CelebrityPool.com: “There is a new round of Celebrity Pools starting March 1st. If you haven’t submitted your teams, you have until March 7th. Good Luck!”

Good Luck indeed. Mayhaps Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith deserve spots on your roster. And if you need further help rounding out your list, perhaps head over to the Frank Sinatra Invitational for a closer inspection of some candidates.

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: public service, George Michael, Wham, Spliffer, Don Knotts, Celebrity Pools, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith

NY Times
Kenneth McCabe, an investigator who became a quiet legend among crime fighters by spying on and testifying against mobsters to help topple godfathers, died on Feb. 19 at his home in Breezy Point, Queens. He was 59.

His daughter, Kelly McCabe Casey, a prosecutor in the office of the Brooklyn district attorney, where Mr. McCabe was an investigator for many years, said the cause was melanoma that had spread to his brain.

Mr. McCabe was known for his careful observations of Mafia chieftains at their social clubs, weddings and funerals. Then he testified at their trials with such detail that few defense lawyers dared question him for fear of surprises.

He took a great many pictures, including some mobsters’ children’s weddings, inspiring some to call him the Cosa Nostra’s unofficial photographer.

Mr. McCabe was a member of the New York Police Department for 18 years, most of that time as a detective assigned to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office, and then for 20 years was an organized crime investigator for the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. Even after illness forced his retirement in December, he was asked to assess evidence.

Mr. McCabe, a towering, beefy man with a gentle manner and a Brooklyn accent, was regarded as a master of surveillance. By studying behavior, he sorted out bosses, soldiers and pretenders and was said to never have forgotten a face.

Technorati Tags: Kenneth McCabe, spying, mobsters, Mafia, surveillance

Now on any normal Sun Day it must be said that we ODD ones find the time to sleep in past noon and generally spend the remaining time not in diary mode, but just lollygagging about. Sun Daze are just like that except We Heard the News Today, Oh Boy, and thus thought to rouse ourselves from our standard issue stupor and log an ODD blog goodby to Deputy Barney Fife.

And come to find out that a threesome of sorts has drifted off together: Don Knotts, Darren McGavin and over the pond it was actress Lou Gish.

Ok, to be honest, the item, or the rather the name, that caught our eye with respect to Lou Gish was her work with Ewan McGregor. Lou Gish played Ann to Ewan McGregor’s eponymous hero in Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs in 1988-1989. Long before Ewan was swash-buckling about.

Mayhaps one of the more, um, interesting?, entertaining?, oh, you fill in the blank, web sites we found was the simple Barney Fife.com. In short this site offers life lessons based on the morals and life style portrayed in The Andy Griffith Show. Think perhaps Don Knotts as a religous icon.

And lastly there is this small bit from Darren McGavin’s obit: ‘He also starred alongside Don Knotts, who died Friday night, in the 1976 family comedy ‘’No Deposit, No Return.”’

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: diary, blog, Barney Fife, Don Knotts, Darren McGavin, Lou Gish, Ewan McGregor, Andy Griffith Show

NY Times
Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as the bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show,” died on Friday. He was 81.

Mr. Knotts died of pulmonary and respiratory complications at U.C.L.A. Medical Center in Beverly Hills, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which broadcasts “The Andy Griffith Show” and another hit co-starring Mr. Knotts, “Three’s Company.”

Mr. Knotts had a half-century acting career that included seven television series and more than 25 films, but it was the Griffith show that brought him television immortality and five Emmy Awards.

The show was on the air from 1960 to 1968, and was in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings each season, including a No. 1 ranking its final year. It is one of only three series to bow out at the top: The others are “I Love Lucy” and “Seinfeld.” The 249 “Griffith” episodes have appeared frequently in reruns and have spawned a large, active network of fan clubs.

As the bug-eyed deputy to Mr. Griffith, Mr. Knotts carried in his shirt pocket the one bullet he was allowed after shooting himself in the foot. The constant fumbling, a recurring sight gag, was typical of his self-deprecating humor.

Mr. Knotts, whose shy, soft-spoken manner was unlike his high-strung characters, once said he was most proud of the Fife character.

Technorati Tags: Don Knotts, television, films

The Independent Online
Louise Curram (Lou Gish), actress: born London 27 May 1967; died London 20 February 2006.

In person Lou Gish, who has died of cancer aged only 38, was beautiful, funny, kind, affectionate, and astonishingly popular. As an actress she was multiply talented.

Last year - following the death in March, also from cancer (aged 62), of her mother, Sheila Gish - she played Goneril in Steven Pimlott’s King Lear at Chichester Festival Theatre. Her sister, Kay Curram, was Cordelia. Anyone who saw the performance will never forget it: in figure-hugging black, green eyes glinting from beneath a ton of black mascara, Lou Gish smouldered on to the stage. As she opened her mouth and purred to David Warner, “Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter . . .”, there cannot have been a spine in the audience without a shiver down it. Gish was heartbroken when her cancer returned and, in June, she had to withdraw from the production.

She was born in London in 1967 to the actors Sheila Gish and Roland Curram, and educated at Macaulay Church of England Primary School in Clapham, Alleyns School in Dulwich, Furzedown School in Wandsworth, and Camberwell School of Art. After leaving Camberwell she worked in a variety of jobs (for a while as an assistant for the theatrical agent Jeremy Conway), and it was not until her mid-twenties that she decided to follow the instinct that she said she had been trying to ignore: to become an actress.

Thereafter she was in work almost constantly, in both theatre and television. As Helen Carver in Design for Living at the Donmar and in the West End, she literally dazzled the audience in what one critic described as a “glittering sheath”. When, in 1988-89, she played Ann to Ewan McGregor’s eponymous hero in Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs she showed grit and vulnerability in equal measure, reducing many of the audience to tears as she crawled, weeping, across the stage in the final moments of the play, having been beaten up by Malcolm and his gang of weak-willed politicos.

She and her partner of six years, the actor Nicholas Rowe, were completely devoted. Lou took particular pleasure in arranging (surprise) events for Nick’s birthday each year. Such heartfelt and sincere devotion was a lesson in love for all who beheld it.

Technorati Tags: Lou Gish, actress, Ewan McGregor

NY Times
Darren McGavin was painting a movie set in 1945 when he learned of an opening for a small role in the show, climbed off his ladder, and returned through Columbia’s front gates to land the part.

The husky, tough-talking performer went on to become one of the busiest actors in television and film, starring in five TV series, including ‘’Mike Hammer,'’ and endearing holiday audiences with his role as the grouchy dad in the 1983 comedy classic ‘’A Christmas Story.'’

McGavin, 83, died Saturday of natural causes at a Los Angeles-area hospital with his family at his side, said his son Bogart McGavin.

McGavin also had leading roles in TV’s ‘’Riverboat'’ and cult favorite ‘’Kolchak: The Night Stalker.'’ Among his memorable portrayals was Gen. George Patton in the 1979 TV biography ‘’Ike.'’

Despite his busy career in television, McGavin was awarded only one Emmy: in 1990 for an appearance as Candice Bergen’s opinionated father in an episode of ‘’Murphy Brown.'’

He lacked the prominence in films he enjoyed in television, but he registered strongly in featured roles such as the young artist in Venice in ‘’Summertime,'’ David Lean’s 1955 film with Katharine Hepburn and Rosanno Brazzi; Frank Sinatra’s crafty drug supplier in ‘’The Man with the Golden Arm'’ (1955); Jerry Lewis’s parole officer in ‘’The Delicate Delinquent'’ (1957); and the gambler in 1984’s ‘’The Natural.'’ He also starred alongside Don Knotts, who died Friday night, in the 1976 family comedy ‘’No Deposit, No Return.'’

Throughout his television career, McGavin gained a reputation as a curmudgeon willing to bad-mouth his series and combat studio bosses.

Technorati Tags: Darren McGavin, movie, actors, television