Obituary Thread, famous people, places & events.

[Laramie]

A tribute to David Prowse

David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars movies, has died at 85 following a short illness, the actor's family and management team confirmed on Saturday evening. Prowse's death is "a truly and deeply heart-wrenching loss for us and millions of fans all over the world," his agent Thomas Bowington told the BBC.

Prowse was best known for his role as Darth Vader in the original Star Wars film trilogy that included A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Legend has it Prowse was given alternate lines to say in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi so the big reveal in the movies would be kept secret. But because of his prominent UK accent, his voice was considered unsuitable for the part of the intimidating sci-fi villain, so his dialog was dubbed over by the voice of actor James Earl Jones.

[Dob Hooligan]

I had a random recollection yesterday morning, before I heard of Charley Pride passing:

In the early 1980s there were a chain of music stores called Sound Warehouse. I remember they were OKC based and had dozens of stores in the central US. Their owner was Dan Moran, as I recall. Dan Moran was killed in a car crash on the way to Will Rogers airport around 1982ish. Moran had told someone that he wanted 2 songs played at his funeral (I think it was just one of those observations in conversation), Danny Boy and Red River Valley. A record company executive for the central US knew Moran, and Charley Pride was on one of this person’s labels. Pride came to the funeral at All Souls Episcopal Church and sang.

Pride later said he never met Moran, but felt that Moran and he had helped each other prosper, so he was willing to sing when asked.

[stlokc]

Deb, that story is true. The other side of that story is another member of the entourage forgot his guitar, left it in Nashville or L.A. or wherever. My dad, who was a dear friend of Dan Moran's, drove the record producer to Larson Music an hour before the funeral and waited out front as he went inside and bought a new one.

What I remember about that day is my parents had to miss my second grade play. Of course in later years I came to understand. The Morans were and still are amazing people.

[Laramie]

Charley Pride, Country Music's First Major Black Star, Dies At 86

Sunrise: March 18, 1934, Sledge, MS
Sunset: December 12, 2020, Dallas, TX

Charley Pride has died. According to a press release from his publicist, the country legend died on Saturday (Decembef 12) in Dallas, Texas, of complications from COVID-19. He was 86 years old.

[Laramie]

Born: December 19, 1924, Harlem, New York, NY Died: January 28, 2021


Jane Pittman drinks from the fountain
Cicely Tyson plays Jane Pittman from a young woman to a woman over 100 years old in the fictional 1974 movie "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," directed by John Korty, based on a novel by Ernest J. Gaines.

Cicely Tyson, Pioneering Hollywood Icon, Dies at 96: https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/cic...es-1234895188/

[Laramie]

Mary Wilson, former Supreme dead at the age of 76

Wilson was the last original member of the act to stay with the group and has since become a solo artist, who performs regularly with symphonies. She performs with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for a Pops concert on Saturday, February 4, 2017--Wayne Bledsoe, USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee.

The Supremes L-R Florence Ballard, Diana Ross and Mary Wilson.

[Laramie]

Hustler publisher Larry Flynt dead at 78

When it comes to free speech, it is not the friendly diplomats but rather the harsh provocateurs like Larry Flynt who test the boundaries of expression, preserving our rights in the process.

In the 1988 landmark case of Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, the Supreme Court reaffirmed and expanded the “actual malice” precedent set forth in 1964’s New York Times v. Sullivan, and Flynt’s win marked a historic leap forward in the progression of First Amendment civil rights.

[mugofbeer]

Flynt was certainly important in his way. I don't know that there is much in the way of respect that he deserves.

[Jeepnokc]

Flynt was certainly important in his way. I don't know that there is much in the way of respect that he deserves.

Absolutely agree. Not only was he a leader in protecting free speech, he was opposed to the death penalty advocating against executing the person that shot him leaving him in a wheelchair. "This nation is bent on executing people and it's hard to get people who feel that way to be rational about anything. But you have to understand that most people are not after justice but after vengeance – and vengeance is wrong."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nklin-crippled

[Laramie]

Absolutely agree. Not only was he a leader in protecting free speech, he was opposed to the death penalty advocating against executing the person that shot him leaving him in a wheelchair. "This nation is bent on executing people and it's hard to get people who feel that way to be rational about anything. But you have to understand that most people are not after justice but after vengeance – and vengeance is wrong."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nklin-crippled

Thanks Jeepnokc for providing that link where Mr. Flynt did not hold a grudge or vengeance on Joseph Paul Franklin but instead urged clemency.

[Dob Hooligan]

Thanks Jeepnokc for providing that link where Mr. Flynt did not hold a grudge or vengeance on Joseph Paul Franklin but instead urged clemency.

I recall Franklin killed a couple in front of Whittaker's at NW 10th & May Avenue while on the same rampage? Around 1977-78?

[jerrywall]

When it comes to free speech, it is not the friendly diplomats but rather the harsh provocateurs like Larry Flynt who test the boundaries of expression, preserving our rights in the process.

100%.

20 years or so ago my little sister got into a major fight with UCO over them pulling her artwork from an art exhibit (you can read all about it if you can find those old gazette articles - she was on the cover gagged and dressed as the Statue of Liberty). At the time I couldn't understand why she had chosen such provocative pieces to display in Edmond, of all places (and this stuff was pretty... explicit). She tried hard to explain this very concept to me, and at the time I didn't really get it.

Since then, I've been involved in my own fights and causes in protecting free speech, through my work with SoonerCon and in the comic book industry. But I've always remembered this lesson, and Flynt is absolutely the best example of this in modern times.

[jerrywall]

I recall Franklin killed a couple in front of Whittaker's at NW 10th & May Avenue while on the same rampage? Around 1977-78?

79 - Jesse Taylor and Marion Bresette.

[Laramie]

I recall Franklin killed a couple in front of Whittaker's at NW 10th & May Avenue while on the same rampage? Around 1977-78?

Wow!

Whittaker's is a 24 hour grocery, one of the last few places you can purchase anything you forgot to get especially during the holiday meal seasons.

That's a scary thought Dob, thanks for sharing.

[Dob Hooligan]

Wow!

Whittaker's is a 24 hour grocery, one of the last few places you can purchase anything you forgot to get especially during the holiday meal seasons.

That's a scary thought Dob, thanks for sharing.

As I remember it happened on a Saturday afternoon about 3 O'clock. The fairgrounds used to be more wooded around the perimeter without any fencing, and the shooter was able to drive his car into that area and, apparently, wait for an interracial couple to become visible.

[jerrywall]

The metro library has an interesting book called "Blood in the Soil" that's about the investigation into Franklin and it covers the Oklahoma shooting briefly IIRC.

[jerrywall]

https://www.thelostogle.com/2021/02/11/rip-b-j-wexler/

[Martin]

https://www.thelostogle.com/2021/02/11/rip-b-j-wexler/

and now i've got the theme song to gremlins stuck in my head...

[Laramie]

Rush Limbaugh, Dead at 70

[Jersey Boss]

"Rosie the Riverter" dies of covid at age 95. A true American icon.

[Laramie]

Former OU football coach Howard Schnellenberger dies at 87



Born: March 16, 1934, Saint Meinrad, IN
Died: March 27, 2021, Boca Raton, FL

[mugofbeer]

A football legend but definitely not at Oklahoma.

[barrettd]

A football legend but definitely not at Oklahoma.

I'd argue he was legendary, but for all the wrong reasons.

[Brett]

Shock G from Digital Underground passes away at age 57. Many will remember Shock G from the rap hit "The Humpty Dance".

https://www.tmz.com/2021/04/22/shock...y-dance-tupac/

[Laramie]

Olympia Dukakis
Born: June 20, 1931, Lowell, MA - Died: May 1, 2021