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Comedian Charlie Callas dead in Las Vegas at 83



LAS VEGAS – Charlie Callas, a versatile comedian whose zany faces and antics made him a regular for more than four decades on television, in films and on casino stages, has died in Las Vegas. He was 83.

Callas died Thursday at a hospice, according to his sons Mark Callas and Larry Callas.

Callas was a rubber-faced, wiry framed comic whose rapid-fire delivery drew laughs and made him a frequent guest on variety and comedy shows.

"Everybody that met him, he left them with a smile," Mark Callas said.

For years, Charlie Callas made Johnny Carson laugh on the "Tonight Show." But Carson banned him from returning after Callas shoved Carson off his chair in a bid for laughs in 1982.

Mark Callas said his father knew every member of the Rat Pack, a group of actors that included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.

Callas toured with Sinatra and Tom Jones, had a role with Jerry Lewis in the movie "The Big Mouth" in 1967, and was a guest on TV variety shows hosted by Jackie Gleason, Ed Sullivan, Merv Griffin, Andy Williams and Flip Wilson. Callas guest-hosted on the "Joey Bishop Show."

From "The Untouchables"
Bruce Gordon

(actually died January 20, 2011)

Paul Picerni

(actually died January 28, 2011)

Legendary Guitarist Gary Moore Has Died



February 6th, 2011 at 1:46 pm

Rock and blues guitarist Gary Moore has died at aged 58. It was revealed on Planet Rock radio earlier today that Moore was found dead in his hotel room in Spain in the early hours of Sunday morning. No cause of death has been revealed at this time.

Born Robert William Gary Moore in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 4, 1952, Moore was a prolific guitar player. Since the late 1960s, Moore contributed to many musical projects and had three spells as lead guitarist in rock band Thin Lizzy playing on their classic album, Black Rose.

Known to many as an exceptional rock guitarist and most famous for his 1979 hit “Parisienne Walkways,” Moore was also a highly respected and talented blues player. Much of his twenty-plus catalogue of solo studio albums and live albums reflect this.

My favourite performance of Gary Moore’s was on an old BBC2 music show called ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’. In 1976. he appeared with his Thin Lizzy bandmates Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham, and Brian Downey. Billed as Gary Moore & Friends they performed a stunning version of Thin Lizzy’s “Don’t Believe A Word,” the video of which I have included below. At the 2:40 mark, the video simultaneously demonstrates how incredibly talented Moore was and how tight this band was.

Tura Satana, Actress With a Cult Following, Is Dead



Tura Satana, an actress whose authoritative presence, exotic looks and buxom frame commanded the attention of viewers of Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult movie “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!,” died on Friday in Reno, Nev.




Tura Satana, right, in “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”

The cause was believed to be heart failure, her longtime manager, Siouxzan Perry, said. She said Ms. Satana was 72, though other sources listed her birth date as July 10, 1935, which would have made her 75.

Len Lesser, 'Seinfeld's' Uncle Leo, Dead at 88



Len LesserLen Lesser, best-known to TV fans as Uncle Leo on 'Seinfeld,' has died.

Lesser died from pneumonia in Burbank, CA. He was 88.

He had a very long television career, making his first appearance on a 1949 -- yes, 1949! -- episode of 'Studio One.' During the course of his 60-year career he appeared in such shows as 'Dragnet,' 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents,' 'Gunsmoke,' 'Mike Hammer' (the 50s version), 'Playhouse 90,' 'The Jack Benny Program,' 'The Untouchables,' 'The Outer Limits,' 'The Wild, Wild West,' 'Get Smart,' 'Boy Meets World,' 'ER,' 'Cold Case' and dozens of others.

Last American WWI Veteran Frank Buckles, 110, Passes Away



Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Frank Buckles, America's last living veteran of World War I, died on Sunday. He was 110.

Buckles passed away Sunday at his West Virginia farm, where he lived out the last half-century of his life in relative obscurity until a Pentagon ceremony in March 2008 honored him as the last living veteran to have served in the U.S. military during World War I.

As a 16-year-old Missouri farm boy, Buckles wanted to volunteer for the fight in Europe, but had been turned down by both the Marines and the Navy because he was too young. But he hoodwinked an Army recruiter into believing he was older than he was and he was sent to Europe.

"You lied to get into the Army?" reporters once asked him. "I didn't lie!" he said. "Nobody calls me a liar; I may have increased my age."

As an Army corporal he drove ambulances in the United Kingdom and France. After the armistice, he guarded German POWs and assisted with their transfer back to Germany.

After the war, Buckles would go on to sail the world as a ship's purser before making a fateful decision to take a steady job in the Philippines in 1941. It was there that he was captured by the Japanese and endured 39 months in a notorious Japanese POW camp from which few would emerge.

In his last years Buckles' newfound celebrity saw him heralded as America's last tangible tie to a war that saw nearly five million men take up the uniform to fight. He would even be received in the Oval Office by President George W. Bush.

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Spokeswoman: Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run for vice president, has died at 75

First female vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro dies
StoryDiscussionFirst female vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro dies
Associated Press | Posted: Saturday, March 26, 2011 3:14 pm | No Comments Posted

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ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - This 1984 file picture shows Geraldine Ferraro. The first woman to run for U.S. vice president on a major party ticket has died. Geraldine Ferraro was 75. A family friend said Ferraro, who was diagnosed with blood cancer in 1998, died Saturday, March 26, 2011 at Massachusetts General Hospital. (AP Photo/File) .
..BOSTON (AP) - Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket and a barrier-breaking pioneer for women in politics, died Saturday.

Ferraro died at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was being treated for complications of blood cancer. She died just before 10 a.m., said Amanda Fuchs Miller, a family friend who worked for Ferraro in her 1998 Senate bid and was acting as a spokeswoman for the family.

In 1984, Ferraro was a relatively obscure Democratic congresswoman from the New York City borough of Queens when she was tapped by presidential nominee Walter Mondale to join his ticket against incumbents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Mondale's campaign had struggled to gain traction and his selection of Ferraro, at least momentarily, revived his momentum and energized millions of women who were thrilled to see one of their own on a national ticket.