In Memoriam
Total 1561 Posts
Mike "Beard Guy" Taylor was the keyboardist and vocalist for Burlington band Walk Off the Earth who shot to fame in 2012 when their cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” went viral. Taylor was the best part of that video.
Penny Marshall was 75. She was the actress best known for playing Laverne in "Laverne & Shirley". She also directed several films, including "Big" and "A League of their Own".
Pete Shelley was 63. He was the lead singer of influential 70s punk rock band Buzzcocks, best known for Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've). He also had a solo hit in 1981 with Homosapien.
Tommy "Dynamite Kid" Billington was 60. With his cousin Davey Boy Smith, he is best known for being one half of the tag team The British Bulldogs who won the WWF World Tag Team Championship.
George H. W. Bush was 94. He was the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Prior to that, he was Vice President to Ronald Reagan, a Congressman, Ambassador and Director of Central Intelligence.
Bernardo Bertolucci was 77. He was the Oscar-winning Italian director of Last Tango in Paris, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers. 1987’s The Last Emperor won nine Oscars, including best picture and best director for Bertolucci.
Ricky Jay was 72. He was a master magician who also acted in films and TV shows such as “Boogie Nights,” “House of Games” and “Deadwood.”
Dan Maloney was 68. He played 11 seasons in the NHL with Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit and Toronto before becoming head coach of the Maple Leafs for the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons.
William Goldman was 87. He won two screenwriting Oscars, for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men and my heart for writing The Princess Bride.
Stan Lee was 95. He was responsible for iconic Marvel characters including Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Black Panther and The Fantastic Four.
Willie McCovey was 80. He hit 521 home runs during his 22 seasons in the majors, mostly with the San Francisco Giants. He hit 18 grand slams, the most in National League history.
Greg Terrion was 58. He played six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, from 1982-1988. In total, he scored 93 goals and added 150 assists over 561 NHL games.
Mac Miller was 26. He was the rapper and producer whose debut album Blue Slide Park having debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200.
Burt Reynolds was 82. He starred in TV shows such as Gunsmoke and Dan August before starring in movies such as Deliverance, The Longest Yard, Smokey and the Bandit, Striptease and Boogie Nights.
Neil Simon was 91. He was the playwright who gained international fame in the 1960s for stage and screen comedies including The Odd Couple and Barefoot In The Park. He won the Pulitzer Prize For Drama with Lost in Yonkers in 1991.
John McCain was 81. He was a six-term US senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
Robin Leach was 76. He was the entertainment reporter best known for hosting the television series Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous from 1984 to 1995.
Kofi Annan was 80. He served two terms as UN chief from 1997 to 2006, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work.
Aretha Franklin was 76. She was the Queen of Soul who placed more than 100 singles in the Billboard charts, including 17 Top 10 pop singles and 20 number one R&B hits.
Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart was 63. He was a member of The Hart Foundation WWF tag team with Bret Hart, managed by Jimmy Hart. The duo debuted at WrestleMania II in 1986 and won their first title less than a year later when they defeated The British Bulldogs.
Stan Mikita was 78. He was the four-time Art Ross Trophy winner who played all of his 22 NHL seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks. He led the club to the 1961 Stanley Cup and is the Blackhawks' all-time leading scorer with 1,467 points.
Charlotte Rae was 92. She was the actress best known for playing Edna Garrett on both "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life." One of my first favourite non-kids shows was "Diff'rent Strokes" and I also watched "The Facts of Life". Edna Garrett kicked ass.
Nikolai Volkoff was 70. He was the WWF wrestler best known for teaming with The Iron Sheik and winning the WWF Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania event.
Ray Emery was 35. He was the NHL goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks. He led the Senators to the Stanley Cup finals in 2007 and won the Stanley Cup as a backup with the Blackhawks in 2013.
Anthony Bourdain was 61. He was the celebrity chef and television personality known for his shows A Cook's Tour, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, The Layover and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Here's his episode of The Layover about Toronto.
