-FUPPETS-: -FUPPETS- In Memoriam 2009

Dec 28, 2009

-FUPPETS- In Memoriam 2009

As another year comes to a close, -FUPPETS- takes the time to remember some of the well-known or influential people who died this year. There is no way to cover everyone, so this is just a sampling. At times in 2009 it seemed like respected personages were dropping dead at astounding rates, but that is just an illusion. As one ages, the sphere of people that one knows expands, which gives the impression that more "famous" people are dying that ever before. That is never the case.

JANUARY

PAT HINGLE: American character actor, working in film and television since 1948. Died of cancer.

RON ASHETON: American musician. Original member of the Stooges. Died from a heart attack.

RICARDO MONTALBáN: Mexican-born radio, film, and television actor.

ANDREW WYETH: American painter. Maintained a realist style through the uproars of abstraction. Died at an advanced age after a short illness.

JOHN UPDIKE: American author and critic. Considered the pre-eminent man of letters during his lifetime. Died from lung cancer.

FEBRUARY

JAMES WHITMORE: American actor. Member of Skull & Bones. Died from lung cancer.

BLOSSOM DEARIE: American Jazz pianist and singer. She recorded 6 LP's on the Verve label in the late 50's. Died after a long illness.

PHILIP JOSé FARMER: Award-winning American author, who worked mainly in the science fiction and fantasy genres.

MARCH

MARIO ACUñA: Argentinian-born, American astrophysicist, and pioneer in the field of planetary magnetism. Elected to the National Academy of Science. Died of cancer.

APRIL

HARRY KALAS: American broadcaster, and the voice of NFL Films. Died of heart disease.

BEA ARTHUR: American stage, screen, and television actor. Died from cancer.

MAY

DOM DE LOUISE: American comedic actor. Died from kidney failure.

CHUCK DALY: American basketball coach. Coached the NBA Champion Detroit Pistons in 1989 and 1990. Coached the Gold-medal winning U.S. Basketball team in 1992 Olympics. Died from pancreatic cancer.

DAVID IRELAND: American sculptor. Died from pneumonia

JUNE

DAVID EDDINGS: American fantasy author.

KOKO TAYLOR: American blues musician. Died from complications from surgery.

DAVID CARRADINE: American film and television actor.

ED MCMAHON: American film and television actor, and sidekick to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. Fighter pilot and flight instructor. Pitchman extraordinaire.

MICHAEL JACKSON: American singer. His album THRILLER remains the best-selling album of all time. Died of a drug overdose.

FARRAH FAWCETT: American actor and sex-symbol. Died from cancer.

JULY

KARL MALDEN: American actor, and winner of Best Supporting Actor Oscar for A Streetcar Named Desire.

STEVE MCNAIR: American football player. Murdered.

WALTER CRONKITE: American broadcast journalist.

AUGUST

EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER: American activist and founder of the Special Olympics. Sister to John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy. Mother of Maria Shriver, First Lady of California.