Death Gets Thomas H. Weller

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Dr. Thomas H. Weller, who shared the 1954 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research on the polio virus, died Saturday. He was 93.

In a 2003 New York Times interview, George Miller, a Yale virologist, described the breakthrough by Dr. Weller and his colleagues as "one of the major discoveries in virology, cell biology, and molecular biology in the 20th century."

Congratulations and 24 points awarded to Live Free or Die Hard. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Boston Globe]

"Papa Jack" is Gone for a Weil

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Denver icon "Papa Jack" Weil died Wednesday. The founder and operator of Rockmount Ranch Wear was famous for greeting customers, some famous, most not, at his Wazee Street store for more than six decades. Weil was believed to be the oldest working CEO at 107 and his family says he was "to Western shirts what Henry Ford was to cars."

"Through his influence for over 100 years we learned the importance of hard work and balancing careers with humor and compassion. We came to know the importance of integrity and responsibility, the strength within us to deal with life's challenges, the beauty of carefully chosen words in difficult situations, the power of story-telling and example in conveying values.

"His highest values include respect for others."

Congratulations and 24 points awarded to Live Like You Were Dying. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Denver Post]

Alexander Solzhenitsyn is Nobel in Life and Death

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning Russian author whose books chronicled the horrors of dictator Josef Stalin's slave labor camps, has died of heart failure, his son said Monday. He was 89.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970, an unusual move for the Swedish Academy, which generally makes awards late in an author's life after decades of work. The academy cited "the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature."

Congratulations and 24 points awarded to BestDeathPoolRosterEver.BlogSpot.Com. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Yahoo! News]

Randy Pausch Has Gone Above and Beyond

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor whose final lecture inspired millions, has died of pancreatic cancer. According to Mr. Pausch's Web site, a biopsy last week revealed that the cancer had progressed further than expected, based on recent PETscans.

"Since last week, Randy has also taken a step down and is much sicker than he had been," the Web site said. "He's now enrolled in hospice. He's no longer able to post here so I'm a friend posting on his behalf because we know that many folks are watching this space for updates."

Congratulations and 7.2 points awarded to BestDeathPoolRosterEver.BlogSpot.Com, Famous Last Words, Live Like You Were Dying, Last Call, and Kraut's Picks. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Golden Girl Estelle Getty Now Buried Treasure

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Actress Estelle Getty has died at the age of 84.

Her son, Carl Gettleman, says the co-star of the TV show "The Golden Girls" died early Tuesday at home in Los Angeles. Gettleman says she suffered from advanced dementia.

The diminutive actress spent 40 years struggling for success before landing the role of a lifetime in 1985, playing the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on "The Golden Girls."

Congratulations and 9 points awarded to I AM READY TO MEET MY MAKER, TIREMAN422, the Garden of eden, and Last Call. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[AP]

Not Your Average Jo, Stafford is Outgoing

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Jo Stafford, 90, an exceptionally versatile singer who worked with Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey and the Pied Pipers and shared a Grammy Award with her conductor-husband for their parody of a tone-deaf lounge act, died July 16 at her home in Century City, Calif. She had congestive heart failure.

She earned the nickname "G.I. Jo" but jokingly called herself "Miss Outgoing Freight," a War Department euphemism for artillery shells and tanks sent to the front lines.

Congratulations and 24 points awarded to M"h By You Buddy. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Washington Post]

Michael Debakey's Heart Just Wasn't Into It

Michael Debakey, the world-famous cardiovascular surgeon who pioneered bypass surgery and invented a host of devices to help heart patients, has died in Houston at the age of 99. Debakey performed more than 60,000 heart surgeries, including such luminaries as Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, Turkish President Turgut Ozal and Nicaraguan leader Violetta Chamorro. Despite that, Debakey was clear:

He said celebrities didn't get special treatment on the operating table: "Once you incise the skin, you find that they are all very similar."

Congratulations and 9 points awarded to Angelos or Bust, Go to Hell, The Kick the Bucket List, and Kraut's Picks. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Associated Press]

Tony Snow Falls in the Dead of Summer

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Tony Snow, a former press secretary to President George W. Bush who brought his outspoken style as a Fox News commentator to the White House, died in Washington early today of cancer. He was 53.

"It was a joy to watch Tony at the podium each day," Bush said in a statement. "He brought wit, grace, and a great love of country to his work."

Congratulations and 24 points awarded to Go To Hell. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Bloomberg]

Bobby Murcer Suffers From Early Exit

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Former New York Yankees outfielder and broadcaster Bobby Murcer has died from brain cancer, the Yankees said on Saturday.

"Bobby Murcer was a born Yankee, a great guy, very well-liked and a true friend of mine. I will really miss the guy," Yankees chairman George Steinbrenner said in a statement.

Congratulations and 24 points awarded to Yiz-Score: 2007 DP Champ. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Reuters]

Evelyn Keyes has Now Gone with the Wind

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Evelyn Keyes, 91, a leading lady of dozens of Hollywood films who wryly dismissed much of her career, noting that she was most remembered for a bit part as Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister Suellen in "Gone With the Wind," died July 4 at a care facility in Montecito, Calif. She had uterine cancer.

[S]he told film scholar Eddie Muller: "I never got the part, the starring role that sends you shooting way up there, into the top ranks. I thought that would come. I obviously wasn't going to marry and have a family and give it all up.

"I was married, sure, but those weren't marriages -- they were legalized love affairs. So we wouldn't have the big stink -- Oh my God, they're living together! So what do you do? You get married."

Congratulations and 24 points awarded to Remains to Be Seen. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Washington Post]

Jesse Helms Celebrates Independence from Life

On our nation's 232nd birthday, we lose a man who served it passionately for 30 years.

Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican who became an icon to conservatives, died Friday at the age of 86, the Jesse Helms Center announced.

The cause of death has not been announced. He had been ill in recent years. Helms served five terms in the Senate, retiring in 2003 after deciding not to seek a sixth term. President Bush said at the time the Senate was "losing an institution." "Sen. Helms has been a tireless defender of our nation's freedom and a champion of democracy abroad," Bush said.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams also died on July 4th. Really makes you think. Not sure about what, though.

Congratulations and 7.2 points are awarded to Haaaave You Met Dead?, Famous Last Words, Dead Place, Last Call, and Whoaa-ooah, Dying on the Edge

[CNN]

It Could Happen to Hugh. Hefner's Aching Back

Could Hugh Hefner's loose lifestyle have led to health problems?

"I have some aches and pains and I have had lower back problems since the '80s," Hefner told Pop Tarts. "Too much time in bed rustling around with friends," he said with a laugh.

Hef's been healthy since suffering a stroke in 1985. Those were the best years of his life.

[Fox News]

George Carlin Greeted by Alanis Morissette

George Carlin, one of the seminal stand up comedians of all time, has died of heart failure at the age of 71. Carlin was a controversial figure whose routines often pushed the social norms on the issues of religion and, well... pretty much everything. And he pushed hard. Carlin's edgiest routines were at the heart of a 1978 Supreme Court ruling affirming the government's rights to regulate the airwaves.

His oft-quoted "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television"routine may as well have been called "Seven Words All Junior High School Kids Always Say Repeatedly," but the nomenclature wasn't always widespread. Carlin was arrested for disturbing the peace in 1972 when he uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee.

"So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," Carlin said. "In the context of that era, it was daring." "It just sounds like a very self-serving kind of word. I don't want to go around describing myself as a 'groundbreaker' or a 'difference-maker' because I'm not and I wasn't," he said. "But I contributed to people who were saying things that weren't supposed to be said."

Carlin was the kind of guy who would make Fox News run the headline "Counterculture Comedian George Carlin Dies at 71," but to the rest of us he was a cultural comedian, and more accurately- cultural commentator.

Carlin hosted the first ever episode of Saturday Night Live, and in the very worth it to own "Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live" Lorne Michaels shares an anecdote over a battle between himself/Carlin and the NBC network heads over what George Carlin would wear for his hosting duties. In the end, they compromised and Carlin wore a suit - with a t shirt.

That, to me, was Carlin: a t shirt in the age of the suits. Sadly, he'll never say those seven words on television ever again.

[CNN]

Amy Winehouse's Heart Still in her Music (Barely)

Singer Amy Winehouse has lung damage and irregular heart beat, says her father.

Soul diva Amy Winehouse has damaged her lungs by smoking crack cocaine and cigarettes, her father said in an interview published Sunday.

The Sunday Mirror quoted Mitch Winehouse as saying that Amy has an early stage emphysema and an irregular heartbeat, and has been warned that she will have to wear an oxygen mask unless she stops smoking drugs.

"The doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs, it won't just ruin her voice, it will kill her," Mitch Winehouse was quoted as saying.

Winehouse collapsed this past week. Maybe she shouldn't have said "No" to rehab after all.

[CNN]

Pat Summerall Not Yet Ready to Sign Off

Legendary broadcaster Pat Summerall, 78, was resting comfortably Friday morning in an area hospital after undergoing emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding.

Cheri Summerall said doctors told her a new medicine her husband recently started taking didn't mix well with other medicines and induced the bleeding.

The surgery took place Thursday.

"He has really turned the corner," Mrs. Summerall said. "The doctors are thrilled with Pat's progress. We are expecting a full recovery."

It sounds like Summerall is going to have a good summer after all.

[Dallas Morning News]

Last Dance on Last Legs for Cyd Charisse

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Dancer and actress Cyd Charisse, whose legs were insured for a million dollars in the heyday of the Hollywood musical, died at her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday, her agent said. She was 87. Scott Stander said Charisse, a regular partner of legends Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, suffered a heart attack at her home and "never recovered." She died at 12.15 am (0715 GMT).

"We're all just heartbroken," said Stander, describing Charisse as "one of the classiest ladies you would have ever met."

Congratulations and 24 points awarded to Remains to Be Seen. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[AFP]

Shouldering the Load, Sean Connery Chips Bone

Sean Connery has been injured in a fall while playing golf. He chipped a bone in his shoulder and has his arm in a sling. Connery, 77, took a tumble at an exclusive club in Westchester, New York.

Last night his spokeswoman Nancy Seltzer said: "He tripped while playing golf. He is not in hospital.

"He is fine and enjoying visiting his family."

Connery was rushed to Northern Westchester Hospital in the Big Apple's Mount Kisco and released after treatment.

We assume that Connery's injury is part of a larger plot to save the world from destruction. The man is simply unstoppable

[Sunday Mail]

Stop (Meeting the) Presses - Tim Russert Dies at 58

Sometimes a loss is so sudden, and so fast, and happens to someone so young, vibrant, intelligent, and, yes, important, that all you can do is shake your head and relay the tragic news:

Tim Russert, NBC journalist and political heavyweight host of "Meet the Press," has died after collapsing at NBC's Washington news bureau, a source said. He was 58 years old.

Russert, who rose from the inside world of politics where he was former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo's press secretary and one-time chief of staff to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was able to successfully cross over to political journalism and rise to become one of its leading lights.

In his role as host of the seminal Sunday morning political program "Meet the Press" - which he took over in 1991 - he became renowned for his hard-nosed interviews where he frequently cornered some of Washington's cagiest political figures with tough questions.

Deepest condolences to the Russert family, NBC, and frankly, all of America.

[NY Post]

Author Eliot Asinof is the Latest Man Out

Eliot Asinof, an author who invited readers behind the scenes of the sports world with books including "Eight Men Out," died Tuesday at the age of 88. The Ancramdale resident died at a hospital in Hudson of complications from pneumonia, said his son, Martin Asinof. Asinof was best known for "Eight Men Out," his 1963 retelling of the "Black Sox" scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series. He spent more than three years exhaustively researching the book, his son said.

Asinof was himself a minor-league ballplayer, briefly playing in the Philadelphia Phillies' organization before joining the Army and serving in World War II. Earlier this year, he completed a memoir about his wartime service, his son said.

"He was writing right up to the end," Martin Asinof said of his father.

It took Asinof three years of research to write "Eight Men Out." We can't help but wonder how many men were "called out" during that period of time.

[Canadian Press]

Barbara Billingsley was an Absent Mom

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in North Hollywood brought together some of Hollywood's older living actors to celebrate and honor them last month. But one mom wasn't feeling her old chipper self.

The TV moms I interviewed on stage included Cloris Leachman ("Lassie." "Phyllis," "The Ellen Show"), Diahann Carroll ("Julia"), Marjorie Lord ("The Danny Thomas Show"), Marion Ross ("Happy Days"), Holland Taylor ("Two and a Half Men"), Tichina Arnold ("Everybody Hates Chris"), Bonnie Franklin ("One Day at a Time"), Catherine Hicks ("7th Heaven") and Meredith Baxter. Barbara Billingsley, age 93, ("Leave it to Beaver") was hospitalized and unable to attend, but was honored in absentia.

We guess in this case for Billingsley it was "Make it or Leave it."

[Yes! Weekly]