RIP – BIL KEANE

EXPIRED: 11/08/11 – Bil Keane, 89, was a cartoonist who’s first regular comic strip was called Silly Philly which only ran in the Philadelphia Bulletin from 1946 to 1959. A syndicated strip, Channel Chuckles, premiered in 1954 and ran until 1977. But it was in 1960, when he moved from Pennsylvania to Arizona that he created the long-running newspaper comic The Family Circus. That makes it 51 years old and it’s still in syndication.

Believe it or not, Keane started by mimicking cartoons in The New Yorker, a magazine that would never touch The Family Circus.

Although he started out as “Bill Keane”, he dropped the second L from his name “to be distinctive.” What he should have done was to use his more distinctive middle name, Aloysius.

His son Jeff is expected to take over daily production of strip.

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RIP – HEAVY D

EXPIRED: 11/08/11  – Heavy D, 44, was born Dwight Arrington Myers, and founded the hip-hop group Heavy D and the Boyz. The first act signed to Uptown Records, Heavy D and the Boyz released a string of commercially successful records in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including their 1987 debut Living Large and 1989′s Big Tyme. In addition, the group provided the theme songs for both Living Color and MADtv, and Heavy D collaborated with Michael Jackson on his 1991 single, “Jam”.

Along with his music career, Heavy D also found success in front of the camera. He appeared in a number of television shows including A Different World and Living Single, as well as feature films like Life and The Cider House Rules. More recently, he made a cameo in the 2011 film Tower Heist, playing a security guard.

Making the news all that more bittersweet is the fact that Heavy D had been making a musical comeback of sorts. Last month, he delivered his first live performance in 15 years at a tribute concert for Michael Jackson in London, which he then followed up with a performance at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards.

It’s been said that because D was indeed heavy lack of movement during a long distance flight from London to his home in Los Angeles caused Heavy D to get blood clots in his legs, which killed him within days.

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RIP – JOE FRAZIER

EXPIRED: 11/07/11 – Joe Frazier, 67, the son of a bootlegger beat Muhammed Ali on points in boxing’s so-called ‘Fight of the Century’ in 1971, Ali’s first professional defeat.

But in further fights, including the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ four years later, it was Ali who won. The pair were never friends. Ali called Frazier an ‘Uncle Tom’. Frazier wanted to throw Ali into the fire at the Olympics. The rivalry was half the fun of watching two World Heavyweight Champion’s duke it out.

But Ali, now suffering from Parkinson’s, was over-the-top cruel. And Frazier was just down home nice. It was just the show, done to promote the fights.

But then it got real. In September of this year Frazier was diagnosed with liver cancer. It was quick and the former World Heavyweight Champ was down for the count.

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RIP – COREY SMOOT

EXPIRED: 11/03/11 – Corey Smoot, 34, a.k.a. Flattus Maximus, joined the wildly costumed metal band, GWAR as guitarist Flattus Maximus in 2002, nearly 20 years after the band’s original formation in ’84. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Smoot was not the first Flattus Maximus, but he was the most influential, co-producing the band’s 2006 release “Beyond Hell” and its follow up “Lust In Space”, and was the longest serving member to portray the Flattus Maximus character in the band’s history.

He was discovered lifeless in his bunk on the band’s tour bus  as the six-piece prepared to cross the border into Canada. No cause of death has yet been identified, but the band will continue with Canadian dates.

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RIP – SID MELTON

EXPIRED: 11/02/11 – Sid Melton, 94, was an American actor best known as 1/2 of a pair of incompetent brother carpenters on the surreal 60s sitcom, Green Acres. He played Alf Monroe, but his bother, Ralph, was actually his sister, but no-one noticed.  Or cared.

It was bizarre.

Melton was a Brooklynite who, during WW2, would entertain American soldiers with jokes and songs and skits. After the war he got roles in movies like On the Town, The Geisha Boy, The Tunnel of Love,  Lost Continent and Radar Secret Service, which earned him the nickname “Monkey Boy” by the host of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Melton also guested in The Golden Girls, Superman, I Dream of Jeannie, The Dick van Dyke Show and Make Room for Daddy.

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RIP – LEONARD STONE

EXPIRED: 11/02/11 – Leonard Stone, 87, wrote a children’s story about a kangaroo, Keepy, who never grew. He forgot about the story and went on to become an actor. He had parts on TV (The Outer Limits, Lost in Space, M*A*S*H, L.A. Law, General Hospital, Barney Miller), Tony nominated stage roles in South Pacific, Redhead, and Look Homeward, Angel. He even appeared on the game show Wheel of Fortune, winning $4,250 in cash and a trip to Bermuda.

But Stone was best known for his portrayal of Sam Beauregarde, the father of Golden Ticket winner Violet Beauregarde, in the 1971 original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in which he exclaimed to his candy-loving daughter who changes color, “Violet! You’re turning violet, Violet!”

Interestingly, long after retirement, just this year in fact, Keepy, his story about the kangaroo who never grew. was published on Kindle and Nook.

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