RIP – GLENN SHANDIX

EXPIRED: 07/07/10 – Glenn Shadix, 58, survived being in a movie with Winona Ryder and electroconvulsive aversion therapy in an unsuccessful attempt to stop being gay.

What he didn’t survive was blunt force trauma to his head after an accidental fall in his condo.

Shadix, born in backwoods Bessemer, Alabama, always wanted to be an actor. He studied with absurdist playwright-director Arnold Powell while in college and quickly moved to New York City and, by the late 70’s, moved  to Hollywood to pursue his dream.

His ‘feminine ways’ got him cast as Gertrude Stein in an odd little stage play and even though his agent warned him against doing it, he took the role anyway, An actor’s got to eat, right?

Well, lucky for Shadix, nut-job Tim Burton was in the audience one night and he liked what he saw. He cast Shadix immediately as Otho in Burton’s upcoming “Beetlejuice.”

Otho, an interior designer, who under the direction of the home’s new owners, transformed the home’s interior into something ghastly in the eyes of the deceased. Shadix especially killed when he did the “Day-O” dance, one of the highlights of the flick.

RIP – JO JO BILLINGSLEY

EXPIRED: 06/24/10 – Deborah Jo “JoJo” Billingsley, 58, was born Deborah Jo White was in Memphis, Tennessee, and started singing three years later, having learned the songs of the cattle workers who sang while they toiled on her daddy’s farm.

By the time she was 12 she was soloing in Church and became a star in her High School Glee Club.

Pretty innocent training for a girl who, upon graduation, was going to see an entirely different way of life.

When Billingsley was 17, her father died, and it became necessary for her to find a job to support the family. She auditioned for a local band called Oil Can Harry, who ended up touring the world: 15 countries in 11 weeks. Pretty crazy stuff for a kid from Tennessee.

After little more than a year with the band she was asked to audition for Lynyrd Skynyrd who were looking for female backup singers. The audition went something like this. Skynyrd leader, Ronnie Van Zant, was sitting in a chair, backstage after a show wearing his standard black Stetson over his eyes. He pushed the hat up, looked at Billingsley and said, “She’ll do just fine.”

She joined the group on that night in 1975.

RIP – GREGORY SLAY

EXPIRED: 01/01/10 – Gregory Slay, 40, former drummer for Birmingham, Alabama alternative rock band, Remy Zero, went on to record as Sleepwell.

RIP – BILL POWELL

EXPIRED: 12/31/09 – Bill Powell, 93, was the grandson of Alabama slaves, and after returning from World War II he became the first, and only, African American to build, own and operate a golf course.

RIP – MOREFU THE GIRAFFE

EXPIRED: 12/29/09 – Morefu, 24, one of the oldest giraffes in the world was too old to respond to meds for arthritis. And when you’re 18 feet tall and weigh 2,140 lbs, arthritis can be a problem. He was euthanized under care of his keepers.

RIP – ROBERT L. HOWARD

EXPIRED: 12/23/09 – Robert L. Howard, 70, a Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War, was believed by some historians to be the most highly-decorated living American soldier in history.

He entered the United States Army at Montgomery, Alabama and retired as Colonel.

RIP – HELEN ANGLIN

EXPIRED: 09/08/09 – Helen Anglin, 80, made sure there was fried chicken for all as Chicago’s “Soul Queen,” starting with a small diner that became an empire. Sure she fed Muhammad Ali & Mahalia Jackson but she made sure local soup kitchens were well stocked too.