Celebrity Obituaries

[EstherM]

RIP YSL! EstherM says thank you for Opimum and Rive Gauche Pret-a-porter!

From Associated Press

Legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent dies at 71
By ELAINE GANLEY – 3 hours ago

PARIS (AP) — Yves Saint Laurent, one of the most influential and enduring designers of the 20th century, empowered women by reinventing pants as a sleek, elegant staple of the female wardrobe.

Saint Laurent, 71, died Sunday night at his Paris home after a yearlong battle with brain cancer, said Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent's close friend and business partner for four decades.

"Chanel gave women freedom," and Saint Laurent "gave them power," Berge said on France-Info radio. He called Saint Laurent a "true creator" who went beyond the aesthetic to make a social statement.

"In this sense, he was a libertarian, an anarchist and he threw bombs at the legs of society," he said. "That's how he transformed society and that's how he transformed women."

The Gucci Group, which acquired the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house in 1999, said the designer's death "leaves a great emptiness but also a sublime inheritance."

"This genius of creation shattered the codes to create French elegance which today makes Paris a grand capital of fashion," Gucci said.

Berge, speaking Monday on the France-2 TV station, stressed Saint Laurent's "profound love" for women. He used fashion to "serve women" and not "use them," said Berge, who collaborated with the designer for four decades and was his former romantic partner.

In his own words, Saint Laurent once said he felt "fashion was not only supposed to make women beautiful, but to reassure them, to give them confidence, to allow them to come to terms with themselves."

Saint Laurent widely was considered the last of a generation that included Christian Dior and Coco Chanel and made Paris the fashion capital of the world, with the Rive Gauche, or Left Bank, as its elegant headquarters.

The designer raised the stature of fashion while making it more accessible, it is widely agreed.

President Nicolas Sarkozy praised Saint Laurent for "putting his mark on a half-century of creation, in luxury as well as ready-to-wear." First lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who graced Saint Laurent's runway during her modeling career, said she had a "heavy heart" on learning of his death.

"He was an exceptional artist and human being," she said. "He made not only beauty, but also women's strength sublime."

For Culture Minister Christine Albanel, the designer personally touched women's lives.

"This brilliant idea that a woman could be the most feminine possible while dressing like a man ... it seems to me decisive," she told Associated Press Television News. "Little by little, women get rid of their corset and then they live differently."

From the first YSL tuxedo and his trim pantsuits to see-through blouses, safari jackets and glamorous gowns, Saint Laurent created instant classics that remain stylish decades later.

"Mr. Saint Laurent revolutionized modern fashion with his understanding of youth, sophistication and relevance. His legacy will always be remembered," said Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa.

Saint Laurent was born Aug. 1, 1936, in Oran, Algeria, where his father worked as a shipping executive. He first emerged as a promising designer at age 17, winning first prize in a contest sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat for a cocktail dress design.

A year later, in 1954, he enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale school of haute couture, but student life lasted only three months. He was introduced to Christian Dior, then regarded as the greatest creator of his day, and Dior was so impressed with Saint Laurent's talent that he hired him on the spot.

When Dior died suddenly in 1957, Saint Laurent was named head of the House of Dior at age 21.

He opened his own haute couture fashion house with Berge in 1962. The pair later started a chain of Rive Gauche ready-to-wear boutiques.

Saint Laurent's simple navy blue pea coat over white pants, which the designer first showed in 1962, was one of his hallmarks. His "smoking," or tuxedo jacket, of 1966 remade the tux as a high fashion statement for both sexes. It remained the designer's trademark item and was updated yearly until he retired.

Also from the 60s came Beatnik chic — a black leather jacket and knit turtleneck with high boots — and sleek pantsuits that underlined Saint Laurent's statement on equality of the sexes. He showed that women could wear "men's clothes," which when tailored to the female form became an emblem of elegant femininity.

Some of his revolutionary style was met with resistance. There are famous stories of women wearing Saint Laurent pantsuits who were turned away from hotels and restaurants in London and New York.

Saint Laurent's rising star was eternalized in 1983, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted a show to his work, the first ever to a living designer. He was awarded the Legion d'Honneur in 1985.

But bouts of depression marked his career. Berge, who lived with the designer for years, was quoted as saying that Saint Laurent was born with a nervous breakdown.

When Saint Laurent announced his retirement in 2002 at age 65 and the closure of the Paris-based haute couture house, it was mourned in the fashion world as the end of an era. His ready-to-wear label, Rive Gauche, which was sold to Gucci in 1999 for $70 million cash and royalties, still has boutiques around the world.

Saint Laurent had long been rumored to be ill, and Berge said on RTL radio Monday that he had been afflicted with brain cancer for the past year.

"He no longer liked the world of today's fashion ... he said it didn't understand him," Berge said.

"He had a great, immense love affair with fashion. It's true that he left the profession, but in a couple you can split up because you must do so ... and still be very unhappy," he said. "That was his case."

After retirement, Saint Laurent spoke of his battles with depression, drugs and loneliness, though he gave no indication that those problems were directly tied to his decision to stop working.

"I've known fear and terrible solitude," he said. "Tranquilizers and drugs, those phony friends. The prison of depression and hospitals. I've emerged from all this, dazzled but sober."

A funeral ceremony was scheduled for Thursday at the Saint Roch Church in central Paris, Berge said, moving the date announced earlier forward by a day. Saint Laurent's ashes are to be placed in a vault in the Majorelle botanical garden in Marrakech, Morocco, which he and Berge purchased in the 1980s, their foundation said.

[Geezer]

Arrrgh!! The Thrill of Victory. The Agony of Defeat.

Jim McKay. Spotscaster, long time voice of ABC's "Wide World of Sport" died.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfdn2uoYJwOEdiYCzfkvC52PmF7wD915D0K83

Damn.
_________________

Manga is to Literature
what Graffiti is to Art

[bmwracer]

Geezer wrote:

Arrrgh!! The Thrill of Victory. The Agony of Defeat. Jim McKay. Spotscaster, long time voice of ABC's "Wide World of Sport" died. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfdn2uoYJwOEdiYCzfkvC52PmF7wD915D0K83 Damn.

Used to watch the show all the time...

R.I.P. Mr. McKay.

[shin2]

Geezer wrote:

Arrrgh!! The Thrill of Victory. The Agony of Defeat. Jim McKay. Spotscaster, long time voice of ABC's "Wide World of Sport" died. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfdn2uoYJwOEdiYCzfkvC52PmF7wD915D0K83 Damn.

A great great broadcaster.

Wide World of Sports. The Olympics. The Kentucky Derby. So indelibly tied to each.

A true giant in sports broadcasting whose most definitive moment was not describing some athletic event, but reporting on the Israeli hostage tragedy at the Munich Olympics.

[MissMonika]

NBC's Tim Russert dies at 58 after collapsing (from Yahoo News)

WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, a political lifer who made a TV career of his passion with unrelenting questioning of the powerful and influential, died of a heart attack Friday in the midst of a presidential campaign he'd covered with trademark intensity. Praise poured in from the biggest names in politics, some recalling their own meltdown moments on his hot seat.

Russert, 58, was a political operative before he was a journalist. He joined NBC a quarter century ago and ended up as the longest-tenured host of the Sunday talk show "Meet the Press."

He was an election-night fixture, with his whiteboard and scribbled figures, and was moderator for numerous political debates. He wrote two best-selling books, including the much-loved "Big Russ and Me" about his relationship with his father.

He was NBC's Washington bureau chief.

President Bush, informed of Russert's death while at dinner in Paris, saluted him as "a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it."

NBC interrupted its regular programming with news of Russert's death and continued for several hours of coverage without commercial break. The network announced that Tom Brokaw would anchor a special edition of "Meet the Press" on Sunday, dedicated to Russert.

Competitors and friends jumped in with superlative praise and sad recognition of the loss of a key voice during a historic presidential election year. Known as a family man as well, he had been named Father of the Year by parenting organizations.

Familiar NBC faces such as Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams took turns mourning his loss.

Williams called him "aggressively unfancy."

"Our hearts are broken," said Mitchell, who appeared emotional at times as she recalled her longtime colleague.

Bob Schieffer, Russert's competitor on CBS' "Face the Nation," said the two men delighted in scooping each other.

"When you slipped one past ol' Russert," he said, "you felt as though you had hit a home run off the best pitcher in the league. I just loved Tim and I will miss him more than I can say."

NBC said Friday evening that Russert died of a heart attack. Michael A. Newman, Russert's internist, said resuscitation was begun immediately and continued at Sibley Memorial Hospital, to no avail. An autopsy was pending, Newman said.

Russert, of Buffalo, N.Y., took the helm of the Sunday news show in December 1991 and turned it into the nation's most widely watched program of its type. His signature trait was an unrelenting style of questioning that made some politicians reluctant to appear, yet confident that they could claim extra credibility if they survived his grilling intact.

"I can say from experience that joining Tim on "Meet the Press" was one of the greatest tests any public official could face," said Rep. John Boehner, House Republican leader. "Regardless of party affiliation, he demanded that you be straight with him and with the American people who were watching."

Russert was also a senior vice president at NBC, and this year Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

He had Buffalo's blue-collar roots, a Jesuit education, a law degree and a Democratic pedigree that came from his turn as an aide to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York.

Lawmakers from both parties lined up to sing his praises after his sudden death.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Russert was "the best in the business at keeping his interview subjects honest."

"There wasn't a better interviewer in television," Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential contender, told reporters in Ohio.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Obama's rival for the White House, hailed Russert as the "pre-eminent journalist of his generation."

Carl P. Leubsdorf, president of the Gridiron Club, an organization of journalists, said, "It was a measure of the degree to which Tim Russert was respected in the journalistic world that he was the first broadcaster elected to membership in the Gridiron Club after the rules were changed in 2004 to end our century-old restriction to print journalists."

Said longtime colleague Brokaw, the former NBC anchor: "He'll be missed as he was loved �\ greatly."

The network said on its Web site that Russert had been recording voiceovers for this Sunday's "Meet The Press" when he was stricken.

He had dozens of honorary college degrees, and numerous professional awards.

He won an Emmy for his role in the coverage of President Ronald Reagan's funeral in 2004.

He was married to Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine. The couple had one son, Luke.
_________________

The MySpace // - The Twitter // The Livejournal

[gaijinmark]

RIP Tim

[bmwracer]

I alway found Tim Russert's commentary to be really interesting and informative... You could always see that he was really into what he was doing...

RIP.

[bmwracer]

Stan Winston dies of cancer at 62
Monday June 16 4:44 PM ET

Stan Winston, the Oscar-winning special-effects maestro responsible for bringing the dinosaurs of "Jurrasic Park" and other iconic movie creatures to life, has died. He was 62.

Winston died at his home in Malibu surrounded by family on Sunday evening after a seven-year struggle with multiple myeloma, according to a representative from Stan Winston Studio.

Working with such directors as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Tim Burton in a career spanning over four decades, Winston created some of the most memorable visual effects in cinematic history. He helped bring the dinosaurs from "Jurassic Park," the extraterrestrials from "Aliens, the robots from "Terminator" and even "Edward Scissorhands" to the big screen.

"The entertainment industry has lost a genius, and I lost one of my best friends with the death Sunday night of Stan Winston," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "Stan's work and four Oscars speak for themselves and will live on forever. What will live forever in my heart is the way that Stan loved everyone and treated each of his friends like they were family."

Winston won visual effects Oscars for 1986's "Aliens," 1992's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and 1993's "Jurassic Park." He also won a makeup Oscar for 1992's "Batman Returns."

Winston was nominated for his work on "Heartbeeps," "Predator," "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman Returns," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "A.I." He last worked with director Jon Favreau on "Iron Man."

At the time of his death, Winston was in the process of transforming his physical makeup and effects studio into the new Winston Effects Group with a team of senior effects supervisors. Winton's most recent projects included "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins," "G.I. Joe," "Shutter Island" and Cameron's "Avatar."

As a child growing up in Virginia, Winston enjoyed drawing, puppetry and classic horror films. After graduating from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville in 1968, Winston moved to Southern California to become an actor but instead worked behind the scenes and completed a three-year makeup apprenticeship program at Walt Disney Studios in 1972.

Winston is survived by his wife, Karen; a son, daughter, brother and four grandchildren.

[bmwracer]

From Yahoo! News ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080618/ap_on_en_mo/obit_charisse ) :

Actress-dancer Cyd Charisse dies in L.A. at 86

By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer

Cyd Charisse, the long-legged beauty who danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager and starred in MGM musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, died Tuesday. She was 86.

Charisse was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Monday after suffering an apparent heart attack, said her publicist, Gene Schwam.

She appeared in dramatic films, but her fame came from the Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and 1950s.

Classically trained, she could dance anything, from a pas de deux in 1946's "Ziegfeld Follies" to the lowdown Mickey Spillane satire of 1953's "The Band Wagon" (with Astaire).

She also forged a popular song-and-dance partnership on television and in nightclub appearances with her husband, singer Tony Martin.

Her height was 5 feet, 6 inches, but in high heels and full-length stockings, she seemed serenely tall, and she moved with extraordinary grace. Her flawless beauty and jet-black hair contributed to an aura of perfection that Astaire described in his 1959 memoir, "Steps in Time," as "beautiful dynamite."

"Her beauty was breathtaking," Debbie Reynolds, who starred with Charisse in the 1952 classic "Singin' in the Rain," said in a statement. "The world will miss her dancing."

Charisse arrived at MGM as the studio was establishing itself as the king of musicals. Three producers �\ Arthur Freed, Joe Pasternak and Jack Cummings �\ headed units that drew from the greatest collection of musical talent. Dancers, singers, directors, choreographers, composers, conductors and a symphony-size orchestra were under contract and available. The contract list also included the screen's two greatest male dancers: Astaire and Kelly.

Astaire, who danced with her in "The Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings," said of Charisse in a 1983 interview: "She wasn't a tap dancer, she's just beautiful, trained, very strong in whatever we did. When we were dancing, we didn't know what time it was."

She first gained notice as a member of the famed Ballet Russe, and got her start in Hollywood when star David Lichine was hired by Columbia Pictures for a ballet sequence in a 1943 Don Ameche-Janet Blair musical, "Something to Shout About."

Although that film failed to live up to its title, its ballet sequence attracted wide notice, and Charisse (then billed as Lily Norwood) began receiving movie offers.

"I had just done that number with David as a favor to him," she said in "The Two of Us," her 1976 double autobiography with Martin. "Honestly, the idea of working movies had never once entered my head. I was a dancer, not an actress. I had no delusions about myself. I couldn't act �\ I had never acted. So how could I be a movie star?"

She overcame her doubts and signed a seven-year contract at MGM. She also got a new name, the exotic "Cyd" instead of her lifelong nickname Sid to go with her first husband's last name.

"Singin' in the Rain" marked a breakthrough.

When Freed was dissatisfied with another dancer who had been cast, Charisse inherited the role and danced with Kelly in the "Broadway Melody" number that climaxed the movie. She stunned critics and audiences with her 25-foot Chinese silk scarf that floated in the air with the aid of a wind machine.

Charisse also danced with Kelly in "Brigadoon," "It's Always Fair Weather" and "Invitation to the Dance." She missed what might have been her greatest opportunity: to appear with Kelly in the 1951 Academy Award winner, "An American in Paris." She was pregnant, and Leslie Caron was cast in the role.

[krim]

Quote:

Comedian George Carlin dies at 71 Anti-establishment icon gained fame with his �eSeven Dirty Words�f routine AP SANTA MONICA, Calif. - George Carlin, the frenzied performer whose routine �gSeven Words You Can Never Say On Television�h led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, has died. Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John�fs Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. He was 71. �gHe was a genius and I will miss him dearly,�h Jack Burns, who was the other half of a comedy duo with Carlin in the early 1960s, told The Associated Press. Carlin�fs jokes constantly breached the accepted boundaries of comedy and language, particularly with his routine on the �gSeven Words�h �\ all of which are taboo on broadcast TV and radio to this day. When he uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, freed on $150 bail and exonerated when a Wisconsin judge dismissed the case, saying it was indecent but citing free speech and the lack of any disturbance. When the words were later played on a New York radio station, they resulted in a 1978 Supreme Court ruling upholding the government�fs authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language during hours when children might be listening. �gSo my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I�fm perversely kind of proud of,�h he told The Associated Press earlier this year. Despite his reputation as unapologetically irreverent, Carlin was a television staple through the decades, serving as host of the �gSaturday Night Live�h debut in 1975 �\ noting on his Web site that he was �gloaded on cocaine all week long�h �\ and appearing some 130 times on �gThe Tonight Show.�h He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies, from his own comedy specials to �gBill and Ted�fs Excellent Adventure�h in 1989 �\ a testament to his range from cerebral satire and cultural commentary to downright silliness (and sometimes hitting all points in one stroke). �gWhy do they lock gas station bathrooms?�h he once mused. �gAre they afraid someone will clean them?�h He won four Grammy Awards, each for best spoken comedy album, and was nominated for five Emmy awards. On Tuesday, it was announced that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which will be presented Nov. 10 in Washington and broadcast on PBS. Carlin started his career on the traditional nightclub circuit in a coat and tie, pairing with Burns to spoof TV game shows, news and movies. Perhaps in spite of the outlaw soul, �gGeorge was fairly conservative when I met him,�h said Burns, describing himself as the more left-leaning of the two. It was a degree of separation that would reverse when they came upon Lenny Bruce, the original shock comic, in the early �f60s. �gWe were working in Chicago, and we went to see Lenny, and we were both blown away,�h Burns said, recalling the moment as the beginning of the end for their collaboration if not their close friendship. �gIt was an epiphany for George. The comedy we were doing at the time wasn�ft exactly groundbreaking, and George knew then that he wanted to go in a different direction.�h That direction would make Carlin as much a social commentator and philosopher as comedian, a position he would relish through the years. �gThe whole problem with this idea of obscenity and indecency, and all of these things �\ bad language and whatever �\ it�fs all caused by one basic thing, and that is: religious superstition,�h Carlin told the AP in a 2004 interview. �gThere�fs an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body. ... It�fs reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have.�h Carlin was born on May 12, 1937, and grew up in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, raised by a single mother. After dropping out of high school in the ninth grade, he joined the Air Force in 1954. He received three court-martials and numerous disciplinary punishments, according to his official Web site. While in the Air Force he started working as an off-base disc jockey at a radio station in Shreveport, La., and after receiving a general discharge in 1957, took an announcing job at WEZE in Boston. �gFired after three months for driving mobile news van to New York to buy pot,�h his Web site says. From there he went on to a job on the night shift as a deejay at a radio station in Fort Worth, Texas. Carlin also worked variety of temporary jobs including a carnival organist and a marketing director for a peanut brittle. In 1960, he left with Burns, a Texas radio buddy, for Hollywood to pursue a nightclub career as comedy team Burns & Carlin. He left with $300, but his first break came just months later when the duo appeared on Jack Paar�fs �gTonight Show.�h Carlin said he hoped to emulate his childhood hero, Danny Kaye, the kindly, rubber-faced comedian who ruled over the decade Carlin grew up in �\ the 1950s �\ with a clever but gentle humor reflective of the times. It didn�ft work for him, and the pair broke up by 1962. �gI was doing superficial comedy entertaining people who didn�ft really care: Businessmen, people in nightclubs, conservative people. And I had been doing that for the better part of 10 years when it finally dawned on me that I was in the wrong place doing the wrong things for the wrong people,�h Carlin reflected recently as he prepared for his 14th HBO special, �gIt�fs Bad For Ya.�h Eventually Carlin lost the buttoned-up look, favoring the beard, ponytail and all-black attire for which he came to be known. But even with his decidedly adult-comedy bent, Carlin never lost his childlike sense of mischief, even voicing kid-friendly projects like episodes of the TV show �gThomas the Tank Engine and Friends�h and the spacey Volkswagen bus Fillmore in the 2006 Pixar hit �gCars.�h Carlin�fs first wife, Brenda, died in 1997. He is survived by wife Sally Wade; daughter Kelly Carlin McCall; son-in-law Bob McCall; brother Patrick Carlin; and sister-in-law Marlene Carlin. © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Tu_triky]

krim wrote:

Comedian George Carlin dies at 71

That's the second celebrity in as many weeks that's died of some from of heart disease. It's just a sad confirmation that heart disease is the number one killer in the United States.

[bmwracer]

Quote:

Comedian George Carlin dies at 71 Anti-establishment icon gained fame with his �eSeven Dirty Words�f routine AP

Yow, I heard that just before I went to bed last night...

He was one of the best.

R.I.P., George.

[gaijinmark]

Master Taiko Drummer Oguchi Dies

06/26/2008 11:28 PM, AP
Yuri Kageyama

TOKYO (AP) — Master Japanese drummer Daihachi Oguchi, who led the spread of the art of "taiko" drumming to the U.S. and throughout Japan, has died after being hit by a car, an official at his ensemble said. He was 84.

Oguchi was crossing the street when he was struck by the car Thursday. He was rushed to the hospital but died of excessive bleeding early Friday, said Yuken Yagasaki of Osuwa Daiko, the group in Nagano prefecture (state) in northern Japan that Oguchi had led.

Oguchi helped found top U.S. taiko groups, including San Francisco Taiko Dojo, which has performed in Hollywood movies and on international tours since its founding 40 years ago.

A former jazz musician, Oguchi was one of the first to elevate the traditional folk sounds of taiko to modern music played in concert halls, not just festivals and shrines.

He led and starred in the performance of drumming and dance at the closing ceremony of the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

"Your heart is a taiko. All people listen to a taiko rhythm dontsuku-dontsuku in their mother's womb," Oguchi told The Associated Press at that time. "It's instinct to be drawn to taiko drumming."

Charming, fiery and vivacious, Oguchi had been scheduled to perform with Kodo, a well known taiko group, later this year, although he was in failing health in recent years.

Along with Kabuki theater and "ukiyoe" woodblock prints, taiko is one of Japan's most popular — and respected — art forms in the West. Part dance and part athletics, modern taiko can be dazzlingly visual and acrobatically physical.

Taiko, especially the big ones that tower over the drummers, make dramatic booming sounds. A taiko drum is made from a single hollowed out tree trunk with cowhide strapped tightly across it.

"In taiko, man becomes the sound. In taiko, you can hear the sound through your skin," is the way Oguchi described it in the AP interview.

Thanks partly to Oguchi and his followers' efforts, hundreds of taiko groups, both professional and amateur, have sprung up not only throughout Japan but also in the U.S., Brazil, Europe and other nations.

Oguchi also was one of the first composers of modern taiko, writing catchy tunes based on historical themes, such as samurai storming on horses, and helping make taiko a household word in Japan.

Yagasaki said other details such as funeral arrangements and information on Oguchi's family won't be available until later Friday.

[bmwracer]

Benihana founder dies in New York from cancer

By KELLI KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer

Rocky Aoki, who sought to offer diners a sense of magic and entertainment at his Japanese steakhouse Benihana, has died after complications from cancer. He was 69.

Aoki, whose Benihana empire includes more than 100 restaurants worldwide, died Thursday night in New York from pneumonia, surrounded by his wife and six children, company spokeswoman Nancy Bauer said Friday.

Born Hiroaki Aoki, he worked in the family business, a coffee shop in Japan, and wanted to offer diners "something out of the ordinary," along with their food. Aoki also inherited his father's love for theater, according to the restaurant's Web site.

He held a spot on the Japanese Olympic wrestling team, which eventually brought him to America. He served ice cream by day and studied restaurant management at night, dreaming of opening a restaurant that would blend entertainment and food.

He opened his first restaurant in New York in 1964, naming it Benihana, which means "red flower" �\ the same name as his parent's coffee shop.

Designed to look like an authentic Japanese farmhouse interior, food was prepared "teppan-yaki" style at the table on a steel grill, where specially trained chefs performed knife tricks while cooking up the restaurant's signature shrimp, steak and chicken dishes.

In 1999, Miami-based Benihana purchased a majority share in Haru, an upscale, New York sushi restaurant, and eventually opened nine others. The company later acquired the RA Sushi restaurants, which bloomed to 19 locations nationally.

The Benihana empire has grown to 5,000 employees.

"Rocky's legacy is much greater than Benihana; he was also a well-known sportsman, philanthropist, environmentalist and author," Benihana chairman and CEO Joel Schwartz said in a statement.

He was an avid wrestler, balloonist and backgammon player. Family members said Aoki crossed the Pacific Ocean in a balloon with his Double Eagle V crew on a flight from Japan to California in 1981.

The Rocky H. Aoki Foundation has benefited Juvenile Diabetes, the Leukemia Society and the National Foundation for Cancer Research.

[krim]

would it be strange for me to say that i've never eaten at a Benihana?

[bmwracer]

krim wrote:

would it be strange for me to say that i've never eaten at a Benihana?

Nah...

I think I've been there once... Maybe twice at most.

[Super No. 1]

Actor and comedian Bernie Mac dies at age 50

From MSN:

CHICAGO - Bernie Mac, the Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actor and comedian who worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago�fs South Side, died Saturday at age 50.

�gActor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,�h his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.

She said no other details were available and asked that his family�fs privacy be respected.

The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body�fs organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.

Recently, Mac�fs brand of comedy caught him flack when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a July fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.

Toward the end of a 10-minute standup routine, Mac joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language. The performance earned him a rebuke from Obama�fs campaign.
_________________

Nergene A.
super-no1.com - (Owner)
J!-ENT - (Photographer)

[bmwracer]

^ I saw that when I first logged on to Yahoo.... What a shocker.

[Enna]

Super No. 1 wrote:

Actor and comedian Bernie Mac dies at age 50.

He left us too soon, but he sure brought us so much laughter while he was here. Thank you Bernie Mac!
May you Rest in Peace.

[Tu_triky]

Enna wrote:

[/b][/size] He left us too soon, but he sure brought us so much laughter while he was here. Thank you Bernie Mac! May you Rest in Peace.

Definitely a funny guy. He gave many entertaining performances...