Celebrity R.I.P.s

Haruo Nakajima, The Man Inside The Godzilla Suit, Dies at 88

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/godzilla-suit-haruo-nakajima-dead-dies-1202517648/

 

Groundbreaking comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory dies at 84



The groundbreaking comedian and civil rights activist's family said he passed away in Washington, DC, on Saturday.

His son Christian Gregory told The Associated Press his father died after being hospitalized for about a week. He had suffered a severe bacterial infection.

R.I.P!!

 

Another death...
Jerry Lewis is dead at 91: Comedy legend who raised $2BILLION in fight against muscular dystrophy dies from natural causes at home.

R.l.P!

(Who will be #3? A____?)
(Although Glen Campbell and also Sam Shepard did just die, having just watched Bloodlines, nor sure if he will be replaced.)

 

He would be missed. I never forget this scene in his autobiography of Tallaulah Bankhead came to say "Richard Dahling". It was 40 years since I had read that book and I never forgot it.

 

Len Wein, Wolverine and Swamp Thing co-creator, has died..

'From his heart, mind and hands came the greatest character in comics': Wolverine and Swamp Thing co-creator Len Wein has died at age 69



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4872818/Wolverine-Swamp-Thing-creator-Len-Wein-died.html

 

I remember reading about Haruo Nakajima in G-Fan magazine. In the book, Godzilla Of My Dreams, he had a disagreement with Ishiro Honda regarding him doing a celebratory jig in the costume during the filming of Invasion Of Astro-Monster (American titles Godzilla Versus Monster Zero, Monster Zero). Nakajima didn't like it but reluctantly performed the jig. He even appeared as a comic book editor in the film Godzilla Versus Gigan.

Nakajima made Godzilla what he is, a creature that represented many things in Japanese folklore, the specter of death, the symbol of nuclear protest.

Godzilla was the product of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the detonation of Castle Bravo, a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 15 megatons(it was supposed to have 5 1/2 megatons but lithium was added and thus increased the yield). Godzilla was art imitating life in postwar Japan.

Doom arigato gozaimas, Nakajima San

 

Jerry Lewis. What a talented man. A comedic icon. My favorite Jerry Lewis films were The Nutty Professor, The Geisha Boy, Way, Way Out,(his son Gary Lewis and his group The Playboys sang the title song), The Bellboy and The Delicate Delinquent(the first film he directed).

His Labor Day telethon was an institution and a huge achievement.

He appeared on Saturday Night Live and Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscapo honored him with his trademark character laugh. Joe Piscapo would portray a guy who transforms into Jerry Lewis in a spoof of Michael Jackson's Thriller video.

Lewis did other films like Hardly Working in the late- seventies.

The film The King Of Comedy directed by Martin Scorsese, was the most serious film I had ever seen him do and surprisingly, a film he hated. The film was difficult for Robert DeNiro and Scorsese.

There won't be any talents like Jerry Lewis.

Thank you and Rest In Peace.

 

My father, when he was a New Jersey State Trooper drove Dick Gregory to a show. Gregory recounted the drive in a story on my father's tape recorder. I was too young to get the gist of what he was saying, but it sounded like he felt happy and safe that he was with my father.

May he Rest In Peace.

 

Thanks for sharing that story. Your dad with a legendary comic.

 

Correction. The book was titled Godzilla On My Mind:Fifty Years Of The King Of The Monsters.

 

Bernie Casey died two days ago. He was 78. I didn't know that he once played football before becoming an actor like Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and O.J. Simpson. I remember when he played a handicapped basketball player in a made for television movie and he really played that part really well. I had recently saw him in the film Guns Of The Magnificent Seven as one of the men recruited by the leader Chris, this time played by George Kennedy. I still think of his performance in I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka. Classic.

May he Rest In Peace.

 

Bernie was such a cutie while young. Do you think he would have liked a short norwegian woman? :heart:

 

I guess he, like Jim, Fred and O.J. would not shy away from any woman who attracted their attention. It wouldn't surprise me if he did have involvements with ww back in the days.

 

I bet he did.

 

I guess back then if you were a successful and physically tough athlete, the women would notice you as much as the men will. In his autobiography Jim Brown: All-American, Brown had many white male admirers, including Elvis Presley and John Wayne.

The logic being was that the tougher and more successful the athlete is, the more opportunities and pleasures were available. To the victor go the spoils. It continues to this day.

 

They are our Gods.

 

No question he would.

 

Bernie Casey was the first black man to play Felix Leiter in the film Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery as James Bond (this film was released from 20th Century Fox at the time of Roger Moore's era as Bond).

 

R.I.P. MusicianTom Petty. Heart attack.