Rest In Peace.

[sukee]

I had the Four Tops cranked up this morning. What a great voice he had.

[Google]

 

[myrosiedog]

OK, now I know why I've heard so much Four Tops music this weekend on the radio.

[Unklescott]

The Associated Press: Fashion critic Mr. Blackwell dies in Los Angeles

Fashion critic Mr. Blackwell dies in Los Angeles

By BOB THOMAS – 4 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mr. Blackwell, the acerbic designer whose annual worst-dressed list skewered the fashion felonies of celebrities from Zsa Zsa Gabor to Britney Spears, has died. He was 86.

Blackwell died Sunday of complications from an intestinal infection, publicist Harlan Boll said.

Blackwell, whose first name was Richard, was a little-known dress designer when he issued his first tongue-in-cheek criticism of Hollywood fashion disasters for 1960 — long before Joan Rivers and others turned such ridicule into a daily affair.

Year after year, he would take Hollywood's reigning stars and other celebrities to task for failing to dress in what he thought was the way they should.

Being dowdy was bad enough, but the more outrageous clothing a woman wore, the more biting his criticism. He once said a reigning Miss America looked "like an armadillo with cornpads."

A few other examples:

Madonna: "The Bare-Bottomed Bore of Babylon."

Barbra Streisand: "She looks like a masculine Bride of Frankenstein."

Christina Aguilera: "A dazzling singer who puts good taste through the wardrobe wringer."

Meryl Streep: "She looks like a gypsy abandoned by a caravan."

Sharon Stone: "An over-the-hill Cruella DeVille."

Lindsay Lohan: "From adorable to deplorable."

Patti Davis: "Packs all the glamour of an old, worn-out sneaker."

Ann Margret: "A Hells Angel escapee who invaded the Ziegfeld Follies on a rainy night."

Camilla Parker-Bowles: "The Duchess of Dowdy."

Bjork: "She dances in the dark — and dresses there, too."

Spears: "Her bra-topped collection of Madonna rejects are pure fashion overkill."

The critic acknowledged he had mixed feelings about appearing so publicly mean. Most of the women he put through the wringer, he said, were people he genuinely admired for their talent if not their fashion sense.

"The list is and was a satirical look at the fashion flops of the year," he said in 1998. "I merely said out loud what others were whispering. ... It's not my intention to hurt the feelings of these people. It's to put down the clothing they're wearing."

He told the Los Angeles Times in 1968 that designers were forgetting that their job "is to dress and enhance women. ... Maybe I should have named the 10 worst designers instead of blaming the women who wear their clothes."

Surprisingly, the woman who topped his worst dressed list for 1982 (announced in early 1983) was the newly married Diana, Princess of Wales. He said she had gone from "a very young, independent, fresh look" to a "tacky, dowdy" style. She quickly regained her footing and wound up as a regular on Blackwell's favorites list, the "fabulous fashion independents."

Blackwell had started out as an actor himself, having been spotted by a talent agent while still in his teens. He landed a job as an understudy in the Broadway production of Sidney Kingsley's heralded drama "Dead End."

Although he got to the play the role of the Dead End Kids' leader on stage only one time, it led him to Hollywood where he landed bit parts in such films as "Little Tough Guy" (uncredited) and "Juvenile Hall" (as Dick Selzer).

He abandoned his acting career in 1958 after failing to make it in movies and switched to fashion design. He claimed to be the first to make designer jeans for women, and his salon had begun to attract a few Hollywood names when he issued his first list covering the fashion faux pas of 1960. (Italian star Anna Magnani and Gabor were among his early victims.)

It quickly brought him the celebrity he had long coveted, and he quickly became a favorite on the TV talk show circuit. He also became for a time, in his words, "The worst bitch in the world."

He hosted his own show, "Mr. Blackwell Presents," in 1968 and appeared as himself in such TV shows as "Matlock" and "Matt Houston."

In 1992, he sued Johnny Carson for claiming that he had added Mother Teresa to his list, saying the comment exposed him to hatred and ridicule. NBC's response was that the "Tonight Show" host was obviously joking.

"Did you see what he said about Mother Teresa? 'Miss Nerdy Nun is a fashion no-no,'" Carson had said. "Come on now, that's just too much."

During his heyday the issuing of Blackwell's annual list was an eagerly anticipated media event.

On the second Tuesday in January he would assemble reporters at his mansion for a lavish breakfast before making a dramatic entrance for the television cameras.

By the turning of the millennium, however, the list had lost its juice and Blackwell took to issuing it by e-mail.

Born Richard Sylvan Selzer in 1922, Blackwell recounted in his autobiography, "From Rags to Bitches," a troubled, poverty-ridden childhood in which he was variously a truant, thief and prostitute.

[myrosiedog]

I will miss his lists. I always thought he usually got it right when critiquing someone.

[Brodie]

MSNBC.com

Author Michael Crichton dies at 66
Novelist and 'ER' creator passed away after a private battle with cancer
The Associated Press
updated 1:10 p.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 5, 2008

U.S. best-selling author Michael Crichton, who wrote such novels as "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park," and created the popular TV drama "ER," has died at 66, his family said Wednesday.

Crichton, a medical doctor turned novelist whose books have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide, died "unexpectedly" Tuesday in Los Angeles after a private battle with cancer, his family said.

"While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us — and entertained us all while doing so — his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes," his family said in a statement on the website.

"He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget."
The Crichton family asked for privacy and said a private funeral service would be held for the author.

Crichton was born in Chicago on Oct. 23, 1942 and wrote his first novels under pen names while attending Harvard Medical School. "The Andromeda Strain," which was published in 1969, became his first best-seller.

In addition to "Jurassic Park" and its sequel, "The Lost World," which became blockbuster Hollywood films, Crichton wrote "Congo," "The Terminal Man," "Prey" and "State of Fear" among others.

More than a dozen of his novels have been made into films and in 1996 he won an Emmy for "ER."

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: Author Michael Crichton dies at 66 - TODAY: Book news

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© 2008 MSNBC.com

I'm sad to see him go... I've always been an admirer of his work... I wasn't a huge Jurassic Park fan, but many of his other novels, and of course ER... May he rest in peace...

[nilesgirl]

Wow. While I never read his stories, I am a huge fan of the Jurassic series as well as ER. RIP Mr. Crichton

[myrosiedog]

Sad news. I have read all his books and was a huge fan. I never got into ER, but he had me hooked from the Andromeda Strain onward.

I think Sphere and Timeline were my favorites.

May he rest in peace. His work will live on a long time.

[Bandy]

I am a huge fan of his work. He was such a dedicated student to research so that he could combine medical and scientific fact with his fictional stories. I so wish they would make State of Fear into a movie but it is unlikely as he was a voice that was not popular in Hollywood because he didn't always agree with main stream A listers paticularly with his subject matter in state of fear.

I wonder if he was working on anything and if it was close enough to being finished. I always bought his works in hard back they were worth it.

[myrosiedog]

Originally Posted by Bandy

I am a huge fan of his work. He was such a dedicated student to research so that he could combine medical and scientific fact with his fictional stories. I so wish they would make State of Fear into a movie but it is unlikely as he was a voice that was not popular in Hollywood because he didn't always agree with main stream A listers paticularly with his subject matter in state of fear.

I wonder if he was working on anything and if it was close enough to being finished. I always bought his works in hard back they were worth it.

I agree, I think it would make a terrific movie. We've had some very interesting discussions in my household about that book and it's premise that the government keeps us in a state of fear to control us.

[norealityhere]

I read most of his books and thought his was a creative and brilliant mind that forced us to think about possibilities. Rising Sun was one of his best and it served to show how Japan had risen above us in so many ways especially in regard to technology.
His passing is a true loss to us, but glad that those up there will now be able to enjoy him.