Autumn of death does not have quite the same ring to it, but it's death, so we don't talk about whether or not things have rings to them. It's not appropriate. But it does seem like people keep dying even though we have started wearing more coats. From the AP:
Soupy Sales, the rubber-faced comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances across a half-century of laughs, has died. He was 83.
Sales died Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, said his former manager and longtime friend, Dave Usher. Sales had many health problems and entered the hospice last week, Usher said.
At the peak of his fame in the 1950s and '60s, Sales was one of the best-known faces in the nation, Usher said.
"If President Eisenhower would have walked down the street, no one would have recognized him as much as Soupy," Usher said.
Sales began his TV career in Cincinnati and Cleveland, then moved to Detroit, where he drew a large audience on WXYZ-TV. He moved to Los Angeles in 1961.
The comic's pie-throwing schtick became his trademark, and celebrities lined up to take one on the chin alongside Sales. During the early 1960s, stars such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Shirley MacLaine received their just desserts side-by-side with the comedian on his television show.
"I'll probably be remembered for the pies, and that's all right," Sales said in a 1985 interview.
If President Eisenhower would have walked down the street, you might try and recognize him, but Soupy would recognize him more than you would? Will the Grammar Police never rest? I know that they love clarity in language, but show some respect, Grammar Police!
But one thing is true: Soupy probably will be remembered for the pies. And that is all right!
Here is Soupy Sales and a pie in a clip from his TV show with the musician Alice Cooper.
Goodbye, Soupy Sales! You are in heaven now, throwing pies in the faces of angels.
Vic Mizzy, the man behind so many TV theme songs, has died. From the AP:
Vic Mizzy, a songwriter who composed the catchy themes for the 1960s sit-coms "The Addams Family" and "Green Acres," has died. He was 93.
His most famous work was the theme to "The Addams Family," a tune accented by finger snaps and opening with the cleverly quirky lyrics: "They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, they're altogether ooky: the Addams family."
The enduring tune is often heard during sports game to rally the home team.
The enduring tune is often heard during sports game. Why is it that forgivable, inconsequential typos hurt so much more when they are in an obituary? Oh, that's right, because the person they're writing about has died. Show some respect please, Associated Press. Anyway. In memorium:
Goodbye, Vic Mizzy. You are in heaven now, creating rally music for Angelball.
Of course, millions of animals die every year, and we rarely hear their stories. It's only the famous (read: white) animals that get talked about. Nevertheless, light another candle in the wind for hakuna matata, or whatever. From the AP:
A giraffe that starred in a series of TV commercials for Toys R Us and appeared in Jim Carrey's movie "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" has died at a Boston zoo.
American Humane, an animal welfare group that oversees animal treatment on movie sets, said Tweet the giraffe died Friday at the Franklin Park Zoo where producers are filming the Kevin James movie "The Zookeeper."
As you put on your black armbands this morning, and hug your children a little tighter, I think we can all take solace in the fact that Tweet died doing what he or she (I'm not sure) loved: starring in AMAZING films. When asked to comment, Kevin James had this to say:
As you know by now (and if you don't know by now, you should get better at knowing things), Senator Ted Kennedy died last night. Obviously, I can't effectively or meaningfully eulogize him, and the world does not need me to. You can find tons of informative, meaningful, and touching tributes to him all over the place. And you should. I will just say that in a government of mostly middle-of-the-road monsters, he seemed to be someone who worked hard for the things that he believed in, and that what he believed in tended to be helping other people.
And this video of Robert Byrd being shockingly (but also kind of wonderfully) emotionally raw on the Senate floor, which is actually a year old, and is him reacting to the news of Kennedy's diagnosis of brain cancer, broke my metal heart:
:(
Goodbye, Ted Kennedy. You will be missed. You're in heaven now, providing important, effective, lasting, and often bi-partisan governance to the angels. (Video via ThinkProgress.)
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