Dr Joyce Brothers passed away today at the age of 85 in NYC according to AP. The psychologist became a star in 1955 when she became the first and only woman to win the top prize on the $64,000 Question game show. Shortly after the win, she was given a show in New York where she offered dating and relationship advice to the audience members. As time went on she started writing columns for magazines and newspapers giving people advice about a lot of things. While she was doing all of that she was also appearing on talk shows and game shows all over the place. But she wasn’t only doing those shows, she was also appearing on shows like Happy Days, Mama’s Family, ALF and Taxi to name a few. She did so much that she was given the nickname “the Mother of Media Psychology!”
So today honor her by watching one of her many appearances on TV or finding one of her columns and see what you can learn from her words of wisdom.
Jeanne Cooper passed away today at the age of 84 according to her son Corbin Bersen. She is best known for playing Katherine Chancellor on The Young and The Restless for almost 40 years. Before she found her home in Genoa City, she starred in several movies and TV shows in career that spanned 60 years.
So today honor the daytime legend by watching the soap she made the most popular one in the United States for as long as anyone can remember! Or buy her book Not Young, Still Restless and read about her extraordinary life.
Sony released this statement on her passing, “Jeanne Cooper was a legend in daytime and a beloved member of our Y&R family,” said Steve Mosko, president of Sony Pictures Television. “She touched the lives of millions, who watched her every day over the past 40 years. We send our sincerest condolences to her family as we also celebrate her wonderful life.”
Ray Harryhausen passed away in London today at the age of 92 according to his family. His name might not sound familiar to you, but what he done is very familiar to anyone who has ever seen a Sci-Fi movie. In 1933 he went to see a movie called King Kong and his life was changed forever. It was then that he decided to go into movies and create the creatures that we grew up with like the ones in Clash of the Titans, Mighty Joe Young and Jason and the Argonauts to name a few. What he invented led to him being known as the Grandfather of Stop Motion and a Special Effects Pioneer. His work was so revered that Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, John Landis and so many others say that he was their inspiration to getting into the business.
I only recently got to know who he was because of a documentary called Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan that aired on the Sony Movie Channel. The film was so interesting, I couldn’t get enough of it because what he did just left me is such awe. It will be re-airing on the Sony Movie Channel on May 19th at 11:30 AM ET/8:30 AM PT, so make sure to watch it to learn more about him and his legacy. He was a man ahead of his time but when time got ahead of him, he got out the race he already won.
So today honor him by reading more about the man, who influenced so many others. Then watch what he did, and think how the heck did he do that.
Chrissy Amphlett the lead singer of Divinyls has passed away at the age of 53 according to Australia’s ABC News. Although the cause of death was not disclosed, in recent years she has suffered from Multiple Sclerosis and breast cancer.
The band’s biggest hit was I Touch Myself. A song I remember hearing she wrote when she was eating out at an restaurant and a couple was listening to her conversation. So today go eat out with someone and repeat part of the lyrics loud enough so that the person next to you can hear it as a way of keeping her raspy voice alive.
Jonathan Winters passed away today at the age of 87 according to AP and the world is a lot less funny because of it. Winters was a comedian who was way ahead of his time. In fact I still don’t think we have caught up to his brilliant sense of humor that inspired a lot of today’s comedians. His biggest fan is Robin Williams and the two of them got to work together on the final season of Mork & Mindy. Winters played Mork’s son Mearth and it was pure comedic genius. I remember hearing rumors that Pam Dawber had no idea what was going on on the show because the two of them were improvising all the time. Yet when you watched the show, you would never know it. Because of that I respected her so much as an actress because I loved watching all three of them together.
So today honor him by watching some of his hilarious videos on YouTube, they will put a huge smile on your face as you keep his beautiful spirit alive.
Annette Funicello passed away today at the age of 70 after being in a multiple sclerosis coma for years according to Extra. We all fell in love with America’s Sweetheart when she made her debut in the Mickey Mouse Club as a little girl. When she grew up she was famous for her doing the beach movies with Frankie Avalon. In her later years she was known for a battle with multiple sclerosis, a story she shared in her made for TV movie A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes.
So today honor her happier days and sing the Mickey Mouse Club song or watch one of her beach musicals. It will put a smile on your face as you wipe away your tears over her passing.
The world is giving this news two thumbs down because Roger Ebert passed away today at the age of 70 according to the paper he wrote for The Chicago Sun Times. The film critic along with Gene Siskel changed the way we all reviewed movies with their show At the Movies. In recent years he was no longer reviewing movies on television after surviving a cancer that silenced him for a while. But he was a fighter and didn’t give up. Two days ago he announced he was taking a “leave of presence” because the cancer had returned. Today the world is shocked that he is no longer with us.
So today honor him by reviewing a movie that deserves two thumbs up and one that deserves the opposite.
And just think that Siskel and Ebert are once again reviewing movies in heaven!
Harry Reems passed away yesterday at the age of 65 from Pancreatic Cancer according to his friend Don Schenk. In 1972 Reems starred in the Deep Throat, the first adult movie to be made for the big screen. Two years later he was arrested for conspiracy to distribute obscenity across state lines because of that film. Then in 1976 he was convicted for the crime, but the conviction was overturned a year later.
He spent the next decade doing mostly adult films, hundreds of them, before retiring from the business in the mid ’80s and settling in Utah.
So today honor his legacy and watch Deep Throat as a big FU to “The Man” who tried to bring him down.
Bonnie Franklin passed away this morning at the age of 69 from Pancreatic Cancer according to The Hollywood Reporter. She is best known for playing divorced mother, Ann Romano, on One Day at a Time, which in the ’70s was groundbreaking as was the show. She was the mom that everyone girl wanted to have as her own back then because she was so cool. The actress recently reunited with her TV daughter Valerie Bertinelli on Hot in Cleveland.
So today honor her by watching One Day at a Time and keep her feisty spirit alive forver!
Mayor Ed Koch passed away this morning at the age of 88 from congestive heart failure according to The NY Daily News. Koch was Mayor of NYC from 1978-1989 and he changed The Big Apple for the so much better. Everyone loved him and he loved everyone. He was what Mayors are supposed to be and I am glad that I got to live in his city when he ran it.
After he served his time as Mayor, he became a man of the people as in he presided over People’s Court. And some of you might know him as Judge Koch.
No matter where you know him from, today honor him by telling everyone “I Love NY!”
