Ben Gazzara, Dead at 81
Published by Toronto Mike on February 3, 2012 @ 20:25 in Celebrity Deaths

Ben Gazzara was 81. He was an intense actor best known for starring in the John Cassavetes films "Husbands", "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" and "Opening Night". I remember him best as Jackie Treehorn, the pornography mogul and loan shark in the Coen brother's cult classic, The Big Lewbowski.

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Angelo Dundee, Dead at 90
Published by Toronto Mike on February 1, 2012 @ 22:49 in Celebrity Deaths

Angelo Dundee was 90. He was the brilliant motivator who worked the corner for Muhammad Ali in his greatest fights and willed Sugar Ray Leonard to victory in his biggest bout.

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Don Cornelius, Dead at 75
Published by Toronto Mike on February 1, 2012 @ 10:02 in Celebrity Deaths

Don Cornelius was 75. He created "Soul Train," a show instrumental in bringing acts like James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson to a larger audience.

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Robert Hegyes, Dead at 60
Published by Toronto Mike on January 26, 2012 @ 18:46 in Celebrity Deaths

Robert Hegyes was 69. He portrayed Epstein in the 1970s television series Welcome Back, Kotter.

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Joe Paterno, Dead at 85
Published by Toronto Mike on January 22, 2012 @ 11:10 in Celebrity Deaths

Joe Paterno was 85. He was head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011, accumulated 409 wins, the most in NCAA Division 1 history.

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Etta James, Dead at 73
Published by Toronto Mike on January 20, 2012 @ 13:51 in Celebrity Deaths

Etta James was 73. Her powerful, versatile and emotionally direct voice could enliven the raunchiest blues as well as the subtlest love songs, most indelibly in her signature hit, “At Last.”

For my money, nothing beats "I'd Rather Go Blind."

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Sarah Burke, Dead at 29
Published by Toronto Mike on January 19, 2012 @ 15:52 in Celebrity Deaths

Sarah Burke was 29. She was a Canadian freestyle skier and four-time Winter X Games champion who was the first woman to land a 1080 in competition.

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Jim Huber, Dead at 67
Published by Toronto Mike on January 2, 2012 @ 21:58 in Celebrity Deaths

Jim Huber was 67. He was an Emmy Award winning journalist and essayist with Turner Sports and PGA.com. I remember him co-anchoring CNN Sports Tonight with Nick Charles, Fred Hickman, Vince Cellini and others in the 90s. His work was always top notch.

His tweets the last few days tell us how quickly he passed. His leukemia diagnosis came on December 28th.

Here's Jim Huber on the last NBA season.

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Joe Bodolai, Dead at 63
Published by Toronto Mike on December 27, 2011 @ 13:33 in Celebrity Deaths

Joe Bodolai was 63. He was best known for producing and writing such television shows as Comics!, The Kids in the Hall and Saturday Night Live. He also co-wrote the first draft of the film Wayne's World with Mike Myers.

Before he took his own life, Joe Bodolai published his suicide note on his blog. You really have to read his final entry.

Things I Regret

• My inability to conquer my alcoholism
• The things I did because of it
• Leaving Canada
• Moving to Los Angeles
• Not fighting harder or making a better deal to stay with The Comedy Network I helped create
• Not being able to live up to the helping hand so many wonderful people offered me
• The hurt I caused in my family, friends, and maybe even strangers.
• That I am no longer able to withstand any more of life’s pain
• Most of all, the pain I have caused and am now causing my sons and the love of my life, my ex-wife Bianca, my love and connection with her is infinite
• The fact I will never get to repay the love and generosity you all deserve
• Lisa.

It's a fascinating read. He published this entry on December 23 and took his life yesterday. I'm going to paste down the entry entry in the comments, just in case it goes offline at some point.

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Kim Jong Il, Dead at 69
Published by Toronto Mike on December 18, 2011 @ 22:19 in Celebrity Deaths

Kim Jong Il was 69. He has been the leader of North Korea, an impoverished communist country if ever there was one, since the death of his father Kim Il-sung in 1994.

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