celebrity obituaries
Kim Peek, the inspiration for the character portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the Oscar-winning film Rain Man, has died, at age 58.
From a 2006 newspaper article from the Ukiah Journal (California):
LIVERMORE - Being different isn't always considered a good thing, but Kim Peek is walking proof that being different can be remarkable. Peek, the inspiration for the 1988 film "Rain Man," demonstrated his unique abilities for an audience of a few hundred packed into the Physical Education Complex at Las Positas College in Livermore last week.
CHICAGO — Chris Farley, the blubbery Saturday Night Live comic whose specialty was sweaty, tightly wound characters who erupted in vein-popping frenzies, was found dead Thursday, in hjs apartment. He was 33. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Farley died young like his comic idol, John Belushi. Both had a hearty appetite for food, drink and drugs. Police said Farley's brother John called 911 after finding his brother in his 60th-floor apartment in the 100-story John Hancock Building on a stretch of Michigan Avenue known as the Magnificent Mile. There was
Soupy Sales died today at the age of 83.
Born in North Carolina as Milton Supman on Jan. 8, 1926, Sales would go on to have comedy career that spanned nearly 60 years and over 5000 television appearances.
He is survived by his wife and 2 sons. His boys Hunt and Tony are best known for backing David Bowie in his band Tin Machine
Vivien Leigh, the actress who played Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, was found dead today in her apartment in London. Prior to her death at the age of 53, she suffered from tuberculosis and had been confined to her bed during treatment. NOTE: Leigh landed the role in Gone with the Wind opposite Clark Gable after more than 1,400 girls tried out for the part.
On August 6, 1962, the shocking death of Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe was the main headline in newspapers throughout the United States. The story even topped a report about a new nuclear test series by the Russians in most American papers. In London, Britain's Common Market received "secondary play" to the news of Marilyn Monroe.
An airliner crashed outside of Las Vegas, Nevada today, killing American actress Carole Lombard and 21 other passengers . "It was learned the plane had intended to land at Boulder City for fuel Friday night, but could not halt there because of unfavorable conditions. It headed back for Las Vegas and disappeared," explained The Hayward Daily Review on January 17, 1942. NOTE: Lombard, who started her acting career at the age of 12, was a well-known comedy actress in the 1930s.
Oscar award winning actress and dancer Ginger Rogers died today at the age of 83 . The Chronicle Telegram noted on April 26, 1995, "She matched Fred Astaire step for step, dancing backwards and in high heels through glamorous musicals that provided an escape for Americans mired in the Depression."
Actress Lucille Ball, star of the sitcom I Love Lucy, died of a ruptured aorta today , only eight days after she underwent emergency heart surgery. The four-time Emmy Award winner was 77-years-old.
Maria von Trapp, inspiration for The Sound of Music, died today at a Vermont hospital . "At age 20, Maria von Trapp emerged from a Salzburg convent to teach the seven motherless children of Baron Georg von Trapp, a stern naval officer 25 years her senior. They married a year later, in 1927, and she bore him three more children," informed the Daily Herald on March 30, 1987.
