We saw some actors/actresses; singers; designers; writers; and even a zoo keeper pass away in 2008. I thought that I’d take a moment to mention some of the people that are gone but not forgotten in 2008. I have listed some of the things that they’re known for within their respective careers as well as some links to biographies about them at the Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia, and other sites if you’d like to read more about them.
Heath Ledger was born April 4, 1979 and died January 22, 2008. This actor is probably best known for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight. He was also well known for his role in
A fan site with lots of information about him.
Roy Scheider was born November 10, 1932 and died February 10, 2008. This actor is probably widest known for his role in Jaws. He has also appeared in The French Connection, Marathon Man, and All That Jazz.
The Roy Scheider Resource, a website for fans
Sydney Pollack was born July 1, 1934 and died May 26, 2008. The American director, producer, actor, writer was involved in over 40 movies over his career some of the more famous ones include: The Way We Were, Out of Africa, Tootsie, Absence of Malice, and The Firm.
Photo gallery from Variey.com.
Eves Saint Laurent was born August 1, 1936 and died June 1, 2008. This famous French fashion designer was actually born in
His biography at Fashion.Infomat.
Estelle Getty was born July 25, 1923 and died July 22, 2008. This actress is world famous for her role of Sophia on the television series Golden Girls, but also appeared in The Mask (the 1985 movie about a boy with a sever muscle deformity and his biker mother’s attempts to provide a “normal” life for him, not the later Jim Carey movie by the same title), television series Empty Nest, and was on the 1998 season of Hollywood Squares.
Bernie Mac was born October 5, 1957 and died August 9, 2008. This American actor and comedian has appeared in Ocean’s Eleven (the remake with George Clooney) and its two sequels as well as televisions series Mac Midnight, and the Bernie Mac Show.
Bernie Mac's Death: What Happened? (from People magazine online)
Isaac Hayes was born August 20, 1942 and died August 10, 2008. This singer-songwriter, actor, and musician penned “Soul Man” that became a hit for Sam & Dave, he was the film score composer for Shaft (I’m sure many of you are familiar with the title song), and he’ll be remembered for playing Chef on the television series
Thomas Dörflein died September 23, 2008 and was 44. He became world famous for taking care of Knut, the polar bear cub who’s mother rejected him shortly after birth at the Berlin Zoo.
Nice story about Knut and him at the DailyMail Online.
About Knut and him at Green Packs.
I recently wrote about Knut’s 2nd birthday
Paul Newman was born January 26, 1925 and died September 26, 2008. He has appeared in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy And the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Absence of Malice, The Verdict, The Color of Money, Nobody’s Fool, and Road to Perdition. He started Newman’s Own line of products based on his own recipes, raising over 250 Million dollars for charity. In his career he has worked with a veritable who’s who of actors and directors from Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Robert Redford, Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Altman, Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis, and Tom Hanks.
“Paul Newman: In memory” (from Roger Ebert)
Newman’s Own line of products.
Guillaume Depardieu was born April 7, 1971 and died October 13, 2008. This actor has spent much of his life being overshadowed by his famous French actor father (Gérard Depardieu) and led a very troubled life. He has appeared in Pas Si Méchant Que Ça, Tous les Matins du Monde, Les Apprentis, Pola X, Comme Elle Respire, and Comme Elle Respire.
Obituary at the Guardian Online.
Michael Crichton was born October 23, 1942 and died November 4, 2008. This famous author has sold over 150 million books and has written
Michael Crichton the official site.
Earth Kitt was born January 17, 1927 and died December 25, 2008. The singer, actress, and cabaret star was known for her sultry version of the song “Santa Baby” (released in 1953), she played Catwoman in the third season of the television series Batman. Orson Wells reportedly once referred to her as the most exciting woman in the world.
Eartha Kitt the official site.
While the contribution made by each of these people that we lost in 2008 varies greatly, they’ll all be missed. So why not take a moment to remember these people and maybe watch one of their movies, read one of their books, or listen to one of their songs. I've embedded a couple of videos of Isaac Hayes below.
Live 1973 version of Shaft
Live 1973 version of Never Can Say Goodbye
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