If you can see your name here, it is no good sign

March 28, 2024

R I P of the day

Arden John (b. 1930-10-26 / d. 2012-03-28)

He was a English playwright whose works tended to expose social issues of personal concern. He was a member of the Royal Society of Literature.

Search

Lookup: name or firstname or alias or date (yyyy-mm-dd):


Strict
Large

Sad list (6002)

Fossey
Dian. 1985-12-26

53

Born 1932-01-16. Domain:Science (Medical/Bio style). Cause of death:Murder

Fossey was found brutally murdered in the bedroom of her cabin on December 26, 1985. Her skull had been split by a native panga, a tool widely used by poachers, which she had confiscated years earlier and hung as a decoration on the wall of her living room adjacent to her bedroom. Fossey was found dead beside her bed and 2 meters away from the hole in the cabin that was cut on the day of her murder. Despite the violent nature of the wound, there was relatively little blood in her bedroom leading some to believe that she was killed before the wound was inflicted.
Farley Mowat's biography of Fossey, Woman in the Mists claims that it is very unlikely that she was killed by poachers. Mowat posits that she was killed by those who viewed her as an impediment to the touristic and financial exploitation of the gorillas. According to the book, which includes many of Fossey's own private letters, poachers would have been more likely to kill her in the forest, with little risk to themselves.
For a year after Fossey's death, until the conviction of one of her students for her murder, poachers dared not enter the forest for fear of being captured and interrogated for her murder. Many believe that the student convicted of murdering Dian was just a scapegoat and that the evidence against him was contrived. Immediately after the conviction, in late 1986, poaching began to rise again. Elephants and leopards are now completely extinct in the Virungas.
Dian Fossey is interred at a site in Rwanda that she herself had constructed for her dead gorilla friends. She believed that they were no different and that they needed the same rights as all of us.

[mod]

Stewart
Ian Andrew Robert. 1985-12-12

47

Born 1938-07-18. Domain:Music. Cause of death:Heart attack

Ian Andrew Robert Stewart was a Scottish keyboardist and co-founder of the Rolling Stones. He was removed from the line-up in May 1963 at the request of manager Andrew Loog Oldham who felt he did not fit the band's image. He remained as road manager and pianist for over two decades and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of the band in 1989. Stewart contributed to The Rolling Stones' 1983 Undercover, and was present during the 1985 recording for Dirty Work (released in 1986). In early December 1985, Stewart began having respiratory problems. On 12 December 1985 he went to a clinic to have the problem examined, but he suffered a heart attack and died in the waiting room. Stewart was 47 years old.

[mod]

Hunebelle
André. 1985-11-27

89

Born 1896-09-01. Domain:Directing. Cause of death:Age

[mod]

Barjavel
René. 1985-11-24

74

Born 1911-01-24. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Heart

Cardiac arrest

[mod]

Sanchez
Omaira. 1985-11-16

13

Born 1972-08-28. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Accident

Omaira Sánchez was a 13-year-old victim of the 1985 eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, which erupted on November 13, 1985, in Armero, Colombia causing massive lahars which killed nearly 25,000. Trapped for three days in water, concrete, and other debris before she died, Omayra captured the attention of the media as volunteer workers told of a girl they were unable to save. Videos of her communicating with workers, smiling and making gestures to video cameras circulated around the media. Her "courage and dignity" touched Frank Fournier and many other relief workers who gathered around her to pray and be with her. After 60 hours of struggling, she died. Her death highlighted the failure of officials to respond promptly to the threat of the volcano and also the struggle for volunteer rescue workers to save trapped victims who would otherwise be quickly saved and treated.

[mod]

Mineur
Jean. 1985-10-19

83

Born 1902-03-12. Domain:Business. Cause of death:Age

One can read on his gravestone, in Cannes: "Eden 00 01", as he had stated in his last will.

[mod]

Khan
Yul (alias: Yul Brynner). 1985-10-10

70

Born 1915-07-11. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer (lung)

[mod]

Welles
Orson. 1985-10-10

70

Born 1915-05-06. Domain:Directing. Cause of death:Heart attack

Although never a suspect in the original investigation, Welles has been suggested by some as having been involved in the infamous Black Dahlia murder.

[mod]

Welchman
William Gordon. 1985-10-08

79

Born 1906-06-15. Domain:Science (Math style). Cause of death:Age

He was a British mathematician, university professor, World War II codebreaker at Bletchley Park, and author.

[mod]

Scherer
Roy (alias: Rock Hudson). 1985-10-02

59

Born 1925-11-17. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:AIDS

[mod]

Kaminker
Henriette (alias: Simone Signoret). 1985-09-30

64

Born 1921-03-25. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Cancer

[mod]

Lacans
Pierre. 1985-09-30

28

Born 1957-04-23. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident

Pierre Lacans was a French rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played club level rugby league (RL) for Lézignan Sangliers, and representative level rugby union (RU) for France, and at club level for AS Béziers, as a flanker, i.e. number 6 or 7. Pierre Lacans was born in Conilhac-Corbičres, France, and he was killed in a traffic accident.

[mod]

Calvino
Italo. 1985-09-19

61

Born 1923-10-15. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Stroke

[mod]

Scholl
Arthur Everett. 1985-09-16

53

Born 1931-12-24. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Accident

He was an American aerobatic pilot, aerial cameraman, flight instructor and educator based in Southern California. He died during filming of Top Gun when his Pitts S-2 camera plane never recovered from a flat spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. Scholl's last words were "I have a problem — I have a real problem." The cause of the crash was a flat spin, which in normal situations, should not have been a problem for the experienced pilot. However, when he was filming the spin, the extra weight of the cameras caused the centrifugal force to hold him in the spin until he spiraled to his death. The airplane and body were never recovered.

[mod]

Pólya
George. 1985-09-07

98

Born 1887-12-13. Domain:Science (Math style). Cause of death:Age

George Pólya (/ˈpoʊljə/; Hungarian: Pólya György [ˈpoːjɒ ˈɟřrɟ]) was a Hungarian mathematician. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at ETH Zürich and from 1940 to 1953 at Stanford University. He made fundamental contributions to combinatorics, number theory, numerical analysis and probability theory. He is also noted for his work in heuristics and mathematics education. He has been described as one of The Martians. Pólya was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary to Anna Deutsch and Jakab Pólya, Hungarian Jews who had converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1886. He died in Palo Alto, California, United States.

[mod]

Barrere
Gabriel Paul (alias: Paul Bryar). 1985-08-30

75

Born 1910-02-21. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age

Paul Bryar (born Gabriel Paul Barrere) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly half a century, he appeared in numerous films and television series. He was married to actress Claudia Bryar until his death in 1985. They had three children, including Paul Barrere, guitarist and singer with the rock band Little Feat.

[mod]

Gordon Jones
Ruth. 1985-08-28

89

Born 1896-10-30. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age

Ruth Gordon Jones was an American actress, screenwriter, and playwright. She began her career performing on Broadway at age 19. Known for her nasal voice and distinctive personality, Gordon gained international recognition and critical acclaim for film roles that continued into her 70s and 80s. Her later work included performances in Rosemary's Baby (1968), What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969), Where's Poppa? (1970), Harold and Maude (1971), Every Which Way But Loose (1978), Any Which Way You Can (1980), and My Bodyguard (1980). In addition to her acting career, Gordon wrote numerous plays, film scripts, and books, most notably co-writing the screenplay for the 1949 film Adam's Rib. Gordon won an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy, and two Golden Globe Awards for her acting, as well as three Academy Award nominations for her writing. Gordon died at her summer home in Edgartown, Massachusetts, following a stroke at age 88.

[mod]

Bellon
Marie-Jeanne (alias: Marie Bell). 1985-08-15

85

Born 1900-12-23. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Age

[mod]

Brooks
Louise. 1985-08-08

78

Born 1906-11-14. Domain:Performing. Cause of death:Heart attack

Brooks unfortunately had a life-long love of alcohol (more specifically gin), having begun drinking heavily at the age of fourteen and was an alcoholic for a major portion of her life, although she exorcised that particular demon enough to begin writing about film, which became her second life.
She had lived alone by choice for many years, and died from a heart attack in 1985, after suffering from arthritis and emphysema for many years.

[mod]

Szego
Gabor. 1985-08-07

90

Born 1895-01-20. Domain:Science (Math style). Cause of death:Age

He was a Hungarian mathematician. He was one of the foremost analysts of his generation and made fundamental contributions to the theory of Toeplitz matrices and orthogonal polynomials. At the age of 15, the young John von Neumann, recognised as a mathematical prodigy, was sent to study advanced calculus under Szegő. On their first meeting, Szegő was so astounded by von Neumann's mathematical talent and speed that he was brought to tears.

[mod]

de Dieuleveult
Philippe. 1985-08-06

34

Born 1951-07-04. Domain:TV/Radio. Cause of death:Other

Missing...

[mod]

Moch
Jules. 1985-08-01

92

Born 1893-03-15. Domain:Politics. Cause of death:Age

It is alleged that the name The Cold War was officially "coined" after a speech he made in 1948, over his concern on the growing rift that developed between The Allied Powers of Western Europe and The Warsaw Pact Forces of Eastern Europe.

[mod]

Obrecht
André. 1985-07-30

86

Born 1899-08-09. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Age

André Obrecht was the official executioner of France from 1951 until 1976.
Born in Paris Obrecht was the nephew of the chief executioner Anatole Deibler. He learned of his uncle's job at ten, when a series of postcards depicting an execution were published in September 1909. Following the death of his own son, who was born only one month after Obrecht, Deibler had a father-like relationship with young André, and the affection between the two men never ceased.
Obrecht joined the executioners' team on April 4, 1922, as second assistant. By day, he worked in a factory as a machine operator. He remained as second assistant until 1939, when Anatole Deibler died. Due to financial obligations Deibler's widow allowed Obrecht's cousin Jules-Henri Desfourneaux and not Obrecht to succeed Deibler despite her late husband's indication that he would prefer Obrecht as his successor. Obrecht subsequently took Desfourneaux's former place as first assistant.
Obrecht and Desfourneaux disliked each other. Obrecht thought his cousin too slow and badly organized. In late 1943, after having executed many French resistance fighters, Obrecht and his colleagues and friends, the Martin brothers, quit. Obrecht resumed his job in 1945, but his animosity towards his cousin had grown. After an execution in 1947, the cousins fought and Obrecht decided, for the second time, to quit.
When Desfourneaux died in 1951, Obrecht wrote to the ministry of Justice, proposing his candidature as chief executioner. This was agreed and on November 1, 1951, he was officially nominated. On November 13 he performed his first guillotining as chief in Marseilles when he executed the police killer Marcel Ythier.
As time passed by, the number of executions decreased. In the early '70s, Obrecht learned he had Parkinson's disease. Though his health was poor, he guillotined four men, Roger Bontemps and Claude Buffet in Paris on November 28, 1972 (murder of a nurse and a jail warden), Ali Benyančs in Marseilles on May 12, 1973 (murder of a 8-year old girl during a hold-up) and finally, also in Marseilles, Christian Ranucci on July 28, 1976 (for the kidnapping and murder of a young girl). Many think Ranucci was in fact innocent.
On September 30, 1976, Obrecht resigned his job. The next day, his title was handed to his nephew by marriage Marcel Chevalier who had been his assistant since 1958. Chevalier performed the final two guillotinings in France
Obrecht died on July 30, 1985 in a Nice hospital. Four years later, reporter Jean Ker, who interviewed him many times, released a book called "Le Carnet Noir du Bourreau" (The Executioners' Black Diary), a biography. Obrecht left an image of himself as a normal man albeit a womaniser, quite authoritative at work and, more than anything else, lonely because of his job.

[mod]

Audiard
Michel. 1985-07-28

65

Born 1920-05-15. Domain:Directing. Cause of death:Cancer

[mod]

Perlman
Fredy. 1985-07-26

50

Born 1934-08-20. Domain:Writing. Cause of death:Operation

He was a Czech-born, naturalised American author, publisher and militant. His most popular work, the book Against His-Story, Against Leviathan!, details the rise of state domination with a retelling of history through the Hobbesian metaphor of the Leviathan. The book remains a major source of inspiration for anti-civilisation perspectives in contemporary anarchism. Though Perlman detested ideology and would claim that the only "-ist" he would respond to was cellist, his work both as an author and publisher has been very influential on modern anarchist thought.

[mod]

Pereira
Fernando. 1985-07-10

35

Born 1950-05-10. Domain:Society. Cause of death:Murder

Fernando Pereira was a freelance Dutch photographer, of Portuguese origin, who drowned when French intelligence (DGSE) used two underwater mines to sink the ship Rainbow Warrior, owned by the environmental organisation Greenpeace.
The bombing of the boat was designed to avoid any casualty, as a small bomb first exploded to "warn" the people on the boat. As the Greenpeace team evacuated the boat, Pereira stayed inside the boat to get his camera and other pieces of equipment. The second, more powerful explosion, designed to sink the boat, knocked him unconscious, which led to his drowning death.

[mod]

Kuznets
Simon. 1985-07-08

84

Born 1901-04-30. Domain:science (economics). Cause of death:Age

His work on the business cycle and disequilibrium aspects of economic growth helped launch development economics. He also studied inequality over time, and his results formed the Kuznets Curve.

[mod]

Dreyfus
Jean-Paul (alias: Jean-Paul Le Chanois). 1985-07-08

75

Born 1909-10-25. Domain:Directing. Cause of death:Age

[mod]

Purley
David Charles. 1985-07-02

40

Born 1945-01-26. Domain:Sport. Cause of death:Accident

He was a British racing driver born in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. He participated in 11 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 3 June 1973. He scored no championship points. Purley is perhaps best known for his actions at the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix, where he abandoned his own race in an attempt to save the life of fellow driver Roger Williamson, whose car was upside down on fire following a horrific accident.
After a break, he returned to Formula One in 1977 with his own LEC chassis designed by Mike Pilbeam and run by Mike Earle. It was this car in which he suffered serious injuries in an accident during pre-qualifying for the British Grand Prix. He survived an estimated 179.8 G's in 1977 when he decelerated from 173 km/h (108 mph) to 0 in a distance of 66 cm (26 inches) after his throttle got stuck wide open and he hit a wall. For many years, this was thought to be the highest G-forces ever survived by a human being. He suffered multiple fractures to his legs, pelvis and ribs. Purley recovered to race again although confined his activities to the minor Aurora AFX series of Formula One races in Britain. The remains of Purley's crashed LEC and its replacement can currently be seen at the museum at Donington Park.
Following his decision to quit motorsport, David Purley moved into competition aerobatics. He died on 2 July 1985 when his Pitts Special aerobatic biplane crashed into the sea off Bognor Regis.

[mod]

Tsurita
Kuniko. 1985-06-14

37

Born 1947-10-25. Domain:Art. Cause of death:orphan disease

Kuniko Tsurita was a Japanese Mangaka. She was suffering a Lupus all her life long.

[mod]


cpt