In Passing… Dom DeLuise (1933-2009)

 

Actor, producer, director, comedian, and author Dom Deluise passed away yesterday, May 4, 2009. DeLuise was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1933. He first appeared as Tinker the Toymaker in “Tinker’s Workshop” (1954) and had a small part as Sgt. Collins in the nuclear thriller “Fail-Safe” (1964). He would later be in such TV series as “The Munsters,” “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Dean Martin Summer Show,” and would even host his own by the end of the decade. His TV and film career quickly ballooned and he would become friends with Mel Brooks who would put him in “Blazing Saddles,” “History of the World, Part One,” “Silent Movie,” “Spaceballs,” and “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” Burt Reynolds and him became best friends and were together in “Cannonball Run 1 & 2,” and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” He did voice work for other notable films such as “An American Tale,” and “All Dogs Go to Heaven.” In 1965 he married Carol Arthur and had three kids: Peter, Michael and David. The DeLuise Family has acted together in such TV series as “SeaQuest DSV,” “Happy,” and “3^rd Rock From the Sun.” Dom DeLuise also released two Italian cookbooks, “Eat This!” and “Eat This Too!” as well as some children’s books. His star on the Walk of Fame is at 1777 Vine Street. Dom DeLuise was 75 years of age at the time of his passing.

Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

For more information, check out his IMDB page at:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001123/

In Passing… Bernie Mac (1957-2008)

 

 

Comedian Bernie Mac passed away at the age of 50 on Saturday, August 9, 2008. Born Bernard Jeffrey McCollough in Chicago, he grew-up in one of the rougher neighborhoods while trying to pursue his dream of standup comedy. At the age of 19, he left to become a professional comedian. His first breakthroughs came in 1992 when he had a role in the film “Mo’ Money,” as well as “Def Comedy Jam.” Since then he has went on to be in such films as “Friday,” “Booty Call,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Head of State,” “Mr. 3000,” “Guess Who,” and “Transformers,” as well as having his own sitcom, “The Bernie Mac Show.”

 

For more information, click on the link:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005170/

 

Thoughts and prayers go to his family and friends.

In Passing… George Carlin (1937-2008)

 

 

This one is kinda personal.

 

I’m not big on doing these obit columns. Part of the reason I do them, among the gambit of other entertainment news/reviews that I do, is to pay respect to individuals (quite a few who are behind the scenes) and to make aware to those outside the industry the passing of someone who affected entertainment and, at times, became part of the pop culture.

 

This morning I logged onto the Net and found George Carlin was dead. He had passed away yesterday from heart problems at the age of 71.

 

The first time I had heard about him through my parents and friends. I eventually anted-up and bought “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics” (an audio version of his “Doin’ It Again,” HBO special). It was my rite-of-passage into the world of comedy. From that point I bought his next two albums and listened to the point where I knew the routines by heart.

 

Being a movie nerd (special interest geek) I remember back to the “Bill and Ted” movies where he played Rufus. He was in on the joke of it all and hey, it was a paycheck. He also played in some of Kevin Smith’s movies notably “Dogma” (as a priest), “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” (as a hitchhiker who knew the rules of the road), and in “Jersey Girl” as Ben Affleck’s dad. Other films include: “Scary Movie 3,” “Cars,” and “Car Wash.”

 

But the real reason that Carlin is known is his comedy. Social and political commentary, religion, human nature, and poking fun at the English language, were all done with acidic humor and wit. Whether he was talking about war (“The bombs and the rockets and the bullets are all shaped like dicks…”) or language (“Sneakers became running shoes. Toilet paper became bathroom tissue…”) or anything else (“A place for all my stuff…”) he knew how to jab at it the right way, making a point and having you agree at the same time.

 

One accomplishment (if you can call it that) was having a Supreme Court case brought against him. In 1973 he was in Wisconsin doing a concert rattling off the “Seven Dirty Words.” Wisconsin radio broadcasted it all (uncensored) and a guy driving down the road with his son in the car were listening to it. He complained, it went to the FCC, the FCC talked with the TV station, Carlin was brought up on obscenity charges, and eventually it went up to the Supreme Court. You can go to your local library and look it up the case; it’s funny to see the seven words listed in a book that contains other, more prestigious, cases.

 

In closing, thank you George for inspiring comedians around the world and for making the rest of us think about the things we take for granted. We’ll miss your satiric thoughts, sharp tongue, and the fact that you could make us laugh our asses off.

 

“Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.” – George Carlin

 

 

For more information, check out the article on Yahoo! At:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/ap_on_en_tv/obit_george_carlin

 

For his movie credits, click on the link below:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0137506/