OBITUARY LINKS

I’d like to share some links that might be of interest to my regular Hollywood Obituary readers. Many of you may already be aware of the following Great Websites, but I’d like to put them out there for those who are unaware of them.

I have about 30 web sites I search each day for this column. Most of them are online Newspapers from around the world. The following links are to site for those who have an unexplainable interest (like me) in Obituaries.

LAST LINK ON THE LEFT: FINAL CREDITS: I just discovered this great site. Stuart Bayens puts a lot of love and effort into this new website. Stuart's mandate is that he is "reflecting lives that have contributed to modern culture." His work makes me want to improve my own writing. Check it out!

LIFE IN LEGACY formerly FAMOUS DEATHS: WEEK IN REVIEW: Life in Legacy is one of my personal favorites. Russ puts a large amount of time into this comprehensive site. Life in Legacy breaks each weeks obituaries into categories (Entertainment, Sports, Etc…). Russ includes as many pictures as he and his loyal fans can find. Just click on the picture and you are taken to a capsule Obit. Russ updates daily. A great site. I’m not just saying that because he shares photos with me.

GOOGLE: ALT: OBITS: is a message board with a large number of regular contributor. Not only will you find the latest Obits, but you will be treated to an amusing and often times enraging dialogue with an eclectic group of folks from all around the world.

DEAD PEOPLE SERVER: DPS has been around a long time. While DPS doesn’t include some of the more obscure Obits, the site does cover the most famous of those who’ve left this mortal coil.

DEAD ROCK STARS PAGE: Updated daily, the Dead Rock Stars page includes the famous and obscure in the world of music. A very comprehensive site.

VOYFORUMS: CELEBRITY OBIT PAGE: This too is a message board for those who are into Obits. There isn’t as large a number of posters at VOYFORUMS as at GOOGLE, but what they lack in numbers, they make up for in devotion, humor and insight.

SOMETHING TO PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE
March 9, 2006

Comedian Steve Bluestein has written me a few times concerning friends of his in the industry who have passed on. I have always appreciated his words. I was happy to hear from him today on a matter that did not relate to anyone dying! Mr. Bluestein sent me this link to his Blog. I'm not a Blog reader by habit. I don't have time between the obits, DVD reviews and my 'real job' as a public defender. Anyway, I clicked onto Steve's Blog and found myself laughing outloud. This is one man's life. Funny, tragic and very real. I very rarely put links on the website. I'm happy to add this one. Steve's Blog is called "Life Sucks. Why Not Share It?" Well, I'm sharing it with you. I thank Steve for sharing it with me. Maybe you will pass it along to someone you know who needs to laugh.

HOLLYWOOD OBITUARY EXPANSION NEWS
May 5, 2003

Hey to the readers of Hollywood Obituaries! Just a note to let you know that the Obituary column will be undergoing a little reorganization. The shear number of monthly links at the top of each page is becoming a bit overwhelming. I am going to divide the obituaries up by year. If you go to this month’s obituary column, you will find links to each of the pages for the last three years. Once the page is reorganized, there will be links to a new "Main Page" for 2001, 2002 and then the monthly links for this year. By clicking on the Year Links, you will be taken to a Main Page for each individual year, which will have quick links to the individual months. So, each month will have the links to all the months of the same year, and the Main Page links for other years.

The second change that is going to take place is even more ambitious. I have started working back in time using the monthly format. I started writing the Obituary column when Pauline Kael died in September of 2001. If you click on the "2001" link you will find obituaries for just a few individuals. Starting in January of 2002, I began to write a more comprehensive monthly compendium of Hollywood Obituaries. This weekend, I went back and wrote a similar column covering the month of December 2001. I hope to continue to continue to work backwards until someday, I end up in the column myself. (Not to soon, I hope!)

Thanks to the many people who have become regular readers of the Hollywood Obituary column. I have been greatly encouraged by the large number of unique visitors who read the columns each month. I’d write the column anyway, but it is nice to know that you folks are out there taking the time to read it. I hope that you find the past obituaries as interesting as the current ones. Please be patient as the format change takes place.

Thanks again for reading EI!
Rusty White

Remembering Fallen Heroes: 36 years ago tonight: Apollo 1 Jan. 27, 1967

36 years ago tonight, I sat in front of my TV set and listened as a newscaster told America that three America astronauts had been killed in a fire on the pad at Cape Kennedy. I was nine years old. I think that night marked the beginning of my fascination with obituaries. Like most boys growing up at that time, I idolized the US astronauts. They were real heroes to a generation. This was back in the day when you could name all of those who had flown in space. This was before the country was completely torn apart by Vietnam.

I remember crying that night. Astronaut Edward White was a favorite of mine. We shared the same last name. He also bore more than a passing resemblance to my own father. In my nine-year-old mind, I fantasized that America’s first space walker was a distant relative. "Gus" Grissom was another favorite. He hadn’t been the first American in space, but America’s second man in space had almost drown during the splash down and failed recovery of his Mercury Capsule, Liberty Bell 7. I admired the photos of a waterlogged "Gus" smiling under pressure. I thought he had to be the bravest man alive. I think I cried the most for the loss of Roger Chaffee. Chaffee died before he ever got to ride that powerful Saturn rocket aloft. I thought how sad for him to die before achieving his dream. I was only nine, so what did I know. Chaffee, along with White and Grissom had achieved his dream. He had become one of the few Americans up to that time to become astronauts.

I read as much as I could find about these guys in the days that followed. I never lost my admiration for our "spacemen." Those glory days have faded into the past, but for those of us who remember them, they will always live on. Edward White, Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Roger B. Chaffee may have nothing to do with "movies," but they have a lot to do with why I write this obituary column.

Why an Obituary Column?

The Hollywood cliché (and philosophy behind it!) "You’re as only good as your latest picture," has always irritated me to no end. How many great actors, writers, directors or producers have been given up for dead, only to resurrect themselves with a fresh work of art? I have always felt comfortable with an Eastern view of a person’s career. A career should be judged on the entire output, not just one phase, which didn’t seem to conform to current interests. I’m rambling on like this to try and explain why I began writing EI’s obituary column.

As a writer of fiction, I found reading obituary columns to be a wonderful source of ideas. All the great plots have been taken; life provides the muscle to fill in the plot. Most obits don’t do justice to their subject (mine included), but there are occasional snippets of individuality found in some. When my father died in 1997, I thought about what I would have written about him. Would I brag about his accomplishments as a newsman, legislator and judge? Or would I reveal his shortcomings as a father and a husband? He was human like the rest of us. He was a powerful muse in my life. I realized that I couldn’t capture his essence in a two-paragraph essay. Instead, I try and let his spirit live on through his influence on me.

I have been in love with the movies for as long as I can remember. Though I have been fortunate to meet and talk with some people within the industry, I never knew most of those filmmakers I admire. I never knew them outside the magical darkness of the theater. Still, they have played a part in shaping who I am, and how I feel and how I see the world. They have been my teachers, drinking buddies and objects of desire.

I was moved to start writing obits for EI on September 3, 2001. On that day, one of my most revered teachers died. Pauline Kael was able to capture her passion for film on paper like no other film critic who ever lived. I used to have many volumes of her work. I have given them all away to others that I wanted to share a love of movies with. I realized as 2002 started, that I was doing a disservice to many in the industry that passed on by only writing about more famous actors and directors. Film is collaborative art. It takes an army to help a Hitchcock or Kurosawa or Tarantino to achieve their vision. Starting January 1, 2002, I tried to include in my column, every person involved in the movie industry that I could find. What follows is in no way an all-inclusive list. Time and space are at a premium. I apologize for any omissions. I may write more about those artists who have enriched my life. I include those I know nothing about out of respect for their contribution to the art of cinema.