Sunday, November 25, 2012

Three for the reaper

Hollywood is mourning the loss of two talented performers, and the sports world is saying goodbye to a boxing icon of the 80's.

Boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho passed on Saturday at 50 after his family took him off life support, days after Camacho had been shot in the head in a robbery attempt. Camacho's last fight was 2 years ago, but his glory years were in the 80's, when he fought the likes of Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, Roberto Duran, & Olympic hero "Sugar" Ray Leonard.

Actress & businesswoman Deborah Raffin left us more than a week ago at 59. What most of you don't know is that Raffin was a pioneer in the development of the audio book industry, in addition to be an unsung performer in movies.

Finally, TV icon Larry Hagman lost his battle with cancer on Friday at 81. Hagman is best remembered for 2 iconic roles. First, as astronaut Anthony Nelson on I Dream of Jeannie (1965-70) and corrupt oilman J. R. Ewing on Dallas (1979-91, 2012-present), which once and for all redefined Hagman as an actor, casting aside the image he'd created on Jeannie. In between, Hagman & Donna Mills co-starred in the short-lived 1971 sitcom, The Good Life, which didn't even finish out its lone season. Mills would reunite with Hagman on Dallas near the end of its original run after the passing of co-star Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie).

Rest in peace.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

Sorry to hear about the losses, but Camacho dug his own grave. It was a drug deal gone bad.

Raffin was definitely an underrated actress. At least she was smart enough to be a part of the books on tape industry.

I never watched "Dallas" (except for the episode featuring Hagman getting the It's a Wonderful Life" treatment) and I certainly didn't bother with the current show. I'm curious how they will have JR "pass on" and what the fall out will be.

hobbyfan said...

Well, season 2 of the revival begins soon, so we'll get our answer then on "Dallas", though I personally don't give a rat's butt. Never did dig nighttime soaps.