Three for the reaper

Death was pretty busy this weekend.

On Sunday, comedian-actor Rip Taylor passed away at 84. Best known for tossing confetti into the audience as he made his way on stage for his act, Taylor also made the usual rounds of talk & game shows.

In the late 70's, Chuck Barris took a chance, and installed Taylor as the host of The $1.98 Beauty Show, a parody of beauty pageants and talent contests, the latter of which Barris had already skewered with The Gong Show. Prior to that, Taylor joined the cast of Sid & Marty Krofft's Sigmund & The Sea Monsters.

Here, though, is a shorter version of Taylor's act, from Late Night With David Letterman, circa 1987, when Dave took the show on the road to Las Vegas:



Ginger Baker has been hailed as one of the greatest drummers in rock history. He, along with Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, formed Cream in the mid-60's. Baker passed away earlier this weekend.

From The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, here's "Sunshine of Your Love":



Finally, actress-singer Diahann Carroll had passed away at the end of last week. 51 years earlier, Carroll was cast in NBC's Julia. The network hoped she would do for sitcoms what Bill Cosby did for dramas with I Spy, which had ended its run. Julia, however, would last just a couple of seasons.

Carroll would return in a prominent role in the original Dynasty in the 80's.

From season 1 of Julia, here's a sample episode with guest Susan Olsen, one year before The Brady Bunch:



Rest in peace.