Obituary News

Swedish Jazz Musician Arne Domnerus Dies at 83

Source: All About Jazz
September 3, 2008

STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Arne Domnerus, one of Sweden's most influential jazz musicians, has died. He was 83. The alto saxophonist and orchestra leader died Tuesday morning after a long period of illness, his son, Leif Domnerus, told The Associated Press. He said Domnerus had heart surgery last year, after which he suffered pneumonia and a brain hemorrhage. Born outside Stockholm in 1924, Domnerus started his first professional orchestra in the 1940's. He played with jazz greats such as Charlie Parker, Clark ...

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Bill Melendez Animator and Voice of Snoopy Passes

Source: Michael Ricci
September 3, 2008

The Emmy-winning animator's career extended for nearly seven decades. He's best known for bringing Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and the rest of the comic strip to TV and the big screen.

Animator, director and producer Jose Cuautemoc “Bill" Melendez, whose television programs and theatrical films featuring Charles Schulz's “Peanuts" characters earned four Emmy Awards, an Oscar nomination and two Peabody Awards, died Tuesday at St. John's hospital in Santa Monica, according to publicist Amy Goldsmith. He was 91.

Melendez's career ...

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Jerry Reed Country Singer Appeared in 'Smokey and the Bandit' Films

Source: Michael Ricci
September 3, 2008

Jerry Reed, whose roles in three Smokey and the Bandit Southern comedy films opposite Burt Reynolds often overshadowed his gifts as a prolific country singer-songwriter and virtuoso guitarist>

Reed died Monday at his home outside Nashville of complications from emphysema. He was 71. “He was still recording right up until he couldn't any more," his booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, who is not related, said Tuesday. “He had been ill for some time."

Reed gained widespread fame as Reynolds' wisecracking foil ...

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Don Lafontaine Thunder Throat the Trailer King

Source: Michael Ricci
September 3, 2008

Don LaFontaine, the highly sought-after voice-over artist whose sonorous-voiced narration on several thousand movie trailers earned him the title of “The Trailer King," has died. He was 68.

LaFontaine, who also did voice-over work on countless radio and network television promotional spots and commercials, died Monday of complications after treatment for an illness at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family said. The illness was not specified.

He was known as “Thunder Throat," “The Voice of God" and “the ...

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Clea Bradford, 67; Jazz Singer Was Known for Her Versatility

Source: All About Jazz
September 3, 2008

Clea Bradford, 67, a versatile jazz singer who toured the Soviet Union with Earl “Fatha" Hines and recorded with Clark Terry in the 1960s, died Aug. 19 of complications from breast cancer at Holy Cross Hospital. She lived in Silver Spring. Ms. Bradford, who settled into a second career as a voice coach in the Washington area after two decades of touring, was not a big star but a “huge twinkle," as she once joked to The Washington Post, and ...

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Singer-Actor Jerry Reed Dies at the Age of 71

Source: All About Jazz
September 2, 2008

Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol' boy actor in car chase movies like “Smokey and the Bandit," has died of complications from emphysema at 71. His longtime booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, no relation to the star, said Reed died early Monday. “He's one of the greatest entertainers in the world. That's the way I feel about him," Moore-Reed said. Sony BMG Nashville Chairman Joe Galante called Reed a larger-than-life personality. “Everything about Jerry was distinctive: his guitar ...

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Don Lafontaine King of Voiceovers and Movie Trailers Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
September 2, 2008

The “King of Voiceovers" died Monday in Los Angeles at age 68. Don LaFontaine, whose voice was on nearly 5,000 movie trailers, died Monday afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

As the originator of the movie trailer catch-phrase, “In a world where," LaFontaine dominated the voiceover industry. He made more than 5,000 trailers in his 33-year career while working for the top studios and television networks.

We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to. ...

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The Replacements Drummer Steve Foley Dead at 49

Source: All About Jazz
August 27, 2008

Drummer Steve Foley, who played drums on the Replacements' final All Shook Down tour, died last weekend in Minneapolis after accidentally overdosing on prescription medicine. He was 49.

Foley was recruited to join the Replacements after original drummer Chris Mars left following the All Shook Down sessions. Foley joined the band after meeting Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson in a bar and offered them a ride. When they got in the car, they noticed a copy of All Shook Down, ...

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