Mar
11th
2016
Deathblog: Week of 3/5-3/11/2016 · 9:30pm Mar 11th, 2016
Let's get the big one out of the way first, folks:
Nancy Reagan.
Mrs. Reagan was a national treasure. I can't even begin to list all the wonderful things Mrs. Reagan has done for America and the world. She was a wonderful human being, and she will truly be missed.
Other noteworthy deaths in the past week:
- Sir George Martin, the "Fifth Beatle".
- Paul Ryan, 66, American comic artist (Fantastic Four, Superman, Iron Man).
As usual, check Wikipedia for a complete list of 2016 deaths to date.
George Martin was also a composer for a James Bond film, "Live and Let Die". Interestingly enough, the title song of that film was composed by former Beatle Sir. Paul McCartney, back when he was part of "Paul McCartney and The Wings". Martin was among the many one shot composers during the Roger Moore era (another iconic one-shot composer from this era was Bill Conti, who composed the score for "For Your Eyes Only").
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Speaking of Bond movies, I see that Sir Ken Adam also died yesterday at age 95. He designed sets for Goldfinger, Thunderball, You only Live Twice, Diamonds are Forever, and my all time favorite bad guy lair, the supertanker from The Spy Who Loved Me. He also worked on Dr. Strangelove and was originally born and raised in Germany as Klaus Hugo Adam. He watched the Reichstag burn in 1933 and immigrated to Britain with his family the following year when his father's hat shop went belly up. During WWII, Adam joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve and became one of only three German-born pilots to serve. He flew ground support missions in Normandy as a pilot of a Hawker Typhoon and was known to his comrades as "Heinie the Tank Buster".
3803605 So many great talents from one of the longest running film franchises, yet to date not one of the lead actors has kicked the bucket. Could this be the year that Sir Sean Connery or Sir Roger Moore finally do?