Tuesday, December 29, 2020

THOSE WE LOST IN 2020, continued, Part 2 of 3

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EDDIE VAN HALEN 


About: 

American musician and songwriter who was the main songwriter and guitarist of the American rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded in 1972 with his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, bassist Mark Stone, and singer David Lee Roth. He is regarded as one of the all-time greatest guitar players in rock history and was well known for popularising the tapping guitar solo technique, allowing rapid arpeggios to be played with two hands on the fretboard. 

See an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo featuring the above styles: 

Date of death: October 6, 2020 

Age at death: 65 

Cause of death: Cancer 
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DEAN JONES 


About: 

Australian cricket player, coach and commentator who played Tests and One Day Internationals for Australia. Jones had an excellent record in Test cricket and is best remembered for revolutionising the One Day Internationals format. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was recognised as among the best ODI batsmen in the world, a view which has been validated in the retrospective ICC Player Rankings. His batting was often characterised by his agile footwork against both pace and spin, quick running between wickets, and willingness to take risks and intimidate bowlers. 

After retiring in 1998, he continued to remain involved in cricket as a coach, commentator and writer for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. 

He was also a noted fundraiser for people with cancer. On 12 June 2006, in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, he was made a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for "service to cricket as a player, coach and commentator, and to the community through fundraising activities for organisations assisting people with cancer".[15] In 2007, Jones was named in Australia's "greatest ever ODI team." 

In 2019, Jones was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. 

Date of death: September 24.2020 

Age at death: 59 

Cause of death: stroke 
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RUTH BADER GINSBERG 


About: 

Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death on September 18, 2020. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton, replacing retiring justice Byron White, and at the time was generally viewed as a moderate consensus-builder. She eventually became part of the liberal wing of the Court as the Court shifted to the right over time. Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman and the second woman to serve on the Court, after Sandra Day O'Connor. 

She earned her bachelor's degree at Cornell University and married Martin D. Ginsburg, becoming a mother before starting law school at Harvard, where she was one of the few women in her class. Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School, where she graduated joint first in her class. During the early 1960s she worked with the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure, learned Swedish and co-authored a book with Swedish jurist Anders Bruzelius; her work in Sweden profoundly influenced her thinking on gender equality. She then became a professor at Rutgers Law School and Columbia Law School, teaching civil procedure as one of the few women in her field. 

Ginsburg spent much of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and women's rights, winning many arguments before the Supreme Court. She advocated as a volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union and was a member of its board of directors and one of its general counsel in the 1970s. Ginsburg received attention in American popular culture for her passionate dissents in numerous cases, widely seen as reflecting paradigmatically liberal views of the law. She was dubbed "The Notorious R.B.G.", and she later embraced the nickname. 

Given the proximity of her death on September 2020 to the 2020 election and Ginsburg's wish for her replacement not to be chosen "until a new president is installed", the decision for President Trump to appoint and all but one of the Republican Senators to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as her replacement proved controversial after the Senate Republican majority's prior refusal to hold a hearing or vote for Merrick Garland in early 2016 under Barack Obama after the death of Antonin Scalia. 

Date of death: September 18, 2020 

Age at death: 87 

Cause of death: Complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer. 

By the way, it is possible to buy Ruth Bader Ginsberg merchandise: 





The Notorious R.B.G, a play on the stage name of US rapper The Notorious B.I.G 
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HELEN REDDY 


About: 

Australian-American singer, songwriter, author, actress, and activist. Reddy won a contest on the television program Bandstand in 1966, her prize being a ticket to New York City and a record audition, which was unsuccessful. She pursued her international singing career by moving to Chicago, and subsequently, Los Angeles. During the 1970s, Reddy enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed 15 singles on the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six made the top 10 and three reached number one, including her signature hit "I Am Woman". She retired from live performance in 2002, returned to university in Australia, earned a degree, and practised as a clinical hypnotherapist and motivational speaker. 

Reddy's song "I Am Woman" played a significant role in popular culture, becoming an anthem for second-wave feminism. She came to be known as a "feminist poster girl" or a "feminist icon". 

Date of death: September 29, 2020 

Age at death: 78 

Cause of death: Helen Reddy suffered from Addison’s disease and dementia in her later years but no cause of death given 
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DIANA RIGG 


About: 

English stage and screen actress whose notable roles included Emma Peel in the TV series The Avengers (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969); and Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones (2013–2017). 

Date of death: September 10, 2020 

Age at death: 82 

Cause of death: Cancer 
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CHADWICK BOSEMAN 


About: 

American actor who has portrayed Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall in biographical films. Boseman achieved international fame for playing superhero Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from 2016 to 2019. As the first black actor to headline an MCU film, Boseman was also named to the 2018 Time 100. In 2020, he starred in Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods. His final film, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, was released posthumously, and won him widespread critical acclaim. In 2016, Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer. Boseman kept his condition private, continuing to act while receiving treatment. He died in 2020 from complications related to the illness. 

Date of death: 28 August 2020 

Age at death: 43 

Cause of death: Colon cancer 
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BEN CROSS 


About: 

English stage and film actor, best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire and as the fictional ambassador Sarek in the 2009 film Star Trek. 

Date of death: August 18, 2020 

Age at death: 72 

Cause of death: Cancer 
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ROBERT TRUMP 


About: 

American real estate developer and business executive, the younger brother of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. In a written statement, Donald Trump said, "He was not just my brother, he was my best friend." A funeral service was held for Robert Trump in the East Room attended by 150 guests. This was the first time in almost a century that a president had held a funeral in the East Room. White House officials stated that all expenses would be privately paid by President Trump. 

Date of death: August 15, 1971 

Age at death: 71 

Cause of death: Not disclosed. 
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OLIVIA DE HAVILAND 



About: 

British-American actress whose major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. She was one of the last major surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema and the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner until her death in July 2020. Her younger sister was the actress Joan Fontaine. 

De Havilland first came to prominence with Errol Flynn as a screen couple in adventure films such as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). One of her best-known roles is that of Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), for which she received her first of five Oscar nominations, the only one for Best Supporting Actress. She received Oscars as Best Actress for To Each His Own and The Heiress. She was also successful in work on stage and television. 

In addition to her film career, de Havilland continued her work in the theatre, appearing three times on Broadway, and also worked in television. 

She and her sister remain the only siblings to have won major acting Academy Awards and the only sisters to have won any Academy Awards. 

Date of death: July 26, 2020 

Age at death: 104 

Cause of death: Natural causes. 
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JOHN SAXON 



About: 

American actor who worked on more than 200 projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playing police officers and detectives. In addition to his roles in horror films, Saxon co-starred with Bruce Lee in the martial arts film Enter the Dragon (1973). 

Date of death: July 25, 2020 

Age at death: 83 

Cause of death: Pneumonia. 
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PETER GREEN 



About: 

English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green's songs, such as "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman", "Oh Well", "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" and "Man of the World", appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians. Green was a major figure in the "second great epoch" of the British blues movement. Eric Clapton praised his guitar playing, and B.B. King commented, "He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats." 

Date of death: July 25, 2020 

Age at death: 73 

Cause of death: Not disclosed 
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REGIS PHILBIN 


About: 

American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, actor and singer. Once called "the hardest working man in show business", he holds the Guinness World Record for the most hours on U.S. television. 

He got his first network TV exposure in 1967 as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show. He is most widely known as the co-host of the New York City-based nationally syndicated talk show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, starting in 1988, which became Live! with Regis and Kelly in 2001, and continued as Live! with Kelly after Philbin's departure in 2011. Philbin debuted and hosted the US version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Million Dollar Password, and the first season of America's Got Talent. 

Date of death: July 24.2020 

Age at death: 88 

Cause of death: heart attack 
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JOHN LEWIS 



About: 

American politician and civil rights activist and leader who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. 

Lewis was one of the "Big Six" leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington. He fulfilled many key roles in the civil rights movement and its actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States. In 1965, Lewis led the first of three Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In an incident which became known as Bloody Sunday, state troopers and police attacked the marchers, including John Lewis. 

John Lewis received many honorary degrees and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

The Edmund Pettus Bridge is named after Edmund Winston Pettus, a lawyer, judge, Confederate brigadier general, state-level leader ("Grand Dragon") of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan, and U.S. senator. Because of Pettus' role in supporting slavery and racism in the United States, there have been efforts to rename the bridge, including one to name it after John Lewis, support for whioch increased after Lewis’s death. Lewis had voiced opposition to changing the name of the bridge before his death. 

The casket containing the body of John Lewis, accompanied by a military honour guard, crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma where, in 1965, marchers seeking the right to vote were attacked by state troopers, dogs and tear gas.  Lewis was brutally assaulted by Alabama state troopers, fracturing his skull.

 

John Lewis, third from left, walks with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as they begin the Selma to Montgomery march from Brown's Chapel Church in Selma on March 21, 1965. 

 

President Barack Obama listens to Rep. John Lewis as they walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma for the 50th anniversary of the landmark event on March 7, 2015.

Date of death: July 17, 2020 

Age at death: 80 

Cause of death: Pancreatic cancer 
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GRANT IMAHARA 



About: 

American electrical engineer, roboticist, television host, and actor, best known for his work on the television series MythBusters, on which he designed and built numerous robots and specialized in operating computers and electronics to test myths. Imahara began his career at Lucasfilm, where he worked in the THX division as an engineer and in the Industrial Light & Magic division in visual effects. His work has been featured in films from franchises such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, and Terminator. His first foray into television was on the robot combat series BattleBots, for which he designed and competed with his robot Deadblow and later returned as a judge. In 2005, Imahara joined the cast of Mythbusters as a member of the Build Team, appearing in over 200 episodes of the series until his departure in 2014. 

Date of death: July 13, 2020 

Age at death: 49 

Cause of death: Ruptured intracranial aneurysm 
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