‘All in the Family’s’ Edith Bunker … Jean Stapleton Dies at Age 90 … Edith and Archie Bunker Reunited in Heaven, Rest in Peace

Edith Bunker dead at age 90.

Emmy award winning actress Jean Stapleton, who is best known for her role as Archie Bunker’s wife Edith in the long-running 1970′s television series “All in the Family,” died Friday at her New York City home at the age of  90. According to reports she died of natural causes. She is survived by her son, John Putch, and her daughter, television producer Pamela Putch. Her husband, William Putch, died in 1983.

How very, very sad. How I loved ‘All in the Family’. Carol O’Conner and Jean Stapleton were a perfect match. Stapleton appeared in “All In The Family,” one of the greatest comedy shows of all time, from 1971 to 1979.  Although Jean Stapleton, Edith Bunker, played the submission wife to Archie who was constantly told to “stifle” and called a “ding-bat,” her heart was huge and her submissive, not so bright nature was only to a point. Her rye sense of humor was fantastic. However, there was an unselfish love between Edith and Archie, where she could see more in him than just a loud mouth bigot. The Normal Lear comedy was ground breaking an spun off other great shows like ‘The Jefferson’s’ and ‘Maud”. Carol O’Conner passed away on June 21, 2001.

Those were the days … they certainly were.

All in the Family Theme song - the late Carol O’Conner and Jean Stapleton

From the LA Times:

She had been a veteran of stage, film and television when she was cast in the CBS sitcom opposite Carroll O’Connor’s loud-mouthed, bigoted Archie Bunker, who often addressed her as “dingbat.” She won three Emmys for the role.

“The benign, compassionate presence she developed made my egregious churl bearable,” O’Connor wrote of Stapleton in his 1998 autobiography. He died in 2001.

Born in New York City on Jan. 19, 1923, Stapleton was the daughter of a billboard advertising salesman and an opera singer.

Source: IMDb

NY Times Obit:

Jeanne Murray was born in Manhattan on Jan. 19, 1923. Her father, Joseph, was an advertising salesman; her mother, Marie Stapleton, was a concert and opera singer, and music was very much a part of her young life. Young Jeanne was a singer as well, which might be surprising to those who knew Ms. Stapleton only from “All in the Family,” which opened every week with Edith and Archie singing the song “Those Were the Days.” Ms. Stapleton’s screechy half of the duet was all Edith; the actress herself had a long history of charming musical performances. She was in the original casts of “Bells Are Ringing” and “Damn Yankees” on Broadway in the 1950s, and “Funny Girl,” with Barbra Streisand, in the 1960s, in which she sang “If a Girl Isn’t Pretty” and “Find Yourself a Man.” Off Broadway in 1991, she played Julia Child, singing the recipe for chocolate cake in the mini-musical “Bon Appétit.” On television, she sang with the Muppets.

“All in the Family” was Ms. Stapleton’s first television series, but before that she appeared as a guest on several shows, including “Dr. Kildare,” with Richard Chamberlain, “My Three Sons,” “Car 54, Where Are You?” and the courtroom drama “The Defenders,” starring E.G. Marshall, in which she played the owner of a boarding house who accused one of her tenants — played by Mr. O’Connor — of murder.

UPDATE I: Ann Althouse has a fantastic, must see VIDEO of an interview with Jean Stapleton from 2000. Stapleton talks about her entire career, including the first time she met Carol O’Conner and her later role as Edith Bunker providing zingers at  Archie. that broke his “hot air” and “burst his bubble”.

Five Tornadoes Tear Through Oklahoma City Area … 12 Tornadoes hit Midwest, Missouri, Illinois & St. Louis Area

Series of tornadoes tear through Oklahoma city area killing 5 people and injuring many. The twisters turned the area in to a ‘war zone’.  A total of 12 tornadoes hit the Midwest including, Missouri and Illinois around St. Louis, where numerous homes were damaged. The storm brought heavy winds, rain, death and destruction.

Union City, Oklahoma (CNN):

The scale of the destruction wrought by five tornadoes that plowed through the Oklahoma City area became apparent in the light of day Saturday.

Friday evening’s twisters killed at least five people and injured scores more, less than two weeks after a monstrous tornado made rubble of the town of Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City.

“There’s just no rest,” said city spokeswoman Kristy Yager.

In all, 17 tornadoes were reported in the Midwest. The number was expected to change when officials conduct storm surveys, said Kurt Van Speybroeck, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service

More from News 9 in Oklahoma.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dawn revealed the destruction of a deadly swarm of twisters that struck shell-shocked Oklahoma late Friday amid new fears about “life-threatening” flash floods.

Five tornadoes — one a half-mile wide — ripped into the Oklahoma City area Friday evening, killing a mother, her baby and at least three other people.

All five people killed were in vehicles and may have been trying to flee as dark clouds gathered and warning sirens wailed, authorities said.

tornado touch down in El Reno, Oklahoma

‘Til Death Do Us Part … Pennsylvania Bride Na Cola Franklin Found Guilty of Murder for Stabbing Her Fiancé Dead Just Hours Before Wedding

Damn, talk about taking the wedding vows, “til death do us part” a bit too seriously. Although, it never even got to that as death occurred mere hours before the wedding.

Oh those dreaded bachelor parties. 32 year old Pennsylvania bride  Na Cola Franklin was found guilty Thursday by an Allentown, PA jury of killing her fiancé, 36 year old Billy Brewster, on the day of their wedding. The jury found Na Cola Franklin guilty in the death of her fiancé after deliberating about three hours in Lehigh County Court. Franklin will be sentenced on July 16, where she could get life in prison. Franklin was claiming self defense. Hmm, think we have heard that one before in the Arias trial.  Franklin’s attorney said an appeal is likely. What’s he going to appeal, that Jodi Arias stabbed her ex-boyfriend many more times than she did her fiancé?

It was supposed to be her special day.

But a bride-to-be who stabbed her fiancé in the heart just hours before they walked down the aisle has now been convicted of his murder.

Na Cola Franklin, 32, was found guilty on Thursday by a jury in Allentown, Pa. of fatally plunging the blade into 36-year-old Billy Brewster’s chest.

The couple were arguing at 2 a.m. on the day of their nuptials — Aug. 11, 2012 — after Brewster returned to their Whitehall Township apartment drunk.

He’d been out for an impromptu bachelor party.

GOOD GRIEF … Wedding Bells for Joran Van der Sloot, To Be Married in Two Weeks While Serving for Murder of Stephany Flores at Piedras Gordas Prison (Still Waiting Extortion Charges in US in Connection with Death of Natalee Holloway) … Unlucky Bride Leidy Figueroa

ARE YOU JOKING … JORAN VAN DER SLOOT TO BE MARRIED?

As reported at Ad.nl, Joran Van der Sloot is to be married within two weeks. Yes that Joran Van der Sloot who is currently serving 28 years in Piedras Gordas  prison in Peru for the murder of Stephany Flores and the same “Sporter” who should have already been in prison for the death and disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba. The unlucky or insane to be bride is reports as Leidy Figueroa. I am sure her parents are so proud. But of course Joran Van der Sloot is marrying out of love. NOT!!! So why would Joran Van der Sloot marry a Peruvian woman? It can’t be for the conjugal visits, one does not have to be married to do such. Could it be to become a Peruvian citizen through marriage? However, I am not sure why this would matter for Van der Sloot seeing that both Peru and the Netherlands have extradition treaties with the United States. At some point Van der Sloot is going to be extradited to the United States and an Alabama courtroom to face extortion charges he perpetrate against Beth Holloway in the death of her daughter, Natalee Holloway.

We have heard these rumors before, looks like this time it might just be true. Where is the couple registered at, Murderers ‘R Us?

Pic – Relatie.nl

Of course the timing of this has nothing to do with the fact that Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen from Mountainbrook, went missing in Aruba on May 30, 2005.

Rough translation of AD.nl article via Google below:

According to Maximo Altez, the lawyer of Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch convicted murderer, serving a sentence of 28-year sentence in a Peruvian cell, to get married. “Joran is currently busy with the preparations,” said the counsel against Heart of the Netherlands.

Altez expects the consent is issued within two weeks before the wedding but says that there is a lot of paperwork for a wedding in the Piedras Gordas prison is needed. The ‘happy’ is Joran Peruvian fiancé Leidy Figueroa.

Marry for love The marriage would be ‘out of love’ were born, and are not intended to prevent. Possible extradition to the United States “Being married does not change his situation,” says the lawyer. Van der Sloot in America must stand trial for the extortion of the mother of the disappeared in Aruba American Natalee Holloway.

Joran, brought in connection since her disappearance in 2005, Holloway her mother would have kept wanting to tell where her daughter is buried fee. Van der Sloot only part of the requested money in hands, and had traveled to South America.

In Peru he murdered in his hotel room, the student Stephany Flores. He fled to Chile, but was arrested and sentenced in Peru. Marrying a Peruvian, Van der Sloot, according to local media, provide the Peruvian nationality. That fact would complicate extradition to the U.S..

UPDATE I: May 31, 2013 … MSM finally reports that Joran Van der Sloot engaged and too be married. Hmm, only six days late to the game.

Convicted killer Joran van der Sloot has announced that he is ready to tie the knot.

Maximo Altez, van der Sloot’s attorney, has confirmed that his client is engaged to a Peruvian woman named Leydi Figueroa Uceda. She’s the same woman that van der Sloot was dating in October of 2012. The couple reportedly met through an inmate. In late 2012, Uceda was rumored to have been pregnant with van der Sloot’s child, but the news was never confirmed.

Altez says that the couple is working on getting some final paperwork processed so the marriage can take place. He adds that he expects the union to happen in the next two weeks.

UPDATE II: Joran Van der Sloot plans to get married next month in the Peruvian prison where he’s serving time for murder, his lawyer told ABC News Friday. Told ABC News? Why didn’t ABC News just do a simple Google search and they would have learned from Dutch publications that the “Sporter” was getting married?

Maximo Altez, van der Sloot’s lawyer, said the 25-year-old will marry girlfriend Leydi Figueroa Uceda sometime in June. The two met in 2011 when Figueroa was visiting another inmate at the prison where van der Sloot was being held before his trial, ABC News reported. In October, Altez denied reports that Figueroa was pregnant with van der Sloot’s child.

For much, much more on Natalee Holloway and the disgusting exploits of Joran Van der Sloot, go to Scared Monkeys Missing Persons: Natalee Holloway.

British Soldier Beheaded In London By Terrorist Attackers Who Shouted “Allahu Akhbar” … “You people will never be safe.”

Terrorism comes to the streets of London …

An individual thought to be a British soldier was savagely killed in the streets of SE London. First, he was intentionally run down by two radial Islamists in their car. Then, two attackers hacked him to death with knives and meat cleavers, attempting to behead their victim in the name of Allah. After these two Islamic savages murdered the off-duty soldier, demanding that witnesses tape them as they spewed their fanatic Muslim rants … “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone.” As the two men stabbed their victim to death they yelled, “Allahu Akhbar”. The Islamist also went on to say, “You people will never be safe.”  I hope there is no questioning as to whether this was an act of terrorism.

They first hit the man, thought to be a British soldier, with a car in broad daylight. Then the two attackers hacked him to death and dumped his body in the middle of a southeastern London road.

As the victim — dressed in what appeared to be a T-shirt for Help for Heroes, a charity that helps military veterans — lay prone, one of the two attackers found a camera.

“We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone,” said a meat-cleaver-wielding man with bloody hands, speaking in what seems to be a London accent.

“The only reasons we killed this man … is because Muslims are dying daily,” he added, in video aired by CNN affiliate ITN. “This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth.”

 WARNING - Graphic Violence

From the UK Daily Mail - Blood on his hands, hatred in his eyes. Many, many pictures of the unspeakable attack.

• Two men repeatedly stab and try to behead off-duty soldier in SE London
• During attack they shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ and told witnesses to film them
• Charged at police officers with rusty revolver, knives and meat cleavers
• Killing took place 200 yards from barracks and close to primary school
• Both men placed under arrest after being treated for gunshot wounds
• PM: Killing is ‘sickening’ and Britain will ‘never buckle’ in face of terror

Another VIDEO from CNN that shows the British police taking down these terrorist savages

Warning: Graphic violence

UPDATE I: Woolwich machete attack leaves man dead.

The Met Police said a murder inquiry was being led by its Counter Terrorism Command. Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK would “never buckle” in the face of terror attacks.

Footage has emerged showing a man wielding a bloodied meat cleaver and making political statements.

Police confirmed two men had been arrested in connection with the murder.

One Child Dead, Two Injured and One Missing after Landslide at Lilydale Regional Park in St. Paul, MN (Update: 10 Year Old Mohamed Fofana’s Body ID’d)

TRAGEDY DURING 4TH GRADE FIELD TRIP …

A landslide at Lilydale Regional Park in St. Paul, MN has left one child dead, two children injured and one child missing. The incident occurred as a group of 4th grade children from the Peter Hobart Elementary School were on a field trip at the the Lilydale Regional Park. As reported at CBS-WCCO, the kids were exploring a hillside in the park when the ground gave way due to the recent rains. The slide created a sinkhole, which quickly filled with water. Police said the two injured children were taken to Regions Hospital. The search for the fourth child was suspended due to dangerous conditions as light rain fell throughout the afternoon. Sadly, the search effort for the missing child is now being described as a recovery effort.

VIDEO

A fourth-grade field trip to a Mississippi River park popular with fossil hunters turned deadly Wednesday when gravel saturated by persistent rain gave way, killing one child and injuring two others. A fourth child was missing.

The landslide at Lilydale Regional Park swept over a group of children from Peter Hobart Elementary School in St. Louis Park, burying one to the waist and completely burying another, Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said.

Another child suffered minor injuries in the landslide, which happened about 1:15 p.m. The three children were taken to Regions Hospital, and one died, Zaccard said.

A search for the fourth child was suspended due to dangerous conditions as light rain fell throughout the afternoon. Zaccard described that search as a recovery effort.

UPDATE I: Body of missing student recovered from Minn. park.

Search crews recovered the body of a missing fourth grader Thursday, a day after a gravel slide at a St. Paul park.

The child, identified by family members as 10-year-old Mohamed Fofana, was among four youngsters from a St. Louis Park, Minn., elementary school who plunged off a 30-foot bluff at Lilydale Regional Park after the ground gave way during a school field trip Wednesday.

On Wednesday, officials found the body of 9-year-old Haysem Sani. Two other students from Peter Hobart Elementary School were injured in the slide. One boy is recovering at home, while the other is hospitalized in serious condition.

Man Shot Dead (Ibragim Todashev) by FBI agent Reportedly Knew Boston Bombing Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev

Man shot and killed over night may have had connection to Boston bombing suspects …

FOX News is reporting that a man was shot dead by an FBI agent early Wednesday morning in Orlando, Florida who supposedly was connected with the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.  The Orlando Sentinel reports, FBI officials have confirmed that a man died while one of its agents was “conducting official duties.” WESH is reporting special agent was interviewing the suspect regarding his connections to bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and other extremists. The shooting happened overnight in the Windhover apartment complex off Peregrine Avenue near Kirkman and Vineland roads.

Orange County Jail – Ibragim Todashev

A man who was shot dead by an FBI agent late Tuesday night in Orlando knew one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings, a man identified as friend of the victim said Wednesday.

The agent encountered the man while conducting official duties, agent Dave Couvertier said in a statement.

A man at the scene on Peregrine Avenue near Kirkman and Vineland roads who identified himself as a friend of the victim said the man knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother suspected in the April 15 bombings that killed three and injured more than 260.

Khusen Taramov said he and his friend had no connection with the Boston bombings, but the FBI had been questioning them since then.

“He used to talk on the phone with him [Tsarnaev],” Taramov said of his friend. “They talked last time a month ago. After the bombing, I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

VIDEO – The Washington Free Beacon

NICOLE PESECKY : I’m Nicole Pesecky live in Orlando following breaking news in an FBI related shooting that happened here at this apartment complex early this morning. We do just have new information from the FBI. Confirming that the suspect killed here was someone they were looking at in connection with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, based on contact that they, that he had. They say it is possible that when he tried to leave to go back home from Chechnya, which is where his friends say he is from. He possibly found himself on the no-fly list and had to return home, and he may have been angry because of that. His friends tell me that flight was booked for yesterday and he did cancel that flight and wasn’t able to return home to Chechnya to visit yesterday. (more)

Orlando Sentinel: Friend: Orlando man killed by FBI agent was questioned in Boston Marathon bombings.

That man, Khusn Taramiv, thinks it was his friend — Ibragim Todashev — who was shot this morning in the 6000 block of Peregrine Avenue in Orlando.

Todashev, 27, was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on May 4 and charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm

Taramiv told several television outlets his friend was being investigated as part of the Boston bombings and knew bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev because both were mixed martial-arts fighters.

WESH: Orlando man killed by FBI had ties to Boston Marathon bombing suspect, NBC News confirms: Man knew Boston bombing suspect, friend says.

A friend of the suspect, Khusn Taramiv, said his friend, 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev, was being investigated as part of the Boston bombings and knew Tsarnaev because both were MMA fighters.

Taramiv claims he and Todashev were interviewed by the FBI for nearly three hours on Tuesday.

“(The FBI) took me and my friend, the suspect that got killed. They were talking to us, both of us, right? And they said they need him for a little more, for a couple more hours, and I left, and they told me they’re going to bring him back. They never brought him back,” Taramiv said.

CBS News:

Miller reported that FBI agents went to Todashev’s apartment complex after midnight Wednesday morning to question him. Todashev had been on the bureau’s radar since Tsarnaev was identified as a suspect in the bombing.

“He had been interviewed along with a number of other people in the apartment complex, but the interest in him was higher because of a couple of factors: He was in contact with Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He had been to Boston to visit him, and he was planning a trip to Chechnya,” Miller said.

FBI agents went to question him overnight after there were indications that he canceled that trip, Miller said.

“In the encounter in the apartment, something went wrong,” Miller said.

20 Year Old Kyle Dube Charged with Murder in the Death of Missing Nichole Cable … Nichole’s Body Found in Wooded Area Monday Night in Old Town, ME (Update: Died from Asphyxiation)

REST IN PEACE NICHOLE CABLE

20 year old Kyle Dube of Orono, ME was charged with the murder in the death of 15 year old  Nichole Cable of Glenburn, Maine. The teen’s body was found at 9:30 pm Monday night by a Maine Game Warden working with a search dog in a wooded area near the Stillwater River in Old Town, Maine. The site was secured for the night and the recovery of the remains began at daylight Tuesday morning.  Nichole Cable went missing on Sunday, May, 15, Mothers Day. She had not been heard from or seen since.

 Kyle Dube

On Tuesday, police confirmed that the body found in the woods near the east shore of the Stillwater River in Old Town, ME near the intersection of Routes 43 and 16 was that of missing  Nichole Cable. Kyle Dube had previously  been in custody at the Penobscot County Jail since May 17, when he turned himself in to begin serving a 90-day sentence on charges stemming from a high-speed chase during which the motorcycle he was driving crashed. Dube is expected to appear in court on the murder charge at the Penobscot County Judicial Center at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

In a news release issued late Monday, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said a body was found by the Maine Warden Service and that the state medical examiner’s office would make a positive identification on Tuesday.

The remains were found about 9:30 p.m. and the site was secured for the night. The recovery of the remains began at daylight Tuesday.

FACEBOOK – Kyle Dube.

From the Portland Press Herald. Kyle Dube had wanted to see Cable before he started serving jail time for a traffic offense. Of course the obvious question needs to be asked, what is a 15 year old girl hanging out with a 20 year old guy?

A friend of Cable’s, Tyler Ann Harris, a sophomore at Old Town High School, said Cable and Dube had been friends and that she’d been planning to meet him shortly before her disappearance. Dube had wanted to see Cable before he started serving jail time for a traffic offense, Harris said.

Harris described Cable as a very friendly girl.

UPDATE I: 15 year old Nichole Cable died from asphyxiation.

Maine’s medical examiner says a 15-year-old girl police believe was lured to her death by a man using a phony Facebook profile died from asphyxiation.

The official cause of Nichole Cable’s death was given Thursday as “asphyxia due to compression of the neck.” Authorities haven’t elaborated.

Monsterous Tornado Hits Oklahoma City Suburbs, Neighborhoods in Moore, OK Devastated, Many Injured and Dead (Update: 24 Children Believed Dead in School)

Devastation, Disaster and Death as massive tornado hits Oklahoma …

The National Weather Service issued an initial finding that the tornado was an EF-4. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin deployed 80 National Guard members to assist with search-and-rescue operations and activated extra highway patrol officers. Neighborhoods were completely flattened. Oh dear God, an Elementary School was destroyed and it is believed that 24 children have died.

UPDATE I: Rescue workers raced against time and the oncoming night Monday looking for survivors after a powerful tornado blasted an area outside of Oklahoma City, leveling homes and killing at least 37 people.

UPDATE II: Efforts switch to recovery at Moore, Okla. elementary school. Sadly, the rescue efforts have turned to a recovery.

CBS News, Examiner: 37 People Dead, Death Toll Expected To Rise.

At least 37 people were reported killed.

KFOR-TV reports that up to 24 children are believed dead at the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore and that it has turned into a search and recovery effort. The storm tore off the roof, knocked down walls and turned the playground into a mass of twisted plastic and metal. Several children were pulled alive from the rubble, however. Rescue workers passed the survivors down a human chain to a triage center in the parking lot.

At least seven of the children drowned after being found at the bottom of a pool at Plaza Towers, according to KFOR

VIDEO OF THE DEVASTATION

TORNADO TOUCHES DOWN

Retired NASCAR Driver Dick Trickle dead at 71 of Apparant Suicide, Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound … RIP

Former NASCAR drive Dick Trickle died Thursday at the age of 71 form an apparent suicide.  According to Lincoln County, NC, sheriff’s department, the incident occurred at 12:02 p.m. ET at Forest Lawn Cemetery off Highway 150 in Boger City, NC where Trickle died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound. Prior to his death, he called the Lincoln County Communications Center and stated that “there would be a dead body and it would be his.” How tragically sad. Trickle was a throw back of days gone by in NASCAR racing and frankly one I wish still existed rather the over-commercialized one of today.

Richard “Dick” Trickle (October 27, 1941 – May 16, 2013) … RIP

Retired stock-car driver Dick Trickle, known for his colorful name and short-track prowess, died on Thursday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 71.

According to the Lincoln County, N.C., sheriff’s department, the incident occurred at 12:02 p.m. ET at Forest Lawn Cemetery off Highway 150 in Boger City.

The Lincoln County Communications Center received a call, apparently from Trickle, that “there would be a dead body and it would be his.” Center workers tried to place a return call to the number but did not get an answer.

Emergency units found Trickle’s body lying near his pickup truck when they arrived.

Lt. Tim Johnson, who heads the Lincoln County detective department, said that at the family’s request, no additional information would be released at this time.

Fantastic VIDEO of Dick Trickle smoking a cigarette during the race in a NASCAR world that was so much more different than the sanitized one of today … When it used to be called ”Winston” Cup racing

Dick Trickle Wiki

More on the life of Richard “Dick” Trickle and his legendary short tack racing from CNN.

Richard “Dick” Trickle — who parlayed a legendary reputation as a short-track driver into a full-time career on stock car racing’s biggest stages in the 1990s — died Thursday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, a North Carolina sheriff’s office said. He was 71.

The Wisconsin-born Trickle raced during the 1970s and 1980s, then broke through as a full-time and widely recognized NASCAR driver in 1989. By that time, according to a Sports Illustrated article, the 48-year-old grandfather of two had won some 1,200 stock car competitions in 31 years of racing.