‘Maverick’ and ‘Rockford Files’ Acting Icon James Garner Dies at Age 86 … RIP

ACTING ICON JAMES GARNER DIES … RIP.

Acting icon James Garner, best known for his role on the hit TV series “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files,” has died at the age of 86. According to police accounts, Garner died of natural causes at his home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, CA Saturday evening. Garner also stared in movie hits like “The Great Escape” (1963), “The Americanization of Emily” (1964), “Victor/Victoria” (1982) and “Murphy’s Romance” (1985), the last earning him an Academy Award nomination.

 James Garner: April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014 … RIP

James Garner, 86, star of the hit TV series “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files,” has died, Los Angeles police told AFP on Sunday.

Police and fire department personnel responded to a call at Garner’s home at 8 pm Saturday (0400 GMT Sunday), said officer Alonzo Iniguez at the West Los Angeles police station.

Garner “died of natural causes and the body was released to the family,” Iniguez said, giving no further detail.

CNN:

James Garner, the understated, wisecracking everyman actor who enjoyed multi-generational success on both the small and big screen, has died. He was 86.

Police, who were called to his residence Saturday night in Los Angeles, say he died of natural causes.

Garner starred in hit TV series almost 20 years apart — “Maverick” in the late 1950s and “The Rockford Files” in the 1970s. He also had a notable film career, starring in such classics as “Sayonara” (1957), “The Great Escape” (1963), “The Americanization of Emily” (1964), “Grand Prix” (1966) and “Victor/Victoria” (1982), as well as the TV movies “My Name Is Bill W.” (1989) and “Barbarians at the Gate” (1993). More recent films included “Space Cowboys” (2000) and “The Notebook” (2004).

James Scott Bumgarner was born April 7, 1928, in Norman, Oklahoma. His mother died when he was 5 and his father remarried a year later. Garner didn’t get along with his stepmother and, after a particularly vicious argument, left home at 14. His father, who divorced his stepmother, eventually moved to Los Angeles. At 16, Garner followed, attending Hollywood High School and finding a job as a swimsuit model.

“I made 25 bucks an hour!” he told “People Magazine”. “That’s why I quit school. I was making more money than the teachers. I never finished the ninth grade.

After joining the Merchant Marine and the National Guard, he served in the Korean War, where he won a Purple Heart. After the war, he returned to Los Angeles and took up acting — for the same reason he started modeling, he told the L.A. Times.

James Garner discussing acting and talks about some of the greats, Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda, Steve McQueen, Brando and and many more …

Casey Kasem’s Body is Missing … Could This Family Custody Battle Get any More Bizarre?

GOOD GRIEF, COULD THEY JUST LET CASEY KASEM REST IN PEACE …

Casey Kasem, the legendary radio icon, died last month at the age of 82 from Lewy body disease, a common form of progressive dementia. However, that does not seemed to have stopped the ongoing bitter custody battle between Kasem’s children and his widow, Jean Kasem. It is being reported that Casey Kasem’s body is now missing. It is believed the body went missing two days before a judge ordered Jean Kasem to keep the body there for an autopsy. Could these people just let this man rest in peace!!!

Casey Kasem’s body was flown from the funeral home in Tacoma, Washington to a funeral home in Montreal, Canada on July 14, two days before a judge ordered Casey’s widow Jean Kasem to keep the body in Tacoma for an autopsy.

But mysteriously, Casey’s body never arrived.

A representative for Kerri Kasem, Casey’s daughter, has confirmed that her father’s body is missing.

MailOnline has learned that Casey’s body was put on a plane by staff at the Gaffney Funeral Home in Tacoma on July 14 and shipped to Urgel Bourgie Funeral Homes in Montreal. But staff at the Canadian funeral parlor say they have no record for any arrangements for the arrival of Kasem’s body under his name, his birth name Kemal Amen Kasem or his wife Jean’s name.

Family sources told TMZ they believe the radio host’s widow Jean, who has long battled with his three daughters from his first marriage, has taken the body from a funeral home in Tacoma.

But MailOnline confirmed that Casey’s body was shipped by the Gaffney Funeral Home on July 14 to Montreal, two days before a judge ordered her to keep it in Tacoma so that an autopsy could be carried out, at the request of one of Kasem’s daughters, the website reported.

UNBELIEVABLE … After 23 Americans Are Killed in Malaysia Flight MH17 Missile Terrorist Attack, Barack Obama Goes Fundraising in NYC … John McCain Says Obama Is AWOL on Ukraine

THERE IS A REASON WHY OBAMA IS CALLED THE “CAMPAIGNER” IN CHIEF …

Good grief, what is wrong with this president, has he no shame? After 23 Americans are believed to have been killed when Malaysia Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a surface to air missile by Russian separatists over Ukraine airspace, Barack Obama attended two fundraisers in New York City. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! How detached could one individual possibly be when Americans civilians are killed by an act of war/terrorism and a sitting president just goes about his merry way and attends a fundraiser? Sorry, but there is something seriously wrong with Obama that anyone would think that it was okay to do so. All Americans should be sickened by his actions.

TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THE PICS OF THE DEATH AND CARNAGE AND COMPARE THAT TO OBAMA GOING OFF TO FUNDRAISERS AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED. SICK, JUST SICK!!!

Sen. John McCain appeared on Hannity last night and said,  “I don’t understand this president. The crisis on the border. He did the fundraisers, the fundraisers in New York while they’re major conflicts, not to mention the loss of American lives. It was reported there were Americans on the airplane. I do not understand it … This is just what we used to call in the military A-W-O-L.”

John McCain: Obama Is AWOL on Ukraine

Republicans are assailing President Obama’s decision to attend two fundraisers in New York City Thursday night after 295 people perished when a Malaysian passenger jet crashed in Ukraine after an apparent rocket attack and Israel launched a ground war in Gaza the same day.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus took to Twitter to launch a broadside against Obama for going through with the fundraisers benefiting House and Senate Democrats.

“With all that is going on, the last thing the President should be doing is fundraising right now. Now is a time for leadership,” Priebus tweeted.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was far harsher in his assessment.

“I don’t understand this president … this is what we used to call in the military A-W-O-L,” McCain told Fox News Thursday night. “… There’s a direct lost of American lives here and the president goes to a fundraiser? Help me out.”

Twenty-three Americans are believed to have died in the crash, although U.S. authorities have yet to confirm those numbers.

Barack Obama is no leader. If he had any respect for the United States of America, he would just step down from office for the sake of America. But that will never happen, because Obama is a “community agitator” and his every action is meant to divide and destroy the America that we knew. Sorry, but Obama would have gone fund raising on 9-12-2001.

Security Service of Ukraine Intercepts Phone Conversations of Russian Separatists Admitting Shooting Down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

An intercepted conversation released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) reportedly between Russian-backed militants nicknamed “Major” and “Greek” show admission of Russian militants  purposely shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 near the village of Chornukhine, Luhansk Oblast. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the blame for the tragedy lies with Ukraine. The Malaysia Airlines passenger plane carrying nearly 300 people was  shot down near the Ukrainian border. An adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister has said 23 U.S. citizens were among the 298 killed.

Full transcript of an intercepted phone call below:

Igor Bezler: We have just shot down a plane. Group Minera. It fell down beyond Yenakievo (Donetsk Oblast).

Vasili Geranin: Pilots. Where are the pilots?

IB: Gone to search for and photograph the plane. Its smoking.

VG: How many minutes ago?

IB: About 30 minutes ago.

SBU comment: After examining the site of the plane the terrorists come to the conclusion that they have shot down a civilian plane. The next part of the conversation took place about 40 minutes later.

“Major”: These are Chernukhin folks who shot down the plane. From the Chernukhin check point. Those cossacks who are based in Chernukhino.

“Grek”: Yes, Major.

“Major”: The plane fell apart in the air. In the area of Petropavlovskaya mine. The first “200” (code word for dead person). We have found the first “200”. A Civilian.

“Greek”: Well, what do you have there?

“Major”: In short, it was 100 percent a passenger (civilian) aircraft.

“Greek”: Are many people there?

“Major”: Holy sh__t! The debris fell right into the yards (of homes).

“Greek”: What kind of aircraft?

“Major”: I haven’t ascertained this. I haven’t been to the main sight. I am only surveying the scene where the first bodies fell. There are the remains of internal brackets, seats and bodies.

“Greek”: Is there anything left of the weapon?

“Major”: Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper.

“Greek”: Are there documents?

“Major”: Yes, of one Indonesian student. From a university in Thompson.

Militant: Regarding the plane shot down in the area of Snizhne-Torez. It’s a civilian one. Fell down near Grabove. There are lots of corpses of women and children. The Cossacks are out there looking at all this.

They say on TV it’s AN-26 transport plane, but they say it’s written Malaysia Airlines on the plane. What was it doing on Ukraine’s territory?

Nikolay Kozitsin: That means they were carrying spies. They shouldn’t be f…cking flying. There is a war going on.

Malaysia Airline Flight MH17 Crashes, 298 Passengers & Crew Dead, Including 23 Americans (Update: Missile Shoots Down Plane)

Malaysia Airline Fight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was traveling at an altitude of 33,000 feet when contact was lost. As reported at Sky News, the plane was said to be  brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile.  The plane crash killing all 298 passengers and crew on board, including children. It is reported that there were 23 Americans listed on the flight manifest; however, there is yet to be confirmation. The victims abord Malaysia Flight MH 17 include nine Britons, the victims included 154 Dutch, 45 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos and one Canadian.

As pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government traded charges about who was behind the surface-to-air missile that downed a Malaysia Airlines jet with 298 aboard Thursday, Ukraine’s separatist rebels on Friday said they have found “most” of the plane’s recording devices.

The Boeing 777 bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was shot down Thursday afternoon at cruising altitude about 35 miles from the border, according to Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister.

Malaysia Airlines originally said there were 280 passengers and a crew of 15 aboard the flight, though it later upped the number of passengers to 283 to account for three infants.

The flight path of Malaysia Arline Flight MH17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down and crashed in Ukraine can be seen at the Business Insider. Read the continual updates from The Guardian of the terrible events.

CNN – VIDEO

CNN – VIDEO

UPDATE I: U.S. official: Missile shot down Malaysia Airlines plane.

A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed in a rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, spurring swift accusations from Ukrainian officials that “terrorists” shot down the aircraft.

The United States has concluded a missile shot down the plane, but hasn’t pinpointed who was responsible, a senior U.S. official told CNN’s Barbara Starr.

The Boeing 777 with 298 people aboard fell from the sky near the town of Torez in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, officials said. A top Ukrainian official said the plane, which was on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was flying at about 10,000 meters (nearly 33,000 feet) when the missile hit.