Ken Ober of MTV’s 80’s Remote Control Dead at Age 52

Sad news from the MTV world of days gone by … Ken Ober, the host of the 1980’s game show “Remote Control” has passed away at the age of 52. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Lee Kernis, a manager at Brillstein Entertainment Partners who represented Mr. Ober for more than 20 years, said that Mr. Ober was found dead on Sunday. He said that Mr. Ober was last heard from on Saturday night, when he spoke to a friend and complained of a headache and flu-like symptoms. Mr. Ober told the friend that he was going to take something and would see a doctor as soon as possible.

Mr. Ober, who was born in Brookline, Mass. and raised in Hartford, Conn., grew up idolizing game show hosts like Bob Barker and Bob Eubanks, and went on to host four game shows of his own, including a revived version of “Make Me Laugh” in 1997. But his breakthrough came a decade earlier when Mr. Ober, a contestant on the televised talent show “Star Search,” became the host of the MTV series “Remote Control” in 1987.

One last blast from Remote Control Past Ken Ober from 1989

Who didn’t watch Remote Control in the 80’s?

I admit it, I watched this spoof game show all the time, back when MTV was actually worth watching. Remember when they used to actually play videos and be funny? CNN said of Ken Ober and his cult hit game show, “that MTV game show “Remote Control” was among the network’s first forays into non-music programming, has died at age 52. Might I add, one of the few forays that was successful.

Rest in Peace Ken Ober.

William Safire, News Columnist & Former Nixon Speechwriter Dead at the Age of 79, Rest in Peace

William Safire: 1929 -  2009, RIP.

They do not make them anymore like William Safire and sadly William Safire has passed way today at the age of 79. Today, journalism lost a gem. The journalistic tapestries that this wordsmith could create was like few others. The long time NY Times columnist “was hired to be a sore thumb” at the famously liberal newspaper. Safire was a journalist’s journalist who took no prisoners and most importantly never knew what the definition of PC meant. One always knew they were going to get the straight forward and brutally honest truth from William Safire. Rest in Peace … We lost a truly special person today.

Safire, the former Richard Nixon speech writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning NY Times columnist, died at 79 today from pancreatic cancer. The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist died at a hospice in Rockville, MD.

William Safire receiving the President Medal of Freedom in 2006

William Safire, a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop’s treasury of articles on language, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md. on Sunday. He was 79.

The cause was cancer, said his assistant, Rosemary Shields.

There may be many sides in a genteel debate, but in the Safire world of politics and journalism it was simpler: there was his own unambiguous wit and wisdom on one hand and, on the other, the blubber of fools he called “nattering nabobs of negativism” and “hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history

Read more

Daily Commentary - Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 - A Farewell to Patrick Swayze … A Class Act & Inspiration

• The courageous actor passed away of pancreatic cancer on Monday. An all-around class act, Patrick Swayze brought hope and strength to countless people who are battling with cancer. What separates entertainers? Class! He will be missed.

Patrick Swayze Dies at Age 57 from Pancreatic Cancer … God Bless and Rest in Peace

Sad news from Los Angeles, CA as Patrick Swayze has passed away at the age of 57 after battling pancreatic cancer. Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early 2008 and despite battling the dreaded disease, Swayze went on to star in the A&E cop drama The Beast. Patrick Swayze has passed away. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi.

Patrick Swayze & Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing

“Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months,” said a statement released Monday evening by his publicist, Annett Wolf. Swayze died in Los Angeles, Wolf said, but declined to give further details.

Patrick Swayze & Demi Moore, Ghost

Known for such movies as Dirty Dancing, Ghost, The Outsiders, Point Break, Road House, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Uncommon Valor, Youngblood, Next of Kin and the cult classic Red Dawn.

A young Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell & Charlie Sheen, Red Dawn

Patrick Swayze was one of my favorite actors of movies that were just plain fun. He also has one of the greatest lines in movie history. Here’s to you Patrick, you will be missed and thanks for the memories.

Never forget … “No body puts baby in a corner”.

Also never forget … WOLVERINES!

Swayze’s words from his ABC Barbara Walters interview:

Swayze said his work on that show was exhausting, requiring 12-hour workdays in Chicago, Illinois, doing his own stunts. But he said the show’s character “just felt right for my soul.”

“If I leave this Earth, I want to leave this Earth just knowing I’ve tried to give something back and tried to do something worthwhile with myself,” Swayze told Walters, when asked why he decided to do the show. “And that keeps me going, that gets me up in the morning. My work … is my legacy.”

God Bless and Rest in Peace. Our condolences go out to your family and friends.

Robert Schindler, the Father of Terri Schiavo, Passes Away at the Age of 72

Robert Schindler, the father of Terri Schiavo, passed away over the weekend at the age of 72. According to reports Schindler died of apparent heart failure. However, in the aftermath of the death of his daughter Terri Schiavo and the much publicized 13 day starvation and dehydration death, one might say that Robert Schindler died of a broken heart.

H/T: Michelle Malkin from April 1, 2005 post

Now, look at this exhausted, heartbroken father and tell me he is having a “good time.”

Rest in Peace.

In the aftermath of Terri’s euthanasia death, Robert Schindler started a foundation with the rest of his family to help other disabled patients. The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation would connect patients or their families to legal help, physicians and pro-life groups who would speak out on their behalf to obtain basic medical care or lifesaving medical treatment denied to them by the government, hospitals or family members

Any condolences can be sent to: Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, 5562 Central Avenue ~ Suite 2 – St. Petersburg, FL – 33707 

Terri Schindler Schiavo

For those of you who have forgot or are unfamiliar with this case, Terri Schindler Schiavo died on March 31, 2005 after courts ruled that her feeding tube could be removed. After a 14 day battle against starvation and dehydration, Terri Schindler Schiavo died. It was the story that captured the attention of America and brought to light the rights of patients, family, living wills and what humanity should take place for those that would want one to die vs. those that would wish to take care of her.

The right to life for patients battles on after the death of Terri through the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation.

The story of Terri Schindler Schiavo has a special place in our hearts here at Scared Monkeys as it was the first true impactful, emotional and far reaching news story that we covered. Let alone the emotional, heart breaking nature of the story. Before Natalee Holloway there was Terri Schiavo and her parents only wish to have her live.

We sadly wrote a story on the day that the 11th Circuit Court rejected her parent’s last appeal to get the brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube reconnected … “STRIKE 3, 11th Circuit Court Rejects Schiavo Appeal”. CNN’s Inside the Blogs picked up the story.

Robert Schindler will now be able to be with his daughter once again. May they both Rest in Peace.

Daily Commentary - Thursday, August 27th, 2009 - Farewell to Crime Writer, Dominick Dunne

Devoted to the recently passed crime reporter. Dominick Dunne passes away at 83.

 Daily Commentary - Thursday, August 27th, 2009 - Farewell, Dominick Dunne [1:23m]:  | Download

Best selling crime author, WWII vet, TV director and film producer Dominick Dunne has passed away at the age of 83 from bladder cancer. Dominick Dunne was best known for his coverage of high profile cases and events like the trials of OJ Simpson,  William Kennedy Smith, and most recently Phil Spector, as well as the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

Dunne—who joined Vanity Fair in 1984 as a contributing editor and was named special correspondent in 1993—famously covered the trials of O. J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, Michael Skakel, William Kennedy Smith, and Phil Spector, as well as the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. He wrote memorable profiles on numerous personalities, among them Imelda Marcos, Robert Mapplethorpe, Elizabeth Taylor, Claus von Bülow, Adnan Khashoggi, and Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. His monthly column provided a glimpse inside high society, and captivated readers.

Society crime writer Dominick Dunne, dies at 83

He discovered his magazine writing career in his 50s, through personal tragedy — his daughter’s murder.

He vented his anger at the legal system in “Justice: A Father’s Account of the Trial of his Daughter’s Killer,” following the murder trial of John Sweeney, the estranged boyfriend who strangled 22-year-old Dominique Dunne, in 1982. Sweeney spent fewer than three years in prison.

Ted (Edward) Kennedy … The Liberal Lion of the Senate has Died at the Age of 77

Ted Kennedy, the US Senator from Massachusetts has died over night after succumbing to brain cancer home in Hyannis Port, Mass at the age of 77. Kennedy had battled brain cancer for more than a year after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May 2008. The nine term Massachusetts Senator has passed away.

The man known as the “liberal lion of the Senate” had fought a more than year-long battle with brain cancer, and according to his son had lived longer with the disease than his doctors expected him to.

“We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever,” the Kennedy family said in a statement. “He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it.”

I think we all knew that there was not too much time left for Ted Kennedy when he could not attend the funeral of the recently passed Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

The Kennedy family has released a statement.

Being a history buff, in retrospect it is hard to believe they are all gone

Read more

Truly Special: Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Founder of the Special Olympics is Dead at the Age of 88

This Kennedy truly was “Special” and it had nothing to do with politics. A real winner in life in so many respects has passed.

“Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Founder of Special Olympics and the sister of the late JFK has passed away at the age of 88. She had been hospitalized since last week in critical condition. Sadly, one of the true champions of special needs and the mentally disabled has died. With family members at her side at the Cape Cod hospital in Barnstable, Massachusetts, Eunice Kennedy Shriver passed away.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver is survived by two siblings, her husband, Robert Sargent Shriver Jr., five children, including NBC reporter and California first lady Maria Shriver, and 19 grandchildren. The is also survived by the millions of Special Olympians that have taken part in Special Olympics and the present 3.1 million people with mental disabilities who participate in 228 programs in 170 countries.  

Rest in Peace and Thank you!

“I love to be with my special friends, and I like to learn from them and their persistence, and their guts, and their courage,” Shriver said of her work with athletes with disabilities. “This is the future.”

Listen to some inspirational words from Eunice Kennedy Shriver,

There was no greater champion for those with disabilities. Shriver was inspired by her older sister, Rosemary Kennedy, who was mentally handicapped when she helped form and was the spirit behind the Special Olympics.

In her book about Special Olympics, “Hearts of Gold,” author Sheila Dinn writes: “In the summer of 1962, 100 young people with mental retardation came to Mrs. Shriver’s camp to run, swim, play soccer, and ride horses. They enjoyed the camp and loved the sports they learned, and by the end of the summer they were ‘faster and stronger’ than ever before. The doctors and experts had been wrong!”

The first Special Olympics took place in 1968. In a comment from that first event Eunice Kennedy Shriver said the following, “Special Olympics teaches that all human beings are created equal, in the sense that each has the capacity and a hunger for moral excellence, for courage, for friendship and for love.” Some thing that many of us need to remember.

“If I (had) never met Rosemary, never known anything about handicapped children, how would I have ever found out? Because nobody accepted them anyplace,” she told National Public Radio in 2007

Statement from Special Olympics:

“We are tremendously grateful for the extreme outpouring of support and prayer from the public as we honor our beloved founder,” Special Olympics President and Chief Operation Officer Brady Lum said Tuesday in a statement.

“Today we celebrate the life of a woman who had the vision to create our movement. It is an enormous loss, but I know we can rest assured that her legacy will live on through her family, friends, and the millions of people around the world who she touched and transformed.”
 

80’s & 90’s Teen Movie Writer, Producer and Director John Hughs Dead at the Age of 59

John Hughes, Mr Teen Movie, dead at the age of 59. Rest in Peace John Hughes.

We’re gonna bring this party up to a nice respectable level. Don’t worry, we’re not gonna hurt anyone. We’re not even gonna touch ‘em. We’re just gonna make ‘em cry a little, just by lookin’ at ‘em.

If it was a teen movie in the 1980’s and 1990’s, most likely it was either written, produced, directed or all of the above by John Hughes. Hughes was the king of teen movies. Sadly, John Hughes died this morning of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan, NY. Hughes dead at the age of 59. The man who mastered teen angst has passed away. May you rest in peace and thank you for so many entertaining movies.

A native of Lansing, Mich., who later moved to suburban Chicago and set much of his work there, Hughes rose from ad writer to comedy writer to silver screen champ with his affectionate and idealized portraits of teens, whether the romantic and sexual insecurity of “Sixteen Candles,” or the J.D. Salinger-esque rebellion against conformity in “The Breakfast Club.”

There was never a moment in a Hughes teen movie that one did not sick back in retrospect and remind you of your high school days or a person you knew in school. His movies were entertaining with no graphic sex or violence. The master of the 80’s teen movies saw movie spoof, Not Another Teen Movie” take place where of all places, John Hughes High. Imitation is the greatest form of gratitude. Sadly, the king of the high school comedy is dead.

My personal favorite John Hughes movies of all time:

• 1. Some Kind of Wonderful
• 2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
• 3. Weird Science
• 4. Pretty in Pink
• 5. Sixteen Candles

Hughes directed such movies as “Sixteen Candles”, ”The Breakfast Club”, ”Curly Sue”,”She’s Having a Baby”, “Pretty in Pink,” “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” and “Uncle Buc.” From Imdb.com, check out the who’s who of movies that Hughes took part in.

The list is endless. His cast of actors and actresses from his movies were the names of the day that included, Molly Ringwald, Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, Lea Thompson, Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Jon Cryer, James Spader, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, John Cusack, Jennifer Grey, Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara. Any one who can successfully work in Ben Stein into a movie about teens is genius.

John Hughes, Bard of Teen Angst, Dead at 59

Director John Hughes dies at 59

The filmmaker, whom critic Roger Ebert once called “the philosopher of adolescence,” was a major influence on filmmakers including Wes Anderson, Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow, who told the L.A. Times last year, “Basically, my stuff is just John Hughes films with four-letter words

God bless and rest in peace.

Sad News in Taco Bell Land … Gidget the Taco Bell Chihuahua Dies at 15, “Yo Quiero Taco Bell”

How very sad, Gidget, the famed Taco Bell Chihuahua has passed away at the age of 15. Gidget made her TV debut in September of 1997 in the “Yo Quiero Taco Bell” ads. It goes down as one of the greatest marketing tag lines ever in TV commercial history. Gidget goes down in history as one of the most recognizable ad dogs ever.  It is nice to hear that after her promoting days of Taco Bell, Gidget just enjoyed laying around in the sun like a normal dog. Rest in Peace Gidgit.

Rest in Peace Gidget

Karen McElhatton, Gidget’s owner, tells Usmagazine.com the dog was with her trainer, Sue Chipperton, watching television when she began making “strange noises” and suffered a stroke.

Before the dog’s death, “She had a good day and was running around as normal,” McElhatton tells Usmagazine.com. “We’re happy that she was very well off right until the end.”

Other great Taco Bell commercials:

• Godzilla and the Taco Bell Chihuahua
• Taco Bell Chihuahua