With Instagram as an easier social media platform than say Facebook, with it’s simple take-a-picture-and-send feature, I would make quick sketch tribute to notable people who passed away. Here I cover some of the tribute in the years of 2016 through 2018.
Performers
1933 - 2016
American actor, filmmaker, singer-songwriter
He probably made the more indelible mark on childhood film experiences in assuming the role of Willy Wonka, but his “Young Frankenstein” (star and co-writer) is tops with me.
1934 - 2016
American actress, singer
I her role as Carole Brady, the matriarch of the blended family of “The Brady Bunch,” she was an important part of my 1970’s television watching life.
1956 - 2016
American actress, writer
As the Galactic senator Princess Leia who faces the towering black robed Darth Vader in the first “Star Wars” film, she is every bit the leader and hero that her co-stars in the more active-written roles were.
1932 - 2016
American actress, singer
“Singing in the Rain.” Watch it.
1936 - 2017
American actress, producer
Her Laurie Petrie in the “The Dick Van Dyke Show” stands out in that era’s of American television programming as being a unquestionable co-starring role. Eleven years later, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” stands out as an enduring comedy series.
1940 - 2017
British actor
What a death scene! Ridley Scott’s “Alien.”
1955 - 2017
American actor, film director, producer
He excelled at being the on-screen rascal - the guy who’s a little too load and brash, but you enjoy having him around.
1926 - 2017
American singer, songwriter, guitarist
The “father of rock and roll.” Enough said.
1927 - 2017
English actor
Having been more exposed to Roger Moore’s James Bond in my youth, I quite enjoyed his portrayal of the British spy a bit over his predecessor Sean Connery. “Moonraker” - “spies in space” - was that too much? No, if anything it wasn’t enough.
1928 - 2017
American actor
Adam West’s Batman is 100% entertainment, and I love it for that.
1928 - 2017
American actor, acting coach, producer
As a science-fiction hungry boy, seeing the leader of “Space 1999’s” Moonbase Alpha was also “that guy” from the excellent “Mission: Impossible” series - yes. It wasn’t his fault that there were no Vulcans, Klingons or a pesky Dr. Smith.
1926 - 2017
American comedian, actor, singer
I’ll highlight “The Ladies Man” in which he plays the handyman/servant in a boarding house for women which plays on opportunities for misunderstandings, high jinx, short skits and physical comedy. Then for the right -side of your brain, dig that practical, built-in-a-sound-stage mansion interior set.
1950 - 2017
American singer, songwriter, musician
“American Girl” is a work commute favorite.
1948 - 2018
Canadian-American actress, director
The Lois Lane of the 1970’s, is, I think, a believable, if reckless news reporter.
1942 - 2018
American singer, songwriter, actress
While soul music wasn’t a big part of my radio playlists, the “Queen of Soul’s” hits were undeniable.
1936 - 2018
American actor, director and producer
I fondly remember him from “Smokey and the Bandit” the precursor to “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
Entertainment
Jack Lindquist
1927 - 2016
President of Disneyland, CA 1990-1993
A long-time Disney employee starting in the first year of the famed theme park’s operation. I wish I had a Jack Lindquist story from my own 13 years of overlapping service at Disneyland.
Robert Osborne
1932 - 2017
American actor, film historian, television presenter
As the long-time host on Turner Classic Movies network, the joy and ease of his guests as they recalled stories surrounding classic films informed the audience that Osborne himself perhaps has stories to tell himself.
Marty Sklar
1934 - 2017
Walt Disney Imagineer, scriptwriter, construction developer
I envision Sklar to have a pixie on his shoulder as I do most of the Imagineers of the1950’s and 60’s who interacted directly Walt Disney. He brought a touch of magic to the Disneyland experience that isn’t just something a computer did.
Artists & Writers
Darwyn Cooke
1962 - 2016
Canadian comics artist, writer, cartoonist and animator
His “DC: The New Frontier” limited series, lured me in with a straight-forward art style and grabbed my DC-loving heart with its honest story-telling.
Len Wein
1948 - 2017
American comic book writer and editor
I mostly knew him as one of the names in the credits box. I’m forever grateful to him for co-creating Nightcrawler of Marvel’s X-Men.
Steve Ditko
1927 - 2018
American comics artist and writer
The co-creator of Spider-Man - a great character with a great costume.
Politics, Science
John Glenn
1921 - 2017
United States Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut
One of the “Mercury Seven,” the seven pilots selected to fly spacecraft for Nasa’s Project Mercury, he embodies a mythic air of daring and heroics.
Gene Cernan
1934 - 2017
American astronaut, Naval Aviator, Electrical engineer
One of the Apollo astronauts and know as the last to have walked on the moon. Which purrs in my mind the wonders of what that was like.
Stephen Hawking
1942 - 2018
English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author
Cheekily I call him a famous smart guy, who also said that we shouldn’t try to contact extra-terrestrial intelligence. He might have had a point.
John McCain III
1936 - 2018
American statesman and United States Navy officer
I draw cartoons. He was a man who survived, endured and lead with moral certainty.
President George H. W. Bush
1924 - 2018
American politician, diplomat, 41st President of the United States
Even if the presidency of Richard Nixon confused my young mind, I felt that President Bush took his leadership position seriously.
1927 - 2016
President of Disneyland, CA 1990-1993
A long-time Disney employee starting in the first year of the famed theme park’s operation. I wish I had a Jack Lindquist story from my own 13 years of overlapping service at Disneyland.
1932 - 2017
American actor, film historian, television presenter
As the long-time host on Turner Classic Movies network, the joy and ease of his guests as they recalled stories surrounding classic films informed the audience that Osborne himself perhaps has stories to tell himself.
1934 - 2017
Walt Disney Imagineer, scriptwriter, construction developer
I envision Sklar to have a pixie on his shoulder as I do most of the Imagineers of the1950’s and 60’s who interacted directly Walt Disney. He brought a touch of magic to the Disneyland experience that isn’t just something a computer did.
Artists & Writers
1962 - 2016
Canadian comics artist, writer, cartoonist and animator
His “DC: The New Frontier” limited series, lured me in with a straight-forward art style and grabbed my DC-loving heart with its honest story-telling.
1948 - 2017
American comic book writer and editor
I mostly knew him as one of the names in the credits box. I’m forever grateful to him for co-creating Nightcrawler of Marvel’s X-Men.
1927 - 2018
American comics artist and writer
The co-creator of Spider-Man - a great character with a great costume.
Politics, Science
1921 - 2017
United States Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut
One of the “Mercury Seven,” the seven pilots selected to fly spacecraft for Nasa’s Project Mercury, he embodies a mythic air of daring and heroics.
1934 - 2017
American astronaut, Naval Aviator, Electrical engineer
One of the Apollo astronauts and know as the last to have walked on the moon. Which purrs in my mind the wonders of what that was like.
1942 - 2018
English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author
Cheekily I call him a famous smart guy, who also said that we shouldn’t try to contact extra-terrestrial intelligence. He might have had a point.
1936 - 2018
American statesman and United States Navy officer
I draw cartoons. He was a man who survived, endured and lead with moral certainty.
1924 - 2018
American politician, diplomat, 41st President of the United States
Even if the presidency of Richard Nixon confused my young mind, I felt that President Bush took his leadership position seriously.
