RIP: To remember those lost to us, whether close or at large

[poiuy]

So sorry for your loss, ciao_yall, your cousin sounds like a talented person.

Wish you happy memories today, secundem_artem

[Wahoo Redux]

So sorry, ciao.  Those losses are particularly painful.  Peace be with you.

[downer]

Noam Chomsky has died at 95 years old.

Apart from the linguistics, I will remember him for his contribution to raising awareness about the abuse of power in modern society.

[downer]

Apparently reports of his death have now been withdrawn.

[apl68]

Reports of his demise were exaggerated. 

[kaysixteen]

Willie Mays.   Say Hey.

[AmLitHist]

Donald Sutherland, aged 88. I'm a huge fan of his son Keifer, but I do respect the father's talent as well.

[apl68]

Four people murdered in a mass shooting at a grocery store in Fordyce, Arkansas.  Not exactly close to our town, but not a hundred miles away from it either.  It's another rural community like ours in some ways.  So it still hits figuratively close to home.

[clean]

Martin Mull (Actor) June 28, 2024 at age 80

[Myword]

I liked his wit easy unpretentious acting. Fernwood 2Nite in the 70s
Great satire.   To a guest: "well, I have almost enjoyed having you on tonight. So close to interesting"
  In his stand up act, he'd sit in an armchair with lamp.

[nebo113]

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."—Sinclair Lewis

I weep for the death of our Republic, as we know have a president above what little law is left.

[ciao_yall]

Yep. When the Supreme Court legalized "gratuities" but not bribes, it was pretty much all over for me.

I was going to escape to France but...

[AmLitHist]

Mom died 15 years ago today. Seems like a hundred years, and also just like it was last week.

[poiuy]

Mom died 15 years ago today. Seems like a hundred years, and also just like it was last week.

I feel you AmLitHist. Parents being gone (at ripe old ages, etc.) is an emotional boulder I will carry the rest of my life.

[Langue_doc]

Shelley Duvall, Star of 'The Shining' and 'Nashville,' Dies at 75
Her lithesome features and quirky screen presence made her a popular figure in 1970s movies, particularly Robert Altman's.

The obit in its entirety:

Shelley Duvall, whose lithesome features and quirky screen personality made her one of the biggest film stars of the 1970s, appearing in a string of movies by the director Robert Altman and, perhaps most memorably, opposite Jack Nicholson in "The Shining," died on Thursday at her home in Blanco, Texas. She was 75.

A family spokesman said the cause was complications of diabetes.

Ms. Duvall wasn't planning on a film career when she met Mr. Altman while he was filming "Brewster McCloud" (1970); she had thrown a party to sell her husband's artwork, and members of his film crew were in attendance. Taken with her, they introduced her to Mr. Altman, a director with his own reputation for oddball movies and offbeat casting. He immediately asked her to join the cast, despite her lack of training.

She said yes — and went on to appear in an unbroken string of five more movies directed by Mr. Altman: "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971), "Thieves Like Us" (1974), "Nashville" (1975), "Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson" (1976) and "Three Women" (1977). She also starred as Olive Oyl opposite Robin Williams in "Popeye" (1980).

"I thought: boy, if it's this easy, why doesn't everybody act?" she told The New York Times in April.

Her work with Mr. Altman cemented Ms. Duvall's career; with her gossamer frame and toothy smile, she was the go-to actress for any role that called for an out-of-the-ordinary performance.

She dated Paul Simon and Ringo Starr. She hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 1977. Photos of Ms. Duvall, often wearing a draping, sheer dress and holding a cigarette almost as long and thin as she was, became an enduring image of 1970s celebrity life.

But it was her appearance as Wendy Torrance in "The Shining" (1980) that, for many viewers, remains her most memorable role. In that movie, she and her husband, Jack (Mr. Nicholson), along with their son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), move into a mountainside hotel as caretakers while it is shut down for the winter.

As Jack begins to exhibit signs of madness, Wendy becomes increasingly concerned for her own safety and her son's, though she seems to remain unaware of the underlying supernatural forces at work on her husband.

Though critics initially found her performance overbearing — especially her shrieks as an ax-wielding Mr. Nicholson hunts them through the hotel halls — it has been re-evaluated over the years, especially as critics have come to understand the psychological strain of the film, and of working under the sometimes difficult treatment of the film's director, Stanley Kubrick.

"While Nicholson dials up his familiar manic mode as much as demanded, Shelley Duvall amplifies her neurotic quality to the extreme," Seongyong Cho wrote for rogerebert.com in 2023. "Her strenuous efforts here in this film deserve more appreciation, especially considering how Kubrick harshly treated her during the shooting."

It was long rumored that working with Mr. Kubrick pushed Ms. Duvall over the edge and out of Hollywood. In fact, she told The Times this year, she came to admire him, and in any case she continued to act through the 1980s, including as half of the star-crossed couple Vincent and Pansy, opposite Michael Palin, in Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" (1981), and with Steve Martin in "Roxanne" (1987).

But she also found other pursuits in the film industry besides acting. In 1982 she founded Platypus Productions, which adapted classic children's stories into hourlong television plays under the series title "Faerie Tale Theater."

She used her extensive connections to fill the casts, including former co-stars like Robin Williams, Bud Cort and Eric Idle. And, of course, she got Mr. Altman to direct an episode.

The NYT notes "A full obituary will follow."