Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Shirley Knight, India Adams, Irrfan Khan, Sam Lloyd, and Florian Schneider Pass On

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that 2020 has not been a good year. As if the COVID-19 pandemic and murder hornets were not enough, the year thus far has seen the deaths of several celebrities. In fact, the past few weeks there have been so many actors and music artists die that it has become very difficult for me to eulogise them one by one on this blog. In fact, were I to do so it seems possible that the entire month of May on this blog would be devoted to nothing, but eulogies. I have then decided,as I have done so before, to simply offer several short eulogies for those who have died rather than the longer, in depth eulogies I usually do. It pains me to to this, as every single one of these individuals is deserving of their own, in depth eulogy.

Shirley Knight (July 5 1936-April 22 2020): Actress Shirley Knight died on April 22 at the age of 83. She was born on July 5 1936 in Goessel, Kansas. She studied at the Pasadena Theatre School. Her film career began with a minor role in Picnic in 1955. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for both The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) and Sweet Bird of Youth (1962). She also appeared in such films as The Group (1966), Petulia (1968), Endless Love (1981), and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002).

Miss Knight also had an extensive career in television. She was a regular on the TV shows Buckskin, Maggie Winters, and Desperate Housewives. She guest starred on such shows as Rawhide, 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, Naked City, The Virginian, The Fugitive, Tales of the Unexpected, The Equalizer, Thirtysomething, Matlock, L.A. Law, ER, and Hot in Cleveland. She also appeared in Broadway in The Three Sisters, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Watering Place, Kennedy's Children, and The Young Man in Atlanta.

India Adams (March 5 1927-April 25 2020): India Adams, who dubbed the singing voices of both Cyd Charisse and Joan Crawford, died on April 25 2020 at the age of 93. She was born on March 5 1927 in Los Angeles. Miss Adams dubbed the singing voice of Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953) and Joan Crawford in Torch Song (1953) and Johnny Guitar (1956). She performed extensively in nightclubs in New York City and the Catskills. She also performed at the Latin Quarter and Radio City Music Hall in New York City. She also performed at various clubs and theatres in London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and elsewhere.

Irrfan Khan (January 7 1967-April 29 2020): Bollywood star Irrfan Khan died on April 29 2020 at the age of 53. The cause was a colon infection after having been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour in 2018. Irrfan Khan was born on January 7 1967 in Tonk, Rajasthan, India. He made his film debut in Salaam Bombay! in 1988. He appeared in the British film The Warrior (2001) and then had his breakthrough with the films Haasil (2003) and Maqbool (2004). Mr. Khan appeared in such films as The Namesake (2006), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Life of Pi (2012), The Lunchbox (2013), Piku (2015), and Talvar (2015)

Sam Lloyd (November 12 1963-April 30 2020): Sam Lloyd, who played lawyer Ted Buckland on the cult sitcom Scrubs, died on April 30 2020 at the age of 56. The cause was a brain tumour. Sam Lloyd was born Sam Lloyd, Jr. on November 12 1963 in Weston, Vermont. His father, Sam Lloyd, Sr. was also an actor and the brother of actor Christopher Lloyd of Taxi and Back to the Future fame. Sam Lloyd made his television debut in a guest appearance in an episode of Night Court in 1988. In addition to playing Ted on Scrubs, he also had regular roles on the TV shows City, Double Rush, Desperate Housewives, Cougar Town (reprising his role as Ted), and The PET Squad Files. He guest starred on such shows as Matlock, Seinfeld, Mad About You, 3rd Rock from the Sun, NYPD Blue, The West Wing, Bones, and Modern Family.

Mr. Lloyd also appeared in such movies as Galaxy Quest (1999) and The Brothers Solomon (2007).

Florian Schneider (April 7 1947-May 6 2020): Florian Schneider, co-founder of electro-pop band Kraftwerk, died today at the age of 73. The cause was cancer. He was born on April 7 1947 in what would become the state of Baden-Württemberg, but was then the French occupation zone. It was in 1970 that he co-founded Kraftwerk with Ralf Hütter. Kraftwerk would see international success with their fourth album Autobahn. Kraftwerk would see continued success through the next several decades. Florian Schneider, who played both flute and synthesizer, left the band in 2008.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Shirley Knight was also quite good in the movie "The Rain People" that also starred a young James Caan.