Rock Music Producer- Hugh Mendl

The Moody Blues formed in Birmingham England in 1964 as a rhythm and blues band that developed into progressive rock. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their legendary 1967 LP Days of Future Passed. From that album came hits like Nights In White Satin and Tuesday Afternoon.

The producer of that ground breaking LP was Hugh Mendl. Mendl has taken his Final Taxi at 88.

Besides music producer Mendl was responsible for signing several well know musical acts to recording label Decca Records where he also was a A&R man and moved into the manager’s spot. His career for Decca was for over 40 years.

Scarlett O’Hara’s Little Sister – Evelyn Keyes

I had to watch Gone With The Wind twice a day for over a month.

I got to know all the characters very well so when I found out that Evelyn Keyes had taken her Final Taxi at the age of 91 I was a little sad. Keyes will be remember for several well known Hollywood movies but more for her role as Scarlett OHara’s younger sister, Suellen.

Even though she appeared in over 40 movies she will also be known as the wife or lover of some of Hollywood’s famous movers and shakers. In her autobiographies she spoke of her affairs with David Niven, Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn. She was also married to film director John Huston.

Elizabeth Spriggs- Actress In Harry Potter and BBC Films

She was really upset when I told her that an actress who was in those two films and several of her other beloved BBC productions, Elizabeth Spriggs, had taken her Final Taxi. She was 78.

Spriggs appeared in close to 100 films and TV shows but most people will remember her as the first person to play the ‘Fat Lady’ in the painting that protects the entry way in Gryffindor House in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

Stargate and Twin Peaks Actor – Don S. Davis

One of the strangest and most original TV shows that I enjoyed watching was Twin Peaks. Beginning in April of 1990, Twin Peaks is a drama that follows the investigation of the brutal death of popular, respected teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer, headed by Agent Dale Cooper. Created by one of my favorite cult [...]

I Think We Are All Bozos On This Bus- Larry Harmon

One the first to establish this format was Larry Harmon, who portrayed frizzy-haired Bozo the Clown for years and licensed the character to dozens of TV stations around the United States.

Character Actress – Lilyan Chauvin

A character actor can give a motion picture that bit of something extra that makes a scene in the movie.
In the 2002 film by Steven Spielberg, Catch Me If You Can, Leonardo DiCaprio started his career of pretending to be others people when his mother and father told him they were getting a divorce. That [...]