Rolling Obituary Thread 2026

The thread of the dead.

James Grauerholz, William S. Burroughs' longtime assistant/manager/editor/everything else. When I called Burroughs in Kansas to request an interview as a high school student, I spoke to Grauerholz. (Didn't get the interview.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3atJxdNJGc

(xpost)

Legendary Japanese psych-rock guitarist Munehiro Narita (High Rise, etc.).

Damn shame I never saw him live.

co-founder of Sega Games David Rosen, 95
(also a pilot in the Korean War!)

Andrew Bodnar, bassist for (Graham Parker &) the Rumour who also appeared on Nick Lowe's "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" with Bob Andrews (both got a co-writing credit), Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives," The Pretenders' Learning to Crawl, and a few of Garland Jeffreys's best records.

correction, he played on the Pretenders' cover of "Thin Line Between Love and Hate," not the entire album

Molly Parkin, painter novelist and journalist, 93

Andrew Bodnar was a favorite of mine, RIP :( Glad I got to see one of the Rumour reunion shows.

biographer/author Michael Schumacher, aged 75

i’d forgotten all about molly parkin. i used to have some sort of vague ongoing connection with her - it must have been back when i worked in a bookshop.

Béla Tarr

Only 70, I had assumed he was quite a bit older

Dunno why you would associate him with longevity

Bye bye Béla

damn, one of the greats imo. RIP Bela

RIP Béla, I will endeavour to actually watch Sátántangó this year in your honour. I've only had it on DVD for what, ten years?

RIP

RIP, Werckmeister Harmonies would be in my top 10 films of this century. One of these days I'll rewatch Sátántangó too.

I've got the Curzon box and have been trying to motivate myself enough to crack it open. Guess this is it.

i had about half the curzon box on £5 dvds from fopp so i didn't bother, but there's a lot of non-feature extras and it's a bump in quality. expensive though.

So did I but mine was a present so yay for me I guess.

Extremely sad news to wake up to. I'm glad he lived long enough to see his all of his work return to circulation in spectacular quality - it used be so difficult to see his films and even more difficult to do so in decent quality. (One of my most memorable filmgoing experiences was seeing Sátántangó in 35mm at Lincoln Center, years after the DVD fell out-of-print and years before it was finally restored in 4K.)

Only 70, I had assumed he was quite a bit older

I saw him at his last NYC appearance 16 months ago, and I was stunned how unhealthy he looked. In 2011, he was at the NYFF to present his final film, and on that gorgeous, unseasonably warm October afternoon, he walked onstage and said "what are you doing here? It's beautiful outside!" He looked great striding along with the ponytail and the shades on his head.

In fact, you can see him here at the free talk he gave at the festival (maybe even the same day):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxHNl2H8IO0

Now flash forward to June 2023, and he looked frail and physically unsteady, hunched over and tremoring while using a cane. I would've guessed he was easily in his 70s, maybe in his 80s. (He was 68.)

But he was still as sharp as ever and still had the same fire - when someone asked about making a film, he got worked up, whipped out his iPhone and basically said: "You have THIS in your pocket. You don't need anything else, just fucking make your movie and don't let anyone else tell you that you can't."

Afterwards he sat outside, smoking another cigarette (I'm guessing he never cut back) and when people asked him to sign their DVD's, he agreed while saying "promise not to sell this, I already saw one script I signed yesterday on fucking eBay."

He was never going to make another movie, but he was dedicated to mentoring and teaching new and uncompromising filmmakers. An Elephant Sitting Still is perhaps the best film made from one such filmmaker, though sadly the same person committed suicide before it ever saw release.)

(IIRC that free talk was probably the same day and before his film was scheduled to play - he probably gave the talk and walked over to Alice Tully afterwards. The NYFF's schedule is usually packed pretty tight that way.)

Martin Chivers, footballer.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/07/martin-chivers-former-tottenham-england-southampton-striker-dies-aged-80

Aldrich Ames, CIA agent who spied for the Soviet Union - died in prison, aged 84

The NYT obituary for Ames is a very entertaining read in its vociferousness. RIP to all those people Ames exposed

Michael Reagan

Rest In Piss

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the city's paper of record.

(Actually, it won't officially die until May 3.)

Just read about Bob Pulford, a Leaf mainstay when I was a kid and watched hockey:

https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2026/01/06/bob-pulford-the-engine-of-the-maple-leaf-dynasty-in-the-1960s/

In the HOF, too. 16 seasons, never more than 30 goals, never fewer than 10.

Terry Yorath, ex dirty Leeds scum

I used to deal with him when I worked in the bookies when he was Jacko's assistant. He was such a rude, arrogant glowering presence. If you knocked him back on a price that had gone his puce bald head would start glowing an even brighter shade of puce. Horrible guy. tbh.

So RIP then?

Looked like a serious boozer to me.

peace was not a word to associate with Tel!

oh he was a boozer, in fact he was let go during his last period at Town for a drink driving incident

Actually from late 2025:

Marcia Rodd, actress who was very memorable (actually unbelievable) in Alan Arkin's Little Murders (1971) which was her film debut after doing Broadway, and was also acclaimed for her work in Jonathon Demme's Handle with Care, aka Citizens Band (1977), 87.

Yorath's son died in front of him aged 15 and he, being an unreconstructed man of a certain age, decided on drinking rather than counselling (according to a clip I just saw there).

Gabby Logan is his daughter and that's why she disappeared in the middle of MOTD last night.

Marcia Rodd also played Maude's daughter Carol in the All In The Family episode that was a backdoor pilot for Maude, but quit after the show was picked up for series and was replaced by Adrienne Barbeau.

I used to deal with him when I worked in the bookies when he was Jacko's assistant. He was such a rude, arrogant glowering presence. If you knocked him back on a price that had gone his puce bald head would start glowing an even brighter shade of puce. Horrible guy. tbh.

― calzino, Thursday, 8 January 2026 11:17 (seven hours ago)

So RIP then?

― Wilfried Nuance (Tom D.), Thursday, 8 January 2026 11:25 (seven hours ago)

Rest in puce, surely?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/movies/bahram-beyzaie-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DVA.y69j.Vha3CKOF6pCF&smid=nytcore-ios-share

RIP Bahram Beyzaie, pioneer in Iranian film and theatre

T.K. Carter, best known for playing Nauls in The Thing

Bob Weir

British character actor Derek Martin.

Lovely memory here from The Curious Orange.

Farewell Derek Martin. R.I.P.

Derek once came in to do a Fat Fighters sketch. Marjorie introduces him to the group, "he plays a character from EastEnders, but not one of the main ones". Derek roared with laughter. He was a really good sport & top bloke.https://t.co/6zozl0Da6R

— Paul Putner (@RealPaulPutner) January 11, 2026

92! I had not idea he was that old.

The thumbnail made me think Matt Lucas had died and was somehow 92.

erich von däniken (90)

https://childofatlantis.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img_0141.png

I think it went unnoted yesterday, but RIP former Scotland rugby player Scott Hastings. His wife died by suicide after a long history of depression while he was in remission from cancer a couple of years back, and he was a great advocate for mental health in her name, but his own cancer returned. Just a horribly sad story all round.

She sounds great and I definitely want to check out her music now. Thanks for that, fgti.

I was only casual Facebook friends with him, but Stephen Ernest Cramer, founder of the Athens, GA Brain Aid Fest, aiming at supporting mental health. Very sadly, his lost his own struggle on that front. Incredibly wrenching and many mutual friends who knew him far better are having a rough day -- if you're one of them, I send my best.

Racist LAPD detective (but I repeat myself) Mark Fuhrman, 74.

Rest in Piss, Mark

to think at one point in time finding out a cop was secretly a Nazi was considered a bombshell

now we elect them to the senate!

Totó la Momposina, legendary Colombian folkloric musician, 85.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wN5YcDTx0Y

RIP Dennis, I just bought a copy of Dr Hooks greatest hits, their singles were so good. his voice is an indelible part of my childhood, pure AM radio

― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, May 17, 2026 5:02 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Even the creepy songs are good? I cannot explain it

― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl)

Esp. w. this 'un, always sounding me to me the best Band song that the Band never recorded.
Give it up for wiki:

"Sylvia's Mother" is autobiographical, with songwriter Shel Silverstein drawing upon his unsuccessful attempt to revive a failed relationship. Silverstein had been in love with a woman named Sylvia Maria Pandolfi. She later became engaged to another man and ended up as a museum curator at the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil in Mexico City.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Desperate to continue the relationship, Silverstein called Sylvia's mother, Emma Louisa Pandolfi ("Mrs. Avery" in the song), but she told him the love had ended.[10]

The lead singer, Dennis Locorriere, ended up meeting the real Sylvia many years later. He described the song: "I like the songs which tell stories, like 'The Ballad of Lucy Jordan'. It means I can be more than just a singer, it almost steps into acting. When you're singing 'Sylvia's Mother', you have to be that guy in the phone booth."[11]

"The Ballad of Lucy Jordan"! Omg, if only Marianne had recorded "Sylvia's Mother" too. But Dennis does fine---"truly tremulous," Simon Frith wrote, meaning it as a compliment.

Sylvia’s Mother used to drive me crazy

the way it never resolves & is an endless loop of “AND THE OPERATOR SAID 40 CENT MORE… FOR THE NEXT… THREE …MINUTES… PLEASE MISSIS AVERY etc “ !etc

But now I think it’s great

He can't let go!

Is that a Chip Taylor callback?

Was thinking Bryan Ferry even while posting that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39DiOWT2sU4

No posting anything of Bryan Ferry - not his name, not his music, not his likeness - on the obituary thread!

Why, is it bad luck for him, or maybe for unfans? OK I won't.

Oh shit, I did The Spring Symphony with Felicity Lott as the soprano soloist wat back in the day

She was baller

Alban Berg Quartet founder, dead in a car accident:

https://www.thestrad.com/news/obituary-violinist-gunter-pichler-1940-2026/21163.article

Former Celtic & Hearts player Mike Galloway, 60.

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, 86

disgraced himself on the way out the door iirc

First gay politician I was ever aware of. Dodd-Frank was obviously a major piece of legislation. And yet he spent the last few weeks of his life punching left and complaining about the "pronoun police."

(Pretty sure I first heard of him in 1995 when Dick Armey called him Barney [F-slur]. I remember talking about that with a classmate in high school.)

Yeah not a graceful exit by any means. He outlived his era, I think.

I read his memoir a decade ago -- one of the few by a politico that I could tell he pecked out on his laptop. He did live too long.

I did jot down this quote at the time: "Never let the other side think you're satisfied; you should always be asking for more; and you best maximize gains in fact by minimizing them in characterization, until and unless you are a hundred percent successful...When you tell your supporters that nothing has gotten better...you take away their incentive to stay mobilized."

I'm loathe to risk overpraising any American Democrat, and I hadn't paid attention to his recent remarks, but a U.S. politician coming out in 1987--well, that's something.

And getting Dodd-Frank on Obama's desk.

By the way here's the full, last interview: https://archive.ph/zA7aF

Sigh yeah this shit is just so crazy: Frank contends that left-wingers have saddled his party with a “vote-repelling platform” of open borders, defunded police departments, and “the rule of the pronoun police.”

Literally none of those things have ever been on a Democratic Party platform, and even as characterizations of what the left wing of the party wants, they're brain-dead.

But yes, respect to him for what he did accomplish and also what he symbolized.

From the interview:

In contemplating how the American left should advance its goals, Frank distinguishes between “swords,” which he describes as interventionist policies “into the behavioral patterns of others” favored by progressives, and “shields,” or protective measures “less likely to provoke a backlash.” The 1968 Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination in the sale, renting, or financing of housing, was a shield. Busing children as a means of desegregating schools was a deeply unpopular sword. Frank says that the gay-rights movement wisely chose to advance the shield of local antidiscrimination measures long before pushing for marriage equality—a lesson, he believes, that the transgender movement should follow.

And he's not wrong. But "pronoun police" suggests he has contempt for supporting trans equality in the first place.

lol I remember this:

At a Barney Frank town hall meeting in Dartmouth, MA, a constituent asks, "Why are you supporting this Nazi policy?"

Frank responds: "On what planet do you spend most of your time?" He then calls her approach "vile, contemptible nonsense." He closes by saying: "Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table."

It's not inevitable that career pols get more reactionary and nonsensical as they age but let's be honest it happens more often than not

He closes by saying: "Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table."

He was big in the way of men who never apologize to furniture.

I mean, he was 86. Elderly folks I've known pretty much stop adapting to new movements and terminology after 75.

RIP Mike Galloway.

M.A.N.D.Y & Get Physical founder Philipp Jung

https://electronicgroove.com/philipp-jung-mandy-member-get-physical-music-co-founder-has-passed-away/

From a few days back: Joe Sedelmaier, commercial filming god:

https://deadline.com/2026/05/joe-sedelmaier-dead-wheres-the-beef-1236906208/

No slouch to say that, however by default mediated by being exactly what they were, ads in service of making money and selling a product, etc., the dude was a true master of a short-form of comedy filmmaking. The only one I can think of in terms of US directors at the time famous enough due to his work to be known by name!

George Eastman, 83, Italian actor who appeared in a lot of Joe D'amato's films

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Preparati_la_bara%21_%281968%29_George_Eastman.png/500px-Preparati_la_bara%21_%281968%29_George_Eastman.png

No slouch to say that, however by default mediated by being exactly what they were, ads in service of making money and selling a product, etc., the dude was a true master of a short-form of comedy filmmaking. The only one I can think of in terms of US directors at the time famous enough due to his work to be known by name!

A friend of mine took a film class where the teacher spent a day talking about making ads and commercials - I think it was like an intro course where they wanted to cover all your options in terms of what to do with your degree - and a large chunk of that lecture used Sedelmaier's work as an example. IIRC his wacky commercials were known for colorful characters you'd never see anywhere else. That's because whenever he saw someone IRL who looked liked someone he should use in his commercials, he would approach them and exchange contact info, so he was more or less scouting and casting for himself all the time. I also have some vague recollection that he could be tough to work with but that it would be unfair to single him out because a lot of TV commercial directors were difficult people to work for.

Yeah people should die before they start talking shit. Buh-bye, Barn' (and much of ilx).

Michael Keating (best known as Vila in Blakes's 7)

uh I mean Blake's 7

Yeah people should die before they start talking shit. Buh-bye, Barn' (and much of ilx).

― dow, 20 May 2026 23:34 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

spectacular stuff this.

Kyle Busch? Nascar driver, only 41

whoa

Apparently had pulled out of a race due to severe illness.

burst appendix? Sepsis? who knows

The news comes 11 days after Kyle Busch radioed into his crew near the end of a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen asking a doctor to give him a "shot" after he finished the race. According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the New York road course.

Busch finished the race in eighth place.

Busch competed at Dover last weekend and won the Trucks Series race for Richard Childress Racing. He finished 17th at the NASCAR All-Star race.

vaxxed? 🤔