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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 4:08 pm
Jack Valenti has died. Hollywood Reporter Jack Valenti, the high-level power broker who reigned as head of the MPAA for almost four decades and was responsible for the institution of the movie ratings system, died Thursday. He was 85. The charismatic Valenti suffered a stroke in late March and spent about a month at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He was checked out of the hospital on Tuesday. He died of complications of the stroke at his Washington, D.C., home, said MPAA spokesman Seth Oster. A diminutive Texan who used big words and wielded even bigger clout in the corridors of Hollywood and Washington, Valenti served as special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson before he took over at MPAA in 1966. He retired in 2004, handing the reins to Dan Glickman, a former congressman and Agriculture Department secretary. "Jack Valenti was a giant who loomed large over two of the world's most glittering stages -- Washington and Hollywood," Glickman said in a statement Thursday. "He was a patriot who loved and served his country, and he was a passsionate champion of American cinema and artistic freedom. He was truly a model for us all." [...]
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Cdbga
Member
10-04-2004
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 8:22 am
Dabbs Greer, a veteran character actor who played the Rev. Robert Alden in the TV show "Little House on the Prairie," has died. He was 90.

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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 8:34 am
He was a wonderful utility actor who had been a staple 'go to' actor for eons.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 8:42 am
I just read his bio on IMDb. In 1952He was the very first person saved by Superman in the tv program 'The Adventures of Superman'. Not a bad claim to fame.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 2:22 pm
Tom Poston dies at 85 yahoo
Tom Poston, the tall, pasty-faced comic who found fame and fortune playing a clueless everyman on such hit television shows as "Newhart" and "Mork and Mindy," has died. He was 85. Poston, who was married to Suzanne Pleshette of "The Bob Newhart Show," died Monday night at home after a brief illness, a family representative, Tanner Gibson, said Tuesday. The nature of his illness was not disclosed. Bob Newhart remembered Poston as a "versatile and veteran performer and a kindhearted individual." "Tom was always the `go-to guy' on `Newhart' in addition to being a good and longtime friend," Newhart said in a statement Tuesday. Poston's run as a comic bumbler began in the mid-1950s with "The Steve Allen Show" after Allen plucked the character actor from the Broadway stage to join an ensemble of eccentrics he would conduct "man in the street" interviews with. [...]
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 2:26 pm
a little personal note, when I was a child one of my friends father was an actor and Tom Poston was her godfather. I used to see him all the time at her house and he was a really nice guy.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 2:27 pm
And another good man fades into the past. I'm old enough to remember his from the Steve Allen Tonight Show.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 3:36 pm
Oh I loved Tom Poston.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 3:43 pm
not another He was such a funny guy. Used to love seeing him on the game shows.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 3:46 pm
Dabbs Greer and Tom Poston. Lots of good memories of watching tv when I was young. They'll be missed.
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Mak1
Member
08-12-2002
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 3:50 pm
This lady singer led an interesting life and blazed the way for other Afro-American women singers. Platters singer Zola Taylor dies at 69 By ANDREW GLAZER, Associated Press Writer Tue May 1, 4:18 PM ET LOS ANGELES - Zola Taylor, who broke gender barriers in the 1950s as a member of The Platters, harmonizing with her male colleagues on hits like "The Great Pretender," has died, her nephew said Tuesday. She was 69. Taylor, who later gained attention of a different sort as one of three women who claimed to be pop idol Frankie Lymon's widow, died Monday, said her nephew Alfie Robinson. She had been bedridden following several strokes and died at Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside County from complications of pneumonia, he said. Founding Platters member Herb Reed said he spotted Taylor, the sister of Cornell Gunter of the Coasters, rehearsing with a girl group in 1955 and knew immediately she had the charisma and vocal chops the R&B group needed. The all-male group had just signed with Mercury after its single "Only You" topped the charts and its manager thought they needed a female voice to soften their sound. "She was a very pretty young lady and what a great, great smile," Reed told The Associated Press. "And she had this baby voice that everyone liked." "It was a great surprise to everyone," Reed said. "We were the first Afro-American group to have a girl singer. That was the talk of the nation. All of the sudden, other groups started looking for girls." link: yahoo
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Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 3:52 pm
Awwww...Two sad losses. I enjoyed Dabbs Greer as Rev. Alden. Also really enjoyed seeing his familiar face pop up in guest roles in other shows later on. Loved Tom Poston in Newhart too.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 4:00 pm
I had no idea that Tom Poston was married to Suzanne Pleshette in 2001. Sounds like a wonderful romance after a lifetime of working together off and on, of course.
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 4:01 pm
Hmm Tom Poston has left us closely following Kitty Carlisle, both who were on game show panels together.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 5:12 pm
Tom's widow Suzanne was diagnosed with lung cancer last summer. She has said it was caught in time; other sources says it has spread to her lymph nodes.
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 5:23 pm
I loved Tom Poston. He attended my alma mater, Bethany College in West Virginia. I have forgiven him for saying "The best thing that ever happened to me was fluking out of Bethany College." lol He received an honorary degree from there in 1990.
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Babyruth
Member
07-19-2001
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 5:58 pm

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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 6:57 pm
I read in the paper that Tommy Newsome from Johnny Carson's band passed away. I don't see the obit anywhere other than in my newspaper. I think he was Doc Severinson's replacement when he was gone at times. Too many passing lately.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 8:50 pm
Didn't Johnny call Tommy, Mr. Excitement, or something like that?
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 9:35 pm
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (May 1) - Tommy Newsom, the former backup bandleader on "The Tonight Show" whose "Mr. Excitement" nickname was a running joke for Johnny Carson, has died. He was 78. Newsom died of cancer at his Portsmouth home Saturday, according to his nephew, Jim Newsom. Newsom, who played saxophone, joined "The Tonight Show" in 1962 and rose from band member to assistant music director. He retired along with Carson in 1992. "The Tonight Show" received five Emmy awards during Newsom's years on the show. "I hope he will be remembered as a gifted musician," Jim Newsom said Monday in a telephone interview. "I'm sure he will be remembered for his wit and deadpan humor on `The Tonight Show.' And to some of us a certain age, he will always be remembered as Mr. Excitement." That was the nickname Carson gave Newsom to make light of his low-key personality and drab brown and blue suits - a sharp contrast to the flashy style of bandleader Doc Severinsen. "He became a running character in Carson's monologue," Jim Newsom said. "Tommy enjoyed that." Not long after the Carson era ended in 1992, Newsom remarked that his image as an ordinary guy was "fairly accurate - compared to Rambo." "I realize things have to end sometime," Newsom said at the time. "I felt regrets at it ending and there was a sense of relief in a way." Along with his work on "The Tonight Show," Newsom arranged and composed music for Skitch Henderson, Woody Herman, Kenny Rogers, John Denver and other performers. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

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Beth4freedom
Member
10-24-2003
| Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 11:08 pm
Vee, where did you find the neat photos of Suzanne and Tom?
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Skootz
Member
07-23-2003
| Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 4:17 am
I googled (searched images) Toms name to show dh some more pictures of him and I saw the same picture that Vee posted.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 7:58 am
So sad... I remember being very surprised when I heard that Tom and Suzanne got married. But it seemed so RIGHT, even though their onscreen personas couldn't have been more opposite. 
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Retired
Member
07-11-2001
| Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 6:39 pm

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Cdbga
Member
10-04-2004
| Thursday, May 03, 2007 - 11:14 am
Walter M. "Wally" Schirra Jr. (Click below for full obit) Walter M. Schirra Jr., one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts and the only man to fly on NASA's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, died Thursday. He was 84.

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