In Memoriam
As I am wont to do from time to time, I’ll take this time to mark some notable passings.
I was remiss a few weeks ago in not marking the passing of David Carradine. As a child, I was in awe and respect of him as Kwai Chang Caine in TV’s Kung Fu. As an adult, I found him to be an interesting man, talented, troubled, on the edge. There was a depth to the man that I feel many people did not realize. For me, his star performances will always be as singer Woody Guthrie in the movie Bound for Glory and as Cole Younger in The Long Riders. In many other roles, Carradine seemed to be playing a version of himself. His death said as much about him as his life, in that he will forever be an enigma.
Ed McMahon is not a celebrity that I have a great deal of feelings about, in that I did not watch him a lot on The Tonight Show. My dad was not a big Johnny Carson fan, so, while growing up my late night TV exposure was generally Nightline. He was of a generation and era that I did not completely identify with. I’m sure that to many people he is an icon and touchstone.
I was in New Mexico as a kid in 1976. My family was doing missionary work with the Navajo people, mainly dealing with alcoholics. We belonged to an extremely conservative holiness church (one of the reasons why I’m so liberal now, I think). One of the things that we did not have at the time was a television. It was frowned upon by the church. However, one evening we visited friends who had television. I was never the same. I was about 12 years old at the time and caught my first vision of Farrah Fawcett in Charlie’s Angels. I was enraptured, as many young males of the day was. No, I did not own the famous poster, as that would have been inappropriate for a preacher’s kid to do.
It is sad that she never had the success on the big screen that she wanted and that she had tough times personally. It must be said, however, that much of her work on television and in theater did receive a great deal of critical acclaim. I’m happy to see how well Ryan O’Neal stood by her at the end. She was very brave to document all that she went through for the benefit of others. I couldn’t watch the documentary. It painful for me just to watch the few clips that showed up on other programs. Farrah was gracious lady and a performer will likely always be underrated.
In 1984 there were four big names in the music world: Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Madonna, and Michael Jackson. Over twenty years later, and many people may not remember just how all pervasive Michael’s influence was at that time. Music, videos, movies, commercials, fashion…all of them bore Michael’s distinctive touch. He became bigger than life, and in many ways that is what really hurt him in the long run. After surviving family abuse in the midst of child stardom, there is little wonder that he retreated into fantasy and innocence as an adult. There is no doubt that he was greatly troubled and that it led to a systemic destruction of his life and career in many ways. Still, he was a genius entertainer and consummate singer. Paired with Quincy Jones, Michael made some of the greatest popular music of the 20th Century. Take away all of the personal problems and issues (which I do not discount, as they were many, and they were troubling) and we are left with a legacy of recorded music and performances that do show why Jackson was named King of Pop.
I was remiss a few weeks ago in not marking the passing of David Carradine. As a child, I was in awe and respect of him as Kwai Chang Caine in TV’s Kung Fu. As an adult, I found him to be an interesting man, talented, troubled, on the edge. There was a depth to the man that I feel many people did not realize. For me, his star performances will always be as singer Woody Guthrie in the movie Bound for Glory and as Cole Younger in The Long Riders. In many other roles, Carradine seemed to be playing a version of himself. His death said as much about him as his life, in that he will forever be an enigma.
Ed McMahon is not a celebrity that I have a great deal of feelings about, in that I did not watch him a lot on The Tonight Show. My dad was not a big Johnny Carson fan, so, while growing up my late night TV exposure was generally Nightline. He was of a generation and era that I did not completely identify with. I’m sure that to many people he is an icon and touchstone.
I was in New Mexico as a kid in 1976. My family was doing missionary work with the Navajo people, mainly dealing with alcoholics. We belonged to an extremely conservative holiness church (one of the reasons why I’m so liberal now, I think). One of the things that we did not have at the time was a television. It was frowned upon by the church. However, one evening we visited friends who had television. I was never the same. I was about 12 years old at the time and caught my first vision of Farrah Fawcett in Charlie’s Angels. I was enraptured, as many young males of the day was. No, I did not own the famous poster, as that would have been inappropriate for a preacher’s kid to do.
It is sad that she never had the success on the big screen that she wanted and that she had tough times personally. It must be said, however, that much of her work on television and in theater did receive a great deal of critical acclaim. I’m happy to see how well Ryan O’Neal stood by her at the end. She was very brave to document all that she went through for the benefit of others. I couldn’t watch the documentary. It painful for me just to watch the few clips that showed up on other programs. Farrah was gracious lady and a performer will likely always be underrated.
In 1984 there were four big names in the music world: Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Madonna, and Michael Jackson. Over twenty years later, and many people may not remember just how all pervasive Michael’s influence was at that time. Music, videos, movies, commercials, fashion…all of them bore Michael’s distinctive touch. He became bigger than life, and in many ways that is what really hurt him in the long run. After surviving family abuse in the midst of child stardom, there is little wonder that he retreated into fantasy and innocence as an adult. There is no doubt that he was greatly troubled and that it led to a systemic destruction of his life and career in many ways. Still, he was a genius entertainer and consummate singer. Paired with Quincy Jones, Michael made some of the greatest popular music of the 20th Century. Take away all of the personal problems and issues (which I do not discount, as they were many, and they were troubling) and we are left with a legacy of recorded music and performances that do show why Jackson was named King of Pop.