Obituaries of the Months of November 2012

Norodom Sihanouk: (89):Cambodia’s revered and charismatic former king whose life encompassed turbulent years of rule, exile and war including the Khmer Rouge reign of terror died on October 15 in Beijing. He quit the throne in October 2004, citing old age and health problems. 

Keith Campbell (58): A British biologist whose scientific research helped the Ian Wilmut team to create Dolly the sheep in 1996, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell at the University of Ebinburgh’s Roslin Institute, died in London on October 5. 

E. Donnall Thomas (92): US physician who pioneered bone marrow transplantation and its sister therapy, blood stem cell transplantation and later won the 1990 Nobel Prize in medicine for his ground breaking work related with the treatment of leukemia, died on October 20 in Seattle.  

Eric Hobsbawn (95): UK’s one of the leading historians of the 20^th century, a lifelong Marxist whose work influenced generations of historians and politicians, died on October 1 in London. 

Antoni Dobrowolski (108): The oldest known survivor of the Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz, Birkenau, who ran secret classes during Germany’s brutal World War II occupation of Poland, when the local population was barred from receiving an education died on October 22 in Denbo, Poland.  

Yash Chopra (80): Bollywood’s legendary director ‘king of Romance’ and head of its most powerful production house-Yash Raj Films (launched in 1971), who debuted as director with Dhool ka Phool (1959), won 4 Filmfare best director awards for Waqt (1965), Ittefaq (1969) Daag (1973) and Deewar (1975), and gave several hits with Big B like Kabhi Kabhie (1976), Trishul (1978). Kaala Patthar (1979) and Silsila (1981), revived romance in Bollywood with Chandani (1989), Lamhe (1991), Darr (1993), Dil to Pagal hai (1997) and Veer-Zara (2004), got Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001 and Padma Bhushan in 2005 and whose last film Jab Tak Hai Jaan (Yet to be released) died on October 21 in Mimbai. He directed over 35 films in his 53 years of filmy career. 

Sunil Gangopadhyay (78): Noted Bengali litterateur, Sahitya Akademi president, author of over 200 books, and the founder editor of over 200 books, and the founder editor of kritibas, a seminal poetry magazine that started publishing in 1953 and become a platform for a new generation of poets experimenting with new forms died on October 23 in Kolkata. 

Jaspal Bhatti (57): Well-known comedian and satirist famous for his shows Flops Show and Ulta Pulta on Doordarshan was killed in a road accident near Jalandhar on October 25.  

Brajesh Mishra (84): A career diplomat and the country’s first National Security Advisor who played a key role in foreign policy matters and pushed for deeper engagement with the US, died in New Delhi on September 28.  

Sasi Mohan (56): Veteran Tamil and Malayalam film director who directed over 30 films in his direction career, died on October 1 in Kannur, Kerala.

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Obituaries of the months of August 2012

Neil Alden Armstrong (82): Us astronaut and the first man who commanded the Apollo 11 that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969 and walk on the moon, radioed back to Earth the historic news of “One giant leap for mankind” and spent nearly three hours walking on the moon with Edwin “Buzz Aldrin, died on August 25 in Cincinnati.

Gore Vidal (86): Born as Eugene Luther Vidal Jr. the contrarian US Writer, who filled his novels and essays with acerbic observations on politics, sex and American culture while carrying on feuds with big-name literary rivals, died on July 31 in Los Angeles. His literary legacy included a series of historical novels-“Burr”, “1876”, “Lincoin” and “The Golden Age” among them- as well as the campy transsexual comedy “Myra Breckinridge”. His third book, “The city and the Pillar”, created a sensation In 1948 because it was one of the first open portrayals of a homosexual main character.

Meles Zenawi (57): Ethiopia’s long time ruler (Premier) who held tight control over this East African country but was a major US counter-terrorism ally, died on August 20 in Brussels.

Tony Scott (68): British-born Hollywood film director who made his debut with The Hunger (1983) and directed 26 movies, shorts, and television shows including-Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Days of Thunder (1990), The Last Boy Scout (1991), Enemy of the State (1998), Spy Game, (2001), Unstoppable (2010), Emma’s war (in production) alongwith and Academy Award winning movie Top Gun (1986), committed suicide by jumping from a bridge in San Pedro, California on August 19.

Helen Gurley Brown (90): The saucy Cosmopolitan editor of US, who as the author of sex and the Single Girl shocked eatly-1960s American with the news that unmarried women not only had sex but also thoroughly enjoyed it and who as the Cosmopolitan editor delivered thousands of sex tips to single women and more than a few curious men, died on August 13 in New York.

Maeve Binchy (72): one of Ireland’s most beloved writers, who sold more than 40 million books worldwide and was revered for her novels-Light a Penny Candle, Tara Road and Circle of Friends, which was adapted for the screen in 1995, died in Dublin in July last.

Tony Martin (98): The romantic singer of USA who appeared in movie musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s and sustained a career into the 21st century, died on July 27 in Los Angeles. A peer of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, he had hits like “I Get ideas,” “To Each His Own”, “Begin the Beguine” and “There’s No Tomorrow”.

Al Freeman JR (78): The African-American actor, who perhaps best known for his portrayal of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad in Spike Lee’s 1992 film Malcolm X, and whose long career in film, television and theater included an enduring role playing police Captain Ed Hall on the TV soap opera One Life to Live from 1972 through 1987, died on August 9.

Scott Mckenzie (73): US singer, who sang San Francisco, the unofficial anthem of the counterculture movement of the 1960s, died in Los Angeles, on August 18.

Prabuddha Dasgupta (56): Renowned fashion photographer, who was a popular name in the national as well as international fashion fraternity and challenged several societal taboos with his photographs whose first major work Women, released in 1996, was a compilation on controversial nude photographs of urban Indian women and whose works have found a place in prestigious magazines across the world, died on August 12 in Mumbai.

Vempati Chinna Satyam (83): Renowned kuchipudi dance guru and the recipient of several awards including the Padma Bhushan (1956), who was credited with elevating kuchipudi from its crude rustic from to a highly refined performing art, deserving prime position among the eight Indian classical dances and is largely responsible for spreading this art from across the world by performing in about 60 countries and training over 10000 students including film stars Hema Malini, Rekha and Vyjanyanthimala died on July 29 in Chennai.

Avtar Kishan (A.K.) Hungal (97): Veteran Bollywood actor and character artist, popularly known as A.K. Hungal and best remembered for his role as Rahim Chacha in the iconic film Sholay, died on August 26 in Mumbai. He acted in about 225 films in different languages including Hindi and did 16 films with Rajesh Khanna.

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Obituaries of the months of July 2012

MOHAMMED BIN SAUD (78): A senior prince and former defence minister of Saudi Arabia who was not in line for the throne, but wielded influence as part of a council of royal family members that helps select the heirs to rule the oil-rich Western ally, died on July 8.

ERNEST BORGNINE (95): Renowned Hollywood actor who seemed destined for tough-guy characters but won an Academy Award for Marty in 1955 and Golden Globe, BAFTA etc for the same and acted in several hits including McHaLe’s Navy, The Dirty Dozen, The wild Bunch, Spike of Bensonhurst,  died on July 8 in Los Angeles.

DONALD J. SOBOL (87): The creator of Encyclopaedia Brown, the clever boy detective who made bookworms of many a reluctant young reader and whose work have been translated into 12 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide, died on July 11 in South Miami.

STEPHEN R. COVEY (79): The well-known US motivational speaker and author of the best-selling the seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Which sold more than 20 million copies in 33 languages, died on July 16.

JON LORD (71): Former bandmember of British hard-rock band “Deep purple” and the co-writer of legendary songs like Smoke On The Water, Who is best known for his Orchestral work Concerto for Group & Orchestra is dead.

KITTY WELLS (92): The “Queen of Country Music” who broke down barriers in the 1950s to women in the genre with a number-one hit It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels, died on July 16 in Tennessee, USA.

CELESTE HOLM (95): Oscar-Winning US  actress, who was the original  girl who couldn’t say no in the musical  Oklahoma! And won the best supporting actress Academy Award in 1948 for Gentlemen’s Agreement and later appeared in High Society (1956) and Also garnered Oscar nominations in 1950 for Come to the Stable and in 1951 for All About Eve, died on July 15 in New York.

SERGIO PININFARINA (85): Legendary Italian car designer and a life Senator whose company designed Ferraris for decades and is also famous for designing the 2006 Winter Olympics Torch, the Coca-Cola Free-Style beverage dispenser, the Lavazza coffee machine and the Juventus stadium, died on July 3.

JOHN ATTA MILLS (68): Ghana’s president who according to unconfirmed report had been suffering from throat cancer died on July 24 in Accra.

RAJESH KHANNA (69): Bollywood’s original superstar nicknamed Kaka (see photo on cover), who charmed his way into the hearts of millions of swooning women, died in Mumbai on July 18 after a prolonged illness. Billed as Bollywood’s first superstar for delivering 15 hits in a row from 1969 to 1971 (an unbroken record), Rajesh Khanna epitomised a range of emotions on the big screen- from melancholy to romance-with a rich bouquet of lilting songs like ‘Zindagi ek safar hai suhana’ and ‘Mere sapno ki Rani’ making his movies and characters immortal. His blockbusters include Aradhana, Anand, Hathi mere Saathi, Avtaar, Roti, Saccha Jhutha etc. He, who made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat acted in 163 films,  of which 106 had him as solo lead hero,22 were two-hero projects and 17 short films and won three Filmfare best actor awards and was nominated for the award 14 times. In 2005, Awarded Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. He turned producer in 1985 with Alag Alag. He remained Lok Sabha member from New Delhi constituency between 1992 and 1996.

DARA SINGH (83): Bollywood’s veteran actor-wrestler known as Rustam-e-Hind, who played Hanuman in epic teleserial Ramayan, and also remembered for one of the most exciting bouts in the history of wrestling competitions when he lifted an almost 200 kg King of Australia over his head and twirled him around, died on July 12 in Mumbai.

HIREN BHATTACHARYYA (80): Popular and celebrated Assamese poet and winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award (1992) and several honours, known as Hiru-da, who had to his name 10 anthologies of poems apart from two collection of rhymes for children (‘Lora Dhemali’ and ‘Akou Dhemali’) died on July 4 Guwahati.

LAKSHMI SEHGAL (97): A veteran of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bosh’s Indian National Army (INA) who was the first captain of the INA’s women’s wing later represented in the Rajya Sabha and in 2002, unsuccessfully stood for president as the joint left candidate against APJ Abdul Kalam, died on July 23 in Kanpur.

BABU RAM ALIAS B.R ISHARA (77): Born as Roshan Lal Sharma, the Bollywood veteran writer-director with a distinct beard who was an iconoclast, a redical who made brave and unusual films and changed the rules of the game and brought sex on the menu in Hindi cinema, questioned middle-class hypocrisy and annoyed both moralists and the Censor Board in the 1970s with his bold movies like Chetna (1970) with Anil Dhawan, Charitra (1971) with parveen Babi, Zaroorat (1973) with Reena Roy, Kagaaz Ki Nao (1975) with Raj Kiran died on July 24 in New Delhi.

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Obituaries of Month June 2012

Meadi Hussan (84) :- Legendary Pakistani Ghazal Samraat of Indian origin and South Asian icon whose music soared above borders of India and Pakistan, whose style influenced most ghazal singers of both countries, who used used verses written by poets from both countries, died in Karachi on June 13. His long list of melodious Ghazal includes Ranjish hi sahi, Patta patta boota boota, zindagi mein to sabhi, Gulon mein rang bhare, Dekhto dil ke jaan se uthta hai, abke kum bichhde to khwabon mein mile.

Ray Bradbury (91) :- Renowned science fiction master of US who transformed his childhood dreams and cold war fears into telepathic Martians, lovesick sea monsters and the high- teach, book-burning future of “Fahrenheit 451” and whose writing ranged from horror and mystery to humor and sympathetic stories about the Irish, blacks and Mexican Americans, died on June 5.

Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz (70) : Crown Prince and the hardline interior minister who spearheaded Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on al Qaeda in the kingdom after the September 11 attacks and then rose to become next in line to the, died on June 16.

Nora Ephron (71) : – Renowned US essayist, author and Hollywood filmmaker who thrived in the male-dominated worlds of movies and Journalism died in New York on June 26. She was the rare woman to write, direct and produce Hollywood movie like when Harry Met Sally, Julie & Julia and Sleepless in Seattle.

Victor Spinetti (82) : – An acclaimed comic actor of UK who won a Tony award in 1965 for his Broadway performance in Oh, what a Lovely War and appeared in several Beatle movies including a hard Day’s Night, Help and Magical Mystery Tour, died on June 19.

Radha Vindu Raja (63) :- Super Sleuth, anti-terrorism expert and the first chief of National Invention Agency (NIA), Widely known as the real-life “Sethurama  Iyer CBI” and Investigation Team (SIT) that cracked the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in 1991, died in Kochi on June 21.

Dr. Abid Hussain (85) :- Former ambassador to the US who was honoured with Padma Bhushan for meritorious services in 1998, and was currently a Senior trustee of the observer research foundation, New Delhi died in London on June 21

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