Notable deaths: First American woman in space cracked glass ceiling
Space used to be a man’s world. Then came Sally Ride, who blazed a cosmic trail into orbit for U.S. women. With a pitch perfect name out of a pop song refrain, she joined the select club of American space heroes the public knew by heart: Shepard, Glenn, Armstrong and Aldrin.
Ride, the first American woman in orbit, died at her home in the San Diego community of La Jolla at age 61 of pancreatic cancer.
Ride flew into space on the shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983, when she was 32. Since then, 42 other American women followed her into space.
“Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model. She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars,” President Barack Obama said in a statement.
Ride flew in space twice, both times on Challenger, in 1983 and on October 5, 1984, logging 343 hours in space. A third flight was cancelled when Challenger exploded in 1986. She was on the commission investigating that accident and later served on the panel for the 2003 Columbia shuttle accident, the only person on both boards. She also was on the president’s committee of science advisers.
George Jefferson was a bigot. A loudmouth. Rude. Obsessed with money. Arrogant. And yet he was one of the most enjoyable, beloved characters in television history.
Much of that credit belongs to Sherman Hemsley, the gifted character actor who gave life to the blustering black Harlem businessman on “The Jeffersons,” one of TV’s longest running and most successful sitcoms — particularly noteworthy with its mostly black cast.
The Philadelphia-born Hemsley, who police said died at his home in El Paso, Texas, at age 74, first played George Jefferson on the CBS show “All in the Family” before he was spun off onto “The Jeffersons.” The sitcom ran for 11 seasons from 1975 to 1985.
With the gospel-style theme song of “Movin’ on Up,” the hit show depicted the wealthy former neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker in Queens as they made their way on New York’s Upper East Side. Hemsley and the Jeffersons (Isabel Sanford played his wife) often dealt with contemporary issues of racism, but more frequently reveled in the sitcom archetype of a short-tempered, opinionated patriarch trying, often unsuccessfully, to control his family.
Hemsley frequently turned up as a guest on sitcoms like “Family Matters,” “The Hughleys” and even, in a voice role, “Family Guy.” He twice reprised George Jefferson, appearing as his famous character on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and, in 2011, on “House of Payne.”
Hemsley, whose films include 1979’s “Love at First Bite,” 1987’s “Stewardess School” and 1987’s “Ghost Fever,” released an album, “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head,” in 1989.
Chad Everett, the blue-eyed star of the 1970s TV series “Medical Center” who went on to appear in such films and TV shows as “Mulholland Drive” and “Melrose Place,” has died. He was 75.
Everett played sensitive surgeon Joe Gannon for seven seasons on “Medical Center.” The role earned him Golden Globe nominations in 1971 and 1973.
With a career spanning more than 40 years, Everett guest starred on such TV series as “The Love Boat,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Without a Trace.” Everett most recently appeared on the TV shows “Castle” and “Supernatural,” where he appeared as an older version of Jensen Ackles’ character Dean Winchester.
Robert S. Ledley, a Georgetown University physicist who was credited with inventing the first full-body CT scanner, a machine that revolutionized medical diagnostics by allowing doctors to gaze inside their patients’ tissues without ever touching a scalpel, has died. He was 86.
The machine was first used on a patient at the Georgetown University hospital, where a toddler was taken after falling off his bicycle and hitting his head. With the CT scanner, doctors scanned his brain and detected a blood clot that, unnoticed, might have killed the child.
William Staub, who took the treadmill — that ubiquitous piece of exercise equipment that is loved and loathed by millions — into homes and gyms, has died. He was 96 and had been spied on a treadmill as recently as two months ago.
Conservationist Rita Miljo, who cared for and reintroduced packs of baboons back into the wilds of South Africa, died in a fire that destroyed much of the headquarters of the sanctuary she built. She was 81.
The fire broke out around 8 p.m. Friday after volunteers and workers left the center for the evening. No one else was injured in the blaze, which consumed the clinic, offices and a house on the property. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Veteran actress Lupe Ontiveros, who appeared in scores of TV shows and movies including “Desperate Housewives,” “Selena” and “As Good As It Gets,” has died. She was 69.
She was perhaps best known for her role in “Selena,” the 1997 biopic based on the life story of the Tejano pop star. Ontiveros played Yolanda Saldivar, who in real-life was convicted of killing Selena Quintanilla. The film launched the career of Jennifer Lopez, who played the title part.
Grace Keillor, the mother of “A Prairie Home Companion” host Garrison Keillor, has died at age 97.
Neil Reed, the former Indiana basketball player who coach Bob Knight was caught on tape choking in 1997, has died after collapsing in his Central California home. He was 36.
Pioneer Valley High School Principal Shanda Herrera said Reed died of heart complications.
In March 2000, Reed accused Knight of choking him during a practice in 1997.
When video of the practice surfaced backing Reed’s claim, the Hall of Fame coach, who was known for his temper as well as his success, was put on a zero-tolerance policy by then-Indiana University President Dr. Myles Brand.
Ann Curtis, a renowned swimmer who won two gold medals at the 1948 Olympics, the last time the event was held in London, has died. She was 86.
Jack Davis, a champion hurdler who won two Olympic silver medals in the 1950s, has died. He was 81.
Simon Ward, the fine-boned English actor who experienced a rush of stardom in the 1970s after portraying an adventure-seeking Winston Churchill in “Young Winston” and the jaunty Duke of Buckingham in the popular swashbuckling comedies “The Three Musketeers” and “The Four Musketeers,” has died. He was 70.
Thelma McWilliams Glass, a longtime Alabama State professor and civil rights pioneer who helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott, has died at 96.
Dennis Avery, an international philanthropist and heir to the Avery Dennison fortune, has died. He was 71.
President John Atta Mills’ election victory secured Ghana’s reputation as one of the most mature democracies in West Africa, a position further solidified last week when the vice president took over only hours after the 68-year-old president died five months before finishing his first term.
The Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Cool Hand Luke” has died.
Frank Pierson was87.
He won an Oscar for writing 1975’s “Dog Day Afternoon” and was nominated for his screenplays for “Cool Hand Luke” and “Cat Ballou.” He wrote and directed 1976’s “A Star is Born.”
He most recently worked as a writer and consulting producer on TV’s “Mad Men” and “The Good Wife.”
Longtime Broadway agent and producer Archer King, who’s credited with discovering a slew of famous actors including James Dean and Ron Howard, has died in New York. He was 95.
Beloved New Zealand children’s author Margaret Mahy, who wrote more than 120 books and earned acclaim at home and abroad, has died at the age of 76.
Louise Nippert, an owner of the Cincinnati Reds during the Big Red Machine era and a financial contributor to the Cincinnati arts scene, died Monday at age 100.
Eddie Barker, who aired the first report of President John F. Kennedy’s death from an assassin’s bullet, has died at a Dallas nursing home. He was 84.
Former Disney head Mouseketeer and voice actress Ginny Tyler has died in Washington state at age 86.
Cuban activist Oswaldo Paya, who spent decades speaking out against the communist government of Fidel and Raul Castro and became one of the most powerful voices of dissent against their half-century rule, has died in a car crash. He was 60.
Raul O. Garces, a veteran Associated Press correspondent who defied military censors and leftist guerrillas as he covered many of the tumultuous events of South America for more than a half-century, died on Saturday from a massive heart attack. He was 73.
Jim Carlen, who coached South Carolina’s only Heisman Trophy winner and also led West Virginia and Texas Tech to success, has died. He was 79.
Mike Lynn, the longtime Minnesota Vikings executive who made the ill-fated trade with Dallas for Herschel Walker, has died. He was 76.
Lynn served as the team’s general manager from 1975 to 1990.
Radical, leftist writer Alexander Cockburn has died at age 71.
Cockburn’s co-editor at the political newsletter CounterPunch, Jeffrey St. Clair, said the longtime columnist for The Nation died in Germany after a two-year battle with cancer.