Chicago area loses its own icons in 2013
Writers, actors, ball players, radio icons and more - in 2013 the region lost some famous people who were part of the Chicago area family. Here is a final look.
Karen Black
Born Karen Blanche Ziegler in Park Ridge in 1939, Black became a major movie star with award-winning roles in “Easy Rider,” “Five Easy Pieces,” the 1974 version of “The Great Gatsby” and as the stewardess forced to fly the plane in the disaster film “Airport 1975”. She played hundreds of roles in film and television and worked with some of the great names in film, including Alfred Hitchcock. Black won two Golden Globes and was nominated for an Academy Award. She died Aug. 8 at age 74.
Tom Boerwinkle
A center who played his entire 10-year NBA career with the Chicago Bulls, Boerwinkle finished his career with 4,596 points, 5,745 rebounds, and 2,007 assists. A first-round draft pick out of Tennessee in 1968, he played with the legendary likes of Chet Walker, Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier and Bob Love. He set a Bulls rebound record on Jan. 8, 1970 when he had 37 against the Suns. He died March 26 at age 67.
Dennis Farina
A onetime Chicago cop who became a popular character actor, Farina had a three-decade career playing wry tough guys, including a TV cop on “Law & Order.” His many films include “Saving Private Ryan,” “Out Of Sight” “Midnight Run” and his breakout film, “Get Shorty.” Farina was raised in a working-class neighborhood of Chicago, the seventh child of Italian immigrants. He died July 22 at age 69.
The Rev. Andrew Greeley
By the time he died, the outspoken Roman Catholic priest and Chicago newspaper columnist had written more than 100 nonfiction books and some 50 novels, many international mystery thrillers that routinely climbed onto best-seller lists and were translated into a dozen languages. He often spoke out about various religious topics, criticizing the hierarchy of his own church over the child sex abuse scandal. Born in Oak Park, he died May 29, at 85.
Larry Lujack
An immensely popular Chicago radio personality with the Boomer generation, “Uncle Lar’s” sarcasm, grumpiness and sense of humor was unlike anything listeners had heard. Lujack had a 20-year run at both Chicago rock n roll stations — WLS-AM and WCFL-AM, and he joked, bellyached and criticized his way through shows in a manner that has become ubiquitous among today’s radio personalities. He died Dec. 18 at age 73.
Jim Nayder
On “The Annoying Music Show,” Nayder introduced some of the worst covers of all time to a delighted and bemused radio audience; i.e. Bette Davis singing “Feliz Navidad,” Donald Duck quacking “Amazing Grace,” etc. It started one day when Nayder was on air at WBEZ-FM in Chicago. He announced a show that didn’t air on time, and his producer asked him to fill the dead air. He played a record of the renowned country yodeler Slim Whitman, caterwauling through “It’s a Small World.” At the end of the song, Nayder said, “Welcome to ‘The Annoying Music Show’” and a new career was born. He died June 27 at age 59.
Andy Pafko
A four-time All-Star who was the last living member of the 1945 Cubs — the last Cubs team to reach the World Series — Pafko was nicknamed “Handy Andy.” He joined the Cubs in 1943 and in 1945 he hit .298 with 110 RBIs, helping the Cubs to the pennant. He was an All-Star from 1947 until 1950 and went to World Series three more times, with Brooklyn in 1952 and Milwaukee in 1957 and 1958. He lived in Mount Prospect, where in retirement he was a starter at the Mount Prospect Golf Club and participated in hundreds of charity events. He died Oct. 8 at age 92.
Frederik Pohl
One of the giants of science fiction, Pohl was good friends with Ray Bradbury and worked alongside the likes of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. He wrote more than 60 novels and 30 short stories, including “The Space Merchants” and “Gateway,” a Hugo Award winner; he collaborated with Clarke on “The Last Theorem” in 2008 and stayed active online in recent years, with his blog earning a Hugo Award in 2010. Pohl lived in Palatine for the last several decades and spoke at the local library and schools. He died Sept. 2 at 93.
Bernard Sahlins
The co-founder of The Second City in Chicago, Bernard “Bernie” Sahlins nurtured the early careers of many of the earliest stars of “Saturday Night Live.” With business partners Howard Alk and Paul Sills opened The Second City in December 1959, and it quickly gained national attention and helped establish Chicago as a vibrant comedy town. He hired Alan Arkin, John and Jim Belushi, Joan Rivers, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner and Harold Ramis, among others. He died June 16 at age 90.
Charlie Trotter
He never went to culinary school, but Trotter changed the way Americans viewed fine dining, and his restaurant put Chicago at the vanguard of the food world. He earned 10 James Beard Awards, wrote 10 cookbooks and in 1999 hosted his own public television series, “The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter.” His restaurant was credited with training dozens of the nation’s top chefs, and his food was grounded in classical French technique, but blended seamlessly with Asian influences. He grew up in Wilmette; he died Nov. 5 at age 54.
Don Wade
Wade had a 55-year career in broadcasting, 27 of them at WLS-AM radio in Chicago, that ranged from comedy to rock and roll DJ. At WLS, Wade and his wife, Roma, began hosting their long running morning talk show in 1989. He died Sept. 6 at 72.
Rich Williamson
A former U.S. Senate candidate and diplomat, the Evanston native was described as one of the Illinois Republican Party’s most influential minds. A Chicago attorney and Kenilworth resident, was chairman of the state Republican Party from 1999-2001 and most recently served as a member of the Republican National Committee. He lost his 1992 Senate campaign to Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. He died Dec. 8 at 64.