DELTA FILMS
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January 2010
Casey Johnson
January 4, 2010
Casey Johnson, the heiress to the
Johnson & Johnson fortune who
recently made tabloid headlines with a
purported engagement to reality star
Tila Tequila, has died at age 30.
The Los Angeles Police Department
confirmed the news to Access
Hollywood on Monday night.
No details were immediately available
about the cause of death. Shortly
after the news broke, a rep for the
Johnson family issued a statement.
“The Johnson family is mourning its
tragic loss, and asks for privacy
during this very difficult time,” the
statement read.
Johnson was the great-great
granddaughter of the founder of the
pharmaceutical giant, and the
daughter of New York Jets owner
Robert Wood Johnson.
January 4, 2010
Casey Johnson, the heiress to the
Johnson & Johnson fortune who
recently made tabloid headlines with a
purported engagement to reality star
Tila Tequila, has died at age 30.
The Los Angeles Police Department
confirmed the news to Access
Hollywood on Monday night.
No details were immediately available
about the cause of death. Shortly
after the news broke, a rep for the
Johnson family issued a statement.
“The Johnson family is mourning its
tragic loss, and asks for privacy
during this very difficult time,” the
statement read.
Johnson was the great-great
granddaughter of the founder of the
pharmaceutical giant, and the
daughter of New York Jets owner
Robert Wood Johnson.
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Art Clokey
January 9, 2010
Gumby animator Art Clokey, whose
bendable creation became a pop culture
phenomenon through countless satires,
toys and revivals, has died at age 89.
Caretaker Chrisanne Wollett Clokey says
Clokey died Friday in Los Osos on
California's Central Coast.
Clokey first molded Gumby for a surreal
student project at the University of
Southern California called
"Gumbasia." That led to his making
shorts for the "Howdy Doody Show" and
several series through the years.
He said he based Gumby's swooping
head on the hairdo of his father, who
died when Clokey was nine.
Clokey also created the moralizing and
often satirized claymation duo "Davey
and Goliath."
January 9, 2010
Gumby animator Art Clokey, whose
bendable creation became a pop culture
phenomenon through countless satires,
toys and revivals, has died at age 89.
Caretaker Chrisanne Wollett Clokey says
Clokey died Friday in Los Osos on
California's Central Coast.
Clokey first molded Gumby for a surreal
student project at the University of
Southern California called
"Gumbasia." That led to his making
shorts for the "Howdy Doody Show" and
several series through the years.
He said he based Gumby's swooping
head on the hairdo of his father, who
died when Clokey was nine.
Clokey also created the moralizing and
often satirized claymation duo "Davey
and Goliath."
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Miep Gies
January 11, 2010
Miep Gies, the office secretary who
defied the Nazi occupiers to hide Anne
Frank and her family for two years and
saved the teenager's diary, has died, the
Anne Frank Museum said Tuesday. She
was 100.
Gies' Web site reported that she died
Monday after a brief illness. The report
was confirmed by museum
spokeswoman Maatje Mostar, but she
gave no details. The British Broadcasting
Corp. said she died in a nursing home
after suffering a fall last month.
Gies was the last of the few non-Jews
who supplied food, books and good
cheer to the secret annex behind the
canal warehouse where Anne, her
parents, sister and four other Jews hid
for 25 months during World War II.
After the apartment was raided by the
German police, Gies gathered up Anne's
scattered notebooks and papers and
locked them in a drawer for her return
after the war. The diary, which Anne
Frank was given on her 13th birthday,
chronicles her life in hiding from June 12,
1942 until August 1, 1944.
January 11, 2010
Miep Gies, the office secretary who
defied the Nazi occupiers to hide Anne
Frank and her family for two years and
saved the teenager's diary, has died, the
Anne Frank Museum said Tuesday. She
was 100.
Gies' Web site reported that she died
Monday after a brief illness. The report
was confirmed by museum
spokeswoman Maatje Mostar, but she
gave no details. The British Broadcasting
Corp. said she died in a nursing home
after suffering a fall last month.
Gies was the last of the few non-Jews
who supplied food, books and good
cheer to the secret annex behind the
canal warehouse where Anne, her
parents, sister and four other Jews hid
for 25 months during World War II.
After the apartment was raided by the
German police, Gies gathered up Anne's
scattered notebooks and papers and
locked them in a drawer for her return
after the war. The diary, which Anne
Frank was given on her 13th birthday,
chronicles her life in hiding from June 12,
1942 until August 1, 1944.
Joe Rollino
January 11, 2010
A famed strongman who once lifted 3,200
pounds at Coney Island during its heyday
and was still bending quarters with his
fingers at age 104 died Monday after he
was hit by a minivan.
Joe Rollino was struck as he crossed a
major street in Brooklyn, and suffered a
broken pelvis, head trauma and broken
ribs. He died a few hours later at an area
hospital.
Police said the driver was going the speed
limit and had not been drinking. No
criminality is suspected, but the driver was
issued a summons for a defective horn.
During his storied life, Rollino hobnobbed
with Harry Houdini, watched Jack Dempsey
knock out Jess Willard and was friendly
with Mario Lanza. He even had a bit part in
"On the Waterfront."
Rollino would have been 105 on March 19,
and was the model of health, according to
friends. A vegetarian for life, he didn't
drink or smoke, his friends said, and he
exercised every day. He was a lifetime
boxer and was part of the Oldetime Barbell
and Strongmen, an organization of men
who can still rip book binders at the seam.
January 11, 2010
A famed strongman who once lifted 3,200
pounds at Coney Island during its heyday
and was still bending quarters with his
fingers at age 104 died Monday after he
was hit by a minivan.
Joe Rollino was struck as he crossed a
major street in Brooklyn, and suffered a
broken pelvis, head trauma and broken
ribs. He died a few hours later at an area
hospital.
Police said the driver was going the speed
limit and had not been drinking. No
criminality is suspected, but the driver was
issued a summons for a defective horn.
During his storied life, Rollino hobnobbed
with Harry Houdini, watched Jack Dempsey
knock out Jess Willard and was friendly
with Mario Lanza. He even had a bit part in
"On the Waterfront."
Rollino would have been 105 on March 19,
and was the model of health, according to
friends. A vegetarian for life, he didn't
drink or smoke, his friends said, and he
exercised every day. He was a lifetime
boxer and was part of the Oldetime Barbell
and Strongmen, an organization of men
who can still rip book binders at the seam.
Joe Rollino shadow boxes in a pose on his 103rd
birthday in New York
birthday in New York
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Teddy Pendergrass
January 13, 2010
R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass,
who was one of the most electric
and successful figures in music
until a car crash 28 years ago left
him in a wheelchair, has died of
colon cancer. He was 59.
Pendergrass died Wednesday in
suburban Philadelphia, where he
had been hospitalized for months.
The singer’s son, Teddy
Pendergrass II, said his father
underwent colon cancer surgery
eight months ago and had “a
difficult recovery.”
January 13, 2010
R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass,
who was one of the most electric
and successful figures in music
until a car crash 28 years ago left
him in a wheelchair, has died of
colon cancer. He was 59.
Pendergrass died Wednesday in
suburban Philadelphia, where he
had been hospitalized for months.
The singer’s son, Teddy
Pendergrass II, said his father
underwent colon cancer surgery
eight months ago and had “a
difficult recovery.”
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Erich Segal
January 17, 2010
Erich Segal, the author of the hugely popular
novel "Love Story," has died of a heart attack,
his daughter said Tuesday. He was 72.
Francesca Segal said her father died Sunday at
his home in London. She said he had suffered
from Parkinson's diease - a neurological
condition that affects movement - for 25 years.
Segal was a Yale classics professor when he
gained nationwide fame for the book "Love
Story" about a young couple who fall in love,
marry and discover she is dying of cancer.
The book was turned into a hit film in 1970,
starring Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw. It gained
seven Oscar nominations - including one for
Segal for writing the screenplay, as well as for
best picture, best director and best actor and
actress (O'Neal and MacGraw.)
Its most famous line - "Love means never
having to say you're sorry" - became a national
catch phrase.
January 17, 2010
Erich Segal, the author of the hugely popular
novel "Love Story," has died of a heart attack,
his daughter said Tuesday. He was 72.
Francesca Segal said her father died Sunday at
his home in London. She said he had suffered
from Parkinson's diease - a neurological
condition that affects movement - for 25 years.
Segal was a Yale classics professor when he
gained nationwide fame for the book "Love
Story" about a young couple who fall in love,
marry and discover she is dying of cancer.
The book was turned into a hit film in 1970,
starring Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw. It gained
seven Oscar nominations - including one for
Segal for writing the screenplay, as well as for
best picture, best director and best actor and
actress (O'Neal and MacGraw.)
Its most famous line - "Love means never
having to say you're sorry" - became a national
catch phrase.
Jennifer Lyon
January 19, 2010
Jennifer Lyon, who placed fourth
on "Survivor: Palau" in 2005, died
at her home in Oregon Tuesday
night. She was 37.
The reality TV star was first
diagnosed with stage-three breast
cancer a few months after she
wrapped "Survivor," and opted for
a modified, radical bilateral
mastectomy, followed by courses
of chemotherapy and tamoxifen,
a drug used to prevent recurrence.
January 19, 2010
Jennifer Lyon, who placed fourth
on "Survivor: Palau" in 2005, died
at her home in Oregon Tuesday
night. She was 37.
The reality TV star was first
diagnosed with stage-three breast
cancer a few months after she
wrapped "Survivor," and opted for
a modified, radical bilateral
mastectomy, followed by courses
of chemotherapy and tamoxifen,
a drug used to prevent recurrence.
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Jean Simmons
January 22, 2010
Jean Simmons, the lovely, ethereal
film star who played Ophelia to
Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet, sang
with Marlon Brando in “Guys and
Dolls” and costarred with Gregory
Peck, Paul Newman and Kirk
Douglas, has died. She was 80.
Simmons, who won an Emmy
Award for her role in the 1980s
miniseries “The Thorn Birds,” died
Friday at her home in Santa
Monica, her agent Judy Page told
the Los Angeles Times.
Simmons had lung cancer.
January 22, 2010
Jean Simmons, the lovely, ethereal
film star who played Ophelia to
Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet, sang
with Marlon Brando in “Guys and
Dolls” and costarred with Gregory
Peck, Paul Newman and Kirk
Douglas, has died. She was 80.
Simmons, who won an Emmy
Award for her role in the 1980s
miniseries “The Thorn Birds,” died
Friday at her home in Santa
Monica, her agent Judy Page told
the Los Angeles Times.
Simmons had lung cancer.
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Pernell Roberts
January 24, 2010
Pernell Roberts, the ruggedly
handsome actor who shocked
Hollywood by leaving TV’s
“Bonanza” at the height of its
popularity, then found fame again
years later on “Trapper John, M.D.,”
has died. He was 81.
Roberts, the last surviving member
of the classic Western’s cast, died
of cancer Sunday at his Malibu
home, his wife Eleanor Criswell told
the Los Angeles Times.
January 24, 2010
Pernell Roberts, the ruggedly
handsome actor who shocked
Hollywood by leaving TV’s
“Bonanza” at the height of its
popularity, then found fame again
years later on “Trapper John, M.D.,”
has died. He was 81.
Roberts, the last surviving member
of the classic Western’s cast, died
of cancer Sunday at his Malibu
home, his wife Eleanor Criswell told
the Los Angeles Times.
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Jennifer Lyn Jackson
January 22, 2010
Jennifer Lyn Jackson was found dead in
her home at Schneider's Trailer Park on
Center Ridge Road. Investigators say
there were no outward signs of foul play,
and that the former Playboy centerfold
had a history of drug abuse.
The Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office is
working to determine the cause of death,
however a drug overdose is suspected.
She was only 40 years old.
Jackson posed for Playboy in the April
1989 issue.
Jackson-Thompson was a native of
Cleveland and was born in March 1969.
She graduated from North Olmsted High
School in 1986 and went on to study
business and finance at Kent State
University.
January 22, 2010
Jennifer Lyn Jackson was found dead in
her home at Schneider's Trailer Park on
Center Ridge Road. Investigators say
there were no outward signs of foul play,
and that the former Playboy centerfold
had a history of drug abuse.
The Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office is
working to determine the cause of death,
however a drug overdose is suspected.
She was only 40 years old.
Jackson posed for Playboy in the April
1989 issue.
Jackson-Thompson was a native of
Cleveland and was born in March 1969.
She graduated from North Olmsted High
School in 1986 and went on to study
business and finance at Kent State
University.
James Mitchell
January 22, 2010
James Mitchell, who for nearly three
decades played the gruff patriarch Palmer
Cortlandt on the ABC soap opera “All My
Children,” died here on Friday. He was
89. The cause was chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease complicated by
pneumonia, said his partner, Albert
Wolsky.
Mr. Mitchell appeared in more than 300
episodes of “All My Children.” He was a
regular from 1979 to 2008 and returned
for the show’s 40th-anniversary episode
this month. His character was a wealthy
businessman who wielded power over his
children and over the fictional town of
Pine Valley. “He loved playing mean,” Mr.
Wolsky said.
Although he is best-known to television
audiences a from All My Children, theatre
and dance historians remember him as
one of Agnes de Mille's leading dancers.
Mitchell's skill at combining dance and
acting was considered something of a
novelty; in 1959, the critic Olga Maynard
singled him out as "an important example
of the new dancer-actor-singer in
American ballet", pointing to his
interpretive abilities and "masculine"
technique.
January 22, 2010
James Mitchell, who for nearly three
decades played the gruff patriarch Palmer
Cortlandt on the ABC soap opera “All My
Children,” died here on Friday. He was
89. The cause was chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease complicated by
pneumonia, said his partner, Albert
Wolsky.
Mr. Mitchell appeared in more than 300
episodes of “All My Children.” He was a
regular from 1979 to 2008 and returned
for the show’s 40th-anniversary episode
this month. His character was a wealthy
businessman who wielded power over his
children and over the fictional town of
Pine Valley. “He loved playing mean,” Mr.
Wolsky said.
Although he is best-known to television
audiences a from All My Children, theatre
and dance historians remember him as
one of Agnes de Mille's leading dancers.
Mitchell's skill at combining dance and
acting was considered something of a
novelty; in 1959, the critic Olga Maynard
singled him out as "an important example
of the new dancer-actor-singer in
American ballet", pointing to his
interpretive abilities and "masculine"
technique.
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Zelda Rubinstein
January 27, 2010
Zelda Rubinstein, the 4-foot-3-inch
character actor best known as
Tangina, the psychic who tries to
calm a family inhabiting a haunted
house in the 1982 horror film
“Poltergeist,” has died. She was 76.
Her agent, Eric Stevens, tells the Los
Angeles Times that Rubinstein died
Wednesday at a Los Angeles hospital.
Stevens says she recently suffered a
heart attack.
Rubinstein made her film debut in the
1981 comedy “Under the Rainbow”
and went on to roles in “Sixteen
Candles,” “Southland Tales” and the
TV show “Picket Fences.” She
returned for both “Poltergeist”
sequels.
January 27, 2010
Zelda Rubinstein, the 4-foot-3-inch
character actor best known as
Tangina, the psychic who tries to
calm a family inhabiting a haunted
house in the 1982 horror film
“Poltergeist,” has died. She was 76.
Her agent, Eric Stevens, tells the Los
Angeles Times that Rubinstein died
Wednesday at a Los Angeles hospital.
Stevens says she recently suffered a
heart attack.
Rubinstein made her film debut in the
1981 comedy “Under the Rainbow”
and went on to roles in “Sixteen
Candles,” “Southland Tales” and the
TV show “Picket Fences.” She
returned for both “Poltergeist”
sequels.
J.D. Salinger
January 27, 2010
J.D. Salinger, the legendary author,
youth hero and fugitive from fame
whose "The Catcher in the Rye"
shocked and inspired a world he
increasingly shunned, has died. He was
91.
Salinger died of natural causes at his
home on Wednesday, the author's son
said in a statement from Salinger's
literary representative. He had lived for
decades in self-imposed isolation in the
small, remote house in Cornish, N.H.
Immortal anti-hero - "The Catcher in
the Rye," with its immortal teenage
protagonist, the twisted, rebellious
Holden Caulfield, came out in 1951, a
time of anxious, Cold War conformity
and the dawn of modern adolescence.
January 27, 2010
J.D. Salinger, the legendary author,
youth hero and fugitive from fame
whose "The Catcher in the Rye"
shocked and inspired a world he
increasingly shunned, has died. He was
91.
Salinger died of natural causes at his
home on Wednesday, the author's son
said in a statement from Salinger's
literary representative. He had lived for
decades in self-imposed isolation in the
small, remote house in Cornish, N.H.
Immortal anti-hero - "The Catcher in
the Rye," with its immortal teenage
protagonist, the twisted, rebellious
Holden Caulfield, came out in 1951, a
time of anxious, Cold War conformity
and the dawn of modern adolescence.
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Johnny Seven
January 22, 2010
Character actor Johnny Seven has died
after losing his battle with lung cancer.
Seven, real name John Anthony Fetto II,
died of complications from the disease
at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center
in Mission Hills, California on Friday. He
was 83.
He began his career performing in New
York plays, and later co-wrote, directed,
produced and starred in 1964's "Navajo
Run". Seven also landed big-screen
roles in "The Last Mile" with Mickey
Rooney as well as 1960's "Guns of the
Timberland", and "The Apartment"
before racking up a number of TV
credits with bit parts in shows such as
Chips, Bonanza, Charlie's Angels,
Batman and Gunsmoke.
He is survived by Edith, his wife of 60
years, his son John Anthony Fetto III
and a grandson
January 22, 2010
Character actor Johnny Seven has died
after losing his battle with lung cancer.
Seven, real name John Anthony Fetto II,
died of complications from the disease
at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center
in Mission Hills, California on Friday. He
was 83.
He began his career performing in New
York plays, and later co-wrote, directed,
produced and starred in 1964's "Navajo
Run". Seven also landed big-screen
roles in "The Last Mile" with Mickey
Rooney as well as 1960's "Guns of the
Timberland", and "The Apartment"
before racking up a number of TV
credits with bit parts in shows such as
Chips, Bonanza, Charlie's Angels,
Batman and Gunsmoke.
He is survived by Edith, his wife of 60
years, his son John Anthony Fetto III
and a grandson
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Aaron Ruben
January 30, 2010
Aaron Ruben, a producer, writer, and
director for some of the most popular
television comedies of the 1960s and
‘70s, died of complications of
pneumonia Saturday at his home in
Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 95.
Among his notable work were “The
Andy Griffith Show,’’ “Gomer Pyle,
USMC,’’ and “Sanford and Son.’’
Mr. Ruben - who cut his teeth as a
comedy writer on radio for George
Burns, Gracie Allen, and Milton Berle -
tapped a rich vein of TV gold when, in
1960, he shifted location to the
mythical small town of Mayberry, N.C.
January 30, 2010
Aaron Ruben, a producer, writer, and
director for some of the most popular
television comedies of the 1960s and
‘70s, died of complications of
pneumonia Saturday at his home in
Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 95.
Among his notable work were “The
Andy Griffith Show,’’ “Gomer Pyle,
USMC,’’ and “Sanford and Son.’’
Mr. Ruben - who cut his teeth as a
comedy writer on radio for George
Burns, Gracie Allen, and Milton Berle -
tapped a rich vein of TV gold when, in
1960, he shifted location to the
mythical small town of Mayberry, N.C.
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Shirley Bell Cole
January 12, 2010
From 1930 to 1940, the primary radio
voice of the red-haired Little Orphan
Annie was Shirley Bell, a brown-haired
girl from the South Side of Chicago.
She got the part, adapted from Harold
Gray’s popular comic strip, when she
was 10 and, managing to maintain that
bubbly preteen voice, played Annie until
she was 20.
Shirley Bell Cole died Jan. 12 at 89, a
daughter, Lori Cole, said, adding only
that her mother had lived in Arizona.
“ ‘Orphan Annie’ was like the keystone
of after-school radio during the
Depression,’’ Chuck Schaden, a
specialist on radio history, said in an
interview. “It meant a lot to kids
because she would save the day, come
to the rescue. At Christmas time in
those days they were happy to get two
pennies.’’
January 12, 2010
From 1930 to 1940, the primary radio
voice of the red-haired Little Orphan
Annie was Shirley Bell, a brown-haired
girl from the South Side of Chicago.
She got the part, adapted from Harold
Gray’s popular comic strip, when she
was 10 and, managing to maintain that
bubbly preteen voice, played Annie until
she was 20.
Shirley Bell Cole died Jan. 12 at 89, a
daughter, Lori Cole, said, adding only
that her mother had lived in Arizona.
“ ‘Orphan Annie’ was like the keystone
of after-school radio during the
Depression,’’ Chuck Schaden, a
specialist on radio history, said in an
interview. “It meant a lot to kids
because she would save the day, come
to the rescue. At Christmas time in
those days they were happy to get two
pennies.’’
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Lee Archer
January 27, 2010
Lt. Col. Lee Archer, a World War II
fighter pilot with the Tuskegee
Airmen, died Jan. 27 at the age of
90. He died of coronary complications
at New York Hospital in New York City.
Colonel Archer entered the Army in
November 1941 and received training
as a telegrapher and field
network-communications specialist.
In December 1942, he was accepted
into aviation cadet training and
reported to the Tuskegee Army
Airfield in Tuskegee, Ala.
January 27, 2010
Lt. Col. Lee Archer, a World War II
fighter pilot with the Tuskegee
Airmen, died Jan. 27 at the age of
90. He died of coronary complications
at New York Hospital in New York City.
Colonel Archer entered the Army in
November 1941 and received training
as a telegrapher and field
network-communications specialist.
In December 1942, he was accepted
into aviation cadet training and
reported to the Tuskegee Army
Airfield in Tuskegee, Ala.
