Wikio - Obituary

William Fuller: proprietor of the Electric Ballroom in Camden (Times Online)

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:44:29 GMT

Bill Fuller was among a wave of Irish immigrants heading to the building sites of England in the 1930s with no more than the price of a cup of tea in his pocket. But by the time he died, he had set up the Electric Ballroom, in Camden Town, and owned a string of nightclubs, a Nevada mine and a successful building company.

Source : Times Online (subscribe)

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Horst Stein: conductor and mainstay at Bayreuth (Times Online)

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:44:29 GMT

Every summer, from 1969 until 1986, Horst Stein served the Bayreuth Festival loyally as a reliable interpreter of Wagner’s mature music dramas. Invisible in the Festspielhaus’s hooded pit, this tubby and diminutive figure provided apt musical counterpart to the traditional productions staged by Wolfgang Wagner, more naturalistic, less severe revisions of the neu-Bayreuth abstractions of his late brother,...

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Ken Thomas: leader of the Civil and Public Services Association (Times Online)

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:44:29 GMT

As leader of the “Brolly Brigade” as Fleet Street dubbed the Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA), Britain’s largest union for civil servants, Ken Thomas led civil servants in some fierce disputes with the Government over pay and pensions in the strike-prone 1970s and early 1980s, notably fighting a losing battle with Margaret Thatcher’s Government.

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Sir Edwin Nixon: businessman and managing director of IBM (UK) (Times Online)

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:44:29 GMT

Sir Edwin Nixon ran the British arm of IBM during the computer company’s golden age. He joined in 1955 when IBM was better known for cardboard punch cards than silicon processors. By the time he retired in 1990 Big Blue had been eclipsed by Microsoft and the desktop PC. In between times the company made its name as the company whose products got nobody fired.

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Lord Elliott: Judge who presided over Scottish land issues (News Scotsman)

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:23:23 GMT

Born: 6 September, 1922, in London. Died: 9 August, 2008, in Edinburgh, aged 85.

Source : News Scotsman (subscribe)

Ronnie Drew: Folk musician, singer and actor (News Scotsman)

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:23:23 GMT

Born: 16 September, 1934, in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Died: 16 August, 2008, in Dublin, aged 73.

Source : News Scotsman (subscribe)

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Hua Guofeng: Chinese leader and Chairman Mao’s successor (Times Online)

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:08:02 GMT

On the evening of October 6, 1976, members of People’s Liberation Army Guard Unit 8341, the force responsible for protecting China’s top Communist leaders, arrested four of their charges. The victims, variously detained in their homes in Beijing or on arrival at a hastily summoned meeting, were Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao’s widow, Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan — the “Gang of Four” whose...

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Leo Abse: MP who fought to reform homosexuality and divorce laws (Times Online)

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:47:50 GMT

As Labour Member of Parliament for the eastern Welsh valleys constituency of Pontypool (later renamed Torfaen) for almost 30 years from 1958, Leo Abse was regarded as one of the great reforming backbenchers of his age. His concerns were at the heart of the reforms that touched and revolutionised family and social life in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s: the acceptance of homosexuality, divorce and family...

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Orville Moody: US golfer (Times Online)

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:25:32 GMT

Orville Moody went from being an unknown ex-US army sergeant to a national celebrity after he won the US Open golf championship as a qualifier in 1969 at the ripe old age of 35. He never won again on the regular PGA (Professional Golfers' Association) Tour but his victory 20 years later in the US Senior Open, at the age of 55, left his biggest imprint on the golfing world.

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Jim Johnstone: Accordionist and band leader (News Scotsman)

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Born: 21 January, 1937, in Tranent. Died: 4 August, 2008, in Edinburgh, aged 71.

Source : News Scotsman (subscribe)

Lita Roza: Singer of 1953 hit 'How Much Is That Doggie In the Window?' (News Scotsman)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:43:30 GMT

Born: 14 March, 1926, in Liverpool. Died: 14 August, 2008, in London, aged 82.

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Al Jones: acoustic blues and folk musician (Times Online)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:36:25 GMT

Al Jones was a stalwart of the British acoustic blues and folk scenes in the 1960s who never went on to achieve commercial success but enjoyed a cult following that recently led to the reissue of his back catalogue on CD.

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Al Gallico: music publisher (Times Online)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:36:25 GMT

Al Gallico was one of the giants of American music publishing in a career lasting half a century and more. Among the hit songs he was responsible for publishing were such universally-known country standards as Stand By Your Man, The Most Beautiful Girl and Ring Of Fire. When in 1995 he was given the Abe Olman Publishers Award, one of the most coveted honours in the industry, his citation described...

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Lottie Brunn (Times Online)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:40:51 GMT

In the annals of circus and variety history, no family better deserved the description of “the royal family of juggling” than did the Brunns.

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Levy Mwanawasa: Zambian President (Times Online)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:40:51 GMT

Levy Mwanawasa was only the third president of Zambia since the country won independence from Britain in 1964. A prominent lawyer and former solicitor-general, he won a narrow victory in the presidential election in 2001 followed by a more emphatic endorsement in a presidential poll in September 2006. Initially some expected President Mwanawasa to be little more than a front man for his predecessor...

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Pervis Jackson: bass singer in the Motown band the Spinners (Times Online)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:40:51 GMT

Pervis Jackson was the distinctive bass voice in the American soul vocal group the Spinners, known in the UK as the Detroit Spinners to avoid confusion with a British folk ensemble of the same name. Working with the producer Thom Bell, the Spinners came to define the lush and seductive style known as Philly soul on a string of hits in the 1970s.

Source : Times Online (subscribe)