Death in Hollywood

It's been a wild 2 weeks in Hollywood with some entertainment icons dying.

First we had Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's famous 2nd banana, Publisher's clearing spokesman and lately famous for defaulting on his mortgage and talking bankruptcy.

Second Farrah Fawcett, a moderately talented actress probably more famous for a poster that sent every teenage boy into hormone overload. She was great in 'The Burning Bed' but was mostly the slightly more talented Paris Hilton of her day. Other than being the mother and stepmother of drug addicts over the years, she hasn't done much lately. She fought a valient fight with cancer and I admire her courage and tenacity even though I don't exactly understand it.

And Farrah was overshadowed on the day of her death by Michael Jackson who died the same day. Michael Jackson was an extremely talented musician and the icon label definitely fits. But his talent was overshadowed in later years by the complete lunacy that became his life. He changed his appearance dramatically and denied ever doing anything, His sham marriages, his "fatherhood" to 3 poor children who cannot even know what a normal life is and his completely bizarre lifestyle made me question if he was really that talented. I've seen the video of his early career that reminds me how amazing he was for a little while. It was downhill from there though. I do believe he was a child predator and a certified whack job. But he is all the news now and other whackos are going crazy with the tributes.

Then today Karl Malden died and most people don't even know who he is. Watch 'Streetcar Named Desire'. Watch 'On the Waterfront'. Read about a man who was married to the same woman for 71 years before his death. Read about a man who was an actor for 60 years. He fought for fellow actors as president of the Motion Picture Academy. No posters, no chimps, no bankruptcy. Just a decent man full of talent who entertained me for years. And I challange you to fall a little bit in love with him in 'Come Fly With Me'.

RIP to all listed and I hope that's it for awhile