Refuting Entropy

...for celebrities, anyway.

First, it was June Allyson. Then it was Syd Barrett.

Today, it's Barnard Hughes. I find this enormously ironic, given that Tony gave me a copy of The Lost Boys for my birthday, and the wonderfully talented Mr. Hughes played Grandpa - which gave him the classic line, "One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach, all the damn vampires."

I could go on a rant about "and who do we have to replace them? Fluff like Paris Hilton or Britney Spears?" but I went on that rant the last time I did a celebrity obit post, so I'm not going to this time.

Anyway, I hope they all rest in peace.

What is remembered, lives.

Tim Hildebrandt, noted fantasy artist (with his twin brother Greg) passed away on June 11, 2006. (I don't recall seeing anything in LJ, although I might have missed it.)

I always enjoyed their artwork - even if I was shaky on the artist name, because I'm not good at stuff like that.

Anyway, I was sad to hear about it.

What is remembered, lives.

Yet another one. This has been a bad year for celebrities so far.

Actress Maureen Stapleton Dies at 80.

Oh, and just in case you haven't ever seen it, one of my favorite movies she's in is Passed Away. It stars Bob Hoskins & is one of the best dark (but not quite black) comedies I've ever seen. (I need to find myself a copy of this; I keep recommending it to people but don't own a copy. Need to fix that.)

So, so far (and it's the second full week in March), we've lost...well, it's too long, so here's a link to the Dead People Server which has everyone I was aware of - and some I wasn't (a total of 33):

Celebrities and Famous People Who Died in the Year 2006

I could go into a rant wondering if all the true celebrities/actors are going to die off and we're going to be left with the likes of Britney Spears/Paris Hilton/Apprentice rejects, but that would be far more depressing & angsty than I feel like being.

What is remembered, lives.

I found out this evening that Andreas Katsulas (probably best known in my set of friends as G'Kar from Babylon 5) has died of cancer at age 59. I've heard he was a *wonderful* convention guest; I know he was a marvelous actor - in everything he did. (If you're not a Babylon 5 fan, you might have seen him in the remake of The Fugitive as the "One-armed Man" or in Executive Decision.)

His serious take on G'Kar was profound; his humor, however, was impressive given the quantity of makeup & prosthetics he had to wear in the role. But when I went looking for a quote to remember him by, I found this exchange (which I remember) from the Season 5 episode of Babylon 5, "The Paragon of Animals". It's Sheridan & G'Kar:

"The universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. The language is not narn or human or centauri or gaim or minbari. It speaks in the language of hope."

"It speaks in the language of trust. It speaks in the language of strength and the language of compassion. It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul. But always it is the same voice. It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us and the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born. The small, still voice that says: 'We are one. No matter the blood, no matter the skin, no matter the world, no matter the star. .. We are one. No matter the pain, no matter the darkness, no matter the loss, no matter the fear. .. We are one.' Here, gathered together in common cause, we begin to realize this singular truth and this singular rule that we must be kind to one another. Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us and each voice lost diminishes us. We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light our way to a better future. We are one."

"We are one."

What is remembered, lives.