The New Year is supposed to be about rebirth, but we’re starting 2016 with FIVE DEATHS. In the last week we’ve lost Natalie Cole, “M*A*S*H” star Wayne Rogers, Meadowlark Lemon, the guy who voiced Boba Fett in “The Empire Strikes Back”, and Lemmy from Motorhead.
NATALIE COLE died on New Year’s Eve, of complications from what her family said was an ongoing health condition. TMZ says it was congestive heart failure. She was 65. Natalie spent years battling drug and alcohol problems, and she had Hepatitis C from sharing a dirty needle. She had a kidney transplant in 2009.
Actor WAYNE ROGERS died on New Year’s Eve from pneumonia. He was 82. Rogers played Trapper John on “M*A*S*H” for its first three seasons, from 1972 to 1975.
MEADOWLARK LEMON of the HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS passed away on December 27th. He was 83. As a Globetrotter, Meadowlark played over 16,000 games. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Character actor JASON WINGREEN died on Christmas Day, at the age of 95. His face is pretty recognizable, but at the moment, it’s probably most fitting to remember him as the voice of Boba Fett in “The Empire Strikes Back”.
LEMMY from MOTORHEAD died on December 28th, just four days after his 70th birthday. The cause of death was an aggressive head and neck cancer that had just been diagnosed two days before.
(Wise Bros Complete Sheet)