RIP - Ken Osmond

Never in my 10 years of blogging have my Baseball, Eagles, Football, and Pop Culture blogs all been running obituaries at the same time. I can't keep up! (I haven't even had time to say anything about Jerry Stiller yet.) And none of these are COVID-19 related, as far as we know. 


Ken Osmond, best known as the wise-cracking troublemaker Eddie Haskell on the 1950s' TV series "Leave It To Beaver", passed away on May 18, 2020 at age 76.

I read somewhere that his part was originally supposed to be a one-and-done appearance, but he was so popular that he was retained for the duration of the series. I can't imagine that series without him!

In the 1980s, TBS rebooted the show as "The New Leave It to Beaver", where Beaver, Wally, Eddie, and Lumpy were the grownups with school-age kids. Eddie's 2 boys were played by Ken Osmond's real-life sons.

"Hello Mrs. Cleaver. That's a wonderful dress you're wearing. I was just telling young Theodore how lucky he is to have a mom like you!"

Variety obituary

New York Times obituary

RIP - Astrid Kircherr

Astrid Kircherr, the German photographer who befriended the Beatles during their time in Hamburg, passed away on May 13, 2020 at age 81.

She became the band's photographer in the early days. Here are some of her more well-known photos:

Pete Best, George, John, Paul, Stu Sutcliffe

Stu and John

Stu and Paul

During the Beatles' first trip to Hamburg, she and their early-bassist Stu Sutcliffe became romantically involved. He quit the band to remain in Germany with her.


Kircherr also suggested the hairstyle that the Beatles came to wear beginning around 1960. Previously, they looked like the photos above.

Origin of the hairstyle

 
BBC News obituary

Rolling Stone obituary
 

RIP - Little Richard

Little Richard (Richard Penniman), one of the early pioneers of rock and roll, passed away today, May 9, 2020 at age 87.

My first exposure to him was through the Beatles' cover of "Long Tall Sally". Later I heard "Tutti-Frutti", "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Lucille", and the rest.

People Magazine obituary

Comments from Ringo, Brian Wilson, and others
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