RIP Mort Walker
creator of Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois among others.
Members outside the UK will not know the name but
RIP Mark E Smith
Singer / main songwriter / Head Honcho of The Fall, the best, most influential band you never heard of.
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John Mahoney has died at 77. I first saw him in Moonlighting and love the character he played with Olympia Dukakis. He is probably most remembered for his fabulous portrayal of Martin Crane. Father of Frasier and Niles. He was a cranky, set in his ways cop. Forced to retired from being shot in the hip. He character evolved through the entire series and I was totally in love with him by the end of the show. RIP Marty! Let’s all head to McGinty’s and have a beer 
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RIP Daryle 
RIP Vic
Major Charles Emerson Winchester III has left us as 75 David Ogden Stiers was one of those wonderful folks that made me love 'MASH RIP David 
RIP Ken Dodd, English Comedian age 90
Where do I start with Ken Dodd? He was ever present in my life. He had a career that spanned 6 decades and was still doing 4hr live shows at the age of 85.
He was also a million selling singer with a very fine baritone voice. His single ‘Tears’ was outsold throughout the 60s in the UK only by 2 songs by The Beatles. He was the best selling solo artist in the UK charts until Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
But he was best known as a comedian, his legendary shows often lasting 5 hours. He lived to bring happiness - he carried a feather duster which he called his ‘Tickling Stick’.
He once corrected an interviewer;
I don’t make people laugh - I help them to laugh. We are all born with a chuckle muscle, I just help people use it.
He was the master of the one-liner. He was never dirty or cruel, he relied on relentless silliness and gag after gag.
“The man who invented cats’ eyes got the idea when he saw the eyes of a cat in his headlights. If the cat had been going the other way, he would have invented the pencil sharpener.”
“Men’s legs have a terribly lonely life - standing in the dark in your trousers all day.”
“Five-thirds of people have trouble understanding fractions.”
“Did you hear about the shrimp that went to the prawn’s cocktail party? He pulled a mussel.”
“Age doesn’t matter, unless you are a cheese” - on approaching his 80th birthday.
“Doctor: ‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m approaching 50.’ 'From which direction?”’
“How do you make a blonde laugh on a Sunday? Tell her a joke on a Wednesday.”
“I have kleptomania. But when it gets bad, I take something for it.”
“I just read a book about Stockholm Syndrome, it started off badly but by the end I really liked it.”
“How many men does it take to change a toilet roll? Nobody knows. It’s never been tried.”
“Fifty-five years in show business, ladies and gentlemen. That’s a hell of a long time to wait for a laugh.”
“Tonight when you get home, put a handful of ice cubes down your wife’s nightie and say: ‘There’s the chest freezer you always wanted’.”
“My act is very educational. I heard a man leaving the other night, saying: ‘Well, that taught me a lesson’.”
“My dad knew I was going to be a comedian. When I was a baby, he said, ‘Is this a joke?’.”
“So this fellow tells the doctor: ‘Every time I sneeze I feel very sexy.’ The doctor asks: ‘What do you take?’ ‘Pepper’.”
“I used to think I was marvellous in bed until I discovered that all my girlfriends suffered from asthma.”
“An official went to ask my big Auntie Nellie to come off the beach because the tide was waiting to come in.”
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I grew up with Ken Dodd too. There … I gave away my age.
Aww 
RIP Ken
A brilliant mind trapped inside a body that barely worked for most of his life. It’s amazing that he lived as long as he did.
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When he was first diagnosed, he was given 2 years to live. He lived another 52 years.
I read his book ‘A Brief History of Time’ when it came out and I actually understood it all.
Truly one of the great intellects, a major influence on so much that’s going on in Physics today, especially our understanding of ‘Black Holes’.
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RIP Verne
Excellent slight-of-hand artist and star of Night Court:
This makes me feel bad since I remember her so vividly from Superman. I remember how she was one of the biggest stars of the time, then fell victim to some serious mental health issues.
It also reminds me of why I no longer pay any attention to popular culture and celebrities. The older I get, the more I realize how almost everything is just temporary.
Margot Kidder was one of the most famous actresses of the late 70s and early 80s, but her death several decades later is just a small online story.
Thirty or forty years from now, today’s big names in popular music and movies will meet the same fate. Their deaths will be just a three-paragraph recap of why they were once famous.
Wow, now those were some of the most depressing thoughts I’ve written down in a while.
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RIP Mr. Wolfe
RIP Robert Indiana … thanks for showing me what’s possible.