In reverse order, all the hits of 2004 and notable others not chosen by our 18 entrants. Links to obituaries were valid at the time of posting; we can't guarantee they still will be when you read this.
Julia Child, celebrity chef pioneer
d. Aug. 13, 2004, age 91
Child's raspy voice and chatty manner entranced her audience and propelled TV cooking shows into a prominence that continues to grow. Did you know that she was honored with a Medal of Freedom by President Bush on July 23, 2003? Neither did we. Larry, on quite a roll, and Steve and Marcus will take the point.
Fay Wray, overgrown ape plaything
d. Aug. 8, 2004, age 96
Wray starred opposite Ronald Colman, Gary Cooper and Spencer Tracy, but are you going to remember any of that? No, you're not. "I used to resent King Kong," she once said in a 1963 interview. "But now I don't fight it anymore. I realize that it is a classic, and I am pleased to be associated with it." We suspect she's singing a different tune wherever she is now that there's a certain... finality to the whole thng. But we could be completely wrong. The lights of the Emipre State Building were dimmed for 15 minutes in her honor, something we found vaguely creepy and sad. Chuck, Knock Knock Knocking, Larry, PEVO, Steve and Marcus, and Up Up and Away (hit number seven!) are feeling a little less contemplative, probably.
Red Adair, firefighter
d. Aug. 7, 2004, age 89
Former President George Bush issued a statement saluting Adair's "service to mankind in Kuwait" putting out oilwell fires there. "Red Adair was a friend, a wonderful human being and a patriot. He will be sorely missed," he added. John Wayne played him in the movie Hellfighters. Larry scores a two-point solo.
Jeff Julian, PGA golfer
d. Jul, 15, 2004, age 42
Vicious Pirhana knows his PGA golf people with ALS. His six-pointer on Jeff Julian puts some distance between him and the rest of the pack.
Isabel Sanford, Weezie
d. Jul. 9, 2004, age 86
Sanford co-starred with Sherman Hemsley from 1975 to 1985 on CBS' "The Jeffersons," a spin-off of the popular series "All in the Family," in which she also appeared. In 1981, Sanford became the first black woman to receive an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on "The Jeffersons." "Isabel was our queen and that's what we called her on the show," said Marla Gibbs, who played the Jeffersons' maid Florence Johnston. Dead Men Walkin, heating up in the second half, scored a two-point solo.
Marlon Brando, large actor
d. Jul. 1, 2004, age 80
Marlon Brando professed to dislike acting. It could be said then that, on numerous occasions, he faked it pretty good. Perhaps America's greatest actor, Don Vito Corleone, Stanley Kowalski and Jor-El left us July 1. His attorney would not immediately disclose the cause of death, but Chuck, Imsorry4yourlossbutIwon!, Larry and Up Up and Away will take the two points. It's Up Up and Away's sixth hit, giving her the lead in that category!
Ray Charles, extremely cool person
d. Jun. 10, 2004, age 73
Some sweet day when blossoms fall
And all the world's a song
I'll go back to Georgia
'Cause that's where I belong.
PEVO is on a roll, leapfrogging a bunch of people with this three point solo.
Ronald Reagan, former President of the United States
d. Jun. 5, 2004, age 93
Bill James noted in his New Historical Baseball Abstract that Grover Cleveland Alexander is the only man in history to be both named after a President and played in a major motion picture by a future President. Cake, Please, Chuck, Dead Men Walkin', Dianne, ImsorryforyourlossbutIwon!, Larry and PEVO's Posey Pushers all shucked their o-fers. Knock Knock Knocking, Laurence and Steve and Marcus also notched a point.
Archibald Cox, Watergate prosecutor
d. May 29, 2004, age 92
Former Solicitor General of the United States, Cox is better known as the first special prosecutor, who spent five months leaving no stone unturned in the Watergate investigation. His passing leaves Up Up and Away a point richer for the experience.
Jack Rosenthal, TV screenwriter
d. May 29, 2004, age 72
Raven alone called this one on a 40-year veteran writer of plays, screenplays and comedy.
Sam Johnson, household products mogul
d. May 23, 2004, age 76
One of the world's richest men, Johnson was the fourth generation of his family to lead the company known as Johnson Wax when he became chief executive in 1966. By the time he retired in 2000, SC Johnson & Sons Inc. had grown to a billion business with a stable of products that included Ziploc storage bags, Pledge furniture polish and Edge shaving gel. Raven soloed for three points.
Tony Randall, comedian/actor
d. May 18, 2004, age 84
Jack Klugman is odd all by himself now, as TV and theater veteran Randall died after a months-long illness. We think Love, Sidney is his most underrated work, followed closely by his recurring appearances on the Late Show. Or it might have been Late Night, it was so long ago. Randall was born Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa, Oklahoma. You know, Alan King was born in Oklahoma, too. Gary and Steve and Marcus couldn't care less where he was born, thank you very much.
Alan King, comedian/actor
d. May 9, 2004, age 76
Our lists include B.B. King, Steven Hawking, King Fahd, King Harald and an entry called Knock Knock Knocking, but only one entrant called the Alan King hit May 9. Ghost of the Stooges doubled its point total as the comedic legend succumbed to cancer. King was the author of a cookbook called "Is Salami and Eggs Better Than Sex? Memoirs of a Happy Eater," which I now want. King was also abbot of the New York Friars Club and host of their celebrity roasts.
Barney Kessel, jazz guitar legend
d. May 6, 2004, age 80
Four entrants saw this coming a mile away, as Kessel had been given weeks to live more than a year and a half ago. Called "Mr. Guitar," which we thought was Chet Aktins, Kessel recorded with everyone from Elvis Presley ("Return to Sender"), the Righteous Brothers ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling") and the Beach Boys, whose landmark "Pet Sounds" album prominently featured his impeccable guitar work. And that was just stuff the kids would dig! His jazz recording partners included such icons as Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson, Benny Goodman, Sonny Rollins, Elvin Jones and many more.
Estee Lauder, cosmetics magnate
d. Apr. 24, 2004, age 97
A point is a point for Knock Knock Knocking and Up Up and Away as the founder of a billion-dollar cosmetics and fragrance empire leaves us. Lauder, like a lady, refused to reveal her actual age, but most biographers peg her birthday at July 1, 1908, which is close enough in our game.
Bruce Edwards, caddie
d. Apr. 8, 2004, age 49
Tom Watson was Bruce's best man, John Feinstein reports. "In his toast to the bride and groom he had commented that this was a marriage that was beginning under very difficult circumstances. 'The groom,' he said, 'is a lifelong Eagles fan. The bride is a devoted Cowboys fan. That's why it took so long for them to finally get together. Clearly, they are going to have a lot of work to do.'" Vicious Pirhana eagled.
Timi Yuro, singer
d. Mar. 30, 2004, age 63
Born Rosemarie Timotea Aurro in Chicago in 1940, Timi Yuro, as the Times of London put it, was a "singer whose powerful voice convinced many listeners that she was black -- and male." Yuro had several hits throughout the 1960s and 1970s, beginning with "Hurt." Others included "The Love Of A Boy," "Make The World Go Away" and "Gotta Travel On." Forrest Tucker's Ghost, who also has had many hits -- ha ha! Get it? -- added four points to his total.
Alistair Cooke, broadcaster
d. Mar. 30, 2004, age 95
The longtime presenter of Masterpiece Theater, four-time Emmy award winner and veteran BBC host and broadcaster died at home in New York at midnight Tuesday, giving Up, Up and Away its third hit of the contest, and another solo! Cooke's "insight, wisdom and unique ability to craft words enabled millions of listeners in the UK and around the world to understand the texture of the United States and its people," said Mark Byford, acting director general of the BBC, if you can believe anything the Beeb says anymore.
Peter Ustinov, director/actor
d. Mar. 28, 2004, age 82
Peter Ustinov, 82, the jolly and jowly Academy Award-winning actor once described as a jack-of-all-arts for his work as a director, writer and raconteur, died of a heart ailment March 28 at his home overlooking Lake Geneva, in Switzerland. He had diabetes. The really exciting thing about this is that he qualifies Knock Knock Knocking, who soloed, for two bonus prizes: The NASCAR prize and the Blockbuster card for the first Academy Award nominee!
Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Hamas founder
d. Mar. 22, 2004, age 68
Sheikh Ahmad Yassin lived by the violent, homicidal explosion, and you know the rest of the cliche. Confined to a wheelchair since a sports accident at age 12, and nearly blind and deaf from chronic illnesses he suffered in his later years, Yassin nonetheless brought his Islamic fundamentalist movement to prominence as a violent rival to the Palestinian Authority. Hamas rejected the Oslo Accords and responded to them with gruesome violence, most notably by taking the lead in the use of bus bombings. Its highest-profile attack was the Seder night massacre at the Park Hotel in Netanya in 2002, the deadliest single terror attack in Israel in three decades. Laurence, noting no doubt that Yassin had survived an IAF bombing with superficial wounds last September, was alone among participants to put up a four-spot.
John Henry Williams, cryogenics litigant
d. Mar. 6, 2004, age 35
Joining dad Ted Williams in biostasis is son John Henry, who fought to have the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived preserved in a cryogenics facility over the objections of his half-sister. Vicious Piranha and M.I. Rich, with his second seven-pointer in four days, saw it coming. M.I. takes the lead!
Cecily Adams, actress
d. Mar. 3, 2004, age 39
Two participants earned a cool seven points from lung cancer victim Adams, Quark's mother on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and daughter of Don Adams of Get Smart fame. Her credits also included Murphy Brown, Party of Five, Just Shoot Me, 3rd Rock From the Sun and That 70s Show. Forrest Tucker's Ghost padded his lead and M.I. Rich surged into second with the hit.
Janet Frame, author
d. Jan. 28, 2004, age 79
The hits kept coming so fast that we had one actually happen the next day -- Jan. 29 across the International Date Line in New Zealand, author Janet Frame left us, it was reported on Jan. 28 local time. No fewer than five participants were paying attention in December when Ms. Frame revealed she was suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia: Forrest Tucker's Ghost, Vicious Piranha and Up, Up and Away scored their second hits of the contest, and Knock Knock Knocking and Eulogy Wiz turned their o-fers into three points as January drew to a close. Up, Up and Away turned the trick of hits on consecutive days. No one has ever been hotter in the history of our contest!
Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch, NFL Hall of Famer
d. Jan. 28, 2004, age 80
A self-described -- and self-effacing -- "busted-down, retreaded halfback who happened to get lucky," Hall of Famer Hirsch set what was then the all-time record for receiving yards (1,495) in 1951 as he helped the Los Angeles Rams to the NFL title. "Crazylegs" had a unique running style that made him famous. When running downfield, his muscular legs seemed to gyrate in six different directions at once. Gary S. had the foresight to list the former Wisconsin, Michigan and Rams star, garnering two points and a solo.
Jack Paar, television pioneer
d. Jan. 27, 2004, age 85
"I’m complicated, sentimental, lovable, honest, loyal, decent, generous, likable, and lonely. My personality is not split, it’s shredded," Jack Paar once said. Johnny's predecessor, called a "bull in his own china shop," gained notoriety by creating feuds with the show business community, including Ed Sullivan, Walter Winchell, William Paley, and most television critics. Paar popularized the phrase, "I kid you not" on the Tonight Show, and we kid you not, only Up, Up and Away foresaw calamity for the TV giant. She earns a two-spot for her precience and a classy solo!
Bob Keeshan, Captain Kangaroo
d. Jan. 23, 2004, age 76
Capt. Kangaroo left us richer for his work. Before entertaining as the beloved, moustachioed Captain for 36 years, he was the original Clarabell on the Howdy Doody Show. Truly, his life was spent dedicated to gentle, delightful entertainment of the wee. Ghost of the Stooges, who donated a killer bonus prize for the contest's first hit, cashed in some karma and in addition to putting up a three-spot, won the bonus for the first solo. Keeshan is survived by Mr. Green Jeans, Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose.
Tug McGraw, former Phillies/Mets pitcher
d. Jan. 5, 2004, age 59
Lefthander McGraw threw out the first pitch on the first Opening Day of our contest, and Forrest Tucker's Ghost, M.I. Rich and Vicious Piranha all hung a crooked number on their scoreboards -- 5, to open the year with a "hit" to straightaway center. McGraw, waved home after battling brain cancer, was among the most beloved players in the history of both the Phillies and Mets franchises, and coined the well-worn phrase, "Ya Gotta Believe!" during the Mets' improbable 1973 pennant run. Over a 19-year Major League career, McGraw was 96-92 with 180 saves and a 3.14 ERA. He is survived by country music star son Tim and one hot daughter-in-law.