Celebrity Death Thread

[LionsFanInJapan]

RIP Maurice Sendak

Wow, RIP. :(

[Tony G]

RIP to an automotive icon and racing legend

Auto designer, racer Carroll Shelby dies

By Peter Valdes-Dapena @PeterDrivesMay 11, 2012: 5:59 PM ET

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Carroll Shelby, most famous for creating high-performance road and racing cars bearing his name, died Thursday in Dallas, Texas. He was 89 years old.
Shelby's name is probably most associated with the Cobra, a car that combined a lightweight British racecar body with a powerful Ford V8 engine. He is also known for the Shelby line of Ford Mustang-based performance cars.
The cause of his death has not been released, according to a statement from the auto company Shelby American.
Despite a fascination with speed and power, Shelby was known for his folksy, laid-back personal style. Born in Leesburg, Texas, in 1923, Shelby was an aviator during World War II. After the war, he worked in a chicken farm, ran a dump truck company and also found time to run a sports car dealership, according to Shelby American.
It was in the dealership that Shelby first began building his own cars.
His first race was in 1952 in a 1932 Ford. Shelby then abandoned chicken farming and moved on to automobiles as a full-time career.
As a racer he won a three national sports car championships in the United States and the LeMans 24 hour race in Europe. He set land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats twice.
A heart condition forced Shelby to give up his racing career in 1960. He then turned to racecar design and manufacturing.
He's best known for high horsepower cars. In 1962, he formed Shelby American to make the Cobra. The car was debuted at the 1962 New York Auto Show.
Shelby also helped develop the Ford GT40 racecar. With the GT40 and the Cobra Shelby became the only man to win LeMans as a driver, team owner and automaker.
Shelby is also well known for helping create a series of Ford Mustang-based Shelby cars.
During the 1980s he worked with Chrysler to create performance versions of otherwise underwhelming Chrysler products. Among those was the Dodge Omni GLH-S, a compact hatchback that was said to be one of Shelby's favorite cars. (GLH allegedly stood for "Goes Like Hell.")
He also worked on development of the Dodge Viper while with Chrysler.
Today, classic Shelby Mustangs can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars while original Cobras can be worth, in some cases, millions, according to Hagerty Insurance.
A Shelby Cobra sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction in 2007 for $5.5 million.
That car was built for Shelby's own personal use. It was identical to one built for the comedian Bill Cosby. Cosby, who likes to drive Ferraris, was so intimidated by the Cobra he sold it back to Shelby.
In 2005, he restarted his relationship with Ford Motor Co (F, Fortune 500). That has led to the reintroduction of Shelby Mustangs including models built by Ford as well as cars built by Shelby American.
During his last two decades, Shelby had both his heart and his kidney transplanted. He continued to be active in the management of his companies and foundations, according to a statement form Shelby American.

[Tony G]

[Panoptes]

Nah, say it ain't so Shelby...

RIP

Your rides have been some of my favorites

[LionsFanInJapan]

Dang, RIP Mr. Shelby.

[bimmer84]

Sad to hear. RIP. Here is the latest Shelby. A 1000hp monster.

[Marko69]

RIP.

That picture with the red car, number one on it......, what year would that be?

[DanO]

RIP Mr. Shelby.

[bimmer84]

RIP.

That picture with the red car, number one on it......, what year would that be?

I believe that is a Ford GT40, which places it somewhere around mid to late 60's.

[Tony G]

That is a Ford GT 40 MK IV, It won the 24 hours of Lemans in 1967 With Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt driving

[Malto Marko]

RIP.

That picture with the red car, number one on it......, what year would that be?

I believe that is a Ford GT40, which places it somewhere around mid to late 60's.

That is a Ford GT 40 MK IV, It won the 24 hours of Lemans in 1967 With Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt driving

Ha!

Was going to say 1968.

[Tony G]

Ford won at Lemans 4 straight years. The first two were prepared by Carroll Shelby. The last two by John Wyer

1966


1967


1968


1969

[Marko69]

In the words of Bill Burr......, That Ford GT40 MK lV is the fucking shit. Love it.

[Tony G]

The GT40 got its name because it was 40 inches tall. The bubble on top of the #1 MkIV was for Dan Gurney's 6 foot frame to fit in the car.

[Islair]

Legendary bass player 'Duck' Dunn dies in Tokyo


NEW YORK (AP) ? Donald "Duck" Dunn, the bassist who helped create the gritty Memphis soul sound at Stax Records in the 1960s as part of the legendary group Booker T. and the MGs and contributed to such classics as "In the Midnight Hour," ''Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay," died Sunday at 70.

Dunn, whose legacy as one of the most respected session musicians in the business also included work with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's Blues Brothers as well as with Levon Helm, Eric Clapton, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, died while on tour in Tokyo.

News of his death was posted on the Facebook site of his friend and fellow musician Steve Cropper, who was on the same tour. Cropper said Dunn died in his sleep.

Dunn was born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1941, and according to the biography on his official website, was nicknamed for the cartoon character by his father. His father, a candy maker, did not want him to be a musician.

"He thought I would become a drug addict and die. Most parents in those days thought music was a pastime, something you did as a hobby, not a profession," Dunn said.

But by the time Dunn was in high school, he was in a band with Cropper.
Cropper left to become a session player at Stax, the Memphis record company that would become known for its soul recordings and artists such as Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Isaac Hayes and the Staples Singers.
Dunn soon followed Cropper and joined the Stax house band, also known as Booker T. and the MGs.

It was one of the first racially integrated soul groups, with two whites (Dunn on bass and Cropper on guitar) and two blacks (Booker T. Jones on organ and Al Jackson on drums), and was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The group had its heyday in the 1960s as backup for various Stax artists. Dunn played on Redding's "Respect" and "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay," Sam and Dave's "Hold On, I'm Coming" and Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour."

Booker T. and the MGs had its own hits as well, including "Hang 'Em High," ''Soul-Limbo" and, before Dunn joined the band, the cool 1962 instrumental "Green Onions."

"I would have liked to have been on the road more, but the record company wanted us in the studio. Man, we were recording almost a hit a day for a while there," Dunn said.

In the 1970s, the group's members drifted apart. Jackson was killed in Memphis in 1975 by an intruder in his home.

Cropper and Dunn reunited when they joined Aykroyd and Belushi's Blues Brothers band and appeared in the 1980 "Blues Brothers" movie.
"How could anybody not want to work with John and Dan? I was really kind of hesitant to do that show, but my wife talked me into it," Dunn said in a 2007 interview with Vintage Guitar magazine, "and other than Booker's band, that's the most fun band I've ever been in."

Dunn also did session work on recordings by Clapton, Young, Dylan, Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty, according to his discography.
Dunn once said that he and Cropper were "like married people."
"I can look at him and know what he'll order for dinner," he said. "When we play music together we both know where we're going."

Dunn received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2007.

He is survived by his wife, June; a son, Jeff; and a grandchild, Michael, said Michael Leahy, Dunn's agent.

http://news.yahoo.com/legendary-bass-player-duck-dunn-dies-tokyo-200304385.html