RIP 2022

[griffin]

Actor Robbie Coltrane died yesterday... probably best known by our demographic for his role as Hagrid on the Harry Potter films.

[High_Q]

Voice actor Kevin Conroy has died from cancer at 66yo. Batman: the Animated Series was my favourite Batman series, both the stories and the animation style. RIP.

[VERT]

RIP Kevin you were the greatest Batman ever and a real nice guy.

[G1Optimal]

Jason David Frank best known for his roles as the original green and white ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

[Tha_Phantom]

RIP JDF! Such a shame that reports indicate it was a suicide too.

[griffin]

I was rather shocked to hear about it today too...
He was one of the more prominent characters in the Power Rangers franchise (US version), as he was around for a fair bit... but his intro story was one of my favourites from that first series, and his character got quite a bit of development over the next year or so.

I don't know yet if it was confirmed that it was suicide, but I saw on his wiki page that his wife of almost 10 years (and I think mother of two of his four kids) had filed for divorce in August, so that could have been the cause. But I find it hard to believe that someone as extroverted and with a strong personality like his, being so social and athletic... and having four kids to live for... I just can't believe he would throw it all away.


As for being Transformers related - the surprising thing for me was reading on tfw that JDF voiced a character in the Titans Return cartoon, as the Emissary. Since I still haven't seen the WFC cartoons, I did not know this (it might have been in a news posting at the time, but I might have taken more notice of it if I had seen it and took note of the cast).

[Tha_Phantom]

Yeah, his wife filed for divorce and was looking to take more than half of their assets. She had also accused him of cheating on her. Whether those accusations are right or not, I can understand him feeling in a very dark place about it being out in the open along with the prospect of losing a lot of income he worked hard to generate. It's a shame he didn't feel he could seek help for what he was feeling, but I also know from my own experience with depression and others who have dealt with it that being open about it is not easy.
As sad as this situation is, I do hope that we can have a more open discussion about mental health going forward. I've noticed that many media outlets haven't been afraid to say the word suicide where usually they'd keep it vague and post a bunch of phone numbers at the end of the article.

[Bartrim]

Christine McVie from one of my favourite bands Fleetwood Mac passed away at the age of 79.
I had the chance to see them last time they toured here and passed on the opportunity.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Kinda Transformers related this one, famous for singing a billion anime and action kids shows theme singer guy Ichiro Mizuki passed away on December 6. He was the singer of the theme for Transformers Zone. As well as Mazinger Z and many, many other Japanese TV shows.
If You've heard the theme for Zone, you'll know there general gist of the way he sings. Very powerful voice and pumping themes aplenty. Zone was always one of My faves.

A generally great guy, very charismatic. He would often show up to nerdy things and sing songs for folks, in fact, I believe the guy was involved in a live concert just last month, while fighting lung cancer.
TF Wiki Page:
https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ichir%C5%8D_Mizuki

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichirou_Mizuki

Official Site:
https://mizuki-spirits.com/

[griffin]

Some final deaths of 2022...

Footballer Pele from Brazil - probably the most famous footballer in the world.

Barbara Walters - a pioneer journalist in America, working in the field for over 50 years.

Anita Pointer - one of the Pointer Sisters.

Pope Palpatine... I mean Benedict XVI... who stepped down as Pope in 2013 due to health concerns.