Gordon Hitchens dies at 85
Former Variety journo wrote for weekly in 1970s, '80s
By SHALINI DOREW

Former Variety journo Gordon Hitchens died Aug. 7 in Long Island of cancer. He was 85.
Under the name Hitch, he wrote reviews for weekly Variety in New York in the 1970s and '80s.

The son of thriller novelists Bert and Dolores Hitchens, Hitchens founded and edited Film Comment, the arts and cultural mag of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, from 1962-70. He later segued to Variety , where his work was called "pithy and fun" by then- Variety editor Elizabeth Guider, now editor at the Hollywood Reporter.

"His reviews were very thoughtful and funny," Guider said.

Hitchens also was the U.S. rep at festivals including Berlin, Caracas and New York. He was on the selection committee for New York and sat on the jury of the 1968 Berlin fest.

Besides his journalism, Hitchens was a documaker who directed 1962's "Sunday on the River."

Survivors include a son and a daughter, four grandchildren and a brother. Donations may be made to the ACLU in his name.

Wrestling Legend "General" Skandor Akbar Passes Away

8/20/2010 11:55 AM ET By Brandon Stroud

Brandon Stroud
Pro Wrestling Writer



Long-time wrestling manager Skandor Akbar, real name Jim Wehba, has reportedly died at age 75. The cause of death is unknown at this time. Akbar was still active in the wrestling business and was advertised for the "Wrecking Ball Wrestling" promotion's upcoming show on Sunday afternoon in Dallas, Texas.

Skandor Akbar, which translates as "Alexander the Great," led the villainous stable Devastation, Inc. in Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation during the promotion's heyday in the 1980s, as well as other regional territories, including the Global Wrestling Federation and World Class Championship Wrestling, where Devastation, Inc. would routinely square off against the babyface Von Erich brothers.

Earlier this month, Akbar appeared at the annual NWA Legends Fanfest in Charlotte, N.C. WWE's Jim Ross recently wrote about his interactions with Akbar on jrsbarbq.com:

"General Scandor Akbar is now 75 and we had a great visit and talked road stories, he was one of my very first traveling partners along with Dan Hodge, and of course the OU-Texas football rivalry. Ak is a Longhorn devotee and that was the topic we engaged in over hundreds of miles of highway back in the '70s. Ak could squeeze blood out of a quarter and was so instrumental in helping me understand that no one makes too little money to not save some of it. The 'squatty fullback of the Vernon, Texas Lions will always be one of my favorite guys. Many don't know how instrumental Ak was in helping steer Steve Austin in the right direction early in Stone Cold's career in Dallas."

Boyd Magers' "Western Clippings" and Wikipedia are reporting that actress Gloria Winters died.

"Gloria Winters, 77, Penny on "Sky King", died August 14 in L.A. after suffering in recent years from Alzheimers."

Jack Horkheimer, Public Television's ``Star Gazer,'' died Friday afternoon of a respiratory ailment, according to a spokesman for the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium.

Born June 11, 1938, he was 72.

In an e-mail to staff, museum officials said they were ``very saddened to have just learned that our resident Star Gazer, Jack Horkheimer, passed away today after being ill for quite some time.

``Jack was executive director of [the] Planetarium for over 35 years and was an internationally recognized pioneer in popularizing naked-eye astronomy. He was also a recognized media celebrity, often being the foremost commentator on all astronomy related happenings nationwide.

Horkheimer was best known as the creator, writer and host of public television's ``Star Gazer,'' the 30-year weekly TV series on naked eye astronomy. Seen on PBS stations nationwide, ``Star Gazer'' reached millions of people, helping create a love of the stars for several generations of enthusiasts.''

He belonged to bands Stony Poneys and Bryndle
By CHRISTOPHER MORRIS

Well-traveled Los Angeles songwriter, guitarist and producer Kenny Edwards died Aug. 18 in Southern California, according to the musician's website. He was 64 and had been battling prostate cancer and a blood disorder.
Edwards founded a folk group in 1965 with Arizona transplants Bob Kimmel and Linda Ronstadt that would morph into the early L.A. country-rock band the Stone Poneys. The group cut a pair of Capitol Records albums, the second of which included the hit "Different Drum." The band dissolved in 1967, but Edwards and Ronstadt recorded together again in the '70s.

In 1968 Edwards joined forces with singer-songwriters Wendy Waldman, Karla Bonoff and Andrew Gold in the folk-rock unit Bryndle; the group cut one unreleased album for A&M, but its members all went on to become prominent solo performers on the Southern California soft-rock scene. Edwards produced Bonoff's three '70s solo albums for Columbia. Bryndle regrouped to tour and record in the early '90s.

Edwards was active as a producer and session man from the '80s on, appearing on albums by Don Henley, Warren Zevon, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Nicks and contributing to TV shows like "Miami Vice" and "Crime Story." He also issued two solo albums, "Kenny Edwards" (2002) and "Resurrection Road" (2009).

"Nightmare" Ted Allen dead at 54 By GREG OLIVER - Producer, SLAM! Wrestling

"Nightmare" Ted Allen "Nightmare" Ted Allen Photo Gallery

Chances are that even if you never saw Ted Allen wrestle, you were affected by him in some way. Allen, who died today at the age of 54, worked under a mask for most of his career -- The Nightmare was his best-known role -- but he also built wrestling rings and trained the likes of Arn Anderson, Big Bossman, Scotty Riggs, and Ranger Ross to be professional wrestlers.

Allen was young and curious enough to be a part of the social media scene, and already his Facebook and MySpace pages are overflowing with messages and memories. "You taught me so much" is a frequent refrain.

Born November 17, 1955 in Cartersville, Georgia, Allen went to Cass High School, where he played basketball, baseball, ran cross country, edited the school newspaper, and wrestled; he also did play-by-play for radio broadcasts of sports at the school.

When he was nine years old, he discovered pro wrestling. When he was 14, he talked his way into doing the ring announcing at the weekly matches at the Sports Palace in Cartersville.

In a February 1999 interview with Scott Teal's Whatever Happened To ... newsletter, Allen said he was never smartened up. "Oh, they pretty well kayfabed me," he said. "I would go back in the dressing room to get their weight and stuff, but they didn't have too much to say to me. I was just a kid."

Teal and Allen had been corresponding, exchanging match results, since 1974. "Ted was a great friend who I never heard say a bad thing about anyone. He loved the business," said Teal.

After a brief stint at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, Allen left to get married, and soon made his wrestling debut as well, in the summer of 1975, wrestling as Ted Atlas. By 1977, he'd started wrestling for the larger outfit in Nashville, run by Nick Gulas. An old connection from his ring announcing days, referee Charlie Smith, recognized him and hooked him up with the Atlanta outfit, where he was Ted Allen. Through his early years, Allen continued to have "real" employment, working for a finance company or selling insurance.

Ted Allen. Photo by Scott Teal.

"I quit a bunch of regular jobs for wrestling," he told Teal. "If there was a booking that I really wanted to go to, I'd go whether they let me go or not ... I quit several pretty fair jobs when they wouldn't go along with letting me off."

Come 1980, Allen started wrestling full-time, and the following year, he donned a mask for the first -- but certainly not the last -- time, as a Nightmare with Danny Davis. That pairing lasted three months, and Allen returned home to deal with some family issues; Davis would bring in Ken Wayne for a longer run as the Nightmares.

In Calgary, Allen worked as MX1 Missile. "At the time, that was the big thing in the news," explained Allen, who was in Stampede Wrestling for about three months.

For the 210-pound Allen, wearing a mask made a huge difference.

"I liked it, because along with putting the hood on was getting my hand in the air," he said. "I knew all the basics and could work pretty good, but there's just a lot of added confidence when they're putting you over. Plus, when you're working for a big crowd, compared to what I was used to. Oh, it just made a world of difference."

Some of his other masked personas came and went pretty quickly. Allen was Mr. Wrestling, (one of many over the years!), the Black Tiger for one show, and The Power Ranger in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling for a dozen or so shows.

Nightmare Ted Allen at the 2008 NWA Legends Fan Fest in Charlotte. Photo by Steven Johnson.

But mostly, once wrestling changed to a national outfit, he worked as Nightmare Ted Allen, under a mask, but not concealing his identity either.

The training of other wrestlers came out of nowhere for Allen. Marty Lunde -- the future Arn Anderson -- and two others, Tony Zane and Heartbreaker David Jones, approached him in his car after a show in Rome, Georgia.

"I had never trained anyone and I told them that. I didn't know what to charge them, either, but I told them [what] they needed to buy," Allen said. He worked with them about 10 times before heading to Memphis for some bookings. They dutifully kept up their training in his absence and, upon his return, were basically ready for beginner bouts.

Others he would train over the years included Ray Traylor (Big Bossman, Big Bubba Rogers, etc.), Scotty Riggs, Bull Buchanan (who was also Recon from the Truth Commission), referee Pee Wee Anderson, and Ranger Ross (Robert Lee Ross, Jr.).

Over the years, Allen promoted wrestling shows as well, running Peach State Wrestling weekly from 1989 to 1991 in Rome. He also ran a furniture moving business.

All the experience in various businesses helped Allen with his ring building efforts.

Fan Peggy Lathan and Ted Allen at the 2010 NWA Legends Fan Fest. Photo courtesy Peggy Lathan.

He described his operation to Teal: "I build to whatever specifications a person wants ... different heights off the ground, or whatever. I sell mats and ring aprons. I keep my ears and eyes open. Anybody around this area that has anything for sale usually calls me. They know I'm always turning 'em over. I can also broker a deal between two parties for a ring and then deliver it."

Besides conceding that wrestling played a part in his divorce, Allen was always positive about his experiences in the squared circle. He was a regular at the Gulf Coast reunions, a member of the Cauliflower Alley Club, and recently attended the NWA Legends Fan Fest in Charlotte, NC.

"I was really fortunate to break in when I did. I got to work with so many guys that were just great," Allen told Teal.

Allen was the father of two, and grandfather of three.

The cause of death is unknown at this time, and funeral arrangements are pending.

Posted: Thurs., Aug. 19, 2010, 4:23pm PM
The Call front man Michael Been dies
He was working as sound man for son's band at Pukkelpop fest
By CHRISTOPHER MORRIS

Michael Been, former front man for the Northern California rock band the Call, died after suffering a heart attack Aug. 19 at Pukkelpop Festival near Hasselt, Belgium. He was 60.
Singer-guitarist Been was working as the sound engineer for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, his son Robert's band. He collapsed backstage and was pronounced dead at a Hasselt hospital.

Sometimes compared to U2 thanks to their expansive sound, ambitious themes and literate writing, the Santa Cruz-bred Call was founded by Oklahoma native Been in 1980. The group released eight studio albums and a live set on such major labels as Mercury, Elektra and MCA. The quartet's highest charting album, "Let the Day Begin," was issued in 1989; the album's title cut was used by Sen. Al Gore as his presidential campaign song in 2000.

Been wrote the soundtrack for Paul Schrader's "Light Sleeper" (1992) and appeared in Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988) as the Apostle John.