Funeral Service Times August 2017 October 2018 | Page 42
42 OBITUARIES
Obituaries
Paying tribute to a few of the people to have recently passed away
LINDSAY KEMP
Aged 80, 25 August 2018
K
emp was a dancer, actor, meme artist,
choreographer and mentor to both David
Bowie and Kate Bush. He was probably best known
for his 1974 production of Lady of the Flowers in
which he played the lead role of Devine, the play
received a number of hostile reviews due to its
references to homosexuality, however it was later
considered groundbreaking for its time. Kemp’s
work saw him choreograph Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust
tour as well as perform in the video for 1972 single
John I’m Only Dancing. Later on in his career
Lindsay would work with Kate Bush in her film The
Line, the Cross & the Curve with Bush writing the
song Moving in tribute to him.
JOHN MCCAIN
Aged 81, 25 August 2018
M
reynolds was an American actor famous for iconic roles in films
such as Smokey and the Bandit, Deliverance and The Cannonball
Run. Reynolds, renowned for his suave style and handlebar moustache,
was once asked to play James Bond however he turned down the role
saying “an American can’t play James Bond, it just can’t be done”. The film
Smokey and the Bandit would set the tone for his career as he pioneered
the car chase movie making it his most profitable genre. Following his
death he was credited with raising the profile of the American state of
Georgia where he shot a number of his most successful films. cCain was best known as a US senator along
with running for the Republican party in both
the 2000 and 2008 US presidential elections. He
earned a reputation as a maverick for his refusal
to tow the party line on a number of occasions,
he even regularly used to describe himself. Before
moving into politics McCain was a US war hero
during the Vietnam war. He was made a prisoner
of war after his plane was shot down, however
refused to repatriated until every man who had
been captured before him had been released. His
refusal to be repatriated led to regular beatings and
torture.
CONWAY SAVAGE STEFÁN KARL STEFÁNSSON
Aged 58, 2 September 2018 Aged 43, 21 August 2018
S S
BURT REYNOLDS
Aged 82, 6 September 2018
R
avage was a musician known for his time as a member of Nick Cave and
the Bad Seeds, from 1990 to 2015 featuring on ten albums. A statement
posted on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds website read: “A member of Bad
Seeds for nearly 30 years, Conway was the anarchic thread that ran through
the band’s live performances. He was much loved by everyone, band
members and fans alike. Irascible, funny, terrifying, sentimental, warm-
hearted, gentle, acerbic, honest, genuine - he was all of these things and
quite literally ‘had the gift of a golden voice’ high and sweet and drenched
in soul. On a drunken night, at four in the morning, in a hotel bar in Cologne,
Conway sat at the piano and sang Streets of Laredo to us, in his sweet,
melancholy style and stopped the world for a moment. There wasn’t a dry
eye in the house. Goodbye Conway, there isn’t a dry eye in the house.”
OCTOBER 2018
tefán Karl Stefánsson was well known for
playing antagonist Robbie Rotten in children’s
TV series LazyTown. Despite being an an English
language show for the first few seasons of
LazyTown, Stefánsson didn’t speak any of the
language but he quickly learned. Stefánsson’s
character Rotten was known for his preference to
stay inside and sleep as opposed to going outside
and participating in sport with the series’ heroes.
Shortly before his death Stefánsson was awarded
the Icelandic Order of the Falcon honour.
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