Died on this date:

Marilyn Chambers

World's First Porn Star

April 22, 1952-April 12, 2009

(Age 56)

Marilyn Chambers.

Iconic Adult Film Star

Still beautiful in middle age.

MILF-y? Indeed.

Marilyn Chambers was the woman who redefined pornography from being the doughy, sleazy tramps of stag films to "Oh, my god, I can't believe I'm watching a woman that gorgeous having sex."

Jim and Artie Mitchell had a stroke of genius (sorry) when they cast the innocent looking Miss Chambers as the star of their seminal (oops, sorry) porn film Behind The Green Door (1972).  Ironically, it wasn't until after the film was shot that Marilyn informed Jim and Artie that she was the model on the box of the detergent Ivory Snow.  Jim and Artie took Ivory Snow's slogan of "99 and 44/100% pure" and ran with it like the P. T. Barnum's of Sleaze that they were destined to be.  The mainstreaming of smut was on it's merry way.

If you were not around during that time it's hard (sorry, again) to imagine how innocent all this stuff seems when you look back on it.  All it was, was sex.  Pretty regular kind of sex, as a matter of fact.  The kind of sex that most regular people do most of the time.  No internet, which gave rise (sorry, I've got to stop doing that) to every manner of pervo kink imaginable.  Nobody in those heady, bawdy days would think about making a film with people pissing and crapping on each other.  Or having men twist women's hair in a forced performance of mean-spirited, choking, slobbery face fucking.  Or the obligatory semi-sadistic backdoor slamming with a pinch of double penetration thrown in for good measure.  The whole business just getting soulless and mean.  (But then again, where would Tiger Woods learn to hone his technique?)

But I digress.  Back to Marilyn.  Despite attempts, she was unable to establish any kind of sustained career in mainstream (i.e; non-porn) films.  In a 2004 interview she advised, "My advice to somebody who wants to go into adult films is: Absolutely not!  It's heartbreaking.  It leaves you kind of empty.  So have a day job and don't quit it."

Something to think about for all the young girls who admire Jenna Jameson and wear t-shirts that say "Porn Star".

Marilyn Chambers died alone at her home in Santa Clarita, California.  Her body was discovered by her daughter.  The LA County Coroner determined cause of death to be cerebral hemorrhage and aneurysm related to heart disease.

She was the fire of many fantasies.  RIP.

Cool day at the funeral home.

Had a good one on Friday.

Got a call from a hospice nurse about 9:00 in the morning.  Somebody passed away but the family is waiting for another family member to show up so can we wait until about 1:00 to pick up the body?  Sure, no problem.

About noon we get a call from the guy's son.  Can we bring him to the funeral home ourselves?  No law against it.  Come on down.

So at 1:00 the son walks in and says, he's here where do we go?  Around back, we'll meet you there.

At that the family pulls up in this:

Yep.  That's a '66 Pontiac Bonneville.  

Dad really loved the car so it was his last ride. 

Dad is in the front seat in a t-shirt, sweatpants, a ball cap and a pair of sunglasses.  (The latter was a really nice touch, I thought.)  

The sons helped us get him out of the front seat and onto the gurney while the daughters ran around crying, laughing and taking pictures.

As they were leaving I told them they were absolutely the coolest family I'd ever dealt with and I bet their Dad was looking down the whole time laughing his ass off.  The only thing that would have made the episode perfect would have been if the guy's name was Bernie.

I love my job.

Update: tbird points out that I got the picture from flickr which is true.  I didn't mean to imply that the photo was the substitute hearse.  I didn't feel comfortable taking photos of the actual event, so I had to find the car online.  Same color, though.

Died Yesterday:

J.D. Salinger

Author

January 1, 1919-January 27, 2010

(Age 91)

J.D. Salinger wrote one undeniable classic of a novel and then became almost as famous for his lack of literary productivity and reclusiveness.  The Catcher in the Rye is still mandatory reading in most high school literature classes to this day.  The callow yet world-weary main character, Holden Caulfield, has been the springboard for countless coming-of-age novels and movies for the last half century.   And, as far as I know, The Catcher in the Rye has been the only novel that ever inspired a sad sack fruitcake loser to assassinate the world's most famous rock star.

J.D. Salinger died at home of natural causes.

Died on this date:

Joe Strummer

Musician

Aug. 21, 1952-Dec. 22, 2002

(Age 50)

The Clash is often referred to as "The Only Band That Matters."  If that statement is true it was primarily due to the talents of Joe Strummer (born John Graham Mellor).  The Sex Pistols were a joke that gave birth to the British punk scene but The Clash was the real deal.  They exploded on the scene in London with politically tinged songs about police brutality, political oppression, and other radical causes that were near and dear to leftist hearts in the mid to late 70's.  Beyond the mindless leftism though, the music was rough, rowdy and exciting.  Good stuff.  Rolling Stone Magazine has them at #30 of the Top 100 bands of all time and they were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Death from cardiac arrest arising from a previously undiagnosed congenital heart defect.

Here is my favorite song by The Clash.  "London Calling."

Sad...just breaking...Died today.

Brittany Murphy

Actress

Nov. 10, 1977-Dec. 20, 2009

(Age 32)

TMZ is reporting that Brittany Murphy was found this morning at 8:00 AM in full cardiac arrest at her home in Los Angeles.  She was pronounced dead on arrival at Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

Brittany starred in Clueless, 8 Mile, Don't Say a Word and numerous other films.  My personal favorite was her role as Shellie in Sin City.  Damn, she was sexy.

Cause of death will be pending investigation, of course.

R.I.P.