Famous and Gravy

This person died in 2009 at age 57. His father was an engineer and a rodeo cowboy. He was a student athlete, and his dancing career was hampered by a severe football injury. In the 1970s he moved from Houston to New York to study dance, becoming a member of Eliot Feld Ballet. He was determined not to be typecast, and said in a 1989 interview, “The only plan I have is that every time people think they have me pegged, I’m going to come out of left field and do something unexpected.” The coming-of-age film “Dirty Dancing” established him as a romantic leading man. His other starring roles include “Roadhouse”, “Ghost”, and “Point Break”. Today’s dead celebrity biography is Patrick Swayze.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Megan Palmer. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 57 Cool Hand Dylan (Luke Perry) and Episode 51 Goofball Stud (Bill Paxton).

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New York Times Obituary for Patrick Swayze

Dead or Alive quiz game

SNL Chippendales sketch with Swayze and Chris Farley

“Nobody wins a fight” and “Pain don’t hurt” scene from Roadhouse

Barbara Walters interview with Patrick in 2009

How Patrick Swayze Convinced Whoopi Goldberg to be in ‘Ghost’ article

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

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This person died 2023 at age 83. In 2013, after demonstrating a proficiency in German, she became a citizen of Switzerland. In 1987, she appeared in a Pepsi commercial alongside David Bowie. She is credited with helping Mick Jagger learn to dance. In 1988, She held a concert for 180,000 people in Rio de Janeiro, breaking the record for the largest paying audience for a solo artist. Her first marriage provided much of the material for the 1993 film “What’s Love Got to Do With It”, starring Angela Bassett.  Her parade of solo hit songs include the classics “Private Dancer” and “The Best”. Today’s dead celebrity is Tina Turner.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Megan Palmer. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like 084 Vocal Bedrock (Johnny Cash) and Episode 033 October Error (Bill Buckner)

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New York Times Obituary for Tina Turner

Pepsi commercial starring Tina and David Bowie

Tina Turner’s solo performance of ‘Proud Mary’

Photo of Tina, Keith Richards, and David Bowie in NYC 1983

“Australians Smash Nutbush World Record”

Tina’s schoolhouse at West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This person died in 2022 at age 93. In 1976, she became known as the “million-dollar baby” because of a contract with ABC that made her the highest-paid journalist, male or female, in television history. She was married three times, and between marriages she dated many prominent and powerful people, among them Senator John Warner and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. She drove a motorcycle with Sylvester Stallone, danced the mambo with Patrick Swayze, and rode a patrol boat with Fidel Castro across the Bay of Pigs. In 2007, she tried to intervene in a vitriolic spat between Rosie O’Donnell and Donald J. Trump.  She was perhaps best known for asking intimate interview questions, and as creator of the television “The View”. Today’s dead celebrity is Barbara Walters.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Megan Palmer. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 47 “Proud Mary” (Mary Tyler Moore), and Episode 42 “Game Changer” (John Madden)

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New York Times Obituary for Barbara Walters

Gilda Radner’s SNL Impression

Cheri Oteri’s SNL Impression

Barbara Interviews Fidel Castro

Barbara’s last day on ‘The View’

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This person died in 2004 at age 82. His big break came in 1967 when, at age 44 and relatively unknown, he won a spot on "The Ed Sullivan Show". At one point he quit show business for over a dozen years and worked as an aluminum salesman and house painter. On stage he portrayed a hapless, self-deprecating Everyman slapped around by life and searching for acceptance. He opened his own comedy club in New York, which gave early breaks to comedians including Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, and Jim Carrey. His first comedy album, "No Respect", won a Grammy Award in 1981. He starred in the classic comedy movies “Caddyshack” and “Back to School”. Today’s dead celebrity is Rodney Dangerfield.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Megan Palmer. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 63 “America's Mustache” (Burt Reynolds), and Episode 58 “Best in Show” (Fred Willard)

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New York Times Obituary for Rodney Dangerfield

Top Rodney Dangerfield jokes superclip

Michael Bolton impersonates Rodney

Rodney Dangerfield Institute at LA Community College

Rodney’s Triple Lindy in “Back to School”

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This person died in 2003 at age 71, He is considered a pioneer of rock 'n' roll, and in 1992 he was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, after he had also been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the early 2000s, a video of his won six nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards. He fought a long battle against addiction. His voice, which projected the fateful gravity of a country patriarch, and his signature look, which suggested a cowboy undertaker, led him to be known as “The Man in Black”. Today’s dead celebrity is Johnny Cash.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Megan Palmer. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 50 “Golden Rose” (Betty White), Episode 36 “Singing Mailman” (John Prine), and episode 41 “Viva Bojangles” (Jerry Jeff Walker).

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New York Times Obituary for Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash’s video for “Hurt” 

Homer Simpson meets Johnny Cash’s Space Coyote

Photo of Johnny Cash jamming with Stephen King

“How Rick Rubin revitalized Johnny Cash’s career” video clip

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’re back, and we’re sharing the exciting news that Famous & Gravy is now part of Wondery! Amit and Michael also discuss some of the behind-the-scenes work they’ve been doing to better the show in the runup to this exciting announcement. New Famous & Gravy episodes will start releasing again every other Wednesday, and also will now be available one week early and ad-free on Wondery+. 

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List of Wondery shows

Famous & Gravy official website

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Dead or Alive quiz game

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This person died 2016 at age 69. He suffered a blow in a teenage brawl that caused his left pupil to be permanently dilated. He experimented with startling transformations, often playing up an androgynous image. In the 1980s he had a Broadway run in the demanding title role of “The Elephant Man”. Nirvana chose to sing one of his songs in their legendary brief set on “MTV Unplugged” in 1993. He was the Thin White Duke, Aladdin Sane, Major Tom, and Ziggy Stardust. Today’s dead celebrity is David Bowie.

This episode originally published March 8, 2023.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Jacob Weiss. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 66 “Let’s Get Metaphysical” (Olivia Newton-John) and Episode 32 “Hot Stuff” (Donna Summer)

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New York Times Obituary for David Bowie

17-year old David interviewed about Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men

Infamous Bowie Interview on Dick Cavett show in 1974

Bowie as musical guest on SNL in 1979

“Iman on LIfe with David Bowie” in Vanity Fair

Will Ferrell and John C Reilly play David Bowie and Bing Crosby

David Bowie scene on ‘Extras’ with Ricky Gervais

“Did David Bowie Say He Supports Fascism” article on Snopes

David Bowie predicted impact of the internet in 1999 BBC interview

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This person died in 2014 at age 85. In the 1930s, she was a determined child actress who sang and tap-danced her way to the height of Hollywood stardom. For at least 5 consecutive years, she was the most popular movie star in America. She was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly by Richard Nixon. In 1972, she held a news conference in her hospital room after her mastectomy, encouraging women discovering breast lumps to not be afraid. She was the United States ambassador to Ghana from 1974 to 1976, and to Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992. Today’s dead celebrity is Shirley Temple Black. 

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Jacob Weiss. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

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New York Times Obituary for Shirley Temple Black

Classic Shirley Temple scene “On The Good Ship Lollipop”

“The Child Star Who Wasn’t a Cautionary Tale” from The Atlantic

Shirley Temple Black on Larry King Live

How to Make a Shirley Temple drink

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This person died in 2019, age 76. In 1958 when he was 14, his father died immediately after performing a roast for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. His dry delivery piqued the interest of Tom Smothers, who offered him a job in the late 1960s as a writer on the “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” He was roommates with Steve Martin for a number of years, and his younger brother is the renowned comedian and filmmaker Albert Brooks. His most famous and long-lived character was a witless, deadpan parody of bravado-fueled stuntmen like Evel Knievel. Recently, he starred as Marty Funkhouser on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Today’s dead celebrity is Bob Einstein. 

This episode originally published December 14, 2022.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Jacob Weiss. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 75 “Love and OJ Jokes” (Norm Macdonald) and Episode 58 “Best in Show” (Fred Willard)

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New York Times Obituary for Bob Einstein

Super Dave Osborne King of the Road video

Super Dave Bungee Jump video

Scene in Modern Romance with Bob Einstein and Albert Brooks

“Super Dave, In Memoriam” article in The Yorker

“Mourning Marty Funkhouser” article in The Ringer

Bob Einstein Official Website

The Super Bob Einstein Movie HBO Documentary

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This person died in 2016 at age 69. In an acting career spanning more than 40 years, he played a panoply of fascinating characters. He had his early successes in stage works involving the Royal Shakespeare Company. Though he was never nominated for an Academy Award, he won many accolades, but shrugged off the value of awards in general. He gained a worldwide audience in “Die Hard,” playing Hans Gruber, the devious, well-spoken terrorist who took over the fictional Nakatomi Plaza. More recently, he played the notorious professor Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” series. Today’s dead celebrity is Alan Rickman. 

This episode originally published November 2, 2022.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne.This episode was produced by Jacob Weiss. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 55 “Pure Imagination” (Gene Wilder) and Episode 44 “Inner Soprano” (James Gandolfini)

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New York Times obituary for Alan Rickman

Emma Thompson tribute to Alan Rickman

Kevin Smith tribute to Alan Rickman

Hans Gruber fall in Die Hard

Alan Rickman’s voicemail bit on Family Guy

Alan Rickman takes Jimmy Fallon to task

Alan Rickman behind the scenes of Harry Potter as Snape

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.