This person died 2018, age 76. She had a child two months before her 13th birthday. She started teaching herself to play the piano before she was 10, picking up songs from the radio.In 1969, she dropped her husband as manager and eventually filed restraining orders against him. She also went through a period of heavy drinking before getting sober in the 1970s. Rolling Stone magazine put her at the top of its 2010 greatest singers of all time. Her music defined a modern female archetype: sensual and strong, long-suffering but ultimately indomitable, loving but not to be taken for granted. Today’s dead celebrity is Aretha Franklin.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 90 Big Adventurer (Paul Reubens aka Pee-wee Herman) and Episode 31 The Greatest (Muhammad Ali)

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola, and features guest co-host Matt Anderson.

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

Aretha Franklin, great gowns

Aretha Franklin Snickers commercial

Aretha Franklin stands in for Pavarotti

Aretha Franklin Obama Inauguration 

Matt Anderson on LinkedIn

Imagination Factory, Matt Anderson’s organization

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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 2003 age 74.He was an ordained Presbyterian minister. He once volunteered at a state prison in Pittsburgh and helped set up a playroom for children visiting their parents. Eddie Murphy parodied him on "Saturday Night Live." One of his sweaters hangs in the Smithsonian Institution. He composed his own songs for his show and began each episode in a set made to look like a comfortable living room, singing "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.” Today’s dead celebrity is Fred Rogers.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like 90 Big Adventurer (Paul Reubens aka Pee-wee Herman) and Episode 40 Eve’s Dropper (Dick Clark).

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola, and features guest co-host Jennifer Keishin Armstrong.

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

Fred Rogers 1969 testimony before Congress

Fred Rogers 1997 Lifetime Achievement award at the Emmys

Fred Rogers talks about meeting Eddie Murphy on David Letterman

SCTV Battle of the PBS Stars: Julia Child vs. Fred Rogers 

Ministry of Pop Culture Substack

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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 2006, age 44. He was an ebullient staple of American talk shows. His American-born wife was his business partner and on-screen co-star. His fame engendered books, action figures and interactive games. For a time, tube-watching pub crawlers played a drinking game, hoisting a glass every time he said, “Crikey!” or, “Isn’t she a beauty?” His television show,  “The Crocodile Hunter,” was seen in more than 100 countries on cable television. Today’s dead celebrity is Steve Irwin.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 67 Golden Rose (Betty White) and Episode 17 Modest Moonwalker (Neil Armstrong). 

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola, and features guest co-host John Watts. 

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Steve Irwin

South Park impersonation of Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin tackles Florida Gator mascot on ESPN

Compilation of Steve Irwin being attacked by wildlife

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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 2004, age 91. Her father was a wealthy farm consultant and investor; her mother was a housewife with a cook and maid. She attended Smith College, and she had some vague idea of being a novelist or a basketball star. After World War II broke out, she signed up for intelligence work with the Office of Strategic Services, hoping to become a spy. A self-confessed ham, she became a darling of audiences and comedians almost from the moment she made her debut on WGBH in Boston in 1963. She was a towering figure on the culinary front for more than 40 years. Most Americans knew her as the imperturbable host of the long-running PBS television series "The French Chef." Today’s dead celebrity is Julia Child.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 81 Dimpled Ambassador (Shirley Temple) and Episode 20 Notorious Dissenter (Ruth Bader Ginsburg). 

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola, and features guest co-host Michelle Dahlenburg. 

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Julia Child

Dan Aykroyd impersonation of Julia Child on SNL

Julia Child, chaos muppet

Cassoulet recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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 2007 age 84. He studied for a master’s degree in anthropology at the University of Chicago, writing a thesis on “The Fluctuations Between Good and Evil in Simple Tales.” Like Mark Twain, he used humor to tackle the basic questions of human existence. With a blend of science fiction, philosophy and jokes, he wrote about the banalities of consumer culture, and the destruction of the environment. With his curly hair askew, deep pouches under his eyes and rumpled clothes, he often looked like an out-of-work philosophy professor. The defining moment of his life was the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, by Allied forces in 1945, an event he witnessed firsthand as a young prisoner of war. His experience in Dresden was the basis of his book “Slaughterhouse-Five.” Today’s dead celebrity is Kurt Vonnegut.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 92 Acerbic Comedian (George Carlin) and Episode 80 Super Funkhouser (Bob Einstein). 

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola, and features guest co-host Wiley Hodges. 

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut’s Shape of Stories lecture

Vonnegut in Back To School with Rodney Dangerfield

1975 Profile of Vonnegut

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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 2008 at age 83. In the early 1950s he was accepted as a student at the Actors Studio in New York, where he took lessons alongside James Dean, Geraldine Page, and Marlon Brando. In midlife, racing cars became his obsession. He acted in more than 65 movies over more than 50 years, drawing on a physical grace, unassuming intelligence and good humor that made it all seem effortless. In 1982, as a lark, he decided to sell a salad dressing he had created for friends, and the brand expanded to include popcorn, spaghetti sauce, pretzels, and wine. Today’s dead celebrity is Paul Newman.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 93 “American Royalty” (Elizabeth Taylor)and Episode 65 “Father of the Bride” (William Goldman).

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola, and features guest co-host Michael Warburton. 

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Paul Newman

Support Michael Warburton on Ko-fi

Three interviews with Paul Newman

Paul Newman talks politics with Dick Cavett

10 year anniversary of Newman’s Own

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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 69. In the late 1960s he was hired as jokes editor at Playboy magazine, and he also joined Second City’s touring company. After he had taken a job with SCTV, the Toronto sketch comedy show, SNL approached him to be a writer. His breakthrough came in 1978 when he co-wrote “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” and he made his directorial debut with the country club comedy “Caddyshack” (1980). He went on to write “Ghostbusters” (1984) and “Ghostbusters II” (1989), playing the super-intellectual Dr. Egon Spengler. He also wrote and directed “Groundhog Day”, which several critics called his masterpiece. Today’s dead celebrity is Harold Ramis.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 85 “More Respect” (Rodney Dangerfield) and Episode 54 “Secret Chord” (Leonard Cohen).

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola.

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Harold Ramis

“The Joyful Comedy of Harold Ramis” New Yorker article

Harold Ramis Day proclaimed on Feb. 2 in Chicago

Harold Ramis and Seth Rogen in “Knocked Up”

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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 2023 at age 76. He was an accomplished author, and was one of only a few writers (the likes of Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck) to top both the Times fiction and non-fiction best-seller lists. He moved to Nashville in 1970, hoping to make it as a country singer while working as a journalist for Billboard magazine. He wrote music for “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Urban Cowboy.” He also appeared in movies, including “Rancho Deluxe” and “Jurassic World.” His live shows abounded with singalong anthems (eg “Margaritaville”) and festive tropical iconography, making him a perennial draw on the concert circuit where he built an ardent fan base known as Parrot Heads. Today’s dead celebrity is Jimmy Buffett.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 51 “Goofball Stud” (Bill Paxton) and Episode 42 “Game Changer” (John Madden).

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola.

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett: How the Billionaire Made His Money

Jimmy Buffett's University of Miami Commencement Speech

‘Jurassic World’ scene with Jimmy Buffett

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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 2011 at age 79. Her father was an art dealer who had been transferred to London from New York, and her mother had acted in the theater. She first appeared on screen at age 10, and was one of the world’s most famous film stars before she even completed her teens. Regarding her acting, she once said, “What I try to do is to give the maximum emotional effect with the minimum of visual movement.” Late in life she became a social activist – she helped establish the American Foundation for AIDS Research and helped raise money for it.  After her sixth (of eight) marriage ended, she checked into the Betty Ford Center. In addition to alcohol and drugs, she had a problem with overeating, and it became the butt of jokes by late night comedians especially Joan Rivers. Today’s dead celebrity is Elizabeth Taylor.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 68 “Sentient Princess” (Carrie Fisher) and Episode 71 “Defiant One” (Sidney Poitier) 

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola.

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Elizabeth Taylor

Trailer for HBO Documentary ‘Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes”

Commercial for White Diamonds perfume

Elizabeth Taylor in ‘The Flintstones’ movie

Wondery’s “Even The Rich” Elizabeth Taylor series

Elizabeth Taylor’s HIV/Aids Activism

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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 2008 at  age 71. He grew up with his mother and his older brother on West 121st in Manhattan. He dropped out of high school and joined the Air Force, and while stationed in Shreveport, Louisiana, worked as a radio disc jockey. During the course of his career, he overcame numerous personal trials – he was arrested several times, he weathered serious tax problems, a heart attack, and two open-heart surgeries. He was the first person ever to host Saturday Night Live. In 1978, the Supreme Court upheld an order prohibiting the words as “indecent” from his bit “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television”. Today’s dead celebrity is George Carlin.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 40 “Eve’s Dropper” (Dick Clark) and Episode 29 “Zen Comedian" (Garry Shandling). 

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola.

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for George Carlin

Carlin’s “Dumb Americans” clip

Trailer for Judd Apatow’s documentary about Carlin

George Carlin Quotes to make you Laugh, Smile, and Think

“Fresh Air” Interview with George Carlin

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

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.