Rudy Ray Moore, a raunchy 1970s comedian who played the title role of a fast-talking flashy pimp in the 1975 movie Dolemite (and its 1976 sequel, The Human Tornado) and influenced a generation of rappers, died Sunday evening, October 19, at the age of 81 at an Akron nursing home from complications of diabetes, said his brother, Gerald Moore. (more…)

Dee Dee Warwick was a soul singer born in Newark, New Jersey as Delia Mae Warrick. Following the lead of her elder sister, Dionne Warwick, she changed her surname from Warrick to Warwick in the early 1960s. She had been in failing health for several months. Dionne was with her when she died on October 18, 2008 in a nursing home in Essex County, New Jersey. (more…)

Today, a legendary motown voice has been silenced.  Levi Stubbs, the baritone lead vocalist of The Four Tops, has passed away at his Detroit home at the age of 72.  Levi was diagnosed with cancer in 1995, and suffered a stroke some time later which forced him to stop touring in 2000.  He was also well-known as the voice of “Audrey II” in Little Shop Of Horrors. 

Here are the notable deaths on October 15 throughout the years:

Mata Hari (August 7, 1876, Leeuwarden – October 15, 1917, Vincennes) – Born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle on August 7 1876, the only daughter of a Dutch hatmaker, she seemed unlikely to later become the Mata Hari, the most infamous double agent in spy history. She answered an advertisement in the local paper placed by Rudolph MacLeod, a career military man in need of a wife. Enchanted by the tall, dark, and lovely Margaretha, MacLeod married her in 1895, and moved her to Dutch-controlled Java. His wife fell in love with Java, and wore native sarongs, learned the local language, and watched local dancers. MacLeod’s philandering and bad temper strained their marriage, and even the birth of their second child could not repair the damage done. After their move to Sumatra, a terrible tragedy occurred that would finally end their marriage. While getting ready for bed on June 27 1899, Margaretha heard her children screaming. Racing to their nursery, she found her son and daughter had been poisoned, probably by an angry servant. While their daughter Jeanne Louise (called “Non,” a Malay name) survived, her elder brother Norman was not so fortunate. Margaretha fell into a deep depression that was only worsened by MacLeod’s blaming her for Norman’s death. Finally, the tension exploded, and MacLeod beat Margaretha brutally before kidnapping their daughter and fleeing to Europe. She obtained a divorce and had her child returned to her, but MacLeod refused to pay any support. Unable to care for Non, Margaretha reluctantly left the girl in her father’s care and left for Paris. There she became an exotic dancer, chosing the Malay term “matahari” (Eye of the Sun) as her stage name. Concocting a fanciful tale of being a half-Javanese temple dancer devoted to the god Shiva, Margaretha first appeared on stage as her alter-ego Mata Hari in 1905. Her erotic dancing (that included shedding veils, sarongs, and most everything else in the course of her performance) made her an instant sensation, and traveled all over Europe. She also made several unsuccessful attempts to regain custody of her daughter Non, even plotting with a servant to kidnap the girl from her school in Velp. While trying to visit her lover, a Russian officer named Vadim Maslov, Margaretha was approached by Georges Ladoux, a French army captain, who asked her to spy on the Germans. She agreed and planned to seduce a Nazi General and get him to spill military secrets. However, she was arrested by British intelligence and interrogated by Scotland Yard, who were convinced she was actually a spy for the Germans. Finally she was released, and as 1916 drew to a close Margaretha made her way to Spain where she romanced a Nazi Major called Kalle. He caught onto her and sent false messages claiming that she was in fact a German spy. The French arrested Margaretha on February 13 1917 and imprisoned her. She was convicted that summer of spying for an enemy nation and sentenced to death. On October 15 1917, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle faced the firing squad. She refused a blindfold and blew one last kiss to her killers. A bullet to the heart killed Mata Hari, and her body was donated to medical science. (more…)

Bradley Stewart, a.k.a. Gidget Gein, was the 39-year-old second bassist for industrial metal band Marilyn Manson from 1989 to 1993, during which time his stage name was created through the fusion of the names of Gidget (the television character played by Sally Field) and Ed Gein (the notorious American serial killer.) He died from a suspected heroin overdose on October 9, 2008 at his home in Burbank, California. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has stated it will not release further details until the Gein’s family has been informed of the situation. He was only the bassist for Manson’s first album, 1994’s Portrait of an American Family (and their cassette-only demo albums before that, when the band was named Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids.) He was fired though shortly after the completion of the album because he overdosed on heroin for the fourth time, and he wasn’t getting a handle on his addiction. He received a letter via Federal Express from the band on Christmas Eve of 1993, when finding himself in a hospital bed, declaring his services “no longer needed” (he was replaced by the group’s former groupie, Jeordie “Gordy” White, otherwise known as Twiggy Ramirez.) He went on to form Gidget Gein and the Dali Gaggers before performing art and fashion shows under the name Gollywood. (more…)

Johnny Jackson, a.k.a. “Johnny J,” was a multi-platinum songwriter, music producer, & rapper who was perhaps best known for his production on Tupac Shakur’s albums All Eyez on Me and Me Against the World (the former of which included Shakur’s only Billboard Hot 100 hit, “How Do U Want It,” which J also produced.) According to his own MySpace page, J died on October 3, 2008 at the age of 39. While serving a sentence for DWI in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility located in Los Angeles, California, he allegedly jumped off an upper tier of the prison in an apparent suicide. He was born in Juárez, Mexico, in 1969 and raised in South Central Los Angeles. Johnny J was owner and CEO of Klock Work Entertainment. (more…)

One of the founding members of folk music pioneers The Kingston Trio, Nick Reynolds, died Wednesday, October 1, in San Diego. He was 75. Reynolds had been hospitalized in recent weeks with acute respiratory disease and a range of other illnesses, his son, Josh Reynolds, said of his father. His family chose to take him off life support. He is survived by his wife, Leslie; sons Joshua Stewart Reynolds and John Pike Reynolds; daughters Annie Clancy Reynolds Moore and Jennifer Kristie Reynolds; and sisters Jane Reynolds Meade and Barbara Reynolds Haines. No services have been set, Josh said. (more…)