In 2024, we've experienced the loss of several luminaries in the world of entertainment. These beloved figures—actors, comedians, musicians, singers, and coaches—have touched our lives with their talent, passion, and dedication. They've left an indelible mark on our hearts and shaped the world of entertainment in ways that will continue to inspire and influence generations to come.
Among the incredible actors who bid farewell this year, we mourn the loss of a true chameleon who effortlessly.
Osborne is also the father of professional wrestler Matt Borne.[1] After retiring from professional wrestling, Osborne worked in real estate.[1] A pacemaker was inserted in his heart in August 2010, but he died at his home on August 27 of that year.[1]
As a child, Gertrude Vachon wanted to continue her family's wrestling legacy.[4] Attending wrestling events she used to play in the ring, which often resulted in training with various World Wide Wrestling Federation stars. Her family objected to her entering the wrestling business and tried to dissuade her, as they considered a wrestler's life at that time too harsh for a female.[4][3]André the Giant, with whom she was close and who took her on a trip to Paris in 1974, also tried to dissuade her.[4] Around the age sixteen, she began training under her aunt Vivian and then The Fabulous Moolah.[3]
Early career (1985-1992)
Gertrude started her professional career wrestling for Moolah's all-women's promotion.[3] She then moved to Florida, where she shared residence with wrestlers Scott Levy (later known as Raven), and Denny Brown.[5]
In 1985, Luna debuted in Florida Championship Wrestling, as a young, soft spoken reporter named Trudy Herd, who was giving Kendall Windham an award. A melee ensued and she was knocked unconscious by Kevin Sullivan. The angle had her driven mad by Sullivan's treatment and she ended up joining Sullivan's Army of Darkness stable.[6] As part of her gimmick, she shaved one half of her head, which was the first step to her trademark Mohawk hairstyle, covered her face in bodypaint, and continuously sneered.[3][6] Looking back, she has expressed her uneasiness about some elements of the Satanism angle.[7]
During her time in Florida, Luna first wrestled Madusa Miceli, beginning a long-lasting in-ring rivalry.[3] Beginning in Florida, Luna teamed up with The Lock as the Daughters of Darkness, a part of Sullivan's Army.[3] The duo also provided back-up vocals for the trash metal band Nasty Savage.[4] During the next three years, Luna also traveled to Japan, where her father Butcher Vachon acting as her manager[3], as well as Puerto Rico.[6] She also wrestled in David McLane's Powerful Women of Wrestling (POWW) and, during POWW's alliance with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), participated in the latter's only pay-per-view event, SuperClash III in December 1988, competing in a Battle royal.[5]
In the early nineties she took over management of The Blackhearts, a masked tag team coming out of Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling. The team consisted of Tom Nash — a childhood friend of Luna and her then-husband — and David Heath, her future husband, under the names "Apocalypse" and "Destruction", respectively. Luna worked with them in Joel Goodhart's Tri-State Wrestling, in Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation, and finally Giant Baba's All-Japan, where the team split up. Luna also worked at Wild Women of Wrestling, as a competitor, commenter and booker.[8][9]
World Wrestling Federation (1993-1994)
In 1992, while wrestling in Puerto Rico, she tried to get David Heath a job with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which resulted in the WWF developing an interest in her. They hired her, but not without some complications. No one actually knew exactly where she was; even her father only knew that she was staying in Florida. The WWF actually hired a private investigator to find her. When she was found, she was working as a waitress at a restaurant.[3][7]
Luna's first WWF appearance was in April 1993 at WrestleMania IX, accompanying Intercontinental ChampionShawn Michaels in his match against Tatanka, who was accompanied by Michaels' former valet Sensational Sherri. After the match, Luna attacked Sensational Sherri at ringside and later in the first aid area, starting a vicious feud between the two.
At the same time Luna and Sherri were at odds, Bam Bam Bigelow had a confrontation with Sherri. This led to him being attacked by Tatanka and the two of them feuding. Soon after, Bam Bam (kayfabe) announced that he had fallen in love and presented Luna as his "main squeeze".[10] He also endearingly called her his "Tick", which fans combined with her name to the chant "Luna-tic". From then, Bam Bam was seen blowing kisses to Luna at the end of matches, and in her honor even included the Moonsault, redubbed Lunasault, into his repertoire. A mixed tag team match between the two pairs was planned for SummerSlam in 1993, but had to be canceled because Luna legitely injured her arm and then Sherri left the WWF. Instead, Bigelow and The Headshrinkers fought and lost to Tatanka and The Smokin' Gunns in a six-man tag team match. In the autumn of 1993, Bam Bam and Luna ran afoul of some practical jokes from Doink the Clown, leading to a Survivor Series style match at the 1993 event of the same name pitting Bam Bam, The Headshrinkers, and Bastion Booger against four Doinks (actually Men on a Mission and The Bushwhackers in clown makeup). During this time Luna was the cause of dissension between Bam Bam and his part-time tag team partner Bastion Booger, who had also (kayfabe) fallen in love with her. At WrestleMania X, Bam Bam and Luna finally got their revenge on Doink by beating the Clown and his midget side-kick Dink in a mixed tag team match.[3]
When the WWF's women's division was revived, Luna's old rival Madusa, who had entered the WWF under the name Alundra Blayze, won the Women's Championship. Luna set her eyes on the title and had a series of matches with Alundra, all resulting in victories for Blayze. It was during this time the relationship between Luna and Bam Bam first showed cracks after interference in a match backfired. In the summer, Luna sold Bam Bam's contract to Ted DiBiase, who was beginning to build his "Million Dollar Corporation".[6] Luna then picked Japanese wrestler Bull Nakano to win the Women's title from Blayze, which she eventually did.[6] Luna, however, left the WWF shortly after this title match.
In 1994, Luna was the first woman to appear in a WWF video game, when - despite objections[4] - she was included in WWF Raw. Jessicka Havok vs. Luna Vachon Uploaded by Jokerwilds. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.
Independents and Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994-1996)
After leaving the WWF, Luna wrestled on the independent circuit. Upon the recommendation of Kevin Sullivan's wife Nancy, she entered Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). She was brought as Tommy Dreamer's new valet in his long running feud with Raven (Scott Levy). Dreamer announced Luna as "someone out of your past", as Luna had been housemate to Levy in her Florida days and both had simultaneously worked in the WWF. While in ECW, Luna would stand with Tommy, feuding with Raven and his lackeys, which included Stevie Richards, and even her husband The Vampire Warrior (who, in kayfabe, had become jealous of the time she was spending with Dreamer). She had more than a few physical confrontations with Richards, including a steel cage match, which she won.[3]
In the same year, she was rated #306 in the PWI 500 - the second woman to be included in that list.[11]
In 1996/97, she competed in the American Wrestling Federation, using the name Angel Baby[5], and the IWA Mid-South.[12][13]
World Championship Wrestling (1997)
In early 1997, Luna had a short run with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), again going after her rival Madusa. Luna interfered in Madusa's matches against WCW Women's ChampionAkira Hokuto, preventing a title win by Madusa. Luna and Madusa met each other in a series of matches, including a match at the 1997 Slamboree. Although Luna dominated the matches, Madusa managed to get the pinfall every time.
World Wrestling Federation (1997-2000)
Later in 1997, Luna returned to the WWF, first as Goldust's manager, helping him to reinvent himself as "The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust". The pair sported a variety of different outfits and roles, including a dominatrix, a slave, a "New Year Baby", and his nurse. Their first feud was against Vader. Luna's first appearance had her wheeling the allegedly paralyzed Goldust to the ring and then blinding Vader with some "medical fluid". Later when Goldust, dressed like a Christmas tree, recited poems in the ring, he was attacked by Santa Claus, who turned out to be Vader. Vader eventually defeated Goldust at the 1998 Royal Rumble. The Goldust/Luna pairing also took to imitating other wrestler's gimmicks, often those of Goldust's opponents. At one point Goldust and Luna impersonated European ChampionTriple H and Chyna in a title match against Owen Hart. What Triple H had intended as a "joke" resulted in Owen beating Goldust and CommissionerSlaughter awarding the title to Hart, considering Goldust to be a legit replacement.
At this time, Goldust also teamed up with Marc Mero, which led to another feud, as Luna and Mero's valet Sable started to fight outside of the ring. The feud culminated in a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania XIV, pitting the two couples against each other.[4] After this, Luna challenged Sable to an Evening Gown match at Unforgiven and scored the victory by stripping her opponent down to her underwear. The animosity between Luna and Sable was not entirely kayfabe. As Sable's popularity increased, she adopted a presumptuous attitude towards other competitors. According to Luna, as the two trained in the preparation for their WrestleMania match, Sable refused to learn how to "take bumps", while Luna was threatened by WWF officials that hurting her opponent in the ring would put her job in jeopardy.[4] Sable also annoyed Luna with bragging about being promised the Women's Championship, a goal that had hitherto eluded the veteran Canadian. Luna was also hurt after she had carried Sable in their match, as Sable was universally congratulated while Luna was only consoled by Owen Hart.[10] Still, Luna described the match as a highlight in her career.[10]
In August 1998, Luna had apparently patched up her differences with Sable, as the latter, now split from Marc Mero, introduced her as the newest member of the Human Oddities stable. Luna attacked Marc Mero's new valet Jacqueline. Luna scored a pinfall victory in August, but lost a rematch in September. In December, Sable, who had won the reinstated WWF Women's Championship, was attacked by the masked "Spider Lady", who turned out to be Luna. She justified attacking her partner with the words: "It's about me, it's about what I deserve." In this feud against Sable, Shane McMahon personally supported Luna's efforts to win the championship after taking personal offense to Sable's attitude towards him and booked a Leather Strap match at the Royal Rumble. Leading up to that event, in the storyline, Luna was repeatedly attacked by an obsessed Sable fan. At the Royal Rumble, Sable successfully retained the title thanks to the interference of that fan, who now entered WWF competition as Tori. During the weeks prior to the Royal Rumble, Luna also defeated Gillberg, a WWF parody of World Championship Wrestling's star Goldberg. Luna was due to challenge Sable for another title shot several weeks later at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, but the match was canceled due to Luna's suspension for fighting with Sable backstage.[3]
Six months later, Luna returned at SummerSlam, chasing then Women's Champion Ivory backstage after a successful title defense against Tori. This started a feud between the two with Luna even scoring a pinfall victory during an impromptu, non-title match. At Unforgiven, however, she lost to Ivory in a Hardcore Rules match. During that feud, Luna also answered a challenge from then Intercontinental ChampionJeff Jarrett and defeated him via disqualification, thanks to Ivory's interference.
From then on, Luna reassumed her role as manager for her husband, now working for the WWF under the name Gangrel, participating in several mixed tag team matches and helping Gangrel beat his opponents.[6]
At Survivor Series in 1999, she joined forces with her former rivals Ivory, Jacqueline, and Terri Runnels, against Tori, Debra, The Fabulous Moolah, and Mae Young. Luna's team was defeated when Moolah pinned Ivory. At the Royal Rumble in 2000, she participated in the Swim Suit Contest, though in protest against the whole event she refused to take off her gown. This angle reflected Luna's legitimate dissatisfaction with the "sexualization" of the WWE's women's division. Vachon then became involved in a brief feud with Jacqueline after the latter had pinned Harvey Wippleman to capture the Women's title. She was the first person to challenge Jacqueline on the February 7 edition of "Raw", but failed following a DDT. Gangrel, who accompanied her to ringside, responded by executing his Impaler DDT on the champion. This led to a mixed tag on the following episode of SmackDown, in which Vachon and Heath defeated Moore and her partner Prince Albert. She was later released from the WWF in early 2000 due to another outburst backstage.[3][6]
Independent circuit (2000-2007)
After leaving the WWF, Luna continued to manage Gangrel during her independent tours all over the world, as well as wrestling on her own. Venues included the IWA Puerto Rico in 2000[14], the Australian World Wrestling All-Stars in 2001[15], the German EWP in 2003[16], the British ASW in 2006[17] and WSU in 2007.[18]
On June 9, 2007, Luna became the first Great Lakes Championship Wrestling's Ladies champion defeating Traci Brooks. On December 5, 2007, Luna Vachon announced her retirement; her last match took place on December 7 for Great Lakes Championship Wrestling in Milwaukee. She successfully defended her GLCW Ladies Championship against Traci Brooks and then retired as champion.
Personal life
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Luna was adopted by Butcher Vachon in 1966, when he married her mother Van, his second wife, and continued to raise her as his daughter after the marriage split.[1] By virtue of the adoption, Luna is also the niece of "Mad Dog" Vachon and Vivian Vachon.[4][1] She was also close to André the Giant.[4]
Luna was married three times: First to Dan Hurd, with whom she had two sons, Joshua (born 1980) and Van (born 1982), who competed on the sixth season of Fox's reality cooking show Hell's Kitchen.[19][20] After breaking up, she dated Dick Slater for a while until Slater began physically abusing her. She then married childhood friend Tom Nash.[9] After Nash and Vachon split, David Heath, Nash's tag team partner in The Blackhearts, took Nash's place[9], and Vachon married Heath on October 31, 1994.[21][22] During this marriage, she was stepmother to David's sons, David Jr. and Donavan.[23] The two divorced in 2006 but, according to Heath, remained best of friends.[22] She was also a grandmother to Van's daughter, Lauren, Joshua's daughter Neila and his son Austin.[19]
She was featured in both Playboy and Hustler.[4]
Luna was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[4] She became a born again Christian in 2004, after attending an Athletes International Ministry conference.[10] She was baptized not long after by fellow wrestler Nikita Koloff along with her then-husband David Heath.[10][24] In 2007, she worked as a tow truck operator in Port Richey, Florida.[10][4]
Final years and death
Luna was honored in April 2009 at the 44th annual Cauliflower Alley Club reunion, given the "Ladies Wrestling Award" in Las Vegas, Nevada.[25] One of her fondest memories about the wrestling business was being able to visit children as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.[4] After her retirement, Luna took an interest in fellow Canadian wrestlers and especially monitored the career of Nattie Neidhart, the daughter of friend and fellow wrestler Jim Neidhart.[4]
Around Christmas 2009, Vachon's house was destroyed by a fire in which she lost her wrestling-related memorabilia and other possessions.[26] After the fire, she stayed at her mother's home[1] and joined her father and his third wife Dee on a cruise in February 2010.[27] The fire prompted a call from fellow wrestler and friend Mick Foley (and others) to fans to send Luna-related memorabilia to Vachon's post office box.[28] Foley also suggested that TNA bring her in to manage Tommy Dreamer at the Hardcore Justice pay-per-view in August 2010, but Luna turned down the offer, stating that she had retired.[29]
On the morning of August 27, 2010, she was found dead at her Florida home, when her mother called on her.[1][2][30] Investigators found oxycodone and multiple prescription drugs in her bedroom. The Medication was due to her many injuries suffered during her career as well as her bipolar disorder. Luna became addicted to medication at some point and underwent rehabilition, paid for by WWE, which she completed in June 2009.[31][30]
She was buried in a ceremony open to immediate family only[27], at the ranch formerly owned by her close friend and godfather Andre the Giant.[32]
While in college, Kon made his debut as a mangaka with the short manga Toriko (1984) and earned a runner-up spot in the 10th Annual Tetsuya Chiba Awards held by Young Magazine (Kodansha).[4][8][9] Afterward, he found work as Katsuhiro Otomo's assistant.[9][10] After graduating from college in 1987,[4] Kon authored the one-volume manga Kaikisen (1990)[11] and wrote the script for Katsuhiro Otomo's live-action film World Apartment Horror.[9][11] In 1991, Kon worked as an animator and layout artist for the animated film Roujin Z.[4][9] Kon worked as a supervisor for Mamoru Oshii's Patlabor 2: The Movie along with other animated films.[4] He then worked on the manga Seraphim: 266,613,336 Wings.[12] In 1995, Kon served as the scriptwriter, layout artist and art director of the short film "Magnetic Rose", the first of three short films in Katsuhiro Otomo's omnibus Memories.[4][9] Kon's work afterward would be distinguished by the recurring theme of the blending of fantasy and reality.[13]
Directing
In 1993, Kon scripted and co-produced the fifth episode of the original video animation JoJo's Bizzare Adventure.[6] In 1997, Kon began work on his directorial debut Perfect Blue (based on Yoshikazu Takeuchi's novel of the same name).[14] A suspense story centered around a pop idol, it was the first film by Kon to be produced by Madhouse.[3] Kon was initially unsatisfied with the original screenplay written by the author and requested to make changes to it.[15][16] Aside from maintaining three elements of the novel ("idol", "horror" and "stalker"), Kon was allowed to make any changes he desired.[15] The screenplay was written by Sadayuki Murai,[6] who worked in the idea of a blurred border between the real world and imagination.[15]
Following Perfect Blue, Kon considered adapting the Yasutaka Tsutsui novel Paprika (1993) into his next film. However, these plans were stalled when the distribution company for Perfect Blue, Rex Entertainment, went bankrupt.[17] Coincidentally, Kon's next work would also feature the theme of the blending of imagination and reality.[15] In 2002, Kon's second film, Millennium Actress, was released to the public. The film centers around a retired actress who mysteriously withdraws from the public eye at the peak of her career. Having the same estimated budget as Perfect Blue (approximately 120,000,000 yen),[7]Millennium Actress garnered higher critical and financial success than its predecessor and earned numerous awards. The screenplay was written by Sadayuki Murai,[15] who utilized a seamless connection between illusion and reality to create a "Trompe-l'œil kind of film".[18]Millennium Actress was the first Satoshi Kon film to feature Susumu Hirasawa, whom Kon was a long-time fan of, as composer.[19]
In 2003, Kon's third work, Tokyo Godfathers, was announced. The film centers on a trio of homeless persons in Tokyo who discover a baby on Christmas Eve and set out to search for her parents. Tokyo Godfathers cost more to make than Kon's previous two films (with a budget of approximately 300,000,000 yen),[7] and centered on the themes of homelessness and abandonment, with a comedic touch worked in.[9][15] The screenplay was written by Keiko Nobumoto.[20]
In 2004, Kon released the 13-episode television series Paranoia Agent, in which Kon revisits the theme of the blending of imagination and reality, as well as working in additional social themes.[21] The series was created from an abundance of unused ideas for stories and arrangements that Kon felt were good but did not fit into any of his projects.[22]
In 2006, Paprika was announced, after having been planned out and materializing for several years. The story centers on a new form of psychotherapy that utilizes dream analysis to treat mental patients. The film was highly successful and earned a number of film awards. Kon summed up the film with "Kihonteki na story igai wa subete kaeta" (基本的なストーリー以外は全て変えた?)[23] - roughly, "Everything but the fundamental story was changed." Much like Kon's previous works, the film focuses on the synergy of dreams and reality.[7]
After Paprika, Kon teamed up with Mamoru Oshii and Makoto Shinkai to create the 2007 NHK television production Ani*Kuri15, for which Kon created the short Ohayō. That same year, Kon helped establish and served as a member of the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA).
Final years
Following Ohayō, Kon began work on his next film The Dream Machine. In May 2010, Kon was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Given half a year to live, Kon chose to spend the remainder of his life in his home. Before his death, Kon uploaded a final message onto his blog. Kon died on August 24, 2010 at the age of 46.[24]
World Apartment Horror (ワールド・アパートメントホラー) Based on the original work of director Otomo Katsuhiro
Seraphim (セラフィム ～2億6661万3336の翼～)Based on the original outstanding volume of incomplete work of Oshii Mamoru
OPUS (Incomplete special volume compilation)
Paprika, Dream Children (パプリカ。ドリームチルドレン) Original draft, first work aimed at juvenile readers.
It is thought that after his statement that he intended to create Science Fiction works aimed at a younger audience that this was the prototype for successive works.[citation needed]
Literary works
"KON'S TONE – the Road to Millennium Actress" (「千年女優」への道〜)（2002, Shoubunsha）
Vladimir Ivanovich Msryan was an Armenian stage and film actor died he was , 72,.[1]
(Russian: Владимир Иванович Мсрян; Armenian: Վլադիմիր Մսրյան; March 12, 1938—August 24, 2010)
Msryan was born in Ordzhonikidze, Russia. From 1958 to 1962 he studied drama at the Yerevan Fine Arts and Theater Institute. He performed at the Yerevan Drama Theater from 1966 onwards. Aside from Armenian films he also appeared in such non-Armenian films as Sand-Storm, White Cloth, Empire of Pirates and Unburied Corpses. He may have garnered the most attention for his portrayal of Niccolò Paganini in the 1982 Soviet television miniseries.[citation needed]
He starred in Smerch which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.[2]
On August 24, 2010, Msryan died in Yerevan, aged 72, from undisclosed causes.
Born Nathan Bernstein in London,[1] Burns was an accomplished accordionist, whose group, the Tito Burns Septet, featured on the BBC's Accordion Club radio series. In 1947, they are thought to have been the first band to perform the new jazz idiom bebop on BBC Radio.[2] When the show ended, the band went on tour and recorded a number of sides with various line-ups, including the pianist and trumpeterDennis Rose and saxophonistJohnny Dankworth. In 1949, they were recording as a septet, but went back to being a sextet shortly afterwards.[3]
Anthony "Tony" Osborne[1] was an American professional wrestler who wrestled under the name "Tough" Tony Borne.
Osborne was an amateur wrestler in both high school and in the United States Navy.[1] Promoter Al Haft first convinced him to try professional wrestling.[1] His initial trainers were Ali Pasha and then Carl Pujillo.[1] Pujillo convinced Osborne to shorten his ring name to Borne.[1]
