In the last week, many notable Americans have passed away. This article will cover a few of these amazing people from various walks of life that helped shape American culture and life in some way.
Entertainment
Richard Anderson (1926-2017) was a TV and film actor with over 180 credits to his name. He was best known for playing Oscar Goldman in two 1970s television shows, the “Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Bionic Woman.” Anderson would later reprise the role for three television movies over a decade later. He is also known for roles in movies like “Paths of Glory”, “Forbidden Planet” and “The Long, Hot Summer.” Anderson died on August 31 at age 91 from natural causes.
Shelley Berman (1925-2017) was a comedian and an actor. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was a popular “sit-down” comic before his career was ruined after an outburst on camera over a ringing telephone backstage that interrupted a skit he was performing. In 1959 his live record album “Inside Shelley Berman” became the first comedy album to go gold and was the first non-musical recording to win a Grammy.
In film and TV, he played a variety of different roles including Sheldon Bascomb in 1964's “The Best Man” and Nat David in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” He also taught a writing humor class for over two decades at USC and published “To Laughter With Questions”, his collection of poetry in 2013.
Berman died on September 1 at age 92 from complications due to Alzheimer's disease.
Sports
Bobby Boyd (1937-2017) was a football player who played cornerback in the NFL. A 10th round pick out of Oklahoma, he spent his entire eight-year career playing for the Baltimore Colts. Boyd was a three-time Pro Bowler, a three-time First-Team All-Pro, and one-time Second-Team All-Pro.
For his career, he had 57 interceptions, two forced fumbles, 12 fumbles recoveries and five defensive touchdowns. He was named as a member of the NFL's All Decade Team for the 1960s. Boyd died on August 28 at age 79.
Jud Heathcote (1927-2017) was a college basketball head coach. He started his career coaching Montana for five seasons, going 80-53.
He then became the head coach at Michigan State, where he coached for 19 seasons and went 340-220. His Spartans made the NCAA tournament nine times and his 1979 squad led by NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson won the national championship. In 2009, he was inducted into the Colege Basketball Hall of Fame. Heathcote died on August 28 at age 90.
Rollie Massimino (1934-2017) was a college basketball head coach. He is best known for coaching Villanova for 19 seasons, leading the eighth seeded 1985 team to an improbable title run that culminated in a 66-64 victory over top seeded Georgetown. During his time with the team, Massimino was 355-241 with 11 NCAA tournament appearances.
Prior to his long tenure at Villanova, he coached Stony Brook for two seasons, going 34-14.
Following his time at Villanova, he would go on to coach UNLV for two seasons (36-21) and then Cleveland State for seven years (90-113). He had since spent the last 11 seasons coaching Keiser University, going 298-75. In 2013, Massimino was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. Massimino died on August 30 at age 82 from lung cancer.
