AP Obits--01/19/08
Obitsman
2b0675ae94927541210.txt
Obituaries in the news
By The Associated Press
Saturday, January 19, 2008 9:00 PM CST
Pier Miranda Ferraro
ROME (AP) ‹ Pier Miranda Ferraro, an Italian tenor who sang in the 1960s
and 1970s and was noted for his interpretation of Giuseppe Verdi's
"Otello," died. He was 83.
Ferraro died Friday at his home in Milan of cardiac arrest, family
members said.
The singer was born Pietro Ferraro in 1924 in Altivole in northeast
Italy. He took the stage name Pier Miranda Ferraro, borrowing the middle
name from his wife's name.
Ferraro made his debut at Milan's La Scala opera house in 1951 and last
performed there in 1972.
He sang on the stages of Covent Garden in London and the Vienna State
Opera, as well as in operas performed in South America.
His last stage performance was in 1981 in the northern Italian town of
Lecco in a production of "Otello."
In 1985, Ferraro founded a management agency for opera singers,
conductors, directors and other opera professionals. Ferraro's daughter
Beatrice is among those who run the Milan-based agency.
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Georgia Frontiere
LOS ANGELES (AP) ‹ Georgia Frontiere, the St. Louis native who became a
hometown hero when she brought the NFL's Rams from Los Angeles in 1995,
died Friday. She was 80.
Frontiere had been hospitalized for breast cancer for several months,
the Rams said in a statement posted on their Web site.
The one-time nightclub singer was married seven times, starting at age
15. Her sixth husband, Carroll Rosenbloom, owned the Los Angeles Rams at
the time of his drowning death in 1979.
The Rams moved twice under Frontiere's leadership, first relocating from
the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1980 to Anaheim, 35 miles
away.
St. Louis' original NFL franchise, the Cardinals, had left for Arizona
in 1988. After the city failed to land an expansion team, civic leaders
built a $260 million, taxpayer-financed domed stadium anyway, in hopes
of luring another team.
Frontiere, born in St. Louis, agreed in January 1995 to move the team,
causing her to be demonized in Southern California but heralded in her
hometown.
The Rams won the Super Bowl in 2000.
The Rams were the first major sports team to arrive in California when
then they moved from Cleveland in 1946. They became the first football
or baseball team to leave the state with the move to St. Louis.
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Ernie Holmes
DALLAS (AP) ‹ Ernie Holmes, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the
Steelers, died in a car accident. He was 59.
Holmes died Thursday night after his car left a road and rolled several
times, a Texas Department of Public Safety dispatcher said. Holmes, who
was driving alone and not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene.
He was part of a famous front four that included "Mean" Joe Greene, L.C.
Greenwood and Dwight White.
Nicknamed "Fats" for most of his life, Holmes played for the Steelers
from 1972-77 before being released because of ongoing weight problems
and spent part of the 1978 season with New England before retiring.
Holmes was about 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds during his career but weighed
as much as 400 after he retired.
Holmes had minor acting roles after football. He appeared in an episode
of the 1980s TV show "The A-Team" and dabbled in professional wrestling.
Eventually, he settled down on a ranch near tiny Wiergate, a town of 461
close to the Louisiana border. He was an ordained minister and had his
own church.
Holmes was part of a defense that held Minnesota to 17 yards rushing and
119 total yards in the 1975 Super Bowl when they won their first title,
16-6. They were back a year later, beating Dallas 21-17 for the
championship.
The 1976 Steelers defense was one of the best in NFL history, shutting
out five opponents ‹ three in a row ‹ during a nine-game, season-ending
winning streak.
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Allan Melvin
LOS ANGELES (AP) ‹ Allan Melvin, a character actor best known for
playing Sam the Butcher on "The Brady Bunch," has died. He was 84.
Melvin died of cancer Thursday at his home in the Brentwood section of
Los Angeles, said Amalia Melvin, his wife of 64 years.
The jowly, jovial Melvin spent decades playing a series of sidekicks,
second bananas and lovable lugs, including Archie Bunker's friend Barney
Hefner on "All in the Family," and Sgt. Bilko's right-hand man Cpl.
Henshaw on the "Phil Silvers Show."
But his place in pop culture will be fixed as butcher and bowler Sam
Franklin, the love interest of Brady family maid Alice Nelson, who was
played by Ann B. Davis. Melvin played the role from 1970 to 1973.
Born in Kansas City, Mo., in 1923, Melvin grew up in New York and
attended Columbia University.
He was appearing on Broadway in "Stalag 17" when he began his
decades-long television career with "The Phil Silvers Show," playing a
role his wife said was always his favorite.
He saw steady employment as a voice actor from the early 1960s to the
early 1990s, most famously providing the voice of "Magilla Gorilla" for
the Hanna Barbera cartoon of the same name.
His other credits include several guest appearances on "The Andy
Griffith Show," ''Gomer Pyle: USMC," and "The Dick Van Dyke Show."