Ray Manzarek, one of the founding members of The Doors, died at the age of 74 on Monday.

Only hardcore Doors fans probably know that his real name was spelled differently and that he was a junior: Raymond Daniel Manczarek Jr. was his birth name.

Manzarek’s keyboard playing influenced a whole genre of music and helped to make the organ sound popular in rock music during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He also was responsible for founding one of the most popular classic rock bands of all time with the late (?) Jim Morrison.

“Just for the hell of it, man,” Manzarek told this writer during a 2005 interview when asked about bringing the music of The Doors back to life in the early ’00s, in different incarnations of groups with original Doors guitarist Robbie Kreiger. “We’re going to play some music before we hang it up. We thought the 21st century would be a good time to bring back the Doors songs and play the Doors songs live for the audience for a few more years and then quit.”

The quotes above come from an interview conducted over the phone in the summer of 2005, just before Manzarek was due in Atlantic City for a Doors tribute concert, the first to be taped for a VH1 TV series Decade Rock Live, being filmed at the Trump Taj Mahal.

Manzarek and Krieger, along with former singer of the U.K. band the Cult, Ian Astbury, standing in for Jim Morrison, performed as D21C (Doors of the 21st Century) at the show. Ty Dennis joined them on drums and Joel Chen on bass. (The Doors’ original drummer John Densmore had won a permanent injunction in July 2005 prohibiting Manzarek and Krieger from using the band’s old name).

Also appearing at the show were John Sebastian, Vanilla Fudge, Macy Gray and Perry Farrell.

Manzarek died of bile duct cancer at a clinic in Germany, according to reports. His haunting organ riffs, however, and the songs he helped create with The Doors, will fill the world forever.

After learning of his long-time friend’s death, former bandmate Kreiger released the following statement: “I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today. I’m just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life, and I will always miss him.”

Ride on … through the storm, Raymond. — Jeff Schwachter

This just in from the late Richie Havens’ publicist.

A sad day in music history.

Beloved folk icon Richie Havens died this morning in his home from a sudden heart attack. He was 72.

A public memorial will be planned for a later date.

Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.

The movie world lost of its great champions with the passing of Roger Ebert, who battled cancer off and on since 2002 when surgery robbed him of the ability to eat, drink and talk, but the disease never took his spirit or his passion for the movies.

Go here for the story.

George Hamid Jr.

The death of George A. Hamid Jr., 94, a former owner of the Steel Pier, on Saturday, Feb. 23, brings to an official close the end of an era in entertainment that influenced me tremendously.

Hamid and his father George Sr., operated the Steel Pier for 30 years, building a family-entertainment business that blended top entertainers, big bands, circus acts and amusement-park rides to Atlantic City. Decades before the casinos came to town, Steel Pier and a thriving nightclub scene provided a showcase for big name entertainers.

Hamid brought Frank Sinatra to town and the Beatles to Boardwalk Hall (then known as Convention Hall) as well as many other major performers from the era from the 1950s to the 1970s.

I saw a lot of those entertainers because my father, local sportswriter Harry Hoffman, picked up some money on the side by doing publicity for the Steel Pier when I was growing up in Ventnor. My dad and mom would take us to the back entrance (we got in free) and we would spend hours watching the performers in the Music Hall or the Ballroom or a movie or the circus acts and the diving horse at the far end of the pier.

The Diving Horse.

For an extra 25-cents you could sit in the front 25 rows of the Music Hall and I remember using my allowance to do just that to see the Supremes, 14-year-old “Little” Stevie Wonder, The Four Seasons and other acts. I remember sitting through the King Family singers twice, just so my brothers and I could see the Beatles in Help, the movie that followed the live performance.

I also remember my brother Bruce freeze totally when dad introduced us to Don Adams, star of Get Smart (who was booked at the pier), telling him Bruce was the funny one in the family. I froze too and I didn’t have that pressure on me.

With the death of George Hamid, Jr., an era that shaped my life has lost its final champion.

Friends may call at 2:30pm on Monday, April 1 at the Jeffries & Keates Funeral Home, Tilton Road and Infield Ave., Northfield. Memorial services begin at 3pm. Memorial donations may be made to the John Davis 3d Memorial Scholarship Fund, and mailed to the funeral home.

Here is an interview Atlantic City Weekly’s Jeff Schwachter did with Hamid in 2004.

The Hollywood community lost two superstar character actors with the recent deaths of Jack Klugman and Charles Durning.

12 Angry Men: Klugman is bottom right.

Let’s start with Klugman. While best known for his starring roles in the TV series The Odd Couple and Quincy M.E., when I heard that he had died at age 90, the first performance that popped into my head was from Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men (1957). Klugman is part of one of the best ensembles of character actors every captured on film surrounding star Henry Fonda, including Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Edward Binns, Ed Begley, Sr. and E.G. Marshall. The biggest compliment you can give Klugman is that he held his own in that company.

My buddy Ray also reminded me that he was excellent as Jack Lemmon’s sober counselor in Days of Wine and Roses (1962).

Still, Klugman was best known for his decades of TV work that went from the golden age of live television in the 1950s to his popular series The Odd Couple (1970-1975) and Quincy M.E. (1976-1983). Even after he battled throat cancer and barely had a voice left, he continued to do TV guest role through most of the 2000s, and in April of this year he performed 12 Angry Men at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick in a different role from his original performance.

******

Charles Durning: 1923-2012

Charles Durning was just one of those faces that brought a smile to your face whenever he would show up in a movie or TV show. When he needed to be funny, he would be hilarious, and when he needed to be dramatic, he could pull that off effectively.

And then there was that special moment in the superb TV movie Queen of the Starlight Ballroom (1975) opposite Maureen Stapleton when he became a graceful dance partner and romantic leading man.

Durning didn’t become an actor until about age 40. His resume includes professional boxer, World War II veteran and dance instructor, the latter being put to good use in the aforementioned Ballroom, and opposite Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Durning won Broadway’s 1990 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Play for portraying Big Daddy in a revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

My favorite Durning roles besides those already mentioned include the flustered flatfoot in The Sting (1973), The Front Page (1974), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Sharkey’s Machine (1983).

Durning was 89.

Ravi Shankar: 1920-2012

The Indian sitar master, who made impressions on the world of music for decades, from the work of John Coltrane to the Beatles and George Harrison, has died at the age of 92 in California.

According to the AP:

Shankar died Tuesday at age 92. A statement on his website said he died in San Diego, near his Southern California home with his wife and a daughter by his side. The musician’s foundation issued a statement saying that he had suffered upper respiratory and heart problems and had undergone heart-valve replacement surgery last week.

Another great soul of the music world passes.

On the Tuesday following Sandy’s landfall on the Jersey shore, clean-up and other crews were working hard on the mainland, removing downed trees and debris, restoring cable service, guarding closed bridges and intersections with street lights out.

Flooding was still a factor in Linwood as of 2pm, and several businesses in the Northfield, Pleasantville, Linwood and Somers Point area were either closed — including the Wawa on Shore Road in Somers Point and a few gas stations — or  only accepting cash related to problems with credit card/debit services.

In Somers Point, the former fishing pier off the municipal beach is mostly under water (see above), with its broken walkway yards away. Bay Avenue was crowded with onlookers Tuesday afternoon, snapping pictures of the damage along the legendary strip, which took a mean beating from Superstorm Sandy.

The former path to the former fishing pier in Somers Point, where many wedding ceremonies have been held.

With most bridges closed to the barrier islands, there is currently no access to several South Jersey shore towns, most devastated by flooding and storm damage.

According to one recent report,

“Millions of people from Maine to the Carolinas awoke Tuesday without electricity, and an eerily quiet New York City was all but closed off by car, train and air as superstorm Sandy steamed inland, still delivering punishing wind and rain. The U.S. death toll climbed to 38, many of the victims killed by falling trees.

“The full extent of the damage in New Jersey, where the storm roared ashore Monday night with hurricane-force winds of 80 mph, was unclear. Police and fire officials, some with their own departments flooded, fanned out to rescue hundreds.

“‘We are in the midst of urban search and rescue. Our teams are moving as fast as they can,’” Gov. Chris Christie said. ‘The devastation on the Jersey Shore is some of the worst we’ve ever seen. The cost of the storm is incalculable at this point.’”

(Read more of this story)

AC Weekly Sandy Coverage

I was saddened to hear about the death of character actor Michael Clarke Duncan way too early at age 54. His size (he was a bodyguard before his acting career took off) made him a supporting actor who stood out. So did his deep, rich voice and his ability to go from serious (The Green Mile) to hilarious (he was great on the TV series The Finder).

His other films include Armageddon, The Whole Nine Yards, Daredevil, Sin City and a whole slew of TV guest star appearances.

MCD had a charisma on screen that was enchanting, and according to the Internet Movie Date Base (IMDb), he has two movies in the can, The Challenger and In The Hive.

He will be missed.

Ernest Borgnine, who passed away Sunday at the age of 95, was a classic character actor who played both villains (From Here to Eternity) and sweet, gentle men (Marty) with equal passion. For those of us who grew up on television of the 1960s, he will always be fondly remembered as PT boat skipper Quinton McHale in McHale’s Navy (1962 to 1966), the likable Navy man with a big heart and a booming laugh who tried to keep his band of misfit sailors from incurring the wrath of Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn).

He won an Oscar for his unforgettable performance as the “ugly man” who finds love in Marty (1955).

One reason I was so fond of Ernie Borgnine was that he reminded me of my father. I sometimes fantasized that if my dad’s life were made into a movie, Borgnine should play him.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will remember the life and career of Borgnine with a 24-hour marathon of his films on Thursday, July 26. TCM’s 10-film memorial tribute is set to begin at 6am (ET) with The Catered Affair (1956). The daytime lineup will include such films as Torpedo Run (1958), Ice Station Zebra (1968) and The Dirty Dozen (1967). Primetime will kick off with an encore presentation of TCM’s 2009 special Private Screenings: Ernest Borgnine, an hour-long, in-depth interview with the actor and TCM host Robert Osborne. It will be followed by Borgnine’s Oscar-winning performance in Marty (1955), as well as memorable roles in films like From Here to Eternity (1953), The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955).

Two very different actors passed away this weekend. Kathryn Joosten, best known as Mrs. Landingham on The West Wing and as one of the Desperate Housewives, Mrs. McKluskey, died after an eleven-year bout with lung cancer at age 72.

Richard Dawson, an English actor first introduced to American audiences as a regular on the POW comedy Hogan’s Heroes, later earned greater fame as a game show host, most notably on Family Feud. He was 79.

Joosten came late to acting (age 42) after a career as a psychiatric nurse. And she didn’t arrive in Hollywood until 1995 but once she began getting small roles in TV series, she brought such a distinctive feel to those small roles that they became bigger thanks to her.

Mrs. Landingham should not have had such a major impact to West Wing fans but thanks to Joosten, she did.  When Mrs. Landingham passed away on the show that impact was felt for years afterward. She brought the same energy to Desperate Housewives, where her performance earned her two Emmy awards.

A smoker for 45-years, Joosten spent much of her later years as an advocate for lung cancer awareness.

Richard Dawson gave us a glimpse of his comedy skills as a supporting player on Hogan’s Heroes and expanded into full bore sketch comedian as a regular on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, but his biggest claim to fame was as a game show host, primarily on Family Feud. Some of his hilarious lines were scripted, but he was well known for his skills at improvisation while hosting the popular game show. In 1987 he even made fun of his game show skills as a nasty TV host in The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Both will be missed.