Celebrity Deaths

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” was always when they celebrated the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Now that Celebrity Deaths has become its own podcast in the Chillpak Hollywood Presents … universe of shows, these celebrations are no longer merely interesting and inspiring. They have also become truly bizarre and hilarious, especially with frequent contributor Jon Lawlor now along for the ride.

This episode proves to be a true time-traveling, audio fun-house in which the following notables get celebrated:

*Jim Whittaker, the first American to stand atop Mount Everest

*Afrika Bambaataa, who helped give rise to hip-hop, whose 1982 recording "Planet Rock" helped define electro-funk, and whose legacy is certainly problematic

*One-half of Seals & Crofts, a duo at the vanguard of the soft rock genre of the 1970s, Dash Crofts

*Sid Krofft, the puppeteer and television producer who alongside his brother Marty (who died in 2023) built a children’s television empire

*Melvin Edwards, a pioneering sculptor who proved that abstract art could engage with issues of history, race and injustice

*A martial artist who became a tough guy icon in film and television, Chuck Norris

Welcome to the Chillpak Morgue. Please touch nothing.

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