Khosrow Vaziri drew on his Iranian heritage to create a caricature of a Middle Eastern villain and became one of the most memorable heels in wrestling history.
Category: Deaths (Obituaries)
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George Winston, Pianist With a Soothing ‘New Age’ Sound, Dies at 74
His top-selling records for the Windham Hill label helped define a genre that took off in the 1970s, but his interests also included Hawaiian guitar and the Doors.
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John Beasley, Late-Blooming Actor Known for Playing Sages, Dies at 79
A former railroad clerk, he didn’t became a full-time actor until his 40s, but he made up for lost time in films like “Rudy” and TV shows like “Everwood.”
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Pat Cooper, Comedian of Outrage, Is Dead at 93
He built his act on making fun of his Italian American heritage. He later publicly insulted stars he had worked with, including Frank Sinatra and Howard Stern.
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Ronnie Cummins, Scourge of Genetically Modified Food, Dies at 76
A lifelong protester, he became a leading promoter of organic food and a forceful critic of a food industry that genetically engineers what it produces and sells.
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Astrud Gilberto, Who Sang ‘The Girl From Ipanema,’ Dies at 83
It was the first song she ever recorded, and it played a key role in making the Brazilian sound known as bossa nova a phenomenon in the United States.
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Jim Hines, First to Sprint 100 Meters in Under 10 Seconds, Dies at 76
He ran a gold-medal-winning time of 9.95 seconds at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, setting an official world record that held for 15 years.
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Roger Craig, Teacher of an Era-Defining Pitch, Is Dead at 93
After winning three World Series as a player, Craig became a coach and spread the gospel of the split-fingered fastball, what one player of the time called “the pitch of the ’80s.”
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Peter Simonischek, Beloved Austrian Actor, Is Dead at 76
He played a prankster and adoring father in “Toni Erdmann,” the Oscar-nominated 2016 comedy that made him an international star, but he had long been a celebrity at home.
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Don Bateman, Trailblazer in Airline Safety, Dies at 91
His cockpit warning system, which alerts the crew if an aircraft is heading toward a mountain, a building or the ocean, has saved thousands of lives.