Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics History Roundtable The Passing Parade: Obituaries: 2017

Italian film star Elsa Martinelli has died today at the age of 82.

She passed away in Rome after a long and glamorous career as a star of the silver screen.

Elsa was best known for her roles in Le Rouge Et Le Noir in 1954 and for The Indian Fighter the following year, in which she starred opposite Kirk Douglas.

Marty Sklar had only just graduated from UCLA, and here he was shadowing Walt Disney, his demanding new boss.

The fledgling writer was unsure how to make himself useful, but he had a mind to scribble down some of the maxims Disney laced into conversation.

“Know your audience.” “Tell one story at a time.” “Wear your guests' shoes.”

Long after his mentor's death, Sklar recognized the treasure-trove of wisdom he had started compiling at Walt Disney's elbow in the late 1950s. He distilled it all into "Mickey's Ten Commandments," a widely circulated creed that remains a touchstone in the theme park industry.

The commandments were a cornerstone of Sklar's own 54-year career at Walt Disney Co., where he led the creative development of the Burbank company’s parks, attractions and resorts around the world, including its ventures in the cruise business, housing development and the redesign of Times Square in New York.

Sklar died Thursday in his Hollywood Hills home. No cause of death was given. He was 83.

One of the most feared hitters of his generation, Lee May is one of only 11 major leaguers to have 100-RBI seasons for three different teams. He also had 11 consecutive seasons (1968-1978) of at least 20 home runs and 80 RBIs. In an 18-year major-league career, the “Big Bopper of Birmingham” played for the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, and Kansas City Royals. A three-time All-Star (1969, 1971, and 1972), he appeared in the postseason three times, including the 1970 World Series for the Reds and the 1979 Series for the Orioles. (The third was a Division Series in 1981 when he was with the Royals.)

May was a solid first baseman defensively (.994 career fielding percentage), but also struck out often (100 or more in ten seasons). What he was really known for, however, was his power. He slammed 354 home runs and drove in 1,244 runs the major leagues. He freely admitted, “I deliberately try to hit a home run every time up. That is what they pay me for.”1 Still, despite his power numbers, he lacks some recognition and, as sportswriter Jim Murray once wrote, “played in the undeserved obscurity of a bullpen catcher.”2

Lee Andrew May was born on March 23, 1943, in Birmingham, Alabama...

Lee May died on July 29, 2017.

Joseph Bologna, an actor, playwright and screenwriter who was so memorable as the egotistical King Kaiser in the 1982 comedy classic My Favorite Year, has died. He was 82.

Bologna died Sunday morning at City of Hope hospital in Duarte, Calif. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years ago, said his wife of 52 years, actress and screenwriter Renee Taylor.

Bologna received an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay, shared with his wife and David Zelag Goodman, for his work on Lovers and Other Strangers (1970). The couple had first written it for Broadway in a 1968 production directed by Charles Grodin.