Mongo only pawn

Former actor and football star, Alex Karras... dead at 77

While he made hundreds of tackles on the football field, Alex Karras' most memorable take-down occurred when he played Mongo in the great 1974 Mel Brooks film, Blazing Saddles, when he sucker punched and KO'ed a horse.

Television is not my schitck, so until this news came across the wires I had never heard of 'Webster.' Apparently some felt it was a good show for which Karras will be remembered, but for those of my generation we will forever remember what was arguably the best line in any el Brooks flic.

Alex Karras - Gone but not forgotten.

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Obits

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the artistic. Since May 28 Richard Dawson, Ray Bradbury, Bob Welch, Kathryn Joosten, Herb Reed, Gerald Parker Hodge, Pete Cosey, Frank Cady and Dick Beals have all died. That is one heck of a lot of talent lost in a very short timeframe.

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Just hang loose... blood

Actress Barbara Billingsley, who came to prominence in the 1950s in the movie "The Careless Years," staring opposite Natalie Trundy, is best-known to most of us as June Cleaver, America’s quintessential mom on “Leave it to Beaver.” More recently Billingsly appeared as the jive-speaking airline passenger in the 1980 spoof, "Airplane."

Billingsly died Saturday at age 94.

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