Laura Nyro had the career that she wanted. On her terms. She regularly turned down invitations to perform live. She passed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. She passed on Saturday Night Live. She briefly considered becoming the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears after the departure of original singer Al Kooper — but she turned that offer down as well.

Laura supplied hits for The Fifth Dimension, Peter, Paul & Mary, Three Dog Night and Barbra Streisand. Although she recorded a number of albums herself, the majority of her success came from recordings of her songs by other singers. Often reclusive, Laura wrote songs for herself, to reflect how she felt.

She influenced a wide variety of performers including Elton John, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Todd Rundgren and even Alice Cooper.

In 1996, Laura was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She passed away the following year at the age of 49 — the same age as her mother, who also passed away from ovarian cancer.

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Richard Simmons was most definitely “in on it.”

The so-called “fitness guru” was an outspoken, flamboyant celebrity who gained legions of loyal fans from his “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” weight-loss videos. His fame made him a staple on television for decades. He had a recurring role on the popular soap opera General Hospital, as well a guest roles on episodic television as a slew of game shows. Ricard was a regular guest on David Letterman’s television talk show and on Howard Stern’s radio show. On both, he was regularity the butt of jokes and the object of  ceaseless ridicule. Richard would grow silent at the insults, pouting and threatening to leave the show, but he stayed… and returned often… only to meet the same treatment. He was a riot and he appeared to be in on the joke… in an “Andy Kaufman” sort of way.

He loved to meet and mingle with his fans and he made it a point to personally answer fan mail.

In 2016, Richard totally withdrew from public life. This led to speculation that he was being mistreated and held hostage by his housekeeper. In 2017, LA Police made a welfare check at Richard’s Beverly Hills home, later issuing the statement: “Mr. Simmons is “perfectly fine” and that “right now he is doing what he wants to do and it is his business.”

A relentless campaign by comedian/actor Pauly Shore for a possible biopic prompted a rare post from Richard on Facebook, explaining that he no longer had a manager or a publicist and he has not given anyone permission to produce a filmed story of his life.

Richard passed away from complications from a fall in his home, just one day after his 76th birthday.

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Director Robert Altman loved Shelley Duvall. Shelley’s first six theatrical films were under the guidance of Altman. His laid-back style of directing allowed the young and talented Shelley to blossom as an actress. His films were notoriously unstructured and he often encouraged ad-libbing. Shelley felt comfortable under Altman’s direction and she received abundant praise for roles in his films, including a Best Actress nod from the Cannes Film Festival in 1977 for her turn in Altman’s 3 Women. Shelley made six films with Altman before her breakout role with a new director.

In 1980, she was cast as “Wendy Torrence,” the beleaguered wife of a stir-crazy author in the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s supernatural epic The Shining. The film would be a jarring experience for Shelley. Working with director Stanley Kubrick would be a very new and very different experience than she was used to with Robert Altman.

Kubrick was a detail-oriented perfectionist, the likes of which Shelley was not familiar. Kubrick expected an extreme level of acting from his cast and would go to extreme lengths to achieve the result he envisioned. Kubrick wanted Shelley to exhibit fear… real fear… palpable fear… a fear that the audience would feel right along with her. So, in an effort to get the best performance out of the actress, Kubrick terrorized her. He yelled. He screamed. He insulted. He threatened. He bickered. He argued. Kubrick purposely isolated her from the other actors. For the climatic scene in which Jack Nicholson’s character accosts Shelley with a baseball bat, Kubrick had her perform the scene 127 times until he was satisfied. Her hair began to fall out in clumps. The final nine months of shooting required Shelley to cry nearly 12 hours a day. She was a wreck. And she never worked with Stanley Kubrick again.

Shelly made one more film with Robert Altman, the poorly-received, big budget musical Popeye, in which she was perfectly cast as the spinach-eating sailor’s girlfriend “Olive Oyl.”

In later years, Shelley spoke positively about her time working on The Shining with Stanley Kubrick, proving she was a class act and the bigger person.

Retired from acting and out of the public eye for years, Shelley passed away from complications from diabetes just four days after her 75th birthday.

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Martin Mull was one of those guys. Not a superstar, but certain not an “unknown.” He was a comedian, a singer, a songwriter, an actor and voice actor and a painter.

In 1970, as a budding musician, Martin let his sense of humor shine in the novelty song “A Girl Named Johnny Cash,” a modest hit for singer Jane Morgan in her foray into country music. From there, he embarked on his own career as a singer, releasing a string of humorous songs and touring the country as an opening act for Randy Newman, Sandy Denny, Billy Joel and even Bruce Springsteen.

Ready to conquer the acting world, he landed the role of “Garth Gimble” on the syndicated soap opera spoof Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. His popularity led to a spin-off pseudo talk show, Fernwood 2 Night (and later America 2 Night) as his character’s twin brother Barth. He was paired with comedian Fred Willard and the two were hilarious. He made the jump to movies with supporting roles in Mr. Mom and Clue and a rare starring role in the cult favorite Serial. Along the way, Martin produced a critically praised mockumentary The History of White People in America featuring his offbeat brand of humor. He was cast in a number of roles in episodic television including the family-friendly Sabrina the Teenage Witch and the more adult Arrested Development. He was featured in a few failed sitcoms, but he persevered, taking voice roles in the cartoons Danny Phantom and Bob’s Burgers.

Martin’s hidden passion was painting. He held a Masters Degree for the Rhode Island School of Design. His large-format works of photorealism were displayed in galleries and museums across the country, including — in true Martin Mull fashion — in the men’s’ room at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. One of his paintings — the 2008 piece After Dinner Drinks — was featured on the cover of the album Love Has Come for You by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell.

Out of the spotlight for several years, Martin passed away in June 2024 after a lengthy, yet undisclosed, illness. He was 80.

He was a funny guy.

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