A loss to the noble art

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 3:24 am

RIP Jake LaMotta

Jake LaMotta, the uncompromising fighter portrayed by Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, has died aged 95.

The former world middleweight boxing champion died in a nursing home due to complications from pneumonia, his wife told US news site TMZ.

Based on LaMotta's 1970 memoir, Raging Bull depicts an emotional fighter struggling with life outside the ring.

The 1980 film, directed by Martin Scorsese, earned De Niro a Best Actor award at the Oscars.

"I just want people to know, he was a great, sweet, sensitive, strong, compelling man with a great sense of humour, with eyes that danced," Mrs LaMotta said.

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 3:56 am

More a dying art than a noble one.

The former world middleweight boxing champion died in a nursing home due to complications from pneumonia, his wife told US news site TMZ.

95 years old? This sounds more like complications from old age to me.

Long Run · Post by **Long Run** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:43 pm

For a boxer who fought so much and so physically that is a long life.

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 3:18 pm

Noble art. Sweet Science. And proof that not all boxers go crazy or die prematurely (hell, if Raging Bull is true, he always had a bit of a screw loose)--and he fought when fights were 15, even 20 rounds and the refs weren't quite as willing to stop the fight.

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 3:32 pm

RayThom wrote:More a dying art than a noble one.
The former world middleweight boxing champion died in a nursing home due to complications from pneumonia, his wife told US news site TMZ.
95 years old? This sounds more like complications from old age to me.

Pneumonia IS a complication of old age, the elderly are more susceptible to contracting it and far more likely to die from it.

pneumonia in the elderly

My 98-year-old boyfriend died of complications of pneumonia last February.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 5:29 pm

Jake LaMotta, the uncompromising fighter portrayed by Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, has died aged 95.

Wow, that's definitely a strong contender to be #1 on my "I thought they had died years ago" list for 2017....

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 6:50 pm

Here's a link to a list I found:
http://www.ranker.com/list/old-celebrit ... rlybobarly

Olivia de Havilland shocked me, as did Jim Nabors and Monty Hall.

Long Run · Post by **Long Run** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:22 pm

That list just seems wrong.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 10:51 pm

I would have been shocked by de Havilland if somebody hadn't told me recently that she was still alive...

Carol Channing and Monty Hall surprise me, and I thought I had read that Nabors died a couple of years ago...

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Fri Sep 22, 2017 12:35 am

I was surprised twice by Beverly Cleary's appearance on this list — first that she was still alive to start with, and secondly because they considered her a celebrity worthy of inclusion with individuals such as Angela Lansbury, Kirk Douglas, Ann Margret, Carol Channing, and Henry Kissinger.

-"BB"-

Guinevere · Post by **Guinevere** » Fri Sep 22, 2017 5:56 am

Lord Jim wrote:I would have been shocked by de Havilland if somebody hadn't told me recently that she was still alive...

Carol Channing and Monty Hall surprise me, and I thought I had read that Nabors died a couple of years ago...

Her sister Joan Fontaine died last year and they were incredibly competitive with each other. Olivia won't quit, now.

I also think Jim Nabors got married (finally) recently. I expect he has much to live for.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Fri Sep 22, 2017 10:27 am

BTW, if I were Ann Margaret I'd be kind of pissed, (or given her sense of humor, maybe amused) at being put on a list like that...

She's considerably younger (75) then most of the celebrities on that list, and I doubt that most people would think she had died...

(It seems to me a lot more likely that people might think that Brigitte Bardot was dead, and she didn't make the list...)

And Henry Kissinger may be 93, but he's still a fairly active participant in public life...He pops up on interview programs regularly, and there was a fair bit of press surrounding his meeting with Trump after Trump became President-elect...

I think this list was probably put together by a 20 something who doesn't follow the news, or really know much about the people on the list...

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Fri Sep 22, 2017 1:55 pm

The other thing that surprised me (although it shouldn't) is that Honor Blackman (who will always be Pussy Galore to me) is 91. Where does the time go?

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