Losing two stars

When I was a kid, and in fact until well past college, I indulged frequently in two guilty viewing pleasures:  Hammer horror films and professional wrestling.  Today, I learned that one star from each of those worlds died recently.

Christopher Lee, a fine actor who was also willing to take a very wide range of roles, passed away Sunday in London.  Whether he was being the Dracula of the Hammer films, Bond foe Scaramanga, or Saruman in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films,  Lee always delivered the goods.  His IMDB page lists 281 acting credits that stretch from 1946 to a film that is in pre-production and won't appear until next year.  At the age of 93, he was still working; good on him!  Lee served in both the RAF and the British Special Forces in World War II, and as you would expect, the experience heavily shaped him.  A recent Rolling Stone article on his death repeated one of my favorite comments of his:

"When the Second World War finished, I was 23 and already I had seen enough horror to last me a lifetime. I'd seen dreadful, dreadful things, without saying a word. So seeing horror depicted on film doesn't affect me much."

R.I.P., Christopher Lee.

Earlier today, the other star of my youth, Dusty Rhodes, aka The American Dream, died at 69.  A large, fat man with hair died white (check out the pics in this CNN article on his death) and a voice that wasn't always easy to understand, Rhodes nonetheless managed to garner and maintain a huge fan base in a sport that came to be dominated by men with amazing physiques.  His bionic elbow was a signature finishing move; I must confess I might have practiced (with suitable care, I will always maintain) my own version on my brother and sister a time or three.  

R.I.P., Dream.