AusCelebs Forums

Kathy Mccabe 3rd May 2012

AUSTRALIAN pop singer and television presenter Edith Bliss has died after a long illness.

Bliss had a hit single with If It's Love You Want in 1979 after accompanying a friend to an audition and being spotted by a record label boss.

She swapped her fledgling pop career to become a household name for a generation of Australian children as one of the presenters of Simon Townsend's Wonder World.

Townsend said he was ``very, very sad'' to lose his friend and ``one of my favourite reporters on Wonder World''.

Jono Coleman, who interviewed Bliss for Wonder World as she launched her debut single and later worked with her on the show, paid tribute to her sunny nature and enthusiasm for life.

"She had that huge smile and was just a great person to be around,'' he said.
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Edith Bliss

"I remember when she was on Countdown and it was her birthday. Molly got me to bring a cake onto the set and kept trying to make me throw it at her live on air.

"She knew something was going on and said she would kill me if I threw it at her. She was always funny, always bubbly.''

Bliss has four children who also spoke of their love for her on Facebook yesterday.

"Today the world lost a wonderful mother, a compassionate friend and one hell of a woman. She passed very peacefully early this morning and her infectious spirit will be missed by all. You're with the angels now, Mum,'' her daugher Eden Tanner posted.

SYDNEY'S troubled have lost their angel.

Don Ritchie, 85, spent five decades watching out the window of his Old South Head Rd home for the next person he could coax away from the edge of the Gap with a smile and a kind word.

Officially, he saved 160 lives, his family estimate the figure is closer to 400-500.

After a life devoted to showing strangers light in their darkest moments, Mr Ritchie died this week.

His family yesterday remembered one survivor leaving a painting of an angel and rays of sun with a message: "an angel who walks amongst us. Bless you.''

Local MP Malcolm Turnbull led official tributes, calling Mr Ritchie "one of our greatest Australians.''

A devoted husband, father and grandfather, Mr Ritchie was a decorated war veteran and served on HMAS Hobart in the Pacific during World War II and was in Tokyo Bay when the surrender of Japan was signed.

His daughter Sue Ritchie Bereny recalled yesterday how her father constantly watched the ocean while always scanning the cliffs for people in trouble.

"He loved to look out at the view and look at the ships, he would often notice people in the landscape, he just had a sensitively, he could read some people needed help,'' she said yesterday.

"He would take the dog for a walk and just quietly check things out. It was often a matter of a kind word and he would bring people back to our place for a cup of tea and breakfast.

"Sometimes people would locate him quite some time after, 10 and 20 years...sometimes not at all.''

One rescue, captured on the front page of the Sydney Sun 40 years ago won Mr Ritchie a bravery award.

Mr Turnbull described Mr Ritchie as the 'Gap angel.'

"His work lives on forever not just in the lives of those he saved but in his heroism and example of public service,'' he said.

Last year Mr Ritchie was named Australian local hero of the year.

In a message posted on the Australian of the Year website in January, Mr Ritchie paid tribute to those he had helped.

"I'm 85 and even at my age it has broadened my horizons with all the wonderful people I have met,'' he said.

"I've had welcome feedback from people who have come back from the edge. It's really rewarding knowing that the action I took changed the course of their lives and got them back on track.

"I've been pleased to share my story in order to help everyone realise just how common depression and suicide tendencies are. And its important for troubled people to know that there are complete strangers out there, like myself, who are willing and able to help them get through that dark time and to come out on the other side.''

The award prompted people battling depression to write to him. Ms Ritchie Bereny said he replied to every letter.

Mr Ritchie and his wife Moya would have celebrated 60 years of marriage this year.

The couple had three daughters, Ms Ritchie Bereny, Jan Quinlan, Donna Brown and five grandchildren, Barney, Annabel, Sigrid, Cleo and Maximilian.

Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, dies at 63

Disco queen Donna Summer, whose pulsing anthems such as Love to Love You Baby became the soundtrack for a glittery age of sex, drugs, dance and flashy clothes, has died at 63.

Her family released a statement saying Summer died on Thursday morning and they "are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy".

The family did not disclose the cause of death, but reports said she had battled cancer. She had been living in Englewood, Florida, with her husband Bruce Sudano.

"Words truly can't express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time," the statement said.

Summer came to prominence just as disco was burgeoning, and came to define the era with a string of No.1 hits and her luxurious hair and glossy, open lips.

Disco became as much defined by her sultry, sexual vocals - her bedroom moans and sighs - as the relentless, pulsing rhythms of the music itself.

Elton John said in a statement that Summer was more than the Queen of Disco.

"Her records sound as good today as they ever did. That she has never been inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is a total disgrace, especially when I see the second-rate talent that has been inducted," he said. "She is a great friend to me and to the Elton John AIDS Foundation and I will miss her greatly."

Love to Love You Baby, with its erotic moans, was Summer's first hit and one of the most scandalous songs of the polyester-and-platform-heel era. The song was later sampled by LL Cool J, Timbaland and Beyonce, who interpolated the hit for her jam Naughty Girl.

Unlike some other stars of disco who faded as the music became less popular, Summer was able to grow beyond it and later segued to a pop-rock sound. She had one of her biggest hits in the 1980s with She Works Hard for the Money, which became another anthem, this time for women's rights.

Soon after, Summer became a born-again Christian and faced controversy when she was accused of making anti-gay comments in relation to the AIDS epidemic. Summer denied making the comments, but was the target of a boycott.

Summer, real name LaDonna Adrian Gaines, was born in 1948 in Boston. She was raised on gospel music and became the soloist in her church choir by age 10.

Love to Love You Baby, released in 1975, was her US chart debut and the first of 19 No.1 dance hits between 1975 and 2008 - second only to Madonna.

Singer Dionne Warwick said in a statement that she was sad to lose a great performer and "dear friend".

"My heart goes out to her husband and her children," Warwick said. "Prayers will be said to keep them strong."

Musician Nile Rodgers tweeted: "For the last half hour or so I've been lying in my bed crying and stunned. Donna Summer RIP."

Summer released her last album, Crayons, in 2008. It was her first full studio album in 17 years. She also performed on American Idol that year with its top female contestants.

In another sign of her continued relevance, the musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert features two versions of Summer songs with Hot Stuff and MacArthur Park.

Bee Gee Robin Gibb dies after battle with cancer

Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb has died at the age of 62 after a battle against cancer.

Gibb who was born on the Isle of Man to English parents and moved to Brisbane as a child before returning to England, had been fighting colon and liver cancer since mid-2010.

Rolling Stone reported that he had been diagnosed with a second tumour and his treatment had been complicated by a case of pneumonia. He had been in a coma since mid-April.

His death was confirmed by a brief statement on his official @RobinGibb Twitter feed.

"Sadly Robin Gibb has passed away May 20th, 10:47 UK time," the tweet, posted this morning, read.

"The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery," a family statement said.

Brothers Robin, Barry and Maurice Gibb scaled the heights of the pop world in the 1970s with disco hits including How Deep Is Your Love, Stayin' Alive, and Night Fever.

The brothers had first formed the Bee Gees in Brisbane in the early 1960s, and went on to notch up global record sales of more than 200 million.

The group still holds the record for the third-highest selling soundtrack, for Saturday Night Fever.

Robin's twin brother Maurice died in 2003 from complications relating to a twisted intestine.

The youngest Gibb brother, Andy, who was a singer and teen idol, died at the age of 30 in 1988.

In a 2002 interview on British television, Robin Gibb had spoken of his bond with his brothers.

"We created our own little kind of universe where we just wrote and created things," he said.

The Gibb brothers also wrote songs for other artists, including Islands in the Stream, a big hit for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

Robin Gibb is survived by his wife and three children.