George Best

George Best
1946-2005

From the BBC:

Best was a footballing genius. He had speed, superb dribbling skills, the ability to accelerate past players and was adept with both feet. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to have graced the British game.

Together with Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, Best formed a triumvirate that inspired Manchester United to League Championships in 1965 and 1967 and the European Cup in 1968. In that year, he picked up the English and European footballer of the year awards.

His heyday occurred during the "swinging sixties", and, with his good looks, he brought a pop star image to the game for the first time. But the accompanying champagne and playboy lifestyle degenerated into alcoholism, bankruptcy, a prison sentence and, eventually, a liver transplant.

George Best will be most fondly remembered for his sublime footballing skills, his balletic grace and his sinewy athleticism. But he wrote his own epitaph when he once said: "I was the one who took football off the back pages and put it on to page one."

Fans email the BBC with their stories about meeting Best.

Happy Birthday Harpo

He played the harp, he never talked, and he used props in sight gags. While shooting one of the Marx Brothers films, he was told that he could not burn a candle at both ends.

But he immediately produced, from within his coat, a candle burning at both ends.

Honk, honk!

Thanks to Pierce for the reminder.

Link Wray

Link Wray
1929 - 2005

My friend Garret told me this great story that he once heard...Apparently, Link used to play at this bar in Texas quite a lot. One of the bar's regulars was a complete drunk, and he absolutely hated Run Chicken Run. So whever Link would play that song, this guy would get so irate that he'd throw his barstool through the bar's front window.

But Link kept playing the song anyway...