Rest In Play - 2010 thru 2019

Frank Kohner was born on November 2nd, 1910 and passed away on February 6, 2011. Frank came to the United States his hometown of Tachau, Czechoslovakia, following his older brother, Paul, who had emig...rated two years earlier. Once Frank arrived, the two formed Kohner Brothers in New York City. Initially, they manufactured wooden beads and beaded purses before moving into toys. They made wooden pull toys like Tricycle Tom and ice Cream Mike. In 1963 came Trouble, which featured the iconic Pop-O-Matic dome in the center of the board, and the game went on to sell over a million copies year after year. After his older brother, Paul, passed unexpectedly in 1965, his son, Michael joined the company to help fill the void Paul had left behind. Within five years, Kohner Brothers continued to grow and was sold to General Foods. Frank retired from the toy business leaving Michael as the last Kohner. Frank went on to launch a successful housewares business and published a collection of anecdotes and memories of the people in the old country, “Tachau Tales” in 1995. He lived to be 100 years old and died in 2011.Show more

Carrie Fisher was born on October 21, 1956 and passed away on December 27, 2016. She is best remembered for her role as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars films. Carrie was born in California ...and given her famous parents, actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher, was on the Broadway stage at just 16 years old as a debutante in the show Irene, which also starred her mother. Her time on Broadway interfered with her education, so she dropped out of high school. Though she spent some time at both London's Central School of Speech and Drama and Sarah Lawrence College, she didn't end up graduating from either, and instead focused her theatrical career. In 1975, she made her first film debut as Lorna Karpf in Shampoo, and just two years later, she starred as Princess Leia in Star Wars. Her film success continued into the 1980s and 1990s. In 1987, Carrie published her first novel, Postcards from the Edge, and in 1990, Columbia Pictures released a film version of the novel. She continued acting into the 2000s, also doing a bit of voice acting. She published a sequel to Postcards from the Edge in 2004. From November 2006 to January 2007, Carrie wrote and performed in her one-woman play, Wishful Drinking. She published her autobiographical book, also called Wishful Drinking, in 2008. In 2010, HBO aired a feature-length documentary based on a special live performance of the Wishful Drinking stage production. She was one of the featured performers at the Comedy Central Roast of Roseanne. Carrie's memoir, The Princess Diarist, was released in NOvember 2016. Her audiobook recording of the memoir earned her the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, which was awarded 13 months after her death. Carrie dated Paul Simon in 1978, and in 1980, she was briefly engaged to Dan Akyroyd before getting back together with Paul Simon. They married in 1983 and divorced in 1984, though they did date for a time after their divorce as well. She then had a relationship with Bryan Lourd. They had a child together, Billie Lourd. Bryan ended up leaving her for a man. Carrie passed away at age 60. Her exact cause of death could not be determined, but sleep apnea and the buildup of fatty tissue on the walls of her arteries were among the contributing factors. Carrie won the Wilde Wit of the Year award at the Dorian Awards in 2016. She won a Grammy for The Princess Diarist in 2017. Also in 2017, she won Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Catastrophe at the Online Film & Television Association Awards. In 2019, She was inducted into the Film Hall of Fame: Actors, in 2021, she was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame: Actors, and in 2023, she was inducted into the Film Hall of Fame: Characters.Show more

Alan Rickman was born on February 21, 1946 and passed away on January 14, 2016. He was best known for his role in the Harry Potter film franchise as Severus Snape. Alan's career began in theatre i...n 1980. He joined numerous theatre groups throughout the 80s, and performed in plays including The Seagull, Romeo and Juliet, A View from the Bridge, and As You Like It. During this time, he also took on some film roles, like The Barchester Chronicles. In 1988, he played Hans Gruber in Die Hard, which was his first feature film and earned him critical acclaim and a spot on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains list as the 46th-best villain in film history. He continued acting throughout the 1990s. He appeared in films including Quigley Down Under and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It was around this time that he started getting famous for his ability to portray villainous roles, but Alan took issue with being typecast as a villain, and went on to portray a large range of characters throughout his career. In 2001, Alan first appeared as Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, a role he is perhaps most famous for. During the 2000s and leading up to his death, he starred in a number of other films and theatre productions as well, including Love Actually (film) and Private Lives (theatre). Alan is widely remembered for his deep voice. Two researchers, a linguist and sound engineer, found that "the perfect male voice" is a combination of Alan Rickman's and Jeremy Irons' voices. BBC stated that Rickman's "sonorous, languid voice was his calling card--making even throwaway lines of dialogue sound thought-out and authoritative." Alan has numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, an Emmy, A Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Alan met and started dating his wife, Rima Horton, in 1965, when he was 19 and she was 18. They married in a private ceremony in NYC in 2012. in 2005, Alan was treated for an aggressive form of prostate cancer, which ended in a prostatectomy in January 2006. The operation occurred during casting for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and he wasn't sure if he would return to the series. However, he decided he must, stating, "The argument that wins is the one that says: 'See it through. It's your story.'" In 2015, Alan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and only revealed to his closest friends and family that it was terminal. He passed away on January 14, 2016 at the age of 69.Show more

Don Rickles was born on May 8, 1926 and passed away on April 5, 2017. He was an American stand-up comedian and actor, and is famously the voice behind Mr. Potato Head. Don was an insult comic, and ...rose to fame after insulting Frank Sinatra at Murray Franklin's nightclub in Miami. Frank took such a liking to him that he invited other celebrities to see his act, which led to Don becoming a popular headline performer in Las Vegas. In 1958, he made his film debut with Run Silent, Run Deep, with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. He also popped up in a number of sitcoms and dramatic series for an episode or two, like Run for Your Life. Don then moved into talk shows, beginning with The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He went on to appear on The Tonight Show over 100 times, and that's just when Carson was the host. He even had his own talk show briefly, but it only lasted 17 episodes. He went to both star and appear in a number of movies, tv shows, and talk shows throughout his career. He got into voice acting in 1995, famously voicing Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story. He reprised his role in the rest of the films in the franchise, including Toy Story 4, which was created after his death, but archival audio from the previous films was used (with permission from his wife, Barbara Rickles). Until the very end of his career he was still appearing on late night talk shows, like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Spike TV hosted a tribute to him in 2014: One Night Only: An All-Star Comedy Tribute to Don Rickles. Don performed at both Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush's inaugurations. He is widely respected in the comedy world, and of course remembered fondly by all fans of the Toy Story franchise. Don married Barbara Sklar in 1965. Don revealed in his memoir that he fell in love with her when she failed to get his sense of humor. Together they had two children and two grandchildren. Don passed away in 2017 due to kidney failure.Show more

Bill Smith of Huffy Corp., passed away in May of 2019. Bill had only just retired from his position of President and CEO of Huffy Corp., when he passed away. He spent over 25 years at Huffy, spendi...ng 8+ years as President and CEO and many more as a board member and advisor. Bill was passionate about the cycling industry, and that showed in his work. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all that knew and loved him.Show more

John Teuschler was born on November 10, 1965 and passed away on September 16, 2019 at the age of 53. John was the territory manager for New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania at Juratoys. John l...eaves behind a loving wife, Beth, and a son, Dylan. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Rick Loomis was born on August 24, 1946 and passed away on August 23, 2019. He was an American game designer most famously known as the founder of game publisher Flying Buffalo. Rick's career in th...e toy industry started the moment he discovered the wargame Gettysburg by Avalon Hill. In 1970, he had designed and begun selling his own tabletop game: Nuclear Destruction, which added a spin unseen in any other tabletop games at this point: hidden movement. Rick founded Flying Buffalo after serving in the United States Army from 1969-1972. He and his friend Steve MacGregor created the company and pooled together their savings to purchase a Raytheon 704 minicompuer to run PBM turns. They acquired Nuclear War in 1972, and it soon became one of Flying Buffalo's best sellers. Following this success, the duo invented, designed, and/or published many other games. In August 1978, Rick was elected to serve as a temporary officer for the President and Treasury of the Association of Game Manufacturers (now the Game Manufacturers Association, or GAMA). He was one of the founding members of GAMA and served as its President numerous times.Show more

Jerry Robson was born on September 19, 1955 and passed away on August 26, 2018 at the age of 62 after a long battle with cancer. Jerry's day job was in security. In 1980, he started Eyedent Securit...y Systems, and in 1998, he launched Shield Alarm Inc., a company he owned and operated for 18 years. Outside of this, though, he was a writer, an inventor, and an artist. He started Tremendous Toys with his best friend, Greg Kopec, with whom he invented numerous toys and games. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

William "Bill" Dohrman was born on January 25, 1935 and passed away on January 14, 2018 at the age of 82. Bill began his career in advertising in Chicago, but in 1968 he moved to the Boston area to... work in research and development for the toy and game industry. He worked for Parker Brothers and Hasbro over the years and discovered and developed hundreds of games including the Nerf Ball and Boggle. Outside of work, Bill had a deep love for history, philosophy, and literature, and reviewed many works as a contributing editor of The Readers Exchange. Bill is survived by his wife of over 25 years, Linda Ritchey Post, and his three children from his first marriage, William, Natalie, and Ross. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Walter Frederick Morrison was born on January 23, 1920 and passed away on February 9, 2010. He is most famous for inventing the Frisbee. Walter came up with the idea for Frisbee while innocently th...rowing a popcorn can lid back and forth with his girlfriend, Lucille, whom he ended up marrying and having three children with. After denting the popcorn can lid, he realized that cake pans flew better. A year later, while tossing the cake pan back and forth on a beach in Santa Monica, they were offered 25 cents (which is now equivalent to $5) for the cake pan. And thus, the inventor became the entrepreneur. Together, Walter and Lucille started selling Flyin' Cake Pans on the beaches of California. It wasn't until 1946 that Walter sketched a design for the flying disc. In 1948, Warren Franscioni paid for molding the design in plastic, and together they named it the Flyin-Saucer. Unfortunately, sales weren't great, and they parted ways. In 1955, Walter and Lucille designed the Pluto Platter, and in 1957, they sold the right to Wham-O. They changed the name to Frisbee, and the rest is history. Walter invented many other toys and games for Wham-O, but none were as successful as the frisbee, which is still popular today, and can be found in most garages. Walter and Lucille had a son and two daughters before divorcing, getting back together, and then divorcing again. Lucille died in 1987, and Walter lived out his days in his home in Monroe, Utah.Show more