One of the greatest American funnymen of all time has sadly passed away. Don Rickles, who perfected the art of being the insult comic and spanned generations with his biting yet always loving acerbic quick wit and banter, died today at his home in Los Angeles, CA, of kidney failure. He was 90. He had been battling ill health the last couple of decades, but had retained his razor-sharp mind to the very end.

For my money, he was the funniest man alive. Known sarcastically as “Mr. Warmth,” the Queens, New York native had such a talent and gift for making one laugh, many times even belly laugh, with his quickness. He wasn’t like Groucho Marx or Jack Benny in the sense of the one-liners, but he stood toe-to-toe with them and so many other comedic luminaries in that he was able to rib all of them and scores of Hollywood celebrities, in a manner which exposed a frailty or a kind of tabloid urban legend that had been foisted upon them and then exploiting that foible. Genius examples would be how he would make fun of Dean Martin’s drinking, the ethnicity of people like Desi Arnaz or Ricardo Montalban, or the color of the skin of people like Denzel Washington or Cesar Romero, not in direct terms, but playing on and then hilariously skewering the cliché and the stereotype of it, as politically incorrect as that may seem in today’s ultra-sensitive world.

Bernie Wrightson, the comic book artist and illustrator who co-created the character Swamp Thing, died today after a long battle with brain cancer, according to his wife Liz, who posted the news to his official site. He was 68.

Born on October 27, 1948, in Baltimore, Maryland, the artist was best known for co-creating along with writer Len Wein the DC Comics character Swamp Thing in 1971 (its first appearance was in House of Secrets #92 and illustrating the Swamp Thing comic book series in the early 1970s.

Chuck Berry, the unfounded absolute legend and major crafter of much of the archetypical sounds and styles of the genesis of rock and roll, was found dead today in St. Charles, MO. He was 90.

Without question, the superlatives that have been foisted upon Berry ever since he exploded onto the scene in the early 1950s have never been placed incorrectly. It’s a simple equation: Without Chuck Berry, there wouldn’t be rock and roll, period. He made a blueprint (born from his love of players like T-Bone Walker and the like who came before him) that plays out like a true blue American songbook of the rock and roll idiom. Those songs are as well known as any other in any genre in any sound any human being has ever made, and the influence has stretched long and wide, influencing a chain link of titans of the rock genre who followed, like John Lennon, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, the list goes on and on endlessly.

Bill Paxton, the ultimate character actor, a handsome charmer who could easily be a leading man, but was most known for his hilarious film-stealing scenes in supporting roles throughout his 40-plus year career, has died. The actor who perhaps is best known for his defeated exclamation, “Game Over man, Game Over!” in James Cameron’s 1986 action sequel Aliens died yesterday from complications from surgery. He was 61. Paxton is survived by his second wife and two children.

Richard Hatch, who is best known for his starring role in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, died today while under hospice care in Los Angeles after a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to TMZ, who received confirmation from the actor’s family. He was 71.