Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007)

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On Tuesday, March 6, French theorist Jean Baudrillard passed away.

Trained as a sociologist, Baudrillard put his knack for observing society and its
engagement with mass media to work as a philosopher. His writings on
television, video, and electronic mediation placed him among the earliest
writers to have been called 'media theorists,' and after publishing
approximately thirty books and many more essays, he is certainly one of the
field's most prolific.

Baudrillard pioneered the notion of 'hyperreality,'
and his theories on simulation and simulacra are often employed in
contemporary analyses of new media art.

Baudrillard was also an active
photographer whose art career was overshadowed by his academic celebrity,
but whose creativity was nevertheless reflected in his writings on the
'ecstacy' and 'seduction' of the media. While his writing on the 'political
economy' at play in semiotic exchange leaned slightly toward abstraction, he
was steadfastly attentive to the real! .

He authored outspoken essays on
AIDS, the Gulf War, the Rushdie affair, cloning, and other politicized
issues. Baudrillard's more recent, albeit controversial writings about the
nature of terrorism plumbed at contemporary western morality and boldly
scrutinized the fear manufactured and perpetuated within networked society.

He died in Paris, at the age of 77

[MCHeshPants420]

Rest in peace.

I have a seminar on him next week about the death of the real.

[Barbarossa]

Comedy actor Inman dies aged 71

Actor John Inman, most famous for the comedy Are You Being Served?, has died in London aged 71, his spokesman said.

Inman made his name in the 1970s show as Mr Humphries, whose catchphrase "I'm free!" entered popular culture.

In recent years he was a pantomime regular, most often taking the role of the dame. He also made appearances in BBC comedy show Revolver in 2004.

The Preston-born actor died in hospital and had been suffering from a Hepatitis A infection for some time.

The infection, usually caused by eating contaminated food, forced him to cancel the opening of a pantomime in London in December 2004.

It was initially hoped he would be able to return to the production of Dick Whittington, in which he was due to play Wanda the Cook, but he never worked again.

His manager Phil Dale said: "John was known and loved throughout the world. He was one of the best and finest pantomime dames working to capacity audiences throughout Britain.

"John was known for his comedy plays and farces which were enjoyed from London's West End throughout the country and as far as Australia, Canada and the USA."

Inman's Are You Being Served? co-star Wendy Richard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "John was one of the wittiest and most inventive actors I've ever worked with.

"He was a brilliant, brilliant pantomime dame and he was a very good all-round actor, really. He was a true professional."

Fans Favourite

Are You Being Served? ran on the BBC from 1972 to 1985 and depicted the antics of the staff of Grace Brothers, an old-fashioned department store.

Mr Humphries became one of TV's best known characters, and in 1976 Inman was voted funniest man on television by TV Times readers. He was declared BBC TV's personality of the year the same year.

Trevor Bannister, who played Mr Lucas in the series, told BBC News 24: "The 'I'm free!' was something put in because that is what people in those stores really said.

"We didn't realise it would become a running catchphrase.

"It was that way about the whole show - we never realised it was going to as successful as it was."

'Innocent quality'

Actress Rula Lenska, who worked with him on TV and in pantomime, paid tribute to his comic style.

"It was suggestive but never in your face or aggressive. It had an innocent quality that you rarely find today.

"He was a joy to work with and even after an exhausting day in pantomime he would have time for the fans who crowded round the stage door."

Fellow pantomime dame Danny La Rue called him "irreplaceable".

The 79-year-old added: "John was wonderful in panto. The children adored him. He had a magic touch. Panto can be exhausting - but he loved it.

"He was such a fantastic and inventive actor, and he could play serious roles too. He wasn't all about that flippant catchphrase 'I'm free!' But that's what made him. When that show first started he was just one of the salesmen, but they soon saw a star."

Inman's long-term partner, Ron Lynch, is said to be "devastated" at his death.