Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes as starred in several iconic movies, including Escape from New York and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (one of my husband's favorites). Later in his career, he used his joie de vivre to snag rolls in mainstream fare such as Blues Brothers 2000 and Dr. Dolittle 2.

Isaac Hayes was an accomplished composer and singer, excelling as a soul musician. He is most famous for the theme song from Shaft.

Isaac Hayes gave voice to Chef on South Park. Chef was often the only sensible adult the children could turn to. Waiting in line at the school cafeteria, they would ask Chef for advice, and many times he gave his answers in song. Chef was a favorite character on South Park, until creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker went too far, in Isaac Hayes' opinion.

The ninth season of South Park included one of the most controversial episodes in South Park history: "Trapped in the Closet." In that episode, creators Stone and Parker skewered Scientology.

Using Tom Cruise, John Travolta and other celebrites in "Trapped in the Closet" got the pair in hot water. The result? Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef, quit the show. The episode was taken out of re-run rotation because, it's rumored, Tom Cruise complained to Paramount, which at that time housed his production company and distributed Mission Impossible 3. Comedy Central, as well as Tom Cruise's camp, denied the whole thing. After "Trapped in the Closet" was nominated for an Emmy, it came back into rotation.

What happened? In an interview with CNN, creator Matt Stone alleged that Hayes' couldn't take the jabs they threw at Scientology, of which Hayes is a follower. Stone is quoted as saying, "In ten years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews." He continued to say, "He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."

Later, Parker and Stone brought Chef back to South Park, but without Isaac Hayes. In the tenth season premiere, Chef returns to South Park, Colorado. Chef's dialogue was cobbled together from sound bites of old episodes. Not surprisingly, Chef died a horribly bloody and violent death, to make sure we knew Chef would never be seen thereafter.

Sadly, a reconciliation between Parker, Stone and Hayes will never occur. Isaac Hayes died August 10, 2008.