An employee of Ving Rhames' was allegedly mauled to death Friday by the actor's pet dogs. The victim's name has not been released, but he was in fact the caretaker for the dogs -- reportedly four of them, "the size of lions" -- for the past two years. Described only as a 40-year-old African American, he was spotted on the front lawn on the property adjacent to Rhames' early in the morning, at which point the LAPD was called. The four dogs, three bull mastiffs and one English bulldog, suspected to have been involved in the incident have been seized. Rhames was not at home and has so far not given a statement. Considering he's attached to star in a number of films in the next year, I'm guessing that he was on location somewhere.

This is the sort of tragedy I would expect to befall an employee of Marcellus Wallace, but not the actor who played him. The real Ving Rhames seems like too nice a guy to have this happen on or near his property. Of course, he didn't actually have anything to do with the incident, but obviously he has some mean-ass dogs. Hopefully he won't have to endure any wrongful death suits as a result of his decision to own such violent animals; certainly the unnamed man was a canine expert and had to have been responsible enough -- not to say he was at fault for his own death, but he knew the risk and the care required and unfortunately had a fatal accident despite that knowledge. From what the police have been able to determine, the caretaker died after jumping Rhames' fence onto the lawn next door. It has not been officially confirmed that the dogs were the cause of death; they are currently at a shelter being tested for traces of the man's blood. Although he had bites all over his body, it is possible the man suffered a heart attack or some other ailment. Photos of the dogs can be seen here and here.

• Peter Boyle (1935-2006) - Actor who played the best Frankenstein's monster next to Karloff. I also recommend him in Where the Buffalo Roam. Read Erik's obit post here.
• Ahmet Ertegun (1923-2006) - Legendary founder and longtime chairman of Atlantic Records. He appeared in a number of documentaries, including Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones, Make It Funky! and the recent Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos, and he was portrayed by Curtis Armstrong in the biopic Ray. On October 29, he suffered a fall while attending a Rolling Stones concert in New York and was in a coma from then until his death on December 14.
• Michael Gilden (1962-2006) - Actor who played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi and a page in Pulp Fiction. He also appeared in Freaked and had a small, uncredited role in the upcoming Southland Tales. He died December 5, in Los Angeles.
• Freddie Marsden (1940-2006) - Drummer for Gerry and the Pacemakers, who starred in their own film, Ferry Cross the Mersey. He died December 9, in Lancashire, England.
  
• Denis Payton (1943-2006) - Musician who played saxaphone, harmonica and guitar for the Dave Clark Five. He appeared with the band in John Boorman's debut film Catch Us If You Can (aka Having a Wild Weekend). He died December 18, in Bournemouth, England.
• Jay McShann (1916-2006) - Jazz pianist and bandleader who appeared in a few documentaries, including The Last of the Blue Devils and Ken Burns' Jazz series. He died of respiratory problems December 7, in Kansas City, Missouri.
• Don Snell (c.1949-2006) - Actor who appeared in Never Been Kissed, Traffic and Erin Brockovich. He died after a long illness December 2.
• Martha Tilton (1915-2006) - Vocalist (pictured) who was popular during the Big Band Era, often singing with Benny Goodman's orchestra. She appeared as herself in The Benny Goodman Story and also appeared in Topper, You'll Never Get Rich and Swing Hostess. She provided the singing voice for Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire and for Anne Gwynne in both South of Dixie and Murder in the Blue Room. She died December 8.