Results tagged “obituary”

The rumors floating around the interent this morning were sadly true. Former host of MTV's Remote Control died suddenly over the weekend. The cause of the 52-year-old Santa Monica resident's death is still unknown, but on Saturday evening he "complained of a headache and flu-like symptoms" to a friend, saying "he was going to take something and would see a doctor as soon as possible," according to the New York Times. The next day he was found dead.

Many a Hollywood hopeful or star has come and gone from the headlines in the past five decades, but one name always remained rooted in his by-line at Daily Variety. Army Archerd, the industry rag's longtime columnist died yesterday at 87. "Archerd collapsed at home in Westwood on Monday afternoon and died Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center," notes his LA Times obit. Five years ago Archerd was diagnosed with a rare form of mesothelioma, "which doctors ascribed to his exposure to shipyard asbestos when he was in the Navy during World War II."

Writer Dominick Dunne died today at his home in New York, according to the LA Times. The bestselling author of crime-meets-celeb scandal tomes like Another City Not My Own (based on his involvement in the OJ Simpson trial), film producer, and Vanity Fair contributor was 83, and had been battling bladder cancer. Born to an affluent East Coast family, Dunne moved to Los Angeles in the late 50s and worked extensively in television. His writing career took on new proportions following the 1983 murder of his daughter, Dominique. Dunne's only surviving child, son Griffin, is an actor, and his sister-in-law is iconic Californian writer Joan Didion.

Known for his exuberant television pitches for household products like OxiClean and Orange Glow, Billy Mays, 50, has died, according to the LA Times. Police in his home city of Tampa say Mays "was pronounced dead this morning after being found by his wife at home. There were no signs of a break-in, and investigators do not suspect foul play. The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon." The Pennsylvania-born pitchman provided his high-energy endorsement to dozens of products over the years on television after a successful career as a salesman on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, then traveling to places like state fairs and auto shows. Mays' wife Deborah is not expected to make any public comment, and has asked for privacy following the sudden death of her husband.

The Los Angeles (and San Francisco) editions of The Onion have hit the newsracks for the last time today, according to a source at Gawker. "An Onion staffer whispers to us that the humor publication has already laid off editorial and sales staff for its Los Angeles and San Francisco print editions, which will, said the staffer, cease publication," reports the blog. However, their local online sites--The Decider--will reportedly stay afloat. UPDATE: President and CEO Steve Hannah sent out this memo to staffers and readers confirming the rumor:

Actress Bea Arthur, known best for her iconic television turns as The Golden Girls' Dorothy Zbornak and the titular Maude, has died, the Associated Press is reporting. She was 86. "Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said. She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details."

He was one of the best and most exciting and respected jazz drummers to grace our ears. Louie Bellson fell breaking his hip in early November, which was followed by complications with Parkinson's disease--he died on Valentines Day at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center . "Tenative plans are for an L.A. area funeral, followed by funeral and burial in Moline, Illinois, his boyhood home," his website announced.

Prolific novelist John Updike died today of lung cancer in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts at age 76. Have you read his short story A&P? Capturing the teenage hell of working retail, it's one of his best short stories. An excerpt from the full (short) story:

As movie studios lay off staff and fling jobs to the four corners of the earth in search of savings, they would do well to honor the memory of Ray Dennis Steckler, director of such such freakisly low-budget sixties cinematic mess-terpieces as Wild Guitar, Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, and of course, horror's first musical, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies. He died last Wednesday at the young age of seventy in Las Vegas.

88-year-old veteran actor Ricardo Montalban has died, abc7.com is reporting. The news was announced by City Council President Eric Garcetti today; Montaban lived in Garcetti's district, and died at his home there in the Doheny Estates. Garcetti says: "The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in my Council District - where the next generations of performers participate in plays, musicals, and concerts - stands as a fitting tribute to this consummate performer." Montalban was born in Mexico in 1920, and had a long-spanning career in film, television, and radio. Two of his best-known roles were as Mr. Roarke on the TV show Fantasy Island (1977-1984) and as Star Trek's villainous Khan. Montalban's wife of 63 years, Georgiana, died just over a year ago. The cause of Montalban's death has not been released.

Sunset Boulevard is home today to another sad story: Glenn Goldman, the owner of the 33-year-old bookstore Book Soup, died yesterday, just one day after he put the cherished shop up for sale.

Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard died today at Sherman Oaks Hospital after suffering a heart attack late last month. It was just a few months ago that he was on stage, still playing despite health problems in recent years. His last concert was in June in New York at an album release party for his final album--"On The Real Side."

37-year-old "Mad Dog" Mike Bell was found dead over the weekend inside a Costa Mesa rehab home called Ramona House. The one-time professional wrestler whose life was the subject of brother Chris' documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster, "was reportedly 60 days clean when his body was discovered by a roommate who had gone out to get something to eat," according to the OC Register. They add that Bell's brother "said the cause of his brother's death was still unknown but it could be attributed to the 'rough life' Mike Bell lived."

So what's the story, Entertainment Weekly online: Are your editors hitting the punch too hard at the holiday office shindig or did the recession force you to downsize them out?

Actor Van Johnson, known best for his many film roles in the 40s and 50s, died yesterday in New York at 92.

If you've ever driven past the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in North Hollywood you may have wondered just who Beverly Garland was.

Mr. Blackwell, the Los Angeles fashion critic and designer known for his annual list of the worst dressed celebrities, died Sunday at age 86 from an intestinal infection. In early August, Blackwell was reportedly unconscious in an undisclosed Los Angeles-area hospital.

Jazz musician and Hollywood composer Neal Hefti died Saturday in Toluca Lake at 85, the New York Times reports. Hefti, who also played trumpet, had his biggest influence in jazz arrangements and compositions, but in pop culture, his theme for the original Batman TV show is probably the most well known: "Oddly enough, his most famous tune is among his least musically interesting, even if it was somehow brilliantly apt: the jauntily arch and repetitive theme for the television series 'Batman. Mr. Hefti said that the show was so campy it took him weeks to come up with a suitable melody. It won him his only Grammy."

Hollywood legend Paul Newman died last night at his home in Connecticut after a lengthy battle with cancer. The actor was 83.

A legend in contemporary French music and a composer/producer renowned for fusing elements of classical music with electronic and avant-garde, Hector Zazou (myspace) passed away yesterday of an unnamed illness he had been battling for some time.

Author Dave Freeman died at his home last week in Venice. The USC graduate and later advertising agency executive wrote in his co-authored book, "100 Things to Do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can't Miss," that "this life is a short journey. How can you make sure you fill it with the most fun and that you visit all the coolest places on earth before you pack those bags for the very last time?" His family told the Associated Press that he had been to about half of the places in his book before he died. Between he and his co-author Neil Teplica, they had visited nearly all the places.

Singer and legend Issac Hayes was found by relatives unconscious next to a still-running treadmill this afternoon at his home in Tennessee today. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital in Memphis around 11 a.m. PST. Hayes, who won Grammy awards and an Oscar for his theme song from "Shaft," was scheduled to headline at the Sunset Junction Music Festival in Silver Lake later this month.

A lot of us grew up with The Golden Girls, from their unprecedented success on NBC's Saturday night sitcom lineup to the now-ubiquitous Lifetime reruns. It was a show that probably shouldn't have been a hit--four elderly women sharing a home in Miami in the mid-1980s--but thanks to its incredibly sharp (and still funny) dialogue and the talents of its four leading ladies, the show has earned its place as a pop culture icon.

Comedian George Carlin died of heart failure at 5:55 p.m. today at Saint John's Hospital in Santa Monica. It was announced a few hours later, shortly before 9 p.m., by his publicist. He was admitted into the hospital for chest pains earlier in the afternoon.

   

Stan Winston, legendary Hollywood special-effects wizard, died this weekend at his home at age 62. He succumbed to multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, after a 7-year struggle with the disease. Winston created some of the most memorable creatures in modern cinema, including the Terminators, the "Jurassic Park" dinosaurs, and more recently, the character suit for "Iron Man."

Tim Russert, NBC News' Washington bureau chief and moderator of "Meet the Press" died after collapsing at NBC Studios in New York this afternoon. He was 58 years old.

Veteran actor and director Sydney Pollack has died. The 73-year-old Oscar winner died today in his home in the Pacific Palisades, and representatives are saying the cause was cancer.

Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered LSD, died at his home near Basel, Switzerland on Tuesday.

Charlton Heston has died at the age of 84.

label, after waiting out his contracts with other labels.