Tag Archives: obituary

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Chuck Woolery, the charismatic game show host who kicked off the long run of Wheel of Fortune before spending 11 years playing matchmaker on Love Connection, has died. He was 83. For his Love Connection trademark, Woolery told viewers that the program would return after the commercials in “two and two” — two minutes and two …

NPR reports: Quincy Jones, whose decorated music career ran from the early 1950s through the best-known works of Michael Jackson and beyond, died Sunday. He was 91. His death was confirmed by his publicist in a statement to NPR that did not mention the cause of death. The statement said that Jones died peacefully at his home in Bel Air, …

Variety reports: Teri Garr, the comic actress and singer who brought her buoyant personality to “Young Frankenstein” and was Oscar-nominated for “Tootsie,” died on Tuesday in Los Angeles after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. She was 79. An influential performer to comedians including Tina Fey, Garr was a familiar face in dozens of TV shows and films of the …

The New York Times reports: Mitzi Gaynor, the bubbly red-haired actress, singer and dancer who landed one of the most coveted movie roles of the mid-20th century, the female lead in “South Pacific,” but who abandoned film as the era of movie musicals came to an end, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 93. “South Pacific” was a …

TMZ reports: Liam Payne is dead after a fall from his hotel balcony in Argentina, TMZ has learned. The former One Direction singer died Wednesday evening. Several witnesses at the hotel where he was staying in Buenos Aires tell us Liam fell from his room on the 3rd floor of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel. We do not know if it …

The Associated Press reports: Cissy Houston, the mother of the late Whitney Houston and a two-time Grammy winner who performed alongside superstar musicians like Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, has died. She was 91. Houston died Monday morning in her New Jersey home while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease, her daughter-in-law Pat Houston told The Associated Press. The acclaimed …

The New York Times reports: Gavin Creel, a sly and charming musical theater actor who won a Tony Award as a wide-eyed adventure seeker in “Hello, Dolly!” and an Olivier Award as a preening missionary in “The Book of Mormon,” died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 48. His death was confirmed by his partner, Alex Temple …

The Guardian reports: Maggie Smith, the prolific, multi-award-winning actor whose work ranged from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie to Harry Potter to Downton Abbey, has died aged 89. The news was confirmed by her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens in a statement. They said: “She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. Smith’s gift …

CBS News reports: Stage and screen actor James Earl Jones, who won Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” and “Fences,” and whose majestic basso profundo voice would become internationally recognized as the villainous Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” franchise, has died, his rep confirmed to CBS News. He was 93. An actor renowned for his theatrical presence in …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Peter Marshall, the velvety-voiced host who presided over NBC’s celebrity-filled game show The Hollywood Squares for 16 years, died Thursday. He was 98. Marshall, an accomplished singer who also was a leading man on Broadway and one-half of a popular comedy team before embarking on his game-show gig, died of kidney failure at his Encino home, …

The Austin Statesman reports: Longtime Texas Democratic Congresswoman Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee has died. She was 74. Lee announced in June that she has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Jackson Lee has been in office since 1995 representing Texas’ 18th District in the House of Representatives. Now in her 15th term in Congress, Jackson Lee is a member of the …

Variety reports: Bob Newhart, the genteel but sharply satirical comic whose TV series “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart” were huge hits throughout the 1970s and ’80s, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 94. Newhart’s publicist Jerry Digney said he died after a series of short illnesses. Before his TV success, Newhart’s comedy albums were wildly popular for their …

Variety reports: Shannen Doherty, known for her roles in on the wildly popular series “Beverly Hills, 90210” and on the witchcraft fantasy “Charmed,” has died after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She was 53. Doherty rose to fame in 1990 as the fresh-faced brunette Brenda Walsh on Fox’s “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in …

ABC News reports: Eccentric fitness guru Richard Simmons, known for his unrelenting positivity, has died, according to his representative. Simmons just celebrated his 76th birthday on Friday. The Los Angeles Police Department responded to his home after a 911 call from his housekeeper and found Simmons dead, according to police sources. He appears to have died of natural causes, and …

The Washington Post reports: Ruth Westheimer, a child survivor of the Holocaust who became known to millions as Dr. Ruth, the perky sex therapist whose frankness on her long-running radio and television call-in shows made her a go-to guide for tips on the art and science of lovemaking, died July 12 at her home in Manhattan. She was 96. Described …

The Oklahoman reports: James Inhofe, the firebrand Republican Senator whose political career covered six decades, has died, the Tulsa World reported Tuesday. Inhofe, 89, served in the Oklahoma Legislature, as mayor of Tulsa, in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the the United States Senate. Funeral services are pending. Inhofe was the definition of a career politician, had served …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Donald Sutherland, the beloved actor who starred in scores of films from The Dirty Dozen, MASH and Klute to Animal House and Ordinary People to Pride & Prejudice and The Hunger Games franchise and won an Emmy for Citizen X, died Thursday in Miami after a long illness. He was 88. The 2017 Honorary Oscar recipient also …

Yahoo Sports reports: Willie Mays, the iconic Hall of Fame center fielder who is known as the greatest all-around baseball player, died Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants announced. He was 93 years old. Mays, nicknamed “The Say Hey Kid,” had a professional baseball career that spanned four decades, beginning with the Negro Leagues in the late 1940s and ending with …

ABC News reports: A military veteran who went on to serve as a firefighter and owned a local radio station revealed in his obituary that he was gay, a secret he said he held his entire life. Col. Edward Thomas Ryan died at age 85 on June 1, the first day of Pride Month, his niece Linda Sargent told “Good …

CNN reports: Marian Robinson, the mother of former first lady Michelle Obama, has died, according to a statement from the Obama and Robinson families. She was 86. “As a sister, aunt, cousin, neighbor, and friend to so many, she was beloved beyond words by countless others whose lives were improved by her presence,” the statement from Barack and Michelle Obama, …