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In Memoriam: Phyllis Diller (July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012)
Braying, bigger-than-life comedienne Phyllis Diller died today (August 20) at her L.A. home. She was 95. One of the earliest female stand-up comics, she was playing nightclubs in the 1950s, and such TV hosts as Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Ed Sullivan made her a star by 1960. A self-styled harridan, she emphasized her ungainly ...
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In Memoriam: Director Tony Scott (1944 – 2012)
British-born action-film director and producer Tony Scott, 68, killed himself yesterday (August 19) by jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro into the Los Angeles Harbor. Scott—brother of and frequent collaborator with Ridley Scott—helmed such high-octane films as Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, Days of Thunder, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, ...
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In Memoriam: Helen Gurley Brown (1922 – 2012)
Magazine editor and author Helen Gurley Brown died today (August 13, 2012) in New York. She was 90. The advertising copywriter wrote the hit book Sex and the Single Girl (1962), becoming a role model for glamorous “career girls” in the Mad Men era. She was editor-in-chief of the venerable old (1886) Cosmopolitan magazine from ...
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In Memoriam: Marvin Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012)
Composer, conductor and arranger Marvin Hamlisch, 68, died yesterday (August 6) in Los Angeles. No details on a cause are being released as of yet. The Emmy (Timeless: Live in Concert, Barbra: The Concert), Grammy (The Way We Were), Oscar (The Way We Were, The Sting) and Tony (A Chorus Line) winner started his career ...
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Gore Vidal, 86
Novelist, essayist, and playwright Gore Vidal died yesterday (July 31) at his Los Angeles home. He was 86. The blue-blood East Coaster had his first novel, Williwaw, published in 1946; he went on to write fiction (including The City and the Pillar, Washington D.C., Myra Breckinridge, Burr, 1876, Empire, Live from Golgotha), non-fiction, plays (Visit ...
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Ernest Borgnine Dead at 95
Burly character actor Ernest Borgnine, 95, died today (July 8). Equally adept at comedy (the ‘60s sitcom McHale’s Navy) and drama (his Oscar-winning Marty, and From Here to Eternity), the bulldog-like actor had been a staple of movies and TV since the early 1950s. Among his many films are The Catered Affair, The Dirty Dozen, ...
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Ray Bradbury, 91
Ray Bradbury, 91, one of the most popular fantasy writers of the 20th century, died yesterday (June 5). He began writing for sci-fi andmystery magazines in the 1930s; his first short-story collection was published in 1947. Many of his works have been adapted for the movies and TV over the years: Fahrenheit 451, The Martian ...
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Vidal Sassoon, 84
Iconic and revolutionary hairstylist Vidal Sassoon, 84, was found dead today in his Los Angeles home. He had been ill for some time, and no foul play is suspected. Famous for his severe geometric cuts of the 1960s—flattering to so few women—he opened his first London salon in 1954. His 1963 signature bob made him ...
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Maurice Sendak, 83
Children’s-book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, 83, died today, May 8, in Connecticut. His most famous work was the dark fantasy Where the Wild Things Are (1963), which has been spun off into many different mediums. Other books included In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, The Sign on Rosie’s Door, Higglety Pigglety Pop!, The ...