Slim Whitman, Yodeling Country Singer Featured in 'Mars Attacks!", Dead at 90
June, 19, 2013 10:00 am | Comments On #music, slim whitman, slim whitman ripSlim Whitman, whose yodeling vocals sold millions of records and became a TV fixture in the '80s and '90s thanks to his seemingly ubiquitous ads, died Wednesday at age 90, the Associated Press reports.
Whitman's son-in-law Roy Beagle said the singer died of heart failure at the Orange Park Medical Center in Florida.
Born Ottis Dewey Whitman Jr. in Tampa on Jan. 23, 1923, Whitman's decades-long career yielded millions of record sales and produced a number of hits, including "Love Song of the Waterfall" and "Red River Valley."
His "Indian Love Call" which was featured in the 1996 film "Mars Attacks!" (The song fended off the Martian invasion by causing the aliens' heads to explode.)...
Read MoreBuzzFeed Journalist Michael Hastings Dead at 33
June, 18, 2013 4:21 pm | Comments On #buzzfeed, Media, Michael Hastings, RIP
BuzzFeed reporter Michael Hastings died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. He was 33.
BuzzFeed reported in a statement that Hastings was killed in a car accident. Media reports indicate that the accident took place on the 600 block of North Highland Ave. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene of that crash.
LAPD could not confirm to TheWrap that this was Hastings, but the Los Angeles Times reported that the Highland Avenue accident was the only vehicle fatality in Los Angeles that morning....
Read MoreBernie Sahlins, Second City Troupe Founder, Dead at 90
June, 16, 2013 6:32 pm | Comments On #bernie sahlins, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, john candy, TelevisionBernard “Bernie” Sahlins, a founder of the famed Second City improvisational comedy troupe and a producer on the TV show “SCTV,” died Sunday at his home in Chicago. He was 90.
Sahlins founded the Chicago comedy group with Paul Sills (at right with Sahlins in photo above) and Howard Alk in 1959. The improv troupe was a launching pad for a number of early “Saturday Night Live’ performers, including John and James Belushi, John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis and Bill Murray.
“Bernie's track record for discovering future Hollywood megastars was unmatched," one of his discoveries, Tim Kazurinsky, told the Chicago Tribune. “He probably was responsible for the greatest...
Read MoreMaxine Stuart, Actress in Classic 'Twilight Zone' Episode, Dead at 94
June, 12, 2013 12:02 pm | Comments On #eye of the beholder, Maxine Stuart, Television, Twilight ZoneMaxine Stuart, long-time stage, motion picture and daytime drama actress, has died at the age of 94 of natural causes at her Beverly Hills home.
Stuart was nominated for an Emmy for her guest star role as the Piano Teacher in the “Coda” episode of “The Wonder Years” in 1989 and a Soap Opera Digest Award for her work in “The Young and the Restless.”
But perhaps her most iconic role was in the “Twilight Zone” episode entitled, “Eye of the Beholder,” where she played a woman undergoing surgery in a futile attempt to appear “normal,” and appeared wrapped in bandages until the very end of the episode when actress Donna Douglas (still using Stuart’s voice) was revealed under the bandages.
...
Read MoreEsther Williams, Swimmer Turned Movie Star, Dead at 91
June, 06, 2013 10:17 am | Comments On #dead, Esther Williams, MoviesEsther Williams, the professional swimmer who parlayed her skills in the pool into a successful career in films, has died. She was 91.
On screen, Williams helped popularize the so-called "aquamusicals," which paired musical numbers with synchronized swimming. Throughout the 1950s, she was a witty, vivacious and chlorinated presence who was never too far from the diving board in films with titles that positively dripped, like "Million Dollar Mermaid" and "Dangerous When Wet."
She became a top box-office draw and was seen by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as its answer to Sonja Henie, the Olympic figure-skating champion who was a star on the 20th Century Fox lot.
But film...
Read MoreJiah Khan, Bollywood Actress, Found Dead in Apparent Suicide
June, 04, 2013 6:38 am | Comments On #Bollywood, Jiah Khan, Movies, suicideBollywood actress Jiah Khan is dead at the age of 25, according to multiple media reports.
Her body was discovered hanging in her Mumbai home, according to a report by the Guardian. No suicide note was found, but police suspect the actress took her own life.
Khan last appeared in the 2010 comedy "Houseful."
Born Nafisa Khan, the British Indian actress with striking looks and an arresting...
Read More'Days of Our Lives' Casting Director Fran Bascom Dead
June, 03, 2013 5:17 pm | Comments On #fran bascom, TelevisionFran Bascom, the veteran casting director whose credits include "Days of Our Lives," "Designing Women" and "Evening Shade," died Sunday, her sister Lisa Green told TheWrap on Monday.
Bascom's age was unknown.
Also read: Notable Celebrity Deaths of 2013
According to Green, Bascom had not been ill, but had felt under the weather for the past couple of weeks. However, she began to feel ill on Sunday, and was transported to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. Bascom's cause of death has not yet been...
Read MoreJean Stapleton, Edith Bunker on 'All In The Family,' Dead at 90
June, 01, 2013 2:30 pm | Comments On #edith bunker, jean tapleton, Obits, TelevisionJean Stapleton, the award-winning actress who played long-suffering Edith Bunker on the landmark 1970s television series of the "All in the Family," has died of natural causes. She was 90.
Stapleton, born Jeanne Murray, also worked on stage and in film, but was by far best known for her signature wail of "Aaaaaarchie!" on Norman Lear's iconic show about the working class family of Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O'Connor. She won three Emmys and two Golden Globes for her portrayal of Edith.
"It is with great love and heavy hearts that we say farewell to our collective Mother, with a capital M," Stapleton's son John Putch and daughter Pamela Putch, said in a joint statement. "Her devotion to her craft and her family taught us all great life lessons."
The shrill-voiced,...
Read MoreEd Shaughnessy, 'Tonight Show' Drummer for Decades, Dead at 84
May, 26, 2013 11:57 am | Comments On #ed shaugnessey, TelevisionEd Shaughnessy, a drummer on TV's “The Tonight Show” for nearly three decades, has died at the age of 84.
He passed away at his home in Calabasas, a Los Angeles suburb, on Friday according to multiple media reports.
Shaughnessy grew up in New Jersey in the 1930s and began playing drums while in his teens. He soon began playing jazz drums in New York City and became a staff musician at CBS in the 1950s. He also became a well-known big band drummer, playing with stars such as Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey.
Also read: Notable Celebrity Deaths of 2013
In...
Read More'S.W.A.T.' Star Steve Forrest Dies at 87
May, 23, 2013 10:33 am | Comments On #actor, s.w.a.t., steve forrest, Television, television starSteve Forrest, an actor best known for his role as Lt. Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson on ABC’s “S.W.A.T.,” died in Thousand Oaks, Calif., on Saturday. He was 87.
A cause of death was not made available, but he passed away peacefully surrounded by family, according to a statement from his publicist, Amanda Nguyen.
Also read: Notable Celebrity Deaths of 2013
Forrest, a World War II veteran and UCLA graduate, began his acting career in the early '50s after being discovered by actor Gregory Peck...
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