Ken Ober, a comedian best known for hosting MTV's late-'80s game show "Remote Control," has died.

Ober's reps confirm that he died over the weekend at the age of 52. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Lee Kernis, a manager at Brillstein Entertainment Partners who represented Ober for more than 20 years, told the New York Times that Ober was found dead on Sunday. He said Ober had last been heard from on Saturday night, when he spoke to a friend and complained of a headache and flu-like symptoms.

Ober's career began in the mid-1980s with a turn on talent competition "Star Search."

Starting in 1987, he hosted five seasons of "Remote Control," which was part of the first group of TV series created by MTV. The quiz show tested contestants' pop-culture knowledge on a set that looked like an overgrown frat boy's basement.

Ober would ask questions about celebrities, movies, TV shows and music videos of the contestants, who sat on recliners with food and drinks on trays in front of them.

Ober went on to host other game shows, including "Smush" and "Make Me Laugh."

He later worked as a supervising producer on Comedy Central's "Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn," a consulting producer on CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and a writer and producer on Comedy Central's "Mind of Mencia."

He also co-hosted a talk show on Los Angeles radio station KLSX 97.1, "Ober and Olsen," with Susan Olsen, best known as Cindy Brady on the original "The Brady Bunch."

Here is a clip from "Remote Control's" debut episode.

Edward Woodward, the star of films including "Breaker Morant" and "The Wicker Man" and TV series "The Equalizer," died Monday. He was 79.

His agent, Janet Glass of the Eric Glass Ltd. agency, said Woodward died in a hospital in Cornwall after an illness.

He won an Emmy Award in 1990 for "Remembering World War II" and a Golden Globe in 1987 for "The Equalizer," which ran for 88 episodes from 1985 to 1989 on CBS. He also was nominated five times for Emmys for "Equalizer."

Woodward played roles in productions ranging from the popular British soap opera "EastEnders" to productions of Shakespeare. He also appeared in more than 40 films.

In a career that began in 1946 in a regional production of "A Kiss for Cinderella," his major breakthrough came with a lead role in ITV espionage drama "Callan," playing a reluctant hitman for a shadowy branch of British intelligence services.

Created as television's answer to James Bond, "Callan" aired on Britain's ITV from 1967 to 1972, and Woodward won a BAFTA Award for best actor for the show in 1970.

His last TV appearance was in the BBC One soap "EastEnders," earlier this year.

The show's executive producer, Diederick Santer, said: "All of us at 'EastEnders' are very sad to learn that Edward has passed away. We were thrilled when he joined us for a stint of six episodes earlier this year. He was a delight to work with, and delivered a characteristically touching and layered performance."

Woodward's last film appearances were in "Hot Fuzz" in 2007 and "Congregation of Ghosts," now in post-production.

"I think I've probably more television than any actor living," Woodward said in a 1987 interview with the Associated Press. "I've done over 2,000, could be 3,000 now, television productions."

"I suppose there is also the feeling that it is the largest medium by far for information, education and above all, entertainment," he added. "And after all, that's what an actor's life is all about. Getting work and entertaining people."

He also recorded several albums of music and poetry, including "Love Is the Key" in 1977 and "The Jewel That Was Ours" in 1994.

Woodward is survived by his second wife, actress Michele Dotrice, their daughter, and two sons and a daughter from his first marriage, which ended in divorce.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.

Film festival programmer, historian and author Ken Wlaschin has died. He was 75.

He died at home in Palm Springs, according to Variety.

Wlaschin, a Nebraska native, was the programmer of the National Film Theater in London as well as the London Film Festival from 1969-1984. The British Film Institute website says he was the longest-serving programmer in either position and "made an enormous contribution to the international reputation of the NFT and the LFF."

Returning to the U.S., he became interim director of Hollywood-based Filmex. Starting in 1987, he programmed the AFI Film Festival.

In the '90s, Wlaschin became director of creative affairs at the American Film Institute and later vice chairman of the National Center for Film and Video Preservation at the AFI.

Wlaschin was the author of numerous books on cinema and opera, including "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Great Movie Stars and Their Films" (Bonanza Books, 1980), "Opera on Screen" (Beachwood Press, 1997); and "The Encyclopedia of Opera on Screen" (Yale University Press, 2004).

The BFI website says Wlaschin's family in Palm Springs request a donation to a local hospice in lieu of flowers.

He is survived by his wife and son.

Paul Wendkos, who directed the 1959 surfing classic "Gidget" and two sequels, died early Thursday at his home in Malibu.

Wendkos, who was 87 (although some reports put his age at 84), had been ill for several years following a stroke.

"Gidget," which starred Sandra Dee and James Darren, was followed by "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" in 1961and "Gidget Goes to Rome" in 1963.

Wendkos' films helped popularize surfing in the U.S. and around the world.

Wendkos was a prolific director, with credits on more than 110 projects, including films, TV movies and miniseries.

He directed primetime network shows including "Playhouse 90," "Route 66," "Naked City," "The Untouchables," "Dr. Kildare," "Ben Casey," "The Big Valley," "The FBI," "I Spy," "Rawhide" and "Hawaii Five-O."

In 1977, he produced and directed the miniseries "Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue."

Wendkos was nominated for an Emmy Award for directing 1988's "The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story," starring Lindsay Wagner.

His feature film credits include 1961's "Angel Baby," with George Hamilton and Mercedes McCambridge, and 1971's "The Mephisto Waltz," starring Alan Alda and Jacqueline Bisset.

He is survived by his wife, producer Lin Bolen, a former NBC programming executive; son Jordan Wendkos; and granddaughter Justine Wendkos.

It will be interesting to see what shows up at the funeral.

Sheldon Dorf, a passionate collector of comic books who in 1970 founded the fanboy delight, Comic-Con, died on Nov. 3 in San Diego. He was 76.   The cause was complications of diabetes, said his brother, Michael.   Dorf was an avid reader of newspaper comic strips and would send fan letters to cartoonists, including Chester Gould, who created “Dick Tracy,” and Milton Caniff, who created “Terry and the Pirates.” A trip with his father to Gould’s Illionois home tutned into a long frienship with the cartoonist.   Young Dorf turned this and other friendships into a life-long passion. Later, at 14 he asked two comic enthusiast friends if they would be interested in participating in a comic convention. “Of course we said yes, “one of them recalled to the New York Times.   Helping to seal the deal was Dorf’s ability to deliver comic-industry giants to his audience. Dorf simply telephoned Marvel icon Jack Kirby, perhaps the industry’s most influential artist, who had recently moved to Irvine, Calif., and had him speak to the boys. Later they visited him in person.   Dorf was born in Detroit on July 5, 1933, and discovered his love of comics early. “When we were kids, we’d go to the drugstore and try to get there the day the comic shipment arrived,” his brother said.   "The guy just lived and breathed comics his whole life," said Mark Evanier, a TV and comic book writer. "The Con was built on his passion and his cheerleading."   A Detroit native, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago and worked as a freelance art designer in New York. But his life was changed early in 1970, when he helped his parents retired to San Diego from Detroit, where he ran "Triple Fan Fest," a convention dedicated to comics, sci-fi science fiction. Once in California, he and bookstore owner Ken Krueger and a band of teenaged enthusiasts organized the first Golden State Comic Con, at the U.S. Grant Hotel, Aug. 1-3, 1970   It drew around 300 fans, but it quickly expanded to included thousands of fantasy-garbed fanboys looking for the latest incarnations of their heroes. It now previews of not just comics but, more importantly, videogames and fantasy- and comic-based movies with not just comic stars but major movie and TV celebrities.   Last year 126,000 people attended the four-day event at the San Diego Convention Center, according to David Glanzer, Comic-Con’s director of marketing and public relations. “This convention made a major difference in the economy of San Diego,” Mark Evanier, a comic-book historian who has attended the show annually since it began, told the Times. It proved, he said, “what a convention could do for the local economy and to revitalize a city.”   Last year's event, for example, included a sneak peak at James Cameron's long-awaited "Avatar," Jon Favreau's "Iron Man 2," "Zombieland" and interviews with Seth MacFarlane and the cast of "Twilight."    When the legendary artist Kirby created the New Gods, a race of good and evil beings on parallel worlds,  for DC Comics in 1971, he used Dorf and his young friends  as models for the San Diego Five-String Mob, a rock band that was also a team of assassins for the fearsome Darkseid. He also used Dorf as the basis for Himon, an inventor among the New Gods.   Dorf also served as the model for Thud Shelley, a football player in the “Steve Canyon” newspaper strip. He was that strip’s letterer for 14 years.

David Lloyd, writer of "Chuckles Bites the Dust," the classic "Mary Tyler Moore Show" episode that saw the WJM-TV crew struggling to contain the urge to joke about the comic circumstances surrounding the death of Chuckles the Clown, has died. He was 75.

As viewers will remember, in the popular '70s sitcom, Chuckles was shucked by an elephant while wearing a peanut costume in a parade. At episode's end, Moore, who had previously lectured her stationmates for poking fun, finds herself erupting in laughter during the minister's eulogy.

Lloyd, who received an Emmy Award in 1976 for penning what is routinely ranked as one of the top television episodes of all time, died Wednesday after a long illness.

In a tribute to Lloyd on his personal blog, friend and "Cheers" co-writer Ken Levine wrote: "Most of what I learned about rewriting and pitching in a room I learned from observing David Lloyd. There’s never been anybody like him. He was a cyclone. Once a week, on his night to consult, he’d sweep into the room (wearing his customary white shirt with red pinstripes) and completely dominate it. Always bringing positive energy, very strong opinions (about EVERYTHING), hilarious anecdotes, and the jokes that would get the best laughs in the show."

In a career that spanned more than 30 years, Lloyd would go on to receive two more Emmy Awards (one more for his work on "Mary Tyler Moore" and another for "Frasier") and 10 nominations. He also wrote for "The Bob Newhart Show," "Cheers," "Wings" and "Taxi."

Lloyd's son Christopher joined his father in the writers room as the showrunner for "Frasier" and later the creator of ABC's new hit "Modern Family."

In addition to his son Christopher, Lloyd is survived by his wife, Arline; and his other children, Julie, Stephen (a  producer on "How I Met Your Mother"), Amy and Douglas; his sister, Sally Lloyd; and two grandchildren.

Lloyd, a Yale graduate, got his start crafting jokes for Jack Paar and "The Tonight Show" in New York before moving west to work on Moore's show. Though he would go on to further critical and commercial success, it was his existentially brilliant work on "Chuckles" that ensured him television immortality.

Don't believe it? Watch for yourself.

"Chuckles" funeral below:

Charles Conrad, a distinguished acting teacher, died from kidney failure Oct. 29 in Port Townsend, Wash. He was 84.

Conrad coached many young actors in theater, film and TV including Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Kim Basinger, Dennis Quaid, Michelle Pfieffer, Diana Ross and Robert Duvall.

Read more in Variety.

Nick Counter, who as president of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) led the Hollywood studios through nearly three decades of labor negotiations, died Friday night at West Hills Hosptial in Los Angeles.  He was 69.

No cause of death was given, according to an AMPTP spokesperson.

Counter, who was known to be ill, had retired in March of this year. For 27 years, from its formation in 1982 until then, Counter oversaw the AMPTP and took a lead role in shaping more than 300 major guild and union agreements. He achieved perhaps his greatest prominence as the chief negotiator for the studios during the 100-day writer's strike in 2008.

"Nick's passing is a profound loss for the entire entertainment community," AMPTP President Carol Lombardini said in a statement. "We will all remember Nick for his passionate leadership, which was always guided by a resolute sense of fair play and an earnest desire that everyone come out a winner. Nick had a particular proficiency for developing consensus among diverse points of view and he used this skill to great advantage in negotiating hundreds of collective bargaining agreements that led to a sustained era of labor peace."

"We mourn Nick Counter's death and extend our deepest sympathy to his family," said Barry M. Meyer, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros. "He was a brilliant negotiator who guided this industry through historic change and never lost his desire to be fair to all involved. We will miss him very much."

Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), said:  "Nick was a true gentleman, who fought vigorously but always professionally for the interests of the motion picture and television companies in labor negotiations over many, many years.  He always treated people with dignity and
respect in the tough circumstances of these negotiations.  He knew that you could be thoughtful and kind even when the issues were difficult, and for that he was respected.  Nick was a man of extraordinary character, dignity and ability, and he leaves a truly wonderful legacy for us all."

And Writers Guild of America, West and Writers Guild of America, East issued this statement from presidents John Wells and Michael Winship on behalf of the WGAW and WGAE: "The Writers Guilds of America, West and East mark the passing of Nick Counter, longtime president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and convey their deepest sympathy to his family."

Prior to being named AMPTP president, Counter served as outside legal counsel for its predecessor, the Association of Motion Picture & Television Producers, for 10 years.

In addition to developing a reputation as a tough negotiator, Counter was an amateur boxer and a star high school football player. His on athletic skills helped earn him a full scholarship to the University of Colorado, where he played halfback and studied electrical engineering. According to a Los Angeles Times profile, he bore the scars from his playing days on the bridge of his nose, which was flattened accidently in a tackle.

Counter also earned a law degree from Stanford University in 1966 and practiced law at Rutan and Tucker, before going to Mitchell,Silberberg & Knupp where the association was one of his principal clients.

Counter is survived by his wife, Jackie, his daughter, Samantha, and son-in-law, Alex, his son, Nicholas, and grandson, Jack.