• Obit: Agent Sam Cohn

    Legendary agent Sam Cohn, who cast a large shadow over the agency business as a whole and ICM in particular, died Wednesday in New York following a brief illness. He was 79. Cohn, who retired from ICM in February, had a list of clients over the years that was unmatched. Names included Meryl Streep, Woody Allen,…

  • Obit: Comic Actor Dom DeLuise

    Larger than life funnyman Dom DeLuise died in his sleep Monday night at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, according to his son Michael DeLuise. He was 75 and had suffered from a long undisclosed illness. DeLuise's agent Robert Malcolm told the Associated Press that the actor had high blood pressure and diabetes but "seemed…

  • Obit: Las Vegas Star Danny Gans

    Singer-impressionist-comedian Danny Gans — barely known outside of Las Vegas but one of that city’s biggest draws — died early Friday morning in his Vegas home. He was 52; no cause of death has yet been announced. He complained of shortness of breath in at about 3:30 a.m., but was dead by the time paramedics…

  • Obit: NBC VP of Drama Programming Nora O’Brien

    NBC vice president of drama programming Nora O'Brien collapsed and died Wednesday night on the set of the NBC pilot "Parenthood." Her death was due to a brain aneurysm. She was 44. O'Brien had been VP original programming for four years at the SciFi channel, where she worked on hits like "Stargate" and "Stargate Atlantis."…

  • Obit: Actress Bea Arthur

    Beatrice Arthur, the tall, husky voiced actress who made a career out of playing acerbic, strong-willed women died Saturday of cancer in her Los Angeles home. She was 86. During her long career, she played everything from Lucy Brown in the U.S. premiere of the U.S. premiere of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s "Threepenny Opera"…

  • Obit: Director Ken Annakin

    Director Ken Annakin has died at the age of 94. The British-born filmmaker is best known for directing the 1965 World War II epic "The Battle of the Bulge" with Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Robert Shaw and Telly Savalas. Annakin's daughter, Deborah Peters, says he died at his Beverly Hills home Wednesday night. Peters says…

  • Obit: Brit Cinematographer Jack Cardiff

    Oscar-winning British cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who was also nominated as a director, died after a short illness in his home at Cambridgeshire in southeast England on Wednesday. He was 94. Cardiff won his Academy Award for the 1947 film "Black Narcissus." He received two more nominations, for "War and Peace" in 1956 and "Fanny" in…

  • Obit: Jody McCrea, ‘Beach Party’ Star

    Jody McCrea, best known for his roles as a muscle-bound surfer in the "Beach Party" movies in the 1960s, died on April 4 in New Mexico, of cardiac arrest. He was 74. McCrea was the son of movie stars Joel McCrea and Frances Dee. In addition to the "Beach Party" comedies "Muscle Beach Party," "Bikini…

  • Obit: J.G. Ballard, Wrote ‘Empire of the Sun’

    British writer J.G. Ballard, a novelist whose work was turned into films by such directors as Steven Spielberg and David Cronenberg,  died Sunday, his agent said. He was 78. Ballard had been suffering from prostate cancer diagnosed in 2006. It was not immediately clear where he died. He was best known for the autobiographical novel…

  • Obit: Peter Rogers, Produced ‘Carry On’ Series

    Peter Rogers, producer of the popular British "Carry On" films, has died. He was 95. Rogers died Tuesday at his home in Gerrards Cross, northwest of London. He produced all 31 of the innuendo-laden "Carry On" films, beginning with "Carry On Sergeant" in 1958 and including "Carry On Nurse" and "Carry On Doctor," which featured…

  • Obit: Marilyn Chambers, Porn Star, Found Dead at 56

    Marilyn Chambers, the Ivory Snow model who became a porn sensation, was found dead in her Southern California home April 12. She was 56. Chambers was found unresponsive in her Canyon Country home at 8:15 p.m. Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman Ed Winter told the Los Angeles Times that the cause of death was under…

  • Obit: Dave Arneson, ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Co-Creator

    Dave Arneson, co-creator of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, died after a two-year battle with cancer in St. Paul, Minnesota, his family said Thursday. He was 61. Arneson was a tabletop wargamer who enjoyed reenacting historical battles with miniature armies at the time he met his other Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax in…

  • Obit: Joseph Helfgot, Market Research Guru

    Updated Thursday morning: Joseph Helfgot, founder of the leading movie research firm MarketCast, a sociologist-turned-sex-advice-columnist-turned-Hollywood marketing guru, died from complications of a heart transplant on Wednesday in Boston. He was 60. Helfgot founded MarketCast in 1985 and sold the company to Reed Business Information in 2000, but stayed on as president, while moving his family…

  • Obit: Fortissimo Films’ Wouter Barendrecht

    Fortissimo Films co-founder and chairman Wouter Barendrecht died Sunday in Bangkok of heart failure. He was 43. Barendrecht was in Thailand to screen a rough cut of Fortissimo’s latest film, "Nymph," and had just left a busy Filmart in Hong Kong. Barendrecht, who spent the past 19 years with Fortissimo and guided such Asian films…

  • Obit: Jazz Flutist Bud Shank

    Bud Shank, a flutist and alto saxophonist who worked with a variety of jazz greats as well as famous pop acts such as the Mamas and the Papas, has died. He was 82. Shank died Thursday of pulmonary failure at his home in Tucson, Arizona, according to his Web site and JazzTimes magazine. Shank first…