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Chris Kelly of rap group Kris Kross dies at 34

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly, one half of the beloved 1990s rap duo Kris Kross, is dead at 34.

Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith, two teenagers whose gimmick included wearing baggy clothes backwards, rose to international stardom in 1992 with their multiplatinum debut album, "Totally Krossed Out," which carried their hit single, "Jump."

According to the authorities, Kelly died of an apparent drug overdose on Wednesday after being taken to an Atlanta hospital.

Kelly's mother, Donna Kelly Pratte, and music producer Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def label have released the following statement:

“It is with deep sadness that we announce that our beloved Chris Kelly has passed away on May 1. To millions of fans worldwide, he was the trendsetting, backwards pants-wearing one-half of Kris Kross who loved making music. But to us, he was just Chris – the kind, generous and fun-loving life of the party. Though he was only with us a short time, we feel blessed to have been able to share some incredible moments with him. His legacy will live on through his music, and we will forever love him.”

Remembering the music of George Jones

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:08:00 +0000

George Jones, the country superstar who consistently had No. 1 songs from the 1950s to 1990s, has died at 81. The musician's appeal crossed genres, as he was an inspiration to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Costello and James Taylor. Below are some of his best tunes from across the decades:

"He Stopped Loving Her Today"

George Jones - LIVE He Stopped Loving Her Today.3gp from Dana on Vimeo.

"The Grand Tour"

"I Don't Need Your Rocking Chair"

"She's My Rock"

"Race Is On"

Remembering Jonathan Winters: Memorable television moments

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:33:00 +0000

Jonathan Winters, who was one of the most celebrated improv comics in America, died Thursday night at 87. As those who grew up watching him on TV shows such as "Mork & Mindy," "The Hollywood Squares" and "The Dean Martin Show" and in the film “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" mourn the loss of one of alternative comedy's pioneers, many will revisit some of Winters' most memorable moments.

Winters could improvise with literally anything--including a set of pen and pencils:

and just a stick:

In fact, Winters never read from a script, even when on "The Dean Martin Show":

Fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer dies at 81

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 17:45:00 +0000

MIAMI (AP) -- Lilly Pulitzer, a Palm Beach socialite turned designer whose tropical print dresses became a sensation in the 1960s and later a fashion classic, died Sunday. She was 81.

Pulitzer, who married into the famous newspaper family, got her start in fashion by spilling orange juice on her clothes. A rich housewife with time to spare and a husband who owned orange groves, she opened a juice stand in 1959, and asked her seamstress to make dresses in colorful prints that would camouflage fruit stains.

The dresses hung on a pipe behind her juice stand and soon outsold her drinks. The company's dresses, developed with the help of partner Laura Robbins, a former fashion editor, soon caught on.

"Lilly has been a true inspiration to us and we will miss her," according to a statement on the Lilly Pulitzer brand Facebook page. "In the days and weeks ahead we will celebrate all that Lilly meant to us. Lilly was a true original who has brought together generations through her bright and happy mark on the world."

Her death was confirmed by Gale Schiffman of Quattlebaum Funeral and Cremation Services in West Palm Beach. She did not know Pulitzer's cause of death.

RIP Roger Ebert: Movie criticism’s Great Communicator

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 01:10:00 +0000

Roger Ebert, who died on Thursday at age 70 after a long and debilitating struggle with cancer that never sapped his spirit, was the Great Communicator of movie criticism, a genuine and generous man who became the greatest popular advocate the form has ever had. He reached millions of readers with his straightforward prose, and a vastly larger universe of TV viewers in the ‘80s and ‘90s with his gruff but avuncular presence. Even if you’re too young to have grown up watching Ebert spar on the small screen with his late friend and rival Gene Siskel, you still know who he is. Virtually alone among his generation of journalists, Ebert saw the substantive potential of social media early on and translated his fame in print and on TV to the Internet, becoming a Twitter trailblazer and a mentor who showed the rest of us in this imploding profession not just how to survive but how to prosper in the digital age.

Film critic Roger Ebert dies at 70

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:00:00 +0000

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that legendary film critic Roger Ebert has died. Ebert was 70 years old.

The Sun-Times, home of Ebert's review column for 46 years, wrote on Thursday that Ebert "was without question the nation’s most prominent and influential film critic." He "had been in poor health over the past decade, battling cancers of the thyroid and salivary gland."

The tragic news comes only two days after the Ebert announced that he was cutting back from writing reviews due to his ailing health. The first-ever film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize, Ebert had ambitious plans to relaunch his web site and reconnect with audiences through a campaign to bring back his PBS show "At the Movies."

New York Times obit for rocket scientist introduces her as mom and cook first

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:15:00 +0000

Yvonne Brill, a NASA jet propulsion scientist who won the agency's Distinguished Public Service Medal in 2001 and was honored with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by Barack Obama in 2011, died on March 27 at 88 years old. The New York Times honored her death and contribution to science with an obituary that read, "Yvonne Brill, a Pioneering Rocket Scientist, Dies at 88."

However, instead of highlighting her career accomplishments in its opening, the Times opened with Brill's cooking skills:

She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job and took eight years off from work to raise three children. “The world’s best mom,” her son Matthew said.

The obituary then casually segued into her other accomplishments--you know, those non-mom activities that earned her an obituary in the New York Times at all:

But Yvonne Brill, who died on Wednesday at 88 in Princeton, N.J., was also a brilliant rocket scientist, who in the early 1970s invented a propulsion system to help keep communications satellites from slipping out of their orbits.

Grammy Award-winning producer Phil Ramone dies at 79

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:04:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) -- Phil Ramone, the masterful Grammy Award-winning engineer, arranger and producer whose platinum touch included recordings with Ray Charles, Billy Joel and Paul Simon, died Saturday of complications stemming from heart surgery, his family said. He was 79.

Ramone, who lived in Wilton, Conn., had elective surgery on Feb. 27 to prevent an aortic aneurysm, son Matt Ramone said. He later developed pneumonia and died Saturday morning at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the son said.

Few in the recording industry enjoyed a more spectacular and diverse career. Phil Ramone won 14 competitive Grammy Awards and one for lifetime achievement. Worldwide sales for his projects topped 100 million. He was at ease with rock, jazz, swing and pop, working with Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, Elton John and Tony Bennett, Madonna and Lou Reed.

One of the biggest names not to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ramone was on hand for such classic albums as The Band's "The Band" and Bob Dylan's "Blood On the Tracks." He produced three records that went on to win Grammys for album of the year - Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years," Joel's "52nd Street" and Charles' "Genius Loves Company."

Chavez last words: “Please don’t let me die”

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 22:34:00 +0000

According to reports from a Venezuelan general, as Hugo Chavez passed away, he whispered, "I don't want to die. Please don't let me die."

Gen. Jose Ornella told the AP that the president's last words indicated how much "he loved his country" and wanted to keep living for it. Regardless of one's opinion of the leader, his plea for life in his final moment is stirring, if not out of keeping with the strong political figure he cut.

His last words inspired us to recall some other famous and infamous last utterances -- the stuff of fact and legend:

[slide_show id=13221932]

Bobby Rogers, co-founder of Motown Group The Miracles, dies

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:40:00 +0000

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) -- Bobby Rogers, a founding member of Motown group The Miracles and a songwriting collaborator with Smokey Robinson, died Sunday at his suburban Detroit home. He was 73.

Motown Museum board member Allen Rawls said Rogers died about 6 a.m. in Southfield. Rogers had been ill for several years.

Rogers formed the group in 1956 with cousin Claudette Rogers, Pete Moore, Ronnie White and Robinson. Their hits included "Shop Around," `'You've Really Got a Hold on Me," `'The Tracks of My Tears," `'Going to a Go-Go," `'I Second That Emotion" and "The Tears of a Clown."

"Another soldier in my life has fallen. Bobby Rogers was my brother and a really good friend," Robinson said Sunday in a statement. "He and I were born on the exact same day in the same hospital in Detroit. I am really going to miss him. I loved him very much."

Roger's cousin Claudette told the Detroit Free Press that everyone was drawn to his personality.

"People always commented on the tall one with the glasses," she said. "He was personable, approachable and he loved talking to the women, loved talking to the guys, loved to dance, loved to sing, loved to perform. That was the joy of his life."

American classical pianist Van Cliburn dies at 78

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:11:00 +0000

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Van Cliburn, the internationally celebrated pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition helped thaw the Cold War and launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock-star status, died Wednesday after a fight with bone cancer. He was 78.

Cliburn died at his home in Fort Worth surrounded by loved ones, said his publicist and longtime friend Mary Lou Falcone.

"Van Cliburn was an international legend for over five decades, a great humanitarian and a brilliant musician whose light will continue to shine through his extraordinary legacy," Falcone said in a statement. "He will be missed by all who knew and admired him, and by countless people he never met."

Cliburn made what would be his last public appearance in September at the 50th anniversary of the prestigious piano competition named for him. Speaking to the audience in Fort Worth, he saluted the many past contestants, the orchestra and the city. "Never forget: I love you all from the bottom of my heart, forever," he said to a roaring standing ovation.

Ed Koch, iconic NYC mayor, dies at 88

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:27:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Mayor Ed Koch, the combative, acid-tongued politician who rescued the city from near-financial ruin during a three-term City Hall run in which he embodied New York chutzpah for the rest of the world, died Friday. He was 88.

Koch died at 2 a.m., spokesman George Arzt said. The funeral will be Monday at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.

After leaving City Hall in January 1990, Koch battled assorted health problems and heart disease.

The larger-than-life Koch, who breezed through the streets of New York flashing his signature thumbs-up sign, won a national reputation with his feisty style. "How'm I doing?" was his trademark question to constituents, although the answer mattered little to Koch. The mayor always thought he was doing wonderfully.

Bald and bombastic, paunchy and pretentious, the city's 105th mayor was quick with a friendly quip and equally fast with a cutting remark for his political enemies.

"You punch me, I punch back," Koch once memorably observed. "I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag."

The mayor dismissed his critics as "wackos," waged verbal war with developer Donald Trump ("piggy") and mayoral successor Rudolph Giuliani ("nasty man"), lambasted the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and once reduced the head of the City Council to tears.

Robert Chew, actor on “The Wire,” dies at 52

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:54:00 +0000

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Robert Chew, who played Proposition Joe on the HBO series "The Wire," has died. He was 52.

His sister, Clarice Chew, said he suffered a heart attack and died at his Baltimore home Thursday.

Robert Chew grew up in Baltimore and studied music at Morgan State University for two years. His sister said he worked as music director for the Arena Players community theater.

The character Prop Joe was a highly intelligent and ruthless yet polite and diplomatic Baltimore drug lord. Another sister, Maureen Brown, said strangers would approach Chew on the street in Baltimore and tell him what a great job he did in that role.

He also appeared in TV shows "The Corner" and "Homicide: Life on the Street" and the 2004 TV movie "Something the Lord Made."

Japanese film director Nagisa Oshima dies at 80

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:30:00 +0000

TOKYO (AP) -- Nagisa Oshima, a Japanese director internationally acclaimed for his films "Empire of Passion" and "In the Realm of the Senses," has died of pneumonia. He was 80.

His office, Oshima Productions, said Oshima died Tuesday afternoon at a hospital near Tokyo after being in and out of hospital since he was struck by a stroke more than a decade ago.

A former student radical from Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto, Oshima debuted in 1959 with "A Town of Love and Hope," quickly earning a reputation of a "new wave" director with social and political themes during the 1960, often depicting youths raging against the society. He tackled controversial social issues throughout his career, ranging from capital punishment and racism to homosexuality.

But he is probably best remembered for his 1976 film "In the Realm of the Senses," a story based on a psychotic murder case set in pre-World War II Japan, which stirred public indecency debate in Japan and elsewhere because of explicit sex scenes. Two years later, Oshima won best director award at the Cannes International Film Festival with "Empire of Passion."

Award-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer dies

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 15:46:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer, whose in-depth non-fiction spanned presidential politics and the game of baseball, has died. He was 62.

His agent, Philippa Brophy, says Cramer died Monday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from complications of lung cancer. He lived with his wife, Joan, on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Cramer won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for his reports from the Middle East while with The Philadelphia Inquirer.

But he was also known for a best-selling biography of New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio, a profile of another baseball star, Ted Williams, in Esquire Magazine and his book, "What It Takes: The Way to the White House," which provided a detailed, behind-the-scenes account of the 1988 U.S. presidential election.

Architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable dies at 91

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:03:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ada Louise Huxtable, who turned her love and appreciation of the built environment into a pioneering and prize-winning career as an architecture critic, has died at age 91.

Her attorney, Robert Shapiro, said Huxtable died Monday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan after an illness.

Huxtable began working at The New York Times in 1963 and was a groundbreaker in bringing architecture criticism to an American newspaper. In her time there, she also was the first winner of the Pulitzer Prize for criticism, in 1970.

Huxtable, a native New Yorker, later went to work for The Wall Street Journal and had pieces published as recently as last month.

She looked at buildings and architecture for more than the actual physical design but also for the meaning and importance of the structures in their environment.

In the Dec. 3 piece for The Journal, she took on - and found lacking - efforts to renovate the main New York Public Library building.

Der Spiegel mistakenly publishes George H. W. Bush obit

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:54:00 +0000

Some very embarrassed staff at top German publication Der Spiegel must have missed the Bush family announced that George H.W. was recovering from his recent illness. The newspaper put up and obituary for the former president on its website before the mistake was rectified within minutes.

According to the AP, the article described Bush Sr. as '“a colorless politician” whose image only improved when it was compared to the later presidency of his son, George W. Bush.'

Bush Sr., 88, who suffers from a form of Parkinson's disease, has been in and out of Houston’s Methodist Hospital since early November, battling a severe cough. He left intensive care on Saturday.

Der Spiegel's Twitter feed later apologized for the "technical mistake," noting that obituaries for well-known politicians and celebrities are typically prepared in advance of their death.

Character actor Charles Durning dies at 89

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 14:13:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Charles Durning grew up in poverty, lost five of his nine siblings to disease, barely lived through D-Day and was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge.

His hard life and wartime trauma provided the basis for a prolific 50-year career as a consummate Oscar-nominated character actor, playing everyone from a Nazi colonel to the pope to Dustin Hoffman's would-be suitor in "Tootsie."

Durning, who died Monday at age 89 in New York, got his start as an usher at a burlesque theater in Buffalo, N.Y. When one of the comedians showed up too drunk to go on, Durning took his place. He would recall years later that he was hooked as soon as he heard the audience laughing.

He told The Associated Press in 2008 that he had no plans to stop working. "They're going to carry me out, if I go," he said.

Durning's longtime agent and friend, Judith Moss, told The Associated Press that he died of natural causes in his home in the borough of Manhattan.

"Not only was Charlie a World War II hero but he was also a hero to his family. Charlie loved Christmas and if he could have chosen a time to pass, he would have chosen this day," said a statement from his stepdaughter, Anita Gregory, released Tuesday by Ana Martinez, spokeswoman for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

Remembering Oscar Niemeyer

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 20:30:00 +0000

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Internationally renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer was being honored Thursday with a memorial in Brasilia, the modernist Brazilian capital he helped designed out of the country's vast interior plain with signature buildings of flowing concrete and grand, sweeping curves.

Niemeyer's remains were flown by presidential plane to the capital from his native city Rio de Janeiro, where he died Wednesday night at age 104. Elisa Barboux, a spokeswoman for the Hospital Samaritano in Rio, said the cause of death was a respiratory infection.

After the flight in the plane loaned by President Dilma Rousseff, the cremated remains of the groundbreaking architect were to rest in the presidential palace, a deceptively simple building of glass and concrete that seems nearly weightless, an airy glass structure held aloft by vast, curving white pillars. After a vigil and public visitation, his ashes will be returned to Rio for burial Friday.

Rio's governor, Sergio Cabral, called for three days of mourning. "His manner was gentle, his convictions were firm, and he was loved by the Brazilian people," Cabral said in a statement.

Rupert Murdoch’s mother dies at 103

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:07:00 +0000

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, a prominent Australian philanthropist and mother of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has died at age 103.

News Ltd., the Australian media company headed by her son, confirmed her death late Wednesday.

She died peacefully surrounded by family members in her garden estate outside Melbourne.

She had been hospitalized in September after a bad fall in which she broke her leg.

Rupert Murdoch said in a statement issued on behalf of the family that "We have lost the most wonderful mother but we are all grateful to have had her love and wisdom for so many years."

She has 77 direct descendants, including 50 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.