Tag Archives: the 60s

Monkees Bassist Peter Tork Dies At Age 77 [VIDEO]

The Washington Post reports: Peter Tork, a blues and folk musician who became a teeny-bopper sensation as a member of the Monkees, the wisecracking, made-for-TV pop group that imitated and briefly outsold the Beatles, died Feb. 21. He was 77. His death was confirmed by his sister Anne Thorkelson, who did not say where or how he died. Mr. Tork …

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Golden Globes To Launch New Award For Carol Burnett

The Associated Press reports: The Golden Globe Awards will introduce a new TV special achievement trophy at next month’s telecast and name it after its first recipient — comedic icon Carol Burnett. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Tuesday the Carol Burnett Award — the small-screen version of the group’s film counterpart, the Cecil B. DeMille Award — will annually …

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BREAKING: Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin Dies At 76

TMZ reports: Aretha Franklin, known for having one of the greatest voices in music history, and for hits like “Respect,” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” died Thursday after a long battle with cancer, TMZ has learned. Sources close to the singer tell us Aretha passed away in her Detroit home where she was under hospice care. …

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Relatives Say Aretha Franklin Is “Gravely Ill” [VIDEO]

Rolling Stone reports: Aretha Franklin is reportedly “gravely ill” in Detroit, where friends and family have gathered around the Queen of Soul. Showbiz 411 first reported on Franklin’s condition Sunday night, with Detroit news anchor Evrod Cassimy – who broke news of Franklin’s impending retirement in February – confirming that Franklin’s family informed him Monday morning that Franklin is “gravely …

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Jackson Family Patriarch Joe Jackson Dies At 89

People Magazine reports: Joe Jackson, the music manager and father of 11, died early Wednesday morning, TMZ reports. He was 89. The Jackson family patriarch had been battling terminal pancreatic cancer and was “not doing well” as of late, a source previously told PEOPLE. In 1963, Joe noticed his children’s musical talents after he discovered son Tito’s guitar talents. Soon …

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NBC’s Next Live Musical Will Be Hair

From the Hollywood Reporter: Don’t hold your breath for the show’s famous nudity to make its way to broadcast television, but NBC has chosen Hair as its next live musical. The network on Thursday announced that the 50-year-old Broadway hit of the hippie generation will be its latest live staging, with plans for a spring 2019 telecast. That fills the …

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Actress Rose Marie Dies At Age 94

Variety reports: Rose Marie, best known for her role as Sally Rogers on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” who had a nine-decade career in show business, died Thursday in Van Nuys, Calif. She was 94. Publicist Harlan Boll confirmed her death. Rose Marie was Emmy nominated three times for her work on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” in which she …

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Actor/Singer Jim Nabors Dies At Age 87

From the Hollywood Reporter: Jim Nabors, who starred as Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show and on his own sitcom before retiring the wide-eyed, countrified character at the height of his popularity, has died. He was 87. Nabors died early Thursday morning, Hawaii News Now reports. A native of Alabama, Nabors also recorded more than two dozen albums with …

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Charles Manson Dies In Prison At Age 83

The New York Times reports: Charles Manson, one of the most notorious murderers of the 20th century, who was very likely the most culturally persistent and perhaps also the most inscrutable, died on Sunday in Kern County, Calif. He was 83 and had been behind bars for most of his life. He died of natural causes in a hospital, the …

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Boys In The Band Set For Broadway Revival, Cast Includes Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto

Variety reports: Matt Bomer will make his Broadway debut (following his one-night-only appearance in “8“) in “The Boys in the Band,” a new revival of the landmark 1968 drama to be directed by Joe Mantello with a cast that includes Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto and Andrew Rannells. Ryan Murphy, the TV megaproducer (“Glee,” “American Horror Story,” “American Crime Story: The …

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Trump To Release Long Secret JFK Files

USA Today reports: President Trump said Saturday that he will allow more than 3,000 classified files on the JFK assassination to be released next week by the National Archives as ordered by Congress. The classified files were scheduled to be made public by Oct. 26, barring intervention by the president, under the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act …

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Comedian Jerry Lewis Dies At Age 91

Variety reports: Jerry Lewis, the brash slapstick comic who teamed with Dean Martin in the 1950s and later starred in “The Nutty Professor” and “The Bellboy” before launching the Muscular Dystrophy telethon, has died in Las Vegas. He was 91. Over the past 10 years of his life, the cranky icon’s reputation soured as he was forced to apologize for …

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Batman Actor Adam West Dies At Age 88

Variety reports: Adam West — an actor defined and also constrained by his role in the 1960s series “Batman” — died Friday night in Los Angeles. He was 88. A rep said that he died after a short battle with leukemia. “Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight, and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans’ …

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Grace Slick: I Took Chick-Fil-A’s Ad Money For My Song Just So I Could Donate It All To Lambda Legal [VIDEO]

Billboard Magazine reports: Leave it to Grace Slick to make an activist statement by saying “yes” to use of Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” in an ad for fast food chain Chick-fil-A. The co-founder of Starship’s predecessor, 1960s psychedelic group Jefferson Airplane, Slick has penned an op-ed explaining her decision to authorize a license of the 1987 hit to …

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Leonard Cohen Dies At Age 82 [VIDEO]

Rolling Stone reports: Leonard Cohen, the hugely influential singer and songwriter whose work spanned nearly 50 years, has died at the age of 82. Cohen’s label, Sony Music Canada, confirmed his death on the singer’s Facebook page. “It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away,” the statement read. “We have …

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Famed Liberal Activist Tom Hayden Dies At 76

The Chicago Tribune reports: Tom Hayden, the preeminent 1960s radical who roused a generation of alienated young Americans, became a symbol of militancy by leading riotous protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and added Hollywood glamour to his mystique with an activist partnership and marriage to film star Jane Fonda, died Oct. 23 in Santa Monica, Calif. He was …

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Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize For Literature

Reuters reports: Bob Dylan, regarded as the voice of a generation for his influential songs from the 1960s onwards, has won the Nobel Prize for Literature in a surprise decision that made him the only singer-songwriter to win the award. The 75-year-old Dylan – who won the prize for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition” …

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Dick Van Dyke Performs Chitty Chitty Bang Bang With His Barbershop Quartet For Denny’s Diners [VIDEO]

90 years old and he’s still got it! TIME recaps: Dick Van Dyke just can’t stop bursting into song. This time, the 90-year-old actor decided to entertain his fellow breakfast diners at a Denny’s restaurant in southern California with a casual but peppy performance of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” the title song from the 1968 classic movie of the same …

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Beehive Hairstyle Creator Dies At Age 98

From the Associated Press: Margaret Vinci Heldt, who became a hairstyling celebrity after she created the famous beehive hairdo in 1960, has died at age 98. Ahlgrim Funeral Home in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst said Monday that Heldt died Friday at a senior living community. The beehive — a tall, conical woman’s hairstyle — became a cultural phenomenon during …

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Mr. Ed Star Alan Young Dies At Age 96

From the Los Angeles Times: Alan Young, the amiable comedic actor who became a TV icon in the early 1960s starring opposite a talking horse named Mister Ed, died Thursday. He was 96. Young, whose later career included doing the voices for Scrooge McDuck and other cartoon characters, died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Home, the …

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