Tag Archives: obituary

CNN reports: The body found at a Southern California lake has been identified as former “Glee” actress Naya Rivera, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said during a press conference Monday. The body was discovered Monday morning at Lake Piru, where it was found floating in the northeast area of the lake, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said. “We are confident …

People Magazine reports: Kelly Preston has died. She was 57. “On the morning of July 12, 2020, Kelly Preston, adored wife and mother, passed away following a two-year battle with breast cancer,” a family representative tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Choosing to keep her fight private, she had been undergoing medical treatment for some time, supported by her closest family and friends,” …

The Associated Press reports: Jonathan Sackler, one of the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, has died, the company confirmed. Sackler died June 30, according to a court filing. He was 65 and the cause of death was cancer. He was the son of Raymond Sackler, one the brothers who bought drug company Purdue Frederick in 1952, and served as …

The Tennessean reports: Charlie Daniels, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame best known for “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” died Monday morning after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. He was 83. Daniels’ death was confirmed by his publicist, Don Murry Grubbs. He is survived by his wife, Hazel, and son Charlie Daniels Jr. By the time the …

CBS News reports: Broadway actor Nick Cordero, who had been hospitalized for three months and had his leg amputated after contracting the coronavirus, has died, his wife, Amanda Kloots, said Sunday. He was 41. “My darling husband passed away this morning,” Kloots said in an Instagram post. Cordero starred in the musical adaptation of the Woody Allen film “Bullets Over …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Ennio Morricone, the Oscar winner whose haunting, inventive scores expertly accentuated the simmering, dialogue-free tension of the spaghetti Westerns directed by Sergio Leone, has died. He was 91. The Italian composer, who scored more than 500 films — seven for his countryman Leone after they had met as kids in elementary school — died in Rome …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Hugh Downs, the congenial broadcaster whose thousands of hours on network television included two decades on the ABC primetime newsmagazine 20/20 and nine years as the head man on NBC’s Today Show, has died. He was 99. Downs, who also served as Jack Paar’s announcer/sidekick for five years on The Tonight Show and hosted the game …

Variety reports: Carl Reiner, the writer, producer, director and actor who was part of Sid Caesar’s legendary team and went on to create “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and direct several hit films, has died. He was 98. He died of natural causes on Monday night at his home in Beverly Hills, his assistant Judy Nagy confirmed to Variety. Reiner, …

TMZ reports: Bonnie Pointer of The Pointer Sisters has died TMZ has learned. The Grammy-winning Motown artist, who was originally part of the popular quartet group of sisters in the ’70s, died this morning. Bonnie was one of the original Pointer Sisters — which started out as a duo, with her as one of the leads — but eventually left …

Variety reports: Ken Osmond, best known for his role as the troublemaker Eddie Haskell on the television comedy “Leave It to Beaver,” died on Monday morning. He was 76. Sources tell Variety Osmond died at his Los Angeles home surrounded by family members. The cause of death is unknown. Osmond portrayed Haskell as sycophantic to grownups while making fun of …

The New York Times reports: Jerry Stiller, a classically trained actor who became a comedy star twice — in the 1960s in partnership with his wife, Anne Meara, and in the 1990s with a memorable recurring role on “Seinfeld” — has died. He was 92. His death was confirmed on Monday by his son, the actor Ben Stiller, in a …

Rolling Stone reports: Little Richard, a founding father of rock and roll whose fervent shrieks, flamboyant garb, and joyful, gender-bending persona embodied the spirit and sound of that new art form, died Saturday. He was 87.  Starting with “Tutti Frutti” in 1956, Little Richard cut a series of unstoppable hits – “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip It Up” that same …

People Magazine reports: Illusionist Roy Horn has died. He was 75. Horn, who launched to fame as part of the duo Siegfried & Roy, died of complications from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in a Las Vegas hospital on Friday, his publicist said in a statement to ABC. The entertainer tested positive for the contagious respiratory virus last month. At the …

According to multiple reports on social media, longtime gay nightclub DJ Warren Gluck has died at the age of 65. No cause of death is yet known. From his bio: Warren has played almost every major party in the U.S. from coast to coast, including the GMHC Morning Party on Fire Island, The Pines Party, The Saint-at-Large White and Black …

Billboard Magazine reports: Bill Withers, the former Navy man and commercial aircraft worker who became one of music’s most revered poet laureates, has died. The Grammy Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member died Monday (March 30) in Los Angeles from heart complications. He was 81 years old. Arriving front and center on the music scene at …

The Oklahoman reports: Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, a physician who became a powerful force in Congress on fiscal matters, died early Saturday morning after a long fight with prostate cancer. He was 72. Coburn, of Muskogee, served in the Senate from 2005 to 2015 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001. After leaving the Senate, …

The Friendly Atheist reports: Yesterday, one of the first deaths of a Virginia resident from COVID-19 was a Christian musical evangelist who, believing the pandemic response to be anti-Trump “mass hysteria,” took his family to New Orleans to “wash it from its Sin and debauchery.” Landon Spradlin, 66, was an accomplished blues musician who pastored several different churches over the …

Variety reports: Vocalist Kenny Rogers, who dominated the pop and country charts in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of sleekly tailored hits and won three Grammys, has died. He was 81. Rogers “passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” a representative for the singer said in a …

CNN reports: Former CNN anchor Bobbie Battista has passed away at the age of 67, according to a family spokeswoman. Battista passed away on Tuesday morning after a four year battle with cervical cancer, according to Wendy Guarisco, family spokeswoman. “Bobbie was the consummate trooper in her struggle with cancer, she was courageous and fearless in her battle and thoughtful …

Entertainment Weekly reports: James Lipton, the elegant, articulate wordsmith and theater academic whose desire to give his acting students a greater insight into their art led to the popular Bravo series Inside the Actors Studio, has died. He was 93. Lipton passed away early Monday at his home in Manhattan from bladder cancer. Conceived by Lipton in 1994, Inside the …