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Michelle Marvin, ‘Palimony’ Figure, Dies THE ASSOCIATED PRESS October 30, 2009 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Michelle Triola Marvin, who fought a landmark "palimony" case against her former lover, actor Lee Marvin, has died. She was 76. Family spokesman Bob Palmer says Marvin died Friday morning of lung cancer at the Malibu home she shared with actor Dick Van Dyke, her partner of 30 years. Marvin lived with Lee Marvin for six years and took his name. They broke up in 1970 and nine years later she sued for nearly $2 million, even though she had no alimony rights because the...

The last member of Adolf Hitler's notorious inner circle has died at age 96, leaving behind instructions to publish a manuscript about his time spent alongside the German dictator, the Telegraph reported. Fritz Darges was present for all major conferences, social engagements and policy announcements during World War II — and experts believe his memoir could disprove claims by some disputed historians that Hitler never directly ordered the extermination of the Jews, and that the "final solution" was the brainchild of SS chief Heirich Himmler. Darges rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and thought Hitler was a genius. It...

The comedy icon made pie-in-the-face gag a pop-culture phenomenon: It was a simple gag, but one that made Soupy Sales a household name: a pie in the face, or 20,000 pies, to be exact. That slapstick comedic trick, along with a warehouse of goofy faces and wacky characters helped elevate Sales (born Milton Supman) to one of the country's most beloved comedians in the late 1950s. Sales died on Thursday at the age of 83 at a hospital in the Bronx, after several years of declining health... With his loose-limbed physicality and malleable face, Sales honed his craft on children's...

The comedy icon made pie-in-the-face gag a pop-culture phenomenon: It was a simple gag, but one that made Soupy Sales a household name: a pie in the face, or 20,000 pies, to be exact. That slapstick comedic trick, along with a warehouse of goofy faces and wacky characters helped elevate Sales (born Milton Supman) to one of the country's most beloved comedians in the late 1950s. Sales died on Thursday at the age of 83 at a hospital in the Bronx, after several years of declining health... With his loose-limbed physicality and malleable face, Sales honed his craft on children's...

DETROIT – Soupy Sales, the rubber-faced comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances across a half-century of laughs, has died. He was 83. Sales died at Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, said his former manager and longtime friend, Dave Usher. Sales had many health problems and entered the hospice last week, Usher said. At the peak of his fame in the 1950s and '60s, Sales was one of the best-known faces in the nation, Usher said.

The stage and screen star was cast as the sinister title character in 1962's 'Dr. No'. Joseph Wiseman, a stage and screen actor who played the sinister title character in "Dr. No," the 1962 film that introduced Sean Connery as James Bond, has died. He was 91. Wiseman, who had been in declining health in the last few years, died Monday at his home in Manhattan, said his daughter, Martha Graham Wiseman. The Canadian-born Wiseman already had appeared on Broadway numerous times and in films such as "Detective Story" and "Viva Zapata!" when he was cast as the mysterious villain...

Joseph Wiseman might have preferred that he be indentified with the Jewish roles he took in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, The Night They Raided Minskys, Bye Bye Braverman or his most recent stage appearance, in Judgment at Nuremberg.

Joseph Wiseman, a longtime stage and screen actor most widely known for playing the villainous title character in “Dr. No,” the first feature film about James Bond, died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 91. His daughter, Martha Graham Wiseman, confirmed the death, saying her father had recently been in declining health. Released in 1962, “Dr. No” was the first in what proved to be a decades-long string of Bond movies. Starring Sean Connery and Ursula Andress, the film featured Mr. Wiseman as Dr. Julius No, the sinister scientist who was Bond’s first big-screen adversary. Mr. Wiseman’s...

Soupy Sales died at age 83 yesterday. He hosted an afternoon kiddie show that reached its height of popularity in the mid-1960s. He was totally unlike other kids-show hosts of that, or any other, era. He wasn’t soft-spoken, like Mr. Rogers; he wasn’t grandfatherly, like Captain Kangaroo; he didn’t want to teach you anything, like Mr. Wizard. What Soupy was was a unique combination of silly and hip. He mixed slapstick with self-conscious irony. He was forever getting a pie thrown in his face. He talked to puppets, especially two — White Fang and Black Tooth — that were really...

LOS ANGELES – The songwriter who wrote the catchy theme songs to "The Addams Family" and "Green Acres" television shows has died. Vic Mizzy was 93. .......................................... Mizzy has said that he didn't mind if people only remember him for the finger snaps at the start of the "The Addams Family" theme song. After all, he said "two snaps got me a mansion in Bel Air."

SPRINGFIELD, Pa. - Singer Al Martino, who played the Frank Sinatra-type role of Johnny Fontane in "The Godfather" and recorded hits including "Spanish Eyes" and the Italian ballad "Volare" in a 50-year musical career, died Tuesday. He was 82.

Khamenei has died. The formal announcement is expected to be made tomorrow morning (Tehran time) . Relative to this, all regime organizations including the official regime news agency "Seda va Sima" are beig draped in black.

NEW YORK – Bruce Wasserstein, the CEO of Lazard Ltd., has died, according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, which cited sources familiar with the matter

Legendary pro wrestling manager Captain Lou Albano died at age 76 this morning.

Al Martino, 82, the South Philadelphia bricklayer who became a chart-topping crooner and who also is remembered for appearing as Johnny Fontane in The Godfather, died today at his Delaware County home.

'The British serviceman who first fired on Japanese forces during World War Two has died at the age of 90. Jim Mariner was on board the gunboat HMS Peterel when he secured his place in history at about 4am on December 7, 1941. The vessel was in China's Shanghai Harbour and the crew had been issued with cutlasses and told they should be prepared to die defending the ship. It was the last commissioned Royal Navy craft on the Yangtze River and had been stripped of most of her weapons. She had a skeleton crew and was clearly in no...

Michael Kuryla Jr. found strength from his fellow stranded Navy comrades floating in shark-infested waters of the South Pacific for nearly five days in 1945 during World War II. Their ship, the USS Indianapolis, sank in just 12 minutes after being hit by two Japanese torpedoes shortly after the ship had delivered the atomic bomb that would level Hiroshima. Three hundred of Mr. Kuryla's shipmates died that day when the ship went down. Nine hundred were left floating in only life preservers, facing a harsh sun and sharks, as three SOS calls went unanswered. An anti-submarine plane spotted them four...

American photographer Irving Penn, best known for his work in the fashion world, has died in his New York City apartment at the age of 92. The news was reported this afternoon by his brother, the director Arthur Penn. Hailed as a father of fashion photography, and one of the most respected photographers of the last century... Working with precise composition and unfettered settings, Penn pioneered several techniques, and his early portraiture work was unique for putting his celebrity subjects against plain white or grey backgrounds... or by placing them in a corner to achieve dramatic effect. While primarily using...

WARSAW (Reuters) - The last leader of the wartime Jewish uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland, Marek Edelman, died in Warsaw on Friday at the age of 87, friends said. Edelman was the last surviving leader of small Jewish militant groups which fought against the Nazis in 1943 when the occupiers moved to liquidate the ghetto. Jewish fighters were poorly armed and the uprising was crushed in a few weeks of fighting. "It's a very said day. He was a man of great character," said Szewach Weiss, former Isreali ambassador to Poland.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The childhood friend of John Lennon's son who inspired the Beatles' psychedelic masterpiece "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has died aged 46 from the chronic disease Lupus. Lucy Vodden was a classmate of Julian Lennon, who came home from school one day carrying a drawing of his 4-year-old classmate. "That's Lucy in the sky with diamonds," he told his father. Lennon seized on the image and embellished it in a song along with "newspaper taxis" and a "girl with kaleidoscope eyes." The BBC later banned the track, which appeared on the 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's...

<p>No article yet; just an announcement on the NYT front page.</p>

Alicia de Larrocha, the diminutive Spanish pianist esteemed for her elegant Mozart performances and regarded as an incomparable interpreter of Albéniz, Granados, Mompou and other Spanish composers, died on Friday evening in a hospital in Barcelona. She was 86.

Timothy "Big Russ" Russert Passes Away By Chris Ariens on Sep 24, 2009 09:15 PM Russ_9.24.JPGThe father of the late Tim Russert, and grandfather of NBC News correspondent Luke Russert, Timothy Russert passed away today. "While he was affectionately known to the world as 'Big Russ,' he carried no more important nor meaningful titles than those of father, grandfather, great-grandfather, patriot and friend," reads a statement from his family. "We warmly thank all those who were inspired by his life and his lessons." In 2004, NBC's Washington Bureau Chief and moderator of "Meet the Press" Tim Russert wrote "Big Russ...

Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins, who admitted killing actress Sharon Tate 40 years ago, has died. She was 61. California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said Atkins, who suffered from brain cancer, had been in hospice care in recent days. Thornton said Atkins died late Thursday night at a prison hospital in Chowchilla where she had been moved when she became ill. Early this month, she lost her final bid for parole.

Arthur Ferrante, one half of the piano duo Ferrante and Teicher whose lush orchestral recordings of 1960s movie themes propelled them to popular and commercial success, has died. He was 88.

... "Irving Kristol was an intellectual giant who played a major role in developing the anti-communist arguments that led to the defeat of the Soviet Union," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told The Washington Times. ... ... Known as the godfather of neoconservatism, Mr. Kristol was a youthful radical who went from embracing communism in his 20s to attacking it publicly in his 30s. In subsequent years, he became an equally forceful advocate of free-market economics, including the supply-side tax cuts enacted during the Reagan administration and dismantling much of the so-called welfare state. Neoconservatism was a label originally bestowed...

His question about God's death startled and shocked the world, and set off a firestorm of controversy. But when John T. Elson died, few people noticed. The New York Times didn't run this remembrance until 10 days after his passing. But I think it may be worth noting -- as one person says -- that Elson was "catholic with a capital C and a small c." His story: All journalists want to write a story that makes a big splash. John T. Elson, the religion editor at Time magazine, was no exception. But in 1966 he got more than he...

FORT WORTH – Dan Walker, an Army war veteran who was honored for gathering and burying a U.S. flag that was burned in protest during the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, has died. He was 81. Walker, who was captured by TV cameras carefully retrieving the flag remnants so they could be buried properly, died Wednesday of prostate cancer at his Fort Worth home. Walker told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after the incident that he felt compelled to act after seeing someone try to stomp out the fire. "I didn't want someone sweeping it up with a broom and...

Irving Kristol, the political commentator who, as much as anyone, defined modern conservatism and helped revitalize the Republican Party in the late 1960s and early ’70s, setting the stage for the Reagan presidency and years of conservative dominance, died Friday in Arlington, Va. He was 89 and lived in Washington.

All journalists want to write a story that makes a big splash. John T. Elson, the religion editor at Time magazine, was no exception. But in 1966 he got more than he bargained for. For more than a year, Mr. Elson had labored over an article examining radical new approaches to thinking about God that were gaining currency in seminaries and universities and spilling over to the public at large. When finally completed, it became the cover story for the issue of April 8, as Easter and Passover approached. The cover itself was eye-catching, the first one in Time’s 43-year...

Irving Kristol, 89, a forceful essayist, editor and university professor who became the leading architect of neoconservatism, which he called a political and intellectual movement for disaffected ex-liberals like himself who had been "mugged by reality," died Friday at the Capital Hospice in Arlington. He spent much of his career in New York but had for the last two decades lived at the Watergate apartments in the District. He died of complications from lung cancer, said his son, William Kristol, the founder and editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine.

The eminent American composer Leon Kirchner, who was also a pianist, a conductor, and an influential professor at Harvard University, died at his Central Park West apartment in Manhattan on Thursday morning. He had been receiving home hospice care for several weeks, and died of congestive heart failure, said Lisa Kirchner, her daughter. Mr. Kirchner was 90.

Drummer Bobby Graham, who played on some of the best-known hits of the 1960s, has died at the age of 69. Graham was heard on number one singles by The Kinks, Tom Jones and Dusty Springfield, and said he appeared on a total of 40 UK top five hits. Graham also claimed The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein asked him to join the band after Pete Best left in 1962... Graham's website said he performed on songs including Petula Clark's Downtown, Englebert Humperdinck's Release Me and The Kinks' You Really Got Me. Other notable appearances included Dusty Springfield's I Only Want...

Mary Travers, whose ringing, earnest vocals with the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary made songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “If I Had a Hammer” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” enduring anthems of the 1960s protest movement, died Wednesday night in Danbury Hospital in Connecticut. She was 72 and had lived in Redding, Conn.

DANBURY, Conn. (AP) - Mary Travers, one-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has died. The band's publicist, Heather Lylis, says Travers died at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut on Wednesday. She was 72 and had battled leukemia for several years. Travers joined forces with Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey in the early 1960s.

Norman Borlaug arguably the greatest American of the 20th century died late Saturday after 95 richly accomplished years. The very personification of human goodness, Borlaug saved more lives than anyone who has ever lived. He was America's Albert Schweitzer: a brilliant man who forsook privilege and riches in order to help the dispossessed of distant lands. That this great man and benefactor to humanity died little-known in his own country speaks volumes about the superficiality of modern American culture. Born in 1914 in rural Cresco, Iowa, where he was educated in a one-room schoolhouse, Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize...

Henry Gibson, a wry comic character actor whose career included "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," "Nashville" and "Boston Legal," died Monday at his home in Malibu after a brief battle with cancer. He was 73.

Just a headline

RALEIGH, N.C. - Crystal Lee Sutton, whose fight to unionize Southern textile plants with low pay and poor conditions was dramatized in the film "Norma Rae," has died. She was 68. Sutton died Friday in a hospice after a long battle with brain cancer, her son, Jay Jordan, said Monday. "She fought it as long as she could and she crossed on over to her new life," he said. Union organizers had targeted J.P. Stevens, then the country's second-largest textile manufacturer , because the industry was deeply entwined in Southern culture and spread across the region's small towns. However, North...

Jim Carroll, poet and punk rocker, dead at 60 (AP) – 4 hours ago NEW YORK — Jim Carroll, the poet and punk rocker who wrote "The Basketball Diaries," died Friday. He was 60. He died from a heart attack at his home in Manhattan, his ex-wife Rosemary Carroll told the New York Times. In the 1970s, Carroll was a fixture of the burgeoning downtown New York art scene, where he mixed with artists such as Andy Warhol, Patti Smith, Larry Rivers and Robert Mapplethorpe. His life was shaped by drug use, which he wrote about extensively.

Tennis legend Jack Kramer, considered by many the most influential person in the game in the last 60 years, died late Saturday night at his home in Los Angeles. He was 88.

RIYADH: The family of Osama bin Laden has announced the death of one of the terror mastermind's brothers. In a full-page notice on Sunday in Al-Riyadh newspaper, the family said Thabet bin Laden passed away and the funeral is scheduled that afternoon in the holy city of Makkah. The notice said he died Saturday but did not give the cause of death or his age. Thabet bin Laden was one of 54 children born to Mohammed bin Laden, a poor Yemeni immigrant who started the family contracting business in the 1930s that grew into a multimillion dollar construction empire. The...

Paul Burke, the New Orleans-born actor best known for his roles in the "Naked City," "12 O'Clock High" and "Dynasty" television series, died early Sunday in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 83.

Norman Borlaug, the man who saved more human lives than anyone else in history, has died at age 95. Borlaug was the Father of the Green Revolution, the dramatic improvement in agricultural productivity that swept the globe in the 1960s. For spearheading this achievement, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. One of the great privileges of my life was meeting and talking with Borlaug many times over the past few years. In remembrance, I cite the introduction to Reason's 2000 interview with Borlaug below:

DALLAS – Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, the father of the "green revolution" who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in combating world hunger and saving hundreds of millions of lives, died Saturday in Texas, a Texas A&M University spokeswoman said. He was 95. . . . more at link

LOS ANGELES – Larry Gelbart, the comedy writer famed for his work on "M-A-S-H" and "Tootsie," has died. Gelbart died at his Beverly Hills home Friday morning after a long battle with cancer, .. He was 81. Gelbart won a Tony award for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and an Emmy for "M-A-S-H," the classic TV comedy based on the Robert Altman film about Army doctors during the Korean War. He was nominated for two Oscars, for .. "Tootsie" and "Oh, God!"

Larry Gelbart, the award-winning comedy writer best known for developing the landmark TV series "MASH," co-writing the book for the hit Broadway musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and co-writing the classic movie comedy "Tootsie," died this morning. He was 81. Gelbart, who was diagnosed with cancer in June, died at his home in Beverly Hills, said his wife, Pat. Jack Lemmon once described the genial, quick-witted Gelbart as "one of the greatest writers of comedy to have graced the arts in this century." Gelbart's more than 60-year career began in radio during World War...

Even Deborah Woods, 52, is shocked. Not that she thought her great-aunt, Gertrude Noone, 110, would live forever, but it certainly seemed that way. That is why Thursday morning was so unsettling for those who learned Noone, whom the Army confirmed as its oldest living veteran, had died at her home at Carriage Green. She was the state’s second-oldest person. “I had a feeling she’d be around for years,” Woods said. “It was expected, but still a little bit of a shock.” Noone’s health had started to take a turn for the worse when she turned 110 on Dec. 30....

LOS ANGELES – Army Archerd, whose breezy column for the entertainment trade publication Daily Variety kept tabs on various Hollywood doings for more than a half-century, has died. He was 87. Archerd's spokeswoman said he died Tuesday at UCLA Medical Center of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs strongly tied to asbestos exposure. Over the years, Archerd won praise from the Hollywood establishment for always checking the accuracy of his news tips before printing them. He had an extensive phone directory of much-guarded private numbers that he would use to call movie stars and studio bosses directly to ferret out...

Buddy Blattner, a former major leaguer and longtime sportscaster who paired with Don Wells on the Angels' KMPC radio broadcasts from 1962 to 1968, has died. He was 89... A gifted athlete, Blattner was a world champion table tennis player as a teenager before switching to baseball. In retirement he took up tennis, winning many national senior tournaments... Blattner also was the radio voice of the NBA's St. Louis Hawks in the '50s and spent two seasons in the booth for the St. Louis Cardinals before coming west to work for the Angels. He joined them in 1962, a year...