Tag: In Memoriam (1-10 of 546)

May 13 2013 06:26 PM ET

Psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers dead at 85

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Image Credit: Everett Collection

Joyce Brothers, the pop psychologist who pioneered the television advice show in the 1950s and enjoyed a long and prolific career as a syndicated columnist, author, and television and film personality, has died. She was 85.

Brothers died Monday in New York City, according to her longtime publicist, Sanford Brokaw. The cause of death was not immediately made public.

Brothers first gained fame on a game show and went on to publish 15 books and make cameo appearances on popular shows including Happy Days and The Simpsons. She visited Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show nearly 100 times. READ FULL STORY »

May 8 2013 07:59 PM ET

'Stepford Wives' director Bryan Forbes dies at 86

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British film director Bryan Forbes, whose work includes the original 1970s horror classic The Stepford Wives, has died at age 86 after a long illness, a family spokesman said Wednesday. Matthew D’Ancona said Forbes died surrounded by his family at his home in Surrey.

Forbes was born John Theobald Clarke in 1926 in London. He began his film career as an actor, playing a number of supporting roles in British films in the 1940s and 1950s, but he soon found more success in screenwriting, and later directing.

He made his debut as director in Whistle Down the Wind, the 1961 movie about children who come across an escaped convict and mistake him for Jesus. Forbes went on to make films such as King Rat, a tale of survival in a prisoner-of-war camp, and The Stepford Wives, a thriller about sinisterly perfect suburban housewives.

He was screenwriter for Chaplin, the 1992 biopic of Charlie Chaplin starring Robert Downey Jr., and also wrote several novels. His latest book, The Soldier’s Story, was published last year.
Forbes was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2004 for services to the arts.
He is survived by his wife, the actress Nanette Newman, and two daughters.

May 7 2013 10:33 AM ET

Margaret Groening, inspiration for Marge Simpson, dies

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Margaret Ruth Groening, mother to The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and inspiration for the character of Marge, has passed away at age 94, according to an obituary in The Oregonian.

Many of the names mentioned in the obit will sound familiar to fans of Springfield. Born Margaret Wiggum, she married high-school classmate Homer Groening, “whom she chose because he made her laugh the most.” She is survived by her brother, Arnold; her children, Mark, Matt, Lisa and Maggie; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

The Oregonian points out that while Groening never went by Marge, that “didn’t stop fans from equating her with the ever-tolerant, ever-doting mother on The Simpsons.”

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Apr 23 2013 12:37 PM ET

'M*A*S*H' actor Allan Arbus dies at 95

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Actor and photographer Allan Arbus died Friday at his home in Los Angeles, The New York Times reports. He was 95.

Arbus was best known for his role as Major Sidney Freedman on the classic series M*A*S*H, and appeared on Matlock, The Four Seasons, In the Heat of the Night and Judging Amy. His final on-screen appearance came in 2000 on the award-winning HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Prior to beginning his acting career and during his service in the army, Arbus was – like his legendary late wife, Diane Arbus – a photographer. They separated in 1959 and divorced a few years later, but are said to have remained friends until her death from suicide in 1971.

He remarried in 1976 and is survived by his wife, Mariclare Costello, and three daughters, photographer Amy Arbus, writer Doon Arbus, and (with Mariclare) Arin Arbus

Arbus was portrayed by Modern Family star Ty Burrell in the 2006 film Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus. Nicole Kidman played Diane in the film.

Read more:
Super voice gone: NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall dead at 82
Improv comic Jonathan Winters dead at age 87
Former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello dies at 70

Apr 22 2013 12:25 PM ET

'Exorcist' special effects artist Marcel Vercoutere dies at age 87

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Special effects artist Marcel Vercoutere has died at the age of 87, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Detroit-born Vercoutere worked on a number of notable movies during the ’70s, including 1971′s Robert Altman-directed Western McCabe & Mrs. Miller and the following year’s Deliverance. But he was best known for his contributions to the classic 1973 horror film The Exorcist and in particular for building, with makeup artist Dick Smith, the robot replica of Linda Blair which featured in the scene where the head of her possessed character turns 360 degrees. “She would sit there and look at you in the room,” Vercoutere would later recall of the replica. “It was frightening it was so alive.” According to his son, Vercoutere died on April 13 at his home in Burbank from complications of dementia.

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Apr 16 2013 05:37 PM ET

Super voice gone: NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall dead at 82

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Pat Summerall, the NFL player-turned-broadcaster whose deep, resonant voice called games for more than 40 years, has died at the age of 82.

Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell said Tuesday that Summerall had died. He could not immediately provide further details.

Summerall was part of network television broadcasts for 16 Super Bowls. His last championship game was for Fox on Feb. 3, 2002, also his last game with longtime partner John Madden. The popular duo worked together for 21 years, moving to Fox in 1994 after years as the lead team for CBS.

Summerall played 10 NFL seasons (1952-61) with the Chicago Cardinals and New York Giants. He started doing NFL games for CBS in 1964. He also covered the PGA Tour and tennis.

Apr 12 2013 01:14 PM ET

Improv comic Jonathan Winters dead at age 87

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Comedian Jonathan Winters, whose breakneck improvisations inspired Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and many others, has died at age 87.

Longtime family friend Joe Petro III says the Ohio native died Thursday evening at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes.

Winters was a master of improvisational comedy, with a grab bag of eccentric personalities and facial expressions. Characters such as the dirty old lady Maude Frickert were based on people Winters knew growing up in Ohio. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 8 2013 01:55 PM ET

Former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello dies at 70

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Annette Funicello, the former child star whose squeaky-clean screen image made her a fan favorite on both the original Mickey Mouse Club and in a slew of “Beach Party” movies opposite Frankie Avalon, died Monday from complications of multiple sclerosis. According to Extra, Funicello — who went public with her MS diagnosis over two decades ago — had been in an MS coma for years. She was taken off life support earlier today.

Funicello was only 12 years old when she was hand-selected by Walt Disney to join The Mickey Mouse Club in 1955. Though she later joked that her vocal range is ”about three notes,” her screen presence made her the original show’s most popular cast member by far. Despite her self-perceived musical limitations, Funicello released a number of hit records as a teenager, including “Tall Paul” and “Pineapple Princess.” She went on to star in a series of six iconic “Beach Party” films released between 1963 and 1965.

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Apr 7 2013 05:48 PM ET

Fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer dies at 81

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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.
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Apr 6 2013 03:42 PM ET

Irish character actor Milo O'Shea, 87, dies in NYC

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The Irish actor Milo O’Shea, whose many roles on stage and screen included a friar in Franco Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliet,” an evil scientist in “Barbarella” and a Supreme Court justice on “The West Wing,” has died in New York City. He was 87.

Ireland’s arts minister, Jimmy Deenihan, said in a statement announcing O’Shea’s death on Tuesday that the Dublin-born actor would be remembered for “ground-breaking” roles, including a performance as Leopold Bloom in the 1967 film adaptation of “Ulysses.”
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