Celebrity Deaths
Fashion Mogul's Death Still Mystery After Autopsy
Submitted by John Rogers on June 1, 2011
LOS ANGELES – An autopsy on the 33-year-old co-founder of a popular hip hop-oriented Southern California clothing company has failed to determine a cause of death, and authorities will now wait for results from toxicological and other tests, authorities said Wednesday.
Fashion entrepreneur Jonas Bevacqua was found dead Tuesday at his Laguna Beach home. Authorities have ruled out homicide, and there was no immediate indication Bevacqua was suffering from a medical condition, Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said. Tests could take six to eight weeks to come back, he said.
Bevacqua and his partner, Robert Wright, founded Lifted Research Group, known to patrons as LRG, in 1999 with start-up capital raised in part from friends of Bevacqua's father.
Gil Scott-Heron, a Godfather of Rap, Dies in NYC
Submitted by Nekesa Mumbi Moody on May 28, 2011
NEW YORK – Long before Public Enemy urged the need to "Fight the Power" or N.W.A. offered a crude rebuke of the police, Gil-Scott Heron was articulating the rage and the disillusionment of the black masses through song and spoken word.
Jeff Conaway, 'Taxi' and 'Grease,' Star Dead at 60
Submitted by Lynn Elber on May 27, 2011
LOS ANGELES – LOS ANGELES — Jeff Conaway, who starred in the sitcom "Taxi," played swaggering Kenickie in the movie musical "Grease" and publicly battled drug and alcohol addiction on "Celebrity Rehab," died Friday. He was 60.
The actor was taken off life support Thursday and died Friday morning at Encino Tarzana Medical Center, according to one of his managers, Kathryn Boole.
Actress Barbara Stuart Dies in Utah at 81
Submitted by Associated Press on May 23, 2011
ST. GEORGE, Utah – Actress Barbara Stuart, who appeared in dozens of television series and movies, including "Bachelor Party," "Airplane!" and the legal drama "L.A. Law," has died. She was 81.
Stuart's son-in-law, Rand Gautier, says his mother died May 15 at a nursing home in St. George, Utah. Gautier says she was a "wonderful, charitable, loving" woman and talented actress.
According to the movie database IMDb.com, her first TV series was "I Led 3 Lives" in 1954. Since then, Stuart appeared on "The George Burns Show," "The Twilight Zone," and "Starsky and Hutch," among many others. She played Tom Hank's future mother-in-law in "Bachelor Party" in 1984.
Joseph Brooks, 'You Light Up My Life' Songwriter, Dies in Apparent Suicide
Submitted by Colleen Long on May 22, 2011
NEW YORK – Joseph Brooks, the Academy Award-winning songwriter of "You Light Up My Life" who was awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulting more than a dozen women, was found dead Sunday of an apparent suicide in his Manhattan apartment, police said.
Brooks, 73, was discovered in his Upper East Side apartment around 12:30 p.m. by a friend with whom he had planned to have lunch, police spokesman Paul Browne said. It was not immediately clear how long his body had been there.
'Macho Man' Randy Savage, Famous Wrestler, Dies in Florida Car Accident
Submitted by Harry R. Weber on May 20, 2011
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. – Randy "Macho Man" Savage, the professional wrestler known for his raspy voice, the sunglasses and bandanas he wore in the ring and the young woman named Miss Elizabeth who often accompanied him, died in a car crash Friday in Florida. He was 58.
M-Bone, Cali Swag District Rapper, Killed in Drive-By Shooting
Submitted by Associated Press on May 16, 2011
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – INGLEWOOD, Calif. — M-Bone of the rap group Cali Swag District, which scored a hit last year with the song "Teach Me How to Dougie," was killed in a weekend drive-by shooting as he sat in a car outside a liquor store, police said Monday.
The motive for Sunday night's shooting was under investigation, Lt. James Madia said.
The 22-year-old Inglewood man, whose real name is Mante Ray Talbert, was sitting alone in his car shortly after 10:30 p.m.
Norma Zimmer, TV's 'Champagne Lady,' Dies at 87
Submitted by Lynn Elber on May 11, 2011
LOS ANGELES – Norma Zimmer, the "Champagne Lady" of TV's "The Lawrence Welk Show" and a studio singer who worked with Frank Sinatra and other pop stars, has died. She was 87.
Zimmer died peacefully Tuesday at her Brea, Calif., home, Welk's son, Larry, said Wednesday. Larry Welk didn't know the cause of death but said Zimmer had been living an active life in recent years.
Medical Examiner: NYC Jazz Musician Stanley Wright Was Stabbed
Submitted by Associated Press on May 11, 2011
NEW YORK – The New York City medical examiner's office says a jazz musician was stabbed to death before his body was stuffed into a storage chest in his home.
Stanley Wright had wounds in his torso and neck, and his death was ruled a homicide Wednesday. He was reported missing by his family a day earlier. Police checked his Brooklyn home and found his body.
Relatives say the 62-year-old Wright once taught music at a Brooklyn middle school and played at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Wright played the bass, piano and drums and gave lessons.
Wright was a widower and lived alone. Relatives say he was the father of three, including actress N'Bushe Wright, who co-starred in the 1998 Wesley Snipes action movie "Blade."
Longtime TV Producer Jeff Gralnick Dies at 72
Submitted by Associated Press on May 11, 2011
WESTON, Conn. – Jeff Gralnick, a longtime television producer who helped shape CBS' "60 Minutes" and make "NBC Nightly News" the top-rated show, has died. He was 72.
NBC said Gralnick died Monday night at his Connecticut home in Weston. He had been battling cancer for several years.
Steve Capus, president of NBC News, called Gralnick a pioneer who changed the way news was produced, reported and presented during his 52-year career at three broadcast networks.
Gralnick covered the Vietnam war as a reporter, produced special coverage of the space program, and was one of the first producers of "60-Minutes," working with Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner.
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