Obituary
Bob Saget, Comedian and Full House Star, Found Dead at 65
Bob Saget, the veteran comedian and actor known for his role in Full House, has died at the age of 65. TMZ reports that Saget was found dead on Sunday (January 9th) inside of his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida. According to a statement from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Saget “was pronounced deceased on scene. Detectives found no signs of foul play or drug use in this case.” Advertisement Related Video Prior to his passing, Saget had been on a standup tour in Florida, which included a show in Jacksonville on Saturday night. In a Tweet posted early Sunday morning, Saget commented on his most recent performance, writing, “Loved tonight’s show @PV_ConcertHall in Jacksonville. Appreciative audience… I had no idea I did a 2 hr set tonight. I’m happily addicted again to...
R.I.P. Michael Lang, Woodstock Festival Co-Founder Dead at 77
Michael Lang, a co-founder of the famed Woodstock Festival, has died at the age of 77. A family spokesperson said Lang passed away Saturday (January 8th) from a rare form of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Lang was one of the chief architects of the 1969 Woodstock Festival. Taking place over four days in August at a family farm in Bethel, New York, the festival welcomed nearly half a million attendees to watch performances from Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, The Band, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Who, Santana, and more. With copious amount of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, the festivals became emblematic of late-60s counterculture, while also launching the career of countless future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. Due to the success of Woodstock, The Rolling Stones enlisted Lang a...
Calvin Simon, Former Parliament-Funkadelic Member, Dies at 79
Calvin Simon, who was a founding member of Parliament–Funkadelic and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, has died. He was 79. “We lost another Original member of Parliament/Funkadelic,” Bootsy Collins wrote on Instagram on Friday (Jan. 7), confirming Simon’s death. “A friend, bandmate & a cool classic guy, Mr. Calvin Simon was a former member of Parliament/Funkadelic. He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen members of P-Funk! R.I.P Bootsy baby!!!” “Rest in peace to my P-Funk brother Mr. Calvin Simon,” a post on George Clinton‘s Facebook page said. “Longtime Parliament-Funkadelic vocalist. Fly on Calvin!” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Simon’s cause of death has not been reported. Born in 1942 in West Virginia...
Marilyn Bergman, Oscar-Winning Lyricist, Dies at 93
Lyricist Marilyn Bergman, who teamed with her husband, Alan Bergman, to win three Academy Awards as one of the most revered writing tandems in the annals of movie music history, has died. She was 93. Bergman, whose work includes such classics as “The Windmills of Your Mind,” “Nice ’n’ Easy,” “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” and “The Way We Were,” died peacefully early Saturday morning (Jan. 8) in her Los Angeles home, according to family rep Ken Sunshine. The cause of death was respiratory failure (non-COVID related). Her husband, 96, survives her. Explore See latest videos, charts and news They won Academy Awards for the best original songs “The Way We Were” (shared with Marvin Hamlisch) from the 1973 Barbra Streisand film of that name and “Windmills of Your Mind” (shared with Michel Legrand)...
R.I.P. Calvin Simon, Parliament-Funkadelic Vocalist Dead at 79
Calvin Simon, the former vocalist of George Clinton’s pioneering funk collective Parliament–Funkadelic, has died. He was 79. “Rest in peace to my P-Funk brother Mr. Calvin Simon,” Clinton wrote in a post to Facebook. “Fly on Calvin!” “We lost another original member of Parliament/Funkadelic,” bassist Bootsy Collins wrote on Twitter, describing Simon as “a friend, bandmate & a cool classic guy.” Advertisement Related Video Calvin Eugene Simon was born on May 22nd, 1942, in Beckley, West Virginia, where he grew up singing in his local church choir. After relocating to New Jersey, Simon hit it off with Clinton, eventually joining a doo-wop group called The Parliaments in the late 1950s. He sang on many of the band’s early hits like “I Can Feel the Ice Melting,” “Heart Trouble,” and “I Wan...
R.I.P. Peter Bogdanovich, Acclaimed Film Director of The Last Picture Show Dead at 82
Peter Bogdanovich, the Oscar-nominated director of films like The Last Picture Show; What’s Up, Doc?; and Noises Off, has died at the age of 82. The sad news was confirmed by the Hollywood giant’s daughter, who told The Hollywood Reporter that her father passed away from natural causes in the early morning of January 6th. Bogdanovich was born on July 30th, 1939. After graduating from New York City’s Collegiate School in 1957, he began studying acting at the famed Stella Adler Conservatory and got his career start as a film programmer at the Museum of Modern Art, exposing patrons to his love of the works of Orson Welles, Howard Hawks, John Ford, as well as writing as a film critic for Esquire. Advertisement Related Video He married his first wife Polly Platt in 1962 and soon moved to Los An...
Joyce Ostin, Daughter-in-Law of Music Exec Mo Ostin, Dies at 64
Joyce Ostin, a photographer and daughter-in-law of legendary music executive Mo Ostin, died Dec. 29 at her Pacific Palisades home after a battle with cancer, her family announced. She was 64. Ostin spent her first years raising her three daughters while battling breast cancer, and in 2001, she published Hollywood Moms, a best-selling coffee-table book with a foreword by Carrie Fisher that featured photographs of Goldie Hawn and daughter Kate Hudson; Dyan Cannon and daughter Jennifer Grant; Jennifer Lopez and her mom, Guadalupe; and Rosie O’Donnell and her daughter, Chelsea. In 2007 came Hollywood Dads, with an introduction by Paul Reiser and photos of Robin Williams, Michael J. Fox, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Bruce Willis and other fathers with their kids. Explore See latest videos, char...
R.I.P. Ted Gardner, Lollapalooza Co-Founder Dead at 74
Ted Gardner, the longtime music manager who co-founded Lollapalooza with Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, passed away on December 28th following a long illness. News of Gardner’s death was shared by Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, who had been managed by Gardner since 2004. “I’m sad to report Ted Gardner, Our manager passed away today surrounded by his loving family,” Newcombe wrote in a Tweet. “We will miss a great manager, mentor & friend. Our condolences to all his family & friends.” A native of Australia, Gardner initially worked on the management team of Men at Work and accompanied them on their first US tour opening for Fleetwood Mac. He eventually relocated to America in the early 1980s and served as a tour or production manager for acts like Frank Za...
Jay Weaver, Bassist for Big Daddy Weave, Dies at 42 from COVID-19
Jay Weaver, the bass player and a vocalist for Big Daddy Weave, has died from complications of COVID-19. He was 42. His brother, Mike Weaver, frontman of veteran Christian band, announced the sad news on Sunday (Jan. 2) through social media. “My brother Jay went to be with Jesus just a couple hours ago,” Mike Weaver said in the emotional video clip on Instagram, adding that Jay died from “complications with COVID-19 on top of everything else that he already had going on.” He continued, “You’ve seen him walk the uphill battle and you guys helped carry him through so much. The Lord used him in such a mighty way out on the road for so many years. Anybody who’s come in contact with him knows how real his faith in Jesus was. Even though COVID took his last breath, Jesus was right there to catch...
Stephen J. Lawrence, ‘Sesame Street’ Composer, Dies at 82
Stephen J. Lawrence, a Daytime-Emmy-winning composer for Sesame Street, has died. He was 82. Lawrence died on Dec. 30 at Clara Maas Medical Center in Belleville, N.J., his wife Cantor Cathy Lawrence confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. A cause of death was not provided. Born on Sept. 5, 1939, Lawrence served as a composer, music director, arranger and conductor on the longtime children’s television series Sesame Street for more than 30 years. He composed over 300 songs and scores for the program, including “Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange),” co-written with David Axelrod. He received three Daytime Emmy awards for outstanding achievement in music direction and composition for his work on the show. With an interest in children’s education, Lawrence also collaborated with The Jim He...
R.I.P. Betty White, Television Icon Dead at 99
Betty White, the actress and comedian who pioneered the television revolution and worked in the industry for nine decades, has died at the age of 99. TMZ reports that White passed away at her home on Friday morning — just weeks shy of her 100th birthday. “Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” her agent and close friend Jeff Witjas told PEOPLE in a statement. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.” Advertisement Related Video Betty Marion White Ludden was born on January 17th, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois. Her family moved to Los Angeles soon after, and she began...
Denis O’Dell, Beatles Film Producer, Dies at 98
Denis O’Dell, a British film producer and director who worked with The Beatles on the movie A Hard Day’s Night and other productions, has died at his home in Spain, his son said Friday (Dec. 31). He was 98. Arran O’Dell told The Associated Press that his father died overnight at his house in Almería, in southeast Spain. He said the family planned a local private service and a memorial service at a later date in the United Kingdom. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Denis O’Dell was an associate producer of A Hard Day’s Night, the Fab Four’s first film, and How I Won the War, in which John Lennon appeared as a supporting actor. He produced the 1967 Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour, as well as The Magic Christian, which featured Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. O’Dell’s memoir of his ...
