Obituary
R.I.P. Anthony Johnson, Friday’s Ezal Dead at 56
Anthony Johnson, the actor and comedian who notably played Ezal in the first Friday film, has died at the age of 56. A representative of Johnson confirmed his passing to The Hollywood Reporter. No additional details, including a cause of death, have been shared. The Compton native also appeared in films such as House Party, Lethal Weapon 3, Menace II Society, and The Players Club. His television credits included cameos in Martin, Moesha, and The Jamie Foxx Show. Advertisement Related Video But he’ll undoubtedly best be remembered for his role in the stoner comedy Friday. His character Ezal tried to scheme his way into a quick buck, and in doing so stole several scenes in the film. Johnson’s death comes less than a year after the passing of Friday co-star, Tommy Lister Jr., who played Deebo...
R.I.P. Norm Macdonald, Beloved Comedian Dead at 61
Norm Macdonald, the beloved comedian and former Saturday Night Live cast member, has died at the age of 61 following a nine-year private battle with cancer. “He never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him. Norm was a pure comic,” Macdonald’s friend and producing partner, Lori Jo Hoekstra said in a September 14th statement announcing his death (via Deadline). “He once wrote that ‘a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.’ He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly.” With a quick wit but painfully slow delivery, Macdonald was known for long walks to bamboozling simple, left-field punchlines. His “Moth” joke, delivered during a 2009 appearance on Conan, is a particularly beloved example of his tension-snappin...
George Wein, Newport Jazz Festival Co-Founder, Dies at 95
Wein led the festival for more than 50 years and performers would include virtually every major jazz star, from Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk to Charles Mingus and Wynton Marsalis. Just in 1965, the bill featured Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Ellington, Gillespie, Davis and Monk. “As a young pianist and club owner, he understood quality, worshipped the giants of the music, and created a revolutionary Festival format that offered the widest possible range of jazz to much larger outdoor audiences,” Marsalis said in a statement. “He loved telling stories about Bird, Duke and all of the greats, engaging in spirited debates on a variety of subjects, and was an optimistic supporter of young talent.” The success of Newport inspired a wave of jazz festivals in the U.S. and Wein repl...
Ruth Olay, Acclaimed Jazz Singer, Dies at 97
In 1951, Olay was separated from her first husband and raising their young daughter by herself when she left her job as secretary to Oscar-winning filmmaker Preston Sturges at Paramount Pictures to sing in San Diego with Black bandleader Benny Carter. It was her first professional engagement. Although she was of Hungarian ancestry, Olay used the pseudonym Rachel Davis to avoid controversy — with her dark complexion and short curly hair, it was assumed that she was Black. Later, while working as a singing waitress at the Cabaret Concert Theatre on Sunset Boulevard, Olay was approached by arranger Bill Hitchcock about making an album, and It’s About Time — released in 1956 on Zephyr Records‚ a new label financed by meatpacking heir Geordie Hormel — garnered her attention. In November that ye...
R.I.P. George Wein, Legendary Newport Folk and Jazz Festival Producer, Dies at 95
George Wein, the legendary music festival producer behind the Newport Folk and Jazz festivals as well as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, has died. He was 95 years old. Invited by socialites Louis and Elaine Lorillard to help bring a jazz festival to Newport, Rhode Island in 1954, Wein ended up setting the stage for the modern music festival revolution. “George Wein defined what a music festival could be with the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport Folk Festival and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival,” said LL Cool J while awarding Wein the Grammy Honorary Trustee Award in 2015. “This is a great guy. More than anyone, George set the stage for what great festivals today look like; festivals like Cocahella, Bonnaro… he made this possible…” When Wein launched the Newport Jazz Fe...
Harry Coombs, Veteran Philadelphia International Records Executive, Dies at 85
Coombs was also instrumental in the careers of R&B vocal group LeVert and singer Gerald Levert. LeVert’s first album, I Get Hot, was released on Coombs’ Tempre label in 1985. “I’m Still,” the album’s first single, drew the attention of Atlantic Records which later signed the group. Coombs launched his music career at the legendary Waxie Maxie record store chain in Washington, D.C. and later worked at various music labels including CBS Records and Capitol Records prior to PIR, which he left in 2002. An alumnus of the Modern School of Music in Washington, D.C. and an Army veteran, Coombs was presented with the Living Legends Foundation Award in 1999. After PIR, he relocated to Myrtle Beach in 2007. Coombs is survived by his wife Sandy Coombs, daughter Ashley Coombs-Cox (Malik), step...
R.I.P. Michael Constantine, My Big Fat Greek Wedding Actor Dead at 94
Michael Constantine, who played Gus Portokalos, the father of Nia Vardalos’ character Toula in the 2002 blockbuster My Big Fat Greek Wedding and its 2016 sequel, has died at the age of 94. A representative for Constantine told Variety that Constantine died of natural causes. In My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Constantine portrayed a proud but stubborn Greek restaurant owner, who was resistant to the idea of his daughter marrying a non-Greek man. He was also a staunch advocate of Windex, believing it could cure all ailments. Advertisement Related Video Upon its release in 2002, My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a surprise box office smash, earning over $350 million worldwide. Constantine and the rest of the film’s cast subsequently received a SAG Award nomination for outstanding performance by the cas...
R.I.P. Michael K. Williams, The Wire and Boardwalk Empire Actor Dead at 54
Michael K. Williams, the Emmy Award-nominated actor best known for his roles in The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, has died at the age of 54. According to the New York Post, Williams was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment on Monday afternoon. Police have launched an investigation into the cause of his death. A representative for Williams confirmed the actor’s death in a statement: “It is with deep sorrow that the family announces the passing of Emmy nominated actor Michael Kenneth Williams. They ask for your privacy while grieving this unsurmountable loss.” Advertisement Related Video The Brooklyn native got his start as a backing dancer and choreographer for Madonna, George Michael, Kym Sims, and Crystal Waters. After being introduced to Tupac Shakur, he was cast alongside the rapper i...
R.I.P. Sarah Harding, Girls Aloud Member Dead at 39
Sarah Harding, co-founding member of the UK pop group Girls Aloud, has died at the age of 39 from breast cancer. Harding’s mother, Marie, announced her daughter’s passing in a statement shared to Instagram on Sunday (Sept. 5th): “Many of you will know of Sarah’s battle with cancer and that she fought so strongly from her diagnosis until her last day. She slipped away peacefully this morning.” “I know she won’t want to be remembered for her fight against this terrible disease – she was a bright shining star and I hope that’s how she can be remembered instead,” Marie added. Advertisement Related Video In August 2020, Harding announced that she had been diagnosed with an advanced form of breast cancer that had spread to other parts of her body. In March 2021, she revealed that the disease was...
Sarah Harding Dead: Girls Aloud Singer Dies at 39 After Cancer Fight
Harding said earlier this year that she was told by a doctor that she will likely not be alive next Christmas. In her autobiography, released in March, she said she decided to announce her illness in the hope that others who have concerns would seek medical help and not leave a cancer diagnosis until it’s too late. Harding found fame in 2002 as a contestant on the ITV talent show “Popstars: The Rivals,” which paved the way for her joining Girls Aloud alongside Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh, Cheryl Tweedy and Nadine Coyle. The group had several hits including “Sound of the Underground,” “Love Machine” and “The Promise” before it split up in 2013. After Girls Aloud, Harding appeared in several movies and television shows as well as a stage adaptation of “Ghost” the movie. She won the reali...
R.I.P. Willard Scott, Today Show Weatherman Dead at 87
Willard Scott, the longtime television personality and weatherman on NBC’s The Today Show, has died at the age of 87. Al Roker, Scott’s longtime friend and Today successor, announced the news of his passing on Saturday. “We lost a beloved member of our @todayshow family this morning. Willard Scott passed peacefully at the age of 87 surrounded by family, including his daughters Sally and Mary and his lovely wife, Paris,” Roker wrote. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed. “He was truly my second dad and am where I am today because of his generous spirit,” Roker added. “Willard was a man of his times, the ultimate broadcaster. There will never be anyone quite like him.” Advertisement Related Video Scott’s six-decade career in broadcasting began on the radio as the co-star of the imp...
Arnold ‘Arnie’ Pustilnik, Bill Graham Disciple Who Managed Train & Santana, Dies at 75
Over three decades, Pustilink worked alongside Graham to transform the promoter’s namesake company into the premier rock concert promotion outfit of the 1970s and ‘80s. He eventually rose to co-head of the management division alongside Mick Bridgen, and, following Graham’s death in a helicopter crash in 1991, helped keep the promoter’s legacy alive by continuing to steward the company’s management clients into the next decade. Born in 1946, Pustilnik left his native New York sometime in the early 1970s for the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lived as “a hippie selling sandwiches on the streets of Berkeley,” Brigden tells Billboard. Pustilnik, who is remembered for sporting a flowing ponytail around the office in his younger years, linked up with the already-established Graham around that ...
