Obituary
R.I.P. Charles Grodin, Star of Heartbreak Kid and Midnight Run Dead at 86
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-18T18:32:28+00:00“>May 18, 2021 | 2:32pm ET Charles Grodin, the comedic actor beloved for his roles in The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run, and Beethoven, has died at the age of 86. According to The New York Times, Grodin passed away Tuesday of bone marrow cancer. A native of Pittsburgh, Grodin’s early career included bit roles in Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas and Rosemary’s Baby. He also wrote and directed several theater productions, as well as Simon and Garfunkel’s 1969 TV special Songs of America. Related Video His breakout performance came in 1972’s The Heartbreak Kid, in which he played Lenny Cantrow, the self-absorbed sporting goods salesman who interrupts his h...
R.I.P. Pervis Staples, Former Staple Singer Dead at 85
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-12T20:40:24+00:00“>May 12, 2021 | 4:40pm ET Pervis Staples of the seminal gospel group The Staple Singers died on May 6th at the age of 85 in his Dolton, Illinois home. News of his passing was announced on May 12th and was confirmed by Adam Ayers, a member of his sister Mavis Staples’ management team. The cause of death is currently unknown. Funeral services will be held on May 17th in Chicago. “Pervis was one of a kind — comical and downright fly,” Mavis said in a statement. “He would want to be remembered as an upright man, always willing to help and encourage others. He was one of the good guys and will live on as a true Chicago legend.” Related Video Pervis Staples was born i...
R.I.P. Norman Lloyd, Golden Age Hollywood Figure Dead at 106
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-11T22:42:00+00:00“>May 11, 2021 | 6:42pm ET Norman Lloyd, one of the last surviving figures of Hollywood’s Golden Age, whose career spanned over eight decades, has died at the age of 106. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lloyd passed away Tuesday (May 11th) at his home in Los Angeles. Hailing from Brooklyn by-way-of Jersey City, Lloyd began his acting pursuit in his teenage years and secured an apprenticeship at a New York repertory theater. He eventually crossed paths with a young director named Orson Welles, who cast Lloyd in his 1937 stage adaptation of Julius Caesar. But Lloyd famously turned a role in Welles’ follow-up project, the classic 1941 film Citizen Kane. Related...
Tawny Kitaen, ’80s Music Video Vixen & ‘Bachelor Party’ Star, Dies at 59
Born in San Diego, Kitaen began her journey as an ’80s music video heartthrob by appearing on several albums for the heavy metal band RATT, as well as their “Back for More” video. She later appeared in a video for Whitesnake’s 1987 smash hit “Here I Go Again,” along with “Still of the Night,” “Is This Love” and “The Deeper the Love.” Kitaen was briefly married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989-1991. Notable film and television roles include for Kitaen include Witchboard, White Hot, Dead Tides, Santa Barbara, Seinfeld and most recently Moms Anonymous. She also recently appeared in several reality shows, including The Surreal Life, Botched and Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Kitaen was also married to baseball player Chuck Finley from 1997 to 2002. They had two daughte...
R.I.P. Tawny Kitaen, Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” Video Vixen Dead at 59
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-08T14:53:16+00:00“>May 8, 2021 | 10:53am ET Julie E. “Tawny” Kitaen, former actress and muse for the ’80s hard rock band Whitesnake, has died at the age of 59. The San Diego native passed away Friday (May 7th) at her home in Newport Beach, California, according to Variety. A cause of death has not yet been disclosed. Kitaen played the bride-to-be of Tom Hans’ character in the 1984 film Bachelor Party. She also had a reoccurring role on the early ’90s sitcom The New WKRP in Cincinnati, and played Jerry’s girlfriend in Seinfeld’s classic 1991 episode, “The Nose Job”. Related Video But Kitaen is undoubtedly most synomonymous with Whitesnake, having appeared in several of the band’s ...
Tommy West, Co-Producer of Jim Croce Albums, Dies at 78
“His musical career began in 1958 as co-founder of the doo-wop group, The Criterions, with childhood friend and future Manhattan Transfer founder, Tim Hauser,” Ragogna said. West had met Croce while both were students at Villanova University in 1961. West and Terry Cashman co-produced three albums for Croce in the early 1970s, which went on to platinum status. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, Life and Times and I Got a Name included the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle.” You Don’t Mess Around With Jim topped the Billboard 200 albums chart for five consecutive weeks in early 1974. “Leroy Brown” received a Grammy nomination for record of the year for both Croce and Cashman & West. Croce was killed in a plane crash in Louisiana ...
Billie Hayes, ‘H.R. Pufnstuf’ and Broadway Star, Dies at 96
The Kroffts reacted on Twitter to the news of her death: More recently, Hayes served as a voice actor for The Black Cauldron (1985) and for such cartoons as Trollkins, The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, Paw Paws, Darkwing Duck, The Brothers Flub and Transformers: Rescue Bots. Born on Aug. 5, 1924, in DuQuoin, Illinois, Hayes played in bandleader Vince Genovese’s orchestra while in high school, then toured with her own singing and dancing act throughout the Midwest. After moving to New York, she auditioned for theater legend J.J. Shubert and was hired for principle roles in three roadshow operettas: Student Prince, The Merry Widow and Blossom Time. Hayes made her Broadway debut in Leonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1956, then succeeded Charlotte Rae as Mammy Yokum in Li’l Abner. Sh...
Milva, Beloved Italian Singer, Dies at 81
Born in 1939 as Maria Ilva Biolcati in Goro, a Po River delta town, she adopted the one-word stage name Milva. Along with Italian singers Ornella Vanoni and Mina, another performer who used a first name only, Milva was considered one of the greatest Italian popular female singers. Milva sold some 80 million records, the LaPresse news agency said, and recorded 173 albums. She was nicknamed “Milva the Red,” for her voluminous red hair as well as “the Panther of Goro” for her vitality. Germany, France and Italy all honored her with national awards. Milva also had a following of fans in Asia, particularly in South Korea. She appeared 15 times at the San Remo festival, the annual contest to promote Italian songs, joking after her 12th time that she never would win. One o...
R.I.P. Shock G, Founding Member of Digital Underground Dead at 57
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-23T02:10:12+00:00“>April 22, 2021 | 10:10pm ET Shock G, founding member and lead vocalist of the influential West Coast hip-hop group Digital Underground, has died at the age of 57. According to TMZ, the rapper was found dead Thursday (April 22nd) in a hotel room in Tampa, Florida. A cause of death was not immediately clear, but there were no signs of trauma. Gregory Jacobs was born in New York City and raised in Tampa. He initially showed an interest in drums before discovering hip-hop and trading his set in for a turntable. He cut his chops as part of a local mobile DJ crew called Master Blasters, but after getting his college diploma in music theory and meeting future bandmate...
Digital Underground’s Shock G Dies at 57
Digital Underground was formed in Oakland, Calif., in 1987 by Shock G, Chopmaster J and Kenny-K, and the collective included a revolving door of more than three dozen members over its almost three decades of activity — including some of the earliest recordings from a young Tupac Shakur. The group had four top 40-charting hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, including the top 10 smash “The Humpty Dance,” which also spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart in 1990 and peaked at No. 11 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. The song also garnered a Grammy nomination for best rap performance by a duo or group. “The Humpty Dance” was one of two top 20-charting hits on the Dance Club Songs chart, alongside 1991’s “Same Song.” The l...
R.I.P. Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf Songwriter and Legendary Producer Dead at 73
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T20:22:15+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 4:22pm ET Jim Steinman, who wrote and produced hits for Meat Loaf, Celine Dion, and Bonnie Tyler, died on Monday in Connecticut. He was 73. The legendary songwriter and producer is best known for his work on Meat Loaf’s 1977 smash debut Bat Out of Hell and its 1993 sequel Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. However, the New York native also helmed titanic hits such as Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All”, Barry Manilow’s “Read ‘Em and Weep”, the Sisters of Mercy’s “This Corrosion”, Celine Dion’s “It’s Coming Back to Me Now”, and many others. Steinman was born in New York City in 1947...
R.I.P. Ethel Gabriel, First Female Record Producer for a Major Label Dead at 99
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-19T17:51:01+00:00“>April 19, 2021 | 1:51pm ET Ethel Gabriel, the Grammy-winning record producer who became a trailblazer for other women in the music industry, has died at the age of 99. She passed away from dementia at a memory care facility in Rochester, New York on March 23rd, reports The Washington Post. Born Ethel Mary Nagy on November 16th, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she took to music at a young ago by studying trombone and starting a local swing band. Gabriel decided to pursue music as a career and set off for college, receiving a music teaching degree in 1943 from Temple University in Philadelphia and later attending Columbia University afterwards. Technically, G...
