Who's Next To Croak?

[Sleepless]

Just found out that Don S. Davis died on June 29.

He played Major Briggs in Twin Peaks, and Scully's father on The X-Files.

[hedwig]

Charles Joffe dies aged 78

Film producer Charles Joffe, who had worked on Woody Allen films since 1969, has died at the age of 78.

Joffe and business partner Jack Rollins first co-produced Allen in Take the Money and Run. In 1978, Joffe collected the best picture Oscar for Annie Hall.

The pair, who are executive producers of new Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, also managed comedians including Robin Williams in the 1960s.

Joffe died in a Los Angeles hospital after suffering from lung disease.

Allen said in a statement: "When he was at the top of his game, nobody was better."

Joffe picked up the best picture award at the 1978 Oscars ceremony after Allen decided to stay away.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1929, Joffe studied journalism before going on to work for Rollins in the 1950s as a junior manager for comedians.

In the 1960s, the pair formed their own company, Rollins and Joffe Productions, and helped the careers of comedians including Williams and Billy Crystal.

Joffe's wife Carol said: "He was a fabulous deal-maker - that was his real strength."

[mogwai]

Estelle Getty Dies

The Golden Girls star Estelle Getty has died of dementia, just three days before her 85th birthday.

She passed away in the early hours of Tuesday morning at her Los Angeles, California home.

The actress had endured a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia, a disease exhibiting symptoms similar to Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's.

Born in New York in 1923, Getty began her acting career with a small part in 1978 comedy Team-Mates.

She went on to land roles in 1982 classic Tootsie and 1985's Mask, but it was her turn as wise-cracking Sicilian mother Sophia Petrillo on 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls that made her a household name.

She is also known for her stint on New York's Broadway in a 1982 production of Torch Song Trilogy.

Getty later starred in movies including Stuart Little, Throw Momma From The Train, and Mannequin.

Paying tribute to the star, her longtime care-giver Paul Chapdelaine says, "Sadly, today July 22, 2008 at 5:35 a.m. Pacific Time, we said our last good-byes to our little friend Estelle, who passed away and made her journey to the great beyond. Although it was a trip that she never wanted to take, she went gracefully, in the comfort of her own home, surrounded by her family and her very loving care-givers.

"Estelle's legacy will live on and on through the comedy and laughter she gave to us all, which will forever keep us laughing out loud...

"Estelle was a fighter. She always stood up for the underdogs, fought for equality for all, and always pictured a world filled with "Love and Laughter" - her most favourite catch phrase.

"Estelle, we love you and will miss you dearly. We pray that you are met at the Pearly Gate with open arms and a warm welcome by all who have passed before you.... You have touched my life, and the lives of so many others who will never forget you."

The Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning actress is survived by two adult sons from her marriage to Arthur Gettleman. He passed away in 2004.

[Pozer]

my mother loved her and refuses to believe this news.  so, stop!  or my mom will shoot.

nope, still am ghey.

[cinemanarchist]

We lost an angel today. Golden Girls marathon at my crib this weekend. Let's laugh through the tears.

[Reinhold]

Egyptian film legend Chahine dies

Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine has died in Cairo aged 82, four weeks after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

One of Arab cinema's most admired figures, he made his first film in 1950 and tackled authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism in his work.

Chahine also had a loyal following in France, and was given the lifetime achievement award at Cannes in 1997.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Chahine "a fervent defender of freedom of expression".

Chahine was flown to Paris for treatment following his haemorrhage, but returned to Cairo 10 days ago.

His last film, This Is Chaos, was released earlier this year. Colleague Khaled Youssef had to finish it off because of the director's ill health.

"He was one of the most important film-makers in the world, not just in the Arab world," Egyptian actor Nur al-Sherif told Agence France Presse.

Chahine's early films like Cairo: Central Station dealt with sexual morality, a daring theme for its time, and during his career he attracted the anger of both religious and political forces in Egypt.

But his career survived the nationalisation of the country's film industry under President Nasser, and his film The Sparrow was critical of Egypt's leadership at the time of the Six Day War in 1967.

Chahine carried on producing work critical of Egypt's leaders, and made a series of films centred on his home city of Alexandria, recounting his childhood, his love of early Hollywood and his ambiguous feelings towards the United States. He had studied in California in the 1940s.

In his later career, censorship was a theme close to his heart, and he also became a prominent opponent of American foreign policy in the Middle East.

In 1994, his film The Emigrant was banned by a court because its plot was based on the story of Joseph, found in the Bible and Koran. The depiction of prophets is banned in most interpretations of Islam.

"Every day human beings suffer a lot from people telling you to shut up, you have no right to talk, you have no right to discuss," Chahine said.

"I think this is extreme violence, and it happened to me."

Chahine is survived by his French wife Colette. A funeral ceremony will be held in Cairo on Monday, ahead of his burial in Alexandria.


Story from BBC NEWS

[Ravi]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080803/ap_en_ot/obit_solzhenistyn

Author Alexander Solzhenitsyn dies at 89

MOSCOW - Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning author whose books chronicled the horrors of the Soviet gulag system, has died of heart failure, his son said Monday. He was 89.

Stepan Solzhenitsyn told The Associated Press his father died late Sunday, but he declined further comment.

[mogwai]

Comic actor Bernie Mac dies

(CNN) -- Comic actor Bernie Mac died early Saturday of complications from pneumonia, according to a family member and his publicist. He was 50.

He had been hospitalized in Chicago, Illinois, for more than a week with the lung infection.

Danica Smith, the comedian's publicist, had said Thursday that Mac's condition was "stable," The Associated Press reported.

"When I got the call this morning, it was just devastating news," said Chicago Sun-Times columnist Stella Foster. "Let's face it: Bernie Mac was one of a kind. He was the best of the best in terms of giving you a good laugh."

Smith previously said the pneumonia wasn't related to sarcoidosis, a lung disease Mac had, which had been in remission since 2005, according to AP.

Mac caused a stir in July with some jokes he made during a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, AP reported.

Mac -- born Bernard Jeffrey McCollough -- starred in the Fox television series "The Bernie Mac Show." His film roles included the "Ocean's Eleven" series, "Friday," "Get on the Bus," "Transformers" and "Bad Santa."

[matt35mm]

This is very sad news.  His show and his comedy was so good, and there were moments in interviews where you could tell he was still very humble after all his success.  He was one of my favorites.

[pete]

ah man my friends and I were all just quoting him at a party:
"you don't understand, I ain't scared of you motherfuckers."

[Ravi]

http://www.variety.com/VR1117990257.html

Industry icon Bernie Brillstein dies
Pioneering manager had an eye for talent
By CYNTHIA LITTLETON

Bernie Brillstein, pioneering manager and producer whose keen eye for talent led him to steer the careers of such stars and creatives as John Belushi and Jim Henson, died Thursday night of chronic pulmonary disease. He was 77.

Brillstein had been suffering from complications stemming from double-bypass heart surgery in February.

A one-time WMA agent, Brillstein headed Hollywood's most successful management company in the 1980s and also into the '90s, in partnership with Brad Grey, now chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures.

Brillstein was an influential force in the 1975 launch of NBC mainstay ``Saturday Night Live'' as the manager of creator-exec producer Lorne Michaels as well as stars Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner.

Michaels and Grey are in the midst of organizing a memorial event to be held Monday at UCLA's Royce Hall.

"He was talented and brilliant, and hilarious," Grey said of his longtime friend. "I have a debt to Bernie for so many reasons that I can never possibly repay. He was my mentor, my partner and my friend. He was like a father to me and he treated me like a son."

Said Michaels: "He loved talent and he loved the action. He never wavered in that. He was always a wise and honest voice in my life. He was clear on the hard realities of show business, but he never lost his love of the game."

Other clients whose careers were nurtured at Brillstein-headed shingles included such biz heavyweights as Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Geena Davis, Martin Short, Jim Belushi, Dabney Coleman, John Larroquette, Dana Carvey, Dennis Miller, Nicolas Cage, Rob Lowe and Jay Tarses.

In the 1980s, the Brillstein Co. was among the first contempo talent rep shingles to branch out into TV production in a significant way with shows packaged around clients, a list that included ``ALF,'' ``It's Garry Shandling's Show,'' ``The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd'' and ``The Slap Maxwell Story.''

In late 1991, when Brillstein partnered with Grey, who had joined the Brillstein Co. in the mid-1980s as a manager, the company further expanded the scope of its film and TV operations.

Brillstein-Grey Television fielded such noteworthy skeins as ``The Sopranos,'' (Brillstein even made a cameo appearance in 2004, playing in a poker game with Tony Soprano), ``Just Shoot Me,'' ``NewsRadio,'' ``Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher'' and ``The Larry Sanders Show.''

Brillstein-Grey Entertainment's features included Adam Sandler's ``Happy Gilmore,'' Jim Carrey's ``The Cable Guy'' and ``The Replacement Killers.''An avuncular presence who sported shoulder-length white hair and a linebacker's build, Brillstein was well-known and well-liked in showbiz for his easygoing manner and candor. Even when Grey bought out Brillstein's share in the Brillstein-Grey banner in 1996, but as a lover of the game, Brillstein continued to serve as founding partner, repping a select group of clients. He maintained a regular presence in the offices of what is now Brillstein Entertainment Partners up until his recent surgery.

``With his boundless passion, energy and wisdom, Bernie inspired the culture and success that we're blessed with today,'' said Jon Liebman, who took the reins as CEO of what was renamed Brillstein Entertainment Partners after Grey moved on to Paramount.

In addition to working as a manager and producer, Brillstein also wore a third hat in the late 1980s as an executive, serving as the head of film at the prosperous indie Lorimar. Lorimar bought his Brillstein Co. shingle when he joined the company in 1986, and it continued to operate as an autonomous management-production entity.

Brillstein stepped down as chairman and CEO of Lorimar Film Entertainment in late 1988 after the parent company was acquired by Warner Bros., and he returned to managing and producing full -time.

He Brillstein credited much of his success to betting on the potential of clients who impressed him with their innate talents: ``Good things begin with talent,'' Brillstein told Daily Variety in 1987. In a column he penned for Daily Variety in 2002, Brillstein lamented how the networks and studios no longer put much emphasis on scouting for and developing talent.``Where has all the talent gone? Or, more to the point, where have all the people who love and respect talent gone?,'' Brillstein wrote. ``There's nothing like the thrill you get in discovering a real talent; it's a great feeling to share that discovery with the world. And to know you were there for the beginning.''

Early in his career, Brillstein was mightily impressed by the talent and vision of a young puppeteer he'd met in New York. He repped Muppets creator Henson until the latter's death in 1990.

Brillstein's savvy business guidance played a major role in building Henson's Muppets empire, including the decision to cut a deal with the U.K.'s ITC to finance for "The Muppet Show,'' which aired in the U.S. in firstrun syndication from 1976-1981. Brillstein also helped Henson move into features, and to strike innovative deals with HBO and plus a slew of international outlets for the critically praised 1980s kidvid skein ``Fraggle Rock.''

(A more adult breed of Muppets also had a semi-regular presence on the early years of ``SNL,'' thanks to the Brillstein connection.)

By the mid-'70s, Brillstein's clout in the biz increased considerably, as his clients were suddenly in demand for movie roles. Brillstein began serving as an exec producer on many of his clients' features after John Belushi expressly asked him to take on that role for 1980's ``The Blues Brothers.''

Belushi's later descent into the drug and alcohol abuse that killed him at age 33 in 1982 was devastating to Brillstein, who had tried to convince the comic to seek treatment and temper his hard living.

Born in New York, Brillstein got his first exposure to showbiz through his uncle, Ziegfeld Follies comic Jack Pearl. After graduating from New York U., Brillstein got his start in the WMA mailroom in New York. He didn't stay in the mailroom long, though, quickly moving up to become an agent. After nine years with WMA, Brillstein moved on in 1964 to join talent rep firm Management III.

Three years later, Brillstein relocated to Los Angeles to open up a West Coast office for Management III. As leader of a fledgling operation on the West Coast, he knew he had no shot at signing big-name movie stars, so he made the fortuitous decision to focus on signing writers, producers and directors.

As those clients became successful in TV, Brillstein's fortunes rose. By 1969, he went out on his own with the Brillstein Co. Among the first big successes he packaged was the long-running syndie hit ``Hee Haw.''

Brillstein wittily recounted his showbiz experiences in two popular books that were part memoir and part Hollywood how-to tomes: 1999's "Where Did I Go Right?" and 2004's "The Little Stuff Matters Most."

Survivors include his wife of 10 years, Carrie Brillstein, and five children, daughters Leigh Brillstein and Kate Brillstein; sons Michael Brillstein, David Koskoff, Nick Koskoff; and grandson Alden.

Funeral services will be private.

[Kal]

wow. i just read on cnn. sad and totally unexpected. didnt even know he was sick at all.

[squints]

wow. i just read on cnn. sad and totally unexpected. didnt even know he was sick at all.

Which Bernie are you talkin about?

[matt35mm]

I'm sure he's talking about Bernie Mac.

This is the worst weekend for Bernies since Weekend At Bernie's.

Sorry

[pete]

issac hayes is gone too, age 65.