Hollywood Reaper

RIP Etta James

2012-01-20T11:58:00.001-06:00

c.m: Complications resulting from leukemia, Hepatitis C, and Alzheimer's disease

Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins - January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) was an American singer whose style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in the mid 1950s after being discovered on a San Francisco street corner by Johnny Otis, she gained fame with hits such as "Dance With Me, Henry", "At Last", "Tell Mama", and "I'd Rather Go Blind." She faced a number of personal problems including heroin addiction and prison time before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album, The Seven Year Itch.

She is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and seventeen Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. Rolling Stone ranked James number twenty-two on their list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" and number sixty-two on the list of the "100 Greatest Artists."

Etta James is survived by her husband, Artis Mills, and her sons, Donto and Sametto, who both played in her band.

(Sources: CNN, NPR, Wiki)

RIP Patrice O'Neal

2011-11-29T15:03:00.000-06:00

c.m: Stroke

Patrice Lumumba Malcolm O'Neal (December 7, 1969 - November 29, 2011) was an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, and actor. He was known for his cutting, often confrontational crowd work during which he often plays couples against each other.

O'Neal began his comedy career in his native Boston. Primarily a stand-up comic, O'Neal made his Def Comedy Jam debut in 2007. He has had half-hour specials on Showtime, HBO (One Night Stand, Def Comedy Jam), and Comedy Central Presents, and has recorded a CD/DVD entitled Patrice O'Neal - Elephant In The Room. In the late 1990s, O'Neal moved to Los Angeles in order to break into film and television.The late Scary Movie 4 star's most recent TV performance was at the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen that aired in September.

(Sources: Us, Rueters, Wiki)

RIP Ken Russell

2011-11-29T14:55:00.000-06:00

c.m. Stroke

Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell (July 3, 1927 – November 27, 2011) was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church. His films often dealt with the lives of famous composers or were based on other works of art which he adapted loosely. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he made creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios.

He is best known for his Oscar-winning film Women in Love (1969), The Devils (1971), The Who's Tommy (1975), and the science fiction film Altered States (1980). Classical musicians and conductors held him in high regard for his story-driven biopics of various composers, most famously Elgar, Delius, Liszt, Mahler and Tchaikovsky.

Russell's autobiography, A British Picture, was published in 1989. A new edition came out in 2008, shortly after he had lost his cottage in the New Forest to a fire and had appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. He had lost most of his money over the years but never his sense of humour. When he wanted an email address and was told that it couldn't be plain "Kenrussell", he asked for and got "Thekenrussell".

He was married four times: in 1956 to Shirley Kingdom, with whom he had five children; in 1983 to Vivian Jolly, with whom he had two children; in 1992 to Hetty Baynes, with whom he had one son; and in 2001, to Elise Tribble. Elise followed an appeal on Russell's own website which had engendered a dozen answers: "Unbankable film director Ken Russell seeks soulmate. Must be mad about music, movies and Moet & Chandon champagne."

He is survived by Elise and his children.

(Sources: The Guardian, NY Post, Wiki, Gretchen Friese)

RIP Theodore Forstmann

2011-11-20T16:08:00.000-06:00

c.m: Brain cancer

Theodore "Ted" Joseph Forstmann (1940 - November 11, 2011) was one of the founding partners of Forstmann Little, a private equity firm, and chairman and CEO of IMG, a leading global sports and media company. Forstmann was a graduate of Phillips Academy, Yale University and Columbia University Law School. At Yale, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

Forstmann, an attorney, founded Forstmann Little in 1978 with his brother Nicholas C. Forstmann, who later died of lung cancer, and William Brian Little. Forstmann Little leveraged buyouts of companies including Yankee Candle, Dr. Pepper and Community Health Systems.

Forstmann was also a philanthropist and co-founder of the Children's Scholarship Fund, and had a key focus on helping disadvantaged children throughout the world.

Forstmann had a net worth of $1.6 billion as of 2011.

He is survived by his two sons, Siya and Everest, brothers Anthony and John, and sisters Marina Forstmann Day and Elissa Forstmann Moran.

(Sources: NPR, Wiki, People)

RIP Evelyn Lauder

2011-11-12T23:19:00.000-06:00

c.m: Nongenetic ovarian cancer

Evelyn Lauder (August 12, 1936 – November 12, 2011) was an American socialite and philanthropist who has been credited as one of the creators and popularizers of the pink ribbon as a symbol for awareness of breast cancer.

Evelyn Hausner was born in Vienna and grew up in New York City. While attending Hunter College from which she graduated in 1958, she met her husband Leonard on a blind date. She also took graduate courses at Northwestern University. The couple were married in July 1959. After the marriage, she left her job as a public school teacher and went to work with her husband at the company founded by her mother-in-law in 1946, which sold six products at the time: a red lipstick, creams, lotions and Youth Dew fragrance in a bath oil.

Lauder was the Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies and a member of the board of overseers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Lauder personally raised much of the $13.6 million that went to create the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, which opened in October 1992 and focuses on the treatment and diagnosis of breast cancer. She helped raise an additional $5 million to create an endowment to be used to fund clinical research there.

Self magazine's first annual issue for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month came after an April 1991 lunch at the 21 Club, at which Lauder discussed ideas for articles about breast cancer with her friend Alexandra Penney, who was then serving as editor of Self.

Together with Penney, Lauder established The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and formalized the pink ribbon as a symbol for breast cancer awareness as part of Self magazine's second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month issue in 1992. Penney's inspiration to improve on the success of the magazine's first annual issue was to create a ribbon that would be placed in Estee Lauder's New York City stores. Lauder made the commitment to have the ribbons placed on the company's cosmetics counters across the United States.

By 1993, Lauder had overseen the creation of a new shade called Pink Ribbon that was part of her personal and corporate effort to raise breast cancer awareness. Her husband paid for the cost of registering The Breast Cancer Research Foundation in all 50 states. By the start of 1995, some $900,000 had been raised for the foundation, including $120,000 from the sale of Pink Ribbon lipstick and blusher and $190,000 from the sale of the Clinique Berry Kiss pink lipstick.

By October 2008, the Estée Lauder Companies estimated that the firm's Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign had raised $35 million towards research and distributed 80 million pink ribbons.

Leonard and Evelyn Lauder's son William is executive chairman of Estee Lauder Cos. Another son, Gary, is managing director of Lauder Partners LLC, a technology investment firm.

(Sources: NY Times, Wiki, Yahoo, NPR)

RIP Bil Keane

2011-11-09T13:46:00.000-06:00

c.m: Heart failure

William Aloysius Keane (October 5, 1922 - November 8, 2011), better known as Bil Keane, was an American cartoonist notable for his work on the long-running newspaper comic The Family Circus, which began its run in 1960 and continues in syndication. His comic strip is featured in nearly 1,500 newspapers across the country.

Keane began his illustrating career in high school and continued drawing and creating comics during WWII for magazines like Yank and Stars and Stripes.

Keane married his wife Thelma Carne in 1948 and the couple have five children. She also served as his business and financial manager. Devoted to his wife, Keane based the mommy character in Family Circus after her. Thelma died of Alzheimer's disease in 2008.

When his wife died, Keane called her "the inspiration for all of my success. ...When the cartoon first appeared, she looked so much like Mommy that if she was in the supermarket pushing her cart around, people would come up to her and say, `Aren't you the mommy in `Family Circus?'"

Keane was a four-time recipient of the National Cartoonists Society's Award for Best Syndicated Panel, winning in 1967, 1971, 1973 and 1974. Then in 1982, Keane was named the Society's Cartoonist of the Year and received its top honor, the Reuben Award. He also received the Elzie Segar Award in 1982 for his unique contribution to the cartooning profession. Keane was honored with the Silver T-Square Award from the National Cartoonist Society in 2002 for "outstanding dedication" to the NCS and the cartooning profession.

In 1998, he became the tenth recipient of the Arizona Heritage Award, joining – among others – Barry Goldwater, Sandra Day O'Connor, Mo Udall and Erma Bombeck.

(Sources: Ology, Wiki, Huffington Post)

RIP Leonard Stone

2011-11-08T17:12:00.000-06:00

c.m: Cancer

Leonard Stone, a familiar character actor on television and in films who had a memorable turn as an overindulgent father in the 1971 movie “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” died at his home in San Diego.

In “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” with Gene Wilder in the title role, Mr. Stone played Violet Beauregarde’s father, Sam. Violet chews forbidden gum meant to simulate the flavors of an entire meal, and on reaching dessert — blueberry pie — Violet turns purple and swells like an overripe plum. Mr. Beauregarde shouts “Violet! You’re turning violet, Violet!” and falls into paroxysms of concern.

Mr. Stone happily repeated the line when fans asked to hear it.

Leonard Stone was born on Nov. 3, 1923, in Salem, Ore. After serving in the Navy in World War II, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, then moved to Australia, where he joined a traveling production of “South Pacific.”

In addition to his granddaughter, Mr. Stone is survived by his wife, Carole; three daughters, Robin and Debbie Stone and Jan Fryman; a son, Michael Merkow-Stone; and seven more grandchildren.

(Sources: NY Times, TMZ, People)

RIP Heavy D

2011-11-08T16:52:00.001-06:00

c.m: Pneumonia

Dwight Arrington Myers (May 24, 1967 - November 8, 2011), better known as Heavy D, was a Jamaican American actor, rapper, record producer, singer and former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a hip hop group which included G-Whiz (Glen Parrish), "Trouble" T. Roy (Troy Dixon), and Eddie F (born Edward Ferrell). The group maintained a sizable audience in the United States through most of the 1990s. Heavy D had several massive hits -- including "Now That We Found Love." He also wrote and performed the theme song for "In Living Color," and appeared as an actor in the movie "Life."

(Sources: Wiki, Rolling Stone, TMZ)

RIP Joe Frazier

2011-11-08T16:49:00.000-06:00

c.m: Liver cancer

Joseph William "Joe" Frazier (January 12, 1944 – November 7, 2011), also known as Smokin' Joe, was an Olympic and Undisputed World Heavyweight boxing champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a one-fight comeback in 1981.

Frazier emerged as the top contender in the late 1960s, defeating opponents that included Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Buster Mathis, Eddie Machen, Doug Jones, George Chuvalo and Jimmy Ellis en route to becoming undisputed heavyweight champion in 1970, and followed up by defeating Muhammad Ali on points in the highly-anticipated "Fight of the Century" in 1971. Two years later Frazier lost his title when he was knocked out by George Foreman. He fought on, beating Joe Bugner, losing a rematch to Ali, and beating Quarry and Ellis again.

Frazier's last world title challenge came in 1975, but he was beaten by Ali in their brutal rubbermatch. He retired in 1976 following a second loss to Foreman. He made a comeback in 1981, fighting just once, before retiring for good. The International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) rates Frazier among the ten greatest heavyweights of all time. He is an inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

Frazier's style was often compared to that of Henry Armstrong and occasionally Rocky Marciano. He was dependent on bobbing, weaving, grunting, snorting as he grimaced with all out aggression wearing down his opponents with relentless pressure. His best known punch was a powerful left hook, which accounted for most of his knockouts.

After retiring, Frazier made cameo appearances in several Hollywood movies, and two episodes of The Simpsons. His son Marvis became a boxer — trained by Frazier himself — although was unable to emulate his father's success. Frazier continued to train fighters in his gym in Philadelphia. His later years saw the continuation of his bitter rivalry with Ali, in which the two periodically exchanged insults, interspersed with brief reconciliations.

(Sources: NPR, Wiki, People)

RIP Andy Rooney

2011-11-05T14:34:00.001-05:00

c.m: Post-op complications (reason for operation unknown)

Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney (January 14, 1919 – November 4, 2011) was an American radio and television writer. He was most notable for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", a part of the CBS News program "60 Minutes" from 1978 to 2011. His final regular appearance on "60 Minutes" - his 1,097th - aired October 2, 2011. He died a month later at age 92.

Rooney wrote for television since its birth, spending more than 60 years at CBS, 30 of them behind the camera as a writer and producer, first for entertainment and then news programming, before becoming a television personality - a role he said he was never comfortable in. He preferred to be known as a writer and was the author of best-selling books and a national newspaper column, in addition to his "60 Minutes" essays.

His wife of 62 years, Marguerite "Margie" Rooney (née Howard), died in 2004 of heart failure. Rooney later wrote, "her name does not appear as often as it originally did [in my essays] because it hurts too much to write it." He has four children, including a daughter, Emily Rooney, who is a TV talk show host and former ABC News producer; she currently hosts a nightly Boston-area public affairs program, Greater Boston, on WGBH. Emily's identical twin, Martha, is Chief of the Public Services Division at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. The third daughter, Ellen, is a photographer based in London. His son, Brian Rooney, has been a correspondent for ABC since the 1980s.

(sources: Wiki, People, CBS, NY Times, Yahoo)

RIP Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T19:09:00.002-05:00

c.m: TBA - Jobs had been suffering from pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant in 2009

Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur and inventor. He was co-founder, chairman, and former chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs also previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. He was credited in Toy Story (1995) as an executive producer.

In the late 1970s, Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Mike Markkula, and others, designed, developed, and marketed one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. In the early 1980s, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC's mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of the Macintosh. After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985,Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher-education and business markets. Apple's subsequent 1996 buyout of NeXT brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded, and he served as its CEO from 1997 until 2011. In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd which was spun off as Pixar Animation Studios. He remained CEO and majority shareholder at 50.1% until its acquisition by The Walt Disney company in 2006. Consequently Jobs became Disney's largest individual shareholder at 7% and a member of Disney's Board of Directors. His aim to develop products that are both functional and elegant has earned him a devoted following.

On August 24, 2011, Jobs announced his resignation from his role as Apple's CEO. In his letter of resignation, Jobs strongly recommended that the Apple executive succession plan be followed and Tim Cook be named as his successor. Per his request, Jobs was appointed chairman of Apple's board of directors.

At a 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, Jobs shared the philosophy that drove him.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs said. “Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Jobs is survived by his wife of 20 years, Laurene, and four children, including one from a prior relationship.

(Sources: Wiki, CNN, Wired, Mimi Snow)

RIP Eve Brent

2011-09-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

c.m: Natural causes

Eve Brent (1929 – August 27, 2011) (often billed in acting roles as: Jean Lewis) was a Saturn Award-winning American actress.

Born as Jean Ann Ewers in Houston, Texas, and raised in Fort Worth, she appeared on radio and television (guest-starring roles and hundreds of commercials), in movies and on the theater stage.

Some of her early film work includes roles in Gun Girls, 1956, Journey to Freedom, 1957 and Forty Guns, 1957.

She became the twelfth actress to play Jane when she appeared opposite Gordon Scott's Tarzan in the film Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958). She also played the role in Tarzan and the Trappers.

In 1980 she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Fade to Black. Her best-known recent work in films was in The Green Mile.

On the smallscreen, Brent regularly guested on shows ranging from "thirtysomething" to "Twin Peaks," appearing most recently in a 2006 episode of "Scrubs" and in an episode of "Community."

She is survived by her son.

(Sources: Variety, Wiki, IMDb, Matt Orsman)

RIP Andy Whitfield

2011-09-12T09:37:00.000-05:00

c.m: non-Hodgkins lymphoma

Andy Whitfield (July 17, 1974 – September 11, 2011) was a Welsh-born Australian actor and model. He was best known for his leading role in the Starz television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Whitfield was born in Amlwch, Wales. He studied engineering at the University of Western Sydney and worked in Lidcombe as an engineer before moving to Sydney in 1999. He attended Screenwise Film & TV School for Actors, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and appeared in several Australian television series, such as Opening Up, All Saints, The Strip, Packed to the Rafters and McLeod's Daughters.

He is survived by his wife and two children.

(Sources: People, Us, Wiki, EW, Matt Orsman)

RIP Cliff Robertson

2011-09-11T13:10:00.001-05:00

c.m: Natural causes

Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson, III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly. His last film role was "Uncle Ben Parker" in the Spider-Man film series.

The California native was married to Cynthia Stone from 1957 to 1960; they had one daughter together, Stephanie. He was married to Dina Merrill from 1966 to 1986 and had a daughter named Heather together. Heather passed away in 2007 of pancreatic cancer, before both of her parents.

(Sources: Screen Rant, Us Weekly, NY Daily News, Wiki, Matt Orsman)

RIP Michael Showers

2011-08-25T14:26:00.000-05:00

c.m: TBD

The body of actor Michael Showers, 45, who played NOPD Capt. John Guidry in HBO's "Treme," was pulled from the Mississippi River near the French Quarter on Wednesday, August 24. An autopsy will be performed to determine cause of death, but the chief investigator for the Orleans Parish coroner's office estimated that Showers' body had been in the water for two days.

Showers' acting credits also include "Breaking Bad," "The Vampire Diaries," I Love You Phillip Morris, Traffic and the upcoming Colombiana.

Story developing.

(Sources: NOLA.com, People, Us, E!, Daily Mail UK)

RIP Nick Ashford

2011-08-23T14:17:00.000-05:00

c.m: Throat cancer

Nick Ashford (May 4, 1942 – August 22, 2011) of the husband and wife songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson, along with his wife Valerie Simpson, was known for hits such as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "I'm Every Woman" and "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing."

Nickolas Ashford was born in Fairfield, S.C., and raised in Willow Run, Mich., where his father, Calvin, was a construction worker. He got his musical start at Willow Run Baptist Church, singing and writing songs for the gospel choir. He briefly attended Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti, before heading to New York, where he tried but failed to find success as a dancer.

In 1964, while homeless, Mr. Ashford went to White Rock Baptist Church in Harlem, where he met Valerie Simpson, a 17-year-old recent high school graduate who was studying music. They began writing songs together, selling the first bunch for $64. In 1966, after Ray Charles sang “Let’s Go Get Stoned,” a song Ashford & Simpson wrote with Joey Armstead, the duo signed on with Motown as staff writers and producers.

They wrote for virtually every major act on the Motown label, including Gladys Knight and the Pips (“Didn’t You Know You’d Have to Cry Sometime”) and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (“Who’s Gonna Take the Blame”).

Ashford is survived by Simpson, 64, their daughters Nicole and Asia, his brothers Paul, Albert and Frank; and his mother, Alice Ashford.

(Sources: Wiki, NY Times, Rolling Stone)

RIP Jerry Leiber

2011-08-22T14:26:00.000-05:00

c.m: Cardiopulmonary failure

Jerry Leiber, who with his songwriting partner, Mike Stoller, created a songbook that infused the rock 'n' roll scene of the 1950s and early '60s with energy and mischievous humor, has died. He was 78.

The team of Leiber and Stoller was formed in 1950, when Mr. Leiber was still a student at Fairfax High in Los Angeles and Mr. Stoller, a fellow rhythm-and-blues fanatic, was a freshman at Los Angeles City College. With Mr. Leiber contributing catchy, street-savvy lyrics and Mr. Stoller, a pianist, composing infectious, bluesy tunes, they set about writing songs with black singers and groups in mind.

In 1952, they wrote “Hound Dog” for the blues singer Big Mama Thornton. The song became an enormous hit for Elvis Presley in 1956 and made Leiber and Stoller the hottest songwriting team in rock ’n’ roll. They later wrote “Jailhouse Rock,” “Loving You,” “Don’t,” “Treat Me Nice,” “King Creole” and other songs for Presley, despite their loathing for his interpretation of “Hound Dog.”

In the late 1950s, having relocated to New York and taken their place among the constellation of talents associated with the Brill Building, they emerged as perhaps the most potent songwriting team in the genre.

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, Leiber and his lifelong writing partner, Stoller, wrote hits that included Elvis Presley's rat-a-tat-tat rendition of "Hound Dog" in 1956 and Peggy Lee's 1969 recording of the jaded "Is That All There Is?"

Leiber, who was married and divorced twice, is survived by sons Jed, Oliver and Jake; two grandchildren and a sister.

(Sources: LA Times, NY Times, Wiki)

RIP Russell Armstrong

2011-08-16T10:49:00.003-05:00

c.m: Suicide by hanging

Russell Armstrong, the estranged husband of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Taylor Armstrong, committed suicide at the age of 47.

In addition to the collapse of his marriage, Russell was also recently sued, along with his estranged wife, for $1.5 million by a company claiming the venture capitalist misappropriated funds for his own personal use.

Russell is survived by his estranged wife and their daughter, Kennedy, age 5, as well as two sons, 11 and 13, from previous relationships.

(Sources: E!, TMZ, Us)

RIP Jani Lane

2011-08-12T09:48:00.000-05:00

c.m: TBA

Jani Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald, February 1, 1964 – August 11, 2011) was an American recording artist and the lead vocalist, frontman, lyricist and main songwriter for the glam metal band Warrant.

Lane is survived by four children, Taylar, Brittany, Madison and Ryan, from two previous marriages. (Taylar's mother is model Bobbie Brown, his first wife, who starred in Warrant's classic "Cherry Pie" video.)

(Sources: TMZ, Us Weekly, Wiki)

RIP Leslie Banks

2011-08-02T15:03:00.000-05:00

c.m: Adrenal cancer

Leslie Esdaile Banks (December 11, 1959 – August 2, 2011) was an American writer. She wrote in various genres, including African American literature, romance, women's fiction, crime suspense, dark fantasy/horror and non-fiction. Leslie wrote under the pseudonyms LA Banks, Leslie Esdaile, Leslie Banks and Leslie Esdaile Banks.

She won several literary awards, including the 2008 Essence Literary Awards Storyteller of the Year.

Banks was born and raised in Philadelphia. She contributed to magazines, newspaper columns, and wrote commercial fiction for five major publishers. Books 1 and 2 of The Vampire Huntress Legend Series ("Minion" and "The Awakening," respectively), have been optioned for Hollywood films by GothamBeach Entertainment and Griot Entertainment. Originally a nine book series, The Vampire Huntress Legend Series has now been expanded to thirteen books. Banks was a founding partner of The Liars Club, a networking group of professional in publishing and other aspects of entertainment.

She is survived by her daughter Helena.

(Sources: Wiki, leslieesdailebanks.com, Amber Barnes, Media Bistro)

RIP Polly Platt

2011-07-28T15:01:00.000-05:00

c.m: Lou Gehrig's disease

Polly Platt (January 29, 1939 – July 27, 2011) was an American film producer, production designer and screenwriter.

Platt was married to Peter Bogdanovich from the early 1960s until the early 1970s. She helped him write his first movie Targets (1968), and did set design on that film, along with The Last Picture Show (1971) and Paper Moon (1973). They divorced after Bogdanovich left her during the filming of The Last Picture Show for star Cybill Shepherd. Platt and Bogdanovich had two children: Antonia and Sashy.

She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for Terms of Endearment (1983). She also worked as an executive producer; Broadcast News (1987) and The War of the Roses (1989) were among the films she worked on. Her screenwriting credits included Pretty Baby, Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff, and A Map of the World.

The 1984 film Irreconcilable Differences, starring Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long and Drew Barrymore, was reportedly loosely based on her marriage to Bogdanovich, and their divorce.

Platt had an extended collaboration with writer-director-producer James L. Brooks, serving as executive vice president of his production company, Gracie Films, and producing Say Anything and director Wes Anderson's first feature film, Bottle Rocket. She was also instrumental in bringing Matt Groening, the creator of "The Simpsons," to Gracie Films when she saw his comic strip "Life in Hell."

In 1994, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award.

Platt is survived by her brother Jack Platt and her two daughters, Antonia Bogdanovich and Sashy Bogdanovich, and three grandsons. She also leaves behind two stepchildren, Kelly Wade and John Wade, from her marriage to prop master Tony Wade. He preceded her in death.

(Sources: Deadline, Wiki, Matt Orsman, LA Times)

RIP Hideki Irabu

2011-07-28T14:44:00.000-05:00

c.m: Suicide suspected

Hideki Irabu (Japanese: 伊良部秀輝) (May 15, 1969 - July 27, 2011) was a professional baseball player of Okinawan and American mixed ancestry. Hideki Irabu grew up in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture.

Irabu pitched for the Lotte Orions, who later became the Chiba Lotte Marines, of the Pacific League from 1988 to 1996. He was known as a high-speed pitcher and in 1993, he threw a 158 km/h (98 mph) fastball against Kazuhiro Kiyohara of the Seibu Lions. This was the fastest clocked pitch in all of Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB) until 2005, when the record was broken by Marc Kroon of the Yokohama BayStars. However, it remains the Pacific League record. Irabu led the Pacific League in wins in 1994 (27 games, 207 1/3 innings, 15 wins, 10 losses, 239 strikeouts, ERA 3.04), and in ERA in 1995 and 1996 (1995 - 28, 203, 11-11-0, 239, 2.53; 1996 - 18, 157 1/3, 12-6-0, 167, 2.40). In these successive years, Irabu monopolized the title of greatest strikeout pitcher in his league.

Irabu earned World Series rings with the Yankees in both 1998 and 1999, but he fell far short of expectations and drew the ire of George Steinbrenner who famously dubbed him the “fat toad.” The Yankees shipped him off to Montreal for Jake Westrbook following the 1999 season. He lasted two seasons with the Expos and one season with the Rangers before retiring in 2002.

On August 20, 2008, Irabu was arrested on the suspicion of assaulting the manager of a bar in Umeda, Osaka. He was upset that his credit card was not accepted in the bar. At the time of the suspected assault, Irabu had consumed at least 20 glasses of beer. Irabu admitted the assault, the bartender sustained no injuries, and Irabu paid the bill with another credit card.

His management revealed on April 27, 2009 that Irabu had come out of retirement and made a contract with Long Beach Armada of the independent Golden Baseball League. He posted a 5-3 record in 10 starts, with an ERA of 3.58. In 65 innings Irabu struck out 66 batters while walking just 19.

Irabu was 42 at the time of his death.

(Sources: MSNBC, Wiki, CBS Sports)

RIP Dan Peek

2011-07-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

c.m: Undisclosed

Dan Peek (November 1, 1950 – July 24, 2011) was a musician best known as a member of the rock band America from 1970 to 1977, together with Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell. He was also a pioneer in contemporary Christian music. Peek's first Christian music album and single became big hits on contemporary Christian music (CCM) radio stations and charts. The single "All Things Are Possible" was not only hit number 1 on the CCM singles chart, it also crossed over to the Billboard singles and adult contemporary charts, becoming one of the earliest CCM's crossover hits. Peek also published an autobiography entitled An American Band, based on America's most successful period, and his own spiritual journey.

(Sources: Wiki, Reuters, TMZ, Christian Post)

RIP Jeret "Speedy" Peterson

2011-07-27T09:40:00.001-05:00

c.m. Suicide

Jeret "Speedy" Peterson (December 12, 1981 – July 25, 2011) was an American World Cup aerial skier from Boise, Idaho, skiing out of Bogus Basin. A three-time Olympian, he won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

A member of three Olympic teams, he participated in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake (placing 9th) and the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy. In the finals of the 2006 aerial competitions, Peterson was in third place after the first round, but fell to seventh place after the second jump, when he failed to solidly land the difficult "Hurricane" maneuver, which involves five spins and three somersaults.

After a tumultuous four years on and off the snow following the 2006 Olympics, Peterson made a career comeback and in January 2010 was named to the U.S. Olympic freestyle team for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Entering the Olympic finals in fifth place, he successfully landed his signature "Hurricane" maneuver (5 twists, 3 flips) to win the silver medal.

As a child growing up in Idaho, Peterson was sexually abused by someone he would not name. In 2002, the magazine wrote, he spoke about the experience at a fundraiser for an organization aimed at child abuse prevention, telling a young audience, "If you think you deserved it, I promise it wasn't your fault. I know because I've lived that feeling for a long time."

Peterson's sister was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 5 in 1987, and a close friend committed suicide in 2005 in front of him, shooting himself in the head as Peterson was walking in the door.

Peterson was 29 at the time of his death.

(Sources: Sports Illustrated, Wiki, CNN)

RIP David Ngoaombujarr

2011-07-25T20:07:00.001-05:00

c.m: TBD based on toxicology reports

David Ngoombujarra (27 June 1967 – 17 July 2011) was an Indigenous Australian actor of the Yamatji people. Born David Bernard Starr in Meekatharra, Western Australia, his acting career, which included Crocodile Dundee, spanned over two decades from the 1980s to the present; he won three Australian Film Institute Awards.

(Sources: The Guardian, Wiki, IMDB, The Australian)