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'Columbo' star Peter Falk dies at 83

Actor reportedly suffered from Alzheimer's disease

 

Peter Falk was best known for playing the rumpled star of crime drama "Columbo."

 

Actor Peter Falk, known to millions as the rumpled star of television crime drama "Columbo," has died, KTLA.com reports. The actor was 83.

 

He reportedly was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

 

Falk first played Lieutenant Columbo (his first name was never clearly announced, though one badge image lists it as "Frank") in a 1968 TV movie. Its popularity led to a second film and then to the series, which ran from 1971 to 1978. Even after the show was canceled, Falk would play the laid-back detective in "Columbo" TV movies.

 

Falk also starred in 1965's "The Great Race," 1963's "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," and played the grandfather and narrator in 1987's "The Princess Bride," with a young Fred Savage as his grandson.

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Jerry Lewis rushed to hospital

85-year-old comedian showed no signs of illness earlier in the day

 

Jerry Lewis was set to appear at a show on Friday, but was suddenly rushed to a hospital.

 

Beloved comedian Jerry Lewis was hospitalized on Friday in Sydney, moments before a scheduled appearance at a show on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of Australia.

 

"We would like to apologize to people who purchased tickets for tonight's show," said David Jack, the organization's CEO, in a statement. "But in unforeseen circumstances Jerry was not well enough to take the stage."

 

The 85-year-old comic legend, who has dealt with several health issues over the years, reportedly showed no signs of illness earlier in the day.

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Falk also starred in 1965's "The Great Race," 1963's "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," and played the grandfather and narrator in 1987's "The Princess Bride," with a young Fred Savage as his grandson.

He also had a great role in "Wings of Desire," playing "Peter Falk," a former angel.

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Jonathan Rhys Meyers Hospitalized After Suicide Attempt: Report

By Tim Nudd and Liz Corcoran

 

Thursday June 30, 2011 09:00 AM EDT

 

Jonathan Rhys Meyers was hospitalized in London this week after a possible suicide attempt involving pills, according to a report.

 

The star of The Tudors, 33, who has battled alcohol addiction over the years, was found slumped on the floor of his home Tuesday night by paramedics answering an emergency call, the Sun reports.

 

He reputedly refused treatment, so the paramedics called the police, and Meyers was taken to hospital.

 

A Scotland Yard spokesman tells PEOPLE: "We can confirm we were called by the London Ambulance Service to an address in NW8 to report to a man refusing treatment. Police attended, and the man was taken by ambulance to a central London hospital. That was the end of our involvement."

 

The actor was reportedly discharged from hospital early Wednesday.

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Wow! My guess is she ODed...Did she ever make it to rehab?

Forgot, she said, "no, no"....... I love you Wino! REST IN PEACE.

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Such a tragic waste of life and raw talent.

 

We all have our demons, some of us choose to try and escape them by self-medicating, hit rock bottom and manage to find a way back up (9 years clean and counting) and some just spiral into a vicious circle of getting clean, re-using, getting clean ..... I hope Amy and her troubled soul are at peace now.

 

I also hope that scumsucking c**t of an ex-husband of hers, rots in hell for starting her on the truly devastating path that has led to her sad and way too early death.

 

RIP Amy, the newest member of the 27 Club.

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I know we're not at all shocked that it turned out like this but I am still deeply saddened. What a waste!

 

RIP, Amy, and may you be rewarded in your next life.

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Amy Winehouse dead after 'drink and drugs binge'

by Will Payne, Sunday Mirror 24/07/2011

 

TRAGIC Amy Winehouse was found dead yesterday aged just 27. Her death followed a binge on ecstasy and booze, we can reveal.

 

The troubled singer, who spent years battling heroin and drink addictions, is believed to have been found slumped at home by her bodyguard. But she was already “beyond help” by the time ­ambulance crews and police arrived. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

At 8.45pm a private ambulance arrived at the house and five minutes later Amy was brought out in a body bag.

 

Last night her heartbroken mother said she believed her daughter’s death had been “only a matter of time” when they met just 24 hours before she died.

 

“She seemed out of it. But her passing so suddenly still hasn’t hit me,” said Janis Winehouse, who will now always remember how Amy said, ‘I love you mum’ at the end of an enjoyable day together.

 

“They are the words I will always treasure,” said Janis. “I’m glad I saw her when I did.”

 

On hearing the news, Amy’s distraught father Mitch Winehouse wept: “This isn’t real. I’m completely devastated.

 

Speaking from New York, the taxi driver and part-time singer said: “I’m getting the next plane back. I’m coming home. I have to be with Amy.

 

“I can’t crack up for her sake. My family need me. I’m devastated, it’s such a shock.”

 

Last night a neighbour told how he heard noises from Amy’s home on ­Saturday afternoon.

 

“At about 3.30am I heard crying from next door... terrible crying like somebody mourning.The ambulances and police cars arrived shortly after that.”

 

Police described Amy’s death as “unexplained”. But friends who have seen her over the last few weeks say she had hit the self-destruct button over the last two days in wild drinking ­sessions around Camden, North London.

 

A friend said: “She has spent the last seven days on a massive bender and people were saying she’s going to drink herself to death.”

 

Friends who were with her believe she died from a “bad” ecstasy pill combined with huge amounts of alcohol and the fact she suffered from emphysema.

 

One friend partying with her over the last weeks said: “It was an ecstasy overdose. She could do cocaine ­until the cows come home. But this was ­obviously a dodgy pill.”

 

That was backed up by MTV ­producer Danny Panthaki, who claimed: “My friend’s boyfriend is a policeman, and he’s the one who found Amy Winehouse dead. ­Overdosed on ecstasy.”

 

There were tributes last night from some of music’s biggest names. Sir Elton John said: “She was one of the most seminal artists this country has ever produced.”

 

Lady Gaga wrote on twitter: “RIP to the amazing #amywinehouse. Such a talented singer.” Mark Ronson, who produced her multi-million selling Back To Back album, said: “She was my musical soulmate and likea sister to me. This is one of the saddest days of my life.”

 

Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, who was with Amy earlier in the week, said: “It’s a very sad loss of a very good friend.” Kate Moss said on ­twitter: “RIP Amy Winehouse, So upset, my heart goes out to her, sad to see such talent vanish from the world.” Lily Allen said: “Its just beyond sad, there’s nothing else to say. She was such a lost soul, may she rest in peace.”

 

Rihanna said on Twitter: “Dear God have mercy!!! I am SICK about this right now! Dear Amy.”

 

Ex Premier Gordon’s wife Sarah Brown said on Twitter: “Sad, sad news of Amy Winehouse – great talent, extraordinary voice, and tragic death.”

 

US singer LeAnn Rimes wrote: “RIP Amy Winehouse. So sad to see such a talent gone.”

 

Chris Goodman, a spokesman for Amy’s management, said: “We are all shocked and devastated.”

 

The star made her last public appearance on Wednesday with goddaughter Dione Broomfield at the iTunes festival at Camden Roundhouse. And we can reveal how on the night before she died Amy spent an hour on the phone to best friend Kelly Osbourne, who said: “I was speaking to her last night, she seemed ­absolutely fine, I don’t understand how this could have ­happened.”

 

However another friend said: “There was always a danger of something like this. Her drinking is totally out of control. She’s constantly out of ­control on vodka. She’d drink bottle after bottle and ­mixing those ­quantities with drugs is lethal.”

 

Just two days ago neighbours said they saw her arrive in a cab with Big Brother star Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace. She collapsed when she got out of the taxi and had to be carried inside.

 

Soon after her death, police cordoned off the area, aiming to question everyone who had been in and out in the last few days. Around 150 fans gathered and Amy’s distraught boyfriend Reg Traviss also arrived.

 

Amy’s bodyguard Ray Grange was being ­questioned as a witness. He is believed to have found the body and raised the alarm.

 

In May she had admitted herself to The Priory clinic in South West London and was pictured swigging a bottle of vodka. Just weeks later her European tour was cancelled after  a  shambolic performance in Belgrade when she was booed offstage.

 

Only hours ­before her body was discovered her management team released a statement calling off the tour indefinitely and saying Amy was “withdrawing from all scheduled performances”.

 

Last night it was revealed that in line with ­Jewish tradition, Amy’s funeral could be held today if police are satisfied with the results of their post-mortem examination.

 

Amy’s death puts her in the infamous “27 Club” of drink- and drug-troubled rock stars who all died at the same age. She joins Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones, Jim ­Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

 

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2011/0.../#ixzz1T1ecyLrI

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NEW YORK | Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:49am EDT

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jani Lane, the once energetic blond lead singer and songwriter for heavy metal band Warrant, has been found dead in a Los Angeles motel room, police said. He was 47.

 

Lane, best known for singing lead vocals and writing the Hollywood glam band's hits such as "Cherry Pie" that led them to success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was discovered in a motel in Woodland Hills on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said.

 

The cause of his death was unknown and coroner's officials were conducting an investigation into Lane's death.

 

The Ohio-born Lane left Warrant left several times, including in 1993 and 2004, before returning for a series for concerts in 2008, after which he left the band permanently.

 

Lane also pursued a solo career and appeared on a reality TV series about celebrities aiming to lose weight. He had been arrested several times for drunk driving.

 

The appearance of the formerly big-haired leather-clad singer, who would often bounce around on stage and dive into the audience, had changed in recent years as he sported cropped hair and glasses.

 

Warrant's other hits included "Heaven," and "Sometimes She Cries" and the rock anthem "Down Boys."

 

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Patricia Reaney)

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'Soul Train' creator Don Cornelius commits suicide

By Msnbc.com staff and wire

 

 

Don Cornelius, creator of the long-running TV dance show "Soul Train," is dead at 75 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

 

Police responding to a report of a shooting found Cornelius at his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home around 4 a.m. He was pronounced dead about an hour later at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to the coroner's office.

 

Us Weekly reports that when Cornelius was in court in 2009 for divorce proceedings, he complained of "significant health issues."

 

"Soul Train" began in 1970 in Chicago and aired in syndication from 1971 to March 2006, featuring primarily African-American musicians. It brought the best R&B, soul and later hip-hop acts to TV and had teenagers dance to them. It was one of the first shows to showcase African-Americans prominently, although the dance group was racially mixed.

 

Cornelius was the first host and executive producer. As the smooth-talking host with a deep voice, Cornelius gave to hip young kids of the '70s what 'American Bandstand' creator Dick Clark offered to viewers in the early days of rock 'n' roll.

 

As the popularity of 'Soul Train' grew, the show began to crossover into mainstream America and R&B artists soon broadened their fan base. That cemented its status as not just a hit TV program but one that helped shape pop culture.

 

Stars such as Ike and Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, the Jackson 5, James Brown and Stevie Wonder appeared on the show.

 

Watching the show became a weekly ritual in many households, especially African-American homes. Author Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote in theGrio that "It was virtually a black household ritual to do one of two things when Saturday rolled around and it was Soul Train time. One was to sway, swoon, and sing the lyrics belted out by the parade of R&B legends and top hit artists ... The other ritual was to dance, or more likely stumble around the living room, trying to do our best imitation of the latest dance steps displayed by the show's perpetual motion gyrating couples."

 

Popular features on the show included the "Soul Train Line," where individual dancers showed off their moves between two lines of people, and the "Soul Train Scramble Board," where dancers unscrambled letters that spelled the name of that night's performer or a prominent African-American.

 

The show began each episode by welcoming viewers to "the hippest trip in America" and closed by wishing them "love, peace and soul."

 

Quincy Jones said that he was "deeply saddened" at the sudden passing of his friend, colleague and business partner.

 

"Before MTV there was 'Soul Train,' that will be the great legacy of Don Cornelius," he said. "His contributions to television, music and our culture as a whole will never be matched."

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'Soul Train' creator Don Cornelius commits suicide

By Msnbc.com staff and wire

 

 

Don Cornelius, creator of the long-running TV dance show "Soul Train," is dead at 75 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

 

Police responding to a report of a shooting found Cornelius at his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home around 4 a.m. He was pronounced dead about an hour later at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to the coroner's office.

 

Us Weekly reports that when Cornelius was in court in 2009 for divorce proceedings, he complained of "significant health issues."

 

"Soul Train" began in 1970 in Chicago and aired in syndication from 1971 to March 2006, featuring primarily African-American musicians. It brought the best R&B, soul and later hip-hop acts to TV and had teenagers dance to them. It was one of the first shows to showcase African-Americans prominently, although the dance group was racially mixed.

 

Cornelius was the first host and executive producer. As the smooth-talking host with a deep voice, Cornelius gave to hip young kids of the '70s what 'American Bandstand' creator Dick Clark offered to viewers in the early days of rock 'n' roll.

 

As the popularity of 'Soul Train' grew, the show began to crossover into mainstream America and R&B artists soon broadened their fan base. That cemented its status as not just a hit TV program but one that helped shape pop culture.

 

Stars such as Ike and Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, the Jackson 5, James Brown and Stevie Wonder appeared on the show.

 

Watching the show became a weekly ritual in many households, especially African-American homes. Author Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote in theGrio that "It was virtually a black household ritual to do one of two things when Saturday rolled around and it was Soul Train time. One was to sway, swoon, and sing the lyrics belted out by the parade of R&B legends and top hit artists ... The other ritual was to dance, or more likely stumble around the living room, trying to do our best imitation of the latest dance steps displayed by the show's perpetual motion gyrating couples."

 

Popular features on the show included the "Soul Train Line," where individual dancers showed off their moves between two lines of people, and the "Soul Train Scramble Board," where dancers unscrambled letters that spelled the name of that night's performer or a prominent African-American.

 

The show began each episode by welcoming viewers to "the hippest trip in America" and closed by wishing them "love, peace and soul."

 

Quincy Jones said that he was "deeply saddened" at the sudden passing of his friend, colleague and business partner.

 

"Before MTV there was 'Soul Train,' that will be the great legacy of Don Cornelius," he said. "His contributions to television, music and our culture as a whole will never be matched."

 

I used to watch Soul Train all the time. It had "cooler" music compared to American Bandstand.

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Don Cornelius, Mike Kelly ( an artist) and the Carter girl all committed suicide the same day or pretty close. Those are the "comes in threes" I don't like at all! This one is just plain depressing.

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I just saw a bit about the husband of the missing Utah woman blew up his house with himself and his two sons in it? Not "celebrity" gossip, but newsworthy. And SOOOOOOOOO sad and useless. Suicide is horrible, but to murder as well?

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