HARRY MORGAN, COL. POTTER ON M*A*S*H, DEAD AT 96

Harry Morgan, best known for his roles as Col. Sherman Potter on M*A*S*H and Officer Bill Gannon, Joe Friday’s partner on Dragnet, has died in Los Angeles at age 96. He once called his Col. Potter role, “the best part I ever had” and said that he felt “sadness and an aching heart” when the [...]

COLORFUL DIRECTOR KEN RUSSELL DEAD AT 84

British director Ken Russell, the flamboyant director of such films as Women in Love, The Devils, and The Who’s Tommy has died at age 84 of an apparent stroke. Active to the end, he reportedly was working on a new Alice in Wonderland movie musical and had reportedly just completed an article for the London [...]

NORMAN CORWIN, POET LAUREATE OF RADIO, DEAD AT 101

Norman Corwin, often described as radio’s unofficial poet laureate for his moving, semi-documentary dramas, died Tuesday in Los Angeles at age 101. A close friend of Chicago poet Carl Sandburg, his writings seemed in tune with Sandburg’s free verse. On VE day, May 8, 1945, CBS broadcast his On a Note of Triumph, which began [...]

DON’T FORGET: JOBS ALSO GAVE US PIXAR

While Steve Jobs will forever be associated with Apple, history will likely regard his influence on the entertainment business to have been as consequential as his influence on the personal computer business. It goes without saying that Apple’s iPod and the iTunes store has transformed the way music is now played and collected. But equally [...]

PRODUCER/STUDIO EXEC JOHN CALLEY DEAD AT 81

John Calley, one of the most successful studio executives and producers in recent Hollywood history, has died at the age of 81. In its obituary today (Wednesday), the Wall Street Journal observed that at Warner Bros. in the 1970s, Calley “helped set in motion a decade of hits that rival the best of any studio [...]

GILLIGANS ISLAND, BRADY BUNCH CREATOR SCHWARTZ DEAD AT 94

Sherwood Schwartz, who began his career as a comedy writer for Bob Hope on radio and spent seven years in the ’50s and ’60s as head writer for Red Skelton before creating two of television’s most enduring sitcoms, Gilligan’s Island and The Brady Bunch, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 94. Both [...]

PETER FALK, TV’S COLUMBO, DEAD AT 83

Peter Falk, best known for his portrayal of the crumpled-trenchcoat-wearing private detective Columbo, has died in Beverly Hills at the age of 83. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2007. Falk also had an illustrious career in films and the stage, winning a Tony award for his performance in Neil Simon’s The Prisoner [...]

FAMED PRODUCER LAURA ZISKIN LOSES BATTLE WITH CANCER AT AGE 61

Spider-Man and Pretty Woman producer Laura Ziskin has lost a seven-year battle against breast cancer. A founder of the advocacy group Stand Up 2 Cancer (SU2C), Ziskin had helped raise millions of dollars to support cancer research and to bring together scientists who had been studying the various forms of cancer to share their information. [...]

VETERAN CBS NEWSMAN JOSEPH WERSHBA DEAD AT 90

Broadcast news pioneer Joseph Wershba, who worked with Ed Murrow on his historic See It Now broadcasts that helped bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s and was one of the original 60 Minutes producers, died on May 14 in New York at age 90, the network said Monday. Cause of death was pneumonia. [...]

VETERAN ACTOR/DIRECTOR JACKIE COOPER DEAD AT 88

Jackie Cooper, whose history in the movie business probably predated that of any other living film star, died Tuesday in Los Angeles at age 88. He first appeared in short films at the age of 6, then joined the ragged tykes in the early Our Gang comedy shorts a year later. At the age of [...]

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