obituary

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Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer
Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer
Obituary

Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer

Noted Carnegie Mellon prof inspired millions with fairwell lesson

(Newser) - Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor whose "last lecture" became an international phenomenon, succumbed in his long battle with cancer today, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Pausch, 47, was a noted computer scientist before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but it was his final, inspirational address—now read by...

'Sophia' of Golden Girls Dead at 84

Veteran actress Estelle Getty suffered from dementia

(Newser) - Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's The Golden Girls, has died. She was 84. The two-time Emmy winner, who suffered from advanced dementia, died this morning at home,...

Yankee Bobby Murcer Dies
 Yankee Bobby Murcer Dies 

Yankee Bobby Murcer Dies

Longtime player and broadcaster was beloved by fans

(Newser) - Bobby Murcer, a beloved New York Yankee who played for the team or called their games for more than four decades, died today from complications of brain cancer, the Daily News reports. Murcer, 62, played his first game for the Yankees as a teenage shortstop in 1965, then later moved...

Tony Snow Was Good at His Job
Tony Snow Was Good at His Job
Appreciation

Tony Snow Was Good at His Job

Press secretary won over a hostile press corps with wit, knowledge

(Newser) - When Tony Snow took over as press secretary 2 years ago, the White House press corps wanted blood. Snow’s predecessors, the hostile Ari Fleischer and misinformed Scott McClellan, had left a bad taste in their mouths. But then came Snow, a breath of fresh air who won over the...

Benihana Founder Dead at 69
 Benihana Founder Dead at 69 

Benihana Founder Dead at 69

'Rocky' Aoki led a colorful life

(Newser) - Hiraoki “Rocky” Aoki, a former wrestler, daredevil speedboat racer and balloonist who also happened to have founded the Benihana restaurant chain, is dead at 69, the Los Angeles Times reports. The colorful Aoki opened the first Benihana in New York in 1964 with proceeds from an ice cream truck...

Michael DeBakey Dead at 99
 Michael DeBakey Dead at 99 
obituary

Michael DeBakey Dead at 99

Heart pioneer developed key devices, operated on thousands

(Newser) - Michael DeBakey, the pioneering heart doctor considered to be the father of modern cardiovascular surgery,  died last night at 99 in Houston, the Houston Chronicle reports.  During his long career, DeBakey operated on some 60,000 patients, including figures like Russian president Boris Yeltsin, trained thousands of surgeons,...

Investor Templeton Dies at 95

He founded huge investment firm, awards for spiritual research

(Newser) - Influential investor and philanthropist John Marks Templeton has died at age 95. The founder of Templeton Mutual Funds, one of the biggest investment funds in the world, died in the Bahamas, the Washington Post reports. In 1999, Money magazine called him "arguably the greatest global stock picker of the...

Legendary New York Editor Dead at 82

New Journalism pioneer Felker defined city magazine format

(Newser) - Clay Felker, founder and editor of New York magazine, died today at 82. Felker was the pioneer of a distinctive format that has become the model for weekly magazines: long, novelistic features alongside short, spicy service pieces. "Clay was obsessed with power, and he invented a magazine in the...

Model Dies in 9-Story Fall in NYC; Suicide Suspected

Korshunova graced covers of Elle , Vogue

(Newser) - A Kazakh model was found dead after falling from her ninth-floor Manhattan apartment in an apparent suicide, the New York Post reports. Twenty-year old Ruslana Korshunova had appeared on the covers of French Elle and Russian Vogue, and starred in ads for Christian Dior and Vera Wang. She had just...

Seinfeld: Death Was a Laughing Matter for Carlin
Seinfeld: Death Was a Laughing Matter for Carlin
Appreciation

Seinfeld: Death Was a Laughing Matter for Carlin

Even when he dies, Jerry'll still wrestle with 'Carlin already did it'

(Newser) - Nine days ago death was just another thing to joke about for George Carlin, writes Jerry Seinfeld in the New York Times. The comics were talking about the deaths of Tim Russert and Bo Diddley, and Carlin said, “I feel safe for a while. There will probably be a...

Artist Tasha Tudor Dead at 92
Artist Tasha Tudor Dead at 92

Artist Tasha Tudor Dead at 92

Children's illustrator claimed to be reincarnation of 19th-century wife

(Newser) - Tasha Tudor, the children’s illustrator known for her bucolic watercolors and old-fashioned lifestyle, died Wednesday at her Vermont home. Called a 19th-century Martha Stewart, Tudor's art appeared in nearly 100 books and countless greeting cards, plates, dolls, and quilts. The New York Times once applauded her for capturing “...

In Russert's Life, Lessons for All
In Russert's Life,
Lessons for All
Opinion

In Russert's Life, Lessons for All

We can learn much from how he lived, writes Noonan

(Newser) - Media coverage of Tim Russert's death was unprecedented in scope—and worth every second, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. Russert lived a life worth emulating with his emphasis on family, intregrity, faith, self-discipline, and guts. As for the journalists talking about his open-mindedness and serious approach to...

Buffalo Boy Made Good
 Buffalo Boy Made Good 
APPRECIATION

Buffalo Boy Made Good

Tim Russert is remembered today by friend and foe alike

(Newser) - Tim Russert, who died today at age 58, was "possibly America's most influential political journalist," James Poniewozik writes in Time. His no-nonsense style was informed by a Jesuit education in working class Buffalo—but not all appreciated his "gotcha," visceral style of questioning. Yet "his...

Wonderful Life's Young George Dies

Bob Anderson, 75, played altruistic young soda jerk in famous role

(Newser) - Bob Anderson, who played the young George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, has died of cancer. He was 75. Growing up in Hollywood with Tinseltown relatives, he first appeared onscreen as a baby, the AP reports. At 7, he acted with Shirley Temple and in 1945 appeared in...

Jim McKay Dead at 86
 Jim
 McKay
 Dead at 86 
Obituary

Jim McKay Dead at 86

ABC sportscaster was first to win Emmy

(Newser) - Veteran sportscaster and TV journalist Jim McKay has died at age 86 of natural causes, ESPN reports. McKay is most famous for hosting ABC’s Wide World of Sports, and for covering the tragic 1972 Olympics in Munich, which were marred by the Black September attack on Israeli athletes. McKay...

Paul Sills, 'Orson Welles of Improv'
 Paul Sills,
 'Orson Welles
 of Improv' 
Appreciation

Paul Sills, 'Orson Welles of Improv'

Second City co-founder, dead at 80, saw movement reach SNL heights

(Newser) - For a performer, Paul Sills kept a pretty low profile. But make no mistake: The Second City co-founder was a massive influence not just on improvisational comedy, but on comedy and theater in general. Without Sills, who died yesterday at 80, there would be no Chicago improv scene, no Saturday ...

Subject of Lorenzo's Oil Dead at 30
Subject of Lorenzo's Oil Dead at 30
Obituary

Subject of Lorenzo's Oil Dead at 30

ALD sufferer took controversial oil made by his parents

(Newser) - Lorenzo Odone, the ALD-plagued child whose plight inspired the film Lorenzo’s Oil, died yesterday at age 30, the AP reports. Doctors said he would die by age 8, but he lived while taking an oil developed by his parents. Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte starred in the 1992 film...

Harvey Korman: More Than a Second Banana
Harvey Korman: More Than a Second Banana
Appreciation

Harvey Korman: More Than a Second Banana

Mel Brooks and Carol Burnett regular was an underrated master

(Newser) - Harvey Korman was sometimes described as the “quintessential second banana,” and he did indeed make his name in supporting roles. But Korman, who died this week at 81, was a special second banana. For Mel Brooks, he became the perfect scheming underling, hilariously worming his way through movie...

Comic Great Harvey Korman Dead at 81

Emmy winner found fame on Carol Burnett Show

(Newser) - Harvey Korman, who gained comic fame with his bust-a-gut sketches on the "Carol Burnett Show" in the 1960s and 70s, has died at age 81 from complications of an aneurysm, the AP reports. Korman won four Emmys for his TV work, often pairing with Burnett or Tim Conway. He...

Pollack's 'Films Always Felt Like Best Pictures'
Pollack's 'Films Always Felt Like Best Pictures'
appreciation

Pollack's 'Films Always Felt Like Best Pictures'

Capable in every genre, he let actors speak for themselves

(Newser) - Sydney Pollack was a throwback, Desson Thomson writes in the Washington Post. He liked to say he didn’t have a style, and it was true—he "made movies in what seemed like every conceivable genre—thrillers, westerns, epics, actioners and comedies. But his formula was pretty much the...

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