Hollywood Obituaries

Holy Caskets! - Batman's dead...
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Batman, Family Guy actor Adam West dead at 88 after battle with leukemia
Sunday 11th June, 2017 - Actor Adam West, who played Batman in the 1960s television series, has passed away at the age of 88 after a ā€œshort but braveā€ battle with leukemia, according to a statement from his family.
Born in 1928 as William West Anderson in Walla Walla, Washington, West decided to pursue stardom from an early age. His mother, Audrey Speer, was an opera singer and concert pianist, but abandoned her Hollywood dreams to care for her children. After he graduated from Whitman College with a literature degree, he was drafted into the Army, where he worked as an announcer on American Forces Network television. After his discharge, West worked for a stint on the Hawaii childrenā€™s program El Kini Popo Show, then moved to Hollywood in 1959 and changed his name. He liked the way Adam looked and sounded with his middle name, he wrote in his autobiography, so he combined the two to become Adam West.

In the ā€™60s, West appeared in films such as Geronimo, The Outlaws Is Coming and Robinson Crusoe on Mars. He rocketed to stardom with a lead role in ABCā€™s Batman and will be remembered for his campy, slapstick portrayal of the Caped Crusader on a show that frequently edged into satire. ā€œHe was bright, witty and fun to work with,ā€ Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman to Westā€™s Batman, said in a statement Saturday. ā€œI will miss him in the physical world and savour him always in the world of imagination and creativity.ā€ Though the network cancelled it after three seasons, NBC was set to pick up the rights for a fourth, but before they could begin production, someone destroyed the sets. The cost to rebuild them was too great, and the deal fell through.

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October 1966: American actor Adam West with the actress Jill St John at the premiere of director John Huston's film, The Bible.​

West was increasingly typecast and struggled to find work for a stretch after Batman, appearing in low-budget movies like Curse of the Moon Child through the 1970s. ā€œYou get terribly typecast playing a character like that,ā€ he told The Associated Press in a 2014 interview. ā€œBut in the overall, Iā€™m delighted because my character became iconic and has opened a lot of doors in other ways, too.ā€ He was offered the role of James Bond in 1971ā€™s Diamonds Are Forever, but turned it down because he believed the role should be played by a British actor.

He remained a pop culture icon, and reignited his career by lending his silky smooth voice to animated shows like The Fairly OddParents, The Simpsons and Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, and through appearances as himself on shows like The Big Bang Theory, The Drew Carey Show and 30 Rock. Most recently, he voiced the mayor of Quahog ā€” named Adam West ā€” in Family Guy. ā€œOur dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight and aspired to make a positive impact on his fansā€™ lives. He was and always will be our hero,ā€ his family said in a statement. West was married three times, and had six children. He had homes in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, but he and his wife, Marcelle, spent most of their time at their ranch near Sun Valley, Idaho.

Batman, Family Guy actor Adam West dead at 88 after battle with leukemia
 
Flounder passes away...
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Stephen Furst, of ā€˜Animal Houseā€™ and ā€˜St. Elsewhere,ā€™ Dies at 63
June 17, 2017 ā€” Stephen Furst, who played naive fraternity pledge Flounder in the hit movie Animal House, has died of complications from diabetes, his family said Saturday. Furst was 63.
Furst died Friday at his home in Moorpark, California, north of Los Angeles, said his son, Nathan Furst. Furst played Kent ā€œFlounderā€ Dorfman in the 1978 film that also starred John Belushi. It was Belushi's character, Blutarsky, who drew Flounder into a prank that went terribly wrong and ended up with the frantic Flounder shooting a gun loaded with blanks into a ceiling, frightening a horse so much that it died of a heart attack.

Furstā€™s long list of credits included the 1980s medical drama St. Elsewhere, on which he played Dr. Elliot Axelrod. He played Vir Coto and was an occasional director on the 1990s sci-fi series Babylon 5.

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Actor Stephen Furst poses for a photo in Los Angeles in May 1986. Furst's family said the "Animal House" actor died of complications from diabetes​

He also voiced characters on projects including TVā€™s Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and the video The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea. ā€œHe was proudest of his family, and he felt blessed and incredibly privileged to have the career that he had an enjoyed,ā€ Nathan Furst said Saturday.

Stephen Furst also was a director and producer, working with his other son, Griff. Their Curmudgeon Film projects included the movies My Sisterā€™s Keeper and Cold Moon, a suspense thriller set for release in October, Griff Furst said. Stephen Furstā€™s survivors include his wife, Lorraine, and two grandchildren, his sons said.

Stephen Furst, of ā€˜Animal Houseā€™ and ā€˜St. Elsewhere,ā€™ Dies at 63
 
Playwright Sam Shepard passes away...
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Sam Shepard, Pulitzer-Winning Playwright and Oscar-Nominated Actor, Dead at 73
Jul 31 2017 - Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who became a movie star with his Oscar-nominated portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in "The Right Stuff," died at his home in Kentucky. He was 73.
Shepard died Thursday of complications from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) "and was with his family at the time of his death," his agent Chris Boneau said Monday. Born Samuel Shepard Rogers on Nov. 5, 1943, in Fort Sheridan, Illinois, Shepard was an Army brat whose family lived in Italy, South Dakota, Utah, Guam and the Philippines before settling on a ranch in California. He described his dad as "a drinking man, a dedicated alcoholic." "My father had a real short fuse," Shepard told The Guardian newspaper. "My father was full of terrifying anger." So as a child, Shepard learned to hold his tongue. And he grew up to be a man who rarely gave interviews but who poured his words into 44 plays along with numerous books, memoirs and short stories.

Shepard at first planned to become a veterinarian. But he caught the acting bug in college and wound up in a touring theater group. He was 19 when he arrived in New York City in 1963. He worked as a busboy and began writing. And he found his footing in an artsy crowd that included poet and rock singer Patti Smith. He made his first mark off-Broadway with edgy and often-bleak plays about rootless people on the fringes of society. In 1979, he won the Pulitzer for his play "Buried Child" and a year later was hailed by New York magazine as the "greatest American playwright of his generation," which dubbed his work "quintessentially American."

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Playwright Sam Shepard with Jessica Lange at the opening of the New York Film Festival in 1984.​

Two other Shepard plays, "True West" and "Fool for Love," were also nominated for Pulitzers and wound up being produced on Broadway. Shepard went on to write the screenplays for movies like "Zabriskie Point" and "Paris, Texas." He also wrote the screenplay for the movie version of his play "Fool for Love." And his novel, "The One Inside," was published in February. But it was the square-jawed Shepard's turns in "Days of Heaven," "Black Hawk Down," "Steel Magnolias" and other movies that made him a familiar figures to millions more Americans. His most recent acting turn was playing the patriarch of a troubled Florida Keys family in the Netflix series "Bloodline."

He is survived by his writer son Jesse, from his marriage to actress O-Lan Jones, his other son Walker and daughter Hannah, from his 30-year relationship with actress Jessica Lange. Shepard and Lange met on the set of the movie "Frances" and were a couple until 2009, when they separated. Other survivors include Shepard's sisters Sandy and Roxanne Rogers. Boneau said Shepard's funeral will be private and "plans for a public memorial have not yet been determined."

Sam Shepard, Pulitzer-winning playwright, dead at Age 73
 
Let's Make a Deal Host, Monty Hall, Dead at 96...
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Monty Hall, Iconic Let's Make a Deal Host, Dead at 96
September 30, 2017 - Game show icon Monty Hall, who co-created and hosted the original Letā€™s Make a Deal, has died of heart failure at the age of 96, the New York Times reports. He passed away on Saturday in his Beverly Hills, Calif. home.
Hall launched Letā€™s Make a Deal in 1963. It first premiered as part of NBCā€™s daytime line-up before moving to ABC in 1968, where it continued through 1976. A syndicated version of Deal aired on and off through the 1970s and 80s, before returning to NBC for a brief run from 1990-91. The show was eventually revived with host Wayne Brady in 2009, with Hall putting in occasional guest appearances. In addition to Letā€™s Make a Deal, Hall headlined various other game shows, including The Hollywood Squares and Password All-Stars.

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ā€œWe are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Monty Hall, a television legend who hosted a show and created a format that has entertained audiences for more than 50 years,ā€ Angelica McDaniel, CBS Entertainmentā€™s Exec VP of Daytime Programs and Syndicated Program Development, said in a statement. ā€œMontyā€™s infectious enthusiasm, humor and warmth were a winning combination that was evident to everyone he encountered, whether returning to make appearances on the current version of Letā€™s Make a Deal, or gracing us with his presence at a photo shoot celebrating CBS Daytime earlier this year. On screen, Monty made the ā€˜Big Deals,ā€™ but in the game of life, he himself was one. Our hearts go out to his children, his entire family and friends.ā€

Hall is survived by his three children, including actress Joanna Gleason and TV producers Sharon Hall Kessler and Richard Hall.

Monty Hall, Iconic Let's Make a Deal Host, Dead at 96
 
Benson died...
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ā€˜Bensonā€™ Star Robert Guillaume Dies at 89 After Battling Prostate Cancer
Actor Robert Guillaume, best known for his title role on the 1990s series Benson, died at the age of 89 at his L.A. home on Tuesday, October 24.
Guillaumeā€™s wife, Donna, confirmed her husbandā€™s passing to CNN on Tuesday. ā€œHe kinda went the way everyone wishes they could, surrounded by love and in his sleep,ā€ she said before noting that the Emmy-winner had battled prostate cancer for several years. ā€œHe was a good father and a good husband. He was a great, great person.ā€

The St. Louis native, who voiced Rafiki in The Lion King, is survived by the two sons he shares with Donna and a daughter from his first marriage to Marlene Williams. According to CNN, the former Broadway performer spent quality time with all of his children in his final weeks. Throughout his career, the Tony-nomonated actor appeared on numerous popular sitcoms, including Saved by the Bell: The College Years and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Celebrities have taken to Twitter to pay tribute to the late Soap actor. ā€œR.I.P. Robert Guillaume. Saw him play Nathan Detroit on Broadway in 1976,ā€ Scandal star and Guillaumeā€™s former Sports Night colleague, Josh Malina, posted on Tuesday. ā€œMade me want to be an actor. It was a thrill to work w him on SN.ā€ Added The Good Wife alum Josh Charles: ā€œRobert Guillaume radiated such warmth, light, dignity, and above all, class. That smile and laugh touched us all. RIP to the best boss ever.ā€

ā€˜Bensonā€™ Star Robert Guillaume Dead at 89 After Prostate Cancer Battle
 

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