2015 Obituaries

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Novelist Jackie Collins Dies at Age 77...

Best-Selling Novelist Jackie Collins Dies of Breast Cancer at Age 77
Sep 19 2015, Best-selling author Jackie Collins died of breast cancer Saturday, her family said. She was 77.

"It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one of a kind mother, Jackie Collins, who died of breast cancer today," said the Collins family in a statement released to NBC News. Collins wrote more than 30 New York Times best sellers, which were largely about the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Nine of the books were adapted into movies or television miniseries, according to her website. Some of her most successful novels included the 1983 "Hollywood Wives," about women living glamorous lives behind the scenes of the industry, and the 1985 "Lucky" and 1990 "Lady Boss" from her series focused on the ravishing and ambitious character Lucky Santangelo, who was born into an organized crime family.

Jackie Collins, right, and her sister, actress Joan Collins arrive at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Her latest work, "The Santangelos," was published earlier this year. "She was a true inspiration, a trail blazer for women in fiction and a creative force. She will live on through her characters but we already miss her beyond words," the family's statement, adding that she "was adored by her family, friends and the millions of readers who she has been entertaining for over 4 decades." People first reported Collins' death. She was diagnosed with cancer six years ago, and kept the diagnosis private, People reported. Collins told the magazine in a Sept. interview that, "I did it my way, as Frank Sinatra would say. I've written five books since the diagnosis, I've traveled all over the world."

The English novelist was the younger sister of actress and author Joan Collins, who was well-known for her role on the television program "Dynasty." Joan Collins spoke to People Saturday and said if her sister: "She was my best friend. I admire how she handled this. She was a wonderful, brave and a beautiful person and I love her." She is survived by her daughters, Tracy, Tiffany and Rory; sister Joan Collins; brother, Bill; and six grandchildren. Services will be held in both the U.S. and U.K. The Collins family asked that donations be sent to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Organization or the Penny Brohn Cancer Care in lieu of flowers.

Novelist Jackie Collins Dies of Breast Cancer at Age 77

 

[Mr. H.]

Reminds me of a funny. You know that I'm a substitute teacher. Anyway- there are moments when I have downtime in a class, so I read the newspaper. The kids may be on task with a 30 minute test, or reading an assignment, or whatever...

When I notice that they've finished, I announce an obituary notice... "Oh my gosh, (so-and-so) died".

So of course they ask "who was ......"?

I then proceed to read that person's entire obituary.

After doing this several times, I began to pull it off yet again. One new student started to ask, when another said "no- don't....."

Funniest fucking moment for me.

 

[waltky]

Jimmy Olsen, Superman's side-kick, passes on...

Jack Larson, Jimmy Olsen on First Superman TV Show, Dies at 87
9/20/2015 - Typecast after the series ended in the late 1950s, the actor turned to writing plays and librettos and produced several James Bridges films.

Jack Larson, forever typecast as the overeager cub reporter Jimmy Olsen on the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman, has died. He was 87. Larson, who later produced several films written and/or directed by his longtime companion, the late Oscar nominee James Bridges, died Sunday at his home in Brentwood, The New York Times reported. Further details of his death were not immediately available.

In 1951, Larson signed up to play the hapless Olsen for $250 an episode on Adventures of Superman, the first TV show to feature the Man of Steel from the comics. At the time, he wanted to go to New York to tackle Broadway and didn’t think the series — then one of the few to be filmed, not done live — would amount to anything. "The casting man and my agent talked to me very seriously about doing this," he recalled in a 2003 interview with the Archive of American Television. "They said, 'Look, you’re a very mixed-up kid, do this. It’s 26 shows, it’s a season’s work, and you’ll have enough money to go to New York. It’s probably like doing a Saturday morning serial. No one will ever see it. Take the money and run.' "

Jack Larson (left) as Jimmy Olsen with George Reeves as Clark Kent in "Adventures of Superman."

After wrapping work on Superman in about five months, he did get to New York, did live television and appeared in Kid Monk Baroni (1952), notable for giving Leonard Nimoy his first major role. Meanwhile, Superman had premiered in syndication and had become an instant sensation. Larson suddenly was getting recognized on the subway as Jimmy, the wide-eyed, bowtie-wearing kid who kept running into trouble at The Daily Planet — only to be bailed out by Superman (George Reeves). Once, Larson said, the police had to rescue him from a restaurant after kids recognized him from the show. "My life had turned upside down," he recalled, "and this was not a good experience."

Larson refused to do publicity for the series, hoping it would just go away. It didn’t. "I wouldn’t do a magazine interview, I wouldn’t do anything, because I thought everything I do as Jimmy Olsen publicity is just a further nail in my coffin as an actor," he said. His contract kept him from doing much of anything else, and Larson would appear on Superman for six seasons (a seventh was shelved because of the sudden death of Reeves in June 1959; Larson believed it was suicide). He was forever typecast as Olsen and rarely worked as an actor again.

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He saw us through the Balkan wars during Clinton admin...

Former US national security advisor Berger dead
2 Dec.`15 Washington (AFP) - Former US national security advisor Sandy Berger, who aided president Bill Clinton during the Balkan wars, died Wednesday, according to his colleagues.

Berger, 70, "passed away early this morning, surrounded by his family," after a "courageous battle with cancer," the Albright Stonebridge Group, a consultancy firm he co-founded with former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, said. President Barack Obama led the tributes to Berger, who was the top national security official at the White House between 1997 and 2001. "Sandy devoted himself to strengthening American leadership in an uncertain world," Obama said in a statement. "Today, his legacy can be seen in a peaceful Balkans, our strong alliance with Japan, our deeper relationships with India and China." "I've benefited personally from his advice and counsel."

Then-National Security Advisor Sandy Berger briefs reporters on November 18, 1997 at the White House​

For four years Berger guided Clinton though the NATO bombing campaign in the former Yugoslavia, the Northern Ireland peace process and a host of other security challenges. "Our country is stronger because of Sandy's deep and abiding commitment to public service, and there are countless people whose lives he changed for the better. I am certainly one of them," said Albright.

Out of office, Berger's reputation was tarnished when it was revealed that he took classified documents related to Clinton's presidency from the National Archives. But he remained an influential voice in Washington, including recently voicing his support for the nuclear deal with Iran.

Former US national security advisor Berger dead