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The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News
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Senior Editor
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Mike Barnes is a proud graduate of Brooklyn College who spent his first 11 years in journalism as a globe-trotting sportswriter with United Press International based out of New York and Los Angeles. He began with THR in 1993 as a Copy Editor and has written too many obituaries for the publication for too many years; the first one may have been the great I Love Lucy writer Bob Carroll Jr.
Ellen Holly, Pioneering Black Actress on ‘One Life to Live,’ Dies at 92
Ellen Holly, whose long-running turn as Carla on ABC’s One Life to Live made her the first Black actress to gain stardom on a daytime soap opera, has died. She was 92. Holly died in her sleep Wednesday at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, publicist Cheryl L. Duncan announced. A member of The Actors Studio […]
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David McKnight, Actor in ‘J.D.’s Revenge’ and Robert Townsend Films, Dies at 87
David McKnight, who portrayed the title character in the cult blaxploitation horror classic J.D.’s Revenge and appeared in Hollywood Shuffle and The Five Heartbeats for Robert Townsend, has died. He was 87. McKnight died Sunday of cancer in Las Vegas, his friend and publicist Cynthia Busby told The Hollywood Reporter. McKnight also showed up on […]
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Walter Boxer, Longtime United Artists Executive, Dies at 99
Walter Boxer, who spent more than four decades as a charismatic, globe-trotting executive with United Artists, has died. He was 99. Boxer died Nov. 29 in hospice care in West Hollywood following a series of strokes, his nephew Lawrence Wolinsky told The Hollywood Reporter. Boxer, who spoke four languages, started out at UA in 1955 […]
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Marisa Pavan, Oscar-Nominated Actress in ‘The Rose Tattoo,’ Dies at 91
Marisa Pavan, the Italian actress and twin sister of Pier Angeli who received an Oscar nomination for her performance as the daughter of Anna Magnani’s seamstress in the 1955 drama The Rose Tattoo, has died. She was 91. Pavan died Wednesday in her sleep at her home in Gassin, France, near Saint-Tropez, Margaux Soumoy, who […]
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Crypto.com Arena Testing Reusable Cup Program for Depeche Mode Concerts
The next beer that you buy at Crypto.com Arena might come in a cup that you had guzzled from before. In a move to curtail the environmental impact of single-use plastics, executives announced Wednesday a reusable cup pilot program for the downtown Los Angeles arena that will begin with Depeche Mode concerts promoted by Live […]
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Norman Lear, Sitcom Genius and Citizen Activist, Dies at 101
The six-time Emmy winner had quite the résumé: 'All in the Family,' 'Maude,' 'Good Times,' 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman' and more.
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Mark Shelmerdine, Producer Who Revived London Films, Dies at 78
Mark Shelmerdine, the Emmy-nominated producer who remade Alexander Korda’s dormant London Films label into an independent production powerhouse behind projects including I, Claudius, has died. He was 78. Shelmerdine died Oct. 26 in Santa Barbara after a long illness, friend and fellow producer Brian Eastman told The Hollywood Reporter. After being diagnosed with a rare […]
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Victor J. Kemper, Cinematographer on ‘Dog Day Afternoon’, ‘Husbands’ and ‘The Jerk,’ Dies at 96
He shot Elia Kazan's final feature, 'The Last Tycoon,' and Tim Burton's first, 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure,' and partnered six times with Arthur Hiller.
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Marc Thorpe, ‘Star Wars’ VFX Artist and Mastermind Behind Robot Wars, Dies at 77
Marc Thorpe, who created special effects for Star Wars and Indiana Jones films before launching Robot Wars, which feature radio-controlled gladiators in events he called “festivals of destruction and survival,” has died. He was 77. Thorpe died Friday of complications related to Parkinson’s disease at a hospice facility in Alamo, California, his daughter, Megan Feffer, […]
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Rita Hollingsworth, Veteran Hollywood Publicist, Dies at 61
Rita Hollingsworth, the first-rate publicist and communications strategist who worked with the likes of Barbra Streisand, Robert Altman, Chen Kaige, the Carousel of Hope and St. Vincent Meals on Wheels over the years, has died. She was 61. Hollingsworth died Nov. 16 of an intracerebral brain hemorrhage at Keck Hospital of USC, her husband of […]
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Elliot Silverstein, Director of ‘Cat Ballou’ and ‘A Man Called Horse,’ Dies at 96
Elliot Silverstein, who helmed episodes of such acclaimed TV shows as Naked City, The Twilight Zone and Route 66 before guiding Lee Marvin to a best actor Oscar in Cat Ballou, his feature directorial debut, died Friday in Los Angeles, his family announced. He was 96. The Boston native also helmed A Man Called Horse […]
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Eddie Merrins, Bel-Air Golf Pro Who Taught the Game to Hollywood, Dies at 91
Eddie Merrins, the gentlemanly golf pro at the Bel-Air Country Club who taught the game to the likes of Bing Crosby, Ringo Starr, George C. Scott, Dean Martin, Celine Dion and Jack Nicholson, has died. He was 91. Merrins died Wednesday after a long illness, according to UCLA, where he coached for 14 years. His […]
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