Farewell...

... Bea Arthur, Actor

From CNN: "Bea Arthur, the actress best known for her roles as television's "Maude" and the sardonic Dorothy on "The Golden Girls," has died of cancer, a family spokesman said Saturday.

She was 86.

Spokesman Dan Watt said that Arthur died Saturday morning at her home in Los Angeles, her family by her side."

Farewell...

... Andy Hallett, Actor

"Andy Hallett, who starred as Lorne ("the Host") on the TV series Angel, died of heart failure last night at age 33, according to his longtime agent and friend Pat Brady. The actor passed away at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles after a five-year battle with heart disease, with his father Dave Hallett by his side."

Read more at E!

Farewell...

... Natasha Richardson, Actress

From CNN: "Natasha Richardson, a film star, Tony-winning stage actress and member of the famed Redgrave acting family, died Wednesday after suffering injuries in a ski accident, according to a family statement. She was 45."

Natasha was seen on TV in many TV movies and most recently appeared in this past season of Top Chef.

Farewell...

... Ron Silver, Actor

From CNN:
"Actor and political activist Ron Silver, who played a recurring role in TV's presidential drama "The West Wing," and who also let his political views play out in real life, died Sunday after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer, according to a colleague.

Robin L. Bronk, executive director of The Creative Coalition, said Silver, a New York native, died in his sleep with his family around him."

Click HERE to read more about Mr. Silver who appeared in such great television shows as West Wing, Law & Order, Skin, Veronica's Closet, and Chicago Hope.

Farewell...

... Ricardo Montalban, Actor

Star of the hit TV series "Fantasy Island," died Wednesday in Los Angeles, a family spokesman said.

Montalban, 88, was in deteriorating health over the past several days but "died peacefully" at 6:30 a.m. at his home, son-in-law Gilbert Smith said.

He understood "it was his time," Smith said. The cause of death was not given.

Farewell...

...Paul Newman, Actor/Icon

From The Hollywood Reporter: Paul Newman, who combined Method training with matinee idol looks to become the personification of the cool '60s rebel in such iconic roles as the reckless Hud, the defiant Cool Hand Luke and the hotshot Butch Cassidy, died Friday. Surrounded by friends and family, including his wife, Joanne Woodward, the actor and philanthropist passed away at his farmhouse home near Wesport, Conn., after a long battle with cancer. He was 83.

In a film career that spanned nearly six decades, Newman received seven Oscar nominations before he was finally presented with an Honorary Oscar in 1986 "in recognition of his many and memorable and compelling screen performances and for his personal integrity and dedication to his craft."

But then he pulled out a trump card of his own, winning the best actor Academy Award the following year for "The Color of Money," in which he reprised the role of pool shark Fast Eddie Felsen, the character he first played 25 years earlier in "The Hustler." Hardly slowing down as he aged into an ornery character actor, he went on to earn two more nominations -- for "Nobody's Fool" in 1995 and "Road to Perdition" in 2003.

Read Entire Story Here...

Other Stories: CNN, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, E!

Farewell...

...Bernie Mac, Actor

STATEMENT FROM THE FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY AND 20TH CENTURY FOX TELEVISION REGARDING THE DEATH OF BERNIE MAC

Bernie Mac was a gifted talent whose comedy came from an authentic and highly personal place. He was a tremendous live performer and a wonderful actor. FOX was proud to be the home of "The Bernie Mac Show," and all of us at FOX and 20th Century Fox Television extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Rhonda and daughter JeNiece.

Farewell...

... Estelle Getty, Actress

Emmy-winning actress Estelle Getty, best known as a wise-cracking octogenarian on the popular 1980s and '90s sitcom "The Golden Girls," died on Tuesday. She was 84.

Getty, who spent four decades toiling in show business before winning fame and critical recognition as Bea Arthur's sassy, 80-year-old mother on the hit show, had been suffering from dementia.

Farewell...

... Charlton Heston, Actor

Oscar-winning actor Charlton Heston, whose chiseled features and commanding presence won him epic roles from Moses to Michelangelo, died on Saturday night at the age of 84, his family said.

Heston, a former president of the influential National Rifle Association lobbying group, died at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, the family said in a statement.

The actor, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar for the title role in "Ben Hur" in which he did many of his own chariot race stunts, had announced in 2002 that he was suffering symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

"To his loving friends, colleagues and fans, we appreciate your heartfelt prayers and support. Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life," the family said.

"No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country. In his own words, 'I have lived such a wonderful life! I've lived enough for two people'," the statement added.

The family said a private memorial service would be held.

Read More HERE...

Some Video of Charlton Heston: Hamlet, Planet of the Apes, Ben Hur, Soylent Green and 10 Commandments. (I couldn't find a clip of him on Friends.)

Farewell...

... Roy Scheider, Actor

The man who hunted down Jaws and was ready for SHOWTIME, has passed away at the age of 75.

"He passed away at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock. Scheider had been battling multiple myeloma, cancer of the plasma cells, for the past few years, but the hospital did not release a cause of death."
-EW.com

Farewell...

... Heath Ledger, Actor

According to CNN.com:
"Actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday of a possible drug overdose in a Lower Manhattan apartment, the New York Police Department said.

Ledger's family called his death "very tragic, untimely and accidental."

"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life, but few had the pleasure of truly knowing him," his father said."

You can read more HERE.

Farewell...

...Suzanne Pleshette, Actress

"Suzanne Pleshette, the husky-voiced star best known for her role as Bob Newhart's sardonic wife on television's long-running "The Bob Newhart Show," has died at age 70.

Pleshette, whose career included roles in such films as Hitchcock's "The Birds" and in Broadway plays including "The Miracle Worker," died of respiratory failure Saturday evening at her Los Angeles home, said her attorney Robert Finkelstein, also a family friend."

Read more HERE.

Farewell...

... Allan Melvin, Actor

Yahoo has the story of the man we all know as Sam the Butcher from The Brady Bunch.

"He went on to play Archie Bunker's neighbor Barney in "All in the Family," and different roles on at least eight episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show." Fans of "The Brady Bunch" knew him as Sam the butcher, the boyfriend of Alice the housekeeper.

Melvin also worked in cartoons, providing the voices of Magilla Gorilla in the Hanna-Barbera series of the same name and Bluto on "Popeye," the Times said."

"Melvin succumbed to cancer on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles, the paper said, quoting his wife, Amalia. He was 84."

Read More...

TheTwoCents 2007 Review - Farewell...

The following left the Pop Culture world during 2007. Farwell to you all.

Anna Nicole Smith, 39, American 1993 Playmate of the Year
Beverly Sills, 78, American opera singer
Big Moe, 33, American rapper
Bill Walsh, 75, Coach of the San Francisco 49ers
Bob Clark, 67, American film director (A Christmas Story, Porky's)

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, 69, American Singer ("Monster Mash")
Boris Yeltsin, 76, first President of the Russian Federation
Bowie Kuhn, 80, American Major League Baseball commissioner
Brett Somers, 83, American actress, comedienne and panelist (Match Game)
Brian "Crush" Adams, 44, American professional wrestler

Calvert DeForest, 85, American actor, known as Larry "Bud" Melman
Charles Nelson Reilly, 76, American Tony-winning actor and Match Game panelist
Dan Fogelberg, 56, American singer-songwriter
Deborah Kerr, 86, British actress (From Here to Eternity)
Denny Doherty, 66, Canadian singer with The Mamas & the Papas

Don Ho, 76, American Hawaiian musician and entertainer
Ernest Gallo, 97, American co-founder of E & J Gallo Winery
Frankie Laine, 93, American singer
George Osmond, 90, American patriarch of the Osmond singing family
Ike Turner, 76, American R&B musician and record producer

Ingmar Bergman, 89, Swedish stage and film director
Jane Wyman, 90, American Academy Award-winning actress
Jerry Falwell, 73, American pastor, television evangelist
Joey Bishop, 89, American entertainer, last surviving member of the Rat Pack
Johnny Hart, 76, American cartoonist (B.C., The Wizard of Id)

Kitty Carlisle Hart, 96, American television personality (To Tell the Truth)
Kurt Vonnegut, 84, American novelist and social critic
Lady Bird Johnson, 94, First Lady of the United States
LaLa Brown, 21, American R&B singer
Leona Helmsley, 87, Manhattan hotelier

Luciano Pavarotti, 71, Italian operatic tenor
Marcel Marceau, 84, French mime artist
Mark St. John, 51, American guitarist (KISS, White Tiger)
Mary "Moolah" Ellison, 84, WWE Performer
Merv Griffin, 82, American talk show host


Michael "Mike Awesome" Alfonso, 42, American wrestler
Phil Rizzuto, 89, American baseball player
Richard Jeni, 49, American comedian
Richard Jewell, 44, American security guard wrongly accused of the Atlanta Olympics bombing
Robert "Evel" Knievel, Jr., 69, American stunt performer

Robert Goulet, 73, American singer and actor
Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow, 45, American professional wrestler
Tammy Faye Messner, 65, American evangelist
Tom Poston, 85, American actor (Newhart)
Tom Snyder, 71, American talk show host and journalist

Farewell...

... Evel Knievel, Entertainer Daredevil

"Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69."

Farewell...

... Robert Goulet, Singer/Actor

According to this AP story, we've lost Robert Goulet.

"Robert Goulet, the handsome, big-voiced baritone whose Broadway debut in "Camelot" launched an award-winning stage and recording career, has died. He was 73. The singer died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles hospital while awaiting a lung transplant, said Goulet spokesman Norm Johnson."

Farewell...

Joey Bishop, Comedian

According to Yahoo:

"Joey Bishop, the stone-faced comedian who found success in nightclubs, television and movies but became most famous as a member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack, has died at 89."

Farewell...

... Deborah Kerr, Actress

Yahoo is reporting:

"British actress Deborah Kerr, who shared one of cinema's most famous kisses with Burt Lancaster in "From Here to Eternity," has died, her agent said Thursday. She was 86."

Farewell...

... Marcel Marceau, Mime/Performer

I remember watching Marcel on the Muppett Show, if anyone could make mime actually look interesting, it was Marceau.

He passed away this weekend at the age of 84.

"Marceau almost single-handedly revived mime, but he didn't take himself too seriously. He made the circuit of talk- and variety shows, including Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. He won an Emmy for best specialty act in 1956. He appeared in Barbarella and memorably provided the biggest laugh in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie. He had the only spoken line: "Non-!""

Farewell...

... Luciano Pavarotti, Opera Performer

One of the world's greatest known opera singers left us when Pavarotti passed away late last night at his home in Italy.

"Pavarotti, who had been diagnosed last year with pancreatic cancer, died at his home in his native Modena at 5 a.m., his manager told The Associated Press in an e-mailed statement. His wife, Nicoletta, four daughters and sister were among those at his side, manager Terri Robson said."

Pavarotti was 71.