My life is Atlantis

'Mission: Impossible' star Peter Graves dies at 83

2010-03-15T00:21:00.001-04:00

'Mission: Impossible' star Peter Graves dies at 83
March 14, 2010, 9:41 PM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Peter Graves, the tall, stalwart actor likely best known for his portrayal of Jim Phelps, leader of a gang of special agents who battled evil conspirators in the long-running television series "Mission: Impossible," died Sunday.

Graves died of an apparent heart attack outside his Los Angeles home, about a week shy of his 84th birthday, publicist Sandy Brokaw said.

He had just returned from brunch with his wife and kids and collapsed before he made it into the house, Brokaw said. One of his daughters administered CPR but was unable to revive him. Graves' family doctor visited the house and believed he had a heart attack, Brokaw said.

Although Graves never achieved the stardom his older brother, James Arness, enjoyed as Marshall Matt Dillon on TV's "Gunsmoke," he had a number of memorable roles in both films and television.

Normally cast as a hero, he turned in an unforgettable performance early in his career as the treacherous Nazi spy in Billy Wilder's 1953 prisoner-of-war drama "Stalag 17."

He also masterfully lampooned his straight-arrow image when he portrayed bumbling airline pilot Clarence Oveur in the 1980 disaster movie spoof "Airplane!"

Graves appeared in dozens of films and a handful of television shows in a career of nearly 60 years.

The authority and trust he projected made him a favorite for commercials late in his life, and he was often encouraged to go into politics.

"He had this statesmanlike quality," Brokaw said. "People were always encouraging him to run for office. But he said, 'I like acting. I like being around actors.'"

Graves' career began with cheaply made exploitation films like "It Conquered the World," in which he battled a carrot-shaped monster from Venus, and "Beginning of the World," in which he fought a giant grasshopper.

He later took on equally formidable human villains each week on "Mission: Impossible."

Every show began with Graves, as agent Phelps, listening to a tape of instructions outlining his team's latest mission and explaining that if he or any of his agents were killed or captured "the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions."

The tape always self-destructed within seconds of being played.

The show ran on CBS from 1967 to 1973 and was revived on ABC from 1988 to 1990 with Graves back as the only original cast member.

The actor credited clever writing for the show's success.

"It made you think a little bit and kept you on the edge of your seat because you never knew what was going to happen next," he once said.

Home in an uproar

2010-01-15T00:29:00.009-05:00

Bad enough we had to move out of our house years ago to the dumpy condo we are in now thanks to what dad did when he retired.

But this really takes the cake
"Edward Williams, 83, of Hamden, had been a CPA before retiring and was spending his golden years overseeing the funds for two nonprofits.

But, as the economy took a hit, so did his investments, and he wiped out the nonprofits’ accounts to cover his expenses, the New Haven Register reports.

Williams told officers he inappropriately wrote checks to himself for $86,250 from both the English Speaking Union and Friends of the Grove Street Cemetery, reports the Register, citing the arrest warrant.

The financial hit could mean that the English Speaking Union cannot hold its Shakespeare contest for local schoolchildren or send two teachers to England for an enrichment course, the Register reports.

“It has left the organization bankrupt. Right now, we don’t know what our future will be,” a member who did not want to be named said.

The ESU has managed to stay afloat thanks to donations from board members and the help of its current treasurer, Gilbert Hogan. But it is going to be tough considering they are a standalone chapter of the national organization.

John Edwards, president of the Grove Street Cemetery, said his members are “shocked beyond belief. He was one of the most active and best board members we had. It’s a good lesson for any small organization — you can never be too careful.”

According to the arrest warrant, Williams had $1 million put aside for his retirement, but by the early 1990s, because of poor investments, he had lost all of it and he was in debt .

He is willing to try to pay the groups back with $500 a month, according to court records.

He is charged with two counts of first-degree larceny, is free on a written promise to appear. He has not entered a plea.
First Published: Dec 3, 2009 9:52 AM EDT"

Mom and I are sick over what he did and my brother is livid at dad for not caring about what his actions might do to us.

Mom is so stressed out as to what the court might do to dad that she cries most nights over it.

Comedian Soupy Sales dies at age 83

2009-10-23T01:36:00.002-04:00

Comedian Soupy Sales dies at age 83
Funny man’s anything-for-a-laugh career built on pies to the face

DETROIT - Soupy Sales, the rubber-faced comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances across a half-century of laughs, has died. He was 83.

Sales died at Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, said his former manager and longtime friend, Dave Usher. Sales had many health problems and entered the hospice last week, Usher said.

At the peak of his fame in the 1950s and '60s, Sales was one of the best-known faces in the nation, Usher said.

"If President Eisenhower would have walked down the street, no one would have recognized him as much as Soupy," said Usher.

At the same time, Sales retained an openness to fans that turned every restaurant meal into an endless autograph-signing session, Usher said.

"He was just good to people," said Usher, a former jazz music producer who managed Sales in the 1950s and now owns Detroit-based Marine Pollution Control.

Pie-throwing trademark
Sales began his TV career in Cincinnati and Cleveland, then moved to Detroit, where he drew a large audience on WXYZ-TV. He moved to Los Angeles in 1961.

The comic's pie-throwing schtick became his trademark, and celebrities lined up to take one on the chin alongside Sales. During the early 1960s, stars such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Shirley MacLaine received their just desserts side-by-side with the comedian on his television show.

"I'll probably be remembered for the pies, and that's all right," Sales said in a 1985 interview.

Sales was born Milton Supman on Jan. 8, 1926, in Franklinton, N.C., where his was the only Jewish family in town. His parents, owners of a dry-goods store, sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan. The family later moved to Huntington, W.Va.

His greatest success came in New York with "The Soupy Sales Show" — an ostensible children's show that had little to do with Captain Kangaroo and other kiddie fare. Sales' manic, improvisational style also attracted an older audience that responded to his envelope-pushing antics.

Sales, who was typically clad in a black sweater and oversized bow-tie, was once suspended for a week after telling his legion of tiny listeners to empty their mothers' purse and mail him all the pieces of green paper bearing pictures of the presidents.

The cast of "Saturday Night Live" later paid homage by asking their audience to send in their joints. His influence was also obvious in the Pee-Wee Herman character created by Paul Reubens.

Sales returned from the Navy after World War II and became a $20-a-week reporter at a West Virginia radio station. He jumped to a DJ gig, changed his name to Soupy Heinz and headed for Ohio.

Familiar television face
His first pie to the face came in 1951, when the newly christened Soupy Sales was hosting a children's show in Cleveland. In Detroit, Sales' show garnered a national reputation as he honed his act — a barrage of sketches, gags and bad puns that played in the Motor City for seven years.

After moving to Los Angeles, he eventually became a fill-in host on "The Tonight Show."

He moved to New York in 1964 and debuted "The Soupy Sales Show," with co-star puppets White Fang (the meanest dog in the United States) and Black Tooth (the nicest dog in the United States). By the time his Big Apple run ended two years later, Sales had appeared on 5,370 live television programs — the most in the medium's history, he boasted. He had a pair of albums that hit the Billboard Top 10 in 1965; "Do the Mouse" sold 250,000 copies in New York alone.

Sales remained a familiar television face, first as a regular from 1968-75 on the game show "What's My Line?" and later appearing on everything from "The Mike Douglas Show" to "The Love Boat." He played himself in the 1998 movie "Holy Man," which starred Eddie Murphy.

He joined WNBC-AM as a disc jockey in 1985, a stint best remembered because Sales filled the hours between shock jocks Don Imus and Howard Stern.

Sales is survived by his wife, Trudy, and two sons, Hunt and Tony, a pair of musicians who backed David Bowie in the band Tin Machine.

Football player Stabbed ----Update

2009-10-19T23:40:00.001-04:00

Lawyers says arrests coming in UConn stabbing

By PAT EATON-ROBB, Associated Press Writer

STORRS, Conn. (AP)—A Bloomfield man will be arrested in the stabbing death of a University of Connecticut football player, his lawyer said Monday night, as police continued to sort out what happened during a fight outside a school-sponsored dance over the weekend.

Attorney Deron Freeman declined to identify his client, but says the man and several others got into a fight “with about six” UConn football players early Sunday. Freeman says his client did not stab Jasper Howard, but was present when Howard was mortally wounded.

Freeman said police searched his client’s home in Bloomfield and removed some items. Freeman said police told him that his client and others will be arrested.

“(Police) have indicated to me that they expect to get a warrant for his arrest,” he said. “I’m not sure if I would say that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I could say that he was not involved in the actual stabbing of Mr. Howard.”

It would be the second arrest connected to the stabbing, which occurred hours after Howard starred in UConn’s homecoming victory over Louisville.

Johnny Hood, 21, of Hartford, was arraigned Monday on charges of interfering with an officer and breach of peace, but he has not been charged in Howard’s death.

Authorities said Hood gave a false name when he was questioned. His bond initially was set at $100,000, but that was reduced Monday to $10,000.

Hood’s attorney, Justin Freeman, said at the arraignment that his client is a full-time dental assistant and a part-time student at Capitol Community College, who was “at the wrong place at the wrong time,” and did not even know a homicide had occurred.

Deron Freeman, who is Justin Freeman’s brother, declined to say whether his client knows Hood, but he said there were at least a half-dozen UConn football players with Howard at the time of the stabbing.

Hood was pointed out to police at the scene by another UConn player, 19-year-old Brian Parker of Sarasota, Fla., who also was stabbed but sustained minor injuries. The sophomore wide receiver, who is academically ineligible to play this season, was treated and released from a local hospital.

Coach Randy Edsall said two other players tried in vain to save Howard’s life.

“One had Jasper in his arms and the other was pressuring where the wound went in and had blood on his hands,” Edsall said. “And those two young men are pretty deeply affected right now.”

Sophomore receiver Kashif Moore said he was the player who held Howard until help arrived. He said he did not think his friend was going to die.

“He was like in and out (of consciousness),” Moore said. “I didn’t have time to be scared.”

The state’s medical examiner’s office said Monday that Howard died from a single stab wound to the abdomen.

Howard, a junior and starting cornerback, came to the school to get away from the violence on the streets of his hometown of Miami. He was the first person in his family to go to college.

UConn basketball player Kalana Greene said Monday night that Howard was a good person who wanted to help lift his family out of poverty and away from crime.

“He’s from Little Haiti in Miami, and he talked about doing everything for his mom and his two little sisters, doing something to make it out,” Greene said. “He was talking about how, ‘I’ve got to make it out to help my family out. I don’t want my family to live the life that I lived. I don’t want my kids to live the life that I lived. I want to make it good for them.”’

Center Tina Charles said Howard—nicknamed Jazz—loved to play pickup basketball with the UConn women’s team.

“He always made the games fun,” she said. “That smile would get probably any girl, that smile that he had.”

Howard’s death was especially tragic, because he was about to become a father, Edsall said. Police declined to provide any additional information about the expectant mother, whom Edsall identified as Howard’s girlfriend.

Police interviewed dozens of witnesses but had made no other arrests late Monday.

“We’re pursuing active investigative leads,” UConn police Maj. Ron Blicher said.

Blicher said Howard was mortally wounded during a fight between two groups that included students and non-students. The fight broke out just after a fire alarm went off in a student center, forcing around 300 people to evacuate from a party and dance sponsored by the school’s West Indian Awareness Organization.

The violence came less than 12 hours after UConn’s 38-25 homecoming victory over Louisville. Edsall identified Howard’s body at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford Sunday morning.

Students gathered for two vigils Monday night. Teammates and friends placed candles and flowers at the spot where Howard was killed, along with a poster that included the words “Live 365” next to pictures of Howard playing football and having fun.

Outside the team’s football complex, dozens of athletes and other students joined hands as punter Desi Cullen, a team captain led them in prayer.

“Value the breath you breathe,” he told the crowd. “Value every day you wake up.”

Cullen said it had been a tough day for players, as they met with Howard’s parents, who had flown up from Florida.

Earlier Monday, the campus co-op store sold out of T-shirts styled like jerseys with Howard’s No. 6.

The team will wear a sticker with Howard’s initials on its helmets for the rest of the season and will carry Howard’s helmet or jersey to away games, Edsall said.

The coach said he doesn’t know if the two teammates who helped Howard will play when the Huskies visit Big East foe West Virginia on Saturday. “I’ll honor whatever decision they want to make,” he said.

West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said plans are in the works to honor Howard at the game in Morgantown, W.Va. He said he expected the game would be very emotional for both teams.

“The youngsters from our Miami area took it very, very, very hard,” he said. “Our guys were quite shaken, as they should be and they really, really liked that young man immensely.”

Edsall said his team will resume practicing on Tuesday.

“It’ll be good for us to be getting back on the practice field tomorrow and getting a little bit of what in this tragic situation, back to a little bit of normalcy with what we have to do,” he said.

Not a Football fan...but still sad news

2009-10-18T22:05:00.001-04:00

UConn mourns stabbing death of football player

By PAT EATON-ROBB, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago

STORRS, Conn. (AP)—A Connecticut football player who was an expectant father was stabbed to death early Sunday after an on-campus dance, just hours after helping his team to a homecoming victory.

Jasper Howard, 20, of Miami, and another student were stabbed during a fight after a fire alarm was pulled during a university sanctioned dance at the UConn Student Union just after 12:30 a.m., police said.

Police had not identified a suspect or released the name of the other victim.

Connecticut coach Randy Edsall said the team was heartbroken and devastated over the loss of Howard, a junior and the team’s starting cornerback who came to the school to get away from the violence on the streets of his hometown. He became the first person in his family to go to college.
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“I know this,” Edsall said, his eyes red and welling with tears, “he loved UConn; he loved his teammates; he loved everything about this.”

Edsall said Howard’s death was especially tragic, because he was about to become a father. No additional information about the expectant mother, identified by Edsall as Howard’s girlfriend, was provided by police or the university.

The coach gathered his team at its training facility at 6 a.m. to deliver the news.

“As Jazz looks down on us, I can promise him and his family, that son or daughter will have 105 uncles,” punter Desi Cullen, a team captain, said at an afternoon news conference. “And we will do what it takes to not get through this, but to grow from it.”

UConn Police Major Ronald Blicher said this is the first homicide at the university in the more than 30 years he has been associated with the school.

Blicher said Howard was stabbed following a fight between two groups that included students and non-students. The altercation broke out just after a fire alarm went off in the student center, forcing the evacuation of about 300 people, from a “Welcome Back” party and dance sponsored by the school’s West Indian Awareness Organization.

Police and the school declined to say whether any other athletes were involved in the incident.

Police cordoned off the crime scene near the university’s Gampel Pavilion basketball arena for much of the day.

“Certainly not all 300 saw this event,” Blicher said. “We have been actively interviewing people through the night and day, and we continue to seek anybody who might have information.”

Police were trying to determine whether the alarm and the fight were related.

The university community was sent messages warning them to be cautious, but Blicher said officials don’t believe anyone else is in danger and that the stabbing did not appear premeditated.

“The university does not have an individual walking around just stabbing people,” Blicher said.

Howard and the other stabbing victim were taken to Windham Community Memorial Hospital, where the second victim was treated and released. Howard was later airlifted to Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, where he died from his injuries.

Edsall drove to the hospital Sunday morning and was asked to identify Howard’s body.

“One of my sons has been taken away,” the coach said.

University President Michael Hogan told The Associated Press the stabbing is a tragedy for the entire university community.

“I was in the locker room after the game yesterday. It was such a joyous moment,” Hogan said. “To go from that game and such a victory to the developments at 12:30 last night is such a tragedy.”

Howard had a career-high 11 tackles Saturday against Louisville and made perhaps the game’s biggest play, forcing a fumble just as Louisville was about to score with UConn up 21-13 in the third quarter. UConn won 38-25, and following the game, Howard, who led the Big East in punt returns last season, talked to the AP about the play.

“I felt my hand go on the ball and I felt that I had a chance to get it out. I just stripped it out. It was a big play. We needed it,” he said.

Corey Bell, director of football operations at the University of Miami, coached Howard at Miami Edison High School.

He told The Miami-Herald Sunday that he was stunned.

“I’m real close to all my guys, but Jazz and I were real close,” Bell said. “We spoke at least once every week. He’s a great kid, coachable, dependable, real tough mentally and talented. He had dreams of getting to the next level and making it and taking care of his mom and his sister.”

A phone and e-mail message left with the Miami’s media relations department were not immediately returned.

New England Patriots cornerback Darius Butler, described by Edsall as the player who taught Howard the ropes while at UConn, was shaken by the news.

“It hasn’t settled in, but it was tough on the UConn family,” Butler said. “He’s in my thoughts and prayers.”

The school was arranging for Howard’s parents to come to Connecticut. The junior also had two teenage sisters.

The student union was reopened late Sunday, and the snack shop there was soon doing a brisk business.

Aaron Price, a 19-year-old music major, said he was a bit concerned that nobody had yet been arrested, but didn’t fear for his own safety.

“I’ve never felt unsafe,” he said. “I’ve never even thought about whether or not I felt safe.”

Gov. M. Jodi Rell visited the campus Sunday to offer her condolences and any assistance the university might need.

Edsall said the team will not practice until Tuesday, but plans on playing next Saturday at West Virginia. He said they would wear some remembrance of Howard, and would plan a more permanent memorial at the team’s training center.

“The Howard family will get through this, as well as the UConn family,” Edsall said. “Because we are determined and we are willing to make sure that Jazz will be honored in the right way, and how we do things is what he’ll be expecting out of all of us.”

Patrick Swayze dies at 57

2009-09-14T22:39:00.001-04:00

Patrick Swayze dies at 57

Sept. 14, 2009, 7:05 PM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Patrick Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into viewers' hearts with "Dirty Dancing" and then broke them with "Ghost," died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

"Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," said a statement released Monday evening by his publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details were given.

Fans of the actor were saddened to learn in March 2008 that Swayze was suffering from a particularly deadly form of cancer.

He had kept working despite the diagnosis, putting together a memoir with his wife and shooting "The Beast," an A&E drama series for which he had already made the pilot. It drew a respectable 1.3 million viewers when the 13 episodes ran in 2009, but A&E said it had reluctantly decided not to renew it for a second season.

Swayze said he opted not to use painkilling drugs while making "The Beast" because they would have taken the edge off his performance. He acknowledged that time might be running out given the grim nature of the disease.

When he first went public with the illness, some reports gave him only weeks to live, but his doctor said his situation was "considerably more optimistic" than that.

"I'd say five years is pretty wishful thinking," Swayze told ABC's Barbara Walters in early 2009. "Two years seems likely if you're going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I'd better get a fire under it."

C. Thomas Howell, who co-starred with Swayze in "The Outsiders," "Grandview U.S.A." and "Red Dawn", said: "I have always had a special place in my heart for Patrick. While I was fortunate enough to work with him in three films, it was our passion for horses that forged a friendship between us that I treasure to this day. Not only did we lose a fine actor today, I lost my older `Outsiders' brother."

Other celebrities used Twitter to express condolences, and "Dirty Dancing" was the top trending topic for a while Monday night, trailed by several other Swayze films.

Ashton Kutcher — whose wife, Demi Moore, co-starred with Swayze in "Ghost" — wrote: "RIP P Swayze." Kutcher also linked to a YouTube clip of the actor poking fun at himself in a classic "Saturday Night Live" sketch, in which he played a wannabe Chippendales dancer alongside the corpulent — and frighteningly shirtless — Chris Farley.

And Larry King wrote: "Patrick Swayze was a wonderful actor & a terrific guy. He put his heart in everything. He was an extraordinary fighter in his battle w Cancer." King added that he'd do a tribute to Swayze on his CNN program Tuesday night.

A three-time Golden Globe nominee, Swayze became a star with his performance as the misunderstood bad-boy Johnny Castle in "Dirty Dancing." As the son of a choreographer who began his career in musical theater, he seemed a natural to play the role.

A coming-of-age romance starring Jennifer Grey as an idealistic young woman on vacation with her family and Swayze as the Catskills resort's sexy (and much older) dance instructor, the film made great use of both his grace on his feet and his muscular physique.

It became an international phenomenon in the summer of 1987, spawning albums, an Oscar-winning hit song in "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," stage productions and a sequel, 2004's "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights," in which he made a cameo.

Swayze performed and co-wrote a song on the soundtrack, the ballad "She's Like the Wind," inspired by his wife, Lisa Niemi.

The film also gave him the chance to utter the now-classic line, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

Swayze followed that up with the 1989 action flick "Road House," in which he played a bouncer at a rowdy bar. But it was his performance in 1990's "Ghost" that showed his vulnerable, sensitive side. He starred as a murdered man trying to communicate with his fiancee (Demi Moore) — with great frustration and longing — through a psychic played by Whoopi Goldberg.

Swayze said at the time that he fought for the role of Sam Wheat (director Jerry Zucker wanted Kevin Kline) but once he went in for an audition and read six scenes, he got it.

Why did he want the part so badly? "It made me cry four or five times," he said of Bruce Joel Rubin's Oscar-winning script in an AP interview.

"Ghost" provided yet another indelible musical moment: Swayze and Moore sensually molding pottery together to the strains of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody." It also earned a best-picture nomination and a supporting-actress Oscar for Goldberg, who said she wouldn't have won if it weren't for Swayze.

"When I won my Academy Award, the only person I really thanked was Patrick," Goldberg said in March 2008 on the ABC daytime talk show "The View."

Swayze himself earned three Golden Globe nominations, for "Dirty Dancing," "Ghost" and 1995's "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar," which further allowed him to toy with his masculine image. The role called for him to play a drag queen on a cross-country road trip alongside Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo.

His heartthrob status almost kept him from being considered for the role of Vida Boheme.

"I couldn't get seen on it because everyone viewed me as terminally heterosexually masculine-macho," he told the AP then. But he transformed himself so completely that when his screen test was sent to Steven Spielberg, whose Amblin pictures produced "To Wong Foo," Spielberg didn't recognize him.

Among his earlier films, Swayze was part of the star-studded lineup of up-and-comers in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 adaptation of S.E. Hinton's novel "The Outsiders," alongside Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and Diane Lane. Swayze played Darrel "Dary" Curtis, the oldest of three wayward brothers — and essentially the father figure — in a poor family in small-town Oklahoma.

Other '80s films included "Red Dawn," "Grandview U.S.A." (for which he also provided choreography) and "Youngblood," once more with Lowe, as Canadian hockey teammates.

In the '90s, he made such eclectic films as "Point Break" (1991), in which he played the leader of a band of bank-robbing surfers, and the family Western "Tall Tale" (1995), in which he starred as Pecos Bill. He appeared on the cover of People magazine as its "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1991, but his career tapered off toward the end of the 1990s, when he also had stay in rehab for alcohol abuse. In 2001, he appeared in the cult favorite "Donnie Darko," and in 2003 he returned to the New York stage with "Chicago"; 2006 found him in the musical "Guys and Dolls" in London.

Swayze was born in 1952 in Houston, the son of Jesse Swayze and choreographer Patsy Swayze, whose films include "Urban Cowboy."

He played football but also was drawn to dance and theater, performing with the Feld, Joffrey and Harkness Ballets and appearing on Broadway as Danny Zuko in "Grease." But he turned to acting in 1978 after a series of injuries.

Within a couple years of moving to Los Angeles, he made his debut in the roller-disco movie "Skatetown, U.S.A." The eclectic cast included Scott Baio, Flip Wilson, Maureen McCormack and Billy Barty.

Swayze had a couple of movies in the works when his diagnosis was announced, including the drama "Powder Blue," starring Jessica Biel, Forest Whitaker and his younger brother, Don, which was scheduled for release this year.

Off-screen, he was an avid conservationist who was moved by his time in Africa to shine a light on "man's greed and absolute unwillingness to operate according to Mother Nature's laws," he told the AP in 2004.

Swayze was married since 1975 to Niemi, a fellow dancer who took lessons with his mother; they met when he was 19 and she was 15. A licensed pilot, Niemi would fly her husband from Los Angeles to Northern California for treatment at Stanford University Medical Center, People magazine reported in a cover story.

'80s teen flick director John Hughes dies in NYC

2009-08-06T21:40:00.000-04:00

'80s teen flick director John Hughes dies in NYC

Aug. 6, 2009, 4:08 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Writer-director John Hughes, Hollywood's youth impresario of the 1980s and '90s who captured and cornered the teen and pre-teen market with such favorites as "Home Alone," "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," died Thursday, a spokeswoman said. He was 59.

Hughes died of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan, Michelle Bega said. He was in New York to visit family.

A native of Lansing, Mich., who later moved to suburban Chicago and set much of his work there, Hughes rose from ad writer to comedy writer to silver screen champ with his affectionate and idealized portraits of teens, whether the romantic and sexual insecurity of "Sixteen Candles," or the J.D. Salinger-esque rebellion against conformity in "The Breakfast Club."

Hughes' ensemble comedies helped make stars out of Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and many other young performers. He also scripted the phenomenally popular "Home Alone," which made little-known Macaulay Culkin a sensation as the 8-year-old accidentally abandoned by his vacationing family, and wrote or directed such hits as "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Pretty in Pink," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck."

"I was a fan of both his work and a fan of him as a person," Culkin said. "The world has lost not only a quintessential filmmaker whose influence will be felt for generations, but a great and decent man."

Devin Ratray, best known for playing Culkin's older brother Buzz McCallister in the "Home Alone" films, said he remained close to Hughes over the years.

"He changed my life forever," Ratray said. "Nineteen years later, people from all over the world contact me telling me how much 'Home Alone' meant to them, their families, and their children."

Steve Martin played lead character Neal Page in the 1987 hit "Planes, Trains & Automobiles."

"John Hughes was a great director, but his gift was in screenwriting," Martin said. "He created deep and complex characters, rich in humanity and humor."

Other actors who got early breaks from Hughes included John Cusack ("Sixteen Candles"), Judd Nelson ("The Breakfast Club"), Steve Carrell ("Curly Sue") and Lili Taylor ("She's Having a Baby").

Actor Matthew Broderick worked with Hughes in 1986 when he played the title character in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

"I am truly shocked and saddened by the news about my old friend John Hughes. He was a wonderful, very talented guy and my heart goes out to his family," Broderick said.

Ben Stein, who played the monotone economics teacher calling the roll and repeatedly saying "Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?", said Hughes was a towering talent.

"He made a better connection with young people than anyone in Hollywood had ever made before or since," Stein said on Fox Business Network. "It's incredibly sad. He was a wonderful man, a genius, a poet. I don't think anyone has come close to him as being the poet of the youth of America in the postwar period. He was to them what Shakespeare was to the Elizabethan Age.

"You had a regular guy — just an ordinary guy. If you met him, you would never guess he was a big Hollywood power."

As Hughes advanced into middle age, his commercial touch faded and, in Salinger style, he increasingly withdrew from public life. His last directing credit was in 1991, for "Curly Sue," and he wrote just a handful of scripts over the past decade. He was rarely interviewed or photographed.

———

Associated Press writer Amy Westfeldt Entertainment Writer Douglas J. Rowe and Drama Writer Michael Kuchwara contributed to this report from New York. AP writer Solvej Schou contributed from Los Angeles.

Pitchman update

2009-06-29T19:38:00.000-04:00

Pitchman Billy Mays Had Enlarged Heart
Popular product pusher Billy Mays had an enlarged heart and likely died over the weekend of a pulmonary embolism, or blocked artery, a medical examiner told reporters on Monday. There was no sign of head trauma. He was 50.
Dr. Vernard Adams told reporters that Mays' heart weighed 500 grams, or about 17.6 ounces. A typical male heart weighs about 10-12 ounces. The "heart disease that was found was certainly capable of causing the sudden death that he experienced."
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Billy's Pitchiest: From Quick Chop to Mighty Mend It
There was no indication of drug abuse, prescription or otherwise. Further test need to be made and the official ruling of cause of death won't be available for several weeks, Adams said.
Mays told his wife, Deborah, he didn't feel well when he went to bed Saturday night. In the morning she found the booming-voiced OxiClean pitchman unconscious. Earlier in the day, he said he was hit on the head when the airplane he was riding in had a rough landing at Tampa Bay's airport.
However, doctors found no evidence of head trauma during the autopsy.
The airline, U.S. Airways, said no passengers reported any serious injuries, and Mays himself cheerfully recounted the landing for a local TV station. The bumpy landing occurred because the plane blew its front tires.
Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said linking Mays' death to the landing would "purely be speculation." She said Mays' family members didn't report any health issues with the pitchman, but said he was due to have hip replacement surgery in coming weeks.

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times," Deborah Mays says in a statement.
Police do not suspect any foul play.
Born William Mays in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, Mays developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other "As Seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.
AJ Khubani, founder and CEO of "As Seen on TV," said he first met Mays in the early 1990s when Mays was still pitching one of his early products, the Shammy absorbent cloth, at a trade fair. He said he most recently worked with Mays on the reality TV show 'Pitchmen' on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.

Pitchman found dead at home

2009-06-28T13:35:00.000-04:00

Police: TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at home

TAMPA, Fla. – Billy Mays, the burly, bearded television pitchman known for his boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean, has died. He was 50.
Tampa police said Mays was found unresponsive by his wife Sunday morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m.
There were no signs of a break-in, and investigators do not suspect foul play, said Lt. Brian Dugan of the Tampa Police Department, who wouldn't answer any more questions about how Mays' body was found because of the ongoing investigation. The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon.
"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," said Mays' wife, Deborah. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."
Tampa area media outlets reported that Mays was a passenger on a U.S. Airways flight that made a rough landing on Saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport, apparently blowing its front tires in an incident that left debris on the runway.
Tampa Bay's Fox television affiliate interviewed Mays after the incident.
"All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping," MyFox Tampa Bay quoted him as saying. "It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."
U.S. Airways officials said Sunday they could not immediately confirm that Mays was a passenger.
Born William Mays in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, Mays developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other "as seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.
After meeting Orange Glo International founder Max Appel at a home show in Pittsburgh in the mid-1990s, Mays was recruited to demonstrate the environmentally friendly line of cleaning products on the St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network.
Commercials and informercials followed, anchored by the high-energy Mays showing how it's done while tossing out kitschy phrases like, "Long live your laundry!"
Recently he's been seen on commercials for a wide variety of products and is featured on the reality TV show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs. He's also been seen in ESPN ads.
His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans. People line up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stop him in airports to chat about the products.
"I enjoy what I do," Mays told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "I think it shows."
Mays liked to tell the story of giving bottles of OxiClean to the 300 guests at his wedding, and doing his ad spiel ("powered by the air we breathe!") on the dance floor at the reception. Visitors to his house typically got bottles of cleaner and housekeeping tips.
Discovery Channel spokeswoman Elizabeth Hillman released a statement Sunday extending sympathy to the Mays family.
"Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth," Hillman's statement said. "Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend."

Two deaths in one day

2009-06-25T20:07:00.005-04:00

'Angel' Farrah Fawcett
dies at 62
Spokesman: Fawcett died Thursday
morning
Updated: Thursday, 25 Jun 2009, 2:29 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 25 Jun 2009, 12:49 PM EDT
• BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Farrah Fawcett, the "Charlie's Angels" star whose feathered blond hair and dazzling smile made her one of the biggest sex symbols of the 1970s, died Thursday after battling cancer. She was 62.

The pop icon, who in the 1980s set aside the fantasy girl image to tackle serious roles, died shortly before 9:30 a.m. in a Santa Monica hospital, spokesman Paul Bloch said.

Ryan O'Neal, the longtime companion who had reunited with Fawcett as she fought anal cancer, was at her side, along with close friend Alana Stewart, Bloch said.

"After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away," O'Neal said. "Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world."
Other "Charlie's Angels" stars paid tribute to her.

"Farrah had courage, she had strength, and she had faith. And now she has peace as she rests with the real angels," Jaclyn Smith said.

Said Cheryl Ladd: "She was incredibly brave, and God will be welcoming her with open arms."
Fawcett burst on the scene in 1976 as one-third of the crime-fighting trio in TV's "Charlie's Angels." A poster of her in a clingy swimsuit sold in the millions.

Her full, layered hairstyle became all the rage, with girls and women across America adopting the look.
She left the show after one season but had a flop on the big screen with "Somebody Killed Her Husband." She turned to more serious roles in the 1980s and 1990s, winning praise playing an abused wife in "The Burning Bed."
She had been diagnosed with cancer in 2006. As she underwent treatment, she enlisted the help of O'Neal, who was the father of her now 24-year-old son, Redmond.

This month, O'Neal said he asked Fawcett to marry him and she agreed. They would wed "as soon as she can say yes," he said.

Her struggle with painful treatments and dispiriting setbacks was recorded in the television documentary "Farrah's Story." Fawcett sought cures in Germany as well as the United States, battling the disease with iron determination even as her body weakened.

"Her big message to people is don't give up, no matter what they say to you, keep fighting," her friend Stewart said. NBC estimated the May 15, 2009, broadcast drew nearly 9 million viewers.

In the documentary, Fawcett was seen shaving off most of her trademark locks before chemotherapy could claim them. Toward the end, she's seen huddled in bed, barely responding to a visit from her son.

Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Smith made up the original "Angels," the sexy, police-trained trio of martial arts experts who took their assignments from a rich, mysterious boss named Charlie (John Forsythe, who was never seen on camera but whose distinctive voice was heard on speaker phone.)

The program debuted in September 1976, the height of what some critics derisively referred to as television's "jiggle show" era, and it gave each of the actresses ample opportunity to show off their figures as they disguised themselves in bathing suits and as hookers and strippers to solve crimes.

Backed by a clever publicity campaign, Fawcett — then billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majors because of her marriage to "The Six Million Dollar Man" star Lee Majors — quickly became the most popular Angel of all.

Her face helped sell T-shirts, lunch boxes, shampoo, wigs and even a novelty plumbing device called Farrah's faucet. Her flowing blond hair, pearly white smile and trim, shapely body made her a favorite with male viewers in particular.

A poster of her in a dampened red swimsuit sold millions of copies and became a ubiquitous wall decoration in teenagers' rooms.

Thus the public and the show's producer, Spelling-Goldberg, were shocked when she announced after the series' first season that she was leaving television's No. 5-rated series to star in feature films. (Ladd became the new "Angel" on the series.)

But the movies turned out to be a platform where Fawcett was never able to duplicate her TV success. Her first star vehicle, the comedy-mystery "Somebody Killed Her Husband," flopped and Hollywood cynics cracked that it should have been titled "Somebody Killed Her Career."

The actress had also been in line to star in "Foul Play" for Columbia Pictures. But the studio opted for Goldie Hawn instead. "Spelling-Goldberg warned all the studios that that they would be sued for damages if they employed me," Fawcett told The Associated Press in 1979. "The studios wouldn't touch me."

She finally reached an agreement to appear in three episodes of "Charlie's Angels" a season, an experience she called "painful."

She returned to making movies, including the futuristic thriller "Logan's Run," the comedy-thriller "Sunburn" and the strange sci-fi tale "Saturn 3," but none clicked with the public.

Fawcett fared better with television movies such as "Murder in Texas," ''Poor Little Rich Girl" and especially as an abused wife in 1984's "The Burning Bed." The last earned her an Emmy nomination and the long-denied admission from critics that she really could act.
As further proof of her acting credentials, Fawcett appeared off-Broadway in "Extremities" as a woman who is raped in her own home. She repeated the role in the 1986 film version.

Not content to continue playing victims, she switched type. She played a murderous mother in the 1989 true-crime story "Small Sacrifices" and a tough lawyer on the trail of a thief in 1992's "Criminal Behavior."

She also starred in biographies of Nazi-hunter Beate Klarsfeld and photographer Margaret Bourke-White.
"I felt that I was doing a disservice to ourselves by portraying only women as victims," she commented in a 1992 interview.

In 1995, at age 50, Fawcett posed partly nude for Playboy magazine. The following year, she starred in a Playboy video, "All of Me," in which she was equally unclothed while she sculpted and painted.

She told an interviewer she considered the experience "a renaissance," adding, "I no longer feel ... restrictions emotionally, artistically, creatively or in my everyday life. I don't feel those borders anymore."

Fawcett's most unfortunate career moment may have been a 1997 appearance on David Letterman's show, when her disjointed, rambling answers led many to speculate that she was on drugs. She denied that, blaming her strange behavior on questionable advice from her mother to be playful and have a good time.

In September 2006, Fawcett, who at 59 still maintained a strict regimen of tennis and paddleball, began to feel strangely exhausted. She underwent two weeks of tests and was told the devastating news: She had anal cancer.
O'Neal, with whom she had a 17-year relationship, again became her constant companion, escorting her to the hospital for chemotherapy.

"She's so strong," the actor told a reporter. "I love her. I love her all over again."

She struggled to maintain her privacy, but a UCLA Medical Center employee pleaded guilty in late 2008 to violating federal medical privacy law for commercial purposes for selling records of Fawcett and other celebrities to the National Enquirer.

"It's much easier to go through something and deal with it without being under a microscope," she told the Los Angeles Times in an interview in which she also revealed that she helped set up a sting that led to the hospital worker's arrest.

Her decision to tell her own story through the NBC documentary was meant as an inspiration to others, friends said. The segments showing her cancer treatment, including a trip to Germany for procedures there, were originally shot for a personal, family record, they said. And although weak, she continued to show flashes of grit and good humor in the documentary.

"I do not want to die of this disease. So I say to God, 'It is seriously time for a miracle,'" she said at one point.
Born Feb. 2, 1947, in Corpus Christi, Texas, she was named Mary Farrah Leni Fawcett by her mother, who said she added the Farrah because it sounded good with Fawcett. She was less than a month old when she underwent surgery to remove a digestive tract tumor with which she was born.

After attending Roman Catholic grade school and W.B. Ray High School, Fawcett enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. Fellow students voted her one of the 10 most beautiful people on the campus and her photos were eventually spotted by movie publicist David Mirisch, who suggested she pursue a film career. After overcoming her parents' objections, she agreed.

Soon she was appearing in such TV shows as "That Girl," ''The Flying Nun," ''I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Partridge Family."

Majors became both her boyfriend and her adviser on career matters, and they married in 1973. She dropped his last name from hers after they divorced in 1982.

By then she had already begun her long relationship with O'Neal. Both Redmond and Ryan O'Neal have grappled with drug and legal problems in recent years.

Michael Jackson dies of
cardiac arrest
Updated: Thursday, 25 Jun 2009, 7:01 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 25 Jun 2009, 5:17 PM EDT
• By DERRIK J. LANG, Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Michael Jackson, the moonwalking former child star who became known the world over as the "King of Pop" before his life and career deteriorated in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. He was 50.

The person said Jackson died in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.
Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves, his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove and tight, military-style jacket were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance. Over the years, his skin became lighter and his nose narrower.

Carradine's Family Suspicious of Death

2009-06-05T18:57:00.001-04:00

Carradine's Family Suspicious of Death

Posted Jun 5th 2009 10:10AM by TMZ Staff
David Carradine's family believes foul play was involved in the actor's death because they've been told he was found with his hands tied behind his back.

Earlier today, Thai police added to the mystery saying, "It is unclear whether [David] committed suicide or not or [whether] he died of suffocation or heart failure." Police say he could have died from an "accidental suffocation."

David's body was discovered in his Bangkok hotel room early Thursday morning -- police said there was rope wrapped around his neck and genitals.

Initially cops suspected suicide, but Carradine's close friends and family immediately refuted the claim -- saying David would never do that to himself. But cops say there's no evidence to suggest anyone was in the room at the time of David's death.

Now, suspicions of foul play are growing even stronger among family members who claim the hotel has been incredibly slow in turning over surveillance video to cops.

We've been told by the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok that David's body was shipped back to the States Friday evening (Thailand is 14 hours ahead of PST).

Actor David Carradine found dead in Bangkok

2009-06-04T17:25:00.002-04:00

By GRANT PECK, Associated Press Writer Grant Peck, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 3 mins ago
BANGKOK – Actor David Carradine, a born seeker and cult idol who broke through as the willing student called "grasshopper" in the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" and decades later as leader of an assassin squad in "Kill Bill," was found dead Thursday in Thailand. Police said he appeared to have hanged himself.

The officer responsible for investigating the death, Teerapop Luanseng, said the 72-year-old actor was staying at a suite at the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel.

"I can confirm that we found his body, naked, hanging in the closet," Teerapop said. He said police suspected suicide.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but he could not provide further details out of consideration for his family.

Carradine came from an acting family. His father, John, made a career playing creepy, eccentric characters in film and on stage. His brothers Keith, Robert and Bruce also became actors. Actress Martha Plimpton is Keith Carradine's daughter.

"My Uncle David was a brilliantly talented, fiercely intelligent and generous man. He was the nexus of our family in so many ways, and drew us together over the years and kept us connected," Plimpton said Thursday.
Carradine was in Bangkok shooting the movie "Stretch," said his manager, Chuck Binder.

"We're very saddened, he was a wonderful guy," said Lori Binder, a partner in the agency that represented Carradine.
"It is shocking to me that he is no longer with us," said Michael Madsen, who played an assassin in "Kill Bill."
"I had been thinking about calling him for the last several days. ... I have so many great memories of David that I wouldn't even know where to begin . He has a very special place in my heart."

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation said Carradine could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday, and that his body was found by a hotel maid Thursday morning. It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the suite's curtains. It cited police as saying there was no sign that he had been assaulted.

Police said Carradine's body was taken to a hospital for an autopsy that would be done Friday.
Carradine appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby. One of his early film roles was as folk singer Woody Guthrie in Ashby's 1976 biopic, "Bound for Glory."
But he was best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin priest traveling the 1800s American frontier West in the TV series "Kung Fu," which aired in 1972-75.

"I wasn't like a TV star in those days, I was like a rock 'n' roll star," Carradine said in an interview with Associated Press Radio in 1996. "It was a phenomenon kind of thing. ... It was very special."

Actor Rainn Wilson, star of TV's "The Office," tweeted about Carradine's death on Twitter: "R.I.P. David Carradine. You were a true hero to so many of us children of the 70s. We'll miss you, Kwai Chang Caine."

Carradine reprised the role in a mid-1980s TV movie and played Caine's grandson in the 1990s syndicated series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues."

He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill." Bill, the worldly father figure of a pack of crack assassins, was a shadowy presence in 2003's "Kill Bill — Vol. 1." In that film, one of Bill's former assassins (Uma Thurman) begins a vengeful rampage against her old associates, including Bill.
In "Kill Bill — Vol. 2," released in 2004, Thurman's character catches up to Bill. The role brought Carradine a Golden Globe nomination as best supporting actor.

Bill was a complete contrast to Caine, the soft-spoken refugee from a Shaolin monastery, serenely spreading wisdom and battling bad guys in the Old West. He left after three seasons, saying the show had started to repeat itself.
"David's always been kind of a seeker of knowledge and of wisdom in his own inimitable way," his brother, actor Keith Carradine, said in a 1995 interview.

After "Kung Fu," Carradine starred in the 1975 cult flick "Death Race 2000." He starred with Liv Ullmann in Bergman's "The Serpent's Egg" in 1977 and with his brothers in the 1980 Western "The Long Riders."
But after the early 1980s, he spent two decades doing mostly low-budget films. Tarantino's films changed that.
"All I've ever needed since I more or less retired from studio films a couple of decades ago ... is just to be in one," Carradine told The Associated Press in 2004.

"There isn't anything that Anthony Hopkins or Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery or any of those old guys are doing that I couldn't do," he said. "All that was ever required was somebody with Quentin's courage to take and put me in the spotlight."

One thing remained a constant after "Kung Fu": Carradine's interest in Asian herbs, exercise and philosophy. He wrote a personal memoir called "Spirit of Shaolin" and continued to make instructional videos on tai chi and other martial arts.

In the 2004 interview, Carradine talked candidly about his past boozing and narcotics use, but said he had put all that behind him and stuck to coffee and cigarettes.

"I didn't like the way I looked, for one thing. You're kind of out of control emotionally when you drink that much. I was quicker to anger."

"You're probably witnessing the last time I will ever answer those questions," Carradine said. "Because this is a regeneration. It is a renaissance. It is the start of a new career for me.
"It's time to do nothing but look forward."
___
Associated Press writer Polly Anderson in New York contributed to this report.

Dom DeLuise, Comic Actor, Dies at 75

2009-05-05T19:08:00.002-04:00

Dom DeLuise, Comic Actor, Dies at 75

By WILLIAM GRIMES
Published: May 5, 2009

Dom DeLuise, a pudgy actor whose manic grin and air of desperation added comic bounce to films like “The Twelve Chairs,” “Blazing Saddles” and “Cannonball Run,” died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 75 and lived in Pacific Palisades.

The Associated Press reported that his son Michael had told a television and radio station in Los Angeles that his father had died after a long illness.

Mr. DeLuise first made his mark on television in the early 1960’s as Dominick the Great, an inept but determined magician trying desperately to maintain his poise as one trick after another failed. He created the character for “The Garry Moore Show” and brought it to the CBS variety series “The Entertainers,” where the ensemble cast included Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett, and “The Dean Martin Summer Show.”

Before long Mr. DeLuise was appearing in films, usually in broad comedies as a nervous sidekick, a schmo or a preposterous fraud.

He was a favorite of Mel Brooks, who cast him as the greedy Father Fyodor in “The Twelve Chairs” (1970), the director’s silly assistant in “Silent Movie” (1976), the Emperor Nero in “History of the World — Part I” (1981), the voice of Pizza the Hutt in “Spaceballs” (1987) and the Godfather-like Don Giovanni in “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993).

Burt Reynolds, another fan, teamed up with Mr. DeLuise in several films, including “Smokey and the Bandit II” (1980), “Cannonball Run” (1981) and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982).

Dominick DeLuise was born in Brooklyn and, after graduating from the High School for Performing Arts in Manhattan, attended Tufts. He broke into show business in the late 1950’s in parts like Tinker the Toymaker in the daytime television show “Tinker’s Workshop.” (The show’s creator and first host, Bob Keeshan, had gone on to create and star in “Captain Kangaroo.”) He then made regular appearances on “The Shari Lewis Show” as a bumbling private eye.

After making his Broadway debut in 1963 as the cheerfully nervous mountebank Muffin T. Ragamuffin in “The Student Gypsy,” he appeared as a nervous flier in the cold-war thriller “Fail-Safe” (1964). This serious role was atypical. His chubby face and hysterical laugh made him a natural for comic roles, like the dimwitted spy in the Doris Day film “The Glass Bottom Boat” (1966). These parts he attacked over the ensuing decades with scene-stealing abandon.

Working with Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Brooks, Mr. DeLuise went on a tear in the 1970s and early 1980s. Gene Wilder cast him as a hammy opera star in “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother” (1975) and as the mad studio chief Adolf Zitz in “The World’s Greatest Lover” (1977). He made a cameo appearance as a wild-eyed agent in “The Muppet Movie” (1979), took on a tragicomic role as a compulsive eater in “Fatso” (1980), and directed his first film, “Hot Stuff” (1979), in which he also took a starring role opposite Suzanne Pleshette.

Mr. DeLuise’s performances, never marked by restraint, stuck at fortissimo as time went on. Films like “Loose Cannons” (1990), in which he played the obese pornographer Harry (the Hippo) Gutterman, did him no favors, and he reached a nadir in “The Silence of the Hams” (1994), a horror spoof, in which he played Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza.

As his film career declined, Mr. DeLuise found a creative outlet in food. A talented amateur chef, he began doing cooking demonstrations on television and wrote several cookbooks, including, “Eat This . . . It’ll Make You Feel Better!” (1988) and “Eat This Too!: It’ll Also Make You Feel Better” (1997). He also wrote “Charlie the Caterpillar,” “The Pouch Potato” and other books for children.

In 1965 he married the actress Carol Arthur, who survives him. In addition to his son Michael, he is survived by two other sons. Peter and David, and three grandchildren.

His toughest acting assignment was his first, he told the writer Ronald L. Smith in 1992 for the book “Who’s Who in Comedy.” He was handed the role of a penny in a school play. “The part called for me to roll under a bed as soon as the curtain went up and stay there until I was found in the very last scene,” he said. “It was my hardest role to date. I detested having to be quiet and out of the action for so long.”

'Golden Girls' star Bea Arthur dies at 86

2009-04-25T19:42:00.002-04:00

'Golden Girls' star Bea Arthur dies at 86
April 25, 2009, 2:55 PM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86.
Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said. She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details.
"She was a brilliant and witty woman," said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for six years. "Bea will always have a special place in my heart."
Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker's loudly outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley. She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), and their blistering exchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashioned Arthur's own series.

In a 2008 interview with The Associated Press, Arthur said she was lucky to be discovered by TV after a long stage career, recalling with bemusement CBS executives asking about the new "girl."

"I was already 50 years old. I had done so much off-Broadway, on Broadway, but they said, 'Who is that girl? Let's give her her own series,'" Arthur said.
"Maude" scored with television viewers immediately on its CBS debut in September 1972, and Arthur won an Emmy Award for the role in 1977.

The comedy flowed from Maude's efforts to cast off the traditional restraints that women faced, but the series often had a serious base. Her husband Walter (Bill Macy) became an alcoholic, and she underwent an abortion, which drew a torrent of viewer protests. Maude became a standard bearer for the growing feminist movement in America.

The ratings of "Maude" in the early years approached those of its parent, "All in the Family," but by 1977 the audience started to dwindle. A major format change was planned, but in early 1978 Arthur announced she was quitting the show.
"It's been absolutely glorious; I've loved every minute of it," she said. "But it's been six years, and I think it's time to leave."

"Golden Girls" (1985-1992) was another groundbreaking comedy, finding surprising success in a television market increasingly skewed toward a younger, product-buying audience.

The series concerned three retirees — Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan — and the mother of Arthur's character, Estelle Getty, who lived together in a Miami apartment. In contrast to the violent "Miami Vice," the comedy was nicknamed "Miami Nice."

As Dorothy Zbornak, Arthur seemed as caustic and domineering as Maude. She was unconcerned about the similarity of the two roles. "Look — I'm 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line," she told an interviewer. "What can I do about it? I can't stay home waiting for something different. I think it's a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting."

The interplay among the four women and their relations with men fueled the comedy, and the show amassed a big audience and 10 Emmys, including two as best comedy series and individual awards for each of the stars.

In 1992, Arthur announced she was leaving "Golden Girls." The three other stars returned in "The Golden Palace," but it lasted only one season.

Arthur was born Bernice Frankel in New York City in 1922. When she was 11, her family moved to Cambridge, Md., where her father opened a clothing store. At 12 she had grown to full height, and she dreamed of being a petite blond movie star like June Allyson. There was one advantage of being tall and deep-voiced: She was chosen for the male roles in school plays.

Bernice — she hated the name and adopted her mother's nickname of Bea — overcame shyness about her size by winning over her classmates with wisecracks. She was elected the wittiest girl in her class. After two years at a junior college in Virginia, she earned a degree as a medical lab technician, but she "loathed" doing lab work at a hospital.

Acting held more appeal, and she enrolled in a drama course at the New School of Social Research in New York City. To support herself, she sang in a night spot that required her to push drinks on customers.

During this time she had a brief marriage that provided her stage name of Beatrice Arthur. In 1950, she married again, to Broadway actor and future Tony-winning director Gene Saks.

After a few years in off-Broadway and stock company plays and television dramas, Arthur's career gathered momentum with her role as Lucy Brown in the 1955 production of "The Threepenny Opera."

In 2008, when Arthur was inducted in the TV Academy Hall of Fame, Arthur pointed to the role as the highlight of her long career.

"A lot of that had to do with the fact that I felt, 'Ah, yes, I belong here,'" Arthur said.

More plays and musicals followed, and she also sang in nightclubs and played small roles in TV comedy shows.

Then, in 1964, Harold Prince cast her as Yente the Matchmaker in the original company of "Fiddler on the Roof."

Arthur's biggest Broadway triumph came in 1966 as Vera Charles, Angela Lansbury's acerbic friend in the musical "Mame," directed by Saks. Richard Watts of the New York Post called her performance "a portrait in acid of a savagely witty, cynical and serpent-tongued woman."

She won the Tony as best supporting actress and repeated the role in the unsuccessful film version that also was directed by Saks, starring Lucille Ball as Mame. Arthur would play a variation of Vera Charles in "Maude" and "The Golden Girls."

In 1983, Arthur attempted another series, "Amanda's," an Americanized version of John Cleese's hilarious "Fawlty Towers." She was cast as owner of a small seaside hotel with a staff of eccentrics. It lasted a mere nine episodes.

Between series, Arthur remained active in films and theater. Among the movies: "That Kind of Woman" (1959), "Lovers and Other Strangers" (1970), Mel Brooks ' "The History of the World: Part I" (1981), "For Better or Worse" (1995).

The plays included Woody Allen's "The Floating Light Bulb" and "The Bermuda Avenue Triangle," written by and costarring Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. During 2001 and 2002 she toured the country in a one-woman show of songs and stories, "... And Then There's Bea."

Arthur and Saks divorced in 1978 after 28 years. They had two sons, Matthew and Daniel. In his long career, Saks won Tonys for "I Love My Wife," "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Biloxi Blues." One of his Tony nominations was for "Mame."

In 1999, Arthur told an interviewer of the three influences in her career: "Sid Caesar taught me the outrageous; (method acting guru) Lee Strasberg taught me what I call reality; and ('Threepenny Opera' star) Lotte Lenya, whom I adored, taught me economy."

In recent years, Arthur made guest appearances on shows including "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Malcolm in the Middle." She was chairwoman of the Art Attack Foundation, a non-profit performing arts scholarship organization.
Arthur is survived by her sons and two granddaughters. No funeral services are planned.

'Angel' Star Andy Hallett Dies at 33

2009-03-31T18:32:00.002-04:00

'Angel' Star Andy Hallett Dies at 33

(March 31) - Andy Hallett, the actor who portrayed the cheerful green-skinned demon Lorne on the TV series 'Angel,' has died from heart failure following a five-year battle against heart disease, according to E! Online. His friend and agent Pat Brady confirmed that the actor passed away at the age of 33 on Sunday night at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles with his father Dave Hallett by his side.
The actor and musician appeared in more than 70 episodes of Joss Whedon's series 'Angel' between 2000 and 2004 and contributed two songs to the 'Angel: Live Fast, Die Never' soundtrack, released in 2005.

Hallet's career took off when he was dragged on stage at a concert to sing with Patti LaBelle. He was later seen in a Los Angeles revue by 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' creator Joss Whedon, who created the demon character Lorne in the show's spin-off 'Angel' just for him, according to WENN.
A private funeral service will be held for family and close friends in Cape Cod, where Hallett was raised.

Natasha Richardson dies at 45

2009-03-18T22:01:00.001-04:00

Natasha Richardson dies at 45 after ski accident
March 18, 2009, 7:01 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Natasha Richardson, a gifted and precocious heiress to acting royalty whose career highlights included the film "Patty Hearst" and a Tony-winning performance in a stage revival of "Cabaret," died Wednesday at age 45 after suffering a head injury from a skiing accident.

Alan Nierob, the Los Angeles-based publicist for Richardson's husband Liam Neeson, confirmed her death in a written statement.

"Liam Neeson, his sons (Micheal and Daniel), and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha," the statement said. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."

The statement did not give details on the cause of death for Richardson, who suffered a head injury when she fell on a beginner's trail during a private ski lesson at the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec. She was hospitalized Tuesday in Montreal and later flown to a hospital in New York.

Family members had been seen coming and going from the New York hospital where Richardson was taken.

Vanessa Redgrave, Richardson's mother, arrived in a car with darkened windows and was taken through a garage when she arrived at the Lenox Hill Hospital on Manhattan's Upper East Side about 5 p.m. Wednesday. An hour earlier, Richardson's sister, Joely, arrived alone and was swarmed by the media as she entered through the back of the hospital.

It was a sudden and horrifying loss for her family and friends, for the film and theater communities, for her many fans and for both her native and adoptive countries. Descended from at least three generations of actors, Richardson was a proper Londoner who came to love the noise of New York, an elegant blonde with large, lively eyes, a bright smile and a hearty laugh.

If she never quite attained the acting heights of her Academy Award-winning mother, she still had enjoyed a long and worthy career. As an actress, Richardson was equally adept at passion and restraint, able to portray besieged women both confessional (Tennessee Williams' Blanche DuBois) and confined (the concubine in the futuristic horror of "The Handmaid's Tale").

Like other family members, she divided her time between stage and screen. On Broadway, she won a Tony for her performance as Sally Bowles in a 1998 revival of "Cabaret." She also appeared in New York in a production of Patrick Marber's "Closer" (1999) as well as 2005 revival of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire," in which she played Blanche opposite John C. Reilly's Stanley Kowalski.

She met Neeson when they made their Broadway debuts in 1993, co-starring in "Anna Christie," Eugene O'Neill's drama about a former prostitute and the sailor who falls in love with her.

"The astonishing Natasha Richardson ... gives what may prove to be the performance of the season as Anna, turning a heroine who has long been portrayed (and reviled) as a whore with a heart of gold into a tough, ruthlessly unsentimental apostle of O'Neill's tragic understanding of life," The New York Times critic Frank Rich wrote. "Miss Richardson, seeming more like a youthful incarnation of her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, than she has before, is riveting from her first entrance through a saloon doorway's ethereal shaft of golden light."

Her most notable film roles came earlier in her career. Richardson played the title character in Paul Schrader's "Patty Hearst," a 1988 biopic about the kidnapped heiress for which the actress became so immersed that even between scenes she wore a blindfold, the better to identify with her real-life counterpart.

"Natasha Richardson ... has been handed a big unwritten role; she feels her way into it, and she fills it," wrote The New Yorker's Pauline Kael. "We feel how alone and paralyzed Patty is — she retreats into being a hidden observer."

Richardson was directed again by Schrader in a 1990 adaptation of Ian McEwan's "The Comfort of Strangers" and, also in 1990, starred in the screen version of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale."

She later co-starred with Neeson in "Nell," with Mia Farrow in "Widow's Peak" and with a pre-teen Lindsay Lohan in a remake of "The Parent Trap." More recent movies, none of them widely seen, included "Wild Child," "Evening" and "Asylum."

She was born in London in 1963, the performing gene inherited not just from her parents (Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson), but from her maternal grandparents (Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson), an aunt (Lynn Redgrave) and an uncle (Corin Redgrave). Her younger sister, Joely Richardson, also joined the family business.

Friends and family members remembered Natasha as an unusually poised child, perhaps forced to grow up early when her father left her mother in the late '60s for Jeanne Moreau. (Tony Richardson died in 1991).

Interviewed by The Associated Press in 2001, Natasha Richardson said she related well to her family if only because, "We've all been through it in one way or another and so we've had to be strong. Also we embrace life. We are not cynical about life."

Richardson always planned to act, apart from one brief childhood moment when she wanted to be a flight attendant — "wonderful irony now since I hate to fly and have to take a pill in order to get on a plane. I'm so terrified."

Her screen debut came at age 4 when she appeared as a flower girl in "The Charge of the Light Brigade," directed by her father, whose movies included "Tom Jones" and "The Entertainer." The show business wand had already tapped her the year before, when she saw her mother in the 1967 film version of the Broadway show "Camelot."

"She was so beautiful. I still look at that movie and I can't believe it. It still makes me cry, the beauty of it. I could go on and on — in that white fur hooded thing, when she comes through the forest for the first time. You've never seen anything so beautiful!" Richardson said.

She studied at London's Central School of Speech and Drama and was an experienced stage actress by her early 20s, appearing in "On the Razzle," "Charley's Aunt" and "The Seagull," for which the London Drama Critics awarded her most promising newcomer.

Although she never shared her mother's fiercely expressed political views, they were close professionally and acted together, most recently on Broadway to play the roles of mother and daughter in a one-night benefit concert version of "A Little Night Music," the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical.

Before meeting up with Neeson (who called her "Tash") Richardson was married to theater and producer Robert Fox, whose credits include the 1985 staging of "The Seagull" in which his future wife appeared.

She sometimes remarked on the differences between her and her second husband — she from a theatrical dynasty and he from a working-class background in Northern Ireland.

"He's more laid back, happy to see what happens, whereas I'm a doer and I plan ahead," Richardson told The Independent on Sunday newspaper in 2003. "The differences sometimes get in the way but they can be the very things that feed a marriage, too."

She once said that Neeson's serious injury in a 2000 motorcycle accident — he suffered a crushed pelvis after colliding with a deer in upstate New York — had made her really appreciate life.

"I wake up every morning feeling lucky — which is driven by fear, no doubt, since I know it could all go away," she told The Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2003.

Natasha Richardson critically injured....sad update

2009-03-17T22:47:00.002-04:00

Natasha Richardson critically injured
Actress hospitalized after ski accident
Updated: Tuesday, 17 Mar 2009, 12:25 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 17 Mar 2009, 6:46 AM EDT
MONTREAL (AP) - British actress Natasha Richardson was hospitalized after falling on a beginners trail at the famed Mont Tremblant ski resort during a lesson, the resort and published reports said Tuesday.

IrishCentral.com reported that the Tony Award-winning actress and wife of Liam Neeson was in critical condition with a head injury.
Richardson, 45, is the elder daughter of Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave and the late director Tony Richardson, and belongs to a British acting dynasty.

"We know that she has had an accident but we really do not know any more details," said Kika Markham, who is married to Richardson's uncle, Corin Redgrave. "We are very concerned."

Her maternal grandparents were the actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, and her uncle Corin and aunt Lynne Redgrave are also both actors. Sister Joely Richardson is also an actress, best known for starring in the TV series "Nip/Tuck."

Mont Tremblant said Richardson fell on a beginners trail during a ski lesson and later reported not felling well.
"She did not show any visible sign of injury but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of
the slope and insisted she should see a doctor," said a statement
from the resort.

The ski resort said the ski instructor and a ski patrol accompanied Richardson to her hotel, where they again recommended she should be seen by a doctor.
"Approximately an hour after the incident Mrs. Richardson was not feeling good," the statement said.
Mont Tremblant spokeswoman Catherine Lacasse said Richardson was getting a private lesson and that she said she was fine at first.

"An hour later she said she didn't feel well. She had a headache, so we sent her to the hospital," Lacasse said. "There were no signs of impact and no blood, nothing."
An ambulance was called and Richardson was brought to the Centre Hospitalier Laurentien in Ste-Agathe and was later transferred to Hopital du Sacre-Coeur in Montreal. An employee at Hopital du Sacre-Coeur in Montreal said they didn't have a Richardson at the hospital after intiailly saying they did early Tuesday.
Richardson's films include "Gothic," "A Month in the Country," "Nell" -- in which she appeared with future husband Liam Neeson -- "The Parent Trap" and "Maid in Manhattan."
Trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, Richardson has had extensive stage experience in the West End and Broadway. She won a Tony Award in 1998 for playing Sally Bowles in "Cabaret."

In January, Richardson and her mother played the roles of mother and daughter in a one-night benefit concert version of "A Little Night Music," the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical, at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York.

She married Neeson in 1994, and the couple have two sons.
UPDATE!!:

Richardson has been found to be brain dead and will be taken off life support.

Actor Ron Silver dies in NYC at age 62 of cancer

2009-03-16T15:59:00.000-04:00

Actor Ron Silver dies in NYC at age 62 of cancer

March 16, 2009, 1:50 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Actor Ron Silver, who won a Tony Award as a take-no-prisoners Hollywood producer in David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" and did a political about-face from loyal Democrat to Republican activist after the Sept. 11 attacks, died Sunday at the age of 62.

"Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him early Sunday morning" in New York City, said Robin Bronk, executive director of the Creative Coalition, which Silver helped found. "He had been fighting esophageal cancer for two years."

Silver, an Emmy nominee for a recurring role as a slick strategist for liberal President Jed Bartlet on "The West Wing," had a long history of balancing acting with left-leaning social and political causes.

But after the 2001 terrorist attacks, longtime Democrat Silver turned heads in Hollywood with outspoken support of President George W. Bush over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Silver spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention, began referring to himself as a "9/11 Republican" and reregistered as an independent.

In an interview with The Associated Press a month later, Silver said his support for the war on terror was costing him work in liberal-minded Hollywood.
"It's affected me very badly. I can't point to a person or a job I've lost, but this community is not very pluralistic," Silver told the AP.
"I haven't worked for 10 months."

His switch to a more conservative image threatened to overshadow an esteemed career on stage, television and film, along with his long history of activism, which included co-founding the nonpartisan Creative Coalition, an advocacy group for entertainers.

"He was a talented actor, a scholar and a great believer in participatory democracy," Bronk said Sunday evening. "He was an activist who became a great artist and his contributions will never be forgotten."

His big-screen credits included "Ali," "Reversal of Fortune," "Enemies: A Love Story," "Silkwood" and "Semi-Tough."

Besides "The West Wing," Silver was a regular or had recurring roles on such TV shows as "Veronica's Closet," "Chicago Hope" and "Wiseguy." He directed and costarred in the 1993 TV movie "Lifepod," a science-fiction update of Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat."

Silver's Tony for "Speed-the-Plow" came in 1988, a year after he earned his first Emmy nomination, for the murder thriller "Billionaire Boys Club."
Silver still found work despite his conservative shift, appearing in episodes of "Law & Order" and "Crossing Jordan" and such movies as "Find Me Guilty" and the Ten Commandments comedy "The Ten."

He continued his recurring role on "The West Wing," joking that he faced some taunting over his views from co-workers on the show which took place in a fiercely liberal White House administration.

"Often when I walked onto the set of 'The West Wing' some of my colleagues would greet me with a chanting of 'Ron, Ron, the neo-con.' It was all done in fun but it had an edge," Silver wrote in a Nov. 15, 2007, entry of his blog on the Pajamas Media Web site.

Silver's on-screen work rankled liberals, too. He narrated 2004's "Fahrenhype 9/11," a deconstruction of Michael Moore's Bush-bashing hit documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11."
"Michael Moore and that faction of the party was one of the factors that did not let me support the Democratic nominee this year," Silver told the AP in 2004. "He is a charlatan in a clown suit."

Born July 2, 1946, in New York City, he was the son of Irving and May Silver. His father worked in New York's garment industry and his mother was a teacher.
Earning a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master's degree in Chinese history from St. John's University, Silver studied drama at the Herbert Berghof Studio and the Actors Studio.

In the 1970s, he gradually moved from theater work in New York City into television and film. His early credits included "The Mac Davis Show," "Rhoda" and "The Stockard Channing Show."

Silver and ex-wife Lynne Miller had a son, Adam, and daughter, Alexandra.
Whichever end of the political spectrum his activism fell, Silver viewed such involvement as something of a duty for entertainers.

"I think there's almost an obligation," he said in a 1991 interview with the AP. "Many of us are very well compensated for work which a lot of people would love to do. And we also have a lot of leisure time in between jobs. ...
"They say that Hollywood is sex without substance, and Washington is substance without sex, so maybe the marriage of the two is mutually intriguing."

Radio commentator Paul Harvey dies

2009-02-28T23:04:00.002-05:00

Radio commentator Paul Harvey dies

Broadcasting pioneer best known for ‘The Rest of the Story’ program

The Associated Press
updated 9:18 p.m. ET, Sat., Feb. 28, 2009

CHICAGO - Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation's most familiar voices, died Saturday in Arizona, according to ABC Radio Networks. He was 90.

Harvey died surrounded by family at a hospital in Phoenix, where he had a winter home, said Louis Adams, a spokesman for ABC Radio Networks, where Harvey worked for more than 50 years. No cause of death was immediately available.

Harvey had been forced off the air for several months in 2001 because of a virus that weakened a vocal cord. But he returned to work in Chicago and was still active as he passed his 90th birthday. His death comes less than a year after that of his wife and longtime producer, Lynne.

"My father and mother created from thin air what one day became radio and television news," Paul Harvey Jr. said in a statement. "So in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and today millions have lost a friend."

Known for his resonant voice and trademark delivery of "The Rest of the Story," Harvey had been heard nationally since 1951, when he began his "News and Comment" for ABC Radio Networks.

‘Stand by for news!’
He became a heartland icon, delivering news and commentary with a distinctive Midwestern flavor. "Stand by for news!" he told his listeners. He was credited with inventing or popularizing terms such as "skyjacker" and "Reaganomics."

"Paul Harvey was one of the most gifted and beloved broadcasters in our nation's history," ABC Radio Networks President Jim Robinson said in a statement. "We will miss our dear friend tremendously and are grateful for the many years we were so fortunate to have known him."

In 2005, Harvey was one of 14 notables chosen as recipients of the presidential Medal of Freedom. He also was an inductee in the Radio Hall of Fame, as was Lynne.

Harvey composed his twice-daily news commentaries for ABC from a downtown office near Lake Michigan.

Rising at 3:30 each morning, he ate a bowl of oatmeal, then combed the news wires and spoke with editors across the country in search of succinct tales of American life for his program.

At the peak of his career, Harvey reached more than 24 million listeners on more than 1,200 radio stations and charged $30,000 to give a speech. His syndicated column was carried by 300 newspapers.

His fans identified with his plainspoken political commentary, but critics called him an out-of-touch conservative. He was an early supporter of the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy and a longtime backer of the Vietnam War.

Perhaps Harvey's most famous broadcast came in 1970, when he abandoned that stance, announcing his opposition to President Nixon's expansion of the war and urging him to get out completely.

"Mr. President, I love you ... but you're wrong," Harvey said, shocking his faithful listeners and drawing a barrage of letters and phone calls, including one from the White House.

‘The Rest of the Story’
In 1976, Harvey began broadcasting his anecdotal descriptions of the lives of famous people. "The Rest of the Story" started chronologically, with the person's identity revealed at the end. The stories were an attempt to capture "the heartbeats behind the headlines." Much of the research and writing was done by his son, Paul Jr.

Harvey also blended news with advertising, a line he said he crossed only for products he trusted.

In 2000, at age 82, Harvey signed a new 10-year contract with ABC Radio networks.

In addition to his unique voice and delivery, Harvey was credited with coining several words on his broadcasts, including "Reaganomics" and "guesstimate."

Harvey was born Paul Harvey Aurandt in Tulsa, Okla. His father, a police officer, was killed when he was a toddler. A high school teacher took note of his distinctive voice and launched him on a broadcast career.

While working at St. Louis radio station KXOK, he met Washington University graduate student Lynne Cooper. He proposed on their first date (she said "no") and always called her "Angel." They were married in 1940 and had a son, Paul Jr.

They worked closely together on his shows, and he often credited his success to her influence. She was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1997, seven years after her husband was. She died in May 2008.

---------------------------------------
Mom and I loved to listen to him every day

Actor James Whitmore Dies of Lung Cancer

2009-02-07T16:50:00.002-05:00

Actor James Whitmore Dies of Lung Cancer
By BOB THOMAS
,

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 7) - James Whitmore, the many-faceted character actor who delivered strong performances in movies, television and especially the theater with his popular one-man shows about Harry Truman, Will Rogers and Theodore Roosevelt, died Friday, his son said. He was 87. Moviefans will recognize him instantly as Brooks, a reformed criminal who can't handle the pressures of the world outside prison in 'The Shawshank Redemption.'

The Emmy- and Tony-winning actor was diagnosed with lung cancer the week before Thanksgiving and died Friday afternoon at his Malibu home, Steve Whitmore said.
"My father believed that family came before everything, that work was just a vehicle in which to provide for your family," said Whitmore, who works as spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "At the end, and in the last two and a half months of his life, he was surrounded by his family."

His long-running "Give 'em Hell, Harry," tracing the life of the 33rd president, was released as a theatrical movie in 1975. Whitmore was nominated for an Academy Award as best actor, marking the only time in Oscar history that an actor has been nominated for a film in which he was the only cast member. His Teddy Roosevelt portrait, "Bully," was also converted into a movie.
He later became the TV pitchman for Miracle-Gro plant food, and used the product in his large vegetable garden at his Malibu home.

While not known for his politics, Whitmore was an early supporter of President Barack Obama. He stumped for Obama during a 2007 rally at the Gibson Theatre at Universal Studios, telling the crowd that Obama had the wisdom "to deal with a very, very confused and complex country, and the world." Whitmore also appeared in TV commercials in 2008 for the "First Freedom First" campaign, which advocates religious liberty and preserving the separation of church and state.
Whitmore had regularly attended an Oscar night bash, Night of 100 Stars, and had sent in his RSVP for this year, said Edward Lozzi, a spokesman for agent Norby Walters' gala.

Whitmore started both his Broadway and Hollywood careers with acclaimed performances, both as tough-talking sergeants. In 1947, discharged a year from Marine duty, he made his Broadway debut in a taut Air Force drama, "Command Decision." He was awarded a Tony for outstanding performance by a newcomer.
Two years later, Whitmore was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe as supporting actor in the war movie "Battleground."

He followed with memorable performances in scores of films, refusing to be typed. Besides war movies, he appeared in Westerns ("The Last Frontier," "Chato's Land"), musicals ("Kiss Me Kate," "Oklahoma!"), science fiction ("Planet of the Apes," "Them"), dramas ("The Asphalt Jungle," "The Shawshank Redemption") and comedies ("Mr. O'Malley and Mrs. Malone," "The Great Diamond Robbery.")
Shirley Jones, a teenager when she starred in "Oklahoma," said she came to know Whitmore during months of filming in Nogales, Ariz., and recalled being impressed by her good-humored and highly disciplined colleague.

"He told me, `If you're going to be in this business, you better learn your craft,'" Jones recalled. "And he never stopped learning."
His favorite film was "Black Like Me" (1964), a true story about a white reporter who used medication to blacken his skin to experience life as an African-American in the South.

Another of his rare starring roles was "The Next Voice You Hear" (1950), in which a family hears the voice of God via the radio. He played opposite Nancy Davis, the future Mrs. Ronald Reagan.

Whitmore often appeared on television, starring in the series "The Law and Mr. Jones" (1960-1962), "My Friend Tony" (1969) and "Temperatures Rising" (1972-1973). He received an Emmy in 1999 as guest actor in a series for "The Practice."
Jones recalled seeing him in a 2007 episode of the TV drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and marveling at his still-sharp talent. "I was absolutely blown away by that. He had a huge role, playing a lawyer, and it was phenomenal," she said.
A student of history, Whitmore delighted in portraying famous American personages. He toured in the play "The Magnificent Yankee," about Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. He played Ulysses S. Grant in a 1960 TV movie, Adm. William F. "Bull" Halsey in the Pearl Harbor attack spectacle "Tora! Tora! Tora!", and Walt Whitman in a dramatic reading, "A Whitman Portrait."

The monologues of Harry Truman, Will Rogers and Teddy Roosevelt brought Whitmore his greatest success. In 2000, he appeared in "Will Rogers, U.S.A." at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., his eighth engagement in the show at Ford's over a 30-year period.
President Ford attended a performance of "Give 'em Hell, Harry" at Ford's Theater after Richard Nixon resigned. Whitmore worried about Ford's reaction to Truman's crusty words about Nixon.

The actor recalled: "I was three feet from Gerry Ford when I said to the press as Truman: `Nixon is a no-good lying (expletive); if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he'd tell a lie just to keep his hand in.' After the show, (Ford) came up on stage and put his arm around me and said, `That was a pretty good blocking back.'" Ford had been line coach when Whitmore played football at Yale.
His movie and television careers continued into the 21st century, but he admitted that he preferred the stage.

"I find the process of making movies absolutely boring," he told a reporter in 1994. "It's so fragmented. You wait and wait and wait and then, look, as Jack Lemmon says, `It's magic time.' In the theater, once the curtain goes up, the actor is in charge."
Born in 1921 in White Plains, N.Y., Whitmore was active in school sports and acted in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, though his strict Methodist family disapproved of the profession. After a year at an Ivy League prep school, Whitmore in 1939 enrolled in prelaw at Yale University, where he had won a football scholarship. Two knee injuries ended his football career, and he devoted himself to dramatics.
After graduating from Yale, he enlisted in the Marines and served in the South Pacific. "I had a lot of time to think in the Marine Corps," he recalled, "and so I decided it wasn't the law I wanted but the theater.

In New York he studied at the American Theater Wing under the G.I. Bill, living on $20 a week and rooming with another hopeful actor, Jack Warden. After a season in summer stock in New Hampshire, he returned to New York and won the role of Sergeant Harold Evans in "Command Decision." Rave reviews started his career in motion.
He married Nancy Mygatt in 1947, and the couple had three sons, James, Steven and Daniel. They later divorced, and in 1971 he married an actress, Audra Lindley. They often appeared in plays together, even after their 1979 divorce. He remarried his first wife in the 1980s, but another divorce ensued. Nearing 80 in 2001, Whitmore married actress-writer Noreen Nash.

Whitmore is also survived by eight grandchildren.

'Prisoner' actor Patrick McGoohan dies in L.A.

2009-01-14T18:50:00.002-05:00

'Prisoner' actor Patrick McGoohan dies in L.A.
Jan. 14, 2009, 11:49 AM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Patrick McGoohan, an Emmy-winning actor who created and starred in the cult classic television show "The Prisoner," has died. He was 80.

McGoohan died Tuesday in Los Angeles after a short illness, his son-in-law, film producer Cleve Landsberg, said Wednesday.

McGoohan won two Emmys for his work on the Peter Falk detective drama "Columbo," and more recently appeared as King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Mel Gibson film "Braveheart."

But he was best known as the title character Number Six in "The Prisoner," a surreal 1960s British series in which a former spy is held captive in a small village and constantly tries to escape.

Ricardo Montalban dies at 88

2009-01-14T18:24:00.003-05:00

Ricardo Montalban dies at 88
Jan. 14, 2009, 4:08 PM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV's "Fantasy Island," died Wednesday morning at his home, a city councilman said. He was 88.

Montalban's death was announced at a meeting of the city council by president Eric Garcetti, who represents the district where the actor lived. Garcetti did not give a cause of death.

"The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in my Council District — where the next generations of performers participate in plays, musicals, and concerts — stands as a fitting tribute to this consummate performer," Garcetti said later in a written statement.

Montalban had been a star in Mexican movies when MGM brought him to Hollywood in 1946. He was cast in the leading role opposite Esther Williams in "Fiesta." He also starred with the swimming beauty in "On an Island with You" and "Neptune's Daughter."

A later generation knew Montalban as the faintly mysterious, white-suited Mr. Roarke, who presided over an island resort where visitors were able to fulfill their lifelong dreams. "Fantasy Island" received high ratings for most of its 1978-1984 span on ABC television and still appears in reruns.

In a 1978 interview, he analyzed the series' success:

"What is appealing is the idea of attaining the unattainable and learning from it. Once you obtain a fantasy it becomes a reality, and that reality is not as exciting as your fantasy. Through the fantasies you learn to appreciate your own realities."

Enemy at the Gate

2009-01-10T05:48:00.001-05:00

I have to say this was a better series ending then SG1's was.

Todd was great in this episode and I loved how he fained indifference when Woosley was talking to him. Wonder what they are going to do with him now?

LORNE!!!!

John was wonderful as always, though I wish he would stop trying to get himself killed on almost every mission. Thank you Rodney for stopping him...again.

LORNE!!

From the spoiler pics I knew that Ronon was not going to die but now we know why he had scrubs on. But then he did die and I was like what the heck! Glad that Kenny gave him life again.

Loved the dog fight between the darts and the 302's I was holding my breath has the ground was getting closer and closer to Shep's ship.

Loved the nod to Don Davis by naming the new ship after Hammond. Kuddos to the writers for that.

The fight between the Hive and Atlantis was also great.

Carson flying the city!!! WTG Carson!!!

LORNE!

Interesting that John would end up this mission right at the same bridge were it started when he tossed the coin before starting on this adventure.

Keller was a waist of film and I just about lost it when they had their arms around each other at the end.

I give this a 10++++

Veteran actor Pat Hingle dies at 84

2009-01-05T19:37:00.000-05:00

Veteran actor Pat Hingle dies at 84
Jan. 5, 2009, 12:22 PM EST

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. -- Pat Hingle, a veteran actor whose career included a recurring role as Commissioner Gordon in several Batman movies in the 1990s, has died. He was 84.

Family friend Michele Seidman says Hingle died at his home in Carolina Beach shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday.

Seidman says he decided to settle in the coastal town after shooting the movie "Maximum Overdrive" in the area in 1986. He lived there for more than 15 years.

She said Hingle had battled multiple health problems over the last several years.

His career in movies and television spanned six decades, and he was also nominated for a Tony Award in 1958. Hingle's last movie was "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," which was released in 2006.

Vegas

2009-01-03T06:18:00.000-05:00

I LOVED Vegas !!!!!

AU Sheppard was very hot.

Liked the way they told about how the Wraith that was doing all the killing arrived on Earth

And I loved how they introduced Todd to John. And even though he had never seen a real Wraith till then John did not seem too freaked out by him.

Rodney seemed more sure of him self in this AU then in ours.

Rodney and Radek (in a suite no less) acted the same.

Could have done without Keller, and the bit of fluff between her and Rodney. At least it was brief.

Liked the way they added some of John's back story into the epi and that he was flying copters before coming a cop.

One thing I hated was when they did the flash backs in the odd color it made my eyes go nuts and the bit in the porker game and when the Wraith was going through the casino as well.

The ending was WOW!! and even though it was not our John I hated that he died in the end, but at least he died a hero just like our John might have.

And if he was shot as he got near the trailer there should have been a lot more blood on his shirt from all the moving around he did.

Great job on Joe's part

I can't wait to see how it ties in the next week’s epi.

I give it a 10 out of 10

John Travolta's 16-year-old son dies in Bahamas

2009-01-03T00:31:00.000-05:00

John Travolta's 16-year-old son dies in Bahamas

By JUAN McCARTNEY, Associated Press Writer Juan Mccartney, Associated Press Writer 36 mins ago

NASSAU, Bahamas – John Travolta's teenage son, Jett, died in the Bahamas after apparently suffering a seizure and hitting his head at his family's vacation home, authorities said Friday.

A house caretaker found Jett, 16, unconscious in a bathroom late Friday morning. He was taken by ambulance to a Freeport hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Police Superintendent Basil Rahming said in a statement.

The teenager had last been seen entering the bathroom on Thursday and had a history of seizures, according to the statement. An autopsy is planned.

Jett apparently hit his head on the bathtub, said a police officer who declined to be named because she was not authorized to speak on the matter.

Family attorney Michael Ossi said in a statement that Jett died suddenly on Friday. Publicists Samantha Mast and Paul Bloch released the statement but could not be reached for additional comment.

Jett was the oldest child of Travolta, 54, and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, 46, who also have an 8-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu.

Preston and Travolta have said that Jett became very sick when he was 2 years old and was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, an illness that leads to inflammation of the blood vessels in young children. She blamed household cleaners and fertilizers, and said that a detoxification program based on teachings from the Church of Scientology helped improve his health, according to People magazine. Both Travolta and Preston are practicing Scientologists.

"I was obsessive about his space being cleaned. We constantly had the carpets cleaned," Travolta said in a 2001 interview with CNN's Larry King, a portion of which was rebroadcast on the "Larry King Live" show Friday night. During that interview, when Jett was 9, Travolta spoke of how his son nearly died when he was 2.

It is unclear whether Jett was taking any medications for his seizures.

The Scientology Celebrity Center in Los Angeles declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport said she could not release any information because of privacy concerns.

The family had arrived in the Bahamas on a private plane Tuesday and was vacationing at their home in the Old Bahama Bay resort community.

"The Travolta family has become like family to us at Old Bahama Bay and we extend our deepest sympathies to them," said Robert Gidel, president of Ginn Resorts, the property's owner.

Travolta's corporate and commercial attorney, Michael McDermott, said the actor had a very strong relationship with his son.

"There was unspoken communication between the two. ... It's just so hard," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "Kelly is very quiet and both are grieving."

McDermott said his family and other friends are with the couple in the Bahamas. The group came for a two-day New Year's celebration and had planned to return to Florida on Sunday.

"We're are all here and trying to help in any way we can," McDermott said. "Their pain is so evident."

Obie Wilchcombe, a parliament member and former tourism minister in the Bahamas, said Travolta "spent a tremendous amount of time with Jett."

"He always brought him along. There was a close affectionate relationship and lots of love," Wilchcombe told "Larry King Live" in a live telephone interview. "People in the old Bahama community today are in shock."

Wilchcombe said that an autopsy is planned for Monday, and "we expect a quick resolution."

"John spoke with the minister of health and the doctors and police are at the hospital. They're very, very quick to resolve things," he said.

Travolta, who gained fame as Vinnie Barbarino on the 1970s television show "Welcome Back, Kotter" and the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever," went on to become one of Hollywood's biggest names. He married Preston in 1991.

A television actress, Preston appeared with Travolta in the 2000 film "Battlefield Earth," based on a novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Wilchcombe said the Travoltas had invited 60 friends for the New Year's holiday weekend.

"They're needed today more than ever before," he said.

Bernie Hamilton, 'Starsky and Hutch' captain, dies

2009-01-01T21:11:00.001-05:00

Bernie Hamilton, 'Starsky and Hutch' captain, dies

Thu Jan 1, 5:13 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Actor Bernie Hamilton, who played the no-nonsense police captain on the 1970s TV series "Starsky and Hutch," has died. He was 80. Hamilton died of cardiac arrest Tuesday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said his son, Raoul Hamilton.

Born in Los Angeles in 1928, Hamilton ran away from home as a teenager and wound up staying in someone's garage and attending Oakland Technical High School, where he played football and got involved in acting.

Hamilton appeared in more than 20 films, including "The Young One," "The Devil at 4 O'Clock," "Synanon," "The Swimmer," "Walk the Walk" and "The Organization."

He also had guest appearances on television series before becoming a regular on "Starsky and Hutch," the ABC police drama starring Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul. Hamilton played the brusque, by-the-book Capt. Harold Dobey, a role that gave him wide recognition to this day, his son said.

After "Starsky and Hutch," Hamilton spent the next 20 years in the music business producing R&B and gospel records under the record label Chocolate Snowman.

Identity

2008-12-13T02:47:00.002-05:00

Carson!!!!! yeah!!!!!

Poor Radek getting stabbed by "Keller"

John was great as always. Ronon as well..the rest meh.

I must say Keller is better when she is not in her body .

Did not like all the Keller cleavage we were forced to look at when she was in Neeva's body :cower:

Wished the axe man had not been shot by Neeva's goons.

Wonder where the pineapple was hidden in this epi...

One sorta good Rodney quote:

But you were shot, he was just......stabbed.

Not the best from this season so I am giving it a 5 - 10

Infection

2008-12-07T05:36:00.000-05:00

Loved seeing the dark side of John again.

Could have done without the Keller/McKay mushy scenes.

John and Todd work off each other better then Rodney does..well in this epi anyway.

So where the "sick" Wraith the ones we saw back in DV in the AU Daedalus? That instead of dying they some how survived in their reality?

And since they have no hair I guess this means they must have been the bald "people" in Misbegotten.

And this is the 2nd time a Williams has died on the show.

Thought the ending just left you hanging.... but other wise I liked it a lot.

I give it a 9 out of 10

Brain Storm

2008-11-22T01:48:00.001-05:00

The only good thing about this episode was Bill Nye and Dave Foley.

I can't take another episode where Rodney does nothing then moan and groan the whole time over things and then saves the day again.

Would much rather watch John and Ronon surf then watch Rodney and Keller kiss more then once *shudders*

Wished Jen had frozen to death.

And just the thought of what they might have done at the end of the episode in the jet made me ill.

The only thing better then the story were the twisters but not by much as they looked real cheep.

I give this a 4 1/2 out of 10

The Prodigal

2008-11-10T01:31:00.000-05:00

Did not have to wait that long after all....they had it shown at the con!!! not once but twice.

Ronon's report had everyone in stitches (me included) . Thought the stun bubble was a great idea by Michael.

The banter and snark by John and Rodney (and some from the Z man) was great. The remote cars races were funny.

Loved the fight scene with Michael and John and John getting whumped..and the hair moved in this epi as well.

Loved the stairs bit where John would come running up them and then we would have to wait for Rodney who was panting by the time he reached the floor and tried to catch up to Sheppard.

I give it a 9-10

Inquisition

2008-10-25T02:08:00.000-04:00

I thought it was OK ...not as good as Letters from Pegasus by any means and the clips used were ok but not great.

Gas whumpage!!!

I liked the way John stood up to the charges brought up to him at the start...but hated the way they dumbed him down when Woolsey got there. Wish we could have seen the others standing up there in front of the Coalition. I mean look what Rodney did in Trinity ..and nothing in the epi about that.

Once again Ronon and Teyla hardly did a thing.

Though I did like the way Woolsey turned the trial around so our guys could win (was there any doubt they would not get off?)

And I can't see they taking orders from this group at all when things need to be done in order to save lives ASAP.

Liked the bit at the end with John and Richard...the brandy was a nice touch... though I did not like to see John smoking the stogie at all. Wonder how long he had smoked them before? With all the running around over the years he would have been winded if he smoked them daily...but he did everything like a pro.

I give it a 6-10

Outsiders

2008-10-18T01:58:00.002-04:00

An interesting epi...not a lot of action in it but still good.

Great to see Carson again but I wish they would of told us why he was back and not on Earth still.

John was great and take charge as always. Liked the way he got back at that jerk and the Wraith at the end.

Carson and Rodney worked great together. The both of them crammed in the dart cockpit was funny.

One thing I hated was one min Carson was all bravado (standing to the head Wraith and being fed upon and telling that town jerk to shoot the survivors) and the next cowering with Rodney behind a console ..did not like it.

Though the jabs they had at each other was great. And I loved the way they got off the hive ship.

Ronon and Tyela did not do much in this epi....

So Michael gave "Carson" the Hoffin drug...interesting.

Oh I found the pineapple..

it is right behind John in a basket

I give this epi a 8 out of 10

As for next weeks epi...WOW!!!

The Lost Tribe

2008-10-11T01:10:00.000-04:00

Another OK epi.

Loved the way it started with some Shep whumpage and some Radek as well. One thing I do not get is if John had on his flack jacket how did the glass get through into his back if it can stop other stuff from getting through it?

Shirtless Shep at long last!!! even though it was only mid chest and up. And I see he was wearing his dog tags at long last.

Todd was great as all ways, though it was odd the way he hard his arm slung around Woolsey the way he did.

The banter between Rodney and Daniel was not as good in this epi as it was in the last one.

Ronon was great as well ...loved the way he got the ship out of hyperspace by blowing up the trays the way he did. and the "The life support tray is over there....I think" was typical Ronon.

Keller shooting a P90!! are they crazy to give her a firearm?

Was not thrilled about the Asgard part in the epi.

Loved the space battle though some of it looked more like a dance to me.

Nice to see the Travelers again though I wish Larrin had been there.

The 15 yr old girl running the engine room was interesting.

Well I guess Ronon got his answer about who Keller is picking as her love interest.

I give it a 8-10

Can't wait till next weeks epi and more Carson!!!!

fun quiz

2008-10-06T22:22:00.000-04:00

You Are a Fork

You are truthful, direct, and straight forward.

People find your honesty to be a bit piercing at times.

You are driven and wildly ambitious.

You know what you want, and you take the most direct path to getting it.

What Utensil Are You?

Paul Newman dies

2008-09-27T19:03:00.000-04:00

In Memoriam: Paul Newman (1925 – 2008)
Sept. 27, 2008, 12:59 PM EST
An appreciation of a true American icon...
Richard T. Jameson
Special to MSN Movies
Browse images: Appreciation Gallery
Read more: Paul Newman passes away
Paul Newman's entrance in "Hud" (1963) is actually an exit, emerging just past dawn from a nondescript house on the side street of a no-name Texas town that barely has one street to begin with. He's the title character, of course, mid-30s, the lone surviving son of a local rancher, and he's been spending the wee hours with a married woman whose husband is about two minutes away from arriving home. Hud's nephew Lon (Brandon de Wilde) has been looking for him, found his big pink Cadillac brazenly parked in front of the house, and called him out.
So here comes Hud, snarling, tearing himself away from business left unfinished offscreen and lunging onto the small front porch. The shot is pretty straightforward but Hud's an insouciant angle: his body canted so that one side of him is advancing before the other, his spine still in the reluctant process of drawing itself erect, his left arm lifted in anticipation of leaning on the porch post between him and the camera. "This had better be good," he growls, into the lean now and letting his torso sag a little -- signaling that he's in charge here, but also allowing for the possibility, indeed the expectation, that maybe he can get out of whatever this is without raising a hand.
The sag and the lean ... nobody deployed these body-English parts of speech more eloquently than Paul Newman. See him in "The Hustler" (1961), his thumbs broken and his forearms in plaster casts, trying to button his own shirt, wordlessly rebuffing Piper Laurie's offer of help, then realizing he has no choice but to accept it.
Or as the American scientist turned amateur spy in "Torn Curtain" (1966), trying for embarrassed bonhomie when the Stasi agent catches him at an East German farmhouse where he has no business to be. Best of all, remember the wonderfully seasoned Newman three decades later as Sully in "Nobody's Fool" (1994), halfway out the construction-office door and tenderly poleaxed by the sight of Melanie Griffith flashing him her breasts. Every man in the audience knew how he felt, and every woman loved him for it.
Paul Newman, honored star of stage and screen for half a century who won audiences' affection and esteem in equal measure, died Friday after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 83.
From early on, he was recognized as both an unimpeachably serious actor and a matinee idol with angelic good looks and twinkling blue eyes. Both aspects would play their part in making him a bankable megastar just when the creative power in Hollywood was shifting from the studios to independent artists. Around that same time --1968, to be precise -- Newman developed a sideline as motion picture director, a role he took some half-dozen times over the next couple of decades. He also increasingly embraced the roles of exemplary citizen, philanthropist, political activist--and, as recently as 2006, championship race-car driver.
Newman gave strong performances and appeared in important movies in each of the decades he worked. Still, it's the two indelible title roles from the early 1960s -- paradigms of what came to be called "antiheroes" -- that throw the longest shadows. In "The Hustler" he played "Fast Eddie" Felson, a cocksure pool player come from the West Coast to New York City to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). Eddie has talent to burn but not yet the "character" to avoid snatching defeat from victory. The drama -- which takes on Faustian overtones via an enigmatic gambler (George C. Scott) who diagnoses Eddie as a "born loser"-- ends on a note of bleak triumph, but only after exacting a terrible cost from Eddie and those who loved him.
No matter how brash, rash, or sulky Eddie Felson became, he still compelled sympathy. "Hud" is a portrait of "an unprincipled man," a "cold-blooded bastard" who "doesn't give a damn" about anybody or anything. Up to a point, this was not an unheard-of challenge for an avowedly serious actor, especially one with cred from Yale School of Drama, the Actors Studio, and performing in original Broadway productions of plays by Tennessee Williams and William Inge. But "Hud," and Hud, went beyond. Surely there'd be a turning, some piercing blow or epiphany to show Homer Bannon's unloved second son the way to "character"? No. Nothing reformed Hud. His character was what it was. And he remained true to it even as he casually slammed the ranchhouse door in our collective face. The End.
So Hud compelled scant sympathy. But he could charm the dew off the grass, and certainly the audience. And despite the film's firm denunciations of Hud and his heartlessness and materialism, that was at bottom OK. Because as the tagline on billboards assured us: "Paul Newman IS Hud."
Newman received his second and third best-actor Oscar nominations for those performances (he'd had his first in 1958 for playing Brick in the tortuously euphemized film of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"). He'd collect a fourth for 1967's "Cool Hand Luke," whose title character is sentenced to a chain gang for the sublimely useless anarchist gesture of cutting the heads off a streetful of parking meters, then evolves from jackoff-without-a-cause to Christ-like martyr.
Two years later, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) brought Newman his greatest popularity. Paired in raffish outlawry with rising star Robert Redford, he displayed a comic touch that mostly deserted him in his officially labeled attempts to do comedy ("Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!," "A New Kind of Love," "The Secret War of Harry Frigg"). So refreshing was his and Redford's rapport, personally and professionally, that filmgoers couldn't help wanting to share their company (even if the movie is flagrantly false, a "hip" artifact that affects to demystify the classic heroic Western while concocting its own brand of soft-focus sentimentality). The actors would re-team as 1930s con artists in "The Sting" (1973). Both their movies became runaway hits and attracted a slew of Oscar nominations ("The Sting" going on to win best picture).
The Newman-Redford pictures were directed by George Roy Hill, which brings us to a curious fact: Newman rarely worked with first-rate directors, and when he did, the results were mostly disappointing. Newman the "Method" actor didn't jibe with Otto Preminger's objective approach in "Exodus" (1960) or Alfred Hitchcock's chilly classicism in "Torn Curtain." John Huston was equally chilly, in his own way, with the absurdist spy caper "The Mackintosh Man" (1973), to the extent that Newman seemed left out of the loop; and for all its charms, the frontier jape "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" (1972) displays director and star's mutual weakness for overextending the joke. Lacking even those charms was Robert Altman's "Buffalo Bill and the Indians" (1976), too locked into complacent historical revisionism to let Newman really tap the shame of being a two-shows-a-day charlatan, and "Quintet" (1979) was impenetrable. (Still, Newman gave those last two directors the benefit of his considerable savvy. When Huston suggested that Newman costar in his long-dreamt-of film of "The Man Who Would Be King," the actor pointed out that by the 1970s audiences would no longer accept a familiar American actor dressing up, faking a cockney accent, and trying to pass as a 19th-century Englishman: "Get Connery and Caine," he advised -- which Huston did, with magnificent results. As for Altman, that director delightedly approved of his friend's read of "The Player": "I know what this picture's about," Newman said. "It's about getting to see the tits of the girl whose tits you don't care about seeing, and not getting to see the tits of the girl whose tits you want to see." He wasn't kidding, and he was piercingly right.)
We've been speaking of a prolific career but neglecting a rich and enviable life, for the last fifty years of which Paul Newman was married to actress Joanne Woodward. (Previously, Newman had been wed for ten years to Jackie Witte, with whom he had three children.) He and Woodward met during his first Broadway run (Inge's "Picnic" in 1953), married in January 1958, and acted together onscreen that year in "The Long, Hot Summer" and "Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!" They went on to co-star in "From the Terrace" (1960), "Paris Blues" (1961), "A New Kind of Love" (1963), "Winning" (1969), "WUSA" (1970), and "The Drowning Pool" (1975). The Newmans chose to make their home far from Hollywood, in Westport, Conn. (where they raised three children of their own). In later years they co-starred as "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge" for Merchant-Ivory (1990), then had featured roles in the TV miniseries "Empire Falls" (2005, Newman's final work onscreen), though they shared no scenes.
Meanwhile, Newman had made his 1968 directorial debut to shepherd Woodward to glory in "Rachel, Rachel," a moving character study of a small-town schoolteacher tentatively deflected from the role of old maid. Adapted by longtime friend Stewart Stern from Margaret Laurence's novel "The Jest of God," and shot within hailing distance of the Newmans' own Connecticut home, this labor of love won Newman the New York Film Critics Circle Award as best director of 1968. Four Academy Award nominations followed, including best picture -- though not best director, which irked his wife and best-actress nominee no end. Newman would direct Woodward again in "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" (1972 -- costarring their daughter Nell Potts), "The Shadow Box" (a TV-movie, 1980), and "The Glass Menagerie" (a Cannes Film Festival selection in 1987). Newman himself acted in none of these, but starred in as well as directed "Sometimes a Great Notion" (1971) and "Harry & Son" (1984).
Was he a reluctant star? He sometimes seemed stricken with a less virulent strain of what we might call Marlon Brando Disease -- a sense that he should apologize for having blue eyes, a weekend athlete's easy grace, and a likability that communicated itself to millions. There are movies in which a kind of self-immolation occurs, when Newman seems to be doing all he can to make himself unsympathetic--and in the process, to produce something as dour and unwatchable as "Winning" or "WUSA." For a manifestly witty man with no small gift for the well-turned phrase, he appeared to relish playing dumb, or at least not very bright, guys; the phenomenon set in with boxer Rocky Graziano in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956, a role he inherited from the late James Dean) and reached its nadir with "Pocket Money" (1972 ). But "Slap Shot" (1977), about a bottom-of-the-barrel hockey team in a Pennsylvania rust-belt town, is a profane joy, beautifully anchored by a hilarious -- and surprisingly moving -- Newman as the larcenous team captain.
He had two more best-actor nominations in 1981-82 for "Absence of Malice" and "The Verdict" (excellent as an alcoholic Boston lawyer seizing a last chance to save his soul). The seventh time proved the charm: he finally won his Oscar for reprising Eddie Felson twenty-five years later in Martin Scorsese's "The Color of Money" (1986). But the best was yet to come: his warm, funny, beleaguered Sully in "Nobody's Fool" (1994), Robert Benton's lovingly wrought celebration of community and the emotional geography of a small town. Clear as a winter bell, might it be the finest performance of the '90s? An eighth Academy nomination followed, as well as the best-actor awards of the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics. (At the former group's awards dinner, Newman and Robert Redford were to present each other's prizes -- the former Sundance Kid having directed the critics' best-picture choice, "Quiz Show." Despite eleven years' age advantage, the formally attired Redford looked tired and worn opposite the 70-year-old Newman, sauntering to the dais in what may have been a casual jacket donned for an afternoon working in the yard.)
We haven't even begun to pay tribute to his philanthropies -- especially the Newman's Own line of salad dressings, pasta sauces, et al., founded with writer A.E. Hotchner in 1982, administered by Newman's daughter Susan, and funneling all profits to charity ($220 million by early 2008). His commitment to support liberal political causes dates back at least to Gene McCarthy's 1968 run for the presidency and included helping bankroll The Nation political magazine. And still with the awards: a ninth Oscar nomination, this time in the supporting-actor category, for his gangland paterfamilias in 2002's "Road to Perdition."
Fast Eddie called it: "I just hadda show 'em what the game can be when it's great."
-------

First Contact

2008-09-27T02:46:00.002-04:00

I loved this epi.

Daniel and Rodney were great together...loved the way they got back at each other for not telling the other about something that could hurt them.

John on his bed ...*THUD***

Loved the way John looked when he was told that he had to stay put and run the city while Woolsey was away...he just did not like the idea at all.
Woolsey: Try not to blow up the place while I'm gone.
Sheppard: No promises (and look what happens)

Want to know more on the bad guys!!!!

And the Wraith are bad once again....even though it was a mistake.
I a way I felt sorry for them, when Todd was talking to Keller about what they would do when they no longer had to feed off of humans..I felt sorry because they did not know what to do since they had been doing things this way for so long.

Loved the flying shots to different parts of the city that Daniel and Rodney went to like they used once before.

John was great as aways and OMG!! what a ending I will go nuts till we find out what happened to him and Radek.

I give it a 9 - 10

Tracker

2008-09-20T04:37:00.000-04:00

Another OK epi.

Was not another Missing or Trio so that was a plus.

The Ronon and Rodney banter was great.

Though Keller still gets to me, she did hold her own against some Wraith and even kicked ass with stick fighting.

Some Shep at the start and finish ...needed more of him.

The best moment was the "may the better man win" scene..the stare down between Rodney and Ronon was wonderfully done.

The other runner part of the epi was OK.

I give it a 7-10

The Queen

2008-09-14T05:07:00.000-04:00

Thought it was OK...not one of the better ones.

Teyla made a good Queen and Todd was great in this epi.

Lots of double crossing going on including from Teyla.

Some good space battles and effects.

The boys were great as always..and there were lots of great one liners

John : "fruit bowl...nice touch"

Todd : "I hope they prove as delicious as the farmers who grew them."

Rodney "I can't I just had my third cup of coffee I am completely wired"

Ronon "I hadn't noticed"

John: "What have you done to her, doc?!"

Kenny: "I don't know. I am not on that ship."

And Todd's SIC has been named Kenny (not killed yet)

I give this a 6 - 10

Whispers

2008-09-06T03:23:00.001-04:00

Thought it was OK....not as "Horror Movie" scary as I was meant to believe it was going to be.

One thing that bothered me from the start was how could John not know that one of the teams under his command was all woman?

The hand bump John did with Carson was cute. Wonders what would have happened if Rodney was with them.

Carson was great in the action scenes and was more confident when it came to using a gun then he had been.

And for once someone besides John did some kirking....go Carson.

The woman team kicked some butt as well.

So Michael can't control all of his creations...interesting.

And I am so glad that one guy got what was coming to him when he would not shut up when told to....he learned that the hard way.

I give this a 7 out of 10.

The Shrine

2008-08-23T03:01:00.000-04:00

Once again DH has bowled me over with is performance in this epi. The way he goes from typical Rodney to childlike Rodney and slowly losing everything was just incredible.

Loved the way Ronon tried to comfort Jeanie after she saw Rodney the first time.

Keller was above par for once in this epi.

Loved Woolsey's dad story.

The bit with John and Rodney on the peer (John barefoot no less) was touching and funny in it's own way....the Arthur bit and then both of them cracking up was a hoot (wonders if it was ad libbed or not)

Nurse Shep was interesting John looked like he was going to lose it when Keller started to cut in to Rodney's skin...and he had to look away when the drill was used.

And yes I bet John has seen his fare share of medical drills in his time.

Nice to see DH sis again and she did a great job playing against her brother in this epi as well.

I give it a 9 1/2 out of 10

cool test

2008-08-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NBPC - The Daydreamer

Nature, Background, Big Picture, and Color

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

Sad news of Atlantis fans

2008-08-21T01:01:00.000-04:00

Stargate Atlantis will end this season

Wednesday - August 20, 2008 | by Darren Sumner

The SCI FI Channel is ending Stargate Atlantis after five seasons, Multichannel News reports.

The show will go on, though, with a 2-hour movie that will air on SCI FI in 2009, and be released on DVD by MGM. The film will be written by executive producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie.

It's intended to be the first of an on-going series of Atlantis movies, according to the report. Stargate SG-1 has released two very successful movies direct-to-DVD this year (Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum), though neither has aired on U.S. television yet.

"The show will live on as a network franchise," the report also says. This could indicate that future Atlantis movies are a lock for SCI FI, or it may be a general statement about the cable network's commitment to the Stargate franchise.

Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, who created and executive produced Atlantis, pitched a third television series in the 11-year-old TV franchise to the network last year (story). While SCI FI has not yet announced a green light for that show, the end of Atlantis may clear the way -- the dollars available for original programming, that is -- for the next series.

Though Stargate Atlantis has been a solid ratings performer for SCI FI -- and was its highest-rated original program ever when it premiered in July 2004 -- in recent years series like Eureka have supplanted it in the "Live" ratings.

Atlantis remains an extremely strong performer in DVR-delayed viewing, though, often building as much as 25 to 30 percent on its premiere night audience.

Season Five will go out on a cliffhanger, with "Enemy At the Gate" expected to premiere in January. Expect the first Atlantis movie to wrap up that hanging storyline.

Ghost in the Machine

2008-08-16T03:38:00.002-04:00

I thought the epi was OK.

The opening scene was gripping in a way and John trying not to get stuck in the gate (again) by hitting the pj with it was cool.

The whole non Weir bit bothered me..I don't know why really but it did.

Liked that Woolsey got a backbone at last and did a great job bluffing the replicators into stop sinking the city.

Ronon hitting the wall....ouch. Good thing Ronon was in the room with Rodney since the good Dr fell asleep

Shep whump.

I thought Teyla was going to say something to John after she had talked to Fran/Liz because something Fran/Liz said to her puzzled her and it looked like she did not believed it was really Liz.

The ending was sad but I guess everyone knew it had to be Liz for "real" for what she did to save Atlantis once again.

I give it a 7 - 10

The Daedalus Variations

2008-08-02T04:15:00.000-04:00

I liked the epi.

Seeing Teyla helping Rodney out was interesting. And Ronon getting upset and hitting the rail gun console and getting a easy Chewie from John was funny.

And I wish they had fleshed the epi out more, seems things were to rushed to me. And I have a feeling we will see the new bad guys again.

Did not like dead team Shep at all.

Liked it when Rodney got shot and he screamed like a girl LOL

Loved the talk between the two John's LOL

Any one catch John saying "Umm Daedalus..this is Daedalus" to his other self? wonders why he said it that way.

And the bit at the end was funny when John thought that Rodney having kids was the worse thing to think of.

Not the best epi so far but I will give it a 7 out of 10

What's Your Horror Movie Death?

2008-08-01T19:44:00.001-04:00

What's Your Horror Movie Death?

Broken Ties

2008-07-26T03:22:00.001-04:00

Loved the darker side of Ronon.

Woolsey and the doors not once but twice was great

The scenes with him and John were well done as were the ones with him and Teyla.

Woolsey and the baby were funny as well.

Both of the withdrawal scenes were well done and I was shocked that the gurney Jason was on did not fall apart from all his lashing about and pounding on it.

I think that there was too much Rodney banter in the cell.

Loved the part when Ronon woke up and told Rodney he wanted to hit someone, and it would be him if he did not untie him and get him some food LOL.

Rodney in the bath tub....thank god he had bubbles in it that’s all I have to say.

The part at the end when John gave Ronon Tyre's sword and not a word was said really got to me.

I really enjoyed this epi and give it an 8-10

Estelle Getty of 'Golden Girls' dies at 84

2008-07-22T17:12:00.000-04:00

Estelle Getty of 'Golden Girls' dies at 84

By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 33 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - 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.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

"Estelle always wanted to be an actress, and she achieved that goal beyond her dreams," former "Golden Girls" co-star Rue McClanahan told The Associated Press. "Don't feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia."

"The Golden Girls," featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff's belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.

Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in "Maude," Betty White in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and McClanahan in "Mama's Family." The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur's character.

"Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her," Arthur said in a statement.

When she auditioned, Getty was appearing on stage in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein's play "Torch Song Trilogy." In her early 60s, she flunked her "Golden Girls" test twice because it was believed she didn't look old enough to play 80.

"I could understand that," she told an interviewer a year after the show debuted. "I walk fast, I move fast, I talk fast."

She came prepared for the third audition, however, wearing dowdy clothes and telling an NBC makeup artist, "To you this is just a job. To me it's my entire career down the toilet unless you make me look 80." The artist did, Getty got the job and won two Emmys.

"The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us," White said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

"The Golden Girls" culminated a long struggle for success during which Getty worked low-paying office jobs to help support her family while she tried to make it as a stage actress.

"I knew I could be seduced by success in another field, so I'd say, 'Don't promote me, please,'" she recalled.

She also appeared in small parts in a handful of films and TV movies during that time, including "Tootsie," "Deadly Force" and "Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story."

After her success in "The Golden Girls," other roles came her way. She played Cher's mother in "Mask," Sylvester Stallone's in "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" and Barry Manilow's in the TV film "Copacabana." Other credits included "Mannequin" and "Stuart Little" (as the voice of Grandma Estelle).

"The Golden Girls," which ran from 1985 to 1992, was an immediate hit, and Sophia, who began as a minor character, soon evolved into a major one.

Audiences particularly loved the verbal zingers Getty would hurl at the other three. When McClanahan's libidinous character Blanche once complained that her life was an open book, Sophia shot back, "Your life's an open blouse."

"I always told her she should be a standup comic. She was so funny in person," McClanahan recalled. "She would always say, 'Why couldn't we make these characters Jewish? Why am I Sicilian?'"

Getty had gained a knack for one-liners in her late teens when she did standup comedy at a Catskills hotel. Female comedians were rare in those days, however, and she bombed.

Undeterred, she continued to pursue a career in entertainment, and while her parents were encouraging, her father also insisted that she learn office skills so she would have something to fall back on.

Born Estelle Scher to Polish immigrants in New York, Getty fell in love with theater when she saw a vaudeville show at age 4.

She married New York businessman Arthur Gettleman (the source of her stage name) in 1947, and they had two sons, Carl and Barry. The marriage prevailed despite her long absences on the road and in "The Golden Girls."

Getty was evasive about her height, acknowledging only that she was "under 5 feet and under 100 pounds."

McClanahan said her nickname for Getty was "Slats."

"Because she was so short, itty-bitty," she said.

In addition to her son Carl, Getty is survived by son Barry Gettleman, of Miami; a brother, David Scher of London; and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.

The Seed

2008-07-19T04:08:00.001-04:00

I have to say after all the hype it was a let down to me.

Great to have Carson back though.

And we find out what happened to Kanaan and the other hybrids.

When Woolsey was talking to the guys about Carson's cure he kept stopping in front of John as if daring him to "volunteer" for the injection.

John strapped to a bed *drool* Great acting on JF's part for the convulsions, crashing and dying bit.

One (OK a few things from this epi bothered me)

1: where did the microbe come from before it was on Keller's hand? And why did no one else see what was still on her work station?

2: When John was crashing the nurse that was bagging him never squeezed the bag so no air got to John's brain.

3: Once again John crashes a ship and is not even fazed from the impact.

Everyone else just seemed under used in this epi.

I give it a 7 -10

Search and Rescue

2008-07-12T03:27:00.002-04:00

WOW what a way to start off the new season!!!

I liked the way they added Ford into the epi...cleaver.

Shep whump to end all Shep whump!!! Loved the whole Shep/ Ronon bit when they were in the rubble and later on during Teylas rescue.

I could not stop laughing at the look of horror on Rodney's face when he had to deliver the baby lol. Hope DH was not like that with Baz.

Shep in scrubs drool

Wonder who took the jumper......Michael does not have the gene.hmmmmm.

One thing that bothered me was the name Teyla gave the baby....she said Torrin John after her dad and Shep, yet in Rising her fathers name was Tughan.

Keller was not bad in this epi and so long Sam.

Don S. Davis: 1942-2008

2008-07-01T01:25:00.006-04:00

Don S. Davis: 1942-2008

Monday - June 30, 2008 | by Darren Sumner

With great sadness we must report that veteran actor Don S. Davis passed away on June 29, 2008. He was 65 years old.

Don co-starred on Stargate SG-1 for the show's first seven years, helping to launch the enduring science fiction franchise. Davis played Major General George Hammond, base commander and a father figure to many of the show's characters.

He is also well-known for his portrayal of Major Garland Briggs in Twin Peaks.

Off-screen, Don was beloved by the show's cast and crew. He departed the show in 2003 due to a medical condition that restricted his workload, but returned for several guest appearances on SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis in the following years. Don worked hard to improve his health, and continued to work both on screen and off until his death.

The following message was provided by Don's representative and his wife, Ruby Fleming-Davis:

Dear Fans and Friends of Don S. Davis,

So many of you have been touched by not only the work and art of Don S. Davis, but by the man himself, who always took the time to be with you at the appearances he loved, that it is with a tremendous sense of loss I must share with you that Don passed away from a massive heart attack on Sunday morning, June 29th.

On behalf of his family and wife, Ruby, we thank you for your prayers and condolences. A family memorial where Don's ashes will be scattered in the ocean will take place in a few weeks, and should you wish to, please make a donation to the American Heart Association in Don's memory.

Born August 4, 1942 in Aurora, Missouri and raised there, Don received a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in theater and art from Southwest Missouri State College in 1965. He then served three years on active duty in the United States Army, entering as a Second Lieutenant. He rose to the rank of Captain and was stationed in Korea before completing his required tour of active duty.

Upon leaving the army, Don began working toward a Master's degree in theater at Southern Illinois University, in Carbondale, Illinois, and received his Master's degree in 1970. He taught at the University of British Columbia for a decade before returning to SIU to complete his coursework for a PhD in theater, receiving the degree in 1982.

Don's list of film and television credits is lengthy, dating back to 1982. He met Stargate co-star Richard Dean Anderson on the set of MacGyver, where Don worked as a stunt double for actor Dana Elcar.

When production on Stargate SG-1 began in 1997, the producers tapped Davis to play the base commander -- originally written to be a by-the-book antagonist, but quickly softened by Don's own personality and experience.

In 2003 Don married his soul mate and the great love of his life, Ruby Fleming-Davis. The two have resided in British Columbia with their three dogs, Teto, Ming and Charley.

Don's off-screen career as an artist blossomed especially in the years since he left Stargate. A look at his Web site, DonSDavisArt.com, reveals his tremendous gifts in painting, drawing, and woodcarving.

Don's final Stargate appearance is in Stargate: Continuum, the SG-1 DVD movie that will be released July 29 in North America and August 18 in the United Kingdom. He will also appear in the forthcoming films "Vipers," "Woodshop," and "Far Cry," according to the Internet Movie Database.

Many fans of Don's work have had the opportunity to meet him in person, as he was also a regular face at fan conventions around the world. Fans learned that behind General Hammond was a Southern gentleman with a big heart, a no-nonsense attitude, and all the love and respect one could imagine.

GateWorld's editors visited with Don in 2006, where he talked at length about his career, his time on Stargate, and his feelings about his fellow cast members. That two-part video interview, "Intimate Portrait," may be found in the Interviews archive.

Services for Don S. Davis will be small and private, in both Vancouver and Los Angeles. His Web sites will be updated this week, and his obituary will be sent to the Vancouver Sun newspaper. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests that donations be made to the American Heart Association in Don's memory.

Actor Harvey Korman dies in Los Angeles

2008-05-29T21:15:00.001-04:00

[b]Actor Harvey Korman dies in Los Angeles[/b]
May 29, 2008, 6:02 PM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show" and on the big screen in "Blazing Saddles," died Thursday. He was 81.

Korman died at UCLA Medical Center after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago, his family said in a statement released by the hospital.

His daughter, Kate Korman, said in the statement that it was a "miracle" that her father had survived the aneurysm at all, and that he had several major operations.

"Tragically, after such a hard fought battle he passed away," she said.

A natural second banana, Korman gained attention on "The Danny Kaye Show," appearing in skits with the star. He joined the show in its second season in 1964 and continued until it was canceled in 1967. That same year he became a cast member in the first season of "The Carol Burnett Show."

Burnett and Korman developed into the perfect pair with their burlesques of classic movies such as "Gone With the Wind" and soap operas like "As the World Turns" (their version was called "As the Stomach Turns").

Another recurring skit featured them as "Ed and Eunice," a staid married couple who were constantly at odds with the wife's mother (a young Vickie Lawrence in a gray wig). In "Old Folks at Home," they were a combative married couple bedeviled by Lawrence as Burnett's troublesome young sister.

Burnett was devastated by the news, said her assistant, Angie Horejsi.

"She loved Harvey very much," Horejsi said. She said Burnett had not yet made a statement.

Korman revealed the secret to the long-running show's success in a 2005 interview.

"We were an ensemble, and Carol had the most incredible attitude. I've never worked with a star of that magnitude who was willing to give so much away."

After 10 successful seasons, he left in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but the chemistry was lacking and the Burnett show was canceled two years later. "The Harvey Korman Show" also failed, as did other series starring the actor.

"It takes a certain type of person to be a television star," he said in that 2005 interview. "I didn't have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright. ... Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I'm fine."

His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (who was endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in Mel Brooks' 1974 Western satire, "Blazing Saddles."

He also appeared in the Brooks comedies "High Anxiety," "The History of the World Part I" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It," as well as two "Pink Panther" moves, "Trail of the Pink Panther" in 1982 and "Curse of the Pink Panther" in 1983.

Korman's other films included "Gypsy," "Huckleberry Finn" (as the King), "Herbie Goes Bananas" and "Bud and Lou" (as legendary straightman Bud Abbott to Buddy Hackett's Lou Costello). He also provided the voice of Dictabird in the 1994 live-action feature "The Flintstones."

In television, Korman guest-starred in dozens of series including "The Donna Reed Show," "Dr. Kildare," "Perry Mason," "The Wild Wild West," "The Muppet Show," "The Love Boat," "The Roseanne Show" and "Burke's Law."

In their '70s, he and Tim Conway, one of his Burnett show co-stars, toured the country with their show "Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again." They did 120 shows a year, sometimes as many as six or eight in a weekend.

Harvey Herschel Korman was born Feb. 15, 1927, in Chicago. He left college for service in the U.S. Navy, resuming his studies afterward at the Goodman School of Drama at the Chicago Art Institute. After four years, he decided to try New York.

"For the next 13 years I tried to get on Broadway, on off-Broadway, under or beside Broadway," he told a reporter in 1971.

He had no luck and had to support himself as a restaurant cashier. Finally, in desperation, he and a friend formed a nightclub comedy act.

"We were fired our first night in a club, between the first and second shows," he recalled.

After returning to Chicago, Korman decided to try Hollywood, reasoning that "at least I'd feel warm and comfortable while I failed."

For three years he sold cars and worked as a doorman at a movie theater. Then he landed the job with Kaye.

In 1960 Korman married Donna Elhart and they had two children, Maria and Christopher. They divorced in 1977. Two more children, Katherine and Laura, were born of his 1982 marriage to Deborah Fritz.

In addition to his daughter Kate, he is survived by his wife and the three other children.

'Harry Potter' actor fatally stabbed in London

2008-05-24T21:05:00.001-04:00

'Harry Potter' actor fatally stabbed in London
Teenage actor from forthcoming film killed in late-night bar brawl

A teenage actor who will appear in the forthcoming "Harry Potter" movie was stabbed to death in a brawl outside a south London bar early Saturday, police said.

Rob Knox, 18, was caught up in a fight outside the Metro Bar in Sidcup just after midnight, London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement. The teen's death, less than two weeks after another youngster was brutally slain only a few miles away, has focused the British capital's attention on knife crime.

Knox plays Ravenclaw student Marcus Belby in "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince," the sixth cinematic installment of the wildly popular Harry Potter series, set for release this fall. Warner Brothers said it was shocked by the news.
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Knox was one of five young men and boys taken to various hospitals across the capital after the brawl, police said. Among them was a 21-year-old who has since been arrested on suspicion of murder.

The fight did not appear to be gang-related, police added, but it puts the number of violent teenage deaths in London at 14 so far this year. Knox played on the same rugby club as another recent teenage victim, Jimmy Mizen, who was fatally stuck with a piece of glass outside a south London bakery earlier this month after refusing to take part in a fight.

England and Wales' homicide rate is more than three times lower than that of the U.S., according to 2005 statistics, but the parade of young victims on the nightly news has disquieted Londoners.

The city's new mayor, Boris Johnson, won election on promises to tackle violent crime. And the Metropolitan Police have recently kicked off an aggressive new program to search anyone they wish for knives without having to justify their suspicions beforehand.

England's children's commissioner, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, has warned the searches could backfire if they build hostility among young people.

"There is a balance here," Aynsley-Green told British Broadcasting Corp. television Saturday. "On the one hand for young people to feel safer by having the presence of the police, but on the other hand making sure the new powers don't create further antagonism by increased stopping and searching."

Film Legend Charlton Heston Dead at 84

2008-04-06T19:45:00.000-04:00

Film Legend Charlton Heston Dead at 84
April 6, 2008, 12:49 AM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s, has died. He was 84.

The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said.

Powers declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details.

"Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played," Heston's family said in a statement. "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."

Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease, saying, "I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure."

With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past. "I have a face that belongs in another century," he often remarked.

Publicist Michael Levine, who represented Heston for about 20 years, said the actor's passing represented the end of an iconic era for cinema.

"If Hollywood had a Mt. Rushmore, Heston's face would be on it," Levine said. "He was a heroic figure that I don't think exists to the same degree in Hollywood today."

The actor assumed the role of leader offscreen as well. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute and marched in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. With age, he grew more conservative and campaigned for conservative candidates.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan said Sunday in a prepared statement that she was heartbroken to hear of Heston's death.

"I will never forget Chuck as a hero on the big screen in the roles he played, but more importantly I considered him a hero in life for the many times that he stepped up to support Ronnie in whatever he was doing," she said.

In June 1998, Heston was elected president of the National Rifle Association, for which he had posed for ads holding a rifle. He delivered a jab at then-President Clinton, saying, "America doesn't trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns."

Heston stepped down as NRA president in April 2003, telling members his five years in office were "quite a ride. ... I loved every minute of it."

Later that year, Heston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. "The largeness of character that comes across the screen has also been seen throughout his life," President Bush said at the time.
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He engaged in a lengthy feud with liberal Ed Asner during the latter's tenure as president of the Screen Actors Guild. His latter-day activism almost overshadowed his achievements as an actor, which were considerable.

Heston lent his strong presence to some of the most acclaimed and successful films of the midcentury. "Ben-Hur" won 11 Academy Awards, tying it for the record with the more recent "Titanic" (1997) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). Heston's other hits include: "The Ten Commandments," "El Cid," "55 Days at Peking," "Planet of the Apes" and "Earthquake."

He liked to the cite the number of historical figures he had portrayed:

Andrew Jackson ("The President's Lady," "The Buccaneer"), Moses ("The Ten Commandments"), title role of "El Cid," John the Baptist ("The Greatest Story Ever Told"), Michelangelo ("The Agony and the Ecstasy"), General Gordon ("Khartoum"), Marc Antony ("Julius Caesar," "Antony and Cleopatra"), Cardinal Richelieu ("The Three Musketeers"), Henry VIII ("The Prince and the Pauper").

Heston made his movie debut in the 1940s in two independent films by a college classmate, David Bradley, who later became a noted film archivist. He had the title role in "Peer Gynt" in 1942 and was Marc Antony in Bradley's 1949 version of "Julius Caesar," for which Heston was paid $50 a week.

Film producer Hal B. Wallis ("Casablanca") spotted Heston in a 1950 television production of "Wuthering Heights" and offered him a contract. When his wife reminded him that they had decided to pursue theater and television, he replied, "Well, maybe just for one film to see what it's like."

Heston earned star billing from his first Hollywood movie, "Dark City," a 1950 film noir. Cecil B. DeMille next cast him as the circus manager in the all-star "The Greatest Show On Earth," named by the Motion Picture Academy as the best picture of 1952. More movies followed:

"The Savage," "Ruby Gentry," "The President's Lady," "Pony Express" (as Buffalo Bill Cody), "Arrowhead," "Bad for Each Other," "The Naked Jungle," "Secret of the Incas," "The Far Horizons" (as Clark of the Lewis and Clark trek), "The Private War of Major Benson," "Lucy Gallant."

Most were forgettable low-budget films, and Heston seemed destined to remain an undistinguished action star. His old boss DeMille rescued him.

The director had long planned a new version of "The Ten Commandments," which he had made as a silent in 1923 with a radically different approach that combined biblical and modern stories. He was struck by Heston's facial resemblance to Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses, especially the similar broken nose, and put the actor through a long series of tests before giving him the role.

The Hestons' newborn, Fraser Clarke Heston, played the role of the infant Moses in the film.

More films followed: the eccentric thriller "Touch of Evil," directed by Orson Welles; William Wyler's "The Big Country," costarring with Gregory Peck; a sea saga, "The Wreck of the Mary Deare" with Gary Cooper.

Then his greatest role: "Ben-Hur."

Heston wasn't the first to be considered for the remake of 1925 biblical epic. Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson had declined the film. Heston plunged into the role, rehearsing two months for the furious chariot race.

He railed at suggestions the race had been shot with a double: "I couldn't drive it well, but that wasn't necessary. All I had to do was stay on board so they could shoot me there. I didn't have to worry; MGM guaranteed I would win the race."

The huge success of "Ben-Hur" and Heston's Oscar made him one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood. He combined big-screen epics like "El Cid" and "55 Days at Peking" with lesser ones such as "Diamond Head," "Will Penny" and "Airport 1975." In his later years he played cameos in such films as "Wayne's World 2" and "Tombstone."

He often returned to the theater, appearing in such plays as "A Long Day's Journey into Night" and "A Man for All Seasons." He starred as a tycoon in the prime-time soap opera, "The Colbys," a two-season spinoff of "Dynasty."

At his birth in a Chicago suburb on Oct. 4, 1923, his name was Charles Carter. His parents moved to St. Helen, Mich., where his father, Russell Carter, operated a lumber mill. Growing up in the Michigan woods with almost no playmates, young Charles read books of adventure and devised his own games while wandering the countryside with his rifle.

Charles's parents divorced, and she married Chester Heston, a factory plant superintendent in Wilmette, Ill., an upscale north Chicago suburb. Shy and feeling displaced in the big city, the boy had trouble adjusting to the new high school. He took refuge in the drama department.

"What acting offered me was the chance to be many other people," he said in a 1986 interview. "In those days I wasn't satisfied with being me."

Calling himself Charlton Heston from his mother's maiden name and his stepfather's last name, he won an acting scholarship to Northwestern University in 1941. He excelled in campus plays and appeared on Chicago radio. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served as a radio-gunner in the Aleutians.

In 1944 he married another Northwestern drama student, Lydia Clarke, and after his army discharge in 1947, they moved to New York to seek acting jobs. Finding none, they hired on as codirectors and principal actors at a summer theater in Asheville, N.C.

Back in New York, both Hestons began finding work. With his strong 6-feet-2 build and craggily handsome face, Heston won roles in TV soap operas, plays ("Antony and Cleopatra" with Katherine Cornell) and live TV dramas such as "Julius Caesar," "Macbeth," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Of Human Bondage."

Heston wrote several books: "The Actor's Life: Journals 1956-1976," published in 1978; "Beijing Diary: 1990," concerning his direction of the play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" in Chinese; "In the Arena: An Autobiography," 1995; and "Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years of American Filmmaking," 1998.

Besides Fraser, who directed his father in an adventure film, "Mother Lode," the Hestons had a daughter, Holly Ann, born Aug. 2, 1961. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1994 at a party with Hollywood and political friends. They had been married 64 years when he died.

In late years, Heston drew as much publicity for his crusades as for his performances. In addition to his NRA work, he campaigned for Republican presidential and congressional candidates and against affirmative action.

He resigned from Actors Equity, claiming the union's refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in "Miss Saigon" was "obscenely racist." He attacked CNN's telecasts from Baghdad as "sowing doubts" about the allied effort in the 1990-91 Gulf War.

At a Time Warner stockholders meeting, he castigated the company for releasing an Ice-T album that purportedly encouraged cop killing.

Heston wrote in "In the Arena" that he was proud of what he did "though now I'll surely never be offered another film by Warners, nor get a good review in Time. On the other hand, I doubt I'll get a traffic ticket very soon."

The Last Man

2008-03-08T03:48:00.000-05:00

I loved this epi from the first scene to the dreaded "To be continued"

Loved the whole time travel bit do to the flare, and how shocked John was when he came to the then Atlantis (OMG!!! the hair moved!!!)

Great interaction between John and holoRodney...snark even from a hologram lol lol
Loved the " couldn't find anyone else" line from John to holoRodney.

The way holoRodney told John about what happened to his Team and Sam was well done and you could tell that each death hit John very hard.

Ronon and Todd fighting back to back was great....even though I hated the way they died..they died a warriors death.

Sam's death must have hit Rodney hard as well as O'Neill who must have been in her life still in one way. I guess that is why he turned to Keller for support and some other stuff.

John in the sandstorm......eek

General Evan Lorne...loved it.

I just about lost it when John was put into the stasis pod..to see him frozen like that I just could not take it.

One thing what happened to Carson? That was never brought to light in the epi. And as far as we know we have only seen one pod and it had Carson in it last we saw it.

I also felt that the ending was rushed but it was still well done and I can't wait till July for the rest.

I give this a 10 out of 10.

The Kindred pt 2

2008-03-01T03:44:00.001-05:00

So much for this being the "real" Carson....nothing but a clone, so the real Carson did die in the blast in Sunday.

Michael has some sort of sick crush on Teyla and it is freaking me out as to what he wants the baby for.

And we now know (in away) that it was most likely the Carson clone that was helping Michael with his bug then hybrid army's.

A hairless Halling. I guess Chris got to hot in his Todd makeup and shaved his hair off.

Loved the "Dogs Breakfast" bit..nice tie in to the movie.

Liked the way everyone dealt with the clone in their own way.

The look on Carson's face when he found out he was not the real Carson and they were not even looking for him tore my heart apart.

Joe's boys were cute in their scene...you could see one of them looking back at dad (when they were freed from the cell) when he went one way and they went another.

The end really got to me when they put Carson in the stasis pod, John was fighting back his emotions, Ronon dealt with it in Ronon style....and Rodney in typical McKay fashion...wise cracks to the end.

All three woman gave very strong performances in this epi.

I give it a 9 1/2 out of 10

The Kindred pt 1

2008-02-23T02:54:00.001-05:00

Well it was a OK epi....not as gripping as the trailers made us think it would be.

Loved the Rodney/Teyla scene in the mess hall....and the look on Teyla's face when he told her about the baby gift was priceless...he had to know she was not going to use it...right?

The Rodney/Ronon moment when walking to the village. Usually when Ronon is busting on Rodney it's in an 'I hate you' kind of way, but this was such a sweet and brotherly way. And the looks they shared afterwards.

The Rodney/Todd moment when Mckay handed him the tablet. He definitely felt betrayed by Todd, and is letting him know it there. I think Rodney had started to trust him, what with Todd having saved his sister and they were working together for a while.

Great snark in the epi as well.

Lorne....and more Lorne.

Loved it when they were walking to the village the first time and when John asked Teyla what she would do when all heck broke lose the look on his face to her response was typical John.

So Michael some how found out what the Hoffans did and was using it to kill off the other Wraith.

Can't wait to see what he needs Teyla's baby for and what happened to the rest of her people.

Oh yeah CARSON IS BACK!!!!!

I give this epi a 7-10

Midway

2008-02-16T03:13:00.002-05:00

THIS EPI ROCKED THE BOAT!!! big time!!

Great to see more Wraith ass kicking ..been way to long.

Loved the look on John's face when Teyla did not say a word about rejoining the team after her child was born.

Loved the Ronon/Teal'c stare downs. And them watching The Three Stooges had me laughing.

The sparring scene was wonderful.

I think Todd was forced to give them the info on the station.

Kavangah was typical Kavangah... missed the ponytail...loved the fainting....still a pain.

John taking on most of the Wraith was great.

The look of worry on Rodney's face when John gave the order to vent the 02 just about killed me.

So much for the midway station.

John out of air whump.

Wonders how he got into the suit when he could hardly stand or why no one but Rodney heard him breath in the suit as they went past him?

Loved the bit at the end with him locked in the cockpit with the head phones on and the way Ronon woke him up as very funny.

Not sure what to make of this new IOA guy....seemed trigger happy when calling for a strike on the SGC.

I give this a 9-10 for a great Binder epi.

Trio

2008-02-09T04:55:00.000-05:00

How stupid can some scientist's be??

First off if someone falls through a hole be it ice or Earth, if there is more then one person outside the hole they should be on different side of said hole so their combined weight does not weaken the area under both of them...enough said.

I mean crates are groaning and they climb up higher..dumb, dirt and stuff falls into hole yet they just pull more into it making the room they are in more unstable.

Looked like Rodney and Keller were seeing who could win the "Oh Crap" look most of the time.

Hated that there was not more John in epi.

Thought the beer bet bridge was cool as was the rocket launcher .

And what is Keller going after Rodney now? First Ronon and now him.

I give this a 2 out of 10.

Heath update

2008-02-07T21:49:00.001-05:00

Autopsy: Ledger died of accidental overdose

NEW YORK --
(AP) -- Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner said Wednesday.

The cause of death was ''acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine,'' spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement.

The drugs are the generic names for the painkiller OxyContin, the anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom. Hydrocodone is another name for ibuprofen.

Borakove wouldn't say what concentrations of each drug were found in Ledger's blood, or whether one drug played a greater part than another in causing his death.

''What you're looking at here is the cumulative effects of these medications together,'' she said.

The ruling comes two weeks after the 28-year-old Australia-born actor was found dead in the bed of his rented SoHo apartment. Police found bottles of six types of prescription drugs, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication, in his bedroom and bathroom.

Ledger was discovered by his masseuse on Jan. 22 after she arrived for an appointment that afternoon. She entered his bedroom to set up for the massage and found him unresponsive. She then proceeded to call actress Mary-Kate Olsen three times over the next nine minutes before dialing 911. Ledger had been dead for some time, and police say no foul play occurred.

Ledger, nominated for an Oscar for his role in Brokeback Mountain, had returned to New York from London days before his death. He had been filming a $30 million Terry Gilliam film in London. He said in a November interview that his most recent completed roles in the Batman movie The Dark Night and Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There had taken a toll, saying he couldn't sleep.

''Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night,'' Ledger told The New York Times. ''I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.'' He said he had taken two Ambien pills, which only gave him an hour of sleep.

Ledger's family returned to the actor's hometown of Perth, Australia, on Tuesday to prepare for his funeral. Arrangements were private.

In a statement, Ledger's father, Kim, said Wednesday: ``While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage.''

Outcast

2008-02-02T03:44:00.000-05:00

Wow what a great epi and a stealer acting job by Joe.

Loved the angest he brought to John when he had to deal with the death of his father.

The John Rodney talk at the start was great.

John really needs to stop bottling up emotions and let it out before it kills him.

The look on John's face when Ronon joined him to go back to Earth with him was great, in a way it looked like he was silently thanking him for coming along.

Never saw any of the horses.

I so wanted John to hit is brother for thinking that the only reason he was there was for money (I think John could care less about that).

Ronon at the buffet

I think his Ex-wife maybe the reason why John feels so uncomfortable when he is hugged by a women (ie Weir in Siege3)...he is so introverted when she was around him, unless he needed something from her that is.

Not a lot of Shep whump in this unless you count the angest.

Did not really care for the whole replicator story at all and wish they had done more to Shep's back story.

And ever though I never liked him before it was good to see Bates back in action. One thing I don't get is what is with the whitish hair? The Wraith beat him up and did not feed off of him so what gives.

And where in the heck did they get the VR pod? The ones on the Aurora and the Orion were blown up so where did it come from?

Harmony

2008-01-26T02:54:00.001-05:00

Loved the epi.

Rodney calling dibs on the sister was hilarious and the look of dread when he saw how young she was.

Snark galore in this one and not just between John and Rodney.

Loved the way one of the older sisters used her womanly charms to get John to agree on taking
Harmony on her quest.

Rodney sure met his match with this kid...the way she framed him and the fake crying was priceless.

And the way she kept hitting on John was great...about time he figured what was going through her head.

Mini-drones interesting...I hope they come back to that story line....plot hole.

The painting at the end was a real kicker, with Rodney as the hero and John cowering behind Harmony..

I give it a 8-10

More Heath news

2008-01-25T16:56:00.000-05:00

Mary-Kate Olsen: 'Heath Was a Friend'
Jan. 25, 2008, 2:08 PM EST

The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Mary-Kate Olsen says Heath Ledger was a "friend" in a brief statement released Friday, the same day police said they have no interest in interviewing the "Full House" star.

Released by her publicist, the statement is the first word from Olsen since the Australian-born actor's death. In its entirety, it reads:

"Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss. My thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time."

Police said the masseuse who found Ledger's body Tuesday spent nine minutes making three calls to the Olsen twin before dialing 911 for help, then called Olsen a fourth time after paramedics arrived. At some point during the flurry of calls, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help, police said.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said investigators have no interest in talking to Olsen. They interviewed everyone at the scene, each of whom was cooperative. That eliminated "any need to interview Miss Olsen," he said.

Olsen's whereabouts were unknown Friday. A private viewing was scheduled for Friday at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home in Manhattan, and Ledger's family was flying to the U.S. from his native Australia.

Police set up barricades outside the funeral home as Ledger's family made arrangements to claim the body of the 28-year-old "Brokeback Mountain" actor. Their plans were not immediately known, though Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said his government would do whatever is needed to help the family bring back his body to Australia.

Ledger's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said no details about the funeral would be shared with the media.

Ledger's family placed a death notice in The West Australian, a newspaper based in his hometown of Perth, remembering him as "the most amazing 'old soul' in a young man's body."

"As a close knit and very private family we have observed you so determined yet quietly traveling in your self-styled path in life, nothing would get in your way ... no mountain too tall, no river too wide," said the notice, which the newspaper said had been submitted by Ledger's relatives. ".... Our hearts are broken."

The actor's sister, Kate, said she could "hardly breathe" as she tried to write her tribute. "We were the ultimate soul mates," she said.

"You were so many things to so many people, but to me you were just my little brother."

The cause of Ledger's death will not be known for at least a week, after medical examiners complete toxicology tests. Authorities suspect a possible overdose, but nothing conclusive has been determined. Several prescription drugs were found in the Manhattan apartment where Ledger's body was found.

The masseuse who found him, Diana Wolozin, apparently knew both Ledger and Olsen and knew they were friends. Messages left at telephone numbers listed for Wolozin were not returned.

New Heath update

2008-01-24T20:27:00.000-05:00

Ledger Masseuse Made 4 Calls to Olsen
Jan. 24, 2008, 6:50 PM EST

The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- The woman who discovered a lifeless Heath Ledger spent nine minutes making three calls to Mary-Kate Olsen before she dialed 911 for help, police said Thursday. She called "Full House" actress a fourth time after paramedics arrived.

The calls do not have any significant bearing on the investigation because authorities believe Ledger was dead when she arrived and have ruled out foul play. But they paint a more precise picture of the bizarre series of events surrounding the Australian-born actor's final moments.

The woman, Diana Wolozin, had an appointment to give Ledger a massage Tuesday afternoon. Police originally said she made two calls to Olsen in seeking her help about what to do, but revised it to four after taking a closer look at Ledger's phone records.

Wolozin apparently knew both Ledger and Olsen and that they were friends; all the calls were made from Ledger's cell phone. Olsen's representative did not return telephone calls or emails Thursday.

Messages left at telephone numbers listed for Wolozin were not returned. Her name is not listed on the New York State Education Department's Web site, which tracks licensed health care professionals.

Among the qualifications for a massage therapy license in New York is CPR certification; police had said an emergency operator provided Wolozin directions on how to perform CPR on Ledger, but it was too late. Practicing massage in New York without a license is a class E felony that can result in fines or jail time.

The details emerged as Ledger's family made plans to bury the 28-year-old "Brokeback Mountain" actor. Ledger's body was taken to the Frank E. Campbell funeral home, where a private viewing was scheduled for Friday. Ledger's family was flying to the U.S. from Australia.

The cause of Ledger's death not be known for at least a week, after the coroner completes toxicology reports. Authorities suspect a possible accidental overdose, but nothing conclusive has been determined. Six types of prescription medication were found in the apartment, but no illegal drugs, police said.

At 1 p.m. Tuesday, Ledger's housekeeper said she saw him sleeping and heard what she thought was snoring. Wolozin showed up for Ledger's massage appointment at about 2:45 p.m. and knocked on his door, then called his cell phone at 3 p.m. to wake him up.

After setting up her massage table, she tried to wake Ledger and realized something was wrong.

At 3:17 p.m., she made a call to the Olsen twin that lasted 49 seconds. At 3:20 p.m., she made another call — this one lasting one minute and 39 seconds. At 3:24 p.m., she made another call to Olsen. That one lasted 21 seconds.

Wolozin called 911 at 3:26 p.m.

At some point during the flurry of calls, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help with the situation, the NYPD said.

Paramedics arrived at 3:33 p.m., and actually went up in the elevator to the apartment with Olsen's security guards. Paramedics did not allow the security guards into the bedroom where Ledger died, and they declared him dead at 3:36 p.m. — 19 minutes after the first call to Olsen.

Wolozin called Olsen a final time at 3:34 p.m. The duration of that call was unknown.

Ledger told The New York Times in November that playing the Joker in the upcoming Batman film "The Dark Knight" and an incarnation of Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There" had been stressful, and that he had been using the sleeping pill Ambien to deal with insomnia.

Before moving to Manhattan, Ledger lived with then-girlfriend Michelle Williams — who played his wife in "Brokeback" — in Brooklyn, and the couple had a daughter, the now 2-year-old Matilda. The couple split last year.

Williams and Matilda returned to their Brooklyn home Wednesday evening from Sweden. The 27-year-old actress had been there shooting scenes for the upcoming film "Mammoth," said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film.

A gaggle of reporters gathered outside the funeral home in search for news about Ledger's funeral. A long line of celebrity deaths have been handled by the Frank E. Campbell funeral over the last century, from Judy Garland, John Lennon and Notorious B.I.G. to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Leona Helmsley.

General manager George Amado refused to disclose details about Ledger's funeral arrangements, saying that any additional information would have to come from Ledger's manager.

Ledger's publicist did not return calls and e-mails seeking comment Thursday.

Heath update

2008-01-23T20:52:00.000-05:00

Ledger Had 6 Types of Prescription Drugs
Jan. 23, 2008, 8:31 PM EST
Investigation continues in determining cause of actor's death

NEW YORK (AP) -- Six different types of prescription drugs were found in Heath Ledger's apartment — including anti-anxiety medications and sleeping pills — though the cause of his death won't be known for several days after a preliminary autopsy Wednesday was inconclusive, authorities said.

Police provided an in-depth timeline Wednesday of Heath Ledger's final moments, revealing the chaos that filled his Manhattan apartment in the moments after the Australian-born actor died.

It included a frantic call to former "Full House" star Mary Kate Olsen, a massage therapist desperately trying to wake him, and a maid who was in Ledger's bedroom in the moments before he died.

Police said Ledger probably died sometime between 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday of what authorities say may be an accidental drug overdose.

A rolled-up $20 bill was also found on the floor near the Australian actor's bed, but lab tests detected no traces of drug residue. Police also said no illegal drugs were found in the apartment.

Ledger's housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, arrived at his apartment with her own key and let herself in. At 1 p.m., she went to his bedroom to change a light bulb, and saw Ledger sleeping and heard him snoring. She left the room without thinking anything was wrong.

At 2:45 p.m., a masseuse named Diana Wolozin showed up for her massage appointment with Ledger, who didn't answer when she knocked on his door.

She then tried to call him on his cell phone, but again got no response. She went into the bedroom, set up her massage table and again tried to wake Ledger.

Wolozin told police that Ledger was cold to the touch, but she just assumed he was unconscious. She proceeded to grab his cell phone and call Mary Kate Olsen, whose number is programmed into the phone. Wolozin knew that Olsen and Ledger were friends, and she asked Olsen for advice on what she should do next.

Olsen, who also lives in Manhattan but was in California at the time, responded by saying she would send over her private security guards to help deal with the situation. In the ensuing moments, Wolozin realized that Ledger might be dead, and called 911.

The emergency operator provided Wolozin directions on how to do CPR, but it was too late.

Paramedics arrived minutes later — at about the same time as Olsen's security guards.

Fans left flowers and candles outside his Manhattan apartment on Wednesday. News of the death stunned family, fans and colleagues.

"Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life," said Ang Lee, who directed Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain."

"He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could have imagined — a thirst for life, for love and for truth, and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him. His death is heartbreaking."

Lee Daniels, who produced the critically acclaimed "Monster's Ball" in which Ledger starred, strongly disputed any notion that Ledger had a drug problem.

"The definition of substance abuse is really up to one's perspective," Daniels said. "I didn't see him as a drug addict. I saw him as someone who enjoyed life. I know drug addicts, he was not a drug addict."

He said he saw Ledger a couple months ago and that he was in great spirits.

"He was in a good mood, he was in a great place ... he was excited about living in New York."

Before moving to Manhattan, Ledger lived in Brooklyn with his then-girlfriend Michelle Williams in a four-story, sage-green brownstone with a black wrought-iron fence. Yellow tulips with red stripes were among the bouquets left by well-wishers Wednesday.

At the Brawta Caribbean Cafe two blocks from the residence, owner Jennifer Ewers said was a frequent guest who always ordered jerk chicken, rice and beans, and sorrel.

"He was a perfect gentleman. He comes in here with his hoodie on, reads a book, and gives you a peace sign," she said. "He was always with his daughter, playing hide-and-seek among the plants, or on his skateboard, peeking his head in."

Speaking in Australia, Ledger's father called the death "tragic, untimely and accidental." Kim Ledger called his son "down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving, unselfish" and "extremely inspirational to many."

"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life," he said. "Please now respect our family's need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately."

Khaled Ali, 41, a stage manager for a Broadway show, dropped off a candle outside Ledger's building on his way to work Wednesday morning. He said he and his fellow cast members were devastated.

"I felt a connection with him as an actor, as a fellow in the theater community," he said. "With `Brokeback Mountain' he touched me personally in telling the story of my community. It was very touching."

Ledger was known for grueling, intense roles that became his trademark after he got his start in teen movies like "10 Things I Hate About You." Thereafter, he avoided the easy path in favor of roles that forced him to bury his Australian accent and downplay his leading-man looks: the tormented gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain"; a drug addict in "Candy"; an incarnation of Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."

Playing the Joker in the upcoming Batman movie "The Dark Knight," may be his final finished performance.

Ledger split last year with Williams, who played his wife in "Brokeback." The two had a daughter, the now 2-year-old Matilda, and had lived together in Brooklyn's Boerum Hill neighborhood.

Early Wednesday, Williams and Matilda left Trollhattan, Sweden, where the 27-year-old actress had been shooting scenes for the upcoming film "Mammoth," said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film.

"She received the news at her hotel late last night," Stromberg said, adding he had not spoken to the actress after she learned of Ledger's death.

The actor's personal strife was accompanied by professional anxiety. He said in a November interview that "Dark Knight" and "I'm Not There" took a toll.

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour.

Ledger's body was found in his bedroom, although there have been various reports about where in the room it was discovered.

Police explained the discrepancy Wednesday, saying Ledger was found by the massage therapist and maid face-down in his bed with the sheets pulled up. Paramedics, while examining his body, later put it on the floor at the foot of the bed.

A day after Ledger's death, at least six TV satellite trucks were parked on the block or around the corner from his Manhattan apartment, with a stream of TV reporters doing their stand ups. There were bouquets, letters and candles piled in front of the building.

A handwritten letter on plain white paper anchored by votive candles read:

"Heath, how could anyone hate 10 things about you. We couldn't find one bad thing about you. God bless your soul, you're in our prayers."

A sad day........

2008-01-22T20:13:00.000-05:00

Breaking news
A Great young Actor is dead...

NEW YORK - Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday in a Manhattan apartment, naked in bed with sleeping pills nearby, police said. The Australian-born actor was 28.

There was no obvious indication of suicide, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

Ledger’s publicist, Mara Buxbaum, issued a statement this Tuesday night, saying, “We are all deeply saddened and shocked by this accident. This is an extremely difficult time for his loved ones and we are asking the media to please respect the family’s privacy.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if Ledger had committed suicide. He had an appointment for a massage at the residence in the tony neighborhood of SoHo, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. A housekeeper who went to let him know the massage therapist had arrived and found him unconscious at 3:26 p.m.

According to The New York Times, his body was moved to the floor, and after receiving no response from the actor after shaking him, the masseuse and housekeeper called authorities.

“We are investigating the possibility of an overdose,” Browne said. “There were pills within the vicinity of the bed.”

A source told msnbc.com's Courtney Hazlett that Ledger had been turning down roles lately.

The Times initially reported that Ledger was found in an apartment owned by actress Mary-Kate Olsen, but a spokesperson for the actress, who is at the Sundance Film Festival, later told the Times the apartment was not Olsen's.

A large crowd of paparazzi and gawkers began gathering Tuesday evening outside the building on the upscale block, where several police officers guarded the door. According to The Times, city workers rolled Ledger’s body, encased in a black body bag, out of the building on a stretcher.

An autopsy was planned for Wednesday, medical examiner’s office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.

While not a marquee movie star, Ledger was a respected, award-winning actor who chose his roles carefully rather than cashing in on his heartthrob looks. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as a gay cowboy in “Brokeback Mountain,” where he met Michelle Williams, who played his wife in the film. The two had a daughter, now 2-year-old Matilda, and lived together in Brooklyn until they split up last year.

It was a shocking and unforeseen conclusion for one of Hollywood’s bright young stars. Though his leading man looks propelled him to early stardom in films like “10 Things I Hate About You” and “A Knight’s Tale,” his career took a notable turn toward dramatic and brooding roles with 2001’s “Monster’s Ball.”

“I had such great hope for him,” said Mel Gibson, who played Ledger’s vengeful father in “The Patriot,” in a statement from the actor’s publicist. “He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”

Ledger eschewed Hollywood glitz in favor of a bohemian life in Brooklyn, where he was one of the borough’s most famous residents. “Brokeback” would be his breakthrough role, establishing him as one of his generation’s finest talents and an actor willing to take risks.

Ledger began to gravitate more toward independent fare, including Lasse Hallstrom’s “Casanova” and Terry Gilliam’s “The Brothers Grimm,” both released in 2005. His 2006 film “Candy” now seems destined to have an especially haunting quality: In a particularly realistic performance, Ledger played a poet wrestling with a heroin addiction along with his girlfriend, played by Abbie Cornish.

But Ledger’s most recent choices were arguably the boldest yet: He co-starred in “I’m Not There,” in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan — as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday for best supporting actress.

And in what may be his final finished performance, Ledger proved that he wouldn’t be intimidated by taking on a character as iconic as Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Ledger’s version of the Batman villain, glimpsed in early teaser trailers, made it clear that his Joker would be less comical and more depraved and dark.

Curiosity to see Ledger’s final performance will likely further stoke interest in the summer blockbuster. “Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan said earlier this month that Ledger’s performance as the Joker would be wildly different than Jack Nicholson’s memorable turn in 1989’s “Batman.”

“It was a very great challenge for Heath,” Nolan said. “He’s extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy. A very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic.”

Ledger told The New York Times in a November interview that he “stressed out a little too much” during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.”

“Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night,” Ledger told the newspaper. “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.” He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour, the paper said.

Before settling down with Williams, Ledger had relationships with actresses Heather Graham and Naomi Watts. He met Watts while working on “The Lords of Dogtown,” a fictionalized version of a cult classic skateboarding documentary, in 2004.

Quarantine

2008-01-20T04:19:00.000-05:00

I have to say not the best Atlantis episode I have seen this season.

The John and Teyla part in Rodney's lab was funny, him worrying if she was going to have the baby there with him like in the movies..LOL.

Ronon and Keller making lovey dovie eyes at each other...eww

And yes Ronon you were right that you thought she was weak.

And unless you happened to see a certain British SCIFI movie you won't get the #42 bit.

Loved the look on Radek's face when Carter took her jacket off in the transporter and he got an eye full.

Loved the way Radek came crashing into the power room...had a feeling as he was come to the junction that he would be going strait down.

John climbing the tower....almost falling *gasp*

Nice seeing Evan and Chuck again....Chuck out of the control room!!!

Rodney trying to open the door with a trowel.....come on!!

And I think Katie has been hanging around Rodney's plant to much...the way she said that it kept growing bigger and bigger....*ahem*

I give this episode a 5 out of 10.

Spoils of War

2008-01-12T02:25:00.000-05:00

Another well done epi

Well now we know why the Wraith needed a ZPM....to make wraith clones.

And the birth was of of a full grown adult wraith from a pod :cower:

Locker room scene!!! to bad it was in the armory.

Shep and the boys get stunned again.

I hope John does not have to go up against to many more Queens...all that kneeling is going to wear them out.

Was it just me or did the baby inside Teyla making her stronger sound like it was used for something before...like a different show or movie?

And now the buddy Wraith has his name Todd.

Loved the talk between Teyla and Lorne.

And the standoff between the Queen and Teyla in the queens mind was very well done.

Teyla "talking" via the Queen was just strange.

Loved the Kamikaze run at the clone base with the hive ship.I guess they reused the set from Reunion.

And the talk between John and Teyla at the end really got to me as she knew he was trying to keep her and the baby from harm.

BAMSR

2008-01-05T03:56:00.001-05:00

OMG!!!! I loved this epi!!

Loved the way Sam stood up for Rodney against Ellis...You go girl!

John...John..when will you learn not to trust a Wraith?

Shep...stunned and tied up again!

Like the Teyla and Ronon bit when she told them she was with child ( and we know that Kanan is the daddy).

And I also had a feeling that John was going to be the way he was when he found out about Teyla being pregnant.

Loved seeing Larrin again and the remarks between her and John were great.

The parts with Rodney and Radek were well done also.

And OMG!!! Weir's back!!! but is it the real Liz or another repi-Weir?

Love the Colonel, Colonel, Colonel's, Colonel, Colonel's line.

Have not seen such a great space battle since Star Wars

Pay It Forward

2007-12-26T17:58:00.001-05:00

Pay It Forward

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

How rare is your Personality?

2007-12-08T20:32:00.000-05:00

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISFP)

Your personality type is caring, peaceful, artistic, and calm.

Only about 7% of all people have your personality, including 8% of all women and 6% of all men
You are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

What Color Crayon am I?

2007-12-08T20:30:00.001-05:00

You Are an Orange Crayon

Your world is colored with offbeat, confident, and stimulating colors.
You have a personality that's downright weird - and you wouldn't change it for anything.
Loud and expressive, you voice your opinions fearlessly and strongly.
And while you have a strong personality, you can be friends with almost anyone.

Your color wheel opposite is blue. Your confidence is something blue people truly envy.

What Color Crayon Are You?

What Holiday am I

2007-12-08T20:25:00.000-05:00

You Are Christmas

More than most people, you are able to find magic in life's small moments.
Traditions mean a lot to you, and you tend to be quite nostalgic.
You are a giving, kind person who really understands the true meaning of holidays.
You inspire others to be as altruistic and caring as you are.

What makes you celebrate: Tradition and a generous spirit

At holiday get togethers, you do best as: The storyteller. You like to recount memories with everyone.

On a holiday, you're the one most likely to: Give a gift to everyone you know

What Holiday Are You?

This Mortial Coil

2007-12-08T03:21:00.000-05:00

OK a little to much of the SG-1 episode Tin Man for me.

I did think it was interesting on how they found out that this "team" was different (Shep gets hit on the forehead) gets hurt, goes to see Keller and no wound.

Then I guess John does the same cut hand test to Ronon and Teyla before they get to Rodney. Also they were (except for John) all wearing they old style jacket.
Had a feeling Keller was not telling the truth when she would not show John the scanner screen.

Liz as we find out (the real Liz) is dead and had been for some months after her capture.

Like the line John said when seeing himself again "Great the last time I came to face with myself I ended up kicking my own Ass".

Dueling Rodney speak

Like the John's playing off each other.

The Ronon's and Telya's did nothing for me.

And The Seer was right...Atlantis was destroyed .....just the other "teams" Atlantis as I thought it was.

Nice dupe by the other team when the replicators found them and they died saving our guys.

Poor Rodney now blames himself for the deaths of Liz as well as Carson.

Must say..not much of a cluffy compared to years past.

give it a 7 out of 10

Millers Crossing

2007-12-01T02:27:00.000-05:00

Wow what a episode!!!!!

Love the brother sister snark between Rodney and Jeanie.

Love the Nancy Drew and Let's face it your no John Sheppard lol remarks from Jeanie.

Ronon looked very un Erath like even in civvies, and the bit with him and Walter in the Mess Hall was a riot.. I bet Walter never thought that Ronon does not even know what Bingo is.

Of course John was great in all his parts, but more so when talking Rodney out of offering himself to help save his sisters life.

OMG!!! A Wraith on Earth....what was going through there heads!!! Yeah I know it was to help Jeanie but what if he had gotten lose.

And Rodney willing to sacrifice his life to the Wraith so it could help save his sister was very un Rodney like then we have seen in the past. Glad to see sometimes he is willing to step up to the plate and do something very brave to help someone else.

And I loved they way John persuaded Mr. Wallace into "helping" the Wraith with it's food so it could save Jeanie.

And Rodney called Shep "John" again ...squeeee

The Seer

2007-11-17T03:23:00.001-05:00

OK for once I am going for good but not great with this epi.

Keller, Carter, Teyla and Ronon just seemed waisted in it.

Woolsey brought some comic relief but was just a pain as always and tried to get his way in the end.

Loved it when Carter had him come along to meet Todd the Wraith :lol:

John in the chair :faint: :faint: :ascend:

OMG!!! a Wraith with a sense of humor ....now that's scary.

Loved the snark between John and the Wraith.

And I guess Rodney believes in visions now.

Oh yeah and now we know that Teyla's people are still alive and that she is with child.

Both Davos and his daughter did nothing for me in the epi..except tweak it in the right way..other then that they were flat and boring.

Missing

2007-11-10T02:01:00.001-05:00

Teyla absolutely rocked in this episode! I especially love the way she managed Keller, a completely inexperienced non-combatant, throughout the episode. Teyla was a hard ass or supportive and encouraging, as needed, and bound and determined to keep Keller alive. Not to mention kicking some major ass. We definitely get to see why she is the leader of her people in this episode.

Loved the scene where Teyla was fighting the Bola Kai with the knife and Keller was holding the scalpel. lol

Wonders if we will find out if her people are alive or dead any time soon.

And wow a Genii spy in the camp that turned out to be a Wraith worshiper...interesting.

And Keller took charge at the end with Nabel and even shot him in the leg to get him to back off.

Get bits with John, Rodney and Ronon (as always) John and Rodney doing the Bad men from Batman game. And then Ronon bringing up the arrow in the butt bit with Rodney again.

So I wonder what news Keller as to tell Teyla ????

Tabula Rasa

2007-11-07T02:42:00.001-05:00

I loved Tabula Rasa alot.

The whole amnesia bit I thought was great.

Rodney tied to the table was great and made even more eerie when he watched the tape of himself and needing to find Teyla.

Lorne and his group hopped up on stims was great as well. Goes to show you what can happen when you take to many and still have a mission on your mind to finish.

Katie naming that plant after Rodney was priceless LOL

Rodney betting Shep that he (John) would lose his memory first was funny (would they remember the bet?)

Ronon stunning John "this never gets old" and tying him up in the PJ was great...they had alot of good scenes in this epi playing off each other.

Got a kick out of the part when Katie wakes up and in true Rodney forum he is eating her dinner. LOL

Rodney looking after Katie at the end... sob***

Loved the line Ronon said to John "It's in your blood – literally." I said literally at the same time Jason did and I had no idea he was going to say it.

Liked to see Ronon using his brain more then we have seen in the past...I hope they do more of him like that.

Keller was much better in this epi then in the others in this season so far.

Travelers

2007-10-27T02:01:00.000-04:00

At last Shep gets whumped and we get to see some damage done to him (don't really like it but hey..) I mean he has gotten whumped before but never a mark on him to show for it except once or twice...this time a cut and blood to prove he is hurt.

Poor John now he knows another female besides Teyla that can kick his butt.

John and Larrin in a small storage closet *faint* *faint *faint* *ascend* Boy Jill was lucky in that scene..and bit his hand as well.

Loved the Ronon would do anything to get John back speech....bravo *clap*

Yeah more Lorne!!!

John when will you ever learn not to kiss someone that has kidnapped you.

Loved the scene in the docking bay when they removed the floor from under John and he was left floating there above another ship.....way cool effects.

Doppelganger

2007-10-20T01:51:00.000-04:00

WOW another great action filled and some what creepy episode.

John touches a crystal and everyone that he touched or is later touched by said person has bad dreams with him in them.

Kudos to JF for playing 4 different roles in this episode, John,evil John, Icky Shep (I bet Joe was not very happy when he got the call sheet to do that role again) and clown John.

Loved the Teyla "Alien" bit. And even though it was acting I bet Jason M was freaked out to be buried alive.

Loved the Rodney dream bit and how he went back in to help John fight himself.

So the only thing besides clowns that John fears is himself...interesting, I hope more is done on that subject.

SHEP WHUMP!!!! Shep fighting Shep was just WOW!!!

That fight scene must have been very hard to shoot since he was fighting himself.

Love the Goatee question

Reunion

2007-10-12T23:50:00.000-04:00

What a epi.

Great story line....though not enough Shep in it for me.

Ronon finds some friends he thought were killed during the war.

Loved how John thought the fruit basket Rodney had was lame, then he gives it to Sam himself and she is all happy about it.

The Teyla/ Ronon sparring match reminded me to much of Star Wars and Luke's training with the Lightsaber.

Poor John and Teyla get stunned again...and John gets it just after he comes around after the first stunning.

It figures that when Rodney heard what their new leader had in talent he just knew it was going to be him..and it turned out to be Sam.

The heart to heart talk between John and Ronon about him leaving Atlantis was interesting because "it never happened".

And boy was Ronon in for a shock when he found out his so called friends were Wriath worshiper's and that he would be killed if he did not join them....boy did he kick their arses.

Great scene at the end when Sam asked him where his friends were and she looked around and said "right here"

And Rodney taking Ronon's painting.....priceless.

Lifeline

2007-10-07T02:07:00.000-04:00

Another great epi.

Loved how they used Weir to help them get a ZPM and how to get a code into the core of the replicators to stop going after them and hit the Wraith instead.

Joe was once again just above and beyond his normal acting as John. You feel all the pain he goes through when they lose Weir to the replicators.

Great John and Ronon parts.

Atlantis is found!!! (again)

John landing the city.

Tons of snark.

Loved the "Timmy torture" line, it is right up there with the "Doctor Fumbles McStupid"

The double moon night was very cool looking.

2007-10-03T23:28:00.000-04:00

WOW what a way to start the season!!!

Loved the part when John reminded Rodney that with Weir hurt that he was in control.

Still lots of snark between John and Rodney....and OMG Rodney called Shep by his first name for the first time in all the seasons.

Liked that they used more jumpers in this episode to knock out lots of Asteroids from hitting the city with most of the shield down to just the tower.

The effects for John and Radek's space walk were (pardon the pun) out of this world.

Keller was great in this epi and hard a tough call when it came to getting John's help and not so much Rodney's help to allow her to get the nanites inside Weir to be re-activated in order to save her life.

Carter and Bill on the Midway station were trying to find out what happened to Atlantis after Ellis contacted them via the gate system.

I must say that JF went above and beyond his normal roll as Shep in this epi...and I can't wait to see what happens next week.

Fav quote from Adrift: "If you dumb this down any more I am going to hit you"

When the rest of S4 starts

2007-09-27T21:45:00.000-04:00

mammal alert

2007-09-27T01:07:00.000-04:00

Well I just about had a heart attack thanks to some noises I heard at the basement window. I went over put the blind up and there not even seeing me was a rather big and mean looking Possum. It did not even run when I shined my flashlight in it face ( from inside our home, but it did after I hit the window with my hand. First time I saw one hanging around our place and I hope I won't see one for a ever long time.

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!

2007-09-22T21:28:00.000-04:00

How stupid do these "people" think I am!

Toyota Car Promotions
25 Atlantic Avenue Erlanger
United Kingdom
CVR-nr. 25554493.

This is to inform you that have been selected for a Cash prize of
£600,000.00 GBP (Six Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds) and a
Brand New Toyota Car (Toyota Prius) in our International program which
was
held in SEPTEMBER, 2007 in London UK.
The selection process was carried out through a random selection in our
computerized E-mail Selection System (ESS) from a database of over
500,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world.

To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact your Claims
Officer through our accredited Prize Transfer agents as stated below:

Mr James Cole.
Email:

When contacting him, please provide him with your secret Pin Code
TY7448500 and your Reference Number 799BV90. You are also advised to
provide him with the under-listed information as soon as possible:
CLAIMS REQURIEMENTS:
1. Full Name:
2. Address:
3. Nationality:
4. Age:
5. Sex:
6. Occupation:
7. Phone/Fax:
8. Present Country:

If you DO NOT contact your claims agent within 7 working days of this
notification, your winnings would be REVOKED.

Regards
Mr Morris Lee.
Lottery Manager

I would never buy one of these cars let alone enter a contest overseas to win one. *rolleyes*

Another scam e-mail

2007-09-19T22:04:00.000-04:00

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!! like I am going to give them my personal info for this crap!
-------------------------------------------
Dear Sir/Madam,

NOTIFICATION OF PAYMENT VIA ATM CARD

This is to officially inform you that we have verified your contract file
presently on my desk, and I found out that you have not received your
payment due to your lack of co-operation and not fulfilling the
obligations giving to you in respect to your contract payment.

Secondly, you are hereby advised to stop dealing with some non-officials in
the bank as this is an illegal act and will have to stop if you so wish to
receive your payment immediately.

After the Board of director's meeting held in Abuja,we have resolved in
finding a solution to your problem.We have arranged your payment through
our SWIFT CARD PAYMENT CENTER in Europe, America,Africa and Asia
Pacific,This is part of an ion/mandate passed by the Senate in respect to
overseas contract payment and debt re-scheduling.

And also the Nigerian Government is using this mean to rewards all the
citizens of the United states and all part of Europe including
Asia,Australia, south America, Antarctica e.t.c and all those who have lost
their funds in either scam, or an uncompleted business, or otherwise,You
should know that if you are interested to receive your ATM card which will
be credited with $920,000 united states dollars before it is been sent to
you direct to your doorstep through the Fedex courier service,you will
have to respond to me with your full informations, After your response you
will be directed to the Fedex shipping courier representative whose name
is Mr Emmanuel Ajuzie.

He will send you your ATM CARD which you will use to withdraw your money
via ATM MACHINE in any part of the world,and the maximum daily limitis
Fifteen Thousand United States Dollars($15,000.00). And also note that the
Nigerian Government has taken care of the shipping fee of your ATM card,
So if Mr Emmanuel is requesting for another shipping fee, You will have to
report him to me immediately. When you receive your ATM card, you have to
alert me so that we can give you process of how to activate and make use
of.

If you like to receive your fund this way,Kindly contact me with the
following informations below.

(1) Your Full Name.
(2) Full residential address.
(3) Phone And Fax Number.
(4) Occupation.
(5) personal identification.

This message is supported by the Nigerian Government, After you might have
started making use of your ATM card, you can reward my firm one way or the
other you knows best.

Thanks for your co-operation.

Respectively
Mr Usman Shamsuddeen
Minister, Federal Ministry Of Finance,

CC: SENATE PRESIDENT
CC: ALL FOREIGN PAYMENT OFFICES
CC: BOARD OF DIRECTORS [CBN]
CC: ACCOUNTANT GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION

My name in Egypitan

2007-09-19T21:33:00.000-04:00

Jedi:

My Egyptian Name is Jendayi (thankful).
Take The Egyptian Name Generator today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

My real name:

My Egyptian Name is Hatshepsut (name of a queen).
Take The Egyptian Name Generator today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

Another scam e-mail

2007-09-06T21:54:00.000-04:00

How stupid do these people think I am?? I never played the lotto in the UK let alone over here.

Dear Prize Winner,

CONSOLATION
PRIZE
WINNER
NOTICE

Europe/ America private international e-games organizers and co-sponsors,
POWERBALL LOTTO Group International, officially bring to your notice of
the final draw result of the 30, 08, 2007 POWERBALL LOTTO -wheel E-game
which was conducted at our international corporate office complex in The
UNITED KINGDOM.

Most recently this foundation set up the NEW LOTTERY SCHEME to give out
prizes based on COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM. By doing this the foundation seek
to encourage the use of Internet for academic and business pursuits. Its
major aim is to promote music, theater, art,literature,projects in the
social and political arena with a focus on health, as well as science,
research, and higher education.

We wish to congratulate and inform you on the selection of your email
coupon number which was selected among the 12 lucky consolation prize
winners Your email ID identified with coupon No. PBL14081960 and was
selected by our E-games Random Selection System (ERSS) with entries from
over100,000 different email addresses enrolled for the E-game. Your email
ID was included among over 100,000 different email addresses submitted by
our partner international email provider companies. You have won a
consultation cash prize of $850,000.00 million (Eight hundred and fifty
thousand USD) only. The POWERBALL LOTTO Group. BV, have approved a payout
of your consultation cash prize which will be remunerated directly to you
by the official Payment Agency Board.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Coupon No. PBL14081960
Serial Number: 19445/02
Drew the Lucky Numbers: 00-7-50-1600-01

Our DUE PROCESS UNIT (DPU) will render to you complete assistance and
provide additional information and processes for the claims of your
consultation prize. For due processing of your winning claim, please
contact the DPU Information claim Officer Mr. Alvin Luggard who has been
assigned to assist you.You are to contact him immediatelly with your
contact details for the release of your winnings.Please see the email
below:

Claim Officer .
Mr. Alvin Lugwood.

Once again congratulations from all our staffs on your consoltation prize
winning, we hope you will part take our forth coming POWERBALL LOTTO
-wheel Email-games.

Regards
Mrs. Ofelia Levoir.
(Group Coordinator)

CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is
intended only for the use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain
information that is privileged, confidential and prohibited from
unauthorized disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended
recipient of this message, any dissemination, distribution or copying of
this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in
error, please notify the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of
the original message.

Enough with the scam e-mail already!!!!

2007-09-05T18:00:00.001-04:00

I am so sick of people thinking that I am dumb enough to fall for something like this

FUNDACION German Sanchez RUIPEREZ,
Would like to notify you that you have been chosen
By the board of trustees as one of the final recipients
Of a cash Grant/Donation For your own personal,
Educational, And business Development.

The FGSR, established many years ago by
The Multi-Million groups and now
Supported by the Shell Petroleum Company,
United Nations Organization (UNO) and the European
Union (EU) was conceived with the objective of human
Growth, educational, and community development.

The FGSR in conjunction with the Shell Petroleum Company,
United Nations Organization (UNO) and the European Union (EU)
Is giving out a yearly donation of Five hundred Thousand
United States Dollar. ($500,000.00) These specific Donations/Grants will
Be
Awarded to 50 lucky international recipients worldwide;
In different categories for their
Personal business development and enhancement of their educational
Plans.

At least 20% of the awarded funds should be used by you to
Develop a part of your environment. This is a yearly program,
This is a measure of universal development strategy.
Please quote your qualification numbers to our secretary for security
Reasons.
Qualification numbers (N_3324_0667_22) quote in all
Discussions.

Contact information below:
Executive Secretary- Mrs. Alfonso Ordonez.

You are by all means hereby advised to keep this whole information
Confidential until you have been able to collect your donation, as
There have been many cases of double and unqualified claim, due to
Beneficiaries informing third parties about his/her donation.

Regards.
Executive director
LOPEZ CARLOS
FGSR. (OFFICE).

Yeah like I am really going to give them personal info.

Joe Flanigan's Birthday

2007-09-05T03:35:00.000-04:00

Count down to Atlantis S4

2007-09-03T00:15:00.000-04:00