Oscar Winner Wyman Dead at 93

Won Oscar for Charly , but never made top of Hollywood A-list

(NEWSER) - Cliff Robertson, the Oscar-winner for 1968's Charly who is best-known to today's generation as uncle Ben Parker in the Spider-Man movies, died yesterday at age 88, reports the LA Times . Described by Look magazine in 1963 as "one of the finest young actors in America today," Robertson won many plaudits for his theater and television work, and appeared in more than 50 movies—including Gidget, Three Days of the Condor, and Brainstorm—but never made the leap to the Hollywood A-list. More»

Oscar winner for 'Song of Bernadette' was Selznick's muse

(NEWSER) - Jennifer Jones, an Oscar winner for The Song of Bernadette and the widow of both legendary producer David O. Selznick and industrialist Norton Simon, died today in Malibu. She was 90. Selznick plucked Jones from obscurity by casting her in Bernadette (1943) and launching a career that included four more Academy Award nominations. "I cried all the way through Bernadette because Jennifer was so moving and because I realized then I had lost the award," fellow nominee Ingrid Bergman recalled. More»

Roger Corman, Gordon Willis, John Calley share the spotlight

(NEWSER) - A mere 65 years after her unforgettable screen debut, Lauren Bacall has won an Academy Award. The honorary Oscar was a high point of a ceremony last night in Los Angeles that also celebrated the careers of filmmaker Roger Corman, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and producer John Calley. "I can't believe it, a man at last!" the 85-year-old Bacall joked as she hoisted her new hardware. More»

(NEWSER) - Down-to-earth stage and screen actor James Whitmore died of lung cancer in Malibu today, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was 87. Known for his supporting roles and leads in films such as Battleground, Planet of the Apes, and The Shawshank Redeption, the Emmy and Tony Award winner preferred theater. "The stage is human beings sharing something together—flesh and blood together," Whitmore said. More»

Pat Hingle, veteran tough-guy actor, mentored young

(NEWSER) - Actor Pat Hingle—whose characters included Commissioner Gordon in the '90s Batman movies and Norma Rae's father in the 1979 film—has died of blood cancer at his Carolina Beach home at the age of 84, the Wilmington Star-News reports. The Tony Award nominee and Broadway star had said he was happy to spend his last days in North Carolina, where he launched an endowment to mentor student actors. More»