Bob May, Lost in Space Robot, Dies

(NEWSER) - John Forsythe, a versatile actor who gained lasting fame as Blake Carrington on the pioneering prime-time soap Dynasty and as the voice of the mysterious Charlie on Charlie's Angels, died yesterday in California. He was 92. Best known at the time as the affable star of Bachelor Father, Forsythe played a villainous judge in the 1979 Al Pacino vehicle And Justice for All, demonstrating he had the chops to channel the scheming Blake Carrington. More»

Appeared in Apocalypse Now , Outlaw Josey Wales

(NEWSER) - Actor Sam Bottoms, who appeared in Apocalypse Now and some 30 other films, died at his LA home this week of brain cancer at age 53, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bottoms began his film career at age 15 in The Last Picture Show and was cast as surfer Lance Johnson, a sailor who travels alongside Martin Sheen in 1979's Apocalypse. More»

(NEWSER) - Former film and TV heartthrob Van Johnson died today in New York of natural causes, Variety reports. He was 92. Johnson starred in many movies in the 1940s and 1950s, and was later nominated for an Emmy for his appearance on the TV show Rich Man, Poor Man. Dubbed the "non-singing Sinatra," the wholesome star married only once—a union that ended in what he called "the ugliest divorce in Hollywood history." More»

Eugene Polley created the Flash-Matic for Zenith in the 1950s

(AP) - Couch potatoes everywhere can pause and thank Eugene Polley for hours of feet-up channel surfing. His invention, the first wireless TV remote, began as a luxury, but with the introduction of hundreds of channels and viewing technologies it has become a necessity. Polley died of natural causes at a suburban Chicago hospital over the weekend. The former Zenith engineer was 96. More»

He was a longtime presence on Broadway, TV, and the big screen

(NEWSER) - Actor Ben Gazzara died of pancreatic cancer today, reports the New York Times . The obituary recounts a long and varied career on stage (a starring role in the original Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), television (Run for Your LIfe in the early '60s), and film (especially with director John Cassavetes in movies such as The Killing of a Chinese Bookie). He may be best known, however, for a wide range of supporting roles in movies such as Summer of Sam, Bandits, and the Big Lebowski. More»