obituary – News Stories About obituary - Page 135

Apr 5, 2008 11:50 PM CDT

Charlton Heston Dead at 84

Longtime leading man, former NRA president, had Alzheimer's

(Newser) - Charlton Heston, the longtime Hollywood leading man who portrayed everyone from Moses to Michelangelo and won an Oscar for his chariot-driving performance in Ben Hur, has died at age 84, the AP reports. Heston, who announced in 2002 that he had Alzheimer's, became the unapologetic head of the NRA in...

Film Noir
Master
Dassin
Dead at 96

Obituary

Apr 1, 2008 7:53 AM CDT

Film Noir Master Dassin Dead at 96

American director made classic Rififi in France

(Newser) - Jules Dassin, a master of film noir who left Hollywood after being blacklisted, has died in an Athens hospital at the age of 96, reports the Los Angeles Times. Born to Russian Jewish immigrants in Connecticut, Dassin made such dark crime dramas as Brute Force and The Naked City in...

'Killing Fields'
Photog Dith
Dead at 65

Obituary

Mar 30, 2008 12:39 PM CDT

'Killing Fields' Photog Dith Dead at 65

Times photojournalist and anti-Khmer Rouge crusader had pancreatic cancer

(Newser) - Photojournalist Dith Pran, whose saga was re-created in the film The Killing Fields, has died of pancreatic cancer at 65, the New York Times reports. The Cambodian native became the Khmer Rouge's most vocal opponent after escaping in 1979, having worked in labor camps and survived on a spoonful of...

McMuffin Man Dead at 89

Mar 27, 2008 2:45 AM CDT

McMuffin Man Dead at 89

Herb Peterson invented fast-food breakfast in a sandwich

(Newser) - The inventor of the Egg McMuffin has died in his Southern California home at the age of 89, AP reports. Herb Peterson began working with McDonald's in the advertising department, and later switched to the hands-on side of the business, owning six restaurants in the Santa Barbara area. Peterson,...

'Fifth Beatle' Aspinall Dies at 66

Obituary

Mar 25, 2008 7:59 AM CDT

'Fifth Beatle' Aspinall Dies at 66

First road manager became guardian of group's legacy

(Newser) - "Fifth Beatle" Neil Aspinall, the first road manager of the legendary band who later ran the Beatles' recording company, has died from lung cancer. Aspinall, 66, was the chief guardian of the group's musical legacy after the Beatles broke up. "He vigorously fought to protect the Beatles franchise,...

Actor Paul Scofield Dead at 86

Mar 20, 2008 7:25 AM CDT

Actor Paul Scofield Dead at 86

British star of stage and screen won Oscar for A Man for All Seasons

(Newser) - Paul Scofield, the British actor who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons, has died at the age of 86. His agent told Reuters that the actor, who eschewed Hollywood stardom for smaller film roles and a robust theater career, had been...

Former Child Pilot
Commits Suicide

Mar 19, 2008 10:06 AM CDT

Former Child Pilot Commits Suicide

Youngest person to ever cross the Atlantic dead at 26

(Newser) - Vicki Van Meter, the girl who at age 11 astounded the nation with a 5-hour cross-country flight, is dead at 26, the AP reports, of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Van Meter’s trans-continental flight was a record at the time, and a year later she became the youngest pilot...

Arthur C. Clarke Is Dead at 90

Mar 18, 2008 8:55 PM CDT

Arthur C. Clarke Is Dead at 90

'2001' author shaped space-age thought

(Newser) - Arthur C. Clarke, the sci-fi author who helped shape 20th-century scientific imagination, is dead at 90, the New York Times reports. The co-creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey faced post-polio syndrome in recent decades and died at his home in Sri Lanka due to breathing trouble. “No one can...

Director Minghella
Dead at 54

Mar 18, 2008 11:02 AM CDT

Director Minghella Dead at 54

Filmmaker won Oscar in 1997 for The English Patient

(Newser) - Academy Award-winning director Anthony Minghella died today at 54, the Guardian reports. Minghella won the 1997 best director Oscar for The English Patient and was nominated as a screenwriter for The Talented Mr. Ripley in 2000. "This is a shattering blow from someone who was a major figure in...

Hundreds
Mourn Metzenbaum

Mar 17, 2008 5:07 AM CDT

Hundreds Mourn Metzenbaum

Ex-Ohio senator fondly recalled as truth-teller, dreamer

(Newser) - Hundreds of relatives, friends, and fellow politicians gathered outside Cleveland yesterday for the funeral of Howard Metzenbaum, recalling the ex-senator as a fighter for the little guy and a self-made millionaire who never forgot his modest roots, the Plain Dealer reports. "No one . . . was a better ally or a...

Ohio's 'Senator No' Metzenbaum Dead at 90

OBIT

Mar 13, 2008 3:20 AM CDT

Ohio's 'Senator No' Metzenbaum Dead at 90

Crusading Democrat took on big business in long Senate career

(Newser) - Former Ohio senator Howard Metzenbaum has died at home at the age of 90, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Democrat, his views shaped by the Great Depression and FDR's policies, fought hard for the rights of workers during a political career that began in 1943. Colleagues nicknamed the self-made...

Dungeons & Dragons Co-Creator Dead at 69

Mar 5, 2008 3:29 AM CST

Dungeons & Dragons Co-Creator Dead at 69

Gary Gygax rocked the gaming world

(Newser) - Widely revered Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax, regarded as the father of role-playing games, has died at his home in Wisconsin after years of health problems, AP reports. He was 69. Together with Dave Arneson, Gygax created the massively popular medieval fantasy Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 that struck...

Famed Tenor di Stefano Dead

Mar 4, 2008 9:53 AM CST

Famed Tenor di Stefano Dead

Brilliant but erratic tenor succumbed to injuries from 2004 attack

(Newser) - Giuseppe di Stefano, the tenor whose short but brilliant career made him an operatic legend, died yesterday at his home near Milan. He was 86. His widow told reporters his death resulted from head injuries dating to 2004, when robbers in Kenya left him temporarily comatose. Di Stefano's superb voice...

Blind Guitarist Healey Dead at 41

Mar 3, 2008 3:25 PM CST

Blind Guitarist Healey Dead at 41

Celebrated Canadian musician recalled for versatility

(Newser) - Acclaimed guitarist Jeff Healey died of cancer at 41 yesterday after battling the disease throughout his life, the Globe and Mail reports. Healey, who lost his eyesight as a child to retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer, sold more than a million albums in the US, racking up hits such...

Buckley Leaves Conservatism Up the Creek

OPINION

Mar 2, 2008 5:45 PM CST

Buckley Leaves Conservatism Up the Creek

No clear inheritor to his thoughtful movement, says Newsweek writer

(Newser) - William F. Buckley may have been the architect of the modern conservative movement, but what will it do without him? Evan Thomas even wonders, in Newsweek, if what he created still exists at all. Buckley was “a man who could spar intensely with the late liberal icons…and then...

Writers Parse Buckley's Legacy

OPINION

Feb 28, 2008 3:36 PM CST

Writers Parse Buckley's Legacy

What ended his brand of conservatism—or does it endure?

(Newser) - William F. Buckley Jr. was a titan on the political scene, carving out his own brand of conservatism. But one day after his death, writers differ on his legacy:

At Slate, Timothy Noah notes Buckley’s more noxious stances—defending segregationists and Joe McCarthy—and says it’s good fortune

...

William F. Buckley Jr. Dies at 82

UPDATED

Feb 27, 2008 10:32 AM CST

William F. Buckley Jr. Dies at 82

Influential conservative columnist founded National Review

(Newser) - Conservative columnist and editor William F. Buckley Jr. died today at age 82; he suffered from diabetes and emphysema. Buckley founded the opinion magazine National Review, hosted the show “Firing Line” and wrote 45 books. The author of God and Man at Yale and defender of Joe McCarthy was...

Auto Worker Powerhouse Doug Fraser
Dead at 91

Feb 25, 2008 2:47 AM CST

Auto Worker Powerhouse Doug Fraser Dead at 91

Ex union boss helped save Chrysler from ruin

(Newser) - Former United Auto Workers president Doug Fraser, who played a vital role in saving Chrysler from bankruptcy, died yesterday at age 91. The cause of death was unknown, but Fraser had been suffering from emphysema, the Detroit Free Press reports. As UAW president during the ’70s and ’80s,...

Literary Pioneer, Filmmaker
Robbe-Grillet Dead at 85

Feb 18, 2008 3:19 PM CST

Literary Pioneer, Filmmaker Robbe-Grillet Dead at 85

Developed the French 'new novel' style

(Newser) - French novelist and filmmaker Alain Robbe-Grillet died today at 85, AFP reports. A pioneer of the “new novel” literary style, he was best known in the US as the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Last Year at Marienbad (1961). "The Academie Francaise today loses one of its most illustrious members,...

RIP, Steve Fossett

Feb 16, 2008 5:44 AM CST

RIP, Steve Fossett

Daredevil declared dead five months after disappearance

(Newser) - He vanished on a routine flight five months ago, and now daredevil Steve Fossett has been declared dead at the age of 63, the AP reports. The famous world record breaker was last seen flying a small plane over western Nevada where 15-20 private planes have disappeared since 1950. The...