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A spokesman for Blake Edwards says the filmmaker has died in Southern California at age 88. Publicist Gene Schwam says Edwards died from complications of pneumonia at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica. His wife, Julie Andrews, and other family members were at his side. Edwards directed "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "The Pink Panther" and many other popular films. He also was a screenwriter, producer and actor.

WHO-TV in Des Moines is reporting that the "Van Meter Heater", Iowa's greatest-ever baseball player, Bob Feller has died in a Cleveland hospice at the age of 92

Garry Gross, a fashion photographer for 30 years who was best known for controversial photos of an unclothed 10-year-old Brooke Shields, died on Nov. 30 at his home in Manhattan. Mr. Gross, who in recent years had focused his cameras on dogs, was 73. He died of natural causes, his sister, Linda Gross, said. In 1975, before Ms. Shields became known as a child actress, her mother, Teri, signed a contract allowing Mr. Gross to take a series of photos of Brooke, in thick makeup and bejeweled, sitting and standing in a steaming, opulently decorated bathtub. Mother and daughter received...

He developed the idea in the early 1970s on expeditions to the Franconian Jura mountains, when he would paint a red “x” on each piton he could avoid using for a foot- or handhold. Once he was able to complete a route avoiding all of them, he would paint a red dot at the base of the climb so that others could have a go. Albert’s “redpoints” sparked the development of the sport climbing movement and the term “redpoint” is used as a measure of performance.... A turning point in his life came in 1973 during a trip to the...

Carlton "King" Coleman, a pioneer in American rhythm and blues, died Saturday morning from heart failure at a Miami hospice, his son said. He was 78. Coleman was known for providing the lead vocals on the 1959 hit "(Do The) Mashed Potatoes," recorded with James Brown's band. According to a 2003 Miami New Times article, Brown had initially planned to do the vocals himself, but a dispute with his record label made that impossible. To avoid any lawsuits from Brown's label, a Miami producer had Coleman sing on the mostly instrumental track, while the group officially credited with the song...

A violent leftist jailed 25 years for her role in some of the most notorious radical acts of the early 1980s has died in Brooklyn. Marilyn Buck was 62 and had been paroled from a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas on July 15. She died Tuesday. In 1981, Buck was part of group of militants who ambushed a Brink's armored car at a mall north of New York City. A guard and two police officers were killed during the heist.

WAYNE, N.J. (AP) -- Stage and screen actor Dan Resin, who portrayed the dapper Ty-D-Bol man in television commercials for the toilet bowl cleaner, has died. He was 79. Resin also played Dr. Beeper, the snobbish physician and country club member in the classic comedy film "Caddyshack."

AP) - Mitch Miller, the goateed orchestra leader who asked Americans to "Sing Along With Mitch" on television and records, died Saturday at age 99. Miller was a key exec at Columbia Records in the pre-rock 'n' roll era, making hits with singers Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page, Johnny Mathis, and Tony... Read more: http://www.newser.com/tag/54238/1/mitch-miller.html#ixzz0vTXIpyy6

Sergio "El Shaka" Vega, a Mexican musician famous for his songs about drug barons, was murdered Saturday night while driving in his red Cadillac to a concert in Sinaloa state in northwest Mexico. Only hours before the attack, the 40-year-old Mexican singer had publicly denied rumors that he had been murdered, reports the BBC. "It's happened to me for years now, someone tells a radio station or a newspaper I've been killed, or suffered an accident," Mr Vega told entertainment website La Oreja according to the BBC. ...the musician was gunned down by unknown men who were following him while...

Pete Quaife, who died on June 24 aged 66, was a founder member of The Kinks and played bass guitar on their biggest hits, including You Really Got Me, All Day and All of the Night and Dedicated Follower of Fashion; in the early 1970s he abandoned the music scene to make his living as a graphic artist.

I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side… Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds. — Robert C. Byrd, in a letter to Sen. Theodore Bilbo (D-MS), 1944 (Newsbusters)- When Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond died, the MSM was quick to stress his segregationist past. The New York Times ran the headline “Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100,” leaving...

Three rifle volleys echoed through the Hills Tuesday afternoon, bidding farewell to the nation’s last Oglala Lakota code talker. Clarence Wolf Guts, an 86-year-old World War II veteran, was laid to rest in the Black Hills National Cemetery with the Lord’s Prayer and drum beat resonating inside the rock rotunda. A procession of 30 vehicles -- including one white Chevy Impala with the sign “We love you Grandpa Clarence, forever in our heart.” -- followed a white van that carried Wolf Guts from a traditional Lakota ceremony in Wanblee to Sturgis. A crowd of over 60 traveled to pay their...

Bill Holloman, a Tuskegee Airman, didn't stop serving his country when his active duty as one of the United States' first African-American combat pilots ended after World War II. He was called back to service in the Korean War and became the Air Force's first black helicopter pilot. He went to war again in Vietnam. During the nearly four decades after he retired from the Army, he served his country in a different way: by teaching younger generations how war and aviation intersected in a way that helped end centuries of racial separation. Lt. Col. William H. Holloman III, a...

Chris Haney, one of the co-creators of the wildly successful board game Trivial Pursuit, died in Toronto Monday at the age of 59.

Gary Coleman has died at 42, RadarOnline.com has learned. Coleman had been hospitalized in Provo, Utah since Wednesday, May 26, after suffering what his family called "a serious medical problem."

Ronnie James Dio, whose soaring vocals, poetic lyrics and mythic tales of a never-ending struggle between good and evil broke new ground in heavy metal, died Sunday, according to a statement from his wife and manager. He was 67.

Frank Frazetta, the great painter of fantasy book covers, has died. The artist, most closely associated with Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Barbarian" character, was the subject of the 2003 documentary "Frazetta: Painting With Fire." After a series of strokes, Frazetta trained himself to paint using his left hand. His signature work often featured bare-chested "sword and sorcery" heroes, helpless women and fantasy creatures. His paintings often sell in the million-dollar range. Frazetta was 82

GORDON SWIRE IS SUPPOSED to be sitting next to Ben in this Cadillac. Gordon's the man who inadvertently changed rock'n'roll history - and a good few other things - by introducing his art school pal Malcolm McLaren to his married sister Vivienne Westwood back in 1966. And Ben? He's the art photographer who's Vivienne's son and thus McLaren's step-son. Ben is driving his American motor in the McLaren funeral cortège - a horse-drawn hearse, a dozen limos and a double decker battle bus - that's heading towards Highgate Cemetery. But Gordon Swire's not in the front passenger seat because...

A vocal dwarf activist for issues ranging from gay and disabled rights to transportation was struck and killed by a taxi as he left a meeting on the Lower East Side, authorities said yesterday. Harry Wieder, 57, walked with crutches from a meeting of Community Board 3 Tuesday evening at PS 20, then crossed Essex Street in the middle of the block and was hit by a yellow cab, fellow board members said.