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Shelley Berman, whose brittle persona and anxiety-ridden observations helped redefine stand-up comedy in the late 1950s and early ’60s, died early Friday morning at his home in Bell Canyon, Calif. He was 92. His publicist, Glenn Schwartz, said the cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Berman, one of the first comedians to have as much success on records as in person or on television, was in the vanguard of a movement that transformed the comedy monologue from a rapid-fire string of gags to something more subtle, more thoughtful and more personal. The comedians of the preceding generation, Gerald Nachman...

Richard Anderson, the Emmy-nominated actor who played Oscar Goldman in both hit 1970s series “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Bionic Woman,” died August 31. He was 91. Anderson’s credits spanned more than 180 film and TV roles over six decades after starting his Hollywood career as a messenger at MGM. But he will be best remembered for playing Goldman, the handler of the bionic duo played by Lee Majors and Lyndsay Wagner. Combined, the series ran for 150 episodes and several TV movies — two of which Anderson produced.

Tobe Hooper, the horror director best known for helming “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “Poltergeist,” died Saturday in Sherman Oaks, Calif., according to the Los Angeles County Coroner. He was 74. The circumstances of his death were not known. The 1974 “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” became one of the most influential horror films of all time for its realistic approach and deranged vision. Shot for less than $300,000, it tells the story of a group of unfortunate friends who encounter a group of cannibals on their way to visit an old homestead. Though it was banned in several countries...

Brian Aldiss, the “grand old man” of science fiction whose writing has shaped the genre since he was first published in the 1950s, has died at the age of 92. Aldiss’s agent, Curtis Brown, and his son, Tim Aldiss, have announced that the author, artist, poet and memoirist died at home in Oxford in the early hours of 19 August. “Brian had celebrated his birthday with close friends and family and spoken to many close to him,” wrote Tim on Twitter as he announced the death of “our beloved father and grandfather”. Aldiss was the author of science fiction classics...

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therealdickgregory It is with enormous sadness that the Gregory family confirms that their father, comedic legend and civil rights activist Mr. Dick Gregory departed this earth tonight in Washington, DC. The family appreciates the outpouring of support and love and respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time. More details will be released over the next few days - Christian Gregory

Tom Hawkins, who played six seasons for the Lakers, worked as a broadcaster in L.A. and later served as a Dodgers executive, passed away at his home in Malibu on Wednesday. He was 80. A 6-foot-5 forward, Hawkins starred at Chicago’s Parker (now Robeson) High School before playing at Notre Dame, where he became the first African-American student-athlete to earn All-America honors for the Fighting Irish. Hawkins was the first Irish player to average in double figures for scoring and rebounding during each of his three seasons (freshmen were ineligible during his collegiate career). His 1,318 career rebounds remains the...

FAYETTEVILLE — Frank Broyles, who coached Arkansas to its only football national championship and later served as the Razorbacks’ athletics director for years, has died. He was 92. Broyles died Monday at a family home in Fayetteville. He had suffered from Alzheimer's, the neurological disease about which he spent countless hours raising awareness and from which his first wife, Barbara, died in 2004. Broyles devoted most of his adult life to the Razorbacks. After coaching one season as head coach at Missouri, he was hired by then-athletics director John Barnhill to lead Arkansas in December 1957 and spent the next...

She smuggled out the children in suitcases, ambulances, coffins, sewer pipes, rucksacks and, on one occasion, even a tool box. Those old enough to ask knew their saviour only by her codename "Jolanta". But she kept hidden a meticulous record of all their real names and new identities - created to protect the Jewish youngsters from the pursuing Nazis - so they might later be re-united with their families. By any measure, Irena Sendler was one of the most remarkable and noble figures to have emerged from the horrors of World War II. But, until recently, her extraordinary compassion and...

Joseph Bologna, an actor, playwright and screenwriter who was so memorable as the egotistical King Kaiser in the 1982 comedy classic My Favorite Year, has died. He was 82. Bologna died Sunday morning at City of Hope hospital in Duarte, Calif. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years ago, said his wife of 52 years, actress and screenwriter Renee Taylor. Bologna received an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay, shared with his wife and David Zelag Goodman, for his work on Lovers and Other Strangers (1970). The couple had first written it for Broadway in a 1968 production directed by...

Israel Kristal, the world's oldest man who lived through both World Wars and survived the Auschwitz concentration camp has passed away just a month short of his 114th birthday, his family said Saturday. Oren Kristal, a grandson, said he died Friday. "He managed to accomplish a lot. Every year he lived was like a few years for somebody else," Oren told The Associated Press. Last year Guinness World Records awarded Kristal a certificate as the world's oldest man at his home in Haifa, Israel. SNIP "He used to tell us whenever we were mourning someone that we should consider that...

Country legend Glen Campbell, whose crossover hits “Gentle on My Mind,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Rhinestone Cowboy” forged a lasting bridge between country and pop music, died Tuesday. He was 81. In 2011, Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and mounted a well-publicized farewell tour. His official Twitter posted the news.

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Baseball great Don Baylor, the 1979 American League Most Valuable Player, who played for six teams and later managed two, died Monday morning after a long battle with multiple myeloma, The Austin-American Statesman reported. He was 68. Baylor, a Texas native, died at 4:25 a.m. at St. David’s South Hospital in Austin, his son told the Statesman. Baylor hit .260 with a .342 on-base percentage and 338 home runs during a 19-year career with the Orioles, Athletics, Angels, Yankees, Red Sox and Twins. He finished with 2,135 hits and 118 OPS+.

Jim Marrs, Texas-based conspiracy theorist and author, dies at 73 By Craig Hlavaty, Chron.com / Houston Chronicle Published 8:27 am, Thursday, August 3, 2017 Jim Marrs, best-known for his work researching the various theories surrounding the JFK assassination and UFOs and a guest on many talk shows, died this week at the age of 73. According to his official Facebook page he died of a heart attack on Wednesday. He had recently been put on dialysis. The Fort Worth-native was a mainstay on late-night radio show "Coast to Coast AM" and the "Alex Jones' Infowars" program.

Ara Parseghian, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame who coached Notre Dame and Northwestern, has died. He was 94. Parseghian, who was born May 21, 1923, in Akron, Ohio, recently spent time in a nursing care facility because of a hip infection. He returned to his Indiana home last week to receive 24-hour care. Parseghian led the Irish to two national championships (1966, 1973) in 11 seasons in South Bend, Ind. Both of those teams were unbeaten. He had a 95-17-4 record at Notre Dame, where he also coached in what some called the "Game of the...

One of the most feared hitters of his generation, Lee May is one of only 11 major leaguers to have 100-RBI seasons for three different teams. He also had 11 consecutive seasons (1968-1978) of at least 20 home runs and 80 RBIs. In an 18-year major-league career, the “Big Bopper of Birmingham” played for the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, and Kansas City Royals. A three-time All-Star (1969, 1971, and 1972), he appeared in the postseason three times, including the 1970 World Series for the Reds and the 1979 Series for the Orioles. (The third was a Division Series...

Marty Sklar had only just graduated from UCLA, and here he was shadowing Walt Disney, his demanding new boss. The fledgling writer was unsure how to make himself useful, but he had a mind to scribble down some of the maxims Disney laced into conversation. “Know your audience.” “Tell one story at a time.” “Wear your guests' shoes.” Long after his mentor's death, Sklar recognized the treasure-trove of wisdom he had started compiling at Walt Disney's elbow in the late 1950s. He distilled it all into "Mickey's Ten Commandments," a widely circulated creed that remains a touchstone in the theme...

June Foray, the voice of “The Rocky and  Bullwinkle Show’s” Rocky the Flying Squirrel and his nemesis Natasha Fatale of Boris and Natasha fame in the early 1960s and a key figure in the animation industry, died Thursday. She was 99. Her close friend Dave Nimitz, confirmed her death on Facebook, writing “With a heavy heart again I want to let you all know that we lost our little June today at 99 years old.” Foray was also the voice behind Looney Tunes’ Witch Hazel, Nell from “Dudley Do-Right,” Granny in the “Tweety and Sylvester” cartoons and Cindy Lou Who...

Italian film star Elsa Martinelli has died today at the age of 82. She passed away in Rome after a long and glamorous career as a star of the silver screen. Elsa was best known for her roles in Le Rouge Et Le Noir in 1954 and for The Indian Fighter the following year, in which she starred opposite Kirk Douglas.