RIP

[CharmingButch25]

I know this is totally for famous folk but I just wanted to say r.i.p grandma

[Kobi]

NEW YORK (AP) — Dorothy Carter, a former stage actress who starred in the adaptation of the groundbreaking novel ‘‘Strange Fruit’’ on Broadway and later became an educator and a children’s book author, died Sept 14th.

Carter, born in 1918 in Kissimee, Fla., studied drama at Spelman College and later was taught by Stella Adler in New York. She made her Broadway debut in 1945 in Lillian Smith’s adaptation of her novel ‘‘Strange Fruit,’’ an interracial love story.

The show, directed by Jose Ferrer and starring Jane White and Earl Jones, closed after 60 performances but got a positive write-up by then-first lady Eleanor Roosevelt in her syndicated column.

Carter, who was black, became part of the American Negro Theater under the direction of Abe Hill and played Ruth Lawson in its 1946 Broadway production of ‘‘Walk Hard.’’ She also appeared in Lou Peterson’s ‘‘Take a Giant Step’’ in 1953.

After moving to Milwaukee, she enrolled in the Wisconsin State Teachers College and later earned her master’s degree. She taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and became the first female African-American professor at Bank Street College of Education in New York City in 1981.

In her 80s, she wrote three children’s books inspired by her childhood: ‘‘Bye, Mis’ Lela’’, ‘‘Wilhe'mina Miles: After the Stork Night’’ and ‘‘Grandma’s General Store — the Ark.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/education...2jK/story.html

[Kobi]

ST. LOUIS (AP) - With a string of gold albums, a hit TV series and the signature "Moon River," Andy Williams was a voice of the 1960s, although not the '60s we usually hear about.

Williams' plaintive tenor, boyish features and easy demeanor helped him outlast many of the rock stars who had displaced him and such fellow crooners as Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. He remained on the charts into the 1970s, and continued to perform in his 80s at the Moon River Theatre he built in Branson, Mo. In November 2011, when Williams announced that he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer, he vowed to return to performing the following year: His 75th in show business.

He became a major star the same year as Elvis Presley, 1956, with the Sinatra-like swing "Canadian Sunset," and for a time he was pushed into such Presley imitations as "Lips of Wine" and the No. 1 smash "Butterfly." But he mostly stuck to what he called his "natural style," and kept it up throughout his career. In 1970, when even Sinatra had given up and (temporarily) retired, Williams was in the top 10 with the theme from "Love Story," the Oscar-winning tearjerker. He had 18 gold records and three platinum, was nominated for five Grammy awards and hosted the Grammy ceremonies for several years.

Movie songs became a specialty, from "Love Story" and "Days of Wine and Roses" to "Moon River." The longing Johnny Mercer-Henry Mancini ballad was his most famous song, even though he never released it as a single because his record company feare d such lines as "my huckleberry friend" were too confusing and old-fashioned for teens. The song was first performed by Audrey Hepburn in the beloved 1961 film "Breakfast at Tiffany's," but Mancini thought "Moon River" ideal for Williams, who recorded it in "pretty much one take" and also sang it at the 1962 Academy Awards. Although "Moon River" was covered by countless artists and became a hit single for Jerry Butler, Williams made the song his personal brand. In fact, he insisted on it.

The Andy Williams Show," which lasted in various formats through the 1960s and into 1971, won three Emmys and featured Williams alternately performing his stable of hits and bantering casually with his guest stars. It was on that show that Williams - who launched his own care er as part of an all-brother quartet - introduced the world to another clean-cut act - the original four singing Osmond Brothers of Utah. Their younger sibling Donny also made his debut on Williams' show, in 1963 when he was 6 years old. Four decades later, the Osmonds and Williams would find themselves in close proximity again, sharing Williams' theater in Branson, Mo.

[Kobi]

LONDON (Reuters) - Czech-born film star Herbert Lom, best known as the deranged Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the "Pink Panther" comedies, has died, according to British media.

He portrayed Napoleon Bonaparte twice, including in "War and Peace" in 1956 alongside Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn, and the King of Siam in the first London production of the stage musical "The King and I" in 1953.

Two years later he collaborated with Peter Sellers in the dark comedy "The Ladykillers", and they would work together again in the 1960s and 1970s on the Pink Panther series.

In them Lom played the increasingly crazed Dreyfus alongside Seller's hapless Inspector Clouseau, and the success of his character owed much to Lom's own improvisations.

He also wrote two novels, "Enter A Spy" published in 1971 and "Dr Guillotine" in 1993.

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Never really understood the popularity of the Pink Panther films.

[LeftWriteFemme]

This is a favorite clip of mine....made all the dearer since the death of Andy Williams

[lusciouskiwi]

Tereska Torres, a convent-educated French writer who quite by accident wrote America's first lesbian pulp novel, and is best known for her 1950's Women's Barracks, died on Thursday at her home in Paris...She was 92.

[Kobi]

The Logo TV channel says that a contestant who competed on "RuPaul's Drag Race" as Sahara Davenport has died. Antoine Ashley was 27.

A channel spokesman says the cause of Ashley's death Monday was not immediately released. His manager, David Charpentier, says a statement is being planned by his family.

He was a contestant on "RuPaul's Drag Race" in 2010. The classically trained dancer also released a dance single, "Go Off," this year.