Obituaries
Shel Bachrach, Leading Insurance Broker in Hollywood, Dies at 80
Shel Bachrach, a top insurance broker in Hollywood whose behind-the-scenes work helped movies like Cliffhanger, The People vs. Larry Flynt and Ali get made, died Monday in Palm Springs, a publicist announced. He was 80. Bachrach provided financial protection and mitigated risks associated with such potential problems as drug-related filming delays (think Courtney Love in […]
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Pat Colbert, Oil Baron’s Club Host Dora Mae on ‘Dallas,’ Dies at 77
Pat Colbert, who portrayed the stylish Oil Baron’s Club host and manager Dora Mae on the final eight seasons of the CBS primetime soap Dallas, has died. She was 77. Colbert died June 23 at her home in Compton, her sister Tami Colbert told The Hollywood Reporter. She had suffered three strokes over the past […]
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Doug Sheehan, ‘Knots Landing’ and ‘Clueless’ Actor, Dies at 75
Doug Sheehan, who portrayed the reporter Ben Gibson for four seasons of Knots Landing and the father of Cher Horowitz on the ABC adaptation of Clueless for two more, has died. He was 75. Sheehan died June 29 at his home in Big Horn, Wyoming, a local funeral home announced. The cause of death has […]
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Joe Bonsall, Longtime Member of The Oak Ridge Boys, Dies at 76
Joe Bonsall, the tenor in The Oak Ridge Boys, died Tuesday from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the group announced on its website and social media accounts. He was 76 and died in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Bonsall had announced his retirement from touring at the beginning of the year. The Oak Ridge Boys, in which […]
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Fred R. Krug, Pioneer of Nature and Travel TV Shows, Dies at 94
Fred R. Krug, a producer, director and cinematographer who worked on such nature-focused TV programs as Animal World, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and The Magical World of Disney, has died. He was 94. Krug died June 4 of natural causes at his home in Solvang, California, his daughter, Vivian Krug-Cotton, told The Hollywood Reporter. […]
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Joan Benedict, ‘Candid Camera’ Actress and Widow of Rod Steiger, Dies at 96
Joan Benedict, who starred on the original Steve Allen Show and Candid Camera and portrayed the tyrannical hotel queen Leona Helmsley in a one-woman stage show, has died. She was 96. Benedict died June 24 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from a stroke, a family spokesperson announced. Benedict was married to […]
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James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and More Remember Jon Landau: “He Gave Everyone a Sense of Purpose and Belonging”
James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Zoe Saldaña, Alan Bergman, Peter Jackson and Avatar: The Way of Water cast and crewmembers are among those in Hollywood paying tribute to Jon Landau, who died Friday at 63. Landau was an Oscar-winning producer, most known for his collaborations with Cameron on blockbuster films including Titanic and the Avatar franchise. His other […]
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Jon Landau Remembered by ‘Titanic’ Backer Bill Mechanic: “That Movie Required a Lion, and He Proved He Could Roar”
Veteran film executive Bill Mechanic shares some memories about producer Jon Landau, who died July 5 at the age of 63, and the experiences they shared during the making of James Cameron’s 1997 epic Titanic, which was backed by Fox Filmed Entertainment when Mechanic was that company’s chairman and CEO. * * * I always […]
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Producer Jon Landau, James Cameron’s Right-Hand Man on ‘Titanic’ and the ‘Avatar’ Films, Dies at 63
Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer who made the dreams of James Cameron come to life by overcoming extreme logistical challenges to bring the filmmaker’s Titanic and Avatar blockbusters to the big screen, has died. He was 63. Landau’s son Jamie Landau confirmed his death to The Hollywood Reporter. He died Friday in Los Angeles after […]
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Judy Belushi Pisano, Actress and Widow of John Belushi, Dies at 73
Judy Belushi Pisano, the widow of John Belushi and a former actress and producer, has died. She was 73. News of Pisano’s death was reported by The MV Times, which covers Martha’s Vineyard, where she spent much of her later years. She died after a long battle with cancer, the publication noted. Belushi’s official social […]
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Mike Heslin, Actor in ‘Lioness’ and ‘The Holiday Proposal Plan,’ Dies at 30
Mike Heslin, an actor in Taylor Sheridan’s action-drama Lioness, had died. He was 30. His husband, Scotty Dynamo (born Nicolas James Wilson), shared on Instagram that Heslin died Tuesday from an unexpected cardiac event after a week-long battle in the hospital. “Michael was young, in perfect health, and the doctors have no explanation for what […]
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Robert Towne, Oscar-Winning ‘Chinatown’ Screenwriter, Dies at 89
Robert Towne, the screenwriter as superstar whose Oscar-winning work on the 1974 classic Chinatown is widely recognized as the gold standard for movie scripts, has died. He was 89. Towne died Monday at his home in Los Angeles, publicist Carri McClure announced. He also received Academy Award nominations for The Last Detail (1973) and Shampoo […]
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