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Dennis McLellan

Ben Gazzara, veteran actor of stage and screen, dies at 81

Last updated Saturday, February 4, 2012 - 9:06am

A New York native of Sicilian heritage, Ben Gazzara was a strongly masculine, subtly menacing screen presence with a gravelly voice that one writer described as "saloon-cured" and another said could strip paint at 50 paces.

The veteran actor, who died Friday in New York City, found fame on Broadway in the 1950s, starred in the TV series "Run for Your Life" in the 1960s and was closely identified on the big screen with independent filmmaker John Cassavetes.

Entertainment, Features, Actor, Death, Obituaries, Obituary, Deaths Read more Comments

John Rich (right), is pictured with Norman Lear in 1973 when they won an Emmy for outstanding series for "All in the Family." (Los Angeles Times)

John Rich, award-winner director of landmark sitcoms, dies at 86

Dennis McLellan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, January 30, 2012 - 12:44am

LOS ANGELES — As a top television comedy director who won an Emmy directing “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in the early 1960s, John Rich was faced with a tough choice in 1970.

On the same day he received a phone call from Mary Tyler Moore wanting to set up a meeting to discuss his directing the initial episode of her new TV series, he got a call from Norman Lear who wanted to send him a script for a pilot he was about to produce.

Comedy, Dick Van Dyke, Director, Elvis Presley, Emmy Awards, Film, Mary Tyler Moore, Sitcoms, television, Westerns, Deaths, History, Military, Movies Read more Comments

Lisa Davis and Ian Abercrombie (center) pose for a photograph with Emmy-nominated actor Ian McShane during the British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences third annual Emmy Nominees Tea Party on Sept. 17, 2005, in Los Angeles. Abercrombie, who played Elaine's demanding boss, Mr. Pitt, on "Seinfeld" died Thursday at age 77. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Ian Abercrombie, actor who played Elaine’s boss on 'Seinfeld,' dies at 77

Dennis McLellan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, January 30, 2012 - 12:37am

LOS ANGELES — Ian Abercrombie, 77, the British character actor who played Elaine’s demanding boss, Mr. Pitt, on “Seinfeld,” died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said his friend Cathy Lind Hayes. He suffered complications of kidney failure and recently had been diagnosed with lymphoma.

Acting, Actor, Cancer, Film, Jerry Seinfeld, television, Theater, Deaths, Military, Movies Read more Comments

Lawrence R. Newman, ardent advocate for the deaf, dies at 86

Dennis McLellan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - 11:09pm

LOS ANGELES — Lawrence R. Newman, a prominent advocate for the rights of deaf people and a former longtime teacher and administrator at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside, has died. He was 86.

Deaf, Disabilities, Disability, Disabled, Obituaries, Teachers, Deaths Read more Comments

(Associated Press file photo) Jeff Conaway, seen in the movie musical "Grease" and on the half-hour sitcom "Taxi," died Friday at age 60. Drug abuse plagued his later years, and he was seen on “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew.”

Jeff Conaway, actor in 'Grease’ and 'Taxi,’ dies at 60

Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, May 27, 2011 - 10:42pm

LOS ANGELES — Jeff Conaway, an actor who came to fame in the late 1970s as a high school greaser in the hit movie musical “Grease” and as a regular on the TV series “Taxi” but in more recent years was known for his appearances on “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew,” died Friday. He was 60.

Entertainment, Drugs, Plays, television, Deaths, Movies Read more Comments

(Associated Press file photo) Jackie Cooper, seen in October 1978, won a best actor Oscar nomination at 8 for “Skippy” and grew up to play The Daily Planet editor in Christopher Reeves’ four “Superman” movies. He died Tuesday at age 88.

Jackie Cooper, a top child star of the 1930s, dies at 88

Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, May 4, 2011 - 10:32pm

LOS ANGELES — Jackie Cooper, whose tousled blond hair, pouty lower lip and ability to cry on camera helped make him one of the top child stars of the 1930s in films such as “Skippy” and “The Champ,” has died. He was 88.

Cooper, who grew up to become a successful TV star in the 1950s, a top television studio executive in the ’60s and an Emmy Award-winning director in the ’70s, died Tuesday at a skilled nursing facility in Santa Monica after a brief illness, said his son John.

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Officer who responded to James Dean crash scene dies

Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Saturday, December 25, 2010 - 11:28pm

As a California Highway Patrol officer in San Luis Obispo County, Ernie Tripke had never heard of James Dean before Sept. 30, 1955.

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Arthur Penn dies at 88; director of landmark film 'Bonnie and Clyde'

Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times, McClatchy News Service

Last updated Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 2:54pm

LOS ANGELES -- Arthur Penn, the three-time Oscar-nominated director best known for "Bonnie and Clyde," the landmark 1967 film that stirred critical passions over its graphic violence and became a harbinger of a new era of American filmmaking, died Tuesday, a day after he turned 88.

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(The Associated Press) Actress Gloria Stuart is seen in this July 19 file photo in Los Angeles.

Actress Gloria Stuart, the elder Rose in 'Titanic' dies at 100

Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, September 27, 2010 - 10:21pm

LOS ANGELES -- Gloria Stuart, a 1930s Hollywood leading lady whose first significant role in nearly 60 years -- as the centenarian survivor of the Titanic in James Cameron's 1997 Oscar-winning film about the ill-fated ocean liner -- earned her an Academy Award nomination, has died. She was 100.

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Fess Parker, who played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone on TV, dies at 85

Dennis McLellan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 6:44pm

LOS ANGELES -- Fess Parker, whose star-making portrayal of frontiersman Davy Crockett on television in the mid-1950s made him a hero to millions of young baby boomers and spurred a nationwide run on coonskin caps, died Thursday. He was 85.

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