Peter Falk Dies At Age 83

Actor Peter Falk has died at the age of 83 after suffering several years of advanced Alzheimer's Disease. Falk was best known for playing TV detective Columbo, for which he won five Emmy Awards. In 1972 he won a Tony Award for his performance in Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award, first for 1960's Murder, Inc., then again the next year for Pocketful Of Miracles.

Trouble Helmsley Dies At Age 12

One of the world's wealthiest animals, Trouble Helmsley, has died at her Florida estate at the age of 12.

Leona Helmsley's pampered pooch "Trouble," who inherited $12 million from the real estate mogul, has died at the age of 12. That's 84 in dog years. Like many Americans, the pampered Maltese retired to Florida in 2007, shortly after Helmsley died. Carl Lekic, the general manager of the Helmsley Sandcastle hotel in Sarasota, cared for her. "Trouble was cremated, and her remains are being privately retained," spokeswoman Eileen Sullivan said. "The funds held in trust for her care have reverted to The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for charitable purposes."

Trouble had reportedly received more than 20 kidnapping and death threats over the years.

James Arness Dies At Age 88

The Associated Press reports:

Matt Dillon, the mythical marshal of Dodge City, stood tall — all 6 feet, 6 inches of him — on "Gunsmoke" from 1955 to 1975. He outlasted dozens of other Western heroes while making history on TV's longest-running dramatic series, a record that held until NBC's "Law & Order" tied the CBS Western's record in 2010. Through all those gunslinging years, James Arness, who died Friday, kept Marshal Dillon righteous, peace-seeking and, most of all, believable.

I was never a fan of Gunsmoke, but I do fondly recall Arness for playing the monster in The Thing From Another World.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian Dies At 84

Assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian has died of a pulmonary thrombosis at the age of 84. Kevorkian claims to have helped over 100 terminally ill patients end their lives. He spent eight years in prison for doing so.

Gil Scott-Heron Dies At 62

No word yet on the cause of death.

Actor Jeff Conaway Dies At Age 60

The New York Times reports:

Jeff Conaway, the personable actor who won television fame on the sitcom “Taxi” and movie success in the musical “Grease” three decades ago and who later publicly struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 60. He died of complications of pneumonia at Encino Tarzana Medical Center after being taken off life support on Thursday, a talent representative, Phil Brock, said.

Conaway had been in a coma since May 11th.

Stonewall Veteran Doric Wilson Dies At 72

Stonewall veteran and noted playwright Doric Wilson died this weekend at the age of 72. The cause of death has not been disclosed. Playbill notes his passing:

Doric Wilson was present on June 28, 1969, when riots broke out at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. The rebellion of the bar's gay denizens against harassing police is generally recognized as having signaled the beginning of the gay rights movement. Mr. Wilson had already been an active participant in the anti-war and civil rights fights of the 1960s. Following the riot, he became active in Gay Activist Alliance and, as a "star" bartender, helped open post-Stonewall gay bars like The Spike, TY's and Brothers & Sisters Cabaret. In 1974, Doric Wilson, along with Billy Blackwell, Peter del Valle and John McSpadden, formed TOSOS (The Other Side of Silence), the first professional theatre company to deal openly and honestly with the gay experience. "I was involved with Circle Rep at the time," he later recalled, "when it suddenly occurred to me that I could use the Cino experience to combine my talents with my politics. I could focus my life and abilities to promote a theatre dedicated 'to an honest and open exploration of the GLBT life experience and cultural sensibility.'”

Here's an interview with Wilson from earlier this year.

NOTE: Doric Wilson was an occasional news tipper to JMG. We'll miss his emails.

Broadway Legend Arthur Laurents Dies

Openly gay Broadway legend Arthur Laurents has died at the age of 93. Theater Mania reports:

Laurents was best known for his collaborations with Stephen Sondheim, including writing the books for West Side Story and Gypsy (earning Tony nominations for both), Anyone Can Whistle, and Do I Hear a Waltz. Early in his career, Laurents wrote such plays as Home of the Brave and The Time of the Cuckoo. In later years, he wrote and directed the musicals The Madwoman of Central Park West and Nick & Nora. Laurents directed the 1975, 1989, and 2008 revivals of Gypsy, each of which earned Tony Awards for its respective leading ladies, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, and Patti LuPone. He also directed the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story.

Laurents was temporarily blacklisted during the McCarthy era after a review of one of his plays was published in the Communist Party USA newspaper.

NOTE: Laurents asked that his obituaries include this line: "He was predeceased by his partner, Tom Hatcher, with whom he had lived in happiness for more than 50 years."

Phoebe Snow Dies At Age 58

Another 70's pop icon has passed. Legendary vocalist Phoebe Snow died this morning of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 58 after several months in a coma. The 1975 best new artist Grammy nominee had famously dropped out of the music business at the peak of her fame in order to care for her severely handicapped daughter. Snow did continue to make rare appearances and recordings. My favorite Phoebe Snow single, 1977's Shakey Ground, is not on YouTube for some reason. But below are two of her classics.

Punk Singer Poly Styrene Dies At 53

Poly Styrene, lead singer of the seminal 70's British punk band X-Ray Specs, has died of breast cancer at the age of 53. The band was best known for their hit single Oh Bondage, Up Yours, but I always liked the below track, which I believe was one of the first import 45s I ever bought. Only two months ago Styrene released her long-awaited comeback single, Virtual Boyfriend.

Jane Russell Dies At Age 89

Jane Russell, voluptuous pin-up model and star of dozens of Westerns and musicals, has died at the age of 89. While her "scandalous" movies and photo shoots at times created controversies over censorship, in her later years Russell embraced far-right conservative Christian politics and openly accepted the label of "bigot." Perhaps best known politically for her anti-feminism and battles against abortion rights (including for rape and incest), in 2003 she told Australia's Daily Mail: "These days I’m a teetotal, mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative Christian bigot, but not a racist." Russell was an occasional guest on the anti-gay Praise The Lord show hosted by Jan and Paul Crouch, although I'm not finding any examples of her commenting on gay rights issues. For now, let's remember her from before the crazy years.

Film Composer John Barry Dies At 77

Five-time Oscar winning film composer John Barry has died at the age of 77. Here's a few of my favorites from his lengthy filmography.

Jack LaLanne Dies at Age 96

Legendary fitness guru Jack LaLanne, who pioneered televised exercise shows, has died at the age of 96.

His agent Rick Hersh says LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California's central coast. Hersh says Lalanne ate healthy and exercised every day of his life up until the end. LaLanne credited fitness with transforming his life as a teen, and he worked over the next eight decades to transform others' lives, too. He said, "The only way you can hurt the body is not use it." LaLanne's workout show was a television staple from the 1950s to '70s. He maintained a youthful physique into his 80s.

LaLanne's television show ran for 34 years. His former health club chain is now known as Bally Total Fitness.

Don Kirshner Dies At Age 76

Legendary producer and concert promoter Don Kirshner has died at the age of 76. I spent many, many Saturday nights glued to Kirshner's Rock Concert series back in the 70s. The New York Times has posted a preliminary obit.

Don Kirshner, who guided the course of Brill Building and bubblegum pop in the 1950s and ’60s as a music publisher and promoter, and later served as an Ed Sullivan for 1970s artists like Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Kiss and the Ramones with his weekly program “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert” on television, died on Monday in Boca Raton, Fla. He was 76. The cause was heart failure.

Here's Kirshner introducing America to the Ramones.

Gerry Rafferty Dead At 63

Boney M's Bobby Farrell Dies At 61

Bobby Farrell, the male member of Germany's legendary 70's disco act Boney M, has died in Russia at the age of 61. While most of Boney M's many hits were led by its female chorus, it was Farrell's flamboyant dancing and stage antics that drew the most attention. Years after the band's peak, it was revealed that Farrell had contributed little vocally to the group's recordings and was lip-syncing producer Frank Farian's vocals in the act's videos, although he did sing live in concert. (You may recall Farian as the creator of Milli Vanilli, which suffered a similar scandal.) Boney M remains one of the greatest selling acts in the history of the world, with their 140 million albums topping even Fleetwood Mac, the Bee Gees, and the Eagles. Not even the Beatles have two singles in Britain's all-time top ten, as does Boney M.

Celebrity Deaths Of 2010

CNN On The Death Of Teena Marie

Teena Marie Dies At Age 54

According to the manager of 80's R&B/dance star Teena Marie, the four-time Grammy nominee died in her sleep last night at the age of 54. No cause of death has been revealed. The protege of the late Rick James, Teena Marie was arguably the most successful white female performer of R&B. In 1982 her landmark lawsuit against Motown Records established what became known as the "Teena Marie Law" and prevented labels from keeping an artist under contract while refusing to release and promote new material. That ruling enabled other major artists such as Luther Vandross to escape poor contracts. I adored Teena Maria and still regularly play her classics such as Behind The Groove, I'm Just A Sucker For Your Love, and her huge gay club smash, Square Biz.

PFLAG Co-Founder Dies At Age 90

Adele Starr, the co-founder and first president of PFLAG, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 90.

In 1976, Starr founded the Los Angeles chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, a gay rights and acceptance organization known then as Parent FLAG, now as PFLAG. In 1979, she spoke on the steps of the U.S. Capitol at a march for gay rights — a seminal event often credited with uniting a then-nascent movement. Two years later, she became PFLAG's first national president; she served in that capacity until 1986 and remained a forceful advocate for civil rights and, in later years, for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Starr served at the helm of PFLAG during the onset of the AIDS crisis, said her longtime friend and collaborator Terry DeCrescenzo, founder of another advocacy group formed to reach out to gay and lesbian youth. "In that time, a lot of us lost hope," said DeCrescenzo, 66, of Studio City. "Not Adele. And PFLAG became enormously important because it was rock solid.... She was a good woman. She'll be missed.

Adele Starr: "We cannot understand those arrogant people who have decided that a heterosexual lifestyle must be imposed on everyone and that they have a monopoly on morality. The American way is respect for diversity with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."