Just 69 years old, Eddie Mekka — most famous as Laverne & Shirley's resident belter Carmina The Big Ragu Ragusa — died at his Newhall, California, home on November 27. I met Mekka about 10 years ago at an autograph show (Image by Matthew Rettenmund) No cause was given. A friend announced, "R.I.P. Big Ragu: It…
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Richard Thomas on ‘Waltons’ Remake, Bryan Adams Gets COVID Again, ‘The Bad Seed’ 65 Years Later & More
Links the the past, with relevance today: "I want you to go as quietly as possible ... " (Image via video still) YOUTUBE: This dollmation of The Birds is pretty amazing! https://youtu.be/A0Ui0UkUrpo I love the attention to detail, and Barbie really captures Tippi. Moreno is one of our most enduring stars! (Image via CBS) CBS…
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Stephen Sondheim, Broadway’s Biggest Legend, Dies @ 91
Stephen Sondheim, whose work resonated with generations of American theatergoers, died Friday unexpectedly at 91. What a dear man, and what a ferocious talent. (GIF via GIPHY) https://twitter.com/BarbraStreisand/status/1464364472399761413?s=20 He had celebrated Thanksgiving the day before with friends, and less than two weeks prior ventured from Connecticut to NYC to check out new productions of his…
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Happy 88th to Pat Crowley!
Today, Pat Crowley — a too-often-overlooked TV mom — turns 88! Pat was Joan Nash on the confection Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1965-1967), which definitely felt like it ushered The Brady Bunch into existence. Based on a best-selling book, it was a lovely sitcom about an English professor, his newspaper columnist wife, their four…
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Sondheim Touts ‘Company’ & ‘West Side Story’ Revamps, ‘Mommie Dearest’ Forever + More!
Links to the past with relevance today: Colbert drew tears from Sondheim during this chat. (Image via video still) YOUTUBE: Stephen Sondheim, 91, made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he said he is still writing new works, including Square One, which he hopes to have on Broadway next season. He…
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‘Room 222,’ ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ Star Michael Constantine Dies @ 94
RIP to Room 222 and My Big Fat Greek Wedding star Michael Constantine! Gosh, I always associated him as an Ed Asner type, and here they have died in quick succession, and in their nineties. Laughing with Room 222 co-star Lloyd Hanes (1934-1987) (Image via ABC) Mr. Constantine died August 31 at 94 in his…
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More Than Lily Munster: Celebrating Yvonne De Carlo
Trodding the boards in Follies (Image via Playbill) In honor of the great Yvonne De Carlo's birth anniversary (she would be turning 99 — five months younger than Betty White is), check out these videos, which illuminate some of the breadth of her talent beyond her charming and iconic performance as Lily on The Munsters. First…
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TV Icon Ed Asner Dies @ 91
Ed Asner, a TV icon for his performances on Mary Tyler Moore and Lou Grant, died Sunday at his home Sunday. He was 91. Didn't we all? (GIF via GIPHY) His family announced his death on Twitter, writing, "We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully. Words cannot express the…
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Patricia Hitchcock, ‘Strangers on a Train’ Star, Dies @ 93
Patricia Hitchcock, whose performance as a bespectacled Barbara in the film classic Strangers on a Train included participation in an iconic scene, has died at 93. Ms. Hitchcock through the years (Images via headshots) THR reports she died at her Thousand Oaks, California, home on Monday. The daughter of Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980)…
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Jane Withers, ’30s Child Star & Josephine the Plumber, Dies @ 95
Jane Withers, an actress known as a foil for Shirley Temple as a child actress, as a star of the movie classic Giant, and as larger-than-life Josephine the Plumber on a long-running series of TV spots, has died at 95. At the peak of her fame (Image via 20th Century Fox) Withers died Saturday evening,…
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