deaths

The Worst News Cycle: A Long Week In Suicides

Foster Kamer · 05/23/09 06:30PM

A former president of South Korea, a guy pushed over a bridge, an actress, and two cases of assisted: suicides are all over the news this weekend. What the hell is going on?

Publisher Alfred A. Knopf Jr., 90

Richard Lawson · 02/16/09 01:57PM

Knopf, whose parents ran the eponymous publishing house, left that company in 1959 to start Atheneum Publishers. He died yesterday at the age of 90, due to complications from a fall.

Ricardo Montalbán, 88

Richard Lawson · 01/14/09 04:56PM

Everyone from TV is dying. First it was the dude from The Prisoner, and now it's none other than Fantasy Island's (a vaguely similar show in its somewhat ominous tone?) Mr. Roarke. Yes. Ricardo Montalbán.

John Travolta's Son Dead at 16

Richard Lawson · 01/02/09 03:40PM

TMZ is reporting that actor John Travolta's 16-year-old son Jett has died while vacationing in the Bahamas.

Gawker Kills Facebook Stalker Feature?

Hamilton Nolan · 05/13/08 03:42PM

And it's gone! It appears that the mysterious Facebook stalker feature—that allowed you to call up the names of five people who (we think) were searching for you most, just by pressing the down arrow in the search field—has been disabled. Our post on the feature went up shortly after 1:00; by 4:30 (or possibly earlier, based on our comments), it was no longer working. They're quick! We have an email in to Facebook to find out exactly what happened. How could they take it down without even explaining what it was? They mystery is eating us up inside. We will find the truth. [UPDATE: As noted in the comments, it looks like simply typing a period (".") in the search box will still bring up the same list of five people. Hope is not lost!]

Breaking: Director Anthony Minghella Dead at 54

STV · 03/18/08 08:36AM

Sad news from London this morning reveals that Anthony Minghella, who in 1996 won an Oscar for directing The English Patient, has passed away. He was 54. Minghella's death was confirmed this morning by his agent Judy Daish; no further details on the cause are currently available.

The Business of Death

Sheila · 01/31/08 04:53PM

"I saw the worst play of all time," today's Cindy Adams column begins in the NYP. She waits until halfway through to drop the real bomb: photos of Heath Ledger's body may be out there—and up for sale. What else have the vultures been trying to cash in on?

Gaming The Google

Maggie · 01/24/08 02:53PM

Yesterday we poked fun at the Huffington Post for tagging their Heath Ledger posts with Tuesday's second fastest-rising Google search term "Keith Ledger." But according to commenters, tipsters and your mom, it turns out they did it on purpose, in order to catch web traffic from the legions of deaf, misspelling Google searchers who have never read USWeekly ever.

Clarifying The Confusion

Maggie · 01/23/08 07:02PM

For updates on the murky details emerging from the media coverage of actor Heath Ledger's death, including drug test results performed on a rolled-up $20 bill found at his apartment, click here.

Who The Hell Is 'Keith' Ledger? Ask Ben 'Witticombe'

Maggie · 01/23/08 11:50AM

Not surprisingly, the phrase "Heath Ledger" was Google's fastest-rising search term yesterday. The second most buzzy? "Keith Ledger." Who is maybe a video game designer but definitely not a dead leading man. Even HuffPo couldn't get it straight, tagging many of their Ledger posts, including Bonnie Fuller's, with "Keith" instead of "Heath." The blunders weren't limited to the web. On Larry King last night, Daily News gossip columnist and Aussie (Just like Heath! Book him stat!) Ben Widdicombe was identified as "Ben Witticombe," much to his chagrin, we're quite sure. Notice any other bloopers from yesterday's frantic coverage of the actor's death? Let us know.

Heath Ledger's Final Project Was Being Helmed By Notorious Bad Luck Magnet Terry Gilliam

Mark Graham · 01/22/08 06:15PM

The last known photograph of Heath Ledger alive was taken Saturday night in London on the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the latest project from wildly talented yet notoriously cursed director Terry Gilliam. The auteur, who got his start as part of the esteemed Monty Python troupe, has suffered perhaps the worst streak of luck for any director not named Uwe Boll. His pockmarked career will, unfortunately, likely be remembered more for his role on big budget disasters like The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen and The Brothers Grimm (with Ledger in lead) than it will for creative triumphs like Brazil and The Fisher King. And then, there was the sad story of Gilliam's Don Quixote project, which was felled by floods and bad casting and subsequently turned into the total downer documentary Lost In La Mancha. As for the fate of The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus (not to be confused with Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium), we are awaiting word.

Heath Ledger's Friends In Shock, But 'Saw It Coming'

mark · 01/22/08 06:15PM

As unexpected as Heath Ledger's death of an apparent overdose has been to anyone currently scouring the web for every incremental update on the still-unfolding tragedy (does knowing whether or not Mary-Kate Olsen owns that apartment actually help anyone make sense of the situation?), a "close friend" tells UsMagazine.com that the actor had been struggling with his sobriety and that things were "very dark": "This is terrible and I'm in shock. But to tell you the truth... we saw it coming." Meanwhile, the HuffPo has already identified the tackiest reaction to Ledger's death, courtesy of the MSNBC reporter who remarked "In a lot of ways, this reminds me — we've almost had a dress rehearsal for this with Owen Wilson." In fairness, however, the clip of the remark does reveal she did couch that statement with two "almosts." [UsMagazine.com]