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Woman Who Wrote ET Screenplay Is Dead

Melissa Mathison was once married to Harrison Ford

(Newser) - Melissa Mathison never wrote down to her audiences. Known for her family-friendly films like ET the Extra Terrestrial and the elegant The Black Stallion, Mathison's stories were rich with symbolism, adventure, depth, and darkness. With their intricate plots and grown-up themes of loneliness and loss, her films enchanted a...

Survivor of Nazi Camps&#39; Only Mass Escape Has Died
Survivor of Nazi Camps'
Only Mass Escape Has Died
OBITUARY
Nov 3, 2015 12:34 PM CST

Survivor of Nazi Camps' Only Mass Escape Has Died

Thomas Blatt worked to ensure Sobibor couldn't be erased

(Newser) - After an extraordinary life of tragedy and triumph, Holocaust survivor Thomas Blatt passed away at home in Santa Barbara on Saturday, reports the Los Angeles Times . He was 88 and suffered dementia. Though 250,000 who arrived at Sobibor concentration camp never left, Blatt was one of 50 Jews to...

Fred Thompson Dead at 73
 Fred Thompson 
 Dead at 73 
Nov 1, 2015 5:59 PM CST

Fred Thompson Dead at 73

He went back and forth from acting to politics

(Newser) - Fred Thompson, a folksy former Republican US senator from Tennessee who appeared in feature films and television including a role on "Law & Order," died Sunday, his family says. He was 73. Thompson, at 6-foot-6 with a booming voice, appeared in at least 20 motion pictures. His credits...

Model, 40, Dies After 7-Hour Police Standoff on Bridge

Sam Sarpong, ex-Tommy Hilfiger model and MTV co-host, dead in Calif. suicide

(Newser) - Police crisis negotiators and family members tried for seven hours Monday to talk a distressed British actor and model off a California bridge, but the incident ended in tragedy, Us Weekly reports. Per Hollywood Life , Sam Sarpong, 40, an ex-Tommy Hilfiger model and former co-host of MTV's Yo Momma...

Timberwolves Coach Flip Saunders Dead at 60

Saunders had a 654-592 NBA record

(Newser) - Flip Saunders, the longtime NBA coach who won more than 650 games in nearly two decades and was trying to rebuild the Minnesota Timberwolves as team president, coach and part owner, died Sunday, the team said. He was 60. Saunders was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma in June and doctors called...

Movie Star Maureen O'Hara Dies at 95

She starred in How Green Was My Valley and Miracle on 34th Street

(Newser) - Maureen O'Hara, the flame-haired Irish movie star who appeared in classics ranging from the grim How Green Was My Valley to the uplifting Miracle on 34th Street and bantered unforgettably with John Wayne in several films has died. She was 95. O'Hara died in her sleep at her...

Leader Behind Aid-in-Dying Law Uses It to End Life

Richard Walters had been diagnosed with lung cancer

(Newser) - Richard Walters, a leader in the effort to get Vermont to pass aid-in-dying legislation, used the rules established under the law to end his own life on Friday. He was 90 years old and had been battling cancer. Walters, the leader of Patient Choices Vermont, died at a retirement community...

US Hostages' Savior in Iran in 1980 Has Died

Heroic actions of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor were documented in 'Argo'

(Newser) - Ken Taylor, the Canadian ambassador to Iran who helped smuggle six American hostages home from the country in 1980, died Thursday of colon cancer at the age of 81, his wife tells the AP . For three months, Taylor and his deputy, John Sheardown, hid at their Tehran homes the six...

Agent Who Saved Reagan Dies
 Agent Who Saved Reagan Dies  
Oct 10, 2015 12:00 PM CDT

Agent Who Saved Reagan Dies

Jerry Parr foiled 1981 assassination attempt on the president

(Newser) - The man widely credited for saving Ronald Reagan's life from an assassination attempt passed away from congestive heart failure Friday at the age of 85, the New York Times reports. According to the Washington Post , Jerry Parr met and protected dozens of US and foreign dignitaries and heads of...

Chef Who Popularized Cajun Cuisine Dead at 75

Paul Prudhomme credited with inventing 'turducken'

(Newser) - Paul Prudhomme, the Cajun who popularized spicy Louisiana cuisine and became one of the first American restaurant chefs to achieve worldwide fame, died Thursday. He was 75. Tiffanie Roppolo, the CFO of Prudhomme's businesses, told the AP that he died early Thursday after a brief illness. Prudhomme became prominent...

BASE Jumper Killed in Alps Leap

Johnny Strange, 23, achieved fame for climbing 7 tallest peaks by 17

(Newser) - It's been a deadly year for those who jump from extreme heights in nothing more than a wingsuit , a grim trend that continued last week with the death of Johnny Strange, an American adventurer who plunged to his death while BASE jumping in the Swiss Alps. As the Los ...

Yogi Berra Dead at 90
 Yogi Berra Dead at 90 
OBITUARY
Sep 23, 2015 1:01 AM CDT

Yogi Berra Dead at 90

Yankees legend coined 'It ain't over 'til it's over'

(Newser) - Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher renowned as much for his dizzying malapropisms as his record 10 World Series championships with the New York Yankees, has died. He was 90. Berra died of natural causes yesterday at his home in New Jersey, according to Dave Kaplan, the director of...

5 Great Quotes From the Late Jackie Collins

Author of racy novels is dead at 77

(Newser) - The family of Jackie Collins announced last night that the author of steamy novels had died at 77 of breast cancer, reports People . Collins followed actor sister Joan to Hollywood from the UK and became a star in own right, selling more than 500 million copies of her books. Maybe...

NBA Great Moses Malone Dead at 60
 NBA Great 
 Moses Malone 
 Dead at 60 
OBITUARY
Sep 13, 2015 10:21 AM CDT

NBA Great Moses Malone Dead at 60

76ers center predicted "fo, fo, fo" championships

(Newser) - Three-time NBA MVP and Philadelphia 76ers legend Moses Malone, who with Julius Erving in 1983 brought the City of Brotherly Love its first championship since 1967, has died at the age of 60, reports the Inquirer . "It is with a deep sense of sadness that the Sixers family mourns...

Self-Help Guru to the Stars Wayne Dyer Dies at 75
Self-Help Guru to the Stars Wayne Dyer Dies at 75
OBITUARY
Aug 31, 2015 10:56 AM CDT

Self-Help Guru to the Stars Wayne Dyer Dies at 75

Dyer wrote dozens of books, appeared on talk shows

(Newser) - Wayne Dyer, who wrote dozens of self-help books and was a guru of sorts for celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres, has died at age 75. "Wayne has left his body, passing away through the night," his family wrote on Facebook yesterday. "He always said he...

Oliver Sacks, Explorer of Human Brain, Spirit, Dies at 82

Brilliant neuroscientist unflinchingly confronted his own death

(Newser) - Oliver Sacks, the acclaimed neurologist who scientifically parsed the mysteries of the human brain while simultaneously embracing the intricacies of the human spirit, has died today at the age of 82, reports the New York Times . Sacks had suffered terminal cancer, and unflinchingly and poignantly confronted his own death in...

WWII Nurse Who Saved Hundreds of US Soldiers Dies

Augusta Chiwy: 'I would have done it for anyone'

(Newser) - Augusta Chiwy was an American heroine, though she hailed from abroad. Chiwy, a wartime nurse who saved the lives of hundreds of American soldiers injured in the bloodiest battle of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge, died Sunday near Brussels at age 94. Born in what is now...

TV&#39;s Batgirl Yvonne Craig Dead at 78

 TV's Batgirl 
 Yvonne Craig 
 Dead at 78 
OBITUARY
Aug 19, 2015 10:37 AM CDT

TV's Batgirl Yvonne Craig Dead at 78

She also appeared alongside Elvis Presley in 1960s films

(Newser) - Yvonne Craig, who played the sexy, crime-fighting Batgirl in the 1960s TV hit Batman, has died. She was 78. Craig died Monday at her Los Angeles home from complications from breast cancer, her family says. She began her career as a ballet dancer, the youngest member of The Ballet Russe...

Real-Life 'Batman' Killed by His Batmobile

Lenny B. Robinson was a hero to the sick kids he visited

(Newser) - The world is down one hero: Lenny B. Robinson, the real-life Batman who made headlines after he was pulled over by police wearing a Batman costume and driving a black Lamborghini, has died in an accident involving his "batmobile." Robinson, of Maryland, had car trouble last night while...

Civil Rights 'Visionary' Julian Bond Dead at 75

Longtime NAACP chairman had suffered brief illness

(Newser) - Julian Bond, a civil rights activist and longtime board chairman of the NAACP, died last night, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. He was 75. Bond died in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., after a brief illness, the SPLC said in a statement released this morning. The Nashville, Tenn. native...

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