Seriously? OMG! WTF?

Ron Carey, the comic character actor who was best known as the constantly self-promoting Officer Levitt on the television series "Barney Miller," but who also boasted stage and film credits, died Jan. 16 in Los Angeles of complications from a stroke, it was reported. He was 71. Mr. Carey’s Carl Levitt was a relentlessly brown-nosing Manhattan policeman. In a typical visit to the detectives room depicted in the sitcom "Barney Miller," he used the delivery of mail as an excuse to offer unsolicited advice on crime cases and find ways to remind Captain Miller (Hal Linden) of his qualifications for promotion to plain-clothes detective. His foolish persona was accented by Mr. Carey’s small stature (he was 5-feet-4-inches). Levitt made up for the fact that he stood a good four inches shorter than the rest of the detectives by hoisting himself briefly on tiptoes after making what he considered to be a good point. For his pains, Levitt was finally promoted late in the run of the series. To proclaim his new status, he donned a series of garish plaid sport jackets, much to the horror of office clotheshorse Detective Harris (Ron Glass). Mr. Carey was born Ronald Cincenia in Newark, New Jersey, on Dec. 11, 1935. His early years in show business were spent as a comedian. He made stand-up appearances on "The Merv Griffin Show," "The Mike Douglas Show" and "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson. He starred on Broadway in Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna’s 1968 comedy Lovers and Other Strangers. With his high, nasal voice and New Joisey manners, he often came off as something like Joe Pesci’s nicer kid brother. He was also a favorite of film director Mel Brooks, who cast him in "Silent Movie," "High Anxiety" and "History of the World, Part I." He also starred in the movies "Fatso" and "Johnny Dangerously."

Playbill (story) and Barney Miller TV Home Page (photo)

He was so cute and funny in whatever he did. 

Marcheline Bertrand, actress and mother of Angelina Jolie, has died of cancer in Los Angeles, her daughter said. Bertrand died on Sunday afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre after a seven-and-a-half-year battle with cancer, Jolie said in a statement released by her manager. No age was provided. Brad Pitt, Jolie, and her older brother, James Haven, were at the hospital on Sunday, the statement said. Bertrand, who had small roles in the movies Lookin’ to Get Out in 1982 and The Man Who Loved Women in 1983, raised Jolie and her brother after divorcing their father, Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, when Jolie was a toddler. A private funeral was planned.

AAP (story) and NY Post (photo) 

You can see where Angelina got her looks.

Legendary author Sidney Sheldon has died from pneumonia, his publicist told AFP, after a prolific career that saw him pen Oscar-winning screenplays and sell over 300 million books. He was 89. The world-famous novelist died at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, southern California, his publicist of 25 years Warren Cowan said. "Sidney passed away this afternoon," Cowan told AFP. "He was a beautiful man and a beautiful friend." Cowan said Sheldon’s wife Alexandra and daughter Mary Sheldon were by the author’s side. "He was in every sense a first-class human being," Cowan said. "I was his friend and his publicist for over 25 years. "I never heard anyone speak ill of him. I would travel all over the world and hear only good things about Sidney. He was a wonderful, wonderful man." Born in 1917 to a German Jewish father and a Russian Jewish mother, Sheldon’s writing career began in Hollywood at the age of 20 where he worked on scripts and movies, earning 17 dollars a week. It was the start of one of the most successful literary careers of the 20th century that would see him become the most translated writer in the world, his works available in 51 languages and sold in 108 countries. Sheldon would also become the only writer to have won an Oscar, a Tony and an Edgar award, and was eventually the recipient of several prestigious honors which included a writing prize at France’s Deauville film festival.

AFP 

I have to admit I never read one of his books, but I have seen a bumch of them made into TV Movies

Yvonne De Carlo, the sultry actress who made her mark in films ("The Ten Commandments") and television ("The Munsters") and was one of the stars of the original production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, died Jan. 8. She was 84. She died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television facility in suburban Los Angeles, longtime friend and television producer Kevin Burns told the Washington Post. In 1971, Ms. De Carlo made one of her many comebacks in the Harold Prince production of Follies, a musical about a gathering of erstwhile Broadway stars. It was destined to become a classic of the American musical theatre. She played one-time headliner Carlotta Campion and, as such, sang what is perhaps the show’s most iconic song, the show business survivor anthem, "I’m Still Here." Though it would be her only Broadway credit, the part earned her a place in theatre history. Like her character, Carlotta, Ms. De Carlo managed to persevere throughout a career characterized by many ups and downs. She first gained fame in a series of "B" movie westerns and adventures, winning roles based mainly on her vampish looks and shapely figure. She was rarely listed in the credits. Following her performance in "Salome—Where She Danced" in 1945, she was typecast as Hollywood’s resident exotic temptress. Her films during this period included such suggestive titles as "Slave Girl," "Casbah" and "Scarlet Angel." She reached her apotheosis in this sort of role playing Sephora in the 1956 epic "The Ten Commandments," in which she tried her best to lure the unmoved Charlton Heston. Soon after, however, her star dimmed. She was saved from obscurity when she was cast of Lily Munster, slinky wife of Fred Gwynne’s Frankenstein-like Herman Munster in the horror-genre sitcom spoof, "The Munsters." The show ran only two seasons, from 1964 to 1966, but lasted a lifetime in reruns. Between annual Easter TV airings of "The Ten Commandments" and "The Munsters" repeats, Ms. De Carlo was forever in the public eye. In 1955, Ms. De Carlo married Bob Morgan, a stunt man. They had two sons, Bruce and Michael. She said that she took the job on "The Munsters" to pay for Morgan’s medical expenses after he was injured doing a stunt for "How the West Was Won."

Playbill 

So sad, we all grew up with her because who didn’t watch the Munsters?  

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