Mitzi Gaynor, star of 1950s big-screen musicals including “South Pacific” and “Les Girls” and a series of beloved variety specials in the 1970s, died on Thursday. She was 93. Gaynor’s management team, Rene Reyes and Shane Rosamonda, confirmed to Variety that she died of natural causes. “For eight decades she entertained audiences in films, on […]

Libby Titus, a singer who recorded two albums in the late 1960s and ’70s before retiring from the music scene, later becoming the wife of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, died Sunday at age 77. No cause of death was given. Fagen announced her death on Steely Dan’s website. “My beautiful wife, Libby Titus Fagen, passed […]

Arlene Winnick, a veteran publicist in Hollywood for over 30 years and an integral part of Solters & Digney and its successor Digney & Co. Public Relations, died in Beverly Hills on Oct. 1 from an extended illness. A native of Great Neck, N.Y., Winnick helped pioneer marketing and publicity campaigns for one of the […]

Ka, a renowned independent Brooklyn rapper, producer and 9/11 first responder, died at the age of 52. The emcee, whose real name is Kaseem Ryan, unexpectedly passed away on Oct. 12, according to a post on his social media accounts. Throughout his career, the rapper and producer self-released 11 independent albums, and as a member […]

Richard “Dick” Block, the former president of Kaiser Broadcasting who went on to found Block Communications and teach at USC, died Sept. 30. He was 97. As president of Kaiser Broadcasting, he built independent TV stations in top markets including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco. As executive VP of the […]

Toni Vaz, an actor and activist who created the NAACP Image Awards, died on Oct. 4 in Woodland Hills, Calif. She was 101. Vaz’s parents immigrated to the U.S. from Barbados and she was one of four siblings raised in New York City in the 1950s. Her mother did not allow her to watch movies. […]

Peter E. Strauss, the film executive behind projects such as “The Jacket” and “Air,” died Oct. 6 at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 83.  Strauss held a number of roles over the course of his five-decade career, including most recently, executive vice president of Mandalay Pictures and previously president of Lions Gate Entertainment. […]

Nicholas Pryor, who played a father to both Tom Cruise and to Robert Downey Jr. in “Risky Business” and “Less Than Zero,” died Oct. 7 of cancer in Wilmington, N.C. He was 89. His agent, Susan Tolar Walters, said, “He was one of the nicest people I have ever met and he will be missed.” […]

Cissy Houston, renowned soul and gospel singer and mother to Whitney Houston, died at the age of 91. Houston, a two-time Grammy winner who sang backup for Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley, passed away at her home earlier this morning in New Jersey, according to her daughter-in-law Pat Houston. Houston, who was surrounded by her […]

Ken Page, a theater icon who brought Old Deuteronomy to life in the Broadway debut of “Cats” and delighted children everywhere by voicing Oogie Boogie from “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” has died. He was 70. Page died Monday, Sept. 30, at home in St. Louis, Mo. His talent agent, Todd M. Eskin, announced the news Tuesday; […]

Sam Strangis, the director, producer and production executive behind shows such as “CSI,” “The Brady Bunch,” and “Happy Days,” died of kidney failure on July 23 at Providence Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, Calif., a family spokesperson confirmed. He was 95. Strangis began his career as a script supervisor at Revue Studios before […]

John Amos, the star of “Good Times,” “Roots” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” died on Aug. 21 in Los Angeles of natural causes, his representative confirmed to Variety on Tuesday. He was 84. “It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” said his son Kelly Christopher Amos […]

Frank Fritz, the longtime “American Pickers” host, died on Monday, Sept. 30. He was 60. The news was announced on social media by his friend and co-host Mike Wolfe. The duo appeared together on the History Channel staple for 10 years and hundreds of episodes. The series followed Fritz and Wolfe as they toured the […]