Celebrity Deaths
Pete Postlethwaite Passes Away
Reports from the British press have confirmed that Pete Postlethwaite, the British character actor who’s starred in more roles than I can count (Baz Luhrman’s “Romeo + Juliet” comes to mind for me), has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 64 years old.
Teena Marie Found Dead
Rumors had been spreading throughout the day that 80′s Pop/R&B songstress Teena Marie was found dead and, unfortunately, CNN has reported and confirmed that the songstress has indeed passed away today at the age of 54. Marie was found dead in her sleep earlier this morning, according to her manager.
Early in her career, Teena had a catalogue of hits including “Behind The Groove”, “Lovergirl” and a duet with Rick James titled “Fire And Desire”.
Leslie Nielsen Passes Away at 84
Legendary screen actor, Leslie Nielsen, known for his (early) dramatic roles as well as his late comedic roles from flicks like “Naked Gun” and “Airplane!” passed away today at the age of 84.
The New York Times reports that the actor died at a Ft. Lauderdale hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia. Surely, he will be missed. And, NO, his name is not “Shirley”.
In Memory Of 2Pac Shakur
Today marks the 14th year anniversary of the (still unsolved) death of Rap legend Tupac Shakur. In case you don’t remember (and how can’t you?), Tupac was shot on the night of September 7th, 1996 in a car he was riding with Suge Knight after a boxing match in Las Vegas. He was pronounced dead a week later on Friday the 13th.
Today all over the West Coast, all the major Rap stations are dedicating a full day of nothing but 2Pac’s music in honor of his passing and we at Celebutopia also honor the passing of a Rap legend. Rest in Peace.
Dennis Hopper Passes Away
The legendary Hollywood actor known for playing villains, Dennis Hopper, passed away earlier today from prostate cancer. He was 74.
Even in his frail state, Hopper still trotted out onto Hollywood Boulevard to accept his Star on the Walk Of Fame earlier this year. Throughout the last two decades, Hopper played many memorable villains for films like “Speed” and “Blue Velvet”.
Gary Coleman Passes Away
After suffering through a major bleeding brain hemorrhage within the last 48 hours, TV actor Gary Coleman was placed on life support. Unfortunately, due to Gary’s unstable condition, doctors couldn’t operate on him and was later taken off of life support. He was 42 years old.
Ronnie James Dio Passes Away
Metal and hard rock singer Ronnie James Dio has passed away at the age of 67. According to reports from TMZ, Dio suffered from stomach cancer and was in treatment when he was pronounced dead earlier today.
Credited with symbolizing the “devil horn” sign, Dio had a lucrative solo career in the early 80′s in addition to being the second lead singer for Black Sabbath. In memory of Dio, watch this classic video of his hit “Rainbow In The Dark”.
R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio. Metal will never be the same.
Peter Graves Found Dead
Legendary actor of TV and movies, Peter Graves, was found dead in his home in Los Angeles late Sunday afternoon. The cause of death is reported to be from natural causes. Graves was well known for his role in the movie, “Airplane!”, and for his role as the original Jim Phelps from the 60′s TV series, “Mission: Impossible”. Graves was 83.
Alexander McQueen Found Dead
According to reports from the British media, renowned English fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead in his home early this morning from an apparent suicide. The fashion designer was 40 years old.
Brittany Murphy – A Star Is Fallen
According to various reports, “Clueless” actress Brittany Murphy has died at the young age of 32. Reports indicate that she suffered from full cardiac arrest and never recovered. She was pronounced D.O.A at Cedars-Sinai Hospital early this morning.
Macaulay Culkin a Jacko sperm donor?
The death of Michael Jackson has opened many a can of worms when it comes to the parentage of his three kids. Maybe he was right to put masks on them whie he was alive because now the press is foaming at the mouth for dirt.
The Sun now claims that actor Macaulay Culkin is the mystery dad of Jackson’s youngest son Blanket. The paper claims Culkin donated sperm to father Prince Michael II, age 7, aka “Blanket.”
Jackson and Culkin became friends after the younger man shot to fame in “Home Alone” in 1990.
“It is well known Jackson and Macaulay shared a unique bond,” said a source. “Now rumors are spreading like wildfire that Macaulay, who Jackson nicknamed Mack, is actually Blanket’s biological dad.”
Reports have circulated since Jackson’s death in June that he isn’t the biological father of any of his kids, including Blanket, his brother Michael, 12, or their 11-year-old sister Paris.
Now sources close to Jackson say the Thriller star asked Culkin for the donation to help him complete his “perfect” family.
“This isn’t just chitter-chatter, even Culkin suspects he’s Blanket’s father. So many names have been mentioned as prospective dads, and this is probably the wackiest yet. But Jackson and Culkin were best friends. He was one of the few people Jackson really trusted and Mack never let him down,” added the source. “Really, Jackson idolized him. That’s why he asked Mack to donate sperm. Deep down, I think he always wished Mack was his son. Creating Blanket was the next best thing.”
Culkin is godfather to Jacko’s other two children and has refused to comment on the matter.
Yesterday Jackson’s brother Marlon appeared to confirm the star did not conceive his children naturally.
He said: “Those were Michael’s kids – regardless of where they came from.”
Jackson will be buried on Thursday in a gold-plated coffin in the Hollywood Hills.
DJ AM found dead
DJ AM escaped near death in a plane crash last September only to die in a fairly cliche musician’s death today. The disc Jockey, real name Adam Goldstein was found dead Friday at his apartment.
Police found a crack pipe and prescription pills in the Manhattan apartment, according to a law enforcement official. Paramedics had to break down the door to the apartment before they found him, shirtless and wearing sweatpants, in his bed at about 5:20 p.m.
A friend had called the authorities to report he was unable to get into the home. There was no evidence of foul play.
DJ AM had talked openly about past addictions to crack cocaine, Ecstasy and other drugs, but he claimed he had been drug-free for years, even swearing off cigarettes.
His rep said the circumstances surrounding his death were unclear and asked for privacy for his family.
DJ AM was set to star in a new reality show, “Gone Too Far,” in which (ironically) he and concerned families staged interventions for drug abusers.
Michael Jackson to be buried on his birthday
Michael Jackson will be buried on what would have been his 51st birthday, his dad Joe Jackson told the AFP today.
Jackson’s birthday burial will take place at L.A.’s Forest Lawn Cemetary on August 29
Joe, 80, told the AFP that the burial would be a private event, although he could not say which family members would be present.
Jackson died June 25 of an apparent cardiac arrest, but the official cause of death will not be revealed until the final autopsy report is released by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office and the manslaughter investigation is complete, an official said last week.
Guitar legend Les Paul passes away at 94
Guitar legend and inventor Les Paul has died after a battle with pneumonia at the age of 94.
The music icon passed away today with his family and friends at his bedside at White Plains Hospital in New York after suffering complications from the illness.
Paul is know for his guitars by musicians and anyone near a stage ever. He rose to fame in the 1930s as a jazz guitarist.
After a brief stint with The Les Paul Trio, formed in New York with pals Jim Atkins and bassist Ernie Newton in 1938, Paul moved to Hollywood where he landed his big break playing alongside Nat King Cole as a last minute stand-in for Oscar Moore.
But Paul is perhaps best known for being a pioneer in the development of the electric guitar – building The Log, one of the first solid-body axes, in 1939.
He landed a deal with the Gibson Guitar Corporation in the early 1950s to produce the Les Paul model, which has since become the trademark instrument for artists like Jimmy Page, The Who’s Pete Townshend and jazz great Al Dimeola.
He was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame alongside Ford in 1978, and later, in 1988, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck.
Redmond O’Neal promises to head to rehab for Farrah
In a tribute to his mother, Farrah Fawcett’s son Redmond O’Neal is trying to quit drugs for good. He’s planning to enroll in a substance abuse program as soon as he’s released from prison.
O’Neal, 24, is serving time at a California detention center, where he is undergoing intense treatment to kick his drug habit.
Fawcett’s best friend Alana Stewart said he is “doing well” and is on track to complete his rehab stint behind bars, which stems from an April arrest for drug possession.
He plans to go straight from his cell to another rehab facility once he’s freed.
“He’s doing amazingly well. Ryan goes to visit him every weekend and he’s really doing well. He’s in a rehab part of the jail and he’s going to go to a regular rehab after this,” said Stewart.
“He feels his mother’s with him; he feels her presence very strongly and he promised her in a phone call just before she died that he would never do drugs again, so I hope that he’s able to keep that promise,” added Stewart.
“He’s a very wonderful little man, he just had a drug problem.”
Fawcett lost her three-year struggle with anal cancer at age 62.
Report: Michael Jackson sought father on day he died
In one more gory detail of Michael Jackson’s death, the pop star reportedly called out for his father on the night he died.
Reports say Jackson, who died of a suspected cardiac arrest on June 25, was desperate to see his father, Joe Jackson, because he wanted to call off his 50 comeback shows in London and was afraid his staffers weren’t taking proper care of his money.
The star’s biographer, Ian Halperin, claims Jackson took a phone call in the early hours on the day he died.
“He got in a shouting match about finances. That was when Michael said he was calling off the tour. He said some advisers didn’t care about his welfare. I’ve been told he was crying,” said Halperin.
“He demanded an aide call his father. He said his father was the only person who could ‘clean up the mess.’ ”
Halperin also claims Jackson spent his final 12 hours writing frightening poetry while in a drug-induced breakdown at the Los Angeles mansion where he had been staying.
“He was as high as a kite. What he wrote was dark, sort of frightening. The poems were found, hanging in his room on strings. He was over the edge,” added Halperin.
“Michael was cracking up. He had been injecting himself for over 12 hours, he said for excruciating pain. He begged to see his father but was told they couldn’t get hold of him.
“If Joe Jackson had seen him that night, I believe Michael would still be alive.”
When he couldn’t talk to Joe, the singer told now-under-suspicion-of-homicide Dr. Conrad Murray to give him drugs to “put him out”.
Meanwhile, Jackson’s friend Mark Lester claims he was misquoted over stories he is the biological father of the singer’s 11-year-old daughter Paris.
A source said: “His words have been twisted around. He’s not claiming to be the father of Paris Jackson.”
Reports which surfaced Sunday that Lester had donated his sperm so Jackson could become a father.
Another Jackson baby mama comes out of the woodwork
There’s a new heir to the Michael Jackson baby mama throne, Claire Cruise, a Florida woman who admits her story sounds a little shady (which is actually a good sign, except for the rest of the claims).
She says she’s the biological mother of all three Jackson kids, a lofty claim, and she’s filed for the termination of Katherine Jackson’s guardianship. Cruise is also making a unusual claim that she and Micheal Jackson had a son together and gave the baby to Tom Cruise. She claims that Connor Cruise is actually her child, but Michael Jackson did not want Connor because of his skin color.
Here’s her post on Myspace: She said “I am legally married to Michael Joseph Jackson, I am the sole biological mother of all three Jackson children. 6-25-2009 I am officially engaged to my childhood sweetheart Joseph Caputo…. We shall wed in a non-legally binding ceremony. Chris is the biological father of Blanket Prince Michael Jackson, II.
When my legal husband, Michael Joseph Jackson, was informed that Chris and I had successfully become officially engaged on June 25th, 2009, Michael took his own life.”
Cruise also details her marriage to Tom Cruise (she changed her name legally to Cruise after Tom married Katie Holmes in 2006). She claims she was only 9 when she married 13 year old Tom Cruise. We will save you the details, but you can read the complete statement in caps on her Myspace page here.
She looks just like Paris Jackson (though she admits to having gone through “a lot” without a specific mental diagnosis) but other than that, I’m not sure what else supports her assertion:
Director John Hughes dead at 59
A spokeswoman for John Hughes says the director of nearly every 1980s coming-of-age films that touched my childhood has died.
Michelle Bega said Hughes, 59, died of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan. He was in New York City to visit family.
He directed “Sixteen Candles,” “Breakfast Club,” “Weird Science” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and wrote “Home Alone.” He lived in Illinois and set many of his films in the Chicago area.
He will be sadly missed. And I give it five months til that “Breakfast Club” remake heats back up in development.
Ryan O’Neal’s regrets
Ryan O’Neal is still discussing the cancer that killed his longtime lover, Farrah Fawcett, and apparently having some regret and survivor’s guilt.
“I’d love to do it over. I would have been much kinder, more understanding, more mature. I’d lose some of the savagery. I don’t know how she got cancer – maybe some of it was me,” O’Neal told Vanity Fair. Yeah, Ryan, being mean causes cancer. That’s why Hollywood types I hate are dropping like flies.
He and Fawcett dated for 20 years and had a son together (Redmond, 24, now in rehab). They split in 1998, but then got back together in 2001 after O’Neal discovered he had leukemia.
Speaking about the split, O’Neal said: “I believe Farrah was going through some kind of life change. I didn’t have a change of life. I was always a jerk. But they’re hard work, these divas. I was sick of it, and I was unappreciated.
“I just don’t think she liked me very much. So I excused myself. We pulled apart, but we never popped loose.”
Ryan O’Neal is gross
Ryan O’Neal and daughter Tatum O’Neal are weird. Very weird. The mourning actor admitted he made a pass at Tatum during Farrah Fawcett’s funeral (there are so many things wrong with that sentence). He told Vanity Fair for their September issue:
“I had just put the casket in the hearse and I was watching it drive away when a beautiful blonde woman comes up and embraces me. I said to her, ‘You have a drink on you? You have a car?’ She said, ‘Daddy, it’s me – Tatum!’ I was just trying to be funny with a strange Swedish woman, and it’s my daughter. It’s so sick.”
But Tatum wasn’t even offended by her lecherous father:
“That’s our relationship in a nutshell. You make of it what you will. It had been a few years since we’d seen each other, and he was always a ladies’ man, a bon vivant.”
