Elizabeth Taylor: donations and memorial

Publicists for Elizabeth Taylor, who died Wednesday at 79, said a memorial service will be announced later, after a private family funeral this week.

Her family has requested that instead of flowers contributions can be made to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, c/o Derrick Lee, Reback Lee & Co., Inc., 12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1275, Los Angeles, CA 90025, or online at http://www.elizabethtayloraidsfoundation.org.

Personal messages can be posted on a Facebook tribute page.

--Elaine Woo

 

Elizabeth Taylor's obituary: outtakes from a 12-year work in progress

Elizabeth Taylor's death Wednesday moved me in an odd way. Although I never met or spoke to her, I had a "relationship" with her that spanned a dozen years: Hers was the first advance obituary I ever wrote for The Times. The assignment, which I received in 1999, probably was precipitated by one of Taylor's nearly annual brushes with death. I read a mountain of articles and books over a three-month period before writing a lengthy piece. And nearly every year since then I updated the article, adding a worthwhile quote or details about her latest illness. I felt I had come to know her and, unlike many of my subjects, I liked her.

More recently, I revisited the obit to shorten it. Some pithy quotes had to go, such as this one from writer Truman Capote, who once said: "Her legs are too short for the torso, the head too bulky for the figure in toto; but the face with those lilac eyes is a prisoner's dream, a secretary's self-fantasy."

And this one from Paul Newman, her co-star in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." He called her "a functioning voluptuary."

Elizabeth Taylor: A life in pictures

One of my favorite anecdotes that didn't make the final cut concerned Howard Hughes, the nutty billionaire who tried to run a movie studio after making a fortune building planes. After Taylor separated from her first husband, Conrad Hilton Jr. of the Hilton hotel chain, she was lying by a pool in Palm Springs when Hughes landed a helicopter next to her. "Come on, get your clothes on, we are getting married," he told the raven-haired beauty. She told him he was mad, whereupon he dipped his hand into a coat pocket and scooped out a handful of diamonds, which he then proceeded to sprinkle on her. Taylor roared with laughter and ran into her friends' house, scattering the diamonds behind her.

The diamonds from Richard Burton, the Welsh actor who accounted for two of her eight marriages, were another matter: She kept most of those. I loved his recollection of his desire for a $1.1-million, 69-carat diamond ring from Cartier in New York, which he acquired for Taylor after outbidding Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. "I wanted that diamond because it is incomparably lovely," Burton said. "And it should be on the loveliest woman in the world. I would have had a fit if it went to Jackie Kennedy or Sophia Loren or Mrs. Huntingdon Misfit of Dallas, Texas." 

I noticed that when Taylor spoke about herself, she rarely took herself too seriously, a quality that made her appealing. "People have called me accident-prone," she told Life magazine in 1997. "That really pissed Richard Burton off. He'd say, no, you're incident-prone."

You can read the obituary here.

RELATED:

The Taylor-Burton Diamond

Paul Newman on Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor on "What's My Line"

 -- Elaine Woo

Photo: Elizabeth Taylor in 2009.

Credit: Los Angeles Times

Houdini assistant Dorothy Young dies at 103

Dorothy Young, the last surviving stage assistant of illusionist Harry Houdini and also an accomplished dancer, died Sunday at her home in a retirement community in Tinton Falls, N.J. She was 103.

Young's death was announced by Drew University, where she was a prominent donor and patron of the arts.

Young joined Houdini's company as a teenager after attending an open casting call during a family trip to New York. During her year with Houdini's stage show in the mid-1920s, she played the role of "Radio Girl of 1950," emerging from a large mock-up of a radio and performing a dance routine.

Young went on to become a professional dancer, performing in several movies. She also published a novel inspired by her career.

-- Associated Press

Mike DeStefano, finalist in 'Last Comic Standing,' dies

 

Mike DeStefano, a comedian who finished among the top five finalists last season in NBC's "Last Comic Standing," died Sunday in New York City, according to his representative at 3 Arts Entertainment. The representative wouldn't disclose DeStefano's age or the cause of death.

Born in the Bronx, DeStefano was a former drug addict who became a drug counselor and then started a career in stand-up.

 

He played at clubs, made television appearances and performed at festivals. He came in fourth place on "Last Comic Standing" (and was interviewed afterward in the YouTube clip above).

 

DeStefano's death came just days before he was scheduled to perform his one-man show, "A Cherry Tree In The Bronx," in New York.

-- Associated Press

 

Comedian Charlie Callas dies in Las Vegas

Charlie Callas, a versatile comedian and sidekick whose zany faces and antics made him a regular for more than four decades on television, in films and on casino stages, died Thursday in a Las Vegas hospice, said his son Mark Callas.

Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said the death was from natural causes.

Callas toured with Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones, and had a screen part with Jerry Lewis in "The Big Mouth" in 1967.

His facial expressions and rapid-fire comedy also made Callas a favorite on the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

He also worked with Mel Brooks and was the voice of Elliot in Disney's "Pete's Dragon."

The complete Times obituary by Dennis McLellan is here.

-- Associated Press

Boney M's flamboyant Bobby Farrell dies at 61

 

Bobby Farrell, whose group Boney M topped the 1970s European charts with its glittering showmanship and blend of disco and Calypso music, was found dead in his hotel bed Thursday while on tour in Russia, his agent said. He was 61.

The frontman appeared as scheduled in St. Petersburg on Wednesday night, but complained of breathing problems before and after his show, said the agent, John Seine.

The group had 38 top-10 hits, including 15 No. 1 songs in Germany. They included "Brown Girl in the Ring" and "Mary's Boychild." Their version of "By the Rivers of Babylon" sold nearly 2 million records in Britain alone, keeping it No. 1 for five weeks in 1978.

The same year, Boney M became the first Western music group invited by a Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, to perform in the Soviet Union. A Soviet military plane flew the performers from London to Moscow, where they sang for an audience of 2,700 Russians in Red Square.

Alphonso "Bobby" Farrell left his home on the Caribbean island of Aruba at 15 to work as a sailor, then drifted to Norway and Germany to pursue a career as a disc jockey, according to his official biography.

He was chosen in 1974 to front Boney M, put together by German singer and songwriter Frank Farian, who did much of the recorded singing while Farrell was more a dancer and showman.

The band, based in Germany, broke into the charts with "Daddy Cool" and "Sunny" in 1976.

The original group of Farrell and three women broke up in 1986, and Farrell, who lived in Amsterdam, continued on his own or with various female back-up singers, maintaining his flamboyant style and flashy costumes. In recent years, he toured under the name Bobby Farrell's Boney M.

Seine said the cause of death was not known, but Farrell had suffered health problems off and on for 10 years. Seine said Farrell was found by hotel staff after he failed to respond to a wake-up call.

He had been due to fly to Rome on Thursday for a television show.

-- Associated Press

Photo: Bobby Farrell performing with Boney M in 2005. Credit: Associated Press / Keystone, Alessandro Della Bella

One year ago: Gene Barry

Gene Barry was an actor who made a career of playing dapper and debonair lead characters on television in the mid- to-late 20th century. He died one year ago at age 90.

Barry was a versatile performer who delivered a Tony-nominated performance in the hit 1980s Broadway musical "La Cage aux Folles," in which he portrayed a gay impresario of a drag nightclub named Georges. He considered the role the best of his career.

The impeccably dressed Barry, a suave and sophisticated magnet for beautiful women, wasn't interested in joining his era's crowded ranks of TV cowboys. Instead, he preferred "a guy who looked good in clothes," he told the Associated Press in 1989.

"He has the remarkable knack of wearing a tuxedo well. He is at home in it, secure in it," producer Aaron Spelling once told TV Guide.

Among Barry's other roles were a James Bond-ish character named Amos Burke in "Amos Burke: Secret Agent" (previously "Burke's Law"), a publishing tycoon in the 1968-71 NBC adventure series "The Name of the Game" and the lead character in "The War of the Worlds" (1953).

His acting career was in decline by the 1980s, but it regained traction with his performance in "La Cage aux Folles" in 1983. His final screen role was in Steven Spielberg's 2005 "War of the Worlds," in which Barry and Ann Robinson, his co-star in the 1953 movie, played the grandparents.

For more on the dashing actor, read Gene Barry's obituary by The Times' Dennis McLellan.

-- Michael Farr

Photo: Gene Barry in 1951. Credit: Paramount Pictures

One year ago: Bob Keane

Bob Keane was the founder of West Coast independent label Del-Fi Records and is best known for discovering and recording rock legend Ritchie Valens. He died one year ago at age 87.

Keane, a clarinet player who led his own 18-piece orchestra when he was a teenager, discovered Valens in 1958 when the singer and guitar player was 17. Keane invited Valens to record demos and helped smooth  some of his rough edges. Then he took Valens' music mainstream.

"The key in those days was to get the [radio] jocks," Keane said. "We took care of them, made friends with them. I took Ritchie out on hops for free. That way, the jocks could charge a head charge and made some dough, then they'd turn around and play our records."

The result was several Billboard chart songs, including "Come On, Let's Go," peaking at No. 42,"Donna” at No. 2 and “La Bamba” at No. 22.

Valens was killed in a plane crash in Iowa in 1959 that also took the lives of Buddy Holly and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

Keane later had success in the '60s with the Bobby Fuller Four, which recorded "I Fought the Law" and other songs for Keane's Mustang Records.

He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II and afterward ran his own TV variety show on Channel 2 in Los Angeles.

For more on his life and career, read Bob Keane's obituary by The Times.

--Michael Farr

Photo: Bob Keane, at right with Ritchie Valens, is credited with discovering and nurturing the young Latino musical sensation. Credit: Del-Fi Records

Dominican entertainer Freddy Beras Goico dies at 69

 

Freddy Beras Goico, an actor and comedian considered the most influential television figure in his native Dominican Republic, died Thursday in New York. He was 69.

Beras died at Mount Sinai Medical Center from complications of pancreatic cancer, according to Giancarlo Beras, his son.

His death prompted an outpouring of grief in his homeland and among Dominican communities in the United States.

President Leonel Fernandez praised him as a mediator of the country's political and social conflicts with his broadcasting and philanthropy.

"He appealed with energy and integrity for the construction of a better society," Fernandez said.

Beras began his television career as a cameraman in the early 1960s and went on to host a weekly variety show that aired for 30 years, featuring some of the most famous musicians of the Dominican Republic and Latin America. He also regularly appeared on other programs and nightclubs and created a charitable foundation.

Beras, whose family fled to Colombia during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, was also a political activist in the 1950s and 1960s and was jailed in 1965 for taking part with Gen. Francisco Alberto Caamano in a war to re-establish the democratic government of Juan Bosc.

He later became a critic of the late strongman Joaquin Balaguer, who held power off and on for 24 years until 1996.

Beras' body was scheduled to be transported back to his homeland Friday for a funeral.

-- Associated Press

Photo: Freddy Beras Goico on his television show in 1994. Credit: Associated Press

One year ago: David Lloyd [Updated]

David Lloyd, the father of television writer and producer Christopher Lloyd, was a television comedy writer who wrote the classic "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." He died of prostate cancer one year ago at age 75.

[For the record at 2:28 p.m.: An earlier version of this post stated the David Lloyd was the father of actor Christopher Lloyd. He was the father of television writer and producer Christopher Lloyd.]

Lloyd's four-decade comedy career included writing for "The Tonight Show," "Frasier," "Taxi" and "Cheers" among others. His famous "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" earned him an Emmy award in 1976.

"If you consider how long his career was and how much he wrote for such really popular shows, he's got to have been responsible for a record number of laughs in this world," said Les Charles, co-creator of "Cheers."

He was known for being both a quality and a quick-writing comedian. Allan Burns, co-creator of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," called Lloyd a "one-man writing staff."

Lloyd was born in Bronxville, N.Y., and studied English at Yale. After graduating in 1956, he served in the Navy and began teaching English at Rutgers Preparatory School in New Jersey before making his break into television.

For more, read David Lloyd's obituary by The Times.

-- Michael Farr

Photo: David Lloyd with his Emmy for comedy writing that he won in 1976 for his "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Credit: Family photo.

Mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett dies at 79

Shirley Verrett, an acclaimed American mezzo-soprano and soprano who was praised for her singing in Verdi repertory staples, has died. She was 79.

 

Manager Jack Mastroianni of IMG Artists says Verrett had been suffering from heart trouble and died Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich. Mastroianni was notified of Verrett's death by the Metropolitan Opera Guild.

Verrett was one of the top black opera singers of the 1970s and 1980s.

Born in New Orleans to parents who were devoted Seventh-Day Adventists, she moved with her family to Los Angeles as a child. She studied at the Juilliard School in New York and won a Marian Anderson Award and a scholarship from the John Hay Whitney Foundation. She was a 1961 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

-- The Associated Press

 

One year ago: Carl Ballantine

Carl Ballantine was a comedian and actor who is credited with innovating comedy magic performances and greatly influencing a generation of comedians.

Ballantine was well known as an inept comic magician variously billed as "The Amazing Ballantine," "The Great Ballantine" and "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician."

As an actor, he was best known for playing crew member Lester Gruber on "McHale's Navy," the popular 1962-66 series that starred Ernest Borgnine.

"Carl Ballantine influenced not only myself but a generation of magicians and comedians," said actor Steve Martin. "His was also the most copied act by a host of amateurs and professionals."

In 2007, Martin presented Ballantine with the Lifetime Achievement Fellowship from the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

Ballantine appeared in a number of films, including "The Shakiest Gun in the West" (1968), "The World's Greatest Lover" (1977) and "Mr. Saturday Night" (1992).

He also did occasional cartoon voice-overs and hundreds of voice-overs for commercials, including one for the California Raisins in which he voiced the Raisins' talent agent, a Claymation character that resembled him.

For more on the magic comedian, read Carl Ballantine's obituary by The Times.

--Michael Farr

Photo: Carl Ballantine. Credit: Family handout