Sydney Irwin Pollack died he was 74

Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. Born in Lafayette, Indiana to Russian Jewish immigrants, Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting. He began directing television shows in the 1960s before moving to films.

Pollack directed more than 21 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 films or shows, and produced over 44 films. Some of his best known works include Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Way We Were (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975) and Absence of Malice (1981). His 1985 film Out of Africa won him Academy Awards for directing and producing; he was also nominated for Best Director Oscars for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Tootsie, the latter of which he also appeared in. Later films included Havana (1990), The Firm (1993), Sabrina (1995) and The Interpreter (2005).

Pollack was married to Claire Griswold, a former student of his, from 1958 until his death. They had three children: Rachel, Rebecca, and Steven Pollack. Steven Pollack died in a plane crash in 1993.[6][7] Sydney's brother Bernie Pollack is a costume designer, producer, and actor.
Concerns about Pollack's health had surfaced in 2007 when suddenly he stepped out of directing HBO's television film Recount.[8] The film aired on May 25, 2008. Pollack died the next day of stomach cancer at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, surrounded by family.[6][9] His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered along the runway at the Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys, California.

Comedian Harvey Korman Dies at 81

Harvey Herschel Korman (February 15, 1927 – May 29, 2008) was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960. His big break was being a featured performer on The Danny Kaye Show, but he was probably best remembered for his performances on the sketch comedy series The Carol Burnett Show and in the comedy films of Mel Brooks, most notably as Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles.

Korman was married to Donna Ehlert from 1960 to 1977, and they had two children together: Chris and Maria Korman. He married Deborah (née Fritz) in 1982 and was married to her until his death. They had two daughters together, Kate and Laura Korman.

Korman died on May 29, 2008, at UCLA Medical Center as the result of complications from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm he had suffered four months previously.[7][8]

Stanley Winston died he was 62

Stanley Winston[1] (April 7, 1946 – June 15, 2008) was an American visual effects supervisor, make-up artist, and film director. He was best known for his work in the Terminator series, the Jurassic Park series, Aliens, the Predator series, and Edward Scissorhands.[2][3][4] He won a total of four Academy Awards for his work.
Winston, a frequent collaborator with director James Cameron, owned more than one effects studio, including Stan Winston Digital. The established areas of expertise for Winston were in makeup, puppets and practical effects, but he had recently expanded his studio to encompass digital effects as well.

These were awards that Stan was nominated for:

1982: Oscar Nomination For Best Makeup: Heartbeeps
1987: Won Oscar For Best Visual Effects: Aliens
1988: Oscar Nomination For Best Visual Effects: Predator
1991: Oscar Nomination For Best Makeup: Edward Scissorhands
1992: Won 2 Oscars - Best Visual Effects & Best Makeup: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1993: Oscar Nomination For Best Makeup: Batman Returns
1994: Won Oscar For Best Visual Effects: Jurassic Park
1998: Oscar Nomination For Best Visual Effects: The Lost World: Jurassic Park
2002: Oscar Nomination For Best Visual Effects: A.I.

Stan Winston passed away on June 15, 2008, in Malibu, California after suffering for seven years from multiple myeloma.[2] A spokeswoman reported that he "died peacefully at home surrounded by family."[3] Arnold Schwarzenegger made a public speech about his death, and Jon Favreau dedicated his Spike TV Scream Award to him upon receiving the award for Best Sci-Fi Movie for Iron Man. Winston was survived by his wife and two children, actor Matt Winston and Debbie Winston.

Levi Stubbles died he was 72

Levi Stubbles (June 6, 1936 – October 17, 2008), better known by the stage name Levi Stubbs, was an American baritone singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Motown R&B group The Four Tops.

Born in Detroit in 1936[1], Stubbs began his professional singing career with friends Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton, forming a singing group called The Four Aims in 1954. Two years later, after having signed with Chess Records, the group changed their name to the Four Tops - this was to avoid confusion with the then-popular Ames Brothers[2] . The group began as a supper-club act before finally signing to Motown Records in 1963; by the end of the decade, the Four Tops had over a dozen hits to their name. The most popular of the Four Tops hits, all of which featured Stubbs on lead vocals, include "Baby I Need Your Loving", "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)", "It's the Same Old Song", "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Standing in the Shadows of Love", "Bernadette", "Still Water (Love)", and "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)".

Although Stubbs was a natural baritone, most of the Four Tops' hits were written in a tenor range to give the lead vocals a sense of urgency. The Four Tops were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and have sold over 50 million records worldwide[3].

Stubbs and the other Tops remained a team until Payton died in 1997, at which point Theo Peoples took his place. Benson died on July 1, 2005. Since 2000, Theo Peoples has taken Stubbs' place as the lead singer of the Four Tops, with Ronnie McNeir taking the place that Payton originally held. Duke Fakir is the only surviving member of The Four Tops' original lineup.

As an actor, he provided the voice of the carnivorous plant "Audrey II" in the movie version of the musical Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and the voice of Mother Brain in the animated TV series Captain N: The Game Master (1989).[4] Stubbs has also guest starred in a number of TV shows as himself.

Stubbs was a cousin of soul singer Jackie Wilson.[5] He also had a brother, Joe, a member of The Falcons, The Contours and The Originals, who died February 5, 1998.[6]

Stubbs and his wife Clineice were married from 1960 until his death, and had five children. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1995, and later, after a stroke, he was no longer able to tour with the group. Levi Stubbs passed away in his sleep on October 17, 2008 at his home in Detroit.[7]

Michael Crichton dies at age 66

John Michael Crichton, M.D. (October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008[2][3]) was an American author, producer and director, best known for his work in the science, medical fiction and thriller genres. His books have sold over 150 million copies worldwide. His works were usually based on the action genre and heavily feature technology. Many of his future history novels have medical or scientific underpinnings, reflecting his medical training and science background. He was the author of The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Disclosure, Rising Sun, Timeline, State of Fear, Prey, and Next. He was also the creator of the TV series ER, but is probably most famous for being the author of Jurassic Park, and its sequel The Lost World, both adapted into high grossing films and leading to the very successful franchise. The final book he published before his death was Next, and he also had another project set for some time in 2009.

Crichton was married five and divorced four times. He was married to Suzanna Childs, Joan Radam (1965 – 1970), Kathy St. Johns (1978 – 1980) and Anne-Marie Martin (1987 - 2003), the mother of his only child, daughter Taylor Anne (born 1989). At the time of his death, Crichton was married to Sherri Alexander.

Wikinews has related news: American author Michael Crichton dies at age 66. He died of throat cancer on November 4, 2008.

Estelle Reiner died she was 94

Estelle Reiner (June 5, 1914 – October 25, 2008), described by The New York Times as "matriarch of one of the leading families in American comedy", was an actress who was the wife of Carl Reiner and the mother of Rob Reiner. Reiner, herself, has been credited with delivering one of the most memorable lines in movie history.


Reiner was born on June 5, 1914, in the Bronx as Estelle Lebost, and graduated from James Monroe High School. Reiner was a visual artist and met her future husband, Carl Reiner, while she was working in the Catskill Mountains designing stage sets for hotel shows. She married Reiner in 1943, and had three children Rob, Lucas and Annie.[1]
Carl Reiner's 1960s television comedy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, recapitulated his career writing for Sid Caesar, with Carl Reiner playing the Caesar character and Dick Van Dyke portraying Reiner's real-life job as a writer in the role of Rob Petrie. The re-creation was so complete that the Petries in the show lived on Bonnie Meadow Road in suburban New Rochelle, New York, the same street as the real-life Reiners. As described by Rob Reiner, "Basically he wrote his own life" in The Dick Van Dyke Show and that his "mother was Mary Tyler Moore".[1]
In her 60s, Reiner became a cabaret singer and performed for decades, until just a few years before her death. She studied acting with method acting pioneer Lee Strasberg and with Viola Spolin, the American Grandmother of Improvisation. She appeared in a number of film comedies, including the 1980 film Fatso with Dom DeLuise as Mrs. Goodman, and in the 1983 pictures The Man With Two Brains with Steve Martin in the role "Tourist in Elevator" and in Mel Brooks' To Be or Not to Be as Gruba.[1][2]
Reiner's most enduring film role was in 1989's When Harry Met Sally..., in which director Rob Reiner cast his mother as a customer in a scene with stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan at Katz's Delicatessen, in which Ryan fakes what was described as "a very public (and very persuasive) orgasm". Approached by a waitress after Ryan finishes, Reiner deadpans "I’ll have what she’s having". The line was ranked 33rd on the American Film Institute's list of the Top 100 movie quotations, just behind Casablanca's "Round up the usual suspects".[1][3]
Reiner died of natural causes on October 25, 2008 at age 94 in her home in Beverly Hills, California.[1]

Miriam Makeba died she was 76

Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 - 10 November 2008)[2] was a South African singer and civil rights activist. The Grammy Award winning artist is often referred to as Mama Afrika.
Zenzile Miriam Makeba was born in Johannesburg in 1932. Her mother was a Swazi sangoma and her father, who died when she was six, was a Xhosa. As a child, she sang at the Kilmerton Training Institute in Pretoria, which she attended for eight years.

Makeba later travelled to London where she met Harry Belafonte, who assisted her in gaining entry to and fame in the United States. She released many of her most famous hits there including "Pata Pata", "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika". In 1966, Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba. The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid.

She discovered that her South African passport was revoked when she tried to return there in 1960 for her mother's funeral. In 1963, after testifying against apartheid before the United Nations, her South African citizenship and her right to return to the country were revoked. She has had nine passports, [3] and was granted honorary citizenship of ten countries.[4]

Nelson Mandela persuaded her to return to South Africa in 1990. In November 1991, she made a guest appearance in an episode of The Cosby Show, in the episode "Olivia Comes Out Of The Closet". In 1992 she starred in the film Sarafina!, about the 1976 Soweto youth uprisings, as the title character's mother, "Angelina." She also took part in the 2002 documentary Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony where she and others recalled the days of apartheid.



On 9 November 2008, she became ill while taking part in a concert organized to support writer Roberto Saviano in his stand against the Camorra, a mafia-like organisation local to the Region of Campania. The concert was being held in Castel Volturno, near Caserta, Italy. Makeba suffered a heart attack after singing her hit song "Pata Pata"[9], and was taken to the "Pineta Grande" clinic where doctors were unable to revive her.