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/ 26 January 2006
Betty Berzon, a psychotherapist and author who championed gay rights after struggling for more than half her life with her own sexuality, has died. She was 78. Berzon died at her San Fernando Valley home early on Tuesday, said her long-time partner Teresa DeCrescenzo. Berzon had battled breast cancer for many years, she said.
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/ 26 January 2006
The cause of United States actor Chris Penn’s death remained undetermined on Thursday after an autopsy, and the coroner’s office has ordered blood toxicology tests. Penn, the brother of Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn and musician Michael, was found dead on Tuesday in his Santa Monica condominium.
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/ 26 January 2006
When Fayard Nicholas danced, his body knew instinctively what to do — whether it was tap, ballet or his signature, high-in-the-air full split. Teamed with his brother, Harold, Nicholas moved with a natural grace and athleticism that inspired generations of dancers, from Fred Astaire to Maurice and Gregory Hines to Savion Glover.
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/ 23 January 2006
Brooding American method actor Anthony Franciosa, who was once married to Oscar-winning screen star Shelley Winters, has died, just five days after his famous ex-wife, his publicist said on Friday. Franciosa, who was 77, died on Thursday in a hospital in Los Angeles.
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/ 18 January 2006
Colonel Edward Hall, who as director of the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile programme helped develop America’s solid-fuel rocket technology, putting the United States decades ahead of other superpowers, has died. He was 91. Hall died on Sunday at Torrance Memorial Medical Centre, said his daughter, Sheila Hall. The cause of death was not immediately known.
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/ 17 January 2006
Leonard South, the camera operator on such classic Alfred Hitchcock films as The Birds and North by Northwest, has died. He was 92. South died on January 6 of pneumonia in a Northridge nursing home, said his son, film editor Leonard South II. The elder South had Alzheimer’s disease.
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/ 13 January 2006
The Beach Boys are suing two men for -million, claiming they stole a trove of photos, recordings and other band memorabilia from a warehouse with the intent of putting the items up for auction. The lawsuit names three defendants — Allan Gaba, the owner of a North Hollywood, California warehouse, his friend, Roy Sciacca, and Gem Systems, a company Sciacca was involved in.
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/ 10 January 2006
Silky-smooth jazz and soul crooner Lou Rawls, famed for his 1976 hit You’ll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine), died of lung and brain cancer on Friday at the age of 72. The Grammy Award-winning singer died at Los Angeles’s Cedars-Sinai hospital early on Friday, his publicist, Paul Shefrin, said.
An American teenage amputee whose prosthetic leg was stolen has recovered the artificial limb after it was apparently placed in her yard by a remorseful thief, police said on Friday. In November, burglars broke into the Los Angeles area home of 16-year-old Melissa Huff, stealing money and other valuables, including her prosthetic leg.
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/ 20 December 2005
Character actress Mary Jackson, best known as Miss Emily Baldwin on the iconic 1970s television series The Waltons, has died. She was 95. On The Waltons, which ran on CBS from 1972 to 1981, Jackson played one of two sisters who made bootleg whiskey they referred to as ”the recipe”.
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/ 20 December 2005
John Spencer, who plays vice-presidential candidate Leo McGarry on NBC television’s <i>The West Wing</i>, died of a heart attack on Friday, his publicist said. Spencer’s work on the show earned him an Emmy Award for supporting actor in a drama series in 2002, as well as a Golden Globe nomination.
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/ 17 December 2005
A Southwest Airlines jet was evacuated at an airport in the Los Angeles region on Friday after a passenger was reportedly heard to say the word ”bomb”, prompting a security alert, authorities said. The Southwest flight had been taxiing to takeoff at Bob Hope airport in Burbank, California when the evacuation was ordered, said an airport spokesperson.
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/ 12 December 2005
DreamWorks SKG, the studio co-owned by director-producer Steven Spielberg, will be bought by Paramount Pictures, in a deal announced on Sunday in Hollywood. The deal represents a failure by the studio’s founders to build a firm successfully integrated across the spectrum of popular arts and culture.
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/ 11 December 2005
Groundbreaking African-American comedian Richard Pryor died of a heart attack early Saturday at the age of 65, his wife said. The pioneering stand-up comic and actor who broke barriers with his unflinching racial satire had been in declining health for years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986.
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/ 11 December 2005
Groundbreaking African-American comedian Richard Pryor died of a heart attack early Saturday at the age of 65, his wife said. The pioneering stand-up comic and actor who broke barriers with his unflinching racial satire had been in declining health for years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986.
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/ 30 November 2005
A Los Angeles taxi driver who reunited an absent-minded passenger with 000 in diamonds that he left behind has now received his reward — 000 and a diamond bracelet. Driver Haider Sediqi, an Afghan immigrant, said the man’s thank-you note meant just as much to him.
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/ 25 November 2005
Actor Pat Morita, whose portrayal of the wise and dry-witted Mr Miyagi in The Karate Kid earned him an Oscar nomination, has died. He was 73. Morita died on Thursday at his home in Las Vegas of natural causes, said his wife of 12 years, Evelyn.
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/ 22 November 2005
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire may be the scariest of the films about the teen wizard but it also had the most successful opening of the series. Warner Brothers said Potter was the top film in all 19 countries where it opened at the weekend, including the United States, where it ended a box-office slump, and in Britain, where it smashed all records.
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/ 22 November 2005
Increasing levels of ocean noise generated by military sonar, shipping, and oil and gas exploration is threatening dolphins and whales that rely on sound for mating, finding food and avoiding predators, according to a new report. The report found that the affects of ocean noise on marine life range from long-term behavioral change to hearing loss to death.
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/ 14 November 2005
Election-chastened California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday left for China on a six-day visit aimed at boosting trade and investment and battling movie piracy, officials said. The action movie hero, who was dealt the bitterest defeat of his political career last week when voters rejected referendum measures on which he had staked his reputation, will visit Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
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/ 14 November 2005
Amelie Mauresmo outlasted Mary Pierce 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a marathon base-line slugfest to win the WTA Championships on Sunday for the biggest title of her career. ”I really think that’s a huge step for me,” she said. ”I don’t know where it’s going to take me, but it is a step. You know that it’s an important moment.”
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/ 13 November 2005
Novelist David Westheimer, who wrote My Sweet Charlie and Von Ryan’s Express that was turned into a movie starring Frank Sinatra, has died. He was 88. Westheimer died on Tuesday of heart failure at the UCLA Medical Centre, according to his son Fred.
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/ 13 November 2005
Mary Pierce beat world number one Lindsay Davenport, and Amelie Mauresmo ousted defending champion Maria Sharapova on Saturday to set up an all-French final at the WTA Tour Championships. Their semifinal victories insured the elite season-ending event will have a French champion for the first time.
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/ 12 November 2005
Mary Pierce defeated Amelie Mauresmo 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in an all-French match at the WTA Championships on Friday to complete round-robin play with a 3-0 record. By winning, Pierce finished first in the Black group and will play top-ranked Lindsay Davenport in Saturday’s semifinals.
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/ 11 November 2005
Scolding herself to ”fight, fight, fight” in the third set, Maria Sharapova outlasted top-ranked Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 at the WTA Championships on Thursday night, with both players advancing to the semifinals. Amelie Mauresmo of France defeated Russian Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-3 to ensure a spot in the semifinals.
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/ 11 November 2005
World number one Lindsay Davenport looked to wrap up a perfect round-robin performance at the WTA Tour Championships on Thursday when she faced Russian glamour girl Maria Sharapova in her final group match. Davenport went into the clash with the security of knowing her semifinal berth was assured, thanks to her victories over Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and Russian Nadia Petrova.
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/ 9 November 2005
Mary Pierce surprised Kim Clijsters 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (2) at the WTA Championships on Tuesday in a wildly uneven rematch of their United States Open final. Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport improved to 7-0 lifetime against Nadia Petrova of Russia with a 6-2, 7-6 (1) victory in round-robin play.
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/ 8 November 2005
Grokster, which came out on the losing end of a Supreme Court decision, has agreed to shut down its internet file-swapping service and pay $50-million to settle music and movie piracy claims. Grokster executives indicated they plan to launch a legal, fee-based "Grokster 3G" service before year’s end under a new parent company.
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/ 4 November 2005
One of the world’s most famous landmarks, the 82-year-old Hollywood sign perched high above Los Angeles, is to follow Tinseltown tradition and get a facelift, officials said on Thursday. The giant letters spelling out the word that is synonymous with movie production will undergo a little restoration and some cleaning.
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/ 3 November 2005
Callous thieves broke into the home of a teenage amputee and made off with the girl’s artificial leg, her family said on Wednesday. California schoolgirl Melissa Huff (16) was horrified to find that the heartless burglars had not only stolen a haul of loot including cash and valuables, but had also helped themselves to her leg.
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/ 28 October 2005
George Takei, best known for his role as Mr Sulu in Star Trek, came out as a homosexual in the current issue of a magazine covering the Los Angeles gay and lesbian community. Takei said on Thursday that his role as psychologist Martin Dysart in the play Equus inspired him to publicly discuss his sexuality.
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/ 27 October 2005
Danny de Vito has a $26 cheque waiting for him from All-State Insurance. Reese Witherspoon is owed nearly $100 by Tiffany. And California first lady Maria Shriver has more than $300 waiting for her in the state’s unclaimed property vault, according to the state controller’s website.