“He has outlived mentors, co-stars, romantic partners and several studios. He’s even outlived the jokes about his performance in Mary Poppins. These days his mangled cockney accent is regarded with more fondness than contempt.” - The Guardian (UK)
“The works under her pen name came to define Ms. Wickham’s career. She wrote nine Shopaholic novels, which sold tens of millions of copies and were translated into dozens of languages.” The writer announced a glioblastoma diagnosis in an Instagram post in 2024. - The New York Times
“Over a four-decade career, Mr. Greene stood comfortably in a villain’s shoes, bringing to life a range of characters who unnerved audiences with their sadism and moral corruption,” including in Pulp Fiction and The Mask. - The New York Times
“When popular fiction written by, and mainly for, women tended to be classified either as ‘romantic novels’ or ‘historical sagas’, Joanna” — a great-great-great-grandniece of Anthony Trollope — wrote “about real situations and dilemmas that had relevance to modern women of all ages and circumstances.” - The Guardian
He was in his late 30s when he wrote the play, his first. It premiered in Los Angeles in 1976; it reached Broadway the following year, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, and ran for over 500 performances, winning Tandy a Tony and Coburn himself a Pulitzer. - TheaterMania
The 91-year-old acting legend, who has age-related macular degeneration, stopped performing because she can’t see her way around a set or read a script anymore. And she says, “I can’t remember what I’m doing tomorrow, I swear to you,” but can still remember quite a lot of Shakespeare. - The Guardian
After the Santa Monica Police Department responded to a call about an assault at a house around 9:20 p.m., officers found Sykes, 71, with critical injuries consistent with a stabbing, the authorities said in a news release. He was pronounced dead at the scene. - The New York Times
A Grammy-nominee (for Leonard Bernstein’s Mass conducted by Marin Alsop) who moved smoothly between classical, musical theater, and gospel, Sykes was found dead in his home following a 911 call from his wife reporting an assault. His 31-year-old son Micah is in custody as the suspect. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
Christina Vassallo, 45, follows Paula Marincola, who retired in October after serving as the center’s first director, since 2008. After leaving the Fabric Workshop in 2023, Vassallo became director of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“The Tony-nominated playwright and actor (was) released after spending three weeks in custody on suspicion of attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the country. … (A) spokesman declined to say whether Mr. Harris had been charged.” - The New York Times
“Michaels sold an estimated 150 million books, including bodice rippers, family dramas and mysteries, according to Kensington Publishing, her longtime publisher. Her work has been translated into 20 languages.” And she started in her 40s. - The New York Times
“In a country with a reverential approach to its artistic heritage, the flamboyant Mr. Cogeval — ‘deceptively reserved and genuinely eccentric,’ according to Le Figaro newspaper — was a subversive figure. He was unconcerned, even pleased, by the criticism.” - The New York Times
Youn Yuh-jung, Oscar winner for Minari, doesn’t want to be seen as an icon, however. “In Korea, they usually say, ‘Is there any message for the younger generation?’ So I usually say, I’m not the Pope, I don’t have any message.” - Variety
Gehry, who arrived in L.A. as an aimless teenager just after World War II and went on to become the most famous and one of the most influential architects in the world over a prolific six-decade career, died Friday at his home in Santa Monica following a brief respiratory illness. - Los Angeles Times
The 36-year-old author of the multiple-Tony-nominated Slave Play and current creative director of the Williamstown Theater Festival was arrested at the airport in Okinawa on November 16 after customs officers found several doses’ worth of MDMA (Ecstasy) in his luggage. Harris has been in custody ever since. - The Guardian
