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PEOPLE

William Friedkin, Director Of “The French Connection” And “The Exorcist”, is Dead At 87

"In a checkered filmmaking career spanning 50 years, Mr. Friedkin was regarded as both a cinematic pacesetter, responsible for two box-office juggernauts, and a director who struggled to replicate the commercial and critical highs of his heyday in the early 1970s." - MSN (The Washington Post)

Leny Andrade, The First Lady Of Brazilian Jazz, Has Died At 80

"Andrade rose from the clubs of Rio, where she performed as a teenager, to forge a six-decade career, recording more than 35 albums as a pioneer of what she came to call bossa-jazz." - The New York Times

Julia Scully, Influential Editor Of Modern Photography, Has Died At 94

Modern Photography "was as devoted to the technical side of photography as it was to its aesthetics. Ms. Scully focused on the latter, and under her tenure the magazine was instrumental in the emerging recognition of photography as art." - The New York Times

“He Wasn’t The 21st-Century Robert Moses; He Was Moses In A Hurry”: Justin Davidson On Dan Doctoroff

"Every time someone sees a show at the Whitney, buys a saw at Bronx Terminal Market, commutes by subway to Hudson Yards, or watches the sunset from Brooklyn Bridge Park, that person is animating parts of the city that were once only documents on Doctoroff's desk." - MSN (New York Magazine)

The Rape Trial of Opera Star David Daniels Begins

Daniels, one of the first countertenors to find wide success in mainstream opera houses, and his husband, Scott Walters, were charged in 2019 with aggravated sexual assault for a 2010 incident in which the two men allegedly drugged and raped a young singer they had met. - The New York Times

How Jake Tapper Has Found The Time And Energy To, On Top Of Everything Else, Write Six Books

"Tapper — who hosts CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper five days a week, co-hosts State of the Union every Sunday, tweets prolifically, writes nonfiction books, and raises two teenage kids with his wife — researched and wrote a 336-page novel in 24 months. How the hell did he do it?" - Esquire

Pianist And Teacher Ruth Greenfield, Who Bridged The Racial Divide In 1950s Miami, Is Dead At 99

"In 1951, eight years before … the first school in Miami-Dade to desegregate, Greenfield founded the Fine Arts Conservatory, one of the first racially integrated arts schools in the South. The conservatory (taught) classes ... to Black and white students together, taught by Black and white teachers." - Yahoo! (Miami Herald)

Editor Of People Dishes On The Rules Of Celebrity

An early editor at People came up with rules for who to put on the cover. "Young stars sell better than old. Rich is better than poor. TV is better than movies. Anything is better than politics." And then there's another rule, more troubling, "write about a woman with a problem." - CBC

Judi Dench Says She Can No Longer See On A Movie Set Or Read A Script

Says the 88-year-old actress, who had already revealed her macular degeneration, "You just deal with it. Get on. It's difficult for me if I have any length of a part. I haven't yet found a way. Because I have so many friends who will teach me the script." - CNN

Paul Reubens, Actor Who Played More Than Pee-Wee Harman, Is Dead At 70

He first developed the Pee-wee character in the 1970s as a member of the Groundlings, then went on to a popular stage show, two hit movies, and a now-legendary Saturday morning TV show that won 22 Emmys. He also made numerous TV and film appearances playing other characters. - Variety

Edward Sexton, Tailor To The Beatles, 80

"Mr. Sexton learned his craft under the exacting standards of Savile Row traditions and never lost his attention to detail. ... His mark on fashion took shape in the 1960s as London became a center of a style revolution." - Washington Post

Pamela Blair, Original ‘Chorus Line’ Cast Member, Has Died At 73

Blair sang "Dance: 10; Looks: 3," or as it's known to every theatre kid, "Tits and Ass." Her character Val's "brassy solo ... was a paean to the benefits of silicone, among them the national tours Val was hired for." - The New York Times

One Of Japan’s Leading Kabuki Actors Will Face Trial For Assisting His Parents’ Suicide

"The indictment … alleges that Ichikawa gave an excessive amount of sleeping drugs to his father, Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danshiro IV, and his mother Nobuko. The pair were discovered at the family home by Ichikawa's manager in mid-May. Ichikawa was also present, in a separate room, and in a semi-comatose state." - Variety

The First Lady Of Brazilian Jazz, Leny Andrade, Is Dead At 80

"(She) was a percussive, samba-driven improviser, an interpreter as worldly-wise as Edith Piaf and a consummate nightclub artist. With a thick, husky voice seasoned by cigarette smoke and late hours, Andrade sang torridly of love; she could also swing as hard as any American jazz singer." - NPR

The Last Of The Original World War II Monuments Men, Richard Barancik, Is Dead At 98

"For three months after the end of the war, Mr. Barancik, then a 21-year-old private first class, assisted in the operations of a unit known as the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section … whose mission to safeguard the artistic patrimony of Europe amid the destruction and plunder." - MSN (The Washington Post)

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