Celebrities, Deaths | featured news

The country music world reacted with deep emotion upon learning of the death of legendary singer George Jones. Here's a sampling of quotes and tweets about Jones: "The world has lost the greatest country singer of all time. Amen." - Merle Haggard

Jonathan Winters, the cherub-faced comedian whose breakneck improvisations and misfit characters inspired the likes of Robin Williams and Jim Carrey, has died. He was 87.

Disney's official fan club has just broken the news on Twitter: Annette Funicello has died at age 70. The actress, singer and beloved Mousketeer had been hospitalized due to complications from multiple sclerosis, according to Extra.

The criticism of Dr. Drew Pinsky spread on the Internet almost as quickly as news of Mindy McCready's death. The country singer with the tumultuous personal life became the fifth cast member of his "Celebrity Rehab" series to die since appearing on the show and the third from Season 3. The previous deaths stirred up rumors of a curse and a debate about the show's helpfulness. McCready's apparent suicide upped the pitch of the reaction, however.

Mark Balelo, who appeared on A&E's "Storage Wars" as a frequent locker buyer, was found dead Monday at his California workplace. No cause of death was cited by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office, though they indicated that an autopsy would be done Tuesday. Balelo was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance and was scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on Feb. 19.

Celebrities extended sympathies Saturday throughout social media about the death of actor Larry Hagman, who gained fame as the villain J.R. Ewing on the TV series "Dallas" during the 1970s and 1980s.

Teri Shields, who launched daughter Brooke's on-camera career when she was a baby and managed the young star into her 20s, sometimes with controversy, has died.

Herbert Lom, the Czech-born actor best known as Inspector Clouseau's long-suffering boss in the "Pink Panther" movies, died Thursday, his son said. He was 95.

...His presence was formidable, even intimidating: The former bodyguard had a muscular, 6-foot-4 frame, but it was topped by the brightest of megawatt smiles... Duncan died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for a heart attack, said his fiancée, reality TV personality Rev. Omarosa Manigault, in a statement released by publicist Joy Fehily.

Television news didn't seem to fully recognize the importance of the first human to walk on the moon on the weekend he died. In the hours after Armstrong's death was announced, news networks were airing canned programming - jailhouse documentaries, a rerun interview with Rielle Hunter, Mike Huckabee's weekend show. Menacing satellite pictures of Tropical Storm Isaac had much more air time than Armstrong's dusty hops on the lunar surface. Talk of the upcoming GOP national convention sucked up the air.