‘Grease’ Star Olivia Newton-John Dead at 73

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Heartbreaking news to report on today. Olivia Newton-John, superstar singer and star of the classic film Grease has died at the age of 73. Although an official cause of death has not been shared at this time, Newton-John had been battling breast cancer for years. The actress revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer 30 years ago, in 1992. Since her diagnosis, Newton-John advocated for those who were also battling cancer, and she never let it stop her from continuing with her career and connecting with her fans.

The news was shared by the actress’s husband — John Easterling — on her Facebook page. Easterling wrote:

Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.

Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund (ONJFoundationFund.org).

Olivia is survived by her husband John Easterling; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; nieces and nephews Tottie, Fiona and Brett Goldsmith; Emerson, Charlie, Zac, Jeremy, Randall, and Pierz Newton-John; Jude Newton-Stock, Layla Lee; Kira and Tasha Edelstein; and Brin and Valerie Hall.

– via John Easterling, husband, Olivia Newton-John

While Newton-John did not have a close working relationship with The Walt Disney Company, she did appear in a Disney movie during her legendary career. In 1990, Newton-John starred in the Disney movie, A Mom For Christmas. Newton-John starred as Amy Miller alongside Juliet Sorci, who played Jessica Slocum, and Doug Sheehan, who played Jessica’s father Jim. Here is more information on the Disney Christmas movie: 

When 11-year-old Jessica receives a free wish, she gets what she asked for and more – a mom for Christmas! A beautiful woman named Amy shows up at her door bringing life and laughter back into Jessica’s family. Olivia Newton-John stars in this charming tale of love, family and starting over that will bring you great cheer each holiday season.

Here is more on the actress’s celebrated career, courtesy of CNN: 

Thanks to a string of country and soft-rock hits, Newton-John was already a popular singer by the late 1970s. But her co-starring role opposite John Travolta in 1978’s “Grease,” arguably the most popular movie musical of all time, lifted her to a new level of stardom.

Australia, when she was five. After winning a talent contest on a TV show, “Sing, Sing, Sing,” as a teen she formed an all-girl group and began appearing on weekly pop music programs in Australia.

Newton-John recorded her first single in England in 1966 and scored a few international hits, but she remained largely unknown to US audiences until 1973, when “Let Be There” became a top-10 hit on both the adult contemporary and the country charts.

 A series of No. 1 easy-listening hits followed, including “I Honestly Love You,” “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “Please Mr. Please.”

Then came “Grease,” which was 1978’s top-grossing movie and became an enduring cultural phenomenon.

The movie gave Newton-John an opportunity to change her squeaky-clean image. The cover of her next album, “Totally Hot,” featured the singer in black leather, while its songs had an edgier, more contemporary pop sound.

Grease

Shortly after Newton-John’s death was announced, her Grease costar, John Travolta, took to Instagram to remember the actress. 

Newton-John is survived by her husband, John Easterling, and her daughter Chloe Lattanzi — who is her daughter from her first marriage to actor Matt Lattanzi, which lasted from 1984 until 1995.

Pat Carroll, Voice Of Ursula In ‘The Little Mermaid’, Dead at 95

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We have some very sad news to report on Disney fans. Pat Carroll, known to many as the voice of one of Disney’s most iconic villains, has died at the age of 95. Carroll catapulted to Disney legend status in 1989 when she voiced Ursula the sea witch in the film The Little Mermaid. Carroll’s gruff, low-pitched voice and the incredible inflection in her voice made her the perfect person to voice Ursula. Carroll not only voiced Ursula in The Little Mermaid, but reprised the role for The Little Mermaid series, as well as Little Mermaid read-along books and video games.

Deadline Hollywood was one of the first to break the news of Carroll’s death, revealing that she died while covering from pneumonia. Per Deadline: 

Comedian and actress Pat Carroll, a television pioneer and an Emmy, Drama Desk and Grammy winner, died at her home on Cape Cod, Massachusetts on July 30, while recovering from pnuemonia.

A frequent film actress and television guest star and series regular starting in the late 1940s, her work was seen on the Jimmy Durante Show, The Danny Thomas Show, Laverne & Shirley, ER and many other shows. She voiced Ursula in The Little Mermaid, and voiced several cartoon series.

Patricia Ann Carroll was born May 5, 1927 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was five years old, and she soon began acting in local productions. She graduated from Immaculate Heart High Schol and then attended Catholic University of America after enlisting in the US Army.

Carroll’s acting career started in 1947 with the film Hometown Girl. In 1956, Carroll won an Emmy Award for her work on Sid Caesar’s House, and was a regular on the sitcom Make Room for Daddy from 1961 to 1964.

She also appeared on many variety shows of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including shows headlined by Steve Allen, Red Buttons, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton and Carol Burnett. In 1965 she costarred as “Prunella,” one of the wicked stepsisters in the 1965 production of the musical version of Cinderella.

Carroll won several theater awards for her one-woman show on Gertrude Stein, and the recorded version won a 1980 Grammy for Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama.

While Carroll said in the past that voicing Ursula was one of her favorite roles, it was not the first time that she worked with The Walt Disney Company. In 1976, Carroll appeared on the ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley, where she played Lily Feeney, Shirley’s mother, in an episode titled Mother Knows Worst. 

Disney is currently working on a live-action version of The Little Mermaid, with comedian Melissa McCarthy taking over the role as the evil sea witch. The film is scheduled to premiere in theaters on May 26, 2023.

Carroll is survived by her daughters, Kerry Karsian, Tara Karsian and granddaughter Evan Karsian-McCormick.

Hollywood Icon and Disney’s ‘Rocketeer’ Actor, Paul Sorvino, Dead at 83

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It seems that Hollywood has been losing a number of legendary stars lately, and sadly we have another major Hollywood death to report on. Hollywood actor Paul Sorvino is dead at the age of 83. Sorvino had more than 170 acting credits to his name and starred in many Hollywood hits, including his role as Paul Cicero in Goodfellas, Law & Order, That’s Life, and Nixon, where is played Henry Kissinger. During his more than 5o years in Tinseltown, he also starred in several projects for the Walt Disney Company, including the 1990 film Dick Tracy alongside James Caan, and the 1991 movie The Rocketeer, where he played mob boss Eddie Valentine.

he Hollywood Reporter was one of the first to break the news of Sorvino’s death. THR shared more on the actor’s long career, his family, and a message from his wife, confirming his passing:

Sorvino, the father of Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite), died Monday of natural causes, his wife, Dee Dee, announced. “Our hearts are broken, there will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage,” she said…

A respected tenor who realized a dream when he performed for the New York Opera at Lincoln Center in 2006, the Brooklyn native also starred for a season as Det. Phil Cerretta, the partner of Chris Noth’s Det. Mike Logan, on NBC’s Law & Order.

In 1973, Sorvino received a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as the unscrupulous Phil Romano — one of the four former high school basketball players who reunite to visit their old coach — in the original Broadway production of Jason Miller’s That Championship Season, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Throughout his early life, Sorvino struggled with asthma, which he learned to control through breathing exercises he did while practicing his singing. In addition to his impressive acting career, he also made 3 albums. He also founded the Sorvino Children’s Asthma Foundation and wrote a book in 1985 called How to Become a Former Asthmatic. 

Sorvino is survived by his third wife, Dee Dee Sorvino, his children — actress Mira Sorvino, Michael Sorvino, and Amanda Sorvino — and his grandchildren, Mattea, Holden, Lucia, and Johnny. Sorvino will be interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Actor Who Played Iconic Disney Villain Dies From Cancer

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Sad news swept across the entertainment industry early this week.

Because of the nature of the business, there are few times when an actor can boast a career spanning multiple decades, much less a half-century. But, that’s exactly what one beloved and iconic actor could do.

David Warner had an acting career that spanned 50 years and, during that time, he saw himself in many iconic roles. His family revealed today that the iconic actor had passed away over the weekend due to a “cancer-related illness.”

Warner had been sick for nearly 18 months and his family shared that he had “approached his diagnosis with a characteristic grace and dignity.”

“It is with an overwhelmingly heavy heart that we share the news of the death of the actor David Warner (at the age of nearly 81), from a cancer-related illness, in the early hours of July 24th,” his family said in the statement.”…Over the past 18 months he approached his diagnosis with a characteristic grace and dignity. He will be missed hugely by us, his family and friends, and remembered as a kind-hearted, generous and compassionate man, partner and father, whose legacy of extraordinary work has touched the lives of so many over the years. We are heartbroken.”

Warner is most known for his role as the iconic villain Edward Dillinger in TRON (1982). The Disney franchise, which saw a new movie released in 2011, has become so popular that a coaster is being built at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World Resort themed to the intellectual property.

In addition, Warner starred in many other popular films including Titanic (1997), Time After Time (1979), The Omen (1976), Time Bandits (1981), and many others. In addition to TRON, his Disney filmography includes the narrator in Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, the Archmage in Gargoyles, The Spirit of the Tree in the Dinosaurs episode “If I Were a Tree”, Lord Angstrom in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Admiral Boom in Mary Poppins Returns, and Thomas Eckhardt in the ABC drama Twin Peaks.

In a 2017 interview with AV Club, Warner talked about his 50-year-career and explained that he was very happy to have had the opportunity to play a character in so many different genres.

“I’ve done war pictures, I’ve done Westerns, I’ve done sci-fi … I mean, I wasn’t in ‘Harry Potter,’ and I wasn’t in ‘Lord Of The Rings,’ and I haven’t been in ‘Game Of Thrones,’” he told the AV Club. “So there are those big ones that I haven’t managed to do. But that’s show biz … and, you know, I think I’ve still done okay.”

Former Mouseketeer, Mickey Rooney Jr., Dead at 77

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Sad news to report today from Hollywood. Micky Rooney Jr. — the former Mouseketeer and eldest son of Hollywood icon Mickey Rooney — has died at the age of 77. Rooney had a short career as a Mouseketeer, but did act in several films, and he was also a member of Willie Nelson’s band. His longtime friend and fellow former Mouseketeer Paul Petersen shared news of his death.

Petersen made the following post on his Facebook page:

Mickey Rooney, Jr peacefully passed away this morning in Arizona. For the past many years, he lived with and was in the care of Chrissie Brown and her family. I first met Mickey, the oldest of nine siblings sired by his famous father when he and Timmy were hired by Disney to be Mouseketeers in 1955. Mickey Junior was tall and talented. He could sing, dance and act…and get in trouble. We three were fired for Conduct Unbecoming a Mouse!

Mickey Junior was the personification of “damaged goods.” He gave all he could. I was born on the same day as Mickey’s father and “The Mic” gave me, unsolicited mind you, the most useful advice I ever got. It is one of my greatest sorrows that he didn’t do the same for his son. Mickey Rooney Junior. Rest In Peace at last. We will see to your wishes.

Variety was one of the first to report on Rooney’s passing and shared more information about his life:

Born Joseph Yule III in Birmingham, Ala., he and brother Tim Rooney were hired as backup castmembers on ABC’s “The Mickey Mouse Club” in 1955. Together, they worked on a handful of episodes before both brothers were fired.

Rooney Jr. played guitar, keyboard, bass, drums and harmonica. In the 1960s, he recorded songs including “The Wandering Wind,” “The Choice Is Yours” and “It Certainly Ain’t a Nice Thing.” He had also appeared on the ABC music show “Shindig!” and played in a band with brothers Tim and Teddy.

Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney Jr. was not the only member of his family to work for Disney. His father, Mickey Rooney, did a lot of work for The House of Mouse. In 1977, Rooney played Lampy in the film Pete’s Dragon. He also was the voice of adult Tod in the 1981 film, The Fox and the Hound. Millennials may recognize Rooney for his role in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Phantom of the Megaplex. 

Mickey Rooney died of natural causes in 2014 at the age of 93. No cause of death has been released for Mickey Rooney Jr. Rooney Jr. is survived by his longtime companion Christi Brown, and his half-brother Michael Rooney. His younger brother, Tim Rooney, passed away in 2006 at the age of 59.