Singer LaMonte McLemore, a founding member of vocal group The 5th Dimension, whose smooth pop and soul sounds with a touch of psychedelia brought them big hits in the 1960s and ’70s, has died. He was 90.
McLemore died Tuesday at his home in Las Vegas, surrounded by family, his representative Jeremy Westby said in a statement obtained by CBS News. He died of natural causes after having a stroke.
The 5th Dimension had broad crossover success and won six Grammy Awards , including record of the year twice, for 1967’s “Up, Up and Away” and 1969’s “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” Both were also top 10 pop hits, with the latter, a mashup of songs from the musical “Hair,” spending six weeks at No. 1.
McLemore had a parallel career as a sports and celebrity photographer whose pictures appeared in magazines, including Jet.
LaMonte McLemore of the 5th Dimension attends the grand opening of Catfish Alley Restaurant on April 14, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic via Getty Images
Born in St. Louis, McLemore served in the Navy, where he worked as an aerial photographer. He played baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system and settled in Southern California, where he began making use of his warm bass voice and skill with a camera.
He sang in a jazz ensemble, the Hi-Fi’s, with future 5th Dimension bandmate Marilyn McCoo. The group opened for Ray Charles in 1963 but broke up the following year.
McLemore, McCoo and two of his childhood friends from St. Louis, Billy Davis Jr. and Ronald Towson, later formed a singing group called the Versatiles. They also recruited Florence LaRue, a schoolteacher McLemore met through his photography, to join them. In 1965 they signed to singer Johnny Rivers’ new label, Soul City Records, and changed their name to The 5th Dimension to better represent the cultural moment.
Their breakthrough hit came in 1967 with the Mamas & the Papas’ song “Go Where You Wanna Go.”
Members of The Fifth Dimension, from left, LaMonte McLemore, Florence LaRue, Ron Townson, Marilyn McCoo, and Billy Davis, Jr., pose with their Grammy Award in Los Angeles on Feb. 29, 1968.
Harold P. Matosia / AP
That same year, they released the Jimmy Webb-penned “Up, Up and Away,” which would go to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and win four Grammys: record of the year, best contemporary single, best performance by a vocal group and best contemporary group performance.
In 1968 they had hits with a pair of Laura Nyro songs, “Stoned Soul Picnic” and “Sweet Blindness.”
1969 brought the peak of their commercial success with “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” which along with its long run at No. 1 won Grammys for record of the year and best contemporary vocal performance by a group.
That same year they played the Harlem Cultural Festival, which has become known as the “Black Woodstock.” The festival, and The 5th Dimension’s part in it, were chronicled in the 2021 documentary from Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, “Summer of Soul.”
The 5th Dimension also had a rare level of success with white audiences for a group whose members were all Black. The phenomenon came with criticism.
“We were constantly being attacked because we weren’t, quote, unquote, ‘Black enough,’” McCoo said in “Summer of Soul.” “Sometimes we were called the Black group with the white sound, and we didn’t like that. We happened to be artists who are Black, and our voices sound the way they sound.”
The group had hits into the 1970s including “One Less Bell to Answer,” “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All” and “If I Could Reach You.”
They became regulars on TV variety shows and performed at the White House and on an international cultural tour organized by the State Department.
The original lineup lasted until 1975, when McCoo and Davis left to make their own music.
“All of us who knew and loved him will definitely miss his energy and wonderful sense of humor,” McCoo and Davis, who married in 1969, said in a statement.
LaRue said in her own statement that McLemore’s “cheerfulness and laughter often brought strength and refreshment to me in difficult times. We were more like brother and sister than singing partners.”
McLemore is survived by his wife of 30 years, Mieko McLemore, daughter Ciara, son Darin, sister Joan and three grandchildren.
Actor Demond Wilson, best known for playing Lamont Sanford in the popular 1970s TV show “Sanford and Son,” has died at the age of 79, his publicist confirmed to CBS News on Sunday.
“The family of Demond Wilson is deeply saddened by his passing,” Mark Goldman told CBS News in a statement. “At this time, they ask for privacy as they grieve.”
He said no further details were available.
Wilson’s son, Demond Wilson Jr., told TMZ that his father died Friday of complications from cancer at his home in Palm Springs, California.
Demond Wilson attends the 2016 Chiller Theater Expo at Parsippany Hilton on April 22, 2016 in Parsippany, New Jersey.
Bobby Bank/WireImage via Getty
Goldman, who worked with Wilson for 15 years, said the actor’s loss is “profoundly felt.”
“He was an unbelievable man and his impact will never be forgotten,” he said. “The family appreciates the support and understanding of the community during this difficult time.”
Wilson, who was born in Georgia, grew up in New York City and studied tap dancing and ballet. He made his Broadway debut at the age of four with William Marshall and Ossie Davis in a revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Green Pastures” and danced at Harlem’s Apollo Theater at age 12. He served in the U.S. Army from 1966 until 1968 and was stationed in Vietnam.
After returning to New York, he appeared in several shows on Broadway before moving out to Los Angeles.
In 1971, he appeared on an episode of “All in the Family,” playing a burglar alongside Cleavon Little, who held the Bunkers hostage in their home. That role led him to land the part of Lamont Sanford, the son of aging widower Fred G. Sanford, in “Sanford and Son” alongside Redd Foxx.
Demond Wilson as Lamont Sanford, Whitman Mayo as Grady Wilson in “Sanford and Son”
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
After six seasons — which included five as a 10-ten hit — Wilson turned down an offer to lead the show by himself after Foxx left in a salary dispute. He went on to star in CBS’s “Baby … I’m Back,” but the show only last 13 episodes.
Wilson then starred opposite Ron Glass in “The New Odd Couple,” which only lasted 18 episodes.
In the 1980s, Wilson beat a cocaine problem and became ordained as an interdenominational minister. In 2009, he wrote the book, “Second Banana: The Bitter Sweet Memories of the Sanford & Son Years.”
Wilson is survived by his wife and their six children.
Friday, January 30, surprised everyone with the death of Catherine O’Hara. At 71, the actress known for Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and plenty of other movies and shows passed due to a “brief illness,” according to multiple reports.
Following the news, O’Hara was eulogized by several costars across the decades, including Home Alone’s Macaulay Culkin. “Mama, I thought we had more time,” he wrote on Instagram. “I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. I’ll see you later.”
“She’s been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend,” said Michael Keaton. “We go back before the first Beetlejuice. This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her. Thinking about [her husband, Bo Welch] as well.”
“Oh, genius to be near you. Eternally grateful,” added The Last of Us’Pedro Pascal. “There is less light in my world, this lucky world that had you, will keep you, always. Always ♥️.” Separately, series co-creator Craig Mazin remembered her as a “wonderful, brilliant, kind, beautiful human being. I think she would prefer that we keep laughing somehow, or at the very least not cry. We were lucky to have had you at all.”
In a joint statement, the cast and crew of Apple’s The Studio called her “a hero to all of us, and we pinched ourselves every day that we got to work with her. We’re unbelievably saddened she is gone and send our deepest sympathy to Bo and all her family.”
Separately, her longtime friend and Schitt’s Creek costar Eugene Levy called it “an honor [to know and work with] Catherine for over fifty years. From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship. And I will miss her. My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke and the entire O’Hara family.”
We’ve collected more eulogies for O’Hara down below.
What an honor it was to be spoofed by Catherine O’Hara. What an unfathomable loss. We love you, Catherine. Comedy won’t be the same without her. Sending love to Catherine’s family, friends, castmates, and fans today. Truly beloved. pic.twitter.com/ucUYTj8zmm
This is shattering news. What a wonderful person, artist and collaborator. I was lucky enough to direct, produce and act in projects with her and she was simply growing more brilliant with each year. My heart goes out to Bo & family. #RIPCatherineO’Hara https://t.co/7pWcpYARai
From SCTV to Home Alone to her unforgettable role as Moira Rose on Schitt’s Creek, Catherine O’Hara was a beloved Canadian icon with a rare gift for comedy and heart. She made people laugh across generations and helped bring Canadian storytelling to the world in a way only she… pic.twitter.com/tO72Xy3yqp
While working at Toronto’s Second City Theater, Catherine O’Hara was made Gilda Radner’s understudy.
When Radner left in 1974, O’Hara became a member of the company, and her ability to imbue her comedic characters with depth and humanity launched a decades-long career. pic.twitter.com/NazY2aEuQA
Actor Catherine O’Hara, known for her roles in “Home Alone,” “Beetlejuice,” and “Schitt’s Creek,” has died at 71, according to a statement from her agency, CAA.
O’Hara died at her Los Angeles home “following a brief illness,” her agency said in a statement.
A private celebration of life will be held by her family, the statement said.
O’Hara was born in Canada and started her career at Toronto’s Second City Theater, where she created the sketch comedy show “SCTV.” She won an Emmy Award for her writing on the show, and was nominated four other times, according to her agency.
Her star rose with several iconic comedy roles. Her most famous film roles include Delia Deetz in “Beetlejuice” and its sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” and as Kate McAllister in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone II: Lost in New York.” Other films she appeared in included “For Your Consideration” and “After Hours.”
She appeared on multiple television series, including “Six Feet Under,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Temple Grandin.” She received an Emmy Award nomination for her work on “Temple Grandin.”
In 2015, O’Hara joined long-time friend and fellow “SCTV” alum Eugene Levy in the comedy “Schitt’s Creek.” The two met in Toronto in 1970 and went on to share the screen in seven movies, including four mockumentary films with Christopher Guest. O’Hara told CBS News that she was initially nervous about doing “Schitt’s Creek,” but her “love and respect” for Levy and his son, series writer and star Daniel Levy, won her over. Her Moira Rose quickly became an iconic television character, sparking memes, merchandise and more. She won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance.
Most recently, O’Hara appeared in the Apple TV+ comedy “The Studio” and HBO’s “The Last of Us.” O’Hara received Emmy Award nominations for both roles.
In 1992, O’Hara married production designer Bo Welch, whom she met on the set of “Beetlejuice.” They had two children, Matthew and Luke.
O’Hara is survived by her husband, sons, and siblings Michael O’Hara, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Maureen Jolley, Marcus O’Hara, Tom O’Hara, and Patricia Wallice.
Lowell “Sly” Dunbar, the Jamaican drummer who reshaped reggae several times over as half of the duo Sly & Robbie, has died. “About seven o’clock this morning I went to wake him up and he wasn’t responding, I called the doctor and that was the news,” Dunbar’s wife, Thelma, said in a statement to The Jamaica Gleaner today, January 26. She did not disclose a cause of death, but shared that Dunbar had been sick for some time. He was 73.
Dunbar was born on May 10, 1952 in Kingston, Jamaica. As Sly & Robbie, he and bassist Robbie Shakespeare—who died in 2021—were one of the most sought-after rhythm sections of their day. They played on classic reggae records including Peter Tosh’s Legalize It, the Mighty Diamonds’ Right Time, and Black Uhuru’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and backed up the likes of Bob Dylan, Grace Jones, Mick Jagger, and Serge Gainsbourg. Sly & Robbie also played a formative role in the evolution of dancehall, creating the Bam Bam riddim that became the foundation for some of the genre’s earliest hit singles. Dunbar and Shakespeare won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album (then called Best Reggae Recording) in 1985, the award’s inaugural year, for their work on Black Uhuru’s Anthem, and again in 1999 for the Sly & Robbie album Friend.
His birth name was Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani. To the world at large he was Valentino, the last emperor of fashion. The Chic. He passed away at one of his residences, in Rome, on Monday, January 19. He was 93 years old
Valentino was the definition of fashion, luxury, and pure aesthetics—you need only look to his collections for proof as much: simplicity distorted by a single theatrical touch (a bow, a puff, a neckline, a detail, a plunge bearing the heart). Look to that shade of red which takes his name to understand that he wasn’t just an excellent couturier (itself no small thing), he was a master of dreams devoted to beauty and enchantment. Beauty has always been the pinnacle to which Valentino relentlessly aspired, a passion he could not do without. And we are not just talking about red carpets or princess gowns, but the all-around beauty that permeated every moment of his life, flowing out of everything he did.
He was born on May 11, 1932, in Voghera, in the province of Milan. His father, Mauro Garavani, married Valentino’s mother, Teresa, and opened a barbershop before turning to a career in wholesaling electrical equipment, which guaranteed the family a certain affluence. In 1925 his mother gave birth to Valentino’s sister, Wanda, then, in 1932 came a baby boy who was given the same name as his paternal grandfather, Valentino.
The little boy went to school but was absent-minded, always hunched over books and filling the pages with endless drawings. He always loved to draw: he did it all the time. From those mountains of sketches came his wonderful ideas, recounting that the thunderbolt for fashion struck him very early, when he was six years old. That’s when the official engagement of Maria Francesca of Savoy, the last daughter of Victor Emmanuel III, to Prince Louis of Bourbon Parma was announced, with Maria dressed in a green lamé dress for the occasion. It was this sight that sparked an interest in fashion for young Garavani.
From there, he began spending more time in his aunt’s fabric store, making design his primary hobby. Which, of course, soon became more than a pastime. He’d eventually take a course in figurine design at the Santa Marta Institute in Milan. While pursuing his dreams Valentino enjoyed financial support of his father without much drama, even when he decided to move to Paris to further his education. Improvisation was not for him, he preferred to learn the fundamentals, get into the thick of things, make the art of the couturier his own. He enrolled in the prestigious school of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne and was put in Jean Dessès’s workshop, where he learned everything about technical construction, fabrics and color relationships.
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, the inseparable younger sister of Spain’s Queen Sofía, has passed away in Madrid’s Zarzuela Palace. A statement from the Royal House reads: “It is with deep sadness that the Greek Royal Family announces that HRH Princess Irene, beloved sister and aunt, passed away on Thursday, January 15th 2026, at 11:40 local time, in Zarzuela Palace in Madrid surrounded by loved ones. Details will follow regarding the funeral procession.”
Princess Irene was 83 at the time of her death. She leaves behind her a silent, but decisive mark in the history of the Greek and Spanish monarchies. Close confidant of King Felipe VI’s mother, for decades, Princess Irene became a silent witness of the ins and outs of the Spanish monarchy. She led an interesting life marked by her constant renunciation of the limelight, absolute loyalty to her family, and a spirituality influenced by the years she lived with her mother in India.
In her last moments, she had been accompanied by Queen Sofía, who canceled her schedule of activities in Palma de Mallorca to be by her sister’s side, Hello! magazine reported.
Settled in Zarzuela since the mid-eighties, for more than forty years, Princess Irene became the main support of her older sister, although she used to say that her role was not “official.” With an intense, unpredictable, and luminous personality, Irene won the affection of her large family, who affectionately called her “Aunt Pecu” (for being so peculiar), with whom she spoke in English and Greek despite speaking correct Spanish, and who loved and accompanied her until the end. She never married, but remained close with her kin. Queen Sofía and King Juan Carlos of Spain’s daughter, PrincessCristina, even named her only daughter Irene in her aunt’s honor.
Princess Irene was born on April 11, 1942 in Cape Town, South Africa, in the middle of World War II, while her family lived in exile due to the Nazi occupation of Greece. The first months of her life were spent on a farm, surrounded by domestic animals and wild landscapes, in an environment far from the European palaces that would come to define her adulthood.
From an early age, Princess Irene showed a personality of her own. She studied archaeology in Greece, another common interest with her sister, but soon broadened her horizons to the East. She spent six years in India, where she came into contact with the Gandhi family and was trained in comparative religious studies in ancient Madras.
Princess Irene of Greece performing Bach at the Royal Festival Hall in London, 1969.
Scott Adams, the cartoonist who created the “Dilbert” comic strip, has died at the age of 68, his first ex-wife revealed on Tuesday. Adams said last year that he was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer.
Adams’ ex-wife, Shelly Miles, announced the news of his death during a live stream of his YouTube show, “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.”
She read a “final message” from Adams on the show, in which he wrote that he had “an amazing life” and gave it everything he had. He urged people to “be useful” and said, “please know I loved you all to the very end.”
Scott Adams, cartoonist and author and creator of “Dilbert,” poses for a portrait in his home office on Jan. 6, 2014 in Pleasanton, California.
Lea Suzuki/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Adams said on an episode of his show last May that he had “the same cancer that Joe Biden has … prostate cancer that has also spread to my bones.”
He made the announcement a day after Biden announced his own diagnosis.
President Trump posted about Adams’ death on Tuesday, calling him “a fantastic guy, who liked and respected me when it wasn’t fashionable to do so.”
“He bravely fought a long battle against a terrible disease,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. “My condolences go out to his family, and all of his many friends and listeners. He will be truly missed. God bless you Scott!”
Vice President JD Vance called Adams “a true American original, and a great ally to the President of the United States and the entire administration.”
Dilbert the comic strip first appeared in 1989, poking fun at office culture. It ran for decades in numerous newspapers until 2023, when it was canceled by most newspapers over comments by Adams that various publishers denounced as racist, hateful and discriminatory.
Among other things, Adams referred to Black people as members of a “hate group” and urged White people “to get the hell away from Black people.” Newspapers such the Los Angeles Times and the USA Today network as well as distributor Andrews McMeel Universal announced they would no longer work with the cartoonist or run his strip.
Adams took to YouTube at the time to defend himself and disclosed details about the impact of losing business, saying he was likely to lose 80% of his income from Dilbert due to the cancellations.
In the message Miles read on the show Tuesday, Adams said that he wanted to explain his life. He said he spent the first part of it focusing on making himself a worthy husband and parent as a way to find meaning, then later “donated” himself to the world and evolved from Dilbert cartoonist to “an author of what I thought would be useful books.”
“From that point on I looked for ways I could add the most to peoples’ life, one way or another,” he wrote.
Poking fun at corporate culture and, later, “wokeness”
Adams earned a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. He worked a corporate job at the Pacific Bell telephone company in the 1980s, sharing his cartoons to amuse co-workers. He drew Dilbert as a computer programmer and engineer for a high-tech company and mailed a batch to cartoon syndicators.
The first “Dilbert” comic strip officially appeared April 16, 1989, long before such workplace comedies as “Office Space” and “The Office.” It portrayed corporate culture as a Kafkaesque world of heavy bureaucracy and pointless benchmarks, where employee effort and skill were underappreciated.
Adams was the 1997 recipient of the National Cartoonist Society’s Reuben Award, considered one of the most prestigious awards for cartoonists. That same year, “Dilbert” became the first fictional character to make Time magazine’s list of the most influential Americans.
“Dilbert” strips were routinely photocopied, pinned up, emailed and posted online, a popularity that would spawn bestselling books, merchandise, commercials for Office Depot and an animated TV series, with Daniel Stern voicing Dilbert.
While Adams’ career fall seemed swift, careful readers of “Dilbert” saw a gradual darkening of the strip’s tone and its creator’s mindset.
He attracted attention for controversial comments, including saying in 2011 that women are treated differently by society for the same reason as children and the mentally disabled — “it’s just easier this way for everyone.” In a blog post from 2006, he questioned the death toll of the Holocaust.
In June 2020, Adams tweeted that when the “Dilbert” TV show ended in 2000 after just two seasons, it was “the third job I lost for being white.” But, at the time, he blamed it on lower viewership and time slot changes.
Adams’ views were reflected in some of his strips. In one in 2022, a boss says that traditional performance reviews would be replaced by a “wokeness” score. When an employee complains that could be subjective, the boss said, “That’ll cost you two points off your wokeness score, bigot.”
Adams put a brave face on his fall from grace, tweeting in 2023: “Only the dying leftist Fake News industry canceled me (for out-of-context news of course). Social media and banking unaffected. Personal life improved. Never been more popular in my life. Zero pushback in person. Black and White conservatives solidly supporting me.”
Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin, the co-founding guitarist of Black Midi who performed on their debut album, Schlagenheim, before leaving the group in 2021, has died, his family announced in a statement via the band’s label, Rough Trade. His death followed “a long battle with his mental health,” according to the statement. He was 26 years old.
Kwasniewski-Kelvin took up guitar in primary school, quickly adopting a taste for skater-adjacent punk-pop. His father, who played in a party band, occasionally invited him to rehearsals, where Kwasniewski-Kelvin, then 12, would solo over the group’s blues and pop jams. He met his future Black Midi bandmates—Geordie Greep, Cameron Picton, and Morgan Simpson—at the London performing arts institution the BRIT School, where Greep helped steer his classmate’s tastes towards “harsh noise, drone music, Merzbow,” as Kwasniewski-Kelvin told Pitchfork in 2019, two years after the band formed.
Feted for hectic shows at Brixton’s Windmill venue—with Kwasniewski-Kelvin alternating delirious post-hardcore riffs with abstract, sometimes improvised noise—the four-piece spearheaded the south London scene that launched a generation of British experimental rock, frequently sharing stages with the likes of Black Country, New Road, Jerskin Fendrix, and Shame.
After signing to Rough Trade, the band released Schlagenheim, produced by Speedy Wunderground honcho and scene shepherd Dan Carey, to rave reviews in 2019. They squeezed in major tours of North America and Europe before the coronavirus pandemic, but when the band returned, with Cavalcade, in early 2021, Kwasniewski-Kelvin was absent. “I have been taking some time off from the band as I have been mentally unwell,” he wrote, adding that he hoped to be back soon. At the time, the band said, “We’re all fully behind our best mate in his recovery,” and noted, “you’d be surprised at the lengths people will go to help you.”
After a third album, Hellfire, the remaining Black Midi trio went its separate ways—“indefinitely”—in 2024. In the meantime, Kwasniewski-Kelvin continued to play casually in London, including a guest appearance on Wu-Lu’s 2022 album Loggerhead. In 2024, he released a polemical solo recording criticizing the British Labour Party and calling for a free Palestine.
In its statement, the Kwasniewski-Kelvin family added, “A talented musician and a kind, loving man finally succumbed; despite all efforts…. Please take a moment to check in with your loved ones so we can stop this happening to our young men.”
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or know someone who is, we recommend these resources:
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline https://988lifeline.org/ Call or text 988 UK Samaritans: 116 123 Denmark: 70 201 201
Bob Weir, a founding member of the legendary rock band the Grateful Dead, has died at the age of 78, his family announced Saturday.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” his family wrote in a post to his Instagram page. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”
In the statement, the family disclosed that Weir had been diagnosed with cancer in July.
“As we remember Bobby, it’s hard not to feel the echo of the way he lived,” his family wrote. “A man driftin’ and dreamin’, never worrying if the road would lead him home. A child of countless trees. A child of boundless seas.”
Bob Weir attends the 67th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles, California.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Weir formed the Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia after the two met in 1963 as teens in Palo Alto, California. The band, with its unique mix of blues, folk and jazz, became a touring powerhouse for decades until Garcia’s death in 1995.
Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.”
The group eventually reformed a few years after Garcia’s death and took many iterations over the years, the latest as Dead & Company.
FILE – This undated file photo shows members of the Grateful Dead, from left to right, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir.
AP
“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” his family’s statement said. “A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music. His work did more than fill rooms with music; it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language, and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them.”
Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member. Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024.
Dead and Company played a series of concert’s for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Atherton, Weir was the Dead’s youngest member and looked like a fresh-faced high-schooler in its early years. He was generally less shaggy than the rest of the band, but had a long beard like Garcia’s in later years.
The band would survive long past the hippie moment of its birth, with its fans known as Deadheads often following them on the road in a virtually non-stop tour.
“Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” Weir said when the Dead got the Grammys’ Musicares Person of the Year honor last year. “Spreading joy through the music was all we ever really had in mind and we got plenty of that done.”
Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir has died. Weir played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals for the entirety of the Grateful Dead’s 30-year tenure. He also founded and played in several bands during and after his time with the Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and Furthur. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with other former members of the band in a group called the Other Ones, later known as the Dead. Weir more recently continued playing with Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, along with John Mayer, in an outfit called Dead & Company.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the Weir family said in a statement. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”
They added that Weir’s “final months reflected the same spirit that defined his life. Diagnosed in July, he began treatment only weeks before returning to his hometown stage for a three-night celebration of 60 years of music at Golden Gate Park. Those performances, emotional, soulful, and full of light, were not farewells, but gifts. Another act of resilience.” You can read the full statement below.
Weir was born in San Francisco to Jack Parber and a fellow University of Arizona student, who later gave him up to his adoptive parents. He was raised in the suburb of Atherton, picking up piano and trumpet until finally picking up the guitar at age 13. Due to his undiagnosed dyslexia, Weir was expelled from nearly every school he attended—including Fountain Valley School in Colorado, where he met future Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow. On New Year’s Eve, 1962, Weir stumbled upon Dana Morgan’s Music Store in Palo Alto, where Jerry Garcia taught guitar. Garcia was there waiting for his student who didn’t show up, and the two ended up jamming together all night. They later started a band called McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, which then evolved into the Warlocks, and finally became the Grateful Dead.
Weir released his first solo album, Ace, in 1972, followed by 1978’s Heaven Help the Fool. His last LP, 2016’s Blue Mountain, featured contributions from members of the National. Weir was a board member of the Rex Foundation, an organization founded by members of the Grateful Dead to “proactively provide extensive community support to creative endeavors in the arts, sciences, and education.”
Weir Family Statement:
It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir. He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.
For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music. His work did more than fill rooms with music; it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language, and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them. Every chord he played, every word he sang was an integral part of the stories he wove. There was an invitation: to feel, to question, to wander, and to belong.
Bobby’s final months reflected the same spirit that defined his life. Diagnosed in July, he began treatment only weeks before returning to his hometown stage for a three-night celebration of 60 years of music at Golden Gate Park. Those performances, emotional, soulful, and full of light, were not farewells, but gifts. Another act of resilience. An artist choosing, even then, to keep going by his own design. As we remember Bobby, it’s hard not to feel the echo of the way he lived. A man driftin’ and dreamin’, never worrying if the road would lead him home. A child of countless trees. A child of boundless seas.
There is no final curtain here, not really. Only the sense of someone setting off again. He often spoke of a three-hundred-year legacy, determined to ensure the songbook would endure long after him. May that dream live on through future generations of Dead Heads. And so we send him off the way he sent so many of us on our way: with a farewell that isn’t an ending, but a blessing. A reward for a life worth livin’.
His loving family, Natascha, Monet, and Chloe, request privacy during this difficult time and offer their gratitude for the outpouring of love, support, and remembrance. May we honor him not only in sorrow, but in how bravely we continue with open hearts, steady steps, and the music leading us home. Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings.
The first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby, Diane Crump, has died.She was 77.”Mom passed away peacefully tonight. She ended her life surrounded by friends and family. Thank you for being the best support system. We have been truly blessed by your generosity and kindness. I hope my mom’s legacy of following dreams and helping others continues through those that were touched by her amazing life,” said Crump’s daughter, Della Payne, in a GoFundMe post on New Year’s Day.In the player up top: Diane Crump’s Kentucky Derby boots on display at Kentucky Derby MuseumCrump had been battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.For the first 95 years of the Kentucky Derby’s existence, only male jockeys were allowed to compete. But that all changed in 1970 when Crump became the first woman to ride in the Derby.She received her jockey license just one year prior and would go on to finish 15th in the 96th Run for the Roses.Through 1,682 starts, Crump amassed 228 wins and collected more than $1.2 million in earnings during her jockeying career.“Diane Crump was an iconic trailblazer who admirably fulfilled her childhood dreams. As the first female to ride professionally at a major Thoroughbred racetrack in 1969 and to become the first female to ride in the Kentucky Derby one year later, she will forever be respected and fondly remembered in horse racing lore. The entire Churchill Downs family extends our condolences to her family and friends,” Churchill Downs said in a statement.Following her career as a jockey, Crump started Diane Crump Equine Sales as a way to connect buyers and owners in the sporthorse world. She also volunteered at hospitals and nursing homes with her dachshunds to provide animal-assisted therapy.
The first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby, Diane Crump, has died.
She was 77.
“Mom passed away peacefully tonight. She ended her life surrounded by friends and family. Thank you for being the best support system. We have been truly blessed by your generosity and kindness. I hope my mom’s legacy of following dreams and helping others continues through those that were touched by her amazing life,” said Crump’s daughter, Della Payne, in a GoFundMe post on New Year’s Day.
In the player up top: Diane Crump’s Kentucky Derby boots on display at Kentucky Derby Museum
Crump had been battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
For the first 95 years of the Kentucky Derby’s existence, only male jockeys were allowed to compete. But that all changed in 1970 when Crump became the first woman to ride in the Derby.
She received her jockey license just one year prior and would go on to finish 15th in the 96th Run for the Roses.
Through 1,682 starts, Crump amassed 228 wins and collected more than $1.2 million in earnings during her jockeying career.
“Diane Crump was an iconic trailblazer who admirably fulfilled her childhood dreams. As the first female to ride professionally at a major Thoroughbred racetrack in 1969 and to become the first female to ride in the Kentucky Derby one year later, she will forever be respected and fondly remembered in horse racing lore. The entire Churchill Downs family extends our condolences to her family and friends,” Churchill Downs said in a statement.
Following her career as a jockey, Crump started Diane Crump Equine Sales as a way to connect buyers and owners in the sporthorse world. She also volunteered at hospitals and nursing homes with her dachshunds to provide animal-assisted therapy.
A woman who was found dead in San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel on New Year’s Day has been identified as Victoria Jones, daughter of actor Tommy Lee Jones, officials said.
Around 3:15 a.m. Thursday, police were called to the hotel on Mason Street on reports of a person who was deceased. At the scene, officers met with medics who declared an adult woman dead at the scene.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to CBS News Bay Area Friday that the woman has been identified as the 34-year-old and that her legal next of kin have been notified.
Tommy Lee Jones and Victoria Jones attend the red carpet of the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival at Roppongi Hills on October 25, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan.
Ken Ishii/Getty Images
Authorities did not release additional information about her death. CBS News Bay Area has reached out to Jones’ representatives for comment.
Victoria was the daughter of Jones and his second wife, Kimberlea Cloughley. She had made several appearances in films as a child, including a role in “Men In Black II”, which also starred her father.
George Walker photographed with his wife, Elizabeth, around 2021. The beloved high school teacher and accomplished runner, who died this week at 64, showed extraordinary grace and dedication till the end.
Courtesy of the Walker family
As an accomplished distance runner who figured he logged some 120,000 miles in his lifetime, George Walker’s biggest claim to fame was shocking the competition with an underdog win at the 1986 Charlotte Observer Marathon. As a beloved teacher at Independence High School in Charlotte for more than 27 years, he mastered the gift of gab in the classroom, where he made lasting impressions on legions of students.
Walker loved both running and teaching with all his heart, and that’s why his wife, Elizabeth, said “there couldn’t be a worse disease” — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), which over time robbed him of his ability to move and speak — “for someone like George to have.”
George Walker died Friday at Atrium Health Hospice & Palliative Care Union in Monroe after a roughly two-year battle, surrounded by family. He was 64.
He had, of course, been thinking about this day for a long time.
George Walker was diagnosed with ALS in May 2024, but had been experiencing symptoms for several months before that. Courtesy of the Walker family
In an interview with The Charlotte Observer in his bedroom on Nov. 10, Walker was able to manage just a handful of words at a time between labored breaths, in a weakened, raspy voice. But he gave a clear-eyed answer regarding his imminent passing: “I’ve accepted it. We talk about it openly. It’s not taboo. It’s 100% terminal, so it’s not like cancer, where you can fight.” He added that he had “no regrets” about the life he lived. “I don’t think there’s one person on this earth who hates me.”
And in the end, he was ready — as Elizabeth puts it, “for the next great adventure.”
In fact, George was very likely as prepared as he could have possibly been.
An auspicious (and sneaky) marathon debut
A native of the Charlotte area by way of Charleston, S.C., George Walker’s running career started on the track team at Albemarle Road Junior High and blossomed at the high school where he’d eventually return to teach: Independence, for which he starred both in cross-country and track.
He chose to remain in North Carolina for college, majoring in history at UNC Wilmington while also making history, as the first cross-country runner to earn an athletic scholarship from the university.
There was no slowing down for him after graduation.
While trying to find work as a teacher, Walker saved money by living with his parents in Matthews and pieced together income by chasing prize money in races all over the country that offered them, as long as he could get there cheaply.
But it was here in Charlotte where he claimed his biggest payday.
At age 24, Walker entered the 1986 Charlotte Observer Marathon — his first 26.2-mile race — on a bit of a whim, without even giving his personal running coach a heads-up. “I was gonna pretend,” he joked, wryly, “that I got in the wrong race by accident.” (The event also featured a 10K race.)
His bib number, 3381, actually suggested he wasn’t on anyone’s radar; in competitive running, numbers in the single or low-double digits typically are reserved for the bibs worn by professional, elite or at the very least sub-elite runners.
Walker got out in front of most of them early, though. And although the final miles nearly broke him, he was able to surge into a lead he maintained till he crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 5 seconds. At the time, it set the mark for fastest marathon ever run by a North Carolinian on a North Carolina course.
In a televised post-race interview, WBTV legend Bob Lacey asked Walker, “What kept you going the last few miles?” The winner replied: “I knew if I quit, I … would be forgotten. If I held on and won, it would be something I would remember forever.”
He went home with $4,000, which would help pay for two-thirds of the new car he bought later that year.
George Walker of Mint Hill, photographed in November while watching a YouTube video featuring a recap of his victory at the 1986 Charlotte Observer Marathon. Walker, 64, died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) this week. Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez mrodriguez@charlotteobserver.com
‘The most impassioned teacher I ever had’
Later that year, Walker landed the job at his high school alma mater, where he would go on to develop a sterling reputation, both as a beloved goofball of an 11th-grade history teacher — famous for, among other things, teaching his students to say “King George the Third” with a British accent — and as the coach of the Patriots’ cross-country team.
Independence also helped him find the love of his life in Elizabeth, a fellow teacher, whom he married in 2004.
Elizabeth Walker told the Observer her husband was “Independence’s biggest fan and biggest advocate,” someone who would show up at school board meetings if he was needed to stand up for his kids or his fellow faculty members. Among the many videos sent to Walker over the summer by former students who’d gotten wind of his terminal illness, one featured a woman who gushed: “He was by far the most impassioned teacher that I ever had growing up.”
He was by far the most tireless, as well, when it came to both his vocation and his fitness.
Walker went 18 years — from October 1995 until June 2013, when he retired — without missing a day of school. It dwarfed his longest running streak — one eclipsing 1,000 straight days — though that was still a massively impressive feat in its own right.
The more invested he became in his students, he told the Observer, the less-important running became to him over the course of his career.
“Running is selfish, but teaching is selfless,” he wrote in a speech delivered by Elizabeth on his behalf in August, when Independence dedicated the school’s track in his name. “As a runner, your focus is on trying to develop and improve yourself. … As a teacher, your focus is on trying to make everyone in front of you the best they can be.”
Two years after retiring, Walker returned to Independence as a regular substitute teacher.
“I had told everyone it was to earn some extra money,” he wrote in his speech. “But the truth was, I missed the students. I missed being in the classroom.”
Independence High School dedicated its track to George Walker over the summer. Courtesy of the Walker family
Deciding to move gracefully toward death
Sometime in the middle of 2023, George Walker started getting a tingling sensation in his feet. His running went downhill fast, lacing up for what would be the last run of his life on Labor Day in 2023.
He continued walking, often six or seven miles per day, and could still bang out bunches of push-ups on command. But diminished dexterity in his fingers came next, and his endurance decreased to where — by the following spring — he was mostly just going out to walk the dogs a short distance.
Doctors diagnosed Walker with ALS on May 4, 2024.
“When I first found out, I read 5% make it 20 years,” he recalled. “So I said, ‘OK, that’ll be me.’” He changed his outlook, however, upon learning it would mean eventually being on a feeding tube. “I said, ‘That’s not living, as far as I’m concerned.’”
Instead, he decided to move gracefully toward death by spending time reflecting on his past, appreciating what he could appreciate despite his circumstances in the present, and planning for the future.
That meant leafing through copious newspaper clippings that celebrate him in some way or another, smiling over them, and sharing iPhone photos of his favorites with anyone he thought might be interested.
That meant snuggling with his devoted toy poodle; binge-watching TV shows on Netflix; sending gift cards to about 200 friends, including some he hadn’t seen in decades, “just to tell ’em ‘thanks,’” he said; and, after losing most of his ability to chew and swallow, putting Hershey’s Kisses into his mouth and letting the sweet chocolate just melt there.
But most importantly, that meant making sure Elizabeth would enjoy golden years that were truly golden.
Although George hadn’t left the bedroom since May, he kept busy by phone, email and text in his final months, with a laser-focus on generally getting the couple’s finances in order for Elizabeth and, more specifically, managing renovations of a paid-off townhouse that was previously a rental property.
She’ll move into it and net the profits from the sale of their house, which also is paid off. She’ll get life insurance money from a policy taken out before he was diagnosed. She’ll want for nothing, according to George’s plan.
“I even told her, ‘If you meet the right person, get married.’ It’d be very selfish to not say that.”
He paused, then broke the somberness hanging in the air with another wry quip: “I also told her, ‘Just don’t pick up a gambling habit.’”
George Walker had no children of his own, but in addition to Elizabeth leaves behind a stepson, Jeffrey Caleb Canipe; a sister, Brenda Walker Lloyd; a collection of in-laws; his toy poodle Leo; a seven-month-old black Lab, Arya (named for “Game of Thrones’” heroine Arya Stark); dozens of cards and appreciation videos from former students; two very fat scrapbooks full of running memories; several bags of miniature chocolates; and a piece of simple advice:
If there’s something you want to do with your life, do it. Don’t put it off. Because you just never know when it will be too late.
A framed photo of George Walker running a road race in Charlotte in 1992, on display in the Walkers’ bedroom. Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez mrodriguez@charlotteobserver.com
This story was originally published January 2, 2026 at 2:43 PM.
Théoden Janes has spent nearly 20 years covering entertainment and pop culture for the Observer. He also thrives on telling emotive long-form stories about extraordinary Charlotteans and — as a veteran of three dozen marathons and two Ironman triathlons — occasionally writes about endurance and other sports. Support my work with a digital subscription
Isiah Whitlock Jr., known for his roles in “The Wire,” “Veep” and several Spike Lee movies, has died, his manager confirmed to CBS News. He was 71.
A cause of death was not immediately provided.
His manager, Brian Liebman, described Whitlock in an Instagram post as a “brilliant actor and even better person.”
“It is with tremendous sadness that I share the passing of my dear friend and client Isiah Whitlock Jr. If you knew him — you loved him,” Liebman wrote. “A brilliant actor and even better person. May his memory forever be a blessing. Our hearts are so broken. He will be very, very missed.”
Isiah Whitlock Jr. attends a movie screening on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Born in Indiana in 1954, Whitlock attended Southwest Minnesota State University and joined the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco after graduating. His first movie appearance was in the 1981 TV movie version of “A Christmas Carol.”
He’s perhaps best known for his role as state Sen. R. Clayton “Clay” Davis on HBO’s “The Wire.” He appeared on all five seasons of the acclaimed crime drama.
Whitlock was a recurring character in seasons two through four of the HBO comedy “Veep,” playing Defense Secretary George Maddox.
Whitlock was a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee and appeared in several movies, including “25th Hour,” “She Hate Me,” “Red Hook Summer,” “Chi-Raq,” “BlacKkKlansman” and “Da 5 Bloods.”
In a tribute posted to Instagram, Lee wrote, “Today I Learned Of The Passing Of My Dear Beloved Brother ISIAH WHITLOCK. GOD BLESS.”
Whitlock made several appearances in the sketch comedy series “Chappelle’s Show.” On the big screen, he also had roles in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas,” as well as in “Pieces of April,” “Enchanted” and Pixar’s “Cars 3” and “Lightyear.”
He voiced a character in Pixar’s upcoming animated sci-fi comedy “Hoppers,” slated for release in 2026.
DENVER (AP) — Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the former senator and U.S. representative of Colorado known for his passionate advocacy of Native American issues, died Tuesday. He was 92.
Campbell died of natural causes surrounded by his family, his daughter, Shanan Campbell, confirmed to The Associated Press.
Campbell, a Democrat who stunned his party by joining the Republican Party, stood out in Congress as much for his unconventional dress — cowboy boots, bolo ties and ponytail — as his defense of children’s rights, organized labor and fiscal conservatism.
A member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, Campbell said his ancestors were among more than 150 Native Americans, mostly women, children and elderly men, killed by U.S. soldiers while camped under a flag of truce on Nov. 29, 1864.
He served three terms in the House, starting in 1987. He then served two terms in the Senate, from 1993 to 2005.
Among his accomplishments was helping sponsor legislation upgrading the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in southern Colorado to a national park.
“He was a master jeweler with a reputation far beyond the boundaries of Colorado,” said Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper on X. “I will not forget his acts of kindness. He will be sorely missed.”
Campbell was seen as a maverick
The motorcycle-riding lawmaker and cattle rancher was considered a maverick even before he abruptly switched to the Republican Party in March 1995, angry with Democrats for killing a balanced-budget amendment in the Senate. His switch outraged Democratic leaders and was considered a coup for the GOP.
“I get hammered from the extremes,” he said shortly afterward. “I’m always willing to listen … but I just don’t think you can be all things to all people, no matter which party you’re in.”
Considered a shoo-in for a third Senate term, Campbell stunned supporters when he dropped out of the race in 2004 after a health scare.
“I thought it was a heart attack. It wasn’t,” said Campbell. “But when I was lying on that table in the hospital looking up at all those doctors’ faces, I decided then, ‘Do I really need to do this six more years after I’ve been gone so much from home?’ I have two children I didn’t get to see grow up, quite frankly.”
He retired to focus on the Native American jewelry that helped make him wealthy and was put on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. He also worked on a line of outdoor gear with a California-based company, Kiva Designs, and became a senior policy adviser with the powerhouse law firm of Holland & Knight in Washington.
Campbell founded Ben Nighthorse Consultants which focused on federal policy, including Native American affairs and natural resources. The former senator also drove the Capitol Christmas Tree across the country to Washington, D.C., on several occasions.
“He was truly one of a kind, and I am thinking of his family in the wake of his loss,” said Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette on X.
An accidental politician
In 1982, he was planning to deliver his jewelry to California, but bad weather grounded his plane. He was killing time in the southern Colorado city of Durango when he went to a county Democratic meeting and wound up giving a speech for a friend running for sheriff.
Democrats were looking for someone to challenge a GOP legislative candidate and sounded out Campbell during the meeting. “Like a fish, I was hooked,” he said.
His opponent, Don Whalen, was a popular former college president who “looked like he was out of a Brooks Brothers catalog,” Campbell recalled. “I don’t think anybody gave me any kind of a chance. … I just think I expended a whole lot of energy to prove them wrong.”
Campbell hit the streets, ripping town maps out of the Yellow Pages and walking door to door to talk with people. He recalled leaving a note at a house in Cortez where no one was home when he heard a car roar into the driveway, gravel flying and brakes squealing.
The driver jumped out, tire iron in hand, and screamed that Campbell couldn’t have his furniture. “Aren’t you the repossession company?” the man asked.
“And I said, ‘No man, I’m just running for office.’ We got to talking, and I think the guy voted for me.”
Campbell went on to win and he never lost an election thereafter, moving from the Colorado House to the U.S. House and then the Senate.
Born April 13, 1933, in Auburn, California, Campbell served in the Air Force in Korea from 1951 to 1953 and received a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University in 1957. He attended Meiji University in Tokyo from 1960 to 1964, was captain of the U.S. judo team in the 1964 Olympics and won a gold medal in the Pan American Games.
Campbell once called then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt a “forked-tongued snake” for opposing a water project near the southern Colorado town of Ignacio, which Campbell promoted as a way to honor the water rights of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes.
He clashed with environmentalists on everything from mining law and grazing reforms to setting aside land for national monuments.
Despite all this — or perhaps because of it — voters loved him. In 1998, Campbell won reelection to the Senate by routing Democrat Dottie Lamm, the wife of former Gov. Dick Lamm, despite his switch to the GOP. He was the only Native American in the Senate at the time.
Campbell insisted his principles didn’t change, only his party
He said he was criticized as a Democrat for voting with Republicans, and then pilloried by some newspapers for his stances after the switch.
“It didn’t change me. I didn’t change my voting record. For instance, I had a sterling voting record as a Democrat on labor. I still do as a Republican. And on minorities and women’s issues,” he said.
Campbell said his values — liberal on social issues, conservative on fiscal ones — were shaped by his life. Children’s causes were dear to him because he and his sister spent time in an orphanage when his father was in jail and his mother had tuberculosis.
Organized labor won his backing because hooking up with the Teamsters and learning to drive a truck got him out of the California tomato fields. His time as a Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy in California in the late 1960s and early ’70s made him a law enforcement advocate.
His decision to retire from politics, Campbell said, had nothing to do with allegations that Ginnie Kontnik, his former chief of staff, solicited kickbacks from another staffer and that his office lobbied for a contract for a technology company with ties to the former senator.
He referred both matters to the Senate Ethics Committee. In 2007, Kontnik pleaded guilty to a federal charge of not reporting $2,000 in income.
“I guess there was some disappointment” with those charges, Campbell said. “But a lot of things happen in Washington that disappoint you. You just have to get over them because every day there’s a new crisis to deal with.” ___ This story has been corrected to remove a reference to a massacre occurring at Great Sand Dunes National Monument. The massacre that was referenced took place at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.
Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of late President John F. Kennedy, has died shortly after announcing she had a terminal cancer diagnosis, the JFK Library Foundation said Tuesday.
“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” read a message from her family on the institution’s Instagram account, alongside an image of Schlossberg.
Schlossberg, 35, who had a career as an environmental journalist, wrote in an essay published by The New Yorker last month that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2024, shortly after the birth of her second child. She underwent grueling treatment, including chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants, but the cancer returned and she was eventually given a prognosis of one year to live, she wrote.
Tatiana Schlossberg speaks at an event in New York City in on Sept. 9, 2019.
It was 1956 when Brigitte Bardot burst into global fame with And God Created Woman, a film directed by her then-husband, Roger Vadim. Though not her first film, it was the one where everything changed for the icon, who died Sunday at age 91: Suddenly, she was the embodiment of sensuality and feminine freedom.
Before she retired from acting in 1973, Brigitte Bardot appeared in over 50 films, spanning comedy, drama, and adventure. Many were huge successes at the global box office, spurred by an interest in her style on and offscreen. Read on for her most iconic performances and notable films.
‘The Grand Maneuver’
Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images
The Grand Maneuver (1955)
Before Bardot’s breakout success, director René Clair cast her in a romantic comedy opposite Gérard Philipe. In the role, Bardot proved her charm was not only provocative but also playful, capable of sustaining the pace and lightness of an entertaining film without losing intensity.
It felt like those we lost this year were as numerous as raindrops. Luminaries like Robert Redford, who challenged Hollywood to do better, to think harder, to take risks.
He was of Hollywood, but he preferred to live away from it. His Sundance Film Institute and Festival gave independent filmmakers a bit of sun at Sundance, promoting what he told “Sunday Morning” in 2018 were “the smaller stories. The more offbeat stories. The more controversial.”
Redford lived long enough to see fellow Oscar-winner Gene Hackman pass away. Hackman shone just as brightly. He could be gentle, as in “Hoosiers,” and powerful, as in “The French Connection.”
The real-lifeheroes from the civil rights movement are sadly getting more scarce every day. Sam Moore‘s song “Soul Man” was meant to show pride and resilience.
And there was one person who lived those values for 111 years: Viola Fletcher, the oldest witness to the Tulsa Race Massacre. Then there was Charles Person, the youngest among the original famed “Freedom Riders” protest in 1961. Joseph McNeil took a stand … by sitting, at a Whites-only Woolworth’s lunch counter. Jo Ann Allen, one of the “Clinton 12,” was among the first to endure the desegregation of schools all across the South. Bobby Cain was, too. He became the first Black student to graduate under those conditions.
A decade later, courage like that inspired the likes of Jesse Colin Young and the Youngbloods to record a song with a message of belonging, “Get Together.”
“Come on people now, Smile on your brother, Everybody get together, Try to love one another right now”
The song permeated the Summer of Love. The late Sly Stone, of Sly and the Family Stone, got on board the inclusion train, too, with his song “Everyday People.” He certainly had an ear for the times.
Dick Cheney, who had an ear for politics, started his career the same year that song came out. He went on to become the most influential Vice President in history, especially in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Asked by “Sunday Morning” in 2015 if he was changed by the events of that day, Cheney replied, “Well, it’s been alleged by some of my friends that 9/11 did change Cheney, that when he was a Secretary of Defense in the first Bush administration, he was a warm, pleasant, lovable fellow, and he became more of a hard rock afterwards. And I think that’s probably true.”
He remained a staunch conservative – until, that is, 2024, when he voted for Democrat Kamala Harris.
That’s similar to Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Nominated by President George H.W. Bush, he leaned more to the left in his later years. He left us at 85.
Right in the middle was Senator Alan Simpson, who balanced his conservative views with more moderate stands — a plain-spoken cowboy from the plains of Wyoming who got his wings at 93.
Peter Yarrow, of Peter Paul and Mary, got his wings this year, too. The tenor who helped bridge the gap between folk and pop was 86.
Jimmy Cliff (“I Can See Clearly Now”) bridged another gap: helping make reggae mainstream. The former choir boy from Jamaica found some of his inspiration in the traditions of gospel music, such as “Many Rivers to Cross.”
Pope Francis crossed that final river this year – a day after he blessed the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.
Whether you believe in Heaven as a destination or not, there’s no doubt the heavens are unending. Astronaut James Lovell never landed on the moon, but saw it closer than most. He took to the skies for the last time at age 97.
Back on Earth, astrophysicist Fred Espenak was chasing our galaxy with a telescope. He witnessed the moon blot out the sun 52 times – a sci-fi experience in real life.
We lost others who imagined life beyond the stars – in movie posters. Drew Struzan was the artist behind the theater posters for the “Star Wars” films and the “Back to the Future” trilogy. Renato Casaro gave life to blockbusters like “Rambo” and “Terminator 2.”
And then there was Joe Caroff, the artist who created the James Bond logo.
We also lost some who appeared in those classic Bond films – tough guys like Bruce Glover, the assassin in “Diamonds Are Forever”; and Joe Don Baker, the arms dealer in “The Living Daylights.”
We lost Rebekah Del Rio, that unforgettable singer in “Mulholland Drive,” the same year that we lost director David Lynch who put her in that film.
In 2016 Lynch told “Sunday Morning” that people should not confuse the characters in his movies with his state of mind: “Stories are stories,” he said. “And like I say, the artist doesn’t have to suffer to show suffering.”
Oscar-nominee Diane Ladd offered plenty of suffering in Lynch’s “Wild at Heart.” Her daughter, Laura Dern, and the rest of her fans mourned her loss at 89.
Sharing a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with Ladd, far from the beach, was the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson. Wilson was called the poet laureate of surf culture.
But when it came to the poetry of baseball, there were few better than Bob Uecker. He was a ballplayer who became “Mr. Baseball,” a pioneer for his wit and self-deprecating humor. Asked by “Sunday Morning” in 2024 his favorite Bob Uecker line, he replied, “Just a bit outside. That’s where my wife put me a lot of times!”
Nina Kuscsik was left outside of the men in marathons – until, that is, she became the first woman to enter the New York City Marathon, and the first official female winner of the Boston Marathon.
In figure skating, Dick Button was the first to land a double axel, and the first American to bring home gold in Olympic figure skating – twice.
Button was elegant and fierce, much the way George Foreman was in the boxing ring. He got a heavyweight world title in his 20s – and then unbelievably again in his 40s. And even if you never saw him box, you probably saw him cook. He described his George Foreman Grill as a real “knockout.”
Another ringmaster – and master marketer – was Hulk Hogan, the face of professional wrestling for decades. He was the ultimate showman, who died of cardiac arrest at age 71.
There were, this year, so many unnatural deaths, especially, it seems, on college campuses, from Brown University just before Christmas, to Utah Valley University, where political activist Charlie Kirk was murdered. He was there organizing young voters around Christian conservative values. The students who saw what happened will never be the same.
Anne Marie Hochhalter survived the mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, but 26 years later it caught up with her. She died from injuries related to the shooting that left her paralyzed. She was only 43.
It’s hard to fathom just how much life does come after a tragedy. John Cleary was shot on the campus of Kent State University, a moment captured in a Life Magazine photo. But he ended up finishing his degree in architecture. He lived another 55 years.
We lost others in architecture, too. David Childs designed the Freedom Tower in the wake of 9/11.
We lost Frank Gehry, perhaps the most recognizable American architect since Frank Lloyd Wright.
And then there was Giorgio Armani, an architect of fashion, who turned red carpet events into press conference. Who was wearing him got a lot of coverage.
So many of those who asked the questions trying to get answers about all kinds of things left us this year, like our colleague Mark Knoller. With his booming voice, and a treasure trove of presidential trivia, he gave CBS’ White House coverage a real spark. Morris Banks, a cameraman who was equally intimidating in stature, travelled the world for CBS to brings us stories of people and events. The same was true of “Sunday Morning”‘s Jim McLaughlin.
Human voices, sometimes shouting in the wilderness, can do remarkably good things, even if those voices are voicing pain. Virginia Giuffre was the first of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims to go public. Soon, other survivors joined her. They began speaking with one voice – shining lights in the dark. In 2020 she told “CBS This Morning,” “The buck stops when every single monster gets held accountable and our children are safe. And we need everyone’s help.”
Giuffre was just 41.
Conservationist Jane Goodall raised her voice from the jungles of East Africa, where her work with chimpanzees made us look at ourselves – and our relationship with the animal kingdom – in a different and special way. In 1990 she said, “We’re not quite as different from the rest of the animal kingdom as we used to think.”
In fact, animals can seem every bit as human as we are. June Lockhart played Lassie’s “mom,” among a lot of other roles. She was always just as intuitive as Lassie herself.
That Golden Era of TV started the career of Rob Reiner, too, and while he was a good actor, it was directing where he really made his mark. Name some of your favorite movies and chances are Reiner directed them. From comedy (“This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “The Princess Bride”), to drama (“Misery,” “A Few Good Men”), he had his finger on our pulse the way few people did.
Rob Reiner, and his wife Michele, left us far too soon.
Another familiar face was George Wendt. As Norm on “Cheers,” there’s no wonder everybody knew his name. Wendt was 76.
We also lost David Ketchum from “Get Smart”; and Malcolm Jamal Warner, from “The Cosby Show.” It’s hard to think of any of them getting any older. Take TV’s Dennis the Menace: Child actor Jay North couldn’t stay young forever. He was 73 when he died at his home in Florida.
And then there was actor Richard Chamberlain, who played the young intern Dr. Kildare. He went on to star in blockbuster TV miniseries like “Shogun” and “The Thorn Birds.”
Both those novels hit the bestseller list – and so did the “Confessions of a Shopaholic” series, authored by Madeleine Wickham, who wrote under the pen-name Sophie Kinsella.
In 2014 she told “CBS This Morning,” “You’re hoping that people will enjoy your book, but you don’t know, and off it goes. But then you meet somebody who says ‘Well you know what, I ,,read your book in the middle of the night while I was recovering from operation, and it got me through.’ I mean, how could you do anything better in life than that?”
The British author died of brain cancer at just 55.
Few British playwrights have been compared to Shakespeare, but Tom Stoppard was. In 1999 he told “Sunday Morning,” “It seemed to me that having a play on at the National Theatre, for example, was some kind of Everest which only a chosen few could ever even hope to aspire to. It turns out to be something that can happen to people like me.”
Portrayals of those in our nation’s uniform rarely get better than “M*A*S*H” or, later, “Top Gun.” Few could top Tom Cruise as a cocky Naval aviator, but Val Kilmer did. He played so many other roles, from Jim Morrison of The Doors, to Doc Holliday in “Tombstone.” “I like characters,” Kilmer told “Sunday Morning” in 2013. “I think that’s what people have enjoyed most in my acting.”
But it was “Iceman” that stuck with all of us right till the very end. Val Kilmer was 65.
Airmen who saw real combat in World War II are few and far between these days, like John “Lucky” Luckadoo. They called him that because he survived so much, and he continued to, making it to 103.
Joe Harris lived to 108 – one of the oldest WWII paratroopers.
George Hardy earned his wings at just 19, making him one of the youngest Tuskegee Airmen. Jessie Mahaffey survived the attack on Pearl Harbor – and the sinking of another ship just a year later. he was 102. Donald McPherson distinguished himself as an “ace” in the skies above Okinawa. Julia Parsons, one of the last Enigma code breakers, left us, too, this, year.
Released prisoner of war Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm is greeted by his family at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., March 17, 1973. In the lead is Stirm’s daughter Lori, 15, followed by son Robert, 14; daughter Cynthia, 11; wife Loretta; and son Roger, 12.
Sal Veder/AP
Some, however, never came home, but Vietnam POW Lt Col. Robert Stirm finally did. The Pulitzer Prize-winning picture said it all – his family seeing his facefor the first time in almost six years.
Words never matched those feelings, but lyricist Alan Bergman‘s words got pretty close. He and his wife, co-writer Marilyn Bergman, are perhaps best known for the classic “The Way We Were.”
So many couples we remember the way they were, like Dorothy Vogel and her late husband Herb. On modest means, upstairs in their rent-controlled apartment, they amassed an art collection worth millions. True to their modesty, before their deaths, they gave most of it away.
What Rick Davies gave away was his artistry behind the Wurlitzer electric piano. It gave the supergroup Supertramp its signature chart-topping sound. He was 81.
We lost “Space Ace” – Ace Frehley – of the heavy metal group Kiss this year, too. He made fans believe his playing really did make his guitar smoke (and maybe it did!).
And then there was Ozzy Osbourne, the lead singer of Black Sabbath and self-described Prince of Darkness. His wife, Sharon Osbourne, stayed with him through thick and thin. Asked by “Sunday Morning” in 2012 what their secret was, Ozzy replied, “I don’t know. You know, I’m in the rock and roll. Because you rock and you roll. You know, you just get on with it.”
Those musicians who have just “gone with it,” like D’Angelo and Connie Francis, still left us their talents that make us, as trumpeter Chuck Mangione did, feel “so good” … like Bobby Sherman(“Julie, Do Ya Love Me”); John Lodgeof The Moody Blues (“Nights in White Satin”); and Marianne Faithfull (“As Tears Go By”);
There was also singer and guitarist Wayne Osmondof The Osmonds (“Crazy Horses”), and Mark Volman of The Turtles (“Happy Together”).
“Happy together” just might describe what most people were feeling when they were in the company of the legendary Diane Keaton. Some called her quirky, even kooky. But everyone agreed she was talented beyond measure. She could do searing dramas and romantic comedies, always holding her own with the best of them. “I think that one of the reasons I’ve been able to be around for as long as I have, is because I have been in funny movies,” she told “Sunday Morning” in 2010.
She left her mark not only as an actor, but with her fashion sense, too.
Keaton was certainly unique, as most of those we remember are. There are far too many to name. But for their talents, their passions, their love and care and influence, we are forever grateful.
To all of them we bid a very fond “Hail, and Farewell.”
Story produced by Young Kim. Editor: Steve Tyler. Digital producer: David Morgan.
