Dead Celebrity Alert

Herb Ritts, the photographer whose glorifying images of the well known helped to further mythologize celebrity in the 1980’s and 90’s, died yesterday in a Los Angeles hospital. He was 50 and lived in Los Angeles. … Read full obituary

George Roy Hill, the independent-minded former Marine pilot who directed Paul Newman and Robert Redford in both “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting,” died Friday. He was 81. … Read full obituary

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - Ken Tobey, who had seven prolific decades playing small roles in movies such as 1951’s classic “The Thing from Another World” and in numerous television shows, died Dec. 22. He was 85. … Read full obituary

Punk legend Joe Strummer of “The Clash” has died, his record company said Monday. He was 50. Strummer, who was the band’s guitarist, vocalist and songwriter alongside Mick Jones, died on Sunday. The cause of his death was not announced. … Read full obituary

Frederick Knott, a notoriously unprolific playwright who scored big when he did write — with his 1952 Broadway hit “Dial M for Murder” and later with the 1966 thriller “Wait Until Dark” — died on Tuesday in his Manhattan apartment. He was 86. … Read full obituary

LOS ANGELES — The estranged mother of broadcaster “Dr. Laura” was found murdered, Laura Schlessinger announced to her radio audience Friday. The body of Yolanda Schlessinger, 77, was found this week in her Beverly Hills condo. Police released few details other than that the killing occurred weeks ago. … Read full story

LONDON, Dec. 19 — James Hazeldine, an admired stage and television actor who had just taken on a role at the Royal National Theater here, died on Tuesday. He was 55. … Read full obituary

Former Utah Congressman Wayne Owens was found dead Wednesday on a beach in Israel, according to a spokesman for the State Department. He was 65. … Read full obituary

Longtime disc jockey at KIIS-FM (105.9).

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California DJ Rick Chase, 45

Longtime San Francisco Bay Area disc jockey, found dead in his home after he failed to show up for work at KWIN-FM (97.7).

Philip F. Berrigan, the former Roman Catholic priest who led the draft board raids that galvanized opposition to the Vietnam War in the late 1960’s, died on Friday in Baltimore after a lifetime of battling “the American Empire,” as he called it, over the morality of its military and social policies. He was 79. … Read full obituary

Dave McNally, a star pitcher who took part in the 1975 labor grievance that created free agency in major league baseball, died Sunday at his home in Billings, Mont. He was 60. … Read full obituary