Dead Celebrity Alert

Actor Glenn Ford, who played strong, thoughtful protagonists in films such as “The Blackboard Jungle,”"Gilda” and “The Big Heat,” died Wednesday, police said. He was 90. … Read full obituary

Joseph Stefano, wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”; was co-creator of TV’s “The Outer Limits.” August 25 at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center.

Australian Democrats founder Don Chipp has died in a Melbourne hospital, aged 81, following a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. … Read full obituary

August 21, 2006 — Creighton Brown, a wellknown racing entrepreneur and a man who helped Ron Dennis win control of McLaren, has died of cancer. … Read full obituary

Best known for his trumpet performance on the theme to “Rocky” (”Gonna Fly Now”); in Ojai, California.

Bruce Gary, the rock drummer who worked with George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Stephen Stills but is best known as The Knack’s original drummer — the man who played on the group’s No. 1 hit “My Sharona” — has died. He was 55. … Read full obituary

Robert K. Hoffman, one of three founders of the irreverent National Lampoon magazine, has died. He was 59.

Hoffman, a noted Dallas philanthropist, died Sunday at an area hospital. He had been suffering from leukemia since December, according to his family. … Read full obituary

Joe Rosenthal, Pulitzer prize-winning Associated Press photographer who shot the spontaneous (and ubiquitous) picture of World War II soldiers raising an American flag over Iwo Jima; Sunday, at age 94.

Alexander C. Cushing, the founder and chairman of Squaw Valley Ski Resort, died of pneumonia this weekend at his summer home in Newport, Rhode Island.

Cushing was 92. … Read full obituary

Retired Major General Kathryn George Frost, highest-ranking woman in the U.S. Army upon her retirement in 2005; Friday, of breast cancer.

The father-in-law of embattled Tour de France winner Floyd Landis was found dead in his car after committing suicide, coroner’s officials said Wednesday. … Read full obituary

Alex Buzo, the playwright and novelist whose acerbic, satirical work tackled issues such as racism, alienation and the moral emptiness of late-’60s Australia, has died at the age of 62. … Read full obituary

HAMILTON, New Zealand, Aug. 16 (UPI) — A weeklong period of mourning has been declared in New Zealand for Maori Queen Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu who died at age 75. … Read full obituary

… Bruno, 57, starred in a host of Hollywood films, including ‘When Harry Met Sally’, ‘City Slickers’ alongside Billy Crystal, ‘The Godfather: Part II’ and ‘Good Morning Vietnam’. … Read full obituary

Obit to come.

Mike Douglas, who drew on his affable personality and singing talent during 21 years as host of a syndicated television talk show, died today (Aug. 11) on his 81st birthday, his wife said. … Read full obituary

Bob Thaves, whose nationally syndicated comic strip “Frank & Ernest” amused newspaper readers for decades with its quirky observations on life, has died of respiratory failure. He was 81. … Read full obituary

Dr. James Van Allen, the Iowa-born space pioneer, died today at the age of 91. …

His use of instruments carried aboard the first successful U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958 to discover bands of intense radiation surrounding the Earth — later known as Van Allen radiation belts — was a groundbreaking achievement. … Read full obituary

Four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher died Saturday in a Seattle hospital of a reoccurrence of leukemia after a recent stem-cell transplant, her doctor said. She was 51. … Read full obituary

Famed soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, one of the greatest voices of the 20th century, died at her home in western Austria early Thursday, state television reported. She was 90. … Read full obituary