Dead Celebrity Alert

A sexy star of “The Raven” and similar horror films has died

1 of Roger Corman’s so-called “scream queens” is gone.

Hazel Court died of a heart attack at age 82 at her home near Lake Tahoe, California.

1 of her most famous roles is in the 1963 film “The Raven.” Other films include “The Premature Burial,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Curse of Frankenstein” and “Devil Girl from Mars.” … Read full obituary

An active opponent of apartheid, Dr Ivan Toms went on to campaign against conscription and homophobic discrimination in South Africa.

Born in Cape Town in 1953 Toms completed his medical degree at the University of Cape Town in 1976 and two years later was conscripted into the South African Defence Force (SADF). …

Dr Ivan Toms, physician and activist, was born on July 11, 1953, and was found dead on March 25, 2008, aged 54 … Read full obituary

Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday. He was 90.

He was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when he came up with the scientific concept that small effects lead to big changes, something that was explained in a simple example known as the “butterfly effect.” He explained how something as minuscule as a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil changes the constantly moving atmosphere in ways that could later trigger tornadoes in Texas.

His discovery of “deterministic chaos” brought about “one of the most dramatic changes in mankind’s view of nature since Sir Isaac Newton,” said the committee that awarded Lorenz the 1991 Kyoto Prize for basic sciences. … Read full obituary

Cameron Diaz’s father passed away…

The elder Diaz, Emilio Diaz, was reportedly down with the flu that turned into pneumonia. His death was sudden and it came as a shock to everyone he knew as he was in good health.

Emilio Diaz was 58 years old and was a popular resident of Seal Beach, Calif. He was briefly seen starring alongside his daughter in the 1998 movie “There’s Something About Mary,” in which he appeared as “Jailbird.” … Read full obituary

Johnny Byrne was one of the most prolific and best respected TV and screenwriters of our time. He wrote for many of British television’s classic series, including All Creatures Great and Small and Doctor Who. As well as writing, he created the hugely successful rural policing drama Heartbeat. …

Johnny Byrne, television screenwriter, was born in 1935. He died of cancer on April 2, 2008, aged about 77 … Read full obituary

DALLAS, Ga. — Police are investigating the apparent suicide of a former drummer for Michigan rocker Ted Nugent.

Corporal Brandon Gurley with the Paulding County Sheriff’s department says 59-year-old Clifford Davies was found dead from a gunshot wound in his suburban Atlanta home Sunday. … Read full story

English-born Northern Ireland minister whose political career was cut short by the outbreak of the Troubles …

Captain William Long, OBE, politician and fisherman, was born on April 23, 1922. He died on February 10, 2008, aged 85 … Read full obituary

John Wheeler, the scientist who gave the phenomenon of ‘black holes’ its name, has died at the age of 96.

The eminent physician died of pneumonia at his home in New Jersey on Sunday April 13th.

During his career Professor Wheeler made numerous scientific contributions to many of the research advances of the 20th century.

He worked with scientists including Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr and was instrumental in the development of both the atomic and hydrogen bombs. … Read full obituary

Found dead in an Atlanta hotel room today, April 15, 2008. No obituary links so far but you can read his bio here:

… Costello was born in Philadelphia in 1979 and moved with his family to Atlanta at the age of 9. Soon after, he picked up the guitar. By 14 he had won the Memphis Blues Society’s talent award and was already on the road with his own band. In 1996, the 17 year-old released his first album, Call The Cops. Real Blues Magazine called it “an explosive debut.” Around this time Costello joined up with fellow blues guitarist Susan Tedeschi, touring with her and laying down some exuberant lead guitar work on her Gold-certified Tone-Cool debut Just Won’t Burn. … Read full bio

Ollie Johnston, the last of the “Nine Old Men” who animated “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Fantasia,” “Bambi” and other classic Walt Disney films, died Monday. He was 95. …Read full obituary

Jerry Zucker, a Charleston billionaire, a prolific inventor and a noted philanthropist, died Saturday at his home after a battle with cancer.

Forbes magazine often listed Zucker, 58, among the wealthiest Americans and the magazine placed his company, InterTech Group, on its list of the country’s largest private firms. … Read full obituary

Lawrence Lloyd Brown Sr., an original member of the legendary Blue Notes, the Philly-based R&B group orignally known as Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, died Sunday of a respiratory condition. He was 63 and lived in North Philadelphia.

Lawrence was still performing with the group until January, when he became ill while singing at the Harrah’s casino, in Chester. … Read full obituary

Jackson first grabbed the spotlight at Sumter High School when he was one of the top players in the state, playing in the 1999 Shrine Bowl. Jackson would move on to USC, playing safety and special teams for coach Lou Holtz from 2001-2204. Jamacia Jackson was about to enter his second season in the Canadian Football League where he continued to pursue his pro football dreams.

Monday morning the 26 year-old was found dead at his girlfriend’s home, he had presumably died in his sleep. How he died remains a mystery. … Read full obituary

GREEN ISLAND — Francis “Len” Real, a public servant in the community throughout the 1980s and `90s, died Sunday. He was 86. … Read full obituary

Where is Green Island?

Former U.S. representative Bill Dickinson, who came to office in the election in which Barry Goldwater helped turn Alabama into a two-party state, died March 31. He was 82. … He had colon cancer. … Read full obituary

1:15 p.m. April 11, 2008 BAKERSFIELD — Joe Shell, a former Assemblyman who mounted a colorful campaign challenging Richard Nixon for the 1962 Republican gubernatorial nomination, has died. He was 89.

Shell, a conservative who served for five years as the GOP minority leader in the California Assembly, had been in declining health since breaking several ribs in January… Read full obituary

Former state judge Stewart Hanson Jr., 69, died March 30, 2008.

Mr. Hanson was perhaps best known for presiding over the 1976 Utah aggravated kidnapping trial of Ted Bundy and sentencing Bundy to up to 15 years in prison. Serial killer Bundy later was extradited to Colorado, where he escaped from jail, went on a crime spree and was eventually executed for murder in Florida.

Mr. Hanson was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1992. … Read full obituary

Ameriquest Mortgage founder Roland E. Arnall, 68, a billionaire who became a symbol of the subprime lending industry he helped create, died March 17 at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center. Esophageal cancer was diagnosed… Mr. Arnall, a Holocaust survivor who co-founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center, had resigned as President Bush’s ambassador to the Netherlands on March 7, returning to Los Angeles to be with a seriously ill son who had Hodgkin’s disease. … Read full obituary

Widely remembered for his excessive corpulence on stage and television, Willoughby Goddard spent over 40 years never trying to disguise it. … He could play judges, professors, mayors, landlords, managing directors and chairmen; he could also play sundry characters of no importance whatever. … He was the the bulky Mr Holmes in Jack Roffey’s whodunnit, No Other Verdict (Duchess, 1954), and as the “massive vulgarian” Gowing in The Diary of a Nobody (Arts), six chapters of the book by George and Weedon Grossmith, Goddard was able to “talk to his hosts with conviction” in a show adapted by Basil Dean and Richard Blake. … Read full obituary

Convicted sex offender, and accused cannibal, Nathaniel Bar Jonah, was sentenced 130 years after he was convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and choking a teenage boy. He was also charge din 200 for the 1996 disappearance of 10 year old Zach Ramsey. Authorities believed that Bar Jonah had killed the boy and served his body in meals served to neighbors. … Read full story

Dr Patrick Hillery was President of Ireland from 1976 until 1990. Before that he had held several important ministries in Irish governments, including Foreign Affairs, and was the Republic of Ireland’s first Commissioner in the European Economic Community after accession in 1973. … Read full obituary

Cliff Guilliams, who chronicled Kentucky racing both as the official chart caller and a writer for the Evansville Courier & Press, died in his sleep Saturday night in his Louisville hotel room, Equibase Co. confirmed today.

Guilliams, 52, also was The Courier-Journal’s handicapper the past two years. … Read full obituary

The body of a man, believed to be missing TV presenter Mark Speight, has been found in a remote area of London’s Paddington station, police have said.

Officers are treating the death as “unexplained” but have confirmed that the man had not been hit by a train.

Mr Speight, 42, disappeared last Monday, three months after the death of his fiancee, Natasha Collins, in the bath of the flat they shared in London. … Read full story

An Italian woman artist who was hitch-hiking to the Middle East dressed as a bride to promote world peace has been found murdered in Turkey.

The naked body of Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo, 33, known as Pippa Bacca, was found in bushes near the city of Gebze on Friday.

She had said she wanted to show that she could put her trust in the kindness of local people. …

Ms di Marineo was hitch-hiking from Milan to Lebanon with a fellow artist on their “Brides on Tour” project. … Read full story

Also:

Police arrested Murat Karatas, who later confessed that he first raped and killed di Marineo. Turkish people condemned the murder as the leading newspaper Hurriyet wrote “We are ashamed” in the headline.

Italian artist, also known as Pippa Bacca, was last seen on March 31. She was raped and then killed on March 31, according to the initial autopsy results, Dogan News Agency (DHA) said. …

Di Marineo’s mother Elena Manzoni told reporters her daughter was trying to prove that people could be reliable. …

Turkish people condemned the murder and expressed their feelings in the internet. Turkey’s leading newspaper Hurriyet said “We are ashamed” in the headline of its internet edition. … Read full story

Anglican minister who pursued his vocation in tandem with a political career in three parties

Lord Beaumont of Whitley became the Green Party’s only member of either House of Parliament in 1999 after spending most of his life and a good deal of his fortune helping the Liberal and then Liberal Democrat Party. In his long career he had alternated between the church and politics. …

Lord Beaumont of Whitley, priest and politician, was born on November 22, 1928. He died on April 8, 2008, aged 79 … Read full obituary