The Daily Blog

Jan 14

John Dye of ‘Touched By An Angel’ Dead at 47

John Dye, who played angel Andrew on ‘Touched By An Angel’ for nine seasons, has died.

The actor passed away from heart failure in California on Monday. He was 47.

The Mississippi-born actor co-starred with Roma Downey and Della Reese on the hit CBS show from 1994 to 2003, and was a regular on shows including ‘Tour of Duty,’ ‘Jack’s Place’ and ‘Hotel Malibu.’

He also appeared on ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ ‘Promised Land,’ and ”The Young & The Restless,’ as well as the TV movies ‘The Billionaire Boys Club,’ ‘Once Upon A Christmas,’ and its sequel, ‘Twice Upon A Christmas.’On Twitter, co-stars Valerie Bertinelli and Kathy Ireland remembered Dye, with Bertinelli writing, “Dear, sweet John Dye, rest in peace.”

Oct 20

Tom Bosley, a character actor who will forever be known as Howard Cunningham from the hit sitcom ‘Happy Days,’ died on Tuesday at his home in Palm Springs, his family told TMZ. According to the report, Bosley had been battling a staph infection. He was 83.

Bosley’s agent, Sheryl Abrams, told the AP that Bosley died of heart failure at 4AM Tuesday. She says he was also battling lung cancer.

Born in Chicago in 1927, Bosley gravitated to acting after serving in the Navy during World War II and found success in a stage production of ‘Our Town’ and later at the Woodstock Opera House in Illinois, where he befriended fellow newcomer Paul Newman.
Several small TV and film roles followed (in ‘Bewitched,’ ‘The Mod Squad,’ ‘Get Smart,’ etc.), but in 1974 he landed the role of a lifetime, playing the wise patriarch in ‘Happy Days’ alongside Ron Howard and Marion Ross, his onscreen wife. The show ran for 11 seasons and ushered in an era of nostalgia for the simpler and less turbulent 1950s.In 1984, Bosley struck gold again with ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ playing Sheriff Amos Tupper in the long-running mystery series, starring Angela Lansbury. He then took center stage in his own show, playing the title character in ‘Father Downing Mysteries’ from 1987 to 1991. He reprised the ‘Happy Days’ role in a 2005 episode of ‘Family Guy.’

His ‘Happy Days’ co-stars are already reacting to the news. Henry Winkler tells TMZ that he remembers being blown away by Bosley when he first saw him perform on Broadway. “And then I got to act with him for 10 years and he was great. Tom Bosley was our mentor. He was a true artist … a great husband, and a fabulous father and grandfather. He will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.”

Scott Baio adds: “He was a good man who taught me a lot about the business and business itself. He was a professional guy … I’m sad.”

Though he focused mostly on television and theater (his final Broadway appearance was in ‘Cabaret’ in 2002-03), Bosley did find some success in film and last appeared in the 2010 comedy ‘The Back-up Plan’ with Jennifer Lopez.

Bosley was the son of a real estate broker father and a concert pianist mother. He opened up about his early life in a 1979 interview with PEOPLE. “We were fairly wealthy until the stock market crashed,” he said. “When I was 2, my father lost all his money.”

He is survived by his second wife, Patricia Carr, and a daughter, Amy.

Oct 11

Miss USA Winner Who Had Title Stripped Dies in LA.

LOS ANGELES (Oct. 10) - Leona Gage, who in 1957 was named Miss USA but had the title stripped the next day when pageant officials learned she was married and a mother of two, has died in Los Angeles, her son said Saturday. She was 71.

Gage died of heart failure after spending several weeks at a Sherman Oaks hospital on Tuesday, son Robert Kaminer told the Associated Press.

Like Vanessa Williams and Carrie Prejean decades later, Gage’s pageant scandal probably brought her more fame than if she had kept the crown.Born Mary Leona Gage in Texas, she was appeared as Miss Maryland USA in the competition in Long Beach, Calif.

Gage also lied about her age - telling pageant officials she was 21 when she was 18.

She told reporters after winning that she didn’t even have a boyfriend.

“I want to wait until I’m 26 before I become seriously interested in the opposite sex,” she said, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Just a day later her story was exposed. She had been already been married twice, both times at age 14 - the first was quickly annulled - and had her second child at 16, all forbidden for the resume of a pageant contestant.

Gage said she was used to such secrets. She had hidden her first pregnancy from her strict Baptist mother for as long as she could.

“To my mother, that was the biggest scandal there could be,” Gage told the Sun. “All my life, she said, ‘Don’t you dare go into the bushes with a boy and get yourself pregnant.’”

Gage took advantage of the attention that came with the lost tiara and made many television appearances, including a highly rated appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

While winning the affection of Sullivan and much of the nation, Gage got plenty of hate mail too.

“I think one half of the U.S. hated me,” she told the Sun.

After losing the trophy, prize money, trips and studio contracts that went to first runner-up Miss Utah, she pursued an acting career. But that didn’t take off.

She had a difficult life in subsequent decades: Six failed marriages, lost custody of her five children, two of whom died before her, drug abuse and suicide attempts.

But Kaminer said she was proud to have had five children who went on to prosperous lives, including a commercial real estate agent and a lieutenant-colonel in the army.

Sep 14

Carlton “King” Coleman, an influential R&B singer who worked with the likes of B.B. King, Jackie Wilson and James Brown’s band, died of heart failure at a hospice in his hometown of Miami, FL on September 11. He was 78.

Coleman rose to fame as the vocalist of the 1959 hit ‘(Do The) Mashed Potatoes,’ for which he was the lead vocalist. Recorded with James Brown’s band, the song was originally intended for Brown, according to AP, but a dispute handed the song to Coleman. Coleman went on to release other successful solo hits, including ‘Mashed Potato Man’ and ‘The Boo Boo Song.’

Coleman collaborated and performed around the country with other famous names on the R&B scene, most notably B.B. King and Jackie Wilson. He also made a name for himself as a DJ in Tampa and then Miami. Most recently, he reprised that role with a nighttime show called Nothing But Love on Miami’s WMBM. Compilations and re-releases helped keep his music in the spotlight into this decade. Coleman toured as recently as 2005, embarking on a number of East Coast dates. He also worked as an actor, appearing in the movie ‘Bad Boys II,’ among other films and TV shows.

Coleman’s son Tony, who confirmed his death, followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming B.B. King’s drummer. The younger Coleman said in a statement that he is “proud” to be King Coleman’s son. “I’m proud to be working with one of his colleagues. He was one of the originals. He was one of the roots, and I’m one of his fruits.”