Frederick Schneier, Viacom Executive and Producer, Dies at 95

This is so sad! And also shocking for everyone listening at home!

Jules Bass, whose work as a producer and director of stop-motion and animated television specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town and The Year Without A Santa Claus has become an integral part of the holiday season for generations, died today in Rye, New York, of age-related illnesses. He was 87.

A British TV and theatre actress has died backstage after performing a play. 

2 min read A horrific video of the execution of a gay man in Afghanistan has been sent to the victim’s Mother. Reports in Pink News have suggested an activist from a local LGBT activist group, 22-year-old Hamed Saburi from Kabul, was kidnapped by Taliban extremists back in August.

Alice Lowe’s latest film Timestalker has started shooting in Wales. 

Robert Gordon, a rockabilly devotee and singer whose band the Tuff Darts was a staple of New York City’s CBGB and Max’s Kansas City punk scene of the 1970s, died today. He was 75.

Noel Duggan, who helped bridge traditional Celtic music and pop as one of the founding members of Clannad, has died. A tweet from the group said he was 73 and “died suddenly in Donegal” on Saturday evening.

Joyce Sims, whose 1980s hit “Come Into My Life” reached the Top 10 in the US and UK, has died at 63, her family confirmed. No cause of death was given.

Naman Ramachandran Indonesia’s KawanKawan Media has partnered with Singapore’s Momo Film Co on Nelson Yeo’s “Dreaming & Dying” and Duong Dieu Linh’s “Don’t Cry Butterfly,” it was revealed at this week’s Asian Contents & Film Market, held on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival. “Dreaming & Dying,” about three middle aged individuals who are forced to confront their inner demons as a long-buried love triangle between them resurfaces, is currently in production. Yeo said: “ ‘Dreaming & Dying’ is the accumulation of my obsession with dreams and memories. Primarily, it is about how we choose to remember things in our own ways, and as time passes, that fantasy becomes the reality.”

Jeff Barnaby, a filmmaker and member of the Mi’kmaw tribe who brought Indigenous cinema to greater attention, has died at 46. He had a yearlong battle with cancer, his representative confirmed.

Mi’kmaw filmmaker Jeff Barnaby, considered a visionary of modern Indigenous cinema, has died.

EJ Panaligan editor Literary manager Jerry Kalajian, a partner at Intellectual Property Group, died of cancer on Sept. 9 at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, Calif. He was 68. Intellectual Property Group confirmed Kalajian’s death. Throughout his career, Kalajian served as an agent, manager and producer, forming tight bonds with literary agencies across the globe. His career was defined by a love and passion for authors and their books, championing their literary voices whenever he could. He represented numerous prestigious book adaptations for film and television, including “Life of Pi,” “The Book Thief” and “Big Little Lies.” He also represented a long list of producers, directors, literary talents and screenwriters during his tenure.

Award-winning movie and stage actor and gay icon, Angela Lansbury, has passed away at the age of 96, five days before her 97th birthday. She is best known for playing crime-solving mystery writer Jessica Fletcher in the crime mystery series Murder, She Wrote, for which she received 11 Emmy nominations.Lansbury also starred in numerous films such as The Portrait of Dorian Gray and The Manchurian Candidate, winning Golden Globes for both. In 1971 she starred in Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks endearing herself to a generation of children. Lansbury’s breakout role came at the age of 19 when she acted in the psychological thriller, Gaslight, for which she received her first Oscar nomination.She made her Broadway debut in 1957 and over the course of her stage career was awarded five Tony Awards for roles in such plays as Mame and Blithe Spirit.  In 1945, Lansbury married actor Richard Cromwell. The marriage only lasted a year on the account of Cromwell being gay.In a 2017 interview with Radio Times, Lansbury recalled, “I had no idea that I was marrying a gay man,”“I found him such an attractive individual, a very glamorous person – he knew everybody, he was a friend of Joan Crawford’s, these people who I was fascinated by as a young actress.

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Actor Eileen Ryan, the mother of actors Sean Penn and Christopher Penn and musician Michael Penn, died Sunday at her home, just a week short of her 95th birthday.

Nikki Finke, the veteran entertainment journalist who founded Deadline in 2006 and helped grow it into a major player among Hollywood trades, died Sunday morning in Boca Raton, FL after a prolonged illness. She was 68.

EJ Panaligan editor The fifth season of “Inside Amy Schumer” has its official trailer, which Paramount+ released today (October 6th). The first two episodes of the season are set to premiere on the service Thursday, Oct. 20, with the remaining three episodes dropping weekly afterward. In addition to Schumer, the new season features Amber Tamblyn, Bridget Everett, Cara Delevinge, Chris Parnell, Ellie Kemper, Jesse Williams, Laura Benanti, Michael Ian Black, Olivia Munn and Tim Meadows, and returning writers Christine Nangle, Tami Sagher, Jon Glaser and Jeremy Beiler. Meadows, Derek Gaines, Jaye McBride and Georgie Aldaco also join the writing staff this season.

EJ Panaligan editor Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on Wednesday that television producer Eric Weinberg has been charged with 18 counts of sexually assaulting five women between the period of 2014 and 2019. The “Scrubs” co-executive producer and writer is out of custody after posting a $5 million bond. The 62-year-old Weinberg was charged with six counts of sexual penetration by use of force, four counts of oral copulation, three counts of forcible rape, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count each of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, attempted sexual penetration by use of force and false imprisonment by violence.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Columbia Records has entered into a joint venture with former Capitol Records chairman-CEO Jeff Vaughn to launch Signal Records, the company announced Wednesday. The Los Angeles-based imprint will operate as a new label with Columbia Records of Sony Music Entertainment and begin operations immediately, with an artist roster to be announced in the coming weeks. As founder and CEO, Vaughn will lead the company’s creative direction and business development while utilizing Columbia’s marketing, promotion, and label services. Ron Perry, Chairman & CEO of Columbia Records, said, “I’ve admired Jeff’s work from afar for a while. He has incredible musical instincts, an infectious work ethic, and great passion. I’m looking forward to working together on this new chapter.”

Brooke Bailey, known for appearing on Basketball Wives, is mourning the loss of her 25-year-old daughter Kayla. The reality star took to Instagram to inform her followers of the tragedy and share photos remembering her daughter.