Jeff Barry Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Mary Weiss, the former lead singer of the 1960s pop girl group The Shangri-Las, died Friday at 75 years old. Her death was confirmed by her husband, who offered no details.

Mary Weiss, the lead singer and focal point of the Shangri-Las — one of the truly legendary girl groups of the early 1960s with hits like “Leader of the Pack,” “Great Big Kiss,” “Remember (Walking in the Sand)” and “Heaven Only Knows” — has died. Her death was confirmed to Variety by Miriam Linna of Norton Records, who released Weiss’ only solo album in 2007.

Christmas has finally come home: In a sweet, new YouTube video, Darlene Love reunites with David Letterman and Paul Shaffer for the first time in nine years to resume a longtime holiday tradition that capped off the Christmas episodes of Letterman’s late night talk shows for 28 years.

Cynthia Weil, a Grammy-winning lyricist of notable range and endurance who enjoyed a decades-long partnership with husband Barry Mann and helped write “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”, “On Broadway”, “Walking in the Rain” and dozens of other hits, has died at age 82.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Grammy-winning Songwriters Hall of Fame member Cynthia Weil — who co-wrote “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “On Broadway,” “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” “On Broadway,” “Walking in the Rain,” “You’re My Soul and Inspiration,” “Uptown,” “Kicks,” “Here You Come Again,” “Through the Fire,” “Somewhere Out There” and many other hits with her husband and Brill Building colleague Barry Mann — has died, her daughter confirmed to TMZ on Friday morning. No cause of death was announced; she was 82. “My mother, Cynthia Weil, was the greatest mother, grandmother and wife our family could ever ask for,” Jenn Mann said. “She was my best friend, confidant, and my partner in crime and an idol and trailblazer for women in music.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Beyonce never does anything by half, and never until she’s ready. Thus, it’s not a big surprise that she paid musical tribute to her idol Tina Turner several days after the icon’s death last Wednesday — and with a stripped-down version of the song that is not only the most musically complex in Turner’s catalog, but one of the most complicated hit singles of all time: “River Deep – Mountain High,” the 1966 hit written by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry with producer Phil Spector.

EXCLUSIVE: Prolific TV director Jessica Lowrey has inked with Range Media Partners for management. The signing comes at a pivotal moment in her career, as she looks to expand into features, while mounting TV pilots.

EXCLUSIVE: Filmmaker William Brent Bell has signed with Range Media Partners for management in all areas.

EXCLUSIVE: Range Media Partners has signed acclaimed writer and playwright Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who recently became the first Black woman to pen a feature screenplay for Marvel Studios with the upcoming Blade, starring Mahershala Ali as the titular vampire hunter first brought to life on the big screen in 1998 by Wesley Snipes.

Almost nine months to the day after the surprise Deadline scoop that CAA was acquiring ICM Partners, the deal is finally going through after getting government approval to create a mega agency in the biggest linkup in the space since the WMA-Endeavor merger. Sources close to the situation said the Department of Justice finally approved the deal late last night or this morning, and it closed. It is valued around $750 million, and the combined value of assets is around $5 billion.

The steady trickle of agents leaving ICM Partners over the past nine months has grown into a stream in the last week, with dozens of reps making inquiries to other agencies and management companies as they mull their future ahead of the pending Department of Justice ruling on ICM’s proposed acquisition by CAA.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterLongtime ICM Partners agent Jeff Barry has joined Range Media Partners, where he will head up the company’s international TV department.He arrives at the management company — founded by a trove of top representatives who defected from the legacy agencies over the past two years — as a partner. He will be tasked with building out numerous Range verticals including literary and scripted studio divisions.Barry had been with ICM since 2008, where he specialized in helping international writers, directors and actors crossover into Hollywood.

Jeff Barry is heading to Range Media Partners as Partner and will lead the company’s International TV efforts, as well as building out their lit department, scripted studio and verticals.

Ronnie Spector, the rock 'n' roll siren who sang such 1960s hits as Be My Baby, Baby I Love You and Walking In The Rain as the leader of the girl group the Ronettes, has died at the age of 78.

LOS ANGELES -- Ronnie Spector, the cat-eyed, bee-hived rock ‘n’ roll siren who sang such 1960s hits as “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You” and “Walking in the Rain” as the leader of the girl group the Ronettes, has died. She was 78.Spector died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer, her family said.