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Kids' television pioneer Soupy Sales died this week at age 83. Back before there were whole channels devoted to children's programming, and back way before children's television was certified wholesome and educational, Soupy Sales was just plain deliriously silly, pie-in-the-face fun with some first-class jazz accompaniment, and the children of the 1960's loved his anarchy and the way he left a lot to the imagination (we only saw the paws of some of the characters). He said he had been hit with more than 25,000 pies. And it was funny every time.

Patrick Swayze died today as he lived and performed, with class and grace.

Swayze's association with iconic appearances in Dirty Dancing, Road House, Point Break, and Ghost
are so towering that we forget sometimes what range and skill he showed as an elegant drag queen in To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar, as a motivational speaker with a dark side in Donnie Darko, and as an eager finalist for a job as a Chippendale's dancer on "Saturday Night Live." No one could say that line about putting Baby in the corner and make us believe it like Swayze. He was a superb performer and a class act. He handled his illness with dignity and courage. I wish there was a psychic like the one Whoopi Goldberg played in "Ghost" who could bring him back for just one more dance.

Larry Gelbart, one of the most acclaimed and prodigiously productive writers of almost seven decades died this week at age 81. If you've laughed since the 1940's, you almost certainly know his work. He got started as a teenager writing for Danny Thomas' radio show and went on to work with Neil Simon, Woody Allen, and Mel Brooks on the legendary writing staff of the Sid Caesar show. He went on to co-create the television version of "M*A*S*H," to co-write the script for "Tootsie," and to write the Broadway hits "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (made into a movie with Zero Mostel) and "City of Angels" (now being adapted into a film).

And as this lovely tribute by Bob Elisberg notes, he was also a man of great principle and kindness.

There may have been more renowned writers in a single medium, but his versatility was breathtaking, and so he may have been the most successful and best writer ever in America who wrote in all three major media -- the theater, movies and television.

Be sure to read Elisberg's piece, especially the quote at the end from Gelbart about being a writer.

Here is Gelbart, talking about how television has changed society and how he'd like to be remembered.

Here is my favorite scene from "Tootsie" (second on the American Film Institute's list of the hundred funniest American films of all time).

And here is the trailer for the hilarious "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

NPR's Scott Simon also has a fine essay about Gelbart, describing him as "a great wit, who wrote with great heart." It's good to know that we still have another movie from him to look forward to.

The essence of Sen. Kennedy's political power was crystallized by Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, one of many Republicans who worked with the late senator to forge compromises on bills. Alexander called Sen. Kennedy "at once the most partisan and the most constructive United States senator. He could preach the party line as well as bridge differences better than any Democrat."

This quote in the Washington Post obituary for Teddy Kennedy seems to illuminate the essence of a man who was an idealist and a pragmatist, a man who battled enormous public and private challenges. His example will continue to inspire all who believe that the dream will never die.

Fallen Hollywood luminary, name-dropper, world-class party-goer, best-selling author, and force for justice Dominick Dunne died of cancer yesterday at age 83. He was the brother of screenwriter John Gregory Dunne (the subject of The Year of Magical Thinking by his widow, Joan Didion). He was the father of actor/writer/director Griffin Dunne and Alex Dunne. And he was the father of Dominique Dunne, who played the oldest daughter in Poltergeist. She was murdered in 1982 by an ex-boyfriend whose inadequate sentence caused Dunne to devote the rest of his life to pursuing justice as a writer and activist.

Dunne was the best-selling author of novels based on real-life incidents of society scandal that were often adapted for glossy made-for-television productions like An Inconvenient Woman and The Two Mrs. Grenvilles. And he wrote non-fiction accounts of real-life scandal for Vanity Fair.

None of it was as entertaining as his own story, which he told in the books Fatal Charms and Other Tales of Today and The Mansions of Limbo and in a documentary called Dominick Dunne: After the Party.

I heard him speak once and he was filled with bubbly and sometimes wicked anecdotes about the rich and famous. But he was also an enormously appealing presence, completely sincere in his essential decency. That comes through in a wonderful story he told for The Moth called "My Bunkmate Was In For Murder." It is the tale of his arrest for possession of marijuana, which, since it was found on him at the airport coming back from another country made it a very serious offence. His rescue by from a most unexpected friend for a most unexpected reason makes it a perfect way to remember him.

John Hughes, writer-director of some of the most successful and influential films of the 1980's and 90's, died yesterday at age 59. Fellow Chicagoan Roger Ebert has a thoughtful tribute, calling Hughes "the creator of the modern American teenager film."...

Hollywood legend and Oscar-winning screenwriter Budd Schulberg died this week at age 95. His best work documented the anguish and corruption he observed growing up as the son of one of the top executives of MGM at the height of...

As well as I remember those misty images of Neil Armstrong coming out of the lunar module to put the first footstep on the moon, I remember the look on Walter Cronkite's face as he reported it. Cronkite died today...

Oscar-winner Karl Malden died today at age 97. Read the superb obituaries from Adam Bernstein of the Washington Post and Jim Cheng of USA Today. Bernstein described his appeal very well, saying Malden "excelled in plainspoken, working-class roles." He had...

I saw Michael Jackson's first appearance on national television. I was sitting on my parents' bed with my sisters, watching a variety show called "The Hollywood Palace." The Jackson 5ive came on stage and I was mesmerized. The lead singer...

We mourn the loss of the beautiful and talented Farrah Fawcett, who died this morning after a long bout with cancer. She came to attention as the athletic Jill on "Charlie's Angels." Her dazzling smile and girl-you-wish-was-next door look quickly...

Fans throughout the world mourn the loss of David Carradine. The son of actor John Carradine ("The Grapes of Wrath"), he first achieved success as the star of the television series "Kung Fu," where he played a mysterious Western character...

A fond farewell to Bea Arthur, best remembered as the strident, ground-breaking "Maude" and as Dorothy on "The Golden Girls." I loved her duet in "Mame" and I loved her gutsy bravado and brilliant comic timing....

Maurice Jarre wrote soundtracks for movies that became the soundtracks for our lives. The lush romantic score for Dr Zhivago (known as "Somewhere My Love") is inseparable from the snowy vistas of the story. The sweep of his score for...

The loss of the lovely, charming, elegant, and talented Natasha Richardson is terribly sad. Her greatest opportunity to show what she could do as an actress was on stage. She won a Tony award for her performance in "Cabaret" on...

Mexican-born leading man Ricardo Montalban died this morning at age 88. He may be best remembered now for his commercials for the Chrysler Cordoba (with the "rich Corinthian leather) and for Maxwell House coffee, but that is because even at...

Eartha Kitt, who died this week, was an electrifying performer. The warm reminiscences about her incendiary performances on and off-stage are as entertaining as the legendary actress/singer was herself. The Washington Post had Will Haygood's hilarious recounting of the most...

Van Johnson, one of the best light comedian/song and dance men of the 1940s-50s, died this week at age 92. His boyish, All-American good looks made him a popular choice for musicals, romantic comedies, and some dramatic roles as well....

William Gibson, best known as the man who wrote The Miracle Worker, died this week at age 94. Gibson's sequel to "The Miracle Worker," "Monday After the Miracle," was not a success, but I thought it was a fine play....

I was very sorry to hear about the loss of author/director Michael Crichton. He was a man of astonishing range and accomplishment. He wrote best-selling novels, including Jurassic Park and the The Andromeda Strain. A graduate of Harvard Medical School,...

Paul Newman died yesterday at age 83 after a long struggle with cancer. This tribute from Slate by Dahlia Lithwick describes Newman's unassuming generosity in contributing a quarter of a billion dollars, 100% of the profits from his food companies,...

I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Don LaFontaine. Few people knew his name but everyone knew his voice. He did the narration for more than 5000 movie trailers. You've heard him say it dozens of times:...

What a sad loss in the passing of actor-comedian Bernie Mac. The first time I saw him was in the comedy concert film, The Original Kings of Comedy. He played variations on that his stand-up character in Ocean's Eleven (his...

Science fiction writer Thomas M. Disch, who died on the 4th of July, wrote one movie for families, the wonderful animated film, The Brave Little Toaster. It is the Toy Story-style tale of a group of appliances left behind by...

USA Today's Jim Cheng said it best: "Talk about a career with legs." The beautiful dancer from Hollywood's golden age died today at age 86. Born Tula Ellice Finklea in Amarillo, Texas, she was a professional ballerina at age 16...

Mel Ferrer, who died this week, starred in one of my very favorite family movies, the musical Lili, with Leslie Caron. She is a lonely orphan whose only friends are three carnival puppets. Her natural interaction with them leads the...

Jim Cheng of USA Today has a lovely tribute to Harvey Korman of The Carol Burnett Show, who died yesterday at age 81. Korman's best movie role was as the evil Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles, one of four films...

Actor/director Sydney Pollack died today, leaving behind some enormously beloved films and performances. Here are some of my favorites: 1. Tootsie Pollack directed and appears as Dustin Hoffman's frustrated agent in this classic comedy about an actor who dresses as...

The people who created the great Disney animation classics were called the Nine Old Men, and the last of them, Ollie Johnston, died last week at age 95. Johnston and his closest colleague, Frank Thomas, was featured in the wonderful...

Charlton Heston, who died this morning at age 84, had the screen presence for larger than life, heroic roles, and often appeared in films with religious themes. He will be best remembered for his Oscar-winning performance as Ben-Hur and for...

Writer/director Jules Dassin died this week at age 96. He is perhaps most fondly remembered as a key figure in establishing the genres of film noir (Naked City) and the heist film (Topkapi and "Rififi") and for the marvelous Never...

Paul Scofield, who died today at age 86, will be best remembered for his Oscar-winning performance in "A Man for All Seasons." My favorite moment is when he is saying goodbye to his family shortly before he will be beheaded....

Ivan Dixon, who died this week, is best known for appearing on "Hogan's Heroes." But I believe he will be best remembered for his pioneering work as one of the first African-American directors and for his work on behalf of...

It is a terrible loss to the world of film that Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella has died suddenly of complications following surgery. I am very much looking forward to his final film, based on the best-selling book, The No. 1...

Science fiction luminary Arthur C. Clarke has died at age 90. His pioneering theoretical work on orbits made possible the development of communication satellites and the author of over 100 books. His thoughtful interview in 1999 covers his experience writing...

Heath Ledger's death is a terrible loss. He was an actor of great sensitivity and commitment. Most of the appreciations and obituaries focus on his Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain Dana Stevens of Slate has a beautiful tribute that emphasizes...