Obituary – FOX News Radio

Another Rock and Roll pioneer has left us… “Ain’t That a Shame”. FOX’s Jacquelyn Karl reports: Rock and Roll legend Fats Domino has died. The singer’s daughter telling WWL TV Domino died peacefully surrounded by his family Tuesday. Louisiana-born Domino was a pioneer in the 50’s and 60’s, playing the sax, piano, drums and electric guitar, inspiring the likes of Elvis and The Beatles. Domino sold more than 110 million records with hits like “Ain’t That A Shame” and “Blueberry Hill” among others. And was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Fats Domino was 89. Jacquelyn Karl, FOX News. Follow Jacquelyn Karl on Twitter: @Jacquelyn_Karl

Actor comedian and radio personality Jay Thomas has died. FOX’s Michelle Pollino reports: Jay Thomas has died due to cancer according to his friend and agent Don Buchwald in the New York Daily News. Thomas played the obnoxious TV talk show host Jerry Gold and the lead characters on and off again boyfriend on ‘Murphy Brown.’ He also played hockey player Eddie Lebec on the show ‘Cheers.’ Thomas often played loud, sleazy types. He recently appeared on Showtime’s Ray Donovan as Marty Grossman and had his own talk show on Sirius XM. The 69-year-old was featured in the films ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’ and ‘Labor Pains.’ Michelle Pollino, FOX News. Follow Michelle Pollino on Twitter: @MichellPollino

Country legend Glen Campbell has died. FOX’s Tonya J. Powers looks back on Campbell’s career: Glen Campbell had a string of hits, in the 60’s and 70’s, with over 70 albums: (Campbell) “Like a Rhinestone Cowboy.” Dolly Parton says Campbell was special because he was so gifted: (Parton) “Glen is one of the greatest voices that ever was in the business and he was one the greatest musicians, he was a wonderful session musician.” He made history in 1967 by winning four Grammy’s in the Country and Pop categories. The 2014 documentary “I’ll Be Me” detailed Glen’s farewell tour and struggle with Alzheimer’s. The family is asking for privacy at this time and in lieu of flowers, they say donations can be made to Glen Campbell Memorial Fund at BrightFocus Foundation. It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Glen Travis Campbell, at the age of 81 https://t.co/zSv4RqjK4H — Glen Campbell (@GlenCampbell) August 8, 2017 Thank you @GlenCampbell for the artistry, grace & class you brought to country music. You were a shining light in so many ways. — Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) August 8, 2017 Extremely sad to hear that Glen Campbell has passed away. My prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family. — Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) August 8, 2017 Thank you Glen Campbell for sharing your talent with us for so many years May you rest in peace my friend You will never be forgotten — Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) August 8, 2017 We lost a music legend today. Rest in peace, Glen Campbell. Sending love and prayers to his family. pic.twitter.com/CqW5eMFXAF — Rascal Flatts (@rascalflatts) August 8, 2017 Our hearts are heavy by the passing of country music icon @GlenCampbell. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Campbell Family. ?? pic.twitter.com/z5y7mPaiFY — Grand Ole Opry (@opry) August 8, 2017 Michelle Pollino, FOX News. Follow Michelle Pollino on Twitter: @MichellPollino

Actor, playwright and celebrated author Sam Shepard passes. FOX’s Michelle Pollino reports: Sam Shephard, who will be remembered by many of his achievements, including his Oscar nominated turn as Chuck Yeager in the film ‘The Right Stuff’ has died… A family spokesperson said Monday Shepard died Thursday at his home in Kentucky from complications related to Lou Gehrig’s Disease, he was 73-years-old. Shepard, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for the play “Buried Child.” He was nominated two more times in the 80’s. By the time he was 30, he had already written 30 produced plays in New York. He collaborated with Bob Dylan and Patti Smith. He was with actress Jessica Lange for nearly three decades and appeared in dozens of films, including “Steel Magnolias,” “Mud,” “Black Hawk Down” and was in Netflix’s series “Bloodline.” Michelle Pollino, FOX News. Follow Michelle Pollino on Twitter: @MichellPollino

She was married to one of the country’s most iconic singers, Barbara Sinatra has died. FOX’s Michelle Pollino reports: She was frank Sinatra’s fourth and final wife, philanthropist Barbara Sinatra has died at the age of 90. The woman who stood alongside the crooner gained prominence as “lady blue eyes” and created her own legacy as a premiere battler against child abuse. She was married to Sinatra for almost 22 years, it was the singer’s longest marriage and Barbara used her status and financial access to build the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center to help abused children at Eisenhower Medical Center. She died Tuesday morning at her Rancho Mirage home after months of declining health. Michelle Pollino, FOX News. Follow Michelle Pollino on Twitter: @MichellPollino

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com The founder of FOX News has passed away. FOX’s Tonya J. Powers has more: Founder and former chairman of FOX News, Roger Ailes, has died. He passed away this morning. His widow, Elizabeth Ailes, confirmed the news in a statement that called Ailes a “loving husband” to her and his son Zachary. She called him a “patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to rise and to give back.”. Ailes was born in Ohio and was a television pioneer. (Ailes) “We’d like to be premier journalists. We’d like to restore objectivity where we find it lacking.” He left FOX News amid controversy in August. Roger Ailes was 77. Tonya J. Powers, FOX News. Follow Tonya J. Powers on Twitter: @TonyaJPowers

An actor known for portraying villains has died. FOX’s Jacqueline Karl has more: He often played the bad guy in movies and on TV. Character actor Powers Boothe has died. His publicist says Boothe died of natural causes at his home in L.A. yesterday. Boothe won an Emmy in 1980 for playing cult leader Jim Jones in a TV movie about the mass suicide at Jones’ compound in Guyana… Boothe also played villains in TV’s “Deadwood ” and in the movies “Tombstone,” “Sin City” and “The Avengers.” Powers Boothe was 68. Jacquelyn Karl, FOX News. Follow Jacquelyn Karl on Twitter: @Jacquelyn_Karl

Hollywood loses an Oscar winning director. FOX’s Michelle Pollino reports: Jonathan Demme died at the age of 73 from complications of esophageal cancer. Demme directed some of Hollywood’s biggest films from ‘Philadelphia’ to the film in which he won ‘Best Director’… “The Silence of the Lambs,” which was only the third film in movie history to sweep all the top Academy Award categories. His Talking Heads documentary “Stop Making Sense” is considered one of the greatest concert films ever. Demme died Wednesday morning in his New York apartment, surrounded by his family. The filmmaker also filmed the 2016 concert film “Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids.” His most recent narrative feature was 2015’s “Ricki and the Flash,” starring Meryl Streep. Michelle Pollino, FOX News. Follow Michelle Pollino on Twitter: @Michellpollino

A legend in the world of comedy has died. FOX’s Anita Vogel remembers Don Rickles: Comedy legend and actor Don Rickles died Thursday morning of kidney failure, Fox News has confirmed. He was 90 years old. “Emmy-award winning iconic comedian Don Rickles passed away at his home Los Angeles this morning (Thursday) as a result of kidney failure,” a statement from his rep sent to Fox News read. “Rickles would have turned 91 on May 8.” His funeral will be private. Born in New York City, Rickles served in the U.S. Navy for two years during World War II before he found fame. He got his big break when his insult comedy began garnering attention. He connected with Frank Sinatra by chiding him during a show and eventually became the go-to comic of the stars. FOR MORE CLICK HERE Don Rickles has passed away. A giant loss. — Billy Crystal (@BillyCrystal) April 6, 2017 90 years with Don Rickles weren’t enough. One of the sweetest and most lovely people I had the pleasure of knowing. We miss you already — Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) April 6, 2017 Greatest Of All Time https://t.co/b7q4wmpFX0 — Jeff Ross (@realjeffreyross) April 6, 2017 One of the funniest, ballsiest comics of all time. RIP Don Rickles. pic.twitter.com/wF9rPQjjVz — Jim Norton (@JimNorton) April 6, 2017

A television icon has passed away. FOX’s Jack Callaghan has details: Chuck Barris proclaimed himself the “King of Daytime Television,” having created some of its most popular game shows of the 60’s and 70’s… It’s the Dating Game!… It’s The Newlywed Game! He later produced and starred in the strangest of them… Barris admitting in a television interview 10 years ago that ‘The Gong Show’ would likely be his epitath (Barris) “I think on my tombstone, it’s just going to say ‘Gonged at last.'” Along the way Barris claimed he’d been a CIA hitman, although the government denied that. He wrote most of the music used in his show and also penned a top 40 hit… Dead from natural causes in his Pallisades, New York, home. Chuck Barris was 87. Jack Callaghan, FOX News.

A member of the storied Rockefeller family has passed away. FOX’s Tonya J. Powers has more: David Rockefeller, a billionaire philanthropist who was the last of his generation in the famous Rockefeller family, has died. A spokesman says he died peacefully in his sleep this morning at his home in Pocanto Hills, New York. He was the sixth child of John D. Rockefeller Jr., and the grandson of standard oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller and he was a driving force behind the building of the World Trade Center Twin Towers in lower Manhattan: (Rockefeller) “We were convinced there was a need to focus more on trade, which had always been at the heart of New York’s business.” He also headed what is now JPMorgan Chase Bank. David Rockefeller was 101. In New York, Tonya J. Powers, FOX News. Follow Tonya J. Powers on Twitter: @TonyaJPowers

Actress Mary Tyler Moore has died. Her publicist confirms the news that Moore has passed away at the age of 80. FOX’s Rick Folbaum remembers the life of Moore: Sitcom sweetheart Mary Tyler Moore, who gained fame playing winsome television producer Mary Richards on the popular 1970s television series “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and broke new ground as an independent career-woman in a leading role, died today at the age of 80. Although her name was most frequently associated with US television sitcoms, Moore also acted in theater and films, winning a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her role as an icy mother in 1980’s “Ordinary People.” Off camera, she was known as a longtime animal rights champion and a spokesperson for diabetes issues after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, a life-threatening illness, when she was 33. In 2011, Moore underwent four hours of surgery to remove a meningioma, or benign tumor of the lining tissue of the brain. Following that, there were reports her health had been deteriorating due to ongoing problems with diabetes, that she had lost weight and had become frail with severe mobility problems, but in 2011 and 2013 she returned to TV to appear twice on TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland.” In her two most famous television roles – as Mary Richards and as Dick Van Dyke’s wife, Laura Petrie, in “The Dick Van Dyke Show” – Moore always appeared smiling, optimistic and perky. But in real life, she battled a series of personal challenges in addition to her diabetes: an alcoholic mother, two divorces, the death of her son and her own bout with alcoholism. To most of her television fans, she was always “Mary,” the earnest WJM-TV producer who achieved breakthrough status by being one of the very first unmarried, career-woman leading characters – in her 30s, living and working on her own, and not looking for a husband. Yet independent as her character was, Mary Richards was never threatening. “I’m an experienced woman,” she said in one episode. “I’ve been around…well, all right. I might not have been around but I’ve been…nearby.” Moore was born December 29, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York and her family moved to Los Angeles when she was eight. Her first ambition was to be a dancer and Moore launched her entertainment career as “Happy Hotpoint,” a dancing elf on Hotpoint appliances in 1950s television commercials. In 1955, when she was 18, she married Richard Carlton Meeker and the following year gave birth to her only child, Richard Jr. The couple divorced in 1961 and in 1980 her son, Richie, died at 24 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound that was later ruled an accident. Moore – or rather her voice and legs – first appeared regularly on television in the late ’50s television series “Richard Diamond, Private Detective” as a glamorous telephone receptionist whose face was never seen. By 24, she was playing Van Dyke’s wife, Laura, a suburban mom, and popularizing the Capri pants look. The series ran from 1961-66 and in 1970 she was back as the star of her own sitcom, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which ran until 1977. Moore’s theater career included “Whose Life is it Anyway” (1980) and “Sweet Sue” (1988). Her films ran the gamut from “Change of Habit” (in which she played a nun opposite Elvis Presley) to “Ordinary People” and her telefilms included “The Gin Game,” “Lincoln,” (in which she played Mary Todd Lincoln), and “Heartsounds.” She also wrote two memoirs, “After All” and “Growing Up Again: Life, Loves and Oh Yeah, Diabetes.” After divorcing Meeker, Moore married two more times. Her second husband, whom she wed in 1962, was Grant Tinker, an NBC executive with whom she cofounded MTM Enterprises, a television production company. After their divorce in 1981, Moore connected with Dr. Robert Levine, who was treating Moore’s mother at the time. She is survived by Levine. For more on the passing of Mary Tyler Moore CLICK HERE

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com The last man to walk on the Moon has died. Gene Cernan was 82. FOX’s Eben Brown has more:

Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 82. Cernan holds a special place in America’s history. The second American to ever walk in space, one of only two men to have flown to the moon twice, and the last man to walk on the moon, Gene Cernan sat down with FOX News Radio’s Mitch Davis in 2009 for a fascinating hour’s conversation. Cernan talked about his time on the moon, his vision for America, and his own personal beliefs: Watch the latest video at foxnews.com We are saddened by the loss of retired NASA astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon. https://t.co/Q9OSdRewI5 pic.twitter.com/gPdFTnXF2C — NASA (@NASA) January 16, 2017

One guitar player has reunited with his friend in the sky. FOX’s Jane Metzler reports:  (McLean) “A long long time ago, I can still remember…” Don McLean’s chart topping song “American Pie” about: (McLean) “The day the music died.” That was February 3, 1959,  a light plane carrying Tommy Allsup’s bandmate Buddy Holly, along with JP Richardson, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, in snowy weather. Allsup had a chance to be on that plane avoiding a long bus ride to the next stop on their tour, it came down to a coin flip. The guitarist remembered flipping that coin backstage after this singer finished performing: (Valens) “La Bamba!” Richie Valens called heads then got his stuff off the bus. Allsup’s son Austin, who competed last year on “The Voice” says Valens sister reached out to offer her condolences on his father’s death Wednesday at 85. His message back, the rockers can finally finish the tour they started nearly 58 years ago. Jane Metzler, FOX News. Follow Jane Metzler on Twitter: @JaneMetzler

Actress Carrie Fisher has died. FOX’s Michelle Pollino reports: Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60 after suffering a cardiac arrest Friday. Fisher was rushed to UCLA Medical Center by the Los Angeles fire department paramedics after her flight from London touched down at LAX. Her daughters representatives sending out this statement, “it is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning.” Fisher, the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, was Hollywood royalty even before she became a ‘Star Wars’ princess. She leaves behind a legacy of work in films and was the author of several books, including one that became a film called “Postcards from the Edge.” Michelle Pollino, FOX News. Follow Michelle Pollino on Twitter: @MichelleFOXEnt

Actor Alan Thicke has died. FOX’s Joy Piazza has more: Alan Thicke has died at the age of 69. Thicke is best known for playing TV dad Jason Seaver on the sitcom “Growing Pains”: (Thicke) “You are the sunshine of my life.” Thicke also wrote the theme for “Wheel of Fortune” and “Different Strokes”… Thicke tweeting about the Netflix series reboot “Fuller House” about four hours before TMZ reported the canadian native suffered a fatal heart attack while playing hockey with his 19-year-old son. A TV pitchman, talk and game show host, Thicke had two other sons by his first wife, actress Gloria Loring, including pop star Robin Thicke. Joy Piazza, FOX News. A photo posted by Robin Thicke (@robinthicke) on Dec 13, 2016 at 11:57pm PST

Musician Greg Lake, a progressive rock pioneer known for elaborate concerts, lengthy tracks and classical influences, has died at the age of 69. FOX’s Jacquelyn Karl reports: Greg Lake’s manager, Stewart Young, saying Lake died Wednesday after “a long and stubborn battle with cancer.” Born in the Southern English seaside town of Poole in 1947, Lake founded King Crimson with guitarist Robert Fripp in the late 1960’s. The band pioneering the genre that came to be known as progressive rock: (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.” Lead singer Lake went on to form ELP with keyboardist Keith Emerson and drummer Carl Palmer. The band released six platinum-selling albums, including 1973’s “Brain Salad Surgery.” ELP broke up in 1979, reunited in 1991, disbanded again and reunited for a 2010 tour. Jacquelyn Karl, FOX News. Follow Jacquelyn Karl on Twitter: @Jacquelyn_Karl

At the age of 95, the first American to orbit the Earth has passed away. John Glenn was not only known for his achievements in space, but also for serving the state of Ohio as a Democratic Senator for 24 years. He was on hand to announce the votes of the Democratic National Primary in 1996 and many other accomplishments during his life. FOX News Radio takes a look back on John Glenn’s legacy: Wallace: John Glenn was the exemplar of ‘the right stuff’ Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Today we lost a great pioneer of air and space in John Glenn. He was a hero and inspired generations of future explorers. He will be missed. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2016 We remember American legend Sen. John Glenn. Statement from our Administrator Charles Bolden on Glenn’s passing: https://t.co/xkmGSjLnOO pic.twitter.com/x63ZAvNUhm — NASA (@NASA) December 8, 2016

An American legend has passed away. John Glenn, one of the first U-S astronauts, who later served in the U.S. Senate and who later in his life became the oldest man to fly in space, has died at the age of 95. FOX’s Eben Brown reports:  Life and times of John Glenn Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com