Star Life Talk and Gossip

Image courtesy of Allposters.com

Here at Celebtrity Death Watch…er, I mean, Star Life Talk…we feel deeply the tragedies of untimely deaths like those of Natasha Richardson and Michael Jackson.  But we can’t help but grieve for the old guys, too, the ones whose passing is the end of an era. 

Another one of those passed on today.  Karl Malden, 97, died of natural causes, surrounded by his family and friends in his Brentwood, California home.  He’s probably best known for his roles opposite Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. 

In 1951’s Streetcar, Malden played Mitch, the down-to-earth working class suitor of Blance DuBois (played by Jessica Tandy)–a role he originated on Broadway.  That role won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Three years later, in 1954’s Waterfront, he again played opposite Brando as Father Corrigan, a priest who took the side of the working man, garnering another Occar nomination.  He was also famous for his role as Lt. Mike Stone in the 70’s TV show, “The Streets of San Francisco.”  He received 5 Emmy nominations for that role.

He also served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1989 to 1992.  The Screen Actors’ Guild honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.

If you’re my age (over 30…), you might remember him as the actor who first introduced an American Express advertizing campaign with the immortal words, “Don’t leave home with it.”

In the middle of establishing that long and remarkable career, he took time out to serve in the US Army Air Corps during World War II.  He was married to his wife Mona for 70 years.

Rest in peace, Karl.  You have a lot of company up there these days.

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Image courtesy of pittwatch.com

This might not be such a big deal if we hadn’t been here before, and recently.  Just this past March, actress Natasha Richardson suffered an apparently minor head injury during a ski lesson and was dead a day later.  Now we are hearing that uber-Mom Angelina Jolie has also suffered an apparently minor head injury, this time on the set of her new movie, Salt.

I guess it really was a minor injury, since she was released from the hospital and was back to filming later that afternoon.  She was apparently doing one of the stunts that the movie requires when she hit her head, causing a cut between her eyes.  She often does her own stunts, which require careful choreography and execution, but as far as I know she’s never been injured doing one before.

Anyway, you can’t be too careful with head injuries, as the recent tragic events have shown.  I’m glad she’s okay, and I hope she doesn’t have a headache or anything.

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I promise this will be my last post on Natasha Richardson.  I’m just so upset by her death.  But someone dear to me wrote a tribute that is more eloquent and fitting than anything else I’ve read, so I wanted to share it.

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I know I’ve spent a lot of time on this story, along with everyone else on the blogosphere.  Natasha Richardson has died of her injury, and I just feel so bad about it.  I’m more familiar with her husband’s work than hers, but of course, everyone knows the Redgrave clan–they’re like the Barrymores, a theater/film dynasty. 

But she left behind a husband who loved her and two young sons–13 and 12.  That’s what breaks my heart.  She was so young, and life is so unkind sometimes.  I wonder if Liam Neeson will finish the movie he’s working on.  I don’t think I could.  I’d just hole up with my kids and try to hang on to my sanity. 

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UPDATE:  Fox News is reporting that Richardson is brain dead and that the family is keeping vigil prior to taking her off life support.  They say they have a source close to the family. The family will release a statement tomorrow.  However, TMZ says they called the hospital and were told that Richardson was experienceing brain swelling, but was not brain dead.  In the way of such things, I expect that we can expect the worst, but that some venues don’t want to print it until it’s confirmed.

My heart goes out to Liam Neeson and their two boys, her sister Joely Richardson, and their mother Vanessa Redgrave. 

Natasha Richardson was apparently having a private ski lesson at a resort just outside Montreal when she fell and hit her head.  She seemed okay at first, but then started to feel unwell.  She tried to refuse medical attention, but the ski resort  staff followed procedure and pulled her off the slopes.

About an hour later, she developed a headache, so the staff sent her to the hospital.  She is currently on a flight back to the US to be treated for a head injury.  The hospital released a statement saying that Richardson is in critical condition. 

Richardson’s husband, actor Liam Neeson has left the set of his current film, Chloe, in order to be with his wife.

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