The ALL DEAD Club

William Friedkin, ‘The Exorcist’ Director, Dies at 87

Director William Friedkin, best known for his Oscar-winning “The French Connection” and blockbuster “The Exorcist,” died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by Chapman University dean Stephen Galloway, a friend of Friedkin’s wife Sherry Lansing.

His final film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” starring Kiefer Sutherland, is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Along with Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola and Hal Ashby, Friedkin rose to A-list status in the 1970s, part of a new generation of vibrant, risk-taking filmmakers. Combining his experience in television, particularly in documentary film, with a cutting-edge style of editing, Friedkin brought a great deal of energy to the horror and police thriller genres in which he specialized.

“The French Connection” was an incredibly fast-paced and morally ambiguous tale, shot in documentary style and containing one of cinema’s most justifiably famous car chase sequences. “Connection” won several Oscars including best picture, director and actor (Gene Hackman) and became a touchstone for the police genre in films and television for years to come.

After the critical glory of “The French Connection” came 1973’s “The Exorcist,” which grossed an astounding $500 million worldwide and, along with “The Godfather,” initiated the blockbuster era in motion pictures. Adapted from William Peter Blatty’s novel about the demonic possession of a young girl, “The Exorcist” was a heavily stylized thriller, as influential on the horror genre as “Connection” had been with cop thrillers. It brought him a second Oscar nomination as best director.

After his success with notable 1970s films, Friedkin made the superior thriller “To Live and Die in L.A.” After his marriage to studio head Sherry Lansing in 1991, when he again began directing films on a regular basis.

Friedkin started in the mailroom of the Chicago TV station WGN, where he quickly rose to directing television shows and documentaries. He said he directed about 2,000 TV shows during those early years, including 1962 documentary “The People vs. Paul Crump,” about the rehabilitation of a man on death row. It won him a Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival and led him to a job leading the documentary division at WBKB and, subsequently, to a gig directing documentaries for producer David L. Wolper.

In the mid-’60s, he left documentaries behind, hoping to break into feature filmmaking. He directed an episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” before he got his break when producer Steve Broidy hired him to direct the pop music story “Good Times,” starring Sonny and Cher, in 1967.

Its cutting-edge style, like that of the films of contemporary Richard Lester, gave the movie some flash. On the strength of that movie Friedkin was hired for “The Night They Raided Minsky’s,” a nostalgic piece centered on the world of burlesque that Friedkin imbued with a fresh, modern look via the camerawork and editing. He segued into two rather stagebound vehicles, an adaptation of Harold Pinter’s “The Birthday Party” and Matt Crowley’s “The Boys in the Band.”

Neither was a portent of what was to come in 1971 when he directed “The French Connection,” and 1973’s heavily stylized horror film “The Exorcist” was yet another departure for Friedkin.

But “The Exorcist” proved to be his last box office bonanza. He did not direct another movie until 1977’s “Sorcerer,” a challenging remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “The Wages of Fear.” It went well over budget and disappointed at the time, though it has since become appreciated. He followed those with thriller “The Brink’s Job,” the controversial “Cruising” and the 1983 comedy “Deal of the Century.”

During the early 1980s, Friedkin and Blatty partnered on an “Exorcist III” project, but Friedkin exited over creative differences.

In 1985, he demonstrated his ability as an interesting stylistic director with “To Live and Die in L.A.,” a handsome, well-received thriller that was only a moderate financial success.

Except for “Rampage” in 1987, Friedkin was spending most of his time working in television on series such as “Tales From the Crypt,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Space Quest” and “C.A.T. Squad.” In 2000 he directed the moderately successful military drama “Rules of Engagement.”

In between he directed a remake of “Twelve Angry Men” for cable that was well received, as well as the documentary “Howard Hawks: American Artist.” A re-release of “The Exorcist” with supplementary footage grossed $40 million in the U.S.

During the 2000s, Friedkin took to the bigscreen with 2003 thriller “The Hunted,” starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro, and 2007 horror movie “Bug,” starring Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr., with Tracy Letts’ adapting his own stage play, which Friedkin had seen in 2004.

In 2011 he finished “Killer Joe,” which Letts adapted from his own play, with Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch in the lead. The controversial crime pic had a limited release in the U.S. in 2012. The film, estimated to have been budgeted at $11 million, grossed only $4 million worldwide. Friedkin also directed two episodes of “CSI.”

Born in Chicago, Friedkin attended Senn High School, where he was not much of a student but sought to develop his basketball prowess to pro level. Since he never grew taller than six feet, however, he changed his career path to journalism.

The director who had spent years working in the documentary form himself appeared in many documentaries over the years about films and filmmakers including 2003’s “A Decade Under the Influence” and “Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of the Master.”

Lil Tay Dies: Rapper & Viral Social Media Personality Was 14

Claire Hope, the child rapper and viral social media personality known as Lil Tay, has died. She was 14.

A statement from Lil Tay’s family was posted on her verified Instagram account informing of the teen’s “sudden and tragic passing” only days after her brother died. No details were given.

Lil Tay became a social media sensation back in 2018 when she was 9 years old, calling herself the “youngest flexer of the century.” Her social media following grew exponentially, amassing more than 220K subscribers on YouTube and 3 million-plus followers on Instagram.

Robert Swan Dies: ‘Hoosiers’, ‘Rudy’ Actor Was 78

Robert Swan, an actor familiar from sometimes brief but noticeable roles in Hoosiers, Rudy, The Untouchables and The Babe, died of cancer today at his home in Rolling Prairie, Indiana. He was 78.

Perhaps best known for his role as an assistant to Gene Hackman’s high school basketball coach in director David Anspaugh’s 1986 sports drama Hoosiers, Swan also featured as a priest in Anspaugh’s 1993 Rudy starring Sean Astin.

Making his feature debut portraying a stagehand in 1980’s Somewhere in Time, Swan frequently appeared on both TV and in film over the next two decades, with roles in the 1984 TV-movie The Dollmaker starring Jane Fonda and in series including All My Children, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, Walking Tall, The Twilight Zone and Spencer For Hire.

On the big screen, he portrayed a biker in Doctor Detroit (1983), a fire chief in Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), a Mountie Captain in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987), a bartender in Ron Howard’s Backdraft (1991) and detectives in Who’s That Girl (1987) and Mo’ Money (1992).

In 1992, he played the father of Babe Ruth in Arthur Hiller’s The Babe starring John Goodman in the title role.

Swan, a Chicago native who frequently appeared on stage there, played the Balladeer in Brian Friel’s short-lived Broadway play The Freedom of the City (1974).

Robbie Robertson Dies: The Band’s Founding Guitarist Was 80

Robbie Robertson, the brilliant founding guitarist of The Band who also wrote many of its most famous songs and whose farewell show with the group was memorialized in Martin Scorsese’s landmark documentary The Last Waltz, died today in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 80.

Robertson wrote and played on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group’s classics including “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” the latter of which was a Top 5 pop hit for Joan Baez in 1971.

A five-time Grammy nominee, Robertson got his break at age 16 with Ronnie Hawkins’ The Hawks, which eventually would feature many of his Band mates. He was Bob Dylan’s guitarist on the notorious mid-’60s “Going Electric” tours and, as leader of The Band, collaborated on groundbreaking album The Basement Tapes, helping to invent the Americana genre.

Robertson launched a solo career with his self-titled 1987 album — which spawned the Top 10 Mainstream Rock hits “Showdown at Big Sky” and “Sweet Fire of Love,” the latter featuring U2 — and also included the powerful track “Somewhere Down the Crazy River.”

He also contributed to the Bill Murray 1988 holiday film Scrooged, recording a poppy, keyboard-heavy cover of The Band’s “Christmas Must Be Tonight,” which he wrote originally for the album Islands.

His other solo albums were Storyville (1991), Contact from the Underworld of Redboy (1998), How to Become Clairvoyant (2011) and Sinematic (2019). Several tracks from those discs also made Billboard’s Mainstream Rock singles chart including “American Roulette,” “What About Now” and “Go Back to Your Woods,” which featured Bruce Hornsby on piano.

Robertson also was known in recent years for his soundtrack work on Scorsese films including the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon, which premiered at Cannes and hits theaters October 6. Their 14 collaborations also included The Irishman, The Wolf of Wall Street, Gangs of New York, Casino, The King of Comedy and Raging Bull.

Born Jaime Royal Robertson on July 5, 1943, in Toronto, he began playing guitar at age 10 and six years later joined up with Helm in The Hawks. Robertson’s unique guitar style on songs such as “Who Do You Love” ushered in an era of classic bluesy rock and influenced countless musicians.

The Hawks went on to play with Dylan on his legendary electric tours in 1965 and 1966. Moving to Woodstock in 1967, Robertson and his bandmates recorded the seminal “basement tapes” with Dylan before changing their name to The Band.

'King of the Hill' Actor Johnny Hardwick Dead at 64

Voice actor Johnny Hardwick, best known for playing Dale Gribble on King of the Hill, has died at age 64, PEOPLE has confirmed.

Texas law enforcement officials reportedly discovered Hardwick’s body after arriving at his Texas home Tuesday for a welfare check, according to an initial report by TMZ. They pronounced Hardwick dead at the scene.

Deadline also confirmed Hardwick's death with the Austin coroner's office, who noted no foul play is suspected and said a cause of death is still to be determined, pending further investigation.

Hardwick started voicing Dale Gribble from King of the Hill’s inception in 1997 and won an Emmy for the program in 1999. He also served as a producer on the show.

King of the Hill ran for 13 seasons until 2010. In January, Hulu announced plans to reboot King of the Hill with Hardwick reprising his role. Original series voice actors Kathy Najimy, Stephen Root, Pamela Adlon and Lauren Tom also signed on for the revival.

20th Television Animation exec Marci Proietto told emmy Magazine in April that the new King of the Hill will see “the characters we love with a slightly more modern sensibility.”

Hardwick graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in journalism and went on to pursue a comedy career. While performing at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, he caught the attention of King of the Hill co-creator Greg Daniels, who offered him a writing job on the animated series. Hardwick landed the gig voicing Dale Gribble after first choice Daniel Stern didn't pan out.

In a 2019 interview, Hardwick told YouTuber Simian Jimmy (formerly known as Mumkey Jones) that he wanted to get back to his comedy roots.

“I wanted to get back into standup, so I was working on my acting stuff, so I’ve been working out material,” Hardwick said.

In 2012, after King of the Hill ended, Hardwick started up his own YouTube channel where he played character Rusty Shackelford, Yello! Party Chairman and President of the United States Gun Club, and uploaded videos called The Rusty Report. Hardwick also posted videos playing cover songs on guitar and piano.

Linda Haynes Dies: Star Of ‘Rolling Thunder’ And ‘Brubaker’ Was 75

Linda Lee Sylvander, known during her acting career as Linda Haynes, died July 17 in Summerville, South Carolina at 75, with he death recenty coming to pubic attention. No cause was given by her family, who said she died “peacefully”

Born November 4th, 1947, in Miami, FL, she was immersed in show business from 1969 to the early 1980s. A life member of The Actor’s Studio, Haynes made her film debut as Dr. Anne Barton in the 1969 Japanse sci-fi monster flick, Latitude Zero.

From there, she appeared in such films as Coffy (1973) and The Nickel Ride (1974). That served as a springboard to her best work, a portrayal of a world-weary barmaid in the revenge thriller Rolling Thunder (1977). She went on to star in the women-in-prison flick Human Experiments (1979), then neatly segued to another prison film, Brubaker (1980).

Shelley Smith Dies: Star Of TV’s ‘The Associates’ And Game Show Regular Was 70

Shelley Smith, who starred with Martin Short on ABC sitcom The Associates, has died. She was 70 and her death from cardiac arrest came on Aug. 8. Smith died at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, according to her husband of 18 years, actor Michael Maguire.

Born on Oct. 25, 1952, in Princeton, New Jersey, Smith graduated from Connecticut College and built a thriving modeling career, appearing in such magazines as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour and Mademoiselle.

She debuted as an actress in 1979, appearing in an NBC telefilm about cosmetic surgery, Mirror, Mirror, and on The Associates. She would go on to guest star on such shows as Fantasy Island, Hotel, The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, Hunter, Magnum. P.I., and Simon and Simon into the early 1990s.

The Associates was created by James L. Brooks, Ed. Weinberger, Stan Daniels and Charlie Hauck, Smith played an upper-class Bostonian who worked at a Wall Street law firm.

The show lasted just 13 episodes.

After that, Smith played Capt. Carolyn Engel on the 1983 NBC military drama For Love and Honor, which also starred Keenen Ivory Wayans and Yaphet Kotto. It lasted 12 episodes.

Smith had an interesting side gig at the time. She began regularly appearing on TV game shows, including Super Password, Body Language, and the $10,000 Pyramid.

Ending her acting career, Smith obtained a master’s degree in psychology from Antioch University and became a marriage and family therapist.

In 1991, she founded The Egg Donor Program after having twins Nicky and Miranda through in vitro fertilization. She later sold the company, now known as Hatch Fertility.

Tom Jones Dies 95 years old

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Tom Jones Dies: Wrote Book And Lyrics For Long-Running ‘The Fantasticks’, Was 95

Tom Jones, who wrote the book and lyrics for the musical “The Fantasticks,” a show that ran for 42 years, died on Friday at his home in Sharon, Conn. He was 95 and passed from cancer, his son said.

The Fantasticks opened in 1960 in Greenwich Village and is best remembered for its opening song, “Try to Remember.”

Jones started his theater career in New York writing for the revues being staged by the impresario Julius Monk, working with another composer, John Donald Robb.

Jones and Robb called that show “Joy Comes to Deadhorse,” and in 1956, they staged it at the University of New Mexico, where Robb was a dean. The two had a falling out over what worked and what didn’t in the production, and Jones turned to collaborating with friend Harvey Schmidt.

Jones kept working on the piece with Schmidt that was originally devised with Robb. In 1959, when a friend was looking for a one-act musical for a summer festival at Barnard College, they offered their spare musical about two young lovers and their feuding fathers. The play used a narrator and minimalist staging, both unusual steps away from the formula of a big Broadway musical.

Producer Lore Noto saw the Barnard College show, and brought it to the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, where it opened in May 1960 as “The Fantasticks.” The cast included Jerry Orbach as El Gallo, the narrator, who sings the opening “Try to Remember.”

Darren Kent Dies: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Actor Was 36

Born in Essex, Kent started picking up acting roles in the 2000s. He went on to feature in a number of major hits including Game of Thrones and BBC soap EastEnders. In Game of Thrones, Kent appeared as a goatherder in a brief but memorable scene in the Season 4 finale. In “The Children” episode Kent’s character appeared before Daenerys with the charred body of his dead 3-year-old daughter to show her the destruction her unruly dragons had caused. Following the meeting, the queen chained up two of her dragons so they would not cause further harm.

His other credits included Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and the BBC adaptation of Les Misérables.

Kent, who had a rare skin disorder, won Best Actor at the 2012 Van d`Or Independent Film Awards for his role in Sunny Boy. In the movie, he played a boy with a rare skin condition that prevents him from being in the sun and halts his desire to be a regular teenager.

He was also a writer-director, and he directed award-winning 2021 short You Know Me.

Nami Sano, the manga creator of Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto died. She was 36 years old at the time of her death, and she passed away as a result of cancer. Her funeral was on August 7-8, 2023.

Sano’s family did not specify what kind of cancer she had. However, it was a very fast-acting one, as she passed away a month after her diagnosis. Her family also uploaded parts of Sano’s will online. In it, she stated, “This life was a fun one. I’m going to go to a freer world… Goodbye.”

According to Harta magazine’s editorial team, Sano was in the middle of planning out a new manga series at the time of her passing. It noted that Sano was a unique manga artist and her editor was honored to have worked with her. Nami Sano was also a great influence on both other manga artists she worked with, as well as on her editors.

Aside from Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto, Sano worked on Migi to Dali. Haven’ t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto is a comedic series about a high school student, Sakamoto, who is effortlessly cool and the students at his school love him for it. Migi to Dali follows the story of twins who pretend to be a single person after a couple adopts them. Their goal is to find their mother’s murderer, who lives in their adopted family’s village.

Carol Duvall, known as HGTV’s “Queen of Crafts” and beloved host of The Carol Duvall Show, which ran on the network for more than a decade, died July 31 in Traverse City, Michigan, the New York Times reports. She was 97. DuVall passed at an assisted living facility, where she had lived for several years, her family told the Times.

Duvall began her decades-long career on local television in Grand Rapids and Detroit, MI eventually rising to national prominence with her arts-and-crafts programming with shows on ABC and HGTV.

Known for her warm presence and sunny outlook, her first broadcasting stint came in 1951 at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, where she hosted a children’s program. She went from there to WWJ-TV in Detroit where she spent the next 18 years in a variety of positions, including news anchor, co-producer and host of her first craft-focused program Here’s Carol Duvall. That led to her first national show on ABC, working as a craft person The Home Show (aka Home), which ran from 1988-1994.

When The Home Show ended in 1994, its host Robb Weller formed a production company with Gary Grossman which developed The Carol Duvall Show. It ran on HGTV from 1994 until 2005, then on DIY Network from 2005-2009.

Duvall was known for creating crafts that anyone could do with materials found in their home. She created a picture frame from a plastic foam tray and covering it in colorful fabric. She penned the 2007 book Paper Crafting with Carol Duvall, which provided step-by-step instructions for more than fifty paper projects. The book includes a “Rock, Paper, Scissors” chapter, with the instructions, “find a smooth stone, cut up some colorful paper or family pictures with scissors, and glue them on the rock.” She also wrote 1972’s Wanna Make Something Out of It?

Duvall was also a regular contributor on Lifetime shows Our Home and Handmade by Design.

Duvall’s popular videos can be found on YouTube and Pinterest. The Carol Duvall Show is available to stream on Discovery+, and episode segments are available on HGTV.

Gary Young, the original drummer for pioneering indie rock band Pavement who played on its revered debut album Slanted and Enchanted, died Thursday at his home in Stockton, CA. He was 70. The group shared the news on social media but did not provide other details.

Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus wrote on Twitter, “Gary’s pavement drums were ‘one take and hit record’…. Nailed it so well. rip.”

Born Garrit Allan Robertson Young on May 3, 1953, in Stockton, he played in various local bands in the 1980s while booking punk acts in California’s Central Valley. When singer-songwriter-guitarist Malkmus and guitarist Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg formed Pavement as a duo in in 1989, they recorded their first EPs at Young’s home studio Louder Than You Think, and he drummed on the tracks.

Young earned a reputation for eccentricity and indulgence in those early days, playing on multiple EPs and live with Pavement before they record their full-length debut for Chris Lombardi’s Matador Records. Slanted and Enchanted didn’t dent the Billboard chart but reached No. 72 in the UK and was welcomed by the press.

Praised as an indie rock landmark, the disc ranked No. 199 on Rolling Stone‘s 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Its lead single was “Summer Babe,” which Rolling Stone has ranked in the Top 300 of its greatest-ever song list.

In a 2010 interview with GQ, Malkmus said Slanted and Enchanted “probably is the best record we made, only because it’s less self-conscious and has an unrepeatable energy about it.”

Her Smell director Alex Ross Perry turned Pavement’s first record into the jukebox musical Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical, which premiered Off Broadway in 2022 and as of late last year was working on a feature documentary of the band.

Young left the group in 1993 after a tour of Japan, during which his drinking had become a bigger problem. He went on to record several albums and got sober in the late-’90s. A documentary about him, Louder Than You Think, had its world premiere at SXSW this year.

Broadway actor Chris Peluso, known for his work in productions such as Mamma Mia and Wicked, died Wednesday, August 15, his family confirmed to Playbill. He was 40.

A cause of death has not been revealed. His sudden passing came a year after he announced he would be stepping away from acting to seek treatment for a schizoaffective disorder, Playbill reported.

He played Sky in the 2008 Broadway production of Mamma Mia. He also starred and covered the role of Fiyero in the touring company of Wicked, and he starred in Off Broadway’s The Glorious Ones.

In London’s West End, he appeared in the revival of Miss Saigon opposite Eva Noblezada ahead of the show’s transfer to Broadway, as well as The Woman in White, Death Takes a Holiday and Show Boat. He also starred in a UK touring production of Funny Girl.

Peluso was remembered by his fellow performers and former classmates on Instagram in a tribute from his alma mater.

“The Michigan Musical Theatre family is heartbroken as we announce the passing of our dear family member/alum, the loving, charismatic, and divinely gifted Chris Peluso,” wrote Linda Goodrich, interim chair of the school’s musical-theatre department.

“This is devastating. I only have wonderful memories of Chris. I am holding tight to all of the light he shared. So kind. So funny. So giving. So talented and loving,” SEAL Team actor Toni Trucks wrote in response to the Instagram announcement. Desi Oakley also added, “i learned so much from his kindness & professionalism, i am sending so much love to all who walked closely with him.”

Peluso is survived by his wife, Jessica Gomes, their daughter Aria Li Gomes-Peluso, and their son Caio Lian Gomes-Peluso.

An alum of the University of Michigan Theatre Department, Peluso became known as a respected understudy on Broadway, first covering The Balladeer in the 2004 Tony-winning revival of Assassins, as Louis and Nicolas in Elton John’s Lestat , and all three leading male roles in Beautiful The Carole King Musical.

Actress Hersha Parady, who played schoolteacher Alice Garvey on "Little House on the Prairie," died Wednesday. She was 78.

Nancy Frangione, best known for her role as the scheming villainess Cecile DePoulignac on NBC daytime soap Another World, has died. Frangione passed away August 18 in Barnstable, MA. A cause of death is not known. She was 70.

Born in Barnstable, Frangione first appeared in the role of Tara Martin on ABC’s All My Children, which she portrayed from 1977-79. She went from there to her best known role as Cecile on Another World, from 1981-84, winning Soap Opera Digest‘s Outstanding Villainess award for her performance. She went on to reprise the role several times over a 10-year period, from 1986 to 1996.

In 1985, she filled in for Andrea Evans as Tina Lord on ABC’s One Life to Live. Her primetime television credits include include her portrayal of Fran Fine’s cousin Marsha on CBS’ The Nanny and guest-starring roles on Highway To Heaven, Matlock and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. She also appeared in the role of Bonnie in TV movies Sharing Richard in 1988, and as Maggie in 1990’s In the Line of Duty: A Cop Killing.

Terry Funk, the man Ric Flair called today, “A Great Wrestler, Entertainer, Unbelievably Fearless, And A Great Friend!” died Wednesday, according to Flair and fellow WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley. He was 79.

In his tribute, Foley, a multiple time WWE champion, called Funk “the greatest wrestler I ever saw.”

“If you get the chance, look up a Terry Funk match or a Terry Funk promo, and give thanks that this incredible man gave so much, for so long, to so many,” Foley continued. “There will never be another like him. May God bless Terry, his friends, family and all who loved him. RIP my dear friend – it was an honor to know you. #RIPTerryFunk

Championships held by Funk include the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, NWA World Heavyweight Championship, USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, WWF World Tag Team Championship, and ECW World Television Championship. He headlined ECW’s premier annual pay-per-view event, November to Remember, three times. Funk has been inducted into multiple halls of fame, among them WWE, WCW, NWA, and Hardcore.

Funk also has numerous film and television credits. He appeared as a bouncer in the movie Road House with Patrick Swayze. In 1999, Funk was featured in director Barry Blaustein’s wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat. He has also appeared in other movies such as Paradise Alley, The Ringer, and Over the Top.

Funk also appeared in the short-lived Western Wildside TV series in 1985. He also choreographed the street fight between Rocky Balboa and his nemesis Tommy Gunn at the end of Rocky V. Funk also had a short lived career in music. He released the album “Great Texan” in 1984, which fans considered a “cult classic”.

WWE performer Bray Wyatt (real name Windham Rotunda) died Thursday at 36, according to the company.

Sean Ross Rapp, writer for Fightful.com, wrote on X/Twitter late Thursday, that Wyatt died of a heart attack after contracting Covid earlier this year.

“I was given permission to reveal that earlier this year Windham Rotunda (Bray Wyatt) got COVID that exacerbated a heart issues. There was a lot of positive progress towards a return and his recovery. Unfortunately today he suffered a heart attack and passed away,” Rapp wrote.

WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque also shared the news on the X social media platform.

“Just received a call from WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda, who informed us of the tragic news that our WWE family member for life Windham Rotunda – also known as Bray Wyatt – unexpectedly passed earlier today. Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time,” Levesque wrote.

Rotunda’s final match was against WWE star LA Knight at the Royal Rumble in January. The bout was called the “Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match.”

Rotunda had not performed since then, with a report citing unspecified health issues.

Tributes flooded social media from peers and friends.

“Im heartbroken over the news of Bray Wyatt’s passing. Always had tremendous respect and love for him and the Rotunda family. Loved his presence, promos, in ring work and connection with @wwe universe,” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wrote on X.

“Very unique, cool and rare character, which is hard to create in our crazy world of pro wrestling. Still processing losing the goat, Terry Funk yesterday and now Bray today. My love, light, strength & mana to the Rotunda family and Funk family during this tough, heartbreaking time,” he continued.

Rotunda was a third-generation wrestler, the son of WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda, who performed under the name of IRS.

Rotunda’s grandfather was known as Blackjack Mulligan, and Barry and Kendall Windham were his uncles.

Rotunda also performed alongside his brother, Taylor Michael Rotunda, known professionally as Bo Dallas.

Bernie Marsden, the British guitarist who played with David Coverdale’s Whitesnake in the late ’70s and early ’80s and co-wrote hits including “Here I Go Again” and “Fool for Your Loving” and had a long solo career, died Thursday. He was 72.

Coverdale shared the news in a social media post, calling his former bandmate “A genuinely funny, gifted man, whom I was honored to know and share a stage with.” He didn’t share any other details.

Born on May 7, 1951, in Birmingham, Marsden played with various local bands before linking up with pre-Michael Schenker UFO. He didn’t last long with that group, touring briefly with them recording only a few unreleased demos produced by Dave Edmunds in 1972. “I was naïve and green,” he said in a 2020 interview with BraveWords, “and thought that joining a pro band and moving to London was going to be like the cover of a Beatles EP, with everyone jumping in the air and being happy. It turned out to be anything but.”

Marsden continued to gig and record with bands including Cozy Powell’s Hammer and Deep Purple spinoff Paice Ashton Lord. It was while recording with the latter that he met Coverdale, and the pair hit it off.

“He was like a surrogate brother to me,” Marsden told BraveWords. “Neither of us had any brothers or sisters, we were born in the same year, and even though we grew up two hundred miles apart we discovered we had the same influences; once I started talking about Howlin’ Wolf he was all ears.”

He joined Whitesnake in late 1977 and toured with the group, then known as David Coverdale’s Whitesnake, before playing on its 1978 album Snakebite. It failed to chart in the UK or U.S., but the follow-up Lovehunter reached No. 50 in the UK the following year.

Former Deep Purple bandmate Jon Lord and Ian Paice had joined the band by the time Ready an’ Willing was released in 1980. It hit the UK Top 10, spawning the Coverdale-Marsden single “Fool for You Loving,” which made No. 13 in Great Britain and was an FM hit stateside. The song later was re-recorded for Whitesnake’s 1989 album Slip of the Tongue, but Marsden had left the group by then.

He did stay with Coverdale’s band for its ensuing live disc and two more studio albums, Come an’ Get It (1981) and Saints & Sinners (1982). The latter featured two songs that would be re-cut for Whitesnake’s mammoth eponymous 1987 album: “Here I Go Again” and “Crying in the Rain.” Marsden co-wrote the former, which would become a No. 1 single in the U.S. and Top 10 in the UK — featuring the memorable video starring Coverdale and his then-girlfriend Tawny Kitaen.

Peter Gonzales Falcon, the Texan who starred as a young Federico Fellini in the director’s semi-autobiographical Roma, has died, according to his friend Aurelio Montemayor. He was 75.

Gonzales Falcon got his start with a bit part in Viva Max (1969), a satirical film about a modern-day Mexican general (Peter Ustinov) who retakes the Alamo.

The film went on to premiere out of competition in Cannes and was the Italian entry to the Academy Award race for Best Foreign Language Film of 1972.

What followed for the actor (often billed as Peter Gonzalez) was a string of roles in TV shows such as Police Woman, starring Angie Dickenson and films like The End, starring and directed by Burt Reynolds in 1978.

Later work included 1983’s Heartbreaker, opposite Miguel Ferrer and Apollonia; Gregory Nava’s Bordertown in 2007, opposite Jennifer Lopez and Martin Sheen; and Tiramisu for Two in 2016.