LEGEND SINGER DON HO DIES AT 76

The king of Hawaii Don Ho

Legendary crooner Don Ho, known for his raspberry-tinted sunglasses and catchy signature tune "Tiny Bubbles," has died, his publicist said. He was 76.
Publicist Donna Jung said the singer died Saturday morning of heart failure. He had suffered with heart problems for the past several years, and had a pacemaker installed last fall. In 2005, he underwent an experimental stem cell procedure on his ailing heart in Thailand in 2005. Ho entertained Hollywood's biggest stars and thousands of tourists for four decades. For many, no trip to Hawaii was complete without seeing his Waikiki show — a mix of songs, jokes, double entendres, Hawaii history and audience participation. Shows usually started and ended with the same song, "Tiny Bubbles," which Ho mostly hummed as the audience enthusiastically took over. "I hate that song," he often joked to the crowd, adding that he saved it for the end because "people my age can't remember if we did it or not." Donald Tai Loy Ho, who is Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and German, was born Aug. 13, 1930, in Honolulu and grew up in the then-rural countryside of Kaneohe.

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ACTOR ROSCOE LEE BROWN DIES AT 81

Roscoe Lee Browne, 84, a film, television and stage actor died April 11th at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Cancer claimed his life. Once an amateur athlete, Browne was 35 when he commenced his career in acting. He developed quickly as an astute performer of the Bard and classic literature. He appeared with actors Cicely Tyson, Louis Gossett Jr. and James Earl Jones in Jean Genet's 1961 production of "The Blacks," an unflinching statement about colonialism that ran off-Broadway for many performances. Nominated for a Tony as best supporting actor during the 1992 Broadway run of August Wilson's "Two Trains Running," he was given greater exposure through film and television work. He appeared on the ABC sitcom "Soap" and twice played a man whose manner got the better of Carroll O'Connor's classic Archie Bunker in the comedy "All in the Family." An Emmy Award win in 1986 for a his guest starring role in the "The Cosby Show" and later made many appearances on numerous American sitcoms and series. He also appeared in "Uptown Saturday Night" (1974), starring and directed by Sidney Poitier. The Los Angeles Times reports that Browne, who was a minister's son, was born May 2, 1922, in Woodbury, N.J. He was a college track athlete too.

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WRITER KURT VONNEGUT DIES AT 84

Kurt Vonnegut 1922-2007

Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark, satirical vision in works including "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle" was shaped by the horrors he witnessed during World War II, has died at age 84. Vonnegut died on Wednesday after suffering brain injuries following a fall weeks ago, said Donald Farber, Vonnegut's friend, lawyer, agent and manager. Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction, but his 14 novels were classics of the American counterculture, resonating with the U.S. antiwar sentiment during the Vietnam War era.The author's Web site, updated after his death, displayed a simple black-and-white image of a bird cage -- a symbolic element in his writing -- empty with an open door.

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JUDGE APPROVES EMBALMING AND ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S WILL IS READ

A judge approved the embalming of Anna Nicole Smith's remains Friday as he tried to broker an agreement among the three people fighting over the former Playboy Playmate's body.Lengthy legal fights still loomed over where she will be buried and who will get custody of her infant daughter. The hearing over Smith's final resting place was already in its third day."We're beginning to give her peace," Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin said.Smith's will was presented to the court as evidence, and Seidlin refused requests by both sides to keep it private. It was to be released Friday afternoon."I don't want any secrets here," the judge said.The proceedings moved out of Seidlin's chambers and into a courtroom to accommodate the horde of media and attorneys. The hearing stopped around noon for the holiday weekend and was set to resume Tuesday.Seidlin warned attorneys he would schedule as many sessions as it takes to resolve the issue. He ordered Smith's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern, who did not attend Friday's hearing, to appear in court Tuesday since he is trying to get control of her remains."This is a struggle for all of us," the judge said. "Let everyone perspire here."Stern claims he is executor of her will and wants her buried next to her son in the Bahamas. Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur (Upper Right), wants her buried in her home state of Texas. Photographer Larry Birkhead hopes Smith's DNA will help prove he fathered the former centerfold's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, who could inherit millions of dollars. Stern is listed as the father on the girl's birth certificate.On Thursday, Seidlin ordered that additional DNA be taken, saying he wanted to make sure her body wouldn't have to be exhumed.Smith, 39, died Feb. 8 after collapsing at a Florida hotel.On Wednesday, Seidlin declared Smith's corpse would stay refrigerated in the medical examiner's office until he said otherwise. In California, von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, filed legal documents Thursday seeking a DNA test to determine if he fathered the baby. Von Anhalt, who says he is 59, has said he and Smith had a decade-long affair.Also in California on Thursday, the state medical board said it is investigating a doctor who may have prescribed methadone to Smith through a prescription that contained an alias.The Medical Board of California began looking at Dr. Sandeep Kapoor after receiving information about possible misconduct, board spokeswoman Candis Cohen said. Cohen declined to give details on the allegation or its source but said it was connected to Smith.Among other things, the board is investigating whether it is legal to prescribe drugs for someone using an alias, Cohen said. She described the review as routine and said the board is obligated to review all allegations of physician misconduct.A woman who answered the telephone at a listing for Kapoor in Los Angeles hung up when The Associated Press called Thursday.Smith was the widow of Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, whom she married in 1994 when he was 89 and she was 26. She had been fighting his family over his fortune since his death in 1999.

THE WILL IS READ

Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith

Anna Nicole Smith left everything to her son Daniel, who died in September, according to a will released Friday by a Florida court. She also named longtime companion Howard K. Stern as executor, according to the document, written in July 2001. The will was never updated. It does not mention Smith's 5-month-old daughter, DannielynnClouding an already murky legal senario, some language in the will seems to exclude any of Smith's future spouses or children.
Smith's heir or heirs stand to inherit a stake in her longstanding claim to the fortune of her late husband, Texas oil baron J. Howard Marshall II. As executor, Stern is authorized set up and oversee a trust on behalf of Smith's beneficiaries, and to make investments on its behalf. The document is signed "Vicky Lynn Marshall," the name Smith used before finding fame as a Playboy Playmate, Guess jeans model and reality TV show star. Smith's son would have received distributions at ages 21, 25 and 30. Daniel was 20 when he died. The judge overseeing the dispute over the former Playmate's burial ordered attorneys to file a copy of the will, which has been the subject of intense speculation since Smith's sudden death eight days ago. The document could be crucial to giving Stern the legal standing to determine Smith's final resting place -- the subject of a contentious courtroom battle between Stern and her Smith's estranged mother, Vergie Arthur. Stern's attorneys say Smith bought a plot in the Bahamas, next to the plot where her son, Daniel, is buried. He died in September, three days after Smith's baby daughter, Dannielynn, was born at a Bahamas hospital.

BICKERING LAWYERS

Anna Nicole Smith And Larry Birkhead

Besides the lawyers for Stern and Arthur, there are attorneys for Smith, daughter Dannielynn, and Smith's former lover, Larry Birkhead, who is seeking a paternity test to prove he is Dannielynn's father. The lawyers have frequently traded barbs. "The woman sitting across from me was estranged from her daughter. I have people who loved her," sniffed Barth, attorney for Stern, on Thursday. "She stands here today to take her to Texas and put her in the ground all alone. It's sad and it's sick." Retorted Arthur's lawyer, Stephen Tunstall: "Counsel is trying to trash my client in some kind of emotional appeal. My client is her mother. She wants to take her back to Texas to be buried with the rest of the family. She has the right." And so it went, all day Thursday for half a day on Friday and, from the looks of things, for many more days to come. The judge worked hard to keep things on track. "We're trying to balance the rights and respect of the body with the legal issues," Seidlin said. "When we bury her, I want it to be forever," The judge has appointed a guardian, Miami attorney Richard Milstein, to protect the interests of Smith's infant daughter, Dannielynn. He also appointed Kelley, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer, to sort through the competing interests and advise him.
Witnesses, including people close to Smith, are expected to testify Tuesday.

SO MANY FATHERS

Birkhead and Stern each claim to be the father of Smith's nearly 6-month-old daughter, Dannielynn. Stern's name is on the birth certificate. Smith's former bodyguard, Alexander Denk, told CNN's Larry King that he, too, could be Dannielynn's father, saying he and Smith had an off-and-on relationship for years. Denk is the fourth person to claim he could be the child's father. Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, Frederic von Anhalt, has said he and Smith had a decade-long affair and that he could have fathered the child. He filed court papers seeking a paternity test on Thursday. Seidlin repeated several times that the most important issue to his court was the welfare of the baby. He also stressed the importance of maintaining dignity. "We want to preserve the beauty and model figure of Ms. Smith," he said. "Beauty was important to her, as you all have indicated to me, and we want her to look beautiful when she is placed in her final resting place." Smith, 39, died February 8 after she was found unconscious in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood, Florida.
Among the issues the attorneys wrangled over was whether Stern had legal standing to determine a burial place, or even to take part in the proceedings; and who was Smith's next-of-kin under Florida law. Tunstall, the attorney for Smith's mother, argued that Dannielynn did not qualify because a child must be over 18 to be legally considered next-of-kin. The release of Smith's body -- and even the embalming process -- was delayed because attorneys for Birkhead wanted a DNA sample for a paternity test. The judge ordered an additional sample be taken.

THE WAR CONTINUES OVER ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S DEATH-ESTATE AND BABIES FATHER

Anna Nicole Smith's breast operations may have led to her death.The former Playmate Playboy, who was said to be "very weak and tired"following breast enhancement and repair procedures, was reportedly taking at least ten different kinds of pills to ease the post-surgery pain. It has been suggested the 39-year-old died last week after taking a cocktail of anti-depressants, Valium, pain killers and antibiotics. Some medical experts claim she had the operations too soon after giving birth to her five-month-old daughter Dannielynn.Women's health specialist Dr Sarah Jarvis told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "To take so many different drugs is unhealthy. Some anti-depressants can cause heart problems after surgery. Valium can cause respiratory problems."If an unfit person has surgery and takes drugs, it's possible they would have complications."Anna Nicole was found dying in her room at Hollywood's Seminole Hard Rock and Casino Hotel on Thursday. No large amounts of medication were found in her stomach, but it could take up to five weeks to determine if drugs aided her death. America's Star magazine has reported prescription medication found in Anna Nicole's hotel room included anti depressant Xanax, pain relievers Vicodin and Methadone and the stimulant Provigil. Shortly before her death, she was reportedly complaining of nausea, headaches and flu-like symptoms.Photographs allegedly revealing the inside of Anna Nicole's fridge were released by celebrity gossip website TMZ.com the other day. The contents apparently include methadone, hypodermic phials and slimming drinks. However, it has been claimed the photographs were staged.Pictures of Anna Nicole lying fully clothed in bed and embracing Bahamian Immigration Minister Shane Gibson have also emerged. Anna Nicole fled to the Bahamas last year and was granted residency status, before giving birth. It was claimed Gibson fast tracked Anna Nicole's residency, meaning Dannielynn was a Bahamian citizen and could escape the paternity battle in the US. Photographer Larry Birkhead filed a lawsuit claiming he fathered Dannielynn during a two-year affair. However, Howard K Stern - Anna Nicole's lawyer and lover - is named as Dannielynn's father on her birth certificate.The paternity battle was thrown into further controversy when Anna Nicole's sister, Donna Hogan, claimed her sibling's dead husband, billionaire J.Howard Marshall could be the father. Hogan says Anna Nicole froze the 89-year-old's sperm and may have used it to get pregnant.Whoever is ruled to be Dannielynn's father will take control of Anna Nicole's estate and the $480 million she could inherit from Marshall.

LARRY BIRKHEAD'S MOVING SAD FAREWELL TO LOVE OF HIS LIFE 'ANNA NICOLE SMITH'

FROM LARRY BIRKHEAD'S SITE TODAY !

Chance brought us together, our love couldn't keep us apart. We loved, we laughed, we shared a connection that couldn't be broken, regardless of the challenges. I loved her in life and I will love her long after.Our daughter, Dannielynn is a constant reminder of the love we shared and the life that we desired.My heart is broken, my tears are endless. She called me her "angel," I called her my "sweet potato," and every night before we went to sleep, she made me say to her...........

"GOODNIGHT MY SWEET ANNA BABY"
ANNA NICOLE SMITH

1967-2007

Larry Birkhead And Anna Nicole Smith

ANNA NICOLE'S DEATH ADDS MORE MYSTERY

Several people close to Anna Nicole Smith were quick to speculate after her death that drugs were to blame. The medical examiner who performed an autopsy on her body, though, said it could take weeks to determine a cause of death. Dr. Joshua Perper, the Broward County medical examiner who did the autopsy, said Friday that no illegal drugs were discovered in the 39-year-old Smith's room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood after she collapsed there on Thursday. Perper said there were prescription drugs in the room, but would not identify which. He said it could take three to five weeks to conclude his investigation, which will include toxicology tests. CNN quoted an unidentified law enforcement source as saying there were large amounts of prescription drugs, including Valium and antibiotics, as well as over-the-counter cold and flu medication taken from Smith's room. But Perper said the autopsy found no immediate evidence, either in Smith's stomach or her bloodstream, that she had taken large amounts of prescription medication. Still, officials "do not exclude any kind of contribution of medication to the death,'' he added. Michael Scott, a former attorney for Smith in the Bahamas, and Smith's mother, Vergie Arthur, have both said they think drugs played a part in Smith's death. "I think she had too many drugs, just like Danny,'' Arthur told ABC's "Good Morning America'' on Friday. "I tried to warn her about drugs and the people that she hung around with. She didn't listen.'' There was no indication Smith was the victim of a crime, Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said, and Perper said the autopsy was able to exclude any kind of physical injury, such as blows to the body or asphyxiation. Authorities said they planned to interview a nurse and others and examine medical records before settling on a cause of death. Meanwhile, a Los Angeles judge on Friday ordered that the Smith's body be preserved for at least 10 days for a possible DNA test related to a paternity dispute over her daughter, Dannielynn. The judge refused to order the DNA test be carried out immediately. The ruling could interfere with plans for a funeral. Normally, there is no need for DNA testing on the mother in a paternity case. But one of the men claiming to be the baby's father asked for genetic material from Smith to guard against a possible baby switch. Attorney Howard K. Stern, Smith's most recent companion, and Larry Birkhead, a former boyfriend have both claimed to be Dannielynn's father. In yet another bizarre twist, a third man - the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, Prince Frederic von Anhalt _ stepped forward Friday to claim he had had an affair with Smith and may be the baby's father. The paternity decision could determine the child's inheritance. Smith had been waging a yearslong court battle at her death over the estate of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall II, who died in 1995 at age 90. A federal court in California awarded Smith US $474 million euro 364 million), but that was later overturned. Smith, who went from topless dancer in Texas to Playboy Playmate of the Year, Guess jeans model and bride of an 89-year-old oilman, was found unconscious in her hotel room by a private nurse, officials said. A bodyguard performed CPR, Tiger said, but Smith was declared dead at a hospital. Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel, died in September of what was believed to be an accidental drug overdose, just days after Smith gave birth to her daughter.

Where Is Howard K. Stern ?

He Did This !

AUTOPSY FINDINGS ON ANNA NICOLE SMITH

More tests will be necessary to determine the cause of Anna Nicole Smith 's death, but no illegal drugs were found in her hotel room, officials said Friday. It's possible Smith's died of natural causes, because of some medication or from a combination of reasons, said Dr. Joshua Perper, the chief medical examiner for Broward County, who performed the autopsy. Smith apparently had been sick for several days with some kind of stomach flu, Perper said. Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said investigators "found no illegal drugs, only prescription medicines" in Smith's hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. Nothing unusual was observed on hotel surveillance tapes, and there was no evidence to suggest a crime occurred, he said. On Thursday, a private nurse found Smith unconscious in her room and called 911, officials said. A bodyguard performed CPR, Tiger said, but Smith was declared dead at a hospital. The autopsy was performed Friday on Smith, whose mother blamed drugs for the former Playboy playmate's sudden death that ended an extraordinary tabloid life. In another bizarre twist to the case, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, Prince Frederick von Anhalt, claimed that he might be the father of Smith's infant daughter. Two other men are already waging a paternity battle over the little girl, who stands to inherit Smith's estate. Von Anhalt, 59, told The Associated Press he and Smith had been having an affair since the 1990s. "She wanted to be a princess," he said. "I think she had too many drugs, just like Danny (Smith's late son)," Smith's mother, Vergie Arthur, told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday. "I tried to warn her about drugs and the people that she hung around with. She didn't listen." "She was too drugged up," Arthur said. "By the last interview I saw of her, she was so wasted." Smith's attorney, Ron Rale, said the one-time reality TV star had been ill for several days with a fever and was still depressed over the death five months ago of her 20-year-old son from what a private medical examiner determined was a combination of methadone and two anti-depressants. Late Thursday, sheriff's deputies carried out at least eight brown paper bags sealed with red evidence tape from Smith's hotel room. Several detectives are reviewing the hotel surveillance tapes to see if they might provide a clue to what happened, Deputy Police Chief Michael Browne said Friday. He said they had interviewed everyone connected to the death and no one was under suspicion. "Nothing about this death seems suspicious. We're not treating it that way," Browne said. "We're being very thorough. We're going to look at everything." If Smith died of natural causes, the findings will likely be announced quickly, but definitive results could take weeks, said Dr. Joshua Perper, who was performing the autopsy. "I am not a prophet, and I cannot tell you before the autopsy what I am going to find," he said. Smith's son's death in the Bahamas on Sept. 10 came just a few days after she gave birth to a daughter, Dannielynn, whose custody remains in dispute. The birth certificate lists Dannielynn's father as attorney Howard K. Stern, Smith's most recent companion, who Rale said was with Smith at the hotel and was too choked up to talk when he called Rale with the news. Smith's ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead is waging a legal challenge, saying he is the father. At a hearing Friday in Los Angeles, a judge declined Birkhead's attorney's request to order an immediate DNA sample be taken from Smith's body. The judge ordered the body be retained, though, until a hearing on Feb. 20, attorney Debra Opri said. Opri said the DNA is needed to connect Smith with Dannielynn "so that no one can switch the babies." She also asked the judge to take jurisdiction over the child until her paternity is established. "Nothing was granted. Nothing was denied," she said. Rale, Smith's attorney, said it was "despicable that we would have an emergency notice and appear right now." Gabor's husband, von Anhalt, said Friday that he would file a lawsuit if Dannielynn is turned over to Stern or Birkhead. He said he and Smith started their long affair after she approached him and Gabor at the Plaza Hotel in New York while she was still married to Marshall. "If you go back from September, she wasn't with one of those guys, she was with me," von Anhalt said. The baby was being cared for in the Bahamas by the mother of Shane Gibson, the Bahamian immigration minister who is a close friend of Smith's, People magazine reported on its Web site, citing unidentified sources. A visibly shaken Gibson declined comment as he was leaving his office Thursday night, and he has not responded to several message left by the AP seeking comment. Through the '90s and into the 21st century, Smith was famous for being famous, a pop-culture punchline because of her up-and-down weight, her Marilyn Monroe looks, her exaggerated curves, her little-girl voice, her ditzy-blonde persona and her over-the-top revealing outfits. Recently, she lost a reported 69 pounds and became a spokeswoman for TrimSpa, a weight-loss supplement. In recent TV appearances, her speech was often slurred and she seemed out of it. Some critics said she seemed drugged-out. "Undoubtedly it will be found at the end of the day that drugs featured in her death as they did in the death of poor Daniel," said Michael Scott, a former attorney for Smith in the Bahamas. Rale said he had talked to her on Tuesday or Wednesday, and she had flu symptoms and a fever and was still grieving over her son. He dismissed claims her death was related to drugs as "a bunch of nonsense." "Poor Anna Nicole," he said. "She's been the underdog. She's been besieged ... and she's been trying her best and nobody should have to endure what she's endured." The Texas-born Smith was a topless dancer at a strip club before she made the cover of Playboy magazine in 1992. She became Playboy's playmate of the year in 1993. She was also signed to a contract with Guess jeans, appearing in TV commercials, billboards and magazine ads. In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, owner of Great Northern Oil Co. After his death the following year, she engaged in a protracted legal fight with her former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to the estate. A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million. That was later overturned. But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case, ruling that she deserved another day in court. The stepson died June 20 at age 67, but the family said the court fight would continue. Smith starred in her own reality TV series, "The Anna Nicole Show," in 2002-04. She also appeared in movies, performing a bit part in "The Hudsucker Proxy" in 1994. Smith was born Vickie Lynn Hogan on Nov. 28, 1967, in Houston, one of six children. Her parents split up when she was a toddler, and she was raised by her mother, a deputy sheriff. She dropped out after 11th grade after she was expelled for fighting, and worked as a waitress and then a cook at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken restaurant in Mexia, Texas. She married 16-year-old fry cook Bill Smith in 1985, giving birth to Daniel before divorcing two years later.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH DIES AT 39 YEARS OLD

Anna Nicole Smith

Anna Nicole Smith, the former Playboy playmate whose bizarre life careened from marrying an octogenarian billionaire to the untimely death of her son, died Thursday after collapsing at a South Florida hotel, one of her lawyers said. Smith, 39, collapsed and was unresponsive while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe Hotel and Casino, said the attorney, Ron Rale. She was rushed to a hospital. "She checked in Monday at 8 p.m. as a guest. She was due to check out tomorrow," said Danielle Giordaano, a spokeswoman for the hotel. Smith had been a tabloid staple even before she became Playboy's playmate of the year in 1993. Readers were fascinated by her bombshell good looks, her marriage to an elderly billionaire and subsequent court fight over his estate, her weight fluctuations, and last year, the sudden death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith. A former topless dancer, she made her name squeezing into Guess jeans. She resembled the late actress Marilyn Monroe, a similarity played up in her Guess magazine ads, billboards and department store displays. In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, the head of oil-based Koch Industries, which is part of a family fortune worth at least $400 million. He died in 1995, setting off a feud with her former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to his estate. A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million in a complicated legal twist that began after she declared bankruptcy. That was later overturned. But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case, ruling that she deserved another day in court in her battle with her former stepson. The justices said only that federal courts in California could deal with her case despite a Texas state court ruling that Marshall was the sole heir to the estate. Then, the stepson died June 20 at age 67. But the family said the court fight would continue. Daniel Smith died Sept. 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas, just days after she gave birth to a daughter. An American medical examiner hired by the family, Cyril Wecht, said he had methadone and two antidepressants in his system when he died. Low levels of the three drugs interacted to cause an accidental death, Wecht said. Meanwhile, the paternity of her now 5-month-old daughter remained a matter of dispute. She was born Vickie Lynn Hogan on Nov. 28, 1967, in Houston, one of six children of Donald Eugene and Virgie Hart Hogan. She married Bill Smith in 1985, giving birth to Daniel before divorcing two years later.
I Think It's Time To Take A Good Look At Howard Stern !