Sad news…it was released today that entertainer Bernie Mac died of complications from pneumonia in Chicago:

Bernie Mac, the actor and comedian who teamed up in the casino heist caper “Ocean’s Eleven” and gained a prestigious Peabody Award for his sitcom “The Bernie Mac Show,” died Saturday at age 50.

“Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,” his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.

She said no other details were available and asked that his family’s privacy be respected.

The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease. [...]

Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the city’s South Side, living with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was the deacon of a Baptist church.

In his 2004 memoir, “Maybe You Never Cry Again,” Mac wrote about having a poor childhood — eating bologna for dinner — and a strict, no-nonsense upbringing.

“I came from a place where there wasn’t a lot of joy,” Mac told the AP in 2001. “I decided to try to make other people laugh when there wasn’t a lot of things to laugh about.”

Mac’s mother died of cancer when he was 16. In his book, Mac said she was a support for him and told him he would surprise everyone when he grew up.

“Woman believed in me,” he wrote. “She believed in me long before I believed.”

Our prayers and best wishes are with his family and friends.

Mary-Kate Olsen is off the hook for now.  It seems that the investigation into how Heath Ledger obtained the cocktail of drugs found in his system after his death is closed:

Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan had been overseeing a Drug Enforcement Administration probe into whether the painkillers found in Ledger’s system were obtained illegally. But the prosecutors have bowed out “because they don’t believe there’s a viable target,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no charges have been filed.

The decision comes after recent reports that actress Mary-Kate Olsen was demanding immunity before answering questions about the startling death of her close friend and his drug use. Authorities say she was the first person called by a masseuse who found the 28-year-old “Dark Knight” actor’s lifeless body in his Manhattan apartment.

The DEA had obtained a subpoena that could have forced Olsen if she continued to hold out. But the subpoena, issued in April, is no longer valid because it was contingent upon prosecutors pursuing the case, the official said Wednesday. The official added that the case could still be revived if evidence of a crime emerges.

They were investigating what he had in his system, why it was there, and how he obtained it to start with:

DEA investigators suspect the painkillers found in Ledger’s system, oxycodone and hydrocodone, were obtained with phony prescriptions or other illegal means. Oxycodone is sold as OxyContin and hydrocodone as Vicodin. [...]

Other drugs taken by Ledger, including anti-anxiety medication and sleeping pills, were prescribed legally by doctors in California and Texas.

Mary-Kate has insisted she does not now how Heath obtained the drugs.

I don’t know.  If I was a friend of someone who died in this manner, and if I were the first person called after the death, and if I had nothing to hide, speaking to the police about it would not be a problem.  But, while perhaps she didn’t have anything to do with the drugs found in his system, maybe it’s her own, unrelated activities that night which the police would have found suspicious…maybe she was covering her own skinny butt, but not in the way we think.

In any case, the investigation is closed unless they find something which pries it open again.  This death did not have to happen.  Please, people, pay attention to what you’re doing, and keep a network of people around you if you’re having problems.

I know I’m a bit late with my online condolences (family business takes precedence over writing), but we at GlossLip would like to offer our sincere sympathies to the Russert family.  No matter one’s political leanings, it is agreed that Tim Russert was truly a titan in the world of broadcasting and, by all accounts, was a wonderful human being.

I’ve never been one for political programs (I’ve jokingly called his program Meet The Depressed), but I do remember a program he did for NBC Nightly News a couple of years ago about his father, Big Russ, and Tim’s decisions concerning his care.  The piece came across with true and genuine heart and feeling, and I was left not only thinking about my own parents but about the love and dignity which both father and son shared.  That’s what I think about when I think of Tim.

Man, this day just keeps getting suckier. I’ll skip the first reason it started off sucky, and go to the second: Georg Carlin died yesterday evening. The acerbic comic, best known for his angry, oft-times raunchy but hilarious stand up routines, checked into St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica last night due to heart pains and later died of a heart attack

Carlin suffered from a history of heart problems and sadly died at the age of 71. My favorite act of George’s was his “Stuff” routine. It’s funny, because it’s true. Even while doing comedy, George had a brilliant way of making social commentary about all the things that are truly f*cked up about humans. He will be truly missed.

RIP George.

Bob Anderson, who played the young George Bailey (memorably portrayed as an adult by Jimmy Stewart) in the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life), died of cancer on Friday at his home in Palm Springs.

Not only was he an actor, but after a stint in the Navy during the Korean War he returned to Hollywood and spent approximately the next forty years working in the movie business, eventually rising to roles such as production manager, producer, and assistant director on movies and television shows.

During an interview in the late 1990’s, he recalled shooting the drugstore scenes with H. B. Warner:

Anderson was 12 when director Frank Capra cast him as Jimmy Stewart’s youthful counterpart in the heartwarming tale set in Bedford Falls. As the adult George Bailey contemplates suicide, his life is told in flashback so his guardian angel Clarence can get to know him. Young George rescues his brother from drowning, dreams about being an explorer and saves the town pharmacist, Mr. Gower, from accidentally poisoning a customer.

In 1996, on the 50th anniversary of the movie’s release, Anderson recalled shooting scenes with H.B. Warner, who played Mr. Gower.

“He actually bloodied my ear,” Anderson told Cox for a Times story. “My ear was beat up, and my face was red and I was in tears. . . . I didn’t know what we were building for. H.B. was perfect. He reached the crescendo. At the end when it was all over, he was very lovable. He grabbed me and hugged me, and he meant it.”

I won’t lie, I love It’s A Wonderful Life.  The scene in the drugstore always makes me cry (who am I kidding…the whole movie makes me cry) and Bob made the scene believable without being cheezy or corny.  No, actors should not be defined by one role, but it was this role which cemented him into people’s hearts and which continues to bring joy to so many.

The family asks that donations be made in his memory to the American Cancer Society.

Where do you even begin to start in paying tribute to a comic master, maestro, genius?  So many of today’s so-called “funnymen” could learn a thing or two or hundred or million from one of the true greats, Harvey Korman.  He died Thursday from complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago.

From The Carol Burnett Show to Blazing Saddles to his comic tour with fellow funnyman Tim Conway, Harvey had the best sneer in the business and could get a laugh from the simple arch of an eyebrow.

He will be truly missed. They just don’t make ‘em like that no more.

Hollywood composer Earl Hagen died at his home on Monday.  He was not only featured as the whistler of The Andy Griffith Show theme, but he was a prolific composer of music for many classic television shows and an accomplished musician and composer outside of the small screen:

Hagen, who is heard whistling the folksy tune for “The Andy Griffith Show,” died at his home in Rancho Mirage, his wife, Laura, said Tuesday. He had been in ill health for several months.

During his long musical career, Hagen performed with the top bands of the swing era, composed for movies and television, and wrote one of the first textbooks on movie composing.

He and Dick Rogers were nominated for an Academy Award for best music scoring for the 1960 Marilyn Monroe movie “Let’s Make Love.”

For television, he composed original music for more than 3,000 episodes, pilots and TV movies, including theme songs for “That Girl,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”

Sad news, indeed.  The Andy Griffith Show is a staple at my house, and I’d rather watch it than 99.9% of the tripe on television today.  Just hearing the theme, with its familiar whistle, is enough to bring a smile to my face and my heart.  Mr. Hagen wrote music for many of my favorite shows, but the theme from TAGS is special to me.

Our prayers and condolences go out to his family.

I know, I’m supposed to be off work recuperating from pneumonia, and I promise I will go right back to bed as soon as I get done, but I couldn’t let this go.

Stanely Kamel, who played Dr. Charles Kroger on Monk (one of my all-time favorite television shows), has been found dead in his home:

Kamel was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home on Tuesday. He was 65.

Access Hollywood has learned Kamel died of a heart attack. [...]

A rep for the USA network, which airs the Emmy-winning “Monk,” released the following statement to Access Hollywood:

“USA is deeply saddened by the news of Stanley Kamel’s passing. Stanley was an amazingly talented and extremely kind man, and an important member of the USA family. He will be sorely missed.”

This makes me very sad.  One of the best parts of the show was watching Dr. Kroger and Adrian Monk interact with one another, and I always enjoyed the episodes where Monk became involved with Dr. Kroger outside of the office (such as the one where the good doctor retired after believing he was responsible for the death of his cleaning lady).  He brought humor, warmth, sensitivity, and a multi-faceted portrayal to a part which could have ended up being very one-dimensional and staid.

It’s funny how we become immersed in these shows…one of my first thoughts was, “First Trudy, now Dr. Kroger…Monk has a hard enough time, what is he going to do now?”  Silly, perhaps…but for those of us who know personally what the character of Adrian Monk goes through on a daily basis, maybe it isn’t so silly after all.  You see, I got to thinking that it could be possibly the best testament an actor can leave…to somehow break down that wall that separates actor from audience and make us think beyond a character, beyond an actor, helping us to expand our horizons and incorporate new thoughts and feelings and ideas and ways of coping into our daily lives.  Anyone can mouth words off a page, but it takes someone special to mold and squish and mesh it all together and create a new person of themselves who truly touches others.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Kamel’s family and friends.

 

Like mother, like son…a Bahamian jury decided Monday that Daniel Smith, son of Anna Nicole Smith, died of an accidental overdose:

The seven-member jury, which deliberated for less than two hours, recommended no criminal charges in the September 2006 death of 20-year-old Daniel Smith.

The son of the former Playboy playmate died after coming to the Bahamas to meet his new baby sister on Sept. 10, 2006. His mother died early the next year in Florida from an accidental drug overdose at age 39.

Police had said there was no evidence of homicide, and autopsies found that Daniel died from a combination of drugs, including methadone and antidepressants. But Bahamian authorities ordered the inquest amid widespread speculation over the circumstances surrounding his death.

In its ruling, the jury said the cause of death was “nondependent use of drugs,” meaning that Daniel Smith was not addicted and was not aware the drugs in his system would kill him.

Anna Nicole’s mother, however, is having none of it, and still believes Howard K. Stern had something to do with the death:

Neil McCabe, an attorney for Anna Nicole’s mother, Virgie Arthur, said she was disappointed in the ruling because she suspected foul play was involved. Arthur has claimed previously that Anna Nicole’s boyfriend and attorney Howard K. Stern played a role in both deaths, but she did not provide evidence.

“We don’t think it makes any sense,” McCabe said. “The boy was not a drug user, the judge said so. Why would he all of a sudden take a massive dose of methadone?”

Stern, who has denied giving Daniel any drugs, said outside court that he was not sure whether the jury’s decision would bring an end to the case.

“I have no control over them,” he said of Arthur and her attorneys.

What a convoluted tale.  Larry Birkhead, Anna Nicole’s former boyfriend and babydaddy, testified that Daniel struggled with drugs, alcohol, and depression, but Howard said that he was surprised by the toxicology findings and said in his testimony that he’d never seen Daniel take drugs.

If Daniel did take his mother’s methadone (he had easy access to it, and Anna Nicole caught him on videotape stealing it out of her home), it is a slow-acting drug who’s effect are not felt for a few hours.  He could have accidentally taken more than the recommended dose simply by believing that he hadn’t taken enough the first time, when in actuality the drug had not had time to kick in yet.

I’m still not convinced HKS had anything to do with it, simply because I’m not sure what he would have to gain from killing Daniel.  He knew that Daniel was Anna Nicole’s life, and to kill him would cause her great grief and sadness…which is exactly what it did.  It would have been to Howard’s best interests to have Daniel alive, in fact.  He should have done more to make sure that happened.

But there are only three people who know exactly what went on that day, and two of them aren’t talking any more.

The inquest into the death of Daniel Smith, son of Anna Nicole Smith, continues, and Larry Birkhead gave some pretty incredible testimony yesterday concerning some missing Methadone in Anna’s house:

Birkhead testified that in April 2006, Anna realized some of her Methadone was missing in her Studio City home. Birkhead said Anna had surveillance cameras in the house, checked them and found video proof that Daniel and his buddies were the culprits.

While Birkhead was under oath, he was asked about statements he made to the cops back in 2006, when he was at war with Anna. He had told police he saw Howard K. Stern smoke pot with Anna and Daniel. During his testimony, Birkhead said he was not completely clear on what he saw.

UPDATE: Birkhead also told cops Anna had given Daniel Ecstasy, but on the stand Birkhead said he couldn’t say this actually happened.

Birkhead said Daniel’s personality completely changed between January 2006 and May. He saw Daniel throw a TV through a window. Daniel often stayed out all night long and Anna was worried.

Also, Daniel was admitted to an L.A. hospital for misuse of valium in mid July, 2006.

What, you mean people make up and exaggerate claims to the police when they are angry with someone?  Shocking!

Methadone is often used for people trying to break other drug habits:

This medication is a narcotic pain reliever and is used for severe pain. It is also used in the treatment of narcotic addiction as part of an approved program. Methadone is a potent narcotic substance. It can cause serious side effects and toxic reactions if used by someone other than the person for whom it is prescribed. Do not share this medication with others.

However, in recent years people have become addicted to methadone in place of other drugs, such as heroin:

In North Carolina, deaths caused by methadone increased eightfold, to 58 in 2001 from 7 in 1997 - an “absolutely amazing” jump, said Catherine Sanford, a state epidemiologist. In Maine, methadone was the drug found most frequently in people who died of overdoses from 1997 to 2002. It was found in almost a quarter of the deaths. In the first six months of last year, methadone killed 18 people in Maine, up from 4 in all of 1997. Dr. John H. Burton, medical director for Maine Emergency Medical Services, said hospital emergency rooms were seeing “a tidal wave” of methadone-related cases.

The increase in methadone overdoses and deaths has floored many drug experts because methadone, which does not provide a quick or potent high, has long been considered an unlikely candidate for substance abuse. It can be hours before a user feels any effect, and it works more like a sedative than a stimulant.

And because methadone is considered such an important and affordable tool for treating addiction and pain, health and law enforcement officials are facing a quandary: how to stop methadone abuse without curtailing its valuable uses — and especially without driving addicts back to drugs like heroin. [...]

Naïve users might be “people who are just at a party and someone will give them some methadone,” said Dr. Burton, the emergency medicine specialist in Maine. “They might mix it in with a beer or with some other drug. They take it thinking it’s just like any other drug and will give them a buzz, and they end up either dead or deeply unconscious.”

Methadone’s delayed narcotic effect and its lack of a potent high are important reasons the drug can be so dangerous, experts say.

“By the time they’ve actually overdosed, no one is with them to see what’s happening,” said Kimberly Johnson, director of the Maine Office of Substance Abuse.

Joseph Haddock, an analyst for the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center, said some people, unaware of the drug’s delayed effects, “take methadone, don’t get the effect that they want, take more methadone, still don’t get that reaction, and they take more methadone, so they end up overdosing.”

Since Daniel died in his mother’s hospital room late one night when he was visiting his mother and newborn sister, it could be that he took the drug several hours before even arriving at the hospital, and it was only later that the serious effects of the drug kicked in.  He also had Zoloft and Lexapro in his system at the time of his death.

Yet another example of something that is supposed to be used for good, being perverted and used for harm.  There’s nothing wrong with using medications to treat various disorders, be they an illness or a mental problem or even to break a drug habit (after other options have been exhausted).  However, like anything else, often people use the medications in ways they were never supposed to be used, or mix them with medications they were never meant to be used in conjunction with.  The medications themselves often are not bad, it’s when people use them for reasons they were never intended to be used for that the problems start.

I don’t even want to go into what might have caused Daniel to turn to drugs.  What makes any kid do something like that?  Although, I do have to point out that Anna Nicole certainly did not live what you might call a “normal” lifestyle, and life in a fishbowl might have turned out to be too much for the shy Daniel to cope with.  All you have to do is watch a few episodes of the ANS show to see his weariness with the everpresent cameras in his life.

Howard K. Stern is scheduled to testify today, so that should create some fireworks.