dead

A modelling scout linked to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home.

Daniel Siad, 69, was discovered on Monday in Colombes, a north-west suburb of Paris, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office confirmed to the BBC.

“An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday evening following the discovery,” the office said, adding that an autopsy will be carried out.

Siad’s name appeared thousands of times in the Epstein files released by the US government. He had previously denied any knowledge of the threat that Epstein posed.

Epstein victim Anya – not her real name – previously told the BBC Siad had introduced her to Epstein.

Ahead of a BBC investigation published on 18 July, Siad’s lawyer had said he was not available for comment, but he had previously denied knowing that Epstein posed a threat.

Actor Kaylee Hottle, best known for her portrayal of a young deaf orphan who shares a special bond with the giant guardian ape in “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” has died. She was 18.

Hottle died Tuesday morning after the car she was a passenger in crashed into a culvert off the side of the road in Ijamsville, Md., the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed her death in a video on Facebook.

“I am taking a flight that I never would like to take,” he wrote in the caption of the video post, in which he explained the situation in American Sign Language. He was on his way from Texas to claim her body, according to TMZ.

The Texas School for the Deaf also addressed the actor’s death on social media.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news that one of our TSD seniors, Kaylee Hottle, tragically passed away yesterday in a car accident in Frederick, Maryland,” read the Instagram post. “Our hearts are with Kaylee’s family, friends, classmates and everyone who knew and loved her during this incredibly difficult time.”

Hottle’s breakout role was in the 2021 MonsterVerse crossover “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which marked her big-screen debut as the young orphan Jia. Jia is the last remaining survivor of the Iwi tribe on Skull Island who shares a connection with Kong, the island’s protector. Her adoptive parent, Dr. Ilene Andrews, is a linguistics expert and Kong researcher, played by Rebecca Hall. Hottle reprised the role in the 2024 follow-up, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”

“After I watched the movie, I thought, ‘Wow, this is going to make such a big impact,’” Hottle said in a 2024 interview with New York’s WABC. “I was so excited. She’s a young deaf girl, just like many others out there. And this journey that she’s going on is just going to be so amazing.”

The actor, who was born in Atlanta, was from an all-deaf family, which included four generations of deaf relatives on her father’s side, according to IMDb.

Authorities said Hottle was one of two passengers in the 1995 Honda Accord that was involved in the crash. While the incident is still being investigated, the Sheriff’s Office said in its news release that “excessive speed is believed to be a contributing factor in the collision.”

Millie Bobby Brown, who also appeared in “Godzilla vs. Kong,” was among those who shared tributes to Hottle following the news of her death.

“I’m so devastated to hear this,” she wrote in her Instagram story, which included a black-and-white photo of Hottle as Jia. “You will be deeply missed Kaylee.”

“I am absolutely gutted about the passing of sweet Kaylee Hottle,” Oscar winner Marlee Matlin wrote on Instagram. “May her beauty and talent be a memory for eternity. … Such a privilege to have met Kaylee last year. Please be kind to one another. Take the time to listen to your child. Say 🤟🏼 each time you part. 🩵”

Jennifer Finch, bassist for the influential Los Angeles rock band L7, has died. She was 59.

Finch died of “an aggressive form of brain cancer,” according to a statement from the band.

“We are shattered by the loss of our beloved bandmate, sister and friend Jennifer Finch, whose fierce spirit, humor and boundless creativity helped shape L7 and changed all of our lives forever,” the group said in its statement. “Jennifer was a true original who lived entirely on her own terms, and the impact she made on music, art and everyone lucky enough to know her cannot be measured. We love her beyond words and will carry her with us always. Rest in power our dear friend.”

Finch was receiving ongoing treatment for brain cancer, and just last week backed out of the band’s planned final tour. The group said those dates were “planned along with Jennifer when all four of us were in good health and spirits,” and Finch had asked the band to continue the shows while she sought treatment.

Finch, raised in Los Angeles, was an outspoken and ambitious fixture of ‘90s rock. She briefly performed in a band with Courtney Love pre-Hole and Babes In Toyland’s Kat Bjelland, and once dated Dave Grohl. But she came to prominence in L7, a foundational act in the alt-rock scene of the ‘90s.

Formed in 1985 by guitarists and singers Suzi Gardner and Donita Sparks, drummer Dee Plakas and Finch, they made a fast impact on L.A.’s punk scene, which was growing out of the hyper-masculine hardcore era of the ‘80s. Alongside Hole and Sleater-Kinney, L7 helped usher in the riot grrl wave of confrontational, female-led rock acts onto charts and festival bills.

“Rock ‘n’ roll was invented and became popular because of its rebellious nature,” Finch told the Times in 1993. “But the world has seen every form of rebellion–from throwing TVs out the windows to heroin abuse to just the guy in the leather jacket with greased-back hair–and the rebel image is becoming tired and burnt out. So (the press) is finding new interest in women who (rebel), creating a whole new aspect.”

“The unfortunate thing is that journalists are trying to create a genre out of gender, which trivializes it,” she added. “That’s extremely ignorant, because it bypasses the uniqueness between the groups.”

Bolstered by Finch’s ferocious basslines, hit single “Pretend We’re Dead” received significant airplay on alternative rock stations and became the group’s signature song, along with the biting anti-war anthem “Wargasm.” Finch wrote several songs across the group’s catalog, including the scabrous single “Everglade.” L7 went on hiatus in 2001, but reunited in 2014.

Finch was a talented photographer, whose intimate shots of SoCal bands lent an air of tragic grit to an ascendant punk and rock scene. “The irony is not lost on me when I’m driving from my house just blocks from where I grew up, and I’m heading to the L.A. Weekly to publish pictures of us as kids hanging out and shooting up, 20 years ago,” she told L.A. Weekly in 2006.” It feels weird but strangely hopeful. That was a totally unique time and it defined who we are, so then maybe it’s not a bad thing to be nostalgic about.”

Beyond L7, her song with OtherStarpeople, “Then There’s None,” appeared on the beloved “Office Space” soundtrack, and founded the punk band The Shocker in 2002. She acted in John Waters’ dark comedy “Serial Mom” as a member of the fictional band Camel Lips.

L7’s last album, “Scatter the Rats,” was released in 2019, and its final tour, “The Last Hurrah,” is booked to kick off in San Diego on Oct. 6.

L7 and Finch’s family opened a GoFundMe to support her medical care, saying “We love her, and we want her to feel the full strength of the community that has loved and supported her for so many years.” Information on surviving family was not immediately available.

L7 BASSIST, vocalist and songwriter Jennifer Finch has died aged 59, it has been announced.

Finch passed away after battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, according to a statement.

Her former group has paid a moving tribute to their late bandmate.

They wrote in a statement: “With a very heavy heart we announce that our beloved bandmate, friend, and fellow troublemaker Jennifer Finch has passed away today.

“She had a long courageous fight with brain cancer and was loved by many wonderful friends, musical peers and fans worldwide.

“We love you Jennifer.”

‘LEAVES A VOID’

Digital Underground member dies as band pay tribute to 90s hip-hop star

ROCKER DEAD

90s punk rockstar lead singer of band Amen dies aged 59 as tributes pour in

L7 recently shared the news that Finch had been diagnosed with cancer and would be missing their upcoming Last Hurrah Tour in October.

She had suffered serious complications and required extensive treatment and in-home support, the band said.

Posting to Finch’s own Instagram, the band described her as a “true original who lived entirely on her own terms”.

“The impact she made on music, art and everyone lucky enough to know her cannot be measured”, the post added.

Finch helped power L7 through the 90s alternative-rock boom.

She played base alongside guitarists Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner and Dee Plakas and helped define L7’s place at the intersection of punk, metal and grunge.

Formed in Los Angeles in 1985, L7 became known for break-out tracks including “Pretend We’re Dead,” “Shove,” “Andres” and “Fuel My Fire.” 

But Finch’s creative work spanned far beyond the stage.

She was also a photographer, writer and visual artist.

The statement announcing her death also acknowledged “the extraordinary outpouring of love and support” shown to Finch.

It comes after another popular 90s band cancelled their entire UK tour following the tragic death of a band member.

The band said in a post online: “We are completely heartbroken over the tragic and untimely loss of our bandmate, brother-in-arms, and friend for 30 years, Justin Cary.

“We were looking forward to connecting with new and old fans around the world this summer and fall, but for now we need time to be still and grieve.”

Heartbroken by the loss, the band added: “Hundreds of pictures. Thousands of memories, 30 years worth. Thank you, Justin.”

The performer died at the age of 50 after suffering a stroke on June 18.

The Kiss Me musician had been receiving treatment at Albany Medical Center in New York.

He underwent two surgeries following the stroke and was placed in intensive care.

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thesun and follow us on TikTok @TheSun.

July 18 (UPI) — At least eight people are dead and 34 are missing after a massive landslide fell in Chongqing, China, Friday morning.

Rocks and soil slid down the mountain and buried more than 10 residential buildings in the suburbs of the city in Pengshui County, in central China. There were 10 people pulled from the rubble and sent to hospitals. More than 1,100 people were forced to evacuate their homes.

The landslide included 635,664 square feet of materials, officials confirmed. The largest rock is estimated to be about 105,944 square feet, Wang Chuanjun, head of Planning and Natural Resources in Pengshui County, told The Independent.

Heavy rains got in the way of rescue operations. The area got about 8 inches of rain overnight Friday and Saturday morning.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission has allocated about $4.4 million to help with restoration of infrastructure and public services to the area.

Irish actor Brenda Fricker, who won an Oscar for her role in “My Left Foot” and whose Pigeon Lady befriended Macaulay Culkin‘s Kevin McCallister in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” has died. She was 81.

Her talent agent Phil Belfield confirmed Fricker’s death in a statement shared with The Times on Friday. The actor died peacefully Thursday evening in Dublin after a “period of ill health,” he said.

“We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her,” Belfield said in the statement. “I was honored to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the world over.”

Fricker, who was born Feb. 17, 1945, in Dublin, appeared in nearly 100 TV, film and short projects since the mid-1960s. She reached international acclaim for her work in Jim Sheridan’s 1989 comedy-drama “My Left Foot,” based on the life of Dublin-born painter Christy Brown, who only had control over the titular limb due to cerebral palsy. Daniel Day-Lewis starred as Brown and Fricker played his supportive mother. She earned the Academy Award for supporting actress, becoming the first Irish female actor to win an Oscar, and Day-Lewis took home the prize for lead actor.

“My Left Foot” was also nominated for best picture, director and adapted screenplay.

In her review of the film for The Times in 1990, film critic Sheila Benson praised a “magnificent” Fricker for her portrayal of motherly love. “She plays [Mrs. Brown] like the rock she must have been, without a jot of martyrdom or a flicker of complaint and without an actressy moment,” Benson wrote.

The ‘90s brought Fricker additional roles in productions including “The Field,” “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” “Angels in the Outfield,” “A Time to Kill” and “Veronica Guerin.” She counted Cate Blanchett, Joe Pesci, Tim Curry, James McAvoy, Fiona Shaw, Sean Bean, Richard Harris, Christopher Lloyd and Tony Danza as co-stars, to name a few.

For generations of movie audiences, however, Fricker will most likely be remembered as the Pigeon Lady from “Home Alone 2.”

A sequel to the hit “Home Alone,” Fricker’s Pigeon Lady was a source of unexpected tenderness for Culkin’s Kevin, now stranded during the holidays in New York. He first encounters Fricker’s odd character in Central Park, dressed in oversized, dirty clothing with city birds resting on her head and shoulders. Though a terrifying sight at first, the film later reveals Fricker’s character has a heartbreaking past.

“The man I loved fell out of love with me,” she tells Kevin one evening, adding, “whenever the chance to be loved came along again, I ran away from it. I stopped trusting people.”

Kevin later gifts his new friend a turtledove ornament after learning the animal represents friendship and love.

Fricker continued acting through 2015 — with roles in numerous TV movies, miniseries, more than 70 episodes of the show “Casualty” and films such as “Conspiracy of Silence” and “Rory O’Shea Was Here” — but her career tapered off. She was last credited for the 2024 film “The Shallow.”

Fricker attended Catholic school but drifted away from religion in her late teens. She suffered injuries from a car crash at age 14, prompting her parents to spend their life savings on plastic surgery as part of her recovery. She also suffered other health issues during childhood and spent two years in a sanatorium.

“The positive side is, it taught me about self-sufficiency,” she told The Times in 1993.

She was a journalist for the Irish Times, where her father had also worked, before she started acting. She graced the stage at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, and never looked back.

Amid her mounting fame in the 1990s and early aughts, Fricker did not heed the call to move Stateside and lived in the U.K. before ultimately returning to Dublin. “I didn’t like Los Angeles,” she recalled in 1993. “I don’t like the heat and I found it uninteresting. I wasn’t comfortable there.”

Before her death, Fricker penned a memoir, “She Died Young: A Life in Fragments,” about her upbringing and experiences with sexual violence and mental illness. In February, Fricker was awarded Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin.

Lord Mayor of Dublin Daryl Barron honored Fricker in a statement shared Friday.

“She was a proud Dub with a sharp wit and warmth that exuded to all who knew her and experienced her work,” Barron said. “She will be sorely missed.”

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

I have been writing this newsletter, most weeks, for more than 10 years now. I wouldn’t even want to do the math on how many of them that would be, or just how many movies I have written about. That count is about to come to a close as this is the last one.

Don’t worry: I will still be covering the world-class scene of moviegoing in Los Angeles as well as writing about a broad swath of films and filmmakers, just finding new ways to go about it.

When this newsletter began, it was a catch-all for movie coverage and related events from The Times and eventually settled into a curated survey of the best new releases each week. We helped figure out what you should go see. As theaters reopened following the closures forced by the pandemic, the repertory scene in Los Angeles exploded, with new audiences turning out for old movies in astonishing numbers.

We followed their lead, flipping the focus of the newsletter to the rep scene while still keeping an eye on new releases. Venues around the city had a newly revived energy to match audiences’ enthusiasm. The Academy Museum opened with two gold-standard theaters, while the American Cinematheque expanded the number of screens it programs. (Just recently, it added the historic Village Theater in Westwood.) The Vista began bringing first-run films in 35mm and 70mm, along with classic movies. Vidiots opened in Eagle Rock, helping to redraw the map of L.A.’s movie-loving community.

The David Geffen Theater at the Academy Museum seats a thousand and is often fully attended.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The city has also seen the rise of itinerant pop-up series such as Mezzanine, Acropolis Cinema and Hollywood Entertainment pulling off must-see events. Smaller venues such as Now Instant Image Hall, 2220 Arts + Archives, Eastwood Performing Arts Center, Brain Dead Studios and the Philosophical Research Society have made a home to all kinds of movies. The Laemmle and Landmark chains have continue to play traditional arthouse releases and international films, while the Frida and Gardena theaters bring great movies to the South Bay.

Entities such as Revival Hub and MovieTown do a vital job of collating extensive listings info. (We will also continue to give monthly overviews of the best movies to see.) This is simply an incredible time for going to the movies in Los Angeles, arguably the best ever.

My main takeaway from the experience of working on this newsletter is confirmation of my belief in the movies themselves and the community of people around them. I was recently at a sold-out screening of Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran” and the idea of sitting with nearly a thousand other people watching a Japanese movie from the 1980s, each connecting to the events on screen in their own way, was deeply inspiring.

Among my favorite recent developments is how many venues now name the show’s projectionists as part of a screening’s introduction, which is always met with an enthusiastic round of applause. It is a reminder that what this is really about is people, dedicated to something we love.

And since this isn’t really a goodbye, it seems fitting to turn to the movies once again, as another week demonstrates why the scene here in Los Angeles is so truly special.

A tribute to Sam Neill

Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman on the set of 1989’s “Dead Calm.”

(Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

Anyone looking for an example of just how intimate the screening scene in Los Angeles can be should make their way to the New Beverly Cinema on July 24. The theater already had a three-night double-bill of Rob Reiner’s “Misery” and Phillip Noyce’s 1989 thriller “Dead Calm” booked when news broke last weekend that actor Sam Neill had died at age 78.

The New Bev quickly announced that it would make one of those screenings into a tribute to Neill, who co-stars in “Dead Calm.” Director Noyce, along with co-star Billy Zane and filmmaker Roger Donaldson (who worked with Neill on 1977’s “Sleeping Dogs”) will all be there to celebrate their friend and colleague.

“Dead Calm” is a tight thriller set within the confines of a small sailing boat. Reviewing the movie when it was first released in 1989, Sheila Benson wrote, “Neill is probably one of the screen’s most underrated actors … ‘Dead Calm’ was probably far and away his nastiest assignment physically, yet his presence, sexuality and all, is absolutely vital to the balance of the story.”

Remembering the actor as part of a rundown of his greatest performances, Glen Whipp described Neill in “Dead Calm” as “part Cary Grant, part MacGyver.”

Two by Ross McElwee

Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee in his 1986 movie “Sherman’s March.”

(Music Box Films)

Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee helped to reinvent the form with his 1986 film “Sherman’s March,” which comes with the explanatory subtitle of “A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation.”

Ostensibly a film about Union General William Tecumsah Sherman’s campaign of destruction during the Civil War, the movie actually ends up being about McElwee revisiting old girlfriends and forging a few new ones along the way, reflecting on his own campaign of romantic misadventure. As charming as it is revelatory, the movie is being rereleased in a new 4K restoration.

McElwee’s latest film, “Remake,” reflects on the death of his son Adrian and whether the director himself had a detrimental effect on the boy’s life. Reviewing “Remake,” Tim Grierson calls it “especially revealing — both in terms of the glimpses we get of this father-son relationship and of unsolved mysteries that linger just outside the frame.”

A weekend with Robert Rodriguez

Quentin Tarantino, George Clooney and Salma Hayek in the horror movie “From Dusk Till Dawn.”

(Academy Museum)

The Academy Museum will present “A Weekend with Robert Rodriguez” to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “From Dusk Till Dawn” and the 25th anniversary of “Spy Kids.” It speaks to Rodriguez’s undersung range as a filmmaker that one movie is a bawdy, gory comedy about a criminals on the run who encounter an ancient den of vampires, while the other is a family-friendly tale of two siblings who discover their parents are secret agents and must rescue them from a supervillain.

Rodriguez will not only be present to talk about both movies, he will be performing music each day with a different band.

Reviewing “From Dusk Till Dawn,” which was scripted by Quentin Tarantino, Jack Matthews said it was “a film nerd’s fever dream, a Frankenstein’s monster of used movie parts, deliberately mismatched styles, and deliriously implausible characters.”

Elaine May’s secret success

Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange in the movie “Tootsie.”

(Everett Collection / Columbia Pictures)

One of the most exciting things about the ongoing revival of L.A.’s repertory scene is the upheaval of the notion of the “canon.” What are the most lauded movies of all time and who gets to do the lauding? Case in point is the now widely accepted coronation of Elaine May as a towering creative figure, no longer relegated to being merely a fringe character unfairly saddled with the commercial failure of “Ishtar.”

May is credited as director on only four feature films, though she’s an uncredited writer on a number of other projects, perhaps most notably 1982’s comedy “Tootsie,” starring Dustin Hoffman as a struggling New York City actor who finds success when he lands a part by secretly posing as a woman. Directed by Sydney Pollack, who also makes a tremendous turn as Hoffman’s agent, the movie will be playing at Vidiots on Saturday.

Finding new moves

Wiley Wiggins and Patrick Riester in the movie “Computer Chess.”

(Kino Lorber)

The very first thing I ever wrote under the banner of Indie Focus was about how independent filmmakers such as Andrew Bujalski and Alex Ross Perry were working on 35mm at a time when mainstream Hollywood was very much forcing the idea of shooting on digital. So it only seems appropriate that this final edition of the newsletter should include something on Bujalksi, who has long been one of my favorite contemporary American filmmakers.

“Computer Chess,” Bujalski’s oddball experiment in using antiquated video equipment to tell a heady, offbeat story about a weekend chess tournament in the early ’80s, will screen in a 35mm print at Brain Dead Studios on July 24, presented by Mezzanine. Bujalski will be present, along with Blair Barnes, a filmmaker who will be showing the L.A. premiere of his short “sitrep,” also shot on an analog-era tube camera.

New this week

Matt Damon and Zendaya in the movie “The Odyssey.”

(Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures)

Sure to be one of the biggest movies of the year, Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” opens today. Los Angeles audiences have multiple venues to choose from that are showing the film in Nolan’s preferred Imax 70mm format — these theaters are among only a small number across the world that are doing this. Presenting a movie in Imax 70mm isn’t the easiest endeavor. Eloise Rollins-Fife has a report on how that’s actually done. Get your epic on.

Reviewing the movie, Amy Nicholson wrote, “Nolan refuses to tremble before the canon. Grabbing mighty scissors, he cuts and rejiggers Homer and a bit of Virgil to transform these classical texts into his type of tale: one fixated on memory, self-identity, destructive genius and the slippage of time. As ever, it’s light on sex, heavy on wine-dark angst.”

Kenneth Turan spoke to Nolan about the movie’s origins, saying, “I’ve been telling this story in all my films for years. It’s a family story, a love story, a revenge story, a war story, a coming-of-age story. It’s a very strong foundational text for me.”

Hal Williams, a veteran actor known for his roles as a friendly neighborhood police officer on “Sanford and Son” and a hard-working patriarch on “227,” has died. He was 91.

Williams died Wednesday morning at his home in Rancho Mirage, his representative Zna Portlock Houston told The Times in an email on Thursday.

“Hal Williams is legendary for his acting skills, his compassion and his community engagement,” Houston wrote, describing the actor as “an icon and a true professional.” “He never turned away a fan. He was always embraced so warmly, like he was truly their own family, because he was a cultural touchstone who represented an image of Black fatherhood that was loving and steadfast. Offscreen he was a sound advisor, lively debater and devoted friend.”

His death follows a recent trip to Ohio celebrating his work on the NBC sitcom “Sanford and Son,” on which he portrayed Officer “Smitty” Smith from 1972 to 1977.

In one of his final television interviews just days prior to his death, Williams spoke about one of the show’s recurring bits, which saw his character translate his partner Officer “Hoppy” Hopkins’ (Howard Platt) police talk into a vernacular that Fred (Redd Foxx) and Lamont Sanford (Demond Wilson) could understand.

“A lot of the stuff we created ourselves off camera and put it in the script,” Williams said when he appeared with Platt on a morning news show on Cleveland’s Fox 8. “A lot of the times, they didn’t have jokes in the script … because they didn’t know the jargon from the Black community.”

Born Halroy Candis Williams on Dec. 14, 1938, in Columbus, Ohio, Williams was working as a juvenile corrections officer when he decided to pursue his dreams of becoming an actor. He took the plunge and headed to Hollywood in 1968.

“I gave myself three years in California to see what I could do,” Williams told Fox 8. “And at the end of the three years I was on ‘Sanford and Son,’ ‘The Waltons’ and ‘Harry O.’ ”

Williams became a regular television presence, appearing on shows such as “Kung Fu,” “Good Times,” “Roots: The Next Generation,” “The Jeffersons,” “Magnum P.I.” and “The Sinbad Show” over the years.

Besides his breakout role of Officer Smitty in “Sanford and Son,” which he reprised in its follow-up, “Sanford,” Williams is perhaps best known for starring as Lester Jenkins, the husband of Marla Gibbs’ Mary Jenkins, in the NBC sitcom “227.” The show, which aired from 1985 to 1990, was notable for the portrayal of its middle-class Black family.

“ ‘227’ kind of set the bar a little higher because it was a totally intact family,” Williams told the “Today” show in 2020. “It was a mother, father, daughter and they were very positive. There were very few negatives. It addressed all kinds of social issues and it gave oncoming shows the opportunity to explore new avenues and new issues comfortably because the networks and production companies were open to that kind of a pitch idea.”

Gibbs took to social media Thursday to share a tribute to her “TV husband,” who she described as “a generous man who freely gave his time, his talent and his heart to the community.”

“Our journey together began long before 227 came to television,” Gibbs wrote on Instagram. “Hal was part of the original stage production at our Crossroads Theater. … Hal was always there to help. He even secured donated theater seats and helped organize the seating chart because he believed in supporting young artists.”

“When 227 became a television series, I fought to make sure my character had a husband. I’m so glad I did,” she added. “Hal, Regina King and I became a television family that showed the love, strength and stability of a Black family for five wonderful seasons. … Even after the show ended, Hal never stopped checking on me.”

Actor Jackée Harry, who portrayed the Jenkins’ young neighbor Sandra Clark in “227,” was also among those who shared tributes to Williams on social media.

“What a gentleman. Hal always carried himself with grace, and he always had me laughing,” Harry wrote Wednesday on Instagram. “He was also a stand-up guy who believed Black fathers on TV should be loving, present and compassionate. He helped show America what that looked like.”

“For as long as I can remember, Hal has been a steady, comforting presence on our television screens,” Holly Robinson Peete wrote in her Instagram tribute Thursday. “His warm smile, sharp comedic timing, kind spirit and gentle energy made him feel like family to so many of us. … Rest in peace, Hal. … You were one of the greats … a true television legend, but an even greater human being.”

Williams most recently appeared as Autry in a couple episodes of CBS’ “Matlock” reboot.

His survivors include his two children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Williams was predeceased by one son.

Scott Bryce, the actor best known for originating the role of Craig Montgomery on the soap opera “As the World Turns,” has died. He was 68.

Bryce died Sunday evening “surrounded by his loving wife Jodi Stevens-Bryce and loving son Jackson Bryce,” his agent Ken Melamed told The Times by email on Tuesday. “He was beloved by all!”

The actor revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 esophageal and stomach cancer in 2024.

“This evening my father lost his long-fought battle with cancer. What began as stage three esophageal cancer eventually spread and became brain tumors that took his life away from him,” Bryce’s son, Jackson, wrote in a tribute posted Sunday to Instagram. He said his father approached his treatments with “pride and courage, and an unshakable belief that somehow, everything would work out.”

“May his strength and relentless belief forever live within me,” he added. “He fought the hardest and most honorable fight I have ever witnessed.”

Born Jan. 6, 1958, in New York, Bryce followed in the footsteps of his actor parents. His father, Ed, portrayed Bill Bauer on the daytime drama “Guiding Light” for years, while his mother, Dorothy, was known for her role on the hospital soap “The Doctors.”

Bryce made his television debut as Craig Montgomery on CBS’ long-running soap “As the World Turns” in 1982. He received two Daytime Emmy nominations for his portrayal of the charming but ruthless businessman, whom he portrayed off and on from 1982 to 2008. The character was known for his ambition and mysterious business dealings but also had a reputation for being unlucky in love. One early romantic interest was Betsy Stewart, who was portrayed by Meg Ryan from 1982 to 1984.

Finn Carter, who played Montgomery’s wife, Sierra Esteban, on the show, shared a tribute to Bryce on Instagram Monday.

“My sadness knows no bounds. My gratitude for Scott knows even fewer,” Carter wrote. “Scott was the best husband a woman could ask for. As an actor he was fearless, kind, generous and forever looking for ways to grow. And what a sense of humor!”

Over the course of his decades-long career, Bryce appeared on shows such as “The Facts of Life,” “The Golden Girls,” “Murphy Brown,” “L.A. Law,” “The Good Fight,” “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

He also portrayed Mike McQueen, the father of a cheerleader (Leslie Bibb) on the millennial teen drama “Popular.” McQueen marries the mother of his daughter’s high school rival (Carly Pope) in the series, which ended on a cliffhanger in 2001 after its cancellation.

“When asked what he wanted people to remember about him, he said, ‘I was a one-take actor. Two takes, max,’” Jackson Bryce wrote in his tribute. “In working with Dick Wolf on NBC, directors would schedule him at the end of the day because they knew it wouldn’t take long.”

In addition to his onscreen work, Scott Bryce was a theater actor as well as a director and a producer, with credits including the 2010 television movie “Frederick Douglass, From Slavery to Freedom” and the satirical web series “Steamboat.”

“My dad also made sure I knew his greatest accomplishment that came at 50 years old, becoming a Dad,” son Jackson said in his tribute. “He is a part of everything I’ve done and everything I will do.”

July 14 (UPI) — Authorities were searching waters near Alcatraz on Tuesday evening for two missing people after a pontoon boat carrying 19 people capsized off San Francisco, leaving one person dead and 16 others rescued.

The three-level vessel with 19 people aboard was reported on fire about 600 yards off the coast of Alcatraz at 3:35 p.m. PDT, San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said in a press conference. Though reported as a boat fire, no evidence of one was found.

Responders were deployed, with the police department’s marine unit arriving on the scene to find one person “severely injured,” he said. CPR was administered to the victim, who was transported to Gashouse Cove Marina on the shore, where they were pronounced dead.

Officers arrived to find people had fallen into the water while others were inside the top compartment of the vessel, he said.

Of the 16 people rescued, three were transported to California Pacific Hospital, he said, adding that they had sustained impact injuries when they fell from the boat.

Crispen said he spoke with several of the survivors who remained on shore.

“They’re incredibly upset,” he said. “They’re aware that there’s some serious injuries here. They’re concerned about their mates and they went out on the bay with and, obviously, we’re going to take good care of them here.”

A search involving 11 vessels was underway for the two missing people, he said, adding, “We are going to be continuing for hours to make sure we find these two people if possible.”

He said authorities believe the boat launched from a local yacht club, but that was being investigated. It was also unclear whether those aboard were wearing life vests.

All those aboard the boat appeared to be adults, though a dog that had accompanied them died in the incident, he said.

Alcatraz is a former island prison and a current tourist attraction that sees about 1.2 million visits a year, according to the National Park Service.

Josh Grisetti, the Broadway actor who charmed audiences with roles in “Something Rotten!” and TV’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” has died, a family member confirmed to The Times on Monday. He was 44.

Grisetti died by suicide Friday, his “Something Rotten!” co-star Rob McClure first announced Sunday on Instagram, adding he is heartbroken and “not ready to even attempt to understand.” McClure also expressed his condolences to Grisetti’s wife and family. The Instagram post included photos of Grisetti and McClure over the years, including at Grisetti’s wedding. The actor married Mackenzie Perpich in 2020.

“Communities around the world will never be the same without him. We love you Josh,” McClure wrote in his caption. “Just a cataclysmic loss.”

On Broadway, Grisetti was best known for starring as Bottom brother Nigel alongside McClure’s Nick. The play follows the pair of brothers as they strive for success in the theatrical world amid William Shakespeare’s unstoppable rise. Grisetti portrayed Nigel Bottom from 2017 to 2018 for the show’s national tour. Grisetti also starred in musical comedies “It Shoulda Been You” and “Broadway Bound.” He appeared in award-winning off-Broadway productions including “Rent,” “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “Enter Laughing,” among others.

Grisetti’s regional credits also include “Spamalot” in Las Vegas, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” at the Reprise Theatre, “Beauty & the Beast” and “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” in La Mirada.

“Thank you, Josh, for sharing your beautiful energy and immense talent with us,” the La Mirada Theatre said on Instagram.

The actor, in what would be his final Instagram post, announced he departed a production of “Legally Blonde” at the Trentino Music Festival for “personal reasons” before the show’s opening.

The festival also mourned Grisetti in an Instagram post Monday: “Josh was a loving and caring person who was deeply dedicated to his friends, his students, and his colleagues. He was beloved by all who knew him, and he will be deeply missed by our students, faculty, and staff.”

Grisetti, born in December 1981 in Roanoke, Va., acted throughout childhood and performed in a variety of productions, including a kindergarten production of “Peter Rabbit” and high school productions of “Anything Goes” and “Flowers for Algernon.” He officially earned his Actors’ Equity card in 2004 for a production of “Where’s Charley?” at the Goodspeed Opera House, he told Playbill in 2009.

He also pursued a career in TV and film, most notably appearing in the Emmy-winning series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” He appeared as comedy writer Ralph Emerson in the series’ fifth season. He also had roles in shows “The Knights of Prosperity,” “Nurse Jackie” and “The Good Fight.”

He appeared in the film adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake,” “The Immigrant,” “The Revolutionary Road” and “Men in Black 3,” among other movies, according to IMDb.

Grisetti, who also directed various musical productions, notably brought his talent and experience to Cal State Fullerton and Loyola Marymount University, teaching acting, musical theater and business. He also authored “God in My Head” in 2016, an “irreverent spiritual memoir” that details his accidental meeting with God through a “hallucinogenic journey.”

During his time on “Price of Broadway” in 2015, Grisetti reflected on luck and breaking into the industry. “Luck is required to kind of spark some things in this business a lot of the time, but then talent is what keeps you there,” he told Playbill.

“You start making your own luck, you start forging your own connections and making it happen.”

Theo Burrell, an “Antiques Roadshow” star and cancer research advocate, has died. She was 39.

A family member announced Burrell’s death on Instagram on Saturday, writing, “It is with great sadness that I share the news that Theo passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Wednesday afternoon. Neither she nor her medical team foresaw this happening quite so quickly.

“She was an incredible person who fought hard for her family, friends and raising awareness of this cruel disease,” the post continued. “She saw life events like her son’s first day at school and her wedding that a little over 4 years ago we thought she’d never see.”

Burrell, born Theodora Helen Burrell on Sept. 1, 1986, was a ceramics and decorative arts specialist on the BBC’s “Antiques Roadshow,” a reality series that features antiques experts appraising family heirlooms, garage sale gems and more. Off screen, she worked as a specialist and auctioneer at Lyon & Turnbull, the oldest auction house in Scotland.

“One of the things I love about antiques is that they have survived so many years, witnessing life changing events such as coronations & world wars,” Burrell wrote in the caption of an 1840s-era white marble bust.

In June 2022, Burrell was diagnosed with an incurable, aggressive Grade 4 brain tumor, and was told she had a year to a year and a half to live. She subsequently underwent brain surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy in an effort to keep the cancer at bay. In June 2023, she organized a star-studded auction to raise money for the British cancer research nonprofit the Brain Tumour Charity and raised the equivalent of about $93,500. She also became a patron of the charity Brain Tumour Research.

“We are heartbroken that we have lost the phenomenal, determined and truly inspiring Theo to this devastating disease,” Dan Knowles, chief executive of Brain Tumour Research, said on Instagram. “She constantly inspired us with how big her heart was and we will continue on our mission, driven by everything she taught us. Our thoughts are with her family, her friends and with all those who had the privilege of knowing her.”

During a January 2024 BBC “Morning Live” appearance, Burrell said that six months before she was diagnosed, she started to get unusual symptoms including headaches, nausea, feelings of pressure in her head and issues with her vision. After multiple trips to various physicians and a CT scan, doctors found an about 2-inch-diameter brain tumor in the right side of her brain.

She spoke candidly about her battle in the media and across social platforms, telling BBC, “I really felt that with a small public profile which I had from the ‘Roadshow’ that if I could do something good with that, then I should. And I have watched other people, such as Tom Parker, who sadly lost his life to a glioblastoma, really work so incredibly hard when he was so ill to try and make a difference for people like me.”

Burrell’s family said in the statement announcing the antiques enthusiast’s death that the cancer community provided “so much comfort and strength to her in her darkest moments.”

“But most of all it provided hope and I think what she would want most of all is for other people to find hope in her story. Hope that the statistics aren’t gospel and that one day they’ll be very different.”

North Antrim MP Jim Allister said the deaths had caused great shock in the community.

“Though details remain scant, clearly there are family and friends who have suffered huge loss,” the Traditional Unionist Voice leader said.

Sinn Féin assembly member Philip McGuigan said speculation about what had happened was not helpful.

He said anybody who could help police should come forward.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows said the entire town was devastated and police should be given “patience and time” to complete their investigation.

“The more information the police can get out the better, because there is a community in shock,” he said.

Alliance Party assembly member Sian Mulholland also urged anyone with information to contact the police and said her thoughts were with everyone affected.

At least 27 people were killed and 63 injured, many critically, after a fire ripped through a popular pub in Bangkok. Authorities are investigating whether the pub, located near the iconic Chatuchak Weekend Market, had adequate escape routes.

July 11 (UPI) — One person was found dead and hundreds evacuated in Missouri after an intense day of flash flooding across the state, authorities said Saturday.

More than 350 people were rescued in Iron, Reynolds and Crawford counties on Friday as floodwaters rapidly took over the area.

Officials said 250 of those were staff and children at Camp Taum Sauk, all of whom were safely evacuated. Another 100 were water rescues.

“It was very harrowing,” Jennifer Box, mother of of two you boys at the camp, told The New York Times. “We knew they were safe, but we didn’t know how to get to them, and that’s kind of your worst nightmare.”

One Crawford County woman, Faith Gregory, was found dead a mile downstream from her home in Huzzah Creek, officials said.

Authorities said Gregory was swept away after part of her home collapsed in the floodwaters.

“It’s definitely not the outcome we were hoping for, but it’s a tragic reminder of how strong Mother Nature can be and how forceful it can be,” Missouri State Highway Patrol Sergeant Eddie Young told FOX Weather.

The region was battered by more than 12 inches of rain, leaving many area residents remained strained throughout Saturday.

“But they’re OK,” spokeswoman Kate Moore, of Missouri Region C, told ABC News. “They’re just stranded because the roads are washed away. We have a lot of damage — the trees, buildings, a lot of things have gone and ripped the roads away.”

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

One of the big discoveries for me at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was the erotic thriller “Night Nurse,” which opens in theaters this week. A remarkably confident feature debut from writer-director Georgia Bernstein, the film is hypnotic and entrancing, with a powerfully sustained sense of mood and menace. Brought to life by two assured lead performances, the story is about a young woman (Cemre Paksoy) who takes a job as an attendant at a senior living community and is assigned to help a man (Bruce McKenzie) who quickly ensnares her into an ongoing phone scam in which he swindles other residents.

Taking cues from the likes of Catherine Breillat and David Cronenberg, there are moments where you start to feel turned on and then feel weird about feeling turned on. It’s delightful stuff, full of the unexpected and unnerving, with shifting power dynamics that destabilize everything. See it with someone you maybe aren’t so sure about.

‘Hudson Hawk’ will have its day

Andie MacDowell and Bruce Willis in the 1991 movie “Hudson Hawk.”

(Columbia TriStar / Getty Images)

Its name has become synonymous with box office bomb, with tales of an out-of-control production leading to terrible reviews and rejection by audiences. Yet 1991’s “Hudson Hawk” is one of those movies that over the years has seen its reputation slowly turn around and is now en route to becoming a cult classic in the vein of “Ishtar” or “Showgirls.”

On Monday at Brain Dead Studios there will be a 35th anniversary screening of the film in 35mm with director Michael Lehmann and co-writer Daniel Waters in-person. Presented by Hollywood Entertainment, the evening could be ground zero for the next stage of the misbegotten movie’s revival.

The movie is a playful buddy-comedy / caper-heist hybrid, starring Bruce Willis as the title character, a master thief newly released from prison who reteams with his old partner (Danny Aiello) as they are drawn into a convoluted conspiracy involving the CIA, a villainous ultra-rich couple (played with maniacal, scene-stealing glee by Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard) and ancient designs by Leonardo da Vinci. Upending action movie conventions, “Hudson Hawk” is simply a fun hang.

On a recent video call together, there is a certain gallows humor shared by Lehmann and Waters over the film, which at the time threatened to derail both of their careers. Waters was already working on the script for Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns” by the time the movie came out, while Lehmann admits he spent some time in director jail — “I was in director federal penitentiary and death row for a while,” he says — before going on to direct films such as “Airheads” and “The Truth About Cats and Dogs.”

“You can’t escape a big failure in Hollywood,” he adds. “You have to be good-natured about the fact that you’ve made something that so many people hated when it came out, but that you feel still has some value — quite a bit of value, I think. And that eventually people would start noticing that.”

The project began as an idea between Willis and his friend Robert Kraft that snowballed into having action super-producer Joel Silver attached and a screenplay draft by “Die Hard” writer Steven E. De Souza. Eventually Lehmann became involved to direct and he helped bring on Waters, the two having worked together on the hit black comedy “Heathers.” (Waters had also worked with Silver on “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.”) The reunited writer-director team set about subverting what began as a more conventional action movie.

“My intention was to turn that kind of movie on its head,” says Lehmann. “I thought people have seen these things so many times, they must be ready to see the truly odd version of it.”

“In the Olympics you can’t just go up and make any dive,” says Waters. “You tell the judges what dive you’re going to do and then they grade you. And ‘Hudson Hawk,’ we never told the judges what dive we were doing. I think people got angry: Wait a minute, you didn’t give us a Bruce Willis action movie.”

Leading up to the film’s release, there were reports of a shoot hijacked by a star whose ego was getting the better of him as he rode the wave of the success of the first two “Die Hard” movies. Lehmann admits the clash of personalities made for a complicated shoot.

“Of course, when you’re hired by Bruce Willis and Joel Silver to do what is essentially a vanity project of Bruce’s, you’re not going to have the kind of control that you have when you make a piece of personal filmmaking,” says Lehmann. “But it was really difficult to deal with somebody who, in theory, was one of my bosses as producer on the film and a big star, which is always a thousand-pound gorilla.”

Author David Hughes recently published “The Unmaking of Hudson Hawk,” a book on the film’s production, reception and afterlife. Calling from England, Hughes thinks the critical reappraisal and resuscitation of the movie has gained a bit of momentum — and is in danger of slipping.

“I feel like any day there’s going to be a headline that says, ‘Nope, despite what you’ve heard, “Hudson Hawk” is still s—.’ The pendulum is about to swing back the other way and people are going to start saying that it’s bad again. And when that happens, I think that will be the most perfect life cycle of the film.”

But for now two of the key people behind making the film in the first place want to enjoy a moment they have rarely been allowed.

“People are finally laughing with the movie, not at the movie,” says Waters.

Celebrating a fallen friend

Harry Dean Stanton, photographed in Los Angeles in 2013.

(Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP)

To celebrate the centennial of the birth of the beloved character actor Harry Dean Stanton, Vidiots will screen the 2013 documentary “Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction” on Tuesday. Director Sophie Huber will be joined in conversation by actor Logan Sparks for an evening hosted by Cherry Jones.

The film is a tender portrait of Stanton, who found relative fame later in life with roles in films such as “Alien,” “Paris, Texas,” “Repo Man” and “Pretty in Pink.”

“He makes it look really easy,” said Stanton’s friend and frequent collaborator David Lynch around the time of Stanton’s death in 2017. “But it’s not that easy to be looking like it’s easy.”

A flaky love story

Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel in the 1971 movie “Minnie and Moskowitz.”

(Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

One of my most memorable moviegoing experiences of the last few years was seeing John Cassavetes’ 1971 “Minnie and Moskowitz” for the first time. The movie has a joyful, unpredictable energy thanks to the openhearted, dynamic performances of its two leads, Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel, as two mismatched strangers who find temporary solace in each other. Romantic, funny and with lots of great L.A. locations and moments — I often think of a perilous U-turn across La Brea by Cassel — this is a singular gem.

It was just announced that a new restoration of the film will premiere later this year at the Venice Film Festival, but there is no reason to wait. The movie is showing tonight at the Philosophical Research Society as part of its “YesterdayLA” series celebrating the city. On Saturday there will also be a rare theatrical screening of 1972’s “Columbo: Étude In Black,” starring Cassavetes as an L.A. symphony conductor who may have committed the perfect crime until he catches the attention of Peter Falk’s rumpled detective.

On the road again

Maribel Verdú, left, Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal in the movie “Y Tu Mamá También.”

(Criterion Collection)

Playing as part of the American Cinematheque’s “Summer Breakdown” series, which, true to its name, features movies about car trouble, Alfonso Cuarón’s 2001 “Y Tu Mamá También” is showing tonight and tomorrow at the Los Feliz Theater in 35mm.

It stars Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna as two teenage best friends who set off on a road trip with an alluring older woman (Maribel Verdú) they don’t know particularly well. Emotions fly fast and furious among all three of them, as the film seems at times like a horndog teen comedy and at others like a subtle exploration of class and sexual dynamics. Of course, it is all of those things, made with a fresh sense of style.

As Kenneth Turan put it in his 2002 review, “Nominally a simple road movie about two Mexican teenagers taking off to look for a mythical beach in the company of a suddenly available woman of 28, ‘Y Tu Mamá’ manages to be comic, dramatic, erotic, sociological and even political, all without breaking a sweat.”

New this week

• Amy Nicholson calls the new movie “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” a “screwball joy … a sex comedy that’s as innocent as a Labrador puppy.”
• Less positively, Amy reviewed the live-action adaptation of “Moana,” noting “Every one of Disney’s remakes and spinoffs of its animated hits has been a naked cash grab.”
• The new “Evil Dead Burn” is brutal and not much else, per our reviewer Joshua Rothkopf: “The gore comes like a tide, shockingly for a mainstream studio wide release.”

A Palestinian family in the northern Gaza town of Jabalia has been reunited with their son after believing for a year that he had been killed by Israeli army fire, only to discover he had been held in an Israeli prison throughout that time.

Inside the family’s home, which was damaged by Israeli bombardment, relatives broke down in tears of joy as 23-year-old Hamada Al-Banna returned unexpectedly after they had lost hope of ever seeing him again.

His family had believed that Hamada and his brother, Adham, were shot dead by Israeli forces while on their way to collect food aid during the peak of the famine that hit the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2025.

On Monday, Israeli authorities released Hamada along with 16 other Palestinian detainees. The International Committee of the Red Cross transferred them to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza before he returned to his family in the north of the territory.

His mother, Widad, fainted after hearing her son’s voice for the first time in a phone call following his release. Hours later, she collapsed again as she embraced him when he arrived home.

An Anadolu correspondent witnessed the family’s emotional reunion, in a story reflecting the suffering of hundreds of Palestinian families who remain unaware of the fate of their relatives since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza on 8 October 2023.

Heard about that fresh new wave of horror dominating the box office and charming even the snootiest of critics?

“Evil Dead Burn” — less an inferno than a partly scorched reheating — isn’t that. Director Sam Raimi’s original 1981 “The Evil Dead,” filmed in the Tennessee woods by a bunch of hyperactive dreamers, has since morphed into a monolithic franchise that mainly serves to keep the lights on. Some foundational elements remain: wobbly camera sprints through the forest, demons with a smiling love of bodily destruction. But the house feels dormant.

Sébastien Vaniček, a French filmmaker of vigor if not vibrancy, is the fourth director to pick up the series, now on its sixth installment. It’s hard to know from his palette what thrills him, or if he sees colors at all, given the film’s muddy, deadening grayscape. (A softly falling snow, almost mocking of the action to come, is a nice touch.) Vaniček knows where his movie needs to end up — a sloppy showdown in a home with a lot of power tools lying around — but sometimes he lingers, adding transient curiosity to a serviceable story.

A tense family coalesces around the memorial of its eldest son, cut down in the prime of what seems like an argument-leaden life. Mainly, we focus on Alice (Souheila Yacoub), his bruised foreign-born widow, a black sheep among them who doesn’t have any words to offer at the service. Already, they all hate each other, but what they don’t know is that younger failson Joseph (Hunter Doohan), a wannabe writer, has been busy going through his grandfather’s notes concerning the Book of the Dead, unwittingly summoning vicious spirits to a fractious dynamic.

These people shouldn’t be around each other, but whereas a mightier movie like “Hereditary” would simmer that grief into a boiling pot of bad behavior, “Evil Dead Burn” has something more obvious and darkly funny in mind. The spirits (we call them Deadites in this universe) slip into a human host, we see a telltale contraction of the irises, and it’s off to the races.

The gore comes like a tide, shockingly for a mainstream studio wide release. Vaniček is clearly inspired by the extremity that has marked so much horror from France over the last two decades, in notorious exports such as “High Tension” and “Martyrs.” But it’s also show-offy and ill-considered: When a family dog receives a furious fork-stabbing, it’s hard to know who the film is for. Elsewhere, heads are exploded by guns, cleaved and gashed, though not so irretrievably that a possessed couple can’t enjoy a long lip-lock (“You haven’t kissed me like that in years,” a partner says, her mouth bloodied).

As it goes on, “Evil Dead Burn” itself feels possessed by a kind of narrative impatience: Can’t we just get to the good stuff? Raimi was capable of shapelier storytelling than this. These reboots in his name — on which, it should be said, he is a producer — somewhat demean his legacy by reducing “Evil Dead” to a viscera delivery device. I can’t say the audience I saw it with was particularly juiced.

But a loopy grandma (Maude Davey), stricken with dementia, gets her licks in via a brutally deployed fountain pen that is notably not used for writing. There’s a hint in that. This movie is not for those who want anything beyond a steak served blue.

BRIT musician Calvin Hayes who co-founded 80s hit band Johnny Hates Jazz was tragically found dead at his home, aged 63 yesterday.

The talented keyboardist, drummer and heartthrob collapsed at his US property.

The hit group achieved major international success with 1988 album Turn Back the Clock, which topped the UK charts.

They enjoyed a popular reunion in 2010.

The star’s dad was Mickie Most, a prominent British record producer who worked with major artists in the 60s and 70s including cult group Hot Chocolate.

Hayes also found fame working alongside pin-up Kim Wilde, who he dated.

TRISHA HEARTBREAK

Trisha Goddard reveals breast cancer has returned and ‘it won’t go away’

J-LO CUT

Jennifer Lopez rocks sheer dress as she attends PFW with rarely-seen sister

He appeared as part of her promotional band and featured on the sleeve artwork of her self-titled debut album, released in 1981.

Kim recalled in a 1988 interview that she had known Hayes since recording Kids in America, noting they first got involved at a family party.

Pin-up Kim said: “We have fallen for each other totally. I can tell everybody that it’s the most wonderful feeling in the world.

“He is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

“I have never really liked talking about my love life but there have been so many rumours about me recently that I decided it was best to get it all out in the open.

“We always got on well, ever since he played drums in my first band seven years ago.

“And that’s why our love affair is stronger than most couples.

“We know that we have got a lot in common. I think that’s why we both know it will last.”

Hayes co-founded Johnny Hates Jazz in 1986 with singer Clark Datchler and bassist Mike Nocito.

The band self-produced their work and gained international recognition with their 1987 single Shattered Dreams, which reached the Top 10 in multiple countries including the US.

Turn Back the Clock achieved multi-platinum status and produced four consecutive UK Top 20 singles: I Don’t Want to Be a Hero, Turn Back the Clock and Heart of Gold alongside Shattered Dreams.

At the peak of their success after the first album, Datchler left the band.

Hayes and Nocito continued, recruiting Phil Thornalley as vocalist for the second album Tall Stories, though its release was delayed by a near-fatal car crash that kept Hayes in a body cast for nearly a year.

Johnny Hates Jazz appeared on Top of the Pops eight times between May 1987 and March 1988.

Hayes maintained a low profile in music for much of the 1990s and early 2000s.

They regrouped for a nostalgia arena tour.

The band performed multiple live shows across Europe and Southeast Asia during their comeback.

Hayes departed the group shortly after these performances for personal reasons.

Hayes and Wilde remained good friends since their initial collaboration in the early 1980s.

He tragically died in Spokane, Washington.

His death was confirmed by his grieving wife Kathy.

A pal said: “He was the sound of the 80s and a super talented man. He will be greatly missed.”

Louise Lasser, the star of “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” Norman Lear’s satirical soap opera, has died. She was 87.

Lasser’s friend Susan Charlotte confirmed to the New York Times the actor’s death on Monday in Manhattan.

Lasser was born in New York City on April 11, 1939, to parents Sol Jay Lasser, a tax specialist, and Paula Lasser, a designer. She attended Brandeis University, where she majored in political science and performed in musicals and cabaret. She dropped out her senior year to pursue acting.

“My career started almost too easy,” she told the Times in 1975. “In New York the first agent I met sent me on my first audition, and I was signed for a show-stopping part [a replacement for Barbra Streisand in ‘I Can Get It for You Wholesale’]. After that there was a flood of offers.”

She told the Times that she found it frightening to hit it big with such little training.

“I had to feel prepared,” she said. So, she studied under actor and acting teacher Sanford Meisner and worked hard.

“I feel so strongly that what is worth doing is worth doing the very best you can. But it’s so important to know what you want to do. How you can develop your potentials to the highest, live your life to the richest and fullest.”

Lasser joked in a 1976 article in the Times that her role as Mary Hartman might merit identification beyond being Woody Allen’s ex-wife. The two met in 1962 on a double date — with other people — but their chemistry was potent, and they began working together on various projects, including in her first project for television, “The Laughmakers,” an unaired pilot penned by Allen.

“When we met, I was seeing a friend of his. It was one of those things, well if you think you’re complicated, you should meet so-and-so. And it was Woody,” Lasser told the Toast in a 2013 interview. They “were meant to be in the same playpen,” she said. “Immediately we just connected. He was with somebody … oh, he was married, that’s right. … So, I met him, and it was so clear the whole night the four of us were there, and neither of us are talking to anyone else, do you know what I mean? … We really understood what the other was saying.”

The two were married from 1966 to 1970. Lasser acted in Allen’s “Take the Money and Run” (1969), “Bananas” (1971) and the 1972 film “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask).”

Through the early ’70s, she appeared in various TV movies and television shows including “The Bob Newhart Show” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Somewhere along the way, the biggest producer in television caught wind of Lasser’s chops and wanted her for his pet project, a parody of sudsy daytime dramas called “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”

During an interview featured in an oral history of American TV by the Television Academy Foundation, Lear said he’d brought the script for the series to a colleague, and they read it and said, “You can’t do this without Louise Lasser.”

“She came in my office, started to read the lines, and forget it,” Lear said. “There’s only one Louise Lasser.”

Lasser, put off by the soap opera nature of the show, turned down the role five times.

“I kept saying, no, it’s just not right,” she said during a 2000 reunion for the show. “I had no job, no money. … I just was that way, so after the fifth meeting, I said to my manager, ‘You mean he’s not going to call again?’

“Then my friend said, ‘You know, I think you really don’t want to say no.’ So I thought to myself my rationalization was, well, maybe it’d be really good for me to work for 52 weeks out of a year.”

Lasser starred as Hartman in 315 of the show’s 325 episodes over the course of an 18-month run.

SINGER Lauren Bennett, who featured on the global smash hit Party Rock Anthem, has died aged 37.

The beloved Brit, formerly a member of American girl group G.R.L, was remembered as a “beautiful spirit” who “touched so many lives” by her old bandmates.

In a joint statement, they wrote: “It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Lauren.

“Our hearts are broken, and we cannot begin to express how much she meant to us.

“We will forever cherish the love, laughter, and countless memories she gave us.

“Her beautiful spirit touched so many lives, and she will be deeply missed and forever loved.”

“Rest peacefully, sweet Lauren. You will always be in our hearts. Your GRLS, Em, Tash, and P.”

Lauren shot to stardom as a member of The Paradiso Girls in 2007.

The group, a European spin-off of the Pussycat Dolls, disbanded in 2010 after their singles flopped in the charts.

But Lauren would go on to force a successful solo career, featuring on a remix of will.i.am’s I Got It from My Mama and later collaborating with CeeLo Green on Love Gun.

The highlight of her career came in 2011, when she featured on LMFAO’s worldwide No1 hit Party Rock Anthem, cementing herself as the next up-and-coming star.

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thesun and follow us on TikTok @TheSun.

July 4 (UPI) — Three children were killed Friday when a severe storm capsized a boat in Wisconsin, police said.

The privately owned, recreational motorboat had six adults and four children aboard on Geneva Lake, and all children were wearing life jackets.

When a storm hit, the boaters tried to find their way to safety but were overwhelmed by high winds and waves. The boat capsized and later sank.

Rescuers were able to quickly help the adults and one child out of the water, but three were still missing. After an intensive search, they found all three. Rescuers took lifesaving measures on the scene and on the way to a hospital, but all three children were pronounced dead.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of those, not only of those people, but the people who were injured as a result of the storm. We know that there were many injuries, people transported to local hospitals and diversion from the hospitals because of the number of injuries,” Walworth County, Wisc., Undersheriff Tom Hausner said.

The storm hit at about 12:10 p.m., and 911 calls began coming in around the same time, Hausner said.

A source told CBS News Chicago that the three victims are believed to be younger than 13.

The deaths are under investigation by the Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

A squall line of storms moved into northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin Friday morning and early afternoon, with wind gusts of up to 60 mph, The New York Times reported. Nearly 514,000 homes and businesses in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin were without power Friday night.