dies

British playwright Tom Stoppard, a playful, probing dramatist who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998’s Shakespeare In Love, has died. He was 88.

In a statement on Saturday, United Agents said Stoppard died “peacefully” at his home in Dorset in southern England, surrounded by his family.

“He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language,” they said. “It was an honor to work with Tom and to know him.”

When it comes to the world of comic invention and linguistic pyrotechnics, few dramatists of the 20th century could match Stoppard’s scope and sustained success.

From his earliest hit, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, in 1966, through to 1993’s, Arcadia, and, Leopoldstadt, in 2020, Stoppard engaged and amused theatre-goers with a highly individual brand of intellect.

His writing was often philosophical or scientific, but consistently funny, a distinctive style that gave rise to the term Stoppardian. It refers to the use of verbal gymnastics while addressing philosophical concepts.

“I want to demonstrate that I can make serious points by flinging a custard pie around the stage for a couple of hours,” the Czech-born Stoppard said in a 1970s interview.

“Theatre is first and foremost a recreation. But it is not just a children’s playground; it can be recreation for people who like to stretch their minds.”

Early years

Stoppard was born Tomas Straussler on July 3, 1937, in what was then Czechoslovakia, the son of Eugen Straussler, a doctor, and Marta (or Martha), nee Beckova, who had trained as a nurse.

The Jewish family fled the Nazis and moved to Singapore when he was an infant.

But Singapore also became unsafe, and, with his mother and elder brother Peter, he escaped to India. His father stayed behind and died while fleeing after Singapore fell to the Japanese.

In India, Marta Straussler married a British army major, Kenneth Stoppard, and the family moved to England.

Boarding school followed at Pocklington in Yorkshire, northern England, before Stoppard left school at age 17.

He decided not to go to university. Instead, he went straight to work as a reporter on a local newspaper in Bristol, in western England.

While he found reporting daunting, he threw himself into working as a theatre and cinema critic, and his love of drama took hold.

Award-winning career

His breakthrough came with the overnight success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe of, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a tragicomedy centred around two minor characters from Shakespeare’s, Hamlet.

It moved to London’s West End, before winning a Tony Award for best play in the United States.

“What’s it about?” was a frequent response from bemused theatre-goers about the play. Tired of being asked, Stoppard is said to have replied to a woman outside a theatre on Broadway: “It’s about to make me very rich.”

He later questioned whether he had said “very”, Hermione Lee wrote in Stoppard’s authorised biography, but he had undoubtedly managed to transform his previously precarious finances.

Indeed, Stoppard would go on to win numerous awards on both sides of the Atlantic for his work.

He was knighted in 1997, and in 2014, he was crowned “the greatest living playwright” by the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

To non-theatre-goers, he is best remembered for his work in cinema, which included the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises.

In 1999, he won an Oscar for his screenplay for, Shakespeare in Love, which scooped a total of seven Academy Awards that year.

“He has no apparent animus towards anyone or anything,” said film and theatre director Mike Nichols, who directed the Broadway premiere of Stoppard’s tale of marriage and affairs, The Real Thing.

“He’s very funny at no one’s expense. That’s not supposed to be possible.”

Sir Tom Stoppard, one of the UK’s best-known playwrights, has died aged 88, his agents have announced.

Sir Tom, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for the screenplay for Shakespeare In Love, “died peacefully at home in Dorset, surrounded by his family”.

His other stage work included The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

“He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language,” United Agents added.

“It was an honour to work with Tom and to know him.”

The playwright captivated the hearts of audiences for more than six decades with work that explored philosophical and political themes.

He also wrote for film, TV and radio. He adapted Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina for the 2012 film starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law.

In 2020, he released his semi-autobiographical new work titled Leopoldstadt – set in the Jewish quarter of early 20th Century Vienna – which later won him an Olivier award for best new play and scooped four Tony awards.

Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia, he fled his home during the Nazi occupation and found refuge in Britain.

He received many honours and accolades throughout his career, including being knighted by the late Queen for his services to literature in 1997.

Sir Tom’s career as a playwright did not take off until the 1960s when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was later performed at the National Theatre and Broadway.

The play focuses on two minor characters from Hamlet. It won several awards including four Tonys in 1968, including best play.

Imran Sherwani, who led Great Britain to hockey gold at the 1988 Olympics, has died at the age of 63.

He scored twice in the final as GB beat West Germany 3-1 in Seoul – his second goal prompting a famous reaction from BBC commentator Barry Davies, who said: “Where were the Germans? But frankly, who cares!”

Sherwani was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019.

Rich Beer, chief operating officer of Great Britain Hockey, said: “Imran Sherwani will forever be remembered as one of the true icons of England and Great Britain Hockey.

“His talent, leadership and humility inspired generations of players and fans alike.”

Sherwani represented GB and England a combined 94 times, and worked as director of hockey at a school in Staffordshire.

He came from a sporting family – his father played hockey for Pakistan and his great uncles played for Stoke City and Port Vale.

CARTHAGE, Tenn. — Vice President Al Gore’s father, Albert Gore Sr., who served in Congress for three decades and was a leading opponent of the Vietnam War and a key force behind the interstate highway system, died Saturday. He was 90.

Gore died of natural causes at his home, a statement from the vice president’s office said. The vice president and his wife, Tipper, were at his bedside.

A leader among Democrats, Gore served in the Senate from 1953 to 1970. Gore was a key opponent of the Vietnam War as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His son, however, enlisted in the Army after his graduation from Harvard and spent two years in Vietnam as an Army journalist.

An unabashed liberal who made few concessions to the will of Tennessee voters, Gore voted against two of President Nixon’s Southern Supreme Court nominees: Clement F. Haynsworth Jr. and G. Harrold Carswell. His votes earned him then-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew’s famous epithet, “Southern regional chairman of the Eastern Liberal Establishment.”

His opposition to the war and his liberal positions were blamed for his defeat in 1970 by Republican Bill Brock, scion of a wealthy candy-making family. Gore retired from public life after his defeat.

Six years later, his son was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, then to the Senate in 1984. After a failed presidential try in 1988, the younger Gore was elected vice president as Bill Clinton’s running mate in 1992.

President Clinton paid tribute Saturday night to the senior Gore, calling him a valuable public servant “who helped connect the South with the rest of America.”

Gore himself had briefly been a vice presidential candidate to Adlai E. Stevenson III during the 1956 Democratic national convention. He withdrew in favor of fellow Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver, who won the nomination. The Democratic ticket lost to the Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower.

When Gore was first elected to the Senate, in 1952, he had already served 14 years in the U.S. House, taking time out for Army service during World War II.

In the 1950s, the elder Gore introduced legislation to create the interstate highway system, promoting it as a national defense network modeled on the German autobahn that he had seen during World War II service. The bill was passed in 1956.

“The multiplication of automobiles and trucks made our narrow, free-access highways completely out of date,” Gore said. The interstate system now totals 44,000 miles.

After his defeat in the Senate, the onetime schoolteacher-farmer was named to the board of Island Creek Coal Co., a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp., by Armand Hammer. Gore’s farm at Carthage also contains extensive copper, zinc and germanium ore.

The former senator’s life was not always comfortable. Born Dec. 26, 1907, in the mountain community of Granville, Gore moved with his family to the Carthage area when he was 2.

He received his early education in the one-room Possum Hollow school and later became a teacher in one-room schools himself. That gave him the money to put himself through Middle Tennessee State College, from where he graduated in 1932.

His first elective office was Smith County school superintendent. While serving in that job, he studied law at Nashville’s YMCA Law School and operated a tobacco-grading barn.

Gore and his wife, Pauline LaFon Gore, were married in 1937. Besides their son, the vice president, they also had a daughter, Nancy, who died of lung cancer at age 45 in 1984.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Fuzzy Zoeller, a two-time major champion and one of golf’s most gregarious characters whose career was tainted by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods, has died, according to a longtime colleague. He was 74.

A cause of death was not immediately available. Brian Naugle, the tournament director of the Insperity Invitational in Houston, said Zoeller’s daughter called him Thursday with the news.

Zoeller was the last player to win the Masters on his first attempt, a three-man playoff in 1979. He famously waved a white towel at Winged Foot in 1984 when he thought Greg Norman had beat him, only to defeat Norman in an 18-hole playoff the next day.

But it was the 1997 Masters that changed his popularity.

Woods was on his way to a watershed moment in golf with the most dominant victory in Augusta National history. Zoeller had finished his round and had a drink in hand under the oak tree by the clubhouse when he was stopped by CNN and asked for his thoughts on the 21-year-old Woods on his way to the most dominant win ever at Augusta National.

“That little boy is driving well and he’s putting well. He’s doing everything it takes to win. So, you know what you guys do when he gets in here? You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year. Got it?” Zoeller said.

He smiled and snapped his fingers, and as he was walking away he turned and said, “Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.”

That moment haunted him the rest of his career.

Zoeller apologized. Woods was traveling and it took two weeks for him to comment as the controversy festered. Zoeller later said he received death threats for years.

Writing for Golf Digest in 2008, he said it was “the worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life.”

“If people wanted me to feel the same hurt I projected on others, I’m here to tell you they got their way,” Zoeller wrote. “I’ve cried many times. I’ve apologized countless times for words said in jest that just aren’t a reflection of who I am. I have hundreds of friends, including people of color, who will attest to that.

“Still, I’ve come to terms with the fact that this incident will never, ever go away.”

It marred a career filled with two famous major titles, eight other PGA Tour titles and a Senior PGA Championship among his two PGA Tour Champions titles.

More than winning was how he went about it. Zoeller played fast and still had an easygoing way , often whistling between shots.

He made his Masters debut in 1979 and got into a three-way playoff when Ed Sneed bogeyed the last three holes. Zoeller defeated Sneed and Tom Watson with a birdie on the second playoff hole, flinging his putter high in the air.

“I’ve never been to heaven, and thinking back on my life, I probably won’t get a chance to go,” Zoeller once said. “I guess winning the Masters is as close as I’m going to get.”

Zoeller was locked in a duel with Norman at Winged Foot in the 1984, playing in the group behind and watching Norman make putt after putt. So when he saw Norman make a 40-footer on the 18th, he assumed it was for birdie and began waving a white towel in a moment of sportsmanship.

Only later did he realize it was for par, and Zoeller made par to force a playoff. Zoeller beat him by eight shots in the 18-hole playoff (67-75). Zoeller’s lone regret was giving the towel to a kid after he finished in regulation.

“If you happen to see a grungy white towel hanging around, get it for me, will you?” he once said.

He was born Frank Urban Zoeller Jr. in New Albany, Ind. Zoeller said his father was known only as “Fuzzy” and he was given the same name. He played at a junior college in Florida before joining the powerful Houston team before turning pro.

His wife, Diane, died in 2021. Zoeller has three children, including daughter Gretchen, with whom he used to play in the PNC Championship. Zoeller was awarded the Bob Jones Award by the USGA in 1985, the organization’s highest honor given for distinguished sportsmanship.

Ferguson writes for the Associated Press.

BELOVED actor and singer Michael DeLano has died aged 84 after suffering a heart attack.

The popular star who featured in Oceans Eleven tragically passed away in a Las Vegas hospital, his wife said.

DeLano was also known for his roles in Rhoda and Firehouse – starring as singer Johnny Venture in the former.

His wife of 28 years Jean told The Hollywood Reporter that he died on October 20.

Having lived in Vegas since 1992, the charismatic actor was also known for playing a casino manager in the iconic Ocean’s Eleven in 2001.

In ABC’s Firehouse, he played firefighter Sonny Caputo, before the show was axed after just 13 episodes in 1974.

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Playing Venture, he makes a desperate attempt at going out with Rhoda.

He appeared in 11 episodes during seasons three and four in 1976-78.

The star also played Lou Atkins regularly in Supertrain – which aired for nine episodes in 1979.

DeLano was born in Virginia on November 26 1940.

His dad was a pilot in the service, but tragically passed away before DeLano was born.

DeLano, whose real name is Michael Ace Del Fatti, was raised in Philadelphia, and even received fan-mail while he was a regular dancer on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.

He also served as a paratrooper in the US army.

The rising star then signed with Swan Records as Key Larson in 1960, before recording tunes such as “A Web of Lies” and “A Little Lovin’ Goes a Long, Long Way”.

He later adopted the stage surname DeLano after seeing a blinking neon sign on a hotel with the name, according to his wife.

DeLano burst onto the Hollywood scene after landing an on-stage role in Hair.

He went on to appear in films such as showed up in the films Catlow, and The New Centurions.

The actor then starred in episodes of Adam-12, Kojak, Banacek and Barnaby Jones – before landing on Firehouse.

DeLano is survived by his wife, his daughter Bree, grandsons Michael and Lincoln, and granddaughter Jaxon.

Fletcher fought for greater recognition of one of the deadliest incidents of race violence in US history.

Viola Ford Fletcher, one of the last survivors of Oklahoma’s 1921 Tulsa Massacre, has died at age 111.

Despite her advanced age, Fletcher was a well-known activist thanks to her work trying to win justice for the victims of one of the worst episodes of racial violence in United States history.

“Today, our city mourns the loss of Mother Viola Fletcher. She was a survivor of one of the darkest chapters in our city’s history and endured more than anyone should,” Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols wrote in a Facebook post. “Mother Fletcher carried 111 years of truth, resilience, and grace and was a reminder of how far we’ve come and how far we must still go.”

Fletcher was seven years old at the time of the Tulsa Massacre in Oklahoma, a state living under the Jim Crow system that segregated the US South from the end of the 1800s until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

The massacre began on May 31, 1921, when police arrested 19-year-old Dick Rowland, a Black shoeshiner, over allegations that he had assaulted a white woman, according to a report by the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

As a survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Viola Ford Fletcher bravely shared her story so that we’d never forget this painful part of our history. Michelle and I are grateful for her lifelong work to advance civil rights, and send our love to her family. https://t.co/km7RXnDKcW

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 25, 2025

When a group of white men gathered at the courthouse calling for Rowland to be lynched, a group of Black men from a nearby community responded and tried to protect him before “all hell broke out”, the report said.

Over the next two days, vigilante groups and law enforcement looted and burned down 35 blocks of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, which was then home to one of the wealthiest Black communities in the US. The Bureau of Labour Statistics in 2024 estimated that the scale of the damage was around $32.2m when adjusted for inflation.

As many as 300 residents of Tulsa were killed and another 700 injured, the report said, although the final tally is unknown because many were buried in unmarked graves.

Survivors like Fletcher and her family were forced to leave the area. Left destitute, her family became sharecroppers, a form of subsistence work where farmers give over almost all their harvest to their landlord.

Rowland was never charged, after Sarah Page, the lift operator he was accused of assaulting, said that she did not want to prosecute the case.

Despite the scale of devastation, the Tulsa Massacre received limited national attention until Oklahoma state launched an investigative commission in 1997. Efforts to win compensation for victims in 2001, however, failed due to the statute of limitations.

On the centennial anniversary of the massacre, Fletcher testified before the US Congress in 2021 about her experiences and co-authored a memoir, Don’t Let Them Bury My Story, with her grandson in 2023.

Fletcher was mourned by US leaders like former President Barack Obama.

“As a survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Viola Ford Fletcher bravely shared her story so that we’d never forget this painful part of our history. Michelle and I are grateful for her lifelong work to advance civil rights, and send our love to her family,” Obama posted on X.

ICONIC “He-Man” of Bollywood, Dharmendra, has died aged 89 as India’s Prime Minister leads tributes for the much-loved star.

Better known as Veeru, the star appeared in over 300 films, including playing a petty criminal in the 1975 blockbuster Sholay.

Dharmendra was one of Indian cinemas most popular stars whose fame skyrocketed in the 1970s and 1980s making him one of the defining figures in Bollywood.

The star, who would have turned 90 in December, had been in and out of a hospital in the financial capital, Mumbai, over the past few weeks.

A senior police official who had spoken to Dharmendra’s doctor confirmed the death on condition of anonymity. 

Tributes have since poured in for the “original” it-man of Bollywood, with India‘s PM leading the charge.

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In a heartbreaking statement, Narendra Modi said today “marks the end of an era in Indian cinema.”

And filmmaker Karan Johar, who worked with the star in his last film before his death, described him as the “most enigmatic person on screen.”

He was “incredibly handsome” and was “so loved by everyone in our industry,” he said.

Johar added: “It is an end of an era….. a massive mega star… the embodiment of a HERO in mainstream cinema… incredibly handsome and the most enigmatic screen presence.

“He is and will always be a bonafide Legend of Indian Cinema… defining and richly present in the pages of cinema history … but mostly he was the best human being… he was so loved by everyone in our industry.”

Meanwhile, filmmaker Madhu Bhandarkar remembered the start for being “vibrant” and “always full of humour.”

In an emotional post, he said: “Meanwhile, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar took to X and wrote, “I’m deeply saddened to hear about the passing of the legendary Dharmendra ji, the real He-Man of Indian cinema.

“I had the privilege of meeting him many times, he was always vibrant & full of humor. His remarkable contributions mark the end of an era in Indian cinema and will be eternally remembered. Om Shanti.”

The iconic film personality was known for bringing charm to people’s screen and “depth” to every role he played.

He shot to fame following his performance in Sholay (1975) Bollywoods take on the Spaghetti Western and regarded as one of Indias greatest films.

And his roles in other Hindi-language hits, from the romantic comedy Chupke Chupke (1975) to the action drama Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), made him one of the most recognizable film faces from that era.

But it was his performance in Bollywood classic Sholay that truly cemented his stardom.

In 1980, he married actress Hema Malini after shooting more than two dozen films together and the pair quickly became one of India’s most talked about couple.

But the relationship was marred with scandal as Dharmendra was still married to Prakash Kaur – who he went on to have four children with, including two who would follow in his acting footsteps Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol.

Despite his global success, he steered clear of the rat race, insisting he never wanted to peak in the industry.

He previously said: “I never asked for too much money, and fame is transient. All I ever wanted was people’s love.

“I came here just for this love. Everyone loves Dharmendra and I am grateful for that.”

In 2012, Dharmendra was awarded the Padma Bhushan, Indias third-highest civilian honor, in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema.

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He also had a brief sting in politics, serving in Parliament for Modi’s BJP party from 2004 to 2009.

Dharmendra is survived by his wives, children and grandchildren.

ICONIC Hollywood actor Udi Kier has tragically died aged 81.

The veteran German star, who appeared in popular movies like Ace Ventura and Blade, passed away just weeks after his birthday.

Delbert McBride, Kier’s partner, revealed that the legendary actor passed away on Sunday. He did not reveal the cause of death.

Photographer Michael Childers, who was a friend of Kier’s, has revealed on Facebook that he died in a hospital in Palm Springs, California.

Kier rose to fame after playing villains and monsters across Hollywood and European films, including popular collaborations with Andy Warhol.

Throughout his career, which spanned more than six decades, Kier acted in more than 200 movies.

But his breakout collaborations with Warhol are among his most celebrated.

He starred in the titular roles in both 1973’s Flesh for Frankenstein and 1974’s Blood for Dracula – both produced by Warhol.

Kier once told The Guardian: “I like horror films, because if you play small or guest parts in movies, it is better to be evil and scare people than be the guy who works in the post office and goes home to his wife and children. Audiences will remember you more.”

In 1991, the German actor went on to debut his US role in My Own Private Idaho, which also starred Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix.

His successful Hollywood career included films like End of Days, Blade, Johnny Mnemonic, Armageddon and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

The actor’s final role was 2025 historical political thriller The Secret Agent, in which he played Jewish Holocaust survivor Hans, who gets mistaken for a Nazi fugitive.

Kier was born on 14 October 1944 in Cologne, towards the end of World War II.

His hospital was bombed during the war, and he and his mother were reportedly dug out from rubble.

Kier moved to London at the age of 18 to learn English before starting his successful movie career.

He moved to Palm Springs, California, in 1991.

It comes just days after actor Spencer Lofranco died at the age of 33.

The Canadian film star was best known for playing the lead role of James Burns in 2014 crime drama Jamesy Boy.

“Can you just give me one of your leftover sharks?”

It was early in Jay Stein’s tenacious pursuit to turn a throwaway business into a sweet spot for Universal Studios, then owned by Lew Wasserman’s powerhouse entertainment firm MCA.

In 1975, Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” was a cultural sensation and Stein wanted to capitalize on the movie’s success. He asked his colleagues in film production for props so his crews could re-create the fictional Amity Island coastline in the studio’s hilly back lot miles from downtown L.A.

“He convinced them: ‘Can you just give me one of the leftover sharks and I’ll put it on the studio tour, and we’ll get some promotion out of that,’ ” author Sam Gennawey told The Times, recalling Stein’s brilliance and his pioneering use of intellectual property.

Jay Stein with his wife, Connie, in Oregon.

(Connie Stein)

Stein died Nov. 5 at his home in Bend, Ore., according to his wife, Connie Stein. He was 88 and had been suffering from complications related to Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer.

“He left a big hole — but he also left a wonderful legacy,” she said in an interview Sunday. “Not a lot of people have the opportunity to leave a legacy that touches generations. But he’s still making people smile every day.”

The tram tour’s shark attack, which terrified tourists when it debuted in 1976, has long been a staple. It was among Stein’s many theme park enhancements during his more than 30 years as a top MCA executive, which included Universal’s push into Florida to compete with Walt Disney Co.

The “Jaws” attraction helped cement Universal’s decades-long relationship with Spielberg, a span that would include such films as “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Jurassic Park,” “Schindler’s List” and “The Fabelmans.” It also spawned other movie-themed attractions that included a “Waterworld” live show and a “King Kong” ride.

Stein insisted that the ape would spew “banana breath,” his wife said.

Within Universal, such jolts and flourishes became known as “JayBangs,” which Gennawey used as the title for his 2016 book about Stein’s contributions to the industry, “JayBangs: How Jay Stein, MCA, & Universal Invented the Modern Theme Park and Beat Disney at Its Own Game.”

“Jay wanted to put you in the movie,” Gennawey said. “He wanted to grab you by the collar and shake you a bit.”

The “Runaway Train” attraction on the Universal Studios backlot tour, one of its many exhilarating “JayBangs.”

(NBCUniversal Archives & Collections)

Stein was born in New York City on June 17, 1937, to Samuel and Sylvia “Sunny” (Goldstein) Stein.

His father was a watch salesman who moved the family to Los Angeles when Stein was young. As a teenager, he occasionally skipped school to go to Hollywood Park Racetrack to bet on horses. He had finagled some blank report cards and used them to bring home self-inserted high marks.

But the scam was revealed when the family briefly moved back to New York and Stein was nearing the end of high school. His parents were summoned for a conference, where they learned Stein lacked the credits to graduate. Summer school remedied that.

The family returned to L.A. Stein attended UC Berkeley, majoring in political science, but he left about a semester shy of graduating.

He served in the Army National Guard and, near the end of his service, in 1959, began working in MCA’s mailroom. Initially he wanted to get into film production, but by the mid-1960s, he was steered into the fledgling tour unit.

The company had launched the tram tour in 1964 to make a little money from its ample real estate. But some executives viewed the endeavor as tacky. Its prospects looked dim.

“It started out as two trams and a Quonset hut on Lankershim Boulevard,” Stein told The Times in a 2023 interview. “Quite frankly, the tram was considered something that interfered with television production.”

“I worked for the production office and was given the task of trying to coordinate how close we could come on the backlot without interfering. Everyone I worked for said it was an annoyance and disruptive and will not ever be welcomed.”

Stein was able “to convince others of the benefits of having the studio tour,” Gennawey said. “That’s what saved it.”

Early signage advertising Universal Studios as a tourist attraction.

(NBCUniversal Archives & Collections)

Gennawey considers Stein a key pioneer of U.S. theme parks.

“He was remarkably competitive. He recognized that Disney had its thing — but Universal could create something different and complimentary, particularly in the early days,” Gennawey said.

Disneyland was, of course, a top draw.

“But if you are a Los Angeles resident and had relatives coming in town, you knew they [also] wanted to see Hollywood,” Gennawey said. “But Hollywood was kind of scary, so you took them to Universal Studios.”

Stein’s contributions have only recently been appreciated, according to Gennawey. That’s largely because Stein subscribed to Wasserman’s edict that the “stars were the stars,” and executives should blend into the background. Stein also retired early, leaving Universal by the mid-1990s, after Japanese electronics giant Matsushita bought MCA.

Visitors line up for the studio tour of Universal Studios.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Stein worried that Universal’s new owner (and a string of subsequent buyers) would fail to recognize the value of the theme parks, Gennawey said, an observation that proved correct.

That changed in 2011 when Comcast acquired NBCUniversal and began investing heavily.

The company opened its $7-billion theme park, Universal Epic Universe, near Orlando, Fla., to raves earlier this year.

The theme park unit — which includes destinations in Los Angeles, Florida, Japan and China — has become one of the most reliable profit engines for NBCUniversal. Last year, Universal theme parks produced $8.6 billion in revenue.

“Jay was the visionary behind Universal’s expansion from the Studio Tour in Hollywood to the creation of our world-class theme park destination at Universal Orlando and beyond,” Mark Woodbury, chairman and chief executive of Universal Destinations & Experiences, said in a statement.

“He had tremendous creative instincts and defined our style of immersive storytelling, making us the brand that brings great movies to life for generations to come,” Woodbury said.

Stein is survived by his wife, son Gary Stein, daughter Darolyn Bellemeur, and their spouses, children and grandchildren, his brother Ira Stein, a nephew, cousins as well as Connie Stein’s children and grandchildren.

Former Clipper Rodney Rogers died Friday of natural causes linked to a spinal cord injury he sustained in a 2008 dirt bike accident. He was 54.

Wake Forest, which retired his No. 54, announced his death Saturday along with the National Basketball Players Assn., which released a statement on behalf of Rogers’ family.

Rogers was the Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year in 1991 and player of the year in 1993. The burly 6-foot-7 forward with powerful athleticism earned the “Durham Bull” nickname during his prep career, then was drafted ninth overall in 1993. He played 12 years in the NBA, scoring nearly 9,500 points and being named league sixth man of the year in 2000.

Rogers had been paralyzed from the shoulders down since his accident in November 2008.

“The last 17 years have been both challenging and profoundly blessed,” the NBPA statement said. “Through every moment, Rodney remained a light — positive, motivated, and full of the quiet strength that inspired everyone around him.”

Rogers’ injury led to the establishment of a foundation bearing his name, with Rogers encouraging people with spinal cord injuries while promoting resilience and personal growth in the face of those challenges. Wake Forest honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022 along with an honorary degree.

Clippers forward Rodney Rogers has a few words for referee Leon Wood after getting called for a foul during a game in 1997.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

“Rodney is the strongest person I have ever met — physically and mentally — and his resilience was evident in the fight he showed every single day,” program great and former teammate Randolph Childress said in a statement. “I’ve said this before and I still mean it today: He was the best athlete ever to walk onto Wake Forest’s campus. He meant so much to so many people, and I feel profoundly blessed to have been with him yesterday.”

Rogers played three years at Wake Forest, averaging 21.2 points in 1992-93 as the Demon Deacons reached the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16, before entering the draft as a junior. He started his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets before being traded to the Clippers in 1995 along with the draft rights to Brent Barry for the draft rights to Antonio McDyess and Randy Woods. Rogers averaged 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in four seasons in L.A. before becoming a valuable reserve with the Phoenix Suns. He also played for the Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers.

“It’s easy to focus on his extraordinary talent, but what stood out to everyone who knew him was that he was every bit as remarkable as a human being,” said Dave Odom, Rogers’ coach at Wake Forest. “He loved his teammates, he loved his family, he loved Wake Forest and he loved the game of basketball. He loved playing for Wake Forest.

“Every time we visited him, I walked away reminding myself never to complain — because he never did. He faced life exactly as it came and made the very best of every moment. He was a joy to watch as a basketball player, but he was an even greater man. He shared his strength, his spirit and his life with everyone around him.”

According to the NBPA statement, Rogers is survived by wife, Faye; daughters Roddreka and Rydiah; sons Rodney II and Devonte; his mother, Estelle Spencer; and Eric Hipilito, embraced as a son by Rogers.

LEGENDARY The Simpsons writer Dan McGrath has died at the age of 61, his family announced.

The award-winning comedy writer, who also worked on Saturday Night Live, died following a stroke, his sister said.

Gail Garabadian wrote on Facebook: “We lost my incredible brother Danny yesterday. He was a special man, one of a kind.

“An incredible son, brother, uncle and friend. Our hearts are broken.”

She told Hollywood Reporter that he passed away at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn.

Dan kicked off his career at SNL, when he often collaborated with Adam Sandler.

He then had two stints as a writer for The Simpsons, followed by eight years on King of the Hill.

He went on to win an Emmy for writing the iconic 1997 Simpsons episode Homer’s Phobia.

The episode sees Homer befriending an antiques dealer, and later discovering he is gay.

It was also honoured by GLAAD – which promotes fairness in media – for its anti-homophobia message.

Dan is survived by his wife Caroline, his mother, Eleanor and siblings as well as nieces and nephews.

The writer cut his teeth on Harvard University’s student comedy publication, The Harvard Lampoon.

He landed a job for Saturday Night Live in 1991, and stayed there for two seasons.

During that time, he shared an Emmy nomination.

He began working on The Simpsons in 1992, and wrote 50 episodes across two years.

Dan later received producing credits on 24 episodes from 1996-98.

His most memorable episodes include The Devil and Homer Simpson, Time and Punishment, Bart of Darkness, instalments of the Treehouse of Horror series, Boy-Scoutz ’n the Hood and Homer’s Phobia.

Dan said that both his runs with the show ended with him being fired.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow…

Todd Snider, a singer and songwriter beloved in the Americana music scene for his funny yet empathetic portraits of people struggling to survive an uncaring world, died Friday. He was 59.

His death was announced in a post on his Instagram account, which didn’t state a cause or say where he died. An earlier post signed by “Todd’s Friends & Family” said that he’d been admitted to a hospital in Hendersonville, Tenn., after experiencing breathing problems and that he’d been diagnosed with pneumonia; before that, he called off a tour this month after telling fans that he’d been injured in a “violent assault” outside a hotel in Salt Lake City.

Frequently compared to the likes of John Prine and Kris Kristofferson — both of whom mentored him at various points — Snider wrote about “how poor people sometimes cope with pain and hardship,” he told the New York Times in 2009. “A little drugs here, a little sex here, a little denial there.”

In a prolific recording career that stretched three decades, Snider made albums for labels owned by Prine and by Jimmy Buffett and for his own company, Aimless Records. Yet to many he was best experienced onstage, where he’d thread his songs into a kind of running monologue about his rough-and-tumble life.

Among his best-known tunes were the rollicking “Beer Run”; “Can’t Complain,” about a guy with “nothing to lose ’cause there is nothing to gain”; and “Alright Guy,” which opens with a scene in which a friend catches him leafing through “that new book with pictures of Madonna naked.”

“Said she’d never pegged me for a scumbag before,” he sings, “She said she didn’t ever want to see me anymore / And I still don’t know why.”

In his 2014 memoir, Snider told a shaggy-dog story about the time Garth Brooks summoned him to a studio to help him record a cover of “Alright Guy” in the guise of his alter ego, Chris Gaines.

“I was already starstruck before Garth walked up and introduced himself,” Snider wrote. “He said, ‘I thought you had red hair,’ because he’d seen me on the ‘Austin City Limits’ television show, and I’d dyed my hair red for that show. It wasn’t supposed to be red. It was supposed to be dark brown. My plan was to look like John Fogerty, but instead I ended up looking like the guy from the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber.’” (Brooks didn’t release the cover, though Snider said the country superstar sent him a check for $10,000 anyway.)

Todd Daniel Snider was born Oct. 11, 1966, and grew up in Oregon before making his way to Texas and then Nashville. His debut album, “Songs for the Daily Planet,” came out in 1994 via Buffett’s Margaritaville label; it closed with a motor-mouthed acoustic ditty called “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues” in which he lovingly lampooned the era’s alternative rock boom:

Now, to fit in fast, we wear flannel shirts

We turn our amps up until it hurts

We got bad attitudes, and what’s more

When we play, we stare straight down at the floor

A critics’ fave from the get-go, Snider earned rave reviews with 2004’s “East Nashville Skyline,” whose highlights include a characteristically wordy depiction of the culture wars then roiling America in the wake of 9/11 — “Conservative, Christian, Right Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males,” it’s called — and “The Ballad of the Kingsmen,” in which he contemplates the meaning of the lyrics to “Louie Louie.”

Among the many other LPs he went on to release were 2009’s “The Excitement Plan,” which was produced by Don Was, and a 2012 collection of songs by Jerry Jeff Walker, the country-folk songwriter who’d served as a crucial influence on him. Snider’s most recent record, “High, Lonesome and Then Some,” came out in October.

Snider spoke openly throughout his life about his struggles with drugs and with chronic pain related to spinal stenosis. “I do a lot of things to try to help it, but I have to make peace with it, too,” he said of the condition in an interview last month with Rolling Stone. “Which hasn’t been easy.” Information about Snider’s survivors wasn’t immediately available.

On a flight to Houston to play in his first college football game, Kenny Easley was told that he would split time at free safety with a veteran UCLA teammate.

“That’s what happened,” Easley told The Times in 2017, recounting the story 40 years later. “Michael Coulter started the game and played the first two quarters, I played the second two and Michael never played again.”

Such was the dominance of a player who would be called The Enforcer for the way he inflicted his will on college and NFL opponents. Easley finished that first season with nine interceptions and 93 tackles, school records for a true freshman, and was just getting started on the way to becoming the first player in Pac-10 history to be selected for the conference’s first team all four seasons.

Easley, one of the most revered players in school history, died Friday from unspecified causes, the school announced. He was 66. Easley had long battled kidney issues that forced the five-time Pro Bowler to retire prematurely in 1987 after spending all seven of his NFL seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Seahawks legend Kenny Easley,” the team said in a statement. “Kenny embodied what it meant to be a Seahawk through his leadership, toughness, intensity and fearlessness. His intimidating nature and athletic grace made him one of the best players of all-time.”

Much of that resolve was forged thanks to a childhood game that Easley called dynamite pigskin. A pack of kids would gather on the athletic fields in Easley’s hometown of Chesapeake, Va., and a football would be tossed into the air.

Safety Kenny Easley also returned punts for UCLA.

(Courtesy UCLA Athletics)

Whoever caught it would take off running and everybody else would try to catch him until the ball carrier found himself hopelessly surrounded, forcing him to throw the ball back into the air, where the game earned its dynamite nickname. The game would go on for hours until everyone was bruised and exhausted.

One of the nation’s top prospects out of high school, Easley appeared bound for Michigan, telling everyone he was going to play for the Wolverines. But on the day of his college announcement, Easley blurted out that he was going to play for UCLA, his other finalist, during a ceremony at his high school auditorium.

“So just like that, the proverbial genie is out of the bottle and it’s on videotape that I’m going to UCLA,” Easley would recall many years later. He suspected he changed his mind because the Bruins had said from the start they were recruiting him to play free safety while Michigan wanted him as a quarterback, his other high school position.

Easley tallied 19 interceptions during four college seasons, which remains a school record. Having made 13 interceptions during his first two seasons, Easley developed a ready explanation for why he couldn’t sustain that pace.

“They didn’t throw the ball down the middle,” he said of opposing quarterbacks. “If I was playing against Kenny Easley, I wouldn’t throw the ball down the middle either.”

Easley also returned punts and was a punishing hitter, logging 105 tackles during his senior season in 1980. He would finish ninth in voting for the Heisman Trophy that year. His 374 career tackles remain the fifth most in UCLA history and he became the second player from the school to earn consensus All-American honors three times, joining linebacker Jerry Robinson.

“Kenny Easley was the most competitive person I’ve ever met in my life,” Robinson wrote in an email to The Times. “No matter what he was doing, whether it was sports or life, he was in it to win it! Whether it was football, basketball, pick-up softball games, playing cards, high diving into the swimming pool or golf, everything he did he wanted to be the best at it. And he was the best at it. He was the greatest all-around athlete that I have ever played with. RIP ‘Force 5’.”

The Seahawks selected Easley with the fourth pick in the 1981 draft, and he went on to make 32 interceptions in seven seasons. But his time with the franchise ended acrimoniously after he accused the team of providing medicine that led to his kidney problems. The sides would later resolve their differences. Easley was named one of the 50 greatest players in franchise history.

Elected into the college and pro football halls of fame, Easley had his No. 5 jersey retired by UCLA in 1991 and was also enshrined in the school’s athletics hall of fame.

BROADWAY star Elizabeth Franz has died at the age of 84, her husband has confirmed.

The Tony Award-winning actress had been diagnosed with cancer.

Her husband Christopher Pelham told The New York Times that she died as a result of the disease and a “severe reaction” she suffered from the treatment.

She died at home on November 4 in Woodbury, Connecticut.

Franz is best known for playing Linda Loman in a 1999 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’.

It was this role that earned her a Tony Award and solidified her name among other Broadway greats.

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That production scooped four awards, including the one given to Franz for best featured actress in a play.

She was also nominated for her performances in ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’, a comedy by Neil Simon in 1983, and in 2002 for her role in Paul Osborn’s ‘Morning’s at Seven’.

As well as her husband, she is also survived by her brother, Joe.

More to follow…

DAVE Burgess, who was the leader of the band that recorded the popular track Tequila, has died at 90.

Burgess was part of The Champs, which soared to fame in 1958 with the track.

He died on October 19 in Tennessee.

His cause of death hasn’t been revealed.

Tequila spent five weeks as the top-selling chart, beginning in March 1958.

More than one million copies of the instrumental, which won a Grammy for the Best R&B performance in 1959, were sold.

The song defeated tracks such as Harry Belafonte’s Belafonte Sings the Blues, Nat King Cole’s Looking Back, and Perez Prado’s song Patricia.

It even received a gold disc from officials at the Record Industry Association of America.

Burgess, from Los Angeles, worked with Challenge Records during the 1950s, which was founded by the rodeo crooner Gene Autry.

When Chuck Rio, the saxophonist, wrote Tequila, it was initially viewed as a throwaway song.

But, it ended up rising to fame.

Saxophonist Eddie Platt produced a cover in 1958 and it rose to number 20 in the US charts.

The song featured in a scene of the 1985 movie Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

The character played by Paul Reubens irritated a group of bikers by knocking over their motorcycles.

He then tried to appease them by picking the song on the jukebox.

Reubens’ character then started to dance to it.

Tequila was used as the theme song for Banana Split between 2009 and 2011.

And, it has been adopted into chants for sports stars.

The Tequila tune is sung by Arsenal fans when they chant about the team’s defender, William Saliba.

During his music career, Burgess wrote more than 700 songs.

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More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.

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Cleto Escobedo III, the bandleader of Cleto and the Cletones, the house band for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” has died. The musician and lifelong friend of Kimmel was 59.

Kimmel confirmed Escobedo’s death early Tuesday morning in an Instagram post later that day, writing that “we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man.”

“To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement,” Kimmel continued. “Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old. The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true. Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”

The news of Escobedo’s death comes after “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was abruptly canceled Thursday , reportedly due to a “personal matter.” The cause of Escobedo’s death was not immediately released.

Escobedo had led the band through the late-night show since its premiere in 2003, playing alongside a group of musicians that included his father, Cleto Escobedo Jr.

Escobedo was an accomplished professional musician, having toured with Earth, Wind and Fire’s Philip Bailey and Paula Abdul and recorded with Marc Anthony, Tom Scott and Take Six. When Kimmel got his own ABC late-night talk show in 2003, he pushed for Escobedo to lead the house band, he told WABC in 2015.

“Of course I wanted great musicians, but I wanted somebody I had chemistry with,” Kimmel told the outlet. “And there’s nobody in my life I have better chemistry with than him.”

In an August 2016 episode, Kimmel wished Escobedo a happy 50th birthday and highlighted his long-standing relationship with the musician. They met in 1977 when Kimmel’s family moved in across the street from the Escobedos in Las Vegas. “We began a lifetime of friendship that was highlighted by the kind of torture that only an older brother can inflict on you without being arrested,” Kimmel said before sharing a series of stories about their sibling-like bond and Escobedo’s antics.

“I can’t wait till your kids turn 12 and see this, and find out their father is a secret maniac,” Kimmel said. The host also shared photos of them as children, including one of Escobedo playing the saxophone and Kimmel playing the clarinet.

In addition to his father and other family members, Escobedo is survived by his wife, Lori, and their two children.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

GOLDEN Globe winner Sally Kirkland has died at the age of 84.

The actress was in hospice care and had been battling dementia.

Kirkland starred in hit movies such as Bruce Almighty, The Haunted and The Sting.

Michael Greene, her representative, revealed she took her final breath at 1:50pm PT this morning, as per TMZ.

Kirkland died days after entering hospice care and had battled ill health in recent years.

This year, she fractured bones in her neck, right wrist, and left hip.

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And, she had battled two separate life-threatening infections.

Kirkland was left bruised and injured following a fall while she was in the shower unattended, according to a GoFundMe post from October.

Her acting career spanned more than 60 years.

She won the Best Actress Golden Globe Award and Best Actress Independent Spirit Award in 1988 for her role in Anna.

Kirkland was nominated for the Best Actress in a Leading Role gong in the 1988 Oscars.

She starred as Anita in the movie Bruce Almighty, which was released in 2003.

Kirkland, from New York City, also played Crystal in The Sting – a movie which also featured Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Robert Shaw.

The actress also made cameo appearances in shows such as Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, and Charlie’s Angels during the 1970s and 1980s.

She appeared in one episode of General Hospital in 1982.

Alongside her role in Anna, she appeared in movies such as Cold Feet, Talking Walls, White Hot, and High Stakes.

Kirkland played Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls in 1994, appearing in 65 episodes.

And, she appeared in a 1995 episode of Murder, She Wrote.

Kirkland starred as Tracey Simpson in 31 episodes of the series Days of Our Lives in 1999.

One of her final roles was in the movie Sallywood, where she played herself.

She won a best acting gong at the 2024 Santa Clarita International Film Festival.

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Away from the big screen, Kirkland was named one of Andy Warhol’s 13 Most Beautiful Women in 1964.

She made history in 1968 by becoming the first woman to appear fully naked in the off-Broadway production, Sweet Eros.

Eric Preven, one of L.A. County’s most prominent citizen watchdogs, has died at 63, according to his family.

Preven, a well-known government transparency advocate, garnered a reputation as an eagle-eyed observer of local meetings, a savvy wielder of the state’s public records act, and a reliable thorn in the sides of his government.

Relatives said Preven died Saturday in his Studio City home of a suspected heart attack.

The term “gadfly” often is bandied about local government to describe those who never miss a public meeting. But politicians and his family say the term doesn’t quite do Preven justice.

“You may not agree with him, but it wasn’t just like [he was] shooting from the hip. He would do his research,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who watched Preven testify for more than a decade. “He would let the facts speak for themselves.”

In 2016, Preven and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California took a lawsuit all the way to the California Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor, finding the public had a right to know how much the county was paying outside lawyers in closed cases. Three years later he successfully forced the city to expand its rules around public testimony after he argued he’d been unlawfully barred from weighing in on a Studio City development.

Many attendees of local public meetings tend to drift into offensive diatribes that have little to do with the matter at hand. Preven never did.

Instead he fine-tuned the art of presenting minute-long, logical arguments on everything from budget shortfalls to seemingly excessive settlements. He could be cutting but he always had a point to make.

And he never missed a meeting.

“Thank you for this exhausting dressing down of the probation department,” Preven said last Tuesday after the supervisors wrapped up rebuking officials for paltry programming inside juvenile halls. “The idea that we’re paying for these programs, these programs are scheduled, and nothing is happening is terrible.”

A New York native, Preven moved to Los Angeles to work in Hollywood, landing TV writing gigs on shows including “Popular” and “Reba.” His path into local activism began 15 years ago after his mother’s two chocolate labs were removed by the county’s animal control department following a fight with an off-leash dog, according to his family.

Preven, a canine lover known to throw parties with members of his local dog park, found the removal of the labs unjustifiable. He went to the Board of Supervisors meeting to tell them so. Then he went again. And again. And again.

Long after the dogs were returned, Preven kept going back.

“He started listening to the meeting and looking at the agenda, and he became just appalled at so many things that he saw,” said his brother, Joshua Preven. “He became so incensed by it.”

Preven became a fierce advocate for the public’s right to know what was happening in local meetings and kept close track of staff changes at City Hall. He was known to text local government reporters early on weekend mornings to ask why someone had stepped down from a city agency, or self-deprecatingly share his latest blog post on CityWatch, a local news site.

“My latest deep dive into my own navel,” he texted two weeks ago with his new article on the famed architect behind his historic home in Studio City’s foothills.

He often sent Times editors and reporters weekly emails on successes and shortcomings in their coverage. The county’s politicians and officials received similar messages about their governance.

“He could be irascible,” his brother said. “When he came and encountered the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, it became a really good use of that stubbornness.”

Preven was a dogged user of the California Public Records Act, finding gems of records buried in seldom-scrutinized agencies. He filed so many record requests to the Animal Care and Control department that the county assigned an attorney just to deal with them, according to Dawyn Harrison, the county’s top lawyer.

“Eric was the epitome of an engaged constituent and critic of local government, persistently questioning and challenging government officials,” Harrison said. “As his interest in County government grew, so did the range of his requests; so, my office decentralized the handling of his requests because no one person could cover all the subjects he looked into. He was a true watchdog.”

Supervisor Janice Hahn said Preven had been scrutinizing her and her colleagues ever since she was a councilmember at City Hall.

“Eric Preven never let those with power in government forget who we work for. … He pushed us, he challenged us, and he had an opinion on everything — from the biggest issue of the day to the more routine contract votes that too often go overlooked,” she said. “While some people wrote him off, I thought there was always truth in what he had to say.”

Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, whose district includes parts of Studio City, said he “took seriously the role of citizen, religiously participating in County meetings.”

In addition to his brother, Preven is survived by his sister, Anne Preven, his mother, Ruth Preven, his father, David Preven, and two children, 28-year-old Isaac Rooks Preven and 26-year-old Reva Jay Preven.

Preven ran several times for public office, launching idiosyncratic campaigns for mayor, city council and county supervisor. He barely fundraised and wasn’t allowed in many of the debates, said his brother, who helped out as his campaign manager.

“We didn’t know what the hell we were doing at all,” Joshua Preven said. “But he kept showing up.”

Times reporters Dakota Smith and David Zahniser contributed to this report.

SEATTLE — Lenny Wilkens, a three-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame who was enshrined as both a player and a coach, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 88.

The family said Wilkens was surrounded by loved ones when he died and did not immediately release a cause of death.

Wilkens was one of the finest point guards of his era who later brought his calm and savvy style to the sideline, first as a player-coach and then evolving into one of the game’s great coaches.

He coached 2,487 games in the NBA, which is still a record. He became a Hall of Famer as a player, as a coach and again as part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team — on which he was an assistant. Wilkens coached the Americans to gold at the Atlanta Games as well in 1996.

“Lenny Wilkens represented the very best of the NBA — as a Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame coach, and one of the game’s most respected ambassadors,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Sunday. “So much so that, four years ago, Lenny received the unique distinction of being named one of the league’s 75 greatest players and 15 greatest coaches of all time.”

Wilkens was a nine-time All-Star as a player, was the first person to reach 1,000 wins as an NBA coach and was the second person inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach. He coached the Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA title in 1979 and remained iconic in that city for the rest of his life, often being considered a godfather of sorts for basketball in Seattle — which lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City in 2008 and has been trying to get a team back since.

And he did it all with grace, something he was proud of.

“Leaders don’t yell and scream,” Wilkens told Seattle’s KOMO News earlier this year.

Wilkens, the 1994 NBA coach of the year with Atlanta, retired with 1,332 coaching wins — a league record that was later passed by Don Nelson (who retired with 1,335) and then Gregg Popovich (who retired with 1,390).

Wilkens played 15 seasons with the St. Louis Hawks, SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. He was an All-Star five times with St. Louis, three times in Seattle and once with Cleveland in 1973 at age 35. A statue depicting his time with the SuperSonics was installed outside Climate Pledge Arena in June.

“Even more impressive than Lenny’s basketball accomplishments, which included two Olympic gold medals and an NBA championship, was his commitment to service — especially in his beloved community of Seattle where a statue stands in his honor,” Silver said. “He influenced the lives of countless young people as well as generations of players and coaches who considered Lenny not only a great teammate or coach but also an extraordinary mentor who led with integrity and true class.”

Wilkens twice led the league in assists but was also a prominent scorer. He averaged in double-figure scoring in every season of his career, except his final one in 1974-75 with the Trail Blazers. His best season as a scorer came in his first season with the SuperSonics in 1968-69 when he averaged 22.4 points, 8.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds.

Leonard Wilkens was born Oct. 28, 1937, in New York. His basketball schooling came on Brooklyn’s playgrounds and at a city powerhouse, then Boys High School, where one of his teammates was major league baseball star Tommy Davis. He would go on to star at Providence College and was drafted by the Hawks as the sixth overall pick in 1960.

His resume as a player would have been enough to put Wilkens in consideration for the Hall of Fame. What he accomplished as a coach — both through success and longevity — cemented his legacy.

Countless other honors also came his way, including being elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the College Basketball Hall of Fame, the Providence Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Wall of Honor.

His coaching stops included two stints in Seattle totaling 11 seasons, two seasons in Portland — during one of which he still played and averaged 18 minutes per game — seven seasons in both Cleveland and Atlanta, three seasons in Toronto and parts of two years with the Knicks.

Wilkens also has the most losses in NBA coaching history with 1,155. But his successes outweighed the setbacks. He guided the SuperSonics to their lone championship with a victory over the then Washington Bullets, a year after losing to them in the Finals.

Wilkens moved into first place on the wins list on Jan. 6, 1995, while coaching the Hawks. His 939th victory surpassed Red Auerbach’s record. From there, he became the first coach to reach 1,000 career wins, a mark since matched by nine others.

The possibility of playing and coaching at the same time was raised before the 1969 season when Wilkens was at the home of SuperSonics general manager Dick Vertlieb and playing a leisurely game of pool.

“I thought he was crazy,” Wilkens recalled. “I kept putting him off, but he was persistent. Finally, we were getting so close to training camp, so I said, ‘What the heck, I’ll try it.’”

From there, he became increasingly enamored with coaching.

Seattle trailed the Cincinnati Royals by four points with a few seconds remaining when Wilkens set up a play that resulted in a dunk. Then, he ordered his players to press since the Royals were out of timeouts. The Sonics stole the inbounds pass, scored again to tie it and won in overtime.

“I was like, ‘Wow!”’ Wilkens said. “I had just done something as a coach that helped us win, not as a player.”

After his coaching career ended in 2005, Wilkens returned to the Seattle area where he lived every offseason. Wilkens ran his foundation for decades, with its primary benefactor being the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle’s Central District.

He also restored a role with the SuperSonics in 2006 as the team’s vice chairman, but he left the post a year later after it became clear new owner Clay Bennett wanted to move the club out of Seattle.

Wilkens is survived by his wife, Marilyn; their children, Leesha, Randy and Jamee; and seven grandchildren.

Booth and Destin write for the Associated Press.