Dennis McLellan –

Claus von Bulow leaves court trailed by reporters after deliberations ended for the day in his trial on attempted murder charges in Providence, R.I., on June 7, 1985.

Claus von Bulow, socialite accused in sensational trials of trying to kill wife, dies at 92

August 22, 2019 at 11:09 a.m.

Claus von Bulow, the Danish-born socialite who was convicted in 1982 and then acquitted three years later on two counts of attempting to murder his American heiress wife, Sunny, with...

Harlan Ellison, with fans, getting a haircut before a 2013 book signing.

Acclaimed science fiction writer Harlan Ellison dies at 84

August 22, 2019 at 4:24 a.m.

Harlan Ellison, who emerged as a major figure in the New Wave of science fiction writers in the 1960s and became a legend in science fiction and fantasy circles for...

Dean Martin, seated, and Jerry Lewis, second from left, in a scene from the musical comedy "At War With The Army," directed by Hal Walker, in 1950.

The slapstick, the telethons, ‘L-a-a-a-dy!’ — comic and philanthropist Jerry Lewis dies at 91

August 22, 2019 at 12:34 a.m.

For decades, Jerry Lewis' star had been as bright as any comedic force in America. His partnership with Dean Martin forged the hottest comedy team of an era, and his...

Comedian Dick Gregory, left, listens to Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, right, at a news conference Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006, in Chicago where Brown announced she wanted to be the mayor of Chicago.

Dick Gregory, groundbreaking comedian and activist who ran for Chicago mayor, dies at 84

August 22, 2019 at 12:34 a.m.

Dick Gregory, who became the first black stand-up comic to break the color barrier in major nightclubs in the early 1960s, a decade in which he satirized segregation and race...

Nick Cave has been singing about mortality for decades, and he's really good at it. Whether the narratives are biblical or pulpy, the victims innocents or death row convicts, the circumstances comprehensible or cruelly random, Cave's songs are on intimate terms with the infinite ways a life can be extinguished. And yet, "Skeleton Tree", his latest album with his estimable band, the Bad Seeds, is a relatively concise song cycle shadowed by death that feels different than all the rest. <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/kot/sc-music-nick-cave-skeleton-tree-ent-0916-20160916-column.html" target="_blank">Read the full review.</a>

Emmy-winner Barbara Hale, who played Perry Mason’s secretary, has died at 94

December 17, 2018 at 5:19 p.m.

Barbara Hale, best known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Perry Mason's loyal secretary Della Street on the long-running 1950s and '60s TV series starring Raymond Burr, has died. She...

Cinematographer Haskell Wexler attends the 2015 IDA Documentary Awards at Paramount Studios on December 5, 2015 in Hollywood, California.

Haskell Wexler, Oscar-winning cinematographer, documentary filmmaker, dies at 93

December 17, 2018 at 6:32 p.m.

Haskell Wexler, a two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer — for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Bound for Glory" — and the writer-director of the landmark 1969 film "Medium Cool," died...

Novelist Leonard mastered the art of crime

December 24, 2018 at 3:51 a.m.

Elmore Leonard's con men, hustlers and killers never thought much of rules, but the master craftsman lived by one he held dear: If it sounds like writing, rewrite it."If proper...

‘Diff’rent Strokes’ child star, Zion, Ill. native Gary Coleman dead at 42

August 22, 2021 at 10:16 p.m.

Gary Coleman, who was born in Zion and soared to fame in the late 1970s as the pint-sized child star of the hit sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" and whose post-TV-series life...

Dorothy Kamenshek, women’s baseball league star, dies at 84

May 13, 2019 at 3:58 p.m.

Former New York Yankee first baseman Wally Pipp called Dorothy "Dottie" Kamenshek "the fanciest-fielding first baseman I've ever seen, man or woman." Spurred by the personal philosophy that "anything less...

Ed McMahon, left, assists Johnny Carson, in character as Carnac the Magnificent, during a taping of the "The Tonight Show" in 1985.

Ed McMahon dead at 86

June 18, 2018 at 2:00 a.m.

Ed McMahon, a television pioneer who warmed "The Tonight Show" couch for nearly 30 years as Johnny Carson's jovial sidekick and announcer, died early Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles...

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