andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Writer Larry Gelbart, best known as one of the key creative forces behind groundbreaking TV series M*A*S*H, died today at the age of 81.

According the Entertainment Weekly, his wife, Pat Gelbart, said he died of cancer at his home in Beverly Hills. Hailing from Chicago, the writer/director/producer’s work spanned radio, television, film and theatre. Producer-director Gene Reynolds hired him to write the pilot script for M*A*S*H (based on Richard Hooker’s 1968 novel). Gelbart served as executive script consultant and executive producer of the Emmy-winning Korean War sitcom from 1972-76, and also made a contribution by directing several episodes. He also worked and assisted with After M*A*S*H in the 1980’s.

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Just when I thought Ryan Gosling couldn’t get any sexier. Well, he’s in a band now. Not just any band – a duo with his best friend (and sister’s ex-boyfriend) Zach Shields called Dead Man’s Bones featuring, throughout the entire album, the Silverdale Conservatory Children’s Choir.

The result: songs with titles like “My Body is a Zombie for You” (the chorus of which is shouted by the aforementioned children), set to ominous piano-folk and the Roy Orbison-esque voice of Gosling. The mood is something like the Billy the Kid scene from I’m Not There, and if that reference is too obscure, let’s just call it Halloween. In the video for the band’s first single, “In the Room Where You Sleep”, the choir is outfitted in an array of costumes from skeleton to pirate to ghost.

Gosling has clearly gotten into character yet again – he and Shields created their own label, Werewolf Heart, that will release the debut Never Let a Lack of Talent Get You Down this summer. (Werewolf Heart has also taken on upcoming releases from Ima Robot and The Goat.) And just this week, Dead Man’s Bones announced plans for a North American tour in October, with stops in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and will include a local talent show before each performance.

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Tinseltown lost a bit of historic sparkle last night, as Oscar winning actor Paul Newman, died in his home at the age of 83 years old, due to cancer, said a spokesperson from CNN.

Newman, who starred in a variety of popular pieces such as “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, “Exodus”, “Cool Hand Luke”, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, “The Sting” and “The Color of Money” was also well known for his heavy involvement as a philanthropist and received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1994 Oscars.

His food company, “Newman’s Own”, donated all of the company’s after taxes profits to charity, which at the time of his death, is estimated to be more than $200 million over 15 years. Newman was also an avid supporter for “Hole in the Wall Gang Camp”, which he founded with author A.E. Hotchner in 1988. The camp provides camping experiences free-of-charge for children suffering from cancer and other serious illnesses and helps to support their families.

Born January 26th, 1925, Newman’s career as an actor began with a small role in the Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play “Picnic”. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1950’s, after moving to Hollywood from Shaker Heights, Ohio, when he started to land star roles in movies such as his claim to fame, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958).

A slew of classic films would follow in the next decade such as “Sweet Bird of Youth,” “Hud,” and “Cool Hand Luke.”

“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting”, another pair the actor’s prime time performances, would be two films which were among the highest grossing of the era.

However, after 20 years in the industry and receiving seven Oscar nominations, the actor finally claimed his overdue little gold man in 1986 as Best Actor for his portrayal of “Fast” Eddie Felson in “The Color of Money”.

Newman would go on to rank a total of 10 Oscar nominations throughout his career.