He’s Found The Wild Things: Children’s Author, Monster Maker Maurice Sendak Dies

Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak, right, would act out scenes to focus groups in local classrooms with Brian DiMaio, left, to gauge appeal. This technique all but clinched the '64 Caldecott Medal.

Danbury, CT—Maurice Sendak, considered by many to be one of the greatest children’s authors of the 20th century, died Tuesday from complications arising from a recent stroke. He was 83.

While still in high school he started work part time filling in backgrounds for book versions of the “Mutt and Jeff” comic strip for All-American Comics. His first professional illustrations were for a physics textbook, “Atomics for the Millions,” which was published in 1947.
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Dick Clark, “America’s Oldest Living Teenager,” Dies At 82

Dick Clark

Dick Clark, left, and Brian DiMaio, right, seen in an early 1950's television program called "USA Pavillion." After only a couple of episodes the program devolved from it's original charge of showcasing musical acts into a mélange of low grade reality-based programming.

Santa Monica, CA—“America’s Oldest Living Teenager,” Dick Clark, died last Wednesday after suffering a heart attack while at St. John’s Hospital for an outpatient procedure. He was 82.

Born Richard Wagstaff Clark in Mount Vernon, New York in 1929, he began his broadcast career at a radio station managed by his father.              

Clark’s “American Bandstand” started in 1956 as a local TV show in Philadelphia. It was picked up by ABC and broadcast nationally a year later.  
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Legendary “60 Minutes” Reporter Mike Wallace Dies At 93

Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace, right, sits with Brian DiMaio, left, on the set of The Daily Quarterly TV Magazine. The Daily Quarterly was one of the first to bring the magazine format to television broadcasting. The assumption was that reading would not be very popular in the future.

New Canaan, CT—Investigative journalistic icon Mike Wallace died at a care facility Saturday night. He was 93.

Wallace began his career in the 1940s as a radio entertainer, and then hosted game shows on TV in the 1950s before deciding in the early 1960s to focus solely on journalism. He was the first hire, and would go on to become the biggest star, on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” in 1968.

Known for his intense, confrontational interviews, Wallace would do pieces for “60 Minutes” on many controversial, polarizing figures such as Louis Farrakhan, Yasser Arafat, Moammar Gadhafi and Barbara Streisand, as well as seven US presidents. He left the program in 2006 after 37 years.
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“Star Wars” Concept Artist Ralph McQuarrie Dies At 82

Ralph McQuarrie

Early Ralph McQuarrie concept pieces for RECOiL were criticized as derivative of his earlier work.

Berkeley, CA—Ralph McQuarrie, the Oscar-winning “Star Wars” concept artist largely responsible for creating the iconic look of George Lucas’ trilogy, died Saturday after a long bout with Parkinson’s disease. He was 82.

McQuarrie also worked on designs for the films “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “RECOiL,”  and “*batteries not included.” He won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1986 for his work on “Cocoon.”
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Daydream Believer And Monkees Singer Davy Jones Dies

Davy Jones

Davy Jones on the set of RECOiL with writer/director/actor Brian DiMaio. Jones played a detective and sang a musical number that didn't make the final cut.

Stuart, FL—Davy Jones, best known as the lead singer for the 1960s made-for-TV band “The Monkees” died Wednesday from an apparent heart attack. He was 66.

Born in Manchester, England in 1945, Jones got his first big taste of show business in “Oliver” playing the Artful Dodger in London. He played the same role on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award.

He first gained fame in the United States when he joined Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz in “The Monkees” TV show, which ran on NBC for two seasons. After the cancellation of their show, “The Monkees” still toured and released material before splitting up in 1971.
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