LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Vidal Sassoon, hair stylist and fashion world icon who created a natural look in the 1960s and built a multi-million dollar business on his name, has died of apparent natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. He was 84.

The British stylist’s scissors spelled the end of the 1950s-era beehive and the bouffant – untouchable hairstyles that owed their existence to lacquer and hair pins – and brought him international fame and fortune.

Sassoon was dubbed a pioneer by many for coming up with so-called wash and wear looks – liberating many women from weekly salon trips to have their hair done.

But as much as he was a genius in the salon, Sassoon was a whiz in business. He began marketing his name, styles and cutting techniques in a worldwide line of beauty salons, hair-cutting schools and later, related lines of hair products.

Still, Sassoon never felt the profession that he put at the forefront of modern fashion received the respect it was owed.

“Hairdressing in general hasn’t been given the kudos it deserves,” Sassoon told Reuters in 2010. “It’s not recognized by enough people as a worthy craft.”

“If you get hold of a head of hair on somebody you’ve never seen before, cut beautiful shapes, cut beautiful architectural angles and she walks out looking so different – I think that’s masterful,” he said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Adam Yauch, a founding member of pioneering hip-hop group the Beastie Boys who captivated fans with their brash style in early hits like “Fight for Your Right (To Party)”, died on Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was 47.

“It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam “MCA” Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys … passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer,” said a statement posted on the band’s website.

In July 2009, Yauch disclosed that he had been diagnosed with a tumor in his left salivary gland and lymph node, and he later underwent surgery and sought medical treatment in Tibet, among places. In October of that year, he said he was “feeling healthy, strong and hopeful” that he had beaten the disease.

But as recently as last month, it was apparent the Beastie Boys’ bassist was very ill as he was forced to miss his group’s introduction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Yauch, who went by the stage name MCA, founded the Beastie Boys with his two friends, Michael Diamond (Mike D) and Adam Horovitz (Adrock). In the rap genre that was dominated by African American acts, the Beasties stood out for their ethnicity – three white Jewish kids from Brooklyn, New York.

They formed initially as a punk-rock band following that 1970s music movement, but soon switched to rap as it gained prominence on the street and in underground clubs in the early 1980s. Their breakout album was 1986′s “Licensed to Ill,” which featured the hit “Fight for Your Right (To Party).”

The Beasties would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four No. 1 albums and win three Grammys.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – In the late 1980s, Fred Savage burst onto U.S. television screens as plucky grade school kid Kevin Arnold in “The Wonder Years” becoming a bona fide star and Emmy award nominee.

Unlike many kids who find stardom early, Savage kept a cool head when it came to fame. He stayed away from Hollywood’s party scene, went to Stanford and returned not so much an actor as a director and producer. The kid had matured.

Savage, now 35-years-old, debuts a new TV sitcom, “best friends forever,” on Wednesday on NBC telling of a New York woman in her early 30s (Lennon Parham) whose best friend and former roommate (Jessica St. Clair) gets divorced and moves back into their old apartment, which she now shares with her boyfriend (Luka Jones).

Savage, the show’s director and executive producer, spoke with Reuters about his new show and life outside the acting spotlight.

Q: You’re the executive producer and the director which leads me to think you’re pretty closely involved with the show, but was it your creation?

A: “It’s very much Lennon and Jess’s baby. They came up with the idea … I met with them, and I felt very connected to the material. I had experienced all those things. My wife has an incredibly close best friend. When I was coming into our relationship, I was the interloper. I was the new guy, so I really identified with (the boyfriend). You love this woman and you have to learn how to love everybody who comes with her if you want your relationship to succeed.”

Q: And how did you adjust to your own, new life?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood showed some love for its history at the Oscars on Sunday, giving its best film award and four others to silent movie “The Artist” in a ceremony that recalled why cinema is special to so many people.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also gave Oscars to Meryl Streep playing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady,” marking Streep’s third Academy Award in 17 nominations, and veteran Christopher Plummer made history by becoming the oldest winner ever at age 82 with his role as an elderly gay man in “Beginners.”

But it was the “The Artist,” a French movie that has been called a love letter to old Hollywood by its makers, that charmed Oscar voters. Made in the style of old silents, it tells a romantic story of a fading star in the era when silent movies were overtaken by talkies.

“The Artist” collected Oscars for its star Jean Dujardin and director Michel Hazanavicius, as well as for musical score and costume design.

“I am the happiest director in the world right now. Thank you for that,” Hazanavicius told the audience of stars including George Clooney, Michelle Williams, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and members of the Academy.

Dujardin was equally excited, exclaiming “I love this country” before thanking the Academy, the film’s makers and his wife, and calling silent actor Douglas Fairbanks an inspiration.

Streep’s victory surprised Oscar pundits who thought Viola Davis would win the Academy Award with her portrayal of a black maid in a southern white home in civil rights drama “The Help.”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The curtain rose on Hollywood’s Oscars on Sunday with host Billy Crystal playing the crowd for laughs, actresses stunning their fans in dazzling gowns and Octavia Spencer winning the first major award for supporting actress in “The Help.”

Director Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo,” which tells of a boy lost in a train station and also serves as an ode to the early days of filmmaking, came into the night with 11 nominations and picked up two early wins for cinematography and art direction.

Silent movie romance “The Artist” was close behind with 10 nominations and nabbed one early Oscar for costume design, while “The Iron Lady,” which starred Meryl Streep as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher won for makeup. The foreign language film award went to Iran’s divorce drama “A Separation.”

But it was Spencer who was the night’s first major winner in her role as a black maid in civil rights drama “The Help,” and she earned a standing ovation.

“Thank you Academy for putting me with the hottest guy in the room,” she said holding her Oscar in her hand. She then went on to talk about her family in Alabama and could not hold back her tears as she joyously accepted her trophy.

Crystal, who returned to emcee the show for the ninth time, had the crowd of A-list Hollywood stars including George Clooney, Michelle Williams, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt laughing loudly with an opening video in which he was edited into the year’s top movies including silent film “The Artist.”

He was kissed by George Clooney on the lips in a scene out of “The Descendants” and even ate a tainted pie from “The Help.” He opened with a monologue in which he joked: “there’s nothing like watching a bunch of millionaires present each other with golden statues” and sang a song about the movies that drew a loud round of applause.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood’s biggest fashion parade, the red carpet outside the Oscars, began heating up on Sunday afternoon ahead of the world’s top film awards where silent movie “The Artist” is widely seen as the choice for best movie.

Early arrivals included “Artist” actress Berenice Bejo, who is nominated in a supporting role, in a mint green dress, “The Help” star Jessica Chastain in a stunning black gown embroidered in gold and “Descendants” actress Shailene Woodley in white.

Fans who had waited all day lined the red carpet in stadium seats to cheer their favorite stars including George Clooney and his girlfriend, Stacy Keibler. Photographers snapped thousands of pictures and television cameras rolled.

Tim Gunn, co-host of popular fashion TV show “Project Runway,” called the Oscars’ red carpet, “the runway to end all runways.”

But it is later in the evening that the action really begins when comedian Billy Crystal, who returns as Oscar host for the ninth time, takes the stage and the awards begin to flow.

This year, “The Artist,” a tale of old Hollywood that sees a fading star find redemption through the love of a woman just as silent movies are being taken over by talkies, is widely picked to take home best film by most industry pundits.

It comes into the night with 10 nominations, second only to Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” with 11. But most of the nods for “Hugo” are in technical categories like cinematography, whereas “The Artist” nominations are spread across several categories.

LOS ANGELES, Feb 26 (Reuters) – After the curtain rises on Sunday’s Oscars, producers hope a few surprise winners and heartfelt acceptance speeches will spice up the program in which silent movie “The Artist” is widely seen as the choice for best movie.

The world’s top film honors are in jeopardy of losing their status as the second most-watched TV event in the United States behind professional football’s Super Bowl if the show can’t lure more than 40 million viewers, which could be difficult.

Producers have brought back popular host Billy Crystal to provide laughter, but the best solution for a lively TV awards program, sponsors at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences say, is a group of surprise winners or ones who give genuinely emotional or rousing acceptance speeches.

“Be memorable, and you will be remembered,” co-producer Don Mischer told nominees at a recent luncheon.

It’s hard to forget 73-year-old Jack Palance doing one-arm pushups on the Oscar stage after winning best supporting actor for 1991′s “City Slickers,” or more recently the heartfelt speech by writers Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of best song winner “Falling Slowly” from 2007 film, “Once.”

The Oscars need a few surprises because silent movie romance “The Artist,” while critically lauded, has generated only around $30 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices, and the Oscars generally enjoy larger TV audiences when popular hits like “Avatar” are in the hunt for best movie.

The show annually is the second most-watched program on U.S. TV behind professional football’s Super Bowl, but this year’s Grammy Awards, music’s top honors, lured 40 million viewers the night after Whitney Houston’s death and could easily surpass the Oscars, which only twice since 2002 has had a larger audience.

LOS ANGELES, Feb 26 (Reuters) – When the curtain comes up on Sunday’s Oscars in Hollywood, producers of the movie awards show will be less worried about who wins which trophy than they will be about how many people tune-in on television.

The world’s top film honors are in jeopardy of losing their status as the second most-watched TV event in the United States behind professional football’s Super Bowl if they can’t lure more than 40 million viewers, which will be difficult given that silent movie “The Artist” is this year’s big picture.

The Grammys lured an audience of 39.9 million to TV earlier this month, one day after Whitney Houston died. That was the Grammys biggest audience since 1984 and well over the 26 million who tuned in to the music industry’s top honors last year. If the Oscars can’t beat 40 million, they will drop to No. 3.

Only twice since 2002 have the Oscars, which are given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, drawn an audience over 40 million, and that happened in years when two major blockbusters, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and “Avatar,” competed for best film.

This year, the expected big winner is black-and-white, silent movie “The Artist,” which is picked to take home best film by most industry pundits and comes into the night with 10 nominations, second only to Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” with 11.

“It’s unbeatable,” Dave Karger, movie writer for Entertainment Weekly magazine, told Reuters about “The Artist.” And that is a problem for the academy and the ABC TV network that airs the program because typically more viewers tune in when major box office hits compete for awards.

French film “The Artist” has wowed critics with its tale of a Hollywood star in the era of silent movies whose career is fading just as talkies are taking over the industry. However, the romance has failed to draw huge numbers to box offices with only about $30 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales.

SANTA MONICA, California (Reuters) – Silent movie romance “The Artist” on Saturday won four Independent Spirit Awards, the year’s top honors among movies made outside Hollywood’s major studios, including best film and director in a prelude to the Oscars.

“The Artist,” a black-and-white movie from French writer and director Michel Hazanavicius, also picked up Spirit Awards for its star Jean Dujardin, who portrays an actor whose career collapses with the advent of the talkies, in the best actor category and Guillame Schiffman for cinematography.

The film’s makers arrived in Los Angeles directly from Friday’s Cesar honors in France, and had to be brought to the Spirit Awards from the airport with a police escort. But they shrugged off any jet lag to happily accept their awards.

“Physically it’s tiring, but the energy is so good you don’t really feel tired,” Hazanavicius told reporters backstage about the current awards season in Hollywood and around the world.

About Sunday’s Academy Awards, the world’s top film honors, he admitted a touch of “stage fright … (An Oscar) is something that we have had in our eyes for a long time, so I can’t say I’m super cool.

“But today, this is important too,” Hazanavicius added, pointing to his Spirit Award. “This means a lot because it (‘The Artist’) is a small movie. It’s not expensive.”

The nearest rival to “The Artist” for Spirit Awards was family drama “The Descendants,” which claimed two honors: best screenplay for Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash; and best supporting actress for Shailene Woodley.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – When the curtain rises on the Oscars this Sunday, nervous anticipation will, as usual, fill the theater at the world’s top film awards, but this year movie fans can relax.

After years of trying to jazz up the Academy Awards with flashy, hip hosts, emcee Billy Crystal is returning for a ninth time in 2012, bringing what Oscar watchers say is a level of predictability and comfort to the show.

Frontrunner films — silent romance “The Artist,” civil rights story “The Help” and drama “The Descendants” among them — bring familiarity, comedy, love, humanity and a triumph of spirit that contrasts to recent years of darker, best film winners such as “The Hurt Locker” or “No Country for Old Men.”

This year could even see some history-making events in acting categories.

It seems Oscar voters took a lesson from last year’s winner, feel-good film “The King’s Speech,” or maybe from audiences who at box offices have favored escapist fare like “Avatar” over tales of woe and war amid the gloomy economy and world conflict.

Whatever the reason, voters at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences appear in sync with movie fans’ appetite for entertainment, and there is no one better suited to celebrate Hollywood than Crystal, the 63-year-old comic and star of 1980s and 1990s films like “When Harry Met Sally” and “City Slickers.”

“Billy is the emcee version of comfort food, tasty and familiar, but not very spicy” said Entertainment Weekly movie writer Dave Karger.