Fan Fare

Summer ’09: A Hollywood Requiem

Every year in Hollywood when the long, hot days of summer set in, some story comes along to shake up the media, and reporters seem to bite into it like a dog with a bone. Absent anything else going on in town, that story is becomes the tale of Hollywood’s summer.

So far, early in this summer of 2009,  the story has been celebrity deaths. When Karl Malden died yesterday, he was added to a growing list of celebrities who either died after long illnesses or suddenly, topped off by the King of Pop himself Michael Jackson.

When Jackson died last week, fans across the world went into shock and are still waiting news of an official funeral or public memorial.

Also catching fans by surprise was the strange demise of “Kung Fu” actor David Carradine, who was found in the closet of his Bangkok hotel on June 4. A pathologist who oversaw a private autopsy told

Reuters the cause of death was asphyxiation, but so far an official cause has not been released by Thai police.

However, most of the stars who have passed on to that major studio in the sky were in poor health or had a serious illness.

Family, friends gather to mourn Farrah Fawcett

(Writing and Reporting by Laura Isensee)

Family members and friends gathered to mourn 1970s TV star Farrah Fawcett, who died last week after a long battle with cancer. You can read about the memorial service here.

Reporters were not allowed Los Angeles’ Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to witness Fawcett’s memorial, but we were outside to catch the casket being brought into the church, and we talked to a couple of fans outside. Click below to watch.

“SYTYCD” pays tribute to Michael Jackson; Asuka, Jonathan go home

Michael Jackson overshadows Farrah Fawcett on a sad day

Farrah Fawcett had about four hours of headlines to herself on Thursday before Michael Jackson kicked her off the metaphorical front page. And both overshadowed Ed McMahon, who died on Tuesday.

They say celebrity deaths come in threes, but rarely do they come in such close proximity. The cancer-related deaths of former “Tonight Show” sidekick McMahon and former “Charlie’s Angel” Fawcett came as little shock, but Jackson’s was perhaps the most stunning celebrity exit since his friend Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997.

Speaking of the so-called “People’s princess,” whose death basically paralyzed Britain and large parts of the world for weeks, she stole some of the thunder of Mother Teresa, who died five days later. And forget about conductor Georg Solti, who had the misfortune to die on the same day as the saint-in-waiting.

Jackson was pronounced dead at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The former president died on June 5, 2004, and the lengthy mourning period enveloped the death of Ray Charles five days later.

Speaking of presidents, John F. Kennedy was assassinated on the same day in 1963 that “Brave New World” author Aldous Huxley and “Chronicles of Narnia” author C.S. Lewis died. 

A would-be president, Barry Goldwater, died of a stroke in 1998. But people may have been focused on the murder of former “Saturday Night Live” comic Phil Hartman at the hands of his wife the day before.

In 2003, Hollywood old-timers Katharine Hepburn and Buddy Hackett died on the same day. But sometimes, it’s a toss-up who overshadows whom. British rocker Marc Bolan of T. Rex was killed in a 1977 car crash on the same day that opera diva Maria Callas died of a heart attack.

UPDATE – Farrah Fawcett cancer special a ratings hit for NBC

  Farrah Fawcett’s farewell message to the American public drew 8.9 million TV viewers on Friday, according to NBC, and a flood of comments on this site, many of them from well-wishers asking where they could send messages of support to the actress.

  For all those who asked and any others, we came up with an email address where such messages can be sent and hopefully passed onto Fawcett.

   The address is  inquiries@rogersandcowan.com   and if  there’s enough response maybe someone will set up a more public site where fans of Fawcett and those touched by her story can post their thoughts.

  “Farrah’s Story,” in which the former “Charlie’s Angels” actress shares the grim details of her losing battle with anal cancer, ranked as the night’s second most-watched program. Over at CBS, “Numbers” drew 9.6 million viewers. 

The two-hour special was NBC’s top entry in the time period, excluding Olympics, in more than a year, the network said, citing data from Nielsen Media Research. A week ago, a “Dateline” installment averaged 5.2 million viewers in the same 9-11 p.m. slot. 

Final data for the week ended May 17 will be released on Tuesday. If the previous week’s data are any guide, “Farrah’s Story” will rank somewhere in the 40s. Still, the show aired on a Friday, which trails only Saturday as the least-watched night on TV, according to Nielsen data for summer 2008. 

The show drew mixed critical reactions. The New York Times described it as “awful” and “exploitative.” Entertainment Weekly said it was “sometimes almost unbearable, sometimes fascinating.”   Fawcett, 62, narrates much of the film herself. It chronicles the highs and the lows of her numerous medical treatments since her 2006 cancer diagnosis, and the recent weeks when she has been bedridden, heavily medicated and barely able to recognize her son.