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Monday, March 30, 2020

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from March 22nd to 31st, 2020 - Update #32

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 and Hollywood and Beyond:

From YahooNews:  Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.

From Deadline:  The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.

From TheNewYorker:  The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.

From YahooSports:  The 2020 Tokyo Olympics has been moved to 2021 due to COVID-19 and will take place form July 23, 2021 to August 8, 2021

From Variety:  Grammy Award-winner and country music recording artist, Joe Diffe, has died of COVID-19-related complications.  Diffe was known for his string of 1990s country song hits, including "Pickup Man" and "John Deere Green."  Diffe was 61.

From CBSNews:  CBS has announced that former CBS executive and journalist, Maria Mercader, has died of COVID-related complications.

From YahooSports:  Former NFL wide receiver (Denver Broncos) and collegiate football and track and field star (LSU), Orlando McDaniel, has died of COVID-19.

From NYDailyNews:  The Fox Business News network has parted ways with Trish Regan, host of "Trish Regan Primetime."  Regan was one reportedly one of Fox's most aggressive coronavirus conspiracy theorists.

From YahooNews:  The prime minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, has tested positive for COVID-19.

From TheDailyBeast:  Iconic rapper, Scarface, of the iconic rap group, "Geto Boys," says that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

From YahooEntertainment:  Veteran character actor, Mark Blum (the TV series "You"), has died at the age of 69 from complications of COVID-19.

From YahooEntertainmentJosh Wallwork, a 45-year-old crew member on NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," has died from COVID-19-related complications.

From YahooNews:   Britain's Prince Charles has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.

From YahooSports:  Pro basketball player, Karl-Anthony Towns (the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves) has revealed that his mother has been placed in a medically induced coma because of "lung problems" due to COVID-19.

From Deadline:  Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally has died of complications due to COVID-19.

From VarietyDavid Bryan, the keyboardist for and founding member of the Grammy-winning rock band, "Bon Jovi," has tested positive for COVID-19.  Bryan is also a Tony Award-winning composer for his work on the musical, "Memphis" (2003).

From BleacherReport:  Thursday morning (March 19th), NFL coach, Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints, told ESPN that he had tested positive for COVID-19.  He gave NBC Sports' Peter King an update on his condition.

From NiagaraGazette:  Oscar-winning film producer and newly minted convict, Harvey Weinstein, is one of two prisoners at Wende Correctional Facility in Western New York state who has tested positive COVID-19.

From THR:  Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo has said that he has tested positive for COVID-16.

From YahooNewsSenator Rand Paul, Republican from Kentucky, becomes the first known U.S. senator to test positive for COVID-19.

MOVIE NEWS:

From Deadline:  MGM is all over the film rights to the science fiction novel, "The Hail Mary," from author Andy Weir ("The Martian").  Ryan Gosling is set to star in and produce the film.

From Variety:  Sony will give its recent smash hit, "Bad Boys for Life," an early digital release, March 31st, with a Blu-ray/DVD release of April 21st.

From VarietyWoody Allen's memoir, "Apropos of Nothing," was released today (Monday, March 23rd) by a new publisher, Arcade Publishing, with little fanfare.  The books previous publisher, Hachette Book Group, after some of its employees staged a walkout.

TELEVISION NEWS:

From Deadline:   The U.S. Supreme Court sides with Comcast over Byron Allen in Allen's lawsuit against the cable gaint.  In a unanimous decision, the court send the case back to a lower court where Allen must prove "but for."  According to the courts ruling, “a plaintiff must initially plead and ultimately prove that, but for race, it would not have suffered the loss of a legally protected right.”

STREAMING NEWS:

From Variety:  Netflix and director Ava DuVernay have won a dismissal of a defamation lawsuit brought against them over their "Central Park Five" TV series, "When They See Us."

From YahooEntertainment:  Oscar-nominated actor Jonah Hill says that no one has seen his best performance ever, in a film entitled "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot."

OBITS:

From NBCNews:  Civil Rights icon and leader, Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, has died at the age of 98, Friday, March 27, 2020.  Lowery founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. Martin Luther King.  A dean of the Civil Rights movement, Rev. Lowery delivered the benediction at the President Barack Obama's inaugaration in 2009, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama later that same year.

From SoapOperaDigest:  The soap opera actor, John Callahan, has died at the age of 66, Saturday, March 28, 2020.  He appeared in several daytime soaps, but is best known for the role of "Edmund Grey" on "All My Children" (ABC) from 1992 to 2005

From THR:  Harlem Globetrotters legend, Fred "Curly" Neal, has died at the age of 77, Thursday, March 26, 2020.  Neal, known as a wizard of dribbling the basketball, was a member of the Globetrotters during their "golden age" in the 1970s and 1980s.  With the Globetrotters, Neal appeared on several TV series.  Curly was animated character in two Globetrotter Saturday morning cartoon series, as well as appearing on three episodes of animated "The New Scooby-Doo Movies."

From Variety:  Writer-director, Stuart Gordon, has died at the age of 72, Tuesday, March 24, 2020.  Gordon's best known films were "Re-Animator" (1985) and "From Beyond" (1985), which were both adapted from stories by the great horror writer, H.P. Lovecraft.  Gordon was one of the creators of Disney's "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" franchise, and he was also a writer and director of live theatre.

From THR:  Playwright Terrence McNally has died at the age of 81, March 24, 2020.  McNally won four Tony Awards and also a Tony Lifetime Achievement Award.  He is known for writing plays such as "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" (1982), "Love! Valour! Compassion!" (1994), and "Master Class" (1995).  His work in musical theatre includes "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1992) and "Ragtime" (1996).

From Variety:  The singer and musician, Eric Weissberg, has died at the age of 80, Sunday, March 22, 2020.  Weissberg was best known as a banjo player, and his most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in "Dueling Banjos," which was used as the theme of the infamous 1972 film, "Deliverance."

From CNN:  Pop and country music singer and actor, Kenny Rogers, has died at the age of 81, Friday, March 20, 2020.  He was one of the best-selling recording artists and his career spanned several genres.  Hew was a three-time Grammy Award winner and had numerous hits, including his signature song, "The Gambler" (1978).  The song inspired a series of hit films starring Rogers, beginning with 1980s' "Kenny Rogers as The Gambler."

From RollingStone:  Rob Sheffield lists what he thinks are the late Kenny Rogers' best moments, with video links included.



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