Celebrity Deaths — Singer MICHAEL JACKSON (age 50), and Actress FARRAH FAWCETT (age 62)

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Michael Jackson dies at age 50
-One of the world's most popular and best-selling singers has died

Michael Jackson has died, according to media reports. The 50-year-old King of Pop was rushed to UCLA Medical Center on Thursday afternoon after he stopped breathing in his Los Angles home. Several media outlets later reported that Jackson had died of cardiac arrest.

Representatives for the singer did not immediately comment. Jackson had been busy rehearsing for a high-stakes comeback tour, set to start within weeks in England, with dozens of dates scheduled and tickets selling out quickly. To prepare for the rigors of performing, he was training with Lou Ferrigno, the star of the TV show The Incredible Hulk.

On Thursday afternoon, he collapsed in his home near UCLA and was unresponsive when paramedics arrived, a source says. Paramedics performed CPR, and Jackson was seen with an oxygen mask over his face being hauled on a stretcher to an ambulance, which took him to the hospital just minutes away on campus.

A source revealed Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived. LaToya ran in the hospital sobbing, after Jackson was pronounced dead. Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.

In his 50 years, Jackson went from the cute little singer in his family's group to dazzling headliner and unquestionably the reigning pop star of the '80s to – amid accusations of child molestation – social outcast. The seventh of nine children of Joseph and Katherine Jackson, Michael was born in Gary, Ind., on Aug. 29, 1958, and began his career performing with his brothers. His professional debut with the Jackson 5 came at age 11.

The group set chart records with its first four singles, including "I Want You Back" and "ABC." As a solo artist, Jackson also recorded four studio albums for Motown Records before moving, with his brothers, to Epic Records, where they continued to record as the Jacksons until 1984.

Forming a partnership with producer Quincy Jones after working together on the 1978 movie musical The Wiz – Jackson played a rather sheepish Scarecrow to Diana Ross's Dorothy in this urban adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" – Jackson released his solo album Off the Wall, which he co-produced with Jones. Released in 1979, the disc spawned hits including "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You." His second Epic solo album, 1982's Thriller, is often cited as the best-selling album of all time, with over 46 million copies sold (37 weeks at #1).

Source: PEOPLE Magazine

(also "Michael Jackson Remembered" further below)
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Farrah Fawcett Dies at 62
Charlie's Angels actress Farrah Fawcett has died. She was 62. The five-time Golden Globe-nominated star passed away on Thursday morning at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

Her longtime partner Ryan O'Neal and best friend Alana Stewart were by her bedside when she passed away. Her son Redmond, who is serving a jail sentence for drug charges, was not present.

Born Ferrah Leni Fawcett in Corpus Christi, Texas, the star started out as a model and actress in TV commercials, before getting her big break playing ass-kicking Jill Munroe in the hit TV series Charlie's Angels.

She quit the show after just one year, and attempted to reinvent herself as a serious actress in movies like 1986's big-screen adaptation of Broadway play Extremities and 1984's TV film The Burning Bed. That role, as a battered wife, earned her the first of three Emmy Award nods in her career. She was also praised for her work in Small Sacrifices in 1989, garnering her both an Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination.

Fawcett later went on to make guest appearances in popular TV programs like "Ally McBeal," "Spin City" and "The Guardian". She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995.

The actress was also a popular fashion icon and became a pin-up in the 1970s and '80s, with her tousled hairstyle sparking an international trend. As her career took off in the mid-'70s, she posed in her red bathing suit for a poster, and it sold a staggering 8,000,000 plus copies.

After the poster was released, producers Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg starred her in the Crime/Drama Megahit show "Charlie's Angels" (1976). Farrah received a paycheck for $10,000 an episode, and when it started to take off, Majors wanted her home by 6:30 pm to have dinner on the table. Farrah felt dissatisfied about both her contract and her paycheck.

Then, in 1977, after the first season wrapped, she abruptly left the series. Shortly there after, the departure resulted in a lawsuit with the producers of the series. Finally, she agreed to return to the series in guest spots for six episodes: three in the 1978-79 season, and the other three in the 1979-80 season. (In late 1979, Fawcett and Majors had separated, and, since there was no reconciliation in sight, they were divorced in 1980. Farrah dated 'Ryan O'Neal' from 1980-1997. Then, in 1998, Farrah was severely injured by James Orr, after she had spurned his proposal of marriage.)

Her career wasn't without controversy - she was heavily criticized in 1995 when she agreed to pose nude for men's magazine Playboy, aged 48, despite previously refusing to appear naked in any film or publication. The raunchy spread went on to become the best-selling issue of the 1990s, selling over 4 million copies worldwide, and Fawcett graced its pages again in 1997.

Her love life was rarely out of the limelight either. She wed The Six Million Dollar Man star Lee Majors in 1973, but the couple separated six years later, finalizing their divorce in 1982. That same year, she embarked on a romance with actor Ryan O'Neal. They went on to have a son, Redmond, in 1985, but split in 1997.

Fawcett also dated producer James Orr, but the relationship turned sour in 1998 when he physically abused her after she turned down his marriage proposal. The star has since reunited with O'Neal and enjoyed an on/off relationship.

Fawcett suffered a health setback in October 2006 when she revealed she had been diagnosed with anal cancer. She underwent treatment, including chemotherapy, and the disease appeared to be in remission by her 60th birthday in February 2007.

A statement released at the time read, "This is an extraordinarily happy day for me and my family. I hope that my news might offer some level of inspiration to others who unfortunately must continue to fight the disease."

However, the illness returned just three months later in May, when a malignant polyp was found in the area where she had been treated for anal cancer. She decided to travel to Germany to undergo revolutionary new treatment that has yet to be made available in the U.S.

Fawcett, who turned her battle with cancer into the documentary series A Wing and a Prayer, suffered another health setback in April this year when it emerged the cancer had spread to her liver.

The extent of her illness was discovered during a stay in a Los Angeles hospital in early April as she underwent treatment for complications resulting from an undisclosed medical procedure. The surgery had left her with abdominal bleeding and a hematoma (internal sac of blood), but her doctor Lawrence Pinto insisted the operation was not directly linked to her cancer.

O'Neal recently revealed he had proposed to Fawcett as she fought for her life and that she had accepted, but the couple never made it down the aisle.

It emerged on Wednesday that Fawcett was nearing the end of her cancer battle and had a Catholic priest read her her last rites as family and friends prepared for the worst.

She is survived by O'Neal and their son Redmond, now 24.

Source: IMDB.com News
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FARRAH FAWCETT Detailed Biography
Her swimsuit poster launched a thousand male fantasies. Her feathered locks made curling irons de rigueur for women and kick-started the most pervasive hair trend of the 1970s.

Farrah Fawcett is a true Hollywood success story. A native of Texas, she is the daughter of James Fawcett and Pauline Evans. She was a natural athlete, something that her father encouraged, and she attended a high school with a strong arts program. She attended University of Texas in Austin, graduating with a degree in Microbiology, but only wanted to be an actress. Winning a campus beauty contest got her noticed by an agent, who encouraged her to pursue acting.

After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles and her healthy, all-American blond beauty was immediately noticed. She quickly got roles in various television commercials for such products as Ultra-Brite toothpaste, and Wella Balsam shampoo, and also made appearances in some TV series.

In 1968, she met actor Lee Majors, star of the popular TV series "The Big Valley" (1965), who became very taken with her and also used his own standing to promote her career. In 1970, she won her first major role in the film adaptation of the Gore Vidal novel Myra Breckinridge (1970). The shooting was very unpleasant, with much feuding on the set, and Farrah was embarrassed by the finished film, which was a major failure. But Farrah was undamaged and continued to win roles.

In 1973, she and Majors married, and the following year, she won a recurring role in the television crime series "Harry O" (1973). She had her first taste of major success when she won a supporting role in the science fiction film Logan's Run (1976). She came to the attention to the highly successful producer Aaron Spelling, who was impressed by her beauty and vivacious personality. That won her a role in the TV series "Charlie's Angels" (1976). She played a private investigator who works for a wealthy and mysterious businessman, along with two other glamorous female detectives, played by Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith. The show immediately became the most popular series on television, earning record ratings and a huge audience. All three actresses became very popular, but Farrah became by far the best known. She was America's sweetheart, and found herself on every celebrity magazine and pursued by photographers and fans.

While she enjoyed the success and got along well with her co-stars (both of whom were also of Southern origin), she found the material lightweight. Also, the long hours she worked were beginning to take a toll on her marriage to Majors, who found himself eclipsed by her popularity. So the following year, when the show was at its peak, she left to pursue a movie career. The move drew a negative reaction from many fans. As a result of that and some poor script choices, her career briefly hit a slow spot. In addition, she and Majors separated in 1979.

She had starring roles in Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978), Sunburn (1979), and Saturn 3 (1980) (which she did a brief topless scene in), but all three failed financially. She appeared in the Burt Reynolds chase comedy The Cannonball Run (1981), which was successful financially in spite of bad reviews, but her career benefited very little and she and Majors were drifting apart.

In 1981, she met Ryan O'Neal, a friend of her husband's, and they began became friends and spent a great deal of time together. In 1982, she filed for divorce, which Majors readily agreed to. Soon, she and O'Neal were a couple and moved in together. She made a major comeback when she starred in the searing story of a battered wife in The Burning Bed (1984) (TV), based on a true story. It garnered a very large audience, and critics gave her the best reviews she had ever received for her heartfelt performance. She nominated for both an Emmy and Golden Globe and also became involved in helping organizations for battered women.

The following year, she and O'Neal became the parents of a son, 'Redmond O'Neal'. She tried to continue her momentum with a starring role in Extremities (1986), but while she garnered some positive reviews, the show was not well-received. She continued to seek out serious roles, appearing mainly on television. She scored success again in Small Sacrifices (1989) (TV), again based on a true crime. Portraying an unhappy woman who is so obsessed with the man she loves that she shoots her children to make herself available and disguises it as a carjacking, Farrah again won rave reviews and helped draw a large audience, and was nominated for an Emmy again.

Shortly after-wards, she and O'Neal co-starred in "Good Sports" (1991), playing a couple who co-star in a sports news program, but O'Neil's performance was lambasted and only 9 episodes were aired. In 1995, she surprised her fans by posing for "Playboy" at the age of 48 and it became the magazine's best-selling issue of that decade.

Her relationship with O'Neal was deteriorating, however, and in 1997, they broke up. The breakup took a toll, and at that time she received very bad publicity when she appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) and gave a rambling interview, sparking rumors of drug use. That same year, however, she made another comeback in The Apostle (1997), playing the neglected wife of a Pentacostal preacher, played by Robert Duvall. Both stars were praised and the film became a surprise hit.

She also began dating producer James Orr. But after she turned down his marriage proposal in 1998, he severely beat her and the scandal drew nationwide headlines. She immediately broke off all ties with him and he was charged and sentenced for assault. Embarrassed, she lowered her profile and her career lost momentum, but she continued to work in television and films. She and O'Neal also started seeing each other again, although it didn't last.

In 2004, she received her third Emmy nomination for her performance in The Guardian (2003), but has experienced tragedy since then. In early 2006, she was devastated when her beloved mother died. Later that year, she was diagnosed with cancer and O'Neal, with whom she remains close in spite of their breakup, was diagnosed with leukemia. On February 2, 2007, her 60th birthday, it was revealed that she was now cancer free...

And, now, June 25 2009, Farrah Fawcett, who epitomized the all-American ideal of beauty, has died after a three-year battle with cancer. She was 62. Her spokesman, Paul Bloch, says Fawcett died Thursday morning in a Santa Monica hospital.

Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009)

(courtesy of IMDB.com)
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MICHAEL JACKSON Remembered (USA Today)
On a magical night in 1983, Michael Jackson struck a pose on stage, clasping the black fedora on his head with his white sequined glove. His black jacket and silver vest glittered as white socks showed under his high-water black pants. Then he erupted into a flurry of fluid dance moves in a performance of Billie Jean that would catapult the former child singing sensation into full-blown superstardom.

Probably no celebrity has been as revered and reviled over the past 40 years as Jackson, 50, who died Thursday in Los Angeles, according to the Associate Press. The troubled, reclusive star was rushed to UCLA Medical Center by paramedics responding to a call from his home at about 12:30 p.m.

Jackson had been scheduled next month to begin the first of 50 sold-out concerts at London's O2 Arena, a testament to his enduring popularity with fans around the world, a love affair that reached a peak on that March evening 26 years ago.

The occasion was the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever television special that celebrated a milestone for the legendary label, but it was also a seminal moment for the King of Pop. A then-record 47 million people watched in awe as Jackson unveiled the moonwalk with an electrifying performance. Other Motown greats performed that night and Jackson himself had reunited with brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy for a walk down memory lane with the Jackson 5.

But in that moment, Jackson stood alone in the spotlight, a singular figure riding a wave of popularity rarely seen anywhere. His groundbreaking "Thriller" — still the biggest selling non-greatest hits album of all time — was dominating the charts and Jackson was in the process of reshaping the musical landscape with his videos and celebrity. There were still millions of records to be sold, acclaimed videos to be filmed and record-shattering concert tours to undertaken.

It was also before years of tabloid exposes, bizarre behavior, artistic flops, financial crises, health issues and child sex abuse scandals tarnished his image. His run of triumphs in the 1980s, in addition to "Thriller", included the blockbuster albums "Off the Wall" and "Bad".

Since he first arrived on the scene in 1969 as the cherubic 11-year-old phenom singing I Want You Back with the teen heartthrob J5, Jackson has been at the forefront of pop culture.

The brothers were the eldest sons in a family of nine children born in Gary, Indiana, to steelworker Joe Jackson and his wife, Katherine. The father recognized his sons' talent and molded them into a singing group, one that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

But it was Michael who transformed pop music as a solo act, becoming the first African-American singer to gain mass crossover appeal. The premiere of videos for songs like Beat It, Billie Jean, Thriller, Bad and Smooth Criminal were major events and he helped popularize the then-fledgling MTV. It, in turn, brought him into millions of homes daily.

Thriller won a record eight Grammy Awards in 1984. Virtually every song became a hit single and it changed the industry's thinking about how albums were put together and marketed. It also opened the door for artists to have more creative freedom and higher royalty returns. At the same time, he inspired legions of imitators and a line of dolls and accessories.

He spent his life under the glare of paparazzi flashbulbs, but in recent years, he has more often been the subject of negative news about his eccentricities and personal life. Jackson's seemingly charmed life started to change when a pyrotechnics accident during the filming of a Pepsi ad set his hair afire and burned his scalp. He got outpouring of sympathy after that and won a $1.5 million settlement from Pepsi, which he donated to charity.

But his health also became a public fascination, especially as he began to change his appearance through plastic surgery. He had several nose jobs, his lips thinned, and chin clef put in, among other alterations. Meanwhile, Jackson's brown skin grew progressively lighter, rumored to be the result of skin bleaching, but later diagnosed as vitiligo. The skin disorder causes a loss of pigment.

Jackson himself fueled gossip column by leaking false stories that he slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, reportedly to slow the aging process, or next to the bones of Joseph Merrick, the 19th century Englishman known as "The Elephant Man" because of his congenital deformities.

He addressed many of these issues in his 1988 autobiography, Moonwalk, in which he also revealed that he had been physically abused as a child. That same year, he built his $17 million Neverland Ranch near Santa Ynez, Calif., replete with an amusement park and exotic animals.

And while none of his post-Thriller albums matched its success, 1987's "Bad", 1991's "Dangerous" and 1995's "HIStory" were still commercial successes. Jackson reminded the world again of his power as a artist with an exhilarating halftime performance at 1993's Super Bowl XXVII before a U.S. TV audience of more than 135 million.

But despite such triumphs, curiosity and controversy were his constant companions. Not long after the Super Bowl, he talked abot his troubled childhood, his vitiligo and other tabloid issues in a wrenching 90-minute televised interview with Oprah Winfrey. Later that year, he was accused of sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy. The stress of that situation led Jackson to become addicted to various painkillers and rather than stand trial, he ultimately settled with the boy's family for $22 million.

His reputation never fully recovered, even when he married singer Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, later that year. They kept their Dominican Republic ceremony secret for nearly two months, and had an amicable parting two years later.

Jackson's 82-concert HIStory World Tour in 1996 was seen by 4.5 million fans. It was his biggest ever, and also his last. It was also during the tour that he married Deborah Rowe, a dermatologist nurse with whom he had two children — Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. in 1997, and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson in 1998. They divorced in 1999, with Rowe giving Jackson full custody rights.

Again, this parting proved amicable, but his split with Sony Records—his label since Off The Wall—was anything but. Just before the release of 2001's "Invincible", he accused Sony chief Tommy Mottola of being a racist. It was another commercial success, though short of Jackson's standards.

In 2002, Jackson had a third child, Prince Michael Jackson II, who he claims was conceived via the artificial insemination of an unidentified surrogate mother. The tabloids scandalized him again after he dangled the baby over a hotel room balcony for photographers.

The following year, he was charged with nine felonies relating to the molestation of a 14-year-old. The charges came after a TV documentary, "Living with Michael Jackson", showed him holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with the boy. Jackson was acquitted of all charges at a highly publicized trial five months later and he left the United States to live in Bahrain as a guest of Sheikh Abdullah, a member of the royal family who had paid Jackson's legal fees. Jackson constantly struggled with his finances after the 2003 trial, with news reports describing the 2009/2010 London concerts as a fight to erase his crushing debts.

Relations with Abdullah soured recently, with Jackson reaching a settlement in November in the sheikh's $7 million breach-of-contract suit. He had accused Jackson of reneging on a deal to produce an album, an autobiography and a musical for his 2 Seas Records company. Jackson, who earlier in the year was photographed at a Bahrain shopping mall disguised an Arab woman, moved back to California, living in a rented home near the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills.

In November, Jackson gave up the title to his 2,500-acre Neverland ranch, transferring the deed to a company he partly controls. Jackson had gone into default on the $24.5 million he owes on the property and had faced foreclosure before the real estate investment company Colony Capital bailed him out earlier this year by purchasing his loan.

Jackson's most recent controversy found a spokesperson refuting British tabloid reports that Jackson, who has been seen in a wheelchair and frequently wears a surgical mask on his face, was in dire health suffering from Alpha 1-antitryspsin deficiency, a rare lung disease. The rumors stemmed from an interview given by Ian Halperin, author of an upcoming unauthorized Jackson autobiography.

But despite all of his peccadilloes, Jackson remains a revered figure to those in the record industry. A broad range of pop artists, such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, Akon, Britney Spears, Usher, Justin Timberlake, R.Kelly, Chris Brown, baby sister Janet, and dozens of others cite his influence on their music and even their desire to be entertainers.

Will.i.am, who this year produced three remixes on the celebratory reissue "Thriller 25", explained: "It was the first time a black dude was on MTV. It was the first time you saw things that were happening in the ghettos and kids in the suburbs were copying it. It was like Broadway fused with street performance and his wardrobe was fly. He made it possible to be yourself and be free and just do you."

Jackson is a two-time inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Jackson 5 and solo), a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a 13-time Grammy winner, and has 13 solo No. 1 hits and another four with the Jackson 5. "Thriller" alone sold more than 27 million copies in the USA (over 46 million worldwide).

Whether he was wowing fans as a singing/dancing machine, turning heads with his outlandish wardrobes, or alternately amusing or horrifying everyone with his kooky behavior, Jackson could never, would never be ignored.

The King of Pop was always center stage. And the world was always watching.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Source: USA Today News (June 25, 2009)

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