The world according to Dan.

Marie Fredriksson of Roxette dies at 61

Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson has died aged 61.

With bandmate Per Gessle, she achieved enormous success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the Swedish duo scored four number one singles in the US charts, including two (‘The Look’ and ‘Listen to Your Heart’) from Roxette’s second album Look Sharp!

The hits continued well into the late nineties (‘Wish I Could Fly’ was their last top 40 single in the UK in 1999) but sadly Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2002, although she recovered enough to return to touring with Roxette from around 2008 and the band released their last album Good Karma in 2016.

On Doctors advice Marie didn’t tour that record and unfortunately the cancer returned. In a moving statement posted on the Roxette website Per Gessle described Marie as “an outstanding musician, a master of the voice, an amazing performer.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers Announce the Return of Guitarist John Frusciante

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are in a bittersweet transitional period, but fans are thrilled to hear that a familiar face will be coming back into the fold in the not-so-distant future.

On Sunday (Dec. 15), the Angeleno rock act announced that Josh Klinghoffer, the guitarist who’s been playing in the group for the last decade, will no longer be rounding out their quartet. In a statement posted to Instagram, the band writes that they’re “parting ways” with Klinghoffer — who plays on two RHCP albums, 2011’s I’m with You and 2016’s The Getaway — and that they’re “grateful for our time with him, and the countless gifts he shared with us.”

The silver lining: Klinghoffer’s place will be filled by John Frusciante, who joined the band following the death of original guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988 through 1992, and again from 1998-2009. These periods correspond with some of the most significant stretches of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ history, with Frusciante appearing on 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magic, their mainstream breakthrough, and 1999’s Californication, which earned RHCP a Grammy for best rock song with the LP’s single, “Scar Tissue,” in 2000.

Frusciante’s career is dotted with prolific solo work in rock and electronic, with 14 studio albums to his name, as well as collaborations with the Mars Volta and other artists.

Actor Danny Aiello of Moonstruck, Do The Right Thing, dead at 86

Danny Aiello, the blue-collar character actor whose long career playing tough guys included roles in Fort Apache, the Bronx, Moonstruck and Once Upon a Time in America and his Oscar-nominated performance as a pizza man in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, has died. He was 86.

Aiello died Thursday night after a brief illness, said his publicist, Tracey Miller, who runs Tracey Miller & Associates. “The family asks for privacy at this time,” she said in a statement.

In a tweet, Cher mourned the man she called “a genius comedic actor.” The two had starred in Moonstruck and she called it “one of the happiest times in my life.” Actor Michael Rapaport tweeted that Aiello was a “huge inspiration” and actor Kirk Acevedo mourned: “We lost a great actor today.”

Recognizable, if not famous, for his burly build and husky voice, he was an ex-union president who broke into acting in his 30s and remained a dependable player for decades, whether vicious or cuddly or some of each.

His breakthrough, ironically, was as the hapless lover dumped by Cher in Norman Jewison’s hit comedy Moonstruck. His disillusion contributed to the laughter, and although he wasn’t nominated for a supporting-role Oscar (Cher and Olympia Dukakis won in their categories), Aiello was inundated with movie offers.

“Living in New York City gave me training for any role,” he said in a 1997 interview. “I’ve seen people killed, knifed. I’ve got scars on my face. I have emotional recall when I work; the idea is simply to recreate it. I’ve seen it and experienced it. I’ve played gangsters, teachers but most of my work has been in the police area. And for that I’m adored by the police in New York City.”

The ebullient Aiello became a favourite of several directors, among them Woody Allen, who used him in the Broadway play The Floating Light Globe and the movies Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Radio Days.

Lee was another admirer and for Do the Right Thing cast Aiello as a pizzeria operator in a black neighbourhood of Brooklyn, the movie climaxing with a riot that destroys his eatery. “This is my pizzeria!” he cried. Lee had first offered the role to Robert De Niro, but Aiello’s performance brought him an Oscar nomination for supporting actor.

Among his other movies: Fort Apache, the Bronx (as a cop who threw a boy from a building), Once Upon a Time in America, Harlem Nights, Jack Ruby (as Ruby) and City Hall. He also appeared in TV miniseries, including The Last Don, A Woman Named Jackie and in the 1985-86 police series Lady Blue. It was Aiello who played Madonna’s father in the pop icon’s Papa Don’t Preach video.

A child of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood, Aiello retained the pugnacity he learned on city streets.

“During the early times in my acting career, I would fight at the drop of a hat,” he said in 1985. “I was very hungry. If there were obstacles, I tried to remove them.” He added that sometimes he engaged in fist fights with actors after work because of incidents during filming or rehearsals.

Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. was born June 20, 1933, to Italian parents. His father, a labourer, left the family of seven children, and Daniel started working at age nine, selling newspapers, working in a grocery store and bowling alley, shining shoes and loading trucks. In his teenage years, he joined a street gang and, he claimed, engaged in burglary and safe-cracking. He dropped out of high school before graduating, got married in 1955 and joined the Army.

After three years in the service, he worked at several factory jobs, landing as a baggage man at Greyhound. The ambitious Aiello rose to become president of the transit union.

“I wanted to become a politician,” he told a reporter in 1995. “I always thought that I could talk, that people liked me, that I can represent them.” But when Greyhound accused him of starting a wildcat strike and the union leaders agreed, Aiello quit his job.

He worked at one job after another, and in 1970 was hired as a bouncer at the New York comedy club, Improvisation. One night, he was asked to act as an assistant emcee. “It was no big deal; it was just ‘Danny, go up and announce the acts,'” he recalled in 1997. “There was a little bantering between acts, and I kept that short. I was terrified.”

Yet Aiello soon branched out, playing small roles in the movies Bang the Drum Slowly and The Godfather, Part II, and as the bartender lead in a musical play Lamppost Reunion. Starting in 1980 he averaged three films a year, plus appearances in theater and television. Off-Broadway, he appeared in The Shoemaker in 2011.

Aiello and his wife of more than 60 years, Sandy, lived in Ramsey, New Jersey. He also is survived by three children and 10 grandchildren: Rick, Jamie and Stacy. A fourth son, stuntman and stunt co-ordinator Danny Aiello III, died in May 2010 of pancreatic cancer.

Sesame Street legend Caroll Spinney, who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, dies at 85

Legendary puppeteer Caroll Spinney, who brought to life Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, has died at the age of 85. Sesame Workshop confirmed the news on Sunday morning, saying Spinney had been living with the movement disorder Dystonia for some time.

“Caroll was an artistic genius whose kind and loving view of the world helped shape and define Sesame Street from its earliest days in 1969 through five decades, and his legacy here at Sesame Workshop and in the cultural firmament will be unending,” Sesame Workshop wrote in a statement.

“His enormous talent and outsized heart were perfectly suited to playing the larger-than-life yellow bird who brought joy to generations of children and countless fans of all ages around the world, and his lovably cantankerous grouch gave us all permission to be cranky once in a while.”

In addition to Sesame Street, Spinney voiced Big Bird in 1979’s The Muppet Movie, Oscar the Grouch in 1981’s The Great Muppet Caper, and both beloved characters in 1985’s Follow That Bird.

Spinney received four Daytime Emmy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on Sesame Street, and two Grammy Awards for related recordings. He was also named a Library of Congress Living Legend in 2000.

As Spinney’s condition caused him greater discomfort, he handed over Big Bird duties to his apprentice Matt Vogel in 2015 before fully retiring from voice acting completely in 2018. That’s the same year Eric Jacobson was tasked with taking over the role of Oscar the Grouch.

“Through his legendary work as the world’s best-known, most lovable yellow bird, Caroll left an indelible mark on public television, and he touched the hearts and minds of countless children,” PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger wrote in a statement. “We are so very grateful for the inspiration, compassion and good humor that he brought to PBS audiences throughout his extraordinary career on SESAME STREET. He will be deeply missed.”

The official Muppets Twitter account also posted a message following the news of Spinney’s death, tweeting, “Whether as a Big Bird filled with wonder or a grouch named Oscar filled with complaints, Caroll Spinney filled all of our lives with joy, laughter and learning. Forever in our hearts.”

Spinney leaves behind his wife Debra, his children, grandchildren, and a legacy of laughs via the characters he portrayed with great humor and creativity for so much of his life.

René Auberjonois, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Boston Legal actor, dies at 79

Actor René Auberjonois, known for his roles on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Boston Legal, died on Sunday at age 79.

His son, Remy Auberjonois, confirmed to EW that the actor died today of lung cancer. Associated Press first reported the news.

Auberjonois was famous for playing Odo, a Changeling and chief of security for the titular space station in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He played the character for 173 episodes from 1993-99.

The actor also held significant roles on series like the dramedy Boston Legal, on which he played lawyer Paul Lewiston from 2004-08, and the sitcom Benson, portraying the snooty Clayton Endicott III from 1980-86.

Auberjonois also guest-starred on numerous classic TV programs like The Jeffersons, The Bob Newhart Show, Rhoda, Frasier, and more. His last TV role was a 2016 arc as Walter Nowack on Madam Secretary. Auberjonois was also a prolific voice actor, with parts in projects like The Legend of Tarzan, Justice League, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and even 1989’s The Little Mermaid, as the singing French chef.

He also appeared in films, including five with director Robert Altman. Their first collaboration was 1970’s M*A*S*H, followed by movies like The Player starring Tim Robbins and McCabe & Mrs. Miller with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. His last film appearance was in First Cow, directed by Kelly Reichardt, due out in 2020.

Born in 1940 in New York City, Auberjonois came from a creative family. He shared his name with his grandfather, a Swiss painter, and his father was writer Fernand Auberjonois. He grew up in Paris as well as upstate New York and later studied theater at Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating, Auberjonois acted in theater productions and won a Tony Award for the Katharine Hepburn-led Coco in 1969.

He was nominated for three other Tonys for The Good Doctor, Big River, and City of Angels. For his TV work, the actor nabbed Emmy nods for Benson and The Practice.

He is survived by his wife and two children.

Fans and fellow performers have mourned Auberjonois’ passing on social media.

“This is a terrible loss. Star Trek fans knew him as Odo from Deep Space Nine. We knew him as René,” fellow Star Trek actor George Takei tweeted. “He was a wonderful, caring, and intelligent man. He shall be missed. When I look out to the stars, I shall think of you, friend.”

Armin Shimerman, Auberjonois’ Deep Space Nine costar, wrote that “the world seems noticeably emptier now. I loved him.”