The End - the Classic Film Obituary thread 2017 [CLOSED]

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hugh-hefner-dead-playboy-founder-sexual-trailblazer-was-91-708796

Hugh Hefner, who parlayed $8,000 in borrowed money in 1953 to create Playboy, the hot-button media empire renowned for a magazine enriched with naked women and intelligent interviews just as revealing, has died. He was 91.

"My father lived an exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer and a leading voice behind some of the most significant social and cultural movements of our time in advocating free speech, civil rights and sexual freedom," read a statement from Hefner's son, Cooper Hefner, chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises.

The company announced that Hefner died in his home at the Playboy Mansion of natural causes on Wednesday.

While most famous for Playboy, the businessman dabbled in all forms of media, including hosting his own TV shows, beginning with Playboy’s Penthouse in the late 1950s and early '60s. Shot in his hometown of Chicago and syndicated, the show featured Hefner in a tuxedo and smoking a pipe surrounded by “playmates” and interviewing such celebrities as Bob Newhart, Don Adams and Sammy Davis Jr.

The show boosted his personal and professional reputation and promoted what eventually became known as the “Playboy Philosophy,” a lifestyle that included politically liberal sensibilities, nonconformity and, of course, sophisticated parties with expensive accouterments and the ever-present possibility for recreational sex – though Hefner maintained he was a relative late bloomer in that department, remaining a virgin until he was 21.

Hefner followed that show with Playboy After Dark, which had a similar format but with more rock 'n’ roll, including appearances by The Grateful Dead, Three Dog Night, Harry Nilsson and Linda Ronstadt. The syndicated Screen Gems show was taped at CBS in Los Angeles and ran for 52 episodes in 1969-70.

Hefner also co-produced hundreds of Playboy-branded videos and a few feature films, such as Roman Polanski’s Macbeth and Monty Python’s first film, And Now for Something Completely Different, both released in 1971. He had been a sought-after guest on TV shows as far back as 1969 when he played a Control agent in an episode of Get Smart, and more recently he appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage and Sex and the City as well as in animated shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Hefner also made cameos in several movies, most recently 2008’s The House Bunny, which told the fictional story of a Playboy “bunny,” played by Anna Faris, who has been kicked out of the Playboy Mansion, the famous real-life, 22,000-square-foot house in Los Angeles where Hefner lived for more than four decades and where he hosted famously decadent parties that attracted celebrities A-list through D.

The house sold for $100 million in August with the provision that Hefner be allowed to live there the rest of his life.

variety.com/2017/tv/people-news/monty-hall-dead-dies-lets-make-a-deal-1202577178/

Monty Hall, who co-created and hosted the game show “Let’s Make A Deal” for nearly 40 years, died of heart failure Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 96.

“Let’s Make a Deal” premiered in 1963 and has been a staple of television ever since.

Hall hosted various game shows and other programs in his early career until he developed “Let’s Make a Deal” with creative partner Stefan Hatos. The show became legendary for encouraging audience members to dress up in outlandish costumes in order to attract Hall’s attention in the hopes of being given the opportunity to win big.

“Deal’s” format revolves around allowing contestants to compete for prizes that they then have the chance to trade up for more valuable prizes albeit with the risk of losing it all with a “zonk,” or a booby prize. Hall famously at the end of each episode tempted contestants with the “Big Deal” option of choosing a prize package hidden behind “Door No. 1, Door No. 2 or Door No. 3.”

Hall and Hatos produced several other game shows under their production company through the 1970s and ’80s. Hall continued to host “Let’s Make a Deal” for nearly 5,000 episodes, as the show traveled from NBC, to ABC, and finally primetime in syndication. The show was revived by CBS for its daytime lineup in 2009 with comedian Wayne Brady as host.

“Deal” became so ingrained in pop culture that it spawned “The Monty Hall Problem,” a thought experiment in probability that involves three doors, two goats, and a prize.

Hall received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1973, and, as a Canadian native, was named to the Order of Canada in 1988.

Born Monte Halparin, he was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in Winnipeg, where he started his career in radio.

He is survived by three children: actress Joanna Gleason, who confirmed his death; TV exec Sharon Hall; and TV producer Richard Hall, in addition to a brother and five grandchildren. His wife Marilyn died in June.

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I was never too crazy about LMAD, but Hall himself had a refreshing sense of humor, as he showed in interviews.

At the height of his fame in the early-to-mid '70s, when he was one of ABC's few stars, he hosted several TV specials as well starring in two funny Odd Couple episodes.