Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — The first Oscars of the year have been presented at the Scientific and Technical Awards, the motion picture academy’s annual celebration of the geeks and gizmos that make movie magic. Oscar winners at the Saturday night gala included Douglas Trumbull, the visual-effects master behind such pioneering works as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Blade Runner. Trumbull, 69, was honored for his long career of technological contributions to film making, including his latest wizardry in the Brad Pitt-Terrence Malick drama The Tree of Life, which featured grand images of the cosmos and the age of dinosaurs. Trumbull emphasized to the audience that his inventive film work continues, including a system of new digital technologies - higher frame rates, brighter projection, bigger and better screens - to enhance the movie going experience. He said it was time Hollywood started making films best viewed in theaters so people will say, “‘I want to go out to the movies tonight because it’s so cool and it’s so big, it’s so grand and so spectacular.’”

The family of actor John Dye, whose career included the role of Andrew, the angel of death, in the long-running television series Touched by an Angel, has donated some of his memorabilia to the Amory Regional Museum in Amory, Miss. John Dye was found dead at his San Francisco home in January of 2011. The 47-year-old Dye was a native of Amory. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that his parents, Jim and Lynn Dye of Amory, donated a collection that contains jackets, tote bags, movies, photos of Dye with famous people, shooting schedules, videotapes of television shows he was in, notes and other items from the first episode of Touched by an Angel that he directed. “This is a very nice gift from the Dye family,” said Bo Miller, museum director. “It is quite an extensive collection.” There are so many items that they cannot be displayed at one time. Miller said they would probably switch the display about once a year. There are extras such as a never worn crew jacket with price tags still on it, and 10 new Touched by an Angel T-shirts. Miller said these items will be sold on eBay to raise money for the museum. Also, DVDs from the show will also be sold to raise funds for the museum.