'Free jazz' saxophonist, Pulitzer winner
NEW YORK -- Jazz legend Ornette Coleman, the visionary saxophonist who pioneered "free jazz" and won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007, has died.
Publicist Ken Weinstein said Coleman died Thursday in Manhattan. He was 85.
The Texas-born Coleman was only the second jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize in music when he was honored for his 2006 album Sound Grammar.
Coleman is regarded as one of the greatest innovators in jazz history along with Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. In the late 1950s, he originated "free jazz," challenging the bebop establishment by abandoning the conventional song form and liberating musicians to freely improvise off the melody rather than the underlying chord changes. Coleman broke down the barrier between leader and sidemen, giving his band members freedom to solo, interact and develop their ideas.
In his later years, the jazz revolutionary became a respected elder statesman with the accompanying honors, including membership in the elite American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Grammy lifetime achievement award, even though none of his recordings ever won a Grammy.
But early in his career, Coleman's unconventional playing led him to be rejected by both the public and his fellow musicians who would walk off the stage when he showed up at jam sessions. One bandleader paid him not to solo; others simply fired him. Coleman was told he played out-of-tune and didn't know the basics of jazz improvisation.
British actor, Fagin in 1968 film Oliver!
LONDON -- British actor Ron Moody, best known for playing Fagin in the 1968 film Oliver!, has died. He was 91.
Moody, who received an Oscar nomination for best actor for his signature performance in the Charles Dickens adaptation, died in a hospital Thursday, said his agent, Janet Glass.
The actor, the son of Jewish immigrants, was born Ronald Moodnick in London. He did not start acting until he was studying sociology and psychology at the London School of Economics under a serviceman's grant after serving in the British air force during World War II.
Moody played Fagin in the stage version of the musical Oliver! in the West End and on Broadway before starring in the film. He was forever identified with the role of the miserly Fagin, who led a gang of youthful pickpockets.
Besides snaring an Oscar nomination, Moody won a Golden Globe Best Actor award and a Moscow International Film Festival award for his portrayal of Fagin.
Oliver! brought him worldwide attention and the fame allowed him to develop a long career in TV and film, including a role in the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders. He acted in numerous popular TV series, including The Avengers, Starsky & Hutch and Gunsmoke.
Oscar winner, producer of Rocky films
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Robert Chartoff, the Oscar-winning movie producer behind the boxing classics Rocky and Raging Bull, died Wednesday, associates said. He was 81.
Chartoff died at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., said Lynn Hendee, the president of his company, Chartoff Productions. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
Born in Depression-era New York City, Chartoff had been a movie producer for nearly a decade when he found his career-defining hit in 1976's Rocky, the small-budget movie starring and written by Sylvester Stallone that became a blockbuster and won three Academy Awards including best picture.
Chartoff and his partner Irwin Winkler would go on to produce all seven movies in the Rocky series, including the forthcoming Creed, which is in post-production and due for release later this year.
He kept working into his late 70s and 80s, with his recent credits including 2013's Ender's Game with Harrison Ford and 2014's The Gambler with Mark Wahlberg.
He also produced a different, darker take on boxing in the Martin Scorsese-directed Raging Bull in 1980.
His other credits included 1983's The Right Stuff, which won four Oscars, and 1969's They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, a cult hit starring Jane Fonda.
Metro on 06/12/2015