John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images(PARIS) — Academy Award-winning actress Olivia de Havilland, who was the last surviving star of Gone with the Wind, has passed away at the age of 104.
Her publicist confirms to ABC News that de Havilland died peacefully from natural causes on July 26 at her home in Paris, France.
De Havilland was best known for playing the role of Melanie “Mellie” Hamilton in 1939’s Gone with the Wind — a role that her younger sister Joan Fontaine had reportedly turned down and had suggested go to de Havilland instead.
De Havilland won two Oscars, for 1946’s To Each His Own and 1949’s The Heiress, making her and her sister Fontaine the only siblings to have won lead acting Academy Awards. The reported rivalry between the sisters, born 15 months apart, was considered something of Hollywood legend.
Olivia Mary de Havilland was born July 1, 1916, in Tokyo to British parents. Her parents, Lilian Augusta, a former actress, and Walter Augustus de Havilland, an English professor and patent attorney, divorced when de Havilland was three, and she moved with her mother and sister to Los Angeles.
Both sisters expressed an interest in acting but de Havilland broke into the business first, after she was spotted in a community production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She later appeared in the Warner Bros. film version of the play and was signed to a seven-year contract with the studio.
In 1944, she famously challenged the rules of the studio system by becoming a free agent. She left her studio and demanded control over the roles she took on-screen. Today, the De Havilland Law, which prevents exclusive contracts from lasting longer than seven years, grants actors their working independence.
De Havilland made her final appearance on camera in the 1988 TV movie The Woman He Loved, before stepping away from the spotlight and enjoying a quiet retirement in France.
ABC/Mitch Haaseth(NEW YORK) — Regis Philbin, the beloved talk show and game show host who held the record for the most-ever hours on U.S. broadcast television, has died, ABC News has confirmed.
In a statement Saturday, his family said, “We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday.”
“His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him — for his warmth, his legendary sense of humor, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about,” the statement continued. “We thank his fans and admirers for their incredible support over his 60-year career and ask for privacy as we mourn his loss.”
Philbin got his first network TV exposure starting in 1967, as Joey Bishop’s sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show. He continued to host a variety of local TV shows in L.A., and a network show with Mary Hart.
In 1983, Philbin moved to New York City to co-host The Morning Show for WABC-TV with Cynthia Garvey. After Garvey left, Regis was paired with Kathie Lee Johnson — later Gifford — and the ratings were so good that the show was nationally syndicated in 1988 as Live! with Regis & Kathie Lee.
After 15 years, Gifford departed and in 2001, the show was renamed Live! with Regis and Kelly, with Kelly Ripa joining as co-host. In November of 2011, Philbin left the show after 23 years. He was replaced by Michael Strahan, who was then replaced by the current co-host, Ryan Seacrest.
From 1999 to 2002, Philbin also pulled double duty as the original host of the wildly popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. In addition to numerous guest-host spots, he also hosted Million Dollar Password, the first season of America’s Got Talent, and the finale of The Apprentice 2 — he and Donald Trump were friends.
Philbin also famously filled in for Dick Clark on December 31, 2004 after Clark suffered a stroke and couldn’t host ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
“Reege” won Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding talk show host for Live! in 2001 and 2011, and for outstanding game show host for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2003 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2008.
In 2004, Regis officially set the Guinness World Record for Most Hours on Camera on U.S. broadcast TV, with 15,188. In 2009, it was announced that his tally had reached 16,343 hours.
Philbin is survived by his beloved wife, Joy, their daughters JJ and Joanna, and daughter Amy Philbin, whom he shared with his first wife, Catherine. He and Catherine also had a son, Daniel, who died in 2014.
In a statement, Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest said, “We are beyond saddened to learn about the loss of Regis Philbin. He was the ultimate class act, bringing his laughter and joy into our homes everyday on Live for more than 23 years.”
“We were beyond lucky to have him as a mentor in our careers and aspire everyday to fill his shoes on the show,” they added. “We send our deepest love and condolences to his family and hope they can find some comfort in knowing he left the world a better place.”
Michael Strahan added, “I’m absolutely heartbroken. Regis was an incredible man who could light up any room. He always made me feel special no matter if I saw him in the studio or ran into him on the street. Legend and Icon aren’t strong enough words to describe him. He will never be forgotten!! Sending my love and condolences to his family. I am forever grateful to have known him.”
Kathie Lee Gifford tweeted, simply, “REGIS. There will never be another.
President Donald Trump, Regis’ longtime friend, tweeted, “One of the greats in the history of television, Regis Philbin has passed on to even greater airwaves, at 88. He was a fantastic person, and my friend. He kept telling me to run for President. Holds the record for ‘most live television,’ and he did it well.”
“Regis, we love you……..And to Joy, his wonderful wife who he loved so much, my warmest condolences!!!”
AMC/Jace Downs(LOS ANGELES) — During an extended San Diego Comic-Con@Home panel, AMC announced that The Walking Dead, a movie about an outbreak, has been delayed by a real-life outbreak, COVID-19.
“Obviously COVID has disrupted a lot of things for every workplace, including ours,” showrunner Angela Kang said during the cast panel for The Walking Dead, which was moderated via Zoom by Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick.
She added, “…we will get back to work as soon as we safely can.”
While this October won’t see a season debut of The Walking Dead, its COVID-19-delayed season 10 finale, which was supposed to air in April, will now air Oct. 4. The producers teased fans about this “lost” episode with an extended peek at the installment.
What’s more, when the show does pick back up in 2021, it will be the longest season, at 22 episodes.
TWD‘s spin-off show Fear the Walking Dead will see its season six premiere debut on Oct. 11. Executive producer Scott M. Gimple revealed a trailer for the upcoming season, but teased that the 16-episode season will feature at least one “time jump,” which, fans know, brings the spin-off closer to the timeline of the flagship show.
Jenna Elfman, who plays former nurse June on Fear, tells ABC Audio that her character has adapted to survive: “I think there’s the learning curve of the apocalypse, like when it first hits, you’re like…’What’s happening!? Oh, God!’ …But if you’re still surviving at a certain point, at least for my character…I think she made a new constitution for herself, which is, well, this apocalypse isn’t going anywhere, so what am I going to be to it? And so, you know, for June, she feels much more sane when she’s helping people.”
Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Netflix(NEW YORK) — If you haven’t yet heard the name Wolfgang Novogratz — and what a name it is — you soon will. The 23-year-old actor is fast becoming Netflix’s go-to teen movie guy, appearing in no less than four of them: Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, The Last Summer, The Half of It, and Feel the Beat.
Now, he’s starring in Yes, God, Yes opposite Stranger Things actress Natalia Dyer. Dyer plays Alice, a teen at a Catholic high school in the early 2000s, grappling with her burgeoning sexuality. Novogratz plays Chris, a senior retreat leader who catches Alice’s eye.
“He immediately made me think of Tim Tebow,” Novogratz tells ABC Audio of his character, referring to the former NFL quarterback turned New York Mets baseball player.
“And then once I got the role, I spent actually a lot of time kind of using Tim Tebow as an inspiration,” he adds. “So I watched a lot of interviews with him and kind of tried to pick up on different nuances and his mannerisms. And there’s a lot of very admirable qualities about Tebow that I wanted to infuse into Chris.”
Novogratz also embraced the nostalgic early 2000s setting, even though he was just a young kid during the peak days of AOL Instant Messenger and Nokia phones.
“I was so excited when I saw the finished film for the first time and there was like Mandy Moore’s ‘Candy’ and these great songs from that time,” he says. “And for me, I love all kinds of music, but I definitely have a soft spot for the boy bands and pop music of the late 90s, early 2000s.”
Yes, God, Yes opens in virtual cinemas and drive-in theaters today, and hits VOD and digital July 28. (VIDEO CONTAINS SUGGESTIVE CONTENT)
Scott Gries/A&E(LOS ANGELES) — The real-time police show Live PD was canceled by A&E in the wake of the killing of George Floyd while he was being arrested by cops in Minneapolis. And according to Neilsen data, the programming choice was devastating for the network.
Ratings for the network between June 11 and July 19 have dropped nearly 50% overall from the same period last year, the Wall Street Journal reports. In the 18-49 and 25-54 age demographic, the ratings drop was even more severe: 55% and 53%, respectively.
Hosted by Dan Abrams, Live PD tracked the activities of police officers across the country in real time.
The decision to pull the plug on the popular reality show came after Fox decided to cancel its long-running series Cops in the wake of police protests that followed Floyd’s death. The move came around the same time the long-running police-based reality TV show COPS was cancelled, for much the same reasons.
A&E is co-owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images(PARIS) — Academy Award-winning actress Olivia de Havilland, who was the last surviving star of Gone with the Wind, has passed away at the age of 104.
