“Through her work, she was an early—if accidental—proponent of so-called color-blind casting, in which a performer’s race does not limit the parts available to them, long before such a concern became standard in the industry. She deserves compassion, not judgment.”- The Atlantic (MSN)
Maillet “shaped a new literary language for an isolated French-speaking minority, becoming the first non-European to win France’s most prestigious literary prize.” - The New York Times
“Professor Elbow contended that indoctrinating freshmen to think and write in an inflexible, formulaic style — with the teacher as the only audience member — inhibited creativity and confidence at a key moment in their intellectual development.” - The New York Times
Before Mr. Wambaugh’s era as a writer, which began in 1971, police dramas like the television series “Dragnet” were implausible stories about clean-cut heroes doing good. He shattered the mold with portraits of officers as complex, profane, violent and fallible. - The New York Times
When responders examined the bodies, they were already decomposing, showing bloating in the face and partial mummification in the hands and feet. Both Hackman and his wife appear to have fallen suddenly. There were no signs of bodily trauma or of a gas or carbon monoxide leak in the house. - CNN
“An actor who powerfully embodied ordinary men under stress in dozens of films and twice won Oscars for bringing humanizing depth to corrupt lawmen, ... in The French Connection (and) Unforgiven, (he) was found dead Feb. 26 along with his wife at their home in Santa Fe.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“(The) former child star who appeared in the 1996 Harriet the Spy hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl,” was found dead in her Manhattan apartment Wednesday morning. No foul play is suspected. - AP
Lisa Jeanine Findley pled guilty to mail fraud, in exchange for having an identity theft charge dropped, for a scam which cooked up a fake debt supposedly incurred by Lisa Marie Presley and attempted to foreclose on and seize Graceland to satisfy that debt. - NBC News
“The 76-year-old (French) actor, already accused in a string of sexual assault and rape cases, is suspected of falsely declaring his tax residency to be in Belgium since 2013.” - AFP (Yahoo!)
The director at first claims his Oscar wins changed nothing, but then he says that "the Oscars probably did help raise budget and ease along the casting process, particularly with regards to securing participation of” star Robert Pattinson.” - The Guardian (UK)
“James had performed with an opera company in France and in a popular musical revue in Atlantic City, N.J., when her manager, Abe Saperstein — the basketball impresario behind the Harlem Globetrotters — landed her an audition in 1954 for Carmen Jones.” - The New York Times
“(Hadi Matar,) the New Jersey man on trial (for) the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie, declined to testify in his defense Thursday as his lawyers rested their case without calling any witnesses. … Earlier Thursday, prosecutors called a forensics expert as their final witness, wrapping up seven days of testimony.” - AP
Over a 50-year career, the Malian writer-director did much to establish sub-Saharan African film as an internationally recognized industry in terms of art as well as commerce. He was the first Black African filmmaker to win a feature film award at Cannes: a Special Jury Prize in 1987 for Yeelen. - AP
"(A Federal judge) ordered Watson and his company to pay over $36 million in restitution and nearly $60 million in forfeiture … for his involvement in a fraud scheme in which he conspired to impersonate a YouTube executive and repeatedly lied to investors about the now-defunct media company’s finances." - Courthouse News Service
"'You become the lie,' (Lisa) Schiff said. … By the time it all came crashing down in 2023, she had stolen some $6.4 million. ... But out of all her transgressions, she seemed most ashamed of the glamour that gilded her crimes. 'I was miserable in that helicopter.'" - The New York Times
