Evergreen Actor Dev Anand Dead: Bollywood Star Dies In London At 88

Dev Anand

NEW DELHI — Bollywood star Dev Anand, a charismatic and flamboyant Indian film fixture for more than a half-century, has died of a heart attack in London, his family said Sunday. He was 88.

Famed for his roles in dozens of movies, including "Jewel Thief" and "Guide," the veteran actor, director and producer was working up to the last minute, with a new script in the works.

Anand lived and died on "his own terms," his nephew and renowned film director Shekhar Kapur said in a posting on Twitter. "He was working one minute. Sat down and smiled. And was gone the next. So much to learn."

Anand died of a heart attack Saturday night in a hotel in London, where he had gone recently for a medical checkup, the family said.

India's prime minister joined Indian film stars and officials in lauding Anand's achievements and expressing sorrow for his death.

"Dev Anand was a great artist who entertained generations of cinema lovers over five decades," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement. "He was an embodiment of long passion for acting and filmmaking. I join millions of his fans in mourning his death."

Born on Sept. 26, 1923, as the son of a Punjab lawyer, Anand studied English literature and law, eventually moving in his early 20s to India's film capital of Mumbai, then called Bombay, where he pursued a love of acting.

Known for his good looks, melodious voice and success in romantic leads, Anand was considered a superstar within just a few years of his 1946 screen debut in the Hindi-language film "Hum Ek Hain."

Others in his family followed, with his brothers Chetan and Vijay also winning praise as film producers, screenwriters and directors.

Dev Anand also began producing in 1949, and made his directorial debut in 1971 with the popular hippie cult film "Hare Rama Hare Krishna."

Never giving up the career, Anand released his latest film, "Chargesheet," just a few months ago and was reportedly working on another script when he died.

On his birthday in September, the upbeat actor told the Press Trust of India that he still had more to offer.

"My life is the same, and I am at a beautiful stage at 88," he reportedly said in the interview. "I am as excited as I was in my 20s. I have so many things to do," including a sequel to his 1971 film that he had titled "Hare Rama Hare Krishna Aaj."

Anand was given several prizes during his career, including lifetime achievement awards by Filmfare in 1993 and Screen Videocon in 1996. His 2007 memoirs, titled "Romancing With Life," underlined his belief in making films that were socially relevant.

Also known for social work, Anand dabbled in politics in the 1970s, launching a short-lived political party and leading other film stars in opposing then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's "Emergency" regime, which gave her the power to rule by decree.

"With his death, an era has come to an end. For a career spanning more than five decades, Dev Anand gave us films which will stay entrenched in our minds for years on," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said in a statement carried by Press Trust of India. "He was truly a multifaceted performer as an actor, director and producer."

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan said in a posting on Twitter that Anand's death "leaves a void never perhaps to be filled again."

Prize-winning British-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie lamented in a post: "I grew up watching your films. Sorry to say goodbye."

Anand's family plans to cremate his body in London on Tuesday or Wednesday.

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Ken Russell, Women In Love director, dies at 84

Ken Russell

Film director Ken Russell, who was Oscar-nominated for his 1969 film Women In Love, has died at the age of 84.

His son, Alex Verney-Elliott, said he died on Sunday following a series of strokes.

During his career, he became known for his controversial films including Women In Love, which featured Oliver Reed and Alan Bates wrestling nude.

He also directed the infamous religious drama The Devils and The Who's rock opera, Tommy, in 1975.

"My father died peacefully, he died with a smile on his face," Mr Verney-Elliott said.

Russell's widow, Elize, said she was "devastated" by her husband's death, which had been "completely unexpected".

She said the director had recently agreed to direct a musical feature film of Alice In Wonderland and had been working on the script and casting.

"He also had just completed an article for The Times on a review of the re-release of his film The Devils, so he was keeping himself very busy," she added.

Glenda Jackson, who gave an Oscar-winning performance in Women In Love and starred in a number of Russell's other films including Music Lovers, told the BBC it was "just wonderful to work with him and to work with him as often as I did".

"He created the kind of climate in which actors could do their job and I loved him dearly."

Jackson added that she believed the director had been overlooked by the British film industry, saying it was "a great shame".

"It was almost as if he never existed - I find it utterly scandalous for someone who was so innovative and a film director of international stature," she said.
'Creative force'

Joely Richardson, who starred opposite Sean Bean in Russell's 1993 BBC TV series Lady Chatterley, said: "I will forever feel privileged and honoured to have worked with the great Ken Russell.

"More than that, I was extremely fond of the man himself."

Lord Melvyn Bragg, who first worked as Russell's assistant in 1963 on BBC programme Monitor, said he was "an exceptional man".

"He was a glorious director at his best, his best films will be remembered. He was a tremendous ornament to the rather supine British film industry and he was the glory of the television arts industry," he said.

Film-maker Michael Winner hailed Russell's "duplicity of mind", adding he had made an "enormous contribution" to British cinema.

"He pushed the barriers completely and got away with it sometimes and didn't others, but he made some startling movies," said.

"He had an eye for the composition of each image on the screen - a great eye for imagery and then, of course, he had a great idea for the grotesque."

Friend and cultural commentator Norman Lebrecht said: "Among many achievements that spring to mind, he made British cinema less insular and self-referential.

"He was also a leading creative force in the history of British television. He will be widely mourned."

Russell later returned to more small budget, but no less flamboyant fare, including Crimes of Passion, Gothic, Salome's Last Dance and the cult horror-comedy The Lair of the White Worm, starring Hugh Grant.

The director also made an adaptation of DH Lawrence's The Rainbow followed by the gritty film, Whore, and even tried his hand at music videos, making Nikita for Sir Elton John.

Many of Russell's later films were dismissed as too eclectic and by the 1990s he found it almost impossible to get funding for his work.

He returned to the public eye in 2007, when he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.

He lasted just four days before quitting the show after a disagreement with fellow contestant, the late Jade Goody.

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Rafters stars announce pregnancy

James Stewart and Jessica Marais

Packed To The Rafters stars James Stewart and Jessica Marais are expecting their first child.

The pair announced their news in a statement released by Marais's management company RGM on Tuesday.

"James Stewart and Jessica Marais announce they are expecting their first child," the statement said.

"The couple are excited and looking forward to this next phase in their lives."

No further details about the pregnancy were currently available.

Marais, 26, and Stewart, 36, became an off-screen item while playing an on-screen couple in the Seven hit drama series Packed To The Rafters.

Logie award-winning actress Marais quit the show and her role as Rachel Rafter in February to try her luck in Hollywood.

Stewart and Marais announced their engagement in October and have said they plan to wed next year.

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Jackson's death bed on auction

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's death bed will go under the hammer, along with other personal items from the LA mansion where he died, the auctioneer behind the sale said.

The sell-off, which comes after doctor Conrad Murray was convicted this week over Jackson's 2009 death, also includes a kitchen chalkboard note by one of his children, reading "I (heart) Daddy!"

Auction house chief Darren Julien said he preferred not to highlight the morbid aspect of the sale, which involves the contents of the mansion in the plush Holmby Hills area of LA where Jackson died on June 25, 2009.

"It includes all the items that surrounded him and his family in the last part of his life," he said, adding: "It's the first time that items like this, fine decorative art, have been sold that's associated with him."

As well as the bed and crime scene photos which were shown during Murray's six-week trial, complete with medical paraphernalia, the sale will also include a mirror from Jackson's private bathroom.

On the mirror, the star had written "March, April" and then "May - Full on" - an apparent reference to the gruelling rehearsals he was attending in early 2009 for a series of comeback concerts in London.

From the kitchen there is the chalkboard note saying "I (heart) daddy," and one saying "Hugs are for free," while auctioneers recently found a candle that Jackson's son Prince carved his name into.

A bench from the shower in Jackson's private bathroom has stick figures etched into it.

"We know this from when we cleared out Neverland, that Michael would draw and etch into furniture often," said Julien, referring to when Jackson left his infamous ranch in 2004 amid child molestations charges.

Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson an overdose of anesthetic propofol at the LA mansion where the star was living while preparing for the ill-fated London shows.

Julien said he did not want the sale to dwell on Jackson's death.

"We ourselves are trying to stay away from the morbid side of it," he said, adding: "We would never do anything against the (Jackson) estate or the family."

A catalogue being prepared will be like a memento of the entire contents of the house.

"People haven't seen the inside of the house, other than some of the crime scene photographs," he said.

The auction of the contents of the mansion is scheduled to take place on December 17. Items will go on display when the house is "recreated" at the celebrity auctioneer's gallery on December 12.

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Chris Tucker To Lose $6 Million Home

Rush Hour star Chris Tucker's $6 million Florida mansion is in foreclosure, with more than $4.4 million owed to the bank, reports the Orlando Sentinel, citing papers filed in Circuit Court in Lake County.

Tucker, 39, bought the 10,000-sq.-ft. waterfront home on Lake Apopka, near Orlando, in 2007. The newspaper says the residence contains five bedrooms, three fireplaces, a personal spa, an outdoor kitchen overlooking a pool, and a basement outfitted to resemble a pirate ship, including the sail.

Court documents reportedly show an $11.5 million IRS lien on the home in 2011 in order to collect federal income taxes from Tucker, whose monthly mortgage payment, the documents also show, was $25,812.50.

There has been no comment from Tucker, but the Times Union of Albany, N.Y., reports that his comedy show scheduled in the city for this Sunday – and was a rescheduling of a postponed Sept. 3 performance – has been canceled because of "unforeseen circumstances." 

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