Mexico's foremost movie legend, Maria Felix, renowned as fatale throughout Latin America and the one-time lover of the painter Diego Rivera, died of heart failure on her 88th birthday.
Striking for her long, dark wavy hair and pale complexion, Felix made her film debut in 1942 in El penon de las Animas (The Crag of the Souls) alongside popular Mexican actor Jorge Negrete, whom she married. Typically, Felix portrayed strong, silent women, endowed with intelligence and a voluptuous glamour. Although she shunned Hollywood, Felix's sultry beauty made her a screen idol in Latin America, France, Spain and Italy. One of the films of which she was most proud was French Cancan, directed by Jean Renoir. Felix last starred in La Generala, or The Lady General in 1970, after which she worked on a series of film projects but none reached fruition. She made 47 films in her career.
Robert Urich - (April 16th, 2002)
Actor Robert Urich, who starred in television detective series "Vega$" and "Spenser: For Hire," died at 55 early on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.
Urich had a successful 30-year career in Hollywood, mostly on the small screen. He starred as private eye Dan Tanna in "Vega$," which ran on ABC from 1978 to 1981. He returned to the genre in 1985, playing another private eye in "Spenser: For Hire," which ABC aired until 1988. Urich won critical praise for playing the ex-Texas Ranger Jake Spoon who comes to a bad end in the mini-series "Lonesome Dove." He also won an Emmy in 1992 for his narration on a documentary "U-Boats: Terror on Our Shores." In 1998, he played the captain in a remake of "The Love Boat." He had recently co-starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom "Emeril." He earned his first television role in the 1973 comedy series "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice." He also appeared in the TV series "S.W.A.T" before being cast as Peter Campbell in "Soap." Other television credits include: "Crossroads," "Vital Signs," and "It Had to Be You." Among his film credits are starring roles in Turk 182! with Timothy Hutton and Ice Pirates with Anjelica Houston. Urich announced in 1996 that he was suffering from synovial cell sarcoma, a rare cancer that attacks the body's joints. He underwent chemotherapy, radiation treatments and two operations in the mid-1990s to combat the cancer. After his bout with cancer, Urich became highly active in cancer research, with he and his wife establishing the Heather and Robert Urich Fund for Sarcoma Research to accelerate the pace of research into sarcoma. Earlier this year, Urich donated the proceeds from his appearance on the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" to a fund at the University of Michigan, where he was treated for cancer.
Layne Staley - (April 19th, 2002)
The lead singer of Alice in Chains has died of a possible drug overdose at the age of 34. He was discovered at his apartment on Friday April 19th, 2002 but it was reported that he had been dead for two weeks.
Staley had battled heroin throughout his career, and often sang about his struggles. The band broke up briefly in 1994, frustrated by Staley's inability to stay clean. It broke up for good in 1996 after playing several opening dates on the KISS reunion tour. Two of its albums debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts, the 1994 acoustic EP "Jar of Flies" and the 1995 album "Alice in Chains." Hit singles included "Would?" which appeared on both "Dirt" and the soundtrack to writer/director Cameron Crowe's film "Singles," and "Rooster," a tune about Cantrell's Vietnam vet father. The band received four Grammy nominations.
Rod Steiger - (July 9th, 2002)
Steiger, Oscar nominated for both On the Waterfront and The Pawnbroker before winning the statuette for In the Heat of the Night, succumbed to pneumonia and kidney failure at age 77.
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