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Another sad day for the Dr Who fans...
Mary Tamm, Doctor Who's first Romana, dies of cancer in UK

That is sad news indeed. She was my favourite Dr Who companion.

Cancer is such a bitch!

Writer Gore Vidal dead at 86

Celebrated author, playwright and commentator Gore Vidal has died at the age of 86.

Vidal's official website posted a memoriam, and media reports cited his Los Angeles nephew Burr Steers as confirming the legendary American writer's death.

"Vidal died Tuesday at his home in the Hollywood Hills of complications of pneumonia," Steers told the Los Angeles Times.

Vidal's literary legacy includes a series of historical novels - Burr, 1876, Lincoln and The Golden Age among them - as well as the campy transsexual comedy Myra Breckenridge.

He started writing as a 19-year-old soldier stationed in Alaska, basing Williwaw on his World War Two experiences. His third book, The City and the Pillar, created a sensation in 1948 because it was one of the first open portrayals of a homosexual main character.

Vidal referred to himself as a "gentleman bitch" and was as egotistical and caustic as he was elegant and brilliant.

In addition to rubbing shoulders with the great writers of his time, he banged heads with many of them. Vidal considered Ernest Hemingway a joke and compared Truman Capote to a "filthy animal that has found its way into the house".

His most famous literary enemies were conservative pundit William F. Buckley Jr. and writer Norman Mailer, who Vidal once likened to cult killer Charles Manson.

Mailer head-butted Vidal before a television appearance and on another occasion knocked him to the ground.

Vidal and Buckley took their feud to live national television while serving as commentators at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Vidal accused Buckley of being a "pro-crypto-Nazi" while Buckley called Vidal a "queer" and threatened to punch him.

Vidal seemed to make no effort to curb his abundant ego.

In a 2008 interview with Esquire magazine Vidal said people always seemed impressed that he had met so many famous people, such as Jacqueline Kennedy and William Burroughs.

"People always put that sentence the wrong way around," he said. "I mean, why not put it the true way - that these people got to meet me, and wanted to?"

Eugene Luther Vidal Jr was born on October 3, 1925 in West Point, New York, and eventually took his mother's surname as his first name. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where his grandfather, Democratic US Sen Thomas Gore of Oklahoma, had a strong influence on the boy.

The young Vidal developed an interest in politics as he read to the blind senator and led him about town.

He went to exclusive private secondary schools but did not attend college.

After his parents divorced, Vidal's mother married Hugh Auchincloss, who later also became the stepfather of Jacqueline Kennedy. That connection gave Vidal access to the Kennedy White House before a falling out with the family.

After early success, his literary career stalled - perhaps because of the controversy of The City and the Pillar - and he concentrated on television and movie scripts.

Vidal got back on track in the 1960s with Julian, about a Roman emperor; Washington, D.C., the tale of a political family; and Myra Breckenridge. Bigger success followed with recreations of historical US figures - such as Aaron Burr and Abraham Lincoln - that analyse where Vidal thought America fell from grace.

In 1960 Vidal, a distant cousin of former vice president Al Gore, ran unsuccessfully for a congressional seat in New York and in 1982 failed in a bid for a California Senate seat.

He once described the United States as "the land of the dull and the home of the literal" and starting in the 1960s lived much of the time in a seaside Italian villa. He moved back permanently in 2003, shortly before Howard Austen, his companion of more than 50 years, died of cancer.

Vidal also was known for his sharp essays on society, sex, literature and politics. He was especially fervent about politics and what he considered to be the death of "the American Empire".

In 2009, he won the annual Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book foundation, which called him a "prominent social critic on politics, history, literature, and culture".

Writer Robert Hughes dead at 74

Influential Australian art critic and writer Robert Hughes has died in New York aged 74.

Hughes, who was known for books such as The Fatal Shore and Shock of the New, died in hospital in the Bronx after a long illness.

Hughes was born in Sydney and worked in London before moving to New York in 1970 where he made his name as an art critic for Time magazine.

"They wanted somebody who could actually write about art in a way that wasn't - but here I sound like I’m blowing my own trumpet - in a way that was not condescending and it was intelligible to people who were not art experts," he told Andrew Denton in 2006.

In 1987 he published international best-seller The Fatal Shore, which examined the harsh life of convicts during the early European settlement of Australia.

Shock of the New, Hughes' television series on modern art, was broadcast in 1980 and accompanied by a book of the same name.

In 2000 he explored his relationship with modern Australia in a television series titled Australia: Beyond the Fatal Shore.

During the production of the show he was involved in a near-fatal car accident.

Hughes's niece Lucy, wife of Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull, told ABC 702 Sydney she remembered him as a "dazzling" presence from her childhood.

"[He had] a lifelong sense of curiosity world and always wanting to know more about the world," she said.

"I think that the work that he had to undertake to do the research to write The Fatal Shore was extraordinary and he applied that sort of knowledge and expertise and passion to whatever task he put himself to."

Top Gun director Tony Scott dead after jumping from California bridge

Director Tony Scott, best known for the films "Top Gun" and "Beverly Hills Cop II," died in an apparent suicide Sunday when he jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, California, an official with the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office told CNN.

"There's nothing to indicate it is anything else at this time," said Lt. Joe Bale of the coroner's office.

Scott, 68, jumped from the bridge at about 12:30 p.m., Bale said. The bridge spans the Los Angeles Harbor, connecting San Pedro and Terminal Island.

A passerby who saw Scott jump from the bridge called 911, according to a statement released by the coroner's office late Sunday.

"The L.A. Port Police recovered the body from the water," the statement said.

The coroner's office declined to comment or confirm a Los Angeles Times report that authorities found contact information in Scott's car parked on the bridge, and later found a suicide note in his office.

Born Anthony D.L. Scott in North Shields, England, in 1944, Tony -- as he was known -- got his start as a teenager in front of the camera, starring in his older brother Ridley Scott's film "Boy and Bicycle." In 1995, the two joined forces to create the production company, Scott Free Productions.

Simon Halls, a publicist who represents the Scott brothers, confirmed the death.

"The family asks for privacy during this time," Halls said.

Tony Scott became a household name in 1986 as director of the mega-hit "Top Gun," starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis. He followed that up with the Eddie Murphy action movie, "Beverly Hills Cop II" in 1987.

In the 1990s, Scott cemented his reputation for big-budget action films with 1990's "Revenge" starring Kevin Costner and "Days of Thunder" with Tom Cruise. In 1998 he directed "Enemy of the State" with Will Smith and Gene Hackman.

Reaction to Scott's death poured out through Twitter, with directors, actors and fans mourning news of his death.

"Tragic day," director Ron Howard said via Twitter.

Actor-director James Gunn posted" "RIP Tony Scott. He was a huge inspiration. Very sad."

Scott directed his last film, the train thriller "Unstoppable" starring Denzel Washington, in 2010.

In 2002, the Scott brothers won an Emmy for the television movie "The Gathering Storm."

Space legend Neil Armstrong dies

Neil Armstrong, the U.S. astronaut who made "one giant leap for mankind" when he became the first man to walk on the moon, has died. He was 82.

"We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures," Armstrong's family said in a statement Saturday.

Armstrong underwent heart surgery this month.

"While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves," his family said.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden put Armstrong's death in perspective.

"As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them," he said. "As we enter this next era of space exploration, we do so standing on the shoulders of Neil Armstrong. We mourn the passing of a friend, fellow astronaut and true American hero."

The second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, says the death of his Apollo 11 commander is a loss for America and the world.

"It's very sad that we're not able to be together as a crew on the 50th anniversary. We'd sort of been looking forward to that in 2019, and I think the entire aerospace world will be very saddened to here this news today."

Michael Collins, who along with Buzz Aldrin and Armstrong formed the crew of the Apollo 11 mission, said: "He was the best and I will miss him terribly."

John Glenn, an original NASA astronaut who became a senator from Ohio after his space career, spoke of Armstrong's aversion to the spotlight in a CNN interview: "He was willing to dare greatly for his country and he was proud to do that and yet remained the same humble person he'd always been."

Armstrong made two trips into space. He made his first journey in 1966 as commander of the Gemini 8 mission, which nearly ended in disaster.

Armstrong kept his cool and brought the spacecraft home safely after a thruster rocket malfunctioned and caused it to spin wildly out of control.

During his next space trip in July 1969, Armstrong and fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins blasted off in Apollo 11 on a nearly 250,000-mile journey to the moon that went down in the history books.

It took them four days to reach their destination.

The moon landing was a major victory for the United States, which at the height of the Cold War in 1961 committed itself to landing a man on the moon and returning him safely before the decade was out.

It was also a defining moment for the world. The launch and landing were broadcast on live TV and countless people watched in amazement as Armstrong walked on the moon.

"I remember very clearly being an 8-year-old kid and watching the TV ... I remember even as a kid thinking, 'Wow, the world just changed,'" said astronaut Leroy Chiao. "And then hours later watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take the very first step of any humans on another planetary body. That kind of flipped the switch for me in my head. I said, 'That's what I want to do, I want to be an astronaut.'"

Tributes to Armstrong -- who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, the highest award offered to a U.S. civilian -- poured in as word of his death spread.

"Neil was among the greatest of American heroes -- not just of his time, but of all time," said President Barack Obama. "When he and his fellow crew members lifted off aboard Apollo 11 in 1969, they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation. They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable -- that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible."

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the former astronaut "today takes his place in the hall of heroes. With courage unmeasured and unbounded love for his country, he walked where man had never walked before. The moon will miss its first son of earth."

House Speaker John Boehner, from Ohio, said: "A true hero has returned to the Heavens to which he once flew. Neil Armstrong blazed trails not just for America, but for all of mankind. He inspired generations of boys and girls worldwide not just through his monumental feat, but with the humility and grace with which he carried himself to the end."

Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930. He was interested in flying even as a young boy, earning his pilot's license at age 16.

Armstrong studied aeronautical engineering and earned degrees from Purdue University and University of Southern California. He served in the Navy, and flew 78 combat missions during the Korean War.

"He was the best, and I will miss him terribly," said Collins, the Apollo 11 command module pilot.

After his historic mission to the moon, Armstrong worked for NASA, coordinating and managing the administration's research and technology work.

In 1971, he resigned from NASA and taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati for nearly a decade.

While many people are quick to cash in on their 15 minutes of fame, Armstrong largely avoided the public spotlight and chose to lead a quiet, private life with his wife and children.

"He was really an engineer's engineer -- a modest man who was always uncomfortable in his singular role as the first person to set foot on the moon. He understood and appreciated the historic consequences of it and yet was never fully willing to embrace it. He was modest to the point of reclusive. You could call him the J.D. Salinger of the astronaut corps," said Miles O'Brien, an aviation expert with PBS' Newshour, formerly of CNN.

"He was a quiet, engaging, wonderful from the Midwest kind of guy. ... But when it came to the public exposure that was associated with this amazing accomplishment ... he ran from it. And part of it was he felt as if this was an accomplishment of many thousands of people. And it was. He took the lion's share of the credit and he felt uncomfortable with that," said O'Brien.

But Armstrong always recognized -- in a humble manner -- the importance of what he had accomplished.

"Looking back, we were really very privileged to live in that thin slice of history where we changed how man looks at himself and what he might become and where he might go," Armstrong said.

Jerry Nelson, Count of Sesame Street, dies at 78

Jerry Nelson, the puppeteer behind a delightful menagerie of characters including Count von Count on Sesame Street and Gobo Fraggle on Fraggle Rock, has died. He was 78.

Nelson, who suffered from emphysema, died Thursday night in his Massachusetts home on Cape Cod, the Sesame Workshop said Friday.

"Every description of his characters describes Jerry as well," said Sesame Street executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente. "Silly, funny, vulnerable, passionate and musical, for sure. That voice of his was superb."

Although he'd been in declining health for some time "his attitude was never bad", Parente said Friday. "He was always so grateful for what he had in his life."

"We're having a rough day on the Street," she said.

In a tribute posted online by the nonprofit Sesame Workshop, Nelson was lauded for his artistry and the "laughter he brought to children worldwide" with the Count and other Muppet puppets including Sherlock Hemlock, Herry Monster and the Amazing Mumford.

Nelson was part of other projects featuring Jim Henson's Muppets.

He performed many characters on The Muppet Show, including Sgt. Floyd Pepper (the bassist of the Electric Mayhem band), Pigs in Space star Dr. Julius Strangepork, the boomerang fish-throwing Lew Zealand, Kermit the Frog's nephew Robin, Gonzo's girlfriend Camilla the Chicken, and the Phantom of the Muppet Show, Uncle Deadly.

In recent years, Nelson gave up the physically demanding job of operating the Count and other puppets on Sesame Street but still voiced the characters, the workshop said. The show's new season launches in September and Nelson's voice will be heard.

Gonna rush out and buy 'The Plank' on DVD to remember him at his best.