Icon Gene Hackman, 95, a two-time Oscar-winning actor with an illustrious and decades long career, was discovered dead along with his pianist wife, Betsy Arakawa and their dog at their home in New Mexico. Their deaths are currently under investigation.
In what is sometimes called "Oscar Week" - the days leading up to the Academy Awards - Hollywood lost another icon - Michelle Trachtenberg, of 'Gossip Girl' and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' has died at age 39. She had health issues and a liver transplant prior to her death though the exact cause remains unknown and no autopsy is being performed at the request of her family. Michelle shared the same ethnic background as my family - growing up Jewish in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, which borders Manhattan Beach - part of my childhood as well as my daughters'. Trump's father had an office in Sheepshead Bay back in the day where he developed real estate in the area.
R&B singer Roberta Flack has died at 88 - - Wikipedia
Flack became the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in consecutive years. She was known for "Killing Me Softly" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". She also found success with duets such as "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Peabo Bryson (1983) - the theme song for Bo and Hope Brady on "Days of Our Lives".