Japan anime giant Isao Takahata dead at 82

Agencies
April 6, 2018

Tokyo, Apr 6: Oscar-nominated Japanese anime director Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli and was best known for his work "Grave of the Fireflies", has died aged 82, the studio said on Friday.

The winner of many awards domestically and internationally, Takahata was considered one of the greats of Japanese animated film and is often linked with long-term Studio Ghibli collaborator Hayao Miyazaki.

He enjoyed a career spanning several decades, producing both films and work for the small screen and his latest production, "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya", earned him an Academy nomination for best animated feature.

An adaptation of a popular tale from the 10th century -- considered one of the founding texts of Japanese literature -- the film was also selected for a slot in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar to the main Cannes film competition in 2014.

It also won rave reviews, with the New York Times in 2014 describing it as "exquisitely drawn with both watercolour delicacy and a brisk sense of line."

However, most consider Takahata's 1988 film "Grave of the Fireflies", a moving tale of two orphans during World War II, to be his best work.

In 2000, famed reviewer Roger Ebert wrote that the movie "belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made."

Born in 1935 in Mie prefecture in central Japan, his early life was marked with violence when US forces bombed his hometown in June 1945 as World War II was coming to a close.

In an interview with the Japan Times, he described fleeing with his sister barefoot and still in his pyjamas.

On his way back to the family house, he recalled seeing piles of bodies in the street. "We were lucky to get out alive," he told the newspaper.

Takahata started his career in animation at the Toei studio in 1959, where he eventually met long-term collaborator and rival Miyazaki.

With Miyazaki, he co-founded in 1985 the Japanese animation Studio Ghibli, which went on to produce several blockbusters.

With more complex and occasionally more violent plots than depicted in the average Disney cartoon film, these films have at times confused audiences outside Japan, who largely consider animation to be primarily for young children.

However, this has not stopped the films being lucrative box-office smashes.

Takahata and Miyazaki were often described as friends and rivals at the same time.

"We would never criticise each other face-to-face because it would just cause a fight. However, I know he has criticised my work," Takahata told the Japan Times.

Over a long and distinguished career, Takahata produced around 20 films, including "Only Yesterday" (1991) and "Pom Poko" (1994).

He also produced the Miyazaki-directed 1984 film "Kaze no Tani no Naushika" ("The Valley of the Wind"), a science fantasy adventure that describes the relationship between nature and human beings.

He is also well-known for animation series "Alps no Shojo Heidi" ("Heidi, Girl of the Alps") and "Lupin Sansei" ("Lupin the Third").

Perhaps inspired by his early trauma, he was an avid anti-war campaigner and in 2013 co-signed with around 250 other film celebrities a petition against a controversial state secrets law.

According to a statement from Studio Ghibli, he died in the early hours of Thursday in a Tokyo hospital after a battle with lung cancer.

"We pray that he rests in peace," the studio said, adding that he would be buried in a private ceremony attended by close family.

After studying French literature at university, Takahata enjoyed a long relationship with France and was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters honour in recognition of his work in 2015.

"France is the country I have travelled in most and I am extremely happy to have been decorated by the nation to which I feel closest," he said in his acceptance speech.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Mumbai, Jun 3: Investigators will subject the cloth allegedly used by actor Sushant Singh Rajput to hang himself to "tensile strength" analysis to determine whether it can bear the weight similar to that of the filmstar, as part of probe into his death, an official said on Friday.

Rajput (34) was found hanging at his suburban Bandra residence on June 14.

According to the investigators, the actor ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling using a green coloured night gown made of cotton.

No suicide note was found from the spot, the police had said then.

Besides viscera from the actors body, the police also sent the gown for chemical and forensic analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in suburban Kalina, he said.

It will take at least three more days to get final forensic report, the official said.

To ascertain the exact cause of death, forensic experts will check pattern of ligature marks around the actors neck and also determine the strength of the gown with the help of "tensile strength" analysis, he said.

The tensile strength test will technically establish whether the cloth can bear around 80kg, the weight of the actor, he said.

The test will help determine if there was any foul play, the official said.

Tensile strength is maximum load that a material can support without fracture when being stretched.

Viscera analysis will help in checking whether there were any traces of chemical, poisonous or narcotics substance in his body, the official said.

"Usually, it takes eight to ten working days to get s report from the FSL in regular cases. But since this case is sensitive, experts are taking more precautions to avoid any kind of error in their analysis," the official said.

The forensic report of the actors mobile phone is also awaited, he said.

Recently, the police received the final post-mortem report of the actor from Cooper Hospital, which mentioned the cause of the death as asphyxia due to hanging"

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News Network
July 6,2020

Jul 6: Tony Award-nominated actor Nick Cordero, who specialized in playing tough guys on Broadway in such shows as Waitress, A Bronx Tale and Bullets Over Broadway, has died in Los Angeles after suffering severe medical complications after contracting the coronavirus. He was 41.

Cordero died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai hospital after more than 90 days in the hospital, according to his wife Amanda Kloots. “God has another angel in heaven now,” she posted on Instagram. “Nick was such a bright light. He was everyone’s friend, loved to listen, help and especially talk. He was an incredible actor and musician. He loved his family and loved being a father and husband.”

Nick Cordero entered the emergency room on March 30 and had a succession of health setbacks, including mini-strokes, blood clots, septis infections, a tracheostomy and a temporary pacemaker implanted. He had been on a ventilator and unconscious and had his right leg amputated. A double lung transplant was being explored.

Kloots, sent him daily videos of her and their 1-year-old son Elvis, so he could see them if he woke up, and urged friends and fans to join a daily sing-a-long. A GoFundMe page to pay for medical expenses has raised over $600,000.

“I tell him, I say, ‘You’re gonna walk out of this hospital, honey. I believe it. I know you can,’” she told “CBS This Morning” over the summer. ”‘We’re gonna dance again. You’re gonna hold your son again.’ My line is, ‘Don’t get lost. Get focused.’”

The lanky Cordero originated the menacing role of husband Earl opposite his estranged wife, played by Jessie Mueller, in Waitress as well as the role of Sonny in Chazz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale. It was at Bullets Over Broadway where Cordero met his wife. The two married in 2017.

Cast members from “Waitress” — Jessie Mueller, Keala Settle, Kimik Glenn and songwriter Sara Bareilles — helped raise money for Cordero by covering his song “Live Your Life.” Sylvester Stallone sent a video with best wishes.

Kloots had said that it was difficult to tell whether Cordero understood what happened to him, but said he could respond to commands by looking up and down when he was alert.

Her husband played a mob soldier with a flare for the dramatic in Broadway’s Woody Allen 1994 film adaptation of Bullets Over Broadway, for which he received a Tony nomination for best-featured actor in a musical. He moved to Los Angeles to star in Rock of Ages.

On the small screen, Nick Cordero appeared in several episodes of Blue Bloods and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and he had a role in the film Going in Style.

Actor and guitarist for Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Van Zandt offered Cordero his first TV acting gig in the final episode of Lilyhammer. After he was hospitalized, Van Zandt teamed up with Constantine Maroulis and Vincent Pastore to make a video performing “Live Your Life.”

Cordero was last onstage in a Kennedy Center presentation of Littler Shop of Horrors. His off-Broadway credits include The Toxic Avenger and Brooklynite.

The coronavirus has sickened other Broadway veterans, including the actors Danny Burstein, Tony Shalhoub, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gavin Creel, Aaron Tveit and Laura Bell Bundy as well as composer David Bryan. It has also claimed the life of Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

Mumbai, Aug 2: None of the sim cards that actor Sushant Singh Rajput was using was registered under his name, said the team of Bihar Police, probing his death case, on Sunday.

The team also informed that one of the sim cards that the late actor was using was registered the name of his friend Siddharth Pithani.

"We are now tracking the call detail records (CDRs)," the police said.

The team also said that they will interrogate the family of Sushant Singh Rajput's former manager Disha Salian, who died few days before Sushant's death.

"Even after constant attempts to connect with them on phone, we have failed to establish any contact," it said.

Earlier today, while talking to news agency, the Director-General of Police (DGP) of Bihar Gupteshwar Pandey hinted at the non-cooperation of Mumbai police with his team in their investigation.

"We don't have post-mortem report details, CCTV footage or any information that has been collected by Mumbai Police during probe till now. Our Chief Minister has requested the Maharashtra Chief Minister to ask his police force to cooperate with us," the DGP added.

When asked if Bihar Police want CBI probe into the case, he said, "We are more than capable of doing an unbiased investigation. We hope that Mumbai Police will cooperate with us and we'll conclude the investigation."

Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. Mumbai Police who was investigating the case had earlier informed that they have recorded the statements of 41 people, including filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra so far.

A team of Bihar Police is in Mumbai to probe the actor's death after an FIR was filed by Rajput's father KK Singh against late actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty in Bihar in connection with the death case under several sections including abetment of suicide.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in Rajput's death case. ED registered the report after an FIR was filed by his father against Chakraborty.

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