Christmas celebrity deaths

Media magnate Kerry Packer dies
Australian media magnate Kerry Packer, thought to be the country’s richest man, has died peacefully at the age of 68 at home among his family in Sydney.
Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PBL) is the firm behind both the Nine Network TV station and magazines like Australian Women’s Weekly.

Forbes magazine valued him at US$5bn (4.2bn euros) this year.

Packer, an avid sports fan, became known to the wider world when he founded World Series Cricket in 1977.

As well as Nine Network and the Australian Consolidated Press, PBL owns Melbourne’s Crown Casino and has been developing casinos in the Chinese territory of Macau.

The exact cause of his death is not yet clear but he had suffered health problems including a battle with cancer, and had had a kidney transplant.

“He died peacefully at home with his family at his bedside,” a statement from his family said.

Packer is considered to be the person who transformed sport on television, especially cricket, the BBC’s Phil Mercer reports from Sydney.

In the late 1970s, he took on the cricket establishment and signed up the world’s best players under the World Series banner.

Packer’s business interests also allowed him to follow his other passions, which were gambling and horse racing, our correspondent adds.

He is survived by his wife and children, James and Gretel.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/business/4561560.stm

Published: 2005/12/26 23:28:25 GMT
And…
Character actor Schiavelli dies
Character actor Vincent Schiavelli, renowned for his eccentric roles in such films as One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Ghost, has died.
Italian officials said the New York-born Schiavelli, 57, died at his home in a village in Sicily after a battle with lung cancer.

His distinctive droopy eyes ensured him numerous roles, and he acted in more than 120 films and TV shows.

He was also known for his love of food, and wrote three cookbooks.

Schiavelli grew up with his grandfather, who cooked for an Italian nobleman before emigrating to the United States.

He appeared in the films Tomorrow Never Dies, Amadeus, Batman Returns and The People vs. Larry Flynt, and TV shows such as Taxi and the X-Files.

Typical of his unusual roles was the Subway Ghost in the film Ghost, a character who teaches the film’s hero Patrick Swayze to move objects as he seeks revenge on his murderers.

In 1997 the magazine Vanity Fair chose him as one of the best character actors in the US.

In recent years he returned to live in his family’s native village, Polizzi Generosa in Sicily.

The village’s mayor, Salvatore Glorioso, described Schiavelli as “a great friend, a great chef and a great talker”.

“With a smooth, witty conversation, he would make everything look more colourful. I’ve lost a brother,” he told AP news agency.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/4561328.stm

Published: 2005/12/26 19:25:53 GMT
Guess you can have money and or fame, yet still not avoid the man with the scythe…

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