I opened my browser today and was just about to type in an address when the shocking headline on MSN caught my eye:

“L.A. Coroner: Brittany Murphy Dead at 32″

My first reaction was that this was some horrible joke. After reading the article, I still found it hard to believe. I had to Google it to find other articles regarding her death.

Brittany Murphy, who was born on 10 November 1977 in Atlanta, died on Sunday 20 December 2009, due to cardiac arrest. She was declared dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. It is suspected that subscription drugs might have been responsible.

Brittany is one of my favourite actresses. I hate that she will no longer be making movies. I’m saddened at the news of her death and I’m sure many people are mourning her at the moment.

My Top 10 Brittany Murphy movies

Patrick Swayze passed away yesterday, 14 September 2009, after battling pancreatic cancer. Swayze is best known for his roles in Dirty Dancing (1987) and Ghost (1990).

“I have a great deal of faith in faith; if you believe something strongly enough, it becomes true for you. I would like to believe that my father is right here with me in this room and that he’s my guardian angel, that there’s life after death — because if there isn’t, why are we here? I don’t believe that just flesh and bones can contain from the point of view of physics this very real recorded energy inside of us. Whether it’s true or not, we need to believe it.”

~Patrick Swayze

Patrick was born on 18 August 1952 in Houston, Texas to Patsy and Jesse Swayze. Patrick was the eldest son and had two brothers and two sisters. His mother had a dance school.

At the age of 19 he met one of his mother’s dance students, Lisa Niemi, who was 15 at the time. They got married in 1975. The marriage lasted until the time of his death, but produced no offspring.

In 1972 Patrick moved to New York to attend the Harkness Ballet and Joffrey ballet schools.

After doing some theatre work, including the role of Danny in Grease, he made his film debut in Skatetown, USA (1979). After a couple of years of film and television work he had his big break in Dirty Dancing.

After his brother’s death in 1982 Swayze battled with alcoholism. After his sister’s suicide in 1994, he decided to seek help for his addiction.

In January 2008 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer for which he received chemotherapy. In January 2009 it seemed that the cancer had spread to his liver and he was also hospitalised for pneumonia. The pneumonia might have been a side effect from the chemo.

Some other movies Swayze appeared in:

• Roadhouse (1989)
• Point Break (with Keanu Reeves) (1991)
• City of Joy (1992)
• Donnie Darko (2001)
• Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)
• The Beast (TV) (2009)

Trivia:

• He was voted “Sexiest Man Alive” by People magazine in 1991.
• He received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame On 18 August 1997.
• He received Golden Globe nominations for Dirty Dancing, Ghost and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
• He was also singer-songwriter
• He was a dance choreographer
• He has pilot’s license.
• His brother Don is also an actor, with who him co-starred in Powder Blue. (2009)
• He pursued various artist and sports activities.
• He was brought up Catholic but also studied Eastern religions and Scientology.

Patrick Swayze had an extensive acting career, which included theatre performances and 47 film and TV roles. His singing and dancing talents and natural athletic ability made him an all-round versatile actor. He has definitely made a mark on the pop culture of the 90s. I think I’ll watch Ghost on DVD tonight.

May he Rest in Peace.

Sources: Wikipedia & IMDB

Legendary director, writer and producer, John Hughes passed away last week (6 August 2009). Since a week has now passed, I thought it fitting do a short profile on him. Mr Hughes is best known for his coming of age comedies of the 1980s.

John Hughes was born on 18 February 1950 in Lansing, Michigan, USA.

He graduated from Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois in 1968. Most of his films were set in Illinois. He married Nancy Ludwig, whom he met in high school, in 1970. He had two sons John (1976) and James (1979). He had four grandchildren.

After dropping out from university in 1970 he got a job copy-writing for an advertising company in Chicago.

He wrote a story titled Vacation ‘58, which got him a job with National Lampoon and was the basis of the movie Vacation.

His wrote five episodes for Delta House (1979) and first feature length screenplay was National Lampoon’s: Class Reunion (1982). He also wrote the screenplays for all the movies he directed.

A few of 39 the films he wrote include:

* Sixteen Candles
* Home Alone [1-4]
* Beethoven [1-3]
* Dennis the Menace
* Maid in Manhattan
* Drillbit Taylor

He had his directorial debut with Sixteen Candles (1984) and ended his directorial career with Curly Sue. His director filmography includes:

1. Sixteen candles (1984)
2. Breakfast Club (1985)
3. Weird Science (1985)
4. Ferris Bueller’s Day (1986)
5. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
6. She’s having a Baby (1988)
7. Uncle Buck (1989)
8. Curly Sue (1991)

Hughes was also the producer on 23 films spanning from The Breakfast Club (1985) to New Port South (2001).

John Hughes died of a heart attack on August 6, 2009 whilst walking in Manhattan. He was buried in Chicago. John Hughes definitely left a mark on the film industry and on the kids of the 1980s. His movies are still as fresh now as they were then. He will be sorely missed.

He’s movies would make a great edition to your DVD collection. If you have some of his DVDs or videos, which you have watched a thousand times, you could probably sell or trade them in the classifieds, but my guess is if you’re a true fan, you’ll hang on to them. Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club. Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles are legendary.

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