Tag Archives: onto-the-silver

Whitney Houston Dead

R&B diva’s rep Kristen Foster confirms singer has died. By Rebecca Thomas Whitney Houston Photo: WireImage/Getty Whitney Houston , a multiplatinum pop/R&B singer who ruled the charts for decades beginning in the mid-1980s, has died. Houston was 48. While details such as cause and location of her death are still unknown, Houston’s publicist Kristen Foster confirms to The Associated Press on Saturday (February 11). Houston had recently staged a comeback in 2009, after a tumultuous divorce from singer Bobby Brown in 2006 after 14 years of marriage. The ex-couple have a daughter together, Bobbi Kristina. Brown and Houston battled substance abuse issues throughout their marriage, and their travails were well-publicized. But in recent years, Houston had made attempts to revive her once thriving music career only to find that her show-stopping voice had gathered some rust. At her height, Houston was the music industry’s reigning diva, releasing chart-topping albums well into the late 1990s, and earning her place as one of the best-selling artists in the world. Her unparalleled voice and All-American beauty propelled her onto the silver screen as well, with roles in the “The Bodyguard” and “Waiting to Exhale.” The soundtrack for the former film yielded a string of hit singles and broke myriad chart records as well. Her influence can be heard on a generation of young singers who cite her as an inspiration, from Mariah Carey, Brandy and Monica to Christina Aguilera and Beyonce. But Houston was dogged by her demons. In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey she detailed the years of addiction and the toll they had taken on her personal and professional lives. Related Artists Whitney Houston

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Whitney Houston Dead

‘Jaws’ Shark Hunted Down

The star of “Jaws” has been found resting in a Los Angeles junkyard. No, not Richard Dreyfuss — the shark! With the 35th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's classic blockbuster just around the corner, an NPR reporter set out to track down the mechanical beast that struck fear into the hearts of so many. In order to maximize their control over the creature, the “Jaws” filmmakers built three sharks for their 1975 movie. All created from the same mold, the sharks were dubbed “Bruce” after Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer. The gigantic metal creatures were 25-feet long and weighed hundreds of pounds. The heads alone came in at 400 lbs. apiece, with jaws the size of a small human. When reporter and “Jaws”-enthusiast Cory Turner set out to track down Bruce's whereabouts, he went straight to the source — the movie's director. A spokesman for Steven Spielberg explained that the original Bruces had all been destroyed, as no one had thought to save them. But theories circulated on a Facebook page for the famous shark that another Bruce might be out there. After a little research, Turner discovered that a fourth shark had indeed been cast from the original mold, just months after its brothers were constructed. The baby of the Bruce family was created for display at Universal Studios Theme Park, where it hung by its tail for fifteen years. In 1990, the shark was taken down and shipped out to destinations unknown. Turner picked up the phone and started dialing junkyards. He finally found the creature in a yard in the Sun Valley area of Southern California — just minutes away from Universal. Turner brought the team who built Bruce — art department members Joe Alves and Roy Arbogast to verify the shark's authenticity. “It's the real one,” Arbogast told Turner after examining the creature. “It's just kinda' nice to see it again after 25 or 30 years. It's amazing that it's still here.” Bruce's discovery couldn't come at a better time. There's talk that Universal might be considering a 3D “Jaws” remake — with comedian Tracy Morgan in the shark-hunter role. Perhaps Bruce will find his way onto the silver screen once again. added by: danteglam