Spanish Flamenco Guitar Legend Dies

Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia, who blended the flamenco sound of his native land with jazz and other genres that attracted a new generation of fans, has died at the age of 66 of an apparent heart attack. 

A government official in de Lucia's hometown of Algeciras, Spain says the musician died Tuesday after he fell ill on a beach while with his family in Cancun, Mexico.  Algeciras will observe several days of official mourning in is memory. 

De Lucia began his career as a teenager in the 1960s when he formed a popular duo with the late flamenco singer Camaron de la Isla, a pairing that launched the New Flamenco movement.  He later joined forces with American jazz guitarists John McLaughlin and Al di Meola, producing the best-selling 1981 album "Friday Night in San Francisco." 

De Lucia was awarded his country's prestigious Asturius Prize for the Arts in 2004.

Pioneering TV Comedian Sid Caesar Dies at 91

Pioneering U.S. television comedian Sid Caesar, who set the standard for TV comedy in the early 1950s, has died at 91.

The New York born-Caesar began his career as a big band saxophonist before moving into nightclubs and the Broadway stage.

He started his television career in 1949 when he partnered with the late comedienne Imogene Coca.

Their legendary series Your Show of Shows was must-see Saturday night viewing and attracted huge audiences. Caesar rejected typical TV slapstick and in favor of sketches that showcased the best and sometimes worst of human behavior -- ill-tempered bosses, angry husbands, life in suburbia, and pretentious professors.

Your Show of Shows also parodied foreign films to highlight Caesar's ability to speak in realistic-sounding Russian, Japanese, and French dialect which was actually gibberish and nonsense.

The writing staff of Your Show of Shows and Caesar's subsequent series reads like a "who's who" of American comedy. They include Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Neil Simon, and Larry Gelbart.

After television, Caesar returned to Broadway and films and wrote candidly about his battles with alcoholism and drug abuse in an 1982 autobiography.

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple died of a heart attack on 10 February 2014, at the age of 85. She was at her home in Woodside, California, surrounded by family and caregivers. She is survived by her three children, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"Eleanor Roosevelt and Shirley Temple, July 1938."

"Shirley sees her old friend the president. Washington, D.C., June 24. Shirley Temple leaving the White House offices of the president today after a very important conference with the President. Shirley told the President about losing a tooth last night, and he told her about Sistie and Buzzie losing their teeth, Shirley expects to be in Washington a week checking on the affairs of government with different government officials, 6/24/38"

"Shirley Temple and Eddie Cantor cutting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's birthday cake in Los Angeles, California, 1937"