Singer Andy Williams, Star of Records and TV, Dies at 84

American popular singer Andy Williams, known for his easy-going style and friendly demeanor, has died after a year-long fight against bladder cancer.

He was 84 years old.

The Iowa-born crooner began singing with his brothers in church choirs and local radio in the midwestern U.S. before taking their act to Hollywood movies and nightclubs.

Williams went solo in the late 1940s. After struggling to make a name for himself, he began appearing on television in New York, grabbing the attention of record companies.

Williams became a household name in the 1960s with his signature song “Moon River.” He hosted a weekly television variety show, where he appeared with some of the top entertainers in show business. His annual TV Christmas specials were a holiday tradition.

Throughout his 75-year career, Williams earned 18 gold records, three Emmy awards, and opened his own theater in Branson, Missouri, where he performed nightly into his 80s.

Actor Michael Clarke Duncan Dies

Oscar-nominated actor Michael Clarke Duncan has died at the age of 54.

Duncan died Monday in a Los Angeles hospital, nearly two months after suffering a heart attack.

The bulky, deep voiced Duncan was nominated as best supporting actor in his role as a death row inmate with magical powers in the 1999 drama The Green Mile.

Duncan later starred in such films as The Scorpion King, Daredevil, and The Whole Nine Yards.

The Chicago native worked as a ditch digger and celebrity bodyguard before becoming an actor.

(Photo by blackurbanite. Michael Clarke Duncan at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California.)

Korea’s Sun Myung Moon, Founder of Unification Church, Dead at 92

Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church and one of the most prominent Koreans in the world, has died. He was 92 years old.

The Unification Church in South Korea said its founder succumbed to complications from pneumonia on Monday in a church-run hospital east of Seoul.

Reverend Moon's global business empire is worth billions of dollars. In the United States, the church controls the Washington Times newspaper and the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan.

The church, established in 1954, has millions of followers worldwide. In recent decades the church staged a number of mass wedding ceremonies for hundreds of church members whom Moon had selected to marry each other. He usually wore an ornate robe while presiding at such ceremonies, with a crown atop his head.

Unification Church members also have been known for their extreme commitment to the organization – in some cases turning over all their earnings to the church. That church's alleged tactics – using deceptive tactics to recruit followers and keep tight control over their lives – prompted critics to denounce the group as a cult more than a religious sect.

Once a staunch anti-communist, Moon was imprisoned in his native North Korea in the late 1940s. However, he later set aside ideology to do business with North Korea's founder, the late Kim Il Sung. A church-affiliated firm, Pyeonghwa Motors, established a carmaking business in partnership with the North Korean state in 1999.

In recent years, several of Moon's children took on influential leadership roles in the church's sprawling empire, and there have been reports of in-fighting among his descendants, often due to disputes where religious and economic interests diverged.

In 1982, Moon was convicted of tax fraud in the United States and he spent 13 months in a U.S. federal prison.

Moon's followers, popularly known as “Moonies” in the U.S., believe that marriage is central to the Unification Church's mission of uniting the world's Christian denominations.

(Photo: Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han.)

Legendary US Songwriter Hal David Dies at 91

American songwriter Hal David, who with composer Burt Bacharach wrote some of the most memorable music of the the 1960s and 1970s, has died from complications of a stroke.

He was 91 years old.

David teamed up with Bacharach in the late 1950s. Working with singer Dionne Warwick, the Bacharach-David songbook became a soundtrack of American life in the late 1960s. Their hits included Walk on By, Alfie, Do You Know the Way to San Jose, and What Do You Get When You Fall in Love.

The team won Oscars and Grammy awards, wrote soundtracks for films and television, and was in demand by other musical icons, such as Frank Sinatra and The Beatles.

President Barack Obama awarded David and Bacharach The U.S. Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at a White House ceremony in May.

Late Cardinal Calls Catholic Church '200 Years Out of Date'

The former Archbishop of Milan, a one-time candidate for pope who died Friday, said in his last interview that the Catholic Church is “200 years out of date.”

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini died Friday in Milan at 85 after suffering from Parkinson's disease.

His last interview was published Saturday in Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper, in which he had a regular column.

The cardinal noted that churches are “big and empty” while the church bureaucracy grows and the rituals become “pompous.” He accuses the church of failing to keep up with the times.

Cardinal Martini says the recent child abuse scandal obliges the church to transform itself by admitting mistakes and beginning a radical change, starting with the pope and bishops.

Cardinal Martini was regarded as one of the most progressive voices in the church. He held relatively liberal views on such issues as contraception, celibacy for priests, and abortion.

Vatican liberals pushed the cardinal as a candidate to succeed Pope John Paul in 2005 before the more conservative wing prevailed with Pope Benedict.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong Dies at 82

Former U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died.

A family statement said the 82-year-old icon died Saturday in his home state of Ohio, following a cardiovascular procedure earlier this month.

Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. After stepping on the lunar surface, he sent the historic message: “that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” As an enthralled world looked on, Armstrong spent nearly three hours walking on the moon with fellow astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.

Armstrong had largely withdrawn from public life in recent years. But he spoke earlier this year at Ohio State University at an event honoring fellow space pioneer John Glenn, former senator from Ohio.

Weeks after the moon walk, Armstrong, Aldrin and the mission's third astronaut, Michael Collins, received a thunderous welcome with ticker-tape parades in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. They later made a world tour.

The moon walk marked America's victory in the Cold War space race with the Soviet Union that began in October 1957 with the launch of the Soviet satellite “Sputnik 1.”

President Barack Obama, in a statement Saturday, called Armstrong “among the greatest of American heroes, not just of his time, but of all time. When he and his fellow crew members lifted off … they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation. They set out to show the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable — that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible.”

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney called Armstrong an American hero who will inspire him for the rest of his life. He praised the astronaut for operating “with courage unmeasured and unbounded love for his country.”

Saturday's family statement described Armstrong as “a loving husband, grandfather brother and friend.” It asked that the public “honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty. And the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”

Armstrong's Apollo 11 mission earned decorations from 17 nations and many special American honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

In later years, he served as Deputy Associate Administrator at NASA headquarters, and was a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He and his family lived on a 120-hectare farm outside of Cincinnati.

Hollywood Director Tony Scott Dies

Authorities in Los Angeles say movie director Tony Scott, director of such Hollywood blockbusters as Top Gun, Days of Thunder and Beverly Hills Cop II, has died after jumping from a Los Angeles County Bridge.

An officer with the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said the 68-year-old Scott's death Sunday is being investigated as a suicide.

Police say several people called emergency services shortly after midday Sunday to report that someone had jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles.

A dive team with Los Angeles Port Police pulled the body from the murky water several hours later, Nordquist said. Scott's body was taken to a dock in Wilmington and turned over to the county coroner's office. 

The British-born Scott was producer and director Ridley Scott's brother. Ridley Scott's Prometheus was a summer blockbuster.

Scott frequently worked with Denzel Washington, most recently on the runaway train drama Unstoppable.

Scott and Washington collaborated on four other films: Man on Fire, Deja Vu, and The Taking of Pelham 123.

Other Scott films include True Romance and Crimson Tide. Scott was married to actress Donna Scott. They have twin sons.