Search results for

Legendary dancer and actor Donald O'Connor dies of heart failure in Calabasas, Calif., at age 78. O'Connor's career began in vaudeville and carried him to Hollywood. He made more than 50 films, including Singin' in the Rain, with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. NPR's Liane Hansen offers a remembrance.

Fred Rogers often spoke of kindness, thoughtfulness -- and of course neighborliness -- on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the children's show he hosted for over 30 years. NPR's Susan Stamberg interviews his widow, Joanne Rogers, about a new book of his sayings and advice. Read excerpts from The World According to Mister Rogers.

Photographer Frederic Brenner spent 25 years documenting Jewish communities in more than 40 countries on five continents. The results are the subject of an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and a new book, Diaspora: Homelands in Exile. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Brenner about his art and the state of the diaspora.

For the first time in history, all 10 acts on the "Billboard Top 10" are black. Nine of the 10 are rap acts, and the top spot is held by Pop/R&B songstress Beyonce and Dancehall Reggae star Sean Paul.

Woody Allen's recent movies have met with tepid reviews and disappointing box office receipts. NPR's Scott Simon and Weekend Edition entertainment critic Elvis Mitchell revisit some great moments from the Woody Allen canon and discuss whether the writer/director has lost his touch.

Writer and editor George Plimpton dies in Manhattan. He was 76. Plimpton was best known for his self-deprecating "participatory" sports writing, in which he boxed with Archie Moore and played pre-season quarterback for the Detroit Lions. As editor of the The Paris Review, Plimpton helped promote some of the world's most important authors. Hear a remembrance from Paris Review co-founder Peter Mattiessen.

Filmmaker Ric Burns' new documentary is a history of the World Trade Center. The Center of the World airs Monday, Sept. 8, as part of the American Experience series on PBS. It's the final episode in Burns' New York: A Documentary Film. Burns speaks with NPR's Scott Simon.

A new documentary film about the radical group the Weather Underground may signal that Hollywood is beginning to pay attention to 1960s counterculture. NPR's David D'Arcy reports.

Ever since a young Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland decided they just had to put on a show, the movies have loved to portray young people performing. The latest example is the new movie, Camp. Morning Edition and Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

Elia Kazan, director of the original Broadway productions of Death of a Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire, dies at the age of 94. Kazan also won Oscars for his film-directing work, including On the Waterfront. But he was villified by many of his colleagues for 1952 congressional testimony that identified Hollywood figures as communist sympathizers.