Ingmar Bergman dead at 89

SWEDISH director Ingmar Bergman, an iconoclastic filmmaker widely regarded as one of the great masters of modern cinema, has died. He was 89.
Bergman died at his home in Faro, Sweden, Swedish news agency TT said, citing his daughter Eva Bergman.
Through more than 50 films, Bergman's vision encompassed all the extremes of his beloved Sweden: the claustrophobic gloom of unending winter nights, the gentle merriment of glowing summer evenings and the bleak magnificence of the island where he spent his last years.
Bergman, who approached difficult subjects such as plague and madness with inventive technique and carefully honed writing, became one of the towering figures of serious filmmaking.
He was "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", fellow filmmaker Woody Allen said in a 70th birthday tribute in 1988.
Bergman first gained international attention with 1955's Smiles of a Summer Night, a romantic comedy that inspired the Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music.
The Seventh Seal (1957), an allegorical tale of the medieval Black Plague years, contains one of cinema's most famous scenes, a knight playing chess with the shrouded figure of Death.
"I was terribly scared of death," Bergman said of his state of mind when making the film, which was nominated for an Academy Award in the best picture category.
The film distilled the essence of Bergman's work — high seriousness, flashes of unexpected humour and striking images.
Though best known internationally for his films, Bergman was also a prominent stage director. He worked at several playhouses in Sweden from the mid-1940s, including the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, which he headed from 1963 to 1966. He staged many plays by the Swedish author August Strindberg, whom he cited as an inspiration.
The influence of Strindberg's gruelling and precise psychological dissections could be seen in the production that brought Bergman an even wider audience: 1973's Scenes from a Marriage. First produced as a six-part series for television, then released in a theatre version, it is an intense detailing of the disintegration of a marriage.

Mike "Frank Butcher" Reid dies at 67

Former EastEnders actor Mike Reid, who played wheeler dealer Frank Butcher in the BBC soap, died at the age of 67.
Reid was a real-life Londoner, born in Hackney, East London, in 1940.
A few months after his birth, his family were forced by the blitz bombings to leave their home and Reid spent his formative years in Tottenham.
According to his autobiography, the future comedian was a petty criminal in his youth, joining a North London gang which stole from scrap yards and settled scores with shotguns.
He also befriended notorious gangsters Charlie and Reggie Kray.
He married his first wife, Sheila, in 1958, with whom he had his first child, Jane, but their union soon ended due to his wild lifestyle.
A brief spell in Brixton prison eventually convinced him to turn his back on crime for the sake of his second wife, Shirley.
The couple went on to have two sons, Michael and Mark.
Reid started life in showbusiness in the 1960s as a stuntman, working on films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Spartacus, as well as working as Roger Moore's stunt double in TV series, The Saint.
The star went on to work as a stand-up comic in clubs and cruise liners, before finding fame on the 1970s stand-up show, The Comedians.
The popular TV series consisted entirely of short slots by other stand-up comedians such as Bernard Manning, Frank Carson, Jim Bowen and Charlie Williams.

Showbiz career

His success on The Comedians led to a one-off novelty hit record, a version of The Ugly Duckling.
His next major move was to host the sometimes chaotic ITV children's game show Runaround in the 1970s, which is still fondly remembered by many people in their 30s and 40s.
Reid's career started to gravitate towards television acting and he appeared in Minder and Doctor Who, before getting his big break in 1987 winning the role as Frank Butcher in EastEnders.
The character - a charmer who wooed Pat Evans and Peggy Mitchell - went on to become one of the most popular on the BBC One show.
In one of the soap's most memorable moments he attempted to win Pat (Pam St Clements) back, turning up on her doorstep wearing nothing but a flashing dickie bow tie.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror newspaper in 2003 he said it took them both 40 minutes to complete the scene as they kept laughing.
"It was supposed to be a closed set, but all the other actors steamed in to have a look. It was a cold day, so there wasn't a lot to see!" he said.

Double tragedy

As the role propelled Reid to stardom, his personal life was dogged by tragedy.
In 1985 his son Mark accidentally shot dead his best friend and five years later he committed suicide by setting himself on fire.
Shortly after his son's death, Reid's granddaughter Kirsty - Mark's daughter - died in her cot aged just six months.
Despite Reid's personal problems he continued to act, but left EastEnders in 2000 when screen wife Peggy discovered his plans to run away with Pat and threw him out.
He returned to the programme twice, in 2002 when Peggy flew to Spain and in 2005 for Janine Butcher's murder trial.
After leaving EastEnders for the first time he played Doug "The Head" Denovitz in Guy Ritchie movie Snatch and was in Spanish film Oh Marbella! in 2003.
He had slipped from the public eye in recent years and was living in Spain at the time of his death.

'Very funny man'

His agent David Hahn described the former EastEnders actor as "a very, very, very, funny" man who would "see the funny side of any situation".
Fellow comedian Frank Carson said: "This is horrendous news. Everyone in showbusiness will be shocked."
John Yorke, controller of BBC drama series, said: "Albert Square, and British television, will be a far poorer place without him."
Pam St Clements added: "Somebody larger than life as Mike was a person and character, he seemed indestructible."

Lucky Grills Dies At 79

THE well-rounded Lucky Grills was not made for running, which is why he had a beef with the makers of Bluey, the TV cop show in which he played Sgt Bluey Hills.
The script always called for him to chase the thin bandit and for his slim partner, played by John Diedrich, to pursue the fat one.
He inevitably ended up out of puff, but never unhappy.
Lucky Grills was one of those rare beings who looked on the bright side of almost every circumstance, laughing as he made others laugh along with him, and he felt as fortunate as his name suggested to have been involved in mainstream entertainment.
Bluey bit the dust in 1976 after two years on commercial TV, after which he moved back to the club circuit.
But the character lived on to entertain a new generation in the Bargearse segment on the ABC's Late Show many years later.
Grills was a man of many parts.
Vietnam veterans remember him entertaining them with his stand-up comedy act on makeshift stages behind the lines.
He also starred in Stan Zemanek's travelling cabaret show.
Born Leo Grills in Hobart on May 26, 1928, Grills once told an interviewer he was both a lovable and modest child.
He recalled The Depression as a hard time when there was little money in the house, but also credited his mother with teaching him that you only get out of life what you put in.
Children were expected to entertain themselves, so he learned to play the clown.
His sister was a singer; she was presented to Dame Nellie Melba after winning a competition.
"It's been the best life I could possibly ever want," he said in an interview after being awarded the Order of Australia.
Grills, 79, had been performing and mailing off gags to fellow comedians just before he died.
He did two shows on the Gold Coast on Friday, had dinner with his wife, Maria, and talked of his schedule before going to bed.
He was also planning a show at the Twin Town Services Club, which friends will now turn into a tribute to his life.
Fans will miss him -- the Bargearse videos are steady sellers in ABC shops and his Bluey character still has a fan club in Britain.
Fellow comedians will also miss him, such was his reputation as a generous friend to old hands and supporter of new talent.
Melbourne's entertainment fraternity last night paid tribute.
Showbiz guru John Michael Howson said Grills was one of the funniest men he ever met.
"Lucky was a lovely man," he said. "You couldn't keep him off the boards. He was fun to be with, he was just the all-Aussie bloke."
Television and radio veteran John Blackman said: "It's sad to see the passing of yet another great icon."
Singer Mike Brady said Grills was well respected in all entertainment circles: 'He was larger than life."
Stage performer Danny McMaster, who worked alongside Grills, said he had performed two shows the day he died: "Not bad for a 79-year-old."

Shock jock Stan Zemanek dies at 60

Talkback radio presenter Stan Zemanek has died of a brain tumour in Sydney at the age of 60, his former radio station 2UE says.
The provocative and often amusing "shock jock" had battled the brain tumour since May last year.
He is survived by his wife Marcella, two daughters, Gaby and Melissa, and two grandchildren.
Zemanek began his broadcasting career in 1987 and spent the majority of his time at Sydney station 2UE.
He made his name as a personality listeners loved to hate, trading insults with callers and being argumentative but always passionate.
Zemanek will also be remembered as host of TV talk show Beauty and The Beast, for which he was the 13th and longest serving "beast".
He was unashamed of his right-wing political leanings and made polarising opinions his trademark, along with on-air terms such as "numb nuts" and "halfwit".
He retired from radio in December last year to spend more time with his family.