Actor Tom Sizemore, known for his roles in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down" has died weeks after suffering a brain aneurysm, multiple outlets are reporting. He was 61.Earlier this week, Sizemore's family issued a statement saying they were "deciding end-of-life matters" following an update from his doctors. "Today, doctors informed his family that there is no further hope and have recommended end of life decision," the statement said. "We are asking for privacy for his family during this difficult time and they wish to thank everyone for the hundreds of messages of support, and prayers that have been received. This has been a difficult time for them."Sizemore was hospitalized in February and "remained in critical condition, in a coma and in intensive care" from that point forward, according to the family's statement.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s last surviving original member who also helped to found the group, died Sunday at the age of 71. No cause of death was given.“It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today,” the band's Facebook says. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. Please keep Dale, Mary, Annie and the entire Rossington family in your prayers and respect the family’s privacy at this difficult time.”Rossington cheated death more than once, Rolling Stone reported. He survived a car accident in 1976 in which he drove his Ford Torino into a tree, inspiring the band’s cautionary song “That Smell.” A year later, he emerged from the 1977 plane crash that killed singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and a punctured stomach and liver.“It was a devastating thing," he told Rolling Stone in 2006. "You can’t just talk about it real casual and not have feelings about it.”In later years, Rossington underwent quintuple bypass surgery in 2003, suffered a heart attack in 2015, and had numerous subsequent heart surgeries, most recently leaving Lynyrd Skynyrd in July 2021 to recover from another procedure. At recent shows, Rossington would perform portions of the concert and sometimes sat out full gigs.Rossington was born Dec. 4, 1951, in Jacksonville, Florida, and raised by his mother after his father died. Upon meeting drummer Bob Burns and bassist Larry Junstrom, Rossington and his new friends formed a band, which they tried to juggle amid their love of baseball.According to Rolling Stone, it was during a fateful Little League game, Ronnie Van Zant hit a line drive into the shoulder blades of opposing player Bob Burns and met his future bandmates. Rossington, Burns, Van Zant, and guitarist Allen Collins gathered that afternoon at Burns’ Jacksonville home to jam the Rolling Stone’s “Time Is on My Side.”Adopting Lynyrd Skynyrd as the group’s name — both a reference to a similarly named sports coach at Rossington’s high school and to a character in the 1963 novelty hit “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” — the band released their debut album (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-’nérd) in 1973. A collection of country-tinged blues-rock and Southern soul, the album included now-classics like “Tuesday’s Gone,” “Simple Man” and “Gimme Three Steps,” but it was the closing track, the nearly 10-minute “Free Bird,” that became the group’s calling card, due in no small part to Rossington’s evocative slide playing on his Gibson SG.Rossington told Rolling Stone that he never considered Skynyrd to be a tragic band, despite all the band's drama and death. “I don’t think of it as tragedy — I think of it as life,” he said upon the group’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2006. “I think the good outweighs the bad.”

Former U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder, a pioneer for women's and family rights in Congress, died Monday night. She was 82.

Schroeder's former press secretary, Andrea Camp, said Schroeder suffered a stroke recently and died at a hospital in Celebration, Florida, the city where she had been residing in recent years.

Schroeder took on the powerful elite with her rapier wit and antics for 24 years, shaking up stodgy government institutions by forcing them to acknowledge that women had a role in government.

Her unorthodox methods cost her important committee posts, but Schroeder said she wasn't willing to join what she called "the good old boys' club" just to score political points. Unafraid of embarrassing her congressional colleagues in public, she became an icon for the feminist movement.

Schroeder was elected to Congress in Colorado in 1972 and became one of its most influential Democrats as she won easy reelection 11 times from her safe district in Denver. Despite her seniority, she was never appointed to head a committee.

Schroeder helped forge several Democratic majorities before deciding in 1997 it was time to leave. Her parting shot in 1998 was a book titled "24 Years of Housework ... and the Place is Still a Mess. My Life in Politics," which chronicled her frustration with male domination and the slow pace of change in federal institutions.

In 1987, Schroeder tested the waters for the presidency, mounting a fundraising drive after fellow Coloradan Gary Hart pulled out of the race. She announced three months later that she would not run and said her "tears signify compassion, not weakness." Her heart was not in it, she said, and she thought fundraising was demeaning.

She was the first woman on the House Armed Services Committee but was forced to share a chair with U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums, D-Calif., the first African American, when committee chairman F. Edward Hebert, D-La., organized the panel. Schroeder said Hebert thought the committee was no place for a woman or an African American and they were each worth only half a seat.

Republicans were livid after Schroeder and others filed an ethics complaint over House Speaker Newt Gingrich's televised college lecture series, charging that free cable time he received amounted to an illegal gift under House rules. Gingrich became the first speaker reprimanded by Congress. Gingrich said later he regretted not taking Schroeder and her colleagues more seriously.

Earlier, she had blasted Gingrich for suggesting women shouldn't serve in combat because they could get infections from being in a ditch for 30 days. According to her official House biography, she once told Pentagon officials that if they were women, they would always be pregnant because they never said "no."

Asked by one congressman how she could be a mother of two small children and a member of Congress at the same time, she replied, "I have a brain and a uterus, and I use both."

It was Schroeder who branded President Ronald Reagan the "Teflon" president for his ability to avoid blame for major policy decisions, and the name stuck.

One of Schroeder's biggest victories was the signing of a family-leave bill in 1993, providing job protection for care of a newborn, a sick child or a parent.

"Pat Schroeder blazed the trail. Every woman in this house is walking in her footsteps," said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., who took over from Schroeder as Democratic chair of the bipartisan congressional caucus on women's issues.

Schroeder said legislators spent too much attention on contributors and special interests. When House Republicans gathered on the U.S. Capitol steps to celebrate their first 100 days in power in 1994, she and several aides clambered to the building's dome and hung a 15-foot red banner reading, "Sold."

A pilot, Schroeder earned her way through Harvard Law School with her own flying service. Schroeder became a professor at Princeton University after leaving Congress, but said politics was in her blood and she would continue working for candidates she supported.

For a while, she taught a graduate-level course titled "The Politics of Poverty." She also headed the Association of American Publishers.

Schroeder continued working in politics after moving to Florida, going door to door, speaking to groups and mentoring candidates. She was politically active for issues and candidates across the country and campaigned for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Among other activities, she served on the board of the Marguerite Casey Foundation.

Schroeder was born in Portland, Oregon, on July 30, 1940. She was a pilot who paid for college tuition with her own flying service. She graduated from the University of Minnesota before earning her law degree in 1964. From 1964 to 1966, she was a field attorney for the National Labor Relations Board.

She is survived by her husband, James W. Schroeder, whom she married in 1962. Also surviving are their two children, Scott and Jamie, and her brother, Mike Scott, as well as four grandchildren.

___

Former Associated Press writer Steven K. Paulson contributed to this report.

Tina Turner, the unstoppable singer and stage performer who teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ‘70s and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping "What's Love Got to Do With It," has died at 83.Turner died Tuesday, after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, according to her manager. She became a Swiss citizen a decade ago.Few stars traveled so far — she was born Anna Mae Bullock in a segregated Tennessee hospital and spent her latter years on a 260,000 square foot estate on Lake Zurich — and overcame so much. Physically battered, emotionally devastated and financially ruined by her 20-year relationship with Ike Turner, she became a superstar on her own in her 40s, at a time when most of her peers were on their way down, and remained a top concert draw for years after."How do we say farewell to a woman who owned her pain and trauma and used it as a means to help change the world?" Angela Bassett, who played Turner in the 1993 biopic “What's Love Got to Do With It,” said in a statement."Through her courage in telling her story, her commitment to stay the course in her life, no matter the sacrifice, and her determination to carve out a space in rock and roll for herself and for others who look like her, Tina Turner showed others who lived in fear what a beautiful future filled with love, compassion, and freedom should look like.With admirers ranging from Beyoncé to Mick Jagger, Turner was one of the world's most successful entertainers, known for a core of pop, rock and rhythm and blues favorites: "Proud Mary," "Nutbush City Limits," "River Deep, Mountain High," and the hits she had in the '80s, among them "What's Love Got to Do with It," "We Don't Need Another Hero" and a cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together."Video below: Tina Turner gives exclusive interview in 1978Her trademarks were her growling contralto, her bold smile and strong cheekbones, her palette of wigs and the muscular, quick-stepping legs she did not shy from showing off. She sold more than 150 million records worldwide, won 12 Grammys, was voted along with Ike into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 (and on her own in 2021) and was honored at the Kennedy Center in 2005, with Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey among those praising her. Her life became the basis for a film, a Broadway musical and an HBO documentary in 2021 that she called her public farewell.Until she left her husband and revealed their back story, she was known as the voracious on-stage foil of the steady-going Ike, the leading lady of the “Ike and Tina Turner Revue.” Ike was billed first and ran the show, choosing the material, the arrangements, the backing singers. They toured constantly for years, in part because Ike was often short on money and unwilling to miss a concert. Tina Turner was forced to go on with bronchitis, with pneumonia, with a collapsed right lung.Other times, the cause of her misfortunes was Ike himself.As she recounted in her memoir, “I, Tina,” Ike began hitting her not long after they met, in the mid-1950s, and only grew more vicious. Provoked by anything and anyone, he would throw hot coffee in her face, choke her, or beat her until her eyes were swollen shut, then rape her. Before one show, he broke her jaw and she went on stage with her mouth full of blood.Terrified both of being with Ike and of being without him, she credited her emerging Buddhist faith in the mid-1970s with giving her a sense of strength and self-worth and she finally left in early July 1976. The Ike and Tina Turner Revue was scheduled to open a tour marking the country’s bicentennial when Tina snuck out of their Dallas hotel room, with just a Mobil credit card and 36 cents, while Ike slept. She hurried across a nearby highway, narrowly avoiding a speeding truck, and found another hotel to stay.“I looked at him (Ike) and thought, ‘You just beat me for the last time, you sucker,’” she recalled in her memoir.Video below: Tina Turner discusses her bookTurner was among the first celebrities to speak candidly about domestic abuse, becoming a heroine to battered women and a symbol of resilience to all. Ike Turner did not deny mistreating her, although he tried to blame Tina for their troubles. When he died, in 2007, a representative for his ex-wife said simply: “Tina is aware that Ike passed away.”Ike and Tina fans knew little of this during the couple's prime. The Turners were a hot act for much of the 1960s and into the ’70s, evolving from bluesy ballads such as “A Fool in Love” and “It’s Going to Work Out Fine” to flashy covers of “Proud Mary” and “Come Together” and other rock songs that brought them crossover success. They opened for the Rolling Stones in 1966 and 1969, and were seen performing a lustful version of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” in the 1970 Stones documentary “Gimme Shelter.” Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett gave Oscar-nominated performances as Ike and Tina in the 1993 movie “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” based on “I, Tina,” but she would say that reliving her years with Ike was so painful she couldn’t bring herself to watch the movie).Ike and Tina’s reworking of “Proud Mary,” originally a tight, mid-tempo hit for Creedence Clearwater Revival, helped define their assertive, sexual image. Against a background of funky guitar and Ike’s crooning baritone, Tina began with a few spoken words about how some people wanted to hear songs that were “nice and easy.”“But there’s this one thing,” she warned, “you see, we never ever do nothing nice and easy.“We always do it nice — and rough.”But by the end of the 1970s, Turner’s career seemed finished. She was 40 years old, her first solo album had flopped and her live shows were mostly confined to the cabaret circuit. Desperate for work, and money, she even agreed to tour in South Africa when the country was widely boycotted because of its racist apartheid regime.Video below: Tina Turner donates profits of 1985 concert to scholarshipsRock stars helped bring her back. Rod Stewart convinced her to sing “Hot Legs” with him on “Saturday Night Live” and Jagger, who had openly borrowed some of Turner’s on-stage moves, sang “Honky Tonk Women” with her during the Stones’ 1981-82 tour. At a listening party for his 1983 album “Let’s Dance,” David Bowie told guests that Turner was his favorite female singer.“She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous," Jagger tweeted Wednesday. "She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”More popular in England at the time than in the U.S., she recorded a raspy version of “Let’s Stay Together” at EMI’s Abbey Road studios in London. By the end of 1983, “Let’s Stay Together” was a hit throughout Europe and on the verge of breaking in the states. An A&R man at Capitol Records, John Carter, urged the label to sign her up and make an album. Among the material presented to her was a reflective pop-reggae ballad co-written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle and initially dismissed by Tina as “wimpy.”“I just thought it was some old pop song, and I didn’t like it,” she later said of “What’s Love Got To Do With It.”Turner’s “Private Dancer” album came out in May 1984, sold more than eight million copies and featured several hit singles, including the title song and “Better Be Good To Me.” It won four Grammys, among them record of the year for “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” the song that came to define the clear-eyed image of her post-Ike years.“People look at me now and think what a hot life I must have lived — ha!” she wrote in her memoir.Even with Ike, it was hard to mistake her for a romantic. Her voice was never “pretty,” and love songs were never her specialty, in part because she had little experience to draw from. She was born in Nutbush, Tennessee in 1939 and would say she received “no love” from either her mother or father. After her parents separated, she moved often around Tennessee and Missouri, living with various relatives. She was outgoing, loved to sing and as a teenager would check out the blues clubs in St. Louis, where one of the top draws was Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. Tina didn’t care much for his looks the first time she saw him, at the Club Manhattan.“Then he got up onstage and picked up his guitar,” she wrote in her memoir. “He hit one note, and I thought, ‘Jesus, listen to this guy play.’”Tina soon made her move. During intermission at an Ike Turner show at the nearby Club D’Lisa, Ike was alone on stage, playing a blues melody on the keyboards. Tina recognized the song, B.B. King’s “You Know I Love You,” grabbed a microphone and sang along. As Tina remembered, a stunned Ike called out “Giirrlll!!” and demanded to know what else she could perform. Over her mother’s objections, she agreed to join his group. He changed her first name to Tina, inspired by the comic book heroine Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, and changed her last name by marrying her, in 1962.In rare moments of leniency from Ike, Tina did enjoy success on her own. She added a roaring lead vocal to Phil Spector’s titanic production of “River Deep, Mountain High,” a flop in the U.S. when released in 1966, but a hit overseas and eventually a standard. She was also featured as the Acid Queen in the 1975 film version of the Who’s rock opera “Tommy.” More recent film work included “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” and a cameo in “What’s Love Got to Do with It.”Turner had two sons: Craig, with saxophonist Raymond Hill; and Ronald, with Ike Turner. (Craig Turner was found dead in 2018 of an apparent suicide). In a memoir published later in 2018, “Tina Turner: My Love Story,” she revealed that she had received a kidney transplant from her second husband, former EMI record executive Erwin Bach.Turner’s life seemed an argument against marriage, but her life with Bach was a love story the younger Tina would not have believed possible. They met in the mid-1980s, when she flew to Germany for record promotion and he picked her up at the airport. He was more than a decade younger than her — “the prettiest face,” she said of him in the HBO documentary — and the attraction was mutual. She wed Bach in 2013, exchanging vows at a civil ceremony in Switzerland.“It’s that happiness that people talk about,” Turner told the press at the time, “when you wish for nothing, when you can finally take a deep breath and say, ‘Everything is good.’”___Associated Press Writer Hilary Fox contributed to this report.

Peter Bogdanovich, the ascot-wearing cinephile and director of 1970s black-and-white classics like “The Last Picture Show” and “Paper Moon,” has died. He was 82.Bogdanovich died early Thursday morning at this home in Los Angeles, said his daughter, Antonia Bogdanovich. She said he died of natural causes Considered part of a generation of young “New Hollywood” directors, Bogdanovich was heralded as an auteur from the start, with the chilling lone shooter film “Targets” and soon after “The Last Picture Show,” from 1971, his evocative portrait of a small, dying town that earned eight Oscar nominations, won two (for Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman) and catapulted him to stardom at the age of 32. He followed “The Last Picture Show” with the screwball comedy “What’s Up, Doc?,” starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal, and then the Depression-era road trip film “Paper Moon,” which won 10-year-old Tatum O’Neal an Oscar as well.His turbulent personal life was also often in the spotlight, from his well-known affair with Cybill Shepherd that began during the making of “The Last Picture Show” while he was married to his close collaborator, Polly Platt, to the murder of his Playmate girlfriend Dorothy Stratten and his subsequent marriage to her younger sister, Louise, who was 29 years younger than him.Reactions came in swiftly at the news of his death.“Oh dear, a shock. I am devastated. He was a wonderful and great artist,” said Francis Ford Coppola in an email. "I’ll never forget attending a premiere for ‘The Last Picture Show.’ I remember at its end, the audience leaped up all around me bursting into applause lasting easily 15 minutes. I’ll never forget although I felt I had never myself experienced a reaction like that, that Peter and his film deserved it. May he sleep in bliss for eternity, enjoying the thrill of our applause forever.”Tatum O’Neal posted a photo of herself with him on Instagram, writing “Peter was my heaven & earth. A father figure. A friend. From ‘Paper Moon’ to ‘Nickelodeon’ he always made me feel safe. I love you, Peter.”Guillermo del Toro tweeted: “He was a dear friend and a champion of Cinema. He birthed masterpieces as a director and was a most genial human. He single-handedly interviewed and enshrined the lives and work of more classic filmmakers than almost anyone else in his generation.”Born in Kingston, New York, in 1939, Bogdanovich started out as a film journalist and critic, working as a film programmer at the Museum of Modern Art, where through a series of retrospectives he endeared himself to a host of old guard filmmakers including Orson Welles, Howard Hawks and John Ford.“I’ve gotten some very important one-sentence clues like when Howard Hawks turned to me and said ‘Always cut on the movement and no one will notice the cut,’” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It was a very simple sentence but it profoundly affected everything I’ve done.”But his Hollywood education started earlier than that: His father took him at age 5 to see Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton movies at the Museum of Modern Art. He'd later make his own Keaton documentary, “The Great Buster,” which was released in 2018.Bogdanovich and Platt moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, where they attended Hollywood parties and struck up friendships with Corman and Frank Marshall, then just an aspiring producer, who helped get the film “Targets” off the ground. And the professional ascent only continued for the next few films and years. But after “Paper Moon,” which Platt collaborated on after they had separated, he would never again capture the accolades of those first five years in Hollywood.Bogdanovich’s relationship with Shepherd led to the end of his marriage to Platt, with whom he shared daughters Antonia and Sashy, and a fruitful creative partnership. The 1984 film “Irreconcilable Differences” was loosely based on the scandal. He later disputed the idea that Platt, who died in 2011, was an integral part of the success of his early films.He would go on to make two other films with Shepherd, an adaptation of Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” and the musical “At Long Last Love,” neither of which were particularly well-received by critics or audiences.And he also passed on major opportunities at the height of his successes. He told Vulture he turned down “The Godfather,” “Chinatown” and “The Exorcist.”“Paramount called and said, “We just bought a new Mario Puzo book called The Godfather. We’d like you to consider directing it.” I said, “I’m not interested in the Mafia,” he said in the interview.Headlines would continue to follow Bogdanovich for things other than his movies. He began an affair with Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten while directing her in “They All Laughed," a romantic comedy with Audrey Hepburn and Ben Gazzara, in the spring and summer of 1980. Her husband, Paul Snider, murdered her that August. Bogdanovich, in a 1984 book titled ″The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten, 1960-1980,″ criticized Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire for its alleged role in events he said ended in Stratten’s death. Then, nine years later, at 49, he married her younger sister Louise Stratten, who was just 20 at the time. They divorced in 2001, but continued living together, with her mother in Los AngelesIn an interview with the AP in 2020, Bogdanovich acknowledged that his relationships had an impact on his career.“The whole thing about my personal life got in the way of people’s understanding of the movies,” Bogdanovich said. “That’s something that has plagued me since the first couple of pictures.”Despite some flops along the way, Bogdanovich's output remained prolific in the 1980s and 1990s, including a sequel to “The Last Picture Show" called “Texasville,” the country music romantic drama “The Thing Called Love,” which was one of River Phoenix's last films, and, in 2001, “The Cat's Meow,” about a party on William Randolph Hearst's yacht starring Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies. His last narrative film, “She's Funny that Way,” a screwball comedy starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston that he co-wrote with Louise Stratten, debuted to mixed reviews in 2014.Over the years he authored several books about movies, including “Peter Bogdanovich’s Movie of the Week,” “Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors” and “Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors.”He acted semi-frequently, too, sometimes playing himself (in “Moonlighting” and “How I Met Your Mother”) and sometimes other people, like Dr. Elliot Kupferberg on “The Sopranos," and also inspired a new generation of filmmakers, from Wes Anderson to Noah Baumbach.“They call me ‘Pop,’ and I allow it,” he told Vulture.At the time of the AP interview in 2020, coinciding with a podcast about his career with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz, he was hard at work on a television show inspired by Dorothy Stratten, and wasn’t optimistic about the future of cinema.“I just keep going, you know. Television is not dead yet,” he said with a laugh. “But movies may have a problem.”Yet even with his Hollywood-sized ego, Bogdanovich remained deferential to those who came before.“I don’t judge myself on the basis of my contemporaries," he told The New York Times in 1971. "I judge myself against the directors I admire — Hawks, Lubitsch, Buster Keaton, Welles, Ford, Renoir, Hitchcock. I certainly don’t think I’m anywhere near as good as they are, but I think I’m pretty good.”

Monkees singer and guitarist Michael Nesmith has died at the age of 78. “With Infinite Love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes,” his family said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “We ask that you respect our privacy at this time and we thank you for the love and light that all of you have shown him and us.”Variety also reported that Nesmith’s manager, Andrew Sandoval, confirmed the death on social media. "It is with deep sadness that I mark the passing of Michael Nesmith," Sandoval said in a series of posts on Twitter. "We shared many travels and projects together over the course of 30 years, which culminated in a Monkees farewell tour that wrapped up only a few weeks ago. That tour was a true blessing for so many. And in the end I know that Michael was at peace with his legacy which included songwriting, producing, acting, direction and so many innovative ideas and concepts. I am positive the brilliance he captured will resonate and offer the love and light towards which he always moved. Nez expressed the highest part of his being through his voice."Sandoval closed with a tweet quoting one of Nesmith's lyrics. "Thank you for the times you gave me, thank you for the tears you saved me, please take this song as my thanks to you."

Demaryius Thomas, who played 10 seasons in the NFL and is considered one of the best wide receivers in Denver Broncos history, was found dead at his home in Roswell, Georgia, according to officials. He was 33 years old.

Based on preliminary information, his death stemmed from a medical issue, Officer Tim Lupo of the Roswell Police Department said in an email to CNN.

"We are devastated and completely heartbroken," the Broncos said in a statement. "Demaryius' humility, warmth, kindness and infectious smile will always be remembered by those who knew him and loved him."

The NFL issued a statement saying, "The NFL family mourns the tragic loss of Demaryius Thomas and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones."

Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, who played four seasons with Thomas in Denver, said the wide receiver was a better person than he was a player.

"He treated my kids like they were his own," he said in a statement released by the Broncos. "He was there for every teammate's charity event. I texted with D.T. on Tuesday. He was talking about a TD audible we called vs. Arizona in 2014. Absolutely devasted."

Thomas won 2 AFC championships and a Super Bowl

Thomas was born in Montrose, Georgia. After a standout collegiate career at Georgia Tech, Thomas was the first wide receiver selected in the 2010 NFL Draft, going No. 22 in the first round to the Broncos.

Thomas spent the majority of his NFL career with Denver, winning two AFC championships and Super Bowl 50. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and is second all-time in Broncos history in receiving yards.

Thomas was traded to the Houston Texans during the 2018 season and later finished his career with the New York Jets. He announced his retirement from the NFL in June.

In 2015, President Barack Obama commuted the sentence of Thomas' mother, Katrina Stuckey Smith, who was 15 years into a 20-year federal sentence for drug distribution. Obama later commuted the sentence of Thomas' grandmother Minnie Pearl Thomas, who was serving a life sentence for cocaine trafficking.

The two had been arrested together on drug charges when Thomas was only 11 years old, according to the Denver Broncos official website.

During the Super Bowl 50 celebration at the White House, Thomas passed the President a note thanking him for his mother's release and spoke to him about his grandmother too, according to The Denver Post. Obama commuted the sentence of hundreds of nonviolent drug offenders during his time in office.

"I just found out right when I came in from weights," Thomas told The Post. "I had no idea. I was surprised. I was excited, too, it came this early. I heard 200-plus people get to have a second chance, and for my grandmother to be one of them, it's a blessing."

BOSTON (AP) — Basketball Hall of Famer K.C. Jones, who won eight NBA championships as a Celtics player in the 1960s and two more as the coach of the Celtics team that took the titles in 1984 and '86, has died. He was 88.

The Celtics said Jones' family confirmed on Friday that he died at an assisted-living facility in Connecticut, where he had been receiving care for Alzheimer's disease for the past few years.

In a statement, the Celtics said Jones was both a "fierce competitor and a gentleman."

"He made his teammates better, and he got the most out of the players he coached," the Celtics said. "Never one to seek credit, his glory was found in the most fundamental of basketball ideals – being part of a winning team. The Celtics family mourns his loss, as we celebrate his remarkable career and life."

In 1955-56, Jones and Bill Russell led San Francisco to back-to-back NCAA championships, the Associated Press reported. Russell and Jones also won Olympic gold medals at the 1956 Games in Melbourne while playing basketball on the U.S. team.

Jones joined Russell in the NBA when the Celtics drafted Jones in the second round of the 1956 NBA Draft, and they both went on to win eight-straight NBA championships from 1959-66.

In 1967, Jones retired, and the Celtics hung his No. 25 from the rafters. After retiring as a player, Jones began coaching, first in college, and then he joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 1971. In 1972, he won another NBA title.

Jones earned three more NBA championships with the Celtics, first as an assistant coach in 1981, and then as head coach in 1984 and 1986.

LOS ANGELES —

Jane Powell, the bright-eyed, operatic-voiced star of Hollywood's golden age musicals who sang with Howard Keel in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and danced with Fred Astaire in "Royal Wedding," has died. She was 92.

Powell died Thursday at her Wilton, Connecticut, home, longtime friend Susan Grander said. Granger said Powell died of natural causes.

Powell performed virtually her whole life, starting about age 5 as a singing prodigy on radio in Portland, Oregon. She made her first movie at 16 and graduated from teenage roles to costarring in the lavish musical productions there were a 20th-century Hollywood staple.

Her 1950 casting in "Royal Wedding" came by default. June Allyson was first announced as Astaire’s co-star but withdrew when she became pregnant. Judy Garland was cast but was withdrawn because of personal problems. Jane Powell was next in line.

"They had to give it to me," she quipped at the time. "Everybody else is pregnant." Also among the expectant MGM stars: Lana Turner, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse and Jean Hagen.

Powell had just turned 21 when she got the role; Astaire was 50. She was nervous because she lacked dancing experience, but she found him "very patient and understanding. We got along fine from the start."

"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" proved to be a 1954 "sleeper" hit.

"The studio didn’t think it was going to do anything," she recalled in 2000. "MGM thought that 'Brigadoon' was going to be the big moneymaker that year. It didn’t turn out that way. We were the ones that went to the Radio City Music Hall, which was always such a coup."

The famed New York venue was a movie theater then.

Audiences were overwhelmed by the lusty singing of Keel and Powell and especially by the gymnastic choreography of Michael Kidd. "Seven Brides" achieved classic status and resulted in a TV series and a Broadway musical.

"Blonde and small and pretty, Jane Powell had the required amount of grit and spunk that was needed to play the woman who could tame seven backwoodsmen," John Kobal wrote in his book "Gotta Sing Gotta Dance: A Pictorial History of Film Musicals."

Above video: Mr. Rogers’ wife share’s the couple’s one-of-a-kind love storyJoanne Rogers, the widow of Fred Rogers, has died at the age of 92.David Newell, who played Mr. McFeeley on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" confirmed she passed away on Thursday.Newell said she had been hospitalized for several days.When the movie starring Tom Hanks, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," debuted in 2019, Joanne Rogers told sister station WTAE-TV, "I've never had an experience like this before, and I hate to see it go away."Fred Rogers passed away in February 2003 at the age of 74.This is a developing story.

The widow of television icon Fred "Mister" Rogers, Joanne Rogers, has died. She was 92.

Fred Rogers Productions announced her passing on Twitter Thursday.

"Fred Rogers Productions is deeply saddened by the passing of Joanne Rogers," the production company said. "The loving partner of Fred Rogers for more than 50 years, she continued their shared commitment to supporting children and families after his death as chair of the board of Fred Rogers Productions."

David Newell, who portrayed Mr. McFeely on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," confirmed Joanne's passing to WTAE.

Joanne and Fred were married for more than 50 years before Fred died of cancer in 2003.

Fred was the host of the public television show "``Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood″ for more than 30 years.

"Joanne was a brilliant and accomplished musician, a wonderful advocate for the arts, and a dear friend to everyone in our organization," the production company said. "We extend our heartfelt condolences to Joanne’s family and the thousands of people who had the privilege of knowing and loving her."

Zendaya, Oprah Winfrey, Shonda Rhimes and many others have offered their reaction to the death of Cicely Tyson. The pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder,” died Thursday at 96

“This one hurts, today we honor and celebrate the life of one of the greatest to ever do it. Thank you Cicely Tyson. Rest in great power.” — Zendaya via Instagram.

Tributes from Broadway and Hollywood poured in, including from Broadway star Tracie Thomas, who thanked her for paving the way. “A queen and a trailblazer indeed,” she wrote on Twitter. Former co-star Marlee Matlin wrote: “She was a consummate pro and all class.” Director Kenny Leon added: “God bless the greatest and the tallest tree.”

“Cicely decided early on that her work as an actor would be more than a job," Oprah Winfrey said in a written statement. "She used her career to illuminate the humanity in Black people. The roles she played reflected her values; she never compromised. Her life so fully lived is a testimony to Greatness.”

“She was an extraordinary person," Shonda Rhimes said on Instagram. "And this is an extraordinary loss. She had so much to teach. And I still have so much to learn. I am grateful for every moment. Her power and grace will be with us forever.”

“Thank you Cicely Tyson... for everything...” Gayle King said on Twitter.

“This one cuts deep. @IAmCicelyTyson was my first screen Mom.. Elegance, warmth, beauty, wisdom, style and abundant grace," Levar Burton tweeted. "She was as regal as they come. An artist of the highest order, I will love her forever.”

Amanda Gorman, who read poetry at President Joe Biden's inauguration, said, “Often times the talent and success of black girls and women are treated as gold in the pan—temporary and fleeting. Tyson showed the world that the black woman is more than a moment. We are legends, myths in our own right.”

Related video above: Woman makes plea to partner's co-workers to get vaccine after he died of COVID-19

Phil Valentine, a Nashville-based conservative radio talk show host who had questioned whether it was necessary for all people to get COVID-19 vaccines, died on Saturday, his employer, WWTN Radio, announced on Twitter. Valentine was 61 years old.

"Please keep the Valentine family in your thoughts and prayers," the station said in the tweet.

His death comes more than a month after the host first announced he had been diagnosed with COVID-19. On his program, Valentine had repeatedly downplayed the importance of getting a vaccine against the virus, saying last December that he believed his personal odds of dying from COVID-19 were "probably way less than 1%."

But his message changed in late July when his family announced that Valentine had been hospitalized in "very serious condition" and was suffering from "Covid Pneumonia and the attendant side effects."

"Phil would like for his listeners to know that while he has never been an 'anti-vaxer' he regrets not being more vehemently 'Pro-Vaccine', and looks forward to being able to more vigorously advocate that position as soon as he is back on the air, which we all hope will be soon," his brother Mark Valentine wrote on July 22.

Mark Valentine told CNN in a July 26 interview that his brother was doing better but was "still very deep in the woods" and breathing with assistance.

"He recognizes now that him not getting the vaccination has probably caused a bunch of other people not to get vaccinated," he said in the interview. "And that he regrets."

"This is a real threat, it is a real public health crisis and it is something that if he had to do over again ... his cavalier attitude wouldn't have been what it was and he would have gotten vaccinated and encouraged everybody to get vaccinated," he added.

Following news of his death, many shared tributes for the radio host.

"Maria and I are deeply saddened by the loss of Phil Valentine and pray for his family as they navigate the difficult days ahead," Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee wrote on Twitter.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton added, Phil Valentine "made a difference in life as a strong conservative voice."

"He will be greatly missed by all! Our heartfelt prayers & deepest sympathies go out to the Valentine family & Phil's radio family," Sexton wrote.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A member of the "Miracle on Ice" Olympic hockey team has died at a treatment center for mental illness.

Officials in Anoka County, Minnesota, confirmed that 63-year-old Mark Pavelich died at the Eagle's Healing Nest in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, on Thursday morning.

The cause and manner of death are pending.

"We are saddened to hear about the passing of the 1980 Olympic gold medalist Mark Pavelich," USA Hockey said in a statement on Twitter. "We extend our deepest condolences to Mark's family and friends. (He is) forever a part of hockey history."

Pavelich was undergoing treatment as part of a civil commitment for assaulting his neighbor in 2019.

Pavelich suspected the man had spiked his beer.

A judge found Pavelich was incompetent to stand trial because he was mentally ill and dangerous.

Pavelich assisted on Mike Eruzione's goal that defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union during the 1980s Olympics.

That U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.

The New York Rangers, who Pavelich played for for five seasons said in a statement that his "determination, passion, and dazzling playmaking ability earned him the adoration of Rangers fans."

Hall of Fame Los Angeles Lakers legend and former Los Angeles Clippers executive Elgin Baylor has died. He was 86.

On Monday, the Lakers announced the news on Twitter that Baylor was surrounded by his wife, Elaine, and their daughter Krystal.

“Elgin was THE superstar of his era - his many accolades speak to that,” Lakers President Jeanie Buss said in a statement via Twitter. “He was one of the few Lakers players whose career spanned from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. But more importantly, he was a man of great integrity, even serving his country as a U.S. Army reservist, often playing for the Lakers only during his weekend pass. He is one of the all-time Lakers greats with his No. 22 jersey retired in the rafters and his statue standing guard in front of STAPLES Center. He will always be part of the Lakers legacy. On behalf of the entire Lakers family, I’d like to send my thoughts, prayers, and condolences to Elaine and the Baylor family.”

According to the team's statement the 11-time NBA All-Star died of natural causes.

Baylor was the first player in NBA history to score more than 70 points in a game when he scored 71 points against New York on Dec. 11, 1960, The AP reported.

Baylor also served as an executive for the Los Angeles Clippers from 1986 until 2008.

Baylor was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977.

The team said funeral arrangements are pending.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Former St. Louis Blues defenseman Bob Plager was killed Wednesday in a car crash in St. Louis.

He was 78.

"It is unimaginable to imagine the St. Louis Blues without Bob Plager," the Blues said in a statement. "He was an original 1967 member of the St. Louis Blues, but also an original in every sense of the word. Bobby's influence at all levels of the Blues organization was profound and everlasting, and his loss to our city will be deep. Bobby liked to say he was No. 5 in our program, but No. 1 in our hearts. Today, our hearts are broken, but one day they will be warmed again by memories of his character, humor and strong love for his family, our community, the St. Louis Blues and generations of fans who will miss him dearly."

Police said Plager was alone in his vehicle when it collided with a vehicle carrying two women on Interstate 64 in St. Louis about 1:30 p.m.

One of the women sustained minor injuries.

No other details about the crash were released, The Associated Press reported.

Plager was an original Blue, moving over from the New York Rangers when the NHL expanded in 1967-68.

He played 11 seasons for St. Louis — teaming for a stretch with brothers Barclay and Bill.

He worked for the organization in a variety of roles, coaching for 11 games in 1992.

The Blues retired his No. 5 jersey in 2017, and it joined brother Barclay's No. 8 in the rafters.

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the longtime husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, has died. He was 99.

The royal family made the announcement on Twitter Friday morning.

"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the tweet said. "His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

His life spanned nearly a century of European history, starting with his birth as a member of the Greek royal family and ending as Britain’s longest serving consort during a turbulent reign in which the thousand-year-old monarchy was forced to reinvent itself for the 21st century.

He was known for his occasionally racist and sexist remarks — and for gamely fulfilling more than 20,000 royal engagements to boost British interests at home and abroad. He headed hundreds of charities, founded programs that helped British schoolchildren participate in challenging outdoor adventures, and played a prominent part in raising his four children, including his eldest son, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne.

Philip spent a month in hospital earlier this year before being released on March 16 to return to Windsor Castle.

Philip, who was given the title Duke of Edinburgh on his wedding day, saw his sole role as providing support for his wife, who began her reign as Britain retreated from empire and steered the monarchy through decades of declining social deference and U.K. power into a modern world where people demand intimacy from their icons.

In the 1970s, Michael Parker, an old navy friend and former private secretary of the prince, said of him: “He told me the first day he offered me my job, that his job — first, second and last — was never to let her down.”

The queen, a very private person not given to extravagant displays of affection, once called him “her rock” in public.

In private, Philip called his wife Lilibet; but he referred to her in conversation with others as “The Queen.”

Over the decades, Philip’s image changed from that of handsome, dashing athlete to arrogant and insensitive curmudgeon. In his later years, the image finally settled into that of droll and philosophical observer of the times, an elderly, craggy-faced man who maintained his military bearing despite ailments.

The popular Netflix series “The Crown” gave Philip a central role, with a slightly racy, swashbuckling image. He never commented on it in public, but the portrayal struck a chord with many Britons, including younger viewers who had only known him as an elderly man.

Philip’s position was a challenging one — there is no official role for the husband of a sovereign queen — and his life was marked by extraordinary contradictions between his public and private duties. He always walked three paces behind his wife in public, in a show of deference to the monarch, but he was the head of the family in private. Still, his son Charles, as heir to the throne, had a larger income, as well as access to the high-level government papers Philip was not permitted to see.

Philip often took a wry approach to his unusual place at the royal table.

“Constitutionally, I don’t exist,” said Philip, who in 2009 became the longest-serving consort in British history, surpassing Queen Charlotte, who married King George III in the 18th century.

He frequently struggled to find his place — a friction that would later be echoed in his grandson Prince Harry’s decision to give up royal duties.

“There was no precedent,” he said in a rare interview with the BBC to mark his 90th birthday. “If I asked somebody, ‘What do you expect me to do?’ they all looked blank.”

But having given up a promising naval career to become consort when Elizabeth became queen at age 25, Philip was not content to stay on the sidelines and enjoy a life of ease and wealth. He promoted British industry and science, espoused environmental preservation long before it became fashionable, and traveled widely and frequently in support of his many charities.

In those frequent public appearances, Philip developed a reputation for being impatient and demanding and was sometimes blunt to the point of rudeness.

Many Britons appreciated what they saw as his propensity to speak his mind, while others criticized behavior they labeled offensive and out of touch.

In 1995, for example, he asked a Scottish driving instructor, “How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?” Seven years later in Australia, when visiting Aboriginal people with the queen, he asked: “Do you still throw spears at each other?”

Many believe his propensity to speak his mind meant he provided needed, unvarnished advice to the queen.

“The way that he survived in the British monarchy system was to be his own man, and that was a source of support to the queen,” said royal historian Robert Lacey. “All her life she was surrounded by men who said, ‘yes ma’am’ and he was one man who always told her how it really was, or at least how he saw it.”

Lacey said at the time of the royal family’s difficult relations with Princess Diana after her marriage to Charles broke down, Philip spoke for the family with authority, showing that he did not automatically defer to the queen.

Philip’s relationship with Diana became complicated as her separation from Charles and their eventual divorce played out in a series of public battles that damaged the monarchy’s standing.

It was widely assumed that he was critical of Diana’s use of broadcast interviews, including one in which she accused Charles of infidelity. But letters between Philip and Diana released after her death showed that the older man was at times supportive of his daughter-in-law.

After Diana’s death in a car crash in Paris in 1997, Philip had to endure allegations by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed that he had plotted the princess’s death. Al Fayed’s son, Dodi, also died in the crash.

During a lengthy inquest into their deaths, a senior judge acting as coroner instructed the jury that there was no evidence to support the allegations against Philip, who did not publicly respond to Al Fayed’s charges.

Philip’s final years were clouded by controversy and fissures in the royal family.

His third child, Prince Andrew, was embroiled in scandal over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

U.S. authorities accused Andrew of rebuffing their request to interview him as a witness, and Andrew faced accusations from a woman who said that she had several sexual encounters with the prince at Epstein’s behest. He denied the claim but withdrew from public royal duties amid the scandal.

At the start of 2020, Philip’s grandson Harry and his wife, the American former actress Meghan Markle, announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America to escape intense media scrutiny that they found unbearable.

Born June 10, 1921, on the dining room table at his parents’ home on the Greek island of Corfu, Philip was the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew, younger brother of the king of Greece. His grandfather had come from Denmark during the 1860s to be adopted by Greece as the country’s monarch.

Philip’s mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg, a descendent of German princes. Like his future wife, Elizabeth, Philip was also a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.

When Philip was 18 months old, his parents fled to France. His father, an army commander, had been tried after a devastating military defeat by the Turks. After British intervention, the Greek junta agreed not to sentence Andrew to death if he left the country.

The family was not exactly poor but, Philip said: “We weren’t well off” — and they got by with help from relatives. He later brought only his navy pay to a marriage with one of the world’s richest women.

Philip’s parents drifted apart when he was a child, and Andrew died in Monte Carlo in 1944. Alice founded a religious order that did not succeed and spent her old age at Buckingham Palace. A reclusive figure, often dressed in a nun’s habit, she was little seen by the British public. She died in 1969 and was posthumously honored by Britain and Israel for sheltering a Jewish family in Nazi-occupied Athens during the war.

Philip went to school in Britain and entered Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth as a cadet in 1939. He got his first posting in 1940 but was not allowed near the main war zone because he was a foreign prince of a neutral nation. When the Italian invasion of Greece ended that neutrality, he joined the war, serving on battleships in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific.

On leave in Britain, he visited his royal cousins, and, by the end of war, it was clear he was courting Princess Elizabeth, eldest child and heir of King George VI. Their engagement was announced July 10, 1947, and they were married on Nov. 20.

After an initial flurry of disapproval that Elizabeth was marrying a foreigner, Philip’s athletic skills, good looks and straight talk lent a distinct glamour to the royal family.

Elizabeth beamed in his presence, and they had a son and daughter while she was still free of the obligations of serving as monarch.

But King George VI died of cancer in 1952 at age 56.

Philip had to give up his naval career, and his subservient status was formally sealed at the coronation when he knelt before his wife and pledged to become “her liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship.”

The change in Philip’s life was dramatic.

“Within the house, and whatever we did, it was together,” Philip told biographer Basil Boothroyd of the years before Elizabeth became queen. “People used to come to me and ask me what to do. In 1952, the whole thing changed, very, very considerably.”

Said Boothroyd: “He had a choice between just tagging along, the second handshake in the receiving line, or finding other outlets for his bursting energies.”

So Philip took over management of the royal estates and expanded his travels to all corners of the world, building a role for himself.

From 1956, he was Patron and Chairman of Trustees for the largest youth activity program in Britain, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, a program of practical, cultural and adventurous activities for young people that exists in over 100 countries. Millions of British children have had some contact with the award and its famous camping expeditions.

He painted, collected modern art, was interested in industrial design and planned a garden at Windsor Castle. But, he once said, “the arts world thinks of me as an uncultured, polo-playing clot.”

In time, the famous blond hair thinned and the long, fine-boned face acquired a few lines. He gave up polo but remained trim and vigorous.

To a friend’s suggestion that he ease up a bit, the prince is said to have replied, “Well, what would I do? Sit around and knit?”

But when he turned 90 in 2011, Philip told the BBC he was “winding down” his workload and he reckoned he had “done my bit.”

The next few years saw occasional hospital stays as Philip’s health flagged.

He announced in May 2017 that he planned to step back from royal duties, and he stopped scheduling new commitments — after roughly 22,000 royal engagements since his wife’s coronation. In 2019, he gave up his driver’s license after a serious car crash.

Philip is survived by the queen and their four children — Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — as well as eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

The grandchildren are Charles’ sons, Prince William and Prince Harry; Anne’s children, Peter and Zara Phillips; Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie; and Edward’s children, Lady Louise and Viscount Severn.

The great-grandchildren are William and Kate’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis; Harry and Meghan’s son, Archie; Savannah and Isla, the daughters of Peter Phillips and his wife, Autumn; Mia and Lena, the daughters of Zara Phillips and her husband, Mike Tindall; and Eugenie’s son, August, with her husband, Jack Brooksbank.

Katz and Associated Press writer Robert Barr contributed to this report before their deaths.

Felix Silla, who starred as the hairy Cousin Itt on "The Addams Family" and a robot on "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," has died. He was 84.

Silla's representative, Bonnie Vent, said in an emailed statement Saturday that the actor died Friday after a battle with cancer. Vent said Silla was a humble and nice man who was full of stories.

"He had so many stories, from starting out in the circus, to so many classic television shows either doing stunts or playing a character," Vent said.

Even though his face was covered, Silla — who stood less than 4 feet tall — became famous for sporting a floor-length hairpiece, sunglasses and a bowler hat as Cousin Itt on the 1960s ABC show "The Addams Family." His fan-favorite character had a knack for mumbling words that were only understood by Addams family members.

Silla's face went unseen in a couple other roles, including his portrayal of the robot Twiki on the late 1970s NBC series "Buck Rogers," and the 1983 film "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi," where he played an Ewok who rode a hang glider.

"Felix knew a lot about making characters come to life with no dialog," Vent said.

In the 1975 film "The Black Bird," viewers had a chance to see Silla's face. He appeared as a villain named Litvak, who went against George Segal's Sam Spade Jr. in the "The Maltese Falcon" sequel.

Silla appeared in other films such as "Spaceballs," "The Golden Child" and "Poltergeist." He played his final role in the 2016 film "Characterz."

Silla was born in Italy before he came to the United States in 1955. He toured with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where he was a bareback rider, trapeze artist and tumbler. He stayed in Hollywood to become a stuntman in 1962.

Silla is survived by his wife, Sue, and daughter Bonnie. His son, Michael, died at the age of 45 last year.

Charles "Chuck" Geschke — the co-founder of the major software company Adobe Inc. who helped develop Portable Document Format technology, or PDFs — died at age 81. Geschke, who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Los Altos, died Friday, the company said. "This is a huge loss for the entire Adobe community and the technology industry, for whom he has been a guide and hero for decades," Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen wrote in an email to the company's employees. "As co-founders of Adobe, Chuck and John Warnock developed groundbreaking software that has revolutionized how people create and communicate," Narayen said. "Their first product was Adobe PostScript, an innovative technology that provided a radical new way to print text and images on paper and sparked the desktop publishing revolution. Chuck instilled a relentless drive for innovation in the company, resulting in some of the most transformative software inventions, including the ubiquitous PDF, Acrobat, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Photoshop." His wife said Geschke was also proud of his family. "He was a famous businessman, the founder of a major company in the U.S. and the world, and of course he was very, very proud of that and it was huge achievement in his life, but it wasn't his focus — really, his family was," Nancy "Nan" Geschke, 78, told the Mercury News on Saturday. "He always called himself the luckiest man in the world."After earning a doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University, Geschke began working at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, where he met Warnock, the Mercury News reported. The men left the company in 1982 to found Adobe, developing software together.In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded Geschke and Warnock the National Medal of Technology.In 1992, Geschke survived a kidnapping, the Mercury News reported. Arriving to work one morning, two men seized Geschke, then 52, at gunpoint and took him to Hollister, California, where he was held for four days. A suspect caught with $650,000 in ransom money eventually led police to the hideout where he was held captive, The Associated Press reported.