Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) Lauren Bacall (September 16, 1924-August 11, 2014)

“You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve. You just put your lips together and blow.”

 

 

(CNN) -- Actress Lauren Bacall, the husky-voiced Hollywood icon known for her sultry sensuality, died Tuesday. She was 89.

Robbert de Klerk, co-managing partner of the Humphrey Bogart Estate, said Bacall died in New York.

Bacall shot to international fame in 1944 with her first film, "To Have and Have Not," which she made with future husband Humphrey Bogart.

They married in 1945, had two children and went on to make four more films together, including "The Big Sleep" (1946), "Dark Passage" (1947) and "Key Largo" (1948). Bogart died in 1957.

"He was an extraordinary, extraordinary man. I mean, I've been extremely lucky. God, I have no complaints at all," Bacall said of her late husband during a 2005 interview with CNN's Larry King.

Bacall's grandson said he got a call early Tuesday from his father.

"She apparently had a stroke. A pretty massive stroke. That's what happened," said Jamie Bogart, who last saw Bacall over the holidays.

"She was, you can say she was a tough personality. She wanted the best and if you weren't doing the best she let you know about it. She was a great person. Catch her on a bad day it could be interesting. She was a good grandma. She was lucky to have a pretty unique life," he said.

A marriage to Jason Robards, which produced another child, actor Sam Robards, ended in divorce. Bacall was engaged to Frank Sinatra, briefly, between marriages.

Friend Dick Cavett, a former TV talk show host, said he and his wife were in a cab just 36 hours before the death was announced, driving by where Bacall lived and wondering aloud how she was doing.

"Her presence was tangible," Cavett told CNN. "There was no nonsense, no affectation. She wasn't tough. But she could play tough."

Cavett added: "She just was what a lot of young women would like to be. Someone that can't be pushed around. Someone that could tell you where to head in ... with a colorful, vile vocabulary if she needed to fall back on it."

Bacall's confident, smoldering expression -- the down-turned face and up-turned eyes -- earned her the nickname: The Look.

Ironically, the young woman originally struck the pose because she felt insecure.

"I mean, that was what started the look -- was nerves -- just trying to keep my head steady," Bacall once said.

Bacall won two Tony Awards and an honorary Oscar; she was nominated for three Emmy Awards.

During the interview with King, Bacall said working on stage was her original dream.

"When the curtain goes up, [the stage is] ours. It's ours to project what the playwright wants to say to an audience, what to convey and to get a response from the audience immediately.

"Movies are great fun and wonderful when they're good. But you never get to see them till six months after they're finished.

"So you never get a sense of whether they're really well liked or how good they are. And you don't really know what the finished product is going to be like, because it's a director's medium."

Bacall was discovered by the wife of American film director Howard Hawks after she appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar. As a lanky teen, she modeled to earn extra money.

Hawks later gave Bacall, who was born Betty Joan Perske, the name Lauren. Her last name, Bacall, came from her mother's maiden name.

Her first autobiography, "Lauren Bacall: By Myself," won the National Book Award in 1980. "By Myself and Then Some," her updated autobiography, was published in 2005. 

 

Key Largo, Bertie Higgins

 Will never be forgotten.

 

Robin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American actor and stand-up comedian.

Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy (1978–1982), Williams went on to establish a successful career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting. His film career included such acclaimed films as "The World According to Garp" (1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), The Fisher King (1991), and Good Will Hunting (1997), as well as financial successes such as Popeye (1980), Hook (1991), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Night at the Museum (2006), and Happy Feet (2006). He also appeared in the video "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin.
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times, Williams received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting (1997). He also received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Grammy Awards.

On August 11, 2014, Williams was found unconscious at his residence and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Marin County, California, coroner's office said they believe the cause of death was asphyxiation.  He had been battling severe depression for many years.

Charity work

Williams and his former wife, Marsha, founded the Windfall Foundation, a philanthropic organization to raise money for many charities. Williams devoted much of his energy to charity work, including the Comic Relief fundraising efforts (the program is hosted by himself, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg). In December 1999, he sang in French on the BBC-inspired music video of international celebrities doing a cover of The Rolling Stones' "It's Only Rock & Roll" for the charity Children's Promise.

In response to the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, Williams donated all proceeds of his "Weapons of Self Destruction" Christchurch performance to help rebuild the New Zealand city. Half the proceeds were donated to the Red Cross and half to the mayoral building fund. Williams has performed with the USO for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Williams also actively supported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for several years.

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An Evening with Robin Williams