celebrity deaths

Edward Herrmann, the towering, melodious-voiced actor who brought Franklin D. Roosevelt to life in films and documentaries, won a Tony Award and charmed audiences as the stuffy dad on TV's "Gilmore Girls," died Wednesday. He was 71.

LONDON (AP) -- P.D. James took the classic British detective story into tough modern terrain, complete with troubled relationships and brutal violence, and never accepted that crime writing was second-class literature.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mike Nichols, the director of matchless versatility who brought fierce wit, caustic social commentary and wicked absurdity to such film, TV and stage hits as "The Graduate," "Angels in America" and "Monty Python's Spamalot," has died. He was 83.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Elizabeth Pena, the versatile actress who shifted between dramatic roles in such films as "Lone Star" and comedic parts in TV shows like "Modern Family," has died. She was 55.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Actor James Garner, whose whimsical style in the 1950s TV Western "Maverick" led to a stellar career in TV and films such as "The Rockford Files" and his Oscar-nominated "Murphy's Romance," has died, police said. He was 86.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Modeling agency founder Eileen Ford, who shaped a generation's standards of beauty as she built an empire and launched the careers of Candice Bergen, Lauren Hutton, Jane Fonda and countless others, has died.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A public memorial for actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee will be held Sept. 20 in New York.

Bobby Womack, a colorful and highly influential R&B singer-songwriter who influenced artists from the Rolling Stones to Damon Albarn, has died. He was 70.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Eli Wallach, the raspy-voiced character actor who starred in dozens of movies and Broadway plays over a remarkable and enduring career and earned film immortality as a conniving, quick-on-the-draw bandit in the classic Western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," has died. He was 98.

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Steve Rossi, one half of the prolific comedy duo Allen & Rossi, which became a favorite of "The Ed Sullivan Show" and other TV variety shows, died Sunday at age 82.