LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Stan Freberg, the spirited comic genius who lampooned American history in his landmark recordings "The United States of America" and was hailed as the father of the funny commercial, died Tuesday. He was 88.
MILAN (AP) -- Anita Ekberg, the Swedish-born actress and sex-symbol of the 1950s and `60s who was immortalized bathing in the Trevi fountain in "La Dolce Vita," has died. She was 83.
The suicide of actor and comedian Robin Williams touched off a national conversation about depression. The overdose deaths of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, model Peaches Geldof and heavy metal frontman Dave Brockie were grim reminders of the scourge of drug use.