Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on January 21st, 2022

Meat Loaf, the "larger than life" rock superstar loved by millions for his 1977 Bat Out of Hell album and for such theatrical, dark-hearted anthems as "Paradise By the Dashboard Light," "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," and "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)," died on the evening of Jan. 20, according to a statement posted by his family on his official Facebook page the following morning. He was 74. "Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf died with his wife Deborah by his side," the statement reads. "Daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends have been with him throughout the last 24 hours... We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man. We thank you for your understanding of our need for privacy at this time. From his heart to your souls & don't ever stop rocking!," it continued. A cause of death has not been disclosed, although the celebrity gossip site TMZ.com is reporting that the singer died after being seriously ill with Covid-19. Born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Tex., on Sept. 27, 1947, Meat Loaf was the son of a school teacher who raised him on her own after divorcing his alcoholic father, a police officer. He was singing and acting in high school (Mick Jagger was an early favorite, so was Ethel Merman) and attended Lubbock Christian College and what is now the University of North Texas. In November 1963, he saw Pres. John F. Kennedy arrive at Love Field in Dallas, then after learning the president had been assassinated, drove to Parkland Hospital to witness a bloodied Jackie Kennedy step out of a car. He was still a teenager when his mother died and when he acquired the nickname "Meat Loaf," the alleged origins of which range from childhood friends taunting him about his weight to a favorite recipe of his mother's. He left for Los Angeles after college and was soon fronting the band Meat Loaf Soul. They played their debut gig in 1968, opening for Van Morrison's early band Them, as well as the "garage band" Question Mark And The Mysterians. For years, he alternated between music and the stage, recording briefly for Motown, opening for such acts as the Who and the Grateful Dead and appearing in the Broadway production of "Hair." By the mid-1970s, he was playing the lobotomized biker Eddie in the theater and film versions of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, had served as an understudy for his friend John Belushi for the stage production of "National Lampoon" and had begun working with Jim Steinman, whom he met while auditioning for Steinman's musical production of "More Than You Deserve" (1973). The dense, pounding production by Todd Rundgren was openly influenced by Wagner, Phil Spector and Bruce Springsteen, whose bandmates Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg played on the record. Rundgren initially thought of the album as a parody of Springsteen's grandiose style. After a slow start and mixed reviews, Bat Out of Hell became one of the top-selling albums in history, with worldwide sales of more than 40 million copies, and made him one of the most recognizable performers in rock. Bat Out of Hell spent 82 weeks on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, peaking at No. 14, and spawned three top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, with "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" going highest at No. 11. He scored another slew of hits when he reteamed with Steinman for the sequel, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which topped the Billboard 200: that album's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" became his sole Hot 100 No. 1 for five weeks in 1993, also earning him a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo; the album also produced two more top 40 hits in "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" and "Objects In the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are." The hot streak continued in 1995 with the No. 13-peaking "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)," which would be his final appearance on the Hot 100. Meat Loaf wasn't a consistent hit maker, especially after falling out for years with Steinman (who died in Apr. 2021 at age 73), but he maintained close ties with his fans through his manic live shows, social media and his many television, radio and film appearances, including Fight Club and cameos on Glee and South Park. Meat Loaf, or "Meat," had struggled with ill health in recent years and was previously left unable to stand up for longer than five minutes due to a nerve issue in his back -- meaning he was forced to spend most of the time sat down. He explained at the time: "I don't do drugs. I don't drink. I have a pinched nerve in my back and it feels like when I stand up to walk, that Norman Bates from Psycho is stabbing me in the back. And it hurts like hell." When asked if he is on medication, he replied: "No, if you get on medication then you can't speak. And my assistant said 'don't talk about this'. But I went to a doctor the other night and he told me my tongue was swollen. And I have no idea why. It's causing me to talk slower than normal." Other health scares include collapsing on stage during performances in 2003, 2011 and 2016. In March 2021, it was reported that Meat was launching a new relationship-based competition reality TV series called I'd Do Anything For Love, But I Won't Do That. He was to serve as the project's executive producer, according to Deadline.com. The singer was also planning to launch a world tour in 2022, and recently said he told his agent: "Let's do five weeks, 16 shows in America, take a little break, do 16 shows in Europe, take a break, do another 16, then see how we like it. I'm ready to get out there." He is survived by Deborah Gillespie, his wife since 2007, and by daughters Pearl and Amanda Aday. Among those paying tribute to Meat on social media are Cher, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Boy George. - Billboard/New Musical Express/Music-News.com, 1/21/22.

Music publisher Round Hill has acquired a significant share of Heart singer/songwriter Nancy Wilson's aster royalties and has entered a long-term deal to administer her neighboring rights income. Though the exact share of Wilson's master royalties remains undisclosed, Round Hill will own portions of classic Heart songs like "Barracuda," "Magic Man," "Alone," "Crazy on You" and "These Dreams" -- all of which were co-penned by Wilson and her sister Ann Wilson. Round Hill founder and CEO Josh Gruss said in a statement that Nancy "has played a pivotal role in their astonishing success over the last 45 years" and "is an icon and the longevity of her music is a testament to her incredible talent." - Billboard, 1/20/22...... Attorneys for ABBA filed a public notice in federal court on Jan. 20 stating that the iconic Swedish pop group has reached a settlement to end a lawsuit it filed against a British tribute band called Abba Mania that ABBA had labeled "parasitic." The agreement came just six weeks after ABBA filed the lawsuit, which claimed that Abba Mania's use of the word "ABBA" in its name had infringed the band's trademarks and would dupe some fans into thinking the tribute group was officially authorized by the original. Although the notice did not include any specific terms, like whether money changed hands, an attorney for ABBA confirmed to Billboard that Abba Mania had agreed to stop using the name. - Billboard, 1/20/22...... Seventies artists Stevie Nicks, The Who, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band, Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello & the Imposters and Lionel Richie have been announced as among the headliners for the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which is back after two years of cancellations and postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic. Set for the Big Easy this spring, the first weekend of the festival will take place from Apr. 29 through Sunday, May 1, while the second will begin on May 5 through May 8 at the festival's longtime home at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La. An announcement and miniaturized poster listing all performers can be viewed on the NOJ&HF's Twitter page. - Billboard, 1/20/22...... In related news, Elton John resumed his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour in New Orleans on Jan. 19 after ongoing Covid-19-related restrictions prevented the star from making his live comeback for two years. After multiple delays, the legendary artist played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans where he treated the sold-out crowd to a career-spanning, 21-song set of hits. The Rocket man kicked off the kicked off the concert by performing "Bennie And The Jets" from his 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, then went on to dust off favourites such as "Tiny Dancer," "Rocket Man," "I'm Still Standing," "Crocodile Rock" and "Your Song." "It's good to be back!!," Sir Elton posted to his Twitter account. "New Orleans, I've loved you since I first visited in 1971! You've got funk and you've got electricity and I couldn't have asked for a better welcome back after so long off the road....Texas, I'll see you soon!," he added. Clips of the superstar performing "The Bitch Is Back" and the first live airing of his current hit "Cold Heart" can also be viewed on YouTube. The show marked John's first "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" gig since he performed in Australia in early March 2020. "This is a new experience for us," he told the crowd at the start of yesterday's concert. "I've never had this amount of time off in my life, as far as playing music. Well, at least since I was 17 years of age.... I can't thank you enough for being so patient. We live in funny times, but we're gonna have a great time!," he added. - NME, 1/20/22...... Two new clips from the new Brian Wilson documentary Long Promised Road, about the Beach Boys co-founder, have been shared on YouTube. In the first clip, Elton John discusses Wilson's commitment to touring: "Brian will always wanna go out and perform. He will always wanna make records. It's because music runs through his veins." In the second clip, Wilson hails his Holland track "Sail On, Sailor" as "probably one of the best songs I ever wrote." Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road also features contributions from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Al Jardine, Nick Jonas, Don Was, Blondie Chaplin, Jakob Dylan and Taylor Hawkins, among others. Directed by Brent Wilson (unrelated to Brian), the documentary charts Wilson's life and career through "a literal and metaphorical trip exploring Brian's hometown." Featuring over 50 of Wilson's most iconic songs, the documentary originally premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in the US in June to positive reviews. - New Musical Express, 1/21/22...... Tina Turner and her husband Erwin Bach have reportedly purchased a 70-million-Swiss-franc (USD $76 million) estate on Lake Zurich in the village of Staefa. Turner, 82, and Bach acquired the century-old, 24,000-square-meter (260,000-square-foot) property last September because the both have Swiss nationality now and "feel very comfortable in Switzerland," according to an interview with Bach in the Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung. He added that "due to the pandemic and its consequences we -- like many other Swiss -- unfortunately are refraining from travel." The couple will be nearby neighbors to Swiss tennis superstar Roger Federer, who reportedly also looked at the property before settling on a different one further east along the lake. Turner married German music executive Bach in 2013 after a long relationship, and has lived in Switzerland with him since 1994. The couple have rented a home in the town of Kuesnacht, closer to the city of Zurich, for years. - Billboard, 1/20/22...... The estate of Jimi Hendrix and Sony Music filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on Jan. 18 against the heirs of Hendrix's former bandmates after they allegedly threatened to bring a lawsuit in British court for "millions of pounds in unpaid royalties dating back decades." The plaintiffs are asking for a legal declaration that they owe nothing to the estates of Noel Redding and John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell -- Hendrix's bandmates in the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Entities representing the families of Redding and Mitchell sent a cease-and-desist in December claiming to own a stake in Hendrix's music and threatening to sue for infringement, but the plaintiff's lawsuit said those claims were bogus because the pair had signed away any rights immediately after Hendrix died in 1970. The duo signed "broad general releases and agreements not to sue in exchange for significant monetary consideration that was paid at the time," the Hendrix estate and Sony maintain, adding that the settlements "specifically dealt with the band's recordings." Sony is involved in the dispute because it's the exclusive licensee of Hendrix's music, which is owned by Hendrix Experience LLC and Authentic Hendrix LLC. Hendrix died Sept. 18, 1970, at the age of 27 and, according to this week's lawsuit, both Redding and Mitchell participated in the "protracted proceedings required to settle his estate. As part of that legal process, they allegedly signed the releases. Redding died in 2003 and Mitchell died in 2008. The lawsuit is a so-called declaratory judgment action, meaning the Hendrix estate and Sony aren't suing for damages, but simply for a ruling that they've done nothing wrong. Such cases are often filed preemptively when a company believes it has wrongly been threatened with a copyright lawsuit. - Billboard, 1/19/22...... Fleetwood Mac co-founder and drummer Mick Fleetwood will serve as an executive producer and contribute creative ideas and music for a new musical drama called 13 Songs for the Fox television network. From writers Will Reiser (50/50) and Jonathan Prince (Four Weddings and a Funeral), 13 Songs revolves around rock legend Jasper Jones, who with his band, The Grift, once made music that spoke to a generation of Americans. Decades later, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Jasper is given only a few months to live. As a final love letter to his fans, Jasper reconnects with his band to write and record 13 final songs and leave his mark on the world forever. 13 Songs arrives as Fox continues to look to musical-driven scripted originals for its primetime roster. Previously, Fox's Glee became a massive franchise thanks in part to global tours, downloads and merchandising. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/18/22...... A digitally restored 4K Ultra HD edition of the iconic 1964 Beatles film A Hard Day's Night (Criterion Collection) was released on Blu-ray + DVD on Jan. 18. Showcasing the start of Beatlemania in the States, the Richard Lester-directed A Hard Day's Night takes place one month after the Fab Four's first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The film captures just 36 hours in the lives of the British band that became music idols of a generation. Beatles pop anthems like "Can't Buy Me Love," "If I Fell" and the title track are featured in the film, which is available on Blu-ray ($35) and DVD ($14), and as a three-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. The Lester-approved, digital restoration of A Hard Day's Night comes with three audio options: a monaural soundtrack, stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes supervised by Giles Martin, sound producer at the famed Abbey Road Studios. Other bonus features include Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about A Hard Day's Night featuring Lester and producer George Martin; the 1994 documentary You Can't Do That: The Making of A Hard Day's Night and In Their Own Voices, a special-edition program consisting of behind-the-scenes footage, photos and interviews with The Beatles during their 1964 American tour. - Billboard, 1/18/22...... Speaking of George Martin, the famed late Beatles producer can be seen in a sweet new clip shared by his son Giles Martin on Twitter. In the footage, the producer discusses with Giles's daughter how he initially met The Beatles and what he thought of the quartet when they travelled from Liverpool to London to meet him: "Well, that's a silly name for a start... I met them in London and when I listened and it was ok but it wasn't brilliant. But the magic bit came when I started to get to know them because they were terribly good people. They were funny, they were very clever -- and they were the kind of people that you liked to be with. So I thought, 'if I feel this way about them, other people will feel this way about them'. So therefore, they should be very popular." "I don't normally share anything personal but this my dad from a while back explaining to my daughter he signed the Beatles," Giles Martin posted ."Ordinary people do extraordinary things. Great decisions are made for the simplest reasons. "I figured if I like them this much other people might too," he added. - NME, 1/19/22...... David Bowie has been declared the 21st Century's best-selling vinyl artist by the UK publication Music Week's chart analyst Alan Jones. Bowie's vinyl sales for the 2000s of 582,704 (calculated up until Jan. 6) place the late musician ahead of the only other act to top half a million units on the format -- The Beatles (535,596 sales). In the 2020s the same two acts lead the way with Bowie on 134,237 sales and The Beatles on 113,613. Based on the Top 10,000 vinyl sellers of 2021, Bowie placed third (53,181) behind The Beatles (58,567) and Taylor Swift (56,917). However, Bowie is ahead on vinyl for the two years of the decade so far due to a successful reissues campaign. Most recently, his "lost" 2000 album Toy has landed in the UK Top 5 with strong physical sales (based on Official Charts Company data). Meanwhile in the US, vinyl has overtaken CD in unit sales for the first time in decades. According to data from the MRC and Billboard, 38.3% of all album sales in the country in 2021 were in vinyl format, while it accounted over 50% of all physical album sales (41.72 million sales out of a total of 82.79 million). - NME, 1/17/22...... Bruce Springsteen has been named the highest-paid musician of 2021 by a former Forbes editor for Rolling Stone magazine, bringing in a reported sum of $590 million (£431.3 million) -- most of which he earned via the landmark sale of his masters and publishing rights in December of 2021. Springsteen's record-breaking deal with Sony Music, valued at $550 million (£402.1 million), marked the biggest sale a musician had ever made for their discography. It gave the company ownership of The Boss' entire back catalogue, which spans 20 studio albums, 300 songs, seven EPs, 23 live records and more. Word of the sale first came last November, when it was said the New Jersey rocker had set his sights on upwards of $350 million (£256.5 million) for both the publishing rights and recorded masters to his expansive catalogue. - NME, 1/17/22...... In related news, Ted Nugent recently praised "dirtbag" Springsteen for surrounding himself with "the best musicians." Appearing on That Jamieson Show, the outspoken and politically conservative musician admitted that "you couldn't get further apart ideologically, politically or truth, logic and common sense-wise than me and Bruce Springsteen, but here I'll show a little love for Bruce." He continued: "I've been able to perform on the Conan show with [Bruce's] E Street Band, which is one of the greatest joys of my life. I've always been surrounded by the best musicians, and that's the perfect example. We played 'Jenny Take A Ride' by Mitch Ryder, and Max [Weinberg] and the guys performed it with unbelievable accuracy and perfection and soulfulness. So I give him that salute for having that quality of virtuosos that deliver his music." However The Nuge till branded The Boss as a "dirtbag," but insisted he wouldn't want to "punch the "Born To Run" musician, despite their differences. "If nothing else, if I met Bruce, I wouldn't punch him. I always have Mike Tyson with me, and I give him a hundred bucks to punch a--holes." - Music-News.com, 1/20/22...... Stevie Wonder took to YouTube on Jan. 19 to express his support for proposed voting rights legislation in the U.S. Congress. "Any Senator who cannot support the protection of voting rights in the United States Of America cannot say that they support the Constitution," the Motown legend says in the video. "Stop the hypocrisy, cut the bull-tish. If you care and support our rights, do the hard work. You can't please everybody, but you can protect all of us. And to keep it all the way real? The filibuster is not working for democracy. Why won't you?," he adds. The video arrives as politicians take the debate over new voting rights legislation to the Senate floor. The bill, known as the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, would represent a change in how America's elections are carried out, including how votes are cast and tallied and how House districts are drawn. Republicans have long opposed the bill and two Democratic Senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who are needed to push the bill forward, continue to be reluctant to support it because of their opposition to changing filibuster rules. - Billboard, 1/19/22...... Queen guitarist Brian May will make his acting debut in an upcoming episode of the CBBC show Andy and the Band. According to May, he was offered the chance to star in the children's TV show as the "Godfather of Rock," but initially turned them down. However, May says he changed his mind after reading the script. "It was very moving because it's a great story, it's such a lovely look into what happens to kids and how they lose their confidence and what can be done," he said. In the episode, May will perform alongside The Odd Socks. "It is a good song, I didn't write it, I did contribute. I'm a person who can't help sticking my oar in so we did collaborate on it. He went on to explain how The Odd Socks speak to children who "feel like they're an outcast -- it's an antibullying campaign built into what they do, which I think is wonderful. It must give so many kids confidence who have lost their belief because they're regarded as something different, a bit odd, and they get bullied." He continued: "These things are very serious, I have grandchildren now and I know, all over again, what happens in schools, and it's so easy for a kid to be marginalized," May said of the program's anti-bullying theme. "You don't realize how much damage that can do to kids. So it's grown ups that need to be educated, not just the kids," he added. - NME, 1/20/22...... A video of a Michael Jackson impersonator who goes by the name of Santana Jackson has gone viral after footage emerged of him in a fight with a man in Las Vegas. Santana is also said to be a "professional wrestler," a skill that no doubt came in useful when an unidentified man "came out of nowhere and began to attack him in the street." Captured by a passer-by, a clip of the encounter has gone viral on Twitter. The one-minute-13-second video has so far registered over 2.2 million views on the social media platform, as well as clocking up 13,000 "likes" and 6000 retweets. "I was performing and this guy came out of nowhere and started hitting me so I have to put him down for his own good. Please know I don't think fighting is the answer so try to avoid a fight if u can. Stay safe," Santana posted on Instagram. He describes himself as a "nationally famous Michael Jackson impersonator" on his official Facebook page, adding that he performs in a bid to "keep the King of Pop's legacy alive." - NME, 1/18/22...... Comedian Louie Anderson, an Emmy-winning actor, author and stand-up comic, died on the morning of Jan. 21 of complications from cancer, according to his publicist. He was 68. Anderson was being treated in a Las Vegas hospital after being diagnosed with a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Mentored by legendary stand-up Henny Youngman, the gap-toothed Minnesota native was named one of "100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time" by Comedy Central in 2004. He also co-created Life With Louie, the Saturday morning animated series in which he played a version of his 8-year-old self, and hosted a revival of the game show Family Feud. For his first big movie part, Saturday Night Live cast member Eddie Murphy picked Anderson to portray Maurice, a upward-striving employee at McDowell's, in Coming to America (1988), and he returned for the 2021 sequel. Born on March 24, 1953, in St. Paul, Minn., Anderson, who said he had a "lifelong food addiction," claimed his weight problem was the result of the turmoil at home, and he told People magazine in 1987 that he "ate to escape." In 1981, he took first place in the Midwest Comedy Competition, hosted that year by Youngman, who hired him as a writer and helped shape him as a performer. His breakthrough came in Nov. 1984 when he made his national TV debut on The Tonight Show. True to form, his 5 1/2-minute routine was mostly made up of fat jokes, starting with, "I can't stay long, I'm in between meals, so bear with me." A few months later, he was featured alongside Bob Saget, Rita Rudner and Sam Kinison on HBO's ninth annual Young Comedians special. He made his film debut as a taxi driver in Cloak & Dagger (1984), then showed up in the 1986 films Quicksilver, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Ratboy. In 1988, he starred with Richard Lewis and Richard Belzer in The Wrong Guys and had his memorable cameo in Coming to America. His portrayal of Christine in Baskets earned him his Primetime Emmy in 2016, the first of three straight years with a nomination. He also once had a stint as the host of the game show Family Feud. - Billboard, 1/21/22...... Songwriter and music exec Jon Lind, who co-wrote such hits as Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland, Madonna's "Crazy For You and Vanessa Williams" 'save the Best for Last, died on Jan. 15 following a two-year cancer battle. He was 73. While still a teenager, the Brooklyn native started as a folk singer, sharing stages with Judy Collins, Harry Chapin, Tom Paxton and other legendary artists. While at New York City's Mannes College of Music, he formed the Fifth Avenue Band, which was managed by Bob Cavallo and signed with Warner Reprise in 1969, according to an interview Lind gave Songwriter Universe in 2012. He was subsequently in bands that signed with A&M and Capitol before switching to full-time songwriting. Among the other artists who recorded his songs include Cher, Cheap Trick, Aaron Neville, Jennifer Holliday, Rick Astley and Pete Townshend. Lind received a Grammy nomination for song of the year in 1992 for "Save the Best for Last," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks and was ASCAP's Song of the Year. He was equally successful as a label executive, serving as head of A&R at Hollywood Records from 1998-2011. Among the artists he worked with were Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Jesse McCartney. He is survived by his wife, Kobalt executive Sue Drew, and the couple's two daughters. - Billboard, 1/17/22...... Rosa Lee Hawkins, a member of the 1960s girl group trio The Dixie Cups, died on Jan. 11 at age 76. The Dixie Cups, a New Orleans girl group, did not want to sing "Chapel of Love." "It sounded like a country song, OK?" the trio told the Brill Building professionals who'd written the tune. "Chapel of Love," written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (with a songwriting credit to the late producer Phil Spector), hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, displacing The Beatles' "Love Me Do." It became a foundational song for '60s girl groups, rock 'n' roll and pop music. In addition to soundtracking countless weddings, The Dixie Cups classic has been covered by Elton John and Bette Midler, and appeared in movies from Father of the Bride to Full Metal Jacket. After "Chapel of Love," The Dixie Cups recorded many other tracks, including "People Say" and a version of the Mardi Gras standard "Iko Iko." The group was doing shows in Las Vegas when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and they lost many of their belongings in the flood. Rosa and Barbara later moved to Tampa, Fla., where Rosa Hawkins died during surgery at Tampa General Hospital. - Billboard, 1/17/22...... Actress Yvette Mimieux, who created a stir in the 1960s with performances in such films as Where the Boys Are, Light in the Piazza, Toys in the Attic and, in a history-making turn, Dr. Kildare, died overnight in her sleep on Jan. 18 at her home in Bel Air, Calif. She was 80. The enigmatic Ms. Mimieux, discovered while horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills, appeared in eight movies before she turned 21 -- lots of them in swimsuits -- and often was cast as a wounded or sensitive woman early on. In 1964, she became what is believed to be the first actress to show her navel on an America TV show when she guest-starred in a two-part episode of NBC's Dr. Kildare in which her surfer character has an ill-fated romance with Richard Chamberlain. A year later, she played a struggling law student in a reunion with Chamberlain in the big-screen melodrama Joy in the Morning (1965). In the 1970s, Ms. Mimieux wrote and starred as a remorseless assassin in the 1974 ABC telefilm The Hit Lady, portrayed a falsely accused woman victimized by a sadistic guard in Jackson County Jail (1975) and appeared in the sci-fi drama The Black Hole (1979), the first PG-rated film from Disney. She also co-wrote, produced and starred as a psychotic soap opera fan in the 1984 CBS telefilm Obsessive Love. Her resume also included the films Skyjacked (1972), The Neptune Factor (1973), Journey Into Fear (1975) and Circle of Power (1981) and the 1985 NBC primetime soap Berrenger's, revolving around a family who owns a glamorous New York department store. She was married to Singin' in the Rain director Stanley Donen from 1972 until their divorce in 1985 and to Howard Ruby, founder of Oakwood Worldwide, a provider of furnished corporate housing, since December 1986. He survives her. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/18/22.