Celebrity Deaths | featured news

Maurice Sendak, the children's book author and illustrator who saw the sometimes-dark side of childhood in books like "Where the Wild Things Are" and "In the Night Kitchen," died early Tuesday. He was 83. Longtime friend and caretaker Lynn Caponera said she was with him when Sendak died at a hospital in Danbury, Conn. She said he had a stroke on Friday.

George Lindsey, who spent nearly 30 years as the grinning Goober on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hee Haw," has died. He was 83.

FILE - This Feb. 5, 1998 file photo shows actor George Lindsey, who portrayed Goober, in the television series "The Andy Griffith Show".

Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch has died at the age of 47, his New York publicist has confirmed. The star was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 but it is not clear whether his death was connected with the illness. Yauch had surgery and radiation therapy but said last year "reports of my being totally cancer free are exaggerated".

Researchers in Boston want to study the brain of the late Junior Seau for evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy. Seau’s family may decide to allow it.

Junior Seau, regarded as one of the N.F.L.’s best linebackers over a 20-year career with the Chargers, the Dolphins and the Patriots, died of a gunshot wound to the chest at his home.

There's a new twist in the aftermath of the death of Thomas Kinkade, the artist called the "Painter of Light."

Levon Helm, a key member of the seminal rock group The Band who lent his distinctively Southern voice to classics like "The Weight" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," has died at age 71.

Dick Clark married music and television long before "American Idol." But his legacy extends well beyond the persona of the laid-back host of "American Bandstand" whose influence can still be seen on TV today.

Dick Clark is dead after suffering a heart attack, according to TMZ. ABC confirmed the report. The 82-year-old longtime TV producer and host had been at St. John's Hospital in L.A. after undergoing an outpatient procedure on Tuesday, according to TMZ. Clark reportedly suffered the heart attack following the procedure and died on Wednesday after unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him.

A family member says painter Thomas Kinkade battled alcoholism over the past several years and had a relapse just before his death at his home in Santa Clara County. Kinkade's brother, Patrick, tells the San Jose Mercury News (http://bit.ly/IxRfr0) that decades of attacks on Kinkade's work and a split with his wife two years ago had taken a toll on the famous "Painter of Light."