Death came in threes this weekend . . . depending on who you arbitrarily decide to count. But we basically suffered three MAJOR losses: Dame Maggie Smith, John Ashton, and Kris Kristofferson.
Maggie was 89 years old, and there's no word on the cause of death. But her family said she died peacefully at a hospital. She'd been around forever, but two of her most prominent roles were also her most recent:
Professor Minerva McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" movies and Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, on "Downton Abbey".
Interesting note: Maggie died on Friday, September 27th . . . exactly one year after the passing of Michael Gambon, who played Professor Dumbledore in "Harry Potter".
Maggie won the Best Actress Oscar for 1969's "The Prime of Miss Jean Brody", and almost a decade later, she got Best Supporting Actress for "California Suite".
She was also nominated by the Academy for "Travels with My Aunt", "Othello", "A Room with a View", and "Gosford Park". She also won a Tony, four Emmys, and three Golden Globes.
Her other credits include "Death on the Nile", "Murder by Death", "Clash of the Titans", "Hook", "Sister Act", "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", "The First Wives Club", and "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood".
Here's an awesome tribute from Turner Classic Movies.
Read More HERE
John Ashton was best known . . . and let's be honest, he was kind of ONLY known . . . for playing Detective Sergeant John Taggert in the "Beverly Hills Cop" movies. He died Thursday after a brief battle with cancer. He was 76.
John was in the first two installments of the franchise, then returned for the fourth film, "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F", which came out earlier this year.
Read More HERE
Kris Kristofferson Passed Away at the Age of 88
Country music legend Kris Kristofferson passed away peacefully Saturday at his home in Hawaii, surrounded by family. No cause of death was given. He was 88 years old.
Here are some of Kris' career highlights:
1. He was a Rhodes scholar and attended the University of Oxford, where he excelled at boxing and rugby.
2. He attained the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army . . . completed Ranger School . . . and also was a helicopter pilot.
3. He moved to Nashville in 1965 and started sweeping the floors at Columbia Recording Studios. He met June Carter there, and gave her a tape of him singing. She gave it to Johnny Cash, but he just put it with a bunch of others.
4. After not hearing anything for a couple weeks, Kris landed a helicopter on Johnny's property, finally getting his attention . . . which launched Kris' musical career.
5. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris all formed "The Highwaymen" in 1985.
6. In addition to his immense music career, he also was a prolific actor, appearing in over 100 TV shows and films.
7. He was awarded with the Country Music Lifetime Achievement Award, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004.
Read More HERE