newsmakers

newsmakers

Source: Saxophonist Clemons suffers stroke

NEW YORK

Saxophonist Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band has suffered a stroke.

A person who has worked with Clemons in the past confirmed Sunday night that Clemons had the stroke. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the matter. The person had no additional information on Clemons’ condition.

Clemons, 69, is known as the Big Man in the E Street Band and his sax has been one of the most defining elements of the band’s sound. He has suffered from numerous ailments over the last few years. He had double knee surgery and even had to perform from a wheelchair at one point.

But his health seemed to be improving. Just last month, he performed with Lady Gaga on the season finale of “American Idol.”

Lady Gaga tweeted Monday morning that “my very close friend + musician on The Edge of Glory, Clarence Clemons is very sick. Can we all make some get well videos?”

Drummer and music industry executive Narada Michael Walden, whom Clemons has called a close friend and spiritual adviser, replied to an email query Monday about Clemons by responding, “Love and prayers to the Big Man! He is our Hero!”

Clemons’ nephew, saxophonist Jake Clemons, updated his Facebook status Monday to say: “Please do not lose Hope!”

‘Spider-Man’ producer Laura Ziskin dies at 61

LOS ANGELES

Laura Ziskin was a “Spider-Man” novice when she first met with her future producing partner on the blockbuster film franchise.

She quickly became an expert on the Marvel Comics superhero and his alter-ego Peter Parker, applying the same tenacity that took her from humble beginnings as a game-show writer to Hollywood’s top echelons in a career of nearly 40 years.

“She became a geek,” said Avi Arad, producer on the “Spider-Man” films with Ziskin, 61, who died Sunday at her Santa Monica home after a seven-year battle with breast cancer. “The biggest thing to know and remember about her is her passion. I remember her coming into ‘Spider-Man’ and how fast she learned everything there is to learn. ...

“She became a bona fide geek,” said Arad, who was head of Marvel Comics’ film division when he and Ziskin first met. “Her office now looks more like my office than a normal Hollywood producer’s office. A lot of Spidey stuff. She fell in love with Peter Parker, and we had this great fortune that she fell in love with him. It was a great team. She was the best partner I ever had. We couldn’t have made these movies without her.”

With $2.5 billion at the box office worldwide, the three “Spider-Man” films were the peak of Ziskin’s professional career, which included shepherding such films as “Fight Club,” “Pretty Woman,” “No Way Out” and “As Good as It Gets” as producer, executive producer or studio executive.

Yet friends and colleagues mark among her greatest achievements the fund-raising and research organization she co-founded in 2008, Stand Up To Cancer.

Ziskin joined with other women in the entertainment industry, including TV newswoman Katie Couric and former Paramount Pictures studio boss Sherry Lansing, to form the group that has raised nearly $200 million for cancer research.

Associated Press