newsmakers

newsmakers

Broadway to dim lights in memory of Stapleton

NEW YORK

Broadway theaters will dim their marquee lights tonight in memory of Jean Stapleton, the actress who played the sweetly naive Edith in TV’s groundbreaking 1970s comedy “All in the Family.”

The Broadway League said the lights will be dimmed for one minute at exactly 8 p.m. Stapleton died Friday in New York at 90 of natural causes.

The theater was Stapleton’s first love, and she compiled a rich resume, starting in 1941 as a New England stock player and moving to Broadway in the 1950s and 60s.

In 1964, she originated the role of Mrs. Strakosh in “Funny Girl” with Barbra Streisand. Other musicals and plays included “Bells Are Ringing,” “Rhinoceros” and “Damn Yankees.”

Good morning news at ABC and CBS

NEW YORK

Even as “Good Morning America” solidifies its status as the most-popular morning program, ABC isn’t the only network where executives have been smiling lately.

The Nielsen ratings company’s measurement of viewers during May said the “CBS This Morning” broadcast is growing at a faster rate. But the CBS telecast remains in third place behind “Good Morning America” and NBC’s struggling “Today” show.

In May 2012, “Today” and “Good Morning America” were nearly tied for the lead, with the NBC show maintaining a slight edge. A year later, ABC is clearly dominant: ABC beat NBC by nearly a million viewers.

ABC was up 10 percent in viewers from last year, and CBS was up 19 percent. NBC dropped 8 percent.

Vindicator wire services