newsmakers

newsmakers

‘Dating Game’ host Jim Lange dies

SAN FRANCISCO

Jim Lange, the first host of the popular game show “The Dating Game,” has died at his home in Mill Valley, Calif. He was 81.

He died Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack, his wife, Nancy, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Though Lange had a successful career in radio, he is best-known for his television role on ABC’s “The Dating Game,” which debuted in 1965 and on which he appeared for more than a decade, charming audiences with his mellifluous voice and wide, easygoing grin.

He also played host to many celebrity guests. Michael Jackson, Steve Martin and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others, appeared as contestants.

Even a pre-“Charlie’s Angels” Farrah Fawcett appeared on the program, introduced as “an accomplished artist and sculptress” with a dream to open her own gallery.

The show’s format: A young man or woman questions three members of the opposite sex, hidden from view, to determine which one would be the best date.

The questions were designed by the show’s writers to elicit sexy answers.

Paula Deen says she identifies with football player Michael Sam

LOS ANGELES

Paula Deen says she relates to football player Michael Sam and his desire to avoid being labeled.

In an interview with People magazine, Deen quoted Sam as saying he wants to be known as a football player and not a gay football player. The Missouri All-American recently came out as gay.

Deen told the magazine she understands his viewpoint and, in her case, worries the words “embattled” or “disgraced” always will be attached to her name.

The celebrity cook’s fortunes fell last year after she admitted during proceedings in a lawsuit that she had used racial slurs in the past. As part of a comeback effort, she’s launched a new company to oversee her restaurants and other ventures.

Producers shelve production of Allman film after Ga. train crash

SAVANNAH, Ga.

Filmmakers have shelved production on a movie about the life of Gregg Allman a week after a freight train killed one crew member and injured seven others, a Savannah city official said Thursday.

Filming of the movie “Midnight Rider,” starring William Hurt as the Allman Brothers Band singer in his later years, was just getting started when the train crashed into the crew and its equipment Feb. 20 on a trestle crossing the Altamaha River in rural Wayne County. Sheriff’s investigators said the film crew had permission to be on private property adjacent to the train tracks, but not on the tracks themselves.

Associated Press