Monday, June 30, 2014
Newsmakers
‘Designing Women’ star Taylor dies at 67
Meshach Taylor, who played a lovable ex-convict surrounded by boisterous Southern belles on the sitcom “Designing Women” and appeared in numerous other TV and film roles, died of cancer at age 67, his agent said Sunday.
Taylor died Saturday at his home near Los Angeles, according to agent Dede Binder.
Taylor got an Emmy nod for his portrayal of Anthony Bouvier on “Designing Women” from 1986 to 1993. Then he co-starred for four seasons on another successful comedy, “Dave’s World,” as the best friend of a newspaper humor columnist played by the series’ star, Harry Anderson.
Other series included the cult favorite “Buffalo Bill” and the popular Nickelodeon comedy “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.”
Taylor’s movie roles included a flamboyant window dresser in the 1987 comedy-romance “Mannequin” as well as “Damien: Omen II.”
He guest-starred on many series, including “Hannah Montana,” “The Unit,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Barney Miller,” “Lou Grant,” “The Drew Carey Show” and, in an episode that aired in January, “Criminal Minds.
‘Transformers’ brings in $100M in debut
LOS ANGELES
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” is ruling the box office.
The fourth installment in filmmaker Michael Bay’s morphing robots series earned $100 million in North America during its opening weekend, making it the biggest debut for a movie this year, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The Paramount blockbuster outperformed “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and its $95 million inauguration in April.
“Age of Extinction” also earned $201.3 million from 37 international territories, specifically making $90 million in China.
Associated Press