NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Vanessa Williams to judge pageant

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.

Three decades after she gave up the crown amid a nude-photo scandal, Vanessa Williams is returning to the Miss America pageant.

The Miss America Organization, Dick Clark Productions and the ABC television network announced Tuesday they are bringing back the award-winning actress and singer to serve as head judge for the 2016 competition. It began Tuesday and culminates in the crowning of the next Miss America on Sunday.

Williams, the first African-American Miss America, won the title in 1984 but resigned after Penthouse magazine published sexually explicit photographs of her taken several years earlier.

She went on to have a successful career in film, television, music and Broadway.

“It was two drastically different images – that was the issue. It was Miss America, who is really kind of untouched and not reality, and then there was this woman in the picture that was the polar opposite of purity, and I was a normal kid in the middle,” Williams said in an interview broadcast Tuesday on “Good Morning America.”

Martin Milner, 83, dies

LOS ANGELES

Martin Milner, whose wholesome good looks helped make him the star of two hugely popular 1960s TV series, “Route 66” and “Adam-12,” has died.

He was 83. “Adam-12” co-star Kent McCord, who spoke to Milner’s children, said Milner died Sunday near the La Costa neighborhood of Carlsbad, Calif. He said the family is doing well, but gave no other details.

Milner, who began his career as a teen actor, shot to fame in 1960 with co-star George Maharis in the iconic TV drama “Route 66,” which found two restless young men roaming the highway author John Steinbeck had dubbed “The Mother Road” in a red Corvette convertible.

‘Marmaduke’ creator Anderson dies at 91

MONTGOMERY, Texas

Brad Anderson, creator of the “Marmaduke” cartoon strip that for more than 60 years featured the antics of a lovable Great Dane, has died.

A statement Tuesday from Universal Uclick, which syndicated the comic strip, says Anderson died Aug. 30. He was 91.

Emmy presenters

NEW YORK

The Television Academy is revealing its first group of presenters for this year’s Emmy broadcast.

They include Golden Globe winner and past Emmy nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal and ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

The academy announced Tuesday that actress-comedian-producer Amy Poehler and artist-actor LL Cool J also will be handing out Emmy statuettes.

Also on tap are Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard from the Fox smash hit “Empire.”

“The 67th Emmy Awards,” hosted by Andy Samberg, will air Sept. 20 on Fox.

‘Laugh-In’ performer Judy Carne dies at 76

LONDON

Judy Carne, a star of the U.S. comedy show “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” has died in a British hospital. She was 76.

She was famous for popularizing the “Sock it to Me” phrase on the hit TV show that ran from 1967 to 1973.

Her death was confirmed Tuesday in an email by Eva Duffy, spokeswoman for Northampton General Hospital, who said Carne died in the hospital Thursday. Newspaper reports said she had suffered from pneumonia.

Carne shot to fame with the rise of “Laugh-In”, a smash hit on NBC that often featured her doused in water, taking pratfalls or suffering other humiliations after uttering her signature phrase.

“Laugh-In” made stars not only of Carne but also of Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, and several others.

Carne left the show in its third season, and her acting career faltered afterward as she became heavily involved with drugs.

Vindicator wire services