Gil Noble, who became one of the city’s most revered black media voices for seeking the truth even when it was hard to find and hard to hear, died Thursday at the age of 80.

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Gil Noble, host of “Like It Is,” died at age 80.

He had suffered a debilitating stroke last summer that forced him to leave “Like It Is,” the weekly public affairs program he had hosted on WABC-TV since 1967.

Over nearly five decades he became an admired colleague, an iconic community voice and an uncompromising survivor.

News director Bob Slade of WRKS (98.7 FM) noted that “Like It Is” was the last regular public affairs show in local mainstream media with a focus on black affairs, politics, music and culture.

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Ada Sharpton (Associated Press Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) – The 87-year-old mother of the Rev. Al Sharpton has died.

His spokeswoman says Ada Sharpton passed away early Thursday morning in Dothan, Ala., following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Conservative media publisher and activist Andrew Breitbart, who was behind investigations that led to the resignations of former Rep. Anthony Weiner and former U.S. Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod, has died in Los Angeles. He was 43.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Davy Jones, the lead singer of the 1960s group The Monkees, died of a massive heart attack Wednesday in Florida, his spokeswoman said. He was 66.

His publicist, Helen Kensick, confirmed that he died in Indiantown, where he lived.

Jones rose to fame in 1965 when he joined The Monkees, a British popular rock group formed for a U.S. television show. Jones sang lead vocals on songs like “I Wanna Be Free” and “Daydream Believer.”

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National Enquirer has published a photo of Whitney Houston‘s open casket this week. 

 

The image of the late pop diva was purportedly taken during a private viewing at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J.

The exercise in sensationalism is on par with the photos of Houston’s last meal and the bathtub she died in that TMZ ran in the days immediately after her Feb. 11 death at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

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Dick Anthony Williams passed away on Wednesday (Feb. 15th) at the age of 73. 

His popular film credits include Five On The Black Hand Side, The Jerk, Tap, Mo’ Better Blues and Edward Scissorhands among others.  He also played “pretty Tony” in the 1973 blaxploitation film The Mack starring alongside Max Julien and Richard Pryor.  The mini-series King along with Our Family Honor and American Playhouse are included in his long list of television credits. 

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Don Cornelius, creator of the long-running TV dance show “Soul Train,” shot himself to death Wednesday morning at his home, police said. He was 75.

Officer responding to a report of a shooting found Cornelius at his Mulholland Drive home at around 4 a.m., police said.

He was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 4:56 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter.

“Soul Train” began in Chicago as a local program in 1970 and aired nationally from 1971 to 2006. It brought the best R&B, soul and later hip-hop acts to TV and had teenagers dance to them. It was one of the first shows to showcase African-Americans prominently, although the dance group was racially mixed. Cornelius was the first host and executive producer.

The Soul Train Awards plan to return to the air after a two-year hiatus to recognize those who helped shape R&B music.

Record executive Antonio “L.A.” Reid, singers Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Chaka Khan and Charlie Wilson will be honored on the two-hour music special to be taped in Atlanta.

The awards are scheduled to air Nov. 29 on Centric – a new channel jointly operated by the BET and MTV Networks divisions of Viacom.

Actors Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard will co-host the awards first started by Don Cornelius, the creator of the syndicated music show “Soul Train.”

The last awards show was held in 2007 in California.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Don Cornelius, creator of the long-running TV dance show “Soul Train,” shot himself to death Wednesday morning at his home, police said. He was 75.

Officer responding to a report of a shooting found Cornelius at his Mulholland Drive home at around 4 a.m., police said.

He was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 4:56 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter.

“Soul Train” began in Chicago as a local program in 1970 and aired nationally from 1971 to 2006. It brought the best R&B, soul and later hip-hop acts to TV and had teenagers dance to them. It was one of the first shows to showcase African-Americans prominently, although the dance group was racially mixed. Cornelius was the first host and executive producer.

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