Category: people

Author JK Rowling has leapfrogged the Queen on a list of wealthies Britons. “Rowling, who retained her crown as the richest woman in the showbusiness section of the annual Sunday Times rich list, has more than quadrupled her personal fortune in the past two years. The author has now amassed a fortune of £280m – putting her 11 places higher than the Queen overall.”

“A year after Jean-Paul Riopelle died and plunged Quebec into mourning, the heirs of the man considered Canada’s greatest modern artist are locked in a bitter dispute over his substantial estate.”

Conductor David Robertson is on many people’s list to land the directorship of a major American orchestra. Indeed, critics added his name to the list for several high-profile orchestras in the past few years. “I find out about these things in the newspapers. I found out recently that there was an orchestra I refused, which was rough, because I was never asked. It’s an interesting thing, where people seem to know more about potential posts than I do. It’s nice that my name comes up, but I look a little bit like the perpetual bridesmaid.”

The man who invented the laugh track for TV shows has died at the age of 93. “Charlie Douglass was working as a technical director for live TV shows in the early days of the industry when he came up with the idea of developing a ‘laugh machine’ to enhance or substitute for live audience reaction. He called his first invention the ‘Laff Box’ and it became the basis of a lucrative family business.”

Pianist/conductor Daniel Barenboim says he’s cutting back his schedule. But “the Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director’s idea of cutting back in his 61st year (he turned 60 last November) might still seem exhausting to a mere mortal. He’s just completing his annual Festtage (Festival Days) in Berlin, which included two performances each at his own opera house of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” and Verdi’s “La Traviata,” an opera he had never conducted before, as well as three performances by the CSO at the world-renowned Philharmonie, the home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, of six heavy-duty works by Mahler and Bruckner.”

Jazz singer Nina Simone has died at her home in France. “Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, N.C., had hit songs ranging from blues to spirtuals to classical fare. But she gained fame in 1959 with her recording of ‘I Loves You Porgy,’ from the musical ‘Porgy & Bess’. She later became a voice of the civil rights movement, with her song ‘Mississippi Goddam,’ and later, ‘To Be Young, Gifted and Black’.”

“Simone had only one Top 20 hit in her long career — her very first single, “I Loves You, Porgy,” released in 1959 — but her following was large and loyal and her impact deep and lasting. Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack and Laura Nyro were among the singers who were influenced by her. In recent years her songs resurfaced and won new fans on television commercials and in dance-club remixes.”

Ann and Ian Campbell run San Diego Opera. As general director, Ian Campbell is the primary decision-maker, the one most responsible for determining the repertoire and singers as well as the artistic goals. Having headed the 38-year-old company longer than anyone else, he has come to symbolize San Diego Opera, whether in boardrooms or classrooms, radio or television. Ann Campbell is San Diego Opera’s director of strategic planning and special projects, responsible for the company’s earned and contributed revenue.”

Billionaire John Paul Getty II has died. “He donated millions to various galleries and institutes but rarely sought publicity for the money he gave away. Among the beneficiaries was the National Gallery in London, which received £50m in 1985 to support its bid to buy national treasures.”