|
By
Melissa Weber
Actor Jerry Orbach,
best known for his 12 seasons as New York City police detective
Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order, died of prostate cancer
on Dec. 28. Entertainment Weekly reported he had been battling
the disease for 10 years, but Orbach went public with his illness
only weeks before his death at age 69. Although Orbach left the
Law & Order series last season, he filmed two episodes
of the L&O spinoff Trial by Jury, which premiered
March 3. “I’m immensely saddened by the passing of not
only a friend and colleague, but a legendary figure of 20th-century
show business,” said Dick Wolf, Law & Order creator
and executive producer. “He was one of the most honored performers
of his generation.” Orbach’s theatrical roles included
the role of Billy Flynn in the original Broadway run of Chicago
in the 1970s and a Tony award-winning performance in 1968’s
Promises, Promises. His film roles included Woody Allen’s
Crimes and Misdemeanors and the father in Dirty Dancing.
Members of
the Illinois legislature have proposed a new lottery game
that will raise money for breast cancer treatment and
research. Called “Ticket for the Cure,” lawmakers
say the lottery game could raise at least $3 million each year
for the
cause. Supporters hope to gain approval this spring and start
selling the tickets by July.
Since middle school, eight high school seniors from Lima High
School in Montana raised money for a senior trip. But when
Karla McGraw, a teacher and volleyball coach, was diagnosed with advanced
breast cancer, the students gave her their trip money—all $5,000—to
help her pay medical expenses. “We think of her as family,”
says senior class president Tahnee Stosich. “We’ve all
known her since kindergarten. She’s touched the lives of so
many, and the trip didn’t matter as much as she does.”
A benefit dinner and various raffles raised an additional $7,000 for
McGraw. News soon spread of the students’ generosity, and a
fund was set up to raise money so they could still take their senior
trip. They now have enough to travel to their original destination
of Seaside, Oregon, a trip the group took in late March. In addition,
a 1943 Lima High School graduate, who now lives in California, sent
the students a check for $3,000. “We donated $1,000 to a breast
cancer patient in Dillon, Montana, and the rest to our teacher,”
says Stosich.
British Broadcasting Corp. journalist Ivan Noble,
who kept an online diary for two years after being diagnosed with
a brain tumor, died Jan. 31 at age 37. Noble’s final journal
entry, written at the end of 2004, was published Jan. 30: “When
I was diagnosed back in 2002 I had a strong urge to fight back against
what felt like the powerlessness of the situation. I really wanted
to try to make something good out of bad. I was not sure if what I
wrote would be any good and I was not sure if anyone would read it
but I wanted to try.” To read this and other diary entries,
go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4211475.stm.
|
