BIG FADEOUT
Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, dies at 84
IT WAS A birthday celebration 303 years in the making.
Brooklynites Lucille Price, 100, Sophia Smith, 101, and Grace Marie Baker, 102, all celebrated birthdays Monday at the Crown Heights Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.
The three matriarchs were surrounded by the admiring eyes of their families and local officials as they were showered with bouquets of flowers and words of praise.
The women received roof of a six-story apartment building on Crotona Park North and Crotona Ave. in Tremont. As the flames spread, officials launched the 8-pound drone, which is lifted by four rotors and painted fire-truck red, to check out the roof.
“With the drone we actually had a good visual picture, said Deputy Assistant Chief Dan Donoghue. certificates from the Social Security Administration and citations from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, along with plaques from the Crown Heights Center that read, “Live well, laugh often, love more.”
Baker was overcome with emotion during the festivities.
“God has been good to me," she said as she wept with joy during a TV interview. “He’s allowed me to see this old age. I thank Him.”
Smith, a Guyanese native who immigrated to the U.S. with her HIS LIFE HAD A Hollywood ending.
Cherished film historian and Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne, 84, died Sunday but vowed to see his loved ones again one day.
“My friend Robert is gone,” his life partner David Staller told the Daily News. “He told me to tell everyone he’ll see them at the after-party.”
The pair had known each other for 26 years and been together for 20. “I don’t care much for the idea of a world without him,” said Staller. “He made a lot of people very happy. He certainly made me happy.”
Staller, who founded the Gingold Theatrical Group, said Osborne died peacefully in his sleep Sunday night in his home across the street from Carnegie Hall.
“He’s been dealing with kidney failure for many years and other issues piled on top,” said Staller. “He daughter in 1986, is a mother of five, grandmother of 29, greatgrandmother of 24, and greatgreat-grandmother of one.
She says the secret to her longevity is eating right.
“I take care of my body,” Smith stated as reporters snapped photos of her and her fellow honorees.
Price echoed Smith’s ode to a healthy diet, but also credited her family and friends for edifying her spirit. “I keep good company,” she said. just decided it was time to go.”
Known for his warm, welcoming persona and scholarly expertise on all things film, Osborne spent more than 23 years as the primary host of TCM after joining the TV channel for its launch in 1994.
He was revered for his ability to engage and enlighten audiences with his unbridled wisdom about the industry, commanding the respect of both viewers and movie stars.
“Dear #RobertOsborne host of @tcm has passed. Pure class and one of the first people in Hollywood who supported my breaking barriers. RIP,” tweeted Marlee Matlin, the first deaf winner of Best Actress at the Academy Awards.
Born in Colfax, Wash., in 1932, Osborne broke into the entertainment field as an actor himself in the late 1950s.
He signed on as a contract actor with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s production company, Desilu Studios, and went on to snag minor roles in TV productions like “The Californians” and the 1962 pilot episode of “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
Ball, who remained friends with Osborne until her death in 1989, ultimately encouraged Osborne to pursue a career in journalism, and by 1965 he had written his first book — a brief history of the Oscars called “Academy Awards Illustrated.”
The Oscars remained a popular topic of his writing in the ensuing decades, with Osborne releasing a fresh historical account of the award show every five years between 1988 and 2013.
Perhaps his most notable journalistic venture, though, was as a longtime columnist for The Hollywood Reporter. After joining the outlet in 1977 as a reviews writer, Osborne earned a tremendous following for his entertainment-centered “Rambling Reporter” column, which he wrote from 1983 until leaving The Hollywood Reporter in 2009.
Osborne (photo) took a fivemonth leave of absence from TCM in 2011 after experiencing health issues and returned in a relatively smaller role at the end of the year, with his fellow host Ben Mankiewicz taking on more on-air responsibility.
Manckiewicz paid tribute to his legendary co-worker in a touching Twitter post Monday.
“There really aren’t words to express the enormity of how Robert’s loss is felt inside TCM. His contributions made TCM stand for something more than a TV channel,” he wrote. “Robert’s face, his voice, his charm and his curiosity forged a profound link to movie lovers, a visceral scene of connection to our history, to our parents and grandparents.”