Santa's not the only one with a list this time of year...
W. Mark Felt, the former FBI second-in-command who revealed himself as "Deep Throat" 30 years after he tipped off reporters to the Watergate scandal that toppled a president, has died. He was 95.
Felt died after suffering from congestive heart failure for several months.
The shadowy central figure in the one of the most gripping political dramas of the 20th century, Felt insisted his alter ego be kept secret when he leaked damaging information about President Richard Nixon and his aides to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward. While some — including Nixon and his aides — speculated that Felt was the source who connected the White House to the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, he steadfastly denied the accusations until finally coming forward in May 2005.
Critics, including those who went to prison for the Watergate scandal, called him a traitor for betraying the commander in chief. Supporters hailed him as a hero for blowing the whistle on a corrupt administration trying to cover up attempts to sabotage opponents. Felt grappled with his place in history, arguing with his children over whether to reveal his identity or to take his secret to the grave. The revelation capped a Washington whodunnit that spanned more than three decades and seven presidents.
Back in 1970, Woodward struck up a conversation with Felt while both were waiting in a White House hallway. Felt apparently took a liking to the young Woodward, then a Navy courier, and Woodward kept the relationship going, treating Felt as a mentor as he tried to figure out the ways of Washington. Later, while Woodward and partner Carl Bernstein relied on various unnamed sources in reporting on Watergate, the man their editor dubbed "Deep Throat" helped to keep them on track and confirm vital information. The Post won a Pulitzer Prize for its Watergate coverage.
Felt helped Woodward link former CIA man Howard Hunt to the break-in. He said the reporter could accurately write that Hunt, whose name was found in the address book of one of the burglars, was a suspect. But Felt told him off the record, insisting that their relationship and Felt's identity remain secret. Worried that phones were being tapped, Felt arranged clandestine meetings worthy of a spy novel. Woodward would move a flower pot with a red flag on his balcony if he needed to meet Felt. The G-man would scrawl a time to meet on page 20 of Woodward's copy of The New York Times and they would rendezvous in a suburban Virginia parking garage in the dead of night.
Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's widow who nurtured the legacy of the seminal science fiction TV series after his death, has died of leukemia. She was 76.
Roddenberry was involved in the Star Trek universe for more than four decades. She played the dark-haired Number One in the original pilot but metamorphosed into the blond, miniskirted Nurse Christine Chapel in the original 1966-69 show. She had smaller roles in all five of its television successors and many of the Star Trek movie incarnations, although she had little involvement in the productions.
She frequently was the voice of the ship's computer, and about two weeks ago she completed the same role for the upcoming J.J. Abrams movie reboot of Star Trek. Roddenberry also was the executive producer for two other TV science fiction series based on her husband's works, Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict.
Sam Bottoms, best known for his role of California surfer-turned-soldier Lance Johnson in Apocalypse Now, has died of brain cancer. He was 53.
The brother of actors Timothy, Joseph and Ben Bottoms, Sam made his screen debut as a teenager in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show, in which Timothy played one of the leads. Sam played Billy, the mute, mentally handicapped boy. Since then, Bottoms appeared in 30 films, including Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales and Bronco Billy. More recently, he appeared in SherryBaby, Shopgirl and Seabiscuit.
Bottoms was only 20 in when he was cast as surfer Lance Johnson, one of the young soldiers who accompanied Capt. Willard up river in a gunboat for his rendezvous with renegade Col. Kurtz. Bottoms' scenes with Robert Duvall's surf-obsessed Lt. Col. Kilgore, who calls in a napalm strike on the tree line behind a coastal village with a primo surf spot, are among the film's most iconic.
"[Director] Francis [Ford Coppola] is a great general, he's a Gen. Patton, a Gen. Sherman, a great leader," Bottoms said in a 2001 interview. "I was his loyal soldier. I would have done anything he asked. I did, and I'm surprised that I came out of it alive."
W. Mark Felt, the former FBI second-in-command who revealed himself as "Deep Throat" 30 years after he tipped off reporters to the Watergate scandal that toppled a president, has died. He was 95.
Felt died after suffering from congestive heart failure for several months.The shadowy central figure in the one of the most gripping political dramas of the 20th century, Felt insisted his alter ego be kept secret when he leaked damaging information about President Richard Nixon and his aides to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward. While some — including Nixon and his aides — speculated that Felt was the source who connected the White House to the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, he steadfastly denied the accusations until finally coming forward in May 2005.
Critics, including those who went to prison for the Watergate scandal, called him a traitor for betraying the commander in chief. Supporters hailed him as a hero for blowing the whistle on a corrupt administration trying to cover up attempts to sabotage opponents. Felt grappled with his place in history, arguing with his children over whether to reveal his identity or to take his secret to the grave. The revelation capped a Washington whodunnit that spanned more than three decades and seven presidents.
Back in 1970, Woodward struck up a conversation with Felt while both were waiting in a White House hallway. Felt apparently took a liking to the young Woodward, then a Navy courier, and Woodward kept the relationship going, treating Felt as a mentor as he tried to figure out the ways of Washington. Later, while Woodward and partner Carl Bernstein relied on various unnamed sources in reporting on Watergate, the man their editor dubbed "Deep Throat" helped to keep them on track and confirm vital information. The Post won a Pulitzer Prize for its Watergate coverage.
Felt helped Woodward link former CIA man Howard Hunt to the break-in. He said the reporter could accurately write that Hunt, whose name was found in the address book of one of the burglars, was a suspect. But Felt told him off the record, insisting that their relationship and Felt's identity remain secret. Worried that phones were being tapped, Felt arranged clandestine meetings worthy of a spy novel. Woodward would move a flower pot with a red flag on his balcony if he needed to meet Felt. The G-man would scrawl a time to meet on page 20 of Woodward's copy of The New York Times and they would rendezvous in a suburban Virginia parking garage in the dead of night.
Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's widow who nurtured the legacy of the seminal science fiction TV series after his death, has died of leukemia. She was 76.Roddenberry was involved in the Star Trek universe for more than four decades. She played the dark-haired Number One in the original pilot but metamorphosed into the blond, miniskirted Nurse Christine Chapel in the original 1966-69 show. She had smaller roles in all five of its television successors and many of the Star Trek movie incarnations, although she had little involvement in the productions.
She frequently was the voice of the ship's computer, and about two weeks ago she completed the same role for the upcoming J.J. Abrams movie reboot of Star Trek. Roddenberry also was the executive producer for two other TV science fiction series based on her husband's works, Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict.
Sam Bottoms, best known for his role of California surfer-turned-soldier Lance Johnson in Apocalypse Now, has died of brain cancer. He was 53.
The brother of actors Timothy, Joseph and Ben Bottoms, Sam made his screen debut as a teenager in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show, in which Timothy played one of the leads. Sam played Billy, the mute, mentally handicapped boy. Since then, Bottoms appeared in 30 films, including Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales and Bronco Billy. More recently, he appeared in SherryBaby, Shopgirl and Seabiscuit.
Bottoms was only 20 in when he was cast as surfer Lance Johnson, one of the young soldiers who accompanied Capt. Willard up river in a gunboat for his rendezvous with renegade Col. Kurtz. Bottoms' scenes with Robert Duvall's surf-obsessed Lt. Col. Kilgore, who calls in a napalm strike on the tree line behind a coastal village with a primo surf spot, are among the film's most iconic."[Director] Francis [Ford Coppola] is a great general, he's a Gen. Patton, a Gen. Sherman, a great leader," Bottoms said in a 2001 interview. "I was his loyal soldier. I would have done anything he asked. I did, and I'm surprised that I came out of it alive."
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