Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing “Ben-Hur” and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other figures in movie epics of the ’50s and ’60s, has died. He was 84.

Charlton Heston had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer’s disease.

The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said.

Powers declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details.

“Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played,” Heston’s family said in a statement. “No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country.” Watch Heston part the Red Sea as Moses »

Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer’s disease, saying, “I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure.”

With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past. “I have a face that belongs in another century,” he often remarked.

Publicist Michael Levine, who represented Heston for about 20 years, said the actor’s passing represented the end of an iconic era for cinema.

“If Hollywood had a Mt. Rushmore, Heston’s face would be on it,” Levine said. “He was a heroic figure that I don’t think exists to the same degree in Hollywood today.”

CNN

Chris Farley’s pals shoved extra helpings of tough love down his throat but still couldn’t save the comic actor from himself, according to “The Last Days of Chris Farley.” The book by Farley’s brother Tom Farley and Tanner Colby quoted several of the actor’s friends, who saw the tragedy coming a mile down the line. Excerpts from “Last Days” will run in May’s Playboy, which hits newsstands Friday. Former “Saturday Night Live” star Chevy Chase recalled how he dressed down Farley while preparing for a reunion show: “Look, you’re not John Belushi. And when you overdose or kill yourself, you will not have the same acclaim that John did . . . You’ll be a blip in the New York Times obituaries page, and that’ll be it. Is that what you want?” Farley’s sidekick David Spade said he’s still taking heat for failing to save Tommy Boy: “I got a lot of s – - – at the end about ‘Why weren’t you there for him?’ But being that close, I dealt with it all the time. And in that situation, before the guy’s dead, he’s just kind of an a – -hole. Truth is, you get a junkie who’s wasted all the time and moody and angry and trying to knock you around, you say, ‘OK, you go do that, and I’ll be over here.’ ” Farley overdosed in Chicago on Dec. 18, 1997. He was 33.

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Claudette Yamin passed away on Monday night at the age of 65.

The cause of death has not been released; however, she was hospitalized over the weekend, the paper reports.

Yamin, 29, was the third runner-up on the fifth season of American Idol.

A message posted on Yamin’s Web site Monday by friend Brandon Crowe is titled: “May She Rest in Peace.”

It reads: “The world lost a beautiful soul. I can’t go into any details at this time except to say that she went peacefully. Elliott wanted me to let you all know, but we are asking that you please respect the family’s privacy at this time. We are all aware of your prayers, and we thank you. In lieu of sending flowers, we ask that donations be sent to the local chapter of the Richmond JDRF. Thanks again for all your support and prayers … it’s helped us through the day.”

A funeral service is planned for today in Richmond, Va., according to the Times-Dispatch.

Mark Ronson has paid tribute to Corinne Bailey Rae’s late husband, calling Jason Rae “an incredible dude”.

Rae was a member of the Haggis Horns which has backed up stars including Corinne Bailey Rae, Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson.

Ronson has expressed his sadness at Rae’s tragic death in a post on his Myspace page. It reads, “Last Saturday, Jase Rae of The Haggis Horns passed away. It’s such a sad, sad thing, I’m sorry that I can’t really put anything into words. However, I will say that he was an incredible dude, a lovely gentle man, one of the funniest people ever, an obsessed early Nineties hip-hop super-enthusiast (he loved music more passionately and genuinely than anyone), and one of the most amazing sax players I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with. If you’ve ever been to one of our gigs, you’ve witnessed it. He was an incredible dude, he always will be.”

WENN

A coroner has opened the official inquest into the death of Corinne Bailey Rae’s husband, saxophonist Jason Rae, today.

Jason was found dead Saturday afternoon at an apartment in Leeds, he was only 31-years-old.

The examining pathologist came to the preliminary conclusion the Rae had died from a suspected drugs overdose, he told the coroner during Thursday’s hearing, a British wire service reports.

WENN

Arthur C. Clarke, the writer best known for his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, has died at the age of 90.

He passed away in his home in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo because of cardio-respiratory problems, a statement said. He had been wheelchair-bound because of post polio syndrome for the last 20 years of his life.

Clarke celebrated his 90th birthday in December, when he said he wanted to be remembered as a writer “who entertained readers and hopefully stretched their imaginations as well”.

The plot for 2001: A Space Odyssey, which takes readers from the dawn of man to the rebirth of an astronaut as a star child in the future, certainly reflected that goal.

His story was turned into an enormously successful 1968 Stanley Kubrick film of the same title and publicised his work to millions. Three sequels followed in the coming years.

Clarke’s initial rise to prominence came with the publication of Childhood’s End, his fifth novel, in 1953. He published around 30 in the coming years, including Rendezvous to Rama, Imperial Earth and Firstborn, published last year.

By then he had already developed the scientific mind which won him so much respect over the years.

In the second world war he served as a radar specialist and came up with the principle of geostationary satellites, now used the world over – literally – for telecommunications networks.

Clarke received a British knighthood in 2000 having lived in Colombo since 1956. He was a Sri Lankan citizen who enjoyed underwater diving but, according to British astronomer Patrick Moore, will be best-remembered as a “great visionary, a brilliant science fiction writer and a great forecaster”.

UPDATE: A spokesperson for the director said he suffered a brain hemorrhage at 5 A.M. Tuesday morning at Charing Cross Hospital in London, where he had undergone a routine operation on his neck.

British filmmaker Anthony Minghella, who won a Best Director Oscar in 1996 for The English Patient, has died, his London-based agent confirmed to the Associated Press. He was 54.

Further details are not yet available.

Minghella’s other movies included 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, which made a star out of Jude Law, and 2003’s Cold Mountain, which won an Oscar for its Supporting Actress Renée Zellweger.

His most recent movie was The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, which he recently finished filming in Botswana, reports CNN.

Minghella was married to Hong Kong-born choreographer Carolyn Choa.

Since 2003, he was chairman of the British Film Institute.

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