Sound of Music 'Liesl' actress Charmian Carr dies

American actress Charmian Carr, who played the eldest von Trapp daughter Liesl in the film The Sound of Music, has died aged 73.
From: BBC

 Carr died in Los Angeles after complications from a rare form of dementia, her representative said.

In her role in the 1965 film, she famously performed the song Sixteen Going on Seventeen.

After leaving the film industry, Carr ran an interior design firm in California.

Her mother had arranged for her to audition for the role, although she had had no singing or acting lessons.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music was a massive hit, at the time surpassing Gone with the Wind as the highest-grossing film of all time.

Kym Karath played youngest daughter Gretl in the film

 Carr later wrote two books on her experience - Forever Liesl and Letters to Liesl - and frequently appeared at events commemorating the movie.

Her only other major role was in the Stephen Sondheim television musical Evening Primrose.

Many fans of The Sound of Music took to Twitter to post their memories, clipping up sections of her performance.

Kym Karath, who played Gretl in the movie, tweeted: "She has been like a sister throughout my life."

The real life Liesl, Agathe von Trapp, the eldest daughter of the Austrian family who inspired the film, died aged 97 in 2010.

Queen Elizabeth’s Cousin Comes Out As Gay

Lord Ivar Mountbatten says he's happier than he's ever been thanks to finding love.
From:NewNowNext

 Lord Ivar Mountbatten, cousin to Queen Elizabeth, has spoken publicly for the first time about being gay and finding love.

“I was driven into the closet by not wanting to come to terms with who I was and facing friends and family in the early years,” he told the Mail. “I buried it.”

 He said it wasn’t his being royalty that was the problem, but rather the times.

“When I was growing up, it was known as ’the love that dare not speak its name,'” says the 53-year-old. “But what’s amazing now is how far we have all come in terms of acceptance.”

Lord Ivar, a descendant of Catherine the Great and the great-great grandson of Queen Victoria, married Penelope Thompson in 1994. The couple had three daughters—Ella, Alexandra, and Louise—before divorcing in 2011.

“In an ideal world, I know the girls would like their mother and father still to be together, but they love the 21st century family that we have built, too,” he explains. “Their father has a boyfriend—it’s that complicated and that simple. Finding James means I will not have to lie to anyone or grow old on my own.”

Ivar met boyfriend, airline cabin services director James Coyle, last March while on vacation in Switzerland. Coyle has met members of the royal family and socializes with Lord Ivar’s ex-wife and children.

If I were 2 marry Lord Ivar Mountbatten I'd only have 2 wait 4 499 to die before bcoming Queen #LGBT @RoyalFamily pic.twitter.com/oUVsxQ4erF

— Sr Iona Dubble-Wyde (@Sisteridw) September 17, 2016

While he’s still “not 100% comfortable with being gay,” Lord Ivar says he is happier now than he’s ever been.

“I have struggled with my sexuality and in some ways I still do; it has been a real journey to reach this point.”

Though there have been rumors over the years—including that Ivar’s cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, was bisexual and had an affair with King Edward VIII—Lord Ivar is the first openly gay member of the British royal family.

Welcome to our family.

Pioneering Out Playwright Edward Albee Dies At 88

From: Queerty

Edward Albee, Pulitzer-winning playwright of some of the most emotionally affecting works of his generation, has died at the age of 88 at his home in Montauk, Long Island.

His best-known and most-produced play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, is widely regarded as a 20th century theatrical masterpiece. He once described the play as an effort to dig “so deep under the skin that it becomes practically intolerable.” Anyone who has witnessed the explosive marriage of George and Martha, either on stage or in the 1966 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, knows how close Albee hit his mark.

Below is an example of the kind of marital blood sport the work is so famous for — “I swear if you existed I’d divorce you” —

While Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was denied the Pulitzer the year it came out (the 14-member advisory board was split, with some shocked at the language and abusive behavior), Albee did win the award for A Delicate Balance in 1967. “Well, you can’t lose them all,” director Mike Nichols cabled him

Elizabeth Taylor won the Academy Award for the film version, directed by Nichols.

Albee’s plays challenged the way we behave, to our loved ones, the world at large and ourselves. “Most people want tidy, frivolous stuff,” Albee told the Los Angeles Times in 2002, “so they can go home and not worry about what they’ve seen.”

Albee was out, though he rejected the label of “gay writer.”

“Maybe I’m being a little troublesome about this,” Albee told NPR’s Renee Montagne, “but so many writers who are gay are expected to behave like gay writers and I find that is such a limitation and such a prejudicial thing that I fight against it whenever I can.”

“A writer who happens to be gay or lesbian must be able to transcend self. I am not a gay writer. I am a writer who happens to be gay,” he said, somewhat ironically, while accepting an award for pioneering LGBT writers and publishers.

“I don’t find that much difference between straights and gays in the problems of life,” he told the New York Times in 1994. “I don’t believe in ghettoization.”

Other notable works include The Zoo Story, A Delicate Balance, The Sandbox, The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia, The Lady from Dubuqe and The American Dream.

Our Emmy Salute: Watch The Best Of RuPaul

"Can I get an 'Amen?'"

From: NewNowNext

 After three decades in the entertainment business, RuPaul made history this month with an Emmy win for Outstanding Host of a Reality Program.

 The original drag superstar has introduced the art form to a whole new generation, with ten cycles of RuPaul’s Drag Race and All Stars catapulting more than 100 queens into the pop-culture stratosphere.

Celebrate Ru’s Emmy win by watching some of his best moments from Drag Race.

NYPD Was Vetting Tumblr Page Claiming to Be ‘Manifesto’ of Chelsea Bomber

From: Towleroad

 The NYPD was vetting a Tumblr page by someone claiming to be responsible for the Chelsea bombing. The Tumblr page, with the URL http://nybomber.tumblr.com/,  was taken down early Sunday afternoon. Towleroad was able to grab screenshots before the page was removed.

The New York Daily News and the New York Post both report that the NYPD was investigating the site and its contents. The FBI is also involved.

The NY Daily News reports that “A police source told the Daily News the department is investigating the blog. Another source said the NYPD is speaking to local LGBT activists for any clues about the webpage.”

WPIX reports: “The investigation is in its early stages, and the primary concern is credibility behind the posting…”

Two posts were made on the site, which was titled “I’m the NY Bomber.” In one post, called “Manufacturing Test Explosives”, the author claimed to have undertaken the bombing for “homosexuals like myself” as social justice for anti-LGBTQ oppression.

Manufacturing Test Explosives

Hi.

You probably have all seen the news by now,

the explosives detonated in New York City, that was me. Those were just some tests, I know where I have made errors and I will not make the same mistake next time.

I did it because I cannot stand society.

I cannot live in a world where homosexuals like myself as well as the rest of the LGBTQ+ community are looked down upon by society.

It is 2016 and we are still being viewed as mentally ill, sinners, attention seekers, and just plain weirdos in general. I am not going to stand by while under classed and underprivileged people are oppressed. I am not going to stand by while there is inequality in my country such as the racism being seen in white police officers all over the country. I am not going to live in a country where it is OK to have a misogynist, xenophobic, racist Islamophobic, republican candidate running for President of The United States! That’s implying that republicans in general should even be taken seriously as they are all cisgendered privileged white people.

This is not the end, this is just the beginning. I will be remembered. I will make a difference. I will eliminate my targets before it is too late.

The second post, called “Taking a human life”, ruminated further on the same topic.

Taking a human life

I don’t know exactly how I feel about taking human lives

However, what I do know is that If I don’t do what needs to be done nobody will pay attention. LGBTQ+ people are much more likely to commit suicide than straight cisgendered people. It seems that nobody cares, however what if people from the LGBTQ+ community started lashing out in response to the violence and oppression we face with violence and possibly oppression? I’m sure that would give people a reason to not stand by while so many people are being oppressed. I suppose I’m just going to have to move forward knowing that what I am doing had a purpose and will in fact make a difference. I’ll keep you all posted.

Screenshot:

NY Governor Cuomo Briefs Reporters on Chelsea Bombing: ‘Obviously an Act of Terrorism’

From: Towleroad

Governor Andrew Cuomo briefed reporters on Sunday about the explosion which injured 29 people in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, telling them that “a bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism” but that it did not appear to be an act of international terrorism. The bomb exploded on 23rd street between 6th and 7th Avenues in the middle of a long block in a dumpster in front of residential housing for the blind, a location that holds no special significance thus far in the investigation.

Scenes from Saturday night:

A second explosive device was found nearby on West 27th street, the NYT reports:

As the authorities sought to identify what had caused the explosion, they described the second device as a pressure cooker resembling the one used in the deadly Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, according to a police official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation.

Cuomo said that all who were injured have been treated and released from hospitals.

Added Cuomo:

“We have no reason to believe at this time that there is any further immediate threat. But just to err on the side of caution, we will be deploying close to 1,000 state police and National Guard people to police the bus terminals, airports, and subway stations”

“Whoever placed these bombs, we will find and they will be brought to justice.”

Watch Cuomo’s press conference:

On Sunday morning, many streets in the neighborhood were still closed:

NEW: NYPD issues following traffic alert on current street closures in NYC in response to Manhattan explosion: pic.twitter.com/ILCMzY1jtR

— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 18, 2016

Happy Birthday today September 19th

Happy Birthday Philip Fusco!
Although your little pouch is really more of a gift to us!
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things

Favorite Blast From The Past for September 19th

 Rex Smith
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things

 When I was entering Jr High School in the late 80's I was a little behind the times. I was still wearing my Rex Smith/Farrah Fawcett hairstyle. I was a bit slow...(kind of like those who still insist on the mullett). I did not know much about Rex Smith back then besides those pics of him the red surfer shorts I saw in Tiger Beat magazine. I did have a cassette tape of "Take My Breath Away" His big hit from the TV movie 'Sooner Or Later'.

 Known mostly at the time as a teen idol, Rex was a fixture on various TV shows including 1985's Street Hawk, and as Andy Gibb's replacement on Solid Gold. As the 80's moved on and Rex and he and other teen idols from the late 70's were replaced in the magazines by the new generation of teen hearthrobs, Rex did have something many of them did not have, tons of talent. Rex was able to keep alive his career by taking to the stage, his biggest hit at the time being The Pirates of Penzance with Linda Ronstandt and Kevin Kline. This was but one of many stage and Broadway roles for Rex. Rex remains a working actor, in soaps and TV shows in the 90's. Here's to Rex Smith who turns 61 today! Remaining visible in Hollywood for going on 4 decades is not an easy thing to do.