Actor Tim O’Connor is 86
Jazz musician Pete Fountain is 83
Playwright Tom Stoppard is 76
Writer-producer Jay Tarses is 74
Singer Judith Durham of The Seekers is 70
Actor Kurtwood Smith (“That 70s Show”) is 70
Actor Michael Cole (“The Mod Squad”) is 68
Country singer Johnny Lee is 67
Writer Dave Barry is 66
Actress Betty Buckley is 66
Guitarist-singer Paul Barrere (bah-RAYR’) of Little Feat is 65
Actress Jan Smithers (“WKRP In Cincinnati”) is 64
Talk show host Montel Williams is 57
Country singer Aaron Tippin is 55
Synthesizer player Vince Clarke of Erasure is 53
Actor Tom Cruise is 51
Actor Thomas Gibson (“Dharma and Greg”) is 51
Actress Hunter Tylo is 51
Actress Connie Nielsen (“Gladiator”) is 49
Actress Yeardley Smith (“The Simpsons”) is 49
Keyboardist-guitarist Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies is 44
Actress Shawnee Smith (“Saw,” ”Becker”) is 44
Singer Tonia Tash of Divine is 34
Actor Grant Rosenmeyer (“Oliver Beene”) is 22
Country singer-songwriter Sarah Buxton is 33
Actress Shoshannah Stern is 33
Actor Grant Rosenmeyer is 22.
Actress Kelsey Batelaan is 18.

On July third, 1969, former Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones was found dead in his swimming pool at home in England. The coroner’s report cited death by misadventure.

Also in 1969, John Wayne won his first Oscar after 200 films for playing Rooster Cogburn in “True Grit.”

Also in 1969, for the first time, the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island featured rock artists. Jeff Beck, Led Zeppelin and Ten Years After were among the acts who performed.

In 1971, Doors singer Jim Morrison died of heart failure in Paris. He was found in his bathtub. News of Morrison’s death was not made public until days after his burial in a Paris cemetery, leading many fans to believe he was still alive.

In 1973, David Bowie retired for the first time in London.

In 1986, singer Rudy Vallee died at age 84.

Also in 1986, singer Teddy Pendergrass was critically injured when the specially equipped van he was driving hit a utility pole in Philadelphia. Pendergrass was paralyzed in a 1982 auto crash.

In 1989, actor Jim Backus died. He’s best known for playing Thurston Howell on “Gilligan’s Island” and for providing the voice for Mr. Magoo.

In 1995, members of TLC filed for bankruptcy. Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes (LOH’-pez) faced a $1.3 million dollar payment for burning down the mansion of her boyfriend, Andre Rison.

Also in 1995, Scott Weiland (WY’-land) of Stone Temple Pilots pleaded innocent to drug charges.

In 1999, singer Mark Sandman of Morphine collapsed on stage during a show in Rome and died of a heart attack. He was 46.

Also in 1999, “Posh Spice” Victoria Adams of the Spice Girls married soccer star David Beckham at an estate outside Dublin, Ireland.

(AP) — A medical examiner’s investigator says Chris Kelly of the ’90s rap duo Kriss Kross died of a drug overdose.

Investigator Betty Honey of the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office in Atlanta said Monday that a toxicology screening showed the 34-year-old Kelly had a mixture of drugs in his system when he was pronounced dead on May 1. However, Honey said she did not know which specific drugs Kelly had used.

A police report says Kelly’s mother told investigators her son used cocaine and heroin the night before he died and had a history of drug abuse.

Kelly, known as “Mac Daddy,” performed alongside Chris Smith, known as “Daddy Mac,” in the early and mid-1990s. The duo was remembered for the song “Jump” from their 1992 debut album, “Totally Krossed Out.”

(AP) — A judge in New York has tossed out three lawsuits brought by men who said former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash sexually abused them when they were underage.

Federal Judge Kevin Koeltl (KOH’-toll) threw out the lawsuits Monday. He said the claims came more than six years after each man reasonably should have become aware of Clash’s alleged violations and more than three years after each turned 18. There’s at least one other lawsuit pending.

Clash resigned from “Sesame Street” in November. He was the man behind the popular furry red monster for 28 years.

His resignation came after college student Cecil Singleton sued him for more than $5 million, accusing Clash of having sex with him when he was 15. Singleton’s lawsuit was among those thrown out Monday.

On July first, 1956, Elvis Presley appeared on Steve Allen’s variety show singing “Hound Dog” to a bassett hound. He also was forbidden to dance.

In 1963, The Beatles recorded “She Loves You” at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London. The song became the band’s second number-one hit in both the US and UK.

In 1969, Sam Phillips sold the Sun record label, which had been home to Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis at the start of their careers.

In 1970, the syndicated radio show “American Top 40,” hosted by Casey Kasem, debuted in several American cities.

In 1972, the rock musical “Hair” closed on Broadway after 1,729 performances. It had opened in 1968.

In 1975, the Captain and Tennille received their first gold record with “Love Will Keep Us Together.”

In 1981, Steppenwolf bassist and songwriter Rushton Moreve died in a car accident in Los Angeles. He was 32.

In 1983, Bon Jovi signed a deal with Mercury Records in New York.

In 1986, Prince premiered his movie “Under the Cherry Moon” in the small town of Sheridan, Wyoming. The town was chosen because local resident Lisa Barber won an MTV contest to win a date escorting Prince to the premiere.

In 1991, actor Michael Landon died after a battle with cancer. He was 54.

In 1995, disc jockey Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack in Belvidere, North Carolina. He was 57.

In 1996, actress Margaux (MAR’-goh) Hemingway was found dead in her apartment in Santa Monica, California. She was 41.

In 2000, actor Walter Matthau died near Los Angeles of a heart attack. He was 79.

In 2002, The Who played their first show without bassist John Entwistle, who had died the week earlier. The show was in Los Angeles.

In 2004, actor Marlon Brando died of lung failure at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 80.

In 2005, singer Luther Vandross died in Edison, New Jersey. He was 54.

In 2006, the divorce between Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey (lah-SHAY’) was finalized.

Actress Olivia de Havilland is 97
Actor Jamie Farr is 79
Actress Jean Marsh (“Upstairs, Downstairs”) is 79
Bluesman James Cotton is 78
Actress Karen Black is 74
Dancer Twyla Tharp is 72
Gospel singer-choir leader Andrae Crouch is 71
Actress Genevieve Bujold is 71
Singer Deborah Harry of Blondie is 68
Actor Trevor Eve is 62
Actor Daryl Anderson (“Lou Grant”) is 62
Singer Fred Schneider of The B-52’s is 62
Singer Victor Willis of the Village People is 62
Actor Dan Aykroyd is 61
Actor Alan Ruck (“Spin City”) is 57
Singer Evelyn “Champagne” King is 53
Country singer Michelle Wright is 52
Actor Andre Braugher (“Men of a Certain Age,” ”Homicide”) is 51
Actress Pamela Anderson is 46
Actor Henry Simmons (“NYPD Blue”) is 43
Rapper Missy Elliott is 42
Actress Julianne Nicholson (“Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” ”Ally McBeal”) is 42
Actress Liv Tyler is 36
Actress Hilarie Burton (“One Tree Hill”) is 31
Actors Steven and Andrew Cavarno (“Party of Five”) are 21.

(AP) — A Paris-born performer in Cirque du Soleil’s “Ka” died after a fall during a show in Las Vegas.

Sarah Guyard-Guillot was pronounced dead late Saturday night at a hospital after falling about 50 feet from the show’s stage.

Witnesses said that the accident occurred near the end of the production Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Visitor Dan Mosqueda of Colorado Springs, Colo., told the newspaper that the performer was being hoisted up the side of the stage when she slipped free of her safety wire and plummeted to an open pit.

Cirque officials issued a statement saying they were “deeply saddened” by the death and that performances of “Ka” have been canceled until further notice.

(AP) — The University of Nebraska at Omaha’s bell tower will offer mid-town residents a July Fourth concert.

Beginning at 9 a.m. on Independence Day, the tower’s 47 bronze bells will chime with classic patriotic songs, and some modern favorites. The event is free and open to the public and will take place, rain or shine.

Songs included in this year’s performance will include “Ode to Joy,” ”Yankee Doodle,” and even HBO’s “Game of Thrones” theme song.

(AP) — Facebook is pulling ads from pages that contain violence or sexual content.

The social network says that on Monday will expand its definition of pages and groups that are too controversial to carry advertisements.

Facebook has sought to strike a balance between giving its 1.1 billion monthly users the freedom to post what they want and providing advertisers with space to sell their products.

In May, Facebook Inc. lost more than a dozen advertisers, at least temporarily, after the activist group Women, Action and the Media urged an advertising boycott to protest hate speech on the Facebook site. The controversial content included grisly photos and mottos that encouraged rape, abuse and other violence against women.

The company said then that it would review its guidelines.

Comedian-director Mel Brooks is 87
Comedian John Byner is 76
Bassist Dave Knights of Procol Harum is 68
Actor Bruce Davison is 67
Actress Kathy Bates is 65
Actress Alice Krige is 59
Actress Jessica Hecht (“Friends,” ”The Single Guy”) is 48
Guitarist-violinist Saul Davies of James is 48
Actress Mary Stuart Masterson is 47
Actor John Cusack is 47
Actor Gil Bellows (“Ally McBeal”) is 46
Actress Danielle Brisebois (“All in the Family”) is 44
Actress Tichina Arnold (“Everybody Hates Chris”) is 44
Bassist Tim Nordwind of OK Go is 37
Bassist Mark Stoermer of The Killers is 36
Singer Big Vinny Hickerson (Trailer Choir) is 30
Country singer and former “American Idol” contestant Kellie Pickler is 27.