Isaac Lee Hayes, soul and funk singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger, composer and actor died today at age 67.

Hayes was one of the main creative forces behind southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served as both an in-house songwriter and producer with partner David Porter during the mid-1960s.

Hayes was a film score composer for motion pictures. Best known for the 1971 blaxploitation film “Shaft“, Hayes won an Oscar for Best Original Song and two Grammy Awards. He received a third Grammy for the album Black Moses.

In 1992, in recognition of his humanitarian work, he was crowned an honorary king of Ghana’s Ada district.

From 1997 to 2006, Hayes provided the voice for the character ‘Chef’ on the animated TV series “South Park.”

The name “Bernie” is not having a good weekend in Hollywood this weekend.

Comedian and actor Bernie Mac died from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago hospital on Saturday at age 50.

Best known for roles in films such as “Ocean’s Eleven“, “Bad Santa” and “Guess Who” the comedian earned a Peabody Award for sitcom “The Bernie Mac Show.”

In July of this year Mac was heckled at a fundraiser for Senator Barack Obama. At the end of his 10-minute standup routine Mac joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language. The performance earned him a rebuke from Obama’s campaign.

With his passing, the world just got a little less funny.

Bernie Brillstein, the white-haired grizzly-bear-like old-school Hollywood fixture who worked his way up from the William Morris Agency mailroom in 1956 to become one of the most powerful managers in the entertainment industry died Thursday at age 77.

Brillstein died of what was described as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Brillstein served as a talent agent, manager, producer and studio head during a career that spanned more than 50 years. He guided the careers of many top comedians and comedy writers as well as launching “Saturday Night Live” on NBC in the mid-1970s. Some former clients include John Belushi, Gilda Radner , Dan Aykroyd, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Jim Henson, Bill Maher, Dennis Miller, David Spade, Natalie Portman, Martin Short, Dana Carvey, Bob Odenkirk and Lorne Michaels.

Lorne Michaels said yesterday:

“I spoke to Bernie most days over the past 36 years. For my generation, he was a direct link to show business in the 1950s and ’60s in New York. But beyond that, he was just the best human being. He loved talent and he loved show business, yet what was most remarkable was the way Bernie somehow kept his balance in a world where people do just awful things to each other. He never gave up his heart. He was one of the most decent and generous people I’ve ever known.”

To learn more about the life and career of Bernie Brillstein read his autobiography entitled “Where Did I Go Right: You’re No One in Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead”

Thank you for being a friend Estelle Getty!

Emmy-winning actress Estelle Getty, best known as a wise-cracking ‘Sophia Petrillo’ on the popular 1980’s sitcom “The Golden Girls” died on Tuesday at age 84.

Getty, who spent four decades toiling in show business before winning fame and critical recognition as Bea Arthur’s sassy, 80-year-old mother on the hit show, had been suffering from dementia.

Born Estelle Scher in New York City in 1923, Getty wanted to be an entertainer from an early age, despite her small size and the initial objections of her Polish immigrant parents.

She got her start as a comic at resorts in New York state’s Catskill mountains and pursued her dream as an actress in regional theater and off-Broadway productions while raising two sons and working office jobs to make ends meet.

She won a breakthrough role in a production of “Torch Song Trilogy” that brought her to the attention of Hollywood. She was ultimately cast as the oldest of four female retirees living together on “Golden Girls” even though she was slightly younger than Bea Arthur - her screen daughter.