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Walter Scott Jr., who led R&b group the Whispers as a vocalist with his twin “Scotty,” died Thursday. He was 81.

“We all are incredibly heartbroken,” wrote Desirae Benson, who worked as a publicist for the Whispers, on Facebook. “His voice, presence, and contributions helped shape a musical legacy that touched millions. Walter’s impact on the industry and in the hearts of fans will never be forgotten… We lost a legend!“

According to reports from Billboard and Los Angeles Sentinel, Scott died after a six-month battle with cancer.

The...

Quick LinksHis Journey of Franchise Villainy Started Before Star WarsHis Range of Characters Transcends The Human FormHis Career In Supporting Roles Continues To This Day

Character actors are an interesting bunch. They are often key speaking roles in plotlines which aren't usually at the forefront of the story, yet their presence is unforgettable. Whether they fade out of the plot or are killed off as soon as their role in the story has expired, the characters they portray can often be so signature that it grants these performers a wealth of future roles of similar weight. In the case of Julian Glover, it's been a lifetime of being "That Guy" in many franchises.

Like most classically-trained actors, Julian Glover hails from London England, and honed his craft for years in Britain's illustrious theaters and shows featured on the British Broadcasting Corporation television channel. In the late 70s, Glover would begin scoring roles in Hollywood roles,...

Olivia Hussey has had a long and storied career, acting in a variety of fantastic movies and TV shows for over five decades. Though Hussey is primarily known as a screen actress, her early career essentially kicked off in 1966 with a London stage production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, where she acted opposite Vanessa Redgrave. Stage plays, movies, and television aren't Hussey's only acting credits, however, as she has had roles in three different Star Wars video games; Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Star Wars: Force Commander, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Hussey has appeared in some of film and TV's most influential works, including a cornerstone of the slasher genre and one of the best adaptations of Shakespeare's most famous play. Though Hussey appears to have retired from acting, as her last credited role was back in 2015, in a little-known movie called Social Suicide, she still has an impressive and prolific filmography,...

Blu-ray.com has announced the new release of a 4K Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for the 1992 Ron Howard movie Far and Away. The film stars Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky, and Barbara Babcock. This new physical media release comes from the Shout Factory label and is scheduled to hit retailers on December 17.

Description: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman star in the critically acclaimed romantic adventure, Far And Away, from director Ron Howard. Joseph Donelly (Cruise), a poor tenant farmer, is determined to bring justice to an oppressive landlord, but soon finds himself running away with the man’s daughter (Kidman) to America in a quest for land. In the excitement of the Oklahoma land rush, they realize their dreams of land and life together in this breathtaking epic of love and freedom.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

Disc One – 4K Blu-ray

New 4K Transfer From The 35Mm Interpositive,...

"A Song of Ice and Fire" author George R. R. Martin is most often compared to Middle-earth creator J. R. R. Tolkien, and he accepts the comparison. A lifetime fan of "The Lord of the Rings," Martin has often repeated some specific writing lessons the story taught him. Gandalf's death by Balrog made him realize readers should fear for characters' lives and the way to make them do so is with an unexpected death or two. Thus, Martin admittedly isn't a fan of the resurrected Gandalf the White. (Lady Stoneheart who?) The Scouring of the Shire, when the Hobbits find their home invaded by orcs after their main quest is over, similarly taught Martin that life — and evil — still go on after fairy tale happy endings.

Reducing Martin to just "The American Tolkien" is off-base though. His writing pulls from many other influences, from Shakespeare to Jack Vance to...

Ronald Washington, one of the two defendants standing trial for allegedly killing Jam Master Jay, chuckled in court on Wednesday when his attorney, Susan Kellman, invoked Harry Potter in her closing arguments.

The moment came as she discussed the prosecution’s theory that Washington and the other defendant, Karl Jordan Jr., were waiting on a fire escape to enter the recording studio where the DJ, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was killed. She said it was impossible, since the two men would have been seen on surveillance video. Then she paused dramatically.

The best medieval knight movies often revolve around a heroic protagonist, providing romantic tales of valor and courage that make for highly entertaining flicks. These movies typically follow a classic hero's journey, although some boldly subvert those themes, resulting in unique works from some of the best directors of all time. The best medieval knight movies feature all-time great performances, timeless cinematography, and impressive spectacles, offering audiences an escape to a period of history that is fascinatingly different from the present, even if some movies overly romanticize it.

The medieval knight movie niche is one of the most consistent subgenres in Hollywood, making it fun to take a look at the best films it has to offer. The movie industry has been fascinated by this period of history for decades, probably because it is so much different from life in the 20th and 21st centuries. The Middle Ages also offer...

With the notable exception of the beloved Carrie Fisher, many of the iconic lead actors in the "Star Wars" saga are still with us. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, and Natalie Portman are all going strong, and so are the stars of the space opera's most recent episodes. Some of the actors from the original film who were already veterans at the time, like Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing, died some years ago, but both enjoyed long lives beyond the average age.

Sadly, this cannot be said of numerous other actors involved in the big screen franchise and its recent TV spin-offs. Performers have died in their 70s, 60s, and 50s, many of them leaving us wishing we could have seen more years of great performances from them. Whether they had spotlight roles or were hidden behind alien masks, here are the "Star Wars" actors we lost too soon.

Since the late 1300s, stories about a charismatic and witty thief by the name of Robin Hood have been deeply enjoyed by audiences, and even within the last century, there have been a wide range of films portraying the character. Each movie is different in its depiction of the outlaw, yet all of them strive to capture the essence of Robin Hood. At the most basic level, Robin Hood is a man who can get out of any scrape with his archery and sword skills, cares deeply for the poor and unprotected, and is surrounded by a familiar cast of characters such as Lady Marian and Little John.

Robin Hood has appeared in 19 different English-language, theatrical feature length films from 1913 to 2018. While some of the movies are better known, remembered, or liked than others, they all offer a unique take on Robin Hood, focusing on certain details while doing away with others.

The evolution of the "Fast & Furious" film series hasn't been so much an act of growth as it has been a mutation. Rob Cohen's 2001 original, "The Fast and the Furious," was little more than a low-expectation, mid-budget summer action flick that was expected to come and go in the public consciousness quite quickly. It was also very clearly cribbing its plot directly from Kathryn Bigelow's decade-old film "Point Break." Cohen merely transposed the 1991 film's setting from the world of criminal surfers to the world of criminal street racers. Vin Diesel is Patrick Swayze and Paul Walker is Keanu Reeves.

But the film ended up a major hit, grossing over $200 million worldwide, and inspiring a sequel with the amusing title of John Singleton's 2003 chapter "2 Fast 2 Furious." Because Diesel didn't return, Walker's character was teamed up with a rival played by Tyrese Gibson. Perhaps unwittingly, an ensemble began to grow.

To address the rumors again: no, hoverboards were not real. It was director Robert Zemeckis himself that deliberately began the rumor while working on "Back to the Future Part II," once conducting a behind-the-scenes interview where he winkingly suggested the infamous untruth. He claimed that hoverboards had been around for years, but that "parents groups" prevented them from being sold in toy shops. Those who were around 10 years old in 1988 will likely recall spreading rumors that the hoverboards were real, but merely too dangerous for kids to use. It was, of course, all a playful hoax. 

The hoverboard scenes in "Back to the Future Part II" were astonishing at the time, and Zemeckis used a complex combination of techniques to film them. When filming from low angles, Zemeckis suspended his actors from above. He used cranes and pulleys, green-screen effects, and some dedicated stunt people to achieve the visuals. 

In a notable sequence,...

Netflix's Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte may be works of fiction, but their portrayal of Queen Charlotte is surprisingly true to history - and she may well have been Black. Inspired by a series of novels by Julia Quinn, Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte tell the interweaving stories of Regency and Georgian era powerful families. Romances blossom, power plays sweep through social events, and everyone looks stunning. Intriguing, Bridgerton never explored the issue of ethnicity, instead presenting a world of racial equality, led by a Black queen of England in Queen Charlotte.

Unlike Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte directly addresses issues of race, no doubt drawing uneasy parallels between the real world story of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for some viewers (particularly in terms of questions over skin tone). This is an important change, and one handled very smartly by drawing Charlotte's ethnicity into a wider story about power and society: particularly...

Literature’s all-time jilted spinster, Miss Havisham, has been played by Martita Hunt, Anne Bancroft, Gillian Anderson and Helena Bonham Carter while also inspiring other memorable screen personalities, most notably “Sunset Boulevard’s” Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). In “Peaky Blinders” showrunner Steven Knight’s adaptation of “Great Expectations,” Olivia Colman dons the tattered veil of the iconic character to whom unwitting orphan Philip “Pip” Pirrip (Fionn Whitehead) turns as he pursues social repute in Victorian England.

Though Knight’s amendments to Charles Dickens’ source material have gotten a mixed response, the show continues to draw praise for its production value. Costume designer Verity Hawkes, whose credits include “Snatch,” “Inkheart” and “Black Mirror,” recently gave an interview to IndieWire’s Sarah Shachat in which she detailed her approach to the unenviable task of distinguishing Knight’s rendition of the character from more than a dozen others.

See ‘Great Expectations’ creator Steven...

These days it seems like Christmas and horror go together like hot cocoa and candy canes sharpened to a deadly point, but in the long history of film, this is a relatively recent development. Of course there are a few exceptions, but before 1972, it was a rarity to enjoy a vicious Christmas at the local theater. As to why horror was not set at Christmas for so long is an interesting question. Perhaps it was considered off limits to use what many consider a sacred holiday for such dark purposes. But then, holidays of any kind, including Halloween, were rarely seen in horror films before the seventies. In those days, studios would often roll out their theatrical releases over long periods of time, and limiting the reliable market fulfilled by horror films to the small window of the holiday season was likely a risk they were unwilling to take. In the golden age of Hollywood,...

No one loves a great scene more than the person who first dreamed it up -- the writer. We're asking iconic shows' creators and writers to tell Et all about getting to see their most cherished moment on their series make it from script to screen.

On Wednesday, Feb. 8, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will reach a major TV milestone when it airs its 400th episode, a feat only previously achieved by eight scripted series over the past four decades. While a lot of credit for the show’s success and stamina is given to the cast led by Mariska Hargitay, who has won an Emmy for playing Det. Olivia Benson, it’s hard to ignore the writing, which has earned several Edgar Allen Poe Award nominations over the course of its run.

More: The Impact and Legacy of 'Law & Order: Svu' 400 Episodes Later

At its core, creator Dick Wolf tells Et the show has always been about...

Quentin Tarantino can't help himself. In early December, after spending the second half of 2015 supplying the thinkpiece industry with one piping-hot take after another, the filmmaker confessed to The Guardian that sitting down for a bunch of long-form interview features may not have been such a great idea. "If I keep giving them fish," he said, "and they're giving me back chum in 450 different outlets, I don't know why I'm doing it." Then less than two weeks later, Tarantino appeared on The Howard Stern Show, where he accused Disney of...

Viewers who expect The Daily Show With Trevor Noah to continue to be the place to celebrate the lunacy of the 2016 White House race, come September, may be in for a shock, based on the South African comedian’s official debut for The Reporters Who Cover Television at Summer TV Press Tour 2015.

Not a Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders joke in sight as Noah performed an hourlong set at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, attended by the reporters, who are in town to attend the tour, aka TCA. The audience included some of same reporters who had caused Comedy Central such a headache in late March with the discovery of Noah’s tweets between 2009 and 2014 that were slammed by some as sexist, anti-Semitic, and racist.

Noah went with withering social satire during his performance – most particularly, the very in-the-news danger black Americans have faced at the hands of some police.

Yippee-ki-yay! It's action-movie time! From Die Hard to Deliverance, here's what the Guardian and Observer's critics think are the 10 best ever made. Let us know what you think in the comments below

• Top 10 romantic movies

Peter Bradshaw on action movies

In some ways, it should be the quintessential cinema genre. After all, what does the director shout at the beginning of a take? Action – at times a euphemism for violence and machismo – evolved into a recognisable genre in the 80s. Gunplay and athleticism resurfaced in a sweatier and more explicitly violent form, with movies such as Sylvester Stallone's First Blood. The hardware was all-important, and the metallic sheen of the guns was something to be savoured alongside the musculature of the heroes. The genre spawned the action hero. These were not pretty-boys there to melt female hearts: they were there to get a roar of approval from the guys.