Oscar-winning actress Heckart dies

Actress Eileen Heckart, known for her gravel-voiced portrayals of outspoken and intelligent women, has died after a long battle with cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

Heckart, who was 82, won a best supporting actress Oscar for her role as the mother of Goldie Hawn's character in 1972's Butterflies Are Free, and also won two Emmys, a Golden Globe and a special Tony for career excellence.

As well as stage and cinema appearances, she was also known as the domineering Aunt Flo in TV sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

"She was just as wonderful a mother, grandmother as an actress and an all-around wonderful woman," her son, Mark Yankee, said.

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Rapper on bank robbery charges

A rapper who goes by the name Lil Buddy has been charged after police said he robbed a bank in Minnesota at gunpoint wearing a ski mask.

Lil Buddy, real name Andre R Locke, appeared in court on 31 December after being arrested when he crashed a stolen car after being chased by police in Rosemount, Minnesota.

He released his debut album, Major, last year, and a music video in which he played a bank employee was aired on a national TV station.

But sales had been lukewarm and he had been depressed, and his younger sister said he had "hit rock bottom".

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Emmys founder dies

The founding secretary of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Miriam Cassyd, who helped launch the Emmy Awards, has died.

Mrs Cassyd helped her husband Syd launch the Academy one month after network TV was launched in 1946. It held the first Emmy Awards two years later.

She died aged 84 from complications associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Mrs Cassyd also became a teacher in Los Angeles, going on to be co-director of an alternative school.

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Stride pianist Sutton mourned

One of the world's leading stride piano players, Ralph Sutton, hailed as one of the best contemporary jazz pianists, has died aged 79.

Sutton, who died at his home in Bailey, Colorado, began his career aged 11 with his father's band.

He was regarded as one of the best of the second generation of stride pianists, and Andre Previn is reported to have referred to Sutton as one of the few jazz pianists who had complete mastery of his instrument.

Stride piano, defined by the likes of James P Johnston, Fats Waller and Willie "The Lion" Smith, is a narrow genre that grew out of ragtime, early jazz and blues, and is characterised by a strong, melodic rhythm played with the left hand.