ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE NEWS

James L. Tolbert was in love. Marie Ross was, too. But she had little interest in marrying a man who pieced together his income by hosting parties and concerts in empty buildings. One of his gimmicks: selling food and drink out of an old hearse. “He was just hustling,” said Mr. Tolbert’s son, Tony. “She said he needed to have some kind of career. She said, ‘doctor, lawyer or Indian chief.’  ” Mr. Tolbert, a high school dropout, chose option 2, and went on to become one of the first black lawyers to represent black entertainers in Hollywood and to [...]

Harold Shapero, a composer who was a central figure of American Neo-Classicism, a school of composition that thrived in the 1940s and ’50s, died on Friday in Cambridge, Mass. He was 93. His death, at a nursing home, was announced by his family through a post on the Web site of Brandeis University, where Mr. Shapero, a professor emeritus, taught for 37 years. Born in Lynn, Mass., on April 29, 1920, Harold Samuel Shapero had a diverse musical youth. He became a skilled pianist, played jazz for fun and profit, and as a teenager studied composition with the Austrian-born composer [...]

J. Hyde Crawford, a fashion illustrator who drew countless newspaper advertisements of women wearing high-end clothing, but who may have left his most memorable image on the mundane but must-have accessory known as the shopping bag, died on May 11 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 82. In 1968, Mr. Crawford founded Quadrille, a fabric and wallpaper company that became known for bold designs. Connect with NYTMetro Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for news and conversation. His death was confirmed by his husband, Charles W. Andrews. In the 1960s, Mr. Crawford was a contract artist drawing [...]

Jacqueline Brookes, an actress who appeared in films and on television but who won her widest acclaim on the stage in New York and around the country, performing the work of Shakespeare, Molière, Pirandello, Edward Albee and other dramatists over a 60-year career, died on April 26 in Manhattan. She was 82. The cause was lymphoma, said E. Colin O’Leary, executive director of Circle in the Square Theater School, where Ms. Brookes taught acting from 1974 until her death. Ms. Brookes won awards for her early work in Off Broadway theater, including an Obie in 1963 for her performance in [...]

Merrill Brockway, a director and producer who brought high art to millions of Americans by presenting many of the 20th century’s greatest dancers and choreographers on the PBS television series “Dance in America,” died on May 2 in Santa Fe, N.M. He was 90. His death was confirmed by his partner of 17 years, John Eric Roybal, his only immediate survivor. Mr. Brockway’s work introduced many people to George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp and other giants of dance. Modeled after the dance numbers in Fred Astaire movies, “Dance in America” became known [...]