Marcia Wallace, Edna Krabappel of The Simpsons, dead at 70

Marcia Wallace, the voice of scoffing schoolteacher Edna Krabappel on The Simpsons, whose wise-cracking characters on The Bob Newhart Show and other prime-time hits endeared her to generations of TV viewers, has died.

Simpsons executive producer Al Jean said in a statement Saturday that her "irreplaceable character," the fourth-grade teacher who contended with Bart Simpson's constant antics, would be retired from the show. Wallace was 70.

"I was tremendously saddened to learn this morning of the passing of the brilliant and gracious Marcia Wallace. She was beloved by all at The Simpsons," Jean said. It's "a terrible loss for all who had the pleasure of knowing her."

The statement did not provide a date for her death, or a cause.

The longtime TV actress' credits ranged from playing a receptionist on The Bob Newhart Show to appearances on Candice Bergen's Murphy Brown.

On The Simpsons, Wallace provided the voice for world-weary Edna Krabappel, who smoked cigarettes, made sarcastic comments and finally found love in the arms of Simpson's neighbour Ned Flanders after fans voted online at the end of season 22 to keep the unlikely couple together.

Wallace's trademark "Ha!" punctuated Krabappel's frequent wisecracks, and her character was also known for the catchphrase, "Do what I mean, not what I say."

Harry Shearer, the voice of Ned Flanders on the show, said Wallace "brought this huge, positive energy" to her work on The Simpsons.

"She was just a warm and wonderful person," Shearer told The Associated Press.

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Star Wars sequel gets new writers

The Associated Press Posted: Oct 24, 2013 5:37 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 24, 2013 5:37 PM ET

Screenwriter Michael Arndt is exiting Star Wars: Episode VII with director J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan assuming scripting duties.

Lucasfilm made the unexpected announcement Thursday. Kasdan co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, making him a revered figured in Star Wars lore. The 64-year-old scribe, who also wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, had been serving as a consultant on the film.

Michael Arndt poses with the Oscar he won for best original screenplay for his work on Little Miss Sunshine. Arndt is exiting Star Wars: Episode VII with director J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan assuming scripting duties. (Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press)

"There are few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry," Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. "Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point."

Arndt was named the sole screenwriter last year. He won an Oscar for the script to Little Miss Sunshine, and also wrote Toy Story 3 and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Shooting for Star Wars: Episode VII is to start in the spring, with the film due out in 2015.

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Arcade Fire posts Reflektor online after album leak

After months of teasing the release of its anticipated new album, Montreal band Arcade Fire has released Reflektor five days early — streaming it from the group's website and via YouTube — to combat an online leak.

The Grammy-winning rock troupe directed fans to its website arcadefire.com on Thursday evening after a low-quality version of the album turned up on the internet. The album had been set for release on Tuesday.

On the band's site and on YouTube, Reflektor's 14 songs play as a backdrop to a Brazilian film titled Black Orpheus.

Montreal-based Arcade Fire won the top Grammy, album of the year, for its last release, 2011's The Suburbs. The rock troupe released its latest album, Reflektor, five days earlier than its Tuesday target.

The leak appeared alongside social media claims that a few music stores began selling the album early, reportedly Rollercoaster Records in Kilkenny, Ireland, and a Czech Republic retailer.

The rock collective has engaged in a lengthy promotional campaign for the new album, including playing shows under fake names, hiring graffiti artists to blitz neighbourhoods with the album's logo (in chalk) and high-profile performances on Saturday Night Live and The Colbert Report.

On Monday evening, Arcade Fire will perform a special concert from Capitol Studios in Los Angeles.

CBC Music and NPR will livestream the hour-long performance of songs from Reflektor, beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

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Michael Jackson reigns as Forbes' top-earning dead celeb

Thomson Reuters Posted: Oct 24, 2013 10:49 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 24, 2013 10:49 AM ET

Michael Jackson regained the title of the highest-earning dead celebrity in the past year, easily surpassing Elvis Presley and cartoonist Charles Schulz, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.

After being pushed into second place by Elizabeth Taylor last year, Jackson, who died in 2009, was back on top with estimated earnings of $160 million US in the 12 months from October 2012 to 2013.

"He earned the bulk of his bucks from two Cirque du Soleil shows, his Mijac Music catalog, recorded music sales and his half of the Sony/ATV publishing empire — which includes the copyright to hits by the Beatles, Lady Gaga, Eminem and Taylor Swift, among others," Forbes said.

Forbes' 12 top-earning dead celebrities

Michael Jackson - $160 million USElvis Presley - $55 million USCharles Schulz - $37 million USElizabeth Taylor - $25 million USBob Marley - $18 million USMarilyn Monroe - $15 million USJohn Lennon - $12 million USAlbert Einstein - $10 million USBettie Page - $10 million USTheodor Geisel - $9 million USSteve McQueen - $9 million USBruce Lee - $7 million USJenni Rivera - $7 million US

Presley was a distant second with $55 million US, followed by Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, who came in third for the second consecutive year with $37 million US.

Taylor dropped to fourth place with earnings of $25 million US, a huge dip from last year when her estate pulled in an estimated $210 million with much of it from the auction of her jewels.

Reggae star Bob Marley rounded out the top five with earnings of $18 million US. The singer, who died of cancer at the age of 36 in 1981, has sold more than 75 million albums in the past two decades, according to Forbes.

Nobel-prize winning physicist Albert Einstein, dropped one place to No. 8 this year with earnings of $10 million US, while Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera, who died in a plane crash in December at the age of 43, was new to the list at No. 13 with $7 million US.

Forbes compiled the list by talking to estate managers, lawyers and licensors and analyzing estimated posthumous earnings between October 2012-2013.

Battling Boy reinvents comic book superheroes for younger readers by Jonathan Ore Oct. 25, 2013 8:09 PM With his latest work, comic book veteran Paul Pope has created a template-smashing new kind of superhero: Battling Boy, a kid (admittedly the offspring of gods) who sets out to protect other kids. "The thing that's attractive about kids as characters is that, if anything, they represent potential," he tells CBC News.Let Franz Ferdinand kick up your Friday Oct. 25, 2013 5:45 PM We've got live performance throughout the show from Franz Ferdinand, the Scottish band whose single Do You Want To sent them to the top of the charts internationally. Who Said It Quiz: Stephen King or Justin Bieber? Oct. 25, 2013 3:08 PM One of them pens tales of terror. One of them croons to shrieking girls. But they have more in common than you might think. So in honour of Stephen King's newest book, Doctor Sleep, a long-awaited follow-up to the terrifying 1977 novel The Shining, we give you our latest Who Said It Quiz: King or Bieber?

View the original article here