CHICAGO (AP) — When Minnie Minoso broke into major league baseball, the "Cuban Comet" was part of a wave of black players who changed the game forever. By the time he played in his final game 35 years ago, he was a beloved figure with the Chicago White Sox. It was one amazing ride for the seemingly ageless slugger, who died early Sunday morning after helping clear the way for generations of minority ballplayers, including a long list of stars from his home...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Leonard Nimoy didn't just leave a lasting impression on the science-fiction genre, he also left his mark on science itself. Seth Shostak, who researches the possibility of real-world extraterrestrial life as the senior astronomer at SETI Research, recalled that Nimoy was regularly willing to lend the organization a helping hand. When he was asked to narrate a planetarium introduction or appear as a guest at an event, Nimoy did so graciously and never...

By The Associated Press, The Associated Press Earl Lloyd was a player and coach, an NBA champion and later a Hall of Famer. Within the basketball world, he's something much bigger. He was a pioneer. Lloyd, the first black player in NBA history, died Thursday at 86. West Virginia State, his alma mater, confirmed the death but did not provide details. "The NBA family has lost one of its patriarchs," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ben Woolf, an actor on "American Horror Story," has died after being injured in a street accident, a spokesman said. He was 34. Woolf died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, publicist Zack Teperman said. Woolf's family was at his side. The 4-foot-4 actor was hospitalized in critical condition after he was hit by the side mirror of a passing vehicle on an LA-area street. The motorist, who stopped at the scene Thursday...

BOSTON (AP) — Thomas Menino, Boston's longest-serving mayor and one of the most beloved, was remembered at his funeral Monday as "the doer of small things," a city leader less interested in the national political stage than the day-to-day minutiae of running the city, from making sure garbage was picked up to improving public schools. Menino's City Hall successor, Mayor Marty Walsh, opened the private ceremony at Most Precious Blood Parish in Hyde Park,...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — On "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1967, Joan Rivers joked about society's double-standard for women. "A girl, you're 30 years old, you're not married, you're an old maid," she said. "A man, he's 90 years old, he's not married, he's a catch." At the time, it was rare to see a female comic onstage, and even rarer for an entertainer to talk frankly about being a woman. A few years later, on...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Robin Williams kept the world laughing, something that made it all the harder for friends and fans to accept that beneath that reservoir of frenetic energy and seemingly endless good humor resided demons so dark they could push him to suicide. It was no secret that the Oscar-winning actor had periodic bouts of substance abuse and depression — he made reference to it himself in his comedy routines. But word that he had killed himself Monday at his...

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Steve Rossi, one half of the prolific comedy duo Allen & Rossi, which became a favorite of "The Ed Sullivan Show" and other TV variety shows, died Sunday at age 82. His friend of 40 years, Michael Flores told The Associated Press on Sunday that he visited the pal who introduced him to the likes of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in hospice care in Las Vegas on Friday, and he was weak from cancer of the esophagus that had...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Gandolfini's lumbering, brutish mob boss with the tortured psyche will endure as one of TV's indelible characters. But his portrayal of criminal Tony Soprano in HBO's landmark drama series "The Sopranos" was just one facet of an actor who created a rich legacy of film and stage work in a life cut short. Gandolfini, 51, who died Wednesday while vacationing in Rome, refused to be bound by his star-making role in the...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Clarke Duncan was one big, irresistible jumble of contradictions. His presence was formidable, even intimidating: The former bodyguard had a muscular, 6-foot-4 frame, but it was topped by the brightest of megawatt smiles. His gravelly baritone was well-suited to everything from animated films to action spectacles, but no matter the role, a warmth and a sweetness was always evident underneath. The prolific character actor,...