Shannon Tavarez, the 11-year-old who starred on Broadway in “The Lion King” and whose battle with leukemia won the hearts of many, including Alicia Keys, Rihanna and 50 Cent, died Monday at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York.
Acute myelogenous leukemia, a common type of leukemia among adults, but rare among children.
Shannon, who played the young lion Nala, had received an umbilical-cord blood transplant in August. The procedure was performed as an alternative to a bone marrow transplant. Her doctor, Dr. Larry Wolfe, said that a perfect bone marrow match for Shannon could not be found.
Keys, Rihanna and 50 Cent campaigned to help Tavarez find a bone marrow donor, and cast members held bone marrow donor registration drives outside the play’s Minskoff Theater. Shannon was forced to quit the show in April. She beat out hundreds of other hopefuls last year to earn her spot playing Nala, the childhood pal and girlfriend of Simba, hero of “The Lion King.”
Charlie O’Donnell was the voice of ‘Wheel of Fortune’
Charlie O’Donnell, the announcer whose voice has opened “Wheel of Fortune” for decades died late Sunday at his home in Los Angeles at age 78.
The cause of death for O’Donnell — the voice of the game show even before hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White appeared — was unclear.
O’Donnell was a popular radio DJ in New York before starting his television career in Philadelphia with Dick Clark on “American Bandstand.”
He also served as announcer for Oscar and Emmy telecasts and other game shows including “The Newlywed Game.”
His signature phrase “Wheeeeeeel of Fortune,” could be heard on the show from its beginning with host Chuck Woolery in 1975. He worked on the show until 1980, and again from 1988 until his death.
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