Actor and musician, Desi Arnaz, Jr. is the son of entertainers
lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. His birth was one of the most
publicized in television history. Ball’s pregnancy was part
the storyline of the TV sitcom I Love Lucy. The same day
Lucy gave birth to Desi Jr.,the fictional Lucy Recardo gave
birth to “Little Ricky”. The child was shown on the cover
of the first TV Guide, shown above. 

              Desia Arnaz and Lucille Ball with Desi Jr.

                 Desi Arnaz Jr. with sister Luci Arnaz

                    Desi Arnaz Jr. playing the drums

A business associate says rock promoter Don Kirshner has died of heart failure at a Florida hospital at age 77.

Promoter Jack Wishna tells The Associated Press in Las Vegas that the man Time magazine once dubbed the "Man With the Golden Ear" died Monday at a Boca Raton hospital where he was being treated for an infection.

Wishna calls Kirshner an icon who touched many lives in the music industry.

Kirshner was behind the TV show "Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert" in 1972, and gave national exposure to many musicians. (AP)

Shari Lewis was a ventriloquist/puppeteer and children’s TV show
host during the 1960’s and 1990’s. She’s best known as the original
puppeteer of Lamb Chop (seen above). Shari received numerous
awards including twelve Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. Her
career began in 1952 when she won first prize for her puppetry on
Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts TV show. Shari died of cancer on
August 2, 1998.

The ABC-TV police series ran until 1978 and starred former child actor Robert Blake as police detective Tony Baretta.

                             Robert Blake with “Fred” the Cockatoo

Michael D. Roberts (above) played “Rooster”, a streetwise pimp and
Tony’s favorite informant. 

The Goldbergs was originally a radio show on NBC from 1929 to
1946. The program made the switch to television as the first
sitcom. Both the radio and TV shows were devised by writer-
actress Gertrude Berg who played Molly Goldberg. The series 
ran on CBS-TV until 1951.