Bobby Van, the Juilliard School dropout and owner of Bobby Van's Steakhouse in Bridgehampton, died on Tuesday. He was 64 and working as a cab driver in Huntington, Long Island. For a while, in the 70s and 80s, Bobby Van was the Hamptons' Elaine Kaufman. According to Steven Gaines' great book on the Hamptons, Philistines at the Hedgerow, his restaurant-saloon was "an oasis of warmth and country bonhomie in the bleakness of the gray Hamptons winter." It was also where Truman Capote, James Jones, Kurt Vonnegut and Willie Morris used to get shitfaced. And where shady and deposed real estate kingAllan Schneider did most of his business. According to Page Six, "Van's ex-wife, Marina, had him cremated with no service and no announcement."

Norman Mailer—Jewish pugilist, a writer equally at home with fiction and fact, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, a lover and a hater of women and one of three founders of the Village Voice—died today. He was married repeatedly, and although he did stab his second wife, four more yet followed.

Robert Goulet, who shot to fame as Lancelot in "Camelot" at the end of 1960, has died at the age of 73. Diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis a month ago, no one would give him new lungs.

Longtime New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp has passed away at the age of 59. A memo to the paper's staff from Bill Keller and Sam Sifton was just released.

Marcel Marceau, Renowned Mime, Dies at 84 [NYT]

"He knew his colors and shapes, he learned more than 100 English words, and with his own brand of one-liners he established himself in television shows, scientific reports and news articles as perhaps the world's most famous talking bird. But last week Alex, an African gray parrot, died, apparently of natural causes, said Dr. Irene Pepperberg, a comparative psychologist at Brandeis University and Harvard who studied and worked with the parrot for most of his life and published reports of his progress in scientific journals. The parrot was 31." [NYT]

Luciano Pavarotti, the outsized Italian tenor generally regarded as the finest operatic voice of his generation, has passed away at the age of 71. Best known by the general audience as the fattest guy in the Three Tenors, Pavarotti had a storied career which saw him achieve almost every measure of operatic success. He also starred in one the most unintentionally funny movies we've ever seen, 1982's Yes, Giorgio, and performed with Bono, Sting, and Elton John, which must have sucked. Pavarotti had a special relationship with audiences at the Metropolitan Opera.

Bill Deedes—celebrated British journalist, editor, and politician—has died at the age of 94. "His mangled metaphors were legendary: 'You can't make an omelette without frying eggs'; 'one swallow doesn't make an impression'; 'we should nail our matchbox to the mast'; 'the Tories should pull their trousers up'." [Telegraph (U.K.)]

We thought "PEKEEP" might be some mysterious new free jazz expert that the Times was employing to write about the death of Max Roach, but it seems to just be some placeholder thing they forgot to take off. Anyway, we'll be referring to actual regular jazz expert Peter Keepnews as "PEKEEP" from now on. Oh: And now he's dead, by the way. Drum on.

Bruce Wolmer, 59, the editor emeritus of Art & Auction, died on Friday. The New York Sun remembers him as "a defender of Israel." Artnet.com remembers him as a man who "could not help genuflecting to the specialized brand of the rich and powerful who inhabit the art world."

Phil Rizzuto, whose dulcet tones were put to use in countless commercials for "The Money Store," has passed away. Scooter was also well known for his part in Meat Loaf's 1977 hit "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." Oh, yeah, he was also a Hall of Fame shortstop and beloved broadcaster for the New York Yankees. [1010 Wins]

We can't remember who it was now, but a couple years back some notable figure passed away. We were somewhat distressed about it, and extolled the great man: his struggles, his victories, the accomplishments that made up the story of his life. Our friend leaned over, looked at us casually, and said, "And now he's dead." Which, while dismissive and somewhat disrespectful, speaks to the ultimate truth: No matter how much one manages to attain in one's life, be it financial success, family happiness, the creation and retention of enriching, lifelong friendships, it all ends with a trip to the tomb. No one (save perhaps Sumner Redstone) can escape death's chilly embrace. So while it's certainly proper to remember those that have passed on and take stock of their achievements, one must ultimately recall that, in the end, they die like everyone else, and to elevate one person over another for experiencing something so utterly universal is somehow arbitrary and diminishing to those who are considered less "valuable" or "interesting." It's important to keep a certain detachment when it comes to the passing of a celebrity; are they are more worthy of grief than someone less celebrated? All that being said, even we think this TMZ "obituary" for Merv Griffin, pictured here, is more than a little tacky. (Even the majority of TMZ's commenters agree, and they're not exactly paragons of good taste—or good typing, for that matter.) For Christ's sake, show a little class.

Tony Wilson, founder of Manchester's Factory Records — home to New Order, Happy Mondays, and scores of other bands whose sound defined an era — has passed away at the age of 57. [BBC, Telegraph, NME]

Singer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood, whose collaborations with Nancy Sinatra are some of the best known but least interesting aspects of his work, has succumbed to cancer at the age of 78. We suppose there's some line about the boots having walked to be made here, but whatever, kind of a bummer. [BBC]

Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow-Up, L'Avventura, etc.) passed away yesterday at the age of 94. Someone check in with Werner Herzog, see if he's okay. [NYT]

Tom Snyder, whose bizarre and fascinating interviews captivated those able to stay awake after Johnny Carson (and later, David Letterman), died yesterday at the age of 71. [CBS]

Ingmar Bergman, undisputedly one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, has passed away at the age of 89. The atheist child of the chaplain to the king of Sweden, by 2004 he admitted that most of his films depressed him terribly. He was married five times, divorced four, and fathered at least nine children.

Sweary psychotherapist Albert Ellis has passed away at the age of 93. Ellis, who spent most of his Friday nights conducting seminars where he'd tell his patients to stop moaning and complaining, pioneered what might be called the "Sack Up" school of therapy.

Porn pioneer Jim Mitchell, who created Behind the Green Door with his brother Artie, has passed away at the age of 63. Artie died in 1991 after Jim pumped three bullets (out of a possible eight) into him. [NYT]