Month: May 2023

Netflix announced that the drama “Virgin River”, starring Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson, will return for a sixth season. The renewal comes as season five of Virgin River is slated to premiere at a to-be-determined date in the fall on the streaming service.

Patrick Sean Smith serves as showrunner on season five after taking over for Sue Tenney, who helmed the first four seasons of the drama.  Virgin River was last renewed in September 2021, when Netflix picked up the breakout hit for two additional cycles (covering its fourth and fifth seasons).

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Singer Tina Turner has died at age 83. Turner died peacefully after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland (Turner became a Swiss citizen a decade ago). Turner’s manager said in a statement posted to social media: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner. With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow. Today we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music. All our heartfelt compassion goes out to her family. Tina, we will miss you dearly.” 

Born Anna Mae Bullock, Tina got her start after moving to St. Louis when she was 16. She became involved in the music scene and met her future husband, Ike Turner. Tina and Ike were married in 1962, and he changed her name to Tina Turner; she became the lead vocalist for what became known as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. They went on to become a huge success together, releasing hits like “Proud Mary” and “Get Back.”

Ike was physically abusive to his wife throughout their entire relationship, and controlled their finances and trademarked Tina’s name – so she had no access to her own income. Tina eventually filed for divorce in 1976 and went on to sign with Capitol Records, with whom she would release a number of popular songs, including her iconic 1984 album, Private Dancer. The single “What’s Love Got to Do with It” won the GRAMMY for Record of the Year in 1985.nTina released nine full-length studio albums, winning eight GRAMMYs, three GRAMMY Hall of Fame Awards and the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice — the first time in 1991 with Ike, and the second time in 2021, weeks ahead of her 82nd birthday.

In 1986, Tina met German music executive Erwin Bach; rhe two married in a civil ceremony in July 2013, after dating for more than two decades. Tina is survived by her adopted sons Michael and Ike Jr. Her sons, Ronnie and Craig, died in December 2022 and July 2018, respectively.

Editorial credit: Blueee77 / Shutterstock.com

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his partner Lauren Sánchez are engaged. The billionaire is also the founder of space company Blue Origin, and was aboard a 2021 flight into space and back on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

Bezos and Sánchez, a former broadcast journalist, first went public with their relationship in 2019. Bezos and Sánchez have kept their relationship low profile, with details mostly private outside of being photographed at public events. In 2022, the couple spoke with CNN at their Washington DC home for their first joint sit-down interview where they talked about their philanthropic work, and giving away Bezos’s vast wealth to a variety of causes. Bezos described the Emmy award-winning journalist as “the most generous, most big-hearted person that you would ever meet,” and “an inspiration.”

Bezos was previously married to MacKenzie Scott for 25 years, with whom he shares three sons and one daughter. Sánchez was married to Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell for 13 years before finalizing their divorce in 2019; she shares two children with Whitesell. Sánchez is also mom to son Nikko, whom she shares with former partner and retired NFL player Tony Gonzalez. No additional details about the couple’s pending wedding plans were immediately available.

Editorial credit: Loredana Sangiuliano / Shutterstock.com

Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria announced at Netflix’s virtual Upfront presentation that “The Crown” Season 6 has been slated for a fall 2023 release.

The sixth season of the historical drama will focus its attention to the royal love story between Prince William (Ed McVey) and Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy), chronicling the pair’s fateful meeting on St. Andrew’s campus and the subsequent romance that followed.  Season 6 is set in the 2000s as William begins his time at University determined to have a normal life when he meets Kate, who hails from Berkshire.

In addition to McVey and Bellamy, the final season of “The Crown” is rounded out by cast members Luther Ford as Prince Harry, Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Dominic West as Prince Charles, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne and Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles. Bertie Carvel will take on the role of Tony Blair, while Salim Daw plays Mohamed Al Fayed, and Khalid Abdalla plays Dodi Fayed.

Editorial credit: ArtMediaWorx / Shutterstock.com

Veteran actor Ray Stevenson, whose film and TV credits include RRR, the Thor and Divergent films, and Star Wars animated series, died Sunday in Italy at the age of 58. No cause of death has been released.

Stevenson played the main antagonist Scott Buxton in SS Rajamouli’s global box office smash RRR and is known for playing Volstagg in Marvel’s Thor franchise and Othere in History’s Vikings. He also has voiced Gar Saxon in the animated Star Wars series The Clone Wars and Rebels and was set to join Rosario Dawson in Disney+’s upcoming ‘The Mandalorian’ spinoff Ahsoka as Baylan Skoll – one of the “main antagonists” in the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Stevenson was most recently cast in historical drama 1242: Gateway to the West, taking over the lead role that originally was to be played by Kevin Spacey.

The actor was married to Ruth Gemmel from 1997-2005.  He is survived by two children, Sebastiano Derek Stevenson and Leonardo George Stevenson, whom he shares with partner Elisabetta Caraccia.

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com