They gave usPurple Rainand Ziggy Stardust, “Schlemiel!
and “fuhgeddaboudit,“an intergalactic princess named Leia and the questionably British Mrs. known as Doubtfire.
Prince, 1958-2016
“He was a special human being.
Anthony Barboza/Getty Images; Jack Mitchell/Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images; Ethan Miller/Getty Images; Donna Santisi/Redferns; 20th Century Fox/Getty Images
He was very other.
And a genius, of course.
I mean, we probably made an entire record in four weeks' time.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Boom, done just like that.
Our whole relationship was just easy and natural and honest.
I’m lonely too!
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
It’s a lonely-ass life that we lead.
And it doesn’t!
So that’s why, to my audience’s chagrin, I often go on first.
J. Vespa/WireImage
[Laughs] Because it’s not a competition, it never is.”
I’m not saying it wasn’t devastating.
I stopped dead in my tracks and was like, wow, what just happened?
Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
And then she closed them and left.
There’s no other way I could have accepted it but that way.
The gift was amazing for all of us.
Fans of Selena Quintanilla can now enjoy a new version of one of her earlier recordings ahead of the release of her upcoming posthumous album.Pam Francis/Getty Images
We all would have selfishly loved to have her around.
I was brought into this world so Carrie wouldn’t be alone.
My mother left this world so Carrie wouldn’t be alone.”
Dave Bjerke/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
He put his whole body and voice into each character.
I never knew what he was going to do.
He was so present.
20th Century Fox/Getty Images
Six days after he wrappedLords of Dogtown, he was shootingBrokeback Mountain.
And that is a completely different voice, different body language.
The first time I saw her was onThe Odd Coupleplaying Myrna Turner.
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano in ‘The Sopranos.'.Anthony Neste/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images
She made me laugh out loud.
I thought, “This girl is so much fun to watch, and what impeccable timing.”
She was [also] secretly sentimental, only showing that side of herself on rare occasions.
CBS via Getty Images
We were attending the Golden Globes one year and the orchestra began playing ‘Send In the Clowns.’
I looked at Penny and she was weeping.
When she saw me look ather, she quickly turned away.
Anthony Barboza/Getty Images
Penny never thought she was pretty, but I thought she was beautiful.
I deeply miss her.”
She was more than just a celebrity.
Ron Davis/Getty Images
That word didn’t really exist when I was growing up.
She was a fellow Latina.
She was a fellow sister.
Donna Santisi/Redferns
There are so many parallels in mine and Selena’s life.
And then we both received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame the same year.
And same thing with mine.
Jack Mitchell/Getty Images
Fan seems like such an understatement.
We owe so much to her in blazing the trail for the rest of us to follow.”
He was an Everyman who could do anything.
He would change a little something and keep it fresh.
He was a very prepared guy.
All of us [onNewsRadio] would take our scripts and just throw them around.
He had his in a notebook, parceled out into every scene with different tabs and different colors.
So he was like Dad in that sense to us.
I keep a picture of him dressed as a blue genie.
The only other person who could is Aretha.
It was like you were watching a thoroughbred.
And she still had places to go in the song!
She was not at the end of her range.
For me, that was the epitome of Whitney Houston.
She was our American girl."
He could do more with a single look than most actors could with monologues.
He could express that incredible warmth with just a slight nod of his head.
He sometimes had to go to such a dark place, and it would stay with him.
Other actors can turn it on and turn it off.
Jimmy felt things very deeply.
Sometimes he didn’t want to go there and would struggle.
Then when he did, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, watch out.'"
I [said] in my biography that I should have been favored with her smile more!
But Valerie got more time and space thanI did.
I was petty, but I didn’t show it.
Valerie was a good Joe because she had come directly from improv and the New York stage.
Mary was dedicated to the work intensively.
She would take dance lessons during lunch.
She was a workaholic.
She was always open and never petty.
I truly admired her."
We’re neighbors!’
I thought she was beautiful.
She was bold, you know?
And she could hit somenotes.
For me gospel was always home, but she wanted to sing jazz and R&B.
And she’d say, ‘Yeah, I’m goin’.’
Often it would be fans of his fromBeverly Hills, 90210, and he was so gracious to them.
He meant so much to these people who grew up watching him.
That, to me, was the essence of Luke.
He was just a prince."
We were sitting around his digs on the floor, because it was a no-chairs kind of place.
He came up with the title, too.
Later I realized that it was a reference to van Gogh and the [1956] Kirk Douglas film.
Basically, ‘Here I am producing albums for this insane idiot.’
[Laughs] Which is cool.
Even though he was the big star, he just really was part of the ensemble.
I remember at a holiday party or something, we were at the Radisson in Wilmington [Del.]
I have nothing but the fondest memories of working with him.
He was a beautiful man."
