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Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne (March 31, 1929 – June 26, 2007) was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Claiborne is best known for founding Liz Claiborne Inc. which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500

Death
She had been advised in 1997 that she had a rare form of cancer affecting the lining of the abdomen. Liz Claiborne died on June 26, 2007 at the age of 78, following a long battle with the cancer. Liz Claiborne was 78 years old when she died.

In retirement, Claiborne and Ortenberg founded a foundation that distributed millions in funding to environmental causes including funding the television series Nature on PBS television and nature conservancy projects around the world.

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Thomas Penn "Tommy" Newsom (February 25, 1929 – April 28, 2007) was a saxophone player in the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, an orchestra he later became assistant director of. Newsom was frequently the band's substitute director, whenever Doc Severinsen was away from the show or filling in for announcer Ed McMahon. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement" as a sarcastic take on his low-keyed, often dull persona, Newsom was often a foil for Carson's humor. His brown or blue suits were a marked contrast to Severinsen's flashy stage clothing.

Newsom joined the band in 1962, and left it when Carson retired in 1992.

Death 
Newsom died of bladder and liver cancer at his home in Portsmouth.
Tommy" Newsom was 78 years old at the time of his death

Newsom won two Emmy Awards as a musical director, in 1982 with Night of 100 Stars and in 1986 for the 40th Annual Tony Awards. He also recorded several albums as a bandleader.

Newsom was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He earned degrees from the College of William & Mary, the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and Columbia University. He served in the Air Force where he played in the band, and later toured with the Benny Goodman Orchestra and performed with Vincent Lopez in New York. In addition to Carson's orchestra, Newsom performed with the orchestra for the Merv Griffin Show.

Newsom was as well known within the music industry as an arranger as he was a performer. He arranged for groups as varied as the Tonight Show ensemble and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and musicians Skitch Henderson, Woody Herman, Kenny Rogers, Charlie Byrd, John Denver, and opera star Beverly Sills.

Tommy Newsom had been married to his wife Patricia for 50 years; they had one daughter, Candy.

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Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American musician, comedian and writer. As the first host of The Tonight Show, Allen was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show, and is often called the father of television talk shows.

Death of Steve Allen
On October 30, 2000, Allen was driving to his son's home in Encino, California when his car was struck by another vehicle backing out of a driveway. Neither Allen nor the other driver believed they were injured, and damage to both vehicles was minimal; so the two exchanged insurance information and Allen continued on. Shortly after arriving at his son's home, Allen did not feel quite right and decided to take a nap. While napping, Allen suffered a massive heart attack and was pronounced dead shortly after 8 p.m. Autopsy results concluded that the traffic accident earlier in the day had caused a blood vessel in Allen's chest to rupture causing blood to leak into the sac surrounding the heart. This condition is known as hemopericardium. In addition, Allen also suffered four broken ribs as a result of the accident. Allen was 78 years old, and is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.

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Steve Allen on The Tonight Show (Rare Clip)

Jean Parker Shepherd (July 26, 1921 - October 16, 1999) was an American raconteur, radio and TV personality, writer and actor who was often referred to by the nickname Shep.

With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is best-known to modern audiences for narrating the film A Christmas Story (1983), which he co-wrote, based on his own semi-autobiographical stories.

Death of Jean Shepherd
Jean Shepherd died on Sanibel Island in 1999 of "natural causes." at Lee Memorial Hospital near his home on Sanibel Island, Fla. Jean Shepherd was 78 years old at the time of his death.

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Jean Shepherd - "Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss"