Passages

Flamboyant bandleader and scat singer Cab Calloway, 86, who became famous as the “Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho” man in the 1930s and ’40s, died on Nov. 18 of complications from a stroke in a nursing home in Hockessin, Del. Calloway, whose band performed at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club, was a founder of the scat jazz style, which uses meaningless syllables instead of words. “He just loved performing,” says Chicago music historian Howard Reich. “By sheer charisma, he proved that sophisticated jazz can also be great popular music.” Calloway is further remembered for popularizing the zoot suit and coining the terms “jitterbug” and “copacetic.” He appeared in The Blues Brothers (1980) and in Janet Jackson‘s 1990 music video Alright….

Actor Dedrick Gobert, 22, who had supporting roles in Boyz N the Hood (1991) and Poetic Justice (1993), was shot to death Nov. 19 in Mira Loma, Calif., during a fight with a driver who he claimed had cut him off during an illegal drag race.

Actor Eric Douglas, 36, youngest son of Kirk Douglas, was arrested for drunk driving and vehicular hit-and-run driving Nov. 21 in Hollywood after allegedly getting into a fight at a comedy club and hitting a parked car as he drove away. He will be arraigned Dec. 21. Douglas was also arrested on Oct. 30 in Rosemead, Calif., for possession of cocaine as well as being under the drug’s influence.

Billy Best, 16, of Norwell, Mass., who ran away from home Oct. 26 rather than endure more painful chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s disease, returned home on Nov. 19 after his parents agreed that he would not have to undergo any more such treatments. Best will now discuss alternative therapies with doctors.

On Nov. 16, a U.S. district court judge in L.A. dismissed two of nine claims in a $12 million lawsuit actress Sharon Stone, 36, had brought against jeweler Harry Winston Inc. Judge Lourdes Baird ruled that Winston, which had loaned Stone a $400,000 diamond necklace to wear while she promoted the 1993 film Sliver, had not violated Stone’s rights by using her name to promote itself, nor did it wrongfully use her name and likeness for publicity. The judge ordered Stone to pay Winston’s legal fees to date. A trial date has not yet been set for Stone’s allegation that the jeweler breached a verbal contract by asking her to return the necklace, which she says she thought was a gift….

Porn star Jennifer Peace, 23, filed a paternity suit against San Francisco Giants’ left fielder Barry Bonds, 30, on Oct. 7 in L.A. superior court. Peace claims she is five months pregnant and says the baby was conceived during a three-day fling with Bonds last summer. Bonds separated from Sun, his wife of six years, in May. His lawyer had no comment on the charges.

Tom Arnold, 35, and I his girlfriend of four months, Julie Champnella, 21, a student at Eastern Michigan University who is studying elementary education, announced Nov. 21 that they will marry next July 22 in a synagogue in the Detroit area. This will be the first marriage for Champnella and the second for Arnold, whose divorce from Roseanne will be final by Dec. 9.