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Published on July 14, 2014 12:00 PM

GOODBYES

Sherri Shepherd, 47, and Jenny McCarthy, 41, have confirmed they are leaving The View. “After careful consideration, it is time for me to move on,” Shepherd said in a statement June 26. Freshman host McCarthy tweeted about her departure later that same day, writing, “If Sherri goes … I go too. #sisters.” A source told PEOPLE that Shepherd, who spent seven years on the ABC talk show, and her rep couldn’t reach an agreement with ABC on a new deal. McCarthy is being let go because the talk show “is moving in a new direction creatively,” the source added.

BABY

The Big Bang Theory star Simon Helberg, 33, and wife Jocelyn Towne, 38, welcomed a baby boy, Wilder Towne Helberg, on April 23. The couple are already parents to 2-year-old daughter Adeline.

AILING

Liam Neeson’s nephew Ronan Sexton, 31, is in critical condition after falling 20 feet from a phone kiosk beside a pier in Brighton, England, on June 22. “Ronan is receiving wonderful treatment from the dedicated staff at Hurstwood Park,” his family said in a statement. Neeson’s wife, actress Natasha Richardson, died in March 2009 from a severe head injury she suffered in a skiing accident.

UNCOUPLED

Eliza Dushku, 33, split from her longtime boyfriend, retired NBA player Rick Fox, 44. The Dollhouse star cited her desire to move back to Boston as the reason for the breakup.

LEGAL DRAMA

A judge ordered former Scandal star Columbus Short, 31, to pay spousal and child support to his estranged wife, Tanee McCall-Short, 33, after neither the actor nor his lawyer showed up for a court hearing on June 25.

HONORED

Baylor sophomore Isaiah Austin, 20, was granted a ceremonial first-round pick in the NBA draft. A top prospect, he was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome – a genetic disorder that affects connective tissue – just days before the draft, ending his basketball-playing career. “I’ve just had a tremendous amount of support from everybody around the world,” Austin said. “I can’t thank everybody enough.”

DEATH

Soul singer-songwriter Bobby Womack, 70, died June 27. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer behind hits like 1981’s “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” had been working on a new album. • Former Survivor: Blood vs. Water contestant Caleb Bankston, 26, died in a railway accident near Birmingham, Ala., on June 24. “Caleb was an amazing man and friend,” fellow contestant Aras Baskauskas told PEOPLE.

MARRIED

The Falling Skies star Noah Wyle, 43, and Sara Wells tied the knot earlier in June at their farm in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Tori and Dean Fight to Save Their Marriage

Despite the couple’s efforts to heal old wounds, “there’s still tension, and they’re both hurting,” says a friend.

They cried. They screamed. They threatened divorce. But Tori Spelling, 41, and her as-of-recently-estranged husband, Dean McDermott, 47, are salvaging their marriage after the actor was involved in a cheating scandal and later entered rehab for addiction issues. “We’re doing okay. We’re working through it,” Spelling told PEOPLE while promoting her new ABC Family series Mystery Girls with former Beverly Hills, 90210 costar Jennie Garth. “It’s something that’s going to take time to get through.” Having documented the raw, intimate details of their journey through marriage counseling for the Lifetime docu-series True Tori this spring, the couple are now focused on their four young kids, Liam, 7, Stella, 6, Hattie, 2, and Finn, 1. “Tori feels she owes it to them to try to work it out with their dad, even though it’s hard,” says a friend. Married since 2006, the couple “have had problems for a long time. They’ve been to therapy before,” adds the insider. “But I don’t think she’s ever felt he’s heard her. Making him go through the show with her, she’s been able to voice all the frustrations she’s had. And he’s finally listening.”

Eli Wallach 1915–2014

The consummate character actor, whose career spanned 60 years on stage and screen, was 98

Best known for his unforgettable roles in classics like The Misfits and The Magnificent Seven, Eli Wallach, who died at his New York home June 24 at 98, was more than a film star. Born in Brooklyn to Jewish immigrants from Poland, Wallach earned a master’s degree in education. But after taking acting classes – and serving five years in the Army during World War II—he landed onstage, eventually winning a Tony for his work in Tennessee Williams’s The Rose Tattoo. From dancing with Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits to teaming up with Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Wallach appeared alongside many of the greats. Another frequent costar was wife (since 1948) Anne Jackson, whom he met during his 1945 Broadway debut. “Eli Wallach was a wonderful guy and a wonderful actor,” said Eastwood, who reunited with Wallach for 2003’s Mystic River. “[He] will be sadly missed.” Wallach is survived by Jackson, three children and three grandchildren.

Why I Care

PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT GIVING BACK

Eric McCormack

The actor and father supports a safe place for child victims of rape and abuse

In 2001 I was invited with the Will & Grace cast to a fund-raiser for the Rape Foundation. I met Gail Abarbanel, who created Stuart House, an incredible place in L.A. where children who have been raped or abused can receive medical care, forensic examinations and therapy services all under one roof. Police, lawyers or family members can bring a child there, and it’s a safe place where the children’s needs come first. It’s a very different atmosphere than an E.R. or a lawyer’s office. This cause resonated with me since I became a father [to Finnigan, 12]. Children often don’t feel safe to come forward. Abuse and rape are called “unspeakable acts,” but that’s the problem. They have to be spoken of, and it can all start from this remarkable, child-friendly place.

Updated by

Jeff Nelson