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Comedian Robin Williams Found Dead at 63

Comedian Robin Williams died suddenly on Monday morning inside his residence in Tiburon, California, according to his wife and publicist.

MARIN COUNTY, Calif. --

The actor-comedian Robin Williams was found dead in an apparent suicide by asphyxiation, Marin County Sheriff's officials said Monday.

The Marin County Sheriff's Department received a 911 report of a male not breathing in a residence in unincorporated Tiburon, California at 11:55 a.m. Monday. Emergency personnel arrived and pronounced the subject deceased at 12:02 p.m. He was identified as Robin McLaurin Williams, 63. A preliminary investigation identified the cause of death suicide due to asphyxiation.

Preliminary information indicated Williams was last seen alive at the residence at approximately 10 p.m. Sunday. He was located Monday morning shortly before 11:55 a.m. His wife also lives at the residence.

"A comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made. A forensic examination is currently scheduled for August 12, 2014 with subsequent toxicology testing to be conducted," the sheriff's department said.

Mara Buxbaum, a representative for Williams, released a statement Monday afternoon: "Robin Williams passed away this morning. He has been battling severe depression of late. This is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time."

Scott Kalvert, 'Basketball Diaries' director, dead at age 49

"The Basketball Diaries" director Scott Kalvert has been found dead at age 49.

Kalvert was found at his home and pronounced dead on the scene in Woodland Hills on Wednesday at 1:55 p.m. His death is currently being investigated as a suspected suicide. Kalvert was a well-respected music video director, who worked with artists such as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch ("Good Vibrations"), DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith ("Parents Just Don't Understand"), LL Cool J ("I'm That Type of Guy"), Salt 'N Pepa ("Shoop") and Cyndi Lauper ("I Drove All Night"). After working with Mark Wahlberg on the "Good Vibrations" shoot, Kalvert took a risk and cast the hip-hop star as a hot-headed hoops player alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1995 drama, "The Basketball Diaries." Kalvert went on to direct the 2002 Stephen Dorff crime movie "Deuces Wild." Kalvert most recently served as an executive producer on Nick Cannon's 2009 film "School Gyrls," in which Justin Bieber and Soulja Boy appeared as themselves.

Jim Lange, 'The Dating Game' host, dies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jim Lange, the first host of the popular game show "The Dating Game," dead at 81. He died Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack, his wife Nancy told The Associated Press Wednesday. Though Lange had a successful career in radio, he is best known for his television role on ABC's "The Dating Game," which debuted in 1965 and on which he appeared for more than a decade, charming audiences with his mellifluous voice and wide, easygoing grin. He also played host to many celebrity guests. Michael Jackson, Steve Martin and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others, appeared as contestants. Even a pre-"Charlie's Angels" Farrah Fawcett appeared on the program, introduced as "an accomplished artist and sculptress" with a dream to open her own gallery. The show's format: a young man or woman questions three members of the opposite sex, hidden from view, to determine which one would be the best date. The questions were designed by the show's writers to elicit sexy answers. "I've never been out on a date before. What do two kids like us do on a date?" a teenage Michael Jackson asked one of his potential dates on a 1972 episode of the show. "Well, we'd have fun," the girl answered. "We'd go out to dinner, and then I'd go over to your house." Lange was born on Aug. 15, 1932, in St. Paul, Minn., where at 15 he discovered a passion for local radio after winning an audition at a local station. "They wanted a boy and a girl," he said in a 1992 interview with the Bay Area Radio Digest. "They wanted the boy to do sports and the girl to do the dances and stuff that was going on in the Twin Cities — very sexist — and play music once a week." He hosted that show for two years before attending the University of Minnesota and doing a three-year stint in the Marines, according to the Bay Area Radio Museum. His big break on network TV came in 1962 when he was made an announcer and sidekick on "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show." Later, after "The Dating Game" brought him national recognition, he also hosted the game shows "Hollywood Connection," ''$100,000 Name That Tune" and "The New Newlywed Game." Lang also worked as a disc jockey for decades in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, and upon his retirement from broadcasting in 2005, he was the morning DJ for KABL-FM, which specializes in playing classics from the Big Band era to the 1970s. "As much as he's known for his television work, his real love was radio," his wife said. "He loved doing local radio, especially before it was computerized." Lange himself once told the Bay Area Radio Digest that his favorite aspect of the medium was that "you don't have to worry about lighting directors and cameramen or script writers and all that." "Good radio is still the most fun," he said, "It always will be. Plus, you don't have to wear makeup and you don't have to shave." Lange is survived by a sister, five children, two stepchildren and four grandchildren. Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton contributed to this story,