DEALS Big news for channel changers: On Oct. 29, EchoStar Communications Corp. agreed to pay GM an estimated $26 billion for DirecTV owner Hughes Electronics. If regulators approve the deal--which came after News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch abruptly withdrew a longstanding bid--the newly formed service will become the nation's biggest satellite-TV provider and the second-largest pay-television outfit.

DEATHS Production designer Kathleen Ankers, 82, who created sets for David Letterman, Rosie O'Donnell, and Craig Kilborn and also appeared in several of Letterman's skits, of lung cancer, Oct. 24, in New York City.... Actor Eugene Jackson, 84, who was featured in six Our Gang films as Pineapple and later played Diahann Carroll's Uncle Lou on the '60s NBC comedy Julia, of undisclosed causes, Oct. 26, in Compton, Calif.... Actress Diana van der Vlis, 66, of undisclosed causes, Oct. 22, in Missoula, Mont. A Tony nominee in 1957 for her role as an outlandish socialite in The Happiest Millionaire, she also starred in TV's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Fugitive.

Originally posted Nov 09, 2001 Published in issue #624 Nov 09, 2001 Order article reprints
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