Hollywood columnist Beck dies
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LOS ANGELES – Veteran entertainment columnist Marilyn Beck died after a four-decade career interviewing Hollywood luminaries.
Beck’s business partner, Stacy Jenel Smith, said Beck died Saturday after a three-year fight with lung cancer. She was 85. Beck studied journalism at the University of Southern California but began her Hollywood career as a hobby. With two children in grade school, she started writing for fan magazines.
By 1972, her column was being published by New York Times Special Features. Her interview subjects included Bob Hope, Richard Burton, Sylvester Stallone and many others.
Beck embraced the Internet early on, taking online queries as early as 1990. Her website, BeckSmithHollywood.com, continues to cover entertainment.
Beck is survived by her husband, Arthur Levine, two children, two stepchildren and three grandchildren.