Rita Gam

Actress and filmmaker Rita Gam passed away earlier this month from respiratory failure. She was 88 years old. Gam was born Rita MacKay in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Belle (Fately), who was born in Romania, and Milton A. MacKay, who was born in Alsace-Lorraine, to parents from Romania. She took on the surname of her stepfather, Russian-born Benjamin Gam. Gam was raised in New York City.

Sidney Lumet, who directed modern American film classics such as '12 Angry Men,' 'Dog Day Afternoon' and 'The Verdict,' died Saturday morning at his home in Manhattan, according to the New York Times. He was 86. His stepdaughter, Leslie Gimbel, cited lymphoma as the cause.

Actress Catherine Wolf, who has appeared on Broadway in An Inspector Calls, Otherwise Engaged and The Innocents, plays 'Marjorie' in the new film Little Children, directed by Todd Fields