Army Archerd, whose 52-year run as a Daily Variety columnist made him unique among showbiz reporters, died Tuesday in Los Angeles of a rare form of mesothelioma, a lung cancer thought to be the result of his exposure to asbestos in the Navy during WWII. He was 87.

He began covering entertainment on Oct. 18, 1945, and started the "Just for Variety" column in 1953. His last column ran on Sept. 1, 2005, but he continued contributing to the paper and launched his Variety.com blog on Sept. 21, 2005. His last blog post was on July 27, 2009.  

Click here for the full obituary on Variety.com

Neil "Doc" Simon is back in his permanent home in New York today and readying on yet another display of his versatile re-creation of his priceless prior prose. This time it's a two-part current look and musical version of  the 1968 Bacharach/David tuner "Promises, Promises." 

The Bronx-born, Broadway-bred Simon and his beautiful wife Elaine Joyce have just wound an L.A. visit with Elaine's grandchild, Julia Meyer, daughter of Taylor and Evan Meyer. On their final night (Saturday) in L.A. the Simons supped on The Grill on the Alley and were exuberant in talking to us about the full plate of projects bearing down on them.

Simon celebrated his 82nd birthday, July 4,  and looked terrific as he bounded from his table to greet us at The Grill Saturday night. He carried the conversation about his prose to come. Already set in type are  two revivals -- "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Broadway Bound" to play at the Nederlander beginning Oct. 25/Dec. 10 alternating in repertoire. 

But the big news is the planned, official, B'way revival of "Promises, Promises" -- the 1968 Bacharach/David musical for which Simon wrote the book. Simon's wife Elaine was as excited about the project as husband Neil and said it looks like Sean Hayes ("Will and Grace") will star as Chuck Baxter. He had played the lead in a private reading of the project with Anne Hathaway and producers are now looking for Zooey Deschanel  ("500 Days of Summer") to co-star. 

The  original "Promises, Promises" film by Billy Wilder was a multi-Oscar winner. The anticipation for the Neil Simon plethora of projects has Broadwayites in a continuing state of excitement following up on the record-setting legit marks of the past year. And the name Simon just adds to even more legit anticipation.

There were no police barricades. There were no souvenir sellers. There were no autograph-seekers. But it too was a funeral of the highest caliber showbiz. It took us a day to appreciate its emotion-punch after Tuesday's Michael Jackson grand finale. 

Toni Murray, widow of comedian Jan Murray was celebrated and buried at Hillside Memorial Park, Monday. She died June 28, following a tragic accident in which she was an innocent.Her death occurred exactly three years following the death of Jan Murray, her husband of  56 years. 

They had both decided on the exact details of the services for each to follow. They included music "How Deep Is The Ocean" for Toni, " My Funny Valentine" for Jan. No endless line for celebs -- but 13 family members of all ages, including the newest great-grandchild, spoke of Toni. 

Love filled the Jewish Cemetery Chapel as Rabbi Cutler invited each speaker to tell their inimitable version of their love for this remarkable woman of beauty and warmth. 

Jan met Toni when she was a member of the drop-dead beautiful line of showgirls at New York's famous Copa. They didn't have to dance, wriggle or be anything but their own beautiful selves. The speakers finale'd with two -- Jack Carter and Norm Crosby. They had known Toni and Jan all of their respective married life -- on and off stage. Norm brought down the house when he said "Meryl Streep is not the greatest actress of all -- Toni  Murray was" because she could laugh at husband Murray's wisecracks -- over and over, no matter how many times she'd heard them made. Toni made him  feel he was telling fresh, funny material every time. What a sacrifice for any one to make. 

Tuesday's Michael Jackson extravaganza followed Toni's simple farewell -- but the emotion softly expressed for her could not be denied by the 250 who also bade her farewell -- and thanks for her memories.     

On Friday, June 16, 1995, I wrote:

Good Morning: "Some of my best friends are Jews". Not this one anymore, Michael Jackson. Your apology after the phrase "Jew Me" and the word Kike in the lyrics of your "They don't care about us" just doesn't fly. Kill the song. Your young fans who have never heard these anti-semitic words - which had hopefully been eradicated from Amercian speach - will now use them as a part of their (and worldwide?) everyday conversation, as they sing your song from the new "HIStory" album...Jackson's manager, Sandy Gallin, and his attorney, Howard Weitzman, at first argued with me that the words were taken out of context by me and others who critisized 'em and that the song is Jackson's plea for tolerance. I pointed out that when Jackson uses those words, they become acceptable for ordinary conversation. Gallin and Weitzman themselved could very well be called by those na mes thanks to Jackson's revival of them. They agreed that they would tell Michael that something should be said/done...Jackson professes his love for children, yet his video showing a uniformed Jackson amid Natzi-like goose-stepping stormtroopers does little to soothe emotions about anti-semitism. Michael knows only too well that millions of Jewish childredn of many nations were murdered and maimed in the medical experiments in the Holocaust. Jackson should know - after all Rabii Marvin Heir told me he took Jackson on a private two and 1/2 hour of the Weisenthal Centers  museum of tolerance and that Jacskon was overwhelmed with emotion.So why is he arm-banding in a destructive military outpouring? He knows he leads children like the pied piper...Jackson said, "I am truly shocked and deeply hurt at the reaction that the lyrics of "They don't Care About Us" have caused. If anyone was offended, I truly appologize but the song is about the pain of predjudice - that was my sole intention". Said Hier, "I don't accept his explanation. How could 12 or 13 year olds hearing these lyrics believe it's a statment for racial equality he should write a letter enclosed in the record saying what his intent was. If he remains silent he will do harm and legitimze those words."...Steven Spielberg whose feeling about those words is quoted ina booklet accompanying Jackson's new album. However he new nothing about the content of these lyrics, "I was asked to write liner notes for Michael Jackson in 1993. It was represented to me that these liner notes were to be for a retrospective album of Michael's past work a 'Best of Michael Jackson' album. Based on that and my admiration for Michael Jackson, I wrote the liner notes at that time. My liner notes are by no means an endorsement of any new songs that appear on what has been released as Michael Jackson's 'HIStory' album."...The Anti Defamation League's  David Lehrer also urges Jackson to issue a commentary attached to the album and video...Aaron Spelling, winner of the Scopus award from American Friends of the Hebrew University, was among those appaled by the lyrics and said he would begin a write-in campaign to express his indignation and would also inform CAA, which represents him - and Jackson as well.

Michael then called me and this is what I printed on the front page of Variety on 6/21/1995, five days later.

'HIStory' rewritten by Army Archerd

    Michael Jackson admits he made a mistake. He called to tell me he is changing the lyrics to the song "They Don't Care About Us," which included the lines "Jew Me, Sue Me" and "Kick Me, Kike Me".

"I'll go into the studio next week, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, and change it. I thought of first muffling those words, but that would make them even more noticeable. So I'm going all the way to take them out and I've written new words" The substitute words he said, will be "Strike Me" for "Kike Me" and "Do Me" for "Jew Me" or some other or better words" he said. When will these words be added? "In the next shipment", he promised but didn't know how soon that would be...Jackson came on the phone saying, "This is Michael". Of course the voice was unmistakable - but just to make certain I asked for his phone numbers which he readily gave to me from his Neverland Ranch. He read or was told about my columns in which I took him to task for using those words and the damage he was doing to the tolerance he said he was preaching - by putting those words into common conversation. Jackson again insisted that his purpose was to preach tolerance; again, he said "From the bottom of my heart I am not a racist."

Michael told me he cried for weeks after he visited the Weisenthal Center at the Museum of tolerance. "I didn't realize the damage I had done.  Haven't you ever done something that you wish you had never done? I didn't realize what I was doing."

Michael remained close friends for the rest of his life with Elizabeth Taylor, one who included in her family two ex husbands who were Jewish.

 I for one believe Michael was a kind person and will always be remembered as such. Have a great tour Michael...a lot of  stars are waiting for you up there...