Breaking Bad actor and comedian Mike Batayeh has died aged 52.
Batayeh died on 1 June, according to a family statement released last week on social media.
The Instagram post was captioned with an image of the actor and his dog.
It said: “It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that my sisters and I announce the passing of our dear brother Mike Batayeh on Thursday June 1 2023.
“He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and his great ability to bring laughter and joy to so many. Funeral arrangements will be posted at a later date.”
The 52-year-old’s family told TMZ he died at home in Michigan in his sleep after a heart attack.
An online obituary has been set up to honour the late actor and comedian, with an announcement that the funeral service will be held next Saturday at noon.
The actor was famously known for his role as the manager of Lavandería Brillante industrial laundromat, and also appeared on Everybody Loves Raymond, The Shield, Sleeper Cell and Touch.
He has also had a voice acting role in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
‘A devastating loss of a huge life’
Tributes poured in after the Batayeh family announced his death on Instagram.
Fellow comic Mina Liccione said: “Oh my heart…I’m so deeply sorry for your loss. Rest In Peace and laughter, Mike. You’ll be greatly missed!”.
Hollywood director Rola Nashef also paid tribute to her friend on Facebook and said: “A devastating loss of a huge life – Mike Batayah, you were everybody’s friend. And I mean everybody.
“There isn’t a person that I introduced you to or a waitress that took our order whom you didn’t make laugh, think, inspire and root for.
“You wanted to see us all win. I still can’t believe this news. People keep saying ‘But I just talked to him last week’- not text or messaged with him, but talked with him. Because you are an old school friend, who was loyal, generous, wise and invested in the people that you loved.
She continued: “Amin Matalqa referred to you as the ‘Robin Williams’ of Arab-America – so spot on. Your sense of humor and your talent for stage, screenwriting, television and film was genius, outrageous and fearless.
“I pray so much for your sisters, nephews, nieces, cousins and our entire community who will feel your loss forever. Rest in peace dear Mike, you’re my friend always.”
It is “pretty surreal”, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon admits, finding herself at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.
When I meet the actress alongside her co-writer, best-selling author Harlan Coben, overnight the pair have learned that their thriller is now at number one.
He jokes: “I was texting her last night and saying you’ll now have to call yourself number one bestselling novelist, forget about Oscar winner!”
Image: Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye
As one of the most successful authors in the world, Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground.
Not content with running a hugely successful production company responsible for a string of hits, as well as one of the most successful book clubs in the world, she explains she felt compelled to give writing a try.
“People want you to stay in your lane… as a creative person I think it’s impossible to just choose one kind of life.
“Creativity is infinite and who I was as a creative person when I was 20 is very different from the person I am now at 49.”
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Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller about a talented surgeon who finds herself caught up in a deadly conspiracy, is the result of Witherspoon daring to put her head above the parapet.
Image: Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try
Coben admits he was “a little wary” at first.
“I don’t co-write novels but when she made the pitch and started talking about it, I was like ‘dang that’s good, we can do something with that’.”
While countless celebrities work with ghostwriters, Coben says: “I said to her from day one ‘it’s only going to be you and me in here… no third person in here, I don’t do that’. So every word you [read] comes from Reese and me.”
Image: Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground
Witherspoon explains: “He was like ‘if we’re going to do this, it’s going to have to be at a really high level because people going to expect a lot, so our bar was really high.”
“I said to her, in the beginning, novels are like a sausage,” Coben laughs. “You might like the final taste, but you don’t want to see how it was made and Reese got to see the full sausage getting made here.”
When it came to writing, Coben says they “fell into a rhythm right away”, working together in three-hour stints, “back and forth with a yellow legal pad – what about this? What about that?”
Image: Coben says they ‘fell into a rhythm right away’
Witherspoon says it “feels really deeply personal” to have their work now in print.
“Usually, as an actor, I walk into other people’s worlds and it’s already set up… but this was creating the whole world with Harlan and just from beginning to end feels very personal.”
While the story seems an obvious fit for being adapted to the screen, perhaps with a certain blonde actress in the leading role, Coben says that was never their intention.
“The biggest, biggest mistake novelists make when you write a book is to say ‘this would make a really great movie’. A book is a book, a movie is a movie, and we both focused on wanting this to be just a great reading experience.”
Given that their collaboration is already selling in big numbers, will the pair team up again to write a second?
Witherspoon says: “Let’s just see what people think of this one first.”
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Associate professor of neurology Dr Laura Stein told Sky’s US partner NBC News: ” The most well-described risk factors include a predisposition [family history of aneurysm], high blood pressure, cigarette smoking and inflammation.”
She went on to explain that most fatal ruptured aneurysms are in the brain, killing about one in three patients.
“When it’s a blood vessel that’s in the head and it bleeds, there’s a much higher risk of having a very bad problem just because the brain is enclosed in a fixed space,” Dr Stein added.
Low-risk aneurysms are monitored by doctors for growth or abnormalities, and there are a series of potential treatment options for those considered dangerous.
Elsewhere in The Kardashians clip, Kim admitted that her ex-husband Kanye West will be in her life “no matter what” because of the four kids they share together.