Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Smokey, Dionne, Valerie Say Goodbye to Friend

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I’m so sorry to report the death– belatedly– of Helen Cash Jackson. The wife of R&B great Chuck Jackson died on May 27th in Harlem. She was 70. Helen was an ethereal beauty, a beautiful intellect. She was a director at the New York State Council on the Arts for about 30 years. Last night she was mourned at Benta’s in a memorial service attended by Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, and Valerie Simpson, who, I am told, performed and brought the house down. Helen’s sister was the great actress Rosalind Cash, who was a fixture on TV and in theater before her own death from cancer. Chuck– whose hits include “Any Day Now” and “I Keep Forgetting”– and Helen have been long time supporters of the Apollo Theater for many many years as well. Helen was one of those people you just always looked forward to seeing. Condolences to Chuck and to all of her family and friends.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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