At the height of his success, entertainer Keith Harris had his own Saturday night programme on BBC One and enjoyed huge chart success with Orville's Song.

He was also a regular on BBC panel shows, appearing on such popular programmes as Blankety Blank, The Weakest Link and, more recently, Pointless.

Diana, Princess of Wales was a big fan, inviting him to give private performances at the third birthdays of Prince William and Prince Harry.

Orville remains his best-known sidekick, though Cuddles the Monkey runs the duck a close second.

Read the full obituary and see his career in pictures.

"Sad to hear, external of the death of Keith Harris - sending best wishes to his family and friends." - presenter Aled Jones

"So sad. A great, external entertainer and all round nice man Keith Harris has passed away. Best wishes to his family at this sad time. RIP x" - presenter Keith Chegwin

"RIP Keith Harris, external. A part of my childhood gone." - actor and comedian Paddy McGuinness

"I spoke to Keith most days, whether we had business to do or not," said his agent, Robert C Kelly. "I think I laughed every single time we spoke.

"Keith was not only a technically great ventriloquist, he was also a gifted mimic and an extraordinarily funny man both on stage and off.

"Perhaps even rarer than that in showbiz, he was a thoroughly decent man, a great friend and a wonderful father and husband."

The entertainer is survived by his fourth wife Sarah, 49, and his children Kitty, 15, and Shenton, 13.

Harris also had a 27-year-old daughter, Skye, from his first marriage to singer Jacqui Scott.

Keith Harris's agent has revealed the ventriloquist was diagnosed in 2013 with "a very rare form of cancer with no known cure".

"Despite Keith undergoing long and difficult stem-cell replacement treatment during the summer of 2014 and appearing to have fully recovered, it became clear in January of 2015 that Keith was once again becoming unwell.

"Keith visited the oncologist at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and was told the cancer was in Keith's liver and there was nothing further they could do.

"Keith died today, 28 April 2015 at 4.50am in Blackpool Victoria Hospital."

Ventriloquist Keith Harris, famous for his act with his puppet duck Orville, has died from cancer aged 67, his agent has announced.

Read the full story.

British singer-songwriter Anna Calvi is among the first raft of acts confirmed to appear as part of David Byrne's Meltdown Festival at London's Southbank Centre.

The two-time Mercury Prize nominee will perform an intimate show with a 12-piece choir on 22 August as part of this year's event.

Spoken word artist Benjamin Clementine, Cardiff "post-punk" band Young Marble Giants and electronic musician Matthew Herbert will also take part in the festival, now in its 22nd year.

"I am beyond excited at how much of this has fallen into place," said Byrne in a statement, external in which he promised to put on "a pretty ecumenical spread (as opposed [to] the spreads we put on toast)".

"Very sad that Sandi's leaving, external the News Quiz. She's a fantastic host, a brilliant friend and wonderful to laugh with" - comedienne and News Quiz regular Susan Calman.

After nine years, comedienne Sandi Toksvig is to step down as host of Radio 4 comedy show The News Quiz.

The programme is one of the station's most popular, attracting millions of listeners each week and regularly topping the list of most requested radio shows on the BBC iPlayer.

"The News Quiz is one of the things I am proudest of in my professional life," said Sandi. "Now I have decided it is time to move on and of course, I feel sad but I think it's the right moment.

"The show is in great shape and like a good house guest, you should always depart when people still wish you'd stay a bit longer."

The next series begins on 15 May and her last appearance will be on the 26 June. We wish her well.

Read more on this story.

A nationwide search for Britain's best amateur artists, called The Little Painting Challenge, has resulted in three winners being chosen by a panel headed by How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell.

Tim Matthews from Warrington won the Over-16 Experienced category with his portrait of his son Nathaniel (above), while Amelia Johnson from Kent won the seven-to-15-year old category with a self-portrait.

Charlotte Wood from Matlock won the Over 16 beginner category with this picture, inspired by a snoozing couple she saw on a train journey.

The winners will have their works displayed at the Whitworth gallery in Manchester along with 1,000 other entries.

Read more about the winners.

A bit of music news for you: Elbow have recorded a new track called What Time Do You Call This? for Simon Pegg's new film Man Up.

It's the band's first song since the release of their number one album The Take Off and Landing of Everything.

Rom-com Man Up stars Pegg as Jack, a new divorcee who stumbles across fellow singleton Nancy (Lake Bell) and mistakes her for his blind date. A chaotic evening ensues.

The film, which recently had an airing at the Tribeca Film Festival, is released in the UK on 29 May.

Last month we reported that transport safety experts in the US were considering a request to re-open an investigation into the 1959 plane crash that claimed the life of Buddy Holly and three others.

The National Transportation Safety Board has now made a decision - NOT to look anew at the reasons why Holly, Ritchie Valens and Jiles P "The Big Bopper" Richardson died along with pilot Roger Peterson.

The date of the accident, 3 February 1959, would go on to be immortalised as "the day the music died" in Don McLean's 1972 song American Pie.

Pilot error and bad weather remain the official reasons for the Iowa plane crash, despite attempts by another pilot, one L J Coon, to have other issues taken into consideration.

"Devastated 2 hear of death, external of genius Andrew Lesnie. He made "Babe" films golden & was just a really lovely guy. Heart goes out 2 his family." - Australian actress Magda Szubanski

"Such sad news, external to hear the passing of Andrew Lesnie. The world of cinematography just lost a brilliant craftsman and artist." - James Wan, director of Saw and Insidious

"Andrew Lesnie was, external a treat to work with. I am blown away by all he achieved. He'll be missed greatly. RIP." - Jamie Bell, who worked with Lesnie on Peter Jackson's King Kong

"So saddened to hear, external about the passing of Andrew Lesnie. He was as charming and kind as he was talented. He really was one of a kind." - Colin Hanks, son of Tom and King Kong cast member

Six weeks on from his 24-hour Day of Dance marathon, TV host and radio presenter Dermot O'Leary is still raking in cash for Comic Relief - and he's already surpassed the £1m mark.

With money still rolling in, the exact total he has raised so far stands at an impressive £1,011,117.

His previous total - announced on the night of Red Nose Day (13 March) - was £643,336.

On hearing the latest figure, Dermot said: "When I first came up with the idea for this challenge, I had no idea it would grip people in this way, and I'm so proud of what we achieved together.

"To know that even in these difficult times the public have dug deep and donated is just incredible, and on behalf of everyone who will benefit so much from your generosity I would just like to say a huge, gigantic, mammoth thank you."

Image source, Ofcom

If you missed it yesterday, watchdog Ofcom is changing how charges for phone-in competitions and votes on TV and radio shows are advertised, to try to make them easier to understand.

At the moment, costs can vary wildly from just a few pence per call to more than £2 per minute.

From 1 July, charges will be made up of an access charge - decided by your phone company - and a service charge, set by the broadcaster, so callers can check before they dial.

UK Calling will affect 175 million phone numbers starting 084, 087 and 09.

Read the full story.

Image source, Getty Images

We begin today with sad news that Andrew Lesnie, Oscar-winning Australian cinematographer of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, has died at the age of 59.

The Sydney native, who won an Oscar in 2002 for his work on the first Lord of the Rings film and who also worked with director Peter Jackson on King Kong and The Lovely Bones, is believed to have suffered a heart attack on Monday.

Russell Crowe, who had Lesnie at his side while making his recent directorial debut The Water Diviner, was among the first to tweet about the "devastating news from home".

"The master of the light, genius Andrew Lesnie has passed on," the Gladiator star told his followers on Twitter, external.

Read more on this story.

Emma Saunders
Arts and Entertainment reporter

Got something to say on today's news? Get in touch and let us know. Tweet @BBCNewsEnts, external or email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Neil Smith
Arts reporter

Welcome to another live page from the BBC News website's entertainment and arts team, bringing you all the news you need to know from the world of media, culture and the arts.

Later today we'll be bringing you word on this year's Tony nominations, and we'll also see what the critics have been saying about Damian Lewis (and his moustache) in West End play American Buffalo.

Stick with us and we'll do our level best to keep you informed and up to date.