See movie and TV stars up close and personal at 2 events this weekend

Co-stars and admirers are reacting to the death of “Godfather” star James Caan.

More than a half century late, Jackson State University, in Mississippi, is honoring its Class of 1970.

Jeremy Bulloch speaks in front of the costume he wore while playing Boba Fett in "Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back" and "Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi" at the Star Wars Identities exhibition in London on July 26, 2017. Bulloch, the English actor who played Boba Fett in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, has died. (AP Photo)LOS ANGELES – Jeremy Bulloch, the English actor who first donned a helmet, cape and jetpack to play Boba Fett in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, died Thursday. But Boba Fett quickly became a cult favorite and eventually would emerge as one of the most beloved figures in the “Star Wars” galaxy, inspiring characters and plotlines in other “Star Wars” properties, most notably “The Mandalorian” on Disney+, where Boba Fett has recently reemerged. He would settle instead for the tiny role of Captain Colton, pilot of Alderaan, and one more flight through the “Star Wars” galaxy, instead.

LOS ANGELES – William Blinn, a screenwriter for the landmark TV projects “Brian’s Song” and “Roots” and the Prince film “Purple Rain,” has died. Blinn died Thursday of natural causes at an assisted living community in Burbank, California, his daughter, Anneliese Johnson, said Saturday. He won Emmy and Peabody honors for the 1971 TV movie “Brian's Song," which dramatized the friendship of Chicago Bears players Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. Last month, Hall of Fame running back Sayers died at age 77. Blinn and Albert Magnoli wrote 1984′s “Purple Rain,” which Magnoli directed.

FILE - From left are 1970 file photos showing Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. “It just amazes me,” Joy Piccolo O’Connell said in an interview from her Wisconsin home. You flatter me by giving me this award, but I tell you that I accept it for Brian Piccolo. … I love Brian Piccolo, and I’d like all of you to love him too. But Joy Piccolo O’Connell, who has remarried, thinks the biggest obstacle to the friendship between Piccolo and Sayers had to more to do with personality than color.

CHICAGO – Gale Sayers, the dazzling and elusive running back who entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame despite the briefest of careers and whose fame extended far beyond the field for decades thanks to a friendship with a dying Chicago Bears teammate, has died. Nicknamed “The Kansas Comet” and considered among the best open-field runners the game has ever seen, Sayers died Wednesday, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He earned his place as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”A football and track star at Omaha Central High School in Nebraska, Sayers was a two-time All-American at Kansas and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. “I played football a long time and I never saw a better football player than Gale Sayers,” said Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka, Sayers’ teammate from 1965-66. In presenting him at the ceremony, Bears founder George Halas said: “If you wish to see perfection as a running back, you had best get a hold of a film of Gale Sayers.