Beverly Sills was an 'All-American Diva'

That's how the New York Times describes the former Belle Silverman, who died yesterday of lung cancer at 78. But I liked New York's take: The magazine says Sills was an "impossibly charming public figure who (one got the sense) could shout down an obnoxious cabbie if need be, then go straight to the stage and start trilling. In between stage performances, she was as much a presence on television as pop-music stars were, doing talk shows, variety shows -- even hosting The Muppet Show." Here she is in a Muppet episode on Italian TV (how else to explain why Kermit's voice is dubbed in Italian!).