Link (http://www.tmz.com/2013/11/20/sylvia-browne-world-famous-psychic-dead/#ixzz2lEiP52Lb)

World famous psychic Sylvia Browne -- who appeared on all sorts of TV shows including "Montel" "Larry King Live" and "Unsolved Mysteries" -- has passed away .. TMZ has learned.

Browne specialized in psychic detective work, and attempted to help on several missing person cases ... with varying results.

Browne's son, Chris, tells TMZ ... Sylvia passed away this morning in San Jose, surrounded by family and friends. She was 77.

Browne most recently took heat after famously announcing that Amanda Berry had died after she went missing in 2003 ... because, as we all know now, she wasn't dead. Sylvia chalked up the misinformation as a simple mistake.

The following message was just posted on Sylvia's Facebook page, "Sylvia graduated today. She was surrounded by family and friends. What a legacy. She shared so much. We will carry on her knowledge with hypnosis and Journey of the Soul and her many books. What a great party they must be having on the Other Side. Bless everyone."

What Unsolved Mysteries segment was she on? I can't remember.

What Unsolved Mysteries segment was she on? I can't remember.

EDIT: It was season 5, episode 7; The Ghosts at Moss Beach Distillery segment.

I don't know the exact segment but it was season 5, episode 7. The following segments were featured:

Legend: The Ghosts at Moss Beach Distillery
Legend: The Ghosts at Drumm Barracks Civil War Museum
Lost: The Children of Ethel Nation
Mystery: Sandra Evans
Update: "Mystery: Pierre April"

Moss Beach Distillery was the segment.

Normally I don't say stuff like this when someone dies, but good riddance of this scamming witch. Just awful what she did to people. She gets no sympathies from me.

LMAO at specialized in psychic detective work. Yeah right.

LMAO at specialized in psychic detective work. Yeah right.

Yeah, that bit made me :rolleyes:.

Normally I don't say stuff like this when someone dies, but good riddance of this scamming witch. Just awful what she did to people. She gets no sympathies from me.

LMAO at specialized in psychic detective work. Yeah right.

I'm not too familiar with her history, so I'd like to know what exactly she did to garner the label 'scamming witch' ?

I'm not too familiar with her history, so I'd like to know what exactly she did to garner the label 'scamming witch' ?

A simple google search (try "sylvia browne cleveland" for starters) should prove plenty of material about this disgraceful, narcissisitic old fraud. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm happy she's dead, but there's no doubt she caused a lot of unnecessary distress to the loved ones of victims of crime.

To paraphrase Dorothy Parker, every word that came out of this woman's mouth was a lie... including "and" and "the". :lol:

I'm not too familiar with her history, so I'd like to know what exactly she did to garner the label 'scamming witch' ?

Many people feel she was a fraud. I mostly agree with them. There were a number of instances over the years where she told people things that either turned out not to be true or they followed her advice to disastrous results. Pretty sure she also predicted Al Gore would win the 2000 presidential election.

Apparently she also told Larry King that she knew she was going to die at the age of 88. But she was 77. I'd link it but I haven't posted enough for linking privileges yet. :) But there's a CNN transcript online from 2003.

Many people feel she was a fraud. I mostly agree with them. There were a number of instances over the years where she told people things that either turned out not to be true or they followed her advice to disastrous results. Pretty sure she also predicted Al Gore would win the 2000 presidential election.

I have to say, if someone is going to take a psychic's word at face value then that shows poor judgement on the part of the people who enlisted her services. It's not an exact science, or science in general.

Pretty sure she also predicted Al Gore would win the 2000 presidential election.

I'm not sure we'll ever know the answer to that one.

I'm not sure we'll ever know the answer to that one.

The answer lies in Chad's dimples, or it could be dimpled chads. Who knows really? :crazy:

Yeah, that bit made me :rolleyes:.

When I saw this on CNN, it was a puff piece, talking about how she's a "renowned psychic and author," and mentioning only the Amanda Berry case as a failure, rather than all of the other issues she's had. Like the 9/11 widow she tried to tell that her husband died in water, and all that ****. I believe in the possibility of psychic abilities....but not in her case. Not at all.

Apparently she also told Larry King that she knew she was going to die at the age of 88. But she was 77. I'd link it but I haven't posted enough for linking privileges yet. :) But there's a CNN transcript online from 2003.

88.....77....close enough. There's someone 88, somewhere. :lol:

When I saw this on CNN, it was a puff piece, talking about how she's a "renowned psychic and author," and mentioning only the Amanda Berry case as a failure, rather than all of the other issues she's had. Like the 9/11 widow she tried to tell that her husband died in water, and all that ****. I believe in the possibility of psychic abilities....but not in her case. Not at all.

She could've used the help of a Patrick Swayze-esque ghost to give the impression she was somewhat successful. :p

Pretty sure she also predicted Al Gore would win the 2000 presidential election.

So wait, she was right about one of her predicitions?!

My psychic abilities tell me that she is still alive .

She's responsible for the death of Amanda Berry's mother.:(

She's responsible for the death of Amanda Berry's mother.:(

I wouldn't go that far. The mother died of cancer, if I'm not mistaken. But Sylvia Brown's "premonition" certainly didn't help matters.

That clip from the Montel Williams Show where she tells the mother that Amanda is dead is very hard to watch, especially since the mother is practically balling already when she tells Brown about Amanda's last moments before she disappeared.

Hundreds of people blasted Sylvia on her twitter page after Amanda escaped and she pretty much responded with a 'everybody makes mistakes' line. :rolleyes:

Here's a thread regarding some of her cases:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=192806&highlight=browne

My personal favorite was when Browne was on Montel and told a poor woman in the audience wanting to know the exact manner of her boyfriend's death that he had died by being drowned in "water up over his head". The woman looked amazingly puzzled and told Browne her boyfriend was a NYFD firefighter who had died on September 11th.

Browne immediately goes on the defense with all this "Well, I still see him in water" and then that fool Montel goes on to make excuses like, "Maybe it was something with the hoses...?"

I'm not happy over Browne's death. She did bring plenty of pain and disappointment to desperate people, though, and that's a pretty poor way to spend a life.

88.....77....close enough. There's someone 88, somewhere. :lol:

LOL! :lol:

I used to watch her on Montell long ago. Sadly, she may have thought she really had a gift, some people are really that crazy.

Sylvia was also wrong about Shawn Hornbeck, among many other things, predicting that he was dead. Combine that with Amanda Berry, and it was pretty obvious that Sylvia was "playing the odds" since most people who are missing for any amount of time will likely turn up dead. She has no special knowledge.

Was she ever right about anything!? How did she even have a career if most of the time her "predictions" were way off?

Was she ever right about anything!? How did she even have a career if most of the time her "predictions" were way off?

The only thing I can think of is that she was so heavily promoted on the Montel show, with a weekly appearance, plus her own marketing.

From reading the stopsylvia site, it seems there were many times her incorrect info was edited out of the tv show before it was aired but the transcripts were often kept intact on lexis nexis and that's how the guy running stopsylvia was able to find some of the discrepancies between what was shown on TV and what actually happened before the editors got ahold of the footage.

Then there's the "church" she founded. IMO, she registered her business, or whatever it was, as a church and people found credibility in that. Plus she claimed to have solved cases, found true love for people, mended broken hearts, and claimed an 85% success rate, etc, and people believed the claims rather than researching and looking into her actual "successes".

She was a published author. People bought her books, believing what she wrote. And she traveled around promoting her stuff, selling tickets, and giving performances (or whatever she called them), and all that stuff lends her some sort of credibility.

I'm glad that she will no longer be able to defraud people who are hurting and looking for answers. I'm sure there will be plenty of people stepping up to take her place, unfortunately.

The only thing I can think of is that she was so heavily promoted on the Montel show, with a weekly appearance, plus her own marketing.

From reading the stopsylvia site, it seems there were many times her incorrect info was edited out of the tv show before it was aired but the transcripts were often kept intact on lexis nexis and that's how the guy running stopsylvia was able to find some of the discrepancies between what was shown on TV and what actually happened before the editors got ahold of the footage.

Then there's the "church" she founded. IMO, she registered her business, or whatever it was, as a church and people found credibility in that. Plus she claimed to have solved cases, found true love for people, mended broken hearts, and claimed an 85% success rate, etc, and people believed the claims rather than researching and looking into her actual "successes".

She was a published author. People bought her books, believing what she wrote. And she traveled around promoting her stuff, selling tickets, and giving performances (or whatever she called them), and all that stuff lends her some sort of credibility.

Wow, I checked that website out and she was charging people close to $1,000 for a twenty minute "session" with her. People can be so gullible sometimes.

88.....77....close enough. There's someone 88, somewhere. :lol:

Missed it by that much! :lol:

anyone know what she died of? None of the articles I read said anything about it, just that it was announced on her twitter feed that she died.

Was she ever right about anything!? How did she even have a career if most of the time her "predictions" were way off?

Yeah. She was right that she'd die. I'd say that was a pretty good call.

As for how she had a career? Well, to quote Judge Wexler, from Ghostbusters 2, she "preyed on the gullibility of innocent people." :(

When I was younger, I used to think she was awesome when seeing her doing her readings on Montel. But man...when you read that site stopsylvia.com you begin to see what a fake she really was. Truly preying on the innocent and destroying the lives of many in her wake.

The site is worth the read if you ever get the chance.

I think the most disgusting thing about Sylvia was that a lot of people who were family members of victims, etc came to her for answers, closure, confirmation the deceased was o.k. Sylvia gave them none of that, but certainly had no problem taking $800 for a single reading.

Sorta OT

I've been following a case not UM related for a few years now. The family maintains a website and updates with info hoping to find out who murdered their loved one.

Last year, they posted an email that was sent to them several years ago (maybe around 2006) that suggested they contact the Montel show to get publicity for the case.

The email writer didn't mention Sylvia, but the family has made no secret about working with a lot of psychics, and IMO, the email writer probably figured they'd be willing to work with her on the Montel's show.

I'm glad she never got her claws into that case. The psychics they've already dealt with have led the family on a zillion wild goose chases, and after 20 years, none of their info has led to any kind of real clues.

She was once on Montel and told two sisters their mother was out of her mind, bipolar, and running around in Florida with a bunch of men.

Turns out her SON-IN-LAW murdered her and was in the audience at the Montel taping!

:crazy:

WOW I'm utterly shocked she died. Seems like yesterday she was on Montel as a frumpy psychic with no sense of style then over the years she gone "Hollywood" with the long blonde weaves, slimmer physique, stylish clothes & jewels, and heavily made-up face.

She was once on Montel and told two sisters their mother was out of her mind, bipolar, and running around in Florida with a bunch of men.

Turns out her SON-IN-LAW murdered her and was in the audience at the Montel taping!

:crazy:

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that one:

http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_lyndamcclelland.shtml

The killer is right there in the audience, yet the psychic is telling the victims daughters that their mom is all "goofy" and had left the state. Wonder where her psychic intuition was while she was sitting in the same room with a killer?

Is Montel Williams still in syndication. He shouldn't be. His show should be cancelled if he has that kind of trash on! He isn't any better than Jerry Springer!

World famous psychic Sylvia Browne -- who appeared on all sorts of TV shows including "Montel" "Larry King Live" and "Unsolved Mysteries" -- has passed away .. TMZ has learned.Yes its quite sad Zoneboy....She was one of the few mediums that was real!! (She actually could do it)

Very sad :(

Yes its quite sad Zoneboy....She was one of the few mediums that was real!! (She actually could do it)

Very sad :(

Get out of town. Any one of us on this board could do a reading with about the same accuracy as Sylvia Browne. Have you not read ANY of this thread past the original post?

Yes its quite sad Zoneboy....She was one of the few mediums that was real!! (She actually could do it)

Very sad :(


puke:

Sylvia was real. As in, really fake.

I swear Sylvia once said when people die their spirits/souls are all 30 years old. Now she's forever 30....

Sylvia was real. As in, really fake.

Her golden blonde hair was flawless though.

Her golden blonde hair was flawless though.

Her voice always makes jealous.

It's a bad idea for anyone to trust a psychic for anything, and this particular case gives a clue as to why missing persons are not often declared dead right away.

It's possible that if Amanda's mom hadn't trusted someone with such poor judgement, she would've been alive to see her daughter alive too. Sometimes, we as humans kill each other with the "truth", which is not always what it is.

Last week, Robin Roberts was granted interviews to both Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus and I tuned in.

During their decade in captivity, their only outlet to the outside world was a small black and white TV. Amanda mentioned that she watched big events like the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She also mentioned watching the daytime talk shows. I was struck when she said she would watch the Montel Williams Show, which included the frequent guest appearances by Sylvia Brown. One day, she actually said out loud that she wished her mother would one day go on that show to talk to Sylvia, just so she could get some kind of comfort, no matter how small. Imagine her shock and then horror to see her mom end up on the show and then be told that Amanda was dead.

Amanda mentioned that when her mom did end up dying a couple years later, she saw the news report and started crying. I believe she was still chained to her bed at the time, but she called Aerial Castro over to her and asked if she could have a hug. Not that he was the ideal person to get comfort from but she said at that moment, she needed that support (or embrace) of another person and he did hug her.

The interviews were pretty amazing. I didn't think it was possible but I had even more admiration for those girls after watching them.

R.I.P. :(

I don't hate psychics and I do believe a select few have some ability that cant be explained (Dorothy from UM at least seemed to genuinely believe she as helping people and did not seemed concerned about $$$)

With that said, I cringed in absolute disgust when I saw this thread. Sylvia was an total fraud. There's countless clips from Montel Show and she was so far off base and then tried to cover for it.

She was actually convicted of fraud and that's why she added the "e" to the end of Browne after her conviction. Her ex husband and others in her life had spoke out and claimed she knew she was a fraud. Most of the time her speeches on Cruise Ships and lectures were of individuals "spirit guides and other lives" Why? Because they cant argue and tell her she's wrong. Her son now claims her has psychic powers and also charges something like $500-800 dollars for a reading over the phone which was slightly cheaper than Sylvia charged. Seriously!? Victims families have claimed her reps have told them after televised shows that if they want any additional time with her they had to pay up. She is a vile and disgusting human being.

Even if you believe nobody has any physic abilities, Silvia was one of the most ruthless money hungry amoral scumbags of them all. She knew she had no powers, was actually convicted of fraud and just milked devastated families for all the money she could. I sincerely hope she is rioting in hell if there is one.

The likes of Montel have no conscience-he & others knew she was a fraud but love to promote it because they know that garbage brings ratings.

Fine if it is somebody looking for some kind of comfort that a deceased relative is fine etc, but when you interject yourself in missing persons investigations & tell desperate & gullible people their loved one is alive or dead when it turns out the opposite is true it isn't funny.

The likes of Montel have no conscience-he & others knew she was a fraud but love to promote it because they know that garbage brings ratings.

Fine if it is somebody looking for some kind of comfort that a deceased relative is fine etc, but when you interject yourself in missing persons investigations & tell desperate & gullible people their loved one is alive or dead when it turns out the opposite is true it isn't funny.

On the second count, I have to respectfully disagree with you although I completely understand your point.

Even defrauding people out of money seeking comfort after a loved ones death is atrocious. If you know your a fraud and that you are just milking them for $800 for a half hour over the phone to talk to their loved one that is god awful. We are not talking about $75 either, we are talking close to a grand. Her ex husband and others have said Sylvia told them she knew she was a fraud but basically said "well if people are gullible enough then oh well." Some of these people are in a deep depression and just downright vulnerable and desperate. Grief and loss is one of the most difficult emotions we are dealt and some people find it impossible to cope well. They are desperately searching. It is just as evil as telling someone with a missing loved one the wrong information. This woman damn well knew she had no gift other than lying and manipulating vulnerable people . She was taking an exorbitant amount of money from those she knew were the easiest to exploit.

Btw I cant decide what was more charming :her chain smoker on a ventilator voice or her long witchy nails that looked like they belonged in a drug addicted stripper

I don't hate psychics and I do believe a select few have some ability that cant be explained (Dorothy from UM at least seemed to genuinely believe she as helping people and did not seemed concerned about $$$)

Agreed. The only thing she ever seemed to want in return was a cup of coffee. :)

I liked her. Plus, she was part of the first UM episode I ever saw waaaaay back when it originally aired.

On the second count, I have to respectfully disagree with you although I completely understand your point.

Even defrauding people out of money seeking comfort after a loved ones death is atrocious. If you know your a fraud and that you are just milking them for $800 for a half hour over the phone to talk to their loved one that is god awful. We are not talking about $75 either, we are talking close to a grand. Her ex husband and others have said Sylvia told them she knew she was a fraud but basically said "well if people are gullible enough then oh well." Some of these people are in a deep depression and just downright vulnerable and desperate. Grief and loss is one of the most difficult emotions we are dealt and some people find it impossible to cope well. They are desperately searching. It is just as evil as telling someone with a missing loved one the wrong information. This woman damn well knew she had no gift other than lying and manipulating vulnerable people . She was taking an exorbitant amount of money from those she knew were the easiest to exploit.

Btw I cant decide what was more charming :her chain smoker on a ventilator voice or her long witchy nails that looked like they belonged in a drug addicted stripper

I agree-although a lot of them have deluded themselves into thinking they actually have some ability-even if they are happy to use cold reading. In many ways they are also victims as they are often the children of psychics & have been brainwashed into thinking they are special.

For me although it is all bs I think it is horrible for somebody to tell people a missing family member is alive or dead. Somebody giving false comfort to a widow whose only happiness in life is 'communicating' with their dead husband for a small sum while still wrong is not in the same universe.

Sylvia did not charge anyone a small sum of money. Almost a grand for ALL readings. To me its all the same. She knew she had no ability. She had been convicted of fraud and many in her inner circle had come out at some point and said she admitted to them she knew the whole thing was a fraud.

I know-she put them on a waiting list for months or a year & then charged horrendous amounts to talk down to them & give the usual vague statements.

My mother goes to a group one & will not listen to anything about cold reading, or indeed hot reading as they will know everything they need to know about her as she has been going for 3 years or so now. Many of the speakers sing or do comedy routines so I suppose it is also like a community group in many ways. It is a cheap admission fee & she knows better than to tell me about the 'messages' she gets.

To any idiot who defends a lying assclown like Sylva Browne, I ask this question: What comfort was the family of Opal Jennings supposed to draw from her reading? (http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_opal.shtml)

It's a bad idea for anyone to trust a psychic for anythingYa well SYLVIA was legit....... She WAS ABLE to communicate with Spirits... (I think she did take advantage and charge $$$ which your not supposed to do but SHE WAS REAL)

I swear Sylvia once said when people die their spirits/souls are all 30 years old. Now she's forever 30....

Ha, I remember her saying that.