Possible Clues:

• Sound from someone who's down
• Contemptible person in North America briefly making one gasp
• That's 17 across, by the sound of it
• Insulting expression, initially, can make one cry
• 1981 satire on Hollywood
• Word often seen in parentheses in comic strips
• Anagram of 9 Across
• Type of sister
• More than a whimper
• Melodramatic response in comics