Deaths: August 3
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- Actor
- Soundtrack
Though born in New York City, Ty was raised in Texas and, after military service during the Korean War, took some classes at Texas A&M. He then moved west to California and won some minor roles in B movies. When TV's Clint Walker insisted on improvements in his Cheyenne (1955) contract, Warner Brothers countered by bringing in Ty as a possible replacement. Soon, Ty had his own show, Bronco (1958), which ran from 1958 to 1962. From here, he moved into a brief flurry of film activity: Merrill's Marauders (1962) and The Chapman Report (1962) in 1962, PT 109 (1963), Wall of Noise (1963), and Palm Springs Weekend (1963) in 1963, and Battle of the Bulge (1965) in 1966. After this, Ty's career drifted off into a series of forgettable movies made in Europe and, later, he worked in Prescott, Arizona, as an evangelistic preacher. Though often dismissed as just a hunk of "beefcake" -- he did a lot of bare-chest scenes -- Ty displayed a flair for light comedy in The Chapman Report (1962) and showed dramatic potential in the underrated Wall of Noise (1963).- Alfred Lunt was an American actor, particularly known for his professional partnership with his wife Lynn Fontanne (1887-1983). Lunt was one of Broadway's leading male stars.
Lunt was born in 1892 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father Alfred D. Lunt was active in the lumber business, while his mother Harriet Washburn Briggs was a housewife. Lunt's ancestry in both Maine and Massachusetts dated back to the colonial era. He was a distant descendant of Henry Lunt, an early settler of Newbury, Massachusetts. Lunt's paternal grandmother was Scottish American. Lunt's maternal ancestors lived in New England since colonial times, and including a number of Mayflower arrivals.
Alfred D. Lunt died in 1893. The widowed Harriet married a Finnish-American physician, Dr. Karl Sederholm. The Sederholms eventually settled in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin, a small unincorporated community in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Lunt was raised in Genesse Depot, along with three younger half-siblings, He attended Carroll College in nearby Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Lunt fist gained publicity in 1919, for his starring role in the comedy play "Clarence" by Booth Tarkington (1869-1946). He distinguished himself in a variety of theatrical roles, including in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and Chekhov's "The Seagull ". On May 26, 1926, Lunt married actress Lynn Fontane. The two became the preeminent Broadway acting couple. Their successes included a play written specifically for them, the menage a trois-themed "Design for Living" (1932) by Noël Coward.
Lunt started acting in films in the 1920s. His film debut was the silent drama "Backbone" (1923) for Goldwyn Pictures. Subsequent films included the South Sea romance "The Ragged Edge" (1923), the romantic comedy "Second Youth" (1924), the circus-themed comedy "Sally of the Sawdust" (1925), and the comedy film "Lovers in Quarantine" (1925).
Lunt's most successful film effort was the comedy film "The Guardsman" (1931). In the film, A jealous husband creates a second identity in order to woo his wife, and she plays along. Lunt played the role of the husband, and Lynn Fontane the role of the wife. It was a critical success, but not particularly successful at the box office. Lunt was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for this role, but the Award was instead won (in a tie) by Wallace Beery and Fredric March.
Lunt returned to being mostly a theatrical actor. He had a cameo in the World War II film "Stage Door Canteen" (1943), and appeared as himself in the documentary film "Show Business at War" (1943). During the 1940s, Lunt and and Fontane starred in several radio dramas. In the 1950s and the 1960s, they appeared frequently on television.
Lunt officially retired from the stage in 1958, at the age of 66. His last film appearance was the television film "The Magnificent Yankee" (1965), where he played the United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935).
Lunt spend his last years in retirement at his summer home "Ten Chimneys" in in Genesse Depot. He died in August 1977, about a week before his 85th birthday. The cause of death was cancer. Fontane remained in "Ten Chimneys" until her own death in 1983. Ten Chimneys was afterwards converted into a house museum, and a resource center for theater. - Ángel Nieto was born on 25 January 1947 in Zamora, Castilla y León, Spain. He was an actor, known for Un juego de niños (1976), Autopsia (1973) and Telediario (1957). He was married to Pepa Aguilar. He died on 3 August 2017 in Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain.
- Brunette, blue-eyed Anne Darling never made much headway in Hollywood despite taking elocution lessons and appearing in amateur dramatics. She was very pretty, too, and an accomplished ballroom dancer to boot. None of that paved the way to a career in showbiz. She did manage a successful audition which led to a contract with Universal. There, she spent the 1934-35 season relegated to uncredited bit parts. The one role we may remember her for is as the shepherdess rescued from drowning by Boris Karloff's monster in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). At this time, the head of Mascot Pictures was scouting for a pert leading lady to appear opposite a rising cowboy star named Gene Autry. Apparently, he had his sights firmly on Anne. Alas, too late: Anne had just gotten married and her new husband was opposed to her working. Thus, after fourteen films, Anne Darling left acting and faded into obscurity.
- Annette Charles was born on 5 March 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Grease (1978), In Search of Historic Jesus (1979) and The Bionic Woman (1976). She was married to Robert Romeo. She died on 3 August 2011 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
- Additional Crew
Arnold Scaasi was born on 8 May 1930 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was a costume designer, known for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1959) and Kiss Me Goodbye (1982). He was married to Parker Ladd. He died on 3 August 2015 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actress
Born in Germany to American parents, dark-haired Betty Amann (born Philippine Amann) grew up in the US. She began her screen career as Bee Amann in the mid-'20s, but returned to Germany after appearing in a 'Tom Tyler' Western for low-budget FBO Pictures. Arriving in the wake of Louise Brooks, she was awarded a screen test by producer Erich Pommer and went on to star or co-star in such German productions as Joe May's silent Asphalt (1929) and the talkies Der weiße Teufel (1930)-- opposite Lil Dagover and Ivan Mozzhukhin--and Die kleine Schwindlerin (1933), opposite Dolly Haas. She later did Daughters of Today (1933) in England, but was back in Hollywood by the mid-'30s, where she mainly appeared in "Poverty Row" productions. Her final appearance came in Edgar G. Ulmer's bizarre Isle of Forgotten Sins (1943) for rock-bottom PRC Pictures as one of Gale Sondergaard's "hostesses."- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and songwriter, the son of Morris Goldenberg. He was educated at Columbia College (BA), where he composed and arranged the Columbia Varsity Shows, and also Camp Tamiment. He took private music studies with Hall Overton and he wrote incidental music for the Broadway revue "An Evening With Mike Nichols & Elaine May", and arranged dance music for "Greenwillow", "110 in the Shade", and "High Spirits". His chief musical collaborator was songwriter (and author) Larry Alexander. He joined ASCAP in 1961, and his popular-song compositions include "Shouldn't There Be Lightning?"; and "Take You For Granted". His classical compositions include "Brass Quintet"; "Woodwind Quintet"; and "String Quartet".- Composer
- Soundtrack
Bobby Hebb was born on 26 July 1938 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He was a composer, known for Boogie Nights (1997), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) and Hitch (2005). He died on 3 August 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
The athletically gifted 6' 7" Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith played defensive end / defensive tackle for the National Football League's Baltimore Colts (1967-1971), Oakland Raiders (1973-1974), and Houston Oilers (1975-1976). After the conclusion of his football career, Smith moved into a TV & film career, with initial guest appearances on prime time TV shows including Wonder Woman (1975), Charlie's Angels (1976) and Eight Is Enough (1977).
Smith is best known to international film audiences as the softly spoken police officer "Moses Hightower" from the Police Academy (1984) series of comedies, in which he has appeared in all but one of the numerous sequels.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Carmen Silvera was a British comic actress of Spanish descent, primarily known for television roles. Her most memorable role was playing Edith Artois in the hit sitcom "'Allo 'Allo!" (1982-1992), which depicted multiple ongoing conspiracies in German-occupied France during World War II.
Edith was the antagonistic wife of the series' main character, the opportunist café owner Rene Artois. Husband and wife were reluctant members of the French Resistance, while also collaborating with corrupt German officers and being involved in several other conspiratorial schemes. Ongoing plot-lines involving Edith included her suspicions that Rene was cheating on her (while she appeared unaware that he was having extramarital affairs with all of their waitresses, and that he had an unrequited love for resistance leader Michelle Dubois), her regular attempts to perform as a cabaret singer (despite having an awful singing voice), her romantic relationships with undertaker Monsieur Alfonse and the Italian Captain Alberto Bertorelli, and Edith being far more patriotic and idealistic than her husband.
In 1922, Silvera was born in Toronto, Ontario to British expatriate parents. Her father was Roland Silvera (1895-1986), a well-known bowls player, and a member of the Stoke Bowling Club, Coventry. In the 1970s, Roland served as a president of the Warwickshire County Bowls Association. During his term, the association won the English Bowling Association Middleton Cup for the first time in its history.
The Silvera family emigrated back to England in 1924. They settled in Warwickshire, a county in the West Midlands region of England. Carmen was evacuated to Montreal, Canada during World War II. She originally aspired to follow a dancing career, taking lessons from a ballet company that served as one of several rival successors to the famed "Ballets Russes" (1909-1929). She appeared with the ballet company on stage, but only for a small number of performances.
Following the end of World War II, Silvera returned to England and decided to follow an acting career. She was trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and then started appearing repertory theatre. She had a brief marriage to theatrical actor John Cunliffe. In 1948, they were divorced after Silvera suffered a miscarriage. She never remarried, instead focusing o her career.
In the late 1950s, Silvera started appearing in television roles. Her first recurring role in a series was playing Camilla Hope in the soap opera "Compact" (1962-1965). The opera depicted the personal and professional lives of the employees of a magazine. It reportedly enjoyed high ratings throughout its run. Its demise was attributed to the dislike of its premise by BBC executives.
In 1966, Silvera played three different roles in the story arc "The Celestial Toymaker" of the hit science fiction series "Doctor Who" (1963-1989). One of her three roles was the Queen of Hearts in a set of living playing cards. The episodes were considered offbeat for featuring strong fantasy elements in a series that typically focused on science fiction and historical fiction. Silvera later returned to the series in the story arc "Invasion of the Dinosaurs", which featured dinosaurs transported to modern-age London. This story arc was noted for featuring villains who were well-intentioned extremists, firmly believing that the ends justify the means (in other words, that their crimes were justified by their righteous goal).
In 1970, Silvera had a guest star role in an episode of the World War II-themed sitcom "Dad's Army" (1968-1977), which featured the misadventures of the Home Guard. She portrayed Fiona Gray, a middle-aged woman who wants to join the war effort. Her character served as a new love interest for the main character, the aging Captain George Mainwaring. The episode was unusual in having a tragic theme, and emphasizing Mainwaring's loneliness. It was directed by David Croft, who would later cast Silvera in "'Allo 'Allo!".
Silvera made her film debut in the erotic film "Clinic Exclusive" (1971), at the age of 49. She played the role of Elsa Farson, an aging, lonely lesbian who is in love with Julie Mason (played by Georgina Ward), not caring that Mason is a ruthless businesswoman with a side career as a blackmailer. The film was scripted and produced by Hazel Adair, who had previously worked with Silvera in "Compact". Most of the film's actors were veterans from Adair's television productions.
Throughout the 1970s, Silvera had a few more film roles in British productions. Her last film role in this decade was playing Lady Bottomley in the sex comedy "Keep It Up Downstairs" (1976). The film's plot focused on the efforts of two aging aristocrats to find a rich wife for their son, despite the young man's disinterest in anything outside his career as an inventor.
Silvera found success late in life, when cast in the role of Edith Artois in the sitcom "'Allo 'Allo!" (1982-1992). Initially conceived as a parody of the wartime drama series "Secret Army" (1977-1979), it became a much more popular and long-running series than the one it parodied. Unusual for a sitcom, "'Allo 'Allo!" had overarching plot-lines, rather than featuring simple stand-alone stories. Nearly every character took part in conspiracies and had agendas of his/her own, but their schemes often clashed and backfired. Besides the ongoing scheming, the film placed emphasis on the characters' romantic and sexual lives, with a large amount of sexual innuendo in each episode. The series lasted for 9 seasons, and 85 episodes. Much of the main cast of series gained enduring popularity with the British public.
During the 1990s, Silvera enjoyed a revival of her theatrical career. She appeared in stage musicals, such as "That's Showbiz" (1997) by Jimmy Perry. Her last film role was a small part in the drama film "La Passione" (1996). The film was partly based on the childhood experiences of screenwriter Chris Rea as a son of immigrants in the United Kingdom.
Silvera was a heavy smoker for much of her life, and she was eventually diagnosed with lung cancer. She spend her last years as a resident of Denville Hall, a retirement home for professional actors and their spouses. In August 2002, Silvera died there due to cancer. She was 80-years-old. Her popularity endures primarily due to her appearances in classic sitcoms.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Carolyn Sue Jones was born in 1930, in Amarillo, Texas, to homemaker Chloe (or Cloe) Jeanette Southern (1906-1979), and Julius Alfred Jones (1897-1979), a barber. Her sister was Bette (later Mrs. Moriarty). Carolyn was an imaginative child, much like her mother; she and her mother shared the same birthday (April 28).
In 1934, her father abandoned the family and her mother moved them in with her own parents, also in Amarillo. As a child, Carolyn suffered from severe asthma. Although she loved movies, she was often too sick to attend, so she listened to her favorites, Danny Kaye and Spike Jones and read as many movie fan magazines as she could. She dreamed of attending the famed Pasadena Playhouse and received many awards at school for speech, poetry, and dramatics. In 1947, she was accepted as a student at the Pasadena Playhouse, and her grandfather agreed to pay for her classes. She worked in summer stock to supplement her income, graduating in 1950.
She gave herself a complete head-to-toe makeover, including painful cosmetic nose surgery to make herself ready for movie roles. Working as an understudy at the Players Ring Theater, she stepped in when the star left to get married. She was seen by a talent scout from Paramount and given a screen test, which went well. She made her first appearance in The Turning Point (1952). She did some other work during her 6-month contract, but when it ended, Paramount, suffering from television's impact, let it lapse. She quipped, "They let me and 16 secretaries go!"
She started working in television but kept busy on stage as well. There, she met a fellow Texan, a young man named Aaron Spelling, and they became a couple. She made a breakthrough in the 3-D movie House of Wax (1953) and garnered excellent reviews. Aaron was still struggling, so he felt he wasn't able to propose to Carolyn; she finally proposed to him. They were married in April 1953. Neither was earning much, but they really enjoyed each other and their life. Many saw them as an ideal couple. She decided against having children as she felt she could not juggle the demands of both a career and a family.
Columbia Pictures saw her and wanted to test her for the part of prostitute Alma Burke in From Here to Eternity (1953), but she got extremely sick with pneumonia and the part went to Donna Reed, nine years older, who won an Academy Award. Jones did, however, achieve success in the science-fiction classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), a subtle allegory of the times (McCarthyism). And the famous filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock cast her in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) opposite James Stewart and Doris Day. Meanwhile, Aaron had little success as an actor and Carolyn pushed him to become a writer, even threatening to leave him. She constantly promoted his scripts whenever she could and he was ultimately hired by Dick Powell. Carolyn, meanwhile, was successful once more in The Bachelor Party (1957) (famous line, "Just say you love me--you don't have to mean it!"). For this role, she surprised cast members by dyeing her hair black and cutting it short. This stunning look served her well for a number of roles. For her eight minutes on screen, she received glowing reviews and was nominated for an Academy Award but lost. However, she did win the Golden Globe Award and the Laurel Award for Marjorie Morningstar (1958). She followed this with an impressive appearance in King Creole (1958), generally regarded as Elvis Presley's best film. She then gave arguably her best performance ever in Career (1959), but the film was not commercially successful. She played a serious role in this, leaving the kooky role she might have played to Shirley MacLaine.
As Aaron's career soared, the marriage started to fail. They separated in October 1963 and amicably divorced in August 1965, with Carolyn asking for no alimony. They remained friends. She worked at various roles including two episodes of Burke's Law (1963) for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Soon, she got the part for which she will best be remembered, that of Morticia Addams in The Addams Family (1964). She spent two years in this role. Her costume was designed to copy the cartoon drawings and no doubt inspired such imitators as Cassandra Peterson (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark). The show went head-to-head with The Munsters (1964) and Bewitched (1964).
The show was a hit and she received all the fame she had craved. However, the network decided to cancel the show, despite its success, after only two years. Typecast as Morticia but without the income that a few more years would have provided, she found life difficult and roles few. While acting on the road, she married her voice coach, Herbert Greene, a well-known and respected Broadway conductor and musical director, and they moved together to Palm Springs, California. After seven years, she left him and returned to Hollywood, determined to try to restart her career. She was surprisingly successful and performed in several shows, including Wonder Woman (1975), where she played Hippolyta, the mother of Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) and Wonder Girl (Debra Winger). She also appeared in the landmark miniseries Roots (1977). She appeared in four episodes of Fantasy Island (1977) and one episode of The Love Boat (1977), two shows produced by her former husband, Aaron Spelling. In 1979, both of Jones's parents died; her mother from pancreatic cancer. She took on the role of Myrna Clegg on the soap Capitol (1982) from 1982 to 1983, despite having been diagnosed with colon cancer in 1981. She underwent aggressive treatment for the cancer, but it returned during her time on the show and she was told it was terminal.
She played some scenes despite being confined to a wheelchair and working in great pain. Knowing time was short, she married her boyfriend of five years, Peter Bailey-Britton, in September 1982. She died on August 3, 1983, aged 53. She had told her sister Bette that she wanted her epitaph to be "She gave joy to the world." She certainly had many friends who loved her greatly, and many fans who enjoyed her wonderful performances.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Christopher Hewett was born on 5 April 1921 in Worthing, Sussex, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Producers (1967), Mr. Belvedere (1985) and Fantasy Island (1977). He died on 3 August 2001 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Coleen Gray was born in Staplehurst, Nebraska, in 1922. After graduating from high school she studied dramatics at Hamline University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She then decided to see America and traveled to California, stopping off at La Jolla where she worked as a waitress. After several weeks there, she moved to L.A. and enrolled in a drama school. Her performances attracted a talent scout from 20th Century-Fox, with whom she signed a contract after a screen test. Although Fox put her in several good pictures (Kiss of Death (1947), Nightmare Alley (1947), The Razor's Edge (1946) in which she acquitted herself well, many of the roles they gave her were not worthy of her talent and she never became as big a star as many thought she should have. Still, she has an extensive list of credits in films, TV, radio and on the stage.- Writer
- Actor
- Art Director
Elliot Tiber was born in 1935 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Taking Woodstock (2009), High Street (1976) and Marée basse (1975). He died on 3 August 2016 in Boca Raton, Florida, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Producer
Henri Belolo was born on 27 November 1936 in Casablanca, Morocco. He was a composer and producer, known for The Nutty Professor (1996), Can't Stop the Music (1980) and Blast from the Past (1999). He was married to Daniele Allard. He died on 3 August 2019 in Paris, France.- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Writer
Henri Cartier-Bresson was born on 22 August 1908 in Chanteloup-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, France. He was a director and writer, known for The Rules of the Game (1939), L'Espagne vivra (1939) and Life Is Ours (1936). He was married to Martine Franck and Ratna (Elie) Mohini. He died on 2 August 2004 in l'Ile-sur-Sorgue, Vaucluse, France.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Ida was born in London to a show business family. In 1932, her mother took Ida with her to an audition and Ida got the part her mother wanted. The picture was Her First Affaire (1932). Ida, a bleached blonde, went to Hollywood in 1934 playing small, insignificant parts. Peter Ibbetson (1935) was one of her few noteworthy movies and it was not until The Light That Failed (1939) that she got a chance to get better parts. In most of her movies, she was cast as the hard, but sympathetic woman from the wrong side of the tracks. In The Sea Wolf (1941) and High Sierra (1940), she played the part magnificently. It has been said that no one could do hard-luck dames the way Lupino could do them. She played tough, knowing characters who held their own against some of the biggest leading men of the day - Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Colman, John Garfield and Edward G. Robinson. She made a handful of films during the forties playing different characters ranging from Pillow to Post (1945), where she played a traveling saleswoman to the tough nightclub singer in The Man I Love (1946). But good roles for women were hard to get and there were many young actresses and established stars competing for those roles. She left Warner Brothers in 1947 and became a freelance actress. When better roles did not materialize, Ida stepped behind the camera as a director, writer and producer. Her first directing job came when director Elmer Clifton fell ill on a script that she co-wrote Not Wanted (1949). Ida had joked that as an actress, she was the poor man's Bette Davis. Now, she said that as a director, she became the poor man's Don Siegel. The films that she wrote, or directed, or appeared in during the fifties were mostly inexpensive melodramas. She later turned to television where she directed episodes in shows such as The Untouchables (1959) and The Fugitive (1963). In the seventies, she made guest appearances on various television show and appeared in small parts in a few movies.- Ingrid Espelid Hovig was born on 3 June 1924 in Askøy, Norway. She was married to Jan Inge Hovig. She died on 3 August 2018 in Norway.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Coming from a Mormon family in Utah, James Cruze was reportedly part Ute Indian. He worked as a fisherman to pay his way through drama school. Among his former wives were actresses Betty Compson (also from Utah) and Marguerite Snow. He was also married to Alberta McCoy (died on July 7, 1960), who is interred in the Columbarium at Hollywood Forever Cemetery (unmarked). Many of the films Cruze directed in the 1920s and 1930s have been lost. He directed a large variety of films, from Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle slapstick two-reelers to suspense thrillers to big-budget epics. In 1929 he appeared before a grand jury in Los Angeles that was investigating an accident on one of his films in which one man was killed and others were injured, one of many run-ins Cruze had with the law. He used the name Cruze on screen, but in real life remained James Bosen.- Scottish-born actor James Donald was born in Aberdeen on May 18, 1917, and took his first professional stage bow some time in the late 30s. He finally attained a degree of stardom in 1943 for his sterling performance in Noël Coward's "Present Laughter", which starred Coward himself. Subsequent post-war theatre work included "The Eagle with Two Heads" (1947), "You Never Can Tell" (1948) and "The Heiress" (1949) with Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and Donald Sinden.
Rather humorless in character with a gaunt, intent-looking face and no-nonsense demeanor, James made his debut in British films in 1942, fitting quite comfortably into the stoic war-era mold with roles in such noteworthy military sagas as In Which We Serve (1942) and The Way Ahead (1944). Ably supporting such top-notch actors as Spencer Tracy and Deborah Kerr in Edward, My Son (1949) and Elizabeth Taylor and Stewart Granger in Beau Brummell (1954), he also managed to head up a number of films including White Corridors (1951) in which he and Googie Withers play husband and wife doctors who try to balance career and marriage; Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers (1952) as "Nathaniel Winkle", and Project M7 (1953) as a scientist obsessed with his work. In addition, he earned superb marks for a number of quality films in the 1950s and 1960s. His portrayal of painter 'Vincent Van Gogh''s brother "Theo" in Lust for Life (1956) with Kirk Douglas, was quite memorable, as was his trenchant work in the WWII POW dramas The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Great Escape (1963), and King Rat (1965). Most of the men he played were intelligent, moral-minded and honorable. While continuing to perform on stage, he also gained TV exposure. James received an Emmy nomination for his role as "Prince Albert" opposite Julie Harris in Victoria Regina (1961), and performed the part of the cruel-eyed stepfather "Mr. Murdstone" in the period remake of David Copperfield (1970) toward the end of his career. Off the screen for a number of years, he died of stomach cancer on August 3, 1993 in England. He was 76. - Actor
- Soundtrack
James T. Callahan was born on 4 October 1930 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for Knight Rider (1982), The Governor & J.J. (1969) and Black Sheep Squadron (1976). He was married to Peggy Cannon. He died on 3 August 2007 in Fallbrook, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Fetching, glossy-lipped, blue-eyed, white-hot blonde Jean Hale showed major promise playing superficial glamour girls, a la Carroll Baker and Virna Lisi, throughout the 1960s. Born on December 27, 1938, to Mormon parents in Salt Lake City, Utah, she was raised in Darien, Connecticut and expressed an early interest in acting. As a promise to her parents, however, she attended college first to test her ambitions.
After attending the University of Utah (for one semester, majoring in ballet) and then Skidmore College for Women (three additional semesters), Jean went directly to New York, where she was accepted as a student at the Neighbood Playhouse. There, she studied under Sydney Pollack and met (and later married) fellow acting student, Dabney Coleman. To supplement her income, Jean's incredible beauty served her well as a model for both the Conover and Huntington Hartford agencies. Upon her graduation from the Playhouse, she set out to find work -- her first professional job being a Hudnut commercial.
More TV work came her way as a dancer on the 1960 Sing Along with Mitch (1961) series and she also appeared, on stage, in the plays, "The Male Animal" and "Everybody Loves Opal". Agent Len Luskin (Sandra Dee's agent) took an interest and signed her up in 1960. Turning down a part in BUtterfield 8 (1960) in order to stay put in New York with Coleman, the couple eventually married on December 11, 1961, and Coleman wound up accompanying her to Puerto Rico to shoot what should have been her debut film Felicia (1964). The movie was never released.
Her second film, however, Violent Midnight (1963) [aka Psychomania], a gruesome low-budget horror film, was released. She plays the potential victim of a knifing stalker and she received decent reviews. It led to a Universal contract in 1963 and co-starring/featured parts in a modicum of films, including Taggart (1964) and McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965). For the latter film as a man-hungry lieutenant, she dyed her hair platinum blonde and kept it). She also found TV guest parts in such shows as McHale's Navy (1962), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), The Wild Wild West (1965) and The Virginian (1962).
It was the role of a spoiled movie diva in the overly melodramatic, poorly-received flick, The Oscar (1966), that gave Jean an unexpected career boost. This led to her sexy villainous cohort role to "The Mad Hatter" (David Wayne) on TV's Batman (1966). She also capitalized on her sensuality, with a key role opposite James Coburn, in the James Bond spoof, In Like Flint (1967), a move that earned her a Fox contract -- one picture a year for seven years. Jean followed this immediately with her co-star role in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), directed by Roger Corman, in which she looked period perfect as George Segal's moll. And then, her career hit a major decline.
Soon after her third child was born, Jean and Dabney Coleman separated and the actress lost complete focus of her career. The studio was promoting Jean as a sex goddess but, much to its consternation, she was unwilling to fulfill the requirements of such an image -- wearing skimpy costumes; turning down film roles that required semi-nudity; turning down publicity tours in Europe for the sake of her family. Jean even refused a Playboy Magazine spread having her model men's pajama tops, while promoting the "In Like Flint" film. The frustrated heads at Fox released her.
Turning back to the small screen once again (Tarzan (1966), Perry Mason (1957), Hawaii Five-O (1968), Mod Squad (1968), Cannon (1971)), Jean then filmed Something Big (1971) with Dean Martin but all her scenes were excised from the final print. After guest appearances on such shows as "Bonanza," "The Virginian," "The Mod Squad" and "Cannon," she was little seen, but did return briefly to be featured in two TV movies -- Thanksgiving Day (1990) and Lies Before Kisses (1991).
Long separated, Jean's marriage to Coleman was finally dissolved on December 4, 1984. Her three children, daughters Kelly Johns and Mary (later aka singer-songwriter Quincy Coleman) and middle son Randy Coleman all pursued the music/acting careers at one time or another. In later years, Jean co-founded her own production company ("Coleman/Tanasescu Entertainment") with partner Gino Tanasescu and continues to reside in Southern California.- Jean-Claude Bouttier was born on 13 October 1944 in Saint-Pierre-la-Cour, Mayenne, France. He was an actor, known for Les uns et les autres (1981), Bolero (1981) and Let's Make a Dirty Movie (1976). He died on 3 August 2019 in Gournay-sur-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.
- Actress
- Producer
Jennifer True was born on 10 February 1969 in San Diego, California, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Shifters, Music of the Spheres (2015) and Rucker (2022). She died on 3 August 2022 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Music Department
- Writer
Joe Longthorne was born on 31 May 1955 in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Joe Longthorne Show (1988), Granada Reports (1992) and The Nineteenth Hole (1989). He was married to James Moran. He died on 3 August 2019 in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK.- Actor
- Editorial Department
Jørgen Langhelle was born on 18 August 1965 in Sandnes, Norway. He was an actor, known for The Thing (2011), I Am Dina (2002) and Arn: The Knight Templar (2007). He died on 3 August 2021 in Nesodden, Norway.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Joseph Bonaduce was born on 5 February 1927 in Jessup, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Bracken's World (1969), Good Times (1974) and One Day at a Time (1975). He was married to Frances Catherine Zehmisch, Betty Bonaduce and Eileen Marquez. He died on 3 August 2004 in Northridge, California, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actress
Katreese Barnes was born on 3 January 1963 in Fort Carson, Colorado, USA. She was a composer and actress, known for Mean Girls (2004), Saturday Night Live (1975) and MacGruber (2010). She died on 3 August 2019 in Manhattan, New York, USA.- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Lenny Bruce was born Leonard Alfred Schneider on October 13, 1925, in Mineola, Long Island, New York. His British-born father, Myron, was a shoe clerk, his mother, Sadie, was a dancer. Lenny's parents were divorced when he was a child. To support herself and her son, Sadie Schneider pursued a career in show business and sent Lenny to live with various aunts, uncles and grandparents.
Dropping out of high school, Lenny enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942, which he almost disliked. He got himself discharged after convincing a team of Navy psychologists that he was experimenting with homosexual urges. With some help from his mother, Lenny began doing impressions, one-liners and movie parodies in small nightclubs. In 1948, he obtained some booking as a result of his appearance on the TV show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. Lenny married a red-headed stripper named Honey Harlow in 1951, but they were divorced five years later. After Honey was arrested and sent to jail for a narcotics violation, Lenny raised their daughter, Kitty, by himself.
Slowly, Lenny began working his way up from performing stand-up comedy in seedy New York City strip clubs and jazz clubs. Gradually his act evolved into something wholly different from that of other comics. Onstage, he was a dark, slender, and intense figure who prowled around like a caged animal and spoke into a hand-held microphone. His monologues were peppered with four-letter curse words and Yiddish expressions. In his act, Lenny liked to expose racist attitudes by forcing his audiences to examine their own racial prejudices. In another act bashing religions, Lenny acted out a conversation between Oral Roberts and the Pope, with both talking in the vernacular of glib show-business personalities. When jazz critic Ralph J. Gleason and San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote about Lenny, be began to get the recognition he so badly wanted. Unfortunately, the seedy subculture of strip joints, clubs, and dives had introduced him to hard drugs and fast times.
Through his nightclub acts and record albums, Lenny became the hipster saint of the comedy world, crossing into the line of propriety where others feared to tread. But his foul-speaking acts began to catch up with him when he was arrested in 1961 on obscenity charges following an appearance at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, but a jury found him not guilty. Problems with the authorities and religious groups trying to silence him began to plague him as he appeared in clubs all over the country. In 1964, he was arrested again in New York City on more obscenity charges. During his trial a police officer read notes about Lenny's profane act, which caused the desperate comic to ask the judge to let him do the act in court so the judge could understand his callous humor in context, but the judge refused. Despite support from noted writers, critics, educators and politicians, Lenny was found guilty and sentenced to several months in prison, and was paroled just a few months later. Continually harassed by the police, Lenny became depressed and paranoid. Further prosecutions for obscenity and his drug use drove him toward instability. By 1965, he was broke and in debt. He claimed that every time he got a gig, the local police, wherever he was, would threaten to arrest the club owner if Lenny went onstage.
In February 1966, Lenny traveled to Los Angeles and appeared onstage for the first time in years. He performed for a very small crowd who included a few hecklers and vice cops waiting to arrest him if he should use profanity again. Lenny by this time was bearded, overweight, and haggard, and his performance centered on his current obsessions: his constitutional right of free speech, free assembly, and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. When a friend asked him afterwards why he had turned his back on comedy he replied, "I'm not a comedian anymore. I'm Lenny Bruce." On August 3, 1966, Lenny was found dead on the bathroom floor of his Hollywood home. Whatever the details or reasons why, Lenny Bruce was found dead from a drug overdose at the age of 40.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Manuel Busquets was born in 1945 in Cartagena, Colombia. He was an actor, known for Café con aroma de mujer (1993), Sin Senos No Hay Paraíso (2008) and The Storm (2005). He died on 3 August 2019 in Bogota, Colombia.- Actor
- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Matija Barl was born on 17 February 1940 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He was an actor and production manager, known for Kekec (1951), Oral History (1982) and Der verliebte Teufel (1971). He died on 3 August 2018 in Marezigah, Slovenia.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Moshé Mizrahi was born on 5 September 1930 in Alexandria, Egypt. He was a writer and director, known for Madame Rosa (1977), The Customer of the Off Season (1970) and I Sent a Letter to My Love (1980). He was married to Michal Bat-Adam and Rahel Fabian. He died on 3 August 2018 in Tel Aviv, Israel.- Additional Crew
Nikolai Kardashev was born on 25 April 1932 in Moscow, USSR. He is known for Tainstvennaya stena (1968), Petlya Oriona (1981) and Horizon (1964). He died on 3 August 2019 in Moscow, Russia.- Actor
- Writer
Peter Miles was born on 1 April 1938 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor and writer, known for Quo Vadis (1951), They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968) and The Madmen of Mandoras (1963). He died on 3 August 2002 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Piotr Szulkin was born on 26 April 1950 in Gdansk, Pomorskie, Poland. He was a director and writer, known for The War of the Worlds: Next Century (1981), Golem (1980) and Ga-ga: Glory to the Heroes (1986). He was married to Renata Karwowska-Szulkin. He died on 3 August 2018 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Actor
- Additional Crew
One of England's most successful and enduring character actors, with a prolific screen career on television and in films, Robert Hardy was acclaimed for his versatility and the depth of his performances.
Born in Cheltenham in 1925, he studied at Oxford University and, in 1949, he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. Television viewers most fondly remember him as the overbearing Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small (1978) but his most critically acclaimed performance was as the title character of Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981). His portrayal of Britain's wartime leader was so accurately observed that, in the following years, he was called on to reprise the role in such productions as The Woman He Loved (1988) and War and Remembrance (1988).
Unlike some British character actors, Hardy was not a Hollywood name and his work in films was therefore restricted to appearances in predominantly British-based productions such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), Frankenstein (1994) and Sense and Sensibility (1995). However, in the 21st century, Hardy came to the attention of a whole new generation for his performances in the hugely successful Harry Potter films, while also continuing to make regular appearances in British television series. His co-star from All Creatures Great and Small (1978), Peter Davison, quite simply described Hardy as an "extraordinary" actor who would "never do the same thing twice" when he was acting with him. He was awarded the CBE for services to acting. He died in August 2017.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
Brilliant, much-respected camera operator and cinematographer, who worked for some of the biggest names in British, American and Italian Cinema. Starting out as an operator and working on many beautifully shot films throughout his career, he later served as cinematographer for Dario Argento and Richard Attenborough, sharing the Best Cinematography Oscar with the great Billy Williams for "Gandhi". He collaborated three times with Italian horror master, Dario Argento, most notable on the audaciously shot 1987 film, "Opera".