In Memoriam 2016
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- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Along with László Kovács, a fellow student who fled Hungary in 1956, Zsigmond rose to prominence in the 1970s. He is known for his use of natural light and vivid use of color on features such as The Long Goodbye (1973) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Michel Delpech was born on 26 January 1946 in Courbevoie, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He was an actor and composer, known for Leila (2010), 2 Autumns, 3 Winters (2013) and J'ai faim!!! (2001). He was married to Geneviève Garnier-Fabre and Chantal Simon. He died on 2 January 2016 in Puteaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Michel Galabru was born on 27 October 1922 in Safi, French Protectorate of Morocco [now Morocco]. He was an actor and writer, known for Subway (1985), La Cage aux Folles (1978) and Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999). He was married to Claude Etevenon and Annette Jacquot. He died on 4 January 2016 in Paris, France.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Achim Mentzel was born on 15 July 1946 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor and writer, known for Als wir träumten (2015), Feuer unter Deck (1979) and Der Wixxer (2004). He was married to Brigitte, Barbara, Iris and Kathrin Steinhöfel. He died on 4 January 2016 in Cottbus, Brandenburg, Germany.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Music Department
Robert Stigwood was born on 16 April 1934 in Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia. He was a producer, known for Evita (1996), Gallipoli (1981) and Grease 2 (1982). He died on 4 January 2016 in London, England, UK.- Actress
- Director
- Soundtrack
Silvana Pampanini was born on 25 September 1925 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. She was an actress and director, known for Mademoiselle Gobete (1952), Koenigsmark (1953) and Be Seeing You, Father (1948). She died on 6 January 2016 in Rome, Italy.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Pat Harrington Jr. was born on 13 August 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for One Day at a Time (1975), The President's Analyst (1967) and Move Over, Darling (1963). He was married to Sally Cleaver and Marjorie Ann Gortner. He died on 6 January 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Anna Synodinou was born on 21 November 1927 in Loutraki, Greece. She was an actress, known for The 300 Spartans (1962), Ilektra (1962) and Dollars and Dreams (1956). She was married to George Marinakis. She died on 7 January 2016 in Athens, Greece.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Maja Maranow was born on 20 March 1961 in Nienburg/Weser, Lower Saxony, Germany. She was an actress, known for Tatort (1970), Ein starkes Team (1994) and Rivalen der Rennbahn (1989). She was married to Zacharias Preen and Florian Martens. She died on 4 January 2016 in Berlin, Germany.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Syan Blake was born in September 1972 in England, UK. She was an actress, known for EastEnders (1985), Skins (2007) and Doctors (2000). She died on 14 December 2015 in Erith, Kent, England, UK.- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Production Designer
Frank Armitage was born on 5 August 1924 in Geelong, Australia. He was a production designer, known for Sleeping Beauty (1959), The Jungle Book (1967) and The Magical World of Disney (1954). He was married to Karen Connolly Armitage. He died on 4 January 2016 in Paso Robles, California, USA.- Animation Department
- Director
- Art Department
Robert Balser was born on 25 March 1927 in Rochester, New York, USA. He was a director, known for Heavy Metal (1981), Yellow Submarine (1968) and The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (1972). He was married to Cima Balser. He died on 4 January 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Tall and handsome,both athletic and aristocratic-looking, brown-haired (later in life silver-haired), Yves Vincent had everything to charm dames. And charm them he did, in real life, on the stage, on the big and little screen, for nearly fifty years. Born in France in 1921, he was raised and spent his youth in Algeria. Both a sporty type and literature enthusiast, this multi-talented man excelled at water-polo (he was a champion water-polo player in the R.U.A. team), was a good tennis player and a passable horse rider but his love for books finally led him to Radio-Alger where he started his acting career as a member of the channel's acting company. He was also an occasional announcer there. During World War II he was called up to work on the "Camp des Chênes" Youth Camp. And in 1944 he made his first movie in Cairo with his mother as partner. After the war, he debuted in France as a leading man, his good looks and his fine presence boosting his career from the start. He could be a professional knife-thrower (in Pierre Chenal's curious "La Foire aux Chimères", with Erich Von Stroheim),a doctor (in "La Maternelle") or a drug trafficker (in "Méfiez-vous des Blondes", Hunebelle's amusing noir spoof) with equal ease. The trouble is that too many of the movies he was in are now old-fashioned (the worst being "Capitaine Ardant", in which he plays a valiant French officer fighting back against "nasty native rebels") and have been forgotten. So that, after a quick start, Yves Vincent got fewer and fewer roles.In the late sixties and early seventies, for instance, he was reduced to play second fiddle to Louis de Funès in three of his films or to appear in two cheesy soft porn flicks concocted by the king of the genre, Max Pécas. He was luckier at the theater where he appeared - among other plays - alongside Arletty in the French adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "A streetcar named Desire"(Un tramway nommé Désir) and with Edwige Feuillère in "La Dame aux Camélias". He has also done a lot of work on television where he often embodied figures of authority. Yves Vincent retired in 1991.
- The evil screen villain Angus Scrimm, most famous as "The Tall Man" in Don Coscarelli's Phantasm (1979) and its sequels, grew up in Kansas City, but in his teens moved to California and studied drama at USC under William C. de Mille (brother of Cecil B. DeMille). His film debut came as another "Tall Man" he played Abraham Lincoln in an educational film made by Encyclopaedia Brittanica, which led him to a steady career in theater, television and film. His big-screen debut was in Jim, the World's Greatest (1975), directed by then 18-year-old Coscarelli. During this time he was using his birth name, Lawrence Rory Guy. He adopted the stage name Angus Scrimm three years later for his performance in Coscarelli's horror/sci-fi opus "Phantasm", which would mark Scrimm's permanent impression upon modern cinema. His role as the infamous Tall Man has earned him the praise of critics worldwide, as well as a large following of fans. His success in the "Phantasm" films has been parlayed into numerous other malevolent roles including the evil Dr. Sin Do in The Lost Empire (1984), Vlad the Vampire King in Subspecies (1991) and the nefarious Dr. Lyme opposite Nicolas Cage and Charlie Sheen in Deadfall (1993). Scrimm did intriguing double duty as the diabolical Seer and the angelic Systems Operator in Mindwarp (1991), co-starring Bruce Campbell. He did a shock cameo in the Italian film Fatal Frames (1996), opposite Stefania Stella and Donald Pleasence, and managed a gleeful parody of himself as the hulking henchman in Transylvania Twist (1989). Scrimm has not limited his career efforts to simply acting, however. As a journalist he has written and edited for "TV Guide", "Cinema Magazine", the now-defunct "Los Angeles Herald-Examiner" and other publications. He has also written liner notes for thousands of LPs and CDs, for just about every genre from classical music to jazz, from Frank Sinatra and The Beatles to Artur Rubinstein and Itzhak Perlman. He won a Grammy award for best album liner notes.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Richard Libertini was born in E. Cambridge, Massachusetts, to parents who had come to America from southern Italy. Having grown up in a household where both Italian and English were spoken, he developed an ear for foreign accents. A facility he would later use to advantage on stage and in films.
He graduated from Emerson College in Boston, and for a while earned a living as a trumpet player in the Boston area. Later, he moved to New York, where he teamed up with two former college classmates, MacIntyre Dixon and Lynda Segal, to create an off-Broadway revue called "Stewed Prunes." (This was during the coffee house revolution in the 1960s. Bob Dylan was playing around the corner.) The show was quite successful and after running a year in New York they took it on the road. While playing Chicago, he was asked to join the renowned Second City Improvisational Theatre Group, an association which continues to the present.
After a number of years doing stage work in New York (Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water (1969) and Paul Sills' Story Theatre (1971) among many others) he eventually moved to L.A. where he began doing films. Three of his most memorable characters are the Spanish-American dictator in The In-Laws (1979) with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk, the Tibetan Mystic in All of Me (1984) with Steve Martin, and Lily Tomlin and the justice of the peace in Best Friends (1982) with Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds. Other films include Fletch (1985) with Chevy Chase and Popeye (1980) with Robin Williams.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
David Bowie was one of the most influential and prolific writers and performers of popular music, but he was much more than that; he was also an accomplished actor, a mime and an intellectual, as well as an art lover whose appreciation and knowledge of it had led to him amassing one of the biggest collections of 20th century art.
Born David Jones, he changed his name to Bowie in the 1960s, to avoid confusion with the then well-known Davy Jones (lead singer of The Monkees). The 1960s were not a happy period for Bowie, who remained a struggling artist, awaiting his breakthrough. He dabbled in many different styles of music (without commercial success), and other art forms such as acting, mime, painting, and play-writing. He finally achieved his commercial breakthrough in 1969 with the song "Space Oddity", which was released at the time of the moon landing. Despite the fact that the literal meaning of the lyrics relates to an astronaut who is lost in space, this song was used by the BBC in their coverage of the moon landing, and this helped it become such a success. The album, which followed "Space Oddity", and the two, which followed (one of which included the song "The Man Who Sold The World", covered by Lulu and Nirvana) failed to produce another hit single, and Bowie's career appeared to be in decline.
However, he made the first of many successful "comebacks" in 1972 with "Ziggy Stardust", a concept album about a space-age rock star. This album was followed by others in a similar vein, rock albums built around a central character and concerned with futuristic themes of Armageddon, gender dysfunction/confusion, as well as more contemporary themes such as the destructiveness of success and fame, and the dangers inherent in star worship. In the mid-1970s, Bowie was a heavy cocaine abuser and sometime heroin user.
In 1975, he changed tack. Musically, he released "Young Americans", a soul (or plastic soul as he later referred to it) album. This produced his first number one hit in the US, "Fame". He also appeared in his first major film, The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). With a permanently-dilated pupil and skeletal frame, he certainly looked the part of an alien. The following year, he released "Station to Station," containing some of the material he had written for the soundtrack to this film (which was not used). As his drug problem heightened, his behavior became more erratic. Reports of his insanity started to appear, and he continued to waste away physically. He fled back to Europe, finally settling in Berlin, where he changed musical direction again and recorded three of the most influential albums of all time, an electronic trilogy with Brian Eno "Low, Heroes and Lodger". Towards the end of the 1970s, he finally kicked his drug habit, and recorded the album many of his fans consider his best, the Japanese-influenced "Scary Monsters". Around this time, he appeared in the title role of the Broadway drama The Elephant Man, and to considerable acclaim.
The next few years saw something of a drop-off in his musical output as his acting career flourished, culminating in his acclaimed performance in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983). In 1983, he released "Let's Dance," an album which proved an unexpected massive commercial success, and produced his second #1 hit single in the United States. According to producer Nile Rodgers, the album was made in just 17 days and was "the easiest album" he'd ever made in his life. The tour which followed, "Serious Moonlight", was his most successful ever. Faced with this success on a massive scale, Bowie apparently attempted to "repeat the formula" in the next two albums, with less success (and to critical scorn). Finally, in the late 1980s, he turned his back on commercial success and his solo career, forming the hard rock band, Tin Machine, who had a deliberate limited appeal. By now, his acting career was in decline. After the comparative failure of Labyrinth (1986), the movie industry appears to have decided that Bowie was not a sufficient name to be a lead actor in a major movie, and since that date, most of his roles have been cameos or glorified cameos. Tin Machine toured extensively and released two albums, with little critical or commercial success.
In 1992, Bowie again changed direction and re-launched his solo career with "Black Tie White Noise", a wedding album inspired by his recent marriage to Iman. He released three albums to considerable critical acclaim and reasonable commercial success. In 1995, he renewed his working relationship with Brian Eno to record "Outside." After an initial hostile reaction from the critics, this album has now taken its place with his classic albums. In 2003, Bowie released an album entitled 'Reality.' The Reality Tour began in November 2003 and, after great commercial success, was extended into July 2004. In June 2004, Bowie suffered a heart attack and the tour did not finish its scheduled run.
After recovering, Bowie gave what turned out to be his final live performance in a three-song set with Alicia Keys at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York in November 2006. He also returned to acting. He played Tesla in The Prestige (2006) and had a small cameo in the comedy David Bowie (2006) for fan Ricky Gervais. In 2007, he did a cartoon voice in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) playing Lord Royal Highness. He had a brief cameo in the movie ''Bandslam'' released in 2009; after a ten year hiatus from recording, he released a new album called 'The Next Day', featuring a homage cover to his earlier work ''Heroes''. The music video of ''Stars are Out Tonight'' premiered on 25 February 2013. It consists of other songs like ''Where Are We Now?", "Valentine's Day", "Love is Lost", "The Next Day", etc.
In 2014, Bowie won British Male Solo Artist at the 2014 Brit Awards, 30 years since last winning it, and became the oldest ever Brit winner. Bowie wrote and recorded the opening title song to the television miniseries The Last Panthers (2015), which aired in November 2015. The theme used for The Last Panthers (2015) was also the title track for his January 2016 release, ''Blackstar" (released on 8 January 2016, Bowie's 69th birthday) was met with critical acclaim. Following Bowie's death two days later, on 10 January 2016, producer Tony Visconti revealed Bowie had planned the album to be his swan song, and a "parting gift" for his fans before his death. An EP, No Plan, was released on 8 January 2017, which would have been Bowie's 70th birthday. The day following his death, online viewing of Bowie's music skyrocketed, breaking the record for Vevo's most viewed artist in a single day.
On 15 January, "Blackstar" debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart; nineteen of his albums were in the UK Top 100 Albums Chart, and thirteen singles were in the UK Top 100 Singles Chart. The song also debuted at #1 on album charts around the world, including Australia, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the US Billboard 200. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, Bowie won all five nominated awards: Best Rock Performance; Best Alternative Music Album; Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical; Best Recording Package; and Best Rock Song. The wins marked Bowie's first ever in musical categories. David Bowie influenced the course of popular music several times and had an effect on several generations of musicians.- Robert Naegele was born on 23 June 1925 in Nattenhausen, Krumbach, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor, known for Der Idiot (1968), The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990) and Tatort (1970). He died on 9 January 2016 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
- Michael Galeota was born on 28 August 1984 in Smithtown, Long Island, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Bailey Kipper's P.O.V. (1996), The Jersey (1999) and Clubhouse Detectives (1997). He died on 10 January 2016 in Glendale, California, USA.
- Often called the First Lady of German cinema, Ruth Leuwerik was at the peak of her popularity during the 1950's when partnered on screen by the leading male stars of the post-war era: Dieter Borsche, Hannes Messemer, Curd Jürgens and O.W. Fischer. She proved her range by alternating between glamorous damsels and emancipated, resilient heroines in quality productions, invariably directed by master film makers like Wolfgang Liebeneiner, Robert Siodmak or Helmut Käutner.
Young Ruth first became enamoured with acting after watching a movie with Greta Garbo at the age of ten. Julius Martin Leeuwerik, a merchant, was sufficiently prosperous to afford his daughter private acting tuition after she was initially rejected by Berlin's premier acting academy. Undeterred, Leuwerik made her theatrical debut in 1943. The war, however, proved decidedly limiting to further career prospects. Between 1947 and 1949, she was able to gain steady theatrical engagements in Bremen and Lübeck. The following year, she came to the attention of film audiences in the vacation comedy, Dreizehn unter einem Hut (1950). Success was almost immediate and work on the stage henceforth took a back seat to the celluloid medium.
Between 1950 and 1963, Ruth Leuwerik starred in 28 pictures, nearly all of them box-office gold. These ranged from creaky melodramas like Die große Versuchung (1952) and Geliebte Feindin (1955) to prestige pictures like Rosen im Herbst (1955) (as Effie Briest, based on the novel by Theodor Fontane) and Ludwig II: Glanz und Ende eines Königs (1955) (as Empress Elisabeth of Austria). Her varied roles encompassed not only the standard Mittel-European aristocratic heroines of the period, but also hardy bourgeois mothers, victims of circumstance and dedicated professional women. She played Maria von Trapp in The Trapp Family (1956) -- long before the musical version with Julie Andrews was conceived -- and showcased her abilities as a serious dramatic actress in the role of a priest's daughter, on trial for murdering her husband, in the title role of A Matter of Minutes (1959). Another moving and sympathetic portrayal was that of the physician Hanna Dietrich, tending to 300 German POW's inside a Siberian concentration camp, in the gritty post-war drama Taiga (1958). This particular performance won her the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival. Arguably the culmination of her career was Liebling der Götter (1960), a biopic of the tragic actress Renate Müller. Voted Germany's most popular actress by Bravo, "the magazine for film and television", Leuwerik also picked up four prestigious Bambi Awards in 1953, 1960, 1961 and 1962. She was the first German actress to participate in a Royal Performance in London in 1960.
From 1964 -- having rejected an offer from Hollywood -- Leuwerik began to withdraw from public life and restrict her appearances to occasional guest spots on television. Unlike other screen divas, her personal life was remarkably devoid of scandal and controversy. Her second husband was the famous German opera singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Ruth Leuwerik died in Munich in January 2016 at the age of 91. - Actor
- Writer
Conrad Phillips was born on 13th April 1925 and, after serving in the Royal Navy (having forged the birth date on his ration book to make himself appear older and thus eligible to enlist) during the Second World War, turned to acting as a career. He 'trod the boards', appearing in films (TV and cinema) and the stage between 1948 and 1991 when pain in his back, hip and both knee joints (arising as a result of accidents during his acting), brought about a premature end to his acting career. He is best known for his lead role in the long-running TV series, William Tell, which had 39 episodes between 1958 and 1959.
Conrad married his second wife, Jennie, in July 1968 and at the time of his death they were living in Chippenham, Wiltshire. Before that they bought and ran a dilapidated Scottish hill farm called Skeoch. Jennie wrote a book about the time there and this was on sale in both paperback and ebook formats. After Skeoch, they moved to France and spent 20 years restoring an old French barn. Conrad was also an author.
To aid his musings, Conrad loved the occasional whisky or, better still, a cold pint of the local brew, Wadworths 6X.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Brian Bedford was born on 16 February 1935 in Morley, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Nixon (1995), Robin Hood (1973) and Grand Prix (1966). He was married to Tim MacDonald. He died on 13 January 2016 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Alan Rickman was born on a council estate in Acton, West London, to Margaret Doreen Rose (Bartlett), of English and Welsh descent, and Bernard Rickman, of Irish descent, who worked at a factory. Alan Rickman had an older brother (David), a younger brother (Michael), and a younger sister (Sheila). When Alan was 8 years old, his father died. He attended Latymer Upper School on a scholarship. He studied Graphic Design at Chelsea College of Art and Design, where he met Rima Horton, who would later become his longtime partner.
After three years at Chelsea College, Rickman did graduate studies at the Royal College of Art. He opened a successful graphic design business, Graphiti, with friends and managed it for several years before his love of theatre led him to seek an audition with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). At the relatively late age of 26, Rickman received a scholarship to RADA, which started a professional acting career that has lasted nearly 40 years, a career which has spanned stage, screen and television, and overlapped into directing, as well. In 1987, he first came to the attention of American audiences as the Vicomte de Valmont in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" on Broadway (he was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in the role). Denied the role in the film version of the show, Rickman instead made his first film appearance opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988) as the villainous Hans Gruber. His take on the urbane villain set the standard for screen villains for decades to come.
Although often cited as being a master of playing villains, Rickman actually played a wide variety of characters, such as the romantic cello-playing ghost Jamie in Anthony Minghella's Truly Madly Deeply (1990) and the noble Colonel Brandon of Sense and Sensibility (1995). He treated audiences to his comedic abilities in such films as Dogma (1999), Galaxy Quest (1999) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), and roles like Dr. Alfred Blalock in Something the Lord Made (2004), and as Alex Hughes in Snow Cake (2006), showcased his ability to play ordinary men in extraordinary situations. Rickman even conquered the daunting task of singing a role in a Stephen Sondheim musical as he took on the role of Judge Turpin in the movie adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). In 2001, Rickman introduced himself to a whole new, younger generation of fans by taking on the role of Severus Snape in the film versions of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). He continued to play the role through the eighth and last movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).
Alan Rickman died of pancreatic cancer on 14 January 2016. He was 69 years old.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Franco Citti was born on 23 April 1935 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor and director, known for The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part III (1990) and Accattone (1961). He died on 14 January 2016 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Dan Haggerty was born on 19 November 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Big Stan (2007), Elves (1989) and Abducted (1986). He was married to Samantha Hilton and Diane Rooker. He died on 15 January 2016 in Burbank, California, USA.- Actress
- Transportation Department
Myra Carter was born on 27 October 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for 8MM (1999), The Nanny (1993) and The Witches of Salem: The Horror and the Hope (1972). She died on 9 January 2016 in Manhattan, New York, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Noreen Corcoran was born on 20 October 1943 in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for I Love Melvin (1953), General Electric Theater (1953) and The Girls on the Beach (1965). She died on 15 January 2016 in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Umberto Raho was born on 4 June 1922 in Bari, Puglia, Italy. He was an actor, known for Double Team (1997), The Last Man on Earth (1964) and Seven Seas to Calais (1962). He died on 9 January 2016 in Anzio, Lazio, Italy.
- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Glenn Frey was born on 6 November 1948 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Jerry Maguire (1996), Thunder Force (2021) and In America (2002). He was married to Cindy Frey and Janie Beggs. He died on 18 January 2016 in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Ettore Scola was born on 10 May 1931 in Trevico, Campania, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for A Special Day (1977), The Family (1987) and Passion of Love (1981). He was married to Gigliola. He died on 19 January 2016 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Sheila Sim was born on 5 June 1922 in Liverpool, Lancashire [now in Merseyside], England, UK. She was an actress, known for A Canterbury Tale (1944), The Night My Number Came Up (1955) and West of Zanzibar (1954). She was married to Richard Attenborough. She died on 19 January 2016 in Denville Hall, Northwood, Hillingdon, London, England, UK.
- Tall, dour-faced and slouch-shouldered character actor Abe Vigoda proved himself in both gritty dramatic roles and as an actor with wonderful comedic timing.
Vigoda was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Lena (Moses) and Samuel Vigoda, a tailor -- both Russian Jewish immigrants. His father was a tailor on the Lower East Side. He made his first stage appearance at the age of 17 and plodded away in small theater shows for over 20 years. For the majority of film-goers, Vigoda first came to prominence in The Godfather (1972) as the double-crossing Tessio, pleading to no avail with Robert Duvall to save his life "for old times' sake". Vigoda had roles in a few nondescript TV films before landing the plum role of the dour, unsmiling, urinary tract-tormented Sgt. Phil Fish on the sitcom Barney Miller (1975), his best-known role. The character of Fish proved popular enough to be spun off to his own (albeit short-lived) series, Fish (1977).
With his long, blank, rarely smiling face, he remained in high demand in mafioso-type roles, and for a while in the mid-1980s, he was mistakenly believed to have been dead, leading a producer to remark, "I need an Abe Vigoda type actor", not realizing Vigoda was still alive. The 1990s and beyond became busy again for Vigoda, making appearances in North (1994), The Misery Brothers (1995), A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998), and Crime Spree (2003). He continued acting into his 90s, surprising audiences with his entertaining style.
Vigoda died in his sleep on January 26, 2016, , a month before his 95th birthday, in suburban Woodland Park, New Jersey. He was interred in Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, New York. - Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Stanley Mann was born on 8 August 1928 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was a writer and producer, known for Firestarter (1984), The Collector (1965) and Conan the Destroyer (1984). He was married to Florence Wood. He died on 11 January 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Robert Banks Stewart had an incredible career in British television drama, becoming one of its greatest ever writers, story editors and producers. He started writing in primary school, winning a Burns essay prize and contributing stories to local newspapers. At age 15, he left school to become an office boy at the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch. He did his National Service with Field Marshal Montgomery's peacetime staff. He then worked as a newspaper editor. By this time he had written several plays and done a stint as a radio commentator. He eventually left Scotland for a post as foreign corespondent for Illustrated magazine. When that publication folded, he joined the Rank Organisation, providing rewrites and producing movie and TV scripts.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Antonella Steni was born on 3 December 1926 in Montefiascone, Lazio, Italy. She was an actress, known for Nel sole (1967), L'oro del mondo (1968) and Peggio per me... meglio per te (1968). She was married to Luigi Bonos. She died on 18 January 2016 in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.- Loredana was born on 19 March 1924 in Venice, Veneto, Italy. She was an actress, known for Il figlio del corsaro rosso (1943), Gli ultimi filibustieri (1943) and Forbidden Music (1942). She was married to Giuseppe Rinaldi. She died on 18 January 2016 in Bologna, Italy.
- Micole Diana Mercurio was born in Chicago to Mary and Michael Mercurio on March 10, 1938. The first born of her generation and a beautiful child, she flourished under the attention of her extended Italian-American family. Her father had been a captain in the Italian Army and became a private in the American Army to serve his country and support his family. Her mother was a working woman. She grew up, married a local boy, and had four children. Tragically, SIDS took one child. Ever-resilient, she forged on enduring more tragedy until she went West.
Once in California, she had a series of jobs, the kinds of things you do to make ends meet. She worked at a magazine, did some legal assistant work as a temp and pursued the dream of acting. Micole studied acting with Milton Katselas, working as an "intern" in lieu of paying tuition. She accepted all and any roles and endured through a lot of rejection. Hollywood is not kind to women over 40, especially back in 1980. Big blond hair, a winning smile and that sparkle that lights up a room, she soon got her AFTRA and SAG cards. She taught ESL to adults at night and would audition during the day. She continued to do theater and worked really hard, using her emotional history to bring depth and range to her acting.
Micole helped to mentor the next generation of actors after she formally retired from film, television and theater. She helped coach new talent and continued to teach. She volunteered at rehabilitation facility, driving for hours round trip to do so. She was a warm and wonderful person and a tremendous talent and will be greatly missed. - Bairbre Dowling was born on 27 March 1953 in Dublin, Ireland. She was an actress, known for Zardoz (1974), Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and Changing Habits (1997). She was married to Colm Meaney. She died on 20 January 2016 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Paul Kantner was born on 17 March 1941 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Forrest Gump (1994), Wet Hot American Summer (2001) and A Serious Man (2009). He died on 28 January 2016 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Gordon Goody was born on 11 March 1930 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. He died on 29 January 2016 in Mojácar, Spain.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Although François Truffaut has written that the New Wave began "thanks to Rivette," the films of this masterful French director are not well known. Rivette, like his "Cahiers du Cinéma" colleagues Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Éric Rohmer, did graduate to filmmaking but, like Rohmer, was something of a late bloomer as a director. He made two shorts (At the Four Corners (1949) and The Quadrille (1950), starring Jean-Luc Godard); in the mid-1950s he served as an assistant to Jean Renoir and Jacques Becker; and in 1958 he was, along with Chabrol, the first of the five to begin production on a feature-length film. Without the financial benefit of a producer, Rivette took to the streets with his friends, a 16mm camera, and film stock purchased on borrowed money. It was only, however, after the commercial success of Truffaut's The 400 Blows (1959), Resnais' Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) and Godard's Breathless (1960) that the resulting film, the elusive, intellectual, and somewhat lengthy (135 minutes) Paris Belongs to Us (1961), saw its release in 1960. In retrospect, Rivette's debut sketched out the path which all his subsequent films would follow; PARIS NOUS APPARTIENT was a monumental undertaking for the critic-turned-director, with some 30 actors (including Chabrol, Godard and Jacques Demy), almost as many locations, and an impenetrably labyrinthine narrative. His next film, the considerably more commercial The Nun (1966), was an adaptation of the Diderot novel which Rivette had staged in 1963. The least characteristic of all his features, it was also his first and only commercial success, becoming a succèss de scandal when the government blocked its release for a year. Rivette's true talents first made themselves visible during the fruitful period, 1968-74. During this time he directed the 4-hour Mad Love (1969), the now legendary 13-hour Out 1 (1971) (made for French TV in 1970 but never broadcast; edited to a 4-hour feature and retitled Out 1: Spectre (1972)), and the 3-hour Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974), his most entertaining and widely seen picture. In these three films, Rivette began to construct what has come to be called his "House of Fiction"--an enigmatic filmmaking style influenced by the work of Louis Feuillade and involving improvisation, ellipsis and considerable narrative experimentation. Unfortunately, Rivette seems to have no place in contemporary cinema. On the one hand, his work is considered too inaccessible for theatrical distribution; on the other, although his revolutionary theories have influenced figures such as Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet and Chantal Akerman, he is deemed too commercial to be accepted by the underground cinema; he still employs a narrative and uses "name" actors such as Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Anna Karina and Maria Schneider. Since CÉLINE AND JULIE, Rivette's career has been as mysterious as one of his plots. In 1976 he received an offer to make a series of four films, "Les Filles du Feu." Duelle (1976), the first entry, received such negative response that the second, Noroît (1976)--which some critics call his greatest picture--was held from release. The final two installments (one of which was due to star Leslie Caron and Albert Finney) were never filmed. The 1980s proved no kinder. He made five films, but only one of them, Love on the Ground (1984), opened in the US (it received disastrous reviews). Although he continues to be an innovative and challenging artist, Rivette has failed to find the type of audience that has contributed to the commercial success of his New Wave compatriots.- Actor
- Soundtrack
One of Britain's finest products of the stage, film and TV, actor Frank Finlay, he with the dark and handsomely serious-to-mordant looks, was born on August 6, 1926, in Farnworth, England, the son of Josiah, a butcher, and Margaret Finlay. Of English, Irish and Scottish descent, Frank attended St. Gregory the Great School and then was actually training to follow in his father's footsteps as a butcher himself when his side interest in acting eventually won out. He became a member of the Farnworth Little Theatre and met his future wife, Doreen Shepherd, a fellow member at the same time. They married in 1954, had three children (two sons, one daughter) and were married for over 50 years until her death in 2005.
Finlay began his professional career on the repertory stage with roles in The Guilford Theatre Company's 1957 productions of "Jessica" and "The Telescope". Graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he built up a strong and sturdy theatrical reputation at the Royal Court Theatre between 1958 and 1960 where he was seen to good advantage in such plays as "Chicken Soup and Barley", "Sugar in the Morning", "Sergeant Musgrave's Dance", "Roots", "I'm Talking About Jerusalem", "The Happy Haven" and "Platonov". Making his Broadway debut in "The Epitaph of George Dillon" in 1959, he also sparked a noteworthy professional association with Laurence Olivier at the National Theatre, the highlight being his intense but subtle portrayal of "Iago" to Olivier's "Othello" in 1964.
Marking his film debut in a bit role in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), Finlay sandwiched in a steady stream of British film parts (including Private Potter (1963), Doctor in Distress (1963), Agent 8 3/4 (1964), The Comedy Man (1964), A Study in Terror (1965) (as "Jack the Ripper" Inspector Lestrade), The Jokers (1967), The Deadly Bees (1966) and Robbery (1967)) in between theatre assignments. His greatest film opportunity occurred when he was given the right by Olivier to recreate his Iago role opposite the legendary actor in the masterful film adaptation of Othello (1965). Finlay, Maggie Smith (as "Desdemona") and Joyce Redman (as "Emilia") all received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for their illustrious "supporting" work of Olivier (who was also Oscar nominated). Frank went on to nab a "Most Promising Newcomer" nomination from the BAFTA committee as well. To date, this has been the actor's only Oscar recognition.
Frank, who had a dashing role as "Porthos" for director Richard Lester in the ripe Dumas adaptation of The Three Musketeers (1973) (and its sequels The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974) and The Return of the Musketeers (1989)), has had primarily an international cinematic career. Films include The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Cromwell (1970), The Molly Maguires (1970), Shaft in Africa (1973), The Wild Geese (1978), Murder by Decree (1979) (again as "Inspector Lestrade"), The Return of the Soldier (1982), The Key (1983) [The Key], Lifeforce (1985), La montagna dei diamanti (1991), So This Is Romance? (1997), Silent Cry (2002) and, most notably, the Oscar-winning WWII picture The Pianist (2002), directed by Roman Polanski, in which he portrayed the patriarch of a displaced Jewish family that included "Best Actor" son Adrien Brody.
Classical television notice came in middle age with Frank's strong performances as "Jean Valjean" in the British TV mini-series Les Misérables (1967) and the title role in Casanova (1971). He also went on to win stellar praise and a BAFTA award for his chilling portrayal of "Adolf Hitler" in The Death of Adolf Hitler (1973). Finlay and Susan Penhaligon courted controversy in the drama series Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1976) and were reunited in further controversy the following year with its follow-up Another Bouquet (1977). More plentiful and prestigious BBC-TV work came with his roles as Shakespeare's "Brutus" and "Shylock", not to mention his award-winning performances as "Voltaire" and "Sancho Panza".
In Count Dracula (1977), Finlay played "Van Helsing" to nemesis Louis Jourdan's velvety-voiced vampire; in A Christmas Carol (1984), he was the dour, shackled "Jacob Marley", who pays a ghostly visit to George C. Scott's crusty "Ebenezer Scrooge"; and in Eroica (2003), he portrayed composer "Franz Josef Haydn" alongside Ian Hart's "Beethoven" in the mini-series Eroica (2003). Frank ended his on-camera career gracing such programs as the mini-series Johnny and the Bomb (2006), Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act (2006) and Four Seasons (2008) and the TV series Life Begins (2004).
Throughout his prolific career on TV and film, Frank has maintained on the stage giving sterling performances in classic and contemporary plays as in with "Much Ado About Nothing (as "Dogberry"), "The Crucible", "Saturday Sunday Monday", "Filumena", "Amadeus" (a most affecting Salieri), "Mutiny" (as "Captain Bligh"), "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" and as the rigid father in the 1992 period production of "The Heiress." On January 30, 2016, Finlay died of heart failure in Surrey, England, at the age of 89.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
The son of television producer Don Fedderson, Mike Minor was raised in San Francisco and educated at the University High School in Los Angeles and Brown Military Academy in San Diego. At 14, Mike was taking voice lessons when he got his first professional singing gig at the "Ye Little Club in Beverly Hills". Mike's early TV work began with guest appearances on such shows as The Donald O'Connor Show (1954) and The Joey Bishop Show (1961). Mike Minor is best recognized as "Steve Elliott" on Petticoat Junction (1963). Mike married actress Linda Henning in 1968, who co-starred on Petticoat Junction (1963) as "Betty Jo". The marriage lasted for five years. Mike has been on a number of TV soaps including As the World Turns (1956) and All My Children (1970), and Another World (1964) as "Dr. Royal Dunning". In 1999, Mike began performing on Broadway at the Duffy Theatre, starring as Inspector James Ascher in "A Perfect Crime".- Signe Anderson was born on 15 September 1941 in Seattle, Washington, USA. She was married to Michael Alois Ettlin and Jerry Anderson. She died on 28 January 2016 in Beaverton, Oregon, USA.
- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Wolfgang Rademann was born on 24 November 1934 in Berlin, Germany. He was a producer and writer, known for Das Traumschiff (1981), The Black Forest Hospital (1985) and Kreuzfahrt ins Glück (2007). He died on 31 January 2016 in Berlin, Germany.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Bob Elliott was born on 26 March 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Quick Change (1990), Cabin Boy (1994) and Get a Life (1990). He was married to Virginia Lee Peppers and Jane Frances Underwood. He died on 2 February 2016 in Cundy's Harbor, Maine, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Aldo Bufi Landi was born on 7 April 1923 in Naples, Italy. He was an actor, known for Third Person (2013), The Swindlers (1959) and Mademoiselle Gobete (1952). He was married to Clara Bindi. He died on 2 February 2016 in Naples, Italy.- Actor
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Joe Alaskey, among the most talented voice actors in the business, impeccably recreated many of the original characters which the late cartoon pioneer Mel Blanc invented. A natural mimic and gifted actor, his amazing "ear" for voices enabled him to imitate almost anything, including some of the most obscure show business personalities. Alaskey was one of the most employed voice actors in the business during his career.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Maurice was born in Memphis on December 19, 1941, but moved to Chicago as a teenager. His father, Verdine, was a doctor. For many years, they lived in the South Shore section on the South Side. He attended Crane Junior College and the Chicago Conservatory of Music. It was while he was at the conservatory that he got the call to fill in for a drummer a Betty Everett session. The song was "You're No Good" and it marked White's debut as a session drummer. He played on many sessions for Chicago based artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, The Impressions, The Dells, Little Milton, Howlin' Wolf and Billy Stewart. Soon after, he was touring with The Dells as their drummer. Then Isaac "Red" Holt left the Ramsey Lewis Trio and Maurice replaced him. He spent three years (1966-69) with Ramsey before deciding to form his own group. Hiring a local band that included his younger brother Verdine, Maurice founded the Salty Peppers and later changed the name to Earth, Wind & Fire (in IMDb as Earth Wind & Fire) after the elements of the earth. As well as creating hits with the group, he wrote and produced such artists as the Emotions, Ramsey Lewis, Deniece Williams, Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Holliday, Pockets and Neil Diamond. Maurice White no longer tours full time with Earth, Wind & Fire. He started feeling the effects of Parkinson's Disease in the late 1980s, and it gradually began to escalate. He still records with the group and performs occasionally.- Brian Knighton was born on 21 April 1971 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Eastern Championship Wrestling (1993), ECW Double Tables (1995) and ECW as Good as It Gets (1997). He was married to Laura Russell. He died on 4 February 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Mike Sharpe was born on 28 October 1951 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), Spectrum Wrestling (1977) and WWF Prime Time Wrestling (1985). He died on 17 January 2016 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Both of his parents were involved in the art history field. After graduating from high school in 1976, Willemsen began studying German, philosophy, art history and ethnology. He initially studied in Bonn, but then also went to Florence, Munich and Vienna. His preferred area of research, which also influenced his doctorate, was the work of the writer Robert Musil. Willemsen initially worked in the scientific field. From 1984 to 1986 he was an assistant for literary studies, then in 1986/87 he was a lecturer at the University of Munich. From 1988 to 1990 Willemsen lived in London, where he worked as a freelancer for print media and broadcasting. At the same time, the humanities scholar also began working as a freelance writer and translator. He primarily published art and cultural travel guides, but also studies on social issues and portraits of special people and their fates.
Willemsen entered television in 1991/92, where he initially moderated the interview program "0137" on the pay-TV channel Premiere and interviewed numerous international stars and celebrities. In 1993/94 the talk show "Willemsen - The TV Talk" followed on the same station. As a moderator, Willemsen made a name for himself primarily because of his sensitive conversation style, his spontaneous conversation and his grammatically correct and linguistically sophisticated expression. However, Willemsen became known to the wider German television audience through his popular talk show "Willemsen's Week", which was broadcast on ZDF from 1994 to 1998. It went down in recent television history as an intelligent and intellectual TV talk.
Willemsen then moved to WDR at the beginning of 1999 to present the cultural program "Nachtkultur mit Willemsen", which was broadcast until November 2000. Willemsen also appeared again and again as presenter of the ZDF cultural format "aspekte", alternating with other colleagues. In the 1990s, Willemsen also produced and/or directed several TV productions that were shown as documentaries on ZDF and Arte. The contributions were created as part of his own TV production company, which Willemsen founded under the name "Noa-Noa Fernsehenproduktion GmbH". From 1995 to 1996 he took on a visiting professorship for literary studies at the University of Munich. He also taught at the University of Film and Television in Munich. In 1996 the portrait episode "Willemsen's Contemporaries" was broadcast. In the same year he made his directorial debut with the documentary "Non Stop - A Journey with Michel Petrucciani" on ZDF.
From 1999 to 2001 Willemsen also produced and presented "Willemsen's Music Magazine" for the Second German Television. Willemsen contributed his own project to the EXPO in Hanover in 2000: the video installation "Welcome Home - Artists See Germany" documented the image of Germany by numerous artists in the German Pavilion. He also moderated the "Stage Talk" at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg during the 2000/01 season. From the summer of 2001, Willemsen continued to distinguish himself as a producer and presenter of the interactive AOL program "Talk am Millerntor" and the ZDF portrait series "Gipfeltreffen". In the latter, until the end of 2001, he presented double portraits of two prominent residents for a selected city. After 11 years of commitment to television, Willemsen temporarily withdrew from the TV business at the end of 2001. He then undertook a trip through the Federal Republic that lasted several months, the literary result of which was Willemsen publishing the successful book "Deutschlandreise" in 2002.
In February 2004, Willemsen returned to electronic media as presenter of the "Literature Club" on Swiss television (SF). In the same year, the book "Gute Tage. Encounters with People and Places" marked another highlight in his literary work. The work, which was also presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2004, describes the author's encounters with people of our time and around the world, from the Dalai Lama to Harald Schmidt to Madonna. Willemsen was awarded the Golden Cable and the Bavarian Television Prize in 1992 for his "0137" moderation. A year later he received the Adolf Grimme Prize. Since 2010 he has been an honorary professor at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He also became a member of the PEN Center Germany and the editorial advisory board of the magazine Kulturtausch.
He was awarded the German Audio Book Prize in 2015 for "The High House. A Year in Parliament". In the same year it was announced that Willemsen was suffering from cancer.
Roger Willemsen died on February 7, 2016 in Wentorf, Hamburg.- Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
Ray Colcord is a film and TV composer living in Los Angeles, a past President of the Society of Composers & Lyricists, and a governor of the Television Academy. He's written the music for more than 700 television shows, feature films, miniseries and specials, garnering Emmy nominations, ASCAP awards, BMI Awards, and Dramalogue awards along the way. His films include Heartwood, The King's Guard, Wish Upon A Star, The Paper Brigade, Off Your Rocker, and Amityville Dollhouse. His television work includes Family Affair, Lost At Home, Big Brother Ii, Iii, And Iv, Boy Meets World, Promised Land, Dinosaurs, The Facts Of Life, 2-2-7, My Two Dads, Where I Live, Hiller & Diller, Trial & Error, Silver Spoons, Touched By An Angel, and The Simpsons. As an A&R man for Columbia records he was responsible for signing Aerosmith to their first record deal and co-produced their second album, Get Your Wings. He also wrote the theme for Project Literacy (I'm Changing My Life), and The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun, and I Like 'Em Big And Stupid, for Earth Girls Are Easy, with Julie Brown. As music director of the Groundlings he worked with Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Mindy Sterling, Paul Reubens, Lorraine Newman, Edie McClurg, Cassandra Peterson and Kevin Nealon. He toured as a keyboard player with Lou Reed, John Hammond Jr., and Roy Head, and played on Don Maclean's American Pie album. Ray attended Rice University in Houston, has taught Music Production for Film & Television at UCLA extension, and is also on the board of directors of the Film Music Society.- Writer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Daniel Gerson, best known for co-writing Disney's "Big Hero 6" and Pixar's two "Monsters" films died February 6th, 2016 at his home in Los Angeles after battling brain cancer. He was 49 years old. A New York State native, Gerson grew up immersed in the arts and starring in musical theater performances at his high school. Gerson graduated with an English degree from Cornell University before receiving an MFA from New York University film school. After beginning his career as a staff writer on the NBC television sitcom "Something So Right," which ran 1996-1998, Gerson soon transitioned to feature film, co-writing 2001's "Monsters, Inc." with Andrew Stanton, as well as 2013's "Monsters University" with Dan Scanlon and Robert L. Baird. Baird and Gerson worked as writing partners for fifteen years, collaborating on "Big Hero 6," which won the Academy Award for animated feature in 2015. The pair were also at work on the upcoming Pixar sequel "Cars 3." Gerson was also a talented voice actor, voicing the characters of Needleman and Smitty in "Monsters, Inc." as well as Desk Sergeant Gerson in "Big Hero 6." Gerson is survived by his wife, Beau Stacom; his two children, Claire and Asher; his parents, Mary-Joan and Charles; and his sister, Jessica.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Born in London in 1922, Norman Hudis is now a dual citizen of Britain and the U.S. He began his working life at 16, as a junior reporter, and volunteered for the Royal Air Force in 1940. Rejected for flying duties on medical grounds, he served almost 6 years in WWII, the last two of which on the reporting staff of the Air Force News, stationed in Cairo and covering the entire Middle East area. He was, as a result, the youngest War Correspondent in that conflict.
After many post-war years as a Film Studio publicist in England, he was eventually offered a contract as an apprentice screenwriter, at Pinewood Studios. Two years there gave him invaluable experience, but nothing he wrote was filmed. He resigned, went freelance, created and wrote almost all the scripts for two seasons of the one-hour comedy series, "Our House" (ABC TV, Britain), and became one of the most prolific writers of "B" films. One of them, "The Tommy Steele Story" (US title, "Rock Around The World"), took fifty times its production cost on its first release and changed his status forever.
He went on to write, for producer Peter Rogers and director Gerald Thomas, the first six of the phenomenally successful "Carry On" series of bawdy British movie comedies: "Sergeant", "Nurse", "Constable", "Teacher", "Regardless" and "Cruising." The series went on for more than 20 other movies. As a result of the freak success of "Nurse" in America, he was invited to Hollywood where he has lived and worked ever since, writing for most of the TV series of the time. Awards came his way for the Biblical epic, "Esther" (Best Religious Special, and Best Writing, from "Religion in Media"), "Baretta" ("Dear Tony", from The Mystery Writers of America, Edgar Allen Poe Award, best TV episode), American Women In Radio and TV (for enhancing the image of women in the media), and a nomination for Best Episode, Drama, "Marcus Welby MD", episode "Hell is Upstairs", from the Writers' Guild of America (West.)
Hudis has commuted to Britain several times to work on various projects: one of these, "A Monkey's Tale" (aka "Le Chateau des Singes"), won a Special Award for Excellence at the Heartland Film Festival, as well as at the Toronto and Hollywood Film Festivals, in the animation-feature category. In Cologne, Germany, he was Story Editor for the animated TV series, "Waldo", and wrote several of the scripts. Always a lover of live theatre, he has occasionally written stage-plays, most notably the controversial "Dinner With Ribbentrop", premiered at the Rude Guerilla Theater in Santa Ana, California. He's married to Rita, former RN, and has two sons: Stephen, a stunt coordinator and 2nd unit director, and Kevin, a retired veteran Hollywood Teamster, now managing a hobby store.- Tommy Kelly was born on 6 April 1925 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus (1938) and Irene (1940). He was married to Susie Burch. He died on 26 January 2016 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Casting Department
Barbara Allyne Bennet was born on 7 September 1937 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for Mac and Me (1988), Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985) and Flying High (1978). She died on 9 January 2016 in Duarte, California, USA.- Actress
- Transportation Department
Myra Carter was born on 27 October 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for 8MM (1999), The Nanny (1993) and The Witches of Salem: The Horror and the Hope (1972). She died on 9 January 2016 in Manhattan, New York, USA.- Art Director
- Production Designer
- Art Department
John B. Mansbridge was born on 20 March 1917 in Jackson, South Dakota, USA. He was an art director and production designer, known for Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Tron (1982) and The Black Hole (1979). He was married to Colleen Cuccia Dent Mansbridge. He died on 11 January 2016 in La Quinta, California, USA.- Meg Mundy was born on 4 January 1915 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Fatal Attraction (1987), The Doctors (1963) and Ordinary People (1980). She was married to Konstantinos "Dino" Yannopoulos. She died on 12 January 2016 in The Bronx, New York, USA.
- Alethea McGrath was born on 1 June 1920 in Melbourne, Australia. She was an actress, known for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), Knowing (2009) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). She died on 9 February 2016 in Melbourne, Australia.
- Actress
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Vanity was a glamorous Canadian model and lead singer of the all-girl group "Vanity 6." She specialized in playing sultry female characters often in trouble with the law.
Vanity was born Denise Katherine Matthews in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Helga Senyk and James Levia Matthews. She was of African and German descent. Vanity first appeared on screen in the biographical tale of writer Jack London titled Klondike Fever (1979), before venturing into more gritty territory such as the slasher film Terror Train (1980), the very odd chick flick Tanya's Island (1980), a B-grade martial arts film entitled The Last Dragon (1985) and the totally weird Never Too Young to Die (1986).
However, her best two performances were as the naive stripper assisting blackmail victim Roy Scheider in the under-rated thriller 52 Pick-Up (1986) and as a seductive, smart-talking nightclub singer teaming up with cop Carl Weathers to defeat murderous car tycoon Craig T. Nelson in the violent Action Jackson (1988).
Unfortunately, the remainder of Vanity's film work was of the "straight-to-video" variety and she only scored minor roles in several low-budget thrillers such as Neon City (1991) and Da Vinci's War (1993). In late 1995, Vanity turned her back on Hollywood and the entertainment industry, and dedicated her life to the Christian faith.
Vanity, who suffered from sclerosis encapsulating peritonitis, died on February 15, 2016 in Fremont, California.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
George Gaynes was born in Helsinki in May, 1917, which was then the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Grand Duchy was part of the Russian Empire, which was in a state of collapse at the time of Gaynes' birth. The Emperor Nicholas II of Russia had abdicated the throne on March 15, two months prior to Gaynes' birth, and the Empire was in the process of splintering.
His family left the country, and George was primarily raised in France, England, and Switzerland. Neither of his parents was Finnish. His father Gerrit Jongejans was a Dutch businessman, and his mother Iya Grigorievna de Gay was a Russian artist. George attended college in the vicinity of Lausanne, Switzerland and graduated in 1937. He then attended a music school in Milan, Italy for about a year.
In 1940, George Gaynes was living in France, during the time of the Battle of France in World War II. The Battle ended in defeat for the French Third Republic and the country was occupied by Nazi Germany. George attempted to flee the occupation authorities, by crossing the Pyrenees mountains into neutral Spain. He was arrested by the Spanish authorities for illegally crossing the border, but was soon released.
In 1943, George joined the Royal Netherlands Navy. With the Netherlands under German occupation, the headquarters of the Navy had moved to London, in the United Kingdom. George had no previous military experience, but he was noticed for multilingual skills. He fluently spoke Dutch, English, French, Italian and Russian. He was soon detached to the (British) Royal Navy to serve as a translator.
During his naval service in World War II, George took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Battle of Anzio in the Italian Campaign, and the Adriatic Campaign. The War ended in 1945 and George was honorably discharged in July, 1946. His highest military rank was that of a sergeant.
In 1946, George briefly returned to living in France. He was approached by an American theater director with the offer to play a part in a musical. He took the offer and moved to New York City, where he started appearing in Broadway musicals. He applied for American citizenship and officially became a citizen in 1948.
From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, George Gaynes was primarily a theatrical actor. His roles included various musicals, dramas, and comedies. One of his better-known roles was that of Henry Higgins in the theatrical version of ''My Fair Lady'', which went on a successful tour in 1964.
In the early 1960s, George started appearing as a character actor in various television series. He was also offered a number of film roles. His career unexpectedly took off in the 1980s, with a major part in the television series Punky Brewster (1985) and another one in the then-popular film series "Police Academy" from 1984 to 1994. In Police Academy (1984), his role was that of Commandant Eric Lassard, the titular leader of the Academy. He played the role in all 7 films of the series, though he only had a featured part in the fifth film. This was probably his most memorable role and gained him celebrity recognition for the first time.
In the 1990s, his career slowed down again, with only a few film appearances. He only played in a single film through the 2000s, Just Married (2003), and then retired. He was 86-years-old and could no longer play physically demanding roles. He spend 13 years in retirement before he died of natural causes in 2016.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Born in Lvov, Ukraine; then he moved with his father Miroslaw Zulawski to Czechoslovakia and later to Poland. In the late 1950s, he studied cinema in France. In the 1960s, he was an assistant of the famous Polish film director Andrzej Wajda. His feature debut The Third Part of the Night (1971) was an adaptation of his father's novel. His second feature The Devil (1972) was prohibited in Poland, and Zulawski went to France. After the success of his French debut That Most Important Thing: Love (1975) in 1975, he returned to Poland where he spent two years in making On the Silver Globe (1988). The work on this film was brutally interrupted by the authorities. After that, Zulawski moved to France where became known for his highly artistic, controversial, and very violent films. Zulawski is well known for his ability to discover and "rediscover" actresses. Romy Schneider, Isabelle Adjani and Sophie Marceau played their best parts in his films.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Nelle Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, Alabama in the 1920s. It was a time of hostility between whites and blacks in the United States, especially in Alabama. Her father, a lawyer, also ran a local newspaper. Her mother suffered from mental illness and oftentimes stayed inside from others; she was thought to suffer from bipolar disorder. Harper was a young lady with an agile personality. She was tomboyish, and eventually befriended Truman Persons. Truman would also turn out to become a writer later on in life, as Truman Capote, and they would later on collaborate in a newspaper called The New Yorker. Harper would often serve as Truman's protector in elementary school, as she was a tougher girl who did not fear other boys. Lee developed a passion for literature in high school. After graduating in 1944, she went on to join Huntingdon College-an all-female academy located in Montgomery. Throughout her college years, she was distant from other students. Rather than working on her makeup and getting dates, she was focused on her studies, constantly reading and writing.
Lee moved to New York in the 1950s, took a job as an airline reservations clerk, and wrote her first novel during that time. "To Kill a Mockingbird," published in 1960, won a Pulitzer Prize, and is still admired, widely-taught, and beloved. The film version, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), received several Academy Awards. Lee insisted that the novel is a work of fiction, not autobiography. She protected her privacy, spoke through her literary agent, McIntosh and Otis, did not appear on television and did not give interviews. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama and New York. She died in Monroeville on February 19, 2016.- Writer
- Actor
He is a professor of semiotics, the study of communication through signs and symbols, at the University of Bologna. Also a philiosopher, a historian, literary critic, and an aesthetician. He is an avid book collector and owns more than 30,000 volumes. The subjects of his scholarly investigations range from St. Thomas Aquinas, to James Joyce, to Superman. He lives in Milan.- Archie Lang was born on 14 July 1920 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Blow Out (1981), Highway to Heaven (1984) and The Waltons (1972). He died on 17 February 2016 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA.
- Jo de Winter was born on 5 March 1921 in Sacramento, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Dirty Harry (1971), Soap (1977) and Airport '77 (1977). She was married to Robert Eggers Adamina. She died on 17 January 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Dorothea Walda was born on 1 November 1931 in Breslau, Silesia, Germany [now Wroclaw, Dolnoslaskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Otto's Eleven (2009), Tatort (1970) and Arschkalt (2011). She died on 18 February 2016 in Wülfrath, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
London-born Douglas Slocombe has long been regarded as one of the film industry's premiere cinematographers, but he began his career as a photojournalist for Life magazine and the Paris-Match newspaper before World War II. During the war he became a newsreel cameraman, and at war's end he went to work for Ealing Studios as a camera operator, making his debut as a full-fledged cinematographer on Ealing's Dead of Night (1945). Slocombe is credited with giving Ealing's films the unique, realistic look it was famous for. He left Ealing and went freelance, not wanting to be tied down to a single studio, and divided his time between England and America. He won the BAFTA--the British equivalent of the Oscar--three times, for The Servant (1963), The Great Gatsby (1974) and Julia (1977). A favorite of director Steven Spielberg, he was noted for never having used a light meter while shooting Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), an almost indispensable tool for most cinematographers.- Margit Geissler was born on 24 October 1958 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Marienhof (1992), Das kann ja heiter werden (1982) and Ich bin dein Killer (1982). She was married to Sigi Rothemund. She died on 22 February 2016 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
- Actor
- Writer
- Sound Department
Peter Lustig was born on 27 October 1937 in Breslau, Silesia, Germany [now Wroclaw, Dolnoslaskie, Poland]. He was an actor and writer, known for Löwenzahn (1981), Pusteblume (1979) and Mittendrin (1989). He was married to Astrid Berge, Elfie Donnelly and ???. He died on 23 February 2016 in Husum, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Rabier was born on 16 March 1927 in Montfort-l'Amaury, Île-de-France, France. He was a cinematographer, known for Elevator to the Gallows (1958), The 400 Blows (1959) and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). He died on 15 February 2016 in Port-de-Bouc, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.- Tony Burton, who is famous for playing the corner man in six "Rocky" movies, was himself, in real life, a professional heavyweight boxer. Boxing in such avenues as Palm Springs, Los Angeles, and Hollywood, California, the 6 feet 200 pound Burton knocked-out among others, Bob Smith and Denny Chaney. His most important match was an April 4, 1959 6th round knockout defeat at the hands of undefeated LaMar Clark at Palm Springs, California. Clark was the 10th rated heavyweight and had won 38 straight knockouts. Burton gave as good as he got for 5 rounds, but Clark's relentless mauling style finally wore him down.
- Lennie Baker was born on 18 April 1946 in Brockton, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fall Guy (1981), Festival Express (2003) and Sha Na Na (1977). He died on 24 February 2016 in Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
George Harris Kennedy, Jr. was born on February 18, 1925 in New York City, to Helen (Kieselbach), a ballet dancer, and George Harris Kennedy, an orchestra leader and musician. Following high school graduation, Kennedy enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 with the hope to become a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps. Instead, he wound up in the infantry, served under General George S. Patton and distinguished himself with valor. He won two Bronze Stars and four rows of combat and service ribbons.
A World War II veteran, Kennedy at one stage in his career cornered the market at playing tough, no-nonsense characters who were either quite crooked or possessed hearts of gold. Kennedy notched up an impressive 200+ appearances in both television and films, and was well respected within the Hollywood community. He started out on television Westerns in the late 1950s and early 1960s (Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Rawhide (1959), Maverick (1957), Colt .45 (1957), among others) before scoring minor roles in films including Lonely Are the Brave (1962), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965).
The late 1960s was a very busy period for Kennedy, and he was strongly in favor with casting agents, appearing in Hurry Sundown (1967), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and scoring an Oscar win as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Cool Hand Luke (1967). The disaster film boom of the 1970s was also kind to Kennedy and his talents were in demand for Airport (1970) and the three subsequent sequels, as a grizzled police officer in Earthquake (1974), plus the buddy/road film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) as vicious bank robber Red Leary.
The 1980s saw Kennedy appear in a mishmash of roles, playing various characters; however, Kennedy and Leslie Nielsen surprised everyone with their comedic talents in the hugely successful The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), and the two screen veterans exaggerate themselves again, in The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994). From 1988-1991, he also played Ewing family nemesis Carter McKay on the CBS prime-time soap opera Dallas (1978).
Kennedy also played President Warren G. Harding in the miniseries Backstairs at the White House (1979) and had a long standing role on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless (1973). He remained busy in Hollywood and lent his distinctive voice to the animated Cats Don't Dance (1997) and the children's action film Small Soldiers (1998). A Hollywood stalwart for nearly 50 years, he is one of the most enjoyable actors to watch on screen. His last role was in the film The Gambler (2014), as Mark Wahlberg's character's grandfather.
George Kennedy died of natural causes in Middleton, Idaho on February 28, 2016, only ten days after his 91st birthday.- Gilbert R. Hill was born on 6 November 1931 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Beverly Hills Cop III (1994). He was married to Delores Hooks. He died on 29 February 2016 in Detroit, Michigan, USA.
- Adriana Benetti was born on 5 December 1919 in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. She was an actress, known for C'è sempre un ma! (1943), The Bigamist (1942) and Sins of Pompeii (1950). She died on 24 February 2016 in Rome, Italy.
- Writer
- Producer
- Actress
Alice Albright Patterson was born in November 1940 to the journalist and former aviatrix Josephine Patterson Albright and her husband artist Ivan Albright. Brought up in Chicago and educated at Radcliffe College and the University of Columbia Alice returned to Chicago to work as a journalist and free-lance contributor to Channel 2, as well as writing a biography of her grandmother, pioneering newspaper publisher Cissy Patterson. First married to newspaper executive James Hoge by whom she had three children she subsequently married author Michael Arlen, moving with him to New York. In 1983 her old friend Nora Ephron contacted her to jointly write the screenplay for the film 'Silkwood' for which they received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, since when she has worked sporadically in film, as well as continuing as an author.- Editor
- Director
- Actor
Jim Clark was born on 24 May 1931 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an editor and director, known for The Mission (1986), The Killing Fields (1984) and Marathon Man (1976). He was married to Laurence Méry-Clark and Jessica Andrew. He died on 25 February 2016 in the UK.- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
- Art Department
Tony Dyson was born on 13 April 1947 in Yorkshire, England, UK. He is known for Altered States (1980). He was married to Orianna. He died on 2 March 2016 in Gozo, Malta.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Pat Conroy was born on 26 October 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was a writer, known for The Prince of Tides (1991), Conrack (1974) and The Lords of Discipline (1983). He was married to Cassandra King, Lenore Fleischer and Barbara Jones. He died on 4 March 2016 in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Nancy Reagan was born on 6 July 1921 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Hellcats of the Navy (1957), Night Into Morning (1951) and Donovan's Brain (1953). She was married to Ronald Reagan. She died on 6 March 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Richard Davalos was born on 5 November 1930 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for East of Eden (1955), Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Kelly's Heroes (1970). He was married to Ellen Davalos and Miriam ?. He died on 8 March 2016 in Burbank, California, USA.- Production Designer
- Art Department
- Art Director
Ken Adam was a British movie production designer, best known for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964).
His first major screen credit was as production designer on the British thriller Spin a Dark Web (1956). In 1961 he was hired for the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962).
Adam did not work in the second James Bond film, From Russia with Love (1963) because he was working in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). This enabled him to make his name with his innovative, semi-futuristic sets for further James Bond films, such as Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and his last Bond film was Moonraker (1979).
Adam returned to work with Kubrick on Barry Lyndon (1975), for which he won an Oscar. He also worked in The Ipcress File (1965) and its sequel Funeral in Berlin (1966), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), Sleuth (1972), and The Madness of King George (1994), for which he won his second Oscar for Best Art Direction.
In 2003, Adam was knighted for services to the film industry and Anglo-German relations.
He died on 10 March 2016 at his home in London at the age of 95.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Riccardo Garrone was born on 1 November 1926 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor and writer, known for La Dolce Vita (1960), La cena (1998) and La mafia mi fa un baffo (1974). He died on 14 March 2016 in Milan, Italy.- Writer
- Actress
- Sound Department
Sylvia Anderson is the co-creator of a string of hit TV shows through the late 1950s, 1960s and 70s. Her most memorable contribution as an actress is the voice of Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds - one of many series she co-created with former husband Gerry Anderson. Sylvia's talents are evident in the characterization throughout their various series. She was against Martin Landau and Barbara Bain being cast in Space: 1999 (1975) but was overruled by ITC chief Lew Grade.
The forgotten heroine of Britain's famous TV shows, she's had to watch former husband Gerry take most of the limelight over the years. A fascinating woman with overwhelming talent, she now represents the American network HBO in Pinewood Studios in London, England.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Carlo Rola was born on 6 October 1958 in Spalt, Middle Franconia, Germany. He was a director and actor, known for Sass (2001), Die Patriarchin (2005) and Al cinema Garibaldi (1991). He was married to Dennenesch Zoudé. He died on 14 March 2016 in Berlin, Germany.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Hugo Strasser was born on 7 April 1922 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. He was a composer and actor, known for Nebelmörder (1964), Dangerous Journey (1961) and Pulverschnee nach Übersee (1956). He died on 17 March 2016 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.- Actor
- Music Department
- Writer
Frank Sinatra Jr. was born on 10 January 1944 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Hollywood Homicide (2003), Aru heishi no kake (1970) and Dream for an Insomniac (1996). He was married to Cynthia Sinatra. He died on 16 March 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Drewe Henley was born in 1940 in Malvern, Worcestershire, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Wuthering Heights (1967) and Space: 1999 (1975). He was married to Linda Lee Henley, Felicity Kendal and Jacqueline Pearce. He died on 14 February 2016 in Exeter, Devon, England, UK.- Actor
- Director
Larry Drake was born on 21 February 1949 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Darkman (1990), L.A. Law (1986) and The Karate Kid (1984). He was married to Ruth de Sosa. He died on 17 March 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Lothar Späth was born on 16 November 1937 in Sigmaringen, Germany. He was married to Ursula Heinle. He died on 18 March 2016 in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
- Attended school in Oberdollendorf, Königswinter and Bonn, graduated from high school in 1980. Studied law in Bonn, first state law examination in 1987, second state law examination in 1991, doctorate in 1994. jur. at the Fernuniversität-Gesamthochschule-Hagen.
Self-employed lawyer in Bonn since 1991.
Member of the board of trustees of the "German AIDS Foundation" and of the board of directors of "Atlantik-Brücke e. V."
1980 Joined the FDP. Founding member of the Young Liberals, federal chairman of the Young Liberals from 1983 to 1988. 1993 to 2000 district chairman of the Bonn FDP, since 1988 member of the federal executive board, 1994 to 2001 general secretary of the FDP, since May 2001 federal chairman of the FDP.
Member of the Bundestag since February 8, 1996, chairman of the FDP parliamentary group since May 2006. - A Brooklyn-born "working class" actor of Italian descent, character actor Joe Santos started out in life as Joseph John Minieri, Jr. on June 9, 1931. Sadly, his father died on the same day as Joe's birth. His mother Rose (née Sarno) Minieri, who later became a nightclub owner and singer in New York City and Havana, later became the wife of Puerto Rican-born Daniel Santos and the young boy took his stepfather's surname. Reared in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, Santos attended military schools, served with the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and became a football jock at Fordham University. He turned semi-pro at one point before acting on his urges toward drama.
Santos toiled in a number of blue-collar jobs (railroad worker, tree trimmer, cabbie, barkeep) while taking acting classes and searching for work. Debuting with a bit on the TV series "Naked City," the young hopeful found some work in with bit parts in the films Cross-Country Romance (1940) and The Detective (1968) and three of his cousin Joseph W. Sarno's film exploitations -- Flesh and Lace (1965), Moonlighting Wives (1966) and My Body Hungers (1967) -- in the late 1960s, but they lead virtually nowhere.
Joe's first real break came with a featured role as a tough urban in the searing film downer The Panic in Needle Park (1971), brought about thanks to the prodding of his friend and star of the film, the up-and-coming Al Pacino, who had played some softball with Santos. This was followed by a couple of featured roles in the "blaxploitation" flicks The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972) and Shaft's Big Score! (1972). A prime role as a sympathetic sergeant in the acclaimed TV mini-series The Blue Knight (1973) led Santos in the direction of primarily "good cop" parts on such urban crime shows, including "Toma," "Barnaby Jones," The Streets of San Francisco," "Baretta," "Joe Forrester" and several episodes of the anthology series "Police Story." The most noteworthy, however, was the long-running role as James Garner's beleaguered, long-suffering friend and contact, Lt. Dennis Becker, on the series The Rockford Files (1974) for which he earned an Emmy nomination in 1979.
Joe also provided strong, atmospheric support in 70's urban crime films for such stars as Burt Reynolds in Shamus (1973); Robert Mitchum in The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973); Anthony Quinn in The Don Is Dead (1973); and John Marley in Blade (1973).
Following the "Rockford" success, the beefy, balding Santos moved into a lighter 80's vein, first as a divorced dad at odds with raising an 11-year-old daughter in the short-lived (10 episode) sitcom Me and Maxx (1980) and as comedian Paul Rodriguez's dad in the even briefer (6 episode) comedy series a.k.a. Pablo (1984). In addition, he found guest parts in "Trapper John," "Hill Street Blues," The 'A' Team," "Remington Steele," "T.J. Hooker," "The New Twilight Zone," and a recurring role as Lt. Harper on Hardcastle and McCormick (1983), as well as brief running part on the daytime soap Santa Barbara (1984) and several returning "Rockford" TV movies, again with James Garner between 1994-1999.
Into the millennium, Santos received strong, deserved notice in 2004 for his recurring role as "Consigliere Angelo Garepe" in the hit man hit series The Sopranos (1999). Following roles in the films Beyond Suspicion (2000), Hammerlock (2000), Proximity (2001) and The Man from Elysian Fields (2001), he was little seen, but did return for an isolated film appearance in his final movie Chronic (2015) starring Tim Roth as a home care nurse for the terminally ill.
Joe also dabbled in play-writing, having penned "Sunset Normandie", in which he also starred. Married to longtime Cuban wife Maria Montero until her death in 1988, Santos died in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 84 on March 18, 2016, a few days after suffering a heart attack. He was survived by three children: Perry, Joe Jr. and Lili. - Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
Gary Hutzel was born on 4 November 1955 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He is known for Battlestar Galactica (2004), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993). He was married to Catherine Hutzel. He died on 3 March 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Peter Brown got into acting when he was in the army by organizing a theater group on base to occupy his spare time while stationed in Alaska. After his discharge he enrolled in the acting program at UCLA, and starting in the mid-1950s found employment in many of the western films and series being turned out at the time (he is especially remembered for his work as eager young deputy Johnny McKay in the classic western series Lawman (1958) and as one of a trio of Texas Rangers in the western action/comedy series Laredo (1965)). Following the end of a contract with Universal Pictures (1965-1972), he switched to soap operas and made-for-TV films, and has been steadily employed ever since.- Actress
- Producer
Rita Gam was born on 2 April 1927 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for The Thief (1952), King of Kings (1961) and Klute (1971). She was married to Thomas Henry Guinzburg and Sidney Lumet. She died on 22 March 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ken Howard was elected the National President of The Screen Actors Guild on September 24, 2009. He was a working member of SAG for over forty years. The Tony and two-time Emmy Award-winning actor, most recently received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie playing Phelan Beale in critically-acclaimed Grey Gardens (2009). The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning film starred Golden Globe-winner Drew Barrymore and fellow Emmy-winner Jessica Lange.
He starred opposite Jimmy Smits in the CBS drama Cane (2007) as "Joe Samuels". Howard portrayed the world-wise retired Detective Lieutenant "Max Cavanaugh" on NBC's Crossing Jordan (2001) and is perhaps best known for his performance as a street-savvy teacher in the classic drama The White Shadow (1978). He taught master classes at the American Repertory Theatre Institute and was an instructor at Harvard University and Harvard Law School. His teaching experience helped form the basis for his book, ACT NATURAL: How to Speak to Any Audience, published by Random House in 2003.
In 1968, two years into the three-year program at the Yale School of Drama, he accepted a small role on Broadway in Neil Simon's "Promises, Promises". He originated the role of Thomas Jefferson in the Tony-winning musical 1776 (1972), directed by Peter H. Hunt, receiving a Theatre World Award. Howard earned his Tony for his work as a young gym coach at a Catholic Boys' school in "Child's Play". He starred on Broadway in "Seesaw", "The Norman Conquests", "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" and the national tour of "Equus". In 2008, Howard starred in the one-man play, "According to Tip". His award-winning performance as Tip O'Neill was critically acclaimed.
His feature-film debut was in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970), opposite Liza Minnelli. Additional films: 1776 (1972), Such Good Friends (1971), Clear and Present Danger (1994), The Net (1995), At First Sight (1999), 2:13 (2009), A Numbers Game (2010) and The Beacon (2009). He delighted movie audiences in 2005 with his work in FOX 2000's In Her Shoes (2005), with Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine, and in Dreamer (2005), for Dreamworks, co-starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning. He starred with Sylvester Stallone in Rambo (2008) (aka "Rambo IV"), Michael Clayton (2007) with George Clooney and Smother (2008) opposite Diane Keaton. He became firmly established in the public's mind as "Coach Ken Reeves" on MTM's prestigious The White Shadow (1978), a series which he co-created, based on his own experiences as the only white player on his high school basketball team. "White Shadow" fans can revisit the critically-acclaimed series of seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. He co-starred on the series It's Not Easy (1982), The Colbys (1985) and Dynasty (1981). He guest-starred in numerous prime-time shows: Boston Legal (2004), Dirty Sexy Money (2007), Eli Stone (2008), Cold Case (2003), Brothers & Sisters (2006), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Arli$$ (1996), The West Wing (1999), Conviction (2006), Ghost Whisperer (2005), George Lopez (2002) and Showtime's Huff (2004), opposite his dear friend, Blythe Danner. He had a recurring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) and The Practice (1997). He starred in Sacrifices of the Heart (2007) for the Hallmark Channel. Miniseries include Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenét and the City of Boulder (2000), The Thorn Birds (1983), Rage of Angels (1983), OP Center (1995), Mastergate (1992), He's Not Your Son (1984), The Country Girl (1982), Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story (1991), Memories of Midnight (1991). Howard's first Emmy Award was for the on-camera narration of "Facts for Boys: The Body Human". His voice can be heard on more than 30 best-selling books on tape. A kidney transplant success (the gift of longtime friend and stunt-woman Jeannie Epper), Howard was appointed Chancellor of the National Kidney Foundation, and worked with their efforts to encourage people to donate their organs. He was a member of the Board of the Los Angeles Alzheimer's Committee and, along with his wife, Linda, served as Board members of Shambala Animal Preserve. He was also the national spokesperson for the Onyx and Breezy Foundation. Howard resided in Los Angeles, with his wife, retired stunt-woman Linda Fetters Howard Howard, and their recently rescued dogs, Harley Hoops and Hannah Henrietta.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Garry Shandling was born on 29 November 1949 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Larry Sanders Show (1992), It's Garry Shandling's Show. (1986) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He died on 24 March 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
He was also the Creator and Executive Producer for the show "FALCON CREST'' 1981 thru 1988. The show starred Jane Wyman, Lorenzo Lamas, Robert Foxworth, and Susan Sullivan. The show was set in the Napa Valley of California. And centered on the power and intrigues of the families involved in the wine producing industry.