In Memoriam 2014 - TV & movie Peronalities who passed away.
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- African American actress Juanita Moore entered films in the early 1950s, a time in which few black people were given an opportunity to act in major studio films. Fortunately Moore's roles began improving as Hollywood developed a social consciousness toward the end of the decade. In 1959 she received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in Imitation of Life (1959), a glossy updating of a once controversial Fannie Hurst novel about racism. Within the next decade Hollywood underwent several sociological upheavals, and Juanita was one of the beneficiaries. She became a fixture in black-oriented films of the 1960s and 1970s, appearing in such films as Uptight (1968), Thomasine & Bushrod (1974) and Abby (1974). She also appeared in Walt Disney Pictures' The Kid (2000), and was in a total of more than 50 films. Moore retired in 2001 and passed away New Year's Day 2014 . She was 99.
- Billy McColl was born on 15 November 1951 in Hamilton, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Death Defying Acts (2007), Ordeal by Innocence (1984) and Jute City (1991). He died on 1 January 2014 in London, England, UK.
- Producer
- Director
- Actor
Chicago-born Bernard Glasser grew up in what he calls "the movie generation" and fell in love with pictures at the ripe old age of four. In the late 1940s, while working as a teacher at Beverly Hills High School, he got his feet wet in the film industry by working as a production assistant. In 1950 he invested in an old motion picture studio and turned it into a rental lot, Keywest Studios. Glasser leased his facility to producers like Roger Corman (The Fast and the Furious (1954)), Burt Lancaster (Apache (1954)) and others as well as using the facilities to make a five-day, $50,000 film of his own--The Three Stooges' Gold Raiders (1951), directed by Glasser's friend Edward Bernds. When Glasser's studio lease expired in 1955, he and Bernds combined forces on a series of budget features for Robert L. Lippert's Regal Films.
Working overseas during the 1960s, often in collaboration with producer/writer Philip Yordan, Glasser added to his filmography such well-remembered films as Battle of the Bulge (1965), The Day of the Triffids (1963) and Crack in the World (1965).- Producer
- Sound Department
- Additional Crew
Saul Zaentz learned gambling as a youth in Passaic, New Jersey, playing a card game called briscola. Later, in his twenties, he earned a full-time living as a gambler.
Saul settled in San Francisco after WWII, at first working for a local record distributor and eventually joining the jazz record label Fantasy Records. Working as a salesman and manager for years at Fantasy taught him the value of good relationships with vendors and distributors. This approach greatly affected his approach to the movie business.
Saul and a group of partners bought Fantasy Records in 1967. Fantasy was a successful independent record label, but Saul wanted to expand, to make films. He and his partners worked very hard to cultivate deals with film distribution houses all over the world. Many of these distributors invested in or helped secure funding for his films, in light of the success of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). As a result, Saul was able to remain independent of Hollywood, making the films he wanted to make.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Her career may have only lasted a dozen years, and the number of films slightly more than twenty, but Barbara appeared in some interesting productions. As a young girl, she was a model. While completing her studies at UCLA, she co-starred in half a dozen movies for 20th Century Fox. Lawrence appeared in the critically acclaimed A Letter to Three Wives (1949).
In 1952, she was cast in Here Come the Nelsons (1952), which was the film version of their popular radio programme. Rock Hudson was also in the cast. The following year, Lawrence was cast with Gig Young in Arena (1953), which was a 3-D feature film from MGM. As originally shown, special 3-D glasses were required to view the picture to bring all the action of the Rodeo to your seat. In 1954, she was cast in Her Twelve Men (1954), which was the last film that Greer Garson made at MGM. In 1955, she was cast as Gertie Cummings in Oklahoma! (1955), which was filmed in TODD-AO wide-screen. After making a few movies in 1957, she retired.- Actress
- Soundtrack
In a career spanning six decades plus, the ever-vital and ever-versatile Carmen Zapata stands as one of the most respected and diversified Hispanic-American figures in the performing arts. The much-admired veteran actress has worn many hats over the years: teacher, producer, translator, lecturer and narrator.
Born in New York City on July 15, 1927, the daughter of a Mexican father and Argentine mother, she started entertaining on the musical stage. Making her Broadway debut in the chorus of "Oklahoma" in 1946, she continued in the same vein with regional and summer stock roles in "Bloomer Girl", Bells Are Ringing", "Guys and Dolls" "Carnival" (with Liza Minnelli), "Bye Bye Birdie", "No Strings" and "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off". In 1956 she appeared on Broadway in the Jose Quintero-directed dramatic piece "The Innkeepers" starring Geraldine Page, but it closed within a few days. For years Carmen was active on the stand-up comedy circuit performing in clubs and hotels across the country while billing herself as "Marge Cameron" in order to encourage non-discriminatory employment.
She returned late to acting in the early 1960s (as Carmen Zapata) and the subsequent search for ethnic support roles proved both difficult and unfulfilling. It was impossible to steer clear of the severe stereotypes imposed on her, yet she managed to establish a name for herself on 1970s TV. As a series regular, she had supporting duties alongside Mayor Anthony Quinn in the drama The Man and the City (1971); played matriarch Sophia Valdez in the ethnic family sitcom Viva Valdez (1976) opposite Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.; appeared as Arthur Hill's housekeeper in the detective drama Hagen (1980) starring Chad Everett; and had flavorful recurring roles in The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971) and Flamingo Road (1980). Unfortunately, the series' run of all these shows was too short-lived to earn top TV stardom for herself.
Always striving for dignity, intelligence and positiveness in her work, she was often defeated by token appearances that underused her vast talents. When afforded the opportunity she could be quite touching and heartfelt. Dramatic and comedic performances included roles in such popular shows as "The Bold Ones", "Bonanza", "Marcus Welby, M.D.", "Owen Marshall", "Medical Center", "Adam 12", "Mod Squad", "The Rookies", "Love, American Style", "Wonder Women", "The Streets of San Francisco", "McMillan and Wife", "Trapper John, M.D.", "Chico and the Man", "Matt Houston", "Falcon Crest", "Married with Children", "The Trials of Rosie O'Neil", "L.A. Law", "Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman", and many, many others. She was seen sporadically in the late 1980s and early 1990s on the daytime soap Santa Barbara (1984) as Carmen Castillo. Less visible on film, negligible roles included Sol Madrid (1968), Hail, Hero! (1969), Portnoy's Complaint (1972), Rabbit Test (1978), Boulevard Nights (1979), How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980), the campy horror flick Vultures (1984), and, more recently as one of the choir nuns in the box-office bonanza Sister Act (1992) and its sequel.
More significantly, Ms. Zapata established herself as a prominent benefactor to the Los Angeles-area performing arts. In 1973 she co-founded the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts (BFA), a resident theater company and organization dedicated to bringing the Hispanic experience and culture to the Southern California community via the medium of bilingual stage productions. Serving as its president and producing director, many honors have been bestowed upon her for her selfless contributions. Establishing a durable relationship with the Los Angeles Unified School District to bring the works of great Hispanic authors to public school students, she has produced over 80 plays on BFA's mainstage. On TV, she starred as the town mayor for nine seasons on the PBS' bilingual children's television show Villa Alegre (1973).
As a teacher of drama, Carmen has offered her talents and services to the Academy of Stage and Cinema Arts and the East Los Angeles College Theatre Arts, among others venues. Moreover, a BFA facility was set up as an extension of UCLA. Since 1976, Carmen has been co-translating the groundbreaking plays and poems of such renowned Hispanic figures as 'Federico Garcia Lorca'. These important translations have included Garcia Lorca's "Blood Wedding", "The House of Bernarda Alba" and "Yerma" (the last work mentioned won a Dramalogue Award in 1980). In return, she portrayed the small role of Garcia Lorca's mother in the film Death in Granada (1996) starring Andy Garcia as the maverick Spanish poet and playwright who was executed by firing squad for his political stoicism.
A narrator for the Oscar-nominated documentary The Mothers of the Plaza of Mayo (1985), Carmen's later focus has been as a lecturer at universities and theater conferences across the country. At age 80, Ms. Zapata's unwavering dedication in preserving Hispanic-American culture continues to be a source of pride to the Los Angeles community and her profound influence has extended itself nationwide. At various times, she has been the recipient of several L.A. industry awards as well, including the "Ovation", the Dramalogue and Nosotros Awards for her excellence in theatre.
In 2003, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her final millennium film roles included The Egg Plant Lady (2000) and The Sleepy Time Gal (2001) while on TV she made a brief appearance in the TV movie Fidel (2002). She died of heart failure on January 5, 2014, in Van Nuys, CA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Larry D. Mann was born on 18 December 1922 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Sting (1973), In the Heat of the Night (1967) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964). He was married to Gloria Kochberg. He died on 6 January 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Production Manager
Run Run Shaw was born in Shanghai, China on October 4, 1907. He went into the filming industry with his brother, Runme Shaw, and established the Shaw Organization in 1926 and the Shaw Studios (formerly South Seas Film studio) in 1930. In 1967, Shaw established the famous Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) station in Hong Kong, and it grew into a multi-billion dollar TV empire. TVB set the stage for numerous television sitcoms, drama series, documentaries and singing performances, as well as "Enjoy Yourself Tonight," a variety show similar to "Saturday Night Live."
Shaw owns many businesses throughout the world, including Macy's and Canada's Shaw Tower at Cathedral Place. Throughout the years, Shaw has donated billions of dollars to charities, schools and hospitals. As a result, many Hong Kong buildings were named after him.
Shaw himself has also made regular appearances in TV shows and programs from TVB, including their Chinese New Year celebration programs. During these programs, Shaw would often lead an "awakening" ceremony that precedes the famous Chinese Lion Dance. Shaw has continued to lead this tradition throughout the years.- Actress
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lorella De Luca was born on 17 September 1940 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She was an actress and assistant director, known for Orlando e i Paladini di Francia (1956), Le fils de Tarass Boulba (1962) and Tough Guys (1974). She was married to Duccio Tessari. She died on 9 January 2014 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Keiko Awaji was born on 17 July 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. She was an actress, known for Downtown (1957), Kottaisan yori: Nyotai wa kanashiku (1957) and Stray Dog (1949). She was married to Kinnosuke Nakamura and Bimbo Danao. She died on 11 January 2014 in Tokyo, Japan.
- Versatile, diligent character actor Frank Marth was a familiar presence in just about every major American prime-time TV show of the 60's and 70's. The native New Yorker got his big break as a member of Jackie Gleason's stock company, perennially cast as uncredited background characters in Cavalcade of Stars (1949) and The Honeymooners (1955). According to series co-star Audrey Meadows he was "worth his weight in gold". Thereafter, granite-faced, sober-looking Marth became omnipresent on the small screen for more than two decades as tough cops, FBI agents and stern military brass. Amazingly, he was overlooked for the part of a KAOS operative in Get Smart (1965) (which would have been perfect casting !) but made up for it with Luger-wielding Count von Waffenschmidt and assorted SS officers in Hogan's Heroes (1965). He was also a favorite in anything sci-fi, whether as a sinister alien in The Invaders (1967) or as THRUSH agent Carl Voegler in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). He appeared suitably taciturn as Colonel Brody, stymying dinosaur-hunting Darren McGavin in Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974). Perfectly cast yet again, he gave the medics a hard time as a hard-nosed tank commander in the M*A*S*H episode "Hey, Doc". He had other recurring uniformed roles in The Dirty Dozen (1988) and War and Remembrance (1988).
Marth was married to stage and screen actress Hope Holiday. - John made his acting debut at the Theatre Royal, Bournemouth. After spending a year in various reps. including Hastings, Watford and Eastbourne, he was conscripted into the Devon Yeomanry during the war and served in Italy and Sicily, but contracted hepatitis. He then became a member of the Army Bureau For Current Affairs - Play Unit, touring England, France and Germany. He then spent many years in theatre, before branching out into films and starring alongside David Niven and John Mills. He has also appeared in many TV roles.
- Alexandra Bastedo was born on 9 March 1946 in Hove, East Sussex, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Casino Royale (1967), Batman Begins (2005) and The Champions (1968). She was married to Patrick Garland. She died on 12 January 2014 in West Sussex, England, UK.
- Thilo von Westernhagen was born on 14 January 1950 in Preetz, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He was a composer, known for Tatort (1970), Domino (1982) and Das Traumauto (1988). He was married to Monika and Monika Borchfeldt. He died on 11 January 2014 in Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
Mae Young was born on 12 March 1923 in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress, known for WWE Smackdown! (1999), WWE Raw (1993) and WWE Sunday Night Heat (1998). She died on 14 January 2014 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.- A superbly versatile character actor of lugubrious countenance and strong physical presence, Roger was the son of Charles Lloyd Pack, a frequent supporting actor in British films of the '50s and '60s. Roger was educated at Bedales, a prestigious co-educational school in Hampshire, noted for a laid-back approach and a pronounced emphasis towards arts, crafts and drama. With inspiration provided by his drama teacher and rather liking the attention and applause that came with being on stage, Lloyd Pack managed to attain A-levels in languages. After leaving school, aged nineteen, he successfully auditioned for RADA, where one of his teachers was the actor Peter Barkworth. Soon after, he made his stage debut in the Elizabethan play "The Shoemaker's Holiday" at Northampton Repertory Theatre. From the beginning, Lloyd Pack always thought of becoming a Shakespearean actor. However, his career took him on quite a different path.
His first television appearances were similar peripheral 'no-name parts' as cleaners, soldiers and constables. After years of toiling in relative obscurity, he finally managed to secure a recurring role as the vacuous, simple-minded road sweeper Colin 'Trigger' Ball in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981). Appearing in nearly every episode of the long-running series, Lloyd Pack came to be identified with this character in the national consciousness to such an extent, that he could "not go anywhere without anyone going on about it".
His next popular casting was no less fortuitous: that of the flatulent, somewhat seedy farmer Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley (1994), lusting after Dawn French's extrovert cleric (when not entertaining dubious thoughts about farm animals). On the big screen, Lloyd Pack reached a wider audience as Bartemius Crouch Sr, a ruthless Ministry of Magic functionary in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), destined to be killed by his Death Eater son, played by David Tennant. Still more dramatic was his role as evil megalomaniac John Lumic (who creates an army of cybermen in his pursuit of immortality) menacing Tennant and company in the Doctor Who (1963) two-parter Rise of the Cybermen (2006) and The Age of Steel (2006), set on a parallel Earth. Lloyd Pack thoroughly enjoyed participating in the iconic series.
Lloyd Pack's theatrical work encompassed performances at the National, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court. He was much acclaimed for roles in plays by Harold Pinter and latterly portrayed the Duke of Buckingham in "Richard III" at the Globe. On screen, he was glimpsed as Inspector Mendel in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and as a friar, friend of Cardinal Della Rovere, in The Borgias (2011). The actor was self-effacing in private life and was much esteemed by his peers. He was an avid supporter of Tottenham Hotspurs, cricket and left-wing causes. - Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Long before he was known as "The Professor" in the cult comedy classic Gilligan's Island (1964), Russell Johnson was a well-known character actor, starring in several Westerns and Sci-Fi classics as This Island Earth (1955) and It Came from Outer Space (1953). Johnson grew up in Pennsylvania and was sent to a boarding school in Philadelphia with his brothers when his father died.
Johnson said that, unlike his Professor character, he was not a bright student early on and was, in fact, held back a grade. However, he did redeem himself later on by making the National Honor Society in high school. He joined the Army Air Corps in World War II. Both his ankles were broken when his B-24 Liberator was shot down over the Philippines during a bombing raid in March of 1945 and he was awarded the Purple Heart as he recovered in the hospital. After the war, he used the G.I. Bill to enroll in acting school to pursue his new trade.
Johnson lived in the state of Washington and did several guest appearances on television shows. He passed away peacefully on the morning of Thursday January 16, 2014 from kidney failure, with his wife, Constance Dane, and his two children by his side. Connie described her husband as a very brave man.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dave Madden was born on 17 December 1931 in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Partridge Family (1970), Charlotte's Web (1973) and Eat My Dust (1976). He was married to Sandra Martin and Alvena Louise (Nena) Arnold. He died on 16 January 2014 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.- Director
- Art Department
- Production Manager
Hal Sutherland was born on 1 July 1929 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He was a director and production manager, known for The New Adventures of Superman (1966), Flash Gordon (1979) and The Adventures of Batman (1968). He died on 16 January 2014 in Washington, USA.- Fred Bertelmann was born on 7 October 1925 in Duisburg, Germany. He was an actor, known for Gitarren klingen leise durch die Nacht (1960), Der lachende Vagabund (1958) and Das blaue Meer und Du (1959). He was married to Ruth Kappelsberger. He died on 22 January 2014 in Berg am Starnberger See, Bavaria, Germany.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Riz Ortolani was born on 25 March 1926 in Pesaro, Marche, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for Day of Anger (1967), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Festa di laurea (1985). He was married to Katina Ranieri. He died on 23 January 2014 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actor
- Director
Luis Avalos was born on 2 September 1946 in Havana, Cuba. He was an actor and director, known for The Ringer (2005), Hollywood Homicide (2003) and Resurrection Blvd. (2000). He died on 22 January 2014 in Burbank, California, USA.- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Alan Bridges was born on 28 September 1927 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was a director and producer, known for American Playhouse (1980), The Hireling (1973) and The Shooting Party (1984). He was married to Ann Castle. He died on 7 December 2013 in the UK.- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
Sixteen-year-old Pete Seeger enrolled at the Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut and then decided to become a hermit. His life since then has been one social cause after another, buoyed by an almost indefatigable career as a self-described "sing-along leader."
During the 1930s he attended Harvard, from which his musicologist father Charles Seeger (a member of the Industrial Workers of the World and a conscientious objector during World War I) had graduated in 1908. As an alternative to his major, Sociology (which he disliked), he played tenor banjo (failing to make the Harvard Jazz Band) and participated in the pacifist/communist Harvard Student Union so much that he lost his scholarship, leaving Harvard in 1938. In 1939 actor/folksinger 'Will Geer' organized the "All-American Left-Wing Folk-Song Revival Movement," a benefit concert for migrant workers in California. It was there that Pete met Woody Guthrie and began touring with him. In 1940 Seeger started the Almanac Singers with Lee Hays, Pete Hawes and Millard Lampell; during his tours with this pro-union, anti-war group the FBI began a file on him. The group broke up at the start of World War II (Seeger enlisted in the army; Guthrie entered the Merchant Marine). After the war he started People's Songs (later Sing Out!), and in 1949 formed a new group, The Weavers, with Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman and Ronnie Gilbert'. For years he had trouble with the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and was, effectively, blacklisted. He recorded dozens of albums (Columbia, Folkways) and wrote thousands of songs, among which are "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "If I Had a Hammer," and "Turn, Turn, Turn" (which in the 1960s became a huge hit for The Byrds). He helped start the Greenwich Village music magazine Broadside in the 1960s and reorganized the Newport Folk Festival. In 1996 the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance awarded him its first Lifetime Achievement Award. He helped start Clearwater, an organization which sails a 106-foot boat along the Hudson River to show children the dangers of pollution.- Edmond Classen was born on 16 May 1938 in Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands. He was an actor, known for Vrienden voor het leven (1991), Medisch Centrum West (1988) and Oppassen!!! (1991). He died on 27 January 2014 in Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands.
- Lars Andreas Larssen was born on 27 March 1935 in Melbu, Norway. He was an actor and writer, known for Borgen skole (1989), Nine Lives (1957) and Kirsebærhaven (1973). He was married to Sonja Lid, Monna Tandberg and Thrine Naumann. He died on 29 January 2014 in Norway.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Michael Filerman was born on 4 May 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Four Corners (1998), Knots Landing (1979) and Falcon Crest (1981). He died on 25 January 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Hans Christian Rudolph was born on 14 December 1943 in Metz, Moselle, France. He was an actor, known for Rebellion der Verlorenen (1969), Die Wildente (1994) and Stammheim - The Baader-Meinhof Gang on Trial (1986). He died on 23 January 2014 in Hamburg, Germany.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Composer, songwriter ("Autumn Once Again"), conductor and arranger, educated at Northwestern University (Bachelor of Music degree) and through music studies with Robert Delaney. He served in the U.S. Army and while there, arranged for the Army Band in Washington, DC. He served as an assistant to Morton Gould, and he was awarded the Four Freedoms Foundation George Washington Honor award. He was director of publications for the Chappell Music Company. He composed, arranged, and conducted the OEO radio series "Voices of Vista". Joining ASCAP in 1954, his song and instrumental compositions also include "Danse Montmartre", "Moonstruck", "Other Side of the Moon", "Tall in the Saddle", "City Children", "Touch o' the Moon", "The Sentry Boy", and "Lead Us, O Lord".- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Arthur Rankin Jr. was born on 19 July 1924 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and director, known for The Last Unicorn (1982), Willy McBean and His Magic Machine (1965) and The Hobbit (1977). He was married to Olga Karlatos. He died on 30 January 2014 in Harrington Sound, Bermuda.- Christopher Jones was a brief cult star of the late '60s counterculture era and a would-be rebel successor to James Dean had he wanted it. Born William Franklin Jones amid rather impoverished surroundings to a grocery clerk in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1941, his artist mother had to be institutionalized when Chris was 4. She died in a mental facility in 1960, and this was always to haunt him. He shifted back and forth between homes and orphanages and was placed in Boys Town at one point to straighten out his life.
Chris joined the service as a young adult but went AWOL just two days later. After serving out his time on Governor's Island for this infraction, he moved to New York and studied painting, meeting a motley crew of actors and artists. Friends were startled by his moody nature and uncanny resemblance to the troubled Dean and he was encouraged to audition for the Actors Studio. He was accepted and eventually won the Broadway role of Pancho in "The Night of the Iguana" in 1961. Chris wound up marrying acting coach Lee Strasberg's daughter, Susan Strasberg, in 1965, but his erratic behavior would send her packing after three years and two children.
Chris's brooding good looks and undeniable charisma led him straight to Hollywood and, following a few TV episodic parts, earned the title film role of Chubasco (1968) co-starring then-wife Susan. He then earned cult stardom in Wild in the Streets (1968) as Max Frost, a rock star who becomes president. This popular satire, in turn, led another movie satire as the college boy Lothario in the interracial sex triangle Three in the Attic (1968) and such distinguished international projects as The Looking Glass War (1970), Jardines de España (1957) and Ryan's Daughter (1970). But the trappings of success quickly got to him.
Numerous entanglements with the Hollywood "in crowd" eventually took their toll, including those with Pamela Courson (Jim Morrison's girlfriend at the time), the ill-fated Sharon Tate, one-time co-star Pia Degermark, and Olivia Hussey. Not only did his volatile relationships with directors also leave him depressed, but his personal life remained in constant turmoil. Morrison's early drug-related death and Tate's particularly brutal murder hit him particularly hard and led to a breakdown.
Chris split the Hollywood scene altogether to regain himself but instead ended up a victim of the Sunset Strip drug culture for a time. He eventually cleaned up his act and two subsequent relationships led to five more children. He also turned to painting and sculpting as creative outlets and lived the Southern California beach scene. Little was heard until decades later when Quentin Tarantino offered him a part in Pulp Fiction (1994). The now reclusive and eccentric Jones turned down a role in that, but later decided to take on a cameo part in friend Larry Bishop's crime comedy-drama Mad Dog Time (1996) a couple of years later. This proved to be his only return to acting. Chris died of gall bladder cancer in 2014 at age 72. - Actor
- Director
- Writer
Maximilian Schell was the most successful German-speaking actor in English-language films since Emil Jannings, the winner of the first Best Actor Academy Award. Like Jannings, Schell won the Oscar, but unlike him, he was a dedicated anti-Nazi. Indeed, with the exception of Maurice Chevalier and Marcello Mastroianni, Schell was undoubtedly the most successful non-anglophone foreign actor in the history of American cinema.
Schell was born in Vienna, Austria on December 8, 1930, but raised in in Zurich, Switzerland. (Austria became part of Germany after the anschluss of 1938), then was occupied by the allies from 1945 until 1955, when it again joined the family of nations.) He learned his craft on the stage beginning in 1952, and made his reputation with appearances in German-language films and television. He was a fine Shakespearean actor, and had a huge success with "Richard III" (he has also appeared in as the eponymous prince in a German-language version of "Hamlet").
Schell made his Hollywood debut in 1958 in the World War II film The Young Lions (1958) quite by accident, as the producers had wanted to hire his sister Maria Schell, but lines of communication got crossed, and he was the one hired. He impressed American producers as his turn as the friend of German soldier Marlon Brando, and subsequently assayed the role of the German defense attorney in the television drama Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) on "Playhouse 90" in 1959. He was also cast in the big screen remake, for which he won the 1961 Academy Award for Best Actor, beating out co-star Spencer Tracy for the Oscar. He also won a Golden Globe and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for the role. Schell ultimately won two more Oscar nominations for acting, in 1976 for Best Actor for The Man in the Glass Booth (1975) and in 1978 as Best Supporting Actor for Julia (1977) (which also brought him the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor). He has twice been nominated for an Emmy for his TV work, and won the 1993 Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or made-for-TV movie for Stalin (1992).
Schell has also has directed films, and his 1974 film The Pedestrian (1973) ("The Pedestrian"), which Schell wrote, produced, directed, and starred in, was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and won the Golden Globe in the same category. His documentary about Marlene Dietrich, Marlene (1984), was widely hailed as a masterpiece of the non-fiction genre and garnered its producers a Best Documentary Oscar nomination in 1985. In 2002, Schell released Meine Schwester Maria (2002) (My Sister Maria), a documentary about the career of and his relationship with Maria Schell. Since the 1990s, Schell has appeared in many German language made-for-TV films, such as the 2003 film Alles Glück dieser Erde (2003) (All the Luck in the World) and in the mini-series The Hard Cops (2004), which was based on Henning Mankell's novel. He has also continued to appear on stage, appearing in dual roles in the 2000 Broadway production of the stage version of "Judgment at Nuremberg", and most recently in Robert Altman's London production of Arthur Miller's play "Resurrection Blues" in 2006. He died on 31st of January 2014, aged 83, in Innsbruck, Austria.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Film and stage actor and theater director Philip Seymour Hoffman was born in the Rochester, New York, suburb of Fairport to Marilyn (Loucks), a lawyer and judge, and Gordon Stowell Hoffman, a Xerox employee, and was mostly of German, Irish, English and Dutch ancestry. After becoming involved in high school theatrics, he attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, graduating with a B.F.A. degree in Drama in 1989.
He made his feature film debut in the indie production Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole (1991) as Phil Hoffman, and his first role in a major release came the next year in My New Gun (1992). While he had supporting roles in some other major productions like Scent of a Woman (1992) and Twister (1996), his breakthrough role came in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997).
He quickly became an icon of indie cinema, establishing a reputation as one of the screen's finest actors, in a variety of supporting and second leads in indie and major features, including Todd Solondz's Happiness (1998), Flawless (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999), Almost Famous (2000) and State and Main (2000). He also appeared in supporting roles in such mainstream, big-budget features as Red Dragon (2002), Cold Mountain (2003) and Mission: Impossible III (2006).
Hoffman was also quite active on the stage. On Broadway, he has earned two Tony nominations, as Best Actor (Play) in 2000 for a revival of Sam Shepard's "True West" and as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) in 2003 for a revival of Eugene O'Neill (I)'s "Long Day's Journey into Night". His other acting credits in the New York theater include "The Seagull" (directed by Mike Nichols for The New York Shakespeare Festival), "Defying Gravity", "The Merchant of Venice" (directed by Peter Sellars), "Shopping and F*@%ing" and "The Author's Voice" (Drama Desk nomination).
He was the Co-Artistic Director of the LAByrinth Theater Company in New York, for which he directed "Our Lady of 121st Street" by Stephen Adly Guirgis. He also directed "In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings" and "Jesus Hopped the A Train" by Guirgis for LAByrinth, and "The Glory of Living" by Rebecca Gilman at the Manhattan Class Company.
Hoffman consolidated his reputation as one of the finest actors under the age of 40 with his turn in the title role of Capote (2005), for which he won the Los Angeles Film Critics Award as Best Actor. In 2006, he was awarded the Best Actor Oscar for the same role.
On February 2, 2014, Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in an apartment in Greenwich village, New York. Investigators found Hoffman with a syringe in his arm and two open envelopes of heroin next to him. Mr. Hoffman was long known to struggle with addiction. In 2006, he said in an interview with "60 Minutes" that he had given up drugs and alcohol many years earlier, when he was age 22. In 2013, he checked into a rehabilitation program for about 10 days after a reliance on prescription pills resulted in his briefly turning again to heroin.- Richard Bull was born on 26 June 1924 in Zion, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Little House on the Prairie (1974), Sugar (2008) and The Andromeda Strain (1971). He was married to Barbara Collentine. He died on 3 February 2014 in Calabasas, California, USA.
- Director
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Christopher Barry was born on 20 September 1925 in London. He was a director and producer, known for The Tripods (1984), Nanny (1981) and Moonbase 3 (1973). He died on 7 February 2014 in Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Shirley Temple was easily the most popular and famous child star of all time. She got her start in the movies at the age of three and soon progressed to super stardom. Shirley could do it all: act, sing and dance and all at the age of five! Fans loved her as she was bright, bouncy and cheerful in her films and they ultimately bought millions of dollars' worth of products that had her likeness on them. Dolls, phonograph records, mugs, hats, dresses, whatever it was, if it had her picture on there they bought it. Shirley was box-office champion for the consecutive years 1935-36-37-38, beating out such great grown-up stars as Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Robert Taylor, Gary Cooper and Joan Crawford. By 1939, her popularity declined. Although she starred in some very good movies like Since You Went Away (1944) and the The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), her career was nearing its end. Later, she served as an ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. It was once guessed that she had more than 50 golden curls on her head.- Actor
- Producer
- Production Manager
Comedian, saxophonist, composer, actor and musician, he performed within the orchestras of Charlie Spivak, Shep Fields and Claude Thornhill as saxophonist. Later, as super-hip jazz musician "Cool Cees" in television skits, he played tenor saxophone, and sang with the satirical trio "The Hair Cuts" (with Carl Reiner and Howard Morris). He sang the lead role in "Little Me" on Broadway. Joining ASCAP in 1955, his popular song compositions include "I Wrote This Song for Your Birthday" and "Was That You?".- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Ralph Waite was born in White Plains, New York on June 22, 1928. Educated at Bucknell University where he graduated with a BA degree, Waite existed rather aimlessly as a young adult while trying to find his way in the world. Occupations came and went, including social worker, religious editor for Harper & Row, and even Presbyterian minister after spending three years at the Yale School of Divinity. At age 30, however, he began to study acting and found his true life's passion.
Waite made his professional NY debut in a 1960 production of "The Balcony" at the Circle in the Square and was seen on Broadway in "Blues for Mister Charlie" before earning fine reviews in 1965 alongside Faye Dunaway in "Hogan's Goat". This was enough to encourage him to move West where he began collecting bit parts in prestigious movies, including Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Five Easy Pieces (1970). One of those films, the coming-of-age Last Summer (1969) starred an up-and-coming talent named Richard Thomas, who, of course, would figure prominently in Waite's success story in years to come. Waite continued to thrive as well on the stage appearing in both contemporary plays ("The Trial of Lee Harvey Osward") as well as Shakespearean classics (Claudius in "Hamlet" and Orsino in "Twelfth Night").
Stardom came for him in the form of the gentle, homespun Depression-era series The Waltons (1972). In the TV-movie pilot, the roles of John and Olivia Walton were played by Andrew Duggan and Patricia Neal. The Earl Hamner Jr. series, however, would welcome Waite along with Michael Learned, and make both, as well as Richard Thomas playing their son John-Boy, household names. Waite also directed several episodes of the series during the nine seasons. Throughout the seventies, he strove to expand outside his Walton patriarchal casting with other TV mini-movie endeavors. Those included Roots (1977), for which he received an Emmy nomination, the title role in The Secret Life of John Chapman (1976), OHMS (1980), Angel City (1980) and The Gentleman Bandit (1981). He also appeared in a few films including On the Nickel (1980) which he wrote and directed.
Throughout the run of the series, Waite continued to revert back to his theater roots from time to time. Notable was his role as Pozzo in Waiting for Godot (1977), which was televised by PBS, and a return to Broadway with "The Father" in 1981. Waite also founded the Los Angeles Actors Theatre in 1975 and served as its artistic director.
The Waltons (1972), which earned him an Emmy nomination, ended in 1981 and Waite ventured on to other TV character roles during the 80s and 90s but less visibly. In his second TV series The Mississippi (1982), which was produced by his company Ralph Waite Productions, he played a criminal lawyer who abandoned his practice (almost) for a leisurely life captaining a riverboat. It lasted only a year. There have been other more recent theater excursions including "Death of a Salesman" (1998), "The Gin Game" (1999), "Ancestral Voices (2000) and "This Thing of Darkness" (2002). He also had a recurring role on the offbeat HBO series Carnivàle (2003) and in 2009 began putting time in on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives (1965) as Father Matt. Waite was able to carry with him a certain grizzled, rumpled, craggy-faced, settled-in benevolence, although he was quite capable of villainy. He always seemed more comfortable in front of the camera wearing a dusty pair of work clothes than a suit. He continued to act well into his 80s, most notably playing the father of Mark Harmon on NCIS (2003).
For many years, Waite had held passionate political ambitions. He twice ran unsuccessfully for a Congressional seat -- in 1990 and 1998. A Palm Desert resident during his second attempt, the 70-year-old Californian was a Democratic hopeful for a seat left vacant by the late Sonny Bono after his fatal skiing accident in 1998. He was ultimately defeated by Bono's widow, Mary Bono.
Waite died in Palm Desert, California on February 13, 2014, at age 85. He is survived by his third wife, Linda East, whom he married in 1982 and two daughters from his first marriage.- Director
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cliff Bole was born on 9 November 1937 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) and V (1984). He was married to Brenda. He died on 15 February 2014 in Palm Desert, California, USA.- Director
- Animation Department
- Producer
Jimmy T. Murakami was born on 5 June 1933 in San Jose, California, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Heavy Metal (1981), Breath (1967) and When the Wind Blows (1986). He was married to Ethna Murakami. He died on 16 February 2014 in Dublin, Ireland.- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Gert 'Kralle' Krawinkel was born on 21 April 1947 in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. He was an actor and composer, known for Bio-Dome (1996), Il Divo (2008) and Private School (1983). He was married to Monika Kölling. He died on 16 February 2014 in Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony, Germany.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
John Henson was born on 25 April 1965 in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Muppets from Space (1999) and Muppet*vision 3-D (1991). He was married to Gyongyi Henson. He died on 14 February 2014 in Saugerties, New York, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Christopher Malcolm was born on 19 August 1946 in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Highlander (1986), Labyrinth (1986) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). He was married to Judith Lloyd. He died on 15 February 2014 in London, England, UK.- Nelson Frazier Jr. was born on 14 February 1971 in Goldsboro, North Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for WWE Raw (1993), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and WWE A.M. Raw (2005). He was married to Cassandra. He died on 18 February 2014 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
- Malcolm Tierney was born on 25 February 1938 in Manchester, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Braveheart (1995), The Saint (1997) and In the Name of the Father (1993). He was married to Andrea Schinko. He died on 18 February 2014 in the UK.
- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Born on November 21, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, Harold Allen Ramis got his start in comedy as Playboy magazine's joke editor and reviewer. In 1969, he joined Chicago's Second City's Improvisational Theatre Troupe before moving to New York to help write and perform in "The National Lampoon Show" with other Second City graduates including John Belushi, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray. By 1976, he was head writer and a regular performer on the top Canadian comedy series SCTV (1976). His Hollywood debut came when he collaborated on the script for National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) which was produced by Ivan Reitman. After that, he worked as writer with Ivan as producer on Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989) and acted in the latter three. Harold Ramis died on February 24, 2014 at age 69 from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis.- Jim Lange was born on 15 August 1932 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Captain 11 (1954) and Amazing Stories (1985). He was married to Nancy Fleming and Fay Marie Madigan. He died on 25 February 2014 in Mill Valley, California, USA.
- Director
- Editor
- Writer
Alain Resnais was born on 3 June 1922 in Vannes, Morbihan, France. He was a director and editor, known for Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), Same Old Song (1997) and My American Uncle (1980). He was married to Sabine Azéma and Florence Malraux. He died on 1 March 2014 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.- Christine Buchegger was born on 19 November 1942 in Vienna, Austria. She was an actress, known for From the Life of the Marionettes (1980), Claus Graf Stauffenberg (1970) and The Salzburg Connection (1972). She was married to Christian Kohlund. She died on 3 March 2014 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Stanley Rubin was born on 8 October 1917 in Bronx, New York, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for River of No Return (1954), Burma Convoy (1941) and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968). He was married to Kathleen Hughes. He died on 2 March 2014 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Sheila MacRae was born on 24 September 1921 in London, England, UK. She was an actress and producer, known for Backfire (1950), Caged (1950) and Bikini Beach (1964). She was married to Ronald Wayne and Gordon MacRae. She died on 6 March 2014 in Englewood, New Jersey, USA.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Wendy Hughes was an accomplished actress who had won over 13 major awards. She had been called "one of the world's great actresses" with "the beauty and talent to become an international star". Hughes was born in Melbourne and studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. She has two children, Charlotte (17) and Jay (13).- Cynthia Lynn was born on 2 April 1937 in Riga, Latvia. She was an actress, known for Hogan's Heroes (1965), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974). She died on 10 March 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Richard Coogan was born on 4 April 1914 in Short Hills, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949), Bronco (1958) and Girl on the Run (1953). He died on 12 March 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Justus Pfaue was born on 25 September 1942 in Ballenstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. He was a writer and director, known for Merlin (1980), Timm Thaler (1979) and Babbelgamm (1977). He died on 9 March 2014 in Berlin, Germany.- Mareike Carrière was born on 26 July 1954 in Hanover, Lower Saxony, West Germany. She was an actress, known for A Dangerous Method (2011), Praxis Bülowbogen (1987) and The Confessions of Felix Krull (1982). She was married to Gerd Klement and Joachim von Vietinghoff. She died on 17 March 2014 in Hamburg, Germany.
- James Robert Rebhorn (September 1, 1948 - March 21, 2014) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 films, television series, and plays. At the time of his death, he had recurring roles in the current series White Collar and Homeland.
An early performance was in Butterflies are Free at the Peterborough Players in New Hampshire in 1974. Rebhorn played Peter Latham in Forty Carats at the GasLight Dinner Theatre in Salt Lake City in the 1970s. He was known both for portraying WASP stereotypes, lawyers, politicians, doctors, and military men, as well as portraying individuals with criminal behavior. He has delivered equally notable performances in a variety of other roles, including that of a brutal serial killer on NBC's Law & Order (he would later return to the show in the recurring role of defense attorney Charles Garnett), Ellard Muscatine in Lorenzo's Oil (1992), Fred Waters in Blank Check (1994), Clyde Frost, the father of famed bull rider Lane Frost, in 8 Seconds (1994), Lt. Tyler in White Squall (1996), and a shipping magnate in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). One of his best known performances came in the popular 1996 film Independence Day, where he played Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki. He acted in Scent of a Woman (1992), and also played an expert witness in My Cousin Vinny (1992). He appeared in Carlito's Way the following year. Rebhorn also played an FBI Agent in the 1994 film Guarding Tess.
Rebhorn played several roles on television, including an abusive stepfather, Bradley Raines, on the soap opera Guiding Light from 1983 to 1985, and an abusive father, Henry Lange, on sister soap As The World Turns from 1988 to 1991. An earlier daytime role was as John Brady in Texas from 1981 to 1982. In 1994 he played the role of super villain John McFlemp in the episode "Farewell, My Little Viking" of the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete. In 1998, he played the District Attorney in the two-part series finale of Seinfeld. He also appeared in a supporting roles in The Game, Meet the Parents, and Regarding Henry. In 2004, he appeared in the TV miniseries Reversible Errors. His role in the short-lived and controversial NBC drama The Book of Daniel cast him as the father of the title character. More recently, he appeared in the Showtime series Homeland as Carrie's bipolar father.
Rebhorn also appeared as a judge in Baby Mama. In the 2009 movie The Box, Rebhorn portrayed a NASA scientist. He had recurring roles on the USA series White Collar as Special Agent Reese Hughes, and also as Frank Mathison, the father of the protagonist Carrie Mathison, on Homeland. Rebhorn recently co-starred in the Comedy Central sitcom Big Lake. He played Max Kenton's uncle in the 2011 movie Real Steel. He starred as Oren in the miniseries Coma. Rebhorn starred as Gary Pandamiglio in the 2012 Mike Birbiglia comedy Sleepwalk with Me. He co-starred in the 2013 romantic comedy The Perfect Wedding. His stage career included seven Broadway productions, as well as numerous appearances with New York City's Roundabout Theatre Company. - Actor
- Additional Crew
Niels Clausnitzer was born on 29 March 1930 in Mannheim, Germany. He was an actor, known for Schneeweisschen und Rosenrot (1955), Lost Horizon (2010) and Der Arzt von Stalingrad (1958). He died on 14 March 2014 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Additional Crew
Lorenzo Semple Jr. was born on 27 March 1923 in New Rochelle, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Three Days of the Condor (1975), Flash Gordon (1980) and Never Say Never Again (1983). He was married to Joyce Miller and Ann Somers. He died on 28 March 2014 in Brentwood, California, USA.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Kate O'Mara was born Frances Meredith Carroll on August 10, 1939 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. A hard-looking brunette with high cheekbones, Kate was the daughter of actress Hazel Bainbridge and John Carroll and prodded into performing as a child. Educated at the Aida Foster School, she began an early career as a speech therapist at a Sussex Girls' School, but her attraction to acting got the best of her and she switched gears, making her debut in a stage production of "The Merchant of Venice" in 1963 at age 24. She continued to appear in classical works throughout the next two seasons until television series spots started coming her way. Kate attracted gothic notice in Hammer Studio horror films as tawdry, darkly alluring femmes in both The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) and The Vampire Lovers (1970), but her film load over the years would remain sporadic.
She had remained focused on stage endeavours in the ensuing years and had appeared in many British television series as well as various femme fatales or shady ladies. She made little leeway in America but did appear as Joan Collins equally bitchy sister for one season of Dynasty (1981) in 1986. She was also delightfully vindictive in episodes of Doctor Who (1963) and Absolutely Fabulous (1992) in England. She relished a standout role in the long-running British soap opera Crossroads (2001). In the 1980s, she founded and toured in a theatre company (The British Actor's Theatre Company), which had continued running into the millennium. She had since published two books: "When She Was Bad" in 1991 and "Good Time Girl" in 1993. Kate O'Mara died at age 74 on March 30, 2014 after a short illness in a nursing home in Sussex, England.- Karl Walter Diess was born on 25 January 1928 in Salzburg, Austria. He was an actor, known for Masters of the Universe (1984), Wallenstein (1978) and Der trojanische Krieg findet nicht statt (1964). He was married to Silvia Simon and Miriam Spoerri. He died on 30 March 2014 in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
John Pinette was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 23, 1964, the son of Robert Pinette Sr. and Louise Pitre (Petrie). His mother was of Acadian ancestry, with her parents both from the Canadian province of New Brunswick. He graduated from Malden Catholic High School in 1982. He was a practicing Catholic. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1986 with a degree in accounting. He started a six-month career in accounting but, on the advice of friends, left to pursue a career in comedy.
John Pinette was an American actor, Broadway performer, and stand-up comedian. He toured the comedy club circuit beginning in the 1980s and appeared in cinema and on television. Besides stand-up, Pinette did impressions of Michael Jackson, The Chipmunks, Elvis Presley, Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, Hervé Villechaize (Tattoo from Fantasy Island), an Ewok, actor Marlon Brando (notably Brando's role in The Godfather), as well as various ethnic accents. He occasionally sang, for example, "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, "Will You Be There" from Free Willy, and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," in his stand-up routines.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Mickey Rooney was born Joe Yule Jr. on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. He first took the stage as a toddler in his parents vaudeville act at 17 months old. He made his first film appearance in 1926. The following year, he played the lead character in the first Mickey McGuire short film. It was in this popular film series that he took the stage name Mickey Rooney. Rooney reached new heights in 1937 with A Family Affair, the film that introduced the country to Andy Hardy, the popular all-American teenager. This beloved character appeared in nearly 20 films and helped make Rooney the top star at the box office in 1939, 1940 and 1941. Rooney also proved himself an excellent dramatic actor as a delinquent in Boys Town (1938) starring Spencer Tracy. In 1938, he was awarded a Juvenile Academy Award.
Teaming up with Judy Garland, Rooney also appeared in a string of musicals, including Babes in Arms (1939) the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role, Strike Up the Band (1940), Babes on Broadway (1941), and Girl Crazy (1943). He and Garland immediately became best of friends. "We weren't just a team, we were magic," Rooney once said. During that time he also appeared with Elizabeth Taylor in the now classic National Velvet (1944). Rooney joined the service that same year, where he helped to entertain the troops and worked on the American Armed Forces Network. He returned to Hollywood after 21 months in Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946), did a remake of a Robert Taylor film, The Crowd Roars (1932) called Killer McCoy (1947) and portrayed composer Lorenz Hart in Words and Music (1948). He also appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. Rooney played Hepburn's Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi. A sign of the times, Rooney played the part for comic relief which he later regretted feeling the role was offensive. He once again showed his incredible range in the dramatic role of a boxing trainer with Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). In the late 1960s and 1970s Rooney showed audiences and critics alike why he was one of Hollywood's most enduring stars. He gave an impressive performance in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film The Black Stallion (1979), which brought him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He also turned to the stage in 1979 in Sugar Babies with Ann Miller, and was nominated for a Tony Award. During that time he also portrayed the Wizard in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with Eartha Kitt at New York's Madison Square Garden, which also had a successful run nationally.
Rooney appeared in four television series': The Mickey Rooney Show (1954) (1954-1955), a comedy sit-com in 1964 with Sammee Tong called Mickey, One of the Boys in 1982 with Dana Carvey and Nathan Lane, and The New Adventures of the Black Stallion (1990) from 1990-1993. In 1981, Rooney won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of a mentally challenged man in Bill (1981). The critical acclaim continued to flow for the veteran performer, with Rooney receiving an honorary Academy Award "in recognition of his 60 years of versatility in a variety of memorable film performances". More recently he has appeared in such films as Night at the Museum (2006) with Ben Stiller and The Muppets (2011) with Amy Adams and Jason Segel.
Rooney's personal life, including his frequent trips to the altar, has proved to be just as epic as his on-screen performances. His first wife was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, actress Ava Gardner. Mickey permanently separated from his eighth wife Jan in June of 2012. In 2011 Rooney filed elder abuse and fraud charges against stepson Christopher Aber and Aber's wife. At Rooney's request, the Superior Court issued a restraining order against the Aber's demanding they stay 100 yards from Rooney, as well as Mickey's other son Mark Rooney and Mark's wife Charlene. Just prior, Rooney mustered the strength to break his silence and appeared before the Senate in Washington D.C. telling of his own heartbreaking story of abuse in an effort to live a peaceful, full life and help others who may be similarly suffering in silence.
Rooney requested through the Superior Court to permanently reside with his son Mark Rooney, who is a musician and Marks wife Charlene, an artist, in the Hollywood Hills. He legally separated from his eighth wife in June of 2012. Ironically, after eight failed marriages he never looked or felt better and finally found happiness and peace in the single life. Mickey, Mark and Charlene focused on health, happiness and creative endeavors and it showed. Mickey Rooney had once again landed on his feet reminding us that he was a survivor. Rooney died on April 6th 2014. He was taking his afternoon nap and never woke. One week before his death Mark and Charlene surprised him by reunited him with a long lost love, the racetrack. He was ecstatic to be back after decades and ran into his old friends Mel Brooks and Dick Van Patten.- Peaches Geldof was born on 13 March 1989 in Westminster, London, England, UK. She was a writer, known for The King Is Dead (2010), 8 Out of 10 Cats (2005) and Celebrity Juice (2008). She was married to Thomas Cohen and Maxwell Drummey. She died on 7 April 2014 in Wrotham, Kent, England, UK.
- Standing out than the rest, Ultimate Warrior became one of the most popular wrestlers in the WWE (back then in the WWF). During his run from the 1980s-90s, Warrior became known for high high energy when running down to the ring with his music hits, shaking the ropes during his entrance, his signature move, the Gorilla Press Drop and the Big Splash, which seems that Warrior would be one the only non-heavyset built wrestler to use it.
Before reaching high status to become a main eventer in the WWE, Warrior became popular when he became a two-time Intercontinental Champion by defeating the Honky Tonk Man (Wayne Farris) (within 32 seconds at the first ever Summerslam in 1988) and Ravishing Rick Rude.
Warrior is now deceased. - Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Additional Crew
Ekkehard Böhmer was born on 8 June 1929 in Arnstadt, Germany. He was a director and assistant director, known for Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten (1969), Die glücklichen Vier (1957) and Karussell (1963). He was married to Alma. He died on 14 April 2014 in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Peter Schiff was born on 27 June 1923 in Neustrelitz, Germany. He was an actor, known for Die Koblanks (1979), Liebling Kreuzberg (1986) and Der kleine Mönch (2002). He was married to Gisela. He died on 16 April 2014 in Berlin, Germany.- Andréa Parisy was born on 4 December 1935 in Levallois-Perret, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France. She was an actress, known for Mayerling (1968), Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At! (1966) and Navarro (1989). She died on 27 April 2014 in Paris, France.
- Lee Marshall was born on 28 November 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Super Gran (1985), WCW Thunder (1998) and WCW Saturday Night (1985). He was married to Judie. He died on 26 April 2014 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Bob Hoskins was described by the director John Mackenzie as "an actor from the British tradition but with an almost American approach, an instinctive approach to acting and knowing how to work with the camera". He was born on October 26, 1942, in Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk, where his mother was living after being evacuated as a result of the heavy bombings. He is the son of Elsie Lillian (Hopkins), a nursery school teacher and cook, and Robert William Hoskins, Sr., who drove a lorry and worked as a bookkeeper. Growing up, Hoskins received only limited education and he left school at 15, but with a passion for language and literature instilled by his former English teacher.
A regular theatre-goer, Hoskins dreamed of starring on stage, but before he could do so he had to work odd jobs for a long time to make ends meet. His acting career started out more by accident than by design, when he accompanied a friend to watch some auditions, only to be confused for one of the people auditioning, getting a script pushed into his hands with the message "You're next". He got the part and acquired an agent. After some stage success, he expanded to television with roles in television series such as Villains (1972) and Thick as Thieves (1974). In the mid-'70s, he started his film career, standing out when he performed alongside Richard Dreyfuss in John Byrum's Inserts (1975) and in a smaller part in Richard Lester's Royal Flash (1975).
Hoskins broke through in 1978 in Dennis Potter's mini TV series, Pennies from Heaven (1978), playing "Arthur Parker", the doomed salesman. After this, a string of high-profile and successful films followed, starting with his true major movie debut in 1980's The Long Good Friday (1980) as the ultimately doomed "Harold Shand". This was followed by such works as The Cotton Club (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), which won him an Oscar nomination as well as a BAFTA award, Cannes Film Festival and Golden Globe), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (Golden Globe nomination), Mermaids (1990), Hook (1991), Nixon (1995), Felicia's Journey (1999) and Enemy at the Gates (2001).
Hoskins always carefully balanced the riches of Hollywood with the labor of independent film, though leaned more towards the latter than the former. He worked at smaller projects such as Shane Meadows' debut TwentyFourSeven (1997), in which he starred as "Allen Darcy". Besides this, he found time to direct, write and star in The Raggedy Rawney (1988), as well as direct and star in Rainbow (1995), and contributing to HBO's Tales from the Crypt (1989) and Tube Tales (1999).
Suffering from Parkinson's disease in later years, Hoskins died of pneumonia at age 71 in a London hospital.- Writer
- Actor
- Composer
Heinz Schenk was born on 11 December 1924 in Mainz, Germany. He was a writer and actor, known for Kein Pardon (1993), Der Geizhals (1992) and Der eingebildete Kranke (1996). He was married to Gerti Schenk. He died on 1 May 2014 in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany.- Actor
- Soundtrack
It's hardly surprising that the son of renowned Russian-born concert violinist Efrem Zimbalist Sr. (1889-1985) and Romanian-born opera singer Alma Gluck (1884-1938) would desire a performing career of some kind. Born in New York City on November 30, 1918, surrounded by people of wealth and privilege throughout his childhood, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. received a boarding school education. Acting in school plays, he later trained briefly at the Yale School of Drama but didn't apply himself enough and quit. As an NBC network radio page, he auditioned when he could and found minor TV and stock theatre parts while joining up with the Neighborhood Playhouse.
Following WWII war service with the Army infantry in which he was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded, a director and friend of the family, Garson Kanin, gave the aspiring actor his first professional role in his Broadway production of "The Rugged Path" (1945) which starred Spencer Tracy. With his dark, friendly, clean-scrubbed good looks and a deep, rich voice that could cut butter, Zimbalist found little trouble finding work. He continued with the American Repertory Theatre performing in such classics as "Henry VIII" and "Androcles and the Lion" while appearing opposite the legendary Eva Le Gallienne in "Hedda Gabler".
Zimbalist then tried his hand as a stage producer, successfully bringing opera to Broadway audiences for the first time with memorable presentations of "The Medium" and "The Telephone". As producer of Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Consul", he won the New York Drama Critic's Award and the Pulitzer Prize for best musical in 1950. An auspicious film debut opposite Edward G. Robinson in House of Strangers (1949) brought little career momentum due to the untimely death of his wife Emily (a onetime actress who appeared with him in "Hedda Gabler" and bore him two children, Nancy and Efrem III) to cancer in 1950. Making an abrupt decision to abandon acting, he served as assistant director/researcher at the Curtis School of Music for his father and buried himself with studies and music composition.
In 1954, Efrem returned to acting and copped a daytime television soap lead (Concerning Miss Marlowe (1954)). It was famed director Joshua Logan who proved instrumental in helping Zimbalist secure a Warner Bros. contract. Despite forthright second leads in decent films such as Band of Angels (1957) with Clark Gable and Yvonne De Carlo; Too Much, Too Soon (1958) starring Dorothy Malone and Errol Flynn; Home Before Dark (1958) with Jean Simmons and Rhonda Fleming; The Crowded Sky (1960) with Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, Troy Donahue and Anne Francis; A Fever in the Blood (1961) opposite Angie Dickinson and (his best) Wait Until Dark (1967) with Audrey Hepburn, it was television that made the better use of his refined, unshowy acting style. His roles as smooth private investigator Stu Bailey on 77 Sunset Strip (1958) and dogged inspector Lewis Erskine on The F.B.I. (1965) would be his ultimate claims to fame.
A perfect gentleman on and off camera, Zimbalist's severest critics tend to deem his performances bland and undernourished. Managing to override such criticisms, he maintained a sturdy career for nearly six decades. In 1991, he made fun of his all-serious reputation and pulled off a Leslie Nielsen-like role in the comedy parody Hot Shots! (1991). In addition to theater projects over the years, he has made fine use of his mellifluous baritone performing narrations and cartoon voiceovers, including that of Alfred the butler on a "Batman" animated series.
In 2003, he completed his memoirs, entitled "My Dinner of Herbs". The father of three, grandfather of four and great-grandfather of three, he settled in Santa Barbara and later in Solvang, California with longtime second wife Stephanie until her death in 2007 of cancer. Their daughter, also named Stephanie (Stephanie Zimbalist), is the well-known actress who appeared with Pierce Brosnan in the Remington Steele (1982) television series, in which Zimbalist had a recurring role. He and his daughter also appeared on stage together in his later years, their first being "The Night of the Iguana". His eldest daughter Nancy died in 2012.
Zimbalist died peacefully at his Solvang home of natural causes at the age of 95 on May 2, 2014; he had been outside watering his lawn at his Solvang, Calif., ranch when a handyman found him lying dead in the grass. "He was healthy, playing golf three days a week, and always in his garden," Zimbalist's son said.- Additional Crew
- Art Department
- Director
H.R. Giger was born on 5 February 1940 in Chur, Switzerland. He was a director, known for Alien (1979), Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens (1986). He was married to Carmen Maria Scheifele and Mia Bonzanigo. He died on 12 May 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland.- Rolf Boysen was born on 31 March 1920 in Flensburg, Germany. He was an actor, known for Das Vergnügen, anständig zu sein (1966), Pontius Pilatus (1966) and Michael Kohlhaas (1969). He died on 16 May 2014 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
- Cinematographer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Gordon Willis was an American cinematographer. He's best known for his work on Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather films, as well asWoody Allen's Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979).
His work on the first two Godfather films turned out to be groundbreaking in its use of low-light photography and underexposed film, as well as in his control of lighting and exposure to create the sepia tones that denoted period scenes in The Godfather Part II (1974).
In the seven-year period up to 1977, Willis was the director of photography on six films that received among them 39 Academy Award nominations, winning 19 times, including three awards for Best Picture. During this time he did not receive a single nomination for Best Cinematography.
He directed one film of his own, Windows (1980). His last film as a cinematographer was The Devil's Own (1997), directed by Alan J. Pakula.
Willis died of cancer on May 18, 2014, ten days before his 83rd birthday, at the age of 82.- Matthew Cowles was born on 28 September 1944 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Shutter Island (2010), All My Children (1970) and City by the Sea (2002). He was married to Christine Baranski and Kathleen Dezina. He died on 22 May 2014 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Klaus Herm was born on 13 January 1925 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Schwarz greift ein (1994), Das Traumauto (1988) and Aufs ganze (1989). He was married to Astrid. He died on 24 May 2014 in Berlin, Germany.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
A professional model while still in high school, Mona Freeman was signed to a movie contract by Howard Hughes, who then proceeded to sell her contract to Paramount. Starting out in typical juvenile parts, she developed into a very competent actress. As she worked her way out of the teenage ingénue role, however, she found that she had less success in adult roles, and instead of landing parts in "A" pictures she found herself relegated to "B" westerns and somewhat tawdry crime dramas (e.g., Flesh and Fury (1952), Shadow of Fear (1955)). She basically retired from film work in the late 1950s, but worked steadily in television for quite some time after that.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Michael Gottlieb was born on 12 April 1945. Michael was a director and producer, known for Mannequin (1987), Mr. Nanny (1993) and A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995). Michael died on 23 May 2014 in La Cañada Flintridge, California, USA.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
The son of conductor Karl Böhm began his acting career on stage in Germany. In Europe, he is still best known for his role in the Sissi (1955) series, although he later starred in several movies of cult director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. After 1981, he was exclusively involved in charitable work in Ethiopia.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ann B. Davis made her debut in show business at age 6 earning $2.00 in a puppet show. At the University of Michigan, Ann planned to study medicine but got the acting bug from her brother who was the lead dancer in the national company of "Oklahoma" for over a year. Ann then spent six years in little theaters, stock companies, touring musicals, and such until she got her break as "Schultzie", the secretary on "The Bob Cummings Show." Before Hollywood, Ann spent a summer at the Cain Park Theater and, during a year at the Erie Playhouse in Erie, Pennsylvania, she studied everything about show production and played dozens of roles ranging from teenagers to characters over 60. In 1949, she arrived at Porterville, California and spent three years at the Barn theater.
She then moved down the coast to Monterey, where she appeared at the Wharf theater. From there she decided to try Hollywood. Anne has also played many parts on stage including "The Women", "Twelfth Night", "Dark Of The Moon", and others. Her mother, Marguerite Scott Davis, appeared with professional stock companies for over thirty years.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Karlheinz Hackl was born on 16 May 1949 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor and director, known for Sophie's Choice (1982), Tatort (1970) and Radetzkymarsch (1994). He was married to Maria Köstlinger and Brigitta Furgler. He died on 1 June 2014 in Vienna, Austria.- Jacques Herlin was born on 17 August 1927 in Le Vésinet, Yvelines, France. He was an actor, known for National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991) and A Good Year (2006). He died on 7 June 2014 in Paris, France.
- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Rik Mayall, one of the first and foremost alternative comedians in the UK, was born in Matching Tye, a village just outside Harlow in Essex. His parents, John and Gillian, were both drama teachers. His acting debut was at the age of seven when he appeared in one of his father's stage plays. He met his comedy partner and best friend Adrian "Ade" Edmondson at Manchester University in 1975. Soon, the duo began performing together as a comedy act called "Twentieth Century Coyote" at the now legendary Comedy Store in London. They later moved their act to a venue called "The Comic Strip" and it was there that they were discovered by producer Paul Jackson. Rik and his friends, including Adrian Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Alexei Sayle, Peter Richardson, and Nigel Planer were boomed onto television screens with immense success. He wrote The Young Ones (1982) with Ben Elton and Lise Mayer. You loved it or hated it, but you can't deny the impact it had on British sitcoms.
His career was launched, and, aged 24, he became one of the most popular comedians in Britain. He wrote and starred in various other television programmes and films over the years such as The New Statesman (1987); his role in it as Alan B'Stard earned him a BAFTA. He had his brief touch of Hollywood in 1991 when he starred as the title role in Drop Dead Fred (1991), but he soon returned to the British TV screens with Bottom (1991) a show which only ran for 3 seasons from 1991 to 1995 but was so popular that he and "Ade" toured with live shows based on the series around Britain every two years or so up until 2014.
In 1998, he suffered a severe accident and ended up in a coma after he crashed with his quad-bike at his farm in Devon. Luckily, he recovered and starred in films and shows such as Guest House Paradiso (1999) and Day of the Sirens (2002). In 2002, he proved that he was back and ready for action in the comedy series Believe Nothing (2002), which reunited him with Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the writers of "The New Statesman". In 2003, he toured the UK alongside "Ade" with the fifth Bottom Live show.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Martha Hyer was born on August 10, 1924 in Fort Worth, Texas. Once she finished her formal schooling, Martha played a bit role in 1946's The Locket (1946). Slowly, Martha began picking up roles with more and more substance. The best years for the beautiful actress began in 1954 when she played in films such as Down Three Dark Streets (1954), Showdown at Abilene (1956) and Battle Hymn (1957). Perhaps the best role of her long career was as "Gwen French" in 1958's Some Came Running (1958) in which she starred opposite Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine. As a result of her stellar role, Martha received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, but she lost out to Wendy Hiller in Separate Tables (1958). Afterwards, Martha's stint on the US silver screen's trailed off some. She did make a handful of foreign films, returning to appear in the US from time to time, but nothing compared to the pace she had in the fifties. Her last film was in 1973 in the film The Day of the Wolves (1971). In 1966, she married producer Hal B. Wallis and remained with him until his death in 1986.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Ruby Dee was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist and civil rights activist. She is best known for originating the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun (1961).
She also starred in The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Cat People (1982), Do the Right Thing (1989), and American Gangster (2007).
Her film debut was That Man of Mine (1946).
For her performance as Mahalee Lucas in American Gangster (2007), she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. As of 2019, she stands as the second oldest nominee for Best Supporting Actress, behind Gloria Stuart who was 87 when nominated for her role in Titanic for the 70th Academy Awards, 1998.
Dee died on June 11, 2014, at her home in New Rochelle, New York, from natural causes at the age of 91.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Born an entertainer, Casey reigns from Michigan, the same birthplace for fellow Shaggy voice actor Matthew Lillard (whom both Casey and Matthew do a very fine, smashing job voicing the iconic character). Debuted as a radio operator and legendary disc jockey in his early days, he was the greatest and most likely the best one seen in recent years. Having an iconic voice and a set of vocal cords, Casey pleased the audience through radio and voice. Casey hit the big time in the early 60's with voicing both major and minor roles in television series, until Hanna-Barbera released, then later debuted, the same role he characterized his career off of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, in which he had the pleasure of working with legendary voice actors Don Messick and Hal Smith. For over 3 decades, he co-founded and hosted American Top 40, which aired the top songs of the week. In his later years, he spent his time with his friends and family, in the way he could showcase with love, passion, and voicing. He died on June 15th, 2014. He was 82 years old. He will be forever missed in the hearts of fans around the world.- Uwe Paulsen was born on 22 April 1944 in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He was an actor, known for Warum die UFOs unseren Salat klauen (1980), Intimità proibita di una giovane sposa (1970) and Die Koblanks (1979). He died on 5 June 2014 in Berlin, Germany.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Francis Joseph Matthews was born in York to Kathleen, nee Empson and Henry Ernest Matthews and was educated at St Georges School in York and St Michaels Jesuit College in Leeds and did some work at Leeds Repertory Theatre before doing his National Service in the Royal Navy after which he did repertory at various theatres including 2 years at the Oxford Playhouse. In 1962 he went to the Hebrides to film Shark Island, a six part series for the BBC and was picked up from the airport by the actress Angela Browne who he married the following year and had 3 sons,Paul, Dominic and Damien. Gerry Anderson was planning a television puppet television series when he heard Francis on the radio doing a Cary Grant voice and liked the transatlantic sound of his voice and asked him to provide the voice of Captain Scarlett in the television puppet series he was preparing. He has an actor brother, Paul Shelley and a sister, Maura. Another brother, Anthony, predeceased them.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Writer
Nick Nostro was born on 21 April 1931 in Gioia Tauro, Calabria, Italy. He was an assistant director and director, known for Il trionfo dei dieci gladiatori (1964), Operation Counterspy (1965) and Revenge of the Black Knight (1963). He died on 15 June 2014 in Gioia Tauro, Calabria, Italy.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
One of Hollywood's finest character / "Method" actors, Eli Wallach was in demand for over 60 years (first film/TV role was 1949) on stage and screen, and has worked alongside the world's biggest stars, including Clark Gable, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, Peter O'Toole, and Al Pacino, to name but a few.
Wallach was born on 7 December 1915 in Brooklyn, NY, to Jewish parents who emigrated from Poland, and was one of the few Jewish kids in his mostly Italian neighborhood. His parents, Bertha (Schorr) and Abraham Wallach, owned a candy store, Bertha's Candy Store. He went on to graduate with a B.A. from the University of Texas in Austin, but gained his dramatic training with the Actors Studio and the Neighborhood Playhouse. He made his debut on Broadway in 1945, and won a Tony Award in 1951 for portraying Alvaro Mangiacavallo in the Tennessee Williams play "The Rose Tattoo".
Wallach made a strong screen debut in 1956 in the film version of the Tennessee Williams play Baby Doll (1956), shined as "Dancer", the nattily dressed hitman, in director Don Siegel's film-noir classic The Lineup (1958), and co-starred in the heist film Seven Thieves (1960). Director John Sturges then cast Wallach as vicious Mexican bandit Calvera in The Magnificent Seven (1960), the western adaptation of the Akira Kurosawa epic Seven Samurai (1954). The Misfits (1961), in the star-spangled western opus How the West Was Won (1962), the underrated WW2 film The Victors (1963), as a kidnapper in The Moon-Spinners (1964), in the sea epic Lord Jim (1965) and in the romantic comedy How to Steal a Million (1966).
Looking for a third lead actor in the final episode of the "Dollars Trilogy", Italian director Sergio Leone cast the versatile Wallach as the lying, two-faced, money-hungry (but somehow lovable) bandit "Tuco" in the spectacular The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) (aka "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"), arguably his most memorable performance. Wallach kept busy throughout the remainder of the '60s and into the '70s with good roles in Mackenna's Gold (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), Crazy Joe (1974), The Deep (1977) and as Steve McQueen's bail buddy in The Hunter (1980).
The 1980s was an interesting period for Wallach, as he was regularly cast as an aging doctor, a Mafia figure or an over-the-hill hitman, such as in The Executioner's Song (1982), Our Family Honor (1985), Tough Guys (1986), Nuts (1987), The Two Jakes (1990) and as the candy-addicted "Don Altabello" in The Godfather Part III (1990). At 75+ years of age, Wallach's quality of work was still first class and into the 1990s and beyond, he has remained in demand. He lent fine support to Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (1990), Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992), Naked City: Justice with a Bullet (1998) and Keeping the Faith (2000). Most recently Wallach showed up as a fast-talking liquor store owner in Mystic River (2003) and in the comedic drama King of the Corner (2004).
In early 2005, Eli Wallach released his much anticipated autobiography, "The Good, The Bad And Me: In My Anecdotage", an enjoyable reading from one of the screen's most inventive and enduring actors.
Eli Wallach was very much a family man who remained married to his wife Anne Jackson for 66 years. When Wallach died at 98, in 2014, in Manhattan, NY, he was survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.- Additional Crew
- Writer
- Composer
Mary Rodgers was born on 11 January 1931 in New York City, New York, USA. She was a writer and composer, known for Freaky Friday (2003), Freaky Friday (1976) and Billions for Boris (1985). She was married to Henry Arthur Guettel and Julian Bonar Beaty Jr. She died on 26 June 2014 in New York, New York, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Surrounded by four dazzling Southern-styled ladies on the hit sitcom Designing Women (1986), genial African-American actor Meshach Taylor made a name for himself as the beleaguered male foil consistently at the mercy of the title gals' antics during its popular 7-season run.
The Boston-born actor who entered life on April 11, 1947, was raised in New Orleans and Indianapolis (Crispus Attucks High School) and took an early interest in acting back in high school. He first studied drama at Ohio's Wilmington College before transferring to Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Florida.
Gaining experience back at an Indianapolis radio station as a State House political correspondent and in repertory theater. His first professional break came in with a national tour of the musical "Hair." He eventually became a member of both Chicago's Goodman Theatre and the Organic Theatre group. One of his stage performances, "Sizwe Banzi Is Dead," earned him Chicago theater's Joseph Jefferson Award. Taylor transported himself to Los Angeles in the 78 and found minor work in a few of the popular horror films of the day: Damien: Omen II (1978), The Howling (1981) and The Beast Within (1982), and also started to make the typical rounds on popular TV shows including "Barney Miller," "Lou Grant" and "M*A*S*H."
After a regular part on the promising, but short-lived Buffalo Bill (1983), he nabbed the Emmy-nominated role of Anthony Bouvier, the jailbird-turned-assistant to Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart and Dixie Carter. Originally a guest part at the beginning, he proved popular with audiences and the show progressed his character and was eventually made a full partner of the ladies' designer firm.
Following this success, Taylor moved straight into four seasons with the sitcom Dave's World (1993) as a poker-playing buddy/neighbor to Harry Anderson. His film and TV load has been fairly lightweight overall with routine turns in such comedy fare as Mannequin (1987) and Class Act (1992), an Olsen twins mini-movie, and as a regular panelist on a revamped version of To Tell the Truth (2000). One of his brighter moments (literally) was playing the role of Lumiere in Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast."
His later career was comprised of lowbudget comedy films such as Jacks or Better (2000), Friends and Family (2001), Club Fiji (2008), as well as horror/drama including Tranced (2010), Wigger (2010) and Hyenas (2011). He was occasionally seen as a guest on the small screen in such shows as "The Drew Carey Show," "Hannah Montana," "Jessie" and, his last, "Criminal Minds," as well as a regular role in the series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2004), which lasted three seasons.
After his 11-year marriage to Sandra Taylor ended in 1980, Meshach married actress Bianca Taylor ("General Hospital") in 1983 and had three children. He had one child from his first marriage. In addition to daughters Tamar, Yasmine and Esme and son Tariq, he has a sister, Judith, and brother, Hussain, a private investigator in the Los Angeles area, as well as four grandchildren. His father, Joseph, was a Dean at Indiana University and his mother, Hertha, a school teacher in Indianapolis, Indiana. Taylor died at age 67 of colorectal cancer on June 28 2014, in the Los Angeles area (Altadena). Terminally ill and extremely weak, he nevertheless flew with his children to Indiana just one week before his death to celebrate the centennial birthday of his mother. He was interred at Forest Lawn in Glendale, CA.- Frank M. Robinson was born on 9 August 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Towering Inferno (1974), Hunting Season and The Power (1968). He died on 30 June 2014 in San Francisco, California, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Paul Mazursky was born on 25 April 1930 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for An Unmarried Woman (1978), Harry and Tonto (1974) and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). He was married to Betsy Mazursky. He died on 30 June 2014 in Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bob Hastings got his show business start in radio after WWII as the voice of "Archie Andrews" in the show of the same name (a spin-off of the Archie Comics series) on the Mutual Broadcasting System. The good-looking Hastings made the transition to television smoothly in 1949 in early galactic-action series like Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949) and Atom Squad (1953). His first semi-recurring role was as either a sergeant or a lieutenant on The Phil Silvers Show (1955) (aka "Sgt. Bilko"). Overall, he appeared in eight episodes but interestingly always with a different character name though basically the same demeanor.
Most of his career has been spent in television, and he's notable for roles such as Captain Binghamton's yes-man "Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter" on McHale's Navy (1962), one of the two Tommy Kelsey's on All in the Family (1971), and "Captain Ramsey" on General Hospital (1963). Hastings has also done much voice work, including that of "The Raven" on The Munsters (1964), "Superboy" on the The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967) cartoons in the 1960s and, in recent years, the voice of "Commissioner Gordon" on the animated Batman: The Animated Series (1992) cartoons.- Horst Bollmann was born on 11 February 1925 in Dessau, Germany. He was an actor, known for Das ausgefüllte Leben des Alexander Dubronski (1967), Wie ein Blitz (1970) and Tatort (1970). He was married to Hetty Jockenhöfer. He died on 7 July 2014 in Berlin, Germany.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Ken Thorne was born on 26 January 1924 in East Dereham, Norfolk, England, UK. He was a composer, known for Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and U-571 (2000). He was married to Linda Hays. He died on 9 July 2014 in West Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Rosemary Murphy was born on 13 January 1925 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. She was an actress, known for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Eleanor and Franklin (1976) and After.Life (2009). She was married to Reginald Marsh. She died on 5 July 2014 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Writer
A brash, sharp-tongued, incorrigible actress/singer who led a six decade career that contained many highs and lows, veteran Elaine Stritch's raucous six-decade career certainly lived up well to the Stephen Sondheim song lyrics "I'm Still Here." A popular, magnetic performer, she stole so many moments on stage she could have been convicted of grand larceny This tough old bird approached her octogenarian years with still-shapely legs, a puffy blonde hairdo, a deep, whiskey voice and enough sardonic bluster and bravado to convince anyone that she would be around forever.
The Detroit-born (February 2, 1925) Elaine Stritch was the daughter of a B.F. Goodrich executive, of Irish/Welsh heritage, and the youngest of three sisters. Educated locally at Sacred Heart Convent and Duschesne Residence Finishing School, she prepared for the stage at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School where fellow "school mates" included Marlon Brando. She made her first appearance at the New School as a tiger and a cow in a 1944 children's production entitled "Babino," then followed it the following year with the part of a parlor maid in "The Private Life of the Master Race."
Elaine made it to Broadway in October 1946 as "Pamela Brewster" in "Loco" at the Biltmore Theatre. Taking over the part of "Miss Crowder" in "Made in Heaven" after that, she finished off the decade appearing in such theatre productions as "Three Indelicate Ladies," "The Little Foxes" (as Regina), the revue "Angel in the Wings" and "Yes M'Lord."
From the 1950's on, Elaine would become the toast of both Broadway and (later) London's West End, earning award-worthy acclaim on both continents over the years. Starting with a tour of "Pal Joey" (as Melba) in 1952, she followed this success with such shows as "Call Me Madam" (as Sally); "On Your Toes" (as Peggy); "Bus Stop" (Tony nom: as waitress Grace), "The Sin of Pat Muldoon" (as Gertrude); "Goldilocks" (as Maggie); "Sail Away!" (Tony nom, and also London debut as Mimi); "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (as Martha); "The King and I" (as Anna); "The Grass Harp" (as Babylove); "Wonderful Town" (as Ruth); "Private Lives" (as Amanda); "Mame" (as Vera, then Mame); "Company" (Tony-nom: as Joanne); "Small Craft Warnings" (as Leona); "The Gingerbread Lady" (as Evy); "Show Boat" (Drama Desk Award: as Parthy); and "A Delcate Balance" (Tony-nom, Drama Desk Award: as Claire). Through sheer personality alone, her cacophonous singing voice miraculously took classic songs from, among others, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart to Noël Coward and Stephen Sondheim and put her own indelibly raucous stamp on them.
Oddly, Elaine never made the same kind of impact on film. Nevertheless, she appeared in an armful of supports over the years, growing increasingly abrasive, in such movies as The Scarlet Hour (1956), Three Violent People (1956), A Farewell to Arms (1957), The Perfect Furlough (1958), Kiss Her Goodbye (1959), Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965), Too Many Thieves (1966), The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker (1970), The Spiral Staircase (1975), Providence (1977), September (1987), Cocoon: The Return (1988), Cadillac Man (1990), Out to Sea (1997), Krippendorf's Tribe (1998), Screwed (2000), Small Time Crooks (2000); Autumn in New York (2000), Monster-in-Law (2005), ParaNorman (2012) and River of Fundament (2014)
The actress fared somewhat better on early TV. She appeared as one of the Paynes in the early Dumont family comedy series The Growing Paynes (1948), and made appearances on several anthology series ("Kraft Theatre," "Goodyear Playhouse," "The Alcoa Hour," "The Dupont Show of the Month"). A few guest spots also decorated her small screen resume, including "Mister Peepers," "Adventures in Paradise" and "Wagon Train". In the 60's, Elaine returned to the series format, but only enjoyed single season life on three: My Sister Eileen (1960), as Ruth Sherwood; the acclaimed The Trials of O'Brien (1965) as lawyer Peter Falk's secretary "Miss G."; and as Ellen Burstyn's derisive mother on The Ellen Burstyn Show (1986).
In 1973, Elaine married English actor John Bay and moved to London. While there she appeared in a number of plays/musicals and then played an American authoress in the British comedy series Two's Company (1975) co-starring Donald Sinden as the butler. When she returned to America in the early 80's, she returned alone.
At age 76, a razor-sharp Elaine captivated audiences in a candid one woman musical stage memoir that would win her the Tony, Drama Desk, Obie, Outer Circle Critics and New York Drama Critics awards. Elaine Stritch at Liberty (2002) show also chronicled her notorious private life, combative nature, which included a long bout with the bottle (to curb her stage fright), and a destructive relationship with fellow alcoholic Gig Young. Add to that a fair share of Hollywood gossip all cleverly packaged up with raw wit and show-stopping patter songs and you had quintessential Elaine Stritch. Truly one of a kind, she would eventually be inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995.
Other memorable TV appearances included her Aunt Polly in the mini-series Pollyanna (1973); a 1984 continuing role on the daytime soaper The Edge of Night (1956); the role of Ouisar in the TV movie version of Steel Magnolias (1990); and three Emmy Award-winning portrayals -- as a guest on "Law & Order," for the 2004 TV documentary of her one-woman triumph, and for a recurring character on the hit sitcom 30 Rock (2006).
A diabetic, it took stomach cancer to finally slow this woman down at the end, dying at age 89 on July 17, 2014, at her Michigan home.