Deaths: February 27
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- Writer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Born in Fort Pierce, Florida, Ricou Browning grew up in nearby Jensen Beach and went on to study physical education at Florida State university. He got a career start diving and springboard diving in local water shows. By the time he was in his early 20s, he was producing underwater shows at Weeki Wachee Springs and topside water shows at Rainbow Springs and other locations. After playing the Gill Men in the underwater scenes of Universal's Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and its sequels (Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)), he got into the swim of film and TV production as a result of an encounter with producer Ivan Tors; Browning ended up president of Tors' Florida studios (he was involved on Tors' Sea Hunt (1958), The Aquanauts (1960) and Flipper (1963) movies and TV series, etc.) He has also worked as a second unit director (above and below water), producer, writer, stunt man and stunt coordinator.- Alki Zei was born on 15 December 1925 in Athens, Greece. She was a writer, known for O pseftis pappous (2008), To kaplani tis vitrinas (1990) and O barba Mytousis (1966). She was married to Giorgos Sevastikoglou. She died on 27 February 2020 in Athens, Greece.
- Anyone who loves B-movies of the 1950s appreciates this lovely actress Allison Hayes. She was born Mary Jane Hayes on March 6, 1930 in Charleston, West Virginia. The auburn-haired beauty was the 1949 Washington, D.C. entry into the Miss America pageant. Shortly afterwards, Mary Jane adopted the familiar first name of Allison. She got her start on local Washington television before heading to Hollywood in the early 1950s. Allison began her career with Universal Pictures; the studio groomed her, but only on the path of B-movies. In her film debut, Francis Joins the WACS (1954), she was a supporting actress to the speaking mule, which had the title role. She played the devilishly alluring "Livia" in The Undead (1957), and co-starred with B-movie legend Tor Johnson in The Unearthly (1957).
Allison achieved film immortality in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958), in which she tore the roof off the place, and killed rival Yvette Vickers. After that, Allison was a staple in classic B-grade horror films. She was in the exploitation classic The Hypnotic Eye (1960), which had a trailer showing an alleged hypnotist mesmerizing a volunteer as he stuck long needles in her arms (this was some of the typical ballyhoo going on at the time). However, Allison was a versatile actress; she did drama very well, as when she guest-starred on the television series The Untouchables (1959), in the highly-rated episode, The Rusty Heller Story (1960).
Allison had a flair for comedy, which she demonstrated when she appeared in the Dean Martin film, Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963). Her last film appearance was with "The King", himself, Elvis Presley in Tickle Me (1965), with a hilarious script by the legendary writer Elwood Ullman. However, Allison's health declined steadily throughout the 1960s. Her death on February 27, 1977 was due either to leukemia or lead poisoning (due to doctor-prescribed calcium supplements). Allison Hayes died far too young; her fans will forever remember her legacy in films. - Immediately after her victory in the world of beauty, the world of cinema took interest in her. In Wholesome Married Life, directed by Roberto Bodegas and written by José Luis Garci, she played the temptress of José Sacristán, a married man obsessed with publicity. In Tocata y fuga de Lolita, by Antonio Drove, she was the rebellious girl who displayed her beautiful bust, a big contributor to the movie's popularity. In the 70's, Spanish cinema was at the height of destape [double meaning: "liberalization" and "nudity"], and the splendid figure of Amparo Muñoz found 9 titles in which to reveal itself, including Sensualidad (Germán Lorente, 1975), Clara is the Price (Vicente Aranda, 1975), and The Other Bedchamber (Eloy de la Iglesia, 1976).
After appearances in Volvoreta (José Antonio Nieves Conde, 1976), Mauricio, mon amour (Juan Bosch, 1976), Acto de posesión (Javier Aguirre, 1977), and Del amor y de la muerte (Antonio Giménez Rico, 1977), among other films, her cinematic career took a notable turn when she began a relationship with the producer Elías Querejeta, facilitating her appearances in films as important as Mama's 100th Birthday (Carlos Saura, 1979) and Dedicatoria (Jaime Chávarri, 1980), which called her to the attention of other directors in both Spain and Mexico, such as Felipe Cazals (The Seven Cuckoos), Antonio Artero (Take That, Bitch), Pilar Miró (We Will Speak Tonight), Fernando Méndez-Leite (Summertime Sonata), Jaime Camino (The Open Balcony), Emilio Martínez Lázaro (Lulú of the Night), Imanol Uribe (The Black Moon), and Fernando León de Aranoa (Familia). - Braian Toledo was born on 8 September 1993 in Marcos Paz, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died on 27 February 2020 in Marcos Paz, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Burkhard Driest was born on 28 April 1939 in Stettin, Pomerania, Germany [now Szczecin, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland]. He was an actor and writer, known for Querelle (1982), Annas Mutter (1984) and Cross of Iron (1977). He was married to Bettina and ???. He died on 27 February 2020 in Berlin, Germany.- Writer
- Animation Department
- Art Department
Burny Mattinson's helmed the Academy Award-nominated 1983 animated featurette "Mickey's Christmas Carol." In 1986, wrote, produced and directed "The Great Mouse Detective." Mattinson's worked on"Sleeping Beauty," "101 Dalmatians," "The Sword in the Stone," "The Jungle Book," "The Aristocats" and "The Rescuers." He was a key story team member on Disney's contemporary classics: "Aladdin," "Beauty & the Beast," "The Lion King, "Pocahontas," "Mulan," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Tarzan." Mattinson joined Disney in 1953 at age 18 without formal art training, and started work as an in-betweener for "Lady and the Tramp" less than 6 months later.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Dale Robertson, the actor who made his name in television Westerns in the 1950s and '60s, was born on July 14, 1923, in Harrah, Oklahoma. After serving in a tank crew and in the combat engineers in North Africa and Europe during World War II, the twice-wounded Robertson started his acting career while still on active duty in the U.S. Army. While stationed at San Luis Obispo, California, had a photograph taken for his mother. A copy of the photo displayed in the photo shop window attracted movie scouts, and the six foot tall, 180-lb. Robertson soon was on his way to Hollywood. Will Rogers Jr., whose father is the most famous son of Oklahoma, told him to avoid formal training and keep his own persona. Robertson took his advice and avoided acting classes.
Robertson was typecast in Western movies and TV shows when the genre was still America's favorite. He headlined two TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo (1957), in which he played the roving trouble-shooter Jim Hardie, and Iron Horse (1966), in which he won a railway in a poker game. He also served as one of the hosts, along with Ronald Reagan, of the syndicated series Death Valley Days (1952) during the 1960s. Robertson later appeared in the inaugural season of Dynasty (1981).
Robertson is a recipient of the Golden Boot Award in 1985, and was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers and the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. He is retired on a ranch near Oklahoma City, not far from his birthplace of Harrah.- David Callister was born on 23 March 1935 in Isle of Man, UK. He was an actor, known for Amy (2013). He was married to Ann Popplewell . He died on 27 February 2020 in the UK.
- Actor
- Producer
Talented American leading and supporting actor, though often underrated, David Huffman was a familiar face in films and on television in the 1970s and 80s. The great success he had achieved, was cut short after he was tragically murdered in 1985.
He had been appearing on Broadway for a number of years and often seen in supporting parts in television films and shows. He became known after taking the title role in the 1979 made for TV historical film "Tom Edison: The Boy Who Lit Up the World". Huffman's performance led to a short, but successful career of leading and supporting roles in films such as "Ice Castles", "F.I.S.T.", "Blood Beach", "St. Helens" and "Firefox". He was married to Phyllis Huffman and had two children.
In 1985, he was murdered by a thief in San Diego, California. After bringing cookies to say farewell to his "Of Mice and Men" cast-mates at the Old Globe Theater, he spotted and chased the thief (who had broken into a Canadian couple's motor-home) into a Balboa Park canyon. He was subsequently stabbed twice with a screwdriver. The murderer was sentenced to 26 years in prison in 1986. David was to begin the TV miniseries "North and South" the following week. He was 39 years old.- Producer
- Actor
- Director
Spent some summers interning in Europe studying art and architecture - Barcelona & Florence. Studied aesthetics and philosophy of art at Rutgers U., ethics and hermeneutics at Temple U. and working on a PhD in philosophy of film as a language. Teaches film at a performing arts school in New Jersey and helps young artists get their short films entered into film festivals. Received teaching degree from Stockton University where he is an adjunct professor in film. Formed Ningun Films after graduate professor said "you are a nobody and will always be a nobody!" ["Ningun" means "no one" in Catalan - the area DVR spent his summers in the 80's.] Formed Luck Films while filming in Luck, Texas with Willie Nelson, Kerry Wallum, Norman Macera and Scott McCauley. [Willie's mule, "Willimina" is also a silent partner.] Developing and producing feature narrative films as well as documentaries that promote positive social change for mankind, the planet and animal rights causes.- Enrique Castro Quini was born on 23 September 1949 in Oviedo, Spain. He died on 27 February 2018 in Gijón, Asturias, Spain.
- Felipe Solano is known for Grosso guaio a Cartagena (1987), Pretty María (1995) and Escalona (1992).
- Francisco de Paula was born in 1913 in Laboulaye, Córdoba, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Despertar a la vida (1945), El hombre que volvió de la muerte (1969) and Pimienta (1966). He was married to Delfy de Ortega. He died on 27 February 1985 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Director
Frank Alesia was born on 4 January 1944 in Park Ridge, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Pajama Party (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) and Bikini Beach (1964). He was married to Sharon Mae Lubin Alpert. He died on 27 February 2011 in Carlsbad, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Fred Rogers was the host of the popular long-running public television children's show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. The show debuted in Pittsburgh in 1967 and was picked up by PBS the next year, becoming a staple of public TV stations around the United States. Rogers' mild manner, cardigan sweaters and soft speaking voice made him both widely beloved and widely parodied. Rogers ended production of the show in 2001, but reruns of the show continued to be aired on many PBS stations. He died in 2003 after a short battle with stomach cancer.- Producer
- Director
- Editor
Gary Winick was born on 31 March 1961 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Tadpole (2002), Charlotte's Web (2006) and The Tic Code (1998). He died on 27 February 2011 in New York City, New York, USA.- Balding, often moustachioed Brooklyn-born Eugene Dynarski was a prolific character actor of Polish ancestry. He moved to California in 1957 after serving in the U.S. Navy and learned his craft at Los Angeles City College, Harbor College and UCLA. Obtaining acting work via renowned casting director Lynn Stalmaster, he first appeared on the screen in 1963, frequently personifying characters of Slavic background with names like Pollick, Barmak, Krodak or Kowalski. He had a particularly good line in villains which he made all the more menacing with his outwardly calm but intense manner. He portrayed Stalin to critical acclaim on the stage in a 1987 production of David Pownall's "Master Class" (as well as providing the dictator's voice for Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996)). Dynarski made appearances in both Star Trek (1966) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), the latter featuring him as a starbase commander. Very much a regular contributor to the science fiction genre, he also played Egghead's henchman Benedict in Batman (1966), donned one of Paul Zastupnevich's monster heads as a sea centaur in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), played a malevolent prison warden in Land of the Giants (1968) and an ill-fated hunter in The X-Files (1993) who falls victim to a bat-human hybrid monster. Dynarski also had small parts in the Steven Spielberg productions Duel (1971) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). In 1979, he established the Gene Dynarski Theater near Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles which remained in operation until the 1990s. Dynarski retired from screen acting in 2003.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
American character actor who specialized in none-too-bright pals of the lead, though his range included villains and ethnic types. A native of New York City, he began acting at 15. He studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and played on Broadway with the Theatre Guild, and with the Provincetown Players. He came to Hollywood in the late Thirties and quickly became a fixture in films of all genres, primarily at Warner Bros. He was a frequent foil for James Cagney and played everything from comedies to dramas and musicals. In the 1960s, he achieved greater fame as the long-suffering neighbor Abner Kravitz on the hit TV show Bewitched (1964). He retired in 1972. He died of cancer a decade later.- Actress
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Gipsy Bonafina was born on 19 December 1958 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was an actress and composer, known for Vidas robadas (2008), Padre Coraje (2004) and La edad del sol (1999). She died on 27 February 2021 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Gloster Richardson was born on 18 July 1942 in Greenville, Mississippi, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Hugo Santiago has lived in France since 1959. He studied Literature, Philosophy and Music. From 1959 to 1966, he was assistant director to Robert Bresson. He was also a choreographer and metteur en scene for _Histoire du Soldat_ (Stravinsky Festival, 1961). He authored and produced two shorts: _Los Contrabandistas_ (Buenos Aires, 1967) and _Los Taitas_ (Buenos Aires, 1968). From 1970 to 1973 he did research on film.- Actor
- Soundtrack
J. Pat had a warm smile, twinkling eyes, and an Irish name. He was born in Burnley, England, and began his acting career in British musical halls. J. Pat came to the USA at the outbreak of World War II. He also worked on the Broadway stage during the 1940s and 1950s. J. Pat was a very familiar face on TV sitcoms and dramas for 3 decades, where he played mostly uncle and grandfather types. He made over 100 TV guest appearances, and was in groundbreaking series such as the The Twilight Zone (1959) and The Untouchables (1959). J. Pat performed a lot in radio with his versatile voice work, and he later used his talent in animated cartoons, providing many vocal characterizations. And the children always loved J. Pat the most. Many baby boomers have fond childhood memories of his portrayals in the TV series The Adventures of Spin and Marty (1955) and The New Adventures of Spin and Marty (1957) and of course he played Mr. Harry Burns in My Favorite Martian (1963). J. Pat was a kind and gentle man, who made this world a better place for having been here, and he left his legacy on film.- J.T. Walsh was born on 28 September 1943 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Breakdown (1997), Sling Blade (1996) and Needful Things (1993). He was married to Susan West. He died on 27 February 1998 in La Mesa, California, USA.
- John Alvin was born on 24 October 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Somewhere in Time (1980), The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) and Destination Tokyo (1943). He was married to Betty June Lewis. He died on 27 February 2009 in Thousand Oaks, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Boles was an American actor who worked prolifically in both leading and supporting roles for 28 years. He was born in Greenville, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas, where he had studied medicine, in 1917. Boles' parents wanted their son to continue with a career in the medical field, but after being selected to perform in an opera, he discovered his real love for acting and singing. In the meantime, he taught French and singing in a New York high school and worked as an interpreter for a group of students touring Europe. He's also notable for acting as a U.S. spy during World War I, in Bulgaria, Germany, and Turkey.
Boles moved to Hollywood in the 1920s to continue acting in stage musicals and operettas, which eventually led to MGM hiring him to appear in The Sixth Commandment (1924). After a three-year hiatus from Hollywood to focus on stage work, Boles returned to star opposite Gloria Swanson in the hit The Love of Sunya (1927). He wasn't able to show off his singing skills until the arrival of sound pictures not long after. He starred in a few lavish musicals in the early days of sound movies, notably The Desert Song (1929), Rio Rita (1929), and Song of the West (1930). In 1930, Boles signed a contract with Universal Pictures and starred in such musicals as King of Jazz (1930) and One Heavenly Night (1930) for the studio.
Boles continued to work in a number of both musical and non-musical parts throughout the 1930s. Notable roles include Victor Moritz in Frankenstein (1931); an engaged attorney who falls in love with Irene Dunne in The Age of Innocence (1934); another leading part opposite Swanson, this time as her bickering beau in Music in the Air (1934); a wealthy bachelor who adopts Shirley Temple in Curly Top (1935); Temple's Confederate officer father in The Littlest Rebel (1935); manipulator Rosalind Russell's husband in Craig's Wife (1936); and Barbara Stanwyck's husband in Stella Dallas (1937).
In 1943, Boles played the role of a colonel in the star-studded Thousands Cheer (1943). By this point, his acting career had declined. Boles' final part was in 1952, starring opposite Paulette Goddard in Babes in Bagdad (1952). He retired from the film industry shortly thereafter, and found a new career in the oil business.
Boles married Marcelite Dobbs in 1917, and the couple had two daughters: Frances and Janet. They remained married until he died of a heart attack on February 27, 1969 at the age of 73.- Actor
- Producer
John Harlan was born on 21 December 1925 in Sonoma County, California, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for UHF (1989), The Judge (1986) and General Hospital (1963). He died on 27 February 2017 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Julio César Strassera was born on 18 September 1932 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was married to Marisa Tobar. He died on 27 February 2015 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Dora (Spinner) and Max Nimoy, who owned a barbershop. His parents were Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. Raised in a tenement and acting in community theaters since age eight, Nimoy did not make his Hollywood debut until he was 20, with a bit part in Queen for a Day (1951) and another as a ballplayer in the perennial Rhubarb (1951). After two years in the United States Army, he was still getting small, often uncredited parts, like an Army telex operator in Them! (1954). His part as Narab, a Martian finally friendly to Earth, in the closing scene in the corny Republic serial Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), somewhat foreshadowed the role which would make him a household name: Mr. Spock, the half-human/half-Vulcan science officer on Star Trek (1966) one of television's all-time most successful series. His performance won him three Emmy nominations and launched his career as a writer and director, notably of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), the story of a humpback whale rescue that proved the most successful of the Star Trek movies. Stage credits have included "Fiddler on the Roof", "Oliver", "Camelot" and "Equus". He has hosted the well-known television series In Search of... (1977) and Ancient Mysteries (1994), authored several volumes of poetry and guest-starred on two episodes of The Simpsons (1989). In the latter years of his career, he played Mustafa Mond in NBC's telling of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1998), voiced Sentinel Prime in the blockbuster Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), and played Spock again in two new Star Trek films, Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).
Leonard Nimoy died on February 27, 2015 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 83.- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Lillian Diana Gish was born on October 14, 1893, in Springfield, Ohio. Her father, James Lee Gish, was an alcoholic who caroused, was rarely at home, and left the family to, more or less, fend for themselves. To help make ends meet, Lillian, her sister Dorothy Gish, and their mother, Mary Gish, a.k.a. Mary Robinson McConnell, tried their hand at acting in local productions. Lillian was six years old when she first appeared in front of an audience. For the next 13 years, she and Dorothy appeared before stage audiences with great success. Had she not made her way into films, Lillian quite possibly could have been one of the great stage actresses of all time; however, she found her way onto the big screen when, in 1912, she met famed director D.W. Griffith. Impressed with what he saw, he immediately cast her in her first film, An Unseen Enemy (1912), followed by The One She Loved (1912) and My Baby (1912). She would make 12 films for Griffith in 1912. With 25 films in the next two years, Lillian's exposure to the public was so great that she fast became one of the top stars in the industry, right alongside Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart".
In 1915, Lillian starred as Elsie Stoneman in Griffith's most ambitious project to date, The Birth of a Nation (1915). She was not making the large number of films that she had been in the beginning because she was successful and popular enough to be able to pick and choose the right films to appear in. The following year, she appeared in another Griffith classic, Intolerance (1916). By the early 1920s, her career was on its way down. As with anything else, be it sports or politics, new faces appeared on the scene to replace the "old", and Lillian was no different. In fact, she did not appear at all on the screen in 1922, 1925 or 1929. However, 1926 was her busiest year of the decade with roles in La Bohème (1926) and The Scarlet Letter (1926). As the decade wound to a close, "talkies" were replacing silent films. However, Lillian was not idle during her time away from the screen. She appeared in stage productions, to the acclaim of the public and critics alike. In 1933, she filmed His Double Life (1933), but did not make another film for nine years.
When she returned in 1943, she appeared in two big-budget pictures, Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942) and Top Man (1943). Although these roles did not bring her the attention she had had in her early career, Lillian still proved she could hold her own with the best of them. She earned an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her role of Laura Belle McCanles in Duel in the Sun (1946), but lost to Anne Baxter in The Razor's Edge (1946).
One of the most critically acclaimed roles of her career came in the thriller The Night of the Hunter (1955), also notable as the only film directed by actor Charles Laughton. In 1969, she published her autobiography, "The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me". In 1987, she made what was to be her last motion picture, The Whales of August (1987), a box-office success that exposed her to a new generation of fans. Her 75-year career is almost unbeatable in any field, let alone the film industry. On February 27, 1993, at age 99, Lillian Gish died peacefully in her sleep at her Manhattan apartment in New York City. She never married.- A native of Fujian province, Ng Man Tat was a graduate of the class of 1974's TVB Television training program where he quickly showed his chops thereafter acting in the Hong Kong television variety show 'Enjoy Yourself Tonight' and onto long running serials in 'Chor Lau Heung' and 'Police Cadet 84'. It wasn't until 1990 that he elevated his stature on the big screen pairing his complementary comedic timing as sidekick to Stephen Chow in the Cantonese dialect HK blockbuster 'All for the Winner'.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Mauricio Garcés was born on 16 December 1926 in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was an actor, known for Don Juan 67 (1967), El renegado blanco (1960) and The Brainiac (1962). He died on 27 February 1989 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.- Nathaniel Taylor was born on 31 March 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Sanford and Son (1972), Black Girl (1972) and The Redd Foxx Show (1986). He was married to Loretta Taylor. He died on 27 February 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Ned Eisenberg was a character actor who is remembered for the role of Italian gangster Fredo Strozzi in action film/western Last Man Standing (1996) with Bruce Willis, directed by Walter Hill; and films such as The Burning (1981) and Limitless (2011). Born in New York, he attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, where he studied acting. Eisenberg appeared in episodes of the long-running NBC crime drama Law & Order, beginning in 1997. He also had roles in Clint Eastwood's Academy Award-winning drama Million Dollar Baby (2004) and war film Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and also in A Civil Action (1998) and action/thriller film Asher (2018), opposite Ron Perlman.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Nick Zedd was born on 8 May 1958 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Geek Maggot Bingo or the Freak from Suckweasel Mountain (1983), War Is Menstrual Envy (1992) and Scumbag (2017). He was married to Monica Casanova. He died on 27 February 2022 in Mexico City, Mexico.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Actor
Nicolae Corjos was born on 22 May 1935 in Hotin, Romania. He was an assistant director and director, known for Padurea nebuna (1982), Un studio in cautarea unei vedete (1989) and Liceenii Rock 'n' Roll (1992). He died on 27 February 2022 in Bucharest, Romania.- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Additional Crew
Orry-Kelly helped to revolutionize the Warners Costume Department after he joined the studio in 1932. He was one of the first legitimate fashion designers to design for the cinema Although he could easily adapt himself to the tattered prison uniforms of "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang", he was most at home in the world of haute couture. He also played a special role in glamourizing such stars as Bette Davis, whom he first costumed when she played a society party girl in "The Rich Are Always with Us" in 1932, and later helped through the transformation from ugly duckling to glamorous swan in "Now, Voyager". The Australian-born designer won an Oscar for his work on "An American in Paris" in 1951. He died in 1964 at the age of 66.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Pat Brady was born on 31 December 1914 in Toledo, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Man from Music Mountain (1943), Sons of the Pioneers (1942) and The Roy Rogers Show (1951). He was married to Fayetta and Carol. He died on 27 February 1972 in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, USA.- Patrick Patterson was born on 17 May 1934. He was an actor, known for Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Highlander: The Raven (1998) and Get Over It (2001). He was married to Diane Fabian. He died on 27 February 2022 in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
- Pequeña P. is known for Fantasma de Buenos Aires (2008).
- Pierrette Fleutiaux was born on 9 October 1941 in Guéret, Creuse, France. She was married to Alain Wagneur. She died on 27 February 2019 in Paris, France.
- Production Designer
- Costume Designer
Ponchi Morpurgo was born on 29 May 1933 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was a production designer and costume designer, known for Amo y señor (1984), Llévame contigo (1982) and La viuda blanca (1986). She died on 27 February 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- R.D. Call was an American actor, best known for his roles in films directed by Walter Hill. He was born and raised in Utah and attended the Utah State University and Weber State University. Call moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and began training with Lee Strasberg. His first role was in Barnaby Jones (1973), a TV series directed by Leo Penn.
Call then took roles in the Walter Hill films 48 Hrs. (1982) and Brewster's Millions (1985). Next came At Close Range (1986), opposite Sean Penn, and the Charlie Sheen thriller, No Man's Land (1987). Dennis Hopper cast him in Hopper's thriller, Colors (1988), again opposite Sean Penn. Call would work with both Leo and Sean Penn -- and Martin Sheen -- in Judgment in Berlin (1988).
Towards the end of the 1980s, roles included Michael Mann's L.A. Takedown (1989) -- the original version of Mann's Heat (1995) -- and a cameo appearance in Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July (1989). Call appeared opposite Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland in Young Guns II (1990) and was back with Sean Penn in State of Grace (1990), conveying a close working relationship with both the Penn and Sheen families.
The mid-1990s were equally kind to Call, with roles in Waterworld (1995) and Walter Hill's Last Man Standing (1996), in which he starred with Bruce Willis. More recent roles include the Sandra Bullock thriller, Murder by Numbers (2002), the Brad Pitt drama, Babel (2006), and the Sean Penn-directed Into the Wild (2007).
Call appeared in numerous TV series, including The X-Files (1993) and Stephen King's Golden Years (1991). - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Richard Bakalyan was born on 29 January 1931 in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Chinatown (1974), The Fox and the Hound (1981) and Von Ryan's Express (1965). He was married to Elizabeth Lena (Betty Lee) Baumann. He died on 27 February 2015 in Elmira, New York, USA.- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Sandra Faire is a philanthropist, television producer and CEO of SFA Productions Inc.
One of Canada's leading variety writer/producers, she was the show runner and executive producer of the hit TV reality dance series, So You Think You Can Dance Canada. During its 4 year run, the series garnered over 1.1 million viewers per season and won 2 Gemini awards, best variety show and best host.
Ms. Faire is the creator and executive producer of one of The Comedy Network's highest rated Canadian shows, Comedy Now! which airs on CTV and TCN. (Episodes also aired in the U.S. on Comedy Central.) The 15 season standup series that she created has provided a platform for over 200 Canadian comedians, including Russell Peters, Seán Cullen, Nikki Payne, Gerry Dee, Shaun Majumder and Harland Williams.
She created and served as executive producer and show runner, as well as story editor and contributing writer, of the award winning sketch series, Comedy Inc., for TCN and CTV, (which also aired in the U.S. on Spike TV for 2 seasons). During its 5 years on air, the series won the prestigious New York Festival Gold Medal three years in a row.
She was the executive producer, producer and wrote additional material for the feature film comedy, My Own Private Oshawa, which won an award at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival.
Ms. Faire has numerous other awards, including a San Francisco Film Festival Award, a record 17 Worldfest Houston Awards, several Canadian Gemini Awards, and honorary platinum and gold albums.
She has produced specials for, among others, k.d. Lang, Rita MacNeil and Buffy Sainte-Marie, as well as specials for Bryan Adams and Anne Murray which aired worldwide.
Her CBC-TV variety special, "Anne Murray's Family Christmas", still holds the record as Canada's highest rated variety special, with a 43 share.
Ms. Faire has also worked with internationally renowned artists, including Shania Twain (Rita & Friends), Barenaked Ladies (Anne Murray's Classic Christmas/Rita & Friends), David Foster and Neil Young (Tears Are Not Enough), Jann Arden (Rita & Friends), Paul Shaffer (CASBY awards), Joni Mitchell (Rita & Friends/ Tears Are Not Enough), Julio Iglesias (Anne Murray in Disney World), Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood (George Fox Country on Campus), Patti LaBelle (Anne Murray's Family Christmas/Rita MacNeil's Christmas), and Olympic gold pair figure skaters Jamie Salé and David Pelletier (Anne Murray's Classic Christmas).
Additional series, which she created and executive produced, include Rita & Friends, Comics and Ear to the Ground.
She is also a producer/investor of the musical stage production, Flashdance.
She is a member of the board for the National Ballet of Canada, Chair of the Producers Circle and has served as a board member for several organizations, including Canada's National Ballet School's Grand Jeté campaign and past Chair of the Board for Sheena's Place.
Ms. Faire has been a featured speaker at Deloitte & Touche's "Women of Distinction" series and received the Women in Film and Television [WIFT-T] Award for Outstanding Achievement.
In 2013, she and her husband, Ivan Fecan, received the Upper Canada Medal for their generous contribution to health care from Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation.
In 2012, she was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to her community and Canada.
In 2008, she received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from York University.
In addition, both have been honoured for their philanthropy by the St. George's Society, Canada's National Ballet School and the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews.
They donate personally to many worthwhile organizations, especially in the area of arts, education and medicine, including The National Ballet of Canada, Canada's National Ballet School, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Four Seasons Centre, Soulpepper Theatre Company, York University, Toronto General Hospital, and the University of Guelph, OVC.
Separately and together,they have chaired and co-chaired a multitude of events,raising millions of dollars for many worthy organizations,including The National Ballet of Canada,the OVC's Pet Trust and the UHN's Transplant unit.- Sophie Gilles was born on 24 August 1962.
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Spike was born an 'Army Brat', the son of an Irish Captain in the British Raj in India. Educated in a series of Roman Catholic schools in India and at Lewisham Polytechnic in England, he spent his formative years playing the fool and playing the trumpet in local jazz bands.
He joined the British Army himself (under protest if you believe his auto-biogs) as a conscript at the outbreak of WWII. He served in the Royal Artillery as Gunner Milligan through the North African and Italian campaigns. He got a bit too close to an exploding shell and was hospitalised with shell-shock. On his escape from army life he started his "real" work as an author and humourist.
Most famous for 'The Goon Show' with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe (and originally Michael Bentine), these radio shows are commonly regarded as re-writing the rules of comedy (even before Monty Python). However under the pressure of writing all the scripts he suffered a breakdown and became a clinical manic-depressive.
He was fondly regarded as the last of the great British eccentrics and had written a wealth of comic poetry mainly for children, a few novels and his multi-volume auto-biography. Spike was also a keen (fanatical?) environmental campaigner.- Actor
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Tony took the last name of Fields from his stepfather Max. Tony's parents divorced when he was four. Although he was born in Stafford, Kansas, he moved to Davis, California, where his career began in gymnastics. He switched to dance training when he won scholarships to the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (studying drama and voice), and also at Roland Dupree Academy of Dance.
He began touring with Debbie Reynolds in her nightclub act only 3 months after starting at Dupree. When he came to Solid Gold, he had had only 2 years of formal training.
Tony appeared in numerous music videos, including Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and "Thriller" and was also featured in the "Making of Thriller" special. He also appeared in Lionel Richie's "Running with the Night." As a Solid Gold dancer, he also appeared on the Miss Teen USA pageant as an escort and entertainer, and on the home exercise video "The Solid Gold 5 Day Workout." Other early TV appearances included "Lil Abner," "Bobby Vinton Rock and Rollers," and "The John Davidson Christmas Special."- Valdir Espinosa was born on 17 October 1947 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He died on 27 February 2020 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Van Cliburn was born Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr. on July 12, 1934, in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. His mother, named Rildia Bee O'Bryan, had been taught piano by Arthur Friedheim, a pupil of Franz Liszt. Cliburn began taking piano lessons at the age of three from his mother, who was strict and demanded perfection. At the age of twelve Cliburn won a piano competition in Texas and made his debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. At the age of twenty he made his debut at Carnegie Hall.
In 1958 Cliburn won the First International Tshaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. There he played the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Rachmaninoff in his triumphal competition finale performances. Cliburn's mastery of piano was so convincing that even Nikita Khrushchev agreed, when the Soviet judges asked him for permission to give the first prize to an American. Cliburn was on the cover of TIME as "The Texan Who Conquered Russia." He made a fine recording of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, which became the best-selling classical album, eventually going triple platinum. Cliburn also recorded the music of Edvard Grieg, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Ludwig van Beethoven among other composers.
Since 1962 Van Cliburn has been the artistic advisor for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. Its international prestige now rivals that of the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition. Cliburn made appearances at such important political events, as the 1987 White House meeting between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1991 Cliburn performed at the opening of the 100th Anniversary season of Carnegie Hall. In 2003 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2004 received the Russian Order of Friendship. He has played piano music for royalty, heads of states, and for every President of the United States since Harry S. Truman. Van Cliburn is living in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a Steinway artist. He owns a collection of Steinway pianos that are tuned-up to accommodate his individual touch and style.- Actor
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Veloz was born on 5 February 1906 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an actor, known for They Met in Argentina (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942) and Rumba (1935). He was married to Jean Veloz and Yolanda. He died on 27 February 1981 in Burbank, California, USA.- Striking, pale-complexioned, blonde English actress Veronica Carlson was known as the female lead of several late 1960s Hammer horror films, including the hapless Maria being terrorized by fanged Christopher Lee in Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), brutalized by the evil Peter Cushing in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) and chased by monster David Prowse in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970).
After her career in horror, Carlson's star faded as quickly as it had risen, however she had assured herself a place in horror film history as one of the stunning women that graced the screen during the Hammer renaissance of the horror genre. - Actor
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William F. Buckley was born on 24 November 1925 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992), ...and Then There's Claude. (2009) and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967). He was married to Patricia Aldyen Austin Taylor. He died on 27 February 2008 in Stamford, Connecticut, USA.