Deaths: April 28
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Juan Diego was born on 14 December 1942 in Bormujos, Seville, Andalucía, Spain. He was an actor and producer, known for Los hombres de Paco (2005), Cabeza de Vaca (1991) and El triunfo (2006). He was married to Maria Ruiz. He died on 28 April 2022 in Madrid, Spain.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Agildo Ribeiro was born on 24 April 1932 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was an actor and director, known for Tocaia no Asfalto (1962), OSS 117: Mission for a Killer (1965) and Cabaré do Barata (1989). He was married to Consuelo Leandro, Marília Pêra and Didi Barata Ribeiro. He died on 28 April 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.- Alejandro Planchart was born on 29 July 1935 in Caracas, Venezuela. He died on 28 April 2019 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.
- Alexander Münninghoff was born on 13 April 1944 in Posen, Germany. He was a writer, known for Legacy (2023), De stamhouder (2017) and De wereld draait door (2005). He died on 28 March 2020 in The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.
- Art Paul was born on 18 January 1925 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was married to Suzanne Seed. He died on 28 April 2018 in Lake View, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Art Shay was born on 31 March 1922 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer, known for Countermeasures, Algren (2014) and Algren (revised) (2021). He was married to Florence Gerson. He died on 28 April 2018 in Deerfield, Illinois, USA.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Ben Gage was born on 29 October 1914 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for State Fair (1945), My Gal Sal (1942) and Star Trek (1966). He was married to Anne Martin and Esther Williams. He died on 28 April 1978 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Actor
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born in Predappio, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He was the son of Alessandro Mussolini, a socialist, and Rosa Maltoni, a devout Catholic schoolteacher. In 1915, Mussolini married Donna Rachele Guidi. Together, they had five children. On October 31, 1922, at the age of 39, Mussolini became the Prime Minister of Italy. He was removed from power and placed under arrest by order of King Victor Emmanuel III in July 1943, but two months later was rescued by the Germans and installed as the puppet leader of a German client state, the Italian Social Republic. On April 28, 1945, Mussolini was shot dead by Italian Communists in Giulino di Mezzegra, Lombardy, Italy and his corpse was hung by its feet. He was 61 years old.- Born in Indianapolis in 1933, Bobby Lewis was raised in an orphanage. He learned to play the piano at age five. He was eventually adopted, and when he was 12 his adoptive family moved to Detroit. He embarked on a singing career as a teenager, and was soon opening for such acts as Jackie Wilson and James Brown. In 1960 Lewis recorded a song that had been written by his friend Ritchie Adams--who had sung with a vocal group called The Fireflies, which had its own hit in the late 1950s with "You Were Mine"--almost a year earlier, called "Tossin' and Turnin'". It was released in 1961 and was an immediate hit, selling more than three million copies and staying in the #1 spot for seven weeks. Shortly after that he followed with "One Track Mind", which broke into the top ten but didn't make the #1 slot.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bradford Jackson, real-name Herman Budlow, was born on December 23, 1928 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In his childhood during the 1930s he was billed as "The World's Youngest Magician". In 1953, after leaving the service, he signed a contract with Universal-International Studio. Brad Jackson's best-known roles are in the sci-fi classic, "It Came From Outer Space", and, Roger Corman's "The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent".- Animation Department
- Director
- Editor
Bruce Bickford was born on 11 February 1947 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was a director and editor, known for Bruce Bickford's CAS'L' (2015), The last battle on Flat Earth (1971) and Cas'l (2010). He died on 28 April 2019 in Washington, USA.- Bruce Tulloh was born on 29 September 1935 in Datchet, Berkshire, England, UK. He was married to Sue Baker. He died on 28 April 2018 in the UK.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dabbs Greer was a very familiar face in films and especially on TV. He was a sort of "everyman" in his roles and played merchants, preachers, businessmen, and other "pillars of the community" types as well as assorted villains. With his plain looking face, wavy hair and mellow, distinctive voice he was a solid supporting actor.
He was born on April 2, 1917, in Fairview, Missouri, to Randall Alexander Greer and Bernice Irene Dabbs. Reared in Anderson, Missouri, he was the only child of a pharmacist father and a speech therapist mother. His first acting experience was on stage in a children's theatre production when he was eight years old. He attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, where he earned a BA and headed the drama department and Little Theatre in Mountain Grove, Missouri, from 1940-43. He then moved on to the famed Pasadena Playhouse in California as actor, instructor and administrator from 1943-50. He made his film debut in Reign of Terror (1949) (aka "The Black Book") in an uncredited bit part and went on to appear in many parts during the next 50 years. He is probably best remembered for his role as Rev. Alden on Little House on the Prairie (1974) but he was also a regular on the TV series Gunsmoke (1955) as a merchant, Mr. Jonas; Hank (1965) as Coach Ossie Weiss and Picket Fences (1992) as Rev. Henry Novotny. He also appeared in made-for-TV movies and guest-starred on such series as Adventures of Superman (1952); The Rifleman (1958); Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958); Trackdown (1957); Perry Mason (1957); Bonanza (1959); The Fugitive (1963) and The Brady Bunch (1969). He died in 2007, aged 90. He never married, had no children, and left no immediate relatives.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Donald E. Stewart was born on 24 January 1930 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Missing (1982), The Hunt for Red October (1990) and Hostiles (2017). He was married to Joan Elizabeth Miller, Lynne Stewart #4, Barbara Diane Lueck and Suzanne Margaret Beuerle. He died on 28 April 1999 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Charismatic character star Edward James Begley was born in Hartford, Connecticut of Irish parents and educated at St.Patrick's school. His interest in acting first surfaced at the age of nine, when he performed amateur theatricals at the Hartford Globe Theatre. Determined to make his own way, he left home aged eleven and drifted from job to job, had a four-year stint in the U.S. Navy, then worked in a bowling alley replacing pins, joined carnivals and circuses. In 1931, he appeared in vaudeville and was also hired as a radio announcer, his voice broadcast to nationwide audiences. It took him several years to establish himself on the legitimate stage, but in 1943, he had a role in the short-running play 'Land of Fame'.
His first success was the 1947 Arthur Miller play 'All My Sons' and this was followed by the 1925 Scopes Trial fictionalization 'Inherit the Wind' (1955-57), which ran for 806 performances at the National Theatre. Ed, co-starring with Paul Muni, played the part of Matthew Harrison Brady (played in the 1960 motion picture by Fredric March) and won the 1956 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Upon Paul Muni's departure from the cast, Ed used the opportunity to play the part of Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy's role in the film) with equal vigor. In 1960, he starred as Senator Orrin Knox in the political drama 'Advise and Consent'. Ed's movie career began with Boomerang! (1947), a murder mystery set in his native Connecticut, directed by Elia Kazan. Heavy-set with bushy eyebrows, the archetypal image of Ed Begley on screen is as a gruff, blustery, often heavily sweating (and sometimes corrupt) politician or industrialist. He proved his mettle in a number of classic films, including Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) and On Dangerous Ground (1951). Whether as the sympathetic executive in Patterns (1956), a bigoted ex-cop turned bank robber in Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), or the crazed billionaire bent on world domination of Billion Dollar Brain (1967), he tackled every part that came his way with conviction. The culmination of his work was a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role of Boss Finley in Tennessee Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth (1962).
In addition to countless radio broadcasts, Ed was also busy in television in the 1950s and '60s. Among frequent guest-starring appearances, his dynamic characterizations in two episodes of The Invaders (1967) ('The Betrayed' and 'Labyrinth') in particular stand out. Ed Begley died of a heart attack in April 1970 in Hollywood at the age of 69.- Ed Napoleon was born on 13 September 1937 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Eric Koch was born on 31 August 1919 in Frankfurt, Germany. He was a writer and producer, known for It's the Law (1956), A Choice of Futures (1967) and Reluctant Nation (1966). He was married to Sonia. He died on 28 April 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Harold Livingston was born on 4 September 1924 in Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA. He was a writer, known for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Mission: Impossible (1966) and Future Cop (1976). He died on 28 April 2022 in Westlake Village, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Jack Shea was born on 1 August 1928 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Designing Women (1986), The Jeffersons (1975) and Insight (1960). He was married to Patt Shea. He died on 28 April 2013 in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, USA.- James Hylton was born on 26 August 1934 in Inman, South Carolina, USA. He died on 28 April 2018 in Carnesville, Georgia, USA.
- János Starker was born on 5 July 1924 in Budapest, Hungary. He died on 28 April 2013 in Bloomington, Illinois, USA.
- Writer
- Composer
Jerome Bixby was born on 11 January 1923 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He was a writer and composer, known for The Man from Earth (2007), Star Trek (1966) and Fantastic Voyage (1966). He died on 28 April 1998 in San Bernardino, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Jill Viola Gascoine was born in Lambeth, London, on April 11 1937. She was educated at Tiffin's Girls School (by her own account, a traumatic experience) and later studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Performing Arts in London. She began her career as a fifteen-year old chorine in pantomime and spent a decade-long apprenticeship singing and dancing in revues and musicals. Married at 28, her first husband was a compulsive gambler who also resented her ambition of becoming an actress and abandoned her and her two children some time during the late 60s. Having to support her family on a single income, Gascoine found work in Glasgow cabaret as a singer and dancer. She was eventually able to get into acting with a repertory company in Dundee and from there (with the aid of theatrical agent Marina Martin) landed parts in popular television dramas including Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962), Dixon of Dock Green (1955), Softly Softly: Task Force (1969) and Raffles (1975).
Her first recurring TV role was as Letty, the prim, philanthropically-minded wife of taciturn sea captain James Onedin (Peter Gilmore) in The Onedin Line (1971). However, she ultimately became best-known for her role as the emancipated, forthright DI Maggie Forbes in the ITV series The Gentle Touch (1980), the very first British police drama featuring a female (senior) police officer. The concept may well have been inspired by the earlier American series Police Woman (1974). Publicity claimed that London 'bobbies' wrote to the producers of Gentle Touch, attesting to its authenticity (interesting footnote: the reason why there was never any footage of Maggie actually driving a car was that Gascoine had never learned to drive). There was a later, more action-oriented spin-off, entitled C.A.T.S. Eyes (1985) (akin to a British Charlie's Angels (1976)), with Maggie turned private eye.
In addition to her television work, the actress also performed on the West End stage, including a starring role as Dorothy Brock in a 1987 revival of the musical 42nd Street at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Her younger co-star (as Peggy Sawyer) was Catherine Zeta-Jones. In 1986, Gascoine married fellow London-born actor Alfred Molina and in the 90s made her home in Los Angeles, though she returned to the U.K. on a number of occasions. As her screen work began to wind down, she turned to writing, publishing a trio of novels, respectively, in 1995, 1995 and 1997. Gascoine made an appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008, whereupon she announced her retirement from acting. Five years later, it was revealed that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. She died at a Los Angeles care facility on 28 April 2020 at the age of 83.- Jo Sullivan was born on 28 August 1927 in Mounds, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Omnibus (1952), Pie in the Sky (2015) and Babes in Toyland (1954). She was married to Frank Loesser and X. She died on 28 April 2019 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Son of Danny Singleton, a mortgage broker, and Sheila Ward, a pharmaceutical company sales executive, and raised in separate households by his unmarried parents, John Singleton attended the Film Writing Program at USC, after graduating from high school in 1986. While studying there, he won three writing awards from the university, which led to a contract with Creative Artists Agency during his sophomore year. Columbia Pictures bought his script for Boyz n the Hood (1991) and budgeted it at $7 million. Singleton noted that much of the story comes from his own experiences in South Central LA and credited his parents with keeping him off the street.- Jovita Díaz was born in General Pinedo, Chaco, Argentina. She was an actress, known for Cosquín, amor y folklore (1965), La carpa del amor (1979) and Margarito Tereré (1978). She died on 28 April 2015 in Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina.
- Judith Leiber was born on 11 January 1921 in Budapest, Hungary. She was married to Gerson Leiber. She died on 28 April 2018 in Springs, New York, USA.
- Julio Ernesto Vila was born on 18 June 1938 in Villa Dolores, Córdoba Province, Argentina. He died on 28 April 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Considering the kind of scruffy, backwoods, uneducated, Deep-South hillbilly types he played, many people would be surprised to hear that Ken Curtis wasn't actually born in the south but in the small town of Las Animas, Colorado, the son of the town sheriff. They would probably be even more surprised to learn that he began his show business career as a singer in the big-band era, and was a vocalist in the legendary Tommy Dorsey orchestra. He entered films in the late 1940s at the tail-end of the singing-cowboy period in a series of low-budget Westerns for Columbia Pictures. When that genre died out, Curtis turned to straight dramatic and comedy parts and became a regular in the films of director John Ford (who was his father-in-law). Curtis branched out into film production in the 1950s with two extremely low-budget monster films, The Killer Shrews (1959) and The Giant Gila Monster (1959), but he is best known for his long-running role as Festus Hagen, the scruffy, cantankerous deputy in the long-running TV series Gunsmoke (1955).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Ken Hughes was an award-winning writer and director who flourished in the 1950s and 1960s, though he continued directing into the early 1980s. Born in Liverpool, England, on January 19, 1922, Hughes decided early in his life that he wanted to be a filmmaker. When he was 14 years old he won an amateur movie-making contest.
In 1952 his first feature, the crime drama Wide Boy (1952), was released. By 1955 he was working with imported American character actor Paul Douglas in the quirky Joe MacBeth (1955), a retelling of William Shakespeare's tragedy recast as a modern film noir. Hughes directed the movie and wrote the screenplay. That film led to his directing more English pictures with imported Hollywood B-list stars, including Arlene Dahl and Victor Mature. In a reverse of the Atlantic trade, he exported a script to the US, which was picked up by "Alcoa Theater" and aired as Eddie (1958), starring Mickey Rooney and directed by Jack Smight. It brought Hughes an Emmy Award for his teleplay.
His favorite of his many movies was The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), starring Peter Finch as the doomed writer. He was nominated for three BAFTA Awards and Finch took home the BAFTA as Best Actor. It also won the Samuel Goldwyn Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film at the Golden Globes.
During the 1960s Hughes worked on A-List pictures, including Of Human Bondage (1964), an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's book, but it did not make anyone forget the Bette Davis-Leslie Howard classic of 30 years earlier (Of Human Bondage (1934)). He also toiled as one of the five directors on the cinematic mishmash Casino Royale (1967), which was a box-office smash but a critical bomb.
His greatest hit was the adaptation of another Ian Fleming work, his children's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). The movie was a huge hit, but Hughes was dissatisfied with it. His next picture, the historical epic Cromwell (1970) (1970), got good reviews, but did not burn up the turnstiles at theaters.
His career slowed down in the 1970s, the low point of which was undoubtedly his directing 83-year-old Mae West, vamping eternally as the 30-something sexpot she imagined herself in her mind, in the Golden Turkey Sextette (1977), a critical and box-office dud. He ended his career directing the exploitation film Night School (1981), a slasher pic starring a then-unknown Rachel Ward.
After a period of declining health, Ken Hughes died on April 28, 2001, in Los Angeles. He was 79 years old.- Additional Crew
Larry Harvey was born on 11 January 1948 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is known for Spark: A Burning Man Story (2013), Into the Zone: The Story of the Cacophony Society (2012) and Working for the Man: The Building, Burning and Disappearance of Black Rock City 2000 (2001). He was married to Patricia Johnson. He died on 28 April 2018 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Marc Garanger was born on 2 May 1935 in Ézy-sur-Eure, Eure, France. He was a director and writer, known for Taïga, terre des chamans (1997), Jean-Michel Jarre: The China Concerts (1982) and Des mots de minuit (1999). He died on 28 April 2020 in France.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Mari Winsor was born on 11 March 1950 in Marshall, Michigan, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Moonwalker (1988), Salsa (1988) and The Flash (1990). She was married to Elliot Nachbar. She died on 28 April 2020 in Sherman Oaks, California, USA.- Mario Labardén was born on 25 February 1927 in Bovril, Entre Ríos, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Hermanos y detectives (2006), Amo y señor (1984) and Soy gitano (2003). He died on 28 April 2015 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Mary Ellen Moylan was born on 24 August 1925 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She was married to Robert Stanley Bailes. She died on 28 April 2020 in Redmond, Washington, USA.
- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Mary Stanton was born on 1 November 1928 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for The Pajama Game (1957), A House of Sand (1962) and From Selma to Sorrow. She was married to John M. Allen. She died on 28 April 2017 in New York City, New York, USA.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
- Cinematographer
Michael Collins (October 31, 1930 - April 28, 2021) was an American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the Moon in 1969 while his crew-mates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, made the first crewed landing on the surface. He was also a test pilot and major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.Michael Collins- Michael Robinson was born on 12 May 1958. He was an actor, known for Matías, juez de línea (1996), 7 vidas (1999) and Menudo es mi padre (1996). He died on 28 April 2020 in Marbella, Málaga, Andalucía, Spain.
- Montse Pérez was born on 28 October 1956 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She was an actress, known for Oh! Europa (1994), Plats bruts (1999) and Orden especial (1992). She died on 28 April 2018 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
- Art Department
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Neal Adams is an American comic book artist and writer from New York City. He has been active in the field since the early 1960s. His work has been critically acclaimed, and he has been inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame. He has been a creators-rights advocate since the 1970s, and once led efforts to unionize the comic book creators.
In 1941, Adams was born on Governors Island, an island located in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. The island was used as a United States Army post from 1783 to 1966, primarily used as a training ground for troops. Residential buildings and modern roads were added to the island in the 1920s.
Adams received his secondary education at the School of Industrial Art, a Career and Technical Education high school located in Manhattan. The school had been established in 1936 by a small group of art teachers. Adams graduated in 1959, and then started seeking work as a freelance comic book artist.
Adams submitted samples of his work to the publisher Archie Comics. He aspired to draw stories for the superhero the Fly/Thomas "Tommy" Troy. A panel of his work was published in "Adventures of the Fly" #4 (January 1960), added to another artist's story. The panel was considered superior to one which had been drawn by a more experienced artist. It was Adams' first published work.
Adams was hired by Archie Comics, and tasked with writing, penciling, inking, and lettering humorous filler stories for "Archie's Joke Book Magazine". He earned about16 dollars for each half-page that he completed , and 32 dollars for each full page. The payment was meager, but Adams became the main breadwinner for his impoverished family,
Through a recommendation, Adams was hired for three months as an assistant to experienced comics artist Howard Nostrand (1929-1984). They worked on the short-lived syndicated comic strip "Bat Masterson" (1959-1960), which was based on a Western television series. Adams primarily worked as a background artist on the strip, earning a weekly salary of 9 dollars.
Having left Archie Comics, Adams worked for a while as a freelance artist for the advertising industry. He found regular work at the agency Johnstone and Cushing (1936-1962), which specialized on comic-book styled illustrations. Adams received additional training by veteran illustrator Elmer Wexler (1918 - 2007), and created a number of works in Wexler's style.
In 1962, Adams was hired as the main artist for the comic strip "Ben Casey" (1962-1966), which was based on a medical drama television series. The plots of the script were typical for soap operas, involving "heroin addiction, illegitimate pregnancy, and attempted suicide". But Adams produced artwork in a realistic style, which aided the strip's success. Adams earned a weekly salary of 300-350 dollars.
In 1966, "Ben Casey" ended, and Adams returned to working as a freelancer. He served briefly as a ghost artist for the comic strip "Peter Scratch" (1965-1967), about the career of a hard-boiled detective. He also served as a ghost artist for the long-running comic strip "The Heart of Juliet Jones"" (1953-2000), with art imitating the work of the strip's regular artist Stan Drake (1921 - 1997). He reportedly turned down an offer to work on the comic strip "The Green Berets", which glorified the battles of the Vietnam War. He suggested that the agency responsible should hire Joe Kubert ( 1926 - 2012), an artist who specialized in drawing war comics.
In 1967, Adams was hired by the comic book publisher Warren Publishing, which specialized on horror stories. He collaborated with experienced writer Archie Goodwin (1937 - 1998)) in creating stories for the anthology series "Creepy" and "Eerie". At that time, he learned that Joe Kubert had left DC Comics. The company sought new artists for its war comics, and Adams applied for the job. An 8-page story in the anthology series "Our Army at War" #182 (July 1967) was his first story for DC. He continued working concurrently for both Warren and DC.
Adams aspired to work on stories for the popular superhero Batman/Bruce Wayne, but DC editor's kept rejecting his applications for the job He was instead tasked to illustrate comedy stories for the series "The Adventures of Jerry Lewis" and "The Adventures of Bob Hope", which depicted fictionalized versions of famous comedians. He was also tasked with drawing Superman-related covers for "Action Comics" #356 and "Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane".
In "Detective Comics" #369 (November, 1967), Adams illustrated a lighthearted story featuring the superhero Elongated Man/Randolph "Ralph" Dibny. It was his first superhero story. He soon became the regular artist for stories featuring the undead superhero Deadman/Boston Brand, serving in this role for "Strange Adventures" #206-216 (November 1967-February, 1969). As of issue #212, he was also the series' writer. This series became a fan favorite, and won a number of awards. It established Adams' reputation as a great artist.
In 1968. Adams became the regular writer and artist for a short-lived series featuring the return of 1940s superhero the Spectre/Jim Corrigan. While the series re-established the Spectre as a viable character, it was not commercially successful. The series only lasted for 10 issues, with Adams illustrating about half of them. The only significant villain depicted in Adams' stories was the Psycho-Pirate/Roger Hayden, a man who could manipulate the emotions of others.
In 1969, was asked to rewrite and redesign a Teen Titans story about protesters being manipulated by alien invaders.. His version of the story appeared in "Teen Titans" vol 1 #20 (April, 1969). The original version of the story was intended to introduce a superhero code-named Jericho, while Adams' version featured a one-shot character called Joshua.
Adams' continued to be a freelancer, and he was hired by Marvel Comics in 1969. Adams served as the regular artist for "X-Men" vol 1 #56-63(May-December, 1969), and #65 (February, 1970). In his first story, Adams redesigned the super-villain Living Pharaoh/Ahmet Abdol into the giant form of the Living Monolith. He next introduced the villain Larry Trask, along with the second generation of the mutant-hunting robots known as the Sentinels. He also co-created and designed the energy vampire Sauron/Karl Lykos, who was named after a Tolkien character. He co-created a new super-villain team, the Savage Land Mutates, as rivals for the X-Men. Adams was the first artist to design classic villain Magneto/Max Eisenhardt without his helmet. In his final issue, Adams co-created a new villainous alien race, the Z'nox.
As Adams later recalled in interviews, he found that Marvel provided a friendlier working environment than DC. He got to socialize with his co-workers, and befriended colleague such as John Romita Sr. (1930-), Marie Severin (1929-2018), and Herb Trimpe (1939 - 2015). He also formed working relationships with writers Roy Thomas (1940-) and Dennis O'Neil (1939 - 2020), and the inker Tom Palmer (1942-).
In 1970, Adams finally got a chance to work on Batman, when asked by editor Julius Schwartz to revamp the character. The fairly lighthearted Batman stories of the 1960s had fallen out of fashion. Adams and Dennis O'Neil created stories re-establishing Batman's "dark, brooding nature" and the film noir-like world which he inhabits. They also made changes to Batman's rogues gallery.
In 1970, Adams co-created the shapeshifting villain Man-Bat/Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom as a new adversary for Batman. In May 1971, Adams co-created the femme fatale Talia al Ghul as both a foe and a love interest to Batman. In June 1971, Adams co-created Talia's father, the immortal villain Ra's al Ghul (Arabic for "The Head of the Demon) as a new major threat in Batman's life. In August 1971, Adams revived the classic villain Two-Face/Harvey Dent, who had last been used in 1954. The disfigured villain became one of Batman's main rogues. In September 1973, Adams revamped the Joker into "a homicidal maniac who murders people on a whim and delights in his mayhem". This version of the character more closely resembled the 1940s version of the character than the "goofy prankster" version used since the 1950s.
Back in "The Brave and the Bold #85 (August-Sepembert 1969), Adams had redesigned the classic superhero Green Arrow/Oliver "Ollie" Queen. He gave the character a distinctive goatee beard and a more stylish uniform. In 1970, he further revamped the character into a streetwise protector of the working class and the disadvantaged, with left-wing political beliefs. Starting in "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" #76 (April 1970), the character shared a series with the space cop Green Lantern/Hal Jordan. Jordan was revamped at that time into a conservative man with a strong belief in "law and order". The two heroes formed an odd pairing in their shared stories
Over the following few years, Adams and Dennis O'Neil collaborated in stories where the two heroes faced real-life problems, such as "racism, overpopulation, pollution, and drug addiction". Green Arrow's former sidekick Speedy/Roy Harper was depicted as a drug addict, bringing the problem of addiction close at home. This new direction to the characters was critically acclaimed, but not commercially successful. "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" was canceled with issue #89 (April, 1972), which featured a story based on Jesus' crucifixion. The series was revived in 1976, without any involvement by Adams.
Adams was one of the main artists working in the space opera story "Kree-Skrull War", published in "Avengers" vol. 1 #89-97 (June 1971 - March 1972). The story depicted a war between two rival space empires, that had been introduced in the previous decade. It also featured the alien superhero Captain Marvel/Mar-Vell becoming an honorary member of the Avengers. It finally introduced a romantic relationship between two veteran Avengers, the magic user Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff and the sentient android Vision. The story is considered a highlight in Marvel's history, and introduced many long-running subplots.
In 1973, Adams co-created a new science fiction character for Marvel, Killraven/Jonathan Raven. The character inhabited a post-apocalyptic a future, where humanity has been enslaved by Martians. Killraven was depicted as a member of a group of freedom fighters who wandered in the ruins of the Eastern United States. The initial Killraven series ended in 1976, though the characters has been revived several times.
For the rest of the 1970s, Adams worked on few stories for DC Comics. He worked however frequently as a cover artist, and worked on redesigns of Superman's supporting cast. He was an uncredited co-artist in the crossover story "Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man" (March 1976). In the story the two heroes team-up to foil the combined threats of Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus/Dr. Otto Octavius. The story is considered the first modern superhero inter-company crossover.
In 1978, Adams and Dennis O'Neil collaborated on the one-shot comic "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali", where the hero has to face Ali in a boxing match. The story established that Superman typically relies on his superior strength to win fights, and lacked in actual training and fighting skills. The 72-page book was a landmark issue, and a personal favorite of Adams. It was also his last professional comic book story for several decades.
Back in 1971, Adams had founded his own company, the illustration studio Continuity Associates. There comic book artists provided artwork for other companies. In the late 1970s, Adams focused most of his efforts on running the lucrative company. The company's employees have at various times included famous names such as Larry Hama, Walt Simonson, and Jim Starlin.
In the 1970s, Adams led efforts to unionize comic book creators. In 1978, he co-founded the Comics Creators Guild. The organization had about 40 members. In 1975, his lobbying efforts convinced DC Comics to pay a yearly stipend and medical benefits to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster,, Superman's original creators. The two men did not own their own creation, and had struggled financially for years. In 1987, Adams' lobbying efforts convinced Marvel Comics to return original artworks from its archives to the artists responsible. These artists could earn additional income from selling the artwork to collectors.
In 1984, Adams founded the subsidiary company Continuity Comics (1984-1994), to publish work by himself and others. Its most popular character was the witch Ms. Mystic, a character which Adams had created in 1982. She had her own series for 9 issues. Adams was involved in a legal controversy when fellow artist Michael Netzer (1955-) claimed that he was an uncredited co-creator of Ms. Mystic, and demanded ownership rights. Adams won the court case, but Continuity Comics collapsed due to financial problems. Adams and Netzer have maintained an adversarial relationship ever since.
In 2005, Adams made his comeback in comics, when hired by Marvel to draw an 8-pages long story featuring the X-Men. In 2010, he both wrote and designed the mini-series "Batman: Odyssey". From 2011 to 2012, he worked on the sequel series "Batman: Odyssey" vol. 2. In 2012, he worked on the X-Men again, co-writing and designing the mini-series "First X-Men". This series established that Wolverine/James Howlett and Sabretooth/Victor Creed led a mutant team of heroes before the X-Men were founded. It also provided additional background information on several characters associated with the X-Men, such as Professor X/Charles Xavier and Bolivar Trask.
Adams produced a number of Batman short stories for DC Comics in 2013 and 2014. In 2016, he created new versions of some of his most famous covers for DC Comics. Also in 2016, he wrote and designed the miniseries "Superman: Coming of the Supermen". In 2017, Adams wrote and designed a mini-series featuring Deadman. So far, this has been his last major work for comic books.
In 2008, Adams participated in efforts to convince the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum to end its ownership of artwork created by the artist Dina Babbitt (1923-2009). Babbitt had created the artwork while serving as an inmate of the Auschwitz concentration camp, and ownership over it was held by the camp's authorities. She later wished to reclaim ownership over her work, but the museum rejected her petitions. Adams believes that the artwork properly belongs to Babbitt's descendants, and not to the museum. He has illustrated a graphic documentary about Babbitt's story, and continues to support the case of the Babbitt family.
As of 2021, Adams is 80 years old. He is no longer particularly active as an artist, but he is fondly remembered for creating or co-creating several popular characters. Some of his creations have stood the test of time, and his contributions to long-running characters such as Batman and the X-Men are well-regarded.- Orlando Casín was born on 4 July 1947 in Havana, Cuba. He was an actor, known for The Revenge (2000), Fearless Heart (2012) and Behind Closed Doors (2011). He was married to Rosa Paseiro. He died on 28 April 2019 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
Osmar Maderna was born on 26 February 1918 in Pehuajó, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor and composer, known for El ídolo del tango (1949), Al compás de tu mentira (1950) and Luminaris (2011). He died on 28 April 1951.- Patricia Paz Maria Medina was born on July 19, 1919 in Liverpool, England to a Spanish father and an English mother. She began acting as a teenager in the late 1930s and worked her way up to leading roles in the mid-1940s, then left for Hollywood. Medina teamed up with British actor Louis Hayward and they appeared together in Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950), The Lady and the Bandit (1951), Lady in the Iron Mask (1952) and Captain Pirate (1952). Voluptuous and exotic-looking, Medina was often typecast in period melodramas such as The Black Knight (1954). Two of her more notable films were William Witney's Stranger at My Door (1956) and Orson Welles's Confidential Report (1955), a follow-up of The Third Man (1949), based on the radio series "The Lives of Harry Lime". Although prolific during the early 1950s, her film career faded away by the end of the decade, leading to stage and television roles.
Medina appeared as Margarita Cortazar in four episodes of Walt Disney's Zorro (1957), and as Diana Coulter in two episodes of Richard Boone's Have Gun - Will Travel (1957). She returned to the screen in Robert Aldrich's adaptation of the lesbian-themed drama The Killing of Sister George (1968). She and her husband, American actor Joseph Cotten, toured together in several plays and on Broadway in the murder mystery, "Calculated Risk". Her appearances on television include episodes of Bonanza (1959) titled "The Spanish Grant" and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) titled "See the Monkey Dance". She played Harriet Balfour in an episode of Perry Mason (1957) titled "The Case of the Lucky Loser", and as Lucia Belmont in an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) titled "The Foxes and Hounds Affair".
Patricia Medina retired from acting in 1978 after 40 years in the motion picture industry. She died at age 92 of natural causes on April 28, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. She was interred at Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia, alongside Cotten. - Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob Krantz in New York City, New York, the son of Sarah (Lefkowitz) and Moses/Morris Krantz, Austrian Jewish immigrants who moved to New York just before he was born. His brother was cinematographer Stanley Cortez, who also changed his surname. Cortez worked a number of jobs while he trained as an actor. When Jacob he arrived in Hollywood to work in movies in 1922, the Rudolph Valentino craze was in full bloom. Never shy about changing a name and a background, the studio transformed Jacob Krantz into "Latin Lover" Ricardo Cortez from Spain. Such was life in Hollywood.
Starting with small parts, the tall and dark Cortez was being groomed by Paramount to be the successor to Valentino, but Cortez would never be viewed (or consider himself) as the equal to the late sex symbol. A popular star, he was saddled in a number of run-of-the-mill romantic movies that would depend more on his looks than on the script--pictures such as Argentine Love (1924) and The Cat's Pajamas (1926) did little to extend his range as an actor. He did show that he had some range with his role in Pony Express (1924), but roles like that were few and far between.
Cortez' career, unlike some other silent-screen stars, survived the advent of sound, and he would play Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1931) (aka "Dangerous Female"). Never a great actor, Cortez was cast as the smirking womanizer in a number of films and would soon slide down into "B" movies. He played a newspaper columnist in Is My Face Red? (1932), a home wrecker in A Lost Lady (1934), a killer in Man Hunt (1936) and even Perry Mason in The Case of the Black Cat (1936).
After 1936 Cortez hit a dry patch as far as acting work was concerned and tried his hand at directing. His career as a director ended after a half-dozen movies and his screen career soon followed. He retired from the screen and returned to Wall Street, where he had worked as a runner decades before. This time he returned as a member of one of Wall Street's top brokerage firms and lived a comfortable life.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Rory Calhoun was born Francis Timothy McCown in Los Angeles, the son of Elizabeth Cuthbert and Floyd McCown. Rory starred in over 80 films and 1,000 television episodes. Before becoming an actor he worked as a boxer, a lumberjack, a truck driver and a cowpuncher. Tall and handsome, he benefited from a screen test at 20th Century-Fox, arranged for him by Sue Carol, a Hollywood agent and the wife of actor Alan Ladd, who is said to have spotted Calhoun while he was riding a horse in a Los Angeles park. He debuted on screen in Something for the Boys (1944), with Carmen Miranda, billed as "Frank McCown". David O. Selznick changed his name to Rory Calhoun, and after playing small parts for a while, he graduated to starring in western films, including River of No Return (1954) with Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum. Calhoun's better-known pictures include How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Lauren Bacall, Monroe and Betty Grable, and With a Song in My Heart (1952) with Susan Hayward.
From 1959 to 1960 he starred in the CBS television series The Texan (1958). More than two decades later he returned to CBS for five years as Judge Judson Tyler on the daytime serial Capitol (1982). His final appearance, 70 years old but handsome as ever, was as Ernest Tucker in Pure Country (1992). Calhoun has two stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures, and one for television.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Alumnus, The Film & Television Institute of India, Pune
Theatre: English Actor / Director / Mentor / Writer / Designer: The Phoenix Players Mumbai since 1984
International Theatre Festivals: "Troubadour", a solo play, based on the writings of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi at Edinburgh [2004] Dublin [2005] Prague [2007] Lahore [2008] & "Shakespearewallah", a solo play, based on the works of William Shakespeare at Stratford upon Avon [2014]
Feature Films Hindi: "Sardari Begum" & "Trikaal" - Shyam Benegal, "Chakra" - Robin Dharmaraj, "Soldier" - Abbas Mustan, "Maharaja" - Anil Sharma, "Koyla" - Rakesh Roshan, "Shapath" - Rajiv Babbar, "Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho" - Saeed Mirza, "Drohi" - Ramgopal Varma
Malayalam: "Thazhvaram" - Bharathan, "Udayon" - Bhadran
Telugu: "Antham" - Ramgopal Varma, "Rakshana" - Narayan Rao, "Muggaru Manogalu" - Raghavendra Rao
Tamil: "Vetri Vizha" - Pratap Pothen, "Thiruda Thiruda" - Mani Ratnam, "Chinna Gounder" - Udaya Kumar, "Seemaan" - Raj Ghafoor, "Sentamizh Paattu" - P Vasu, "Dass" - Babu Yogeswaran, "Dharmaseelan" - C Ravi, "Vettaikaran" - Babu Sivan
English: "The Deceivers" - Nicholas Meyer, "The Maharajah's Daughter" - Burt Brinckerhoff, "The Perfect Murder" - Zafar Hai, "Kim" - John Davis, "NR 3535" [Short Film]
Pali: "Chapter Three" [Short Film]
Television: Hindi "Subah" & "Inkaar" - Bharat Rungachary "Bharat Ek Khoj" - Shyam Benegal, based on "The Discovery of India" by Jawaharlal Nehru. Portrayed "Krishna", "Rama", "Tipu Sultan" & "Ramaraya"
Voice overs CD's "Mandookya Upanishad" [English] "The Speaking Tree" [English & Hindi] "The Glimpses of the Gita", "Manah Shanti", "Vishwaroopam" [English]
NDTV - promos TV [Hindi] "Outstanding Voice of the Year, 2004 & 2005" Feature Film Dubbing in Hindi for "Scar" in "The Lion King" & "Leonidas" in "300"
Martial Arts & Healing "Hanshi" 9th Dan Black Belt, "Soke Shihan" [Founder] Zendokai Kokusai. Grand Master in Martial Arts & Healing Sciences - Okinawa, Japan, China & India- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Svante Grundberg was born on 9 November 1943 in Njurunda, Sundsvall, Västernorrlands län, Sweden. He was an actor and producer, known for Nattsudd (1985), Göta kanal eller Vem drog ur proppen? (1981) and Nattsudds drinkskola (1992). He died on 25 April 2019 in Gävle, Gävleborgs län, Sweden.- Teva Harrison is known for Anti-hero (1999) and Great Uncle Jimmy (2002).
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Tommy Newsom was born on 25 February 1929 in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. He is known for Bad Santa (2003), Ted (2012) and Night of 100 Stars (1982). He was married to Patricia Hernansky. He died on 28 April 2007 in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA.- Soundtrack
Vern Gosdin was born on 5 August 1934 in Woodland, Alabama, USA. He died on 28 April 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- William Campbell was born on 30 October 1923 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Escape from Fort Bravo (1953), The High and the Mighty (1954) and Dementia 13 (1963). He was married to Tereza Pavlovic, Barbara Bricker and Judith Campbell Exner. He died on 28 April 2011 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.