In Memoriam 2021
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- Mark Eden was born on 14 February 1928 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Doctor Zhivago (1965), The Pleasure Girls (1965) and London Belongs to Me (1977). He was married to Sue Nicholls, Diana Eden and Joan Le Mesurier. He died on 1 January 2021.
- Jean Panisse was born on 17 March 1928 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. He was an actor, known for Manon des sources (1952), L'ombre rouge (1981) and An Angel on Wheels (1959). He died on 1 January 2021 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
- The sexy Barbara Shelley was born Barbara Kowin on February 13, 1932 in London, England. With her beautiful looks and stature, she worked as a model during her salad days. Her film career began in Italy in the mid-1950s in such tempting fare as Luna nova (1955) and Nero's Mistress (1956), but when this seemed like she was going to remain in the minor ranks, she returned to England to attempt to better her career. After appearing in the minor sex farce The Little Hut (1957) with Stewart Granger, David Niven and Ava Gardner, Barbara caught notoriety in the title role of Cat Girl (1957), a low budget production in which she played a woman possessed by a family curse who develops psychic links with a leopard.
This paid off and she quickly evolved into a popular Gothic glamour woman at Hammer Studios. Starting things off with The Camp on Blood Island (1958) and Blood of the Vampire (1958), the lovely actress proceeded to stake out her own lucrative territory in the horror genres. Through the 1960s, she co-starred in the classic Village of the Damned (1960), along with The Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Gorgon (1964), The Secret of Blood Island (1965), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). However, Barbara's film career had fallen aside by the late 1960s and she turned to television.
In her retirement, she pursued interior decorating. Whether playing female monsters or their intended victims, Barbara played them straight and handled them all with requisite style and grace. For this, she was occasionally seen by motion picture fans at conventions as an integral figure of camp horror history. - Actor
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Georg Maier was born on 27 September 1941 in Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor and writer, known for Irgendwie und sowieso (1986), Geschichten aus der Heimat (1983) and Tatort (1970). He was married to Raphaela and ???. He died on 1 January 2021 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.- George Gerdes was born on 23 February 1948 in Queens, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Hidalgo (2004) and Bats (1999). He died on 1 January 2021 in Glendale, California, USA.
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Heung-Kam Lee was born on 13 January 1932 in Shunde District, Guangdong Province, China. She was an actress and producer, known for Yu nu shen tou (1967), Ni xi de ji (1976) and Pin fok chun kei (1984). She was married to Chung-Kwan Siu. She died on 4 January 2021 in Hong Kong, China.- Seizô Fukumoto was born on 3 February 1943 in Kami, Japan. He was an actor, known for The Last Samurai (2003), Uzumasa Limelight (2014) and 13 Assassins (2010). He died on 1 January 2021 in Kyoto, Japan.Seit 1965 war Seizo Fukumoto in unzähligen Filmen zu sehen. Die Meisten davon haben es auch nie bis zu uns geschafft. Oft waren es dann auch nur Nebenrollen. „Sonny Chiba – Der unerbittliche Vollstrecker“, „Sternenkrieg im Weltall“, „Die Todestreppe“, „Ninja Wars“, „Diamantenauge“, „Die unheimliche macht der Ninja“, „Die Legende von den acht Samurai“, „Der Schatten des Shogun“ und „Red Shadow“ sind wenigstens welche von denen. Mit seiner Rolle als „stummer Samurai“ in Edward Zwicks „Last Samurai“ wurde er international bekannt.
Seizo Fukumoto starb am 1.1.2021 im Alter von 77 Jahren. - Actress
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The second daughter of manufacturing executive Oscar Blum and his wife Dorothy, Tanya Roberts was born 1949 in Manhattan and grew up in the elite Westchester County suburbs Scarsdale and Greenburgh. Tanya reportedly dropped out of high school, got married and hitchhiked around the country until her mother-in-law had the marriage annulled. She met psychology student Barry Roberts while waiting in line to see a movie. A few months later, she proposed to him in a subway station, and they were married. She studied acting under Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen. In her early years in New York, she supported herself as an Arthur Murray dance instructor and by modeling. She appeared in off-Broadway productions of "Picnic" and "Antigone", and in television commercials for Ultra Brite, Clairol and Cool Ray sunglasses.
In 1977, Tanya and her husband -- by then a scriptwriter -- moved to Hollywood. She began appearing in made-for-TV films including Pleasure Cove (1979), Zuma Beach (1978), and Waikiki (1980). Her film debut was in The Last Victim (1976). After appearing in several minor films, her first big break came when she was selected as the last Angel on the final season of Charlie's Angels (1976), and was featured on the cover of People magazine (02/09/1981). The attention she garnered helped secure her most significant film roles: The Beastmaster (1982) (and posed for the cover and an inside spread in Playboy magazine to promote the film), the title role in Sheena (1984) and as a Bond girl in A View to a Kill (1985). She continued to appear in films, though mainly direct-to-video and direct-to-cable features. She was featured in the CD computer game The Pandora Directive (1996) and had a recurring lead role in the television series That '70s Show (1998). Widowed in 2006, Tanya Roberts died of sepsis from a urinary tract infection in 2021.- Actor
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James Greene was born on 19 May 1931 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for What a Girl Wants (2003), Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Johnny English (2003). He died on 5 January 2021 in the UK.- Thomas Gumpert was born on 11 December 1952 in Lauchhammer, German Democratic Republic. He was an actor, known for Alisa: Follow Your Heart (2009), Verbotene Liebe (1995) and Von wegen! (2005). He was married to Volker Gumpert-Rosin. He died on 7 January 2021 in Germany.
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Marion Ramsey was an American actress and singer from Philadelphia. She is primarily known for her role as the soft-spoken policewoman Laverne Hooks in the "Police Academy" film series (1984-1994). Hooks was depicted as a "diminutive, soft-spoken and unassertive woman" with a high-pitched voice. But switched to a more aggressive and authoritative tone when sufficiently frustrated.
Ramsey was born in 1947, but little is known about her early life. She started her career as a theatrical actress, and became a prominent performer for Broadway shows. She appeared in the Broadway version of the hit musical "Hello, Dolly!" (1964) by Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart, and subsequently was part of the musical's touring productions. The musical was an adaptation of the farce "The Merchant of Yonkers" (1938) by Thornton Wilder (1897 -1975), but was much better received than the original work.
Ramsey made her television debut as part of the regular cast in the variety series "Keep On Truckin'" (1975). This was a summer replacement series, broadcast by ABC on Saturday nights. It only lasted four episodes. In 1976, Ramsey made a guest-star appearance in an episode of the then-popular sitcom "The Jeffersons" (1975-1985).
Also in 1976, Ramsey became part of the regular cast of the short-lived sketch comedy show "Cos". The show was named after its host, the popular comedian Bill Cosby (1937-). The series only lasted for 9 episodes, and was canceled due to low ratings. It was replaced on ABC's schedule by a new show called "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" (1977-1979), which was adapting mystery novels for children,. The novels were originally published by the long-running Stratemeyer Syndicate (1899-1987).
In 1977, Ramsey had a guest-star role in the short-lived sitcom "Sanford Arms" (1977). The series was intended as a sequel to the hit show "Sanford and Son" (1972-1977), but focused on a new protagonist. It failed to find an audience, and was canceled after only 4 episodes. Another 4 completed episodes, including the one featuring Ramsey, were never aired, although they became available on later reruns.
In 1978, Ramsey was one of the main performers of the revue "Eubie!" in Broadway. The revue showcased 23 songs by the popular jazz composer Eubie Blake (1887 - 1983). The show ran for 439 performances. Ramsey and the rest of the original cast participated in a recording of the show, which was released on vinyl in 1979.
Ramsey gained her first substantial film role in the police comedy "Police Academy" (1984), when she was 37-years-old. As cadet Laverne Hooks , she received enough screen time to be one of the film's memorable characters. The film was a box office hit, earning 150 million dollars at the worldwide box office. A film series featuring featuring the same cast followed. Ramsey appeared in 5 of the original film's sequels, and her character was soon depicted as a police sergeant. She made her last appearance in the film series in "Police Academy 6: City Under Siege" (1989). She did not appear in the series finale "Police Academy: Mission to Moscow" (1994), which also failed to include several other regular cast members.
In the early 1990s, Ramsey made a few appearances in then-popular television series, such as "MacGyver", "Beverly Hills, 90210", and "The Nanny". Most of her roles were minor unnamed characters. Ramsey worked as a voice actor in the animated series "The Addams Family" (1992 -1993). Her most memorable character in the series was summer camp owner D.I. Holler, who had the mentality of a drill sergeant. The character aimed to teach fitness and self-reliance to rich kids, but was unreasonably strict.
Ramsey had her next film role in the horror comedy "Maniacts" (2001) , where she played an unnamed prostitute. The film featured two serial killers who fall in love with each other, and try to settle down for a while. Ramsey next played a policewoman again in the comedy television film "Recipe for Disaster" (2003). The premise of the film is that the owners of a family restaurant have disappeared, and their underage kids try to operate the restaurant in their absence. The film is remembered for an early starring role for teenage actress Margo Harshman (1986-).
In 2006, Ramsey voiced Laverne Hooks in a comedy sketch of the animated series "Robot Chicken" (2005-). The sketch featured several characters from the "Police Academy" series being recruited as new members of the X-Men. The sketch reunited Ramsey with her former co-star Michael Winslow, an accomplished voice actor.
In 2007, Ramsey had a supporting role in the romantic comedy "Lord Help Us". The film's main plot is that the elderly preacher Henry Thomas (played by Bill Toliver) needs help to repair his reputation, after a rumor suggests that he is having an affair with a much younger woman. Also in 2007, Ramsey had a small role in the thriller film "The Stolen Moments of September". The film depicts the life of a young runaway, who befriends a suspected serial killer.
After a hiatus of a few years, Ramsey returned to film roles with the mystery comedy "Who Killed Soul Glow?" (2012). As the title suggests, it featured a murder mystery. In 2013, Ramsey appeared in the historical film "Return to Babylon", which depicted the lives of famous Hollywood actors in the 1920s. Ramsey played the maid of the famous vamp Barbara La Marr (1896 - 1926). The real life La Marr was highly popular in the 1920s, but died at the age of 29 due to tuberculosis.
In 2014, Ramsey played a supporting role in the sports film "Wal-Bob's". The film depicted the operation of an underground football league in Cincinnati. In 2015, Ramsey had a role in the science fiction horror television film "Lavalantula". The film depicted giant tarantulas unleashed in modern-day Los Angeles. The film notably reunited several veteran actors from the "Police Academy" film series, with the protagonist role reserved for Steve Guttenberg (1958-). Ramsey also appeared in the film's sequel "2 Lava 2 Lantula" (2016).
In 2016, Ramsey appeared in the comedy-drama film "DaZe: Vol. Too (sic) - NonSeNse". The film reunited several veterans of the "Police Academy" film series, and featured the last film role for Ramsey's longtime friend Bubba Smith (1945-2011). In 2018, Ramsey appeared in the biographical film "When I Sing", which was based on the life of singer-songwriter Linda Chorney (1960-). This was Ramsey's last film role.
Ramsey spend her last years in retirement.
In January she died at her residence in Los Angeles, following a short illness. Her cause of death was not announced to the public. She was 73-years-old at the time of her death. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered at sea. News of her death was covered by the press, as the actress was still well-known and fondly remembered. Ramsey is considered an icon of the 1980s.- Classically handsome John Richardson began his career with small roles in British movies at the end of the 1950s. His first role of note was opposite Barbara Steele in the gothic horror classic Black Sunday (1960), directed by Mario Bava. His massive success was Don Chaffey's One Million Years B.C. (1966) with Raquel Welch, produced by Hammer Films. Later, following the steps of some other actors, he went on to appear in various Italian movies such as Umberto Lenzi's horror movie Eyeball (1975), Michele Soavi's The Church (1989) and many others. Richardson's great passion was collecting automobiles and he sometimes appeared in movies as long as an automobile was included in the contract. But his recent movies filmed in the 1980s convinced him to retire from acting completely. He was a noteworthy photographer with no interest whatsoever in looking back on his career in cinema. John Richardson passed away from complications of COVID-19 on January 4, 2021, only two weeks away from his 87th birthday.
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Deezer D was born in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. He is not only an actor but a popular performer in the Christian and underground hip hop communities. His latest release is titled "Unpredictable". He also briefly hosted a Christian Rap radio show in Los Angeles on station 96.3 KFSG.- Director
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Michael Apted was born on 10 February 1941 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, UK. He was a director and producer, known for Amazing Grace (2006), Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and Rome (2005). He was married to Paige Simpson, Dana Stevens and Jo Apted. He died on 7 January 2021 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
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Ed Bruce was born on 29 December 1939 in Keiser, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Public Enemies (2009), American Honey (2016) and Catch and Release (2006). He was married to Patsy Bruce and Judith Woodlee. He died on 8 January 2021 in Clarksville, Tennessee, USA.- Brian Cowan was an actor, known for Taggart (1983), Family Affairs (1997) and Crimes That Shook the World (2006). He died on 2 January 2021 in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland, UK.
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Rugged Sicilian-born actor who came to international notice after playing Ferrari racing ace Nino Barlini in John Frankenheimer's high octane blockbuster Grand Prix (1966). His charismatic performance saw Sabato nominated for a Golden Globe Award as Most Promising Newcomer. During the 1970s, he starred in a slew of low-budget Italian language productions, predominantly spaghetti westerns and crime thrillers, essaying villains (Crime Boss (1972)), heroes (Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972)) and anti-heroes (Thunder Over El Paso (1972)) with equal verve. By the mid-80s, Sabato and his family had relocated to California where he devoted more time to painting and family life while continuing to star in international co-productions, typically action films like the futuristic Escape from the Bronx (1983), The Wild Team (1985) and High Voltage (1998). His last work on screen consisted of several appearances in the soap The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) , which also featured his son Antonio Sabato Jr...- Director
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Born in Brooklyn, New York, Steve Carver received his first camera when he was eight years old. At 13 he began his formal education in photography, attending the High School of Music & Arts in Manhattan where he received training in art and music. Fascinated by techniques of creating imagery, he experimented with situations to maximize his learning experience--testing and exploring the creative limitations of the mediums.
Attending the University of Buffalo in New York on a Regents Scholarship, Carver developed an interest in photography while studying commercial art and illustration. Determined to learn the entire photographic process, he served an apprenticeship under several professional photographers and gained invaluable technical knowledge. It was his willingness to explore ideas and adapt his skills to new situations that resulted in an impressive portfolio of work.
Following the completion of his undergraduate studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Carver accepted a fellowship to study classical arts at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Inspired by insightful portrait photography, he attempted to broaden the scope of his study by serious practice. Establishing himself as a freelance portraitist, he began his career with limited success and encouragement. Determined to work as a photographer, Carver undertook a photojournalist assignment on a documentary film. By learning the flexibility and immediacy that the work required, he gained valuable experience that contributed to his artistic vision of observed life. The experience also sowed the seed for Carver's interest in storytelling. He spent increasing amounts of time studying the creative process of filmmaking. In his final year at graduate school, Carver was a mature artist who had a passion for the visual arts and whose goals were vividly conceived. He rejected a conventional presentation of his thesis in favor of creating a film as a deliberate aesthetic choice to enhance the collective nature of his artwork with visual excitement and inventiveness. Working feverishly, Carver prepared a scenario that incorporated an assemblage of images derived from his photographs, paintings, drawings and etchings. While he labored with the arduous and complicated process, the single-minded intensity and pure ambition that he brought to the task ultimately motivated the completion of his first film. The achievement earned Carver a Master of Fine Arts degree and reinforced a new objectivity. During the next two years, Carver devoted himself to studying filmmaking while concentrating primarily on photography and art.
Resuming his freelance career, he worked as a conceptual artist, contract photographer, lecturer, film consultant and sometimes journalist. He accepted an invitation to attend a special postgraduate program in photojournalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Under a core group of staff photographers from "Life" magazine, Carver began studying the techniques of pictorial journalism. By drawing upon his unique vision and the imagery of culture, he built a portfolio of photographs that explored the interstices connecting culture, art and the artist. Returning to St. Louis, he exhibited his work at a fine-arts gallery and enjoyed both critical and commercial success. That success earned Carver a teaching position at Florissant Valley College and offers of employment.
Dividing his time between working as a photography instructor and freelance photojournalist, he contributed to the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch", ABC-TV's Wide World of Sports (1981), "Architectural Digest", "National Geographic" and "Time-Life". He later became a staff photographer for United Press International, where he developed a documentary portrait style producing a significant body of work. While photojournalism inspired his creativity, Carver maintained his fascination with filmmaking. On weekends he enjoyed the challenge of experimenting and exploring its technical process by shooting and editing thousands of feet of 16mm film. For inspiration he turned to the work of documentary filmmakers and the intellectual stimulation provided by friends. Mainly self-taught, he began taking on assignments as a cameraman and film editor. While teaching photography and filmmaking at the Metropolitan Education Council in the Arts in St. Louis, he began producing educational films that documented urban life and attitudes under the auspices of the St. Louis Mayor's Council on the Arts. Subsequently, the photo-documentaries created collections of images, dramatically increasing his productivity as well as his profitability. Despite his best efforts, however, the work exhausted Carver's interests in art and photography of all kinds. At the invitation of the American Film Institute in Beverly Hills, California, he shifted the focus of his efforts and relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a formal education in filmmaking.
Over the next 20 years he gradually gave up professional photography and rarely used a still camera. While attending the fellowship program at the Center for Advanced Film Studies, Carver studied screenwriting, film directing and editing, exclusively as a student. His principal mentors were great directors, producers and actors. Their counsel contributed enormously to his education in film and provided an outstanding professional atmosphere. Through the apprenticeship program at the Directors Guild of America (DGA), Carver gained employment as an assistant director and developed a technical aptitude for the craft. As a result, he got a foothold in the movie industry and received his first directorial assignment, establishing himself as a feature film director. Directing feature films and TV-movies throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, he made good use of the creative vision he developed through photography. While working on location in Moscow he receiving a still camera as a gift, and he renewed his interest in photography by undertaking a series of photographic expeditions throughout Russia. After his return to Los Angeles he was offered a partnership in a business, but decided to take a break from directing and turned his attention to a different kind of creative enterprise--establishing a photography business he named The Darkroom, located in Venice Beach. Its opening, however, coincided with the demise of the partnership, and Carver ran the business himself for five years--he was not only the owner but the operator, technician, educator and photographer, even doing the rentals and services that helped to support the facility. Largely self-taught, he quickly came to terms with the arduous business process. Since his technical skills relied heavily on the precepts and techniques that he learned over the previous 20 years, he began to focus his efforts on encompassing new photographic technology to stimulate diversity in his work. To maximize production, he practiced, concentrating more and more on photography, adapting his idiosyncratic working methods. Working independently, he explored the boundaries of his classical photographic vision in black-and-white, and by using applications of early chemical processes as a means of documenting the evolving ideas and facets of his work, he liberally incorporated the technology from his explorations into his photography as a means of expression. Gradually, it allowed him to produce photographs of exceptional depth and quality. As a result, The Darkroom gained popularity and increasingly attracted a core group of photographic artists and serious students.
While his techniques and methods became the subject and inspiration of a diverse body of photographs, as a portraitist Carver began creating sensuous and moody figure studies that he considered being among his highest artistic achievements. As expressive formalism incorporating a traditional classic sensibility, his portraiture provided a stylish and diverse cultural document, serving to chronicle life and culture while conveying the emotional, psychological, and spiritual as opposed to merely rendering a likeness. He also produced photo-transformations of people in motion, isolating successive stages of rapid movement by using long exposures to permit the intrusion of motion into the image, as both a means of expression and transformation. These images typically included insightful psychological compositions, involving precise staging, elaborate props, and direction. Psychologically probing and surreal, the images often involved the use of light abstractions, color-frequency alteration, long-exposure techniques, split-filter printing, solarization, and archival chemical toning. Carver became affiliated with conservators and scientists in an effort to interact with private collectors, archivists, and curators, to further the development of his work in archival preservation of historical prints and negatives. He appropriated images from archives and private collections in order to raise issues of cultural heritage. Primarily produced and used as source material for scholars and as telling documentation to ensure the preservation of cultural heritages, he created replicas and duplicates of photographs that characteristically challenged perception of its originality. While the closing of the lab allowed Carver to resume his career as a director, his ambition now is to create exceptional collections of formal portraiture for wide publication. It is his hope that these informative photographic studies will offer new interpretations and contribute to the necessary preservation of cultural heritages.- Vladimir Korenev was born on 20 June 1940 in Sevastopol, Krymskaya ASSR, RSFSR, USSR [now Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for Amphibian Man (1961), Ya - aktrisa (1980) and Much Ado About Nothing (1973). He was married to Aleftina Konstantinova. He died on 2 January 2021 in Moscow, Russia.
- Tommy Lasorda was one of the best managers in baseball until his retirement in July 1996. He was involved with the Los Angeles Dodgers for over 50 years. He managed the team from 1976 to 1996. He retired due to a heart attack. He thought being a manager would be too stressful.
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Brad Venable was born on 16 July 1977 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019), Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015) and The Boy and the Beast (2015). He was married to Kathryn Venable. He died on 7 January 2021 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Ivo Niederle was born on 26 December 1929 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He was an actor, known for xXx (2002), Die Tigerin (1992) and Sanitka (1984). He was married to Vera Kríbková. He died on 8 January 2021 in Prague, Czech Republic.
- Diana became involved in show business at a very early age, tap dancing at seven and winning a beauty contest three years later. This led to modeling sun suits for Sears Department Stores, and, eventually, to becoming a Conover model for the John Robert Powers Agency in New York. She also acquired plenty of acting practice during seven seasons of summer stock, playing assorted leads in classic plays like The Little Foxes, The Seven Year Itch (the role immortalized by Marilyn Monroe on screen!), Tobacco Road and Life With Father. From the mid-50s, she appeared on numerous live TV shows in New York and even enjoyed a second-billed leading role in a 1955 episode of Star Tonight (1955). This did not lead anywhere career-wise, so the blonde, comely-looking Diana took on further acting studies and got herself noticed with covers in popular contemporary magazines. Alas, it took a move to Hollywood for her career to really gain some traction, then, before long, she became a much-in-demand guest actress for prime-time TV shows. So much so, where by 1962, she was given the sobriquet 'Miss Emmy'.
Diana also appeared thrice on Broadway, culminating in a leading role in the comedy play Boeing-Boeing in 1962. That same year, she toured the U.S. and Canada in a National Theatre Company Production of The Seven Year Itch, opposite Eddie Bracken.
During her prolific TV appearances in the 60s, Diana accumulated screen credits on some of the most popular shows of the day, including Maverick (1957), Gunsmoke (1955), Route 66 (1960), Rawhide (1959), Perry Mason (1957), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), The Virginian (1962) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964).
However, her undoubted career highlight came near the end of her life as an actress when producer/creator Dan Curtis offered her the juicy role of Laura Collins (an immortal Phoenix-like entity) in his cult supernatural day time series Dark Shadows (1966). Between 1966 and 1969, Diana lived and breathed this character in 62 episodes and a subsequent spin-off movie release, Night of Dark Shadows (1971). After that, her acting career ended somewhat inconspicuously.
In later years, she moved back to New York where she reinvented herself as an author of several books, including "The Power of Halloween" (dealing with supernatural themes, such as witchcraft), "How to Create Good Luck" and "I'd Rather Eat Than Act".
Between 1966 and 1968, Diana Claire Millay was married to Geoffrey Montgomery Talbot Jones, a Broadway producer, Princeton alumnus and former wartime OSS officer. Sometime during the 1990s, she worked as a promoter for Microhydrin, an antioxidant and nutritional supplement.
Diana passed away in New York on 8 January 2021 at the age of 86. - John Reilly was born on 11 November 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for General Hospital (1963), Iron Man (1994) and Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982). He was married to Lily Beth (Liz) Janred and Donna Reilly . He died on 9 January 2021 in the USA.
- Etienne Draber was born on 26 March 1939 in Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France. He was an actor, known for Madame Bovary (1991), Le fou du roi (1984) and Plus belle la vie (2004). He died on 11 January 2021 in Paris, France.
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Stacy Title was born on 21 February 1964 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. She was a director and producer, known for Let the Devil Wear Black (1999), The Last Supper (1995) and The Bye Bye Man (2017). She was married to Jonathan Penner. She died on 11 January 2021 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Gerald Hiken was born on 23 May 1927 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Crossings (1986), The Three Sisters (1966) and Play of the Week (1959). He was married to Barbara Hiken. He died on 6 January 2021 in San Francisco, California, USA.
- Vladimir Korenev was born on 20 June 1940 in Sevastopol, Krymskaya ASSR, RSFSR, USSR [now Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for Amphibian Man (1961), Ya - aktrisa (1980) and Much Ado About Nothing (1973). He was married to Aleftina Konstantinova. He died on 2 January 2021 in Moscow, Russia.
- Mona Malm got her breakthrough at the Royal Dramatic Theater in 1957 as "Tintomara" in Almqvist's 'Drottningens juvelsmycke', directed by Alf Sjöberg. She played "Martha" in Edward Albee's 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' (1985) and the title role in Hjalmar Bergman's 'Chefen fru Ingeborg' (1993). She appeared in such films as Fanny and Alexander (1982) (as Jarl Kulle's tolerant wife) and The Best Intentions (1992).
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Siegfried Fischbacher was born on 13 June 1939 in Rosenheim, Germany. He was a producer and actor, known for Vegas Vacation (1997), Ocean's Eleven (2001) and Siegfried & Roy: The Magic Box (1999). He died on 13 January 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.- Actress
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Julie Strain was born in Concord, California, as Julie Ann Strain. She was an actress, known for Sex Court, (1998), Heavy Metal 2000 (2000) and Double Impact (1991), and Battle Queen 2020. She grew up in Pleasant Hill California and graduated from Diablo Valley College, in that town. Appeared in over 100 movies, was one of the tallest actresses in Hollywood, and performed all her own stunts. Julie was crowned the Queen of the B-movies.- This durable, granite-faced actor with the matching steel-edged voice was one of the most interesting and recognisable leads in 1950s and 1960s television. He was born Marvin Jack Richman in South Philadelphia to paper and roofing contractor Benjamin Richman and his wife Yetta Dora (née Peck), the youngest of five siblings. His childhood was -- by his own account -- 'horrendous'. The family was not well off and money was hard to come by. For two years he played football until sidelined by a knee injury. Richman also studied at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, from which he graduated in 1951 as a fully qualified pharmacist. He briefly worked in that field, though his interest had always been in the performing arts, spurred on by regular childhood visits to the nearby Alhambra Theater and performances in high school dramatics. Between 1952 and 1954, Richman trained at the Actor's Studio in New York under Lee Strasberg, having already made his stage debut in 1947. Until 1996, he acted on and off-Broadway and on the West Coast, as well as touring nationally in seminal plays like Mister Roberts, The Rainmaker and A Hatful of Rain. For most of his early career he was billed as 'Mark Richman' but in 1971 changed his moniker to Peter Mark Richman because of his abiding belief in Subud, an Eastern spiritualist philosophy.
An amazingly prolific screen actor, Richman was first brought to Hollywood by famed director William Wyler to appear in Friendly Persuasion (1956). There were a few subsequent big screen outings, but the lean, edgy and coldly handsome actor reserved his best for the small screen. By the early 60s, he starred in his own series at NBC, Cain's Hundred (1961). His character was a former syndicate lawyer, Nick Cain, who, after wanting to 'go straight' is targeted for a hit. When his fiancée gets killed in the crosshairs instead, Cain swears revenge and joins an FBI task force to bring down the top 100 mobsters by various legal means. While the series only ran to 30 episodes, it firmly established Richman in the medium. He was henceforth to alternate between nasty villains, stern authority figures and stoic heroes and become one of the most often killed guys on TV. His numerous roles have included appearances in The Twilight Zone (1959), The Fugitive (1963), The Virginian (1962), Mission: Impossible (1966), Longstreet (1971) (as James Franciscus' cynical boss, Duke Paige), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) (as a rather camp THRUSH operative) and -- having lost none of his edge -- in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). Standouts have included The Probe (1965) in which Richman plays a scientist determined to explore another dimension at any cost, and the first of two guest spots on The Invaders (1967) as an ally of the chief protagonist David Vincent. Richman was almost clipped by a helicopter blade during this episode and lucky to survive the experience. He continued to perform on screen well until his late eighties.
In addition to his work on front of the camera, Richman was something of a Renaissance man: a noted humanitarian (for which he was awarded a Silver Medallion from The Motion Picture and Television Fund) and an accomplished painter from an early age, trained at the Philadelphia Sketch Club. Describing himself as a 'figurative expressionist', Richman has had at least seventeen successful one-man exhibitions on the West Coast and in New York (primarily portraits of oil on canvas). He has also written two novels and several stage plays, of which his solo show 4 Faces and the one act play A Medal for Murray were the most acclaimed. His wife of 67 years was the actress Helen Richman (née Landess). - Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Phil Spector was born on 26 December 1939 in The Bronx, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Top Gun (1986), Mean Streets (1973) and Dirty Dancing (1987). He was married to Rachelle Marie Short , Janis Lynn Zavala, Ronnie Spector and Annette Lee Merar. He died on 16 January 2021 in French Camp, California, USA.- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Jacques Bral was born on 21 September 1948 in Téhéran, Iran. He was a writer and actor, known for Polar (1984), Un printemps à Paris (2006) and Street of No Return (1989). He died on 17 January 2021 in Paris, France.- Actor
- Writer
Jean-Pierre Bacri was born on 24 May 1951 in Castiglione, Alger, France [now Bou Ismail, Algeria]. He was an actor and writer, known for Look at Me (2004), The Taste of Others (2000) and Family Resemblances (1996). He was married to Agnès Jaoui. He died on 18 January 2021 in Paris, France.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Marran Gosov was born 1933 as Tzvetan Marangosoff in Sofia to a German mother and a Bulgarian father. As a young man, he had studied to become a painter, but then, while in jail after a clash with socialist authorities, he wrote his first novel "The Indifferent". Partly because of the aforementioned political troubles, he emigrated to West Germany in April 1960. Shortly after settling down in Munich, he started writing radio plays and soon wrote and directed the first of 27 short films which he would make between 1964 and 1978, many of which he also photographed and edited. It is these short films which form his main body of work, and the five feature-length films he would go on to make between 1967 and 1972 could be seen as a kind of mainstream accompaniment to his shorts which typically reflected, humoured, bemoaned and dreamed about washed-up, eccentric or passionately lazy slacker characters, scroungers and smalltime criminals living, drinking and loving in Schwabing, at that time the Chelsea of Munich (but more bohème perhaps) and Gosov's new home by choice. In his heyday, Gosov was so well-reputed in Schwabing that even younger, aspiring filmmakers sought his advice and help, among them Rainer Werner Fassbinder (whom Gosov turned down when he applied for assistant director). Sadly, all of Gosov's outstanding short films have yet to be introduced to the digital world and can currently only be seen at occasional cinema showings in Germany, usually organised by Gosov expert Bernhard Marsch.
In 1967, Dutch producer Rob Houwer (who was based in Munich back then and who would later become young Paul Verhoeven mentor) gave him the opportunity to adapt his short film Sabine 18 (1967) into a feature-length film called Engelchen - oder die Jungfrau von Bamberg (1968) (aka "Angel Baby"), starring the then unknown Gila von Weitershausen in what would become her breakthrough role. The film turned out to be a surprise hit which earned Gosov some attention and led to two more Houwer-produced feature films, Zuckerbrot und Peitsche (1968) (aka "Sugar Bread and Whip") and 24 Hour Lover (1968). Gosov also wrote both films which starred some of Munich's most illustrious artists and filmmakers, such as Roger Fritz (another member "Munich Group") and Helga Anders who were a bit of a "scandalous couple" at the time. Harald Leipnitz, formerly known mostly for impersonating villains and police inspectors in adventure and crime films, was another Gosov regular and friend.
After falling out with Rob Houwer (possibly due to the fact that Gosov disliked a script for a sequel to "Angel Baby" - not written by him - which was later made into a film by Michael Verhoeven), Gosov was hired by titan producer Horst Wendlandt to direct That Guy Loves Me, Am I Supposed to Believe That? (1969), starring shooting-star Uschi Glas. The film's screenplay was written by another peer of the now so-called "Munich group", Klaus Lemke (who had also starred in "Sabine 18"). However, Gosov completely rewrote the script and very little of Lemke's original script remained. He nevertheless asked Gosov to be credited as screenwriter for financial reasons and Gosov, wanting to help out his younger colleague, obliged. By the time he had finished his fourth feature film, Gosov had become somewhat weary of long pre-production periods, weeks of shooting and arguments with producers and went back to his kind of filmmaking: more short films followed, all shot with Schwabing friends on the very little budget that sufficed perfectly for most of Gosov's ideas.
In 1972, however, he got the itch to make one more feature, this time on his own terms. Wonnekloß (1972) (a title which would be hard to translate into English) bore much more resemblance to his earlier short films. Since he could not convince any producers to supply funds and was thriving for complete artistic freedom, Gosov financed the film entirely himself, using up all of his private savings. Made in an intimate atmosphere without any interference by producers, with many of his close friends and long-time collaborators, the film proved one of the most unusual German comedies of its time. Crowned by a mesmerising performance by Dieter Augustin, a former waiter which Gosov had already cast in some of his previous shorts, the film delightfully ridicules the social reactions to the sexploitation film wave that was breaking in on Germany at that time and changes lightly from hysteria to dadaism but always maintains the subtle melancholy and humanitarian pessimism that can be considered Gosov's trademark. But just as he was unable to raise any funding for the film, he could not find a distributor and eventually had to handle the distribution of the film himself which ended in a terrific flop. The film played only for one or two weeks in most of the few cinemas where it was screened.
Indepted and frustrated, Gosov made a few more short films and then, to pay off his debts, started working for German television as a writer of crime series and, occasionally, as a composer (among other films, he scored Rosa von Praunheim's Horror Vacui (1984) in 1982). In 1990, he returned to Bulgaria where he has lived since, writing a couple of novels which, as far as I know, have not been published elsewhere. To this day, he is known to a dedicated handful German cineastes for "Angel Baby" (which still holds a minor cult status in Germany), but the majority of his work, both his short films as well as "Wonnekloß", remain obscure and, apart from occasional cinema screenings in some larger German cities, unexposed to the public. Considering his achievements, it is rather sad how neglected his films (and most other films of the so-called "Munich Group", for that matter) are today.- Jim MacGeorge was born on 9 October 1928 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Teenagers from Outer Space (1959), Get Smart (1965) and Bionic Six (1987). He was married to Victoria Utica Loranger. He died on 16 January 2021 in the USA.
- Catherine Rich was born on 10 June 1932 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for Les rois maudits (1972), Le temps de mourir (1970) and The Burning Court (1962). She was married to Claude Rich. She died on 18 January 2021 in Paris, France.
- A leading actress of theatre, film and TV in the former Yugoslavia, Mira Furlan emigrated to the U.S. with her husband, Goran Gajic, in November 1991, due to the intolerable political circumstances in her homeland. Ms. Furlan starred in the Warner Brothers TV series Babylon 5 (1993) as "Ambassador Delenn" (Sci-Fi Universe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Genre TV-series 1996 and 1997).
Her other American credits included the TV movie My Antonia (1995) directed by Joseph Sargent, the title roles in "Sophocles Antigone" at the Hudson Guild Theatre in Los Angeles (Dramalogue Theatre Award for Outstanding Performance in 1995) and Lorca's "Yerma" at The Indiana Repertory Theatre. She also appeared in Brecht's "Baal" at The Second Stage in Los Angeles and Shaw's "Don Juan In Hell" in which she co-starred with Edward Asner and Rene Auberjonois. Ms. Furlan was a member of The Actor's Studio.
Ms. Furlan's film credits include leading roles in over 25 films. She co-starred in Emir Kusturica's Cannes award-winning and Oscar-nominated film When Father Was Away On Business (2000). Films include: Three For Happiness, (Grand Prix, Valencia Film Festival), Beauty Of Vice, In The Jaws Of Life, The Loves Of Blanka Kolak, and Dear Video. In addition, Ms Furlan has appeared regularly on Yugoslav television, playing leading roles in numerous series and TV films. She received all the highest awards in her former country, both for her stage and film work, including two Golden Arenas (Yugoslav Oscars) for Best Actress.
In the former Yugoslavia, Furlan was a member of the Croatian National Theatre and a frequent guest star at major theatres in the whole country. Her favorite roles include: 'Natalya' in "A Month In The Country", 'Mrs. Elliot' in "Alpha-Beta", 'Celimene' in "The Misanthrope", 'Judith' in "The Devil's Disciple", 'Annabella' in "Tis Pity She's A Whore", the title role in Euripides' "Helen", 'Lea' in "Dybbuk", 'Isabelle' in Corneille's "L'Illusion Comique", 'Yvette' in "Mother Courage", 'Natasha' in "Three Sisters" and 'Ophelia' in Jiri Menzel's production of "Hamlet". - Actress
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- Director
Nathalie Delon was born on 1 August 1941 in Oujda, French Protectorate Morocco [now Morocco]. She was an actress and writer, known for The Samurai (1967), They Call It an Accident (1982) and The French Dispatch (2021). She was married to Alain Delon and Guy Barthelemy. She died on 21 January 2021 in Paris, France.- Writer
- Animation Department
Jean Graton was born on 10 August 1923 in Nantes, France. He was a writer, known for Michel Vaillant (2003), Les aventures de Michel Vaillant (1967) and Heroes on Hot Wheels (1990). He was married to Francine Vandenbosch. He died on 21 January 2021 in Brussels, Belgium.- Stunts
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rémy Julienne was born on 17 April 1930 in Cepoy, Loiret, France. He was an actor and assistant director, known for GoldenEye (1995), Double Team (1997) and Octopussy (1983). He was married to Antonie Pedrocchi. He died on 21 January 2021 in Amilly, Loiret, France.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Karl Heinz Vosgerau was born on 16 August 1927 in Kiel, Germany. He was an actor, known for Wie ein Blitz (1970), Die Wächter (1986) and M.E.T.R.O. - Ein Team auf Leben und Tod (2006). He was married to Sabine. He died on 4 January 2021 in Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany.- Producer
- Actor
- Director
Larry King was born on 19 November 1933 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and actor, known for Ghostbusters (1984), Enemy of the State (1998) and Shrek 2 (2004). He was married to Shawn Ora Engemann, Julie Alexander, Sharon Lepore, Alene Akins, Mickey Sutphin, Annette Kaye and Freda Miller. He died on 23 January 2021 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Lanky, balding, intense American character actor of Puerto Rican ancestry, born in New York's Spanish Harlem. Deserted by his parents, Sierra was brought up by an aunt in a rough, predominantly Irish neighbourhood from the age of six. Though briefly tempted by gang life as a teenager, he took up acting classes after accompanying a friend to an audition and ended up playing Shakespearean roles with the National Shakespeare Company and in the New York Shakespeare Festival (playing, among many other parts, Macbeth and Romeo), as well as appearing off-Broadway. He later said "I would have been happy if I continued to do that for the rest of my life". However, in 1969, Sierra decided to move to Hollywood and began acting in episodic television where he was initially typecast as Latino heavies or cops.
Sierra made his breakthrough in the role of Julio Fuentes on NBC's Sanford and Son (1972), his character the perennial butt of bigoted jokes from the show's cantankerous lead, played by Redd Foxx. He then appeared in the original cast of the police sitcom Barney Miller (1975) as the passionate, proudly Puerto Rican Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale. Written out of the show at the end of season two, he had further recurring roles in serial television, frequently alternating between comedy and drama. These included the short-lived hospital sitcom A.E.S. Hudson Street (1977), the controversial but hugely popular parody Soap (1977) (as South American counter-revolutionary "El Puerco"), Hill Street Blues (1981) (as Assistant District Attorney Alvarez), Zorro and Son (1983) (as garrison commander Paco Pico, one of the hero's chief antagonists), Miami Vice (1984) (as Don Johnson's erstwhile boss Lou Rodriguez, killed off by a hitman in episode four -- in fact, Sierra opted to leave the show because he disliked Miami) and the science fiction series Something Is Out There (1988) (as Captain Victor Maldonado). His numerous, varied and often highly entertaining guest appearances have included supporting roles as a Native American renegade on Gunsmoke (1955), a mutated religious leader living underneath irradiated New York in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), a professor of anthropology helping Mulder and Scully track down the Jersey Devil in The X-Files (1993), a Cardassian member of the sinister Obsidian Order on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), an Italian priest in John Carpenter's Vampires (1998) and an Iraqi gunboat captain in the Rambo spoof Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993).
Sierra made his home in Laguna Beach, California, where he died of cancer on January 4 2021 at the age of 84. - One of those hard-working supporting actors whose face you know but whose name might not ring any bells. Italian-American Bruce Kirby (real name Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu) was steadily employed--primarily on the small screen--to play a gallery of often likeable, mainly unimposing characters in a career that spanned more than 50 years. He began at the Actor's Studio in New York, having studied under Lee Strasberg, debuting on stage in or around 1950. His television work commenced in 1955 with anthology dramas. Kirby had a recurring role as Officer Kissel in Car 54, Where Are You? (1961) and was from then on frequently cast as police officers, notably in Kojak (1973) (Sgt. Al Vine), Columbo (1971) (perhaps best remembered as the ineffectual, perennially-bewildered Sgt. Kramer), Holmes and Yoyo (1976) (Captain Harry Sedford), and in the short-lived crime series Shannon (1981) (Det. George Schmidt). He enjoyed a lengthier run as District Attorney Bruce Rogoff in the multiple Emmy Award-winning legal drama L.A. Law (1986). Kirby showed up in numerous guest spots on top-rating shows across diverse genres, including Hogan's Heroes (1965), Bonanza (1959), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), The Streets of San Francisco (1972), M*A*S*H (1972), The Rockford Files (1974), The West Wing (1999) and The Sopranos (1999).
Kirby appeared as Alfieri on stage in Los Angeles in A View from the Bridge, using his real name. He made his bow on Broadway in Diamond Orchid (1965) and was understudy to Dustin Hoffman for the role of Willy Loman in a 1984 production of Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman. He retired from acting in 2009. Kirby died on January 24, 2021 in Los Angeles. - Producer
- Additional Crew
Alberto Grimaldi is a fine example of a lawyer who become film producer. His first contacts with cinema were of a legal nature, but these slowly led to production. By the early 1960s he had created his company Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA), and was very successful when he distributed Joaquín Luis Romero Marchant's «La venganza del Zorro» (1962), the second European western shot in Almería, Spain, where Sergio Leone had also made his first western, «Per un pugno di dollari». The filmmaker was having trouble with his producers for its sequel, he sought legal advice, and met Grimaldi, who became the majority investor in «Per qualche dollaro in più». With the following success and a third western, Leone turned into one of the greatest European filmmakers and PEA became a significant production company.
In 1967 another encounter and litigation diversified Grimaldi's profession. When Federico Fellini collapsed, after meeting many obstacles to do «Il viaggio di G. Mastorna» for producer Dino de Laurentiis, Grimaldi freed the maestro from the contract and produced him the short «Toby Dammit», for the film «Histoires extraordinaires». Thenceforth, while still producing more commercial films, Grimaldi became associated with several Italian filmmakers who also had artistic aspirations. He produced Gillo Pontecorvo's «Queimada», Elio Petri's «Un tranquillo posto di campagna», Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'Trilogy of Life' and «Salò o Le 120 giornate di Sodoma», Bernardo Bertolucci's «Ultimo tango a Parigi» and Francesco Rosi's «Cadaveri eccellenti»...
In the 1970s Grimaldi had different setbacks and his production activities decreased. First, «Il Casanova di Federico Fellini» was a financial failure, and the «Novecento» proved too problematic, although the cast and production values were attractive for the international markets. Bertolucci proposed a cut of 375 minutes and wanted to release the film in two parts, but Grimaldi had to deliver a 195-minute version to Paramount for the American market. When the producer decided to make the contractual version without the filmmaker and they ended in court, Bertolucci finally agreed and made a 280-minute version, but for Twentieth Century Fox. Then, in the next decade Grimaldi and Leone were reunited for «Once Upon a Time in America», but fearing a five-hour film after reading the final script, he stepped back and impresario Arnon Milchan took charge. Grimaldi only produced Fellini's nostalgic comedy «Ginger and Fred» in the 1980s.
Sixteen years passed until Grimaldi released a new production, when «Gangs of New York» opened in 2002. Under Martin Scorsese's direction, it was shot -like in the old times- in the Cinecittà studios in Rome, but it also had problems: a few months before shooting, Grimaldi sued Universal, Walt Disney, executive producer Michael Ovitz and other persons related to the film, claiming they had denied him the producer credit of a project he had planned for 20 years.
In 2007 the Valladolid International Film Festival honored Grimaldi with a retrospective of his more significant films, and the book dedicated to his work «The Art of Producing with Success» by José María Otero and Paola Savino, was launched on the occasion. Alberto Grimaldi was also awarded for the body of his work by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
After acting studies at the Gothenburg City Theatre from 1950-52, she made her breakthrough debut in Gustaf Molander's Kärlek (1952). When Ingmar Bergman became head of the Malmö City Theatre he asked her to join him there and with him as a director she played the role of Margareta in Goethe's 'Faust'. Bergman also gave her supporting roles in his movies, most notably the mute woman in The Seventh Seal (1957). She followed up on a few offers from abroad but the roles wasted her screen presence. Bergman once again gave her an offer she couldn't refuse, to direct a movie. Paradistorg (1977) received a lot of praise from all over the world. Time Magazine considered it one of the four best non-US movies of 1978. Her appearances in movies has been rare but she gave a wonderful appearance in the children's TV show Kaspar i Nudådalen (2001). Lindblom has for many years worked for The Royal Dramatic Theatre, appearing in plays by August Strindberg or William Shakespeare. In 2002 she received a Guldbagge award for her lifetime achievements in movies.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Barry Oringer was born on 3 December 1935 in New York, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Doctors' Hospital (1975), Hotel (1983) and The Fugitive (1963). He died on 10 January 2021 in Novato, California, USA.- Hana Maciuchová was born on 29 November 1945 in Sternberk, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for Hospital at the End of the City - The New Generation (2008), Hospital at the End of the City (1977) and The Three Musketeers (1983). She was married to Jirí Adamíra. She died on 26 January 2021 in Olomouc, Czech Republic.
- Peter Vere-Jones was born on 21 October 1939 in Cheshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Dead Alive (1992), Bad Taste (1987) and Meet the Feebles (1989). He died on 26 January 2021 in New Zealand.
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- Producer
Richard Lindheim was born on 15 May 1939 in New York, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Equalizer (2014), The Equalizer 3 (2023) and The Equalizer 2 (2018). He died on 18 January 2021 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Alberto Berco was born on 14 August 1929 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for The House That Screamed (1969), ¿Es usted el asesino? (1967) and Historias para no dormir (1966). He was married to Mayra Gómez Kemp. He died on 18 January 2021 in Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain.- Actress
- Soundtrack
The legendary actress set a record when at age 82, she appeared on Dancing with the Stars (2005). Cloris Leachman was born on April 30, 1926 in Des Moines, Iowa to Berkeley Claiborne "Buck" Leachman and the former Cloris Wallace. Her father's family owned a lumber company, Leachman Lumber Co. She was of Czech (from her maternal grandmother) and English descent. After graduating from high school, Leachman attended Illinois State University and Northwestern University, where she majored in drama. After winning the title of Miss Chicago 1946 (as part of the Miss America pageant), she acted with the Des Moines Playhouse before moving to New York.
Leachman made her credited debut in 1948 in an episode of The Ford Theatre Hour (1948) and appeared in many television anthologies and series before becoming a regular on The Bob & Ray Show (1951) in 1952. Her movie debut was memorable, playing the doomed blonde femme fatale Christina Bailey in Robert Aldrich's classic noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955). Other than a role in Rod Serling's movie The Rack (1956) in support of Paul Newman, Leachman remained a television actress throughout the 1950s and the 1960s, appearing in only two movies during the latter decade, The Chapman Report (1962) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Though she would win an Oscar for Peter Bogdanovich's adaptation of Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show (1971) and appear in three Mel Brooks movies, it was in television that her career remained and her fame was assured in the 1970s and into the second decade of the new millennium.
Leachman was nominated five times for an Emmy Award playing Phyllis Lindstrom, Mary Tyler Moore's landlady and self-described best friend on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and on the spin-off series Phyllis (1975). She won twice as Best Supporting Actress in a comedy for her "Mary Tyler Moore" gig and won a Golden Globe Award as a leading performer in comedy for "Phyllis", but her first Emmy Award came in the category Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 1973 for the television movie A Brand New Life (1973). She also won two Emmy Awards as a supporting player for Malcolm in the Middle (2000).
She was married to director-producer George Englund from 1953 to 1979. They had five children together. Cloris Leachman died of natural causes on January 27, 2021 in Encinitas, California.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Cicely Tyson was born in Harlem, New York City, where she was raised by her devoutly religious parents, who had come from the Caribbean island of Nevis. Her mother Theodosia was a domestic worker and her her father William was a carpenter and painter. Tyson was discovered by a fashion editor at Ebony Magazine, and with her stunning looks she quickly rose to the top of the modeling industry. In 1957 she began acting in Off-Broadway productions. She had small roles in feature films before she was cast as Portia in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968). Four years later, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her sensational performance in the critically-acclaimed film Sounder (1972). In 1974, she went on to portray a 110-year-old former slave in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), which earned her two Emmy Awards. She also appeared in the television miniseries Roots (1977), King (1978), and A Woman Called Moses (1978). While Cicely has not appeared steadily onscreen because of her loyalty to solely portraying strong, positive images of Black women, she is definitely one of the most talented, beautiful actresses who ever graced stage or screen.- Born in Lithuania, he was taken to Germany when he was twelve, where he received dramatic training. In 1949, he emigrated to Australia where he took Australian citizenship in 1955, and joined the Old Vic Company, which was on an Australia tour. His success on the tour encouraged him to give all his time to acting, and he set up his own small film unit in Adelaide, then came to England where he got a part in the film 'The One Tha Got Away.' He didn't bother to attend the wardrobe call in London as he had his own uniform that he'd worn in the actual desert campaign.
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Blacklisted writer in the 1950s, a victim of the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), he still continued to write under pseudonyms as did many other blacklisted writers such as Ring Lardner Jr. and Dalton Trumbo, and his biggest contribution during that time was probably his writing work with other blacklisted writers Arnold Manoff & Abraham Polonsky on the You Are There (1953) TV segments starring Walter Cronkite. Of large importance is his screenplay for the dark comedy about blacklisted screenwriters, The Front (1976) starring Woody Allen. The blacklisted writers in the deli are based on a composite of him, Manoff & Polonsky. After he graduated from Dartmouth, he wrote for The New Yorker magazine and also the G.I. weekly "Yank" during World War II. He had barely started working in Hollywood when he was blacklisted. He is a recipient of The Writers Guild of America East Lifetime Achievement Award and he also wrote the book "Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist". Though unfairly blacklisted by Hollywood for his political alliances, luckily he recovered to have a long remarkable career.- Actor
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Attended Zion Lutheran School in Anaheim, California. While in fifth grade, he portrayed 8th-grader Samuel "Screech" Powers in the television series Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1987), which evolved into Saved by the Bell (1989) and its various television movies and spin-offs. Also appeared in the television series The Wonder Years (1988).- Actor
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Hal Holbrook was an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor who was one of the great craftsmen of stage and screen. He was best known for his performance as Mark Twain, for which he won a Tony and the first of his ten Emmy Award nominations. Aside from the stage, Holbrook made his reputation primarily on television, and was memorable as Abraham Lincoln, as Senator Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator (1970) and as Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo (1973). All of these roles brought him Emmy Awards, with Pueblo (1973) bringing him two, as Best Lead Actor in a Drama and Actor of the Year - Special. On January 22, 2008, he became the oldest male performer ever nominated for an Academy Award, for his supporting turn in Into the Wild (2007).
He was born Harold Rowe Holbrook, Jr. on February 17, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Eileen (Davenport), a vaudeville dancer, and Harold Rowe Holbrook, Sr. Raised primarily in South Weymouth, Massachusetts by his paternal grandparents, Holbrook attended the Culver Academies. During World War II, Holbrook served in the Army in Newfoundland. After the war, he attended Denison University, graduating in 1948. While at Denison, Holbrook's senior honors project concerned Mark Twain.
He later developed "Mark Twain Tonight!," the one-man show in which he impersonates the great American writer Mark Twain, aka Samuel Clemens. Holbrook learned his craft on the boards and by appearing in the TV soap opera The Brighter Day (1954). He first played Mark Twain as a solo act in 1954, at Lock Haven State Teachers College in Pennsylvania. The show was a success that created a buzz. After seeing the performance, Ed Sullivan, the host of TV's premier variety show, featured him on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) on February 12, 1956. This lead to an international tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, which included appearances in Iron Curtain countries. Holbrook brought the show to Off-Broadway in 1959. He even played Mark Twain for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The 1966 "Mark Twain Tonight" Broadway production brought Holbrook even more acclaim, and the Tony Award. The show was taped and Holbrook won an Emmy nomination. He reprised the show on Broadway in 1977 and in 2005. By that time, he had played Samuel Clemens on stage over 2,000 times.
Among Holbrook's more famous roles was "The Major" in the original Broadway production of Arthur Miller's "Incident at Vichy", as Martin Sheen's significant other in the controversial and acclaimed TV movie That Certain Summer (1972), the first TV movie to sympathetically portray homosexuality, and as Abraham Lincoln in Carl Sandburg's acclaimed TV biography of the 16th President Lincoln (1974), a role he also portrayed in excellent performances too in North & South: Book 1, North & South (1985) and North & South: Book 2, Love & War (1986). He also is known for his portrayal of the enigmatic "Deep Throat" in All the President's Men (1976), one of the major cinema events of the mid-'70s. In the 1990s, he had a regular supporting role in the TV series Evening Shade (1990), playing Burt Reynolds' character's father-in-law.
Hal Holbrook died on January 23, 2021, at 95 years, in Beverly Hills. He was buried in McLemoresville Cemetery in Tennessee with his wife Dixie Carter.- Margreth Weivers was born on 24 July 1926 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. She was an actress, known for Lotta på Bråkmakargatan (1995), Lotta på Bråkmakargatan (1992) and Chock (1997). She was married to Bertil Norström. She died on 3 February 2021 in Sweden.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Patricia Ann Ruth Noble was born on February 3, 1944 in Sydney, New South Wales to a popular Australian theater family. Her father, Buster Noble, was a well-known comedian, singer and dancer, and her mother, Helen de Paul, was a noted choreographer and producer. At the age of six, Patsy Ann, as she was known, performed on the Saturday radio program, "Anthony Horden's Children's Party". She also worked in her parents' stage productions and variety show. At age 14, Patsy Ann became one of the youngest qualified ballet teachers in Australia. In 1960, at age 16, she made her first television appearance as a guest on Keith Walshe's Youth Show (1959). Impressed with the youngster, Brian Henderson, the Australian equivalent of Dick Clark, immediately signed her as a regular on Bandstand (1958).
Around that time, Patsy Ann signed a deal with the HMV record label and issued her debut single, "I Love You So Much It Hurts", in November 1960. She released three more singles on HMV, of which "Good Looking Boy" became her biggest hit when it reached #6 in Melbourne and #16 in Sydney. In 1961, she was the winner of the first Logie Award for the Best Female Singer on Australian Television. She followed that with a successful acting debut at the Independent Theatre, Sydney, playing the lead role of Carmel in 'The Grotto'. Shortly thereafter, Patsy Ann and her mother left for London to further her career. She launched her British career in 1963 and shared her first BBC radio show with The Beatles, with whom she also appeared on British television. During this period, she recorded for EMI (England and France) with some chart success and performed at the London Palladium and at the Olympia Theatre in Paris.
By 1965, she had turned to acting, taking the role of Francesca in the British thriller Love Is a Woman (1966). She toured England with Cliff Richard and began to work on English television in dramatic and variety shows. In 1967, she married law student Allan Sharpe. During that year, she changed her stage name from Patsy Ann to Trisha and continued to work in British television and film. In her early 20s, she appeared on an Engelbert Humperdinck musical special and was seen by an American producer, who signed her to star in revue at the Las Vegas Sands Hotel. After a six-month engagement, she moved to Los Angeles and made her home there, making guest appearances on various television series. Trisha returned to Australia briefly in the early 1970s and starred in the stage musical 'Sweet Charity'. After seven years of marriage, she and Allan divorced and she threw herself into her work. Upon her return to the United States, she worked extensively in television series, miniseries and feature films. In 1976, she wed American model Scott MacKenzie and the following year gave birth to their son, Patrick. However, after four years of marriage, the couple divorced in 1980.
Despite personal setbacks, Trisha's acting career continued to thrive as she co-starred with Don Knotts and Tim Conway in The Private Eyes (1980) and she landed the role of Detective Rosie Johnson in the Aaron Spelling/Robert Stack police drama Strike Force (1981). In 1983, her father, Buster, had a heart attack and was not expected to live long. She decided to leave her successful acting career in Hollywood to return home to Australia to be with her family. She enjoyed seven years with her father before his death in July 1990. In 1985, Trisha married pharmaceutical scientist Peter Field and started a mineral-water business, Noble Beverages. Several years later, though, her third marriage ended in divorce and the business fell on hard times. At that point, she decided to sell the business and get back to her first love, show business.
In 1997, a 25-song CD collection of her early 1960s recordings was released: "The Story of Patsy Ann Noble: Hits & Rarities". In August 1997, she filmed a small role in the CBS miniseries Blonde (2001) and was cast in a secret role in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). Shortly thereafter, Trisha was cast to co-star with David Campbell in the musical 'Shout!' as Thelma O'Keefe, mother of Australian rock 'n' roll star, Johnny O'Keefe. The musical opened on January 4, 2001, in Melbourne, and a cast recording followed in March. To top it all, she was nominated in May for an Australian Entertainment MO Award in the category: Female Musical Theatre Performer of the Year for her role in 'Shout!' Her last film credit was Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). One of her most recent roles was playing Miss Jacobs/Mrs Crown in the Australian stage production of 'Ladies in Black' in 2017.
Trisha Noble died after an 18 month battle with mesothelioma on January 23, 2021, aged 76. The location of her death has not been revealed.- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Legendary actor Christopher Plummer, perhaps Canada's greatest thespian, delivered outstanding performances as Sherlock Holmes in Murder by Decree (1979), the chilling villain in The Silent Partner (1978), the iconoclastic Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999), the empathetic psychiatrist in A Beautiful Mind (2001), the kindly and clever mystery writer in Knives Out (2019), and as Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009). It was this last role that finally brought him recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, when he was nominated as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, one of three Academy Award nominations he received in the 2010s, along with All the Money in the World (2017) (as J. Paul Getty) and Beginners (2010); he won for the latter role. He will also likely always be remembered as Captain Von Trapp in the atomic bomb-strength blockbuster The Sound of Music (1965), a film he publicly despised until softening his stance in his autobiography "In Spite of Me" (2008).
Christopher Plummer was born Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer on December 13, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario. He was the only child of Isabella Mary (Abbott), a secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University, and John Orme Plummer, who sold securities and stocks. Christopher was a great-grandson of John Abbott, who was Canada's third Prime Minister (from 1891 to 1892), and a great-great-great-grandson of Presbyterian clergyman John Bethune. He had Scottish, English, Anglo-Irish, and Cornish ancestry. Plummer was raised in Senneville, Quebec, near Montreal, at his maternal grandparents' home.
Aside from the youngest member of the Barrymore siblings (which counted Oscar-winners Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore in their number), Plummer was the premier Shakespearean actor to come out of North America in the 20th century. He was particularly memorable as Hamlet, Iago and Lear, though his Macbeth opposite Glenda Jackson was -- and this was no surprise to him due to the famous curse attached to the "Scottish Play" -- a failure.
Like another great stage actor, Richard Burton, early in his career Plummer failed to connect with the screen in a way that would make him a star. Dynamic on stage, he didn't succeed as a younger leading man in films. Perhaps if he had been born earlier, and acted in the studio system of Hollywood's golden age, he could have been carefully groomed for stardom. As it was, he shared the English stage actors' disdain -- and he was equally at home in London as he was on the boards of Broadway or on-stage in his native Canada -- for the movies, which did not help him in that medium, as he has confessed. As he aged, Plummer excelled at character roles. He was always a good villain, this man who garnered kudos playing Lucifer on Broadway in Archibald Macleish's Pulitzer Prize-winning "J.B.".
Plummer won two Emmy Awards out of seven nominations stretching 46 years from 1959 and 2011, and one Genie Award in six nominations from 1980 to 2009. For his stage work, Plummer has racked up two Tony Awards on six nominations, the first in 1974 as Best Actor (Musical) for the title role in "Cyrano" and the second in 1997, as Best Actor (Play), in "Barrymore". Surprisingly, he did not win (though he was nominated) for his masterful 2004 performance of "King Lear", which he originated at the Stratford Festival in Ontario and brought down to Broadway for a sold-out run. His other Tony nominations show the wide range of his talent, from a 1959 nod for the Elia Kazan-directed production of Macleish's "J.B." to recognition in 1994 for Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land", with a 1982 Best Actor (Play) nomination for his "Iago" in William Shakespeare's "Othello".
Until the 2009 Academy Awards were announced, it could be said about Plummer that he was the finest actor of the post-World War II period to fail to get an Academy Award. In that, he was following in the footsteps of the late great John Barrymore, whom Plummer so memorably portrayed on Broadway in a one-man show that brought him his second Tony Award. In 2010, Plummer finally got an Oscar nod for his portrayal of another legend, Lev Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009). Two years later, the first paragraph of his obituary was written when the 82-year-old Plummer became the oldest person in Academy history to win an Oscar. He won for playing a senior citizen who comes out as gay after the death of his wife in the movie Beginners (2010). As he clutched his statuette, the debonaire thespian addressed it thus: "You're only two years older than me darling, where have you been all of my life?"
Plummer then told the audience that at birth, "I was already rehearsing my Academy acceptance speech, but it was so long ago mercifully for you I've forgotten it." The Academy Award was a long time in coming and richly deserved.
Plummer gave many other fine portrayals on film, particularly as he grew older and settled down into a comfortable marriage with his third wife Elaine. He continued to be an in-demand character actor in prestigious motion pictures. If he were English rather than Canadian, he would have been knighted. (In 1968, he was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honor and one which required the approval of the sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II.) If he lived in the company town of Los Angeles rather than in Connecticut, he likely would have several more Oscar nominations before winning his first for "The Last Station".
As it is, as attested to in his witty and well-written autobiography, Plummer was amply rewarded in life. In 1970, Plummer - then a self-confessed 43-year-old "bottle baby" - married his third wife Elaine Taylor, a dancer, who helped wean him off his dependency on alcohol. They lived happily with their dogs on a 30-acre estate in Weston, Connecticut. He thanked her from the stage during the 2012 Oscar telecast, quipping that she "deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for coming to my rescue every day of my life." Although he spent the majority of his time in the United States, he remained a Canadian citizen. He died in his Weston, Connecticut home on February 5, 2021 at age 91.
His daughter, with actress Tammy Grimes, is actress Amanda Plummer.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Production Manager
Zhao Zhang was born in 1963 in China. He was a producer and production manager, known for The Great Wall (2016), Shadow (2018) and Guilty of Mind (2017). He died on 3 February 2021 in Beijing, China.- Editor
- Writer
- Editorial Department
Robert C. Jones was born on 30 March 1936 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an editor and writer, known for It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), Coming Home (1978) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). He was married to Sylvia Lee Hirsch and Jean Joyce Lunkley. He died on 1 February 2021 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
Prolific and ubiquitous British bit player and supporting artist Harry Fielder was born on April 26, 1940 in Islington, London, England. Fielder was a GPO messenger boy, made Christmas crackers, and dyed feathers before going on to work for Anderson's Timber Yard in Islington from 1958 to 1966. Moreover, Harry was the lead singer and guitarist for different rock bands that performed in various bars and pubs while still working at the timber yard. Fielder met his wife Mary Fielder at one gig in South London; the couple married in 1963 and had three children. After doing some initial work as an extra on a couple of TV shows in 1966, Harry was advised by William Roache to join the extra's union the Film Artists Association/Central Casting. Fielder acquired his probationary Equity card in the wake of being featured in a TV commercial.
Harry's career in both film and television alike really took off in 1967 and continued going strong well into the late 1990's. Among the notable directors Fielder appeared in movies for are Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Ken Russell, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, David Lynch, Terence Fisher, Ken Hughes, Warren Beatty, John Landis, Mel Brooks, Guy Hamilton, Carol Reed, and Roy Ward Baker. After his run in both films and television reached its end in the late 1990's, Harry went on to work at a garden centre in Hemel Hempstead before eventually deciding to retire and collect a pension. He lived in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Giuseppe 'Peppino' Rotunno entered the film industry as a still photographer at Cinecitta but lost his job due to his anti-fascist views. Conscripted and sent to Greece in 1942, he then served as a newsreel cameraman with the Italian army film unit. A year later, he was captured during the German occupation of Greece and spent two years internment in Germany. Freed by US troops in April 1945, Rotunno returned to Italy. During the following decade, he worked his way up the ladder from a humbly paid assistant cameraman to director of photography. The romantic comedy Scandal in Sorrento (1955) was the first motion picture he shot in that capacity and he has since worked with some of Italy's leading post-war directors. His most famous collaborations were with Luchino Visconti, whom he regarded as his mentor (White Nights (1957), Rocco and His Brothers (1960), The Leopard (1963)) and with Federico Fellini (Fellini Satyricon (1969), Amarcord (1973)). Rotunno acquired a well-deserved reputation for creating realistic, opulent, nostalgic or uncanny atmospheres through ingenious use of lighting techniques. His work in the international field has included the Ava Gardner starrers The Naked Maja (1958) and The Angel Wore Red (1960), Stanley Kramer's On the Beach (1959), Arthur Hiller's Man of La Mancha (1972), Bob Fosse's All That Jazz (1979) (1981 BAFTA winner and 1980 Oscar nominee) and the remake of Sabrina (1995), starring Harrison Ford. In 1966, Rotunno became the first non-US citizen admitted to join the American Society of Cinematographers. From 1988, he taught at the Centro sperimentale di cinematografia in Rome where he died on February 7 2021 at the age of 97..- Actor
- Producer
Leon Spinks was born on 11 July 1953 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Untitled Leon Spinks Project, Risen (2010) and Facing Ali (2009). He was married to Brenda Glur, Betty Wilson and Nova Bush. He died on 5 February 2021 in Henderson, Nevada, USA.- Patricia Healey was born in 1936 in the UK. She was an actress, known for The White Bus (1967), Wuthering Heights (1978) and R3 (1964). She was married to Engelbert Humperdinck. She died on 4 February 2021.
- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Rynagh O'Grady was born on 18 April 1951 in Dublin, Ireland. She was an actress and director, known for Far and Away (1992), Breakfast on Pluto (2005) and The Commitments (1991). She died on 8 February 2021 in Dublin, Ireland.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Bettina Schön was born on 19 September 1926 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for In Sachen Erzberger gegen Helfferich (1967), Das Rätsel der grünen Spinne (1960) and Tatort (1970). She was married to Helmut Wildt. She died on 2 February 2021 in Berlin, Germany.- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Actor
Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. was born on November 1, 1942, in Lakeville, a small isolated community in the hills of Magoffin County, in eastern Kentucky. He was the son of Edith (Arnett) and Larry Claxton Flynt, a sharecropper. He had a sister named Judy who died in 1951 from leukemia at age five, and a brother, Jimmy, born in 1948. His parents separated when he was ten, and he moved with his mother and brother to Hamlet, Indiana.
Flynt ran away from home at age 16 in 1958 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Discharged a year later, he took odd jobs as a farm picker, dishwasher and manual laborer. Moving on to Dayton, Ohio, he enlisted in the US Navy in 1960 and worked as a radar operator on the USS Enterprise until October 1962. After his discharge in 1964, he was married for a time while trying to open his own bar in Dayton, selling his own moonshine whiskey; he also opened another bar that same year. His next experiment in strip clubs proved more of a success, in particular the Hustler Club which opened in 1968.
By 1971 Flynt owned a string of Hustler strip clubs all over Ohio, in Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati and Akron. During that period he had affairs with three strippers, resulting in a child by each of them. By 1973 he owned eight Hustler clubs with annual incomes between $75,000 and $100,000 each. Wanting to expand his empire, he decided to publish his own girlie magazine, "Hustler", named after his clubs. The first issue came out in July 1974 and was instantly a hit, owing to its detailed pornographic descriptions of women. After a few months, however, sales dipped to a low point, resulting in bankruptcy by 1975, although candid photographs of a nude Jacqueline Kennedy--at that time Jackie Kennedy Onassis--published in August 1975 put Hustler back in the national spotlight.
Flynt's controversial and unconventional ways earned him both respect and hatred from a broad spectrum of individuals and organizations, including many feminists who found the articles in Hustler misogynist, offensive and demeaning. He continued having affairs with various women, including a model named Althea Leasure (1953-1987), whom he married in August 1976. Charged in February of 1977 with obscenity and organized crime ties, he was tried in Cincinnati and convicted of all charges, although the verdict was later overturned on appeal due to allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and judicial and jury bias.
Flynt's legal hassles brought him to the attention of Ruth Carter Stapleton, sister of President Jimmy Carter, who inspired him to make a career turn. Becoming a born-again Christian, Flynt soon included religion in his Hustler issues, which infuriated Christian and religious fundamentalist groups. He abandoned his faith in March 1978 when he was shot by a sniper outside a courthouse in Lawrenceville, Georgia, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down (as it turned out, the shooter--a neo-Nazi white supremacist named Joseph Paul Franklin took offense at several photo spreads in Hustler depicting black men having simulated sex with white women and stalked Flynt until he had a chance to shoot him). With daily death threats against him, and the police both unwilling and unable to protect him, Flynt moved his publishing company from Ohio to Los Angeles at the end of 1978, living in a huge mansion in Bel Air with Althea. Wracked by constant back pain from internal injuries as a result of the gunshot wounds, and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, he lived almost as a recluse, seldom venturing outside his house unless accompanied by several burly, armed-to-the-teeth bodyguards.
Addicted to painkillers, Flynt took Valium, Percodan, Percocette, Librium, Demerol, morphine and Dialdud pills and injections on a daily basis. In 1980 he suffered a near-fatal stroke caused by one of several overdoses of his analgesic medications; he recovered but has had speech pronunciation difficulties since. In 1983 he underwent the first of a series of DREZ laser surgeries on his back to repair the damage to the nerve center around his bullet wounds (the second was in 1987, the third in 1994), which slowly cured him of his back pain and his painkiller addiction.
Flynt continued his practice of bringing lawsuits against various parties, one of which, in November 1983, involved his ownership of a videotape showing the real nature of the arrest and entrapment of car entrepreneur John DeLorean for drug trafficking. Flynt then (and to this day) refused to disclose how he came to acquire the videotape and was sentenced to 15 months in a mental hospital for contempt of court. During his stay in the hospital, he was clinically diagnosed as having bipolar disorder, which is responsible for his unpredictable verbal outbursts and fits of rage in which he remains on medication to this day. That same month Hustler magazine published an article lampooning Christian fundamentalist televangelist Jerry Falwell, a longtime opponent of Flynt's polices; the article portrayed Falwell as a drunkard who had committed incest with his mother. Flynt was flown to Virginia in December 1984 after Falwell filed a $45-million civil suit against him. After a week-long trial, a jury ruled that Flynt was not liable for the article, but published it deliberately to cause emotional distress, and awarded Falwell $200,000. Flynt took his appeal against the verdict all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in December 1987, and the verdict was overturned two months later.
Flynt's marriage to Althea Flynt deteriorated when she was diagnosed with AIDS in 1983, aggravated by her drug addiction. She died in June 1987 at age 33 from drowning in her bathtub following a heroin overdose. Flynt continued running his publishing company, Flynt Publications, in Los Angeles, and to the day of his death, on February 10, 2021, was hated and admired by many.- Casting Director
- Casting Department
- Actor
Arguably the most famous casting director in show biz with more than 400 film and TV credits to his name, Lynn Stalmaster has helped to launch the career of many a great star. He was born in Nebraska, the son of a District Court Judge (Irvin Stalmaster, 1897-1952) and Estelle Lapidus (1903-1971). His family relocated to L.A. in 1938 where he was schooled at Beverly Hills High School and first discovered acting on radio. Following military service he studied at UCLA, graduating with a master's degree in theatre arts in 1952. Between 1951 and 1955, he had a minor career as a screen actor but at the same time hedged his bets by joining an independent production company headed by Jack J. Gross and Philip N. Krasne. Stalmaster started out as a producer's assistant and took over the role of casting director upon his predecessor's retirement, over time developing a canny aptitude for 'reading actors' as well as accumulating an inventory of (not necessarily established) theatrical players from the U.S. and Europe. He initially worked on several classic TV shows, including The Lone Wolf (1954), 319 episodes of Gunsmoke (1955) and Have Gun - Will Travel (1957). After going free-lance, he was tasked by the director Robert Wise to find 'new faces' who could be cast as suitable inmates for the Susan Hayward prison dramaI Want to Live! (1958). Offers soon began to flood in from other famous film makers for ensemble casting.
Stanley Kramer utilised his services for Inherit the Wind (1960) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) (kick-starting the career of William Shatner), William Wyler for The Children's Hour (1961), Billy Wilder for Irma la Douce (1963) and The Fortune Cookie (1966), Norman Jewison for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Fiddler on the Roof (1971). Stalmaster's bolder choices included travelling across Europe to recruit native German speakers (rather than using familiar English actors) for key roles in The Great Escape (1963) (he found Hannes Messemer, who played prison Kommandant Von Luger, in Zurich). His keen eye for talent resulted in the seminal casting of relatively unknown stage actor Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (1967) and LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte in Roots (1977). He discovered Christopher Reeve on the New York stage and persisted in sustained efforts to have him assigned the lead role of Superman (1978) (saying "I was totally captured, not only by his talent, but by him as a human being"). He furthered the careers of Ned Beatty (Deliverance (1972)) and Jeff Bridges (Halls of Anger (1970)) by prompting their respective movie debuts. Others whose careers 'The Master Caster' helped mentor along the way include Richard Dreyfuss, Jill Clayburgh, John Travolta, Bruce Dern, Jon Voight and James Caan.
Stalmaster was the first in his chosen profession to receive a single card main screen credit ('casting by') for The Thomas Crown Affair and also the first casting director to receive an Honorary Academy Award in 2017.- Christopher Pennock was born on 7 June 1943 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Dark Shadows (1966), Theatre Fantastique (2014) and A Journey to a Journey. He was married to Marilyn Louise Joseph and Lynn Hawley. He died on 12 February 2021 in Idyllwild, California, USA.
- Actress
Marcia Diamond was born on 23 November 1925 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She was an actress, known for PCU (1994), Black Christmas (1974) and Spy Games (1999). She was married to Harry Irving Cohen. She died on 12 February 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Gerald Feil was born on 1 May 1933 in New York, New York, USA. He was a cinematographer and producer, known for Friday the 13th: Part 3 (1982), Lord of the Flies (1963) and The Empty Space (1975). He was married to Hila. He died on 9 February 2021 in Montreal, Canada.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
John Hora was born on 16 February 1940 in Pasadena, California, USA. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Innerspace (1987), Starship Troopers (1997) and The 'Burbs (1989). He died on 9 February 2021 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in rural Kentucky, she and her family relocated to Brooklyn, where her father worked as a businessman. Following her high school graduation, she was recommended to partake in a singing contest held by a local radio station from friends. She was so successful that she worked professionally as a singer during the Second World War, during which she was discovered. After breaking into films in 1945 she was often cast as best friends, starlets, good girls, and secretaries, in a three decade film and TV career. After leaving films in the 1960s, she spent her life dedicated to family and religious causes.- Sandro Dori was born on 21 December 1938 in Ostiglia, Lombardy, Italy. He was an actor, known for The American (2010), Nine (2009) and Under the Tuscan Sun (2003). He died on 15 February 2021 in Civitavecchia, Lazio, Italy.
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Production Manager
Giancarlo Santi was born on 7 October 1939 in Rome, Italy. He was an assistant director and director, known for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Quando c'era lui... caro lei! (1978). He died on 22 February 2021 in Rome, Italy.- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Peter S. Davis is the CEO and President of Davis-Panzer Productions (DPP) and Davis Merchandising.
DPP has produced over 17 feature films and 150 hours of dramatic television in its 35-year history. The first feature film was "Death Collector" starring Joe Pesci, followed by "Stunts", New Line Cinema's first feature. DPP is perhaps most recognized for the creation of the world renowned 1986 cult classic, "Highlander." This film formed the basis of a franchise consisting of 5 feature films, 3 television series, (8 seasons, 150 plus episodes), one anime feature film directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri and Takuji Endo and over $100,000,000 in retail sales of Highlander merchandise (Echo award for best worldwide consumer catalogue).
DPP has partnered creatively with eclectic directors such as Sam Peckinpah (Robert Ludlum's "The Osterman Weekend"), Abel Ferrara (Elmore Leonard's "Cat Chaser") and Russell Mulcahy ("Highlander") and such award winning actors as Sean Connery, Joe Pesci, Dennis Hopper, Charles Durning, Burt Lancaster, John Hurt, Jodie Foster, Ed Asner, Art Carney,Christopher Lambert, Donald Sutherland, George Kennedy, Robert Forester, Craig T. Nelson,Glenda Jackson and Richard Harris among others.
Mr. Davis is working with Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment creating a reboot of the original 1986 Highlander film.
Bill Panzer, who died in 2007, was Mr. Davis' producing partner for over 30 years and was intimately involved in all the above projects.- Alan Curtis was born on 30 July 1930 in Coulsdon, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Curtain of Fear (1964), An Enemy of the State (1965) and Doctor Who (1963). He was married to Yana. He died on 18 February 2021.
- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Jean-Claude Carrière was born on 17 September 1931 in Colombières-sur-Orb, Hérault, France. He was a writer and actor, known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1990). He was married to Nicole Janin and Nahal Tajadod. He died on 8 February 2021 in Paris, France.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ronald Alfred Pickup was a highly respected, incisive, classically trained character actor who specialized in the portrayal of prominent historical authority figures or crusty academics. He was born in Chester, England, to English and French language lecturer Eric Pickup and his wife Daisy (née Williams). Ronald received his education at Leeds University and then studied at RADA on a scholarship before making his theatrical debut in 1964 at the Phoenix Theatre in Leicester. He spent two years at the Royal Court Theatre before joining the ensemble of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in London for seven years, from 1966 to 1973. His extensive list of theatrical credits included title roles in Oedipus and Macbeth, as well as highly acclaimed performances in Long Day's Journey into Night (1971) and Waiting for Godot (2009).
Ronald's first screen appearance was in a 1964 episode of Doctor Who (1963), for which he was paid £30. It took another decade before he eventually made his first TV breakthrough as Lord Randolph Churchill in the miniseries Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974), co-starring alongside the excellent American actress Lee Remick. His subsequent roles encompassed a truly impressive gallery of historical personae: William Pitt, the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, Giuseppe Verdi, Friedrich Nietzsche, George Orwell (his own personal favorite role from the telemovie Crystal Spirit: Orwell on Jura (1983)) and Albert Einstein.
For the big screen he essayed Igor Stravinsky in Nijinsky (1980) and Neville Chamberlain in the Churchill biopic Darkest Hour (2017). In between were frequent guest appearances in popular dramatic fare like Silent Witness (1996), Dalziel and Pascoe (1996), Foyle's War (2002), Hustle (2004) and Midsomer Murders (1997), for which his stock-in-trade characters usually tended to be stately, eloquent and possessed of a mordant wit. Ronald reached perhaps the apex of his career on screen by way of his likeable performance in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) (and its sequel) as the ageing womanizer Norman Cousins (for which the entire leading cast shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination) and he was also latterly praised for his role as the Archbishop of Canterbury in The Crown (2016). He lent his distinctive voice to BBC radio recordings and to the talking lion Aslan of Narnia in Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989) and The Silver Chair (1990).
The urbane, invariably gentlemanly Ronald Pickup received an honorary Doctor of Letters award from the University of Chester in 2011. He passed away at the age of 80 on February 24 2021 after a long illness.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Peter Harris was a director and producer, known for The Muppet Show (1976), Saturday Stayback (1983) and Spitting Image (1984). He died on 23 February 2021 in the UK.- Geoffrey Scott was born on 22 February 1942 in Hollywood, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Hulk (2003), Dynasty (1981) and Dark Shadows (1966). He was married to Cheri M. (Caruso) Carysfort and Carol Ann Englehart. He died on 23 February 2021 in Broomfield, Colorado, USA.
- Katharina Matz was born on 11 June 1930 in Haindorf, Czechoslovakia. She was an actress, known for Who Am I (2014), Maximilian von Mexiko (1970) and Die Zeit und die Conways (1960). She died on 3 March 2021 in Berlin, Germany.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
A blue-eyed, chestnut-haired beauty, Joan Weldon trained to be a singer, and made her professional debut as a member of the San Francisco Opera Company. While appearing with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Company, she came to the attention of Warner Brothers, who took her out of grand opera and put her in horse operas (The Command (1954), Riding Shotgun (1954)), a crime drama (The System (1953)) and, most famously, the biggest and best of the "Big Bug" movies, 1954's Them! (1954). Amidst her movie roles, all of them dramatic, non-singing parts, Weldon sang at the Hollywood Bowl, on her TV series This Is Your Music (1955) and on tour in "The Music Man" (on tour for three years as the repressed Marian the Librarian). She and her husband reside in Manhattan.- Petra Ehlert was born on 28 October 1966 in Eisenach, German Democratic Republic. She was an actress, known for Tatort (1970), The Legend of Rita (2000) and Superstau (1991). She died on 2 March 2021 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Nicola Pagett was born on 15 June 1945 in Cairo, Egypt. She was an actress, known for An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), There's a Girl in My Soup (1970) and Anne of the Thousand Days (1969). She was married to Graham Swannell. She died on 3 March 2021 in London, England, UK.- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Frank Lupo was born on 11 January 1955 in New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The A-Team (2010), Hunter (1984) and The A-Team (1983). He was married to Angel Petrulli Lupo. He died on 18 February 2021 in Florida, USA.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
Nikki van der Zyl was a German voice actress known for providing the voice of Honey Ryder in the movie Dr. No. She also revoiced all the other female voices in that same movie, except those of Miss Moneypenny and Miss Taro. Van der Zyl also worked as a dialogue coach who assisted Gert Fröbe, whose English was limited, for the movie Goldfinger. The last Bond film on which she worked was Moonraker (1979), revoicing Corinne Clery, Leila Shenna and various other characters.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
- Production Manager
William P. Cartlidge was born on 16 June 1942 in England, UK. He was an assistant director and producer, known for Moonraker (1979), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and You Only Live Twice (1967). He died on 3 March 2021 in Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, England, UK.- David Bailie was born in 1937 in South Africa, going to boarding school in Swaziland and immigrating to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) with his family in 1952. His first acting experience soon after school in 1955, was an amateur production of 'Doctor in the House' which persuaded him he wanted to be an actor. After leaving school he worked in a bank and then for Central African Airlines. In 1958, he made his first trip from Rhodesia to England to get a lie of the land.
In 1960 he moved to England and landed his first small role in the film Flame in the Streets (1960) and then played on of the bells boys in Arthur Koppits "Oh Dad Poor Dad Mama's hung you in the Closet and I'm Feeling so Sad" (1961) with Stella Adler playing Madame Rosepettle. He then bluffed his way into Weekly Repertory in Barrow-in-Furness as Juvenile lead - terrified the while that he would be exposed as totally inexperienced.
Recognising the need for training he auditioned three times for a bursary to RADA - each time only being accepted as a fee paying student which he couldn't afford - he finally sent for the last of his standby money (£200) he had left in Rhodesia and paid for the first term (1963) - at the end of term he approached John Fernald who relented and he was given free tuition from the next two years.
Terry Hands was also a student at the same time but had left a little earlier than Bailie and formed the Everyman Theatre with Peter James In Liverpool - On leaving RADA Bailie was invited to join the Everyman (1964). Amongst other roles he played Tolen in The Knack, Becket in Murder in the Cathedral, Dion in The Great God Brown, MacDuff in Macbeth and Lucky in Waiting for Godot. After a year there, he came back to London and auditioned for and was accepted by Laurence Olivier joining the National Theatre. He played minor roles and also understudied Sir Laurence Olivier in Love for Love.
Terry Hands, who had by now joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) at Stratford-upon-Avon (and later became its artistic director), invited Bailie to join them as an associate artist (1965). There he portrayed i.a. Florizel opposite Dame Judi Dench's Perdita in 'A Winter's Tale' along with Valentine in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Kozanka in The Plebeians Rehearse the Uprising and Leslie in The Madness of Lady Bright.
During the early 1970s he worked with Stomu Yamashta at his Red Buddha Theatre. He was cast as the lead in a show called 'Raindog', requiring him to do everything from singing (writing his own songs) and dancing, to performing Martial Arts and gymnastics - which he frankly admits was a demand too far and when Yamashta offered him a paltry sum for performing the opportunity was there to depart which he did.
He was now cast by director Michael E. Briant for the part of the villain Dask in The Robots of Death: Part One (1977), which has remained a particularly popular serial of the long-running cult TV series of the 1960/70/80s. He also played in a number of other series prominent at the time.
For personal reasons Bailie now had a long recess in his acting career. Between 1980 and 1989 he ran a furniture-making business. In 1990 he closed that down and returned to acting, having in fact to virtually restart his career. It didn't help that at exactly this point he had to have a cancer removed from his lip which required learning to speak again.
Whilst awaiting work in the acting field he busied himself with Cad design, self-training and writing computer programs and also doing Health and Safety work in the building industry - in fact busking for a living.
In the mid 1990s after playing alongside Brian Glover in Canterbury Tales he made a comeback in the movie business as 'Skewer' in Cutthroat Island (1995), then played an English Judge in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), and also the engineer in Gladiator (2000).
Bailie's best known work in film is the role of Cotton, a speechless pirate who has his tongue cut out, so he miraculously trained his parrot, also named Cotton, to read his mind and speak on his behalf. Bailie first appears as Cotton in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) as one of the pirates Jack Sparrow chooses in Tortuga. He is one of the Black Pearl crew-members to survive the Kracken attack in the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006). Bailie is also plays Cotton in the third installment of 'Pirates' Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End (2007).
David Bailie also emerged as a radio actor. He played the mad scientist Taren Capel, a re-incarnation of his earlier work from the 60s cult series 'Doctor Who'. He was involved in two audio DVDs playing the memorable character of the 'Celestial Toymaker' from Dr Who. He also worked as a Professional Photographer! Portraiture and Landscapes being his speciality. He travels nowhere unless his destination offers good Photo opportunities.
In addition he developed his skills as a video maker using his Canon 5d Mk2 to shoot a number of short HD videos.
David had two children from his first marriage. He lived in London England and married Egidija in 2002
He listed amongst his skills Acting, Furniture Making, Furniture & Interior Design, CAD Design, Computer Programming, Photography, Health and Safety Executive, Video Making, Property Developing, Restauranteur - virtually all of which afforded him a living at one or the same time or another - but principally acting is where he still felt the ambition. - Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Trevor Peacock was born on 19 May 1931 in Edmonton, London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Fred Claus (2007), Neverwhere (1996) and The Trial (1993). He was married to Tilly Tremayne and Iris Jones. He died on 8 March 2021 in Somerset, England, UK.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Cult horror movie director Norman J. Warren was born on June 25, 1942, in London, England. His fright features are distinguished by their cold, grim tones, modern-day settings (this was a radical departure from the period Gothic horror movies made by Hammer), young adult main characters, and startling outbursts of hideously graphic violence.
Warren suffered from polio as a child and hence had only one functioning arm. An avid film buff since he was a kid, he got his start working as a runner on The Millionairess (1960) and handled assistant director chores on the feature Trial and Error (1962). Norman made his debut as a filmmaker with the 15-minute short Fragment (1965). Warren then directed the immensely successful softcore sex pictures Her Private Hell (1968) and Loving Feeling (1968). He next did the grisly devil-worship horror entry Satan's Slave (1976) starring Michael Gough. This was followed by the nifty supernatural shocker Terror (1978), the twisted sci-fi/horror item Prey (1977), the smutty softcore sci-fi sex comedy romp Spaced Out (1979), and the nasty sci-fi/horror Alien (1979) cash-in Inseminoid (1981). Warren took a break from the horror genre by directing the exciting spy action outing Gunpowder (1986). His last feature was the dreary horror clunker Bloody New Year (1987). He went gone on to direct music videos and educational shorts, worked as a cinematographer on the retrospective documentary shorts Corridor Gossip (2007), Haunted Memories (2007) and Making Space (2007) and was interviewed in the documentary Doing Rude Things (1995). Warren was also a regular guest at Manchester's Festival of Fantastic Films. He died at age 78 on March 11, 2021.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Isela Vega was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico on November 5, 1939. The young beauty was named Princess of the 1957 Carnaval in Hermosillo, and parlayed that into work as a model. She also had some success as a singer before turning to acting. (Her composition "Bennie's Song" was used in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), which features her singing.)
She made her film debut in the Pedro Armendáriz movie Verano violento (1960). From her beginning in small roles in Mexican films in the early 1960s, her career grew and Isela became very popular as a sex symbol in the late 1960s. (She would appear nude in a multi-page feature in Playboy Magazine's July 1974 issue.) In addition to her Mexican films, TV shows, and stage appearances, she also worked in a number of foreign films, most famously in Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), for which she received a Best Actress Ariel Award nomination in 1975. (Previously, Vega had been nominated for a Best Actress Ariel for her turn in Las reglas del juego (1971) in 1972.) She had made her United States film debut the year previously in The Deadly Trackers (1973) (the U.S.-Mexico horror cheapie Fear Chamber (1968) doesn't really count) and continued to appear occasionally in small parts in American films and TV until the late 1990s.
In addition to her work as an actress, Vega produced, wrote and directed Lovers of the Lord of the Night (1986), and has written and produced other films. She has a son whose father is Alberto Vázquez, and a daughter (Shaula, an actress) whose father is Jorge Luke.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Air Force veteran and International athlete Cliff Simon's unique presence set him apart every time. A powerful veteran actor living in Los Angeles since 2000, he realized his dream of becoming a USA citizen. He was a published author of 'Paris Nights my year at the Moulin Rouge'.
At a very young age, Cliff aspired to be the first South African swimmer to win an Olympic Gold medal. His mother, being a swim teacher, had him in the pool before he could walk and instilled all the confidence he ever needed to follow that path. At the age of six, he showed talent as a gymnast. By age 15 Cliff had reached a national level in South Africa in both swimming and gymnastics, but to go further in either one, he needed to devote 100% of his time to just one, and he chose swimming.
At age 15, with turmoil in South Africa, his parents decided to immigrate to the United Kingdom. It was here that Cliff completed his schooling and was chosen to swim in the British International squad. He competed in Olympic trials and qualified for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He was offered scholarships to Houston University and Southern Methodist University in Texas, where he would train with the best United States swim team, the Mustangs. This would have culminated in him competing in the 1984 Olympic Games.
However, after scraping ice off his car windshield at 5am every morning for 3 years before heading off to swimming training and spending 61/2 hours a day in the pool, Cliff felt waterlogged, burnt out and that he was missing out on his social life as a young man. Halfway through a training session, Cliff climbed out of the pool, sat on the edge and told his coach that he was leaving and would be returning to sunny South Africa. Back in South Africa Cliff entered the Air Force where he continued his swimming and achieved the highest athletic award given in the Air Force, the Victor Ludorum. In 1982 after serving his two year term, Cliff took all he owned in one suitcase and headed down to the coast in an old Fiat convertible.
He landed a job teaching windsurfing and water-skiing at a resort hotel. As fate would have it, a stage show was in production at the resort and Cliff was informed by one of the performers that the choreographer was looking for a gymnast. Cliff somehow knew that this was going to be the first step towards a career on stage. To cut a long story short, Cliff performed all over the world in various stage productions as a dancer/acrobat, culminating in his dream role as a principle performer at the world famous and iconic Moulin Rouge Theater, Paris in 1989.
On his return to South Africa, Cliff pursued his stage career. Whilst studying drama, Cliff secured himself a modeling agent and enjoyed much success in ramp, print and television commercials. Cliff received major recognition as a model in South Africa and was asked to enter The Mr. South Africa talent and action man competition. On winning this competition in 1992, Cliff was offered an audition on a hugely successful television series, called Egoli - Place of Gold. After guest starring on the show for 3 months, he was offered a permanent contract as a regular cast member in a lead role and would go on to become a household name for his 6 year run. After being personally affected and sick and tired of the violent crime in Johannesburg, he decided it was now or never and he immigrated to the USA with his wife, with the hope of having a better quality of life. This also gave him the opportunity to realize a long time dream of further pursuing his acting career in America.
Cliff soon landed a guest star role with Don Johnson on the hit TV series, 'Nash Bridges'. A short time after that, he acquired the guest star recurring role of Ba'AL on 'Stargate SG1'. Cliff's combination of charming bad guy charisma and wicked sense of humor made him a viewer favorite antagonist, keeping his character recurring for 5 seasons.
In 2007, Cliff was brought back to play Ba'AL in the Stargate SG1 movie, 'Continuum', which was released in 2008. Cliff was nominated for Best Guest Star at Best of TV Awards Canada 2014 for his role in 'Castle'. Cliff has many upcoming projects and has guest starred in many network TV series and films. His short film 'The Long Dig' is due for release in Aug 2018. He also appeared in 'Almythea 2 Rise of the Astra' and 'Land of the Free'. His 'Project Eden Vol 1' (Best Vision Award at the Boston Film Festival) had a U.S. theatrical release in January 2018.
Into the Unknown (2020) was Cliff's new show which premiered on Travel Channel in 2020, and had already aired first season on History Channel in Europe under the name 'Uncharted Mysteries'. A paranormal, investigative adventure show which suited Cliff perfectly. He is the host and executive producer.
When Cliff was not working he raced dolphins on his kite board off the beaches of Malibu, or surfed a wave and led a quiet life.
Cliff died while kite boarding on March 9, 2021 in Topanga, California.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Director, painter, and author Peter Patzak was born in Vienna, Austria where he studied psychology and art history. His first art exhibition was held under the patronage of Albert Paris Gütersloh. In the mid-1960's he was invited to participate in the Films of Art show in New York. From 1968 to 1970 he worked on experimental and short films in New York where he became friends with Paul Morrissey. Today his body of work includes one hundred feature and television films including Kassbach by Author Helmut Zenker, The Unicorn by Martin Walser, Frau Berta Garlan by Arthur Schnitzler, and Wahnfried - Richard and Cosima, the official selection for the Cannes Film Festival. Following his return to Vienna, Patzak directed his first feature film, Die Situation, in 1972. He held a professorship at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna since 1990, and in 2008 became Head of the Institute for Film and Television from which he retired in 2013.
Peter Patzak made television history with his anarchistic parody of the crime genre in Kottan Ermittelt, which ran from 1976 to 1983. He is the recipient of many awards including the Adolf Grimme Prize, the Goldene Kamera, the Goldene Romy, the Berlin and Moscow Film Festival Prizes for Kassbach, the 1996 Russian Filmmakers Prize in Moscow for Shanghai 1937, and the UNESCO Prize for Gelobtes Land. Patzak was honored with retrospectives of his extensive and multifaceted career at festivals including the Cinématèque Francaise (Laudatio Jean-Jacques Annaud) and the Max Ophüls Festival. Other retrospectives took place at the Carnegie Hall Cinema in New York, in Jerusalem (in conversation with Philip Roth), at the Austrian Film Days in Berlin, and at festivals in Cairo, Damascus, and Shanghai. In 2002 Peter Patzak received the Canal Grande Award for best director in Venice for his adaptation of Die Wasserfälle von Slunj based on the novel of the same name by Heimito von Doderer. The film also received the Austrian National Education Prize. In 2003 Patzak won the Emerging Maverick Director's Award for Zodiac Sign at the San Jose Film Festival. In 2010 he was honored with a retrospective by the Filmarchiv Austria accompanied by a comprehensive monograph with an introduction by Marin Scorsese.
Patzak's painting career began as early as 1961 with regular exhibitions that he titled, The Physicists' Halftime, Communication Machines and TV-Images, The Color White, Body Serviettes and Tablecloths, Traces and Shrines, Shanghai Notebook, Le Porte Delle Vecchie, and Finestre von Vedute. Since 2007 he has created following series: Die ungleichen Stunden, Stimmen aus dem Lupanar, Das Buch der Nikarete, Rectinas Briefe. His latest exhibitions were all titled Daten and included the series Briefe nach Perigord, Gate to the Garden, and Briefe an Eve.
Peter Patzak also served as author, co-author, and producer of many of his films. Several of his books were made into audio books, including his 2005 novel Der Geist der Farbe. His play, Akte - im Schweigen vermählt premiered in 2008 at Vienna's Stadttheater. In October of 2008 a prose version of the theater script appeared in the Ralph Klever Verlag. Other publications include Full Circle, and Walter Schurian's Bild, Film, Schrift, which investigates the correlation between Peter Patzak's artistic, filmic, and literary work.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
In the late 1960s, Henry Darrow was THE ultimate Latin heartthrob on television. With a smooth, ingratiating style and a killer smile that brightened up the small screen, he also hit a cultural acting landmark as the first Hispanic actor to portray Zorro on television.
He was born Enrique Tomás Delgado in New York City, on September 15, 1933, the first son of Puerto Rican parents Enrique St. and Gloria Delgado. He made his debut at age 8 in a school play, which piqued his interest. The father moved his family (which included younger brother Dennis) back to his homeland out of prospective business concerns. While there Henry was elected president of his class at high school and attended the University of Rio Piedras as a political science and theater major. His fluency in two languages helped earn him supplementary income as an interpreter.
Henry returned to the United States on scholarships received from the Little Theater of Puerto Rico and the University of Puerto Rico, and eventually received his Bachelor of Arts degree. He initially trained at the Pasadena Playhouse (1954), in the Los Angeles area, where he met and later married first wife, Lucy, an aspiring actress. They went on to have two children, Denise (Dee-Dee) and Tom. He began seeking employment in movies and television, making his big screen debut unbilled in the light comedy Holiday for Lovers (1959).
However, Henry found steadier work on television and appeared in a number rugged series, primarily westerns, including Wagon Train (1957), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), Bonanza (1959), Gunsmoke (1955) and Daniel Boone (1964). On stage, he continued to hone his craft in such plays as "The Alchemist" (1963) and "Dark of the Moon" (1966). While appearing in the 1965 stage production of "The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit" at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles, the by-now television veteran was spotted by producer David Dortort. Dortort later remembered Henry (who was then going by the name Henry Delgado) and thought him perfect for his upcoming western series The High Chaparral (1967).
Billed now as Henry Darrow, the actor stole women's hearts and much of the proceedings as the roguish ladies' man Manolito Montoya, who would rather make love than war. He reached his television peak in the western program, which also starred Leif Erickson, Cameron Mitchell and Linda Cristal, who played his sister. The series ran for four seasons.
Following this peak, Henry went on to earn a daytime Emmy for his role on Santa Barbara (1984) after joining the cast in 1989. Although he never found a strong footing in movies, his better supporting work has been seen in Badge 373 (1973) and Walk Proud (1979). television movies have included Night Games (1974), Aloha Means Goodbye (1974), Centennial (1978) and Attica (1980). As for his enduring relationship with the famous Zorro character, Darrow was not only the first Latino Zorro on television, but also provided the title voice for two 1980s animated series. In the early 1990s, Henry replaced Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Zorro's father in yet another cable reincarnation of the series. This series was shot in Spain.
Henry continued to perform on the stage with opportunities ranging from the role Iago in "Othello" to a (still-running) one-man show entitled "That Certain Cervantes", which made its premiere in 2001. A founder of "Nosotros", an organization that gears Hispanic actors toward non-stereotyped roles, Darrow was the inaugural winner of the Ricardo Montalban/Nosotros Award for his contributions to improving the image of Latinos.
Millennium credits included elderly roles in the movies Runaway Jury (2003), Angels with Angles (2005), Primo (2008) and Soda Springs (2012). On television, Henry enjoyed a recurring role on The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) in 2001, while also guest starring on such series as Family Law (1999), The Lot (1999), Diagnosis Murder (1993), The Brothers Garcia (2000), Just Shoot Me! (1997) and One Tree Hill (2003).
In 1972, Darrow co-founded the Screen Actors Guild Ethnic Minority Committee with actors Ricardo Montalban, Carmen Zapata and Edith Diaz. Until his death on March 14, 2021, he resided in Wilmington, North Carolina with his second wife of many years, Lauren Levinson (aka Lauren Levian). She is an actress/screenwriter/producer who guest starred on her husband's "Zorro" series.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Physically imposing, intense Yaphet Kotto was one of the few actors of his generation to succeed in breaking racial stereotypes in Hollywood. He was born in Harlem, New York, the son of Gladys, a nurse and army officer, and Abraham Kotto, a businessman-turned-construction worker. His father was a Cameroonian immigrant, of royal ancestry (his great-grandfather had been a king in pre-colonial days), and his mother's family was from Antigua and Panama. Yaphet, whose first name means "beautiful" in Hebrew, was raised in the Jewish faith. After his parents divorced, he was brought up by his grandparents in the tough Bronx district of New York. He also had an aunt in showbiz who ran a dance academy. Among her alumni were Marlon Brando and James Dean. In fact, it was Brando's performance in On the Waterfront (1954) which inspired Kotto to go into acting.
He began acting on stage in 1958 with little theatrical experience, making his debut in the title role of Othello, a role he eventually reprised on screen in 1980. He also appeared on Broadway as understudy to James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope. After joining the Actor's Studio, Kotto commenced his screen career and soon gathered critical recognition with several edgy performances across diverse genres. From playing a barkeeper in 5 Card Stud (1968) and a thief in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), he moved on to juicier supporting roles as the evil Kananga/Mr. Big in the James Bond thriller Live and Let Die (1973), Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the telemovie Raid on Entebbe (1976) and the ill-fated Nostromo engineer Parker in Alien (1979). Kotto also starred as a street-smart Detroit car worker in Blue Collar (1978) and had a recurring role as a senior detective on television's long-running crime series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) (in addition to penning several scripts for the show). He was even on a Paramount shortlist for the coveted role of Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), alongside Mitchell Ryan and Roy Thinnes). He apparently spurned the role for fear of being typecast, but came to rueing that decision in later years. For the same reason Kotto had also turned down the part of Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise (which went to Billy Dee Williams).
Kotto died on March 15 2021 in Manila, Phillipines at the age of 81.