2020-2023 RIP
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- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerome Guardino was born on 27 August 1923 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Columbo (1971), Dream No Evil (1970) and Car 54, Where Are You? (1961). He was married to Marguerite R. and Fran Malis. He died on 4 January 2020.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
- Producer
Starting in the film industry as a child actor, Whorf first appeared in the film On Our Merry Way (1948) in 1946 with an all-star cast including Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Paulette Goddard, Fred MacMurray and Burgess Meredith. Summer Stock in New England at Marblehead, Ma. and Westport, Ct. punctuated his summers while attending Stanford University where he majored in Theatre Arts and Fine Arts. In 1953 Mr. Whorf was an apprentice at the Country Playhouse, Marblehead, Massachusetts. This was followed a few years later with a season at the Westport Country Playhouse. A theatre his father had played many years earlier. After a tour in the Army, he returned to film making, appearing in over fifty television shows and six feature films including a feature role in PT 109 (1963), the story of John Kennedy's experience in the South Pacific during the Second World War. In 1961 he appeared with his father, Richard Whorf, in a pre-Broadway show "One for the Dame". At this time, it was only the second time in recent Broadway history that father and son played father and son on stage. The show "closed out of town" due to financial problems after playing Ford's Theatre in Baltimore and at the Copley Theatre in Boston. In 1964 he wrote, produced and directed a short subject "Another Way Home" which received "Honorable Mention" at the Cork Ireland Film Festival. Mr. Whorf spent two seasons in repertory theatre at Elitch Gardens in Denver, Colorado. Of the sixteen plays in which he appeared, he received accolades for "Dark at the Top of the Stairs", "Five Finger Exercise" and "Little Mary Sunshine". In 1958 he became a member of the Director's Guild of America. As a first assistant director with director Larry Peerce, Mr Whorf worked on the Emmy Award winning mini-series "Woman Named Jackie, A" (1991)(mini)_ filmed entirely in the Richmond Virginia area. Other credits include the wacky "Caddyshack" and as Unit Manager on The Right Stuff (1983). Mr. Whorf continues to work actively in the film industry in a multitude of capacities from Director to Unit Manager and Assistant Director. He has written three feature scripts; "Deadly Intent" has been optioned by a production company. In 1980, Mr. Whorf recognized the impact computers were to have on the film industry. He formed a software company with Rob Alger, Alnitak Computing Company, and created the first film production software package, "AD/80".- Actor
- Composer
- Writer
Neil Peart was one of the most universally respected rock drummers, and was best known for his nearly superhuman, pyrotechnic drum playing, and for providing intellectual lyrics for his band's songs. Neil served as both drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush since 1974, joining bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson. (Rush's lineup remained unchanged since Neil's arrival in 1974.) Rush is the most successful Canadian music group in history, and is the third most prolific seller of consecutive (American) Gold and Platinum Records and videos, behind only The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Beginning on August 10, 1997, immediately following Rush's "Test For Echo" tour, Neil endured concurrent, seemingly unendurable tragedies when his daughter (and only child) died in a car accident, and then his wife died from cancer 10 months later. This put Rush on indefinite hiatus for the first time, and prompted Neil to write "Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road", his second book. In September 2000, Neil married Los Angeles photographer Carrie Nuttall. They had a daughter, Oliva, in 2009.
Neil rejoined Rush in the studio for 2002's "Vapor Trails," their 17th studio album, which was met with high praise and considered a stellar "comeback" both for Peart and the band. A highly successful 2002 tour brought about the band's long-awaited return to the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The tour ended with Rush's first-ever shows in Brazil, where they played to 125,000 fans in three nights. The final performance of the 2002 tour was captured on DVD as Rush in Rio (2003), which was certified double-platinum within weeks of its release.
After the Vapor Trails album and tour, Neil's writing became more personal. His subsequent live performances, including his trademark percussion solos which showcased his superlative adroitness as a drummer, were regarded as his best to date. His final tour with Rush was 2015's R40 tour, which marked forty years since Neil joined the band. At the end of the tour, Neil announced he was retiring due to arthritis and tendinitis.
Not long after his retirement, Neil was diagnosed with brain cancer. He fought it privately for three and a half years, keeping it secret until he passed from it on January 7, 2020.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Edd Byrnes was born Edward Byrne Breitenberger on July 30, 1932 in New York City, the son of Mary (Byrne) and Augustus "Gus" Breitenberger. Edd shared an impoverished and unhappy childhood with brother Vincent and sister Jo-Ann. Their mother worked hard at various jobs to keep the family together because her alcoholic husband was often absent from the scene.
When Edd was fifteen, his father was found dead in a basement. Edd then dropped his surname (Breitenberger) in favor of "Byrnes", based on the name of his maternal grandfather, Edward Byrne, a New York City fireman. He found escape from family problems at the movies and at the gym, where he developed an athletic body. At age 17 he was approached by a man who offered to take free "physique" photos of him. According to his 1996 autobiography, "Kookie No More", this led to a few years of "hustling" older, well-to-do men, despite the fact that Edd was heterosexual. One of these men acted as Edd's mentor, introducing him to fashion and culture and encouraging his hopes for an acting career.
After doing some summer-stock work and a few bit parts on TV, Edd drove to California in 1955, arriving in Los Angeles on the day James Dean died in a car crash. He managed to get a few minor parts in films and then won a role in a new TV series, 77 Sunset Strip (1958), which premiered in September 1958. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Roger Smith starred as private eyes but Edd, playing a hip-talking parking-lot attendant named "Kookie", won the most attention. Viewers quoted his dialog, ("Baby, you're the ginchiest!"), and young males imitated the way he wielded his ever-present comb. His fan mail soon reached an astonishing 15,000 letters a week and his single with Connie Stevens, "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb", became a top-5 hit. Edd chafed, however, at the restrictions in his Warner Brothers contract, which forced him to turn down roles in Ocean's Eleven (1960), North to Alaska (1960) and Rio Bravo (1959).
He walked off the "77 Sunset Strip" set and in the ensuing months began to drink heavily and visit a psychiatrist, who administered drugs to him. His contract dispute was eventually settled, though not much to his advantage, and when he returned to "77 Sunset Strip" his role was upgraded from "sidekick" to "partner" and he wore a suit and tie. Audience reaction was not good, ratings dropped, and the show was canceled. The hip-talking, hair-combing image clung to him, however, and Edd felt he lost the lead in PT 109 (1963) because President John F. Kennedy didn't want to be played by "Kookie". A few more movies and TV appearances followed, but his career had passed its peak before he turned 30.
In 1962, he married long-time girlfriend Asa Maynor. Their son, Logan, was born on September 13, 1965. Edd and Asa's marriage ended in divorce in 1971, partially due to his substance abuse. In 1982, he succeeded in going "clean and sober" but never remarried. Byrnes died on January 8, 2020, aged 87, in Santa Monica, California.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Prolific, multi-talented comedy writer, story editor, actor and director. His father was an Air Force general (Paul Steinberg Zuckerman) turned stockbroker and his mother was silent screen star Ruth Taylor, formerly a member of Mack Sennett's bathing beauties. Buck Henry's first fling with comedy was as a contributor to the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern magazine (known as 'Jacko') while he was still at college. His fellow writers there included such luminaries as Dr. Seuss, novelist Budd Schulberg and the playwright Frank D. Gilroy. Henry attended Harvard Military Academy for a short time before developing an interest in acting which led to a few small roles on Broadway. His budding career was interrupted by military service during the Korean War. In 1961, Henry joined a small improvisational off-Broadway theatre troupe called The Premise for a year before moving to Hollywood. He was to find his greatest popularity in the 60s as one of the principal hosts of Saturday Night Live (1975), writer for The Garry Moore Show (1958) and co-creator/writer (with Mel Brooks) of Get Smart (1965), for which he won an Emmy in 1967. Prior to that, he had already achieved a certain amount of notoriety as co-perpetrator (with Alan Abel) of a hoax which had Henry masquerading as G. Clifford Prout, Jr., president of the bogus Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, making public appearances on network television and other media, demanding that all zoos and wildlife parks be closed until all animals were "properly dressed". At one time he tried to put huge boxer shorts on a baby elephant at San Francisco Zoo. The hoax was eventually exposed after Henry was spotted as an actor by a fellow CBS employee during a Walter Cronkite interview.
One of a new wave of satirists (others including Woody Allen and Alan Arkin) Henry brought an edgier, smarter, more anarchic and at times abrasive style to his writing. Some of his quotable one-liners (in particular for Get Smart) are - and will continue to be - idiomatic. While he was original, clever and invariably funny, not all of Henry's endeavours panned out. Two of his TV parodies proved to be conspicuous failures: Captain Nice (1967) (a send-up of Batman) and Quark (1977) (a Star Trek parody about interstellar garbage collectors). On the plus side, Henry was Oscar-nominated twice: the first time for his screenplay of The Graduate (1967), the second for co-directing (with star Warren Beatty ) the re-make of Heaven Can Wait (1978). Following The Graduate, a New York Times reviewer described him as a cross between Jack Lemmon and Wally Cox , "a terrifying practical joker and a compulsive reader of 200 periodicals a month". He was much in demand as a guest on talk shows (including Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Dick Cavett) and appeared as a self-deprecating actor in most of the films he wrote: as a hotel desk clerk in The Graduate, the cynical Colonel Korn in Catch-22 (1970), a lunatic in Candy (1968), a priest and a TV anchorman in First Family (1980), and so on. In Milos Forman's Taking Off (1971) he also had a rare co-starring role as a father looking for his runaway daughter. Buck Henry passed away at the age of 89 in Los Angeles on January 8 2020.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ivan Passer was one of the key authors of the "new wave" of Czech cinema, a group of young people who forged an energetic and transgressive film movement in the 1960s, breaking away from the precepts of hard socialist realism. Passer was not only the author of the scenarios of his own films, but he also worked on the scripts of the first four motion pictures made by his countryman, friend and colleague Milos Forman: "Konkurs" (1963), "Black Petr" ( 1964), "Loves of a Blonde" (1965) and "The Firemen's Ball" (1967).
Passer was born in Prague, the son of Marianna (Mandelíková) and Alois Passer. He was the grandson of a silent movie screenwriter. Ivan's parents were persecuted by the Nazis for their Jewish heritage. Ivan was a rebel boy, sent to a boarding school where he became friends with Milos. Together they went to study cinema at the FAMU film school in Prague, but young Ivan was eventually expelled from the academy. By then he had acquired skills in movie-making, some experience and had key friends, such as cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek. With Forman and other friends, they made their first movies.
In 1965 Passer made a remarkable first feature, the beautiful "Intimate Lighting", a film of impressionist inspiration that immediately established his name as a promising new director. But the social pressures and political unrest in Czechoslovakia, which culminated in 1968 with the Soviet invasion, led him into exile the following year. However, in the United States he did not achieve the notoriety of Forman, who received the best proposals, while he rejected offers that did not convince him: for example, he refused to make "Yentl" for a number of reasons, including his conviction that Barbra Streisand was too old and famous for the role, in opposition to other key performers as Mandy Patinkin and Amy Irving. Likewise, he refused to make films with elements of violence, which he always opposed. During World War II he had been directly exposed to violence, and he believed that it was dangerous to represent it in films: violence, he said, affects "some people who are not able to realize the difference between reality and fantasy."
However, he made some worthy movies, such as his American debut "Born to Win" (1971), a complex portrait of a heroin-addict hairdresser; his satire on civil surveillance, "Law and Disorder" (1974); the comedy about money-laundering bankers "Silver Bears" (1977), and the cult film "Cutter's Way" (1981), in which a war veteran investigates a crime, despite he only has one eye, one arm and one leg. For television he directed the biopic "Stalin" in 1992.
Passer taught film at the University of Southern California, and lectured students in foreign film academies. He died in Reno, Nevada, on January 9, 2020.- Neda Arneric was born on 15 July 1953 in Knjazevac, Serbia, Yugoslavia. She was an actress, known for Stand Up Straight, Delfina (1977), Aloa: Festivity of the Whores (1988) and Shaft in Africa (1973). She was married to Milorad Mesterovic, Dejan Karaklajic and Rade Markovic. She died on 10 January 2020 in Belgrade, Serbia.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Michael Greene was born on 4 November 1933 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), *batteries not included (1987) and Lord of the Flies (1990). He was married to Patricia Donovan. He died on 10 January 2020 in Haiku, Hawaii, USA.- William Bogert was born on 25 January 1936 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for WarGames (1983), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and A Perfect Murder (1998). He was married to Eren Ozker. He died on 12 January 2020 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Production Manager
- Soundtrack
Sherwood Price was born on 4 April 1928 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was an actor and production manager, known for Ben Casey (1961), Ice Station Zebra (1968) and The Roaring 20's (1960). He was married to Mary LaRoche and Kathie Browne. He died on 13 January 2020.- Jack Kehoe was born on 21 November 1934 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Serpico (1973), The Sting (1973) and Midnight Run (1988). He died on 14 January 2020 in Hollywood Hills, California, USA.
- Rocky Johnson was born on 24 August 1944 in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was an actor, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), Spectrum Wrestling (1977) and Wrestling at the Chase (1959). He was married to Ata Johnson, Una Sparks and Sheila. He died on 15 January 2020 in Lutz, Florida, USA.
- Christopher Tolkien is the third son of the author J. R. R. Tolkien, and the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. He drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C. J. R. T.
After his father's death, Christopher Tolkien, whom his father had once called his "chief critic and collaborator", embarked on organizing his father's unpublished writings, some of them written on odd scraps of paper a half-century earlier. He worked on the manuscripts and was able to produce an edition of The Silmarillion for publication in 1977.
The Silmarillion was followed by Unfinished Tales in 1980 and The History of Middle-earth in twelve volumes between 1983 and 1996.
In 2007 he published The Children of Húrin, another history that J.R.R. Tolkien didn't complete during his lifetime. - Robert Sampson was born on 10 May 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Re-Animator (1985), The Dark Side of the Moon (1990) and Robot Jox (1989). He was married to Maryanne Gackle. He died on 18 January 2020 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Terry Jones was born in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, the son of Dilys Louisa (Newnes), a homemaker, and Alick George Parry Jones, a bank clerk. His older brother is production designer Nigel Jones. His grandparents were involved in the entertainment business, having managed the local Amateur Operatic Society and staged Gilbert and Sullivan concerts. Jones studied at St. Edmund Hall College, Oxford University, read English but graduated with a degree in History. He was variously captain of boxing, captain of the Rugby Team and School Captain. At about this time, he befriended Michael Palin. Both performed comedy together as part of the Oxford Revue. In 1965, he again partnered Palin in The Late Show (1966) and worked in the dual capacity of writer/actor on Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967) with Palin, Eric Idle and David Jason. Another noteworthy television credit was Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969) (again with Palin) in which fun was poked at famous historical personae, Jones essaying Oliver Cromwell, Sir Walter Raleigh and Henry VIII (among others).
Needless to say that Jones found his greatest success as a founding member of the anarchic and irreverent Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969), along with Palin, Idle, Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Terry Gilliam. Jones not only provided much of the written comic input, but also portrayed many of the classic characters: the implausibly obese Mr. Creosote in The Meaning of Life (1983) (who explodes after one more little wafer), the inept Detective Superintendent Harry "Snapper" Organs in the Piranha Brothers sketch (a take on the Kray Twins), the tobacconist in the Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook sketch and numerous assorted shrill-voiced, slovenly 'rat-bag women' (Mrs. Equator comes to mind).
The Pythons were unconventional, controversial, certainly groundbreaking and invariably inspired, at their best in their unrelenting satirical attacks on established British institutions, ruling hierarchies and the class structure. Jones later said "The thing is we never thought Python was a success when it was actually happening, it was only with the benefit of hindsight". In addition to writing and acting, Jones also co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) (with Terry Gilliam) and took solo directing credit for Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life. Post-Python, he rejoined Palin as co-writer for some of the very best episodes of Ripping Yarns (1976), including Whinfrey's Last Case, Tompkinson's Schooldays, Murder at Moorstone Manor, The Curse of the Claw and The Testing of Eric Oldthwaite. Jones later scripted Labyrinth (1986) from a story by Jim Henson and Dennis Lee and wrote, as well as directed, Erik the Viking (1989) and Absolutely Anything (2015), a science fiction comedy with Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale.
On a more serious note, Jones sidelined as a newspaper columnist and was an outspoken social and political commentator (a staunch critic of the Iraq War). His lifelong fascination with medieval and ancient history (and Geoffrey Chaucer in particular) led to presenting a series of television documentaries (Medieval Lives (2004) and Barbarians (2006))) as well as publishing several well researched, if sometimes controversial, books including Chaucer's Knight: The Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary and Who Murdered Chaucer?: A Medieval Mystery.
Jones died at the age of 77 on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia, at his home in Highgate, North London.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jô Shishido or Joe Shishido a.k.a. Joe The Ace (esu no Jô) owing to his role in 1961's Fast-Draw Guy entered acting following an audition for the Nikkatsu Studio and being one of the few to be picked and offered a contract via its New Face contest. Having signed with Nikkatsu in 1954 he began acting in drama films before drifting into yakuza sub-genre of action and crime films and ultimately finding fame through Nikkatsu director's Seijun Suzuki in Branded To Kill. This recognition was slow in developing, however, as upon its initial release reaction was mute and box office success was limited, which eventually lead to Suzuki's firing from the studio. Shishido worked further in television and for other studios and has over 160 films to his name. Wanting a more distinct look Shishido underwent cheek augmentation surgery resulting in a look described as being akin to a chipmunk. Shishido died at his Setagaya, Tokyo home at age 86 in January 2020.- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Karlen was born on 28 May 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Cagney & Lacey (1981), Dark Shadows (1966) and House of Dark Shadows (1970). He was married to Betty Karlen. He died on 22 January 2020 in Burbank, California, USA.- Robert Harper was born on 19 May 1951 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Creepshow (1982), Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and The War of the Roses (1989). He was married to Sascha Noorthoorn van der Kruyff and Lisa Pelikan. He died on 23 January 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Stand-in and bit player Alan Harris was born on May 28, 1938 in Enfield, Middlesex, London, England. Harris worked as a male model before going on to embark on a career in both films and television as an extra and stand-in. Alan not only appeared in several Star Wars movies in uncredited minor roles, but also was the stand-in for Anthony Daniels on both Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) as well as had the Boba Fett costume made around him and was Harrison Ford's body double frozen in carbonite for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Harris died at age 81 on January 25, 2020 in England.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Monique van Vooren was born on 25 March 1927 in Brussels, Belgium. She was an actress, known for Wall Street (1987), Ça va barder (1955) and Flesh for Frankenstein (1973). She was married to Curt H Pfenniger. She died on 25 January 2020 in New York City, New York, USA.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Bryant won five NBA championships, was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, a 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. Bryant also led the NBA in scoring twice, and ranks fourth in league all-time regular season and postseason scoring. He was posthumously voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Born in Philadelphia and partly raised in Italy, Bryant was recognized as the top American high-school basketball player while at Lower Merion. The son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, he declared for the 1996 NBA draft and was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick; he was then traded to the Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned a reputation as a high-flyer by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and was named an All-Star by his second season. Despite a feud with teammate Shaquille O'Neal, the pair led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.
In 2003, Bryant was charged with sexual assault;with the alleged victim being a 19 year old hotel employee. Criminal charges were later dropped after the accuser failed to testify, and a lawsuit was settled out of court, with Bryant issuing a public apology and admitting to a sexual encounter while maintaining the interaction was consensual. The accusation briefly tarnished Bryant's reputation, resulting in the loss of several of his endorsement contracts.
After the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was traded and Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers. He led the NBA in scoring in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. On January 22, 2006, he scored a career-high 81 points; the second most points scored in a single NBA game, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game. Bryant led the team to consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, both times being named NBA Finals MVP. He continued to be among the top players in the league through the 2012-13 season, when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon at age 34. His next two seasons were cut short by injuries to his knee and shoulder, respectively. Citing physical decline, Bryant retired after the 2015-16 season. In 2017, the Lakers retired both his #8 and #24 jerseys, making him the only player in NBA history to have multiple jerseys retired by the same franchise.
The all-time leading scorer in Lakers history, Bryant was the first guard in NBA history to play 20 seasons. His 18 All-Star designations are the second most all time, and he has the most consecutive appearances as a starter. Bryant's four NBA All-Star Game MVP Awards are tied with Bob Pettit for the most in NBA history. He gave himself the nickname "Black Mamba" in the mid-2000s, and the epithet became widely adopted by the general public. He won gold medals on the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams. In 2018, he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for the film Dear Basketball (2017).
Bryant died, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in 2020. A number of tributes and memorials were subsequently issued, including renaming the All-Star MVP Award in his honor.
He was. 5× NBA champion (2000-2002, 2009, 2010); 2× NBA Finals MVP (2009, 2010); NBA Most Valuable Player (2008); 18× NBA All-Star (1998, 2000-2016); 4× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2002, 2007, 2009, 2011); 11× All-NBA First Team (2002-2004, 2006-2013); 2× All-NBA Second Team (2000, 2001); 2× All-NBA Third Team (1999, 2005); 9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006-2011); 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2001, 2002, 2012)- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Busy American supporting actor of Italian parentage who was a familiar face on the small screen during the golden years of television. Balduzzi chose his career path while serving in the U.S. Navy. After studying at the Goodman Theatre School of Drama in Chicago he moved to New York and began to act in off-Broadway plays. To make ends meet, he also held a job at Toots Shor's iconic restaurant in Manhattan, a famous meeting place for Hollywood celebrities. A fortuitous encounter with the casting director of The Jackie Gleason Show (1952) led to several gigs on the show from 1957, Balduzzi playing a variety of minor characters, from waiters to elevator operators. It took another seven years and a move to Los Angeles for the actor to secure regular work. From 1964, he was served best by being cast in sitcoms -- helping to enliven, among others, I Dream of Jeannie (1965), Gidget (1965), Bewitched (1964), That Girl (1966) and Barney Miller (1975) --, often as police officers, salesmen or in friendly servile parts. Infrequent offerings in motion pictures included a private soldier in the war picture Kelly's Heroes (1970) (filmed in Yugoslavia), a party guest in Pete 'n' Tillie (1974) and a prisoner in Michael Keaton's zany Johnny Dangerously (1984). Until his retirement from the screen in 1990, Balduzzi supplemented his income by working a variety of other jobs, including as hotel clerks and bellhops (roles he often essayed on TV), short order cooks, as a dance instructor and acting teacher.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Appeared on the Andy Griffith show after Don Knotts departed. He played a bumbling deputy in the tradition of Barney Fife. After his partnership with George Carlin ended, he teamed with Avery Schreiber after meeting at Chicago's Second City comedy club. Jack appeared on Saturday Night Live In 1977 and turned to writing In in the 1980's.- Marj Dusay was born on 20 February 1936 in Hays, Kansas, USA. She was an actress, known for All My Children (1970), Guiding Light (1952) and Star Trek (1966). She was married to Thomas Allen Perine Jr. and John Murray Dusay. She died on 28 January 2020 in New York City, New York, USA.
- American actress and performer Dyanne Thorne began her career in show business as a band vocalist and New York stage actress. Before breaking onto the silver screen, she was popular as a comedic sketch artist/talking foil. Comedy albums, with Allen & Rossi, Vaughn Meader and Loman & Barkley earned her appearances on many T.V variety shows such as "The Tonight Show", "Red Skelton", "Steve Allen", "Merv Griffin", and with Tim Conway at Caesar's Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.
Filmed in New York City, Dyanne Thorne's first major film role was in Norman C. Chaitin's Encounter (1965), which was also an early screen credit for Robert De Niro. Moving to Hollywood to appear on T.V.'s Star Trek (1966), and star as yet another villainess in Crown International's thriller Point of Terror (1971), opened the door to several more movie roles.
In 1975, Dyanne married composer, conductor, musician and actor Howard Maurer. She and husband Howard starred in five films together throughout the years. The duo also co-produced and starred in several Las Vegas Strip showroom productions over a span of three decades and their careers took them around the world. Both Dyanne and Howard returned to the screen in 2013 after a 25 year absence to star together in indie horror films House of Forbidden Secrets (2013) and House of the Witchdoctor (2013).
As an actress, Dyanne Thorne was best known for her characterisation of the heinous international dominatrix, soldier of fortune, Ilsa. After her debut as Ilsa in Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975), she reprised the role in sequels Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia (1977) and unofficial entry Ilsa, the Wicked Warden (1977) by director Jesús Franco. Her performance as Ilsa turned the series into a cult favourite amongst horror and exploitation fans, with Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia (1977) earning a special screening at Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival 2018. Following her film career, Dyanne, alongside husband Howard, served as a church ordained, non-denominational minister In Las Vegas. The husband and wife team created "A Scenic Outdoor Wedding" as an alternative to commercial chapel weddings, with couples travelling from across the globe to be married by "Ilsa". - Chanin Hale was a small-town girl from Dayton, Ohio, who moved to New York in 1955, right out of high school to pursue a career on the stage. In New York, she toured in the High Time revue, performed onstage in The Gazebo, Come Blow Your Horn, Bus Stop, and Little Mary Sunshine.
In 1963, while appearing in a production at UCLA, she was discovered by Jack Albertson who introduced her to Red Skelton. He appreciated her excellent pantomime skills and she became a regular on the show for the next seven years. Other television work includes appearances on Death Valley Days, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Hondo, The Donna Reed Show, The Danny Kaye Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, and several episodes of Dragnet. Her film appearances include Gunn, Will Penny, and The Night They Raided Minsky's. She also had a small role in Blue Hawaii starring Elvis Presley.
Chanin went on several USO tours, becoming a favorite of the soldiers when a photo of her posing as Eve in a homemade costume appeared in the New York Daily News.
In 1986 she married Richard Bradshaw, who shared her love of exotic travel and who had a sense of humor to match hers. They spent more than 35 wonderful years together, traveling extensively to exotic locales, entertaining friends, and enjoying each other's company. Eventually, Chanin declared that "if you've seen one rain forest you've seen them all" and they traveled to more civilized locations. The two of them started a great conversation that didn't end until she passed away. Her beloved Richard followed her two weeks later on what would have been their 34th wedding anniversary. She is survived by her stepdaughters, Linda, Barbara, and Victoria Bradshaw. - Actor
- Cinematographer
León Singer was born on 9 October 1932 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He was an actor and cinematographer, known for Lonesome Dove (1989), If... Dog... Rabbit (1999) and Amistad (1997). He died on 30 January 2020 in San Diego, California, USA.- Writer
- Actress
- Producer
In 2002 Mary Higgins Clark published her memoir "Kitchen Privileges". The book describes her upbringing, first marriage and how she became such a famous author. Meanwhile 36 movies have been made that are based on Mary Higgins Clark's thrillers. For a while Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter published their own magazine.- Actor
- Producer
Ray Ballard was born on 23 August 1929 in the USA. He was an actor and producer, known for McCloud (1970), The Invisible Man (1975) and Mr. Too Little (1978). He died on 2 February 2020 in Poway, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lovelady Powell was born on 9 May 1930 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for Dark Shadows (1966), The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972) and I Never Sang for My Father (1970). She died on 2 February 2020 in Long Island, New York, USA.- Producer
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Gene Reynolds might have fulfilled a youthful ambition and become a baseball player. However, his father's business failed and the family relocated from their erstwhile home in Detroit to Los Angeles in 1934.
Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Maude Evelyn (Schwab), a model, and Frank Eugene Blumenthal. After his childhood move to Hollywood, he started in the film industry as an extra in Our Gang comedies while studying drama at the Pasadena Playhouse. At the age of fourteen he was contracted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to play juvenile roles in classic features like Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938). He often played the main star of the picture at a younger age in flashback. In 1940, Gene began a four year stint in the navy. Upon his discharge, he moved to New York to find work in the new medium of television. Another sojourn in Hollywood resulted in being featured in Paramount's The Country Girl (1954) and then cast in a mere bit part in The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954). By this time, Gene had become somewhat dissatisfied with the lack of impetus in his acting career. Scouting at the studios for other opportunities (at one time making ends meet by selling suits at a men's fashion store in Beverly Hills) he managed to finagle a job in casting and then landed a directing assignment secured by his friend Jackie Cooper on his TV sitcom Hennesey (1959). Henceforth, Gene was to work exclusively behind the scenes. In 1957, he helped launch the popular western series Tales of Wells Fargo (1957) as co-creator (with Frank Gruber and James Brooks), as well as occasional writer and director. He spent most of the sixties as director of episodic television. At decade's end, he was signed by 20th Century Fox and went on to produce and direct the pilot for The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968).
Arguably more than anyone else, Gene Reynolds was the guy behind the success story of M*A*S*H (1972). Having been assigned the job of producing and directing the pilot episode, Gene first went to England to 'headhunt' comedy writer Larry Gelbart. He signed on Burt Metcalfe (at the time casting director at Universal) as associate producer and was then chiefly responsible for casting Alan Alda for the role of Hawkeye, McLean Stevenson as Colonel Blake and Jamie Farr as Corporal Klinger. Until 1977, Gene worked as executive producer (and frequent director) on M*A*S*H before moving on to -- in his own words -- "face a new challenge" as co-creator and executive producer of the acclaimed drama series Lou Grant (1977). He won six Primetime Emmy Awards (1970 for Room 222 (1969), 1974 , 1975 and 1976 for M*A*S*H , 1979 and 1980 for Lou Grant). In addition, he collected a Writer's Guild of America Award for M*A*S*H in 1981 as well as four Director's Guild of America Awards, respectively in 1973, 1974, 1979 and 1993. He also served as President of the Director's Guild from 1993 to 1997.
Gene Reynolds died in Burbank, California, on February 3 2020 at the venerable age of 96.- Nadia Lutfi was born Poula Mohamed Shafiq in 1937 in Cairo to an Egyptian father and a Polish mother. Her father was an accountant. Acting started as a hobby, when she was 10 years old she participated in a play at her school and did very well.
Her first roles in Egyptian cinema were in Soultan (1958) and Cairo Station (1958), both the same year. The latter brought filmmaker Youssef Chahine to international attention and acclaim when it was a competitor at the Berlin Film Festival. Her career progressed and she appeared in El saman wal karif (1967) (based on the book by Nobel-winning author Naguib Mahfouz). She closed out the 1960s in Abi foq al-Shagara (1969) opposite Abdel Halim Hafez as a night club dancer who beds a much younger man.
She married three times, first time before she was 20 years old. She had one child, a son, Ahmad. - Actor
- Director
Kevin Conway was born on 29 May 1942 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Gettysburg (1993), Thirteen Days (2000) and Invincible (2006). He was married to Mila Burnette. He died on 5 February 2020 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Cleft-chinned, steely-eyed and virile star of international cinema who rose from being "the ragman's son" (the name of his best-selling 1988 autobiography) to become a bona fide superstar, Kirk Douglas, also known as Issur Danielovitch Demsky, was born on December 9, 1916 in Amsterdam, New York. His parents, Bryna (Sanglel) and Herschel Danielovitch, were Jewish immigrants from Chavusy, Mahilyow Voblast (now in Belarus). Although growing up in a poor ghetto, Douglas was a fine student and a keen athlete and wrestled competitively during his time at St. Lawrence University. Professional wrestling helped pay for his studies as did working on the side as a waiter and a bellboy. However, he soon identified an acting scholarship as a way out of his meager existence, and was sufficiently talented to gain entry into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in "Spring Again" before his career was interrupted by World War II. He joining the United States Navy in 1941, and then after the end of hostilities in 1945, returned to the theater and some radio work. On the insistence of ex-classmate Lauren Bacall, movie producer Hal B. Wallis screen-tested Douglas and cast him in the lead role in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). His performance received rave reviews and further work quickly followed, including an appearance in the low-key drama I Walk Alone (1947), the first time he worked alongside fellow future screen legend Burt Lancaster. Such was the strong chemistry between the two that they appeared in seven films together, including the dynamic western Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), the John Frankenheimer political thriller Seven Days in May (1964) and their final pairing in the gangster comedy Tough Guys (1986). Douglas once said about his good friend: "I've finally gotten away from Burt Lancaster. My luck has changed for the better. I've got nice-looking girls in my films now."
After appearing in "I Walk Alone," Douglas scored his first Oscar nomination playing the untrustworthy and opportunistic boxer Midge Kelly in the gripping Champion (1949). The quality of his work continued to garner the attention of critics and he was again nominated for Oscars for his role as a film producer in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and as tortured painter Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), both directed by Vincente Minnelli. In 1955, Douglas launched his own production company, Bryna Productions, the company behind two pivotal film roles in his career. The first was as French army officer Col. Dax in director Stanley Kubrick's brilliant anti-war epic Paths of Glory (1957). Douglas reunited with Kubrick for yet another epic, the magnificent Spartacus (1960). The film also marked a key turning point in the life of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who had been blacklisted during the McCarthy "Red Scare" hysteria in the 1950s. At Douglas' insistence, Trumbo was given on-screen credit for his contributions, which began the dissolution of the infamous blacklisting policies begun almost a decade previously that had destroyed so many careers and lives.
Douglas remained busy throughout the 1960s, starring in many films. He played a rebellious modern-day cowboy in Lonely Are the Brave (1962), acted alongside John Wayne in the World War II story In Harm's Way (1965), again with The Duke in a drama about the Israeli fight for independence, Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), and once more with Wayne in the tongue-in-cheek western The War Wagon (1967). Additionally in 1963, he starred in an onstage production of Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," but despite his keen interest, no Hollywood studio could be convinced to bring the story to the screen. However, the rights remained with the Douglas clan, and Kirk's talented son Michael Douglas finally filmed the tale in 1975, starring Jack Nicholson. Into the 1970s, Douglas wasn't as busy as previous years; however, he starred in some unusual vehicles, including alongside a young Arnold Schwarzenegger in the loopy western comedy The Villain (1979), then with Farrah Fawcett in the sci-fi thriller Saturn 3 (1980) and then he traveled to Australia for the horse opera/drama The Man from Snowy River (1982).
Unknown to many, Kirk has long been involved in humanitarian causes and has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the US State Department since 1963. His efforts were rewarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1981), and with the Jefferson Award (1983). Furthermore, the French honored him with the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. More recognition followed for his work with the American Cinema Award (1987), the German Golden Kamera Award (1987), The National Board of Reviews Career Achievement Award (1989), an honorary Academy Award (1995), Recipient of the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award (1999) and the UCLA Medal of Honor (2002). Despite a helicopter crash and a stroke suffered in the 1990s, he remained active and continued to appear in front of the camera. Until his passing on February 5 2020 at the age of 103, he and Olivia de Havilland were the last surviving major stars from the Golden Years of Hollywood.- Edward Penn was born on 25 September 1926 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an actor, known for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), American Playhouse (1980) and Murder, She Wrote (1984). He died on 5 February 2020.
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Orson Bean, the American actor, television personality and author, was born Dallas Frederick Burrows on July 22, 1928 in Burlington, Vermont to George Frederick Burrows, a policeman who later went on to become the chief of campus police at Harvard University, and the former Marion Ainsworth Pollard. He was of Irish, Scottish, and English descent. Through the latter, the newborn Dallas Burrows was a first cousin, twice removed, to Calvin Coolidge, who was President of the United States at the time of his birth. The young Dallas, an amateur magician with a taste for the limelight, graduated from Boston's prestigious Latin School in 1946. Too young to see military service during World War II, the future Orson Bean did a hitch in the U.S. Army (1946-47) in occupied Japan.
After the war, he launched himself onto the nightclub circuit with his new moniker, the "Orson" borrowed from reigning enfant terrible Orson Welles. His comedy act premiered at New York City's Blue Angel nightclub, and the momentum from his act launched him into the orbit of the legitimate theater. He made his Broadway debut on April 30, 1954 in Stalag 17 (1953) producer Richard Condon's only Broadway production as a playwright, "Men of Distinction", along with Robert Preston and Martin Ritt. The play flopped and ran only four appearances.
The following year was to prove kinder: he hosted a summer-replacement television series produced at the Blue Angel, and won a Theatre World Award for his work in the 1954 music revue "John Murray Anderson's Almanac", which co-starred Harry Belafonte, Polly Bergen, Hermione Gingold and Carleton Carpenter. It was a hit that ran for 229 performances. He followed this up with an even bigger hit, the leading role in "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter". Next up was a succès d'estime as the leading man in Herman Wouk's comic play "Nature's Way", which co-starred Bea Arthur, Sorrell Booke and Godfrey Cambridge. Though the play lasted but 67 performances, Orson Bean had established himself on the Broadway stage.
He enjoyed his greatest personal success on Broadway in the 1961-62 season, in the Betty Comden and Adolph Green musical "Subways are for Sleeping", which was directed and choreographed by Michael Kidd and featured music by Jule Styne. Bean received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (his co-star Phyllis Newman won a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical). The following season, he was in a bigger hit, the comedy "Never Too Late", which would go on to play for 1,007 performances. After appearing in the flop comedy "I Was Dancing" in November 1964, Bean made his last Broadway appearance in the musical "Illya Darling" in 1967 with Melina Mercouri, directed by fellow blacklister Jules Dassin; it played 320 performances. He also toured in the Neil Simon-Burt Bacharach musical "Promises, Promises".
Bean made an impression as the Army psychiatrist in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder (1959). But it was as a television personality that he made his biggest inroads into the popular consciousness, as well as the popular culture. He appeared in numerous quiz and talk shows, becoming a familiar face in homes as a regular panelist on To Tell the Truth (1956). He also appeared on Norman Lear's cult favorite Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976) and its sequel, Forever Fernwood (1977), as "Reverend Brim", and as store owner "Loren Bray" on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993). Much of his role as 105-year-old "Dr. Lester" in the cult film Being John Malkovich (1999) wound up the cutting room floor, but audiences and critics welcomed back his familiar presence.- Actor
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Robert Conrad was a graduate of Northwestern University, spending his first few years out of school supporting himself and his family by driving a milk truck and singing in a Chicago cabaret. Conrad befriended up-and-coming actor Nick Adams during this period, and it was Adams who helped Conrad get his first Hollywood work in 1957. A few movie bit parts later, Conrad was signed for a comparative pittance by Warner Bros. studios, and in 1959 was cast as detective Tom Lopaka on the weekly adventure series Hawaiian Eye. Upon the 1963 cancellation of this series, Conrad made a handful of Spanish and American films and toured with a nightclub act in Australia and Mexico City. Cast as frontier secret agent James West in The Wild Wild West (1965) in 1965, Conrad brought home $5000 a week during the series' first season and enjoyed increasing remunerations as West remained on the air until 1969. There are those who insist that Wild Wild West would have been colorless without the co-starring presence of Ross Martin, an opinion with which Conrad has always agreed. The actor's bid to star in a 1970 series based on the venerable Nick Carter pulp stories got no further than a pilot episode, while the Jack Webb-produced 1971 Robert Conrad series The D.A. was canceled after 13 episodes. When Roy Scheider pulled out of the 1972 adventure weekly Assignment: Vienna, Conrad stepped in--and was out, along with the rest of Assignment: Vienna, by June of 1973. Conrad had better luck with 1976's Baa Baa Black Sheep, aka Black Sheep Squadron, a popular series based on the World War II exploits of Major "Pappy" Boyington. Cast as a nurse on this series was Conrad's daughter Nancy, setting a precedent for nepotism that the actor practiced as late as his tenth TV series, 1989's Jesse Hawkes, wherein Conrad co-starred with his sons Christian and Shane.
Though few of his series have survived past season one, Conrad has enjoyed success as a commercial spokesman and in the role of G. Gordon Liddy (whom the actor admired) in the 1982 TV movie Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy (1982). As can be gathered from the Liddy assignment, Conrad's politics veered towards conservatism; in 1981, he and Charlton Heston were instrumental in toppling Ed Asner and his liberal contingent from power in the Screen Actors Guild.
As virile and athletic as ever in the 1990s, Robert Conrad continued to appear in action roles both on TV and in films; he also maintained strong ties with his hometown of Chicago, and could be counted on to show up at a moment's notice as a guest on the various all-night programs of Chicago radio personality Eddie Schwartz.- Actor
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David Gardner was born on 4 May 1928 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor and producer, known for Detroit Rock City (1999), RoboCop (1994) and Defendor (2009). He was married to Dorothy Gardner. He died on 8 February 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ron McLarty was born on 26 April 1947 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He was an actor, known for The Postman (1997), St. Vincent (2014) and Cop Rock (1990). He was married to Kate Skinner and Diane Dorothy Tesitor. He died on 8 February 2020 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actress
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Tall, graceful, supremely accomplished American actress, singer, dancer and choreographer Paula Kelly was born in Jacksonville, Florida, one of three daughters, to Ruth and Lehman Kelly. The family moved to Harlem in New York when she was six years old. Unlike her siblings, she had strong musical inclinations which were recognised early on by her father (himself a jazz musician), who enrolled her in the Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music & Art. Paula excelled as a star pupil. This opened doors to an audition at the prestigious Juilliard School and led to a four-year scholarship. Having trained under the academy's first director of dance, Martha Hill, she graduated in 1964 and that same year made her debut on Broadway. During much of the 1960s, specialising in modern dance, she performed with such luminaries as Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey and went on tour as a dancer with Harry Belafonte.
The inevitable breakthrough to popular success came when she was cast as Helene (taxi dancer at the Fandango Ballroom) in London's West End production of "Sweet Charity" (1967), directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. Paula ended up winning the London Variety Award for Best Supporting Actress. The play itself enjoyed a healthy run but was ultimately eclipsed by the motion picture Sweet Charity (1969), for which Paula was able to recreate her stage role. Now firmly established on the screen, she went on to sing and dance in a number of musical television specials and/or variety shows headlining Gene Kelly (with whom she performed a duet), Dean Martin, Quincy Jones, Richard Pryor and former Sweet Charity co-star Sammy Davis Jr.. She also appeared as Tiger Lily, teaming up with Danny Kaye and Mia Farrow for the BBC production of Peter Pan (1976), as well as taking on the dual role of co-choreographer. In 1971, she starred in a Los Angeles stage production of the all-singing, all-dancing musical revue "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope", for which she won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.
Since the popularity of musicals had waned by the early 1970s, Paula had little choice but to take on straight dramatic acting roles. On several occasions she provided the female interest in a series of fashionable, sassy, tough blaxploitation films, playing cool, happening chicks opposite action men like Robert Hooks, Paul Winfield and Thalmus Rasulala (and often rising above the routine dramatic material afforded her). She was Leggy Peggy in the cult comedy Uptown Saturday Night (1974) with Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor and had featured roles in the sci-fi classics The Andromeda Strain (1971) and Soylent Green (1973). She also appeared in many television guest spots, with notable recurring roles in The Streets of San Francisco (1972), Police Woman (1974) and the sitcom Night Court (1984), for which she received the first of two Emmy Award nominations. She retired from acting in 1999. Her husband was the British film and television director Don Chaffey, who predeceased her in 1990.
Paula Kelly died of heart failure on February 9, 2020 at age 77.- Actor
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The son of a regimental sergeant major, Albert Patrick Jordan grew up in London where he debuted on stage in a 1946 Old Vic production of "Richard II" at the New Theatre. The ensemble cast comprised actors Harry Andrews, Rosalind Atkinson and Alec Guinness. The same group of players went on to perform in other Shakespearean plays, including "Coriolanus" and "The Taming of the Shrew". Jordan began on screen in a TV adaptation of The Browning Version (1949), reprising his stage role from earlier that year. Most of his celluloid assignments in the 50s and 60s consisted of small or uncredited parts. His distinctively stern features and no-nonsense authoritarian bearing led to being invariably typecast as police officers or soldiers. A trademark scar on his right cheek added extra credence to his characters, more than a few of whom did not survive to the final reel. He appeared several times in No Hiding Place (1959), Dixon of Dock Green (1955) and Crossroads (1964) and had featured roles in the war films The Heroes of Telemark (1965), Play Dirty (1969) and Too Late the Hero (1970). Through his friend Alec Guiness, he managed to secure a role in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) as an Imperial Officer, aide to Grand Moff Tarkin (played by Peter Cushing ). He unwisely opted to take a one-off fee for his part, rather than a tiny share of the royalties -- much to his later regret.
Jordan retired in 1995 and died at the age of 96 in January 2020. His wife was Margery Gill (1925-2008), an acclaimed illustrator of children's books.- Marge Redmond was born on 14 December 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), The Flying Nun (1967) and Family Plot (1976). She was married to Jack Weston (I). She died on 10 February 2020 in the USA.
- Ron Haddrick was born on 9 April 1929 in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. He was an actor, known for Quigley Down Under (1990), Shirley Thompson Versus the Aliens (1972) and Water Rats (1996). He died on 11 February 2020 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Charles Lanyer was born on 10 July 1942 in Kirkland, Washington, USA. He was an actor, known for The Astronaut's Wife (1999), Die Hard 2 (1990) and The Stepfather (1987). He died on 11 February 2020 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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- Editor
Ryan MacDonald was born on 4 September 1930 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and editor, known for JFK (1991), Newsies (1992) and Slaves of the Realm (2003). He died on 13 February 2020 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Actress
Lynn Cohen was born on 10 August 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for Munich (2005), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) and The Cobbler (2014). She was married to Ronald Theodore Cohen and Gilbert Laman Frazen. She died on 14 February 2020 in New York City, New York, USA.- Frances Cuka was born in 1936 in London, to Joseph and Letitia Cuka. The family eventually moved to Hove, where Frances was educated at Brighton and Hove High School. She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, then made her stage debut in 1955 in 'Meet Mr. Callaghan' in Warrington. Following work with several repertory companies, she joined the Theatre Workshop and appeared with them at the Zurich Festival and the Moscow Art Theatre in 1957. She then played the part of Jo in 'A Taste of Honey' in 1958 at the Theatre Royal, Stratford, East London, transferring with it to the West End then Broadway, followed by an American tour. Her further West End appearances included 'Vanity Fair', 'Sweet Bird of Youth', 'Waters of the Moon', 'The Wild Duck' and a number with the R.S.C. in 'Days in Trees', 'Travesties,' and 'Nicholas Nickelby.' She made her television debut in 1964 in Twelve Good Men (1964) of The Hidden Truth (1964) series, which was followed by episodes of Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), The Informer (1966), The Champions (1968), Within These Walls (1974), Crown Court (1972), Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987), The Bill (1984), Doctors (2000), and Casualty (1986) amongst others. She made her film debut in the little-known comedy Over the Odds (1961) in 1961 and didn't appear on screen again until 1970, when she played Bob Cratchit's wife in the musical version of Scrooge (1970). The best known of her films is Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), in which she played Catherine of Aragon.
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Kellye Nakahara was born on 16 January 1948 in Oahu, Hawaii, USA. She was an actress, known for Clue (1985), M*A*S*H (1972) and Doctor Dolittle (1998). She was married to David Wallett. She died on 16 February 2020 in Pasadena, California, USA.- Actress
- Music Department
- Executive
Ja'Net DuBois was a multi-talented and diverse performer. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York and began her career on Broadway. She has appeared in various plays, including "Golden Boy" with Sammy Davis Jr. and Louis Gossett Jr., and "A Raisin in the Sun". She moved onto TV roles, receiving a Peabody Award for a 1969 CBS children's movie J.T. (1969). She then appeared in a daytime serial, Love of Life (1951); she is the first African American actress to have a regular serial role.
She was best known for her role as the sexy, confident, gossipy "Willona Woods" on Good Times (1974). She composed and sang the theme song, "Movin' On Up", for another Norman Lear series, The Jeffersons (1975). She appeared in many films, including the blaxploitation parody, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), as a tough and loving mother. She also did voice-over work, for which she received two Emmys.
She co-founded the "Pan African Film & Arts Festival", which showcases global films about people of African descent and fine arts. She is a community activist whose DuBois Care Foundation's mission is to empower youth by supporting after-school programs. She was also a painter who regularly exhibited her work. She released a CD in 2008, "Hidden Treasures", which includes the well-known TV theme song, "Movin' On Up".- Actor
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Flavio Bucci was born on 25 May 1947 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. He was an actor, known for Suspiria (1977), Ligabue (1977) and Property Is No Longer a Theft (1973). He was married to Micaela Pignatelli. He died on 18 February 2020 in Passoscuro, Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actor
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José Mojica Marins was born on March 13, 1936 in San Paulo, Brazil, to a family of simple means. José's love of movies began at an early age. He spent a great deal of his time with his family at the local movie house, which his father helped manage. By the time he was eighteen, he had completed over eighty films. From his earliest years, his interest has been in horror movies or ones that offer shocking social commentary.
When José was offered the lead role of "Coffin Joe" in Brazil's first full-length horror movie "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul", the character quickly became his trademark. His look included a black top hat, suit and cape. Initially, he wore long artificial nails, but for over thirty years, grew his own nails to grotesque lengths. He finally cut his famous nails in 1998.
Interestingly, the first two "Coffin Joe" movies from the 1960s, "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul" and "This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse", are now officially part of a trilogy. José completed filming of the third "Coffin Joe" film in December, 2006, more than forty years after the release of the first film in the series. Fans will be pleased to know that this new movie, "The Embodiment of Evil" is expected to be released in the summer of 2008.
Those who would like some interesting insights into José Mojica Marins' unique world may wish to view the documentary of his life. The movie is called "Coffin Joe: The Strange World of José Mojica Marins" and was produced in 2001.- Actress
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Red-haired actress Claudette Nevins was raised in Brooklyn, the daughter of fur salesman Joseph Weintraub and his wife Anna (Lander) who worked in the garment industry. She attended the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan and later graduated Phi Beta Kappa from New York University. Claudette made her first appearance on stage in a 1958 production of Waltz of the Toreadors at the Woodstock Playhouse. Two years later she debuted on Broadway in The Wall, opposite George C. Scott. In the course of the next four decades she went on to act in numerous plays in New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles. A seasoned and versatile character actress, Claudette's work encompassed roles in many notable plays, including The Iceman Cometh, Wait until Dark, Plaza Suite (again on Broadway and starring George C. Scott), Twelfth Night, The Little Foxes, Blithe Spirit, The Great White Hope and The Philadelphia Story. From 1994, Claudette was a regular member of the Los Angeles Matrix Theatre Company. Her equally prolific screen career began with a leading role in the cult horror flic The Mask (1961) and was followed by guest spots on numerous TV shows, her parts ranging from a cop's wife in episodes of the crime anthology Police Story (1973) to a villainous night club proprietress in the spoof series Police Squad! (1982); from a Red Cross nurse 'mock marrying' Charles Emerson Winchester III in M*A*S*H (1972) to an alien officer in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). She was also an accomplished voice-over actress, her credits including dual roles in the animated science fiction series Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975).
Claudette retired from acting in 2005. She had two daughters by her second husband, real estate investor Benjamin L. Pick, who predeceased her in 2017.- Writer
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Giorgio Stegani was born on 13 October 1928 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Cannibal Holocaust (1980), Ypotron - Final Countdown (1966) and Golden Chameleon (1967). He died on 20 February 2020 in Rome, Italy.- Actor
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Handsome, boyish-looking Ben Cooper graduated from child roles to playing juvenile leads in second features, often for Poverty Row studio Republic. As a nine year old, he made his stage debut in Bretaigne Windust's Broadway production of Life With Father, remaining in the cast for the entire run of the play. Between 1946 and 1952, Ben enjoyed a lengthy spell on the airwaves, lending his voice to many a famous radio soap of the day (by some accounts he acted in more than 3000 radio shows). A graduate of New York's Columbia University, he was featured on screen for the first time in a bit part in 1950. Three years later, he played Jesse James in a cameo in Woman They Almost Lynched (1953). His career made little headway until he was cast as brash would-be gunslinger Turkey Ralston in the noirish cult western Johnny Guitar (1954).
Ben's forte was the western. He had his own horse by the age of twelve, became an adept rider and diligently rehearsed the stunts he saw on the screen. He also perfected a fast draw, practicing "for 90 minutes each day over four years". During most of the early '50s, he went about playing assorted hombres on both sides of the law in B-westerns. He never quite managed to set the prairie on fire. A mere handful of starring turns confined him to staid leading men in run-of-the-mill oaters (Duel at Apache Wells (1957)) or routine melodramas (A Strange Adventure (1956)). Arguably, his most effective performance in a motion picture was in The Rose Tattoo (1955) (as the good-natured sailor in love with Marisa Pavan). Unable to find the one role which would have made him a household name, Ben eventually pursued a solid, if unremarkable, career as a television guest star with a predilection for westerns (Laramie (1959), Bonanza (1959), Gunsmoke (1955) ) and crime dramas (Perry Mason (1957), Mannix (1967)). His work in the former earned him a Golden Boot Award in 2005.- Actress
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Silent moppet star Jackie Coogan, immortalized as Charles Chaplin's The Kid (1921), had only one screen rival during the early 1920s, and that was none other than Baby Peggy. She was "discovered" while visiting the Century Studios lot on Sunset Boulevard with her mother when she was a mere 19 months old and went on to appear in nearly 150 shorts (between 1920 and 1923) and nine feature films during her silent heyday. Often considered a precursor to Shirley Temple, Baby Peggy's most popular film vehicle was the child classic Captain January (1924), which would be made a decade later as a vehicle for Temple.
She was born Peggy-Jean Montgomery in 1918 in San Diego, California, of acting stock. She was the daughter of Marian (Baxter), from Wisconsin, and Jack Montgomery, a Nebraska-born cowboy for years all over the western states. He ended up in the movies as a stuntman and extra, driving stagecoaches and buckboards. He supported himself as Tom Mix's double, but never achieved the rugged stardom he yearned for. In fact, his daughter was the one who became the celebrity and chief breadwinner for the family.
Many of Baby Peggy's popular comedies were parodies of movies that grown-up stars had made, and she delightfully imitated such legends as Rudolph Valentino, Pola Negri, Mary Pickford and Mae Murray. Her first feature-length film was Penrod (1922); her first film with Universal, The Darling of New York (1923), shot when she was 3-1/2 years old, was a solid hit. A few more, including Helen's Babies (1924), were also certifiable winners. However, by the age of 8, she was finished.
Her fortune reportedly was depleted by her father Jack's stepfather, a banker to whom she had entrusted all her money. Within a short time, she was forced to turn to the vaudeville circuit for survival. A comeback in early talkies with the new moniker Peggy Montgomery was very short-lived. Her credits, as a result, are often mixed up with another actress named Peggy Montgomery, who was a western ingénue for many years.
The former child star lived in dire straits and suffered from nervous breakdowns and near poverty for many years until she found a new and unexpectedly successful career as a book publisher and writer, using the pseudonym "Diana Serra Cary". As the author of "Hollywood Posse" (1975) and (later) "Hollywood's Children", she wrote about her youthful career, post-stardom years, child stars in general, and Hollywood history in all its fascinating glory. Her own autobiography, "Whatever Happened to Baby Peggy?", was released in 1996.
In 2016, Diana was inducted into the Classic Film Hall of Fame at the Rheem Theater in Moraga, CA. Diana was present, at age 98, to receive the honor and answer questions. She is considered to have been the last living star of the silent film era. Per Robert Garfinkle, a board member of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, CA, Diana now has the longest acting career of all time, from 1920 to 2015. Her last film was a silent film she made at the above-referenced museum. The film was actually made using one of their antique hand-cranked cameras!
Baby Peggy died on February 24, 2020 in Gustine, California. She was 101.- R.D. Call was an American actor, best known for his roles in films directed by Walter Hill. He was born and raised in Utah and attended the Utah State University and Weber State University. Call moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and began training with Lee Strasberg. His first role was in Barnaby Jones (1973), a TV series directed by Leo Penn.
Call then took roles in the Walter Hill films 48 Hrs. (1982) and Brewster's Millions (1985). Next came At Close Range (1986), opposite Sean Penn, and the Charlie Sheen thriller, No Man's Land (1987). Dennis Hopper cast him in Hopper's thriller, Colors (1988), again opposite Sean Penn. Call would work with both Leo and Sean Penn -- and Martin Sheen -- in Judgment in Berlin (1988).
Towards the end of the 1980s, roles included Michael Mann's L.A. Takedown (1989) -- the original version of Mann's Heat (1995) -- and a cameo appearance in Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July (1989). Call appeared opposite Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland in Young Guns II (1990) and was back with Sean Penn in State of Grace (1990), conveying a close working relationship with both the Penn and Sheen families.
The mid-1990s were equally kind to Call, with roles in Waterworld (1995) and Walter Hill's Last Man Standing (1996), in which he starred with Bruce Willis. More recent roles include the Sandra Bullock thriller, Murder by Numbers (2002), the Brad Pitt drama, Babel (2006), and the Sean Penn-directed Into the Wild (2007).
Call appeared in numerous TV series, including The X-Files (1993) and Stephen King's Golden Years (1991). - Balding, often moustachioed Brooklyn-born Eugene Dynarski was a prolific character actor of Polish ancestry. He moved to California in 1957 after serving in the U.S. Navy and learned his craft at Los Angeles City College, Harbor College and UCLA. Obtaining acting work via renowned casting director Lynn Stalmaster, he first appeared on the screen in 1963, frequently personifying characters of Slavic background with names like Pollick, Barmak, Krodak or Kowalski. He had a particularly good line in villains which he made all the more menacing with his outwardly calm but intense manner. He portrayed Stalin to critical acclaim on the stage in a 1987 production of David Pownall's "Master Class" (as well as providing the dictator's voice for Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996)). Dynarski made appearances in both Star Trek (1966) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), the latter featuring him as a starbase commander. Very much a regular contributor to the science fiction genre, he also played Egghead's henchman Benedict in Batman (1966), donned one of Paul Zastupnevich's monster heads as a sea centaur in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), played a malevolent prison warden in Land of the Giants (1968) and an ill-fated hunter in The X-Files (1993) who falls victim to a bat-human hybrid monster. Dynarski also had small parts in the Steven Spielberg productions Duel (1971) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). In 1979, he established the Gene Dynarski Theater near Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles which remained in operation until the 1990s. Dynarski retired from screen acting in 2003.
- Dieter Laser is a German actor. He is known to English-speaking audiences for his roles: Mantrid in Lexx, Prof. Otto Blaettchen in The Ogre and Dr. Joseph Heiter in The Human Centipede (First Sequence), for which he won Best Actor at the Austin Fantastic Fest. In 1975, he was awarded the German Film Award in Gold in the category of Best Actor for his title role in John Glueckstadt.
He was born in Kiel. On a cold winter afternoon at the age of sixteen, Dieter Laser went to the stage door of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg at that time the most famous theatre in Germany and he asked the doorman how to become an actor. There was an extra missing for the Christmas fairy tale afternoon-performance for children and 30 minutes later he stood on stage among a bunch of "sailors". That was the beginning of his career as an extra. - He had grown up in a fundamentalist Christian sect where the Theatre was regarded as devil's work. As a brainwashed believer he had to hazard the consequences. Therefore he made a deal with the devil: 'I will become an actor and I'll pay later on - in hell!' - Watching as an extra the famous actors "The Gods" by doing their marvelous work during rehearsals and performances became his "drama school". Gradually he got a word to speak in a play - then two words - even a sentence - a tiny part - another little part - and one day he suddenly got a contract and overnight his dream had come true: he now was a real actor with whom the "Gods" shook hands. - After 14 passionate years on stage and as a co-founder and member of the board of the meanwhile most famous German theatre, the Schaubuehne in Berlin, he decided to become a freelancer and got his first work for the cinema: the title role in John Glueckstadt. For this performance he won the German Film Award in Gold. Since then, and besides countless guest appearances on the most important stages of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxemburg, with parts like Don Juan, Valmont, Peer Gynt, Macbeth, Captain Ahab etc. Dieter Laser played in about 65 films, at times co-starring with "Gods" like Burt Lancaster, Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Glenn Close, John Malkovich etc.. - Writer
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James Lipton was an actor, academic, author, choreographer, interviewer, scriptwriter, and producer for stage and television projects. He was known for creating and hosting the noted and popular TV series Inside the Actors Studio (1994), where successful and prominent actors discussed their craft for the benefit of acting students.
James Lipton was born Louis James Lipton in Detroit, Michigan, to Betty (Weinberg), a teacher and librarian, and Lawrence Lipton (originally Israel Lipschitz), a writer and beatnik poet. His father was a Polish Jewish emigrant, from Lodz, and his maternal grandparents were Russian Jews. Lipton's parents divorced when he was quite young. As a reaction against his beatnik father's anarchic and chaotic lifestyle, Lipton at first chose to pursue a stable and staid career as a lawyer. He originally took up acting as a sideline to finance his law studies but eventually he shifted the focus of his career to acting.
Lipton moved to New York City and undertook twelve years of intensive studies in the performing arts. He studied acting and directing under Stella Adler, widely regarded as the most respected acting teacher in the history of American dramatic arts. Adler's other students at various times have included Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. Lipton also studied with Harold Clurman and Robert Lewis. He studied movie/TV production and directing at New York University and at The New School. He also studied voice, modern dance, classical ballet, and jazz technique.
Lipton performed in the play "The Autumn Garden" on Broadway in 1951. He became active in several TV soap operas, joining the cast of Guiding Light (1952) where he acted and wrote scripts for several years and later became head writer, all while undertaking his formal acting studies. He was a scriptwriter for The Edge of Night (1956) and he became head writer for Another World (1964), The Best of Everything (1970), Return to Peyton Place (1972) and Capitol (1982).
Lipton wrote the book and the lyrics for the Broadway flop "Nowhere to Go But Up" (1962), and he did the same for "Sherry!" which was produced on stage in 1967 and released as an audio CD in 2004. Also for Broadway, he produced "The Mighty Gents" (1978), "Monteith & Rand" (1979) and co-produced the Tony award-winning "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1978). He choreographed "Charlot" for ballet theater, and for Moliere's play "The Doctor In Spite of Himself" he translated from the original French, adapted it as a musical version, wrote the lyrics, directed and choreographed.
A lover of words, Lipton has made a study of group terms, sometimes called nouns of multitude (examples: a gaggle of geese, a host of angels, etc.). He has published the definitive work on the subject in a best-selling book titled "An Exaltation of Larks". It has been in print continuously since its first edition in 1968. The latest edition, now expanded, contains over 1,100 such phrases. In the book Lipton himself jumps into the lexical fray by offering many new terms of his own invention, including: a score of bachelors, an unction of undertakers, a shrivel of critics, and a queue of actors. Other writings of his have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine and The Paris Review.
In 1983 Lipton published his novel "Mirrors" which is about the lives of dancers. He later wrote and produced it as a TV movie. In television, Lipton has produced some two dozen specials including: twelve Bob Hope Birthday Specials; Bob Hope on the Road to China (1979) , an NBC entertainment special produced in China; and the first time ever televised presidential inaugural gala, for Jimmy Carter.
In the mid-1990s Lipton sought to create a three year educational program for actors that would be a distillation of what he had learned in the twelve years of his own intensive studies. In 1994 he arranged for the Actors Studio -- the home base of "method acting" in the USA for some sixty years now -- to join with New York City's New School University, to form the Actors Studio Drama School, a formal degree-granting program at the graduate level.
At the same time, Lipton created a sub-project within the drama school: a non-credit class called Inside the Actors Studio (1994) where successful and accomplished actors, directors and writers would be interviewed and would answer questions from acting students. These sessions were also taped and broadcast on television for the general public to see. Lipton himself hosts the show and conducts the main interview.
The TV show Inside the Actors Studio (1994) has become a substantial success. In the more than 12 years that it has been on the air, the craft of acting has been discussed by the show's over 200 guests who have included Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Kate Winslet, Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Charlize Theron, Robin Williams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Samuel L. Jackson, Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Cate Blanchett, Martin Scorsese and Dustin Hoffman. The show is viewed in 80 million homes in the USA on the Bravo cable channel and is seen in 125 countries. It has been nominated for 12 Emmy awards. The Actors Studio Drama School performed very well also. During Lipton's term as dean, the school became the largest graduate-level drama school in the United States.
Important changes began in 2004 for both the TV show and the drama school. The New School underwent a major reorganization and seriously cut back its support for drama education. The Actors Studio's collaboration with the New School came to an end and a new drama school as well as a new venue for the TV show were both set up at Pace University, also in New York City.
Lipton's TV show made him so famous that he was frequently parodied on Saturday Night Live (1975) by comic Will Ferrell. Lipton continued to host and produce Inside the Actors Studio (1994), and served as a vice president of the Actors Studio. He held the lifelong title of Dean Emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama Program. In 2007, he wrote a book about the TV show and his life, which was titled "Inside Inside."
The last episode of Inside he hosted aired on January 11, 2018, with Ted Danson as guest. The show began rotating hosts in its 2019 season. James Lipton died on March 2, 2020, in Manhattan. He was survived by wife Kedaki Turner.- Actor
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David Paul, first discovered with his twin brother for their muscular physiques and good looks, starred in films such as The Barbarian Brothers and evolved with excellent comedic timing to star in Twin Sitters, babysitting a couple of evil rich kids. Aside from acting, David has had many celebrated shows of his photography all around the US and developed his cinematographic abilities to create and shoot original films such as Faith Street Corner Tavern, which was spotlighted in International Film Festivals. David Paul excels before and behind the camera.- American general purpose actor, busy on television between the early 60s and the late 80s. Casper joined a travelling children's theatre straight out of high school. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942, serving in India, Burma and China. Upon his discharge, he perfected his craft at the Goodman Theatre School in Chicago and subsequently performed on and off-Broadway. In between acting assignments he toiled as a waiter at New York restaurants to make ends meet. In the late 50s, he settled in North Hollywood and appeared in several early anthology television series. He had a featured part in just a couple of cinematic motion pictures: Studs Lonigan (1960) (as a short-lived friend of the titular protagonist) and The Right Approach (1961) (as an aspiring set designer who goes by the highfalutin moniker Horace Wetheridge Tobey III). Otherwise, Casper's career was confined entirely to the small screen. In addition to several TV commercials, he made appearances in a steady dose of popular prime time fare like Perry Mason (1957), Batman (1966), Mannix (1967), Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974) and Simon & Simon (1981), playing teachers, professors, lawyers, maitre D's, etcetera. He also enjoyed recurring roles in Room 222 (1969) and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976) (as a cyptozoologist). Casper retired from acting in 1990. In private life, he was said to have been an avid reader and bibliophile.
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Max von Sydow was born Carl Adolf von Sydow on April 10, 1929 in Lund, Skåne, Sweden, to a middle-class family. He was the son of Baroness Maria Margareta (Rappe), a teacher, and Carl Wilhelm von Sydow, an ethnologist and folklore professor. His surname traces back to his partial German ancestry.
When he was in high school, he and a few fellow students, including Yvonne Lombard, started a theatre club which encouraged his interest in acting. After conscription, he began to study at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school (1948-1951), together with Lars Ekborg, Margaretha Krook and Ingrid Thulin. His first role was as Nils the crofter in Alf Sjöberg's Only a Mother (1949). After graduation, he worked at the city theatres in Norrköping and Malmö.
His work in the movies by Ingmar Bergman (especially The Seventh Seal (1957), including the iconic scenes in which he plays chess with Death) made him well-known internationally, and he started to get offers from abroad. His career abroad began with him playing Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965); Hawaii (1966) and The Quiller Memorandum (1966). Since then, his career includes very different kind of characters, like Karl Oskar Nilsson in The Emigrants (1971); Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist (1973); Joubert the assassin in Three Days of the Condor (1975), Emperor Ming in Flash Gordon (1980); the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Never Say Never Again (1983); Liet-Kynes in Dune (1984) the artist Frederick in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986); Lassefar in Pelle the Conqueror (1987), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination; Dr. Peter Ingham in Awakenings (1990); Lamar Burgess in Minority Report (2002) and The Renter in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), which earned him his second Academy Award nomination.
He became one of Sweden's most admired and professional actors, and is the only male Swedish actor to receive an Oscar nomination. He was nominated twice: for Pelle the Conqueror (1987) in 1988 and for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) in 2012. He received the Guldbagge Award for Best Director in his directing debut, the drama film Ved vejen (1988). In 2016, he joined the sixth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011) as the Three-eyed Raven, which earned him his Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
Max von Sydow died on March 8, 2020, in Provence, France, and was survived by his wife Catherine Brelet and four children. He was 90.- Actor
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Johnny Yune was born on 22 October 1936 in Eumseong County, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. He was an actor and writer, known for They Call Me Bruce (1982), They Still Call Me Bruce (1987) and The Cannonball Run (1981). He was married to Julia Yune. He died on 8 March 2020 in Alhambra, California, USA.- Actress
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Prototype of the sexy cheeky French lady, Suzy Delair was discovered by Henri-Georges Clouzot, who became her companion and gave her two memorable roles : Mila Malou, inspector Wens' unbearable girlfriend in two films, Le dernier des six (1941), which he wrote, and The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (1942), which he penned and directed; and the mythical one of Jenny Lamour, a frivolous music-hall singer prepared to do anything to become famous who makes her poor husband insanely jealous in Jenny Lamour (1947). The rest of her filmography is rather disappointing, with a few exceptions such as Jean Grémillon's White Paws (1949) , where she is -once again - an unfaithful companion ; Gervaise (1956), René Clément's masterpiece as Gervaise's obnoxious rival or Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers (1960), another cinema milestone, even if her part in this film is minor. An excellent singer (Who has forgotten "Avec son tra la la"?), delightful in operettas, Suzy Delair could hardly choose between her two careers. This may be the reason why she missed out on more great roles than she finally interpreted. Nevertheless, Mila Malou and Jenny Lamour are now part of the French film heritage. Not everybody can boast having left such an imprint on several generations of movie-goers.- Actor
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American leading man Stuart Maxwell Whitman was known for his rugged roles. He was born in San Francisco, California, the elder of two sons of Cecilia (Gold) and Joseph Whitman, a realtor. His mother was a Russian Jewish immigrant, while his paternal grandparents were Polish Jews. His family moved often. He graduated from high school in Los Angeles and spent three post-war years with the Army Corps of Engineers. In the army, he won 32 fights as a light-heavyweight boxer.
Upon his discharge from service, he attended Los Angeles City College, where his interest in acting emerged. He studied at the Los Angeles Academy of Dramatic Art and with Michael Chekhov and Ben Bard. He toured the U.S. in a stage company of "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" and began to get small roles in television and film. Eventually, his athleticism, his handsome features, and his talent for portraying either tough or vulnerable characters led him to a level of stardom. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his leading role of a child molester in The Mark (1961), and starred in the television series Cimarron Strip (1967). A shrewd investor, he amassed a substantial fortune while continuing his career even after its peak in the mid-Sixties.- Actor
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The television heartthrob from the 1960s and 1970s was the proverbial tall, dark and classically handsome actor. Completing the solid package was a great, muscular build, smooth charm, and an almost perfect set of teeth. Born in 1935 in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he certainly paid his dues before landing his breakthrough as the suave announcer on The Carol Burnett Show (1967) in the late 1960s. The one-time door-to-door encyclopedia peddler, prior to his prime TV job, appeared in poorly-made sci-fi and beach party flicks with such dubious titles as Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966), Swamp Country (1966), Journey to the Center of Time (1967) and Catalina Caper (1967). In time, he was more than just a gorgeous hunk with a resonant voice, and they began to incorporate Waggoner into the show as a comedy sketch partner along with Vicki Lawrence and Harvey Korman. His better scenes typically had him essaying the superficial cad or gleamy-toothed, self-important star. After seven seasons on the knockabout variety show, however, Waggoner felt like a "third banana" and yearned to take a chance on solo stardom. During his off-times, he had prepared himself by appearing in summer stock and/or dinner theater in such breezy assignments as "Boeing, Boeing", "Send Me No Flowers", and "Once More, with Feeling". He also hosted the syndicated quiz show It's Your Bet (1969), and earned added "exposure" as Playgirl Magazine's first semi-nude centerfold in 1973.
Not long after his departure from the Burnett show, he landed the role of Major Steve Trevor on the popular comic strip-based series Wonder Woman (1975), playing the dashing, no-nonsense boss to Diana Prince. Again, the challenge was not there and he remained on the periphery for three seasons. In later years, Waggoner became more personality than performer and only sporadically appeared in glossy mini-movies and TV episodes, occasionally as himself. He appeared in a few feature films (including Love Me Deadly (1972), Surf II (1983) and Wizards of the Demon Sword (1991)). Perhaps surmising he was undone by being too perfect a specimen, he wisely looked into business ventures. In 1979, he successfully started up "Star Waggons", which served film/TV companies with rental trailers. His charming, vainglorious romancer act was for the cameras only. He married only once, to Sharon Kennedy, an actress, financial consultant and realtor. They were married for 59 years and had two sons.- Music Artist
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Born in Houston, Texas on August 21, 1938, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, actor, record producer and entrepreneur Kenneth Ray Rogers was the fourth of eight children born to a carpenter father who worked in a shipyard and a mother who was a hospital nurse's assistant. Of humble Irish and Native American heritage, the boy grew up in the poorer section of Houston, but would become the first member of his family to graduate from high school.
Kenny took an early interest in singing and, as a teenager, joined a doo-wop recording group called "The Scholars". The group recorded the song "Poor Little Doggie," and Kenny, age 19, recorded his first solo song, "That Crazy Feeling," for a small Houston label, Carlton Records, and his career was off and running. He subsequently joined the "New Christy Minstrels" 1966 as a singer and double bass/bass guitar player, then splintered off with others from the popular folk music group a year later to form the rock group "The First Edition," an eclectic-styled rock band whose repertoire included rock and roll, R&B, folk and country.
The First Edition's first Billboard hit, "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (1968) was a psychedelic rock song which peaked at #5, and was followed by the more popular soft-rock hit "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" (1969) which hit #6 on the US charts and made them a star attraction. Other successes would include "Reuben James" (1969, #26), "Something's Burning" (1970, #11) and "Tell It All Brother" (1970, #17). By this time, the dark-haired, husky-framed, ear-pierced singer's ingratiating personality and sensual gravel tones, affectionately dubbed "Hippie Kenny," had taken center stage and the group changed their name to "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition" in 1969. The First Edition enjoyed worldwide success, appeared on such popular shows as "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," had featured roles in the TV movie The Dream Makers (1975) and went on to host the syndicated TV variety series Rollin' on the River (1971).
Sadly, the pressures of taping a weekly show caused extreme friction within the group and eventually took its toll. After a couple more years of producing songs that couldn't reach the "Top 20," the group decided to disband in 1976 and, inevitable as it was, Kenny went solo. It didn't take long before he started chalking up a string of country-tinged 'Top 20' pop hits with "Lucille" (#5), "Don't Fall in Love With a Dreamer" (#4, with Kim Carnes), "Through the Years" (#13), "We've Got Tonight" (#6, with Sheena Easton) and his two #1 hit sellers "Islands in the Stream" (with Dolly Parton) and "Lady." By the late 1970s, the (now) silver fox had sold over $100 million worth of records. He also made popular hit duets with both country female stars (Parton and Dottie West) as well as the distaff pop elite (Kim Carnes and Sheena Easton).
Into the 1980's Kenny began to feel a downswing in his singing career. After charting lower and lower, he wisely branched off into other successful areas. In 1980, he touched off a modest, lightweight, but highly appealing acting career starting with the Southern-styled TV-movie The Gambler (1980), based on his #1 1979 Grammy-winning song hit. The feature had Kenny starring as poker-playing card shark Brady Hawkes, who attempts to unite with a son he never knew. This led to four equally popular sequels -- Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983), Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (1987), The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991) and Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (1994). Two other old-fashioned western TV movies followed. The first was also based on a hit Kenny Rogers song, Coward of the County (1981), (Country, #3) in which he played a town preacher who tries to mentor his young "cowardly" nephew. The second, Wild Horses (1985), had him starring as a has-been rodeo champion looking for personal fulfillment herding wild mustangs.
Kenny also tried to parlay his popularity as a major country singer into a conservative film career. There would only be one starring role. In Six Pack (1982), Kenny stars as a race car driver who tangles with six roughhouse orphans. Instead, he was back to TV-movies where he went on to appear as himself in two TV country-flavored biopics -- Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story (1995) and Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story (1997). He also put out the folksy yuletide offering Christmas in America (1990) which had his real-life son Kenneth Rogers co-starring in a father-son strained relationship; and the western Rio Diablo (1993) in which he he essays the role of a nice-guy bounty hunter assisting a revengeful groom country singer Travis Tritt in a search for of kidnapped bride. Another then-reigning country star, Naomi Judd, was featured as a colorful madam.
In addition to a few acting appearances on TV with "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," "Touched by an Angel" and "How I Met Your Mother," Kenny also became a perennial star or guest of TV specials and seasonal events over the years, including Kenny Rogers and the First Edition: Rollin' on the River (1971), A Christmas Special... With Love, Mac Davis (1979), Kenny Rogers Live in Concert (1983), Kenny & Dolly: A Christmas to Remember (1984), Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Together (1985), Kenny, Dolly and Willie: Something Inside So Strong (1989), Kenny Rogers Going Home (1995), Live by Request: Kenny Rogers (1999) and Consequence (2007). He also hosted two TV documentary series: The Real West (1992) and High Point Casinos of the World (2003).
In addition, Kenny published several books on photography and opened a rotisserie-chicken fast-food franchise (Kenny Rogers Roasters). Less and less visible in the ensuing years, Kenny produced the 1999 album "She Rides Wild Horses", which peaked at #6 on the country charts, his highest in 15 years, and included the #1 single "Buy Me a Rose."
Spending much of his free time over the years breeding Arabian horses and cattle on a 1,200-acre Georgia farm, Kenny's seemed to settle with his fifth wife Wanda Miller, whom he married in 1997. He had five children altogether and his namesake, son, Kenneth Rogers, left acting and briefly launched his own singing career in 1989 with "Take Another Step Closer". He now is on the business end of entertainment providing music for TV and movies.
Kenny made one last concert tour, "The Gambler's Last Deal," in 2015 and it was running worldwide, with visits including Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, The Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as the U.S., until his health, plagued by bouts of bladder cancer and hepatitis C, failed him and he was forced to retire in 2018. The 81-year-old legend died on March 20, 2020, under hospice care at his home in Sandy Springs, Georgia.- Melinda O. Fee was born on 7 October 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985), The Invisible Man (1975) and Quincy M.E. (1976). She was married to Steven S. Harrison. She died on 24 March 2020 in Sherman Oaks, California, USA.
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Stuart Gordon started his film directing career in 1985. After graduating from Lane Technical High School, Gordon worked as a commercial artist apprentice prior to enrolling at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Unable to get into the film classes, he enrolled in an acting class and ended up majoring in theater. In 1968, he directed a psychedelic adaptation of Peter Pan as a political satire. He was arrested on obscenity charges and Gordon dropped out of the university. He and his wife Carolyn formed the Organic Theater and moved the group to Chicago.
The Organic performed their work on and off-Broadway, in Los Angeles, and toured Europe. Among their productions were the world premiere of David Mamet's "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," which launched Mamet's playwriting career, the improv-based comedy "Bleacher Bums," which ran for over ten years in Los Angeles, and the hospital comedy E/R (1984), which became a TV series produced by Norman Lear.
He joined with Brian Yuzna and Charles Band's Empire Pictures to create the company's first major hit, Re-Animator (1985), based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft, which won a Critics' Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Gordon then helmed another Lovecraft adaptation From Beyond (1986) and tackled the murderous Dolls (1986) followed by Robot Jox (1989). Gordon co-created the story for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) a major hit for Disney. The same year, he directed the remake and more graphic version of The Pit and the Pendulum (1991). Other works include Fortress (1992), and the screenplay for The Dentist (1996) and Body Snatchers (1993), which he co-wrote with long-time writing partner Dennis Paoli.
In 2001, Gordon returned to the H.P. Lovecraft territory with Dagon (2001), and in 2003, directed King of the Ants (2003) about a housepainter-turned-hit man, and brought the David Mamet play Edmond (2005) to the screen.
He contributed to the horror anthology series Masters of Horror (2005) with the episode Dreams in the Witch-House (2005), based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. He returned to the series in 2007 with the episode The Black Cat (2007), based on Edgar Allan Poe's story. And in 2008, he directed Eater (2008) for the NBC series Fear Itself (2008).
He is also known for frequently murdering his wife, actress Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, in many of his films.- Born in Budapest, Hungary, Kovacs went to school in Toronto, Canada where he became interested in theater. After appearing on stage, he became a film actor largely through fellow Canadian David Cronenberg who directed Kovacs in such films as "Dead Zone" (1983). Kovacs has occasionally gone back to Europe to appear in "Mephisto" (1981) and "Hanussen" (1988).
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Mark Blum was born on 14 May 1950 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Crocodile Dundee (1986) and The Sopranos (1999). He was married to Janet Zarish. He died on 26 March 2020 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Matthew Faber was born on 31 January 1973 in Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and cinematographer, known for Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Palindromes (2004) and Natural Born Killers (1994). He died on 28 March 2020 in Van Nuys, California, USA.- A Kentucky native, Schramm attended Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky and majored in English while also becoming intensely involved in theater. At the urging of his college acting teacher, he applied for and won a four-year graduate scholarship to Juilliard's newly formed drama school in New York.
During the summer of 1988, Schramm traveled to California to co-star with Rebecca De Mornay in "Born Yesterday" at the Pasadena Playhouse. This highly acclaimed and popular production brought Schramm to the attention of Hollywood, and he has worked steadily in television and film ever since.
Schramm has guest-starred on numerous television series, including Jake and the Fatman (1987), Wiseguy (1987), The Equalizer (1985), Miami Vice (1984) and Spenser: For Hire (1985). He also provided the voice for one of the characters in the Disney animated series Hercules (1998). In addition, he has had leading roles in The Time of Your Life (1976) and the musical Cradle Will Rock (1999), both for PBS. - Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Joe Diffie was born on 28 December 1958 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Twister (1996), All My Friends Are Cowboys (1998) and The Beverly Hillbillies (1993). He was married to Tara Terpening Diffie, Theresa Crump, Debbie Jones and Janise Parker. He died on 29 March 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Music Artist
- Composer
- Music Department
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Bill Withers was born on July 4, 1938 in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia and was raised in the nearby town of Beckley. He was the youngest of six children of Mattie (Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner. His father died when Withers was thirteen. Bill worked a series of odd jobs to help his mother out. At age seventeen he joined the US Navy and first became interested in both singing and songwriting during his tour of duty in the armed forces. After being discharged from the Navy in 1965, Bill moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a music career. Withers worked a full time job making toilet seats at the Boeing aircraft company and recorded demos on the side at night for several years prior to being signed to the Sussex Records label in 1970. In 1971 Bill released his debut album "Just As I Am." The song "Ain't No Sunshine" was a #3 R&B radio hit and won the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. Withers scored a massive smash in 1972 with the marvelously inspirational "Lean on Me," which reached #1 on the Billboard pop charts on July 8. "Use Me" was likewise successful; it peaked at #2 on the Billboard pop charts. In the summer of 1974 Bill performed in concert along with James Brown, Etta James and BB King at the historic Ali/Frasier fight in Zaire (footage of Withers in concert can be seen in the acclaimed documentary "When We Were Kings"). After parting with Sussex Records, Withers hooked up with Columbia Records in 1975. "Lovely Day" was a Top 30 Billboard pop hit in 1978. "Just the Two of Us," Bill's terrific duet with Grover Washington, Jr., was a #2 Billboard pop hit in 1981 and won the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. His songs have been covered by a diverse array of artists that include Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker, Mick Jagger, Grace Jones, Diana Ross, Club Nouveau (their 1987 cover of "Lean on Me" won the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song in 1988), Morrisey, Paul McCartney, Michael Bolton, Fiona Apple, Sting, Kenny Rogers, and Johnny Mathis.
Withers was the recipient of the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award in 2006. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Bill's songs have been featured on the soundtracks to such movies as "Hoot," "Roll Bounce," "Starsky & Hutch," "Bandits," "Exit Wounds," "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," "American Beauty," "Notting Hill," "The Bodyguard," "American Me," "Lean on Me," and "Looking for Mr. Goodbar," plus episodes of the TV shows "Entourage," "LAX," "Cold Case," "Keen Eddie," "Six Feet Under," "The Wire," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigations," and "The Simpsons."- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Patricia Bosworth was born on 24 April 1933 in Oakland, California, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006), Kraft Theatre (1947) and The Nun's Story (1959). She was married to Tom Palumbo and Mel Arrighi. She died on 2 April 2020 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actress
- Casting Department
Dorothy Dells was born on July 16, 1928 in Medford Oregon. Her career began when she was discovered while working at a drive in restaurant on Sunset Blvd. She was immediately signed for the TV series Have Gun - Will Travel (1957). She went on to appear in many television series, including Rawhide (1959), My Three Sons (1960), The Richard Boone Show (1963), Hollywood Wives (1985), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), Bachelor Father (1957), Highway to Heaven (1984), L.A. Law (1986), Sledge Hammer! (1986), and Lou Grant (1977). She also appeared in such made-for-television movies and feature films as Eleanor, First Lady of the World (1982), Death Warrant (1990), Another Woman's Child (1983), and Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys (1990). Dells died on April 3, 2020, aged 91, in San Luis Obispo, California.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
British 60s leading lady and latterly producer, born Hilary Dwyer in Liverpool, the daughter of an orthopaedic surgeon. She studied ballet and piano as a child and in her teens embarked on an acting career on the repertory stage. On screen from 1965, she became best known for three horror films made for American International Pictures, all starring Vincent Price: Witchfinder General (1968) (as Price's mistress), The Oblong Box (1969) (as his fiancée) and Cry of the Banshee (1970) (as his daughter). In the course of their work together, Price and Dwyer formed a close personal friendship. Arguably the best of the trio was Witchfinder General, an early example of grindhouse. Though controversial at the time because of its excessive onscreen elements of torture and sadism, it pulled $ 1.5 million at the box office and over the years became a cult classic. Peter Hutchings, in his book Hammer and Beyond, described Dwyer's performance as "articulate and sensitive".
Dwyer also appeared opposite George Sanders in a little-known science fiction release, The Body Stealers (1969) (an inferior attempt at reworking Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)) and in an unsuccessful remake of Wuthering Heights (1970) (again for AIP), as Isabella Linton. On the small screen, she was glimpsed as an ill-fated fellow resident of 'the village' in an episode of The Prisoner (1967), portrayed a thief purloining secret documents in Special Branch (1969) and expired at the hands of a murderous spectre in Space: 1999 (1975) (her screen acting swansong). She also had a leading role in the TV series Hadleigh (1969) as the independently wealthy middle-class wife of a suave Yorkshire country squire. On the stage, she acted at the Theatre Royal in Bath and (in The Importance of Being Earnest) at the Bristol Old Vic.
In 1973, she married the talent agent Duncan Heath. The following year they set up Duncan Heath Associates Agency, eventually sold to ICM Partners in 1984. Abandoning her acting career in 1976, Hilary Heath became an executive producer, primarily of episodic TV as well as adaptations of literary classics by Daphne Du Maurier (Frenchman's Creek (1998), Jamaica Inn (2014)) and Tennessee Williams (The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003)). Fast forward to 2004 and Hilary attracted unhappier news headlines after being confronted by a knife-wielding assailant at her Barbados home and forced to jump from a second storey bedroom window onto rocks, sustaining injuries hospitalising her for nine days. She retired from screen work in 2014 and passed away on April 10 2020 at the age of 74 as a result of complications from coronavirus .- Hans Meyer was born in South Africa, into a German farming family. He spent his childhood in Natal and Zululand. He also became a farmer, but then he decided to travel to Europe. A friend in Germany working in an advertising agency helped him get his first acting job, in a popular television advert for Puschkin Vodka. He helped the vodka become Germany's leading brand and he became well known and his acting career took off!
He quickly became very successful, working with many of the top directors in both films and television in Europe. He is fluent in English, German, French and Zulu. He is highly respected by fellow actors, a very cultured man who is both reserved and modest about his long and distinguished career. - Actor
- Additional Crew
- Casting Department
Jay Benedict was born on 11 April 1951 in Burbank, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Double Team (1997) and The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (2013). He was married to Phoebe Scholfield and Vanessa Pereira. He died on 4 April 2020 in London, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Timothy Brown was born on 24 May 1937 in Knightstown, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for M*A*S*H (1970), Nashville (1975) and Frequency (2000). He died on 4 April 2020 in California, USA.- American supporting actor, on screen from 1954. A chemist's son, he was raised in Pennsylvania and saw action in France during World War II with the 103rd Infantry Division. After demobilisation, he studied acting at Swarthmore College and then spent three years at Yale Drama School (graduating with a Master of Fine Arts) where his classmates included future star Paul Newman. Compton's first screen work consisted of TV commercials for cheese crackers. In 1957, he moved to Los Angeles and began acting in serial television, usually typecast as uniformed army types. He had a recurring role as Lt. Col. Edward Gray, the base commander in Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964), appearing in some 41 episodes. He also played Capt. Chester Albertson in the season two opener of The Invaders (1967) and essayed assorted German officers in the spoof Hogan's Heroes (1965). In 1971, Compton found a regular niche on daytime television as the central protagonist in the long-running soap The Edge of Night (1956). For thirteen years and spanning 430 episodes he became the third actor to portray crime fighting district attorney Mike Karr.
Compton retired in 2002 and moved to Shelter Island, New York, where he died on April 4 2020 at the age of 94. - Actress
- Soundtrack
One of four children, Blackman was born in London's East End, to Edith Eliza (Stokes), a homemaker, and Frederick Thomas Blackman, a statistician employed with the Civil Service. She received elocution lessons for her 16th birthday (at her own request), and later attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which she paid for by working as a clerical assistant in the Civil Service. She was also a dispatch rider for the Home Office during World War II, playing an important role in the war effort.
Blackman received her first acting work on stage in London's West End as an understudy in "The Guinea Pig". She continued with roles in "The Gleam" (1946) and "The Blind Goddess" (1947), before moving into film. She debuted with Fame Is the Spur (1947), starring Michael Redgrave.
Blackman suffered a nervous breakdown following her divorce from Bill Sankey, a man 12 years her senior, who's jealousy, fraudulent business practices, and emptying of her bank accounts took it's toll. After hospitalisation Blackman began counselling, which would last for years, and began rebuilding her career.
TV series work also came her way again, most notably the highly popular The Avengers (1961), co-starring Patrick Macnee as John Steed. As the leather-clad "Catherine Gale", Blackman showcased her incredible beauty, self-confidence, and athletic abilities. Her admirable qualities made her not only a catch for the men, but also an inspirational figure for the 1960s feminist movement.
Blackman took on the role of Greek goddess Hera in popular movie adventure Jason and the Argonauts (1963) with Ray Harryhausen and melodrama Life at the Top (1965) with Laurence Harvey. She then played "Pussy Galore" in the classic James Bond film Goldfinger (1964). Blackman went toe to toe with Sean Connery's womanizing "007" and created major sparks on screen.
Blackman continued to work consistently in films and tv, while also appearing on stage where she earned rave reviews as the blind heroine of the thriller "Wait Until Dark" as well as for her dual roles in "Mr. and Mrs.", a production based on two of Noël Coward's plays. She also enjoyed working with her second husband, actor Maurice Kaufmann, in the play "Move Over, Mrs. Markham" and the film thriller Fright (1971). She proved a sultry-voiced sensation in various musicals productions such as "A Little Night Music", "The Sound of Music", "On Your Toes", and "Nunsense."
In the new millennium, Honor was seen in such films as Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Color Me Kubrick (2005), Reuniting the Rubins (2010), I, Anna (2012) and Cockneys vs Zombies (2012), as well as the British TV serieses Water, Water, Everywhere (1920) The Royal (2003) Coronation Street (1960), long running series Casualty (1986) and finally You, Me & Them (2013), her last role after her retirement several years earlier.
Divorced from Kaufmann in 1975 (although they remained friends until his death, Blackman even cared for him during his 13 year battle with cancer), Blackman never remarried, revealing in an interview that she simply preferred single life, "Basically I'm a shy person and I like my own company". Unable to conceive, the couple adopted two children, Lottie and Barnaby, in '67 and '68 respectively.
The ever-lovely and eternally glamorous star continued to find regular work into her 90s, including co-starring in the long-running English hit comedy series The Upper Hand (1990) and performing her one-woman stage show, "Wayward Women"
Honor Blackman died on April 5, 2020, in Lewes, Sussex. She was 94.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Shirley Douglas was born on 2 April 1934 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was an actress, known for Dead Ringers (1988), Wind at My Back (1996) and Lolita (1962). She was married to Donald Sutherland and Timothy Emil Sicks. She died on 5 April 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.- Actress
Lee Fierro was born on 13 February 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Jaws (1975), Jaws: The Revenge (1987) and The Mistover Tale (2016). She was married to Marvin Stephens and Bernard Fierro. She died on 5 April 2020 in Aurora, Ohio, USA.- Actor
- Writer
Laconic, dark and handsome were the essential attributes for Hollywood western leading men in the 50s and 60s. James Drury fit the bill, keeping in mind that his most famous screen persona - that of the stalwart Shiloh estate ranch foreman known only as 'the Virginian' - took a while to properly develop. In the original 30-minute pilot way back in 1958, the Virginian appeared rather more like a genteel dandy than a tough cowboy. Four years later, the NBC network approved a revamped version of the series and Drury, now looking the part, was on his way to popular success. Though his career may have fallen short of outright stardom, he endeared himself with TV audiences for almost a decade and went on to enjoy a fair cult status beyond the final episode of The Virginian (1962) in March 1971.
James Child Drury was born not in the American West, but in New York, the son of Beatrice (Crawford) and James Child Drury. His father, from an Irish family, was a professor who lectured in marketing and advertising at New York University. Young James spent some of his formative years on a family ranch in Salem, Oregon, where he learned to become an expert rider. His maternal grandfather, John Hezekiah Crawford, of Kentucky, educated him in the ways of the woodsman and taught him marksmanship. James began to act in school plays, toured with a theatrical company by the age of twelve and then studied drama at his father's university. Curiously, he completed his senior year at UCLA studying not acting but horticulture and animal husbandry. Upon graduation, he was signed to a contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and made his first screen appearance a year later in 1955. Aside from playing junior army officers and assorted teenagers in films for 20th Century Fox and Disney, Drury quickly found a comfortable niche in TV westerns (which, no doubt, had much to do with his expertise in horsemanship). He had guest appearances in just about all the famous ones: The Texan (1958), Bronco (1958), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Lawman (1958), Cheyenne (1955), Gunsmoke (1955), Rawhide (1959) and Wagon Train (1957). He also made the little seen, yet unsold pilot for The Virginian. A strong performance as one of a quartet of villainous brothers in Sam Peckinpah's seminal western Ride the High Country (1962) led to a seven-year contract with Universal. He (along with Doug McClure) auditioned for their respective roles in The Virginian soon after, finding out that the parts were indeed theirs just two days prior to shooting. In 1966, Drury fronted a band, the Wilshire Buffalo Hunters, touring Vietnam for three weeks as part of the USO.
Despondent after The Virginian ended its run, Drury played a sheriff in the pilot for the comedy western series Alias Smith and Jones (1971) and then starred in Firehouse (1974), a short-lived ABC adventure drama set at a Los Angeles fire station. After the cancellation of Firehouse, Drury seemed to become even more disheartened and made only a few more sporadic TV appearances thereafter. However, he managed to reinvent himself as a successful businessman, first as co-owner of a ranch raising Appaloosa horses (his steed in The Virginian had been a white Appaloosa named Joe D), then as proprietor of a company recycling asphalt, and latterly, having moved to Texas, in the oil and natural gas business. He was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers in 1991.
James Drury died from natural causes on April 6, 2020, in Houston, Texas. He was 85.- Erik Holland was born on 18 May 1933 in Sandnes, Norway. He was an actor, known for Stargate (1994), Titanic (1997) and Ghostbusters II (1989). He was married to Marina Ghane and Victoria James. He died on 6 April 2020 in Studio City, California, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
New Jersey-born Allen Garfield was trained at the Actors Studio in New York City. He had a prolific career on the stage before making his film debut in 1968. His stocky build and nervous, jumpy mannerisms fit well with the weaselly criminals, lecherous villains and corrupt businessmen and politicians he excels in playing - a perfect example of which is the Beverly Hills police chief in 1987's Beverly Hills Cop II (1987). Midway through his career he reverted to his real name of Allan Goorwitz, but not long afterwards decided to stay with his stage name, and went back to Allen Garfield. In the early 2000s, Garfield suffered from a series of strokes that prevented him from acting again.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Malcolm Dixon was born on 1 September 1934 in Auckland, County Durham, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Time Bandits (1981), Flash Gordon (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). He was married to Anita B. Senior. He died on 9 April 2020 in the UK.- Bertrand Cadart was born on 30 April 1948 in Amiens, Somme, France. He was an actor, known for Mad Max (1979), Bolivian Kiss (2012) and Beyond the Wasteland (2022). He died on 10 April 2020 in Caloundra, Queensland, Australia.
- Vic Werber was born on 24 March 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Everglades! (1961), Helter Skelter (1976) and Combat! (1962). He died on 11 April 2020 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Casting Director
- Casting Department
Danny Goldman was born on 30 October 1939 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and casting director, known for Young Frankenstein (1974), M*A*S*H (1970) and The Smurfs (1981). He was married to Mary Gillis. He died on 12 April 2020 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Editorial Department
Tim Brooke-Taylor was born on 17 July 1940 in Buxton, Derbyshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Goodies (1970), At Last the 1948 Show (1967) and Engelbert with the Young Generation (1972). He was married to Christine Wheadon. He died on 12 April 2020 in Cookham, Berkshire, England, UK.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Joel M. Reed was born on 29 December 1933 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Killer Zombies from the Titanic, The G.I. Executioner (1971) and The Renegade Ghouls of Kaplan's Swamp. He died on 14 April 2020 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA.- Mario Donatone was born on 9 June 1933 in Tripoli, Libya. He was an actor, known for The Godfather Part III (1990), Phenomena (1985) and Kong Island (1968). He died on 14 April 2020 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
- Actor
- Writer
It's difficult to think of Ranjit without a smile on our faces or a chuckle.Lovable, witty, energetic, effervescent.. his uncanny ability to diffuse any difficult situation with a dose of incredible humour. Ranjit was all this and more.In his short lifetime, Ranjit grew into an acting force to reckon with. Growing up under the tutelage of acting stalwarts parents, the legendary Pearl and Alyque Padamsee, the young Ranjit keenly observed his parents' tremendous contribution to Mumbai's Theatre world, and was hooked!This snowballed into an acting career from which there was no looking backWe are truly grateful that thanks to the legacy of Ranjit's work on screen, he will forever be immortalised. Recently, at the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards 2021, Ranjit was remembered as one of Hollywood's 100 great legends in a bevvy that included among others : Sir Sean Connery, Olivia de Havilland, Kirk Douglas, Cloris Leachman and Christopher Plummer. This lovable fireball first made his presence felt in Basu Chatterjee's "Khatta Meetha". The screen lapped up his delectable presence and it was obvious that a young star was born and was here to stay. Ranjit went on to act with the industry's greats : Amitabh Bachhan, Smita Patil, Rekha, Anupam Kher & Shabana Azmi in widely acknowledged films like Khubsoorat, Kaalia, Kaante, Baton Baton Mein and Chakra.The young unstoppable Ranjit further went on to create impressive inroads in the world of international films and television.He acted in some of Hollywood's biggest ensembles that included Nicolas Caige, Steve Corell, Russell Peters, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah (in the 2006 film Last Holiday) and of course who can forget Ranjit as Rocky in Deepa Mehta's 'Bollywood/Hollywood' for which he was nominated for Best Actor in a supporting role at the 23rd Genie Awards. On international television, Ranjit's impactful presence can be seen in, NYPD Blues, Prison Break, Cosby, The Office (in which he played Vikram the telemarketer briefly hired for the Michael Scott Paper Company). His first screenplay/starring role in 'Sam & Me' won Honourable Mention at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.Life had great open roads awaiting the brilliant Ranjit. So while we mourn this untimely loss, we as a family will endeavour to find solace and strength in loving memories of our beloved Chottu. We will continue to find comfort in memories of not only his work but also in his delightful humour, cheeky handwritten notes that always had a humorous ring to them, and most memorable of all, that innocent child-like sweet twinkle in his eyes. He left behind his wife Malini and son Avishay (Avi) who is a sports journalist in America.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Imposing, barrel-chested and often silver-haired Brian Dennehy was a prolific US actor, well respected on both screen and stage over many decades. He was born in July 1938 in Bridgeport, CT, and attended Columbia University in New York City on a football scholarship. Brian majored in history, before moving on to Yale to study dramatic arts. He first appeared in minor screen roles in such fare as Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Semi-Tough (1977) and Foul Play (1978) and proved popular with casting directors, leading to regular work. However, he really got himself noticed by movie audiences in the box-office hit First Blood (1982) as the bigoted sheriff determined to run Vietnam veteran "John Rambo" (played by Sylvester Stallone) out of his town. Dennehy quickly escalated to stronger supporting or co-starring roles in films including the Cold War thriller Gorky Park (1983), as a benevolent alien in Cocoon (1985), a corrupt sheriff in the western Silverado (1985), a tough but smart cop in F/X (1986) and a cop-turned-writer alongside hit man James Woods in Best Seller (1987). In 1987, Dennehy turned in one of his finest performances as cancer-ridden architect "Stourley Kracklite" in Peter Greenaway's superb The Belly of an Architect (1987), for which he won the Best Actor Award at the 1987 Chicago Film Festival. More strong performances followed. He reprised prior roles for Cocoon: The Return (1988) and F/X2 (1991), and turned in gripping performances in three made-for-TV films: a sadistic small-town bully who gets his grisly comeuppance in In Broad Daylight (1991), real-life serial killer John Wayne Gacy in the chilling To Catch a Killer (1992) and a corrupt union boss in Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992). In 1993, Dennehy appeared in the role of police "Sgt. Jack Reed" in the telemovie Jack Reed: Badge of Honor (1993), and reprised the role in four sequels, which saw him for the first time become involved in co-producing, directing and writing screen productions! Demand for his services showed no signs of abating, and he put in further memorable performances in Romeo + Juliet (1996), as bad-luck-ridden "Willy Loman" in Death of a Salesman (2000) (which earned him a Golden Globe Award), he popped up in the uneven Spike Lee film She Hate Me (2004) and appears in the remake Assault on Precinct 13 (2005). The multi-talented Dennehy also had a rich theatrical career and appeared both in the United States and internationally in dynamic stage productions including "Death of a Salesman" (for which he picked up the 1999 Best Actor Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award), "A Touch of the Poet", "Long Day's Journey into Night" (for which he picked up another Tony Award in 2003) and in Eugene O'Neill's heart-wrenching "The Iceman Cometh."- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Stage and film director Joseph Adler studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and graduated from New York University's Film Department. He wrote, produced and/or directed a handful of genre potboilers for the big screen in the 1960s and 1970s. From the 1990s, Adler worked primarily as a stage director in South Florida, helming productions at Coconut Grove Playhouse, Florida Shakespeare Theatre, Shores Performing Arts, and GableStage, serving as producing artistic director for two decades.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Steve Cash was born on 14 November 1979 in Oakland, California, USA. He was a director and actor, known for Talking Kitty Cat (2006) and Talking Kitty Cat (2008). He was married to Celia DeCosta Cash. He died on 16 April 2020 in Nampa, Idaho, USA.- Producer
- Writer
- Music Department
Andrew J. Fenady was born on 4 October 1928 in Toledo, Ohio, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for The Man with Bogart's Face (1980), The Rebel (1959) and Branded (1965). He was married to Mary Frances Dolan. He died on 16 April 2020 in Los Angeles, California, USA.