Fred Willard, best known for his roles in Best in Show, This Is Spinal Tap, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Modern Family, died of natural causes at the age of 86, according to Variety.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news my father passed away very peacefully last night at the fantastic age of 86 years old,” his daughter Hope Willard tweeted on Saturday. “He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. We loved him so very much! We will miss him forever.”
Willard first came into national consciousness as the sidekick to Martin Mull’s host on the nightly Fernwood 2 Night. He is well known as part of the revolving troupe of actors – including Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy – assembled by director Christopher Guest.
“How lucky that we all got to enjoy Fred Willard’s gifts,” Guest’s wife,...
“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news my father passed away very peacefully last night at the fantastic age of 86 years old,” his daughter Hope Willard tweeted on Saturday. “He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. We loved him so very much! We will miss him forever.”
Willard first came into national consciousness as the sidekick to Martin Mull’s host on the nightly Fernwood 2 Night. He is well known as part of the revolving troupe of actors – including Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy – assembled by director Christopher Guest.
“How lucky that we all got to enjoy Fred Willard’s gifts,” Guest’s wife,...
- 5/17/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
At 61, Melanie Griffith has no qualms about being asked to audition for roles. "I’m totally open to it," she says, though she does find the process funny at times. "People go, 'Wow, you’re really good!' And I say, 'Well, yeah, I worked forever. I know what I’m doing, so… thank you?' People forget very easily in this business." Melanie, who earned an Oscar nod for her turn in 1988’s Working Girl, is more than ready to remind everyone of her talents. "After getting divorced [from Antonio Banderas] and finishing up with my kids — [my youngest], Stella is now 21 — I have the time to reboot and revitalize my career. I’m really just now ready to do it again," the mom-of-four reveals, though she’s aware of the challenges ahead. Us❤️ in The Hollywood Reporter #familyforever A post shared by Melanie (@melaniegriffith) on Dec 20, 2017 at 2:03pm Pst "It...
- 8/30/2018
- by Closer Staff
- Closer Weekly
Hollywood Legacies: Exclusive Photos of the Hustons, Poitiers, Sutherlands and More Showbiz Families
The Hedren-Griffith-Johnsons
Back on the 1972 set of The Harrad Experiment, a 22-year-old Don Johnson, in his highest-profile role yet, acted opposite a legend in the making, Tippi Hedren. Melanie Griffith, Hedren's 14-year-old daughter, who later became one of the most in-demand actresses of the '80s and '90s, played a student in the film. "We were in the stairwell of this Anheuser-Busch Estate waiting for a setup," says Johnson. "We started chitchatting." Recalls Griffith of a scenario that today might spark accusations and perhaps even the attention of law enforcement: "I thought he was the most beautiful person I'd...
Back on the 1972 set of The Harrad Experiment, a 22-year-old Don Johnson, in his highest-profile role yet, acted opposite a legend in the making, Tippi Hedren. Melanie Griffith, Hedren's 14-year-old daughter, who later became one of the most in-demand actresses of the '80s and '90s, played a student in the film. "We were in the stairwell of this Anheuser-Busch Estate waiting for a setup," says Johnson. "We started chitchatting." Recalls Griffith of a scenario that today might spark accusations and perhaps even the attention of law enforcement: "I thought he was the most beautiful person I'd...
- 12/20/2017
- by Seth Abramovitch,Jane Carlson,Gregg Kilday ,Mark Morrison,Jeanie Pyun,Tatiana Siegel
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Arthur Penn’s detective movie is one of the best ever in the genre, one that rewards repeat viewings particularly well. Gumshoe Harry Moseby compartmentalizes his marriage, his job, his past and the greedy Hollywood has-beens he meets, not realizing that everything is interconnected, and fully capable of assembling a world-class conspiracy. Gene Hackman tops a sterling cast in the film that introduced most of us to Melanie Griffith.
Night Moves
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1975 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 100 min. / Street Date August 15, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Melanie Griffith, Susan Clark, Edward Binns, Harris Yulin, Kenneth Mars, Janet Ward, James Woods, Anthony Costello.
Cinematography: Bruce Surtees
Production Designer: George Jenkins
Film Editor: Dede Allen
Original Music: Michael Small
Written by Alan Sharp
Produced by Robert M. Sherman
Directed by Arthur Penn
Night Moves is a superb detective thriller that plays with profound ideas without getting its fingers burned.
Night Moves
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1975 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 100 min. / Street Date August 15, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Melanie Griffith, Susan Clark, Edward Binns, Harris Yulin, Kenneth Mars, Janet Ward, James Woods, Anthony Costello.
Cinematography: Bruce Surtees
Production Designer: George Jenkins
Film Editor: Dede Allen
Original Music: Michael Small
Written by Alan Sharp
Produced by Robert M. Sherman
Directed by Arthur Penn
Night Moves is a superb detective thriller that plays with profound ideas without getting its fingers burned.
- 8/15/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Influential figure in Clint Eastwood's career who directed Magnum Force and Hang 'em High
It is no exaggeration to declare that the film and television director Ted Post, who has died aged 95, contributed greatly to the making of Clint Eastwood into a Hollywood superstar. When Eastwood returned to the Us from Europe, where he had starred in three Sergio Leone "spaghetti" westerns, Post directed him in Hang 'em High (1968), which consolidated Eastwood's screen persona as the impassive, laconic, gun-for-hire loner. A few years later, Post directed Eastwood again, in Magnum Force (1973), the first Dirty Harry sequel, which outdid Don Siegel's original film commercially. Eastwood said that Leone, Siegel and Post were the three most influential directors in his career.
In 1959, the unknown Eastwood – who had appeared in bit parts in 11 films – moved to CBS for his first leading role, as the amiable fresh-faced sidekick Rowdy Yates, in the television western series Rawhide.
It is no exaggeration to declare that the film and television director Ted Post, who has died aged 95, contributed greatly to the making of Clint Eastwood into a Hollywood superstar. When Eastwood returned to the Us from Europe, where he had starred in three Sergio Leone "spaghetti" westerns, Post directed him in Hang 'em High (1968), which consolidated Eastwood's screen persona as the impassive, laconic, gun-for-hire loner. A few years later, Post directed Eastwood again, in Magnum Force (1973), the first Dirty Harry sequel, which outdid Don Siegel's original film commercially. Eastwood said that Leone, Siegel and Post were the three most influential directors in his career.
In 1959, the unknown Eastwood – who had appeared in bit parts in 11 films – moved to CBS for his first leading role, as the amiable fresh-faced sidekick Rowdy Yates, in the television western series Rawhide.
- 8/25/2013
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Prolific TV and film director Ted Post has died at the age of 95.
Although Post had his hand in a number of genres, he's perhaps most famous for his work on Westerns like "The Peacemaker," "Hang 'Em High" and "Rawhide" with Clint Eastwood, "Gunsmoke," and "Stagecoach." He also directed Eastwood (pictured above on set) in the "Dirty Harry" sequel "Magnum Force." Eastwood and Post didn't collaborate after that due to various disagreements.
Post also helmed the sequel "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," the pilot for "Cagney and Lacey," and more than a few episodes of "Peyton Place." Some of his more outré offerings include freaky horror exploitation flick "The Baby," "The Harrad Experiment" about swingin' sexual experimentation, and the Chuck Norris actioner "Good Guys Wear Black."
Post's legacy includes Pro Bono Productions, the nonprofit he started in 1996 to elevate the profiles of older actors in show business. "Our industry...
Although Post had his hand in a number of genres, he's perhaps most famous for his work on Westerns like "The Peacemaker," "Hang 'Em High" and "Rawhide" with Clint Eastwood, "Gunsmoke," and "Stagecoach." He also directed Eastwood (pictured above on set) in the "Dirty Harry" sequel "Magnum Force." Eastwood and Post didn't collaborate after that due to various disagreements.
Post also helmed the sequel "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," the pilot for "Cagney and Lacey," and more than a few episodes of "Peyton Place." Some of his more outré offerings include freaky horror exploitation flick "The Baby," "The Harrad Experiment" about swingin' sexual experimentation, and the Chuck Norris actioner "Good Guys Wear Black."
Post's legacy includes Pro Bono Productions, the nonprofit he started in 1996 to elevate the profiles of older actors in show business. "Our industry...
- 8/21/2013
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
Three years after guiding Beneath the Planet of the Apes to the big screen, director Ted Post completed three features that were all released in 1973: the right-wing sequel Magnum Force; the socially-experimental The Harrad Experiment; and the totally demented The Baby. When it came to subject matter, no one can say that Post wasn't versatile. Of his three 1973 features, The Baby was the only one rated PG in the U.S., but other countries seemed to understand its implicit depravity better than the MPAA; it received an "X" rating in the U.K. and was banned in Norway. (In contrast, the nudity-filled The Harrad Experiment received an "R" rating in the U.S. and a "15" rating in the U.K.) Post directed hundreds of episodes of...
- 8/6/2011
- Screen Anarchy
James Whitmore, who played such American icons as Harry Truman, Will Rogers and Theodore Roosevelt, died Friday of lung cancer at his home in Malibu. He was 87.
Whitmore was twice nominated for Academy Awards -- as best actor in 1976 for "Give 'em Hell, Harry!," in which he played Truman, and as best supporting actor in 1950 for the war movie "Battleground."
He also won an Emmy Award in 2000 for a guest-starring role on "The Practice," as well as a Tony Award for "Command Decision."
Whitmore was diagnosed with cancer a week before Thanksgiving. "My father believed that family came before everything, that work was just a vehicle in which to provide for your family," his son Steve Whitmore, who works as spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, told the Associated Press. "At the end, and in the last two and a half months of his life, he was surrounded by his family.
Whitmore was twice nominated for Academy Awards -- as best actor in 1976 for "Give 'em Hell, Harry!," in which he played Truman, and as best supporting actor in 1950 for the war movie "Battleground."
He also won an Emmy Award in 2000 for a guest-starring role on "The Practice," as well as a Tony Award for "Command Decision."
Whitmore was diagnosed with cancer a week before Thanksgiving. "My father believed that family came before everything, that work was just a vehicle in which to provide for your family," his son Steve Whitmore, who works as spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, told the Associated Press. "At the end, and in the last two and a half months of his life, he was surrounded by his family.
- 2/6/2009
- by By Duane Byrge
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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