RIP Kent Broadhurst

 

Kent Broadhurst, ‘Silver Bullet’ Actor and ‘Wild Iris’ Screenwriter, Dies at 86

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

July 28, 2025

 

Kent Broadhurst, the character actor who appeared in films including The Verdict, Silkwood and Silver Bullet and wrote the screenplay that led to Laura Linney's first Emmy Award, has died. He was 86.

Broadhurst died May 20 at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, according to a paid obituary. He lived for the past 63 years in a building on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village.

The St. Louis native did lots of theater work during his lengthy career, making it to Broadway in revivals of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial in 1983 and A Doll's House in 1997, and he wrote many plays as well.

Broadhurst might be best known for playing the anguished father of the murdered best friend of Corey Haim's Marty Coslaw in the Stephen King-scripted horror film Silver Bullet (1985).

In an interview for the DVD, he said he arrived at a park at about 2 a.m. for the scene in which his character is taken to his dead son. "The prop department had presented [director Dan Attias] with the corpse of the boy that was just embarrassing, it was unusable," he recalled. "It looked like a window mannequin that had been smashed with a hammer and smeared with cranberry juice.

"I could see [Attias] was in such a quandary, so I said, 'I think I can give you what you need and you won't have to show anything of the terrible thing I'm confronted with.' He was so grateful, he said, 'Oh, that's great. I'll just keep the camera on you.'"

Broadhurst penned the screenplay for the 2001 Showtime telefilm Wild Iris, directed by Daniel Petrie. Linney stars as a widow who lives with her son (Emile Hirsch) and mother (Gena Rowlands) in a home that doubles as a bridal shop.

Linney received the Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or a movie — it was the first of her nine Emmy career nominations and first of her four wins — while Rowlands was nominated as well.

Born in St. Louis on Feb. 4, 1940, James Kent Broadhurst graduated from the University of Nebraska and headed to New York, where he appeared off-Broadway opposite Marcia Wallace in The Fourth Wall in 1968, among many other plays.

He made his big-screen debut in Stuart Rosenberg's Brubaker (1980), starring Robert Redford, then followed with turns in Sidney Lumet's The Verdict (1982), starring Paul Newman, and Mike Nichols' Silkwood (1983), starring Meryl Streep.

In the 1983 NBC miniseries Kennedy, starring Martin Sheen, Broadhurst portrayed Richard Paul Pavlick, the postal worker who was arrested after he stalked president-elect John F. Kennedy with the aim of assassinating him.

After appearing in Silver Bullet, which was based on King's 1983 novella, Cycle of the Werewolf, he worked on another horror film taken from a novel written by King, The Dark Half (1993), directed by George A. Romero.

His résumé also included such films as Marshall Brickman's Lovesick (1983), John Turturro's Mac (1992), Luc Besson's Léon: The Professional (1994), A Couch in New York (1996) and Boys Life 2 (1997) and TV guest spots on The Equalizer, Spenser: For Hire, Reasonable Doubts, Walker, Texas Ranger, Babylon 5, Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.

In 2000, Broadhurst stepped in to provide the onstage narration as a hypnotherapist for a Dream Theater concert in New York that was recorded for the video album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory.

His plays included They're Coming to Make It Brighter, Lemons, The Eye of the Beholder and The Habitual Acceptance of the Near Enough; some bowed at the Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Broadhurst also was a painter who created more than 2,000 canvases, some of which have been exhibited at the Broadhurst Art Gallery (named for him) at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, New York.

"Friends and colleagues often described him as a Renaissance man — thoughtful, intellectually generous and devoted to the arts in all their forms," his paid obituary notes.

BROADHURST, Kent (James Kent Broadhurst)

Born: 2/4/1940, · St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.

Died: 5/20/2026, · Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Kent Broadhurst’s westerns – actor:

The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (TV) – 1991 (Sailor Johnson)

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) - 1994 (Augie Danzig)

RIP E.J. Peaker

 

E.J. Peaker, Hello, Dolly! And That’s Life Actress, Dies At 82

The Eric Alper

July 27, 2026

 

E.J. Peaker, who played the chatty hat shop assistant Minnie Fay opposite Barbra Streisand in Hello, Dolly! and starred alongside Robert Morse on the short-lived ABC musical comedy series That’s Life, has died at 82, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Peaker died on May 16 of Alzheimer’s disease at her home in Las Vegas, her husband, pilot and musician Scott Rosen, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Born Edra Jean Peaker in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she graduated from Centennial High School in Pueblo, Colorado, before studying drama at the University of New Mexico and the University of Vienna. She built a career across film and television that spanned more than three decades, with credits including Charlie’s Angels, The Rockford Files, The Streets of San Francisco, Wonder Woman, and Quincy, M.E. She also appeared as Rose Harris on The Greatest American Hero and as Carla St. James on Madame’s Place.

Peaker was married twice, first to film producer Bob Zampino and later to accountant Steven Lee Salko, who died in 2010. In her later years, she was known as an advocate for the homeless in Encino, California.

PEAKER, E.J. (Edra Jeanne Peaker)

Born: 2/22/1940, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

Died: 5/16/2026, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

 

E.J. Peaker’s Western- actress:

Cade’s County (TV) – 1971 (Geri Randell)

RIP Dany Bravo

 

Hanna Barbera Cartoons

10/31/2025

 

Daniel Zaldivar died in Los Angeles on October 30, 2025, He was known as "Danny Bravo"was born on January 29, 1948, in Los Angeles, California. He is a former American child actor.

After a few minor film appearances, he played the title role—an Indian boy training a racehorse to earn money to build a shrine for his village—in the 1960 film “For the Love of Mike” (credited as "Danny Zaidivar"). That same year, he had a small role in the classic Western “The Magnificent Seven”. In 1962, he played the title character "Ramon," a Latino boy who featured prominently in an episode of “87th Precinct”.

For Hanna-Barbera, Danny Bravo provided the voice of Hadji—the adopted, Calcutta-raised brother of the title character—in the animated television series “Jonny Quest” (1964–1965).

BRAVO, Danny (Daniel Zaldivar)

Born: 1/29/1948, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 10/30/2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Danny Bravo’s westerns – actor:

For the Love of Mike – 1960 (Michael Littlebear)

The Magnificent 7 – 1960 (boy with O’Reilly)

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV) – 1963 (Kiwa)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1963 (Felipe Perez)

The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (TV) - 1969 (Prince) [voice of Chaboonu]

RIP Chuck Russell

 

Chuck Russell, Director of ‘The Mask,’ Dies at 74

Variety

By Pat Saperstein

July 24, 2026

 

Chuck Russell, who helped launch several notable careers as the director of genre films including 1994’s “The Mask” as well as “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors,” died Wednesday in the San Diego area. He was 74.

His death was confirmed by his attorney. The local fire department had responded to his house for the report of an unconscious man, according to TMZ.

Russell started out writing screenplays and working as a production manager and assistant director on independent films. He met Frank Darabont while working as an executive producer on “Hell Night,” and went on to collaborate with him.

He wrote the script for Dennis Quaid-starrer “Dreamscape,” directed by Joseph Ruben. Russell then made his directing debut on “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3,” which helped revitalize the franchise and grossed more than the first two installments as well as launching Patricia Arquette’s career. He went on to helm the cult favorite remake of “The Blob.”

For 1994’s blockbuster “The Mask,” he cast Cameron Diaz in her first movie and made Jim Carrey a household name. The film earned an Oscar nomination for visual effects.

Russell’s next films were “Eraser,” with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and “The Scorpion King,” the first leading role for Dwayne Johnson.

After several years of hiatus, Russell returned to direct “I Am Wrath” with John Travolta, the Indian action-adventure film “Junglee” and “Paradise City” with Bruce Willis and Travolta.

In 2024, he directed a remake of “Witchboard,” and told Variety at the time, “We have to humanize these things, whether it’s action or comedy or drama,” he says. “You gotta get into your performers’ heads. You gotta get their actual personality into their performances.”

He recently announced two productions with his AI company Neumorphic, “Hyperia” and “b,” which the company said were “built with generative AI across their entire production pipeline.”

RUSSELL, Chuck (Charles Russell)

Born: 5/9/1958, Park Ridge, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 7/22/2026, San Diego, California, U.S.A.

 

Chuck Russell’s westerns – production manager:

Incredible Rocky Mountain Race (TV) – 1977

Last of the Mohicans (TV) – 1977

RIP Richard M. Rawlings Jr.

 

Richard M. Rawlings Jr Dies: ‘Charlie’s Angels’ & ‘Desperate Housewives’ Cinematographer With Four Emmy Noms Was 82

DEADLINE

By Erik Pederson

July 21, 2024

 

Richard M. Rawlings Jr, a second-generation cinematographer with four career Emmy noms whose credits range from the original Charlie’s Angels to L.A. Law, Gilmore Girls and Desperate Housewives, has died. He was 82.

The American Society of Cinematographers confirmed the news but did not provide details about cause, place or date of death.

During his 30-year lensing career, Rawlings Jr won an ASC Award in 1988 for the CBS Western series Paradise, for which he also scored an Emmy nomination. His three other Emmy noms came for ABC’s Ohara in 1988, NBC’s Reasonable Doubts in 1993 and the CBS telepic Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story in 1995. He also was honored with the ASC’s Television Career Achievement Award in 2014.

Born on Oct. 9, 1943, in Los Angeles, Rawlings Jr was the son of Richard L. Rawlings, who also had a long career as a TV cinematographer including multiple seasons of Dynasty and Gilligan’s Island. The younger Rawlings got his showbiz start as a messenger at Warner Bros for three years before getting into camera work. He later assisted his father on shows including Gilligan’s Island.

The elder Rawlings was working on the classic 1970s crime drama Charlie’s Angels when its executive producer Aaron Spelling reassigned him to work on his then-new primetime soap Dynasty. That became the younger Rawlings’ big break, as he took the cinematography reins halfway through the third season of Charlie’s Angels in 1978 — hot off being a Top 5 series in all of primetime. He would stay in that role until the show wrapped in 1981.

From there, Rawlings Jr would work on dozens of primetime TV series the 1982-85, including ABC action show Matt Houston, ABC’s Stingray, NBC’s Marlee Matlin-led legal drama Reasonable Doubts and NBC’s Emmy-winning L.A. Law. He went on to lens such 2000s hits as Boston Public, Gilmore Girls and Desperate Housewives. Rawlings Jr also worked on a handful of TV movies, and his final credit was a 2008 episode of Boston Public.

Rawlings Jr talked about his craft in a 1995 interview with ASC’s magazine American Cinematographer. “I’ll walk onto a set that I’ve never seen before, and my original ideas change about where the lights will go and about the feeling of the scene,” he said. “Then, when I listen to the actors say the words, my ideas may change again. I always wait until the moment and then make my choices. I’m also not a technical person [in terms of] using formula to determine lighting; I don’t know how to do that. Outside, I guess the exposure and then use a meter; inside, I know exactly how much light there is because I shoot by eye. I know what 20 foot candles looks like.”

Information on survivors was incomplete.

RAWLINGS Jr, Richard M. (Richard Maxwell Rawlings Jr.)

Born: 10/9/1943, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

Died: Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.A.

 

Richard M. Rawlings Jr’s, western – cinematographer, director.

Paradise (TV) – 1988-1991

RIP Luiz Carlos Barreto

 

Luiz Carlos Barreto called Bolsonaro's policy for cinema a "crime against the homeland"

Producer, who died at the age of 98, criticized cuts in audiovisual and the end of the renewal of the Screen

Veja

By Kelly Miyashiro

July 22, 2026

 

The death of producer Luiz Carlos Barreto, known as Barretão, at the age of 98, on Wednesday, 22, also rescues firm positions that he has adopted in defense of Brazilian cinema in recent years. In a 2020 interview, the producer classified as a "crime against the homeland" the conduct of audiovisual policy during the government of Jair Bolsonaro.

One of the most influential names in the history of national cinema, responsible for remarkable productions such as Vidas Secas (1963) and Dona Flor e seus Dois Maridos (1976), Barreto argued that the audiovisual sector should be treated as an important economic engine. For him, Brazil had the conditions to occupy a prominent position in the global entertainment industry.

"Cinema is part of the entertainment and leisure industry. This is now one of the fastest growing sectors of the world economy. Brazil has everything to be one of his leaders. This cannot be thrown away. It is a crime against the homeland what they are trying to do with Brazilian cinema," he said at the time, in conversation with Folha.

In the interview, Barretão also criticized the Bolsonaro government's decision not to renew the Screen Quota, a mechanism that, since 2001, determined the reservation of space for Brazilian films in movie theaters. According to him, the measure contradicted an obligation provided for by law. "A president who fails to comply with what is in the law is a crime of malfeasance," he declared.

The criticism extended to the scenario faced by the National Cinema Agency (Ancine), which, at that time, suffered from budget restrictions imposed by the federal government. For Barreto, the weakening of public policies aimed at audiovisual put at risk a strategic production chain for both culture and the country's economy.

Death of Luiz Carlos Barreto

The great producer of Brazilian cinema Luiz Carlos Barreto died in the early hours of Wednesday, 22, at the age of 98. Known as "Barretão", he had been facing various health problems since March 2024, after an accidental fall, and had been hospitalized since July 14

Barretão had a unique importance in the Cinema Novo scenario, when various filmmakers in Brazil decided to use cameras as a political tool, inspired by the mechanisms of Italian neorealism and the French new wave. Having graduated in Literature and worked as a journalist and photojournalist, he first served as director of photography for Vidas Secas (1963), an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Graciliano Ramos directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos. He would repeat the function only one more time, in an even more significant film: Terra em Transe (1967), by Glauber Rocha.

In 1963, he founded the production company L.C. Barreto Produções Cinematográficas and thus provided several titles to be made. The list includes Garrincha – Alegria do Povo (1963), A Hora e a Vez de Augusto Matraga (1965) and O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro (1969).

Throughout his six-decade career, he produced more than 80 films, including historic public successes such as Dona Flor and her Two Husbands (1976), directed by his own son, Bruno Barreto — whose illustrious career still bore great fruits, including The Kiss on the Asphalt (1981) and What Is This, Companion? (1997), nominated for the Oscar for best international film. Luiz Carlos' other son, Fábio Barreto, was also a great filmmaker and competed for the Hollywood award with O Quatrilho (1995). In addition to the two, Barretão is also the father of Paula Barreto, who worked in the production of the brothers' films, among others.

The trio is the result of Luiz Carlos' marriage to Lucy Barreto, who became his work partner at L.C. Barreto. Together, they were the most renowned producer couple in the country.

Barretão participated in the backstage of God Is Still Brazilian, by Cacá Diegues, which will be released soon.

BARRETO, Luiz Carlos

Born: 7/20/1928, Sobral Ceare. Brazil

Died: 7/22/2026, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 

Luiz Carlos Barreto’s westerns – producer:

Antonio das Mortes – 1969

Luzia - 1988

RIP Mitch Byrd

 

RIP Mitch Byrd (1962-2026)

Comic Art Fans

July 21, 2026

 

Artist Mitch Byrd has passed away this week following an illness at age 64 years old. On behalf of the CAF community, we extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and fans.

Mitch Byrd, Known for Green Lantern, Guy Gardner: Warrior, and Lady Death, Dies

The comics community is mourning the loss of artist Mitch Byrd, whose energetic storytelling and distinctive style made him a familiar name to readers throughout the 1990s and beyond. Byrd built a career that spanned mainstream superheroes, independent comics, and fantasy illustration, earning the respect of fans and fellow creators alike. He died following a heart attack after a long illness, leaving behind a legacy of memorable artwork and countless fans inspired by his talent....

Mitch Byrd (July 28, 1962 – July 21, 2026) was an illustrator that worked for numerous companies such as Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image. His work encompassed many popular titles like Green Lantern, Lady Death, Generation X, Shi, and Starman. He was also called upon to do licensed work on Predator and Starship Troopers.

BYRD, Mitch

Born: 7/28/1962, Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.A

Died: 7/22/2026, U.S.A.

 

Mitch Byrd’s western – comic book:

Cowboy Zombie - 2024