RIP Gérard Croce

 

Le Mague

By Frederic Vignale

1/11/2026

 

Gérard Croce, the death of one of those faces without whom French cinema would not have the same flavour

There are actors whose faces we immediately know without always being able to put a name to them. Actors who can be found in a Claude Berri film, a popular comedy from the 1970s, an old television soap opera or a somewhat forgotten film. They are not necessarily at the top of the bill, do not make the covers of magazines and rarely benefit from the tributes that their careers deserve. However, they are an essential part of our cinematographic memory. Gérard Croce belonged to that family. The announcement of his death, which is circulating today, makes me want to look back on the career of this French actor whose name deserves to be better known.

Born on February 6, 1946, in Marseille, Gérard Croce had lived through several decades of cinema and television with astonishing freedom. Actor, screenwriter, producer, assistant director, he knew the show from almost every angle. His career also tells the story of a time when actors moved unabashedly from popular cinema to more ambitious productions, from light comedies to dramatic works, without considering that one genre was necessarily nobler than another.

In the early 1970s, he appeared alongside the Tramps in Les Fous du stade and Les Charlots font l'Espagne, two popular hits that belong to the collective memory of a generation. He then worked regularly with Max Pécas, notably in Les Branchés in Saint-Tropez. We can always discuss the quality of these summer comedies, their approximate scenarios and their sometimes-rudimentary humor. But they belong to a history of French cinema that it would be absurd to despise. They bear witness to an era, its tastes, its excesses, and above all a formidable gallery of actors of character.

What strikes me about Gérard Croce is precisely this ability not to let himself be locked into a register. In 1971, he was the sole performer in the short film Techniquement si simple by René Vautier, a committed filmmaker whose work is a thousand miles away from the fantasies of Saint-Tropez. And in 1993, Claude Berri gave him the role of Maigrat in Germinal, an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel. He plays an odious grocer, profiteering from the misery of the workers, a profoundly unpleasant character to whom he gives a physical presence and a disturbing credibility. A real role of composition that reminds us that a good actor does not need to occupy the entire screen to impose his presence.

His career is also inseparable from French television. He can be found in The Man Without a Face, in The Investigations of Inspector Maigret, in several television films by Jacques Fansten and in many productions that have accompanied the daily lives of viewers. He also lent his voice to the world of Asterix. All these participations testify to a particularly diversified career, built more on work and continuity than on the effects of celebrity.

But Gérard Croce was not just a face. Behind the camera, he had developed a major production activity, notably on the series Sydney Fox, the adventurer, Léa Parker and Aventure et Associés. He had also participated in the writing of the screenplay for Les Folies d'Élodie. This lesser-known dimension of his career deserves to be highlighted: some film professionals contribute as much to the making of the works as to their interpretation.

I find that our era gives far too much importance to the headliners and far too little to those who really bring the films to life. French cinema has not been built solely around its great stars. He owes a lot to these supporting roles, these immediately recognizable silhouettes, these actors capable of giving life to a character in a few minutes. They are often the first to disappear from the media's memory, even though they remain deeply inscribed in that of the spectators.

Gérard Croce belonged to that precious category of artists who did not seem to need to create a legend for themselves. He worked, changed register, went from one set to another, from one era to another. His career, sometimes uneven in his choice of films, is all the more interesting. He reminds us that cinema is also an artisanal, collective adventure, made up of loyalties, encounters and professions.

And then there's something deeply moving about seeing these actors again decades later. They appear in the course of a rebroadcast, with their voices, their gestures, their expressions. For a few moments, they take us back to our childhood, to a vanished movie theater, to a Sunday afternoon in front of the television. They become, in spite of themselves, the guardians of a time that we will never find again.

Gérard Croce was one of these faces. And that is precisely why it deserves attention.

CROCE, Gérard

Born: 2/6/1946, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Died: 10/31/2026, Nogent-le-Rotrou, Eure-et-Loir, Centre-Val de Loire, France

 

Gérard Croce’s westerns – producer:

Queen of Swords (TV) – 2000-2001

RIP John 'Bobby' Wright

 

John ‘Bobby’ Wright, ‘Here I Go Again’ Hitmaker and McHale’s Navy Actor, Dies at 84

Wright, who died on Tuesday, Oct. 27, was the son of country musicians Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells

People

By Madison E. Goldberg

October 30, 2026

 

John “Bobby” Wright, the country music star known for his 1971 hit “Here I Go Again” and an actor on the hit 1960s sitcom McHale’s Navy, has died at 84.

Wright died at his home in Madison, Tenn., on Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to his obituary. A cause of death was not made public.

Born in Charleston, W. Va. in 1942 to country icons Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells, he would later follow in his parents’ musical footsteps when they relocated to be closer to Nashville. Wright was also athletic in his youth, and played football, baseball and basketball at Madison High School.

After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles, where he would later land the role of radio operator Willy Moss in McHale’s Navy, a hit ABC sitcom that ran from 1962 through 1966 about the U.S. Navy PT-73 boat during World War II in the Pacific. He starred in the show opposite Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway and Bob Hastings. Wright was the last living cast member from the show, according to his family.

Wright later made an appearance as Bud Bunnoy in an episode of Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats in 1966.

Following his stint in television acting, Wright returned to Tennessee, where he rejoined his family’s syndicated variety show. He toured with his parents and sisters as the Kitty Wells Johnnie Wright and Bobby Wright family show until 2007.

Wright would go on to find his voice as a solo artist from 1967 to 1979, when he recorded songs for Decca, ABC and United Artists Records, charting 21 singles. His 1971 song “Here I Go Again” was the highest-charting single of his career.

He is survived by his two daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sister, Sue Sturdivant, ex-wife Brenda Wright Moore, and nieces and nephews.

His memorial services will be held at Spring Hill Funeral Home in Nashville on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

WRIGHT, John (John Robert Wright Jr.)

Born: 3/30/1942, Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.A.

Died: 10/27/2026, Madison, Tennessee, U.S.A.

 

John Wright’s westerns – actress.

Pistols 'n' Petticoats (TV) -1966 (Bud Bunnoy)

The Road West (TV) - 1966 (Kyle)

Catch the Black Sunshine – 1974

 

RIP Earl Barret

 

Earl Barret, ‘Too Close for Comfort’ Writer and Producer, Dies at 94

He also worked on ‘Bewitched,’ ‘Get Smart,’ ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ ‘The Governor & J.J.’ and ‘See No Evil, Hear No Evil’ and came up with the villain King Tut for ‘Batman.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

October 29, 2026

 

Earl Barret, the veteran comedy writer who co-developed the Ted Knight-starring Too Close for Comfort and worked on more than 30 other series, including Bewitched, Get Smart, Batman and The Andy Griffith Show, has died. He was 94.

Barret died Oct. 22 of natural causes at his home in Sherman Oaks, his daughter, J.K. Barret, announced. He was a “lifelong learner with a keen, curious mind and a gift for impeccable comic timing,” she said.

The Ohio native also wrote for My Favorite Martian, My Three Sons, My Mother the Car, I Spy, The Wild Wild West, Julia, The Bob Newhart Show, Sanford and Son and Welcome Back, Kotter.

He and longtime writing partner Arne Sultan developed, wrote and produced Too Close for Comfort, which was based on the British sitcom Keep It in the Family, created by Brian Cooke.

The American adaptation, which ran for six seasons (1980-87) on ABC and in syndication, revolved around Knight’s Henry Rush, a cartoonist who works out of the San Francisco home he shares with his wife (Nancy Dussault) and adult daughters (Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Lydia Cornell).

Barret and Sultan first worked together on the 1969-70 CBS comedy The Governor & J.J., starring Dan Dailey and Julie Sommars. They continued with NBC’s The Partners (Don Adams’ first series after Get Smart), CBS’ The Sandy Duncan Show, ABC’s Holmes and Yoyo and The New Odd Couple and the CTV’s Check It Out (Adams starred on that one, too).

The pair also were among the credited writers on the 1989 feature See No Evil, Hear No Evil, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.

An only child, Barret was born on Oct. 17, 1932, in Canton, Ohio. His parents, Aurel and Mary, who owned a confectionery store, got him tap dancing and violin lessons as a youngster before the family came west, and he graduated from Hollywood High School and Los Angeles City College.

He originally pursued a career as an actor but changed direction after taking a free TV-writing class taught by Robert C. Dennis, a scribe on shows including Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

“No matter how busy he was, no matter what show he was working on, he gave a free class every Wednesday night,” Barret noted.

Barret wrote on 1961 episodes of Sea Hunt, Hawaiian Eye and Ripcord, and he and Dennis would later partner on scripts for Get Smart, My Mother the Car, The Andy Griffith Show and The Wild Wild West.

For Batman, he and Dennis came up with the character of King Tut (portrayed by Victor Buono) when producers wanted new villains for the series (the actors playing Joker, Riddler and Penguin apparently were demanding too much money). The duo then wrote the episodes “The Curse of Tut”/“The Pharaoh’s in a Rut” and “The Spell of Tut”/“Tut’s Case Is Shut.”

Barret landed a gig as a story editor on The Governor and J.J., created by Sultan and Get Smart writer Leonard Stern, and before long, he and Sultan were writing for the political comedy. (Barret also directed an episode of the show; later, he would helm 13 installments of Too Close for Comfort.)

Barret and Sultan also wrote the comedy Wife Begins at 40 for the stage, later a 1988 BBC telefilm.

In addition to daughter J.K., survivors include his wife, Barbara; his son, John; and five grandsons. He was preceded in death by another daughter, Lisa.

Barret’s memoir, Eden Was on a Hollywood Hill, was published in 2010. It “tells how a Romanian chauffeur and Hungarian American waitress marry after a one-week courtship and spend the next 50 years pursuing the American Dream through the Great Depression, World War II and finally to the enchanted hills of Hollywood, where they hope their tap-dancing, violin-playing son will break into the movies. And why shouldn’t he? Wasn’t anything possible in America?”

BARRET, Earl

Born: 10/17/1932, Canton, Ohio, U.S.A

Died: 10/22/2026, Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.A.

 

Earl Barret’s western – writer:

The Wild Wild West (TV) - 1966-1969

Dirty Sally (TV) – 1974

 

RIP Roberto Maya

 

Actor, voice actor and host Roberto Maya dies at the age of 91

Artist participated in emblematic pornochanchadas, voiced Disney villain and was host of important journalistic program of the 1990s

Globo

10/29/2026

 

He died on the afternoon of last Tuesday (27), at the age of 91, the actor, voice actor and presenter Roberto Maya, at the age of 91, due to a respiratory failure. According to the broadcaster EPTV, Maya was taken by ambulance to the Hospital Beneficência Portuguesa, in Campinas, where he lived, but could not resist.

Roberto Maya was a veteran of the communication and the arts, having acted on several fronts on radio, television and film. He began his career as an actor in radio soap operas in the 1950s. As a voice actor, one of his most remembered works was the tiger Shere Khan, villain of the 1967 animated "Mogli - The Wolf Boy". He also made some TV brochures, such as 1968's "Simply Maria," and 1982's "Happy Final." And it was quite marked by participation in emblematic films of pornochanchada, such as "The Night of the Immorals" (1979), "The Boys of the Hard Easy Life" (1980) and "Eros, the God of Love" (1981).

Maya was very friends with Hugo Carvana, Miele and Daniel Filho, with whom she shared unpublishable experiences. The quartet shared an apartment on the third floor of the No. 410 building of Bartolomeu Mitre Street in Leblon, which served as inspiration for the 2008 film "The House of Mother Joan" in which he also acted.

Another important chapter of Roberto Maya's career was to present the "Special Document", a journalistic program remembered by the investigative reports that was almost a decade on the air, shown between 1989 and 1998, first by Manchete, and then by SBT and the Band.

“That show was a post-dictatorship documentary seed on television. Today, I don’t know if I would have the chest to face the bars that (Nelson, documentarian and creator of the program) Hoineff and I would top at the time. We made the interpretation of the issue freedom of expression that existed in the 1988 Constitution, said the artist to GLOBO, in an interview published in 2008.

Then he gave a period of few works in the 1990s, he returned to perform frequently from the 2000s. He made novels such as "Tropical paradise" (2007) and "Prohibited desire" (2008), in addition to the series "Lara com Z", 2011. His last work was in the 2016 film "Women in Power." Roberto Maya was a widower of Flora, with whom he was married for five decades, and had no children.

MAYA, Roberto

Born: 1/5/1935, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

Died: 10/27/2026, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

 

Roberto Mayo’s western – actor:

Jerônimo, o Herói do Sertão (TV) – 1972-1973 (Ventura)

RIP Patrick Stewart

 

Patrick Stewart, star of 'X-Men' and 'Star Trek,' dies at 86

Yahoo News

By Dylan Stableford

October 29, 2026

 

The actor died Wednesday in Los Angeles after “a brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia, according to a statement posted to his X account.

Patrick Stewart, a revered English actor best known for his work on Star Trek, has died. He was 86.

According to a post on his X account, Stewart died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles following "a brief and poignant journey" with Alzheimer's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.

"He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all," the post read. "We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.

"His sonorous voice and singular talent will forever be synonymous with indelible performances in every genre. He explored the human condition in all its poetic complexity and brought hope not only to the far reaches of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but into science fiction's most iconic final frontier aboard the Starship Enterprise," it continued: "His professional accomplishments were humbly matched by his philanthropy and activism on behalf of human rights, survivors of domestic violence, global refugees, veterans' mental health services, and animal welfare, particularly his cherished foster puppies.

"He was a Knight, Chancellor, motor sport enthusiast, and lifelong Huddersfield Football fan," the post added. "He will be remembered for the dignity, compassion, and humanity he brought to every role — in his art and life."

Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, Stewart dropped out of school at age 15 to work as a reporter at a local newspaper and then furniture salesman before enrolling in drama school in 1957.

He made his professional theater debut in 1959, eventually joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966.

In the mid '80s, Stewart moved to Los Angeles to star on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran from 1987 to 1994, as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard.

He later reprised the role on the big screen for a series of Star Trek films, including Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).

Stewart had more than 160 credits as an actor, according to the Internet Movie Database, most recently as the voice of Avery Bullock on the animated comedy series American Dad!.

He will also appear posthumously in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday as Professor X.

In 2010, Stewart was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and given the title of Sir in honor of his contributions to film and theater.

STEWART, Patrick

Born: 7/13/1940, Mirfield, Yorkshire, England. U.K

Died: 10/28/2026, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Patrick Stewart’s westerns – actor, voice actor, producer:

King of Texas – 2002 (John Lear) [producer]

A Million Ways to Die in the West – 2014 [dream voice]

RIP Elke Sommer

 

‘Pink Panther’ star Elke Sommer dies a week before 86th birthday: report

Page Six

By Chris Bradford

October 29, 2026

 

Golden Globe winner and international sex symbol Elke Sommer – who was known for her on-screen affair with Jacques Clouseau in the “Pink Panther” franchise – has died of heart failure – one week before her 86th birthday.

Sommer, 85, “passed away peacefully around 10 p.m” Wednesday at her home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air, her stepson Sebastian Walther told the German outlet Bild, and her death comes three months after her husband of 32 years Wolf Walther lost his battle with cancer.

“Now she can finally be with her beloved husband again,” Sebastian Walther added of the actress.

Berlin-born Sommer’s acting career spanned some 58 years – with her final credited acting role coming in 2017.

However, the actress stepped away from the spotlight in recent years and had become bed-bound in recent months before her death – which Bild reported as being from heart failure. She would’ve turned 86 on Nov. 5.

Sommer was born in the Nazi Reich in November 1940 – a year after World War II began in Europe – and initially she wasn’t thinking about pursuing a Hollywood career, according to Bild.

She wanted to become an interpreter and could speak six languages by the time she was in her teens.

However, her acting break would come after she won the Italian beauty contest Miss Viareggio age 17 while she was on vacation in the Mediterranean country in 1958.

She was spotted by the Italian director Vittorio De Sica before starring in Italian comedies – one of which was entitled “Men and Noblemen.”

Sommer starred in several Italian and German movies in the early 1960s before landing a role in the Mark Robson-directed movie “The Prize” – which starred Paul Newman and Edward G. Robinson.

She received a Golden Globe in 1964 where she was named Most Promising Newcomer.

But one of the actress’ most recognizable acting roles came in the 1964 comedy flick “A Shot in the Dark” – the second installment of the “Pink Panther” film franchise.

Sommer played the maid Maria Gambrelli who was framed for the murder of chauffeur Miguel Ostros before having a sexual affair with Inspector Jacques Clouseau – who was played by “Dr. Strangelove” star Peter Sellers.

She even declined to reprise her role in the 1993 movie “Son of the Pink Panther” because Sellers had already died, according to IMDB. Sellers died in 1980.

Sommer was also known for her roles in the Russell Rouse-directed movie “The Oscar” and the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew” – the latter featuring the “King of Cool” Dean Martin.

She didn’t just make her name on the big screen. She featured in three Playboy shoots in September 1964, December 1967 and September 1970.

During a July 1969 interview with the National Police Gazette, she admitted that she had painted naked on a hill outside her Beverly Hills home.

“It’s the best way to get a tan all over,” she quipped according to the article, which described her as “Hollywood’s No.1 nudie.”

Away from the screen, Sommer was married twice. She tied the knot to famed Hollywood columnist Joe Hyams in 1964 – before they divorced in 1981.

Hyams said his marriage was “the best 17 years of [his] life” and had “no regrets,” it was reported by UPI in December 1981.

“When we were married 17 years ago, no one thought our marriage would last long,” he added.

She met Wolf Walther, who would later become her husband of 32 years, in 1989 while she was being cast for the play “Tamara.”

“I was in New York City starring in “Tamara” and had to stay there for four months,” she told Classic Film TV Cafe, reflecting on how the couple met.

“So, I had to find an apartment but they were excruciatingly expensive, tiny and loud. As I knew the managing director of the Essex House, I wanted to talk to him about renting a room but the hotel had a new managing director, a man by the name of Wolf Walther. So we met. For him, it was love at first sight.

“For me, it took a little longer, but not much longer.”

Wolf Walther died in July following a cancer battle – and Sommer’s friend Erwin Schneider told Bild “She could never have imagined a life without her beloved ‘Papa Bear'”

“Now Elke has finally been able to join him,” Schneider, a Munich-based photographer, said

SOMMER, Elke (Elke Schletz)

Born: 11/5/1940, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Died: 10/28/2026, Bel Air, California, U.S.A.

 

Elke Sommer’s westerns – actress:

Frontier Hellcat – 1964 (Annie Dillman)

RIP Peter Medak

 

Peter Medak Dies: ‘The Ruling Class’ & ‘Romeo Is Bleeding’ Director Was 88

DEADLINE

By Greg Evans

October 28, 2026

 

Peter Medak, the award-winning Hungarian-British film and television director with a career spanning six decades and credits including The Changeling starring George C. Scott, Romeo Is Bleeding with Gary Oldman and The Krays starring Martin and Gary Kemp, died October 27 in Los Angeles. He was 88.

His death was announced by family. The family noted that Medak died peacefully but did not reveal a cause.

Born on December 23, 1937, in Budapest, Hungary, Medak showed interest in movie-making by the time he was 8 years old when his aunt gave him a 35-millimeter hand-cranked projector and a piece of film. At 13, under the communist regime, he was banned from going to school, later saying: “My father was a so-called capitalist. … [He was] put away to prison for years. … I spent an awful lot of time on my own, in our apartment, because my father was in prison, my mother was working in a plastics factory, I had a brother who died. … I became an observer … you know, looking through this incredible keyhole of our apartment.”

After fleeing to England in 1956 at 18, Medak started as a trainee at Associated British-Pathe and worked on the sets of major British productions while soon getting promoted to assistant director on films such as The Great Armored Car Swindle (1961) and The Phantom of the Opera (1962). MCA Universal Pictures quickly noticed his work and he was brought to Los Angeles in 1963 and signed to a television-directing contract, working on the Peter Graves-led series Court Martial.

In 1967 Paramount signed him to direct his first feature, Negatives, with Glenda Jackson. His next two films were the acclaimed black comedies A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972), starring Alan Bates, and The Ruling Class (1972), with Peter O’ Toole, for which Medak was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and O’Toole earned an Academy Award nomination.

Medak earned a reputation across his six-decade career as an “actors’ director,” resulting in 27 features with such acclaimed films as The Changeling (1980) with George C. Scott, The Krays (1990); Let Him Have It (1991) and Romeo is Bleeding (1993), with Gary Oldman. His 2018 documentary The Ghost of Peter Sellers received acclaim, winning Best Documentary at the Beverly Hills Film Festival.

His prolific television directing work included episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Chicago Hope, The Wire and Breaking Bad. With a deep interest in music, he directed some of the earliest music videos for such artists as Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel, and, in the opera realm, directed La voix humaine with Julia Migenes. He staged a production of Salome in Minneapolis and Rigoletto with the Los Angeles Opera.

In a career spanning 60 years, making both cult and critically acclaimed movies, Medak directed 27 features and 59 episodes of television.

“If it’s in your blood, directing,” he said once. “You never stop directing and it doesn’t matter that you’re alone in your mind, dreaming or imagining things but you’re always making a movie.”

Medak is survived by his children Christopher, Joshua, Karen and Cornelia Medak and grandchildren Sacha, Marlowe, Ryden, Oliver and Anders.

He previously was married to Katherine La Kermance, Carolyn Seymour and Julia Migenes, and was in a relationship with Christine Wagner.

MEDAK, Peter

Born: 12/23/1927, Budapest, Hungary

Died: 10/27/2026, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A

 

Peter Medak’s western – director:

Zorro the Gay Blade - 1981