RIP Alexander Morton

 

Monarch of the Glen actor Alexander Morton dies aged 81

BBC

By Craig Williams

4/16/2026

 

Actor Alexander "Sandy" Morton, who played Golly Mackenzie in the TV series Monarch of the Glen, has died aged 81.

The Glasgow-born actor played the loyal ghillie of the fictional Highland estate Glenbogle in all 64 episodes of the popular BBC Scotland series between 2000 and 2005.

He was also known for playing hard-men and villains in films and series as diverse as Get Carter, The Silent Scream, Valhalla Rising, and Take the High Road.

Morton, who trained at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama in London, was also a noted stage actor who founded the Raindog Theatre Company with fellow actors Robert Carlyle and Caroline Paterson.

Morton began working in the 1970s in London and Scotland and he built a long and varied career on stage and screen.

He made an impact as the villain Andy Semple in the Scottish Television soap opera Take The High Road, a part he played for 14 years between 1980 and 1994.

His stage roles included Macbeth, Robert Burns and William Wallace.

He also appeared in River City and Shetland.

Louise Thornton, head of commissioning at BBC Scotland, said: "We're saddened to hear the news about Alexander Morton who made a significant contribution to Scottish television and theatre.

"His portrayal of Golly Mackenzie in Monarch of the Glen was a key part of the long-running drama's success.

"He will be remembered fondly for the depth and authenticity he brought to one of BBC Scotland's most cherished dramas."

Paying tribute to Morton on social media, Robert Carlyle wrote:

"So sad to hear of the passing of the great Sandy Morton. Not only a brilliant actor, but one of the kindest men I ever knew. Working with him through the years with Raindog Theatre Company was an education.

"His unique, naturalistic style was a thing of beauty. So real that you would forget he was even acting at all. I've never seen anyone do it better than Sandy.

"He taught me so much. I owe him so much, and he will forever be in my heart. RIP Alexander Morton."

'Exceptional talent'

Gavin Mitchell, who plays Boaby the barman in Still Game, said: "Such devastating news to hear of the passing of Sandy Morton today from his son Jamie.

"He taught and gave me so much. Warm, wise, encouraging, generous and gentle. An exceptional talent. I was lucky enough to work with him on various things over the years, from the inception of Raindog Theatre Company and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, panto, radio, Monarch of the Glen, of course, and much more.

"His door was always open and always tales to share. He loved music, history, politics, radio, and remained eternally curious.

"I loved him dearly and I owe him a lot. I'll miss our chats and I'll miss catching him off guard and making him chortle. We've lost one of the best. All my love. Travel well Sandy".

Actor and singer Tom Urie, who played Big Bob O'Hara in River City, wrote: "Sad to hear about the passing of Sandy Morton. Our paths crossed briefly on River City and he was an absolute gentleman."

MORTON, Alexander

Born: 3/24/1945, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

Died: 4/15/2026, Bath Somerset, England, U.K.

 

Alexander Morton’s western – actor:

The Campbells (TV) – 1987, 1988 (cellmate, Thomas)

RIP Husein Cokic

 

Husein Čokić passed away: He started his career in Banja Luka, starred in the film "March on the Drina"

Nezavisne

By Ratko Bogosavac

4/16/2026

 

It started at the Banja Luka Theatre

Čokić was born in 1931 in Ključ, and spent his working life in Banja Luka.

According to the regionalexpress.hr portal, which published the news of his death, Čokić began his acting career in 1953 at the National Theater of Bosanska Krajina in Banja Luka, where he performed a whole range of roles.

What he's been playing

He gained full recognition as an actor in film, collaborating with leading ex-Yugoslav directors, such as Branko Bauer in the film “Face to Face”, “Steps Through the Fog” and “Cat Under the Helmet” by Žorž Skrigin, “March on the Drina” by Žika Mitrović, “Horse on the Mountain” by Fadil Hadžić, “Doctor Mladen” by Midhat Mutapčić, “Saboteurs” and “Valter Defends Sarajevo” by Hajrudin Šiba Krvavac, “Shepherd” by Bakir Tanović, “The Ninth Miracle in the East” by Vlatko Filipović and “Ljubica” by Krešo Golik.

He has also successfully appeared in numerous co-production films and TV series, as well as in drama productions of Sarajevo Television.

He has made a total of 28 feature films and about twenty TV films, TV series, short films and television dramas.

He also starred in a foreign film

Together with Bekim Fehmiu, he paved the way for ex-Yugoslav actors in foreign films. Among other things, he starred in the classic "Vineta" (1963).

The monodrama "Socrates' Defense and Death", which he performed extremely successfully at a time when Ljuba Tadić played the same monodrama on stage, will remain inscribed and remembered in the golden letters of the theatre.

COKIC, Husein

Born: 6/16/1931, Kljuc, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia

Died: 4/14/2026, Pula, Croatia

 

Husein Cokic’s westerns – actor:

Apache Gold – 1963 (Will Parker)

The Jack London Story (TV) – 1973 (Jim Goodman/Gustavson) [as Husein Cokie]

RIP Lucha Moreno

 

Lucha Moreno, actress and diva of ranchera music, dies at the age of 86

"He left us soft and surrounded by a lot of love," says his daughter Mimí, a member of the group Flans.

Billboard

By Natalia Cano

4/16/2026

 

Singer and actress Lucha Moreno, one of the great voices of ranchera music who was part of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, died on Wednesday (April 15) at the age of 86. The death was confirmed by her daughter Irma Hernández, better known as Mimí of the group Flans.

"How difficult... Today my adored mommy climbed on a cloud surrounded by a lot of little angels to return home ... She left us soft and surrounded by a lot of love," Mimí said in a post on her Instagram account, accompanied by a photograph with her mother. "Warrior, tireless, noisy, big and with the purest heart. Have a good trip beautiful mommy. We are going to miss you very much... Fly happy!"

The cause of death of the Mexican diva was not revealed. Billboard Español has sent requests for details to Mimí and her representatives.

Irma Gloria Ochoa Salinas, Moreno's real name, was born on April 23, 1939 in Guadalupe, Nuevo León. Marked by interpretive intensity and roots in traditions, her artistic work included music and television, in addition to being part of the last stage of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, standing out for her vocal interpretation and stage presence.

In the 1960s, she formed a successful duo with her husband, José Juan, with whom she also formed a family. The duo managed to become one of the most important vernacular music of the time, recording a score of albums under the Orfeón and RCA Victor labels. Among her hits are songs such as "Tú y yo", "Deja deja" and "La Margarita". Her most famous albums, which positioned her as one of the most powerful voices in traditional Mexican music, include Tú y Yo (1970), Lucha Moreno Y José Juan Con El Mariachi Monumental De Silvestre Vargas – Amor Perfecto (1970) and Serenata De Amor Con Lucha Moreno Y José Juan (1976).

In cinema, Moreno made her debut in 1957 in the film Asesinos, S.A. (1957) — written and directed by Adolfo Fernández Bustamante and starring Adalberto Martínez Resortes, Kitty de Hoyos and Sara Guasch – in which she performed the song "La noche de mi mal." On TV, she participated in soap operas that marked an era, such as Quinceañera, Amor en Silencio, Amor de Nadie, Acapulco, Cuerpo y Alma and Te Sigo Amando.

In addition to Mimí, Moreno had two other children: Ileana, who died a few years ago, and José Juan Hernández Ochoa, who also ventured into music and now works as a businessman. Her husband, José Juan, died in January 2025, at the age of 89, after almost six decades of marriage.

MORENO, Lucha (Irma Gloria Ochoa Salinas)

Born: 4/23/1939, Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Died: 4/5/2026, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

 

Lucha Moreno’s westerns – actress:

No soy monedita de oro – 1959 (Lucha Moreno)

El gato – 1961 (María)

Tirando a matar – 1961 (María)

Los hijos del diablo – 1989 (Leonor Contreras

RIP Joy Harmon

 

Joy Harmon

'Cool Hand Luke' Car Wash Scene Actress Dead at 87

TMZ

April 15, 2026

 

Joy Harmon -- the blonde actress known for her brief but iconic car wash scene in the classic 1960s film "Cool Hand Luke" -- has died, TMZ has learned.

A family member tells TMZ ... Joy passed away at her Los Angeles-area home Tuesday surrounded by family, after getting sick with pneumonia several weeks earlier. We're told she fought until the end and fully expected to recover and get back to work at her beloved Burbank bakery, Aunt Joy's Cakes.

Joy was working at Aunt Joy's until the very end ... we're told she was working the day before she went to the hospital to receive medical care.

According to her family member, she spent 1 to 2 weeks in the hospital, followed by a several-week stint at a rehabilitation center, and then returned home to spend her final days on hospice care and with her loved ones.

Her role as Lucille in the famous car-wash scene was an image that stuck in cinema culture for decades to come. But she had been honing her craft long before -- she kicked off her career as a child model and pageant queen, becoming a finalist in the Miss Connecticut pageant.

She had several on and off-Broadway stints before breaking into Hollywood as a contestant on the "You Bet Your Life" quiz show. From there, she became a regular on the "Tell It To Groucho" comedy show.

She appeared in classic films such as "Village of the Giants," "One Way Wahine," "Under the Yum Yum Tree" and "Angel in My Pocket" and landed several roles on the small screen, appearing in "Batman," "The Monkeys," "Bewitched," and more.

She stepped away from Hollywood to focus on raising her family -- she had 3 children, Jason, Julie and Jamie -- with her ex-husband, film editor Jeff Gourson. The pair were married between 1968 and 2001. She had 9 grandchildren, some of whom she's seen smiling with in the photo above.

She founded her bakery in 2003, and it quickly became a local favorite. We're told fans always knew to find her there, and she would happily hand out autographs when asked.

Her family tells TMZ Joy was a positive thinker full of life and vibrancy and certainly had no problem spreading joy throughout her life.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help with her medical costs.

Joy was 87 years old.

RIP

 

HARMON, Joy (Joy Patricia Harmon)

Born: 5/1/1940, Flushing, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 4/14/2026, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Joy Harmon’s western – actress:

The Rounders (TV) - 1966 (Rosetta)

RIP Tony Williams

 

Tony Williams, professor of film studies, dead at 80

Wellesnet

April 13, 2026

 

Sad to learn tonight that Tony Williams, a longtime Wellesnet supporter and contributor, has passed away after a brief illness. He was 80.

News of his passing was shared by friends on social media, one of whom described him as “outspoken and brilliant in a way few are—an academic who wasn’t concerned with the etiquette or appearance that so many of his peers were.”

Tony was a professor of English and Area Head of Film Studies at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

He was among the first members of the Wellesnet community when the website was launched in March 2001 and contributed more than 1,000 posts to the Message Board. He was unfailingly loyal to the site and penned several articles. In recent years, he wrote an analysis of The Trial and a review of Dany Wu’s documentary American: An Odyssey to 1947.

Educated at Manchester and Warwick Universities, Tony authored and/or co-authored  Italian Western: The Opera of Violence (1975); Jack London: The Movies (1992); Vietnam War Films (1994/2011); Hearths of Darkness: The Family in the American Horror Film (1996); Larry Cohen: The Radical Allegories of an American Filmmaker (1997); Jack London’s The Sea Wolf: A Screenplay by Robert Rossen (1998); The Cinema of George A. Romero: Knight of the Living Dead (2003); Body and Soul: The Cinematic Vision of Robert Aldrich (2004); John Woo’s Bullet in the Head (2009); and James Jones: The Limits of Eternity (2016).).

His articles also appeared in Asian Cinema, cineACTION, Cinema Journal, Excavatio, Film Criticism, Film History, Journal of Chinese Cinemas,Movie, Postscript, Vietnam Generatio.

Tony is survived by his wife and a daughter.

 

WILLIAMS, Tony (Anthony J. Williams)

Born: 1/11/1946, Swansea, Wales, U.K.

Died: 4/14/2026, Carbondale, Illinois, U.S.A.

 

Tony Williams westerns – author:

Italian Western: The Opera of Violence (1975

RIP Elisabeth Waldo

 

WA-born Elisabeth Waldo dies at 107; fused Indigenous and Western sounds 

The Seattle Times

By Adam Nossiter

April 6, 2026

 

Elisabeth Waldo, a musician and composer who used pre-Columbian instruments in Western-style scores that sought to evoke the atmosphere of Latin America, died March 16 at her home in Northridge, California. She was 107.

Her death was confirmed by her niece, Lucy V. Lee.

Waldo began her musical life in the 1930s at a sharply different end of the spectrum. She was a classically-trained violinist who had been endorsed by the eminent Jascha Heifetz and studied with Russian-born virtuoso Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

But her travels through Latin America in the 1940s, and especially a stay in Mexico, radically reoriented her sound world. “I just couldn’t sit and play only Bach,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 1994.

Through albums in the late 1950s and ’60s with titles including “Rites of the Pagan,” “Realm of the Incas” and “Maracatu,” Waldo (and an ensemble she created) fused her fascination with bone flutes, conch shell trumpets and Indigenous percussion with her training in Western-influenced harmonies, creating an atmospheric canopy of lush sounds that some likened to the Polynesia-themed easy-listening “exotica” genre that was popular in the ’50s.

Waldo rejected that comparison, contrasting exotica’s commercialism with her devotion to the authentic instruments of Latin America.

“They wanted me to be like them because they were big sellers,” she said of the exotica purveyors, “but I said, ‘No, to me it’s not authentic, it’s very pop-oriented,’” she told musician Gabriel Reyes-Whittaker in an interview included in the 2017 book “The Tide Was Always High: The Music of Latin America in Los Angeles,” a compilation of essays edited by Josh Kun.

She added: “I don’t like the synthesized flutes because I’m so used to the real concert flute or these Aztec flutes that are over a thousand years old — they have such a beauty and I think that’s the best.”

Verdicts from critics were mixed.

“Similar to other exotica albums released at the time, Waldo’s compositions are enjoyable, if rather kitschy fantasies,” Nicholas Limansky wrote in his 2008 biography of Peruvian singer Yma Sumac, with whom Waldo toured as a violinist in the 1950s.

Earlier in Waldo’s career, critics in a less multicultural age were mostly intrigued by her experiments. “There are no visible savages, but their spirits certainly have been reincarnated in one way, at least, into this modern world of 1960,” a critic for the Los Angeles Times wrote that year of Waldo’s efforts.

Three decades later, reactions were sharper. Lewis Segal, also in the Los Angeles Times, wrote in 1989: “Though she led a chamber ensemble bristling with exotic winds and percussion, composer-conductor Elisabeth Waldo inevitably reduced such ‘ethnic’ elements to teasers or dabs of local color in her sweetly melodic evocations of the Spanish conquistadors, Central American Maya, Peruvian Incas, Chinese Silk Route and California Indians.”

He rebuked Waldo for having “celebrated the forced Christianization of Mexico as if this bloody process of enslavement had been merely a matter of gentle padres winning hearts.”

Waldo continued to perform and compose until she was older than 100, largely on the West Coast.

Elisabeth Ann Waldo was born in Tacoma, Washington, on June 18, 1918, the third of four children of Benjamin Franklin Waldo, a telegraph operator for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and Jane Althea (Blodgett) Waldo, who had studied singing at the New England Conservatory of Music.

She grew up southeast of Tacoma on a 40-acre ranch — purchased with her mother’s family money — at the edge of the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington; started playing violin at age 5; studied the instrument at the Cornish School of Music in Seattle; and, as a teenager, played for Heifetz, who was hearing prospective students on behalf of the Curtis Institute.

Waldo was “scared” in the presence of one of the 20th century’s greatest virtuosos, she recalled in a 2023 film about her life, “La Maestra,” by Ted Faye.

He called on her to play the notes being sounded by a pianist. “Heifetz said, ‘Just turn your back to me,’” Waldo recalled. “He didn’t want me to watch the piano.”

She passed the test with flying colors, and Heifetz recommended her for Curtis, from which she graduated in 1938.

She came by her affinity for the music of the Americas when she first toured the region as a violinist with Leopold Stokowski’s All-American Youth Orchestra in 1940. After several seasons playing in the Los Angeles Philharmonic, she returned to Colombia, Panama and Guatemala, playing American music — William Grant Still and George Gershwin — on a solo concert tour sponsored by the governments of those countries.

Conventional orchestra life for her was soon over. “I just couldn’t stay put,” she said in the film. “All these ideas began to combust. I just took off and barnstormed all over Latin America.”

A stay in Mexico City in the mid-1940s, a meeting with painter Diego Rivera and a trip to the city’s main open-air market in search of folk instruments “made me get out of Bach and Brahms,” she said.

“You hear this cacophony of sound, and you become very excited,” she told Faye. The course of her future was set.

WALDO, Elisabeth (Elisabeth Ann Waldo)

Born: 6/18/1918, Tacoma, Washington, U.S.A.

Died: 3/16/2026, Northridge, California, U.S.A.

 

Elisabeth Waldo’s western – additional crew:

The West (TV) – 1996 [additional crew]

RIP Sid Krofft

 

Sid Krofft, Co-Creator of Mind-Blowing Kids TV Shows, Dies at 96

The puppeteer and his late brother Marty partnered on 'The Banana Splits Adventure Hour,' 'H.R. Pufnstuf,' 'Land of the Lost' and much more.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Andy Lewis

April 13, 2026

 

Sid Krofft, the wildly imaginative puppeteer who teamed with his younger brother Marty to build an entertainment empire behind such trippy TV shows as The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost, has died. He was 96.

Krofft, eight years older than Marty and the creative force of their business, died Friday in his sleep at the Los Angeles home of friend and business partner Kelly Killian. Marty died in November 2023 at age 86. 

“I get a dream, and Marty gets it done,” Sid said of their partnership in a 2000 interview for the TV Academy Foundation.

The pair were well-known theatrical puppeteers in 1968 when they were recruited to design the costumes for the live-action portion of NBC’s The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. Their furry animal characters (Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky), members of a rock band, were an instant hit on the Saturday morning show, which ran from 1968-70 (and in reruns since then).

The next year, NBC asked them to create a Saturday morning kids show, and they came up with H.R. Pufnstuf, about a shipwrecked boy (Jimmy, played by Jack Wild) who lands on a magical island. The title character, Pufnstuf, was a revamp of Luther, a friendly dragon that they had created for a show at the 1968 HemisFair in San Antonio.

NBC wanted a second season to follow the 17-episode first but offered only a small increase on the rights fee, already far below what it was costing the brothers to make the show, so they declined. Pufnstuf was canceled in 1970 but lived on in reruns as well.

Pufnstuf‘s psychedelic sets and costumes were a big hit with college kids, and The Beatles asked for a full set of episode tapes to be sent to them in England. The look of the show prompted many whispers that the brothers took drugs (pot for sure, maybe LSD as well?), something Marty denied.

“You can’t do a show stoned,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2016 during a visit to explore the Krofft archives.

The duo followed Pufnstuf with The Bugaloos (1970-72), the Claymation series Lidsville (1971-73), Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973-75) and Land of the Lost (1974-76), which spawned an ill-fated Will Ferrell movie adaptation in 2009. Those shows were wildly popular in syndication as well.

“We screwed with every kid’s mind,” Marty told THR. “There’s a Krofft look — the colors. There’s an edge. Disney doesn’t have an edge.”

Indeed, the Kroffts‘ style was so popular that McDonald’s copied it to create Mayor McCheese and McDonaldland for an early 1970s advertising campaign. The Kroffts sued, winning a reported seven-figure settlement in 1977.

A year earlier, the brothers opened The World of Sid & Marty Krofft theme park in downtown Atlanta’s new Omni Complex (now CNN’s headquarters). Spread over six levels, it was billed as the world’s first vertical amusement park. About 600,000 visitors came during the recession-plagued ’70s, but it wasn’t enough to cover the costs and interest payments, and the park closed after just six months.

Long after other smaller kids producers like Hanna-Barbera had sold out to conglomerates, the Kroffts were still developing shows as the last of the great 1960s independents. As late as 2015, they had a hit on Nickelodeon with Mutt & Stuff (one episode even featured a guest appearance from Pufnstuf).

The Kroffts also developed numerous live-action variety shows including The Brady Bunch Hour, The Donny & Marie Show, The Bay City Rollers Show and Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters.

They produced another kids show hosted by Richard Pryor, based on his childhood, and their puppets toured with such acts as Judy Garland, Liberace, The Mills Brothers, Tony Martin & Cyd Charisse and Frank Sinatra.

Krofft was born in Montreal on July 30, 1929, and when he was young, he and his family lived in Maine, Rhode Island and the Bronx. For PR, the brothers liked to say that they came from a long line of puppeteers going back many generations. In truth, the story was fabricated. Their father was a clock salesman who emigrated from Greece in the early 1900s.

“The Kroffts have been playing with dolls their whole lives,” Marty joked about the brothers’ boyhood interest in puppeteering. By the time he was 15, Sid was already working clubs in New York.

(They had two other brothers; Hy died during fighting in World War II, and Harry, who died last year, briefly worked for their company before going into real estate.)

At 20, Sid got hired by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and Marty joined his brother full-time in 1958 after an assistant left. They opened Les Poupees de Paris, an adults-only burlesque puppet show that was a huge hit, playing to sold-out crowds at a dinner theater in the San Fernando Valley.

“Les Poupees took us from an act, Sid’s act, to a business,” Marty said. Shirley MacLaine was there on opening night, and Richard Nixon came during his run for president.

Les Poupees took to the road and played the world’s fairs in Seattle in 1962, New York in 1964 and San Antonio in 1968. It featured 240 puppets, mostly topless women, and Time magazine called it a “dirty puppet show.”

After that, it was so popular, “we couldn’t even get our own best friends in the theater,” Sid said. It drew an estimated 9.5 million viewers in its first decade of performances.

All this led to shows at Six Flags amusements parks around the U.S. — they employed more than 100 puppeteers at one point — and appearances on TV, including a regular gig on The Dean Martin Show (they created a chorus line of attractive girl puppets for the variety program before they were replaced by The Golddiggers).

Survivors include his three nieces (Marty’s daughters), Deanna, Kristina and Kendra. Publicist Adam Fenton said Krofft had surgery in November and his recovery proved “difficult and frustrating.”

Until recently, Krofft and Killian interviewed celebrities for their Instagram Live show, Sundays With Sid. At the time of his death, they were finalizing two books about his life and career, one from the perspective of Krofft as a performer, the other from Krofft as a person behind the scenes.

“I loved Sid with my whole heart. He taught me more than I could ever put into words — about the art of Hollywood, the magic of the stage and the depth and complexity of human nature,” she said. “I didn’t know Sid for his shows — I only knew the man who created them. And that man was extraordinary. I wish so very much that I had more time with him. I will miss his big blue eyes, his cheerful smile with his dimples and the warmth that seemed to follow him everywhere he went.”

KROFT, Sid (Cydus Yolas)

Born: 7/30/1920, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Died: 4/10/2026, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Sid Kroft’s westerns – producer:

Harry Tracy: The Last of the Wild Bunch – 1982