RIP Jeremy Thomas

 

Jeremy Thomas, Oscar-Winning Producer for Bertolucci, Cronenberg, and Herzog’s ‘Bucking Fastard,’ Dead at 77

Jeremy Thomas won the Best Picture Oscar in 1988 for Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor." He's a key talking head in Luca Guadagnino's new documentary about the Italian filmmaker," "Joie de Vivre," which just premiered in Venice.

Indie Wire

By Ryan Lattanzio

September 12, 2026

 

Jeremy Thomas put his weight behind some of the riskiest — and most fondly remembered — pictures in Hollywood across a nearly 60-year-long career. The UK-based Thomas died on September 11 at age 77, as confirmed by his family in a statement. (Via Deadline.)

“Jeremy Thomas, the celebrated British producer of ‘The Last Emperor’ and of over 40 other films, has died, at the age of 77,” the statement reads. “Thomas passed away peacefully at his country home in Oxfordshire late on Friday 11th, surrounded by his family and loved ones.”

Thomas is best known for his collaborations with David Cronenberg (the kinky 1996 “Crash” that stoked jury president Francis Ford Coppola’s ire at the Cannes Film Festival), Bernardo Bertolucci (“The Last Emperor,” which won the Best Picture Oscar), Jonathan Glazer (“Sexy Beast”), Phillip Noyce (“Rabbit-Proof Fence”), and Jim Jarmusch (“Only Lovers Left Alive”), among other auteurs. Thomas also produced Nicolas Roeg’s trippy psychodrama “Bad Timing,” which continued the British director’s streak of brilliant offbeat arthouse movies after “Walkabout” and “Don’t Look Now.”

Thomas also produced Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method” and “Naked Lunch.” He worked with Terry Gilliam on the auteur’s hugely controversial 2005 film “Tideland,” which starred Jeff Bridges and depicted a small child navigating a nightmarish adult world. Another of Thomas’ credits includes Nagisa Oshima’s “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” from 1983, starring David Bowie, and now synonymous with Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano score.

While not in attendance at the Venice Film Festival, Thomas’ presence was felt in the selection in a couple of ways. One of his final producing credits was on Werner Herzog’s Venice competition title “Bucking Fastard,” starring Rooney and Kate Mara. He also produced Takashi Miike’s stab at the “Bad Lieutenant” universe (realized previously by Herzog and Abel Ferrara over the years) with “Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo,” premiering this week at TIFF. Thomas is also one of the key talking heads in Luca Guadagnino’s seven-hour documentary about Bernardo Bertolucci, “Joie de Vivre,” as Thomas also produced “Stealing Beauty,” “The Sheltering Sky,” “Little Buddha,” and “The Dreamers.”

Thomas was born on July 26, 1949, moving into a life of making films at a young age. He founded the Recorded Picture Company in the 1970s, launching with Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s Cannes winner “The Shout.” The excellent cult psychological thriller stars Alan Bates, Susannah York, and John Hurt, and is coming to the Criterion Collection this fall.

He is most remembered for “Crash,” Cronenberg’s J. G. Ballard adaptation about sexual deviants with a car-crash fetish and especially around reliving the deaths of Jayne Mansfield and James Dean. The film weathered censorship concerns to become a cult classic. It was “The Last Emperor” that won him the Oscar for Best Picture. Bertolucci’s 1987 Chinese epic was independently financed and took three years to make.

THOMAS, Jeremy (Jeremy Jack Thomas)

Born: 7/26/1949, London, England, U.K.

Died: 9/12/2026, Oxfordshire, England, U.K.

 

Jeremy Thomas’s westerns – producr:

Mad Dog Morgan – 1976

The Dead Don’t Hurt – 2023

RIP Delfin Amaya

Delfín Amaya, member of the Catalan rumba duo Los Amaya, dies at the age of 74

rtve

8/19/2026

 

Delfín Amaya, a member of the Catalan rumba duo Los Amaya, together with his brother José, with whom he popularized songs such as 'Caramelos', 'Vete', 'Qué mala suerte la mía!', 'Mujer' or 'Amor, amor', has died in Barcelona at the age of 74.

The Amayas, relatives of the famous dancer Carmen Amaya, became during their career one of the greatest exponents of the so-called Catalan rumba, the festive musical genre created by the gypsy community of Barcelona, which combines flamenco rumba with pop melodies and Latin rhythms.

Born in Oviedo in 1952, Delfín Amaya, who sang and played the guitar, formed with his brother Los Amaya and their gypsy combo at the end of the 60s and published their first album in 1969, a repertoire of varied songs with a flamenco accent.

In 1971 they became known to the general public with the song 'Caramelos', the year in which they also published 'Ya la pagarás'.

In 1978 they signed with RCA, with Tony Ronald as producer, who boosted their career with songs such as 'Vete', 'La inyección', 'Amor, amor' or 'Decir a ella que vuelva'.

In 1992 they participated in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Barcelona, in a performance in which they shared the stage with other exponents of Catalan rumba, such as Peret and Los Manolos.

As a result of this collaboration, the album Rumbas de Clausura appeared, in which Peret and Los Amaya sang the songs 'Gitana Hechicera', 'Soy la Rumba', 'Una lágrima', 'Borriquito', 'Vete' or 'No se Pué Aguantar'.

The duo's latest album was released in 2013 with the title Vuelven... Los Amaya, a compilation of their greatest hits.

AMAYA, Delfin

Born: 5/24/1952, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

Died: 8/17/2026 Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

 

Delfin Amaya’s western – musician:

800 Balas [guitar on “The Good, the Bad & the Ugly”]

RIP Mike McFarland

 

Mike McFarland Dies: ‘One Piece’, ‘Dragon Ball Z’ Voice Actor Was 56

DEADLINE

By Denise Petski

September 10, 2026

 

Mike McFarland, known as the English voices of Master Roshi and Yajirobe in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Buggy the Clown in One Piece and many other anime works, died September 10 of brain cancer. He was 56.

Also a script writer, director and line producer, McFarland was one of the original and most influential figures in Texas-based anime production, first with Funimation and then Crunchyroll after their merger.

“Mike brought so much to all of us who knew him, and to all of the anime fans that knew his work. He was an incredible talent, a good friend to so many of us, and will be sorely, sorely missed,” Crunchyroll said in a statement to Deadline.

McFarland was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2025, according to Anime News Network.

McFarland also voiced Jean Kirstein in Attack on Titan, Jean Havoc in Fullmetal Alchemist and Teppei Sugo in Psycho-Pass, but his most notable role was Buggy the Clown in One Piece, voicing the character from 2007 until his death.

Additional voice acting credits include Makoto Hyuga in the Evangelion film series, Sky Master in Heaven’s Lost Property, Goemon Ishikawa in Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine and other Lupin III films, as well as George in Case Closed. His more recent work includes Hiroshi Odokawa in Odd Taxi, Big Bad Wolf in Date A Live IV and E.G. Mine in Trigun Stampede.

McFARLAND, Mike

Born: 7/14/1970, Texas City, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 9/10/2026, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.

 

Mike McFarland’s westerns – voice actor:

El Cazador de la Bruja – 2007 [Transvestite A, Eye Patch Man]

The Gunstringer – 2011 [additional voices]

Appare-Ranman! – 2020 [additional voices]

RIP Roney Facchini

 

Roney Facchini, actor of 'Cheias de Charme', 'Malhação' and 'Rá-Tim-Bum', dies at the age of 73

Actor had a career in theater, film and television and died this Sunday (6).

G1

9/2/2026

 

Actor Roney Facchini, known for his work in productions such as "Cheias de Charme", "Malhação" and "Rá-Tim-Bum", died this Sunday (6), at the age of 73. The information was confirmed by the artist's partner.

According to her husband, João Paulo, Facchini suffered a sudden illness inside the car, after leaving the garage of the building where he lived, in São Paulo. The Samu was activated and the actor was taken to the Oswaldo Cruz Hospital, but he did not resist.

The news of the death was also released by the Bibi Ferreira Award, dedicated to Brazilian musical theater. The farewell ceremony has not yet been defined.

Career

Born in São Paulo, on February 6, 1953, Roney Facchini had a career marked by work in theater, cinema and television.

On TV Cultura, he gained prominence when he played Luís, patriarch of the Silva family, in the children's series "Rá-Tim-Bum", aired between 1990 and 1994.

On TV Globo, he participated in productions such as "Malhação", "A Diarista", "Caras & Bocas" and "Cheias de Charme". He was also in the cast of "Bang Bang", "Minha Nada Mole Vida" and "Pé na Cova".

In cinema, Facchini acted in films such as "Cilada.com", "Vai Que Dá Certo", "Meu Amigo Hindu" and "Polícia Federal: A Lei é Para Todos".

In addition to his artistic career, the actor had a degree in Civil Engineering from the Mauá School of Engineering, in 1977.

Facchini's death was mourned by colleagues and friends on social networks, including Enrique Diaz, Lucio Mauro Filho, Blota Filho, Claudio Lins and Sandra Corveloni.

FACCHINI, Roney (Roney Macedo Facchini)

Born: 2/6/1953, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Died: 9/6/2026, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

 

Roney Facohini’s western – actor:

Bang Bang (TV) – 2005-2006 (Nicola Fellini)

RIP Elio Zamuto

Farewell to Elio Zamuto: the Syracusan voice of Doctor Procton who led the Goldrake generation

With his reassuring voice, he has accompanied generations of Italians in the role of Doctor Procton and numerous protagonists of both the big and small screens.

LA SICILIA

By Fabio Russello

September 9, 2026

 

Passed away on September 9, 2026, at the age of 85, Elio Zamuto, stage name of Elio Mazzamuto. Born in Siracusa on May 1, 1941, actor, voice actor, and voice director, he leaves a deep mark in the world of Italian entertainment and in the memory of entire generations of viewers.

The city of Aretusa maintains a special bond with him: it was his warm, deep, and reassuring voice that gave a sound face to Doctor Procton (Genzo Umon), director of the Space Research Center and adoptive father of Actarus in the legendary series UFO Robot Goldrake, which arrived in Italy in the late 1970s.

For the children who discovered the cartoon in 1978, his performance transformed the scientist into a wise and fatherly presence, a constant guide in the fight against the threats from Vega.

The relationship between Zamuto and the character remained strong over time: the artist returned to voice Procton in the subsequent re-releases of the series and in the feature film UFO Robot Goldrake against Great Mazinger.

Zamuto's career naturally spanned both cinema and voice acting. On the big screen, he was a recognizable face of Italian cinema in the 1970s, particularly standing out in crime films.

At the same time, he built an important career in dubbing, also as a director, lending his voice to numerous actors and animated characters; among the most remembered roles is Professor Shiba in Jeeg Robot d’Acciaio.

With his passing, Siracusa and Italy bid farewell to a great master of voice, an interpreter capable of accompanying and protecting the dreams of an entire generation.

ZAMUTO, Elio (Elio Mazzamuto)

Born: 5/1/1941, Syracuse, Sicily, Italy

Died: 9/9/2026, Oriolo, Romano, Italy

 

Elio Zamuto’s westerns – voice actor:

Rin Tin Tin (TV) [1954- 1959 [Italian voice of James Brown]

Bonanza (TV) – 1970s [Italian voice of various actors]

In the Name of the Father, of the Son and of the Colt – 1971 [Italian voice of Craig Hill]

Gunmen and the Holy Ghost – 1972 [Italian voice of Tom Felleghy]

Trinity & Sartana Those Sons of Bitches – 1972 [Italian voice of Romano Puppo]

The Son of Zorro – 1973 [Italian voice of Fernando Sancho]

RIP Nina Shipman

 

Nina Shipman, Actress in ‘The Oregon Trail’ and ‘The Munsters,’ Dies at 88

A onetime contract player at Fox, she also appeared in Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ and in a pair of Bing Crosby films.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes, Rhett Bartlett

September 9, 2026

 

Nina Shipman, who came from a prominent show business family to star alongside Fred MacMurray in The Oregon Trail and step in for Grandpa in a ploy to make Lily jealous on one of the wackiest episodes of The Munsters, has died. She was 88.

Shipman died Sunday of natural causes in a hospital in Gardena, California, her stepdaughter Lianne Bremer told The Hollywood Reporter.

In her big-screen debut, Shipman portrayed a woman mistaken for Kim Novak’s Madeleine Elster (or maybe it was Judy Barton?) in a very brief, uncredited role for Alfred Hitchcock in Vertigo (1958).

As a contract player at 20th Century Fox, she appeared alongside Bing Crosby as a chorus girl in Frank Tashlin’s Say One for Me (1959) and as his daughter in Blake Edwards’ High Time (1960), in which Crosby’s wealthy restaurateur goes back to college at age 51.

In The Oregon Trail (1959), Shipman played Prudence Cooper, a woman caught in a love triangle with MacMurray’s newspaper reporter and the leader of the wagon train (William Bishop), who’s also an agent for President James K. Polk. (The movie wagon train “crossed” the U.S. in a scant 12 days, all on the Fox lot in Century City.)

When a bored Lily (Yvonne De Carlo) takes a job on the 1965 Munsters episode “Lily Munster, Girl Model,” Herman (Fred Gwynne) is determined to make her quit, so he swallows a pill from Grandpa (Al Lewis) that transforms him into a Texas playboy. Grandpa takes another pill and becomes a gorgeous young blond — that’s Shipman — and she/he and Herman take in a fashion show where Lily is modeling and get cozy.

“It was really kind of cool,” Shipman said in 2024. “I spoke my own lines, and then after we were through shooting, [Lewis’] voice was dubbed over into my lines so that I talked like Grandpa.” She also got to make like she was smoking a cigar.

Shipman was born in Los Angeles on Aug. 15, 1938. Her father, Barry Shipman, was a screenwriter of Westerns who also wrote for Dick Tracy movies in the 1930s and TV’s Lassie in the 1960s. Her mother, Gwynne Shipman, was a dancer and actress with credits including Hopalong Cassidy Returns.

Going back a generation, her grandmother Nell Shipman was a silent film actress and her grandfather Ernest Shipman a member of one of the first Shakespearean touring companies in the U.S.

Shipman attended Maddox Academy in Mexico City and Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA with a degree in music. She also studied acting with Sanford Meisner and appeared at the Pasadena Playhouse.

After showing up uncredited in films including The Hunters (1958), In Love and War (1958) and Compulsion (1959), she shared scenes with Robert Wagner and Stella Stevens in Say One for Me and portrayed the daughter of Macdonald Carey and Marsha Hunt in Blue Denim (1959).

After that, the charming Shipman worked mainly in television, and on the 1966 Andy Griffith Show episode “The County Clerk,” she played Irene Fairchild, a nurse who shares a romance with Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson).

Her TV résumé also included installments of Sugarfoot, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Surfside 6, Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Bonanza, Rawhide, Dr. Kildare, Daniel Boone, Perry Mason, Burke’s Law, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Mod Squad, Adam-12, Highway to Heaven and General Hospital.

In 1960, she served as maid of honor at actress Jill St. John’s wedding to Woolworth heir Lance Reventlow in San Francisco.

She wrote a 1975 book, How to Become an Actor in Television Commercials, and hosted Contemporary Health Issues, a 1981 series of 30 half-hour episodes that students could use to earn college credits. Topics included sexuality, drugs, birth control, cardiovascular disease and alcoholism.

She also was an accomplished pianist, a practitioner of falconry, a professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and a mentor to many through a theater company on the Big Island.

Survivors also include her daughters, Westerly and Lani, and her grandchildren, Bryson, Serena, Cole, Charlie and Clover.

Shipman was married to Richard Harrington from 1956 until their 1958 divorce, to actor and stuntman C. Ransom Walrod from 1961 until their 1973 divorce and to choral conductor Donald Bremer from 1975 until his 2015 death.

SHIPMAN, Nina

Born: 8/15/1938, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A

Died:  9/6/2026, Gardena, California, U.S.A.

 

Nina Shipman’s westerns – actress:

Man Without a Gun (TV) – 1957

The Oregon Trail (TV) 1959 (Prudence Cooper)

Sugarfoot (TV) – 1960 (Jane Morrow)

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (TV) – 1960 (Leone Simpson)

Lawman (TV) – 1961 (Molly Prentice)

Maverick (TV) – 1961 (Joanne Moss)

Outlaws (TV) – 1961 (Theo McClure)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1961, 1962 (Gloria Wilson, Jean Martin)

Shotgun Slade (TV) – 1961 (Martha Sheldon)

Bonanza (TV) – 1962 (Harker, Trudy Coombs)

Bronco (TV) – 1962 (Cathy Foreman)

Rawhide (TV) – 1962, 1963 (Marion Curtis, Sister Teresa, Valley Rose)

Temple Houston (TV) – 1963 (Mary Bannerman)

Daniel Boone (TV) - 1964 (Molly O'Hannrahan)

A Man Called Shenandoah (TV) – 1965 (Ann Mellet)

Iron Horse (TV) – 1966 (Phyllis Anderson)

The Guns of Will Sonnett (TV) – 1968 (Peg)

Lancer (TV) – 1970(Millie Brown)

Father Murphy (TV) – 1982 (Olga Johnson)

 

RIP Michael Mendl

 

Actor Michael Mendl dies at 82

Blue News

9/5/2026

 

Actor Michael Mendl has died. He passed away at the age of 82, his agent told the German Press Agency. He “passed away peacefully.” Several media outlets had previously reported the news.

Mendl has appeared in feature films such as “Downfall” and “Barfuss”; he has also appeared in TV movies on ARD and ZDF and in the Netflix series “Dark”.

He often played historical figures. He won a Golden Camera for his role as former Chancellor Willy Brandt in the film “Im Schatten der Macht”. In the docudrama “Karol Wojtyla”, he played Pope John Paul II, and in the drama “Die Gustloff”, he played a captain.

From the Theater Stage to the Screen

He was born in 1944 in Lünen, Westphalia, as the illegitimate son of a Catholic priest. He initially grew up in the Ruhr region. Later, Mendl studied briefly in Vienna, then attended the Folkwang School in Essen. He performed on theater stages for many years.

He didn’t get into film until later in life. “I was incredibly lucky,” Mendl told the German Press Agency in an interview in 2019. In TV movies, he certainly played the TV heartthrob. But Mendl felt he wasn’t a dashing romantic hero. “Instead, I’m a character actor. I play the difficult roles—even the villainous ones.”

Mendl lived in Munich for a long time before moving to Berlin. In the Netflix series *Dark*, which had a large following, he played the former director of a nuclear power plant. He also made guest appearances in many crime dramas and TV series.

MENDL, Michael (Michael Sandrock Mendl)

Born: 4/20/1944, Lünen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Died: 9/5/2026, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

 

Michael Mendl’s western – voice actor.

Kung Fu (TV) – 1974 [German voice of John Drew Barrymore]