Monday, August 31, 2020

RIP Jacques Galipeau


Death of actor Jacques Galipeau at the age of 96

Archyde
August 31, 2020

Montreal comedian Jacques Galipeau, who has especially distinguished himself in supporting roles in theater and television, notably in the soap opera Laurier, died in hospital during the night from Saturday to Sunday, at the age of 96. .

Jacques Galipeau was born September 23, 1923. A few years before the Quiet Revolution, the actor spent six years in Paris to perfect his art. As soon as he returned to Quebec, he played roles in the theater and on the small screen and became very active; he has been seen in many popular soap operas, such as Marie-Didace.

In the 1950s, he also hit the stage in Les Fous de Dieu, by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, staged by Catherine Toth, at the Théâtre des Noctambules.

It was also in the theater, within the Compagnie du Masque led by Fernand Doré and his wife Charlotte Boisjoli, that Jacques Galipeau met the singer-songwriter and actress Pauline Julien, whom he married in 1950. They have two children, Pascale and Nicolas.

In 1953, he was nominated for the Gérard Leblanc Prize. Then, he shares the poster with Béatrice Picard in the television series Le Survenant, where he plays Octavien.

In the series Les belles heures des pays d'en haut, he plays the great Clophas alongside Denise Filiatrault and Jacques Godin, among others.

It is also part of the play Double jeu, one of André Brassard's first productions.

Jacques Galipeau experienced the golden age of radio theater. He lent his voice to the play Rêve d'une nuit d'hôpital, broadcast on Radio-Canada, where it was often produced.

At the end of the 1970s, he was part of the cast of Medium bleeding, a play on linguistic clashes in Quebec.

His last roles date back to the early 2000s; the actor then joined the cast of the film La turbulence des fluides by Manon Briand.


GALIPEAU, Jacques
Born: 9/22/1923, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Died: 8/30/2020, Canada

Jacques Galipeau’s western – actor:
O.K. Shérif (TV) – 1967-1968 (Grenaille)

RIP Vic Drasin


Ric Drasin dies at age 76

So-Cal Uncensored.com
By Steve Bryant
8/30/2020

Ric “The Equalizer” Drasin, who had a successful career as a professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, bodybuilder, actor, stuntman, author, and teacher, died earlier today at 76 after being in the hospital with kidney issues for several weeks.

Richard Alan Drasin, who was born on July 12, 1944, got his start in wrestling when he joined Johnnie Mae Young’s wrestling school at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles in 1965. After training at Young’s school for six months, Drasin made his in-ring debut later that year, facing Buddy “Killer” Austin.

After debuting, Drasin regularly worked in the California territory but also wrestled in places such as Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest. In 1975, Drasin created West Coast Wrestling Promotions, which lead to opposition by the NWA and only lasted for a few shows.

In the 1980s, he wrestled several matches for the WWF when they ran in Los Angeles. In the 1990s, Drasin created his own wrestling school and started the American Wrestling Federation, which held shows in the Los Angeles and Bakersfield area from 1996 until 2001. Even after the promotion ceased, he continued to operate the school out of his house. Two of the notable students who trained there are AEW’s Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus. Drasin’s son Shane, a popular Southern California wrestler called Shane 54 was also trained by Drasin.

Drasin began working in film in 1972, playing a gym manager who was attacked by rats in the horror movie Ben. He also played the demi-Hulk in the TV series The Incredible Hulk. IMDB.com lists 29 acting credits for Drasin.

In the bodybuilding world, Drasin was also an important figure. He was the former training partner of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the artist that designed the famous Gold’s gym logo and World Gym Gorilla. In October 2012, Drasin was awarded the Joe Gold Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Gym convention in Las Vegas, NV. He is the only person to date to receive the award for their contributions to bodybuilding.

In 2004, Drasin co-wrote the book So, You Want to Be a Wrestling Promoter, with Bruce Dwight Collins, and published his own autobiography called The Time of My Life in 2016. He also wrote articles for various magazines and websites, including a regular column for SoCalUncensored.com in the early 2000s.

Drasin’s death was announced by his children on Facebook earlier today.


DRASIN, Vic
Born: 7/12/1944, Bakersfield, California, U.S.A.
Died: 8/30/2020, Van Nuys, California, U.S.A.

Vic Drasin’s western – actor:
More Wild Wild West (TV) – 1980 (Hulk)

Friday, August 28, 2020

RIP Manuel ‘El Loco’ Valdes


Manuel “El Loco” Valdes dies at 89.

El Universal
8/28/2020

The actor was in poor health, with problems such as skin cancer, brain cancer and water in the lungs.

Manuel "El Loco" Valdés died today at 89 years of age, for several months, the actor was in poor health, with problems such as skin cancer, brain cancer and water in the lungs. He had undergone several operations of general anesthesia, chemotherapies, immunotherapies and implants.

Marcos Valdés, the comedian's son, informed the journalist Javier Poza that "El Loco" died at his home at 3:40 in the morning, and will be watched in Sullivan from 11 am.

Big names like Germán Valdés “Tin Tan” and Ramón Valdés “don Ramón” are found in his family tree , but he earned his place in the history of comedy in Mexico on his own merit, thanks to his sense of humor that is proof of everything, even in sickness.

Fernando Manuel Valdés Castillo, real name of "El Loco" Valdés, was born on January 21, 1931 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, his parents were Rafael Gómez-Valdés Angellini and Guadalupe Castillo, he had eight siblings, Rafael, Germán, Guadalupe, Pedro , Armando, Ramón, Cristobal and Antonio.

At the age of 7 he left his homeland, due to the work of his father who was a customs agent, something that forced him to change the state of the Republic several times. When they finally arrived in Nuevo Laredo, their brother Germán “Tin Tan” was already triumphing at the border and although he wanted to stop them there, because he wanted to buy them a house, their father did not accept and they moved to Mexico City.

He studied until the second year of high school, but he dropped out of basic education and entered a surveyor's school because he already wanted to start working immediately.
When Tin Tan made the movie "El hijo disobediente" (1945) Manuel worked as an extra receiving a payment of 12 pesos, he was only 13 years old and it was his first contact with the world of entertainment. Over time he began to dance, first in an amateur way and then he studied classical and modern ballet for five years; thus, at the age of 19, he was part of the Televicentro ballet and also worked with some vedettes as part of their dance corps.

His first opportunity as a comedian was received in Varidades de medio día (1955 - 1957) alongside Héctor Lechuga, where unforgettable characters such as La Hermanitas Mibanco appeared. This program was followed by "Operation Ha-Ha" (1966), "Crazy Salad" (1970 - 1973), "El show del Loco Valdés" (1972 - 1974), "Midnight Varieties" (1977) and "La Crazy Hour "(1982 - 1986). He is considered the first comedian to emerge clearly from television.

His film career has been much more prolific

His career in the cinema has been much more prolific, in his history there are about 62 films, among which are "Two ghosts and a girl" (1959) where he alternates with his brother "Tin Tan" and "Two fools. y un loco "(1961) in which he shared credits with comedians Marco Antonio Campos" Viruta "and Gaspar Henaine" Capulina ".

The dubbing was one of the areas in which he also excelled, performing works such as "Peter Pan: Return to Neverland" (2002), where he lent his voice to Captain Hook, or both films "Buza Caperuza" (2005 and 2011), where he takes up the character of the Big Bad Wolf, which he did in 1960 in the film "Little Red Riding Hood"; He also worked with Anima Estudios on the cartoon "The legend of the Nahuala" (2007).

His time at the theater was modest but with important projects, such as "Don Juan Tenorio", a version made by the conductor Paco Stanley (RIP) and who broke the rules with this classic by José Zorrilla, of course "El Tenorio Cómico" next to Los Mascabrothers and finally "Aeroplanos", where he shared the stage with a pillar of cinema and theater, Ignacio López Tarso.

From a young age he practiced American football, in the quarterback position, in Mexico he was a follower of the UNAM Pumas and in the United States of the Dallas Cowboys; But his great passion is soccer, being the team of his heart the Águilas del América, so he wore his shirt that for 45 years he made fun bets with his friend Sergio Corona, a fan of Chivas del Guadalajara, every time these teams faced each other. These have gone from wetting Corona to buckets of cold water, until the Fool knelt before his compadre.

His artistic activity began to cease, when in 2017 they detected a cancerous myeloma on his forehead, which despite having been removed, metastasized in the lungs, for which he entered into immunotherapy treatment. A year later a new tumor was detected behind his right eye, which was successfully removed. 2019 was a difficult year for the actor, who did not recover physically one hundred percent and also faced the death of his son Alejandro Valdés "El Pupi", since then his mood has had ups and downs.

Regarding the nickname that has distinguished him since the beginning of his career, there are several versions of where he was born, one says that it is thanks to his ability to improvise on stage and make people laugh, and it was his stage companions who put it on him in 1955 ; but it is said that Emilio Azcarraga Milmo was the one who baptized him that way, when he said, "What's crazy, Valdés?"

The follies of a madman

- He made a monologue in the program "Otro rollo", a section that Adal Ramones performed at the beginning of each program.

- In his program "Variedades de media noche" he fell asleep, due to overwork, and Emilio Azcarraga Milmo suspended him for three days.

- In 1983 in his program "La hora del loco" he made the group Parchis sing the anthem of the Eagles of America.

- With the Big Bad Wolf botarga, which he did several times in the movies, he had a very bad time due to the heat it caused, to the extent that he had to compare salt tablets in the United States to avoid dehydration during filming.

- He is considered as the first comedian born from television. 

A series with the life of the comedian is already being prepared, where his years of glory will be shown; plus a documentary.
-         
Unforgettable performances 

-        "Squash tender" (1949): although he performs a filler character, he alternates with his brothers Germán Valdés “Tin Tan” and Ramón Valdés.
-         
- "The cycling champion" (1956): it is the first film where he plays a secondary character, with a name and a story, and again he alternates with Tin Tan.

- "Journey to the Moon" (1958): in this film by Fernando Cortés the best comedians of the time met, there a young “Loco” Valdés alternated with figures such as Vitola, "Tin Tan", Chabelo, Viruta and Capulina , Los Xochimilcas, among others.

- "Música de siempre" (1958): here he makes his first leading role playing a theater janitor who tries to persuade two film producers to make a film about music.

-        "Two ghosts and a girl" (1958): now he shares the leading role with his legendary brother "Tin Tan", playing two ghosts trapped in a theater, El Loco has a sequence that has become a classic, the musical number " The Witch Doctor ", where the special effects were an innovation.


VALDES, Manuel (Manuel Gomez Valdés Castillo)
Born: 1/29/1931, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Died: 8/28/2020, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Manuel Valdés’ westerns – actor:
Ferias Mexico – 1959
El tigre negro – 1960 (Manuel)
The Karambazo Sisters – 1960 (Pompeyo Bernal)

RIP David S. Cass Sr.


David S. Cass Sr. Dies: Veteran Stuntman & TV Director Was 78

Deadline
By Nellie Andrreva
August 27, 2020
                 
David S. Cass Sr., a top stunt coordinator in the 1980s and 1990s, who segued to a directing career, died August 27 in Woodland Hills of complications from cancer. He was 78.

Cass began his movie career as an extra. He transitioned to alternating between acting parts and stunt work, starting with the 1963 John Wayne film McLintock!, on which he performed stunts. He went on to become a sought-after stunt coordinator and second unit director with such credits as Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, Knight Rider 2000, Walker, Texas Ranger and the Desperado TV movie franchise.

Cass later focused on TV directing, becoming a go-to helmer for Hollywood Channel movies with dozens of credits. Additionally, he co-produced Miramax Films’ Texas Rangers (2001) and the Hard Time Burt Reynolds TV movie franchise, also writing one and directing another installment.


CASS, Sr. David S. (David Stanley Cass)
Born: 1942, U.S.A.
Died: 8/27/2020, Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A.

David Cass Sr.’ westerns – producer, director, actor, stunt coordinator, stuntman,
McLintock! – 1963 [stunts]
Gunsmoke (TV) – 1964, 1974 (brawler, minister)
Shenandoah – 1965 [stunts]
Wagon Train (TV) – 1965 (Billy Clanton)
Dundee and the Culhane (TV) – 1967 [stunts]
Hondo (TV) – 1967 (Harper)
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys – 1969 (Tuber) [stunts]
Heaven With a Gun – 1969 [stunts]
Young Billy Young – 1969 [stunts]
Here Come the Brides (TV) – 1969 (Ed) [stunts]
The High Chaparral (TV) – 1969, 1970 (corporal, Cass)
The Wild Wild West (TV) – 1969 (Olin)
Dirty Dingus Magee – 1970 (trooper)
Lancer (TV) – 1970 (Fisher)
Black Noon (TV) – 1971 (man)
Support Your Local Gunfighter – 1971 (gunman)
Enter the Devil – 1972 (Jase) [writer]
Bonanza (TV) – 1972 (Deputy Coghlan, deputy sheriff)
The Master Gunfighter – 1975 (McDonald)
Treasure of Matecumbe – 1976 (Spangler’s man)
Law of the Land (TV) – 1976 (first hand)
Royce (TV) - 1976 (Dent)
Trackdown – 1976 [stunts]
Hot Lead and Cold Feet – 1978 (Jack)
Centennial (TV) – 1978 (Frank Pettis) [stunts]
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again – 1979 (henchman)
How The West Was Won (TV) – 1979 (Dave Nichols)
Young Maverick (TV) – 1979
Heaven’s Gate – 1980 (moustached Mercenary) [stunts]
The Gambler (TV) – 1980 (Winters) [stunts]
More Wild Wild West (TV) – 1980 (Juanita’s brother)
Father Murphy (TV) - 1982 (miner)
Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (TV) – 1982 (overseer) [stunts]
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (TV) – 1982 (Jed)
Kenny Rogers as the Gambler: The Adventures Continues (TV) – 1983 [assistant director, stunts]
The Yellow Rose (TV) – 1983
Dream West – 1986 [assistant director]
Louis L’Amour Down the Long Hills (TV) – 1986 (Mr. Andy)
Uphill All the Way – 1986 [stunts]
The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory (TV) – 1987 [assistant director, stunts]
Desperado (TV) – 1987 [stunts]
Kenny Rogers as the Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (TV) – 1987 [assistant director, stunts]
Desperado: Avalanche at Devil’s Ridge (TV) – 1988 [stunts]
Longarm (TV) – 1988
Desperado: Badlands Justice (TV) – 1989 [stunts]
Desperado: The Outlaw Wars (TV) – 1989 [stunts]
Everything That Rises (TV) – 1989
Brotherhood of the Gun (TV) – 1991 [stunts]
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (TV) – 1991 [stunts]
Rio Diablo (TV) – 1993 (Winslow) [assistant director, writer, stunts]
Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1993 [stunts]
Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (TV) – 1994 (Sheriff Boone) [writer, stunts]
North & South: Book 3, Heaven & Hell (TV) 1994 [stunts]
Buffalo Girls – 1995 [stunt coordinator]
Streets of Laredo (TV) – 1995 (Sheriff Doniphon) [assistant director, stunts]
Dead Man’s Walk – 1996 [assistant director]
Gambler VI: Playing for Keeps (TV) – 1997
True Women (TV) – 1997 (looter) [assistant director]
Everything That Rises (TV) – 1998 (gunfighter)
The Ransom of Red Chief (TV) – 1998 [stunts]
Texas Rangers – 2001 [producer]
Johnson County War (TV) – 2002 [director]
Hard Ground (TV) – 2003 (Pike) [writer]
The Trail to Hope Rose (TV) – 2004 [director]
Desolation Canyon (TV) – 2006 [director]
Avenging Angel (TV) – 2007 [director]
Lone Rider (TV) – 2008 [director]
Prairie Fever – 2008 [director]
Love Finds a Home (TV) – 2009 [director]
Love Begins (TV) – 2011 [director]
Love’s Christmas Journey (TV) – 2011 [director]
Shadow of the Mesa (TV) – 2013 [director]

Thursday, August 27, 2020

RIP Dee Hartford


SAG-AFTRA Magazine
Summer 2020

Dee Hartford (born Donna Higgins) is a retired American television actress. She was married to Howard Hawks from 1953 to 1959. Hartford was a model turned actress who became the third wife of director Howard Hawks. She initially achieved fame in the late '40s as a model for Vogue magazine. Hartford was cast in one big-screen credit in her early career, with a role in the 1952 Groucho vehicle A Girl in Every Port, directed by Chester Erskine. She married Hawks, who was more than 30 years her senior, the following year, and did no acting during the six years they were together. They divorced in 1959, but the director gave her a small uncredited role in his 1965 film Red Line 7000. She had already resumed her acting career by then, appearing on such television programs as Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Burke's Law, The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone. Her later work included appearances on Batman, Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants and Lost in Space. Her work on the latter three series may have came about partly as a result of her younger sister Eden's marriage to Groucho Marx (from 1954 to 1969). Marx was one of the primary investors in Irwin Allen's production company, which was responsible for all three programs. Her performance as the android Verda in the 1966 Lost in Space episode "The Android Machine" led to her return in the same role in a sequel, "Revolt of the Androids". As a result of "Revolt of the Androids", Hartford became one of the most popular female guest stars in the three-year run of the series. Her last screen role to date was in Michael Campus' 1976 thriller Survival.


HARTFORD, Dee (Donna Beatrice Higgins)
Born: 4/21/1928, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.
Died: 10/21/2018, Palm Desert, California, U.S.A.

Dee Hartford’s western – actress:
Gunsmoke (TV) – 1963 (Tillie)

RIP Max Evans


Award-winning New Mexico author Max Evans dies days before his 96th birthday

RIP Joe Ruby


Joseph Ruby
March 30, 1933 - August 26, 2020

Los Angeles Times
August 27, 2020

Cherished husband, father, and grandfather, Joseph "Joe" Clemens Ruby passed away peacefully at home on August 26, 2020 surrounded by his family.Joe was born in Los Angeles, CA on March 30, 1933. After graduating from Fairfax High School, Joe enlisted in the US Navy during the Korean War where he served on a destroyer as a sonar operator. After the war, Joe continued to serve in the Marine Reserves.In 1956, he met his beloved wife, Carole, and they married in 1957.Joe was a lucky man. He truly loved what he did up until his last days. Joe was a huge comic book fan and dreamed of a career as an artist. Despite his dad's (a doctor) advice, Joe followed his passion. He was talented enough to be hired by Walt Disney Studios in their animation program. Knowing it would take years to become a full-fledged animator with a family to support, Joe transferred out of the animation department to the Disney editorial department as a music editor. But Joe never gave up his love of comics, and on the side he found work as a freelance comic book artist and writer.At Hanna Barbara Editorial, Joe met his future business partner and lifelong friend, Ken Spears. They formed a writing partnership and wrote a spec script, which lead to being hired as staff writers at Hanna-Barbara Productions. At H&B, they went on to create the iconic character and TV series, Scooby Doo. In 1977, Joe fulfilled another dream when he and Ken launched their own animation studio Ruby-Spears Productions. Ruby-Spears produced many hit animated series including Fangface, Thundarr the Barbarian, Mr. T, Plasticman, Chuck Norris and garnered several Emmy Award nominations and a Humanitas Award. Joe was an honest and loyal man, whose integrity was unmatched. This was routinely displayed both in business and his personal relationships. Joe treated everyone with dignity and respect, regardless of their position in life. He gave many people a start in Hollywood at all different levels, and was especially partial to people who were down on their luck. In addition to a successful career, Joe had a large loving family, including four children and ten grandchildren who adored him. Joe loved telling them stories from his youth. He especially loved recalling his days in the Navy and the times he had with his high school friends, which often were filled with adventurous, frolicking night-time escapades.Joe also had a passion for fishing, old classic movies, and football which he played in high school. He enjoyed gardening and was a dog lover. Most of all, Joe had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh, particularly at himself. Annual family vacations were spent in Cabo, where Joe enjoyed fishing and spending time with his entire family, grandchildren and all. His Jewish faith played an increasingly important role in his life, and Joe was bar mitzvahed at the age of thirty-nine. Joe was a blessed man. A real man. He was truly a rare man. He is survived by his wife of sixty-three years, Carole, four children, Cliff Ruby (Elana), Deanna Zevin, Craig Ruby (Flor), Debby Winsberg (Lew) and ten grandchildren, Carly (Kevin), Zach, Evan (Marie), Hasy, Adam (Ande), Max, Ben, Blake, Sage and Kate.


RUBY, Joe (Joseph Clemens Ruby)
Born: 3/30/1933, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Died: 8/26/2020, West Lake Village, California, U.S.A.

Joe Ruby’s westerns – executive producer, writer:
Bearcats! (TV) – 1971 [writer]
Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa (TV) – 1992-1994 [executive producer]
Scooby-Doo! Shaggy’s Showdown – 2017 [writer]

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

RIP André-Paul Duchâteau


L’Echo
By Laurent Fabri
August 26, 2020

The comic strip author, creator of "Ric Hochet", pillar of the Tintin newspaper, died at the age of 95.

He's a hallowed monster from classic comics who passed away on August 26th. André-Paul Duchâteau, the creator of "Ric Hochet" in particular, died at the age of 95.

Novelist, journalist, writer numerous series of comics, creator of several iconic heroes of 9 e Art, he was one of the major organizers of the Tintin magazine, which he had also been the editor.

Born in Tournai in 1925, Duchâteau, fascinated by thrillers, began to write his first stories at the age of 16 and was spotted by Stanislas-André Steeman, master of the genre. When his path crosses that of Tibet , cartoonist, he is interested in the 9 th Art. He created with him Ric Hochet in Tintin and, later, Chick Bill.

André-Paul Duchâteau works with William Vance, Rosinski, Christian Denayer ... He has several hundred albums to his credit.


Born: 5/8/1925, Tournai, Belgium
Died: 8/26/2020, Uccle, Belgium

André-Paul Duchâteau – westerns – comic book writer:
Chic Bill – 1965-2010

Monday, August 24, 2020

RIP Allan Rich


Allan Rich, Character Actor Who Overcame the Blacklist, Dies at 94

The Hollywood Reporter
By Mike Barnes
August 24, 2020

His credits included 'Serpico,' 'Disclosure,' 'Amistad' and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.'

Allan Rich, the character actor who survived the Hollywood blacklist to work in such films as Serpico, Disclosure and Amistad and on TV's Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died. He was 94.

Rich died Saturday of progressive dementia at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, his family announced.

Rich portrayed NBC president Robert Kintner in Robert Redford's Quiz Show (1994), Demi Moore's attorney in Barry Levinson's Disclosure (1994) and a judge in Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997). And on a 2004 episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, he played a Holocaust survivor who clashed with a contestant from the TV show Survivor.

Benjamin Norman Schultz was born in New York on Feb. 8, 1926, and raised in Queens and the Bronx. His mother, Elia, said that on his third birthday, he ran out of his seat and on to the stage during a vaudeville show to sing "Ain't She Sweet."

He did summer stock in Vermont, adopted the stage name Allan Rich and in 1943 made his Broadway debut when he was hired by Milton Berle for the comedy I'll Take the High Road. Two years later, he appeared with Claude Rains and Kim Hunter in the prison drama Darkness at Noon.

In 1953, Rich was branded a communist — he said that was a result of attempting a few years earlier to free a Black man from Mississippi who had been wrongly convicted of rape — and was abruptly fired from the NBC anthology series Philco Playhouse.

"My agent never sent me out [on another audition]," he recalled in a 2007 interview. "I would walk into an office, making the rounds. And I'd walk out going phhffffft. It took a year till an actor said to me, 'Hey, we're on Red Channels.' If your name was on that list, goooooood-byyyyye! You never worked."

Rich took a job as a Wall Street broker, then thrived as the owner of the Allan Rich Art Gallery on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, where he published graphics by such noted artists as Salvador Dali, Joan Miró and Alexander Calder and had clients including the Kennedys. He also helped George Hurrell get rediscovered with the photographer's legendary portraits of Hollywood stars of the Golden Age and beyond.

In 1963, he got back on television on ABC's Naked City and CBS' East Side/West Side and in 1966 worked with Dustin Hollman in an off-Broadway production of Ron Ribman's Journey of the Fifth Horse.

A role as the district attorney in Sidney Lumet's Serpico (1973) reignited his career, and the next few years saw him show up in The Gambler (1974) and The Happy Hooker (1975) and on such TV shows as The Rockford Files, All in the Family and Hawaii Five-O.

He went on to appear in Francis Ford Coppola's Jack (1996), The Rich Man's Wife (1996), My Sexiest Year (2006), Lies and Alibis (2006) and Man in the Chair (2007) and such TV shows as NYPD Blue, CSI and Judging Amy.

Rich published a book about acting, A Leap From the Method, in 2007 and taught the likes of Sharon Stone, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rene Russo, Larry Miller and Alan Thicke.

In 1994, he co-founded We Care About Kids, a nonprofit organization that produced live-action educational short films distributed free to middle and high school youths to fight prejudice.

His wife of 62 years, Elaine Rich, a personal manager who represented Fran Drescher, Jennifer Jason Leigh and others, died in August 2015 at 81.

"He lived large and was quite heroic to many including me when faced with the depths of despair," Drescher said in a statement. "He had a great intellect and excelled in everything he set his mind to. He was always on the side of good & right."

Survivors include his children, Marian and David; daughter-in-law Wendy; son-in-law Ed; and grandchildren Julia and Ruby. In his memory, donations may be made to Marian's nonprofit Global Play Brigade in an effort to help those impacted by COVID-19 and beyond.


RICH, Allan (Benjamin Norman Schultz)
Born: 2/8/1926, The Bronx, New York, U.S.A.
Died: 8/22/2020, Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Allan Rich’s westerns – actor:
Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1978 (Otto Ripley)
The Frisco Kid – 1979 (Mr. Balik)

Robbe Van Hert


Flemish film legend Robbe De Hert (1942-2020) has passed away

De Flem Blog
By Dave
 

Flemish director Robbe De Hert (77) passed away today, surrounded by his close family and friends. This is reported by Lou De Hert, his son and Stan De Hert, his brother and Gil Knevels and Ida Dequeecker, his intimate friends. Robbe De Hert was a pioneer of Flemish film. He was co-founder (in 1966) and the driving force behind Fugitive Cinema, the legendary Antwerp videographers collective.

With successful feature films such as De Witte (1980) , the Gaston Bergmans and Leo Martin film Beagle Boys (1984) , Blueberry Hill (1989) for which he won the Joseph Plateau Awards for Best Director and Glues / Het Been (2000) he has the Flemish film has been given the right to exist again and again. In numerous documentaries such as Le Filet Américain, Janssen & Janssens, a film is screened and recently Hollywood on the Scheldt , he gave his unvarnished opinion about man and society and the history of Flemish film .

Robbe De Hert was also a pivotal figure in the King Kong, the cultural center that played a central role in the progressive social and cultural life in Antwerp between 1972 and 1982. Film colleagues Jan Verheyen, Erik Van Looy and Michaël Pas already gave an initial reaction to his departure. For example, Jan Verheyen said: “Robbe has always been called an 'enfant terrible', but he was not by choice but by necessity. In those fascinating but difficult pioneering years of Flemish film, you had to be difficult to be heard. Robbe was an 'enfant terrible' so that the next generations did not have to be. And above all else, he was an incredible movie buff who breathed cinema; he was our Monsieur Cinema.”

Erik Van Looy also responded: “Robbe was at the same time a great and obsessed filmmaker and one of the most unique personalities of his time. Often witty, always unruly, never banal. I think we can say that he has lived at least 10 lives. It could have been 10 more. If heaven exists, they'd better get a director's chair there quickly and prepare for a fierce storm, because Robbe always remained himself and will always remain himself. I hope we will miss him for a very long time.”

For Michaël Pas, “Robbe De Hert was a folk hero. Someone who made himself. Without education, without resources with nothing but talent and stubbornness. In this way he worked on the path of Flemish film, and created opportunities for those who came after him.

As a boy of twelve I played in Robbes De Witte van Sichem. I was deeply impressed by Robbe himself, his inspiration, his energy and his drive. After my drama school I was very proud to play the part of Robbe in Blueberry Hill. The trust he has placed in me there has propelled my entire career as an actor. I owe a lot to Robbe. Thank you, big bear!”

Because of COVID 19, Robbe's farewell takes place in an intimate circle. In 2021, family and friends plan a commemoration of Robbe and the burial of his ashes in the courtyard of the Schoonselhof.


Van HERT, Robbe (Robin van Hert)
Born: 9/20/1942 in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, UK
Died: 8/24/2020, Flanders, Belgium

Robbe Van Hert’s western – producer, director, writer:
An Old Story - 1964

Sunday, August 23, 2020

RIP Augusto Caminito


Facebook
By Eugenio Ercolani
August 23, 2020

"It is with deep sorrow that I take responsibility for announcing the death of the producer, screenwriter and director Augusto Caminito, who died today in Naples, at the age of 81 More details will follow."

RIP Augusto Caminito. Italian producer, director, screenwriter Augusto Carminito died in Naples, Campania, Italy on August 23, 2020. He was 81. He was born on July 1, 1939 in Naples. A producer and director he was best known for producing “King of New York” (1990), directing “Grandi cacciatori” (1990) and as a writer for “The Vatican Affair” (1968).  To the fans of the Euro-western he was best know as a screenwriter. He co-wrote the scripts for eight Euro-westerns: “Halleluja for Django” and “Long Days of Revenge” both (1966); “Death Rides Along”; “Django, the Last Killer”; “Pecos Cleans Up”; “Poker With Pistols” and “The Ruthless Four” all in 1967 and “Brothers Blue” (1971).


CAMINITO, Augusto
Born: 7/1/1939, Naples, Campania, Italy
Died: 8/23/2020, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Augusto Caminito’s westerns – writer:
Halleluja for Django – 1966
Long Days of Revenge – 1966
Death Rides Along – 1967
Django, the Last Killer – 1967
Pecos Cleans Up – 1967
Poker With Pistols – 1967
The Ruthless Four – 1967
Brothers Blue – 1971

RIP Lori Nelson


Lori Nelson, Actress in 'Revenge of the Creature,' Dies at 87

The Hollywood Reporter
By Mike Barnes
8/23/2020

She also played Barbara Stanwyck's daughter in Douglas Sirk's 'All I Desire' and Jack Palance's love interest in 'I Died a Thousand Times.'

Lori Nelson, the 1950s starlet who was kidnapped by an amphibious monster in Revenge of the Creature and portrayed Barbara Stanwyck's daughter in Douglas Sirk's All I Desire, has died. She was 87.

Nelson had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years and died Sunday at her home in the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles, her daughter Jennifer Mann said.
In Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952) and Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955), Nelson played Rosie Kettle, one of the daughters of the characters played by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride in the Universal series of films.

Nelson also made her mark in I Died a Thousand Times (1955), a remake of the Humphrey Bogart classic High Sierra in which she portrayed the club-footed love interest of Jack Palance's crook; Pardners (1956), working opposite Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in their penultimate film together; and Tumbleweed (1953), in which she was featured opposite Audie Murphy.

On television, Nelson starred as the psychology major/game show usher Greta Hanson opposite Barbara Eden on the first season (1957-58) on the syndicated comedy How to Marry a Millionaire, based on the 1953 Fox film. Her character was written out of the show, and Lisa Gaye was brought in to replace her.

In Revenge of the Creature (1955), the first of two sequels spawned from 1954's Creature From the Black Lagoon, Nelson played the ichthyology student named Helen who is snatched from a seaside restaurant by a smitten Gill Man (Tom Hennesy and Ricou Browning).

She initially did not want to make the movie but in the end was glad she did.

"I played opposite Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin and Audie Murphy, but who's the leading man everybody wants to ask me about? The Gill Man!" she said in an interview for Tom Weaver's book The Creature Chronicles: Exploring the Black Lagoon Trilogy. "It's so funny, Universal had to twist my arm a little to be in a monster movie. But if I knew then how popular they would remain, I would have twisted their arm to be in a couple more."

Born Dixie Kay Nelson on Aug. 15, 1933, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Nelson and her family moved to Encino when she was young. She signed with Universal on her 17th birthday and made her film debut in Bend of The River (1952), starring Stewart, Arthur Kennedy and Hudson, who would become a close friend and mentor.

She went on to star with Curtis in The All American (1953), with Murphy again in Destry (1954), with Jane Russell in Underwater! (1954) and with Mamie Van Doren in Untamed Youth (1957).

She also starred with Van Johnson, Jim Backus and Claude Rains in the 1957 NBC holiday telefilm The Pied Piper of Hamelin and guest-starred on such shows as Climax!, Wagon Train, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Tab Hunter Show, Bachelor Father and Family Affair.

Nelson was one of actress Debbie Reynolds' bridesmaids at her 1955 wedding to singer Eddie Fisher. She also was engaged to actor Burt Reynolds, but the two "ended up calling it quits," her daughter said. Nelson then was married to late composer Johnny Mann from 1960 until their 1973 divorce; they had two children, Lori and Jennifer.

She married then-LAPD detective Joseph J. Reiner Survivors in 1983; he survives her.


NELSON, Lori (Dixie Kay Nelson)
Born: 8/15/1933, Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.
Died: 8/23/2020, Porter Ranch, California, U.S.A.

Lori Nelson’s westerns – actress:
Bend of the River – 1952 (Marjie Baile)
Tumbleweed – 1953 (Laura Saunders)
Destry – 1954 (Martha Phillips)
Mohawk – 1956 (Cynthia)
Pardners – 1956 (Carol Kingsley)
Outlaw’s Son – 1957 (Lila Costain)
Sugarfoot (TV) – 1959 (Ellen Conway)
Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1959 (Susan Farr)
The Texan (TV) – 1959 (Elizabeth Blake)
Wagon Train (TV) – 1959 (Charity Steele)
Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV) – 1959 (White Antelope / Doris Albright)
Laramie (TV) – 1961 (Grace)
Whispering Smith (TV) – 1961 (Mrs. Venetia Molloy)

Friday, August 21, 2020

RIP Manuel Gallardo


Actor Manuel Gallardo dies at 85

The interpreter, considered one of the most relevant in Spanish theater, was also known for his roles in series such as 'Verano azul'

El Pais
By
August 21, 2020

Actor Manuel Gallardo died this Friday at the age of 85 in Madrid, according to the Union of Actors and Actresses on his Twitter account. Throughout a long career, he became one of the best-known interpreters in Spanish theater, as well as being famous for television series such as Verano azul. On stage, he played all kinds of roles, from Jason to Julius Caesar. He also worked in the cinema, where he made his debut with the film Tierra de todos, by Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi, and later participated in more than 40 films, between Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Born in Cardeña (Córdoba), in 1935, it is said that he made his debut on the stage with only 15 days, in the arms of his mother. In any case, since the mid-sixties, he was a practically constant presence both on stage and on the small screen, where he often performed precisely televised plays, in spaces such as Estudio 1, Teatro de siempre, Ficciones or Novela.

Among the best-known films in which he appeared are La casa del lago, Soraya queen of the desert, The brute, the clever and the captain, The hundred knights, The last Mrs. Anderson, Saturday, Sunday and Friday or The things of love.


GALLARDO, Manuel (Manuel Gallardo Lechet)
Born: 5/3/1935, Cardeña, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain
Died: 8/21/2020, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Manuel Gallardo’s western – actor:
Another Try, Eh Providence? – 1973 (Captain Barton)