RIP Marvin J. Chomsky

 Marvin J. Chomsky, 4-Time Emmy-Winning Director, Dies at 92

 

Collider

By Edidiong Mboho

March 30, 2022

The legendary director helmed episodes of 'Star Trek', 'Roots' and 'Gunsmoke'.

Marvin J. Chomsky, Emmy award-winning director, has died at the age of 92. The director, who had a long and storied career in the entertainment industry, passed away in his sleep on Monday, March 28. The acclaimed filmmaker and producer was born on May 23, 1929, in New York City. He later attended and graduated from Syracuse University in 1950. He was a cousin to Noam Chomsky – an American linguist, social critic, and philosopher.

Chomsky's career in film and television started as an art director, producer, and set decorator. However, he went on to build a body of work as extensive as it is impressive. He began building his career as a television director, directing episodes of Gunsmoke, The Wild, Wild West, and the original Star Trek. He also expanded his body of work to include feature films such as Tank, Evel Knievel, Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff, and Live A little, Steal A Lot, among others.

The veteran director also made his mark by directing the ambitious Roots, which starred John Amos, Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton, Louis Gossett Jr., Leslie Uggams, and George Stanford Brown. The TV show told the story of Kunta Kinte who has taken from his home in the Gambia and sold as a slave. The miniseries followed several generations of Kinte's descendants in the United States as well. Chomsky directed the award-winning series alongside John Erman, David Greene, and Gilbert Moses.

Chomsky also gained acclaim by directing episodes of Hawaii Five-O, and the 1978 miniseries Holocaust. Other notable works from the director include Billionaire Boys Club, Peter the Great, Attica, I Was a Mail Order Bride, Catherine The Great, and Inside the Third Reich, among others. For his work, he bagged Emmy Awards in Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for Holocaust, Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special for 1980's Attica and again for 1982's Inside the Third Reich, and Outstanding Miniseries for 1986's Peter the Great. Additionally, for tackling subject matters that were typically avoided by other filmmakers and directors at the time, his bravery in storytelling was widely admired and applauded.

Chomsky was revered and respected by his peers; the late Joseph M. Wilcots, who worked with him on Roots as a cinematographer, stated in a 2007 interview for the Television Academy, “Marvin Chomsky was a brilliant director who always thought his shots out very clearly,” He also added, “His direction, to me, was always precise and always clear.”

With several iconic works under his belt, his talent, skill, and influence ricocheted across the entertainment industry. His legacy will not soon be forgotten. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends.

Chomsky is survived by his three sons – Peter, David, and Eric, daughter-in-law – Genelle, and granddaughter – Liliana.

 

CHOMSKY, Marvin J.

Born: 5/23/1929, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 3/28/2022, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.

 

Marvin J. Chomsky’s westerns – director, art director:

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 [director, art director]

The Wild Wild West (TV) – 1967, 1968, 1969 [director]

Lancer (TV) – 1969 [director]

Bearcats! (TV) – 1971 [director]

Cade’s County (TV) – 1971, 1972 [director]

Sam Cade (TV) – 1972 [director]

Female Artillery (TV) – 1973 [director]

Mrs. Sundance (TV) – 1974 [director]

Mackintosh and T.J. – 1975 [director]

RIP Mario Roccuzzo

 

Los Angeles Times

October 13, 2021

Mario Roccuzzo died Saturday October 9th in Hollywood from failing health at age 81 following a 50 year career in acting.Born in Boston, to performing parents, the family moved to Hollywood in 1955, his first role in The Young Savages (1961).By the 80's he had done most TV cop shows and several comedies. In 1958, Mario wrote the famous Eddie Cochran song, "Nervous Breakdown."Survived by his son, Michael by a previous marriage to Harriet Lietz, daughter in law, Connie, grandchildren, Samantha, Vanessa, his sister Diana Ensley, nieces Jennifer Smith (Bartley), Kathleen Allison (William) great nephew, Nathan Allison, great niece, Gemma Allison.

 

ROCCUZZO, Mario

Born: 11/9/1940, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Died: 10/9/2021, West Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

 

Mario Roccuzzo’s western – actor:

Stoney Burke (TV) – 1963 (Mario)

RIP Lars Bloch

 

Lars Bloch, the Mega President of 'Fantozzi contro tutti', is dead

 

Adnkronos

March 29, 2022

The Danish actor was 83 years old and had lived in Rome since the late 1950s

 

Farewell to Lars Bloch, the actor known for the role of the Mega Archangel President of the film "Fantozzi contro tutti", interpreter of a scene that has become legendary among the fans of the series starring Paolo Villaggio. The Danish naturalized Italian actor, learns Adnkronos, died in Rome at the age of 83 on Sunday 27 March. The funeral parlor will be tomorrow from 11.30 to 12.30 at the Tempietto Egizio at the Roman cemetery of Verano.

Born in Hellerup on August 6, 1938, Bloch arrived in Italy in the late 1950s to pursue an acting career. Destined to be a character actor, he often had early roles as a handsome young man in films such as "The beauty of Ippolita" (1962), "Eighteen years in the sun" by Camillo Mastrocinque (1962), "Stories on the sand" (1963), " The beautiful families "," The flying saucer "(1964) by Tinto Brass," Extramarital "(1964).

Bloch was then the interpreter of numerous spaghetti westerns, including Sergio Corbucci's "Navajo Joe" (1966), Luigi Vanzi's "A Stranger in Town" (1967), "Alleluia and Sartana, Sons of God" (1972) , "Trinity & Sartana Those Sons of Bitches " (1972). Among his other films "Certo, certissimo, nzi ... probable" (1969) by Marcello Fondato and three films by Joe D'Amato "Heroes in Hell of 1973," Red Jackets "of 1975 and" Emanuelle in America "of 1977).

Lars Bloch became known thanks to the character of the Mega President Archangel in "Fantozzi contro tutti" (1980) directed by Neri Parenti and the village itself. Unforgettable is the scene in which the accountant Ugo Fantozzi (Paolo Villaggio) after having realized his dream of writing in the sky with his finger the phrase "The Mega President is an asshole!" he is discovered and invited to cancel it. "Are you convinced of what you wrote about me?" Asks the Mega President with his almost angelic aura. "I didn't write it, I just thought it!", Fantozzi replies. "You mustn't think, Fantozzi, this is his mistake. Come with me, come on, come on, erase."

Bloch also appeared in "Fracchia against Dracula" (1985) also directed by Parenti. He made his last appearance in the film "A liar in paradise" (1998) by Enrico Oldoini.

 

BLOCH, Lars

Born: 8/6/1938, Hellerup, Denmark

Died: 3/27/2022,Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Lars Bloch’s westerns – actor:

Django Kill – 1966 (Oak henchman)

Navajo Joe – 1966 (Swedish immigrant)
A Stranger in Town – 1966 (Lieutenant Ted ‘George’ Harris/Stafford)

Western, Italian Style – 1968 [archive footage]
Alleluia and Sartana, Sons of God - 1972 (Danish)
On the Third Day Arrived the Crow – 1972 (Bill) [as Lars Block]
The Return of Hallelujah – 1972 (Cain)
Trinity & Sartana Those Sons of Bitches – 1972 (Clyde)

Behold the Strange, Stimulating Smell of Dollars – 1973 (soldier)
Shanghai Joe – 1973 (Wells Fargo client)
Red Coat – 1974 (Andy O’Brien)

Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern (TV) - 2005 [himself]