RIP Amanda Mackey

 

DEADLINE

By Erik Pedersen

August 31, 2022

 

Amanda Mackey Dies: Casting Director On ‘The Fugitive’, ‘A League Of Their Own’ & Dozens Of Other Films & TV Shows Was 70

Amanda Mackey, the casting director behind such films as Best Picture Oscar nominee The Fugitive and A League of Their Own and who earned an Emmy nom for The Normal Heart during a nearly four-decade career, has died. She was 70.

Her longtime friend and business partner Cathy Sandrich Gelfond told Deadline that Mackey died August 27 in her sleep of myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of blood cancer, at Calvary Hospital in Brooklyn.

“Amanda was a singular force — fiercely intelligent, impeccably stylish, wildly passionate about ideas, the state of the world and her work,” Sandrich Gelfond told Deadline. “She loved her daughters profoundly and was an unwaveringly steadfast friend and champion in a time when women weren’t as supportive to other women as they are now. She believed in me, lifted me up and gave me a career. She was the sister I never had and changed my life in countless ways. The world’s light is significantly dimmer without her in it.”

The Casting Society honored Mackey with Artios Awards for the films A League of Their Own (1993) and Smokin’ Aces (2006) among 15 career nominations. Her long list of credits as casting director also includes such popular films as Bad Moms and its sequel, Olympus Has Fallen, United 93, We Were Soldiers, Get Carter, Ronin, The Hunt for Red October, Sleepy Hollow, The Proposal, The Cooler While You Were Sleeping, Patriot Games, The Fugitive sequel U.S. Marshals, Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Rocky IV.

“We are heartbroken to hear about the passing of Casting Director Amanda Mackey,” the Casting Society said in a statement. “She was an inspiration to many in our field, and everyone at CSA sends our condolences to her family and friends.”

Mackey cast and also executive produced A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, which won the Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Cast in a Drama at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

She also cast such TV series including A Million Little Things, Claws, Hell on Wheels, Magic City, Hell on Wheels, Low Winter Sun and Memphis Beat and was featured in the 2012 documentary Casting By.

Mackey cast five films for director Andy Davis, from The Fugitive to Holes. “Amanda was a total professional — committed to her craft, spending time in the large and small theaters of New York finding up-and-coming talent ahead of anyone,” he told Deadline. “Amanda knew who the pros were, known and unknown. For a director, casting is everything. Amanda and Cathy gave you choices which inspired new ways of looking at characters and ways of telling your story. Her body of work in film and television was huge.”

Among the up-and-comers she cast in Davis’ films were the team of marshals surrounding Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive including Julianne Moore, Sela Ward and L. Scott Caldwell; Chain Reaction‘s Rachel Weisz and Brian Cox; A Perfect Murder‘s David Suchet and Sarita Choudhry; and Holes‘ Shia LaBeouf, Tim Blake Nelson and Dulé Hill.

Born on September 22, 1951, in New York City and raised there, Mackey was fascinated with acting, theater and film from a young age. Her love of foreign film led her to spend a semester at the Sorbonne, where she discovered a love of character-driven stories that favored brave, unconventional performances.

She started in showbiz as an agent at J. Michael Bloom but quickly was drawn away to pursue a career in casting with the legendary Marion Dougherty, a future Casting Society Hoyt Bowers Award recipient for career achievement. Mackey worked in New York for a time and moved to Los Angeles in 1985, where she would stay for 10 years. During that time, she and her Sandrich Gelfond built the Mackey Sandrich Casting Company. Mackey moved back to Manhattan in 1996, and Mackey Sandrich casting became the first independent bicoastal casting company.

“Those who knew her will agree, Amanda Mackey was one of a kind,” her daughters Nicola Mackey Johnson and Emma Sophia Johnson told Deadline. “Our mother was beautiful, powerful and always stood up for what she believed in. She was terrified of public speaking but could level you with her eyes. She was dynamic and so much fun to be around. She made us the women we are today. She taught us to be strong feminists and truth seekers. We will miss her every second of every day for the rest of our lives, but we will carry her wise voice and love in our hearts forever.

 

MACKEY, Amanda

Born: 9/22/1951, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 8/27/2022, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

 

Amanda Mackey’s westerns – casting director:

Last of the Dogmen – 1995

Dust – 2001

Hell on Wheels (TV) – 2011-2016

Americana - 2022

RIP Miguel Gurza

 

Actor Miguel Gurza dies at 81

 

U.S.A. Today

By John Carol

August 29, 2022

Tragedy in the world of Mexican cinema! Miguel Gurza, iconic actor and animal lover, has died at the age of 81 after a long and renowned career in many films. He participated in dumbbell with his brother Humberto, according to Agencia El Universal.

Miguel Gurza passed away at the age of 81, after a prolific career in the Mexican film industry, participating (in partnership with his brother Humberto) in endless action films as an actor, stunt double and also as a wildlife trainer, but not just any specimen.

According to Agencia El Universal, Gurza trained species that were part of films that today have become national and international classics such as “Laughing on Vacation”, the “Chanoc” saga, as well as “Predator” and “Conan, the barbarian”, respectively.

The career of the Gurza brothers began in the 1960s, at that time they provided different film productions with animals that appeared in adventure and action films, but that was not all, Miguel and Humberto were the ones who trained the species, according to El Universal Agency.

Species ranged from birds, reptiles, chimpanzees to felines. In fact, it was he and his brother Humberto who were in charge of caring for the species, according to what the actor told the Association of Film Journalists of Mexico (PECIME), in an interview granted in the winter of 2021.

“With my brother Humberto I managed to have a zoo with more than a hundred animals and although we had staff who helped us, the main task was always done by us. Sometimes we had to multiply ourselves to fulfill our work commitments and be aware of all the species”, he recounted

It was precisely when Miguel was caring for a tiger that he suffered a hip injury that prevented him from caring for an animal species, no matter how small; “That’s why I don’t have a dog or a cat as pets because I can’t be feeding them, bathing them or taking them for a walk.”

But throughout his career Gurza contributed a lot to the entertainment industry, for example he was the one behind “Chucho Chucho”, a monkey who shared credits with Olga Breeskin in the show “Violin Girl”, where the vedette performed a piece on the string instrument.

But this was not the only area in which he stood out, over more than five decades of career, Miguel also ventured into the international ranks of the seventh art, as he was a double risk in “Two rascals after the lost emerald”, a film starring Michael Douglas, who played Jack T. Colton, a man who saves a novel writer who is about to die in an accident in a Colombian jungle.

There are many and varied stories that Miguel Gurza kept in his memory, because for years he collaborated with the Churubusco Studios, a place that became the meeting point for a plethora of figures from Mexican cinema with whom he lived over the years and he forged an endearing friendship, points out El Universal.

“In the studios we all knew each other. The restaurant was the place where the filming projects materialized and there was work for everyone, regardless of their physical conditions, there was always a role or character for each of us, ”he told PECIME.

But that bond was not limited to being shared among the great stars of Mexican cinema, but rather the people who worked in the surroundings were also part of the history of the studios and of many films where they appeared as extras.

“Now, I look at the Churubusco (…) no longer with the nostalgia with which I used to, because the studios had a special charm that each of the characters that gathered there gave them,” he said just a few days ago, pointing out that he would not withdraw from the cinema.

The news of his death was announced yesterday by his daughter and her “girl of the forest”, Leticia Gurza, on her social networks, with an emotional message in which she indicated that “Tarzan”, as they called him, always cared for and watched for the good of the animals he loved: “Fly higher than your eagles, now, you are free, they are waiting for you”.

GURZA, Miguel (Miguel Gurza Iglesias)

Born: 1941, Mexico

Died: 8/28/2022, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

 

Miguel Gurza’s westerns – wrangler, actor:

El Topo – 1970 [wrangler]

Two Mules for Sister Sara – 1970 [wrangler]

La chaca – 1974 [wrangler]

El payo – un hombre contra elm undo! – 1972 [wrangler]

La montaña del diablo – 1975 (Montaño)

Last of the Dogmen – 1995 [wrangler]

RIP Richard Roat

 

DEADLINE

By Erik Pedersen

August 30, 2022

 

Richard Roat Dies: Actor In ‘Seinfeld’, ‘Friends’, ‘Dallas’ & Dozens Of Other Shows Was 89

Richard Roat, a character actor with 130-plus credits spanning nearly a half-century who appeared in many of TV’s biggest shows including Seinfeld, Friends, Cheers, Murphy Brown, Dallas, Hawaii Five-O and Happy Days, has died. He was 89.

Roat died August 5 in Orange County, CA, according to his family. No other details were available.

Born on July 3, 1933, in Hartford, CT, Roat had a couple of bit TV roles before being cast as Dr. Jerry Chandler in the 1962 pilot of NBC soap opera The Doctors. He appeared in more than 170 episodes during the first year of the which, would go on to air for two decades.

He guested on a 1965 episode of The Fugitive and became a busy character actor during the following decade. Roat appeared in memorable 1970s comedies and dramas as Hawaii Five-O, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Columbo, Cannon, Kojak, The Bob Newhart Show, Police Story, Vega$, Fantasy Island, Happy Days, Charlie’s Angeles and Dallas.

Roat also had small roles in the 1970s features Westworld, American Hot Wax and Corvette Summer.

He continued to be an in-demand TV character actor throughout the 1980s and ’90s, appearing on such hits as 7th Heaven, Cybill, The Practice, Ellen, Coach, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Murphy Brown, The Nanny, Melrose Place, Blossom, Grace Under Fire, Living Single, Mad About You, Lois & Clark, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Night Court, Baywatch, Murphy’s Law, Simon & Simon, L.A. Law, Matlock, ALF, St. Elsewhere, Hart to Hart and others.

He also co-starred with Eva Gabor, Robert Hays and a young Jay Leno in the 1978 telefilm Almost Heaven.

Roat is remembered by Seinfeld fans as one of the doctors who found Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Elaine Benes to be a “difficult patient” in the Season 8 episode “The Package” in 1998. He also appeared as a professor colleague who busts Ross (David Schwimmer) for dating a student in a 2000 episode of Friends.

Farther back, he appeared in two episodes of The Golden Girls, including a Season 1 role as a man who dies while having sex with Rose (Betty White). Roat also recurred as Farnsworth on multiple Hill Street Blues episodes from 1982-85 and as a publisher on Dynasty in 1986.

In a 1985 episode of Cheers, Roat played Norm’s (George Wendt) boss Mr. Hecht, who promotes him to corporate killer — responsible for firing people in the office.

About that time, he returned to his soap opera roots to play Professor Henry Moore in about a dozen episodes of NBC’s Days of Our Lives from 1985-91. His final credit was a 2009 episode of 24.

Roat also appeared briefly on Broadway and onstage at The Public Theatre in Central Park, The Huntington Hartford Theatre in Los Angeles and the Pasadena Playhouse. Along with his long acting career, he had a successful practice as an entertainment tax preparer for more than 50 years.

Survivors include his wife of more than 40 year, Kathy.

ROAT, Richard

Born: 7/3/1933, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Died: 8/15/2022, Orange County, California, U.S.A.

 

Richard Roat’s westerns – actor:

Hec Ramsey – 1972 (Jack Trench)

Westworld – 1973 (technician)

RIP William Reynolds

 

William Reynolds, Special Agent Tom Colby on ‘The F.B.I.,’ Dies at 90

After appearing in two films for Douglas Sirk, he starred in three short-lived series and on an acclaimed episode of 'The Twilight Zone.' 

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

August 30, 2022 

William Reynolds, who portrayed crime-stopping Special Agent Tom Colby opposite Efrem Zimbalist Jr. on the final seven seasons of the ABC crime drama The F.B.I., has died. He was 90.

Reynolds died Wednesday in Wildomar, California, from non-COVID 19 complicated pneumonia, a family spokesperson announced.

The Los Angeles native also starred in three other series, all short-lived: as the trumpet player on the 1959 NBC drama Pete Kelly’s Blues, created by Jack Webb; on ABC’s The Islanders, a 1960-61 adventure show set in the East Indies; and on the World War II-set The Gallant Men, which ran on ABC from 1962-63.

In 1960, Reynolds memorably played a WWII officer who can’t ignore an ominous light on the faces of his men destined to be killed in the acclaimed Twilight Zone season-one episode “The Purple Testament.”

On the big screen, he appeared in the Douglas Sirk-directed melodramas All That Heaven Allows (1955) and There’s Always Tomorrow (1956); worked with Donald O’Connor and a mule in Francis Goes to West Point (1952); and starred in the cult sci-fi film The Thing That Couldn’t Die (1958).

After making guest appearances on the first two seasons of The F.B.I., from Warner Bros. Television and producer Quinn Martin, Reynolds won the break of his career when he was hired in 1967 to play Colby alongside Zimbalist as Inspector Lewis Erskine.

He stayed with the show through its 1974 conclusion, then turned his back on Hollywood and became a successful businessman.

Born William de Clerq Regnolds on Dec. 9, 1931, Reynolds appeared in three films in 1951: Dear Brat, No Questions Asked and, as the son of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (James Mason), in The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel.

In 1952, Reynolds signed a contract with Universal Pictures and played the son of Laurence Olivier’s character in Carrie and Mustapha, the best friend of Tony Curtis’ Kashma Baba, in The Son of Ali Baba. Those were just two of the seven movies he appeared in that year.

After military service in Japan during the Korean War, Reynolds returned to Universal and co-starred in the supernatural thriller Cult of the Cobra (1955), followed by turns in Away All Boats (1956), The Land Unknown (1957), Mister Cory (1957) and The Big Beat (1958).

An encounter with Webb led to a more productive career in series television, and his small-screen résumé included guest-star stints on Bronco, The Millionaire, Wagon Train, The Roaring 20’s, Cheyenne, Dragnet and Maverick.

In February 1960, Reynolds and Richard L. Bare, creator of The Islanders, were injured when their plane crashed in the Caribbean after they filmed an episode of the series. The pair, along with two others, survived after swimming four miles to the coast of Jamaica.

He was married for 42 years to actress Molly Sinclair until her death in 1992.

Survivors include their children, Carrie (and her husband, Brian) and Eric (and his wife, Nikki); grandchildren Anthony and Nicholas; and great-grandchild Gianni.

A public memorial service and tribute will be held at 1 p.m. on Sept. 10 at the Miller Jones Menifee Memorial Park in Menifee, California.

REYNOLDS, William (William de Clerq Williams)

Born: 12/9/1931, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 8/24/2022, Wildomar, California, U.S.A.

 

William Reynolds westerns – actor:

The Battle of Apache Pass – 1952 (Lem Bent)

The Cimarron Kid – 1952 (Will Dalton)

The Raiders – 1952 (Frank Morrell)

Gunsmoke – 1953 (Brazos)

The Mississippi Gambler – 1953 (Pierre Loyette)

Maverick (TV) – 1958, 1959 (Bill Gregg, Reynolds, Ted Blake, Johnny Rain)

Bronco (TV) - 1959 (Pete Loomis, Dick Nelson)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1959 (Roger Garrett)

Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1959 (Bruce McVeigh)

Cheyenne (TV) – 1961 (Johnny Tremayne)

Temple Houston (TV) – 1963 (Paul Bannerman)

A Distant Trumpet – 1964 (1st Lieutenant Teddy Mainwarring)

RIP Ralph Eggleston

 

The Wrap

By Drew Taylor

August 29, 2022

 

Ralph Eggleston, Pixar Luminary and Oscar-Winning Filmmaker, Dies at 56

The industry stalwart worked on everything from ”Toy Story“ to ”Soul“

Ralph Eggleston, an animation whiz who was hired by Pixar in the lead-up to the release of “Toy Story,” has died following a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 56.

Over the course of his storied career, Eggleston went on to serve in a variety of roles at Pixar, memorably contributing to everything from “Monsters, Inc.” to both “Incredibles” movies to “Inside Out” and “Soul.” (The animation studio didn’t release an official statement but sent an email to staff confirming the news this morning.)

Eggleston started his career with former Disney animator Bill Kroyer, working on things like the title sequence for “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and eventually Kroyer’s directorial debut “Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest.” Eggleston then left to join Disney, working on some of the most celebrated movies in the company’s filmography ( “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and “Pocahontas”) before joining Pixar in 1992 as the studio was transforming from a company that did software and commercials (the short films were basically used to showcase whatever technology Pixar was hawking at the time) to a full-fledged movie studio.

He would serve as an art director for “Toy Story.” The moving van company that Andy’s family uses in the final chase is even named after his nickname: Eggman Movers. Eggleston would become a mainstay at Pixar, although he would sometimes flit between studios (he has a credit on DreamWorks Animation’s “The Road to El Dorado” and helped out on Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”). In 2000, “For the Birds,” a short film that Eggleston wrote and directed, was released and would win the Oscar the following year for Animated Short.

When Brad Bird joined Pixar in May 2000, Eggleston was reunited with his old friend. The two had worked on the “Family Dog” episode of Steven Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories” television series in the late 1980s. Eggleston would work on all of Bird’s features for Pixar, most recently 2018’s Oscar-nominated “Incredibles 2.” (Bird has since joined former Pixar executive John Lasseter at Skydance Animation.) Eggleston also served as the production designer on “WALL•E” and “Inside Out,” done character designs for “Up,” and provided development art for “Cars 2” and “Soul.” He even helped Andrew Stanton out on his live-action feature “John Carter.”

In 2018, Eggleston was awarded the Winsor McCay award in recognition of his lifetime contributions to the art of animation. His passing marks not just a huge loss for Pixar but for the animation community at large; he leaves behind a body of work that showcases his chameleonic talent and a knack for design that remains unparalleled in modern animation.

EGGLESTON, Ralph

Born: 10/18/1965, Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S.A.

Died: 8/25/2022, Emeryville, California, U.S.A.

 

Ralph Eggleston’s western – art director:

Pocahontas – 1995

RIP Jean-Francois Wolff

 

Luxembourg actor Jean-François Wolff has died

Black Notebook

August 23, 2022

 

LUXEMBOURG – Figure of the Luxembourg scene and cinema, the actor Jean-François Wolff died at the age of 59, we learned on Tuesday.

The world of Luxembourg cinema and theater is in shock on Tuesday. We learned of the death of actor Jean-François Wolff, at only 59 years old. Figure of the grand-ducal scene, Jean-François Wolff, a Luxembourg-French born in Brussels in 1963, had first studied engineering in Belgium before switching to the arts.

He goes through the Luxembourg Conservatory, where he is a pupil of Marja-Leena Junker, before getting on the boards in "Deaths without Sepulture", by Jean-Paul Sartre. He began to appear on the big screen in 2001, in the films "D'Artagnan", with Catherine Deneuve, and "CQ", where he played opposite Gérard Depardieu.

Andy Bausch, another sacred monster of Luxembourg cinema, spotted him, and made him a member of his legendary “Club des chômeurs” (2003). Jean-François' career then continued between cinema and theatre, the two arts giving an echo to his banter and his extraordinary verve. We see it in particular in "JCVD", with Jean-Claude Van Damme, "Les Gars", by Adolf El Assal or even "Boule et Bill", with Franck Dubosc and Marina Foïs.

Tributes have poured in on the Facebook page of Jean-François Wolff, since the announcement of his death. The musician and singer Serge Tonnar writes in particular “Thank you for having given us everything from you. In the hope that we were able to give you a little of us in return”.

To his loved ones, to his family, L'essentiel presents its most sincere saddened condolences.

WOLFF, Jean-Francois

Born: 5/3/1963, Brussels, Belgium

Died: 8/21/2022, Luxembourg

 

Jean-Francois Wolff’s western – actor:

Never Grow Old – 2019 (prospector)

RIP Joe E. Tata

 

Joe E. Tata Dies: ‘Beverly Hills, 90210 Actor’ Was 85

 

DEADLINE

By Lynette Rice

August 25, 2022

 

Joe E. Tata, the actor best known for playing Nat on Beverly Hills, 90210, has died. He was 85.

His longtime 90210 costar Ian Ziering announced his death Thursday on Instagram. Tata’s character was the owner of the Peach Pit.

Hollywood & Media Deaths 2022: A Photo Gallery

“In the last few months we’ve lost Jessica Klein one of 90210’s most prolific writers and producers, Denise Douse who played Mrs. Teasley, and now I’m very sad to say Joe E Tata has passed away,” Zeiring wrote. “Joey was truly an OG, I remember seeing him on the Rockford files with James Garner years before we worked together on 90210. He was often one of the background villains in the original Batman series. One of the happiest people I’ve ever worked with, he was as generous with his wisdom as he was with his kindness. Though the peach pit was a 90210 set, It often felt like the backdrop to the Joe E Tata show.”

“The stories of days gone by that he would share, incredible experiences in the entertainment industry that he was a part of would keep us all captivated,” he continued. “He may have been in the back of many scenes, but he was a leading force, especially to us guys, on how to appreciate the gift that 90210 was. My smile dims today but basking in fond memories moves him from my eyes to my heart where he will always be. My sincere condolences go out to his family and friends, and everyone else he was dear too. Rest In peace Joey.”

TATA, Joe E. (Joseph E. Tata)

Born: 9/13/1936, Bronx, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 8/25/2022, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Joe E. Tata’s western – actor:

Cimarron Strip (TV) – 1968 (Gomer)

RIP Enzo Garineri

 

Actor Enzo Garineri dies at 96

 

The Nation View

By Loretta

August 25, 2022

 

Actor Enzo Garinei has died, in his brilliant career of more than 50 years he has beautified Italian cinema, theater and TV with his talent.

Author: Daniela Secli 

Enzo Garinei died at 96. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he has acted both in theater – with projects such as Hallelujah good people AND Add a seat at the table – than in cinema, acting in more than 70 films. He has collaborated with the biggest names in Italian entertainment, from Gino Bramieri to Renato Rascel and Totò. He continued acting until the age of 94. He was Pietro’s brother from the variety duo Garinei and Giovannini.

Enzo Garinei and the films with Totò

Born in 1926, Enzo Garinei began taking his first steps as an actor when he was just 20 years old. Among the first films in which he participated is the unforgettable Totò le Mokò, with Antonio De Curtis. He continued to work with Totò as well on other films such as Totò looking for a wife; Totò third man; Toto and Carolina; Totò in hell and Totò, Eva and the forbidden brush. Garinei has always treasured the moments on set with Totò: “With him I learned all the comic times”.

The career of the actor and voice actor

His career was marked by more than 70 films, which allowed him to work with directors such as Mario Monicelli, Camillo Mastrocinque; Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia and many others. In recent years, we’ve seen him in films like Doutor Clown, by Maurizio Nichetti; 100 meters from paradise by Raffaele Verzillo and, in 2019, in the film Just a minute directed by Francesco Mandelli. Garinei also lent his voice to the dubbing: he was the voice of George on the sitcom I Jefferson, he also occasionally voiced Stan Laurel, actor in the comic book duo Laurel and Hardy. In recent years, he has worked a lot in theater, taking the stage until the 2019-2020 season, when he was 94 years old. In particular, he was involved in the Add a Seat at the Table tour, where he interpreted the voice of God.

GARINERI, Enzo (Vincenzo Garineri)

Born: 5/4/1926, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 8/25/2022, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Enzo Garineri’s western – actor:

Questa sera parla Mark Twain – 1965 (paige)

RIP Anabel Gutiérrez

 

Anabel Gutiérrez, actress of the Golden Age of Mexico, dies

California 18

August 22, 2022

 

Mexico City- The actress Anabel Gutiérrez, known for various roles in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, in films such as Desired (1951) and Escuela de Vagabundos (1955), died this Sunday at the age of 89.

According to the Twitter account of Televisa Espectaculos, as well as other media, the comedian also died in the city of Puebla.

Born in Mexico City on September 5, 1931, Anabelle Rafaela Gutiérrez Aicua (her full name) participated in just over 40 movies and soap operas.

The comedian began her career in the seventh art in 1949, in the film El Diablo no es tan Diablo, by Julián Soler, starring Sara García and Julián Soler.

He immediately began to appear in more film projects. In 1950 she made Azahares Para tu Boda, acting alongside Fernando Soler, Marga López and Joaquín Pardavé. Later he filmed the movie Descada, with Dolores del Río and Jorge Mistral.

However, it was until Escuela de Vagabundos (1955), by Rogelio A. González, that he really rose to fame, participating alongside Pedro Infante and Miroslava. By this time and after acting in almost twenty films, he managed to establish himself as a figure of the so-called Golden Age of Mexican cinema.

Little Angels of the Trapeze (1959), Music at Night (1958), Las Aventuras de Pito Pérez (1957) and El Coyote Emplumado (1983) were other of his most recognized films.

He also participated in several television projects, such as Cárcel de Mujeres and María Soledad. However, it was in the eighties within the comedy program Chespirito when she got her “second wind”, by giving life to the character of Doña María Espotaverderona Torquemada, mother of “La Chimoltrufia” (Florinda Meza).

Her last appearance on TV was in 2007, with a small role in the telenovela Lola, Érase una Vez.

Anabel Gutiérrez is the mother of fellow actress Amairani Romero and grandmother of Macarena García, known for playing the roles of Natalia Alexander in the Mexican series Control Z.

 

GUTIERREZ, Anabel (Anabelle Rafaela Gutiérrez Aicua)

Born: 9/5/1931, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Died: 8/21/2022, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

 

Anabel Gutiérrez’s westerns – actress:

Quietos todas! – 1959 (Rosita)

Los resbalosos – 1960 (Carmela)

RIP Mildred Kornman

 

Extra TV

August 21, 2022

 

Mildred Kornman, one of the last people known to have appeared in Silent Era silent movies, died August 19 at 97, according to longtime friend Robert Satterfield.

Kornman had been the last woman and the third-to-last person left alive from the silents, having appeared in over 20 "Our Gang" comedy shorts from 1926-1935, her career bridging the Silent and Sound Eras.

The only two people still alive who are thought to have appeared in a silent film are Garry Watson (who was an infant) and Donnie "Beezer" Smith.

Post-"Our Gang," Kornman appeared in a dozen features, always uncredited, from 1937-1962, was a rare surviving actor who had worked with Laurel and Hardy, and in the '40s became an in-demand high-fashion model under the moniker Ricki VanDusen, gracing the covers of Bazaar and Vogue and posing for the likes of Irving Penn.

Kornman had made many appearances at fan conventions over the years, where she was a favorite. "Everything, when it gets older, becomes more popular," she opined in a 2015 interview with The Guardian.

Born July 10, 1925, Kornman was the younger sister of Mary Kornman, an "Our Gang" star. They were the daughters of still photographer Eugene Kornman, who worked for Silent superstar Harold Lloyd.

She made her screen debut at the age of 1 month in "The Thundering Fleas" (1926), nearly 100 years before her passing, but grabbed more attention as an "Our Gang" regular from 1926-1928. Her other credits in the series, from 1930 on, were for extra work.

After her acting and modeling careers were over, Kornman took up her father's profession of photography.

 

KORNMAN, Mildred (Mildred Gene Kornman)

Born: 7/10/1925, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 8/19/2022, Mt. Vernon, Washington, U.S.A.

 

Mildred Kornman’s western – actress:

War Feathers – 1926 (Mildred)

RIP Virginia Patton

 

 Virginia Patton Moss, It's a Wonderful Life Star, Dies at 97

Movie Web

By Jeremy Dick

August 21, 2022

 

The last-surviving adult cast member of It's a Wonderful Life, Virginia Patton Moss, has passed away.

Actress Virginia Patton Moss, who memorably appeared in the classic Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life, has died. Per Variety, Moss, who was the last-surviving adult cast member of It's a Wonderful Life, reportedly passed away on Aug. 18 in Albany, Georgia. She was 97 years old.

Taking to Facebook to express her sorrow, former child star Karolyn Grimes, who appeared in It's a Wonderful Life, wrote a message that reads: "We have another angel! Virginia Patton Moss. She was 97 years old. She played Harry Bailey’s wife in the film, It’s a Wonderful Life! She is now with her beloved Cruse. She will be missed!"

As noted, Moss played Ruth Dakin Bailey, wife of Harry Bailey (Todd Karns) and the sister-in-law of George Bailey (James Stewart). The mention of "Cruse" refers to Cruse W. Moss, whom Moss married in 1949. The couple had three children during their marriage and remained together until Cruse passed away in 2018.

An Ohio native, Moss was born on June 25, 1925, in Cleveland. The niece of General George S. Patton, Moss had ventured into doing stage work as an actress before landing roles in feature films. She broke out with her role in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, which was released in 1946 and remains one of cinema history's most revered holiday films. She had previously appeared in movies like Thank Your Lucky Stars, The Last Ride, Janie, Hollywood Canteen, The Horn Blows at Midnight, Canyon Passage, and Nobody Lives Forever.

Moss would only continue to act for a few more years after the release of It's a Wonderful Life before pursuing a successful career as a businesswoman. She went on to appear in the Western movie Black Eagle, the drama The Burning Cross, and the film noir A Double Life. Her final acting credit was in 1949's The Lucky Stiff, as he retired from performing following the release of this feature.

“I couldn’t see me doing that for my life,” Moss said of her decision to retire in 2012, per Variety. “I wanted exactly what I am. Ann Arbor, Michigan, a wonderful husband, wonderful children, a good part of the community. I work hard for the community.”

At this time, we would like to offer our condolences to the family and friends driving the loss of Moss at this difficult time. May she rest in peace as her memory continues to live on.

 

PATTON, Virginia (Virginia Ann Patton)

Born: 6/25/1925, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.

Died: 8/18/2022, Albany, Georgia, U.S.A.

 

Virginia Patton’s westerns – actress:

Roaring Guns – 1944 (Karen Ferris)

Canyon Passage – 1946 (Liza Stone / Bartlett)

Black Eagle – 1948 (Ginny Long)

RIP Sombat Metanee

 

Pattaya Mail

August 18, 2022

 

Legendary Thai actor and national artist ‘Sombat Metanee’ dies in his sleep at 85

Sombat Metanee, a legendary Thai actor and national artist died Thursday morning (Aug 18) in his sleep at his house on Soi Latprao 71, Bangkok, at the age of 85.

Sombat (26 June 1937 – 18 August 2022) was a former Thai actor, film director and he has been honor as a national artist in the performing arts branch (Movie and TV Series) in 2016. At one time he held the Guinness World Record for most film appearances (617). By his own count, he’s made more than 2,000 films and television shows, including Thai soap operas.

A prolific leading man in action films, romance, dramas, comedies and musicals at the height of his career in the 1960s and 1970s, he continues to act in Thai films and in television series, making frequent appearances on talk shows and in TV commercials.

Among his recent films are Tears of the Black Tiger and The Legend of Suriyothai. He got Bachelor of Business Administration from Petchaburi Rajabhat, master and doctoral of Political Sciences from Eastern Asia University. Sombat married Kanchana in 1959, and raised 4 sons and 1 daughter together.

 

METANEE, Sombat

Born: 6/26/1937, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand

Died: 8/18/2022, Lat Phrao, Bangkok, Thailand

 

Sombat’s Metanee’s western – actor:

Tears of the Black Tiger – 2000 (Fai)

RIP Butch Thompson

 

Butch Thompson, jazz pianist with 'A Prairie Home Companion' dies

 

MPR News

By Jacob Aloi

August 16, 2022

 

Butch Thompson’s spritely piano playing entertained audiences around the world and charmed fellow musicians. Thompson, the original pianist on “A Prairie Home Companion” passed away this week at the age 78.

Butch Thompson’s love of performing started when he entered a talent competition at Stillwater Junior High. In an interview with MPR News in 2013, he recalled the initial feeling of stage fright.

“But I got through it all right, and they just went wild, the kids, and to me that may have been the reason why I became a professional musician.” Thompson said.

When Thompson was 12, he saw Louis Armstrong perform in Minneapolis at the Northrop Auditorium, which fueled his early pursuit of jazz. Thompson started out playing clarinet, before turning to the stride piano.

Singer Prudence Johnson, who performed with Thompson on “A Prairie Home Companion” remembers watching him play.

"I think about those big, gorgeous, long, graceful hands of his just sort of draped over the keyboard,” she said. “If you watched his hands, it almost looked like he was barely doing anything ... he did make it look really effortless."

Pat Donohue, who also performed with Thompson on the show and later recorded with him, admired his musicianship.

“I always said, if I played piano, I would want to play just like Butch Thompson,” Donohue said. “Because he really made me feel good … which I think is what music's supposed to do.”

Thompson mastered music from the past and took joy in performing it for modern audiences, said jazz musician and photographer Travis Anderson.

“When you went to a Butch Thompson show, you felt like you were transported back to the 1920s, or even earlier. And he was, I would say proudly unapologetic about that.” Anderson said.

“Everyone benefits from listening to someone like Butch from listening to the ways that music was performed many, many, many years ago, because if it spoke to people then it can speak to people now.”

Thompson was known for more than his music. “He was the epitome of a gentleman, and, I would say, a gentle man ... all that stuff that you kind of want in a human being,” Donohue said.

His good nature also came through in his artistry.

“He was a very good listener as a playing partner so that that's so much of it,” Donohue said, “He wasn't listening to himself as much as he was listening to you, while he was playing.”

Thompson’s family has plans for a private funeral, and a public celebration of life planned for a later date.

THOMPSON, Butch

Born: 11/28/1943, Marine on Saint Croix, Minnesota, U.S.A.

Died: 8/14/2022, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.

 

Butch Thompson’s western – musician:

Prairie Home Companion – 2000 [clarinet]

RIP Nick Evans

 

The Horse Whisperer author Nicholas Evans dies suddenly aged 72: Tributes are paid to ‘masterful storyteller’ journalist and screenwriter who passed away after suffering heart attack

Best-selling author passed away on Tuesday, his agency confirmed today

He was famed for The Horse Whisperer, selling 15 million copies worldwide

It  follows complex trainer hired to help injured teen and her horse back to health

Book was turned into a movie starring Robert Redford and Scarlett Johansson

Kristin Scott Thomas and Sam Neill also featured in the 1998 movie adaptation

 

The Daily Mail

By Jamie Phillips

August 15, 2022

 

Author Nicholas Evans, famed for writing The Horse Whisperer, has died aged 72 following a heart attack.

The best-selling author, screenwriter and journalist passed away suddenly on Tuesday, his literary agency confirmed today.

A statement released this morning said: 'United Agents are very sad to announce the sudden death of the celebrated best-selling author Nicholas Evans who died suddenly on Tuesday this week following a heart attack, aged 72.'

The Horse Whisperer, published in 1995, sold around 15 million copies worldwide and was the number one bestseller in 20 countries.

It was Evans' debut novel and follows a complex and talented trainer who is hired to help an injured teenager and her horse back to health after a severe injury.

Such was its popularity, the book was adapted for the big screen three years later by Hollywood star Robert Redford, who starred as the title character, with Scarlett Johansson playing young rider Grace MacLean in her breakout role.

Kristin Scott Thomas starred as her mother, Annie, while Sam Neill played her father, Robert.

Dell Publishing agreed to pay 3.15 million US dollars (£2.1 million at the time) for the North American rights to the film.

Born in Worcestershire in 1950, he went on to study law at Oxford University before graduating with first-class honours.

He worked as a journalist at the Evening Chronicle in Newcastle before moving into television.

Evans produced films about US politics and the Middle East for current affairs show Weekend World.

By the 1980s he was at London Weekend Television, producing films on Sir Laurence Olivier, Francis Bacon and David Hockney for The South Bank Show.

But while living in the south west of England, he met a blacksmith and learned about horse whisperers who can supposedly heal traumatised horses.

The idea stemmed into the bestselling book, which has now been translated into 36 languages.

Writing for The Daily Mail in November 2020 about the book, he said: 'Usually, writing a novel is like climbing a mountain: it’s slow and arduous and you can easily get lost.

'But with The Horse Whisperer I could see the story laid out before me, like stepping stones across a river. All I had to do was put one foot in front of the other.

I became aware I was telling an ancient kind of tale — the kind human beings have told each other for millennia.

'It is about good people being plunged into a dark vortex of pain. In the end, a hand of love reaches in to rescue and uncloud them. Think of the angel saving Daniel in the lions’ den.

'For the sake of those who have yet to read the book, I won’t say much more. All I’d add is that it isn’t a book about horses. It’s about us, and how easy it is for all of us to get lost and clouded and separated from the things that really matter.

'And how, if we get lucky, a pure and selfless love can save us.'

Writing about the movie adaptation on his website, Evans revealed that he did not think the second half of the movie 'worked',

He said: 'Although I think Robert Redford did a marvelous job with the horse work and the whole look of the picture (and the acting, of course, was fabulous), I don’t think the second half of the movie really worked.

'It kind of got itself lost. I don’t think they ever really had the script right before they started shooting and once you’ve started there is never enough time to fix it.

'The ending, in my opinion, completely missed the point of the book.'

He went on to write a further four novels - The Loop (1998), The Smoke Jumper (2001), The Divide (2005) and The Brave (2010).

Evans and his family became ill in 2008 after suffering a near-fatal reaction when they ate the deadly webcap mushroom - mistaking it for harmless ceps.

The author, his singer-songwriter wife Charlotte along with her brother and sister-in-law suffered kidney failure and endured dialysis following the incident.

Mr Evans was saved after nearly three years of been on a waiting list when his only daughter gave him one of her kidneys in a live donation.

Evans, then 61, said his daughter's donation - which took place at Hammersmith Hospital last July - had given him his life back.

It was Evans himself who had picked the mushrooms from his brother-in-law's 13,000-acre Scottish Highlands estate and then cooked them before serving them up to his family.

He had mistakenly harvested a crop of deadly webcaps while he was staying with his brother-in-law, Sir Alastair Gordon-Cumming, and his wife Lady Louisa.

After sautéeing them with butter and parsley he served them for dinner to his wife Charlotte and hosts. The following day they were all admitted to hospital.

In an interview following the incident Nicholas said: ‘I took the mushrooms back to the house, showed them around and the general comment was, “Fantastic!”

‘So I cut them up and cooked them in butter and parsley. The four adults ate them sitting outside. They tasted slightly bitter but Alastair and I had lots, the two women not so many.

'Luckily none of the four children [Nick and Charlotte have a six-year-old son, Finlay, and their hosts have three children] wanted to try them.

'Doctors told us afterwards that if they had, the mushrooms would have killed them.’

 

EVANS, Nick (Nicholas Evans)

Born: 7/26/1950, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, U.K.

Died: 8/9/2022,

 

Nick Evans – western – author:

The Horse Whisperer - 1998