RIP Hank Saroyan

 

Legacy Remembers

September 26, 2022

 

Hank Durand Saroyan, Emmy Award-winning director/producer, lover of animals, his family, and many friends, passed away Friday, September 23 from complications associated with Multiple Myeloma Cancer. He was 75. Born in Alameda, California to Dorothy and Henry Saroyan, he attended Alameda High School, where he served as Student Body President. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelors in Zoology, then decided to apply his wit, humor, writing skills, and creative talent to the entertainment business.

Hank began his career as a stunt writer on the "Anniversary Game", broadcast from KGO/ABC in San Francisco. He then secured a position on the creative team at Dick Clark Productions, writing, and producing. Hank next turned to animation, working for Hannah Barbera, and Marvel Productions, and won an Emmy for the "Muppet Babies." A notable achievement was his Emmy Award-winning directorial debut of "The Parsley Garden," a William Saroyan short story adapted by Hank for television (ABC). He was known for his creative talent and unabashed fun-loving approach to work and life. Hank had a passion for animals - he was an advocate, defender, and caregiver.

Hank married his college sweetheart Kathy in 1970, and together they had a son, Jason (1973). They later divorced in 1975. The last few years of Hank's journey were not all easy. But he always made his caregivers forget their problems and laugh out loud. He had endless stories to tell, was a master at embellishment, and was always able to resonate with any type of audience. He will be remembered by many for years to come.

Hank was preceded in death by his parents, his uncle and mentor, William Saroyan, and his sister, Margie. He is survived by his son, Jason Saroyan (& Valerie), grandsons William and Wyatt, and his nieces Penny and Linda (& Michael), his dogs "Winston" and "Bailey" and his cat "Liana."

In Hank's honor, please consider contributing to the SPCA (https://www.aspca.org/) and/or the Wealth Health Foundation (https://www.healthwellfoundation.org/).

SAROYAN, Hank (Hank Durand Saroyan)

Born: 1947, Alameda, California, U.S.A.

Died: 9/23/2022, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Hank Saroyan’s western – writer, composer:

Fievel’s Adventures in the West (TV) - 1992

RIP Patricia Morán

 

Infobae

October 26, 2022

 

Patricia Morán, actress of the Golden Age, died

The histrionisa acted since she was 21 years old and participated in more than 20 films and 18 telenovelas, including "The Exterminating Angel"

On the morning of October 26, the death of Patricia Morán at 97 years old was announced. His name was reflected in the history of Mexican cinema thanks to his participation in films such as The Exterminating Angel, with Silvia Pinal.

It was the ANDI (National Association of Interpreters) that reported on the sensitive death of the actress of the so-called Golden Age.

So far, the reason for his death is unknown.

As it has been spread on social networks, the artist would have died last weekend, as her former colleagues made it known, sending farewell messages to Patricia.

Also, in social networks it was announced that his burial was earlier this week in the Frances Legaria Pantheon.

María Blanca Caridad Ogilvie Clark Peralta, real name of Patricia Morán, was born in Tamaulipas and forged her career in cinema since she was 21 years old. He rose to stardom thanks to productions such as La mujer de todos, Otra primavera or Romeo contra Julieta, among others.

One of his first appearances on the big screen was in A Modern Virgin, a film starring Libertad Lamarque. Thanks to this production and her talent, Morán was nominated for the Best Female Co-Performance category of the Ariel Awards, although the award went to Stella Inda for Los Olvidados.

During the early years of the 50s, Patricia devoted herself completely to cinema and acted in films such as Love is not business, Girls in Uniform and Two lives; However, he took a break after the premiere of the latter.

For six years, Morán was away from the spotlight, but had a triumphant return with her debut on the small screen with the second production of this type of content in Mexico, the telenovela Gutierritos.

In addition to the 23 films and 18 soap operas in which he participated, he was also part of the previously popular fotonovelas and did dubbing for the film Kaliman, Profanadores de tumbas.

Another of the productions in which he participated and was of great importance both in his career and in the history of cinema was El ángel exterminator (1962), a film by Luis Buñuel, in which he acted with Silvia Pinal.

Patricia's personal life was what led her to say goodbye to her audience and get away almost completely from the world of entertainment, as she was lovingly related to the former governor of Chihuahua Óscar Flores Sánchez. For the second time, Morán married the politician in 1968, making her the state's first lady.

Since Patricia wanted to fulfill her political role by marrying Flores Sánchez, from the day she married she retired almost completely from acting, at age 43.

After these almost 15 years of career, the histrionisa kept a very low profile and made some public appearances in the company of her husband, this in his role as governor of Chihuahua, from 1968 to 1974.

At this time, Patricia Morán was not considered to have retired from acting, as she still appeared in a film in 1970, Why Was I Born a Woman? Next to Ana Martín, Sara García and Andrés Soler.

After this, she did strive to be completely away from the cameras, even after the death of her second husband in 1986.

Since then, until now, the life of the actress was not known.

MORAN Patricia (María Blanca Caridad Ogilvie Clark Peralta)

Born: 9/10/1925, Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Died: 10/24/2022, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

 

Patricia Moran’s western – actress:

Camino de Sacramento – 1946 (Chica)

RIP Lupe Andrade

 

Actress Lupe Andrade, wife of Guillermo ‘El Borras’ Rivas, dies

Mundo Now

By Patricia Ontiveros

October, 25, 2022

The world of Mexican cinema is mourning again. Actress Guadalupe Andrade Torres, Lupe Andrade, has died according to the National Association of Actors’ Instagram account.

They published a black and white photograph of the actress with a description saying she had died. This was almost 20 hours ago and people were sending some messages of condolences in the comments of the post.

Guadalupe Andrade Torres, better known as Lupe Andrade, was an actress who starred in many Mexican films, such as El Inocente (1956), Chuquiago (1977), Who are our daughters with? (1956) and The Medallion of Crime.

The National Association of Actors, released a statement yesterday reporting the death of their union member: “The National Association of Actors deeply regrets the death of our colleague Guadalupe Andrade Torres “Lupe Andrade”, a member of our union. Our condolences to her family and friends. Rest in peace.”

The cause of her death is unknown. Not much is known about the actress. She was the wife of beloved actor Guillermo Rivas Rowlatt, better known as El Borras, who died in March 2004 of hepatitis and pneumonia.

ENDRADE, Lupe (Guadalupe Endrade)

Born: 193?, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Died: 10/22/2022, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

 

Lupe Endrade’s western – actress:

El jinete solitario' en El valle de los desaparecidos: La venganza del jinete solitario - 1960

RIP Don Edwards

 

Beloved cowboy singer Don Edwards dies at 86

 

MSN

10/24/2022

 

Don Edwards, the beloved cowboy singer who frequently headlined the annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, died on Sunday at the age of 86. 

The award-winning artist was nominated for two Grammys, won Best Male Performer from the Western Music Association, and won eight Wrangler Awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. He was widely respected among his fans and his peers. Gene Autry once said of him, “I'm proud and honored to be riding the same trail as you.”

Edwards was considered as much more than a musician, however. He was known as a scholar of the Old West – taking an interest in its musicology and history. According to Edwards’ website, Bobby Weaver, of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, summed up Edwards' importance as "the best purveyor of cowboy music in America today."

“In tales of the day-to-day lives and emotions of those who lived it, his ballads paint a sweeping landscape of both mind and heart, bringing to life the sights, sounds and feelings of this American contribution to culture and art,” read a statement on his website. “The quality of this cowboy balladeer's music stems from the fact that he is so much more than a singer.”

“Once referred to as a singing scholar of the Old West, his deep knowledge of history and musical lore was of great help when our media team traveled to Fort Worth for in-depth research of John Lomax,” read a post on Edwards’ Facebook page by the Western Folklife Center. “Don guided them through the Fort Worth Stockyards and the Elephant Saloon, and was very generous with both his talents and time.”

EDWARDS, Don (Donald Edwards)

Born: 3/20/1939, Boonton, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Died: 10/23/2022, Hico, Texas, U.S.A.

 

Don Edwards’ westerns – actor, self:

Sourdough, Beefsteak & Beans – 1995 [self]

The Horse Whisperer – 1998 (Smokey)

All Around Performance Horse – 2008 [self]

Red Steagall is Somewhere West of Wall Street (TV) – 2020, 2021, 2022 [self]

RIP Michael Kopsa

 

Voice Actor Michael Kopsa Passes Away at 66

 

Anime News Network

By Rafael Antonio Pineda

10/25/2022

 

Actor voiced Char Aznable in Gundam, Volcott in Galaxy Angel

Voice actors and actors Mark Hildreth, Peter Kelamis, Shea Hampton, and Mackenzie Gray have all variously revealed on Sunday and Monday that voice actor Michael Kopsa passed away on Sunday, October 23. He was 66.

Kopsa is perhaps best known for his role as the English voice of Char Aznable in Mobile Suit Gundam. He also provided the English voice for Col. Volcott O. Huey, the constantly put-open commanding officer in the various Galaxy Angel anime.

Outside of anime, he is known for his various appearances in Stargate SG-1, X-Files, The Outer Limits, and voicing Beast in X-Men: Evolution.

He was formerly married to actress Lucia Frangione, and they had one daughter named Nora. Kopsa died on October 23, 2022, at the age of 66.

KOPSA, Michael

Born: 1/22/1956, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Died: 10/23/2022, Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada

 

Michael Kopsa’s westerns – actor, voice actor:

Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years (TV) – 1995

Dead Man’s Gun (TV) – 1998 (Levi Flynn)

Damnation – 2009 [voice of Prescott]

RIP Ron Masak

 

Murder, She Wrote Actor Ron Masak Dies One Week After Co-Star Angela Lansbury

 

Angela Lansbury's Murder, She Wrote co-star Ron Masak has died at age 86. Find out more about his life and career.

 

E News

By Corrine Heller

October 21, 2022

 

Following the death of Angela Lansbury, another star of the hit series Murder, She Wrote has also passed away.

Ron Masak, who played Sheriff Mort Metzger on the '80s and '90s show, died at age 86 on Oct. 20, nine days after the actress' death at age 96. The actor passed away from natural causes at a hospital in Thousand Oaks, Calif., his granddaughter Kaylie Defilippis told the Hollywood Reporter. One of Masak's daughters also announced the news on his Facebook page.

"This is Ron's daughter and it is with a very heavy and broken heart that today October 20, 2022 our Father Ron Masak passed at the age of 86," she wrote. "He was surrounded by his wife and all six children."

Masak's onscreen acting career spanned more than 60 years. In addition to his role on Murder, She Wrote, which he played on final eight of the show's 12 seasons, Masak appeared on shows such as Columbo, Webster, Falcon Crest and Bewitched.

For 15 years, the actor was also a spokesmodel for Vlasic pickles, voicing an animated, bow-tied stork that sounds a lot like Groucho Marx, THR said, adding that a Hollywood columnist once dubbed Masak "The King of Commercials."

Offscreen, Masak dedicated his time to philanthropy and to his family. "Ron also spent many years playing an integral role in various charity events for Wounded Warriors, Child Help, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Susan G. Komen Foundation, The Jerry Lewis Telethon, and many more," his daughter wrote on Facebook.

She added, "Most importantly, we will remember him as a husband, a Father, a Papa, a Father in Law, and a great friend. He has touched so many lives and will be greatly missed."

MASAK, Ron (Ronald Masak)

Born: 7/1/1936, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 10/20/2022, Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.A.

 

Ron Masak’s westerns – actor:

A Time for Dying – 1969 (Sam)

The Yellow Rose (TV) – 1984 (Johnny Tupeio)

RIP Leslie Jordan

 

Leslie Jordan, Comic Actor and Instagram Star, Dies at 67

 

Shows like “Will & Grace” made him a familiar face, then the pandemic brought new fame. He was killed in a car crash in Hollywood.

 

The New York Times

By Neil Genzlinger

October 24, 2022

Leslie Jordan, a comic actor who after a late start in his performing career became a recognizable face from roles on numerous television shows, most notably “Will & Grace,” then achieved even more fame during the pandemic when his quirky homemade videos attracted millions of Instagram followers, died on Monday in a car crash in Hollywood, Calif. He was 67.

David Shaul of the BRS/Gage Talent Agency, which represented him, confirmed the death. News reports quoting the police said Mr. Jordan’s car crashed into the side of a building after he had apparently experienced a medical emergency. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that someone driving a BMW collided with a wall in Hollywood at 9:30 a.m. and died, but he declined to identify the victim.

“Not only was he a mega-talent and joy to work with,” Mr. Shaul said of Mr. Jordan by email, “but he provided an emotional sanctuary to the nation at one of its most difficult times.”

That was a reference to Mr. Jordan’s surprising foray into viral videos during the pandemic. Sitting out Covid-19 in Tennessee, near his family, he began posting vignettes on Instagram — simple, amusing moments from his life — and was surprised to find his number of followers balloon into the millions. He had accumulated more than 130 television and film credits, so he hadn’t been exactly undiscovered, but the Instagram stardom at age 65 was an unexpected treat.

“I’ve loved attention, wanted it my whole career,” he told The New York Times in 2020, “and I’ve never gotten this kind of attention.”

He also found that he had become a sort of de facto comforter to those fans.

“What I love, though,” he said, “are people that pull me aside and say: ‘Listen, I don’t want to bother you, but I’ve had a rough go. I’ve been locked down. I’ve got kids, and I looked forward to your posts and you really, really helped me through this tough time.’ When people tell you things like that, you realize comedy is important.”

Comedy came easily to Mr. Jordan, though it took him a while to find his way to a performing career. At under five feet tall, he was small enough that in his 20s he made a stab at becoming a jockey. But in his later 20s he gave up that idea, earned a theater degree and in 1982 took a bus to Hollywood.

It was a difficult period for a gay actor like Mr. Jordan to find work, but he began getting jobs, first in commercials.

“I was like Flo,” he said in the 2020 interview, a reference to the Progressive Insurance pitchwoman. “People would recognize me. I was the PIP Printing guy. I was the elevator operator to Hamburger Hell for Taco Bell, where you went if you didn’t eat tacos.”

He began to get TV roles in 1986 — guests spots on “The Fall Guy,” “Murphy Brown,” “Newhart” and others, then recurring roles on “The People Next Door,” “Top of the Heap,” “Reasonable Doubts,” “Hearts Afire” and more.

He made a particular impression on the sitcom “Will & Grace,” about the friendship between a gay lawyer and a straight interior designer sharing a New York City apartment. Mr. Jordan played the tart-tongued socialite Beverley Leslie, appearing both in the original series beginning in 2001 and in the recent reboot.

In 2006, he won an Emmy for the role, for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series.

Leslie Allen Jordan was born on April 29, 1955, in Memphis to Allen and Peggy Ann Jordan and was raised in Chattanooga, Tenn. His Southern drawl was as distinctive a part of his résumé as his height.

Mr. Jordan said he knew from early in life that he was gay — he liked to say that he went directly from his mother’s womb into her high heels and had been “on the prance ever since.”

The household was conservative, and his father, who was in the Army and died in a plane crash when Leslie was 11, was concerned enough about Leslie’s effeminate qualities to send his son to an all-boys summer camp one year. As Mr. Jordan told the story to The Times in 2020, at the camp’s parents day, awards were handed out, with the moms and dads looking on.

“So here’s one for the best archer, here’s for the best horseback rider, here’s for the best swim person,” he said, “and I didn’t win anything. And my mother said my dad was just sinking lower and lower.”

But the staff eventually brought out a trophy, presented it to Leslie, and someone announced: “This is for the best all-around camper. We have this kid who wasn’t actually the best at anything, but boy, he sure did make us laugh.”

He loved horses but realized he wasn’t suited to be a jockey.

“People think it’s size, or something,” he told The Telegraph of Britain in 2021. “It has nothing to do with that. You have to weigh about 104 pounds, and honey, my ass alone weighs 104.”

When he decided to try showbiz, he said, “I had $1,200 that mother pinned into my underpants,” and he had to decide which direction to go from Tennessee, to New York or Hollywood.

“If I was going to starve, I wanted to starve with a tan,” he said. He headed west.

As he wrote in his book “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet” (2008), he knew that being gay might not help his prospects in Hollywood.

“I decided I was going to make a real effort to ‘butch it up’ and hide any signs that I was a Big Homo,” he wrote. “The funny thing is, I am, without a doubt, the gayest man I know.”

Once he began landing roles, they came quickly, but Mr. Jordan also had substance abuse problems.

“I tell people: If you want to get sober, try 27 days in the L.A. men’s county jail,” he told The Guardian in 2021. At 42, he kicked his addictions to alcohol and crystal meth.

Information on his survivors was not immediately available.

Most of Mr. Jordan’s work was in television, but he also took the occasional film role, including in “The Help” (2011). He also had a one-man stage show that he performed frequently, titled, like his first book, “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet.” It was an autobiographical collection of stories.

“I am a high school cheerleader stuck in a 55-year-old man’s body,” he confessed in one memorable line. “If you were to cut me open, Hannah Montana would jump out.”

David Rooney reviewed it for The Times when the show was presented in New York in 2010.

“Many gay rites-of-passage stories are echoed here: hostile small-town environment (Chattanooga, Tenn.); rigidly masculine father; humor as armor against bullies; unrequited loves; drug and alcohol dependency; internal homophobia; weakness for rough trade,” Mr. Rooney wrote. “But Mr. Jordan’s candor gives them a fresh spin.”

In recent years Mr. Jordan was much in demand, with recurring roles in the TV series “American Horror Story,” “Call Me Kat,” “The Cool Kids” and “Living the Dream.” In 2021 he published another book, “How Y’All Doing? Misadventures and Mischief From a Life Well Lived.”

JORDAN, Leslie (Leslie Allen Jordan)

Born: 4/29/1955, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.A.

Died: 10/24/2022, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Leslie Jordan’s westerns – actor, voice actor:

Home on the Range – 2004 [voice]

Undead or Alive; A Zomebedy – 2007 (padre)

RIP Don Elson

 

Facebook

Anna Harrison Griessel

May 9, 2022

 

It is with deep sadness that we, the family of Donald Elson, announce that he passed away peacefully in the early hours of May 7, 2022 with Valerie by his side. He lived a rich, long life and touched many with his kindness and caring. Memorial donations can be made to MPTF Recreation Fund

ELSON, Don (Donald Elson)

Born: 3/31/1923, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 5/6/2022, Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A.

 

Don Elson’s westerns – actor:

Jack Slade – 1953 (Mr. Ward)

The Day of the Outlaw – 1959 (Vic)

Johnny Ringo (TV) – 1959 (posse member)

Lawman (TV) – 1959, 1960 (Oliver, express office operator)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1959, 1961, 1962 (Mr. Drake, Crony, J.C. Clegg)

The Rifleman (TV) – 1959, 1962 (Aaron, North Fork newspaper printer)

Wichita Town (TV) – 1959 (Fred Walker)

Death Valley Days (TV) – 1960. 1961 (townsman, deputy)

Sugarfoot (TV) – 1959 (Branes, shopkeeper)

Bonanza (TV) – 1964, 1966, 1969 (Ed Wharton, McLang, clerk)

Shane (TV) – 1966 (Ames)

The Big Valley (TV) – 1968 (bartender)

Scandalous John -1971

Gunsmoke (TV) 1973 (Brown, farmer Buey)

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1978-1982 (Fred)

May Brigg’s Big Break – 2002 (Max Brigg)

RIP Peter Siragusa

 

Dignity Memorial

10/20/2022

 

Pete Siragusa passed away on Tuesday, the 11th of October, 2022 at Adventist Hospital in Los Angeles, CA

of sudden illness. He was born in Boston, MA on September 10, 1955 to Peter and Gloria Siragusa of Boston, MA. Pete is survived by his siblings of Brighton, MA, his wife Pam of Los Angeles, CA, his two sons Cody and Jordan, his daughter in law Maia and a granddaughter Lula of Chicago, IL. He is also survived by his nieces and nephews.

Pete was a professional actor for his adult life and was a character his entire life. His acting career began in earnest at Boston College while pursuing an English major. Ever proud of his education, Pete’s BC class ring can be seen in the movie The Big Lebowski. He would go on to perform across the country on stage, screen and radio. Some of his notable roles were: over 5,000 performances of the play Shear Madness, the show Frasier, the video game Bioshock. Later in life he also became a drug and alcohol counselor with the Salvation Army helping men regain control of their lives. He acquired several mantras in relation to this work, including QTIP: Quit Taking It Personally.

Pete was an avid learner. He was always curious and constantly diving headfirst into a new topic. Hisinterests varied from sports to music to technology. He thought he should be pitching for the Red Sox this year. He loved going to the Hollywood Bowl. When there was a new gadget or tool, Pete would forgo the included “suggestions” and assemble the new gizmo “his way”. He even taught himself how to surf without ever stepping on a surfboard.

Pete also valued a hard day’s work. He was often at his happiest having a glass of lemonade while still filthy after having crawled under a house to complete a task. He remodeled homes in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Port Hueneme, installing more than plenty of outlets and making houses into homes.

The relationships that Pete made and maintained over his life were many and strong. He stayed in contact with friends and the family of friends for his entire life. Pete loved to share stories and laugh with new friends he would make in line at the bank too. Ever the optimist cheerleader, Pete would be there to just check in at the right time. He loved his wife, his family and friends on both coasts and all the places in between.

The family would like to acknowledge and thank the team at Glendale Adventist Hospital Intensive Care Unit (as well as all the other hospitals he “toured”) for their patience and car

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a donation be made to any addiction center in Pete’s name to honor his commitment to helping others battle addiction.

SIRAGUSA, Peter

Born: 2/10/1955, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Died: 10/11/2022, Glendale, California, U.S.A.

 

Peter Siragusa’s westerns – actor, voice actor:

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 2001 (Hugo)

Home on the Range – 2004 [voice]

RIP Carl-Hermann Risse

 

From bricklayer to professor of directing: Carl-Hermann Risse has died

As an actor Carl-Hermann Risse experienced the great Benno Besson years at the Volksbühne, then directed himself and became "Ernst Busch" professor.

 

Berliner Zeitung

By Ulrich Seidler

10/19/2022

 In the last years of his career, until 2007, Carl-Hermann Risse worked at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts. The students will have taken the opportunity to squeeze out the humorous, attentive and versatile professor of directing and let him tell about his rich theater life, which was now coming to an end. Risse was 80 years old.

Born in Dresden in 1942, he unconsciously experienced the horrors of war and later chose a profession that was needed at the time: bricklayer. At the age of twenty he changed his saddle and trained at the Dresden Acting Studio, got his first engagements in Stendal and Schwerin, before he won the big ticket in the Theater Lotto and was engaged at the Volksbühne in 1968, one year before Benno Besson took over the house first as artistic director and then as artistic director.

With Besson throughout Europe

Risse was cast as party secretary in Heiner Müller's "Weiberkomödie", directed by Fritz Marquardt, and also played with Besson, for example in "Das letzte Paradies" and in "Der gute Mensch von Sezuan", with which Besson finally became a superstar of the Brecht Theater and was invited throughout Europe. Risse, who also worked as a dubbing actor and actor at Defa and on television, remained at the Volksbühne until 1984, began to direct himself, forged friendships with the actor Henry Hübchen and with the director Manfred Karge, among others, but also got the leaden time there after Besson had gone to the West.

After that, the then artistic director Siegfried Wein brought him to the Theater der Freundschaft as senior director, where Risse remained until the fall of the Berlin Wall and then worked as a freelance director and actor before becoming a professor of directing in 1995. On Tuesday evening, Carl-Hermann Risse, known as Charly, died peacefully surrounded by his family in hospital, as Siegfried Wein confirmed to the Berliner Zeitung.

RISSE, Carl-Hermann

Born: 1942, Dresden, Saxony, Germany

Died: 10/19/2022, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

 

Carl-Hermann- Risse’s western – actor:

Blue Bird - 1979

RIP Kay Parker

 

Kay Parker Obituary: Goddess of Golden Age Porn and star of TABOO, Cause of Death

 

Reality Bio

October 15, 2022

 

Iconic adult movie queen, and 1980s adult star Kay Parker has passed away at the of 78, an online obituary announced on Friday, October 14, 2022.

Kay Taylor Park was born in 1944, and had a wild career in adult films before becoming a “Metaphysical Counselor!” Born in England, Kay moved to the United States at the age of 21 and studied acting in San Francisco.

Parker was reportedly introduced to the adult film industry during the late 1970s by actor John Leslie, who suggested she take part in one of his upcoming films. She made her first appearance in ‘V’ – The Hot One in a non-sex role. Soon afterward, porn director Anthony Spinelli talked her into doing her first sex scene in Sex World (1977). Despite entering the adult film industry at an older age than most, she became a leading star in the field and was often paired with younger co-stars.

Words fall short of expressing our grief for your loss, as we mourn with family and friends for this great loss. Please accept our condolences and may our prayers help comfort you. Please receive our heartfelt condolences.

Funeral Service of Kay Parker: The funeral service of Kay Parker will be announced by her family members. They will post details of the deceased’s funeral and other related ceremonies on the online platform of their choice.

PARKER, Kay Taylor

Born: 8/28/1944, Birmingham, England, U.K.

Died: 10/14/2022, Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.A.

 

Kay Parker’s western – actress:

Kate and the Indians – 1979 (Kate)

 

RIP Ted White

 

Ted White – Jason Voorhees Actor from ‘Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter’ Has Passed Away

 

Bloody Disgusting

By John Squires

October 14, 2022

 

Best known to horror fans for playing Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, we’ve learned the sad news tonight that actor/stuntman Ted White has passed away.

Ted White was 96 years old.

Convention All Stars owner Sean Clark writes on social media tonight, “As I’m here setting up at Monsterpalooza I just got hit with the news that my dear friend Ted White has passed away. I was told he passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home.

“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing him and working with him for close to 20 years. He was my adopted grandpa and hands down the best storyteller you could have ever met. If you haven’t read it yet check out his book Cast a Giant Shadow where many of those stories are told. I was honored to be mentioned in the book when he wrote about his time in the convention world. I am going to miss you immensely and those steak dinners we always had. Also teasing you about your red, white & blue banner that made you look like you were running for President.

“My heart goes out to his wife Jeri and his sons. It was an absolute honor my friend. Rest easy. Love you Ted.”

Ted White doubled for everyone from Clark Gable to John Wayne and Lee Marvin, and many horror fans consider his Jason Voorhees to be the definitive depiction of the character.

In addition to Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Ted White also did stunt work for countless films including Creature from the Black Lagoon, Giant, Rio Bravo, Planet of the Apes, King Kong, The Manitou, Escape from New York, Road House, and Gone in 60 Seconds, and as an actor he appeared in TRON, Romancing the Stone, Starman, The Hidden, and “The X-Files.”

All of us here at BD send our deepest condolences to Ted’s family, friends, and colleagues.

WHITE, Ted (Alex Bayouth)

Born: 1/25/1926, Snyder, Texas, U.S.A

Died: 10/14/2022, Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.A

 

Ted White’s westerns – stuntman, actor:

Giant – 1956 [stunts]

Walk the Proud Land – 1956 [stunts]

The Sheriff of Cochise (TV) – 1956 [stunts]

Born Reckless – 1958 [stunts]

Buckskin (TV) – 1958 (Jenner)

Man Without a Gun (TV) – 1958 [stunts]

Maverick (TV) – 1958 (Sioux Indian) [stunts]

The Horse Soldiers – 1959 [stunts]

Rio Bravo – 1959 (Bart) [stunts]

These Thousand Hills 1959 (cowhand) [stunts]

The Young Land – 1959 [stunts]

Cimarron City (TV) – 1959 (Master henchman) [stunts]

The Alamo – 1960 (Tennessean) [stunts]

The Alaskans (TV) – 1960 (Brown)

Lawman (TV) – 1960, 1962 (Joe, Barton)

The Misfits – 1961 [stunts]

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970 (Indian, Carata, Hawks, Pushta, rider,

     Yellow Eye, Sergeant Judd Blake, Haskins, trapper, Captain Harper, Lane, Morse, Middleton,

     Aweetok, coach driver [stunts]

Wagon Train (TV) – 1964 (Cougar)

Cat Ballou – 1965 (gunslinger) [stunts]

Smoky – 1966 [stunts]

Bonanza (TV) – 1967 (brawler)

Will Penny – 1967 [stunts]

Kung Fu (TV) – 1974 (Greene)

Centennial (TV) – 1978 (brawler)

Comes a Horseman – 1978 [stunts]

Bronco Billy – 1980 [stunts]

The Legend of the Lone Ranger – 1981 (Mr. Reid) [stunts]

Silverado – 1985 (Hoyt)

Sunset – 1988 (Abbott)

Conagher (TV) – 1991 [stage passenger]

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold – 1994 [stunts]

Wild Wild West – 1999 [stunts]

RIP Jan Rabson

 

Voice Actor Jan Rabson Passes Away

Rabson voiced Tetsuo in original Akira dub

 

Anime News Network

By Alex Mateo

10/14/2022

Voice actor Bob Bergen revealed on Facebook on Friday that voice actor Jan Rabson (Tetsuo in original Wally Burr Recording/Streamline dub of Akira) has passed away.

Rabson was born on June 14, 1954 in East Meadow, New York. He was a member of Johnny Carson's "Mighty Carson Art Players," where he performed and voiced characters in sketches.

In addition to Tetsuo in Akira, Rabson also had roles in the Mobile Suit Gundam - The Movie Trilogy, Royal Space Force - The Wings of Honnêamise, Gatchaman (G-Force), Ponyo, Black Magic M-66, and Street Fighter II V anime. He has also played characters in cartoons and animated movies such as Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc.,, and Cars.

RABSON, Jan

Born: 6/14/1954, East Meadow, Long Island, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 10/14/2022, U.S.A.

 

Jan Rabson’s westerns – voice actor:

Freddy Pharkas, Frontier Pharmacist – 1994 [English voice of San Andreas, Wheaton Hall, Jim

     Laffer]

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – 2002 [various voices]

 

RIP Ralf Wolter

 

Ralf Wolter: Sam Hawkens made him world famous

 

It belonged to the Karl May films such as the Silver Rifle to Winnetou. With his wig scalp, Ralf Wolter has written film history as Sam Hawkens. That was more than 50 years ago. The last years before his death in October 2022, he lived in seclusion.

 

NDR

By Jochen Lambernd

October 14, 2022

"I'm never wrong. If I'm not mistaken, hihihi!" - Ralf Wolter as Sam Hawkens

Over the years, this quote has become a popular word that is inextricably linked to Ralf Wolter alias Sam Hawkens*. In 1962, the figure of the sympathetic-confused trapper appeared for the first time in “The Treasure in the Silver Lake”. Wolter starred alongside Pierre Brice as Winnetou and Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand. “I was happy with the role, it was one of my best times,” Wolter once said. He loved the character Sam Hawkens. Otherwise she wouldn’t have turned out that way, he was sure. Sam Hawkens also had another effect for him: “Strangely enough, this positive role fell back on me as Ralf Wolter. People said, ‘He’s a fragrant guy.’”

Wolter appeared in various Karl May film adaptations of the 1960s. In addition to Sam Hawkens, he also shone as Hají Halef Omar, whose mouth is often faster than his mind. No less bizarre was the role of the cuckoo clock representative Andreas Hasenpfeffer in “The Treasure of the Aztecs” and “The Pyramid of the Sun God”. For this he is said to have learned extra Swabian. In 1980, Wolter starred in the television series “My Friend Winnetou” again Sam Hawkens.

Born and educated in Berlin

Ralf Wolter was born on 26 November 1926 in Berlin, the son of a musician and a circus artist. Already at the age of six he had his first theater appearance at a performance of "Peer Gynt". He attended the acting school "Der Kreis" in Berlin and started his career in various theaters in and around his native city. Until old age he stood on the stage boards of German theaters. His passion for writing and composing led him to cabaret at an early age. He performed in Berlin, but also in Hamburg. His first film was in 1951 the film "Die Frauen des Herrn S." - a cabaret feature film in which Sonja Ziemann, Paul Hörbiger and Walter Giller took part, among others. More than 200 productions followed, mostly comedies.

Series hero, soft sex film actor and voice actor

In the 13-part ZDF series “Ein Fall für Titus Bunge” (A Case for Titus Bunge) in 1967, Wolter played the title character, a private detective. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the actor also shot various soft sex film comedies with telling titles such as “All kittens like to snack” or “Help, a virgin loves me”. This was followed by cute flicks with the then child star Heintje as well as the “Lümmel and Timpani films”, which were repeated many times on television and sometimes very clammy, including with Theo Lingen, Uschi Glas and Hansi Kraus. Also known are the feature film “What’s going on with Willi?” (1970) with Heinz Erhardt, the hit film “Tante Trude aus Buxtehude” (1971) with Rudi Carrell, Ilja Richter and Chris Roberts as well as “Piratensender Powerplay”, a comedy from 1982, with which Mike Krüger and Thomas Gottschalk start the so-called “Supernasen” series.

Wolter became one of the best-known German comedians. He worked as a television presenter, voice actor (including Miraculix in “Asterix in America” from 1994), cabaret artist, composer and singer. He was also in front of the camera for TV series such as “Mit Leib und Seele” and “Ein Schloss am Wörthersee”. He also appeared in “Der Alte”, “Tatort”, “Liebling Kreuzberg” and “Der Fahnder”. And he caused tears of laughter in feature films such as “Otto – Der Liebesfilm” (1992) with Otto Waalkes and “The Condom of Horror” (1996).

Ralf Wolter: “I do everything with love”

“What counts for me is that I do everything with love,” Wolter said. “How to recognize a good restaurant by the lovingly made salad”, you can recognize good actors by their love for the role. He also dealt with demanding pieces. At the Bad Hersfeld Festival in 1997 he took on several roles: Wolter was a lawyer in Georg Büchner’s “Danton’s Death” and Petrosilius Zwackelmann in Otfried Preußler’s “Der Räuber Hotzenplotz”. He described the Festival as “another building block of my joy of versatility”.

Also performed with Pierre Brice in Bad Segeberg

His most successful role did not let him go: The scalped old Wild West bleached face Sam Hawkens was also given by the actor at the Karl May Games in Bad Segeberg. In 1991 he appeared there together with Pierre Brice, who completed a total of four seasons as Winnetou am Kalkberg. Unlike Brice ("I miss respect"), Wolter took a liking to the "Shoe of Manitu" - even if he did not play in the lovingly implemented Winnetou persiflage by Michael "Bully" Herbig. He found the film "outstanding - incredibly funny and funny," he told the "Focus" in 2001.

Wolter: "Male friendship in 'Winnetou' meets nerve"

The news magazine also asked Wolter if he had an explanation for the veritable Winnetou cult that arose at the time, so that illustrated books were published and old film scores were reissued. The actor saw in the character Winnetou a secret that triggered fascination. Karl May had “struck a nerve with her in terms of male friendship, which is longed for by all men and never takes place in this form. That is perhaps also a specifically German point.”

Accident caused – sentenced to suspended sentence

Wolter made headlines far from the stage when he co-caused an accident on 22 May 2002 by a risky turning manoeuvre in a traffic jam on the A24. A truck crushed a car. Three people died. Wolter moved away from the scene of the accident. The then 75-year-old asserted that he had not noticed anything about the accident. The otherwise funny screen hero tearfully asked the relatives of the victims for forgiveness. "I would like to say that I regret everything that has happened infinitely," the "Hamburger Morgenpost" quoted him as saying. He expressed his "deep and sincere condolences" to the families of the victims. For negligent homicide and endangering road traffic, he receives a ten-month suspended prison sentence and a fine. Wolter told Bild about the accident: "That remains my greatest sin."

No offers accepted for years

In 2012 he was last seen in a feature film. In the comedy "Bis zum Horizont, dann links!" he played a senior citizen - among other things at the side of Otto Sander, Angelica Domröse, Herbert Feuerstein, Tilo Prückner and Robert Stadlober. In 2013, he announced in an interview with the "Bild" newspaper that he had said goodbye to acting. "At some point you reach a point where you say: It's really enough, I don't want more." He has since declined offers. "At some point, you'd rather stand behind the curtain on stage than in front of it."

Married for more than 60 years

Together with his wife Edith, with whom he had been married since the end of the 1950s, the father of two children lived in Munich for many years - most recently very withdrawn. According to his own statements, he still rode a lot of bikes to stay fit. Otherwise, he enjoys the peace. He has "said goodbye to all the sounds," he tells the "Bild" 2020. He described himself as "rickety". It pinches a bit here and there. His eyes didn't see so well anymore, he didn't drive a car anymore. Wolter didn't want to live to be 100 years old. He jokingly said, "If I'm not mistaken, it won't happen." He should be right: The actor died on October 14, 2022 in Munich at the age of 95.

*Karl May used the spelling "Hawkens". But the name "Hawkins" is also used more often, interestingly in the TV series "My Friend Winnetou".

WOLTER, Ralf

Born: 11/26/1926, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Died: 10/14/2022, Munich Bavaria Germany

 

Ralf Wolter’s westerns – actor, voice actor

The Treasure of Silver Lake – 1962 (Sam Hawkens)

Apache Gold – 1963 (Sam Hawkens)

Apaches Last Battle – 1963 (Sam Hawkens)

Massacre at Marble City – 1964 (Tim Fletcher)

The Desperado Trail – 1965 (Sam Hawkens)

Freispruch für Old Shatterhand (TV) – 1965 (Hadschi Halef Omar) [archive footage]

Who Killed Johnny R.? – 1965 (Billy Monroe)

The Halfbreed – 1966 (Sam Hawkens)

The Man With the Long Gun – 1968 (Sam Hawkens)

Pistolen-Jenny (TV) – 1969 (Miller)

My Friend Winnetou (TV) – 1979 (Sam Hawkens)

Asterix Conquers America – 1994 [German voice of Getafix]

In the Footsteps of Winnetou (TV) – 2004 [himself]

Karl May Adventures: The Blind Brothers – 2011 [film was never made]

Legenden: Pierre Brice - Die beliebte ARD-Reihe über den unvergesslichen Winnetou-

    Darsteller - 2012 [himself]

 

RIP Chuck Deardorf

 

Bassist and music educator Chuck Deardorf has died

 

KNKX

By Robin Lloyd

October 10, 2022

Seattle's "first-call" bassist for nearly four decades, Chuck Deardorf also served as the jazz program director at Cornish College of the Arts. He died Sunday due to complications from COVID-19.

A mainstay of the Seattle music scene, Deardorf also worked with nationally-touring artists. He was almost as well-known for his wry sense of humor as he was for his exemplary performances and recordings.

Deardorf mentored countless young musicians through his tenure at Cornish College for the Arts, at Centrum Port Townsend and in jazz clubs and jam sessions.

Starting out as a trombone player in fifth grade, Deardorf first picked up the bass at age 15. After graduating from Evergreen State, he worked at local jazz clubs – specifically Parnell's and Dimitriou's Jazz Alley – backing up famous artists like saxophonist Zoot Sims, and pianists Monty Alexander and Kenny Barron. In a 2019 interview with Seattle Jazz Scene, Deardorf called that experience his "graduate school."

Deardorf had a hereditary kidney disease. In an attempt to avoid dialysis, his brother donated a kidney to him in 2011. A decade later, Deardorf was doing well until he contracted COVID-19 and his reduced ability to fight off the virus led to fatal complications.

Deardorf's wife, singer and author Kelly Harland, confirmed his death. He was 68.

Longtime Seattle music writer Paul De Barros called Deardorf's death a "horrible loss."

"Chuck was an anchor of the jazz community; a humble, funny man who had a one-liner for any occasion," De Barros told KNKX.

"Chuck was a great player, his time was as solid as a rock, his tone was beautiful. He was a huge part of the 'golden age' of live jazz in the region, and he left a plethora of talented students to carry on the Seattle tradition."

Listen for Jim Wilke's tribute to Chuck Deardorf on KNKX Sunday, October 16 at 2 p.m. on Jazz Northwest.

DEARDORF, Chuck (Charles Alan Deardorf)

Born: 4/3/1954, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A.

Died: 10/9/2022, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

 

Chuck Deardorf’s western – musician:

Smoke Signals – 1998 [electric bass]

RIP Herbert Tennigkeit

 

Actor Herbert Tennigkeit has died

 

The Limited Times

10/12/2022

 

Younger viewers know him as the voice of the villain Skeletor, older ones as Dr. Laudann from the "Black Forest Clinic": The actor and radio play speaker Herbert Tennigkeit is dead.

Hamburg – This was announced by his longtime good friend Thomas Speyerer on Wednesday to the German Press Agency in Berlin. Accordingly, the character actor died on Monday in his hometown of Hamburg. He fell asleep peacefully in a clinic at the age of 85.

Tennigkeit's star role was the anesthesiologist Dr. Laudan in the ZDF cult series "The Black Forest Clinic".

Anyone who spent his childhood in the 1980s knows his distinctive voice from the German dubbed version of the dead-headed villain Skeletor in the animated series "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" - dark, throaty and raspy, he gave him great rogue charm.

Tennigkeit also took part in the youth radio play series of the audio label Europa, such as "The Three ???" and "Five Friends", as well as in Karl May settings such as "Through Wild Kurdistan".

He had TV appearances several times in "Tatort" thrillers and in the series "Das Traumschiff".

Tennigkeit, who was born near Tilsit (today in the Russian region of Kaliningrad) in 1937, was considered one of the last great reciters of literary texts in the East Prussian dialect.

TENNIGKEIT, Herbert

Born: 2/28/1937, Graszpelken, East Prussia, Germany

Died: 10/10/2022, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

 

Herbert Tennigkeit’s westerns – actor:

Frei nach Mark Twain (TV) – 1971

Old Surehand (TV) – 1975 (Apanatschka)

RIP Angela Lansbury

 

Angela Lansbury, Entrancing Star of Stage and Screen, Dies at 96

 

She played Mame and won five Tony Awards, received an honorary Oscar and starred for 12 seasons as Jessica Fletcher on 'Murder, She Wrote.'

 

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

October 11, 2022

Angela Lansbury, the irrepressible three-time Oscar nominee and five-time Tony Award winner who solved 12 seasons’ worth of crimes as the novelist/amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on CBS’ Murder, She Wrote, has died. She was 96.

Lansbury, who received an Emmy nomination for best actress in a drama series for each and every season of Murder, She Wrote — yet never won — died in her sleep at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, her family announced. She was five days shy of her birthday.

Lansbury went 0-for-18 in career Emmy noms but did get some love from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who gave her an honorary Oscar in 2013 for her career as “an entertainment icon who has created some of cinema’s most memorable characters, inspiring generations of actors.”

The London-born Lansbury, then 19, received a best supporting actress Oscar nom for her very first film role, as the young maid Nancy in the home of Charles Boyer and his new bride Ingrid Bergman in George Cukor’s Gaslight (1944).

For her third movie, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), she received another nom for playing the lovely singer whose heart is broken by the hedonistic title character. (Her mother, West End actress Moyna MacGill, played a duchess in the film.)

Lansbury then took a turn toward evil and was rewarded with her final Oscar nom for portraying Laurence Harvey’s manipulative mother in the Cold War classic The Manchurian Candidate (1962). The actress often played characters much older than herself, and in this case, Harvey was just a few years younger than Lansbury.

Her charismatic performance as the eccentric title character in a 1966 production of Mame vaulted her to Broadway superstardom and resulted in the first of her four Tonys for best actress in a musical.

She followed with wins for playing “the madwoman of Chaillot” in 1969’s Dear World, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman; for starring as the ultimate stage mother Rose in a 1974 revival of Gypsy; for dazzling as the off-the-wall Mrs. Lovett in the original 1979 production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd; and, in 2009, for portraying the clairvoyant Madame Arcati in a revival of the Noël Coward farce Blithe Spirit.

She was still on the road in Blithe Spirit as she approached her 90th birthday, and in December 2018 she was back on the big screen, as the Balloon Lady, in Mary Poppins Returns.

In June, she received yet another Tony, this one for lifetime achievement.

In the early 1980s, Lansbury was not interested in headlining a TV series when she was approached by Columbo creators Richard Levinson and William Link to star in Murder, She Wrote.

The pair earlier had created Ellery Queen, another show about a crime-solving writer, and former All in the Family star Jean Stapleton had already turned them down.

“I couldn’t imagine I would ever want to do television,” Lansbury said in a 1985 interview with The New York Times. “But the year 1983 rolled around and Broadway was not forthcoming, so I took a part in a miniseries, Gertrude Whitney in Little Gloria, Happy at Last [a dramatization of Gloria Vanderbilt‘s childhood].

“And then [there was] a slew of roles in miniseries, and I began to sense that the television audience was very receptive to me, and I decided I should stop flirting and shut the door or say to my agents, ‘I’m ready to think series.'”

Then 59, Lansbury signed on as the widowed Jessica, a retired English teacher, mystery writer and amateur detective who enjoyed riding her bicycle (she didn’t drive) in the cozy coastal town of Cabot Cove, Maine. Late in the series, Jessica spent time teaching criminology at a Manhattan university.

Universal Television’s Murder, She Wrote ran from 1984-96 (plus four telefilms) and was a huge ratings hit on Sunday nights following 60 Minutes. Both CBS shows appealed to intelligent, older viewers, and Lansbury was the rare woman in the history of television to carry her own series.

The drama went 0 for 3 in the Emmy race for outstanding drama series and won just twice in 41 tries overall, according to IMDb.

“Nobody in this town watches Murder, She Wrote,” Lansbury, referring to the TV industry, said in 1991. “Only the public watches.”

The show was ranked in the top 13 in the Nielsen ratings (and as high as No. 4) on Sundays in its first 11 seasons but plummeted to No. 58 when CBS moved it to Thursdays in 1995-96 against NBC’s then-powerful lineup. The series finale, quite appropriately, was titled “Death by Demographics.”

“What appealed to me about Jessica Fletcher,” she said, “is that I could do what I do best and [play someone I have had] little chance to play — a sincere, down-to-earth woman. Mostly, I’ve played very spectacular bitches. Jessica has extreme sincerity, compassion, extraordinary intuition. I’m not like her. My imagination runs riot. I’m not a pragmatist. Jessica is.”

During the course of 12 seasons, Jessica solved some 300 murders — and still had time to write more than 30 books!

Angela Brigid Lansbury was born Oct. 16, 1925, in London to a timber-merchant father and an actress mother, a star of the English stage. She participated in school plays at Hampstead School for Girls and studied for a year at drama school, passing with honors at the Royal Academy of Music.

With the outbreak of World War II, she, her mother and her younger twin brothers, Bruce and Edgar, moved to the U.S. (Her father had died when she was 9; her half-sister stayed behind and married actor Peter Ustinov in 1940.)

The blue-eyed Lansbury attended the Feagin School of Dramatic Art in New York City and graduated in 1942. Although still in her mid-teens, she auditioned for nightclub appearances, and her songs and imitations of comic actress Beatrice Lillie won her an offer from the Samovar Club in Montreal. She fibbed about her age and got a six-week engagement.

Her mother, who had wound up in Hollywood at the end of the war, brought her daughter to California, and the 18-year-old was signed by MGM and given the role in Gaslight. She then appeared in National Velvet (1944) with Elizabeth Taylor but spent much of the next several years stuck in small parts at the studio.

“I ended up playing some of the most ridiculous roles at MGM,” she said.

But Lansbury found a home in the theater. She made her Broadway debut in 1957 in the farce Hotel Paradiso, and her first musical came with the 1964 Sondheim production Anyone Can Whistle.

On the big screen, Lansbury also was memorable as Elvis Presley’s mom in Blue Hawaii (1961), as a cold-hearted parent in The World of Henry Orient (1964), as the English witch Eglentine Price in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and as the teapot Mrs. Potts in the animated Beauty and the Beast (1991).

Warming up for her Murder, She Wrote stint, Lansbury starred in two Agatha Christie projects: as a novelist in Death on the Nile (1978) and as the spinster sleuth Miss Marple in The Mirror Crack’d (1980).

When she was 19, she wed actor Richard Cromwell, then 37, but the marriage lasted less than a year, and she later discovered he was gay. In 1949, she wed British agent and producer Peter Shaw, and they were together until his death in 2003. They had two children, Anthony and Deirdre.

In 1971, after her house burned to the ground in Malibu, the family moved to a farmhouse in Cork, Ireland and stayed there for a decade. She said that saved her kids from succumbing to drugs.

Her brothers also went on to show business careers, with Edgar working as an art director and producer and Bruce, who died in February 2017, serving as a producer on Murder, She Wrote, The Wild Wild West, Wonder Woman and other shows.

In addition to Edgar, Anthony and Deirdre, survivors include another son, David; grandchildren Peter, Katherine and Ian; and five great-grandchildren. A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined.

LANSBURY, Angela (Angela Brigid Lansbury)

Born: 10/16/1925, Regent’s Park, London, England, U.K.

Died: 10/11/2022, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Angela Lansbury’s westerns – actress:

The Harvey Girls – 1946 (Em)

A Lawless Street – 1955 (Tally Dickenson)

Chevron Hall of Stars: Crisis in Kansas (TV) – 1956 (Laura Ellsworth)

RIP Michael Callan

 

Michael Callan, Actor in ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Cat Ballou,’ Dies at 86

The Philadelphia native also starred in 'Gidget Goes Hawaiian' and 'The Interns' and on the sitcom 'Occasional Wife.'

 

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

October 11, 2022

Michael Callan, the actor and dancer who portrayed Riff in the original Broadway production of West Side Story before starring in such films as Gidget Goes Hawaiian, The Interns and Cat Ballou, has died. He was 86.

Callan died Monday night of pneumonia at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his daughter Rebecca Goodman told The Hollywood Reporter.

A contract player at Columbia Pictures, Callan made about a dozen movies at the studio, starting with They Came to Cordura (1959), a Western starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin and Tab Hunter.

On the 1966-67 NBC comedy Occasional Wife, Callan starred as a confirmed bachelor who sets up a woman (Patricia Harty) in an upstairs apartment so she can pose as his wife in order to help him advance at the baby food company where he works. (His boss believes all his execs should be married.)

Perhaps because the premise was a bit risqué for its day, the Screen Gems series was canceled after one season. In real life, Callan and Harty both got divorced and wed in June 1968, but their marriage wouldn’t last much longer than their series. (Fun fact: Vin Scully was the narrator on Occasional Wife.)

After appearing on Broadway in the musicals The Boy Friend and Catch a Star!, the Philadelphia native auditioned for Riff but was told he was “too good-looking” for the part, he recalled in a 2006 interview. Nevertheless, West Side Story director-choreographer Jerome Robbins phoned a year later, asking him to audition again.

“I went to the theater and did my song and dance, and I heard from the back Robbins’ voice saying, ‘Can you do a backflip?’ I just threw a backflip, got lucky, and it worked out,” he said.

He sparkled on stage as the leader of the Jets and led his fellow gang members in the menacing Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim number “Cool.”

Callan portrayed the dancer Eddie opposite Deborah Walley in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961), then starred as a selfish, strung-out medical resident in the melodrama The Interns (1962). He returned to play Dr. Alec Considine again in The New Interns (1964), this time putting the moves on Barbara Eden and Dawn Wells.

And in the Western farce Cat Ballou (1965), he was memorable as the dashing bandit Clay Boone opposite Jane Fonda and, in an Oscar-winning turn, Lee Marvin.

Martin Calinoff was born in Philadelphia on Nov. 22, 1935. He studied ballet and tap, and dancers who frequented his dad’s luncheonette taught him acrobatics in exchange for free milkshakes.

He was a regular on Horn & Hardart’s Children’s Hour, a local radio program, and by the time he was 15, he was performing in local nightclubs, billed as Mickey Calin.

Shortly after graduating from high school, he came to New York and got a small part in 1954 in The Boy Friend, which marked the American debut of Julie Andrews.

He spent about a year on West Side Story before Joyce Selznick — a talent agent (and niece of Gone With the Wind producer David O. Selznick) who had discovered Tony Curtis and James Darren — saw him on Broadway. He departed for Hollywood, signing a seven-year contract at a starting salary of $650 a week, and Columbia execs changed his name to Michael Callan without telling him.

After roles in They Came to Cordura, The Flying Fontaines (1959) and Because They’re Young (1960), he dusted off his dancing skills in the Cantinflas-starring musical Pepe (1960), directed by George Sidney.

For United Artists’ 1961 adaptation of West Side Story, Riff was portrayed by Russ Tamblyn. Callan had auditioned for his old part as well as that of Tony (Larry Kert on Broadway, Richard Beymer in the movie) but wasn’t hired, perhaps because his Columbia contract contained restrictions. Instead, he was sent to Spain to star in the Jules Verne adventure Mysterious Island (1961).

He then appeared in such films as 13 West Street (1962), Bon Voyage! (1962), the war epic The Victors (1963) and You Must Be Joking! (1965) before trying his hand at series television with Occasional Wife.

Callan played a generous guy with a mysterious job who dates Rhoda (Valerie Harper) on the first season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the criminal cyborg Metallo on six episodes of the 1989-92 syndicated series Superboy.

His résumé also included TV appearances on Hazel, That Girl, Love, American Style, Police Story, Charlie’s Angels, T.J. Hooker, One Life to Live and Murder, She Wrote and such movies as Lepke (1975), Double Exposure (1982) and the Farrelly brothers’ Stuck on You (2003).

Survivors include his daughters, Rebecca and Dawn, whom he had with his first wife, onetime Miss Dallas and Las Vegas showgirl Carlyn Chapman; sisters Sheri and Sandy; grandchildren Michael, Ella and Asher; and a close companion at the MPTF home, Susan.

After he and Harty called it quits in 1970, he was married to Karen Malouf from 1975 until their 1984 divorce.

CALLAN, Michael (Michael Harris Calinieff)

Born: 11/22/1935, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Died: 10/10/2022, Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A.

 

Michael Callan’s westerns – actor:

They Came to Cordura – 1959 (Private Andrew Hetherington)

Cat Ballou – 1965 (Clay Boone)

The Magnificent Seven Ride – 1972 (Noah Forbes)

Donner Pass the Road to Survival (TV) – 1978 (William Eddy)

RIP Doru Ana

 

Doru Ana died. The great actor who also starred in the series Adela died at 68 years old

 

Redacci

October 11, 2022

The actor Doru Ana died in the night from Monday to Tuesday, at the age of 68. The late actor was also part of the Adela series, right from the beginning of the story. Doru Ana was born on February 28, 1954, in Bucharest and graduated from the Institute of Theatrical and Cinematographic Art in the Capital, class of 1980, in the class of teacher Olga Tudorache.

Doru Ana starred in over 40 films such as Terminus paradis (1998), Marfa si banii (2001), Umbre (2019). He played on the stage of the "Bulandra" theater in Bucharest and was a university professor. at the Actor's Art section of the Faculty of Theater within UNATC.

He became known to the young audience through the series Adela , appearing at the beginning of the story as the cornerstone of a drama that would change everyone's lives.

"Smooth road in the light, Doru Ana (February 28, 1954 - October 11, 2022)", it says on the Facebook page of the TVR Production House, according to News.ro.

The actor Doru Ana died at the age of 68. What messages did the guild colleagues, Cristina Cionănașu, the actors from Adela send

"How sad! I knew how sick he was! And yet my former birth year mate, through his tragic disappearance, leaves a void in my soul that is hard to bear! I am overwhelmed with emotion! May God forgive you, Dorule, and protect you from His right hand, because you deserve it for everything you have created and for your modesty and verticality! Smooth path in the Light!", wrote the director Lucian Sabados, in a comment.

And actress Medeea Marinescu wrote that she regrets the departure of teacher and actor Doru Ana.

"Today, one of my teachers from the acting class left in a star. The actor Doru Ana. May God rest him!", wrote Medeea Marinescu on her Facebook page, notes Agerpres.

Cristina Ciobănașu expressed her deep regret for the passing away of the great actor, with whom she had the opportunity to play in the series Adela. What he told about their last meeting: "Our last meeting was charged with such a strong emotion... he was very happy to see us again and I fondly recalled memories from the time Bet with life, when we worked for the first time together, but on the other hand I felt a lot of sadness in his eyes... I hugged him tightly not knowing when we would see each other again and I'm glad that still life brought us together once more... May God rest in peace and peace, dear soul!", wrote the actress on Instagram.

ANA, Doru

Born: 2/28/1954, Bucharest, Romania

Died: 10/11/2022, Bucharest, Romania

 

Doru Ana’s western – actor:

Phantom Town - 1999

RIP Eileen Ryan

 

Eileen Ryan, Actress and Mother of Sean Penn, Dies at 94

 

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

October 10, 2022

Eileen Ryan, an actress who also was the mother of actor Sean Penn, died on Sunday at her home at 94 years old. Ryan was just one week away from turning 95. Ryan also was the mother of actor Christopher Penn and musician Michael Penn, Deadline reported. A family spokesperson would announce her death. Further information, including a cause of death, was not immediately available.

Ryan was born Eileen Annucci and would meet actor Leo Penn back in 1957. They crossed paths at some rehearsals for a Circle in the Square production named The Iceman Cometh. At the time, Leo Penn took over a role in the play from Jason Robards.

Eileen Ryan Appeared In Numerous TV Shows

Leo and Eileen would be married a few months later. It would last 41 years until Leo’s death back in 1998. As far as the career of Eileen Ryan is concerned, she would get steady work both in TV and movies. She made her initial TV appearance back in 1955 for the Goodyear Television Playhouse.

Other TV work covering from the 1960s to the 1990s and beyond included The Twilight Zone, Bonanza, The Detectives, Ben Casey, Little House on the Prairie, Arli$$, Marcus Welby, M.D., Ally McBeal, ER, CSI, NYPD Blue, Men of a Certain Age, and Grey’s Anatomy.

As far as movies go, she would have roles in films like Parenthood, At Close Range, and Benny & Joon. Of course, her sons were quite active in the film world and among those projects she appeared in would include At Close Range, I Am Sam, The Indian Runner, and The Crossing Guard. Penn would pop up on Broadway, too, in the 1953 production Sing Till Tomorrow and 1958’s Comes a Day.

But the woman probably was quite proud of her sons’ accomplishments, especially those of son Sean Penn. One time, in an interview for The New Yorker, she said this about her son Sean. She would tell Richard Kelly that, as a child, “Sean had his own private little world going.” Ironically, according to The New Yorker article, the actor-director’s kindergarten teacher would call him “Gary Cooper.” Eileen Ryan would say, “The only complaint that teachers ever gave me about him was ‘Is he happy?’ He seemed to be so quiet.”

While he might have been quiet as a young child, Sean Penn has been outspoken on a number of societal matters. His work has spanned the world of entertainment over the years. One of his most impressive pieces of work was his portrayal of Harvey Milk in the movie simply titled Milk. But Eileen would have a very full, robust career herself. Her family will lovingly remember her work and life for years to come.

RYAN. Eileen (Eileen Annucci)

Born: 10/15/1927, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 10 9, 2022, Malibu, California, U.S.A.

 

Eileen Ryan’s westernjs – actress:

Bonanza (TV) – 1961, 1965, 1982 (Emily. Abigail Jones, Amanda Gates)

Outlaws (TV) – 1961 (Ruth Lopez)

Shotgun Slade (TV) – 1961 (Janet Milford)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) 1962 (Lorry)

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1974 (Mrs. Kennedy)