RIP Graeme Malcolm

 

Actor Graeme Malcolm Passes Away at 71

Mr. Malcolm was a celebrated stage performer and audiobook narrator.

Playbill

By Margaret Hall

February 22, 2023

 

Graeme Malcolm, an actor and prolific audiobook narrator who appeared in more than a half dozen Broadway productions throughout his career, passed away January 10. He was 71.

Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, Mr. Malcolm moved to New York in his late twenties and soon established himself on the Broadway stage as an actor of gravitas, appearing as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock's Last Case, the Pharaoh in Aida, and Harry Dalton in Equus. Additional Broadway credits included Death and the King's Horseman, the 1996 revival of The King and I, The Real Thing, and Translations, as well as the first national tour of David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly.

Mr. Malcolm narrated 167 audiobooks over the course of his career, lending his warm brogue to numerous biographies, children's classics, suspenseful thrillers, and more. His final five audiobooks have been released posthumously, including two volumes of Katrine Engberg's Kørner & Werner Series.

He was also a familiar face in charity circuits, working extensively with disabled children charities in Nepal, and providing his vocal talents to Books for the Blind for more than 20 years.

Mr. Malcolm is survived by his daughters Lucy and Annie.

MALCOLM, Graeme

Born: 7/31/1951, Dunfermline, Scotland, U.K

Died: 1/10/2023, Manhattan, New York, U.S.A.

 

Graeme Malcolm’s western – actor:

Follow the River (TV) – 1995 (Buchanan)

RIP Burney Mattinson

 

Burny Mattinson, Disney’s Longest-Serving Employee and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Animator, Dies at 87

Variety

By Charna Flam

February 27, 2023

 

Burny Mattinson, a Disney animator, director, producer and story artist, died on Monday, Feb. 27, in Canoga Park, Calif., following a short illness. He was 87.

Mattinson’s death was confirmed by The Walt Disney Company, his longtime employer. Mattinson was the longest-serving Disney employee and was set to receive the first ever 70th-anniversary service award this June.

Born in San Francisco on May 13, 1935, Mattinson was first inspired to pursue a career in animation after seeing “Pinocchio” at age 6. He began drawing in hopes to recreate the Disney animation style. By the time he finished high school, Mattinson joined The Walt Disney Company and in just six months moved from the mailroom to an animation in-betweener on “Lady and the Tramp.”

Academy Award-winning Disney director Don Hall said, “For almost 30 years, I’ve had the privilege to work alongside Burny Mattinson, from ‘Winnie the Pooh’ to ‘Big Hero 6’ to, most recently, ‘Strange World.’ I have marveled at his artistry, enjoyed his good humor, and sat enraptured by his stories of Disney history. At 18 years old, he followed his dream of working at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and for almost 70 years he lived that dream every day, inspiring all of us who had the good fortune to follow in his footsteps. I love him dearly.”

Following his first animation contribution, Mattinson would go on to work with Marc Davis on “Sleeping Beauty” and “One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” followed by collaborations with Eric Larson on “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” television series, “The Sword in the Stone,” “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book” and “The Aristocats.”

Mattinson then became the animator for “Robin Hood” and the key animator for “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too.” In 1983, Mattinson directed the animated featurette “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” and in 1986 he co-directed “The Great Mouse Detective.” Throughout the 1990s, he contributed to Disney’s contemporary animated features, including “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” “Pocahontas,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Tarzan” and “Mulan.”

Mattinson continued his 70-year career on more recent projects, too, serving as story supervisor on the 2007 “Goofy” short “How to Hook Up Your Home Theater” and on the 2011 “Winnie the Pooh” feature. By 2014, Mattinson served as a story consultant and mentor for “Big Hero 6” and the 2022 feature “Strange World.”

“Burny was the Renaissance man of Disney Animation,” said Disney animator Eric Goldberg. “He literally did everything that could be done at the studio — assistant animator, animator, story artist, producer and director of many films that made an indelible mark on our collective appreciation of the Disney ethos. He was also, when he started, traffic boy to Walt, giving Walt his weekly spending cash.”

Goldberg added, “The more I saw of his work, the more I became in awe of his breadth of talent. I value his cheerful friendship and lasting inspiration to me and so many other animation artists. He will be missed, but not forgotten.”

Mattinson is survived by his wife, Ellen Siirola; his son, Brett Mattinson; his wife Kelly and their two children; and his daughter, Genny and her family.

MATTISON, Burny (Burnett Anthony Mattison)

Born: 5/13/1935, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

Died: 2/27/2023, Canoga Park, California, U.S.A.

 

Burny Mattison’s western – writer:

Pocahontas - 1995

RIP Les Barker

 

The Guardian

By Sue Bradburn

February 26, 2023

 

My friend Les Barker, who has died aged 75, was a poet/performer and author much admired on the folk scene. My husband, Ken, and I were his agents from 1995 until 2019.

Born in Manchester, the only child of Miriam (nee Crabtree) and George Barker, who owned a newsagent’sshop, Les attended Manchester grammar school. He was a bright lad and after training at Manchester College became a chartered accountant, working at the city’s town hall until 1982. But he found it boring.

His real talent was in writing silly poems, which he would perform at local folk clubs. He soon became a regular at folk clubs and festivals all over Great Britain. By his side was Mrs Ackroyd, his dog and loyal companion. He toured America and Australia, and his silliness was treasured everywhere. Favourite performance poems were Jason and the Arguments, Cosmo the Fairly Accurate Knife-Thrower, Deja Vu and Dachshunds With Erections Can’t Climb Stairs.

In 1989, he formed the Mrs Ackroyd Band with Hilary Spencer, Alison Younger and Chris Harvey, putting his words to music. Puns of classic folk songs abounded. His poems set to music were recorded by the US folk singer Tom Paxton, the English folk singer June Tabor, the English folk group Waterson:Carthy, and many others.

In 1995 he hosted a show for BBC Radio 2 called Mrs Ackroyd Explores Her Roots. The Financial Times praised his work as “a blend of Edward Lear nonsense, Stanley Unwin wordplay, the surreal inconsequentiality of Reeves and Mortimer and the demonic robustness of Stanley Holloway monologues”.

Les had a serious side, too. He was politically aware and had an acute social conscience. His poems The Civilised War, with its opening line of “How goes the war on terror, George?”, and The Church of the Holy Undecided got him into trouble in America, leading to cancelled concerts and a refusal to grant him a work permit for his next tour.

In 2003, Les left Cotton Hill in Manchester for the village of Bwlchgwyn in north Wales. He embraced the Welsh culture and language: within three years he became a fluent Welsh speaker and won awards for language and poetry.

During lockdown, Les posted videos on YouTube of both funny and serious poems. His poem My Bag for Life Has Just Died was a big hit, as well as his many sideswipes at Boris Johnson and crew.

Les retired from performing due to ill health in 2022. He will be remembered for his genius with words, for making people laugh, but also for his cutting and often poignant poems about how world powers and people can be indifferent to the injustice all around them. Les was a popular figure, with hundreds of friends and thousands of fans worldwide.

BARKER, Les [1/30/1947, Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, U.K. -  1/15/2023, Oswestry, West Midlands, England, U.K.] – poet, songwriter, film, TV actor.

Welcome to Blood City – 1976 (3^rd citizen)

RIP François Hadji-Lazaro

 

Death of François Hadji-Lazaro, founder of the rock band Les Garçons Bouchers

The guitarist and singer, who had also founded the group Pigalle, died this Saturday at the age of 66. The cause of his death has not been made public.

Liberaton

February 26, 2023

 

François Hadji-Lazaro was a figure of alternative rock in France. The musician and singer died this Saturday, February 25 at the age of 66. At this stage, the cause of his death has not been made public. The announcement fell on Facebook, written by Stef Gotkovski, saxophonist and ex-member of the Boys Butchers, the group founded by François Hadji-Lazaro in the mid-1980s: "As ex-head of Propaganda of the Label Boucherie Productions, and incidentally false sax Nietzsche of the groups Garçons Bouchers and Pigalle, and especially as a long-time friend of the gentleman we called Gros François, I must announce with this post (it is Authentic) the death a little before midnight of François Hadji Lazaro or Attilazaro depending on the mood."

François Hadji-Lazaro, born in 1956 in Paris, is best known for founding Les Garçons Bouchers. With the Wampas or Bérurier noir, it was one of the flagship bands in the French alternative rock scene of the 80s. It was formed in 1986 under the leadership of François Hadji-Lazaro before being dissolved in 1997. François Hadji-Lazaro then pursued his solo career, directing the independent record company Boucherie Productions and performing children's songs.

HADJI-LAZARO, François

Born: 6/22/1956, Paris, Île-de-France, France

Died: 2/25/2023, Paris, Île-de-France, France

 

François Hadji-Lazaro’s western – actor:

Lucky Luke and the Dalton’s 2004 (grocer)

RIP Gordon Pinsent

 

Gordon Pinsent, Actor in Sarah Polley’s ‘Away From Her,’ Dies at 92

The three-time Genie Award winner also starred on 'The Red Green Show' and 'Due South' and was the voice of Babar the Elephant.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 26, 2023

Gordon Pinsent, the admired Canadian actor who starred opposite Julie Christie as a husband losing his wife to Alzheimer’s disease in Sarah Polley’s Away From Her, died Saturday, his family announced. He was 92.

A household name in his country, Pinsent also appeared on the big screen in Norman Jewison’s The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Lasse Hallström’s The Shipping News (2001), Michael McGowan’s Saint Ralph (2004) and Don McKellar’s The Grand Seduction (2013).

On television, he played Possum Lake resident Hap Shaughnessy, a teller of tall tales, on the Canadian comedy The Red Green Show from 1991-2004 and was Chicago-based Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant Bob Fraser on the CTV/CBS series Due South from 1994-99.

And he served as the distinctive voice of Babar the Elephant in film and TV from 1989 through 2015.

In Away From Her (2006), which marked Polley’s directorial debut — she also received an Oscar nomination for best screenplay — Pinsent played Grant Anderson, an Ontario man whose wife (Christie) slowly loses all memory of him while becoming involved with another resident at her nursing home.

Pinsent’s wife of 45 years, actress Charmion King, died in 2007 after a long battle with emphysema. She suggested he take the role, and he won the last of his three Genie Awards for his heartbreaking performance.

[His wife’s illness] “was something I wasn’t necessarily drawing on except in the general sense of how anyone must feel at a certain time of life after spending so many years with a partner,” he told the CBC in an interview that year.

“It’s almost impossible to grasp … how do you prepare? Where does love go? Where do you go, the leftover?”

The youngest of six children, Gordon Edward Pinsen was born on July 12, 1930, in Grand Falls, Newfoundland. His father, Stephen, was a paper mill worker.

Pinsent, who suffered from rickets as a child, began acting on the stage at 17 in Winnipeg and landed roles on CBC radio dramas before serving four years with the Canadian Army. He joined the Stratford Festival in 1962 and appeared in Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest and Cyrano de Bergerac. (He received the theater company’s inaugural lifetime achievement award in 2008.)

In 1970, he portrayed the U.S. president in the sci-fi classic Colossus: The Forbin Project, directed by Joseph Sargent, then landed a role in the cult movie Blacula two years later.

Pinsent wrote two Newfoundland-set novels, The Rowdyman and John and the Missus, that were turned into features in 1972 and 1987, respectively. He acted in both films and directed the latter.

Nominated for six Genie Awards, he also won for Klondike Fever (1980) and John and the Missus.

In 1979, he was made an officer of the Order of Canada, then promoted to Companion in 1998. At age 80, he found a legion of new fans after he read Justin Bieber’s memoir with great sincerity on the CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Pinsent published memoirs in 1994 and 2012 and was the subject of a 2016 documentary, The River of My Dreams.

Survivors include his children, Leah (and her husband, Peter Keleghan, both actors), Beverly and Barry (also an actor).

“Gordon passionately loved [his] country and its people, purpose and culture to his last breath,” they said in a statement.

PINSENT, Gordon (Gordon Edward Pinsent)

Born: 7/12/1930, Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Died: 2/25/2023, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

Gordon Pinsent’s westerns – actor:

Adventures in Rainbow Country (TV) – 1969 (Father Bob Conurn)

Klondike Fever – 1980 (Swiftwater Bill)

Silence of the North – 1986 (John Frederickson)

Lonesome Dove: The Series (TV) – 1994 (Randall Shaw)

Red River – 1996 (Mr. O’Malley)

RIP Len Birman

 

Leonard Birman has left the stage, exiting his long and fabulous life at 90 years and passing peacefully at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles on February 10th.

Ever Loved

By Matt Birman

Len was the son of Maurice and Anne Birman, brother to David and Norton and father to Matthew. His wife Ruby predeceased him after 56 wonderful years together in 2020. He is survived by his two loving sisters-in-law, Marilyn and Naomi, his dear grandchildren Jack and Spencer who loved their "Poppy" like mad and sweet daughter-in-law Neesha.  Uncle Lenny also leaves behind beautiful nieces and nephews Elissa, Wendy, Alden, Perry and Sheldon.

One of Canada's most respected actors, Len had an almost 50-year career spanning theater, film, radio and television from the far reaches of the globe to his crazy commutes between Montreal, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. Both he and wife Ruby were trailblazers in the industry, when live television and radio were the norm. A multi-award winner, it is hard to know where to begin the saga of his wonderful care.

He was also an accomplished multi-medium artist who loved working in everything from watercolor and oil to clay and bronze. His imagination and creativity were boundless.

He could grab a spark of illumination from the tiniest moment, giving his attention to detail, to the little things in life he held most importantly, all the qualities that made him a great listener, a phenomenal story-teller and a loving, caring friend. He was grounding, he was strength, and he was knowledge. While often an enigma,  he was a philosopher and a poet, a true gentleman, and to boot, a suave and styling dresser!

He was a lover of a good joke, whether borscht-belt gems or a corny old chestnut and he'd often sit for hours retelling our favorite jokes over and over again. Somehow we'd laugh every time.

Lenny enjoyed a very close circle of friends and neighbors with many deep relationships over the decades. From his countless professional alliances to the many friends that "kept it real" outside of showbiz. He will be very much missed by Kenny and Helen, Steve and Pia, Sheri and Dick, Richard, Luke, Jeannie, Mary, Joan and Joan, Earl, Betty and daughter Susan, and many, many overseas friends. He will be greatly missed by Darlene, Roma and Anna.

Following is a detailed look at Lenny's rich and fabulous career.

Pop was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the second son of Maurice Lieb Birman, who was a millinery designer, and Anna Birman, a marriage that lasted 70 years. He graduated from Baron Byng High School in 1949 as class president, and within months he was captivated by the stage and the discovery of being naturally at home on it. He had been a good student and now had no interest at all in continuing on to college.

His earliest influences came by way of the STAGE series, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio productions of original plays and international classics beginning in the early 1940s. As a longtime fan, he was honoured and humbled to be joining the remaining members of the troupe when he moved to Toronto in 1962. He soon became a mainstay, playing dozens of pivotal roles.

Coincidental with his first appearances in community theatre (1955), CBC/Radio Canada announced plans for their first live English and French television series to be produced in Montreal. Called Dateline on the English-language channel and Je Me Souviens on the French-language channel, it aired on alternate Friday nights with the same cast. His audition won him his first TV role.

Len's film experience began almost simultaneously with the arrival of The National Film Board of Canada to new headquarters and studios in Montreal. That, together with CBC's new television activity, presented the possibility of acting as a vocation. Until then, radio drama was the only ongoing paid professional work, and Lenny was to be married in September 1956.

By that time, he, together with George Bloomfield, director, and M. Charles Cohen, playwright, created Domino Productions, a stage ensemble for which Len produced, played leading roles and exercised his innate talent for art by designing the sets, posters and programs. As a youngster, he had thought he would study art in Paris but his inclination toward theatre proved more persuasive. He had already contributed skits to various annual Variety shows, including McGill University's Red And White Revue, YMHA′s Variety Gang and B'nai B'rith's Notes To You. Birman spearheaded the founding of Café André's Up Tempo, a highly successful satirical revue, which was the first of its kind in Canada and ran well into the 1960s.

Busy with Domino, he also made TV appearances in minor roles on CBC's Dorchester Theatre, Explorations, Théâtre Populaire, Shoestring Theatre, Les Plouffes, A Midsummer Theatre, and in 44 episodes of CBC's first filmed series, The Adventures of Radisson, which was known as Tomahawk on American television. At this time (1955–57), he appeared in three films for the NFB's Perspective series, and performed his first leading role in a teleplay called Etc..., which grew out of Domino and was written by Cohen and directed by Bloomfield for Guest Stage.

In 1957, Domino's rehearsal schedule of A View From The Bridge came to a sudden end when it was learned that the American touring company of the same play, starring Luther Adler, was due for a limited run at Her Majesty's Theatre and that casting of the minor roles would be done locally. Dad was cast as Mike and later in the tour played Rodolpho, the role he was earlier slated to play with Domino.

The following year, he rejoined the company of A View From The Bridge for the pre-Broadway tour of what was to be the first presentation of the extended version of Arthur Miller's one-act play. It closed in Washington. That summer he went off to Nantucket to play the role of Macbeth.

Later that year he was invited to join New York's Institute for Advanced Study In Theatre Arts under the tutelage of Jacques Charron of Comédie Française, Paris, Yuri Zavadsky of Moscow Art Theatre, and Willie Schmidt of Schiller Theatre, Berlin.

On television in New York (1958-1963), he appeared on Armstrong Circle Theatre, Robert Herridge Theatre, All Family Classics, Dupont Show of the Month, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Actors TV Theatre, The Witness. Among these were roles in Cyrano de Bergerac, The Three Musketeers, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and The Prisoner of Zenda. Len's first U.S. screen credit was for a role on Naked City.

Lenny has also instructed advanced acting students and coached professional actors. He served as guest lecturer and/or instructor at the National Theatre School of Canada, Manitoba School of Theatre and Allied Arts, The Okanagan Summer Arts Festival and The Hub of Hollywood.

Mr. Birman is best known for his roles in feature films, including Harry Herman, the father in Lies My Father Told Me (1975), which was the Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign Film (1976), Papa in The Great Brain (1977), and FBI Chief Donaldson in Silver Streak.

His first appearances before the film camera were for the National Film Board of Canada's Perspective Series in The Editor, First Novel, and Lafontaine (1956,1957). He appeared as himself in 30 Minutes Mr. Plummer (1963), for which he wrote and voiced the narrations in French and English.

From 1955 to 1975, he appeared in dozens of shows for CBC television on Folio, Guest Stage, Eyeopener, Seaway, Forest Rangers, A Midsummer Theatre, On Camera, GM Theatre, Festival, Encounter, Rainbow Country, The Collaborators, CBC Television Theatre, Festival Concert Series, Shoestring Theatre, Teleplay, and Quest.

Many of his roles were in original plays as well as familiar ones such as Eilif in Mother Courage, Brutus in Julius Caesar, Eilert Lovborg in Hedda Gabler, Charles Bentham in Juno and the Paycock, Grace in The Brig, Victor in Yerma, Nick in For Want of Something Better To Do, Lord Mountararat in Iolanthe, Kourchaev in Diary of a Scoundrel, King John in King John and the Magna Carta, The Man in Last To Go,The Applicant, Gladly Otherwise, Brother Ladvenu in The Lark, Valentine in Twelfth Night.

In the 1980s, Birman was heard on U.S. radio drama, as many and varied characters on Mutual Radio Theatre and Sears Radio Theatre. In the 1960s and 1970s Canadian radio listeners heard him on CBC Stage, Drama In Sound, Wednesday Night, The Bush and the Salon, Midweek Theatre, Maigret (series), Schools Broadcasts, Anthology and Foothill Fables. Some of the well known and recognizable parts he played were:

He also dubbed foreign films, was voice over on TV and radio commercial spots, and narrated school programs and documentaries. He shared narration of the "CTV Network" series The Fabulous Sixties with Peter Jennings, and voiced guest villains on the TV cartoon series Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America and The Incredible Hulk. He was also the voice of Hercules and Giant Man/AntMan (The Marvel Super Heroes) (1966). In his own series, he played Rocket Robin Hood (1966-'67).

Lenny married twice. His first marriage was to Jayne Taft (1956-1963). They had one son, Matthew, who is enjoying a career as an actor/director/stunt coordinator. His second marriage was to Ruby Renault (1977 to her passing in 2020). She had left acting in favor of work behind the camera, and they met on set. They were married at City Hall during the one hour lunch break from rehearsal for Hedda Gabler. Ruby retired as the leading script supervisor with credits on all major TV series and feature films produced in Canada, including the landmark The Fox (1967). For the last 40 years, the Hollywood Hills had been their home.

BIRMAN, Len (Leonard Birman)

Born: 9/28/1932, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Died: 2/10/2023, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

 

Len Birman’s westerns – actor:

Tomahawk (TV) – 1958

Young Dan’l Boone (TV) – 1977 (Duval)

Adventures in Rainbow Country (TV) – 1969 (Clements)

Draw! (TV) – 1984 (Ephraim)

 

RIP Walter Mirisch

 

Walter Mirisch, Former Academy President and ‘In the Heat of the Night’ Producer, Dies at 101

Variety

By J. Kim Murphy

February 25, 2023

 

Walter Mirisch, a former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and an Oscar-winning producer for “In the Heat of the Night,” died Friday in Los Angeles of natural causes. He was 101.

Mirisch’s death was confirmed by a statement released by the Academy on Saturday afternoon.

“The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is deeply saddened to hear of Walter’s passing,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in the statement. “Walter was a true visionary, both as a producer and as an industry leader. He had a powerful impact on the film community and the Academy, serving as our President and as an Academy governor for many years. His passion for filmmaking and the Academy never wavered, and he remained a dear friend and advisor. We send our love and support to his family during this difficult time.”

In the mid-20th century, Mirisch was one of the most lauded and powerful producers in Hollywood. In 1957, he founded The Mirisch Company with his brothers Harold and Marvin — the banner was tied to such classics as “Some Like It Hot” (1959), “The Magnificent Seven” (1960), “The Great Escape” (1963), “The Pink Panther” (1963) and “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968). The Mirisch Company was also a producer on three best picture winners — “The Apartment” (1960), “West Side Story” (1961) and “In the Heat of the Night” (1967), for which Mirisch received the Academy Award for best picture.

The Academy honored Mirisch twice more over the course of his towering career, which spanned more than six decades. In 1978, he received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, commemorating his “consistently high quality of motion picture production.” In 1983, Mirisch was honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his “humanitarian efforts [that] have brought credit to the industry.”

Mirisch served four terms as president of the Academy, from 1973 to 1977, as well as 15 years as an Academy governor. He was an instrumental figure in the institution forming a new headquarters in Beverly Hills.

Born Nov. 8, 1921 in New York, Mirisch worked at a bomber plane manufacturer during World War II before studying at the University of Madison-Wisconsin and Harvard Business School. He married his wife, Patricia, in 1945. The two remained wed until her death in 2005.

Mirisch also found leadership roles at the Producers Guild of America, the Los Angeles Music Center, the Motion Picture and Television Fund, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of Los Angeles and UCLA.

Mirisch is survived by his children, Anne, Andrew and Lawrence; his granddaughter and her husband, Megan and Craig Bloom; and his great-grandsons, Emery and Levi Bloom. The family requests donations be made to the Motion Picture and Television Fund in memory of Mirisch.

MIRISCH, Walter (Walter Mortimer Mirisch)

Born: 11/8/1921, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/24/2023, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Walter Mirisch’s westerns – producer, executive producer:

Cavalry Scout – 1951 [producer]

Fort Osage – 1952 [producer]

Hiawatha – 1952 [producer]

Rodeo – 1952 [producer]

Wild Stallion 1953 [producer]

Seven Angry Men – 1955 [executive producer]

Wichita – 1955 [producer]

The First Texan – 1956 [producer]

Friendly Persuasion – 1956 [executive producer]

The Oklahoman – 1957 [producer]

The Tall Stranger – 1957 [producer]

Fort Massacre – 1958 [producer]

Man of the West – 1958 [producer]

Cast a Long Shadow – 1959 [executive producer]

The Gunfight at Dodge City – 1959 [producer]

The Horse Soldiers – 1959 [executive producer]

The Iron Horseman (TV) – 1960 [executive producer]

The Magnificent 7 – 1960 [executive producer]

The Spikes Gang – 1974 [producer]

Desperado (TV) – 1987 [producer]

The Magnificent 7 (TV) – 1998-2000 [executive producer]

The Magnificent 7 – 2016 [executive producer]

RIP James Alexander Thom

 

Bestselling Indiana author James Alexander Thom, known for historical fiction, dies

Indianapolis Star

By Domenica Bongiovanni

February 2, 2023

 

James Alexander Thom, the Hoosier author known for his vibrant historical fiction novels that brought the past to life, died Monday. He was 89 years old.

He was perhaps best known for his 1981 book "Follow the River," about the 18th-century escape and journey of Mary Ingles, who had been captured by the Shawnee and made the 400-mile trek home. It was later made into a movie.

Thom won many honors, including induction as a member of the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame and was an Indiana Authors Awards Lifetime Achievement Honoree and National Winner. But it was his humor, graciousness and easy connection with people that stuck with those who met him.

"He treasured books only second to human beings," said Dark Rain Thom, his wife of almost 33 years.

James Thom was born May 28, 1933, in Gosport to medical doctors. The family later moved to Indianapolis, where he attended Arsenal Tech High School and then served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War.

Once Thom returned, he needed a way to process what he'd experienced, Dark Rain said. Writing helped, and he was encouraged to do that as a student at Butler University. He became close enough with some of his professors that Dark Rain said the couple visited them 30 to 40 years after he'd gone there.

The craft suited Thom. He'd disliked his stint at an insurance agency, his wife said, and he spent time working for newspapers, including the Indianapolis Star, and other publications. One of the latter was "Nuggets," a magazine containing words of wisdom at funeral homes that comforted those who'd lost loved ones.

James Alexander Thom sits in his home Wednesday, April 7, 2021 in rural Owen County west of Bloomington, IN. It is the 40th anniversary of the publication of 1981 historical novel, "Follow the River."

Thom's knack for connecting with readers during deeply emotional events would continue as he began writing historical fiction — a passion that would be a major part of the rest of his life.

"He handled aging with a lot of aplomb, and he kept working, of course, past the point when a lot of people may set the keyboard down," said friend Dan Carpenter, who formerly worked as a columnist and reporter for the Indianapolis Star.

Related:6 things to know about Indiana author James Alexander Thom and his novel Follow the River

Success as a novelist

Thom came across the story behind "Follow the River" in the late 1970s, he told IndyStar in 2021. He'd been working on his first historical fiction novel called "Long Knife" about George Rogers Clark, who led an army to conquer the territory between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

"Follow the River" made the New York Times bestseller list and 40 years after its release, it had sold about 1.3 million copies, IndyStar reported in 2021.

“The basic thing is that this was a true story and people have found it utterly inspiring. I've had thousands of fan letters from people who have been encouraged to go on through tough situations because of the story," Thom told IndyStar then.

As he continued in the genre, Thom became known for his commitment to historical accuracy. In all, he's written about 15 published books, his wife said.

Once, he told Dark Rain, he stood in a pond for six days during the winter to experience what an army would have felt while traveling through a flooded area. He ate bugs, worms, bark and roots to understand how protagonist Mary Ingles from "Follow the River" survived.

"I said, 'Well, at least you'll never complain about my cooking,'" Dark Rain said. "That became a favorite line of his when he would tell the story. And he didn't complain."

Early on in Thom's novel career, he quoted another writer who turned out to be inaccurate and from there decided to do his own in-depth research, Dark Rain said.

"That was it. Even if he interviewed or read everything somebody else had, he would go and look up their sources and make sure that he didn't make any more mistakes," she said. "He said if you make one historical mistake that the rest of the world has heard forever, there will be one person that knows the truth and will shoot you down."

Thom's extensive research also led him to his soul mate. He spent years with Dark Rain's tribe of Shawnee to learn about the chief and warrior Tecumseh but didn't meet her until later.

After "Panther in the Sky" came out, Dark Rain, who is a member of the Shawnee Nation United Remnant Band, met him when she participated in the ceremony to make Thom a member of the Moon Society, an honor in which spouses and other non-Native Americans are accepted into the tribe.

"As I am walking around him sprinkling tobacco on him, he looked in my eyes, and I don't know what he grabbed ahold of," Dark Rain said. "I only know that he never turned loose."

The two married a year to the day they met, she said.

The cabin and art Thom created

The couple has lived in a log cabin near the Owen-Monroe county border on land that James Thom's mother gave him next to her property. Using materials from a repurposed structure found at a garage sale, Thom built a home to fit in a treeless nook in the midst of a woodsy area.

Thom's artistry was apparent throughout the home and especially on the kitchen floor, where he used pieces of a red elm that had died.

Carpenter called the couple close and collaborative. Dark Rain is a writer, and her husband drew the illustrations for her book "The Shawnee: Kohkumthena's Grandchildren."

Thom wasn't one to sit still, so when he wasn't writing novels, he'd pull out his pocket knife and carve something gorgeous or funny, Dark Rain said. His humor extended into letters he mailed to friends, including limericks and acerbic wit he saved for comment on politicians, Carpenter said.

"He was always top drawer," Dark Rain said. "When he did something, he did it wholeheartedly."

THOM, James Alexander

Born: 5/28/1933, Gosport, Indiana, U.S.A.

Died: 1/30/2023, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A.

 

James Alexander Thom’s westerns – author:

Follow the River – 1981

From Sea to Shining Sea – 1986

Long Knife - 1986

Panther in the Sky – 1989

The Red Heart – 1998

Sign Talker - 2001

Warrior Woman - 2004

 

RIP Maurizio Costanzo

 

Goodbye Maurizio Costanzo, from Pasolini to Scola his link with cinema

Cinecitta News

By Andrea Guglielmino

February 24, 2023

 

Maurizio Costanzo has died. The journalist, TV host, author and screenwriter was 84 years old.

With his 'Maurizio Costanzo Show' he was a key element of pop iconography of the 80s and 90s, but there are also many links with the world of cinema. Collaborator in a first written project of the film Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975) by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Costanzo participated in the screenplay of many other films, some of which directed by Pupi Avati: Bordella (1976), Cinema!! (1979), Jazz Band (1978), La casa dalle finestre che ridono (1976) - which over time became a real cult of the horror genre - Tutti defunti... except the dead (1977) and Zeder (1983).

In 1977 he contributed to the screenplay of the film by Ettore Scola Una giornata particolare, starring the couple Loren-Mastroianni. In 1978 he also directed a film, the ironic Melodrammore, a parody of Matarazzian melodramas interpreted by the actor-symbol of the genre, Amedeo Nazzari, in his last film appearance.

It is also due to him the discovery of the talent of the then semi-unknown Luciano De Crescenzo of which he promoted the first work Così parlò Bellavista, inviting him in his program 'Bontà loro' and allowing him to choose to devote himself only to the career of author, definitively abandoning the previous profession of engineer at IBM.

The book spawned two films, both directed by De Crescenzo himself.

Later he collaborated on the screenplay of Troppo Belli (2005), by Ugo Fabrizio Giordani, with Costantino Vitagliano and Daniele Interrante, well-known "tronisti" of the transmissions conceived and conducted by his partner Maria De Filippi.

He also signed Per sempre by Alessandro di Robilant (2003), Voce del verbo amore by Andrea Manni (2007), Parlami di me by Brando De Sica (2008).

As an actor (often in the role of himself) he appeared in 3+1 days to fall in love with Benedetta Pontellini, Caterina va in città by Paolo Virzì, Body Guards by Neri Parenti, Anni 90 by Enrico Oldoini.

In addition, during the 80s, he collaborated with the weekly 'Gente' as a critic. It is also impossible not to remember the brilliant career of his son Saverio, one of the most appreciated directors on the Italian scene.

COSTANZO, Maurizio

Born: 8/28/1938, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 2/24/2023, Parioli, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Maurizio Costanzo’s western – writer:

In the Name of the Father – 1969

RIP Alicia Allain

 

ALICIA ALLAIN SCHNEIDER OBITUARY

Wilbert Funeral Home

February 23, 2023

Revelation 21:3-4

[3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

Alicia passed away at her home surrounded by her family as she took her last breath on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at the age of 53. She was a native of Brusly and resident of Holden. Alicia was a proud mom and smile to her husband. Filmmaker and music producer since the 90's. Alicia is survived by her husband, John R. Schneider, who he called "My Smile"; her daughter, Jessica Ann Dollard (Daniel Turner) who she was very proud of; parents, Michael and Linda Marino Allain; brother, Brandy Michael Allain; grandmother, Doris Crutti Marino Alvarado; step-daughter, Karis Schneider (Justin); granddaughter, Sierra Schneider. Alicia was preceded in death by her grandparents, Ferd Sr. and Ruby Allain, Joe Marino.

From Brusly to Hollywood and back, Alicia was a force that inspired others, she was kind and generous to all she met. She always put herself last. She was very protective of her parents. She was mama bear that protected all her cubs. She was a fighter until the end. Alicia will be missed mighty.

To respect the family's privacy, a private service will be held. Please share memories, sympathies and condolences at www.wilbertservices.com. In lieu of flowers, please say prayers for her surviving family, tell someone you love that you love them in her honor, hug them and hold them tight.

ALLAIN, Alicia (Alicia Ann Allain)

Born: 7/14/1969, Brusly, Louisiana, U.S.A.

Died: 2/21/2023, Holden, Louisiana, U.S.A.

 

Alicia Allain’s western – executive producer:

Mysterious Circumstances: The Death of Meriweather Lewis - 2022

RIP Chris Chesser

 

Chris Chesser, Producer of ‘Major League,’ Dies at 74

Variety

By Katie Reul

February 21, 2023

 

Chris Chesser, the producer known for his work on the sports comedy “Major League,” has died. He was 74.

Chesser died suddenly Feb. 2 while at his Los Angeles home, brothers Alan and Steve Chesser announced Tuesday. The cause of death has yet to be confirmed.

In 1974, the producer took his first steps into the entertainment industry as an executive in international sales at Columbia Pictures. Two years later, Chesser became general manager of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Between 1980 and 1983, Chesser helmed two production companies: he served as vice president of production at Marble Arch Productions and functioned as head of production for Filmways, until the company was acquired by Orion Pictures.

Films Chesser supervised as a production executive include “Sharkey’s Machine,” “The Great Santini,” “Caddyshack,” “Wolfen,” “Arthur,” “Excalibur” and “On Golden Pond.” He also assisted in developing the features “Spinal Tap” and “Absence of Malice.”

The late filmmaker secured his first executive producing credit in 1988 on the crime romance “Kansas,” which he followed up that same year with the film “War Party.” He went on to independently produce 1989’s “Major League,” which featured a star-studded cast including Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Wesley Snipes. Chesser also independently produced 1991’s “Eyes of an Angel,” starring John Travolta.

Chesser produced his 1990 film, “Silhouette,” alongside Alan Beattie, who he ultimately partnered with to form Beattie/Chesser Productions. Under the banner of his own production company, Chesser continued to produce films like “The Wrong Man,” “Exquisite Tenderness” and “Under Pressure.” He also collaborated with fellow producer John Corry to create documentary programming like “Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War,” “The Color of War” and “The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich.”

In the later days of his career, Chesser produced 2012’s “Bloodwork” and served as an executive producer on 2015’s “Absolutely Anything.”

The Hollywood veteran is survived by his brothers, Alan and Steve.

CHESSER, Chris (Christopher Ian Chesser)

Born: 9/16/1948, U.S.A.

Died: 2/2/2023, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Chris Chesser’s westerns, producer:

War Party – 1988

Bullets are Blind - 2023

RIP Barbara Bosson

 Barbara Bosson Dies: ‘Hill Street Blues’ Five-Time Emmy Nominee Was 83

 

DEADLINE

 By Peter White

February 20, 2023

Barbara Bosson, who was nominated for five consecutive Emmys for her role as Fay Furrillo on Hill Street Blues, died February 18 at 83.

Her death was announced by her director son, Jesse Bochco, on social media.

She is best known as starring as Fay Furillo during the first six seasons of NBC’s Hill Street Blues, which was created by her then husband Steven Bochco.

Bosson was also Emmy nominated for her role as prosecutor Miriam Grasso on ABC’s Murder One.

“More spirit and zest than you could shake a stick at. When she loved you, you felt it without a doubt. If she didn’t, you may well have also known that too. Forever in our hearts. I love you Mama,” wrote Jesse Bochco.

Bosson got her start in Steve McQueen film Bullitt and CBS detective series Mannix before becoming one of the stars of NBC’s Richie Brockelan, Private Eye. She also starred in Cop Rock and her last roles were in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, ABC’s Total Security and TV movie Scattering Dad.

But she is best remember for her Hill Street Blues role as the needy ex-wife of Capt. Frank Furrillo (Daniel J. Travanti) on Hill Street Blues, which aired on NBC from 1981-87.

Although the series, created by Steven Bochco-Michael Kozoll, never was a big hit — ranking only 27th among primetime series in its first season and never breaking the Top 20 in a three-network universe — the show would go on to become a major success. Its influence was undeniable as critics swooned and the series amassed 26 Emmys and dozens more nominations during its run.

Hill Street Blues was the first show to win four consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series, from 1981-84. Since then, The West Wing and Mad Men have matched that feat.

Bosson remained on the series from 1981-86, earning Supporting Actress Emmy noms every year from 1981-85. Her character had a baby in Season 4 and later became romantically involved with Henry Goldblume (Joe Spano).

Turning older cop dramas on their head, its hybrid procedural/serial format focused more on the characters and their interactions – and police department politics — than the crimes they investigated. It influenced such acclaimed ensuing series as Homicide: Life on the Street and NYPD Blue and continues to resonate today.

Bosson also made guest appearances on LA Law and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

In 1995, Bosson was cast in the series-regular role of Assistant DA Miriam Grasso on Murder One, an ABC drama series that lasted two seasons. She earned a sixth career Emmy nomination for the supporting role.

Born on November 1, 1939 in Charleroi, PA, Bosson married writer-producer Bochco in 1970. They divorced in 1997, and he died in 2018.

Bosch star Titus Welliver, who appeared with Bosson in Murder One, paid tribute to the actress.

“The beautiful and wonderful Barbara Bosson has left us,” he wrote. “Colleague, friend and surrogate mother. My heart is shattered by her departure. Bow your heads for her loved ones who are so very devastated by her departure. Love you Babs, you made us all better with your kindness.”

Bosson is survived by her son Jesse, daughter Melissa and two grandchildren.

Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.

BOSSON, Barbara

Born: 11/1/1939, Charleroi, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Died: 2/18/2023, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Barbara Bosson’s western – actress:

Alias Smith and Jones (TV) – 1972 (Mrs. Schwedes)

RIP Jansen Panettiere

 Hayden Panettiere Brother Jansen Dead At 28 

TMZ

2/20/2023

 

Hayden Panettiere's brother Jansen Panettiere has died ... TMZ has learned.

A family source tells us Jansen died over the weekend in New York. His cause of death is currently unclear. Law enforcement sources tell us they got a call to a residence Sunday night around 5:30 PM. We're told there's no foul play suspected in Jansen's death.

Jansen, 5 years younger than Hayden, jumped onto the scene in the early 2000s, working on projects like "Even Stevens," "Blue's Clues," "Robots," and "Ice Age: The Meltdown." He also had a recurring role as Truman X in Nickelodeon's "The X's."

At one point, Jansen worked alongside Hayden in 2004's "Tiger Cruise" and 2005's "Racing Stripes."

He went on to star in Disney Channel original movies and made-for-TV Nickelodeon films, picking up a nomination for a Young Artist Award back in 2008 for his work on "The Last Day of Summer."

Jansen kept acting through the 2010s, working on shows like "Major Crimes" and "The Walking Dead." He also was attached to 5 more projects at the time of his death.

Jansen was only 28.

RIP

PANETTIERE, Jansen

Born: 9/28/1994, Palisades, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/19/2023, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Jansen Panettiere’s western – actor:

Horse – 2023 (Issac)

RIP Erwin Berner

 

Moz.de

February 17, 2023

 

Actor and author died at the age of 69 – son of Erwin Strittmatter died in Berlin-Friedrichshain on February 27^th.

He wrote down his memories of his parents, Erwin and Eva Strittmatter, and of his childhood in Schulzenhof late – the confrontation with the "Schulzenhof system" determined his life.

The eldest of three sons of the writer couple Eva and Erwin Strittmatter. At the age of 18, he dropped out of the extended secondary school in Rheinsberg against his father's will. He left his home farm in Schulzenhof in Brandenburg, where the family lived from 1954, next to the city apartment in Berlin's Stalinallee, "his father played the farmer and family patriarch and his mother pursued her lifelong dreams".

He went to the Staatliche Schauspielschule Rostock. At this time, he adopted the stage name Erwin Berner – based on his great-grandmother's maiden name – in order to be able to live and work without prejudice. [5] Already during his acting studies he appeared in 1972 in a leading role in Gesichter im Zwielicht, a film of the series Polizeiruf 110, alongside Horst Drinda, before he played theater activities on stages in Freiberg, Weimar, Rudolstadt and Neustrelitz, especially in television productions of the German television (DFF).

After his father's death in 1994, he publicly acknowledged his origins, which he had kept secret for more than 20 years.

BERNER, Erwin (Erwin Strittmatter)

Born: 1953 E. Berlin, Germany

Died: 2/17/2023, Berlin-Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany

 

Erwin Berner’s western – actor:

Prairie Scout in Mexico (TV) – 1987 (Kaiser Maximilian)

RIP Gerald Fried

 

Gerald Fried, Emmy Winner for ‘Roots’ and Composer for ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Gilligan’s Island,’ Dies at 95

 

Variety

By Jon Burlingame

February 18, 203

 

Composer Gerald Fried, who won an Emmy for the landmark miniseries “Roots” and whose 1960s scores, from “Star Trek” to “Gilligan’s Island,” left an indelible impression on a generation of TV watchers, died of pneumonia Friday at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport, Ct. He was 95.

His wide-ranging career included scoring five early Stanley Kubrick films, including “Paths of Glory” and “The Killing”; receiving the only Oscar nomination ever given for a documentary score, 1975’s “Birds Do It, Bees Do It”; and earning five other Emmy nominations for music in specials, TV movies and miniseries.

The prolific Fried scored approximately 40 films, some three dozen TV-movies and miniseries, and episodes of another 40 TV series during a career that spanned more than six decades.

Among his most famous TV series music was from the original “Star Trek.” He scored five episodes of the series, most famously the Spock-in-heat episode “Amok Time,” which featured his Vulcan-battle music that was often used on the series and later parodied on shows like “The Simpsons” and movies including “The Cable Guy.”

Fried also scored nearly two dozen episodes of the popular spy series “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” musically establishing the locales for the globetrotting secret agents; and about a dozen episodes of the castaway sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” which, because of endless reruns, earned him more in royalties than anything else he ever scored.

He spoke about the pressures of TV scoring in a 2003 interview for the Television Academy: “In TV, you see it once, go home, and next Friday you’re conducting the music. It was terrifying and exhilarating. The schedules were so tight, I had to go on my first ideas. There was an orchestra waiting and you had to have the music ready. With that kind of pressure, you learn real fast what works and what doesn’t.”

Fried scored episodes of many classic TV series including “Ben Casey,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Lost in Space,” “Gunsmoke,” “Wagon Train,” “Mannix,” “Police Woman” and “Dynasty.” Rarely did he get to write or co-write the themes, although he did in the case of the 1950s jazz western “Shotgun Slade,” the ’60s caveman sitcom “It’s About Time” and the steamy ’80s nighttime soap “Flamingo Road.”

In November 1976, “Roots” producers David L. Wolper and Stan Margulies began to worry that their original choice for composer, Quincy Jones, was missing deadlines and might not finish the music in time for its January 1977 airdate. They turned to Fried, who had scored their TV movie “I Will Fight No More Forever”; the composer received a phone call telling him to “keep your pencils sharp and your mouth shut.”

Fried was quietly hired, and while Jones’ music was used during the first two hours, set in Africa, the remaining 10 hours of the miniseries – TV’s first serious look at the horrors of slavery in America – were scored by Fried. Emmys were later presented to both composers.

Fried’s “Roots” theme embodied the hopes of African-born slaves for freedom, but much of his score was based on his extensive knowledge of 19th-century American folk music, with lots of banjo, guitar, fiddle and harmonica throughout. Controversy later erupted when Fried publicly objected to Jones’ album of “music from and inspired by” the series, which he felt was a deliberate attempt to supplant an actual “original soundtrack” which would have featured Fried’s much longer, more developed score.

No album of the Fried score was ever released. But he did go on to score the 14-hour sequel, “Roots: The Next Generations,” which was nominated for a 1979 music Emmy. He received four other Emmy nominations, for the 1967 documentary “Gauguin in Tahiti,” the 1980 TV-movie “Moviola: The Silent Lovers,” an acclaimed choral score (based on Lakota Sioux chants and poems) for the five-hour 1984 “The Mystic Warrior” and the six-hour “Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story” in 1987.

Fried was introduced to movies by his childhood friend Stanley Kubrick; Fried scored the budding director’s first short, the 1951 “Day of the Fight,” and went on to score Kubrick’s first four features: “Fear and Desire,” “Killer’s Kiss,” and “The Killing,” ending with the antiwar classic “Paths of Glory” in 1957. He also scored four films for director Robert Aldrich, including “The Killing of Sister George” (1968) and “Too Late the Hero” (1970).

His other films included Jack Nicholson’s debut film “The Cry Baby Killer” (1958), the Roger Corman-directed “Machine Gun Kelly” (1958), the interracial marriage story “One Potato, Two Potato” (1964) and the Sylvia Plath adaptation “The Bell Jar” (1979). He scored about 20 documentaries, including several “National Geographic” specials, culminating in his 1975 Oscar nomination for Wolper’s “Birds Do It, Bees Do It,” the only doc ever nominated for Best Original Score.

Fried was born in the Bronx, Feb. 13, 1928, and attended New York’s High School of Music and Art. He studied oboe at the Juilliard School of Music and, from 1948 to 1956, was first oboist with the Dallas Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and New York’s Little Orchestra. He moved to Los Angeles in 1957 and played for one season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

From 1958 on, however, he became busy as a TV and film composer, although he never completely left the oboe behind. Decades after his “Star Trek” music became famous, he wrote a mini-concerto for the instrument based on eight of his “Trek” themes, and after retiring to Santa Fe, N.M. in 2000, he performed in the city’s community orchestra and big band. He moved with his family to Connecticut six years ago.

His last film credit was the 2020 sci-fi spoof “Unbelievable!!!!!” which featured cameos by many “Star Trek” stars including Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig and Michael Dorn.

Fried was a strong supporter of the fight against AIDS. His 5-year-old son Zack died of AIDS in 1987; born prematurely with severe medical issues, he was given 27 blood transfusions, one or more of which turned out to be tainted with HIV. The Fried family produced a line of T-shirts adorned with Zack’s drawings, proceeds of which were donated to AIDS fundraisers.

Survivors include his wife, Anita; four children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

FRIED, Gerald

Born: 2/13/1928, Bronx, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/17/2023, Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.A.

 

Gerald Fried’s westerns – musician, conductor, composer:

Trooper Hook – 1957 [conductor, composer]

Terror in a Texas Town – 1958 [composer]

Cast a Long Shadow – 1959 [conductor, composer]

The Jayhawkers! - 1959 [musician]

Shotgun Slade (TV) – 1959-1961 [composer]

Wagon Train (TV) – 1959 [composer]

The Second Time Around – 1961 [composer]

Riverboat (TV) – 1960-1961 [composer]

Whispering Smith (TV) – 1961 [composer]

Story of a Rodeo Cowboy – 1963 [composer]

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1965 [composer]

Rawhide (TV) – 1965 [composer]

Iron Horse (TV) – 1967 [composer]

Dundee and the Culhane (TV) – 1967 [composer]

I Will Fight No More Forever (TV) – 1975 [composer]

The Chisolms (TV) – 1979 [composer]

The Mystic Warrior (TV) – 1984 [composer]

RIP Alain Goraguer

 

 Death of Alain Goraguer, arranger of Serge Gainsbourg and composer of film music, at the age of 91

Alain Goraguer, composer of film music, arranger and orchestrator of Serge Gainsbourg or France Gall, died Monday, February 13, 2023, at the age of 91.

 

Voici

By Manon Moreau

2/17/2023

 

His name may not ring a bell, but you must know his music. Alain Goraguer passed away on Monday, February 13, 2023, at the age of 91. As an arranger and orchestrator, he has worked on the songs of many French artists, from Serge Gainsbourg to France Gall, Jean Ferrat, Georges Moustaki or even Abd Al Malik. "To arrange is to rectify a melody written with clumsiness so that it is elegant. It can be a harmonic passage, a change of tone. To orchestrate is to dress by instrument, to find a counter-chant that helps the song to live, "he explained in 2019, in an interview with Le Monde.

Hits, film music and the credits of Gym Tonic

Passionate about jazz and pianist, Alain Goraguer had met Boris Vian in a club in Saint-Germain des Prés, Paris. Together in life and sharing the same love of jazz, they had worked together on the songs Je bois, La complainte du progrès or Fais-moi mal Johnny. Alain Goraguer also directed the soundtrack of the film J'irai cracher sur vos tombes, adapted from the book by Vernon Sullivan (aka Boris Vian). It is to Alain Goraguer that we owe the arrangement and orchestration of many hits of French song: Le poinçonneur des Lilas by Serge Gainsbourg; Les solettes et Poupée de cire poupée de son, by France Gall; Les petits papiers de Régine, Le métèque de George Moustaki. He had also collaborated with Boby Lapointe, Jean Ferrat, Serge Lama, Mireille Darc, Marie Laforêt and, more recently, Abd Al Malik.

Also a composer, Alain Goraguer had written several film scores (including porn films in the 1970s). He had notably directed the music for La planète sauvage (1973), by René Laloux. He had also imagined the credits of the show Gym Tonic, by Véronique and Davina, broadcast on Antenne 2.

GORAGUER, Alain (Alain Yves Réginald Goraguer)

Born: 1931, Rosny-sous-Bois, Île-de-France, France

Died: 2/13/2023, Paris, Île-de-France, France

 

Alain Goraguer’s western – composer:

The Eagle and the Horse (TV) - 1994

RIP George T. Miller

 

Australian film director George Miller, of Man From Snowy River fame, dies

 

The Sydney Morning Herald

By Karl Quinn

February 18, 2023

 

Australian film and television director George Miller, who scored a massive hit in the 1980s with The Man From Snowy River before going on to make movies in Hollywood, has died of a heart attack in hospital in Melbourne. He was 79.

Although he was one of this country’s most commercially successful filmmakers for a period and played a huge role in shaping the way we saw ourselves, the Scottish-born director was destined always to be known as “the other George Miller” by dint of having risen to prominence at almost exactly the same time as the creator of the Mad Max franchise, former medico Dr George Miller.

George T. (for Trumbull) Miller will be best remembered for his High Country epic, which grossed $17.2 million locally on its release in 1982 (the equivalent of $68 million in today’s money), did huge business worldwide, and spawned a sequel, an arena spectacular and a penchant for Akubras, Drizabone jackets and RM Williams boots.

But the film he treasured most dearly was one that the rest of the world greeted with absolute disdain.

“Dad’s favourite of the films he made was Les Patterson Saves the World,” says his son Harvey Miller, co-founder with Monte Morgan (son of pollster Roy Morgan) of the band Client Liaison, in which brother Geordie also plays.

The central plot of the movie, which starred Barry Humphries as the alcoholic diplomat of the title and as housewife superstar Dame Edna Everage, revolved around a disease that was spread by contact with toilet seats. Whatever the virtues such a story might have offered, the film was doomed to failure when it was released in the same week as the Grim Reaper AIDS campaign. It duly bombed, but has become something of a cult classic in the years since.

Harvey Miller remembers his father claiming that after the premiere Humphries said he never wanted to see the film again, while then-treasurer Paul Keating asked “why are we funding this shit?”

And yet, he says, “that was the film he was most proud to show us. He never sat us down as kids and said, ‘Watch The Man From Snowy River’. He just made us watch Les Patterson Saves the World.”

That was typical of his father, Harvey says. “He was just a real eccentric. I only ever saw him wear shorts. I never saw him cook a meal. There was this oddball naughtiness, but not in a clownish way.”

Sigrid Thornton, who worked with Miller on five projects, including The Man From Snowy River and miniseries All the Rivers Run – which was co-commissioned by HBO and was the first made-for-cable miniseries to be shown in the United States– remembers him as a “a man who was full of stories”.

“He was relaxed, collaborative. He was one of my biggest mentors in terms of understanding the nature of film, of performance. I learnt an enormous amount from George.”

George Miller, who met him a few times in the mid-1970s when he was trying to get Mad Max made, also remembers him fondly. “He was very kind to me,” he says. “He was an established director at Crawfords, and he gave me advice on casting, crewing and shooting in the streets of Melbourne.”

At the time, it was the medico who was known as “the other” George Miller, while the more established man was referred to by his nickname, Noddy.

“A few times I received his mail by mistake,” the Babe director recalls. “When The Man From Snowy River hit the screens, a group of my mum’s friends congratulated me for making such a lovely film. ‘So much better than that Mad Max’.”

George Trumbull Miller was the son of Scottish migrants who arrived in the country in 1947, when he was four years old. They settled in Wonthaggi, on Victoria’s Bass Coast, where his father worked as a coal miner. Later, his mother found work in the kitchen at Parliament House in Melbourne.

George started in the business out of high school, landing a job in the mailroom of Crawford Television. By 21 he was working as a cameraman, but after just a couple of weeks he got his big break. “They’d throw you in at the deep end to see if you sank or swam,” he told this masthead in 2008. “I was one of the ones who swam.”

He worked on Division 4, Matlock Police, The Box, The Sullivans. The boom in TV miniseries blew him to the colonial-era Against the Wind, starring pop singer Jon English. It also gave him a taste for period drama, a field he would plough many more times.

Those stories were crucial parts of the way the nation came to understand itself in the early days of the so-called Australian New Wave. “There were lots of untold stories from a First Nations perspective, as we now know,” says Thornton, “but that was really our first historical exploration on film, and George was at the forefront of that.”

Adapted from Banjo Paterson’s poem, The Man From Snowy River film cost a modest $3 million to make. In the US alone it was in cinemas for more than a year, taking almost $US21 million (about $A85 million in today’s currency). Today it is still in the top 20 Australian films at the local box office, in unadjusted terms.

That success put him on the radar of Hollywood, where he made the sequel to The Never-Ending Story, Christmas movie In the Nick of Time with Lloyd Bridges, and the family movie Zeus and Roxanne.

“That’s probably been seen more times than The Man From Snowy River,” notes Harvey. “The reality, unfortunately, is it’s probably going to be what survives him, more than Snowy.”

Miller’s final film was the 2009 exploitation thriller Prey, starring Natalie Bassingthwaighte. But you won’t find it on his imdb credits; after a dispute with the producers, he demanded his name be removed.

The director is credited instead as Oscar D’Roccster – the other other George Miller.

MILLER, George T. (George Trumbull Miller)

Born: 11/28/1943, Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K.

Died: 2/ /2023, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

 

George T. Miller’s westerns – director:

Cash and Company – 1975

The Last Outlaw - 1980

The Man from Snowy River – 1982

Five Mile Creek (TV) – 1983-1985

Cool Change - 1986

RIP Stella Stevens

 

Stella Stevens Dies; ‘Poseidon Adventure’ Actress & Elvis Presley, Jerry Lewis Co-Star Was 84

 

DEADLINE 

By Lynette Rice

February 17, 2023

 

Stella Stevens, the actress best known for her roles in The Nutty Professor and The Poseidon Adventure and starring opposite Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls!, died today in Los Angeles after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 84.

Stevens’ passing was confirmed to Deadline by her son, actor-producer Andrew Stevens, and her longtime friend John O’Brien.

A former Playboy centerfold from January 1960, Stevens was modeling in her hometown of Memphis when she was discovered and given a screen test by 20th Century Fox. She wound up under contract with Paramount and then Columbia through the ’60s, starring opposite such big names as Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls!, Dean Martin in How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life, Bobby Darin in Too Late Blues, Chuck Conners in Synanon and Glenn Ford in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, ADvance to the Rear and Rage.

She won a Golden Globe as Most Promising Newcomer for her first film, 1959’s Say One for Me, which starred Bing Crosby and Debbie Reynolds. Stevens also appeared in Lil Abner that year.

She went on to play Jerry Lewis’ dream girl in The Nutty Professor and the lippy wife of Ernest Borgnine in The Poseidon Adventure, the star-packed disaster movie that made more money than any movie 1972 other than The Godfather.

Her many other film credits include The Silencers, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Sol Madrid, Where Angels Go Trouble Follows! and The Secret of My Success.

Born on October 1, 1938, in Yazoo City, MI, Stevens was also a steady presence on television, appearing in dozens of TV movies and guest-starring in more than 40 series, from Bonanza and Ben Casey in the ‘60’s through The Commish and Arli$$ in the ‘90s.

For two seasons in the early ‘80s, she starred in the primetime soap Flamingo Road and later had recurring roles in Santa Barbara and General Hospital. Reportedly, Stevens came to regret her association with Playboy, finding the sexpot label confining.

“I did the best I could with the tools I had and the opportunities given me,” she was once quoted as saying. “I was a divorced mom with a toddler by the time I was 17. And Playboy did as much harm as it helped. But in spite of that rough start, I did OK.”

Along with her son, Stevens is survived by three grandchildren. She was predeceased by her longtime partner, rock musician Bob Kulick.

STEVENS, Stella (Estelle Caro Eggleston)

Born: 10/1/1938, Yazoo City, Mississippi, U.S.A.

Died: 2 /17/2023, Los Angeles, California, U.S

 

Stella Stevens’ westerns - actress

Bonanza (TV) – 1960 (Ann ‘Annie’ Croft)

Johnny Ringo (TV) – 1960 (Suzanne Crsil)

Riverboat (TV) – 1960 (Lisa Walters)

Frontier Circus (TV) – 1962 (Katy Cogswell)

Advance to the Rear – 1964 (Martha Lou Williams)

The Ballad of Cable Hogue – 1970 (Hildy)

A Town Called Hell – 1971 (Alvira)

Hec Ramsey (TV) – 1972 (Ivy Turnwright)

Honly Tonk (TV) – 1974 (Gold Dust)

Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging (TV) – 1977 (Martha McVea)

Wanted: The Sundance Woman – 1976 (Lola Wilkins)

The Oregon Trail (TV) – 1977 (Hannah Morgan)

The Manitou – 1978 (Amelia Crusoe)

No Man’s Land – 1984 (Nellie Wilder)

The Long Ride Home – 2003 (Fiona Champyon)

Hell to Pay – 2005 (Mary Potter)