RIP Alan Arkin

 

Alan Arkin, Oscar-Winning 'Little Miss Sunshine' Actor, Dead at 89 

Alan Arkin won an Oscar for 2006's 'Little Miss Sunshine' and recently starred with Michael Douglas in 'The Kominsky Method'

People

By Tommy McArdle, Elizabeth Leonard

June 30, 2023

 

Alan Arkin, the Academy Award and Tony Award-winning actor, has died at 89.

His death was confirmed to PEOPLE exclusively by his sons Adam, Matthew and Anthony, who jointly offered a statement on the family’s behalf: "Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man. A loving husband, father, grand and great grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed."

Most recently, Arkin costarred in The Kominsky Method for Netflix alongside Michael Douglas, earning Emmy nominations in 2019 and 2020, and Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations in 2020 and 2021. In Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Arkin played Edwin Hoover, the grandfather of the dysfunctional family. His role — which only spanned 14 minutes of screen time — earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Arkin's memorable turn in the 2012 Ben Affleck-directed political drama Argo earned him his fourth Oscar nomination. He played veteran producer Lester Siegel, whose sharp sense of humor and biting line delivery won over audiences.

His son, Adam Arkin, 66, is also a well-known actor and director who has starred on TV hits including Chicago Hope, 8 Simple Rules and Sons of Anarchy.

Alan Arkin was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 26, 1934; his family moved to Los Angeles during his childhood. That 'is why I don't live there now," Arkin quipped to PEOPLE in 1979 from his home in Chappaqua, New York.

After finishing high school, Arkin attended several different colleges and dropped out of at least three, including Bennington College in Vermont, which lists him as an alumnus of the class of 1955.

"They might have thrown me out," Arkin told PEOPLE of his experience in college in a 1979 story about him and his second wife, actress Barbara Dana. "I don't remember."

After leaving college Arkin embarked on a brief career in music with a folk group called the Tarriers, where he sang and played guitar. The short-lived group produced the hit top-5 single 'The Banana Boat Song' in 1957.

But Arkin, who had taken acting lessons since childhood, quit the band and set about trying to establish himself as an actor. By 1960, Arkin arrived in Chicago and became an early member of the Second City improvisational comedy troupe, according to a history on the organization's website.

"Second City saved my life. It literally saved my life," Arkin said. "I have a feeling it's true for a lot of other people, too."

After spending some time on the Second City stage in Chicago, Arkin made his Broadway debut in 1961 in From the Second City and followed it up with a Tony-winning performance in 1963's Enter Laughing.

More television and film roles followed in the years after Arkin first made it big on Broadway; he received his first of four career Oscar nominations in 1967 for his role in the comedy The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.

Over the next 50-plus years, Arkin went on to appear in more than 100 movies and films, notably starring in movies like The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968), which earned him his second Oscar nomination; Catch-22 (1970); Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).

In addition to his work in film and on the stage, Arkin was nominated for six Emmy Awards, most recently for The Kominsky Method. He left the show before its third season in 2021. "I'm like a horse going down the trail," he told The Guardian in 2020. "Acting is so ingrained in my physiognomy and the channels of my brain that I find myself missing aspects of the business. But I don’t need it any more. I should probably get over it.”

Arkin is survived by his wife Suzanne Newlander, whom he married in 1996, and three children: sons Adam Arkin and Matthew Arkin, whom he shared with first wife Jeremy Yaffe, and Anthony Dana Arkin, whom he shared with second wife Dana.

ARKIN, Alan (Alan Wolf Arkin)

Born: 3/26/1934, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 6/30/2023, Carlsbad, California, U.S.A.

 

Alan Arkin’s westerns – actor:

Hearts of the West – 1975 (Kessler)

And Starring Pancho Villa (TV) – 2003 (Sam Drbeen)

RIP Paul de Senneville

 

Obituary: Delphine Software founder Paul de Senneville died at age 89

In 1988, de Senneville founded the studio that would come to create Flashback and the Moto Racer series.

Game Developer

By Justin Carter

June 26, 2023

 

Paul de Senneville, a music producer who founded game developer Delphine Software International, passed away at 89 years old. According to French outlet Le Trot, de Senneville died over the weekend on June 23.

Born July 30, 1933, de Senneville founded the French record company Delphine Records (named after his eldest daughter) in 1974 with his business partner, noted music composer Olivier Toussaint. In 1988, he formed Delphine Software International (DSI) as an extension of the record company.

DSI was headed up by Paul Cuisset. Prior to its closure in 2004, the studio created titles such as 1991's Another World, 1992's Flashback (the best-selling French video game of all time), and 1994's Shaq Fu.

In 1993, de Senneville helped co-found DSI's subsidiary studio, Adeline Software International (named after his other daughter). The studio released a handful of games, including the two-title Little Big Adventure series, before it closed down in 2004 alongside its parent studio.

On Twitter, indie studio 2.21, which is developing a remaster of Adeline's Little Big Adventure, memorialized the late de Senneville. "Our thoughts are with [Paul's] family," the developer wrote. "Thank you, Paul, for your immense contributions to the gaming industry."

Outside of those two studios, de Senneville's career was tied up in music. From the late 1970s up to 2004, he composed music that would be played by other artists, such as Richard Clayderman, Jean-Phillipe Audin, and Diego Modena. He and Toussaint also composed music for films, including 1984's Irreconcilable Differences.

Paul de Senneville began his career as a journalist working for big French newspapers such as “France Soir” and “Paris-Presse”, then he became a TV program producer.  As director of a record company, Disc AZ, he started working with his passion: music.

Success came very quickly and in 1976, Paul de Senneville set up his own record company, Delphine Productions (named after Paul’s first daughter, Delphine), with Olivier Toussaint.

Delphine in one of the leading French music exporters to the world market.  It is also the only company specialising in instrumental music.  Nowadays, the Delphine group represent 15 companies dealing with various activities: an advertising film and clip production company, an agency for advertising and casting actors and a casting agency as well as two modelling agencies.

Paul de Senneville is a very famous French composer and has worked with the top French artists such as Mireille Mathieu, Michel Polnareff, Dalida, Claude François…  He composed Richard Clayderman’s first success: “Ballade pour Adeline” (named after Paul’s second daughter, Adeline).  Since then, by playing Paul’s music, Richard Clayderman has become the French artist with the highest record sales in the world.  Actually, more than 100 million albums have been sold in 57 different countries, representing 290 Gold records and 90 Platinums.

de SENNEVILLE, Paul (Paul Marie André Senneville)

Born: 7/30/1933, Pairs, Île-de-France

Died: 6/23/2023, France

Paul de Senneville’s westerns – writer, composer:

The Indians (TV) 1964 [screenwriter]

Convoy of Women – 1974 [composer]

Lucky Lucky and the Daltons – 1974 [composer]

RIP Lew Palter

 

Titanic star dies

MSN

By BANG Showbiz

6/27/2023

 

Lew Palter has died.

The actor - who portrayed businessman and Macy's co-owner Isidor Straus in 1997 epic 'Titanic' - died from lung cancer on 21 May at the age of 94, his daughter Catherine Palter told the Hollywood Reporter.

As well as roles in the likes of 'The Flying Nun', 'Delvecchio' and 'L.A. Law', Lew also taught at CalArts School of Theater from 1971 until his retirement in 2013, as well as conducting private workshops around the world, and his daughter was proud of his impact in the world of education.

She said: "As a teacher, he seemed to have truly changed people's lives."

The school's dene, Travis Preston, praised Lew for the way he instilled a love of the craft of acting in his students.

He said: "He fostered deep curiosity, care, intellect and humor in every scene, play and class. "He had the utmost respect of his students and encouraged all to find truth in their work and lives."

Lew's students over the years included Don Cheadle, Ed Harris, and Cecily Strong, who he encouraged to try out for improv collective The Groundlings before her breakout on 'Saturday Night Live'.

After acting and directing in plays off-Broadway, Lew joined the Millbrook Playhouse in Pennsylvania in the mid-1960s and made his TV debut on a 1967 episode of 'Run for Your Life'.

His 'Titanic' role was one of the most memorable in the film, with he and on-screen wife Elsa Raven, who played Ida, featuring in a montage embracing on a bed in their stateroom while the ship's string quartet played as the water rushed in.

Isidor and Ida were two of the wealthiest passengers to lose their lives in the disaster, with the businessman refusing to get onto a lifeboat while women and children were waiting, and his wife insisting she wouldn't leave without him.

Catherine revealed her mother, Lew's wife Nancy Vawter - who died in November 2020 - had been suggested for the role of Ida Straus, but her agent was told producers were looking for "a different type of actress".

As well as his daughter, Lew is survived by grandchildren Sam, Tessa, and Miranda.

PALTER, Lew

Born: 11/3/1928, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 5/27/2023, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Lew Palter’s westerns – actor:

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1968 (Hillman)

The Virginian (TV) – 1968 (poker player)

The High Chaparral (TV) – 1970 (Jorge)

RIP Dody Heath

 

IMDb/Les Gens du Cinema

Several on-line sites including the IMDb and Les Gendu Cinema are reporting the passing of actress Dody Heathy. According to both of there posts Dody (or Dodie) Heath died on June 24, 2023. She was born Rowena Dolores Heath in Seattle, Washington on August 3, 1926/1928. Dodie was s an American screen actress who was in demand as a starlet and secondary juvenile in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. She appeared in several television series, among them Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, and Riverboat. She had roles in a variety of films, including Brigadoon (1954), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), Ask Any Girl (1959), Dog Eat Dog (1964), Seconds (1966), The Fortune Cookie (1966), and Welcome to Arrow Beach (1974).

The 1951 production of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, in which she sang the role of Hildy, was Dody Heath’s only Broadway appearance.

HEATH, Dodie (Rowena Dolores Heath)

Born: 8/3/1926, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

Died: 6/24/2023, U.S.A.

 

Dodie Heath’s westerns – actress:

Colt .45 (TV) – 1959 (Calamity)

Lawman (TV) – 1960 (Beth Danning)

Overland Trail (TV) – 1960 (Martha Cabel)

Riverboat (TV) – 1960 (Love Jennings)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1960 (Laurie Wade)

Outlaws (TV) – 1961 (Lela Dwyer)

Stagecoach West (TV) – 1961 (Linda Barton)

 

RIP Julian Sands

 

Actor Julian Sands, 65, confirmed dead after going missing on winter hike in California 

Yahoo

By Raechal Shewfelt

June 27, 2023

 

British actor Julian Sands, known for his roles in the 1985 costume drama A Room With a View and the Warlock horror movies, has been confirmed dead after going missing months ago while hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains outside of Los Angeles. He was 65.

The news was confirmed Tuesday by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Coroner Department:

"On Saturday, June 24, 2023, at about 10 a.m., civilian hikers contacted the Fontana Sheriff’s Station after they discovered human remains in the Mt. Baldy wilderness. Fontana Station deputies, along with the Sheriff’s Department’s Emergency Operations Division, responded to the scene," the department said in statement. The coroner subsequently "positively identified [the remains] as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood. The manner of death is still under investigation, pending further test results.

"We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to locate Mr. Sands."

Sands was last seen Jan. 13 on Mt. Baldy, one of many areas in that had been pummeled with ferocious snow and wind storms through an atypically wet winter. Search and rescue teams on the ground were sent in to find Sands and another hiker reported missing at the same time. However, they had been taken off the assignment due to treacherous conditions and the risk of an avalanche, and, at one point, they had to rely on helicopters and drones.

Last week, reflecting on renewed search efforts underway more than five months since Sands's disappearance, the actor's family said they "continue to hold Julian in our hearts with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and as an original and collaborative performer," per a statement shared by the sheriff's department on June 21.

Sands was a prolific actor, whose career began in the early 1980s. His performance alongside Sam Waterston and John Malkovich in Oscar-winning 1984 film The Killing Fields led to turns in projects including the following year's adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel A Room With a View, in which he co-starred alongside Helena Bonham Carter, and, in 1989, the horror film Warlock. He returned to play the title character in Warlock: The Armageddon in 1993.

According to rumor, it was actually Sands that Interview with the Vampire author Anne Rice wanted to play Lestat in the 1994 big-screen adaptation of her book. The role ultimately went to the better-known Tom Cruise.

In all, Sands appeared in more than 150 projects over his career. They include playing the title character in the 1998 remake of The Phantom of the Opera, as well as credits in the Steven Spielberg-produced horror comedy Arachnophobia in 1990, the infamous 1993 flop Boxing Helena and Oscar-winning 1995 movie Leaving Las Vegas. Other credits include the caper sequel Ocean's 13 and the action movie The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, plus TV's 24, Lipstick Jungle, Ghost Whisperer, Smallville and The Blacklist.

Sands explained in a December 2019 interview with Decider that he felt "the same enthusiasm more, possibly! — and curiosity and excitement at the prospect of going to work on whatever's next" at that time as he had on his very first jobs.

Born in Yorkshire, England, Sands went on to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, but he eventually relocated to Los Angeles. He had been married to journalist Evgenia Citkowitz, with whom he shares two daughters, since 1990; Sands and his previous wife share an adult son.In May 2020, he told The Guardian that he was the happiest when he was "close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning."

He was asked in the same conversation about the closest he had ever come to death.

"In the early '90s, in the Andes, caught in an atrocious storm above 20,000ft with three others," Sands said. "We were all in a very bad way. Some guys close to us perished; we were lucky."

He added that, at his funeral, he wanted Rufus Wainwright's cover of Judy Garland's song "Get Happy" to play. He said he hoped to be remembered as "an interesting, amusing father by my children."

SANDS, Julian (Julian Richard Morley Sands)

Born: 1/4/1958, Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK

Died: 1?/2023, Mt. Baldy, San Bernardino, California

 

Julian Sands’ western – actor:

Death Rider in the House of Vampires - 2021 (Count Holiday)

RIP Carmen Sevilla

 

Carmen Sevilla dies at the age of 92: goodbye to the great myth consumed by Alzheimer’s

Sportsfinding

By Chris Lawrence

June 27, 2023

Carmen Sevilla dies at the age of 92: goodbye to the great myth consumed by Alzheimer’s

Sad day for the world of cinema, culture and entertainment in Spain. carmen sevilla has died at the age of 92 after eight years in a nursing home, suffering from the terrible Alzheimer’s disease. Last Sunday, June 25, she was transferred to the Jiménez Díaz Foundation (Madrid) due to a worsening in her health. The light of one of the most beloved women in our country has gone out to make way for the legend.

The one who was a presenter of neighborhood cinema It is a benchmark of Spanish culture. In addition to being a great actress, she belongs to that breed of essential classics of our folklore, one of her greats like her friends Lola Flores, Rocio Jurado o Shell Piquer. Since 2009 she suffered from the disease that made her forget about her loved ones and about herself.

In addition to being a singer and actress, she was a much-loved presenter with her little sheep, her “little coupon” and her distractions. María del Carmen García Galisteo, known as Carmen Sevilla, was born on October 16, 1930 and soon became one of the most important figures in our country. she daughter of Antonio Garcia Padilla, who worked composing lyrics for great artists such as Concha Piquer, Imperio Argentina and Estrellita Castro and died on February 17, 1987; and Florentina Galisteo Ramírez, who lived almost 100 years.

Carmen demonstrated from almost as a child that she had great showmanship. At just 17 years old, she made her film debut sponsored by no less than little star castro. He was so young that in his beginnings, he had to deceive about his age, because he was a minor.

That early white lie led to the misrepresentation of his true date of birth in many biographies. Her impressiveness, her Sevillian sympathy and her characteristic smile made her “the sweetheart of Spain” for decades and in her long professional career she had numerous suitors.

gave gourds to the bullfighter Carlos Arruzato the king of the operetta, Louis Mariano and the comic actor Mario Moreno ‘Cantinflas’. All of them, except Luis Mariano, accompanied their processions with valuable jewels, which Carmen returned to them.

She lived her last years apart from everything and everyone, lost in that impenetrable and cruel world of memory loss. Very few people knew everything about her: her son Augusto J. Algueró and his soulmate, Moncho Ferrer, veteran PR of the music world. The two have accompanied her to her deathbed. She had been practically isolated for some time in her residence without receiving visitors, as she requested her only son.

His wedding in the basilica of Pilar de Zaragoza, in February 1961, with the composer Augusto AlgueróIt was a national event. From her marriage to the famous arranger, her only child, Augustito, was born, but the relationship broke up after 13 years together.

Shortly after Carmen fell in love with the film businessman vincent patuel, with whom he could not marry until years later, since he was still married. Finally, they celebrated the wedding in the palace of the Duke of Ahumada, in Arcos de la Frontera when Patuel obtained the divorce.

The background of the report on the civil wedding of the actress and the businessman is worthy of a soap opera. And it is that then, Jaime Penafieldirector of Magazine, the weekly of Grupo Zeta, launched to compete with Hola, of which Peñafiel had been the editor-in-chief. The journalist got the exclusive on the ceremony after maneuvering in absolute secrecy for months so that no one knew the date or the place where it would be held.

Not even the bride and groom knew the details of their own wedding until the last moment, which finally took place at three in the afternoon, a strange time, in order to avoid any leaks. Augustito, the son of the bride, did not even attend so as not to give clues to the ceremony.

Peñafiel paid 25 million pesetas for the exclusive but assures that the entire operation cost him almost 40 million pesetas, a fabulous figure never before handled in the gossip. Vicente Patuel put a gun on the table to demand an advance of 10 million. At that time, Patuel had financial problems and was willing to do anything to remedy them.

This second marriage separated Carmen from the entertainment world. The couple dedicated themselves to the fields on the Patuel farm in Extremadura, where Carmen made her phrase about the sheep famous. But there is no idyllic field that can remove a great artist from her vocation and her return in the 90s brought her back to film and television.

Then began a brilliant television career with shows like neighborhood cinema or the Telecoupon, after Valerio Lararov recovered it in the nineties for the first stages of Telecinco. Between 2005 and 2006 she delighted viewers with her spontaneity in Look who is dancingagain on TVE.

In 2010 she decided to retire due to the fact that there were more and more mistakes she had, being replaced in neighborhood cinema by shell velascowho at 83 years old currently suffers from the ailments of age in a residence on the outskirts of Madrid.

It is difficult to sum up his extraordinary and long cinematic career that spans all genres. In addition to her innumerable titles, of a traditional and folkloric nature, Carmen was a pioneer by participating in European and American co-productions, where she appeared alongside actors such as Gary Cooper o Frank Sinatraalthough he rejected a seven-year contract in Hollywood and preferred to stay in Spain.

He worked with Mexican idol Jorge Negrete. With Luis Mariano, already an international artist, he made imperial violets. She was the protagonist of The revenge by Juan Antonio Bardem, the first Spanish film to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. She appeared in titles alongside Paulette Goddard, Charlton Heston, Vittorio de Sica and Raf Vallone.

And in the 70s he knew how to reinvent himself and play roles in dramatic and erotic films. With the glass ceilingby Eloy de la Iglesia, received the award for best actress from El Círculo de Escritores.

The last time we saw her on the small screen was on October 15, 2016. It was an interview that she did Maria Teresa Camposrecorded five years earlier on the occasion of his eighty-first birthday.

Since then Carmen became an indelible memory in the memory of the people. Her son Augusto shielded her image and her news so that the public that adored and adores her, keeps a memory of the mature Carmen, still beautiful and close that we all have in our memory.

SEVILLA, Carmen (María de el Carmen García Galisteo)

Born: 10/16/1930, Seville, Seville, Andalucía, Spain

Died: 6/27/2023, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

 

Carmen Sevilla’s westerns – actress:

The Warriors of Pancho Villa – 1966 (Reyes Mendoza)

The Boldest Job in the West – 1971 (Marion)

RIP Nicolas Coster

 

Beloved Soap-Hopper Nicolas Coster Dead at 89: Read His Daughter’s Beautiful Tribute

Soaps

By Charlie Mason

June 27, 2023

 Beloved Soap-Hopper Nicolas Coster Dead at 89: Read His Daughter’s Beautiful Tribute

Soaps

If the stars shone a little dimmer overnight on June 26, here’s why: We lost Nicolas Coster, the daytime great who appeared on more than half a dozen soaps.

In breaking the news via Facebook, daughter Dinneen Coster said, “There is great sadness in my heart this evening. My father… has passed on in Florida at 9:01 pm in the hospital. Please be inspired by his artistic achievements and know he was a real actor’s actor!”

That, he was. Costner brought to life any scene that he entered, radiating the kind of irresistible charisma that they’d bottle if he could. It was in his eyes, his carriage, his delivery… an intangible “something” that could mean mischief, trouble or, perhaps most fascinating of all, absolute sincerity.

Coster made his daytime debut on Young Doctor Malone before moving on to The Secret Storm and Our Private World, a primetime spinoff of As the World Turns starring Eileen Fulton as bitchy Lisa Mitchell. He played Robert Delaney on both Another World and its offshoot Somerset, total baddies on One Life to Live and All My Children and won his overdue first Emmy in 2017 for the web soap The Bay.

But, of course, the role for which Coster will be most fondly remembered could only be that of Santa Barbara pot stirrer Lionel Lockridge, which he played off and on for most of the show’s 1984-93 run. The part fit him like a glove, allowing him to really show off his range, playing heavy drama, goofy comedy and a partnership for the ages with leading lady Louise Sorel, who was Lionel’s wife, Augusta.

“It was an honor to work in a company with him, and I’ll always hold his friendship and his sterling strengths as a professional close to heart,” Santa Barbara castmate A Martinez said on Facebook early on June 27. “Unsolicited one day, he gave me this profoundly useful advice: ‘What you choose to do with a scene doesn’t have to be the probable thing. You can choose any course imaginable –– no matter how unlikely –– as long as it’s possible.’”

In addition to his vast soap resumé, Coster appeared on the big screen in films such as 1976’s All the President’s Men and in primetime on approximately a zillion series, among them Wonder Woman, Charlie’s Angels, Buck Rogers, T.J. Hooker and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also recurred on The Facts of Life as the moneybags father of snooty Blair Warner.

Concluded Coster’s daughter: “I will remember him as always doing his best and being a great father. Rest in peace.”

NICOLAS, Coster (Nicolas Dwynn Coster)

Born: 12/3/1933, Hamptstead, London, England, U.K.

Died: 6/26/2023, Hallandale Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

 

Nicolas Coster’s westerns – actor:

The Outcast – 1954 (Asa Polsen)

The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer (TV) – 1977 (General Philip Sheridan)

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1978 (Lansford Ingalls)

The Electric Horseman – 1979 (Fitzgerald)

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (TV) – 1998 (Judge Blaisdale)

RIP Dean Smith

 Legendary hall-of-fame Texoman passes

KFSX/KJTL

By Darrell Franklin

June 24m 2023

 

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — A Hollywood actor and stuntman who was first an Olympiad Gold Medalist, a true cowboy who was always proud to call Texoma home, has died.

A social media post from his son, Finis, said that Dean Smith passed away this morning. He was 91. Smith grew up between Graham and Breckenridge on the same thousand acres of land he and his wife Debby raised their son, Dean’s youngest son, Finis.

As a Graham Steer in the late 1940s, Smith earned All-American status running the 100-meter dash. His success continued at the University of Texas, where he won eight southwest conference titles and was a member of the 440-yard relay team that set a world record.

Dean Smith then took his talents to the world stage in the 1952 Olympics, where he helped the United States earn a gold medal in the 400-meter relay.

He also finished 4th in the 100-meter dash.

Smith was also an all-state football running back for the Graham Steers and was a member of the 1953 Cotton Bowl winning Texas Longhorns.

Smith later turned down an opportunity to play pro football to become a Hollywood stuntman, a career that lasted over 45-years. It was an old friend, James Garner, who helped Smith break into the movie business.

Then, while stunt-doubling and doing bit parts, like holding Rosalind Russell and trying to get her up on a horse in ‘AuntiE Mame’, Smith caught the eye of a Hollywood legend.

Smith had this to say in the summer of 2005: “I had never met John Ford until 1959, and we were working on the movie “The Alamo” and I ran and jumped over a horse.”

That jump actually landed Smith work on every John Ford film that followed. It also earned him a spot with the A-list western crowd.

Smith/2005: “When I met that John Ford, John Wayne clan, with Ben Johnson, Ken Curtis, Sons of the Pioneers, those guys, I was probably the last young fellow to join that group you see, and that was something that would really make you proud.”

Smith said it took about a year before he could even say a word to John Wayne because he was in such awe of him.

Over time, though, their friendship developed, and the roles kept coming. Smith even doubled for Maureen O’Hara in McLintock!.

Smith/2005: “She had to back out of the two-story building. I fell in the hay wagon and slipped, damn near broke my ankle. So, I had to do it again, and I never will forget laying there in that wagon, and looking up at Wayne, and he jumped off there and just shook that wagon when he hit.”

Through the years, stunt-doubling opened a lot of opportunities for Smith.

He did every stunt for Robert Redford in ‘Jeremiah Johnson,’ and besides stunt and acting parts in many other movies, Smith starred in his own film, ‘Seven Alone.’

Smith was a member of the Hollywood Stuntman’s Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was named “All American Cowboy.” In 2006, he was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 2007, he received the Silver Spur Award for his contributions as a stuntman in the film business.

Also, about ten years ago, Smith released his autobiography, Cowboy Stuntman from Olympic Gold to the Silver Screen, about a boy from the Graham area who worked hard and made it big.

Funeral services are pending through Morrison Funeral Home in Graham.

SMITH, Dean (Finis Dean Smith)

Born: 1/15/1932, Breckenridge, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 6/24/2023, Breckenridge, Texas, U.S.A.

 

Dean Smith’s westerns – stuntman, stunt coordinator, actor:

Cheyenne (TV) – 1957 [stunts]

Maverick (TV) – 1957 [stunts]

Born Reckless – 1958 (cowboy) [stunts]

The Law and Jake Wade – 1958 (soldier) [stunts]

Quantrill’s Raiders – 1958 (raider) [stunts]

Cimarron City (TV) - 1958 [stunts]

Rio Bravo – 1959 (card-playing Burdette henchman) [stunts]

They Came to Cordura – 1959

The Alamo – 1960 (Bowie’s man) [stunts]

Laramie (TV) – 1959 [stunts]

Overland Trail (TV) – 1960 [stunts]

Seven Ways from Sundown – 1960 (Hanley henchman) [stunts]

Bat Masterson (TV) – 1960 [stunts]

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1960, 1961, 1962 (Michael, guard) [stunts]

The Tall Man (TV) – 1960 [stunts]

Wagon Train (TV) – 1960, 1964 [stunts]

Gunfight at Black Horse Canyon (TV) - 1961 [stunts]

Two Rode Together – 1961 (officer) [stunts]

The Comancheros – 1971 [stunts]

How The West Was Won – 1962 [stunts]

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1962 (wagon driver)

McLintock! – 1963 (rodeo rider) [stunts]

Blood on the Arrow – 1964 [stunt coordinator, stunts]

Cheyenne Autumn – 1964 (trooper)

A Distant Trumpet – 1964 [stunts]

Rio Conchos – 1964 [stunts]

The Virginian (TV) – 1964, 1965 (Rurlale, brawler) [stunts]

Wagon Train (TV) – 1964 (Jim)

El Dorado – 1966 (Charlie Hagan) [stunts]

Stagecoach – 1966 [stunts]

Cimarron Strip (TV) – 1967 (deputy)

Iron Horse (TV) – 1966, 1967 (Corporal Weddell, gunfighter, rider) [stunt coordinator, stunts]

The Legend of Jesse James (TV) – 1966 (Deke)

The Loner (TV) – 1966 (Vic)

The War Wagon – 1967 [stunts]

The Scalphunters – 1968 [stunts]

The Stalking Moon – 1968 [stunts]

The Outcasts (TV) - 1968 [stunts]

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – 1969 [stunts]

True Grit – 1969 [stunts]

The Cheyenne Social Club – 1970 (Bannister henchman) [stunts]

Little Big Man – 1970

Rio Lobo – 1970 (Bide) [stunts]

Big Jake – 1971 (Kid Duffy) [stunts]

Jeremiah Johnson – 1972 [stunts]

The Legend of Nigger Charlie – 1972 [stunts]

Ulzana’s Raid – 1972 (Horowitz) [stunts]

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean – 1973 (outlaw) [stunts]

The Train Robbers – 1973 [stunts]

Westworld – 1973 [stunts]

Mrs. Sundance (TV) – 1974 (Avery)

Seven Alone – 1974 (Kit Carson) [stunts]

Hearts of the West – 1975 [stunts]

Mackintosh & T.J. – 1975(Bent) [stunts]

The Captive: The Longest Drive 2 – 1976

The Quest (TV) – 1976 (Jess)

How the West Was Won (TV) – 1978 [stunt coordinator]

The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang (TV) – 1979 (Parker deputy)

The Legend of the Golen Gun (TV) – 1979 [stunts]

Bret Maverick (TV) – 1981 (Jack Danner)

Timestalkers (TV) – 1987

Paradise (TV) – 1991 (The Man)

The Quick and the Dead – 1995 [stunts]

Rough Riders (TV) – 1997 [stunts]

All Around Performance Horse (2006)

Floating Horses: The Life of Casey Tibbs - 2017

RIP Kristina Holland

 

SAG/AFTRA

Spring 2023 Magazine

 

Kristina Holland (February 25, 1944 – February 22, 2023) was an American actress who performed in more than 22 television series, two films, and voiceover talent for at least two video games. She later worked as a professional psychotherapist.

HOLLAND, Kristina (Jane Hermansen)

Born: 2/25/1944, Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.A.

Died: 2/22/2023, Berkeley, California, U.S.A.

 

Ktistina Holland’s westerns – voice actress, actress:

The Loner (TV) – 1965 (Angie Wheeler)

Laredo (TV) – 1966 (Sister Joan of Arc)

Here Come the Brides (TV) – 1968, 1969 (Amanda)

The Last of the Mohicans (TV) – 1975 [voice of Alice Munro]

RIP George McDaniel

 

The Advertiser

6/21/2023

 

George McDaniel

George McDaniel, 80, passed away on March 24, 2023 in Ventura, California. He was born June 30, 1042 in St. Louis, Mo., a son of Harold and Virginia McDaniel.

He graduated from Eldon High School …

McDANIEL George

Born: 6/30/1942, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.

Died: 3/24//1923, Ventura, California, U.S.A.

 

George Daniel’s westerns – actor:

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1981 (Alvin Cooper)

Dream West – 1986 (Colonel Mason)

Paradise (TV) – 1989 (Sanders)

RIP Peter Looney

 

SAG/AFTRA

According to the Spring SAG/AFTRA magazine actor and casting director Peter Looney died on December 31, 2022.

 

 

LOONEY, Peter

Born:1/18/1937, Caldwell, Idaho, U.S.A.

Died: 12/31/2022,

Peter Looney’s westerns – actor:

Charlie Cobb: Nice Day for a Hanging (TV) – 1977 (preacher)

Wind River – 2000 (Bishop Braden)

RIP Delle Bolton

 

Tuko

By Gladys Mokeira Obiero

January 26, 2022

 

Delle Bolton is an American actress known for playing the roles of Swan on Jeremiah Johnson (1972) and Mrs Townsend in the television series, The Monk (2002). These roles made Dell famous and were greatly appreciated.

Delle Bolton got her first acting role in the film Jeremiah Johnson (1972) playing Swan. In 2002, she appeared in The Monk as Mrs. Townsend.

She was married to screenwriter David Colloff [1945-2022] and they had two children Anya Delle Colloff and Emily Bolton Coloff.

“About a month ago we lost our beautiful mama, Delle, almost three months to the day after we said goodbye to our dad (David Coloff). Delle had been battling a rare form of blood cancer, myelodysplastic syndrome, for nearly eight years. Like all challenges in her life, she fought this disease with a strength that defied imagination while still managing to keep us laughing with her wickedly dark sense of humor. She passed at Emily’s home while being cared for by both of us.” – Anya Coloff

BOLTON, Delle (Gloria Delle Bolton)

Born: 11/13/1947, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 6/19/2022, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.

 

Delle Bolton’s western – actress:

Jeremiah Johnson – 1972 (Swan)

RIP Julian Christopher

 

Memory-Alpha.fandom

 

Julian Christopher (7 November 1944 – 26 February 2023; age 78) was the actor who, credited as James Louis Watkins, played Hagon in the Star Trek: The Next Generation first season episode "Code of Honor". He later played a Cardassian overseer in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine second season episode "Tribunal", credited as Julian Christopher.

James Louis Watkins began appearing in film and on television in 1972. He co-starred in a pair of blaxploitation films in 1972: Cool Breeze (starring Thalmus Rasulala) and Black Gunn (with William Campbell, Katherine Woodville, Tony Young, and Bernie Casey). These were followed by another blaxploitation film in 1975, J.D.'s Revenge, which also featured Earl Billings and Joan Pringle.

Watkins had a supporting role opposite John Wayne in the 1974 film McQ. His other co-stars in this film included David Huddleston and Diana Muldaur. Watkins later appeared in the 1987 film The Night Stalker, starring Charles Napier. This was followed by Spellbinder in 1988, which was written by Tracy Tormé and which also featured Anthony Crivello, Stefan Gierasch, and Cary-Hiroyuki.

His earliest known TV appearance was a 1972 episode of the crime drama Cannon directed by Michael O'Herlihy. He later appeared on such shows as Baretta (1975, in an episode with Gerrit Graham and Rudolph Willrich), Police Story (1977, directed by Corey Allen), Three's a Crowd (1985, with Clive Revill), Dynasty (1985, with Theodore Bikel, William O. Campbell, and Rod Loomis), Webster (1985, with Eugene Roche), Hill Street Blues (1987, with Marc Alaimo, Richard Herd, and David Selburg), and Our House (with Chad Allen and Wallace Langham).

Watkins also acted in TV movies such as The Magician (1973, directed by Marvin Chomsky), The Keegans (1976, with Adam Roarke) and Killer in the Mirror (1986, with Len Cariou, Parley Baer, and Bill Zuckert). Following a 1989 appearance on the crime drama A Man Called Hawk – which starred DS9's Avery Brooks – Watkins changed his professional name to Julian Christopher.

As Julian Christopher

His first television credit as Julian Christopher was a 1989 episode of Doogie Howser, M.D., on which Lawrence Pressman and James B. Sikking were regulars. He made a second appearance on Doogie Howser later that year, following an appearance on 227, which starred Paul Winfield.

In 1992 and 1993, Christopher appeared in the recurring role of Officer Calvin Simms on the crime drama series The Commish, which starred Kaj-Erik Eriksen. Other actors he worked with on this series include Kevin Conway, Barry Lynch, and Kenneth Marshall. Christopher's other TV credits during the early 1990s also included appearances on Dream On (two episodes, including one with Michael McKean) and Murder, She Wrote (in an episode with Stewart Moss).

In addition to his work on DS9, Christopher guest-starred on many other science fiction television series, including The Outer Limits (directed by Paul Lynch), Sci-Fi Channel's Stargate SG-1, Ira Steven Behr's The 4400 (with William O. Campbell, Jeffrey Combs, Alice Krige, Rob LaBelle, Bill Mondy, and Charles Napier), The Dead Zone (which starred Nicole de Boer and featured David Ogden Stiers), Masters of Science Fiction (with Terry O'Quinn), and Bionic Woman (with Roger R. Cross and Miguel Ferrer).

Christopher is perhaps best known for his recurring role as Dr. MacIntyre on the popular television series Smallville, which features Superman and other characters from the DC Comics universe. Christopher appeared in six episodes of the series between 2002 and 2006. Fellow DS9 guest star John Glover was also appearing on the series at the time.

Christopher's film credits included The Lazarus Child (2006; with Stephen McHattie and Robert Joy), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Severed (2005), The Hard Corps (2006), 88 Minutes (2007; with Neal McDonough), and Whisper (2007). He also played the prison truck guard who threatens to spray mace in Mystique's face in the 2006 blockbuster X-Men: The Last Stand. Kelsey Grammer, Famke Janssen, and Patrick Stewart were among the stars of this film.

CHRISTOPHER, Julian (James Louis Watkins)

Born: 11/7/1944, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Died: 2/26/2023,

 

Julian Christopher’s westerns – actor:

Tall Tales and Legends (TV) 1986 (Spike)

American Lawman (TV) – 2026 (John Wilkes Booth)

RIP Damian London

 

IMDb

By I.S. Mowis

 

Chicago-born Damian London began acting in early television in New York at the age of 16, signing his first contract by pretending to be 21. Auditioning for his screen debut as a Nazi youth, he also pretended to be able to speak fluent German, but ended up memorizing his lines, being assisted in the correct pronunciation by Germans who owned a local greengrocer. Amazingly, he pulled it off. Still underage, he joined the Screen Actor's Union soon after. Fast forward to 1956, Damian made his first Hollywood film appearance in a bit part. Featured roles had to wait for another eleven years, but he eventually forged a career as a television guest actor, showing up in popular cult TV shows like Get Smart (1965), I Dream of Jeannie (1965), Mannix (1967), The F.B.I. (1965), Tales of the Unexpected (1979) and Seinfeld (1989). He is most fondly remembered as the sad, ill-fated Centauri Regent Milo Virini in Babylon 5 (1993). Many of Virini's personality quirks were either created or ad-libbed by the actor. He said in a July 2000 interview: "I would get a script and it was left up to you to figure out how your character would say these words, how your character's personality would handle this particular scene. There was nobody standing over you saying, 'This is the way it's going to be."

LONDON, Damian

Born: 11/12/1931, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Born: 11/19/2022, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Damian London’s western – actor:

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1980 (waiter)

RIP Lieux Dressler

 

Find a Grave

Lieux Dressler (born Louise Aldrich on February 7, 1930 passed away on February 8, 2018) she was an American film and television actress.

Before becoming known as an actress, Dressler worked as a nightclub singer in Dallas. During this time, she was married to trombonist Morris Repass, with whom she had two sons. In the 1960s, her marriage ended, and she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. She operated an acting workshop named the Patio Playhouse, where she developed techniques that continue to be taught at acting classes.

During the 1970s, she appeared on various television series, including Columbo, Gunsmoke, Kolchak: the Night Stalker, and The Rockford Files. She also appeared in feature films, most notably Truck Stop Women (1974), Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), and Point of No Return (1993), and then she retired from acting.

Lieux Dressler Repass died on February 8, 2018, at the age of 88.

DRESSLER, Lieux (Louise Aldrich)

Born: 2/27/1930, Louisiana, U.S.A.

Died: 2/8/2018, Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A

 

Lieux Dressler’s westerns – actress:

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1971, 1972, 1973 (Liz, Susie, Victoria)

The Red Pony (TV) – 1973 (Dearie)

RIP Frederic Forrest

 

'THE ROSE' ACTOR FREDERIC FORREST DEAD AT 86 ...

Bette Midler Praises Him

TMZ

6/24/2023

 

Actor Frederic Forrest, who costarred with Bette Midler in the highly acclaimed film, "The Rose," has died.

Midler announced Forrest passed away Friday night, tweeting ... "The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died. Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months."

She continued ... "He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace."

Forrest's cause of death was not disclosed.

The Oscar-nominated actor first hit it big in 1979 when he scored the part of Jay "Chef" Hicks in the Francis Ford Coppola war movie classic, "Apocalypse Now."

That same year, Forrest was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dyer in "The Rose."

He went on to perform in dozens of movies throughout the '80's, '90's and early 2000s, including "The Two Jakes," "One From The Heart," and "Falling Down."

Forrest was 86.

RIP

FORREST, Frederic (Frederic Fenimore Forrest Jr.)

Born: 12/23/1936, Waxahachie, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 6/23/2023, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.

 

Frederic Forrest’s westerns – actor:

When the Legends Die – 1972 (Tom Black Bull)

Calamity Jane – 1974 (Wild Bill Hickok)

The Missouri Breaks – 1975 (Cary)

Lonesome Dove (TV) – 1989 (Blue Duck)

The Young Riders (TV) – 1992 (Tommy Urbach)

Andersonville (TV) – 1996 (Sergeant McSpadden)

RIP Steve Gatto

 

Kerrville Funeral Home

June 17, 2023

Stephen Anthony Gatto, of Kerrville, Texas; formally of Tucson, Arizona and Lansing, Michigan, passed away at the age of 61 on Thursday, June 15th, 2023, in Kerrville, Texas. Steve was born in Valley County, Montana at Glasgow Air Force Base, on August 14th, 1961, to John and Frankie Gatto.

Steve was a graduate of Rincon High School, class of 1979 in Tucson AZ. Steve went on to get a degree in Finance from Arizona State University and Western Michigan Universities, Thomas M Cooley, School of Law in Lansing, MI. where he received his Juris Doctor.

Steve was a practicing attorney in Michigan, before accepting a position as a Senior Regulatory Consultant at the Michigan Exchange Carriers Association in 2002, where he worked for ten years. In 2013, Steve accepted a position with GVNW in Kerrville as regulatory and office manager. Steve became a strong advocate for rural carriers, especially in Texas and New Mexico, helping companies in rural counties to receive compensation and federal funding. In 2016, Steve was named the Southwest Division Manager. In 2021, GVNW merged with Vantage Point Solutions, where he would continue in his strong defense of rural companies. Steve was a constant presence with associations representing telephone cooperatives such as TSTCI, TTA and ANMA.

Steve was very passionate about Old West history and was somewhat of a historian. Steve was an accomplished writer of literary works in which he authored many books about Tombstone, AZ, (circa 1880’s) and the historical figures of the time. Steve was also an entrepreneur in many business endeavors, which included a line of sunglasses, and a Bar and Grill in Kerrville, TX.

Steve is preceded in death by his parents John and Frankie Gatto and his brother Michael Gatto. He is survived by many friends who enjoyed spending time and living life with him, those he worked with and those he knew from the cities where he lived.

Memorial services in celebration of his life are pending at this time and will be announced when they become available.

Arrangements are under the direction and personal care of the professionals at Kerrville Funeral Home.

GATTO, Stephen (Stephen Anthony Gatto)

Born: 8/14/1961, Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana, U.S.A.

Died: 6/15/2023, Kerrville, Texas, U.S.A.

 

Stephen Gatto’s westerns – author:

John Ringo: The Reputation of a Deadly Gunman - 1995

Johnny-Behind-The Deuce, An Account Of the Killing of Philip Schneider, Charleston, A.T., January14, 1881 - 1998

Wyatt Earp A Biography of a Western Lawman - 1997

Alias Curly Bill; The Life and Times of William Brocius - 2000

The Real Wyatt Earp: A Documentary Biography - 2000

Johnny Ringo - 2002

Curly Bill: Tombstone's Most Famous Outlaw - 2003

RIP JD Mayo

 

Legacy.com

Andrews Mortuary

On June 16th JD Mayo our loving son, brother, uncle, godfather, and hero passed away peacefully in his sleep. He exuded a will to live and overcame mountains of adversity. He did so with a smile on his face, a zest for life, a lot of humor, and without complaint. He cherished his huge family and the lasting friendships he made.

JD was passionate about every interest in his life. He was dedicated to film making, reenacting, Hurricanes hockey, and studying living history. JD served as a senior member and 1st Lt with the Civil Air Patrol and had great pride serving America’s communities. He was devoted to his job at the Texas Roadhouse in Wilmington, NC. He was proud to be the employee” Roadie” of the month for February 2023.

His kind and gentle soul was apparent to anyone who crossed his path. The impacts he made on people’s lives will no doubt be remembered forever.

A ceremony to dedicate his headstone will take place on Gaines Mountain in Blacksburg, VA. Plans will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Wreaths Across America.  https://wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/175672

MAYO, JD (John David Mayo)

Born: 9/20/1983, Radford, Virginia, U.S.A.

Died: 6/16/2023, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.

 

John David Mayo’s westerns – director, writer:

Our War – 2017

Fire in the Forest – 2018

Mr. 36 - 2021

RIP Paxton Whitehead

 

Stage and Screen Actor and Director Paxton Whitehead Dies at 85

Whitehead's many Broadway credits include Absurd Person Singular, My Fair Lady, Lettice and Lovage, A Little Hotel on the Side, Camelot and many more.

broadway world

By Stephi Wild

June 19, 2023

 

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that stage and screen actor and director Paxton Whitehead has died at age 85.

Whitehead's many Broadway credits include Absurd Person Singular, My Fair Lady, Lettice and Lovage, A Little Hotel on the Side, Artist Descending a Staircase, Run For Your Wife, Noises Off, Camelot, Crucifer of Blood, Habeas Corpus, Beyond the Fringe 1964, Beyond the Fringe, Candida, and The Affair.

Off Broadway, he appeared in The Heir Apparent, The Harlequin Studies, London Suite, Suite in Two Keys, One Way Pendulum, Gallows Humour.  He also appeared in London's West End in Heartbreak House.

Whitehead served as Associate Artist of the Old Globe in San Diego, and played roles that include The Miser, Sir Anthony Absolute. Richard III, Sir Peter Teazle, Benedict, and Malvolio.

While serving as Artistic Director of The Shaw Festival, Canada from 1967- 1977, he played Sergius, Lord Summerhays, King Magnus, Adolphus Cousins, Hector Hushabye, The Philanderer, General Burgoyne, Charley's Aunt and Ronnie Gamble in Thark.

Whitehead's directorial credits include The Circle, Misalliance, Getting Married, Forty Years On, and many more. Regionally, he has done many Ayckbourn plays in Westport, as well as shows in Los Angeles including How the Other Half Loves, What the Bulter Saw, Woman in Mind, Pirates of Penzance.

In addition to his stage credits, Whitehead appeared on film in Kate and Leopold, Back to School, Boris and Natasha, and Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and on television in "West Wing," "Friends," "Frasier," "Mad About You," "Ellen," "Dinosaurs," the series "Marblehead Manor" and the films Tales from the Hollywood Hills, An Inconvenient Woman, Hale the Hero, Trick of the Eye.

WHITEHAD, Paxton (Francis Edward Paxton Whitehead)

Born: 10/17/1937, East Malling and Larkfield, Kent, England, U.K.

Died: 6/16/2023, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.

 

Paxton Whitehead’s western – actor:

The Adventures of Huck Finn – 1993 (Harvey Wilks)

RIP John Romita Sr.

 

John Romita Sr., Legendary Marvel Comics Artist & Wolverine Co-Creator, Dead at 93

Comicbook

By Jenna Anderson

June 13, 2023

 

Legendary comic artist John Romita Sr. has passed away at the age of 93. The news was broken on Tuesday night by Romita's son, fellow comic artist John Romita Jr., who confirmed that he passed away peacefully in his sleep on Monday, June 12th. Romita had an illustrious career in the sphere of superhero comics, co-creating beloved characters such as Mary Jane Watson, Wolverine, and The Punisher.

"I say this with a heavy heart, My father, John Romita Sr passed away peacefully in his sleep this Monday morning," the post reads. "He is a legend in the art world and it would be my honor to follow in his footsteps. Please keep your thoughts and condolences here out of respect for my family. He was the greatest man I ever met."

Born on January 24, 1930, in Brooklyn New York, Romita graduated from Manhattan's School of Industrial Art in 1947 and received his first paid gig (for the Manhattan General Hospital) at the age of only 17. After working as an inker at a lithograph company, he stumbled into a job as a ghost artist at Timely Comics, the precursor to Marvel Comics. He continued to work at Timely and its other pre-Marvel successor, Atlas Comics, even while he was enlisted in the U.S. Army. His early work at the time included a 1953-1954 revival of Captain America, which led to the creation of M-11 the Human Robot.

During the 1950s, Romita also did uncredited work for DC, before switching over to the company exclusively in 1958, and working on romance titles such as Young Love and Girl's Love Stories. He then returned to Marvel in 1966, soon succeeding Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko on The Amazing Spider-Man #39 following Ditko's falling out with Stan Lee. Across Romita's tenure on the book, it became the company's best-selling title, and introduced now-legendary characters like Mary Jane Watson, The Rhino, The Kingpin, The Shocker, and George Stacy. He went on to contribute to 56 straight issues of the main title, countless iconic covers, as well as various magazine-format and newspaper spinoffs.

"I was bringing a little more glamour to it," Romita later said of Amazing Spider-Man to Alter Ego. "To listen to the fans at the time, what I was losing was the mystery and the shadowy stuff. They thought it was much too much broad daylight, and too much cuteness. That's a funny twist, because Stan was worried when I was doing it. He didn't threaten to take me off it, but he constantly was telling me I was making Peter Parker too handsome, and everybody too good looking. Even the villains were starting to look good, and I was taking age away from Aunt May. [laughter] I think there was another element behind the rise in sales. For about a year, Ditko and Stan were absolutely disagreeing on plotting. Ditko was plotting, and they weren't even talking. It already had probably gotten a little bit confusing to readers for about a year. So between the fact that I brought in a new audience, and didn't lose too much of the old audience I guess, I got the benefit of the rebound.

By 1973, Romita began officially operating as Marvel's art director, and had an influential role on the designs of Wolverine, Luke Cage, The Punisher, Bullseye, and Tigra. His later work for the publisher included Monica Rambeau's debut as Captain Marvel in 1982's The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16, as well as a number of commemorative issues across Marvel.

Our thoughts are with Romita's family, friends, and fans at this time.

ROMITA, Sr., John

Born: 1/24/1930, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 6/12/2023, Floral Park, New York, U.S.A.

John Romita Jr’s westerns – comic book artist:

Two Gun Western – 1951

Western Outlaws and Sheriffs – 1951

Wild Western - 1952

Western Kid 1954-1957

Outlaw Kid – 1955

Rawhide Kid - 1955

Cowboy Action – 1956

Gunsmoke Western - 1956

Frontier Western – 1957

Kid Outlaw – 1957

Six-Gun Western – 1957

Western Gunfighters - 1970

RIP Raimondo Crociani

 

Farewell to the editor Raimondo Crociani

Cinecitta News

6/15/2023

 

Raimondo Crociani, renowned film editor, has died.

Originally from Rome, having reached retirement age, he had moved to Santa Margherita di Belìce, the city of “Il Gattopardo”, where he spent the last years of his life and where his funeral will be held.

During his career, he has received numerous awards, including the prestigious David di Donatello as best editor.

He has worked closely with icons of Italian cinema such as Ettore Scola, Pasolini, Alberto Sordi, Zurlini, Steno and the Vanzina brothers. During his career, which began in 1971 with the film “Judge Roy Bean”, Crociani edited about one hundred and twenty films, including “La liceale”, “Febbre da cavallo”, “Brutti, sporchi e cattivi”, “La poliziotta della squadra del buon costume”, “I fichissimi” and “Eccezzziunale veramente....”.

The funeral will be held today, June 15, at 16.00 at the Mother Church of Santa Margherita di Belìce.

CROCIANI, Raimondo

Born: 1/14/1946, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 6/14/2023, Santa Margherita di Belice, Agrigenter, Sicily, Italy

 

Raimondo Crociani’s western – film editor:

Judge Roy Bean - 1971

RIP Cormac McCarthy

 

Cormac McCarthy, Author of ‘No Country for Old Men,’ Dies at 89

Variety

By Carmel Dagan

June 13, 2023

 

Cormac McCarthy, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who endured decades of obscurity and poverty before film versions of “All the Pretty Horses,” “No Country for Old Men” and “The Road” brought him a wide readership and financial security, died Tuesday in Santa Fe, N.M. His publisher, Penguin Random House, said his son John McCarthy announced his death from natural causes. He was 89.

Extremely reclusive, McCarthy shunned publicity so effectively that one critic observed, “He wasn’t even famous for it.” But Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2008 adaptation of 2005 novel “No Country for Old Men” put him momentarily in the limelight; the crime thriller, which starred Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, won Oscars for best picture, director, adapted screenplay and supporting actor.

While McCarthy’s first novel, “The Orchard Keeper,” was published in 1965, commercial success eluded him until his 1992 National Book Award-winning “All the Pretty Horses” and the film version in 2000 began to turn his career around.

Set in west Texas between 1949-1951, “Pretty Horses” was the first in McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, followed by “The Crossing” in 1994 and “Cities of the Plain” in 1998. But the film, directed by Billy Bob Thornton and starring Matt Damon, Penelope Cruz and Henry Thomas, opened to mostly negative reviews.

Peter Biskind reports in his book “Down and Dirty Business” that Thornton had been forced to cut an hour from the film by producer-distributor Harvey Weinstein, though critics questioned whether the additional footage would have improved the movie’s “arty imagery and leaden pace.”

In 2009 John Hillcoat directed a powerful film version of McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2006 novel “The Road.” A post-apocalyptic father-son story, the film starred Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron and Robert Duvall. Critical reception was largely favorable, but the bleak movie opened to modest returns at the box office.

In 2013 director Ridley Scott turned out crime drama “The Counselor” based on an original script by McCarthy. Critics were divided on the film, about the disastrously violent results of a drug deal gone bad. The movie sported A-list actors such as Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz but for many viewers McCarthy’s excessive philosophical verbiage undermined what was essentially a simple genre exercise.

The same year saw James Franco direct and co-script what Variety called an “extremely faithful” and “suitably raw” adaptation of McCarthy’s chilling 1973 novel “Child of God” that, like the book, was awash in the violence and degradation of its central character, courageously played by Scott Haze.

A bigscreen adaptation of McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian,” the novel considered by many to be his masterpiece, was long in development. In April, it was announced that Hillcoat would return to direct the adaptation with McCarthy’s son John as executive producer.

McCarthy’s work for television includes 1977’s “The Gardener’s Son,” a two-hour episode of the PBS anthology series “Visions.” Directed by Richard Pearce, it starred Penelope Allen, Ned Beatty and Kevin Conway. The author adapted his own 2006 play for the 2011 HBO telepic “The Sunset Limited.” Before filming commenced, McCarthy spent weeks in rehearsal with director Tommy Lee Jones, who starred with Samuel L. Jackson. Critics found the adaptation alternately claustrophobic — it takes place in one room — gritty and light on plot.

McCarthy also penned the five-act play “The Stonemason,” first performed in 1995.

In 2022, he published two novels, “The Passenger” and “Stella Maris.”

Born Charles McCarthy in Providence, R.I., McCarthy was 4 when his family moved to Knoxville, Tenn. He acted in high school, later drifting in and out of the U. of Tennessee as a liberal arts major without taking a degree. While stationed in Alaska with the Air Force in the 1950s, he hosted a radio show.

McCarthy was married three times. He has two sons: Cullen McCarthy, born in 1962 to his first wife Lee Holleman, and John Francis McCarthy, born in 1999 to third wife, Jennifer Winkley. He divorced his second wife, Annie DeLisle, in 1981.

McCARTHY. Cormac (Charles McCarthy Jr.)

Born: 1933 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.

Died: 6/13/2023, Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.

 

Cormac McCarthy’s westerns – author:

Blood Meridian; or The Evening Redness in the West – 1985

All the Pretty Horses - 2000

No Country for Old Men - 2005

RIP Silvio Berlusconi

 

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's former prime minister, has died at the age of 86

NPR

By Sylvia Poggioli

June 12, 2023

 

ROME — Former Italian prime minister, and sitting senator in the Italian parliament, Silvio Berlusconi died at the age of 86, according to reports from Italian media on Monday.

No cause of death was immediately available. He was hospitalized last week for planned medical checks related to his chronic leukemia.

The media mogul served as Italy's prime minister multiple times beginning in 1994, and his flamboyant lifestyle left a mark on popular culture, while his abrasiveness, coarseness, populist style, and constant legal woes trashed political norms and tainted Italy's image in the world.

A born showman, Berlusconi liked to brag that his career began as a crooner on cruise ships. He moved on to construction and real estate, and built an empire — television networks, newspapers, publishing houses, a top soccer team and much more.

Empire-building

It all started with a 1970s game show, when a caller’s right answer prompted a housewife in the studio to strip a piece of clothing.

“If someone had told me this was the beginning of a new empire, a huge media empire and a new political order, where the owner of the media empire also become the prime minister and this whole story would start with a striptease program, I would laugh,” says Erik Gandini, director of Videocracy, a 2009 documentary about Italian television and its impact on the country’s culture and politics.

By the 1980s, it had grown to Italy’s biggest media empire, Mediaset. That allowed Berlusconi to branch out, and he went on to own Italy’s largest publishing house, the newspaper Il Giornale and the AC Milan soccer club.

With a carousel of soap operas and scantily clad showgirls, his networks molded an adoring audience into a virtual electorate.

Political scandals opened Berlusconi’s path to politics

In the early 1990s, when bribery scandals toppled the political establishment, Berlusconi moved to fill the vacuum. With his rags-to-riches story, he sold many Italians a rosy dream of prosperity and lower taxes.

In the 1994 general elections, Berlusconi swept to power. The government crumbled just seven months later but, over the next two decades, he showed the world that humility was not one of his virtues.

"I am by far the best prime minister Italy ever had," he exclaimed.

It was an open secret that Berlusconi had entered politics to safeguard his empire. Berlusconi was enmeshed in legal troubles through the 1990s, from providing false testimony to investigations into ties with the Sicilian Mafia.

Consolidates power and control

With no conflict-of-interest legislation in place to stop him, Berlusconi not only kept his TV networks as prime minister, he won control of all state-run broadcasting as well.

Maurizio Viroli, who teaches politics and government at the University of Texas - Austin, says the power Berlusconi wielded was closer to tyranny.

"A power that no political leader has ever been able to concentrate in his own hands in any democratic or liberal country in history," Viroli says. "That's why I use the word 'tyranny.' "

Berlusconi developed close personal ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the late Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

But abroad, Berlusconi was often mocked for his perma-tan, hair transplants and facelifts.

And while his schoolboy pranks, off-color jokes and racist remarks left him increasingly shunned on the international stage, he became the longest-serving prime minister in Italian history — governing at different times between 1994 and 2011, for a total of approximately nine years.

Foreign commentators could not fathom the secret of Berlusconi's popularity.

Viroli calls it Italians' dislike for moral principles. "When they see someone who tells them it is right not to have principles, to disregard civic duties, to violate the laws, they love him."

Legal woes finally caught up with him, but he won political office again

Berlusconi survived multiple corruption trials, tawdry tales of orgies and paying for sex with a minor.

Ultimately, when the European debt crisis hit Italy in 2011, it was turmoil in the financial markets that forced him to step down as prime minister for the last time.

His political career appeared to come to an ignominious and definitive end in 2014, when he was ousted from parliament following a conviction for tax evasion.

Given his age at the time, 77, his four-year jail term was commuted to four hours a week assisting dementia patients. When Berlusconi left office, Italy's economy was stagnant and debt was skyrocketing.

However, Berlusconi's days as a political figure were not over. He stayed on as leader of his Forza Italia party through his sentence, and ran for and was elected a member of the European Parliament in 2019. He then returned to Italian politics after being elected to a Senate seat in the 2022 Italian general elections.

His party formed a coalition government with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Berlusconi's comments on Putin and the war in Ukraine continued to cause headaches for the Italian government.

BERLUSCONI, Silvio

Born: 9/29/1936, Milan, Lombardy, Italy

Died: 6/12/2023, Milan, Lombardy, Italy

 

Silvio Berlusconi’s westerns – producer:

Lucky Luke the Movie (1991)

Lucky Luke the Series (TV) 1991-92)

Call of the Wild (Uno, 1992)

Jonathan of the Bears (1994)