RIP David McCallum

 

David McCallum: NCIS and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. actor dies aged 90

BBC News

By Max Matza

September 26, 2023

 

David McCallum, the British actor who became a star by playing a secret agent in 1960s spy drama The Man from U.N.C.L.E., has died at the age of 90.

More recently, the Scottish-born actor was known for his long-running role as a medical examiner on hit TV show NCIS.

"We will miss his warmth and endearing sense of humor that lit up any room or soundstage he stepped onto," the NCIS account said on social media.

The actor also starred in Colditz, The Invisible Man and Sapphire & Steel.

"David was a gifted actor and author, and beloved by many around the world," the NCIS tribute said.

"He led an incredible life, and his legacy will forever live on through his family and the countless hours on film and television that will never go away."

His role as mysterious Soviet agent Illya Kuryakin in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. won him many fans and made him one of the decade's biggest TV stars.

The series ended in 1968, but not before he received several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

Four years later, he played an RAF officer in the BBC's Colditz, set in the German World War Two prisoner of war camp.

In The Invisible Man, he starred as Dr Daniel Westin, a scientist who inadvertently discovered the secret of invisibility.

And at the end of the 70s, he teamed up with Joanna Lumley as a time-travelling agent, assigned by an unknown authority to safeguard time itself, in Sapphire & Steel.

On the big screen, McCallum had roles in films including The Great Escape, The Greatest Story Ever Told and A Night to Remember.

He also guest starred on TV series Perry Mason and The Outer Limits.

Born in Glasgow to parents who were classical musicians, McCallum initially pursued a career in music before finding work as an actor.

Dr Dre sample

In the 1960s, he recorded four albums for Capitol Records alongside producer David Axelrod.

One of his tracks, The Edge, was sampled to memorable effect by Dr Dre on the US rapper's 2000 hit single The Next Episode, featuring Snoop Dogg. McCallum's instrumental original also went on to appear on the soundtracks to 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV and 2017 film Baby Driver.

In a statement released by CBS, his son Peter McCallum said: "He was the kindest, coolest, most patient and loving father. He always put family before self.

"He was a true renaissance man - he was fascinated by science and culture and would turn those passions into knowledge.

"For example, he was capable of conducting a symphony orchestra and (if needed) could actually perform an autopsy, based on his decades-long studies for his role on NCIS."

'No one did it better'

The actor died in New York on Monday. His death was said to have been due to natural causes.

NCIS co-star Michael Weatherly was among the others paying tribute.

Sharing a signed photo of McCallum alongside Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, Weatherly wrote: "David McCallum made every moment count, in life and on set. Let's raise a jug and celebrate a funny fantastic authentic man.

"I've only got three autographs. [Sean] Connery, Tony Bennett and McCallum," he continued. "I felt the same way as Steve McQueen in this picture from The Great Escape: Wow! It's David McCallum! No one did it better."

Another NCIS actor, Wilmer Valderama, shared a still of himself acting opposite McCallum, noting it had been an "immense honour" to share the screen with him. "Your professionalism and ability to effortlessly take every one of us on a journey through your art will be felt forever," he wrote.

Emily Wickersham added on her Instagram story: "Had the pleasure of working with David for many years and he was the utmost professional and a true legend."

McCallum's role on NCIS came after he appeared for a role in the show JAG, which led to the NCIS spin-off. NCIS itself later went on to generate other NCIS shows, including NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.

McCallum also found work as a voice actor for children's cartoons and video games.

McCALLUM, David (David Keith McCallum)

Born: 9/19/1933, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

Died: 9/25/1933, Manhattan, New York, U.S.A.

 

David McCallum’s westerns – actor:

Robbery Under Arms – 1957 (Jim Marston)

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters – 1964 (Prophet)

RIP Michael; Gambon

 

Potter stars among tributes to Sir Michael Gambon

BBC News

By Lauren Turner & John Hand

9/28/2023

 

Harry Potter co-stars of Sir Michael Gambon, who played Professor Albus Dumbledore in six films, are among those paying tribute to the stage and screen legend after his death aged 82.

Daniel Radcliffe said the "brilliant, effortless" actor "loved his job but never seemed defined by it".

Emma Watson thanked Sir Michael for "showing us what it looks like to wear greatness lightly".

Writer JK Rowling hailed a "wonderful man" and "outstanding actor".

Another Potter star, Fiona Shaw, said Sir Michael has shown during his long and varied life that he "could do anything" as an actor.

The Dublin-born actor, who died in hospital after a bout of pneumonia, worked in TV, film, theatre and radio in his six-decade career. He won four Baftas.

Sir Michael's family had moved to London when he was a child but he made his very first stage performance in Ireland, in a production of Othello in Dublin in 1962.

His career took off when he became one of the original members of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre acting company in London. He went on to win three Olivier awards for performances in National Theatre productions.

Although he always regarded his theatre work as the most important, he won acclaim for a series of key TV and cinema roles in the 1980s and 1990s.

These included the ground-breaking and controversial BBC One drama The Singing Detective, in which he played the eponymous sleuth in a complex tale from writer Dennis Potter.

He played a very different detective, Parisian Jules Maigret, in two series of an ITV adaptation of Georges Simenon's classic novels, and portrayed Oscar Wilde in 1985 in a three-part BBC Two series focused on the writer's criminal trial and imprisonment.

One of his most memorable cinematic outings was as the gluttonous and irredeemable "thief" in 1989's The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover,

Dame Helen Mirren - who played his adulterous wife, said he was a "naughty but very, very funny" friend.

In an interview for this weekend's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Dame Helen recalled how he had kept her "constantly in laughter" during filming and also when they appeared on stage in Antony and Cleopatra seven years previously.

She added that in recent times the two had discussed growing older, and how that affected their work:

Sir Michael was "utterly realistic" about his situation, she said. "He found it increasingly difficult to remember lines, which I have the greatest of sympathy with, and that sort of took him away from theatre," she said.

Other notable film roles in the following decade saw him playing opposite some of Hollywood's biggest names, in big-screen hits such as Toys, Sleepy Hollow, Gosford Park. There was even time for a comedic cameo as the prime minister in Ali G Indahouse.

'Magnificent trickster'

But when a fellow acting titan, Richard Harris, died in 2002, Sir Michael accepted the challenge of succeeding him in the role of Dumbledore - headmaster of wizarding school Hogwarts - in the hit Harry Potter series.

In her tribute on X, formerly Twitter, JK Rowling - the creator of the books - said: "The first time I ever laid eyes on him was in King Lear, in 1982, and if you'd told me then that brilliant actor would appear in anything I'd written, I'd have thought you were insane.

"Michael was a wonderful man in additional to being an outstanding actor, and I absolutely loved working with him, not only on Potter but also The Casual Vacancy."

As Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe ended up working with Sir Michael throughout his teenage years and he issued a statement that said: "Michael Gambon was one of the most brilliant, effortless actors I've ever had the privilege of working with,but, despite his immense talent, the thing I will remember most about him is how much fun he had doing his job."

Recalling Sir Michael's habit of "blurring the lines of fact and fiction" when speaking to journalists at press event, Radcliffe added: He was silly, irreverent and hilarious. He loved his job, but never seemed defined by it."

Emma Watson, who played Hermione Grainger, said in a post on Instagram: "You never took it too seriously but somehow delivered the most serious moments with all the gravitas."

Rupert Grint said his "personal role model" had "brought so much warmth and mischief to every day on set".

Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in the series, wrote on social media: "I learned what acting could be from Michael in The Singing Detective - complex, vulnerable and utterly human.

"The greatest thrill of being in the Potter films was that he knew my name and shared his fearless, filthy sense of fun with me."

Fiona Shaw, who played Petunia Dursley in the films, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "He varied his career remarkably and never judged what he was doing, he just played."

She said she would always think of him "as a trickster, just a brilliant, magnificent trickster", adding: "With text, there was nothing like him. He could do anything."

And James Phelps, who played Fred Weasley in the films, called Sir Michael "a legend" in a tribute on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He also recalled that Sir Michael once offered to go over lines one weekend when he had a part in Peter and the Wolf with the Manchester Halle Orchestra.

"We spent what should have been his downtime going over my weekend gig. It is a memory that I've always had as one of the highlights of my (Harry Potter) days," he said.

Dame Joan Collins, who played Sir Michael's wife in BBC sitcom Mama's Back in 1993, called him a "great actor and great fun".

Dame Eileen Atkins, a longstanding friend of Sir Michael, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One he was "a great actor, but he always pretended he didn't take it very seriously" and that he had amazing stage presence.

"He just had to walk on stage and he commanded the whole audience immediately," she said. "There was something very sweet about him, this huge man who could look very frightening - but there was something incredibly sweet inside Michael."

She added: "I will always remember that man."

'The Great Gambon'

His other film work that he juggled alongside the Potter movies in later years included the big screen adaptation of Dad's Army and the King's Speech, in which he portrayed King George V, father of the stammering King George VI.

He was nominated for Emmy awards for his role as Mr Woodhouse in an adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma in 2010, and for playing President Lyndon B Johnson in Path to War in 2002. He also got a Tony nomination in 1997 for a role in David Hare play Skylight.

He was knighted for services to the entertainment industry in 1998. Although Irish-born, he had become a British citizen in his childhood.

The actor, known as "The Great Gambon" in acting circles, had last appeared on stage in 2012 in a London production of Samuel Beckett's play All That Fall.

American actor Ryan Phillippe said he felt "so lucky" to work with Sir Michael on Gosford Park. He recalled that Sir Michael was in his 60s at the time and he was only 25, but they "got along like schoolmates due to his irrepressibly youthful spirit".

"The car rides home from work, in his vintage convertible, at breakneck speed, with the Stones full volume on the radio, will stay with me forever.. Rest in peace, mate," he said in a post on X.

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar paid tribute, saying: "A great actor. Whether performing in Beckett, Dennis Potter or

GAMBON, Michael (Michael John Gambon)

B: 10/19/1940, Cabra, Dublin, Ireland

D: 9/27/2023, Witham, Essex, England, U.K.

 

Michael Gambon’s western – actor:

Open Ramge – 2003 (Denton Baxter)

RIP Dick Curtis

 

Actor from Oregon TV history who played trooper in Blitz-Weinhard beer commercials dies at 95

The Oregonian 

By Sami Edge

September 19, 2023

Dick Curtis, an actor and comedian who famously portrayed an Oregon trooper protecting the border from deliveries of California beer, capturing television viewers’ imagination and helping to popularize the craft brewery movement, died Saturday of congestive heart failure.

He was 95.

Curtis rose to fame as an Oregon cultural icon in the 1980s, after a career in Hollywood television and film, when he starred in Blitz-Weinhard beer commercials as a state trooper who, in the Portland company’s most memorable ad, intercepts a truckload of California suds at the Oregon state line.

“Well now, where you fellas going with all that beer?” Curtis’ character asks the truckers. “You know this is the home of Blitz-Weinhard, and it’s brewed naturally without artificial ingredients? Is yours?”

The commercial ends with a shot of the truck driving out of the state.

“If you’re thinking about a better beer, think about Oregon’s beer,” a narrator says. “There’s no better beer than the beer from here.”

Curtis’ Blitz-Wienhard commercials propelled the company’s sales, including for Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, later hailed as Oregon’s original craft beer.

Most of the beer Blitz-Weinhard brewed in the 1960s and ‘70s supplied the mass market, said beer historian and author Pete Dunlop. But Private Reserve was special, he said. It was made with high quality ingredients and Cascade hops and “tasted sort of like craft beer,” Dunlop said.

The grandsons of company founder Henry Weinhard ran the business at the time, and they launched Private Reserve as a strategy to retake the beer market from out-of-state brews flooding Oregon and the Northwest thanks to advances in shipping and refrigeration, Dunlop said.

“That beer was a huge success here,” Dunlop said.

So were the ads.

When craft breweries started to open in Portland in the mid-80s, Oregonians already had a taste of what that might be like, Dunlop said. Craft breweries started to pop up in the blocks around West Burnside Street, the area where the Henry Weinhard brewery had been operating since the mid-1800s in what’s now the Pearl District. Blitz-Weinhard sold to Pabst in 1979 and later to Miller Brewing Company, which closed the Portland location in 1999.

After the commercials’ success, Curtis’ trooper character became a public spokesperson of sorts for causes and other businesses. Curtis made appearances at Fred Meyer events and at the Oregon State Fair, said Paul Jackson, who met and worked for Curtis in Oregon. He also campaigned against smoking in character for the American Cancer Society.

Curtis released an album called “Well now..” with an image of him as the trooper on the cover. For a short time, Curtis also had a daytime talk show on KOIN-TV, Jackson said. He moved to Portland around the height of his Oregon fame, Jackson said.

“I think it’s great that Oregon people embraced that character, because it’s funny and it’s fun,” said Sydney Curtis, the actor’s youngest daughter.

Dick Curtis was born as Richard Byrd Laub and spent his early days in Indianapolis, Indiana, his daughter said. He lived in an orphanage at one point, he said in an interview with a classic television blogger, when his mother was seriously ill and couldn’t take care of him and his siblings. The family moved to Hollywood when he was about 8, Curtis said, and he’d run errands for actors before eventually breaking into entertainment.

“He came from sort of a dark past, of a kid who grew up in the streets and in orphanages, who found his way out. And that was by going to the movies, singing on the streets, going into bars or whatever and just doing an act, doing a song and a dance,” his daughter said. “He always wanted people to feel better.”

Curtis was on the “Andy Griffith” and “Dick Van Dyke” shows, and according to IMBD voiced characters in a 1966 episode of “Batman” and in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon “Motormouse and Autocat.” He acted in the 1980 movie “Motel Hell” and in the 1971 comedic western “Support Your Local Gunfighter.” He had three daughters.

In a 1990 column for The Oregonian, author David Sarasohn called Curtis “one of the best-known faces in Oregon” from the previous decade.

“Curtis and his grin were the perfect symbol for the Oregon attitude at the time, the satisfaction about ‘livability’ and the crotchetiness about newcomers,” Sarasohn wrote.

The commercials, Jackson said, perfectly summed up Oregonians’ thoughts about home not just beer: “They captured the anger, the provincialism of Oregonians at the time, which is, ‘Don’t come up and ruin our beautiful state.’”

CURTIS, Dick (Richard Byrd Laub)

Born: 5/24/1928, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.

Died: 9/16/2023, Sedona, Arizona U.S.A.

 

Dick Curtis’ western – actor:

Support Your Local Gunfighter – 1971 (Bud Barton)

RIP Beth Porter

 

American-born stage and screen actor who appeared as the brash pop manager Kitty Schreiber in the ITV show Rock Follies of 77

The Guaridan

By Anthony Hayward

September 18, 2023

 

The American-born actor Beth Porter, who has died aged 81, had a varied career that took off in her homeland with experimental theatre before she moved to Britain and reached a wider audience in two groundbreaking television series.

In Rock Follies of 77, a sequel to 1976’s Rock Follies, she had a strong supporting role as Kitty Schreiber, the tough, wheeler-dealing American managing the gutsy Little Ladies singing trio played by Julie Covington, Charlotte Cornwell and Rula Lenska.

Howard Schuman’s creation, featuring his lyrics and Andy Mackay’s melodies, had already followed the band on the unglamorous pub and club circuit, and he wrote this new role specially for Porter, having previously worked with her. Also new for the sequel was Sue Jones-Davies, who joined the lineup, with Cornwell eventually sidelined after her character is burned out by drink and drugs.

Throughout it all, Porter portrayed the brash, dynamic Kitty, navigating a ruthless industry – and recording contract – with attitude and outlandish dress sense, and the memorable catchphrase “Cray-zee ’bout it!” She also had the chance to sing a couple of numbers herself, although lamented that neither appeared on the soundtrack album, thereby denying her royalties.

Porter then played the Marketing Girl in The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on BBC radio in 1978. Although she appeared in only the final episode, Douglas Adams’s sci-fi satire became an institution as it evolved into books and a 1981 television serial, in which she recreated her part.

Inevitably cast as Americans in Britain, she also had a leading role as a Southern belle and bestselling novelist in The Deep Concern, a 1979 whodunnit written by Elwyn Jones. Later, in 1988, she was in sitcom as Hannah, a pregnant hippy, in the first series of Square Deal, alongside the yuppies played by Timothy Bentinck and Lise Ann McLaughlin.

Beth was born in New York, to Marya (nee Neer), originally from Ukraine, and Ralph Porter, an actor, writer and director. She performed at Horace Greeley high school, trained with the director John Houseman at the Stratford Shakespeare festival in Stratford, Ontario, and was a member of the Chappaqua drama group before graduating in drama from Bard College, New York.

In 1966, Porter joined the company at La MaMa, an experimental theatre club in New York where the artistic director was Tom O’Horgan. He later directed the world premieres of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar.

At the same time, she was a regular at Caffe Cino in Greenwich Village, a coffeehouse-cum-theatre. There she met Andy Milligan, a director who cast her in the title role of The Naked Witch, a horror story among a string of low-budget sexploitation films he made in 1967. She played an awakened 19th-century sorceress seeking to avenge her own murder.

Then, on a 1967 European tour with the LaMaMa troupe, she met Peter Reid at the Edinburgh festival. They married in 1969, a year after forming – with Tony Sibbald – Wherehouse La Mama as a European offshoot of the original group, touring until 1971. She also led workshops with the London cast of Hair during 1968.

For a while, film directors continued to exploit Porter’s sexy image – casting her in Futz (1969), a US screen version of a La MaMa stage production, as the promiscuous Marjorie Satz and, after she settled in Britain, in Eskimo Nell (1975) as Billie Harris, one of those auditioning for the starring role in a sex movie – based on the pornographic poem – being made by a sleazy producer (played by Roy Kinnear).

But her acting talents started to be recognized. She almost stole the show as the outgoing girlfriend of an American underground filmmaker in London – displaying her tap-dancing skills – in Schuman’s play Vérité (1973) for the ITV Armchair Theatre strand before taking the title role of a paranoid children’s author in Anxious Annie (1977), his contribution to the LWT anthology series She.

There were also film appearances in The Great Gatsby (1974) as Mrs McKee, Love and Death (1975), as the sister-in-law of Woody Allen’s pacifist Russian soldier, and Yentl (1983), in which she played, uncredited, the maid of Amy Irving’s character and was a stand-in doubling for the star, Barbra Streisand, in camera set-ups.

Porter worked mostly behind the scenes in the 1980s, when the BBC trained her as a script editor and development executive. She script-edited Fighting Back (1986), a drama series starring Hazel O’Connor as a single mother, and produced two short TV plays, The Husband, the Wife and the Stranger (1986), a mystery with Adam Faith, and Unusual Ground Floor Conversion (1989), with Adrian Dunbar as an author moving home.

She was also London editor of Film Journal International, the author of novels and collections of short fiction, and a web producer for corporate websites.

Porter in later years lived reclusively in an East Sussex village. In her 2016 memoir, Walking on My Hands, she revealed a “two-night stand” with Frank Sinatra in 1965.

Following her marriage to Reid, which ended in divorce in 1979, Porter had relationships with the directors Jack Clayton and Kerry Lee Crabbe.

PORTER, Beth (Beth Jane Porter)

Born: 5/23/1942, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 8/1/2023, East Sussex, England, U.K.

 

Beth Porter’s western – voice actor:

Lucky Luke: Ballad of the Daltons – 1978 [English voice of Miss Worthlesspenny]

RIP Billy Miller

 

Daytime Emmy Winner Billy Miller Dead at 43

Just a couple days shy of his 44th birthday, Miller has passed away.

Soap Hub

By Miachael Maloney

September 17, 2023

 

Billy Miller who burst onto the daytime scene in 2007 as Richie Novak on All My Children and later went on to play Billy Abbott on Young and the Restless and Drew Cain on General Hospital has died. He reportedly passed away on Friday, September 15 just two days shy of his 44th birthday, which is today.

Michael Fairman TV first reported the news of Miller’s death. No cause of death has been announced. According to Michael Fairman, Miller’s death was confirmed by someone at The Belmont, a Los Angeles restaurant bar that Miller co-owned.

Miller was born on September 17, 1979, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Upon graduating from the University of Texas with a degree in communications, he relocated to Los Angeles and found employment in the mailroom of Industry Entertainment. Soon, he began auditioning for acting roles.

After signing with the Wilhelmina modeling agency, Miller obtained his first big break – a contract to appear in six commercials (including two for Electronic Arts’ The Sims). A subsequent screen test for As the World Turns resulted in an offer of employment, but due to bad management Miller lost the role and his interest in the profession.

Miller received another opportunity to work in daytime after he was cast in 2007 as bad boy Richie on AMC who terrorized his sister Annie (Melissa Claire Egan, who now plays Chelsea on Y&R). In 2008, the actor traveled to the West Coast to assume the role of Billy Abbott on Y&R. He played the part until 2014 and won three Daytime Emmys for his work in Genoa City. Miller won statuettes for Outstanding Supporting Actor in Drama Series in 2010 and in 2013. In 2014, Miller took home the trophy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

After renegotiation talks came to an impasse, Miller left Y&R; (his character) Billy was in a car accident that presumably took the life of Adam Newman. Later that same year, Miller was scooped up by GH to play Jason Morgan, the role vacated by Steve Burton (Harris, Days of our Lives). After Burton rejoined the show, the GH scribes retconned Miller’s character, revealing that he was, in reality, Drew Cain, Jason’s twin. Miller stayed with GH until 2019.

Miller amassed many credits outside of soaps. He appeared in the Bradley Cooper 2014 film American Sniper, TV Movie Urban Cowboy, Fatal Honeymoon, and Bad Blood. He had roles in the TV series CSI: New York, Justified, Ringer, Suits, Ray Donovan, Castle, The Rookie, Major Crimes, Truth Be Told, and NCIS.

Soap Hub extends sincere condolences to Miller’s family, colleagues, and loved ones at this difficult time.

MILLER, Billy (William Dean Miller)

Born: 9/17/1979, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

Died: 9/15/2023, Austin, Texas, U.S.A.

 

Billy Miller’s western – actor:

Justified (TV) 2011 (James Earl Dean)

RIP Franco Migliacci

 

Franco Migliacci, dead lyricist and author of "Nel blu dipinto di blu". He was 92 years old.

He died in a Roman clinic. He has worked with the greatest, from Modugno to Mina

Leggo

September 15, 2023

 

Franco Migliacci, the lyricist and author among other successes of "Nel blu dipinto di blu", died in Rome. He was 92. Adnkronos learns it. In his career he has worked with the greatest Italian artists, from Mina to Domenico Modugno, up to Gianni Morandi.

In his career he has signed many other iconic songs such as "Tintarella di luna", "Fatti mandare dalla mamma a prendere il latte", "Una rotonda sul mare", "C'era un ragazzo che come me amava i Beatles e i Rolling Stones" and "T'appartego" by Ambra Angiolini.

Gianni Morandi: «I'm taking a break from social media, maybe it's good for us». For fans there is something underneath

Who was Franco Migliacci

Born in Mantua in 1930, Migliacci wrote songs for numerous artists, in particular Gianni Morandi, such as the famous "C'era un ragazzo che come me amava i Beatles e i Rolling Stones", "Fatti mandare dalla mamma a prendere il latte", "Andavo a cento all'ora", "In ginocchio da te". He was the lyricist of songs sung by Mina, Milva, Fred Bongusto, Rita Pavone and Patty Pravo. Other well-known songs include "Tintarella di luna" and "Una rotonda sul mare". In 2003 he was appointed president of SIAE and after two years, following some controversy raised by members, such as Gino Paoli, who considered him not very representative, he resigned.

Francesco was married to Married to Gloria Wall [1937- ] and is the father of Assolo (Francesco Migliacci, Jr.) 1958, Ernesto 1969 and  Laura 1971.

Migliacci was the co-founder of Mimo Records with Domenico Modugno.

MIGLIACCI, Franco (Francesco Migliacci)

Born: 10/28/1930, Mantua, Lombardy, Italy

Died: 9/15/2023, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Franco Migiliacci’s western – lyricist:

Django – 1966

Django Unchained - 2012

RIP Eddie Marks

 

Eddie Marks, Longtime Western Costume Company President, Dies at 76

Before taking the reins at the fabled supplier, he worked on movies including 'The Witches of Eastwick,' 'Dead Poets Society' and 'Postcards from the Edge.'

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

September 13, 2023

 

Eddie Marks, a member of the costume department on such films as The Breakfast Club, The Witches of Eastwick and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and the president of the Western Costume Company since 1992, has died. He was 76.

Marks died Monday of natural causes during a visit to Prague, a spokesman for the company told The Hollywood Reporter.

Marks joined Western Costume in 1989 as a vice president and became president three years later. He helped steer the company from a cramped Melrose Avenue warehouse near the Paramount lot to a hangar-sized building on Vanowen Street in North Hollywood in 1990.

Western Costume was founded sometime between 1912 and 1915 and has been among the world’s largest suppliers of costumes ever since. “What makes us stand out from our competitors is that, over the last 30 years, I’ve bought 11 companies that were costume rental companies,” Marks told THR in a 2019 profile of Western Costume.

The company has been closed because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes since July 14.

Edward Howard Marks was born on July 1, 1947, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1952, and his father, Lambert Marks, worked in the wardrobe department on such films as Some Came Running (1958), Point Blank (1968) and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974).

Eddie Marks started his own career in the mailroom of MGM Studios in 1965. He gravitated to costuming, with his duties including sizing and helping with fittings, and worked with Elvis Presley on Girl Happy (1965), Spinout (1966) and Stay Away, Joe (1968).

He left MGM to freelance and was the costume supervisor on the 1972-77 ABC crime drama The Streets of San Francisco.

In 1988, he shared an Emmy for outstanding achievement in costuming for a miniseries or a special for his work on Shakedown on Sunset Strip, a CBS telefilm.

His other credits included The China Syndrome (1979), Melvin and Howard (1980), Revenge of the Nerds (1984), The Golden Child (1986), Dead Poets Society (1989), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) and Postcards From the Edge (1990).

Survivors include his wife, Debby; sons Branden — a costume supervisor on the CBS series S.W.A.T. and a costumer on several Marvel films — and Garret; grandson Aiden; and siblings Sanford and Wendy.

“Eddie was tightly woven into the fabric of the costume industry and supported so many aspiring costumers as they launched their careers,” Western Costume said in a statement. “He will be dearly missed by all who knew him.”

MARKS, Eddie (Edward Howard Marks)

Born: 7/1/1947, Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Died: 9/11/2023, Prague, Czech Republic

 

Eddie Marks’s western – costumer:

A Man Called Horse - 1970

RIP Luiz Antônio Piá

 

Luiz Antônio Piá, director of 'Chiquititas', 'Carrossel' and 'Você Decide' dies

With a career that began in the 1970s, Piá had stints at the main broadcasters in the country, working at Globo, SBT, Record and Band

Quem

By Beatriz Bourroul

9/13/2023

 

The director of soap operas Luiz Antônio Piá, stage name of Luiz Antônio Tupinambá Teixeira Braga, died at the age of 81 on Tuesday (12), in São Paulo. With works in SBT, Band, Record and Globo, he has accumulated more than 40 productions, with the novelas Carrossel (2012), Chiquititas (2013) and Cúmplices de um Resgate (2015) being his most recent works.

The director's family confirmed the death. The wake of Piá takes place from 10am, on Wednesday (13), in Santana de Parnaíba, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. He had had surgery on his femur three months ago and had sepsis due to a healing infection.

"My father was always a very kind, talented and beloved man, and unfortunately he passed away, for those who want to say goodbye, the funeral takes place in Santana de Parnaíba, near the cemetery," said Malu Braga, daughter of the director.

LUIZ ANTÔNIO PIÁ'S CAREER

As a director, Luiz Antônio Piá debuted on TV Globo, commanding the series Police Duty, between 1979 and 1981. At the station, he also directed the miniseries Lampião and Maria Bonita (1982) and Bandidos da Falange (1983) and the novels Eu Prometo (1983) and Partido Alto (1984).

In the 1990s, he directed and was a screenwriter of some episodes of the interactive program Você Decide, on TV Globo, a station in which he also directed Quarta Nobre in the 1980s.

At Record TV, where he was responsible for directing the soap opera Estrela de Fogo (1998) and the miniseries O Desafio de Elias (1997) and Do Fundo do Coração (1998). At Band, he was director of the soap operas Água na Boca (2008) and Dance Dance Dance (2007)

PIA, Luiz Antônio (Luiz Antônio Tupinamba Teixeira Braga)

Born: 12/9/1941, Samta de Parnaiba, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Died: 9/12/2023, Sao Paulo, Brazil

 

Luiz Antônio Piá’s western – director:

Bloody Destiny - 1982

RIP Edward Hume

 

Edward Hume, Emmy-Nominated ‘The Day After’ Writer, Dies at 87

Variety

By McKinley Franklin

September 13, 2023

 

Edward Hume, the Emmy-nominated writer of “The Day After” and creator of “The Streets of San Francisco,” has died, his rep confirmed to Variety. He was 87.

Hume was known for his work on the critically acclaimed, 1983 sci-fi TV movie “The Day After,” which was nominated for a total of 10 Emmys and won two. The nuclear war-centric film is regarded as the most-watched TV movie of all time, being seen by over 100 million U.S. viewers. It notably was the first American film to be released in the Soviet Union, launching in 35 countries in 17 languages.

“There can be no doubt about the size of Earth’s debt to Edward Hume,” said Nicholas Meyer, the director of “The Day After.”

Hume was born in Chicago, Ill., on May 18, 1936. Throughout the course of his career in Hollywood, he was often recognized for his passion for storytelling, winning the Humanitas prize in 1990 and the Future of Life Award in 2023 for his writing in “The Day After.”

Hume’s additional film credits include the 1975 romantic drama “Sweet Hostage,” which starred Linda Blair and Martin Sheen, the 1982 TV movie “Parole,” Ralph L. Thomas’ 1983 bio-drama “The Terry Fox Story” and the 1990 historical drama “Common Ground,” starring Jane Curtin. He developed and created a slew of TV series throughout the 1970s, including the Emmy-nominated shows “The Streets of San Francisco,” “Cannon” and “Barnaby Jones

Hume is survived by his children; Chris, Brian and Erika; his sisters; Marian Tibbetts and Martha Lucuis and many nieces and nephews.

HUME, Edward

Born: 5/18/1936, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 7/13/2023,

 

Edward Hume’s western – writer:

Stranger on My Land (TV) - 1988

RIP Pepe Soriano

 

Pepe Soriano died: the actor and director was 93 years old 

The news of his death was announced on Twitter by theatrical producer Carlos Rottemberg; he had said goodbye to the stage in 2020, but in April of this year he had participated in the tribute that Héctor Alterio received at the CCK

La Nacion

September 13, 2023

 

Actor and director Pepe Soriano, with an extensive career in film, television and theater, died Wednesday at age 93. Although he had retired from the stage in 2020, he remained very active and in contact with his colleagues, as he demonstrated in April, during the tribute that was given to Héctor Alterio at the CCK. According to what LA NACIÓN learned, he was hospitalized in a Buenos Aires clinic with a picture of kidney failure.

The news about his death was announced on Twitter by theatrical producer Carlos Rottemberg: "He left a great. The death of Pepe Soriano goes deep into our feelings. With him goes a friend. Then the great actor, one of the best in this country. Huge kiss for Diana, Victoria and family."

His colleague, actor Osvaldo Santoro, dismissed Pepe Soriano on social media, describing him as "an example of life." "Dear Pepe. Rise peacefully to eternity, because on earth you have fulfilled your talent, your gift of people and your unwavering commitment to fellow actors and actresses. Personally, I will carry you in my heart because you were an example of life for me. May you rest in peace," the artist wrote on his Twitter account to say goodbye to his colleague and friend.

José Carlos Soriano was born in Buenos Aires on September 25, 1929. Throughout his life, he stood out in theater (La nona, El loro calabrés, Gris de ausencia, El violinista en el tejado), on television (Alta comedia, Los especiales de ATC, RR. DT, La leona) and, especially, in cinema (La Patagonia rebelde, Los gauchos judíos, La nona, Juan Lamaglia y Sra., Asesinato en el Senado de la Nación, Una sombra ya pronto serás).

His last interview with LA NACION

The economic difficulties faced by film creators and the world of theater to promote new productions and the consequent decrease in the hiring of actors and actresses were the subject of conversation yesterday among colleagues at the annual meeting of the Argentine Society of Management of Actors and Interpreters (SAGAI) held in Palermo.

In conversation with LA NACIÓN, the emblematic actor and director made a strong disclaimer against the lack of greater support from public administrations to promote cultural expressions. "This country, in addition to having an economy that is doing better or worse, has people who write, who think, a culture that is exemplary in America. Comparing ourselves with the Americans, since Mr. [Donald] Trump has such a good place here, I would say that they have more money but I do not know if more talent. Dear leaders of the country: culture grows from education, not only from the economic fact. The country has a culture, let's defend it. Or do they want us to leave?" said Soriano.

Likewise, Soriano expressed his desire to see his colleagues "working with joy, without ranting against the country or having to go elsewhere to seek better results."

On television productions, he retained a minimum optimism. "The way television is used does not represent us and it is useless to compete against the big international monsters like Netflix. They make series that cost millions of dollars, where are we going to get them? However, we could express ourselves the same if the channels felt that they had creative people: technicians, executives, actors. If they give us the place, we can do something," he said.

On the other hand, Soriano highlighted again and again the human capital that the seventh art has in the country. Zama, the feature film by director Lucrecia Martel, had shocked the actor. "I was deeply moved. I still can't describe it much, I can't know what provoked me. It has a beautiful cast, discipline, top-notch technique; It is of international level. Let the leaders of the country know that we also have cinema, please. I'm not getting angry, I'm asking please," he said.

One of his last public appearances

In April of this year, Soriano was seen in the tribute that was made to Héctor Alterio at the Kirchner Cultural Center, when the actor of Caballos salvajes was reunited with his friends and colleagues in the debut function of A Buenos Aires.

When he appeared on stage, the 700 people who filled the room stood up to applaud him and Soriano was one of the great figures to join the tribute, with whom Alterio melted into a hug in the front row that moved those present. "It's like seeing the embrace between San Martin and Belgrano," said Georgina Barbarossa about that moment when two titans, who stood out in the huge rebellious Patagonia, were moved to see themselves in such a special context.

In one of the postcards that LA NACIÓN recorded at that time, Soriano could be seen talking with an indelible smile with the actors Ricardo Darín, Eduardo Blanco and Gerardo Romano, in what was a very heartfelt day in which he also received the affection and noisy applause of his peers.

In 2019, the actor was part of the theatrical adaptation of the comedy by Rafael Bruza from Santa Fe, which premiered in January of that year at the Piccadilly Theater, with the works of Gustavo Garzón, Víctor Laplace and Osvaldo Laport. The actors played four medical visitors who shared the troubles of life and their respective heartbreaks.

"The pain of love is so great and so impossible to explain that perhaps the only way to release it is through humor. And Bruza achieves that," Garzón said in a dialogue with LA NACIÓN about the work that Soriano would say goodbye to the following year, due to health complications. Pepe himself, also in a chat with this medium, described his character, El Mudo.

"Essentially, he wasn't mute," Soriano explained. It seems that he had an enormous love for his wife and the day she died, he fell silent. In Tucumán, I met a beautiful poet who reminds me of this character: he was quadriplegic and did not understand anything he said, but he had a group of fellow actors and actresses who translated what he pronounced. 'He says such a thing,' they explained to one what he had meant. The great poems he made he wrote dictating to other things that he could not write or say, "he shared and alluded to how the work addressed the stereotypes of machismo.

"Rotos de amor claims inclusion in the face of that world that criticized what was outside the limits set by society. Man, female, female, male; Anything that went beyond those limits was condemnable, even death or marginalization. Today, fortunately, that monument that rose from machismo is collapsing. Of course it will take a long time to reach total conviction, but who has been touched by a love story, has shed tears. Me too," said the actor.

In February 2020, his colleagues expressed how much they would miss him. At that time, Garzón was no longer in the set, since he had been replaced by Hugo Arana, and Soriano's farewell took place at the Teatro del Sol in Villa Carlos Paz, where the audience gave him great support in that last function.

SORIANO, Pepe (José Carlos Soriano)

Born: 9/25/1929, Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Died: 9/13/2023, Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

 

Pepe Soriano’s westerns – actor:

Rebellion in Patagonia – 1974 (Schultz)

The Last Train – 2002 (Dante)

RIP Lisa Lyon

 

Fitness Vault

By Andrew Foster

September 9, 2023

 

Women’s Bodybuilding Pioneer Lisa Lyon Passes Away At 70

Lisa Lyon was battling pancreatic cancer for a while, she unfortunately lost the battle against the decease on September 8.

Bodybuilding legend and women’s bodybuilding pioneer Lisa Lyon passed away on September 8, 2023. She was 70 years old. Lyon was battling pancreatic cancer for a while. She was in hospice care at her home in San Fernando Valley where she breathed her last on September 8. The news of her passing was reportedly confirmed by a friend of hers to TMZ. She was in a critical condition for the past few weeks.

Lisa Lyon is largely credited for imbibing the spirit of bodybuilding in women and making it popular among them. She shot to fame in the 1970s for her elite fitness level that did not overshadow her femininity. The pioneering bodybuilder competed professionally as a bodybuilder for a short while but it was a great breakthrough for female bodybuilding. She made a huge impact with her stage appearances. The bodybuilding community honored her contribution to the sport by inducting her in the IFBB Hall of Fame in year 2000.

The late bodybuilder went on to become a successful fitness model as well. Lisa Lyon also tried her hand at acting and worked in several movies. For those who may not be familiar with Lyon might remember her for the iconic photo where she was seen lifting seven-time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger on her shoulders.

Lisa Lyon’s legendary career at a glance

Lisa Lyon has cemented her position in history by daring to become a bodybuilder in an era where women’s presence in the sport was essentially non-existent. Her greatness is not in the length of her career or a long list of competitive victories. It lies in the fact that she opened women’s minds to the possibility of pursuing bodybuilding as a career and passion.

Lisa Lyon competed professionally as a bodybuilder only once in her career and won the IFBB Women’s World Pro Bodybuilding Championship in 1979.

Lisa Lyon became a voice of women’s bodybuilding and appeared on several talk shows, magazine covers to promote it. Her storied modelling career saw Lyon work with several iconic photographers like Helmut Newton, Joel-Peter Witkin, her boyfriend Robert Mapplethorpe, and Marcus Leatherdale. Her work with Mapplethorpe is prominent for presenting her body as the perfect synergy between feminine and masculine features.

To share the wisdom she has gained from years of training, Lisa Lyon also wrote a book titled Lisa Lyon’s Body Magic, published in 1981. Her acting career saw her act in a total of three films, Three Crowns of the Sailor (1983), Getting Physical (1984) and Vamp (1986).

By pursuing her passion for bodybuilding, Lisa Lyon started a revolution. It has now culminated into an inseparable aspect of the bodybuilding industry. Women’s bodybuilding in 2023 has evolved to become a much sought after profession. Many women bodybuilders have etched their names in history alongside their male counterparts. Lisa Lyon had a huge role to play in this.

LYON, Lisa

Born: 5/13/1953, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 9/8/2023, San Fernando Valley, California, U.S.A.

 

Lisa Lyon’s western – actress:

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1975 (Lily Baldwin)

RIP Giuliano Montaldo

 

Giuliano Montaldo, Italian Director of ‘Sacco and Vanzetti,’ Dies at 93

Variety

By Nick Vivarelli

September 6, 2023

 

Giuliano Montaldo, the prolific Italian director, actor and film industry executive, whose works comprise powerful political drama “Sacco and Vanzetti” about the Massachusetts trial and execution in 1927 of accused Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, has died at his home in Rome. He was 93.

His death was announced Wednesday by his family and reported by multiple Italian media outlets. No cause of death was revealed.

Born in 1930 in Genoa, Montaldo was still a Turin university student when, in 1950, director Carlo Lizzani gave him a role in the film “Achtung Banditi!.” Montaldo then moved to Rome in 1954, where he worked as a journalist for Italian newspaper Il Tempo and after a few years decided to pursue a filmmaking career.

Montaldo cut his teeth as a director working as an assistant to Lizzani and then to Gillo Pontecorvo, Sergio Leone, and Francesco Rosi, learning the ropes from some of the masters of Italian cinema.

In 1960 he made his directorial debut with “Tiro al piccione,” a drama about the partisan Resistance that launched in competition from the 1961 Venice Film Festival. With his second feature “The Reckless” (“Una Bella Grinta”) about a social climber in Italy during the postwar economic miracle, he won the special jury prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1965. That year Montaldo directed the second unit of Pontecorvo’s masterpiece “The Battle Of Algiers.”

“Sacco and Vanzetti,” which went to Cannes in 1971, stars the late Gian Maria Volonté as Vanzetti, while Sacco was played by Riccardo Cucciolla, who won the best actor award at Cannes for this role.

The film’s musical score was composed and conducted by Ennio Morricone, plus there is a locally famous three-part ballad sung by Joan Baez. “Sacco and Vanzetti” was the second part of Montaldo’s so-called “Trilogy of Power,” also comprising “The Fifth Day of Peace” (1970), about German army deserters who were tried and executed by Nazi prisoners in a Canadian prisoner of war camp, and “Giordano Bruno” (1973), a chronicle of the trial for heresy by the Roman Inquisition of the eponymous 16th century philosopher and scientist.

In 1982 Montaldo directed the Emmy Award-winning mini-series “Marco Polo,” co-produced by Italy and China which played on NBC in the U.S.

Later in his career Montaldo was appointed he first president of RAI Cinema, the film arm of Italian state broadcaster RAI, a position he held between 1999 and 2004.

“Giuliano Montaldo has been a great director and artist, an intellectual and a man with an extraordinary vigor,” said current RAI Cinema CEO Paolo Del Brocco in a statement. “But for RAI Cinema he was more than anything else a father.”

Montaldo is survived by his wife Vera Pescarolo, his daughter Elisabetta and his two grandchildren Inti and Jana Carboni.

MONTALDO, Giuliano

Born: 2/22/1930, Genoa, Liguria, Italy

Died: 9/6/2023, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Giuliano Montaldo’s western – assistant director:

The Genius - 1975

RIP Yolanda Ciani

 

Was Yolanda Ciani raped by her son? Capital authorities investigate the case of the actress after her death

The artist originally from Chihuahua died at 85 years of age. It is remembered for being part of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.

infobae

By Joel Cano

September 4, 2023

 

Mexican cinema is in mourning after the death of actress Yolanda Ciani, who lost her life at 85 years of age. As a result, it was announced that the artist could have suffered physical violence from one of her close relatives.

On Sunday, September 3, the death of histrionisa was confirmed. That same day two people went to the Attorney General's Office of the CDMX to file a complaint against their son Luis Alberto, according to reports by journalist Antonio Nieto.

It was reported that the complaint would have to do with a series of physical aggressions that could have negatively impacted the health of the actress, whose causes of death have not been revealed until the edition of this note.

"They investigate the son of actress Yolanda Ciani for violence against her. The actress died this Sunday, when 2 people presented themselves to the CDMX Prosecutor's Office to denounce her son Luis Alberto for physical aggressions that could trigger a deterioration in Ciani's health, "the journalist specialized in security issues published on social networks.

It is unknown if the people who filed the complaint are relatives of the actress or have another type of relationship. Similarly, the time during which Ciani would have been raped by her own son was not detailed. It will be according to the progress of the investigations as this case is clarified, which has generated commotion among moviegoers who grew up with his films, both on the small and big screen.

Who was Yolanda Ciani

The National Association of Interpreters (ANDI) was the one that announced the death of the actress on the afternoon of Sunday, September 3. "ANDI communicates the sensitive death of the interpreting partner Yolanda Ciani. She is remembered for her performances in film and television. She also had a remarkable union life, she was General Secretary of the National Association of Actors (ANDA)," reads a publication made on social networks.

Ciani was born in Chihuahua on January 25, 1938. His debut in the film industry occurred at the end of the 50s, a period that belonged to the "Golden Age" of Mexican cinema, named for the recognition that productions had in Latin America. Later he ventured into television and theater.

Among his most recognized films are Las chivas rayadas (1964), San Simón de los Magueyes (1973) and Carne de horca (1973). However, his fame was also thanks to his participation in feature films starring the legendary fighter "El Santo", such as Santo en el hotel de la muerte (1963) and Santo contra el rey del crimen (1962).

According to data from the Imdb platform, Yolanda Ciani worked on about 100 television and film productions. The series of the small screen in which he stood out were Barrera de Amor (2005), Alborada (2005), Mañana es para siempre (2008) and Dos hogares (2011).

The last television series in which he acted was Corazón Indomable, where he appeared in 13 episodes alongside Ana Brenda Contreras. In the theatrical field he collaborated in works such as Un tigre a las puertas (1960) and Escándalo nocturno (1964).

CIANI, Yolanda

Born: 2/6/1943, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico

Died: 9/3/2023, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

 

Yolanda Ciani’s westerns – actress:

Pa’ que mesirve la vida - 1961

La bandida – 1962 (prostitute)

Barbarians of the North – 1962 (Margarita Campos)

Dos alegres Gavilanes – 1963 (Rosita)

Los parranderos – 1963

Dos inocente mujeriegos – 1964 (Novia)

Todo el horizonte para morir - 1971

Carne de horca – 1973 (Maria Medina)

Cananea – 1978 (Mary Greene)

Todo un hombre – 1983 (Senora de Monteros)

RIP Gayle Hunnicutt

 

The Guardian

By Michael Carlson

September 3, 2023

The acting career of Gayle Hunnicutt, who has died aged 80, could be defined in two acts. As an up-and-coming starlet in Hollywood she was often cast for her stunning beauty. Then, after marrying the British actor David Hemmings, she moved to the UK, where she played big parts in two major television series, The Golden Bowl (1972) and Fall of Eagles (1974).

After a divorce she married the journalist and editor Simon Jenkins, and alongside her acting career became a fixture of the British social scene. She may, though, be best remembered for the final three seasons of Dallas, from 1989 to 1991, in which she played Vanessa Beaumont, an English aristocrat whose long-ago affair with JR Ewing produced a son he had never known existed.

Hunnicutt was born in Texas, not far from Dallas in Fort Worth. Her father, Sam, was a colonel in the army; her mother, Mary (nee Dickerson), gave birth to Gayle while her husband was serving in New Caledonia during the second world war. Her parents did not support her desire to go to college, but she won a scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles, and paid for her time there with part-time work while studying English and theatre.

Spotted in a college production by a talent scout from Warner Brothers, she made her debut on the television naval comedy Mister Roberts at the age of 23 in 1966, and then in Roger Corman’s Peter Fonda/Nancy Sinatra film Wild Angels, about a San Pedro motorcycle gang.

Once asked whom she would most want to look like, Hunnicutt replied Audrey Hepburn, whose beauty, like hers, was often described as “porcelain” or even “cold”. But Hepburn also projected a certain vulnerability, whereas Hunnicutt seemed to carry her beauty naturally. Rather than Hollywood’s typecasting of her as a beauty queen, she needed parts that played on a contrast between fragile beauty and steely character.

She caught notice in 1967 for her role as a woman trying to con Jed Clampett out of his fortune in a two-part episode of The Beverly Hillbillies on TV, and then playing opposite James Garner in the film Marlowe (1969) as the older sister, Mavis Wald, protecting secrets in a film based on Raymond Chandler’s novel The Little Sister.

By then she had met Hemmings, at a party at the actor Peter Lawford’s beach house. She described it as love at first sight, and they married in 1968. Hemmings, already a major star after Blow Up, characterised them as the “poor man’s Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton”, and although Hunnicutt “always thought that was silly”, her new husband seemed intent on replicating the conflict of the Taylor/Burton relationship. Within three months of the wedding he began a very public affair with the actor Samantha Eggar, yet despite his serial infidelity they remained married, and moved to Britain, where their son, Nolan, was born.

She co-starred with Hemmings in In Fragment of Fear (1970) , and then was directed by him in Running Scared (1972) with Robert Powell. In 1973 she played in Scorpio, in which Michael Winner wasted the talents of Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon, then again alongside Hemmings in Voices, which was less interesting than her next horror film, The Legend of Hell House.

Being in Britain brought her theatre opportunities, and in 1973 she was in fellow-American Michael Rudman’s Hampstead theatre production of Peter Handke’s Ride Across Lake Constance, alongside Alan Howard, Jenny Agutter, Nigel Hawthorne and Nicola Pagett.

In 1972 she also starred on the small screen in the BBC’s adaptation of Henry James’s The Golden Bowl as Charlotte Stant, playing, for the first time, a transatlantic character. She followed up with another success on the BBC as the Tsarina Alexandra in Fall of Eagles (1974), and that year also played in Nuits Rouges (aka Shadowman in its English dubbed version), George Franju’s homage to the fictional criminal genius Fantômas, in which she was memorable in an Irma Vep-style bodysuit being chased by police across the Paris rooftops.

She revisited Fantômas in three episodes of the eponymous 1980 French mini-series, directed by Claude Chabrol and Luis Buñuel’s son, Juan Luis. In the BBC’s 1978 TV film Dylan she played Liz Reitel, a woman having an affair with Ronald Lacey’s Dylan Thomas, drinking his way through his ill-fated final American tour.

Hunnicutt had divorced Hemmings in 1974, and married Jenkins in 1978, by which time she was a notable presence on stage and in quality television roles. In London in 1979 she ranged from playing Hedda in the Watermill theatre’s production of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler to being Peter Pan at the Shaftesbury theatre. That year she also starred in a double episode of The Return of the Saint with Ian Ogilvy, which was later repackaged as a TV movie.

She would play in another Saint TV movie, The Brazilian Connection (1989) with Simon Dutton as Simon Templar. She also returned to Raymond Chandler as a femme fatale opposite Powers Boothe in an episode of the mini-series Marlowe, Private Eye in 1983. In the first episode of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984) opposite Jeremy Brett, she played Holmes’ great female rival, Irene Adler. In 1985 she starred as Donna Lloyd with Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon in Arthur Penn’s thriller film, Target.

Her most personal project was a two-hander, The Life and Loves of Edith Wharton, which debuted in 1995 at the Hampstead theatre and toured for many years afterwards; according to Jenkins, she identified with the troubled Anglo-American writer. Later she played the writer Mary Wollstonecraft in another two-hander, The Two Marys. Her last screen role came in a 1999 episode of CI5: The New Professionals.

Having written a book called Health and Beauty in Motherhood in 1984, two decades later she published Dearest Virginia, a moving collection of her father’s love letters written while he was serving in the South Pacific.

She and Jenkins divorced in 2009; her sale of the Primrose Hill house they had lived in for three decades became an episode of a 2012 reality show, Selling London.

She is survived by Nolan, another son, Edward, from her marriage to Jenkins, and five grandchildren, Poppy, Theo, Oscar, Dash and Nia.

Gayle Hunnicutt, actor, born 6 February 1943; died 31 August 2023

HUNNICUTT, Gayle (Virginia Gayle Hunnicutt)

Born: 2/6/1943, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 8/31/2023,

 

Gayle Hunnicutt’s western – actress:

Dream West (TV) – 1986 (Mrs. Maria Crittenden)

RIP Bill Richardson

 

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson dead at 75

Richardson served as a two-term Democratic governor of New Mexico and US ambassador to the UN

Fox News

By Chris Pandolfo

September 2, 2023

 

Bill Richardson, a former two-term Democratic governor of New Mexico and later U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has died. He was 75.

The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, which he founded, said in a statement Saturday that he died in his sleep at his home in Chatham, Massachusetts.

"Governor Richardson passed away peacefully in his sleep last night. He lived his entire life in the service of others – including both his time in government and his subsequent career helping to free people held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. There was no person that Governor Richardson would not speak with if it held the promise of returning a person to freedom. The world has lost a champion for those held unjustly abroad and I have lost a mentor and a dear friend," said Mickey Bergman, vice president of the Richardson Center.

"Right now our focus is on supporting his family, including his wife Barbara of over 50 years, who was with him when he passed. We will share further information as it becomes available," he added.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., issued a statement calling Richardson a "giant in public service and government."

"In his post-government career, he was trusted to handle some of the most sensitive diplomatic crises, and he did so with great success. Here in New Mexico, we will always remember him as our Governor. He never stopped fighting for the state he called home," Luján said.

"Governor Richardson was a close friend who held the same House seat that I was elected to. He knew how to get things done, and he worked closely with my late father in the Legislature.

"His passing is incredibly heartbreaking for so many New Mexicans who knew and respected him. He leaves behind a legacy that will never be matched, and one that New Mexicans will always take pride in. My prayers are with Barbara, the Richardson family, and all New Mexicans. His memory will always be a blessing."

RCHARDSON, Bill (William Blaine Richardson)

Born: 11/15/1947, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.

Died: 9/1/2023, Chatham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

 

Bill Richardson’s westerns – himself:

The Wild West (TV) – 2006

The American West (TV) - 2016

RIP Jimmy Buffett

 

Legendary musician Jimmy Buffett dead at 76: 'Lived his life like a song til the very last breath'

Jimmy Buffett leaves behind his wife Jane Slagsvol and his three children: Savannah, Sarah and Cameron

Fox News

By Landon Mion

September 2, 2023

 

Legendary singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett died on Friday at the age of 76 after struggling with an undisclosed health issue since 2022.

The "Margaritaville" icon died peacefully Friday surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs, according to a statement posted to his website and social media accounts.

"He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many," the statement read. Buffett's cause and place of death were not provided.

Buffett leaves behind his wife Jane Slagsvol and his three children: Savannah, Sarah and Cameron.

The musician began struggling with a health issue starting last year, when he was hospitalized and forced to cancel several shows, according to USA Today. In May and June 2023, he canceled additional concerts after disclosing that he returned to the hospital to address medical issues that required "immediate attention."

In addition to the 1977 hit "Margaritaville," Buffett released several pop culture staples in the 1970s and 1980s, including "Come Monday," "Cheeseburger in Paradise," "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes," "A Pirate Looks at Forty" and "Pencil Thin Mustache."

Buffett was born on Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and grew up in Mobile, Alabama. He began playing guitar during his first year at Auburn University before continuing his college years at Pearl River Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1969.

The entertainer then moved to Nashville and released his first country album in 1970 called "Down to Earth." But in a 1971 trip to Key West with fellow country music singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, Buffett's musical focus changed from outlaw country to Calypso folk-pop.

On top of his musical pursuits, Buffett was involved in business as well, opening his first Margaritaville store in Key West in 1985. Two years later, he opened a Margaritaville Café nearby.

Buffett's business empire built eventually featured apparel, resorts, restaurants, beer, casinos, a radio station and retirement communities. Forbes estimated in 2017 that the Margaritaville global lifestyle brand had more than $4.8 billion in the development pipeline and $1.5 billion in annual sales. Buffett's net worth was listed at $1 billion in June 2023.

The musician has 30 albums, launched Margaritaville Records in the early 1990s, wrote several fiction books and was involved in film and TV through musical contributions and cameos.

BUFFETT, Jimmy (James William Buffett)

Born: 12/25/1946, Pascagoula, Mississippi, U.S.A.

Died: 9/1/2023, Sag Harbor, New York, U.S.A.

 

Jimmy Buffett’s western – actor:

Rancho Deluxe – 1975 (Jimmy Buffett)

RIP Marti Maraden

 

Accomplished stage actor, pioneering theatre director Marti Maraden dies at 78

Stage actor Marti Maraden, who helped break down barriers for women as an early theatre director in Canada, has died at age 78. Mirvish Productions says Maraden faced a sudden illness while visiting her family in Sweden.

Coast Reporter

Canadian Press

September 1, 2023

 

TORONTO — Stage actor Marti Maraden, who helped break down barriers for women as an early theatre director in Canada, has died at age 78.

Mirvish Productions says Maraden faced a sudden illness while visiting her family in Sweden. She died on Thursday.

Born in the United States, Maraden came to Canada with her husband in 1968 because they wanted to avoid the Vietnam War draft.

They both joined the Stratford Festival six years later, with Maraden playing Katharine in "Love’s Labour’s Lost" and Antiochus’s daughter in "Pericles."

Within a year, she was a Stratford favourite taking on roles as Mary Warren in "The Crucible" and Irina in John Hirsch’s production of "Three Sisters," alongside Maggie Smith and Martha Henry.

In 1979, she moved to New York where she began teaching and directing before she returned to Canada to become what Stratford called one of the country's most respected directors of both classical and contemporary repertoire.

Artistic director Antoni Cimolino credited Maraden as "among the first women in Canada to work regularly as a director."

Theatre producer David Mirvish called her "a brilliant actor" whose "performances were luminous, captivating and vividly alive."

"Because of her rich experiences as an actor and a teacher of theatre performance, she became a very sensitive director, attuned to the needs of other actors," he said in a statement.

Maraden performed twice at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto with productions of "Cyrano de Bergerac" in 1984 and "The Women" in 1987, part of her seven-year stint in the Shaw Festival company.

She returned to Stratford in 1990 to direct a dozen productions that included "Les Belles-Soeurs," featuring Janet, Susan and Anne Wright and "Alice Through the Looking Glass" with Sarah Polley.

Her other roles included artistic director of English theatre at the National Arts Centre from 1997 to 2006, and that year shetook the role of co-artistic director at Stratford, alongside Don Shipley and Des McAnuff.

The Stratford Festival says it plans to dedicate one of its 2024 Shakespeare productions to her memory.

MARADEN, Marti

Born: 6/22/1945, El Centro, California, U.S.A.

Died: 8/31/2023, Sweden

 

Marti Maraden’s western – actress:

The Campbells (TV) – 1990 (Margaret Sims)