RIP Anne Whitfield

 

Dignity Memorial

February 16, 2024

The life of Anne Langham Whitfield Phillips was a beautiful one, with every second used to uplift the world and those around her. Annie passed away on February 15, surrounded by family at Valley Memorial Hospital after suffering an unexpected accident while on a walk in her neighborhood. Through the kindness of neighbors who provided expert medical support, family had the gift to say goodbye and express love and gratitude, a gift we will always cherish.

The most precious part of Annie’s life were her 3 children and 7 grandchildren. She was beloved by her family, who were always her first priority. She is survived by her three adult children: eldest daughter Julie Stevens of Columbia Falls, Montana; Julie’s daughter Emery (Neil Hearns), and sons Luke and Alex; son Evan Schiller of West Seattle (Linda Schiller) and their sons Quinn and Logan; and youngest daughter Allison Phillips of Menlo Park (Peter Freed) and their daughters Frances and Aviva.

Annie was also loved by her amazing friend group, many of whom started out sharing mutual passions for Annie’s deeply rooted hopes for World Peace, protecting nature and the environment for future generations, and for social and political justice. Her friend group extends out too many parts of the world but was especially prevalent in the Burien area. We wish to thank her community who loved her so much and encourage you to continue Annie’s fight for a better world.

Annie was born in Oxford, Mississippi on August 27, 1938. Her parents Richard Noble Whitfield and Frances Turner Whitfield welcomed their only child into the world. Annie’s father was the Orchestra and Marching Band Director at University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), while Frances was blazing trails as a Speech and Drama professor. With the onset of WWII, and Richard being one of the Army Band directors, the trio traveled to army bases in the United States before Richard was deployed to the South Pacific. It was during this period that Frances and 4-year-old Anne set out for Hollywood to begin Anne’s journey into acting.

With her mother as her agent and acting coach, Anne was becoming recognized for her acting skills in old-time radio. By the age of 7, she was cast in live, nationally broadcast radio programs, and most recognized for her long-running roles in The Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show, as well as One Man’s Family. As radio segued to color movies and TV, Annie played a wide array of dramatic parts. Perhaps most notably, Anne was cast as Susan Waverly in White Christmas when she was 15. Just this past December during the holidays, Annie was able to watch White Christmas with her family on the movie’s 70th anniversary.

Although Annie was a talented actor, Los Angeles didn’t have enough trees for her, and she left Hollywood for her new life “up north” in the 1970’s. During this transition, Annie became devoted to causes that promote Peace and preserve nature. After moving to Olympia, Washington and going back to college at Evergreen State College in her 40’s, she achieved her Bachelors in Communications. She proceeded to work as a steward for Clean Water at the Department of Ecology for the State of Washington. Programs she developed to fight pollution and ensure water quality are still recognized and utilized.

After “retiring”, Annie worked tirelessly as an activist and community organizer, working right up until the day she passed away. She took on numerous causes including: fighting climate change, transparency in political campaign financing, fair electoral systems, voter registration in swing states, caring for the un-housed (at Thanksgiving, she brought food to the un-housed in Burien), women’s rights (in 2017, she attended the Women’s March in Washington, DC with her daughter Allison), refugee assimilation (she taught English to local refugees), and almost any left-leaning political cause (Go, Bernie!). She donated blood regularly. Annie was active with Southend Neighbors for Justice and Peace, Burien Represent, Community Visions, People for Climate Action, supported the Sustainable Burien and Highline High School Environmental Club in their solar panels project, she was voted Precinct Committee Officer of the Year for the Democratic 34th Legislative District, etc. Annie truly walked the talk.

Annie’s greatest loves other than her family and friends were being in nature and traveling the world. She had a goal of taking each one of her grandchildren individually to a different country to show them that the world is a place of love, acceptance and connection. When her five oldest grandchildren were young teens, she took each on their “Nonnie Trip” sharing faraway lands and cultures of Egypt, Costa Rica, Peru and Europe. She was actively planning the next Nonnie Trip to go on with her youngest grandchildren in the days just before her passing.

To celebrate her 85th birthday, she and close friend Jo hiked together in the Dolomite Mountains of the Italian Alps, followed by a wonderful Croatian cruise. Annie wanted to visit as many countries as she could during her lifetime and hiked the mountains of many world destinations, including Nepal, Patagonia, Iceland, Machu Picchu in Peru, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. In North America, she explored the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and Alberta, Montana, and Colorado. She backpacked in the Alaska backcountry and the Sierra Nevadas of California.

An abbreviated list of other world destinations she visited include Mexico, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, every Western European country (her favorite, Italy, as she spoke Italian) and Spain, Tanzania, New Zealand, India, Thailand, Bhutan, and Myanmar.

Annie was most at home hiking the trails of Mount Rainier, often with her son Evan who was her favorite hiking buddy, but also with many other friends. Even after two hip replacements she would slowly power her way up the trails of her favorite mountain, accompanied by the soft, constant whistling she would make to keep herself company.

Annie moved to Burien in 2005 where she enjoyed running a bed and breakfast, hosting travelers from around the world. She loved her home and community and was always happy to welcome friends and family in to share a glass of red wine, game of Bananagrams, or bowl of bean soup - always served in a beautiful hand-made ceramic bowl which she created at Moshier Art Studio, where she was able to express her love for potting.

Annie's greatest wish is for her family and future generations to thrive in a world characterized by love, acceptance, natural beauty, and the cessation of political and social injustices. She was a powerhouse in life, and we hope her immense positive energy flows out to those who had the pleasure of knowing her.

Family and friends are invited to A Celebration of Annie’s Life, Friday, March 22 at 4:30pm, at The Cove Community Club, 1500 SW Shorebrook Dr, Normandy Park. If you feel inspired, please bring a shareable appetizer, dessert, or wine, for a late afternoon potluck.

WHITFIELD, Anne (Anne Louise Whitfield)

Born: 8/27/1938, Oxford, Mississippi, U.S.A.

Died: 2/15/2024, Olympia, Washington, U.S.A.

 

Anne Whitfield’s westerns – actress:

The Gunfighter – 1950 (Carrie Lou)

Cheyenne (TV) – 1956, 1961 (Johnny Dembro, Nita)

Bonanza (TV) – 1959 (Rosemary Lawson)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1960, 1966 (Lori Coombs, Trudy)

Tate (TV) – 1960 (Lucy)

Rawhide (TV) – 1961 (Carol North, Joanne Quince)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1961 (Ruby Coe)

Laramie (TV) – 1962 (Millie)

The Dakotas (TV) – 1963 (Virginia Kendrick)

RIP Richard Lewis

 

Richard Lewis Dies: Beloved Comic, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Actor Was 76

DEADLINE

By Greg Evans

February 28, 2024

 

Richard Lewis, one of America’s most beloved and revered stand-up comics who also played a fictionalized version of himself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, died last night at his home in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack. He was 76.

His death was confirmed by his publicist Jeff Abraham. Lewis had been living with Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis he revealed in April, 2023.

“His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time,” Abraham said.

Lewis, who got his start in the New York and Los Angeles comedy scenes of the 1970s along with comics such as Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer and Elayne Boosler and quickly became a favorite of late night shows including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, developed a singular stage persona nearly as dark as the all-black clothes he favored.

Self-deprecating, razor-sharp and brutally honest about his addictions and neurosis, Lewis was the rare comic who could rival the curmudgeonly but highly relatable outlook on life honed by his longtime pal and Curb Your Enthusiasm co-star Larry David.

Making his acting debut in the 1979 NBC special Diary of a Young Comic, a 90 minute film aired in the Saturday Night Live slot, Lewis’ national profile grew significantly over the next two decades as his edgy observations were welcomed and celebrated by talk hosts David Letterman, Jay Leno and, on radio, Howard Stern.

TV comedy specials followed, his first Showtime special, pointedly titled I’m In Pain, aired in 1985. He became on of the premiere presences on HBO with comedy specials in 1988, 1990 and 1997.

Although his humor was hardly a fit for sitcoms of the era, he co-starred for several seasons in the late ’80s-early ’90s with Jamie Lee Curtis on Anything but Love, and with Don Rickles on 1993’s Daddy Dearest. In 1998 he co-starred with Kevin Nealon in the sitcom Hiller and Diller.

Film credits included 1993’s Robin Hood: Men in Tights, in which he played Prince John, and 1995’s Drunks. Also that year, he appeared in Leaving Las Vegas.

Lewis began what would arguably be his signature role – based, fittingly enough, on himself – in 2000 when he was cast by his childhood friend Larry David on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. The two New Yorkers had met at summer camp when they were 12 and re-established their friendship on the New York comedy circuit a decade later.

Although he largely retired from performing following his Parkinson’s diagnosis, he returned to Curb periodically, most recently during the show’s current (and final) season.

LEWIS, Richard (Richard Philip Lews)

Born: 6/29/1947, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/28/2024, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Richard Lewis’ western – actor:

Wagon’s East – 1994 (Phil Taylor)

RIP E. Duke Vincent

 

E. Duke Vincent, Producer With Aaron Spelling on ‘Dynasty,’ ‘Charmed’ and More, Dies at 91

The two-time Emmy winner also had a hand in such projects as ‘Gomer Pyle: USMC,’ ‘And the Band Played On,’ ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ and ‘Melrose Place.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 27, 2024

 

E. Duke Vincent, the writer and two-time Emmy-winning producer who partnered with Aaron Spelling on such hugely popular shows as Dynasty, Beverly Hills, 90210, Charmed, 7th Heaven and Melrose Place, has died. He was 91.

Vincent died on Feb. 10 in his home in Montecito, California, his wife, actress Pamela Hensley, announced.

He and Spelling produced more than 40 series together, also including Hotel, Vegas, Matt Houston, Madman of the People and The Colbys; seven miniseries, among them Jackie Collins’ Hollywood Wives in 1985 and James Michener’s Texas in 1994; and more than three dozen telefilms.

Vincent won his Emmys for executive producing Day One, a 1989 CBS movie about the Manhattan Project that starred David Strathairn as J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the 1994 HBO movie And the Band Played On, centering on the AIDS epidemic.

An only child, Edward Ventimiglia was born on April 30, 1932, in Jersey City, New Jersey. His father, Egizio, was a pilot with the French Air Force during World War II.

Vincent graduated from Bloomfield High School and Seton Hall University, then joined The Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s aerobatic flight demonstration squadron, in 1960. He flew aerial photo sequences for the 1960-61 syndicated series The Blue Angels, piquing his interest in television.

After resigning from the Navy in 1962, Vincent co-wrote and produced a documentary called Man in Space and wrote spec scripts for The Dick Van Dyke Show before landing on the follow-up series produced by Carl Reiner and Sheldon Leonard, the 1967-68 CBS sitcom Good Morning World.

Later, he became a writer and a producer on series including Gomer Pyle: USMC, The Jim Nabors Hour, The Doris Day Show and Arnie.

Vincent met Spelling in 1977, and they began a partnership a year later that would last nearly three decades until Spelling’s death in 2006. He retired as executive producer and vice chairman of Spelling Television.

He also wrote the novels Mafia Summer, Black Widow, The Strip and The Camelot Conspiracy.

Hensley appeared on several TV shows before she and Vincent married in 1982, when she began a run as lawyer C.J. Parsons on Matt Houston.

VINCENT, E. Duke (Edmund Michael Ventimiglia)

Born: 4/30/1932, Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Died: 2/10/2024, Montecito, California, U.S.A.

 

E. Duke Vincent’s westerns – producer:

Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid (TV) - 1978

Wild and Wooly (TV) – 1978

Love’s Savage Fury (TV) - 1979

The Wild Women of Chasty Gulch (TV) – 1982

Texas – 1994 (TV)

RIP Jackie Loughery

 

Jackie Loughery, ‘The D.I.’ Actress and Wife of Jack Webb, Dies at 93

The first Miss USA also served as Johnny Carson’s assistant on a game show and appeared in other films like ‘Pardners,’ ‘A Public Affair’ and ‘The Hot Angel.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 26, 2024

Jackie Loughery, who parlayed a victory in the first Miss USA pageant into an acting career that included a prominent role opposite future husband Jack Webb in the 1957 military drama The D.I., has died. She was 93.

Loughery died Friday in Los Angeles, Webb biographer Dan Moyer told The Hollywood Reporter. “She was like a mother to me and called me her kid,” he said.

The Brooklyn native also served as Johnny Carson’s assistant on a game show and appeared in the Western comedy Pardners (1956), starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; the melodrama Eighteen and Anxious (1957), starring William Campbell; and the political drama A Public Affair (1962), starring Edward Binns.

And for television, Loughery portrayed the niece of the title character (Edgar Buchanan) on the 1955-56 syndicated Western series Judge Roy Bean.

Loughery played a cautious shop owner named Annie who is romanced by a tough U.S. Marine drill sergeant (Webb) stationed on Parris Island in South Carolina in the Warner Bros. drama The D.I. Webb also directed and produced the movie.

In June 1958, she became Webb’s third of four wives. The Dragnet creator had been married to singer Julie London from 1947-54 and to actress Dorothy Towne from 1955-57 (both marriages ended in divorce); she had been married to singer-actor Guy Mitchell from 1952 until their 1955 divorce.

After she and Webb divorced in 1964, she was married to businessman Jack Schwietzer from 1969 until his death in 2009.

Loughery was born in 1930 and raised in Flatbush. Her father, Joseph, was a captain in the U.S. Navy.

She attended St. Francis Xavier Academy for Young Ladies and won the first Miss USA contest in Long Beach, California, on a tie-breaking vote. That also got her a chance to compete in the Miss Universe pageant (she would make it to the semifinals), a car and a seven-year movie contract with Universal-International.

The redhead had appeared on the 1951 NBC variety show Seven at Eleven, and she would show up in four movies released in 1953: Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, The Mississippi Gambler, Take Me to Town and The Veils of Bagdad.

She helped out Carson in 1954 on the CBS game show Earn Your Vacation, in which contestants were asked geography questions.

In 1958, she starred as the owner of an airstrip near the Grand Canyon in The Hot Angel.

Loughery’s résumé also included appearances on such TV shows as The Cisco Kid, The Millionaire, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Surfside 6, Bat Masterson, Wagon Train, Burke’s Law, Perry Mason, Bonanza and F Troop.

Her last onscreen credit came in 1969.

LAUGHERY, Jackie (Jacqueleen Virginia Laughery)

Born: 4/18/1930, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/23/2024, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Jackie Laughery’s westerns – actress:

The Mississippi Gambler – 1953 (bridesmaid)

Take Me to Town – 1953 (dancehall girl)

The Cisco Kid (TV) – 1955 (Ellen Marland)

Judge Roy Bean (TV) 1955-1956 (Lettie Bean)

Frontier Doctor (TV) 1956, 1958 (Savannah Merrick)

Pardners – 1956 (Dolly Riley)

26 Men (TV) – 1958 (Jackie)

Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV) – 1960 (Kitty Connors)

Bat Masterson (TV) – 1961 (Martha Phelps)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1962 (Jenny Hartfield)

Bonanza (TV) – 1963 (the ‘other woman’)

F Troop (TV) – 1966 (Tanya)

RIP Chris Gauthier

 

Chris Gauthier, Actor Known for Once Upon a Time and Hallmark Movies, Dead at 48

The actor, who also appeared on 'Eureka' and 'Smallville,' died on Friday morning following a short illness

People

By Escher Walcott

February 26, 2024

Chris Gauthier, the actor known for his roles in Once Upon a Time, Eureka, and Smallville, has died. He was 48.

Gauthier died "suddenly and unexpectedly" on Feb. 23 following a short illness, his manager told TV Line Sunday. The English-born Canadian actor’s death was also confirmed by his agency TriStar Appearances/Event Horizon Talent in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

"We can confirm that our friend and client, Chris Gauthier, passed away on Friday morning, February 23, at the age of 48 after a brief illness," the statement read. “As a beloved Vancouver-based character actor, Chris shared his talents with so many of us both on television and in film. His loss is felt not just by his fans but by those of us who were lucky enough to know him more personally.  On behalf of his family, we do ask for privacy during this time so that they are able to grieve properly.”

TriStar Appearances' Chad Colvin also shared his sadness at Gauthier’s death in a statement posted on Facebook Sunday.

“This still doesn't feel real. How can it?” he wrote. “A world without you in it is a much darker place. So much so that when his wife reached out to me yesterday with the news, I wept tears of disbelief for hours.”

Colvin recalled meeting Gauthier for the first time as his second client as a talent agent. “Chris was the literal textbook definition of a character actor. You may not have known his name but you knew his face, you knew his voice, and you knew that if he was onscreen, you were in for a helluva ride,” he continued, adding, “Brother ... I am going to miss you so much more than you'll ever imagine.”

Gauthier has several acting credits under his name in TV shows including Supernatural, Harper’s Island, Joe Pickett and Once Upon a Time, in which he played William Smee based on the character in Peter Pan in for 14 episodes.

He also starred in such films as Watchmen, 40 Days and 40 Nights and numerous Hallmark Christmas movies including The Christmas Promise, Three Wise Men and a Baby and most recently, Ms. Christmas Comes to Town, which was released last October.

The Hallmark channel paid tribute to Gauthier in an Instagram post on Sunday. “We are sorry to hear about the passing of Chris Gauthier,” it read. “Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and fans.”

Brennan Elliott, who starred alongside Gauthier in Ms. Christmas Comes to Town, wrote in an emotional message on Instagram, “As I am writing this I don’t know why to be honest! I am still in shock! I did a #christmasmovie for @hallmarkmoviesnow with this incredibly talented actor but more important an amazingly open and giving soul. I only knew him for the 3-week shoot but he was such a beaming light and we had some great conversations!”

“Skip a couple months and a role I was up for he ended up doing and good for him as well as the production cause he knocked it out of the park! Why do the beautiful souls and good people go so young!? 49. Disbelief!!😞,” he continued. “THANKYOU Chris for being a beautiful human and talented artist that touched us all! #mschristmascomestotown wouldn’t of been the movie without you!"

Colin O’Donoghue, who played Once Upon a Time‘s Hook, wrote on Instagram, “Rest in Peace Chris! Heartbroken! My love and thoughts go out to [wife] Erin and the boys! You will be missed brother! You were the real captain!!”

Several other castmembers from the ABC series weighed in, too, with Josh Dallas, who played Prince Charming, writing, “Rest in peace Chris. Love and light to his family.”

Lana Parrilla also shard his sadness at the news. “Oh no. Rest Easy Chris. I’m so sorry Coiln. [sic] Healing love and light to all who love him. 🙏🏽❤️🕯.”

Sean Maguire, who played Robin Hood, also weighed in, writing, “What?!??! No!!!! No no no no. Gutted heartbroken. In shock. 💔.”

Harper’s Island star Christopher Gorham also shared, “Another good man gone too soon. Grateful to have worked with Chris and am sending love to his family and friends. Rest in peace, pal.”

Gauthier is survived by his wife Erin and his two sons, Ben and Sebastian.

GAUTHIER, Chris

Born: 1/27/1976, Luton, Bedfordshire, England, U.K.

Died: 2/23/2024, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

 

Chris Gauthier’s western – actor:

Goodnight for Justice (TV) – 2011-2013 (barkeep)

RIP Charles Dierkop

 

Charles Dierkop, Actor in ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,’ ‘The Sting’ and ‘Police Woman,’ Dies at 87

Frequently cast as heavies, he also appeared in 'The St. Valentine's Day Massacre,' 'Star Trek' and 'The Andy Griffith Show.'

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 26, 2024

 

Charles Dierkop, the busy character actor who played tough guys in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and the 1970s Angie Dickinson series Police Woman, has died. He was 87.

Dierkop died Sunday at Sherman Oaks Hospital after a recent heart attack and bout with pneumonia, his daughter, Lynn, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The Wisconsin native also appeared alongside Rod Steiger in Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker (1964), played the mobster Salvanti in Roger Corman‘s The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967) and was a murderous Santa Claus in the cult horror movie Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

After portraying an uncredited pool-hall hood in the Paul Newman-starring The Hustler (1961), Dierkop got to work with Newman again in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) when he was hired to play Hole in the Wall Gang outlaw George “Flat Nose” Curry.

Dierkop had broken his nose in fights several times as a kid, so he was rather suited for the part.

“My agent was on a plane reading a script and it says, ‘Flat Nose Curry’ … I think I have someone in mind,” he said in a 2018 interview with Rob Word. “So I got an interview with [director] George Roy Hill and got cast, quite simply.”

He would reteam with Newman and Hill once more in the Oscar best picture winner The Sting (1973), this time playing Floyd, the bodyguard who serves as protection for Robert Shaw’s crime boss Doyle Lonnegan.

The 5-foot-9 Dierkop appeared in two episodes of the Joseph Wambaugh-created NBC drama Police Story, the second as Det. Pete Royster on March 1974’s “The Gamble,” which served as the de facto pilot for Police Woman.

Dierkop then starred as Royster for four seasons (1974-78) of NBC’s Police Woman, with his character teaming with Sgt. Suzanne “Pepper” Anderson (Dickinson) and Det. Joe Styles (Ed Bernard) inside an undercover LAPD unit captained by Lt. Bill Crowley (Earl Holliman).

Charles Richard Dierkop was born on Sept. 11, 1936, in La Crosse, Wisconsin. When he was an infant, his father left the family and his mom moved away, and he was raised by his aunt and uncle. He frequently got into fights and “got my nose busted four times,” he said, the first time while in Holy Trinity grade school.

While he was a junior at Aquinas High School, Dierkop dropped out to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps and served during the Korean War until September 1955. Later, he studied acting in Philadelphia and then with Lee Strasberg at The Actors Studio in New York.

In 1960, Dierkop showed up on Naked City for the first of his eight uncredited appearances on the gritty ABC drama, and two years later he was on Broadway in General Seeger, directed by and starring George C. Scott, though the play closed after two performances.

He played a bank robber on the 1966 Andy Griffith Show episode “Otis, the Deputy,” an Argelian named Morla on the 1967 Star Trek installment “Wolf in the Fold” and a henchman named Dustbag on the 1968 Batman episode “Penguin’s Clean Sweep.”

Frequently portraying heavies, he also appeared three times on Gunsmoke and on such other shows as Lost in Space, Adam-12, Mannix, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Lancer, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, Kojak, Fantasy Island, Simon & Simon, MacGyver and ER.

His big-screen résumé also included The Sweet Ride (1968), Robert Downey Sr.’s Pound (1970), Angels Hard as They Come (1971), Night of the Cobra Woman (1972), The Hot Box (1972), Messiah of Evil (1973), Messenger of Death (1988) and The Midnighters (2016).

And if you watch closely, you’ll see him sitting at the bar in the 1992 music video for R.E.M.’s “Man on the Moon.”

Dierkop was married to Joan Addis, whom he met at the American Foundation of Dramatic Arts, from 1958 until their 1974 divorce. They had two children, Charles Jr., who died in 1990 at age 29, and Lynn.

DIERKOP, Charles (Charles Richard Dierkop)

Born: 9/11/1936, La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Died: 2/25/2024, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Charles Dierkop’s westerns – actor:

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1966 (Barnett, Dan, Silvee)

Long Hunt of April Savage (TV) - 1966

Custer (TV) – 1967 (Matt Ryker)

Death Valley Days (TV) – 1967, 1968 (Ed Tanner, Standifer)

Cimarron Strip (TV) – 1968 (Smitty)

Lancer (TV) – 1968, 1969, 1970 (Bleaker, Harris, Walters)

The Outcasts (TV) – 1968 (Jeeter)

Bonanza (TV) – 1969, 1971, 1972 (Nicholson, Sawyer, Shorty)

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1969 (Dokker, Dumas)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – 1969 (Flat Nose Curry)

The High Chaparral (TV) – 1970 (Slim)

The Intruders (TV) – 1970 (Charlie)

Alias Smith and Jones (TV) – 1971, 1972 (Clayton Crewes, Shields)

Bearcats! (TV) – 1971 (pistolero)

Female Artillery (TV) – 1973

Cade’s County (TV) – 1971 (Happy Tillotson)

Lock, Stock and Barrel (TV) – 1971 (Corporal Fowler)

Nichols (TV) – 1971 (Nose)

Dusty’s Trail (TV) – 1973 (Ike Barrett)

Kung Fu (TV) – 1973 (Traphagen)

The Deerslayer (TV) – 1978 (Hurry Harry March)

Blood Red – 1989 (Cooper)

Maverick – 1994 (riverboat poker player)

Chinaman's Chance: America's Other Slaves – 2008 (Dr. Sawyer)

RIP Richard Caine

 

Behm Family Funeral Home

February 24, 2024

 

Richard Cerasani Caine, 85, of Madison, Ohio, formally of New York City, entered into eternal life, at his home, while with his family. He was born October 25, 1938 to Mary (Grow) and Arthur J. Cerasani in Rochester, New York. Richard and his wife, Kathleen Connors, met by being cast as husband and wife in three television commercials. After dating for five years they wed April 30, 1988.

Richard had a long and accomplished, artistic career. He started as an opera singer in Italy, then moved to New York City to become a professional actor, performing in film, television, theatre, and copious national television commercials. He appeared as Bill Watson on General Hospital for a number of years, did the film Lucky Lady with Liza Minnelli, Roll Freddy Roll with Tim Conway, and played John Ehrlichman in the film about Watergate, Born Again. He had a very long resume, including Law and Order episodes, Night Rider, Colombo, just to name a few. Richard wrote, "Love Letters From Mount Rushmore, the Story of a Marriage a Monument and a Moment in History", about his father, a sculptor who worked on Mount Rushmore, and his mother's loving letters of correspondence. The book won a Gold Medal Literary Award.

Richard is a graduate of Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science degree. He won a scholarship from Santa Cecelia Conservatory of Music which took him to Rome, Italy for his operatic training. Richard was a world traveler, climbing the Great Pyramid, TWICE, snuck into Ethiopia to meet the Falashas Tribe, black Jews considered to be one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. His other travels included Tanzania, India, Cambodia, Thailand, Russia and all of Europe.

He is survived by his loving wife of 35 years, Kathleen; his children, Jennifer M. (Frederic Silverans) Cerasani, Richard A.A. Cerasani, Devon H. Caine; grandchildren, Luca, Dario, Nico, Romeo Silverans; brother, Allen (Rita) Cerasani; brothers-in-law, Edward B. (Jan) Connors, Donald J. (Kathy) Connors; sister-in-law, Cynthia (Thomas) Komp. Richard is preceeded in death by his parents and brother, Arthur Cerasani and his wife Lee Cerasani.

Friends and family may call 4-7pm, Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at the Behm Family Funeral Home, 26 River Street, Madison Ohio, 44057. Rite of Christian Burial Mass will be 10am, Thursday, February 29, 2024, at Immaculate Conception Church, 2846 Hubbard Road, Madison Ohio 44057. Final resting place will be North Madison Cemetery.

CAINE, Richard (Richard Cerasani Caine)

Born: 10/25/1938, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/22/2024, Madison, Ohio, U.S.A.

 

Richard Caine’s western – actor:

Kung Fu (TV) – 1973 (Wade)

RIP Georg Riedel

 

Georg Riedel: The Musical Soul of Astrid Lindgren's World Passes Away at 90

Explore the life and legacy of Georg Riedel, the musical maestro behind Astrid Lindgren's beloved tales. From jazz to children's literature, Riedel's compositions have shaped cultural landscapes and enchanted audiences worldwide.

bnn

February 26, 2024

 

In a serene corner of the world where childhood melodies intertwine with the stories of mischievous kids and magical creatures, the news of Georg Riedel's passing at the age of 90 marks the end of an era. Riedel, a name synonymous with the enchanting background scores of Astrid Lindgren's cherished tales, leaves behind a legacy that has been an integral part of Scandinavian childhoods and beyond. His compositions, including the beloved 'Idas Sommarvisa,' have not just entertained but also shaped the musical landscape of children's literature in Sweden.

The Maestro Behind the Melodies

Born in 1934 in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia, Riedel's journey to musical prominence began upon his family's relocation to Stockholm. Here, a young Riedel transitioned from the violin to the double bass, uncovering a passion for jazz that would eventually intertwine with the world of children's stories. His collaboration with Jan Johansson on the iconic 'Hey, Pippi Longstocking' and the groundbreaking Swedish jazz album 'Jazz på svenska' underscored his versatility and creative depth. However, it was his partnership with Astrid Lindgren that immortalized his contributions to music, crafting scores for characters like Karlsson on the Roof and Emil of Lönneberga, among others.

A Legacy Beyond Notes

Riedel's music transcended the boundaries of mere entertainment, embedding itself into the cultural fabric of Sweden. His melodies have been celebrated in kindergartens, schools, and even graduations, illustrating the profound impact of his work on multiple generations. The passing of Georg Riedel not only signifies the loss of a legendary composer but also the fading of a chapter in Scandinavian music and literature that cherished the innocence and wonder of childhood.

Remembering a Legend

As the news of his passing spreads, tributes from across the world pour in, reflecting the global reach of his music. Riedel's compositions for Lindgren's stories have found a place in the hearts of not just Swedes but international audiences, underscoring the universal appeal of his work. His induction into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame and the recognition with the Children’s Culture Award are testaments to his enduring impact on children's films and music. Georg Riedel's melodies may have ceased, but his legacy will continue to resonate, reminding us of the timeless nature of great art and the indelible imprint it leaves on our lives.

RIEDEL, Georg (Georg Martin Ludvig Riedel)

Born: 1/8/1934, Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia

Died: 2/25/2024, Stockholm, Sweden

 

Georg Riedel’s western - composer:

Wild West Story - 1964

RIP Roberto Messina

 

ROBERTO MESSINA, HISTORIC ITALIAN ACTOR, STUNTMAN AND WRESTLER, HAS DIED

Historic actor and stuntman, he played in the Italian ring with his brother Emilio in the 60s and 70s

Zona Wrestling

By Taigermen

February 25, 2024

 

Mourning in the world of Italian cinema and wrestling.

Only today the news of his death, which took place on January 9th, of Roberto Messina, historic Italian actor, stuntman and wrestler, came out.

Between Set and Ring, a life in show business

Born in Casablanca, Morocco on January 2, 1934, Messina, together with his brother Emilio (also born in Casablanca in 1936 and died in Florida in 2007), have had a long career in cinema, including supporting roles, extras and stuntmen, working in dozens of Italian and foreign films, alongside actors loved by the public such as Bud Spencer, Terence Hill, Giuliano Gemma, Tomas Millian and many others.

Few, on the other hand, know the wrestling career of the Messina brothers, who often trod the Italian rings between the 1960s and 1970s, as discovered by the ex-wrestler (and now official Ring Announcer of the MWF) Il Drago, through his research, shared on his FaceBook Page; among other things, Messina and other wrestlers paid homage to their past as wrestlers in a famous sequence of "Even Angels Eat Beans", where Bud Spencer plays the role of a masked wrestler who pays homage to the legendary Italian-French wrestler Black Tulip

The news of his death (the circumstances of which have not been disclosed by his family) has passed quietly both in the film and sports spheres.

The editorial staff of ZonaWrestling expresses its condolences to the family members and fellow actors and wrestlers.

MESSINA, Roberto (Roberto S. Messina)

Born: 1/2/1934, Casablanca, Morocco

Died: 1/9/2024, Venice, Florida, U.S.A.

 

Roberto Messina’s westerns – stuntman, stunt coordinator, actor

Badmen of the West - 1964

The Return of Clay Stone - 1964 (Zeke) [as Bob Messenger]

The Magnificent Brutes of the West – 1964 (Fresno troublemaker)

Three Dollars of Lead – 1964 (Mark) [as Roberto Messanger]

A Golden Sheriff - 1966 (tavern owner) [stunt coordinator]

Bandidos – 1967 (Doc)

The Magnificent Texan – 1967 (deputy)

Son of Django – 1967 (Logan) [as Bob Messenger]

Vengeance is Mine – 1967 (soldier)

Cry of Death – 1968 (Bill Ryan)

One After Another - 1968 (bartender)

Dead for a Dollar – 1968 (Jack)

Drop Them or I'll Shoot – 1968 (Boot ally)

The Longest Hunt – 1968 (Doneghan soldier) [as Red Buchanan]

Lynching – 1968 (Billy Ryan)

No Room to Die – 1969 (Santana henchman)

Sartana the Gravedigger - 1969

Durango Is Coming, Pay or Die - 1970 (Morris) [stunts]

Wanted Sabata – 1970 (Conrad Hilton) [master of arms]

A Bullet for a Stranger - 1971 (hearing attendee)

Django… Adios! – 1971 (Bill Parkinson)

Drummer of Vengeance – 1971 (poker player)

Finders Killers – 1971 (Grendel/Parker henchman)

Return of Sabata – 1971 (McIntock henchman)

Trinity Is STILL My Name! – 1971 (Parker henchman) [stunts]

Vendetta at Dawn – 1971 (saloon brawler)

Man of the East – 1972 (saloon waiter)

Now They Call Him Sacramento - 1972 (saloon patron)

On the Third Day Arrived the Crow – 1972 (Crow henchman)

Bad Kids of the West – 1973 (brawler)

Carambola – 1973 (Clydeson henchman)

Behold the Strange, Stimulating Smell of Dollars - 1973 (bank robber)

The Crazy Adventures of Len and Coby – 1975 (racketeer)

Keoma – 1975 (Caldwell henchman)

We are No Angels – 1975 (boxing referee)

White Fang and the Kid – 1977 [stunt coordinator]

RIP Matt Sweeney

 

Matt Sweeney, Oscar-Nominated Visual Effects Artist on ‘Apollo 13,’ Dies at 75

He also worked on 'Lethal Weapon' and 'Fast & Furious' films and won three Technical Achievement Awards, one for an invention called the ‘Sweeney Gun.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 22, 2024

 

Matt Sweeney, the inventor and special effects artist who received an Oscar nomination for his work on Apollo 13 and three Technical Achievement Awards during his long career, has died. He was 75.

Sweeney died Monday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank after a long battle with lung cancer, Dave Burle, who worked alongside Sweeney at his company for many years, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Sweeney also handled effects for films in the Lethal Weapon and Fast & Furious franchise and for 1941 (1979), 9 to 5 (1980), On Golden Pond (1981), Goonies (1985), The Color Purple (1985), The Lost Boys (1987), Big Top Pee-wee (1988), Arachnophobia (1990), Natural Born Killers (1994) and Galaxy Quest(1999), among many other movies

Sweeney won his Technical Achievement Awards in 1987 for an Automatic Capsule Gun, which simulates bullet hits and is known as the “Sweeney Gun”; in 1998 for a Liquid Synthetic Air system, which mixes liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen to produce safe, breathable fog; and in 2002 for the Mic Rig, an auto carrier and camera platform for shooting car chases.

He shared his Oscar nom for best visual effects on Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 (1995) with Robert Legato, Michael Kanfer and Leslie Ekker and his Technical Achievement honors with Lucinda “Lulu” Strub (his late wife), Bob Stoker and Mic Rodgers, respectively.

Born in April 1948 and raised in Studio City, Sweeney and Strub, who died in 2014, launched Matt Sweeney Special Effects Inc. in 1984 in Van Nuys to build those bullet-hit capsule guns.

The company expanded its line of products to include rigging equipment, stunt flying suits, pyrotechnic devices, glass breakers and devices for industrial use before merging with Roger George Special Effects at the start of this year.

Sweeney married fellow special effects artist Lucinda Foy about four years ago, and she survives him, as does his beloved dog, Xena.

Cary Phillips, director of R&D at ILM, worked with Sweeney on the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards Committee for the past several years and called him “an old school special effects guy without much experience with computer graphics.

“But he was always open to new things, always insightful and wise [and] a warm and generous craftsman full of great stories for the new folks.”

SWEENEY. Matt (Matthew Alfred Sweeney)

Born: 4/15/1948, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 2/19/2024, Burbank, California, U.S.A.

 

Matt Sweeney’s western – SFX coordinator:

Maverick – 1994

RIP Ramona Fradon

 

Comic Book Creator Ramona Fradon Has Died, Aged 97

Comic book creator Ramona Fradon has died at the age of 97. Her agent, Catskill Comics, posted the news earlier today.

Bleeding Cool

By Rich Johnston

February 24, 2024

 

Comic book creator Ramona Fradon has died at the age of 97. Her agent, Catskill Comics, posted the news earlier today. "It comes with great sadness to announce that Ramona Fradon has passed away just a few moments ago. Ramona was 97 and had a long career in the comic book industry and was still drawing just a few days ago. She was a remarkable person in so many ways. I will miss all the great conversations and laughs we had. I am blessed that I was able to work with her on a professional level, but also able to call her my friend. If anyone wishes to send a card to the family, please feel free to send them to Catskill Comics, and I'll be happy to pass them along. You can send cards to Catskill Comics "Fradon Family", Po Box 264, Glasco, NY 12432".

It was only last month that Ramona Fradon retired. And she means it this time. Catskill Comics posted to their website, "after an extremely long run in the comic industry, at 97, Ramona has decided it's time for her to retire. She will no longer be doing commissions. She apologizes to all the fans who have been waiting patiently on her wait list to get one. She did say from time to time she'll do a drawing or two to put up for sale on the website."

And indeed a few pages were still for sale on her agents' website. Ramona Fradon, born in 1926 is best known for drawing and reinventing Aquaman – her name was on the credits of the recent movie – as well as co-creating the superhero Metamorpho. Her comic book career began after graduating from the Parsons School of Design in 1950. Her first published work was on Shining Knight from DC Comics and she got a regular gig on the Adventure Comics strip, Aquaman, including the Silver Age relaumch of the character in Adventure Comics #260, and the creation of the sidekick character Aqualad in Adventure Comics #269. She then co-creators the character Metamorpho for The Brave And The Bold series as well as his subsequent spinoff. She also drew The Brave and the Bold #59, a Batman/Green Lantern team-up, the first time that series teamed Batman with another DC superhero and setting the format up for the series going forward.

Ramona Fradon left comics from 1965 to 1972 to raise her family. but returned in 1972 to draw Plastic Man, Freedom Fighters, and Super Friends, which she pencilled for almost its entire run, during which she also drew a couple of issues for Marvel, In 1980, she took over Dale Messick, drawing the newspaper strip Brenda Starr, Reporter, until 1995. When she retired for the first time. But she kept doing private commissions, drew Mermaidman stories for SpongeBob Comics, graphic novels The Adventures of Unemployed Man in 2010, The Dinosaur That Got Tired of Being Extinct in 2012, the collection The Art of Ramona Fradon, and covers for DC Comics. Her name was also the inspiration for the Scott Pilgrim character Ramona Flowers.

FRADON, Ramona

Born: 10/2/1926, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 2/24/2024, Woodstock, New York, U.S.A.

 

Ramona Fradon’s western – comic book artist:

Western Comics – 1951-1953

RIP Paila Pavese

 

Goodbye to Paila Pavese, the voice actress of Jessica Rabbit

She also provided the voice of Morticia Addams in the first two film versions

L’Unione Sarda

February 23, 2024

 

Paila Pavese died in Rome. The famous voice actress was 81 years old and had provided the voice of Jessica Rabbit in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” in the Italian version.

Her career began when she was very young, at just 12 years old she began working in the world of cinema, TV and theatre. Hers was a family of artists and she graduated from the National Academy of Dramatic Arts.

She acted with Gigi Proietti, Maurizio Micheli, Alessandro Benvenuti, Orazio Costa and, at the cinema in the 90s, with Vittorio Gassmann.

In addition to Jessica Rabbit, she was the voice of Morticia Addams (Anjielica Huston) in the first two film versions of “The Addams Family.” Other famous films in which Paila Pavese acts in the dubbing: “Batman” (voice of Kim Basinger), “Saranno Famous”, “Psycho III”, “Guilty of Innocence”, “Yes Man”. He won the "Voci nell'ombra" Festival award for the film "A private relationship".

 

PAVESE, Paila

Born: 9/23/1942, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 2/22/2024, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Paila Pavese’s westerns – voice actress:

The Ballad of Cable Hogue – 1970 [Italian voice of Stella Stevens]

Thunder Warrior – 1983 [Italian voice of Valeria Cavalli]

The Adventures of Huck Finn – 1993 [Italian voice of Mary Louise Wilson]

RIP Kent Melton

 

Kent Melton, Character Sculptor for ‘Aladdin,’ ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Coraline,’ Dies at 68

He helped fuel Disney’s animation renaissance in the 1990s, then worked on stop-motion films for Laika Studios.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 22, 2024

 

Kent Melton, the animation sculptor who created maquettes made of clay for iconic characters found in movies including Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, The Incredibles and Coraline, has died. He was 68.

Melton died Thursday at his home in Stone County, Missouri, of Lewy body dementia, family members told The Hollywood Reporter.

One of the few artists left in the industry who still sculpted in clay, Melton was a key player in the Disney animation renaissance of the 1990s. Later, he helped Laika Studios become a stop-motion powerhouse. Along the way, he was entrusted by animators to bring their two-dimensional drawings into a three-dimensional world.

Melton’s first Disney credit came on Aladdin (1992), followed by work on such other studio films as Thumbelina (1994), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), The Prince of Egypt (1998), Tarzan (1999), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and Pixar’s The Incredibles (2004).

For Laika, he sculpted characters for Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012) and The Boxtrolls (2014), for which he designed the film’s villain, pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher, voiced by Ben Kingsley.

Maquette, he explained in a 2015 interview for 417 Magazine, “is a term that goes way back to the Michelangelo era that means ‘model of something that will transform into a larger scale.’ I’ll sculpt a maquette in a character moment that personifies who they are to the story.

“I have to put body language into the pose to express and sum up who this guy is to the story. I try to capture their likeness and essence of personality and position in the story. From that, they scan what I do and then do all other expressions and poses and repositions on the computer.”

The second of three sons of an agriculture teacher, Melton was born in Springfield, Missouri. He spent a lot of time on farms and never attended art school. “The whole time I was compulsively doing art on my own,” he said. “Anything you do that much, you’re going to get good at it.”

Melton left his job carving wood and cutting glass at the Silver Dollar City amusement park near Branson, Missouri, and headed to Los Angeles, where he landed at Hanna-Barbera as the company’s first staff sculptor.

He sculpted characters from The Flintstones and The Jetsons and worked on the 1988 NBC animated show The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, based on Martin Short‘s Saturday Night Live character.

He also freelanced for Warner Bros., creating sculptures for the 1989 show Tiny Toons Adventures, before Disney hired him after an executive at the company spotted Melton’s work at a birthday party he was hosting for his son.

For Aladdin, Melton worked on the first computer-animated character ever done in a feature animated film, the Cave of Wonders’ tiger head that talks and moves.

“When I saw it on film, I said, ‘It’s alive! I created this thing!’ It was scanned right off of my sculpture,” he said. “And it was so nice because I was just this kid who grew up on a farm, and here I am sitting in a theater with this giant character that I made happen.”

He also created porcelain-based sculptures — fine works of art — for the Walt Disney Classics Collection.

Survivors include his wife, Martha; children Seth, Jordan and Nellie, an artist and animator; and grandchildren Persephone, Toby, Juliet and Charlie.

“I try to interact with the medium as much as possible,” Melton said in his 417 interview. “Let the clay or paint tell me what it wants and carry on a creative conversation with the art to find out where it takes me. I love the process.

“When I was a kid, I never kept anything. I never cared about the final work; it was just the process that I loved. I love the experience of painting, drawing, sculpting, playing music, carving — anything. That’s what art is; it’s an experience.”

MELTON, Kent (James Kent Melton)

Born: 3/10/1955, Springfield, Missouri, U.S.A.

Died: 2/22/2024, Stone County, Missouri, U.S.A.

 

Ken Melton’s movies – character sculptor:

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron - 2002

RIP Lanny Flaherty

 

Farewell to a Scene-Stealer: Lanny Flaherty, Veteran Actor of 'Blood In, Blood Out', Passes Away

Lanny Flaherty, the versatile actor known for his memorable roles and impactful performances, leaves behind a legacy that continues to inspire. Join us in honoring his contributions to the entertainment industry.

bnn

By Rafia Tasleem

February 22, 2024

 

When the news broke, it felt like an unexpected cut in a well-edited film—the kind that leaves you gasping, caught off-guard. Lanny Flaherty, the seasoned actor whose portrayal of Big Al in the 1993 cult classic Blood In, Blood Out made him a memorable presence, has left the stage for the final time. At 81, following surgery in New York City, the city that had become his home, Flaherty's passing marks the end of an era for those who knew him and for fans of his extensive body of work.

The Man Behind Big Al

Flaherty, a native of Troy who completed his education in Pontotoc High School, Mississippi, was more than just a character actor; he was a chameleon on screen. His journey from the South to the heart of New York City’s bustling acting scene is a testament to his dedication and passion for the craft. While Big Al remains one of his most celebrated roles, Flaherty’s career spanned decades, offering a variety of characters that showcased his range and ability to steal any scene he was part of. His legacy, enriched by the diverse roles he embraced, leaves an indelible mark on the entertainment industry.

A Legacy of Versatility

The outpouring of condolences and tributes from fans and industry peers alike underscores the impact Flaherty had on those around him. Known for his ability to delve deep into any character, Flaherty's dedication to his craft was evident in the meticulous preparation he put into each role. From stage to screen, his performances were a masterclass in acting, imbued with a genuine human touch that resonated with audiences. It wasn't just the breadth of characters he portrayed but the depth he brought to them that made Flaherty a beloved figure in the acting community.

Remembering a Remarkable Talent

As plans for his cremation proceed, with details of any memorial services to be announced, the entertainment world pauses to reflect on the loss of a truly remarkable talent. Lanny Flaherty's departure leaves a void that will be deeply felt by those who had the pleasure of knowing him and by fans who admired his work from afar. In remembering Flaherty, we celebrate not just the roles he played but the profound impact he had on the art of storytelling. His legacy, like his performances, will continue to inspire and influence future generations of actors.

FLAHERTY, Lanny (Laurence Flaherty)

Born: 727/1942, Troy, Mississippi, U.S.A.

Died: 2/?/2024, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Lanny Flaherty’s westerns – actor:

Home at Last (TV) – 1988 (Slater)

Lonesome Dove (TV) – 1989 (Soupy Jones)

Tom and Huck – 1995 (Emmett)

RIP Micheline Presle

 

Micheline Presle, the last legend of cinema has passed away

Le’Figaro

By Bertrand Guyard

February 21, 2024

 

The great actress passed away on Wednesday at the age of 101. From “The Devil in the Body” to the Saintes Chéries and Vénus Beauté Institut, in tribute to her talent, Le Figaro presents an anthology of her most beautiful roles.

Jean Gabin told her as the best compliment to her charm: "Just look at you and we forgive you everything..." Micheline Presle, the heroine of The Devil in the Body, the Saint Darling of our youth, passed away on Wednesday. "Micheline passed away peacefully, at the Maison Nationale des Artistes in Nogent-sur-Marne" in the Val-de-Marne, said her son-in-law Olivier Bomsel, adding that the funeral would take place in privacy.

The actress, who was 101 years old, is a movie legend. On screen she played with Gérard Philipe, Errol Flynn, Louis Jourdan, Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman and of course Jean Gabin, the greatest sacred monsters of the seventh art of the twentieth century.

This actress with emerald eyes, with a bright and sweet smile at the same time, whom François Truffaut, then still a film critic, considered "the greatest actress in the world", Jacques Becker's divine Falbalas possessed an "instinctive" acting that adapted to the darkest scenarios and the lightest stories. And as a miracle of longevity, more than half a century after her debut, her daughter, director Tonie Marshall, never failed to entrust him with roles commensurate with her talent in her comedies of manners.

The Devil in the Body...

Micheline Chassagne, as she was known in the city, was born on August 22, 1922, on rue des Bernardins, at the end of the Latin Quarter and a stone's throw from the Jardin du Luxembourg, which she cherished like a Proust's Madeleine all her life. The passion for cinema of this child with a character as mischievous as it was strong was awakened in 1932. Her father, an investment banker, takes her to see a movie for the first time. The little girl was only ten years old at the time and she marvelled at the seductresses of the time, Henri Garat and Jean Murat.

Fascinated by what was still the beginnings of talking cinema, in the years that followed, she patiently waited for the bell to ring at the end of the school, the Collège de Notre-Dame-de-Sion, to immediately run to the dark rooms of the cinemas in her neighborhood. There, she escapes and perhaps imagines that one day, she will also make the spectators dream. The dream came true and the first miracle occurred in 1938. Micheline, who was only fifteen years old, landed a small role in "Je chante", a film starring Charles Trenet.

She enrolled in Raymond Rouleau's course. Chance, as always, does things well. On the day of the first audition, Rudolph Josef, the assistant of the German director Georg Pabst, was present. He is looking for young heroines for the film Young Girls in Distress. He finds Micheline astonishing in her natural nature. Rouleau's student prodigy thus landed her first major role and her pseudonym. She plays Jacqueline Presle... like a pearl, a jewel.

In Pabst's film, in which she plays a leader and a rebel, Micheline Presle steals the screen. Abel Gance, who was privileged, saw the rushes and decided to hire her to play two characters, a mother and a daughter, in Paradise Lost. The year is 1940. The new little wonder of French cinema achieves this feat when she is not yet 18 years old. The film was released after France’s defeat by Germany. After the Armistice, she decided to leave the capital for Cannes, where the beginnings of the Festival had been born a year earlier.

In this frivolous world, however, you have to keep yourself busy. Rumor and newspapers, which were not yet called celebrities, betrothed her to the very attractive Louis Jourdan, whose father owned the Hôtel du Carlton. The idyll will be short-lived. In the evening, we go out to the theatre. Micheline Presle discovers a gifted young premier. His name is Gérard Philip, without the final e. She won’t forget it. The actress had to wait until the end of 1944, after the Liberation, to find a role that suited her. Jacques Becker, who met her after Goupi Mains Rouges, offered her the role of the heroine of Falbalas, a love story in the fashion world. Like Félicie Nanteuil, Micheline Presle would later confess to having a rare fondness for “this luminous film”.

The actress then rubbed shoulders with Maupassant. Under the direction of Christian-Jaque and with dialogues by Henri Jeanson, she became “Boule de Suif”, a “patriotic whore”, as some critics of the time wrote, who resisted the Prussians in her own way during the war of 1870 by stabbing an officer who wanted to abuse her.

Gérard Philipe’s choice

In 1946, the actress met Jean Cocteau, who asked her to read Radiguet's The Devil in the Body. The novel and its whiff of scandal seem perfect to her. She contacted Autant Lara Aurenche and Bost, who came to see her in Brussels where she performed a play Am Stram Gram by André Roussin. They are thrilled, especially since Micheline Presle brings as a gift the ideal actor to play François Jaubert, the hero of the film, Gérard Philipe. She has known his talent since 1941 when she saw him play in the theatre in Cannes alongside Madeleine Robinson. This film, which caused a scandal at the time because it told the story of a young woman who takes a lover while her husband risks his life in trench warfare in 1914-18, will remain as the major work of his career.

After The Devil in the Body, the sirens of Hollywood pushed her to try her luck in America. On the other side of the Atlantic, she met Bill Marshall, who was married to a big star of the time, Michele Morgan. The man is attractive, is an influential agent in Los Angeles and is also an actor who starred with Errol Flynn - and Ronald Reagan - in The Santa Fe Trail. It was love at first sight and the two lovebirds married in Santa Barbara a few months later, on September 3, 1949. This union will last a long time, giving birth to some beautiful encounters with Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn, Fritz Lang... and films of little interest in which Micheline Presle plays, in her own words - in excellent English all the same - "the pretty French woman on duty". The only happy memory of this American period will be the birth of her daughter Tonie who was born on November 25, 1951, in France after a hasty departure from the United States.

Undisputed star before and just after the war of 40 after the disastrous interlude in America, the career of Micheline Presle struggled to resume on her return to France. The 1950s (Were Versailles Told to Me, The Bride Is Too Beautiful, Christine...) only offered her roles as pretty women whose beauty was irreversibly fading. The passion for cinema did not abandon her and as a good poker player, at the end of the years her lucky star shone again. She first filmed under the direction of a master of the seventh Joseph Losey, a thriller with a complex plot, the investigation of Inspector Morgan. Then it was Jean Delannoy's turn to offer her the character of Perle Germain Joubert in Le Baron de l'écluse, adapted from a short story by Georges Simenon. In this film dialogued by Michel Audiard, her distinguished cheekiness as a Parisian from the Latin Quarter works wonders. Jean Gabin, her on-screen partner, delighted to play her, said of the woman he called Mademoiselle Presle: "She plays to perfection a demi-mondaine, very mondaine."

The virtuous spiral of success even took an unexpected turn in 1964 with what Micheline Presle humorously called "the holy series" in her memoirs. In 1963, Jean Becker called her to entrust her with the character of Eve Lagarde, an emancipated, liberated woman in her forties, whose character foreshadows the societal upheavals of May '68. This soap opera entitled Les Saintes chéries, like the work of Nicole de Buron that inspired it, will hold millions of French people in front of the only channel of the late ORTF during the five years that it lasted.

After having worked with undisguised joy with directors she describes as "innovators" such as Jérôme Savary and Jacques Davila when she received an honorary César in 2004, the actress has the distinction of being able to perform under the direction of her own daughter Tonie Marshall. The actress, proud of the success of her only child, wrote in Di(s)gressions: "She took charge of herself in a masterful way." And always humble in the face of a life that had a huge star of her at the age of 16, she liked to repeat the last days of her life, that in the Luxembourg Gardens where she liked to walk, people who always recognized her, stopped her to say: "Ah, I saw you in Tonie Marshall's film."

PRESLE, Micheline (Micheline Nicole Julia Emilienne Chassagne)

Born: 8/22/1922, Paris, Île-de-France, France

Died: 2/21/2024, Val-de-Marne, Paris, Île-de-France, France

 

Micheline Presle’s western – actress:

The Legend of Frenchie King – 1971 (Aunt Amelie)

RIP Paul D’Amato

 

Actor Paul D'Amato Dies; Avid Enfield Athletic Hall Of Fame Supporter

He was best known as Tim "Dr. Hook" McCracken in the hockey classic Slap Shot, and a memorable spot in the Oscar-winning The Deer Hunter. 

Patch

By Tim Jensen

February 20, 2024

Actor Paul D'Amato, a New England-bred performer who parlayed his self-professed "tiny amount of fame" into decades of aiding charitable organizations, died Monday after a four-year battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare brain disease. He was 75.

Born in Worcester and raised in Spencer, Mass., D'Amato began working as a stagehand around age 14, and decided he wanted to become an actor. He attended Emerson College in Boston, where he appeared in theatre productions and played on the ice hockey team.

That combination of acting and athletics paid off for him in 1976, when he was cast as goon Tim "Dr. Hook" McCracken in a hockey movie starring the legendary Paul Newman. Considered one of the top sports movies of all time, Slap Shot was released in Feb. 1977, and almost instantly attained cult classic status.

As the "coach and chief punk" of the Syracuse Bulldogs of the fictional Federal Hockey League, McCracken guides his team to the league championship game against the Charlestown Chiefs of player/coach Reggie Dunlop, played by Newman. A $100 bounty placed on McCracken's head by Dunlop during a pregame radio interview led to D'Amato uttering several memorable lines during the title game:

Ultimately, as all but one player is engaged in bloody mayhem all over the ice, the lone non-fighter, Chiefs forward Ned Braden, skates to center ice and begins a striptease routine to impress his estranged wife, whom he has just noticed is in attendance. As he peels off his uniform down to just his skates and jockstrap, an enraged McCracken leaves the brawling momentarily and charges the referee, calling Braden's demonstration "obscene" and punching the official in the back of the head, causing his team to forfeit the game and the championship.

Another hockey role followed later in 1977, in the TV movie The Deadliest Season, starring Michael Moriarty and Meryl Streep. Moriarty's character, a hockey player, caves into pressure to adopt a rougher style of play but is ultimately charged with manslaughter when an on-ice confrontation with opponent David Eskanazi, played by D'Amato, results in Eskanazi's death.

A year later, D'Amato had a brief but unforgettable performance in The Deer Hunter, portraying a Green Beret, newly home from Vietnam, who is confronted in a bar by Robert DeNiro and several friends during the wedding reception scene. The film wound up winning five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

After small parts in various films and television shows, including The Six Million Dollar Man, Heaven's Gate and Heaven Can Wait, D'Amato was cast once more as a creepy villain in the 1987 film Suspect. Midway through the film, a knife-wielding Michael Guthridge threatens the lead character, played by Cher, before stabbing a character played by Dennis Quaid.

Years later at the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame celebrity golf tournament, D'Amato quipped, "I'm probably the only actor that ever beat up Paul Newman, almost beat up Robert DeNiro and held a knife to the throat of Cher."

Still, it was his role as Dr. Hook which remains etched in moviegoer's minds and led to countless appearances at benefit golf tournaments and other sports gatherings. He played in the Enfield tournament for about 10 years, which raised funds for scholarships. He was an active supporter of the Springfield Hockey Heritage Society and made regular appearances at Hartford Whalers Alumni Weekend at Dunkin' Donuts Park, a signature yearly event by the Hartford Yard Goats baseball club.

Every time D'Amato showed up at a benefit event, he would bring a Syracuse Bulldogs hockey jersey, complete with the number 9 and the name McCracken on the back. The jersey would normally be placed into an auction, and D'Amato would gladly autograph and inscribe it for the winning bidder. He raised thousands of dollars for charities due to his generosity over the years.

When asked back in 2010 about how many events he averaged in a given year, he responded, "Not enough. Anytime someone needs to raise money to help children, if I'm available, I will be there."

Despite possessing what Universal Pictures president Ned Tanen called "the maddest looking face you have ever seen," D'Amato was actually "a genuinely warm and friendly man," as described in the 2010 book, The Making of Slap Shot.

Former professional hockey player Mark Bousquet, who wound up cast as McCracken's linemate Andre "Poodle" Lussier, told Patch, "Paul was always a professional on and off the ice. He had a warm loving heart for numerous charities. He always had a story and loved his fans and friends. We would attend many hockey charity functions, and he was always willing to sign autographs."

Just after his passing, fellow actor and longtime girlfriend Marina Re wrote on social media, "He may have played tough bad guys, but a sweeter, kinder, more compassionate man does not exist. Whether skiing down the slopes, riding his motorcycle, skating on the ice, rollerblading through the village, or kayaking on the lake, he lived life to the fullest. His talents were endless, his generosity overflowing, and his dedication to his family and friends unwavering and unmatched. His brilliance as an actor is there for anyone to see but sharing the stage with him was an actor's dream."

D’AMATO, Paul (Paul George S’Amato)

Born: 10/11/1947, Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Died: 2/19/2024, East Brookfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

 

Paul D’Amato’s western – actor:

Heaven’s Gate – 1980 (bearded mercenary)

 

RIP Cynthia Strother

 

Cynthia Strother, One-Half of the Singing Bell Sisters, Dies at 88

She and Kay had a big hit with “Bermuda” in 1952, then performed in the movie musicals ‘Cruisin' Down the River’ and ‘Those Redheads From Seattle.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 20, 2024

 

Cynthia Strother, the singer and songwriter who teamed with her younger sister Kay as The Bell Sisters, a popular teenage act that found overnight success in the 1950s with their very first song, “Bermuda,” has died. She was 88.

Strother died Friday of heart failure at a hospice facility in Las Vegas, her nephew Rex Strother told The Hollywood Reporter.

The Bell Sisters, who recorded for RCA from 1951-55, performed often on radio shows hosted by the likes of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope and on such television programs as The Johnny Carson Show, The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Mickey Mouse Club.

The pair also appeared in the 1953 big-screen musicals Cruisin’ Down the River, starring Dick Haymes, and Those Redheads From Seattle, starring Rhonda Fleming.

The eldest of seven kids — their dad, Gene, was an electrician for an aviation company — Cynthia Sue Strother was born on Oct. 4, 1935, in Harlan County, Kentucky, and raised with her family in Seal Beach, California.

She wrote “Bermuda” in 1951 at the piano when she was 16 and still attending Huntington High School and Kay was 11.

“I like Spanish music best and was beating out Spanish tempo on the piano,” she told Newsweek in 1952. “I just got the idea and went through with it, until it was finished. Then we all got together to write the words. We got Indian ideas and a Spanish bullfighter idea. Then somebody said, ‘Bermuda,’ and we liked that.”

Adopting their mother Edith’s maiden name of Bell for their act, the girls performed in October 1951 on a local KNXT-TV show called “Peter Potter’s Search for a Song.” One of the judges of the evening’s amateur compositions was a music publisher, who immediately recognized the tune’s potential.

The girls were rushed into a Hollywood studio to demo the song for orchestra leader Henri Rene, the West Coast A&R man for RCA-Victor, and “Bermuda” was quickly released in March 1952, eventually rising to No. 7 on the Billboard singles chart. It would sell more than 1 million copies.

“I tried not to influence their natural style in any way,” Rene told Downbeat magazine. “I told them to sing just the way they sing for fun around the house. If they go over as big as we think they will, it will be due to the freshness and simplicity of their manner.”

Watch the sisters perform “Bermuda” on The Dinah Shore Show here.

The sisters also had hits with “Wheel of Fortune,” which made it to No. 10, and “Hambone,” which was recorded with actor-singer Phil Harris and charted as high as No. 19.

They would open for Nat King Cole in Los Angeles, perform all over the country and even tour Korea with other Hollywood performers and the USO — all when school wasn’t in session, of course.

In Paramount’s Those Redheads From Seattle, the girls sang “Take Back Your Gold,” and Cynthia portrayed the love interest of Guy Mitchell’s character.

“I was playing a nurse, and he was supposed to come in where I was rolling bandages and we had some dialogue and then we were supposed to kiss. Well, even though I was 17, I don’t think I’d ever kissed a boy before, and what’s more, there was talk his wife was going to be on the set,” she recalled in a post on The Bell Sisters’ website.

“I mean, it was bad enough we never had any acting lessons — Kay and I were just winging it, basically. I was so flustered because I had to kiss Guy and I had no experience, and his wife was going to be watching. Well, it must have really showed in the footage, because after all the worry and embarrassment of getting through it, they didn’t even use the scene in the movie.”

The sisters were excellent acapella singers and welcomed at military hospitals and bases, where they frequently had to perform without a band.

“Bermuda” continued to generate royalties for Cynthia over the decades, with her song heard in Allison Anders’ Grace of My Heart (1996).

After she left show business, she taught swimming to handicapped children and adults.

In addition to Kay, survivors include her other sisters, Sharon, Judy, Paula and Alice; her sons, Seth, Kristoffer and Keven; and numerous grandchildren. Her husband, Seth, whom she married in 1957, died in 2006; her brother, Rex, died in 2019; and her daughter, Anastasia, died in 2022.

Singer, actress Cynthia Strother, one of the famous members of the duo “The Bell Sisters” passed away on February 16^th in Orange County, California at the age of 88. The Bell Sisters were an American singing duo, popular in the 1950s, consisting of the sisters Cynthia and Kay Strother, who adopted their mother's maiden name of Bell. The duo was discovered and a week later signed by RCA Records after appearing on October 31, 1951 on local Los Angeles television program, "Peter Potter's Search for a Song." The Bell Sisters had big hits in the USA with the songs "Bermuda" and "Wheel Of Fortune" in 1952. Cynthia (then aged 16) and Kay (11) went on to appear on six occasions on Bing Crosby's and also Bob Hope's radio shows.

Cynthia married Seth Robert Ellison in 1957 and the couple lived in Seal Beach, California. Seth died in Camarillo, California in 2006. Cynthia then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada before returning to Orange County, California.

STROTHER, Cynthia (Cynthia Sue Strother)

Born: 10/4/1935, Harlan, Kentucky, U.S.A.

Died: 2/16/2024, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

 

Cynthia Strother’s western – actress:

Those Redheads from Seattle – 1953 (Connie Edmonds)