RIP Ken Wood

 

"Goodbye to you too". Mourning in Italian cinema, another symbolic actor leaves

la Republica

October 31, 2024

 

Actor and stuntman Giovanni Cianfriglia, famous face of Italian action films and beloved spaghetti westerns, has passed away at the age of 89 in Anzio, the city that had given him birth on April 5, 1935. With an impressive career behind him, Cianfriglia was a central figure of Italian entertainment cinema, embodying a versatility that made him known in the detective genres, Italian westerns and peplum films, of which he was one of the main interpreters and stunt doubles in the golden years of Cinecittà.

His debut in the world of cinema took place with the film "The Labors of Hercules" (1958), where Cianfriglia lent his athletic physique as a stunt double for Steve Reeves, protagonist of the famous peplum. From that moment, his stage presence and ability to take on physically demanding roles led him to achieve a solid career both as an actor and as a stuntman. "Cianfriglia often acted under several pseudonyms, including Ken Wood and John Richmond", expedients with which he adapted to various genres and roles, winning the admiration of directors and colleagues for his professionalism.

Throughout his career, Cianfriglia shared the set with big names in Italian action cinema, such as Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, to whom he remained linked for 17 films, often playing secondary characters but of great impact in the memorable fight scenes. Among his most famous appearances are roles in iconic films such as "Even Angels Eat Beans" (1973), the films of the series "Piedone" (1973-1980), "... otherwise we get angry!" (1974), "The Two Almost Flat Superfeet" (1977), "They Call Me Bulldozer" (1978), "Odd and Even" (1978), "Watch the Pen" (1981), "Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure" (1981) and "Banana Joe" (1982).

"He shared the set with his brother Domenico, also a stuntman and actor," building a family legacy in the world of stunts, which characterized the Italian action cinema of the time. With a repertoire of 173 films shot in Italy, France and the United States, Cianfriglia collaborated with important directors such as Sergio Corbucci, Michele Lupo, Enzo G. Castellari and Umberto Lenzi, great exponents of genre cinema that exploded in Italy in those years.

Giovanni Cianfriglia was a silent protagonist of a golden age of Italian cinema, bringing the grit and physicality of the classic action hero to the screen. His roles ranged from the period films of his beginnings — such as "The Pirate of the Black Sparrowhawk" (1958), "Morgan the Pirate" (1960), "The Trojan War" (1961), "Romulus and Remus" (1961), "The Son of Spartacus" (1962) and "A Queen for Caesar" (1962) — to the spaghetti westerns of the Sixties such as "The Gunslinger Marked by God" (1968), "To the Last Blood" (1968) and "Three Crosses not to die" (1968), and to the subsequent detective films where he joined the actor Maurizio Merli, a symbol of Italian detective stories.

His long career and ability to adapt to different film genres have made him an admired figure for generations of viewers, who continue to remember him as a symbol of Italian entertainment cinema. Giovanni Cianfriglia leaves a rich legacy in the world of Italian cinema, a tribute to the versatility and passion he dedicated to each of his performances, giving fans an impressive series of films that will remain in the history of the big screen.

WOOD, Ken (Giovanni Cianfriglia)

Born: 4/5/1935, Anzio, Lazio, Italy

Died: 10/30/2024, Anzio, Lazio, Italy

 

Ken Wood’s westerns – stuntman, actor:

The Relentless Four – 1965 (deputy)

5 Giants from Texas – 1966 (Jesus/Indios)

Ringo and His Golden Pistol – 1966 (Sebastian) [as Ken Wood]

The Tramplers – 1966 (Cordeen henchman)

Ballad of a Gunman – 1967 (gambler)

If You Want to Live... Shoot! – 1967 (Stark) [as Ken Wood]

Killer Kid – 1967 (Ramirez) [as Ken Wood]

Bury Them Deep – 1968 (Billy Gunn) [as Ken Wood]

Kill Them All and Come Back Alone – 1968 (Blade) [as Ken Wood]

No Graves on Boot Hill – 1968 (Reno) [as Ken Wood]

Three Crosses Not to Die – 1968 (Reno) [as Ken Wood]

Two Pistols and a Coward – 1968 (Ron Eloy) [as Ken Wood]

Western, Italian Style – 1968 [archive footage]

The Unholy Four – 1969 (saloon brawler)

Adiós, Sabata – 1970 (Austrian agent)

Amen – 1970 [as Ken Wood]

Durango Is Coming, Pay or Die - 1970 (stagecoach robber)

The Unholy Four – 1970

Wanted Sabata – 1970 (Mexican bounty hunter)

You're Jinxed, Friend You've Met Sacramento – 1970 (Murdock henchman)

Blindman – 1971 (Mexican soldier) [stunts]

Django... Adios! - 1971 (Spirito Santo henchman)

Drummer of Vengeance – 1971 (Blackie) [as Ken Wood]

A Man Called Django – 1971 (Blackie)

Return of Sabata – 1971 (McIntock henchman)

Bada alla tua pelle Spirito Santo! - 1972 (Garibaldino) [as Ken Wood]

The Ballad of Ben and Charlie – 1972 (casino bouncer)

The Grand Duel – 1972

Gunmen and the Holy Ghost – 1972 (Garibaldi/Il Garibaldino) [as Ken Wood]

Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? – 1972 (The Challenger) [as Ken Wood]

Man of the East – 1972 (saloon brawler)

Return of the Holy Ghost – 1972 (Garibaldi/‘Il Garibaldino’) [as Ken Wood]

Sentence of God – 1972 [as Ken Wood]

They Call Me Providence – 1972 (‘The Challenger’) [as Ken Wood]

Where the Bullets Fly – 1972 (barn brawler)

Blood River – 1973 (Indian)

Keoma – 1975 (Caldwell henchmen) [as Ken Wood]

Buddy Goes West – 1981 (Jack Bold) [stunts]

America in Rome – 1998 [himself]

Denn sie kennen kein erbarmen - Der Italowestern (TV) – 2005 [himself]

RIP Paul Morrissey

 

Paul Morrissey, Cult Director, Andy Warhol Collaborator, Dies at 86

The American auteur's film credits include 'Andy Warhol's Frankenstein,' ‘Mixed Blood,’ ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ and ‘News From Nowhere.’

 The Hollywood Reporter

By Etan Vlessing

October 28, 2024

Paul Morrissey, a cult film director and early Andy Warhol collaborator, has died. He was 86 years of age.

Morrissey’s archivist Michael Chaiken told The Hollywood Reporter the filmmaker died in the early morning of Oct. 28 at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City after a bout with pneumonia. His most celebrated films as an auteur include Flesh, Trash, Heat, Flesh for Frankenstein and the classic B-picture Blood for Dracula, which starred Joe Dallesandro.

Morrissey’s films also included classics like Women in Revolt and the 1980s New York City trilogy Forty Deuce, Mixed Blood and Spike of Bensonhurst. But it’s Morrissey’s early association with pop artist Andy Warhol that helped establish him as a director and kept his cult status alive throughout his career.

The two artists first met in 1965 and Morrissey signed on to run the publicity and filmmaking for Warhol at The Factory under a contract until 1973. Early cinematic collaborations full of colorful characters like drug addicts and street hustlers include in 1965 Space and My Hustler, a year later with The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound and San Diego Surf and Lonesome Cowboys in 1968.

Morrissey in recent years became defensive over Warhol having taken too much credit for their film collaborations at The Factory.

“Don’t say ‘Warhol films’ when you talk about my films! Are you so stupid, you talk to people like that? I have to live through this for fifty years. Everything I did, it’s Warhol this, or he did them with me. Forget it. He was incompetent, anorexic, illiterate, autistic, Asperger’s — he never did a thing in his entire life. He sort of walked through it as a zombie and that paid off in the long run. But I just cannot take that shitty reference. What were you gonna say, if you can get past that?” Morrissey told Sam Weinberg during an interview in the Bright Lights Film Journal in Feb. 2020.

Typical of the movie posters for their joint films was a top billing for Warhol – as in “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein” or “Andy Warhol’s Dracula, followed with “A Film By Paul Morrissey” just below  — to catch the eye of cinema-goers.

Morrissey was more generous in an earlier March 1975 interview in Oui with Jonathan Rosenbaum, where he allowed that Warhol had at least operated the camera at times, while he did the rest of the logistics and creative decisions. “I just understood what Andy was doing and helped him do it. Andy usually operated the camera. I always did the lights, organized the film, got the actors together, told them what to do. We never ever told actors just to be themselves. That’s a lot of crap,” Morrissey insisted. 

Among the other contributions Morrissey made to Warhol’s cult status was helping discover and manage The Velvet Underground and co-founding the Interview magazine. Born in New York City on Feb. 23, 1938, Morrissey graduated from the Fordham Preparatory School in 1955 and four years later from Fordham University.

After a stint in the U.S. military, Morrissey moved to the East Village in late 1960 and opened the Exit Gallery. There he screened underground films like Brian De Palma’s debut short, Icarus, and made his own first films.

In 1975, after his collaboration with Warhol had run its course, Morrissey moved for a short period to Los Angeles and set about to finance and make his own films. Among those was a studio film, The Hound of the Baskervilles, a Sherlock Holmes parody that starred Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore, and his last film, News From Nowhere in 2010.

MORRISSEY, Paul (Paul J. Morrissey)

Born: 2/23/1938, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 10/28/2024, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Paul Morrissey’s western – director, writer, cinematographer:

Lonesome Cowboys - 1968

RIP Nancy St. John

 

Nancy St. John, VFX Producer on ‘Gladiator,’ Dies at 70

Variety

By Carolyn Giardina

October 24, 2024

 

Veteran visual effects producer Nancy St. John, whose credits include the films “Babe” and “Gladiator” (both of which won VFX Oscar kudos), has died at the age of 70, the Visual Effects Society confirmed.

St. John held a career in VFX and computer animation that spanned more than four decades. She was a former VES executive board committee member who received the distinction of Fellow in 2021.

“Nancy and I served together on the Society’s executive committee, and she passionately represented the worldwide members,” past VES chair Jeffrey A. Okun said in a statement. “She was a vibrant, creative person and a knowledgeable practitioner who helped so many individuals and VFX companies along the way – always generous with her wit and wisdom, but also always aware of the bottom line. She will be sorely missed, and the world is now a little colder because she has moved on.”

St. John’s career in VFX and computer animation included stints at Robert Abel & Associates, Digital Productions, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Pacific Data Images, Industrial Light & Magic, Rhythm & Hues, Mill Film and Prime Focus. Her credits also includes VFX Oscar-nominated “I, Robot” and a string of films including “Bill & Ted Face the Music, “Ender’s Game,” “Men in Black 3,” “Immortals,” “James and the Giant Peach,” 2016’s “Ghostbusters” and 2012’s “Total Recall.”

Her contributions to the community included terms as both first and second vice chair of the VES board of directors, membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences VFX branch and VFX executive committee, and membership in the Producers Guild.

St. JOHN, Nancy

Born: 1954, U.S.A.

Died: 10/23/2024, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.

 

Nancy St. John’s western – VFX producer:

And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (TV) - 2003

RIP Ron Ely

 

Ron Ely, Star of the First Tarzan Series for Television, Dies at 86

He also starred as the pulp adventurer Doc Savage in a 1975 film and replaced Bert Parks as host of the Miss America pageant.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

October 23, 2024

 

Ron Ely, the hunky and handsome Texas native who portrayed the Lord of the Jungle on the first Tarzan series for television, has died, his daughter Kirsten told Fox News Digital. He was 86.

He died Sept. 29 at the home of one of his daughters near Santa Barbara, The New York Times reported.

Ely also hosted the Miss America pageant in 1980 and 1981, stepping in for longtime emcee Bert Parks, and presided over a syndicated game show called Face the Music around that time.

The 6-foot-4, blue-eyed Ely had appeared opposite Clint Walker in The Night of the Grizzly and with Ursula Andress in Once Before I Die in films released in 1966 when he was hired to don the loincloth in a new NBC series executive produced by Sy Weintraub.

Ely was offered the Tarzan gig after former NFL linebacker Mike Henry, who had played the Edgar Rice Burroughs creation in three ’60s films, abruptly quit after he was bitten in the jaw by a chimp. (He would go on to sue over unsafe working conditions.)

“I met with [producers] on a Monday, and when they offered me the role, I thought, ‘No way do I want to step into that bear trap. You do Tarzan and you are stamped for life.’ Was I ever right!” he recalled in a 2013 interview. “But my agent convinced me it was a quality show and was going to work. So on the [next] Friday I was on a plane to Brazil to shoot the first episode.”

The show, which also filmed in Central America and Mexico, premiered in September 1966, and Ely had to perform his own stunts during the two-season, 57-episode run. (Since he was wearing hardly any clothing, it was hard to find a look-alike stunt double, he said.)

Ely was not unhappy when the series ended in March 1968. “Quite frankly, I don’t know that I could have even done anymore,” he said. “I was mentally and physically worn out. At the very least I would have needed a few months to recover. My body was a wreck. I had so many muscle pulls and tears and busted shoulders, wrists and bones. Every part of me had been hurt.”

Ely portrayed another legendary hero when he starred in the Warner Bros. film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975), produced and co-written by George Pal. He had high hopes for that, but a regime change at the studio torpedoed any chance the movie had for success, he said.

Ronald Pierce Ely was born on June 21, 1938, in Hereford, Texas. He graduated from Amarillo (Texas) High School in 1956 and then attended the University of Texas at Austin for a year before heading to California.

“I felt like a fish out of water in college. I felt like I was spinning my wheels,” he said. “Actually, I had a fraternity brother who asked me if I ever had any inclination to go to Los Angeles and act. I told him, ‘Yes, I’d thought about it.’ So we began to talk about it. … I ended up driving a car to San Jose and hitchhiking back to L.A.”

He made his screen debut playing a pilot in the 1958 film adaptation of South Pacific, then signed a contract with 20th Century Fox.

A year later, he tried to smooch Betty Anderson (Elinor Donahue) on an episode of Father Knows Best, played the older brother of Dwayne Hickman‘s character in the pilot for The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and appeared with Barbara Eden on the syndicated TV version of How to Marry a Millionaire.

He then starred on The Aquanauts, a 1960-61 CBS adventure series about deep-sea divers salvaging sunken wrecks off the coast of Southern California.

After Tarzan, he did several films in Europe, portrayed Mike Nelson (Lloyd Bridges’ character) on a 1987 syndicated revival of Sea Hunt and worked on other TV shows like The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Wonder Woman, L.A. Law and Sheena.

In the 1990s, he played a retired Superman on Superboy and a big-game hunter in the syndicated Tarzan the Hunted and had published two novels that featured private eye Jake Sands.

On Oct. 15, 2019, his second wife, former Miss Florida Valerie Lundeen Ely, 62, was stabbed to death in their Santa Barbara-area home by their son, Cameron, 30, who deputies found outside the house and fatally shot.

“My father was someone that people called a hero,” his daughter Kirsten said. “He was an actor, writer, coach, mentor, family man and leader. He created a powerful wave of positive influence wherever he went. The impact he had on others is something that I have never witnessed in any other person — there was something truly magical about him.”

Survivors include his other daughter, Kaitland.

ELY, Ron (Ronald Pierce Ely)

Born: 6/21/1938, Hereford, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 9/29/2024, Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.

 

Ron Ely’s westerns – actor:

The Fiend Who Walked the West – 1958 (Deputy Jim Dyer)

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (TV) - 1960 (Arleigh Smith)

The Night of the Grizzly – 1966 (Tad Curry)

Alleluia and Sartana, Sons of God – 1972 (Alleluia/Hallelujah)

Cry of the Black Wolves – 1972 (Bill Robin/Robinson)

Hawkeye (TV) – 1994 (Harry March)

RIP Lynda Obst

 

Lynda Obst Dies: Prolific ‘Sleepless In Seattle’, ‘Fisher King’ & ‘Interstellar’ Producer Was 74

DEADLINE

By Tom Tapp

October 22, 2024

 

Lynda Obst, one of the most prolific female producers in Hollywood, died Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to her brother, WME head of television Rick Rosen. She was 74.

Obst had previously been open about suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

The producer’s long list of hit films includes Flashdance, The Fisher King, Sleepless In Seattle, One Fine Day, Contact, Hope Floats, Interstellar and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. She also executive produced TVLand’s Hot in Cleveland and had a deal at Sony Pictures Television.

“I was immensely proud of her,” Rosen said. “She was a trailblazer for women in the industry at a time when it was very difficult for women to have prominent roles. She was passionate about her work but even more passionate about her family.”

Obst grew up in suburban New York, began her career as the editor/author of The Rolling Stone History of the Sixties. She was later an editor at New York Times Magazine.

She was recruited to Hollywood by Peter Guber, for whom she developed Flashdance, Clue and Contact. In 1982 she joined The Geffen Company, where she was mentored by David Geffen and worked on Risky Business and After Hours. Thereafter, she left to partner with producer Debra Hill, forming Hill/Obst Productions at Paramount Pictures. Together, they made Adventures in Babysitting and Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King.

Obst began her solo producing career in 1989 with a deal at Columbia Pictures where she produced Nora Ephron’s directing debut This Is My Life. She went on to executive produce Ephron’s second film, Sleepless in Seattle.

She then moved to Fox where she produced The Siege, Hope Floats, One Fine Day and Someone Like You. In 1997, she executive produced Contact for Warner Bros, directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Obst subsequently shifted back again to Paramount, where she produced How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Abandon.

In 2014, she produced Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar at Warner Bros.

On the TV side, Obst executive produced NBC’s two-part miniseries The 60s. Her most recent film was the Warner Bros release The Invention of Lying. Obst soon added a television division to her company and became an EP on Hot in Cleveland.

Her nonfiction book: Hello He Lied: And Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches was a bestseller and later became a documentary at AMC.

The funeral will be private, the family said, but there will be a celebration of life in the coming months.

ROBST, Lynda (Lynda Rosen)

Born: 4/14/1950, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 10/22/2024, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Lynda Robst’s western – executive producer:

Bad Girls - 1994

RIP Alvin Rakoff

 

Alvin Rakoff, Canadian Director of Laurence Olivier Starrer ‘A Voyage Round My Father,’ Dies at 97

Canadian director, writer and producer Alvin Rakoff, best known for directing Laurence Olivier in “A Voyage Round My Father,” has died at the age of 97.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Etan Vlessing

October 17, 2024

 

The cause of death was “old age,” his agent told Variety. He died on Oct. 12 at home, surrounded by his family.

Over a career spanning more than four decades, which began when television was still only available in black-and-white, Rakoff was involved in over 100 television, film and stage productions as well as writing novels. According to his representatives, he was still working into his ’90s.

Rakoff was the third of seven children born to Sam and Pearl Rakoff in Toronto in 1927. His parents owned a dry goods shop but the director grew up in poverty after the Great Depression hit in 1929. He would later recount the experience in his novel “Baldwin Street.”

After seeing his first film in a theater at the age of 6, his love of film and television was ignited. He went on to graduate with a degree in psychology from the University of Toronto before becoming a journalist. But it was watching Marlon Brando in a stage production of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” that changed the course of his life. After leaving the play, Rakoff vowed to build a career in showbusiness.

He went to work for the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) as a writer, which sent him to the U.K. when he was 25. There, he sold a script to the BBC, which at the time was the country’s only television broadcaster. He then joined the BBC’s director’s training course and the following year became the youngest producer/director. He went on to direct dozens of dramas including “Waiting for Gillian” (1954) and “Requiem for a Heavyweight” (1957) which starred then unknown actors Sean Connery (in his first leading role) and Michael Caine (as a background part).

It was Rakoff who, years later, recommended Connery for the role of Bond after 007 producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli called the director to ask his opinion.

Rakoff, who was also a one-time president of the Directors Guild, won Emmy awards for “Call Me Daddy” (1967), starring Donald Pleasance and Judy Cornwell, and “A Voyage Round My Father,” which he produced and directed.

During his career Rakoff worked with stars including Peter Cushing, Henry Fonda, Michael Gambon, Ava Gardner, John Gielgud, Elliott Gould, Richard Harris and Angela Lansbury, among dozens of others.

Among those who have paid tribute to the director are Stephen Fry, who said: “Alvin Rakoff was a giant of film, theatre and TV. His Midas touch with spotting and fostering talent introduced the world to some of the last century’s greatest stars. Typically he was working on a screenplay right up to the last.”

Judi Dench commented: “I have such wonderful memories of Alvin – both being directed by him and seeing him at The Mill. A very endearing person.”

Rakoff is survived by his wife of 30 years, Sally Hughes, two children from his first marriage to the late Jacqueline Hill, five grandchildren and his sister Lorraine.

RAKOFF, Alvin

Born: 2/6/1927, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Died: 10/12/2024, Chiswick, London, England, U.K.

 

Alvin Rakoff’s western – producer, director:

Hudson’s Bay (TV) - 1959

RIP Mitzi Gaynor

 

Mitzi Gaynor, Legendary South Pacific Actress, Dies at 93: An 'Altogether Glorious Human Being'

The actress also starred in a series of Emmy-winning TV specials

People

By Victoria Edel

October 17, 2024

 

Mitzi Gaynor has died at the age of 93, her management team announced in a statement on Thursday, Oct. 17.

The actress was best known for her roles in movie musicals in the 1950s, most notably 1958’s South Pacific. She also starred in a series of Emmy-winning TV specials.

"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved friend and client Mitzi Gaynor. She passed away peacefully today of natural causes at the age of 93," Rene Reyes and Shane Rosamonda wrote on social media.

"For eight decades she entertained audiences in films, on television and on the stage," they continued. "She truly enjoyed every moment of her professional career and the great privilege of being an entertainer."

Reyes and Rosamonda called Gaynor a "vibrant and extraordinary woman, a caring and loyal friend, and a warm, gracious, very funny and altogether glorious human being. And she could cook, too!"

"... She often noted that her audiences were 'the sunshine of my life.' You truly were," they wrote.

Gaynor was born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago in 1931. Her father was a musician, and her mother was a dancer. She soon followed in her mother’s footsteps, training as a ballerina, and she was determined to make it as a star from a young age.

“My family was very supportive,” she remembered to Closer in 2024. “My family gave me every opportunity to experience theater, music and art. What a gift that was! We weren’t wealthy in monetary terms, but we were certainly wealthy in love.”

She told CBS in 2019 that when she was 11 years old and living in Detroit, a dance teacher said, “Mitzi's gonna go to Hollywood and become a star.” So their family moved out to Los Angeles to give her a shot. She was 17 when her dancing was noticed by execs at 20th Century Fox, who signed her to a seven-year contract. They didn’t like the name Mitzi Gerber, so they changed her last name to Gaynor.

Her debut came in 1950’s My Blue Heaven, a musical. She also had a supporting role in 1951’s Take Care of My Little Girl. Her first starring role came in the 1951 musical Golden Girl. Her biggest success at Fox was 1954’s There's No Business Like Show Business, in which she appeared alongside Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe and Donald O'Connor. She told Closer that she became “lifelong friends” with Merman and O’Connor during filming.

That same year, she married Jack Bean, who became her manager. Remembering how they met, she told CBS, "The doorbell rang at the Chateau Marmont. And I open up the door, and there's this man standing there. He has the bluest eyes I've ever seen in my life, he's about 5'11". God, I loved him." They were together until his death in 2006.

In 1956, she starred in the musical Anything Goes with Bing Crosby and O’Connor; decades later she would star in the national tour of the musical as well. She also appeared in 1956’s The Birds and the Bees and 1957's The Joker Is Wild (with Frank Sinatra) and Les Girls (with Gene Kelly).

Her biggest success came in 1958’s South Pacific, based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name. She starred as the lead, Nellie Forbush, and performed songs like “I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy” and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair.”

The role was hotly contested, with Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Day also vying for the part. Gaynor told the TV Foundation in 2012 that she felt she won out because she was happy to audition for the role, while others didn’t want to test for it.

South Pacific became the highest-grossing film of the year, and Gaynor received a Golden Globe nomination for the role.

Gaynor’s last film appearance came in 1963 (in For Love or Money with Kirk Douglas) and she began to focus on television. Between 1967 and 1978 she starred in eight TV specials that showed off her singing and dancing with huge, fabulous production numbers. She always wore four-inch heels during the shows. “My legs looked better in very high heels," she told Entertainment Weekly in 2021.

Her specials won six Emmys with 17 nominations and were also the subject of the 2008 documentary Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years. Reflecting on the specials in 2016, she told getTV, “I was so blessed to have worked with such incredible, talented and wonderful people, and also to perform for audiences whom I adore. Plus my husband produced all of these shows so most of these are the happiest times of my life.”

Gaynor was also a frequent guest on other TV variety shows. She appeared multiple times on The Donald O’Connor Show, The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson as well as specials starring Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Danny Thomas.

One of her appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show coincided with The Beatles’ second appearance on the talk show in 1964, filmed in Miami Beach. She had top-billing on the episode, and after the taping, Paul McCartney asked for her autograph.

“I loved them,” she told East Bay Times in 2009. “They were divine. They were gentlemen, they were sweet… and it was nice to be part of history.”

Gaynor, who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, also began performing in concerts beginning with a 1961 show in Las Vegas. Her early costumer for her shows was Bob Mackie, whose legendary career was just getting started. She told the Los Angeles Times in 1993 that she “just about fainted” the first time she saw his sketches, but he was so young at the time she initially mistook him for a fan.

Gaynor performed on stage for over five decades and felt most comfortable when she was in front of a crowd. “Home life is just fine, but I go on tour to get my rest,” she told The New York Times in 1982, during a 28-city tour.

GAYNOR, Mitzi (Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber)

Born: 9/4/1931, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 10/17/2024, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Mitzi Gaynor’s westerns – actress, singer:

Golden Girl – 1951 (Lotta Crabtree) [singer]

Three Young Texans – 1954 (Rusty Blair)

RIP Roger Browne

 

Forever Missed

October 16, 2024

ROGER BROWNE JR. 13.04.1930 – 11.10.2024

 

We share the news of the passing of our dad, Roger Browne. He lived an extraordinary life over his 94 years, and he passed peacefully on Friday, October 11, in Burbank, California, surrounded by his family. He was ready to go and we take comfort in the fact that he is now reunited with the love of his life, our mother, Jenni.

Roger collected many friends and fans over the course of his life, whether from his acting and dubbing days in Rome in the 60s and 70s, or his many years helping people as a physical therapist and raising his family in Burbank, or his acting renaissance in later years on “Elders React” and other projects. He lived many lives in one, and we know he touched the lives of so many.

He was an air force veteran, a Bruin, a Jeopardy nerd, a Dodger fan. He was an entertainer and a workout aficionado. He loved plain pasta and vanilla ice cream. He enjoyed working on his tan and was always ready with a Seinfeld quote. He was Argoman, and Dad, and Daddy, and Grandad. And despite his grumpy old man exterior, he had one of the biggest hearts we knew.

We are grateful for all those who took an interest in his life and career and who supported him throughout his life, especially in these later years. We will miss him dearly, and we hope his memory brings a smile to your heart, just as he did to ours.

BROWNE, Roger (Roger Rogers Browne Jr.)

Born: 4/13/1930, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.

Died: 10/12/2024, Burbank, California, U.S.A.

 

Roger Browne’s westerns:

Fighting Men – 1960 (Private Connors)

They Call Me Trinity – 1970 [English voice of Terence Hill)

Trinity is STILL My Name – 1971 [English voice of Terence Hill]

Man of the East – 1972 [English voice of Terence Hill

My Name is Nobody – 1973 English voice of Terence Hill]

The Genius – 1975 [English voice of Terence Hill]

RIP Joan Franco Prado

The Basque who fell in love with Las Negras and fell in love with Almeria cinema

Photographer and actor Joan Franco, who has lived in Almeria since 2000, dies at the age of 65

La Voz Almeria

By Evaristo Martinez

October 15, 2024

 

Almeria cinema is in mourning. On Friday, October 11, in his homeland, Joan Franco Prado (Vitoria, 1959) passed away. He was 65 years old and had spent the last 24 years linked to Las Negras. From there, every morning, he greeted his networks with a 'Good morning, world' and an image of the sunrise, recalls cultural manager Alejandro Reyes.

In the Nijar district he found a home and in the audiovisual people, a family. He was an actor, an extra, and played different technical roles behind the camera. "He was a great cameraman and photographer: I learned a lot from his knowledge and experience," says Diego Pérez Cano, director of 'The Interrogation', a film in which Franco was deputy director.

Manuel Olaya gave him his first role "both artistic and in production" in the short film 'Arizona, 1878'. "Unfortunately, in 'Agnella', also the last," he says about this production, premiered at the last Almeria Western Film Festival, an event in which the charismatic Basque was remembered, and a lot.

Self-taught, Franco was the official photographer of the Vitoria-Gasteiz International Jazz Festival from 1985 to 2000. He designed album covers and published in specialized magazines. In Almeria he exhibited his work at the Cyrano café.

On the screen

Since he came into contact with the Almeria audiovisual industry, he shared hours of filming with performers, extras, technicians and directors. "It was our film library," says actor Antonio Saldaña. "With a hug, bad vibes that were foreign to us dissipated. It was lucky to have him around," says another colleague, Miguel Morales.

"I met him at a casting, but I didn't go to the audition, but with a microphone from Canal Sur. Life made us work together on some projects and share many moments of cinema. On a shoot, he was the one who knew how to move and where to place everything. It's incredible what he can learn," says Carlos Juan, journalist and producer of Canal Sur. "I'm an imposter and he knew it. He was the only man I allowed to suck my face on a shoot. We will meet in another dimension to give it back to him," jokes musician and actor Javier Arnal. "He took his job very seriously. He had a big heart and gave without asking for anything in return," says Francisco Yélamos, who directed him in the short film '13 años'.

He participated in several shoots in Oasys MiniHollywood. "He was a stalwart of the park, always willing to support new projects in exchange for nothing, and giving you a smile," says José María Rodríguez Linde, manager of the town of Tabernas. And along the same lines, from the Café-Bar Ambrosio, home of the Almeria Western museum-cinema: "He was always willing to collaborate altruistically with his characteristic and sarcastic smile".

For the singer and artist Mar Venzal, he was a "free spirit" who looked at the world "through a camera". In the words of screenwriter and director Nieves Gómez, he was a "generous, humble and respectful" filmmaker, with an "incredible personality". "Every sunrise will take me to those photos that he gave us. And like the sound of the waves of the Mediterranean, it will resonate in each shoot with that affection and generosity that characterized him," says actress Anuska Martínez.

He left his mark

In addition to his dedication to the profession, those who crossed his path underline his human worth. "Our paths crossed for the first time a decade ago, on a shoot. From that day on, Joan left an indelible mark on my heart and on that of my students, always sharing his love. I admired him deeply," recalls Evelina Zukauskaite, coordinator of studies and tutor at EISO (School of Image and Sound of Almeria).

"He was always in a good mood," says chef Alejandro Farace. "Greeting the world every morning and sticking out your tongue in every selfie: you already miss him," adds prop designer Leonardo Giménez.

For actress Terry Bordiú, the Vitorian was "a light of life" and someone capable of making "every moment special". And Elsa Escribano, Tourism technician of the Provincial Council, highlights its "sensitivity" in capturing "essential moments".

"Each of my notes will carry his memory, his passion and his enthusiasm because he was simply an unforgettable person," confesses the composer David Miralles. And El Indaliano bids him farewell in verse: "It no longer dawns in Las Negras / as it used to dawn. / Joan took the brush / with which he colored / to his sky every day".

PRADO, Joan Franco

Born: 4/21/1959, Vitoria, Álava, Spain

Died: 10/14/2024, Las Negras, Andalucia, Spain

 

Joan Franco Prado’s western – cinematographer, actor:

Arizona 1878 una historia del Viejo oeste – 2019 (drunk) [cinematographer]

RIP Mario Morra

 

Mario Morra, the editor of Giuseppe Tornatore's 'Nuovo Cinema Paradiso', has died

la Republica

October 11, 2024

 

Mario Morra, editor of many films by directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni and Gillo Pontecorvo, has died. In his long career, the editing of Nuovo cinema Paradiso, the film by Giuseppe Tornatore, winner of the Oscar for best foreign film in 1989, stands out, but also that of the Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo in 1966. He died in Castelnuovo di Porto, the town in the province of Rome where he lived. He was born in Rome in 1935 and was 89 years old.

Also a director and screenwriter, he was above all an editor for cinema and television. He began in the early 1950s and has edited over 80 films, among others, by Anonimo veneziano by Enrico Maria Salerno, Queimada by Gillo Pontecorvo, Bello, onesto, emigrato Australia ssposarebbe compaesana illibata by Luigi Zampa with Alberto Sordi and Claudia Cardinale, L'emigrante and Rugantino by Pasquale Festa Campanile, with whom he had a long collaboration, the series of films on Piedone lo sbirro di Steno starring Bud Spencer. The collaboration with Giuseppe Tornatore began in 1986 with Il camorrista and continued with Nuovo Cinema Paradiso and Sono tutti bene.

MORRA, Mario

Born: 1935, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 10/11/2024, Castelnuovo di Porto, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Mario Morra’s westerns – film editor:

7 Guns for the MacGregors – 1966

The Long Days of Vengeance - 1967

Sundance Cassidy and Butch the Kid – 1969

A Man Called Amen - 1972

Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears - 1973

Zorro – 1975

Apache Woman – 1976

Mexico in Flames - 1982

RIP John Lasell

 

The Dark Shadows Wiki

John Lasell (November 6, 1928 - October 4, 2024) portrayed Dr. Peter Guthrie, a parapsychologist, in February and March 1967.

Lasell was born in Williamstown, Vermont, on November 6, 1928. He began his television career in 1960 in the anthology television series Armstrong Circle Theatre. In the same year he appeared in Hong Kong and Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond. Lasell played John Wilkes Booth in the anthology television series The Twilight Zone in the episode "Back There". He played the recurring roles of Dr. Robbins in Lassie and Benjamin Wedlock in the drama television series Dan August, and made three appearances in the legal drama television series Perry Mason.

He guest-starred in numerous television programs including Gunsmoke (S7E3 as outlaw Tucker Ferrin in the episode “Miss Kitty”), Wagon Train, Rawhide, Tales of Wells Fargo, 12 O'Clock High, The Fugitive, Adam-12, Mannix, Ben Casey, The Streets of San Francisco and Shotgun Slade.[8] He appeared in five films. His final television credit was from the soap opera television series Falcon Crest.

Lasell died on October 4, 2024, at the age of 95.

LASELL, John (John Whitin Lasell Jr.)

Born: 11/6/1928, Williamston, Vermont, U.S.A.

Died: 10/4/2024, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

John Lasell’s westerns – actor:

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1961 (Tucker)

Shotgun Slade (TV) – 1961 (Will Doby)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1961 (Arthur Phillips)

The Tall Man (TV) – 1961 (Ben Jardine)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1961 (Riker Culhane, Jed Polke)

Rawhide (TV) – 1965 (Captain Wayly)

RIP Elisa Montés

Elisa Montés, actress of 'Verano Azul' and mother of Emma Ozores, dies at the age of 89

Sad goodbye to Elisa Montés, sister of Emma Penella and Terelé Pávez, mother of Emma Ozores and legendary Spanish actress

el plural

By Sergio Soriano

10/9/2024

 

The world of acting says goodbye to Elisa Montés, legendary actress of Spanish film and television, who has died at the age of 89. With an extensive career behind her, Montés was known, among other works, for her unforgettable role in the series Verano Azul, where she gave life to Carmen, the mother of Tito and Bea. She is also the mother of Emma Ozores and sister of Emma Penella.

From Granada to the big screen: a life dedicated to cinema

Elisa Montés, born in 1934 in Granada, was part of a key family in the art world. Daughter of Magdalena Penella and sister of the famous actresses Emma Penella and Terele Pávez, Montés always showed a great affinity for cinema, debuting on the big screen in the 50s. Throughout her career, she worked in notable films such as Ana Says Yes, Life on a Pad and The Return of the Magnificent Seven.

With the passage of time she became a leading figure in the Spanish art scene, also participating in theater and television. During the 60s and 70s, she collaborated with great directors and filmmakers, earning the respect of the industry.

Success on television with Verano Azul

Although her film career was outstanding, for many generations Elisa Montés will always be remembered as Carmen, the mother of Tito and Bea in the series Verano Azul, one of the most iconic fictions of Spanish Television (TVE). Broadcast in the 80s and directed by Antonio Mercero, this production is still a classic that returns to the television grid every summer.

In the series, Montés played one of the mothers of the group of young vacationers that marked an entire generation. Her role in this series consolidated her image in the collective imagination of viewers.

A unique artistic and family legacy

Montés not only shone for her own performances but was part of a family saga with deep artistic roots. Daughter of the composer Manuel Penella and sister of renowned actresses, her family was always linked to art and music. However, it was her marriage to fellow actor Antonio Ozores that further accentuated her connection to the world of cinema. Together they worked in several films and had a daughter, Emma Ozores, who followed in her parents' footsteps in acting and also participated in Big Brother VIP.

A discreet return to the spotlight

Despite having largely retired from public life, Montés made a special appearance in 2017, when she was awarded the Prize of the Association of Audiovisual Festivals of Andalusia (ASFAAN) at the Almería Western Film Festival. On that occasion, he was recognized for her career and contribution to cinema. In addition, that same year she made a brief television appearance during her daughter Emma's participation in GH VIP.

MONTES, Elisa (Elisa Ruiz Penella)

Born: 12/15/1934, Granada, Granada, Andalucía, Spain

Died: 10/9/2024, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

 

Elisa Montes’ westerns – actress:

The Outlaw of Red River – 1965 (Francisca Riaño)

The Avenger – 1966 (mulatta girl)

Mutiny at Fort Sharp - 1966 (Brenda)

Return of the Seven – 1966 (Petra)

Seven Dollars to Kill – 1966 (Sybil)

Taste of Vengeance - 1968 (Julie Blake)

Captain Apache – 1970 (Rosita)

RIP Job

 

Comic book: Job, the co-creator of Yakari is dead

Sud Quest

10/9/2024

 

André Jobin, known as Job, passed away on October 8 at the age of 96. With the cartoonist Derib, he had created Yakari, this little Sioux who talks to the animals of the prairie

It was the Éditions du Lombard publishing house that announced the sad news: André Jobin, better known under the pseudonym of Job, died on October 8 at the age of 96. A former journalist, he became a comic book writer, meeting with immense success with children with Yakari, the little Sioux and his companion, the pony Little Thunder.

It was in December 1969 that Job and the cartoonist Derib published Yakari's first adventure, without suspecting that the young Indian would become so popular with children. In 1974, the two friends launched the eponymous magazine and, in total, no less than 256 issues of Yakari magazine were published until 1996. All the episodes of Yakari's adventures have been pre-published there exclusively until the 22nd volume.

Screenwriter of 38 volumes

Between 1973 and 2014, 38 volumes of the adventures of the one who whispers in the ear of animals were scripted by Job, before the latter, aged 87, gave way to Joris Chamblain, then Xavier Giacometti. The series now includes 42 volumes.

André Jobin has received numerous awards, including two Youth Prizes from the Angoulême International Comic Strip Festival for "Yakari and the Secret of Little Thunder", then "Yakari and the Appaloosas", in 1982 and 2006 respectively.

Yakari's adventures have been translated into some twenty languages, including German, Portuguese, Mandarin, Arabic, and Inuktitut. Not to mention the many adaptations of Yakari by other media, whether in an animated series, an animated feature film, a novel, a musical, or a video game.

Job (André Jobin)

Born: 10/25/1927, Delémont, Switzerland

Died: 10/8/2024, Nimes, Gard, France

 

Job’s western – comic book writer, screenwriter.

Yakari – (1973-2014) [writer]

Yakari (TV) - 1983 [writer]

Yakari (TV) 2005-2014 ([writer]

Yakari, a Spectacular Journey (TV) - 2020 [writer]

RIP Nicholas Pryor

 

Nicholas Pryor, of Port Charles, 90210 and Risky Business, Dead at 89: ‘He Was an Actor’s Actor’

TV Line

By Matt Webb Mitovich

October 8, 2024

Nicholas Pryor, who is best known to TV fans for his roles on Beverly Hills, 90210 and the General Hospital spinoff Port Charles — but who for many will always be the Risky Business dad or that Airplane! passenger — died on Oct. 7 while “surrounded by loving family.” He was 89.

A cause of death has not yet been shared.

Pryor’s Port Charles son, Jon Lindstrom, shared the sad news on Instagram, heralding Pryor as “an actor’s actor, and an exceptional friend.

Nicholas Pryor, who is best known to TV fans for his roles on Beverly Hills, 90210 and the General Hospital spinoff Port Charles — but who for many will always be the Risky Business dad or that Airplane! passenger — died on Oct. 7 while “surrounded by loving family.” He was 89.

“Nick may be best known for his role as the father of Tom Cruise in Risky Business, or as the same to Robert Downey Jr. in Less Than Zero,” Lindstrom noted. “He shared the screen with the likes of Jack Nicholson [in Hoffa], Kurt Russell [in Executive Decision], Ewan McGregor [in Doctor Sleep]…. Too many to name really. He starred on Broadway and delivered terrific work in Film and TV for over 60 years. But to me, he was my friend. One of the best I’ve ever had.

“He was a mentor, a sounding board, a trusted confidant, and even a father-figure beyond, yes, playing my own father on GH and Port Charles,” Lindstrom added. “And he was one of the funniest people you could hope to spend time with over a bottle of good wine and a great meal. I will miss him terribly, as will his beautiful wife Christina, his daughter Stacey, and his two grandchildren, Gus and Avril.”

In addition to his aforementioned roles as Port Charles‘ Victor Collins (father of twins Kevin and Ryan) and 90210‘s Chancellor Arnold, Pryor’s myriad TV credits included (but are far from limited to) Another World (as Tom Baxter), Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, The Nurses, The Edge of Night, Washington: Behind Closed Doors, Eight Is Enough and The Bronx Zoo.

PRYOR, Nicholas (Nicholas David Probst)

Born: 1/28/1935, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Died: 10/7/2024, Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.A.

 

Nicholas Pryor’s westerns – actor:

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1982 (Royal Wilder)

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (TV) – 1994 (Senator George Steward)

RIP Giorgio Trevisan

 

Giorgio Trevisan, internationally renowned cartoonist, has died

He was 89 years old. He was, among other things, the designer of the characters of Ken Parker, Sherlock Holmes and Julia

adnkronos

October 6, 2024

 

The painter and illustrator Giorgio Trevisan, one of the internationally renowned masters of Italian comics, designer of the characters of Ken Parker, Sherlock Holmes and Julia, died on Saturday 5 October at the 'Mother Teresa of Calcutta' hospital in Monselice (Padua) at the age of 89.

Born in Merano (Bolzano) on October 13, 1934, after graduating from the classical high school, Trevisan moved, on the advice of his father, to Padua to follow the courses of the Faculty of Agriculture. Here he was advised to devote himself to comics and illustration (he had already drawn a short comic story for a small typographer publisher on the South Tyrolean hero Andrea Soffher) and moved to Milan, where he began to collaborate with Studio Dami. For Roy D'Amy (Rinaldo Dami) between 1956 and 1960 he drew the pencils of "Cherry Brandy racconta..." and he made pencils and inks for war stories for the British market.

Between 1959 and 1977 Trevisan worked continuously for the publishing house of the "Corriere della Sera". For the "Corriere dei piccoli" he painted in tempera the figurines of the "History of Rome" and "History of the Risorgimento", then the central page with the "History of Italy" on texts by Mino Milani. For the "Corriere dei ragazzi" he drew stories from the series "Catastrophes on Earth" (in particular "Fear in Milan", on a text by Milani), "The Great Generals" and "Trials of History". For "Corrier Boy" he drew comic stories from the "Great Indian Chiefs" series.

In the meantime, through the Maffi agency, between 1960 and 1968, he worked for the French Lug drawing various characters, some of which (such as Archie and Fury) would also arrive at Italian newsstands in magazines such as "Alex & C.", "Rodeo" and "Zembla". In 1961-1962 he also made Salgarian adventures for the publisher Vaglieri. In the sixties he moved to Este (Padua, Italy), where he lived with his wife Vera and their four children.

In 1965 with Studio Dami he worked for Fleetway illustrating the children's novels "The Secret Garden", "The Dog of Flanders", "Till Ulenspiegel", "Tom Thumb" and "Gulliver" in colored ink, while he created comic strips "The Wizard of Oz". Trevisan has also illustrated some novels for the gift boxes to Mondadori subscribers: for 1971 short stories by Poe, Melville, Melburne; for 1972 "L'amore" by Stendhal, "Il giovane Werter" by Goethe and "Jacopo Ortis" by Foscolo. In 1971 he began his collaboration with the "Messaggero dei ragazzi" of Padua, creating "Fatima" on a text by Nicolette. The entirety of his activity for the publishing house of the Basilica del Santo earned him the European Christian Press Award.

Since 1973 he has drawn all eight issues of the "Medium" series (including covers) for the Dardo publishing house, plus an issue that has remained unpublished, all on texts by Romano Garofalo. Also for Dardo he also drew various war stories for the Super Eroica, Reportage, Prima linea and Uomini e guerra series; he also created many covers for "Il menntrò as an illustrator in Sergio Bonelli Editore for which he created, even during the eighties, comic series that would become particularly famous such as Storia del West and Ken Parkersile" and "Reportage". At the end of the seventies Trevisan joined Sergio Bonelli Editore as an illustrator for which he created, even during the eighties, comic series that will become particularly famous such as History of the West and Ken Parker. He later became part of the team of Julia, the criminologist created by Giancarlo Berardi and was also commissioned to create the celebratory number 100, "Clowns", in color. Also during the eighties Trevisan also created comic stories with the character of Sherlock Holmes published by the magazine "L'Eternauta" on texts by Giancarlo Berardi, transposition of some original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1991 Trevisan created the Romantic Tarot and the Renaissance Tarot produced by Lo Scarabeo editions.

TREVISAN, Giorgio

Born: 10/13/1934, Merano, South Tyral, Italy

Died: 10/5/2024, Monselice, Padua, Italy

 

Giorgio Trevisan – comic book artist:

Cherry Brandy – 1956

Pat e Pa – 1966

West Story - 1970

Ken Parker – 1977- 2015

Story of the West - 1980

The Great Indian Chiefs – 1983

RIP Emiliano Queiroz

 

Actor Emiliano Queiroz dies at the age of 88 

Interpreter of memorable characters on TV, including Dirceu Borboleta, from 'O bem-amado', the actor was part of the cast of Globo's first soap opera

O GLOBO

10/4/2024

On the morning of Friday (4), at the age of 88, actor Emiliano Queiroz died. A well-known face to the general public, the artist was part of the cast of "Lost Illusions" (1965), the first soap opera on TV Globo, and played successful characters, including Dirceu Borboleta, from "O bem-amado" (1973), and Juca Cipó, from "Irmãos Coragem (1970). The artist had been hospitalized for ten days at the São Vicente Clinic, in Gávea, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, to treat heart problems. The cause of death was cardiac arrest.

Recently, Emiliano had undergone surgery to place three stents in his heart. Last Thursday (3), the actor was discharged and sent home. At 4:30 am this Friday (4), he woke up feeling ill. He was then taken to the same hospital, where he had a cardiac arrest and did not resist.

Emiliano had been married for 51 years to Maria Leticia, a 77-year-old lawyer and also an actress. The actor raised 14 children with his wife and leaves eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. The place and time of the wake and cremation of the body have not yet been defined, as GLOBO learned.

Successful works

On TV Globo, Emiliano Queiroz has done several works in different productions, such as "Pai Herói" (1979), "Cambalacho" (1986), "Senhora o destino" (2004) and, more recently, "Espelho da vida" (2018) and "Éramos seis" (2020), in addition to "Alma gêmea" (2005), which is currently reprised by the channel in "Vale a pena ver de novo". His last work on television took place in "Além da ilusão" (2022), in a participation of five chapters of the soap opera.

With a fruitful career in theater, he was in the first production of "O pagador de promessas", by Dias Gomes, at the Brazilian Comedy Theater (TBC), in 1960, and played Geni in the very first version of the musical "Ópera do malandro", by Chico Buarque and Ruy Guerra, in 1978.

The son of a goldsmith and a primary school teacher, Emiliano left his home state of Ceará in his early 20s. During this period, he hitched a ride in a truck to São Paulo, to participate in professional theater productions, an activity to which he had dedicated himself since childhood, when he still lived in the small town of Aracati, where he was born. Among family and school friends, he was considered a prodigy.

At the age of 10, after moving with his parents to Fortaleza, the young man participated in free courses in performing arts and soon decided that he would pursue a career in art. He joined the Teatro Experimental de Arte, an important company in Ceará, at the age of 14. Shortly after, he started working at Ceará Rádio Clube. "I took a competitive exam, was approved and became a professional at the age of 16," he recalled, in an interview with the website "Memória Globo".

After a short period in São Paulo, the then boy returned to his home state and was hired by TV Ceará. At the local station, he did everything: he worked as an actor, comedian, counter-rule, producer, set designer, presenter...

QUEIROZ, Emiliano

Born: 9/28/1936, Aracati, Ceará, Brazil

Died: 10/4/2024, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 

Emiliano Queiroz’s western – actor:

O Lamparina – 1964 (Candeeiro)

RIP Ron Hale

 

Ron Hale, retired 'General Hospital' soap opera star, dies at 78

USA Today

By Jay Stahl

October 3, 2024

 

Retired soap opera star Ron Hale has died at 78.

Hale, who starred on "General Hospital" as Mike Corbin and "Ryan's Hope" as Dr. Rodger Coleridge, died on Aug. 27 at his St. George, South Carolina, home, according to an online obituary. News of his death surfaced widely Wednesday night.

Hale, who was legally known as Ronald Hale Thigpen, told Soaps In Depth exclusively in 2018 that he decided to retire and had already acted during his last appearance on "GH." He played Sonny Corinthos' dad in fictional Port Charles from 1995 to 2010.

Ron Hale during ABC's "General Hospital" Fan Day at Sportsman's Lodge in Studio City, California, United States.

Fans express outrage at Kelly Monaco's"General Hospital" exit after 2 decades

Hale portrayed Roger Coleridge over 900 episodes of "Ryan's Hope," the ABC soap opera, in which he starred for the show's entirety from 1975 to 1989.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan, native also portrayed Watergate burglar Frank Sturgis in the 1976 political movie, "All the President's Men," about The Washington Post's reporting on the Watergate and Richard Nixon controversy. He starred opposite the Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in the Academy Award-nominated film.

Other notable credits include roles in films such as "The Lord Protector" and guest starring roles in TV shows such as "Search For Tomorrow," "Matlock" and "MacGyver."

According to his obituary, the Screen Actors Guild member was born in Grand Rapids, the son of the late James Ray Thigpen Sr. and Elinor Jane Doerr Thigpen. He also appeared in several plays at the Trustus Theatre in Columbia, South Carolina, which was founded by his brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Kay Thigpen.

He is survived by his nieces and nephews, Lori Brown (Janet Brabham), Max Brabham, Erin Wilson (Laurens) and Marc Brown (Betsy), according to an online obituary.

Hale's ex-"General Hospital" co-stars made headlines shortly before his death. Kelly Monaco, who starred as Sam McCall in Port Charles on "GH" since 2003, is set to appear as her long-running character for the last time this fall, USA TODAY confirmed Tuesday.

HALE, Ron (Ronald Hale Thigpen)

Born: 1/2/1946, Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A.

Died: 8/27/2024, St. George, South Carolina, U.S.A.

 

Ron Hale’s western – actor:

The Adventures of Loop and Rhett - 2011 (townsman)

RIP Ken Tobias

 

Singer-songwriter Ken Tobias dies at 79

Country 94.1

By Brad Perry

October 2, 2024

 

A well-known singer-songwriter from New Brunswick has died after a battle with brain cancer.

Ken Tobias passed away on Tuesday at the age of 79, his brother confirmed on social media.

“While we are all trying to imagine a world without Ken, we can be grateful for the joy and beauty Ken brought to the world for more than sixty years,” said the post from Tony Tobias.

Born in Saint John, Tobias wrote the chart-topping hit “Stay Awhile” for the soft rock band The Bells.

He penned a number of top-selling recordings of his own, including “Dream No. 2” and “Stay Awhile”.

Tobias received numerous awards during his career, including five SOCAN Classics Awards for 100,000 airplays of a given song.

He produced the debut album for Canadian artist Kim Jarrett and also worked with Saint John artist Jessica Rhaye.

TOBIAS, Ken (Kenneth Wayne Paul Tobias)

Born: 7/25/1945, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Died: 10/2/2024, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

 

Ken Tobias’ western – singer:

Silver Saddle – 1977 [sings “Silver Saddle”, “Two Hearts”]

RIP Bob Yerkes

 

Legendary Hollywood Stuntman Bob Yerkes Dies at 92

Movie Guide

October 2, 2024

 

Legendary Hollywood stuntman Bob Yerkes died this week at the age of 92.

 

“Bob was more than a mighty man of God, he was a faithful friend,” Movieguide® Publisher Dr. Ted Baehr said. “[My daughter] Evy [Carroll] and her family and I visited him as he was holding on bravely, but he knew he was graduating to be with Jesus Christ and was full of grace and love. He came to most of our Hollywood parties and MOVIEGUIDE® Annual Faith & Values Awards Galas & Report to the Entertainment Industry. Bob even won a lifetime MOVIEGUIDE® Award. Jesus is rejoicing, but we will miss him a lot.”

MOVIEGUIDE® host and producer (and Baehr’s daughter) Evy Carroll said, “Kinda like a grandfather type for us since he was always around since we were kids.”

Yerkes first joined the entertainment industry at 15 years old when he ran away from home to join the circus where he performed the teeterboard act. As his acrobatic skills improved, so did his opportunities. He performed in shows in Las Vegas and the Catskills and ultimately found his way onto movie sets.

“This is my 57th year in the business, and my body keeps going. I’ve broken my leg three times, nothing serious. When I was in Ringling in 1957, I started reading the Bible,” Yerkes previously told Movieguide®.

Yerkes’ performed stunts in multiple iconic movies, including GHOST BUSTERS, BACK TO THE FUTURE, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABIT and more.

In 2004, Movieguide® honored Yerkes with the Special Lifetime Faith & Values Crystal Teddy® Awards.

Yerkes was recognized for “his tireless and superior efforts to help entertainers understand God’s love and grace.”

“It’s great to stand in for people,” he said at the time, “just like Jesus Christ, who stood in for all of us on the Cross.”

He continued: “I have been watching Hollywood come back to family-type films, and I’m watching more Christians move into leadership positions in the Entertainment Industry, and more of these come out of the Christian closet. Ted is doing such a great thing, and it’s having a great impact. Each year the awards Gala is bigger and better, and I’m here to give encouragement.”

Bob added, “Since the beginning, I’ve seen the MOVIEGUIDE® Awards grow each year, and I’m so excited about it…and I always take MOVIEGUIDE®’s with me when I go to work, I keep them backstage and talk to people and say, ‘You should subscribe to find out what really good films are, what you want to subject your mind to.’ More and more people are really getting into it — MOVIEGUIDE® and the awards.”

Yerkes continued to follow his passion for stunts well into his later years. His final credit is listed as 2017’s KILLING HASSELHOFF.

Yerkes leaves a strong legacy of faith and positivity in the entertainment industry. To hear more of his story in his own words, watch our interview below:

YERKES, Bob (Brayton Walter Yerkes)

Born: 2/11/1932, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 10/1/2024, Northridge, Californiua, U.S.A.

 

Bob Yerkes westerns – stuntman, actor:

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1979 (tumbler)

The Legend of the Lone Ranger – 1981 [stunts]

Back to the Future Part III – 1990 [stunts]

RIP John Amos

 John Amos 'Good Times' Star Dead at 84

TMZ

10/1/2024

 

John Amos, who led "Good Times" as patriarch James Evans, has died ... his son Kelly Christopher Amos announced. 

Per John's son, the Emmy-nominated actor died of natural causes in Los Angeles back on Aug. 21.

He continued ... "It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned. He was a man with the kindest heart and a heart of gold… and he was loved the world over. Many fans consider him their TV father. He lived a good life. His legacy will live on in his outstanding works in television and film as an actor."

In addition to his work in "Good Times," John was known for playing Gordy the Weatherman on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and for portraying older Kunta Kinte on "Roots" -- which earned him an Emmy nomination at the 29th Emmy Awards.

Fans of "The West Wing" will also recognize John for his recurring role as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace ... acting opposite Martin Sheen and the late John Spencer during its 7-season run.

John is survived by his daughter, Shannon, and son, K.C., who he welcomed with ex-wife Noel Mickelson.

The actor's children found themselves at odds last year, when they disagreed over his medical care and threw elder abuse allegations at one another ... prompting multiple investigations by the authorities -- but were eventually closed due to lack of evidence.

K.C. was arrested back in July amid the sibling spat ... after allegedly making threats against Shannon's life.

Back in December, John was hopeful that his estranged family would work through their issues ... though, he repeatedly denied being a victim of elder abuse.

He was 84.

RIP

AMOS, John (John Allen Amos Jr.)

Born: 12/27/1939, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Died: 8/21/2024, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

John Amos’ westerns – actor:

Bonanza: The Next Generation (TV) – 1988 (Mr. Mack)

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1997 (Pastor Roscoe Jones)

Shadow Hills (TV) – 2011 (Mr. Sams)

The Ranch (TV) – 2016, 2017 (Ed)

RIP Robert Watts

 

Robert Watts, ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ Producer, Dies at 86

The London native helped George Lucas get through the first film in the series, then worked on the next two and on the first three Indiana Jones movies.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

October 1, 2024

 

Robert Watts, the British producer and production manager who collaborated with George Lucas on the first three Star Wars films and the first three Indiana Jones movies, has died. He was 86.

Watts died Monday in his sleep at his home in East Sussex, England, his rep, Julian Owen at Alliance Agents, told The Hollywood Reporter. “We were with him for a decade taking him to conventions all over the world, where he could connect with fans and talk about his career,” Owen said.

Watts also worked alongside Indiana Jones director Steven Spielberg on the Spielberg-produced Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991).

For the extremely challenging first Star Wars film, Watts served as production supervisor under production designer John Barry, and the two traveled to Morocco and Tunisia to scout locations. He then did some third-unit directing.

“We were under a great deal of pressure from 20th Century Fox,” Watts recalled in a 2011 interview. “They were under great financial problems themselves and did not believe in the movie. At the time, we were the only Fox movie then shooting anywhere in the world. Their eyes were focused on us, and George was under a great deal of pressure. As a result so were we all.”

The film became an overwhelming success, of course. Watts then graduated to associate producer on The Empire Strikes Back (1980) — he recommended that his half-brother Jeremy Bulloch portray Boba Fett in that — and was co-producer on Return of the Jedi (1983).

Watts was born in London on May 23, 1938. His grandfather Walter Meade was a screenwriter whose credits included the war film Scott of the Antarctic (1948), starring John Mills.

After two years of national service in Nigeria, Watts got into the movie business as a runner on the comedy A French Mistress (1960), then spent two years as a production manager at Shepperton Studios.

He was a second assistant director on The Man in the Middle (1964), Roman Polanski’s Repulsion (1965), John Schlesinger’s Darling (1965) and Terence Young’s Thunderball (1965); a location manager on Lewis Gilbert’s You Only Live Twice (1967); and a production manager on Bud Yorkin’s Inspector Clouseau (1968), Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), John Guillermin’s El Condor (1970) and Franklin J. Schaffner’s Papillon (1973).

Watts was also a production manager on The Wrath of God (1972) — Rita Hayworth’s last film — when he first met producer Gary Kurtz, who at the time was preparing American Graffiti with Lucas. Three years later, Kurtz contacted him about working on Star Wars.

He said that when he started on the film in September 1976, Lucas “was paying for us all personally because Fox had still not greenlighted the film, and they didn’t do that until January.”

On Facebook, set decorator Roger Christian, who won an Oscar for his work on Star Wars, wrote that Watts “was one of the 5 people who really stood by George and our tiny art department to get Star Wars made.”

Watts’s résumé also included The Other Side of Midnight (1977), the Lucas-produced Return to Oz (1985), the Frank Marshall-directed Alive (1993) and Steven Seagal’s On Deadly Ground (1994).

Survivors include his children, Barney, Simon and Liddy, and his former wife, Julia.

WATTS, Robert (Robert Meade Watts)

Born: 5/23/1938, London, England, U.K.

Died: 9/30/2024, East Sussex, England, U.K.

 

Robert Watts’ westerns – producer, production manager:

El Condor – 1970 [production manager]

The Wrath of God – 1972 [production manager]

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West – 1991 [producer]