RIP James Houghton

 James Houghton, ‘Knots Landing’ Star and ‘Young and the Restless’ Writer, Dies at 75

His career in soap operas, primetime and daytime, also included ‘The Colbys’ and ‘The Bold and the Beautiful.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 28, 2025

 

James Houghton, who starred as Seaview Circle resident Kenny Ward on the first four seasons of Knots Landing and received four Daytime Emmys as a writer on The Young and the Restless, has died. He was 75.

Houghton died Aug. 27 at his home in Encino of peritoneal mesothelioma, his wife, Karen Houghton, told The Hollywood Reporter. She did not want to discuss his death until now.

Houghton also portrayed the fiancé of Nancy Allen’s character in Robert Zemeckis’ I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), and he played U.S. senator Cash Cassidy — a bitter rival of Charlton Heston’s oil mogul Jason Colby, on the second season (1986-87) of the ABC primetime soap The Colbys, a spinoff of Dynasty.

Houghton starred as Kenny, a record producer who often fooled around on his wife, Ginger (Kim Lankford), before they had a baby on 66 episodes of CBS’ Knots Landing from 1979-83.

The young Wards were one of the original four couples who lived on the show’s iconic cul-de-sac. Gary and Val (Ted Shackleford and Joan Van Ark), Sid and Karen (Don Murray and Michele Lee) and Richard and Laura (John Pleshette and Constance McCashin) were the others.

“The thing about Knots Landing was, because we were all on a cul-de-sac together and because we interacted with one another, it was still very much a family,” Houghton noted in a 2006 interview.

“Plus, we were putting on a show that — the initial season or two at the very least, a new show — we were in this foxhole mentality of ‘We’re all in this together.’ We’re all praying that it’ll catch fire and we’ll be on a show that will last a while and put us all into some kind of security, which most of us had never had.”

Earlier, Houghton had originated the role of Greg Foster on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless, playing the attorney from 1973-76. (Wings Hauser followed him in the part.)

He returned to the soap in 1991 as a writer and shared four Emmys — off 14 nominations — as a member of the outstanding drama series writing team through 2007. He and his fellow writers made Y&R a dominating force in the daytime ratings.

James Carter Houghton was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 7, 1948. His father was Buck Houghton, a producer of the first three seasons of CBS’ The Twilight Zone, and that got his son on the 1962 episode “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank” in one of his first onscreen appearances.

Houghton attended the Harvard School in Studio City, boarding school at the Institut Le Rosey in Rolle, Switzerland, and UC Berkeley before he appeared in 1972 on the ABC series Alias Smith & Jones and in the women-in-prison exploitation film Sweet Sugar.

He then joined Y&R, where he and William Espy, as Snapper Foster, played brothers.

“We were both driving around in old beat-up cars and just trying to make ends meet, and that was our first job where we actually weren’t worried about where our next meal was coming from,” he said.

Houghton left the soap to star with Martin Kove on the CBS action series Code R, but that show, about a rescue team on the Channel Islands, lasted just 13 episodes in 1977.

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, his onscreen wife Lankford had been romantically involved with Warren Zevon, and through that Houghton (and Shackelford) got to be on the cover of the singer-songwriter’s 1982 album, The Envoy.

Houghton and Lankford, who were real-life neighbors in Laurel Canyon while they worked on Knots Landing, were written off the David Jacobs-created Dallas spinoff when Kenny and Ginger move to Nashville to pursue careers in country music.

Houghton said he didn’t want to leave, but with other characters on the Dallas spinoff becoming more popular and getting bigger salaries, he understood.

“There comes a time when you’ve got to throw some ballast overboard in order to make room for something else,” he said. “You know, it’s a pretty surgical process. I didn’t take it personally.”

Houghton’s acting résumé also included the films One on One (1977), More American Graffiti (1979), Superstition (1982) and Purple People Eater (1988); guest spots on Fantasy Island, Hotel, The Love Boat and Remington Steele; and a role on the 1986 ABC miniseries North and South: Book 2, Love and War.

He and his younger sister, Mona Houghton, co-wrote three Knots Landing episodes in 1982, and after The Young & the Restless, he wrote for another CBS soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. He also authored a crime thriller, The Hooligan’s Game, published in 2017.

Over the years, Houghton gave his time and money to such charities as Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Special Olympics and School on Wheels.

In addition to his wife — they met at a T-ball game and were married in November 1994 — and sister, survivors include his mother, Wanda; his children, Daniel and Alisa; his son-in-law, Jim; and his grandson, Milo.

HOUGHTON, James (James Carter Houghton)

Born: 11/7/1948, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 8/27/2025, Encino, California, U.S.A.

 

James Houghton’s western – actor:

Alias Smith and Jones (TV) – 1971 (barker’s assistant)

RIP Paul Bronfman

 

Canadian screen industry entrepreneur, arts booster, Paul Bronfman dead at age 67

CTV News

By Cassandra Szklarski

February 27, 2025

 

Canadian screen industry entrepreneur Paul Bronfman was remembered Thursday as a visionary leader and champion of creative talent whose legacy will live on.

Tributes to the film and television giant chronicled a life dedicated to sharing stories, supporting new talent and building Canada's industry.

His children Jonathan, Andrew and Alex Bronfman said Thursday the arts booster died Wednesday in Toronto, surrounded by family. He was 67.

"He was the most resilient, stubborn and dedicated man," his children said in an email.

Bronfman was a go-to supplier of production equipment, studio space and other services for Canadian and Hollywood film, television and streaming shoots.

He was chairman and CEO of Comweb Corporation and William F. White International until its sale in 2019,

He was also founding partner of the waterfront filming complex Filmport Studios, which was later rebranded Pinewood Toronto Studios, where he served as chair.

Film producer Don Carmody described Bronfman as a "titan of the Canadian industry," who also happened to be his best friend of 45 years.

"We were on innumerable boards of directors together for so many film and television organizations," Carmody wrote in an email.

"Somehow he always seemed to be on at least one more board or advisory committee than me. He was tireless in donating his time and money to this community and will be greatly missed.

"None will miss him as much as me however."

Carmody said the pair regularly went to rock concerts together, even as Bronfman's health declined.

Bronfman had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995, and later in life was mostly paralyzed from the neck down, Carmody said.

"He couldn't get up and boogie anymore, but wow could he ever bob his head," Carmody wrote. "I would laugh because he was always on the beat and having a better time than all the young kids around us."

A member of one of Canada's best known business families, Bronfman’s great-uncle Samuel founded liquor giant Seagram Company, and father Edward built a business empire with holdings that included Royal LePage, Labatt Breweries and the Montreal Canadiens.

Also a philanthropist and arts lover, Paul Bronfman supported multiple film festivals and charities.

He served on the board of directors for industry groups including the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the Canadian Film Centre and the Canadian Media Production Association.

Neishaw Ali, CEO and executive producer of the visual effects studio Spin VFX, called Bronfman "a great mentor, visionary leader, and philanthropist."

"Paul Bronfman has been reshaping the production landscape in Canada for decades. His deep love for the film and television industry is clearly seen in him championing emerging talents, providing filmmakers with tools, and creating infrastructure to bring their stories to life," Ali said Thursday by email.

"Above all, Paul was a brilliant businessman, bold, driven and deeply dedicated to our industry and creative community at large. His passing is an immense loss and his contributions will endure for years to come."

Bronfman is survived by his children Alex, Jonathan and Andrew as well as six grandchildren. He also leaves behind two brothers, David and Brian.

Bronfman will be remembered at a funeral at Beth Tzedec Congregation on Sunday.

BRONFMAN, Paul

Born: 5/28/1957, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Died: 2/26/2025, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

Paul Bronfman’s western – producer:

Pocahontas: The Legend - 1995

RIP Michael Preece

 

Michael Preece, Prolific ‘Dallas’ and ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ Director, Dies at 88

Randy Newman’s father-in-law started out as a script supervisor on films including ‘Mutiny on the Bounty,’ ‘How the West Was Won’ and ‘The Getaway.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 27, 2025

 

Michael Preece, the script supervisor turned director who called the shots on multiple episodes of series including Hunter, Dallas and Walker, Texas Ranger, died Thursday. He was 88.

Preece died of heart failure at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles, his daughter, Gretchen Preece-Newman — wife of two-time Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Randy Newman — told The Hollywood Reporter.

Preece directed 19 episodes of NBC’s Hunter from 1984-90 during the show’s first six seasons; 62 installments of CBS’ Dallas from 1981-91 (seasons four through 14), plus the 1997 reunion telefilm War of the Ewings; and 70 episodes of CBS’ Walker, Texas Ranger during its nine-season, 1993-2001 run.

Preece also worked on The Bionic Woman, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, Flamingo Road, T.J. Hooker, The New Mike Hammer, Riptide, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest, MacGyver, 7th Heaven and many other series before calling it a career in 2007.

Michael Conway Preece was born in Los Angeles on Sept. 15, 1936. His mother, Thelma, founded the Script Clerks Guild (later IATSE’s Script Supervisor Local 871), and his father, Harold, was a cigarette and cigar salesman.

Preece graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School and while a freshman at Santa Monica City College during the summer of 1955 landed a job in set continuity on the syndicated series Waterfront, starring Preston Foster.

He then worked as a script supervisor for all three seasons of NBC’s I Spy (1965-68) and on films including The Old Man and the Sea (1958), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), True Grit (1969), The Hawaiians (1970), The Getaway (1972), The Paper Chase (1973) and Breakheart Pass (1975).

Preece graduated to director in ’75 on an episode of ABC’s The Streets of San Francisco and went on to helm two features, The Prize Fighter (1979) and Beretta’s Island (1993).

Preece by far directed the most Walker, Texas Ranger episodes, and on Dallas, only Leonard Katzman helmed more (only five more, in fact).

In a 2012 interview, Preece said there was a saying on the set of Dallas that the show was “director proof,” meaning no director could screw it up.

“Larry [Hagman] knew his character. He had a tendency to go a little bigger than was needed, so you’d try to curb him a little bit,” he noted. “Or if he didn’t know his lines well, sometimes he would have them written on cue cards and I’d say, ‘Larry, you sound like you’re reading it.’ But basically, he needed very little direction — and that was true of much of the cast. They made it easy.”

Preece was a longtime employee of Lorimar Productions, and before he would ever a direct on Dallas, he filmed each castmember firing a gun in order to ensure that no one would know who really shot Hagman’s J.R. Ewing in the show’s iconic third-season cliff-hanger that aired in March 1979.

In addition to his daughter — she said her dad was especially proud to have such an accomplished musician as Newman as his son-in-law — survivors include his son, Gary; grandchildren Jason, Ariana, Molly, Patrick, Alice and Adrian; great-grandchildren Jason and Emma; and great-great-grandson Julian.

He met his first wife, Paula, at Hamilton, and they were married from 1953 until their 1968 divorce. He was then married to Hollywood hairstylist Evelyn Preece from 1969 until her 2017 death.

PREECE, Michael (Michael Conway Preece)

Born: 9/15/1936, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 2/27/2025, Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Michael Preece’s westerns – writer:

Gunamoke (TV) - 1967

The Gun and the Pulpit - 1974

Breakheart Pass- 1975

Sara (TV) – 1976

The Young Riders (TV) – 1991, 1992

Walker Texas Ranger (TV) – 1993-2001

The Lazarus Man – 1996

Shadows Over Sulphur Falls - 2025

RIP Gene Hackman

 

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife and dog found dead in their New Mexico home

Associated Press

By Felicia Fonseca

February 27, 2025

 

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were found dead in their New Mexico home, authorities said Thursday.

Foul play was not suspected, but authorities did not release circumstances of their deaths and said an investigation was ongoing.

Hackman, 95, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog were all dead when deputies entered their home to check on their welfare around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.

The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for “The French Connection” in 1972 and “Unforgiven” two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.

Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times reported in 1989. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade had bought their home in Santa Fe.

The large Southwestern-style ranch on Old Sunset Trail sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains.

Hackman co-wrote three novels, starting with the swashbuckler, “Wake of the Perdido Star,” with Daniel Lenihan in 1999, according to publisher Simon & Schuster. He then penned two by himself, concluding with “Pursuit” in 2013, about a female police officer on the tail of a predator.

In his first couple decades in New Mexico, Hackman was often seen around the historic capital city famous as an enclave for artists, a destination for tourists and as a retreat for celebrities.

He served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.

In recent years, he was far less visible, though even the most mundane outings caught the attention of the press, the newspaper reported. The Independent wrote about him attending a show at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in 2018. The New York Post reported on him pumping gas, doing yard work and getting a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s in 2023.

Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired from acting about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.

Hackman had three children from a previous marriage, but he and Arakawa had no children together. They were known for having German shepherds.

Hackman told the film magazine Empire in 2020 that he and Arakawa liked to watch DVDs she rented.

“We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,” he said.

HACKMAN, Gene (Eugene Allen Hackman)

Born: 1/30/1930, San Bernardino, California, U.S.A.

Died: 2/26/2025, Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.

 

Gene Hackman’s westerns – actor:

Iron Horse (TV) – 1957 (Harry Wadsworth)

Zandy’s Bride – 1974 (Zandy Allan)

Bite the Bullet – 1975 (Sam Clayton)

The Hunting Party – 1972 (Brand Ruger)

Unforgiven – 1992 (Little Bill Daggett)

Geronimo: An American Legend – 1993 (Brigadier General George Crook)

Wyatt Earp – 1994 (Nicholas Earp)

The Quick and the Dead – 1995 (Herod)

RIP Olive Sturgess

 

Olive Sturgess, Vincent Price’s Daughter in ‘The Raven,’ Dies at 91

The Canadian-born actress also worked on a bushel of TV Westerns, from ‘Rawhide’ and ‘Wagon Train’ to ‘Maverick’ and ‘The Virginian.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 27, 2025

 

Olive Sturgess, who appeared on about two dozen TV Westerns and got to act alongside Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson in the Roger Corman 1963 cult horror spoof The Raven, died Feb. 19, her family announced. She was 91.

Through two decades starting in the mid-1950s, the fresh-faced Sturgess showed up on (by her count) about 300 episodes of television, including 12 from 1956-59 as the girlfriend of Dwayne Hickman’s character on the NBC-CBS sitcom The Bob Cummings Show.

The Canadian-born starlet also was seen on such series as West Point, Perry Mason, Panic!, The Donna Reed Show, Hawaiian Eye, The Danny Thomas Show, Petticoat Junction, Dr. Kildare and Ironside, but TV Westerns dominated her résumé.

Sturgess appeared on Tales of Wells Fargo, Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, U.S. Marshal, Rawhide, Have Gun — Will Travel, Lawman, Laramie, The Rebel, The Tall Man, Bronco, Whispering Smith, Maverick, Wide Country, Destry, The Virginian and Bonanza, among others.

When she guest-starred alongside Mickey Rooney on a 1960 episode of NBC’s Wagon Train, she got to wear the wedding dress used by Elizabeth Taylor in Father of the Bride (1950).

“I don’t know how many times the gown, which was beautiful, was recycled, but I got to wear it with very few alterations. It needed shortening only two inches!” she recalled in an undated interview for the Western Clippings website.

Sturgess said working on two episodes of the Karloff-hosted NBC horror anthology series Thriller in 1960 and ’61 paved the way for her to land the role of Estelle Craven, daughter of the sorcerer Dr. Erasmus Craven (Price), in American International Pictures’ The Raven.

Lorre and Karloff also play sorcerers, Dr. Adolphus Bedlo and Dr. Scarabus, respectively, while Nicholson is Rexford Bedlo, the son of Lorre’s character. The film took about two weeks to shoot.

In an interview for Tom Weaver’s 2014 book, I Talked With a Zombie, Sturgess said collaborating with legends Price, Karloff and Lorre was quite a thrill “because of the way they used their voices and the way they spoke. It made you chill just to hear it.

“When Mr. Karloff would turn to me during a scene, and when he was talking about me, I felt the chills go up my spine because of the way he said it! Oh, golly! It was a great education just being with them.”

Meanwhile, she described Nicholson, who was then about 26, as “sort of ‘different’ … you could feel this talent of his, but he wasn’t letting it out yet.”

Olive Dora Sturgess was born on Oct. 8, 1933, in Ocean Falls, British Columbia, and raised in Vancouver. She took ballet and piano lessons when she was a youngster, and seeing Mary Martin on and above the stage in Peter Pan inspired her to try show business.

“We were sitting in the front row of the balcony,” she told Weaver, “and when she came flying out, I felt like I was watching a magic thing happening, and I knew that [being an actress] was what I wanted to do with my life.”

After she and her family moved to California in 1954, she was attending Whittier College and acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse when she met Hank Garson, a well-known writer of radio shows at CBS. That led to her appearing on such TV programs as Matinee Theatre, Studio 57, The Millionaire, The People’s Choice and The Red Skelton Hour.

She signed a contract with Universal-International — Clint Eastwood, also at the studio then, did her screen test with her — and before long, “You’d see me twice a week on TV in the ‘50s,” she said.

On the first season (1960-61) of NBC’s The Tall Man, starring Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager, she and Judy Nugent played tomboy sisters on three episodes.

The 5-foot-2 Sturgess knew how to ride a horse, and she also performed in rodeos and in one Western feature, Requiem for a Gunfighter (1965).

She gave up acting when her daughter, Amy, was born, with her final onscreen credit coming on a 1974 episode of The Rookies.

She was married to Dale Anderson, a percussionist and Hollywood studio musician who worked often with John Williams, from 1964 until his 2003 death.

In her Western Clippings interview, Sturgess said the shows she was on were vastly superior to those that followed.

“We used to have stories that had a beginning, middle and an end, that made you feel good after watching them,” she said, “not those terrible shallow shows of today. We had stories that were genuine; stories of the West done with humor or drama and romance. A good show you looked forward to seeing. You really felt good when you saw the TV shows of those days.”

STURGESS, Olive (Olive Dora Sturgess)

Born: 10/8/1933, Ocean Falls, British Colombia, Canada

Died: 2/19/2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Olive Sturgess’ westerns – actress:

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1957 (Mary Lambert)

Cheyenne (TV) – 1958 (Kathy Donovan)

Sugarfoot (TV) – 1958 (Olive Turner)

Buckskin (TV) – 1959 (Mary McNamara)

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1959 (Helen Martin)

Lawman (TV) – 1959 (Wanda)

Rawhide (TV) - 1959 (Sally Devereaux)
The Rebel (TV) – 1959, 1960 (Charity Brunner, Jeannie)

The Texan (TV) – 1959 (Mary Lou Martin)

U.S. Marshal (TV) – 1959 (Pat Latimer)

Laramie (TV) – 1960 (Caroline Clark)

Maverick (TV) – 1960, 1961 (Phoebe Albright, Phyllis Hulett)

The Tall Man (TV) – 1960, 1961 (May McBean)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1960 (Cathy Burns, Melanie Evans)

Whispering Smith (TV) – 1961 (Meg Phillips)

Bonanza (TV) – 1962, 1965 (Mary Ann Wilson, Nancy)

Outlaws (TV) – 1962 (Ruthie Durant)

Wide Country (TV) – 1963 (Bibsy)

Destry (TV) – 1964 (Sally)

The Virginian (TV) – 1964 (Laura Carter)

Requiem for a Gunfighter – 1965 (Bonnie Young)

Bronco (TV) – 1965 (Virginia Munger)

RIP Michelle Trachtenberg

 

Michelle Trachtenberg, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' star, dead at 39

Trachtenberg gained fame for 'Gossip Girl' and 'Harriet the Spy'

Fox News

By Lauryn Overhultz , Tracy Wright

February 26, 2025

 

Michelle Trachtenberg has died.

The 39-year-old actress was found dead in a New York City apartment, Fox News Digital can confirm.

Authorities found Trachtenberg at a residence after responding to a 911 call around 8 a.m. local time. The actress was unconscious and unresponsive, according to the New York Police Department. Trachtenberg's death is not being investigated as suspicious and the cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner. Police sources told ABC7 that Trachtenberg had recently undergone a liver transplant and may have been experiencing complications.

Trachtenberg's representative also confirmed the actress' death. "The family requests privacy for their loss," Gary Mantoosh told Fox News Digital. "There are no further details at this time."

Trachtenberg began her career in Nickelodeon's "The Adventures of Pete and Pete." In 1996, she made her film debut, playing the title role in "Harriet the Spy."

The actress moved on to star as Dawn Summers in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" for three years. The series ran from 1997 until 2003.

Trachtenberg had met Sarah Michelle Gellar, the show's lead, while working on "All My Children" in 1994, and the two remained close before the actress joined "Buffy" in its fifth season.

"I had known Sarah since we worked together on 'All My Children,'" she previously told the BBC. "We worked together for about two and a half years, and we had kept in touch through the years when she moved to Hollywood and began building her career from that point."

"I kept in touch with Sarah through the years, and because ‘Buffy’ had become my real favorite show, I had always tried to think of ways for me to guest star on the show, and I heard about the call one day. Sarah was always very supportive."

Trachtenberg gained more fame as Georgina Sparks in "Gossip Girl." She starred alongside Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford and Penn Badgley in the hit drama series.

"Gossip Girl" ran from 2007 until 2012.

Despite her career taking off at a young age, education remained important for Trachtenberg.

"I have to always have a teacher on set. Education’s very important to me. I believe that, god forbid, if this acting thing doesn’t work out for me, I have to have a solid background behind me, and I’ve been raised believing that education is very enriching and very important, and that’s the moral that I’ve applied to my life," she once said in an interview, per the Hollywood Reporter.

"I want to go to university one day, I want to go to college and I want to major in the behind-the-camera stuff. I want to learn how to make movies, because I already know what to do if I’m in a movie, and I want to know what to do if I’m trying to make one."

Trachtenberg continued to act, landing roles in "Sexy Evil Genius," "The Scribbler" and "Sister Cities." Her most recent role was in the 2021 revival of "Gossip Girl."

TRACHTENBERG, Michelle (Michelle Christine Trachtenberg)

Born: 10/11/1985, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/20/2025, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Michelle Trachtenberg’s western – voice actress:

DC Showcase: Jonah Hex – 2020 [voice of a bar girl]

RIP Roberto Orci

 

Roberto Orci, Star Trek and Transformers Writer-Producer Dies at 51

CBR

By Jeremy Dick

2/25/2025

 

Roberto Orci, known for his work on Star Trek and other major franchises, has passed away. He was 51 years old. Per Deadline, Orci died on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at his Los Angeles home. His death was attributed to kidney disease.

“He was a visionary storyteller with a boundless heart and a beautiful soul,” J.R. Orci, the writer-producer's brother, said of his late sibling. “But beyond his creative talents, he was a compassionate friend who would put his life on hold to help a stranger and find room in his home for the most overlooked pup at the shelter.”

Roberto "Bob" Gaston Orci was born in Mexico City, Mexico, on July 20, 1973. As a child, he relocated to the United States, and he met longtime collaborator Alex Kurtzman when the two were teenagers at a private school in Santa Monica, California. That led to several projects developed together, starting with the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys with Kevin Sorbo and Xena: Warrior Princess with Lucy Lawless. They'd later team up with J.J. Abrams to work on the TV shows Alias and Fringe.

Orci collaborated with Kurtzman and Abrams again on 2009's Star Trek, the reboot film introduced a new cast including Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock. The film was a big hit, resulting in two sequels and a continued desire from fans to see a fourth movie. Orci and Kurtzman co-wrote the first sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, with Damon Lindelof. While Orci was originally set to direct Star Trek Beyond, the movie was ultimately directed by Doug Jung and his original script wasn't used, though he was still credited as a producer.

"But every time you go out there, it’s the same blank page, and it’s the same horrible process," Orci said in a 2011 interview of what it was like to write Star Trek movies. "But in all of the genre stuff we do, we always say, what is the little theme that would be an independent movie if you didn’t have robots or space ships or Klingons? And if you have that story, then maybe you’re on the right track. In Star Trek, it’s a brotherhood of opposites that have to come together. In Transformers, it’s a kid growing up to adulthood. In this, we wanted to make sure we found the same kind of character starting place that allows everything else to happen around it."

Orci also worked with Kurtzman on the films The Island, The Legend of Zorro, Mission: Impossible III, Cowboys & Aliens, and the original live-action Transformers movie by Michael Bay. The two also worked on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with Andrew Garfield. In 2020, it was reported that Orci was set to write a movie set in Sony's Spider-Man Universe alongside films like Venom and Morbius, but the project never came to fruition.

Additionally, Orci had many TV writing and producing credits, including Jack of All Trades, Transformers: Prime, Hawaii Five-0, Locke & Key, Sleepy Hollow, Matador, Scorpion, and Limitless.

Orci's survivors include his father, Roberto Orci Sr.; his mother, Macuqui Robau-Garcia; siblings, J.R. Orci, Tayor Orci, and Courtney Ford; and his dog, Bogey.

ORCI, Roberto

Born: 7/20/1973, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Died: 2/25/2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Roberto Orci’s westerns – producer, writer:

The Legend of Zorro – 2005 [writer]

Cowboys & Aliens – 2011 [producer, writer]

RIP John Lawlor

 

John Lawlor, Actor on ‘Phyllis’ and ‘The Facts of Life,’ Dies at 83

He’s also remembered for playing a dad in a 1980s commercial for the breakfast cereal Malt-O-Meal.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

February 24, 2025

 

John Lawlor, who portrayed one of Cloris Leachman’s co-workers on the CBS sitcom Phyllis and the Eastland School for Girls headmaster on the first season of the NBC comedy The Facts of Life, has died. He was 83.

Lawlor died Feb. 13 at a veterans’ hospice facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, his family announced.

His 60-plus years as an actor also included turns in such films as Blake Edwards’ S.O.B. (1981) and Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp (1994).

Lawlor played the inept Leonard Marsh, who works with Leachman’s Phyllis Lindstrom in the San Francisco City Supervisor’s office, on the second and last season (1976-77) of Phyllis, one of the many Mary Tyler Moore Show spinoffs. (He had portrayed a cop on a first-season episode.)

When The Facts of Life — a Diff’rent Strokes spinoff — premiered in August 1979, Lawlor was there as headmaster Steven Bradley. He appeared on all 13 installments of the first season but none after that, to be replaced by Roger Perry’s Charles Parker.

The eldest of six children, John Henry Lawlor III was born on June 5, 1941, in Troy, New York. He was raised in Boulder, Colorado, where his mother, Carolyn, taught special-needs children at a middle school.

He graduated from the University of Colorado, and as a member of the Nomad Players — a company that also gave Larry Linville and Joan Van Ark their starts — he acted in Sweeney Todd and other productions.

After serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, Lawlor made his first onscreen appearances on 1975 episodes of The Rockford Files and Ellery Queen and played a deputy in Jackson County Jail (1976), starring Yvette Mimieux, before landing on Phyllis.

His résumé included guest spots on Alice, Barney Miller, Newhart, T.J. Hooker, Sledge Hammer!, Knots Landing, L.A. Law, Breaking Bad and Longmire; other films like The Gumball Rally (1976), Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977) and Movie Madness (1982); and a stint in the ’80s as a dad (“Good stuff, Maynard”) in a Malt-O-Meal cereal commercial.

Lawlor also served as an assistant director on features including Excalibur (1981), Neil Jordan’s Angel (1982), Highlander (1986), A Prayer for the Dying (1987) and Driftwood (1997).

Survivors include his children, Eric, Bryan, Annie, Elizabeth and Riel, brothers Thomas and Dave and three grandchildren. His second wife was Canadian actress Tantoo Cardinal (Dances With Wolves); they were married from 1988 until their 2000 divorce.

LAWLOR, John (John Henry Lawlor)

Born: 6/5/1941, Albany, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/13/2025, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A.

 

John Lawlor’s westerns – actor:

The Oregon Trail (TV) - 1978

Wyatt Earp – 1994 (Judge Spicer)

Killer Women – 2014 (Judge Walter Garrrity)

Longmire (TV) – 2014 (Oren Mallory)

Godless (TV) – 2017 (Elmer Knowland)

RIP Peter Jason

 

Peter Jason Dies: ‘Deadwood’ Actor And Favorite Of John Carpenter And Walter Hill Was 80

DEADLINE

By Greg Evans

February 21, 2025

 

Peter Jason, a prolific character best known for his role as Deadwood‘s dim-witted card dealer Con Stapleton and numerous performances in the films of John Carpenter and Walter Hill, died Thursday. He was 80.

A cause of death was not immediately available.

His death was announced Thursday evening by, among other colleagues, Halloween director Carpenter, who called him “one of the great character actors in cinema.” Wrote Carpenter on X, “He was a dear friend and I’ll miss him terribly.”

Other friends and colleagues also shared the news. Actor Billy Zane wrote on X, “My dear, dear friend, the brightest light, most generous soul and gregarious of men, the supremely talented and kind Peter Jason has left the set,” and Matthew Asner, son of the late actor Ed Asner, wrote on Facebook, “I am heartbroken. My dear friend and my father’s best friend, Peter Jason, passed away today. What a loss He was truly one of the sweetest people on the planet. My heart goes out to his wife and daughter. Peter, I hope you and my dad are up there laughing your asses off.”

With more than 260 film and TV credits, including his role on Deadwood that included 26 episodes through the 2004-2006 run of the HBO Western series as well as the 2019 film version, Jason was a prolific and familiar face through screen performances dating back to the 1960s.

To give just a sampling: Early TV credits include guest shots on ’60s series such as Judd For The Defense, Here Come The Brides and Land Of The Giants and the following decades would include Hart To Hart, The Golden Girls, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Dirty Sexy Money, Justified, NCIS and beginning in 2017 a recurring role in Zach Galifianakis’ FX comedy series Baskets playing the brother of Louis Anderson’s Christine Baskets.

Film roles, to name a few, include 1970’s Rio Lobo, 1984’s The Karate Kid, 1990’s The Hunt for Red October, 2003’s Seabiscuit, and, in 2018, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, in which he played the role of Senator Sherwood.

Jason’s most prolific collaborations were with directors Carpenter and Hill. For Carpenter, he appeared in seven films between 1987 and 2001 including Prince of Darkness, They Live, Body Bags, In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, Escape from L.A. and Ghosts of Mars. The actor also appeared frequently in Hills’ movies and TV series including some episodes of Deadwood. Perhaps Jason’s most memorable appearance in a Hill movie was his performance as a racist bartender in the 1982 comedy 48 Hrs. starring Eddie Murphy.

Born in Hollywood on July 22, 1944, Jason grew up in Newport Beach and would go on to study drama at Carnegie Mellon University.

He is survived by wife Eileen and other family. Complete survivor information was not immediately available.

JASON, Peter (Peter Edward Ostling)

Born: 7/22/1944, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

Died: 2/20/2025, U.S.A.

 

Peter Jason’s westerns – producer: actor:

Cimarron City (TV) – 1968 (groom, David Arlin)

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1969 (Clint Bickford)

Here Come the Brides (TV) – 1969 (Adam Wilson)

Rio Lobo – 1970 (Lt. Forsyth)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1970, 1973 (Colt, Cully Haimes, Gentry, Pope)

Kung Fu (TV) – 1972 (townsman)

The Long Riders – 1980 (Pinkerton)

Sunset – 1988 (Frank Coe)

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (TV) – 1994 (Travis Stone)

Wild Bill – 1995 (Dave McCandles)

Agua Dulce – 2003 (Walter Tracy)

Darkwatch: Curse of the West – 2005 (narrator)

Deadwood (TV) – 2006 (Con Stapelton)

The Man Who Came Back – 2008 (warden)

A Woman in the West – 2008 (Frank Blake) [producer]

Longmire (TV) – 2016 (Abel ‘Jenk’ Jenkins)

Deadwood: The Movie – 2019 (Con Stapleton)

RIP Tony Isbert

 

The great actor Tony Isbert, grandson of the popular Pepe Isbert, dies at the age of 74

Madrid-born Tony Isbert, a member of an illustrious saga of Spanish actors, has died of a pneumothorax in Santander

El Cierre Digital

By Maria Vaquero

February 19, 2025

 

Spanish cinema is mourning the sudden death of actor Tony Isbert at the age of 74. The actor, a member of an illustrious and long saga of Spanish actors, has died at his home in Santander victim of a pneumothorax.

As elcierredigital.com has learned through his brother Alfonso Isbert, they had not heard from the actor for a few days. Tony suffered from a respiratory disease and had been admitted to the hospital last week for it. After being discharged on Monday, he was found lifeless at home on Wednesday.

Tony Isbert began his career for reasons, in principle, unrelated to talent. "I was tall, blond and photographed well. That was unusual in Spanish cinema at the time and, of course, I was given all the roles of a young heartthrob. Then I learned to speak and I started in merit in the theater, a medium that I have not yet forgotten," he recalled in an interview for elcierredigital.com.

Born into a family of great actors in Madrid, in December 1950, Tony was the son of María Isbert and grandson of the popular Pepe Isbert. Following the legacy of the saga, Tony Isbert triumphed in national cinema and theater. He would be 75 years old next December.

He was in charge of presenting the José Isbert Theatre Prize every year, awarded by the AMIThE Association (Association of Friends of the Historic Theatres of Spain). In 2009 he received the AMIThE gold medal in recognition of his numerous achievements. The AMIThE association expected Tony's attendance on April 4. The date on which the award that honors his family will be presented one more year.

In 2024, the artist Ana Belén received the XXV Pepe Isbert Award from Tony Isbert. The gala was held on March 8 in one of the most historic and emblematic buildings in Albacete.

The award ceremony took place at the Teatro Circo in Albacete, a city to which the entire saga has been linked since its origins. Tony Isbert's family-owned properties in Tarazona de la Mancha, a town in Albacete where Pepe Isbert grew up and lived regularly.

Tony Isbert's renowned career

Tony Isbert has always had a passion for theatre in his veins. Logically, being the son of actress María Isbert and Antonio Spitzer, a Hungarian language teacher. Tony was one of six brothers, among whom also stand out the writer, actor and playwright José S. Isbert and Carlos Isbert.

His first great success in cinema came in 1969 with the film ¿Es usted mi padre?. That same year, he co-starred with Marisol in the film Carola de día, Carola de noche, where he played the role of Daniel Rey.

Fifteen years later, she would meet Marisol again in the TVE series Mariana Pineda: "When we were filming the movie, she insisted on teaching me to sing during the breaks. She was about to marry Carlos [Goyanes, the son of her discoverer]. Then we did the series with Rafael Moreno Alba and she was already Pepa Flores. Every time I go to Malaga to do theatre, she comes to see me." This is how Tony Isbert himself recounted it in his interview with elcierredigital.com.

From there came all the others. With Geraldine Chaplin he shot The House Without Borders under the direction of Pedro Olea, a film that had problems with censorship because they understood it was a criticism of Opus Dei. Years later José Luis Balbín brought it to light in 'La Clave'.

Tony Isbert had problems with censorship in Los gallos de la madrugada where he shared the bill with the also deceased Concha Velasco. “When she was in one theatre, I was doing Twelve Angry Men in another and we had a snack together every day. Then we did Santa Teresa de Jesús and since then she calls me 'my little friar'.”

Tony Isbert's success as a young heartthrob was such that Fotogramas dedicated its cover to him on the occasion of his version of Romeo and Juliet for TVE with Ana Belén. Evidently, this made him one of the protagonists of male unveiling, although he always set his limits: "Ignacio F. Iquino called me to do Aborto criminal with Emma Cohen. And since I didn't trust him because of all that he did with double versions for foreign countries, my manager, Enrique Herreros, made it clear that I would not take off my underwear at any time."

In the 1980s, Tony Isbert began to slow down his work in film to focus on theatre. “I worked with the best and became a real actor. I learned to speak and respect the public like my grandfather and mother did.”

A career on stage and devoted to acting that he recounted in an interview in 2020 with David González for elcierredigital.com. “I am in charge of two acting schools and I am filming a medium-length film about Alzheimer's. It is a reality that affects me closely, since two of my aunts died from this disease. My mother died with a great mind because she dedicated herself to studying every day for her job,” says the actor. Tony Isbert belongs to a saga that has written some of the best pages of our show.

For years, Tony Isbert has been in charge of presenting the Pepe Isbert Award of the Amithe association. An award that was created with a triple purpose: to reward an exceptional career in the theatre, to remember the unforgettable Pepe Isbert and to spread the need to protect the historical theatrical heritage of Spain.

This year, the theatre association will miss the presence of Tony Isbert, as will national cinema and theatre.

ISBERT, Tony (Antonio José Spitzer Ysbert)

Born: 12/5/1950, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Died: 2/19/2025, Santander, Cantabria, Spain

 

Tony Isbert’s westerns:

The New Zorro (TV) – 1990

Outlaw Justice (TV) – 1997 (bank robber)

The Return of El Coyote – 1997 (Mark)

RIP Jean Sarrus

Jean Sarrus, Founding Member Of Les Charlots, Dies At 79

Sarrus, beloved entertainer and musician, passes away after lengthy illness, leaving behind a rich legacy in French comedy.

The Pinnacle Gazette

February 19, 2025

 

Jean Sarrus, one of the last surviving members of the iconic French comedy group Les Charlots, has passed away at the age of 79. Sarrus, who died on February 19, 2023, at his home in Blesle, Haute-Loire, succumbs to a long illness. His death was announced by journalist Philippe Manoeuvre, who revealed it came at the behest of Sarrus's family.

Known as part of the humorous troupe which rose to fame during the vibrant 1970s French cinema, Sarrus was not just a comedian but also accomplished as a renowned bassist. Friends and fans alike remembered him fondly. Manoeuvre described him as "a long-time friend" and recalled how Sarrus's son Dorian informed him of the sad news. "Jean was one of the Charlots and also a remarkable bassist. He accompanied musicians like Ronnie Bird and Dick Rivers, and his love for country music was evident throughout his life," Manoeuvre said. "He was truly adorable."

Les Charlots were known for their playful parodies and irreverent humor, which characterized French comedic cinema of the era. They initially started as accompaniment for the singer Antoine under the name Problèmes before rebranding to Les Charlots in 1966. They quickly captured the public's attention with hits like "Merci patron" and went on to star in numerous films. One of their most influential works was "Les Bidasses en folie," released in 1971, which attracted over 7 million viewers.

The director Philippe Clair was instrumental in catapulting Les Charlots to stardom. They starred prominently in his second film, "La Grande java." Throughout the 1970s, they worked closely with Claude Zidi, producing films such as "Les Fous du stade" and "Le Grand bazar," which solidified their status as leading figures in French cinema. Sarrus featured prominently across all their films.

Tragically, Sarrus's death follows the passing of other core members of the group, including Gérard Rinaldi and Gérard Filippelli. Following Rinaldi’s death back in 2012, Sarrus became one of the last links to the original lineup. Today, only Jean-Guy Fechner and Luis Rego remain from the founding group, showcasing how the era of Les Charlots is drawing to a close.

Despite the changes over the years, Sarrus continued to embrace his passion for music. He founded the band Les Vieilles fripouilles in 2017 alongside Alain Turban and Gilles Dreu, marking yet another chapter of his long-lived career.

Fans of Les Charlots have expressed condolences and remembered Sarrus not just for his on-stage persona, but for his contributions to music and comedy. His ability to bring joy to the audience is still treasured among those who grew up with his films. The mark he left on French culture and comedy is indelible.

Reflecting on Sarrus's life, it's clear he became more than just another musician or actor; he became part of the fabric of French pop culture, embodying the humor and spirit of his time. His enduring legacy will undoubtedly continue to resonate with future generations who discover the delightful antics of Les Charlots.

Through the laughter and the music, Jean Sarrus will be remembered, not only as one of the last members of Les Charlots but as a cherished figure who greatly enriched the cultural life of France.

SARRUS, Jean (Jean Roger Sarrus)

Born: 5/11/1945, Puteaux, Île-de-Paris, France

Died: 2/19/2025, Blesle, Haute-Loire, France

 

Jean Sarrus’ western – actor, singer

The Man Who Came from Cher (TV) – 1969 [sing “Berry Blues” as a member of the Les Charlots]

RIP Julian Holloway

 

Julian Holloway, Carry On star and father of Sophie Dahl, dies aged 80

The actor starred in the innuendo-laced comedy films as well as TV sitcoms including Porridge and The Likely Lads

The Guardian

By Catherine Shoard

February 18, 2025

 

Julian Holloway, who starred in eight Carry On films and was a regular in TV shows such as The Sweeney and Doctor Who, has died. He was 80.

In a statement to the Guardian, agents for the actor confirmed that Holloway died after a brief illness in a Bournemouth hospital on 16 February.

The son of My Fair Lady star Stanley Holloway, the actor was a staple of the innuendo-laced Carry On comedies throughout their most popular period, featuring in films such as Carry On Camping and Carry On Up the Khyber.

Born in 1944, Holloway attended Rada before forging a career on the 1962 sitcom Our Man Higgins. He appeared alongside Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey in Carry On films, as well as guest starring in The Sweeney, Porridge and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

Superman actor Sarah Douglas, who first worked with Holloway in the 1970s, called him “the wittiest of men … he was a friend through thick and thin”.

In later years, Holloway moved to the US and developed a successful career as a voice actor, including in 55 of the 65 episodes of James Bond Jr, an animated American show based on the James Bond franchise.

He also voiced Siegfried Fischbacher in 2004’s Father of the Pride, and Prime Minister Almec in several episodes of the long running show Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Holloway was the father of the model and author Sophie Dahl, following a relationship with her mother, Tessa Dahl, in 1976.

HOLLOWAY, Julian (Julian Robert Stanley Holloway)

Born: 6/24/1944, Watlington, Oxfordshire, England, U.K.

Died: 2/16/2025, Bournemouth, Dorset, England, U.K.

 

Julian Holloway’s western – actor:

Tall Tales & Legends: My Darlin’ Clementine (TV) – 1986 (Mr. Yorkshire)

RIP Juan Mariné

 

Centenarian cinematographer Juan Mariné dies

He received the 2024 Honorary Goya for a lifetime dedicated to cinema

Academia de cine

February 18, 2025

 

Mariné participated in more than 150 productions and, during the last decades of his life, he dedicated himself to the restoration of films

The director of photography, restorer and film researcher Juan Mariné, Goya of Honor 2024, died yesterday in Madrid, at the age of 104.

He entered cinema at the precocious age of 13, when he arrived at the filming of The Eighth Commandment to deliver new cameras from France that only he knew how to make work, and in his last years of life, ninety years later, he frequently went to the ECAM to restore films. He promised himself that at the end of the Civil War he would dedicate his life to cinema and Mariné has fulfilled that pact until his last days.

Mariné, the first cinematographer to enter the Film Academy, received the 2024 Honorary Goya last year. The centenarian restorer collected this honorary award for his entire career and contributions to the history of Spanish cinema in an intimate ceremony that was held at the institution's headquarters, surrounded by his family, friends and colleagues.

Born in Barcelona in 1920, his love for cinema came to him when he was only 4 years old, when one day while summering in Arenys del Mar he saw a screening of Charles Chaplin's first short films. The impact of those images was so great that he asked his mother to enroll him in school early so that he could read the posters of silent films. Already in his adolescence, he frequently visited the Arenys del Mar film club. There, the projector used to break down regularly and so Mariné had his first contacts with these devices: trying to fix them so that he could continue watching the films that they made him enjoy so much. Thanks to that ingenuity and curiosity he managed, a year later, to put those cameras to work with The Eighth Commandment.

To talk about Mariné is to talk about the history of cinema, but also about the history of Spain: a member of the CNT union, he recorded the funeral of Buenaventura Durruti in 1936; he was Enrique Líster's war photographer; he was interned in the concentration camps in France and in the prison camp of La Rinconada (Seville); and he was a photographer for the General Staff of Catalonia, a position he combined with his work as a photography assistant in productions in Barcelona.

His debut as a cinematographer came in 1947, in an episode of the film Cuatro mujeres, by Antonio del Amo, the first of the 150 films he shot until his retirement in 1990. Mariné was a regular in the productions of del Amo, Pedro Lazaga, José María Forqué, or Pedro Masó. Historias de la televisión, by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia; El astronauta, by Javier Aguirre; María de la O, by Ramón Torrado; The Perfect Crime, by Fernando Fernán Gómez; and The Big Family, by Fernando Palacios, are some of the many titles in his filmography. His work even caught the attention of Orson Welles, who invited him to stay at his house to give some lectures at the University of California, a proposal that Mariné rejected as he was not attracted to Hollywood.

He also stood out as the inventor of new photographic techniques, such as the Mariné Format. After his last film in 1990, La grieta, by Juan Piquer Simón, he dedicated himself fully to the very important work of restoration, managing to rescue many Spanish films that were considered irrecoverable. "Impossible is something that takes a little longer to achieve", was one of the maxims that the Catalan restorer always had in mind. Mariné invented various devices to help him in this task, such as an optical copier or a negative washing machine. He carried out this work daily at the ECAM, in a basement where he had his office - full of machines and film material - which the students of the school nicknamed the "sub-Mariné".

Mariné was recognized with the National Cinematography Award, the National Photography Award, the Gold Medal of the Academy, the Honorary Spike of the Seminci of Valladolid, the Gold Medal of Fine Arts and the Juan de la Cierva Research Award, among others. In addition, his figure has been honored on many occasions and from different spaces such as the Spanish Film Archive, the Film Academy, the Josep M. Queraltó Film Classroom Foundation and the Circle of Film Writers. His figure and work have also made him the subject of several documentaries such as Juan Mariné. A Century of Cinema, Juan Mariné: the adventure of making cinema or The Submariné.

Today we say goodbye to a key figure in the history of Spanish cinema. In addition to inspiring other cinematographers with his work such as José Luis Alcaine or Rita Noriega, he leaves us a huge legacy of cinema. Not only for those films he made as director of photography, but also for all those to which he dedicated his time, patience and ingenuity so that they could be restored and not fall into oblivion. Mariné understood the importance of recovering our cinematographic heritage as much as possible and, thanks to that, people will be able to discover the cinema of the past and be inspired by it.

His mortal remains will be held at the M30 Funeral Home in Madrid today, starting at 3:00 p.m.

 

MARINE, Juan (Juan Mariné Bruguera)

Born: 12/31/1920, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Died: 2/17/2025, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

 

Juan Mariné’s westerns – cinematographer:

Legacy of the Incas- 1969

RIP Alice Hirson

 

General Hospital, OLTL Alum Alice Hirson Dead At 95

GH’s Chris McKenna remembers Alice Hirson.

Soap Hub

By Rachel Dillin

February 15, 2025

 

General Hospital, The Edge of Night, Another World, and One Life to Live alum Alice Hirson has died according to Chris McKenna. The legendary actress was 95 years old.

GH actor Chris McKenna (Jack Brennan) took to Instagram to remember Hirson. He shared several photos of Hirson. He captioned them, We lost a radiant soul and a daytime legend yesterday. Alice Hirson shone her light on this world for 95 glorious years. My family and I were so blessed to have her in our lives however briefly. Unforgettable woman. Her final words were ‘It’s nice to have an audience.’ Thank you, Alice. Good night. Legend. #GH #OLTL #Dallas #Ellen”

Hirson portrayed Stephanie Martin on The Edge of Night. She was Marsha Davis on Another World. On OLTL, Hirson was Eileen Riley Siegle. In 1993, she added Loving to her daytime resume where she portrayed Dr. Lisa Helman.

She was born Alice Thorsell in Brooklyn, New York, on March 10, 1929. She met and married writer Roger O. Hirson in 1952 and began working under the name of Alice Hirson. Hirson began her career working on stage in off-Broadway productions and early roles on television in Starlight Theatre and Hallmark Hall of Fame.

The actress also had numerous acting credits to her name. Among her television credits were Maude, The Waltons, Barnaby Jones, The Ropers, Barney Miller, Taxi, St. Elsewhere, Matlock, Full House, Dallas (Mavis Anderson), Murphy Brown, Ellen, and Will & Grace.

Hirson graced the silver screen in 1971’s The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight. She also appeared in Private Benjamin, Revenge of the Nerds, The Big Picture, The Glass House, and The Lost.

Broadway was dear to her heart as she met her second husband, actor Stephen Elliott, there in the show Traveller Without Luggage in 1964. The couple married years later in 1980 and stayed married until his passing in 2005. Other shows included The Investigation, Double Solitaire, and Solitaire.

Alice Hirson is survived by her two sons, David and Christopher Hirson. Soap Hub sends its sincere condolences to family, friends, and fans at this difficult time.

HIRSON, Alice (Alice C. Thorsell)

Born: 3/10/1929, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/14/2025, U.S.A.

 

Alice Hirson’s westerns – actress:

Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid – 1978 (Beth)

RIP Biff Wiff

 

Biff Wiff, ‘I Think You Should Leave’ Actor, Dies

Variety

By Lauren Coates

February 15, 2024

 

Biff Wiff, a character actor best known for his multiple guest turns on the Netflix sketch comedy series “I Think You Should Leave,” has died following an extended battle with cancer, his management firm Entertainment Lab confirmed Friday on Instagram.

“It is with heavy hearts that we inform you of the passing of our beloved client and actor, Biff Wiff,” the post read. “Biff was an amazing person inside and out, and his loving energy could be felt by all. We are sending our heartfelt sympathies to his family & loved ones at this time.”

“I Think You Should Leave” creator and star Tim Robinson reshared the post to his Instagram Stories. He also shared a clip from a fan-favorite “ITYSL” sketch in which he starred with Wiff entitled “Shirt Brothers.”

Wiff’s decades-long career began with a guest turn on the “Gidget” sequel series “The New Gidget,” and included early roles in shows like the original “Night Court,” “Roseanne” and “Crossing Jordan.” From children’s programs like “True Jackson, VP,” and “iCarly,” to procedurals like “NCIS,” “Rizzoli & Isles,” and “The Mentalist,” Wiff’s roles spanned many genres, though he displayed a continued affinity for comedy.

He appeared in “Desperate Housewives,” “Silicon Valley,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Brooklyn 99,” “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Grace and Frankie,” “Pen15” and “Jury Duty,” before coming full circle with a four-episode stint on the “Night Court” reboot.

Wiff was best known to fans for playing multiple roles in Robinson’s “I Think You Should Leave.” In addition to his television work, Wiff had a supporting role in 2023 best picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

WIFF, Biff (Garry Lynn Crotty)

Born: 1956, U.S.A.

Died: 12/14/2025, North Hills, California, U.S.A.

 

Biff Wiff’s western – actor:

Wyatt Earp’s Revenge – 2013 (Ne Buntline)

RIP William Roberts

 

Bill Roberts obituary

The Guardian

By Nicolette Roberts

February 14, 2025

 

My former husband William Roberts, who has died aged 80, was an American who made his career in Britain as an actor, director, voice artist and writer.

As well as stage, TV and film, he was much in demand for voice work. He read for BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime and Woman’s Hour, and narrated dozens of audiobooks for the RNIB and independent companies, as well as adapting American plays for the BBC and acting in several radio productions, including the highly popular Batman and Judge Dredd series.

He was widely recognised for his rich, resonant tones and sensitive readings of work by authors including Melville, Poe and Lovecraft. In the 1980s he was the voice of Texas Tom in a series of adverts for the Texas Homecare DIY stores, and more recently he voiced several characters in video games, most notably playing Vesemir in The Witcher series.

Born in Roseburg, Oregon, to Virginia Cooke, a telephone operator, and James Roberts, a truck driver, Bill got his early professional acting experience at the Oregon Shakespeare festival, in Ashland, where he also directed. He studied theatre arts at Humboldt State College, and came to Britain initially to do a diploma in drama at Manchester University. We met there as students and married in 1964. The marriage ended in divorce in 1980.

Together, he and I co-founded and ran two theatre companies. Bill worked in repertory, but was increasingly in demand as an actor and reader in radio: he once said he had played every American president for about two lines.

He appeared in the West End in several productions, in an acclaimed adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men at the Mermaid theatre in 1980, and at the Hampstead Theatre Club and the Abbey theatre, Dublin, in Brian Friel’s The Aristocrats in 2011. He toured extensively with these and other productions. He appeared in films including Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain (2003), and TV programs such as Inspector Morse (1991) and World War II Behind Closed Doors (2008).

In his later years, living in London, he trained as a pilot and enjoyed many flights around Europe and the US in his own plane. Towards the end of his life he turned to writing fiction and biography under the name WE Roberts. His last work was a biography of the actor Marisa Pavan, The Quiet Twin (2025).

He is survived by his partner, Carolanne Lyme, and by our daughter, Emily, and two grandsons, Luke and Julian.

ROBERTS, William (William Edward Roberts)

Born: 10/18/1943, Roseburg, Oregon, U.S.A.

Died: 2/?/2025, London, England, U.K.

 

William Roberts’ westerns – actor, voice actor:

Skulls of the Toltecs – 1996 [voice]

TimeSplitters – 2002 [voice]

Cold Mountain – 2003 (Grayling)

RIP Geneviève Page

 

Death of Geneviève Page, theatre glory, at the age of 97

Le Figaro

By Nathalie Simon

February 14, 2025

 

Having studied at the Comédie-Française, the actress, who has died at the age of 97, had played in Fanfan la Tulipe and Belle de jour.

Geneviève Page, a theater star who also played a luxury brothel owner who recruited Catherine Deneuve in Belle de jour in 1967, died on Friday in Paris at the age of 97, her granddaughter, actress Zoé Guillemaud, told AFP. The actress, who left her mark on classical theater and cinema in her fifty-year career, died at her home, the same source said.

The daughter of a gallery owner, Geneviève Page ended her career in the theatre in 2011 with Racine's Britannicus, under the direction of Michel Fau, at the Figeac Theatre Festival. "She told me that she had played Claudel's 'Le Soulier de satin' and then 'Le Canard à l'orange' with Jean Poiret," said the director. "I had a lot of fun and I received a lot," said the actress with beautiful, mischievous green eyes.

Born Geneviève Anne Marguerite Bonjean, on December 13, 1927, in the16th arrondissement of Paris, married to Jean-Claude Bujard, her godfather was Christian Dior. After her baccalaureate, like her father, who was passionate about art and literature, she entered the École du Louvre.

More theatre than cinema

It was at the age of 26, in 1953, while filming in Open Letter to a Husband, a comedy by Alex Joffé with Robert Lamoureux, that she decided to become an actress. The audience applauded her during the screening of the film: “I had the impression that I had become an actress at that second.” She then joined the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Paris, then the Comédie-Française and worked with the Jean-Louis Barrault company, which directed her in Angelo, tyrant of Padua by Victor Hugo. Thanks to the man who would become her friend, Gérard Philip, Geneviève Page entered the TNP, rubbed shoulders with Jean Vilar and played opposite Gérard Philip in Lorenzaccio and Les Caprices de Marianne.

The actress plays great heroines, Doña Proueze (The Satin Shoe) or Hermione (Andromache). She is also in Twelfth Night, a “drama” by Claude Barma. Her performance in The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, at the Théâtre National de Chaillot in 1980, earned her the Prize for Best Actress from the Critics’ Union.

“The theatre begins and ends, as Claudel says. We enter the stage at half-past 8 and at a quarter to midnight, we are dead in frightful torments!”

Geneviève Page preferred the theatre to the cinema, but the latter could not do without her haughty physique. "Coitus interruptus" was not her "thing", she said. "Theatre begins and ends, as Claudel says. You enter the stage at a quarter to eight and at a quarter to midnight, you are dead in terrible torments!"

A wide filmography

This did not prevent her from appearing in many films, in France and the United States, where she also distinguished herself in the theatre in Samuel Taylor's The Happy Time with Laurence Olivier. On screen, she distinguished herself for the first time in a detective story No Pity for Women, by Christian Stengel, with Simone Renant, Michel Auclair and Marcel Herrand (1951). Then, she was a sacred Marquise de Pompadour in Fanfan la Tulipe, by the "very courteous" Christian-Jaque, where she reunited with Gérard Philip. "When you see each other with Gina Lollobrigida, you fall into each other's arms, whereas at the time I didn't see much of her."

Luis Buñuel had asked me to kiss her on the mouth without telling her. I had told her that if she slapped me, I would give her a slap

During the filming of Sheldon Reynols' Foreign Intrigue, Robert Mitchum "saved her life" by preventing her from getting a spotlight on her head. "He liked to drink pastis," she laughed. In Mayerling, she is Ava Gardner's partner. In Luis Buñuel's Belle de jour, she jubilantly plays Madame Anaïs, a pimp mother (1967). "We're going to find you a very simple, very flirtatious name," she tells the innocent Catherine Deneuve. "Luis Buñuel asked me to kiss him on the mouth without telling her. I told her that if she slapped me, I would give her back." (Le Point, July 2013).

Geneviève Page is also in Look for the Woman, Michel Strogoff, by Carmine Gallone, nicknamed the Commander, with Curd Jürgens who was afraid of horses. Then in Un amour de poche by Pierre Kast, alongside Jean Marais and a newcomer Jean-Claude Brialy: "I called my agents to tell them, 'Take it right away.' In George Cukor's Farewell Ball (1960), Dirk Bogarde is adorable: "It was a dream, he was rehearsing with you... He was cooking us a turkey with pineapple by his swimming pool."

The actress distinguished herself in a blockbuster that would win three Oscars: Anthony Mann's El Cid, starring Sophie Loren, who became her son's godmother, and Charlton Heston, who had remained close to him. "Don't scream or I'll become frigid," Geneviève Page warns the filmmaker. One of her fondest memories was her role as Gabrielle Valladon, the "villain" in Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970).

Open, she did not rule out any roles. She was a nymphomaniac widow in Buffet Froid (1979). There she met Bernard Blier with whom she had played a play by Marcel Achard. The actor played pranks on her with the complicity of Gérard Depardieu and Jean Carmet. As soon as she could, Geneviève Page returned to the stage. In 1991, the Spanish director Lluis Pasqual directed her in Le Balcon by Jean Genet at the Odéon. She won the Prix Plaisir du théâtre in 1997 for Colombe by Jean Anouilh directed by Michel Fagadau in which she played Madame Alexandra. At the same time, she taught her art.

PAGE, Geneviève (Geneviève Anne Marguerite Bronjean)

Born: 12/13/1927, Paris, Île-de-France, France

Died: 2/14/2025, Paris, Île-de-France, France

 

Geneviève Page’s western – actress:

A Talent for Loving – 1973 (Lady Delphine Butler)

RIP Carlos Diégues

 

Cacá Diégues, renowned Brazilian filmmaker and leading figure in Cinema Novo, dies at 84

Carlos Diégues, one of Brazil’s most renowned filmmakers, has died in Rio de Janeiro, aged 84, the Brazilian Academy of Letters said

ABC News

By The Associated Press

February 14, 2025

 

Carlos Diégues, the renowned Brazilian filmmaker, died Friday in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Academy of Letters said. He was 84.

The director of more than 20 films, including “Xica da Silva” and “Bye Bye Brazil,” Diégues was a leading figure in Cinema Novo, a movement that emerged in the 1960s and used film to critique social inequality, drawing inspiration from the French New Wave and Italian neorealism.

The filmmaker, widely known as Cacá Diégues, suffered complications after surgery, the academy said in a statement.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Diégues’ films reflected Brazil ’s history, identity and creativity.

“I received with great sorrow the news of the passing of Cacá Diégues, who throughout his life brought Brazil and Brazilian culture to the movie screens and captured the attention of the entire world,” Lula said.

“Bye Bye Brazil,” a road movie about a country in transition, competed for the Palme d’Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. In 2010, Diégues produced “5x Favela,” a film entirely conceived, written and directed by young filmmakers from Rio de Janeiro’s impoverished communities.

GIEGUES, Carlos

Born: 5/19/1946, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

Died: 2/14/2025, Rio de Janiero, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 

Carlos Diégues’ westerns – director, writer, sound department:

Black God, White Devil – 1964 [sound department]

Luzia – 1988 [writer]

Bacurau – 2019 [director]