RIP Saverio Indrio

 

Saverio Indrio: he was the Italian voice of The Rock and Mister Satan 

From The Rock to the Mayor Quimby and Mister Satan: farewell to the historic Italian voice actor and actor

FQ Magazine

June 30, 2025

 

Saverio Indrio has died at the age of 61. The voice actor, dubbing director and Italian actor disappeared on the night between Sunday 29 and Monday 30 June in Rome. Born in Taranto on October 18, 1963, Indrio began his career as a classical guitarist, before approaching the world of theatre at La bottega del teatro conducted by Guglielmo Ferraiola.

Saverio Indrio’s voice became famous thanks to the voice of actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, in films like Fast & Furious, Jumanji and Black Adam (before the character passed to Luca Ward). In addition, the tarantino also voiced Kevin McNally (Joshamee Gibbs in the Pirates of the Caribbean) saga, Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa in Star Wars), and William H. Macy (the famous Frank Gallagher in Shameless). Several animation characters also carry his voice, such as Mr. Satan of DragonBall and Mayor Quimby of The Simpsons. Causes of death have not yet been disclosed.

INDRIO, Saverio (Saverio Maria Indrio)

Born: 10/18/1963, Taranto, Puglia, Italy

Died: 6/30/2025, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Saverio Indrio’s westerns – voice actor, dubber:

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1993, 1997 [Italian voice of Michael Ironside, Clarence Williams]

Home on the Ranger – 2004 [Italian voice of Alameda Slim]

RIP Rick Hurst

 

Original 'Dukes of Hazard' Star Rick Hurst Dead at 79

Hurst starred in a number of well-known TV shows and movies.

Men’s Journal

By Declan Gallagher

June 27, 2025

 

Original Dukes of Hazzard star Rick Hurst, who played Deputy Cletus Hogg on the show, has died. He was 79. Hurst’s death was announced by the Cooter’s Place Museum in Pigeon Forge, TN. Hurst was scheduled to make an appearance at the museum early next month, but recently cancelled the event. A cause of death has not been announced.

Hurst began his career in 1971 with an appearance on The Doris Day Show and followed it up with guest roles on Sanford and Son and The Partridge Family. He joined the cast of The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979, playing the second cousin of Boss Hog (Sorrell Brooke). Hurst remained with the show until 1983, though he returned for TV movie revivals in 1997 and 2000. He went on to star opposite Bea Arthur in Amanda’s, the short-lived American reboot of the classic British TV series Fawlty Towers. In addition to his television work, Hurst held roles in several prominent films such as Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), The Karate Kid Part III (1989), In the Line of Fire (1993), and Steel Magnolias (1989).

The official Instagram account for The Dukes of Hazzard paid tribute to Hurst after his death was announced on June 26. “With heavy hearts, we say goodbye to Rick Hurst, the beloved actor who brought warmth, humor, and unforgettable charm to the role of Deputy Cletus Hogg on The Dukes of Hazzard. Rick passed away today, leaving behind a legacy that stretches far beyond Hazzard County. To fans, he was more than a character—he was family. His gentle smile, impeccable comedic timing, and kind-hearted spirit made every scene brighter. Off-screen, Rick was known for his generosity, humility, and love for connecting with fans at events across the country. Whether it was a reunion special or a meet-and-greet at Cooter’s, he never stopped sharing his joy with the people who adored him.

The statement concluded: “Rick’s passing is a profound loss, but his memory will forever ride shotgun in the hearts of those who grew up watching him, laughing with him, and loving him. Rest easy, Rick. You made the world a little lighter.”

HURST, Rick (Richard Douglas Hurst)

Born: 1/1/1946, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 6/26/2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Rick Hurst’s westerns – actor:

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1973 (Mayhew)

Kung Fu (TV) – 1973 (Tubbs)

To Hell to Preach (1972

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1974 (Jacob Jacobsen)

The Legend of Frank Woods – 1977 (Ace Starkey)

Wildside (TV) – 1985 (Floyd Fussell)

RIP Claudete Joubert

 

Claudete Joubert, star of Boca do Lixo, dies at 73

Actress marked an era in pornochanchadas and faced depression and financial difficulties before dying of pneumonia in São Paulo

Popcorn Modern

June 23, 2025

 

Death was discreet and marked by difficulties

Actress Claudete Joubert, a reference in the Boca do Lixo cinema, died in May at the age of 73, victim of pneumonia, after about 15 days hospitalized in a hospital in the capital of São Paulo. Director Pedro Lacerda confirmed the information and revealed details of the artist’s last days, who had been facing a condition of deep depression and financial difficulties. According to Lacerda, Claudete’s health deteriorated quickly due to inadequate nutrition and the abandonment experienced.

The director said that he only learned of his colleague’s death after being contacted by a film distributor who sought contact with the actress. When he tried to talk to Claudete’s daughter, he received the news of the death. “I was shocked and very sad when I learned that she had passed away,” he told Metrópolis.

How was the end of Claudete Joubert’s life?

Pedro Lacerda highlighted the abandonment experienced by Claudete, who according to him, was left without support by her two ex-husbands, filmmakers Tony Vieira and Affonso Brazza. "They left her without money, only with debts. She died bitter about the forgetfulness of friends and people. Only a firefighter's soldier's pension remained, which Affonso Brazza left her", reported the director.

What is Claudete Joubert's legacy in Brazilian cinema?

Born Creodete de Carvalho Moreira, Claudete Joubert was an actress, producer and model, becoming one of the best-known names in pornochanchadas and action cinema in Boca do Lixo, a São Paulo film hub in the 1970s and 1980s.

Claudete was already working as a photographic model when she was discovered on the streets of São Paulo by singer Agnaldo Rayol, who decided to introduce her to filmmaker friends. Director Fauzi Mansur launched her career in 1972 in the film "Red Light – The Females", in which she starred with Vera Fischer. Then, Claudete married director Tony Vieira and began a creative partnership as the star of his western, action, horror and pornochanchada films.

The partnership with Tony Vieira

From "Desejo Proibido" (1973), the actress began to stamp all the posters of Vieira's releases. There were 11 feature films until 1978, most of the time opposite her own husband. "He said I was exclusive," she said in a 2007 interview with Mulheres do Cinema Brasileiro.

In the late 1970s, the two separated and Claudette found herself free to work with other directors, such as Mansur in "The Insect of Love" (1980), Jean Garret in "The Photographer" (1980), Clery Cunha in "The King of the Mouth" (1982) and Ozualdo Candeias in "The Belles of Billings" (1987).

The last phase with Affonso Brazza

A decade after their separation, Claudette Joubert once again became the muse of a filmmaker, Affonso Brazza, a professional firefighter and former assistant to her ex-husband. The two married and began shooting very low-budget action films in Brasilia, starting with "Santhion Never Dies" (1988) and the popular "Inferno No Gama" (1993), which won critical acclaim for its creativity in the face of precariousness.

The couple made four more feature films until Brazza's death in 2003, from cancer at the age of 48. The last one, "Fuga sem Destino", won a version finished by Pedro Lacerda, with production by Selton Mello, which was only released in theaters in Brasilia.

"After Brazza died, my career was buried with him," said the actress, who after much sex on screen became a Jehovah's Witness and lived anonymously for the past two decades.

JOUBERT, Claudete (Creodete de Carvalho Moreira)

Born: 11/1951, Londrina Paraná, Brazil

Died: 6/22/2025, Brazil

 

Claudete Joubert’s westerns – actress:

Gringo, o Matador Erótico - 1972

A filha do padre - 1975

Os Violentadores – 1978

O Cangaceiro do Diabo - 1980

A Pistola Que Elas Gostam – 1981

RIP Charles Bateman

 

Charles Bateman died in La Mesa, California on April 20, 2024, at the age of 93. His passing has only come to light recently. Charles Wilbur Bateman on November 19, 1930. He was an American actor who appeared in 76 different television programs between 1958 and 1991, as well as numerous theatrically-released and made-for-telelevision films. He is perhaps best recognized to audiences for his role as the ill-fated First Officer Larsen in the 1972 box-office smash and cinematic classic “The Poseidon Adventure”.

One of three children born to Thomas O. Bateman and Ivarene Cornelius Bateman. His mother Ivarene died aged 110 in 2015. His early training in acting came at San Diego Junior College and La Jolla Playhouse as well as in a stock theater company.

Bateman also guest starred as a young engineer in the episode "The Tree" of CBS's Lassie, as well as two episodes of ‘Perry Mason’as Roy Dowson in "The Case of the Bashful Burro" in 1960, and defendant and title character Jeff Bronson in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Guilty Clients." He starred in 39 episodes of the only season of ‘Two Faces West’. He might best be remembered for his role as Fred Williams in the 5th and final season of ‘Hazel’.

Bateman's first venture into soap operas was in 1980, when he joined the cast of NBC's ‘Days of Our Lives’ as Maxwell Jarvis, but he left the program after a year. He was later the third actor to portray C.C.Capwell on the soap opera ‘Santa Barbara’. His last acting role was in 1991 in an episode of ‘The Trials of Rosie O'Neill’.

BATEMAN, CharleS (Charles Wilbur Bateman)

Born: 11/19/1930, San Diego, California, U.S.A

Died: 4/20/2024, La Mesa, California, U.S.A

 

Charles Bateman’s western – actor:

Lawman (TV) – 1958 (Tim Bucknell)

Maverick (TV) – 1958 (Cousin Jeff)

Rawhide (TV) – 1959 (Hess)

Yancy Derringer (TV) – 1959 (Lieutenant, Captain Blythe)

Two Faces West (TV) – 1960-1961 (Dr. Rick January, Marshal Ben January)

Death Valley Days (TV) –1963, 1965, 1966 (Bittercreek Newcomb, Deputy Jim Brand, Lt. Bernard Irwin, MD)

The Virginian (TV) – 1964 (Neal Fairburn)

Bonanza (TV) – 1964, 1965 (Jim, Rick Bonner)

Temple Houston (TV) – 1964 (Bowman)

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1965 (Major John Lorne)

Barbary Coast (TV) – 1975 (Woodie)

RIP Javier Franquelo

 Mr Burns' voice dies, Javier Franquelo, at 91

The actor who gave his dubbing death that lent his voice to iconic figures of cinema and animation.

formula TV

By Ricardo Cardona

June 24, 2025

 

Voice actor Javier Franquelo has died at the age of 91, according to the Madrid Dubbing Artists Union (Adoma). Franquelo, recognized for his extensive career in dubbing, provided the voice and life of some of the most iconic characters in the history of film and animation, such as Mr. Burns in 'The Simpsons,' Professor Charles Xavier in the 'X-Men' saga, and Professor Hubert Farnsworth in 'Futurama.'

Franquelo began voicing Mr. Burns beginning with the twelfth episode of "The Simpsons," taking over from Pedro Sempson after his death in 2009. His voice became the character's most distinctive and recognized in Spain for nearly two decades. Furthermore, in the same series, Franquelo regularly voiced other supporting characters. The actor was also responsible for voicing Professor Farnsworth in "Futurama" from the series' inception.

The actor has also lent his voice numerous times outside of animation. Among other roles, he voiced the character of Bernard Nadler in the series "Lost" and was the regular voice of actor Patrick Stewart in Spain, voicing Professor Xavier in all installments of the "X-Men" saga, including his most recent role in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."

Franquelo also appeared in films such as 'Frozen' and 'Frozen 2', where he played the character Grandpa, and in 'The Smurfs' and 'The Smurfs 2', where he played Papa Smurf. His career was also marked by the world of video games, where he gave life and voice to characters such as George Krieger in 'Far Cry', Emperor Palpatine in 'Star Wars: Battlefront II', and also participated in titles such as 'Kingdom Hearts 2' and the 'Harry Potter' video games.

The Legacy of an Unforgettable Voice

Javier Franquelo was born in Málaga in 1934. He officially retired from the world of dubbing in 2024. His passing has been mourned by colleagues in the dubbing industry, such as David García Vázquez, who worked alongside Franquelo on 'The Simpsons.' In an emotional statement posted on the social media platform X, Adoma noted that "the dubbing family has been orphaned" and highlighted his legacy as an important part of the history of the profession in a moving video that compiled some of the highlights of his career.

FRANQUELO, Javier (Javier Franquelo Briales)

Born: 2/14/1934, Malaga, Andalusia, Spain

Died: 6/24/2025, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

 

Javier Franquelo’s westerns – voice actor:

Red Harvest – 1976 [Spanish voice of Antonio Molino Rojo]

Pony Express – 1977 [Spanish voice of Henry Brandon]

Garden of Venus – 1979 [Spanish voice of Fernando Yapur]

Grizzly Adams – 1980 [Spanish voice of Royce D. Applegate]

Gunslinger – 1986 [Spanish voice of Aaron Saxon]

How the West Was Won – 1982 [Spanish voice of Richard Angarola]

Ride to Glory – 1984 [Spanish voice of Lee Van Cleef]

30 Winchesters for El Dablo – 1984 [Spanish voice of unknown actors]

Fury of the Apaches – 1985 [Spanish voice of Niksa Stefanini]

Lucky Luke – 1985 [Spanish voice of unknown characters]

Mr. Horn – 1985 [Spanish voice of Clay Tanner]

Viva Django! – 1985 [Spanish voice of George Eastman]

Texas John Slaughter (TV) – 1987 [Spanish voice of Mort Mills]

Wanted Johnny Texas – 1987 [Spanish voice of unknown actors]

Once Upon a Texas Train – 1988 [Spanish voice of Don Collier, Ken Curtis]

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (TV) – 1989 [Spanish voice of Ralph Moody]

Hawken’s Breed – 1989 [Spanish voice of Bill Thurman]

Oklahoma – 1989 [Spanish voice of unknown cowboys]

Welcome to Hard Times – 1989 [Spanish voice of John Anderson]

Texas – 1990 [Spanish voice of unknown actors]

Keoma – 1991 [Spanish voice of William Berger]

Ned Kelly – 1991 [Spanish voice of Ken Goodlet]

Silver City – 1991 [Spanish voice of unknown actor] Dutch Captain *

The Oklahoman (TV) – 1992 [Spanish voice of Michal Pate]

Posse – 1993 [Spanish voice of Woody Strode]

The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. – 1994 [Spanish voice of John Astin]

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1993, 1995 [Spanish voice of Robert Forester, Art Evans]

Billy the Kid – 1994 [Spanish voice of Gene Lockhart]

Streets of Laredo (TV) – 1996 [Spanish voice of Tony Frank, Nik Hagler]

The Magnificent Seven (TV) – 1998 [Spanish voice of Tim Thomerson]

Zorro (TV) – 1998 [Spanish voice of Pat Fraley, Vinton Hayworth]

Outlaw Justice (TV) – 1999 [Spanish voice of Aldo Sambrell]

Deadwood (TV) – 2007 [Spanish voice of Richard Gant, Michael David Lally]

RIP Alvaro Vitali

 

Remembering Alvaro Vitali: The Iconic 'Pierino'

Alvaro Vitali, beloved for his role as 'Pierino' in Italian cinema, has passed away in Rome. His career spanned over 150 films, leaving a lasting impact on the comedic landscape.

Il Messaggero

June 24, 2025

 

Italian cinema mourns 'Pierino'. Alvaro Vitali has died today in Rome in the late afternoon. The Italian actor and comedian was much loved for the character of Pierino and for many roles in the genre of the Italian sexy comedy. Born on February 3, 1950, Vitali had been hospitalized two weeks ago 'for recurring bronchopneumonia', as his ex-wife Stefania Corona declared in an interview with the media a few days ago. Discovered by Federico Fellini during an audition, he debuted in 1969 with a small role in Fellini Satyricon. He then took part in I clowns (1971) and Roma (1972), in which he played a vaudeville tap dancer, the same role he had the following year in Polvere di stelle, directed and performed by Alberto Sordi, also accompanied by Monica Vitti, and in Amarcord (1973), with Ciccio Ingrassia. He acted in over 150 films. With the decline of the sexy comedies of which he was a protagonist, he disappeared from the scene to return to Striscia la notizia as Jean Todt, then director of the Ferrari Scuderia, and other characters. In 2006 he participated in the third edition of the reality show 'La fattoria' but had to leave the reality show due to asthma problems. Just in recent days, he had returned to the spotlight for a back-and-forth with his ex-wife, singer-songwriter Stefania Corona. The actor wrote a letter to DiPiù explaining that she had left him because she was 'smitten with the driver' but that he was willing to forgive her and get back together. The woman's response was not long in coming. 'He is an actor, I only serve him for convenience. His children did not want the grandchildren to call me grandma.'

VITALI, Alvaro

Born: 2/3/1950, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 6/24/2025, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Alvaro Vitali’s western – actor:

Halleluja to Vera Cruz – 1973

RIP Bobby Sherman

 

'60s Teen Idol Dies at 81 After Battle With Cancer

A singer/actor from the 1960s and 1970s has died at the age of 81 after a bout with cancer.

Parade

By Andrea Reiher

June 24, 2025

 

A singer/actor from the 1960s and 1970s has died at the age of 81 after a bout with cancer.

Bobby Sherman, a teen idol in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at the age of 81. His wife of 29 years, Brigette Sherman, made the announcement via actor John Stamos' Instagram because she and Stamos are good friends.

"From one ex teen idol, to another - rest in peace, Bobby Sherman," writes Stamos on the post. Below his caption is the message from Brigette.

"It is with the heaviest heart that I share the passing of my beloved husband, Bobby Sherman," writes Brigette. "Bobby left this world holding my hand — just as he held up our life with love, courage, and unwavering grace through all 29 beautiful years of marriage. I was his Cinderella, and he was my prince charming. Even in his final days, he stayed strong for me. That’s who Bobby was —brave, gentle, and full of light."

She continues by saying that as he rested in his final days, she "read him fan letters from all over the world," which contained "words of love and gratitude that lifted his spirits and reminded him of how deeply he was cherished."

"And yes, he still found time to crack well-timed jokes — Bobby had a wonderful, wicked sense of humor. It never left him. He could light up a room with a look, a quip, or one of his classic, one-liners," writes Brigette.

"To those who truly knew him, Bobby was something much more. He was a man of service. He traded sold-out concerts and magazine covers for the back of an ambulance, becoming an EMT and a trainer with the LAPD. He saved lives. He showed us what real heroism looks like — quiet, selfless, and deeply human," she concluded.

Sherman is survived by Brigette, his two sons Tyler and Christopher from a previous marriage, and six grandchildren. In March, Brigette wrote on Facebook that Sherman had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

Sherman was known for such hits as "You Make Me Happy," "Hey Little Girl," "Happiness Is," "Little Woman," "La La La (If I Had You)," "Easy Come, Easy Go," "Hey, Mister Sun," and "Julie, Do Ya Love Me."

He also appeared on such shows as Here Come the Brides, Getting Together, The Mod Squad, Emergency! and Murder She Wrote.

SHERMAN, Bobby (Robert Cabot Sherman Jr.)

Born: 7/22/1943, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.

Died: 6/24/2025, Los Angeles, California U.S.A.

 

Bobby Sherman’s western – actor:

Here Come the Brides (TV) – 1968-1970 (Jeremy Bolt)

Cade’s County (TV) (Nicky Braddock)

RIP Aki Aleong

 

My Indie Productions

June 22, 2025

 

Legendary actor Aki Aleong was born in Trinidad and Tobago on December 19, 1934. His distinguished career spanned more than 60 years as an actor, singer, writer, producer, activist and martial arts and action film star.  Aki starred in features with the best martial artists in the world, including Cung Le in “Blizniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter” (2007) and “Savage Dog” (2017); Bolo Yeoung in Blizniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter”; and with Sammo Hung in “Martial Law” (1998).  He worked with world-class female martial artists Cynthia Rothrock, in “Sci-Fighter” (2004). and Juju Chan, in “Savage Dog” (2017) and “Road to Hell” 2017.  He worked with Scott Adkins in “Savage Dog” (2017); Darren Shahlavi in “Pound of Flesh” (2015); Gary Daniels, Al Leong and Ron Yuan in “Deadly Target” (1994); and with Gary Hudson, Jason Gedrick and Kim Delaney in “The Force” (1994).  Aki also worked with top martial arts choreographers.

Although he was a heroic rights activist in real life, Aki often played villains in martial arts and action films. In “Braddock: Missing in Action III” (1988), Chuck Norris’ character of Braddock, his wife and son are captured by soldiers of the sadistic Vietnamese General Quoc, played by Aki. Quoc kills Braddock’s wife on the spot, and tortures Braddock and his son until he meets his death at the end of the film. In Chuck Norris’ “Walker, Texas Ranger”, Aki played Yoshi Sakaii, a powerful member of the Yakuza in the episode titled “A Shadow in the Night” (1993).

Aki starred as the trainer Khao with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Roger Moore in “The Quest” (1996), in which Van Damme competes in the fabled Ghang-gheng, the ancient winner-take-all competition in which the deadliest fighters from around the world employ the most spectacular feats of martial arts skills ever displayed in order to win the prized Golden Dragon. Aki again starred with Jean-Claude Van Damme in the action-packed “Pound of Flesh” (2015), which is available on Amazon.

Aki played Kwai Chang in The First Temple episode of “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues”, which starred David Carradine and featured Sandra Oh.  He and Bruce Lee were finalists for the role of Kato in the 1967 series “The Green Hornet”, with the role finally going to Lee. Aki went on to play Principal Elder in “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story” (1993).  He also starred with Don the Dragon Wilson in the martial arts movies “Out for Blood” (1992) and “X-treme Fighter” (1980).

Aki’s numerous memorable roles include Senator Hidoshi during the first season of “Babylon 5”; Mr. Chiang in the weekly series of “V: The Series”; the Dalai Lama in “Superhero Movie” (2008); and the character of Colonel Mitamura in “Farewell to the King” with Nick Nolte.

Aki’s illustrious career started on Broadway in "Teahouse of the August Moon" and "The Interview." He went on to star in more than 50 movies and 150 television shows and has worked with Academy Award-winners Frank Sinatra Jr., Marlon Brando, Faye Dunaway, Joanne Woodward, Steve McQueen, Ben Kingsley, John Mills, Ernest Borgnine, Jennifer Connelly and Martin Landau. Aki has worked with directors William Wyler {3 time Oscar winner}, John Sturges and Martin Ritt. Aki's career also included working with prominent writer/directors, including John Milius, Lionel Chetwynd, Philip Yordan, Mark Rydell and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Pearl S. Buck.

Aki also had experience as a record executive producer/artist. He was Chairman of FORE (The Fraternity of Recording Executives), an organization dedicated to bringing Executives of Color into the Music Industry. His other affiliations include President of Pan World Records and Golden Dragon Publishing companies. He was the National Director of Black Promotion for Polydor/Polygram Records and also worked with Liberty/UA Records and Capitol Records. He also produced records for Columbia Records, Capitol, Liberty/UA, Artista and other prominent labels. Aki was the first Asian American to have a Top 100 record, which he wrote and co-produced, on the National Charts in the US.

Aki served on the National Board of the Screen Actors Guild; appointed National Chair of SAG'S EEOC and was a member of the President's Diversity/Affirmative Action Task Force. He was also Executive Director of AIM (Asians in Media), Vice President of The Media Coalition of Los Angeles and President of MANAA (Media Action Network for Asian-Americans). Among Aki’s numerous awards is an Honorary Doctorate from New Dimensions University in 2013.  Aki was the President and CEO of Mustard Seed Media Group

(http://www.mustardseedmediagroup) and the Senior Advisor to Ace Studios in Hong Kong. Aki won the Trailblazer Award at the 2019 Hollywood Silver Screen Network Film Festival and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Universe Multicultural Film Festival. Aki passed away on June 22, 2025.

ALEONG, Aki (Aki Leonard Gonzales Aleong)

Born: 12/19/1934, · Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies

Died: 6/22/2025, Brooklyn New York, U.S.A.

 

Aki Aleong’s westerns – actor:

The Californians (TV) -1957 (Lee Sing)

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (TV) – 1960 (Li Kung)

The Virginian (TV) – 1967 (Ah Sing)

Buckskin (TV) – 1968 (Sung Li)

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1993 (Yoshi Sakaii)

Kung Fu (TV) – 1996 (Kwai Chang)

Chinaman’s Chance: America’s Other Slaves – 2008 (Leongsing, Akong) [producer, director, writer]

 

RIP Lynn Hamilton

 

Actress Lynn Hamilton, Redd Foxx’s girlfriend on Sanford and Son, has passed away

WFTV9

By Angel Green

June 21, 2025

 

Lynn Hamilton, the accomplished actress known for her roles on ‘Sanford and Son’ and ‘The Waltons,’ has passed away at 95.

Rev. Calvin Carson, Hamilton’s former manager and publicist, confirmed her death to The Hollywood Reporter. Hamilton passed away of natural causes on Thursday at her Chicago home.

Hamilton was best known for portraying Donna Harris, the girlfriend of Redd Foxx’s character on the popular sitcom ‘Sanford and Son.’ She also gained recognition for her role as Miss Verdie on ‘The Waltons,’ showcasing her versatility as an actress.

Hamilton also made a name for herself with her roles on ‘Sanford and Son’ and ‘The Waltons,’ and she played Vivian Potter on the NBC daytime drama ‘Generations’ from 1989 to 1991.

The show faced tough competition from CBS’s ‘The Young and the Restless,’ which dominated the ratings during its run.

Her debut on ‘Sanford and Son’ came in February 1972, where she initially played a landlady in the show’s seventh episode. Her performance impressed the producers, casting her as Donna Harris, a registered nurse and the dignified counterpart to Foxx’s character.

Lynn Hamilton’s contributions to television left a lasting impact.

Her roles continue to be celebrated by fans and peers alike

HANILTON, Lynn (Alzenia Lynn Hamilton)

Born: 4/25/30, Yazoo City. Mississippi, U.S.A.

Died: 6/19/2025, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A

 

Lynn Hamilton’s westerns – actress:

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1969 (Mother Tabitha, Reba)

Buck and the Preacher - 1972 (Sarah) 

RIP Hunt Powers

 

Jack Betts, Actor in Spaghetti Westerns and ‘Spider-Man,’ Dies at 96

The Actors Studio alum, billed as Hunt Powers when he was working in those Italian films, also did lots of soap operas.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

June 20, 2025

 

Jack Betts, the debonair character actor who starred in spaghetti Westerns, played Dracula for a fleeting moment on Broadway and appeared in such notable films as Spider-Man and Gods and Monsters, has died. He was 96.

Betts died Thursday in his sleep at home in Los Osos, California, his nephew, Dean Sullivan, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Betts was great friends with Everybody Loves Raymond actress Doris Roberts, with whom he shared a home and escorted her to events throughout Hollywood from the late 1980s until her death in April 2016.

A member of The Actors Studio, Betts portrayed Llanview Hospital doctor Ivan Kipling on ABC’s One Life to Live from 1979-85, and his soap opera résumé also included stints on General Hospital, The Edge of Night, The Doctors, Another World, All My Children, Search for Tomorrow, Guiding Light, Loving and Generations.

Betts bluffed his way into starring as the avenging title character in Franco Giraldi’s Sugar Colt (1966), where he was billed as Hunt Powers for the first time. The film kicked off a run of about 15 spaghetti Westerns for him through 1973 but left him without the fame enjoyed by another American star of similar Italian fare.

“In the hotel next to mine was Clint Eastwood,” he recalled in a 2021 interview. “He’d go up to his mountain and do his Western and I’d go up to my mountain and do my Western. But while his films had distribution all over the world, my films were distributed [everywhere] except Canada and America.”

In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002), Betts’ character, Henry Balkan, tells Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn that he’s through at Oscorp Technologies — “You’re out, Norman” — but the Green Goblin will soon turn him and his fellow board members into skeletons during an attack on Times Square.

Jack Fillmore Betts — he said he was related to the 13th U.S. president, Millard Fillmore — was born on April 11, 1929, in Jersey City, New Jersey. When he was 10, he moved with his family to Miami and was inspired to become an actor after seeing Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights (1939).

After graduating from Miami Senior High School, he studied at the University of Miami, where he studied theater and acted in the Moss Hart play Light Up the Sky in Cuba. He then moved to New York and made it to Broadway in 1953 in Richard III, starring José Ferrer.

Betts had a job in a lamp factory when a friend asked him to do a scene with her for her audition for The Actors Studio, and that led to Lee Strasberg giving him a three-year scholarship to study there. He later earned a place at the famed studio, with Elia Kazan putting him in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

He made his big-screen debut in The Bloody Brood (1959), starring Peter Falk, then joined Anthony George, Sebastian Cabot and Doug McClure in 1961 to play detective Chris Devlin on the second and last season of CBS’ Checkmate, created by Eric Ambler.

Betts appeared four times on CBS’ Perry Mason from 1961-66 before he met Giraldi about starring in Sugar Colt. He told the director that he could ride a horse and had just won a shooting contest — of course, he had never been on a horse or handled a gun — but he spent the next three weeks learning those skills at John Wayne’s ranch before reporting for duty at Cinecittà in Rome.

Betts also was working for actress-turned-publicist Helen Ferguson at the time, and she gave him the stage name Hunt Powers.

Betts returned to Broadway for Kazan in a 1959-60 production of Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth before landing on the 1977-80 revival of Dracula. He portrayed Dr. Seward, and as Raul Julia’s standby, he got to step in as the count — but only once — a highlight of his career.

Keeping with that theme, he played Boris Karloff in Bill Condon’s Gods and Monsters (1998), starring Ian McKellen.

Betts also showed up in such films as The Assassination of Trotsky (1972), Falling Down (1993), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997), 8MM (1999) and Office Space (1999) and on TV series including Gunsmoke, The F.B.I., It Takes a Thief, Kojak, Remington Steele, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, My Name Is Earl, The Mentalist and Monk.

Betts first met Roberts at The Actors Studio in 1954, and he accepted her offer to move from New York into a downstairs apartment in her Hollywood Hills home in 1988. “We were best friends to the very end, we had wonderful times together,” he said.

Roberts also directed a play Betts wrote, Screen Test: Take One, about a soap opera that originated on a film set.

In addition to his nephew, survivors include his nieces, Lynne and Gail, and his sister, Joan, who turns 100 in November.

POWERS, Hunt (Jack Fillmore Betts)

Born: 4/11/1929, Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Died:  6/19/2025, Los Osos, California, U.S.A.

 

Hunt Powers’ westerns – actor, singer

Hallelujah for Django - 1966 (Padre Santo/David Phaylard) [sings main theme]

Sugar Colt – 1966 (Dr. Tom Cooper/Rocco/Sugar Colt)

The Last of the Gunfighters – 1967 [film was never completed]

Dead Men Don’t Make Shadows - 1970 (Lazar Peacock/Sabata)

Django and Sartana Are Coming... It's the End – 1970 (Django)

One Damned Day at Dawn... Django Meets Sartana! - 1970 (Django)

The Ballad of Django – 1971 (Django/Halleluia)

Showdown for a Badman – 1971 (Tamayo)

A Fistful of Death – 1971 (Butch Cassidy)

He was Called the Holy Ghost – 1971 (Foster/Forster)

Court Martial – 1973 (Clint’s uncle)

RIP Gailard Sartain

 

Hee-Haw Star Gailard Sartain Dies At 78

South Arkansas Now

By Staff Reporters

June 19, 2025

 

TULSA – Beloved actor and illustrator Gailard Sartain, best known for his roles on Hee Haw and in classic films such as The Buddy Holly Story, The Outsiders, and Fried Green Tomatoes, has died at the age of 78.

Sartain passed away on June 17, 2025, according to reports confirmed by close family and the Tulsa World. Known for his larger-than-life presence both on-screen and in the Tulsa arts community, Sartain leaves behind a legacy that spans decades in television, film, and visual art.

He first rose to national fame as a regular cast member on Hee Haw, bringing a mix of wit and warmth to American households throughout the 1970s. His film career included memorable appearances alongside Hollywood legends, and his unmistakable voice and personality made him a go-to character actor throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

A proud Tulsan, Sartain was also a gifted painter and illustrator, known for his work in the local arts scene. Many fans remember him not just for his humor, but for his deeply rooted appreciation for Oklahoma culture and heritage.

Details on funeral arrangements have not yet been made public.

SARTAIN, Gailard (Gailard Lee Sartain)

Born: 9/18/1946, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

Died: 6/17/2025, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A

 

Gailard Sartain’s westerns – actor:

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1993 (C.D. Parker)

 Wagons East – 1994 (J.P. Moreland)

Wagons East – 1994 (J.P. Moreland)

RIP Buzz Martin

 

My Motherlode.com

By Andrea Jones

January 19, 2024

 

Actor. He was known for Kraft Television Theatre (1947), Bachelor Father (1957) and The Twilight Zone (1959).

Married Paula J Mainwaring on 4 Jul 1958 in San Francisco, California.

Henri Buzz Martin, age 84 of Twain Harte CA, born June 25, 1939, in Manhattan NY, passed away January 15, 2024, at Adventist Health Sonora CA. Terzich & Wilson Cremation – Funeral Home Entrusted with Cremation Services.

MARTIN, Buzz (Henri Martin)

Born: 6/25/939, New York City, New York, USA

Died: 1/15/2024, Sonora, California, U.S.A.

 

Buzz Martin’s westerns – actor:

Colt .45 (TV) – 1959 (Billy Gibson)

Rawhide (TV) – 1959 (Roy Evans)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1959 (Hibbs)

Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV) – 1959 (Sim Cole)

Cimarron – 1960 (Cimarron Cravat as a young man)

The Deputy (TV) – 1960 (Gary Bennett)

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1960, 1962 (Justin Groton, Tully Coombs)

The Tall Man (TV) – 1961 (Tommy Bedloe)

Bronco (TV) –1962 (Lew Gant)

The Virginian (TV) – 1963 (Lon Mortison)

RIP Gabriela Medina

 

Distinguished actress Gabriela Medina, grandmother of Minister Carolina Arredondo, dies at 89

biobiochile

By Valentina Espinoza Poblete

June 16, 2025

 

On the afternoon of Monday, June 16, the death at the age of 89 of the distinguished television and theater actress Gabriela Medina, mother of actor Claudio Arredondo and grandmother of the Minister of Culture, Arts, and Heritage, Carolina Arredondo Marzán, was confirmed.

The information was confirmed by the official website of Chile Actores, who expressed their solidarity with the family at this sensitive time.

“We regret to announce the sensitive death of Gabriela Medina, a fundamental figure in Chilean art. With more than sixty years of experience and a steadfast commitment to the dignity of the acting profession, Gabriela left an indelible mark,” the statement begins.

Career of Chilean actress Gabriela Medina

Her distinguished career includes performances at the Camilo Henríquez Theater and the Chilean National Theater, where she participated in "unforgettable plays in a dark time," the site highlights.

On television, the actress appeared in more than thirty soap operas, including "Los títeres," "Los Venegas," "Los 80," "Ángel Malo," and "Brujas."

Regarding her film career, Gabriela Medina stood out with her roles in films such as "Coronación," "La fiebre del loco," and "Machuca."

In 1976, she was recognized as Best Actress for her role in "La familia de Marta Mardones." That was the beginning of a string of awards for her distinguished career.

In 2011, she received the APES Award, in 2013 the Chilean Cinema Award, and in 2016 she was honored with the "Lifetime Achievement Medal" for the 75th anniversary of the Experimental Theater of the University of Chile.

In 2024, she won the Caleuche Award for her acting career, which was accepted by her son, Claudio, after he had stated that the actress was in poor health.

“Her extensive filmography and theatrical repertoire are a testament to an exemplary career, marked by her professionalism, versatility, and unwavering commitment. Her contributions enriched Chile's theatrical and audiovisual heritage, inspiring new generations and championing the profession. Gabriela Medina's legacy is an indelible part of the history of Chilean theater,” concludes the statement from Chile Actores.

For her part, Minister Carolina Arredondo has not officially commented on her grandmother's death; however, she shared an intimate photograph of her on social media.

MEDINA, Gabtiela (Gabriela Amor Medina Espinoza)

Born: 10/7/1935, Santiago, Chile

Died: 6/16/2025, Santiago, Chile

 

Gabriela Medina’s western – actress:

Sal – 2011 (Laura)

RIP Betsy Gay

 

Betsy Gay, ‘Little Rascals’ Actress, Dies at 96

Variety

By Giana Levy

June 14, 2025

 

Betsy Gay, a yodeler and retired actress who appeared in “The Pinch Singer,” “Arbor Day,” and “Our Gang Follies of 1938,” died on June 13. She was 96.

Gay’s death was reported by her friend, Bob Satterfield.

Gay began her movie career by starring in a series of comedy films called “Our Gang Comedies,” which later became known as the “Little Rascals.” She appeared in several episodes before accepting the role of “Alfalfa’s” girlfriend, “Effie.” She stayed with the comedy group for more than four years before transitioning to other film projects in 1938.

Gay made appearances in over 40 feature films, including “Tom Sawyer,” “Came the Brawn,” “Man of Conquest,” “A Day At The Circus” and “Mystery Plane.” By 1941, the actress was involved in an Andy Cyle movie short for Columbia Pictures, where she performed a yodeling scene. Through 1943, she acted in stage plays at the Pasadena Playhouse with roles in “Quality Street,” “A Kiss For Cinderella” and “Heros Unlimited.”

Before moving to Los Angeles, Gay performed with her family, who had a background in music. Her parents ran a music school where they taught lessons in singing, piano, banjo, violin, guitar and accordion. In 1935, Gay’s family relocated to Hollywood, where she began her career as a child actress.

In addition to her acting career, she became an accomplished yodeler who performed songs in films like “What’s Buzzin Cousin” where she played a hillbilly. She acted alongside Dub Taylor, Ann Miller and Freddy Martin and his orchestra. By 1944, she made regular singing appearances with country music artist Stuart Hamblen and his Lucky Stars. A year later, Gay won the California State Yodeling Championship at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, winning the title again in 1946.

Despite not having a hit yodeling single, she was a guest on several radio shows such as the “Hank Penny Show,” “The Jimmy Wakely Show” and “The Don Ameche Show” where she sang “Belle of the Old Barn Dance,” “Texas Plains,” “Chime Bells,” “Cowboy’s Sweetheart” and “I Want to be a Cowboy’s Dream Girl.”

She pursued her music career and embarked on an east coast tour in 1946. She joined a group of singers and performed with Tex Williams and his band through the 1950s. Although Gay had a passion for music, she didn’t abandon acting. She became a regular cast member of the ABC show Squeakin’ Deacon’s “Country Store.”

Her other TV credits include “Hometown Jamboree,” “County Barn Dance,”  “Town Hall Party,” “Country America,” “International Party Time” and “Polka Show.”

She married Thomas Cashen in 1954 and had five children: twins Mimi and Gigi, Tommy, Suzy and Cathy.

GAY, Betsy (Elizabeth Ann Gunst)

Born: 2/2/1929, Waterford, Connesticut, U.S.A.

Died: 6/13/2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Betsy Gay’s western – actress:

The Adventures of Tom Sawyar – 1938 (Susie Harper)

RIP Beans Morocco

 

Beans Morocco, ‘Used Cars’ and ‘Eating Raoul’ Actor, Dies at 90

He started out in improv in San Francisco with The Committee, then appeared in ‘Blazing Saddles,’ ‘The Bob Newhart Show,’ two ‘Police Academy’ movies and lots more.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

June 12, 2025

 

Beans Morocco, the comic character actor who showed up in everything from Blazing Saddles, Used Cars and Eating Raoul to episodes of Mork & Mindy, The Bob Newhart Show and Growing Pains, has died. He was 90.

Morocco died May 29 in Bakersfield, California, his friend Ryan Wise told The Hollywood Reporter. For his final film, he starred as an ex-con on his own after decades in the Federal Witness Protection Program in Killing Cookie (2024), a comedy that Wise wrote and directed.

“He was always performing — always entertaining — and he made everyone feel good,” Wise said.

Going by birth name Dan Barrows until he adopted his quirky stage name in the late 1980s, the pint-sized actor also appeared in such other noteworthy films as Clint Eastwood’s Any Which Way You Can (1980), Howard Storm’s Once Bitten (1985), Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) and Rob Reiner’s The American President (1995).

After he played one of the Rock Ridge townsfolk in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974), he was a guy named Stanley Dewoski, who’s lured by Kurt Russell’s Rudy Russo to a lot across a dangerously busy street by a 10-dollar bill on a fishing line in Robert Zemeckis’ Used Cars (1980).

He then donned a kids’ jumpsuit to portray a guy looking for kinky sex from Mary Woronov’s character — “I’ve been very bad, haven’t I, Mommy? Are you going to teach me a good lesson?” — in Paul Bartel’s classic Eating Raoul (1982).

Daniel Ernest Barrows was born in Cincinnati on June 8, 1934. After graduating from Walnut Hills High School, he attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, then served in the U.S. Navy, where he became a pilot. (He would fly private planes for many years.)

In San Francisco, he studied comedy acting under Del Close, who brought him into The Committee, where he performed alongside the likes of Howard Hesseman, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Bonerz and Alan Myerson.

Barrows made his onscreen debut in Tom Laughlin’s Billy Jack (1971) in a cast that included Myerson and Hesseman, then appeared in Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate (1972) and on a 1973 first-season episode of The Bob Newhart Show, where his character needs therapy to deal with people treating him like a “pipsqueak.” (Bonerz, of course, played an orthodontist on the sitcom.)

Also in 1973, Barrows had a role in Myerson’s feature directorial debut, the comedy crime film Steelyard Blues, working alongside Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda and Peter Boyle.

He participated in the Ritchie-helmed mockumentary Smile (1975) and in parody skits for Tunnel Vision (1976) and Loose Shoes (1978), then reunited with Myerson for Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988) and with Bonerz, now directing, for Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989).

When he learned that his friend, cartoonist M.K. Brown, had created a character named Beans Morocco for National Lampoon magazine, he asked her if he could use it.

By either name, he appeared on two episodes of Mork & Mindy and six of Growing Pains, and his vast TV résumé included guest spots on The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Harry O; Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; Hesseman’s WKRP in Cincinnati; Eight Is Enough; Soap; Laverne & Shirley; The Fall Guy; Matlock; Star Trek: Voyager; Murphy Brown; Clueless; and, as the world’s slowest grocery bagger, Scrubs.

MOROCCO, Beans (Daniel Ernest Barrows)

Born: 6/8/1939, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.

Died: 5/29/2025, Bakersfield, California, U.S.A

 

Beans Morocco’s westerns – actor:

Blazing Saddles – 1974 (townsman)

Bret Maverick (TV) – 1982 (Jacob Voorsanger)

Lone Rider (TV) – 2009 (Ray)

RIP Harris Yulin

 

Harris Yulin, Actor in ‘Scarface,’ ‘Training Day’ and ‘Ozark,’ Dies at 87 

The Emmy nominee appeared six times on Broadway and starred alongside Stacy Keach in a pair of early 1970s films.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Chris Koseluk

June 11, 2005

 

Harris Yulin, the ever-present Emmy-nominated actor who appeared in such films as Scarface, Clear and Present Danger and Training Day and on television in Frasier, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Ozark, has died. He was 87.

Yulin died Tuesday of cardiac arrest in New York City, his family and manager, Sue Leibman, announced.

Although he never found a starring role that made him a household name, Yulin was a familiar face who worked constantly during a career that spanned more than 50 years. “I’m not that high-profile,” he admitted in a 2010 interview with The Irish Times. “I just do the next thing that comes along.”

On Broadway, the character actor performed in 1980’s Watch on the Rhine, 1992’s The Visit, 1997’s The Diary of Anne Frank, 1999’s The Price and 2001’s Hedda Gabler.

He also helmed off-Broadway productions of Baba Goya in 1989, This Lime Tree Bower in 1999 and The Trip to Bountiful in 2005 as well as a 1970 production of Candida at Canada’s Shaw Festival and a 1995 staging of Don Juan in Hell for London’s Riverside Studios.

Yulin stood out as the corrupt Miami detective who tries to extort money from Al Pacino’s Tony Montana in Scarface (1983), as the manipulative national security adviser who matches wits with Harrison Ford’s Jack Ryan in Clear and Present Danger (1994) and as the corrupt cop Rosselli in Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day (2001).

On the lighter side, he played the judge whose courtroom is decimated by spirits in Ghostbusters II (1989) and the goofy scientist who creates four versions of Michael Keaton’s Doug Kinney in Multiplicity (1996).

Yulin more recently appeared on two Netflix series as Orson, the father of David Cross’ character, on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and as Buddy Dieker, an eccentric old man with a criminal past, on Ozark.

Viewers might also recognize Yulin as Quentin Travers, head of the Watchers’ Council, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or as NSA director Roger Stanton on 24.

He received his guest-star Emmy nomination in 1996 for playing a wiseguy with a girlfriend who presses Dr. Crane (Kelsey Grammer) for help on Frasier.

Harris Yulin was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 5, 1937. He was abandoned as an infant and left on the steps of an orphanage.

Yulin was adopted when he was 4 months old and raised in a Jewish household by a Russian family who gave him his last name. He said the “life-changing” inspiration to become an actor came during his bar mitzvah.

“I enjoyed it so much,” Yulin said. “Most of my friends had said that they didn’t enjoy it, that it was a horrible thing to have to be up there before all those people, saying whatever they were saying, and I found the opposite to be so.”

Yulin attended UCLA to study acting before heading to New York to hopefully establish a career in the theater. He made it to the stage in 1963 opposite James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons in the James Saunders play Next Time I’ll Sing to You, then appeared in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1964, Richard III in 1966 and King John in 1967.

In 1970, Yulin debuted on the big screen opposite Stacy Keach in the offbeat comedy/drama End of the Road. The following year, he earned accolades for playing Wyatt Earp in the revisionist Western Doc alongside Keach as Doc Holliday.

“Its greatest strength is in the acting,” Roger Ebert wrote in his 1971 review of the film. “Stacy Keach and Harris Yulin … have such a quiet way of projecting the willingness to do violence that you realize, after a while, that most Western actors are overactors.”

“There’s a kind of private club of actors who have conspired to make Westerns: John Wayne, of course, and Lancaster, Eastwood, Douglas, Widmark, Mitchum and the rest. But they’ve made so many, many Westerns with each other, in different combinations, that they’ve established a kind of acting tone that you expect in ALL Westerns. Keach and Yulin are outside the club, are new to the Western and create Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp out of new cloth.”

Yulin later portrayed J. Edgar Hoover in the 1974 CBS telefilm The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One and Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1985 CBS miniseries Robert Kennedy and His Times.

And on the Steve Allen PBS series Meeting of Minds, he was Leonardo da Vinci in one 1979 episode and Shakespeare in another.

Yulin played a news anchor on a struggling TV station on the 1990-91 CBS drama WIOU and through the years appeared on many other shows, including Kojak, Ironside, Cagney & Lacey, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, La Femme Nikita, The X-Files, Entourage, The Blacklist, Veep, Murphy Brown and Billions.

Among Yulin’s notable films were Night Moves (1975), St. Ives (1976), Another Woman (1988), Narrow Margin (1990), Murder at 1600 (1997), Bean (1997), Cradle Will Rock (1999), Chelsea Walls (2001), Rush Hour 2 (2001) and Norman (2016).

Harris was prepping to start production this week with a role in the Michael Hoffman-directed MGM+ series American Classic, starring Kevin Kline and Laura Linney. Said Hoffman, “Harris Yulin was very simply one of the greatest artists I have ever encountered.”

Yulin was married to actress Gwen Welles (Nashville) from 1975 until her death in 1993 at age 42 from cancer. He married actress Kristen Lowman (Picket Fences) in September 2005, and she survives him, as does son-in-law Ted, nephew Martin and godchildren Marco and Lara. His also was predeceased by his daughter, actress Claire Lucido.

YULIN, Harris

Born: 11/5/1937, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died:  6/10/2025, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Harris Yulin’s westerns – actor:

‘Doc’ – 1970 (Wyatt Earp)

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1975 (John Stewart)

Ransom for Alice! – (TV) 1977 (Isaac Pratt)

How the West Was Won (TV) – 1978 (Deek Peasley)

The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang (TV) – 1979 (Jesse James)

The Virginian (TV) – 2000 (Judge Henry)

American Outlaws – 2001 (Thaddeus Rains, President Rock Northern Railroad)

RIP Chris Robinson

 

Chris Robinson, ‘12 O’Clock High,’ ‘General Hospital’ and ‘Bold and the Beautiful’ Actor, Dies at 86

In a career that lasted more than 60 years, he appeared in films with Burt Lancaster and Ted Cassidy. And in a commercial for cough syrup, he noted he wasn’t a doctor but played one on TV.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

June 11, 2025

 

Chris Robinson, who starred as a World War II bomber pilot on the 1960s ABC drama 12 O’Clock High and had lengthy stints on the daytime soap operas General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful, has died. He was 86.

Robinson died Monday on his ranch near Sedona, Arizona, actor and musician MJ Allen announced on Facebook. They worked together on the 2022 film Just for a Week.

During an acting career that spanned eight decades, Robinson worked alongside Burt Lancaster in The Young Savages (1961) and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), both directed by John Frankenheimer, and with Addams Family icon Ted Cassidy in four films, all of which he directed.

The Florida native also starred as Vietnam vet Tim Ochopee, a Seminole with a pet rattlesnake who obeys his commands (for most of the movie, anyway), in the Everglades-set horror film Stanley (1972), from Crown International Pictures.

Robinson joined the cast of the Quinn Martin-produced 12 O’Clock High as Technical Sgt. Sandy Komansky for its second season in September 1965. (Also coming on board as a full-time castmember that year: Paul Burke as Col. Joe Gallagher.) He appeared on the final 46 episodes of the show through January 1967.

On ABC’s General Hospital, he portrayed Dr. Rick Webber (two-time husband of Denise Alexander‘s Lesley and adoptive father of Genie Francis’ Laura) from 1978-86. He came back in 2002, only to have his character bludgeoned to death with a candlestick by Scotty Baldwin (Kin Shriner), Laura’s former husband.

Robinson also played Jack Hamilton, who enjoyed romances with Stephanie Douglas (Susan Flannery) and her rival Sally Spectra (Darlene Conley), on CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful from 1992-2002, with a final appearance in 2005.

While he was working on G.H. — and after showing up in Garry Marshall’s soapy Young Doctors in Love (1982) — Robinson established his bona fides as a pitchman in a Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup commercial. “I’m not a doctor,” he noted, “but I do play one on TV.”

But when he encountered legal trouble related to income tax evasion, he was replaced by Peter Bergman, another TV doctor on another soap (All My Children).

Born on Nov. 5, 1938, in West Palm Beach, Florida, Christopher Brown Robinson appeared uncredited in the Tony Curtis-starring The Midnight Story (1957). Two years later, he played a teenage thug in The Diary of a High School Bride and the spider-like monster in Gene Corman’s Beast From Haunted Cave, wearing a costume he had designed.

Robinson stayed busy after that, guest-starring on such series as Colt. 45, Hennesey, The Donna Reed Show, Sea Hunt, Death Valley Days, Ben Casey, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train and The Fugitive before landing on 12 O’Clock High.

e starred as an albino slave who is on the run with his brother (Anthony Scott) from a plantation owner (Cassidy) in Catch the Black Sunshine (1974), which he also wrote and directed, then did similar triple duty on Thunder County (1974), The Intruder (1975) and The Great Balloon Race (1977).

Talking about The Intruder — which also featured Mickey Rooney and Yvonne De Carlo — in a 2017 interview with Nick Thomas, Robinson said he cast it, put the crew together and shot it in a mere six weeks.

Asked what became of the movie, Robinson replied: “I have no idea. I wasn’t involved in the editing and didn’t even see the finished film, which was never released. I moved on to other projects and just forgot about it.”

Robinson’s big-screen résumé also included Because They’re Young (1960), The Long Rope (1961), Shootout at Big Sag (1962), Lady in Cement (1968), The Cycle Savages (1969), The Hawaiians (1970), Revenge Is My Destiny (1971), Amy (1981), Savannah Smiles (1982) and Just for a Week (2022).

In 1985, Robinson pleaded guilty to federal income tax evasion but was allowed to continue on G.H. by serving his sentence on nights and weekends. In between that soap and The Bold and the Beautiful, he portrayed Jason Frame on NBC’s Another World from 1987-89.

He married his fourth wife, Jacquie, in April 2011. Survivors also include his children, Shane, Coby, Christian, Christopher, Chris and Taylor, and grandchildren Ivy, Ava, Davey, Brooks and Knox.

His son Chris opened a window into the family by producing and directing two documentary shorts: Bankrupt by Beanies (2009), about his dad buying many thousands of Beanie Baby plush toys with the goal of reselling them at a profit, and Bastard: An Illegitimate Film (2010), which explored his “complicated” family tree (his father had his nine kids with six women).

Chris revealed in Bastard that he was “conceived in [his dad’s] dressing room in General Hospital” and pointed out that his father “practically had as many relationships in his real life as he’s had in the movies.”

“No matter how we came to be, all of us are connected,” Chris, talking about his siblings and half-siblings, said in closing the documentary. “And when our father is gone, even as some of us don’t even consider him to be their father, we’ll still have each other to look to for love and support. It might not be normal, but it’s certainly a hell of a lot more interesting.”

ROBINSON, Chris (Christopher Brown Robinson)

Born: 11/5/1938, West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

Died: 6/9/2025, · Sedona, Arizona, U.S.A.

 

Chris Robinson’s westerns – producer, director, writer, actor:

Colt .45 (TV) – 1960 (Cal Sanger)

Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1960 (Paul Martin)

The Long Rope – 1961 (Reb Gilroy)

Outlaws (TV) – 1961 (Sonny Buck)

Two Faces West (TV) – 1961 (Gordie)

Death Valley Days (TV) – 1962 (Herschel)

Empire (TV) – 1962 (Arnold Koenig)

Shootout at Big Sag – 1962 (Lee Barbee)

The Dakotas (TV) – 1963 (Chino James)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1963 (Jett)

Stoney Burke (TV) – 1963 (Ross Webster)

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV) – 1963 (Billy Bird)

The Virginian (TV) – 1963, 1968, 1970 (Arnie Hendricks, Coley, Henry 'Hank' Anders)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1963, 1964, (2nd Lt. Brad Carter, Brad Proctor, Gib Ryker)

Wide Country (TV) – 1963 (Gabriel Horn)

Custer (TV) – 1967 (Lt. Tim Rudford)

Catch the Black Sunshine – 1974 (Sunshine) [producer, director, writer]

The Busters (TV) – 1978 (Nick Carroll)

The Forsaken – (Frank Cooper)

 

RIP Pippa Scott

 

Pippa Scott, Actress in ‘The Searchers’ and ‘Auntie Mame,’ Dies at 90 

On television, she starred with Jack Warden on ‘Jigsaw John’ and had memorable guest spots on ‘The Twilight Zone’ and ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

June 8, 2025

 

Pippa Scott, who played one of abducted daughters alongside Natalie Wood in John Ford’s The Searchers and the secretary of Rosalind Russell’s title character in Auntie Mame, has died. She was 90.

Scott died peacefully May 22 of congenital heart failure at her home in Santa Monica, her daughter Miranda Tollman told The Hollywood Reporter.

Scott’s film résumé also included Gower Champion’s My Six Loves (1963), Richard Lester’s Petulia (1968), Norman Lear’s Cold Turkey (1971) and Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s The Sound of Murder (1982).

On television, the redhead portrayed the wife of a Broadway actor (Brian Aherne) transported back in time in the 1960 Twilight Zone episode “The Trouble With Templeton”; was the wife of a rabbi helping Morey Amsterdam’s character with his very belated bar mitzvah on the 1966 Dick Van Dyke Show installment “Buddy Sorrell: Man and Boy”; and played a nursery school teacher and love interest of Jack Warden’s detective on the 1976 NBC drama Jigsaw John.

Scott’s career got off to a rousing start with she portrayed the ill-fated Lucy Edwards, older sister of Wood’s Debbie Edwards, in the John Wayne-starring The Searchers (1956). And in Auntie Mame, she starred as Pegeen, who winds up falling for Roger Smith’s Patrick Dennis.

Philippa Scott was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 10, 1934. Her mother was stage actress Laura Straub, and her father was Allan Scott, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936).

Her uncle, writer-producer Adrian Scott, was blacklisted during the McCarthy era as one of the Hollywood Ten. (She would appear in a 1964 film written by him, The Confession.)

Educated at Radcliffe and UCLA and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Scott made her Broadway debut in 1956 in Jed Harris’ Child of Fortune, and in 1958, she starred as a teacher who is kidnapped in As Young as We Are.

Scott guest-starred on lots of TV shows, with appearances on Mr. Lucky, The Virginian, Maverick, Thriller, Have Gun — Will Travel, Dr. Kildare, The Fugitive, Wagon Train, Ben Casey, Perry Mason, Wagon Train, F Troop, I Spy, Family Affair, Medical Center, Gunsmoke, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mission: Impossible, Barnaby Jones, Columbo, The Waltons, Ironside, The Streets of San Francisco, Mannix and Remington Steele.

On stage, she appeared in the New York company of 1959’s Look Back in Anger and 1984’s Isn’t It Romantic and collaborated with John Houseman at UCLA in a 1973 production of Three Sisters in preparation for the start of the Center Theatre Group.

In 1964, Scott married Lee Rich, producer and founding partner of Lorimar Productions, the company behind such acclaimed shows as The Waltons, Dallas, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, Eight Is Enough and The Blue Knight. They divorced in 1983 but reconnected in 1996 and remained together until his death in 2012.

As a child whose family experienced the consequences of persecution, Scott in 1993 founded The International Monitor Institute, a nonprofit that gathered evidence to assist the prosecution of war crimes in the Balkans, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Congo, Cambodia and Iraq and the systemic use of rape and child soldiers in genocide.

The work of the IMI continues to assist war crime prosecution to this day through the Human Rights department at Duke University.

Scott also founded Linden Productions to further illuminate human rights violations, and her work includes projects commissioned by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and the International Rescue Committee.

In 1998, she produced for PBS’ Frontline the documentary The World’s Most Wanted Man, about the hunt for Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. And in 2006, she produced another doc, King Leopold’s Ghost, about the exploitation of the Congo by the king of Belgium.

After two decades behind the camera, she made her last acting appearance in the indie feature Footprints (2009).

Survivors include her daughters, Miranda and Jessica, and five grandchildren.

SCOTT, Pippa (Philippa Scott)

Born: 11/10/1934, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 5/22/2025, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.

 

Pippa Scott’s westerns – actress:

The Searchers – 1956 (Lucy Edwards)

Maverick (TV) – 1959 (Abigail Hamilton)

The Alaskans (TV) – 1960 (Ruth Coleman)

The Outlaws (TV) – 1960, 1961 (Donna Pringle, Janet Holbrook)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1961, 1971 (Mary Tabor, Sarah Mather)

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1961 (Kathy Rousseau)

Stagecoach West (TV) – 1961 (Susan McCloud)

The Tall Man (TV) – 1962 (Anne Drake)

The Virginian (TV) – 1962 (Molly Wood)

Redigo (TV) – 1963 (Patricia Royal)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1964 (Dorthea Gillford)

Dundee and the Culhane (TV) – 1967

F Troop (TV) – 1967 (Mrs. Molly Walker)

The Outcasts (TV) – 1969 (Augusta Barnes)

Lancer (TV) – 1970 (Rebecca Brown)

Cade’s County (TV) – 1971 (Jenny Gregg)

The Cowboys (TV) – 1974 (Kate Tatum)

RIP Arthur Hamilton

 

Arthur Hamilton, songwriter of ‘Cry Me a River’ torch classic, dies at 98

Mr. Hamilton’s hits also included “Sing a Rainbow,” which was written as a haunting lament of broken dreams but found a parallel life as a children’s tune.

The Washington Post

By Bryan Murphy

June 5, 2025

 

Arthur Hamilton, an Oscar-nominated songwriter who helped revive the torch singer genre in the 1950s with the smoldering “Cry Me a River” and whose “Sing a Rainbow” became a childhood staple even though it was initially crafted as a haunting lament, has died at age 98.

The death was announced in a statement on June 4 by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, but no other details were given.

Mr. Hamilton’s contributions to the Great American Songbook were greatly shaped by the cinema-driven world of his upbringing in Hollywood, where his parents occasionally collaborated on songs for movies including the vaudevillian musical “Wake Up and Dream” (1934).

As a young songwriter, Mr. Hamilton said he liked to imagine how his songs might appear on the big screen. He also studied musical mood and inflection at a club in Beverly Hills by listening to cabaret master Bobby Short do his interpretations of songs by Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin and others.

“I told people many times, ‘I never went to college, I went to Bobby Short,’ ” Mr. Hamilton said in a 2016 interview on “The Paul Leslie Hour” podcast.

Some of Mr. Hamilton’s first professional credits were for songs in a television musical on KTTV in Los Angeles in the late 1940s. He next ended up in a partnership with actor-director Jack Webb, star of the cop drama “Dragnet” during its first TV run in the 1950s. Webb needed songs for a film he was directing, “Pete Kelly’s Blues,” that also featured him in the lead role as a Prohibition-era cornet player under pressure from the mob.

The soundtrack for the 1955 movie includes two songs by Mr. Hamilton sung by Peggy Lee, who played an alcoholic jazz singer. In Mr. Hamilton’s “He Needs Me,” Lee sings about a tortured romance. In “Sing a Rainbow,” Lee’s character looks back wistfully at her diminished career and bad choices.

HAMILTON, Arthur (Arthur Hamlton Stern)

Born: 10/22/1926, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

Died:6/3/2025,

 

Arthur Hamilton’s western – music department:

Westward Ho! – 1960-1961

RIP Nicole Croisille

 

French artist Nicole Croisille, voice of the famous 'Da ba da ba da' from the film 'A Man and A Woman,' dies

Croisille, who sang the iconic theme of Claude Lelouch's film alongside Pierre Barouh, was passionate about jazz and American musicals. She died on June 4 at the age of 88.

Le Monde

By Stéphanie Pierre

June 4, 2025

The singer, actress and dancer Nicole Croisille, best known for her performances in Un Homme et Une Femme (A Man and a Woman) died on June 4 at the age of 88. Born on October 9, 1936, in the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, she was the only daughter of Jean Croisille, a tour guide, and Germaine Decorde. She grew up listening to Chopin and Liszt, played by her mother, an amateur pianist. Trained in classical dance from a young age, she dreamed of an artistic career, even though her father disapproved. "I always knew my place was on stage. That's where I feel best," she used to say. Discovering Sidney Bechet and the atmosphere of the jazz clubs in Saint-Germain-des-Prés as a teenager was a revelation. "I was born with jazz!" she enthused. "I feel this need for rhythm without knowing where it comes from."

Croisille studied mime under Marcel Marceau and joined his company for a tour of South America in 1957, then traveled to the United States in 1960. Passionate about American musicals, she managed to land several contracts in North America. She was a revue leader in Reno, Nevada (1958), took part in the Folies-Bergère tour in New York (1964, and sang at the Playboy Club in Chicago (1960). Nicknamed "Soul Sister," Croisille tirelessly worked on her warm voice and sense of swing.

In 1966, she met Claude Lelouch and Francis Lai, who invited her to perform the original soundtrack for the film Un homme et Une Femme as a duet with Pierre Barouh. The "Da ba da ba da" chorus instantly became famous and remains etched in collective memory to this day.

Claude Lelouch, a loyal friend, also entrusted her with the songs for the films Vivre pour vivre (1967), Les Uns et les Autres (1981), and Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté (1988).

Finding success at 40

In the 1970s, she achieved widespread acclaim. As a pop singer, she wanted to present the image of a free woman through her songs: "When success came, I was 40, and I could speak as a woman talking to women."

In 1976 and again in 1978, powered by her voice and energy, she triumphed at L'Olympia, Paris's famous concert venue. A versatile performer, Croisille refused to confine herself to a single musical style and constantly alternated between pop, jazz – most notably with the album Jazzille in 1987 – and music hall.

In 1992, on the stage of the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, as part of an American troupe, she played the title role in the musical Hello Dolly. "It's a childhood dream come true. When I was 10, I decided in my head: 'I want to be like Judy Garland.'" She also appeared in the musicals Follies (2013), Cabaret (2014) and Irma la Douce (2015), where she thrived in working as part of a troupe.

Croisille also made several ventures into acting. She performed in theater productions such as Folle Amanda (1996), Coup de Soleil (1999) and Hard (2018), and appeared in films, including La Cage Dorée (The Gilded Cage, 2013) as well as on television. In 2005, she played an unlikeable character in the hit TV series Dolmen, which drew approximately 12 million viewers per episode in France. "Singing, dancing, and acting – that's the life I wanted to lead," she said.

Croisille, discreet about her private life, opened up in 2006 with the publication of her autobiography written with Thierry Lecamp. The title summed up her life and 60-year career: Je n'ai pas vu passer le temps ("I Didn't See the Time Go By").

CROISILLE, Nicole

Born: 10/9/1936, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Died: 6/4/2025, Paris, Île-de-France, France

 

Nicole Croisille’s westerns – song writer, voice actress, singer:

Daisy Town (TV) – 1971 [French voice of Lulu Carabine, lyric writer and singer of ‘Daisy Town Saloon song]

Lucky Luke Ballad of the Daltons – 1978 [lyric writer for Dalton’s musical]