RIP Salvatore Puntillo

 

Salvatore Puntillo, one of the best Calabrian actors of the old guard, has died

Originally from Arcavacata, he was 89 years old. A valuable voice actor and character actor in the cinema, over 50 films with illustrious directors. And then a lot of theater

Corriere Calabria

by Paride Leporace

July 14, 2024

 

Due to a sudden illness, the actor of Calabrian origins, Salvatore Puntillo, died at the age of 89 this morning in Rome. Found lying on the ground by his children, the rescue of the 118 doctors who transported him to the hospital where he died. Originally from Arcavacata, Salvatore Puntillo at a time when training for entertainment in Calabria was rare, had decided to go and study at the "Silvio D'Amico" Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome, acquiring good technique and craft and avoiding continuing with the Law he had studied.

Over time he became a valuable character actor in the cinema. Over 50 films of all genres in which his number and name and surname appear in the credits. He worked with Magni and Squitieri and played roles in the Italian western and in Boccaccio, he passed with craft from Nanni Moretti to Dario Argento's Deep Red. There was also a lot of television, from the famous Jackyll by Albertazzi to Joe Petrosino, his interpretations marked at least twenty dramas of great diffusion. Years of television on two channels that made Puntillo very popular, especially in Cosenza but above all in Rende where he had maintained many relationships at a distance.

Salvatore Puntillo was also a voice actor and above all a theater actor. We remember him as the sublime protagonist of "Francis and the King" in the first staging by Vincenzo Zicarelli who, entrusting him with the part of the saint of Paola, puts him paired with the immense Nando Gazzolo. He had frequented the great companies of the sixties reciting many classics alongside the greatest Italian actors. A great figure Salvatore Puntillo. A pioneer of Calabrian entertainment. Remembered by some local event with a prize or an invitation and who had won popular sympathy among the general public of the Calabrian twentieth century.

PUNTILLO, Salvatore

Born: 7/27/1935, Rende, Calabria, Italy

Died: 7/14/2024, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Salvatore Puntillo’s westerns – actor:

A Stranger in Town - 1966 (priest)

Behold the Strange, Stimulating Smell of Dollars – 1973 (Ramirez)

The Four of the Apocalypse - 1975 (recovering man)

A Man Called Blade - 1977 (Johnny Johnny)

RIP Les Lawrence

The Globe

July 13, 2024

Les died quietly at home surrounded by the love of his family on July 8, 2024. Les will be greatly missed by Sandra his wife of 54 years, their children and grandchildren. He will be remembered as a man who loved every minute with each and every one of his family. Les was generous, creative, fond of art, music, drama. He had prodigious memory for poems, and bad jokes. Les used to say that the last 29 years, of retirement with his wife, Sandra were the happiest in his life. He painted and exhibited with the Toronto Mark Makers 6, while Sandra was active at the ROM. We were travelers, gardeners, and cooks together. We are proud parents and friends of three children and six grandchildren Caitlin, Brian, Alex, Erika, & Miranda, Diego, Anna, Maya, & Marc, Maureen, Sean, Ryan all rather talented and amazing. A graduate of U of T, Les spent most of his time in the theater, but they let him graduate with an Honors BA in English anyway. He wrote for the Varsity and the UC newspaper, edited the literary magazine, did some debating, went to classes, paid his way by designing silk screen posters and working in summer stock theater. After graduation, Les worked as an actor. He married his high school sweetheart, Wendy Michener, mother of his two daughters, who died in1969. Les and Wendy went abroad to seek wisdom, fame and fortune, writing freelance articles about the arts in the UK, Europe and Russia. With a Canada Council Scholarship, Les studied design for theater at le Centre Dramatique de l'Est in Strasbourg. He came back to work for a group of Canadian theatres in Toronto, Halifax, and Vancouver. He was best known for his work at the COC, and the Toronto and Broadway production of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris". Along the way he joined the CBC in design, and then training. He was a founding director of Associated Designers of Canada, international organizations…INPUT, PREPUT, and IBTOC. After retirement he continued to work with friends on issues that they cared about, in particular promoting the voices of the disadvantaged groups by bringing talented indigenous people and people of color into careers in broadcasting. They trained journalists and production staff for APTN newsroom, for SABC at the end of Apartheid, for CIDA in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as a number of projects to attract persons with disabilities into jobs in the media. The family would like to thank Dr. Whalen from Temmy Latner Palliative Care, & Spectrum, Sprint Senior Care, Its all Good Care, Societies for their invaluable help and care. A private family funeral has been held.

 

LAWRENCE, Les (Leslie George Lawrence)

Born: 7/2/1934, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Died: 7/8/2024, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

Les Lawrence’s western – actor:

Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (TV) – 1957 (Murfrey)

RIP Shannen Doherty

 

Shannen Doherty, ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ and ‘Charmed’ Star, Dies at 53

Variety

By Pat Saperstein, Lamarco McClendon

July 14, 2024

 

Shannen Doherty, known for her roles on the wildly popular series “Beverly Hills, 90210” and on the witchcraft fantasy “Charmed,” has died after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She was 53.

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress, Shannen Doherty,” Doherty’s publicist Leslie Sloane said in a statement. “On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease. The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace.”

Doherty rose to fame in 1990 as the fresh-faced brunette Brenda Walsh on Fox’s “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Along with her twin brother Brandon, played by Jason Priestley, the Walshes were the classic fish-out-of-water family that had recently moved from Minnesota to Beverly Hills and were constantly amazed at the antics of the L.A. rich kids.

The romance between Brenda and Dylan, played by Luke Perry, spawned controversy in the first season for the storyline where Brenda considers losing her virginity. Their later breakup, when Dylan hooked up with her best friend Kelly, played by Jennie Garth, was also big news, and the show was considered groundbreaking in its willingness to address topics like drug abuse and racism.

The show was a massive hit, and with its success came an inordinate amount of scrutiny and gossip surrounding the cast, including teen-aged Doherty. Though the show had started out with Garth’s Kelly as the less likable character, the perception soon changed and Brenda become the cast member everyone loved to hate on. She was labeled a diva in the press and there was even a pre-internet newsletter called “I Hate Brenda.” Doherty appeared in 111 episodes before leaving the series at the end of season four, amid reports of friction with other cast members, particularly Garth.

By the time the show was rebooted two more times, everyone had mellowed with age and Doherty returned as Brenda in the 2008 revival “90210” for one season and in the later revival 2019 “BH90210.”

After her stormy departure from “Beverly Hills, 90210,” Doherty found her footing on “Charmed,” the supernatural drama following three sisters who discover they are witches and must work together to fight evil. She played the oldest of the three sisters, Prue Halliwell, alongside Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs. In 2000 and 2001, she directed three episodes of the series — “Be Careful What You Witch For,” “The Good, The Bad, and The Cursed,” and “All Hell Breaks Loose,” the last episode she appeared in. Her character was killed off when she left the series at the end of the third season.

Born in Memphis, Tenn., Doherty moved to Los Angeles with her family as a child and got her start at age 10 with a role on the series “Father Murphy.” Michael Landon saw her in the series and cast her as Jenny Wilder in “Little House on the Prairie” at age 11.

Doherty then had a recurring role on the family series “Our House” with Wilfred Brimley,

In feature films, she appeared in another teen classic, “Heathers,” as well as in “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and Kevin Smith’s “Mallrats” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”

Among the other shows she appeared on were “North Shore,” and “Riverdale” as well as in a number of TV movies.

In 2006, she produced a reality show, “Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty,” where she helped people in relationship peril who wanted to get out but couldn’t do it on their own, and later appeared in another reality show, “Off the Map With Shannen and Holly.”

Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2015, and in 2017 said she was in remission. But by 2019 the cancer had returned and spread. She continued working, with roles in TV movies including “Dying to Belong” and “List of a Lifetime.” Doherty also hosted a popular podcast, “Let’s Be Clear With Shannen Doherty,” in which she discussed her career and talked frankly about how breast cancer had impacted her life.

In June 2023, she said she had been receiving radiation for cancer that had spread to her brain.

She was briefly married to George Hamilton’s son Ashley Hamilton and poker player Rick Salomon, and in 2011 she married photographer Kurt Iswarienko. They filed for divorce in 2023.

DOHERTY, Shannen (Shannen Maria Doherty)

Born: 4/12/1971, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.A.

Died: 7/13/2024, Malibu, California, U.S.A.

 

Shannen Doherty’s westerns – actress:

Father Murphy (TV) – 1981 (Drusilla Shannon)

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1982, 1983 (Jenny Wilder)

Little House on the Prairie: Look Back at Yesterday (TV) – 1983 (Jenny Wilder)

Little House on the Prairie: The Last Farewell (TV) – 1984 (Jenny Wilder)

Outlaws (TV) – 1986 (Andrea Halifax)

The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (TV) – 2008 (Susan Jordan)

RIP Renate Hoy

 

Los Angeles Times

July 9, 2024

December 31, 1930 - July 1, 2024 Renate Anita Huy Simpson, age 93, passed away surrounded by her family.

Renate was born in Ludwigshafen, Germany in 1930. In 1952, she was crowned Miss Nürnberg, then Miss Germany. She participated in the first Miss Universe pageant in Long Beach, CA in 1952, which led to a movie contract with Universal Studios. From 1953 - 1960, Renate starred in several movies and in a TV series. She was credited as Renate Huy, Renate Hoy, and Erika Nordin.

In 1954, she married actor Brett Halsey (nee Charles Oliver Hand) in Munich. Upon their return to to L.A., they had two children: Charles Jr. (aka Rock Halsey) and Tracy.

HOY, Renate (Renate Anita Huy)

Born: 12/31/1930, Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Died: 7/1/2024, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Renate Hoy’s westerns – actress:

The Mississippi Gambler – 1953 (bridesmaid)

Border River – 1954 (Annina Strasser)

The Twinkle in God’s Eye – 1955 (Renate)

RIP Dr. Ruth Westheimer

 

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Renowned Sex Therapist, Dies at 96

"She was restful when she passed away," her publicist Pierre Lehu tells PEOPLE

PEOPLE

By Vanessa Etienne, Liz McNeil, Jenny Haward

July 13, 2024

 

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist who became a pop culture phenomenon in the 1980s for her frank and humorous approach to human sexuality, has died. She was 96.

The one-time radio talk show host died on Friday, July 12, her publicist, Pierre Lehu, who co-authored books with Westheimer, confirmed to PEOPLE on Saturday, July 13.

"She was restful when she passed away. Her son and daughter were with her and holding her hand at that moment," Lehu says, adding, "It was as peacefully as she could possibly go. She was 96."

He continued of his late friend, "It's amazing, there was stuff still going on in her life [she has a book coming out this fall with Allison Gilbert] and someone wants to make a biopic about her."

Lehu did not provide further details of Westheimer's cause of death, but according to The New York Times and The Washington Post, she died at home in New York City.

In June 2023, Westheimer spoke to PEOPLE about what surprised her most about her life.

“That I became famous,” she said when celebrating her 95th birthday. “That I have a wonderful daughter, son-in-law, a wonderful son and daughter-in-law and four wonderful grandchildren."

Westheimer was born Karola Ruth Siegel on June 4, 1928, in Wiesenfeld, Germany.

A Jewish refugee, Westheimer called herself “an orphan of the Holocaust” after losing her entire family during World War II. Her father, Julius, was taken away by the Nazis in 1938. Approximately six weeks later, her mother and grandmother put her on a train to Switzerland as part of the ‘”kindertransport,” the organized escape of thousands of Jewish children out of Germany.

After the war, she emigrated to Palestine in 1945, where she began going by her middle name, Ruth, and was trained to be a sniper for the Israeli Army.

From there, she moved to Paris to study psychology at Sorbonne University and then, New York City. Twice married and divorced, she met Manfred Westheimer, a telecommunications engineer and fellow Jewish refugee, in 1961. He became her third husband, and she called their 36-year union her “real marriage.”

As she pursued her post doctoral research in human sexuality, she began working at Planned Parenthood, where she trained family planning counselors.

It was in 1980 when she got the offer that would change her life.

Public radio station WYNY’s community affairs manager, Betty Elam, who had heard Westheimer speak, proposed the idea of a call-in show on sex education. What started as a 15-minute debut after midnight turned into the live call-in show Sexually Speaking, which lasted ten years and led to a series of tv and radio shows.

Westheimer was known for answering questions clearly and often with humor. “When people needed to learn about oral sex, I would say go buy an ice cream cone and practice,” she said back in 2019.

In later years, she stayed relevant by lecturing, teaching and writing books. Westheimer received many awards for her work over the years, including an honorary doctorate degree from Trinity College in 2004 and the Medal for Distinguished Service from the Teacher’s College at Columbia University. Additionally, Ask Dr. Ruth, a film about her extraordinary life, premiered in theaters in 2019.

Westheimer is survived by her two children, Miriam and Joel, and four grandchildren. Her husband, Manfred, died in 1997.

"With such a difficult beginning like me, having been an orphan at the age of 10 years old — no parents, no brothers and sisters — all I feel is gratefulness," she previously told PEOPLE.

WESTHEIMER, Dr. Ruth (Karola Ruth Sieger)

Born: 6/4/1928, Frankfurt, Main, Germany

Died: 7/12/2024, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s western – actress:

Tall Tales & Legends (TV) – 1986 (mysterious stranger)

RIP Bill Klages

 

Bill Klages, Pioneering Television Lighting Designer and Seven-Time Emmy Winner, Dies at 97

He worked on programs that featured Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ernie Kovacs, Carol Burnett, Barbra Streisand, Dorothy Hamill, David Copperfield and more.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

July 11,2024

 

Bill Klages, a trailblazer in the field of television lighting design and a seven-time Emmy recipient, died Sunday at his home in Santa Monica, his son, Jonathan Klages, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 97.

Klages in 2012 became the only lighting designer inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. His six-decade career spanned the early days of black-and-white live television through the sophisticated high-definition productions of today.

The native New Yorker lighted the Emmys, the Tonys, the Grammys and The Kennedy Center Honors as well as a range of high-profile entertainment programs that included Kraft Music Hall, My Name Is Barbra, Sills and Burnett at the Met, Baryshnikov by Tharp and The Dorothy Hamill Special.

Nominated for 22 Emmys, Klages collected his first trophy in 1974 — when he won for The Lie, an Ingmar Bergman-written telefilm that starred George Segal and Shirley Knight — and his last in 1991, when he was honored for his work on the CBS special The Magic of David Copperfield XIII: Mystery on the Orient Express.

“Lighting design is an accumulation of methods,” he said in 2012. “It’s what you think looks good. All of that is inside you, intuitively. Then, of course, there’s this bag of [technological] tricks. And sometimes, you have this revelation on your part, something nobody else has ever done before.”

William Maxwell Klages was born on May 7, 1927, in Long Beach, New York. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, earned his master’s from Columbia University and was a licensed professional engineer.

In 1948, Klages was hired by NBC to work in New York as a maintenance engineer. He soon became a video engineer in the operations department and, after a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy, debuted as a lighting director on the live dramatic series Playwrights ’56.

Employing techniques used in 1940s moviemaking, he lighted landmark shows featuring the likes of Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ernie Kovacs and Perry Como.

Klages provided lighting design for the closing ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics and the Liberty Weekend Statue of Liberty celebration in 1984. He also worked on four Republican National Conventions and for the 16,000-seat Lakewood Church in Houston.

A mentor for generations of lighting designers, he founded his own company, New Klages Inc., in 1983; conducted seminars throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe; and was a member of the International Photographers Guild as a director of photography.

He was married to Julie Rosalie Light — a daughter of Enoch Light, a classically trained violinist, dance-band leader and recording engineer, she was an associate director at NBC — from 1958 until her death in 2009. Their son is a writer, editor and musician.

KLAGES, Bill (William M. Klages)

Born: 5/27/1927, Long Beach, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 7/11/2024, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.

 

Bill Klages’ western – lighting consultant:

How The West Was Fun: A Western Reunion - 1979

RIP Shelley Duvall

 

‘The Shining’ star Shelley Duvall dies at 75

Duvall was also known for roles in "Popeye," "Time Bandits" and "Annie Hall."

Today

By Drew Weisholtz

July 11, 2024

 

Shelley Duvall, an actor best known for her portrayal of Jack Nicholson’s wife in “The Shining,” died July 11, her partner since 1989, Dan Gilroy, confirmed to NBC News in a phone call. She was 75.

Gilroy said she died a little after midnight at the home they share in Blanco, Texas.

“She’s gone after much suffering, which I guess is a good thing, which after 34 years … I can’t tell you how much I miss her.”

Gilroy also said Duvall had been in hospice care and bedridden over the last few months while she suffered from complications from diabetes.

Born July 7, 1949, Duvall’s career was given a boost by Robert Altman, whose staff discovered her in Houston in 1970. He directed her in her 1970 film debut before they teamed back up the following year for “McCabe & Mrs. Miller.”

The pair would once collaborate again in 1974’s “Thieves Like Us” and 1976’s Oscar-winning “Nashville.” She again worked with Altman in his 1980 big-screen adaptation of “Popeye,” playing Olive Oyl, opposite Robin Williams’ title character in the comedian’s first feature film.

Duvall enjoyed working with Altman.

“He offers me damn good roles,” she told The New York Times in 1977. “None of them have been alike. He has a great confidence in me, and a trust and respect for me, and he doesn’t put any restrictions on me or intimidate me, and I love him.”

Duvall also scored her most well-known role in 1980, playing the wife of a writer (Jack Nicholson) who loses his mind during a desolate winter spent in a hotel. The Stanley Kubrick-director horror offering remains classic to this day, but Duvall said Kubrick wore her out.

She told People that Kubrick had her “crying 12 hours a day for weeks on end. I will never give that much again. If you want to get into pain and call it art, go ahead, but not with me.”

The movie elevated her profile, though.

“When somebody recognizes you at a Dairy Queen in Texas, you’re a star,” she said.

Duvall also appeared in the popular sci-fi comedy “Time Bandits,” Woody Allen’s landmark Oscar-winning comedy “Annie Hall” and as Steve Martin’s friend in 1987’s “Roxanne,” a modern take on “Cyrano de Bergerac.”

After appearing in 2002’s “Manna from Heaven,” Duvall would not act onscreen again until 2023’s “The Forest Hills.”

While mostly known for her work in cinema, Duvall also earned two Emmy Award nominations, one for "Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories" and another for "Tall Tales & Legends."

She also recorded the children’s album “Sweet Dreams” in 1981 before she produced, narrated and starred in Showtime’s “Faerie Tale Theatre,” which won a Peabody Award in 1985.

In 2016, her health took center stage when she appeared on “Dr. Phil,” and said she was mentally ill, in an appearance that made headlines for some of the claims she made, including her belief that her "Popeye" co-star Williams was not dead.

“I found out the kind of person he is the hard way,” Duvall said in the interview. “My mother didn’t like him, either. A lot of people, like Dan (Gilroy, her partner), said, ‘You shouldn’t have done that, Shelley.’“

DUVALL, Shelley (Shelley Alexis Duvall)

Born: 7/7/1949, Ft. Worth Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 7/11/2024, Blanco, Texas, U.S.A.

 

Shelley Duvall’s westerns – producer, actress, host:

McCabe & Mrs. Miller – 1971 (Ida Coyle)

Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson – 1976 (Mrs. Cleveland)

Tall Tales & Legends (TV) – 1985-1986 [producer, host]