RIP Franco Graziosi

 

The actor Franco Graziosi has died at 92.

From Strehler to Sorrentino, a life between theater, cinema and great TV dramas

 

Last Minute Breaking News

By Enzo Boniauto

September 8, 2021 

Film and theater actor Franco Graziosi has died at the age of 92 . He was born on 10 July 1929 in Macerata. Graziosi was a protagonist for both theater and cinema. The beginning of his artistic career is on the tables of the stage of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano directed by Giorgio Strehler, but the actor boasts in his curriculum various works directed by other leading directors, such as Orazio Costa, Luigi Squarzina, Luca Ronconi, Diego Fabbri, Giorgio Albertazzi, Vittorio Gassman, Mario Missiroli.

Among the theatrical interpretations, he stands out above all in the works of the great classics such as Carlo Goldoni ('Harlequin servant of two masters',' The barefoot widow '), Anton Cechov (' The cherry garden '), Giovanni Verga (' From your to mine '), Gabriele D'Annunzio (' Francesca da Rimini '), Bertolt Brecht (' The Threepenny Opera ').

Prominent directors also for his works for the big screen, with films such as 'Men against' and 'The Mattei case' by Francesco Rosi, 'Giù la testa' by Sergio Leone, 'Habemus Papam' by Nanni Moretti, up to the most recent 'The great beauty' directed by Paolo Sorrentino. To his credit, also the interpretations in great TV dramas such as 'I masnadieri', 'The five days of Milan', 'Along the river and on the water', 'Honor and respect'.

GRAZIOSI, Franco

Born: 7/10/1929, Macerata, Marche, Italy

Died: 9/8/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Franco Graziosi’s westerns – actor:

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

Duck, You Sucker – 1971 (Governor Don Jaime/General Huerta)

Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears – 1972 (General Lucius Morton)

 

RIP Nino Castelnuovo

 

Nino Castelnuovo died, Renzo unforgettable in the Promessi Sposi

The actor was 84 years old. He died yesterday in Rome

 La Stampa

September 7, 2021

Nino Castelnuovo, a charming and talented actor, famous above all for the historic TV drama ' The Betrothed ' of 1967, passed away at the age of 84 after a long period of illness (and poverty, as repeatedly denounced by his wife). in which he played Renzo Tramaglino. Born in Lecco, Castelunovo began working for television in 1957, the year in which he participated as a mime in Cino Tortorella's program Zurli 'the magician of Thursday. He then made his debut in the cinema in Un cursed imbroglio (1959) by Pietro Germi, and went on to interpret secondary roles as a young actor in numerous films, some of which also prominent such as Il gobbo (1960) by Carlo Lizzani and Rocco and his brothers(1960) by Luchino Visconti. The international occasion comes with Jacques Demy's French musical Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964), a fully sung film, in which he plays the part of the protagonist alongside a young Catherine Deneuve.

The film obtained international acclaim from critics and audiences and won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but went almost unnoticed in Italy due to the idiosyncrasy of the Italian public towards musicals, even more so if subtitled. On the other hand, a few years later Castelnuovo became one of the most popular actors in Italy thanks to the role of Renzo Tramaglino in the television reduction of I promessi sposi , broadcast on the first Rai channel in 1967, directed by Sandro Bolchi.

His subsequent choices favored television, where he took part in numerous screenplays that followed his first great success; to remember Portrait of a Veiled Woman (1974), with Daria Nicolodi. In 1976 he suffered a serious family loss when his brother Pierantonio was beaten to death. He stars in one of the most award-winning films of all time, The English Patient (1996), as the enthusiastic Italian archaeologist D'Agostino. The public still remembers him for his long career as an athletic testimonial in the advertising of Olio Cuore, in which he was filmed in the act of jumping a fence. In 2013 Castelnuovo took on the role of the unscrupulous judge Savio, in the seriesThe three roses of Eva 2  a role she continued to play in the third season of the television series in 2015. 

 

CASTELNUVO, Nino (Francesco Castelnuovo)

Born: 10/28/1936, Lecco, Lombardy, Italy

Died: 9/6/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Nino Castelnuovo’s westerns:

The Reward – 1965 (Luis)

The Brute and the Beast – 1966 (Jason Scott Jr./Jonah/Junior)

The 5-Man Army – 1969 (Luis)

 

RIP Irma Kalish

Irma Kalish Dies: Pioneering TV Writer-Producer & One Of First Women In Film Presidents Was 96

 

DEADLINE

By Patrick Hipes

September 6, 2021

 

Irma Kalish, one of television’s first female producers whose writing and producing credits with her husband and writing partner include the Norman Lear series Maude, All in the Family and Good Times as well as My Favorite Martian, My Three Sons, Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeannie, The Bob Newhart Show and Too Close for Comfort, died September 3 in Woodland Hills, CA due to complications from pneumonia. She was 96.

The news was confirmed Monday by a family spokesperson.

Kalish, born Irma May Ginsberg in New York City, was also a vice president and longtime board member of the WGA West, receiving the writers guild’s Valentine Davies Award and Morgan Cox Award. She also was one of the first presidents of Women In Film, and the recipient of that organization’s Founders Award. Kalish also spent 27 years on the board of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

As a writing duo, Kalish and her husband Austin “Rocky” Kalish began their careers writing for The Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Radio Show, following them to TV. The Kalishes were in demand for the next three decades, compiling head writing and producing credits that also included Family Affair, F-Troop and The King and I.

Among their work, the duo wrote the two-part Maude episode “Maude’s Dilemma” in 1972 about Maude contemplating an abortion. A year later, they penned All in the Family episodes about Edith’s breast cancer scare and Gloria being sexually assaulted.

As a solo writer-producer, Irma Kalish executive produced 24 episodes and also wrote on Good Times, and wrote and produced Valerie, Oh Madeline, The Hogan Family, 227 and The Facts of Life. She also wrote the 1985 TV movie I Dream of Jeannie… 15 Years Later.

Irma and Rocky were married for 68 years until Rocky’s death in 2016.

Kalish is survived by her sister, Harriet Alef; son, comedy writer-producer Bruce Kalish and his wife Leah; grandchildren Matthew Biederman Sr. and his wife Cassie Fink, writer-producer Mackenzie Kalish; and great-grandchildren Nicholas and Caden Biederman.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the MPTF. A memorial service will be announced.

 

KALISH, Irma (Irma May Ginsberg)

Born: 10/6/1924, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 9/3/2021, Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A.

 

Irma Kalish’s westerns – writer, lyrics:

F Troop (TV) – 1966-1967 [writer, lyrics]

Cimarron Strip (TV) – 1968 [writer]

Dusty’s Trail (TV) – 1973-1974 [writer]

RIP Michael K. Williams

 Michael K. Williams, Actor Who Starred As Omar In ‘The Wire, Dies At 54

 

NEWSONE

By Bruce C. T. Wright

9/6/2021

 

Michael K. Williams, the veteran actor who rose to fame playing the role of Omar Little, a hitman for hire in the award-winning drama, “The Wire,” has reportedly died at the age of 54.

Williams was found dead in his New York City apartment on Monday afternoon, the New York Post reported.

There were no immediate reports of what may have caused Williams to die.

He was reportedly found by his nephew in his Brooklyn apartment.

Aside from achieving widespread success from “The Wire,” Williams — a Brooklyn native — also starred in numerous movies as well as other cable TV dramas, such as “Boardwalk Empire” in which he portrayed gangster Chalky White on HBO. Williams also received critical acclaim for his role in HBO’s recent sci-fi series, “Lovecraft County.”

According to his IMDB page, Williams was nominated for multiple Emmy Awards and “Boardwalk Empire” won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Many of Williams’ roles focused on the Black experience, for better and, as evidenced by his infamous Omar Little character on “The Wire,” for worse.

That may or may have not been by design for Williams, who notably away from the bright lights participated in a docuseries for Vice that brought attention to the juvenile justice system in America.

 

WILLIAMS, Michael K. (Michael Kenneth Williams)

Born: 11/22/1966, Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 9/6/2021, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Michael K. Williams’ westerns – actor;

They Die by Dawns – 2013 (Nat Love)

Surrounded – 2021