RIP Larry Storch

 

Larry Storch, actor best known for ‘F Troop,’ dies at 99

NJArts.net

By Jay Lustig

July 8, 2022

 

Larry Storch, best known for playing the dim but loveable Cpl. Randolph Agarn on the 1960s sitcom “F Troop,” has died at the age of 99.

A message posted today on his Facebook page reads, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share with you the news our beloved Larry passed away in his sleep overnight. We are shocked and at a loss for words at the moment. Please remember he loved each and every one of you and wouldn’t want you to cry over his passing. He is reunited with his wife Norma and his beloved F Troop cast and so many friends and family.”

A New York native, Storch served in the Navy in World War II and later became an actor as comedian. In addition to his work in “F Troop” as Agarn (a character who hailed from Passaic), Storch made appearances in classic TV shows such as “Gilligan’s Island,” “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Laugh-In.”

He acted in movies such as “The Great Race,” “The Great Train Robbery” and “S.O.B.,” and appeared as himself in the raunchy “The Aristocrats.” His Broadway credits included “Sly Fox,” “Annie Get Your Gun” and “Arsenic and Old Lace.”

He was nominated for an Emmy, for “F Troop,” but lost to his childhood friend, Don Adams of “Get Smart.”

Storch was named an honorary citizen of Passaic in 2016. “I think because of you, Passaic is mentioned all over the world,” Passaic mayor Alex D. Blanco said at the time.

Storch was also named honorary Mayor for a Day of Fort Lee in 2014. The Wild West City theme park in Stanhope has a Larry Storch’s Silver Dollar Saloon in his honor, and he made what was billed as his last public appearance there, in 2021.

The Jersey-based band The Smithereens posted today on Facebook, “The Smithereens are saddened to learn that beloved actor and comedian Larry Storch has passed away on his 99-1/2th birthday, born January 8, 1923. The Smithereens had been asked by his people to play his 100th birthday party next year.”

STORCH, Larry (Lawrence Samuel Storch)

Born: 1/8/2023, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 7/7/2022, New York, U.S.A.

Larry Storch’s westerns – actor, voice actor:

The Great Bank Robbery – 1958 (Juan)

Gun Fever – 1958 (Amigo)

Fastest Popgun in the West (TV) 1962 [voice of Koko the clown]

Pony Express (TV) – 1963 [voice of Koko the clown]

Pow-wow-wow (TV) 1962 [voice of Koko the clown]

Rodeo (TV) – 1963 [voice of Koko the clown]

Wild West Story (TV) – 1963 [voice of Koko the clown]

F Troop (TV) – 1965-1967 (Corporal Randolph Agarn, Lucky Pierre Agarniere, Dimitri Agarnof

Hocus Pocus Powwow – 1968 [voice]

Fistic Mystic (TV) – 1969 [voice]

Injun Trouble – (TV) 1969 (Cool Cat)

Alias Smith and Jone (TV) – 1972 (Mugs McGeehu)

How the West Was Fun (TV) – 1977 (Corporal Agarn)

The Incredible Rocky Mountain Race (TV) – 1977 (Eagle Feather)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (TV) – 1981 (Dauphin)

 

RIP Susana Dosamantes

 

Susana Dosamantes, actress and mother of Paulina Rubio, dies

She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April

AldiaDallas

By Agencia Reforma

July 2, 2022

Mexico City-- Actress Susana Dosamantes died on Saturday at the age of 74, according to various media reports. Dosamantes was the mother of Mexican singer Paulina Rubio.

Sources close to the family have indicated that her death occurred in a Miami hospital.

In April she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and hospitalized at Mount Sinai Medical Center in the city of Miami.

Susana Dosamantes made her film debut in 1968 with the film Remolino de pasiones and later she also dedicated herself to theater and television, where she would be especially known for her roles in soap operas.

In 1969, she married the Spanish lawyer Enrique Rubio González, with whom she had two children, the singer Paulina and Enrique Rubio, separating in 1974.

Her second marriage was with the Spanish businessman and audiovisual producer Carlos Vasallo Tomé, whom she divorced in 1988. Her last marriage was with Luis Rivas.

Dosamantes was born on January 9, 1948 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

 

DOSAMANTES, Susana (Susana Rue Riestra)

Born: 1/9/1948, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Died: 7/2/2022, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

 

Susana Dosamantes’ westerns – actress:

Rio Lobo – 1970 (Maria Carmen)

Duelo alantardecer – 1973

La yegua colorada – 1973 (Isabel Fuentes)

Hermanos de sangre – 1974

Jalisco nunca pierde – 1974 (Alejandra)

El hombre – 1976 (Martha)

Los temibles – 1977

 

RIP Maurizio Pradeaux

 DAG SPIA

July 2, 2022

Another of the little masters of our genre cinema has left, Maurizio Pradeaux, 91 years old from Rome, author of stracult films such as the western "Ramon the Mexican" with Robert Hundar, the spy "28 minutes for 3 million dollars" with Richard Harrison, the macaroni war movie "Churchill's Leopards" with Klaus Kinski and Richard Harrison, the thrillers "Dance Carries a Cane" and "Death Steps in the Dark", produced by the legendary Grandfather Ugo Rossetti of homonymous furniture factory. He even made a dog movie, "The Son of White Fang" and the hard thriller "Thrilling Love" in 1989. Like many filmmakers he started from the bottom. We find him as an assistant production secretary on "Canzone d'amore", production assistant on "La Pica sul Pacifico" of 1959, but also on masterpieces of the time produced and directed by Emimmo Salvi as "Vulcano, Son of Jupiter", and " The Rebel of Castelmonte ”,“ A Story of the Night ”by Luigi Petrini.

His real debut as a genre director is the western “Ramon the Mexican” with Robert Hundar aka Claudio Undari, one of the first stars of the genre. It is a very poor film with Mexico reconstructed all close to Rome. Maurizio Pradeaux himself (to Gabriel Di Nunzio for TV Trash blog) said: "I had finished making a film called" I 4 cantoni "(the 4 cantons of Via Veneto, in Rome, between Via Ludovisi and Via Boncompagni) , and the producer, who was from Bologna, Marino Carpano, had cast a great cast There was Leroy, Scilla Gaber… but the producer lost all the money, and I told him that if he wanted to make a commercial film, he had to do a western. And I had the subject ready, and I said to the producer: I'll also direct you! We had estimated a cost of 100 million lire”.

According to Oberdan Trojani, director of photography “Maurizio Pradeaux he was someone who chauffeured with Emimmo Salvi, a production manager, when we were making mythological films. Salvi wrote this subject [which however appears as from Pradeaux, ed] and found a financier from Bologna. And then he always wanted to do twenty-eight minutes with Pradeaux for three million dollars, a movie of the 007 type, and he lost it, because it was not a film that could be made on a budget. The only way to make western films economically was to always go with the flow, never try to put something new in it".

Pradeaux describes the process as follows: "the interiors at De Paolis, the exteriors in Colle Pardo, near Alatri - Frosinone - and in Manziana, in the Manziana wood (near Bracciano) the scenes with horses, and in Monte Gelato near Mazzano, at the river Treia, with waterfalls cascades; I chose the location by going fishing, there was a path of those for grazing goats, walking inside I found myself in front of a spectacle of nature, but I was the first to inaugurate that location; many others they went to shoot at the Treia waterfalls and still today many scenes are shot there". The film also went pretty well. A few years later he will write another Italian-Spanish co-production western for Roberto Bianchi Montero, “I senza Dio” with Antonio Sabato. The war "Churchill's Leopards" with Klaus Kinski and Richard Harrison works well, and even better his first thriller, also an Italian-Spanish co-production, "Dance Steps on a Razor Blade", released in 1973 with Robert Hoffman Susan Scott aka Nieves Navarro, Anuska Borova, Simon Andreu, shot in the Barcelona of the Balcazar brothers, also co-producers with George Martin, who has a small role.

To the point that he will immediately shoot another one with the same title, "Death Steps Lost in the Dark", 1976, with Robert Webber, Leonard Mann, Vera Krouska, Barbara Seidel, this one produced by Ugo Rossetti, better known as Nonno Ugo for Salaria Film. In fact, it was in the warehouses of Nonno Ugo sulla Salaria that I found a lot of cassettes of the film, which must have been a considerable effort for Nonno Ugo. The latest film, released in 1989, should be the erotic thriller “Thrilling Love - Betrayals in Capri” with Tony Kendall aka Luciano Stella and porn star Sharon Kane. Released in soft and hard versions. There is also one of the girls from Cacao Meravigliao, Thel Montenegro, particularly in action. In recent years, Pradeaux has written novels without ever returning to the cinema.

 

PRADEAUX, Maurizio

Born: 4/16/1931, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 7/2/2022, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Maurizio Pradeaux’s westerns – writer, director:

Ramon the Mexican – 1966 [director, writer]

Thunder Over El Paso – 1972 [writer]

RIP Tommy Morgan

 

 Unique harmonica player Tommy Morgan dies aged 89

Harmonica UK

June 30, 2022

 

American harmonica player Tommy Morgan died recently aged 89. He has recorded thousands of pieces of music since he first worked with the Andrews Sisters in 1950. He is considered to be the most heard harmonica player in the world, recording on soundtracks for over 500 films including Cool Hand Luke, Dances with Wolves and City Slickers. He has also recorded TV themes such as The Waltons and Dukes of Hazard. In addition, he worked as a session artist with artists such as The Carpenters, The Beach Boys, Neil Diamond and many others.

Tommy deservedly received a lifetime achievement award from SPAH in 2001. It is said that if you heard a harmonica played on a film or TV series made in the last 60 or so years it was probably Tommy Morgan playing. A sad loss to the harmonica world and a unique and prolific artist

Thomas Morgan Edwards 4th Dec 1932 - 23rd June 2022 

Rob Paparozzi wrote the following for us at short notice:

Tommy Morgan, a Mentor and a friend  

I met Tommy years ago at a SPAH convention. He knew of my name as a NYC Session Player so we immediately connected and stayed in touch by phone over the years, so it’s with great sadness I write these parting words. The good news is, the permanent legacy he’s left us: 900 Movie Soundtracks and 7,030 recording sessions since the mid '50s to 2013, when he befell a stroke and could no longer play.  

One of his highlight performances and sessions were his live & studio sessions with the London Philharmonic at Abbey Road in 1996-97; checkout his masterful work on the recording John Barry and the Beyondness of Things. I just finished his book, a really cool short read in vignette format titled You Made How Much For Doing What?, released this year on Amazon. Starting at age 11 he wasted no time learning to read music for harmonica, and also played some guitar and piano. He was blessed with perfect pitch and honed his craft and studied arranging in college and with the US Air Force Band. If that’s not enough talent, then add a Black Belt in Karate and Master Glider Pilot of 44 years!   

After trying for a solo career in NYC and Canada in the '50s, he ended up back in California finishing a Masters in Music and quickly joining the Golden Age of recording in Los Angeles. He knew that for playing with the big guys he’d better have a plan. He shedded on all 12 Keys and also made sure he added Bass, Chord, Diatonic and all key Chromatics so he never had to tell a producer or composer “I can’t”. The problem came when he wasn’t available, then they said to the next player what do you mean you can’t, Morgan did it!  

Playing with Orchestral instruments on sessions he made sure he had harmonicas tuned from A=440 to 442, he became know as a player always in tune. The '60s were a busy time for him from Cartoon shows and Westerns, to arranging for hit shows like The Twilight Zone, secured his position in the LA scene.  

If he wasn’t playing on Beach Boys or Carpenters hits with the Wrecking Crew, he was a featured soloist on Hollywood box office hits like Lilies of the Field in 1963 with Sidney Portier. He was even on Elvis Presley’s huge 1968 Comeback Special.  

So with 64 years in the studio chances are you’ve heard his work. I’d even venture to say he’s THE most recorded and listened to Harmonicist in the World. More than Adler, Reilly, Lennon, and Toots!  

Condolences to his family and loving wife Lois.
We owe him our respect and I miss him already

 

MORGAN, Tommy (Thomas Morgan Edwards II)

Born: 12/4/1932, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 6/23/ 2022, San Diego, California, U.S.A.

 

Tommy Morgan’s westerns – composer, musician (harmonica):

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – 1954 [harmonica]

Giant – 1956 [harmonica]

Maverick (TV) – 1957-1962 [harmonica]

Rio Bravo – 1959 [harmonica]

North to Alaska – 1960 [harmonica]

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1962, 1964, 1965 [composer, harmonica]

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1962 [composer, harmonica]

Mail Order Bride – 1964 [harmonica]

The Twilight Zone (TV) – 1964 [harmonica]

Cat Balou – 1965 [harmonica]

Stagecoach – 1966 [harmonica]

The War Wagon – 1967 [harmonica]

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – 1969 [harmonica]

Hang ‘Em High – 1969 [harmonica]

Paint Your Wagon – 1969 [harmonica]

Support Your Local Sheriff – 1969 [harmonica]

The Undefeated – 1969 [harmonica]

The Wild Bunch – 1969 [harmonica]

Chisum – 1970 [harmonica]

The Traveling Executioner – 1970 [harmonica]

Wild Rovers – 1971 [harmonica]

Buck and the Preacher – 1972 [harmonica]

The Cowboys – 1972 [harmonica]

How the West Was Won – 1972 [harmonica]

Man and Boy – 1972 [harmonica]

High Plains Drifter – 1973 [harmonica]

The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing – 1973 [harmonica]

Oklahoma Crude – 1973 [harmonica]

Tom Sawyer – 1973 [harmonica]

Westworld – 1973 [harmonica]

Blazing Saddles – 1974 [harmonica]

The Apple Dumpling Gang – 1975 [harmonica]

Missouri Breaks – 1976 [harmonica]

Silverado – 1985 [harmonica]

Back to the Future III – 1990 [harmonica]

Dances With Wolves – 1990 [harmonica]

City Slickers – 1991 [harmonica]

Windtalker – 2002 [harmonica]

Luck of the Draw – 2007 [harmonica]

Red Dead Redemption – 2010 [harmonica]

RIP Chiara Meloni

 

A heart attack Chiara Meloni (casting director). The Memory of Luca Di Nardo

 

Policinema TV

June 28, 2022

 

The cinema world mourns the disappearance of Chiara Meloni, casting director of some of the most beautiful Italian TV series, who was killed by a heart attack at the age of 59 years. She hasn’t been active for a long time, but she left a deep and positive memory of her among the workers and all the actors she had selected. To remember Chiara Meloni, he was with a post, Luca Di Nardo, owner of the Agency Cda Studio Di Nardo in Rome.

MELONI, Chiara

Born: 2/20/21963, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 6/27/2022, Rome Lazio, Italy

 

Chiara Meloni’s western – casting director:

Red River (TV) - 1996

 

American actor based in France Edward Meeks, hero of the series “The Globe-Trotters”, died at 90.

Blaze Trends

By Rose Johnson

July 2, 2022

at 90

American actor Edward Meeks died on Saturday morning July 2 in the Paris region at the age of 90, AFP learned from his family. Born in Jonesboro (Arkansas), Edward Meeks had lived in France since the 1950s. He had spent his entire career there, until becoming a figure in cinema and television.

After starting his career as a stuntman in The Longest Day released in 1961, he played the captain of a hijacked plane in The Sicilian Clan by Henri Verneuil (1969) and had appeared in a total of twenty films, from detective Maigret sees red (1963) at Chateauroux District (1987).

Fame with “The Globetrotters”

With his blonde hair and his American accent, he was above all the star of the very popular soap opera The Globe-Trotters (1966), alongside Yves Rénier, a duo of journalist-adventurers who set off to travel around the world.

He was also part of the cast in 1982 of the short film which remained unreleased Rearranged with the Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly and was on stage in the 70s. Widower since 2017 of the novelist Jacqueline Monsigny, married in 1972, he had co-authored several souvenir books from the 2000s.

 

MEEKS, Edward (Edward Samuel Meeks Jr.)

Born: 9/27/1934, Jonesboro, Arkansas, U.S.A.

Died: 7/2/2022, Paris, Île-de-France, France

 

Edward Meeks’ western – actor:

Tales of the North (TV) – 1995 (Fitzgerald)

RIP Joe Turkel

 

‘The Shining’ actor dead at 94: Joe Turkel also starred in ‘Blade Runner’

 

The New York Post

By Erin Keller

July 1, 2022

 

Joe Turkel — well-known for his roles in films including “The Shining” and “Blade Runner” — died Monday in St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California, his representative confirmed to The Post on Friday.

The prolific actor was 94 and had more than 140 acting credits to his name.

He teamed with director Stanley Kubrick for three memorable movies — “The Killing,” “Paths of Glory” and “The Shining” — and is often remembered for his role as Lloyd the bartender in the latter.

In 1982, he played eccentric replicant creator Eldon Tyrell in “Blade Runner.”

Born in Brooklyn in 1927, Turkel joined the Army when he was 17 and served in Europe during World War II. A year later, he moved to California to act, landing his first credit in 1949’s “City Across the River.”

Throughout his 40-year career, Turkel appeared in films such as “King Rat,” “The Sand Pebbles” and “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,” as well as director Bert I. Gordon’s films “Tormented,” “The Boy and the Pirates” and “Village of the Giants.” His final movie was “The Dark Side of the Moon” in 1990.

He also appeared in episodes of several TV shows, including “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,” “Sky King,” “Tales from the Darkside,” “The Lone Ranger,” “S.W.A.T,” “Adam-12,” “Ironside,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Ben Casey,” “The Untouchables,” “Dragnet,” “Miami Vice” and “Bonanza.”

Joe Turkel retired from acting after lending his voice to the “Blade Runner” video game spinoff in 1997.

Turkel’s rep confirmed to The Post that he completed a memoir, titled “The Misery of Success,” before his death, and his family plans to publish it later this year.

The actor leaves behind two sons, Craig and Robert, two daughters-in-law and his brother, David Turkel.

TURKEL, Joe (Joseph Turkel)

Born: 7/15/1927, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 6/27/2022, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.

 

Joe Turkel’s westerns – actor:

Gypsy Colt – 1954 (Chuck)

The Lone Ranger (TV) – 1955 (Lee Jackson, Bill Ewing)

Friendly Persuasion – 1956 (poor loser)

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (TV) – 1956 (Bob Reliance)

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (TV) – 1957 (Stubb Cull, Walt Coles)

Broken Arrow (TV) – 1957 (Pete Marvin)

The Californians (TV) – 1957 (Hector Bozeman)

Sky King (TV) – 1957 (Ralph Clark)

Tombstone Territory (TV) – 1957 (Zeb)

Bat Masterson (TV) – 1958, 1960 (Woody Larkin, Fargo)

Boots and Saddles (TV) – 1958 (Ray Martin)

Jefferson Drum (TV) – 1958 (Tom)

Tales of the Texas Rangers (TV) – 1958 (Chance Dembrow)

Frontier Doctor (TV) – 1959 (Sear Middleton)

Mackenzie’s Raiders (TV) – 1959 (Turley)

Warlock – 1959 (Chet Haggin)

The Texan (TV) – 1959 (Evan McBeem)

U.S. Marshal (TV) – 1960 (Sam Tully, Carl Robinette)

Bonanza (TV) – 1961, 1964, 1968 (thug, Private Peters, Lupe)

Two Faces West (TV) – 1961 (Turner)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1962 (Eddie)

The Animals – 1970 (Peyote)

Cade’s County (TV) – 1970 (Joe Pitts)