RIP Kay Peters

 

New York Times

May 22, 2025

 

PETERS, Kay L. Kay L. Peters, 83, died May 9, 2025, from respiratory failure. Kay was born and raised in Wooster, Ohio where she began her interest in the arts, dance and debate. While in high school she ran her own dance studio and performed at Canal Fulton Summer Theatre. She was valedictorian of a class of 500. Kay graduated from Northwestern University in 1963 majoring in theatre. She met the love her life, Richard, at college, and they married in 1963. She continued her acting pursuits by performing in dinner theatres while Richard completed his law studies in Chicago. Moving to New York City, she landed a lead role on Broadway, a role on Days of Our Lives, and numerous TV commercials. While in Hollywood she did many guest appearances on Little House on the Prairie, It Takes a Thief, The Bold Ones, and CHiPs. She also did One Life to Live and half a dozen movies. Pausing her career to start a family, having daughters Tara (1971) and Tracy (1973), she had to focus on her early skills of teaching. The seeds were planted for a shift in career to communication skills training. In 1978 Kay became a member of the Board of Directors of Screen Actors Guild and was asked to chair the new Telecommunications Committee. She had to interface with Congress and ultimately testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on copyright issues opposite Ted Turner. Watching others testify cemented her shift to teach communications skills. Kay developed those skills by working for a small boutique firm for several years. Opening her own company in 1994, Kay trained CEOs, scientists, lawyers, doctors, management consultants, IPOs launches, investment bankers, and occasionally children of clients' college bound. Kay worked both domestically and internationally. The same passion Kay had for acting and communication training, she had for her family. She always had time for her daughters and husband. Kay was lifelong Presbyterian and member of the Brick Presbyterian Church. Kay started each morning in saying: This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalms 118:24). Kay is survived by her husband, Richard, their two daughters Tara (Michael) Peterson and Tracy (Jonathon) Herpel, grandchildren, Xander, Beau, Audrey, Alistair, and a sister Joan (Maurice) Moore. Contributions in Kay Peters' honor may be made to Helen Keller Intl, Contributions Office, P.O. Box 6077, Albert Lea, MN 56007-9860 HelenKellerIntl.org/donate A memorial service will be held at the Brick Presbyterian Church on October 3, 2025, at 11:00am. A reception will follow.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

 

PETERS, Kay (Kay Louise Peters)

Born: 4/11/1942, Wooster, Ohio, U.S.A.

Died: 5/9/2025, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Kay Peters’s western – actress:

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1977 (Della Clark)

RIP Billy Williams

 

Billy Williams, ‘Gandhi’ and ‘On Golden Pond’ Cinematographer, Dies at 96

The Oscar winner also shot 'Women in Love' and two other films for Ken Russell, plus 'The Wind and the Lion,' 'Suspect' and a key sequence for 'The Exorcist.'

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

May 21, 2025

 

Billy Williams, the esteemed British cinematographer who shared an Oscar for shooting Gandhi and also was nominated for his work on the Glenda Jackson-starring Women in Love and Henry Fonda‘s final film, On Golden Pond, has died. He was 96.

Williams’ death was announced in British Cinematographer magazine. No details on the cause of death were provided.

“With deep sorrow, we bid farewell to Billy Williams – an outstanding British cinematographer, laureate of the “Golden Frog” for exceptional achievements in the art of cinematography at the Camerimage Festival in 2000,” tweeted the official X account of Camerimage, the Poland-based film festival dedicated to cinematography.

Williams also served as the director of photography on John Milius’ The Wind and the Lion (1975), Stuart Rosenberg’s Voyage of the Damned (1976), Martin Brest’s Going in Style (1979) and Peter Yates’ Suspect (1987).

The London native received an early career break when he was hired for Ken Russell’s Billion Dollar Brain (1967), the third film in the Michael Caine-starring Harry Palmer spy series, and he reunited with the demanding director on Women in Love (1969) and The Rainbow (1989).

“I was soon to learn working with Ken Russell that he was likely to ask for the sort of thing that hadn’t been done before, and there was no such thing that it couldn’t be done,” he said in a comprehensive 2003 Web of Stories interview. “You had to find a way of doing it. It was a great challenge.”

After shooting the Iraq scene for William Friedkin‘s The Exorcist (1973) and The Wind and the Lion in brutal conditions in Spain, Williams found himself tested again on Richard Attenborough‘s Gandhi (1982), with many sequences filmed on location in India.

“It was obviously very hot and dusty, and traveling was not easy,” Williams recalled in 2020. “It was a tough schedule. We would leave at seven in the morning and get back at eight at night, then watch the rushes on a mobile protector. But it was an intensely rewarding film and satisfying to be involved in because here’s somebody who really changed history.”

After studying hours of newsreel footage of activist Mahatma Gandhi, Williams had to leave the production after about six weeks for treatment in the U.K. for a slipped disc. He suggested Ronnie Taylor replace him (Taylor had worked with Attenborough as a camera operator on 1969’s Oh! What a Lovely War and 1972’s Young Winston and with Williams on The Wild and the Lion).

The first scene Taylor photographed was the re-creation of Gandhi’s 1948 funeral that featured 400,000 extras.

Williams returned after four weeks in recovery but encountered the same problem again, so he left and Taylor came back. He said it was the only two times he had ever left a movie.

“Billy and I did about 10 weeks each on the picture,” Taylor told British Cinematographer magazine. “Richard Attenborough decided that if there were going to be any nominations, that Billy and I should share the credit.”

Gandhi, made for about $22 million and shot in 35mm anamorphic, received 11 Academy Award noms and won eight trophies, including those for best picture, best director, best actor for Ben Kingsley and best cinematography (Williams accepted his prize on Oscar night, with Taylor unable to leave work on Champions).

After finding out he was hired for Gandhi, Williams departed for New Hampshire to shoot On Golden Pond (1981), starring Fonda, his daughter, Jane, and Katharine Hepburn. When director Mark Rydell didn’t know how to film a birthday party for Fonda’s Norman Thayer, Williams had an idea.

He suggested they “put the camera on a track and start by the kitchen area,” he said. “Kate [came] out of the kitchen with these 80 candles burning, so we’ve got this lovely warm light glowing onto her face, and we track with her for a little while and then let it go past her so we’ve followed on her back and we reveal the dining area with the others waiting for her. She joins Henry Fonda who makes a little speech about the joys of becoming 80, and then they all lean forward and help him blow out the candles.

“The camera tilts down, they blow out the candles and it goes dark and that’s the cut and it worked beautifully. We didn’t do a single cutaway.”

Williams was born on June 3, 1929, in Walthamstow, London. His father, Billy Sr., was an intrepid cinematographer who filmed the surrender of the German fleet at Scapa Flow in Scotland in 1919, then worked on documentaries.

During World War II, Williams left school when he was 14 to become his dad’s assistant. “He was a very hard taskmaster, everything had to be done just right,” he recalled. “Of course, the camera had to be looked after like a baby. It was so precious.”

In 1946, he traveled to Kenya and Uganda with his father, who was then shooting for the Colonial Film Unit.

Williams served as a photographer with the Royal Air Force for two years, then worked as an assistant cameraman for British Transport Films, shooting documentaries about docks, railways and the Queen Mary. He saved up to purchase his own Arriflex camera, did commercials and eventually made his feature debut on the black-and-white, sound-effects comedy San Ferry Ann (1965).

When older cinematographer Otto Heller (The Ladykillers, Alfie) refused to take a medical exam to be insured for Billion Dollar Brain, which was going to be filmed in frigid Finland, producer Harry Saltzman turned to Williams, who had done commercials for Russell.

For Alan Bates and Oliver Reed’s memorable naked wrestling scene in Women in Love, Williams and Russell decided to “go for a very strong color effect like the color of firelight, which is very orange,” he said in David A. Ellis’ 2012 book, Conversations With Cinematographers. “I filtered all the lamps to be the same color as the fire and created a flickering effect.”

Williams’ résumé also included Ted Kotcheff’s Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969), John Schlesinger’s Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), Michael Anderson’s Pope Joan (1972), X, Y and Zee (1972), Kid Blue (1973), The Silent Partner (1978), Eagle’s Wing (1979), Boardwalk (1979), Monsignor (1982), Yates’ Eleni (1985), The Manhattan Project (1986), Stella (1990) and Driftwood (1997), his final film.

A four-time BAFTA nominee, Williams served as the president of the British Society of Cinematographers from 1975-77 and taught cinematography at the National Film Theatre starting in 1978.

He received lifetime achievement honors from Camerimage in 2000 and the British Society of Cinematographers in 2006 and was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2009.

“I feel I have been very lucky to have had a career in filmmaking, which has been the most satisfying, rewarding, exciting job I can imagine,” he said.

WILLIAMS, Billy

Born: 6/3/1929, Walthamstow, London, England, U.K.

Died: 5/21/2025, England, U.K.

 

Billy Williams westerns – cinematographer:

Kid Blue – 1973

Eagle’s Wing - 1979

RIP Mariano Ozores

 

Mariano Ozores, the filmmaker who triumphed with the 'destape', dies.

With more than 90 films, he was one of the most prolific directors of Spanish cinema.

ara

By Sílvia Marimon

5/21/2025

 

Director and screenwriter Mariano Ozores, one of the most prolific in Spanish cinema, died this Wednesday at the age of 98 at his home. He left behind a legacy of 96 films, mostly comedies. Born in Madrid in 1926, he began working in his parents' theater company at the age of 17. "I'm self-taught. Going from theater to theater, visiting towns and cities, helped me understand what audiences laughed at and how they did it," said the director, who never cared much about the distasteful reviews he received from critics. His film career began in 1952 with the screenplay for the film Hey, how crazy! His beginnings coincided with the first broadcasts of TVE, where he was the programming director. He also directed series and programs such as Telefunken AirportOzores also worked on two films that glorified the dictatorship: Dying in Spain and Franco, that man.

The 'uncovering'

With the arrival of the democratic transition, Ozores joined the cinema of the uncover. It was during this time that he achieved some of his greatest successes. He did so with the duo Fernando Esteso and Andrés Pajares, with films such as The bingo players (1979) –it was the highest-grossing film of the year–, The energetic ones (1979) and The pimps (1981). He was tireless. In one year, in 1982, he was able to shoot six films.: There are only two fathers, Christopher Columbus by profession… discoverer…, The first divorce, Everyone on the ground, The son of care and The socialists are coming!

His last stage as a director was in the 80s, with titles such as This is a robbery (1987), We are almost all the Treasury (1988), National nonsense (1990), Jet Marbella Set (1991) and National hit (1993). In the early 90s he also directed two series on TVE: Mechanical Workshop (1991), with Antonio Ozores, María Silva and Leticia Sabater, and The sexologist (1993), which was withdrawn from TVE amidst great controversy because some sectors considered it sexist. It ended up being broadcast in its entirety on Antena 3.

Ozores, who received the Honorary Goya in 2016, cared above all about making the audience laugh. And, in that sense, he was a perfectionist. On occasion, he had explained that he went to the cinema with a tape recorder to record laughter and analyze which jokes worked best. "I wrote what I liked, because I am an audience first and foremost, and a director second," he used to repeat.

OZORES, Mariano (Mariano Ozores Puchol)

Born: 10/5/1926, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Died: 5/20/2025, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

 

Mariano Ozores’ western – director, writer:

Al este del Oeste - 1985

RIP Aurora Clavel

 

Actress Aurora Clavel dies at the age of 89

The Oaxacan legend who marked Mexican cinema and TV.

El Imparcial

May 19, 2025

 

Actress Aurora Clavel, recognized for her career in Mexican film and television, has died at the age of 88. Her death was confirmed by relatives, although so far the causes of death have not been revealed.

Clavel was born on August 14, 1936 in Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca. From a young age she showed an interest in acting, which led her to move to Mexico City to start her artistic career. Over almost five decades, she participated in numerous national and international productions.

In the film field, she was part of films such as Tarahumara, La soldadera, ¿Pedro Infante vive? and Vagabunda. He also participated in American films such as The Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid and The Mosquito Coast.

Her work on television

On television, her presence was constant in soap operas such as Los ricos también lloran, La fiera, Monte Calvario, El pecado de Oyuki, María Isabel, Abrázame muy fuerte and Alborada.

Originally from Oaxaca, Clavel received recognition in her home state, where she was named favorite daughter of Pinotepa Nacional on three occasions and received the title of woman of the year. In 2011 he promoted the creation of a drama school in his community.

In addition to her artistic career, he participated in union activities as part of the Commission of Honor and Justice of the National Association of Actors (ANDA).

Aurora Clavel had no children, but she lived accompanied by several siblings. Her sister Yolanda was in charge of her care in recent years. Some reports indicate that close relatives had expressed concern about her health and whereabouts before her death.

The artistic community has expressed its respect for Clavel's career and recalled his contribution to the development of the performing arts in Mexico.

CLAVEL, Aurora (Aurora Clavel Gallardo)

Born: 8/14/1936, Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, Mexico

Died: 5/19/2025, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

 

Aurora Clavel’s westerns – actress:

Las dos galleras – 1964 (

El hijo de Gabino Barrera – 1965 (Rogelio’s wife)

Major Dundee – 1965 (Melinche)

Guns for San Sebastian – 1967 (Magdalena)

Rancho solo – 1967 (Tomasa)

El bastardo – 1968 (Tomasa)

The Wild Bunch – 1969 (Aurora)

Soldier Blue – 1970 (Indian squaw)

Bang Bang al hoyo – 1971 (mujer embarazada)

The Wrath of God – 1972 (Señora Moreno)

Pat Garrett & Nilly the Kid – 1973 (Ida Garrett)

Somo del otro Laredo (Chicanos Go Home) – 1977 (Chonita)

Actress Aurora Clavel dies at the age of 89

RIP George Wendt

 

George Wendt, Who Played Norm on ‘Cheers,’ Dies at 76

Variety

By J. Kim Murphy

May 20, 2025

 

George Wendt, an American actor and comedian who earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for his performance as Norm Peterson on the beloved NBC comedy series “Cheers,” died Tuesday morning at his home. He was 76.

Wendt’s death was confirmed by his publicist Melissa Nathan with the following statement: “George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed forever. The family has requested privacy during this time.”

A student of the Chicago improv landscape, Wendt was a comedian at The Second City in the 1970s before becoming a television actor. After numerous guest spots, he landed the role that would come define him: the loyal barfly Norm Peterson, whose regular first line of “Afternoon everybody” became one of the fan-beloved motifs of the series.

A standout among the cast, Wendt earned six Emmy nods in the supporting actor in a comedy series category through his tenure as a main cast member across the 11-season run of “Cheers.” He would go on to reprise the role in appearances on the short-lived spinoff “The Tortellis” and the long-running spinoff “Frasier.” After appearing in all 273 episodes of “Cheers,” Wendt jumped to CBS to lead his own sitcom, titled “The George Wendt Show,” in which he played a radio host car mechanic. The series was quickly scrapped, running for just a month.

Wendt’s affinity for comedy made him a regular on “Saturday Night Live” through the ’90s, drawing on his Southside roots to join Chris Farley, Mike Myers and Robert Smigel in the recurring mustachioed Chicago Superfans sketches. (In one particularly odd bit of “SNL” lore, Wendt co-hosted a 1986 episode with director Francis Ford Coppola, then preparing to release “Peggy Sue Got Married.” Philip Glass was the musical guest.)

Born Oct. 17, 1948 in Chicago, Ill., Wendt was one of nine children and attended the University of Notre Dame before jumping to Jesuit Rockhurst College where he graduated with a degree in economics. During his time at The Second City, Wendt met Bernadette Birkett. The two married in 1978. (Though never seen on-screen, Birkett voiced the character of Norm’s wife on “Cheers.”) The couple had three children. Notably, Wendt is also the uncle to “SNL” and “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis.

After “Cheers” elevated Wendt, the actor had no trouble scoring supporting roles for the rest of his career, with film credits including comedies like “Fletch,” “Gung Ho” and “Spice World,” along with features like the 1985 horror film “House” and the 2019 American indie standout “The Climb.”

His immense resume of TV guest credits features titles like “Hot in Cleveland,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Columbo,” “George Lopez” and “Fresh Off the Boat.” Though he never found another series as enduring as “Cheers,” Wendt helped anchor several sitcoms over the years, serving as a main cast member on the TBS series “Clipped” and lending his voice talent to the animated series “Fancy Nancy.” In 2023, he competed on “The Masked Singer.”

Wendt also turned to theater in the latter portion of his career. In 2008, he took over the role of Edna Turnblad (traditionally performed by an actor in drag) in the then-ongoing Broadway production of “Hairspray.” He would reprise the role at a production in the Charlottetown Festival. He also featured as Santa in Broadway’s “Elf the Musical” and played Willy Loman in a 2017 Ontario production of “Death of a Salesman.”

Wendt is survived by his wife and three children.

WENDT, George (George Robert Wendt Jr.)

Born: 10/17/1948, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 5/20/2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A

 

George Wednt’s wstern – actor:

Bronco Nilly – 1980 (bartender)