I'm sure his listeners will accept this as natural causes

Apologies. Did a quick scan and didn’t see it mentioned.

Because he was hard, I did not like him. But the more I hated him, the more I learned. He was hard but he was fair.

It is amazing what one iconic role can do for a career, R. Lee Ermey seemed entirely stereotyped into abusive but fair(?) feeling authority figure roles after his Full Metal Jacket performance, but within that there are some other fun films. He turns up in Abel Ferrara's Body Snatchers, as well as one of the helpful trio of ghosts to Michael J. Fox's paranormal investigator in the fantastic Peter Jackson film, The Frighteners! Though I suppose younger generations know him best as the voice of Sarge in the Toy Story films, another echo of Full Metal Jacket!

I cannot help but wonder what he would have been like in the JK Simmons role in Whiplash!

I didn't even remember him Seven. Does he say the line "what is your major malfunction John Doe?"

He plays Freeman and Pitt's boss with the memorable line about this not being his desk.
He's not part of the trio actually, but instead cameos as his Full Metal Jacket character.

I really liked his somewhat-against-type performance as a grieving father in DEAD MAN WALKING. In fact, I liked it enough that I really came to resent the endless recycling of his drill Sargent character. The man had some range as an actor, I think, that for whatever reason probably wasn’t explored like it might have been.

I first saw him in Saving Silverman of all things where he and Jack Black elope at the end. For years that was my only exposure to him. His gruff persona actually worked just as well seriously as it did in parody.

My mistake! But it was very Full Metal Jacket-y!

I also love his performance in The Siege of Firebase Gloria, which if I recall he had a creative hand in. Definitely within his pigeonhole, but not without purpose: the film seems to be using it's 80s Cannon/New World genre premise as a launchpad to poke around at the film iconography of the Vietnam genre. Wings Hauser's scenery chewing is definitely at odds with film's more serious aims (including a more nuanced and considerate portrayal of the Viet Cong than I can recall from any prestige film of the era) but definitely a cut above the b-movie shoot em up it appears to be.

RIP Harry The Hat Anderson

Huge Night Court fan... By far it’s the most I ever paid for a TV series, but I had to have it.

Grew up with Night Court and Dave's World, RIP

Choi Eun-hee, the South Korean actress allegedly kidnapped by North Korea and forced to make films there.

He auditioned as John Doe, and was quite chilling according to David Fincher.


The best use of it was in his Simpsons episode as Col. Leslie "Hap" Hapablap.

I got used to hearing Carl Kasell all the time because my father is an NPR fanatic. I'll certainly miss his voice as he was the part of many a car trip for me growing up.

Love Wait, Wait... such a smooth voice.

Genuinely shocked at that, which I don't usually say for every 82-year old. In his recent years, he appeared more lucid and healthy than some men half his age.