Passages

[Antares]

Pernell Roberts

[Polybius]

The last of the original Bonanza cast.

James Mitchhell was @ 15 years older than I thought he was.

[Antares]

Johnny Seven

[thebadsleepwell]

Zelda Rubinstein

[domino harvey]

Howard Zinn

[ellipsis7]

Just to make it clear, the news is that Ian Cameron has sadly passed away (apparently leaving books on Hitchcock & Lang still in the works), and that Ian Christie, and Colin McCabe for that matter, are still very much with us, to the best of my knowledge...

[Caged Horse]

On "opportunism", after Rohmer's death the discussion on Dave Kehr's blog turned to an interesting revelation of the journalistic practice of prewriting obituaries, sometimes by years. A couple of people were shocked, but it's a standard and very necessary procedure, certainly if you - as author of the obit - hope to get the piece right and do justice to the subject.

What is creepy is when (most of) an obituary is prewritten by someone who themselves died years ago!

[ellipsis7]

Yes, it's standard practice to hold a whole load on file, and sometimes like with the fine 'The Guardian' Rohmer obit, the original obituarist - in this case Tom Milne - has predeceased the subject, necessitating in this case an appended final para by Ronald Bergan - as here...

[dad1153]

Shirley Bell Cole, original voice of Little Orphan Annie on the radio.

[fiddlesticks]

Documentary film editor Karen Schmeer, killed at Broadway and W. 90th by a car fleeing a drug store robbery. This world can be a senseless place.

[dad1153]

Producer David Brown, of Zanuck-Brown fame.

In partnership with Richard Zanuck, with whom he formed the independent production company Zanuck-Brown in 1972, Brown produced a string of financial and critical successes, including 1974 Best Picture winner "The Sting," starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. They also hired Steven Spielberg to direct his first feature, "The Sugarland Express," and later tapped him for the blockbuster "Jaws."

"Jaws" was one of their biggest hits, creating the paradigm of the summer blockbuster and cementing Spielberg's reputation. Brown and Zanuck produced "Jaws 2" in 1978.

The pair also produced Sidney Lumet's "The Verdict" (1982), Ron Howard's "Cocoon" (1985) and Robert Altman's "The Player" (1992); the latter won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Picture.

In 1988, Brown founded and became president of his own production company, the Manhattan Project Ltd., producing films including "A Few Good Men" (1992), "Deep Impact" (1998, with Richard Zanuck), and "Angela's Ashes" (1999).

Brown earned another Best Picture Oscar nomination as producer of "Chocolat" in 2001.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

John McCallum

[domino harvey]

Nick Dewar

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I had no idea he was 91

I used to believe he was born 1914 based on his entry in Quinlan's Film Stars, then I read he was born in 1917, so I was surprised to hear he was only 91. Googie will be 93 in March.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Georges Wilson

[Perkins Cobb]

Golly!

Cripes, that's a real surprise, in fact. I had no idea he was 91, but then again he semed like someone who would just keep going on.

My my....
Thanx Rufe.

Rialto had McCallum and Googie Withers both available for phone interviews a few years ago when they rereleased IT NEVER RAINS ON SUNDAY in the US. And of course, few if any of our ignoramus journalists took advantage of the opportunity.

[dad1153]

Frances Reid, matriarch on "Days of Our Lives" from 1965-2007.

[Polybius]

A bad couple of weeks for Soap elders.

[MichaelB]

Ian Carmichael

[MichaelB]

Johnny Dankworth - who, alongside his main claim to fame as one of Britain's leading jazz musicians, was also a prolific film composer, especially in the 1960s. (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Servant, Darling, Modesty Blaise, Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment, Accident, 10 Rillington Place, quite a few others).

[antnield]

Alexander McQueen

[antnield]

Dick Francis

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Umetsugu Inoue

[GaryC]

Garfield Morgan - some films, but best known for his work on British TV, especially The Sweeney. And narrating some Rick Wakeman albums.

[Perkins Cobb]

Croatian director Ante Babaja, whose very good 1967 film Breza (The Birch) screened in New York a few years back.