Passages

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Makoto Fujita dies at 76.

There's also a rumour doing the rounds that Kathryn Grayson has died, but there has been no confirmation/denial as yet.

[Feego]

Confirmation on Kathryn Grayson.

[domino harvey]

That's a shame, she was quite a beauty in her day and starred in many a musical favorite

EDIT: Wait, does "longtime companion" mean what I think it means? Cue "I Hate Men!" here

[Tribe]

Way sad...I remember watching her in Kiss Me Kate many times with my then toddler daughter back in the 80s.

[antnield]

Lionel Jeffries

[Matt]

That's a shame, she was quite a beauty in her day and starred in many a musical favorite

I'm sure it's the character more than the actress, but I always found her grating in Kiss Me Kate. I adore her (and Mario Lanza) in That Midnight Kiss, though.

[HarryLong]

She certainly isn't grating in SHOW BOAT.
But as I just commented to a friend after scanning her filmography on IMDb after hearing of her passing, she seems to have specialized in MGM musicals I haven't the slightest urge to see.

[Polybius]

[...] she was quite a beauty in her day [...]

The short tribute piece that TCM is running for her shows that off very well.

[tavernier]

Alexander Haig

[tavernier]

Jamie Gillis

[Polybius]

The wrong one of those two will get the lion's share of attention and respect.

[Jeff]

Boner

[knives]

Sad that is, he was still doing stuff and made for a great Joker.

[Kirkinson]

Séverin Blanchet, documentarian and star of Iosseliani's Gardens in Autumn, killed by a suicide bomber in Kabul, where he had been teaching filmmaking classes.

[MichaelB]

Wendy Toye - for a long time Britain's most prolific female feature film director.

Screenonline has more info about her film career.

[perkizitore]

You mentioned her name a couple of weeks ago, it's obvious you jinxed her!!!

[Zumpano]

Musician/Sparklehorse frontman/David Lynch collaborator Mark Linkous.

[domino harvey]

Whoa

[Perkins Cobb]

Does this mean no more horrible fake Criterion covers from Sparklehorses?

[perkizitore]

Nah, he will just change his name

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Martin Benson. Played Mr Solo in Goldfinger, the character who ended up in the scrap metal compactor.

[jbeall]

Not a passage per se, but salon.com has a column in praise of Oscar's In Memoriam tribute. I must confess, it leaves me weepy every year.

[Zumpano]

Musician/Sparklehorse frontman/David Lynch collaborator Mark Linkous.

gunshot in the heart outside a friend's house

[Feego]

Charles B. Pierce, director of The Town That Dreaded Sundown and The Legend of Boggy Creek.

[colinr0380]

That's a shame - the fourth volume of the 42nd Street Forever trailer compilations featured Pierce's films heavily and they all looked very interesting. There was also a mention in the commentary that The Town That Dreaded Sundown seemed to be an unacknowledged influence on the sack headed Jason from Friday The 13th Part II.