2featherbear
Jeff Baena, 1977-2025
Emmett Lindner. NYT, 01/04/2025: Jeff Baena, Film Director and Screenwriter, Dies at 47. "Mr. Baena, who was married to the actress Aubrey Plaza, co-wrote the existential comedy I Heart Huckabees, and wrote and directed films including Life After Beth and The Little Hours."
Emmett Lindner. NYT, 01/04/2025: Jeff Baena, Film Director and Screenwriter, Dies at 47. "Mr. Baena, who was married to the actress Aubrey Plaza, co-wrote the existential comedy I Heart Huckabees, and wrote and directed films including Life After Beth and The Little Hours."
3featherbear
Claude Jarman, 1934-2025
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 01/13/2025: Claude Jarman Jr., child star in ‘The Yearling,’ dies at 90.
"Praised by gossip columnist Hedda Hopper as “filmdom’s child discovery of the year,” Mr. Jarman was cast in “The Yearling” at age 10, in 1945, after filmmaker Clarence Brown discovered him in a Nashville elementary school. The director later said he looked at 11,000 children, visiting classrooms across the South in search of the perfect fresh-faced young actor, before stumbling on Mr. Jarman, who was standing at the chalkboard, taking down Valentine’s Day decorations with his teacher, when Brown walked through the doorway.
"Accompanied by his father, Mr. Jarman soon traveled to Hollywood, where he conducted screen tests with some of his animal co-stars — 30 deer, four bears, a few raccoons — and was officially cast as Jody, joining a cast that featured Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman as his parents.
"A scene in which Mr. Jarman had to run up to a neighbor’s house followed by his beloved fawn, Flag, took at least 80 takes “because the deer kept getting sidetracked,” he recalled in a San Jose Mercury News interview.
"Mr. Jarman went on to appear in 10 more movies, including “Intruder in the Dust” (1949), a critically lauded but little-seen William Faulkner adaptation that reunited him with Brown. The movie told the story of a Black farmer unjustly accused of murdering a White man — Mr. Jarman played a local teenager convinced of the farmer’s innocence — and was “buried” by the studio, according to Mr. Jarman, who said that MGM chief Louis B. Mayer had little interest in promoting a movie about race relations.
"“Up until eight or 10 years ago, he could recite his lines” from “The Yearling,” his wife said in a phone interview, recalling how Mr. Jarman still had a fondness for the film despite its difficult production. “He always said to me, ‘I became that boy. I became Jody. I was not even acting anymore.’”
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 01/13/2025: Claude Jarman Jr., child star in ‘The Yearling,’ dies at 90.
"Praised by gossip columnist Hedda Hopper as “filmdom’s child discovery of the year,” Mr. Jarman was cast in “The Yearling” at age 10, in 1945, after filmmaker Clarence Brown discovered him in a Nashville elementary school. The director later said he looked at 11,000 children, visiting classrooms across the South in search of the perfect fresh-faced young actor, before stumbling on Mr. Jarman, who was standing at the chalkboard, taking down Valentine’s Day decorations with his teacher, when Brown walked through the doorway.
"Accompanied by his father, Mr. Jarman soon traveled to Hollywood, where he conducted screen tests with some of his animal co-stars — 30 deer, four bears, a few raccoons — and was officially cast as Jody, joining a cast that featured Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman as his parents.
"A scene in which Mr. Jarman had to run up to a neighbor’s house followed by his beloved fawn, Flag, took at least 80 takes “because the deer kept getting sidetracked,” he recalled in a San Jose Mercury News interview.
"Mr. Jarman went on to appear in 10 more movies, including “Intruder in the Dust” (1949), a critically lauded but little-seen William Faulkner adaptation that reunited him with Brown. The movie told the story of a Black farmer unjustly accused of murdering a White man — Mr. Jarman played a local teenager convinced of the farmer’s innocence — and was “buried” by the studio, according to Mr. Jarman, who said that MGM chief Louis B. Mayer had little interest in promoting a movie about race relations.
"“Up until eight or 10 years ago, he could recite his lines” from “The Yearling,” his wife said in a phone interview, recalling how Mr. Jarman still had a fondness for the film despite its difficult production. “He always said to me, ‘I became that boy. I became Jody. I was not even acting anymore.’”
4JulieLill
>3 featherbear: I loved that movie!
5featherbear
David Lynch, 1946-2025
J. Hoberman. NYT, 01/16/2025: David Lynch, Maker of Florid and Unnerving Films, Dies at 78. "A visionary, his films included “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive,” considered his masterwork. He brought his skewed view to the small screen with “Twin Peaks." (Full update from this morning's obit; now temporarily unlocked)
"Mr. Lynch was a visionary. His florid style and unnerving perspective was introduced full-blown in his first feature, the cult film “Eraserhead,” released at midnight in 1977. His approach remained consistent through the failed blockbuster “Dune” (1984); his small-town erotic thriller “Blue Velvet” (1986) and its spiritual spinoff the network TV series, “Twin Peaks,” broadcast by ABC in 1991 and 1992; his acknowledged masterpiece “Mulholland Drive” (2001), a poisonous valentine to Hollywood; and his enigmatic last feature, “Inland Empire” (2006), which he shot himself on video.
"... Distrustful of language, viewing it as a limitation or even a hindrance to his art, he often spoke in platitudes. Like those of Andy Warhol, Mr. Lynch’s interviews, at once laconic and gee-whiz, were blandly withholding."
He also directed the more "mainstream" The Elephant Man.
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 01/16/2025: David Lynch, who brought surrealism into the cineplex, dies at 78. Temporarily unlocked.
Matt Fidler. Guardian, 01/16/2025: David Lynch – a life in pictures.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 01/16/2025: David Lynch: the great American surrealist who made experimentalism mainstream.
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 01/16/2025: David Lynch, Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive director, dies aged 78.
Manhola Dargis. NYT, 01/16/2025: In His Dark, Disturbing Visions, David Lynch Showed Us Who We Are. "The director himself came off as almost performatively normal. Masterpieces like “Eraserhead” and “Mulholland Drive” said otherwise."
NYT, 01/17/2025 (?): David Lynch: A Life in Pictures. Temporarily unlocked.
Luke Buckmaster. BBC Culture, 01/17/2025: Why David Lynch's Mulholland Drive is the greatest film of the 21st Century.
J. Hoberman. NYT, 01/16/2025: David Lynch, Maker of Florid and Unnerving Films, Dies at 78. "A visionary, his films included “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive,” considered his masterwork. He brought his skewed view to the small screen with “Twin Peaks." (Full update from this morning's obit; now temporarily unlocked)
"Mr. Lynch was a visionary. His florid style and unnerving perspective was introduced full-blown in his first feature, the cult film “Eraserhead,” released at midnight in 1977. His approach remained consistent through the failed blockbuster “Dune” (1984); his small-town erotic thriller “Blue Velvet” (1986) and its spiritual spinoff the network TV series, “Twin Peaks,” broadcast by ABC in 1991 and 1992; his acknowledged masterpiece “Mulholland Drive” (2001), a poisonous valentine to Hollywood; and his enigmatic last feature, “Inland Empire” (2006), which he shot himself on video.
"... Distrustful of language, viewing it as a limitation or even a hindrance to his art, he often spoke in platitudes. Like those of Andy Warhol, Mr. Lynch’s interviews, at once laconic and gee-whiz, were blandly withholding."
He also directed the more "mainstream" The Elephant Man.
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 01/16/2025: David Lynch, who brought surrealism into the cineplex, dies at 78. Temporarily unlocked.
Matt Fidler. Guardian, 01/16/2025: David Lynch – a life in pictures.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 01/16/2025: David Lynch: the great American surrealist who made experimentalism mainstream.
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 01/16/2025: David Lynch, Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive director, dies aged 78.
Manhola Dargis. NYT, 01/16/2025: In His Dark, Disturbing Visions, David Lynch Showed Us Who We Are. "The director himself came off as almost performatively normal. Masterpieces like “Eraserhead” and “Mulholland Drive” said otherwise."
NYT, 01/17/2025 (?): David Lynch: A Life in Pictures. Temporarily unlocked.
Luke Buckmaster. BBC Culture, 01/17/2025: Why David Lynch's Mulholland Drive is the greatest film of the 21st Century.
6featherbear
Joan Plowright, 1929-2025
Chris Wiegand. Guardian, 01/17/2025: Joan Plowright, celebrated star of stage and screen, dies aged 95. "Actor helped shape British postwar theatre through her performances at the Royal Court, National Theatre and in the West End."
Guardian, 01/17/2025: Joan Plowright – a life in pictures. "The English actor, whose distinguished career in Hollywood, Broadway and the West End won her a Tony award and two Golden Globes."
Michael Billington. Guardian, 01/17/2025: Joan Plowright was a dynamic force for change in British theatre. "The remarkable actor symbolised a radical new generation to her husband Laurence Olivier’s theatrical establishment."
Anita Gates. NYT, 01/17/2025: Joan Plowright, Award-Winning Actress and Olivier’s Widow, Dies at 95. "She won many accolades — and was honored with a damehood — during a seven-decade career on the London stage, in film and on Broadway."
Chris Wiegand. Guardian, 01/17/2025: Joan Plowright, celebrated star of stage and screen, dies aged 95. "Actor helped shape British postwar theatre through her performances at the Royal Court, National Theatre and in the West End."
Guardian, 01/17/2025: Joan Plowright – a life in pictures. "The English actor, whose distinguished career in Hollywood, Broadway and the West End won her a Tony award and two Golden Globes."
Michael Billington. Guardian, 01/17/2025: Joan Plowright was a dynamic force for change in British theatre. "The remarkable actor symbolised a radical new generation to her husband Laurence Olivier’s theatrical establishment."
Anita Gates. NYT, 01/17/2025: Joan Plowright, Award-Winning Actress and Olivier’s Widow, Dies at 95. "She won many accolades — and was honored with a damehood — during a seven-decade career on the London stage, in film and on Broadway."
7featherbear
Bertrand Blier, 1939-2025
Adam Nossiter. NYT, 01/23/2025: Bertrand Blier, Acclaimed Director of Sexually Blunt Films, Dies at 85. "A much-decorated French filmmaker, he divided audiences and critics with explorations, often darkly comic but brutal, of misogyny and the male sexual imagination."
Notable films: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978, Academy Award, best foreign film) -- Going Places aka Les Valseuses (1974) -- Beau-Père (1981) -- Too Beautiful for You (1989, Grand Prize Cannes)
"Mr. Blier launched the careers of men and women who would dominate the French screen for decades, including Gérard Depardieu, with whom he made nine films."
Adam Nossiter. NYT, 01/23/2025: Bertrand Blier, Acclaimed Director of Sexually Blunt Films, Dies at 85. "A much-decorated French filmmaker, he divided audiences and critics with explorations, often darkly comic but brutal, of misogyny and the male sexual imagination."
Notable films: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978, Academy Award, best foreign film) -- Going Places aka Les Valseuses (1974) -- Beau-Père (1981) -- Too Beautiful for You (1989, Grand Prize Cannes)
"Mr. Blier launched the careers of men and women who would dominate the French screen for decades, including Gérard Depardieu, with whom he made nine films."
8featherbear
Marianne Faithfull (1946-2025)
fyi: NYT obit is paywalled; Guardian obit/pics are not
Jim Farber. NYT, 01/30/2025: Marianne Faithfull, a Pop Star Turned Survivor, Is Dead at 78. "A fresh-faced singer in the 1960s, she went on to experience more than her share of hard times before emerging triumphant in the ’70s."
"Marianne Faithfull, who went from being a fresh-faced, feather-voiced pop star, as well as muse and girlfriend of Mick Jagger, to a homeless heroin addict, only to re-emerge radically altered in her early 30s as a critically acclaimed cabaret performer singing songs of dark honesty, died on Thursday in London. She was 78.
"Over the years, Ms. Faithfull maintained a parallel if fitful acting career in theater, television and film. She made her stage debut in 1967 in a London production of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters,” co-starring Glenda Jackson. That same year she had a major role in “I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname,” in which she earned the distinction of being the first person to utter the “f” word in a major studio film.
"The next year she had the glamorous title role in “The Girl on a Motorcycle,” opposite Alain Delon. In 1969, she played the doomed Ophelia in a well-regarded film version of “Hamlet,” starring Nicol Williamson. Her lead role as a conflicted 60-year-old prostitute in the 2007 French film “Irina Palm” earned her a nomination for best actress at the European Film Awards.
"Her father, Robert Glynn Faithfull, had been a British spy during World War II and later a literature professor at the University of London. Inspired by what Ms. Faithfull often described as an eager appetite for the erotic, her father invented a device meant to liberate female sexuality, which he named the “Frigidity Machine.” Her mother, Eva von Sacher-Masoch, was a Viennese baroness, an ex-ballet dancer and a descendant of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, author of the erotic novel “Venus in Furs,” which spawned the term masochism.
“It was a colorful upbringing,” Ms. Faithfull told Saga magazine in 2007. “And I dare say I have traits from both my parents.”
Adam Sweeting. Guardian, 01/31/2025: Marianne Faithfull obituary. "Singer who found pop fame and tabloid infamy in the 60s but returned to music in the 70s with Broken English, a statement of bloody-minded survival."
Elena Goodinson. Guardian, 01/30/2025: Marianne Faithfull – a life in pictures. "The British pop icon, known for her work as a singer, songwriter and actor, has died aged 78. Her career spanned six decades."
fyi: NYT obit is paywalled; Guardian obit/pics are not
Jim Farber. NYT, 01/30/2025: Marianne Faithfull, a Pop Star Turned Survivor, Is Dead at 78. "A fresh-faced singer in the 1960s, she went on to experience more than her share of hard times before emerging triumphant in the ’70s."
"Marianne Faithfull, who went from being a fresh-faced, feather-voiced pop star, as well as muse and girlfriend of Mick Jagger, to a homeless heroin addict, only to re-emerge radically altered in her early 30s as a critically acclaimed cabaret performer singing songs of dark honesty, died on Thursday in London. She was 78.
"Over the years, Ms. Faithfull maintained a parallel if fitful acting career in theater, television and film. She made her stage debut in 1967 in a London production of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters,” co-starring Glenda Jackson. That same year she had a major role in “I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname,” in which she earned the distinction of being the first person to utter the “f” word in a major studio film.
"The next year she had the glamorous title role in “The Girl on a Motorcycle,” opposite Alain Delon. In 1969, she played the doomed Ophelia in a well-regarded film version of “Hamlet,” starring Nicol Williamson. Her lead role as a conflicted 60-year-old prostitute in the 2007 French film “Irina Palm” earned her a nomination for best actress at the European Film Awards.
"Her father, Robert Glynn Faithfull, had been a British spy during World War II and later a literature professor at the University of London. Inspired by what Ms. Faithfull often described as an eager appetite for the erotic, her father invented a device meant to liberate female sexuality, which he named the “Frigidity Machine.” Her mother, Eva von Sacher-Masoch, was a Viennese baroness, an ex-ballet dancer and a descendant of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, author of the erotic novel “Venus in Furs,” which spawned the term masochism.
“It was a colorful upbringing,” Ms. Faithfull told Saga magazine in 2007. “And I dare say I have traits from both my parents.”
Adam Sweeting. Guardian, 01/31/2025: Marianne Faithfull obituary. "Singer who found pop fame and tabloid infamy in the 60s but returned to music in the 70s with Broken English, a statement of bloody-minded survival."
Elena Goodinson. Guardian, 01/30/2025: Marianne Faithfull – a life in pictures. "The British pop icon, known for her work as a singer, songwriter and actor, has died aged 78. Her career spanned six decades."
9featherbear
Phyllis Dalton, 1925-2025
Ash Wu. NYT, 01/31/2025: Phyllis Dalton, Oscar-Winning Costume Designer for Historical Epics, Dies at 99. Temporarily unlocked. "A look back at some of her most celebrated works, including “Doctor Zhivago,” “The Princess Bride” and “Lawrence of Arabia.”"
Ash Wu. NYT, 01/31/2025: Phyllis Dalton, Oscar-Winning Costume Designer for Historical Epics, Dies at 99. Temporarily unlocked. "A look back at some of her most celebrated works, including “Doctor Zhivago,” “The Princess Bride” and “Lawrence of Arabia.”"
10cindydavid4
wow, what a talent! funny she didnt like princess bride but still did right by her may her name be for a blessing
11featherbear
Tony Roberts, 1939-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 02/07/2025: Tony Roberts, Nonchalant Fixture in Woody Allen Films, Dies at 85. "He had an acclaimed Broadway career in musicals and comedies, but moviegoers knew him mostly as the tall, self-assured, easygoing pal to Mr. Allen’s insecure heroes."
Appeared with Allen in Play It Again Sam (1972), Annie Hall (1977), A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982), Stardust Memories (1980), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).
"Mr. Roberts allowed, however, that there could be a downside to being too closely associated with Mr. Allen. “I was always so vividly the guy Woody wrote, that everybody in the business — casting agents, for instance — would think of me that way,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 1997. “The persona I was for Woody is a hard thing to break out of.”
"Mr. Roberts was Al Pacino’s politically savvy fellow police officer in Serpico (1973). In The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), he was a sensible deputy mayor dealing with subway hijackers and their ransom demands.
"The stage was a welcoming home for Mr. Roberts, decade after decade. There was London, where he starred with Betty Buckley in the musical “Promises, Promises” (1969). There was regional theater, where he appeared in “Follies” (1998) at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. And there was Broadway, where he took on some two dozen roles, mostly comic and musical.
"He was praised as “urbanely foolish” by Clive Barnes when he played a downwardly mobile architect in Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy “Absurd Person Singular” (1974). He was a theater critic in a 1986 revival of “Arsenic and Old Lace” and a retired Upper West Side doctor and annoyingly noble husband in Charles Busch’s “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” (2000). Ben Brantley of The Times, reviewing that play, called Mr. Roberts “an expert in resonant underplaying.”"
Anita Gates. NYT, 02/07/2025: Tony Roberts, Nonchalant Fixture in Woody Allen Films, Dies at 85. "He had an acclaimed Broadway career in musicals and comedies, but moviegoers knew him mostly as the tall, self-assured, easygoing pal to Mr. Allen’s insecure heroes."
Appeared with Allen in Play It Again Sam (1972), Annie Hall (1977), A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982), Stardust Memories (1980), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).
"Mr. Roberts allowed, however, that there could be a downside to being too closely associated with Mr. Allen. “I was always so vividly the guy Woody wrote, that everybody in the business — casting agents, for instance — would think of me that way,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 1997. “The persona I was for Woody is a hard thing to break out of.”
"Mr. Roberts was Al Pacino’s politically savvy fellow police officer in Serpico (1973). In The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), he was a sensible deputy mayor dealing with subway hijackers and their ransom demands.
"The stage was a welcoming home for Mr. Roberts, decade after decade. There was London, where he starred with Betty Buckley in the musical “Promises, Promises” (1969). There was regional theater, where he appeared in “Follies” (1998) at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. And there was Broadway, where he took on some two dozen roles, mostly comic and musical.
"He was praised as “urbanely foolish” by Clive Barnes when he played a downwardly mobile architect in Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy “Absurd Person Singular” (1974). He was a theater critic in a 1986 revival of “Arsenic and Old Lace” and a retired Upper West Side doctor and annoyingly noble husband in Charles Busch’s “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” (2000). Ben Brantley of The Times, reviewing that play, called Mr. Roberts “an expert in resonant underplaying.”"
12JulieLill
>11 featherbear: I liked his work!
13featherbear
Edith Mathis, 1938-2025
Adam Rossiter. NYT, 02/15/2025: Edith Mathis, Radiant Swiss Soprano, Is Dead at 86. "Known for her interpretations of Bach, Mozart and Weber, she was praised for her clear, bright voice and her perfect intonation even on the highest notes."
"... a star in all the world’s other major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, illuminating roles like Cherubino and Susanna in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” Ännchen in Weber’s “Der Freischütz” and Marzelline in Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” which she sang five times at the Met in 1971 under Karl Böhm. She was a favorite of his, as she was of his rival for conducting pre-eminence in the last century, Herbert von Karajan.
"The dozens of opera, oratorio, cantata and song recordings Ms. Mathis left behind illustrate why: a clear, bright voice, perfect intonation even on the highest notes, an unaffected manner and absolute service to the text — “the voice so reliably radiant and clear, the musicianship so reliably impeccable,” the British critic Hugo Shirley wrote in Gramophone magazine in 2018, reviewing a CD collection released by Deutsche Grammophon in observance of her 80th birthday. She was, the dramaturg Malte Krasting wrote in a tribute for the Bavarian State Opera, “the epitome of an ideal Mozart singer.”
"Ms. Mathis entered popular culture, briefly, when a duet from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro" that she sang with the soprano Gundula Janowitz figured in the soundtrack to the hit 1994 film “The Shawshank Redemption.” The music “soars over a prison yard, signifying joy and hope in a world of despair,” Zachary Woolfe of The Times wrote in 2014."
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/mathisedith
Adam Rossiter. NYT, 02/15/2025: Edith Mathis, Radiant Swiss Soprano, Is Dead at 86. "Known for her interpretations of Bach, Mozart and Weber, she was praised for her clear, bright voice and her perfect intonation even on the highest notes."
"... a star in all the world’s other major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, illuminating roles like Cherubino and Susanna in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” Ännchen in Weber’s “Der Freischütz” and Marzelline in Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” which she sang five times at the Met in 1971 under Karl Böhm. She was a favorite of his, as she was of his rival for conducting pre-eminence in the last century, Herbert von Karajan.
"The dozens of opera, oratorio, cantata and song recordings Ms. Mathis left behind illustrate why: a clear, bright voice, perfect intonation even on the highest notes, an unaffected manner and absolute service to the text — “the voice so reliably radiant and clear, the musicianship so reliably impeccable,” the British critic Hugo Shirley wrote in Gramophone magazine in 2018, reviewing a CD collection released by Deutsche Grammophon in observance of her 80th birthday. She was, the dramaturg Malte Krasting wrote in a tribute for the Bavarian State Opera, “the epitome of an ideal Mozart singer.”
"Ms. Mathis entered popular culture, briefly, when a duet from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro" that she sang with the soprano Gundula Janowitz figured in the soundtrack to the hit 1994 film “The Shawshank Redemption.” The music “soars over a prison yard, signifying joy and hope in a world of despair,” Zachary Woolfe of The Times wrote in 2014."
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/mathisedith
14featherbear
Kim Sae-ron, 2000-2025
Jin Yu Young. NYT, 02/17/2025: Kim Sae-ron, a Young South Korean Actress, Is Found Dead.
"One of South Korea’s most lauded young actors, Ms. Kim had not appeared in any shows since she faced public criticism after being convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in 2022.
"Her death marks the latest tragedy to strike South Korea’s booming but high-pressure entertainment industry, which has faced criticism for the toll it places on the mental health of its burgeoning stars. A celebrity’s popularity is often contingent on a spotless reputation, experts say."
"Ms. Kim started her acting career by starring in “A Brand New Life,” a film about a girl abandoned in an orphanage, in 2009. She was 9 years old when the movie premiered and was invited to the Cannes Film Festival.
Kelly Ng. BBC Culture, 02/18/2025: 'Real life Squid Game': Kim Sae-ron's death exposes Korea's celebrity culture.
Raphael Rashid in Seoul and Justin McCurry in Tokyo. Guardian, 02/21/2025: ‘Like a giant Squid Game’: soul searching in South Korea after latest celebrity suicide.
Jin Yu Young. NYT, 02/17/2025: Kim Sae-ron, a Young South Korean Actress, Is Found Dead.
"One of South Korea’s most lauded young actors, Ms. Kim had not appeared in any shows since she faced public criticism after being convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in 2022.
"Her death marks the latest tragedy to strike South Korea’s booming but high-pressure entertainment industry, which has faced criticism for the toll it places on the mental health of its burgeoning stars. A celebrity’s popularity is often contingent on a spotless reputation, experts say."
"Ms. Kim started her acting career by starring in “A Brand New Life,” a film about a girl abandoned in an orphanage, in 2009. She was 9 years old when the movie premiered and was invited to the Cannes Film Festival.
Kelly Ng. BBC Culture, 02/18/2025: 'Real life Squid Game': Kim Sae-ron's death exposes Korea's celebrity culture.
Raphael Rashid in Seoul and Justin McCurry in Tokyo. Guardian, 02/21/2025: ‘Like a giant Squid Game’: soul searching in South Korea after latest celebrity suicide.
15featherbear
George Armitage, 1942-2025
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 02/22/2025: Grosse Pointe Blank and Miami Blues director George Armitage dies aged 82.
Miami Blues is one of my favs; introduced me to Jennifer Jason-Leigh & Alec Baldwin. The Willeford novel on which it's based is good too.
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 02/22/2025: Grosse Pointe Blank and Miami Blues director George Armitage dies aged 82.
Miami Blues is one of my favs; introduced me to Jennifer Jason-Leigh & Alec Baldwin. The Willeford novel on which it's based is good too.
16featherbear
Roberta Flack, 1937-2025
Giovanni Russonello. NYT, 02/24/2025: Roberta Flack, Virtuoso Singer-Pianist Who Ruled the Charts, Dies at 88. TEMPORARILY UNLOCKED "With majestic anthems like “Killing Me Softly” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” Ms. Flack, a former schoolteacher, became one of the most widely heard artists of the 1970s."
Her career took off with the release of the single The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, from the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood's Play Misty For Me. Check out the obit before the end of the month; I thought it was quite good.
"Critics often struggled to describe the understated strength of her voice, and the breadth of her stylistic range. In its poise, its interiority and conviction, its lack of sentimentality or overstatement, her singing seemed to press the reset button on any standard expectations of a pop star. She placed equal priority on passion and clear communication — like an instructor speaking to an inquisitive student, or a lover pledging devotion."
Giovanni Russonello. NYT, 02/24/2025: Roberta Flack, Virtuoso Singer-Pianist Who Ruled the Charts, Dies at 88. TEMPORARILY UNLOCKED "With majestic anthems like “Killing Me Softly” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” Ms. Flack, a former schoolteacher, became one of the most widely heard artists of the 1970s."
Her career took off with the release of the single The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, from the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood's Play Misty For Me. Check out the obit before the end of the month; I thought it was quite good.
"Critics often struggled to describe the understated strength of her voice, and the breadth of her stylistic range. In its poise, its interiority and conviction, its lack of sentimentality or overstatement, her singing seemed to press the reset button on any standard expectations of a pop star. She placed equal priority on passion and clear communication — like an instructor speaking to an inquisitive student, or a lover pledging devotion."
17featherbear
Michelle Trachtenberg 1985-2025
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 02/26/2025: Michelle Trachtenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl actor, dead at 39.
Guardian, 02/26/2025: Michelle Trachtenberg: a life in pictures.
Veronica Esposito. Guardian, 02/27/2025: Michelle Trachtenberg’s natural talent shone in everything from Harriet the Spy to Buffy.
Alex Williams & Michael Levenson. NYT, 02/26/2025: Michelle Trachtenberg, ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Buffy’ Actress, Dies at 39.
"Ms. Trachtenberg established her longstanding presence on the small screen at the age of 3, when she appeared in a television commercial for Wisk laundry detergent in which she spilled cranberry juice.
"Her breakout came at 11, when she made her big-screen debut in the title role of “Harriet the Spy” (1996), the film adaptation of Louise Fitzhugh’s 1964 children’s book, which also featured Rosie O’Donnell as Harriet’s nanny, Ole Golly. She drew praise for her performance as Harriet Welsch, a precocious girl who draws scorn from schoolmates over her imagined spy adventures, which she meticulously chronicles in a notebook.
"She found a new level of fame as a teenager in 2000, when she joined the cast of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” during its fifth season, as the younger sister of the mystically powered Buffy Summers, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, a longtime friend who knew Ms. Trachtenberg from their days on “All My Children.”"
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 02/26/2025: Michelle Trachtenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl actor, dead at 39.
Guardian, 02/26/2025: Michelle Trachtenberg: a life in pictures.
Veronica Esposito. Guardian, 02/27/2025: Michelle Trachtenberg’s natural talent shone in everything from Harriet the Spy to Buffy.
Alex Williams & Michael Levenson. NYT, 02/26/2025: Michelle Trachtenberg, ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Buffy’ Actress, Dies at 39.
"Ms. Trachtenberg established her longstanding presence on the small screen at the age of 3, when she appeared in a television commercial for Wisk laundry detergent in which she spilled cranberry juice.
"Her breakout came at 11, when she made her big-screen debut in the title role of “Harriet the Spy” (1996), the film adaptation of Louise Fitzhugh’s 1964 children’s book, which also featured Rosie O’Donnell as Harriet’s nanny, Ole Golly. She drew praise for her performance as Harriet Welsch, a precocious girl who draws scorn from schoolmates over her imagined spy adventures, which she meticulously chronicles in a notebook.
"She found a new level of fame as a teenager in 2000, when she joined the cast of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” during its fifth season, as the younger sister of the mystically powered Buffy Summers, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, a longtime friend who knew Ms. Trachtenberg from their days on “All My Children.”"
18featherbear
Gene Hackman, 1930-2025
Robert Berkvist. NYT, 02/27/2025: Gene Hackman, Hollywood’s Consummate Everyman, Dies at 95. "The winner of two Oscars, he was hailed for his nuanced performances in films like “The French Connection,” “Unforgiven” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”"
"Mr. Hackman was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two during a 40-year career in which he appeared in films seen and remembered by millions, among them “Bonnie and Clyde,” “The French Connection,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Unforgiven,” “Superman,” “Hoosiers” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
"It was Mr. Hackman’s gift to be able to peel back the layers from characters who carried the weight of middle age.
"Mr. Hackman was forever associated with his breakout role, that of the crude, relentless narcotics cop Popeye Doyle — a grim-faced bloodhound in a porkpie hat — in the hit 1971 film “The French Connection.” That performance brought him his first Academy Award, as best actor.
"His performance in a bit part in a 1964 Warren Beatty movie, “Lilith,” made a lasting impression on Mr. Beatty, who remembered him when he was producing “Bonnie and Clyde” and looking for someone to play Buck Barrow, the explosive brother of the gangster Clyde Barrow (played by Mr. Beatty). Mr. Hackman’s performance in that film, directed by Arthur Penn and released in 1967, brought him his first Oscar nomination.
"Not all his roles explored life’s dark side. His knack for comedy, honed on the stage, resurfaced in Mel Brooks’s “Young Frankenstein” (1974), in which he was cast as a blind hermit who unknowingly plays host to the monster, and served him well in later films like “The Birdcage” (1996) and “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001)."
Franz Lidz. WaPo, 02/27/2025: Gene Hackman, actor who dazzled in spectrum of Everyman roles, dies at 95. Temporarily Unlocked.
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 02/27/2025: Gene Hackman: a life in pictures.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 02/27/2025: Gene Hackman: the star of every scene he was in.
Samantha Granville. BBC Culture, 03/01/2025: Pilates, painting and bike rides: Gene Hackman's life in Santa Fe.
Robert Berkvist. NYT, 02/27/2025: Gene Hackman, Hollywood’s Consummate Everyman, Dies at 95. "The winner of two Oscars, he was hailed for his nuanced performances in films like “The French Connection,” “Unforgiven” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”"
"Mr. Hackman was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two during a 40-year career in which he appeared in films seen and remembered by millions, among them “Bonnie and Clyde,” “The French Connection,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Unforgiven,” “Superman,” “Hoosiers” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
"It was Mr. Hackman’s gift to be able to peel back the layers from characters who carried the weight of middle age.
"Mr. Hackman was forever associated with his breakout role, that of the crude, relentless narcotics cop Popeye Doyle — a grim-faced bloodhound in a porkpie hat — in the hit 1971 film “The French Connection.” That performance brought him his first Academy Award, as best actor.
"His performance in a bit part in a 1964 Warren Beatty movie, “Lilith,” made a lasting impression on Mr. Beatty, who remembered him when he was producing “Bonnie and Clyde” and looking for someone to play Buck Barrow, the explosive brother of the gangster Clyde Barrow (played by Mr. Beatty). Mr. Hackman’s performance in that film, directed by Arthur Penn and released in 1967, brought him his first Oscar nomination.
"Not all his roles explored life’s dark side. His knack for comedy, honed on the stage, resurfaced in Mel Brooks’s “Young Frankenstein” (1974), in which he was cast as a blind hermit who unknowingly plays host to the monster, and served him well in later films like “The Birdcage” (1996) and “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001)."
Franz Lidz. WaPo, 02/27/2025: Gene Hackman, actor who dazzled in spectrum of Everyman roles, dies at 95. Temporarily Unlocked.
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 02/27/2025: Gene Hackman: a life in pictures.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 02/27/2025: Gene Hackman: the star of every scene he was in.
Samantha Granville. BBC Culture, 03/01/2025: Pilates, painting and bike rides: Gene Hackman's life in Santa Fe.
19featherbear
David Johansen, 1950-2025
Gavin Edwards. NYT, 03/01/2025: David Johansen, Who Fronted the New York Dolls and More, Dies at 75. "In the 1970s, he and the transgressive Dolls were proto-punk pioneers. He later refashioned himself as the pompadoured lounge lizard Buster Poindexter."
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 03/01/2025: David Johansen, punk star reinvented as ‘Buster Poindexter,’ dies at 75.
With a memorable role in Scrooged! as the taxi driver/Ghost of Christmas Past. New York Dolls have grown on me over the years. Stranded in the Jungle.
Michael Whitaker & Pejman Faratin. Guardian, 03/01/2025: David Johansen: a life in pictures.
Gavin Edwards. NYT, 03/01/2025: David Johansen, Who Fronted the New York Dolls and More, Dies at 75. "In the 1970s, he and the transgressive Dolls were proto-punk pioneers. He later refashioned himself as the pompadoured lounge lizard Buster Poindexter."
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 03/01/2025: David Johansen, punk star reinvented as ‘Buster Poindexter,’ dies at 75.
With a memorable role in Scrooged! as the taxi driver/Ghost of Christmas Past. New York Dolls have grown on me over the years. Stranded in the Jungle.
Michael Whitaker & Pejman Faratin. Guardian, 03/01/2025: David Johansen: a life in pictures.
20featherbear
More detail in my Exploring Books posting 90, but added a bit here since he had significant involvement in the TV & movie image of the police.
Joseph Wambaugh, 1937-2025
Robert D. McFadden. NYT, 02/28/2025: Joseph Wambaugh, Author With a Cop’s-Eye View, Is Dead at 88.
"In a prolific four-decade career that overlapped with, and often drew upon, the obscenities and violence of his 14 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, Mr. Wambaugh wrote 16 novels and five nonfiction books. He also created two TV series, “Police Story” (1973-78) and “The Blue Knight” (1975-76), and wrote the screenplays for the movie versions of “The Onion Field” (1979) and “The Black Marble” (1980), as well as a CBS mini-series, “Echoes in the Darkness” (1987), and an NBC film, “Fugitive Nights: Danger in the Desert” (1993), both also based on his books."
Joseph Wambaugh, 1937-2025
Robert D. McFadden. NYT, 02/28/2025: Joseph Wambaugh, Author With a Cop’s-Eye View, Is Dead at 88.
"In a prolific four-decade career that overlapped with, and often drew upon, the obscenities and violence of his 14 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, Mr. Wambaugh wrote 16 novels and five nonfiction books. He also created two TV series, “Police Story” (1973-78) and “The Blue Knight” (1975-76), and wrote the screenplays for the movie versions of “The Onion Field” (1979) and “The Black Marble” (1980), as well as a CBS mini-series, “Echoes in the Darkness” (1987), and an NBC film, “Fugitive Nights: Danger in the Desert” (1993), both also based on his books."
21featherbear
Stanley R. Jaffe, 1940-2025
Clay Risen. NYT, 03/11/2025: Stanley R. Jaffe, 84, Oscar-Winning Producer and Hollywood Power, Dies. "His “Kramer vs. Kramer” won for best picture in 1980, one of many high points in a career that saw him in top jobs, twice, at Paramount."
Producer of Goodbye, Columbus (1969), Ali McGraw's 1st film -- The Bad News Bears (1976) -- "“Taps” (1981), a drama, set in a military academy, that launched the careers of Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and Giancarlo Esposito" -- co-producer with Sherry Lansing of: Fatal Attraction (1987) -- The Accused (1988) -- Black Rain (1989). His father Leo Jaffe was chairman of Columbia Pictures.
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 03/12/2025: Stanley R. Jaffe, Oscar-winning producer and studio chief, dies at 84.
"“I’ve never had a picture that anybody thought was going to be a blockbuster,” he added, “and yet I have had some pictures that were among the most successful ever. There is an audience out there for good scripts and unusual ideas.”
Clay Risen. NYT, 03/11/2025: Stanley R. Jaffe, 84, Oscar-Winning Producer and Hollywood Power, Dies. "His “Kramer vs. Kramer” won for best picture in 1980, one of many high points in a career that saw him in top jobs, twice, at Paramount."
Producer of Goodbye, Columbus (1969), Ali McGraw's 1st film -- The Bad News Bears (1976) -- "“Taps” (1981), a drama, set in a military academy, that launched the careers of Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and Giancarlo Esposito" -- co-producer with Sherry Lansing of: Fatal Attraction (1987) -- The Accused (1988) -- Black Rain (1989). His father Leo Jaffe was chairman of Columbia Pictures.
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 03/12/2025: Stanley R. Jaffe, Oscar-winning producer and studio chief, dies at 84.
"“I’ve never had a picture that anybody thought was going to be a blockbuster,” he added, “and yet I have had some pictures that were among the most successful ever. There is an audience out there for good scripts and unusual ideas.”
22featherbear
Émilie Dequenne, 1981-2025
Ian Youngs. BBC Culture, 03/17/2025: Cannes award-winning actress Dequenne dies at 43.
Jenny Gross. NYT, 03/17/2025: Émilie Dequenne, Belgian Actress Who Starred in ‘Rosetta,’ Dies at 43.
"Ms. Dequenne was starring in her first film role when she played the lead in “Rosetta,” a 1999 film directed by the brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The film, about a working-class teenager fighting to hang onto a job, won the Palme d’Or, the top honor at Cannes.
"She went on to star in numerous films, including “The Brotherhood of the Wolf,” “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” “Our Children” and “This Is Our Land.”
"But she was perhaps best known for her roles in the 2012 drama “Our Children” (“À perdre la raison”), by the Belgian director Joachim Lafosse, and “Rosetta.”
Ian Youngs. BBC Culture, 03/17/2025: Cannes award-winning actress Dequenne dies at 43.
Jenny Gross. NYT, 03/17/2025: Émilie Dequenne, Belgian Actress Who Starred in ‘Rosetta,’ Dies at 43.
"Ms. Dequenne was starring in her first film role when she played the lead in “Rosetta,” a 1999 film directed by the brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The film, about a working-class teenager fighting to hang onto a job, won the Palme d’Or, the top honor at Cannes.
"She went on to star in numerous films, including “The Brotherhood of the Wolf,” “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” “Our Children” and “This Is Our Land.”
"But she was perhaps best known for her roles in the 2012 drama “Our Children” (“À perdre la raison”), by the Belgian director Joachim Lafosse, and “Rosetta.”
23featherbear
Richard Chamberlain, 1934-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 03/30/2025: Richard Chamberlain, TV Heartthrob Turned Serious Actor, Dies at 90. "An overnight star as Dr. Kildare in the 1960s, he achieved new acclaim two decades later as the omnipresent leading man of mini-series." TEMPORARILY UNLOCKED
James Poniewozik. NYT, 03/30/2025: When the Biggest Series Were Mini, Richard Chamberlain Was TV’s Mega Star. "The actor, who died at 90, was the most compelling face of a maximalist, soapy television era."
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 03/30/2025: Richard Chamberlain, TV heartthrob and ‘king of the miniseries,’ dies at 90. "He starred on the popular 1960s medical drama “Dr. Kildare” and later in the miniseries “Shogun” and “The Thorn Birds.”" TEMPORARILY UNLOCKED
BBC Culture, 03/30/2025: Richard Chamberlain: Heartthrob king of the TV mini-series.
Rachel Hagan. BBC News, 03/30/2025: Richard Chamberlain, Shogun star, dies aged 90.
Personally haven't seen a lot of RC roles -- despite my age, I prefer Shogun version 2 after sampling RC in version 1 -- but the BBC obit reminded me that he played Tchaikovsky in Ken Russell's The Music Lovers, possibly my favorite musical film. Terrific over the top stuff; I purchased access to the streaming version some time ago.
Anita Gates. NYT, 03/30/2025: Richard Chamberlain, TV Heartthrob Turned Serious Actor, Dies at 90. "An overnight star as Dr. Kildare in the 1960s, he achieved new acclaim two decades later as the omnipresent leading man of mini-series." TEMPORARILY UNLOCKED
James Poniewozik. NYT, 03/30/2025: When the Biggest Series Were Mini, Richard Chamberlain Was TV’s Mega Star. "The actor, who died at 90, was the most compelling face of a maximalist, soapy television era."
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 03/30/2025: Richard Chamberlain, TV heartthrob and ‘king of the miniseries,’ dies at 90. "He starred on the popular 1960s medical drama “Dr. Kildare” and later in the miniseries “Shogun” and “The Thorn Birds.”" TEMPORARILY UNLOCKED
BBC Culture, 03/30/2025: Richard Chamberlain: Heartthrob king of the TV mini-series.
Rachel Hagan. BBC News, 03/30/2025: Richard Chamberlain, Shogun star, dies aged 90.
Personally haven't seen a lot of RC roles -- despite my age, I prefer Shogun version 2 after sampling RC in version 1 -- but the BBC obit reminded me that he played Tchaikovsky in Ken Russell's The Music Lovers, possibly my favorite musical film. Terrific over the top stuff; I purchased access to the streaming version some time ago.
24featherbear
Val Kilmer, 1959-2025
Bruce Weber. NYT, 04/01/2025, upd 04/02: Val Kilmer, Film Star Who Played Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65. Temporarily unlocked.
"Off the screen, he had his share of disagreements, especially early in his career, when he earned a reputation for surliness and self-involvement. A 1996 cover article about him in Entertainment Weekly was titled “The Man Hollywood Loves to Hate.”
“He offended people by being hard to understand.”
Alan Evans. Guardian, 04/02/2025: Val Kilmer, star of Top Gun, Batman Forever and The Doors, dies aged 65. "Known for his roles in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Tombstone, the prolific actor’s cause of death was pneumonia."
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 04/02/2025: Val Kilmer: an ethereally handsome actor who evolved into droll self-awareness.
Guardian, 04/02/2025: Val Kilmer – a life in pictures.
Andrew Jeong & Anabelle Timsit. WaPo, 04/02/2025: Val Kilmer, who played Batman and starred in ‘Top Gun,’ dies at 65. "Val Kilmer died of pneumonia, his daughter told the AP. He had a previous bout with throat cancer, which took away much of his ability to speak."
Bruce Weber. NYT, 04/01/2025, upd 04/02: Val Kilmer, Film Star Who Played Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65. Temporarily unlocked.
"Off the screen, he had his share of disagreements, especially early in his career, when he earned a reputation for surliness and self-involvement. A 1996 cover article about him in Entertainment Weekly was titled “The Man Hollywood Loves to Hate.”
“He offended people by being hard to understand.”
Alan Evans. Guardian, 04/02/2025: Val Kilmer, star of Top Gun, Batman Forever and The Doors, dies aged 65. "Known for his roles in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Tombstone, the prolific actor’s cause of death was pneumonia."
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 04/02/2025: Val Kilmer: an ethereally handsome actor who evolved into droll self-awareness.
Guardian, 04/02/2025: Val Kilmer – a life in pictures.
Andrew Jeong & Anabelle Timsit. WaPo, 04/02/2025: Val Kilmer, who played Batman and starred in ‘Top Gun,’ dies at 65. "Val Kilmer died of pneumonia, his daughter told the AP. He had a previous bout with throat cancer, which took away much of his ability to speak."
25JulieLill
>24 featherbear: So sad!
26featherbear
Jay North, 1951-2025
Alexandra E. Petri & Daniel E. Slotnick. 04/06/2025, upd 04/07: Jay North, Child Star of ‘Dennis the Menace,’ Dies at 73. "He was best known for playing the towheaded Dennis Mitchell on a sitcom that ran on CBS from 1959 to 1963."
"Mr. North played the mischievous, towheaded Dennis Mitchell, who roamed his neighborhood, usually clad in a striped shirt and overalls, with his friends, often exasperating a neighbor, a retiree named George Wilson, who was played by Joseph Kearns. Herbert Anderson played Dennis’s father, and Gloria Henry played his mother.
"The show, which was adapted from a comic strip by Hank Ketcham, presented an idyllic vision of suburban America as the 1950s gave way to the tumultuous ’60s.
"In 1993, he told The Los Angeles Daily News that his aunt and uncle had been his caretakers on set because his single mother was working full time. He said his aunt and uncle, who had died by the time of the 1993 interview, had abused him physically and emotionally.
“If it took me more than one or two takes, I would be threatened and then whacked,” he said.
"After “Dennis the Menace” ended, Mr. North appeared on the television shows “Wagon Train,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Lucy Show,” “My Three Sons” and “Jericho.”
Alexandra E. Petri & Daniel E. Slotnick. 04/06/2025, upd 04/07: Jay North, Child Star of ‘Dennis the Menace,’ Dies at 73. "He was best known for playing the towheaded Dennis Mitchell on a sitcom that ran on CBS from 1959 to 1963."
"Mr. North played the mischievous, towheaded Dennis Mitchell, who roamed his neighborhood, usually clad in a striped shirt and overalls, with his friends, often exasperating a neighbor, a retiree named George Wilson, who was played by Joseph Kearns. Herbert Anderson played Dennis’s father, and Gloria Henry played his mother.
"The show, which was adapted from a comic strip by Hank Ketcham, presented an idyllic vision of suburban America as the 1950s gave way to the tumultuous ’60s.
"In 1993, he told The Los Angeles Daily News that his aunt and uncle had been his caretakers on set because his single mother was working full time. He said his aunt and uncle, who had died by the time of the 1993 interview, had abused him physically and emotionally.
“If it took me more than one or two takes, I would be threatened and then whacked,” he said.
"After “Dennis the Menace” ended, Mr. North appeared on the television shows “Wagon Train,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Lucy Show,” “My Three Sons” and “Jericho.”
27featherbear
Ted Kotcheff, 1931-2025
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 04/11/2025: Ted Kotcheff, ‘First Blood’ and ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ director, dies at 94.
"Mr. Kotcheff’s more-than-six-decade career took him to London to work on television dramas as a young director who felt stifled in Toronto, and then to the Australian bush while he was blocked from the United States for alleged anti-American associations.
"He eventually reached Hollywood to work with stars such as George Segal and Jane Fonda in the crime farce “Fun with Dick and Jane” (1977) and Nick Nolte in the football satire “North Dallas Forty” (1979).
"Yet the project Mr. Kotcheff cited with special pride was “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,” a 1974 coming-of-age drama starring Richard Dreyfuss in a film that became widely regarded as helping to put Canada on the cinema map."
Fascinating tidbit: Canadian born, he began his career in British television. "During a live “Armchair Theatre” broadcast of the nuclear bomb drama “Underground” in 1958, a lead actor, Gareth Jones, died of a heart attack. Mr. Kotcheff and the rest of the cast finished the show, improvising around Jones’s lines." Inspiration for Weekend at Bernies?
Also with a contemporary echo: "During the anti-communist “Red Scare” in the early 1950s, Mr. Kotcheff was turned back at the border in Vermont, accused of being part of a leftist book club in Canada. Then in 1968, a musician burned an American flag at an event in London’s Royal Albert Hall, where Mr. Kotcheff was part of the production team. That put him on another U.S. no-entry list, he said. “First a communist and now a flag burner!” he wrote in his memoir."
He was finally cleared to enter the US, where he created the script for First Blood & suggested Sylvester Stallone for the role. "“They offered me the first sequel, and after I read the script I said, ‘In the first film he doesn’t kill anybody. In this film he kills 75 people,’” Mr. Kotcheff told Filmmaker magazine in 2016. “It seemed to be celebrating the Vietnam War, which I thought was one of the stupidest wars in history.”
"Mr. Kotcheff joined the NBC crime series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as executive producer in 2000 and remained for more than a decade."
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 04/11/2025: Ted Kotcheff, ‘First Blood’ and ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ director, dies at 94.
"Mr. Kotcheff’s more-than-six-decade career took him to London to work on television dramas as a young director who felt stifled in Toronto, and then to the Australian bush while he was blocked from the United States for alleged anti-American associations.
"He eventually reached Hollywood to work with stars such as George Segal and Jane Fonda in the crime farce “Fun with Dick and Jane” (1977) and Nick Nolte in the football satire “North Dallas Forty” (1979).
"Yet the project Mr. Kotcheff cited with special pride was “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,” a 1974 coming-of-age drama starring Richard Dreyfuss in a film that became widely regarded as helping to put Canada on the cinema map."
Fascinating tidbit: Canadian born, he began his career in British television. "During a live “Armchair Theatre” broadcast of the nuclear bomb drama “Underground” in 1958, a lead actor, Gareth Jones, died of a heart attack. Mr. Kotcheff and the rest of the cast finished the show, improvising around Jones’s lines." Inspiration for Weekend at Bernies?
Also with a contemporary echo: "During the anti-communist “Red Scare” in the early 1950s, Mr. Kotcheff was turned back at the border in Vermont, accused of being part of a leftist book club in Canada. Then in 1968, a musician burned an American flag at an event in London’s Royal Albert Hall, where Mr. Kotcheff was part of the production team. That put him on another U.S. no-entry list, he said. “First a communist and now a flag burner!” he wrote in his memoir."
He was finally cleared to enter the US, where he created the script for First Blood & suggested Sylvester Stallone for the role. "“They offered me the first sequel, and after I read the script I said, ‘In the first film he doesn’t kill anybody. In this film he kills 75 people,’” Mr. Kotcheff told Filmmaker magazine in 2016. “It seemed to be celebrating the Vietnam War, which I thought was one of the stupidest wars in history.”
"Mr. Kotcheff joined the NBC crime series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as executive producer in 2000 and remained for more than a decade."
28featherbear
This one goes back to January, but seems apropos for this thread. I've given it the 'temporarily unlocked' link:
Michael Dirda. WaPo, 01/16/2025: What reading about dead people tells us about life. "The best obituaries, those that are most enjoyable to read, juxtapose obvious public accomplishments with the sheer strangeness of people’s lives."
Michael Dirda. WaPo, 01/16/2025: What reading about dead people tells us about life. "The best obituaries, those that are most enjoyable to read, juxtapose obvious public accomplishments with the sheer strangeness of people’s lives."
29featherbear
Jean Marsh, 1934-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 04/13/2025: Jean Marsh, Actress Who Co-Created ‘Upstairs, Downstairs,’ Dies at 90. "She not only helped develop the hit 1970s show, but also acted in it, and had a decades-long career in film, TV and theater."
"“Upstairs, Downstairs” captured the hearts, minds and Sunday nights of Anglophile PBS viewers decades before “Downton Abbey” was even a gleam in Julian Fellowes’s eye.
"The show, which ran from 1971 to 1975 in England and from 1974 to 1977 in the United States, focused on the elegant Bellamy family and the staff of servants who kept their Belgravia townhouse running smoothly, according to the precise social standards of Edwardian aristocracy. Ms. Marsh chose the role of Rose, the household’s head parlor maid, a stern but good-hearted Cockney.
"By the time the show ended its American run, it had won a Peabody Award and seven Emmys. Ms. Marsh herself took home the 1975 Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama series.
"The idea for “Upstairs, Downstairs” was born, Ms. Marsh recalled in a 1992 interview with The New York Times, when she and the actress Eileen Atkins were house-sitting in the South of France for a wealthy friend.
“I’d love more of this,” Ms. Marsh announced one day, poolside. Ms. Atkins replied, “Then write down the idea,” referring to a concept they’d talked about for a series contrasting the lives of a wealthy Edwardian family and their servants. Ms. Atkins’s father had also been “in service,” working as a butler."
Aneesa Ahmed. Guardian, 04/13/2025: Jean Marsh, co-creator of 1970s TV hit Upstairs, Downstairs, dies aged 90.
Viv Groskop. Guardian, 04/15/2025: Jean Marsh obituary.
Anita Gates. NYT, 04/13/2025: Jean Marsh, Actress Who Co-Created ‘Upstairs, Downstairs,’ Dies at 90. "She not only helped develop the hit 1970s show, but also acted in it, and had a decades-long career in film, TV and theater."
"“Upstairs, Downstairs” captured the hearts, minds and Sunday nights of Anglophile PBS viewers decades before “Downton Abbey” was even a gleam in Julian Fellowes’s eye.
"The show, which ran from 1971 to 1975 in England and from 1974 to 1977 in the United States, focused on the elegant Bellamy family and the staff of servants who kept their Belgravia townhouse running smoothly, according to the precise social standards of Edwardian aristocracy. Ms. Marsh chose the role of Rose, the household’s head parlor maid, a stern but good-hearted Cockney.
"By the time the show ended its American run, it had won a Peabody Award and seven Emmys. Ms. Marsh herself took home the 1975 Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama series.
"The idea for “Upstairs, Downstairs” was born, Ms. Marsh recalled in a 1992 interview with The New York Times, when she and the actress Eileen Atkins were house-sitting in the South of France for a wealthy friend.
“I’d love more of this,” Ms. Marsh announced one day, poolside. Ms. Atkins replied, “Then write down the idea,” referring to a concept they’d talked about for a series contrasting the lives of a wealthy Edwardian family and their servants. Ms. Atkins’s father had also been “in service,” working as a butler."
Aneesa Ahmed. Guardian, 04/13/2025: Jean Marsh, co-creator of 1970s TV hit Upstairs, Downstairs, dies aged 90.
Viv Groskop. Guardian, 04/15/2025: Jean Marsh obituary.
30featherbear
Wink Martindale, 1933-2025
Maya Salam. NYT, 04/15/2025: Wink Martindale, Popular and Durable Game Show Host, Dies at 91. "He was involved in more than 20 game shows, most memorably as the host of “Gambit” and “Tic-Tac-Dough” in the 1970s and ’80s."
"He credited some of his success to his distinctive nickname.
“When I was a kid in Jackson, Tenn., one of my playmates, Jimmy McCord, couldn’t say ‘Winston,’ which is my given name, and he had a speech impediment, and it came out sounding like ‘Winky,’” Mr. Martindale told ABC News in 2014. “So Winston turned into Winky, and then I got into the business and Wink! It served me well, and I just kept Wink all these years.”
He has a memoir listed on LT: Winking at Life.
AP. WaPo, 04/16/2025: Wink Martindale, prolific game show host, dies at 91.
"After an early career as a disc jockey and TV host in Memphis, Mr. Martindale moved to Los Angeles in 1959 and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year with a cover version of “Deck of Cards,” which sold more than 1 million copies. He performed the spoken word wartime story with religious overtones on “The Ed Sullivan Show.
"Mr. Martindale developed a friendship with Elvis Presley before the rock star’s breakthrough, and the two remained in touch periodically. Presley, by then famous, agreed to appear on Mr. Martindale’s TV show “Top Ten Dance Party” in 1956."
"Mr. Martindale was no relation to University of Michigan defensive coordinator Don Martindale, whose college teammates nicknamed him Wink because of their shared last name."
Maya Salam. NYT, 04/15/2025: Wink Martindale, Popular and Durable Game Show Host, Dies at 91. "He was involved in more than 20 game shows, most memorably as the host of “Gambit” and “Tic-Tac-Dough” in the 1970s and ’80s."
"He credited some of his success to his distinctive nickname.
“When I was a kid in Jackson, Tenn., one of my playmates, Jimmy McCord, couldn’t say ‘Winston,’ which is my given name, and he had a speech impediment, and it came out sounding like ‘Winky,’” Mr. Martindale told ABC News in 2014. “So Winston turned into Winky, and then I got into the business and Wink! It served me well, and I just kept Wink all these years.”
He has a memoir listed on LT: Winking at Life.
AP. WaPo, 04/16/2025: Wink Martindale, prolific game show host, dies at 91.
"After an early career as a disc jockey and TV host in Memphis, Mr. Martindale moved to Los Angeles in 1959 and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year with a cover version of “Deck of Cards,” which sold more than 1 million copies. He performed the spoken word wartime story with religious overtones on “The Ed Sullivan Show.
"Mr. Martindale developed a friendship with Elvis Presley before the rock star’s breakthrough, and the two remained in touch periodically. Presley, by then famous, agreed to appear on Mr. Martindale’s TV show “Top Ten Dance Party” in 1956."
"Mr. Martindale was no relation to University of Michigan defensive coordinator Don Martindale, whose college teammates nicknamed him Wink because of their shared last name."
31featherbear
Ruth Buzzi, 1936-2025
Bruce Weber. NYT, 05/02/2025: Ruth Buzzi, Purse-Wielding Gladys of ‘Laugh-In,’ Is Dead at 88.
"Nothing in her career, however, had the enduring appeal of her determinedly unappealing “Laugh-In” character Gladys Ormphby, a combination schoolmarm, delicate codgerette and battle-ax clad in a drab brown cardigan, long skirt, saggy stockings and a hairnet with a knot in the middle of her forehead.
"Gladys’s regular appearances on the show — an NBC prime-time fixture from 1968 to 1973 — were generally in skits involving Tyrone, the quintessential dirty old man (Arte Johnson), who would get a little too close, breathe a little too heavily and make a little too suggestive a comment, provoking Gladys to wallop him with her purse.
"At a time when social mores were growing rapidly less proscriptive, Gladys, who seemed interested in sex and revolted by it in equal measure, was a vivid, and hilarious, representative of the confusion that reigned among an older, more conservative generation surprised by the sexual revolution.
"Ms. Buzzi later appeared on “Sesame Street” — as the cartoon voice of the character Suzie Kabloozie, as the owner of a secondhand store and occasionally as a child-friendly version of Gladys. She also voiced a cartoon version of Gladys (alongside Arte Johnson as a toned-down Tyrone) on the animated series “Baggy Pants and the Nitwits.”
Regarding the origin of Gladys: "... Ms. Buzzi said, “I wanted to have some new pictures taken, so I thought it would be sensible to read a bunch of plays and try to find characters I could do. I read ‘Auntie Mame’ and came across this character named Agnes Gooch. And at one point the stage directions said, ‘Agnes schlumps in.’
“I thought that was a great word, and the part was real funny, so I asked myself what would a person look like who schlumped — rotten posture, draggy feet, baggy stockings, speech kind of constipated. So I tried it, and I parted my hair in the middle — the worst thing you can do with a face like mine — and made it really flat with a hairnet. But by mistake, I put the hairnet on sideways, which makes that little knot up there, you know?”
"She went on: “Anyway, I had the pictures taken, and about two years later I got to play Agnes Gooch in summer stock. I didn’t do her as extreme as I do Gladys now, but the audiences went crazy laughing. So I thought, ‘Boy, I’ve gotta keep this character, change her name and work her into something.’”
Bruce Weber. NYT, 05/02/2025: Ruth Buzzi, Purse-Wielding Gladys of ‘Laugh-In,’ Is Dead at 88.
"Nothing in her career, however, had the enduring appeal of her determinedly unappealing “Laugh-In” character Gladys Ormphby, a combination schoolmarm, delicate codgerette and battle-ax clad in a drab brown cardigan, long skirt, saggy stockings and a hairnet with a knot in the middle of her forehead.
"Gladys’s regular appearances on the show — an NBC prime-time fixture from 1968 to 1973 — were generally in skits involving Tyrone, the quintessential dirty old man (Arte Johnson), who would get a little too close, breathe a little too heavily and make a little too suggestive a comment, provoking Gladys to wallop him with her purse.
"At a time when social mores were growing rapidly less proscriptive, Gladys, who seemed interested in sex and revolted by it in equal measure, was a vivid, and hilarious, representative of the confusion that reigned among an older, more conservative generation surprised by the sexual revolution.
"Ms. Buzzi later appeared on “Sesame Street” — as the cartoon voice of the character Suzie Kabloozie, as the owner of a secondhand store and occasionally as a child-friendly version of Gladys. She also voiced a cartoon version of Gladys (alongside Arte Johnson as a toned-down Tyrone) on the animated series “Baggy Pants and the Nitwits.”
Regarding the origin of Gladys: "... Ms. Buzzi said, “I wanted to have some new pictures taken, so I thought it would be sensible to read a bunch of plays and try to find characters I could do. I read ‘Auntie Mame’ and came across this character named Agnes Gooch. And at one point the stage directions said, ‘Agnes schlumps in.’
“I thought that was a great word, and the part was real funny, so I asked myself what would a person look like who schlumped — rotten posture, draggy feet, baggy stockings, speech kind of constipated. So I tried it, and I parted my hair in the middle — the worst thing you can do with a face like mine — and made it really flat with a hairnet. But by mistake, I put the hairnet on sideways, which makes that little knot up there, you know?”
"She went on: “Anyway, I had the pictures taken, and about two years later I got to play Agnes Gooch in summer stock. I didn’t do her as extreme as I do Gladys now, but the audiences went crazy laughing. So I thought, ‘Boy, I’ve gotta keep this character, change her name and work her into something.’”
32featherbear
Cora Sue Collins, 1927-2025
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 05/04/2025: Cora Sue Collins, a Busy Child Actress in the 1930s, Dies at 98.
"Miss Collins made about 50 pictures over 13 years, including 11 in 1934 and another 11 in 1935. She was one of the era’s galaxy of child stars, a list that included Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, but she did not become as famous as they did.
"In her first movie, the 1932 comedy “The Unexpected Father,” she played a waif whose newly wealthy adoptive father (Slim Summerville) hires a nurse (ZaSu Pitts) to care for her. Praise for 4-year-old Cora Sue came quickly.
"Miss Collins played Garbo as a child in “Queen Christina,” the acclaimed 1933 movie about the Swedish monarch. At the time, she told one newspaper that Garbo “ was so friendly and liked my new teeth a lot.”
Her many other roles include the daughter of Claudette Colbert in “Torch Song” (1933); Myrna Loy and William Powell’s daughter in “Evelyn Prentice” (1934); and the younger selves of Norma Shearer in “Smilin’ Through” (1932), Frances Dee in “The Strange Case of Clara Deane” (1932) and Ms. Oberon in “The Dark Angel” (1935).
"She developed a friendship with Garbo, which began on the set of “Queen Christina,” continued when Miss Collins was cast as her niece in “Anna Karenina” (1935), and lasted through her visits as an adult to Garbo’s homes in New York and Paris.
"“Until she passed away, I called her Miss Garbo and she called me Cora Sue, which was correct,” Miss Collins told Film Talk.
"In a story that Miss Collins called “the honest-to-God truth,” she said that her mother and sister were heading to register her sister in school when a huge car pulled up to them.
“A woman jumped out of the car and said, ‘Excuse me, would you like to put your little girl in pictures?’” she said in an interview with the website Cinephiled in 2015. “Of course, my mother said, ‘Yes!’ The woman said, ‘Get in the car with me, there’s a big casting going on right now at Universal.’”
"They delayed going to the studio for a few hours until Madge had been enrolled. Miss Collins was cast in “The Unexpected Father.”
"As Miss Collins aged, her roles dwindled. Before her 17th birthday, she said, she was a victim of harassment when Harry Ruskin, a screenwriter at MGM whom she viewed as a father figure, offered her a big role if she would sleep with him. She turned him down, started to cry and left his office.
"She reported Mr. Ruskin’s behavior to Louis B. Mayer, the powerful chief of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where she was a contract player at the time. But, as she recalled, he said, “You’ll get used to it, sweetie.” Soon after, he threatened to keep her from ever working in movies again.
“Mr. Mayer, that’s my heartfelt desire,” she said she told him, adding, “It was the best decision of my life.”
Mayer got one more picture out of her, Weekend at the Waldorf (1945) w/Ginger Rogers & Lana Turner.
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 05/04/2025: Cora Sue Collins, a Busy Child Actress in the 1930s, Dies at 98.
"Miss Collins made about 50 pictures over 13 years, including 11 in 1934 and another 11 in 1935. She was one of the era’s galaxy of child stars, a list that included Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, but she did not become as famous as they did.
"In her first movie, the 1932 comedy “The Unexpected Father,” she played a waif whose newly wealthy adoptive father (Slim Summerville) hires a nurse (ZaSu Pitts) to care for her. Praise for 4-year-old Cora Sue came quickly.
"Miss Collins played Garbo as a child in “Queen Christina,” the acclaimed 1933 movie about the Swedish monarch. At the time, she told one newspaper that Garbo “ was so friendly and liked my new teeth a lot.”
Her many other roles include the daughter of Claudette Colbert in “Torch Song” (1933); Myrna Loy and William Powell’s daughter in “Evelyn Prentice” (1934); and the younger selves of Norma Shearer in “Smilin’ Through” (1932), Frances Dee in “The Strange Case of Clara Deane” (1932) and Ms. Oberon in “The Dark Angel” (1935).
"She developed a friendship with Garbo, which began on the set of “Queen Christina,” continued when Miss Collins was cast as her niece in “Anna Karenina” (1935), and lasted through her visits as an adult to Garbo’s homes in New York and Paris.
"“Until she passed away, I called her Miss Garbo and she called me Cora Sue, which was correct,” Miss Collins told Film Talk.
"In a story that Miss Collins called “the honest-to-God truth,” she said that her mother and sister were heading to register her sister in school when a huge car pulled up to them.
“A woman jumped out of the car and said, ‘Excuse me, would you like to put your little girl in pictures?’” she said in an interview with the website Cinephiled in 2015. “Of course, my mother said, ‘Yes!’ The woman said, ‘Get in the car with me, there’s a big casting going on right now at Universal.’”
"They delayed going to the studio for a few hours until Madge had been enrolled. Miss Collins was cast in “The Unexpected Father.”
"As Miss Collins aged, her roles dwindled. Before her 17th birthday, she said, she was a victim of harassment when Harry Ruskin, a screenwriter at MGM whom she viewed as a father figure, offered her a big role if she would sleep with him. She turned him down, started to cry and left his office.
"She reported Mr. Ruskin’s behavior to Louis B. Mayer, the powerful chief of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where she was a contract player at the time. But, as she recalled, he said, “You’ll get used to it, sweetie.” Soon after, he threatened to keep her from ever working in movies again.
“Mr. Mayer, that’s my heartfelt desire,” she said she told him, adding, “It was the best decision of my life.”
Mayer got one more picture out of her, Weekend at the Waldorf (1945) w/Ginger Rogers & Lana Turner.
33featherbear
Will Hutchins, 1930-2025
Alex Traub. NYT, 05/04/2025: Will Hutchins, Gentle Cowboy Lawman in ‘Sugarfoot,’ Dies at 94.
Ah, the TV Westerns of my childhood; "easy goin' cattle ropin' Sugarfoot/Once you get his dander up/there's no one quicker on the draw":
"In 1958 and ’59, eight of the top 10 shows on TV were westerns. The best known included “Cheyenne” and “Maverick.” Mr. Hutchins was part of the stampede: “Sugarfoot” premiered on ABC in 1957 and ran for four seasons.
"Mr. Hutchins’s character, Tom Brewster, was the sugarfoot in question: an Eastern law student seeking his fortune as a sheriff who sidles up to the saloon bar to order a sarsaparilla (Wild West root beer) “with a dash of cherry.” He abhors violence, tries to stop women from throwing themselves at him and lovingly gives up his share of drinking water for his horse.
"Pushed to the limit, he would reveal himself to be a roundhouse puncher and unmatched gunslinger — but he was likely to end a fight not with a killing but rather a comment like, “All right now, how about that apology?”
"... After “Sugarfoot,” “I was turned down more than a motel bedspread,” he told the syndicated columnist Joan Crosby in 1966.
"He often referred to a business manager who embezzled his savings and a girlfriend who drove off with his Porsche and a prized signed picture of Elvis.
"In 1973, he took on a new kind of acting: For $50 a week, minus $5 for a circus agent, he began working as a clown. He traveled up and down the Pacific Coast, got a long-term gig roaming around small-town Australia and then circled the globe, traveling to Sri Lanka and England.
"Looking for work in the 1980s, Mr. Hutchins became a shipping clerk at NBC at his wife’s suggestion. He retired in 1996. He lived in the Glen Head section of Oyster Bay, a town on Long Island, where he could often be seen sitting on his porch wearing a cowboy hat."
Alex Traub. NYT, 05/04/2025: Will Hutchins, Gentle Cowboy Lawman in ‘Sugarfoot,’ Dies at 94.
Ah, the TV Westerns of my childhood; "easy goin' cattle ropin' Sugarfoot/Once you get his dander up/there's no one quicker on the draw":
"In 1958 and ’59, eight of the top 10 shows on TV were westerns. The best known included “Cheyenne” and “Maverick.” Mr. Hutchins was part of the stampede: “Sugarfoot” premiered on ABC in 1957 and ran for four seasons.
"Mr. Hutchins’s character, Tom Brewster, was the sugarfoot in question: an Eastern law student seeking his fortune as a sheriff who sidles up to the saloon bar to order a sarsaparilla (Wild West root beer) “with a dash of cherry.” He abhors violence, tries to stop women from throwing themselves at him and lovingly gives up his share of drinking water for his horse.
"Pushed to the limit, he would reveal himself to be a roundhouse puncher and unmatched gunslinger — but he was likely to end a fight not with a killing but rather a comment like, “All right now, how about that apology?”
"... After “Sugarfoot,” “I was turned down more than a motel bedspread,” he told the syndicated columnist Joan Crosby in 1966.
"He often referred to a business manager who embezzled his savings and a girlfriend who drove off with his Porsche and a prized signed picture of Elvis.
"In 1973, he took on a new kind of acting: For $50 a week, minus $5 for a circus agent, he began working as a clown. He traveled up and down the Pacific Coast, got a long-term gig roaming around small-town Australia and then circled the globe, traveling to Sri Lanka and England.
"Looking for work in the 1980s, Mr. Hutchins became a shipping clerk at NBC at his wife’s suggestion. He retired in 1996. He lived in the Glen Head section of Oyster Bay, a town on Long Island, where he could often be seen sitting on his porch wearing a cowboy hat."
34featherbear
Robert Benton, 1932-2025
Douglas Martin. NYT, 05/13/2025: Robert Benton, Influential Director and Screenwriter, Dies at 92. "After collaborating on the script for “Bonnie and Clyde,” he went on to write and direct “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “Places in the Heart.”
"... he was a Hollywood neophyte when he and David Newman, a colleague at Esquire magazine, wrote a screenplay based on the exploits of the Depression-era bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.
"Directed by Arthur Penn and starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, “Bonnie and Clyde” was a sensation almost from the moment it was released in 1967. Though set in the 1930s, it vividly captured the turbulent, unsettled mood of America in the 1960s.
"Mr. Benton’s “Kramer vs. Kramer,” released 12 years later, was less of a breakthrough than “Bonnie and Clyde” but even more successful — and, in its depiction of a marriage gone bad when the wife leaves her husband and child, also groundbreaking. It was the highest-grossing film of 1979 and won rave reviews and five Academy Awards, including writing and directing Oscars for Mr. Benton, who adapted it from a novel by Avery Corman, as well as acting honors for its stars, Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.
"Mr. Benton said that “Places in the Heart” — which earned him an Oscar for his screenplay and an Oscar nomination for his direction — was inspired by the sense of loss he felt when his mother died. He turned 50 not long after the death and realized, he said, that after selling the family home in Waxahachie he had no reason to go back. “So,” he said, “I created one.”
"Mr. Benton directed only 11 feature films in 35 years. But they covered a wide range of subjects and moods, from an irreverent look at the Civil War (“Bad Company,” 1972) to a penetrating glimpse of small-town life (“Nobody’s Fool,” 1994, based on an acclaimed novel by Richard Russo) to idiosyncratic takes on the detective genre (“The Late Show,” 1977, and “Twilight,” 1998). His last movie was the romantic drama “Feast of Love” in 2007.
In addition to the screenplay for Bonnie & Clyde, he collaborated with David Newman (& Buck Henry) on What's Up Doc? (1972), was one of the collaborators to the screenplay of the first Superman (1978). He had worked with Newman at Esquire magazine, creating "the magazine’s Dubious Achievement Awards, a long-running feature that took a humorous look at the events of the previous year."
Douglas Martin. NYT, 05/13/2025: Robert Benton, Influential Director and Screenwriter, Dies at 92. "After collaborating on the script for “Bonnie and Clyde,” he went on to write and direct “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “Places in the Heart.”
"... he was a Hollywood neophyte when he and David Newman, a colleague at Esquire magazine, wrote a screenplay based on the exploits of the Depression-era bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.
"Directed by Arthur Penn and starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, “Bonnie and Clyde” was a sensation almost from the moment it was released in 1967. Though set in the 1930s, it vividly captured the turbulent, unsettled mood of America in the 1960s.
"Mr. Benton’s “Kramer vs. Kramer,” released 12 years later, was less of a breakthrough than “Bonnie and Clyde” but even more successful — and, in its depiction of a marriage gone bad when the wife leaves her husband and child, also groundbreaking. It was the highest-grossing film of 1979 and won rave reviews and five Academy Awards, including writing and directing Oscars for Mr. Benton, who adapted it from a novel by Avery Corman, as well as acting honors for its stars, Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.
"Mr. Benton said that “Places in the Heart” — which earned him an Oscar for his screenplay and an Oscar nomination for his direction — was inspired by the sense of loss he felt when his mother died. He turned 50 not long after the death and realized, he said, that after selling the family home in Waxahachie he had no reason to go back. “So,” he said, “I created one.”
"Mr. Benton directed only 11 feature films in 35 years. But they covered a wide range of subjects and moods, from an irreverent look at the Civil War (“Bad Company,” 1972) to a penetrating glimpse of small-town life (“Nobody’s Fool,” 1994, based on an acclaimed novel by Richard Russo) to idiosyncratic takes on the detective genre (“The Late Show,” 1977, and “Twilight,” 1998). His last movie was the romantic drama “Feast of Love” in 2007.
In addition to the screenplay for Bonnie & Clyde, he collaborated with David Newman (& Buck Henry) on What's Up Doc? (1972), was one of the collaborators to the screenplay of the first Superman (1978). He had worked with Newman at Esquire magazine, creating "the magazine’s Dubious Achievement Awards, a long-running feature that took a humorous look at the events of the previous year."
35featherbear
Joe Don Baker, 1936-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 05/15/2025: Joe Don Baker, Actor Who Found Fame With ‘Walking Tall,’ Dies at 89. "His performance as a crusading Southern sheriff made him a star after a decade under the radar in character parts."
"Released in the era of “Dirty Harry” and “Billy Jack,” “Walking Tall” (1973) is the story of a Tennessee man who moves back to his hometown and finds it hopelessly changed by illegal gambling, prostitution and careless moonshiners. The movie, as Dave Kehr described it almost 40 years later in The New York Times, is “a wild-eyed fantasy about an incorruptible leader who finds it necessary to subvert the law in order to save it.”
"It was soon noticed and praised by a wide array of prominent critics. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker called it “a volcano of a movie” and saw in Mr. Baker, a 37-year-old unknown with a decade of credits, mostly on television, “the mighty stature of a classic hero.”
“The picture’s crudeness and its crummy cinematography give it the illusion of honesty,” she wrote.
"Looking back in 2000, Vanity Fair saw the film’s star as its secret weapon, writing that “Walking Tall” had “a major asset in Joe Don Baker, whose sideburns and greasy, likable rockabilly grin suggest a larger doughnut version of Elvis Presley.”
"After “Walking Tall,” Mr. Baker made an equally impressive showing in the Don Siegel heist film “Charley Varrick” (1973). His character, a supremely confident Mafia hit man, is the kind who would shove a storekeeper in a wheelchair against a wall or literally kick a man when he’s down.
"Mr. Baker was far from typecast, in film or on television. In “The Natural” (1984), starring Robert Redford, he was a 1920s baseball superstar meant to evoke Babe Ruth. He was the bellicose Senator Joe McCarthy in HBO’s “Citizen Cohn” (1992) and Big Jim Folsom, a colorful midcentury Alabama governor, in “George Wallace” (1997).
"He played a brutally sadistic ex-con in a leisure suit in “Framed” (1975)*, Winona Ryder’s father in “Reality Bites” (1994), a rural Kansan ready to fight off space aliens with a shotgun in “Mars Attacks!” (1996), a heroine’s beer-guzzling father in “Joe Dirt” (2001) and a detective’s rich father-in-law in “Poodle Springs” (1998).
"Mr. Baker appeared in three James Bond movies. He played a C.I.A. agent in “GoldenEye” (1995) and the same character in “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997), both starring Pierce Brosnan. That was a step up morally from his first Bond role: an arms dealer and historical-battle fanatic, up against Timothy Dalton, in “The Living Daylights” (1987).
*Personal favorite
Emily Langer. WaPo, 05/15/2025: Joe Don Baker, tough guy actor in ‘Walking Tall,’ dies at 89.
Anita Gates. NYT, 05/15/2025: Joe Don Baker, Actor Who Found Fame With ‘Walking Tall,’ Dies at 89. "His performance as a crusading Southern sheriff made him a star after a decade under the radar in character parts."
"Released in the era of “Dirty Harry” and “Billy Jack,” “Walking Tall” (1973) is the story of a Tennessee man who moves back to his hometown and finds it hopelessly changed by illegal gambling, prostitution and careless moonshiners. The movie, as Dave Kehr described it almost 40 years later in The New York Times, is “a wild-eyed fantasy about an incorruptible leader who finds it necessary to subvert the law in order to save it.”
"It was soon noticed and praised by a wide array of prominent critics. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker called it “a volcano of a movie” and saw in Mr. Baker, a 37-year-old unknown with a decade of credits, mostly on television, “the mighty stature of a classic hero.”
“The picture’s crudeness and its crummy cinematography give it the illusion of honesty,” she wrote.
"Looking back in 2000, Vanity Fair saw the film’s star as its secret weapon, writing that “Walking Tall” had “a major asset in Joe Don Baker, whose sideburns and greasy, likable rockabilly grin suggest a larger doughnut version of Elvis Presley.”
"After “Walking Tall,” Mr. Baker made an equally impressive showing in the Don Siegel heist film “Charley Varrick” (1973). His character, a supremely confident Mafia hit man, is the kind who would shove a storekeeper in a wheelchair against a wall or literally kick a man when he’s down.
"Mr. Baker was far from typecast, in film or on television. In “The Natural” (1984), starring Robert Redford, he was a 1920s baseball superstar meant to evoke Babe Ruth. He was the bellicose Senator Joe McCarthy in HBO’s “Citizen Cohn” (1992) and Big Jim Folsom, a colorful midcentury Alabama governor, in “George Wallace” (1997).
"He played a brutally sadistic ex-con in a leisure suit in “Framed” (1975)*, Winona Ryder’s father in “Reality Bites” (1994), a rural Kansan ready to fight off space aliens with a shotgun in “Mars Attacks!” (1996), a heroine’s beer-guzzling father in “Joe Dirt” (2001) and a detective’s rich father-in-law in “Poodle Springs” (1998).
"Mr. Baker appeared in three James Bond movies. He played a C.I.A. agent in “GoldenEye” (1995) and the same character in “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997), both starring Pierce Brosnan. That was a step up morally from his first Bond role: an arms dealer and historical-battle fanatic, up against Timothy Dalton, in “The Living Daylights” (1987).
*Personal favorite
Emily Langer. WaPo, 05/15/2025: Joe Don Baker, tough guy actor in ‘Walking Tall,’ dies at 89.
36featherbear
Morris (the Alligator) 1945(?)-2025
Marina Dunbar. Guardian, 05/15/2025: Morris the alligator, known for Happy Gilmore and other films, dies around age 80.
Marina Dunbar. Guardian, 05/15/2025: Morris the alligator, known for Happy Gilmore and other films, dies around age 80.
37featherbear
George Wendt, 1948-2025
Alex Williams. NYT, 05/20/2025: George Wendt, a.k.a. Norm From ‘Cheers,’ Is Dead at 76. "A burly, easygoing Chicago native, he became a staple of living rooms across the country for more than a decade as one of America’s favorite barflies." appears the NYT obit has now been updated
Associated Press. WaPo, 5/20/2025: George Wendt, TV staple as Norm from ‘Cheers,’ dies at 76.
Tidbits: Jason Sudeikis was a nephew. "Mr. Wendt also had a recurring sketch on a “Saturday Night Live” sketch playing one of the “da Bears” superfans, among many other TV appearances."
Rather sudden news; expect fuller bio info as time passes. An appreciation:
James Poniewozik. NYT, 05/20/2025: Everybody Knew His Name: ‘Norm!’ "George Wendt of “Cheers,” who died on Tuesday, could walk into a bar and imply his character’s entire life outside it."
Lilii Loufbourrow. WaPo, 05/21/2025: In praise of George Wendt’s Norm. Pulled this from Twitter/X so it might not be paywalled.
Alex Williams. NYT, 05/20/2025: George Wendt, a.k.a. Norm From ‘Cheers,’ Is Dead at 76. "A burly, easygoing Chicago native, he became a staple of living rooms across the country for more than a decade as one of America’s favorite barflies." appears the NYT obit has now been updated
Associated Press. WaPo, 5/20/2025: George Wendt, TV staple as Norm from ‘Cheers,’ dies at 76.
Tidbits: Jason Sudeikis was a nephew. "Mr. Wendt also had a recurring sketch on a “Saturday Night Live” sketch playing one of the “da Bears” superfans, among many other TV appearances."
Rather sudden news; expect fuller bio info as time passes. An appreciation:
James Poniewozik. NYT, 05/20/2025: Everybody Knew His Name: ‘Norm!’ "George Wendt of “Cheers,” who died on Tuesday, could walk into a bar and imply his character’s entire life outside it."
Lilii Loufbourrow. WaPo, 05/21/2025: In praise of George Wendt’s Norm. Pulled this from Twitter/X so it might not be paywalled.
38JulieLill
>37 featherbear: So sad, he was a great actor!
39featherbear
Mara Corday, 1930-2025
Emily Langer. 05/23/2025: Mara Corday, Hollywood starlet of the 1950s, dies at 95.
"Mara Corday, a raven-haired pinup who became a Hollywood starlet in the 1950s running from killer spiders and scorpions in sci-fi thrillers, and who later made a career comeback as a supporting actress opposite Clint Eastwood, died Feb. 9 at her home in Valencia, California. She was 95.
"Marilyn Watts, as Ms. Corday was born, grew up in California and was drawn to performance from her earliest recollection. She took her stage name — Mara, a more exotic-sounding variation on her given name, and Corday, a brand of perfume — when she became a showgirl at the age of 17 at a theater on Sunset Boulevard.
"In “Tarantula” (1955), opposite John Agar, Ms. Corday ran from a gargantuan hirsute spider that had escaped from a desert laboratory. “The Giant Claw” (1957) put her up against a monster bird flying at supersonic speed. (Ms. Corday was newly pregnant while filming the movie and did not reveal her condition to her on-set colleagues for fear that she would not be permitted to keep the part.)
"Also in 1957, she acted in “The Black Scorpion,” another of her credits whose titles largely speak for themselves.
"Ms. Corday confessed that she outsourced to a stand-in some of the more stomach-turning moments of her horror films — she declined to touch mice and rats, for example — and conceded that many of her movies did not strive for film-festival sophistication.
"Although she attracted more notice for her thriller fare, Ms. Corday also appeared prolifically in westerns, among them “Drums Across the River” (1954) with Audie Murphy, “The Man From Bitter Ridge” (1955) starring Lex Barker, with whom she said she had an offscreen romance, and “Man Without a Star” (1955) featuring Kirk Douglas.
"Her favorite part, she said, was as an alluring young Frenchwoman in “So This Is Paris” (1954), starring Tony Curtis, Gloria DeHaven and Gene Nelson, about romance-minded sailors on leave in the City of Love.
She retired from acting by 1961 after she married Richard Long, apparently a controlling husband who turned down roles without her knowledge.
"She credited Eastwood, who had been a fellow contract actor at Universal early in their professional lives, with reviving her career after she was widowed." (They became friends on the set of Tarantula, where he had a bit part)
“When my insurance ran out, he put me in ‘The Gauntlet,’” she recalled, referring to the 1977 action thriller. She continued: “When it ran out again, he put me in ‘Sudden Impact,’” released in 1983. Ms. Corday also appeared with Eastwood in “Pink Cadillac” (1989) and “The Rookie” (1990), her two final credits.
"Decades later, their respective levels of prominence reversed, Ms. Corday contributed to one of the most memorable scenes of Eastwood’s career. In “Sudden Impact,” she played the hostage whose life is on the line during the scene in which Eastwood utters his immortal words: “Go ahead. Make my day.”
And a very belated obit from NYT:
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 06/05/2025, upd 06/06: Mara Corday, Starlet of Monster Movies and Magazines, Dies at 95. "She appeared in Playboy and sci-fi films in the 1950s. Later, in Clint Eastwood’s “Sudden Impact,” she was a hostage until he uttered five famous words."
Emily Langer. 05/23/2025: Mara Corday, Hollywood starlet of the 1950s, dies at 95.
"Mara Corday, a raven-haired pinup who became a Hollywood starlet in the 1950s running from killer spiders and scorpions in sci-fi thrillers, and who later made a career comeback as a supporting actress opposite Clint Eastwood, died Feb. 9 at her home in Valencia, California. She was 95.
"Marilyn Watts, as Ms. Corday was born, grew up in California and was drawn to performance from her earliest recollection. She took her stage name — Mara, a more exotic-sounding variation on her given name, and Corday, a brand of perfume — when she became a showgirl at the age of 17 at a theater on Sunset Boulevard.
"In “Tarantula” (1955), opposite John Agar, Ms. Corday ran from a gargantuan hirsute spider that had escaped from a desert laboratory. “The Giant Claw” (1957) put her up against a monster bird flying at supersonic speed. (Ms. Corday was newly pregnant while filming the movie and did not reveal her condition to her on-set colleagues for fear that she would not be permitted to keep the part.)
"Also in 1957, she acted in “The Black Scorpion,” another of her credits whose titles largely speak for themselves.
"Ms. Corday confessed that she outsourced to a stand-in some of the more stomach-turning moments of her horror films — she declined to touch mice and rats, for example — and conceded that many of her movies did not strive for film-festival sophistication.
"Although she attracted more notice for her thriller fare, Ms. Corday also appeared prolifically in westerns, among them “Drums Across the River” (1954) with Audie Murphy, “The Man From Bitter Ridge” (1955) starring Lex Barker, with whom she said she had an offscreen romance, and “Man Without a Star” (1955) featuring Kirk Douglas.
"Her favorite part, she said, was as an alluring young Frenchwoman in “So This Is Paris” (1954), starring Tony Curtis, Gloria DeHaven and Gene Nelson, about romance-minded sailors on leave in the City of Love.
She retired from acting by 1961 after she married Richard Long, apparently a controlling husband who turned down roles without her knowledge.
"She credited Eastwood, who had been a fellow contract actor at Universal early in their professional lives, with reviving her career after she was widowed." (They became friends on the set of Tarantula, where he had a bit part)
“When my insurance ran out, he put me in ‘The Gauntlet,’” she recalled, referring to the 1977 action thriller. She continued: “When it ran out again, he put me in ‘Sudden Impact,’” released in 1983. Ms. Corday also appeared with Eastwood in “Pink Cadillac” (1989) and “The Rookie” (1990), her two final credits.
"Decades later, their respective levels of prominence reversed, Ms. Corday contributed to one of the most memorable scenes of Eastwood’s career. In “Sudden Impact,” she played the hostage whose life is on the line during the scene in which Eastwood utters his immortal words: “Go ahead. Make my day.”
And a very belated obit from NYT:
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 06/05/2025, upd 06/06: Mara Corday, Starlet of Monster Movies and Magazines, Dies at 95. "She appeared in Playboy and sci-fi films in the 1950s. Later, in Clint Eastwood’s “Sudden Impact,” she was a hostage until he uttered five famous words."
40featherbear
Michael Roemer, 1928-2025
Clyde Haberman. NYT, 05/24/2025: Michael Roemer, Maker of Acclaimed but Little-Seen Films, Dies at 97.
"Michael Roemer, an independent filmmaker who earned critical praise for his keen understanding of character and his sensitive exploration of relationships in a slender portfolio that included “Nothing but a Man” and “The Plot Against Harry,” died on Tuesday at his home in Townshend, Vt. He was 97.
"His career as a director began when NBC gave him the opportunity to make “Cortile Cascino,” a 46-minute documentary about slum life in Palermo, Sicily, that he made with Robert M. Young. It was also the start of a pattern in which his films would all but disappear for decades at a time.
"Cortile Cascino depicted a Sicilian life so grim that NBC executives balked at putting it on the air. It did not reappear until it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 1993.
"Long delay also befell “Nothing but a Man,” directed by Mr. Roemer and written by him and Mr. Young, a frequent collaborator. With Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln in central roles, it tells the story of a Black railroad worker married to a preacher’s daughter who struggles to maintain his dignity in the segregated Alabama of the early 1960s.
"The movie had a brief theatrical run when it was released in 1964. Many distributors, Mr. Roemer said in a 2024 interview for this obituary, refused to book it in theaters with principally Black audiences.
"Soon enough, “Nothing but a Man” was gone. It wasn’t until 1993 that it was rereleased, this time to wide acclaim. A year later it was added to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.
"In 1969, Mr. Roemer wrote and directed “The Plot Against Harry,” a comedy about a small-time numbers racketeer (played by Martin Priest) who goes to prison and eventually decides to change his ways and become an upstanding fellow. The only problem was that audiences at private screenings did not laugh."
Upon re-release 20 years later, "“The Plot Against Harry” enjoyed a new life, a theater run and praise. It was nominated for six Independent Spirit Awards."
"Other works by Mr. Roemer included “Faces of Israel,” a short 1967 documentary; “Dying,” a 1976 documentary about people near the end of life; and “Vengeance Is Mine” (1984), a scripted film about mothers and daughters, originally titled “Haunted,” starring Brooke Adams and Trish Van Devere.
"Starting in 1966 he taught film theory and practice at Yale, a professorship that lasted until he retired in 2017. “I was 89 then,” he said. “I don’t think they realized how old I was.”
"“The truth is, failure can be a very honorable thing,” he told The Washington Post in 1990. “It’s not that you have a failure. It’s what you do with it.”
He has an LT page, but there may be titles by another Michael Roemer mixed up with it.
Clyde Haberman. NYT, 05/24/2025: Michael Roemer, Maker of Acclaimed but Little-Seen Films, Dies at 97.
"Michael Roemer, an independent filmmaker who earned critical praise for his keen understanding of character and his sensitive exploration of relationships in a slender portfolio that included “Nothing but a Man” and “The Plot Against Harry,” died on Tuesday at his home in Townshend, Vt. He was 97.
"His career as a director began when NBC gave him the opportunity to make “Cortile Cascino,” a 46-minute documentary about slum life in Palermo, Sicily, that he made with Robert M. Young. It was also the start of a pattern in which his films would all but disappear for decades at a time.
"Cortile Cascino depicted a Sicilian life so grim that NBC executives balked at putting it on the air. It did not reappear until it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 1993.
"Long delay also befell “Nothing but a Man,” directed by Mr. Roemer and written by him and Mr. Young, a frequent collaborator. With Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln in central roles, it tells the story of a Black railroad worker married to a preacher’s daughter who struggles to maintain his dignity in the segregated Alabama of the early 1960s.
"The movie had a brief theatrical run when it was released in 1964. Many distributors, Mr. Roemer said in a 2024 interview for this obituary, refused to book it in theaters with principally Black audiences.
"Soon enough, “Nothing but a Man” was gone. It wasn’t until 1993 that it was rereleased, this time to wide acclaim. A year later it was added to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.
"In 1969, Mr. Roemer wrote and directed “The Plot Against Harry,” a comedy about a small-time numbers racketeer (played by Martin Priest) who goes to prison and eventually decides to change his ways and become an upstanding fellow. The only problem was that audiences at private screenings did not laugh."
Upon re-release 20 years later, "“The Plot Against Harry” enjoyed a new life, a theater run and praise. It was nominated for six Independent Spirit Awards."
"Other works by Mr. Roemer included “Faces of Israel,” a short 1967 documentary; “Dying,” a 1976 documentary about people near the end of life; and “Vengeance Is Mine” (1984), a scripted film about mothers and daughters, originally titled “Haunted,” starring Brooke Adams and Trish Van Devere.
"Starting in 1966 he taught film theory and practice at Yale, a professorship that lasted until he retired in 2017. “I was 89 then,” he said. “I don’t think they realized how old I was.”
"“The truth is, failure can be a very honorable thing,” he told The Washington Post in 1990. “It’s not that you have a failure. It’s what you do with it.”
He has an LT page, but there may be titles by another Michael Roemer mixed up with it.
41featherbear
Marcel Ophuls, 1927-2025
Jonathan Kandell. NYT, 05/26/2025: Marcel Ophuls, Myth-Shattering War Documentarian, Is Dead at 97.
"Marcel Ophuls, the German-born filmmaker whose powerful documentary “The Sorrow and the Pity” exploded the myth of widespread French resistance to the Nazi occupation during World War II, died over the weekend in France. He was 97.
"Mr. Ophuls had directed several minor feature films before vaulting to fame in 1969 with “The Sorrow and the Pity,” his four-and-a-half-hour documentary on wartime Clermont-Ferrand, an industrial city located almost at the center of France. In a dispassionate, incisive style, he interviewed shopkeepers and farmers, bankers and entrepreneurs, teachers and lawyers who either collaborated with the Nazis and the Vichy regime or actively resisted the occupation — but who in most instances had turned a blind eye to the roundups of Jews and anti-Nazis.
"Originally produced for television, “The Sorrow and the Pity” was banned from French airwaves until 1981. Conservative politicians denounced Mr. Ophuls, calling his work a “prosecutorial film” that unfairly portrayed the French as cowardly or worse. “It doesn’t attempt to prosecute the French,” Mr. Ophuls insisted in a 2004 interview with The Guardian newspaper. “Who can say their nation would have behaved better in the same circumstances?”
"Also memorable were interviews with the former Nazi garrison commander of Clermont-Ferrand, who fondly recalled the passivity and collaboration of most of the locals in contrast to his previous service on the Russian front.
"Mr. Ophuls went on to direct a half dozen other documentaries, most notably the Oscar-winning “Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie,” a 1988 film about the former head of the Gestapo in the French city of Lyon. But “The Sorrow and the Pity” which was also nominated for an Oscar but failed to receive the prize, remained his undisputed masterpiece, perhaps in part because Mr. Ophuls brought his own complex, profound relations with France to the making of the film.
"... the technique Mr. Ophuls used to remarkable effect in “The Sorrow and the Pity” and later documentaries. “I never take a note or rehearse a question before interviews,” he told Francine Du Plessix Gray in a 1987 New York Times article. “All my discoveries must occur during the shooting in order for the viewer to share my own sense of surprise.”
"The film also paved the way for revisionist scholarly accounts of wartime France, including Robert O. Paxton’s “Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944,” published in 1972, and Henry Rousso’s “The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France Since 1944,” published in 1994.
"Mr. Ophuls followed “The Sorrow and the Pity” with “The Harvest of My Lai,” a 1970 documentary about the massacre of civilians by U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War, and “The Memory of Justice,” a 1976 documentary that examined the Nuremberg trials to suggest that the victorious Allies sometimes displayed hypocrisy in judging Nazi war criminals.
"In a 1988 interview with James M. Markham for The Times, he pointed out that his wife was German and had been a member of the Hitler Youth. “My brother-in-law was in the Hermann Goering Division,” Mr. Ophuls said. “I don’t believe in collective guilt.”
James McAuley & Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 05/26/2025: Marcel Ophuls, documentary filmmaker of vital moral dramas, dies at 97.
"Mr. Ophuls, the son of celebrated German filmmaker Max Ophuls, was credited with revitalizing the documentary with his unflinching, politically devastating and occasionally irreverent approach to the form.
"Never entirely comfortable with “objective” reportage, he often appeared on camera, adopting a persona that was probing and astringent. He aimed his camera and his sarcasm on those with secrets to hide — either to tease out ghastly admissions or to express outrage at their cowardice.
"Following the radical student upheavals of 1968, French newspapers began publishing exposés of sitting government ministers who had also served in the wartime Vichy government. Scholars began examining the extent of that regime’s collaboration with Nazi Germany, in light of anti-Semitic strains in French society. But nothing captured or provoked the public imagination more than “The Sorrow and the Pity.”
"“The Sorrow and the Pity” was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature but lost in 1972 to “The Hellstrom Chronicle,” an apocalyptic film about insects."
His documentary Hôtel Terminus "ends with a long interview with a survivor, a woman from Lyon who, as a child, was arrested in one of Barbie’s raids and ultimately deported to Nazi concentration camps. As her family was being taken, one of her neighbors, a French woman who was not Jewish, tried unsuccessfully to pull the young girl to safety. Mr. Ophuls ultimately dedicated the film to the neighbor.
"“It comes down to that, doesn’t it?” he told the Globe and Mail. “The realistic hope is that next time there will be more good neighbors. The possibly unrealistic hope is that next time there will be enough good neighbors to keep it from happening at all.”"
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 05/26/2025: Marcel Ophuls: the unflinching chronicler of France’s suppressed wartime shame. "The Sorrow and the Pity punched a hole through France’s self-excusing myths and saw something nastier, shabbier, more political and more human."
Jonathan Kandell. NYT, 05/26/2025: Marcel Ophuls, Myth-Shattering War Documentarian, Is Dead at 97.
"Marcel Ophuls, the German-born filmmaker whose powerful documentary “The Sorrow and the Pity” exploded the myth of widespread French resistance to the Nazi occupation during World War II, died over the weekend in France. He was 97.
"Mr. Ophuls had directed several minor feature films before vaulting to fame in 1969 with “The Sorrow and the Pity,” his four-and-a-half-hour documentary on wartime Clermont-Ferrand, an industrial city located almost at the center of France. In a dispassionate, incisive style, he interviewed shopkeepers and farmers, bankers and entrepreneurs, teachers and lawyers who either collaborated with the Nazis and the Vichy regime or actively resisted the occupation — but who in most instances had turned a blind eye to the roundups of Jews and anti-Nazis.
"Originally produced for television, “The Sorrow and the Pity” was banned from French airwaves until 1981. Conservative politicians denounced Mr. Ophuls, calling his work a “prosecutorial film” that unfairly portrayed the French as cowardly or worse. “It doesn’t attempt to prosecute the French,” Mr. Ophuls insisted in a 2004 interview with The Guardian newspaper. “Who can say their nation would have behaved better in the same circumstances?”
"Also memorable were interviews with the former Nazi garrison commander of Clermont-Ferrand, who fondly recalled the passivity and collaboration of most of the locals in contrast to his previous service on the Russian front.
"Mr. Ophuls went on to direct a half dozen other documentaries, most notably the Oscar-winning “Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie,” a 1988 film about the former head of the Gestapo in the French city of Lyon. But “The Sorrow and the Pity” which was also nominated for an Oscar but failed to receive the prize, remained his undisputed masterpiece, perhaps in part because Mr. Ophuls brought his own complex, profound relations with France to the making of the film.
"... the technique Mr. Ophuls used to remarkable effect in “The Sorrow and the Pity” and later documentaries. “I never take a note or rehearse a question before interviews,” he told Francine Du Plessix Gray in a 1987 New York Times article. “All my discoveries must occur during the shooting in order for the viewer to share my own sense of surprise.”
"The film also paved the way for revisionist scholarly accounts of wartime France, including Robert O. Paxton’s “Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944,” published in 1972, and Henry Rousso’s “The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France Since 1944,” published in 1994.
"Mr. Ophuls followed “The Sorrow and the Pity” with “The Harvest of My Lai,” a 1970 documentary about the massacre of civilians by U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War, and “The Memory of Justice,” a 1976 documentary that examined the Nuremberg trials to suggest that the victorious Allies sometimes displayed hypocrisy in judging Nazi war criminals.
"In a 1988 interview with James M. Markham for The Times, he pointed out that his wife was German and had been a member of the Hitler Youth. “My brother-in-law was in the Hermann Goering Division,” Mr. Ophuls said. “I don’t believe in collective guilt.”
James McAuley & Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 05/26/2025: Marcel Ophuls, documentary filmmaker of vital moral dramas, dies at 97.
"Mr. Ophuls, the son of celebrated German filmmaker Max Ophuls, was credited with revitalizing the documentary with his unflinching, politically devastating and occasionally irreverent approach to the form.
"Never entirely comfortable with “objective” reportage, he often appeared on camera, adopting a persona that was probing and astringent. He aimed his camera and his sarcasm on those with secrets to hide — either to tease out ghastly admissions or to express outrage at their cowardice.
"Following the radical student upheavals of 1968, French newspapers began publishing exposés of sitting government ministers who had also served in the wartime Vichy government. Scholars began examining the extent of that regime’s collaboration with Nazi Germany, in light of anti-Semitic strains in French society. But nothing captured or provoked the public imagination more than “The Sorrow and the Pity.”
"“The Sorrow and the Pity” was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature but lost in 1972 to “The Hellstrom Chronicle,” an apocalyptic film about insects."
His documentary Hôtel Terminus "ends with a long interview with a survivor, a woman from Lyon who, as a child, was arrested in one of Barbie’s raids and ultimately deported to Nazi concentration camps. As her family was being taken, one of her neighbors, a French woman who was not Jewish, tried unsuccessfully to pull the young girl to safety. Mr. Ophuls ultimately dedicated the film to the neighbor.
"“It comes down to that, doesn’t it?” he told the Globe and Mail. “The realistic hope is that next time there will be more good neighbors. The possibly unrealistic hope is that next time there will be enough good neighbors to keep it from happening at all.”"
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 05/26/2025: Marcel Ophuls: the unflinching chronicler of France’s suppressed wartime shame. "The Sorrow and the Pity punched a hole through France’s self-excusing myths and saw something nastier, shabbier, more political and more human."
42featherbear
Loretta Swit, 1937-2025
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 05/30/2025: Loretta Swit, Emmy-winning ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on ‘M*A*S*H,’ dies at 87.
"In a career that alternated between stage and screen, from song-and-dance spectacle to murder thriller, Ms. Swit’s dominant credit was “M*A*S*H,” set in a field hospital during the Korean War. She was the only significant recurring female character on the show, which aired on CBS from 1972 to 1983. Its finale drew one of the largest TV audiences of all time: 125 million people, or almost half the country.
"In the course of the show, Ms. Swit received 10 supporting actress Emmy nominations, and pop culture historian Robert Thompson of Syracuse University said she elevated what could have been a caricature of a moral scold and shrew."
"Loretta Jane Szwed was born in Passaic, New Jersey, on Nov. 4, 1937, to Polish immigrant parents. She said she grew up on movies as a way to learn English and, by age 7, was determined to be an actress."
Sally Kellerman played Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the movie on which the CBS TV series was based, though I suspect Swit was more identified with the role.
Anita Gates. NYT, 05/30/2025: Loretta Swit a.k.a. Hot Lips of TV’s ‘M*A*S*H,’ Dies at 87. "She won two Emmy Awards for her sympathetic portrayal of an Army major on the hit TV show and had a long career in TV and theater."
Anthony Hayward. Guardian, 05/31/2025: Loretta Swit obituary.
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 05/30/2025: Loretta Swit, Emmy-winning ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on ‘M*A*S*H,’ dies at 87.
"In a career that alternated between stage and screen, from song-and-dance spectacle to murder thriller, Ms. Swit’s dominant credit was “M*A*S*H,” set in a field hospital during the Korean War. She was the only significant recurring female character on the show, which aired on CBS from 1972 to 1983. Its finale drew one of the largest TV audiences of all time: 125 million people, or almost half the country.
"In the course of the show, Ms. Swit received 10 supporting actress Emmy nominations, and pop culture historian Robert Thompson of Syracuse University said she elevated what could have been a caricature of a moral scold and shrew."
"Loretta Jane Szwed was born in Passaic, New Jersey, on Nov. 4, 1937, to Polish immigrant parents. She said she grew up on movies as a way to learn English and, by age 7, was determined to be an actress."
Sally Kellerman played Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the movie on which the CBS TV series was based, though I suspect Swit was more identified with the role.
Anita Gates. NYT, 05/30/2025: Loretta Swit a.k.a. Hot Lips of TV’s ‘M*A*S*H,’ Dies at 87. "She won two Emmy Awards for her sympathetic portrayal of an Army major on the hit TV show and had a long career in TV and theater."
Anthony Hayward. Guardian, 05/31/2025: Loretta Swit obituary.
43featherbear
Valerie Mahaffey, 1953-2025
Diana Ramirez Simon. Guardian, 05/31/2025: Valerie Mahaffey, actor known for Northern Exposure and Desperate Housewives, dies aged 71.
Diana Ramirez Simon. Guardian, 05/31/2025: Valerie Mahaffey, actor known for Northern Exposure and Desperate Housewives, dies aged 71.
44featherbear
Frederick Forsyth, 1938-2025
Lots of movies based on his novels. Lots of interesting tidbits in Brian Murphy's Washington Post obit:
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 06/06/2025: Frederick Forsyth, thriller writer of ‘Day of the Jackal,’ dies at 86. Temporarily unlocked
Lots of movies based on his novels. Lots of interesting tidbits in Brian Murphy's Washington Post obit:
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 06/06/2025: Frederick Forsyth, thriller writer of ‘Day of the Jackal,’ dies at 86. Temporarily unlocked
45featherbear
Sly Stone, 1943-2025
Another Brian Murphy Washington Post obit I'm sharing:
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 06/06/2025: Sly Stone, dazzling funk maestro with the Family Stone, dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked
Joe Coscarelli. NYT, 06/09/2025: Sly Stone, Maestro of a Multifaceted Hitmaking Band, Dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 06/09/2025: Sly Stone, pioneering funk and soul musician, dies aged 82.
Stevie Chick. Guardian, 06/09/2025: Sly Stone was a trailblazer who changed the course of music – and an icon of both hope and pain.
Guardian, 06/09/2025: Sly Stone – a life in pictures.
Another Brian Murphy Washington Post obit I'm sharing:
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 06/06/2025: Sly Stone, dazzling funk maestro with the Family Stone, dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked
Joe Coscarelli. NYT, 06/09/2025: Sly Stone, Maestro of a Multifaceted Hitmaking Band, Dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 06/09/2025: Sly Stone, pioneering funk and soul musician, dies aged 82.
Stevie Chick. Guardian, 06/09/2025: Sly Stone was a trailblazer who changed the course of music – and an icon of both hope and pain.
Guardian, 06/09/2025: Sly Stone – a life in pictures.
46featherbear
Brian Wilson, 1925-2025
Ben Sisario. NYT, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson, Pop Auteur and Leader of the Beach Boys, Dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked Very extensive obit.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson, visionary creative spirit for the Beach Boys, dies aged 82.
Guardian, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson: a life in pictures.
Andrew Male. Guardian, 06/11/2025: Twelve of Brian Wilson’s greatest songs – from surf to psychedelia and beyond.
Tim Page. WaPo, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson, singer-songwriter who created the Beach Boys, dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked.
Jon Pareles. NYT, 06/12/2025: Brian Wilson and Sly Stone: Pop World Builders Dogged by Darkness. "Two of music’s powerful visionaries died this week. The songs they meticulously constructed offered an escape their makers struggled to realize in their own lives."
Chris Richards. WaPo, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson’s musical imagination was truly oceanic.
Alex Petridis. Guardian, 06/11/2025: Whether wistful or euphoric, Brian Wilson made pop’s most overwhelmingly beautiful music.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 06/12/2025: ‘He taught the world how to smile’: Brian Wilson bandmates pay tribute along with Bob Dylan, Elton John and more. "Beach Boys members Al Jardine and Mike Love give lengthy tributes to late songwriter, with Jardine calling him a ‘humble musical giant.’"
Ben Sisario. NYT, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson, Pop Auteur and Leader of the Beach Boys, Dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked Very extensive obit.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson, visionary creative spirit for the Beach Boys, dies aged 82.
Guardian, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson: a life in pictures.
Andrew Male. Guardian, 06/11/2025: Twelve of Brian Wilson’s greatest songs – from surf to psychedelia and beyond.
Tim Page. WaPo, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson, singer-songwriter who created the Beach Boys, dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked.
Jon Pareles. NYT, 06/12/2025: Brian Wilson and Sly Stone: Pop World Builders Dogged by Darkness. "Two of music’s powerful visionaries died this week. The songs they meticulously constructed offered an escape their makers struggled to realize in their own lives."
Chris Richards. WaPo, 06/11/2025: Brian Wilson’s musical imagination was truly oceanic.
Alex Petridis. Guardian, 06/11/2025: Whether wistful or euphoric, Brian Wilson made pop’s most overwhelmingly beautiful music.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 06/12/2025: ‘He taught the world how to smile’: Brian Wilson bandmates pay tribute along with Bob Dylan, Elton John and more. "Beach Boys members Al Jardine and Mike Love give lengthy tributes to late songwriter, with Jardine calling him a ‘humble musical giant.’"
47featherbear
Harris Yulin, 1937-2025
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 06/11/2025: Harris Yulin, character actor and Broadway star, dies at 88.
Sam Roberts. NYT, 06/13/2025: Harris Yulin, Actor Who Perpetually Played the Bad Guy, Dies at 87.
"Inspired to pursue an acting career when he first took center stage at his bar mitzvah, Mr. Yulin never became a marquee name. But to many audiences he was instantly recognizable, even as a man of a hundred faces. He played at least as many parts, including J. Edgar Hoover, Hamlet and Senator Joseph McCarthy. Other roles ranged from crooked cops and politicians to a lecherous TV anchorman
"“I’m not always the bad guy,” he told The New York Times in 2000. “It just seems to be what I’m known for.”
"Mr. Yulin made his Broadway debut in 1980 starring in a revival of Lillian Hellman’s “Watch on the Rhine.” He also appeared in Broadway productions of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s “The Visit” (1992) and Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” (2001). And his performance in 2010 as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” at Dublin’s Gate Theater, got rave reviews.
"Mr. Yulin’s first major film was in the offbeat comedy “End of the Road” (1970), as a fellow college teacher opposite Stacy Keach. He played Wyatt Earp in “Doc” (1971); a corrupt Miami police detective in “Scarface” (1983), alongside Al Pacino; an irate judge in “Ghostbusters II” (1989); and a White House national security adviser in “Clear and Present Danger” (1994), with Harrison Ford.
"Reviewing “Doc” in 1971, Roger Ebert wrote that Mr. Yulin and Mr. Keach “have such a quiet way of projecting the willingness to do violence that you realize, after a while, that most Western actors are overactors.”
"On television, beginning in the 1960s, Mr. Yulin appeared in shows like “Ironside,” “Kojak” and “Little House on the Prairie.” In the following decades he took on roles in the 1985 mini-series “Robert Kennedy and His Times”(playing Senator McCarthy), “Murphy Brown” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” More recently he was in “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “Ozark.”
"“Mr. Yulin’s characters are quintessentially weary of this world, worn out by its ugliness and many disappointments,” Tara Ariano and Adam Sternbergh wrote in the book “Hey! It’s That Guy!” (2005), a who’s who of character actors. “No one knows better than those characters all the ways in which humanity and its various institutions can be corrupted and destroyed — primarily because Yulin’s characters have been tasked with destroying them.
"Abandoned as an infant on the steps of an orphanage, he was adopted when he was 4 months old by Dr. Isaac Goldberg, a dentist, and his wife, Sylvia. (Yulin was a surname in Dr. Goldberg’s family in Russia; Mr. Yulin adopted it for professional reasons.)"
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 06/11/2025: Harris Yulin, character actor and Broadway star, dies at 88.
Sam Roberts. NYT, 06/13/2025: Harris Yulin, Actor Who Perpetually Played the Bad Guy, Dies at 87.
"Inspired to pursue an acting career when he first took center stage at his bar mitzvah, Mr. Yulin never became a marquee name. But to many audiences he was instantly recognizable, even as a man of a hundred faces. He played at least as many parts, including J. Edgar Hoover, Hamlet and Senator Joseph McCarthy. Other roles ranged from crooked cops and politicians to a lecherous TV anchorman
"“I’m not always the bad guy,” he told The New York Times in 2000. “It just seems to be what I’m known for.”
"Mr. Yulin made his Broadway debut in 1980 starring in a revival of Lillian Hellman’s “Watch on the Rhine.” He also appeared in Broadway productions of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s “The Visit” (1992) and Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” (2001). And his performance in 2010 as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” at Dublin’s Gate Theater, got rave reviews.
"Mr. Yulin’s first major film was in the offbeat comedy “End of the Road” (1970), as a fellow college teacher opposite Stacy Keach. He played Wyatt Earp in “Doc” (1971); a corrupt Miami police detective in “Scarface” (1983), alongside Al Pacino; an irate judge in “Ghostbusters II” (1989); and a White House national security adviser in “Clear and Present Danger” (1994), with Harrison Ford.
"Reviewing “Doc” in 1971, Roger Ebert wrote that Mr. Yulin and Mr. Keach “have such a quiet way of projecting the willingness to do violence that you realize, after a while, that most Western actors are overactors.”
"On television, beginning in the 1960s, Mr. Yulin appeared in shows like “Ironside,” “Kojak” and “Little House on the Prairie.” In the following decades he took on roles in the 1985 mini-series “Robert Kennedy and His Times”(playing Senator McCarthy), “Murphy Brown” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” More recently he was in “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “Ozark.”
"“Mr. Yulin’s characters are quintessentially weary of this world, worn out by its ugliness and many disappointments,” Tara Ariano and Adam Sternbergh wrote in the book “Hey! It’s That Guy!” (2005), a who’s who of character actors. “No one knows better than those characters all the ways in which humanity and its various institutions can be corrupted and destroyed — primarily because Yulin’s characters have been tasked with destroying them.
"Abandoned as an infant on the steps of an orphanage, he was adopted when he was 4 months old by Dr. Isaac Goldberg, a dentist, and his wife, Sylvia. (Yulin was a surname in Dr. Goldberg’s family in Russia; Mr. Yulin adopted it for professional reasons.)"
48KeithChaffee
Actor Chris Robinson, 86. Not a well-known actor, but one who can claim an interesting footnote in pop culture history. Robinson starred as a doctor of General Hospital in the late 1970s and early 1980s; during that time, he appeared in a cough syrup commercial. In that ad, he introduced the phrase that quickly became a punchline: "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV."
49featherbear
Terry Louise Fisher, 1946-2025
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 06/14/2025: Terry Louise Fisher, writer-producer of acclaimed TV dramas, dies at 79. "With Steven Bochco, she forged a powerhouse creative team that led to the popular legal drama “L.A. Law.”"
"Ms. Fisher received her first Emmy Award, in 1985, as a producer and writer on “Cagney & Lacey,” a CBS police drama starring Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless as detectives in a show hailed for portraying women as courageous and resourceful crime solvers.
"The next project for Ms. Fisher drew from the world of Los Angeles lawyers and courts, which she knew from personal experience. She had studied law at the University of California at Los Angeles and worked in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office before moving into entertainment law with clients that included Hollywood studios.
"The concept for “L.A. Law” was already taking shape. In 1984, Ms. Fisher and Bochco met at a Los Angeles restaurant to begin sketching out her idea for a show based on lawyers and their cases but also about the compromises and flaws in the American legal system. Ms. Fisher said she brought a far more jaded outlook than Bochco, who initially wanted to showcase courtroom heroics.
"The tone was set by the tragicomic first moments in the pilot episode when the senior law partner died at his desk and colleagues argued over who would take his office. Ms. Fisher said many of the characters in the show were inspired by the personalities and struggles she encountered as a lawyer, including the flinty managing partner Douglas Brackman Jr. (played by Alan Rachins); the womanizing divorce lawyer Arnie Becker (Corbin Bernsen); the charismatic and ambitious Victor Sifuentes (Jimmy Smits), and deputy district attorney Grace Van Owen (Susan Dey), who navigated sexism in the legal profession."
Brian Murphy. WaPo, 06/14/2025: Terry Louise Fisher, writer-producer of acclaimed TV dramas, dies at 79. "With Steven Bochco, she forged a powerhouse creative team that led to the popular legal drama “L.A. Law.”"
"Ms. Fisher received her first Emmy Award, in 1985, as a producer and writer on “Cagney & Lacey,” a CBS police drama starring Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless as detectives in a show hailed for portraying women as courageous and resourceful crime solvers.
"The next project for Ms. Fisher drew from the world of Los Angeles lawyers and courts, which she knew from personal experience. She had studied law at the University of California at Los Angeles and worked in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office before moving into entertainment law with clients that included Hollywood studios.
"The concept for “L.A. Law” was already taking shape. In 1984, Ms. Fisher and Bochco met at a Los Angeles restaurant to begin sketching out her idea for a show based on lawyers and their cases but also about the compromises and flaws in the American legal system. Ms. Fisher said she brought a far more jaded outlook than Bochco, who initially wanted to showcase courtroom heroics.
"The tone was set by the tragicomic first moments in the pilot episode when the senior law partner died at his desk and colleagues argued over who would take his office. Ms. Fisher said many of the characters in the show were inspired by the personalities and struggles she encountered as a lawyer, including the flinty managing partner Douglas Brackman Jr. (played by Alan Rachins); the womanizing divorce lawyer Arnie Becker (Corbin Bernsen); the charismatic and ambitious Victor Sifuentes (Jimmy Smits), and deputy district attorney Grace Van Owen (Susan Dey), who navigated sexism in the legal profession."
50cindydavid4
loved the original Law and Order esp when Michael Moriarty was in the cast. never got into the other versions of it tho
51featherbear
David Hekili Kenui Bell, -2025
Marlene Lenthang. NBC News, 06/17/2025: David Hekili Kenui Bell, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ actor, dies at 46.
Rylee Kirk. NYT, 06/17/2025: David Hekili Kenui Bell, an Actor in ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ Dies at 46.
Marlene Lenthang. NBC News, 06/17/2025: David Hekili Kenui Bell, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ actor, dies at 46.
Rylee Kirk. NYT, 06/17/2025: David Hekili Kenui Bell, an Actor in ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ Dies at 46.
52featherbear
Alfred Brendel, 1931-2025
My first encounter w/Liszt's piano music was a recital in downtown New Haven, of the B Minor sonata; inspired me to pick up Brendel's recording on CD; still playing it as I explore his recordings on Spotify to this day.
Daniel Lewis. NYT, 06/17/2025: Alfred Brendel, Bravura Pianist Who Forged a Singular Path, Dies at 94. "With little formal training but full of ideas, he focused on the core classical composers, winning over audiences (though not every critic) worldwide."
"Mr. Brendel was unusual among modern concert artists. He had not been a child prodigy, he lacked the phenomenal memory needed to maintain a large repertoire with ease, and he had relatively little formal training. But he was a hard and cheerfully patient worker. For the most part he taught himself, listening to recordings and proceeding at a deliberate pace as he concentrated on a handful of composers, including Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Liszt and Schoenberg.
"Over the years, Mr. Brendel developed and continually revised his own ideas on using the modern piano to make well-worn music sound fresh without violating the composers’ intentions. How well he succeeded was very much a matter of taste. His analytical approach appealed especially to intellectuals and writers, and it didn’t hurt, either, that he was himself an erudite writer on music history, theory and practice.
"A bit to his dismay, he thus found himself cast as a hero of the “formalists,” who championed structure, proportion and the primacy of the score in their hundred-years’ war with the “affectists,” as The Times’s chief music critic Harold C. Schonberg characterized a more extroverted crew who were concerned with emotional impact, color and line. Mr. Brendel was an heir to the tradition of Fischer and Artur Schnabel, as opposed to Vladimir Horowitz.
"... his approached turned off more than a few critics — and especially those in New York, it seemed — even as they acknowledged his technical achievements."
Tim Page. WaPo, 06/17/2025: Alfred Brendel, prolific pianist with cerebral style, dies at 94. "He was celebrated around the world for the gravity and thoughtfulness that he brought to his performances."
"Mr. Brendel’s career spanned six decades, and he became a familiar figure in concert halls throughout Europe and North America, sometimes playing in nearly 100 events in a year. From his first performance in the United States in 1973 until his retirement in 2008, Mr. Brendel appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall more than 80 times and also made regular visits to the leading venues in other American cities.
"What attracted listeners was his musicianship — his distinctive mixture of welling songfulness and formal rectitude, his willingness to take listeners deep into the heart of anything he played.
"Some artists are invariably rewarded with immediate standing ovations. Mr. Brendel received many of these in his time, but the ends of his programs were usually greeted first by long and potent silences, as his audience emerged slowly from the listening experience.
"Through his recordings, he was famous in the United States before he had played a concert here. When long-playing (LP) records became popular in the early 1950s, they permitted up to 25 minutes of music on each side instead of the previously available four or five.
"Mr. Brendel began to record prolifically: the premiere performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 5; several hours of the late piano music of Franz Schubert when it was still largely neglected; and a collaboration with several other pianists on the first complete set of the Mozart piano concertos. A generation of listeners heard these works for the first time through his recordings, and many of the performances are still available today.
"Mr. Brendel’s tastes were idiosyncratic, and he chose carefully among the “greatest hits” for piano. He rarely played the music of Chopin or Robert Schumann and had no interest in Claude Debussy or Sergei Rachmaninoff. Yet he revered Franz Liszt and defended the Hungarian composer’s Romantic-era work against those who found it largely meretricious. ... His advocacy inspired many listeners to hear Liszt anew, and he championed the work of Ferruccio Busoni, an Italian composer who was also a Liszt devotee.
"In 1943, amid World War II, the Brendel family moved to Graz, in Austria, where the pianist’s father worked in a department store. Hitler visited the city during their stay in Graz, and Mr. Brendel credited this encounter as the beginning of his philosophical skepticism. “It was my first impression of mass hysteria,” he recalled to the Guardian newspaper in 2002. “I saw the eyes of the believers and it inoculated me against belief of all kinds."
Danny Fulbrook BBC News, 06/17/2025: Pianist Alfred Brendel dies aged 94. "Alfred Brendel, who was considered one of the world's most accomplished pianists, has died at the age of 94."
My first encounter w/Liszt's piano music was a recital in downtown New Haven, of the B Minor sonata; inspired me to pick up Brendel's recording on CD; still playing it as I explore his recordings on Spotify to this day.
Daniel Lewis. NYT, 06/17/2025: Alfred Brendel, Bravura Pianist Who Forged a Singular Path, Dies at 94. "With little formal training but full of ideas, he focused on the core classical composers, winning over audiences (though not every critic) worldwide."
"Mr. Brendel was unusual among modern concert artists. He had not been a child prodigy, he lacked the phenomenal memory needed to maintain a large repertoire with ease, and he had relatively little formal training. But he was a hard and cheerfully patient worker. For the most part he taught himself, listening to recordings and proceeding at a deliberate pace as he concentrated on a handful of composers, including Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Liszt and Schoenberg.
"Over the years, Mr. Brendel developed and continually revised his own ideas on using the modern piano to make well-worn music sound fresh without violating the composers’ intentions. How well he succeeded was very much a matter of taste. His analytical approach appealed especially to intellectuals and writers, and it didn’t hurt, either, that he was himself an erudite writer on music history, theory and practice.
"A bit to his dismay, he thus found himself cast as a hero of the “formalists,” who championed structure, proportion and the primacy of the score in their hundred-years’ war with the “affectists,” as The Times’s chief music critic Harold C. Schonberg characterized a more extroverted crew who were concerned with emotional impact, color and line. Mr. Brendel was an heir to the tradition of Fischer and Artur Schnabel, as opposed to Vladimir Horowitz.
"... his approached turned off more than a few critics — and especially those in New York, it seemed — even as they acknowledged his technical achievements."
Tim Page. WaPo, 06/17/2025: Alfred Brendel, prolific pianist with cerebral style, dies at 94. "He was celebrated around the world for the gravity and thoughtfulness that he brought to his performances."
"Mr. Brendel’s career spanned six decades, and he became a familiar figure in concert halls throughout Europe and North America, sometimes playing in nearly 100 events in a year. From his first performance in the United States in 1973 until his retirement in 2008, Mr. Brendel appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall more than 80 times and also made regular visits to the leading venues in other American cities.
"What attracted listeners was his musicianship — his distinctive mixture of welling songfulness and formal rectitude, his willingness to take listeners deep into the heart of anything he played.
"Some artists are invariably rewarded with immediate standing ovations. Mr. Brendel received many of these in his time, but the ends of his programs were usually greeted first by long and potent silences, as his audience emerged slowly from the listening experience.
"Through his recordings, he was famous in the United States before he had played a concert here. When long-playing (LP) records became popular in the early 1950s, they permitted up to 25 minutes of music on each side instead of the previously available four or five.
"Mr. Brendel began to record prolifically: the premiere performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 5; several hours of the late piano music of Franz Schubert when it was still largely neglected; and a collaboration with several other pianists on the first complete set of the Mozart piano concertos. A generation of listeners heard these works for the first time through his recordings, and many of the performances are still available today.
"Mr. Brendel’s tastes were idiosyncratic, and he chose carefully among the “greatest hits” for piano. He rarely played the music of Chopin or Robert Schumann and had no interest in Claude Debussy or Sergei Rachmaninoff. Yet he revered Franz Liszt and defended the Hungarian composer’s Romantic-era work against those who found it largely meretricious. ... His advocacy inspired many listeners to hear Liszt anew, and he championed the work of Ferruccio Busoni, an Italian composer who was also a Liszt devotee.
"In 1943, amid World War II, the Brendel family moved to Graz, in Austria, where the pianist’s father worked in a department store. Hitler visited the city during their stay in Graz, and Mr. Brendel credited this encounter as the beginning of his philosophical skepticism. “It was my first impression of mass hysteria,” he recalled to the Guardian newspaper in 2002. “I saw the eyes of the believers and it inoculated me against belief of all kinds."
Danny Fulbrook BBC News, 06/17/2025: Pianist Alfred Brendel dies aged 94. "Alfred Brendel, who was considered one of the world's most accomplished pianists, has died at the age of 94."
53featherbear
Enzo Staiola, 1939-2025
Adam Nossiter. NYT, 06/12/2025: Enzo Staiola, Who Starred in ‘Bicycle Thieves’ as a Child, Dies at 85. "Discovered on the street in Rome, he had a brush with stardom when he was cast in what many consider one of the greatest films of all time." Temporarily unlocked.
"The film — which was pioneering in its use of nonprofessional actors, its frank portrayal of poverty and its refusal to romanticize the Roman streetscape — made De Sica the king of Italian cinema, at least until Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini came along. But neither Mr. Maggiorani* nor Mr. Staiola ever again matched that brush with stardom.
"Mr. Staiola appeared in a handful of other films as a child in the 1950s, including “The Barefoot Contessa” (1954), with Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner, but he later lived out his days as a clerk in Rome’s land-registry office. Without regret, it would seem, at least in his telling, in a 2023 interview with the newspaper La Repubblica."
*Lamberto Maggiorani played the father in De Sica's film
Adam Nossiter. NYT, 06/12/2025: Enzo Staiola, Who Starred in ‘Bicycle Thieves’ as a Child, Dies at 85. "Discovered on the street in Rome, he had a brush with stardom when he was cast in what many consider one of the greatest films of all time." Temporarily unlocked.
"The film — which was pioneering in its use of nonprofessional actors, its frank portrayal of poverty and its refusal to romanticize the Roman streetscape — made De Sica the king of Italian cinema, at least until Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini came along. But neither Mr. Maggiorani* nor Mr. Staiola ever again matched that brush with stardom.
"Mr. Staiola appeared in a handful of other films as a child in the 1950s, including “The Barefoot Contessa” (1954), with Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner, but he later lived out his days as a clerk in Rome’s land-registry office. Without regret, it would seem, at least in his telling, in a 2023 interview with the newspaper La Repubblica."
*Lamberto Maggiorani played the father in De Sica's film
54featherbear
Mark Peploe, 1943-2025
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 06/19/2025: Mark Peploe, Oscar-winning scriptwriter of The Last Emperor, dies aged 82. "Screenwriter, whose 1987 collaboration with Bernardo Bertolucci won nine Oscars, was also known for The Passenger directed by Michelangelo Antonioni."
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 06/19/2025: Mark Peploe, Oscar-winning scriptwriter of The Last Emperor, dies aged 82. "Screenwriter, whose 1987 collaboration with Bernardo Bertolucci won nine Oscars, was also known for The Passenger directed by Michelangelo Antonioni."
55featherbear
Gailard Sartain, 1943-2025
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 06/25/2025: Gailard Sartain, Character Actor and ‘Hee Haw’ Regular, Dies at 81. "Though best known for comedy, he also played serious roles, including a sinister sheriff in “Mississippi Burning.” The director Alan Rudolph cast him in nine films."
"Mr. Sartain spent 20 years on “Hee Haw,” the country equivalent of “Laugh-In,” hosted by Buck Owens and Roy Clark, which combined cornpone sketches with music. The characters he played included a bumbling store employee, a chef at a truck stop and Officer Bull Moose. At the same time, he also developed a movie career that began with “Nashville” (1975), Robert Altman’s improvisational drama set against the background of the country music industry.
"In that film, Mr. Sartain played a man at an airport lunch counter talking to Keenan Wynn. “I just said, ‘Ask Keenan what he’s doing in Nashville,’ and he did,” Alan Rudolph, the assistant director of the film, said in an interview. But Mr. Rudolph saw something special in Mr. Sartain and went on to cast him in nine films he directed over the next two decades, including “Roadie” (1980) and “Endangered Species” (1982).
"One of Mr. Sartain’s most notable roles was in “Mississippi Burning” (1988), Alan Parker’s film about the F.B.I.’s investigation into the murders in 1964 of the civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were buried in an earthen dam. Mr. Sartain played Ray Stuckey, a county sheriff whose deputy was among the Ku Klux Klansmen who killed the men."
In addition to Hee Haw, where he was a regular until 1992, "He was also seen on “The Sonny and Cher Show,” “9 to 5” and other TV shows, and in films like “All of Me” (1984), “The Outsiders” (1983) and three of Jim Varney’s lowbrow “Ernest” comedies, “Ernest Goes to Camp” (1987), “Ernest Saves Christmas” (1988) and “Ernest Goes to Jail” (1990)."
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 06/25/2025: Gailard Sartain, Character Actor and ‘Hee Haw’ Regular, Dies at 81. "Though best known for comedy, he also played serious roles, including a sinister sheriff in “Mississippi Burning.” The director Alan Rudolph cast him in nine films."
"Mr. Sartain spent 20 years on “Hee Haw,” the country equivalent of “Laugh-In,” hosted by Buck Owens and Roy Clark, which combined cornpone sketches with music. The characters he played included a bumbling store employee, a chef at a truck stop and Officer Bull Moose. At the same time, he also developed a movie career that began with “Nashville” (1975), Robert Altman’s improvisational drama set against the background of the country music industry.
"In that film, Mr. Sartain played a man at an airport lunch counter talking to Keenan Wynn. “I just said, ‘Ask Keenan what he’s doing in Nashville,’ and he did,” Alan Rudolph, the assistant director of the film, said in an interview. But Mr. Rudolph saw something special in Mr. Sartain and went on to cast him in nine films he directed over the next two decades, including “Roadie” (1980) and “Endangered Species” (1982).
"One of Mr. Sartain’s most notable roles was in “Mississippi Burning” (1988), Alan Parker’s film about the F.B.I.’s investigation into the murders in 1964 of the civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were buried in an earthen dam. Mr. Sartain played Ray Stuckey, a county sheriff whose deputy was among the Ku Klux Klansmen who killed the men."
In addition to Hee Haw, where he was a regular until 1992, "He was also seen on “The Sonny and Cher Show,” “9 to 5” and other TV shows, and in films like “All of Me” (1984), “The Outsiders” (1983) and three of Jim Varney’s lowbrow “Ernest” comedies, “Ernest Goes to Camp” (1987), “Ernest Saves Christmas” (1988) and “Ernest Goes to Jail” (1990)."
56featherbear
Bill Moyers, 1934-2025
Janny Scott. NYT, 06/26/2025: Bill Moyers, Presidential Aide and Veteran of Public TV, Dies at 91.
"Present on Air Force One in Dallas when Johnson took the oath of office after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Mr. Moyers played a pivotal role in the inception of Johnson’s Great Society programs, and was the president’s top administrative assistant and press secretary when Johnson sent hundreds of thousands of troops to fight in the Vietnam War.
"Mr. Moyers resigned from the administration in December 1966 at age 32, finalizing an irreparable falling out between the hot-tempered, flamboyant Johnson, who demanded unwavering loyalty, and the cool, self-contained Mr. Moyers, whom Johnson had denied several foreign policy positions. The two men never reconciled. In his 1971 memoir, “The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963-1969,” Johnson mentioned Mr. Moyers only fleetingly, reducing him to little more than a footnote.
"In his four decades as a television correspondent and commentator, Mr. Moyers, an ordained Baptist minister, explored issues ranging from poverty, violence, income inequality and racial bigotry to the role of money in politics, threats to the Constitution and climate change. His documentaries and reports won him the top prizes in television journalism, more than 30 Emmy Awards and comparisons to Edward R. Murrow, his revered predecessor at CBS.
"His 1988 PBS series, “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,” drew 30 million viewers, posthumously turned Mr. Campbell — at the time a little-known mythologist — into a public broadcasting star, and popularized the Campbell dictum “Follow your bliss.”
"In a 2004 retrospective, the conservative website FrontPageMag.com called him a “sweater-wearing pundit who delivered socialist and neo-Marxist propaganda with a soft Texas accent.”
"He worked with Kennedy’s speechwriter Ted Sorensen to craft Johnson’s first statements to the country, and became the link between the Johnson and Kennedy circles. As the Johnson era began, Mr. Moyers’ familiarity with the bureaucracy helped him organize and guide the 14 task forces of government officials and outside experts that produced most of the Great Society domestic legislation.
"In 1967, he became publisher of Newsday, the Long Island daily newspaper. He strengthened the paper’s Washington coverage, added international bureaus and hired Saul Bellow to cover the 1967 Mideast war. The paper won two Pulitzer Prizes during his tenure. But its conservative owner, Harry F. Guggenheim, said to be annoyed by the “left wingers” running the paper, sold his majority share in 1970, having turned down a higher offer from Mr. Moyers, who resigned.
"In 1976, said to be frustrated by the limited resources in public television, Mr. Moyers joined CBS, the top commercial network, as chief correspondent for the documentary program “CBS Reports.” He produced documentaries on subjects ranging from arson in the South Bronx to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. But he objected to the show’s irregular schedule: To have more impact, he said, the documentaries needed to appear more often, with more promotion and in better time slots. Rebuffed, he returned to PBS.
"Mr. Moyers’s six hourlong interviews with Joseph Campbell, who died in 1987, shortly before they aired, were among the first productions made by the new company. Tens of thousands of videotapes of the interviews were sold, and viewers formed study groups to watch them. A companion book — championed by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who was then an editor at Doubleday — became a best seller, as did earlier books by Mr. Campbell.
"Between the late 1980s and 2007, Mr. Moyers and Public Affairs Television turned out nearly 100 documentaries and reports. The subject of one five-part series in 1998 was addiction, a problem with which the Mr. Moyers’ eldest son, William, had struggled. “Bill Moyers Journal” returned to the air from 2007 to 2010, starting with an investigation of the shortcomings of the news media in the run-up to the war in Iraq."
Bill Moyers's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/moyersbill
Fred A. Bernstein. WaPo, 06/26/2025: Bill Moyers, eminence of public affairs broadcasting, dies at 91. Temporarily unlocked
Janny Scott. NYT, 06/26/2025: Bill Moyers, Presidential Aide and Veteran of Public TV, Dies at 91.
"Present on Air Force One in Dallas when Johnson took the oath of office after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Mr. Moyers played a pivotal role in the inception of Johnson’s Great Society programs, and was the president’s top administrative assistant and press secretary when Johnson sent hundreds of thousands of troops to fight in the Vietnam War.
"Mr. Moyers resigned from the administration in December 1966 at age 32, finalizing an irreparable falling out between the hot-tempered, flamboyant Johnson, who demanded unwavering loyalty, and the cool, self-contained Mr. Moyers, whom Johnson had denied several foreign policy positions. The two men never reconciled. In his 1971 memoir, “The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963-1969,” Johnson mentioned Mr. Moyers only fleetingly, reducing him to little more than a footnote.
"In his four decades as a television correspondent and commentator, Mr. Moyers, an ordained Baptist minister, explored issues ranging from poverty, violence, income inequality and racial bigotry to the role of money in politics, threats to the Constitution and climate change. His documentaries and reports won him the top prizes in television journalism, more than 30 Emmy Awards and comparisons to Edward R. Murrow, his revered predecessor at CBS.
"His 1988 PBS series, “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,” drew 30 million viewers, posthumously turned Mr. Campbell — at the time a little-known mythologist — into a public broadcasting star, and popularized the Campbell dictum “Follow your bliss.”
"In a 2004 retrospective, the conservative website FrontPageMag.com called him a “sweater-wearing pundit who delivered socialist and neo-Marxist propaganda with a soft Texas accent.”
"He worked with Kennedy’s speechwriter Ted Sorensen to craft Johnson’s first statements to the country, and became the link between the Johnson and Kennedy circles. As the Johnson era began, Mr. Moyers’ familiarity with the bureaucracy helped him organize and guide the 14 task forces of government officials and outside experts that produced most of the Great Society domestic legislation.
"In 1967, he became publisher of Newsday, the Long Island daily newspaper. He strengthened the paper’s Washington coverage, added international bureaus and hired Saul Bellow to cover the 1967 Mideast war. The paper won two Pulitzer Prizes during his tenure. But its conservative owner, Harry F. Guggenheim, said to be annoyed by the “left wingers” running the paper, sold his majority share in 1970, having turned down a higher offer from Mr. Moyers, who resigned.
"In 1976, said to be frustrated by the limited resources in public television, Mr. Moyers joined CBS, the top commercial network, as chief correspondent for the documentary program “CBS Reports.” He produced documentaries on subjects ranging from arson in the South Bronx to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. But he objected to the show’s irregular schedule: To have more impact, he said, the documentaries needed to appear more often, with more promotion and in better time slots. Rebuffed, he returned to PBS.
"Mr. Moyers’s six hourlong interviews with Joseph Campbell, who died in 1987, shortly before they aired, were among the first productions made by the new company. Tens of thousands of videotapes of the interviews were sold, and viewers formed study groups to watch them. A companion book — championed by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who was then an editor at Doubleday — became a best seller, as did earlier books by Mr. Campbell.
"Between the late 1980s and 2007, Mr. Moyers and Public Affairs Television turned out nearly 100 documentaries and reports. The subject of one five-part series in 1998 was addiction, a problem with which the Mr. Moyers’ eldest son, William, had struggled. “Bill Moyers Journal” returned to the air from 2007 to 2010, starting with an investigation of the shortcomings of the news media in the run-up to the war in Iraq."
Bill Moyers's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/moyersbill
Fred A. Bernstein. WaPo, 06/26/2025: Bill Moyers, eminence of public affairs broadcasting, dies at 91. Temporarily unlocked
57cindydavid4
Oh one of my favorite journalists in my life one of the great ones. I hope he left not knowing that PBS was being defunded. he touched many lives; may his name be for a blessing
58featherbear
Lalo Schifrin 1932-2025
Tim Greiving. WaPo, 06/26/2025: Lalo Schifrin, composer of jazzy ‘Mission: Impossible’ score, dies at 93. "He set a compelling musical tempo for rebellious cool: Paul Newman in ‘Cool Hand Luke,’ Steve McQueen in ‘Bullitt’ and Clint Eastwood in ‘Dirty Harry.'"
"The son of a Buenos Aires concertmaster, Mr. Schifrin performed demanding classical works as a child. He compared his awakening to jazz, sparked by a live performance by trumpeter Louis Armstrong, to “a religious conversion.” Before he was 30, Mr. Schifrin was a pianist and arranger for the globe-trotting bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
"Composers such as Henry Mancini and Johnny Mandel had imported jazz into TV and film scores, but Mr. Schifrin was credited with bringing a jazz-symphonic fusion to the craft. By 1969, Time magazine was calling him “the most inventive composer of movie scores in the business,” noting his “deft jazz touch” and expressive “Latinesque” blues style.
"“Bullitt” used sensual, sinuous flutes, Latin rhythms and big band sounds to accompany McQueen’s maverick San Francisco detective. Yet the film’s most celebrated scene, the 10-minute car chase, was done without background music. Director Peter Yates initially opposed the unorthodox decision, the composer told the Film Music Foundation.
“Silence is also music,” Mr. Schifrin said he replied. “The lack of music is going to make a great effect.”
"The race pitted a Ford Mustang (piloted by McQueen, an experienced racecar driver) against a Dodge Charger carrying hired assassins in one of the most riveting scenes of its kind ever filmed. The squealing wheels and revving engines as the cars bounced along hilly city streets provided an aural and visual spectacle that helped make the film a massive box-office success.
"By that time, Mr. Schifrin was a veteran composer for TV shows. The tune that reverberated loudest and longest was his main title theme for the CBS spy series “Mission: Impossible,” which aired from 1966 to 1973.
"Bruce Geller, the show’s creator, had asked Mr. Schifrin to compose a theme that was “exciting but not too heavy,” Mr. Schifrin told NPR in 2015. He recalled Geller saying: “When people go to the kitchen and get a Coca-Cola, I want them to hear the theme and say, ‘Oh, this is “Mission: Impossible.”’”
"Mr. Schifrin earned six Academy Award nominations, for “Cool Hand Luke,” “The Fox” (1967), “Voyage of the Damned” (1976), “The Amityville Horror” (1979), “The Competition” (1980) and “The Sting II” (1983).
"Music from the road-tarring sequence in the prison camp drama — with its clanging, alarm-like bells and urgent brass — became the ABC “Eyewitness News” theme for many years. His film and TV scores were frequently sampled by hip-hop and dance artists including Portishead, Dr. Dre and N.W.A.
"Mr. Schifrin wrote an autobiography, “Mission Impossible: My Life in Music” (2008), whose title reflected what he knew was his most enduring legacy. “It’s satisfying, and rejuvenating,” he told the London Daily Telegraph that year. “It starts a communication with different cultures, different ages, a bridge across time.”"
Tim Greiving. WaPo, 06/26/2025: Lalo Schifrin, composer of jazzy ‘Mission: Impossible’ score, dies at 93. "He set a compelling musical tempo for rebellious cool: Paul Newman in ‘Cool Hand Luke,’ Steve McQueen in ‘Bullitt’ and Clint Eastwood in ‘Dirty Harry.'"
"The son of a Buenos Aires concertmaster, Mr. Schifrin performed demanding classical works as a child. He compared his awakening to jazz, sparked by a live performance by trumpeter Louis Armstrong, to “a religious conversion.” Before he was 30, Mr. Schifrin was a pianist and arranger for the globe-trotting bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
"Composers such as Henry Mancini and Johnny Mandel had imported jazz into TV and film scores, but Mr. Schifrin was credited with bringing a jazz-symphonic fusion to the craft. By 1969, Time magazine was calling him “the most inventive composer of movie scores in the business,” noting his “deft jazz touch” and expressive “Latinesque” blues style.
"“Bullitt” used sensual, sinuous flutes, Latin rhythms and big band sounds to accompany McQueen’s maverick San Francisco detective. Yet the film’s most celebrated scene, the 10-minute car chase, was done without background music. Director Peter Yates initially opposed the unorthodox decision, the composer told the Film Music Foundation.
“Silence is also music,” Mr. Schifrin said he replied. “The lack of music is going to make a great effect.”
"The race pitted a Ford Mustang (piloted by McQueen, an experienced racecar driver) against a Dodge Charger carrying hired assassins in one of the most riveting scenes of its kind ever filmed. The squealing wheels and revving engines as the cars bounced along hilly city streets provided an aural and visual spectacle that helped make the film a massive box-office success.
"By that time, Mr. Schifrin was a veteran composer for TV shows. The tune that reverberated loudest and longest was his main title theme for the CBS spy series “Mission: Impossible,” which aired from 1966 to 1973.
"Bruce Geller, the show’s creator, had asked Mr. Schifrin to compose a theme that was “exciting but not too heavy,” Mr. Schifrin told NPR in 2015. He recalled Geller saying: “When people go to the kitchen and get a Coca-Cola, I want them to hear the theme and say, ‘Oh, this is “Mission: Impossible.”’”
"Mr. Schifrin earned six Academy Award nominations, for “Cool Hand Luke,” “The Fox” (1967), “Voyage of the Damned” (1976), “The Amityville Horror” (1979), “The Competition” (1980) and “The Sting II” (1983).
"Music from the road-tarring sequence in the prison camp drama — with its clanging, alarm-like bells and urgent brass — became the ABC “Eyewitness News” theme for many years. His film and TV scores were frequently sampled by hip-hop and dance artists including Portishead, Dr. Dre and N.W.A.
"Mr. Schifrin wrote an autobiography, “Mission Impossible: My Life in Music” (2008), whose title reflected what he knew was his most enduring legacy. “It’s satisfying, and rejuvenating,” he told the London Daily Telegraph that year. “It starts a communication with different cultures, different ages, a bridge across time.”"
59featherbear
Michael Madsen, 1957-2025
Alex Williams. NYT, 07/03/2025: Michael Madsen, Actor Known for Tough-Guy Roles, Dies at 67. Now updated as of July 4
"Mr. Madsen never achieved true leading-man status like his soul mates Charles Bronson and James Gandolfini — but perhaps, measured by volume, he did. A tough guy’s tough guy, he seemed ubiquitous in his 1990s heyday, one of those guy-who-was-in-everything actors, like Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman.
"With a whiff of Mickey Rourke, a hint of Sylvester Stallone and a linebacker’s physique, Mr. Madsen had the air of a throwback actor, a timeless Hollywood heavy who seemed to have stepped out of a 1940s film noir.
"Few could forget — or sleep after seeing — Mr. Madsen’s flinch-inducing performance in Reservoir Dogs as the very brunette Mr. Blonde fiddling with a stereo knob, then strutting his way around a warehouse with a straight razor and a psychopath’s sang-froid to the sound of “Stuck in the Middle With You,” the hit 1973 song by Stealers Wheel, as he draws out the torture of a soon-to-be-earless kidnapped police officer."
Catherine Shoard. Guardian, 07/03/2025: Michael Madsen, star of Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill and Donnie Brasco, dies aged 67.
Joanna Ruck. Guardian, 07/03/2025: Michael Madsen – a life in pictures.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 07/03/2025: Michael Madsen’s brooding charisma needed Tarantino to unlock it. "The Reservoir Dogs and Donnie Brasco actor had a rare, sometimes scary power, as well as a winning self-awareness and levity."
Alex Williams. NYT, 07/03/2025: Michael Madsen, Actor Known for Tough-Guy Roles, Dies at 67. Now updated as of July 4
"Mr. Madsen never achieved true leading-man status like his soul mates Charles Bronson and James Gandolfini — but perhaps, measured by volume, he did. A tough guy’s tough guy, he seemed ubiquitous in his 1990s heyday, one of those guy-who-was-in-everything actors, like Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman.
"With a whiff of Mickey Rourke, a hint of Sylvester Stallone and a linebacker’s physique, Mr. Madsen had the air of a throwback actor, a timeless Hollywood heavy who seemed to have stepped out of a 1940s film noir.
"Few could forget — or sleep after seeing — Mr. Madsen’s flinch-inducing performance in Reservoir Dogs as the very brunette Mr. Blonde fiddling with a stereo knob, then strutting his way around a warehouse with a straight razor and a psychopath’s sang-froid to the sound of “Stuck in the Middle With You,” the hit 1973 song by Stealers Wheel, as he draws out the torture of a soon-to-be-earless kidnapped police officer."
Catherine Shoard. Guardian, 07/03/2025: Michael Madsen, star of Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill and Donnie Brasco, dies aged 67.
Joanna Ruck. Guardian, 07/03/2025: Michael Madsen – a life in pictures.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 07/03/2025: Michael Madsen’s brooding charisma needed Tarantino to unlock it. "The Reservoir Dogs and Donnie Brasco actor had a rare, sometimes scary power, as well as a winning self-awareness and levity."
60featherbear
Julian McMahon, 1968-2025
Caolán Magee and Sian Cain. Guardian, 07/05/2025: Julian McMahon, Fantastic Four, Nip/Tuck and Charmed actor, dies aged 56. "The Australian actor died in Florida on Wednesday after being diagnosed with cancer."
Guardian, 07/04/2025: Julian McMahon – a life in pictures. "The actor, who has died aged 56 after a private battle with cancer, was the son of an Australian prime minister who built a life in Hollywood playing suave and villainous characters. We look back on his career."
Hannah Ziegler. NYT, 07/05/2025: Julian McMahon, ‘Nip/Tuck’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ Star, Dies at 56. "He played the half-human, half-demon Cole Turner in the WB supernatural series “Charmed” and a self-destructive playboy in the FX series “Nip/Tuck.”"
Caolán Magee and Sian Cain. Guardian, 07/05/2025: Julian McMahon, Fantastic Four, Nip/Tuck and Charmed actor, dies aged 56. "The Australian actor died in Florida on Wednesday after being diagnosed with cancer."
Guardian, 07/04/2025: Julian McMahon – a life in pictures. "The actor, who has died aged 56 after a private battle with cancer, was the son of an Australian prime minister who built a life in Hollywood playing suave and villainous characters. We look back on his career."
Hannah Ziegler. NYT, 07/05/2025: Julian McMahon, ‘Nip/Tuck’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ Star, Dies at 56. "He played the half-human, half-demon Cole Turner in the WB supernatural series “Charmed” and a self-destructive playboy in the FX series “Nip/Tuck.”"
61featherbear
Paulette Jiles, 1943-2025
Miguel Salazar. NYt, 07/16, upd 17/2025: Paulette Jiles, 82, Dies; Novelist Evoked the West in ‘News of the World’. Temporarily unlocked
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 07/11/2025: Paulette Jiles, acclaimed author of ‘News of the World,’ dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked.
"With Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, the hero of “News of the World” (2016), she created a gruff, battle-scarred septuagenarian who drew comparisons to classic western protagonists like Rooster Cogburn of “True Grit” and Capt. Woodrow F. Call of “Lonesome Dove.”
"Kidd, a veteran of three wars, makes his living in 1870 Texas by traveling to small, isolated towns and reading the news — charging crowds a dime a head to hear him recount newspaper stories about distant shipwrecks, the Franco-Prussian War or the newly ratified 15th Amendment. He eventually finds himself with a new job: taking Johanna, a 10-year-old girl whose parents have been killed in a Kiowa raid, to her closest remaining relatives, an aunt and uncle in San Antonio.
"The novel was a finalist for the National Book Award, was named one of the 10 best books of the year by The Post and was adapted into a well-received 2020 movie, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengrass."
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/jilespaulette
Miguel Salazar. NYt, 07/16, upd 17/2025: Paulette Jiles, 82, Dies; Novelist Evoked the West in ‘News of the World’. Temporarily unlocked
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 07/11/2025: Paulette Jiles, acclaimed author of ‘News of the World,’ dies at 82. Temporarily unlocked.
"With Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, the hero of “News of the World” (2016), she created a gruff, battle-scarred septuagenarian who drew comparisons to classic western protagonists like Rooster Cogburn of “True Grit” and Capt. Woodrow F. Call of “Lonesome Dove.”
"Kidd, a veteran of three wars, makes his living in 1870 Texas by traveling to small, isolated towns and reading the news — charging crowds a dime a head to hear him recount newspaper stories about distant shipwrecks, the Franco-Prussian War or the newly ratified 15th Amendment. He eventually finds himself with a new job: taking Johanna, a 10-year-old girl whose parents have been killed in a Kiowa raid, to her closest remaining relatives, an aunt and uncle in San Antonio.
"The novel was a finalist for the National Book Award, was named one of the 10 best books of the year by The Post and was adapted into a well-received 2020 movie, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengrass."
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/jilespaulette
62cindydavid4
>61 featherbear: wow I didnt realize her age when she wrote the book; not a fan of her ither books but this one was a keeper, may her name be for a blessing
63JulieLill
>61 featherbear: I liked her News of the World - didn't realize she was that old. So Sorry that she passed on!
64featherbear
Connie Francis, 1937-2025
William Grimes. NYT, 07/17/2025: Connie Francis, Whose Ballads Dominated ’60s Pop Music, Dies at 87. Temporarily unlocked
The voice of Where the Boys Are ... somewhere you'll find me (did I get that right?). Quite a journey: "“I often say, I’d like to be remembered not for the highs I’ve reached but for the depths from which I’ve risen,” ... “There were exhilarating highs and abysmal lows. But it was fighting to get out of those lows that I feel most proud of.”
Matt Schudel. WaPo, 07/17/2025: Connie Francis, a top-selling singer of the 1950s and ’60s, dies at 87. "She sold more than 100 million records in her prime and had a viral TikTok moment near the end of her life." Temporarily unlocked.
William Grimes. NYT, 07/17/2025: Connie Francis, Whose Ballads Dominated ’60s Pop Music, Dies at 87. Temporarily unlocked
The voice of Where the Boys Are ... somewhere you'll find me (did I get that right?). Quite a journey: "“I often say, I’d like to be remembered not for the highs I’ve reached but for the depths from which I’ve risen,” ... “There were exhilarating highs and abysmal lows. But it was fighting to get out of those lows that I feel most proud of.”
Matt Schudel. WaPo, 07/17/2025: Connie Francis, a top-selling singer of the 1950s and ’60s, dies at 87. "She sold more than 100 million records in her prime and had a viral TikTok moment near the end of her life." Temporarily unlocked.
65featherbear
Added NYT obit for Paulette Jiles >62 cindydavid4: >63 JulieLill:
66featherbear
Alan Bergman, 1925-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 07/18/2025: Alan Bergman, Half of a Prolific Lyric-Writing Team, Dies at 99. "With his wife, Marilyn, he wrote the words to memorable TV theme songs and the Oscar-winning “The Way We Were” and “The Windmills of Your Mind.”
"The Bergmans regularly collaborated with prominent composers like Marvin Hamlisch, with whom they wrote “The Way We Were,” from the 1973 Barbra Streisand-Robert Redford romance of the same name, and Michel Legrand, with whom they wrote “The Windmills of Your Mind,” from the 1968 crime movie “The Thomas Crown Affair,” starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. They also wrote the lyrics to Mr. Legrand’s score for Ms. Streisand’s 1983 film “Yentl,” for which they won their third Academy Award.
"The Bergmans were among the favored lyricists of stars like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and especially Ms. Streisand, who in 2011 released the album “What Matters Most: Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman.” The album’s 10 tracks included “The Windmills of Your Mind,” “Nice ’n’ Easy,” “That Face” and the title song, none of which were among the numerous Bergman lyrics Ms. Streisand had recorded before. Promoting the album, she described the Bergmans as having “a remarkable gift for expressing affairs of the heart.”
"Between 1970 and 1996, the Bergmans received a total of 16 Oscar nominations. One year, 1983, they claimed three of the five best-song nominations, for “It Might Be You” from “Tootsie,” “If We Were in Love” from “Yes, Giorgio” and “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” from “Best Friends.” (They lost to “Up Where We Belong” from “An Officer and a Gentleman.”)
"But television audiences heard their work most often in the series theme songs for which they wrote the lyrics. These included the gospel-inflected themes for the comedy series “Maude” and “Good Times”, both with music by Dave Grusin, and the breezily upbeat “There’s a New Girl in Town,” the theme from the sitcom “Alice,” with music by David Shire.
"Like many creative teams, the Bergmans had their priorities. “We prefer to have the melody” before working on the lyrics, Mr. Bergman said in a 2007 NPR interview. “We feel that when we have the melody, there are words on the tips of those notes, and we have to find them.”
"Marilyn Bergman died in 2022. Mr. Bergman is survived by their daughter, Julie Bergman, and a granddaughter.
"By the time the couple married in 1958, they had already begun writing together. (“Premarital rhyming was going on,” Mr. Bergman said with a smile in a 2010 interview on “CBS News Sunday Morning.”)
"Mr. Bergman was often asked about the creative experience involved in working so closely with his wife. In that same 2010 interview, he said: “One is the creator and the other is the editor. And those roles change within seconds.”
He put it another way in an interview with The New York Times in 1982: “The actual process of writing the lyric is like two potters passing clay back and forth. At the end of the song, we rarely know who wrote what.”
Tim Greiving. WaPo, 07/18/2025: Alan Bergman, Oscar-winning lyricist, dies at 99.
Anita Gates. NYT, 07/18/2025: Alan Bergman, Half of a Prolific Lyric-Writing Team, Dies at 99. "With his wife, Marilyn, he wrote the words to memorable TV theme songs and the Oscar-winning “The Way We Were” and “The Windmills of Your Mind.”
"The Bergmans regularly collaborated with prominent composers like Marvin Hamlisch, with whom they wrote “The Way We Were,” from the 1973 Barbra Streisand-Robert Redford romance of the same name, and Michel Legrand, with whom they wrote “The Windmills of Your Mind,” from the 1968 crime movie “The Thomas Crown Affair,” starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. They also wrote the lyrics to Mr. Legrand’s score for Ms. Streisand’s 1983 film “Yentl,” for which they won their third Academy Award.
"The Bergmans were among the favored lyricists of stars like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and especially Ms. Streisand, who in 2011 released the album “What Matters Most: Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman.” The album’s 10 tracks included “The Windmills of Your Mind,” “Nice ’n’ Easy,” “That Face” and the title song, none of which were among the numerous Bergman lyrics Ms. Streisand had recorded before. Promoting the album, she described the Bergmans as having “a remarkable gift for expressing affairs of the heart.”
"Between 1970 and 1996, the Bergmans received a total of 16 Oscar nominations. One year, 1983, they claimed three of the five best-song nominations, for “It Might Be You” from “Tootsie,” “If We Were in Love” from “Yes, Giorgio” and “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” from “Best Friends.” (They lost to “Up Where We Belong” from “An Officer and a Gentleman.”)
"But television audiences heard their work most often in the series theme songs for which they wrote the lyrics. These included the gospel-inflected themes for the comedy series “Maude” and “Good Times”, both with music by Dave Grusin, and the breezily upbeat “There’s a New Girl in Town,” the theme from the sitcom “Alice,” with music by David Shire.
"Like many creative teams, the Bergmans had their priorities. “We prefer to have the melody” before working on the lyrics, Mr. Bergman said in a 2007 NPR interview. “We feel that when we have the melody, there are words on the tips of those notes, and we have to find them.”
"Marilyn Bergman died in 2022. Mr. Bergman is survived by their daughter, Julie Bergman, and a granddaughter.
"By the time the couple married in 1958, they had already begun writing together. (“Premarital rhyming was going on,” Mr. Bergman said with a smile in a 2010 interview on “CBS News Sunday Morning.”)
"Mr. Bergman was often asked about the creative experience involved in working so closely with his wife. In that same 2010 interview, he said: “One is the creator and the other is the editor. And those roles change within seconds.”
He put it another way in an interview with The New York Times in 1982: “The actual process of writing the lyric is like two potters passing clay back and forth. At the end of the song, we rarely know who wrote what.”
Tim Greiving. WaPo, 07/18/2025: Alan Bergman, Oscar-winning lyricist, dies at 99.
67featherbear
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 1970-2025
Adrian Horton. Guardian, 07/21/2025: Malcolm-Jamal Warner, The Cosby Show actor, dies at 54. Actor who played Theo Huxtable in long-running sitcom reported to have drowned while on vacation in Costa Rica"
Derrick Bryston Taylor. NYT, 07/21/2025: Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Theo Huxtable on ‘The Cosby Show,’ Dies at 54.
Janay Kingsberry and Niha Masih. WaPo, 07/21/2025: Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who rose to fame on ‘The Cosby Show,’ dies at 54.
Adrian Horton. Guardian, 07/21/2025: Malcolm-Jamal Warner, The Cosby Show actor, dies at 54. Actor who played Theo Huxtable in long-running sitcom reported to have drowned while on vacation in Costa Rica"
Derrick Bryston Taylor. NYT, 07/21/2025: Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Theo Huxtable on ‘The Cosby Show,’ Dies at 54.
Janay Kingsberry and Niha Masih. WaPo, 07/21/2025: Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who rose to fame on ‘The Cosby Show,’ dies at 54.
68featherbear
Ozzy Osbourne, 1948-2025
Ben Beaumont Thomas. Guardian, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath frontman and icon of British heavy metal, dies aged 76. "The singer, who later became famous on reality TV show The Osbournes, dies less than three weeks after retirement concert."
Stuart Heritage. Guardian, 07/23/2025: The Osbournes changed reality TV forever for better or worse.
Guardian, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne – a life in pictures, from Black Sabbath to solo success.
Alexis Petridis. Guardian, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne, the people’s Prince of Darkness, took heavy metal into the light.
Gavin Edwards. NYT, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne, ‘Prince of Darkness’ Turned Reality TV Star, Dies at 76. "As the lead singer of Black Sabbath, he helped invent heavy metal. On “The Osbournes,” he presented a comedic counterpoint to his rock ’n’ roll infamy."
Maya Salam. NYT, 07/23/2025: When Ozzy Osbourne Became the Most Unlikely Relatable Reality TV Dad.
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne, hard-rocking ‘Prince of Darkness,’ dies at 76.
Ben Beaumont Thomas. Guardian, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath frontman and icon of British heavy metal, dies aged 76. "The singer, who later became famous on reality TV show The Osbournes, dies less than three weeks after retirement concert."
Stuart Heritage. Guardian, 07/23/2025: The Osbournes changed reality TV forever for better or worse.
Guardian, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne – a life in pictures, from Black Sabbath to solo success.
Alexis Petridis. Guardian, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne, the people’s Prince of Darkness, took heavy metal into the light.
Gavin Edwards. NYT, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne, ‘Prince of Darkness’ Turned Reality TV Star, Dies at 76. "As the lead singer of Black Sabbath, he helped invent heavy metal. On “The Osbournes,” he presented a comedic counterpoint to his rock ’n’ roll infamy."
Maya Salam. NYT, 07/23/2025: When Ozzy Osbourne Became the Most Unlikely Relatable Reality TV Dad.
Harrison Smith. WaPo, 07/22/2025: Ozzy Osbourne, hard-rocking ‘Prince of Darkness,’ dies at 76.
69featherbear
Eileen Fulton, 1933-2025
Miguel Salazar. NYT, 07/23/2025: Eileen Fulton, Glamorous Villainess of ‘As the World Turns,’ Dies at 91.
"Eileen Fulton, who enthralled and infuriated daytime audiences for half a century as the flashy vixen of the CBS soap opera “As the World Turns,” died on July 14 in Asheville, N.C., where she was born. She was 91.
"As a mainstay of “As the World Turns” from 1960 until it went off the air in 2010, Ms. Fulton inhabited the world of Lisa Miller (later Lisa Grimaldi) across eight marriages, dozens of love affairs and the deaths of two children. She had the role for so long that she liked to say she led a double life.
"Along with her castmates Don Hastings, who also joined “As the World Turns” in 1960 and stayed until the end, and Helen Wagner, who was on the show for almost its entire 54-year run (she died a few months before it ended), Ms. Fulton was among the longest-tenured stars in the history of American daytime television.
"The role of Lisa Miller was initially conceived as a temporary one — as a wholesome love interest for Bob Hughes, a college student played by Ronnie Welsh and later by Mr. Hastings. The opportunity to act in a soap opera represented a big break for Ms. Fulton, even though, as the headstrong daughter of a minister, she had tired of playing the nice girl.
"“Sweetness and goodness had been shoved down my throat all my life,” she wrote in a memoir, “How My World Turns” (1970, written with Brett Bolto), so whenever she was given the opportunity to inject a sliver of malice, she added, “I played it to the hilt.”
"Lisa began maneuvering her way into Bob’s family, hinting at marriage in life-or-death tones and spicing up her sex appeal. Ms. Fulton’s mischievous performances persuaded Irna Phillips, the show’s creator, to reimagine Lisa’s arc and turn her into an integral and darkly motivated character.
"Lisa’s evolution drew zealous responses from audiences, ranging from adulation to threatening letters and phone calls. In 1964, The New York Times called her “the most hated girl in daytime television.”
"She juggled morning rehearsals and her daytime performances at CBS with stage roles in a number of productions on and off Broadway, including “The Fantasticks” in 1961; “Abe Lincoln in Illinois,” with Hal Holbrook, in 1963; and the original run of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” in which she was matinee performer, also in 1963. In later years she recorded albums as a singer and wrote detective fiction.
"She released several albums, including “The Same Old World” (1970) and “Eileen Fulton Sings With You in Mind” (1971), and published a second memoir, “As My World Still Turns” (1995, written with Desmond Atholl and Michael Cherkinian). Her six crime novels featured an actress who solves murders across Manhattan.
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/fultoneileen
Miguel Salazar. NYT, 07/23/2025: Eileen Fulton, Glamorous Villainess of ‘As the World Turns,’ Dies at 91.
"Eileen Fulton, who enthralled and infuriated daytime audiences for half a century as the flashy vixen of the CBS soap opera “As the World Turns,” died on July 14 in Asheville, N.C., where she was born. She was 91.
"As a mainstay of “As the World Turns” from 1960 until it went off the air in 2010, Ms. Fulton inhabited the world of Lisa Miller (later Lisa Grimaldi) across eight marriages, dozens of love affairs and the deaths of two children. She had the role for so long that she liked to say she led a double life.
"Along with her castmates Don Hastings, who also joined “As the World Turns” in 1960 and stayed until the end, and Helen Wagner, who was on the show for almost its entire 54-year run (she died a few months before it ended), Ms. Fulton was among the longest-tenured stars in the history of American daytime television.
"The role of Lisa Miller was initially conceived as a temporary one — as a wholesome love interest for Bob Hughes, a college student played by Ronnie Welsh and later by Mr. Hastings. The opportunity to act in a soap opera represented a big break for Ms. Fulton, even though, as the headstrong daughter of a minister, she had tired of playing the nice girl.
"“Sweetness and goodness had been shoved down my throat all my life,” she wrote in a memoir, “How My World Turns” (1970, written with Brett Bolto), so whenever she was given the opportunity to inject a sliver of malice, she added, “I played it to the hilt.”
"Lisa began maneuvering her way into Bob’s family, hinting at marriage in life-or-death tones and spicing up her sex appeal. Ms. Fulton’s mischievous performances persuaded Irna Phillips, the show’s creator, to reimagine Lisa’s arc and turn her into an integral and darkly motivated character.
"Lisa’s evolution drew zealous responses from audiences, ranging from adulation to threatening letters and phone calls. In 1964, The New York Times called her “the most hated girl in daytime television.”
"She juggled morning rehearsals and her daytime performances at CBS with stage roles in a number of productions on and off Broadway, including “The Fantasticks” in 1961; “Abe Lincoln in Illinois,” with Hal Holbrook, in 1963; and the original run of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” in which she was matinee performer, also in 1963. In later years she recorded albums as a singer and wrote detective fiction.
"She released several albums, including “The Same Old World” (1970) and “Eileen Fulton Sings With You in Mind” (1971), and published a second memoir, “As My World Still Turns” (1995, written with Desmond Atholl and Michael Cherkinian). Her six crime novels featured an actress who solves murders across Manhattan.
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/fultoneileen
70featherbear
Cleo Laine, 1927-2025
Neil Genzlinger. NYT, 07/26/2025: Cleo Laine, Grammy-Winning Jazz Singer With a Broadway Turn, Dies at 97.
"Ms. Laine, who was known for a smoky voice that she could deploy over a four-octave range and for her skillful scat singing, recorded numerous albums across six decades. She won a Grammy Award in 1986 for best female jazz vocal performance for “Cleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert.” She and her husband, the saxophonist and bandleader John Dankworth, performed all over the world and in various settings ranging from intimate nightclubs to the London Palladium.
"Ms. Laine’s interests were wide ranging. She had small roles in a handful of movies, in several of which she was credited simply as “Singer.” She performed in operas, worked pop songs into her act and was drawn to the theater, especially musical theater.
"Her father, Alec Campbell, was a Jamaican who settled in England after fighting in World War I. Her mother, Minnie Hitchings, was an Englishwoman who made sure that no one gave her daughter grief over her mixed heritage.
"In 1952 she auditioned to be a vocalist in Mr. Dankworth’s band and was hired. They married in 1958.
"By the mid-1960s she had become one of the most celebrated jazz singers in England. So when she made her formal New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in September 1972 — having previously performed only informally with her husband’s band at Birdland in 1959 — the critic John S. Wilson wrote in The Times that the British had been “hoarding what must be one of their national treasures.”
"Why did it take so long for the couple to try to conquer the United States? “We had waited for the Beatle hysteria to die down,” Ms. Laine told The Times in 1975.
"She and Mr. Dankworth also benefited generations of performers through the Stables, a performance space they created on the grounds of their home. Mr. Dankworth died in 2010, hours before a concert to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Stables. The show went on, and so did Ms. Laine. Just before the finale, she told the crowd about his death."
John Fordham. Guardian, 07/25/2025: Dame Cleo Laine obituary: Celebrated singer with an agile contralto voice who, with her husband John Dankworth, helped bring new audiences to jazz.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 07/25/2025: Cleo Laine, Britain's most successful jazz singer, dies aged 97. "Versatile vocalist straddled jazz, classical, pop and musical theatre with four-octave range, and collaborated for decades with husband, John Dankworth."
Matt Schudel. WaPo, 07/25/2025: Cleo Laine, singer, actress and British ‘national treasure,’ dies at 97. Very full obit worth a read: Temporarily unlocked
"Ms. Laine began performing in London jazz clubs in the early 1950s, working alongside Dankworth, a saxophonist. After they married, they formed Britain’s royal couple of jazz, winning acclaim for performances that combined bebop with baroque music and the blues.
"Nothing if not eclectic, Ms. Laine remains the only female singer to be nominated for Grammy Awards in the pop, classical and jazz categories, which she accomplished in successive years in the 1970s. She was the first — and still the only — British singer to receive a Grammy for best jazz vocal performance, when she won for her 1983 album “Cleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert.”
"Her repertoire encompassed the saucy lyrics of British playwright and composer Noël Coward, the poetry of John Donne and T.S. Eliot, standards by Duke Ellington and George Gershwin, and even Shakespeare’s sonnets, which were worked into jazz compositions by Dankworth. A concert by Ms. Laine was likely to have a 19th-century German art song by Robert Schumann followed by a tune by Stephen Sondheim or Fats Waller.
"Ms. Laine had a showstopping role in a long-running 1971-1972 London revival of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “Show Boat,” playing Julie, a mixed-race singer whose story ends in tragedy. Her songs, including “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” and “Bill,” invariably brought the audience to its feet."
Neil Genzlinger. NYT, 07/26/2025: Cleo Laine, Grammy-Winning Jazz Singer With a Broadway Turn, Dies at 97.
"Ms. Laine, who was known for a smoky voice that she could deploy over a four-octave range and for her skillful scat singing, recorded numerous albums across six decades. She won a Grammy Award in 1986 for best female jazz vocal performance for “Cleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert.” She and her husband, the saxophonist and bandleader John Dankworth, performed all over the world and in various settings ranging from intimate nightclubs to the London Palladium.
"Ms. Laine’s interests were wide ranging. She had small roles in a handful of movies, in several of which she was credited simply as “Singer.” She performed in operas, worked pop songs into her act and was drawn to the theater, especially musical theater.
"Her father, Alec Campbell, was a Jamaican who settled in England after fighting in World War I. Her mother, Minnie Hitchings, was an Englishwoman who made sure that no one gave her daughter grief over her mixed heritage.
"In 1952 she auditioned to be a vocalist in Mr. Dankworth’s band and was hired. They married in 1958.
"By the mid-1960s she had become one of the most celebrated jazz singers in England. So when she made her formal New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in September 1972 — having previously performed only informally with her husband’s band at Birdland in 1959 — the critic John S. Wilson wrote in The Times that the British had been “hoarding what must be one of their national treasures.”
"Why did it take so long for the couple to try to conquer the United States? “We had waited for the Beatle hysteria to die down,” Ms. Laine told The Times in 1975.
"She and Mr. Dankworth also benefited generations of performers through the Stables, a performance space they created on the grounds of their home. Mr. Dankworth died in 2010, hours before a concert to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Stables. The show went on, and so did Ms. Laine. Just before the finale, she told the crowd about his death."
John Fordham. Guardian, 07/25/2025: Dame Cleo Laine obituary: Celebrated singer with an agile contralto voice who, with her husband John Dankworth, helped bring new audiences to jazz.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 07/25/2025: Cleo Laine, Britain's most successful jazz singer, dies aged 97. "Versatile vocalist straddled jazz, classical, pop and musical theatre with four-octave range, and collaborated for decades with husband, John Dankworth."
Matt Schudel. WaPo, 07/25/2025: Cleo Laine, singer, actress and British ‘national treasure,’ dies at 97. Very full obit worth a read: Temporarily unlocked
"Ms. Laine began performing in London jazz clubs in the early 1950s, working alongside Dankworth, a saxophonist. After they married, they formed Britain’s royal couple of jazz, winning acclaim for performances that combined bebop with baroque music and the blues.
"Nothing if not eclectic, Ms. Laine remains the only female singer to be nominated for Grammy Awards in the pop, classical and jazz categories, which she accomplished in successive years in the 1970s. She was the first — and still the only — British singer to receive a Grammy for best jazz vocal performance, when she won for her 1983 album “Cleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert.”
"Her repertoire encompassed the saucy lyrics of British playwright and composer Noël Coward, the poetry of John Donne and T.S. Eliot, standards by Duke Ellington and George Gershwin, and even Shakespeare’s sonnets, which were worked into jazz compositions by Dankworth. A concert by Ms. Laine was likely to have a 19th-century German art song by Robert Schumann followed by a tune by Stephen Sondheim or Fats Waller.
"Ms. Laine had a showstopping role in a long-running 1971-1972 London revival of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “Show Boat,” playing Julie, a mixed-race singer whose story ends in tragedy. Her songs, including “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” and “Bill,” invariably brought the audience to its feet."
71featherbear
Tom Lehrer, 1928-2025
Richard Severo and Peter Keepnews. NYT, 07/27/2025: Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97. "A mathematician by training, he acquired a devoted following with songs that set sardonic lyrics to music that was often maddeningly cheerful."
"Mr. Lehrer’s lyrics were nimble, sometimes salacious and almost always sardonic, sung to music that tended to be maddeningly cheerful. Accompanying himself on piano, he performed in nightclubs, in concert and on records that his admirers purchased, originally by mail order only, in the hundreds of thousands.
"But his entertainment career ultimately took a back seat to academia. In his heart he never quit his day job; he just took a few sabbaticals.
"He stopped performing in 1960 after only a few years, resumed briefly in 1965 and then stopped for good in 1967. His music was ultimately just a momentary detour in an academic career that included teaching posts at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, and even a stint with the Atomic Energy Commission.
"Mr. Lehrer’s songwriting output was modest, but it was darkly memorable. In the tasteless world he evoked, a seemingly harmless geezer turned out to be “The Old Dope Peddler” and spring was the time for “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.”
"After graduating early from the Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut, Mr. Lehrer went to Harvard, where he majored in mathematics and received his bachelor’s degree in 1946, at 18. He earned a master’s from Harvard the next year and then pursued doctoral studies there and at Columbia University. (He continued his studies on and off for many years, but he never completed his Ph.D. thesis.)
"In 1953, encouraged by friends, he produced an album. To his surprise, “Songs by Tom Lehrer,” cut and pressed in an initial run of 400 copies, was a hit. Sold through the mail and initially promoted almost entirely by word of mouth, it ultimately sold an estimated half-million copies.
"The cover contained a drawing of Mr. Lehrer seated at the piano, with horns coming out of his head and a devil’s tail emerging from his formal attire. (His follow-up album, “More of Tom Lehrer,” used the same image.) The 11 songs lived up to that image, among them “My Home Town” (where the “just plain folks” included the pyromaniacal son of the mayor and the math teacher who sells dirty pictures to children after school) and the necrophiliac ballad “I Hold Your Hand in Mine.”
"A new generation was introduced to the Lehrer songbook in 1980 when the British impresario Cameron Mackintosh presented “Tomfoolery,” a revue of his songs, in London. The show was a hit there and was later produced in New York, Washington, Dublin and elsewhere.
"In October 2020, Mr. Lehrer announced on his website that “all the lyrics on this website, whether published or unpublished, copyrighted or uncopyrighted, may be downloaded and used in any manner whatsoever, without requiring any further permission from me or any payment to me or to anyone else” — in other words, that he was relinquishing the rights to all his songs, except for the melodies of those few that used his words but someone else’s music.
"Mr. Lehrer divided his time for many years between Cambridge, where he taught at both Harvard and M.I.T., and Santa Cruz, where he taught courses on mathematics and musical theater at the University of California from 1972 to 2001."
He has an LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/lehrertom
and his albums can be found on Spotify
Nicole Arthur. WaPo, 07/27/2025: Tom Lehrer, master satirist of Cold War era, dies at 97. "In song, he brilliantly skewered clichés about romance, patriotism and small-town life."
Agence France-Presse. Guardian, 07/27/2025: Tom Lehrer, acclaimed musical satirist of cold war era, dies aged 97. "A child prodigy in mathematics who graduated Harvard at just 19, his darkly prophetic and cynical show tunes won him a cult following in the 50s and 60s."
Richard Severo and Peter Keepnews. NYT, 07/27/2025: Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97. "A mathematician by training, he acquired a devoted following with songs that set sardonic lyrics to music that was often maddeningly cheerful."
"Mr. Lehrer’s lyrics were nimble, sometimes salacious and almost always sardonic, sung to music that tended to be maddeningly cheerful. Accompanying himself on piano, he performed in nightclubs, in concert and on records that his admirers purchased, originally by mail order only, in the hundreds of thousands.
"But his entertainment career ultimately took a back seat to academia. In his heart he never quit his day job; he just took a few sabbaticals.
"He stopped performing in 1960 after only a few years, resumed briefly in 1965 and then stopped for good in 1967. His music was ultimately just a momentary detour in an academic career that included teaching posts at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, and even a stint with the Atomic Energy Commission.
"Mr. Lehrer’s songwriting output was modest, but it was darkly memorable. In the tasteless world he evoked, a seemingly harmless geezer turned out to be “The Old Dope Peddler” and spring was the time for “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.”
"After graduating early from the Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut, Mr. Lehrer went to Harvard, where he majored in mathematics and received his bachelor’s degree in 1946, at 18. He earned a master’s from Harvard the next year and then pursued doctoral studies there and at Columbia University. (He continued his studies on and off for many years, but he never completed his Ph.D. thesis.)
"In 1953, encouraged by friends, he produced an album. To his surprise, “Songs by Tom Lehrer,” cut and pressed in an initial run of 400 copies, was a hit. Sold through the mail and initially promoted almost entirely by word of mouth, it ultimately sold an estimated half-million copies.
"The cover contained a drawing of Mr. Lehrer seated at the piano, with horns coming out of his head and a devil’s tail emerging from his formal attire. (His follow-up album, “More of Tom Lehrer,” used the same image.) The 11 songs lived up to that image, among them “My Home Town” (where the “just plain folks” included the pyromaniacal son of the mayor and the math teacher who sells dirty pictures to children after school) and the necrophiliac ballad “I Hold Your Hand in Mine.”
"A new generation was introduced to the Lehrer songbook in 1980 when the British impresario Cameron Mackintosh presented “Tomfoolery,” a revue of his songs, in London. The show was a hit there and was later produced in New York, Washington, Dublin and elsewhere.
"In October 2020, Mr. Lehrer announced on his website that “all the lyrics on this website, whether published or unpublished, copyrighted or uncopyrighted, may be downloaded and used in any manner whatsoever, without requiring any further permission from me or any payment to me or to anyone else” — in other words, that he was relinquishing the rights to all his songs, except for the melodies of those few that used his words but someone else’s music.
"Mr. Lehrer divided his time for many years between Cambridge, where he taught at both Harvard and M.I.T., and Santa Cruz, where he taught courses on mathematics and musical theater at the University of California from 1972 to 2001."
He has an LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/lehrertom
and his albums can be found on Spotify
Nicole Arthur. WaPo, 07/27/2025: Tom Lehrer, master satirist of Cold War era, dies at 97. "In song, he brilliantly skewered clichés about romance, patriotism and small-town life."
Agence France-Presse. Guardian, 07/27/2025: Tom Lehrer, acclaimed musical satirist of cold war era, dies aged 97. "A child prodigy in mathematics who graduated Harvard at just 19, his darkly prophetic and cynical show tunes won him a cult following in the 50s and 60s."
72featherbear
Rose Leiman Goldemberg, 1928-2025
Penelope Green. NYT, 07/30/2025, updated 7/31: Rose Leiman Goldemberg, 97, Dies; Her ‘Burning Bed’ Was a TV Benchmark. Temporarily unlocked
"It was Arnold Shapiro, the veteran producer, writer and director behind “Scared Straight!,” a well-received TV documentary about teenage delinquents being brought into contact with prison inmates, who sent Ms. Goldemberg “The Burning Bed,” a 1980 book by The New Yorker writer Faith McNulty about the case of Francine Hughes.
"Ms. Hughes’s story was horrific. For 13 years, she had been terrorized by her alcoholic husband. One day in March 1977, after a brutal beating, she called the police in their Michigan town. Two officers responded and then left, saying there was nothing they could do because they hadn’t witnessed the attacks.
"That night, the beating resumed, and Ms. Hughes’s husband raped her. When he fell asleep, she doused the bed with gasoline, lit a match and set the bed on fire. Then she put her children in the car and drove to the county jail to report what she had done.
"Ms. Fawcett, the pinup star of “Charlie’s Angels,” the frothy crime series, was already attached to the project; she had shown her dramatic chops in “Extremities,” an Off Broadway production about a woman who exacts revenge on her rapist, and wanted to continue working in that vein. Yet the project was initially turned down by all three networks. When it was resurrected, by NBC, in one of those complicated scenarios particular to Hollywood, Mr. Shapiro was somehow left out of the production.
"The movie aired in October 1984, to mostly critical acclaim. (Paul Le Mat played the husband.) It was seen by tens of millions of viewers, and NBC’s ratings soared, pulling the network out of third place and putting it on top for the first time in a decade. Ms. Fawcett, Ms. Goldemberg, the producers and even the makeup artist were nominated for Emmy Awards, and the movie set off a national conversation about domestic abuse. Women’s shelters, a rarity in those days, began opening all over the country; the film was shown in men’s prisons; and Ms. Goldemberg was often asked to speak to women’s groups.
"Inevitably, as she recalled in 2011, “someone would say, ‘I couldn’t talk about my own abuse until I saw the film.’”
"She added: “It wasn’t because of me. It was a wonderful performance by Farrah, and the timing was right. It was just a remarkable confluence of the right things happening at the right time.”
Penelope Green. NYT, 07/30/2025, updated 7/31: Rose Leiman Goldemberg, 97, Dies; Her ‘Burning Bed’ Was a TV Benchmark. Temporarily unlocked
"It was Arnold Shapiro, the veteran producer, writer and director behind “Scared Straight!,” a well-received TV documentary about teenage delinquents being brought into contact with prison inmates, who sent Ms. Goldemberg “The Burning Bed,” a 1980 book by The New Yorker writer Faith McNulty about the case of Francine Hughes.
"Ms. Hughes’s story was horrific. For 13 years, she had been terrorized by her alcoholic husband. One day in March 1977, after a brutal beating, she called the police in their Michigan town. Two officers responded and then left, saying there was nothing they could do because they hadn’t witnessed the attacks.
"That night, the beating resumed, and Ms. Hughes’s husband raped her. When he fell asleep, she doused the bed with gasoline, lit a match and set the bed on fire. Then she put her children in the car and drove to the county jail to report what she had done.
"Ms. Fawcett, the pinup star of “Charlie’s Angels,” the frothy crime series, was already attached to the project; she had shown her dramatic chops in “Extremities,” an Off Broadway production about a woman who exacts revenge on her rapist, and wanted to continue working in that vein. Yet the project was initially turned down by all three networks. When it was resurrected, by NBC, in one of those complicated scenarios particular to Hollywood, Mr. Shapiro was somehow left out of the production.
"The movie aired in October 1984, to mostly critical acclaim. (Paul Le Mat played the husband.) It was seen by tens of millions of viewers, and NBC’s ratings soared, pulling the network out of third place and putting it on top for the first time in a decade. Ms. Fawcett, Ms. Goldemberg, the producers and even the makeup artist were nominated for Emmy Awards, and the movie set off a national conversation about domestic abuse. Women’s shelters, a rarity in those days, began opening all over the country; the film was shown in men’s prisons; and Ms. Goldemberg was often asked to speak to women’s groups.
"Inevitably, as she recalled in 2011, “someone would say, ‘I couldn’t talk about my own abuse until I saw the film.’”
"She added: “It wasn’t because of me. It was a wonderful performance by Farrah, and the timing was right. It was just a remarkable confluence of the right things happening at the right time.”
73featherbear
Loni Anderson, 1945-2025
Claire Moses. NYT, 08/03/2025: Loni Anderson, Star of ‘WKRP in Cincinnati,’ Dies at 79.
"Her big break came in 1978 when she was cast as Jennifer Marlowe, a receptionist, on “WKRP in Cincinnati.”
"The show, which aired on CBS from 1978 to 1982, was about an easy-listening local radio station in Cincinnati that switched to a rock format.
"Her role earned her three Golden Globe nominations as well as two Emmy Award nominations. She later appeared in two episodes of a sequel, “The New WKRP in Cincinnati,” which aired from 1991 to 1993.
"Ms. Anderson’s seemingly ditsy, bombshell character was anything but, and her performance as Jennifer showed that looks and smarts could go together.
"She entered into a relationship with the actor Burt Reynolds, who would become her third husband, in 1982 when they were filming “Stroker Ace,” a comedy surrounding car racing.
"The couple married in 1988 and adopted a son, Quinton Reynolds.
"The union ended in 1993, in one of the most acrimonious splits Hollywood had seen, and one that would serve as tabloid filler for decades to come, with both Mr. Reynolds and Ms. Anderson jabbing at each other over the years in interviews.
"In 2008, Ms. Anderson married her fourth husband, the musician Bob Flick, who was a founding member of the 1960s folk group the Brothers Four.
"Over the decades, Ms. Anderson amassed more than 60 acting credits.
"In 1980, Ms. Anderson starred in the biographical drama and made-for-TV movie “The Jayne Mansfield Story” about the actress by the same name opposite a young Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Hungarian actor and bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay.
"She continued working well into her 70s. In 2023, she appeared in the Lifetime movie “Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas,” which follows five soap opera actresses who reunite to shoot a Christmas episode."
Claire Moses. NYT, 08/03/2025: Loni Anderson, Star of ‘WKRP in Cincinnati,’ Dies at 79.
"Her big break came in 1978 when she was cast as Jennifer Marlowe, a receptionist, on “WKRP in Cincinnati.”
"The show, which aired on CBS from 1978 to 1982, was about an easy-listening local radio station in Cincinnati that switched to a rock format.
"Her role earned her three Golden Globe nominations as well as two Emmy Award nominations. She later appeared in two episodes of a sequel, “The New WKRP in Cincinnati,” which aired from 1991 to 1993.
"Ms. Anderson’s seemingly ditsy, bombshell character was anything but, and her performance as Jennifer showed that looks and smarts could go together.
"She entered into a relationship with the actor Burt Reynolds, who would become her third husband, in 1982 when they were filming “Stroker Ace,” a comedy surrounding car racing.
"The couple married in 1988 and adopted a son, Quinton Reynolds.
"The union ended in 1993, in one of the most acrimonious splits Hollywood had seen, and one that would serve as tabloid filler for decades to come, with both Mr. Reynolds and Ms. Anderson jabbing at each other over the years in interviews.
"In 2008, Ms. Anderson married her fourth husband, the musician Bob Flick, who was a founding member of the 1960s folk group the Brothers Four.
"Over the decades, Ms. Anderson amassed more than 60 acting credits.
"In 1980, Ms. Anderson starred in the biographical drama and made-for-TV movie “The Jayne Mansfield Story” about the actress by the same name opposite a young Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Hungarian actor and bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay.
"She continued working well into her 70s. In 2023, she appeared in the Lifetime movie “Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas,” which follows five soap opera actresses who reunite to shoot a Christmas episode."
74featherbear
Kelly Mack, 1992-2025
Claire Moses. NYT, 08/06/2025: Kelley Mack, ‘Walking Dead’ Actress, Dies at 33.
"Kelley Mack, who was best known for her role as Addy on the hit TV series “The Walking Dead,” died in Cincinnati last weekend, her family announced on Tuesday. She was 33.
"The cause was an aggressive tumor that attacked her central nervous system, her family said in a statement.
"She earned 35 acting credits, including Addy in the ninth season of the AMC series “The Walking Dead.” She also appeared on the NBC drama “Chicago Med” and the Fox show “9-1-1,” among others."
Claire Moses. NYT, 08/06/2025: Kelley Mack, ‘Walking Dead’ Actress, Dies at 33.
"Kelley Mack, who was best known for her role as Addy on the hit TV series “The Walking Dead,” died in Cincinnati last weekend, her family announced on Tuesday. She was 33.
"The cause was an aggressive tumor that attacked her central nervous system, her family said in a statement.
"She earned 35 acting credits, including Addy in the ninth season of the AMC series “The Walking Dead.” She also appeared on the NBC drama “Chicago Med” and the Fox show “9-1-1,” among others."
75cindydavid4
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76featherbear
Eddie Palmieri, 1936-2025
Giovanni Russonello. NYT, 08/06/2025, upd 8/07: Eddie Palmieri, Latin Music’s Dynamic Innovator, Dies at 88. "He roped salsa into conversation with jazz, rock, funk and even modern classical music. “A new world music,” one critic said, “is being born.” Shared -- extensive obit w/great pictures: Temporarily unlocked.
Giovanni Russonello. NYT, 08/06/2025, upd 8/07: Eddie Palmieri, Latin Music’s Dynamic Innovator, Dies at 88. "He roped salsa into conversation with jazz, rock, funk and even modern classical music. “A new world music,” one critic said, “is being born.” Shared -- extensive obit w/great pictures: Temporarily unlocked.
77featherbear
Terence Stamp, 1938-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp, Luminary of 1960s British Cinema, Dies at 87. "Known for his “heartbreak blue eyes,” he starred in “Billy Budd” and “The Collector,” and had a memorable role in “Superman” and “Superman II.”"
"Terence Stamp, the magnetic British actor whose film roles included a naïve 18th-century merchant seaman in “Billy Budd,” a violent 19th-century swordsman in “Far From the Madding Crowd,” a tyrant from another planet in “Superman” and a transgender nightclub entertainer in “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” died on Sunday. He was 87.
"Mr. Stamp was a boyish 24 when “Billy Budd” (1962), based on Herman Melville’s seafaring novel, was released. He looked into the camera with what one journalist later called his “heartbreak blue eyes” and let his tousled blond hair fall over his forehead whenever his character was provoked — which was often, since he was being accused of murder.
"And he could act: The role brought Mr. Stamp an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for most promising newcomer.
"He presented a very different image three years later, playing a dark-haired psychopath who loves butterflies but decides to move up to capturing humans in “The Collector” (1965).
"He grew a sinister black mustache to play the sadistic Sergeant Troy, who mistreats the heroine (Julie Christie) in “Far From the Madding Crowd” (1967), based on Thomas Hardy’s novel. Reviews were mixed, but Roger Ebert praised Mr. Stamp’s performance as “suitably vile.” Looking back in 2015, a writer for The Guardian observed, “Stamp has an animation and conviction in this role that he never equaled elsewhere.”
"Not long after that, Mr. Stamp largely disappeared for almost a decade. He came back as a character actor. When he made his entrance in Richard Donner’s “Superman II” (1980), boldly crashing through a White House roof, audiences saw the young man who had been called the face of the ’60s, now with a seriously receding hairline, devilish facial hair and a newly mature persona. His character, Zod, an alien supervillain with a burning desire to rule the world, also appeared in the first “Superman” movie.
"Mr. Stamp had a busy career for the next half-century, perhaps most memorably in “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” (1994), with yet another new on-screen look. His character, Bernadette, a middle-aged transgender woman, wore dangly earrings, a grayish-blond pageboy, tasteful neutrals and not quite enough makeup to hide the age lines.
"Between 1978 and 2019, Mr. Stamp appeared in more than 50 films. He received particular praise for Steven Soderbergh’s “The Limey” (1999), in which he played an ex-con on the trail of a drug-trafficking record producer (Peter Fonda) as he avenges his daughter’s death."
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp: a life in pictures.
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp, face of 60s British cinema and star of The Limey and Superman, dies at 87.
Xan Brooks. Guardian, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp: the mesmerisingly seductive dark prince of British cinema.
Anne Branigan. WaPo, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp, English actor known for ‘Superman’ and ‘The Limey,’ dies at 87. "As a leading man turned character actor, Mr. Stamp sizzled on screen in films such as “Billy Budd” and “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.”"
Anita Gates. NYT, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp, Luminary of 1960s British Cinema, Dies at 87. "Known for his “heartbreak blue eyes,” he starred in “Billy Budd” and “The Collector,” and had a memorable role in “Superman” and “Superman II.”"
"Terence Stamp, the magnetic British actor whose film roles included a naïve 18th-century merchant seaman in “Billy Budd,” a violent 19th-century swordsman in “Far From the Madding Crowd,” a tyrant from another planet in “Superman” and a transgender nightclub entertainer in “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” died on Sunday. He was 87.
"Mr. Stamp was a boyish 24 when “Billy Budd” (1962), based on Herman Melville’s seafaring novel, was released. He looked into the camera with what one journalist later called his “heartbreak blue eyes” and let his tousled blond hair fall over his forehead whenever his character was provoked — which was often, since he was being accused of murder.
"And he could act: The role brought Mr. Stamp an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for most promising newcomer.
"He presented a very different image three years later, playing a dark-haired psychopath who loves butterflies but decides to move up to capturing humans in “The Collector” (1965).
"He grew a sinister black mustache to play the sadistic Sergeant Troy, who mistreats the heroine (Julie Christie) in “Far From the Madding Crowd” (1967), based on Thomas Hardy’s novel. Reviews were mixed, but Roger Ebert praised Mr. Stamp’s performance as “suitably vile.” Looking back in 2015, a writer for The Guardian observed, “Stamp has an animation and conviction in this role that he never equaled elsewhere.”
"Not long after that, Mr. Stamp largely disappeared for almost a decade. He came back as a character actor. When he made his entrance in Richard Donner’s “Superman II” (1980), boldly crashing through a White House roof, audiences saw the young man who had been called the face of the ’60s, now with a seriously receding hairline, devilish facial hair and a newly mature persona. His character, Zod, an alien supervillain with a burning desire to rule the world, also appeared in the first “Superman” movie.
"Mr. Stamp had a busy career for the next half-century, perhaps most memorably in “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” (1994), with yet another new on-screen look. His character, Bernadette, a middle-aged transgender woman, wore dangly earrings, a grayish-blond pageboy, tasteful neutrals and not quite enough makeup to hide the age lines.
"Between 1978 and 2019, Mr. Stamp appeared in more than 50 films. He received particular praise for Steven Soderbergh’s “The Limey” (1999), in which he played an ex-con on the trail of a drug-trafficking record producer (Peter Fonda) as he avenges his daughter’s death."
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp: a life in pictures.
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp, face of 60s British cinema and star of The Limey and Superman, dies at 87.
Xan Brooks. Guardian, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp: the mesmerisingly seductive dark prince of British cinema.
Anne Branigan. WaPo, 08/17/2025: Terence Stamp, English actor known for ‘Superman’ and ‘The Limey,’ dies at 87. "As a leading man turned character actor, Mr. Stamp sizzled on screen in films such as “Billy Budd” and “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.”"
78featherbear
Jerry Adler, 1929-2025
Ali Watkins. NYT, 08/24/2025: Jerry Adler, Actor in ‘The Sopranos’ Who Found Success Late in Life, Dies at 96.
"Jerry Adler, a longtime behind-the-scenes Broadway manager and an actor in “The Sopranos,” “The Good Wife” and “Rescue Me,” died on Saturday in New York. He was 96.
"He became a veteran theater hand, stage managing, directing or producing more than 50 Broadway shows — including working on the original “My Fair Lady” — before moving to California in the 1980s to be closer to his children. ... He worked for nearly a decade on soap operas before a fairy tale, late-career transformation to become an actor.
"Mr. Adler gained critical acclaim in the 1992 film “The Public Eye” with Joe Pesci, when he was cast at the age of 62 as a gruff newspaper columnist named Arthur Nabler.
"The role catapulted him into a twilight career of auditions, readings and other roles, where directors gravitated to his “Everyman” quality. The New York Times in 1992 called him “a nicer Rodney Dangerfield.”
"He was perhaps best known for playing Herman “Hesh” Rabkin, a sage guide and associate to the DiMeo crime family, in a role that he reprised across six seasons of the HBO drama “The Sopranos.”
"He also had recurring roles as the lawyer Howard Lyman in “The Good Wife” and as the grizzled fire chief Sidney Feinberg in “Rescue Me.”"
Ali Watkins. NYT, 08/24/2025: Jerry Adler, Actor in ‘The Sopranos’ Who Found Success Late in Life, Dies at 96.
"Jerry Adler, a longtime behind-the-scenes Broadway manager and an actor in “The Sopranos,” “The Good Wife” and “Rescue Me,” died on Saturday in New York. He was 96.
"He became a veteran theater hand, stage managing, directing or producing more than 50 Broadway shows — including working on the original “My Fair Lady” — before moving to California in the 1980s to be closer to his children. ... He worked for nearly a decade on soap operas before a fairy tale, late-career transformation to become an actor.
"Mr. Adler gained critical acclaim in the 1992 film “The Public Eye” with Joe Pesci, when he was cast at the age of 62 as a gruff newspaper columnist named Arthur Nabler.
"The role catapulted him into a twilight career of auditions, readings and other roles, where directors gravitated to his “Everyman” quality. The New York Times in 1992 called him “a nicer Rodney Dangerfield.”
"He was perhaps best known for playing Herman “Hesh” Rabkin, a sage guide and associate to the DiMeo crime family, in a role that he reprised across six seasons of the HBO drama “The Sopranos.”
"He also had recurring roles as the lawyer Howard Lyman in “The Good Wife” and as the grizzled fire chief Sidney Feinberg in “Rescue Me.”"
79featherbear
I copied this from my August bib thread, since she wrote quite a few books on film:
Joan Mellen, 1941-2025
Michael S. Rosenwall. NYT, 08/28/2025: Joan Mellen, Whose Bobby Knight Biography Sparked Debate, Dies at 83. "Some sportswriters accused her of “deifying” Indiana’s irascible basketball coach. A professor of English, she also wrote about Marilyn Monroe and the assassination of John F. Kennedy." Temporarily Unlocked
I knew her for her film books; no idea of the extent of her bibliography; check out the NYT obit, w/pictures of her in her younger days w/Bobby Knight.
Joan Mellen's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/mellenjoan
" Her 25 books included several on Japanese cinema; biographies of Marilyn Monroe, the Southern novelist Kay Boyle and the Spanish-Mexican filmmaker Luis Buñuel; a novel; and investigations into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (And Bob Knight: His Own Man)
"“How many people do I know who could talk knowledgeably about Luis Buñuel, Bobby Knight or Lyndon Johnson?” Jefferson Morley, a former Washington Post reporter and Kennedy assassination investigator, wrote on his Substack, JFK Facts. “I think only one: Joan.”
"Professor Mellen died on June 30 at her home in Pennington, N.J. She was 83. Her death, which was not widely reported, was confirmed by Audrey Szepinski, a former student who was her research assistant for many years.
"Though she was never widely known, Professor Mellen was an authoritative, inquisitive and frequently combative participant in whatever intellectual territory she wandered through.
"Professor Mellen’s early books were devoted to film. They included “Filmguide to ‘The Battle of Algiers’” (1973), “Marilyn Monroe” (1973), “Women and Their Sexuality in the New Film” (1974) and “The Waves at Genji’s Door: Japan Through Its Cinema” (1976). Critics praised her work.
"In the 1980s and ’90s, Professor Mellen wrote a succession of biographies, beginning in 1982 with “Privilege: The Enigma of Sasha Bruce,” about the slain daughter of the American diplomat David K. E. Bruce, and including “Hellman and Hammett: The Legendary Passion of Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett” (1996).
"In 2005, she published “A Farewell to Justice: Jim Garrison, JFK’s Assassination, and the Case That Should Have Changed History.” That book scrutinized the findings of the Warren Commission’s investigation into Kennedy’s death, an effort she called “bunk.”
"In her last book, “Sherlock Being Catfished” (2024), she confronted herself, asking how she — of all people — fell victim to a Facebook romance scam.
Joan Mellen, 1941-2025
Michael S. Rosenwall. NYT, 08/28/2025: Joan Mellen, Whose Bobby Knight Biography Sparked Debate, Dies at 83. "Some sportswriters accused her of “deifying” Indiana’s irascible basketball coach. A professor of English, she also wrote about Marilyn Monroe and the assassination of John F. Kennedy." Temporarily Unlocked
I knew her for her film books; no idea of the extent of her bibliography; check out the NYT obit, w/pictures of her in her younger days w/Bobby Knight.
Joan Mellen's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/mellenjoan
" Her 25 books included several on Japanese cinema; biographies of Marilyn Monroe, the Southern novelist Kay Boyle and the Spanish-Mexican filmmaker Luis Buñuel; a novel; and investigations into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (And Bob Knight: His Own Man)
"“How many people do I know who could talk knowledgeably about Luis Buñuel, Bobby Knight or Lyndon Johnson?” Jefferson Morley, a former Washington Post reporter and Kennedy assassination investigator, wrote on his Substack, JFK Facts. “I think only one: Joan.”
"Professor Mellen died on June 30 at her home in Pennington, N.J. She was 83. Her death, which was not widely reported, was confirmed by Audrey Szepinski, a former student who was her research assistant for many years.
"Though she was never widely known, Professor Mellen was an authoritative, inquisitive and frequently combative participant in whatever intellectual territory she wandered through.
"Professor Mellen’s early books were devoted to film. They included “Filmguide to ‘The Battle of Algiers’” (1973), “Marilyn Monroe” (1973), “Women and Their Sexuality in the New Film” (1974) and “The Waves at Genji’s Door: Japan Through Its Cinema” (1976). Critics praised her work.
"In the 1980s and ’90s, Professor Mellen wrote a succession of biographies, beginning in 1982 with “Privilege: The Enigma of Sasha Bruce,” about the slain daughter of the American diplomat David K. E. Bruce, and including “Hellman and Hammett: The Legendary Passion of Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett” (1996).
"In 2005, she published “A Farewell to Justice: Jim Garrison, JFK’s Assassination, and the Case That Should Have Changed History.” That book scrutinized the findings of the Warren Commission’s investigation into Kennedy’s death, an effort she called “bunk.”
"In her last book, “Sherlock Being Catfished” (2024), she confronted herself, asking how she — of all people — fell victim to a Facebook romance scam.
80cindydavid4
Allan Ahlberg writer of books for kids that kids love. the jolly postman is the first of theses and they all are wonderful. His wife drew the illustrations,
81featherbear
>80 cindydavid4: Copied from my books thread:
Allan Ahlberg, 1938-2025
Sam Roberts. NYT, 08/05/2025: Allan Ahlberg, Whose Children’s Books Were Best Sellers, Dies at 87. "Over five decades, he produced some 150 books, many of them illustrated by his wife, Janet Ahlberg, including classics like “Each Peach Pear Plum.” (Sharing the article primarily for the pictures: Temporarily unlocked)
Allan Ahlberg, 1938-2025
Sam Roberts. NYT, 08/05/2025: Allan Ahlberg, Whose Children’s Books Were Best Sellers, Dies at 87. "Over five decades, he produced some 150 books, many of them illustrated by his wife, Janet Ahlberg, including classics like “Each Peach Pear Plum.” (Sharing the article primarily for the pictures: Temporarily unlocked)
82cindydavid4
tahnks for that. I gave most ot my classroom library away to other teachers when I retired, but kept those.Their books touched so many children, they will be long remembered
83featherbear
Graham Greene, 1952-2025
Dee Jefferson. 09/01/2025: Graham Greene, Dances with Wolves actor, dies aged 73. "The trailblazing Canadian First Nations actor, who was nominated for an Academy Award, died in Toronto after a long illness."
"Greene’s Hollywood breakthrough came when Kevin Costner cast him as real-life Lakota Sioux medicine man Kicking Bird (Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in his Academy Award-winning 1990 western Dances with Wolves. Greene’s performance landed him an Academy Award nomination and launched his Hollywood career, which included roles in Thunderheart (1992), Maverick (1994), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), The Green Mile (1999) and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)."
The obit really doesn't bring out his enormous film & TV resume. Check it out on IMDB.
Francesca Regalado. NYT, 09/02/2025: Graham Greene, Canadian Actor Who Portrayed Indigenous Characters, Dies at 73. "The First Nations actor, who appeared in “Dances With Wolves” and other Hollywood blockbusters, remained active in Canadian film, theater and television."
"Over a film and theater career that spanned nearly five decades, Mr. Greene resisted moving to Los Angeles or New York.
"“I don’t like any of those places,” he said in June, when he received Canada’s Governor General’s Award for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. “I was born in Canada and I’m here to stay, and that’s it.”
"Graham Greene was born on June 22, 1952, in the Oneida Reserve in southwestern Ontario, Mr. Jordan said. He graduated from the Center for Indigenous Theater in Toronto in 1974.
"He received the Order of Canada in 2016 for his achievements in theater and film, and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto in 2022.
"Mr. Greene remained active in his last years. He played the chief of a Native American tribe in the 2009 and 2012 installments of the vampire film series “The Twilight Saga,” and made guest appearances in the television series “Reservation Dogs” and “The Last of Us” in 2023. He also starred in the Canadian film “The Birds Who Fear Death” (2024).
"His last two films, “Ice Fall” and “Afterwards,” are scheduled for release later this year."
Dee Jefferson. 09/01/2025: Graham Greene, Dances with Wolves actor, dies aged 73. "The trailblazing Canadian First Nations actor, who was nominated for an Academy Award, died in Toronto after a long illness."
"Greene’s Hollywood breakthrough came when Kevin Costner cast him as real-life Lakota Sioux medicine man Kicking Bird (Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in his Academy Award-winning 1990 western Dances with Wolves. Greene’s performance landed him an Academy Award nomination and launched his Hollywood career, which included roles in Thunderheart (1992), Maverick (1994), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), The Green Mile (1999) and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)."
The obit really doesn't bring out his enormous film & TV resume. Check it out on IMDB.
Francesca Regalado. NYT, 09/02/2025: Graham Greene, Canadian Actor Who Portrayed Indigenous Characters, Dies at 73. "The First Nations actor, who appeared in “Dances With Wolves” and other Hollywood blockbusters, remained active in Canadian film, theater and television."
"Over a film and theater career that spanned nearly five decades, Mr. Greene resisted moving to Los Angeles or New York.
"“I don’t like any of those places,” he said in June, when he received Canada’s Governor General’s Award for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. “I was born in Canada and I’m here to stay, and that’s it.”
"Graham Greene was born on June 22, 1952, in the Oneida Reserve in southwestern Ontario, Mr. Jordan said. He graduated from the Center for Indigenous Theater in Toronto in 1974.
"He received the Order of Canada in 2016 for his achievements in theater and film, and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto in 2022.
"Mr. Greene remained active in his last years. He played the chief of a Native American tribe in the 2009 and 2012 installments of the vampire film series “The Twilight Saga,” and made guest appearances in the television series “Reservation Dogs” and “The Last of Us” in 2023. He also starred in the Canadian film “The Birds Who Fear Death” (2024).
"His last two films, “Ice Fall” and “Afterwards,” are scheduled for release later this year."
84featherbear
Vivian Ayers Allen, 1923-2025
Family lineage I did not know.
Miguel Salazar. NYT, 09/01/2025: Vivian Ayers Allen, Poet and Cultural Activist, Dies at 102. "She forged an arts career in Houston while raising children who became accomplished entertainers: Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen and Tex Allen." Temporarily unlocked
Her LT page is under Vivian Ayers: https://www.librarything.com/author/ayersvivian
Family lineage I did not know.
Miguel Salazar. NYT, 09/01/2025: Vivian Ayers Allen, Poet and Cultural Activist, Dies at 102. "She forged an arts career in Houston while raising children who became accomplished entertainers: Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen and Tex Allen." Temporarily unlocked
Her LT page is under Vivian Ayers: https://www.librarything.com/author/ayersvivian
85featherbear
Polly Holliday, 1937-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 09/10/2025: Polly Holliday, a Sassy Waitress on the Sitcom ‘Alice,’ Dies at 88.
"Polly Holliday, the adaptable actress who was best known for playing the brash but amiable Flo on the long-running sitcom “Alice,” and who also pursued a notable stage career for decades, died on Tuesday at her home in Manhattan. She was 88.
"Viewers of “Alice” could tell when Flo, a gum-chewing Southern diner waitress with attitude, was perturbed. She’d pause momentarily, address the offender in the sweetest, most dulcet tones and then suggest, deadpan, “Kiss my grits.”
"As she pointed out to her boss (Vic Tayback) at the fictional roadside Mel’s Diner in Phoenix, “I’m attractive, I’m a good talker, I’m a good dancer, and the list goes on and on.”
"Ms. Holliday, a multiple Emmy Award nominee, won the Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress in a television series in 1979 and 1980, matching the two Golden Globes won by Ms. Lavin.
"In 1984, she was in the film “Gremlins,” the small-town horror-comedy that came to be regarded as a Christmas classic. As the wealthy, meanspirited Mrs. Deagle, whom Vincent Canby of The New York Times described as “Kingston Falls’s own wicked witch,” she dies when her stair-lift chair goes haywire (gremlins at work!) and ejects her through an upstairs window into the front-yard snow.
"And Ms. Holliday paid several rewarding visits to Broadway. In 1990, she was nominated for a Tony Award for best featured actress for her performance in a revival of Tennessee Williams’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
"Ms. Holliday made her Broadway debut in 1974, playing a highly seducible Southern matron in Murray Schisgal’s comedy “All Over Town,” directed by Dustin Hoffman.
"She later did a favor for Mr. Hoffman when he needed guidance in playing an actor pretending to be an actress in the 1982 film “Tootsie.” His female character-within-a-character, Dorothy Michaels, had a silky Southern accent and, like Ms. Holliday’s Flo Castleberry, a frightening temper.
"Ms. Holliday returned to Broadway three times. She first co-starred with Jean Stapleton in the comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace” (1986). After “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” she was in a 1994 revival of William Inge’s “Picnic,” playing the heroine’s overly protective mother.
"At the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in 1988, Ms Holliday starred as Amanda Wingfield in Williams’s “The Glass Menagerie.” At the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia in 2002, she was in Tom Stoppard’s “Every Good Boy Deserves Favor.” And at Lincoln Center in 2000, she was in Arthur Laurents’s “The Time of the Cuckoo.”
"Ms. Holliday appeared in more than a dozen television movies, among them “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” (1976), “You Can’t Take It With You” (1979) and “The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story” (1983). She was in an equal number of series, including “The Golden Girls” (1986), “Amazing Stories” (1986), “The Equalizer” (1988) and “Homicide: Life on the Streets” (1996).
"And Ms. Holliday was surprisingly versatile in feature films. In “All the President’s Men” (1976), she was a Florida investigator’s very protective secretary; in “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993), Robin Williams and Sally Field’s annoying next-door neighbor; in “Moon Over Parador,” Jonathan Winters’s excitable wife; and in “The Parent Trap” (1998), a fearless camp director who could handle the toughest discipline problems, even with two Lindsay Lohans.
"Her last film appearance was in the 2010 drama “Fair Game” as the concerned mother of the outed C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame."
Anita Gates. NYT, 09/10/2025: Polly Holliday, a Sassy Waitress on the Sitcom ‘Alice,’ Dies at 88.
"Polly Holliday, the adaptable actress who was best known for playing the brash but amiable Flo on the long-running sitcom “Alice,” and who also pursued a notable stage career for decades, died on Tuesday at her home in Manhattan. She was 88.
"Viewers of “Alice” could tell when Flo, a gum-chewing Southern diner waitress with attitude, was perturbed. She’d pause momentarily, address the offender in the sweetest, most dulcet tones and then suggest, deadpan, “Kiss my grits.”
"As she pointed out to her boss (Vic Tayback) at the fictional roadside Mel’s Diner in Phoenix, “I’m attractive, I’m a good talker, I’m a good dancer, and the list goes on and on.”
"Ms. Holliday, a multiple Emmy Award nominee, won the Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress in a television series in 1979 and 1980, matching the two Golden Globes won by Ms. Lavin.
"In 1984, she was in the film “Gremlins,” the small-town horror-comedy that came to be regarded as a Christmas classic. As the wealthy, meanspirited Mrs. Deagle, whom Vincent Canby of The New York Times described as “Kingston Falls’s own wicked witch,” she dies when her stair-lift chair goes haywire (gremlins at work!) and ejects her through an upstairs window into the front-yard snow.
"And Ms. Holliday paid several rewarding visits to Broadway. In 1990, she was nominated for a Tony Award for best featured actress for her performance in a revival of Tennessee Williams’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
"Ms. Holliday made her Broadway debut in 1974, playing a highly seducible Southern matron in Murray Schisgal’s comedy “All Over Town,” directed by Dustin Hoffman.
"She later did a favor for Mr. Hoffman when he needed guidance in playing an actor pretending to be an actress in the 1982 film “Tootsie.” His female character-within-a-character, Dorothy Michaels, had a silky Southern accent and, like Ms. Holliday’s Flo Castleberry, a frightening temper.
"Ms. Holliday returned to Broadway three times. She first co-starred with Jean Stapleton in the comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace” (1986). After “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” she was in a 1994 revival of William Inge’s “Picnic,” playing the heroine’s overly protective mother.
"At the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in 1988, Ms Holliday starred as Amanda Wingfield in Williams’s “The Glass Menagerie.” At the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia in 2002, she was in Tom Stoppard’s “Every Good Boy Deserves Favor.” And at Lincoln Center in 2000, she was in Arthur Laurents’s “The Time of the Cuckoo.”
"Ms. Holliday appeared in more than a dozen television movies, among them “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” (1976), “You Can’t Take It With You” (1979) and “The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story” (1983). She was in an equal number of series, including “The Golden Girls” (1986), “Amazing Stories” (1986), “The Equalizer” (1988) and “Homicide: Life on the Streets” (1996).
"And Ms. Holliday was surprisingly versatile in feature films. In “All the President’s Men” (1976), she was a Florida investigator’s very protective secretary; in “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993), Robin Williams and Sally Field’s annoying next-door neighbor; in “Moon Over Parador,” Jonathan Winters’s excitable wife; and in “The Parent Trap” (1998), a fearless camp director who could handle the toughest discipline problems, even with two Lindsay Lohans.
"Her last film appearance was in the 2010 drama “Fair Game” as the concerned mother of the outed C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame."
86featherbear
Stuart Craig, 1942-2025
Clay Risen. NYT, 09/09/2025: Stuart Craig, Who Designed the Movie World of Harry Potter, Dies at 83.
"Stuart Craig, who won three Academy Awards for production design and was perhaps best known for creating the visual worlds of all eight “Harry Potter” films and their three “Fantastic Beasts” spinoffs — as well as the immersive Harry Potter sections at the Universal Resort in Florida — died on Sunday at his home in Windsor, Britain. He was 83.
"Mr. Craig built his reputation as one of the greatest production designers alive through his work on grand-scale period films like “Gandhi” (1982), set in India and South Africa in the first half of the 20th century; “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988), a tale of 18th-century France; and “The English Patient” (1996), set in Tuscany and North Africa during World War II. He won an Oscar for each and was nominated eight other times.
"He also received three BAFTA awards — for “The Elephant Man” (1980), “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005) and a Harry Potter spinoff, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (2016) — as well as 13 further nominations for that prize, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscar.
"Mr. Craig and his longtime set decorator, Stephenie McMillan, were among a handful of people to work on all eight Harry Potter films; Mr. Craig also worked on the three “Fantastic Beasts” prequels, a cumulative 21-year run that ended in 2022 with “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”
"At the request of J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, Universal Studios brought in Mr. Craig to design the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at its resort in Orlando, Fla., with the attraction divided between Universal’s two theme parks and connected by a Hogwarts Express ride.
"Over time, the sprawling Potter world grew to include sets far from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Scottish Highlands, like the massive Ministry of Magic headquarters, buried beneath central London. So, too, did the capabilities of computer-generated imagery expand, leading Mr. Craig and his team to learn how to incorporate those advances into their designing and building process."
Clay Risen. NYT, 09/09/2025: Stuart Craig, Who Designed the Movie World of Harry Potter, Dies at 83.
"Stuart Craig, who won three Academy Awards for production design and was perhaps best known for creating the visual worlds of all eight “Harry Potter” films and their three “Fantastic Beasts” spinoffs — as well as the immersive Harry Potter sections at the Universal Resort in Florida — died on Sunday at his home in Windsor, Britain. He was 83.
"Mr. Craig built his reputation as one of the greatest production designers alive through his work on grand-scale period films like “Gandhi” (1982), set in India and South Africa in the first half of the 20th century; “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988), a tale of 18th-century France; and “The English Patient” (1996), set in Tuscany and North Africa during World War II. He won an Oscar for each and was nominated eight other times.
"He also received three BAFTA awards — for “The Elephant Man” (1980), “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005) and a Harry Potter spinoff, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (2016) — as well as 13 further nominations for that prize, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscar.
"Mr. Craig and his longtime set decorator, Stephenie McMillan, were among a handful of people to work on all eight Harry Potter films; Mr. Craig also worked on the three “Fantastic Beasts” prequels, a cumulative 21-year run that ended in 2022 with “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”
"At the request of J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, Universal Studios brought in Mr. Craig to design the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at its resort in Orlando, Fla., with the attraction divided between Universal’s two theme parks and connected by a Hogwarts Express ride.
"Over time, the sprawling Potter world grew to include sets far from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Scottish Highlands, like the massive Ministry of Magic headquarters, buried beneath central London. So, too, did the capabilities of computer-generated imagery expand, leading Mr. Craig and his team to learn how to incorporate those advances into their designing and building process."
87featherbear
June Wilkinson, 1940-2025
Alex Williams. NYT, 09/11/2025: June Wilkinson, Pinup Star and Screen Siren, Is Dead at 85. "Christened “the Bosom” by Playboy magazine, she rode her voluptuous figure to fame and became known as “the most photographed nude in America.”
Author of Hollywood or Bust: the life and times of the legendary actress, model, and Playboy phenomenon June Wilkinson, the only item on her LT page (what no author portrait?): https://www.librarything.com/author/wilkinsonjune
"June Rose Wilkinson was born on March 27, 1940, in Essex, England ...
"As she entered her teens, she began training at a local dance school, with hopes of becoming a ballerina. It was not to be.
"“When I woke up on my 14th birthday, there they were — large breasts,” she wrote in her autobiography. “Unlike other teenage girls who were embarrassed by them, I loved them. I was the only girl in my class that had not been asked out on a date.”
"Too top-heavy to be a prima ballerina, she changed her focus to tap and modern dance. While she was a student at the Carlyle School for Young Ladies, one of her dance teachers suggested she audition for the Windmill Theater, a renowned venue in London modeled on the Moulin Rouge in Paris.
"Although she was only 15, she got the job. Under the name Baby June, she performed a fan dance nude, albeit largely covered up by the billowy fans. Her parents approved enough to attend one of her performances.
"In 1960, after taking a page from the Monroe playbook and dying her brunette hair blond, she earned her first credited big-screen role in “The Private Lives of Adam and Eve,” directed by and starring Mickey Rooney.
"Ms. Wilkinson secured a featured role the next year in “The Continental Twist” (also known as “Twist All Night”), a comedy starring the entertainer Louis Prima, and a year after that she appeared in “The Bellboy and the Playgirls,” a 3-D comedy co-directed by a young Francis Ford Coppola. She went on to appear on television shows including “Batman” and “The Doris Day Show.”
"As the women’s movement swept the nation in the late 1960s, newspapers began shying away from printing her measurements. But, as she wrote in her autobiography, she had never taken offense to the “silliness” of the practice — although, she added, “I wonder how men would have reacted if their penis size had been posted along with their pictures. Now that I am thinking about it, what a great idea.”
The NYT obit includes images of some of her film posters, not to mention a pic of her autobiography book jacket. One film I recall from TV was Macumba Love (1960); there was some torrid dancing as I recall after 60+ years. Others include the above mentioned Twist All Night w/Louis Prima (1961) & The Bellboy and the Playgirls (1961): "Real 3-Dimension."
Alex Williams. NYT, 09/11/2025: June Wilkinson, Pinup Star and Screen Siren, Is Dead at 85. "Christened “the Bosom” by Playboy magazine, she rode her voluptuous figure to fame and became known as “the most photographed nude in America.”
Author of Hollywood or Bust: the life and times of the legendary actress, model, and Playboy phenomenon June Wilkinson, the only item on her LT page (what no author portrait?): https://www.librarything.com/author/wilkinsonjune
"June Rose Wilkinson was born on March 27, 1940, in Essex, England ...
"As she entered her teens, she began training at a local dance school, with hopes of becoming a ballerina. It was not to be.
"“When I woke up on my 14th birthday, there they were — large breasts,” she wrote in her autobiography. “Unlike other teenage girls who were embarrassed by them, I loved them. I was the only girl in my class that had not been asked out on a date.”
"Too top-heavy to be a prima ballerina, she changed her focus to tap and modern dance. While she was a student at the Carlyle School for Young Ladies, one of her dance teachers suggested she audition for the Windmill Theater, a renowned venue in London modeled on the Moulin Rouge in Paris.
"Although she was only 15, she got the job. Under the name Baby June, she performed a fan dance nude, albeit largely covered up by the billowy fans. Her parents approved enough to attend one of her performances.
"In 1960, after taking a page from the Monroe playbook and dying her brunette hair blond, she earned her first credited big-screen role in “The Private Lives of Adam and Eve,” directed by and starring Mickey Rooney.
"Ms. Wilkinson secured a featured role the next year in “The Continental Twist” (also known as “Twist All Night”), a comedy starring the entertainer Louis Prima, and a year after that she appeared in “The Bellboy and the Playgirls,” a 3-D comedy co-directed by a young Francis Ford Coppola. She went on to appear on television shows including “Batman” and “The Doris Day Show.”
"As the women’s movement swept the nation in the late 1960s, newspapers began shying away from printing her measurements. But, as she wrote in her autobiography, she had never taken offense to the “silliness” of the practice — although, she added, “I wonder how men would have reacted if their penis size had been posted along with their pictures. Now that I am thinking about it, what a great idea.”
The NYT obit includes images of some of her film posters, not to mention a pic of her autobiography book jacket. One film I recall from TV was Macumba Love (1960); there was some torrid dancing as I recall after 60+ years. Others include the above mentioned Twist All Night w/Louis Prima (1961) & The Bellboy and the Playgirls (1961): "Real 3-Dimension."
88featherbear
Robert Redford, 1936-2025
Brooks Barnes. NYT, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford, Screen Idol Turned Director and Activist, Dies at 89. Temporarily unlocked
"Robert Redford, the big-screen charmer turned Oscar-winning director whose hit movies often helped America make sense of itself and who, off screen, evangelized for environmental causes and fostered the Sundance-centered independent film movement, died early Tuesday morning at his home in Utah. He was 89.
"As an actor, his biggest films included “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), with its loving look at rogues in a dying West, and “All the President’s Men” (1976), about the journalistic pursuit of President Richard M. Nixon in the Watergate era. In “Three Days of the Condor” (1975) he was an introverted C.I.A. codebreaker caught in a murderous cat-and-mouse game. “The Sting” (1973), about Depression-era grifters, gave Mr. Redford his first and only Oscar nomination as an actor.
"Mr. Redford was one of Hollywood’s preferred leads for decades, whether in comedies, dramas or thrillers; studios often sold him as a sex symbol. His body of work as a romantic leading man owed a great deal to the commanding actresses who were paired with him — Jane Fonda in “Barefoot in the Park” (1967), Barbra Streisand in “The Way We Were” (1973), Meryl Streep in “Out of Africa” (1985)."
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford, giant of American cinema, dies aged 89.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford: the incandescently handsome star who changed Hollywood forever.
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford: a life in pictures.
Guardian readers. Guardian, 09/17/2025: ‘A dolphin among sharks’: readers pay tribute to Robert Redford, a great movie star and decent human being.
Manohla Dargis. NYT, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford: A Classic American Ideal Who Escaped the Mold: an appraisal.
Alissa Wilkinson. NYT/ 09/17/2025: Robert Redford’s Many Types of Heroes: The Outlaw, the Romantic, the Survivor: From the Sundance Kid to his final role, he showed different ways to be a hero onscreen.
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 09/16/2025: https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/09/16/robert-redford-dead/">Ro... Redford, movie star and Sundance founder, dies at 89. "He won a massive following with “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “All the President’s Men.” Through the Sundance Institute and festival, he became a patron saint of American independent film."
Ty Burr. WaPo, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford: The hunk who fathered America’s indie film scene.
Washington Post Staff. WaPo, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford’s greatest roles, from ‘Sundance Kid’ to ‘All the President’s Men.’
Brooks Barnes. NYT, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford, Screen Idol Turned Director and Activist, Dies at 89. Temporarily unlocked
"Robert Redford, the big-screen charmer turned Oscar-winning director whose hit movies often helped America make sense of itself and who, off screen, evangelized for environmental causes and fostered the Sundance-centered independent film movement, died early Tuesday morning at his home in Utah. He was 89.
"As an actor, his biggest films included “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), with its loving look at rogues in a dying West, and “All the President’s Men” (1976), about the journalistic pursuit of President Richard M. Nixon in the Watergate era. In “Three Days of the Condor” (1975) he was an introverted C.I.A. codebreaker caught in a murderous cat-and-mouse game. “The Sting” (1973), about Depression-era grifters, gave Mr. Redford his first and only Oscar nomination as an actor.
"Mr. Redford was one of Hollywood’s preferred leads for decades, whether in comedies, dramas or thrillers; studios often sold him as a sex symbol. His body of work as a romantic leading man owed a great deal to the commanding actresses who were paired with him — Jane Fonda in “Barefoot in the Park” (1967), Barbra Streisand in “The Way We Were” (1973), Meryl Streep in “Out of Africa” (1985)."
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford, giant of American cinema, dies aged 89.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford: the incandescently handsome star who changed Hollywood forever.
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford: a life in pictures.
Guardian readers. Guardian, 09/17/2025: ‘A dolphin among sharks’: readers pay tribute to Robert Redford, a great movie star and decent human being.
Manohla Dargis. NYT, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford: A Classic American Ideal Who Escaped the Mold: an appraisal.
Alissa Wilkinson. NYT/ 09/17/2025: Robert Redford’s Many Types of Heroes: The Outlaw, the Romantic, the Survivor: From the Sundance Kid to his final role, he showed different ways to be a hero onscreen.
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 09/16/2025: https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/09/16/robert-redford-dead/">Ro... Redford, movie star and Sundance founder, dies at 89. "He won a massive following with “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “All the President’s Men.” Through the Sundance Institute and festival, he became a patron saint of American independent film."
Ty Burr. WaPo, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford: The hunk who fathered America’s indie film scene.
Washington Post Staff. WaPo, 09/16/2025: Robert Redford’s greatest roles, from ‘Sundance Kid’ to ‘All the President’s Men.’
89featherbear
Claudia Cardinale, 1938-2025
Nina Siegal. NYT, 09/23/2025: Claudia Cardinale, Actress Who Was ‘Italy’s Girlfriend,’ Is Dead at 87. Temporarily unlocked
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 09/23/2025: Claudia Cardinale, alluring star of 1960s cinema, dies at 87. "She had major early roles in Federico Fellini’s “8½,” Blake Edwards’s “The Pink Panther” and Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West.”
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 09/24/2025: Claudia Cardinale: toughness and charisma went with the sensual allure. "The smouldering star of Once Upon a Time in the West, 8½ and The Leopard had her best roles for Italian directors."
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 09/23/2025: Claudia Cardinale: a life in pictures.
The Guardian official obit, a bit late:
John Francis Lane. Guardian, 09/24/2025: Claudia Cardinale obituary.
Nina Siegal. NYT, 09/23/2025: Claudia Cardinale, Actress Who Was ‘Italy’s Girlfriend,’ Is Dead at 87. Temporarily unlocked
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 09/23/2025: Claudia Cardinale, alluring star of 1960s cinema, dies at 87. "She had major early roles in Federico Fellini’s “8½,” Blake Edwards’s “The Pink Panther” and Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West.”
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 09/24/2025: Claudia Cardinale: toughness and charisma went with the sensual allure. "The smouldering star of Once Upon a Time in the West, 8½ and The Leopard had her best roles for Italian directors."
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 09/23/2025: Claudia Cardinale: a life in pictures.
The Guardian official obit, a bit late:
John Francis Lane. Guardian, 09/24/2025: Claudia Cardinale obituary.
90featherbear
Henry Jaglom, 1938-2025
Alex Williams. 09/24/2025: Henry Jaglom, Indie Director Who Mined the Personal, Dies at 87. Temporarily unlocked
Andrew Pulver. 09/25/2025: Henry Jaglom, fiercely independent director and friend of Orson Welles, dies aged 87.
Alex Williams. 09/24/2025: Henry Jaglom, Indie Director Who Mined the Personal, Dies at 87. Temporarily unlocked
Andrew Pulver. 09/25/2025: Henry Jaglom, fiercely independent director and friend of Orson Welles, dies aged 87.
91featherbear
Marilyn Knowlden, 1926-2025
Alex Williams. NYT, 09/30/2025: Marilyn Knowlden, Child Actress of 1930s Hollywood, Dies at 99.
"Marilyn Knowlden, who as a bright-eyed, Depression-era child actress appeared in dozens of movies featuring stars like Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, played a piano duet with Chico Marx and danced with Charles Laughton, died on Sept. 15 in Eagle, Idaho. She was 99.
"Ms. Knowlden’s screen odyssey began at 4, when she took a screen test on a lark during a family trip to Hollywood. She was subsequently cast most often as verbally precocious or well-mannered moppets in more than 30 films spanning drama and more whimsical fare; six were best-picture Oscar nominees.
"They included “Little Women,”* the 1933 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel, starring Ms. Hepburn; “Imitation of Life” (1934), a pioneering drama about family loyalties and race with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers; “Les Misérables” (1935), in which she was the young Cosette alongside Fredric March and Charles Laughton; the star-studded 1935 version of Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield” (1935), as the sincere young Agnes (played as an adult by Madge Evans); “Anthony Adverse” (1936), a historical adventure with Mr. March and Olivia de Havilland; and “All This, and Heaven Too” (1940) a romance starring Ms. Davis and Charles Boyer.
*FYI, she did not play one of the March sisters; she had an uncredited role as one of Amy March's classmates.
"Ms. Knowlden never approached the marquee-topping fame of Shirley Temple, the reigning child actress of the day. But the two crossed paths professionally, including in “As the Earth Turns,” a 1934 drama about an immigrant farm family in Maine. Ms. Temple made an uncredited appearance in the movie just before she became a cheery song-and-dance phenomenon.
"Ms. Knowlden went on to act in a second film with Ms. Temple, “Just Around the Corner” (1938), and by then, with Ms. Temple now famous, Ms. Knowlden could glimpse the pressures of major child stardom.
“It was a little hard on the rest of us because we wanted to play with her, but she was off in her own little bungalow,” Ms. Knowlden told the film site Cinephiled. “She didn’t even get to eat with the other kids.”
"In contrast, Ms. Knowlden’s parents did not even take her to see her own films, fearful that she would develop a titanic ego. Her father, who managed her career, refused to let her be bound by a studio contract.
"As a result, “I was always a freelance actor, so I had complete freedom to choose my roles,” she told Mr. Thomas. “If you were under contract like Judy Garland or Shirley Temple, you went to a studio school and really lost your ordinary life. I went to public school, had a very normal life, and then occasionally would go off and make a film.”
"Ms. Knowlden’s other notable films included the adaptation of the stage musical “Show Boat” (1936), starring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones and Paul Robeson; the lavish biopic “Marie Antoinette” (1938), with Norma Shearer; and “Angels With Dirty Faces,” (1938), the gangster picture starring James Cagney, Pat O’Brien and Humphrey Bogart.
"Like those of many child performers, her career waned as she entered adolescence. She graduated from Beverly Hills High School, then spent three years studying music at Mills College in Oakland. She left school in 1946 to marry Richard Goates, who in World War II fought with the jungle-warfare combat unit known as Merrill’s Marauders, later the subject of a 1962 film.
"Settling in Fallbrook, Calif., a mountain town in San Diego County, Ms. Knowlden turned her creative energies to music and theater, writing plays and composing songs for local productions. In 2011, she released her autobiography, “Little Girl in Big Pictures.”
"Ms. Knowlden acknowledged one rare disappointment in her otherwise fruitful childhood film career: Her scenes in “Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise),” a 1931 fallen-woman melodrama starring Greta Garbo as Ms. Knowlden’s governess, ended up on the cutting room floor.
"Afterward, she told Mr. Thomas, Ms. Garbo took her aside to offer advice that she came to embrace: “In Hollywood, don’t count on anything!”
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/knowldenmarilyn
Alex Williams. NYT, 09/30/2025: Marilyn Knowlden, Child Actress of 1930s Hollywood, Dies at 99.
"Marilyn Knowlden, who as a bright-eyed, Depression-era child actress appeared in dozens of movies featuring stars like Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, played a piano duet with Chico Marx and danced with Charles Laughton, died on Sept. 15 in Eagle, Idaho. She was 99.
"Ms. Knowlden’s screen odyssey began at 4, when she took a screen test on a lark during a family trip to Hollywood. She was subsequently cast most often as verbally precocious or well-mannered moppets in more than 30 films spanning drama and more whimsical fare; six were best-picture Oscar nominees.
"They included “Little Women,”* the 1933 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel, starring Ms. Hepburn; “Imitation of Life” (1934), a pioneering drama about family loyalties and race with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers; “Les Misérables” (1935), in which she was the young Cosette alongside Fredric March and Charles Laughton; the star-studded 1935 version of Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield” (1935), as the sincere young Agnes (played as an adult by Madge Evans); “Anthony Adverse” (1936), a historical adventure with Mr. March and Olivia de Havilland; and “All This, and Heaven Too” (1940) a romance starring Ms. Davis and Charles Boyer.
*FYI, she did not play one of the March sisters; she had an uncredited role as one of Amy March's classmates.
"Ms. Knowlden never approached the marquee-topping fame of Shirley Temple, the reigning child actress of the day. But the two crossed paths professionally, including in “As the Earth Turns,” a 1934 drama about an immigrant farm family in Maine. Ms. Temple made an uncredited appearance in the movie just before she became a cheery song-and-dance phenomenon.
"Ms. Knowlden went on to act in a second film with Ms. Temple, “Just Around the Corner” (1938), and by then, with Ms. Temple now famous, Ms. Knowlden could glimpse the pressures of major child stardom.
“It was a little hard on the rest of us because we wanted to play with her, but she was off in her own little bungalow,” Ms. Knowlden told the film site Cinephiled. “She didn’t even get to eat with the other kids.”
"In contrast, Ms. Knowlden’s parents did not even take her to see her own films, fearful that she would develop a titanic ego. Her father, who managed her career, refused to let her be bound by a studio contract.
"As a result, “I was always a freelance actor, so I had complete freedom to choose my roles,” she told Mr. Thomas. “If you were under contract like Judy Garland or Shirley Temple, you went to a studio school and really lost your ordinary life. I went to public school, had a very normal life, and then occasionally would go off and make a film.”
"Ms. Knowlden’s other notable films included the adaptation of the stage musical “Show Boat” (1936), starring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones and Paul Robeson; the lavish biopic “Marie Antoinette” (1938), with Norma Shearer; and “Angels With Dirty Faces,” (1938), the gangster picture starring James Cagney, Pat O’Brien and Humphrey Bogart.
"Like those of many child performers, her career waned as she entered adolescence. She graduated from Beverly Hills High School, then spent three years studying music at Mills College in Oakland. She left school in 1946 to marry Richard Goates, who in World War II fought with the jungle-warfare combat unit known as Merrill’s Marauders, later the subject of a 1962 film.
"Settling in Fallbrook, Calif., a mountain town in San Diego County, Ms. Knowlden turned her creative energies to music and theater, writing plays and composing songs for local productions. In 2011, she released her autobiography, “Little Girl in Big Pictures.”
"Ms. Knowlden acknowledged one rare disappointment in her otherwise fruitful childhood film career: Her scenes in “Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise),” a 1931 fallen-woman melodrama starring Greta Garbo as Ms. Knowlden’s governess, ended up on the cutting room floor.
"Afterward, she told Mr. Thomas, Ms. Garbo took her aside to offer advice that she came to embrace: “In Hollywood, don’t count on anything!”
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/knowldenmarilyn
92featherbear
Jane Goodall, 1934-2025
Keith Schneider. NYT, 10/01/2025; upd 10/02: Jane Goodall, Who Chronicled the Social Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91. Temporarily Unlocked
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/goodalljane
Keith Schneider. NYT, 10/01/2025; upd 10/02: Jane Goodall, Who Chronicled the Social Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91. Temporarily Unlocked
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/goodalljane
93featherbear
Ken Jacobs, 1933-2025
Sean Malin. NYT, 10/06/2025: Ken Jacobs, Visionary Experimental Filmmaker, Is Dead at 92. "Using found footage and toying with dimensions (2-D could seem like dazzling 3-D), he sought to explode cinema’s traditional boundaries."
"He began studying with Hans Hofmann, the German-born artist and influential teacher, who offered free painting classes in New York City. Though he wasn’t in Hofmann’s class for long, the painter’s work left an imprint on Mr. Jacobs, who would later describe his filmmaking as “Abstract Expressionist cinema” in homage.
"It was also in 1956 that Mr. Jacobs met Jack Smith, another key figure in the early days of American underground cinema. The two soon began work on a variety of projects, including Mr. Jacobs’s sprawling critique of American society, “Star Spangled to Death,” a decades-in-the-making epic that was released in 2004; Mr. Smith’s “Flaming Creatures” (1963), another cult success; and “Blonde Cobra” (1959-63), a portrait of Mr. Smith and one of the most influential and popular experimental films ever made.
"Re-editing 16-millimeter footage from an abandoned film by his friend the cinematographer Bob Fleischner, Mr. Jacobs wove an eye-catching bricolage of outré sexual imagery, classic Hollywood references and queer iconography. Jonas Mekas, a pre-eminent champion of avant-garde film, anointed “Blonde Cobra” “the masterpiece of Baudelairean cinema.”
"It was followed by “Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son” (1969), the apotheosis of Mr. Jacobs’s work with found footage and a vital part of a wave of so-called Structural experimentation in American cinema in the 1960s, a movement that included artists such as Bruce Conner, Hollis Frampton and Peter Kubelka.
"In “Tom, Tom,” Mr. Jacobs rephotographed a salvaged 1905 short film based on an old folk rhyme directed by D.W. Griffith’s favorite cameraman, Billy Bitzer. Mr. Jacobs then manipulated Mr. Bitzer’s images — inverting them, slowing them to a halt, pulling them like taffy — as if to challenge the molecular structure of the ancient celluloid.
"The resulting 115-minute film is a ghostly, poetic meditation on the alchemical process of filmmaking, the value of forgotten art and what adaptation really means. It became Mr. Jacobs’s signature work and a staple of avant-garde film class syllabuses. In 2007, “Tom, Tom” was added to the National Film Registry in a fitting, if ironic, act of preservation for what was once lost footage.
"He was introduced to art cinema — including the films of Charlie Chaplin, Jean Vigo and Erich von Stroheim — at the Museum of Modern Art, an experience he later described as “a revelation.” After serving two years in the Coast Guard, he returned to New York, where he used his earnings to buy a film camera.
"From 1966 to 1968, he and his wife were instrumental in the founding of the Millennium Film Workshop, a nonprofit filmmakers’ cooperative that offered production equipment, work space, screenings and classes to the general public at little or no cost.
"By 1969, Mr. Jacobs was at the forefront of the American experimental film movement. At the same time, he began to pursue opportunities to teach. That year, he led a weeklong seminar at what is now Binghamton University in upstate New York as part of a course taught by a fellow experimental filmmaker, Larry Gottheim.
The stint proved so successful that students petitioned the administration to hire Mr. Jacobs full-time — which it did, despite his lack of a high school diploma. He and Mr. Gottheim created Binghamton’s department of cinema, the first of its kind in the State University of New York system, and the school became Mr. Jacobs’s professional home on and off for years.
"His students included the cartoonist Art Spiegelman and the film critic J. Hoberman. Mr. Hoberman later said of the experience, “I had never encountered a teacher who could talk so passionately about art, spontaneously integrating political views and childhood recollections.”
"Beginning in 1999, he embarked on a multi-decade series of audiovisual experiments he called Eternalisms, in which two-dimensional images were rendered three-dimensional through a complex editing system of his own invention. When these Eternalisms are screened on 2-D surfaces — in theaters, on computers, through YouTube — the human eye perceives an illusory depth previously unavailable without specialized 3-D glasses."
Manohla Dargis. NYT, 10/07/2025: The Strangely Beautiful Realities You Can Discover in a Ken Jacobs Film. "The avant-garde director, who died Sunday, changed our ideas of what cinema was and could be while showing us the old, lost New York."
Ken Jacobs's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/jacobsken-1
Sean Malin. NYT, 10/06/2025: Ken Jacobs, Visionary Experimental Filmmaker, Is Dead at 92. "Using found footage and toying with dimensions (2-D could seem like dazzling 3-D), he sought to explode cinema’s traditional boundaries."
"He began studying with Hans Hofmann, the German-born artist and influential teacher, who offered free painting classes in New York City. Though he wasn’t in Hofmann’s class for long, the painter’s work left an imprint on Mr. Jacobs, who would later describe his filmmaking as “Abstract Expressionist cinema” in homage.
"It was also in 1956 that Mr. Jacobs met Jack Smith, another key figure in the early days of American underground cinema. The two soon began work on a variety of projects, including Mr. Jacobs’s sprawling critique of American society, “Star Spangled to Death,” a decades-in-the-making epic that was released in 2004; Mr. Smith’s “Flaming Creatures” (1963), another cult success; and “Blonde Cobra” (1959-63), a portrait of Mr. Smith and one of the most influential and popular experimental films ever made.
"Re-editing 16-millimeter footage from an abandoned film by his friend the cinematographer Bob Fleischner, Mr. Jacobs wove an eye-catching bricolage of outré sexual imagery, classic Hollywood references and queer iconography. Jonas Mekas, a pre-eminent champion of avant-garde film, anointed “Blonde Cobra” “the masterpiece of Baudelairean cinema.”
"It was followed by “Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son” (1969), the apotheosis of Mr. Jacobs’s work with found footage and a vital part of a wave of so-called Structural experimentation in American cinema in the 1960s, a movement that included artists such as Bruce Conner, Hollis Frampton and Peter Kubelka.
"In “Tom, Tom,” Mr. Jacobs rephotographed a salvaged 1905 short film based on an old folk rhyme directed by D.W. Griffith’s favorite cameraman, Billy Bitzer. Mr. Jacobs then manipulated Mr. Bitzer’s images — inverting them, slowing them to a halt, pulling them like taffy — as if to challenge the molecular structure of the ancient celluloid.
"The resulting 115-minute film is a ghostly, poetic meditation on the alchemical process of filmmaking, the value of forgotten art and what adaptation really means. It became Mr. Jacobs’s signature work and a staple of avant-garde film class syllabuses. In 2007, “Tom, Tom” was added to the National Film Registry in a fitting, if ironic, act of preservation for what was once lost footage.
"He was introduced to art cinema — including the films of Charlie Chaplin, Jean Vigo and Erich von Stroheim — at the Museum of Modern Art, an experience he later described as “a revelation.” After serving two years in the Coast Guard, he returned to New York, where he used his earnings to buy a film camera.
"From 1966 to 1968, he and his wife were instrumental in the founding of the Millennium Film Workshop, a nonprofit filmmakers’ cooperative that offered production equipment, work space, screenings and classes to the general public at little or no cost.
"By 1969, Mr. Jacobs was at the forefront of the American experimental film movement. At the same time, he began to pursue opportunities to teach. That year, he led a weeklong seminar at what is now Binghamton University in upstate New York as part of a course taught by a fellow experimental filmmaker, Larry Gottheim.
The stint proved so successful that students petitioned the administration to hire Mr. Jacobs full-time — which it did, despite his lack of a high school diploma. He and Mr. Gottheim created Binghamton’s department of cinema, the first of its kind in the State University of New York system, and the school became Mr. Jacobs’s professional home on and off for years.
"His students included the cartoonist Art Spiegelman and the film critic J. Hoberman. Mr. Hoberman later said of the experience, “I had never encountered a teacher who could talk so passionately about art, spontaneously integrating political views and childhood recollections.”
"Beginning in 1999, he embarked on a multi-decade series of audiovisual experiments he called Eternalisms, in which two-dimensional images were rendered three-dimensional through a complex editing system of his own invention. When these Eternalisms are screened on 2-D surfaces — in theaters, on computers, through YouTube — the human eye perceives an illusory depth previously unavailable without specialized 3-D glasses."
Manohla Dargis. NYT, 10/07/2025: The Strangely Beautiful Realities You Can Discover in a Ken Jacobs Film. "The avant-garde director, who died Sunday, changed our ideas of what cinema was and could be while showing us the old, lost New York."
Ken Jacobs's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/jacobsken-1
94featherbear
Diane Keaton, 1946-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton, a Star of ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘First Wives Club,’ Dies at 79. Temporarily unlocked
"Diane Keaton, the vibrant, sometimes unconventional, always charmingly self-deprecating actress who won an Oscar for Woody Allen’s comedy “Annie Hall” and appeared in some 100 movie and television roles, an almost equal balance of them in comedies like “Sleeper” and “The First Wives Club” and dramas like “The Godfather” and “Marvin’s Room,” has died. She was 79.
Rhonda Garelick. NYT, 10/13/2025: Why Diane Keaton’s Death Hits Harder. "For many of her fans, she was like a rare bird soaring from bygone days when progress and growing freedoms for women seemed inevitable."
Esther Zuckerman. NYT, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton’s Unmistakable Look Also Was Key to Her Art. "Though she downplayed it, her role in creating the outfits of “Annie Hall” made her the author of a fascinating career."
Catherine Shoard. Guardian, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton, Oscar-winning star of Annie Hall and The Godfather, dies aged 79.
Pejman Faratin. Guardian, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton: a life in pictures. "Diane Keaton, who has died aged 79, started her stellar career in The Godfather and Woody Allen’s early comedies, before going to appear opposite just about every major star in Hollywood. We look back at her six-decade career."
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 10/11/2025: An ethereally self-aware comedy genius: the loss of Diane Keaton is devastating.
Sian Cain. Guardian, 10/16/2025: Diane Keaton died of pneumonia, family reveals. "Actor’s family thanks the public for ‘the extraordinary messages of love and support’ for ‘beloved Diane’, who died on 11 October aged 79."
Jess Kartner-Morley. Guardian, 10/12/2025: Diane Keaton’s style: she dodged the stamp of the machine.
Jesse Hassenger. Guardian, 10/12/2025: From Annie Hall to Something’s Gotta Give: Diane Keaton was the quintessential comedy queen.
Diane Keaton, interviewer Catherine Shoard. Guardian, 05/05/2023: . ‘God, life is so strange’: Diane Keaton interviewed in 2023 on dogs, doors, wine and why she’s ‘really fancy.’
Catherine Shoard. Guardian, 10/13/2025: ‘I cared only what Diane Keaton had to say’: Woody Allen pays tribute to late actor, co-star and former partner. "Allen says Keaton was ‘unlike anyone the planet has experienced’, and that ‘her great laugh still echoes in my head.’"
Samantha Chery & Avi Selk. WaPo, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton, ‘Annie Hall’ star and rom-com legend, dies at 79.
Hilton Als. New Yorker, 10/13/2025: Diane Keaton’s Shadows and Light: The actress’s nuanced ambivalence.
Penelope Gilliatt. New Yorker, 12/25/1978 Profiles: Diane Keaton: Her Own Best Disputant. "The Oscar-winning co-star of “Annie Hall” is not a whit like the flustered ingénue she was cast to play."
Adrienne LaFrance. Atlantic, 10/12/2025: The Romantic: How Diane Keaton’s quest for beauty left an imprint on American culture.
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/keatondiane
Anita Gates. NYT, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton, a Star of ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘First Wives Club,’ Dies at 79. Temporarily unlocked
"Diane Keaton, the vibrant, sometimes unconventional, always charmingly self-deprecating actress who won an Oscar for Woody Allen’s comedy “Annie Hall” and appeared in some 100 movie and television roles, an almost equal balance of them in comedies like “Sleeper” and “The First Wives Club” and dramas like “The Godfather” and “Marvin’s Room,” has died. She was 79.
Rhonda Garelick. NYT, 10/13/2025: Why Diane Keaton’s Death Hits Harder. "For many of her fans, she was like a rare bird soaring from bygone days when progress and growing freedoms for women seemed inevitable."
Esther Zuckerman. NYT, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton’s Unmistakable Look Also Was Key to Her Art. "Though she downplayed it, her role in creating the outfits of “Annie Hall” made her the author of a fascinating career."
Catherine Shoard. Guardian, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton, Oscar-winning star of Annie Hall and The Godfather, dies aged 79.
Pejman Faratin. Guardian, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton: a life in pictures. "Diane Keaton, who has died aged 79, started her stellar career in The Godfather and Woody Allen’s early comedies, before going to appear opposite just about every major star in Hollywood. We look back at her six-decade career."
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 10/11/2025: An ethereally self-aware comedy genius: the loss of Diane Keaton is devastating.
Sian Cain. Guardian, 10/16/2025: Diane Keaton died of pneumonia, family reveals. "Actor’s family thanks the public for ‘the extraordinary messages of love and support’ for ‘beloved Diane’, who died on 11 October aged 79."
Jess Kartner-Morley. Guardian, 10/12/2025: Diane Keaton’s style: she dodged the stamp of the machine.
Jesse Hassenger. Guardian, 10/12/2025: From Annie Hall to Something’s Gotta Give: Diane Keaton was the quintessential comedy queen.
Diane Keaton, interviewer Catherine Shoard. Guardian, 05/05/2023: . ‘God, life is so strange’: Diane Keaton interviewed in 2023 on dogs, doors, wine and why she’s ‘really fancy.’
Catherine Shoard. Guardian, 10/13/2025: ‘I cared only what Diane Keaton had to say’: Woody Allen pays tribute to late actor, co-star and former partner. "Allen says Keaton was ‘unlike anyone the planet has experienced’, and that ‘her great laugh still echoes in my head.’"
Samantha Chery & Avi Selk. WaPo, 10/11/2025: Diane Keaton, ‘Annie Hall’ star and rom-com legend, dies at 79.
Hilton Als. New Yorker, 10/13/2025: Diane Keaton’s Shadows and Light: The actress’s nuanced ambivalence.
Penelope Gilliatt. New Yorker, 12/25/1978 Profiles: Diane Keaton: Her Own Best Disputant. "The Oscar-winning co-star of “Annie Hall” is not a whit like the flustered ingénue she was cast to play."
Adrienne LaFrance. Atlantic, 10/12/2025: The Romantic: How Diane Keaton’s quest for beauty left an imprint on American culture.
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/keatondiane
95featherbear
Alfa-Betty Olsen, 1936-2025
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 10/13/2025: Alfa-Betty Olsen, Behind-the-Scenes ‘Comic Conspirator,’ Dies at 88.
"Alfa-Betty Olsen, an unsung wit who became a trusted accomplice to Mel Brooks in the ridiculous, encouraging the irreverent tone of his sitcom “Get Smart” and his movie “The Producers” — and who was a longtime writing partner to Marshall Efron on projects like the quirky PBS series “The Great American Dream Machine” — died on Oct. 5 in Manhattan. She was 88.
"In his 2021 memoir, “All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business,” Mr. Brooks recounted that Ms. Olsen “nailed down every thought and every crazy joke and brushstroke of madness we threw out. Nothing escaped her.”
"“Get Smart,” an Emmy Award-winning show starring Don Adams as the bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, ran on NBC from 1965 to 1969 and on CBS from 1969 to 1970.
"When she was asked in 2012, for an “American Masters” documentary about Mr. Brooks, if any cast members had objected to the “Hitler stuff” in the film, she said one of the showgirls who appeared in the “Springtime for Hitler” title number “kind of objected to wearing swastika pasties.”
"Ms. Olsen’s career was largely under the radar — first with Mr. Brooks and finally with Mr. Efron, notably partnering with him on “The Great American Dream Machine,” a short-lived mix of short comic films, cartoons, music, investigative journalism and humorous sketches that premiered on public television in 1971. Mr. Efron was a writer of the show and one of its stars."
With Efron she co-authored: Bible Stories You Can’t Forget — No Matter How Hard You Try” (1976).
"Their other books included “Omnivores: They Said They Would Eat Anything — and They Did!" (1979), a humorous examination of high and low cuisine (featuring an “affidavit” from Mr. Brooks attesting to seeing the authors eat what they claimed), and “Gabby the Shrew” (1994), a children’s book about a mole-like mammal, with illustrations by Roz Chast."
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/olsenalfabetty
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 10/13/2025: Alfa-Betty Olsen, Behind-the-Scenes ‘Comic Conspirator,’ Dies at 88.
"Alfa-Betty Olsen, an unsung wit who became a trusted accomplice to Mel Brooks in the ridiculous, encouraging the irreverent tone of his sitcom “Get Smart” and his movie “The Producers” — and who was a longtime writing partner to Marshall Efron on projects like the quirky PBS series “The Great American Dream Machine” — died on Oct. 5 in Manhattan. She was 88.
"In his 2021 memoir, “All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business,” Mr. Brooks recounted that Ms. Olsen “nailed down every thought and every crazy joke and brushstroke of madness we threw out. Nothing escaped her.”
"“Get Smart,” an Emmy Award-winning show starring Don Adams as the bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, ran on NBC from 1965 to 1969 and on CBS from 1969 to 1970.
"When she was asked in 2012, for an “American Masters” documentary about Mr. Brooks, if any cast members had objected to the “Hitler stuff” in the film, she said one of the showgirls who appeared in the “Springtime for Hitler” title number “kind of objected to wearing swastika pasties.”
"Ms. Olsen’s career was largely under the radar — first with Mr. Brooks and finally with Mr. Efron, notably partnering with him on “The Great American Dream Machine,” a short-lived mix of short comic films, cartoons, music, investigative journalism and humorous sketches that premiered on public television in 1971. Mr. Efron was a writer of the show and one of its stars."
With Efron she co-authored: Bible Stories You Can’t Forget — No Matter How Hard You Try” (1976).
"Their other books included “Omnivores: They Said They Would Eat Anything — and They Did!" (1979), a humorous examination of high and low cuisine (featuring an “affidavit” from Mr. Brooks attesting to seeing the authors eat what they claimed), and “Gabby the Shrew” (1994), a children’s book about a mole-like mammal, with illustrations by Roz Chast."
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/olsenalfabetty
96featherbear
D'Angelo, 1974-2025
Ben Sisario. NYT, 10/14/2025: D’Angelo, Acclaimed and Reclusive R&B Innovator, Dies at 51.
Hank Shteamer. NYT, 10/15/2025: How D’Angelo Made His Masterpiece, ‘Voodoo’.
Jonathan Abrams. NYT, 10/14/2025: After D’Angelo Bared It All, His Career Was Never the Same.
Jon Pareles. NYT, 10/14/2025: D’Angelo: 14 Essential Songs. "The soul singer, songwriter and producer, who died on Tuesday at 51, released three studio albums of meticulously constructed, vocally ambitious, genre-crossing music."
Ben Sisario. NYT, 10/14/2025: D’Angelo, Acclaimed and Reclusive R&B Innovator, Dies at 51.
Hank Shteamer. NYT, 10/15/2025: How D’Angelo Made His Masterpiece, ‘Voodoo’.
Jonathan Abrams. NYT, 10/14/2025: After D’Angelo Bared It All, His Career Was Never the Same.
Jon Pareles. NYT, 10/14/2025: D’Angelo: 14 Essential Songs. "The soul singer, songwriter and producer, who died on Tuesday at 51, released three studio albums of meticulously constructed, vocally ambitious, genre-crossing music."
97featherbear
Susan Stamberg, 1938-2025
Trip Garbriel. NYT, 10/16/2025: Susan Stamberg, a Longtime Voice of NPR, Is Dead at 87. "In 1972 she became the first woman to anchor a national evening news broadcast. She retired this summer after 50 years on the air." Temporarily unlocked.
Harrison Smith & Laura Wagner. WaPo, 10/16/2025: Susan Stamberg, pioneering broadcaster at NPR, dies at 87. Temporarily unlocked
Susan Stamberg's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/stambergsusan
Trip Garbriel. NYT, 10/16/2025: Susan Stamberg, a Longtime Voice of NPR, Is Dead at 87. "In 1972 she became the first woman to anchor a national evening news broadcast. She retired this summer after 50 years on the air." Temporarily unlocked.
Harrison Smith & Laura Wagner. WaPo, 10/16/2025: Susan Stamberg, pioneering broadcaster at NPR, dies at 87. Temporarily unlocked
Susan Stamberg's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/stambergsusan
98featherbear
Samantha Eggar, 1939-2025
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 10/22/2025: Samantha Eggar, Oscar-Nominated Star of ‘The Collector,’ Dies at 86.
"Samantha Eggar, a British actress who deftly hopscotched genres, appearing in comedies, dramas and horror films — and who is perhaps best known for her starring role in a thriller, “The Collector,” in which her portrayal of a young art student held hostage by a psychopath earned her an Oscar nomination — died on Oct. 15 at her home in Sherman Oaks, Calif. She was 86.
"Her daughter, Jenna Stern, said the cause was chronic lymphocytic leukemia, with which Ms. Eggar had been diagnosed 22 years ago.
"Ms. Eggar had appeared onstage and in a few films before being cast in “The Collector” (1965) as a woman who is stalked and kidnapped by a handsome young butterfly collector (played by Terence Stamp) and locked in the cellar of his English country house. While holding her captive, he is alternately kind and brutal to her.
"Ms. Eggar recalled the shooting as a tense experience. Mr. Stamp, a classmate from acting school, never broke character. The director, William Wyler, poured cold water over her “if I didn’t exude precisely what he wanted,” she told The Terror Trap, a horror film website, in 2014. And Mr. Wyler didn’t let her leave the set during the day or eat with the other members of the cast.
"Although she lost the Oscar to Julie Christie, another British actress, for “Darling,” Ms. Eggar was named best actress at the Cannes Film Festival.
"She also had leading roles in “Doctor Dolittle” with Rex Harrison, “Walk, Don’t Run” with Cary Grant and “The Molly Maguires” with Sean Connery.
"Her beauty was on display in a memorable commercial for the RCA ColorTrak television in 1976.
“My eyes are green, my hair is auburn and my dress is vivid red,” she said, looking directly at the camera. “RCA wanted me to tell you the right colors because getting the color right is what their exclusive ColorTrak system is all about.”
"In 1970, she starred with Oliver Reed in the psychological thriller “The Lady in the Car With Glasses and a Gun,” in which she impulsively drove her boss’s car to the Riviera, was attacked at a gas station and later found a dead body in the trunk of the car.
"In 1972, she took on the role of a British governess brought to 19th-century Siam (now Thailand) to educate the king’s 12-year-old heir in “Anna and the King,” a short-lived television series on CBS adapted from the 1956 musical film “The King and I” (but without the music). Yul Brynner reprised his role as the king, which he had originated on Broadway in 1951. the only source for her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/eggarsamantha
"She appeared in several horror films in the 1970s and early ’80s, among them David Cronenberg’s “The Brood” (1979), in which she played a traumatized woman who gives birth to homicidal childlike beings.
"Ms. Eggar also guest-starred in television series like “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Matlock” and “Magnum, P.I.” She returned to Britain in the 1980s for stage work in Arthur Schnitzler’s drama “The Lonely Road,” as the mistress of a painter played by Anthony Hopkins, and Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” as the vain actress Arkadina to John Hurt’s writer Trigorin.
"Since at least the 1990s, Ms. Eggar had acted in dozens of productions staged by the California Artists Radio Theater, voicing parts in works by writers including Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen and Ray Bradbury."
Ryan Gilbey. Guardian, 10/21/2025: Samantha Eggar obituary. "Actor admired for the fearlessness she brought to her film roles in The Collector and The Brood who later appeared in popular US television shows such as Columbo and Murder, She Wrote."
"Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar, actor, born 5 March 1939; died 15 October 2025."
Disappointed this echt-British actress didn't get more write-ups from Guardian; deserved at least A Career in Pictures spread
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 10/22/2025: Samantha Eggar, Oscar-Nominated Star of ‘The Collector,’ Dies at 86.
"Samantha Eggar, a British actress who deftly hopscotched genres, appearing in comedies, dramas and horror films — and who is perhaps best known for her starring role in a thriller, “The Collector,” in which her portrayal of a young art student held hostage by a psychopath earned her an Oscar nomination — died on Oct. 15 at her home in Sherman Oaks, Calif. She was 86.
"Her daughter, Jenna Stern, said the cause was chronic lymphocytic leukemia, with which Ms. Eggar had been diagnosed 22 years ago.
"Ms. Eggar had appeared onstage and in a few films before being cast in “The Collector” (1965) as a woman who is stalked and kidnapped by a handsome young butterfly collector (played by Terence Stamp) and locked in the cellar of his English country house. While holding her captive, he is alternately kind and brutal to her.
"Ms. Eggar recalled the shooting as a tense experience. Mr. Stamp, a classmate from acting school, never broke character. The director, William Wyler, poured cold water over her “if I didn’t exude precisely what he wanted,” she told The Terror Trap, a horror film website, in 2014. And Mr. Wyler didn’t let her leave the set during the day or eat with the other members of the cast.
"Although she lost the Oscar to Julie Christie, another British actress, for “Darling,” Ms. Eggar was named best actress at the Cannes Film Festival.
"She also had leading roles in “Doctor Dolittle” with Rex Harrison, “Walk, Don’t Run” with Cary Grant and “The Molly Maguires” with Sean Connery.
"Her beauty was on display in a memorable commercial for the RCA ColorTrak television in 1976.
“My eyes are green, my hair is auburn and my dress is vivid red,” she said, looking directly at the camera. “RCA wanted me to tell you the right colors because getting the color right is what their exclusive ColorTrak system is all about.”
"In 1970, she starred with Oliver Reed in the psychological thriller “The Lady in the Car With Glasses and a Gun,” in which she impulsively drove her boss’s car to the Riviera, was attacked at a gas station and later found a dead body in the trunk of the car.
"In 1972, she took on the role of a British governess brought to 19th-century Siam (now Thailand) to educate the king’s 12-year-old heir in “Anna and the King,” a short-lived television series on CBS adapted from the 1956 musical film “The King and I” (but without the music). Yul Brynner reprised his role as the king, which he had originated on Broadway in 1951. the only source for her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/eggarsamantha
"She appeared in several horror films in the 1970s and early ’80s, among them David Cronenberg’s “The Brood” (1979), in which she played a traumatized woman who gives birth to homicidal childlike beings.
"Ms. Eggar also guest-starred in television series like “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Matlock” and “Magnum, P.I.” She returned to Britain in the 1980s for stage work in Arthur Schnitzler’s drama “The Lonely Road,” as the mistress of a painter played by Anthony Hopkins, and Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” as the vain actress Arkadina to John Hurt’s writer Trigorin.
"Since at least the 1990s, Ms. Eggar had acted in dozens of productions staged by the California Artists Radio Theater, voicing parts in works by writers including Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen and Ray Bradbury."
Ryan Gilbey. Guardian, 10/21/2025: Samantha Eggar obituary. "Actor admired for the fearlessness she brought to her film roles in The Collector and The Brood who later appeared in popular US television shows such as Columbo and Murder, She Wrote."
"Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar, actor, born 5 March 1939; died 15 October 2025."
Disappointed this echt-British actress didn't get more write-ups from Guardian; deserved at least A Career in Pictures spread
99featherbear
June Lockhart, 1925-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 10/25/2025: June Lockhart, Beloved Television Mother, Dies at 100. "She exuded earnest maternal wisdom and wistful contentment as a farm wife on “Lassie” and, later, as an interplanetary castaway on “Lost in Space.”
"Ms. Lockhart replaced Cloris Leachman in the role of Ruth Martin, a farm wife and the foster mother of Jon Provost’s character and his courageous collie, Lassie, in 1958, at the beginning of the show’s fifth season. After six years of dispensing homespun wisdom, Ms. Lockhart was herself replaced, along with her human co-stars, in favor of a forest-ranger character (Robert Bray) who would guide the show’s canine heroine through her further adventures.
"In 1965, Ms. Lockhart returned to series television, playing a wife, mother and interplanetary explorer turned castaway on “Lost in Space.” Her television family included a robot who seemed to announce “Danger, Will Robinson,” alerting the show’s boy hero (Bill Mumy) to extraterrestrial menace, as often as Lassie’s sensitive ears and nose alerted her to earthly emergencies. The series, which combined an over-the-top villain (Jonathan Harris as Dr. Smith) with low-budget production values, became something of a camp classic, acquiring a devoted following years after its original run.
"She made her film debut at the age of 13, appearing uncredited in the 1938 version of “A Christmas Carol.” Her parents, the Canadian-born actor Gene Lockhart and the British-born actress Kathleen (Arthur) Lockhart, played the poor but happy Mr. and Mrs. Bob Cratchit; she played their daughter Belinda. She had first appeared onstage at 8 in a Metropolitan Opera production of “Peter Ibbetson.”
"At first her parents chose her acting projects for her, reportedly allowing her to participate only in particularly prestigious films. They chose well, with young June taking supporting roles in “Sergeant York” (1941), with Gary Cooper; “All This, and Heaven Too” (1940), with Bette Davis; and “Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944), with Judy Garland. In a prescient bit of casting, she also appeared in “Son of Lassie” (1945), with Peter Lawford.
"Her television career began in 1949, when she played Amy March in a “Ford Theater Hour” production of “Little Women.” During the 1950s she was seen on at least three dozen television series, including anthologies like “Studio One in Hollywood,” “The United States Steel Hour” and “Playhouse 90.”
"After “Lost in Space” went off the air in 1968, Ms. Lockhart immediately signed on to join the cast of the rural sitcom “Petticoat Junction,” whose star, Bea Benaderet, had died. Playing a new doctor in town, she remained until the series ended its run two years later.
"Beginning in 1984, she had a recurring role on the daytime soap opera “General Hospital.”
"“When people come up to me and say, ‘Well, sure wish we had wonderful American shows like that the way we used to in the ’50s,’ I say: ‘Let me tell you who wrote those scripts.’ Yes, they were good Americans, and they were in jail.”
"In a lighter frame of mind, she told an NPR interviewer in 2004 that some astronauts had told her they were inspired to pursue their careers because of “Lost in Space.” (In 2013, NASA honored her for her contributions to space exploration by giving her the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.) In contrast, she said, “I did ‘Lassie’ for six years and I never had anybody come up to me and say, ‘It made me want to be a farmer.’”
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 10/25/2025: June Lockhart, warmhearted star of ‘Lassie’ and ‘Lost in Space,’ dies at 100.
Marina Dunbar. Guardian, 10/25/2025: Actor June Lockhart of Lost in Space and Lassie fame dies aged 100.
"She died on Thursday night of natural causes, with daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna by her side, according to People.
"Family spokesperson Lyle Gregory, a friend of 40 years, told the Associated Press: “She was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times and LA Times every day. It was very important to her to stay focused on the news of the day.
"Lockhart received two Emmy nominations, including one for best actress in a leading role in a dramatic series, for Lassie. She was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film and one for television."
My earliest TV recollections are of the Lassie series when she was the mom (didn't realize she was the kid's foster mom). My TV watching days were on hiatus by 1968, so I never caught Lost in Space.
Anita Gates. NYT, 10/25/2025: June Lockhart, Beloved Television Mother, Dies at 100. "She exuded earnest maternal wisdom and wistful contentment as a farm wife on “Lassie” and, later, as an interplanetary castaway on “Lost in Space.”
"Ms. Lockhart replaced Cloris Leachman in the role of Ruth Martin, a farm wife and the foster mother of Jon Provost’s character and his courageous collie, Lassie, in 1958, at the beginning of the show’s fifth season. After six years of dispensing homespun wisdom, Ms. Lockhart was herself replaced, along with her human co-stars, in favor of a forest-ranger character (Robert Bray) who would guide the show’s canine heroine through her further adventures.
"In 1965, Ms. Lockhart returned to series television, playing a wife, mother and interplanetary explorer turned castaway on “Lost in Space.” Her television family included a robot who seemed to announce “Danger, Will Robinson,” alerting the show’s boy hero (Bill Mumy) to extraterrestrial menace, as often as Lassie’s sensitive ears and nose alerted her to earthly emergencies. The series, which combined an over-the-top villain (Jonathan Harris as Dr. Smith) with low-budget production values, became something of a camp classic, acquiring a devoted following years after its original run.
"She made her film debut at the age of 13, appearing uncredited in the 1938 version of “A Christmas Carol.” Her parents, the Canadian-born actor Gene Lockhart and the British-born actress Kathleen (Arthur) Lockhart, played the poor but happy Mr. and Mrs. Bob Cratchit; she played their daughter Belinda. She had first appeared onstage at 8 in a Metropolitan Opera production of “Peter Ibbetson.”
"At first her parents chose her acting projects for her, reportedly allowing her to participate only in particularly prestigious films. They chose well, with young June taking supporting roles in “Sergeant York” (1941), with Gary Cooper; “All This, and Heaven Too” (1940), with Bette Davis; and “Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944), with Judy Garland. In a prescient bit of casting, she also appeared in “Son of Lassie” (1945), with Peter Lawford.
"Her television career began in 1949, when she played Amy March in a “Ford Theater Hour” production of “Little Women.” During the 1950s she was seen on at least three dozen television series, including anthologies like “Studio One in Hollywood,” “The United States Steel Hour” and “Playhouse 90.”
"After “Lost in Space” went off the air in 1968, Ms. Lockhart immediately signed on to join the cast of the rural sitcom “Petticoat Junction,” whose star, Bea Benaderet, had died. Playing a new doctor in town, she remained until the series ended its run two years later.
"Beginning in 1984, she had a recurring role on the daytime soap opera “General Hospital.”
"“When people come up to me and say, ‘Well, sure wish we had wonderful American shows like that the way we used to in the ’50s,’ I say: ‘Let me tell you who wrote those scripts.’ Yes, they were good Americans, and they were in jail.”
"In a lighter frame of mind, she told an NPR interviewer in 2004 that some astronauts had told her they were inspired to pursue their careers because of “Lost in Space.” (In 2013, NASA honored her for her contributions to space exploration by giving her the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.) In contrast, she said, “I did ‘Lassie’ for six years and I never had anybody come up to me and say, ‘It made me want to be a farmer.’”
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 10/25/2025: June Lockhart, warmhearted star of ‘Lassie’ and ‘Lost in Space,’ dies at 100.
Marina Dunbar. Guardian, 10/25/2025: Actor June Lockhart of Lost in Space and Lassie fame dies aged 100.
"She died on Thursday night of natural causes, with daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna by her side, according to People.
"Family spokesperson Lyle Gregory, a friend of 40 years, told the Associated Press: “She was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times and LA Times every day. It was very important to her to stay focused on the news of the day.
"Lockhart received two Emmy nominations, including one for best actress in a leading role in a dramatic series, for Lassie. She was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film and one for television."
My earliest TV recollections are of the Lassie series when she was the mom (didn't realize she was the kid's foster mom). My TV watching days were on hiatus by 1968, so I never caught Lost in Space.
100JulieLill
I don't remember her as Timmy's mom but I did watch her in "Lost In Space". She did a long life! Prayers for her family!
101cindydavid4
I still announce at times "warning will robinson' when things at work were wonky watced her in Lassie and lost in space. what a talented woman and from all accounts kind. She surely influenced new actors in he long life may her name be fo a blessing
102featherbear
Jack DeJohnette, 1942-2025
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 10/27/2025: Jack DeJohnette, versatile jazz drummer known for Miles Davis fusion recordings, dies aged 83.
Hank Shteamer. NYT, 10/27/2025: Jack DeJohnette, Revered Jazz Drummer, Dies at 83.
Ken Micaleff. NYT, 10/27/2025: Jack DeJohnette: 7 Essential Recordings.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas. Guardian, 10/27/2025: Jack DeJohnette, versatile jazz drummer known for Miles Davis fusion recordings, dies aged 83.
Hank Shteamer. NYT, 10/27/2025: Jack DeJohnette, Revered Jazz Drummer, Dies at 83.
Ken Micaleff. NYT, 10/27/2025: Jack DeJohnette: 7 Essential Recordings.
103featherbear
Björn Andrésen, 1955-2025
Sian Cain. Guardian, 10/27/2025: Björn Andrésen, Swedish actor who starred in Death in Venice, dies aged 70. "Actor who also starred in Midsommar and became a musician was nicknamed ‘the most beautiful boy in the world’ – a title he struggled with all his life."
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 10/29/2025: Bjorn Andresen, Reluctant ‘Most Beautiful Boy,’ Dies at 70.
Sian Cain. Guardian, 10/27/2025: Björn Andrésen, Swedish actor who starred in Death in Venice, dies aged 70. "Actor who also starred in Midsommar and became a musician was nicknamed ‘the most beautiful boy in the world’ – a title he struggled with all his life."
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 10/29/2025: Bjorn Andresen, Reluctant ‘Most Beautiful Boy,’ Dies at 70.
104featherbear
Drew Struzan, 1947-2025
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 10/26/2025: Drew Struzan, Masterly Painter of Movie Posters, Dies at 78. Temporarily unlocked: for the pictures. "Mr. Struzan was considered one of the greatest poster artists in film history along with Robert Peak, Bill Gold, Renato Casaro (who died in September), and some of the anonymous artists who used the stone lithograph process to create colorful posters from the silent era until the 1940s."
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 10/14/2025: Drew Struzan, poster designer for Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, dies aged 78.
Older Guardian picture gallery, from 09/17/2010: The Art of Drew Struzan.
Richard Sandomir. NYT, 10/26/2025: Drew Struzan, Masterly Painter of Movie Posters, Dies at 78. Temporarily unlocked: for the pictures. "Mr. Struzan was considered one of the greatest poster artists in film history along with Robert Peak, Bill Gold, Renato Casaro (who died in September), and some of the anonymous artists who used the stone lithograph process to create colorful posters from the silent era until the 1940s."
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 10/14/2025: Drew Struzan, poster designer for Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, dies aged 78.
Older Guardian picture gallery, from 09/17/2010: The Art of Drew Struzan.
105featherbear
Prunella Scales, 1932-2025
Hannah J. Davies. Guardian, 10/28/2025: Fawlty Towers actor Prunella Scales dies aged 93.
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 10/28/2025: Prunella Scales – a life in pictures.
Michael Billington. Guardian, 10/28/2025: Prunella Scales was a queen of comedy with a passion for classical theatre.
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 10/28/2025: Prunella Scales, comically imperious wife on ‘Fawlty Towers,’ dies at 93. "The British actress had her most indelible role as the formidable innkeeper Sybil Fawlty, opposite John Cleese in the beloved 1970s sitcom."
Natasha King. NYT, 10/28/2025: Prunella Scales, Sybil on ‘Fawlty Towers,’ Dies at 93.
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/scalesprunella
Hannah J. Davies. Guardian, 10/28/2025: Fawlty Towers actor Prunella Scales dies aged 93.
Greg Whitmore. Guardian, 10/28/2025: Prunella Scales – a life in pictures.
Michael Billington. Guardian, 10/28/2025: Prunella Scales was a queen of comedy with a passion for classical theatre.
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 10/28/2025: Prunella Scales, comically imperious wife on ‘Fawlty Towers,’ dies at 93. "The British actress had her most indelible role as the formidable innkeeper Sybil Fawlty, opposite John Cleese in the beloved 1970s sitcom."
Natasha King. NYT, 10/28/2025: Prunella Scales, Sybil on ‘Fawlty Towers,’ Dies at 93.
Her LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/scalesprunella
106featherbear
Tchéky Karyo
AFP. Guardian, 11/01/2025: Veteran actor Tchéky Karyo, star of Nikita and The Missing, dies aged 72. "French-Turkish actor appeared in a string of high-profile films, as well as hit BBC series The Missing."
AFP. Guardian, 11/01/2025: Veteran actor Tchéky Karyo, star of Nikita and The Missing, dies aged 72. "French-Turkish actor appeared in a string of high-profile films, as well as hit BBC series The Missing."
107featherbear
Diane Ladd, 1935-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 11/03/2025; upd 11/04: Diane Ladd, Versatile and Lauded Film Actress, Dies at 89. "She was a three-time Oscar contender playing strikingly different characters, in one case starring alongside her daughter and fellow nominee, Laura Dern."
"Ms. Ladd, who was a respected actress more than a world-famous movie star, never won an Academy Award, but she was nominated three times, in roles that displayed her range.
"She was Flo, the sassy and foulmouthed but deeply compassionate Southern waitress, in Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974); Marietta Fortune, a seductive, malevolent former beauty queen who hires a hit man to kill her daughter’s boyfriend, in David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart” (1990); and a quietly noble Mississippi housewife who defends the family’s indiscreet young maid in Martha Coolidge’s “Rambling Rose” (1991).
"That final nomination brought with it the distinction of being the first time in academy history that a real-life mother and daughter (Ms. Ladd and Ms. Dern) had been nominated for the same picture — Ms. Ladd for best supporting actress and Ms. Dern for best actress.
"She made memorable appearances in dozens of films, including “Chinatown” (1974), as a Los Angeles prostitute posing as a society matron; “Ghosts of Mississippi” (1996), as the soignée widow of a Southern judge who would rather play bridge than examine her state’s racist past; “Primary Colors” (1998), as the brash mother of a president modeled after Bill Clinton; and the biographical drama “Joy” (2015), as the relentlessly supportive grandmother of Joy Mangano, a plucky inventor and entrepreneur played by Jennifer Lawrence.
"... Her first credited film role was in Roger Corman’s “The Wild Angels” (1966), a youth-oriented motorcycle drama that also featured Peter Fonda and Mr. Dern." (Bruce Dern was her 1st husband, Laura Dern was their daughter)
"In a Times interview alongside Ms. Dern in 2023, Ms. Ladd said, “I didn’t want you to go into acting.” But she played her daughter’s on-screen mother at least five times, most recently in “Enlightened” (2011-13), HBO’s acclaimed but short-lived series about a woman who takes her New Age rehab experience too much to heart.
"Ms. Ladd’s last film role was as the widow of an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War in the drama “The Last Full Measure.” She was also a regular on the Hallmark Channel series “Chesapeake Shores” (2016-17)."
"“Spiraling Through the School of Life” was a combination of memoir and self-help manual that focused on spirituality, healing, past lives, opportunity, forgiveness and redemption. Ms. Ladd had unconventional beliefs, and said that the ghost of Martha Mitchell, the outspoken wife of the former attorney general and convicted Watergate conspirator John N. Mitchell, had appeared to her. Ms. Ladd then spent decades attempting to garner support for a biopic of Ms. Mitchell."
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 11/03/2025: Diane Ladd, Oscar-nominated actor of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, dies aged 89.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 11/04/2025: Sharp, subtle and effortlessly Lynchian: Diane Ladd had a potent star power. "In a hugely successful TV and film career, her waitresses, neighbours, moms and daughters ranged from comedy to drama to David Lynch films, always with compelling authenticity."
Adam Bernstein. 11/03/2025: Diane Ladd, multifaceted character actress, dies at 89. "She delivered Oscar-nominated performances in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Wild at Heart” and “Rambling Rose.” Her daughter Laura Dern followed her into acting."
Diane Ladd's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/ladddiane
Anita Gates. NYT, 11/03/2025; upd 11/04: Diane Ladd, Versatile and Lauded Film Actress, Dies at 89. "She was a three-time Oscar contender playing strikingly different characters, in one case starring alongside her daughter and fellow nominee, Laura Dern."
"Ms. Ladd, who was a respected actress more than a world-famous movie star, never won an Academy Award, but she was nominated three times, in roles that displayed her range.
"She was Flo, the sassy and foulmouthed but deeply compassionate Southern waitress, in Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974); Marietta Fortune, a seductive, malevolent former beauty queen who hires a hit man to kill her daughter’s boyfriend, in David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart” (1990); and a quietly noble Mississippi housewife who defends the family’s indiscreet young maid in Martha Coolidge’s “Rambling Rose” (1991).
"That final nomination brought with it the distinction of being the first time in academy history that a real-life mother and daughter (Ms. Ladd and Ms. Dern) had been nominated for the same picture — Ms. Ladd for best supporting actress and Ms. Dern for best actress.
"She made memorable appearances in dozens of films, including “Chinatown” (1974), as a Los Angeles prostitute posing as a society matron; “Ghosts of Mississippi” (1996), as the soignée widow of a Southern judge who would rather play bridge than examine her state’s racist past; “Primary Colors” (1998), as the brash mother of a president modeled after Bill Clinton; and the biographical drama “Joy” (2015), as the relentlessly supportive grandmother of Joy Mangano, a plucky inventor and entrepreneur played by Jennifer Lawrence.
"... Her first credited film role was in Roger Corman’s “The Wild Angels” (1966), a youth-oriented motorcycle drama that also featured Peter Fonda and Mr. Dern." (Bruce Dern was her 1st husband, Laura Dern was their daughter)
"In a Times interview alongside Ms. Dern in 2023, Ms. Ladd said, “I didn’t want you to go into acting.” But she played her daughter’s on-screen mother at least five times, most recently in “Enlightened” (2011-13), HBO’s acclaimed but short-lived series about a woman who takes her New Age rehab experience too much to heart.
"Ms. Ladd’s last film role was as the widow of an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War in the drama “The Last Full Measure.” She was also a regular on the Hallmark Channel series “Chesapeake Shores” (2016-17)."
"“Spiraling Through the School of Life” was a combination of memoir and self-help manual that focused on spirituality, healing, past lives, opportunity, forgiveness and redemption. Ms. Ladd had unconventional beliefs, and said that the ghost of Martha Mitchell, the outspoken wife of the former attorney general and convicted Watergate conspirator John N. Mitchell, had appeared to her. Ms. Ladd then spent decades attempting to garner support for a biopic of Ms. Mitchell."
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 11/03/2025: Diane Ladd, Oscar-nominated actor of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, dies aged 89.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 11/04/2025: Sharp, subtle and effortlessly Lynchian: Diane Ladd had a potent star power. "In a hugely successful TV and film career, her waitresses, neighbours, moms and daughters ranged from comedy to drama to David Lynch films, always with compelling authenticity."
Adam Bernstein. 11/03/2025: Diane Ladd, multifaceted character actress, dies at 89. "She delivered Oscar-nominated performances in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Wild at Heart” and “Rambling Rose.” Her daughter Laura Dern followed her into acting."
Diane Ladd's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/ladddiane
108featherbear
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, 1947-2025
Sopan Deb. NYT, 11/03/2025: Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Grateful Dead Singer, Dies at 78.
"Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a singer who performed on hits such as “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge and helped shape the sound of the Grateful Dead in the 1970s, died on Sunday in Nashville. She was 78.
"After more than a decade as a session musician, Ms. Godchaux-MacKay, an Alabama native, joined the Grateful Dead in the early 1970s, after the freewheeling, improvisational band from the Bay Area had firmly established itself as a group that reflected the idealism of the 1960s.
"Before joining the group, Ms. Godchaux-MacKay had been an established session musician, mostly in Muscle Shoals, Ala., singing behind Elvis Presley on “In the Ghetto” and “Suspicious Minds.” In 1970, she moved to San Francisco, where many younger people were flocking to restart. As first, she was skeptical of her friends’ ravings about the Dead.
"“That ragged sound?” Ms. Godchaux-MacKay recalled in a 2007 interview with The Baltimore Sun. “I didn’t think they could play. I figured, ‘These guys must be good-looking.’ So I checked the back of one of their album covers and went, ‘Nope, that’s not it.’”
"But soon after arriving, she caught a performance by the Dead at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
“To them, music was an adventure, like something spiritual,” she told The Sun. “I’d never heard anything like that. I thought, This is what I want to do.”
"She was married to a jazz pianist, Keith Godchaux, who found out that Jerry Garcia, the band’s frontman, was playing at a nightclub. The couple approached Mr. Garcia, who gave them his phone number.
"“I can’t believe the chutzpah we had,” Ms. Godchaux-MacKay told The Sun. “I didn’t know people did that to him all the time. But Jerry just always had his antennas up.”
"Within days, they were in the band, forging a relationship that would last the rest of the decade. Ms. Godchaux-MacKay helped shape several of the Dead’s most famous songs, including “Eyes of the World” and “Playing in the Band,” one live performance of which exceeded 46 minutes.
"But the collaboration wasn’t always smooth. At times, Ms. Godchaux-MacKay struggled to fit into the group’s eclectic sound, especially while sharing vocals with other members, including Mr. Garcia, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. She and her husband left the band in 1979 — a parting that Ms. Godchaux-MacKay described as “very mutual” in a 2011 interview with The Poughkeepsie Journal. The next year, in 1980, Mr. Godchaux died in a car accident.
"While many of her best-known contributions were to the discography of the Dead, Ms. Godchaux-MacKay’s work in the studio left an indelible mark on the music of a other hitmakers, including Dionne Warwick, Cher, Neil Diamond, Ben E. King and Boz Scaggs."
Alexis Petridis. Guardian, 11/04/2025: Donna Jean Godchaux supplied steel and soul to the Grateful Dead in their prime. "Godchaux sang on classics by Elvis and Otis Redding and had a long solo career, but it’s as a member of the Dead’s classic, acid-drenched 70s lineup – and as the band’s only female member – that she will be remembered."
Sopan Deb. NYT, 11/03/2025: Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Grateful Dead Singer, Dies at 78.
"Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a singer who performed on hits such as “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge and helped shape the sound of the Grateful Dead in the 1970s, died on Sunday in Nashville. She was 78.
"After more than a decade as a session musician, Ms. Godchaux-MacKay, an Alabama native, joined the Grateful Dead in the early 1970s, after the freewheeling, improvisational band from the Bay Area had firmly established itself as a group that reflected the idealism of the 1960s.
"Before joining the group, Ms. Godchaux-MacKay had been an established session musician, mostly in Muscle Shoals, Ala., singing behind Elvis Presley on “In the Ghetto” and “Suspicious Minds.” In 1970, she moved to San Francisco, where many younger people were flocking to restart. As first, she was skeptical of her friends’ ravings about the Dead.
"“That ragged sound?” Ms. Godchaux-MacKay recalled in a 2007 interview with The Baltimore Sun. “I didn’t think they could play. I figured, ‘These guys must be good-looking.’ So I checked the back of one of their album covers and went, ‘Nope, that’s not it.’”
"But soon after arriving, she caught a performance by the Dead at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
“To them, music was an adventure, like something spiritual,” she told The Sun. “I’d never heard anything like that. I thought, This is what I want to do.”
"She was married to a jazz pianist, Keith Godchaux, who found out that Jerry Garcia, the band’s frontman, was playing at a nightclub. The couple approached Mr. Garcia, who gave them his phone number.
"“I can’t believe the chutzpah we had,” Ms. Godchaux-MacKay told The Sun. “I didn’t know people did that to him all the time. But Jerry just always had his antennas up.”
"Within days, they were in the band, forging a relationship that would last the rest of the decade. Ms. Godchaux-MacKay helped shape several of the Dead’s most famous songs, including “Eyes of the World” and “Playing in the Band,” one live performance of which exceeded 46 minutes.
"But the collaboration wasn’t always smooth. At times, Ms. Godchaux-MacKay struggled to fit into the group’s eclectic sound, especially while sharing vocals with other members, including Mr. Garcia, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. She and her husband left the band in 1979 — a parting that Ms. Godchaux-MacKay described as “very mutual” in a 2011 interview with The Poughkeepsie Journal. The next year, in 1980, Mr. Godchaux died in a car accident.
"While many of her best-known contributions were to the discography of the Dead, Ms. Godchaux-MacKay’s work in the studio left an indelible mark on the music of a other hitmakers, including Dionne Warwick, Cher, Neil Diamond, Ben E. King and Boz Scaggs."
Alexis Petridis. Guardian, 11/04/2025: Donna Jean Godchaux supplied steel and soul to the Grateful Dead in their prime. "Godchaux sang on classics by Elvis and Otis Redding and had a long solo career, but it’s as a member of the Dead’s classic, acid-drenched 70s lineup – and as the band’s only female member – that she will be remembered."
109featherbear
Pauline Collins, 1940-2025
Nadeem Badshah. Guardian, 11/06/2025: Shirley Valentine actor Pauline Collins dies aged 85.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 11/06/2025: Shirley Valentine gave Pauline Collins a role to match her talent. She seized it with style and glee.
Joanna Ruck. Guardian, 11/06/2025: Pauline Collins – a life in pictures.
Clay Risen. NYT, 11/08/2025: Pauline Collins, 85, Dies; Stage and Screen Star of ‘Shirley Valentine.’ "She often played a particularly British character: a bubbly yet resilient woman facing down the corrosive effects of everyday modern life."
"She grew up in a middle-class family in Wallasey, a suburban town across the River Mersey from Liverpool, and often said that had she not become an actress, she might have ended up like Shirley Valentine."
Pauline Collins's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/collinspauline
Anchor link to Shirley Valentine 1989 film
Nadeem Badshah. Guardian, 11/06/2025: Shirley Valentine actor Pauline Collins dies aged 85.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 11/06/2025: Shirley Valentine gave Pauline Collins a role to match her talent. She seized it with style and glee.
Joanna Ruck. Guardian, 11/06/2025: Pauline Collins – a life in pictures.
Clay Risen. NYT, 11/08/2025: Pauline Collins, 85, Dies; Stage and Screen Star of ‘Shirley Valentine.’ "She often played a particularly British character: a bubbly yet resilient woman facing down the corrosive effects of everyday modern life."
"She grew up in a middle-class family in Wallasey, a suburban town across the River Mersey from Liverpool, and often said that had she not become an actress, she might have ended up like Shirley Valentine."
Pauline Collins's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/collinspauline
Anchor link to Shirley Valentine 1989 film
110featherbear
John Russell Taylor, 1935-2025
Sam Roberts. NYT, 11/06/2025: John Russell Taylor, 90, Dies; Cultural Critic and Hitchcock Biographer.
I quoted NYT for a more general obit in the books thread, but for the movie aspect, especially Hitchcock, let me supply further quotes:
"His corpus of some 40 books included biographies of the actors Ingrid Bergman, Alec Guinness, Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor as well as the actor and filmmaker Orson Welles. He also wrote “Strangers in Paradise: The Hollywood Émigrés 1933-1950” (1983), about film-industry refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe who rebuilt their lives in Southern California.
"One of Mr. Taylor’s early books, “Cinema Eye, Cinema Ear: Some Key Filmmakers of the Sixties” (1964), made an early case for Hitchcock among the ranks of directors regarded as “auteurs” like Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman.
"Beyond an elite circle of French film critics, Mr. Taylor was making a proposition that seemed somewhat daring at a time when marquee directors working in Hollywood — Hitchcock among them — were often viewed as big-studio technicians known for making commercial crowd-pleasers, but rarely as artists akin to great novelists.
"Mr. Taylor’s best-known book was “Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock” (1978), the culmination of a lifetime of fascination with the British-born director widely known as the “master of suspense.” Although nominated five times for an Academy Award for best director — for “Rebecca” (1940), “Lifeboat” (1944), “Spellbound” (1945), “Rear Window” (1954) and “Psycho” (1960) — Hitchcock never won a competitive Oscar.
"He got to know Hitchcock during the making of his serial-killer drama “Frenzy” (1972), set in London, and was allowed on the set as Hitchcock made his last feature film, “Family Plot” (1976), four years before his death at 80.
"By his own account, it was in part his love of Liquorice Allsorts, a sundry assortment of fruity candy also known as English licorice, that helped gain the director’s confidence. Mr. Taylor also understood, he wrote in “Hitch,” that he was, for Hitchcock, a rare companion with “no ax to grind, no political agenda, no girlfriend or brother-in-law on whose behalf to seek his patronage.”
"They began to have lunch almost weekly at Hitchcock’s studio office, where waiters delivered, without taking their order, a plate of minced meat and mashed potatoes and a glass of water. Mr. Taylor eventually received Hitchcock’s blessing to write his authorized biography.
"Mr. Taylor recalled being terrified but riveted as a child by Hitchcock’s 1939 screen adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel “Jamaica Inn,” about cutthroat 19th-century smugglers who deliberately cause shipwrecks on the rocky Cornish coast.
"Mr. Taylor wrote in “Hitch” that the director was distinguished by the powerful psychological insights he brought to character development and by the disciplined professionalism he brought to his craft, including his understanding of the value of publicity and his ability to exploit it by cultivating his own roguish and macabre legend."
John Russell Taylor's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/taylorjohnrussell
Sam Roberts. NYT, 11/06/2025: John Russell Taylor, 90, Dies; Cultural Critic and Hitchcock Biographer.
I quoted NYT for a more general obit in the books thread, but for the movie aspect, especially Hitchcock, let me supply further quotes:
"His corpus of some 40 books included biographies of the actors Ingrid Bergman, Alec Guinness, Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor as well as the actor and filmmaker Orson Welles. He also wrote “Strangers in Paradise: The Hollywood Émigrés 1933-1950” (1983), about film-industry refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe who rebuilt their lives in Southern California.
"One of Mr. Taylor’s early books, “Cinema Eye, Cinema Ear: Some Key Filmmakers of the Sixties” (1964), made an early case for Hitchcock among the ranks of directors regarded as “auteurs” like Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman.
"Beyond an elite circle of French film critics, Mr. Taylor was making a proposition that seemed somewhat daring at a time when marquee directors working in Hollywood — Hitchcock among them — were often viewed as big-studio technicians known for making commercial crowd-pleasers, but rarely as artists akin to great novelists.
"Mr. Taylor’s best-known book was “Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock” (1978), the culmination of a lifetime of fascination with the British-born director widely known as the “master of suspense.” Although nominated five times for an Academy Award for best director — for “Rebecca” (1940), “Lifeboat” (1944), “Spellbound” (1945), “Rear Window” (1954) and “Psycho” (1960) — Hitchcock never won a competitive Oscar.
"He got to know Hitchcock during the making of his serial-killer drama “Frenzy” (1972), set in London, and was allowed on the set as Hitchcock made his last feature film, “Family Plot” (1976), four years before his death at 80.
"By his own account, it was in part his love of Liquorice Allsorts, a sundry assortment of fruity candy also known as English licorice, that helped gain the director’s confidence. Mr. Taylor also understood, he wrote in “Hitch,” that he was, for Hitchcock, a rare companion with “no ax to grind, no political agenda, no girlfriend or brother-in-law on whose behalf to seek his patronage.”
"They began to have lunch almost weekly at Hitchcock’s studio office, where waiters delivered, without taking their order, a plate of minced meat and mashed potatoes and a glass of water. Mr. Taylor eventually received Hitchcock’s blessing to write his authorized biography.
"Mr. Taylor recalled being terrified but riveted as a child by Hitchcock’s 1939 screen adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel “Jamaica Inn,” about cutthroat 19th-century smugglers who deliberately cause shipwrecks on the rocky Cornish coast.
"Mr. Taylor wrote in “Hitch” that the director was distinguished by the powerful psychological insights he brought to character development and by the disciplined professionalism he brought to his craft, including his understanding of the value of publicity and his ability to exploit it by cultivating his own roguish and macabre legend."
John Russell Taylor's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/taylorjohnrussell
111featherbear
Lee Tamahori, 1950-2025
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 11/07/2025: Lee Tamahori, director of Once Were Warriors and James Bond movie Die Another Day, dies aged 75.
Alex Traub. NYT, 11/23/2025: Lee Tamahori, Director of Film Voted New Zealand’s Best, Dies at 75. Temporarily unlocked "He reimagined “Once Were Warriors,” a novel about a Maori family, as a film that became a worldwide phenomenon. He went on to direct Hollywood movies."
Lee Tamahori LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/tamahorilee
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 11/07/2025: Lee Tamahori, director of Once Were Warriors and James Bond movie Die Another Day, dies aged 75.
Alex Traub. NYT, 11/23/2025: Lee Tamahori, Director of Film Voted New Zealand’s Best, Dies at 75. Temporarily unlocked "He reimagined “Once Were Warriors,” a novel about a Maori family, as a film that became a worldwide phenomenon. He went on to direct Hollywood movies."
Lee Tamahori LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/tamahorilee
112featherbear
Peter Watkins, 1935-2025
J. Hoberman. 11/08/2025: Peter Watkins, Provocateur With a Movie Camera, Dies at 90.
"Peter Watkins, a British filmmaker and artistic provocateur whose movies blurred the line between documentary and fiction, most powerfully in “The War Game,” his Oscar-winning 1965 evocation of a nuclear attack that the BBC deemed “too horrifying” to air, died on Oct. 30 in Bourganeuf, France. He was 90.
"In Mr. Watkins’s sprawling output of movies — including stories about a pop star used by the government to manipulate political opinion, the bloody French uprising of 1871 and, in a 14-hour epic, the Cold War arms race — the unifying principals were an utmost distrust of authority and the threat of civic annihilation, a legacy of a London childhood forged in the face of wartime Blitzkrieg.
"Mr. Watkins had shown early promise as an amateur filmmaker before the BBC hired him in 1962. Two years later, he delighted producers with a short feature on the Battle of Culloden, the decisive engagement of the 18th-century Jacobite uprising in Scotland in which the Scottish army was routed by the Duke of Cumberland. Shot with nonprofessional actors as though by a TV news crew, “Culloden” was widely acclaimed and led the BBC to commission Mr. Watkins to make a movie dramatizing the effects of a nuclear strike.
"Factual yet apocalyptic over 48 minutes, “The War Game” imagined a one-megaton Soviet warhead exploding above the city of Canterbury in a blinding flash, unleashing a flesh-melting firestorm, widespread radiation sickness and a complete breakdown of law and order.
"Considered “too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting,” a BBC news release said at the time, “The War Game” was shelved for 20 years, although it was shown elsewhere, winning a special award at the 1966 Venice Film Festival and collecting the Academy Award for best documentary feature.
"Mr. Watkins resigned from the BBC and never forgave it for acceding to what he considered political censorship.
"In addition to his stark subject matter, Mr. Watkins’s work was distinguished by two innovations: the use of television documentary techniques in depicting a historical event and the recruitment of nonactors with divergent viewpoints, disagreements that would become a spontaneous element of a film.
"Mr. Watkins’s lone American production was a mock documentary, “Punishment Park” (1971). Based on the most extreme interpretation of actual internal security legislation passed by Congress during the Red Scare, the film envisioned a desert detention center where political prisoners had the option of running from their captors as a kind of televised blood sport, all of it intercut with a televised political trial.
"For the film, Mr. Watkins used pro- and antiwar Americans, assigned them roles and had the camera operator, Joan Churchill, document the result. Writing in The Village Voice in 2005, the critic Michael Atkinson called “Punishment Park” “the most radioactive portrait of American divisiveness and oppression ever made.”
"Similarly, in casting “La Commune (Paris 1871),” released in 2000, Mr. Watkins cast nonactors — both sympathetic leftists and antipathic conservatives — to dramatize the rebellion that left tens of thousands of Parisians dead. He gave the history lesson a powerful immediacy by filming it as if rendered by rival news crews — one for a government newscast and the other for a Communard guerrilla newsreel.
"In his later years, Mr. Watkins wrote and lectured about the state of the media, the inherent biases and distortions in television news and the universal dominance of Hollywood film language that he termed “the monoform,” elaborating his career-long critique of cinema and television as inherently authoritarian mediums.
"After leaving the BBC over the “The War Game” episode, Mr. Watkins turned to satire and “swinging London” with his first commercial film, “Privilege” (1967). A faux documentary starring Paul Jones, the lead singer for the rock band Manfred Mann, it told the story of a pop star who is used by the government to exert social control. Time magazine deemed the spectacle of a “society still outwardly human, groveling in stupor before a cheap messiah,” as bleak as the world portrayed in “The War Game.”
"His second Scandinavian production, “Edvard Munch” (1974), made for television but released theatrically, was his most personal and, after “Culloden,” most highly regarded film. An essay with actors that uses the tropes of a documentary film — including direct-to-camera interviews, contrapuntal voice-over and cinéma vérité zooms — “Edvard Munch” was as concerned with Munch’s condition as a misunderstood artist as much as his art.
"In a film course Mr. Watkins taught at Columbia University in the late 1970s, he screened D.W. Griffith’s racist epic “The Birth of a Nation” (1915), Sergei Eisenstein’s celebratory socialist docudrama “October: Ten Days That Shook the World” (1928) and Leni Riefenstahl’s Nazi-glorifying “Triumph of the Will” (1935), all of which he considered propaganda.
"He then asked students to consider those films alongside documentaries, news reports and Hollywood westerns, as well as his own “Culloden.”
“Is not the serious filmmaker in a double-bind situation, given the inevitable indoctrinating effect of his or her work?” Mr. Watkins asked in his class syllabus. “Does the filmmaker have the right to subject a captive audience to his or her vision, especially if there is no potential for a return dialogue? Is there a difference between propaganda for the ‘good’ and for the ‘bad’?”
"Addressed in theory as well as practice, those questions were raised throughout Mr. Watkins’s singular career."
Peter Watkins LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/watkinspeter-1
J. Hoberman. 11/08/2025: Peter Watkins, Provocateur With a Movie Camera, Dies at 90.
"Peter Watkins, a British filmmaker and artistic provocateur whose movies blurred the line between documentary and fiction, most powerfully in “The War Game,” his Oscar-winning 1965 evocation of a nuclear attack that the BBC deemed “too horrifying” to air, died on Oct. 30 in Bourganeuf, France. He was 90.
"In Mr. Watkins’s sprawling output of movies — including stories about a pop star used by the government to manipulate political opinion, the bloody French uprising of 1871 and, in a 14-hour epic, the Cold War arms race — the unifying principals were an utmost distrust of authority and the threat of civic annihilation, a legacy of a London childhood forged in the face of wartime Blitzkrieg.
"Mr. Watkins had shown early promise as an amateur filmmaker before the BBC hired him in 1962. Two years later, he delighted producers with a short feature on the Battle of Culloden, the decisive engagement of the 18th-century Jacobite uprising in Scotland in which the Scottish army was routed by the Duke of Cumberland. Shot with nonprofessional actors as though by a TV news crew, “Culloden” was widely acclaimed and led the BBC to commission Mr. Watkins to make a movie dramatizing the effects of a nuclear strike.
"Factual yet apocalyptic over 48 minutes, “The War Game” imagined a one-megaton Soviet warhead exploding above the city of Canterbury in a blinding flash, unleashing a flesh-melting firestorm, widespread radiation sickness and a complete breakdown of law and order.
"Considered “too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting,” a BBC news release said at the time, “The War Game” was shelved for 20 years, although it was shown elsewhere, winning a special award at the 1966 Venice Film Festival and collecting the Academy Award for best documentary feature.
"Mr. Watkins resigned from the BBC and never forgave it for acceding to what he considered political censorship.
"In addition to his stark subject matter, Mr. Watkins’s work was distinguished by two innovations: the use of television documentary techniques in depicting a historical event and the recruitment of nonactors with divergent viewpoints, disagreements that would become a spontaneous element of a film.
"Mr. Watkins’s lone American production was a mock documentary, “Punishment Park” (1971). Based on the most extreme interpretation of actual internal security legislation passed by Congress during the Red Scare, the film envisioned a desert detention center where political prisoners had the option of running from their captors as a kind of televised blood sport, all of it intercut with a televised political trial.
"For the film, Mr. Watkins used pro- and antiwar Americans, assigned them roles and had the camera operator, Joan Churchill, document the result. Writing in The Village Voice in 2005, the critic Michael Atkinson called “Punishment Park” “the most radioactive portrait of American divisiveness and oppression ever made.”
"Similarly, in casting “La Commune (Paris 1871),” released in 2000, Mr. Watkins cast nonactors — both sympathetic leftists and antipathic conservatives — to dramatize the rebellion that left tens of thousands of Parisians dead. He gave the history lesson a powerful immediacy by filming it as if rendered by rival news crews — one for a government newscast and the other for a Communard guerrilla newsreel.
"In his later years, Mr. Watkins wrote and lectured about the state of the media, the inherent biases and distortions in television news and the universal dominance of Hollywood film language that he termed “the monoform,” elaborating his career-long critique of cinema and television as inherently authoritarian mediums.
"After leaving the BBC over the “The War Game” episode, Mr. Watkins turned to satire and “swinging London” with his first commercial film, “Privilege” (1967). A faux documentary starring Paul Jones, the lead singer for the rock band Manfred Mann, it told the story of a pop star who is used by the government to exert social control. Time magazine deemed the spectacle of a “society still outwardly human, groveling in stupor before a cheap messiah,” as bleak as the world portrayed in “The War Game.”
"His second Scandinavian production, “Edvard Munch” (1974), made for television but released theatrically, was his most personal and, after “Culloden,” most highly regarded film. An essay with actors that uses the tropes of a documentary film — including direct-to-camera interviews, contrapuntal voice-over and cinéma vérité zooms — “Edvard Munch” was as concerned with Munch’s condition as a misunderstood artist as much as his art.
"In a film course Mr. Watkins taught at Columbia University in the late 1970s, he screened D.W. Griffith’s racist epic “The Birth of a Nation” (1915), Sergei Eisenstein’s celebratory socialist docudrama “October: Ten Days That Shook the World” (1928) and Leni Riefenstahl’s Nazi-glorifying “Triumph of the Will” (1935), all of which he considered propaganda.
"He then asked students to consider those films alongside documentaries, news reports and Hollywood westerns, as well as his own “Culloden.”
“Is not the serious filmmaker in a double-bind situation, given the inevitable indoctrinating effect of his or her work?” Mr. Watkins asked in his class syllabus. “Does the filmmaker have the right to subject a captive audience to his or her vision, especially if there is no potential for a return dialogue? Is there a difference between propaganda for the ‘good’ and for the ‘bad’?”
"Addressed in theory as well as practice, those questions were raised throughout Mr. Watkins’s singular career."
Peter Watkins LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/watkinspeter-1
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Tatsuya Nakadai, 1932-2025
Wendell Jamieson. 11/11/2025: Tatsuya Nakadai, Japanese Star Known for ‘Ran’ and Other Classics, Dies at 92.
"With his intensely expressive eyes often widened for effect, Mr. Nakadai appeared in more than 100 films over a seven-decade career. He moved easily between the blunt physicality and theatrics of Samurai sword fight movies — known as chanbara — and the more nuanced performances of domestic dramas.
"He was perhaps best known outside of Japan as the star of “Ran,” Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 retelling of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” Heavily made up to play the 80-year-old king (Mr. Nakadai was in his early 50s at the time), the performance’s emotional intensity, highly stylized movements and stiff theatricality evoked traditional Japanese Kabuki theater.
"Mr. Nakadai also worked with other seminal postwar Japanese directors, including Mikio Naruse, Masaki Kobayashi, Kihachi Okamoto and Kon Ichikawa. He also appeared on television, in roles large and small, and in several plays.
"Early in his career, Mr. Nakadai often worked opposite Toshiro Mifune, one of Japan’s best-known acting exports. They could not have been less alike: Mr. Mifune, untrained as an actor but with wild energy, often presented a gruff, overtly physical persona, while Mr. Nakadai took on vastly different characters and delivered subtly intricate performances.
"They usually played adversaries. In “Yojimbo” (1961) and “Sanjuro” (1962), both directed by Mr. Kurosawa, and “Samurai Rebellion” (1967), directed by Mr. Kobayashi, the two meet in climatic duels, with Mr. Mifune’s character winning each time with a horizontal slash to the midsection. In “Sanjuro,” the fatal cut released a towering fountain of blood.
"Years later, Mr. Nakadai had the lead roles in both “Ran” and “Kagemusha” (1980), another Kurosawa film, that might have gone to Mr. Mifune had it not been for friction between him and the director.
"For his second part, Mr. Nakadai appeared in Mr. Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” (1954), arguably the best-known Japanese movie of all time. But even alert watchers can easily miss him: He appears for just three seconds, portraying an unnamed wandering Samurai striding down a village street. Mr. Nakadai would later say how Mr. Kurosawa patiently had him try the walking scene over and over.
"Although he appeared in three other Kurosawa films, he was best known for his work with Mr. Kobayashi, starring in “The Human Condition” trilogy (1959 to 1961) and other Kobayashi films. In the trilogy, Mr. Nakadai played an idealistic labor camp supervisor-turned-soldier-turned-prisoner-of-war who undergoes seemingly endless ordeals and deprivations.
"Mr. Nakadai worked less as he grew older, appearing in television shows and in films that were not exported from Japan. He spent much of his time at Mumeijuku, his theater company and acting school."
Tatsuya Nakadai LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/nakadaitatsuya
Wendell Jamieson. 11/11/2025: Tatsuya Nakadai, Japanese Star Known for ‘Ran’ and Other Classics, Dies at 92.
"With his intensely expressive eyes often widened for effect, Mr. Nakadai appeared in more than 100 films over a seven-decade career. He moved easily between the blunt physicality and theatrics of Samurai sword fight movies — known as chanbara — and the more nuanced performances of domestic dramas.
"He was perhaps best known outside of Japan as the star of “Ran,” Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 retelling of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” Heavily made up to play the 80-year-old king (Mr. Nakadai was in his early 50s at the time), the performance’s emotional intensity, highly stylized movements and stiff theatricality evoked traditional Japanese Kabuki theater.
"Mr. Nakadai also worked with other seminal postwar Japanese directors, including Mikio Naruse, Masaki Kobayashi, Kihachi Okamoto and Kon Ichikawa. He also appeared on television, in roles large and small, and in several plays.
"Early in his career, Mr. Nakadai often worked opposite Toshiro Mifune, one of Japan’s best-known acting exports. They could not have been less alike: Mr. Mifune, untrained as an actor but with wild energy, often presented a gruff, overtly physical persona, while Mr. Nakadai took on vastly different characters and delivered subtly intricate performances.
"They usually played adversaries. In “Yojimbo” (1961) and “Sanjuro” (1962), both directed by Mr. Kurosawa, and “Samurai Rebellion” (1967), directed by Mr. Kobayashi, the two meet in climatic duels, with Mr. Mifune’s character winning each time with a horizontal slash to the midsection. In “Sanjuro,” the fatal cut released a towering fountain of blood.
"Years later, Mr. Nakadai had the lead roles in both “Ran” and “Kagemusha” (1980), another Kurosawa film, that might have gone to Mr. Mifune had it not been for friction between him and the director.
"For his second part, Mr. Nakadai appeared in Mr. Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” (1954), arguably the best-known Japanese movie of all time. But even alert watchers can easily miss him: He appears for just three seconds, portraying an unnamed wandering Samurai striding down a village street. Mr. Nakadai would later say how Mr. Kurosawa patiently had him try the walking scene over and over.
"Although he appeared in three other Kurosawa films, he was best known for his work with Mr. Kobayashi, starring in “The Human Condition” trilogy (1959 to 1961) and other Kobayashi films. In the trilogy, Mr. Nakadai played an idealistic labor camp supervisor-turned-soldier-turned-prisoner-of-war who undergoes seemingly endless ordeals and deprivations.
"Mr. Nakadai worked less as he grew older, appearing in television shows and in films that were not exported from Japan. He spent much of his time at Mumeijuku, his theater company and acting school."
Tatsuya Nakadai LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/nakadaitatsuya
114featherbear
Sally Kirkland, 1941-2025
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 11/11/2025: Sally Kirkland, Oscar-nominated actor of film and television, dies at 84.
Alex Williams. 11/12/2025: Sally Kirkland, Scene-Stealing Actress, Dies at 84. "She received an Oscar nomination for the 1987 film “Anna” but spent much of her prolific career as a go-to supporting actress in movies like “The Sting” and “JFK.”
"Sally Kirkland, an actress known for her sassy, no-nonsense persona and whose prolific career included an appearance in an Andy Warhol film, a groundbreaking Off Broadway play in which she performed fully nude, and an Oscar nomination as best actress for the 1987 film “Anna,” died on Tuesday in Palm Springs, Calif. She was 84.
"A product of the avant-garde New York City theater scene of the 1960s, Ms. Kirkland accumulated more than 250 television and film credits. She was seemingly ubiquitous but never quite a star.
"“I think I’m more European in personality,” she said in a 2000 interview with MoXie Magazine, a women’s publication. “My attitude is always one of sensuality, aggressive enthusiasm and a kind of outrageousness in my expression. I suppose if I wanted to be the girl next door, I could have been.”
"Even when the roles were small, her presence was unmistakable. She brought her trademark sexuality and swagger to “The Sting” (1973), playing the vampy stripper love interest of Robert Redford’s con artist character.
"Her other appearances included the romantic drama “The Way We Were” (1973), starring Barbra Streisand and Mr. Redford, and the comedies “Private Benjamin” (1980) starring Goldie Hawn and “Bruce Almighty” (2003) starring Jim Carrey. She also worked for decades on television, with guest appearances in shows like “Kojak,” “Three’s Company,” “Charlie’s Angels” and “Felicity.”
Sally Kirkland LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/kirklandsally
Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 11/11/2025: Sally Kirkland, Oscar-nominated actor of film and television, dies at 84.
Alex Williams. 11/12/2025: Sally Kirkland, Scene-Stealing Actress, Dies at 84. "She received an Oscar nomination for the 1987 film “Anna” but spent much of her prolific career as a go-to supporting actress in movies like “The Sting” and “JFK.”
"Sally Kirkland, an actress known for her sassy, no-nonsense persona and whose prolific career included an appearance in an Andy Warhol film, a groundbreaking Off Broadway play in which she performed fully nude, and an Oscar nomination as best actress for the 1987 film “Anna,” died on Tuesday in Palm Springs, Calif. She was 84.
"A product of the avant-garde New York City theater scene of the 1960s, Ms. Kirkland accumulated more than 250 television and film credits. She was seemingly ubiquitous but never quite a star.
"“I think I’m more European in personality,” she said in a 2000 interview with MoXie Magazine, a women’s publication. “My attitude is always one of sensuality, aggressive enthusiasm and a kind of outrageousness in my expression. I suppose if I wanted to be the girl next door, I could have been.”
"Even when the roles were small, her presence was unmistakable. She brought her trademark sexuality and swagger to “The Sting” (1973), playing the vampy stripper love interest of Robert Redford’s con artist character.
"Her other appearances included the romantic drama “The Way We Were” (1973), starring Barbra Streisand and Mr. Redford, and the comedies “Private Benjamin” (1980) starring Goldie Hawn and “Bruce Almighty” (2003) starring Jim Carrey. She also worked for decades on television, with guest appearances in shows like “Kojak,” “Three’s Company,” “Charlie’s Angels” and “Felicity.”
Sally Kirkland LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/kirklandsally
115featherbear
>111 featherbear: NYT finally gets around to doing an obit on Lee Tamahori; shared link
116featherbear
Steve Cropper, 1941-2025
For younger people, he might be best known for his appearance in The Blues Brothers.
Bill Friskics-Warren. NYT, 12/03/2025; upd 12/04: Steve Cropper, Guitarist, Songwriter and Shaper of Memphis Soul Music, Dies at 84. "As a member of Booker T. & the MG’s and as a producer, he played a pivotal role in the rise of Stax Records, a storied force in R&B in the 1960s and ’70s."
Kelly Kasulis Cho. WaPo, 12/04/2025: Steve Cropper, Memphis soul guitarist with Booker T. & the MG’s, dies at 84. "The Grammy winner, who played on the hit “Green Onions,” had a storied career including collaborations with Otis Redding, B.B. King and the Blues Brothers."
Adrian Horton. Guardian, 12/03/2025: Steve Cropper, Memphis soul guitarist with Booker T. & the MG’s, dies at 84. "Prolific musician was known for work on songs like Green Onions and Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,"
For younger people, he might be best known for his appearance in The Blues Brothers.
Bill Friskics-Warren. NYT, 12/03/2025; upd 12/04: Steve Cropper, Guitarist, Songwriter and Shaper of Memphis Soul Music, Dies at 84. "As a member of Booker T. & the MG’s and as a producer, he played a pivotal role in the rise of Stax Records, a storied force in R&B in the 1960s and ’70s."
Kelly Kasulis Cho. WaPo, 12/04/2025: Steve Cropper, Memphis soul guitarist with Booker T. & the MG’s, dies at 84. "The Grammy winner, who played on the hit “Green Onions,” had a storied career including collaborations with Otis Redding, B.B. King and the Blues Brothers."
Adrian Horton. Guardian, 12/03/2025: Steve Cropper, Memphis soul guitarist with Booker T. & the MG’s, dies at 84. "Prolific musician was known for work on songs like Green Onions and Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,"
117featherbear
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, 1950-2025
Qasim Nauman. NYT, 12/05/2025: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, ‘The Last Emperor’ and ‘Mortal Kombat’ Actor, Dies at 75.
"Over a career that spanned more than three decades, Mr. Tagawa notched dozens of film and television credits. He got a break early in his career when he was cast in “The Last Emperor,” Bernardo Bertolucci’s Oscar-winning 1987 film.
"Roles in a number of high-profile projects followed, including the 1989 James Bond film “Licence to Kill.” Mr. Tagawa played the hotheaded Eddie Sakamura in “Rising Sun,” the 1993 film adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel with a cast that included Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes.
"Later in the 1990s came what Mr. Tagawa described as a game-changer for his career: the role of the soul-stealing sorcerer Shang Tsung in the 1995 film adaptation of “Mortal Kombat,” the hit fighting video game. He reprised the role in subsequent Mortal Kombat films and television shows and also lent his voice to video games in the series.
"Mr. Tagawa also appeared in “Pearl Harbor” (2001) and the 2005 film “Memoirs of a Geisha.”
"Later in his career, he was cast in a major role in Amazon’s critically acclaimed “The Man in the High Castle,” which premiered in 2015. Mr. Tagawa played Nobusuke Tagomi, a soft-spoken Japanese trade minister who is trying to prevent another war, in this adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name, which imagines a world in which the Axis powers emerged victorious after World War II.
"Mr. Tagawa said the character had parallels to his own experience as an Asian American growing up in the United States after the war."
Associated Press. WaPo, 12/05/2025: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, actor who performed in 'Mortal Kombat,' has died at 75.
"Tagawa was raised mostly in the U.S. South while his Hawaii-born father was assigned to U.S. mainland Army bases. He lived in Honolulu and on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for a while.
"Tagawa’s father met his mother while stationed in Japan, Tagawa told Honolulu Magazine in 2004. His parents named him after Cary Grant and his brother after Gregory Peck, he said.
"His mother, Ayako, had been a stage actor in Japan, according to the Honolulu weekly newspaper Midweek . Tagawa said she asked him not to pursue acting because there weren’t many good roles for Asians.
"“The good news for Asian actors and Hollywood is that it’s better than it’s ever been, but the bad news is that it hasn’t changed that much,” he told Midweek in 2005. “The opportunities haven’t increased that much, but commercially there’s more exposure.”
Jennifer Zahn. Vulture, 12/05/2025: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Mortal Kombat Sorcerer and Actor, Dead at 75.
"Tagawa’s breakout performance as Chang in the Oscar-winning 1987 film The Last Emperor led to a decades-long career in film and TV, with roles in Planet of the Apes, Memoirs of a Geisha, License to Kill, Pearl Harbor, 47 Ronin, MacGyver, the Tekken live-action film, and more. He began playing the villainous Shang Tsung in New Line’s 1995 Mortal Kombat film and reprised the role in multiple movies, shows, and video games in the franchise.
"Tagawa’s last major role was in Prime Video’s 2015 show The Man in the High Castle as Nobusuke Tagomi, the Japanese trade minister of the Pacific States of America. “I identified so much with this character and so much of my life experience — having been born in Tokyo and then coming to America just after the war, 10 years after the war,” he said, per Deadline. “I understood and grew up with the legacy of the war. So to be good, bad and ugly — being different — is the same as with my character Tagomi, who seems to be the only one running around talking about peace.”
Qasim Nauman. NYT, 12/05/2025: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, ‘The Last Emperor’ and ‘Mortal Kombat’ Actor, Dies at 75.
"Over a career that spanned more than three decades, Mr. Tagawa notched dozens of film and television credits. He got a break early in his career when he was cast in “The Last Emperor,” Bernardo Bertolucci’s Oscar-winning 1987 film.
"Roles in a number of high-profile projects followed, including the 1989 James Bond film “Licence to Kill.” Mr. Tagawa played the hotheaded Eddie Sakamura in “Rising Sun,” the 1993 film adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel with a cast that included Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes.
"Later in the 1990s came what Mr. Tagawa described as a game-changer for his career: the role of the soul-stealing sorcerer Shang Tsung in the 1995 film adaptation of “Mortal Kombat,” the hit fighting video game. He reprised the role in subsequent Mortal Kombat films and television shows and also lent his voice to video games in the series.
"Mr. Tagawa also appeared in “Pearl Harbor” (2001) and the 2005 film “Memoirs of a Geisha.”
"Later in his career, he was cast in a major role in Amazon’s critically acclaimed “The Man in the High Castle,” which premiered in 2015. Mr. Tagawa played Nobusuke Tagomi, a soft-spoken Japanese trade minister who is trying to prevent another war, in this adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name, which imagines a world in which the Axis powers emerged victorious after World War II.
"Mr. Tagawa said the character had parallels to his own experience as an Asian American growing up in the United States after the war."
Associated Press. WaPo, 12/05/2025: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, actor who performed in 'Mortal Kombat,' has died at 75.
"Tagawa was raised mostly in the U.S. South while his Hawaii-born father was assigned to U.S. mainland Army bases. He lived in Honolulu and on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for a while.
"Tagawa’s father met his mother while stationed in Japan, Tagawa told Honolulu Magazine in 2004. His parents named him after Cary Grant and his brother after Gregory Peck, he said.
"His mother, Ayako, had been a stage actor in Japan, according to the Honolulu weekly newspaper Midweek . Tagawa said she asked him not to pursue acting because there weren’t many good roles for Asians.
"“The good news for Asian actors and Hollywood is that it’s better than it’s ever been, but the bad news is that it hasn’t changed that much,” he told Midweek in 2005. “The opportunities haven’t increased that much, but commercially there’s more exposure.”
Jennifer Zahn. Vulture, 12/05/2025: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Mortal Kombat Sorcerer and Actor, Dead at 75.
"Tagawa’s breakout performance as Chang in the Oscar-winning 1987 film The Last Emperor led to a decades-long career in film and TV, with roles in Planet of the Apes, Memoirs of a Geisha, License to Kill, Pearl Harbor, 47 Ronin, MacGyver, the Tekken live-action film, and more. He began playing the villainous Shang Tsung in New Line’s 1995 Mortal Kombat film and reprised the role in multiple movies, shows, and video games in the franchise.
"Tagawa’s last major role was in Prime Video’s 2015 show The Man in the High Castle as Nobusuke Tagomi, the Japanese trade minister of the Pacific States of America. “I identified so much with this character and so much of my life experience — having been born in Tokyo and then coming to America just after the war, 10 years after the war,” he said, per Deadline. “I understood and grew up with the legacy of the war. So to be good, bad and ugly — being different — is the same as with my character Tagomi, who seems to be the only one running around talking about peace.”
118featherbear
Rob Reiner, 1947-2025
Julia Jacobs. NYT, 12/15/2025: temporarily unlocked Rob Reiner, Actor Who Went on to Direct Classic Films, Dies at 78. "Mr. Reiner, who was in “All in the Family,” directed films including “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally …,” “The Princess Bride” and “A Few Good Men.”"
Sian Cain. Guardian, 12/14/2025: Director Rob Reiner and wife Michele Singer Reiner found dead at home.
Guardian, 12/15/2025: Rob Reiner: a life in pictures.
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 12/15/2025: From Seinfeld to Shawshank, Rob Reiner changed Hollywood for ever. "Reiner’s own films reshaped modern comedy and drama with their intelligence, empathy and range. But through his company, Castle Rock, he paved the way for Seinfeld, Sorkin and many more."
Stuart Heritage. Guardian, 12/15/2025: Rob Reiner’s five best films.
Sian Cain. Guardian, 12/15/2025: Hollywood reacts in shock to death of Rob Reiner: ‘One of the greatest filmmakers to ever live.’
Rob Reiner's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/reinerrob
Julia Jacobs. NYT, 12/15/2025: temporarily unlocked Rob Reiner, Actor Who Went on to Direct Classic Films, Dies at 78. "Mr. Reiner, who was in “All in the Family,” directed films including “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally …,” “The Princess Bride” and “A Few Good Men.”"
Sian Cain. Guardian, 12/14/2025: Director Rob Reiner and wife Michele Singer Reiner found dead at home.
Guardian, 12/15/2025: Rob Reiner: a life in pictures.
Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 12/15/2025: From Seinfeld to Shawshank, Rob Reiner changed Hollywood for ever. "Reiner’s own films reshaped modern comedy and drama with their intelligence, empathy and range. But through his company, Castle Rock, he paved the way for Seinfeld, Sorkin and many more."
Stuart Heritage. Guardian, 12/15/2025: Rob Reiner’s five best films.
Sian Cain. Guardian, 12/15/2025: Hollywood reacts in shock to death of Rob Reiner: ‘One of the greatest filmmakers to ever live.’
Rob Reiner's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/reinerrob
119featherbear
New York Times Magazine, 12/16/2025: temporarily unlocked The Lives They Lived. "Remembering some of the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost in the past year."
120featherbear
James Ransone, 1979-2025
Ramon Antonio Vargas. Guardian, 12/21/2025: James Ransone, US actor known for The Wire, dies aged 46.
Jonathan Abrams. NYT, 12/21/2025: James Ransone, Actor Known for ‘The Wire,’ Dies at 46.
Ryan Gilbey. Guardian, 12/24/2025: James Ransone obituary.
James Ransone LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/ransonejames
Ramon Antonio Vargas. Guardian, 12/21/2025: James Ransone, US actor known for The Wire, dies aged 46.
Jonathan Abrams. NYT, 12/21/2025: James Ransone, Actor Known for ‘The Wire,’ Dies at 46.
Ryan Gilbey. Guardian, 12/24/2025: James Ransone obituary.
James Ransone LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/ransonejames
121featherbear
Gabe Cohen, compiler. NYT, 12/22/2025: shared link: Artists We Lost in 2025, in Their Words.
122featherbear
May Britt, 1934-2025
Clay Risen. NYT, 12/22/2025; upd 12/23: May Britt, 91, Dies; Her Marriage to Sammy Davis Jr. Sparked Outrage. "She was a white actress, he was a popular Black entertainer, and their relationship elicited racist reactions in 1960, worrying John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign."
"Ms. Britt, whose first name was pronounced “My,” was an up-and-coming movie star when she met Mr. Davis at a Los Angeles nightclub in 1959.
"The civil rights movement was then making gains against school segregation and workplace discrimination but having far less impact regarding the laws and mores around intimate relationships. Interracial marriage, while legal in California, was still illegal in many American states — it wasn’t until 1967 that it was legalized nationwide by the Supreme Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia — and interracial dating was considered taboo even in supposedly liberal places like Hollywood.
"After Ms. Britt and Mr. Davis began dating, they became the target of death threats, streams of hate mail and neo-Nazi pickets outside venues where Mr. Davis was performing. The reaction grew only more intense when they announced their engagement in July 1960.
"The intolerance spread into that year’s presidential campaign, during which Mr. Davis was a vocal supporter of Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee. At the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles in July, Mr. Davis was booed by delegates from Southern states.
“You know as well as I do why they booed,” Mr. Davis told a reporter from United Press International.
"The couple planned their wedding for that October but ended up pushing it back to November. It took place in Hollywood; Frank Sinatra served as best man, and several other members of the Rat Pack were in attendance — including Peter Lawford, who was married to Kennedy’s sister Patricia. (Mr. Davis was a core member of the group, known for performing in Las Vegas together.)
"Not long afterward, the columnist Drew Pearson reported that the wedding had been delayed because of pressure from the Kennedy campaign, which believed that the ceremony would draw negative attention before the election. Others later contended that Kennedy had ordered his personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, to disinvite Mr. Davis from performing at an Inaugural party at the White House in 1961.
"Ms. Britt’s marriage to Mr. Davis largely brought her film career to an end after a promising start. She had begun acting in Italy, where she starred in 11 movies produced by Carlo Ponti, before going to Hollywood in 1957 on a contract with 20th Century-Fox.
"She appeared in a string of high-profile films, including “The Young Lions” (1958), opposite Marlon Brando and Dean Martin, and “The Hunters” (1958), opposite Robert Mitchum. In a 1959 remake of “The Blue Angel,” she played the lead, Lola-Lola, a role that Marlene Dietrich made famous in the 1930 original.
"Ms. Britt appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1959. In a profile that year, the syndicated columnist Hedda Hopper called her “the most interesting Swede to hit Hollywood since Garbo.”
"Her last major film was “Murder, Inc.” (1960), in which she played the wife of a singer caught up with the mob. Bosley Crowther, reviewing the movie for The New York Times, called her performance “taut and poignant.”
"But that year, 20th Century-Fox did not renew her contract. While the studio cited poor box-office results for “The Blue Angel,” Ms. Britt, Mr. Davis and others suspected that it was because of their interracial relationship.
Earlier & post-Davis film career:
"Her Italian films included adventure-melodramas like “Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair” (1953) and “The Ship of Condemned Women” (1953), as well as a sprawling, star-studded adaptation of “War and Peace” (1956), which Mr. Ponti produced with Dino De Laurentiis for Paramount Pictures.
"It was her role as Sonya Rostova in that movie that won her attention from Hollywood and a studio contract.
"After her divorce from Mr. Davis, Ms. Britt, who had remained in Los Angeles, returned to acting, though usually in small parts in films and in guest spots on TV series. Her last film credit was in the 1976 horror film “Haunts.” Her last TV credit was a 1988 episode of “Probe,” a science fiction series.
"Ms. Britt and Mr. Davis remained friendly until his death in 1990 at 64.
“I loved Sammy,” she told Vanity Fair in 1999, “and I had the chance to marry the man I loved.”
Clay Risen. NYT, 12/22/2025; upd 12/23: May Britt, 91, Dies; Her Marriage to Sammy Davis Jr. Sparked Outrage. "She was a white actress, he was a popular Black entertainer, and their relationship elicited racist reactions in 1960, worrying John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign."
"Ms. Britt, whose first name was pronounced “My,” was an up-and-coming movie star when she met Mr. Davis at a Los Angeles nightclub in 1959.
"The civil rights movement was then making gains against school segregation and workplace discrimination but having far less impact regarding the laws and mores around intimate relationships. Interracial marriage, while legal in California, was still illegal in many American states — it wasn’t until 1967 that it was legalized nationwide by the Supreme Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia — and interracial dating was considered taboo even in supposedly liberal places like Hollywood.
"After Ms. Britt and Mr. Davis began dating, they became the target of death threats, streams of hate mail and neo-Nazi pickets outside venues where Mr. Davis was performing. The reaction grew only more intense when they announced their engagement in July 1960.
"The intolerance spread into that year’s presidential campaign, during which Mr. Davis was a vocal supporter of Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee. At the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles in July, Mr. Davis was booed by delegates from Southern states.
“You know as well as I do why they booed,” Mr. Davis told a reporter from United Press International.
"The couple planned their wedding for that October but ended up pushing it back to November. It took place in Hollywood; Frank Sinatra served as best man, and several other members of the Rat Pack were in attendance — including Peter Lawford, who was married to Kennedy’s sister Patricia. (Mr. Davis was a core member of the group, known for performing in Las Vegas together.)
"Not long afterward, the columnist Drew Pearson reported that the wedding had been delayed because of pressure from the Kennedy campaign, which believed that the ceremony would draw negative attention before the election. Others later contended that Kennedy had ordered his personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, to disinvite Mr. Davis from performing at an Inaugural party at the White House in 1961.
"Ms. Britt’s marriage to Mr. Davis largely brought her film career to an end after a promising start. She had begun acting in Italy, where she starred in 11 movies produced by Carlo Ponti, before going to Hollywood in 1957 on a contract with 20th Century-Fox.
"She appeared in a string of high-profile films, including “The Young Lions” (1958), opposite Marlon Brando and Dean Martin, and “The Hunters” (1958), opposite Robert Mitchum. In a 1959 remake of “The Blue Angel,” she played the lead, Lola-Lola, a role that Marlene Dietrich made famous in the 1930 original.
"Ms. Britt appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1959. In a profile that year, the syndicated columnist Hedda Hopper called her “the most interesting Swede to hit Hollywood since Garbo.”
"Her last major film was “Murder, Inc.” (1960), in which she played the wife of a singer caught up with the mob. Bosley Crowther, reviewing the movie for The New York Times, called her performance “taut and poignant.”
"But that year, 20th Century-Fox did not renew her contract. While the studio cited poor box-office results for “The Blue Angel,” Ms. Britt, Mr. Davis and others suspected that it was because of their interracial relationship.
Earlier & post-Davis film career:
"Her Italian films included adventure-melodramas like “Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair” (1953) and “The Ship of Condemned Women” (1953), as well as a sprawling, star-studded adaptation of “War and Peace” (1956), which Mr. Ponti produced with Dino De Laurentiis for Paramount Pictures.
"It was her role as Sonya Rostova in that movie that won her attention from Hollywood and a studio contract.
"After her divorce from Mr. Davis, Ms. Britt, who had remained in Los Angeles, returned to acting, though usually in small parts in films and in guest spots on TV series. Her last film credit was in the 1976 horror film “Haunts.” Her last TV credit was a 1988 episode of “Probe,” a science fiction series.
"Ms. Britt and Mr. Davis remained friendly until his death in 1990 at 64.
“I loved Sammy,” she told Vanity Fair in 1999, “and I had the chance to marry the man I loved.”
123featherbear
Robert Nakamura, 1936-2025
Jeré Longman. NYT, 12/23/2025: shared link Robert Nakamura, ‘Godfather’ of Asian American Film, Dies at 88. "In his work, he often returned to Manzanar, the camp in which he and his family, along with thousands of other people of Japanese descent, were interned during World War II."
Jeré Longman. NYT, 12/23/2025: shared link Robert Nakamura, ‘Godfather’ of Asian American Film, Dies at 88. "In his work, he often returned to Manzanar, the camp in which he and his family, along with thousands of other people of Japanese descent, were interned during World War II."
124featherbear
Brigitte Bardot, 1934-2025
Anita Gates. NYT, 12/28/2025: Brigitte Bardot, Movie Idol Who Renounced Stardom, Dies at 91.
Nadja Spiegelman. NYT, 12/29/2025: Everything (and Everyone) Brigitte Bardot Scorned.
Elisabeth Vincentelli. NYT, 12/28/2025: From Sex Appeal to the Far Right, Brigitte Bardot Symbolized a Changing France. "In the decades after becoming a megastar, the French actress became as known for her politics as she once had been for her acting career."
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 12/28/2025: shared link: Brigitte Bardot, French femme fatale and cultural phenomenon, dies at 91. "The actress and singer was a symbol of sexual revolution. She later became an animal-welfare campaigner and incendiary right-wing commenter."
Angelique Chrisafis. Guardian, 12/28/2025: Brigitte Bardot’s image complicated by her controversial politics.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 12/28/2025: Brigitte Bardot was a zeitgeist-force and France’s most sensational export.
Sarah Gilbert. Guardian, 12/28/2025: Brigitte Bardot – a life in pictures.
Esther Addley. Guardian, 01/04/2026: Sex object, animal rights activist, racist: the paradox that was Brigitte Bardot.
Bardot's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/bardotbrigitte
Anita Gates. NYT, 12/28/2025: Brigitte Bardot, Movie Idol Who Renounced Stardom, Dies at 91.
Nadja Spiegelman. NYT, 12/29/2025: Everything (and Everyone) Brigitte Bardot Scorned.
Elisabeth Vincentelli. NYT, 12/28/2025: From Sex Appeal to the Far Right, Brigitte Bardot Symbolized a Changing France. "In the decades after becoming a megastar, the French actress became as known for her politics as she once had been for her acting career."
Adam Bernstein. WaPo, 12/28/2025: shared link: Brigitte Bardot, French femme fatale and cultural phenomenon, dies at 91. "The actress and singer was a symbol of sexual revolution. She later became an animal-welfare campaigner and incendiary right-wing commenter."
Angelique Chrisafis. Guardian, 12/28/2025: Brigitte Bardot’s image complicated by her controversial politics.
Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 12/28/2025: Brigitte Bardot was a zeitgeist-force and France’s most sensational export.
Sarah Gilbert. Guardian, 12/28/2025: Brigitte Bardot – a life in pictures.
Esther Addley. Guardian, 01/04/2026: Sex object, animal rights activist, racist: the paradox that was Brigitte Bardot.
Bardot's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/bardotbrigitte
125featherbear
William McDonald. NYT, 12/29/2025: my last shared link for Dec 2025: Gone in 2025: A Yearlong Procession of Giants. Unfortunately opens w/Hulk Hogan & Ozzy Osbourne; hopefully better giants follow.
126featherbear
Isiah Whitlock Jr., 1954-2025
Hannah Ziegler. NYT, 12/30/2025: Isiah Whitlock Jr., 71, Scene-Stealing Character Actor in ‘The Wire,’ Dies.
Frances Vinall. WaPo, 12/31/2025: Isiah Whitlock Jr., actor known for ‘The Wire’ and ‘Veep,’ dies at 71. "His 120-plus film and TV credits included frequent collaborations with director Spike Lee. He was also known for his creative delivery of a four-letter word."
Agence France-Presse. Guardian, 12/30/2025: Isiah Whitlock Jr, actor in The Wire and Veep, dies aged 71.
Hannah Ziegler. NYT, 12/30/2025: Isiah Whitlock Jr., 71, Scene-Stealing Character Actor in ‘The Wire,’ Dies.
Frances Vinall. WaPo, 12/31/2025: Isiah Whitlock Jr., actor known for ‘The Wire’ and ‘Veep,’ dies at 71. "His 120-plus film and TV credits included frequent collaborations with director Spike Lee. He was also known for his creative delivery of a four-letter word."
Agence France-Presse. Guardian, 12/30/2025: Isiah Whitlock Jr, actor in The Wire and Veep, dies aged 71.
127featherbear
Tatiana Schlossberg, 1990-2025
Scott Nover. WaPo, 12/30/2025: shared link: Tatiana Schlossberg, journalist and granddaughter of JFK, dies at 35.
Penelope Green. NYT, 12/30/2025, upd 12/31: Tatiana Schlossberg, Kennedy Daughter Who Wrote of Her Cancer, Dies at 35. "An environmental journalist and child of Caroline Kennedy, she wrote of her struggle with leukemia in The New Yorker in November, drawing worldwide sympathy."
"Tatiana Schlossberg, an environmental journalist and a daughter of Caroline Kennedy — and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy — whose harrowing essay about her rare and aggressive blood cancer, published in The New Yorker magazine in November, drew worldwide sympathy and praise for Ms. Schlossberg’s courage and raw honesty, died on Tuesday. She was 35.
"Titled “A Battle With My Blood,” the essay appeared online on Nov. 22, the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather’s assassination. (It appeared in print in the Dec. 8 issue of the magazine with a different headline, “A Further Shore.”) In it, Ms. Schlossberg wrote of how she learned of her cancer after the birth of her daughter in May 2024. There was something off about her blood count, her doctor noticed, telling her, “It could just be something related to pregnancy and delivery, or it could be leukemia.”
"It was leukemia, with a rare mutation. Ms. Schlossberg had a new baby, and a 2-year-old son.
"She was never able to fully care for her daughter — to feed, diaper or bathe her — because of the risk of infection, and her treatments had kept her away from home for nearly half of her daughter’s first year of life.
“I don’t know who, really, she thinks I am,” Ms. Schlossberg wrote, “and whether she will feel or remember, when I am gone, that I am her mother.”
"“For my whole life, I have tried to be good,” she wrote, “to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry. Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
"Tatiana Celia Kennedy Schlossberg was born on May 5, 1990, in Manhattan, the middle child of Ms. Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, an interactive digital designer. She attended the Brearley School and then Trinity School, private schools in Manhattan. She studied history at Yale University, graduating in 2012, and earned a master’s degree in history from Oxford University in 2014.
"In between, Ms. Schlossberg, who had been the editor of The Yale Herald, was a reporter for The Record of northern New Jersey. In 2012, she was named Rookie of the Year by the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists. She joined The New York Times in 2014, working first on the metropolitan desk and then as a science and climate reporter.
"On the metro desk, Ms. Schlossberg covered grisly murders as well as lighter fare, including a nun on a path to sainthood, the ice-breaking boats of New York Harbor, the decline of the bodega and the mysterious discovery of a dead black bear cub in Central Park in 2014. Ten years later, The New Yorker reported that the carcass had been left there by her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a peculiar prank.
“Like law enforcement,” she told The Times then, “I had no idea who was responsible for this when I wrote the story.”
"In her essay in The New Yorker, she called out her cousin for his actions as secretary of Health and Human Services, describing him as “an embarrassment to me and my immediate family.”
Under his tenure, she noted, funding for medical research was being cut at institutions like Columbia University, where her husband, George Moran, a urologist, is an assistant professor, and she feared that his job, and those of his colleagues, were at risk. She wrote of the horror she felt when Mr. Kennedy cut a half-billion dollars for research on mRNA vaccines, a technology that is also deployed against some cancers. After her postpartum hemorrhage, she was given misoprostol, a drug used for medical abortions; she pointed out that her cousin had directed the Food and Drug Administration to review the drug after decades of safe use.
'“Suddenly,” she wrote, “the health-care system on which I relied felt strained, shaky.”
"Ms. Schlossberg was the author of “Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have” (2019), a kind of consumer’s guide to the ways in which human behavior adversely affects the climate. In 2020, the Society of Environmental Journalists honored the book with the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. Ms. Schlossberg hoped her book would help people make changes in their behavior and buying habits, rather than being overwhelmed by climate anxiety and fatalism.
"Before her illness, she had been preparing to begin reporting for her second book, focused on climate change and the world’s oceans. She learned that one of her chemotherapy drugs, cytarabine, was derived from a type of sea sponge first synthesized by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1959. Those scientists, she wrote, “almost certainly relied on government funding” — the very thing, she added, that her cousin had cut."
Tatiana Schlossberg's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/schlossbergtatiana
Tatiana Schlossberg. New Yorker, 12/22/2025: A Battle with My Blood.
Scott Nover. WaPo, 12/30/2025: shared link: Tatiana Schlossberg, journalist and granddaughter of JFK, dies at 35.
Penelope Green. NYT, 12/30/2025, upd 12/31: Tatiana Schlossberg, Kennedy Daughter Who Wrote of Her Cancer, Dies at 35. "An environmental journalist and child of Caroline Kennedy, she wrote of her struggle with leukemia in The New Yorker in November, drawing worldwide sympathy."
"Tatiana Schlossberg, an environmental journalist and a daughter of Caroline Kennedy — and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy — whose harrowing essay about her rare and aggressive blood cancer, published in The New Yorker magazine in November, drew worldwide sympathy and praise for Ms. Schlossberg’s courage and raw honesty, died on Tuesday. She was 35.
"Titled “A Battle With My Blood,” the essay appeared online on Nov. 22, the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather’s assassination. (It appeared in print in the Dec. 8 issue of the magazine with a different headline, “A Further Shore.”) In it, Ms. Schlossberg wrote of how she learned of her cancer after the birth of her daughter in May 2024. There was something off about her blood count, her doctor noticed, telling her, “It could just be something related to pregnancy and delivery, or it could be leukemia.”
"It was leukemia, with a rare mutation. Ms. Schlossberg had a new baby, and a 2-year-old son.
"She was never able to fully care for her daughter — to feed, diaper or bathe her — because of the risk of infection, and her treatments had kept her away from home for nearly half of her daughter’s first year of life.
“I don’t know who, really, she thinks I am,” Ms. Schlossberg wrote, “and whether she will feel or remember, when I am gone, that I am her mother.”
"“For my whole life, I have tried to be good,” she wrote, “to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry. Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
"Tatiana Celia Kennedy Schlossberg was born on May 5, 1990, in Manhattan, the middle child of Ms. Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, an interactive digital designer. She attended the Brearley School and then Trinity School, private schools in Manhattan. She studied history at Yale University, graduating in 2012, and earned a master’s degree in history from Oxford University in 2014.
"In between, Ms. Schlossberg, who had been the editor of The Yale Herald, was a reporter for The Record of northern New Jersey. In 2012, she was named Rookie of the Year by the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists. She joined The New York Times in 2014, working first on the metropolitan desk and then as a science and climate reporter.
"On the metro desk, Ms. Schlossberg covered grisly murders as well as lighter fare, including a nun on a path to sainthood, the ice-breaking boats of New York Harbor, the decline of the bodega and the mysterious discovery of a dead black bear cub in Central Park in 2014. Ten years later, The New Yorker reported that the carcass had been left there by her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a peculiar prank.
“Like law enforcement,” she told The Times then, “I had no idea who was responsible for this when I wrote the story.”
"In her essay in The New Yorker, she called out her cousin for his actions as secretary of Health and Human Services, describing him as “an embarrassment to me and my immediate family.”
Under his tenure, she noted, funding for medical research was being cut at institutions like Columbia University, where her husband, George Moran, a urologist, is an assistant professor, and she feared that his job, and those of his colleagues, were at risk. She wrote of the horror she felt when Mr. Kennedy cut a half-billion dollars for research on mRNA vaccines, a technology that is also deployed against some cancers. After her postpartum hemorrhage, she was given misoprostol, a drug used for medical abortions; she pointed out that her cousin had directed the Food and Drug Administration to review the drug after decades of safe use.
'“Suddenly,” she wrote, “the health-care system on which I relied felt strained, shaky.”
"Ms. Schlossberg was the author of “Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have” (2019), a kind of consumer’s guide to the ways in which human behavior adversely affects the climate. In 2020, the Society of Environmental Journalists honored the book with the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. Ms. Schlossberg hoped her book would help people make changes in their behavior and buying habits, rather than being overwhelmed by climate anxiety and fatalism.
"Before her illness, she had been preparing to begin reporting for her second book, focused on climate change and the world’s oceans. She learned that one of her chemotherapy drugs, cytarabine, was derived from a type of sea sponge first synthesized by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1959. Those scientists, she wrote, “almost certainly relied on government funding” — the very thing, she added, that her cousin had cut."
Tatiana Schlossberg's LT page: https://www.librarything.com/author/schlossbergtatiana
Tatiana Schlossberg. New Yorker, 12/22/2025: A Battle with My Blood.
128cindydavid4
>127 featherbear: i broke into tears reading this. the kennedy family with all their faults were our families heros. we grew up thinking that some day they would solve our problems. but one by one they die tragiclly with one of them is making them worse.. I hope that those two little girls grup with their moms spirit
may her name be for a blessing
may her name be for a blessing
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