RIP José Luis Merino

January 3, 2015, 11:03 am

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Abbey Bersano

By Juan Pedro Lazo & José Luis Rodríguez Salvador Estébenez

December 30, 2014

The Spanish film Academy announced on December 30, 2014 the death of Jose Luis Merino.

Born on June 10, 1927 in Madrid, Merino began as an assistant director in 1947 and not until 1958 when given a chance to make his first film with Aquellos tiempos del cuplé, directed by Matthew Cano and whose screenplay won the award of the National Union of the Spectacle. Cano also made his next work, El vagabundo y la estrella (1960), starring the great Canary Island tenor Alfredo Krauss. After several titles, Merino began directing in the then successful spaghetti-westerns Kitosch, l'uomo che veniva del Nord (1967), first of the four titles that would roll under such generic parameters (provided they do not consider as such their different approaches to the character of Zorro), among which are one of the damn tapes of our cinema par excellence, 6.7 cabalgan hacia la muerte (1979), produced at a time when the European western was frankly obsolete.

Having made his entry into the cinema of subgenres with said Frontera south, Merino develop most of his career, concentrated main form between 1967 and 1973 and framed within gender politics, delving into war movies adventure films and, of course, fantastic. It is this last point that owns the he considered our favorite work, adaptation of the original Jardiel Enrique Ponce Satan's Five Warnings / Os five notices of Satan (1970) and two of his most memorable works, Ivanna / Il castello di fuoco dalle porte (1971) and The Hanging Woman / La orgy dei morti (1972), only that title went under the seal of his own production company, Petruka Films, and despite not currently enjoyed a distribution in the domestic sphere of our country, beyond our borders is considered a whole cult film which even boasts deluxe editions on DVD format as that marketed by Troma, whose extra features interviews and an interesting audio commentary by Merino.

After shooting Gritos de ansiedad / Cries of anxiety in 1984, would stay temporarily away from the cameras until 1990 when he filmed Superagentes in Mallorca, an attempt to revive the Euro Spy film, to which he had contributed SID against Kocesky / Colpo sensazionale the service of Sifar (1968). Nor can we forget his appearances as an actor in some of the films of José Luis Garci, of which highlight his small role Meri in both parts of El crack / The Crack.

José Luis Merino Boves leaves us at 87 years old but leaves behind his thirty film titles that demonstrate humility and mastery of one of the most versatile directors claimable by our native landscape. Rest in peace.

MERINO, José Luis (José Luis Merino Boves)

Born: 6/10/1927, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Died: 12/29/2014, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Jose Luis Merino’s westerns – director, screenwriter:

A Fistful of Songs - 1966 [as J.L. Merino] [director, screenwriter]

Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North – 1966 [director, screenwriter]

Duel in the Eclipse – 1968 [director]

Gatling Gun – 1968 [screenwriter]

Another Dollar for the McGregors – 1970 [director, screenwriter]

7 Ride to Death [director, screenwriter]

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RIP Ivan Jullien

January 4, 2015, 3:03 pm

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RIP Ivan Jullien

RTL

By Jean-Yves Chaperon

1/4/2015

Death of Ivan Jullien, lord of the French jazz

Trumpet player, but especially arranger and conductor, this man was one of those who have contributed to the quality of French jazz, mainly since the early 70s he has died at the age of 80 years. The Jazz Time pays tribute to him.

At the head of a big band, Ivan Jullien like a thick sound knead dough but never heavy, to express in his music the finest nuances, the most dazzling features. We remember in particular its Porgy & Bess by Gershwin version, recorded in 1971 with Eddy Louiss the organ, but André Ceccarelli, Michel Graillier, Jean-Louis Chautemps Jacky Samson, Bernard Lubat and all these great talents who built the French jazz at that time.

You could feel his deep imprint in the sound field of his music, always ample, both dynamic and delicate. He had worked with Claude Nougaro, Henry Salvador, Charles Aznavour, Nicole Croisille, many others, and also to a lot of film music.

We received Ivan Jullien in one of our programs devoted to big bands. I remember a charming man, smiling, full of humility, happy to talk about his work, and evoke memories.

We will honor him greatly in the program "Hour of Jazz" Sunday January 11th.

JULLIEN, Ivan (Yvan Jullien)

Born: 10 27/1934, Vincennes, Île-de-France, France

Died: 1/3/2015, Etampes, Île-de-France, France

Ivan Jullien’s western – music arranger:

Another Man, Another Chance - 1969

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RIP Rhodes Reason

January 4, 2015, 8:31 pm

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RIP Rhodes Reason

Find a Grave

By C.S.

December 29, 2014

The retired American character actor Rhodes Reason, who appeared in over two-hundred and thirty roles in film, television, and theatre, among which were many western roles, especially on television, died peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of the 26^th of December, he was 84. Reason had suffered from lymphoma the last years of his life.

The younger brother of actor Rex Reason, Rhodes followed his older brother into the entertainment industry and marked his professional debut at the age of eighteen in a production of "Romeo and Juliet" directed by Charles Laughton. He marked his motion picture debut with an uncredited role in "Lady Godiva of Coventry" (1955) and went on to appear in scores of TV programs and films. Reason had starring roles in the TV series "White Hunter" (1957 to 1959), as 'John A. Hunter' and "Bus Stop" (1961 to 1962), as 'Sheriff Will Mayberry'. He played 'Flavius' in an episode of the

original "Star Trek" series titled "Bread and Circuses" (1968).

REASON, Rhodes

Born: 4/19/1930, Glendale, California, U.S.A.

Died: 12/26/2014, Palm Springs, California, U.S.A.

Rhodes Reason’s westerns – actor:

Tales of the Texas Rangers (TV) – 1955 (Sheriff Tom Keever, Dave)

The Adventures of Champion (TV) – 1955 (Molson, young cowboy)

Death Valley Days (TV) – 1955, 1966 (Peter Jeffries, Wild Bill Hickok)

Tension at Table Rock – 1956 (Baird)

The Desperadoes Are in Town – 1956 (Frank Banner)

Frontier (TV) – 1956 (Will)

Sky King (TV) – 1956 (Chuck Wilson, Kinnard)

Cheyenne (TV) – 1956, 1960 (Les Shore, Bill Lockhart)

Maverick (TV) – 1957 (Hank Foster)

Sugarfoot (TV) – 1957 (Burt Fulton)

Tombstone Territory (TV) – 1957 (Nate Crandall)

Yellowstone Kelly – 1959 (Major Towns)

Frontier Doctor (TV) – 1959 (Black Jack)

Bronco (TV) – 1959, 1960 (Major John Stoddard, Pat Garrett)

Colt .45 (TV) – 1960 (Ben Thompson)

Laramie (TV) – 1961 (Phil Yuma)

The Rifleman (TV) – 1962 (Ben Kendrick)

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1965, 1966 (Captain William Butler, Dr. Jedrick)

The Big Valley (TV) – 1967 (Dave Cannon)

Prudence and the Chief (TV) – 1970 (Major O’Toole)

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RIP Bill Hart

January 7, 2015, 7:05 am

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RIP Bill Hart

Los Angeles Times

January 7, 2015

July 28, 1934 - January 2, 2015 Billy Gene Welch a/k/a Bill Hart Northridge, California, Edinburg/Pipe Creek, Texas. Northridge, Ca. - Billy Gene Welch/Bill Hart was born on July 28, 1934 in Red Oak, Texas to James William Edmond and Lilly McHam Welch. He passed away at home with family on January 2, 2015 after a short but courageous battle with cancer. Because of Bill's faith in God and trust in Jesus Christ as his savior he is rejoicing with the saints gone before him in heaven today. Upon the passing of Bill's parents he moved to Edinburg, Texas and was raised by his adopted parents Henry Othell and Mildred Welch. Bill attended and graduated from Edinburg High School in 1953 lettering in football and basketball and graduating at the top of his class. After graduation he attended Pan American College a short while before joining and serving proudly in the United States Marine Corp for two years in Korea. In 1958 Billy moved to North Hollywood, California and began a career in the movie business, his first being the 1960 classic "The Alamo" starring John Wayne. He worked as a stuntman and actor in more than 150 movies as well as television shows such as "Gunsmoke", "Bonanza", "The Big Valley", "Stoney Burke" and others too numerous to mention. Although Billy never really considered himself from California, it is there he met the girl of his dreams and the love of his life Rina Solowitz or "Rina Mae" as he was fond of calling her. Together they raised four amazing children. He was once asked by a police officer who pulled him over for speeding why he had a Texas driver's license but his car registration was from California, Billy quickly replied he lived in Texas, but his wife was from California. Billy had a quick wit and deep love for family and friends; you might say he never met a stranger and that is acknowledged by the many friends Bill and Rina made over their years together traveling in the movie business and the residences they kept in California and Texas. Billy and Rina went to Texas every chance they had and near his retirement they bought a ranch in Pipe Creek, Texas they named "Coot and Skeet Acres". They loved bringing their children, grandchildren, family and friends there to see the beauty and splendor of the "Great Texas Outdoors". He was a 32nd degree Mason and a member of Bandera Lodge 1123 & North Hollywood Lodge 542. He loved greeting his friends at the lodge, 11th Street, Wild Horse and the OST Restaurant with "Yaateeh", which is hello in Navajo. Bill and Rina's last trip to Edinburg was to celebrate his 61st class reunion with friends this past October at the Echo Hotel in Edinburg, Texas. Bill will be greatly missed by family, friends, and all who ever had the pleasure of meeting him, Bill never liked saying goodbye, it just seemed to permanent, so it was always "Adios" farewell until we meet again. Bill is survived by his wife Rina Welch Hart, natural brother Jack (Fay) Welch, adopted brothers Tillmin Gene (Carrie Beth) Welch, Stanley Othell (Tere) Welch, two daughters Theda Carlene Welch Hart, Kimberly Hart, one son Jimmy (Jessica) Hart, brother in laws, Jeff (Kathy) Solowitz, Ray Solowitz (who Bill called his best friend in California), and grandchildren Allan Michael (shadow) Steiner, Melissa (skeet) Steiner, Danica Hart and Jake Hart and mother-in-law Lea Solowitz. He was preceded in death by a son Charles Hugh Othell Welch/Chuck Hart, by his father James William Edmond Welch, mother Lilly McHam Welch, brothers, Bluitt, MT, Henry Othell, sisters, Arvela, Maggie Lou, Ruth, Robbie Jane. Services will be held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park 6300 Forest Lawn Dr Los Angeles CA 90068 on Monday January 12th at 12pm. In lieu of flowers the family requests that you make memorial donations to a charity of your choice in his memory.

HART, Bill (Billy Gene Welch)

Born: 7/28/1934, Red Oak, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 1/2/2015, Northridge, California, U.S.A.

Bill Hart’s westerns – actor, stunt coordinator, stuntman:

The Alamo – 1960 [stunts]

Stagecoach West – 1960 [stunt coordinator, stunts]

The Deputy (TV) – 1960 (townsman)

Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1960 (townsman)

Wanted Dead or Alive (TV) – 1960, 1961 (buggy driver)

The Comancheros – 1961 [stunts]

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1961, 1962 (barfly, Olney)

Stoney Burke (TV) – 1962, 1963 (Red)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1962-1967 (Wiley’s friend, renegade, cowboy, barfly, hidecutter, brawler)

Savage Sam – 1963 [stunts]

McLintock! – 1963 (brawler) [stunts]

Temple Houston (TV) – 1963

A Distant Trumpet – 1964 [stunts]

Mail Order Bride – 1964 [stunts]

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1964 (Indian)

Rawhide (TV) – 1964 (Bickle drover, brawler)

The Glory Guys – 1965 (trooper)

The Rounders – 1965 (brawler) [stunts]

Laredo (TV) – 1965 (Pug Jones)

The Wild Wild West (TV) – 1965 (thug)

Branded (TV) – 1965, 1966 (Chet, gunman, henchman)

Bonanza (TV) – 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970 (Paiute Indian, sheriff, posse member)

Duel at Diablo – 1966 (Corporal Harrington) [stunts]

Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats (TV) – 1966 (Patch Portis)

The Loner (TV) 1966 (Vic)

The Last Challenge – 1967 (cowboy, stunts]

Cimarron Strip (TV) – 1967 (Kid Slaughter)

Hondo (TV) – 1967 (trooper resisting Hondo)

Firecreek – 1968 [stunts]

The Wild Bunch – 1969 (Jess) [stunts]

There Was a Crooked Man… 1970 [stunts]

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid – 1973 [stunts]

The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again – 1970 (officer)

Santee – 1973 [stunts]

The Frisco Kid – 1979 [stunts]

The Sacketts (TV) – 1979 (Rodale)

The Wild Wild West Revisited (TV) – 1979 (henchman)

Heaven’s Gate – 1980 [stunts]

Tom Horn – 1980 (slaughter house man)

The Legend of the Lone Ranger – 1981 (Ranger Carner)

Best of the West (TV) – 1981 (Dirty Jack Peckinpaugh)

Kenny Rogers as the Gambler: The Adventure Continues (TV) – 1983 (Daniels)

The Yellow Rose (TV) – 1984 (construction worker)

Sunset – 1988 [stunts]

Young Guns – 1988 [stunts]

Glory – 1989 [stunts]

Border Shootout – 1990 [stunts]

Palo Pinto Gold – 2009 (Grandpa)

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RIP Bob Magruder

January 7, 2015, 1:36 pm

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RIP Bob Magruder

Dallas Morning News

January 7, 2015

Robert Olin Magruder Bob to his friends exited the stage January 2, aged 82. Born in Houston, he graduated University of Houston and served as an officer in the Navy during the Korean War. After writing for Armed Forces Radio, Bob established himself in the broadcast realm, as an on-air announcer, station manager and station owner. Mid-career, he quit the corporate world for full time acting and freelance voice announcing. He performed in feature films, national television, commercials, industrial films and was the long time narrator for the syndicated TV series "Cheaters." He also starred in a number of local theatre productions including the Alley Theatre in Houston, and locally, Dallas Repertory Theatre and Theatre Three. Bob was generous, funny, creative, loving and working right up to his last, brief illness - because it was more fun than sitting around in retirement. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Patsy; sister Verneita; brother-in-law Chalong; children Larry, Melonie and Cathleen; daughter-in-law Diane; grandchildren Robert, Christian, Tiffany, Chantilly, Dutch, Amanda and Diego; and friends and colleagues too numerous to mention. A Celebration of his Life is pending.

Magruder, Bob (Robert Olin Magruder)

Born: 4/12/1932, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 1/2/2015, Dallas, Texas U.S.A.

Bob Magruder’s western – actor:

The Return of Josey Wales – 1986 (Tenspot)

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RIP Rod Taylor

January 8, 2015, 6:07 pm

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Rod Taylor, ‘The Birds’ and ‘The Time Machine’ Star, Dies at 84

Variety

By Carmel Dagan

January 8, 2015

Rod Taylor, the Australian-born actor who starred in George Pal’s adaptation of H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine” and in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” then decades later made a memorable swan-song appearance as Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” died Wednesday. He was 84.

His daughter Felicia, a former CNN correspondent, confirmed the news Thursday.

Taylor made his feature starring debut in 1960 sci-fier “The Time Machine” (where he is pictured above), portraying a fictionalized Wells, who invents a time machine in Victorian England and travels to the distant future. The next year he voiced the lead canine, Pongo, in Disney’s “101 Dalmatians,” and starred in a brief ABC adventure series, “Hong Kong.” Even after an impressive performance in Hitchcock’s well-received “The Birds,” however, the actor never quite made it into the first rank of Hollywood actors.

He was part of the starry ensemble of Liz Taylor-Richard Burton starrer “The V.I.P.s” and was second lead in “A Gathering of Eagles,” “Fate Is the Hunter” and “36 Hours.”

In 1965 he starred in “Young Cassidy,” about the early life of the Irish playwright Sean O’Casey, leading a cast that included Julie Christie, Maggie Smith, Michael Redgrave and Edith Evans.

Taylor starred in a couple of late-career vehicles for Doris Day, “Do Not Disturb” and “The Glass Bottom Boat,” then led the ensemble in “Hotel.” The actor starred opposite his “Time Machine” co-star Yvette Mimieux in the well-regarded actioner “Dark of the Sun” and had a supporting role in Antonioni’s 1970 romantic drama “Zabriskie Point.”

He had another go at TV with the short-lived CBS series “Bearcats” in 1971 and NBC Western “The Oregon Trail” in 1976. But Taylor’s film career sputtered by the 1970s. He was second lead to John Wayne in “The Train Robbers”; starred in 1977 Australian effort “The Picture Show Man,” about the early film business in the country; and starred alongside Rex Harrison in bland Mario Puzo adaptation “A Time to Die” in 1982.

By the 1980s he was primarily a TV actor. Taylor played star Jaclyn Smith’s father in ABC telepic “Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy” and appeared in “Charles and Diana: A Royal Love Story.” The actor starred in a pair of short-lived series, ABC’s “Masquerade” in 1983 and CBS’ “Outlaws” in 1986-87, and recurred on “Falcon Crest” as Frank Agretti.

Taylor was born in Sydney and went to art school, East Sydney Technical and Fine Arts College. He did commercial illustration for newspapers and a bit of boxing; he was interested in acting, but seeing Laurence Olivier in a touring production of “Richard III” sparked him to pursue a career in it.

During the 1950s he appeared in supporting roles in a number of prominent films, including George Stevens’ “Giant,” Civil War pic “Raintree Country” and Delbert Mann’s “Separate Tables,” sometimes credited as Rodney Taylor.

Taylor worked only occasionally after the mid-1990s, appearing in a prominent role in Australian director Stephan Elliott’s “Welcome to Woop Woop” and recurring on TV series “Walker, Texas Ranger.” After an absence of seven years, he returned in 2007 for the Sci Fi Channel film “Kaw,” essentially an update of “The Birds,” but more prominently, he cameo’d as Winston Churchill in a key scene in Tarantino’s 2009 film “Inglourious Basterds.”

In 2010 the cast of “Inglourious Basterds,” including Taylor, won the SAG Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture.

Taylor is survived by third wife Carol Kikumura, to whom he was married since 1980, and, from his second marriage, daughter Felicia Taylor, a former anchor for CNBC.

TAYLOR, Rod (Rodney Sturt Taylor)

Born: 1/11/1930, Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia

Died: 1/7/2014, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Rod Taylor’s westerns – producer, composer, actor:

Top Gun – 1955 (Lem Sutter)

Giant – 1956 (Sir David Karfrey)

Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1960 (Jed Harper)

Raintree County - 1957 (Garwood B. Jones)

Cheyenne (TV) – 1955 (Clancy)

Chuka – 1967 (Chuka) [producer]

Bearcats! (TV) – 1971 (Hank Brackett)

The Deadly Trackers – 1973 (Frank Brand)

The Train Robbers – 1973 (Grady)

The Oregon Trail (TV) – 1976-1977 (Evan Thorpe) [composer]

Outlaws (TV) – 1986-1987 (Sheriff Jonathan Grail)

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1996, 1997, 2000 (Gordon Cahill)

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RIP Andraé Crouch

January 8, 2015, 7:07 pm

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Gospel music pioneer Andraé Crouch dies at 72

USA Today

By Brian Mansfield

January 8, 2015

Andraé Crouch, a gospel musician who bridged the worlds of church and mainstream music for more than 50 years, died Thursday afternoon. The 72-year-old singer, songwriter and choir director had been hospitalized since Saturday at Northridge Hospital Medical Center in the Los Angeles area after suffering a heart attack.

Crouch, sometimes called "the father of modern gospel music," led the choirs that sang on such hits as Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror and Madonna's Like a Prayer. As a songwriter, he wrote several gospel favorites, most notably The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power, My Tribute (To God Be the Glory) and Soon and Very Soon, a song sung at Jackson's public memorial service.

A San Francisco native who grew up in the Church of God in Christ, Crouch wrote his first gospel tune at age 14. By 1960, he had formed the Church of God in Christ Singers, a group that featured Billy Preston on keyboards.

He started another group, Andraé Crouch & the Disciples, in 1965, eventually signing to a contemporary Christian label, Light Records. Crouch brought a contemporary pop and R&B melodic sensibility to gospel, making him uniquely suited to appeal to both black and white audiences during the early days of the countercultural "Jesus movement" and also bringing him attention beyond the church.

Elvis Presley recorded Crouch's I've Got Confidence for his 1972 gospel album He Touched Me, and Paul Simon recorded his Jesus Is the Answer on 1974's Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin'. Crouch also became the go-to vocal arranger for Los Angeles recording sessions that needed a gospel sound, working not only with Jackson and Madonna but also Elton John, Quincy Jones, The Commodores, Diana Ross and Ringo Starr.

Crouch's gospel albums often featured guests from the R&B and jazz worlds, including Stevie Wonder, El DeBarge, Wilton Felder and Earth, Wind & Fire's Philip Bailey. Chaka Khan, Sheila E. and vocal group Take 6 appeared on his most recent album, 2011's The Journey.

His recordings brought him seven Grammys, and Crouch also received an Academy Award nomination for his arranging work on the 1985 film The Color Purple.

Throughout his life, Crouch struggled with dyslexia, sometimes memorizing words by the shapes of their combination of letters. He often drew simple pictures to help him comprehend words and write songs.

Crouch's sister, Sandra Crouch, served as his spokeswoman, and the siblings were pastors at the New Christ Memorial Church in San Fernando, Calif., carrying on a work begun by their parents.

Crouch survived multiple bouts with cancer and also suffered from diabetes. In early December, Crouch was hospitalized with pneumonia and congestive heart failure, forcing the cancelation of his Let the Church Say Amen Celebration tour, which had been scheduled to begin Dec. 6 in Philadelphia. He was re-admitted to the hospital Saturday with what his sister characterized in a statement as "serious health complications."

CROUCH, Andraé (Andraé Edward Crouch)

Born: 7/1/1942, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

Died: 1/8/2015, Northridge, California, U.S.A.

Andraé Crouch’s western – vocal conductor:

Tall Tales & Legends 1986

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RIP Terry Becker

January 8, 2015, 8:08 pm

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In Memory of

Solomon Becker

August 5, 1921 - December 30, 2014

Obituary

Terry Becker was a film and television actor, Emmy-winning director and producer. He is best known for his role as Chief Francis Ethelbert Sharkey in seasons 2 through 4 of the television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Becker took the role after the death of actor Henry Kulky, who had played the submarine's Chief (Curly Jones) during the first season of the series. Terry Becker also made two guest appearances on Perry Mason. In 1958 he played murder victim Philip Larkin in "The Case of the Prodigal Parent", and in 1960 he played Prosecuting Attorney Everett Ransome in "The Case of the Violent Village."

Becker's work behind the camera began with the TV series "Room 222," on which he was associate producer. He also directed eight episodes of the series. Becker went on to directing assignments on many other TV series, including Mission: Impossible, M*A*S*H, Love, American Style, The Brady Bunchand others, plus a motion picture, The Thirsty Dead, which he also produced. In 1973, he partnered with actor Carroll O'Connor to form O'Connor-Becker Productions. In 1983, the partnership split up and Becker continued producing as a solo producer under his own Becker Productions and Becker Enterprises banners.

Solomon "Terry" Becker of Los Angeles, California, passed away Tuesday, December 30, 2014 (8 Tevet 5775), at 93. Mr. Becker is survived by his beloved wife, Erlinda Becker; his children, Joseph (Anathea) Becker and Anna Becker; his grandchildren, Savannah, Jack and James; and his brother, Sidney (Geneva) Becker. Services will be private.

Services are under the direction of Groman Eden Mortuary.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Mr. Becker's memory to the Weizmann Institute of

Science of Rehovot, Israel. www.weizmann.ac.il

Services are under the direction of Groman Eden Mortuary.

BECKER, Terry (Solomon Becker)

Born: 8/5/1921, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 12/30/2014 Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Terry Becker’s westerns – producer, actor:

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1956 (Emmett)

The Fiend Who Walked the West – 1958 (Lew Lane)

Cimarron Strip (TV) – 1959 (Ezekial Mulligan)

Rawhide (TV) – 1959, 1964 (Seth Warner, Burt)

Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV) – 1960 (Deputy Fred Kimball)

Bonanza (TV) – 1962 (Shukie)

The Magnificent Stranger – 1966 (Burt)

Riding the Pony Express (TV) – 1980 [producer]

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RIP Samuel Goldwyn, Jr.

January 9, 2015, 9:57 pm

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Samuel Goldwyn Jr. Dies at 88

Variety

By Carmel Dagan

January 9, 2015

Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the son of a fiercely independent-minded Hollywood mogul and the producer of many independent films in his own right including “Mystic Pizza” and studio hits including “Master and Commander,” died Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 88. His son John Goldwyn told the New York Times he died of congestive heart failure.

Goldwyn Jr. received his final credit as a producer, together with son John and others, on Fox’s long-gestating remake of the Goldwyn Sr.-produced classic “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” starring and directed by Ben Stiller and released in December 2013.

The courtly and soft-spoken scion was known for shepherding independent and foreign films and got his start in documentary filmmaking, in contrast to his brash father, who made his way from a youth of poverty in Poland to a partner in MGM.

“I love it. If you don’t love this business, don’t go near it. Don’t go near it to get rich,” he told Britain’s the Independent in 2004. “And just remember, if you’re right 51 per cent of the time in this business, you’re a genius.”

As producer of the Peter Weir-directed “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” together with Weir and Duncan Henderson, Goldwyn Jr. shared that film’s Oscar nomination for best picture in 2004. (The film received a total of 10 nominations and won two Oscars.)

His Samuel Goldwyn Company was one of the most significant distributors of independent film during the period in which they flourished in the 1980s and 1990s. Among the films the company acquired and distributed were David Lynch’s Palme d’Or winner “Wild at Heart,” Jim Jarmusch’s “Stranger Than Paradise,” Bill Forsyth’s “Gregory’s Girl,” Alex Cox’s “Sid and Nancy,” Stephen Frears’ “Prick Up Your Ears,” Robert Townsend’s “Hollywood Shuffle,” Charles Burnett’s “To Sleep With Anger,” John Sayles’ “City of Hope,” Ang Lee’s “The Wedding Banquet” and Kenneth Branagh’s “Much Ado About Nothing.”

After a failed merger and lawsuit resulting from MGM’s acquisition of the distributor, Goldwyn Jr. relaunched his company as Samuel Goldwyn Films in the early 2000s. Though it was not nearly as active as the earlier incarnation, the new entity released indies such as “The Squid and the Whale,” “2 Days in Paris” and “Robot & Frank.”

In a 2004 New York Times profile, the tall, silver-haired Goldwyn was described as resembling not so much his father “as a combination of Kirk Douglas and Paul Newman.”

But Goldwyn Jr. gloried in his father’s achievements, eventually returning to live as an adult in the vast Beverly Hills estate built by his father and tending to the library of films. The films Samuel Goldwyn Sr. produced, including “The Best Years of Our Lives” and “Guys and Dolls,” are handled by the Samuel Goldwyn Jr. Family Trust and currently licensed to Warner Bros. for U.S. distribution.

Sam Goldwyn Sr. was one of the pioneers of Hollywood, and his production company, Goldwyn Pictures Corp., became part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1924, but Goldwyn Sr. had no involvement with MGM and was independent of the studio system after that.

Goldwyn Jr., however, did not “trade on his father’s name,” Tom Rothman, who began his career at the Samuel Goldwyn Company, told the New York Times.

Goldwyn Jr. grew up in Los Angeles as a self-confessed “Hollywood brat” — his mother was actress Frances Howard, he attended his first Oscar ceremony at age 11 and worked in editing rooms during summer vacation. He then spent a long period away from Los Angeles, attending prep school in Colorado and the U. of Virginia. After serving in the Army, he then took a job in England working for J. Arthur Rank, where he earned his first film credit as associate producer on the British crime thriller “Good-Time Girl,” Diana Dors’ first film, in 1948. Goldwyn Jr. rejoined the military in 1950, where he produced and directed documentaries for the staff of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Back in the U.S., he worked under Edward R. Murrow at CBS News and co-produced docu series “Adventure.”

When the young Goldwyn returned to Hollywood in the mid-1950s, Goldwyn Sr.’s career was in decline. In 1955 Goldwyn Jr. launched his production company Formosa Prods. (his father’s Samuel Goldwyn Studio was located at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Formosa Avenue) and produced his first film, uncredited, the same year: the Robert Mitchum Western “Man With the Gun.”

Via Formosa Prods. he also produced “The Sharkfighters” (1956), “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (1960) and, in the early 1970s, “Cotton Comes to Harlem” and “Come Back, Charleston Blue.” Goldwyn Jr. directed one film, “The Young Lovers,” starring Peter Fonda and Sharon Hugueny, in 1964.

In addition to his film work, Goldwyn Jr. produced the Academy Awards ceremony twice, in the late 1980s, winning an Emmy in 1988 for his effort.

His family’s charitable contributions are evident throughout the city: Samuel Goldwyn Foundation sponsors the yearly Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards, created the Samuel Goldwyn Foundation Children’s Center day care facility, built the Academy of Motion Pictures theater and constructed the Hollywood Public Library in memory of Frances Howard Goldwyn.

He was married twice, to writer Peggy Elliott, with whom he had two children, and to actress Jennifer Howard, with whom he had four. He is survived by three sons, producer John; actor Tony and Peter, senior VP of Samuel Goldwyn Films; and three daughters Catherine, Frances and Elizabeth; and nine grandchildren.

GOLDWYN, Jr., Samuel

Born: 9/7/1926, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 1/9/2015, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Samuel Goldwyn, Jr.’s westerns – producer:

Man with the Gun – 1955

The Proud Rebel – 1958

Outback - 1989

↧

RIP Anita Ekberg

January 11, 2015, 9:16 am

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Anita Ekberg, International Screen Beauty and Fellini Star, Dies at 83

New York Times

By Anita Gates

January 11, 2015

Anita Ekberg, who became an international symbol of lush beauty and unbridled sensuality in the 1960 Federico Fellini film “La Dolce Vita,” died Sunday morning. She was 83.

Her death, in Rocca di Papa, southeast of Rome, was caused by complications from a longtime illness and was confirmed by her lawyer, Patrizia Ubaldi.

Fellini cast Ms. Ekberg in “La Dolce Vita” as a hedonistic American actress visiting Rome. A single moonlit scene — in which she wades into the Trevi Fountain in a strapless evening gown, turns her face ecstatically to the fountain’s waterfall and seductively calls Marcello Mastroianni’s character to join her — established her place in cinema history.

Ms. Ekberg won a Golden Globe, sharing the 1956 award for most promising newcomer with Dana Wynter and Victoria Shaw, but most of her roles focused primarily on her face and figure. When she traveled overseas to entertain American troops in the 1950s, it was as a sex symbol. Bob Hope introduced her as “the greatest thing to come from Sweden since smorgasbord” and joked that her parents had won the Nobel Prize for architecture.

Decades later, she told Entertainment Weekly: “When you’re born beautiful, it helps you start in the business. But then it becomes a handicap.”

Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg was born on Sept. 29, 1931, in Malmo, Sweden, one of eight children of a harbor master.

She did some modeling in her teens and was later named Miss Sweden, traveling to the United States as a special guest at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. She did not take home the Miss Universe title but did win an American modeling contract and was soon acting as well.

Ms. Ekberg’s first credited film role was in “Abbott and Costello Go to Mars” (1953), playing a voluptuous guard on the planet Venus. During the next decade or so she was kept busy in Hollywood movies, including “Blood Alley” (1955), a drama with John Wayne, in which she played a Chinese woman, “4 for Texas” (1963), a western with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin; “Call Me Bwana” (1963), a comedy with Hope; and two comedies with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, “Artists and Models” (1955) and “Hollywood or Bust” (1956). She made a cameo appearance in the travel comedy “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium” (1969). On the more serious side, she had a supporting role as the alluring, social-climbing wife of Henry Fonda’s character in King Vidor’s epic production of “War and Peace” (1956).

But it was “La Dolce Vita” that made her famous. She worked for Fellini again, as a billboard photograph that comes to life in the segment of “Boccaccio 70” (1962) that he directed, and as herself in both “The Clowns” (1970) and “Intervista” (1987). Over a five-decade acting career, she made more than 50 feature films.

Romantically linked with Hollywood actors including Frank Sinatra, Gary Cooper, Tyrone Power, Rod Taylor, Yul Brynner and Errol Flynn, she married and divorced twice. Her husbands were Anthony Steel, a British matinee idol (1956 to 59), and Rik Van Nutter , an American actor who also appeared in films under the name Clyde Rogers (1963 to 75). Mr. Steel died in 2001, Mr. Van Nutter in 2005.

Ms. Ekberg was often outspoken in interviews, naming famous people she couldn’t bear. And she was frequently quoted as saying that it was Fellini who owed his success to her, not the other way around.

“They would like to keep up the story that Fellini made me famous, Fellini discovered me,” she said in a 1999 interview with The New York Times. “So many have said they discovered me.”

But she did appear reflective at times. “If you want la dolce vita, it is how you look at life,” she told The New York Observer the same year, while in the United States to publicize “The Red Dwarf,” a European film in which she played an aging opera star. “When I go back to Rome, my roses will be in bloom again.”

EKBERG, Anita (Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg)

Born: 9/29/1931, Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden

Died: 1/11/2015, Rocca di Papa, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Anita Ekberg’s westerns – actress:

Mississippi Gambler – 1953 (maid of honor)

Take Me to Town – 1953 (dancehall girl)

Valerie – 1957 (Valerie Horvat)

4 for Texas – 1963 (Elya Carlson)

Heads or Tails – 1969 (Manuela)

The Long Ride of Vengeance – 1972 (Jane)

Valley of the Dancing Widows – 1974 [scenes were cut]

↧

RIP Gerry Fisher

January 11, 2015, 6:42 pm

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Gerry Fisher was a cinematographer who collaborated with Joseph Losey on films including Accident and The Go-Between.

The Telegraph

January 12, 2015

Gerry Fisher, who has died aged 88, was a cinematographer who worked with some of the most renowned film directors of the second half of the 20th century, including Carol Reed, John Huston and Billy Wilder. However, he will be best remembered for his long collaboration with the cinematic auteur Joseph Losey, for whom he shot eight films, including Accident (1967) and The Go-Between (1971).

In 1966 Fisher was working as the cameraman on the James Bond spoof Casino Royale when Losey gave him Harold Pinter’s screenplay for Accident. He asked Fisher to tell him within three days if he thought he could step up to join his crew as director of photography.

“So I went back to the hotel and locked myself in my room,” recalled Fisher. “I was saddled with these enormous decisions, (a) whether I think I can do it, (b) whether I think I dare do it and (c) whether I dare tell them that I would have to leave Casino Royale in order to do it. Anyway, I did do all those things.”

For Accident – in which a professor becomes obsessed with a beautiful student – he created a jarring set of skewed shadowy compositions to match the psychological twists in Pinter’s screenplay.

The film’s star Dirk Bogarde is seen through rain-dappled windows, in dark interiors and in the gloaming of London evenings. “I didn’t know how I was going to achieve that look,” said Fisher. “But I discovered afterwards that it’s not important to know how you’re going to tackle something so long as you know what you want to do.”

A confirmed Francophile, Fisher also filmed Losey’s French productions, including Monsieur Klein (1976), an Alain Delon feature set in the murky art world of wartime Paris. “On the set we invented a secret code,” recalled his cameraman, Richard Andry. “When he blinked his right eye, it meant: special development push one stop; the left eye: please bring me a cup of coffee; and both eyes: a glass of champagne.”

Gerald Fisher was born on June 23 1926 in London. In his youth he worked for Kodak and De Havilland Aircraft. After wartime service in the Royal Navy he joined Alliance Riverside Studios at Twickenham as a clapper boy. He progressed to camera assistant on documentaries for Wessex Films before working for six years as a focus puller at Shepperton Studios.

During the late Forties he worked as an assistant cameraman on a string of B-movies such as Brass Monkey (1948) and No Way Back (1949), which brought him to the attention of more accomplished directors.

During the Fifties and Sixties he manned the camera on shoots for, among many other films, David ean’s Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Anthony Asquith’s The VIPs (1963) and Joseph L.

Mankiewicz’s blockbuster Cleopatra (1963). He learnt his trade alongside some of the finest cinematographers of the 20th century, including Christopher Challis, Freddie Francis and Douglas Slocombe.

His big break came in the mid-Sixties when, as he put it, “Joe Losey figured he saw something in me I didn’t know I had”. The moody palette of Accident was in stark contrast to his approach four years later on The Go-Between.

Shot in rural Norfolk during the summer of 1970, Fisher framed the forbidden romance between two star-crossed Edwardian lovers (played by Alan Bates and Julie Christie) in a series of sunny vistas. The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes – and a Bafta nomination for Fisher.

Fisher and Losey also worked together on Secret Ceremony (1968), A Doll’s House (1972), The Romantic English Woman (1975), Les Routes du Sud (1977) and Don Giovanni (1978).

The French cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn maintained that Fisher was “quite simply brilliant when it came to interpreting the scenery, whether it was in a studio or a natural décor”. Losey had him working in both, “sculpting” light and plotting complicated shots. “His electrical installations were diabolically accurate,” recalled Glenn. “He imposed camera movements that were as precise as his lighting. I often had to manoeuvre around spotlights touching every edge of the frame during a sequence shot.”

Fisher acted as cinematographer on more than 60 films, including John Huston’s PoW thriller Escape to Victory (1981) – featuring Pelé, Bobby Moore and Michael Caine on the football pitch – and Highlander (1986), for which he filmed on location across Scotland, from the Isle of Skye to Loch Shiel.

One colleague described Fisher as “almost a caricature of an Englishman”. He dressed with elegance, sported a neat clipped ivory-white beard, demanded the best from his team and remained optimistic on even the most difficult shoots.

“He was confident of his talent,” said Glenn, “tough against pain and very tenacious. 'We are not giving up,’ he would often tell me.”

Fisher was nominated for a Bafta for his aerial work filming dog fights on the First World War epic Aces High (1976), and the following year he received a César nomination (the French equivalent of an Oscar) for Monsieur Klein.

He was made a Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1997 and in 2008 received a lifetime achievement award from the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC).

He shot his last film, the French romantic drama Furia, in 1999 after which he retired to East Molesey on the banks of the Thames.

He married Jean Hawkins in 1951. His wife died a few days before him and the couple had a joint funeral. They are survived by their son, the cameraman Cary Fisher.

FISHER, Gerry (Gerald Fisher)

Born: 6/23/1926, London, England, U.K.

Died: 12/2/2014, East Molesey, London, England, U.K.

Gerry Fisher’s westerns – cinematographer:

Macho Callahan - 1970

Ned Kelly - 1970

Man in the Wilderness – 1971

↧

RIP Brian Clemens

January 12, 2015, 10:07 am

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Avengers and Professionals writer Brian Clemens dies

BBC

12 January 2015

The scriptwriter and producer Brian Clemens, responsible for TV hits such as The Avengers, New Avengers and The Professionals, has died aged 83.

Clemens, honoured by The Queen in 2010 for services to broadcasting and drama, died on Saturday, his family confirmed.

He wrote various television series including The Baron, The Persuaders, The Protectors, Danger Man, The Invisible Man and Bergerac.

One of his sons, George Clemens, said: "He was a true inspiration."

He told the BBC: "The world has lost a really great man who has given so much."

Born in Croydon in 1931, Clemens had his first work commissioned by the BBC in 1955.

He went on to be a staff writer for a film and TV production company, before enjoying considerable success with a huge number of TV scripts in the 1960s.

His production companies created The New Avengers and The Professionals, while Clemens also wrote for a number of US shows including Remington Steele, Perry Mason and the Highlander TV series.

He wrote and produced for Hammer Films, while his screenplay credits included Highlander II: The Quickening.

'Backroom boy'

Receiving his OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours he said: "I am pleased from the point of view of all screenwriters.

"It is an encouragement to the backroom boys - I count myself as one."

George Clemens said his father had been working with him and his brother Samuel on a horror film.

"The last thing he did for me was with a problem with the script and he had a wonderful solution for," he said.

Samuel Clemens told the BBC the last thing Brian did before he died was watch an episode of The Avengers.

"His last words were: I did quite a good job," said Samuel.

The brothers, with their mother Janet, have started a Facebook page tribute to their father.

Clemens, who lived near Ampthill in Bedfordshire, was also involved in The Elstree Project.

A spokesman for the project said in a statement posted on its website: "Brian gave his support and time to The Elstree Project and is featured in our documentary film, through clips from the oral history interview he gave to us, as well as the short documentary we made about the making of The Avengers at ABPC Studios in the 1960s.

"We are hugely grateful to Brian and send our love and support to his wife Janet and their family."

Howard Berry, leader of The Elstree Project, said: "Brian Clemens must have been one of the most prolific writers.

"I think the landscape of TV from the 50s onwards would not have been the same without him. He was involved in the films and television I grew up with."

CLEMENS, Brian H. (Brian Horace Clemens)

Born: 7/30/1931, Croydon, Surrey, England, U.K.

Died: 1/10/2015, London, England, U.K.

Brian H. Clemens’ western – teleplay, songwriter:

Timestalkers (TV) - 1987

↧

RIP Bernard Williams

January 12, 2015, 4:01 pm

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Bernard Williams, Producer on 'A Clockwork Orange' and 'Ragtime,' Dies at 72

Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

1/12/2015

Bernard Williams, the British producer who worked on such films as A Clockwork Orange, Ragtime and Star Trek: Generations, has died. He was 72.

Williams, who also produced Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and five other films directed by Frank Oz, died Jan. 4 of cancer in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., his daughter, Dana Williams-Maginnis, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Williams also produced Michael Winner’s remake of The Big Sleep (1978), Flash Gordon (1980), Michael Mann’s Manhunter (1986), the Madonna film Who’s That Girl (1987) and Daredevil (2003), starring Ben Affleck.

Williams also served as a production manager on the classic British series The Prisoner and on the 1969 Michael Caine film Battle of Britain and was second/third director on Val Guest’s The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) and Otto Preminger’s Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965).

Williams worked with Stanley Kubrick as an associate producer on Barry Lyndon (1975) after A Clockwork Orange (1971), and he collaborated with Oz on What About Bob? (1991), HouseSitter (1992), The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), Bowfinger (1999) and The Score (2001).

His resume also includes The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977), The Bounty (1984), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Blood and Wine (1996) and his final producing effort, Charlotte’s Web (2006).

Milos Forman’s Ragtime (1981) marked the final feature appearance for legendary actor James Cagney.

A native of London, Williams began working as a teenager in the mailroom of Associated British Pictures, where he learned about filmmaking. He and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1981.

In addition to his daughter, survivors include his sister Gaye, children Vanessa and Howard and ex-wife Valerie Norman Dannels, the daughter of late British director Leslie Norman (TV’s The Saint).

A memorial will be held at a date to be determined.

WILLIAMS, Bernard

Born: 1942, London, England, U.K.

Died: 1/4/2015, Lake Arrowhead, California, U.S.A.

Bernard Williams’ western – producer, production manager:

War Party - 1998

↧

RIP Louise Kane

January 13, 2015, 7:34 am

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RIP Louise Kane

Dignity Memorial

March 2014

Louise Kane Grueneberg was born in San Francisco on Saturday, December 17, 1921 to father Maurice J. Kane and mother Dolores Seijas. The family moved to Boyle Heights, Los Angeles when Louise was three months old. Her brother Maurice was born there; her mother passed away when Louise was just four years of age. She attended public schools and graduated from Lincoln High, Class of 1940.

From early on, Louise knew she wanted to act and got involved in local radio shows while still in

high school. She later enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse conservatory, where she was cast in many main stage productions, most notably playing Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It, and Helen in the premiere of Tennessee Williams' play Stairs to the Roof. It was at the Playhouse that she met her husband, E. William Grueneberg. The story she told was that she borrowed a book from him in class and told her father that same night that she'd met the man she was going to marry.

Louise and Bill were married in 1946 and she continued to act, being cast in Hollywood movies that included He Walked By Night, Squad Car and Paula. Eventually she gave birth to four children: Susan, William, Robert and Peggy and had three grandchildren, Alexandra, Dominique, and Kate, all of whom survive her.

Louise and Bill were regular weekly attendees at St. Columban Catholic Church. Louise was active in her children's lives, serving as a Girl Scout leader for Susan's troop and directing plays at their schools. In her forties, Louise re-enrolled in college and earned her B.A., M.A. and teaching credential in Theatre Arts at Cal State Fullerton. While at CSUF, she also stayed active in theatre, playing Queen Gertrude in Shakespeare's Hamlet opposite Monte Markham.

Louise was also a high school teacher for many years. After her husband retired, the two enjoyed extensive travels throughout North America, Europe and Asia. She also continued to appear in TV commercials. Louise and Bill celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary several months before his death in 2002.

In her final years, Louise was tended by her loving caregiver Carmen, and passed away quietly in the early morning hours of Friday March 6, 2014 at the age of 92.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to The Pasadena Playhouse at www.pasadenaplayhouse.org.

KANE, Louise

Born: 12/17/1921, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

Died: 3/6/2014, Garden Grove, California, U.S.A.

Louise Kane’s westerns – actress:

Wyoming – 1947 (Karen)

Oh! Susanna – 1951 (Mary Bannon)

↧

RIP Robert Kinoshita

January 13, 2015, 5:35 pm

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Robert Kinoshita, Robot Designer for 'Forbidden Planet' and 'Lost in Space,' Dies at 100

Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

1/13/2015

Robert Kinoshita, a production designer and art director who designed the iconic robots for the 1956 science-fiction classic Forbidden Planet and the 1960s TV series Lost in Space, has died. He was 100.

Kinoshita died Dec. 9 at a nursing care facility in Torrance, Calif., family friend Mike Clark told The Hollywood Reporter.

For Robby the Robot on Forbidden Planet, Kinoshita cobbled together several concepts contributed by MGM's art and special-effects departments and made a miniature prototype of wood and plastic. The model, with a domed head of clear plastic, was quickly approved, and Kinoshita completed its construction. The film received an Oscar nomination for special effects.

Kinoshita was in the work pool of 20th Century Fox’s art department in the mid-1960s when producer Irwin Allen selected him to become the first-season art director for Lost in Space, which aired for three seasons on CBS from 1965-68.

Kinoshita’s bubble-brained Robot — a late addition to the cast whose famous line was “Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!” — featured a metallic barrel chest, light-up voice panel and rubberized legs. Kinoshita rushed to deliver the complicated costume shortly before the show entered production. (Dick Tufeld provided the voice.)

The Robot received as much fan mail as its the human cast, and a nationwide organization of fans, The B9 Robot Builders, has built more 100 full-size Robot replicas.

For the series, Kinoshita also modified the Robinson family’s spacecraft, designed for the pilot by Bill Creber, to include a lower deck with living quarters, dining room, lab and Robot dock. He stretched the production budget by creatively raiding props and discards from the Fox backlot.

Born in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 1914, Kinoshita grew up in the Boyle Heights area. He attended Maryknoll Japanese Catholic School, Roosevelt High School and USC’s School of Architecture and became interested in the movies, receiving his first practical experience on the 1937 film 100 Men and a Girl.

He and his wife Lillian were sent to a Japanese internment camp in Arizona during World War II, but a sponsor allowed the couple to leave before war’s end and move to Wisconsin, where he became proficient in industrial design and fabricating products out of plastic.

Kinoshita came back to California in the early 1950s and returned to the movie industry just as MGM was gearing up for production of Forbidden Planet. In addition to Robby, Kinoshita designed several sets including the lab of Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon).

Also in the 1950s, he also created the robot Tobor from Here Comes Tobor (1957) and worked for ZIV Television on such series as Science Fiction Theater, Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt, Bat Masterson and Men Into Space.

Later, he served as associate producer and production designer on the independent films The Phantom Planet (1961) and Hell’s Bloody Devils (1970) and was a free-lancer on such series as Hawaii-5-0, Barnaby Jones and Gene Roddenberry’s pilot Planet Earth.

Kinoshita claimed his longevity was due to clean living and daily doses of apple cider vinegar, Clark said. He is survived by a daughter, Pat.

A private service was held on Dec. 23 at Green Hills Mortuary in Rancho Palos Verdes.

KINOSHITA, Robert

Born: 2/24/2014, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 12/9/2014, Torrance, California, U.S.A.

Robert Kinoshita’s westerns – set designer, art director:

The Broken Star – 1956 [set designer]

Tombstone Territory (TV) – 1957-1959 [set designer]

Gun Fever – 1958 [art director]

The Rough Riders (TV) – 1958 [set designer]

Mackenzie’s Raiders (TV) – 1958-1959 [set designer]

Bat Masterson (TV) – 1958-1961 [set designer, art director]

Klondike (TV) – 1961 [art director]

Belle Starr – 1980 [art director]

↧

RIP Germán Cobos

January 15, 2015, 9:28 am

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Farewell German Cobos.

Spanish Actors Union

1/14/2015

Germán Sánchez Hernández-Cobos, born in Seville, Spain on July 7, 1927, died last week at 88 years of age. Throughout his career he participated in over 115 films and many other occasions also on television.

His first film appearance was in "The lioness of Castile" in 1951, directed by Rafael Gil. During his career he worked with directors such as Pedro Almodóvar, Jose Luis Garci and Carlos Saura and shared the stage with greats like Concha Velasco, Impero Argentina, or Sara Montiel. Notable films that participated are crows (1976), Law of Desire (1987) or Esposados (1996).

Besides being an incombustible actor, was also committed since its inception with the working conditions of the profession and participated in the important actors strike in 1975-along with other professionals such as Juan Diego and José sexton who managed to stand up to the vertical union controlled the Franco regime.

COBOS, Germán (Germán Sánchez Hernández Cobos)

Born: 7/7/1927, Seville, Andalucía, Spain

Died: 1/12/2015, Spain

German Cobos' westerns - actor:

Apache Fury - 1963 (John Martin) [as George Gordon]

Massacre at Fort Grant – 1964 (Paul Driscoll) [as Jerry Cobb, George Gordon]

The Secret of Captain O’Hara – 1964 (Captain Richard O’Hara)

Black Tigress - 1967 (Larry Stern/El Diablo)

Wanted – 1967 (Martin Heywood)

Blood Calls to Blood - 1968 (Father Louis Willoughby)

Quinto: Fighting Proud – 1969 (Sucre)

Reverend Colt – 1970 (Fred Smith)

Limoncello – 2007 (Joe)

↧

RIP Ervin Drake

January 15, 2015, 1:09 pm

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RIP Ervin Drake

Hollywood.Com

By Wenn.Com

January 15, 2015

Legendary American songwriter Ervin Drake has died at the age of 95. Born Ervin Maurice Druckman in New York, he had his first track published at the age of 12 and scored his big break in 1942, when he came up with the English lyrics for Brazilian instrumental Tico-Tico. He also put words to Juan Tizol's composition Perdido and went on to write American Songbook standards such as I Believe and It Was a Very Good Year, which was originally written for Kingston Trio folk star Bob Shane and famously covered by Frank Sinatra. His other well-known tunes include Quando Quando Quando, Father of the Girls, Castle Rock, A Room Without Windows and jazz standard Good Morning, Heartache, which has been recorded by the likes of Billie Holiday and Diana Ross. Drake served as the president of the American Guild of Authors and Composers from 1973 to 1982 and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983. Sharing the news of his passing with Twitter.com followers on Thursday (15Jan15), his friend, veteran singer/actor Robert Davi, writes, "one of the Great American Songwriters and my friend Ervin Drake has died... join me in paying tribute to a Great Artist." Actress Leslie Uggams also paid tribute to Drake online, tweeting, "So very sad to hear of the passing of Ervin Drake. He was a great friend and songwriter. My condolences to his family", and musician Michael Feinstein adds, "So sad to hear about the passing of Ervin Drake". Further details about Drake's death had yet to be released as WENN went to press.

DRAKE, Ervin (Ervin Maurice Druckman)

Born: 4/3/1919, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 1/15/2015, U.S.A.

Ervin Drake’s western – lyricist, music:

Across the Wide Missouri - 1951

↧

RIP Chikao Ōtsuka

January 16, 2015, 10:09 am

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Voice Actor, Chikao Otsuka, passes away

Japan's voice actor, Chikao Otsuka, has passed away today due to heart failure. He was best known for his work in the Japanese television animation and video game industry.

If you grew up with Sonic Adventure the way I did, you probably played the game with the Japanese voices on. And, even as Sega of America constantly shuffles in new actors at cheaper rates, you could always count on the Japanese language track being there if you wanted to hear some familiar voices.

But one of those voices is no longer with us. Today we are learning that Chikao Otsuka, the Japanese voice of Doctor Eggman, died on January 15th. A (machine translated) post made by Aoni Production:

Our affiliation actor Yi Chikao Otsuka (85 years), January 15, 2015 because of ischemic heart failure [has] passed away. [We thank you] from the bottom of [our hearts] for your kindness.

Otsuka was what you would call a “lifer.” IMDB lists his first job as an actor in the 1968 Tetsuwan Atom anime, better known to North Americans as “Astro Boy.” He went on to play a number of beloved roles in his career, including Metal Gear Solid‘s Big Boss, Goemon in the anime Lupin the Third, Tao Pai Pai in Dragon Ball, and Gold Roger in One Piece, among dozens of others. Literally from the dawn of anime, this man was playing a major part in the industry.

He will be missed, and may his legacy never be forgotten.

Otsuka was noted for his voice as Boss in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Doctor Eggman and Gerald Robotnik in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Jinpachi Mishimi in the Tekken franchise, Captain Hook in the Kingdom Hearts series, and so many more.

OTSUKA, Chikao

Born: 7/5/1929, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

Died: 1/15/2015, Japan

Chikao Ōtsuka’s westerns – voice actor:

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 1966 [Japanese voice of Eli Wallach]

Guns for San Sebastian - 1968 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson]

Once Upon a Time in the West – 1968 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson]

Villa Rides! – 1968 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson]

A Talent for Loving – 1969 [Japanese voice of Richard Widmark]

Red Sun – 1970 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson]

Chino – 1979 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson]

↧

RIP Patsy Garrett

January 16, 2015, 3:43 pm

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Actress Patsy Garrett Dies at 93

Variety

By Carmel Dagan

January 16, 2015

Virginia “Patsy” Garrett, a well-known character actress best known as the “chow-chow-chow” lady on the Purina Cat Chow commercials, her recurring roles on TV’s “Nanny and the Professor” and “Room 222” and in the “Benji” movie series, died Jan. 8 after a brief illness in Indio, Calif. She was 93.

Garrett played nosy neighbor Florence Fowler on “Nanny and the Professor” (1970-71), school secretary Miss Hogarth on “Room 222” (1972-73) and Mary Gruber in the “Benji” series of family films beginning in 1974. Her numerous TV appearances from the 1960s through the ’80s included “Family,” “Kojak,” “Medical Center,” “The Waltons,” “Medical Center” and her final TV role as a bigoted mother on Redd Foxx’s “Sanford” in 1981.

U.S. TV audiences of the 1960s and 1970s will remember Garrett for her role in a series of commercial messages as the Purina Cat Chow Lady. A post-production trick involving the controlled forward motion and reversal of the film had Garrett dancing the “chow-chow-chow” with a cat in a good-humored parody of the cha-cha-cha. Garrett also appeared as the mayor’s wife in the 1969 Elvis Presley film “The Trouble With Girls,” which led to a lifelong friendship with the singer.

In the late 1960s, Garrett provided cartoon voiceovers for a number of Hanna-Barbera projects, including “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.”

She most recently appeared onscreen in a small role in the 1991 film “Mississippi Masala.”

Born in Atlantic City, N.J., to parents who were vaudevillians (“Mason & Gwynne”), the actress and singer had her own children’s radio show on a Richmond, Va., station at the age of 7. At age 17, she became a regular on Fred Waring’s national radio show “Pleasure Time” as a comic singer from 1938 to 1945. During this time, she was approached by Cole Porter to promote the now-standard ballad “Begin the Beguine,” which he had written for a new musical.

Garrett was preceded in death by husband Alexander Kokinacis, a composer who wrote under the name Nick Alexander.

She is survived by a son and a daughter, a stepson, and and a number of grandchildren.

Services were held Jan. 13 at Forest Lawn in Cathedral City, Calif.

Donations may be sent to Children’s Playtime Productions at http://www.justgive.org/chowchowchow

GARRETT, Patsy (Virginia Garrett)

Born: 5/4/1921, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Died: 1/8/2015, Indio, California, U.S.A.

Diamond Jim: Skulduggery in Samantha (TV) – 1965 (Mrs. Torgeson)

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RIP George Dickerson

January 17, 2015, 1:54 pm

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RIP George Dickerson

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By Dome Karukoski

January 13, 2015

My father passed away on Saturday. It was not unexpected since he had been sick for a long time. I'm sad, but also somewhat relieved. He died peacefully with his loved ones around him. He had a wonderful life full of experiences, that one could just imagine to have.

I just wanted to remind everybody to spend time with your loved ones when you have the chance. It's the only the time you will have with them.

I made the film The Grump / Mielensäpahoittaja for him and it's starting it's festival round attending numerous and numerous festivals. First I thought I'll cancel my festival appearances. -That it would be too heavy to talk about him when introducing the film again and again.

But he would've not liked that. He was a man who had a willpower I hope to have inherited. And he had a backbone. -You do the things you're supposed to do.

And you live the life when you have the chance. I urge everyone to do so.

Here is a nice interview made about him a while back. It will help me remember his thoughts about life and art always.

Dad, have a great ride, wherever you are.

DICKERSON, George

Born: 7/5/1933, Topeka, Kansas, U.S.A.

Died: 1/10/2015, Queens, New York, U.S.A.

George Dickerson’s westerns – actor:

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1980 (Mr. Rooney)

Father Murphy (TV) – 1982 (Mr. Wade)

Son of the Morning Star (TV) – 1991 (General Sherman)

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