RIP Helena Carroll

April 4, 2013, 12:23 pm

Irish Thesp Helena Carroll Dies at 84

04.03.13 | 01:53PM PT

Michelle Salemi

Helena Carroll, an Irish stage, television and film actress died at her home in Los Angeles on March 31. She was 84.

Carroll was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. She moved to the United States in the 1950s, touring and performing on Broadway.

Carroll was the youngest of three daughters of Irish dramatist Paul Vincent Carroll and dress designer Helena Reilly. She had split her stage work between Dublin, London and New York and was co-founded the Irish Players acting group in Gotham.

She appeared on Broadway in “Oliver!,” “Pickwick,” “Little Moon of Alban,” “Something Different,” “Design for Living,” “Waiting in the Wings” starring Lauren Bacall and both the Broadway and Los Angeles revivals of “Private Lives” starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Carroll also appeared in films such as John Huston’s “The Dead,” “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” “The Jerk,” “The Mambo Kings,” “Rocky” and “Love Affair.” She also worked on numerous television shows and soaps including “General Hospital,” “Colombo” and “Murder She Wrote.”

Carroll’s last plays were “The Queen of Lenai” in Los Angeles in 2005 and “Philadelphia Here I Come” in Gotham in 2006.

CARROLL, Helena

Born: 11/13/1930, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

Died: 3/31/2013, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Helena Carroll’s western – actress:

The Virginian (TV) – 1965 (Lucille)

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RIP Regina Bianchi

April 5, 2013, 1:42 pm

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Regina Bianchi died today April 5, 2013, at the age of 92 at her home in Rome. Born Regina D’Antigny, she died in her sleep, an unforgettable performer and among the most popular actresses of the Neapolitan theater, she was born January 1, 1921 in Lecce, Italy. A great theater actress she worked with Eduardo and Peppino De Filippo. She will always be remembered for her performance in Filumena Marturano, replacing Titina De Filippo. She left show business for 14 years to raise two daughters she had with director Goffredo Alessandrini although the couple never married. She returned to appear in several large budget films such as “The Last Judgement” (1961) by Vittorio De Sica, “The Four Days in Naples” (1962) by Nanni Loy, for which she won the silver Ribbon, “Kaos” (1984) by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani and “Il giudice ragazzino” (1994) by Alessandro Di Robilant. During her career she also on TV in series such as ‘I grandi camaleonti’ by Edmo Fenoglio (1964) and ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ (1977) by Franco Zeffirelli. In 1996 she was awarded the title of Grand Officer of the Republic for artistic merit. Bianchi appeared in one Euro-western “Blood Red Rose” (1939).

BIANCHI, Regina (Regina D'Antigny)
Born: 1/1/1921, Lecce, Apulia, Italy
Died: 4/5/2013, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Regina Bianchi's western - actress:
Blood Red Rose - 1939

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RIP Sara Montiel

April 8, 2013, 7:37 am

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Actress and singer Sara Montiel died on Monday at her home in Madrid. Arriving at her home to revive her, her personal physician found her dead. Montiel, who was 85 years of age, was accompanied by her daughter Thais. The body of the actress will be transferred to the morgue this afternoon San Isidro, confirmed by the mayor of Campo de Criptana, her hometown, Santiago Lucas-Torres.

An actress in more than fifty films and numerous albums, Montiel was a sexual and artistic icon of Spanish culture in the second half of the twentieth century.

Born Maria Antonia Abad Fernández in a hotel in Toledo, Sara Montiel was one of the first Spanish actresses to set foot in Hollywood, appearing in films like 'Veracruz' (1954), Robert Aldrich, 'Yuma' (1957), Samuel Fuller, and ' Serenade / Serenade Two '(1956), Anthony Mann. With this last director she was also married for four years, from 1957 to 1961. Some of the actors she worked with during this time were Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Charles Bronson and Vincent Price.

In the land of music she was noted for her interpretation of the traditional repertoire of poems and couplets, revisited with her characteristic voice. She sang classics like ‘Besame mucho', 'La violetera' and 'Amado mío''. Respected and idolized by the younger generations, she collaborated with musicians such as Joaquín Sabina, Jose Maria Cano, Javier Gurruchaga and Fangoria.

She received the Gold Medal for Merit in Work in 2008, and also received the Gold Medal of the Fine Arts (1958), the National Guild Awards Show (1959) and Writers Circle Film (1959), the title of Actress of the Year (1959) and the Gold Disc (1959.

The Film Academy in 1997 awarded her its Gold Medal and, among other awards, the Golden Eagle of Hollywood (1986, the Spanish Oscar), the Order of Arts and Letters French (1982) Circle Award Cinema Writers (1999), and a Silver Biznaga - 'The Gold Film' at the Malaga Film Festival (2007).

Her eventful love life included four husbands. After her marriage in 1957 with the American director Anthony Mann, in 1964 she married the producer José Vicente Ramirez Olalla and in 1979, after nine years together, with the Spaniard Pepe Tous. The latter was, according to his own Sara, "the love of his life," died in 1992 and with whom she adopted two children: Thais and Zeus.

In 1993 she married Tony Hernandez, a Cuban then 39, a declared admirer of the artist and of dubious reputation, who split in 2003. Among her shameful loves, "The Queen of couples’ always quoted five men: the Nobel Prize winner Severo Ochoa, the poet Leon Felipe, Miguel Mihura playwright, filmmaker and director Mario Camus and Ernest Hemingway.

MONTIEL, Sara (Maria Antonia Alejandra Vicenta Elpidia Isadora Abad Fernandez)

Born: 3/10/1928, Campo de Criptana, Ciudad Real Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Died: 4/8/2013, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Sara Montiel’s westerns – actress:

Little Love of My Life – 1952 (Rosita)

Vera Cruz – 1954 (Nina)

Run of the Arrow – 1957 (Yellow Mocassin)

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RIP Annette Funicello

April 8, 2013, 10:56 am

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RIP Annette Funicello

By Dennis McLellan

April 8, 2013, 10:11 a.m.

Annette Funicello, the dark-haired darling of TV's “The Mickey Mouse Club” in the 1950s who further cemented her status as a pop-culture icon in the '60s by teaming with Frankie Avalon in a popular series of “beach” movies, died Monday. She was 70.

Funicello, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987 and became a spokeswoman for treatment of the chronic, often-debilitating disease of the central nervous system, died at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, Walt Disney Co. spokesman Howard Green said.

Funicello and her husband, Glen Holt, had moved from the Los Angeles area after a 2011 fire gutted their home in Encino.

Bob Iger, Disney’s chairman and chief executive, said: “Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word 'Mousketeer,' and a true Disney legend. She will forever hold a place in our hearts as one of Walt Disney’s brightest stars, delighting an entire generation of baby boomers with her jubilant personality and endless talent. Annette was well known for being as beautiful inside as she was on the outside, and she faced her physical challenges with dignity, bravery and grace. All of us at Disney join with family, friends, and fans around the world in celebrating her extraordinary life.”

Funicello was a 12-year-old dance-school student when Walt Disney saw her performing the lead role in “Swan Lake” at her dance-school's year-end recital at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank in the spring of 1955.

She joined a group of other talented young performers hired to become Mousketeers on “The Mickey Mouse Club,” the children's variety show that debuted on ABC in October 1955 and quickly became a daily late-afternoon ritual for millions of young Americans.

Like her fellow female Mousketeers, Funicello wore a mouse-eared beanie, a blue pleated skirt, and a white, short-sleeved turtleneck sweater with her name emblazoned in block letters across her chest.

But there was something special about the Mouseketeer with the curly black hair that unexpectedly turned her into the ensemble cast's biggest star.

Funicello made her acting debut on “The Mickey Mouse Club” serial “Adventure in Dairyland.” She also appeared in two of the popular “Spin and Marty” serials about a Western dude ranch for boys, with Tim Considine and David Stollery in the title roles. And in 1958, Disney showcased his prized Mousketeer in her own “Annette” serial.

Mr. Disney, as Funicello always called her boss, also licensed Annette lunch boxes, Colorforms dolls, coloring books, comic books and even mystery novels featuring her in fictionalized adventures.

After “The Mickey Mouse Club” ended production in 1958 and wet into reruns, the 15-year-old Funicello was the only Mouseketeer to remain under exclusive contract to the Disney studio.

She made her feature-film debut in “The Shaggy Dog,” a 1959 comedy starring Fred MacMurray. It was the first of four Disney feature films she appeared in over the next six years, including “Babes in Toyland,” “The Misadventures of Merlin Jones” and “The Monkey's Uncle.”

Funicello received a big career boost when Disney agreed to loan her out to American International Pictures to make “Beach Party,” the song-filled, low-budget 1963 comedy in which she was first teamed on the big screen with Avalon.

In the wake of the success of “Beach Party,” Funicello and Avalon co-starred in “Muscle Beach Party,” “Bikini Beach,” and “Beach Blanket Bingo.”

FUNICELLO, Annette (Annette Joanne Funicello)

Born: 10/22/1942, Utica, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 4/8/2013, Bakersfield, California, U.S.A.

Annette Funicello’s westerns – actress:

The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty (TV) – 1956 (Annette)

The New Adventures of Spin and Marty (TV) – 1957 (Annette)

Zorro (TV) – 1959, 1961 (Anita Cabrillo, Constancia de la Torrie)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1963 (Rose Pulaski)

Elfego Baca: Six Gun Law (TV) – (Chiquita)

Hondo (TV) – 1967 (Anne Williams)

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RIP Peter Duryea

April 9, 2013, 9:10 pm

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Actor Peter Duryea Dead @ 73

Nelson Star News

By Greg Nesteroff

Published: March 26, 2013

It’s a measure of Peter Duryea’s worth that appearing in one of the most popular shows in television history wasn’t his most noteworthy accomplishment.

To most of the world, Duryea was best known for a bit role in the pilot episode of the original Star Trek series.

But on Kootenay Lake, he was a revered East Shore elder and environmentalist who fought against clearcut logging and started a now-thriving nature retreat.

Duryea, who was also a writer, director, documentary filmmaker, boat guide, and naturalist, died at home Sunday at 73 after a long illness.

“He was a visionary — one of the most amazing I’ve ever met,” says Susan Hulland, who like Duryea came to the area in the 1970s. “He always insisted on figuring out a good way to do things. I can remember hearing from him over and over again: ‘Is there a better way?’ He was always looking for win-win scenarios, even during down and dirty environmental squabbles.”

One of those disputes led to the creation of the non-profit Guiding Hands Recreation Society and tipi camp. In a memoir published last July in the East Shore Mainstreet, Duryea recalled that in the mid-1980s the community was struggling against clearcut logging. They established the Stop Clearcut campaign, famous for its ubiquitous green stop signs.

News that 22 clearcuts were planned for the Pilot Peninsula set off “a wave of resistance” along the East Shore, Duryea wrote. “The idea grew that maybe we could show that using the land for conservation and educational purposes could lead to a sustainable industry of outdoor recreation.”

In 1988, Alice Bruce offered her land at Cortiannas Bay, where a tipi camp was established as a retreat to inspire young and old. It took eight years before the camp could afford to hire five seasonal workers, and Duryea continued to nurture it until it became self-sustaining.

He chalked up his tenacity to obsessive compulsive disorder: “I can find no other explanation for my unswerving devotion to the cause. I guess the tipi camp was meant to be.”

Born in Los Angeles in 1939, Duryea followed in his father’s footsteps. Dan Duryea was a TV actor with many roles to his credit, and the two appeared together in two films and an episode of Daniel Boone.

However, Peter hadn’t intended on it: he was majoring in math and physics at Amherst College in Massachusetts before someone asked him to appear in a play and he discovered he loved it. He worked in theatre in Houston and New York and then moved to Hollywood.

Duryea’s filmography over nine years included six movies and 30 television roles, including appearances in Dr. Kildare, Dragnet, and Bewitched.

In November 1964, he was cast as Lt. Jose Tyler, navigator of the USS Enterprise in the pilot episode of Star Trek. “It reminded me of a western, but set in the future and it was very interesting,” Duryea told the Nelson Daily News in 2001. “I was among the other many, many people who auditioned. I was really happy to be part of it and took the job really seriously. I can remember long talks with the director, Robert Butler, how to do the part.”

Had NBC executives picked up the series based on that episode, Duryea would have had a regular role.

However, they rejected it and the pilot never aired in its original form. Later, a second pilot was approved with an entirely different cast, except Leonard Nimoy as Spock.

But Duryea didn’t express regret at what might have been. Feeling drained by the pace and competitiveness of his lifestyle, he moved his family to Canada in 1973.

“I really needed more in my life than just what I could see coming from that career,” he said. “I need heart and I needed a community.”

He went first to Saltspring and Cortes islands before arriving in the Kootenays, where “the land and the setting made me feel like I’d come home.”

In Gray Creek, Duryea put his stage skills to work in new ways. He founded the Kootenay Lake Players, a children’s theatre collective that in three years produced nine original plays. The volunteer cast and crew created costumes, props, and sets and staged their works in the Gray Creek Hall. “Having come from Hollywood this was a delightful change for me,” Duryea said.

But he did eventually revisit his most famous role in 2005, attending his first Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, where he was overwhelmed. “It was the total antithesis of my life here,” he said. “I’m deep in nature, working with educational stuff and that’s totally glitz and gambling … It couldn’t be farther apart.”

During Gray Creek’s 2008 centennial, Duryea was presented with a community legacy award, recognizing his efforts to “protect natural areas and teach young people how to love and live with nature.”

In recent years he also headed the volunteer board of the Kootenay Lake East Shore Eldercare Co-op, which tried to provide local affordable housing for seniors.

“It was yet one more example of Peter being the visionary,” said local resident Frances Roback, “seeing the large aging population on the East Shore, and the complete lack of care facilities for seniors which compel people to move away.”

The campaign didn’t succeed in the end, she said, but not for lack of trying.

Duryea entrusted his archival files relating to his community work with the Gray Creek Historical Society, including more than 40 films.

Duryea is survived by his longtime partner Janice Bryan, with whom he owned a video production company, daughter Star, and a brother, talent agent Richard Duryea.

A private family service is planned for Thursday with burial in the Gray Creek cemetery.

DURYEA, Peter

Born: 7/14/1939, Los Angele, California, U.S.A.

Died: 3/24/2013, Gray Creek, British Columbia, Canada

Peter Duryea’ westerns – actor:

Taggart – 1964 (Jay Jason)

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1965 (Andrew Perigore)

The Bounty Killer – 1965 (Young Bounty Hunter)

The Virginian (TV) – 1966 (Nicky)

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RIP Veljko Despotović

April 10, 2013, 10:12 am

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Serbian art director and production designer Veljko Despotović died April 6^,2013 in Belgrade, Serbia. He was 83. Born in Zagreb, Croatia on October 1, 1931 and graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Architecture in 1958, after which he continued with designing theatre, film and television sets. Between 1950 and 1962 he was working as an assistant in the art department and as an architect in theatre, film and television. Since 1962 he worked as an independent set designer in Serbian and foreign films. He worked on over 150 domestic and foreign movies and co-productions.

Despotović won two Golden Arena awards for Best Production Design at the 1979 and 1984 editions of the Pula Film Festival, the Yugoslav national film awards. For his work on the films “The Man to Kill” (Čovjek koga treba ubiti) 1979; directed by Veljko Bulajić), “Burning” (Usijanje), 1979; directed by Boro Drašković), “Strangler vs. Strangler” (Davitelj protiv davitelja”, 1984; directed by Slobodan Šijan).

DESPOTOVIC, Veljko
Born: 10/1/1931, Zagreb, Croatia, Yugoslavia
Died: 4/6/2013, Belgrade, Serbia

Veljko Despotović's westerns - art director, production designer:
The Sheriff Was a Lady - 1964 [production designer]
The Treasure of the Aztecs - 1965 [art director]
Pyramid of the Sun God - 1965 [production designer]

YouTube video of his set designs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNmDSjh4kUk

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RIP Jonathan Winters

April 12, 2013, 11:09 am

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Comedian Jonathan Winters dies at 87

USA TODAY

By: Ann Oldenburg

He was inspiration to many contemporary comics.

The world of comedy has lost a legend.

Jonathan Winters, who was known for his improv work that inspired many a contemporary stand-up comic including Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and others, has died. He was 87.

Longtime family friend Joe Petro III says Winters died Thursday evening at his Montecito, Calif., home of natural causes, reports AP.

A note on his website adds, "Rest in Peace, Mr. Winters."

Winters' career began when he won a talent contest in Dayton, Ohio, which led to radio gigs and appearances at comedy clubs, along with comedy albums.

He was a favorite guest on the late night TV circuit for decades, often appearing with Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Steve Allen. And he often performed in character. One one of his best known was Maude Frickert, an old lady with a quick and acid wit. He had his own TV show in the 1950s.

Winters also appeared in nearly 50 movies, including a particularly notable role in the 1963 film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Eileen Schauder Winters, his wife of more than 60 years, died on Jan. 11, 2009. Jonathan is survived by two children and five grandchildren.

WINTERS, Jonathan (Jonathan Harshman Winters, Jr.)

Born: 11/11/1925, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A.

Died: 4/11/2013, Montecito, California, U.S.A.

Jonatahn Winters western – actor:

More Wild Wild West (TV) – 1980 (Albert Paradine II)

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RIP Frank Bank

April 13, 2013, 7:33 pm

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Leave It to Beaver: Frank Bank Dies; So Long Lumpy Rutherford

Actor Frank Bank died this morning Saturday April 13th, one day after he turned 71. Today is his friend and former co-star Tony Dow’s 68th birthday.

Bank was primarily known for his role as Clarence “Lumpy” Rutherford on the Leave It to Beaver sitcom in the 1950s and 60s. He reprised his role as Wally Cleaver’s friend in the Still the Beaver TV movie and the 1980s sequel series, The New Leave It to Beaver, joining most of the original sitcom’s surviving cast.

Bank made a brief cameo in the 1997 film Leave It to Beaver as “Frank.”

In addition to Beaver, Bank appeared on several 1950s and 60s TV shows and also played comic book character Archie Andrews in the Life with Archie TV movie in 1962.

His autobiography, Call Me Lumpy: My Leave It To Beaver Days and Other Wild Hollywood Life, was published in 2002 and was currently a bond broker in Los Angeles.

BANK, Frank

Born: 4/12/1942, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 4/13/2013, Los Angeles, California., U.S.A.

Frank Bank’s western – actor:

Cimarron City (TV) – 1959 (Henry Purdy)

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RIP Marcel Vercoutere

April 20, 2013, 5:09 pm

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Marcel Vercoutere, special effects wizard on 'The Exorcist,' dies

Marcel Vercoutere and a makeup artist created a life-size robot that made it appear as if actress Linda Blair's head was spinning around. The result terrified moviegoers.

By Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times

April 21, 2013

Long before the age of computer-generated special effects, Marcel Vercoutere helped create a scene widely considered among the most terrifying in movie-going history.

In "The Exorcist," the 1973 horror film that became a pop-culture phenomenon, the head of a helpless young girl twists completely around as a young priest battles the demon that inhabits her body. With its wild, animated eyes, the life-size robot used as a stand-in for actress Linda Blair was built by Vercoutere, the film's special effects director, with help from its chief makeup artist, Dick Smith.

Vercoutere, the special effects innovator who solved that technical challenge and others for "The Exorcist" and other films, died April 13 at his home in Burbank. He was 87.

The cause was complications of dementia, said his son Dan.

A self-taught welder, carpenter, set designer and explosives expert, Vercoutere was a creative, unruffled presence on the set of "The Exorcist," said Owen Roizman, the film's Oscar-nominated cinematographer.

"He had made this unbelievable robot and everything about it worked — it almost had facial expressions," Roizman said last week. "I was standing there looking at it and I said, 'You know what, we forgot something. We don't have any breath coming out.' Marcel just said, 'I'll deal with that.' He was so calm. And before you know it ... the dummy had breath."

"He was the guy we would all turn to when we needed a problem solved."

Marcel Vercoutere Jr. (pronounced "ver-coo-tehr") was born in Detroit on Oct. 28, 1925, the youngest of three brothers, and grew up in nearby Grosse Pointe. His father, Marcel, was an immigrant from France; his mother, the former Augusta Verstraele, had come from Belgium.

Eager to fight in World War II, Vercoutere Jr. tried to join the Navy at 16, his son said, but was turned away. The next year, he enlisted and spent three years in the Pacific theater, serving part of that time on the Peiffer, a destroyer.

After the war, he returned to Michigan, earned his high school diploma and worked as a welder. In 1954, he married Carolyn Hill, whom he had met at a motorcycle rally. She survives him, along with their sons Dan and Jon, stepdaughter Charlotte Brooks and a brother, Albert.

After marrying, the couple headed for Los Angeles, where Vercoutere found work at the area's movie studios, first sweeping stages, then as a welder and carpenter. Eventually, he became part of the creative team for various films, designing special effects and stunts for car crashes, exploding bridges, gunbattles and other scenes.

Special effects, Vercoutere said, was thoroughly addicting.

"All of us on motion picture crews have said at one time or another, 'I hate this job, it's terrible and I'll never do it again,'" he told The Times in 1981, when he was working at The Burbank Studios. "But when you see the product, you always come back for more."

Vercoutere created special effects for the fire and gunfights in "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" in 1971 and the perilous river scenes in "Deliverance" in 1972, along with effects for a number of television movies and series. But he was best known for his work on "The Exorcist," the William Friedkin-directed film that was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture. It would win two Oscars, for best sound and for best screenplay, by William Peter Blatty, who adapted his best-selling novel.

Vercoutere's talents figured in many memorable scenes. He used various techniques, including hidden wires, pulleys and offstage supports, to create the possessed child's violently shaking bed, along with her frightening levitation. He also built the set for the film's bedroom, where most of the action takes place, inside a giant refrigerated cocoon, to achieve Friedkin's desire for an icy atmosphere whenever the girl is possessed.

"If I had to name one person behind the camera whose contributions meant the most to the film, it would be Marcel Vercoutere," Friedkin said in an emailed statement.

After creating the film's life-size dummy and mechanical head, Vercoutere and colleagues decided to try it out near the film's New York set, he said in a 1998 BBC documentary, "The Fear of God: 25 Years of 'The Exorcist.' "

"We put it in the front seat of a taxi in the summertime in New York City," he said, chuckling. "And the people would stare at this thing and finally it would spin its head around, and that was it."

VERCOUTERE, Jr. Marcel

Born: 10/28/1925, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.

Died: 4/13/2013, Burbank, California, U.S.A.

Marcel Vercoutere’ westerns – special effects:

Support Your Local Sheriff – 1969

McCabe and Mrs. Miller – 1971

Barbarosa - 1982

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RIP Nosher Powell

April 23, 2013, 9:46 am

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British boxer, actor and stuntman, Nosher Powell died in his sleep on April 20, 2013. The news was reported via the official Nosher Powell website and actress Francoise Pasquale on Facebook.

Powell was born in Camberwell, London, England on August 15, 1928. Powell was a heavyweight boxing champion in the worlds of unlicensed fighting and the professional arena. He also worked as a sparring partner for Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali, amongst others. The last fight of his career was against Menzies Johnson. Nosher won the fight on points, over eight rounds. He had 52 fights winning 34 (11 by knockout), losing 16 times and fighting 2 draws. After retiring from boxing he became a stuntman and character actor. His younger brother, Dinny Powell followed a similar career, acting and stunt co-ordinating many films, as have his sons Greg Powell and Gary Powell.

Powell had an extensive but mostly uncredited career in stunt work and acting. In 1969, he portrayed the role of the powerful thug Lord Dorking in the TV series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

POWELL, Nosher (George Frederick Bernard Powell)

Born: 8/15/1928, Camberwell, London, England, U.K.

Died: 4/20/2013

Nosher Powell’s westerns – actor, stuntman:

Fistful of Dollars – 1964 (cowboy) [stunts]

For a Few Dollars More - 1965 [stunts]

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RIP Vivi Bach

April 23, 2013, 9:49 am

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Danish singer, actress and TV presented was found dead at her island home in Ibiza, Spain on April 22, by her husband producer, actor Dietmar Schönherr. She was 73.

She was the daughter of a baker who originally came from Copenhagen, Denmark and became famous for her music, painting, and especially acting. Her breakthrough came in the late 1950s at the side of Hans Joachim Kulenkampff in movies like “So liebt und küsst man in Tirol" (1961) und "Verückt und zugenäht" (1962).

It was because of her blond hair and green eyes that she became known as the "Danish Bardot" and starred in films alongside Peter Alexander and Rex Guildo. In 1965 she met Dietmar Schönherr. For her, he divorced his first wife and married Vivi in 1965. The couple then wrote the concept for "Make a Wish", which was a 24 episode long TV series from 1969 until 1972. It was this TV series that made her famous.

BACH, Vivi (Vivianne Bak)

Born: 9/3/1939, Copenhagen, Hovedstaden, Denmark

Died: 4/22/2013, Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain

Vivi Bach’s westerns – actress, singer:

Bullets Don’t Argue – 1964 (Agnes Goddard)
A Fistful of Songs - 1966 (Betty Johnson)

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RIP Allan Arbus

April 23, 2013, 9:53 am

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Allan Arbus, Acerbic Psychiatrist on M*A*S*H Dies at 95

By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK

Allan Arbus, who left the successful fashion photography business he and his wife, Diane, built to become an actor, most memorably playing the caustic psychiatrist Maj. Sidney Freedman on the hit television series “M*A*S*H,” died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 95.

.Amy Arbus, his daughter, confirmed his death.

Mr. Arbus appeared in films like “Coffy” and “Crossroads” and was a TV regular during the 1970s and ’80s, appearing on “Taxi,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Matlock” and other shows. But his best-known role was Major Freedman, the liberal psychiatrist who appeared in a dozen episodes of “M*A*S*H.” He treated wounds of the psyche much as Capt. Hawkeye Pierce treated surgery patients: with a never-ending string of zingers.

Alan Alda, who played Hawkeye, recalled Mr. Arbus as a very believable therapist.

“I was so convinced that he was a psychiatrist I used to sit and talk with him between scenes,” Mr. Alda said in an interview with the Archive of American Television. “After a couple months of that I noticed he was giving me these strange looks, like ‘How would I know the answer to that?’ ”

Allan Franklin Arbus was born in New York City on Feb. 15, 1918. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School and entered City College at 15. He left college a year and a half later for a job at Russek’s Department Store, where he met Diane Nemerov, the daughter of the store’s owners.

They married in 1941 and became passionate about photography. They shot fashion photographs for Russek’s before Mr. Arbus left to serve as a photographer in the Army Signal Corps in Burma during World War II. When he was discharged in 1946 the Arbuses established a studio on West 54th Street for fashion photography and soon won a contract from Condé Nast to supply photos for magazines like Glamour and Vogue.

In 1956, Ms. Arbus dissolved their business partnership to work full time on her haunting shots of marginalized people. Mr. Arbus continued to work in fashion photography but also took up acting.

The Arbuses separated in 1959 and divorced in 1969, when Mr. Arbus moved to Los Angeles. Ms. Arbus committed suicide in 1971. In 1976, Mr. Arbus married Mariclare Costello. She survives him, as do his two daughters from his first marriage, Amy and Doon; and a daughter from his second marriage, Arin Arbus.

Mr. Arbus’s last television role was on the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in 2000.

ARBUS, Allan (Allan Franklin Arbus)

Born: 2/15/1918, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 4/19/2013, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Allan Arbus’s westerns – actor:

Here Come the Brides (TV) – 1969 (Dennis)

Greaser’s Palace – 1972 (Jessy)

The Electric Horseman – 1979 (Danny)

Bret Maverick (TV) – (Phineas Swackmyer)

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RIP George Jones

April 26, 2013, 10:31 am

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George Jones, whose supple Texas voice conveyed heartbreak so profound that he became perhaps the most imitated singer in country music, died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with high fever and irregular blood pressure. He was 81.

Hank Williams may have set country music's mythology and Johnny Cash its attitude, but Jones gave the genre its ultimate voice. With recordings that spanned 50 years, including Number One singles White Lightning, She Thinks I Still Care and He Stopped Loving Her Today, Jones influenced generations of country singers and was considered by many to be the greatest of them all.

Jones' life also included legendary battles with substance abuse, mostly alcohol, and four marriages, including one to fellow singer Tammy Wynette and another, his last and longest, to Nancy Sepulvado.

Ultimately, though, it was that voice that won Jones two Grammys, got him into the Country Music Hall of Fame and made him an American musical icon. That plaintive voice that seemed to break down at will and wallow in sorrow. That voice of honky-tonk eloquence that held tortured echoes of heroes like Williams, Roy Acuff and Lefty Frizzell. That finely nuanced voice that offered thrill rides of emotions, with twists and turns, slippery, bending notes and sudden drops.

Jones' performances weren't just an emotional rollercoaster, they were the whole theme park.

Born in a log cabin in the "Big Thicket" region of East Texas, Jones grew up idolizing Acuff and bluegrass great Bill Monroe. In his youth, he played on the streets of downtown Beaumont for tips. He met Williams at a local radio station in 1949, and the singer advised young Jones to stop singing like Acuff and start singing like himself.

By the time he began recording for Pappy Dailey's Starday Records in 1954, Jones had married and divorced and served a stint with the Marines in Korea. He first hit the national country charts in 1955 – the same year that Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash made their chart debuts – with Why Baby Why, a honky-tonk record featuring a double-tracked vocal. Jones' recording eventually was eclipsed by Webb Pierce and Red Sovine's cover, which topped the charts, while his stalled at No. 2.

His first Number One came with White Lightning, a moonshine novelty with an oddball, hiccupping hook. By this time, Jones already was a binge drinker and, according to his 1997 autobiography I Lived to Tell It All, he was heavily under the influence during the recording session and required 83 takes to get a usable version. White Lightning came out in March 1959, one month after its writer – J.P. Richardson, aka The Big Bopper – was killed in a plane crash along with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.

The flat-topped singer placed multiple singles on the country charts each year during the '60s – ballads like The Window Up Above and If My Heart Had Windows; The Race Is On, with its rumbling, six-string bass solo; duets with Melba Montgomery and pop singer Gene Pitney. Occasionally, Jones topped the charts with Tender Years, She Thinks I Still Care and Walk Through This World With Me.

In 1969, Jones married Tammy Wynette – one of the most famous country music marriages ever, though it would last just six years. Jones followed Wynette to Epic Records and soon began working with her producer, Billy Sherrill, who would be responsible for his biggest hits of the '70s and '80s.

Jones and Wynette recorded a series of duet singles – including chart-toppers Golden Ring, Near You and We're Gonna Hold On– that outlined a fictive version of the couple's often-volatile relationship. The duets continued for several years after they divorced in 1975, and the two reunited professionally for a final album together, One, in 1995.

During the '90s, Jones released an album, followed by an autobiography, called I Lived to Tell It All– the irony in the title coming precisely because so many people hadn't expected him to.

His drinking and, eventually, his cocaine use, caused him to miss so many concerts that he earned the nickname No-Show Jones (he was also, more kindly, called The Possum).

He got in fights and destroyed motel rooms. He ventilated his tour bus by emptying the chambers of a pistol into its floor. He drove to a liquor store on a riding lawnmower when his second wife, Shirley Corley, hid all the car keys. At his most inebriated, he insisted on singing in the voice of a duck named Deedoodle.

Jones recounted multiple brushes with death in his book, but his best-known one came in 1999, when he crashed his Lexus SUV into a bridge abutment near Franklin, Tenn., while talking on his cellphone. Jones suffered a collapsed lung and ruptured liver and spent two weeks in a Nashville hospital.

Police found a partially empty bottle of vodka under the front passenger's seat, and Jones later pled guilty to driving while impaired and acknowledged that he had fallen off the wagon.

Even at the height of his substance abuse, Jones' personal troubles couldn't always overshadow his talent.

His name has appeared on more charting singles – 168, spanning 55 years – than any other country singer's, from 1955's Why Baby Why to Aaron Lewis' 2010 hit Country Boy, where he was a featured vocalist with Charlie Daniels.

He was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2008 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Jones' greatest artistic achievement came with Billy Sherrill, his regular producer for much of the 1970s and '80s. Sherrill, an admirer of Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" musical architecture, constructed his own masterpieces using Jones' voice as scaffolding. Instead of competing with the singer's dramatic delivery, Sherrill complemented it with vocal choruses, theatrical string sections and tensile pedal steel guitar lines. Sherrill's lavish productions didn't bury Jones, they revealed previously unheard subtleties of expression.

The pair reached their peak with the 1980 release of He Stopped Loving Her Today, widely considered to be the greatest country record ever made and one that, according to many involved with its creation, took more than a year to get on tape because Jones was so wrecked by cocaine and bourbon.

"He said I'll love you 'til I die/She told him you'll forget in time," Jones sang as he began the Bobby Braddock/Curly Putman tune, needing only three minutes and 15 seconds to convey a lifetime of emotional devastation, the kind that takes hold of a man and doesn't let go, not ever.

He Stopped Loving Her Today revived Jones' career and perhaps saved his life. It gave him his first number-one hit in five years and won four awards from the Country Music Association, including Song of the Year twice. It also gave him the first of his two Grammys – he won again in 2000 for the post-wreck Choices.

In his later years, Jones often complained about the directions contemporary country music took, especially after radio stopped playing his records. But younger stylists revered him, particularly during country's commercial boom of the late '80s and early '90s. Several, including Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Vince Gill sang with him on 1992's I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair, released the same year Jones was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the last 10 years of his career, he recorded with Shooter Jennings and Staind frontman Aaron Lewis, as well as with Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard.

Now, that voice has gone silent. They may lay a wreath upon his door. Soon, they'll carry him away.

But we will not stop loving him today.

JONES, George (George Glenn Jones)

Born: 9/12/1931, Saratoga, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 4/26/2013, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.

George Jones’ western – actor:

Bat Masterson (TV) - Joe

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RIP Aida Bortnik

April 29, 2013, 8:49 am

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Aida Bortnik a legend in Argentine cinema

An exceptional writer, Aida wrote several of the most memorable films: "La tregua”, “La historia oficial” y “Tango feroz”.

The great screenwriter and writer Aida Bortnik has died, she marked a before and after in the cinematography of our country, being the author of the screenplay for "La tregua" and, above all, of "La historia official” an Oscar and Golden Globe winner she was 75. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Argentina and many of her teammates echoed her death and mourned her death.

Her career and accomplishments like Platinum Konex the best writer of the decade and was positioned as a symbol of Argentine cinema. Her legacy was marked beyond borders: she was the first Latin American writer who managed to become a permanent member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Hollywood, which is responsible for choosing the winners of the Oscars.

Besides "La tregua" nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1974 - and "La historia...”, from her pen were born some of the country's film classics: Stand "Crecer de golpe” (1976), she made with Sergio Renan, "Volver" (1982) starring Héctor Alterio, Graciela Dufau and Rodolfo Ranni, "Tango Feroz, la leyenda de Tanguito" (1993) the debut of director Marcelo Piña and was seen in our country by 1,700,000 viewers.

Aida 1990s ended with two eventful films "Caballos Salvajes" (1995) and "Cenizas del paraíso" (1997), both directed by Marcelo Piña.

"She was a teacher of life, a great writer," said a pained Juan Jose Campanella.

BORTNIK, Aida

Born: 1/7/1938, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Died: 4/27/1913, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Aida Bortnik’s western – screenwriter:

Old Gringo - 1989

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RIP Lola Cervantes

April 29, 2013, 10:37 am

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Voice actress Lola Cervantes has died in Spain. She was 91 years old. Born María Dolores Cervantes Ruescas in Spain in 1922, Cervantes career began on Madrid Radio in 1946 and did much dubbing between 1940 and 1950 in Madrid, especially in Chamartín Studio. According to the magazine Radiocinema, #242 of March 12, 1955, Lola had doubled to date: Ann Blyth, Betty Grable, Susan Hayward, Norma Shearer, Diana Durbin, Gina Lollabrigida, Silvana Pampanini, Brbara Stanwyck, Maureen O’Hara, Jean Peters, Merle Opberon and Vivien Leigh.

In 1948 she presented the program "Issues for Women" from Monday to Saturday from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the evening and "Female Office" from Monday to Sunday, 7:45 to 8:00 pm. In 1961, Lolita Cervantes presented with José Manuel Martos the program "Moon Waves" Wednesday from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Cervantes was an excellent voice actress and radio host. She also dubbed villains such as Cinderella's wicked stepmother in the Spanish dubbing of the Disney classic.

According to my files Lola has dubbed over 40 Euro-westerns. Following is an incomplete list I’m sure of her credits for these films.

CERVANTES, Lola (María Dolores Cervantes Ruescas)

Born: 1922, Spain

Died: 4/27/2013, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Lola Cervantes’ Euro-weesterns:

Four Bullets for Joe - 1963 [Spanish voice of Liz Poitel]

Charge of the 7th – 1964 [Spanish voice of Priscilla Steele]

Tomb of the Gunfighter – 1964 [Spanish voice of Silvia Solar]

Ballad of a Bounty Hunter - 1965 [Spanish voice of Pearl Cristal]

A Fistful of Knuckles - 1965 [Spanish voice of María Badmayer]

The Avenger – 1966 [Spanish voice of Elisa Montes]

Ballad of a Bounty Hunter – 1966 [Spanish voice of Perla Cristal]
Django Kill – 1966 [Spanish voice of Marilù Tolo]
Dynamite Joe – 1966 [Spanish voice of Halina Zalewska]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - 1966 [Spanish voice of Rada Rassimov]

Rebels on the Loose – 1966 [Spanish voice of Mónica Randall]

Seven Dollars to Kill – 1966 [Spanish voice of Carroll Brown]

Days of Violence – 1967 [Spanish voice of Nieves Navarro]

Face to Face - 1967 [Spanish voice of Lidia Alfonsi]

Johnny West – 1967 [Spanish voice of Dada Gallotti]

Rattler Kid – 1967 [Spanish voice of Aurora de Alba]

Seven Pistols for a Massacre – 1967 [Spanish voice of Giulia Rubini]

The Avenger – 1968 [Spanish voice of Elisa Montés]

Blood and Guns – 1968 [Spanish voice of Paloma Cela]

Dead Men Don’t Count - 1968 [Spanish voice of María Martín]

Gatling Gun – 1968 [Spanish voice of Evelyn Stewart]

Killer Adios – 1968 [Spanish voice of Paola Barbara]

Rattle Kid – 1968 [Spanish voice of Aurora De Alba]

Two Crosses at Danger Pass – 1968 [Spanish voice of Dyanik Zurakowska]
A Fistful of Knuckles – 1969 [Spanish voice of María Badmajew]

Garringo – 1969 [Spanish voice of María Martín]

Gatling Gun – 1969 [Spanish voice of Evelyn Stewart]

Quinto: Fighting Proud – 1969 [Spanish voice of Sarah Ross]

The Rebels of Arizona – 1969 [Spanish voice of Julie Newman]

Arizona Returns – 1970 [Spanish voice of Rosalba Neri]

Blood and Guns – 1970 [Spanish voice of Paloma Cela]

Fistful of Lead – 1970 [Spanish voice of Linda Sini]

Rebels of Arizona – 1970 [Spanish voice of Claudia Gravy]

Run Man Run – 1970 [Spanish voice of Chelo Alonso]

They Call Me Trinity – 1970 [Spanish voice of chica rubia]

Trinity is STILL My Name – 1971 [Spanish voice of Jessica Dublin]

The Grand Duel - 1972 [Spanish voice of Elvira Cortese]

Patience Has a Limit, We Don’t – 1974 [Spanish voice of Rita de Lernia]

Viva Maria! – 1976 [Spanish voice of Jeanne Moreau]

Buddy Goes West – 1981 [Spanish voice of Sara Franchetti]

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RIP Jack Shea

April 29, 2013, 3:34 pm

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Jack Shea, Legendary TV Director and Former DGA President, Dies at 84

He worked with Bob Hope on many of his Christmas specials and on such series as “The Jeffersons” and “Silver Spoons.”

Jack Shea, a TV comedy director for more than four decades who directed 10 Bob Hope overseas Christmas specials and multiple episodes of such sitcoms as The Jeffersons, Silver Spoons and Sanford and Son, has died. He was 84.

Shea died Sunday of complications from Alzheimer’s in Tarzana, his wife of 59 years, television screenwriter Patt Shea, said Monday.

Jack Shea served three terms as DGA president from 1997-2002 and was a member of the guild for more than a half-century. He was the recipient of the prestigious Robert Aldridge Award in 1992, which honors extraordinary service to the DGA and its membership.

Shea did his first Christmas special with Hope in December 1962 and worked with the famed comic to entertain U.S. troops in such locations as Vietnam, Korea, Guantanamo Bay, Japan, Turkey, Greece, Spain and Italy, receiving his first of two career Emmy Award nominations along the way.

Shea directed 110 episodes of The Jeffersons (he also wrote three episodes and produced 24), 91 episodes of Silver Spoons, 22 of The Ropers, 15 of Sanford and Son and 14 of Designing Women, one of which earned him his second Emmy nom in 1987.

His first directing gig came at age 27 when he was asked to fill in for an ailing director on the primetime game show Truth or Consequences.

Born Aug. 1, 1928, in New York, John Francis Shea attended Fordham University, where he graduated with a BA in history in 1950. That year, he began his TV career working as a stage manager at NBC in Burbank on Philco Playhouse, among other programs.

He made the leap to associate director on The Bob Hope Show and went on to helm episodes of The Jerry Lewis Show, Death Valley Days and The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. His other credits include Growing Pains, The Waltons, Valerie, The Royal Family, The Golden Girls, Punky Brewster and Full House. His last credit came on the Sherman Hemsley sitcom Goode Behavior in 1997.

In 1954, Shea -- who served two years in the Air Force during the Korean War as a television and motion picture director stationed in Los Angeles to produce educational films -- helped his co-workers organize the Radio & Television Directors Guild. Within a year, they had achieved a union shop where anyone on the directorial staff could join the guild for a $50 initiation fee.

Shea was one of the few leaders of the relatively small, New York-based RTDG working in Los Angeles, and he became president of RTDG’s Hollywood local in 1958, holding that post until 1960, when the RTDG and the Screen Directors Guild merged to form the DGA. He served for more than 35 years on the guild’s national board.

“Jack Shea occupied a truly unique position in the history of the modern DGA,” DGA president Taylor Hackford said in a statement. “As the West Coast president of the Radio & Television Directors Guild in 1960, he was at the table sitting across from Frank Capra when the two guilds representing television and theatrical directors merged to form the modern Directors Guild of America.

“Beloved by his fellow directors, the DGA membership and the DGA staff, he always had a ready smile and keen interest in everyone he encountered. Jack enjoyed life and shared it with everyone around him; as a leader, his gentle manner and the kindest of hearts will be the things we miss the most.”

Shea also served the DGA as a vice president, secretary and as a member of numerous other DGA committees. As president, he tackled issues including runaway production, diversity hiring and building a unified guild led by working members.

Patt Shea is a three-time Humanitas Award winner whose credits include All in the Family, Archie Bunker’s Place and Cagney & Lacey. She and her husband resided in Studio City for more than 30 years.

In addition to his wife, Shea is survived by children Shawn, Bill, Michael and John Francis III and grandchildren Amanda, Michael, Dylan, Hudson Patrick, Katie and Jackson.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Jack Shea’s name can be made to Regis High School in New York. A Catholic Mass for family, friends and professional acquaintances will be held at 10 a.m. May 9 at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Sherman Oaks.

SHEA, Jack
Born: 8/1/1928, New York City, New York, U.S.A.
Died: 4/28/2013, Tarzana, California, U.S.A.

Jack Shea's western - director:
Death Valley Days (TV) - 1965, 1969

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RIP Deanna Durbin

May 1, 2013, 7:52 am

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Deanna Durbin Dies: 1930s Child Star Dead at 91

These days, being a child and teen star is packed with serious perils. But Deanna Durbin -- a world-famous young movie actress during the 1930s and 1940s -- managed to do it right. One of Hollywood's biggest and most highly-paid stars during her heyday, Durbin died "a few days ago" at age 91, her son Peter H. David said in a fan club newsletter published on Tuesday, April 30. Offering no additional details on his mother's passing, David thanked Durbin's fans for respecting her privacy.

Unlike her peers Shirley Temple, Judy Garland and others during the time, Durbin escaped completely from the public eye after 1949, when she retired from Hollywood to live in a French village with her third husband, director Charles David. But during her Hollywood reign, Durbin, in a series of hit comedies and musicals, held as much clout as modern-day movie stars -- practically rescuing her studio, Universal Pictures, from financial ruin, with box office smashes like Three Smart Girls, First Love, Spring Parade and many others.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and raised in Southern California, the singer and actress was discovered in junior high school, and landed her first role in a one-reel short, Every Sunday, opposite Judy Garland herself.

She even won a miniature 1938 Academy Award (alongside Andy Rooney) for her "significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth." Durbin struggled to outgrow her spunky little girl persona, with negative reactions to more mature, intense roles in films like Christmas Holiday and Lady on a Train.

In 1946, she was paid more than $320,000 from Universal -- making her one of the highest paid women in Hollywood. In 1949, after starring in 21 films, Durbin opted to retire for good, explaining that she "hated being in a goldfish bowl." In a 1958 letter to reporters written from her exile in France (as reported by the New York Times), she explained: "I was never happy making pictures. I've gained weight. I do my own shopping, bring up my two children and sing an hour every day."

In addition to son Peter David, the star is also survived by daughter Jessica from her second marriage. Lady on a Train director Charles David died in 1999, just before the couple's 50th wedding anniversary.

DURBIN, Deanna (Edna Mae Durbin)
Born: 12/4/1921, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died: 4/26/2013, Pairs, Île-de-France, France

Deanna Durbin's western - actress:
Can't Help Singing - 1944 (Caroline)

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RIP Denton Fox

May 1, 2013, 2:10 pm

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RIP Denton Fox

Fox, Tech all-America cornerback, dies at 65

Stroke claims late 1960s Red Raider star

By Don Williams

A-J MEDIA

Even before he arrived at Texas Tech, Denton Fox had had a brush with greatness, appearing briefly in the Paul Newman classic “Hud.”

Not long after, Fox became a Red Raider and set about achieving greatness in his own right. A 6-foot-3, 200-pound cornerback in an era of not-so-outsized players, Fox became a first-team all-American in 1969 — only the sixth Tech football player to be so honored.

Once a hard-hitting, ball-hawking defensive back, Fox was felled in recent years by a series of strokes. He died Monday at age 65, his wife Sara Beth Fox said. He lived in Richardson.

“He was just a great athlete,” said former Tech fullback Kenny Baker, a teammate and later longtime business partner of Fox’s. “He was a big ol’ boy at the time. That was back before people got so big as they are now. He was fast. He was just a heck of a player.”

Fox was inducted into the Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.

He suffered an acute brain-stem stroke, his fourth stroke since 2010, early last week, his wife said. He went into hospice care Saturday and died two days later.

Playing for Tech “meant the world to him,” said Sara Beth Fox, who married her childhood sweetheart in 1966. “Not only was he delighted to be able to get an education, but coming from his background, a scholarship and Texas Tech gave him an opportunity to get a college education and play athletics.

“He was a big Red Raider fan all the way.”

Fox, a 1965 Claude High School graduate, also is a member of the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame. He lettered for the Red Raiders from 1967 through 1969 in the era before freshmen could play college varsity sports. He intercepted four passes in 1969 and played in the Blue-Gray all-star game, the Hula Bowl and the Coaches All-America Game.

“He was the fastest guy on the team, one of about three,” teammate John David Howard, a former Tech safety, said. “An extremely hard hitter. Very good on one-on-one coverage.”

After the 1969 season, Fox appeared on the Bob Hope Christmas special in the era in which college football all-American team members were invited on the show each year.

That wasn’t Fox’s first time to cross paths with celebrity.

A good portion of the 1963 movie “Hud” was filmed in and around Claude. Fox and his then wife-to-be appeared briefly in the film.

“You won’t see it on the TV version,” Howard said, “but if you get the full version, he and Sara were in the scene where Brandon deWilde and the girlfriend walk into the movie and some kids’ dates were walking into the movie. He and Sara were two of those that were in the original movie. They’ve cut all that out of the TV version.”

The Dallas Cowboys drafted Fox in the third round of the 1970 draft, shortly after they took Charlie Waters from Clemson.

“He was so excited about the Cowboys,” Fox’s wife said. “The first time we had ever been on an airplane was when we went down there to sign with the Cowboys.”

Fox’s NFL career was short-lived, however, as he didn’t stick with the Cowboys, the Atlanta Falcons or the Chicago Bears.

Fox went into the insurance business after football. Baker and Fox worked together from 1971 until Baker retired in 2002.

“He was just an all-around upright guy,” Baker said. “You probably have friends yourself that you could count on in any situation. He was one of those kind of guys.”

In addition to his wife, Fox’s survivors include a son, a daughter and five grandchildren. The youngest of seven children, he also is survived by three sisters and two brothers. Fox lost another brother to Lou Gehrig’s disease, his wife said.

Sara Beth Fox said plans for a celebration of life service are still to be determined.

FOX, Denton

Born: 1948, Claude, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 4/29/2013, Richardson, Texas, U.S.A.

Denton Fox’s western – extra:

Hud – 1963 (moviegoer)

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RIP Virginia Gibson

May 2, 2013, 9:53 am

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VIRGINIA GIBSON

Obituary

Published in The New York Times on May 1, 2013

GIBSON--Virginia (Gorski), dancer, singer, and actress of film, TV, and theatre has died at 88. Her career began in St. Louis in the chorus at the Muny Opera in Forest Park. In the 50's she made her movie debut in Tea for Two, followed by roles in Painting the Clouds with Sunshine, About Face, and Stop You're Killing Me, but was best known as Liza in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Her stage credits include a Tony nomination for her performance in Happy Hunting. Virginia was co-host of the children's TV show Discovery for almost a decade. A memorial service will be held Saturday May 4, 2013, 1:30pm, Church of the Blessed Sacrament, 152 West 71st St., NYC.

GIBSON, Virginia (Virginia Gorski)

Born: 4/19/1928, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.

Died: 4/25/2013, Newtown, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Virginia Gibson’s westerns – actress:

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – 1954 (Liza)

I Killed Wild Bill Hickok – 1956 (Anne James)

Frontier Doctor (TV) – 1958 (Suzy Trent)

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