RIP Umberto Raho

January 16, 2016, 9:38 am

RIP Umberto Raho

THE ITALIAN FILM GENRE LOSES ANOTHER FAMOUS CHARACTER, Umberto RAHO - 120 FILMS IN MANY ROLES, THRILLER, HORROR, ADVENTURE, 007 ITALIAN, WESTERN. DA 'Z The ORGY OF POWER' TO 'CRAZY PANTS' ROBERTO D'AGOSTINO

Thin, tall, stately, able to speak perfectly in English and French was perfect for any role. He could be a doctor, a policeman, a lawyer, always bourgeois roles, most often the villain of the first or second lead or one that died tragically at the time of the thriller ....

Dag Spia.com

By Marco Giusti

January 16, 2016

The Italian genre cinema loses another famous character actor, Umberto Raho, 93, also known as Raoul H. Newman, Bert Raho, Raho Humi, Umy Raho, Bob Rains, Robert Rains, Umbert Rau. 120 films, in many roles, thriller, horror, adventure, 007 Italian, western. But also films of great authors, such as John Schlesinger's Darling, Z l’orgia del potere and La confessione by Costa Gavras, The Lady L by Peter Ustinov, The Visit by Bernard Wicki, The Verona Trial of Charles Lizzani.

He had a vast filmography that goes from Ghosts of the Sea by Francesco De Robertis, Romeo and Juliet by Renato Castellani in 1948, was his first film, Lo spettro by Riccardo Freda, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and The Cat O'Nine Tails by Dario Argento, Mutande pazze by Roberto D'Agostino and Double Team by Tsui Hark in 1997, which would be his last film.

Thin, tall, stately, able to speak perfectly in English and French, he was perfect for any role. He could play a doctor, a policeman, a lawyer, always bourgeois roles, but most often the villain of the first or second lead or one that died tragically at the time of the thriller.

Besides his best-known films were those shot with Dario Argento, his death on the subjective in The bird is masterful, and the great Italian horror 1960s, Danza macabra, I lungi capelli della morte, straying into science fiction with The Last Man on Earth, alongside Vincet Price, The War of The Planets and Wild, Wild Planet by Antonio Margheriti and the comic horror comic with Satanik by Piero Vivarelli.

Not to mention his roles as a villain in 007 Italian A077 Mission Bloody Mary. But he also starred with Luchino Visconti in Gruppo di famiglia in un interno, with Franco Brusati in Bread and Chocolate, Una vita difficile by Dino Risi and, above all, in Diary of a Schizophrenic by Nelo Risi, where he was for the first time the male lead. He had also done a lot of theater, beginning in 1942 with Minnie la candida of Bontempelli directed by Roger Jacobbi alongside Anna Proclemer and then working with Bragaglia.

And personally I remember in the early 1980s among the protagonists of the last Italian play by Copi with the same author and director. He was born in Sofia, although the encyclopedia written in Bari, in 1922, to an Italian father and Bulgarian mother. He had lived a long time with our real, since the aunt was maid of honor of Queen Elena and, in wartime, remembered he was going to make the line for food dressed as a sissy to get something more.

He studied theater together with Marcello Mastroianni, remembered, which had been a close friend. As had been his friend in the postwar period also Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina. Indeed, he remembered having lent Fellini a dress to get married at a time for all of extreme poverty.

For years he had left Rome to live in a small house in Anzio, where, a little 'svanitello and sick, saying that sometimes visited him his great friend Julie Christie, who had met on the set of Darling. Who knows ...

She had loved working with Ingrid Bergman for The Visit by Bernard Wicki where its role must have been cut with Jean Gabin and La gang dell’Anno Santo. Although old and sick he had been of great spirit and friendliness, very cute and funny.

RAHO, Umberto

Born: 6/4/1922, Sofia, Bulgaria

Died: 1/9/2016, Anzio, Lazio, Italy

Umberto Raho’s westerns – actor:

Charge of the 7^th- 1964 (Colonel Maxfield/Maxwell)

The Twins from Texas – 1964 (Mike) [as Arnold Rao]

The Man Who Came to Kill – 1965 (Mayor Broga)

Halleluja for Django - 1966 (Smolie)

My Name is Pecos – 1966 (Morton) [as Umi Raho]

The Bang Bang Kid - 1967 (Reverend Garrett Emerson Langry)

Pecos Cleans Up – 1967 (Pinto) [as Umi Raho]

Wanted – 1967 (Concho Diaz)

15 Scaffolds for a Killer - 1968 [as Umy Raho]

4 Came to Kill Sartana - 1969 (Von Krassel)

The 4 Gunmen of the Holy Trinity - 1970 (Quinn’Frenchie’ Parody/Paradine)

Drummer of Vengeance - 1971 (mayor) [as Umburto Raho]

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RIP Glenn Frey

January 18, 2016, 3:13 pm

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Eagles founding member Glenn Frey dies at 67

Los Angeles Times

By Hailey Branson-Potts and Christie D'Zurilla

January 18, 2016

Glenn Frey, the guitarist and singer who was a founding member of the Eagles, died Monday in New York City, the band said in a statement. He was 67.

Frey died of complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia, the band said.

“Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us, his family, the music community and millions of fans worldwide,” the statement read.

The Eagles were to have been recognized with a 2015 Kennedy Center Honor in December, but in November the band requested that it be put off for a year, until “all four Eagles -- Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit -- can attend.”

Over the course of the group’s career, the Eagles have sold more than 120 million albums worldwide and won six Grammy Awards.

In a 2014 review of an Eagles concert at the Forum, Los Angeles Times music critic Randall Roberts summed up the band’s influence on pop culture during the 1970s and ’80s:

“The messages that the Eagles spread about California life were, after all, some of the most prominent of the era. Delivered over FM airwaves at the peak of terrestrial radio's power and ingrained into the minds of anyone living through the 1970s and '80s, the Eagles’ best songs captured a California settling into itself, more concerned with its valleys and hanging out than surf and sun.

“... For better or worse,” he wrote, “the Eagles helped to further characterize the region in the cultural imagination.”

The Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Times critic Robert Hilburn wrote that it “was a moment of triumph for the band because it had been widely dismissed by much of the East Coast music establishment in the ‘70s for its laidback Southern California country-rock style.

“But the group’s music eventually took on a harder edge and its lyrics explored a generation’s struggles to balance the innocence and idealism of the ‘60s against the creeping disillusionment of the ‘70s with a biting, literary edge.”

FREY, Glenn (Glenn Lewis Frey)

Born: 11/6/1948, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.

Died: 1/18/2016, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Glenn Frey’s western – soundtrack:

Desperado (TV) - 1987

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RIP Larry Carroll

January 18, 2016, 6:55 pm

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RIP Larry Carroll

The Berkshire Eagle

January 17, 2016

PITTSFIELD - Larry Carroll, 64, son of late William and Rita Carroll passed away on December 5, 2015 in Los Angeles, CA. He is survived by his wife, Linda, daughters, Celina and Nicole and son-in-law, Rory. He leaves six siblings and their spouses; David and Debbie Carroll, Marita and John Sharp, Susan and Richard Lombardi, Beth, Brian and Sandy Carroll. Beloved husband, father, brother and uncle to 12 nieces and nephews, he touched so many with his kindness, humor and passion. He is most remembered for his creative pursuits, pride in his family, and love of the outdoors. He was the anchor of the seven Carroll siblings, with a larger than life personality, smile and energy that will be sorely missed. He attended Berkshire Community College and obtained his BA from the University of Florida. He found great success working as an art director/producer for various ad agencies before founding Sundog Productions where he, wrote, directed and edited award-winning films, TV series and documentaries. He was a featured artist in numerous galleries and professor of Directing and Producing at the USC graduate school of Cinematic Arts. His work can be found at LarryCarroll.net. SERVICES: A tribute to his life was held this past week in LA and a scholarship in his name was created at BCC, where he developed his love of theatre and passion for the art of storytelling.

Donations may be made to: BCC Foundation / Larry Carroll Scholarship, 1350 West Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201

CARROLL, Larry (Lawrence Carroll)

Born: 1951 Berkshire, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Died: 12/15/2015, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Larry Carroll’s western – producer, director, screenwriter:

Peacemakers - 2003

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RIP Doris Wiss

January 18, 2016, 8:00 pm

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Westport News

January 18, 2016

Doris Elliott of Weston, CT died peacefully in her home on July 17th, 2015.

Doris left her birth home of Dusseldorf, Germany in 1933, fleeing Hitler's regime. She moved from Holland to Belgium, to Aruba, then Mexico and finally landed in New York City at the age of 17 where she was accepted at New York University where she majored in languages. She became extremely proficient in eight languages and graduated in 1948.

Doris then returned to Europe to pursue a career in film. She appeared with Marlon Brando in The Young Lions as well as other films and several TV shows, notably The Bob Cummings Show and as a hostess on the $65,000 Challenge. Upon returning to the U.S she married the well-known jazz musician Don Elliott and took over the management of his career.

Don Elliott had been successfully playing with jazz greats such as George Shearing, Artie Shaw, Dave Brubeck, Quincy Jones, Jerry Mulligan and others. Additionally, Doris created new avenues for his talent in the world of TV commercial jingles. Upon her husband’s death in 1984, Mrs. Elliott started a nanny agency and listed celebrities such as Leona Helmsley, Christie Brinkley and Renee Fleming among her various clients.

Mrs. Elliott was politically active as well, hosting many gatherings for Martin Luther King and also played a large part in introducing young unknown talent such as Billy Charlap, Marcus Roberts and others to the jazz world.

She is survived by a daughter, Doriane, son, Dean and three grandchildren.

A memorial gathering will be held at the Weston home sometime in the spring.

WISS, Doris

Born: 193?, Dusseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Died: 7/17/2015, Weston, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Doris Wiss’ westerns – actress:

The Adventures of Jim Bowie (TV) – 1958 (Guadalupe Smith)

The Rebel (TV) – 1960 (Flory)

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RIP James Bellah

January 19, 2016, 7:30 am

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RIP James Bellah

Los Angeles Times

January 15, 2016

May 22, 1931 - December 29, 2015 James was an educator, actor, and author. His works include: The Avenger Tapes (co-author), Imperial Express, Stood A Man and his book of poems, The Orchards of Lang Syne. He acted in the TV Series, Family Theatre and The Man Behind The Gun. He taught writing at UCLA. James attended the Hill School in Pottstown, PA (1948-1949), Johns Hopkins University and UCLA. James served as a corporal in the United States Army from May 1953 - February 1955, serving in the Korean War; the California State Military Forces (LTC); the National Guard Association of California; and Reserve Officers Association of the United States. He was a proud member of the St. Andrews Society. Survivors include daughters Ariadne Bellah and Jenephyr James, brothers, John Bellah and Stephen Bellah, and sister, Ann Bellah Copeland. His wife, Ursula Pearson Bellah predeceased him in 2006. His remains are interred at the Riverside National Cemetery.

BELLAH, James

Born: 5/22/1931, U.S.A.

Died: 12/29/2015, Gardena, California, U.S.A.

James Bellah’s western – screenwriter:

The Soul of Nigger Charlie - 1972

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RIP Antonella Steni

January 19, 2016, 11:16 am

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Farewell to the actress Antonella Steni, for years she teamed up on TV with Elio Pandolfi

Mondo Spettacolo

By Ivan Zingariello

January 19, 2016

No peace for Italian show business. In the last few days we have lost Franco Citti and Umberto Raho and, to make matters worse, the actress Antonella Steni, died yesterday in Bologna at the age of 89. The multifaceted and inexhaustible actress Steni was the prototype brilliant actress, but also capable of characterizations which were very special and much loved by the public.

Born as Stefanini Antonietta in Montefiascone (VT) on December 3, 1926 at a very young age she specialized in vaudeville and variety. As a young girl she appeared in a couple of movies, "Scipione l’Africano " (1937) by Carmine Gallone, which also saw the debut of Alberto Sordi, and then "Crispin e la comare" (1938) by Vincenzo Borelli. Then for 20 years she devoted herself to theater and radio ("La mia voce per la tua domenica", with Corrado) and later on television ("Za-bum" 1964-65), achieving great fame in the 1960s thanks to her partnership with Elio Pandolfi, with whom she was going steady for 11 years, receiving very large consensus in memorable comic sketches.

The movies we remember the many Italian comedies, from "Il Tigre" (1967) by Dino Risi in " Peggio per me… meglio per te" (1967) by Bruno Corbucci. Also participates in " Bisturi, la mafia bianca" (1973) by Luigi Zampa and the ensemble film " Grandi magazzini" (1986) Castellano & Pipolo. In " L’ultimo capodanno" (1998) by Marco Risi she plays the mother ghost Monica Bellucci, while her last appearances were in 2003 with the TV movie "Chiaroscuro" with Nino Manfredi, and the TV series "Cinecitta" by Emiliano Coltorti.

She also appeared alongside Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia that Steni turned films, well 5. From "Obiettivo ragazze" (1963) by Mario Mattioli in " Brutti di notte" (1968) by John Grimaldi, through "2 mattacchioni al Moulin Rouge" (1964) by Carlo Infascelli and musicals with Al Bano & Romina, “Nel sole” (1967), “L’oro del mondo” (1968), both directed by Aldo Grimaldi.

For Steni she was also a voice actress, voicing such Luciana Angiolillo in "Hercules and the Captive Women" and Annie Gorassini in "Vilcan Son of Jupiter", as well as Moira Orfei. In the new millennium she continued her theatrical career, also celebrating 60 years in the business in 2006, the season in which she was the star of the show " Grigio brillante" by Giuseppe Manfridi directed by Claudio Beccaccini.

She herself said "I am an actress. I always did brilliant things, I like to go wild, I like to sing - I think it is very valid to reach people. I am an actress I can do both comical and serious human things. I always put in my shows a brilliant moment of truth, and then I always try to be myself, to put always a part of me in the character I do, because I like to be natural." And then: "I'm not a snob, I'm very normal … a very normal person and I think very little of me belongs to the entertainment industry, out of the films. On stage my natural element is the stage but everything else I do not like. Picking up a prize for me has always been a struggle, and I’m also quite lazy." A final gloss on advancing years: "I often think of old age but I try to live my age until I can, I try. I always say and I realize that every age has its own charm. It’s clear that youth is beautiful because it is carefree, because there is the wrinkle… but the wrinkle is not the problem, old age I think can be frightening a nd it makes me mad, if you take away the reason, one takes autonomy ... more than old age. The old can be happy, I am an optimist and I have lived well, with love, with tenderness, I think it's even poetic."

STENI, Antonella (Antonietta Stefanini)

Born:12/3/1926, Montefiascone, Lazio, Italy

Died: 1/18/2016, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Antonella Steni’s western – actress:

Bastard, Go and Kill – 1971 (Assuncion Juanita Maria Magdalena Hermandariz/Maria)

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RIP Ettore Scola

January 19, 2016, 2:27 pm

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Ettore Scola, bachelor master of Italian cinema has died

La Republica

January 19, 2016

Ettore Scola has died in Rome. He was 84 years old. He was born in Trevico, in the province of Avellino, May 10, 1931. He was one of the greatest directors and screenwriters of Italian cinema. He made his directorial debut in 1964, the first great success came four years later with Will our heroes finds his friend who had mysteriously disappeared in Africa. His masterpieces as “Una giornata particolare” and “C'eravamo tanto amati”. His last work was in 2013, the documentary “Che strano chiamarsi Federico”, dedicated to Fellini.

Scola had moved to Rome shortly after birth with his family, in the Esquilino area, where he attended high school Pilo Albertelli. At fifteen he began to bring his satirical magazine Marcus Aurelius, which becomes collaborator while still a law student. Since the end of the Forties he worked on some radio programs, is co-author of the texts of the sketch of Alberto Sordi as Mario Pio and Count Claro. Began writing screenplays in the early 1950s, he wrote comedies, often paired with Ruggero Maccari.

Rich was his filmography, from the onset, in 1964, with Alberto Sordi, with whom he worked three more times, in the “La più bella serata della mia vita” (1972), in some episodes of the collective film “I nuovi mostri” (1977) and “Romanzo di un giovane povero” (1995). “Ma è con Il commissario Pepe” (1969) and “Dramma della gelosia - Tutti i particolari in cronaca” (1970) Scola enters the most important phase of his career. In 1974 directs “C'eravamo tanto amati” by which retraces thirty years of Italian history through the story of three friends, former partisans, the lawyer Gianni Perego (Vittorio Gassman), the porter Antonio (Nino Manfredi) and intellectual Nicola (Stefano Satta Flores), two of them in love for a lifetime with Luciana (Stefania Sandrelli).

SCOLA, Ettore

Born: 5/10/1931, Trevico, Campania, Italy

Died: 1/19/2016, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Ettore Scola’s western – screenwriter:

The Terrible Sheriff - 1962

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RIP Stanley Mann

January 22, 2016, 4:11 pm

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Oscar-Nominated Screenwriter Stanley Mann Dies at 87

He received an Oscar nom for his work on William Wyler’s ‘The Collector’ and scripted 'Conan the Destroyer,’ 'The Mouse That Roared,’ and 'Eye of the Needle.’

Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

January 22, 2016

Stanley Mann, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter who worked on such films as Conan the Destroyer and Damien: Omen II, has died. He was 87.

Mann, who received his Academy Award nom for co-writing the adapted screenplay for The Collector (1965), died January 11 at his home in Los Angeles after a long illness, his wife, Joan, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The Collector, directed by William Wyler — who abandoned The Sound of Music for the project — was a psychological thriller about a creepy bank clerk (Terence Stamp) who imprisons a young art student (Samantha Eggar) in a house in the country. Wyler and Eggar also received Oscar noms for their work.

Mann also co-wrote with Roger MacDougall the Peter Sellers film The Mouse That Roared (1959). Earlier, the writers had teamed for the 1957 Broadway play Hide and Seek, and Mann’s plays were performed at the National Theatre in London and in Los Angeles.

Mann wrote three films that starred Sean Connery — Another Time, Another Place (1958), Woman of Straw (1964) and Meteor (1979) — and adapted novels by Stephen King and James Clavell, respectively, for the movies Firestarter (1984) and Tai-Pan (1986).

An association with producer Dino de Laurentiis led to his work on Firestarter and the sequel Conan the Destroyer (1984).

Mann’s feature résumé also includes The Mark (1961), Rapture (1965), Up From the Beach (1965), Frank Sinatra's The Naked Runner (1967), Russian Roulette (1975), the Donald Sutherland starrer Eye of the Needle (1981) and Hanna’s War (1988).

He also produced Theatre of Blood (1973), starring Vincent Price and Diana Rigg, and Draw, his original 1984 Western for HBO, starred Kirk Douglas and James Coburn.

A native of Toronto, Mann attended McGill University and began his career in his late teens as a writer and actor for CBC Radio. In 1954, he moved to London and then came to Los Angeles in the 1970s. In 1978, he published a novel, Third Time Lucky.

In addition to his wife, survivors include his children Rachel, Adam and Daniel, sisters-in-law Denise and Gilda and four grandchildren.

After Mann and his first wife divorced, his son Daniel was adopted by novelist-screenwriter Mordecai Richler (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz).

A memorial service is pending. Donations can be made to the ASPCA.

MANN, Stanley

Born: 8/8/1928, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Died: 1/11/2016, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Stanley Mann’s westerns – producer, screenwriter:

The Wrath of God – 1972 [producer]

Draw (TV) – 1984 [screenwriter]

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RIP Marc Cassot

January 25, 2016, 1:41 pm

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Marc Cassot has died, the voice of Paul Newman and Dumbledore

Purepeople

January 23, 2016

He dubbed more than a hundred films, with some cult figures.

He was the voice of Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or Fat Man and Little Boy, but also that of the late Michael Gambon and Richard Harris, the two actors who embodied Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter. His rocky, warm and reassuring tone had also lulled the fans of Lord of the Rings (he doubled Ian Holm, aka Bilbo Baggins), but also those of Christopher Lee (The evil Skull), Max von Sydow (The Exorcist), Burt Reynolds ( Boogie Nights), John Cassavetes (Free as the Wind), Steve McQueen (The Cincinnati Kid) and many more ...

The French actor specialized in dubbing, Marc Cassot has died at the age of 92. He had done his job, and he excelled in the register for over 50 years. He’s attached to actors like Paul Newman he was the French voices in more than twenty films, Marc Cassot had also doubled many famous movie characters like Dumbledore, headmaster of the famous Hogwarts, but Ben Parker (the uncle of Spider-man), Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator, and Spock in the Star Trek of 2009.

He was a movie actor with theater training, Marc Cassot was a CAP pocket d'électromécanicien before entering as an extra in the New operetta theater and then became an actor as a replacement for one of the other actors. Thus began a successful career, first on the stage where it was headed by Albert Camus Robert Hossein for example - he also interpreted John Paul II - and in the cinema in the prison at Route Léon Mathot, before working for Christian-Jaque, Jean Dréville, Edouard Molinaro, and in TV with Abel Gance or Gilles Grangier. But it is obviously in dubbing Cassot made a name with more than one hundred films where his voice echoes.

CASSOT, Marc (Marc Lucien Emile Cassot)

Born: 6/16/1923, Paris, Île de France, France

Died: 1/21/2016, Paris, Île de France, France

Marc Cassot’s westerns – voice actor:

God Forgives… I Don’t – 1967 [French voice of guard with red moustache]

Cannon for Cordoba – 1970 [French voice of George Peppard]

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RIP Abe Vigoda

January 26, 2016, 11:59 am

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Abe Vigoda, Sunken-Eyed Character Actor, Dead at 94

ABC News

By Hillel Italie

January 26, 2016

Character actor Abe Vigoda, whose leathery, sunken-eyed face made him ideal for playing the over-the-hill detective Phil Fish in the 1970s TV series "Barney Miller" and the doomed Mafia soldier in "The Godfather," died Tuesday at age 94.

Vigoda's daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, told The Associated Press that Vigoda died Tuesday morning in his sleep at Fuchs' home in Woodland Park, New Jersey. The cause of death was old age. "This man was never sick," Fuchs said.

Vigoda worked in relative obscurity as a supporting actor in the New York theater and in television until Francis Ford Coppola cast him in the 1972 Oscar-winning "The Godfather." Vigoda played Sal Tessio, an old friend of Vito Corleone's (Marlon Brando) who hopes to take over the family after Vito's death by killing his son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). But Michael anticipates that Sal's suggestion for a "peace summit" among crime families is a setup and the escorts Sal thought were taking him to the meeting turn out to be his executioners.

"Tell Mike it was only business," Sal mutters to consigliere Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) as he's led away.

The great success of the film and "The Godfather Part II" made his face and voice, if not his name, recognizable to the general public and led to numerous roles, often as hoodlums.

But it was his comic turn in "Barney Miller," which starred Hal Linden and ran from 1975 to 1982, that brought Vigoda's greatest recognition.

He liked to tell the story of how he won the role of Detective Fish. An exercise enthusiast, Vigoda had just returned from a five-mile jog when his agent called and told him to report immediately to the office of Danny Arnold, who was producing a pilot for a police station comedy.

Arnold remarked that Vigoda looked tired, and the actor explained about his jog. "You know, you look like you might have hemorrhoids," Arnold said. "What are you — a doctor or a producer?" Vigoda asked. He was cast on the spot.

"The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows," a reference book, commented that Vigoda was the hit of "Barney Miller."''Not only did he look incredible, he sounded and acted like every breath might be his last," it said. "Fish was always on the verge of retirement, and his worst day was when the station house toilet broke down."

Vigoda remained a regular on "Barney Miller" until 1977 when he took the character to his own series, "Fish." The storyline dealt with the detective's domestic life and his relations with five street kids that he and his wife took into their home.

The show lasted a season and a half. Vigoda continued making occasional guest appearances on "Barney Miller," quitting over billing and salary differences.

But he remained a popular character actor in films, including "Cannonball Run II,"''Look Who's Talking,"''Joe Versus the Volcano" and "North."

His resemblance to Boris Karloff led to his casting in the 1986 New York revival of "Arsenic and Old Lace," playing the role Karloff originated on the stage in the 1940s. (The murderous character in the black comedy is famously said by other characters to resemble Boris Karloff, a great joke back when the real Karloff was playing him.)

Born in New York City in 1921, Vigoda attended the Theater School of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Hall. In the early 1950s, he appeared as straight man for the Jimmy Durante and Ed Wynn TV comedies.

For 30 years, he worked in the theater, acting in dozens of plays in such diverse characters as John of Gaunt in "Richard II" (his favorite role) and Abraham Lincoln in a short-lived Broadway comedy "Tough to Get Help."

Vigoda attributed his high percentage in winning roles to his performance in auditions. Instead of delivering the tired soliloquies that most actors performed, he wrote his own, about a circus barker. At a surprise 80th birthday party in New Jersey in 2001, he gave a spirited recital of the monologue to the delight of the 100 guests.

Reflecting on his delayed success, Vigoda once remarked: "When I was a young man, I was told success had to come in my youth. I found this to be a myth. My experiences have taught me that if you deeply believe in what you are doing, success can come at any age."

"Barney Miller" became his first steady acting job.

"I'm the same Abe Vigoda," he told an interviewer. "I have the same friends, but the difference now is that I can buy the things I never could afford before. I have never had a house before, so now I would like a house with a nice garden and a pool. Hollywood has been very kind to me."

He was married twice, most recently to Beatrice Schy, who died in 1992. He had his daughter with his first wife, Sonja Gohlke, who has also died. Vigoda is survived by his daughter, grandchildren Jamie, Paul and Steven, and a great-grandson.

Reruns of "Barney Miller" and repeated screenings of the two "Godfather" epics kept Vigoda in the public eye, and unlike some celebrities, he enjoyed being recognized. In 1997 he was shopping in Bloomingdale's in Manhattan when a salesman remarked: "You look like Abe Vigoda. But you can't be Abe Vigoda because he's dead." Vigoda often appeared on lists of living celebrities believed to have passed away.

VIGODA, Abe (Abraham Charles Vigodah)

Born: 2/24/1921, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 1/26/2016, Woodland Park, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Abe Vigoda’s western – actor:

Lucky Luke (TV) - 1990-1991 (Judge Rinehart)

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RIP Georgy Firtich

January 30, 2016, 11:16 am

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Georgy Firtich, Russian composer and pianist, dead at 77.

Georgy Ivanovich Firtich/Георгий Иванович Фиртич] was born on October 20, 1938, in Pskov and died on January 27, 2016. He was a Soviet and Russian composer, jazz pianist and a professor at Herzen University. Firstich received an honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation.

It was received his from the School of Music by Rimsky-Korsakov (class composition) and Saint Petersburg Conservatory (1962, class of Yuri Balkashin and Boris Arapov).

He was still studying when he started performing as a pianist, in his school years with the performance of the classics and his own compositions, and in school as a jazz singer.

When he attended the undergraduate conservatory he began writing for film (in this area he worked for almost 40 years). In 1962, Georgy Firtich joined the Union Composers of USSR. As of 1994, he lead the ACM (Association for Contemporary Music), the Union of Composers of St. Petersburg.

Georgy Firtich died January 27, 2016 in St. Petersburg at 77 years of age.

FIRTICH, G. (Georgiy Ivanovich Firtich)

Born: 10/20/1938, Pskov, Russia, U.S.S.R.

Died: 1/27/2016, St. Petersburg, Russia

Georgy Firtich’s western – composer:

Armed and Dangerous - 1977

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RIP Edward Parone

February 1, 2016, 4:59 pm

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Edward Parone, Director, Writer and Theater Mentor, Dies at 90

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

2/1/2016

He served as an artistic member of New York’s Albee-Barr-Wilder Playwrights Unit and directed many plays at the Taper in L.A.

Edward Parone, a director and writer for the theater who in the 1960s in New York served as a mentor to such playwrights as Edward Albee and LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), died Jan. 24 of cancer at his home in Nambe, N.M. He was 90.

His family announced the news through the Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles.

During what was one of the most fertile periods in American theater, Parone served as an artistic member of New York’s legendary Albee-Barr-Wilder Playwrights Unit, a company devoted exclusively to the development and production of new American plays.

Parone directed the world premiere of Jones’ signature play Dutchman in 1964 and went on to nurture such playwrights as Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson and John Guare.

Parone directed numerous plays at L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum, ranging from the world premiere of John Guare’s Muzeeka in 1968 to Tom Stoppard’s Travesties to the American premiere of Pam Gems’ Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi and a re-creation of his early days in New York with 50/60 Vision — Plays and Playwrights That Changed the Theatre. That featured works of Albee, Shepard, Jones/Baraka, Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco and Harold Pinter, among others.

In 1967, Parone joined Gordon Davidson, artistic director of the newly opened Taper, to inaugurate its first new play development program, called New Theatre For Now. In 1976, NTFN was awarded the Margo Jones Award in recognition of a "commitment to the encouragement of the living theater everywhere."

A native of Hartford, Conn., Parone served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and graduated from Trinity College in Hartford.

Parone served as an assistant to the producer on Clark Gable’s and Marilyn Monroe’s final film, The Misfits (1961), and directed for such TV series as Family and Knots Landing. On Broadway, he directed Dozens in 1969, starring Morgan Freeman.

His poetry was published in The New Yorker, and he wrote/edited two books, New Theatre in America, published in 1965, and 1968’s Collision Course. He lived in New Mexico for 30 years.

The family asks that donations be made to the Black Mesa Kennels, 32 Private Drive 1156, Espanola, NM 87532: info@blackmesakennels.com.

PARONE, Edward

Born: 1926, Hartford, Connectivut, U.S.A.

Died: 1/24/2016, Nambe, New Mexico, U.S.A.

Edward Parone’s western – assistant producer:

The Misfits - 1961

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RIP Aldo Bufi Landi

February 3, 2016, 8:11 am

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Dead actor Aldo Bufi Landi, a life between Eduardo and Shakespeare

Il Matino

By Henry Flower

February 3, 2016

The last time we saw him on stage in Naples, precisely to Bellini, was at the opening of the 2008-2009 season, when he played the character of the servant Gavrila it "The land of idiots," the comedy that he obtained Tato Russian novel by Dostoyevsky " Il villaggio di Stepàncikovo".

And it was all a program the way, with his fierce scowl, hurled the anathema against the salons populated by " chilli addutturate de la città ca le coce la capa" .Yes, Aldo Bufi Landi, who has died at nearly 93 years of age, was one of the most distinctive and characteristic features of the Neapolitan theater: so much so that, after having been part of the Theater Humor "The De Filippo," Eduardo stayed with him even when separated by Peppino. And, moreover, it was within that company that he met the actress Clara Bindi, the woman who would become his wife. Bufi Landi, therefore, acted alongside Eduardo - to name only the headlines – in “Napoli milionaria!”, “Filumena Marturano”, “Questi fantasmi!” and “Le voci di dentro”.

And hand in hand, he was among the better actors of the movies that made the history of Italian cinema as “I magliari”, “Il mattatore” and “47 morto che parla” whose protagonists were called, respectively, Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman and Totò. To return to the scope of the Neapolitan theater, we have to remember that at least Aldo Bufi Landi took part in the preparation of the undisputed classics of our most genuine farcical tradition two for all, those of "Poverty and Nobility" Eduardo Scarpetta, directed in 1980 by Mario Scarpetta and starring among others by the same Mario, from Dolores Palumbo and Giuseppe Anatrelli, and “O miedeco d'e pazze” even Scarpetta, directed in 1996 by Aldo Giuffre and He boasted in the company, along with Aldo, precisely Clara Bindi. He acted in plays by authors like Shakespeare, Goldoni, Pirandello and Garcia Lorca. And in the case of Shakespeare, he even managed to merge the two dimensions, that of the theater language and that it became infected by the Neapolitan theater, taking part in 1998, and assuming the extremely important role of Polonius, a "Hamlet" revisited again by Tato Russo.

Finally, to say the ductility of expression and the desire to get in the game that never left him, it remembers that Aldo Bufi Landi went so far as in the territories of the most advanced experimental dramatic: when, in 1996, he played - in the context of the seventeenth edition of the exhibition " Città Spettacolo" of Benevento – “Nel tempo di un tango” Roger Cappuccio. Doveva face, let alone, a text that - in the words of the author - was "beat secret in my heart of emotions" and in which they were born " the sounds of the senses, sublimated or oppressed by a surprising, shallow depth of life that can dissolve into brilliant allegretti, crescendo of sharp melancholy, symphonies accents and rhythms of a South in which vibrates the mystery of time, the nostalgia of lost loves or never had the desire inescapable death through love. " And Aldo did not demerit.

BUFFI LANDI, Aldo

Born: 4/7/1923, Naples, Campania, Italy

Died: 2/2/2016, Naples, Campania, Italy

Aldo Bufi Landi’s westerns – actor.

Samson and the Slave Queen – 1963 (Deikor)

Zorro the Conqueror – 1968 (Colonel Cordoba) [as Aldo Bufi Landi]

Quintana: Dead or Alive - 1969 (Don Juan de Leyra) [as John Levery]

Zorro the Dominator - 1970 (Colonel Maurice de Córdoba)

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RIP Jon Tuska

February 3, 2016, 3:26 pm

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RIP Jon Tuska

The Oregonian

February 3, 2016

Jon Tuska (1942 - 2016)

Obituary

Tuska, Jon 73 April 30, 1942 Jan. 18, 2016 Jon passed away comfortably Jan. 18, 2016, in his home in Portland after a brief battle with cancer. He graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee in 1966. He was a renaissance man, known worldwide for his expertise on Western films and fiction. He wrote or edited over 30 books, consulted on television projects, taught and lec- tured, and between 1983 and 1991, he was associated with Oregon Public Broadcasting as the host of several classical music programs. In 1991, with his wife, Vicki Piekarski, he founded Golden West Lit-erary Agency, which represented many of the authors of classic Western fiction. He is survived by his wife, Vicki; and daughter, Jennifer Tuska, both residents of Portland. His brilliance, humor and dedication will be greatly missed.

TUSKA, Jon

Born: 4/30/1942, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Died: 1/18/2016, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.

Jon Tuska’s westerns – consultant:

Meanwhile, Back at the Rance - 1976

Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western (TV) – 1997

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RIP Eric Kristy

February 3, 2016, 4:33 pm

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Death of Eric Kristy, creator of the series "A Woman of Honor"

L’Express

2/3/2016

Screenwriter and novelist Eric Kristy, TF1 series creator of A Woman of Honor, passed away Tuesday, February 2 at the age of 64 years.

Author of several crime novels and a writer of many television series, Eric Kristy died on 2 February indicates Télé Star Wednesday. Information that TF1, contacted by L'Express, was able to confirm.

Creator of the famous series A woman of honor and Proc, this man of 64 years, is also the writer of many other French fictions. Among them, Alice Nevers, Julie Lescaut, L'instit and Le juge est une femme.

Eric Kristy had other strings to his bow. In addition to his work as a writer, he was also a professional guitarist and singer. He worked alongside Richard Gotainer.

KRISTY, Eric

Born: 4/16/1951, Paris, Île de France, France

Died: 2/2/2016, Paris, Île de France, France

Eric Kristy’s westerns – singer:

Lucky Luke: The Ballad of the Daltons – 1978 [sang main theme song as Eric Christy]

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RIP Kristine Miller

February 3, 2016, 5:48 pm

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Kristine Miller Schuyler

The Monterrey County Herald

February 3, 2016

Kristine Miller Schuyler, movie and television star joined her husband William H. Schuyler with their Lord and Savior, late in 2015. She was the child of Danish-born Johannes Bach Eskesen and American-born Myrtle Bennet Witham. Kristine received her love of acting, singing and performing from her mother, a talented opera singer.

Born Jacqueline Olivia in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where her father worked as a Standard Oil executive. She and her family moved to Denmark when she was seven. In her youth she became fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Danish, which would later aid her in creating characters of European origin. In 1938 she, her mother and sister came to San Francisco, later settling in Los Angeles.

After appearing in several High School productions, Kristine garnered a screen test from Warner Brothers' Hal Wallis, a well-known producer of famous films, including Jezebel and Casablanca. After Wallis moved to Paramount, he signed her to a contract in July, 1946 and changed her stage name to Kristine Miller. She appeared in films at Paramount, and others at MGM, 20th Century Fox, United Artists, Monogram and Republic studios, including I Walk Alone, opposite Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster, From Here to Eternity with Montgomery Clift and Donna Reed, Sorry, Wrong Number with Barbara Stanwyck and Nancy (Davis) Regan, and Too Late For Tears with Lizabeth Scott, to name a few.

Kristine also starred on the small screen as Margaret "Jonesy" Jones in the 1955 Emmy Award winning television series Stories of the Century opposite Jim Davis. She also appeared in dozens of made-for-television movies and other series such as Wagon Train, Father Knows Best, Dennis the Menace, The Donna Reed Show, and The Millionaire, to name a few. You can learn more about her extensive movie and television career by Googling, Kristine Miller.

Kristine met her husband, William, during WWII. But, their courtship was postponed until after the war. They married in a small family ceremony in 1953, followed by a more lavish ceremony at the Presbyterian Church in Hollywood that was more befitting a film star. She and Bill had a life-long devotion to each other and to their Lord through the Presbyterian Church.

Kristine left Hollywood behind in the late 1950's when Bill, a television pioneer and entrepreneur, headed sales for KTVU Channel 2 in the San Francisco bay area. In 1968 they moved to Monterey Peninsula as founders and co-owners of the local CBS affiliate KMST, which Bill insisted stood for Kristine Miller Schuyler Television. Later she and her husband founded other television stations in Sacramento, two in Boise, Idaho, and finally, another one back in Monterey, KSMS.

During the more than forty-five years she and her husband lived on the Monterey Peninsula, she was invited to attend film noir festivals and speak about her career. She also generously gave time to philanthropic activities using her skills as a dramatic reader, singer, master of ceremonies, and more.

Kristine adored her involvement in P.E.O. Chapter NJ; her years attending Bible Study at Carmel Presbyterian Church; her years singing with the Church choir, and the Monterey County Choraleers.

Kristine was preceded in death by her husband and "prince charming", Bill, her beloved sister Dorthea, and her young daughter, Linda. She is survived by her daughter Elizabeth, her cousin Carol, and Bill's nephews and niece, Mick, Robert and Nancy.

MILLER, Kristine (Jacqueline Olivia Eskeson)

Born: 6/13/1925, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Died: 2/?/2016, Monterey, California, U.S.A.

Kristine Miller’s westerns – actress:

High Lonesome – 1950 (Abby Davis)

Young Daniel Boone – 1950 (. Rebecca Bryan)

Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (TV) – 1951 (Cindy)

Secret of Outlaw Flats – 1953 (Cindy Howard)

Stories of the Century (TV) – 1954-1955 (Margaret Jones)

Thunder Over Arizona – 1956 (Fay Warren)

Domino Kid – 1957 (Barbara Ellison)

The Persuader – 1957 (Kathryn Bonham)

The Restless Gun (TV) – 1959 (Florence Wheeler)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1958 (Loetha)

The Texan (TV) – 1959, 1960 (Ruth Fenton, Mattie Benton)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1961 (Ruth Hudson)

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RIP Dunia Saldivar

February 4, 2016, 7:37 am

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Actress Dunia Saldivar dies.

El Universal

2/3/2016

She participated in such films as "Amores Perros" and "Puppies"

Mexican actress Dunia Zaldívar (also Saldivar) died this morning, as was announced by the singer Patricia Reyes Spíndola on her Twitter account. "There are days when sadness also happens early this morning died the great actress Dunia Zaldívar, bon voyage dear friend," Reyes wrote Spíndola.

Also producer and writer Alfredo Galindo referred to the death: "Rest in peace actress Dunia Saldívar, twice nominated for an Ariel Award motifs Night light and love to keep you going."

In her film career the highlighted titles are “El Jardín de Tía Isabel” (1971), “Los Cachorros” (1973) y “Amores Perros” (2000).

On television she participated in productions of “La casa al final de la calle” y “Yo compro a esa mujer” and “Yo compro a esa mujer” on Televisa; while for TV Azteca she took part in “Nada Personal”, “A Flor de Piel” y “El amor no es como lo pintan”.

SALDIVAR, Dunia

Born: 11/20/1942, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Died: 2/3/2016, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Dunia Saldivar’s western – actress:

The Two Brothers – 1971 (Trufina)

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RIP Jimmie Haskell

February 7, 2016, 11:27 am

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RIP Jimmie Haskell. American producer, composer, conductor, arranger and orchestrator Jimmie Haskell died the evening of February 4^th in Laguna Nigel, California. He was 79. Haskell was born Sheridan Pearlman in Brooklyn, NY on November 7, 1936 and was the composer, music supervisor, musical director, conductor, arranger and orchestrator of approximately 31 films, 32 TV movies and 445 TV episodes. He has also worked with over 20 symphony orchestras and numerous Broadway shows.

Throughout his career, Jimmie received 3 Grammy Awards, 1 Primetime Emmy Award, 2 Primetime Emmy Award Nominations and other awards. He composed, arranged, conducted and/or produced over 135 Gold and Platinum albums. He his also the winner of 3 Clio Awards, 2 Addy Awards and 1 Cable Car Award.

Jimmie worked on such well-known westerns as The Alamo, Zachariah and The Honkers.

HASKELL, Jimmie (Sheridan Peralman)

Born: 11/7/1926, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 2/4/2016, Laguna Nigel, California, U.S.A.

Jimmie Haskell’s westerns – orchestrator, composer, conductor:

The Alamo – 1960 [orchestrator]

The Gun Hawk [composer, conductor]

Apache Uprising – 1965 [composer]

Town Tamer – 1965 [composer]

Black Spurs – 1966 [composer]

Johnny Reno – 1966 [composer]

Waco – 1966 [composer]

Fort Utah – 1967 [composer]

Hostile Guns – 1967 [composer]

Red Tomahawk – 1967 [composer]

Arizona Bushwackers – 1968 [composer]

Buckskin – 1968 [composer]

Zachariah – 1971 [composer]

The Honkers – 1972 [composer]

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RIP Amelia Bence

February 8, 2016, 9:44 am

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She’s died the great actress Amelia Bence

She was 101 years

Clarin

2/8/2016

Born Maria Amelia Batvinik but artistically known as Amelia Bence, the great actress died today. Due to health problems, she was removed from the activity.

The atmosphere of the film industry is in mourning: at age 101, died the great actress Amelia Bence (born Maria Amelia Batvinik, on November 13, 1914). Withdrawn from activity for years by health problems, had begun her career after studying with nothing less than Alfonsina Storni at the Teatro Infantil Lavardén, and then continued their training at the National Conservatory of Music and Declamation, under the tutelage of Mecha Quintana.

She died around 6.30, at a private clinic in the neighborhood of Belgrano, where she remained hospitalized for several days, reported her relatives. Her remains will be veiled from the 15 in the Cervantes National Theatre. Tomorrow will be brought to the Pantheon of Actors Chacarita cemetery.

The Argentina Actors Association issued a statement in which they stressed "the prestigious career" Bence, calling it "one of the major figures on the national scene that transcended borders, working tirelessly in film, theater and television."

Bence began her studies at the Children's Theatre Teatro Colon. Shee debuted on stage at 5 years of age, with the help of Alfonsina Storni, in the work Juanita and at 18 appeared in the musical Wunder Bar Enrique and Armando Discepolo.

In film she carried out works in numerous films including Lauracha, A Sangre Fría, La Cigarra no es un Bicho, La Guerra Gaucha and La Fuga, among others. In the theater, meanwhile, she participated in Ocho en línea, Tu boca, Baile en el Savoy y Mujeres, Alfonsina.

Among other awards, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award Podesta Honorable, awarded by the Argentina Association of Actors and the Senate of the Nation.

BENCE, Amelia (Maria Amelia Batvinick)

Born: 11/13/1914, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Died: 2/8/2016, Belgrano, Argentina

Amelia Bence’s western – actress:

La Guerra gaucho – 1942 (Asunción Colombres)

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RIP Shirley Ballard

February 8, 2016, 12:29 pm

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RIP Shirley Ballard

American film and TV actress Shirley Ballard passed away on October 27, 2012. She was 87. Ballard was born Marian Shirley Ballard in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 1925. Shirley was a natural beauty and was named Miss California in 1944. She became one of the Goldwyn Girls and went on to appear in over 40 films and television appearances. She’s best remembered for appearances in Mad Max (1979), The Second Woman (1950) and The Laughing Policeman (1973). In addition to acting, Ballard also worked as a crew member, behind the scenes. She was the script supervisor for the movie, "Flynn" (1993) and on the movie "Mad Max". (1979) She also did continuity work for other movies and for series television.

Shirley was married to actor Jason Evers from 1953 to 1966. Evers passed away in 2005 at the age of 83.

BALLARD, Shirley (Marian Shirley Ballard)

Born: 9/21/1925, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 10/27/2012, U.S.A.

Shirley Ballard’s westerns – actress:

The Fargo Phantom – 1950 (Pat Condon)

Frenchie – 1950 (dealer)

Cheyenne (TV) – 1960 (Lily Lestrade)

Shotgun Slade (TV) – 1960 (Kate Shelby)

Bonanza (TV) – 1961 (Belle Trask)

The Rebel (TV) – 1961 (Ann Galt)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1961 (Meg Prescott)