RIP Glenn Yarbrough

August 12, 2016, 10:17 am

Singer Glenn Yarbrough dead at 86

The Tennessean

By Juli Thanki

August 12, 2016

Folk singer Glenn Yarbrough, a founding member of vocal group The Limeliters and a prolific solo artist, died at home in Nashville on Thursday night after several years of declining health. He was 86 years old.

Glenn Robertson Yarbrough was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Jan. 12, 1930. He grew up in New York City, and as a child, helped support his mother by working as a paid boy soprano at Grace Church.

After graduating high school, he attended St. John's College in Annapolis. There, he studied philosophy and roomed with Jac Holzman, co-founder of Elektra Records. One day in 1950, "This Land is Your Land" singer Woody Guthrie came to town for a performance. After the show, he played guitar and sang songs all night in Holzman and Yarbrough's room. The day after that impromptu dorm room concert, Yarbrough bought a guitar of his own.

Yarbrough served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War: first he deciphered codes, then was part of the entertainment corps. Upon returning home to New York City, he resumed his music career, then relocated to South Dakota to help his father run a square dance barn; he also performed on his own television show on one of South Dakota's first TV stations. In the mid-1950s, Al Grossman, who ran the Gate of Horn, a small folk club in Chicago, booked Yarbrough for a two-week engagement. Here, he developed some of the most important relationships of his career with artists like Odetta and Shel Silverstein.

Yarbrough then ended up in Aspen, where he ran a club called the Limelite. He ended up forming a folk group with Alex Hassilev and Lou Gottleib, who arranged music for the Kingston Trio; they took their name from the club and released their first album, "Limeliters," on Elektra Records in 1960.

(In 2013, the music of The Limeliters was introduced to a new generation when their song "Take My True Love by the Hand" was included in the final season of acclaimed drama "Breaking Bad.")

In the mid-1960s, at the peak of the Limeliters' success, Yarbrough left the group (though he often returned for reunion tours) and pursued a solo career with RCA. As a solo act, his single "Baby, the Rain Must Fall" (the theme song for the film of the same name) was his most successful release, peaking at No. 12 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1965.

He continued to make records and tour for another five decades, but he balanced his music with his other great passion: sailing. According to his daughter Holly Yarbrough Burnett, Yarbrough built his own boat, and he'd sail until the money ran out; then he'd get back on the road to play some more shows. He continued this routine until he was 80.

He had elective surgery on his larynx in 2010 in hopes of saving his singing voice, which was faltering. The surgery was largely unsuccessful, and he went into cardiac arrest while in the recovery room. The staff resuscitated him, giving him a tracheotomy and putting him on a ventilator. Following his surgical procedures, he moved in to Burnett's Nashville home to recuperate.

Though he suffered from dementia in the last years of his life, according to Burnett, her father remained a "warm happy man."

"I feel like Dad had a wonderful, lucky life lived on his own terms and filled with adventures of his own choosing," she added. When Yarbrough died, the annual Perseid meteor shower was at his peak. "I think he wanted to hitch a ride on a passing meteor," Burnett said. "That would be just like him."

Yarbrough is survived by his children: Stephany Yarbrough, Sean Yarbrough and Holly Yarbrough Barnett. Funeral arrangements are unknown at this time.

YARBROUGH, Glenn (Glenn Robertson Yarbrough)

Born: 1/12/1930, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Died: 8/11/2016, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.

Glenn Yarbrough’s westerns – actor, singer, lyricist:

Wagon Train (TV) – 1964 (guitarist)

High Noon: The Clock Strikes Noon Again (TV) – 1966 [performer: “Theme Song”]

Ride Beyond Vengeance – 1966 [performer: "You Can't Ever Go Home Again"]

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys – 1969 [performer: "The Ballad of Marshal Flagg"]

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RIP Franco Ukmar

August 14, 2016, 11:34 am

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RIP Franco Ukmar

Italian film actor, stunt coordinator, stuntman, acrobat Franco Ukmar died in Rome, Italy on August 10^th. He was 80.

Born in Rome on March 29, 1963, Ukmar was a member of the Uckmar circus family and became a stuntman and later an actor in the late 1950s. During that time a call went out for acrobats to perform stunts in the Peplum (Sword and Sandal) films that had captured the Italian film industry by storm. He along with his brothers Giancarlo, Giovanni, Sergio, Bruno and Clemente answered the call and became some of the busiest stuntmen and coordinators in the business. After the boom was over Franco found plenty of work as an actor and stuntman in the Spaghetti western genre racking up over 50 film appearances. This was followed by appearances in the adventure, crime and other trendy genres that followed.

UKMAR, Franco

Born: 3/29/1936, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 8/10/2016, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Franco Ukmar’s westerns – actor, stuntman:

Adiós Gringo – 1965 (Ranchester cowboy)

The Brute and the Beast – 1966 (Scott henchman)

Thomson 1880 (Brady gang member)

Two Sons of Ringo - 1966 (Sheriff’s henchman)

Any Gun Can Play - 1967 (Montero gang member)

Kill and Pray – 1967 (Mexican with Leonardo)

Killer Caliber .32 – 1967 (gunman)

The Magnificent Texan – 1967 (Stark henchman)

Payment in Blood – 1967 (Durango townsman)

Professionals for a Massacre – 1967 (bandit)

Seven Pistols for a Massacre - 1967 (

Son of Django – 1967 (Ferguson henchman)

Wanted Johnny Texas – 1967 (

And for a Roof a Sky Full of Stars – 1968 (saloon brawler)

The Great Silence – 1968 [stunt coordinator]

If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death - 1968 (bandit)

If You Want to Live... Shoot! - 1968 (Marlow henchman)

No Graves on Boot Hill – 1968 (Rod henchman)

Two Pistols and a Coward – 1968 (circus man)

The 5-Man Army – 1969 (Mexican soldier)

God Will Forgive My Pistol - 1969 (Ross henchman)

No Room to Die – 1969 (Cherokee)

Sabata – 1969 (Cutty)

Sartana the Gravedigger - 1969 (gunman)

The Stranger’s Gundown – 1969 (Murdok henchman)

Three Silver Dollars – 1969 (Mexican henchman)

Roy Colt and Winchester Jack - 1970 (bounty hunter)

Shango – 1970 (Martinez henchman)

They Call Me Trinity – 1970 (Mexican badman)

A Bullet for a Stranger – 1971 (saloon patron)

His Name Was Holy Ghost – 1971 (bounty hunter)

The Price of Death – 1971 (gunman)

The Return of Sabata – 1971 (spectator at duel)

Tara Poki – 1971

Trinity Is STILL My Name! - 1971 (gunman)

Vendetta at Dawn – 1971

Alleluja & Sartana Are Sons... Sons of God - 1972 (

The Ballad of Ben and Charlie – 1972 (brawler)

Beyond the Frontiers of Hate - 1972 (brawler)

God Is My Colt .45 - 1972 (Collins henchman)

It Can Be Done Amigo - 1972 (gunman)

Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? - 1972 (James henchman)

Man of the East – 1972 (saloon patron)

Panhandle .38 - 1972 (Indian)

Trinity and Sartana Are Coming - 1972 (henchman)

And They Smelled the Strange, Exciting, Dangerous Scent of Dollars - 1973 (Costello

henchman)

Karate, Fists and Beans – 1973 (trapper)

A Man Called Invincible – 1973

The Man with the Golden Winchester - 1973

Crazy Bunch – 1974 (Man after Faina)

Carambola's Philosophy: In the Right Pocket - 1975 (bandit)

The Return of Shanghai Joe – 1975 (gunman)

We are No Angels – 1975 (Shark gang member)

Keoma – 1976 (bandit)

A Man Called Blade - 1977 (Valler’s man)

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RIP Fabio Garriba

August 14, 2016, 1:09 pm

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Farewell Fabio Garriba the film poet

L’Arena

By Angela Bosetto

8/12/2016

Although the public, especially the young, know little about the actor Fabio Garriba was born in Soave on November 13, 1944 and died in Verona three days ago, on Aug. 9, he was one of the faces of Italian cinema of the seventies.

In addition to being Mario Garriba’s twin (Voice of the verb to die, 1970, and On his deathbed, 1971, Pardo d'Oro at work first at the Locarno Film Festival), Fabio Garriba starred, among others, for the Dziga Vertov Group (East Wind, 1969), Roberto Rossellini (Augustine of Hippo, 1972), Luigi Comencini (scientific scopone, 1972), Marco Bellocchio (Slap the monster on page One, 1972), Luigi Magni (the way of baboons , 1974), Bernardo Bertolucci (Novecento, 1976) and Ettore Scola (The Sun, 1980). He was also assistant director Bertolucci (Partner, 1968, inspired by Dostoevsky's The Double), Pier Paolo Pasolini (Porcile, 1969), Carmelo Bene (Caprices, 1969) and Marco Ferreri (The bitch, 1972).

In 2011, at the Venice Film Festival in Venice paid tribute to the brothers Garriba (nicknamed "the Woody Allen of Campo de 'Fiori") within the retrospective "Horizons 1960-1978", where, along with the works of Mario, was screened also a short film written and directed by the same Fabio (who has also worked as a scriptwriter with Nico Garrone, father of Matthew director): the relatives all (1967), in which a boy imagines himself to be dead and to hear comments from family and friends. "This ambiguity reflects my real situation," said Fabio Garriba. "It was that of a personal need to see dead and buried my childhood, my adolescence and thus close relationships with family members to be able to resurrect adult. Today, a year later, I can say sincerely that the loaded cash on hearse was empty because I find myself still wearing my corpse in search of a pit where to bury him. "

It must not be forgotten Garriba had a parallel career as a poet. In the presentation of his latest collection (The hassle of words, whose cover is credited as Garribba), his friend Bernardo Bertolucci's described him as "accurate and ironic as the portraitist who is not actually because Fabio is a true poet. The verses of Fabio fall on the page as droplets and is a miracle if you do not cancel by themselves, while we are reading them. " The funeral will be held this morning at 8 am at the Monumental Cemetery.

GARRIBA, Fabio

Born: 11/13/1944, Soave, Verona, Veneto, Italy

Died: 8/9/2016, Verona, Veneto, Italy

Fabio Garriba’s westerns – assistant director, actor:

Django’s Cut Rate Corpses – 1971 [as Garriba Fabio]

The Grand Duel – 1971 [assistant director]

Now They Call Him Amen – 1972

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RIP José Luis Santos

August 14, 2016, 1:18 pm

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The great actor José Luis Santos has died

The interpreter died in Madrid at age 62 as a result of cancer

El Pais

By Rosanna Torres

August 11, 2016

If there is something that no one disputes the theater and Spanish cinema is the degree of excellence of its supporting actors, also misnamed side. One of those, José Luis Santos (Madrid, 1953) has died of cancer on Wednesday at his home and was cremated yesterday the cemetery of San Isidro in Madrid. In this city he practiced his craft as an actor for several decades although his student beginnings led him by territories in the world of physics, as well as the field of computer and information science. He was a brilliant executive of IBM who became fascinated by the theater coming to give a Copernican turn your whole life. He joined the office of showbiz and took it as seriously as to study at the School of Dramatic Art.

While he was popular for his role in multiple television series like Velvet , Victor Ros, Isabel, The ship, Aida, Cuéntame , Love is forever, Commissioner, and many others, prestige came through the scenarios. More specifically, for their continued and bright presence in the National Classical Theatre Company , claimed by the different directors who have been at the forefront, especially at the stage of Eduardo Vasco, who transited through the verses of Lope de Vega, Calderon, Tirso de Molina, Rojas Zorrilla. They directed it in Baroque theater Laila Ripoll, Helena Pimenta, Sergi Belbel.

Other stage directors who told him to put on contemporary classics foot and texts of new playwrights were Lluís Pasqual , Juan Carlos Pérez de la Fuente, Nancho Novo, José Carlos Plaza , Clifford Williams, Francisco Suarez, Eusebio Lazaro and Quino Falero, between others. His latest stage work was Dreams and visions of King Richard III, a version of José Sanchis Sinisterra with Juan Diego and directed by Carlos Martin.

In film he worked under the orders of Jose Luis Garcia Sanchez, Fernando Fernan Gomez , Adolfo Aristarain, Mario Camus, Antonio Mercero, Miguel Albaladejo, Mariano Barroso, Agustín Díaz Yanes and Inaki Dorronsoro, among many others.

Much loved by his profession, Santos noted for his almost constant good humor, which also turned easily in acidic and intelligent weapon. His character was particularly welcome in dressing rooms, in rehearsals and tours, which highlighted its well educated palate and taste for good wines.

Scenic profession always stressed its good performance when working, and although never entrusted to leading roles in their territory actor was highly regarded by the directors and the public always noticed and highlighted the way to work.

SANTOS, José Luis

Born: 1953, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Died: 8/10/2016, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

José Luis Santos’ western – actor:

The Return of the Coyote - 1998

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RIP Rafael Pola

August 14, 2016, 2:16 pm

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[Rafel Pola pictured on the Left in the above picture has died.]

Diario

By Esdras Cruz

August 9, 2016

Actor Dies tabasqueño Rafael Pola at 92

In the hospital of the Association of Actors (ANDA), the tabasqueño player Rafael Pola Jesus died at 92 years of age because of a heart attack, reported this family day at FAMA Present section Grupo Multimedios.

'Born in Villahermosa, Tabasco in 1924, from an early age he learned to play several musical instruments at the time the lawyer Tomas Garrido in high school he studied drama. Moved to Mexico City where he made his artistic career, "said the renowned chronicler Mariano Aguado.

Pola shared the stage with personalities such as Mario Moreno 'Cantinflas' Manuel Medel, Donato, Periquín Rags Stick, India Mary El Chicote, Butter and Xavier Lopez 'Chabelo'.

'Each year holiday came to his tabasqueña land, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Pola Regulo Ana Esther Pola Jesus. "

Mariano Aguado, who closely followed the trajectory tabasqueño added 'went to theaters magazine as Margo, the Colonial and Follies doing the serious to the main comedians of that time'.

POLA, Rafael (Rafael Pola Jesus)

Born: 1924, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico

Died: 8/9/2016, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Rafael Pola’s western – actor:

Los hombres de Lupe Alvarez - 1967

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RIP Polo Ortin

August 16, 2016, 1:41 pm

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The actor Polo Ortin has died!

Televisa

8/16/2016

Polo Ortín actor died early on Tuesday August 16 at 88 years old

The early hours of Tuesday, August 16 killed one of the biggest stars of the national show, the actor Polo Ortín. Family and Mexican press reported that Leopoldo Ortín, real name comedian, died of a heart attack at 3:30 am at his home at 88 years old.

His son Jorge Ortín detailed program Today that the artist was killed at dawn when he stood to the bathroom and although he tried to resuscitate him, attempts were in vain. He stressed that despite years beat cancer and last year suffered from heart disease was suffering bronchitis, which complicated everything your health.

The actor said that the remains of Polo Ortín will be veiled in a famous funeral home where the family will receive all people who want to fire him. He noted that his father was very happy, because I was excited because return to telenovelas in the new production of Nicandro Diaz.

ORTIN, Polo (Leopoldo Ortin Campuzano)

Born: 4/16/1928, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Died: 8/16/2016, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Polo Ortin’s westerns – actor:

Pancho Lopez – 1957 (assaulted hombre)

The Last Rebel - 1958

El Bronco Reynoas – 1961

El jinete negro – 1961 (Marco Jimenez)

Somo del otro Laredo – 1977 (Sr. Lechuga)

Emiliano Cadena: El Mexicano 2 - 2007

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RIP Arthur Hiller

August 17, 2016, 12:45 pm

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Arthur Hiller, Director of ‘Love Story,’ Dies at 92

Variety

By Carmel Dagan

August 17, 2016

Canadian-born director Arthur Hiller, who spent more than a decade mostly working in television before a career in feature helming that included “Love Story,” “The Americanization of Emily” and comedy “Silver Streak,” died Wednesday. He was 92.

“Love Story,” based on the bestseller by Erich Segal, was an enormous box office hit in 1970 and was nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture. Though many critics dismissed the movie as too sentimental, it is No. 9 on the AFI’s list of the most romantic films of all time.

Hiller served as president of the Directors Guild of America from 1989-93 and of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences from 1993-97. He received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Academy Awards ceremony.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a statement. “We are deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved friend Arthur Hiller,” said Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “I was a member of the Board during his presidency and fortunate enough to witness firsthand his dedication to the Academy and his lifelong passion for visual storytelling.”

The DGA also addressed the news with statements on Wednesday. “We are deeply saddened to learn of Arthur’s passing. As a tireless crusader in the fight for creative rights and a passionate film preservation advocate, Arthur Hiller’s impact on the fabric of our industry will be felt for generations to come,” said DGA president Paris Barclay. “As Guild president, Arthur was a warm and nurturing father figure who was deeply concerned with the personal and professional well-being of every one of our members. Whether lobbying on Capitol Hill for the artistic integrity of filmmakers worldwide, negotiating with the studios to secure health and pension provisions for our families, or establishing the first committee to advance opportunities for women and minorities, Arthur’s passion was exemplary and inspiring. Our Guild is stronger because of him, and our hearts go out to his family at this difficult time.”

“Arthur’s presidency was marked by a singular passion for and deep moral obligation to the protection of our members’ creative and economic freedoms,” said DGA national executive director Jay D. Roth. “His spirited leadership as founding chairman of the Artists Rights Foundation in the early 1990s was instrumental in safeguarding against the physical alteration of our members’ creative work, both in film and television. As Arthur once said with his famously matter-of-fact panache, ‘Just because you bought the Mona Lisa, doesn’t mean you have the right to paint a mustache on her.’ Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and the many people who loved him.”

The helmer went on a hot streak in 1970 and 1971 with Neil Simon’s “The Out of Towners”; “Love Story”; much-lauded black comedy “The Hospital,” for which Paddy Chayefsky won best screenplay and George C. Scott received an actor nom; and “Plaza Suite,” a Simon adaptation of his own play.

The streak ended with 1972’s “Man of La Mancha,” starring Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren, which drew neither critical acclaim nor significant box office. Hiller continued to direct until 2006 but never achieved the same level of success again.

Hiller directed a number of high-profile films in the ’60s, including “The Wheeler Dealers,” with James Garner and Lee Remick and, in 1964, well-received big-budget “The Americanization of Emily,” with Garner and Julie Andrews.

He made “Promise Her Anything,” with Warren Beatty and Leslie Caron, in 1965, and the light-hearted “Penelope,” with Natalie Wood, in 1966. The next year Hiller directed his only war movie, “Tobruk,” with Rock Hudson and George Peppard.

In 1976 Hiller helmed the biopic “W.C. Fields and Me,” starring Rod Steiger, and the popular comedy “Silver Streak,” with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Also successful was his 1979 action-comedy “The In-Laws,” with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, although his foray into horror that year, “Nightwing,” was a dud.

Hiller’s 1982 romantic-triangle drama “Making Love” wasn’t a hit but courageously addressed homosexual themes. He followed it up with “Author! Author!” with Al Pacino. His other films of the ’80s included Steve Martin’s “The Lonely Guy,”; “Outrageous Fortune,” with Shelley Long and Bette Midler; and 1989’s “See No Evil, Hear No Evil,” which reunited Wilder and Pryor but failed to live up to its high concept (Wilder’s character is deaf, Pryor’s blind).

Hiller continued with comedies, making “Take Care of Business” in 1990 and “Married to It” in 1991.

He switched genres and made historical sports pic “The Babe,” with John Goodman, in 1992, then returned to comedy with “Carpool,” in 1996.

In 1997 came the complicated, Joe Eszterhas-scripted mess known as “An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn,” a movie about making a bad movie that was as bad as its pic-within-a-pic.

Hiller’s last film was the similarly unsuccessful “National Lampoon’s Pucked.”

“Love Story” star Ali MacGraw issued a statement on the news of his death on Wednesday: “Arthur Hiller was an integral part of one of the most important experiences of my life. He was a remarkable, gifted, generous human being and I will miss him terribly. My heart and love go out to his family.”

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942-45, graduated from University College, U. of Toronto, in 1947 and received a Master of Arts degree in psychology in 1950. He began his show business career working for the CBC in Toronto in the early ’50s but eventually left for American television.

Hiller was kept busy as a director working in the episodic anthology series of the ’50s and early ’60s beginning with four episodes of “Matinee Theatre” in 1955-56. He also did six episodes of “Playhouse 90” from 1956-58 and three episodes of “Telephone Time” from 1957-58.

During this time he made his feature directorial debut with 1957’s “The Careless Years,” a story of teen love that starred Dean Stockwell and Natalie Trundy.

He directed seven episodes of “The Third Man” series in 1959. He also worked on “Perry Mason,” “The Rifleman” and “Gunsmoke” and many other shows.

He made the Disney film “Miracle of the White Stallions” in 1963, after which he became a director of high-profile films.

Hiller is survived by his daughter, Erica Hiller Carpenter, his son, Henryk, and five grandchildren. Gwen Hiller, his wife of 68 years, died in June.

HILLER, Arthur

Born: 11/22/1923, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Died: 8/17/2016, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Arthur Hiller’s westerns – director:

Massacre at Sand Creek (TV) - 1956

Zane Grey Theater (TV) - 1957

The Rifleman (TV) – 1958, 1959, 1960

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1959, 1960

Wagon Train (TV) – 1959

Hotel de Paree (TV) - 1960

Empire (TV) - 1962, 1963

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RIP Bob Terhune

August 18, 2016, 4:07 pm

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RIP Bob Tehune

Legacy.com

Robert Max 'Bob' Terhune Jr. was the son of Max Terhune, and was born in Dayton, Ohio on July 13, 1928. Most all western film fans remember the senior Terhune from his days as 'Lullaby' Joslin with the Three Mesquiteers, as well as 'Alibi' in the Range Busters. Bob Terhune did some acting work in films like RIO BRAVO (1959), and film credits are listed in the Internet Movie Database link below. However, most of Bob's Hollywood work was not delivering lines before the camera. Instead, he became a hard-working, unsung hero, doing stuntwork and doubling for stars like John Wayne and Forrest Tucker.After retiring from the film business, Bob and his wife lived in Florida. He passed away on August 9, 2016 in Florida.

Upcoming Events: Visitation Friday 12Aug2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Faith Chapel North 1000 S Hwy 29 Cantonment FL 32533 Get directions: Text Email Google Maps Memorial Service Friday 12Aug3:00 PM Faith Chapel North 1000 S Hwy 29 Cantonment FL 32533.

TERHUNE, Bob (Robert Max Terhune, Jr.)

Born: 7/13/1928, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A.

Died: 8/9/2016, Cantonment, Florida, U.S.A.

Bob Terhune’s westerns – actor, stuntman:

Outlaw Country – 1949 (henchman) [stunts] [as Max Terhune Jr.]

Ride the Man Down – 1952 [stunts]

Death Valley Days (TV) – 1952 [stunts]

Ten Wanted Men – 1955 (gunfighter)

Cheyenne (TV) – 1955 [stunts]

Pillars of the Sky – 1956 [stunts]

The Iron Sheriff – 1957 (juror) [stunts]

Cowboy – 1958 [stunts]

Maverick (TV) 1958, 1960, 1961 (Bob, stage driver, brawler)

Rio Bravo – 1959 [stunts]

Sugarfoot (TV) - 1959 (ranch hand)

The Texan (TV) – 1959, 1960 (Baylor, Wally)

The Magnificent Seven – 1960 [stunts]

Seven Ways from Sundown – 1960 (Hanley gang member) [stunts]

The Unforgiven – 1960 [stunts]

Lawman (TV) – 1960, 1961, 1962 (competitor, shotgun rider, stage passenger, Haw)

Gold of the Seven Saints – 1961 [stunts]

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (TV) – 1960, 1961

Daniel Boone: And Chase the Buffalo (TV) – 1961 (townsman)

Daniel Boone: The Promised Land (TV) – 1961 (settler)

Texas John Slaughter: A Holster Full of Law (TV – 1961 (juror)

How The West Was Won – 1962 [stunts]

The Dakotas (TV) – 1963 (henchman)

Daniel Boone: Frontier Trail Rider – 1966 (Big John)

Alvarez Kelly – 1966 [stunts]

Smoky – 1966 (cowboy) [stunts] [as Robert Terhune]

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1966 (Big John)

Hostile Guns – 1967 [stunts]

Welcome to Hard Times – 1967 (drinker) [stunts]

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys – 1969 [stunts]

Guns of the Magnificent Seven – 1969 [stunts]

Cahill U.S. Marshal – 1973 [stunts]

High Plains Drifter – 1973 [stunts]

The Frisco Kid – 1979 [stunts]

The Mountain Men – 1980 [stunts]

Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1982 (Herb)

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

Silverado – 1985 (cowboy guard)

Red River (TV) – 1988 (Dan)

Old Gringo – 1989 [stunts]

Grim Prairie Tales: Hit the Trail... to Terror – 1990 (horseman)

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RIP Rick Cowan

August 18, 2016, 5:48 pm

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RIP Rick Cowan

White Chapel Funeral Home

August 9, 2016

Rick Cowan, 60 years old, of Houston Lake, MO died early on August 8, 2016 at St. Luke’s Hospital North of a heart attack. He was born November 23, 1955 in Kirksville, MO to Maxine and Donald Cowan. He grew up in Macon, MO and attended college briefly at Truman State (then Northwest Missouri State College.) He married Wendy Thompson on March 20, 1988 in Kansas City, MO.

He moved to Kansas City in the late 70s, working in theater as an actor and director, then establishing his career in the film industry as Assistant Director, Location Scout, Production Manager and Producer. As the Producer of three feature films, he took two of them to the Sundance Film Festival—“CSA: The Confederate States of America” and “The Only Good Indian.” He also produced many, many television commercials, earning an Emmy Award for “When I Grow Up.”

Rick served on the City Council of Houston Lake for over five years as Alderman and would design and execute the fireworks display for the city’s Independence Day Celebrations. His passion for his work led him to lobby both state and local governments to promote Kansas City as a place to film. He served on the Advisory Board for the Kansas City Film Commission, as well. For many years, he donated his services as the site manager for Aids Walk Kansas City.

Rick lived his life like an artist. He loved traveling, his family, movies, fireworks (or, in his words, ‘blowing stuff up’) and discussing politics. All who knew him will miss his irreverent sense of humor, his quick wit and his generous nature.

He is survived by his wife, Wendy Thompson; three children, Kelley Jones (and Kevin), Jason Thompson and Season Hansen; six grandchildren, Cassady Thompson (Haiden Harding), Katie Thompson, Tyson Jones, Nadia Jones, Nevaeh Hansen and Revekah Hansen; one great-grandchild, Elijah Harding; his mother, Maxine Cowan of Macon, MO; two brothers, Tracy Cowan (Jeanne) of Clayton, MO and Doug Cowan (Carrie) of St. Paul, MN; and his aunt and uncle, Carolyn and Harold Sandretto of Green Castle, MO. His father preceded him in death.

Services will held at White Chapel Funeral Home, 6600 NE Antioch Road, Gladstone, MO 64119 on Monday, August 15, 2016. Visitation will be from 2 to 5 pm, with a Life Celebration service following from 5 to 6 pm. Donations can be made to Child Fund International or Aids Walk Kansas City.

The wake, a.k.a. Rick’s Wrap Party, will be held Wednesday, Aug 17, 2016 at The Guild, 1627 Locust Street, Kansas City, Mo at 6:30 pm. Everyone is welcome to come and say goodbye.

COWAN, Rick

Born: 11/23/1955, Kirksville, Missouri, U.S.A.

Died: 8/8/2016, Houston Lake, Missouri, U.S.A.

Rick Cowan’s western – producer:

The Only Good Indian - 2009

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RIP Jack Riley

August 19, 2016, 2:43 pm

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Jack Riley Dies: ‘Bob Newhart Show’ & Mel Brooks Movie Actor Was 80.

Deadline: Hollywood

By Erik Pedersen

August 19, 2016

Jack Riley, a veteran of The Bob Newhart Show and several Mel Brooks films who also voiced a popular Rugrats character, died today in Los Angeles. He was 80. Riley’s wife Ginger Lawrence told Deadline he died of pneumonia and infection.

Along with playing the neurotic Elliot Carlin on Bob Newhart and appearing in Brooks films including High Anxiety and History of the World, Part I, Riley voiced Stu Pickles on Nickelodeon’s Rugrats and its follow-up series All Growed Up!

A Cleveland native, Riley began his career as a regular on the 1962-63 ABC sitcom Occasional Wife, which was narrated by Vin Scully. The actor went on to guest on dozens of popular TV series ranging from I Dream of Jeannie and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In to The Partridge Family and Hogan’s Heroes before landing what would become his signature role.

The Bob Newhart Show premiered in September 1972 and became a hit for CBS. Starring Newhart as a Chicago psychologist, the smart, quirky sitcom was among the top 20 programs in primetime for its first three seasons. Riley’s neuroses-laden Elliot appeared in nearly 50 episodes as a patient of Bob’s who had a persecution complex and constantly put himself down. He appeared in all six seasons of the show, which also starred Suzanne Pleshette and Marcia Wallace.

Riley continued to work in elsewhere in TV during Bob Newhart‘s run, guesting on such classic comedies as M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore and Happy Days along with dramas including Cannon, Columbo and Police Woman. In 1976, he played a Hollywood executive in Silent Movie, Brooks’ follow-up to Young Frankenstein, and Riley would go on to appear in the filmmaker’s High Anxiety (1978), History of the World, Part I (1981) — memorably playing a Roman soldier stoned on “Roman Red” — and Spaceballs (1987).

Riley continued to work steadily throughout the ’80s and ’90s and through the 2000s, with credits too numerous to name. His later-career highlight was voicing Stu Pickles, the father of Tommy and Dil on Rugrats. Riley appeared on more than 140 episodes of the toon, reprising the role in the 1998-2003 film trilogy and several episodes of follow-up series All Growed Up!

Among other TV shows on which Riley appeared in multiple episodes are The Red Skelton Show, Barney Miller, Diff’rent Strokes, Night Court and Son of the Beach.

RILEY, Jack (Jack A. Riely Jr.)

Born: 12/30/1935, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.

Died: 8/19/2016, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Jack Riley’s westerns – actor:

McCabe & Mrs. Miller – 1971 (Riley Quinn)

Kung Fu (TV) – 1974 (Royal)

Butch and Sundance: The Early Days – 1979 (messenger)

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RIP Adrian Enescu

August 20, 2016, 7:36 am

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Adrian Enescu, the composer who defined style Loredana Groza, died at the age of 68 years.

MediaFax

August 20, 2016

The composer Adrian Enescu died Friday, August 19, after a life dedicated to music, specifically 41-year career, announced Composers and Musicologists Union of Romania.

Adrian Enescu was born on March 31, 1948 and was a musician and a Romanian composer best known for his work in the field of film music name being associated approx. 65 titles.

As a musician, Adrian Enescu was among the first artists of electronic music in Romania since the early 70s.

He graduated from the Conservatory of Music "Ciprian Porumbescu" in Bucharest, directed to the composition of the Aurel Stroe and harmony, where he was a teacher Alexander Paşcanu.

Adrian Enescu assisted courses electronic music faculty of Stanford University in California between 1985 and 1986 and also a member of the Composers and Musicologists Union of Romania.

He composed music very diverse in terms of style, Electro-Acoustic music from up to symphonic music and Jazz.

His first appearance on disc held in 1975.

Adrian Enescu style singer Loredana Groza defined by the production of albums like " Bună seară, iubite"" Un buchet de trandafiri" or "Diva înamorată".

He collaborated with Silvia Dumitrescu, the album " Cred în tine" and was asked to collaborate with prestigious musical institutions around the world.

The composer will be honored Tuesday, August 23, at the Union of Composers and Musicologists in Romania, where those willing can come to bring a final tribute to the late artist.

ENESCU, Adrian

Born: 3/31/1948, Bucharest, Romania

Died: 8/19/2016, Bucharest, Romania

Adrian Enescu’s westerns – composer:

The Actress, the Dollars and the Transylvanians – 1978

The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians – 1978

The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians – 1981

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RIP Daniela Dessi

August 21, 2016, 9:55 am

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RIP Daniela Dessi

Gramliano

August 21, 2016

Italian soprano Daniela Dessi has died after a short battle with cancer of the colon. She was just 59. She possessed one of the most beautiful voices on the opera stage today. Recently she was forced to cancel her performances of Medea at the Macerata Festival, and other summer engagements, which she announced to her fans on Facebook in late July:

“Dear friends, unfortunately after a health problem I’ve been forced to cancel all my events for this summer. I’ll see you on October 8th for a big sacred concert in the Basilica in Loreto. A big hug to everybody.”

Dessi was from Genoa, but lived with her partner, tenor Fabio Armiliato, in Brescia in the northern Lombardy region. It was here, in the city’s Poliambulanza hospital, that she died last night. Armiliato, who had been with the soprano since 2000, said.

A short, horrible and incomprehensible illness has taken her away in these months. The greatest opera singer of the last 20 years has gone.

She died shortly before midnight yesterday, 20 August 2016.

DESSI, Daniela

Born: 5/14/1957, Genoa, Liguria, Italy

Died: 8/20/2016 Brescia, Lombardy, Italy

Daniela Dessi’s western – actress/singer:

La fanciulla del West (TV) – 2005 (Minnie)

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RIP Steven Hill

August 23, 2016, 9:59 am

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Steven Hill, Who Starred on ‘Law & Order’ and ‘Mission: Impossible,’ Dies at 94

The New York Times

By Anita Gates

August 23, 2016

Steven Hill, who originated imposing lead roles on two notable television series, “Mission: Impossible” in the 1960s and “Law & Order” in the 1990s, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 94.

His daughter Sarah Gobioff confirmed his death. He lived in Monsey, N.Y., a hamlet in Rockland County.

Mr. Hill was 44 and a veteran stage and television actor in 1966 when he was cast as Daniel Briggs, the leader of an elite covert-operations unit, in the new series “Mission: Impossible.” But he left after the first season, paving the way for Peter Graves’s six-season run as the show’s lead.

Even decades later, Mr. Hill declined to discuss his reasons for leaving the series, other than to say that the first season had been a bad experience. Other sources, including Patrick J. White, author of a book on the series, “The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier,” said Mr. Hill was dismissed and learned the news only when he read a Daily Variety announcement that Mr. Graves was being hired.

According to Mr. White, Mr. Hill had developed a reputation for being difficult. His refusal to work late on Fridays, because of his observance of the Jewish sabbath, was also reported to be a problem. In Mr. White’s book, Mr. Hill’s co-star Martin Landau is quoted as saying, “I felt he was digging his own grave.”

Almost a quarter-century after that experience, Mr. Hill took on the role of the district attorney Adam Schiff on a new cops-and-lawyers series based in New York, “Law & Order.” He played the role, said to be modeled on the long-serving Manhattan district attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, from 1990 to 2000.

In a 1996 interview with The Washington Post, Dick Wolf, the creator of “Law & Order,” called Mr. Hill “the Talmudic influence on the entire zeitgeist of the series.”

“Steven has more moral authority than anyone else on episodic TV,” Mr. Wolf said.

Steven Hill was born Solomon Krakowsky on Feb. 24, 1922, in Seattle, the son of a furniture-store owner. He graduated from the University of Washington and at first moved to Chicago to work in radio.

He soon moved to New York and did frequent stage work in his early years there, making his Broadway debut in a small role in “A Flag Is Born” (1946), a pageantlike production written by Ben Hecht, with music by Kurt Weill, that starred Paul Muni and advocated the creation of the state of Israel.

In 1948, Mr. Hill played a sailor in the Tony Award-winning wartime comedy “Mr. Roberts,” which starred Henry Fonda. “It was a thrilling time in my life,” Mr. Hill told The New York Times in 2005. “You could almost smell it from the very first reading that took place — this is going to be an overwhelming hit.”

Two years later Mr. Hill played Bernie Dodd, the stage director who tries to help a washed-up alcoholic actor, in Clifford Odets’s drama “The Country Girl,” with Uta Hagen and Paul Kelly.

Mr. Hill worked in the very early years of television, beginning in 1949 with four episodes of the series “Actors Studio.” (He was a charter member of the prestigious organization that gave its name to the show.) He made his film debut in 1950 in “A Lady Without Passport,” a crime noir, starring Hedy Lamarr, about a smuggling ring in Cuba.

Mr. Hill gave up acting from 1967 to 1977 and, in the interim, took a variety of jobs, including real estate sales. When he returned to show business, he was welcomed back and appeared in a string of 16 feature films in the ’80s. They included the romantic comedy “It’s My Turn” (1980); the women’s-film remake of “Rich and Famous” (1981); Barbra Streisand’s “Yentl” (1983); Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” (1986); and “Running on Empty” (1988), in which he played the estranged father of a former student radical (Christine Lahti) living underground.

He continued his film career for a while, appearing in “White Palace” (1990), “Billy Bathgate” (1991) and “The Firm” (1993). But his final screen appearances were as Schiff on “Law & Order.”

Mr. Hill married Selma Stern in 1951, and they had four children. The couple divorced in 1964. He and his second wife, the former Rachel Schenker, were married in 1967 and had five children. She survives him.

Besides his wife and his daughter Ms. Gobioff, he is survived by three more daughters, Betsy Hill, Pamela Hill and Hanna Hendler; five sons, John, Matthew, Jacob, Joshua and Samuel; a sister, Joan Weiss; a brother, Charles Hill; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mr. Hill summed up his long career, not necessarily with regrets but with a clear eye, in a 1996 interview with The Times. “What we have here is a story of profound instability and impermanence,” he said. “This is what you learn at the beginning in show business; then it gets planted in you forever.”

HILL, Steven (Solomon Krakovsky)

Born: 2/24/1922, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

Died: 8/23//2016, Manhattan, New York, U.S.A.

Steven Hill’s western – actor:

Rawhide (TV) – 1965 (Marty Brown)

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RIP Anne Udell

August 23, 2016, 8:55 pm

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RIP Anne Udell

Los Angeles Daily News

August 23, 2016

Studio City- Anna Marie Udell passed away August 20, 2016. Born September 4, 1926 in Boston to Anna E. and Herbert C. Hewes, Anna developed a passion for figure skating, which continued when she moved to Los Angeles as a young woman. She competed in ice dancing, and married Bill Udell, a figure skating coach and well-known competitive figure skating photographer. Ann edited the All Year Figure Skating Club newsletter for 21 years. She was a member of the Screen Writers Guild, working on television productions of Death Valley Days and The Secrets of ISIS, and contributing to Disney's Barry of the Great St. Bernard. Anna was a devoted member of the Sherman Oaks Women’s Club. She loved her cats, birds and gardening. Anna is survived by her brothers, Herbert C. Hewes of Webster, NY and Robert Hewes of Las Vegas, NV, as well as many loving nieces and nephews.

Memorial gifts may be made to East Valley Animal Care Center, 14409 Van Owen Street, Van Nuys, CA 91405

UDELL, Anne (Anna Marie Udell)

Born: 9/4/1926, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Died: 8/20/2016, Studio City, California, U.S.A.

Anne Udell’s westerns – writer:

Death Valley Days (TV) – 1968, 1970

Huckleberry Fin and His Friends (TV) - 1979

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RIP Mario Novelli

August 24, 2016, 10:30 am

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RIP Mario Novelli

An announcement appeared on Mario Novelli’s Facebook page on August 21^st that the actor, stuntman had passed away. Mario Novelli was an Italian actor and stuntman who appeared in more than sixty films since 1962. He often was billed as Anthony Freeman.

NOVELLI, Mario (aka Anthony Freeman)

Born: 2/26/1940, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 8/21/2016

Mario Novelli’s westerns – actor:

Texas, Adios – 1966 (bounty hunter)

Ballad of a Gunman – 1967 (Chiuchi)

The Stranger Returns – 1967 (Austin)

Two Crosses at Danger Pass (Charley Moran)

And God Said to Cain – 1969 (bounty killer)

Aquasanta Joe - 1971 (Donovan henchman)

Dead Men Ride – 1971 (Alan)

Kill Django... Kill First - 1971

A Gunman Called Dakota – 1972 (John Lead)

California – 1977 (brother of Northern soldier)

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RIP Cesare Gelli

August 29, 2016, 6:39 am

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Italian stage, screen, television and voice actor Cesare Gelli died in Rome, Italy on August 27^th. He was 83. Gelli appeared in over 35 films and TV appearances beginning in 1962. He appeared in the ‘Totò ciak’ 1967 western episode ‘Toto contro Ringo’ starring Gordon Mitchell. Gelli played the role of Slim MacGregor.

GELLI, Cesare

Born: 11/28/1932, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 8/27/2016, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Cesare Gelli’s western – actor:

Totò ciak: Toto contro Ringo (TV) - 1967 (Slim MacGregor)

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RIP Gene Wilder

August 29, 2016, 1:02 pm

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Gene Wilder, ‘Willy Wonka’ Star and Comedic Icon, Dies at 83

Variety

By Richard Natale

August 29, 2016

Gene Wilder, who regularly stole the show in such comedic gems as “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Stir Crazy,” died late Sunday at his home in Stamford, Conn. His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said he died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83.

His nephew said in a statement, “We understand for all the emotional and physical challenges this situation presented we have been among the lucky ones — this illness-pirate, unlike in so many cases, never stole his ability to recognize those that were closest to him, nor took command of his central-gentle-life affirming core personality. The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn’t vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him “there’s Willy Wonka,” would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble and causing delight to travel to worry, disappointment or confusion. He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world.

He continued to enjoy art, music, and kissing with his leading lady of the last twenty-five years, Karen. He danced down a church aisle at a wedding as parent of the groom and ring bearer, held countless afternoon movie western marathons and delighted in the the company of beloved ones.”

He had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1989.

The comic actor, who was twice Oscar nominated, for his role in “The Producers” and for co-penning “Young Frankenstein” with Mel Brooks, usually portrayed a neurotic who veered between total hysteria and dewy-eyed tenderness. “My quiet exterior used to be a mask for hysteria,” he told Time magazine in 1970. “After seven years of analysis, it just became a habit.”

Habit or not, he got a great deal of mileage out of his persona in the 1970s for directors like Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, leading to a few less successful stints behind the camera, the best of which was “The Woman in Red,” co-starring then-wife Gilda Radner. Wilder was devastated by Radner’s death from ovarian cancer in 1989 and worked only intermittently after that. He tried his hand briefly at a sitcom in 1994, “Something Wilder,” and won an Emmy in 2003 for a guest role on “Will & Grace.”

His professional debut came in Off Broadway’s “Roots” in 1961, followed by a stint on Broadway in Graham Greene’s comedy “The Complaisant Lover,” which won him a Clarence Derwent Award as promising newcomer. His performance in the 1963 production of Brecht’s “Mother Courage” was seen by Mel Brooks, whose future wife, Anne Bancroft, was starring in the production; a friendship with Brooks would lead to some of Wilder’s most successful film work. For the time being, however, Wilder continued to work onstage, in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1963 and “Dynamite Tonight” and “The White House” the following year. He then understudied Alan Arkin and Gabriel Dell in “Luv,” eventually taking over the role.

Wilder also worked in television in 1962’s “The Sound of Hunting,” “The Interrogators,” “Windfall” and in the 1966 TV production of “Death of a Salesman” with Lee J. Cobb. He later starred in TV movies including “Thursday’s Game” and the comedy-variety special “Annie and the Hoods,” both in 1974.

In 1967 Wilder essayed his first memorable bigscreen neurotic, Eugene Grizzard, a kidnapped undertaker in Arthur Penn’s classic “Bonnie and Clyde.”

Then came “The Producers,” in which he played the hysterical Leo Bloom, an accountant lured into a money bilking scheme by a theatrical producer played by Zero Mostel. Directed and written by Brooks, the film brought Wilder an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor. With that, his film career was born.

He next starred in a dual role with Donald Sutherland in “Start the Revolution Without Me,” in which he displayed his fencing abilities. It was followed by another middling comedy, “Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx,” also in 1970.

In 1971 he stepped into the shoes of Willy Wonka, one of his most beloved and gentle characters. Based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was not an immediate hit but became a children’s favorite over the years. The same cannot be said for the 1974 Stanley Donen-directed musical version of “The Little Prince,” in which Wilder appeared as the fox. He had somewhat better luck in Woody Allen’s spoof “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex,” appearing in a hilarious segment in which he played a doctor who falls in love with a sheep named Daisy.

Full-fledged film stardom came with two other Brooks comedies, both in 1974: Western spoof “Blazing Saddles” and a wacko adaptation of Mary Shelley’s famous book entitled “Young Frankenstein,” in which Wilder portrayed the mad scientist with his signature mixture of hysteria and sweetness.

Working with Brooks spurred Wilder to write and direct his own comedies, though none reached the heights of his collaborations with Brooks. The first of these was “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Younger Brother” (1975), in which he included such Brooks regulars as Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman. It was followed by 1977’s “The World’s Greatest Lover,” which he also produced.

Wilder fared better, however, when he was working solely in front of the camera, particularly in a number of films in which he co-starred with Richard Pryor.

The first of these was 1978’s “Silver Streak,” a spoof of film thrillers set on trains; 1980’s “Stir Crazy” was an even bigger hit, grossing more than $100 million. Wilder and Pryor’s two other pairings, “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” and “Another You,” provided diminishing returns, however.

While filming “Hanky Panky” in 1982, Wilder met “Saturday Night Live” comedienne Radner. She became his third wife shortly thereafter. Wilder and Radner co-starred in his most successful directing stint, “The Woman in Red” in 1984, and then “Haunted Honeymoon.” But Radner grew ill with cancer, and he devoted himself to her care, working sporadically after that and hardly at all after her death in 1989.

In the early ’90s he appeared in his last film with Pryor and another comedy, “Funny About Love.” In addition to the failed TV series “Something Wilder” in 1994, he wrote and starred in the A&E mystery telepics “The Lady in Question” and “Murder in a Small Town” in 1999. He also appeared as the Mock Turtle in a 1999 NBC adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland.”

He last acted in a couple of episodes of “Will and Grace” in 2002-03 as Mr. Stein, winning an Emmy.

He was born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee and began studying acting at the age of 12. After getting his B.A. from the U. of Iowa in 1955, Wilder enrolled in the Old Vic Theater school in Bristol, where he learned acting technique and fencing. When he returned to the U.S. he taught fencing and did other odd jobs while studying with Herbert Berghof’s HB Studio and at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg.

Wilder’s memoir “Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art” was published in 2005. After that he wrote fiction: the 2007 novel “My French Whore”; 2008’s “The Woman Who Wouldn’t”; a collection of stories, “What Is This Thing Called Love?,” in 2010; and the novella “Something to Remember You By: A Perilous Romance” in 2013.

Wilder was interviewed by Alec Baldwin for the one-hour TCM documentary “Role Model: Gene Wilder” in 2008. The actor was also active in raising cancer awareness in the wake of Radner’s death.

He is survived by his fourth wife Karen Boyer, whom he married in 1991 and his nephew. His sister Corinne, predeceased him in January 2016.

Before Radner, Wilder was married to the actress-playwright Mary Mercier and Mary Joan Schutz (aka Jo Ayers).

WILDER, Gene (Jerome Silberman)

Born: 6/11/1933, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Died: 8/28/2016, Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Gene Wilder’s westerns – actor:

Blazing Saddles – 1974 (Jim ‘The Waco Kild’)

The Frisco Kid – 1979 (Avram)

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RIP Irma Sandrey

August 31, 2016, 8:31 am

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RIP Irma Sandrey

New York Times

August 31, 2016

Acted in leading roles on Broadway, off-Broadway, regional theater and feature films. Ms. Sandrey made her acting debut in the part of "Liat" in the original Broadway production of "South Pacific". Some of her many stage credits are "Yen" in "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" with Al Pacino, "Winning Hearts and Minds" at the Public Theater, "Electra", "The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year" by John Guare and Chekov's "The Boar". She Co-starred in "Happy Family" at the "Centenary Stage Company". She can be seen in the leading role of the film "The Orchard".

Irma Sandrey had been a member of the Actors Studio since 1969, and has appeared in numerous projects there. Her favorite productions were "Richard III", in which she played "Lady Anne", and "Jesse and the Bandit Queen", in which she played "Belle Starr". Ms Sandrey received her first theatrical training as a scholarship pupil at the School of American Ballet under the direction of George Balanchine. While she was in her early teens "The New York City Ballet" was started, and for the next two years she danced solos in most of Mr. Balanchine's ballets. Ms. Sandrey then joined the legendary "Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo", performing in over a hundred cities per season for the next three years. Ms. Sandrey had been teaching acting at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute since 1976. She was the Senior Teacher and Advisor.

Irma Sandrey had been starring in film and theater productions as part of IS/MB Productions, which she founded in 2007. These have included "Perfection", in which she played the starting role and co-wrote at the DR2 Theatre in New York City, "The Fourth Wall" by A.R. Gurney, in which she played the part of "Peggy" at the Century Theater, also in New York City; and co-directed "A Taste of Honey", also at the Century Theater. As part of IS/MB Productions, Ms. Sandrey starred in a series of short films, currently entering film festivals around the world: "Closing Notice", "Hearts N' Flower" and "Whatever Happened". These are films which she also co-wrote and produced. Ms. Sandrey was set to appear in two feature films, due to start production in the near future.

Irma Sandrey was a brilliant young ballerina at a unique and exciting period in American dance. She took her first ballet class in 1941 and was a soloist in two of the world’s greatest ballet companies in the mid-forties and early fifties. The New York City Ballet when it was called Ballet Society, and The Ballet Russo de Monte Carlo was at the height of its fame. She was a scholarship student at the School of American Ballet which was founded by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. The teachers there were the great dancers from the Marinsky Ballet now named The Kirov who left Russia to dance with the Diaghilev company. Irma Sandrey entered the School of American Ballet in the fall of 1943. She was dancing solos in the New York City Ballet at sixteen when the company was just starting and named Ballet Society. At eighteen she joined the legendary Ballet Russe do Monte Carlo when they were at the height of their success. She danced with them for three years starting with their famous tenth anniversary season at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. During this season many of the great dancers who had formerly danced with the company returned as guest artists. The Ballet Russe seasons were eleven months long and toured the United States and Canada. Irma Sandrey left the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in September 1951 on a leave of absence to appear on Broadway in the role of LIAT in South Pacific.

She never went back to performing in either the New York City Ballet or The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She unexpectedly turned her career to acting. She did however continue to take daily ballet classes for many years at the School of American Ballet, and was in condition to return even though she never chose to do so. Funeral services will be held at Kensico Cemetery Valhalla, NY on Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 11am. Under the direction of "The Frank E Campbell", 81st and Madison Ave., NYC, NY.

SANDREY, Irma

Born: 193?, U.S.A.

Died: 8/?/2016, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Irma Sandrey’s western – actress:

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1961 (girl, French woman)

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RIP Francisco Gómez ‘Paquito’

September 3, 2016, 8:36 am

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Spanish stuntman, actor Francisco Gómez died on August 30^th. Known affectionately as "Paquito", he was one of the pioneers of the specialists of the cinema in Almeria. He appeared in numerous films, mostly uncredited and mainly in action scenes. He is the brother of stunt coordinator, stuntman, actor Juan Manuel Torres Gómez.

The list of films below is far from complete.

GOMEZ, Francisco(Francisco Gómez Castro)

Born: 19??, Almeria, Andalusia, Spain

Died: 8/31/2016, Spain

Francisco Gomez’s westerns – actor, stuntman.

The Tall Women 1966 – (Indian)

Silver Saddle – 1977 (messenger)

Al este del Oeste – 1983 [stunts]

Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold – 1984 (Indian) [stunts]

Rustlers' Rhapsody - 1985 (cowboy) [stunts]

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RIP Hugh O'Brian

September 5, 2016, 12:46 pm

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Hugh O'Brian, actor who played Wyatt Earp, dies at 91

The Los Angeles Times

By Dennis McLellan

September 5, 2016

Hugh O'Brian, who helped tame the Wild West as the star of TV's “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp” and was the founder of a long-running youth leadership development organization, has died. He was 91.

O'Brian died Monday morning in Beverly Hills, according to a statement on the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Foundation website.

Handsome, square-jawed and athletically fit, the dark-haired O'Brian appeared in a string of movies and TV anthology series in the years before he became a star portraying the real-life Old West peace officer on “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,” which ran on ABC from 1955 to 1961.

TV's first adult western, “Wyatt Earp” became a top 10-rated series and made O'Brian a household name.

Portraying what the show's theme song described as the “brave, courageous and bold” frontier lawman, O'Brian wore a black frock coat, a gold brocade vest, a string tie and a flat-brimmed black hat — and he kept the peace with the help of a “Buntline Special”: a .45 revolver with an extra-long barrel.

In portraying Earp, O'Brian became known for his fast quick-draw.

“I didn't want to force them into having to cut away whenever that happened; I wanted it to be realistic,” the actor said in a 2005 “Archive of American Television” interview.

He spent hundreds of hours practicing the quick draw, the result of which, he said, “became a very big promotional tool ... and everybody talked about the quick draw.”

During the series' run, O'Brian received an Emmy nomination and became so identified with his dead-shot TV character that he did his best to keep the name O'Brian separated from Earp.

He did it by doing a lot of outside acting — on anthology series such as “Playhouse 90” and “Desilu Playhouse” — as well guest appearances on TV variety shows and a stint on Broadway starring in the musical comedy “Destry Rides Again.”

Decades later, O'Brian showed up as Earp in two 1989 episodes of the TV western “Paradise.” He also appeared as Earp in the 1991 Kenny Rogers TV miniseries “The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw”. And he starred in “Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone,” a 1994 TV movie that included flashbacks to scenes from his old series.

As O'Brian once said of the TV western that made him a star: “It's been a great horse, and she keeps coming around the corral.”

Among his post-”Wyatt Earp” movie credits were “Come Fly With Me,” “Africa — Texas Style,” “The Shootist” and “Twins.” He also starred in the 1972-73 NBC adventure series “Search,” did more stage work and made guest appearances on series such as “Fantasy Island” and “The Love Boat.”

But O'Brian's most enduring legacy is off-screen.

More than 375,000 high school sophomores selected by their schools have gone through his Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership organization, which was founded “to inspire and develop our global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation.”

The nonprofit organization grew out of an invitation to O'Brian from Dr. Albert Schweitzer to visit the medical missionary, a 1952 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, at his famed hospital in Africa.

O'Brian spent nine days working as a volunteer at the hospital on the banks of the Ogooue River in Gabon during the summer of 1958.

For O'Brian, it was a life-changing experience.

After dinner each evening, he and Schweitzer would spend hours talking.

As O'Brian was getting ready to depart down river, he later recalled, Schweitzer took his hand and asked, “Hugh, what are you going to do with this?”

On his flight back to the United States, O'Brian reflected on Schweitzer's comment that “the most important part of education is teaching young people to think for themselves.”

He was born Hugh Krampe in Rochester, N.Y., on April 19, 1925. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943 and was assigned as a drill instructor in San Diego.

With hopes of becoming a lawyer, O'Brian was scheduled to begin attending Yale University on the G.I. Bill in the fall of 1947. He spent the spring and summer in Los Angeles, working to earn enough money to buy a car to drive East, but had an unexpected change of plans when the actress he was dating began rehearsals for the Somerset Maugham play “Home and Beauty” at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.

“If I wanted to see her, I had to go to rehearsals,” he recalled in a 2009 interview with The Times.

When the leading man didn't show up on the second or third night of rehearsals, O'Brian was asked to read the leading man's role.

“After about four days, they realized the guy wasn't going to come back ... so the director asked me if I would do the role.... We did the show and a reporter for the L.A. Times came down to see it and the next day, he wrote a tremendous review ... That's how I got started.”

The show's playbill, however, misspelled his name.

“They left the 'm' out of Krampe,'“ he said in a 2013 Times interview. “I decided right then I didn't want to go through life being known as Huge Krape, so I decided to take my mother's family name, O'Brien. But they misspelled it as 'O'Brian' and I just decided to stay with that.”

A third-billed starring role as a wheelchair-bound paraplegic in the Ida Lupino-directed 1950 movie drama “Never Fear” marked what O'Brian later described as his “real beginning” as an actor. A contract with Universal followed.

O'Brian was a one of the founders of the Thalians, a show-business charitable organization formed in 1955 to raise money for children with mental health problems. In 1964, he established the Hugh O'Brian Acting Awards competition at UCLA.

In 2006, O'Brian married for the first time.

In what was described as “the wedding to die for,” he and his longtime girlfriend, the former Virginia Barber, were married at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Glendale.

O’Brian is survived by his wife, Virginia, brother Don Krampe and seven nieces and nephews.

O’BRIAN, Hugh (Hugh Charles Krampe)

Born: 4/19/1925, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 9/5/2016, Beverly Hills, California, U.S.A.

Hugh O’Brian’s westerns – actor:

Beyond the Purple Hills – 1950 (Jack Beaumont)

The Return of Jesse James – 1950 (Lem Younger)

Buckaroo Sheriff of Texas – 1951 (Ted Gately)

Cave of the Outlaws – 1951 (Garth)

Little Big Horn – 1951 (Pvt. Al DeWalt)

Vengeance Valley – 1951 (Dick Fasken)

The Battle at Apache Pass – 1952 (Lt. Robert Harley)