Actress Mala Powers June 11 2007 died of complications from leukemia. She was 76. Powers played Roxanne to Jose Ferrer's "Cyrano de Bergerac" and starred in other films of the 1940s and 1950s. Powers died yesterday evening in a Santa Monica hospital.She was born Mary Ellen Powers in San Francisco to journalist parents who moved to Hollywood after losing their jobs. The girl began training as an actress at an early age and at eleven played in a Dead End Kids/Little Tough Guys movie, "Tough as They Come."At 19, Powers appeared opposite Ferrer in "Cyrano de Bergerac," which won him an Oscar. Also in 1950 she starred as a rape victim in "Outrage," directed by Ida Lupino. The film created a minor sensation because rape had never been treated frankly on the screen because of the industry's self-censorship. See review below.
In her later years, Powers became a teacher of acting, and appeared at major universities across the country. In the late '50's and early '60's she appeared in numerous TV episodes including Daniel Boone, Thriller, The Man From UNCLE and Perry Mason. Other movie appearances include TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR, THE UNKNOWN TERROR and THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK.
According to The Internet Movie Data Base she also appeared as herself on a 1964 installment of the game show "You Don't Say".
In 2002, she made her final stage appearance in "Mr. Shaw Goes to Hollywood" at the Laguna Playhouse.
The above was taken from a newspaper article and I also added a few things.
The above was taken from a newspaper article and I also added a few things.
Unique character Nicholas Worth died on May 7th 2007 of heart failure. He was 69 years old. Worth was well known to low budget film fans for his incredible portrayal of the tortured killer/rapist in the '70's cult film DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE. He was born in St. Louis in 1937 and made his film debut in religiously themed FOR PETE'S SAKE in 1968. He was later in SCREAM BLACKULA SCREAM, SWAMP THING, INVITATION TO HELL, THE RAPE OF RICHARD BECK, ARMED & DANGEROUS, BREAKHEART RIDGE, HELL COMES TO FROGTOWN, ACTION JACKSON, DARKMAN and others. He was also seen in TV episodes including a reoccurring role on STAR TREK:VOYAGER. Worth, who was also into bodybuilding and powerlifting had recently lent his voice to several video games.
Actor Calvin Lockhart died on March 29 2007 in Nassau, The Bahamas where he was born. His movie appearances include A DANDY IN ASPIC SALT & PEPPER COTTON COMES TO HARLEM MYRA BRECKINRIDGE THE BEAST MUST DIE (with Peter Cushing), UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT (as Silky Sam) LET’S DO IT AGAIN COMING TO AMERICA WILD AT HEART PREDATOR 2 TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME and the yet to be released RAIN. In addition he also had a reoccurring role on TV’s “Dynasty” (1985-86 season). He died at 73 of a stroke.
Director Bert Topper died on April 3 2007 of pulmonary heart failure. He was 78. Born in Coney Island, NY Topper began his career directing low budget war stories for AIP (WAR HERO HELL SQUAD TANK COMMANDOS WAR IS HELL). Other movies include DIARY OF A HIGH SCHOOL BRIDE the demented THE STRANGLER SOUL HUSTLER THE DEVIL’S 8 and THE HARD RIDE. He wrote and produced many of the films he directed and was the executive producer of WILD IN THE STREETS. His other production credits include FIREBALL 500 SPACE MONSTER THUNDER ALLEY and C.H.O.M.P.S.
Director John Flynn died April 4 2007 of natural causes. He was 75. A second unit director on many films (THE GREAT ESCAPE) he directed 15 films including THE SARGEANT THE OUTFIT ROLLING THUNDER DEFIANCE MARILYN: THE UNTOLD STORY BEST SELLER and BRAINSCAN.
Japanese actor Eiji Funakoshi died March 19th 2007. He was 84. Best known to American audiences for his roles in the first GAMERA and its fourth sequel GAMERA VS. GUIRON, he was in many other films including FIRES ON THE PLAINS.
KITTY CARLISLE HART was an actress, TV personality and widow of playwright Moss Hart. She starred alongside The Marx Brothers (and Alan Jones) in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. Her other film roles included MURDER AT THE VANITIES HERE IS MY HEART Woody Allen’s RADIO DAYS and 5 DEGREES OF SEPARATION. She was also a regular panelist on the TV game show “To Tell The Truth”. She died April 17 at age 96.
Director Bert Topper died on April 3 2007 of pulmonary heart failure. He was 78. Born in Coney Island, NY Topper began his career directing low budget war stories for AIP (WAR HERO HELL SQUAD TANK COMMANDOS WAR IS HELL). Other movies include DIARY OF A HIGH SCHOOL BRIDE the demented THE STRANGLER SOUL HUSTLER THE DEVIL’S 8 and THE HARD RIDE. He wrote and produced many of the films he directed and was the executive producer of WILD IN THE STREETS. His other production credits include FIREBALL 500 SPACE MONSTER THUNDER ALLEY and C.H.O.M.P.S.
Director John Flynn died April 4 2007 of natural causes. He was 75. A second unit director on many films (THE GREAT ESCAPE) he directed 15 films including THE SARGEANT THE OUTFIT ROLLING THUNDER DEFIANCE MARILYN: THE UNTOLD STORY BEST SELLER and BRAINSCAN.
Japanese actor Eiji Funakoshi died March 19th 2007. He was 84. Best known to American audiences for his roles in the first GAMERA and its fourth sequel GAMERA VS. GUIRON, he was in many other films including FIRES ON THE PLAINS.
KITTY CARLISLE HART was an actress, TV personality and widow of playwright Moss Hart. She starred alongside The Marx Brothers (and Alan Jones) in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. Her other film roles included MURDER AT THE VANITIES HERE IS MY HEART Woody Allen’s RADIO DAYS and 5 DEGREES OF SEPARATION. She was also a regular panelist on the TV game show “To Tell The Truth”. She died April 17 at age 96.
Actor Kerwin Matthews died July 5th 2007. He was 81. Best known for the title role in Nathan Juran's fantasy film THE 7 th VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958), Matthews was later THE THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER, PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER, JACK THE GIANT KILLER, MANIAC, BATTLE BENEATH THE EARTH, OCTAMAN, THE BOY WHO CRIED WEREWOLF and NIGHTMARE IN BLOOD (his last in 1978). Originally from Wisconson, Matthews mad his acting debut on an episode of the TV show "Space Patrol" in 1954.
Excellent article from The San Francisco Chronicle!
CHARLES LANE: 1905-2007
Actor made major impact in minor roles
'06 quake survivor nailed hundreds of film, television parts
Mick LaSalle, Chronicle Movie CriticWednesday, July 11, 2007
Charles Lane died peacefully Monday night at home in Santa Monica at age 102, according to his son Tom Lane. And you really do care, only you just don't know it. Never mind that he was born in San Francisco and was one of the last survivors of the 1906 earthquake. You know Charles Lane. You just never knew his name. He was That Guy in all those movies. You know, that skinny guy with the glasses, the beaky nose and the white hair -- or the dark hair, depending on how far back you go. Sometimes he was a hotel clerk. Sometimes a reporter. He was on the 1960s sitcom "Petticoat Junction" for five years as a cranky railroad official. As an actor on film and television, he appeared in well over 250 roles, which means that, to avoid ever seeing him over the past 70 years, you would probably have had to avoid film and television completely.
Someone should do a Charles Lane festival. He made some exceptional movies: "Blonde Crazy" (1931), with James Cagney; "Blessed Event" (1932), with Lee Tracy; "Employees' Entrance" (1933), with Warren William; the Busby Berkeley musicals "42nd Street" and "The Gold Diggers of 1933"; the renowned screwball comedy "Twentieth Century" (1934); the Capra classics "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1944) and "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946); "Teacher's Pet" (1958); "The Music Man" (1962); and "Good Neighbor Sam" (1964). True, he had little to do with what made these films exceptional, and, in fact, for the vast majority of them, Lane received no credit at all. In the studio days, the guy who played the radio operator ("Central Airport") or the campaign reporter ("The Farmer's Daughter") wasn't identified for audiences. He was considered part of that studio's furniture. But credit or no credit, Lane was never furniture, and he was never wallpaper. He was vivid -- as well as competent and precise. Give him a job, and he got it done.
Take, for example, his appearance in "The Gold Diggers of 1933." He is in one scene, as a society reporter, but the scene is significant. For the whole beginning of the film, a mystery is made as to the true background of Dick Powell, who plays a songwriter. Now at a Broadway opening, Lane spots him, thinks he recognizes him and tells his friends during intermission. That's Lane's whole role, a small one -- but he nails it. We know, from just a few lines from Lane, that this reporter is smart and tenacious, and that he's not going to quit until he finds out the truth. So the next day when we see the screaming newspaper headline, we're not surprised.
There are two ways for a bit player to screw up. One way, the forgivable way, is to be inconspicuous. The other way is to act as though you're the star of the picture. Lane did neither. He simply brought truth to his brief moments on screen. With Lane, the audience understood that the reporters, clerks, salesmen and managers he played were people in the midst of their own day -- a day that just happened to intersect with the world of the movie. As such, he had no need to be especially patient or ingratiating. He was rarely nasty, but he usually seemed busy and impatient. He had something he was doing, that he wanted to do, and then Gary Cooper or Barbara Stanwyck or somebody had to come over and interrupt him.
Lane was born Charles Levison in San Francisco on Jan. 26, 1905. In the beginning of his career, he kept the name of Levison, but it wasn't much of an issue because the name rarely turned up in the credits. He made his first screen appearance in the 1931 film "Smart Money," with James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. He played a hotel desk clerk. In those days, film executives assumed that once you did something once, you were an expert at it. And so Lane played a hotel desk clerk in five of his next six movies. In the sixth, he was a luggage checkroom clerk at a railway station. It's usually at this point in an obituary that the actor's "big break" is mentioned. But no. In his 50s, Lane was still playing the kind of uncredited role he was playing in his 20s, only now -- after 30 years in the business -- the public knew him. People didn't know his name, but they knew him. Most actors arrive on the public consciousness with a jolt. Lane did something rare. He just oozed into public awareness, until at a certain point it felt as though he'd always been there.
Lane's most high-profile work was in television. He had guest roles on "I Love Lucy" in the 1950s and on a number of shows in the 1960s, including "The Lucy Show," "Perry Mason," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Gomer Pyle," "The Twilight Zone," "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Munsters," "Bewitched" and "The Wild Wild West." He was a series regular on the sitcom "Petticoat Junction," as a railroad executive who wants to do away with the town's beloved locomotive. He often worked in comedy, though he rarely smiled. He was usually the relentless, unsympathetic force with whom the hero or heroine had to contend, but there was also something decent and human underneath that hard surface, which was why Lane was most frequently cast in comedy. Through the 1970s, he worked steadily, appearing on shows such as "Maude," "Lou Grant" and "Little House on the Prairie." He also continued to make movies. He made his final feature film, "Date With an Angel" in 1987. In 1988, he played Adm. William Standley in the World War II miniseries "War and Remembrance." His final screen appearance was in the 1995 TV movie "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes." Not long after he turned 100, he was honored at the TV Land Awards, where many in the viewing audience were delighted to find out he was still alive. Given the lifetime achievement award, Lane told the crowd, "I'm still available."
My note: Lane made his film debut with an uncredited role in SMART MONEY. It's the only film James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson made together. It also features Boris Karloff (also uncredited) in one scene. Although Karloff had roles in 15 films that year he would be remembered for only one that he made a little later on in '31...FRANKENSTEIN!
CHARLES LANE: 1905-2007
Actor made major impact in minor roles
'06 quake survivor nailed hundreds of film, television parts
Mick LaSalle, Chronicle Movie CriticWednesday, July 11, 2007
Charles Lane died peacefully Monday night at home in Santa Monica at age 102, according to his son Tom Lane. And you really do care, only you just don't know it. Never mind that he was born in San Francisco and was one of the last survivors of the 1906 earthquake. You know Charles Lane. You just never knew his name. He was That Guy in all those movies. You know, that skinny guy with the glasses, the beaky nose and the white hair -- or the dark hair, depending on how far back you go. Sometimes he was a hotel clerk. Sometimes a reporter. He was on the 1960s sitcom "Petticoat Junction" for five years as a cranky railroad official. As an actor on film and television, he appeared in well over 250 roles, which means that, to avoid ever seeing him over the past 70 years, you would probably have had to avoid film and television completely.
Someone should do a Charles Lane festival. He made some exceptional movies: "Blonde Crazy" (1931), with James Cagney; "Blessed Event" (1932), with Lee Tracy; "Employees' Entrance" (1933), with Warren William; the Busby Berkeley musicals "42nd Street" and "The Gold Diggers of 1933"; the renowned screwball comedy "Twentieth Century" (1934); the Capra classics "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1944) and "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946); "Teacher's Pet" (1958); "The Music Man" (1962); and "Good Neighbor Sam" (1964). True, he had little to do with what made these films exceptional, and, in fact, for the vast majority of them, Lane received no credit at all. In the studio days, the guy who played the radio operator ("Central Airport") or the campaign reporter ("The Farmer's Daughter") wasn't identified for audiences. He was considered part of that studio's furniture. But credit or no credit, Lane was never furniture, and he was never wallpaper. He was vivid -- as well as competent and precise. Give him a job, and he got it done.
Take, for example, his appearance in "The Gold Diggers of 1933." He is in one scene, as a society reporter, but the scene is significant. For the whole beginning of the film, a mystery is made as to the true background of Dick Powell, who plays a songwriter. Now at a Broadway opening, Lane spots him, thinks he recognizes him and tells his friends during intermission. That's Lane's whole role, a small one -- but he nails it. We know, from just a few lines from Lane, that this reporter is smart and tenacious, and that he's not going to quit until he finds out the truth. So the next day when we see the screaming newspaper headline, we're not surprised.
There are two ways for a bit player to screw up. One way, the forgivable way, is to be inconspicuous. The other way is to act as though you're the star of the picture. Lane did neither. He simply brought truth to his brief moments on screen. With Lane, the audience understood that the reporters, clerks, salesmen and managers he played were people in the midst of their own day -- a day that just happened to intersect with the world of the movie. As such, he had no need to be especially patient or ingratiating. He was rarely nasty, but he usually seemed busy and impatient. He had something he was doing, that he wanted to do, and then Gary Cooper or Barbara Stanwyck or somebody had to come over and interrupt him.
Lane was born Charles Levison in San Francisco on Jan. 26, 1905. In the beginning of his career, he kept the name of Levison, but it wasn't much of an issue because the name rarely turned up in the credits. He made his first screen appearance in the 1931 film "Smart Money," with James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. He played a hotel desk clerk. In those days, film executives assumed that once you did something once, you were an expert at it. And so Lane played a hotel desk clerk in five of his next six movies. In the sixth, he was a luggage checkroom clerk at a railway station. It's usually at this point in an obituary that the actor's "big break" is mentioned. But no. In his 50s, Lane was still playing the kind of uncredited role he was playing in his 20s, only now -- after 30 years in the business -- the public knew him. People didn't know his name, but they knew him. Most actors arrive on the public consciousness with a jolt. Lane did something rare. He just oozed into public awareness, until at a certain point it felt as though he'd always been there.
Lane's most high-profile work was in television. He had guest roles on "I Love Lucy" in the 1950s and on a number of shows in the 1960s, including "The Lucy Show," "Perry Mason," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Gomer Pyle," "The Twilight Zone," "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Munsters," "Bewitched" and "The Wild Wild West." He was a series regular on the sitcom "Petticoat Junction," as a railroad executive who wants to do away with the town's beloved locomotive. He often worked in comedy, though he rarely smiled. He was usually the relentless, unsympathetic force with whom the hero or heroine had to contend, but there was also something decent and human underneath that hard surface, which was why Lane was most frequently cast in comedy. Through the 1970s, he worked steadily, appearing on shows such as "Maude," "Lou Grant" and "Little House on the Prairie." He also continued to make movies. He made his final feature film, "Date With an Angel" in 1987. In 1988, he played Adm. William Standley in the World War II miniseries "War and Remembrance." His final screen appearance was in the 1995 TV movie "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes." Not long after he turned 100, he was honored at the TV Land Awards, where many in the viewing audience were delighted to find out he was still alive. Given the lifetime achievement award, Lane told the crowd, "I'm still available."
My note: Lane made his film debut with an uncredited role in SMART MONEY. It's the only film James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson made together. It also features Boris Karloff (also uncredited) in one scene. Although Karloff had roles in 15 films that year he would be remembered for only one that he made a little later on in '31...FRANKENSTEIN!
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