Film and TV director Bernard Kowalski died Oct. 26th 2007. He was 78. Kowalski started out at AIP directing HOT ROD GIRL NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST and ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES. He later went into TV but occasional returned to the big screen with unusual features like a STILETTO KRAKATOA-EAST OF JAVA MACHO CALLAHAN SSSSS and a few others. TV credits include episodes of THE UNTOUCHABLES MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE RAWHIDE and many made for TV films.


Director Senkichi Taniguchi who died Oct. 29th 2007 in Tokyo at the age of 95.



A childhood friend of Akira Kurosawa, Taniguchi made his directorial debut in 1947 with THE SNOW TRAIL which Kurosawa wrote. He later penned THE QUIET DUEL which Kurosawa directed. Both films starred Toshiro Mifune. His films included MAN AGAINST MAN, THE LOST WORLD OF SINBAD, THE GAMBLING SAMURAI, MAN IN THE STORM and KEY OF KEYS which Woody Allen later redubbed as WHAT'S UP TIGER LILY?.

Classic kung fu vet Wong Yue dies at age 53
News by Mark Pollard 2008.05.20

Following a recent decline in health amid growing substance abuse, Wong Yue, star of kung fu classics THE SPIRITUAL BOXER and DIRTY HO died on May 5th at the age of 53. The announcement was made on May 15th by his brother-in-law, famous action director Tony Ching Siu-tung, who put to rest early speculation that Wong has committed suicide.

According to Ching, Wong died from acute hepatitis. In addition to suffering from drug abuse, Wong had in recent years, undergone invasive surgery that may have weakened him further.

Wong began his film career at Shaw Brothers in the early 1970s. After initial roles in straight comedies and dramas, action director Lau Kar-leung began training him in kung fu and cast him in THE SPIRITUAL BOXER in 1975. It was a groundbreaking mix of sophisticated kung fu choreography and humor that catapulted the previously non-fighting actor into instant fame as the world’s first comedic martial arts star. He subsequently starred in a variety of kung fu classics for SB and independent filmmakers.

Much of Wong’s best performances were under the direction of his mentor Lau Kar-leung. Some of Wong Yue’s career highlights include starring roles in HE HAS NOTHING BUT KUNG FU (1977), DIRTY HO (1979), SWIFT SWORD (1980), KID FROM KWANGTUNG (1982), and CRAZY SHAOLIN DISCIPLES (1985).

John Phillip Law, 70; actor played opposite Fonda in 'Barbarella'
By Claire Noland, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
5:05 PM PDT, May 14, 2008
John Phillip Law, a tall, blond actor who cut a striking figure as the blind angel opposite Jane Fonda in 1968's "Barbarella" and in other film roles, has died. He was 70.

Law died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home, his ex-wife, Shawn Ryan, said. The cause of death was not announced.

Born in Los Angeles on Sept. 7, 1937, to L.A. County Deputy Sheriff John Law and actress Phyllis Sallee, Law decided to become an actor after taking drama classes at the University of Hawaii.

He moved to New York in the early 1960s, studied with Elia Kazan at the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater and landed bit parts on Broadway. He went to Europe and found work in a handful of Italian films, where he caught the attention of Norman Jewison. The director cast Law as Alexei Kolchin, a young Soviet submariner who wins the heart of a teenage baby-sitter in "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming," his 1966 Cold War comedy set in New England.

Law's next break came in Roger Vadim's science-fiction fantasy starring Fonda, who was then married to the director. Equipped with oversize, feathery wings, Law's bronzed angel Pygar shields Fonda's gun-toting, go-go-boot-wearing heroine in her intergalactic adventures.

After gaining notice for his roles in "Hurry Sundown" (1967), "The Sergeant" (1968) opposite Rod Steiger, and "The Red Baron" (1970), Law starred as the ruthless Robin Stone in "The Love Machine," a 1971 version of Jacqueline Susann's pulp novel. The movie flopped.

Law, who mastered Italian and Spanish in his European travels, worked steadily in Hollywood and abroad, appearing in such action-adventure movies as "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" (1974), "The Cassandra Crossing" (1977) and "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1981), among others. He also had a stint playing Jim Grainger on the daytime television drama "The Young and the Restless."

At the beginning of his career in the '60s, Law lived in a 1924 Los Feliz mansion with his brother Tom, who had been the road manager for Peter, Paul and Mary. The brothers rented rooms to up-and-coming singers and artists, including Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol and Tiny Tim, turning the home into a vibrant salon of emerging pop-culture icons. Life at the Castle, as it was known, was documented in “Flashing on the Sixties,” a 1987 collection of photos and text by Tom's former wife, Lisa Law.

Besides his brother, Law is survived by daughter, Dawn Law, and a grandson.