MONTREAL - Michael Sarrazin, the understated star of films like They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? and The Flim-Flam Man, died Sunday, April 17 in Montreal after a brief, quiet battle with cancer, surrounded by his family. He was 70 years old.

Sarrazin was born Jacques Michel André Sarrazin in Quebec City in 1940. The family moved to Montreal, first to Frontenac St. in the east end, and then to Notre Dame de Grâce, where Sarrazin attended Loyola High School.

“He wasn’t a particularly good student,” his brother Pierre Sarrazin recalled, “but he was a great actor, and the Jesuits and fellow students loved him. His first high school role was in The Bishop’s Candlestick, and he was very upset when he came offstage and everyone in the crowd was laughing. He thought they were laughing at him. They were laughing with him.”

As tributes poured in, love was a word often repeated. “I loved my brother dearly,” said Pierre, a producer and writer for television and film who worked with Michael on the 1993 George Mihalka hit comedy La Florida. “We were an ordinary family that happened to have a star in it. We knew it from an early age.”

“He was the greatest, most wonderful soul," said Daniaile Jarry, who was a dialogue and singing coach to Sarrazin on La Florida, and was shocked to hear of his passing. “He had a great passion for life. We had so much fun on the set. It was a coup for us. He was working with his brother, whom he loved, and was working in French, something he hadn’t done in years.”

The veteran director Mihalka, still absorbing the news, said, “I have had the honour of not only working with Michael but being a friend for almost 20 years. This is truly a sad time for all of us in the Canadian film community.

“Michael was one of the most talented, generous and committed actors I have ever worked with. He never stopped surprising me with his wit, charm, and, above all, his humility and simple decency. Montreal and the world have lost a truly outstanding man. Rest well, my dear friend, you have enriched the lives of all of us.”

Sarrazin’s longtime agent Michael Oscars said in a statement from Toronto: “Michael was an actor of great sensitivity and unparalleled grace. He was also an impeccable raconteur, valued client and a great friend. It is a very great loss.

Sarrazin was one of the last actors to come up through the old studio system, signing with Universal in 1965. After an indifferent start in television and TV movies of the week, his true talent as a soulful reflection of the tumultuous 1960s was revealed opposite singer-actor Bobby Darin in the post-Civil War drama Gunfight in Abilene, in 1967, and as the reluctant apprentice to grifter George C. Scott in The Flim-Flam Man, that same year.

Work came fast and furious. He played a tenderfoot Confederate soldier in 1968’s Journey to Shiloh with fellow Hollywood rookie Harrison Ford, and was nominated for a Golden Globe as a slacker surfer in The Sweet Ride (1968) opposite Jacqueline Bisset. They began a relationship that lasted 14 years.

Sarrazin’s career peaked the next year as he provided quiet, essential support for partner Jane Fonda in the harrowing dancing marathon They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? The film was nominated for nine Oscars, but only Gig Young won for best supporting actor.

His critical run continued when he played Paul Newman’s misunderstood half-brother in Sometimes a Great Notion, Newman’s criminally underseen 1970 adaptation of novelist Ken Kesey’s great logging yarn. Henry Fonda and Lee Remick co-starred. Sarrazin worked more or less continuously thereafter, in films as varied as The Life and Times of George Roy Bean (1972), The Gumball Rally (1976), Joshua Then and Now (1985), Bullet to Beijing (1995), and 2008’s The Christmas Choir.

Claude Chamberlan, co-founder and chief programmer of Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma, wrote in an email: “Funny, only three days ago, I was talking to friends about the very discreet Michael Sarrazin, the only Hollywood film star living around Boulevard Saint-Laurent. I saw him many times strolling the Main and always respected his incognito.

“I will always remember him in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, a film we showed at the end of our 250-hour film marathon in 1992, celebrating the 100th birthday of cinema.”

In the beginning of the 21st century, Sarrazin relocated from the West Coast to Montreal to be closer to his beloved daughters Catherine and Michelle, organizational pillars of the editorial department of the Gazette for many years.

“We had a 3,000-mile relationship with him for so long, it was great to be able to rediscover him,” said Michelle bravely, shortly after his passing. “He was a great, loving dad. He really loved us, and we really loved him. We’re so glad we had these years together.”

A service will be held in Lady Chapel of St. Patrick’s Basilica, 460 René Lévesque Blvd. W. on April 26 at 10:30 a.m.

johngriffin@bell.net


19 April 2011 Last updated at 16:42 ET
Doctor Who actress Elisabeth Sladen dies aged 63


Doctor Who star Elisabeth Sladen, who was also in spin-off series The
Sarah Jane Adventures, has died aged 63.


Sladen appeared as Doctor Who assistant Sarah Jane Smith in the BBC
television sci-fi series between 1973 and 1976 opposite Jon Pertwee
and Tom Baker.


In more recent times the Liverpool-born actress went on to appear in
four series of The Sarah Jane Adventures on children's channel CBBC.


BBC entertainment reporter Lizo Mzimba said she had had cancer for
some time.


Sladen first appeared as Sarah Jane alongside the third Doctor, Jon
Pertwee, and stayed for three-and-a-half seasons, also working with
the fourth Doctor, Tom Baker.


She returned to the role on several occasions over the years and was
given her own spin-off series on children's channel CBBC in 2007, The
Sarah Jane Adventures, on which she appeared with new Doctors David
Tennant and Matt Smith.


A BBC spokesman said: "It is with much sadness that we can announce
Elisabeth Sladen, the much-loved actress best known for her role as
Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who and CBBC's The Sarah Jane Adventures,
passed away this morning. She was 63."

Are You Being Served? star Trevor Bannister dies at 76


Are You Being Served? star Trevor Bannister has died aged 76, his brother has confirmed.

The actor suffered a heart attack on Thursday at his allotment in Thames Ditton, Surrey, John Bannister said.

The actor was best known for his role as ladies' man Mr Lucas in the 1970s BBC sitcom set in a department store but he also worked in the theatre.

"He was a good lad, we were all very fond of him," Mr Bannister told BBC News.

More recently, the actor had a stint in the long-running BBC series Last of the Summer Wine.

John Bannister said his brother had been doing some repair work on his shed when he became ill.

Born in Durrington, Wiltshire, and the youngest of three children, Bannister did two year's National Service before going to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.

During his career which spanned five decades, he appeared in TV shows including The Avengers, Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint and Z Cars.


Most recently Bannister (far-left) starred in BBC series Last of the Summer Wine He also made regular appearances in the theatre and in pantomime.

In 2009, the actor led the tributes to his Are You Being Served? co-star Wendy Richard and gave a reading at her funeral.

Speaking to the BBC at the time about his experiences of working on the sitcom, he said: "The joy of that particular show was the fact that most of us had known each other before we came to do it.

"We loved working with each other and had a lot of respect for each other. I think that fun and enjoyment conveyed itself through the screen."

He is survived by his second wife Pam and three sons Simon, Timothy and Jeremy.