http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30767431
La Dolce Vita star Anita Ekberg dies
Her role in La Dolce Vita is one of cinema's most iconic moments
Anita Ekberg, star of La Dolce Vita, has died aged 83.
The Swedish-born actress was branded a "sex goddess" for her performance in Federico Fellini's 1960 movie.
The moment where she wades through Rome's Trevi Fountain in a strapless dress is considered one of cinema's most iconic scenes.
She died in Rome on Sunday morning, her lawyer confirmed. She had been in hospital since Christmas following a series of illnesses.
Born in Malmo, Sweden, in 1931, Ekberg travelled to America after winning the Miss Sweden title at the age of 20.
She was immediately signed by a Hollywood studio and sent to work in Italy, where she met director Frederico Fellini.
He cast her in La Dolce Vita as Sylvia Rank - "the most wonderful woman created since the beginning of time" - an actress pursued by news photographers.
Ironically, the film, which gave rise to the term paparazzo, resulted in Ekberg being hounded by the press herself.
She was constantly in the headlines for her romances with Hollywood's leading men, and her lovers were said to include Errol Flynn, Yul Brynner and Frank Sinatra.
But she also made the front pages when, in 1960, she turned on photographer Felice Quinto with a bow and arrow.
Quinto was amongst a pack of reporters who followed from a nightclub to her villa in Rome. During the fracas, she was photographed with her knee in one man's groin.
Robert Kinoshita, a production designer and art director who designed the iconic robots for the 1956 science-fiction classic Forbidden Planet and the 1960s TV series Lost in Space, has died. He was 100.
Kinoshita died Dec. 9 at a nursing care facility in Torrance, Calif., family friend Mike Clark told The Hollywood Reporter.
For Robby the Robot on Forbidden Planet, Kinoshita cobbled together several concepts contributed by MGM's art and special-effects departments and made a miniature prototype of wood and plastic. The model, with a domed head of clear plastic, was quickly approved, and Kinoshita completed its construction. The film received an Oscar nomination for special effects.
Kinoshita was in the work pool of 20th Century Fox’s art department in the mid-1960s when producer Irwin Allen selected him to become the first-season art director for Lost in Space, which aired for three seasons on CBS from 1965-68.
Kinoshita’s bubble-brained Robot — a late addition to the cast whose famous line was “Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!” — featured a metallic barrel chest, light-up voice panel and rubberized legs. Kinoshita rushed to deliver the complicated costume shortly before the show entered production. (Dick Tufeld provided the voice.)
The Robot received as much fan mail as its the human cast, and a nationwide organization of fans, The B9 Robot Builders, has built more 100 full-size Robot replicas.
For the series, Kinoshita also modified the Robinson family’s spacecraft, designed for the pilot by Bill Creber, to include a lower deck with living quarters, dining room, lab and Robot dock. He stretched the production budget by creatively raiding props and discards from the Fox backlot.
Born in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 1914, Kinoshita grew up in the Boyle Heights area. He attended Maryknoll Japanese Catholic School, Roosevelt High School and USC’s School of Architecture and became interested in the movies, receiving his first practical experience on the 1937 film 100 Men and a Girl.
He and his wife Lillian were sent to a Japanese internment camp in Arizona during World War II, but a sponsor allowed the couple to leave before war’s end and move to Wisconsin, where he became proficient in industrial design and fabricating products out of plastic.
Kinoshita came back to California in the early 1950s and returned to the movie industry just as MGM was gearing up for production of Forbidden Planet. In addition to Robby, Kinoshita designed several sets including the lab of Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon).
Also in the 1950s, he also created the robot Tobor from Here Comes Tobor (1957) and worked for ZIV Television on such series as Science Fiction Theater, Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt, Bat Masterson and Men Into Space.
Later, he served as associate producer and production designer on the independent films The Phantom Planet (1961) and Hell’s Bloody Devils (1970) and was a free-lancer on such series as Hawaii-5-0, Barnaby Jones and Gene Roddenberry’s pilot Planet Earth.
Kinoshita claimed his longevity was due to clean living and daily doses of apple cider vinegar, Clark said. He is survived by a daughter, Pat.
A private service was held on Dec. 23 at Green Hills Mortuary in Rancho Palos Verdes.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-kinoshita-dead-robot-designer-763491
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3327693/r-p-brian-clemens-writer-see-evil-thriller-dies-age-83/
Sad news to report as writer Brian Clemens has passed away yesterday at age 83. The writer was known to many as one of the creators of the television series The Professionals as well as one of the main contributing writers to the 1960′s series The Avengers.
To horror fans, Clemens was known as being the writer of 1965′s Curse Of The Voodoo, 1960′s The Tell Tale Heart, the classic 1971 thriller See No Evil, and 1970′s And Soon The Darkness. He was also the main writer and creator of the 70′s TV mystery/horror series Thriller.
One of my personal favorites of Clemens’ was The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad, a film that my father and I loved to watch on lazy Saturday afternoons whenever it appeared on TV.
Clemens is survived by his wife and two sons. We send our condolences and thoughts.
Tim Drummond, the session bassist who gained acclaim for his work on Neil Young's recordings in the 1970s before playing with a who's who of singer-songwriters including Bob Dylan, died Jan. 10 in St. Louis County, Mo. He was 74.
Crosby, Stills and Nash biographer David Zimmer announced Drummond's death via his Twitter feed. No cause or location was given.
Related
Known for an understated, restrained style of playing, Drummond performed and recorded with country and R&B stars in the 1960s in South Carolina, Illinois and, later in the decade, Cincinnati, Ohio. He played rockabilly with Conway Twitty, funk with James Brown and vintage R&B with Hank Ballard before moving to Nashville where he played on sessions with Joe Simon, Fenton Robinson, Jimmy Buffett and Charlie Daniels, among others.
When Young traveled to Nashville to work on Harvest, Drummond visited the studio and became a member of the Stray Gators with the drummer Kenny Buttery and pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith. Drummond would continue to record and tour with Young on albums and concerts that did not involve his primary backing band Crazy Horse. He also toured with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young as well as record and tour with CSN and the duo of Crosby and Nash.
Moving to California led to Drummond becoming one of the most in-demand session bassists, often paired with drummer Jim Keltner. Together they were the rhythm section on CSNY's 1974 tour, during which time Drummond met Dylan. He would later join his band during during Dylan's Christian gospel phase, co-writing "Saved." Drummond also appears on multiple albums by J.J. Cale, Ry Cooder and Graham Nash, and played on hit records by Don Henley, Bette Midler, Paula Abdul and Jewel.
Sad news to report as writer Brian Clemens has passed away yesterday at age 83. The writer was known to many as one of the creators of the television series The Professionals as well as one of the main contributing writers to the 1960′s series The Avengers.
To horror fans, Clemens was known as being the writer of 1965′s Curse Of The Voodoo, 1960′s The Tell Tale Heart, the classic 1971 thriller See No Evil, and 1970′s And Soon The Darkness. He was also the main writer and creator of the 70′s TV mystery/horror series Thriller.
One of my personal favorites of Clemens’ was The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad, a film that my father and I loved to watch on lazy Saturday afternoons whenever it appeared on TV.
Clemens is survived by his wife and two sons. We send our condolences and thoughts.
Tim Drummond, the session bassist who gained acclaim for his work on Neil Young's recordings in the 1970s before playing with a who's who of singer-songwriters including Bob Dylan, died Jan. 10 in St. Louis County, Mo. He was 74.
Crosby, Stills and Nash biographer David Zimmer announced Drummond's death via his Twitter feed. No cause or location was given.
Related
Known for an understated, restrained style of playing, Drummond performed and recorded with country and R&B stars in the 1960s in South Carolina, Illinois and, later in the decade, Cincinnati, Ohio. He played rockabilly with Conway Twitty, funk with James Brown and vintage R&B with Hank Ballard before moving to Nashville where he played on sessions with Joe Simon, Fenton Robinson, Jimmy Buffett and Charlie Daniels, among others.
When Young traveled to Nashville to work on Harvest, Drummond visited the studio and became a member of the Stray Gators with the drummer Kenny Buttery and pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith. Drummond would continue to record and tour with Young on albums and concerts that did not involve his primary backing band Crazy Horse. He also toured with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young as well as record and tour with CSN and the duo of Crosby and Nash.
Moving to California led to Drummond becoming one of the most in-demand session bassists, often paired with drummer Jim Keltner. Together they were the rhythm section on CSNY's 1974 tour, during which time Drummond met Dylan. He would later join his band during during Dylan's Christian gospel phase, co-writing "Saved." Drummond also appears on multiple albums by J.J. Cale, Ry Cooder and Graham Nash, and played on hit records by Don Henley, Bette Midler, Paula Abdul and Jewel.
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/rod-taylor-dead-the-bird-the-time-machine-1201396390/
Takao Saito, cameraman on many of Akira Kurosawa's biggest films, died on Dec. 6 of lymphocytic cancer at the age of 85.
Saito began working with Kurosawa soon after he entered Toho Studio following the end of the Second World War, cutting his teeth on One Wonderful Sunday. He went on to become a member of the so-called 'Kurosawa-gumi,' a group of cast and crew that the legendary director collaborated with on many of his films.
Operating the secondary "B camera" on such classics as the Seven Samurai, Saito's footage would often catch Kurosawa's eye and end up in the final cut. On 1961's Yojimbo, a majority of the film was reported to have consisted of roll from Saito's camera, even though the main cinematographer was longtime Kurosawa collaborator Kazuo Miyagawa.
Saito also worked closely with Kurosawa as he made the transition to shooting in color, beginning with 1970's Dodes'ka-den. Saito received Academy Award and BAFTA nominations, along with his first mentor, Asakazu Nakai, and Masaharu Ueda, for their cinematography on samurai epic Ran (1985).
The collaboration with Kurosawa was to last for 18 productions over nearly half a century, until the director's final film, Madadayo (Not Yet), in 1993, which won Japan's Academy Awards for Saito.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/takao-saito-cinematographer-18-kurosawa-761859
Takao Saito, cameraman on many of Akira Kurosawa's biggest films, died on Dec. 6 of lymphocytic cancer at the age of 85.
Saito began working with Kurosawa soon after he entered Toho Studio following the end of the Second World War, cutting his teeth on One Wonderful Sunday. He went on to become a member of the so-called 'Kurosawa-gumi,' a group of cast and crew that the legendary director collaborated with on many of his films.
Operating the secondary "B camera" on such classics as the Seven Samurai, Saito's footage would often catch Kurosawa's eye and end up in the final cut. On 1961's Yojimbo, a majority of the film was reported to have consisted of roll from Saito's camera, even though the main cinematographer was longtime Kurosawa collaborator Kazuo Miyagawa.
Saito also worked closely with Kurosawa as he made the transition to shooting in color, beginning with 1970's Dodes'ka-den. Saito received Academy Award and BAFTA nominations, along with his first mentor, Asakazu Nakai, and Masaharu Ueda, for their cinematography on samurai epic Ran (1985).
The collaboration with Kurosawa was to last for 18 productions over nearly half a century, until the director's final film, Madadayo (Not Yet), in 1993, which won Japan's Academy Awards for Saito.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/takao-saito-cinematographer-18-kurosawa-761859
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/mario-cuomo-new-york-governor-dead-82-article-1.2063258 Mario Cuomo
http://greatentertainersarchives.blogspot.com/2014/12/rip-edward-herrmann.html
Monday, January 05, 10:13:47am
Bess Myerson, a New York favorite daughter who basked in the public eye for decades — as Miss America 1945, as a television personality, as a force in public affairs and finally, under a harsher light, as a player in a shattering municipal scandal — died on Dec. 14 at her home in Santa Monica, Calif., her death occurring in the relative obscurity in which she had lived her last years. She was 90.
http://tinyurl.com/nalultx
Joe Guercio — who led Elvis Presley’s band in Las Vegas from 1970 to his final performance in 1977 — died Sunday in Nashville.
Mr. Guercio and Presley first crossed paths in Las Vegas, soon after the rock legend began his famed residency at the International Hotel. Mr. Guercio was the International’s musical director, and soon found himself leading a rhythm section and 26-piece orchestra behind Presley, who was known for his spontaneity. Mr. Guercio would joke that his job was “like following a marble down concrete steps.”
In the process, Mr. Guercio made a few creative choices that would become among Presley’s best-known calling cards. The peppy horn fanfare that played during Presley’s stage entrances and exits was Mr. Guercio’s composition. He also came up with the idea to open his Vegas shows with Richard Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra,” best known for its inclusion in the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
“I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Joe Guercio,” said Presley’s former wife, Priscilla Presley. “He was a close friend and associate who will be greatly missed by us all. I was fortunate to see him at Graceland a few months ago, and as only Joe could do, he had us all laughing with him at his stories. His musical talent was unsurpassed. Elvis loved working with him. We have all lost a great man and a true gentleman. My heart goes out to his beloved family.”
In the decades after Elvis Presley’s death, Mr. Guercio was still one of many keeping the legend of “The King” alive. Starting in 1997, he served as the conductor for “Elvis: The Concert,” which paired a live band with archival Presley recordings. He also was on hand for the “Elvis 35th Anniversary Concert” in Memphis in 2012.
“All of us at Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Joe Guercio,” said CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Jack Soden. “He was a dear friend and loved by all. Joe not only entertained millions as an incredibly talented musical director, but also entertained all that knew him with his wonderful sense of humor. The world has lost a great man, and we all have lost a special friend.”
In addition to Presley, Mr. Guercio worked with a number of other musical giants over the years. He began his career as an accompanist for Patti Page and was an arranger for Barbra Streisand’s “Sweet Inspiration/Where You Lead” and Gladys Knight’s “The Way We Were/Try to Remember.” In 1997, his career even took him to the Vatican, when he joined B.B. King to perform at the Vatican’s annual Christmas concert and meet Pope John Paul II.
“I’ve really had a great life,” he said in a 2010 interview with the National Association of Music Merchants. “And luck played a big part of it, you know? Being in the right place at the right time.”
http://greatentertainersarchives.blogspot.com/2014/12/rip-edward-herrmann.html
Monday, January 05, 10:13:47am
Bess Myerson, a New York favorite daughter who basked in the public eye for decades — as Miss America 1945, as a television personality, as a force in public affairs and finally, under a harsher light, as a player in a shattering municipal scandal — died on Dec. 14 at her home in Santa Monica, Calif., her death occurring in the relative obscurity in which she had lived her last years. She was 90.
http://tinyurl.com/nalultx
Joe Guercio — who led Elvis Presley’s band in Las Vegas from 1970 to his final performance in 1977 — died Sunday in Nashville.
Mr. Guercio and Presley first crossed paths in Las Vegas, soon after the rock legend began his famed residency at the International Hotel. Mr. Guercio was the International’s musical director, and soon found himself leading a rhythm section and 26-piece orchestra behind Presley, who was known for his spontaneity. Mr. Guercio would joke that his job was “like following a marble down concrete steps.”
In the process, Mr. Guercio made a few creative choices that would become among Presley’s best-known calling cards. The peppy horn fanfare that played during Presley’s stage entrances and exits was Mr. Guercio’s composition. He also came up with the idea to open his Vegas shows with Richard Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra,” best known for its inclusion in the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
“I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Joe Guercio,” said Presley’s former wife, Priscilla Presley. “He was a close friend and associate who will be greatly missed by us all. I was fortunate to see him at Graceland a few months ago, and as only Joe could do, he had us all laughing with him at his stories. His musical talent was unsurpassed. Elvis loved working with him. We have all lost a great man and a true gentleman. My heart goes out to his beloved family.”
In the decades after Elvis Presley’s death, Mr. Guercio was still one of many keeping the legend of “The King” alive. Starting in 1997, he served as the conductor for “Elvis: The Concert,” which paired a live band with archival Presley recordings. He also was on hand for the “Elvis 35th Anniversary Concert” in Memphis in 2012.
“All of us at Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Joe Guercio,” said CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Jack Soden. “He was a dear friend and loved by all. Joe not only entertained millions as an incredibly talented musical director, but also entertained all that knew him with his wonderful sense of humor. The world has lost a great man, and we all have lost a special friend.”
In addition to Presley, Mr. Guercio worked with a number of other musical giants over the years. He began his career as an accompanist for Patti Page and was an arranger for Barbra Streisand’s “Sweet Inspiration/Where You Lead” and Gladys Knight’s “The Way We Were/Try to Remember.” In 1997, his career even took him to the Vatican, when he joined B.B. King to perform at the Vatican’s annual Christmas concert and meet Pope John Paul II.
“I’ve really had a great life,” he said in a 2010 interview with the National Association of Music Merchants. “And luck played a big part of it, you know? Being in the right place at the right time.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30582761 Joe Cocker
Jeremy Lloyd, co-creator of BBC comedies 'Allo 'Allo! and Are You Being Served?, has died aged 84.
Lloyd died in hospital after being admitted for pneumonia, his agent said.
He worked with fellow comedy writer David Croft on the popular comedy series set in a department store, which ran from 1972-85.
His agent Alexandra Cann said: "Jeremy was a great wit and always a mass of original ideas.
"He had a wonderfully original mind and will be greatly missed."
Lloyd was married three times, including the actress Joanna Lumley for a short period in 1970.
He was appointed an OBE in 2012 for services to comedy and said he was "astounded" to gain an honour for what he enjoyed.
The success of Are you Being Served? spawned two spin-offs - Grace and Favour and Come Back Mrs Noah - both of which he worked on with Croft, who died in 2011.
The series was based partly on his own experiences of working in a London department store as a suit salesman.
He recalled of his time there: "I was fired for selling soft drinks in a fitting room and smoking too much behind the counter."
The partnership's other great success was 'Allo 'Allo!, set in Nazi-occupied France. It was huge success with audiences and was on the BBC from 1982-92.
Lloyd's other work included writing the music and lyrics for children's character Captain Beaky, with a song performed by Keith Mitchell making the UK top five in 1980.
http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/83737/rest-peace-rhodes-reason/ Rhodes Reason
Actress Luise Rainer, who became the first winner of consecutive Oscars in the 1930s, has died at the age of 104.
The German-born star was named best actress in 1936 and 1937 - a feat achieved by only five actors in Academy Awards history to date.
Her achievement made her a force in the golden age of Hollywood cinema, but was also a curse, making her last major film in 1943.
She settled in London and made occasional appearances on film and TV.
Rainer appeared in US small screen series The Loveboat in 1984, while her last substantial film role came in 1998, playing opposite Michael Gambon and Dominic West in The Gambler.
The actress appeared in a number of German films before being talent-spotted by Hollywood studio MGM and making her debut in 1935.
Just a year later she scooped an Academy Award for her performance in The Great Ziegfield, playing the legendary theatrical impresario's wife.
In one famous scene, her face was tear-stained as she congratulated her former husband on his marriage to another actress.
The following year, her portrayal of a Chinese peasant in The Good Earth won her a second statuette, at a time when Oscar winners were disclosed some time before the ceremony.
The actress told the BBC in 2003 the awards ceremony "was not as elaborate" as it is today.
Rainer later said that "nothing worse could have happened to me," explaining two awards meant the studio could "throw me into anything".
After clashing with MGM over a lack of artistic freedom and losing out to Ingrid Bergman in Ernest Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls, she broke her contract with them.
"I was a machine, practically - a tool in a big, big factory, and I could not do anything. And so I left. I just went away. I fled. Yes, I fled," she later said in an interview.
Other actors to have collected consecutive acting awards are Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Jason Robards and Tom Hanks.
Rainer was married twice, and second husband Robert Knittel died in 1989 after their marriage of 44 years.
The couple had one daughter, Francesca Knittel-Bowyer, who said her mother had died from pneumonia at her London home.
"She was bigger than life and could charm the birds out of the trees," she said. "If you saw her, you'd never forget her.''
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30631088?print=true
Jeremy Lloyd, co-creator of BBC comedies 'Allo 'Allo! and Are You Being Served?, has died aged 84.
Lloyd died in hospital after being admitted for pneumonia, his agent said.
He worked with fellow comedy writer David Croft on the popular comedy series set in a department store, which ran from 1972-85.
His agent Alexandra Cann said: "Jeremy was a great wit and always a mass of original ideas.
"He had a wonderfully original mind and will be greatly missed."
Lloyd was married three times, including the actress Joanna Lumley for a short period in 1970.
He was appointed an OBE in 2012 for services to comedy and said he was "astounded" to gain an honour for what he enjoyed.
The success of Are you Being Served? spawned two spin-offs - Grace and Favour and Come Back Mrs Noah - both of which he worked on with Croft, who died in 2011.
The series was based partly on his own experiences of working in a London department store as a suit salesman.
He recalled of his time there: "I was fired for selling soft drinks in a fitting room and smoking too much behind the counter."
The partnership's other great success was 'Allo 'Allo!, set in Nazi-occupied France. It was huge success with audiences and was on the BBC from 1982-92.
Lloyd's other work included writing the music and lyrics for children's character Captain Beaky, with a song performed by Keith Mitchell making the UK top five in 1980.
http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/83737/rest-peace-rhodes-reason/ Rhodes Reason
Actress Luise Rainer, who became the first winner of consecutive Oscars in the 1930s, has died at the age of 104.
The German-born star was named best actress in 1936 and 1937 - a feat achieved by only five actors in Academy Awards history to date.
Her achievement made her a force in the golden age of Hollywood cinema, but was also a curse, making her last major film in 1943.
She settled in London and made occasional appearances on film and TV.
Rainer appeared in US small screen series The Loveboat in 1984, while her last substantial film role came in 1998, playing opposite Michael Gambon and Dominic West in The Gambler.
The actress appeared in a number of German films before being talent-spotted by Hollywood studio MGM and making her debut in 1935.
Just a year later she scooped an Academy Award for her performance in The Great Ziegfield, playing the legendary theatrical impresario's wife.
In one famous scene, her face was tear-stained as she congratulated her former husband on his marriage to another actress.
The following year, her portrayal of a Chinese peasant in The Good Earth won her a second statuette, at a time when Oscar winners were disclosed some time before the ceremony.
The actress told the BBC in 2003 the awards ceremony "was not as elaborate" as it is today.
Rainer later said that "nothing worse could have happened to me," explaining two awards meant the studio could "throw me into anything".
After clashing with MGM over a lack of artistic freedom and losing out to Ingrid Bergman in Ernest Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls, she broke her contract with them.
"I was a machine, practically - a tool in a big, big factory, and I could not do anything. And so I left. I just went away. I fled. Yes, I fled," she later said in an interview.
Other actors to have collected consecutive acting awards are Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Jason Robards and Tom Hanks.
Rainer was married twice, and second husband Robert Knittel died in 1989 after their marriage of 44 years.
The couple had one daughter, Francesca Knittel-Bowyer, who said her mother had died from pneumonia at her London home.
"She was bigger than life and could charm the birds out of the trees," she said. "If you saw her, you'd never forget her.''
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30631088?print=true
http://tinyurl.com/l4vdrnf
ROME – Italian actress Virna Lisi who played memorable roles in European and Hollywood films including 1965 comedy classic “How To Murder Your Wife,” with Jack Lemmon, in which she famously pops out of wedding cake wearing a bikini, and also a masterfully maleficent queen in Patrice Chereau’s “La Reine Margot,” died in Rome on Thursday. She was 78.
Lisi had been recently diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer, according to Italian press reports.
Born in Ancona 1936 as Virna Pieralisi, she began her film career as a teenager in 1953, initially thanks to her stunning looks. Her increasingly important parts in Italian postwar pics include 1957 drama “La Donna Del Giorno,” 1963 crimer “Il Delitto” Dupre, with Alain Delon, and Mario Monicelli’s 1965 Italo comedy classic “Casanova ’70’,” in which she co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni.
In 1965 Lisi was put under contract by Paramount. She debuted in Hollywood as a blue-eyed temptress opposite Jack Lemmon in Richard Quine’s “How To Murder Your Wife,” followed by “Not With My Wife, You Don’t” with Tony Curtis, in 1966, directed by Norman Panama, and “Assault on a Queen” with Frank Sinatra, also in 1966, directed by Jack Donohue.
Tired of being relegated to playing “dumb blonde” roles, Lisi in the late ’60’s broke her seven-year Paramount contract, after paying a costly penalty fee and reportedly turning down the lead role in Roger Vadim’s “Barbarella,” which went to Jane Fonda.
Back in Europe, Lisi struggled to find roles appropriate to her stature. But one came along in 1994 with her performance as the witchy queen Caterina de’ Medici in “La Reine Margot,” which won her the Prix Du Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and also a Cesar, France’s top film nod. She was honored with a career Italian Golden Globe in 2004 and also received numerous other Italian nods.
More recently, Lisi’s career mostly involved Italian TV series with the notable exceptions of Cristina Comencini’s ensemble drama “The Best Day Of My Life.” Lisi’s last film performance, after a twelve year hiatus, is in Cristina Comencini’s upcoming comedy “Latin Lover,” now in post.
Lisi is survived by a son, Corrado, and three grandchildren, Franco, Federico, and Riccardo.
http://tinyurl.com/l5952tv
Joseph Sargent, director of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” and winner of four Emmys and four DGA Awards, died Monday at his home in Malibu of complications from heart disease. He was 89.
Sargent worked until he was 84. His credits included “Something The Lord Made,” “Warm Springs” “MacArthur,” “The Incident,” “Playing For Time,” “Miss Rose White” “Miss Evers’ Boys” and “Love Is Never Silent.”
He and his wife Carolyn helped co-found Deaf Theatre West as also founded the Free Arts Clinic For Abused Children. He won a Genesis Award for “The Last Elephant.”
Sargent worked during his last decade as the senior filmmaker-in-residence for the directing program at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles and as the first professor of a masters program in film directing at Pepperdine University in Malibu, where Sargent and his wife Carolyn have resided for 40 years.
“When it comes to directing Movies for Television, Joe’s dominance and craftsmanship was legendary — for the past 50 years,” said Directors Guild of America president Paris Barclay.
“With eight DGA Awards nominations in Movies for Television, more than any other director in this category, Joe embodied directorial excellence on the small screen.” Barclay said. “He was unafraid of taking risks, believing in his heart that television audiences demanded the highest quality stories – whether chronicling uncomfortable historic events like the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study in ‘Miss Evers’ Boys,’ or compelling personal stories about inspiring individuals like heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas in ‘Something the Lord Made.’ His biographies demonstrated an exactitude for period accuracy while simultaneously infusing historical figures with true-to-life spirit and passion. Joe once said that he was ‘drawn to projects possessing ‘edge’ — material that can make some comment or contribution to the condition of man,’ and it is this ‘edge’ that is his enduring directorial legacy.”
He was born Giusseppe Daneiele Sorgente in Jersey City, New Jersey. He served as a teenage GI volunteer in Western Europe in World War II; after the war, he began studying as an actor studying at the Actors’ Studio.
He gained experience in episodic TV, first as an actor and finally getting directory opportunities in “Gunsmoke,” “Bonanza,” “Lassie,” “The Fugitive,” “Star Trek” and “The Man From Uncle. He won his first Emmy directing the pilot episode of “Kojak,” a film entitled “The Marcus-Nelson Murders.”
Sargent is survived by his widow Carolyn Nelson Sargent, two daughters, Lia Sargent and Athena Sargent Sergneri (from a prior marriage to Mary Carver), and by nieces Charlotte and Emma Nelson.
ROME – Italian actress Virna Lisi who played memorable roles in European and Hollywood films including 1965 comedy classic “How To Murder Your Wife,” with Jack Lemmon, in which she famously pops out of wedding cake wearing a bikini, and also a masterfully maleficent queen in Patrice Chereau’s “La Reine Margot,” died in Rome on Thursday. She was 78.
Lisi had been recently diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer, according to Italian press reports.
Born in Ancona 1936 as Virna Pieralisi, she began her film career as a teenager in 1953, initially thanks to her stunning looks. Her increasingly important parts in Italian postwar pics include 1957 drama “La Donna Del Giorno,” 1963 crimer “Il Delitto” Dupre, with Alain Delon, and Mario Monicelli’s 1965 Italo comedy classic “Casanova ’70’,” in which she co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni.
In 1965 Lisi was put under contract by Paramount. She debuted in Hollywood as a blue-eyed temptress opposite Jack Lemmon in Richard Quine’s “How To Murder Your Wife,” followed by “Not With My Wife, You Don’t” with Tony Curtis, in 1966, directed by Norman Panama, and “Assault on a Queen” with Frank Sinatra, also in 1966, directed by Jack Donohue.
Tired of being relegated to playing “dumb blonde” roles, Lisi in the late ’60’s broke her seven-year Paramount contract, after paying a costly penalty fee and reportedly turning down the lead role in Roger Vadim’s “Barbarella,” which went to Jane Fonda.
Back in Europe, Lisi struggled to find roles appropriate to her stature. But one came along in 1994 with her performance as the witchy queen Caterina de’ Medici in “La Reine Margot,” which won her the Prix Du Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and also a Cesar, France’s top film nod. She was honored with a career Italian Golden Globe in 2004 and also received numerous other Italian nods.
More recently, Lisi’s career mostly involved Italian TV series with the notable exceptions of Cristina Comencini’s ensemble drama “The Best Day Of My Life.” Lisi’s last film performance, after a twelve year hiatus, is in Cristina Comencini’s upcoming comedy “Latin Lover,” now in post.
Lisi is survived by a son, Corrado, and three grandchildren, Franco, Federico, and Riccardo.
http://tinyurl.com/l5952tv
Joseph Sargent, director of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” and winner of four Emmys and four DGA Awards, died Monday at his home in Malibu of complications from heart disease. He was 89.
Sargent worked until he was 84. His credits included “Something The Lord Made,” “Warm Springs” “MacArthur,” “The Incident,” “Playing For Time,” “Miss Rose White” “Miss Evers’ Boys” and “Love Is Never Silent.”
He and his wife Carolyn helped co-found Deaf Theatre West as also founded the Free Arts Clinic For Abused Children. He won a Genesis Award for “The Last Elephant.”
Sargent worked during his last decade as the senior filmmaker-in-residence for the directing program at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles and as the first professor of a masters program in film directing at Pepperdine University in Malibu, where Sargent and his wife Carolyn have resided for 40 years.
“When it comes to directing Movies for Television, Joe’s dominance and craftsmanship was legendary — for the past 50 years,” said Directors Guild of America president Paris Barclay.
“With eight DGA Awards nominations in Movies for Television, more than any other director in this category, Joe embodied directorial excellence on the small screen.” Barclay said. “He was unafraid of taking risks, believing in his heart that television audiences demanded the highest quality stories – whether chronicling uncomfortable historic events like the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study in ‘Miss Evers’ Boys,’ or compelling personal stories about inspiring individuals like heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas in ‘Something the Lord Made.’ His biographies demonstrated an exactitude for period accuracy while simultaneously infusing historical figures with true-to-life spirit and passion. Joe once said that he was ‘drawn to projects possessing ‘edge’ — material that can make some comment or contribution to the condition of man,’ and it is this ‘edge’ that is his enduring directorial legacy.”
He was born Giusseppe Daneiele Sorgente in Jersey City, New Jersey. He served as a teenage GI volunteer in Western Europe in World War II; after the war, he began studying as an actor studying at the Actors’ Studio.
He gained experience in episodic TV, first as an actor and finally getting directory opportunities in “Gunsmoke,” “Bonanza,” “Lassie,” “The Fugitive,” “Star Trek” and “The Man From Uncle. He won his first Emmy directing the pilot episode of “Kojak,” a film entitled “The Marcus-Nelson Murders.”
Sargent is survived by his widow Carolyn Nelson Sargent, two daughters, Lia Sargent and Athena Sargent Sergneri (from a prior marriage to Mary Carver), and by nieces Charlotte and Emma Nelson.
http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=18998 Joanna Dunham
Ian McLagan, who played keyboard for the English rock bands Small Faces and Faces and was a sideman for the Rolling Stones, died Wednesday in Austin, Texas. He was 69.
His official website listed the cause as "complications from a stroke suffered the previous day."
"I am completely devastated by this shocking news, said Kenny Jones, McLagan's bandmate in Small Faces and Faces.
McLagan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
In a June interview with NPR, McLagan said his musical road wasn't always easy.
"Well, there was a time when I gave up music," he said. "But actually what I had given up was drugs and the people I was playing with. They weren't making me happy."
In it, he credited his late wife, Kim, whom he married in 1978 and was with until her death in 2006, with helping him find his way back to music.
McLagan's death comes a day after the death of Bobby Keys, the legendary saxophonist who played for the Stones.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/03/368311064/keyboardist-ian-mclagan-dies-at-69
Ken Weatherwax, who played the pudgy son Pugsley on the 1960s ABC sitcom The Addams Family, has died. He was 59.
Weatherwax died Sunday from a heart attack, his niece, Shanyn Vieira, announced on Facebook. Later, TMZ reported that he died in his California home and that there will be two funerals, one for the family and one for the fans.
Weatherwax starred as Pugsley, the reserved, insect-eating son of Gomez and Morticia Addams (John Astin and Carolyn Jones) and the brother of Wednesday Addams (Lisa Loring), on the campy Filmways Television sitcom.
Based on the New Yorker comic strip by cartoonist Charles Addams, The Addams Family spent just two seasons (1964-66) on ABC but aired for years in syndication. It also spawned a pair of Barry Sonnenfeld movies in the 1990s that had Jimmy Workman playing Pugsley.
A native of Los Angeles, Weatherwax also appeared in toothpaste commercials and on a 1964 episode of Wagon Train. After The Addams Family ended, he tried out for other roles but didn’t land anything, saying he was a victim of typecasting, he told Bill O’Reilly in a 2008 interview.
He also said kids in school hassled him for playing a character named Pugsley.
“Frankly, I didn’t deal with it very well,” he told O’Reilly. “I was kicked out of like six or seven schools and went into the service [the Army] at the age of 17. I did kind of draw a lot of fire from that.”
Later, he played Pugsley Sr. on a 1977 Halloween Addams Family movie for NBC and reportedly worked as a grip and set builder in Hollywood.
Weatherwax’s aunt was dancer and actress Ruby Keeler, who starred in such famed 1930s Warner Bros. musicals as 42nd Street, and his uncle was Lassie’s trainer, Rudd Weatherwax.
His other brother is actor Joey D. Vieira, who starred as Porky Brockway on a Lassie TV series of the 1950s and had small parts in such films as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and The Patriot (2000).
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ken-weatherwax-dead-pugsley-addams-754825
Ian McLagan, who played keyboard for the English rock bands Small Faces and Faces and was a sideman for the Rolling Stones, died Wednesday in Austin, Texas. He was 69.
His official website listed the cause as "complications from a stroke suffered the previous day."
"I am completely devastated by this shocking news, said Kenny Jones, McLagan's bandmate in Small Faces and Faces.
McLagan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
In a June interview with NPR, McLagan said his musical road wasn't always easy.
"Well, there was a time when I gave up music," he said. "But actually what I had given up was drugs and the people I was playing with. They weren't making me happy."
In it, he credited his late wife, Kim, whom he married in 1978 and was with until her death in 2006, with helping him find his way back to music.
McLagan's death comes a day after the death of Bobby Keys, the legendary saxophonist who played for the Stones.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/03/368311064/keyboardist-ian-mclagan-dies-at-69
Ken Weatherwax, who played the pudgy son Pugsley on the 1960s ABC sitcom The Addams Family, has died. He was 59.
Weatherwax died Sunday from a heart attack, his niece, Shanyn Vieira, announced on Facebook. Later, TMZ reported that he died in his California home and that there will be two funerals, one for the family and one for the fans.
Weatherwax starred as Pugsley, the reserved, insect-eating son of Gomez and Morticia Addams (John Astin and Carolyn Jones) and the brother of Wednesday Addams (Lisa Loring), on the campy Filmways Television sitcom.
Based on the New Yorker comic strip by cartoonist Charles Addams, The Addams Family spent just two seasons (1964-66) on ABC but aired for years in syndication. It also spawned a pair of Barry Sonnenfeld movies in the 1990s that had Jimmy Workman playing Pugsley.
A native of Los Angeles, Weatherwax also appeared in toothpaste commercials and on a 1964 episode of Wagon Train. After The Addams Family ended, he tried out for other roles but didn’t land anything, saying he was a victim of typecasting, he told Bill O’Reilly in a 2008 interview.
He also said kids in school hassled him for playing a character named Pugsley.
“Frankly, I didn’t deal with it very well,” he told O’Reilly. “I was kicked out of like six or seven schools and went into the service [the Army] at the age of 17. I did kind of draw a lot of fire from that.”
Later, he played Pugsley Sr. on a 1977 Halloween Addams Family movie for NBC and reportedly worked as a grip and set builder in Hollywood.
Weatherwax’s aunt was dancer and actress Ruby Keeler, who starred in such famed 1930s Warner Bros. musicals as 42nd Street, and his uncle was Lassie’s trainer, Rudd Weatherwax.
His other brother is actor Joey D. Vieira, who starred as Porky Brockway on a Lassie TV series of the 1950s and had small parts in such films as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and The Patriot (2000).
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ken-weatherwax-dead-pugsley-addams-754825
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