Deaths: November 3
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- Actress
- Additional Crew
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Originally a dance instructor, she came to Broadway during the Depression to begin her career as a professional actress. A daughter of Texas, she originally began work as a dance instructor until a local evangelical-adherent burned down her studio citing her work as being too sinful for human nature. Coming to New York City, she appeared on Broadway introducing the song "My Heart Belongs to Daddy". She later made a name for herself in several Hollywood musicals during the 1940s and later in her career enjoyed huge success as Peter Pan, which she cited as her favorite role.- Writer
- Soundtrack
Armando Tejada Gómez is known for La edad del sol (1999), Historia de un hombre de 561 años (1974) and Retrato en vivo (1979).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Entering the Mexican film industry in the 1930s, it didn't take Arturo de Córdova long to become a major star, specializing in action and adventure films. At the height of his popularity he was beckoned to Hollywood in an attempt to make him a "Latin lover" type in the mold of Ricardo Montalban, Fernando Lamas and Gilbert Roland. However, after a few attempts in lower-budget films, de Córdova returned to Mexico to continue his career there, eventually surpassing his previous fame and also becoming a major star in South America and Spain.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Bob Kane was an American comic book writer and artist of Jewish descent, most famous for co-creating Batman and several members of Batman's supporting cast. Kane was inducted into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1994 and into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1996.
Kane was born under the name "Robert Kahn" in New York City. His father was the engraver Herman Kahn, and his mother was the housewife Augusta. Both of his parents were originally from Eastern Europe.
Kane attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where he was friends with future comic book writer Will Eisner. Following his graduation, he legally changed his name to "Robert Kane" and enrolled at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art to study art. The school was a private college, located at Cooper Square on the border of the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
Kane originally wanted to become an animator, and in 1934 he was hired as a trainee animator by the animation studio Fleischer Studios (1921-1942), headed by the brothers Max Fleischer (1883-1972) and Dave Fleischer (1894-1979). He worked for up to two years in the production of animated short films, but had left the studio by 1936.
Kane entered the comics field in 1936, as a freelance penciler and inker. His early work was published in the magazine "Wow, What A Magazine!," which was edited by cartoonist Jerry Iger (1903-1990). Kane's most notable contribution was the comic serial "Hiram Hick", which he both drew and inked.
In 1936, Jerry Iger and .Will Eisner partnered to create their own company, "Eisner & Iger" (1936-1939). It was a comic book packager, producing complete comic stories that could be sold to publishers that did not have their own creative staff. In 1937, Kane was hired by this upstart company.
Kane's early work included the anthropomorphic animal series "Peter Pupp" (published by the magazine "Wags" in the United Kingdom and by Fiction House's "Jumbo Comics" in the United States), the comedy series "Ginger Snap" (published in "More Fun Comics"), the comedy series "Oscar the Gumshoe" (published in "Detective Comics"), the comedy series "Professor Doolittle" (published in "Adventure Comics"), and the adventure series "Rusty and his Pals" (published in "Adventure Comics). Among them, Peter Pupp stood out for its "overtones of mystery and menace".
By 1939, Superman had become a major hit for an early incarnation of DC Comics and there was a new market for comic book superheroes. Interested in creating his own superhero Kane started working on a new character, "Bat-Man". Kane said his influences for the character included actor Douglas Fairbanks' film portrayal of the swashbuckler Zorro; Leonardo da Vinci's diagram of the ornithopter, a flying machine with huge bat-like wings; and the 1930 film "The Bat Whispers", based on Mary Rinehart's mystery novel "The Circular Staircase" (1908).
Kane had already used Bill Finger as a ghost writer for his early comic strips. He asked Finger to provide additional ideas for Batman, and to write the initial Batman stories. Following a number of Finger's suggested redesigns, "Batman" debuted in "Detective Comics" #27 (May, 1939). It became a major hit for an early incarnation of DC Comics.
Early Batman stories were written and penciled by Bob Kane's own art studio (located in The New York Times building) and then sold for publication. Kane received the sole credit for whatever he and his staff created. Finger remained the main writer of the series, while Jerry Robinson (1922-2011) and George Roussos (1915-2000) were hired as Kane's art assistants. The four of them are jointly credited for introducing most of Batman's early supporting characters and memorable villains.
By the early 1940s, DC Comics demanded more Batman stories than the Bob Kane studio could produce. In response, DC hired its own writers and artists to work on additional stories, though Bob Kane continued to receive the sole credit for the stories. The most notable of these "ghost artists" was Dick Sprang (1915-2000) who remained attached to the Batman series for at least a decade, and co-created a popular new villain, the Riddler. Among the ghost writers of Batman, the most notable was Gardner Fox (1911-1986), who introduced some of Batman's notable equipment.
From 1943 to 1946, Bob Kane focused entirely on the Batman newspaper comic strip, and no longer produced new Batman stories for comic books. In his absence, Jerry Robinson became the main penciler for the Batman stories. Additional ghost artists of the period included Jack Burnley (1911-2006) and Win Mortimer (1919-1998). Several Batman-related covers were designed by Fred Ray (1920-2001), who was also the primary Superman cover-artist of the 1940s,
In 1946, the Batman newspaper comic strip ended, and Bob Kane started producing comic book stories for Batman again. He eventually hired his own ghost writers and ghost artists, The most notable among them were Lew Sayre Schwartz (1926-2011), the main artist of the Batman series between 1946 and 1953, and Sheldon Moldoff (1920-1967), the main artist of the series between 1953 and 1967. Schwartz is mainly remembered for co-creating a popular villain, called Deadshot. Moldoff is remembered for co-creating the villains Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze, the second version of the villainous Clayface, Batman's allies Bat-Mite, Bat-Girl/Betty Kane, and Batwoman/Kathy Kane, and Batman's pet dog Ace the Bat-Hound.
In the 1960s, Kane found work in television animation., He created the television series "Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse" (1960-1962), featuring two anthropomorphic animal superheroes. Courageous Cat was a parody of Batman, while sidekick Minute Mouse was a parody of Robin. Kane subsequently created the television series "Cool McCool" (1966-1967), depicting the adventures of an inept secret agent.
In 1966 or 1967, Kane chose to retire from his work in comic books and animation. He was 52-years-old and had been working on the field for three decades. He started producing "fine art" works for exhibitions in galleries. His work as a painter was prolific, though comic book historians have noted that he again hired ghost artists to help him produce the paintings.
In 1989, Kane was hired as a consultant for the live-action "Batman" (1989) film directed by Tim Burton. He served in the same consulting role for its three sequels, released between 1992 and 1997. In 1998, Kane was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he eventually died. He was 83-years-old and had lived in retirement for two decades.
Kane was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. Several of the characters Kane created remain popular, and he continues to receive posthumous credit in works based on his creations.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Part of the motley crew commandeered by Ernest Borgnine on the popular 1960s TV series McHale's Navy (1962), tall, gangly, beady-eyed, bulb-nosed comic actor Carl Ballantine was better known in other ports as the ultimate "magician". Billed as "The Amazing Ballantine," "The Great Ballantine" and "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician" during his long career, Carl made a comedy career out of being inept -- the magician who could never finish a trick or get the trick right in the first place. So successful was he, in fact, that in 2007 actor/magician Steve Martin presented Carl with the Lifetime Achievement Fellowship from the Magic Castle in Hollywood.
The Chicago native was born Meyer Kessler in Chicago on September 27, 1917, and became fascinated by the magic tricks his barber use to show him at a young age. He immediately began studying the art. Deciding to legit as a magician, he gradually realized that his potential as a comic was much better than as a magician so he decided to spoof his magic act -- pulling up laughs instead of rabbits out of a hat. Changing his name to the more agreeable marquee moniker ("Ballantine") in the early 1940s, it took Carl some time to refine his act as a "bad" magician but eventually he found a successful formula. He later went on to perform at such top establishments as the Palace Theatre in New York, as well as a number of Las Vegas niteries (the first "magician" to do so). The act also made its way to the small screen, becoming a popular time-filler on the TV variety circuit during the 1950s and 1960s.
Carl began showing up as an actor in the early 1960s, appearing on such comedy shows as "Car 54, Where Are You?" (recurring role) before hitting the big time with McHale's Navy (1962), which was similarly styled to Phil Silvers' service comedy "Sergeant Bilko". He played crewmen Lester Gruber for four seasons. Carl also was featured in such film comedies as The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) with Don Knotts, The World's Greatest Lover (1977) with Gene Wilder, Just You and Me, Kid (1979) with George Burns and Mr. Saturday Night (1992) with Billy Crystal. His last film was a bit part in Aimee Semple McPherson (2006) (aka "Sister Aimee"). Carl also was part of the regular cast on the sitcoms The Queen and I (1969) and One in a Million (1980). Every now and then his magician alter ego would reappear on such shows as "Fantasy Island," "Night Court" and "The Cosby Show".
In later years Carl made a strong dent in the cartoon voice-over field and lent his voice to hundreds of regular commercials, including one for the California Raisins. Long married to actress Ceil Cabot, their 45 year marriage ended with her passing on January 27, 2000. They had two daughters, Molly, and actress/voice artist Sara Ballantine. Working practically to the very end, Carl succumbed to age-related problems on November 3, 2009, at age 92.- Actress
Caryll Ann Ekelund was born on 6 May 1935 in Cottonwood, California, USA. She was an actress. She died on 3 November 1939 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Additional Crew
- Visual Effects
- Production Manager
Dino A. De Laurentis was born on 29 February 1972 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a production manager, known for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) and Color of Night (1994). He was married to Talley Singer. He died on 3 November 2003 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Casting Director
- Producer
- Actor
Eddie Foy III was born on 10 February 1935 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a casting director and producer, known for Run Silent Run Deep (1958), Together Brothers (1974) and That Girl (1966). He died on 3 November 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.- Music Department
Friedemann Layer was born on 30 October 1941 in Vienna, Austria. He is known for Tannhäuser (2009). He died on 3 November 2019 in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany.- Geoffrey Keen was born on 21 August 1916 in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979) and For Your Eyes Only (1981). He was married to Doris Groves, Madeline Howell and Hazel Terry. He died on 3 November 2005 in Denville Hall, Northwood, Hillingdon, London, England, UK.
- Art Department
Henri Emile Benoit Matisse was born on December 31, 1869, in Le Cateau-Cambresis, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. His father, named Emile Hippolyte Matisse, was a merchant, whose family were weavers. His mother, named Anna Heloise Matisse (nee Gerard), was a daughter of a tanner; she made hats and painted china. Young Matisse was a pensive child penchant to observe pigeons, a habit which he would reproduce in his later years. From1887-1889 he studied law in Paris, then worked as a law office clerk back in Le Cateau-Cambresis.
Art was brought into Matisse's world by his loving mother. She bought him art supplies during his lengthy convalescence from an operation of appendectomy. Bedridden for several months Matisse began to copy paintings. After he was recovered from his illness, Matisse abandoned law in favor of art. In 1891 he again went to Paris; this time he studied art at the Academie Julian. There his teachers were W.-A. Bouguereau, an Academist, and Gustave Moreau, a Symbolist. He also copied masterworks at Paris museums and broadened his mind with such influences as Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, and Vincent van Gogh, whose paintings he bought in 1899. "In modern art, it is undoubtedly to Cezanne that I owe the most"- wrote Matisse. He was inspired by the impressionist's use of color as an element of composition.
From 1896 Matisse was sending his paintings to various exhibitions in Paris, and in 1904 he had his first solo show. His style developed through experiments with separating elements of the artwork into color, line, form, and composition - and then integrating those elements untraditional. Matisse's artistic evolution from classical Academism to Fauvism took about 10 years of experiments. He introduced more expressive and bright colors during his 1905 work on the French Riviera. After an exhibition in 1905, Matisse and his followers Derain, Vlaminc, Van Dongen, and Vuillard were given the name Les Fauves (Wild Ones). Then Matisse went to Spain and Northern Africa, where he was inspired by the bright colours of the sun. He studied Spanish and Moorish cultures and was fascinated with the traditions and art. His impressions of national dances inspired his Le Dance I (The Dance I 1907), a composition of five pink dancers. It was acquired from Matisse by Gertrude Stein and later donated to the Museum of Modern Art.
Matisse was generously patronized by two Russian collectors: Savva Morozov and Sergei Shchukin. He further developed the dance theme in a more dynamic composition of Le dance II (The Dance II 1910). In the second dance he used a bolder interplay of colors and stronger lines to create a sense of moving figures. He made three monumental canvasses: The Red Room, The Dance II, and The Music on commissions from the Russian businessman Sergei Shchukin, who was buying Matisse from 1908-1914 for his mansion. In 1911 Matisse traveled to Russia on Shchukin's invitation. In Moscow he advised Shchukin on the display of his vast art collection, which also included the works of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, and many other artists. In Russia Matisse saw collections of ancient Russian icons and his high praise of them was widely reported.
From 1906-1917 Matisse lived in Paris. He established his home, studio, and school at Hotel Biron. There his neighbors were sculptor Auguste Rodin, writer Jean Cocteau, and dancer Isadora Duncan. Marisse was in touch with the artistic community of Montparnasse. In 1906 he met Pablo Picasso and they became friends and exchanged paintings. In 1907 he visited Italy and Algeria, and in 1908 he published a book "The Notes of a Painter." In 1910 he visited Munich to see exhibitions of Oriental art. He spent winters of 1912 and 1913 in Marocco perfecting his color scheme under Mediterranian sun. By that time Matisse along with Picasso was seen as the leading new painter in Paris. In 1918 Guillaume Apollinaire organized and cataloged the first Matisse-Picasso exhibition. Matisse's life-long extraordinary artistic dialogue with Pablo Picasso took a form of a "visual conversation" and exchange of their paintings with mutual respect. The two artists often inspired each other and paralleled each other's artistic experiments.
From 1917 Matisse lived in the South of France, mainly at Hotel Regina in Cimiez, a suburb of Nice. There his techniques and color scheme undergone a series of transformations. In 1920 Matisse designed the stage set and decorations for ballet The Nightingale by Igor Stravinsky produced by Sergei Diaghilev. In 1930 he made a trip to Tahiti, then visited New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. There Matisse was commissioned to make a triptych on the theme of dance for the Barnes Foundation. From 1931-1933 he painted his largest works, a mural Le Dance III (The Dance III 1931), a triptych, for the Museum of the City of Paris, and a variant of Le Dance III (The Dance III 1933), also a triptych, for the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. For this gigantic task Matisse hired the 22-year-old Russian émigré Lidia Delektorskaya, who tirelessly supported all his efforts as an art assistant and factotum. Matisse's ailing wife Amelie Parayre demanded that the golden-haired Russian manager be fired, "It's me or her", and the help was fired. Then Madame Matisse demanded divorce anyway and walked out on Matisse after 31 years of marriage. Matisse fell seriously ill and rehired Delektorskaya. In 1940, he was diagnosed with duodenal cancer and undergone a radical surgery at Clinique du Parc, Lyon, in January 1941. Delektorskaya was with Matisse all the time; she comforted him through his illness and recovery, and prolonged his artistic activity for another two decades.
He designed the stage decoration and costumes for ballet "Rouge at Noir" by choreographer Léonide Massine to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. He also illustrated works by Stéphane Mallarmé, Charles Baudelaire, Mariana Alcoforado, and Henry de Montherlant, among many others. Being physically handicapped in his later years Matisse was spurred by Pablo Picasso and developed a variety of methods and techniques that allowed him to make art from a wheelchair or from his bed. At that time he made such outstanding works as Jazz, The Snail, a series of Blue Nudes, and Memories of Oceania. In 1944-1947 he worked on a unique art book "Jazz" with 20 cut-outs and hand-written text. A documentary film on Matisse was made in Nice in 1946. Matisse triumphed over his disability and produced remarkable works of art, contributing to the avant-garde and abstract art of the day.
Matisse created an art-world of a highest aesthetic value and artistic quality. During 60 years of his artistic journey Matisse founded the style of Fauvism and touched many other artistic movements of the 20th Century. He at times paralleled the work of Pablo Picasso by interpreting similar subjects in his own way. Among his last works were designs of interior decorations and stained-glass panels for churches, notably his design of Vence chapel, which Matisse donated and considered his masterpiece. Henri Matisse died on November 3, 1954, and was laid to rest in the cemetery on the hilltop at Cimiez. Matisse museum was opened in Nice.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Scottish character actor and occasional leading man who enlivened scores of fine films in Britain and America. His father was a lawyer in a small town in Lanarkshire. Bannen served in the army and attended Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire. His first acting role came in a 1947 Dublin production of "Armlet of Jade". He became a successful figure on the London stage, making a name for himself in the plays of both William Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neill. He was an original member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared on Broadway as well. His film debut occurred in the mid-1950s, and he quickly rose to prominence, primarily in a wide range of supporting roles. His performance as "Crow" in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) won him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Thirty years and scores of films later, Bannen was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Long after his leading man days had passed, he won new acclaim for his role as the touchingly crafty villager in Waking Ned Devine (1998). The following year he died in an automobile accident. He was survived by his wife of 23 years.- Writer
- Art Department
- Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Mohr was born on 13 September 1925 in Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. He was a writer, known for A Fortunate Man (1972), Play Me Something (1989) and Piaget on Piaget (1977). He was married to Simone Turrenttini. He died on 3 November 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland.- Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
Jerry Bock was born on 23 November 1928 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He was a composer and writer, known for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Election (1999) and Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009). He was married to Patricia Faggen. He died on 3 November 2010 in Mount Kisco, New York, USA.- Genial, fair-haired and boyishly handsome, lanky actor John Lupton's biggest claim to fame was as the co-star of the western TV series Broken Arrow (1956). A reliable actor, if not particularly distinctive, he enjoyed a four-decade-long career on stage, film and TV. Born on August 22, 1928, in Highland Park, Illinois, the son of a newspaper writer, Lupton was raised in Milwaukee where he settled on pursuing an acting career after appearing in a couple of high school plays. He began paying his dues with a local stock company and also performed children's theater. He eventually trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Lupton made his Broadway debut in a minor part in the Mae West showcase "Diamond Lil" (1949), and subsequently co-starred with Susan Peters in "The Glass Menagerie", then was cast in the Katharine Hepburn 1950 tour of "As You Like It. It was Hepburn who helped introduce him to films...and MGM.
As a Metro contract player, Lupton found the going rough, playing bit parts as a spear-carrier in Julius Caesar (1953) and a village idiot in Scandal at Scourie (1953). After two years the studio declined to pick up his option and Lupton began to freelance. One of his better roles was in support of Tab Hunter Battle Cry (1955) in which he played a young soldier who is killed in battle just after learning his girl back home, played by Anne Francis, was prostituting herself. He went on to appear as a rookie type in a number of late 1950s action-oriented yarns, including The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), Drango (1957), Taming Sutton's Gal (1957), Gun Fever (1958) and The Man in the Net (1959). In a departure from the norm, Lupton later found an isolated film lead playing the famous outlaw in the witless cult horror entry Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966).
The actor found earnest roles in TV dramatic showcases as well, such as Robert Montgomery Presents (1950), Playhouse 90 (1956) and Studio One (1948). All this culminated in the "Broken Arrow" TV series in which Lupton played government agent Tom Jeffords, a role originated by James Stewart in the 1950 feature film of the same name, endeavoring to keep the peace between white settlers and Apaches and their honorable and charismatic chief, Cochise, (played by Michael Ansara).
Lupton's career maintained its pace into the next decade as a result of his long-running role as Tommy Horton on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives (1965), as well as in commercials and in a slew of made-for-TV movies. He also guested on such popular programs as Wagon Train (1957), Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964), The F.B.I. (1965), Ironside (1967), Kung Fu (1972), Cannon (1971), Harry O (1973), Charlie's Angels (1976), The Rockford Files (1974) and B.J. and the Bear (1978).
Lupton's first marriage, which produced a daughter, ended in divorce. A second marriage to Dian Friml, the granddaughter of "The Vagabond King" composer Rudolf Friml, lasted until his death. He was seen less and less into the 1980s and later found full-time employment with a computer firm, appearing in guest roles on the sly. Volunteer work included serving with the Multiple Sclerosis Association and the Special Olympics.
John Lupton's last film, Body Shot (1994), was released the year of his death. He died of undisclosed causes on November 3, 1993, at age 65. Wife Dian died in 2005. - Actor
- Soundtrack
John Orchard was born on 15 November 1928 in Lambeth, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Capone (1975) and Ice Station Zebra (1968). He was married to Carol Randall. He died on 3 November 1995 in London, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
An eloquent character actor who would become a celebrated TV camp icon of the late 1960s, Jonathan Harris was born Jonathan Daniel Charasuchin on November 6, 1914, in the Bronx borough of New York City. The son of impoverished Russian-Jewish émigrés, his father worked in the garment industry and young Jonathan contributed to the family income by working as a box boy in a pharmacy at age 12, which inspired him enough to, after graduating from James Monroe High School, earn a pharmacy degree at Fordham University in 1936.
However, Jonathan's desire to act was quite strong at an early age and it proved overwhelming in the end, forsaking a steady pharmaceutical career for the thoroughly unsteady work in the theater. Self-trained to shake his thick Bronx accent by watching British movies and pursuing interests in Shakespeare and archaeology, Jonathan changed his surname to one much easier to pronounce. After performing in over 100 plays in stock companies nationwide, he finally made an inauspicious debut as a Polish officer in the play "Heart of a City" (1942) and also entertained World War II troops in the South Pacific. Other New York plays during this war-era decade would include "Right Next to Broadway" (1944), "A Flag Is Born" (1946), "The Madwoman of Chaillot (1948) and "The Grass Harp" (1952).
Following his introduction to live television drama in 1948, Jonathan ventured off to Hollywood. After appearing in a number of television anthologies such as "The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre", "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse", "Betty Crocker Star Matinee", "Goodyear Playhouse" and "Hallmark Hall of Fame", he made his film debut as part of a band of potential mutineers in the film Botany Bay (1952) starring doctor hero Alan Ladd and villainous captain James Mason. He wouldn't make another film for another five years, with a supporting role as Lysias in the biblical story of Simon Peter in The Big Fisherman (1959) starring Howard Keel.
However, it was television that would make keep Jonathan working and make a stronger impression. Remaining steadfast on classy anthologies dramas such as "Armstrong Circle Theatre", "Studio One in Hollywood", "Matinee Theatre", "Schlitz Playhouse", "Climax", "Colgate Theatre", "Kraft Theatre", "General Electric Theatre", as well as the role of Exton in a TV-movie version of King Richard II (1954), he began appearing on more popular television series such as Zorro (1957), Father Knows Best (1954), The Law and Mr. Jones (1960), Outlaws (1960), The Twilight Zone (1959), The Lloyd Bridges Show (1962) and Bonanza (1959), Jonathan got his first taste of television success and audiences got to witness the fusty, cowardly, uppity side of Jonathan in two archetypal regular roles: as cowardly assistant Bradley Webster on the crime drama The Third Man (1959) starring Michael Rennie and as persnickety hotel manager Mr. Phillips on the short-lived sitcom The Bill Dana Show (1963) starring the Latin-speaking comic as a bellhop.
This culminated in the television regular role that would make Jonathan a cult icon, as Dr. Zachary Smith, the dastardly, effete spaceship stowaway on Lost in Space (1965). Along with his straight man robot, Harris easily stole the show week after week as he botched and mangled all the good intentions of the Robinson family to get back home to Earth. Jonathan would find himself severely typecast as a plummy villain for the remainder of his career, and was seen usually in cryptic form on such television series as The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968), Land of the Giants (1968), Get Smart (1965), Bewitched (1964), McMillan & Wife (1971), Night Gallery (1969), Love, American Style (1969), Sanford and Son (1972), Vega$ (1978), Fantasy Island (1977), etc. He did reappear on the brief sci-fi series Space Academy (1977), as Commander Isaac Gampu, leader of a space academy in the year 3732. However, this character was the polar opposite of Dr. Zachary Smith -- wise, honorable and brave.
Jonathan's crisp, eloquent voice was also used frequently with great relish in commercials and for sci-fi and animated series purposes -- The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1968), Battlestar Galactica (1978), Foofur (1986), Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light (1987), Problem Child (1993), The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat (1995), Freakazoid! (1995) and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000). His voice was also used for the animated features Happily Ever After (1989), A Bug's Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999).
A drama teacher and vocal coach in later years, Harris died of a blood clot to the heart on November 3, 2002, just three days before his 88th birthday. He was survived by his long-time wife (from 1938), Gertrude Bregman, and son Richard (born 1942). He was interred in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.- Actor
- Soundtrack
José Luis 'Person' Properzi was born on 23 February 1967 in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Punto ciego (2014), Nunca es tarde (2015) and Pura Química (2010). He died on 3 November 2015 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Justo Oscar Laguna was born on 25 September 1929 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died on 3 November 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Kay Starr was born on 21 July 1922 in Dougherty, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress, known for The Nice Guys (2016), L.A. Confidential (1997) and Shutter Island (2010). She was married to Earl Spencer Callicutt, George Alfred Mellen, Vic Schoen, Harold Solomon (Stanley), Roy E. Davis and Woody Gunther. She died on 3 November 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Kit Ying Lam was born on 27 April 1963 in Hong Kong, British Crown Colony. She was an actress, known for A Chinese Odyssey: Part 2 - Cinderella (1995), A Chinese Odyssey: Part One - Pandora's Box (1995) and The Bride with White Hair (1993). She died on 3 November 2018 in Hong Kong, China.
- Actress
- Make-Up Department
- Producer
Lorissa McComas was born on 26 November 1970 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for The Bare Wench Project (2000), Droid Gunner (1995) and Lap Dancing (1995). She died on 3 November 2009 in Waverly, Virginia, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Louis Eppolito was born on 22 July 1948 in Brooklyn, New York, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Lost Highway (1997), Goodfellas (1990) and Predator 2 (1990). He was married to Frances Ann . He died on 3 November 2019 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.- Marc Michel was born on 10 February 1929 in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, France. He was an actor, known for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), Lola (1961) and The Free Frenchman (1989). He was married to Liv Knutsen. He died on 3 November 2016 in Dreux, Eure-et-Loir, France.
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Maria Guinot was born on 20 June 1945 in Lisbon, Portugal. She was a composer, known for Histórias Quase Clínicas (1988), Eu Show Nico (1980) and Ora Viva (1986). She died on 3 November 2018 in Portugal.- Producer
- Director
- Actor
Mario Faig was born in 1905 in Argentina. He was a producer and director, known for El flequillo de Balá (1965), Los hermanos (1965) and Show de Libertad Lamarque (1964). He died on 3 November 1984 in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Another gorgeous "B" movie blonde who came and went uneventfully in the 1940s, the beautiful Tulsa-born Martha O'Driscoll started off modeling as a child. Her parents were nonprofessionals. Trained in singing and dancing, Martha was discovered by choreographer Hermes Pan in a local theater production in Phoenix, AZ, which led to unbilled bits in musical movies from 1935. Once she had her foot in the door, she was groomed in more visible parts and began pitching products for Max Factor makeup and Royal Crown Cola, among others, in magazine ads while such endorsements promoted her upcoming pictures in return.
Martha attracted film offers from both Paramount and Universal studios in her 12-year Hollywood career, which included musicals, silly slapstick and horror films. She appeared as "Daisy Mae" in Li'l Abner (1940) -- the first screen version of the famous comic strip -- and proved a sexy foil for the teams of Bud Abbott & Lou Costello and Ole Olson & Chic Johnson in their comedy vehicles. She played the pretty prairie flower to a couple of notable western film stars including Tim Holt, and was terrorized by the Wolfman, Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster in her most notable feature, House of Dracula (1945).
In 1943 Martha married a US Navy lieutenant commander but they separated ten months later. Following her last film, Carnegie Hall (1947) and a divorce decree from her first marriage, she married a second time to Chicago businessman Arthur Appleton, heir to an industrial empire, and retired completely (at age 25), In Chicago she became one of the city's more civic-minded leaders, an interest that would last for more than four decades. She also served as an executive for many committees, including the Sarah Siddons Society, and was on the Board of Directors for a few of her husband's companies. From time to time she even appeared in nostalgia conventions. Martha died on November 3, 1998, in Miami.- Milita Brandon was born on 3 November 1930 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was an actress, known for El mucamo de la niña (1951), Where Words Fail (1946) and Adiós pampa mía (1946). She died in 2010 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Nellie Burt was born on 4 January 1900 in Aberdeen, Washington, USA. She was an actress, known for Ben Casey (1961), Bound and Gagged (1919) and The Outer Limits (1963). She was married to William Henry McMullen and Paul Edward Martin . She died on 3 November 1986 in East Rockaway, New York, USA.
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- Director
Paul Willis was born on 9 April 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Secret Garden (1919), A Man for All That (1915) and No Title (1916). He died on 3 November 1960 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Rosángela Balbó was born on 16 April 1941 in Torino, Italy. She was an actress, known for Heridas de amor (2006), Federal de narcoticos (Division Cobra) (1991) and Bandas guerreras (1989). She died on 3 November 2011 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.
- Shoji Sadao was born on 20 December 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was married to Tsuneko Sawada. He died on 3 November 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.
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- Director
- Soundtrack
Sid Melton was born on 22 May 1917 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Captain Midnight (1954), The Golden Girls (1985) and The Steel Helmet (1951). He was married to Jody Lee Myers. He died on 3 November 2011 in Burbank, California, USA.- Actress
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Sondra Locke was born May 28, 1944 as Sandra Louise Smith, in Shelbyville, Tennessee, a quiet little town about 60 miles southeast of Nashville. She was the daughter of Raymond Smith, a military man stationed at nearby Tullahoma, and Pauline Bayne. Smith departed the scene before Sondra's birth. In 1945, her mother wed William B. Elkins, and together they had a son, Donald, on April 26, 1946. The short union ended in divorce. In 1948, Bayne remarried. Alfred Locke bestowed his surname on Pauline's children and raised them as his own. Sondra's stepfather was a carpenter; her mother worked in a pencil factory. For the smart, fanciful Locke, "My childhood felt as if I had been dropped off at an extended summer camp from which I was waiting to be picked up." The bright girl loved to read, which puzzled her simple mother, who was always pushing her to spend more time outside. Sondra's happiest moments occurred on weekend visits to the local movie theater.
Locke was a cheerleader in junior high and graduated valedictorian of Shelbyville Mills' 1957-1958 eighth grade class. At Shelbyville Central High School, the "classroom was the one place where I felt like I had a chance to prove myself and I continued to excel. I felt safe there and I liked it." Her best friend was classmate Gordon Anderson, the son of a teacher, whose family had relocated to the area from Arkansas around 1953. He was a fey young man, who shared many of Sondra's fanciful hopes about the future and was her collaborator in devising harmless ways to make their lives in Shelbyville more magical. One of the duo's frequent activities was making home movies with Gordon's Super 8 camera.
When Gordon attended Middle Tennessee State University (in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles from Nashville) in 1962, Sondra enrolled there too. Upon completing freshman year, Sondra had a blowup with her mother, left home, and did not return to college. Instead, she worked in Nashville as a promotions assistant for WSM-TV, with occasional modeling and voiceover work. While in Nashville, Locke began acting in community theater as a member of Circle Players Inc. Along the way she dated George Crook, a cameraman from WSM, and Brad Crandall, head of the station's public relations department. She also enjoyed a romance with law student Gary Gober, whom she had been in plays with. Meanwhile, Gordon revealed to her that he was homosexual. He went off to Manhattan to study acting and, for a while, had a lover there. Anderson was talented but unfocused about his theater craft and eventually returned to Tennessee. Because of Locke's spiritual kinship with Anderson, she and Gordon decided to wed. The mixed-orientation couple were married at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville on September 25, 1967. (Reputedly, the marriage was never consummated.)
If Gordon was unable to launch his own acting career, he had no such problems igniting Sondra's. Months before their wedding, he learned that Warner Bros. was holding a nationwide search for a young actress to play a key role in the screen adaptation of Carson McCullers' novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968). Anderson helped Locke research the part of Mick, a teenage waif in a southern town who befriends a suicidal deaf-mute (Alan Arkin) boarding at the house where she lives. For the audition, in Birmingham, Alabama, Gordon bleached her eyebrows, bound her bosom and carefully fixed her hair, makeup and outfit so that she would instantly impress casting agents. The ploy succeeded, and, after several callbacks, Locke -- who lied about her age to seem younger -- was hired. The movie was released in the summer of 1968 and earned respectful reviews from critics, although many filmgoers found the picture too arty. Sondra was Oscar-nominated for her sensitive portrayal.
Next, Sondra moved to Los Angeles, with Gordon in tow. She hoped to parlay her Academy Award nomination into further movie assignments. The big-eyed, wiry bottle blonde found it difficult to win choice roles, making her accept lesser projects, the most famous of which was Willard (1971), a film about marauding rats. Cover Me Babe (1970), A Reflection of Fear (1972) and The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974) faded into cinematic obscurity. In the lattermost, Locke played a Christ figure and had torrid love scenes with Paul Sand. Episodic television provided steadier acting opportunities: the anthology program Night Gallery (1969) and dramatic series including The F.B.I. (1965), Cannon (1971), Kung Fu (1972) and Barnaby Jones (1973). Thanks in part to the limited media of the time, she was able to maintain the ruse of younger age, which no doubt extended her shelf-life amid professional lulls. It was in 1972 that she first met rising kingpin Clint Eastwood when he was preparing to direct his second feature film, Breezy (1973). For the title role, Locke was passed over in favor of nine-years-younger Kay Lenz.
For half of the 1970s, the Andersons resided at West Hollywood's Andalusia condominium complex whilst seeing other people. For a time, Sondra was involved with Bruce Davison, her co-star from Willard (1971). While working on the teleplay Gondola (1974), she gained a new boyfriend, sandy-haired actor Bo Hopkins. He was once divorced and shared her penchant for falsifying birthdates. In the spring of 1974, she visited the set of Hopkins' current project, The Killer Elite (1975), and networked with composer Jerry Fielding, who was about to score a new Western showcase for Clint Eastwood. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) had a role that Locke thought could revitalize her career. This time, Eastwood was responsive and hired the 31-year-old to play his romantic interest. In early October 1975, the complementary pair fell hard for each other on location in Page, Arizona. "We were almost living together from the very first days of the film," Locke remembered. Besotted Clint confided he'd never been in love before and wrote a poem for his new mate: "She made me monogamous." This serially philandering megastar was 14 years her senior and a foot taller than she.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) was indeed a hit, with Sondra sparking a flurry of interest among male viewers as virtually nonspeaking eye candy. Yet she stopped pursuing film roles on her own initiative to assume wifely duties, appearing on the big screen exclusively in Eastwood-controlled projects thereon. The sole exception to this was The Shadow of Chikara (1977), an Arkansas-lensed Western with burly Joe Don Baker. (The home invasion thriller Death Game (1977), though released after Locke and Eastwood became an item, was actually shot in 1974.) "Clint wanted me to work only with him," she said. "He didn't like the idea of me being away from him."
Over the next few years, Locke had two abortions from her relationship with Eastwood. In 1979, she underwent a tubal ligation at UCLA to prevent further pregnancies. She and Clint settled into a $1.12 million, seven-bedroom Spanish-style Bel-Air mansion originally built in 1931, which she spent months renovating and decorating, and which she believed would be hers for life. She continued to spend platonic time with Gordon, whom she never divorced, nurtured by their spiritual relationship. Gordon moved in and out of gay relationships, and sometimes he and a boyfriend would socialize with Clint and Sondra. As for the professional side of things, Locke and Eastwood reteamed for his action opus The Gauntlet (1977), slapstick adventure-comedy Every Which Way But Loose (1978), its sequel Any Which Way You Can (1980), the quirky satire Bronco Billy (1980) and the fourth, darkest, most ambitious "Dirty Harry" vehicle, Sudden Impact (1983). All were stellar box office performers and cemented the twosome as filmdom's most visible couple.
During this period, Sondra took a few TV roles when Clint was starring in a movie that had no part for her to play (such as Escape from Alcatraz (1979) or Firefox (1982)). The first time she worked apart from him for any length of time since The Shadow of Chikara (1977) in 1976 was Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story (1982). (Rosemary Clooney personally asked Locke to star in the CBS biopic on the strength of her performance in Bronco Billy (1980).) She later made an appearance on Britain's Tales of the Unexpected (1979) series. For the most part, however, she found herself sitting on the sidelines waiting for Eastwood to cast her in something.
By the mid-1980s, Sondra, over 40 but still refusing to admit it, was acutely aware that in Hollywood terms her leading lady days were just about finished. She had long been interested in film directing and had observed carefully how Eastwood and others directed the pictures she was in. With his blessing, she found a property that intrigued her and that his Malpaso production company would package, and developed it into a project for Warner Bros. She made Ratboy (1986), but despite good reviews, the film received scant distribution. In retrospect, Locke concluded that her exertion of authority over the project caused her longtime paramour to turn away from her, to find someone who was more compliant. (In an unpublicized affair with stewardess Jacelyn Reeves, Eastwood sired two legally fatherless children born in 1986 and 1988, in Monterey -- an "evil betrayal" Locke was unaware of.)
The showdown between Sondra and Clint occurred on December 29, 1988 at their mountain hideaway in Sun Valley, Idaho. After an unpleasant screaming match, Eastwood suggested Locke go back to Los Angeles. She sensed their relationship had passed a point of reconciliation, a fact confirmed when she scarcely saw Eastwood in subsequent months and when industry friends they knew in common shunned her. As she admitted later, "In my head I guess I knew it was over, but in my heart Clint and I were still not severed." On April 10, 1989, while she was directing a demanding sequence in a new police procedural, Impulse (1990), Eastwood had the locks changed on their house in Bel-Air. He also ordered her possessions to be boxed and put in storage. A letter addressed to "Mrs. Gordon Anderson," imperatively telling her not to come home, was delivered to her lawful husband's doorstep. When Gordon telephoned Sondra on the set and read her the letter, she fainted dead away in front of the cast and crew.
On April 26, 1989, Sondra filed a palimony lawsuit against her domestic partner of 14 years. Her "brazenness" in taking on the powerful Eastwood amazed and shocked Tinseltown and titillated the public. Her action sought unspecified damages and an equal division of the property she and Eastwood had acquired during their relationship. Locke asked for title to the Bel-Air home they had shared and to the Crescent Heights (West Hollywood) place Eastwood had purchased in 1982 (in which Gordon lived). The closed hearing was held on May 31, 1989, before a private judge. Before any court decision could be made, a private settlement was reached between the parties. Locke received $450,000, the Crescent Heights property, and a $1.5 million multiyear development-directing pact at Warner Bros. In return, she dropped her suit. By then, the fall of 1990, she was happy to end the hassle. (In the past months she had been diagnosed with cancer, undergone a double mastectomy, and endured chemotherapy.)
For the next three years Locke submitted over 30 projects to Warner Bros., but none received a green light to move ahead. Moreover, the studio refused to assign her to direct any of their in-house projects. In the mid-1990s, Sondra discovered evidence that Eastwood had arranged to reimburse Warner Bros. for her three-year studio contract -- a matter that he had never mentioned to her. It became obvious that the studio's negative professional attitude toward her had little or nothing to do with her directing or project-finding abilities. On June 5, 1995, Locke sued Eastwood again, alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. She claimed that Clint's behind-the-scene actions had sent a message "to the film industry and the world at large ... that Locke was not to be taken seriously." (According to Sondra's lawyer, the situation was Clint's "way of terminating the earlier palimony suit.")
While Locke's case was revving up at the Burbank Courthouse, Eastwood begged her to settle. On September 24, 1996 -- the morning jurors were set to begin a second day of deliberation -- Sondra announced her decision to drop her suit against Clint for an undisclosed monetary reward. One contingency was laid down: she would not reveal the settlement amount. The jubilant plaintiff said, "This was never about money. It was about my fighting for my professional rights." According to the victor, "I didn't enjoy it. But sometimes you have to do things you don't enjoy." Locke added, "In this business, people get so accustomed to being abused, they just accept the abuse and say, 'Well, that's just the way it is.' Well, it isn't."
But Locke was not finished. She had a pending action against Warner Bros. for allegedly harming her career by agreeing to the sham movie-directing deal that Eastwood had purportedly engineered. On May 24, 1999, just as jury selection was beginning (and four days before Locke turned 55), the studio reached an out-of-court settlement with Sondra.
In the decade following her courtroom saga, Sondra did not direct another movie. She did make a brief return to acting with cameo roles in back-to-back low-budget independent features, The Prophet's Game (2000) and Clean and Narrow (2000), both of which failed to secure a theatrical release. In 2001, she sold her home in the Hollywood Hills and moved to another part of L.A. After interim flings with producer Hawk Koch and John F. Kennedy's nephew Robert Shriver, she had a live-in relationship with one of the physicians who had treated her during her cancer siege. Dr. Scott Cunneen, described by Locke as "Herculean," was 17 years her junior, his mother only three years older than Sondra. She eventually split up with him.
In 2016, preceded by a protracted absence from the public eye, trade press reported that Locke would come out of retirement to co-star in Alan Rudolph's Ray Meets Helen (2017) opposite Keith Carradine. The film was booked for a limited run in spring 2018. No longer able to hide her true year of birth in the post-internet era, Sondra was playing a romantic lead at the unheard of age of 74.
Locke died on November 3, 2018, of cardiac arrest stemming from metastatic breast cancer. It was not publicized until mid-December. The mysterious six-week delay raised a lot of eyebrows, especially since the belated news leaked opening day of the latest Eastwood blockbuster, The Mule (2018). According to a death certificate obtained by the media, her cancer had returned in 2015 and spread to her bones. Locke's remains were cremated at Westwood (Village) Mortuary and the ashes entrusted to her husband of 51 years. Rosanna Arquette, Frances Fisher and Evan Rachel Wood were among the celebrities who paid tribute. Despite the acrimony that followed the collapse of her famous relationship, Locke will be long remembered for her prominent roles in some of Eastwood's most popular works -- and perhaps dichotomously, as a pioneer for the rights of independent working women.- Taku Mayumura was born on 20 October 1934 in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. He was a writer and actor, known for Boku to tsuma no 1778 no monogatari (2011), The Dimension Travelers (1998) and Psychic School Wars (2012). He was married to Etsuko Murakami. He died on 3 November 2019 in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
- Actor
- Writer
Tom Magliozzi was born on 28 June 1937 in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Cars (2006), Cars 3 (2017) and Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns (2008). He was married to Julia and Joanne. He died on 3 November 2014 in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA.- Hazel-eyed English leading lady of the 1950s who started as an ingénue at the Windsor Repertory Theatre after having had an earlier career working for the BBC drama department. A social sophisticate and 'girl about town', she was crowned 'Miss Galaxy' and went to Hollywood in 1954 with high hopes for fame and fortune. She unsuccessfully auditioned for the female lead in Bhowani Junction (1956) (which went to Ava Gardner) but the following year was signed as a Columbia starlet and cast as the female lead in the Glenn Ford western Jubal (1956). She appeared with Lee J. Cobb in The Garment Jungle (1957), plus two other westerns (Decision at Sundown (1957)) and The Hard Man (1957)) as well as the abysmal science fiction C-grader The 27th Day (1957). Thereafter, Valerie alternated between television work in the U.S. and the stage, both on and off-Broadway, making headlines in 1969 when appearing nude in "The Mother Lover" at the Booth Theater (though with her back to the audience). Her other Broadway credits included "Inadmissible Evidence" (1965) and "A Taste of Honey (1981)". She was married to actor/writer/producer Michael Pertwee and actor Thayer David.
- Actor
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Ward Wood was born on 8 August 1924 in Grangeville, Idaho, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Mannix (1967), Air Force (1943) and Ben Casey (1961). He was married to Peggy Jolene Mosley and Lynn Sherman. He died on 3 November 2001 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- William B. Branch was born on 11 September 1927 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Still a Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class (1968), Together for Days (1972) and NET Journal (1966). He was married to Marie L. Foster. He died on 3 November 2019 in Hawthorne, New York, USA.
- William Frye was born on 5 October 1921 in Salinas, California, USA. He was a producer, known for Raise the Titanic (1980), Thriller (1960) and Airport '77 (1977). He died on 3 November 2017 in Palm Desert, California, USA.
- William Lanteau was born on 12 November 1922 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, USA. He was an actor, known for On Golden Pond (1981), The Honeymoon Machine (1961) and Wonder Woman (1975). He died on 3 November 1993 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Additional Crew
Yvette Lundy was born on 22 April 1916 in Oger, Marne, France. Yvette is known for Freedom (2009). Yvette died on 3 November 2019 in Épernay, Marne, France.