Deaths: November 4
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- Sultry, smoky-voiced brunette actress, a former model, who was put under contract by 20th Century-Fox in the early 1950s. She had a showy role and acquitted herself well in the thriller Violent Saturday (1955), but her career quickly lost momentum when Fox didn't renew her contract in 1956. She later achieved cult status as the disembodied fiancée in the cheapjack sci-fi film "classic" The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962).
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Andy Rooney was born in Albany in January 1919 and grew up in the Capital District (of NYS), the son of Walter and Elinor (Reynolds) Rooney. He attended Colgate Academy. In 1941, at the age of 22 he was drafted into the Army and was posted to London, where he began writing for Stars and Stripes, the US armed forces newspaper and later in the war he became one of the first US journalists to report on the Nazi concentration camps. He began working as a broadcast journalist in 1949 for CBS. He established a name for himself over many years as a correspondent and commentator. He is probably best remembered by TV audiences for his regular closing segment on 60 Minutes (1968), "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney". He died in November 2011, aged 92, having continued working until just a few weeks earlier.Andy Rooney- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ann Pennington was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Her family, who were Quakers, moved to Camden, New Jersey when she was a child. She took dancing lessons from ballerina Catherine Littlefield. At the age of seventeen she made her Broadway debut in the musical. She joined the Ziegfeld Follies in 1913. With her long, red hair and great legs she quickly became one of the show's most popular dancers. Her nickname was "The Girl With The Dimpled Knees." Ann became best friends with fellow dancer Fanny Brice. In 1916 she had a starring role in the silent movie Susie Snowflake. Then she appeared in the films The Rainbow Princess, The Antics of Ann, and Sunshine Nan. After six years with the Follies she left to join George's White's Scandals. She began a romance with the show's producer George White. Ann also dated actor Buster West and boxer Jack Dempsey.
While performing in the Scandals she introduced the Black Bottom Dance to Broadway audiences. She returned to the Ziegfeld Follies in 1923. By this time the petite dancer was earning more than $1000 a week. Off stage she was known for her great wit and her generosity. Her biggest vice was betting at the racetrack. In 1929 she appeared in five films including Tanned Legs and Gold Diggers Of Broadway. During the 1930s her popularity started to wane and she performed in vaudeville. Ann had bit parts in the films Unholy Partners and China Girl. Her final stage appearance was a 1946 benefit show for the Armed Forces. After retiring she moved into a modest New York hotel and stayed out of the spotlight. She turned down most interview requests saying "I'd rather be thought of as the way I used to be." Ann spent most of her time socializing with friends and doing charity work. On November 4, 1971 she died from a stroke at the age of seventy-seven. She was buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.- Gorgeous and voluptuous 5'3" brunette knockout Cynthia Jeanette Myers was born on September 12, 1950, in Toledo, Ohio. She was raised by her mother Mary, her grandparents and various aunts and uncles after her father was killed in a car accident when she was four years old. She had two siblings, sister Tana and brother Lance. Cynthia was a competitive horseback rider and worked part-time as a theater usher while growing up. She was initially offered opportunities to model at age 14. In 1967 she began modeling for Detroit auto shows. She graduated from Woodward High School in 1968, and became the Playmate of the Month for the December 1968 issue of Playboy. She made regular appearances on the TV series Playboy After Dark (1969) and had uncredited bit roles in The Lost Continent (1968) and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969).
Myers achieved her greatest enduring cult cinema popularity with her winningly spunky portrayal of wide-eyed innocent rock guitarist Casey Anderson in Russ Meyer's gloriously outrageous Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). Her only other film role was a small but memorably sexy part as brash prostitute Dolly Winwood in the offbeat Western Molly and Lawless John (1972). Cynthia continued to model as "Miss Earthquake" in magazine print ads for Cerwin-Vega stereo equipment in the early 1970s. She lived in both Las Vegas (NV) and Southern California. The mother of a son, Myers was a beloved frequent guest at autograph conventions held all over the country. She was voted #10 in a poll for Playboy Playmates of the Century in 2000.
Cynthia Meyers died of lung cancer at age 61 on November 4, 2011, in Los Angeles, California. - Délfor Medina was born on 3 September 1928 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Sin código (2004), Alta política (1957) and Balada para un mochilero (1971). He died on 4 November 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dominique Dunne was born in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of Ellen Beatriz Griffin Dunne and Dominick Dunne, a producer, actor, and writer. Actor Griffin Dunne is her brother. After her parents' divorce, she moved first to New York, and then to Beverly Hills. Upon graduation from high school, Dominique went to the University of Colorado to study acting, leaving after one year to pursue her career. Three weeks after arriving in Hollywood, she landed her first gig. Other roles soon followed, notably her role as Dana Freeling, the eldest daughter in Poltergeist (1982), and Dominique was soon well known in the Hollywood social scene. Well-liked by all who knew her, Dominique seemed to be at the top of the world. Then, at a party, she met John Thomas Sweeney, the chef at popular LA nightspot "Ma Maison." The two began a relationship, which turned stormy. Sweeney was uncontrollable and abusive (so abusive that Dominique did not need makeup to play the role of an abuse victim on Hill Street Blues (1981)). Dominique ended the relationship on October 30, 1982. That same night, a distraught Sweeney raced to her house, where she and actor David Packer were rehearsing a scene from V (1983), dragged her outside, and strangled her, leaving her brain-dead. Five days later, she was removed from life support and died, cutting short a brilliant career and leaving behind scores of shocked and angry loved ones.- Donna Axum was born on 3 January 1942 in El Dorado, Arkansas, USA. She was married to J. Bryan Whitworth, Gus Franklin Mutscher and Michael Alan Buckley. She died on 4 November 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.
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Dudley Simpson was one of Australia's most accomplished musical exports. He learned piano as a child before serving in the Second World War in New Guinea. He then studied orchestration and composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He became an assistant conductor and pianist at the Borovansky Ballet, later becoming its musical director. In this capacity he met Margot Fonteyn when she visited Australia. He moved to England and became guest conductor for a season at Covent Garden. He progressed to become Principal Conductor of the Royal Opera House Orchestra, accompanying the touring section of the Royal Ballet with Fonteyn as principal ballerina.
Simpson moved into composing music for television, which brought his name to its widest audience. He composed incidental music for BBC television's Doctor Who (1963) in the 1960s and became the series' regular composer throughout the 1970s, when the series was at the height of its popularity. He also composed the theme tunes for other popular science-fiction series The Tomorrow People (1973) and Blake's 7 (1978). Simpson left Doctor Who (1963) in 1980 when the new producer, John Nathan-Turner, decided he wanted to use electronic composers for the series. Simpson continued to work in British television in the 1980s before moving back to Australia for his retirement.- Actor
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Mr. Egan was the tough-talking New York City police officer whose exploits inspired the Academy Award winning film The French Connection (1971). With partner Sonny Grosso, he managed a 112-pound heroin bust in 1962, one of the biggest in New York's history. Mr. Egan was nicknamed 'Popeye' and was played in The French Connection (1971) by Gene Hackman. Mr. Egan played the role of his own boss. Mr. Egan, who retired to Fort Lauderdale, FL, in 1984, died "the toughest cop in New York", said Cheryl Kyle-Little, who shared a home with him. Kyle-Little said Mr. Egan was working on a movie deal at the time of his death.- Music Department
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Gabriel-Urbian Faure was born May 12, 1845, in Pamires, Mid-Pyrenees, France. He was the youngest of 6 children born to Toussaint and Marie Faure. From the age of 9 he studied piano and organ with Camille Saint-Saëns at the Ecole Niedermeyer. Saint-Saene encouraged young Faure to play piano music by Franz Liszt. In 1865 Faure was awarded first prize for composition, for his 'Cantique de Jean Racine', opus 11. In 1870 he served in the army during the Franco-Prussian war, and during the Paris Commune he was a music teacher in Switzerland, where his school Ecole Niedermeyer was relocated. Back in Paris he became organist at Saint-Sulpice.
Faure became a regular at the salon of Camille Saint-Saëns and the salon of Pauline Garcia-Viardot. There he met many prominent Parisian intellectuals: writers Gustave Flaubert and Ivan Turgenev, composers Hector Berlioz and Georges Bizet. With those contacts Faure initiated the formation of the 'Societe Nationale Musique' around the figure of Camille Saint-Saëns. Faure also took over the position of organist at the Eglise de la Madeleine in 1877, when Saint-Saens retired. At that time Faure became engaged to Marianne Viardot, the daughter of Pauline Viardot, but the engagement was broken off by Marianne.
Faure was sincerely in love, but heartbroken and so depressed, that he could not stay in the same salon. He canceled all social obligations and left Paris for a long journey. He went to Weimar, where he met Franz Liszt and expressed his gratitude by playing his own compositions to Liszt. Then Faure traveled to Cologne to listen to the operas of Richard Wagner, whom he admired. Faure's impressions from 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' were strong, but not enough to influence his own compositions.
Back in Paris he renewed his activity at 'Societe Nationale Musique'. He married Marie Frement in 1883, and the couple had two sons. He had to support his family. The lack of any musical success kept him working as the organist at the Eglise de la Madeleine, and also teaching piano and harmony, which took up all his time. His own compositions were sold to his publisher at 50 francs per piece with thw copyright. At that time Faure composed the exquisitely delicate 'Requiem' (1888), his most important choral work. He could not find a venue to perform his large-scale compositions. That made him even more depressed.
After ten years of hardship, Faure finally got promoted to the government position of the Inspector of Music Conservatoires in the French provinces. In 1896 he became chief organist at the Eglise de la Madeleine. He also replaced Jules Massenet as professor of composition at the Conservatoire de Paris. His students there included Maurice Ravel, Nadia Boulanger, George Enescu, and Charles Koechlin, who later orchestrated Faure's popular suite 'Pelleas et Melisande'. In 1890s Faure wrote piano duet 'Dolly Suite' and a vocal piece 'La bonne chanson' for Emma Bardac, the wife of Claude Debussy.
From 1905 to 1920 Faure was the powerful director of the Conservatoire de Paris. He made some reforms and dismissed unnecessary stuff for the purpose of rational spending of the funding from the government. His song opera 'Penelope' (1913) is noteworthy. His works of the late years were affected by his hearing loss, which inevitably caused his retirement. He was the music critic at Le Figaro from 1903-1921. Faure died from pneumonia on November 4, 1924, and was laid to rest in the Cemetiere de Passy in Paris.- Director
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Gabriela David was born on 21 September 1960 in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was a director and writer, known for Taxi, un encuentro (2001), La mosca en la ceniza (2009) and Tren gaucho (1989). She died on 4 November 2010 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Writer
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Gay Byrne was born on 5 August 1934 in Dublin, Ireland. He was a writer and actor, known for Dave Allen at Large (1971), Mrs. Brown's Boys: The Original Series (2002) and Voices That Care (1991). He was married to Kathleen Watkins. He died on 4 November 2019 in Sandymount, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland.- Writer
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The comic genius Jacques Tati was born Taticheff, descended from a noble Russian family. His grandfather, Count Dimitri, had been a general in the Imperial Army and had served as military attaché to the Russian Embassy in Paris. His father, Emmanuel Taticheff, was a well-to-do picture framer who conducted his business in the fashionable Rue de Castellane and had taken a Dutch-Italian woman, Marcelle Claire van Hoof, as his wife. To Emmanuel's lasting dismay, Jacques had no intention of following in the family trade of framing and restoration. Instead, he went on to pursue an education (specialising in arts and engineering) at the military academy of Lycée de Saint Germain-en-laye. After graduating, his main preoccupation became sports. He already boxed and played tennis and was introduced to rugby during a sojourn in London. Back in Paris, he joined the Racing Club de France (1925-30), and for some time seriously contemplated a career as a professional rugby player. However, Jacques also had an uncanny talent for pantomime, imitating athletes at his school to the amusement of classmates and teachers. By the time he had reached the age of 24, encouraged by his success as an entertainer in the annual revue of the Racing Club, he suddenly decided to combine his two passions and, without further ado, entered the world of show business.
From 1931, Jacques toured the Parisian music halls, theatres and circuses with his impersonations, acrobatics, drunk waiter and comic tennis routines (the latter would be famously re-enacted by his alter ego, Monsieur Hulot). He had by this time changed his name to 'Tati' in order to accommodate theatre bills.The French magazine "Le Jour" was among the first to acknowledge his growing popularity, describing Jacques as "a clown of great talent". At the same time, he made his screen debut in a series of short featurettes, tailored to show off his practised gags, notably Oscar, champion de tennis (1932) and Watch Your Left (1936) ("Watch your left", a very funny boxing sketch). The Second World War, military service and inherent strictures resulting from the German occupation put a temporary halt to his career. Then, in 1946, through a friend, the writer-director Claude Autant-Lara, Jacques obtained a small role in the whimsical fantasy Sylvie et le fantôme (1946), about a girl (Odette Joyeux) in love with a ghost (Tati).
The small township of Sainte-Sévère, where Tati had taken refuge during the occupation, served as inspiration for his first film, initially conceived as a one-reeler entitled "L'Ecole des facteurs" (School for Postmen). Unable to find widespread distribution, Tati decided to re-shoot the bucolic comedy --with himself in the central role -- as a feature film, using the villagers as extras and filming everything on location. And thus, Jour de Fête (1949) and Francois the village postman came into being. However, the film was soon overshadowed by his next enterprise and a critic of the satirical publication Le Canard Enchainé even proposed to fight a duel with anyone who would prefer "Jour de Fete" to Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953)!
With "Holiday", Tati reinvented the visual comedy of the silent era in a style not dissimilar to that of Max Linder. There is hardly any dialogue, except for background chatter, but natural and human noises are enhanced whenever required for the desired comic effect. The film is almost plotless, essentially comprised of a series of vignettes (to the recurring musical motif of Alain Romans's breezy 1952 composition "Quel temps fait-il à Paris?") at a seaside resort frequented by assorted holiday makers. All are stereotypical of their respective social class, as are the villagers themselves. Their inability to escape social conditioning and the stress they endure in the process of 'enjoying themselves' are observed with a keen satirical eye through their interaction with each other. At the centre is the ever-present character of the bumbling Monsieur Hulot, who arrives in a rickety 1924 Amilcar. Tall and reedy, clad in a poplin coat, wearing a crumpled hat, striped socks, trousers which are patently too short, rolled umbrella, a pipe firmly clenched between his teeth and perambulating with an odd stiff-legged gait, Hulot cuts an ungainly, yet hilarious figure. Well-meaning though he is, he invariably leaves disaster in his wake and departs the scene quickly as things go wrong, letting others sort out the mess. "Holiday" is more than just a brilliant collection of sight gags, but also an ironic observation of the foibles of human nature. Tati acknowledged the influence of both Buster Keaton and W.C. Fields in the creation of Hulot. Very much like Keaton or Charles Chaplin, he was also a consummate perfectionist who micro-managed each scene with unerring precision. Comedy for Tati was a serious business.
In Tati's subsequent ventures, Hulot became relegated from being the focus of the story to merely subordinate to its concept. As just one of many characters, Hulot weaves in and out of My Uncle (1958) and Playtime (1967), his simple, old-fashioned world contrasted sharply against the coldness of mechanisation, obsessive consumerism and the growing uniformity of houses and cities. "Playtime", shot in 70mm, took six years to make and required the creation of a massive glass and concrete high-rise set with myriad corridors and cubicles (dubbed 'Tativille' and built at a cost of $800,000) which raised the picture's total budget to $3 million and left Tati bankrupt. His next project, Trafic (1971), a satire of modern man's love of cars, failed to recoup these losses. Creditors impounded Tati's films, which were not re-released until 1977, when a canny Parisian distributor expunged his outstanding debts. Throughout his career, Tati remained obdurately committed to his artistic integrity and to his independence as a film maker. He was one of few directors who consistently employed non-professional actors. He turned down offers from Hollywood for a 15-minute series of television comedies, following the success of "Mon Oncle". He summed it all up by declaring "I could have satisfied the producers of the world by making a whole series of little Hulot films, and I would have made a lot of money. But I would not have been able to do what I like - work freely". (NY Times, November 6, 1982)- Music Department
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Jean-Jacques Perrey was born on 20 January 1929 in Amiens, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Savages (2012), Ocean's Eight (2018) and The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (1971). He died on 4 November 2016 in Lausanne, Switzerland.- José de la Colina was born on 29 March 1934 in Santander, Spain. He is a writer and actor, known for El corazón de la noche (1984), Naufragio (1978) and Fe, esperanza y caridad (1974).
- June Thorburn was born on 8 June 1931 in Karachi, India. She was an actress, known for The Pickwick Papers (1952), Orders Are Orders (1954) and Fast and Loose (1954). She was married to Morten Smith-Petersen and Aldon Richard Bryse-Harvey. She died on 4 November 1967 in West Sussex, England, UK.
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Melissa Mathison was born on 3 June 1950 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was a writer and producer, known for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The BFG (2016) and Kundun (1997). She was married to Harrison Ford. She died on 4 November 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
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Michael Crichton was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Roslyn, New York. His father was a journalist and encouraged him to write and to type. Michael gave up studying English at Harvard University, having become disillusioned with the teaching standards--the final straw came when he submitted an essay by George Orwell that was given a "B-." After giving up English and spending a year in Europe, Michael returned to Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Havard Medical School to train as a doctor. Several times, he was persuaded not to quit the course but did so after qualifying in 1969.
During his medical-student days, he wrote novels secretly mainly under the pseudonym of John Lange in reference to his almost 6ft 9 height. (Lange in German means long) One novel, "A Case of Need," written under the pseudonym Jeffery Hudson, (Sir Jeffrey Hudson was a famous 17th century dwarf) contained references to people at Harvard Medical School, but he couldn't hide his identity when the novel won an award that had to be collected in person. After giving up medicine, Michael moved to Hollywood, California, in the early 1970s and began directing movies based on his books, his first big break being Westworld (1973).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Michelle Nicastro was born on 31 March 1960 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She was an actress, known for The Swan Princess (1994), When Harry Met Sally... (1989) and It's Garry Shandling's Show. (1986). She was married to Steve Stark. She died on 4 November 2010 in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Ned Romero was born on 4 December 1926 in Franklin, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for I Will Fight No More Forever (1975), Star Trek (1966) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). He was married to Gwyneth E. Howard Coty and Jolene Lontere. He died on 4 November 2017 in Palm Desert, California, USA.
- Niní Gambier was born on 16 March 1916 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was an actress, known for Los muchachos de antes no usaban gomina (1937), La fuga (1937) and Such Is Life (1939). She died on 4 November 1999 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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- Additional Crew
Owiso Odera was born on 19 March 1973 in Khartoum, Sudan. He was an actor, known for The Brothers Grimsby (2016), The Thirst: Blood War (2008) and Blue Bloods (2010). He was married to Nicole. He died on 3 November 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.- Paul Eddington was a tall, debonair actor who achieved international success in the 1970s with The Good Life (1975), a popular television series about a young couple farming their backyard in a London suburb. He played the supporting role of neighbor Jerry Leadbetter. It was the hit comedy series Yes Minister (1980), and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister (1986), in the 1980s that brought him television stardom as the inept politician Jim Hacker. The actor's performances as an incompetent government minister were so admired by Margaret Thatcher that she awarded him the honor of Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Despite suffering from skin cancer, he continued to perform on stage and television, concealing his illness, until the tabloid press began suggesting that he had AIDS.
- Peter Viertel, a WWII veteran whose first novel was published to glowing reviews when he was only 18, was born of parents of the European intelligentsia, refugees from Adolf Hitler's Europe. Brought up in Hollywood, in a household where Greta Garbo (his mother's closest friend), Bertolt Brecht Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann and Franz Werfel were constant guests, young Peter yearned to be an American. In need of money to be able to continue writing his novels and to support his first wife, Jigee, Viertel turned to writing scripts for Hollywood, where he soon found himself in the orbit of John Huston, the legendary director of The Maltese Falcon (1941). Peter died in Marbella, Spain, nineteen days following the death of his second wife, actress Deborah Kerr.
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Richard Schaal was born on 5 May 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) and The Hollywood Knights (1980). He was married to Tasha Brittain, Valerie Harper and Lois Treacy. He died on 4 November 2014 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Scott Elliott was born on 24 August 1921 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The French Line (1953), He Promised to Return (1949) and Kiss and Tell (1945). He died on 4 November 2004 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Production Designer
Sebastián Seijas was born on 2 December 1974 in Haedo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was a production designer, known for No hay 2 sin 3 (2004). He died on 4 November 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sheila Ryan was born on 8 June 1921 in Topeka, Kansas, USA. She was an actress, known for Deadline for Murder (1946), The Lone Wolf in Mexico (1947) and Song of Texas (1943). She was married to Pat Buttram, Edward Norris and Allan Lane. She died on 4 November 1975 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
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Sheree North was born on 17 January 1932 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Breakout (1975), Lawman (1971) and The Shootist (1976). She was married to Phillip Alan Norman, Dr. Gerhardt Ralph Sommer, John M. "Bud" Freeman and Frederick Arnold Bessire Jr.. She died on 4 November 2005 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Sofía Tejeda was an actress, known for Oro, dolor y muerte (1991), Lying Heart (2016) and Asalto violento (1993). She died on 4 November 2018 in Mexico.
- Born in occupied Korea, Kang Shin-yeong attended Geonguk University, majoring in Korean Literature. He made his film debut in director Shin Sang-ok's Romance Papa in 1960 and has appeared in more than 500 movies since then. In his debut film, director Shin suggested the name Kang Shin-sung-il but that was subsequently shortened to simply Shin Sung-il which he used for his entire professional career. He has won several awards for best actor or best supporting actor for films such as Gajeong gyosa (1963) and Dalbit sanyang gun (1986). In 1979, he became the chairman of the Korean Actors League and held the position for several consecutive terms. After a long career as an actor and having directed and even produced, Shin Sung-il has retired from the film industry in favor of pursuing a career in politics. He was elected to the National Assembly where he remains to this day.
- Timi Hansen was born on 28 October 1958 in Denmark. He was an actor, known for King Diamond: The Family Ghost (1987), Mercyful Fate: Egypt (1993) and Mercyful Fate: The Bell Witch (1994). He died on 4 November 2019 in Denmark.
- Cinematographer
Yitzhak Rabin was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974-77, and from 1992 until his assassination in 1995.
Rabin was born in Jerusalem to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and was raised in a Labor Zionist household. He learned agriculture in school and excelled as a student. He led a 27-year career as a soldier and ultimately attained the rank of Rav Aluf. As a teenager he joined the Palmach, the commando force of the Yishuv. He eventually rose through its ranks to become its chief of operations during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He joined the newly formed Israel Defense Forces in late 1948 and continued to rise as a promising officer. He helped shape the training doctrine of the IDF in the early 1950s, and led the IDF's Operations Directorate from 1959 to 1963. He was appointed Chief of the General Staff in 1964 and oversaw Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Rabin served as Israel's ambassador to the United States from 1968 to 1973, during a period of deepening U.S.-Israel ties. He was appointed Prime Minister of Israel in 1974 after the resignation of Golda Meir. In his first term, Rabin signed the Sinai Interim Agreement and ordered the Entebbe raid. He resigned in 1977 in the wake of a financial scandal. Rabin was Israel's minister of defense for much of the 1980s, including during the outbreak of the First Intifada.
In 1992, Rabin was re-elected as prime minister on a platform embracing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He signed several historic agreements with the Palestinian leadership as part of the Oslo Accords. In 1994, Rabin won the Nobel Peace Prize together with long-time political rival Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Rabin also signed a peace treaty with Jordan in 1994. In November 1995, he was assassinated by an extremist named Yigal Amir, who opposed the terms of the Oslo Accords. Amir was convicted of Rabin's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Rabin was the first native-born prime minister of Israel and was the only prime minister to be assassinated and the second to die in office after Levi Eshkol. Rabin has become a symbol of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.