Deaths: December 21
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- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
Emanuel Ungaro was born on 13 February 1933 in Aix-En-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. He was a costume designer, known for Gloria (1980), Trompe l'oeil (1975) and La truite (1982). He was married to Laura Bernabei Fanfani. He died on 21 December 2019 in Paris, France.- Camera and Electrical Department
Al Bettcher began his career with the 168th Signal Photo Corp in WWII. After the war he filmed the Japanese War Crimes Trials in the Philippines. When he returned home, he started at the Columbia studios still lab, where he worked for 7 years before breaking in as an assistant cameraman on the feature Overexposed. He assisted for 9 years, then rose to operator. He has nearly 50 years of credits to his name, including the original Blade Runner, King Kong, Body Heat, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the original Batman series and its 1967 feature, Breathless, Lovespell, Pal Joey, Bye Bye Birdie, Pepe, three different Three Stooges movies, and countless television shows. He was the hand-held cameraman on The Graduate - those are his feet in the flippers. He was given an SOC Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990, and he was inducted into the Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1985.- Bill Simpson was born on 11 September 1931 in Ayr, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Kidnapped (1978), The Good Companions (1980) and Scotch on the Rocks (1973). He was married to Tracy Reed and Mary Miller. He died on 21 December 1986 in Ayrshire, Scotland, UK.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Billie Whitelaw first appeared on the radio aged 11. She made her theatrical debut in 1950 and in films from 1953. She has made a speciality of playing intense, single-purposed women. Also, (on stage), she has appeared in many of the stranger plays by Samuel Beckett.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
American Western star and character actor whose career spanned six decades. The son of director Robert N. Bradbury, he appeared in vaudeville with his parents and with his twin brother Bill Bradbury appeared as a child in a series of 16 semi- documentary short films directed by their father, The Adventures of Bob and Bill. As Bob Bradbury Jr., he played juvenile roles in silent films, then took the stage name Bob Steele in 1927. He appeared in scores of films during the Thirties, rising to B-Western stardom and an apparently solid position as one of Republic Studios' top draws. Occasionally he made an appearance in more prominent films, as in his role as Curly in Of Mice and Men (1939). But he remained primarily a figure in Westerns. His stardom diminished by the mid-40s, and he spent the next quarter-century in character roles, some highly visible, such as his part in The Big Sleep (1946). But he also eventually turned up as a virtual extra in pictures like Shenandoah (1965). He appeared often on television and regained some fame in his role as Trooper Duffy in F Troop (1965). He died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California, following a long illness.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Bolotbek Shamshiyev was born on 12 January 1941 in Frunze, Kirghiz SSR, USSR [now Bishkek, Chuy, Kyrgyzstan]. He was a director and writer, known for Belyy parokhod (1976), Volchya yama (1984) and Snaypery (1986). He died on 21 December 2019 in Bishkek, Kirgiziya.- Additional Crew
- Actor
Bruce McCandless II was born on 8 June 1937 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Max Q (1998), A Beautiful Sunset (2016) and Horizon (1964). He was married to Ellen Shields. He died on 21 December 2017 in California, USA.- Carlos Feller was born on 30 July 1925 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Le nozze di Figaro (1993), Il barbiere di Siviglia (1988) and Falstaff (1995). He died on 21 December 2018.
- Catalina Speroni was born on 1 January 1938 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was an actress, known for Un extraño en nuestras vidas (1972), Quiere casarse conmigo...?! (1967) and Campeones de la vida (1999). She died on 21 December 2010 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
Chu Ishikawa was born in 1966. He was a composer and actor, known for Gemini (1999), Killing (2018) and Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989). He died on 21 December 2017 in Japan.- Colin Douglas was born on 28 July 1912 in Newcastle, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Children of the New Forest (1964), Gamble for a Throne (1961) and The Crawling Eye (1958). He was married to Gina Cachia. He died on 21 December 1991 in London, England, UK.
- Deddie Davies was born on 2 March 1938 in Bridgend, Wales, UK. She was an actress, known for Pride (2014), Vanity Fair (1967) and The Railway Children (1970). She was married to Paddy Ward. She died on 21 December 2016 in the UK.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
A native of suburban Detroit, Michigan, Dick Enberg grew up near Pontiac, one of Detroit's suburbs. Upon graduating from high school Enberg went to college first at Central Michigan University and then at Indiana University. After graduating from college Dick moved to Los Angeles to become an assistant baseball coach at Northridge State University (Cal State-Northridge).
Shortly thereafter Dick became a sportscaster. At first Enberg called local minor league sports, but then became the play-by-play man for the (then) Los Angeles Rams, the California (now Anaheim) Angels, and the UCLA Bruins. He first earned national fame on the cartoon Where's Huddles? (1970), then earned a breakthrough role as the host of Sports Challenge (1971). His NBC connection began with Baffle (1973), and, upon the cancellation of Three for the Money (1975) became a full-time sportscaster for NBC, calling NFL games that year. Eventually he rose to become NBC's top play-by-play announcer, calling during the late '70s, the '80s and '90s such sports as college and NBA basketball; golf, including many U.S. Opens in the '90s; tennis, including Wimbledon and the French Open; baseball; and, of course, NFL football, including 8 Super Bowls, the last of which also was NBC's final NFL game and was held in San Diego, California, where he currently resides. Months after NBC lost the NFL, Enberg received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as a sportscaster. After NBC lost NFL rights Enberg was seen rarely on the Peacock web, calling only a few sports events, including college basketball and tennis. In 1999 he was replaced on NBC's golf coverage by Dan Hicks , and at years's end left NBC and joined CBS, not only to resume NFL football, but also to become of the Eye web's college basketball announcers. In addition, he now calls the U.S. Open tennis tournament for CBS.- Writer
- Actor
Dick Schaap was born on 27 September 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Lombardi, Semi-Tough (1977) and New York Illustrated (1966). He was married to Patricia McLeod and Madeleine Gottlieb. He died on 21 December 2001 in New York City, New York, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Additional Crew
Dominic Carmen Frontiere, 86, Emmy and Golden Globe winning film and television composer, former head of music at Paramount Pictures, passed away in Tesuque, New Mexico on 21 December 2017. He is survived by his wife Robin and their children Emily, Joseph, Nicholas and Sofia, as well as daughter Victoria from a previous marriage.- Emmanuel Yarborough was born on 5 September 1964 in Rahway, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Oz (1997), Legend of the Devil (1996) and Paranoia (1997). He died on 21 December 2015 in Richmond, Virginia, USA.
- "There are no second acts in American lives," wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, who himself went from being the high priest of the Jazz Age to a down-and-out alcoholic within the space of 20 years, but not before giving the world several literary masterpieces, the most famous of which is "The Great Gatsby" (1924).
He was born in 1896 to a mother who spoiled him shamelessly, leading him to grow up an especially self-possessed young man. While he was obsessed by the image of Princeton University, he flunked out, less interested in Latin and trigonometry than bathtub gin and "bright young things". The brightest was an unconventional young lady from Montgomery, Alabama named Zelda Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald invoked the jealousy of numerous local boys, some of whom had even begun a fraternity in Zelda's honor, by snagging her shortly before the publication of his first novel, "This Side of Paradise". The novel was a huge success, and Fitzgerald suddenly found himself the most highly-paid writer in America.
During the mid-to-late '20s the Fitzgeralds lived in Europe among many American expatriates including Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway and Thornton Wilder. He wrote what is considered his greatest masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby", while living in Paris. It was at the end of this period (1924-30) that his marriage to the highly strung, demanding and mentally unstable Zelda began to unravel. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent much of the rest of her life in a variety of mental institutions. Fitzgerald turned more and more to alcohol. In 1930 a major crisis came when Zelda had a series of psychotic attacks, beginning a descent into madness and schizophrenia from which she would never recover. Much of Fitzgerald's income would now be dedicated to keeping his wife in mental hospitals. Emotionally and creatively wrung out, he wrote "Tender is The Night" (1934), the story of Dick Diver and his schizophrenic wife Nicole, that shows the pain that he felt himself. In the mid-30s Fitzgerald had a breakdown of his own. He had become a clinical alcoholic, something he would detail in his famous "The Crack-Up" series of essays.
With Zelda institutionalized on the East Coast, it was Hollywood that proved to be Fitzgerald's salvation. Although he had little success in writing for films, which he had attempted several times previously, he was paid well and gained a new professional standing. His experiences there inspired "The Last Tycoon", his last--and unfinished--novel which some believe might have been his greatest of all. Fitzgerald died at the home of his mistress, writer Sheilah Graham, of a heart attack in 1940, believing himself to be a failed and broken man. He never knew that he would one day be considered one of the finest writers of the 20th century. - Composer
- Soundtrack
Federico Moura was born on 23 October 1951 in La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was a composer, known for The Clan (2015), No sos vos, soy yo (2004) and The World Against Me (1996). He died on 21 December 1988 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- George S. Patton III was a highly successful and highly controversial general who held Corps- and Army-level commands during World War II. Because of his great competence as a battlefield commander, Patton might have led the American troops during the invasion of Normandy; however, his impolitic ways and a degree of emotional instability (which manifested itself in the slapping of two soldiers suffering from shell-shock at an Army field hospital) put the kibosh on that. Patton was relieved of his command and put on ice for many months in order to recuperate. Instead, the command of the American forces on D-Day, went to his former deputy in North Africa, Omar N. Bradley.
Patton was known as "Blood & Guts" ("Our blood, his guts"), was a common gripe among his troops for his hard-driving discipline, which paid off in lower casualties and great success on the battlefield. With the exception of Douglas MacArthur, Patton ranks as the greatest general the United States put on the field during the Second World War. Patton achieved four-star rank for his battlefield exploits as one of the best commanders of mechanized forces on either side during the War. He succeeded Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Military Governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany, when Ike -- a five-star general -- was promoted to Army Chief of Staff.
On December 9, 1945, Patton became seriously injured after his automobile crashed with an American army truck at low speed. He began bleeding from a gash on his head, and complained that he was paralyzed and having trouble breathing. Taken to a hospital in Heidelberg, Patton was discovered to have a compression fracture and dislocation of the cervical third fourth vertebrae, resulting in a broken neck and cervical spinal cord injury that rendered him paralyzed from the neck down. He spent most of the next twelve days in spinal traction to decrease the pressure on his spine. He died at age 60 in his sleep of pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure.
On December 24, 1945, General George S. Patton was buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial alongside some wartime casualties of the Third Army, in accordance with his request to "be buried with his men". He was immortalized in the 1970 eponymous epic film, which won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (George C. Scott). This was President Richard Nixon's favorite film. - Art Department
- Producer
Gerry Alanguilan was a producer, known for Star Wars Audio Comics: YouTube Channel (2014), Illustrated By (2012) and Panganay sa pito (2017). He was married to Ilyn. He died on 21 December 2019 in San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines.- Henry Byron Warner was the definitive cinematic Jesus Christ in Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927). He was born into a prominent theatrical family on October 26, 1875 in London. His father was Charles Warner, and his grandfather was James Warner, both prominent English actors. He replaced J.B. Warner as Jesus in The King of Kings (1927) when J.B. died of tuberculosis at age 29. (J.B. was not Henry's brother. J.B. had taken the professional last name "Warner" because Henry's family took him in.)
Henry Warner's family wanted him to become a doctor, and he graduated from London University but eventually gave up his medical studies. The theater was in his blood, and he studied acting in Paris and Italy before joining his father's stock company, making his debut in the English production of "Drink." It was from his father that he honed his craft.
Warner made it to the United States in the early 1900s, after touring the British Empire. Billed as Harry Warner, he made his Broadway debut in the US colonial drama "Audrey" at Hoyt's Theatre on November 24, 1902, starring James O'Neill, the father of playwright Eugene O'Neill. He was billed as H.B. Warner in his next appearance on Broadway, in the 1906 comedy "Nurse Marjorie." He appeared in 13 more Broadway productions in his career, from the twin-bill of "Susan in Search of a Husband" & "A Tenement Tragedy" (also 1906) to "Silence" in 1925.
He moved into motion pictures, making his debut in the Mutual short Harp of Tara (1914). Also in 1914, he appeared in a film written by Cecil B. DeMille for Famous Players Lasky, The Ghost Breaker (1914), in which he had played on Broadway the year before. Warner became a leading man and a star in silent pictures, reaching the zenith of his career playing Jesus in DeMille's The King of Kings (1927). His excellent performance was actually enhanced by the silent screen, allowing the audience to imagine how Jesus would sound. Warner could be extremely moving in silent pictures, notably in the melodrama Sorrell and Son (1927) as a war veteran father who sacrifices all for his son.
When talkies arrived, he became a busy supporting player. A favorite of Frank Capra, appeared in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). Cast again by Capra, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Lost Horizon (1937). He also appeared in You Can't Take It with You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Other major talkies included The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) and Topper Returns (1941). Other than Jesus, the role he is best remembered role for today is in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), in which he played Mr. Gower, the druggist who is saved from committing a lethal medication error by the young George Bailey (the James Stewart character as a child). H.B. Warner appeared in Sunset Blvd. (1950) as himself. His last credited role was as Amminadab in DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956), a remake of the earlier silent The Ten Commandments (1923). He last role was an uncredited bit part in Darby's Rangers (1958).
Henry Warner died on December 21, 1958 in Woodland Hills, California. He was 82 years old. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Henry H. Daniels Jr. was born on 27 January 1921 in Plainfield, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Burning Cross (1947) and Bewitched (1945). He was married to Carmelita. He died on 21 December 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Horacio Ferrer was born on 2 June 1933 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was an actor, known for Historias Breves 2 (1997), Cadence 3 (1983) and Luar (1992). He was married to Lulú Michelli. He died on 21 December 2014 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Captain (Retired) Jerry Yellin is an Army Air Corps veteran who served in WWII between 1941 and 1945. Yellin enlisted two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on his 18th Birthday. After graduating from Luke Air Field as a fighter pilot in August of 1943, he spent the remainder of the war flying P-40, P- 47 and P-51 combat missions in the Pacific with the 78th Fighter Squadron. He participated in the first land based fighter mission over Japan on April 7, 1945, and also has the unique distinction of having flown the final combat mission of World War II on August 14, 1945 - the day the war ended. On that mission, his wing-man (Phillip Schlamberg) was the last man killed in a combat mission in WWII. After the war ended, Jerry struggled with severe undiagnosed PTSD. He always wondered why he survived, while so many of his comrades died during the war. Jerry Yellin is the award-winning author of four books, including Of War and Weddings, The Blackened Canteen, The Resilient Warrior, and The Letter.
- Jim French was born in 1928 in Pasadena, California, USA. At the age of eight he knew he wanted to be a radio announcer. During WWII, Jim got a job as an announcer on a radio station called KPAS. He entered the Army a few years later and, after being sent to Japan with other troops, was assigned to an Armed Forces Radio Service where he started writing weekly radio shows.
In 1948, he returned to Seattle where he wrote more radio dramas, including the famous "Harry Nile" series and "The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes".
Having written and performed over 500 radio shows, Jim's unique, booming voice caught the attention of Valve, a video game developer. Gamers can hear his voice in Valve's Half-Life 2 (2004), in which he voiced Father Grigori and in Left 4 Dead (2008), also by Valve, in which he voiced Bill. More recently, Jim also voiced the Elder Titan in Valve's Dota 2 (2013).
Sadly, he passed away at the age of 89. - John Edwin Arnatt was born in Petrograd on the eve of the Russian Revolution, the son of a manager for Vauxhall Motors. Forced to leave Russia during the turmoil, his family returned to England where John was schooled at Epworth College and later trained for acting at RADA. On stage from 1936, he made his debut at the London West End in 1938 (in the revue "Happy Returns"). He resumed his theatrical career following wartime army service, even enjoying a brief stint as a stand-up comic at the Windmill Theatre. During the 1950's, he appeared in plays by Shakespeare and Chekhov at the Arts Theatre Club and at the Old Vic (both in London and in Bristol), as well as doubling up reporting sports on commercial television under the nom de plume 'Howard Peters'.
A tall man with urbane manners, a no-nonsense attitude, often sporting a pencil moustache, Arnatt is best remembered for his many impersonations on screen of thoughtful, pipe-smoking authority figures: Scotland Yard inspectors, commissioners, diplomats, aristocrats and army officers. In Doctor Who (1963) ("The Invasion of Time"), he played the Time Lord Borusa, one-time Lord Chancellor of Gallifrey. He was, perhaps, most effectively employed as deputy sheriff (temporarily replacing Alan Wheatley) or as the high sheriff of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955), a worthy antagonist to Richard Greene. - José María Aguilar was born on 3 May 1891 in San Ramón, Canelones, Uruguay. He was an actor, known for Tango Bar (1935), Canchero (1930) and El quinielero (1930). He died on 21 December 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Kamatari Fujiwara was born on 15 January 1905 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for The Hidden Fortress (1958), Seven Samurai (1954) and Ikiru (1952). He died on 21 December 1985 in Tokyo, Japan.- Billed as "the black-haired volcano", sloe-eyed Laya Raki made international headlines in the 1950s, both on and off the screen. She was born Brunhilde Marie Joerns near Brunswick in Germany, the daughter of a German vaudevillian and circus artiste who earned his living with magic acts and acrobatics. Her Javanese mother left when she was five years old. Life was tough in the immediate aftermath of the war in occupied Germany and seventeen-year old Laya made ends meet by cashing in on the fad for erotic cabaret by performing striptease, initially at the Monte Carlo club in Berlin. With a solid background in ballet and having followed in her father's footsteps as an acrobat, she found herself perfectly suited to performing all manner of exotic and alluring dances. She was even credited with introducing the Cuban mambo to German audiences. With her long dark mane and high cheekbones, sultry and curvaceous Laya became an overnight success and photographed well as a pin-up. In 1948, she adopted her stage name, primarily based on her admiration for the (sadly short-lived) Ufa star La Jana. With her new-found fame as Germany's most popular night club performer came engagements in Scandinavia, Switzerland and Italy. Then film offers followed.
Hamburg-based producer Walter Koppel was first to secure her services for the comedy Die Dritte von rechts (1950), directed by Géza von Cziffra . There were several more pictures which showcased her hoofing and pirouetting skills, but nothing of note until 1953. A conman (bigamist and serial fraudster Arthur Howard Rowson, posing as big-time producer and director 'Major Michael Howard') effectively shanghaied Laya to London with offers of $500 per week and a personal contract. By the time she arrived in England, the German press had already begun circulating a story that she had been kidnapped. With her picture now in English papers, the penniless Rowson was quickly exposed and ended up 'doing porridge' at the Old Bailey. Fortunately for Laya (who was also without funds and unemployed), the old adage that pretty much all publicity is good publicity proved to be true. George H. Brown , a genuine producer at Rank, was on the lookout for an exotic-looking gal and was on hand to sign Laya for his upcoming picture Land of Fury (1954), being filmed at Pinewood Studios. The 22-year old would star opposite Jack Hawkins as the daughter of a Maori chief and perform a traditional dance. Since Laya had, as contemporary papers put it, "never been closer to New Zealand than the English Channel" local Maoris in Britain protested with their own war dance. That minor controversy notwithstanding, Laya went on to act and dance in other films, including the big budget MGM epic Quentin Durward (1955), starring Robert Taylor. She also had leading roles in the Austrian romance Roter Mohn (1956) (by now almost typecast, as a gypsy dancer) and in the West German comedy Küß mich noch einmal (1956) .
Publicity followed her everywhere. By the early 60s, Laya had been on the cover of Picturegoer, Parade, Vue, People and other magazines and postcards, usually wearing bikinis or other (trademark) revealing or scanty outfits. This all added to her popularity, as did a wardrobe malfunction in June 1961 at a hotel wine presentation during the Berlin Film Festival when her dress split open.
With acting lessons under her belt, Laya guested in American TV shows, including Hawaiian Eye (1959), Tales of Wells Fargo (1957) and I Spy (1965). Between 1963 and 1965, she provided the glamour element to Crane (1963), a British adventure series filmed partly on location in Morocco. In it, she was cast as Halima, a local dancer who works as bartender for the eponymous hero, played by Patrick Allen. She had few decent roles offered to her after that and she retired from the screen a year later in 1966. Until his death in 2005, Laya Raki was married to Australian actor Ron Randell. She appeared with him on stage in a 1971 Sydney production of "Come Live with Me". Her second husband was Duane O. Wood, a former vice president of Lockheed International. - Lois, was born in a tiny town in Minnesota in 1926, moved with her family to Long Beach, California where she had her first experience with theater as a set designer, stage manager and head electrician, was given a scholarship at the Pasadena Playhouse and became bitten by the "acting bug". In 1957 when she left SoCal and focused on family.
Lois married Maurice Willows in 1953 and, following the birth of their first daughter, moved to the desert and then Hawaii for seven years, where their second daughter, was born. Soon after the Willows returned to their Beverly Hills home, their third daughter was born. Maury and Lois have two grandchildren. Maury died of cancer in 1995. Through the years, the Willows have been active members of the Baha'i Faith, working for the unity of mankind and world peace. Lois is an elected member and served many years as secretary of the administrative body for the Baha'i's of Los Angeles and has volunteered nearly 40 hours a week at the local center. Part of her time is spent in inter-religious dialog, working with the Human Relations Council for the City of Los Angeles, planning cross-cultural events and helping arrange after-school tutoring and enrichment classes for at-risk young people. The Willows hold weekly introductory discussions about the Baha'i Faith in their home. Lois eventually returned to occasional work in the film industry and has appeared in seven more films and ten television shows. In recent years, Miss Hall has been invited to be a special guest at various film festivals across the country, and is delighted both the renew old friendships with those who were part of the "western stock company" so many years -- and to make new friends with the wonderful people who so faithfully attend the festivals. - Actress
- Additional Crew
She was one British character player who seemed to show up everywhere on post-war film, stage and TV, although, more times than not, could barely be glimpsed. A most efficient actress, Marianne Stone's career spanned four decades and was primarily enjoyed in bawdy, ribald comedy playing lowbrow or working-class ladies about town (waitresses, barmaids, clerks, shrews, landladies, secretaries, receptionists, etc.)
Born in King's Cross, London, on August 23, 1922, the dark-haired Marianne was raised by her grandparents who were furniture owners. Her grandmother also ran her own music school and Marianne benefited from that. Winning a music scholarship to the Camden School for Girls, she instead studied at the Royal College of Music, then earned an acting scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1940. Following her graduation she initially made ends meet by working as secretary types in offices, and also found work as an assistant manager for various stock companies. She made her on-stage West End debut in 1945 with a role in "The King Maker" at age 23. A high point for her, as for her stage work, was winning the Gertrude Lawrence Award for "Character Acting".
Marianne moved quickly into films following WWII with minuscule roles in such films as Brighton Rock (1948) and Escape Dangerous (1947). During the latter film's shoot, she met her future husband, actor/producer, Peter Noble, who went on to become a noted London show business columnist, theatre critic and film historian. They married in 1947 and had two daughters Katina Noble and Kara Noble . Of the hundreds of films she appeared in, some "A" but primarily "B" pictures, Marianne was given the chance to shine in only a few.
Producing/directing brothers Roy Boulting and/or John Boulting utilized her presence in several of their films, albeit minor, including Seven Days to Noon (1950), High Treason (1951), Brothers in Law (1957), I'm All Right Jack (1959), Man in a Cocked Hat (1959) and Heavens Above! (1963). Marianne also became a steadfast player (nine total) in the highly popular "Carry On..." slapstick movie series beginning with Carry on Nurse (1959) and finishing a decade and a half later with Carry on Behind (1975). Her most engaging cameo in the series came with her old hag role in Carry on Dick (1974). In what would have been her tenth film in the series, she was deleted from the final print of Carry on Matron (1972).
While Marianne enjoyed a more visible part in Passport to Treason (1956), her most sharply-defined roles on celluloid was arguably that of co-writer Vivian Darkbloom in Lolita (1962) starring James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers and nubile Sue Lyon in the title role. Supposedly it was Winters (who wound up staying with Stone during the film's shooting) who helped Marianne get the part. Ironically, one of Stone's last film, Déjà Vu (1985) also happened to feature Winters. A few of the character lady's bawdier 70s film work included Au Pair Girls (1972), the similarly-styled "Carry On" film Bless This House (1972), The Love Ban (1973), Mistress Pamela (1973), The Cherry Picker (1974) and Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974).
On TV Marianne was seen in such colorful productions as Eccentricities of a Nightingale (1976), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1976) and the mini-series A Man Called Intrepid (1979). Marianne's husband Peter predeceased her (1997) and she herself died on December 21, 2009, at the age of 87. Survived by her children, one of her daughters, Kara Noble appeared with her mother in the film Funny Money (1983).- Martin Peters was born on 8 November 1943 in Plaistow, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Renford Rejects (1998), The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything (1999) and Till Death Us Do Part (1965). He was married to Kathleen Peters. He died on 21 December 2019 in England, UK.
- Actor
- Writer
American actor and occasional screenwriter. One of the most frequently seen heavies in films and television programs of the 1950s, his name is nevertheless well known only to buffs. Occasionally he played minor leads and sympathetic characters, but his stern good looks and rich deep voice made him a memorable villain, particularly in Westerns.- Director
- Producer
- Actor
In 1959, Emmy Award-winning television director Ralph Nelson directed a 90-minute adaptation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," with John Neville as the Dane, for the DuPont Show of the Month. Nelson himself adapted the 1601 Quatro (the "pirated" version considered corrupt) in order to make a coherent production of a play that uncut, runs four hours. The video-taped presentation essentially is a recording of the Old Vic Company's "Hamlet." The truncated version makes for an effective stage performance of "Hamlet," as Tony Richardson's version with Nicol Williamson ten year later proves. As part of the broadcasting of the play, the CBS network published the TV script in a richly printed, illustrated volume that included a foreword by CBS President Louis G. Cowan.
In the early days of commercial television, executives sought to balance their offerings of such drivel as "Queen for a Day" and "The $64,000 Question" with high culture. In that era, the so-called Golden Age of Television that was soon to expire, quality drama was featured on other omnibus showcases, including "Playhouse 90," the "Armstrong Circle Theatre," and the "United States Steel Hour." It couldn't last, as TV audiences eschewed Toscanini for Liberace and "Romeo & Juliet" for "I Love Lucy," but it proved an excellent training ground for directors.
Nelson won his Emmy the previous year for directing a teleplay for "Playhouse 90" that arguably is the most famous product of the Golden Age of Television after Paddy Chayefsky's "Marty" - Rod Serling's "Requiem for a Heavyweight." Serling won one of his five Emmy awards for "Requiem," and other Nelson collaborators also would taste the sweetest fruits of success: both Sidney Poitier and Cliff Robertson won Best Actor Oscars in Ralph Nelson-directed motion pictures, "Lilies of the Field" (1963) and "Charly" (1968), while E.G. Marshall won two Emmys appearing on "The Defenders," a television drama on which Nelson was one of the directors.
Ralph Nelson was born into a Norwegian-American family in New York City in 1916. He became interested in the theater while attending high school, and won an oratory contest sponsored by the "New York Times" in 1932. His interest in the theater lead him to Broadway, where he worked as an errand boy before making it onto the stage. He made his Broadway debut on January 15, 1934 in "False Dreams, Farewell," and followed it up with parts in "Romeo & Juliet," "Othello," "Macbeth," and "The Taming of the Shrew" through 1940. His last Broadway play before the outbreak of World War II was "There Shall Be No Night," also in 1940, for which he also served as stage manager. During this pre-war period, Nelson worked with such legendary performers as Katharine Cornell, Leslie Howard, and the Lunts.
In World War II, Nelson joined the Army as an air cadet. He was assigned to the stage company that put on Irving Berlin's "This Is the Army" on Broadway, and his award-winning one-act play "Mail Call" was part of a Broadway showcase "Army Play by Play" in 1943, while he was serving with the Air Corps. He eventually was promoted to captain while serving as a flight instructor, and on June 14, 1945, his first full-length play, "The Wind Is Ninety," was presented on Broadway while he was still attached to what was now called the Army Army Air Force. The play won an award from the National Theater Conference. Although Nelson appeared on Broadway again as an actor in the musicals "Cabaret" and "Follies," staged the comedy The Man in the Dog Suit" in 1958, and produced the musical "Look to the Lilies" in 1970, it was the visual media that beckoned. He entered the nascent television industry as an actor, but made the transition to director.
As a director and producer, Nelson had a hand in as many as 1,000 TV presentations in the late 1940s, the 1950s, and the early '60s. He directed the first broadcast of "Playhouse 90" and was a regular contributor to the "General Electric Theater," the "Lux Theater," and the "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse," among other omnibus showcases in TV's Golden Age. He even directed an episode of Serling's "The Twilight Zone."
When he moved from the little to the Big Screen, his films typically tackled topical subjects such as racism. His most successful and best-remembered film was Lilies of the Field (1963) for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture as producer. Sidney Poitier became the first African American male and only second black person overall to win a competitive acting Oscar. His other major films that have endured were the 1964 Cary Grant comedy Father Goose (1964) and Charly (1968), for which Cliff Robertson won an Oscar. Eventually, Nelson returned to TV, finishing his directing career with Christmas Lilies of the Field (1979), a sequel to his 1963 hit.
Ralph Nelson died in 1987. His son by Celeste Holm, Dr. Theodor "Ted" Holm Nelson' (born 1937) is a pioneer of information technology who invented the term "hypertext" in 1965.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Writer
Ramachandra Babu was born on 15 December 1947 in Maduranthakam, Tamil Nadu, India. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Cineku (2006), Professor Dinkan and Padayottam (1982). He was married to K. Lathika Rani. He died on 21 December 2019 in Kozhikode, Kerala, India.- Richard Hamilton was born on 31 December 1920 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for On Deadly Ground (1994), Men in Black (1997) and Sommersby (1993). He was married to Marilynn Margaret Morgan. He died on 21 December 2004 in Jeffersonville, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Entering films straight out of high school, Richard Long's good looks served him well and got him a contract at Universal Pictures. Making his debut as Claudette Colbert's son in Tomorrow Is Forever (1946), Long played juvenile leads in many Universal productions (he was one of the sons in the "Ma and Pa Kettle" series), and gradually worked his way into leading parts in second features. His most successful efforts were in television, however, where he became best known for his roles in the western series The Big Valley (1965) and the comedy Nanny and the Professor (1970).- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
A "B" Hollywood leading man who had the requisite tall, dark and handsome features (plus an excellent singing voice) that Hollywood often relied upon, Robert Paige was an extremely capable player worthy of stronger dramatics but was too often trapped in staid and standard leading man roles that prevented him from showcasing properly and moving squarely into the "A" romantic ranks. Born John Arthur Paige on December 21, 1910 in Indiana to English parents, Robert attended West Point but eventually left the Academy and moved to the Los Angeles area to focus on an entertainment career. Initially an usher for the Fox West Coast Theatres, he started using the moniker David Carlyle while singing on a Long Beach radio station and moved into announcing work at radio station KMTR in Hollywood.
He entered short films in 1931 and progressed to feature status within a few years. A studio scout had the hopeful player screen-tested at Columbia, and he was put under contract. In the course of his career he was also a studio player for Warner Bros., Paramount and, more notably, Universal. His first prime second-lead role occurred crooning to Marion Davies in Cain and Mabel (1936). He went on to give a solid performance (still as David Carlyle) in Smart Blonde (1937), which introduced the "Torchy Blane" series, and finally top-lined his own romantic comedy Meet the Boy Friend (1937) opposite Carol Hughes.
In 1938 he returned to his given last name and billed himself as Robert Paige. There he fronted such standard programmers as Highway Patrol (1938), The Main Event (1938) and the serial cliffhanger Flying G-Men (1939). Over at Paramount things went about the same, continuing consistently but without a lot of fanfare, in such films as Emergency Squad (1940) Women Without Names (1940), Golden Gloves (1940) and The Monster and the Girl (1941). He earned his first singing lead with the mini-musical Dancing on a Dime (1940) in which he and co-star Grace McDonald sang the title song. The musical introduced the songs of Burton Lane and Frank Loesser, including "Mañana" (which Peggy Lee later made a signature hit) and the certified hit "I Hear Music."
Paige had his big chance at stardom at Universal in Can't Help Singing (1944) in which he sang "Californ-i-ay" in a duet with the studio's reigning warbler Deanna Durbin. The Gable-esque, often mustachioed baritone co-starred in other Universal musicals where he had plenty of opportunities to display his rich voice such as Hellzapoppin' (1941), Pardon My Sarong (1942), What's Cookin' (1942) and How's About It? (1943) but too often his listless romantic roles were overshadowed by the zany antics of the comic headliners (Abbott & Costello, The Ritz Brothers), the swinging harmonies and steps of The Andrews Sisters, guest musical artists, or the sheer magnetism of his lady co-star such as Durbin and Frances Langford. He fared better in rugged adventures, sprightly comedies, crime yarns and horror opuses, including Son of Dracula (1943) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Fired Wife (1943) with frequent co-star Louise Allbritton.
From 1946 on Paige freelanced. While on tour to promote the movie The Red Stallion (1947), Paige met oil millionaire Glenn McCarthy, who financed the picture The Green Promise (1949) in which Paige produced and starred. By the early 50s, he abandoned films for the most part and sought out TV roles. His well-modulated voice was ideal for hosting/emcee duties and went on to include Bride and Groom (1951) and The Big Payoff (1951) with former "Miss America" Bess Myerson, among his jobs. His last two roles on films were minor bits in The Marriage-Go-Round (1961) and Bye Bye Birdie (1963). From 1966 to 1970 he went full circle, returning to his radio roots as an ABC newscaster in Los Angeles. From there he moved into public relations. Married three times in all, the durable leading man died in 1987.- Actor
- Stunts
- Soundtrack
The well-worn phrase "Tall in the saddle" is certainly one easy way of describing (and perhaps pigeon-holing) leathery, wiry-framed 1940s and early 1950s western film star Rod Cameron, although he proved quite capable in crime stories, horrors and even swing-era musicals.
The 6'4" Canadian-born actor was born Nathan Roderick Cox on December 7, 1910, and raised in Alberta. Once his aspirations of becoming a Royal Canadian Mountie passed, he decided to seek fame and fortune as an actor in New York and initially grabbed some work as a laborer on the Holland Tunnel project in Manhattan. When no progress was made acting-wise, he moved to California where he made his "debut" in an unbilled bit in one of Bette Davis' scenes in The Old Maid (1939). Upon release, however, he discovered his bit in the scene had been deleted.
Cameron found a slight "in" (as in "stand-in") with Paramount Pictures for such stars as Fred MacMurray while managing to find himself sparingly used in other Paramount films. To supplement his income he also played leading man in the studio's screen tests for starlet wanna-bes and his athleticism paid off playing stunt double for such established cowboy icons as Buck Jones. Cameron toiled as a bit player for quite some time and appeared insignificantly in such classics as Christmas in July (1940) and North West Mounted Police (1940) (where he fulfilled his early wish by playing a Mountie!). Occasionally he would find a noticeable secondary role, in such lesser films as The Monster and the Girl (1941), The Forest Rangers (1942) and as Jesse James in The Remarkable Andrew (1942).
Cameron's banner year was 1943, when he finally broke out of the minor leagues and into the major ranks. His breakout screen role was as clench-jawed Agent Rex Bennett, out to bring down the foreign enemy and save the world, in the Republic serial cliffhangers G-Men vs. The Black Dragon (1943) and Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943). From there he was signed by Universal to appear in a flurry of low-budget westerns with Fuzzy Knight as his comic sidekick. Aside from the rough-hewn heroics he was paid to display, he would occasionally show a softer side for the ladies, such as with fellow Canadian Yvonne De Carlo in Salome, Where She Danced (1945), Frontier Gal (1945) and River Lady (1948). Seldom would he venture outside the action genre, however, one of the few times being his role as a symphony conductor in Swing Out, Sister (1945). For the most part he remained rooted in westerns and the only variance within that realm was the occasional black-hatted bad guy.
Among Cameron's many dusty showcases (more often than not made at Republic or Universal), Brimstone (1949), Stampede (1949), Dakota Lil (1950) and San Antone (1953) are worth a good look. Cameron never found his Stagecoach (1939) or Shane (1953), a vehicle that might have held him even "taller" in the saddle, but between 1953 and 1955 he was still ranked "top 5" box-office.
In the 1950s Cameron found time to settle into a couple of syndicated TV series. Both City Detective (1953) and State Trooper (1956) lasted a couple of seasons. He also guested on the more popular western series, such as Bonanza (1959), Laramie (1959) and The Virginian (1962). When his movie career began to fade in the early 1960s, he went to Spain for a few spaghetti westerns and appeared in a couple of low-budget westerns such as Requiem for a Gunfighter (1965) and The Bounty Killer (1965), which was noticed more for reuniting sagebrush stars from yesteryear than for its high quality. He also played an aging rodeo star who dies early in the story in the biopic Evel Knievel (1971).
The only serious tabloid scandal he ever found himself in was when he divorced wife Angela Alves-Lico (1950-1960) and then immediately married his ex-wife's mother, Dorothy, who was a few years older than him. An extended battle with cancer finally claimed the 73-year-old actor in 1983 at a Gainesville, Georgia, hospital.- Roswell Rudd was born on 17 November 1935 in Sharon, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor, known for Wavelength (1967), Ten for Two: The John Sinclair Freedom Rally (1972) and Inside Out in the Open (2001). He was married to Marilyn Schwartz and Moselle Galbraith. He died on 21 December 2017 in Kerhonskon, New York, USA.
- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Stella Adler was born on February 10, 1901, in New York, the youngest daughter of the Yiddish theater actors, Jacob P. Adler and Sarah Adler, who founded an acting dynasty. In addition to her parents, Stella's family included her siblings Charles Adler, Jay Adler, Julia and Luther Adler, all of whom appeared on Broadway. Stella made her debut at the age of four in the family-owned theater in the play "Broken Hearts". At the age of 18, she made her London debut as "Naomi" in "Elisa Ben Avia", in which she appeared for a year before returning to New York. Stella then spent the next 10 years treading the boards in vaudeville and Yiddish language theaters throughout North and South America and Europe. In all, she appeared in 100 plays.
Adler was widely acclaimed in the Yiddish theater, but she wanted to break out of that theatrical ghetto and play a wider variety of roles on the legitimate stage and in Hollywood. What was constant in Adler's 83-year-long career was her intense dedication to broadening the level of artistry in the theater.
She made her Broadway debut as a replacement in Carl Kapek's "The World We Live In". (Her official debut as a member of the original company was in "The Straw Hat" on Oct 14, 1926). After its run played out, she joined the acting school run by Richard Boleslawski and Maria Ouspenskaya, the American Laboratory. Both Boleslavsky and Maria Ouspenskaya were former members of the famous Moscow Art Theatre.
While married to Horace Eleaschreff, Adler met Harold Clurman, who would become her second husband and one of the co-founders of The Group Theatre, in 1924 (They would marry 19 years later). In this period, she met another future Group Theatre co-founder, Lee Strasberg, at the Actor's Laboratory when she participated in classes there in 1928. Along with Cheryl Crawford, Clurman and Strasberg founded the Group Theatre in 1931. It became arguably the most influential theater group in 20th century America, at least in terms of its influence on acting by introducing the teaching of Konstantin Stanislavski's System to the American stage. Its aim was the championing of realism and it is credited with bringing naturalism into the American theater. Clurman and Strasberg invited Adler to become a founding member of the Group Theatre. The Utopian political ideals that were central to the idea of the Group Theatre did not appeal to Adler, nor did the cooperative focus of the company, but she did join after being promised leading roles and because she supported Clurman's vision of the theater as an art form. It was with the Group Theatre that Stella played some of her more acclaimed roles, including "Sarah Glassman" in "Success Story", "Bessie Berger" in "Awake and Sing" and "Clara" in "Paradise Lost".
In 1934, she took a leave of absence from the Group Theatre and traveled to Russia to study for five weeks in Moscow Art Theatre, and in private sessions with the great man himself, Konstantin Stanislavski, whose motto was "Think of your own experiences and use them truthfully." Adler was among few American actors, such as Michael Chekhov and Richard Boleslawski to study privately with Stanislavsky. In August 1934, she returned from Russia, and made a presentation of what she learned from Stanislavski, then she began teaching acting classes to members of The Group Theatre troupe, including the actors Elia Kazan, Sanford Meisner and Robert Lewis. Meisner and Lewis would go on to be the most influential acting teachers in America after Adler herself and Strasberg. Kazan, who would go on to become the greatest theatrical director in 20th century American theater, also had a huge impact on American acting by championing what became known in the vernacular as "The Method", which was closely related to Adler's teaching. Kazan's exposure to Konstantin Stanislavski's System via Adler was highly influential in his work.
Stella Adler, being the most experienced of the Group Theatre actors, had not accepted Lee Strasberg's idiosyncratic version of Stanislavski's System, which Strasberg interpreted as "method" and shifted its goals to memory exercises. "The (memory) emphasis was the sick one" in Strasberg's "method", said Stella Adler, as it made acting under Strasberg increasingly painful for her. Feeling uncomfortable with the Group Theatre members, many of whom were also Communist Party members, Adler left the company in 1937 to conquer Hollywood. According to her later student and friend, Marlon Brando, she had a bad nose job to camouflage her looks, so hell-bent was she on conquering the movies as she had the stage. She was not to succeed.Adler spent six years as an associate producer at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, at which she acted in movies under the name "Stella Ardler."
She did not achieve the quality of roles or the acclaim that she had in the theater, and she eventually returned to the stage in the early 1940s, acting and directing on Broadway and in London. Adler also began to teach at German émigré Erwin Piscator's acting workshop at the New School for Social Research, where she mentored the young Marlon Brando. She married Clurman in 1943. At its core, the theatrical experience is rooted in the willing suspension of disbelief, with an audience willingly ignoring the fact that it is watching a synthetic entertainment in a highly unrealistic venue. Such is the power of good theater to draw the audience into the world created upon the stage that this suspension of disbelief not only occurs, but that it, as an art form, provides an immediacy that other more "realistic" forms such as movies or television cannot provide. Adler believed that "the theater exists 99% in the imagination" and it was this belief that was the foundation of her philosophy and instruction.
Drawing on Stanislavski's System, Adler made it the bedrock of her technique that an actor's primary concern was with the emotional origins of the script. An actor (and acting student) must search between the lines of the script for the playwright's important, but unspoken, messages. To tap into this vein and bring forth the real meaning in a character, an actor needed both imagination and the ability to open oneself up emotionally. Essentially, Adler's method emphasized that authenticity in acting is achieved by drawing on inner reality to expose deep emotional experience. Konstantin Stanislavski taught her that "the source of acting is imagination and the key to its problems is truth, truth in the circumstances of the play."
It was a fortuitous occasion when Brando enrolled in Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop at New York's New School and came into Stella Adler's orbit. The results of this meeting between an actor and the teacher preparing him for a life in the theater would mark a watershed in American acting and culture as it was through Brando that "The Method" was introduced into the American theater and movies. It would dominate American acting for more than half-a-century and is still the dominant paradigm now, over sixty years since Adler tutored Brando.
"The Method" as taught by Adler and other Group Theater alumni was a more naturalistic style of performing, as it engendered a close identification of the actor with the character's emotions. The extraordinarily sensitive and intelligent Brando was the ideal student due to the prodigious talent he could yoke to the harness of technique that was "The Method". Adler took pride of place among Brando's acting teachers, and socially she helped turn him from a fairly ignorant Midwestern farm boy into a knowledgeable and cosmopolitan artist who one day would socialize with presidents.
Aside from acting, Adler directed two plays on Broadway, "Manhattan Nocturne" during the 1943-44 season, and "Sunday Breakfast" in 1952. Her last appearance as an actress on the Broadway stage was in the revival of "He Who Gets Slapped" in 1946.
Stella Adler left the faculty of the New School in 1949 to establish her own acting school, the Stella Adler Theatre Studio (which would be renamed the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting before taking its final name, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting). She developed a curriculum from her wide knowledge and experience, combining her understanding of Konstantin Stanislavski's System with the techniques and traditions of the Yiddish theater, The Group Theatre, Broadway and Hollywood. In addition to acting technique, the school offered workshops in play analysis, character, and scene preparation; the students gleaned on-stage experience by performing scenes and plays before invited audiences. Among the alumni of her school were Marlon Brando (chairman of the board of the school until his death), Warren Beatty (who has taken over the position), Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel.
Adler taught script analysis at Yale for a year and half. Courses for advanced students and professionals were added to the curriculum of her own school, including rehearsal technique and script analysis. Due to her reputation and connections, the school was able to attract distinguished lecturers, including Sir John Gielgud and Arthur Laurents.
Stella Adler was a major inspiration to her students. Her mantra was, "You act with your soul. That's why you all want to be actors - because your souls are not used up by life". Adler is still, more than a decade after her death, viewed as one of the foremost influences on contemporary acting.
Adler divorced Clurman in 1960, after 17 years of marriage. Subsequently, she married Mitchell Wilson, whom she remained married to until his death in 1973. She did not remarry.
Stella Adler died on December 21, 1992 in Los Angeles, California. She was 91 years old.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Stuart Erwin was an American actor who often worked as a voice actor in radio and animation. He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Erwin was born in Squaw Valley, Fresno County, California in 1903. Squaw Valley is a census-designated place, the location of a post office which has operated on-and-off since 1879. It is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) to the east of the county seat, Fresno. Despite the similarity in names, it has no connection to the Squaw Valley Ski Resort, which is located in Placer County, California.
Erwin attended school at Porterville High School in Porterville, California. Porterville was at the time a local center for the mining industry, primarily known for the extraction of magnetite from nearby mines. Erwin latter attended the University of California. He started performing on stage as an actor while still a college student. During the 1920s, Erwin mainly appeared on repertory theatre in Los Angeles.
In 1928, Erwin made his film debut in the biographical film "Mother Knows Best." The film was largely based on the life of actress and singer Elsie Janis (1889-1956), and depicted her relationship with the stage mother who managed her career since childhood. The film was mainly notable as the first "talkie" (sound film) produced by the film studio Fox Film (1915-1935), using the Movietone sound system.
Erwin regularly appeared in theatrical films during the late 1920s and early 1930s, but was infrequently cast on major roles. His first memorable role was that of oil-industry businessman and radio-station owner Leslie McWhinney in the musical comedy "The Big Broadcast" (1932). In the film, McWhinney is both the employer and a close friend to singer Bing Crosby (1903-1977). The film was Crosby's first starring role as an actor, and he depicted a fictionalized version of himself.
Erwin gained a starring role in the comedy film "Palooka" (1934), an adaptation of the popular comic strip "Joe Palooka" (1930-1984) by cartoonist Ham Fisher (1900-1955). Erwin was cast in the role of Joe Palooka himself. Palooka was depicted as a professional boxer, but with a kind heart, a hero's instinct to protect others, and rather limited intelligence. In the film, the role of the middle-aged Knobby Walsh, Palooka's Irish-born manager and the mastermind behind his rise to fame, was played by Jimmy Durante (1893-1980).
In 1936, Erwin starred as hillbilly Amos Dodd in the comedy "Pigskin Parade." In the film, Amos is an uneducated farmer from Arkansas who has an amazing talent for American football, so he gets recruited as a college football player by a Texas-based university. The role met with critical praise, and Erwin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. However, the Award for that year was won by rival actor Walter Brennan (1894-1974).
In radio, Erwin had a recurring role in "Phone Again Finnegan" (1946), and played multiple roles in the anthology series "Lux Radio Theatre" (1934-1955), "Cavalcade of America" (1935-1953), and "The United States Steel Hour" (1943-1953).
From 1950 to 1955, Erwin starred in the television sitcom "The Stu Erwin Show." The series lasted for a total of 130 episodes, and cast Erwin in the role of a high-school principal who was also the father of high-spirited teens. After the sitcom ended, Erwin frequently appeared as a guest star on other television shows.
In 1963, Erwin played the role of football coach Wilson in the science-fiction comedy film "Son of Flubber," The film was a commercial success, earning about $22 million at the North American box office. It was the seventh-most commercially successful film of 1963, being outperformed by "Cleopatra" (first), "How the West Was Won" (second), "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (third), 'Tom Jones" (fourth), "Irma la Douce" (fifth), and "The Sword in the Stone" (sixth). "Son of Flubber" itself outperformed the horror film "The Birds" (eighth), the spy film "Dr. No" (ninth), and the drama film "The V.I.P.s" (tenth).
In 1964, Erwin played the role of Police Chief Loomis in another science-fiction comedy film, "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones." This film earned only $4 million at the box office but was considered successful enough to receive a sequel, "The Monkey's Uncle" (1965). Erwin was not asked to appear in the sequel. "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" was Erwin's last film role.
From 1965 to 1967, Erwin was limited to playing guest star roles in various television series, such as "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," and "Lassie." In December 1967, Erwin suffered a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and died in Beverly Hills. He was 64. He was survived by his wife June Collyer (1906-1968), who died of pneumonia in March 1968.
The bodies of both Erwin and Collyer were cremated. Their ashes were interred at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory, in Los Angeles.- Actor
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- Soundtrack
Ted Healy was was born Ernest Lea Nash and grew up as a very good friend of Moses "Moe" and Samuel "Shemp" Horwitz (later Moe and Shemp Howard). In the '20s he changed his name to Ted Healy and got Moe, Shemp, and a violinist named Larry Feinberg (later Larry Fine) to do vaudeville acts with him as his stooges. As the 1930s started, Ted was becoming addicted to alcohol. Shemp left the act and Moe replaced him with Jerome "Curly" Howard. Those three also left the act because Ted Healy underpaid them and kept getting drunk. He spent the rest of his life doing feature films, most notably "Operator 13." Ted Healy died on December 21, 1937 while out celebrating the birth of his son. The cause of death was listed as nephritis on the autopsy.- Director
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William Higgins was born on 19 December 1942 in the USA. He was a director and producer. He died on 21 December 2019 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.