celebs who died in 2015
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- Producer
- Additional Crew
Gerald Green was born on 10 January 1932. Gerald was a producer, known for Dune (1984), Rescue Dawn (2006) and Salvador (1986). Gerald died on 24 July 2015.- Anna Kashfi has appeared in a number of films including The Mountain (1956) (with Spencer Tracy) and Battle Hymn (1957) (with Rock Hudson) but is best known for being Marlon Brando's first wife. Kashfi is often thought of as being Indian but several newspapers have said that she is, in fact, the daughter of a Welsh factory worker, William Callaghan, and simply reinvented herself to increase her screen appeal. In her 1979 memoir, Kashfi still held onto the claim that she is Indian by insisting that she is the product of an "unregistered alliance" between Selma Ghose and an Indian architect named Devi Kashfi, and that William Callaghan is her stepfather. She met Brando in 1955 in the Paramount commissary and after an on-off relationship (mainly due to Brando's relentless womanizing) married him in 1957. (Brando claimed that he married her only because she had become pregnant.) She gave birth in May 1958 to their son, Christian, who became notorious in 1990 for shooting dead Dag Drollet, a crime that earned him a ten-year jail sentence. Kashfi divorced Brando in 1959. She remarried a Los Angeles businessman named James Hannaford in 1974, but he died in 1987. She also outlived her first husband Marlon Brando (who died in 2004) and their son Christian (who died in 2008). She died on August 16, 2015 of natural causes at the age of 80 in Washington State, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Melody Patterson was born on April 16, 1949 in Inglewood, California. She started performing at the age of four, appearing in "Mrs. McThing" at the Downey Community Theatre in Downey, California. She attended the Hollywood Professional School and later studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. The television series F Troop (1965) launched her career, and the world will always affectionately remember the character Wrangler Jane, who had a thing for stray critters and Captain Wilton Parmenter. Her career as a television and movie actress was far too short, but her love for acting and the theatre has kept her involved. From acting to directing productions, Melody has always shown the natural talent to create a spectacular performance.- Writer
- Actor
- Cinematographer
Oliver Sacks was born on 9 July 1933 in London, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for Awakenings (1990), At First Sight (1999) and Wolf. He died on 30 August 2015 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Susan Sheridan was born on 18 March 1947 in Surbiton, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Black Cauldron (1985), Moomin (1990) and Midsomer Murders (1997). She was married to Max Brittain and Michael Sheridan. She died on 8 August 2015 in Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK.- Uggie is a Jack Russell terrier, born in 2002.
He was rescued from being sent to a dog pound by Omar Von Muller, animal trainer. His career included touring with a dog talent show in the United States and South America and starring in commercials.
His most famous movie roles are in Water for Elephants (2011) and The Artist (2011). In The Artist, his performance was considered by many to have upstaged those of his co-stars and has won him the Palm Dog award in Cannes and there are petitions for other awards to be opened up to dogs, on account of his exceptional performance.
Uggie lives in North Hollywood with Von Muller, his wife, and his daughter.
It was announced by his trainer that Uggie will retire after his appearance at the Oscars on February 26 2012. - Make-Up Department
- Art Department
- Special Effects
TC Williams grew up with his family in Arizona. He ventured to California to pursue a career in the movie business as a make-up artist. While working on the set of Mutant Species he met his first wife and had a daughter with her. Sadly circumstances were such that they were divorced. While on his travels around the United States to work on movies, he often brought his daughter out on location to share the experience.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Bud Yorkin was born on 22 February 1926 in Washington, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Sanford and Son (1972) and Blade Runner (1982). He was married to Cynthia Sikes and Peg Yorkin. He died on 18 August 2015 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Merv Adelson was born on 23 October 1929 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a producer, known for Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977), The Choirboys (1977) and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978). He was married to Thea Joyce Nesis, Barbara Walters, Gail Melinda Kenaston and Lorraine Kaufman. He died on 8 September 2015 in Canoga Park, California, USA.
- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Jackie Collins was born on 4 October 1937 in London, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for Danger Man (1960), The Saint (1962) and The Stud (1978). She was married to Oscar Lerman and Wallace Austin. She died on 19 September 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
One of baseball's greatest catchers of all time, Yogi Berra appeared in a record 14 World Series while calling the games for the New York Yankees. Berra proved invaluable to the Yankees as evidenced by his three American League Most Valuable Player awards. Berra was also one of the game's best-hitting catchers, hitting 358 homers and hitting a crisp .285 in his career. Berra also proved his worth as one of the smartest men in the game, managing the Yankees and later the New York Mets. He took both teams to the World Series. Lately however, Berra is more known for his fractured witticisms "It ain't over till it's over." Still, if you were to start an all-star baseball team, Berra would be one of top picks for catcher.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Derek Ware was born on 27 February 1938 in Manchester, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Willow (1988) and The Italian Job (1969). He died on 22 September 2015 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, UK.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
- Producer
Kevin Corcoran was born on 10 June 1949 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He was an assistant director and actor, known for Old Yeller (1957), Swiss Family Robinson (1960) and Pollyanna (1960). He was married to Laura Soltwedel. He died on 6 October 2015 in Burbank, California, USA.- Art Director
- Production Designer
- Additional Crew
Gene Allen was born on 17 June 1918 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an art director and production designer, known for My Fair Lady (1964), A Star Is Born (1954) and Les Girls (1957). He was married to Iris. He died on 7 October 2015 in Newport Beach, California, USA.- Richard Davies was born Dennis Wilfred Davies on January 25, 1926 in Dowlais, Wales.
In a television era unabashed at employing cultural and racial stereotypes for easy and often dubious humour, Richard Davies grew accustomed to finding himself typecast as irascible Welshmen perpetually bothered and bewildered by their English colleagues.
An accomplished character actor with a theatre background that included West End appearances and seasons at the Bristol Old Vic, he always managed to resist caricature and bring a flesh-and-blood reality to often undemanding roles.
He is best remembered as Mr Price, the sarcastic, long-suffering and world-weary science teacher in John Esmonde and Bob Larbey's Please Sir!, which, at its peak during its four-year run from 1968, attracted audiences of 20 million and spawned a 1971 film. Pitted against the puppy-dog enthusiasm of John Alderton's fresh-faced, newly graduated teacher, Davies provided a grittier perspective on the experience of teaching unruly students in a grimy inner-London suburb. His laconic, dyspeptic delivery regularly stole laughs and entire scenes from his fellow actors.
The son of a railway guard, born in the village of Dowlais in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, he began acting at school before going down the mines for a brief time. When war broke out, he enlisted in the military police and soon found himself seconded to the Combined Services Entertainment Unit.
Back on Civvy Street, he joined a touring theatre company and in 1947 made his West End debut in Little Lambs Eat Ivy at the Ambassadors Theatre. He spent the 1951-52 season touring Europe and South Africa with the Old Vic and in 1953 played the Welsh captain Fluellen in Henry V in Guildford.
That year also saw him return to the West End in Carrington VC at the Westminster Theatre. By then, he had made his first appearance in film (a bit part in 1951's The Lavender Hill Mob). At the end of the decade Davies was back in Bristol where he played Feste (Twelfth Night, 1957) and Grumio and Vincentio in The Taming of the Shrew (1959).
Although television increasingly came to dominate his career, in 1965 he appeared alongside Bob Monkhouse in Basil Ashmore's The Gulls at the Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre. Later theatre credits included Gwyn Thomas' The Keep (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, 1970) and several productions of Under Milk Wood, including Theatr Cymru's 25th anniversary revival (seen at London's Mayfair Theatre) in 1978. In the 1972 film version starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, he played Mr Pritchard.
In the late 1980s, Davies was a member of a co-operative theatre company formed by ex-Please Sir! cast members, with whom he appeared in stage versions of classic BBC radio comedies. The success of Please Sir! led to regular small-screen appearances, notably as Idris Hopkins in Coronation Street (1974-75), Taffy Evans in Rule Britannia! (1975) and Clive in Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt (1976-77). He also made memorable contributions to episodes of Fawlty Towers (1979), Yes, Minister (1980) and in particular One Foot in the Grave (1992).
His later film work never matched his iconic performance as Private 593 Jones in 1964's Zulu, alongside Michael Caine and Stanley Baker.
In his later years he had suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died on October 8 2015, aged 89. He is survived by his second wife, the actress Jill Britton, to whom he was married for nearly 60 years, their two children, and a son from his first marriage. - Elizabeth Ramsey was born on 3 December 1931 in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. She was an actress, known for Ang bukas ay akin! (1963), In This Corner (1962) and Mga Kanang Kamay (1964). She was married to Ray Kagahastian and ???. She died on 8 October 2015.
- Sound Department
Bob Minkler was born on 31 August 1937 in Glendale, California, USA. He is known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Tron (1982) and The Return of the Living Dead (1985). He was married to Patty Minkler. He died on 11 October 2015 in Oregon, USA.- Writer
- Art Department
Murphy Anderson was born on 9 July 1926 in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. He was a writer, known for Young Justice (2010), Batman: The Animated Series (1992) and DC Super Hero Girls (2019). He was married to Helene Dudek. He died on 22 October 2015 in Somerset, New Jersey, USA.- Fred Thompson was born on 19 August 1942 in Sheffield, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for The Hunt for Red October (1990), No Way Out (1987) and Baby's Day Out (1994). He was married to Jeri Kehn Thompson and Sarah Elizabeth Lindsey. He died on 1 November 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Albert was born on June 24, 1919 to Raffaele Molinaro and Teresa Marrone. His father was born in Calabria, Italy and immigrated to the US when he was 15 years old and worked as a water boy with a railroad crew going west from New York. He ended up in Kenosha Wisconsin where he met and married Albert's mother Teresa on December 22, 1901. His father named Albert after his favorite Italian Prince, Umberto II who was born 15 years earlier. A school teacher later suggested that "Albert" might be more suitable. His mother chose his middle name Fransico after Santo Francisco since he was born on Saint Francis Day. The midwife who's English was only slightly better than Albert's parents spelled his middle name with a feminine "A" at the end which was never corrected. His legal named remained Umberto Francisca Molinaro. He was the ninth child of what would later become a family of ten children, eight boys and 2 girls. At 19 years of age Albert became a union leader at the Vincent-McCall furniture spring factory after working there for only 4 months. He later became the special assistant to the Kenosha City Manager when he was 20. At this time Albert's best friend from Kenosha, Mills Tenuta, who had moved to Southern California to work in an aircraft plant, began harassing him to come out to Hollywood. He was sure that Albert could be a movie star. Albert left a promising career with the city after only a year to head to Hollywood to become an actor. Albert had many jobs while pursuing his acting career. His first job was at Reginald Denny's Hobby shop in Hollywood. He spent 2 years as a live action animator at George Pal's studios. If Technicolor hadn't gone on a sympathy strike with the Studio Carpenters union he might have spent his career as an animator. He managed the M&G Grand Variety Store for a year and then became a bill collector for the "Collection Agency of America" in downtown LA. He quickly learned the art of bill collecting and was able to become a salesman who procured collection accounts for another agency which he later purchased. This gave him flexible hours and a steady income so he could focus again on his dreams of Hollywood. Even after his acting career took off he kept his Bill Collection business until he retired. Albert married Jacqueline Martin in 1948. They moved into a home in Granada Hills, CA and adopted their son Michael Molinaro. Albert and Jacqueline were divorced in 1980. Albert then married Betty Sedillos in 1981 and they lived in Glendale CA until his death in 2015. Albert had two step children, Jim Sedillos & Victoria Sedillos and a total of 6 grandchildren and 2 great-grand children. Albert's movie debut happened when he was 25 years old. After appearing as the lead in a Chekhov play called "The Bear" at the old Sartu Theater that used to be on the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and La Brea Ave. A movie producer saw the performance and cast him in a picture that had three separate stories, one of the stories was Chekhov's play "The Bear" but changed from a Russian setting to a Spanish locale. The movie was titled "Love Me Madly". Albert was not told that some of the scenes they shot without him were R rated in today's standards but X rated for 1954's standards. He was surprised and upset during the movies premiere and vowed to never again be in a film that his mother couldn't watch. During the early 1950's Albert began producing live television shows for local televisions stations channel 5 KTLA, channel 9 KHJ & channel 11 KTTV. He Co-created "Insomnia" a late night live show and a "Ski Show" in which Warren Miller allowed him to use some of his skiing footage. He created "Star Finder" a pre-teen amateur show, "Square Dance Party" and "The Tiny Late Show" which was his own late night one man show that filled the few minutes of time between the end of the late night movie and the station signing off for the night.
All the time Albert was working to pay his bills he was also acting in small plays in theaters all over Hollywood. After 25 years of theater acting he was convinced to play a small part in a play directed by his friend, Leo Matranga, at the Hollywood Horseshoe Theater. After the show, a commercial agent named Don Schwartz offered to represent him. Albert swore off acting and never called Don. One year later, Don called Albert telling him that he already set up an appointment for him and convinced him to audition for a national commercial. Albert got the commercial for the Volvo 140. You can see his commercial debut on youtube "Volvo 140 advertising". It's 3 min. & 30 seconds into the video (they have strung many vintage Volvo ads together). Take a look at his first commercial and you will see the face that went on to land over 100 commercials. 42 of them were nationals. He also landed a 10 year deal with "Encore" frozen dinners becoming their spokesperson. A friend from George Pal's Studios named Glenn Grossman cast Albert whenever he could in the industrial films that he would make from time to time. It was while working on one of Glenn's films that Albert met another working actor named Harvey Lembeck. When Harvey wasn't acting he ran an actor's workshop. Harvey convinced Albert that he could help him with his comedy timing. Gary Marshall's sister Penny was also a member of Harvey's workshop. One night Penny asked her brother to come down and see Albert. Gary was in the process of producing a movie starring Jacquiline Bissett called "The Grasshopper" and wanted Al to play the part of a truck driver. Albert did not play the part because the shooting dates conflicted with a Pepto-Bismol commercial he was scheduled to shoot in Phoenix. A year later, when Albert learned from his writer friend, John Rappaport, that Garry Marshall was casting for The Odd Couple TV show, John convinced him that he would be perfect to play one of the poker players. Albert first refused to call Gary but John badgered him enough to finally make him call. Albert made numerous phone calls but got no response so he decided to dress up like a delivery man and deliver a 2'x3' card with many pictures of himself glued to it stating that "Al Molinaro is a Poker Player. ...Assorted Poker Faces ... More faces available upon demand. Just Call (his Phone #) Dear Gary, If you don't call me for an audition, I'll put a curse on you to make you sterile for life. Sincerely, Al Molinaro. The delivery outfit did not get him past the guard at the Paramount gate but it did get the card delivered and Albert got an audition and landed the part of Murray the Cop. Later, Gary stated that, "Although we thought Albert was wrong for the part, we decided to take a chance on Al because of all the men who we auditioned, he was the funniest. Albert spent 5 years on The Odd Couple and when it finished, due to the fact that Jack Klugman wanted to do drama, he was offered the roll of the Malt Shop Owner on Gary's new show "Happy Days". Albert turned down the role feeling he did not want to work with a "bunch of kids". After the first season of Happy Days, Pat Morita, who was cast in the role of the malt shop owner, was offered his own show so Gary once again asked Albert to work on the show. Albert asked Gary that if he didn't like working on the show, could he quit whenever he wanted. Gary said he couldn't put that in writing but that they would shake on it. Albert enjoyed 10 years on "Happy Days" from 1974 to 1984 and 1 more year on "Joanie Loves Chachi. He guest starred on many television shows during and after the filming of the Odd Couple and Happy Days. He also worked on a short lived sitcom called "The Family Man" from 1990-1991 but decided to stop taking roles by the mid 90's. He completed his 10 year contract with Encore Frozen Foods and as his last job he surprisingly accepted an offer to be in a music video with Wheezer.
Albert was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in the mid 90's and lived with the illness for 20 years. Early diagnosis and careful medication allowed Albert to enjoy life until he had a small heart attack in May of 2015. He was a wonderfully kind man. He taught himself to play the piano, clarinet and ukulele and even had a few real gigs in Reno playing the clarinet in his youth. His family believes that his improvisational skills allowed him to mask his Alzheimer's disease from most people until just before he died. He continued to personally answer his fan mail until his health did not allow it. In June he celebrated his 96th birthday but he was declining quickly. He developed a gall stones and due to his age and the recent heart attack, surgery was not recommended. Albert died on October 30th 2015.- Actress
- Soundtrack
An honest-to-goodness Southern Belle, similar to her most famous character role, "Elly May Clampett" on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Donna Douglas grew up in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area, loving "critters". She got married soon after high school, had a son, divorced and won a couple of beauty contests, all within the span of a few years. She moved to New York and soon appeared on television series, including a well-remembered guest-star shot on The Twilight Zone (1959) in one of the series' most famous episodes, Eye of the Beholder (1960), in which she plays a woman who tries to undergo a series of experimental treatments to make her beautiful, only for the treatments to fail. The twist was she was beautiful, at least to the viewers, but considered hideous to the pig people of the planet, she was on. She immediately won the character role of "Elly May Clampett" on one of the greatest situation comedies of all time, The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). This extremely comical series debuted with The Clampetts Strike Oil (1962), on her 30th birthday, Wednesday, September 26th, 1962, which is among the narrowest & sheerest coincidences, that are hardest to believe.- Actor
- Music Department
- Writer
Suave and handsome Australian actor arrived in Hollywood in the 1950s, and built himself up from a supporting actor into taking the lead in several well-remembered movies. Arguably his most fondly remembered role was that as George (Herbert George Wells), the inventor, in George Pal's spectacular The Time Machine (1960). As the movie finished with George, and his best friend Filby Alan Young seemingly parting forever, both actors were brought back together in 1993 to film a 30-minute epilogue to the original movie! Taylor's virile, matinée idol looks also assisted him in scoring the lead of Mitch Brenner in Alfred Hitchcock's creepy thriller The Birds (1963), the role of Jane Fonda's love interest in Sunday in New York (1963), the title role in John Ford's biopic of Irish playwright Sean O'Casey in Young Cassidy (1965), and a co-starring role in The Train Robbers (1973) with John Wayne. Taylor also appeared as Bette Davis future son-in-law in the well-received film The Catered Affair (1956). He also gave a sterling performance as the German-American Nazi Major trying to fool James Garner in 36 Hours (1964). Later, Taylor made many westerns and action movies during the 1960s and 1970s; however, none of these were much better than "B" pictures and failed to push his star to the next level. Additionally, Taylor was cast as the lead in several TV series including Bearcats! (1971), Masquerade (1983), and Outlaws (1986); however, none of them truly ignited viewer interest, and they were cancelled after only one or two seasons. Most fans would agree that Rod Taylor's last great role was in the wonderful Australian film The Picture Show Man (1977), about a travelling sideshow bringing "moving pictures" to remote towns in the Australian outback.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Samuel Goldwyn Jr. was born on 7 September 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) and Mystic Pizza (1988). He was married to Patricia Strawn, Peggy Elliott and Jennifer Howard. He died on 9 January 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Taylor Negron was born Brad Stephen Negron in Glendale, California, to Lucy (Rosario) and Conrad Negron, who was mayor of Indian Wells, CA. His parents were both of Puerto Rican descent. Negron attended UCLA, studied acting with Lee Strasberg, and studied comedy at a private seminar taught by Lucille Ball. He went on to join the cast of an improvisational comedy group, whose ranks included talents like Robin Williams, Martin Short and Betty Thomas. In 1982 Negron made his motion-picture debut as a love-struck, pill-popping, dancing intern in Young Doctors in Love (1982) and as the obviously peeved Mr. Pizza Guy in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). He also played Rodney Dangerfield's son-in-law in Easy Money (1983).
Negron was honored with the distinction of being asked to teach one of the first comedy courses offered at UCLA.
Negron died of cancer on January 10, 2015.- Than Wyenn was an actor born on May 2, 1919 in New York City, New York, USA. He had a long career and was especially known for Being There (1979), Splash (1984), and Imitation of Life (1959). He died on January 29, 2015 in Woodland Hills, Los Angles, CA, USA at the age of 95.
- Alan Howard was born on 5 August 1937 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). He was married to Sally Beauman and Stephanie Hinchcliffe Davies. He died on 14 February 2015 in Hampstead, London, England, UK.
- Pamela Cundell was born on January 15, 1920 in Croydon, Surrey, England as Pamela Isabel Cundell. She was an actress, known for TwentyFourSeven (1997), Big Deal (1984) and Dad's Army (1968). She was married to Bill Fraser, Leslie Newport-Gwilt and Robert O'Connor. She died on February 14, 2015 in Finchley, North London, England.
- Actor
- Production Manager
- Soundtrack
Louis Jourdan was born Louis Robert Gendre in Marseille, France to Yvonne (née Jourdan) and hotel owner Henry Gendre. He was educated in France, Britain, and Turkey. He trained as an actor with René Simon at the École Dramatique. He debuted on screen in 1939, going on to play cultivated, polished, dashing lead roles in a number of French romantic comedies and dramas.
After his father, the manager of the Cannes Grand Hôtel, was arrested by the Gestapo during World War II, Louis and his two brothers (Pierre Jourdan and Robert Gendre, both of whom became film directors) joined the French underground; his film career came to a halt when he refused to act in Nazi propaganda films.
In 1948, David O. Selznick invited him to Hollywood to appear in The Paradine Case (1947); he remained in the USA and went on to star in a number of Hollywood films. After 1953, he appeared in international productions and, in 1958, appeared in Gigi (1958), his best-known film by American audiences. He also made numerous appearances on American television.
Jourdan died at his home in Beverly Hills, California in 2015, at age 93.- Eileen Essell has to be one of the oldest film débutantes of all time. She became a stage actress when she left university and spent thirteen years in theatrical productions in Britain. However, when she was in her early thirties she got married to a writer and abandoned her career to raise her son. She did later earn a living as a teacher at the Central School of Music and Drama and the City University. After the death of her husband in 1998, a family friend lured her back on stage for a play he was producing and an agent just happened to be in the audience. He was keen to represent her and got her employment in television. An appearance in the film Duplex (2003) led to her becoming a Hollywood actress in her 80s with roles in Finding Neverland (2004), The Producers (2005) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
- Ben Woolf was born on 15 September 1980 in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for American Horror Story (2011), Haunting Charles Manson (2014) and Woggie (2012). He died on 23 February 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Dora (Spinner) and Max Nimoy, who owned a barbershop. His parents were Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. Raised in a tenement and acting in community theaters since age eight, Nimoy did not make his Hollywood debut until he was 20, with a bit part in Queen for a Day (1951) and another as a ballplayer in the perennial Rhubarb (1951). After two years in the United States Army, he was still getting small, often uncredited parts, like an Army telex operator in Them! (1954). His part as Narab, a Martian finally friendly to Earth, in the closing scene in the corny Republic serial Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), somewhat foreshadowed the role which would make him a household name: Mr. Spock, the half-human/half-Vulcan science officer on Star Trek (1966) one of television's all-time most successful series. His performance won him three Emmy nominations and launched his career as a writer and director, notably of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), the story of a humpback whale rescue that proved the most successful of the Star Trek movies. Stage credits have included "Fiddler on the Roof", "Oliver", "Camelot" and "Equus". He has hosted the well-known television series In Search of... (1977) and Ancient Mysteries (1994), authored several volumes of poetry and guest-starred on two episodes of The Simpsons (1989). In the latter years of his career, he played Mustafa Mond in NBC's telling of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1998), voiced Sentinel Prime in the blockbuster Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), and played Spock again in two new Star Trek films, Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).
Leonard Nimoy died on February 27, 2015 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 83.- Writer
- Producer
- Actress
Jenna McMahon was born on 24 May 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. She was a writer and producer, known for The Carol Burnett Show (1967), Soap (1977) and The Twilight Zone (1959). She was married to James Holden. She died on 2 March 2015 in Monterey, California, USA.- Actress
- Stunts
Most famous for her role in the 1972 low-budget shocker Frogs (1972) (a far cry from her role on Hazel (1961)), Lynn Borden rarely garnered large or leading roles. She was originally going to play the lead in 1964's Roustabout (1964) but this did not materialize. She had a memorable role in the action film Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974), although small, and starred sporadically in feature films and TV movies.- Emory Bass was born on 12 August 1925 in Valdosta, Georgia, USA. He was an actor, known for 1776 (1972), Dark Shadows (1966) and Kojak (1973). He died on 4 March 2015 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Writer
Richard Glatzer was born on 28 January 1952 in Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Still Alice (2014), Quinceañera (2006) and Colette (2018). He was married to Wash Westmoreland. He died on 10 March 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Lou Silverstone was born on 17 May 1924 in Plainfield, New Jersey, USA. He was a writer, known for The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (1972) and Jackson 5ive (1971). He was married to Mary Rupnik. He died on 9 March 2015.
- William Beckley, born in London, England on January 15, 1930, was known for his many television roles from the 1960's through the late 1980's. He was perhaps best remembered for playing along side actors John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins as Gerard the butler in Dynasty (1981) .
Later in life he resided near Richmond, Virginia and passed away on March 11, 2015. - Buddy Elias was born 1925 in Frankfurt am Main. He took acting lessons at the conservatory in Basel and completed his training with Ernst Ginsberg in Zürich. At the beginning of his career he played at various stages in Switzerland. He was the star comedian in 'Holiday on Ice' from 1947 until 1961. Since 1962 Buddy Elias had permanent engagements at German and Swiss theaters, but also in England and France. At the Landestheater Tübingen he played Mephisto in 'Urfaust' (1962) and the title part in 'Mustergatte'(1962). At the Comedy Basel he played from 1964-1968, e.g. the ballad singer in 'Galileo Galilei', Truffaldino in 'Diener zweier Herren', the title part in 'Die venezianischen Zwillinge', Lorenzo in 'Romeo und Julia', the title part in 'Arturo Ui', and Mosca in 'Volpone'. Countless engagements followed at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, the Stadttheater Zürich, the Atelier-Theater Bern, the Hanse-Theater, the Theater am Goetheplatz in Bremen, the Nationaltheater Mannheim, the Freie Volksbühne Berlin, the Theater am Kurfürstendamm, the Theater des Westens, the Hansa Theater and the Renaissance-Theater in Berlin, the Deutsches Theater in Munich und the Deutschen Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. He last played the role of Calchas in Herbert Wernicke's 'La belle Helene' in Aix-en-Provence and at the Salzburg Festival and 'Der starke Stamm' (Marieluise Fleißer/director: Thomas Ostermeier) in Munich.
Since 1972 Buddy Elias has participated in almost 80 film and television productions, e.g.:
1972 'Gun Before Butter', director Peter Zadek 1975 'Vranek ist an allem Schuld', director Ulrich Stark 1976 'The Magician',director Menachem Golan 1977 'Mulligans Rückkehr', director Helmut Käutner 1978 'David', director Peter Lilienthal 1980 'Wie der Mond über Feuer und Blut', director Axel Corti 1981 'Der Zauberberg', director Hans Geissendörfer 1983 'Der Fall Openheimer', director Rainer Wolffhardt 1983 'Das Traumschiff', director Alfred Vohrer 1984 'Emigranten', director Axel Corti 1986 'La visite chez le prince', director Serge Korber 1987 'Die Schwarzwaldklinik', director Hans-Jürgen Tögel 1990 'Bronsteins Kinder', director Jerzy Kawalerowicz 1991/92 'Mit Leib und Seele', director Peter Deutsch 1992 'Glückliche Reise', director Hermann Leitner 1992 'SoKo 5113', director Kai Borsche 1993 'Die Botschafterin', director Peter Deutsch 1993 'Wolffs Revier', director Michael Lähn 1994 'Mutter Courage', director Michael Verhoeven 1997 'Shalom Deutschland', director Josef Rödel 1997 'Totalschaden' (Crash), director Thorsten Näter 1998 'Sunshine / Sonnenschein', director Istvan Szabo 1998 'Stan Becker - Echte Freunde', director Kaspar Heidelbach 1999 'St Angela', director Egon Monk 2000 'Nobel', director Fabio Carpi 2001 'Der Verleger', director Bernd Böhlich 2002 'Die Liebe in Gedanken', director Achim von Bories. 2003 'Bella Block - Hinter den Spiegeln', director: Thorsten Näter 2003 'Mit deinen Augen', director: Karl Kasis 2004 'Die Wahrheit des Dieter D.', director: Barbara Politsch 2004 'Tod einer Ärztin', director: Markus Fischer 2004 'Propaganda', director: Horst Königstein 2004 'Jetzt erst Recht', director: Andi Niessner 2005 'GG 19 - Episodenfilm zum Gerundgesetz, Art. 8', director: Mira Thiel 2006 'Sami', director: Mehdi Benhadji-Djilali
Buddy Elias lives in Basel. A cousin of Anne Frank, he is her last living relative and presides the "Anne Frank-Foundation". - Actress
- Soundtrack
Alberta Watson, well known to television audiences for her Gemini award-nominated role as Madeline on La Femme Nikita (1997), enjoys a long and diverse career in television and film.
A native of Toronto, Watson began performing with a local theater group as a teenager. She received a Genie nomination for Best Supporting Actress for one of her first movie roles, Mitzi in George Kaczender's In Praise of Older Women (1978). Just a year later, she took home the Best Actress award at the Yorkton Film Festival for the short film "Exposure". Watson then headed to the United States, where she studied with Gene Lasko, made several films (including Michael Mann's stylish horror classic The Keep (1983), with Scott Glenn, Ian McKellen and Gabriel Byrne) and the TV movie Women of Valor (1986), with Susan Sarandon.
After returning to the East Coast, Watson took a chance on a low-budget independent film with then-novice director David O. Russell: the black comedy Spanking the Monkey (1994), which received the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and multiple Independent Spirit Awards. Watson won rave critical acclaim for her memorable performance as a depressed, deeply-disturbed mother who has an incestuous relationship with her son, played by Jeremy Davies.
The next year Watson went on to play the far more stable mother to a teenage computer genius in the box-office smash Hackers (1995), along with Angelina Jolie, and then the wife of mobster John Gotti in the Emmy-nominated Gotti (1996). She returned to Toronto and continued to seek out interesting roles in independent film, which led her to star in Shoemaker (1996), directed by Colleen Murphy. While the film was not widely released in the United States, Watson's performance did not go unnoticed -she received a second Genie nomination, this time in the Lead Actress category.
The following year she won critical praise for another independent film, Atom Egoyan's haunting The Sweet Hereafter (1997), in which she delivered a nuanced performance of an adulterous wife and mourning mother. For this film, she shared the award for Best Acting by an Ensemble (National Board of Review) with Ian Holm, Sarah Polley and the other members of an exceptional cast. The film received the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to earn both Academy Award and Genie nominations.
Meanwhile, Watson had begun filming the TV series La Femme Nikita (1997), which ran for four years, where she played a character that has become iconic, the tough anti-terrorist strategist Madeline. The cult series earned her a 1998 Gemini nomination and marked the start of an ever-growing fan base, with its main online presence at an unofficial site dedicated to her.
Although she has appeared in numerous major commercial releases and hit television shows, during the last ten years Watson has preferred independent (and especially Canadian) productions.
She added another prize-winning movie to her credits with the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask, where she played Hedwig's twisted mom. The film won the Audience Award and Best Director Award at Sundance.
Watson starred later in The Wild Dogs (2002) with director Thom Fitzgerald, which took home top honors at the Atlantic Film Festival. She also appeared as Dr. Fischer in Sarah Polley's feature film directorial debut, the prize-winning Away from Her (2006), with Julie Christie. In addition, she starred opposite Colm Meaney in the feature film A Lobster Tale (2006), a quiet, low-key story which also won several awards.
Meanwhile, in television, Watson scored a second Gemini Award nomination for her performance in After the Harvest (2001), co-starring Sam Shepard. The second installment of Chasing Cain II: Face (2002), garnered her another Gemini nomination as Best Actress in a Leading Role (2003). After that, Watson filmed Choice: The Henry Morgentaler Story (2005), the story of controversial Canadian physician Dr. Henry Morgentaler, for which she was nominated for yet another Gemini Award in 2005.
While she had recurring roles in numerous television shows (The Newsroom (1996), Show Me Yours (2004), At the Hotel (2006), Angela's Eyes (2006)), she reached again more international TV audiences when she starred in the fourth season (2004-2005) of the hit Fox series 24 (2001), opposite Kiefer Sutherland and William Devane, playing the role of Erin Driscoll, the head of a counter-terrorist unit. She had the chance to play a different boss-woman (a Minister, and recovering alcoholic) when she joined the cast of other popular prime-time drama, CBC's The Border (2008), as a recurring guest star.
Most recently Watson was cast as the voice of 350-pound Mary Rutherford in the animated film The Spine (2009) (produced and directed by Academy Award-winning animator Chris Landreth), which took home the Best Film Award at the 2009 Melbourne International Animation Festival. In 2008, Alberta Watson received a Career Achievement Award from the Boston-based Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film.
Watson died on March 21, 2015 due to complications from cancer at Kensington Hospice in Toronto; she was 60 years old.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Richard L. Bare was born on 12 August 1913 in Turlock, California, USA. He was a director and writer, known for 77 Sunset Strip (1958), The Islanders (1960) and I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (1969). He was married to Gloria Jean Bailey, Jeanne Evans, Julie Van Zandt, Phyllis Coates, Virginia May Carpenter and Barbara Joyce. He died on 28 March 2015 in Newport Beach, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gene Saks was born on 8 November 1921 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Deconstructing Harry (1997), The Odd Couple (1968) and I.Q. (1994). He was married to Keren Victoria Ettlinger and Bea Arthur. He died on 28 March 2015 in East Hampton, New York, USA.- Actor
- Producer
Robert Z'Dar was born Robert James Zdarsky on June 3, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. He caught the acting bug while attending Proviso West High School in Hillside. He received a BFA from Arizona State University. Prior to acting Z'Dar was a singer/keyboardist/guitar player for the Chicago-based rock band Nova Express, which performed as an opening act for such groups as Jefferson Airplane, The Who, and The Electric Prunes. Other early jobs included a jingle writer for the Leo Burnett and J. Walter Thompson ad agencies, a Chicago police officer, and even a brief stint as a Chippendales dancer.
Big, brawny and imposing, with an enormous face, gigantic jaw, and a massive, muscular physique, the hulking 6'2" Z'Dar projected a strong, aggressive, and intimidating screen presence that was ideally suited for the steady succession of mean, nasty, and extremely scary larger-than-life villains he often portrayed throughout a career that spanned over three decades. Z'Dar acted in his film debut in the mid-1980's. He achieved his greatest and most enduring cult movie fame as the vengeful, relentless, and seemingly indestructible undead New York City police officer Matt Cordell in the immensely entertaining "Maniac Cop" pictures. Among Z'Dar's other memorable roles were a prison guard in the enjoyably sleazy "Hellhole," a crazed prostitute-murdering serial killer in "The Night Stalker" (this part directly led to Z'Dar being cast as Matt Cordell), a vicious criminal who savagely beats up Sylvestor Stallone in "Tango and Cash," the Angel of Death in "Soultaker," a smooth drug dealer in the delightfully outrageous "The Divine Enforcer," and Linnea Quigley's abusive husband in "The Rockville Slayer."
A popular frequent guest at horror film conventions, Z'Dar also produced several movies and continued to act with pleasing regularity in a slew of features up until his death from cardiac arrest at age 64 on March 30, 2015.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Sound Department
Born of Italian heritage Lucio Rietti was "discovered" at the tender age of 8 by his father Vittorio (Victor Rietti veteran actor of the stage and screen) who had noticed the boy had completely memorized a copy of a script he had given Lucio having wanted help from his son while rehearsing his lines for a play. Vittorio had Lucio join his own acting school (which turned out products such as Ida Lupino - then just a little girl), and taught the boy every thing he knew. Lucio was quickly recognized as a child prodigy and appeared alongside his father in scores of plays. He was handpicked by Alfred Hitchcock to play the boy in Secret Agent (1936), but being so young required schooling by law and had to turn down the part. The early Hollywood motion picture king David O. Selznick having seen the boy perform, tried to sign him to an extended contract with his Studio. Before having turned 11 years old he had been in over a dozen films the most notable having starred in the classic Emil and the Detectives (1935) as the leader of a gang of kids.
He was 15 years old and on tour in the UK when WW2 broke out and being of Italian origin was placed in a detention camp together with his father and brother Ronaldo (Ronald Rietti later a film director and producer). After 8 months he was released upon special request to organize an army unit made up of professional actors to entertain the troops. It was during this time that his stage name was altered to Robert Rietty in an attempt to make it sound less Italian and more Irish (who were neutral during the war). It was under the name Robert Rietty that he came to be known best by the public. After 5 ½ years of army service Robert returned to public attention picking up where he had left off.
Over the next several years he participated in every form of entertainment - in radio, on the stage, through motion pictures and the early days of Television. In radio Robert teamed up with Orson Welles twice for the complete radio crime drama series The Black Museum 1951 broadcast to the US armed forces and The Third Man 1951-1952 (aka Harry Lime) - based on the hit film. This proved to be the beginning of a lifelong friendship between the two and Orson made sure to use Robert in countless films of his. Robert was also a regular on the radio series Horatio Hornblower and Theater Royal with Sir Laurence Olivier as well as frequent guest appearances on scores of other radio shows of the time. In motion pictures, still only 25 years of age, he continued to work mostly in character parts with the exception of his performances in Call of the Blood (1948), Prelude to Fame (1950) and Stock Car (1955). Also during this time Robert was heavily involved in the Theater starring in dozens and dozens of plays, even writing quite a few and was editor of the drama quarterly Gambit.
He once found the script of the Italian play To Live in Peace which his father had translated to English but had no luck convincing anyone to produce it. Despite the fact the story was rejected countless times Robert rewrote the script and found a producer willing to back the project with his father in the lead role as Don Geronimo and himself as Maso. The play became an instant success winning many awards and toured in Europe eventually being made twice as films made for Television in 1951 and 1952. Together with his father Robert was knighted by the Italian Government for their contribution to the Italian entertainment industry in particular from translating a great many Italian plays into English. His knighthood was then upgraded. Early television took up much of Robert's time, guest-starring repeatedly in over 100 TV shows many of them being shot live in those days. In television he often got the chance to work together with his father again, most notably in The Jack Benny Program episode Jack Falls Into Canal in Venice (3/10/57) and in the pilot for the series Harry's Girls (1960). During the next 15 years most of his acting was confined to TV and films. His most memorable performances were in The Crooked Road (1965) with Robert Ryan and Stewart Granger, Hell Is Empty (1967) produced by his brother Ronald Rietti and co-starring French actress Martine Carol (who died before the end of shooting the film), The Italian Job (1969) and The Omen (1976) with Gregory Peck.
During this time he made the change from actor to director (although he continued acting) becoming heavily involved in post production work directing and re-voicing and became unquestionably the most sort after director of the kind known throughout Hollywood and Europe as the King Of Dubbers and Man Of A Thousand Voices. His direction was used for practically every film in the James Bond Series (even acting in several) and a never ending list of hundreds of pictures. Through this he came to instruct such stars as Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Gregory Peck, Orson Welles, John Huston, Rod Steiger, Elizabeth Taylor, Sean Connery and Walter Matthau among others. Although over 85 Robert continues directing and acting today over 75 years after he started.- Richard Dysart served for four years in the Air Force during the Korean War. He was a founding member of the American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco. He received the Drama Desk Award in 1972 and a Emmy Award in 1992. He was good friends with Diana Muldaur, who played Rosalind Shays on L.A. Law.
- Ben Powers was born on 5 July 1950 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The New Mike Hammer (1984), Good Times (1974) and The Greatest American Hero (1981). He was married to Julia Harper. He died on 6 April 2015 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Talented and highly capable character actor Geoffrey Lewis, with rustic (sometimes sour-faced) looks, grew up in Rhode Island but was moved out to California at the age of ten. Lewis was very keen on the dramatic arts at high school, but often preferred to put on his own one-man shows rather than participate in larger school productions. His drama teacher took note of his growing talent and referred him to the Plymouth Theater in Massachusetts, where he appeared in summer stock. Afterwards he appeared in several off-Broadway productions in New York City. After spending considerable time traveling, in both the United States and abroad, Lewis turned his attention back to his love of the dramatic arts, and scored his first minor movie role in The Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972) as a somewhat jovial but deadly cowhand. He then cropped up as gangster Harry Pierpont in Dillinger (1973) before beginning a long association with Clint Eastwood, starting off with High Plains Drifter (1973), then as kind-hearted thief Eddie Goody in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), as Clint's buddy Orville Boggs in Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and Any Which Way You Can (1980), then as a henpecked husband in Bronco Billy (1980), as Ricky Z in Pink Cadillac (1989), and in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) also as patient Michael Kahn in Disturbed (1990).
Equally busy on the small screen, he has guest-starred in dozens of episodes of high profile TV series. Additionally, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the series Flo (1980). Apart from his extensive film and TV exposure, Lewis is also a member of the rather unique musical/storytelling "Celestial Navigations," along with award-winning composer songwriter Geoff Levin. Their performances have received terrific reviews from some of Hollywood's top actors and noted musicians, including Chick Corea. As Geoffrey Lewis approaches his seventh decade, nothing seems likely to slow down this multi-talented actor, storyteller and engaging entertainer!- Writer
- Art Department
Herb Trimpe was born on 26 May 1939 in Peekskill, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Brazilian Wolverine (2009), Helstrom (2020) and Imagine the Dreams (2019). He was married to Patricia Velasquez, Linda Fite and Merril Travis. He died on 13 April 2015 in Hurley, New York, USA.- Sawyer Sweeten was born on 12 May 1995 in Brownwood, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Everybody Loves Raymond (1996), Frank McKlusky, C.I. (2002) and Even Stevens (2000). He died on 23 April 2015 in Austin, Texas, USA.
- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Ben E. King was born on 28 September 1938 in Henderson, North Carolina, USA. He was a music artist and composer, known for Stand by Me (1986), Love and Monsters (2020) and Cloverfield (2008). He was married to Betty Nelson. He died on 30 April 2015 in Hackensack, New Jersey, USA.- British actor Nigel Terry primarily dedicated himself to the classical stage. When he extended himself into film and TV outings, it was mostly for historical or period roles. Over the years, he grew quite comfortable in both a pair of hose and a suit of armor.
Terry was born Peter Nigel Terry on August 15, 1945, in Bristol, England, to Doreen Beatrice (Such) and Frank Albert Terry, an RAF pilot. He trained with several repertory companies, including the Oxford Meadow Players and Bristol Old Vic, where some of his better-known works included "Volpone", "Right You Are", "The Balcony", "Richard II" and "Two Gentlemen from Verona". Over time, he appeared extensively with the Royal Shakespearean Company, the Round House Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre. Showing flashes of brilliance in his film debut as the drooling, moronic and cowardly "Prince John" in The Lion in Winter (1968), Nigel held his own opposite a most intimidating cast that included Peter O'Toole, Oscar-winner Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Hopkins (who also made his film debut). Surprisingly, it did not lead to a torrent of film roles.
In demand on the repertory stage, however, he continued with sterling roles in "She Stoops to Conquer", "'Tis Pity She's a Whore", "Queen Christina", "Look Out...Here Comes Trouble", "The Suicide" and "A Month in the Country". Thirteen years later, Nigel finally returned to the cinema, making a memorable comeback in John Boorman's medieval epic Excalibur (1981) as "King Arthur", who grew from a humbling, bumbling squire to a noble and rather melancholy ruler throughout the course of the film. This feat, in turn, ignited more on-camera work. Nigel earned kudos playing the title role in Derek Jarman's Caravaggio (1986) and, subsequently, turned in other interestingly off-kilter characters for Jarman in The Last of England (1987), War Requiem (1989), Edward II (1991) and Blue (1993), an association that ended with Jarman's AIDS-related death in 1994.
Nigel also became a familiar face on British TV. He was probably best-known in America for starring in the US/British series Covington Cross (1992), in which he played "Sir Thomas Gray", a medieval knight. In addition, he created fascinating character portraits in the plush TV costumers The Mushroom Picker (1993), Far from the Madding Crowd (1998) and Crime & Punishment (2002). In the 2000s, Nigel also appeared in the films The Emperor's New Clothes (2001), Feardotcom (2002) and the Brad Pitt epic Troy (2004).
Nigel Terry died on 30 April, 2015. - Actress
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Grace Lee Whitney was a versatile actress and vocalist born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Beginning as a "girl singer" on Detroit's WJR radio, she soon opened in nightclubs for Billie Holiday and Buddy Rich, and toured with the Spike Jones and Fred Waring Bands. Grace debuted on Broadway in "Top Banana", and subsequently appeared in the United Artists film Top Banana (1954). Grace is probably best known for her portrayal of Yeoman Janice Rand on the original Star Trek (1966) series. She later reprised her role for a string of successful Star Trek films: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). Grace continued to delight fans in personal appearances at conventions and events throughout North America and Europe. In 1998, she appeared in an episode of Diagnosis Murder (1993) with her Star Trek castmates George Takei, Walter Koenig and Majel Barrett. Grace Lee Whitney died at age 85 of natural causes in her home in Coarsegold, California on May 1, 2015.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Gilbert Lewis was born on 6 April 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Don Juan DeMarco (1994), Candyman (1992) and Across 110th Street (1972). He died on 7 May 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 - May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimmering vibrato and staccato picking that influenced many later blues electric guitar players. AllMusic recognized King as "the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century".
King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and Freddie King, none of whom are related). King performed tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing on average at more than 200 concerts per year into his 70s. In 1956 alone, he appeared at 342 shows.
King was born on a cotton plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, and later worked at a cotton gin in Indianola, Mississippi. He was attracted to music and the guitar in church, and he began his career in Juke joints and local radio. He later lived in Memphis and Chicago; then, as his fame grew, toured the world extensively. King died at the age of 89 in Las Vegas on May 14, 2015.- Chinx Drugz was an actor, known for French Montana feat. Chinx Drugz & Flip: Stylin on You (2012), Wale Feat. Chinx Drugz & Fatz: Let a Nigga Know (2013) and Chinx Drugz: Feelings (2014). He died on 17 May 2015 in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Mary Ellen Trainor was born in Chicago, Illinois. She appeared in many feature-films of the 1980s, notable characters include, Elaine, the kidnapped sister of Kathleen Turner and the catalyst for the entire plot in Romancing the Stone (1984), Dr. Stephanie Woods (LA Police Psychiatrist) in in all four Lethal Weapon (1987) films, Mrs. Walsh Mikey and Brand's (Sean Astinand Josh Brolin) mom in The Goonies (1985), news reporter Gail Wallens in Die Hard (1988) and Ricochet (1991).- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Tony Longo was a working character actor for more than three decades. Born in New Jersey, he moved out to Los Angeles and within the first few weeks landed a recurring role on the hit TV series "Alice". In that same year he did his first 3 films, "16 Candles", "Splash" and "Fletch". Next he was cast as a series regular in "Helltown", his first of 6 television series over the 30 year span. Others included "1st & Ten" (HBO's first successful series), "Police Academy", "Shakey Ground". He made more than 100 guest spots on every type of show. Playing the Big Guy, Big and Dumb, Big and Bad, or Big Bad and Dumb. All which seem to work in both comedies and dramas, because of the innocence and realism he brings to roles. Longo seemed to find his home in feature films. His wide range got him cast in "Angels in the Outfield", "HouseGuest", Flinstones-Viva Rock Vegas" and "How 2 Lose a Guy in 10 Days". He also co-starred in suspense action films, "Eraser", "Last Boyscout", "Rapid Fire". He completed "Jake's Corner", "Fall of Night" and "Pete Smalls is Dead" before his death.- Dick Van Patten began acting as a child. He made his first of 27 Broadway appearances at age seven in "Tapestry in Grey." After, he appeared in numerous films, including Freaky Friday (1976), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and Spaceballs (1987). His television credits include his best-known role on the 1980s comedy-drama Eight Is Enough (1977), on which he played Tom Bradford, the patriarchal head of the pack.
Van Patten authored several bestselling books, including "How To Get Your Child Into Show Business" and his autobiography, "Eighty Is Not Enough." He was also known for lending his name to "Natural Balance," a line of high-end dog food that is intended to be indistinguishable from stews and other dishes, that are normally intended for human consumption. He was married to Pat Poole (née Patricia Poole) for 61 years; the union produced three sons: Nels Van Patten, James Van Patten, and Vincent Van Patten. - Actor
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Producer
British actor Patrick Macnee was born on February 6, 1922 in London, England into a wealthy and eccentric family. His father, Daniel Macnee, was a race horse trainer, who drank and gambled away the family fortune, leaving young Patrick to be raised by his lesbian mother, Dorothea Mary, and her partner. Shortly after graduating from Eton (from which he was almost expelled for running a gambling ring), Macnee first appeared on stage and made his film debut as an extra in Pygmalion (1938). His career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Royal Navy. After military service, Macnee attended the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art in London on scholarship. He also resumed his stage and film career, with bit parts such as Young Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol (1951). Disappointed with his limited roles, Macnee left England for Canada and the United States.
In 1954, he went to Broadway with an Old Vic troupe and later moved on to Hollywood, where he made occasional television and film appearances until returning to England in 1959. Once back home, he took advantage of his producing experience in Canada to become co-producer of the British television series Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years (1960). Shortly thereafter, Macnee landed the role that brought him worldwide fame and popularity in the part of John Steed, in the classic British television series The Avengers (1961). His close identification with this character limited his career choices after the cancellation of the series in 1969, prompting him to reprise the role in The New Avengers (1976), which, though popular, failed to recapture the magic of the original series. During the 1980s and 1990s, Macnee became a familiar face on American television in such series as Gavilan (1982), Empire (1984), Thunder in Paradise (1994) and NightMan (1997). In the past decade, Macnee has also made several audio recordings of book fiction.- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Jack Carter was born on 24 June 1922 in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for History of the World: Part I (1981), Alligator (1980) and Amazing Stories (1985). He was married to Roxanne Wander, Paula Stewart and Joan Mann. He died on 28 June 2015 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Edward Burnham was born on 25 December 1916 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for To Sir, with Love (1967), Quatermass and the Pit (1958) and Little Dorrit (1987). He was married to Lucille. He died on 30 June 2015 in the UK.- Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Jerry Weintraub was born on 26 September 1937 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and actor, known for The Avengers (1998), The Firm (1993) and The Next Karate Kid (1994). He was married to Jane Morgan and Janice Ivy Greenberg. He died on 6 July 2015 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Large (6'1"), affable, and commanding character actor Irwin Keyes was born on March 16, 1952 in New York City. Keyes grew up in Amityville, New York and graduated from Amityville Memorial High School in 1970. He acted in his first play "The Lower Depths" by Maxim Grody while attending college. Frequently cast as likable lugs, brutish goons, and imposing authority figures, Irwin acted in a diverse array of movies in such genres as horror ("Friday the 13th," "Guilty as Charged," "House of 1000 Corpses"), comedy ("The Private Eyes," "Zapped!;" hilarious as Wheezy Joe in "Intolerable Cruelty"), thriller ("Dream Lover"), science fiction (both "Oblivion" pictures), and action ("The Warriors," "The Exterminator" and its sequel). Keyes achieved his greatest enduring popularity with his recurring role as endearingly oafish bodyguard Hugo Majelewski on the hit sitcom "The Jeffersons." Among the TV shows that Irwin made guest appearances on are "Laverne & Shirley," "Police Squad!," "Moonlighting," "Married with Children," "thirtysomething," "Growing Pains," "Tales from the Crypt," and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Moreover, Keyes not only acted in TV commercials and music videos (he was very touching as a struggling down on his luck actor in the music video for "Good Enough" by Prozak), but also did voice overs for video games. Irwin lived in Los Angeles, California and continued to act with pleasing regularity right up until his death at age 63 on July 8, 2015.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor best known for playing Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and the title role in Doctor Zhivago (1965), was born Michel Demitri Shalhoub on April 10, 1932 in Alexandria, Egypt to Joseph Shalhoub, a lumber merchant, and his wife, Claire (Saada). Of Lebanese and Syrian extraction, the young Michel was raised Catholic. He was educated at Victoria College in Alexandria and took a degree in mathematics and physics from Cairo University with a major. Afterward graduating from university, he entered the family lumber business.
Before making his English-language film debut with "Lawrence of Arabia", for which he earned a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination and international fame, Sharif became a star in Egyptian cinema. His first movie was the Egyptian film The Blazing Sun (1954) ("The Blazing Sun") in 1953, opposite the renowned Egyptian actress Faten Hamamah whom he married in 1955. He converted to Islam to marry Hamama and took the name Omar al-Sharif. The couple had one child (Tarek Sharif, who was born in 1957 and portrayed the young Zhivago in the eponymous picture) and divorced in 1974. Sharif never remarried.
Beginning in the 1960s, Sharif earned a reputation as one of the world's best known contract bridge players. In the 1970s and 1980s, he co-wrote a syndicated newspaper bridge column for the Chicago Tribune. Sharif also wrote several books on bridge and has licensed his name to a bridge computer game, "Omar Sharif Bridge", which has been marketed since 1992. Sharif told the press in 2006 that he no longer played bridge, explaining, "I decided I didn't want to be a slave to any passion any more except for my work. I had too many passions, bridge, horses, gambling. I want to live a different kind of life, be with my family more because I didn't give them enough time.".
As an actor, Sharif had made a comeback in 2003 playing the title role of an elderly Muslim shopkeeper in the French film Monsieur Ibrahim (2003). For his performance, he won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Best Actor César, France's equivalent of the Oscar, from the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma.
Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2012, Sharif died of a heart attack on July 10, 2015, in Cairo, Egypt.- Tough, gruff, thick-browed, volatile-looking character actor Alex Rocco was born Alessandro Federico Petricone, Jr. on February 29, 1936, to Italian immigrants in Cambridge, Mass. He grew up a member of Boston's Winter Hill gang (his nickname was "Bobo") and was briefly detained regarding a murder at one point after an alleged personal incident triggered the Boston Irish Gang War (1961-1967). Rocco decided to straighten his life and relocated to Hollywood in 1962 following his detainment and release.
Developing an interest in acting, Alex initially trained with such notable teachers as Leonard Nimoy and Jeff Corey in order to curb his thick Boston accent. Working as a bartender during the lean years, his film and TV career finally kick-started in 1965, immediately relying on his sly, lethal menace, toothy toughness, and prior gangland past to realistically portray gritty anti-heroes and villains. He made an effective movie debut, co-starring as a vengeful veterinarian and Vietnam vet who goes after motorcycle "bad boys" following his wife's beating and rape in the exploitation flick Motorpsycho! (1965) directed by Russ Meyer. Despite this bold beginning, it was followed by a disappointing gangster bit in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) and a nothing role as a police Lieutenant in The Boston Strangler (1968). On TV, he found sporadic work playing thugs and other unsavory types on such TV shows as "Run for Your Life," "Batman" and "Get Smart."
Rocco came into his own in the early 1970s. After featured roles in such violent exploitation like Blood Mania (1970) and Brute Corps (1971), he received a huge boost in an Oscar-winning "A" film. He made a brief but potent impact essaying the role of Las Vegas syndicate boss Moe Green who gets a bullet in the eye during the violently explosive "christening sequence" of Mario Puzo's The Godfather (1972). From there he found a comfortable supporting niche playing various swarthy-looking cronies, hoods and cops in such crime films as The Outside Man (1972), Slither (1973), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) (in which he made good use of his Boston criminal past), Freebie and the Bean (1974), Three the Hard Way (1974) and A Woman for All Men (1975). Similar urban roles followed him on TV with yeoman work on such 1970s cop shows as "The Rookies", "Get Christie Love", "Kojak", "Cannon", "The Blue Knight", "Police Story", "The Rockford Files", "Barnaby Jones", "Dog and Cat", "Baretta", "Starsky and Hutch", "Delvecchio", "CHiPs", "Matt Houston", "Hardcastle and McCormick", and "Simon & Simon", along with the TV movies or miniseries A Question of Guilt (1978), The Gangster Chronicles (1981) and Badge of the Assassin (1985).
In the midst of all this, Alex was handed the starring role of his own series Three for the Road (1975) in which he played a new widower photographer with two teenage sons (played by Vincent Van Patten and Leif Garrett) who assuage their grief by leaving town and "discovering America" together. Although well-received, it was short-lived (13 episodes) as a result of poor scheduling. The actor returned to series TV in the late 1980s and was much more successful as a slick Hollywood agent in The Famous Teddy Z (1989) for which he won a "Supporting Actor" Emmy Award. Other regular comedy series work, such as Sibs (1991), The George Carlin Show (1994), The Division (2001) and Magic City (2012), added to his healthy resume over the years, with over 400 TV appearances racked up in all. Recurring roles on such programs as The Simpsons (1989) and The Facts of Life (1979) (as Nancy McKeon's father) also kept his career going at a steady pace. Other memorably flashy film roles include Freebie and the Bean (1974), The Stunt Man (1980), Lady in White (1988), Get Shorty (1995) and Just Write (1997).
Twice married, Rocco's first wife, Sandra Garrett, a nightclub performer and screenwriter, died of cancer in 2002. He married actress Shannon Wilcox in 2005 and together they appeared in the film Scammerhead (2014). Rocco appeared in two films helmed by his adopted son, screenwriter and director Marc Rocco: Scenes from the Goldmine (1987) and Dream a Little Dream (1989), who died in 2009. Two other children by his first wife were Lucian, a poet, and Jennifer, an attorney. Alex Rocco died of pancreatic cancer on July 18, 2015 at age 79. - Uggie is a Jack Russell terrier, born in 2002.
He was rescued from being sent to a dog pound by Omar Von Muller, animal trainer. His career included touring with a dog talent show in the United States and South America and starring in commercials.
His most famous movie roles are in Water for Elephants (2011) and The Artist (2011). In The Artist, his performance was considered by many to have upstaged those of his co-stars and has won him the Palm Dog award in Cannes and there are petitions for other awards to be opened up to dogs, on account of his exceptional performance.
Uggie lives in North Hollywood with Von Muller, his wife, and his daughter.
It was announced by his trainer that Uggie will retire after his appearance at the Oscars on February 26 2012. - Producer
- Music Department
Karolyn Ali was born on 29 August 1944 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She was a producer, known for Tupac: Resurrection (2003), Klash (1995) and Stevie Wonder: Part-Time Lover (1985). She died on 18 August 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
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Wes Craven has become synonymous with genre bending and innovative horror, challenging audiences with his bold vision.
Wesley Earl Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Caroline (Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven. He had a midwestern suburban upbringing. His first feature film was The Last House on the Left (1972), which he wrote, directed, and edited. Craven reinvented the youth horror genre again in 1984 with the classic A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), a film he wrote and directed. And though he did not direct any of its five sequels, he deconstructed the genre a decade later, writing and directing the audacious New Nightmare (1994), which was nominated as Best Feature at the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards, and introduced the concept of self-reflexive genre films to the world.
In 1996 Craven reached a new level of success with the release of Scream (1996). The film, which sparked the phenomenal trilogy, was the winner of MTV's 1996 Best Movie Award and grossed more than $100 million domestically, as did Scream 2 (1997). Between Scream 2 and Scream 3 (2000), Craven, offered the opportunity to direct a non-genre film for Miramax, helmed Music of the Heart (1999), a film that earned Meryl Streep an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. That same year, in the midst of directing, Craven completed his first novel, "The Fountain Society," published by Simon & Shuster. Recent works include the 2005 psychological thriller Red Eye (2005), and a short rom-com segment for the ensemble product, Paris, I Love You (2006).
In later years, Craven also produced remakes of two of his earlier films for his genre fans, The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and The Last House on the Left (2009). Craven has always had an eye for discovering fresh talent, something that contributes to the success of his films. While casting A Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven discovered the then unknown Johnny Depp. Craven later cast Sharon Stone in her first starring role for his film Deadly Blessing. He even gave Bruce Willis his first featured role in an episode of TV's mid-80's edition of The Twilight Zone. In My Soul to Take (2010), Craven once again brought together a cast of up-and-coming young teens, including Max Thieriot, in whom he saw the spark of stardom. The film marked Craven's first collaboration with wife and producer Iya Labunka, who also produced with him the highly anticipated production of Scream 4.
Craven's Scream 4 (2011) reunited the director with Dimension Films and Kevin Williamson, as well as with stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, to re-boot the beloved franchise. Craven again exhibited his knack for spotting important talent, with a cast of young actors bringing us a totally new breed of Woodsboro high schoolers, including Emma Robert and Hayden Pannetierre.- Actor
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Martin Sam Milner was born December 28, 1931 in Detroit, Michigan. His mother, Jerre Martin, originally from Oregon, was a dancer with the Paramount Theater circuit. His father, Sam Gordon Milner, a Polish Jewish immigrant, was a film distributor. The Milners moved to Seattle when Martin was a baby and to Los Angeles soon after. At age 15, Martin's father got him an agent and he was chosen to play the role of "John Day" in Life with Father (1947), Warner Bros.' version of Clarence Day, Jr.'s popular Broadway play. Milner contracted polio shortly after filming was completed and his career was put on hold for a year as he recovered from the illness. After graduating from North Hollywood High School and studying for one year at the University of Southern California, Milner worked steadily in films during the years 1949-1960. He appeared in films such as Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), Marjorie Morningstar (1958) and Sweet Smell of Success (1957). He put his career on hold again when he was inducted into the Army in 1952 for two years. Shortly after joining the Army, he was assigned to the Human Research Division, where he directed military training films and served as Master of Ceremonies for a touring show based at Fort Ord, California. Milner married television actress and singer Judy Jones in 1957 and they have four children--Amy, Molly, Stuart, and Andrew.
Milner met Jack Webb during the filming of Halls of Montezuma (1951) and later worked with him on his "Dragnet" radio show as well as the TV series Dragnet (1951). Milner appeared as 17-year-old high school student "Stephen Banner" in the episode "The Big Producer" in 1952. According to Webb's biography "Just the Facts, Ma'am", Webb owed Milner money from a card game. When Webb called him to the studio to pay him back, he offered Milner a role in the "Dragnet" radio show. After that, Webb continued to find roles for Milner until he offered him the role of "Pete Malloy" on Adam-12 (1968). Milner continued to appear in films throughout the 1970s and 1980s and made many guest appearances on television shows such as Murder, She Wrote (1984), the "Columbo" made-for-TV movies, MacGyver (1985), and Diagnosis Murder (1993). Milner was an avid fisherman and has been co-host of the syndicated radio talk show "Let's Talk Hook-up" since 1993. He also hosts fishing trips through "Let's Talk Hook-Up."
Apart from the Webb connection, Milner starred as "Tod Stiles" in his own groundbreaking CBS-TV series, Route 66 (1960). The series was notable for its coast-to-coast location shooting, eloquent scripts by co-creator Stirling Silliphant and others, impressive guest casts, and a distinctive theme song by Nelson Riddle. The series allowed Milner to explore a range of characterizations as his nomadic travels in a Corvette convertible took him from job to job all over the United States, where he dug deeply into the lives of the people he encountered there -- with traveling companions "Buz Murdock" (George Maharis) and, after Maharis left the show, "Lincoln Case" (Glenn Corbett).- Actor
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Dickie Moore made his acting and screen debut at the age of 18 months in the 1927 John Barrymore film The Beloved Rogue (1927) as a baby, and by the time he had turned 10 he was a popular child star and had appeared in 52 films. He continued as a child star for many more years, and became the answer to the trivia question, "Who was the first actor to kiss Shirley Temple on screen?" when that honor was bestowed upon him in 1942's Miss Annie Rooney (1942). As with many child actors, once Dickie got older the roles began to dry up. He made his last film in 1952, but was still in the public eye with the 1949 to 1955 TV series Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949). He then retired from acting for a new career in publicity. He later produced industrial shows.- Merv Adelson was born on 23 October 1929 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a producer, known for Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977), The Choirboys (1977) and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978). He was married to Thea Joyce Nesis, Barbara Walters, Gail Melinda Kenaston and Lorraine Kaufman. He died on 8 September 2015 in Canoga Park, California, USA.
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Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was perhaps the only actor of his generation to have starred in so many films and cult saga. Although most notable for personifying bloodsucking vampire, Dracula, on screen, he portrayed other varied characters on screen, most of which were villains, whether it be Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), or Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), or as the title monster in the Hammer Horror film, The Mummy (1959).
Lee was born in 1922 in London, England, where he and his older sister Xandra were raised by their parents, Contessa Estelle Marie (Carandini di Sarzano) and Geoffrey Trollope Lee, a professional soldier, until their divorce in 1926. Later, while Lee was still a child, his mother married (and later divorced) Harcourt George St.-Croix (nicknamed Ingle), who was a banker. Lee's maternal great-grandfather was an Italian political refugee, while Lee's great-grandmother was English opera singer Marie (Burgess) Carandini.
After attending Wellington College from age 14 to 17, Lee worked as an office clerk in a couple of London shipping companies until 1941 when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Following his release from military service, Lee joined the Rank Organisation in 1947, training as an actor in their "Charm School" and playing a number of bit parts in such films as Corridor of Mirrors (1948). He made a brief appearance in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948), in which his future partner-in-horror Peter Cushing also appeared. Both actors also appeared later in Moulin Rouge (1952) but did not meet until their horror films together.
Lee had numerous parts in film and television throughout the 1950s. He struggled initially in his new career because he was discriminated as being taller than the leading male actors of his time and being too foreign-looking. However, playing the monster in the Hammer film The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) proved to be a blessing in disguise, since the was successful, leading to him being signed on for future roles in Hammer Film Productions.
Lee's association with Hammer Film Productions brought him into contact with Peter Cushing, and they became good friends. Lee and Cushing often than not played contrasting roles in Hammer films, where Cushing was the protagonist and Lee the villain, whether it be Van Helsing and Dracula respectively in Horror of Dracula (1958), or John Banning and Kharis the Mummy respectively in The Mummy (1959).
Lee continued his role as "Dracula" in a number of Hammer sequels throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s. During this time, he co-starred in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), and made numerous appearances as Fu Manchu, most notably in the first of the series The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), and also appeared in a number of films in Europe. With his own production company, Charlemagne Productions, Ltd., Lee made Nothing But the Night (1973) and To the Devil a Daughter (1976).
By the mid-1970s, Lee was tiring of his horror image and tried to widen his appeal by participating in several mainstream films, such as The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), The Three Musketeers (1973), The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974), and the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
The success of these films prompted him in the late 1970s to move to Hollywood, where he remained a busy actor but made mostly unremarkable film and television appearances, and eventually moved back to England. The beginning of the new millennium relaunched his career to some degree, during which he has played Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and as Saruman the White in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lee played Count Dooku again in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), and portrayed the father of Willy Wonka, played by Johnny Depp, in the Tim Burton film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
On 16 June 2001, he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to drama. He was created a Knight Bachelor on 13 June 2009 in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama and charity. In addition he was made a Commander of the Order of St John on 16 January 1997.
Lee died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on 7 June 2015 at 8:30 am after being admitted for respiratory problems and heart failure, shortly after celebrating his 93rd birthday there. His wife delayed the public announcement until 11 June, in order to break the news to their family.- Actress
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Jackie Collins was born on 4 October 1937 in London, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for Danger Man (1960), The Saint (1962) and The Stud (1978). She was married to Oscar Lerman and Wallace Austin. She died on 19 September 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
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One of baseball's greatest catchers of all time, Yogi Berra appeared in a record 14 World Series while calling the games for the New York Yankees. Berra proved invaluable to the Yankees as evidenced by his three American League Most Valuable Player awards. Berra was also one of the game's best-hitting catchers, hitting 358 homers and hitting a crisp .285 in his career. Berra also proved his worth as one of the smartest men in the game, managing the Yankees and later the New York Mets. He took both teams to the World Series. Lately however, Berra is more known for his fractured witticisms "It ain't over till it's over." Still, if you were to start an all-star baseball team, Berra would be one of top picks for catcher.- Art Director
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Gene Allen was born on 17 June 1918 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an art director and production designer, known for My Fair Lady (1964), A Star Is Born (1954) and Les Girls (1957). He was married to Iris. He died on 7 October 2015 in Newport Beach, California, USA.- Actor
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- Fred Thompson was born on 19 August 1942 in Sheffield, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for The Hunt for Red October (1990), No Way Out (1987) and Baby's Day Out (1994). He was married to Jeri Kehn Thompson and Sarah Elizabeth Lindsey. He died on 1 November 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
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In a career of over 30 years this Lancashire-born former art teacher has achieved great success in acting, both in television and film and writing, for television, film and stage.
His first film appearance is perhaps still his best-loved, the sympathetic Mr Farthing in Kes (1969), for which he won a BAFTA. Welland started in television in 1962 with his role of Constable David Graham in the long-running police serial Z Cars (1962). With its groundbreaking grittiness the series introduced a new realism to the genre. Welland stayed with the show until 1965, by which time he was a household name.
In the 70s, Welland combined careers as an actor and writer. On the film side he put in a nice turn as a laconic policeman in Villain (1971) and featured in the controversial Straw Dogs (1971) and in an episode of the popular TV series Faces (1975) and its big-screen adaptation Sweeney! (1977). In this time he had also been writing and appearing (sometimes both) in several plays and TV movies - he was voted Best TV Playwright in Britain in 1970, 1973 and 1974. In 1972 he won a BAFTA for Kisses at Fifty (1973). His plays were known for their earthy humour and working-class themes.
He reappeared with the other stars from the early years of Z Cars in the show's finale in 1978. In 1979 he put in one of his most memorable TV performances in Dennis Potter's award-winning play Blue Remembered Hills (1979) which recalled the days of the author's childhood. Playing the role of a child, Welland cavorted gleefully around woods and fields crammed into a pair of boy's shorts.
His first film as a writer was the successful John Schlesinger wartime culture clash drama Yanks (1979) and after this he decided to focus on his writing. He followed Yanks up with the multi award-winning, box office smash Chariots of Fire (1981), for which he won the Best Screenplay Oscar.
If his heralded arrival of the Brits didn't quite materialise, Welland did write some other worthy films - Twice in a Lifetime (1985) was an effective blue-collar drama starring Gene Hackman, A Dry White Season (1989) starred Donald Sutherland and dealt with the cruelties imposed by apartheid in South Africa (co-written with Euzhan Palcy) and War of the Buttons (1994) was an offbeat and entertaining tale of warring children.
He has put in occasional acting appearances over the years and was last seen in Our Brave Boys (1998) and Loose Women (1998) in 1998.
In 1962 he married Patricia Sweeney, they have 4 children. Genevieve, Catherine, Caroline and Christie.- Actor
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Born and raised in New York City, Robert Loggia studied journalism at the University of Missouri before moving back to New York to pursue acting. He trained at the Actors Studio while doing stage work. From the late 1950s he was a familiar face on TV, usually as authoritative figures. Loggia also found work in movies such as The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Scarface (1983) and Big (1988). Always in demand, Loggia worked until his death, at 85, from complications of Alzheimer's.- Music Department
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James Horner began studying piano at the age of five, and trained at the Royal College of Music in London, England, before moving to California in the 1970s. After receiving a bachelor's degree in music at USC, he would go on to earn his master's degree at UCLA and teach music theory there. He later completed his Ph.D. in Music Composition and Theory at UCLA. Horner began scoring student films for the American Film Institute in the late 1970s, which paved the way for scoring assignments on a number of small-scale films. His first large, high-profile project was composing music for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), which would lead to numerous other film offers and opportunities to work with world-class performers such as the London Symphony Orchestra. With over 75 projects to his name, and work with people such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Oliver Stone, and Ron Howard, Horner firmly established himself as a strong voice in the world of film scoring. In addition, Horner composed a classical concert piece in the 1980s, called "Spectral Shimmers", which was world premiered by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Horner passed away in a plane crash on June 22, 2015, two months short of his 62nd birthday.