Ron Thompson, the unheralded actor who starred on Broadway for Charles Gordone in the Pulitzer Prize-winning No Place to Be Somebody and played father and son musicians for Ralph Bakshi in the animated cult classic American Pop, has died. He was 83.
Filmmaker Joe Black told The Hollywood Reporter that he found Thompson in his Van Nuys apartment on Saturday afternoon. The two had worked together in eight features, including Hate Horses (2017), Chicks, Man (2018) and Suffrage (2023), and Black visited him a couple times a week to help him out.
“For a man of his age, he was so full of life, he had such a presence,” Black said. He called Thompson “the Sam Jackson to my Tarantino.”
In 1969, Thompson originated off-Broadway the role of Shanty Mulligan in the Joseph Papp-produced No Place to Be Somebody, starring Ron O’Neal, then accompanied the drama to Broadway and on a tour around the country.
Filmmaker Joe Black told The Hollywood Reporter that he found Thompson in his Van Nuys apartment on Saturday afternoon. The two had worked together in eight features, including Hate Horses (2017), Chicks, Man (2018) and Suffrage (2023), and Black visited him a couple times a week to help him out.
“For a man of his age, he was so full of life, he had such a presence,” Black said. He called Thompson “the Sam Jackson to my Tarantino.”
In 1969, Thompson originated off-Broadway the role of Shanty Mulligan in the Joseph Papp-produced No Place to Be Somebody, starring Ron O’Neal, then accompanied the drama to Broadway and on a tour around the country.
- 4/16/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
One doesn't have to think too hard on why the 1950 classic "All About Eve" is still relevant, even celebrated, today. There's a reason it scored 14 nominations at the Academy Awards, four of which went to each of the film's female leads. From its all-too-clever dialogue to its sumptuous costume design, it's kind of a flawless film. But the one thing that keeps "All About Eve" in the conversation today is likely the timelessness of its subject matter. The story of veteran actress Margo Channing (Bette Davis) and her own struggle to stay relevant, especially as her protege Eve (Anne Baxter) endeavors to steal her life, is a tale as old as time. If it feels achingly specific, it's because the short story the film was adapted from was, in turn, based on the experiences of a real-life actress. But it's universal, too.
Writer-director Joseph Mankiewcz used the rivalry between Margo...
Writer-director Joseph Mankiewcz used the rivalry between Margo...
- 8/26/2022
- by Lyvie Scott
- Slash Film
Review By Lee Pfeiffer
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
20th Century-Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio by Scott Eyman (Running Press/Turner Classic Movies) $28, 304 pages, Illustrated (Colour & B&w), Hardback, Isbn 978-0762470938
Scott Eyman has authored high profile biographies of numerous screen legends including John Wayne, James Stewart, John Ford, Louis B. Mayer and Cary Grant. Now, Eyman sets out to examine the career of another larger-than-life Hollywood icon, Darryl F. Zanuck. There’s plenty of fertile ground to examine, too, as the mercurial producer had a long, dramatic career that could have formed the basis of one of his films. He saved the fledgling Fox film corporation early in his career then became the tyrannical head of its subsequent incarnation, 20th-Century Fox. Over the decades, Zanuck would be feared and despised, rarely liked, but always respected as his early knack for creating hits was legendary.
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
20th Century-Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio by Scott Eyman (Running Press/Turner Classic Movies) $28, 304 pages, Illustrated (Colour & B&w), Hardback, Isbn 978-0762470938
Scott Eyman has authored high profile biographies of numerous screen legends including John Wayne, James Stewart, John Ford, Louis B. Mayer and Cary Grant. Now, Eyman sets out to examine the career of another larger-than-life Hollywood icon, Darryl F. Zanuck. There’s plenty of fertile ground to examine, too, as the mercurial producer had a long, dramatic career that could have formed the basis of one of his films. He saved the fledgling Fox film corporation early in his career then became the tyrannical head of its subsequent incarnation, 20th-Century Fox. Over the decades, Zanuck would be feared and despised, rarely liked, but always respected as his early knack for creating hits was legendary.
- 11/3/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Today, the New York Times published an obituary for Elizabeth Taylor that was penned by longtime theater critic Mel Gussow, who himself died six years ago. While it certainly should come as no surprise that publications plan for famous deaths in advance, I wouldn’t have expected something this far in advance, or for the publication to still run the thing instead of something written more recently than six years ago. Basically, the New York Times just pulled a real-life version of this classic sketch from The Dana Carvey Show, where Tom Brokaw pre-records every possible iteration of Gerald Ford’s eventual death. Spot-on satire, 15 years before it actually happened — how ironic…...
- 3/23/2011
- by Dan Hopper
- BestWeekEver
After a length bout with congestive heart failure, Elizabeth Taylor, one of the most iconic movie stars in Hollywood history and a two-time Academy Award winner (for 1960's "Butterfield 8" and 1966's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?"), passed away in Los Angeles early this morning at the age of 79. The author of her obituary in The New York Times is as good an indicator as any of Taylor's frequent health problems in recent years. Her obit is written primarily by Mel Gussow, who passed away six years ago, according to a note at the bottom of the article, indicating that The Times was anticipating this great star's passing for quite a while. Here is an excerpt:
"Sometimes her film roles seemed to be a mirror image of her own life. More than most movie stars, she seemed to exist in the public domain, where her indiscretions were bared under a spotlight.
"Sometimes her film roles seemed to be a mirror image of her own life. More than most movie stars, she seemed to exist in the public domain, where her indiscretions were bared under a spotlight.
- 3/23/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Getty
In a twist, the New York Times obituary for Elizabeth Taylor was written by a reporter who is now dead.
Mel Gussow, whose byline appears on the Taylor obit, died six years ago. Gussow was a longtime theater critic and worked for the Times for 35 years. He died at the age of 71 of cancer.
Newspapers and magazines commonly have the obituaries for notable people prepared well in advance of their deaths. The roughly 4,000 word obit on Taylor was “too good to throw away,...
In a twist, the New York Times obituary for Elizabeth Taylor was written by a reporter who is now dead.
Mel Gussow, whose byline appears on the Taylor obit, died six years ago. Gussow was a longtime theater critic and worked for the Times for 35 years. He died at the age of 71 of cancer.
Newspapers and magazines commonly have the obituaries for notable people prepared well in advance of their deaths. The roughly 4,000 word obit on Taylor was “too good to throw away,...
- 3/23/2011
- by Alexandra Cheney
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Elizabeth Taylor's life was remarkable, her legend enduring. So enduring, in fact, Taylor outlived the writer of her New York Times obituary -- by five years! Mel Gussow, the bylined writer of the paper's official obit, died in 2005. Via a note appended to the version published online: Mel Gussow, the principal writer of this article, died in 2005. According to the Times, William McDonald and the Associated Press "contributed updated reporting" to the 4,100-word obituary. Read The Wrap's Obituary: Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79 According to his own obituary published in the Times, Gussow, a longtime...
- 3/23/2011
- by Dylan Stableford
- The Wrap
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.