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1-12 of 12
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Legendary for his preening, prancing, delightfully playful villain Captain Hook on the award-winning stage (as well as TV) opposite America's musical treasure Mary Martin, beloved musical star Cyril Ritchard had a vast career that would last six decades, but "Peter Pan" would become his prime legacy. Born in Australia just before the turn of the century, he was educated at St. Aloysius College and Sydney University wherein he slyly sidestepped a parental-guided career in medicine for entertainment, participating in numerous college productions that quickly got him "hooked." He began professionally in the chorus line of The Royal Comic Opera Company and quickly progressed to juvenile leads. A subsequent pairing with the already-established theatre actress Madge Elliott in 1918 proved successful, and the musical twosome eventually married in 1935. Together they would go on to become known as "The Musical Lunts" by their acting peers performing in scores of plays and revues together. Ritchard specialized in playing slick, dandified villains in musical comedy and developed a potent reputation of being a man of many talents. Not only directing and staging Broadway's finest, he became a renown performer of various operas and led many productions as such. Shortly before his wife's death of bone cancer in 1955, Ritchard ventured into TV infamy by repeating his Tony and Donaldson award-winning portrayal of Hook in Peter Pan (1955). He continued to earn acclaim and/or honors with such classic stage productions as "Visit to a Small Planet" (Tony-nominated), "The Pleasure of His Company" (Drama League award, Tony-nominated), "The Roar of the Greasepaint...the Smell of the Crowd" (Tony-nominated), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Sugar," the musical version of the classic Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot (1959) in which Ritchard played the Joe E. Brown role. Lesser regarded when it comes to film, he performed in the early Hitchcock classic Blackmail (1929) and made his last movie with the musical Half a Sixpence (1967) with Tommy Steele. While performing as the Narrator in a stage production of "Side by Side by Sondheim" in November 1977, Ritchard suffered a heart attack and died one month later. A one-of-a-kind talent, his nefarious, narcissistic humor was a career trademark that culminated in the role of a lifetime -- one that will certainly be enjoyed by children young and old for eons to come.- Maureen Cusack was born on 24 November 1920 in Glenties, Co. Donegal, Ireland. She was an actress, known for Odd Man Out (1947), The Rising of the Moon (1957) and Von Richthofen and Brown (1971). She was married to Cyril Cusack. She died on 18 December 1977 in Dublin, Ireland.
- Poet, author and humorist Louis Untermeyer was born in New York City in 1885. Like many at the turn of the century, he quit high school to go to work at his father's jewelry manufacturing business. He was known primarily as an anthologist of poetry, but was an excellent poet in his own right. His only public entertainment appearance was on TV's classic show What's My Line? (1950), a show on which he thrived and used as a perfect venue for trading his amusing stories and anecdotes with publisher 'Bennett Cerf', investigative journalist/writer Dorothy Kilgallen and others who appeared on the show. Unfortunately, as it did many wonderful entertainers of the 40s & 50s, the Hollywood Blacklist - created as a result of the red-scare tactics of the House of Un-American Activities Committee - added him to the Blacklist because of his liberal, left-wing views and Communist connections. Like many others, he didn't realize that freedom of speech was all but forsaken in those days. He was fired without notice upon his arrival at the studio one day as a result of the efforts of a small handful of people who made a concerted effort to lobby the advertisers for his removal, a typical ploy in those days used by right-wingers as advertisers virtually owned the TV shows in the 50s. Like many others bitten by the HUAC's Blacklist, Untermeyer never again appeared on TV or film. According to his friend and playwright Arthur Miller, Untermeyer became a virtual recluse for more than a year after his blacklisting. In 1956, Untermeyer was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal from the Poetry Society of America, he also served as a poet in residence at many major universities including The University of Michigan and served as a consultant in English Poetry for the United States Library of Congress from 1961-63. He was the author of many compendiums of verse, including "Modern American Poetry" (1919); "Modern British Poetry" (1920); "This Singing World" (1923); "Fifty Modern American and British Poets: 1920-1970" (1973), and his own work was featured in "Selected Poems and Parodies" (1935). Louis Untermeyer, a man who had been knocked down but not beaten in the twilight of his life, died December 18, 1977 at age 92.
- Tomasz Witt was born on 6 April 1934 in Labiszyn, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Czterdziestolatek (1975). He died on 18 December 1977 in Koszalin, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland.
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Elon Packard was born on 3 April 1923 in Oregon, USA. He was a writer, known for The George Burns One-Man Show (1977), Wendy and Me (1964) and The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show (1962). He died on 18 December 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Robert Couch was born on 25 August 1920 in Georgia, USA. He was an actor, known for Hallelujah (1929). He died on 18 December 1977 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
Cliff Shirpser was born on 4 August 1906 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is known for Lilac Time (1928), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928) and Road to Bali (1952). He died on 18 December 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Dolf Walzer-Hille was born on 12 March 1891. He was an actor, known for Verlorene Söhne (1955), Der Untergang der 'Freiheit' (1960) and Eine dumme Sache (1963). He died on 18 December 1977.
- Special Effects
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Josef Buzek was born on 24 July 1907 in Prague, Cechy, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. He was a cinematographer, known for Hrích mládí (1934), The Proud Princess (1952) and I andelé ztrácejí trpelivost (1949). He died on 18 December 1977 in Prague, Czechoslovakia.- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hugh McFarland was born on 15 October 1917. He is known for California Split (1974), It Takes a Thief (1968) and Here's Lucy (1968). He died on 18 December 1977 in North Hollywood, California, USA.- Gabriela Bártlová was born on 27 March 1909 in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for Mrtví zijí (1922), Mesíc nad rekou (1953) and Cekanky (1940). She died on 18 December 1977 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- Music Department
Yakov Fliyer was born on 21 October 1912 in Orekhovo, Moscow Governorate, Russian Empire [now Orekhovo-Zuevo, Moscow oblast, Russia]. He is known for Generation of Victors (1936) and Zemlya molodosti (1941). He died on 18 December 1977 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].