Deaths: August 20
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Craig Zadan was born on 15 April 1949 in Miami, Florida, USA. He was a producer, known for Chicago (2002), Footloose (1984) and Hairspray (2007). He died on 20 August 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Aleksandra Nazarova was born on 17 July 1940 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. She was an actress, known for Sofiya Perovskaya (1968), Ekipazh (1980) and Lyubimaya (1965). She was married to Yuriy Prikhodko and Yuriy Mikhaylov. She died on 20 August 2019 in Moscow, Russia.
- Antonello Pischedda was born on 21 October 1942 in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. He was an actor, known for Ricorda con rabbia (1969), Nero Wolfe (1969) and Campo Europa (1984). He was married to Mara Baronti. He died on 20 August 2018 in La Spezia, Liguria, Italy.
- Although this wonderfully witty, enormously talented, classically trained theatre actor was unable to transition his award-winning theatre stardom to major twilight screen notice, South-African thespian Brian Murray nevertheless did receive late-blooming adulation for several stirring performances.
Born Brian Bell on September 10, 1937, in Johannesburg, the stage actor/director attended King Edward VII School. It must have been a sign as he became a Shakespearean titan in later years. Making his stage bow in 1950 as "Taplow" in "The Browning Version," he continued on the South African stage in such roles as "Bus Stop' and "The Diary of Anne Frank" until 1957. Though he made his film debut fairly early in his career with The League of Gentlemen (1960) and showed strong promise and presence in The Angry Silence (1960) and as a radio announcer, editor and director, his first passion was the theatre and instead chose to join the Royal Shakespeare Company where his impressively youthful gallery of credits included those of "Romeo" in Romeo and Juliet, "Horatio" in Hamlet, "Cassio" in Othello, "Edgar" in King Lear and "Lysander" in A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Developing an international reputation, Broadway (off- and on-) took notice of this mighty thespian and utilized his gifts luxuriously well over the years in such plays as "All in Good Time" (debut), "Noises Off," "Ashes," "Da," "A Small Family Business," "Uncle Vanya," "Sleuth" and "The Rivals," earning three Tony Award nominations for his sterling performances in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," "The Little Foxes" and "The Crucible." Two of Brian's later stage roles, that of "Sir Toby Belch" in "Twelfth Night" and "Claudius" in "Hamlet", were taken to TV/film. The actor/director also appeared in 70s and 80s radio drama for the National Radio Theater and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2004. Millennium stage roles would include "Me, Myself and I," "A Song at Twilight," "The Importance of Being Earnest" and his last, "Simon Says," in 2016.
Into the millennium, Brian enjoyed a nice change of pace and in the voicing of the flamboyant role of "John Silver" in the animated feature, Treasure Planet (2002). He was subsequently featured in such films as Dream House (2011) and In the Family (2011), and made guest appearances on such TV shows as "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "30 Rock," "The Good Wife" and "Person of Interest." After a notable absence on the screen, he returned to make a final T.V. appearance as "Sir Walter" in A Bread Factory, Part One (2018) and A Bread Factory, Part Two (2018) shortly before his death at age 80 on August 20, 2018, in New York City. - Music Department
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Eddie Willis was born in 1936 in Grenada, Mississippi, USA. He is known for The Ring (2002), Phil Collins: Going Back (2010) and Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002). He was married to Rosemary. He died on 20 August 2018 in Gore Springs, Mississippi, USA.- Eddy Waller worked in vaudeville and the theater before he entered movies in 1936. Within a few years he was being cast in character parts. In the 1940s he would be a mainstay in the westerns of Republic Pictures and would work with just about every cowboy actor from Tim Holt to Rocky Lane. With Lane, Eddy's billing would be as high as second, as he played grizzly old prospector Nugget Clark, adding the comic relief to a picture with such pearls as "He is as square as the day is long". The "B" western finally died out in the 1950s, and so did Eddy's career.
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Elmore Leonard was born on 11 October 1925 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Out of Sight (1998), Get Shorty (1995) and Justified (2010). He was married to Christine Kent, Joan Shepard and Beverly Claire Cline. He died on 20 August 2013 in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, USA.- Gordon Williams was born on 20 June 1934 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK. He was a writer, known for Straw Dogs (2011), Straw Dogs (1971) and Hazell (1978). He was married to Claerwen Jones. He died on 20 August 2017.
- Greg Boyed was an actor, known for Auckland Daze (2012) and Target (1999). He was married to Caroline Chevin. He died on 20 August 2018 in Switzerland.
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- Actor
H.B. Halicki was born on 18 October 1940 in Dunkirk, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), Deadline Auto Theft (1983) and The Junkman (1982). He was married to Denice Shakarian Halicki. He died on 20 August 1989 in Tonawanda, New York, USA.- Writer
- Actor
Hugo Pratt was born on 15 June 1927 in Rimini, Italy. He was a writer and actor, known for Corto Maltese, Corto Maltese (2003) and Jesuit Joe (1991). He was married to Anne Frognier and Gucky Wogerer. He died on 20 August 1995 in Lausanne, Switzerland.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born on June 16, 1910, sultry, opulent, mole-lipped, Budapest-bred blonde singer/actress Ilona Massey survived an impoverished childhood in Hungary to become a glamorous talent both here and abroad. As a dressmaker's apprentice she managed to scrape up money together for singing lessons and first danced in chorus lines, later earning roles at the Staats Opera.
A statuesque Broadway, radio and night-club performer, Ilona made her debut in the Austrian film Heaven on Earth (1935) before coming to America to duet with Nelson Eddy in a couple of his glossy operettas. In the first, Rosalie (1937), she was secondary to Mr. Eddy and Eleanor Powell, but in the second vehicle, Balalaika (1939), she was the popular baritone's prime co-star.
Billed as "the new Dietrich," Ms. Massey did not live up to the hype as her soprano voice was deemed too light for the screen and her acting talent too slight and mannered. An American citizen in 1946, continued pleasantly moody in non-singing roles in a brief movie career that included such films as the Franz Schubert biopic New Wine (1941); the action adventure International Lady (1941); the double agent Nazi thriller Invisible Agent (1942), the musical comedy Holiday in Mexico (1946), the action drama Northwest Outpost (1947) and the romantic drama Trouble in the Air (1948).
For the most part Ilona was called upon to play ladies of mystery and sophisticated temptresses in thrillers and spy intrigues. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) and Love Happy (1949), the latter starring The Marx Brothers, are her best recalled. She appeared on radio as a spy in the Top Secret program and, on TV, co-starred in the espionage series Rendezvous (1952). The ABC mystery-drama had glamorous Ilona as a nightclub owner.
In the mid-50s, in addition to singing appearances on "Cavalcade of Stars," "The Milton Berle Show," "The Robert Q. Lewis Show," The Colgate Comedy Hour" and "The Ken Murray Show" and acting guest spots on such anthologies as "Lux Video Theatre," "Cameo Theatre" and "Studio One in Hollywood," Ilona hosted her own musical program, The Ilona Massey Show (1954), in which she sang classy ballads. By the 1960's she was rarely seen and ended her career with an obscure bit in the film The Cool Ones (1967).
Three marriages ended in divorce, her second being to actor Alan Curtis. 64-year-old Ms. Massey died of cancer on August 20, 1974, and was survived by her fourth husband, (retired) Major Donald Shelton Dawson. She had no children.- Actor
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Jerry Lewis (born March 16, 1926 - August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis. In addition to the duo's popular nightclub work, they starred in a successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures. Lewis was also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Lewis won several awards for lifetime achievements from The American Comedy Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and Venice Film Festival, and he had two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2005, he received the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors, which is the highest Emmy Award presented. On February 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Jerry died on August 20, 2017, in Las Vegas.- Production Designer
- Production Manager
Jose Menendez was born to a prosperous family in Havana, Cuba. His father was a well-known soccer player who owned his own accounting firm. His mother was a swimmer who had been elected to Cuba's sports hall of fame. Although the family was not among the elite, Jose's parents were celebrity athletes and he and his two sisters wanted for nothing. But in 1959, this seemingly idyllic life was uprooted. Fidel Castro overthrew the ruling government and seized the property of the wealthy and upper-middle class. In 1960, a 16 year-old Jose left the country to live in the United States, flying with his sister's fiancé. In high school, he was a high achiever and won an athletic scholarship, but could not afford to attend an Ivy League college. While attending Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, he met his future wife, Mary Louise Anderson, nicknamed Kitty to those who knew her. They married in 1964. After graduating, he passed the CPA exam and he became a successful businessman. In all of his workplaces, he was credited with being an highly intelligent and diligent, but was widely disliked as arrogant and rude to co-workers and abrasive to subordinates. He became the father of two sons, Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez, and was a stern and demanding father. He was also an unfaithful husband, with a string of mistresses. His family moved to southern California and he became an executive for RCA, and became acquainted with a number of show business celebrities. But he was experiencing marital problems and his relationship with both sons was deteriorating. In 1989, while he and his wife were watching television, they were shot to death by their sons.- Kim Stanley's movie roles were few and far between; she is perhaps best known for her stellar performances on stage, including successes on Broadway. But when she did step in front of the camera, nothing short of memorable resulted. Her repertoire in movies and on stage covered such diversity from the sensitive glamour-girl Rita Shawn character in the 1958 "Goddess" to the crusty, somewhat salty and sunbaked Pancho Barnes in 1983's The Right Stuff (1983). Her abilities to play such diverse roles and play them well garnered her two Academy Award nominations: one for her portrayal of the slightly unhinged medium in the 1964 Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) and another for her characterization of the domineering and wrathful mother of Frances Farmer in 1982's Frances (1982). Stanley was born Patricia Reid in Tularosa, New Mexico. When her parents divorced, her mother moved the family, sans father, to Texas where her mother found work as an interior decorator. Drawn to both Texas and New Mexico, Stanley often found herself lonely and unsure of what she wanted. As a child, she wrote poetry and had many a daydream about becoming an artist or, on the other hand, a May Queen. In school, she found she liked acting in plays. At 16, in San Antonio she attended a touring production of "The Philadelphia Story", which starred Katharine Hepburn. recreating her role from the movie. Overwhelmed by the performance to the point of tears (she didn't want the play to end), Stanley aspired to do what she had seen Hepburn do. In college, she received a degree in psychology after attending first the University of New Mexico and subsequently, the University of Texas. But acting was still what she aspired to. So pursuing a career connected neither to her college major nor to the states where she grew up, Stanley eventually landed an acting apprenticeship in California with the Pasadena Playhouse. Her stay there was brief and she soon moved on to a winter stock company in Louisville, Kentucky. From there, with $21 to her name, she traveled to Manhattan. The year was 1947 and her Texas accent was still very much a part of her persona -- so much so that many in the New York theatre scene advised she go home to Texas. Persevering, however, Stanley made ends meet as a dress model and as a cocktail waitress, all the while honing her skills in off-Broadway productions of the Gertrude Stein ilk. It was in Stein's "Yes Is for a Very Young Man," that New York Times theatre critic Books Atkinson singled out Stanley as an actress with promise (incidentally, he did not care much for the play she was in). Stanley was also developing her craft under the tutelage of Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York City, and scored her first Broadway success in 1952 when, at the age of 27, she played the 12-year-old Millie Owens in William Inge's "Picnic". Subsequently, in the 1954 production of Inge's "Bus Stop," as the starry-eyed chanteuse Cherie (a role Marilyn Monroe assumed for the film), Stanley ascended to even greater heights and greater accolades in her acting achievements. Though she preferred stage acting to any other facsimile and often shied away from movies (reportedly, she declined to repeat for the movies roles she mastered on stage), she frequently played roles on television during the 1950s and '60s on such theatrical programs as "Goodyear TV Playhouse" and "Magnavox Theater," garnering two Emmy awards in the process (one in 1963 for her contributions to an episode of Ben Casey (1961); the other for her Big Mama part in the 1984 PBS/American Playhouse production of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"). In the latter part of her life, she gravitated toward teaching, conducting acting classes in Los Angeles and, later, returning to her roots, securing a position teaching acting at the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico.
- Kitty Menendez was born to a middle-class family in suburban Chicago, where her father owned an air-conditioning business. Her home life was very unhappy, with a cruel, abusive father and a despondent, battered mother. While Kitty was still a child her father abandoned the family to move in with a mistress. Embittered, she turned into a moody and depressed child and had few friends. Eventually she cut off all contact with her father, whom she came to despise. She attended college at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. There she met her future husband, Jose Menendez, whom she married in 1964. Both of their families were opposed to the marriage, his because her parents were divorced, hers because of Jose's Cuban heritage. In their early married life she was an elementary school teacher, but after giving birth to her children, Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez, she became a full-time homemaker. As her husband climbed up the corporate ladder, their life looked idyllic on the surface. Intelligent, attractive, charming in public, she appeared to be the ideal wife and mother. However, those who came to know her described her as a high-strung woman who had great difficulty coping with stress, and her husband's repeated extramarital affairs drove her to despair. She coped with her problems by consuming increasing amounts of alcohol and prescription pills and some of her friends feared she had become dependent on them.. In 1987 she attempted suicide, ingesting a bottle of sleeping pills. She recovered, but she and Jose continued to have marital problems, and their relationships with their sons became increasingly strained. On August 20, 1989, she and her husband were shot to death in their living room while watching television together. The killers were their sons.
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Larry Knechtel was born on 4 August 1940 in Bell, California, USA. He is known for Get Smart (1965), Last Summer (1969) and Shut Up & Sing (2006). He was married to Vickie. He died on 20 August 2009 in Yakima, Washington, USA.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
Larry Siegel was born on 29 October 1925 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The Carol Burnett Show (1967), The Bob Newhart Show (1961) and That Was the Week That Was (1963). He was married to Helen Hartman. He died on 20 August 2019 in the USA.- Lico Reyes was born on 4 April 1946 in Durango, Mexico. He was an actor, known for Problem Child (1990), Joe (2013) and The Many Faces of Lee Harvey Oswald (1991). He died on 20 August 2019.
- Actress
- Costume Designer
- Writer
Margot Hielscher was born on 29 September 1919 in Charlottenburg [now Berlin], Germany. She was an actress and costume designer, known for Wälsungenblut (1965), Das schwarz-weiß-rote Himmelbett (1962) and Hallo, Fräulein! (1949). She was married to Friedrich Meyer. She died on 20 August 2017 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.- Marian McPartland was born on 20 March 1918 in Slough, Berkshire, England, UK. She was married to Jimmy McPartland. She died on 20 August 2013 in Port Washington, New York, USA.
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Marty Cosens was born in 1935. He was an actor, known for Frutilla (1980), Ritmo, amor y juventud (1966) and La nena (1965). He died on 20 August 2001 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- 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.- Mickey Daniels was born on 11 October 1914 in Rock Springs, Wyoming, USA. He was an actor, known for The Little Minister (1922), Roaring Roads (1935) and Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926). He died on 20 August 1970 in San Diego, California, USA.
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Morton Schindel was born on 29 January 1918 in Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Morris's Disappearing Bag (1982), Brave Irene (1989) and The Most Wonderful Egg in the World (1986). He was married to Ellen Bamberger and Cari Best. He died on 20 August 2016 in the USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Spanish actress born in Madrid on 13 December 1923, into the bosom of a poor family. Her mother was the one who inculcated her artistic gifts. She entered the Conservatory, where she studied singing and music. Still being an adolescent, she entered a children's company performing shows for children at the 'Teatro Español de la Plaza de Santa Ana' in Madrid. This way, she was hired several times to act in groups or with little roles in the classic theatre plays offered by Cayetano Luca de Tena, who was the director of the theatre at that time. She had her first chance with a part at Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. In 1944 she won a radio song contest, and then she was hired, together with Tony Leblanc, by the company owned by Lola Flores and Manolo Caracol, to play as secondary stars or 'Vedettes Americaines'. That was the starting point of her popularity. Her first works were in the cinema (Oro y marfil (1947), La muralla feliz (1948), Currito de la Cruz (1949), Servicio en la mar (1951)), but her best facet is theatre. She has a wide repertoire, including musical plays ('El hombre de la Mancha' [Man of La Mancha], 'La Perrichola', 'La corte del Faraón') and dramatic plays ('Fortunata y Jacinta', 'María Reyes', 'La zapatera prodigiosa', 'Anillos para una dama', among others). In 1997 she won a National Theatre Award.- Patricia Hardy was born on 23 December 1931 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Mike Hammer (1958), Don't Knock the Rock (1956) and Yancy Derringer (1958). She was married to Richard Egan. She died on 20 August 2011 in Brentwood, California, USA.
- Actress
- Make-Up Department
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Diller put out an autobiography in 2005 in her late 80s, and entitled it "Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse", which pretty much says it all when recalling the misfit life and career of the fabulous, one-of-a-kind Phyllis Diller. It may inspire all those bored, discouraged and/or directionless housewives out there to know that the one-time 37-year-old chief bottle washer and diaper disposer of five started out writing comedy routines for her fellow female laundry mates as a sort of reprieve from what she considered her everyday household doldrums. Little did she know she would wind up an entertainment legend who would share the biggest comedy stages with the likes of Bob Hope, George Burns and Jack Benny.
They said it couldn't be done back then (to be a successful lady comic, that is) but the doyenne of female stand-up did just that -- opened the doors for other odd-duck funny girls who dared to intrude on what was considered a man's profession. Initially, the comedienne whipped up an alter-ego that could have only been created with the aid of hallucinogens. Boldly facing the world as a scrawny, witchy-faced, flyaway haired, outlandishly costumed, cigarette-holding, magpie-cackling version of "Auntie Mame", Diller made a virtue out of her weird looks and cashed in on her wifely horror tales and her own idiosyncratic tendencies. Her solid fan base has been thriving now for over five decades.
She was born Phyllis Ada Driver on July 17, 1917 in Lima, Ohio to Perry Marcus and Frances Ada (Romshe) Driver. A student at Lima's Central High School, she went on to study for three years at the Sherwood Music Conservatory in Chicago, before transferring to Bluffton (Ohio) College where she served as the editor of the school's more humorous newspaper articles. She was a serious student of the piano but was never completely confident enough in her performance level to try and act on it as a possible career.
She wed Sherwood Anderson Diller at age 22 in November 1939 and had six children (one of whom died in infancy). On the sly, she was an advertising copywriter. During World War II, the family moved to Michigan where her husband had found work at the Willow Run Bomber Plant. A natural laugh-getter, she began writing household-related one-liners and the feedback from the fellow wives greatly encouraged her. When the family moved to California for job-related reasons, Diller became a secretary at a San Francisco television station. By this time, she had built up the courage to put together a nightclub act.
The local television hosts at the station (Willard Anderson and Don Sherwood) thought her act was hilarious and invited her on their show in 1955. Not long after, at age 38, Diller made her debut at San Francisco's Purple Onion nightclub. What was to be a two-week engagement was stretched out to more than a year and a half. The widespread publicity she received took her straight to the television talk and variety circuits where she was soon trading banter with Jack Paar, Jack Benny and Red Skelton, among others, on their popular television series. She was a contestant on Groucho Marx's popular quiz show You Bet Your Life (1950).
Throughout the 1960s, audiences embraced her bold and brazen quirkiness. Diller formed a tight and lasting relationship with Bob Hope, appearing in scores of his television specials and co-starring in three of his broad 1960s comedy films (Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), Eight on the Lam (1967) and The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968). Diller joined Hope in Vietnam in 1966 with his USO troupe.
Her celebrity eventually took its toll on her marriage. She separated from and eventually divorced Sherwood in 1965, who had, by this time, become a favorite topic and target of her act in the form of husband "Fang". That same year, she married singer, film actor and television host Warde Donovan who appeared with her in the slapstick movie Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968). They divorced in 1975.
By this time, Diller was everywhere on the small screen. A special guest on hordes of television series and comedy specials and, especially on such riotfests as Laugh-In (1977) and the Dean Martin celebrity series of roasts, she became a celebrity on the game show circuit as well, milking laughs on such established shows as The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965) and The Gong Show (1976). She published best-selling comedy records to her credit and humorous anecdotes to pitch that made it to the bookstore shelves, such as "Phyllis Diller Tells All About Fang". However, stand-up remained her first love.
Her forays on television in her own series were, regretfully, unsuccessful. Her first television series, The Phyllis Diller Show (1966), had her pretty much pulling out all the stops as a wacky widow invariably scheming to keep up a wealthy front despite being heavily in debt. She had the reliably droll Reginald Gardiner and cranky Charles Lane as foils and even Gypsy Rose Lee, but to little avail. Revamped as "The Phyllis Diller Show", several of comedy's best second bananas (John Astin, Paul Lynde, Richard Deacon, Billy De Wolfe, Marty Ingels) were added to the mix, but the show was canceled after a single season. A second try with The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show (1968), a comedy/variety show that had the zany star backed by none other than Rip Taylor and Norm Crosby, lasted only three months.
Seldom did she manage or receive offers to take her funny face off long enough to appear for dramatic effect. Somewhat more straightforward roles came later on episodes of Boston Legal (2004) and 7th Heaven (1996). Back in 1961, interestingly enough, she made both her stage and film debuts in the dramas of William Inge. Her theatrical debut came with a production of "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" and she appeared first on film in the highly dramatic Splendor in the Grass (1961), lightening things up a bit with a cameo appearance as larger-than-life nightclub hostess Texas Guinan. Diller later impressed with her harridan role in the film The Adding Machine (1969) opposite Milo O'Shea.
Diller enjoyed a three-month run on Broadway in "Hello, Dolly!", co-starring Richard Deacon and appeared in other shows and musicals over time: "Wonderful Town" (she met her second husband Warde Donovan in this production), "Happy Birthday", "Everybody Loves Opal" and "Nunsense". In 1993, Diller was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Her cackling vocals have enhanced animated features, too, what with Mad Monster Party? (1967) and A Bug's Life (1998). It took a heart attack in 1999 to finally slow down the comedienne and she eventually announced her retirement in 2002.
Aside from the baby who died in infancy, Diller was also predeceased by her eldest son, Peter (who died of cancer in 1998) and her daughter, Stephanie Diller (who died of a stroke in 2002). Her surviving children are Sally Diller, Suzanne Sue Diller and Perry Diller. As late as January 2007, she made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). She was set to return on her 90th birthday in July but a back injury forced her to cancel. She died at age 95 of heart failure on August 20, 2012 in her home in Brentwood, California.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Rags Ragland was a boxer, then a burlesque comedian and then a Broadway performer before ending up in Hollywood to repeat his stage role as the boisterous sailor in Panama Hattie (1942), in which Ann Sothern played on film the part that had been played on Broadway by Ethel Merman. Ragland, typecast as a good-natured oaf with a knack for fracturing the English language, had as his sole movie employer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in some two dozen of whose lighter vehicles he appeared, in the company of such MGM luminaries as Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.- Additional Crew
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Reza Badiyi was born on 17 April 1929 in Arak, Iran. He was a director and producer, known for Carnival of Souls (1962), Stop Susan Williams (1979) and Get Smart (1965). He was married to Tania Harley, Barbara Turner and Gwendolyn M Dennis. He died on 20 August 2011 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Rogelio García Lupo was born on 16 November 1931 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died on 20 August 2016 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Born from immigrant parents, as a teenager he joined SODRE, the Music, Theater and Radio National Organization in Uruguay. Since his early twenties he was Principal Stage Director. Worked with legendary conductors like Erich Kleiber and Arturo Toscanini, and theater masters like Louis Jouvet. Enormously cultured and read, he was also a playwright and translator from Latin and French. Married Maria O. Beceiro and had two sons: Daniel and Rafael, and a daughter, Ana Maria. In 1946 moved to Buenos Aires invited to work in the nascent movie industry in Argentina. He was most prolific during the bustling years of the studio system, the 50s and 60s. Throughout his life he continued to work and enjoy success as a stage director, as in his words, "theater was his true love". Later in life was also involved in television, a medium in which he produced his last staging. Among many awards received are Best Film and Best Director from the Argentine Cinema Academy; Best Film (Horizontes de Piedra), Karlovy Vary Festival (Czech Republic), and Best Film (Barcos de Papel), Venezia Children Movie Festival.- Russ Conway was born on 27 March 1949 in Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA. He died on 20 August 2019 in Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA.
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Ted Post first began thinking about a career in show business in 1938, when he was working as a weekend usher at the Loew's Pitkin Theater in Brooklyn, New York, and getting so caught up in the movies that he would sometimes forget to escort the patrons to their seats. He received some acting training at the workshop of Tamara Daykarhanova, but later set aside the dream of becoming a performer and segued into directing summer theater. In the mid- to late 1940s, Post made a name for himself in the theater and then moved into the adventurous arena of early television.
He has since directed numerous segments of TV's top series (Gunsmoke (1955), Perry Mason (1957), The Twilight Zone (1959), "Columbo," many more) and feature films ranging from Clint Eastwood's Hang 'Em High (1968) and Magnum Force (1973) to Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). Returning to his theater roots, Post recently directed the 2001-02 Festival of the Arts at Bel-Air's University of Judaism.- Ulla Jacobsson was an International Swedish Actress and became world-famous with the film One Summer of Happiness (1951) (English title: "One Summer of Happiness", German title: "Sie tanzte nur einen Sommer") and Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) ("Smiles of a Summer Night"), which Zarah Leander made as a musical in Vienna and also the Swedish version in Stockholm. She became better known in the UK for her part of the daughter of a missionary (played by Jack Hawkins) in Zulu (1964). She married an Austrian doctor and lived in Vienna, where she died of cancer in 1982.
- Virginia Dwyer was born on 19 December 1919 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. She was an actress, known for The Road of Life (1954), Rocky King, Detective (1950) and Young Dr. Malone (1958). She was married to Osgood Caruthers, James Fleming and Walter Gorman. She died on 20 August 2012 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- New York City native Walter Brooke, born on October 13, 1914, made his first try at dramatics by reciting a poem in German at the Grunewald gymnasium in Berlin Germany where he spent five years as a schoolboy. He won first prize.
Walter's father, a professional Chef and his mother, a nurse, brought him back to New York in the mid nineteen twenties where he finished his schooling the hard way, in and out of a score of schools.
He launched his stage career at that time by accident. At 16 years old attending Dewitt Clinton High school young Walter took a wrong turn in the school corridor which took him into a drama class. He enrolled in the class hoping to make an impression on a certain teen-age charmer he knew.
After graduation from Dewitt Clinton, he took a job ushering at the World Theater and from there, he went to work at the William Demuth Pipe Company on Long Island while he gained practical stage experience at night by playing at the Davenport Theater on West 27th Street.
From summer stock plays on Governors Island to East Hampton L.I. and then full-fledged productions, his career picked up momentum.
His first Broadway experience was gained as a walk-on and understudy in John Gielgud's production of "Hamlet" at the distinguished Empire Theater.
Just before WWII he went to Hollywood to study with Max Reinhardt and spent 18 months with the "Professor" appearing in classical plays and developing his acting technique. Then came a part on tour in "Romeo and Juliet" with Sir Lawrence Olivier.
Upon his return to Los Angeles, he helped found the Beachwood Studio under the direction of Vladimir Sokoloff, an original member of the Moscow Art Theater. Working with Sokoloff resulted in a notable change in his dramatic technique.
Warner Brothers soon discovered him and placed him under contract, but he wasn't handsome enough to be a juvenile or old enough for young character parts. He played a dozen parts in as many films, then by mutual consent, was released from his contract.
He sped back to Broadway where he played the lead in "The Barber Had Two Sons". Shortly after he was offered a job at M-G-M as the dialogue director on "Kismet" which Willam Dieterle was directing.
After Pearl Harbor, Walter had been able to avoid the service because his draft board had classified him as 4F, a conscientious objector, but at his own request, Walter went into the Army and was assigned to the 776th Field Artillery Battalion.
Corporal Brooke served for 2 1/2 years, including 144 days of uninterrupted combat where his outfit slugged from the Bulge to Bastogne, to a point further east than any other similar unit. One of his overseas duties was interpreting the words of German military prisoners making use of his knowledge of the German language.
Bombs would explode right next to his fox hole he had dug and had to live in for weeks at a time. He received a Purple Heart for leaving his fox hole to drag a wounded comrade back to their hole. Experiencing the terror of war as he did, had a profound effect on him for his entire life.
Discharged in 1946 he returned to the stage on tour with Tallulah Bankhead in "The Eagle Has Two Heads". Followed by "Two Blind Mice" with Melvyn Douglas, "Twilight Walk" opposite Nancy Kelly, and "Seagulls Over Sorrento".
In 1948 he again deserted Broadway for summer stock, this time going to Williamsburg VA, to play the role of Thomas Jefferson in Paul Greens "The Common Glory". While there he took special courses in Philosophy at William and Mary College.
Brooke credits his biggest professional break to Franchot Tone with whom he appeared in "The Second Man." Directed by Jean Dalrymple, the play successfully toured the straw-hat circuit from Maine to Florida and California.
Television's top brass saw the play and almost at once Walter jumped into starring roles on virtually all major TV shows then on the air.
During an eight-week period he did 12 leads, appearing on four one-hour shows, and eight 30-minute programs, while at the same time playing a running part on "One Man's Family". Few actors can equal or top this record. After "One Man's Family" went off the air, he resumed free-lancing.
For one year he acted the heavy on CBS's "The Brighter Day". He followed this for six months in "Three Steps to Heaven", which he left for a one-picture deal with Paramount as the star in their 3 1/2-million-dollar film "Conquest of Space" produced by George Pal.
1953 saw him appear in two plays with Ilka Chase in Nassau L.I., the following summer of 1954 he appeared with Marie Wilson and Melville Cooper in "The Little Hut".
Slim and dapper Walter Brooke met pert Elizabeth Wragge, the pretty blonde NBC Radio Star, on a blind date at an AFTRA ball at the Waldorf-Astoria. They were married four years later on January 14th, 1951. The couple had two children, Thomas Brooke and Christina Lynne Brooke.
They divided their time between a home in Elberon. N.J. and a mellow apartment, The Osborne on West 57th Street.
Quiet and dignified Walter confessed that he had an evocation for photography and liked to take photographs of his actress wife and their two children. He was an expert photographer.
As time moved forward it soon became apparent that Hollywood was the best place for Walter to be for film and television work, so he started spending more time on the west coast and by 1960 his career as an actor looked assured so he relocated to Hollywood as his wife and children stayed in midtown Manhattan pursuing their own theatrical careers.
As evidenced by his dozens of appearances in films and on television he was able to live a respectable "Hollywood lifestyle". One of his main hobbies was gardening and landscaping. He would have swimming pools installed in neglected homes that he would purchase as fixer uppers, then rent out to new Hollywood types.
This became as much of an occupation as film and television work, and he and his third partner, whom he married in Las Vegas, 1 year prior to his death in 1986, enjoyed every minute.
Besides his career as a prolific actor. Walter was an environmentalist and a Universalist. Swimming was one of his passions. In all the homes he lived in, he would create and care for a garden where he grew many types of vegetables. Picked fresh and prepared on the same day.
His motto was "Each Day Will Be Better Than the Last, If You Let It". - The son of an Army officer, Walter Reed was born in Washington and grew up in Honolulu and Los Angeles, where he attended school with the children of movie stars. After his parents' divorce, and, during the darkest days of the Depression, 17-year-old Reed decided to try acting as a career and made a two-week trip to New York (via hitched rides on railroad freight cars, amidst hobos and tramps) to look for work on the stage. He worked in stock and on Broadway and, with an assist from actor Joel McCrea, broke into pictures in the early 1940s.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Wilhelm Killmayer was born on 21 August 1927 in Munich, Germany. He was a composer, known for Gino (1960), Visions of Eight (1973) and Into Eternity: A Film for the Future (2010). He died on 20 August 2017 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.