Notable Showbiz Deaths of 2018
A list of entertainment industry figures who passed away in 2018
List activity
5.2K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
295 people
- In 1993, nine year old Jon Paul Steuer was cast in the role of Brett Butler's son Quentin Kelly on the ABC sitcom Grace Under Fire. The pilot episode aired September 29, 1993 with actor Noah Segan playing Quentin. Jon took over the role starting in episode two. During hiatus of the second season, ten year old Jon was cast in Little Giants (1994), a comedy movie co-starring with Sam Horrigan who was then 13 years old. Jon returned to his Grace Under Fire schedule and continued on the show until the end of the third season.
In May 1996, Jon's parents abruptly pulled him from the show saying that they felt the show was not a good environment for their son, citing Brett Butler's substance abuse, frequent rehab admissions and her overt sexual behavior toward 12-year-old Jon. Brett Butler was observed flashing her breasts at him on the set. When Jon left Grace Under Fire in 1996, it was his Little Giants co-star Sam Horrigan who took over the role of Quentin Kelly.
After leaving the show, when Jon interviewed for other acting jobs, he found most casting directors only wanted to question him about what it was like to work with Brett Butler, how it was working on Grace Under Fire set and why he left the show.In April 2015, Jon told an interviewer from the internet-based newspaper website, The A.V. Club, that he thought the behavior of some casting agents was very unprofessional and that he didn't appreciate how the focus during job interviews was on Brett Butler and the show, when he was supposed to be interviewing with them for another job.
It was then that Jon Paul Steuer decided to quit acting altogether. His family moved to Denver Colorado and while finishing high school, Jon worked at several jobs.
In 2003 Jon took the stage name of Jonny P. Jewels, formed the glam punk band Kill City Thrillers with four other musicians and became the lead singer. In 2005, the band changed its name to Soda Pop Kids. The band worked consistently until November 2009 when the group decided to quit.
In 2011, Jon became the fifth member of a Portland-based punk rock group called P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. They performed in nearby states and in 2014, the band went on a European tour. Jon remained with the band until his death.
In March 2015, Jon became partners with chef Sean Sigmon and invested in a vegan restaurant in Portland, Oregon called Harvest At The Bindery. The restaurant thrived for almost three years.
On January 1, 2018, at the age of 33, Jon Paul Steuer died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Portland, Oregon. The day after his death, his Harvest At The Bindery restaurant partner closed down the restaurant permanently and on January 3, 2018 it was put up for sale.Former child star, best known for his work on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (as Worf's son Alexander) and GRACE UNDER FIRE. He was better known as "Jonny P. Jewels" in his later career as a musician/restaurateur. - Actor
- Producer
- Director
Born in Wellesley, MA, USA, Buxton grew up in Larchmont, NY, USA, graduated from Northwestern University (BS) and Syracuse University (MS). After service in the U.S. Army in the Korean War, he worked in local television as a producer-director in Buffalo, N.Y. and Chicago, IL and then began his performing career as a stand-up comedian, TV host (Discovery '70 (1962), Get the Message (1964)), and stage performer ("Brigadoon", "Bye Bye Birdie", "The Tender Trap", etc.). His television writing, producing and directing work included The Odd Couple (1970), Happy Days (1974), Mork & Mindy (1978), among many others, and he created the Peabody Award-winning series Hot Dog (1970) for NBC which starred Woody Allen and Jonathan Winters. As a film and TV actor, he has appeared in Overboard (1987), Beaches (1988), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Face of a Stranger (1991), With a Vengeance (1992) and Roommates (1994), as well as many series and specials. He wrote and created voices for Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) and has done cartoon and commercial voices for innumerable projects.Writer and director for “The Odd Couple” and “Happy Days”.- Composer
- Soundtrack
Rick Hall was born on 31 January 1932 in Forest Grove, Mississippi, USA. He was a composer, known for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019). He was married to Linda Kay Hall. He died on 2 January 2018 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, USA.Legendary record producer and Fame studio owner, regarded as the "Father of Muscle Shoals Music".- Carmen Cozza was born on 10 June 1930 in Parma, Ohio, USA. He was married to Jean. He died on 4 January 2018 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.Cozza coached Yale for 32 seasons and led the Bulldogs to 10 Ivy League titles. He was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Ray Thomas was born on 29 December 1941 in Stourport on Severn, England, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for Killing Eve (2018), Hittimittari (1984) and The Moody Blues: Your Wildest Dreams (1986). He was married to Lee Lightle. He died on 4 January 2018 in Surrey, England, UK.Founding member of British rock group the Moody Blues.- Actor
- Soundtrack
He had that same genuine likability factor, owned that same trademark lantern jaw and was just as appealing and gifted as his older brother, Dick Van Dyke, but, for decades, Jerry Van Dyke bore the brunt of his brother's overwhelming shadow.
Six years younger than brother Dick, the comic actor was born on July 27, 1931, in Danville, Illinois. Raised there, the crew cut blond showed an aptitude for clowning in high school. His stand-up comedy venues first took the form of dives and strip clubs throughout the Deep South in which his banjo-playing became an intricate part of the routine. At one point, Jerry was a regular on the Playboy club circuit. He then set his sights on the top showrooms in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Atlantic City and became a dependable opening act.
Jerry's early career should have been rightfully interrupted when he joined the Air Force in 1952. He, instead, kept the troops laughing by performing in Special Services shows. Winning a military talent contest actually earned him a couple of appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show") and resulting TV exposure. Following his tour of duty, he nabbed variety appearances and a regular comic relief role on The Judy Garland Show (1963). He found comic acting parts as well on TV. Like brother Dick, who was a huge TV star by this time, Jerry also did a stint emceeing a game show. In Jerry's case, it was Picture This (1963).
Ever the hapless klutz and happy-go-lucky stammerer, Jerry built up his TV reputation in the early 60s. He turned down the title role in Gilligan's Island (1964), which he rightfully deemed inane, but instead chose the equally silly My Mother the Car (1965). It proved to be a detrimental career move. While "Gilligan" became a surprise hit that still runs in syndication four decades later, Jerry had to live down starring in one of the most lambasted sitcoms of all time. Truthfully, the two shows were on an equal (sub)par with each other. It was just a cruel luck of the draw that Jerry ended up biting the bullet while Gilligan's Bob Denver found cult celebrity. Jerry's subsequent two series were also one seasoners with Accidental Family (1967), a sitcom in which he more or less played himself (a nightclub comedian), and Headmaster (1970), a drama starring Andy Griffith in which he played a physical education coach. Neither did much for his career. A promising co-star role with Griffith in the film Angel in My Pocket (1969) also went nowhere. Over the years, Jerry has appeared as a guest star on a number of brother Dick's shows, including the classic The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) in which he played, of course, Dick's brother.
The genially dim character "George Utley" on Bob Newhart's 1980s series was originally created for Jerry but Tom Poston assumed the part. Good fortune finally smiled on Jerry when he won the hapless role of "Luther Van Dam", a role that capped his long career, on Coach (1989). He earned four consecutive Emmy nominations and a steady paycheck for eight seasons. His seesaw struggle and survival after nearly five decades truly paid off this time, and only proves his love for the business.
Nearing the millennium, Jerry was seen frequently on the smaller screen. In addition to guesting on such shows as "The New Addams Family," "The District," "Diagnosis Murder," "My Name Is Earl," "Committed" and "Raising Hope," the veteran actor played the regular roles as grandpa types in the sitcom fantasies Teen Angel (1997) and You Wish (1997); had the recurring grandparent role of Big Jimmy Hughes in the comedy series Yes, Dear (2000) and ended his career as a grandpa in the established sitcom The Middle (2009) starring Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn.
In later years, Jerry spent much of his time at a ranch in Arkansas where he lived with his second wife, the former Shirley Jones (not the singer/actress), and raised cattle. Tragedy struck in 1991 when one of his three children, Kelly Van Dyke, a substance abuser, took her own life. On the sly, one could also find Jerry at the poker table as part of ESPN tournaments. He died in Arkansas on January 5, 2018, aged 86.Actor-brother of Dick Van Dyke. He turned down both THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW and GILLIGAN'S ISLAND to star on the legendary (for all the wrong reasons) sitcom MY MOTHER THE CAR; later, he co-starred on the much-better-received series COACH. His daughter was tragically-short-lived actress Kelly Van Dyke.- Actress
- Additional Crew
The enticing, voluptuous European beauty Greta Thyssen filled out the pages of movie magazines everywhere during the 1950s. Born on March 30, 1927, she was a freshly-scrubbed brunette when she was crowned Miss Denmark in 1952. The subsequent attention had her packing her bags for Hollywood. At that time, Marilyn Monroe had become an international sex symbol and Hollywood hopefuls were falling all over themselves to be just like her. Enter Greta, in a major, major transformation, as a statuesque, peroxide-blonde bombshell -- competing against the whistle-blowing likes of Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. With mouth-dropping measurements reported at 40-24-36, this pin-up favorite became the best piece of Danish pastry in town. She also had her eyes out for films.
Like Ms. Mansfield and Ms. Van Doren, Greta's movie career was a bust -- literally. She bordered slightly on the seamy side and was offered such roles. However, she proved a trooper and was qualified enough to handle a scattered amount of low-grade crime dramas, adventures and horror stories -- a few having since reached "cult turkey" status. Greta actually started off in the quality movie Bus Stop (1956), unbilled as a "cover girl". She also served as Ms. Monroe's double in the movie. Another small film role in Accused of Murder (1956) led to a regular role as a busty "Pirate Girl" model on the quiz show Treasure Hunt (1956) starring wolfish host Jan Murray. She momentarily took a few male minds off the horrific The Beast of Budapest (1958) and did her scream queen schtick in Terror Is a Man (1959), in which she played vulnerable to a mad scientist-turned-panther-like creature à la "The Island of Dr. Moreau".
Greta added the requisite hard-boiled touch to the noirish detective film Three Blondes in His Life (1961) opposite Jock Mahoney and showed up in Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962) as well, which was another John Agar sci-fi cheapie. On television, she played a fetching foil in some of The Three Stooges shorts (Joe Besser was the third Stooge at the time) and appeared on television series, mostly crime stories, including Dragnet (1951) and Perry Mason (1957). Her film career ended dismally with the inane comedy Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers (1967), which pretty much says this all. Toward the end, she appeared in a couple of wink-wink stage comedies such as "Pajama Tops" until the early 1970s. She then retired from acting and moved to New York City where she found success as a painter, combining representational nude figures and surrealistic allegory. Generally, Greta took advantage of the equipment she had, made this work for her, and got her "fifteen minutes".
Greta Thyssen passed away at age 90 of complications from pneumonia on January 6, 2018 at her Manhattan home.Full-figured beauty (a former Miss Denmark, born in Hareskovby) who doubled for Marilyn Monroe, dated Cary Grant, and starred opposite the Three Stooges.
Also starred in several "B" movies, including the horror pic TERROR IS A MAN (1959), a loose adaptation of H.G. Wells' THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU. The movie incorporated a "warning bell" gimmick that would alert moviegoers when a particularly horrific sequence was about to take place so that they could hide their eyes. It would ring a second time when it was safe to look again.
Four of her other better-known performances came in the Joseph Kane noir ACCUSED OF MURDER (1956); THE BEAST OF BUDAPEST (1958); THREE BLONDES IN HIS LIFE (1961, opposite Jock Mahoney); and as an enticing pin-up beauty on Uranus in JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET (1962, shot in her native Denmark). She was also the "Pirate Girl" on the first three seasons (1956-58) of the game show TREASURE HUNT, created by host Jan Murray.- Actress
- Writer
- Music Department
France Gall was born on 9 October 1947 in Paris, France. She was an actress and writer, known for A Simple Favor (2018), Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) and Heartbeats (2010). She was married to Michel Berger. She died on 7 January 2018 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.Gall - who owned France’s pop charts for decades, and who inspired “My Way” - was the daughter of a songwriter who had penned hits for Edith Piaf and Charles Aznavour.- Denise LaSalle was born on 16 July 1934 in The Island, LeFlore County, Mississippi, USA. She was married to James E. Wolfe Jr., Bill Jones and Artic Craig. She died on 8 January 2018 in Jackson, Tennessee, USA.Singer/songwriter whose hit "Trapped by a Thing Called Love" topped the R&B charts in 1971.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, Donnelly Rhodes trained to be a warden in the National Park Service in Manitoba and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as an airman-mechanic before finally settling into his long and successful career as an actor. Rhodes studied at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Center and was a member of the first graduating class of the National Theatre School in Canada. After making his professional debut on stage as Stanley Kowalski in Streetcar Named Desire, he became a contract player for Universal Pictures in the U.S., landing film and television roles ranging from a gunslinger in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) to a country singer in The Hard Part Begins (1973) to various guest appearances in series such as Mission: Impossible (1966). Later, he was popular as the suave Phillip Chancellor Sr. on The Young and the Restless (1973), but left the show in 1976 to avoid devoting too much of his career to the one role. He continued to work steadily, taking roles in a wide variety of television and theatrical movies and making guest appearances on more than 100 television series. Major TV roles saw him range from dim-witted escaped con Dutch on Soap (1977) to veterinarian and family man Dr. Grant Roberts on the popular Canadian family series Danger Bay (1983). More recently, he has appeared in a number of TV movies as well as in guest spots on popular series such as Sliders (1995) and The X-Files (1993). Rhodes' diverse interests include music and horses, but his real passion is boats. He has said that if he hadn't succeeded as an actor, he would have pursued a career as a naval architect.Canadian TV actor best known for his roles in the ABC comedy "Soap" (as Dutch) and the cult hit "Battlestar Galactica" (as Dr. Cottle). He also starred on Canada’s "Danger Bay" and, more recently, guested on "Arrowverse" (as Agent Smith).- Joseph Wayne Miller was born on 18 December 1981 in Park Ridge, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Heavyweights (1995) and Folks! (1992). He died on 9 January 2018 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.Former child actor whose claim to fame was portraying the splash-making “Salami” Sam in Disney’s Judd Apatow-penned 1995 fat-camp comedy HEAVY WEIGHTS. Miller's co-stars included Aaron Schwartz and Kenan Thompson.
- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Fast Eddie Clarke was born on 5 October 1950 in Twickenham, London, England, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Smokin' Aces (2006) and Shoot 'Em Up (2007). He died on 10 January 2018 in London, England."Fast Eddie" was one of Motorhead's three original members (the other two being late greats Lemmy Kilmister and Phil Taylor). He left the group in the early 1980s to start another, Fastway.- Doreen Tracey was born on 3 April 1943 in St Pancras, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956), Annette (1958) and The Donna Reed Show (1958). She was married to Robert A Washburn. She died on 10 January 2018 in Thousand Oaks, California, USA.One of the original Mouseketeers on the fabled kids program THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB, nicknamed "Dodo" by her castmates. Her parents, Bessie Hay and Sid Tracey, had a vaudeville dance act known as Tracey & Hay; Doreen was born while they were on tour in London. In the years following MMC, Tracey visited American military bases in South Vietnam and Thailand with her own act. She later worked in promotions at Warner Brothers Records with acts including Frank Zappa, Tower of Power, and the Doobie Brothers.
- Keith Jackson was born on 18 October 1928 in Roopville, Georgia, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fortune Cookie (1966), Coach (1989) and Munich 1972: Games of the XX Olympiad (1972). He was married to Gertrude Ann "Truri Ann" Johnson. He died on 12 January 2018 in Los Angeles, USA.Legendary broadcaster who spent 56 years calling college football, including 15 Rose Bowls...along with the 2006 thriller between USC and Texas at the famed game in Pasadena. Words to live by: "Whoa, Nellie!"
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
One of MGM's more vivacious secondary stars during the 40s, petite and lovely Jean Porter was born in Texas in 1922 but left the state while young to pursue her dream as an actress. Following some vaudeville experience, she made her uncredited film debut in 1939 (age 17) and slowly graduated to sweet-natured ingénues in light, wholesome "B" fare. Most were sentimental trifles, such as Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944)and Easy to Wed (1946), or western action with such obvious titles as Heart of the Rio Grande (1942) and Home in Wyomin' (1942). Despite her promise and talent, none of her approximately 30 films managed to set her apart and top stardom remained elusive.
Jean's finest screen roles probably came with The Youngest Profession (1943) and Till the End of Time (1946), where she met future husband, director Edward Dmytryk. They married in 1948 and had three children: Richard, Victoria and Rebecca, the latter becoming a wildlife rescuer and rehabilitator. Not long into their marriage, Dmytryk was branded a Communist as one of the "Hollywood Ten" (he was admittedly once a member of The American Communist Party) and the next decade or so would be a dark period of time for them.
Unable to work, the blacklisted director moved his family to England where he found some employment. In 1951, however, Dmytryk decided to return to the States and was jailed for six months before giving testimony and being granted a reprieve. As a result, he was allowed to return to directing. Jean's last film, in fact, would be The Left Hand of God (1955) starring Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney, which was directed by her husband. She last appeared on 1961 TV episodes of "Sea Hunt" and "77 Sunset Strip."
Throughout their ordeal Jean and Edward remained a loyal couple and in later years wrote a book together "On Screen Acting" in 1984. Happily married until his death at age 90 of heart and kidney failure in 1999, Jean continues to be a regular attendee of film-related events and a by-line contributor for "Classic Images," the popular magazine for old-styled film fans, in which she reminisces of Hollywood back then. Jean died at age 95 on January 13, 2018, in Canoga Park (Los Angeles), California.- Bobby Zarin was born on 15 February 1946. He was married to Jill Zarin. He died on 13 January 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Hugh Wilson was born on 24 August 1943 in Miami, Florida, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Blast from the Past (1999), Frank's Place (1987) and WKRP in Cincinnati (1978). He was married to Charters Smith. He died on 14 January 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.Writer/producer/director whose credits include the original POLICE ACADEMY (which remains the best-received of the series, by far) and THE FIRST WIVES' CLUB. He also brought DUDLEY DO-RIGHT to live-action in 1999.- Music Department
- Composer
- Producer
The grammy award winning Edwin Hawkins has been coined, The father of contemporary gospel. He rose to fame when the choir he co-founded,The Northern California State Youth Choir, aka, The Edwin Hawkins Singers , performed a new version of the hymn, O Happy Day (1969). Radio stations in the San Francisco Bay area began playing the song, which was a hit and the choir's album sold over one million copies, becoming an international success. The song O Happy Day was included in the Songs of the Century list. Examples of other successful albums included in Edwin's resume' are I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (1972), New World (1973), Wonderful (1976), and The Comforter (1977).
In the early 1980's Edwin took contemporary gospel music to a new level when he teamed up with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra and produced two albums; one of them featuring a re-make of O Happy Day with cousin Shirley Miller singing the lead. (Dorothy Morrison sang the lead in the original version). In later years, when not supporting his brother Walter's CD production, Edwin has been conducting Music and Arts seminars in different parts of the country. The talented musician survives his famous brother Walter, who passed away July 11, 2010.- Actress
- Composer
- Writer
Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan was born in Ballybricken, a town 8 miles outside Limerick on Sept. 6, 1971. Her parents are Eileen and Terrance. Terrance was in a wheelchair due to a motorcycle accident. Dolores was the youngest of seven children, and one of two girls. In the late eighties, Dolores met up with her band members-to-be. Feargal Lawler of Parteen, and Mike and Noel Hogan of Moycross gave Dolores the music to their future hit "Linger". She came back the next day with lyrics. It took some time for The Cranberries to take off, very emotionally impacting Dolores who was overcome with frustration. Their debut album, "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We" is a quote-Dolores said it while the band members were part of an audience at a concert. It was in America where the Cranberries first found satisfying success - when they returned to their native Ireland, success was awaiting them there as well.
Dolores' life went from railing against war and childhood strife (she was always an avid child advocate) and condemning disrespectful lovers, to deciding that she is "Free to Decide". The mother of three children, her family life brightened up her music. She died in London on 15 January 2018.Iconic lead singer of the notable 1990's band The Cranberries.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Peter Paul Wyngarde was born at the home of an aunt in Marseille, Southern France, and is the son of an English father and French mother. Owing to his father's work as a member of the British Diplomatic Service, Peter spent much of his early childhood moving from one country to another, and was educated in a number of different schools.
One city which left a lasting impression on him was Shanghai, where he had been temporarily left in the care of a Swiss family whilst his father was away in India on business. The year was 1941, and amid a mass of turmoil and confusion, news broke that the Japanese had captured the city, and before long, Peter and his surrogate family found themselves in Lunghua concentration camp.
Confined in these desperately brutal conditions for four years, Peter struggled to prevent his family and friends from dying at the hands of the cruel and barbaric soldiers who governed the camp, and on one occasion while running errands between accommodation huts, he was discovered and punished by having both his feet broken with a rifle butt, and then put into solitary confinement for two weeks.
During better times however, the young Mr. Wyngarde worked in the camp laundry and gardens, and began to write and appear in plays staged by, and for, his fellow inmates, making his acting debut in his own production of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. When the camp was finally liberated in 1945 Peter, who was then suffering from malnutrition, beriberi and malaria, was taken to a sanatorium in the Swiss mountains where he remained for the next two years.
After completing his education in Switzerland, France and England, Peter reluctantly honored his parents' wishes, and entered university, where he began studying law, but soon dropped the idea in favor of a career in advertising. After a brief spell with an agency in London, he walked into an audition, read the part, and was cast as the understudy for the lead in a play in Brighton.
His first role on the London stage, however, was with the Nottingham Repertory Company at the Embassy Theatre as Cassio in Othello. From there, he moved to the world famous Old Vic in Bristol, where he not only took the lead role in such classics as Cyrano de Bergerac and Taming of the Shrew, but also tried his hand at directing, most notably with Long Day's Journey Into Night.
In 1956, Peter was invited over to the United States to take a screen test for the part of Pausanius in Robert Rosen's epic feature film, Alexander the Great opposite Richard Burton and Fredric March, but after almost a year's work on location in Spain, he watched in horror as his role was cut almost out of existence.
Disillusioned with Hollywood, Peter returned to his first love - the British stage, where he took the role of Yang Sun, a Chinese fighter pilot, in Bertold Brecht's, The Good Woman of Setzuan, at the Royal Court Theatre in London's West End. It was here that he first made the acquaintance of the Oliviers - Laurence and his wife, Vivien Leigh, the latter of whom he later played opposite in the critically acclaimed Duel of Angels.
Following the plays hugely successful run at the Apollo Theatre in London in 1958 Ms Leigh, who had since become a close friend of Peter's, begged her leading man to join her in the New York production of the play. Although reluctant at first, Peter was at last persuaded to reprise his role as Count Marcellus, and he made his Broadway debut at the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1959, taking the coveted award for Best Actor in a Foreign Play.
On his triumphant return to Britain in 1960, he was almost immediately cast as the enigmatic Peter the Painter in Monty Barman's production of The Siege of Sidney Street - a film which was based on the true story of the British Governments legendary battle with a notorious gang of Slavonic anarchist, whose reputation throughout Europe for robbery and murder lead to one of the bloodiest confrontations in British criminal history.
Between numerous starring roles in television productions such as Independent Televisions popular Armchair Theatre and Play of the Week, Peter made two more big screen appearances - both Albert Fennell productions.
The first, in 1961, was The Innocents - a feature-length adaptation of the Henry James novella The Turn of the Screw, which was followed in 1962 by the classic supernatural thriller, Night of the Eagle (aka Burn, Witch, Burn) which was once again based on a novel - this time Fritz Leiber's Conjure Wife.
Between July of 1960 and March of 1969, Peter appeared in no less than thirty television plays, and guest starred in such classic series as The Avengers, I Love Lucy, The Baron, The Saint, The Champions and The Prisoner. In 1969, Peter was cast in what was undoubtedly his most famous role as the legendary author-cum-investigator, Jason King, in the ITC action series, Department S, and soon became the idol of thousands of women the world over. So overwhelming was his effect on television viewers that in 1971, a brand new series - Jason King - was devised, which allowed the handsome novelist to go adventuring without restriction.
Following the cancellation of the series at the end of 1972, Peter decided to return to the theatre, and after being greeted at Melbourne Airport by more than 30,000 screaming fans, he took the city by storm in the world premiere of Butley before packed houses every night. Once back in London, Peter took the lead role in Charles Dyers Mother Adam at the Hampstead Theatre, and then went on to tour Britain in the lead role of the King in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I opposite Sally Ann Howes. The following year, he once again took up the mantle of actor/director with Present Laughter, stopping off along the way to host the 1974 Miss Television Contest.
In 1975, Peter headed out to Austria to work at the English Theatre in Vienna, to both act in and direct productions of The Merchant of Venice and Big Toys, before returning to the big screen in an Austrian film (Himmel, Scheich Und Wolkenbrunch) in the role of a latter-day Rudolph Valentino. The following year, he returned to the British stage in the Lawrence Parnes production of Anastasia, and then on to the big screen courtesy of Dino De Laurentiis' lavish 1980s sci-fi blockbuster, Flash Gordon, in which he was cast in the role of General Klytus. It was then back to the stage for a nine-months' tour of South Africa in Deathtrap.
In 1984, after an absence of almost 12 years, Peter returned to the small screen with a rare television appearance in the four-part Doctor Who installment, Planet of Fire, which was followed in short succession by the Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense story, And The Wall Came Tumbling Down, and a memorable guest-starring role in Granada Television's Bulman.
Having been cast as the somewhat unsavory character of Sir Robert Knights in the stylish, yet overtly violent British thriller, Tank Malling in 1989 Peter, who scarcely ever agrees to be interviewed, consented to appear on SKY TV's Jameson Show, plus a hearing on Channel 4s Right To Reply and the BBC's daytime magazine, Pebble Mill. More recently, Peter appeared in 1994 in Granada Televisions popular Sherlock Holmes series opposite Jeremy Brett, playing the newspaper gossip-columnist, Langdale Pike, in The Three Gables.
The long-overdue release of both Department S and Jason King on video in 1993 helped rekindle huge interest in the debonair Mr Wyngarde, with repeats of the series being shown on satellite and cable channels, and public pressure resulting in the re-release of his infamous 1970 album on CD.
In recent years, Peter has made numerous TV appearances, which include Astleys Way, Dee Time, 100 Greatest TV Characters, Don't Knock Yourself Out and narrated the acclaimed Timeshift documentary, The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes in 2014.
Peter remains one of the most popular British actors of the past 50 years, with a thriving fan club and devoted worldwide following. His appearances at TV and Sci-Fi conventions have drawn thousands of attendees, eager to meet him and to shake the hand of a true acting legend.British actor whose better-known roles included that of evil "General Klytus" in the 1980 sci-fi epic FLASH GORDON.- Dark-haired, Ivy League-looking Bradford Dillman, whose white-collar career spanned nearly five decades, possessed charm and confident good looks that were slightly tainted by a bent smile, darting glance and edgy countenance that often provoked suspicion. Sure enough, the camera picked up on it and he played shady, highly suspect characters throughout most of his career.
The actor was born in San Francisco on April 14, 1930, to Dean and Josephine Dillman. Yale-educated, he graduated with a B.A. in English Literature. Following this he served with the US Marines in Korea (1951-1953) before focusing on acting as a profession. Studying at the Actors Studio, he spent several seasons apprenticing with the Sharon (CT) Playhouse before making his professional acting debut in "The Scarecrow" in 1953.
Dillman took his initial Broadway bow in Eugene O'Neill's play "Long Day's Journey Into Night" in 1956, originating the author's alter ego character Edmund Tyrone and winning a Theatre World Award in the process. This success put him squarely on the map and 20th Century-Fox took immediate advantage by placing the darkly handsome up-and-comer under contract. Cast in the melodrama A Certain Smile (1958), he earned a Golden Globe for "Most Promising Newcomer" playing a Parisian student who loses his girl (Christine Carère) to the worldly Italian roué Rossano Brazzi. He followed this with a strong ensemble appearance in In Love and War (1958), which featured a cast of young rising stars including Hope Lange and Robert Wagner. More acting honors followed after completing the film Compulsion (1959), which told the true story of the infamous 1920s kidnapping/murder case of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. He went on to share a "Best Actor" award at the Cannes Film Festival with fellow co-stars Dean Stockwell, who played the other youthful murderer, and veteran Orson Welles.
Though he was a magnetic player poised for stardom, Dillman's subsequent films failed to serve him well and were generally unworthy of his talent. Though properly serious and stoic as the title character in Francis of Assisi (1961), the film itself was stilted and weakly scripted. Circle of Deception (1960) was a misguided tale of espionage and intrigue, but it did introduce him to his second wife, supermodel-cum-actress Suzy Parker. While A Rage to Live (1965) with Suzanne Pleshette was trashy soap material, The Plainsman (1966) was rather a silly, juvenile version of the Gary Cooper western classic. As a result of these missteps--and others--he began to top-line lesser quality projects or play supporting roles in "A" pictures. His nothing role as Robert Redford's college pal-turned Hollywood producer in The Way We Were (1973) and his major roles in the ludicrous The Swarm (1978) and Lords of the Deep (1989) became proof in the pudding. His last good film role was in O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (1973), although he did play an interesting John Wilkes Booth in the speculative re-enactment drama The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977) and had a fun leading role in the Jaws (1975)-like spoof Piranha (1978).
Dillman bore up very well on TV over the years, subsisting on a plethora of mini-movies and guest spots on popular series, playing everything from turncoats to frauds and from adulterers to psychotics. He earned a Daytime Emmy for his appearance in Last Bride of Salem (1974) and starred in two series--Court Martial (1965), as a military lawyer, and King's Crossing (1982), as an alcoholic parent and teacher attempting to straighten out. He also spent a season on the established nighttime soap Falcon Crest (1981) in 1982.
A narrator, director and teacher of acting in later years. Bradford launched a late-in-the career sideline as an author. The football fan inside him compelled him to write "Inside the New York Giants" (1995), a book that rated players drafted by the team since 1967. Two years later he published his memoirs, the curiously-titled "Are You Somebody?: An Actor's Life." He retired from the screen after a few guest star shots on "Murder, She Wrote" in the mid-90s.
From 1956 to 1962, Dillman was married to Frieda Harding, and had two children, Jeffrey and Pamela. Following their divorce, he met well-known model-turned-actress Suzy Parker during the production of Circle of Deception (1960) and the couple married on April 20, 1963. They had three children, Dinah, Charles, and Christopher. Daughter Pamela Dillman has worked as an actress. Dillman was made a widower when Parker died on May 3, 2003. He lived for many years in Montecito, California, and helped raise money for medical research. He died in Santa Barbara, California on January 16, 2018, aged 87, from complications of pneumonia.Actor best known for such movies as THE WAY WE WERE and ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES. - Micki Varro was born on 19 June 1942 in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. She was an actress, known for Reform School Girls (1986), The Champ (1979) and Erotic Images (1983). She was married to Johnny Varro. She died on 16 January 2018 in Palm Court, Florida, USA.
- Jo Jo White was born on 16 November 1946 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Game Plan (2007), Inside Moves (1980) and Mexico City 1968: Games of the XIX Olympiad (1968). He was married to Deborah Dixon and Estelle Bowser. He died on 16 January 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- Jessica Falkholt was born on 15 May 1988 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She was an actress, known for Mystery Road (2018), Harmony (2018) and Underbelly (2008). She died on 17 January 2018 in St. George Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Simon Shelton was born on 13 January 1966 in the United Kingdom. He was an actor, known for Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible (2001), Teletubbies (1997) and Swing Kids (1993). He was married to Emma Robbins. He died on 17 January 2018 in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England, UK.- Producer
- Writer
Lin Bolen was born on 23 March 1941 in Benton, Illinois, USA. Lin was a producer and writer, known for Stumpers! (1976), W.E.B. (1978) and Farrell for the People (1982). Lin was married to Paul Wendkos. Lin died on 19 January 2018 in San Fernando Valley, California, USA.- Olivia Cole was born on 26 November 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She was an actress, known for Roots (1977), Backstairs at the White House (1979) and Something About Amelia (1984). She was married to Richard Venture. She died on 19 January 2018 in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
The blonde, sultry, dreamy-eyed beauty of Dorothy Malone, who was born Mary Maloney in Chicago on January 29, 1924, took some time before it made an impact with American film-going audiences. But once she did, she played it for all it was worth in her one chance Academy Award-winning "bad girl" performance, a role quite unlike the classy and strait-laced lady herself.
Raised in Dallas, she was one of five children born to an accountant father and housewife mother. Two older sisters died of polio. Attending Ursuline Convent and Highland Park High School, she was quite popular (as "School Favorite"). She was also a noted female athlete while there and won several awards for swimming and horseback riding. Following graduation, she studied at Southern Methodist University with the intent of becoming a nurse, but a role in the college play "Starbound" happened to catch the eye of an RKO talent scout and she was offered a Hollywood contract.
The lovely brunette started off in typical RKO starlet mode with acting/singing/dancing/diction lessons and bit parts (billed as Dorothy Maloney) in such films as the Frank Sinatra musicals Higher and Higher (1943) and Step Lively (1944), a couple of the mystery "Falcon" entries and a showier role in Show Business (1944) with Eddie Cantor and George Murphy. RKO lost interest, however, after the two-year contract was up. Warner Bros., however, stepped up to the plate and offered the actress a contract. Now billed as Dorothy Malone, her third film offering with the studio finally injected some adrenaline into her floundering young career, when she earned the small role of a seductive book clerk in the Bogart/Bacall classic The Big Sleep (1946). Critics and audiences took notice of her captivating little part. As a reward, the studio nudged her up the billing ladder with more visible roles in Two Guys from Texas (1948), Romance on the High Seas (1948), South of St. Louis (1949) and Colorado Territory (1949), with the westerns showing off her equestrian prowess if not her acting ability.
Despite this positive movement, Warner Bros. did not extend Dorothy's contract in 1949 and she returned willingly back to her tight-knit family in her native Dallas. Taking a steadier job with an insurance agency, she happened to attend a work-related convention in New York City and grew fascinated with the big city. Deciding to recommit to her acting career, she moved to the Big Apple and studied at the American Theater Wing. In between her studies, she managed to find work on TV, which spurred freelancing "B" movie offers in the routine form of Saddle Legion (1951), The Bushwhackers (1951), the Martin & Lewis romp Scared Stiff (1953), Law and Order (1953), Jack Slade (1953), Pushover (1954) and Private Hell 36 (1954).
Things picked up noticeably once Dorothy went platinum blonde, which seemed to emphasize her overt and sensual beauty. First off was as a sister to Doris Day in Young at Heart (1954), a musical remake of Four Daughters (1938), back at Warner Bros. She garnered even better attention when she appeared in the war picture Battle Cry (1955), in which she shared torrid love scenes with film's newest heartthrob Tab Hunter, and continued the momentum with the reliable westerns Five Guns West (1955) and Tall Man Riding (1955) but not with melodramatic romantic dud Sincerely Yours (1955) which tried to sell to the audiences a heterosexual Liberace.
By this time she had signed with Universal. Following a few more westerns for good measure (At Gunpoint (1955), Tension at Table Rock (1956) and Pillars of the Sky (1956), Dorothy won the scenery-chewing role of wild, nymphomaniac Marylee Hadley in the Douglas Sirk soap opera Written on the Wind (1956) co-starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack. Stack and Malone had the showier roles and completely out-shined the two leads, both earning supporting Oscar nominations in the process. Stack lost in his category but Dorothy nabbed the trophy for her splendidly tramp, boozed-up Southern belle which was highlighted by her writhing mambo dance.
Unfortunately, Dorothy's long spell of mediocre filming did not end with all the hoopla she received for Written on the Wind (1956). The Tarnished Angels (1957), which reunited Malone with Hudson and Stack faltered, and Quantez (1957) with Fred MacMurray was just another run-of-the-mill western. Two major film challenges might have changed things with Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) as the unsympathetic first wife of James Cagney's Lon Chaney Sr, and as alcoholic actress Diana Barrymore in the biographic melodrama Too Much, Too Soon (1958). Cagney, however, overshadowed everyone in the first and the second was fatally watered down by the Production Code committee.
To compensate, Dorothy, at age 35 in 1959, finally was married -- to playboy actor Jacques Bergerac (Ginger Rogers's ex-husband). A daughter, Mimi, was born the following year. Fewer film offers, which included Warlock (1959) and The Last Voyage (1960), came her way as Dorothy focused more on family life. While a second daughter, Diane, was born in 1962, the turbulent marriage wouldn't last and their divorce became final in December 1964. A bitter custody battle ensued with Dorothy eventually winning primary custody.
It took the small screen to rejuvenate Dorothy's career in the mid-1960s when she earned top billing of TV's first prime time soap opera Peyton Place (1964). Dorothy, starring in Lana Turner's 1957 film role of Constance MacKenzie, found herself in a smash hit. The run wasn't entirely happy however. Doctors discovered blood clots on her lungs which required major surgery and she almost died. Lola Albright filled in until she was able to return. Just as bad, her the significance of her role dwindled with time and 20th Century-Fox finally wrote her and co-star Tim O'Connor off the show in 1968. Dorothy filed a breach of contract lawsuit which ended in an out-of-court settlement.
Her life on- and off-camera did not improve. Dorothy's second marriage to stockbroker Robert Tomarkin in 1969 would last only three months, and a third to businessman Charles Huston Bell managed about three years. Now-matronly roles in the films Winter Kills (1979), Vortex (1982), The Being (1981) and Rest in Pieces (1987), were few and far between a few TV-movies -- which included some "Peyton Place" revivals, did nothing to advance her. Malone returned and settled for good back in her native Dallas, returning to Hollywood only on occasion.
Dorothy's last film was a cameo in the popular thriller Basic Instinct (1992) as a friend to Sharon Stone. She will be remembered as one of those Hollywood stars who proved she had the talent but somehow got the short end of the stick when it came to quality films offered. She retired to Texas and died in Dallas shortly before her 94th birthday on January 19, 2018.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Fredo Santana was born on 4 July 1990 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Fredo Mafia, Fredo Santana feat. Gino Marley & SD: Want a Nigga Dead (2014) and Drake Feat. Majid Jordan: Hold on, We're Going Home (2013). He died on 19 January 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Music Department
Jim Rodford was born on 7 July 1941 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Return to Waterloo (1984), The Kinks: You Really Got Me (1980) and The Kinks: Don't Forget to Dance (1983). He was married to Jean. He died on 20 January 2018 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, UK.- Bob Smith was born on 24 December 1958 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Side by Side by Susan Blackwell (2009), Outlaugh! (2006) and CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival (2002). He died on 20 January 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Connie Sawyer was born on 27 November 1912 in Pueblo, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for Dumb and Dumber (1994), Pineapple Express (2008) and Out of Sight (1998). She was married to Marshall Schacker. She died on 21 January 2018 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Ursula K. Le Guin was born on 21 October 1929 in Berkeley, California, USA. She was a writer, known for Tales from Earthsea (2006), The Lathe of Heaven (1980) and The Telling. She was married to Charles A. Le Guin. She died on 22 January 2018 in Portland, Oregon, USA.- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Dowdell was born on 10 March 1932 in Park Ridge, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Stoney Burke (1962), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964) and Assassination (1987). He was married to Sheila Connolly. He died on 23 January 2018 in Coldwater, Michigan, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Producer
Hugh Masekela was born on 4 April 1939 in Wilbank, South Africa. He was a composer and producer, known for The Jewel of the Nile (1985), The Last King of Scotland (2006) and Blended (2014). He was married to Elinam Cofie, Jabu Mbatha, Chris Calloway and Miriam Makeba. He died on 23 January 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.- Joel Taylor was born on 6 January 1980 in Elk City, Oklahoma, USA. He died on 23 January 2018 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lari White was born on 13 May 1965 in Dunedin, Florida, USA. She was an actress, known for Cast Away (2000), No Regrets (2004) and Country Strong (2010). She was married to Chuck Cannon. She died on 23 January 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Jack Ketchum published his first novel in 1980 titled "Off Season", a version of the Sawney Beane story. The novel was subsequently slated by the Village Voice as 'violent pornography' but, undeterred, the author continued to write fiction that deals with the cruelty and violence so often apparent in everyday life. Since the publication of "Off Season", he has released several successful novels including "She Wakes", "Cover", "Road Kill" (aka "Joyride"), "Only Child" (aka "Stranglehold"), "Ladies Night", and "Triage" (a collection of novellas) with fellow writers Richard Laymon and Edward Lee. In 1990 he published "Offspring", the sequel to "Off Season".
Before becoming a full-time writer Jack had written and directed a handful of plays, worked as a teacher, a copywriter, and as literary agent for author Henry Miller, while working at Scott Meredith, Inc. His fiction - with the exception of "She Wakes" - has tended to eschew what is called traditional horror - vampires, werewolves, the supernatural, monsters, and demons - and instead has concentrated on more urban horror and real-life monsters.
Jack has, so far, won the Bram Stoker Award for his short stories 'The Box' and 'Gone', and his collections "Closing Time" and "Peaceable Kingdom". 'The Box' first appeared in Cemetery Dance Magazine and the subsequent Cemetery Dance anthologies "The Best of Cemetery Dance" and "The Century's Best Horror Fiction". 'Gone' was further published by CD in the autumnal anthology "October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween". Richard Chizmar is the founder and editor of CD Publications and has published much of Jack's body of work including the novels "The Lost" and "Hide and Seek", the dark western novella "The Crossings", and 'The Haunt', a short supernatural tale. The late Richard Laymon included Jack in his CD Publications editorial debut anthology "Bad News" with the story 'The Best'.
Three of his most powerful novels have recently been turned into films. Red (2008) is a revenge story that deals with the subject of animal abuse and stars Tom Sizemore, Brian Cox, Amanda Plummer and Robert Englund of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) fame. The Girl Next Door (2007) - based on actual events - tracks the abuse of two teenage sisters, and is based on the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens. The Lost (2006) is the story of a serial killer and features horror queen Dee Wallace of The Howling (1981), Stephen King's Cujo and Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007). He has also tried his hand at acting, taking small roles such as Teddy Panik in The Lost (2006) and Edward Lee's Header (2006). Other roles include a carnival worker in The Girl Next Door (2007), the bartender in Red (2008), and character Max Joseph in Offspring (2009). Jack appeared as himself in the documentary The Cult of Ichi (2007) with horror directors Lucky McKee and Scott Spiegel, and can be seen in The Making of 'the Girl Next Door' (2007) documentary.
Stephen King is a fan of Jack Ketchum's work and contributed the introduction to the signed limited edition of "The Girl Next Door". King has called Jack the "scariest guy in America" The Girl Next Door (2007), and remarked that there is "a dark streak of genius" in Jack's work ("Road Kill"). King provided further praise for Jack's work during his own acceptance speech for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award, 2003: he called Jack and fellow writer, Peter Straub, pioneers of modern popular fiction, specifically citing Jack's dark western, "The Crossings".
Ketchum's numerous short fiction is so far collected in "The Exit at Toledo Blade Boulevard", "Broken on the Wheel of Sex", "Peaceable Kingdom" and "Closing Time and Other Stories". These dark tales have featured in anthologies like "Imagination Fully Dilated" (1998), "Dark Dreamers" (2001), and "The Horror Hall of Fame: The Stoker Winners" (2011) edited by horror icon Joe R. Lansdale. His poetry has featured in anthologies like "The Devil's Wine" (2004) alongside Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, and Peter Straub.
Jack Ketchum's fourth adaptation Offspring (2009) starred Jessica Butler and Art Hindle. It is set outside the town of Dead River and tells the tale of youngsters trying to survive the local cannibals who have been feeding on drifters for many years and is based on Jack's novels "Off Season" and "Offspring". His novel "Hide and Seek" is also set in and around the coastal town of Dead River, Maine.
His novellas, "Weed Species" and "Old Flames", were published by Cemetery Dance Publications in 2006 and 2008 respectively. "The Woman" was released in 2010, co-written with Lucky McKee, the director of Ketchum's Red (2008).
Jack Lives in New York, New York.- Writer
- Director
- Cinematographer
Warren Miller was born on 15 October 1924 in Hollywood, California, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Ski People (1980), Extreme Surfing (1992) and This Is Skiing (1969). He was married to Laurie Penketh Kaufmann, Roberta Marie Clavert-Mac Faden, Dorothy Roberts and Jean. He died on 24 January 2018 in Orcas Island, Washington, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Lead singer and lyricist of British punk/new wave band The Fall. A former office worker, Smith formed The Fall in 1977, although their commercial peak came in the late '80s and early '90s. They have influenced many bands, most notably Pavement, and are famous for being Radio 1 DJ John Peel's favorite band, for their strong work ethic (21 albums in 19 years) and for their frequent line-up changes (26 to date, making Smith the only constant member; he has stated "If it's me and your granny on bongos, it's The Fall"). Smith also provided guest vocals on Inspiral Carpets' 1994 "I Want You" single.- Producer
- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cyrus Yavneh was born on 14 October 1942. He was a producer and production manager, known for 24 (2001), The Arrival (1996) and Baby (2000). He died on 25 January 2018 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Writer
- Animation Department
- Art Department
Mort Walker was born on 3 September 1923 in El Dorado, Kansas, USA. He was a writer, known for The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (1972), Hero's Reward (1962) and Psychological Testing (1962). He was married to Catherine Carty and Jean Marie Suffill. He died on 27 January 2018 in Stamford, Connecticut, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Known for starring as musically-inclined football player Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the show Glee (2009), Mark Wayne Salling was born in Dallas, Texas. He was the younger of two children of Condy Sue (Wherry), a school secretary, and John Robert Salling, Jr., an accountant. He was home-schooled at an early age. Salling was raised in a "strict Christian home" and attended Providence Christian School and Our Redeemer Lutheran during elementary school. He attended, but did not graduate, from Culver Military Academy, and later graduated from Lake Highlands High School in 2001. While in high school, he was a member of the school wrestling team. Music was also an integral part of his teenage years; he often performed in bars despite being underage and participated in school talent shows. After graduating from high school, he attended the Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music in Pasadena, California and began studying guitar, giving guitar lessons to make a living. Mark owned a dog named Noah, which he named after his character on Glee.
He died on January 30, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.- Louis Zorich was born on 12 February 1924 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Detachment (2011) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). He was married to Olympia Dukakis. He died on 30 January 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.Actor, well-known among MAD ABOUT YOU fans as Paul Reiser's on-screen father.
- Rasual Butler was born on 23 May 1979 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Think Like a Man (2012) and Trina Feat. Kelly Rowland: Here We Go (2005). He died on 31 January 2018 in Studio City, California, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Leah LaBelle, born Leah Vladowski on 8 September 1986 in Toronto, Canada, was the only child of Troshan and Anastasia Vladowski. Troshan and Anastasia, musicians and immigrants to the United States, defected from communist Bulgaria during a tour of Western Europe in 1979 at the height of success with such Bulgarian pop music groups as Sreburnite Grivni and Tonika. LaBelle graduated from Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington in 2005 and later attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
LaBelle has been performing, singing and dancing, publicly since 1990 but marks 1993 as the start of her pursuit of a music career. In 1997, LaBelle won the Washington State Pre-teen Miss America Pageant and was 1st runner-up in the National Pageant. In 1998 she joined the nationally acclaimed Total Experience Gospel Choir and can be heard in several recordings with the group and as part of the Langston Hughes musical, Black Nativity over the following five years. In 2000, LaBelle was part of the WAM Network children's reality show, Caught in the Middle and continued on the show for two seasons. In 2002, she won the Grand Prize at KUBE 93.3 Summer Jam Idol and was the opening act at Summer Jam 20. Headline acts included Usher, Nelly, Jermaine Dupri, Mario, Da Brat, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Nappy Roots, and others.
In 2004, LaBelle was a finalist on the FOX Network Series American Idol, placing 12th overall out of over 70,000 contestants. In 2005, Leah LaBelle pursued a management contract with Sixthboro Entertainment of NYC and recorded a demo with Vocal Arranger, Tavarius Polk and Grammy Award winning producer, Andreao "Fanatic" Heard.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ann Gillis was born Alma Mabel Conner on February 12, 1927, in Little Rock, Arkansas. At age seven, she appeared in her first film, Men in White (1934), as an extra. During the next two years, she had uncredited appearances in six more films until she received her first major role in King of Hockey (1936). Warner Brothers Studios gave significant screen time to Gillis in this movie, in hopes that she would become another Shirley Temple. Although (like all child stars of the 1930s) she never achieved Temple's level of fame, for the next several years Gillis starred in many films, almost always playing a spoiled, bratty character. She had two rare sympathetic roles as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) and as the title character in Little Orphan Annie (1938). One scene in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer called for her to go into screaming hysterics when her character was trapped in a cave of bats, and Gillis delivered in a powerful performance that is probably the most memorable scene of her film career. As Gillis grew older, however, her career slowed down, and she left Hollywood in 1947. When she left Hollywood she married Paul Ziebold and had 2 sons. She then divorced, relocated to New York City and married Richard Fraser, a Scottish-born actor (they had a son born in 1958). During the 1950s and '60s, Gillis made sporadic television appearances, and in 1959, she hosted a national telecast presentation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Gillis and her husband moved to England in 1961, and they were living in London when they heard of a casting call for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) that called for an American actress living in the city. Gillis auditioned and got the role, this was her final film.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dennis Edwards is an American soul and R&B singer who was best known as the frontman in The Temptations, on Motown Records.
Edwards joined the Temptations in 1968, replacing David Ruffin and sang with the group from 1968 to 1976, 1980 to 1984 and 1987 to 1989. In the mid-1980s, he attempted a solo career, scoring a hit in 1984 with "Don't Look Any Further" (featuring Siedah Garrett). Until his death, Edwards was the lead singer of The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards, a Temptations splinter group.
Edwards was portrayed by Charles Ley in the biographical television mini-series The Temptations (1998), though he was not heavily focused upon, as the mini-series gave more attention to the Ruffin/Kendricks-era Temptations lineup. The Temptations Review group was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame on October 4, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan, when Edwards was also given the Living Legend Award.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Ndugu Chancler was born on 1 July 1952 in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), The First Purge (2018) and Hit and Run (2012). He was married to Brenda Curry. He died on 3 February 2018 in Los Angeles California, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
John Mahoney was an award-winning American actor. He was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, the seventh of eight children of Margaret and Reg, a baker. His family was evacuated to the sea-side resort to avoid the Nazi bombing of their native Manchester. The Mancunian Mahoneys eventually returned to Manchester during the war. Visiting the States to see his older sister, a "war bride" who had married an American, the young Mahoney decided to emigrate and was sponsored by his sister. John eventually won his citizenship by serving in the U.S. Army.
Long interested in acting, Mahoney didn't make the transition to his craft until he was almost forty years old. Mahoney took acting classes at the St. Nicholas Theater and finally built up the courage to quit his day job and pursue acting full time. John Malkovich, one of the founders of the Second City's distinguished Steppenwolf Theatre, encouraged Mahoney to join Steppenwolf, and in 1986, Mahoney won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves (1987).
Mahoney made his feature film debut in 1980, but he was best known for playing the role of the father of the eponymous character Frasier (1993) from 1993 until 2004. He later concentrated on stage work back in Chicago, and appeared on Broadway in 2007 in a revival of Prelude to a Kiss (1992).
John died on February 4, 2018, in Chicago, Illinois.Actor best known as "Martin Crane", father of Kelsey Grammer's FRASIER. Mahoney also starred in a rare misfire from executive producer Dick Wolf: THE HUMAN FACTOR, an ambitious 1992 medical drama that was cancelled after only eight episodes - three of which were never even broadcast.- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Perry Barlow was born on 3 October 1947 in Pinedale, Wyoming, USA. He was an actor, known for Endangered Species (1982), Conceiving Ada (1997) and Grateful Dead: Dead Ahead (1981). He was married to Elaine Parker Barlow. He died on 7 February 2018 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Mickey Jones was born on 10 June 1941 in Houston, Texas, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Total Recall (1990), Starman (1984) and Sling Blade (1996). He was married to Phyllis Jean Starr and Sandra Joel Davis. He died on 7 February 2018 in Simi Valley, California, USA.- Jill Sobel Messick was born on 27 July 1967 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was a producer, known for Frida (2002), Mean Girls (2004) and She's All That (1999). She was married to Kevin J. Messick. She died on 7 February 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Pat Torpey was born on 13 December 1962. He was an actor, known for Armed Response (1986), One Hit Wonderland (2012) and Mr. Big: To Be with You (1992). He died on 7 February 2018.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Born into a military family in Huntsville, Alabama -- his father was an army vet who had served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, while his mother held a somewhat mysterious job in the Department of Defence -- Reg E. Cathey spent much of his early childhood living on a rural farmhouse in Germany. There, he watched American TV shows dubbed into German and first became theatre-struck at the age of nine after attending a USO performance of "Guys and Dolls". That same year, he also took up playing the saxophone. That he became an actor and not a jazz musician was happenstance, but, as he once admitted "he was no Lester Young". An incisive and eloquent personality with a uniquely expressive baritone voice, Cathey was to bring a soulful dignity and often unexpected sense of humour to a wide variety of roles on both stage and screen.
Cathey attended the University of Michigan and later studied acting at the Yale School of Drama. The theatre remained his lifelong passion and New York his preferred place of residence. As he later explained: "I learned how to act at Yale but learned how to be an actor in NYC. I escaped wandering lost in the desert that is Los Angeles after a decade (which I'll never get back) and being psychically traumatized, I didn't audition for film and television, immersing myself in the 'Classics.'" And so, Cathey went on to tackle diverse (non-stereotypical) roles, ranging from Prospero in a musical version of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' to 'Red' Redding in a British production of 'The Shawshank Redemption' (a part made famous by Morgan Freeman in the film version).
Though performing more often than not in New York, Cathey did ultimately return to Hollywood. His formidable screen characters have often been marked by a uniquely erudite fierceness. They have included powerful authority figures, scientists and occasional villains in films (The Mask (1994), Tank Girl (1995), Se7en (1995), Fantastic Four (2015)) and shows like The Wire (2002), Outcast (2016) and House of Cards (2013) (his recurring role as Freddy Hayes, owner of Frank Underwood's favourite BBQ joint and secret hangout, which won him an Emmy Award in 2015 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series). In keeping with his credo that "the dark stuff is fun", he also proved excellent value as a shadowy keeper of secrets ('The Caretaker') in an episode of The Blacklist (2013) and as the top-hatted zombie master Baron Samedi, in an episode of Grimm (2011). One of his most poignant roles came near the end as the estranged father of Luke Cage (2016). Not long after, Reg E. Cathey passed away as a result of lung cancer in February 2018 at the untimely age of just 59, never having had the chance of fulfilling his longstanding ambition to play a baritone saxophonist.- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Gavin, the American film and TV actor, businessman and diplomat who was Ronald Reagan's first Ambassador to Mexico, was born Juan Vincent Apablasa in Los Angeles, California.
The future "Jack" Gavin was a fifth-generation Angeleno, the son of Delia Diana Pablos and Juan Vincent Apablasa, and was of Mexican, Chilean, and Spanish ancestry, a descendant of early landowners in Spanish California and the powerful Pablos family of the Mexican state of Sonora. His stepfather was Herald Ray Golenor. John had a fluency in Spanish that aided him in his career in diplomacy. He graduated with honors from Stanford University, majoring in Latin American economic history. "Law, Latin America and diplomacy were my early interests," Gavin later remembered. Too young to participate in World War II, he did serve in the military during the Korean Conflict. He was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy in 1952, where he served in naval air intelligence until his 1955 discharge. After his hitch in the Navy, Universal -- the home studio of 6'5" heartthrob Rock Hudson, who was on his way to becoming the top box office star in America -- offered the 6'4" Gavin a screen-test and a contract with the studio. Studio bosses always liked internal competition to keep the pressure on their major stars; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed Robert Taylor as a young backup to the King of Hollywood Clark Gable, and similarly, Gavin was positioned as the "next Rock Hudson".
Tall, dark and handsome, Gavin debuted in Behind the High Wall (1956), and three years later, in 1959, he had his first major lead in Douglas Sirk's remake of Imitation of Life (1959) opposite Lana Turner. Sirk, whose Ross Hunter-produced melodramas of the mid-1950's made Hudson a superstar, first directed Gavin in the role of a German soldier in his adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958) the year before. Imitation of Life (1959), which was produced by Ross Hunter in his typical lavish style, was a huge hit. Gavin was on the road to becoming a major Hudson-style heart-throb, it seemed.
The following year, Gavin achieved cinematic immortality by appearing in two classics in supporting roles, as Sam Loomis in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and as Julius Caesar in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960). Of Psycho (1960) and Spartacus (1960), he has said, "I didn't have an inkling they would be classics. Had I realized that, perhaps I would have paid more attention." The momentum of his cinema career petered out after appearing opposite Susan Hayward in the 1961 remake of Fannie Hurst's Back Street (1961), though he did move on to star in two television series during the 1960s, Destry (1964) and Convoy (1965). Both series were produced by companies that were subsidiaries of the Universal-M.C.A., Revue Studios and Universal TV, created by the legendary agent and studio boss Lew Wasserman, the éminence grise behind Ronald Reagan's movie, TV and political careers. More importantly, in 1961, he was appointed special adviser to the secretary general of the Organization of American States, a position he held until 1973. He also performed task-group work for the Department of State and the Executive Office of the President. From 1966 to 1973, he also served on the board of the Screen Actors Guild and was guild president from 1971-1973. For the next eight years, he was engaged in business activities, many of which took him to Mexico and other Latin American countries. The producers of the James Bond series signed him to replace George Lazenby as James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), until they convinced Sean Connery to reprise the role with a $1 million charitable contribution and a $1 million salary. Thus, Gavin lost out on what could have been his career break into the big-time. However, he did not lament the loss of the role. If he had been a more successful actor, it "might have prevented me from fulfilling my real childhood dream: to be U.S. ambassador to Mexico."
During the 1970s, Gavin made some more movies, toured in summer stock in a production of The Fantasticks (Gavin has a fine baritone voice), and appeared on Broadway and in the touring show of the musical Seesaw (1973). He ended the decade by starring in TV mini-series Doctors' Private Lives (1979); he left show business to pursue business interests. The 1980s brought America a new president, and on May 7, 1981, Republican Gavin was appointed Ambassador to Mexico by President Reagan, serving until June 10, 1986. The American diplomatic mission in Mexico, one of the largest in the world, employed more than 1,000 American and Mexican employees tasked by over a dozen U.S. government agencies in consulates and offices throughout Mexico.
Gavin married the former stage and television actress Constance Towers in 1974. Each partner had two children from previous marriages. Gavin's daughter, Christina Gavin, followed in his footsteps and became an actress.
Since leaving government service, Gavin has become a successful businessman and civic leader, co-founding and managing successful ventures in the U.S. and Latin America. In 1986, Gavin was named president of Univisa Satellite Communications, a subsidiary of Univisa, Inc. He is founder/chairman of Gamma Holdings and serves on the boards of Apex Mortgage Capital, International Wire Holdings, and KKFC. Inc, and is a trustee and director of certain Merrill Lynch mutual funds. He is also a member of the Latin America Strategy Board of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst. Previously he was a managing director and partner of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst (Latin America) as well as a director of Atlantic Richfield (where he had served as vice president of federal and international relations). He also served on the boards of Dresser Industries, Claxson and several other major corporations. Gavin also serves on the boards of several non-profit corporations, pro bono, including The Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, Loyola Marymount University, and the California Community Foundation. Gavin also is a member of the Congressional Policy Advisory Board as a defense and foreign policy expert.
Gavin served as founding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Century Council's from May 1991 until December 1994, then served on the Council's Advisory Board until 1996. The Century Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting alcohol abuse, focuses on drunk driving and underage drinking problems and is supported by America's leading distillers.
John died on February 9, 2018 in Beverly Hills.- Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
Jóhann Jóhannsson was born on 19 September 1969 in Reykjavík, Iceland. He was a composer and writer, known for Last and First Men (2020), The Theory of Everything (2014) and Sicario (2015). He died on 9 February 2018 in Berlin, Germany.- Tina Louise Bomberry hailed from the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, Canada. She was an enrolled member of the Mohawk Bear clan. Tina was active in the entertainment business as an actress, singer, traditional women's dancer, storyteller, stage manager, production assistant, workshop facilitator, casting director, audition coach. She was a member of ACTRA and the Canadian Actors Equity Association in Toronto. Tina was born in Toronto and has travelled extensively across Canada doing theatre, television, cinema, and radio. She trained at the Center for Indigenous Theatre in 1986 and at Ryerson University in 1988. Tina had over 30 years of professional experience as a performing artist and advocate for the arts. Before Tina died in the winter of 2018, her passion for writing, storytelling, and singing the blues ignited a spark of creativity that had an impact on her desire to freelance as an artist and storyteller.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
At fourteen he worked as an usher at the NYC Paramount Theatre. His father was an electrician who played guitar and his mother taught piano. Damone attended PS 163 and sang in St. Finbar's choir and later attended the Alexander Hamilton Vocational High School and then Lafayette High School in Brooklyn. He left school at sixteen to support his family, but returned to graduate from Lafayette in 1997. Damone won first prize in an Arthur Godfrey talent scouts contest in 1945. His first night club appearance at the LA Martinique Club was set up by comedian Milton Berle. He was drafted and served in the army from 1951 to 1953. After he was discharged from the army he married actress Pier Angeli, whom he later divorced. Damone was later married to Becky Ann Jones from 1974 to 1982 and Diahann Carroll from 1987 to 1996. He married Rena Rowan, fashion designer and co-founder of Jones New York, in 1998. In 1999, he received a certificate of advanced study from Philadelphia University.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Jan Maxwell was born on 20 November 1956 in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. She was an actress, known for BrainDead (2016), An Unfinished Life (2005) and The Good Wife (2009). She was married to Robert Emmet Lunney. She died on 11 February 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Marty Allen was born on 23 March 1922 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Night Gallery (1969), The Last of the Secret Agents? (1966) and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014). He was married to Karon Kate Blackwell and Lorraine 'Frenchy' Trydelle. He died on 12 February 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Daryle Singletary was born in 1971 in Cairo, Georgia, USA. He was an actor, known for Amen Kind of Love (1996), Robert Zemeckis on Smoking, Drinking and Drugging in the 20th Century: In Pursuit of Happiness (1999) and The George Jones Show (1998). He was married to Holly Mercer and Kerry Harvick. He died on 12 February 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Editor
- Director
- Editorial Department
Edward M. Abroms was born on 6 May 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an editor and director, known for Columbo (1971), Street Fighter (1994) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985). He died on 13 February 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Nini Theilade was born on 15 June 1915 in Poerwokerto, Banjoemas, Dutch East Indies [now Purwokerto, Central Java, Indonesia]. She was an actress, known for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Song to Her (1934) and The Big Bluff (1933). She was married to Arne Buchter-Larsen and Peter Loopuyt. She died on 13 February 2018 in Svendborg, Denmark.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Didier Lockwood was born on 11 February 1956 in Calais, Pas-de-Calais, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999), Into the Cold: A Journey of the Soul (2010) and Max & Jeremie (1992). He was married to Patricia Petibon and Caroline Casadesus. He died on 18 February 2018 in Paris, France.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Idrissa Ouedraogo was born on 21 January 1954 in Banfora, Upper Volta [now Burkina Faso]. He was a director and writer, known for Yaaba (1989), The Law (1990) and Samba Traoré (1992). He died on 18 February 2018 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Billy Graham was arguably the most successful Christian evangelist in the world. He was born William Franklin Graham, Jr., on Thursday, November 7th, 1918 on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina, to Morrow (Coffey) and William Franklin Graham, who were dairy farmers. Billy was an unofficial pontifex maximus to the American Republic, from the Truman Administration to the Obama years. Graham served as a spiritual adviser to several American presidents, though he is most widely associated with Richard Nixon. He gave a prayer at every Presidential inauguration from 1948 to 1996, and was presented with a Congressional Gold Medal by his fellow Southern Baptist, Bill Clinton, in 1996.
As a radio and TV evangelist, Graham touched the lives of an estimated two billion people. He personally oversaw the spiritual rebirth of over 2.5 million people, who accepted Jesus as their personal savior at his revival meetings. The Gallup Poll listed him as number seven on its list of the most admired people of the 20th century.
Graham was a moderate and temperate preacher with a high level of tolerance. His split with Bob Jones, Sr. circa 1950 was the watershed moment of the divergence of evangelicals, like Graham, from fundamentalists, like Jones.
Billy Graham died at the age of 99 on February 21, 2018, in Montreat, North Carolina.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Emma was born Emma Gwynedd Mary Chambers born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire in 1964 to John, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and Noelle (nee Strange). The family moved around and, while attending St Swithun's school, Winchester, Chambers acted in Winchester college productions - saying she "enjoyed showing off" - and played lacrosse for Hampshire. Her parents eventually split up and she trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where the former EastEnders actor Ross Kemp was one of her contemporaries.
Her best remembered film role, in Curtis's 1999 romcom Notting Hill, was the eccentric Honey Thacker, star-struck and overawed at meeting the Hollywood actor (played by Julia Roberts) who has fallen for her bookshop-owner brother (Hugh Grant). Honey explains her own difficulties in finding a partner: "I don't have hair - I've got feathers - and I've got funny, goggly eyes, and I'm attracted to cruel men and no one will ever marry me because my boosies have actually started shrinking." She eventually becomes engaged to her brother's slovenly housemate (Rhys Ifans).
Her sister, Sarah Doukas, and brother, Simon, went on to run Storm Model Management, which discovered Kate Moss at the age of 14.
Chambers made her television debut as Margaret, one of the young Brangwen children, in a 1988 BBC adaptation of the DH Lawrence novel The Rainbow. In between one-off roles on TV, she played Charity Pecksniff in a six-part serialisation of Charles Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit, which began in the same week as The Vicar of Dibley (1994).
The popular BBC sitcom, written by Richard Curtis with Paul Mayhew-Archer, ran for two series, from 1994 to 1998, finishing with Alice's marriage to Hugo Horton (played by James Fleet), her second cousin once removed. Geraldine described both as having the intellectual capacity of a cactus and the wedding was notable for the two bridal attendants dressed as Teletubbies. Chambers won the 1998 British Comedy Award for best actress and returned as Alice in various Vicar of Dibley specials between 1999 and 2007.
She had significant supporting roles in the sitcom How Do You Want Me? (1998-99) as Helen Yardley, sister of the newlywed Lisa (Charlotte Coleman) returning from London to be near her family in the countryside, and Take a Girl Like You (2000), Andrew Davies's adaptation of Kingsley Amis's comic novel, as Martha Thompson, the bored housewife hostile to her beautiful, northern lodger.
Chambers' West End theatre debut came with the part of Geain, estranged daughter of Ian McKellen's composer Jerome, in Alan Ayckbourn's comedy Henceforward... (Vaudeville theatre, 1988-89) after appearing in the original 1987 production at the Stephen Joseph theatre, Scarborough. In his casting notes for Geain, Ayckbourn stipulated: "Not a child, please. Just a very small actress." Chambers lodged with McKellen for a while and said she regarded him as a father figure.
When, in 1989, she starred in the Scarborough premiere of Ayckbourn's Invisible Friends as another teenage daughter, Lucy Baines, who has an imaginary companion to relieve the awfulness of living with her family, the critic Harry Eyres praised Chambers' skill in "conveying Lucy's kaleidoscopic emotional states with startling immediacy" and negotiating the tricky device of also acting as the play's narrator. She reprised the role in London at the Cottesloe during two stints with the National Theatre company (1991-92) that included appearances in productions such as Franz Kafka's The Trial and Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III.
She gave a hilarious performance as Orgon's daughter Mariane in Tartuffe (Almeida theatre, 1996) and starred as Sheila in Michael Frayn's Benefactors (Albery theatre, 2002), a performance described by one critic as "a touching study in parasitic helplessness".
Chambers who suffered from asthma, attacks of which were often brought on by an acute allergy to animals, withdrew largely but not entirely from public life after the final episode of The Vicar of Dibley (1994) in 2007, which was also to remain her final television role. On the evening of 21st February 2018 Chambers suffered a heart attack and died at her home in Lymington, Hampshire, England at the age of just 53. Her death was announced three days later by her agent John Grant.
Chambers was survived by her husband, the actor Ian Dunn, whom she married in 1991, and by her siblings.- Actress
- Soundtrack
A sparkling, entertaining, highly energetic presence ever since her early days (from age 4) as a singing and tap dancing child vaudevillian, Nanette Fabray was once billed as "Baby Nanette".
She was born in Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada, then moved to the United States, to Louisiana-born parents, Lily Agnes (McGovern) and Raoul Bernard Fabares, a train conductor whose own father was from France. She worked with the top headliners of the era, notably Ben Turpin, in the Los Angeles area. She also sang on radio. It was widely rumored that she appeared in the "Our Gang" ("Little Rascal") film shorts of the late 1920s; however, this was not true. Later the young hopeful received a scholarship to the Max Reinhardt School of the Theatre and appeared in the school's productions of "The Miracle", "Six Characters in Search of an Author" and "A Servant with Two Masters", all in 1939.
The musical comedy stage, however, would be Nanette's forte. Appearing in such hit New York productions as "Meet the People" (1940), "Let's Face It" (1941), "By Jupiter" (1943) and "Bloomer Girl" (1945), she capped this period of great productivity earning awards for her Broadway work in "High Button Shoes" (1947 - Donaldson Award), and "Love Life" (1948 - Tony and Donaldson Awards).
Strangely, Nanette never obtained a strong foothold when it came to film. Aside from secondary roles in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, and the melodrama A Child Is Born (1939), her one claim to movie fame would be her vital participation in the blockbuster MGM musical The Band Wagon (1953) in which she memorably performed the songs "That's Entertainment" and "Louisiana Hayride," and joined Fred Astaire and Jack Buchanan in the standout "Triplets" number.
Into the 1950s, Nanette started checking out what television could do as a possible medium for her. It did a lot. She managed a fine feat by winning two consecutive Emmy awards as Sid Caesar's partner on the now-called Caesar's Hour (1954) following the departure of the seemingly irreplaceable Imogene Coca earlier. This led to Nanette eventually starring in her own sitcom, the short-lived Westinghouse Playhouse (1961) (aka "Yes, Yes, Nanette"), in the role of a Broadway star who becomes a makeshift mom after marrying a widower (Wendell Corey) with two children.
Broadway musicals continued to flourish with parts in "Arms and the Girl" (1950) and "Make a Wish" (1951). Nanette later copped another Tony nomination starring as a fictional "First Lady" opposition "President" Robert Ryan in the musical "Mr. President" (1962). Other tailor-made stage vehicles for her came in the form of "Plaza Suite", "Wonderful Town", "Never Too Late", "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" and "Cactus Flower", among others.
On the TV front, Nanette adjusted well into a lively and graceful support player. She served up a number of delightfully daffy moms, wisecracking friends and intrusive relatives in guest appearances -- sometimes alongside her own niece, actress Shelley Fabares, as was in the case of their regular roles on One Day at a Time (1975). Nanette was also a popular game show personality during the '60s and '70s, appearing on The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965), The New High Rollers (1974), Password (1961) and The Match Game (1962), among others. The singer-comedienne could be counted on for TV musical variety appearances courtesy of headliners Dinah Shore, Andy Williams, Dean Martin and Carol Burnett.
Most importantly, Nanette's humanitarian efforts over the years were long recognized. A positive force as a hearing-impaired performer, she gave much time and effort in achieving equality for all types of handicapped and disabled people, including actors. Nanette was the widow (since 1973) of writer and sometime director/producer Ranald MacDougall, appearing in a few of his credited works, including the film The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County (1970), the TV pilot Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966) and the TV-movie Magic Carpet (1972). She and MacDougall have one child. Still as lively as ever, Nanette appeared in a 2007 L.A. musical revue, "The Damsel Dialogues".
Nanette died on February 22, 2018, in Palos Verdes, California. She was 97.- Ensa Cosby was born on 8 April 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Cosby Show (1984). She was married to Martin McLean. She died on 23 February 2018 in Massachusetts, USA.Daughter of Bill, who credits her with inspiring the character of "Vanessa Huxtable" on THE COSBY SHOW. (She guest-starred in an episode of that series, as one of several kids who play a drinking game and get terribly hung-over.) Ensa is the second real-life Cosby Kid to die at an early age...the first being her elder brother Ennis, who was murdered at 27.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Lewis Gilbert was a British film director, producer and screenwriter best known for Alfie (1966), as well as three James Bond films: You Only Live Twice (1967), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979).
He also directed Reach for the Sky (1956), Sink the Bismarck! (1960), Educating Rita (1983) and Shirley Valentine (1989).
For his work on Alfie, Gilbert was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and an Golden Globe for best director.
In 2001 he was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute, the highest accolade in the British film industry.
Gilbert was married to Hylda Tafler for 53 years, until her death in June 2005.
He died from natural causes on 23 February 2018 at the age of 97.British filmmaker whose output includes three 007 movies - one scripted by WILLY WONKA creator Roald Dahl, the other two by Christopher Wood of REMO WILLIAMS fame - and a number of WW2 epics...notably OPERATION DAYBREAK.
Gilbert also directed FRIENDS...whose box office-performance was outshined by the sales of its own soundtrack album, particularly Elton John's title tune.- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
Sridevi was born on August 13, 1963 in her father's hometown of Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, India. Her mother was from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. So Sridevi grew up speaking Telugu and Tamil. She has a sister named Srilatha and a stepbrother named Satish. Her dad passed away during the year 1991, while her mom died during 1997.
She started her career at a very early age in 1967 as a child artiste in a Tamil movie 'Kandhan Karunai'. She also starred as a child actress in a Telugu movie 'Bangarakka' in 1977, and in a Malyalam movie 'Kumara Sambhavan' in 1969.
She made her foray on the Bollywood tinsel screen in 1975 as a child actor with the smash-hit 'Julie' in which she played the younger sister of the lead actress. Thereafter she started to act in adult roles in Hindi only from 1979. She appeared in 63 movies in Hindi; 62 in Telugu; 58 in Tamil; and 21 in Malyalam - in a career that has spanned from 1967 through to 2007.
Sridevi established strong onscreen pair with Kamal Hasan in Tamil films from 1977-1983 and then with Jeetendra in Hindi Films from 1983-1988 which helped her get foothold in Hindi films. Her initial claim to fame was appearing as romantic interest to established stars NTR, ANR, Krishna Ghattamaneni,Vishnuvardhan in Telugu and Kannada films from 1978-1985.She has four hits with Rajesh Khanna and then from late 80's till 1996 her pair with Anil Kapoor was popular. But she became popular all over India, thanks to Tamil films' remakes in Hindi in 1983-1990 which were produced and directed by the same team which had made the southern version first and in these films she was cast opposite Rajesh Khanna or Jeetendra.
She has also appeared in the TV series 'Malini Iyer', judged a TV show 'Kaboom' as well as appeared in numerous print and TV ads. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Asian Academy of Film & Television.
Sridevi went on to get married to her co-star, Anil Kapoor's older brother, Boney, on June 2, 1996. They are now parents of two daughters: Jhanvi and Khushi.
She made a comeback to films with "English Vinglish" in 2012.
She passed away on 24 February 2018 by accidental drowning in bathtub during her stay at the hotel Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai UAE, when she was attending the wedding of Bollywood actor Mohit Marwah in Dubai, UAE. She was 54 years old.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Barry Crimmins was born on 3 July 1953 in Kingston, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Call Me Lucky (2015), The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1987) and Lenny Clarke's Late Show (1980). He was married to Helen Lysen. He died on 28 February 2018 in Syracuse, New York, USA.- Ronnie Prophet was born on 26 December 1937 in Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Ronnie Prophet Show (1974), Country Roads (1973) and Sing Country (1971). He was married to Glory-Anne Carriere. He died on 2 March 2018 in Florida, USA.
- Actor
- Art Department
Thin, intense, antsy, and often unnerving character actor Frank Doubleday usually portrayed creepy villains in both movies and TV shows alike from the mid-1970's up until the early 1990's. Frank was born on January 28, 1945 in Norwich, Connecticut and came with his family to Los Angeles, California at age six. Doubleday made his film debut as an aggressive switchblade-wielding punk thug in the hilariously raunchy comedy The First Nudie Musical (1976). Doubleday's lean, hollow-eyed, sunken-cheeked face, closely cropped light blonde hair, skinny limbs, and slim build gave him a striking and potent screen presence that was put to especially effective use in two pictures for director John Carpenter: He's genuinely scary as the vicious street gang leader who kills little girl Kim Richards in cold blood in the terrific urban action classic Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and was likewise memorably freaky as Isaac Hayes' ghoulish flunky "Romero" in the excellent futuristic science fiction cult favorite Escape from New York (1981). Doubleday's other noteworthy parts are a mob kingpin's conceited jerk son in Avenging Angel (1985), a fidgety prison inmate in the nifty science fiction item Space Rage (1985), a ferocious member of a roving murderous band of supernatural Eskimo spirits in the spooky Nomads (1986), a mercenary in Broadcast News (1987), and a sweaty, twitchy hoodlum who holds a bunch of fat ladies hostage in a laundromat in the funky urban science fiction hoot Dollman (1991). Among the TV shows Doubleday did guest appearances on are Amazing Stories (1985), Sledge Hammer! (1986), Stingray (1986), T.J. Hooker (1982), Hill Street Blues (1981), CHiPs (1977), The Incredible Hulk (1978), Charlie's Angels (1976), Wonder Woman (1975) and Starsky and Hutch (1975). Outside of acting, Frank also directed stage plays and taught acting at the Hollywood Court Theater. Doubleday died at age 73 from esophageal cancer on March 3, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.A longtime friend of John Carpenter, Doubleday starred in ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 as a member of the "Street Thunder" syndicate who guns down young murder witness Kim Richards.
Frank's real-life daughter Portia co-starred as class bully "Chris Hargensen" in 2013's CARRIE.- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
David Ogden Stiers was born in Peoria, Illinois, to Margaret Elizabeth (Ogden) and Kenneth Truman Stiers. He moved with his family to Eugene, Oregon, where he graduated from North Eugene High School in 1960. At the age of twenty, he was offered $200 to join the company of the Santa Clara Shakespeare Festival for three months. He ended up staying for seven years, in due course playing both King Lear and Richard III. In 1969, he moved to New York to study drama at Juilliard where he also trained his voice as a dramatic baritone. He joined the Houseman City Center Acting Company at its outset, working on such productions as The Beggar's Opera, Measure for Measure, The Hostage and the hit Broadway musical The Magic Show for which he created the character 'Feldman the Magnificent'. He lent his voice to animated films, with Lilo & Stitch (2002) being his 25th theatrically-released Disney animated film. He was also an avid fan of classical music and conducted a number of orchestras, including the Yaquina Chamber Orchestra in Newport, Oregon, where was the principal guest conductor.
His other theatrical work included performances with the Committee Revue and Theatre, the San Francisco Actor's Workshop, The Old Globe Theatre Festival in San Diego and at the Pasadena Playhouse in Love Letters with Meredith Baxter. As a drama instructor, he worked at Santa Clara University and also taught improvisation at Harvard. In addition to his long-running role in M*A*S*H (1972), Stiers' work on television also included the excellent mini-series North & South: Book 1, North & South (1985), North & South: Book 2, Love & War (1986), The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984) and roles in such productions as Anatomy of an Illness (1984), The Bad Seed (1985), J. Edgar Hoover (1987), The Final Days (1989), Father Damien: The Leper Priest (1980) and Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry (1986). Among his screen credits were The Accidental Tourist (1988), The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), Creator (1985), Harry's War (1981), Magic (1978) and Oh, God! (1977).
Above all, the prodigious talent that was David Ogden Stiers will be most fondly remembered as the pompous, ever-so articulate Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in M*A*S*H. He had found that taking on the role was -- from the beginning -- an easy choice. Stiers saw and loved the movie version. Moreover, he had a fond regard of fellow actor Harry Morgan (who played the character of Colonel Potter) as a kind of fatherly role model. In retrospect, Stiers viewed his experiences with the show as a career highlight, saying "No matter how much you read about the M*A*S*H company, the evolution of it, the quite beautiful human stance it takes, you will not know how much it means ". In his spare time on the set he often annoyed the security guards by skateboarding at 25 miles an hour and "cheerfully thumbing his nose at them".
David died of bladder cancer on March 3, 2018, in Newport, Oregon. He was 75.- Russ Solomon was born on 22 September 1925 in Sacramento, California, USA. He was an executive. He was married to Patti Drosins and Doris Epstein. He died on 4 March 2018 in Sacramento, California, USA.Solomon is best known for founding and building the worldwide financial empire known as Tower Records (1960 - 2006).
- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Donna Butterworth was born on 23 February 1956 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for The Family Jewels (1965), Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966) and The Magical World of Disney (1954). She died on 6 March 2018 in Hilo, Hawaii, USA.- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
- Additional Crew
Hubert de Givenchy was born on 20 February 1927 in Beauvais, Oise, France. He was a costume designer, known for Funny Face (1957), Charade (1963) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). He died on 10 March 2018 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.- Writer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Ken Dodd was born on 8 November 1927 in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for Hamlet (1996), Cruella (2021) and The Ken Dodd Laughter Show (1979). He was married to Anne Dodd. He died on 11 March 2018 in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK.- He grew up in the turmoil of the Second World War. Rauch originally wanted to become an architect. However, he began studying theater sciences and later trained as an actor. Rauch began his career in 1958 at various theater stages. He received his first engagements initially in Bremen, later in Munich, Hamburg and Berlin. Siegfried Rauch had been married to his wife Karin since 1964. The two sons Benedict and Jacob emerged from this relationship. At the end of the 1960s, Siegfried Rauch was also discovered by television.
The first major roles from 1967 included the German productions "The Monk with the Whip" and "Inspector X - Three Blue Panthers". International productions followed from the 1970s. One of the most successful cinema roles in 1970 was that of "Captain Oskar Steiger" in "Patton - Rebel in Uniform", which was awarded eight Oscars. In 1971 he portrayed the racing driver Erich Stahler in "Le Mans" alongside Steve McQueen. McQueen, with whom Rauch had a close friendship, became godfather to his first son. In the 1970s, the blonde mime shone in the successful series "It doesn't always have to be caviar" based on the novel by Johannes Mario Simmel. The TV series "A Happy Family" followed in the 1980s with Maria Schell and the young Maria Furtwängler. In addition, Rauch also appeared regularly on the theater stage during his film career.
Since then, Rauch has embodied the reliable and sincere ideal type. As the responsible head of the mountain rescue service in the series "Wildbach" he appeared in front of the camera from 1993. From 1999 to 2013, Rauch took on one of the main roles as Captain "Fred Paulsen" in the ZDF series "Das Traumschiff". In 2016 he was appointed ambassador for Bavarian Lake Shipping. The nature-loving actor lives in a farmhouse in Obersöching, Bavaria. In 2017, Rauch was awarded the Bavarian Homeland Medal from the Free State of Bavaria and the "Kaiser Star" from the Wilder Kaiser Tourism Association. From 2007 until his death he starred as Dr. Roman Melchinger plays a leading role in the ZDF series "Der Bergdoktor". - Soundtrack
Nokie Edwards was born on 9 May 1935 in Lahoma, Oklahoma, USA. He was married to Judy Bean, Zelda Wade and Jean Bauers. He died on 12 March 2018 in Yuma, Arizona, USA.- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Craig Mack was born on 3 September 1971 in North Trenton, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for The Wackness (2008), 25th Hour (2002) and Barbershop (2002). He died on 12 March 2018 in Walterboro, South Carolina, USA.- Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 on Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. He was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge.
His scientific works include a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He was a vigorous supporter of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.
Hawking was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2002, Hawking was ranked number 25 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009 and achieved commercial success with works of popular science in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general; his book "A Brief History of Time" appeared on the British Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.
At the release party for the home video version of A Brief History of Time (1991), Leonard Nimoy, who had played Spock on Star Trek (1966), learned that Hawking was interested in appearing on the series. Nimoy made the necessary contact, and Hawking played a holographic simulation of himself in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) in 1993. The same year, his synthesizer voice was recorded for the song "Keep Talking" by the rock band Pink Floyd, and in 1999 for an appearance on The Simpsons (1989). Hawking also guest-starred on Futurama (1999) and The Big Bang Theory (2007).
Hawking allowed the use of his copyrighted voice in the biographical drama The Theory of Everything (2014), in which he was portrayed by Eddie Redmayne in an Academy Award-winning role. Hawking died at age 76 in his home in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, early in the morning of 14 March 2018. - Ed Charles was born on 29 April 1933 in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA. He was married to Betty. He died on 15 March 2018 in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Mike MacDonald was born on 21 June 1954 in Metz, Moselle, France. He was an actor and writer, known for The Nutcracker Prince (1990), Chasing Robert (2007) and The Funny Farm (1983). He was married to Bonnie Lee Bayes. He died on 17 March 2018 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.- Sammy Williams was born on 13 November 1948 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for The Day of the Triffids (2009), The Take (2009) and God Told Me To (1976). He died on 17 March 2018 in North Hollywood, California, USA.
- Frank Avruch was born on 21 May 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Bozo's Big Top (1966), Summer Solstice (1981) and I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (2014). He was married to Betty. He died on 20 March 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- Wayne Huizenga was born on 29 December 1937 in Evergreen Park, Illinois, USA. He was married to Martha Jean Goldsby and Joyce VanderWagon. He died on 22 March 2018 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.Florida-based entrepreneur who founded Blockbuster Video, Incorporated in 1984...an empire which collapsed after three successful decades, imploding from a nationwide chain to a single store in Oregon.
Huizenga also founded not one but two professional sports teams in 1993: the Marlins (baseball) and the Panthers (hockey). - Actress
- Soundtrack
Morgana King was born on 4 June 1930 in Pleasantville, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Saga (1977). She was married to William Dennis DeBerardinis and Tony Fruscella. She died on 22 March 2018 in Palm Springs, California, USA.- DuShon Monique Brown was born on 7 December 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Prison Break (2005), Chicago Fire (2012) and Electric Dreams (2017). She died on 23 March 2018 in Olympia Fields, Illinois, USA.
- Actress
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Debbie Lee Carrington was born on 14 December 1959 in San Jose, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Men in Black (1997), Total Recall (1990) and Bedtime Stories (2008). She died on 23 March 2018 in Pleasanton, California, USA.Diminutive, often unrecognizable, character actress whose work includes CAPTAIN EO (as a member of Michael Jackson's backup band/spaceship crew).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Delores Taylor was born on 27 September 1932 in Winner, South Dakota, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Billy Jack (1971), Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977) and The Trial of Billy Jack (1974). She was married to Tom Laughlin. She died on 23 March 2018 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Stéphane Audran was born on November 8, 1932 in Versailles, Seine-et-Oise [now Yvelines], France as Colette Suzanne Jeannine Dacheville. She was an actress, known for Der diskrete Charme der Bourgeoisie (1972), Babettes Fest (1987) and Der Schlachter (1970). She was married to Claude Chabrol and Jean-Louis Trintignant. She died at the age of 85 on March 27, 2018 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France after an illness.- Writer
- Producer
Anita Shreve was born on 7 October 1946 in Dedham, Massachusetts, USA. She was a writer and producer, known for The Weight of Water (2000), Resistance (2003) and The Pilot's Wife (2002). She was married to John Clemans and John Osborn. She died on 29 March 2018 in Newfields, New Hampshire, USA.- Rusty Staub was born on 1 April 1944 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He died on 29 March 2018 in Good Samaritan Medical Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Actor and comedian fondly remembered as the curmudgeonly reprobate Claude Jeremiah Greengrass in the long-running nostalgic police drama Heartbeat (1992). Greengrass had been written as a minor background character, but -- given a fair amount of latitude for interpreting his part -- Maynard was able to infuse the old rascal with outsize personality and humour which resulted into his becoming a popular mainstay. The son of a gardener and a laundry worker, Maynard (born Walter Frederick George Williams, he later adopted his nom de plume from Charles Gordon Maynard, creator of 'Maynard's Wine Gums') came from relatively humble beginnings. Displaying an early aptitude for music, he learned to sing and dance, play ukulele, mandolin and guitar.
By the age of nine he began performing in local clubs and music halls. From there, he progressed to repertory theatre, touring army camps with Jon Pertwee, making a few recordings for Decca and EMI, even managing a gig as a stand-up comic -- in between a strip show -- at The Windmill in London. In the 50s Maynard emerged as a proper TV star (sharing top billing with Terry Scott) in Great Scott, It's Maynard (1955). Having suddenly become a household name, he was now earning £ 1000 a week. Ironically, his ambition of becoming 'a serious actor' backfired and a return to repertory led to much reduced circumstances and a hiatus in his career. Though he eventually appeared in more than 30 films, he regarded none of them as particularly worthwhile and declared in a 2013 interview: "I enjoyed doing them. It was a laugh, but they weren't great. They damaged my reputation".
In the mid-70s, having very wisely returned to his forte with consecutive hits in TV sitcoms: as a roving-eyed widower in The Life of Riley (1975), as the hapless, klutzy protagonist of Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt (1974), and as grouchy, relentlessly misanthropic Fred Moffatt, forever evading and outwitting his creditors in The Gaffer (1981). In between, he also had diverse guest roles, including in, among others, Worzel Gummidge (1979), Minder (1979) and Dalziel and Pascoe (1996). Between 2003 and 2008, he also hosted his own -- sometimes controversial -- radio chat show on BBC Leicester, Maynard's Bill of Fare.
Having suffered a stroke in 2000 and forced to leave Heartbeat after season ten, Maynard eventually resurfaced in occasional guest appearances for the 2003 spin-off, The Royal (2003). Subsequently confined to wheelchairs and mobility scooters he latterly gave lectures at universities on humour and acting.
Bill Maynard passed away in a Leicestershire hospital on 30 March 2018 at the age of 89.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Attended Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie-Mellon University) as a playwriting major. Barbara Bosson (his second wife), Michael Tucker, Bruce Weitz and Charles Haid were classmates; he and Tucker drove cross-country to Hollywood for full-time jobs at Universal, where Bochco would remain for 12 years.
In 1978, he moved to MTM Enterprises, who after several attempts gave him carte Blanche to create a show similar to Fort Apache the Bronx (1981) (Hill Street Blues (1981)). In 1985, MTM fired him, in part for his inability to keep HSB on budget. After creating L.A. Law (1986) and Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989) for NBC, he struck a $15M deal with ABC in 1987 to create 10 series pilots over 10 years.Legendary writer-producer whose output includes L.A. LAW, DOOGIE HOWSER M.D., COP ROCK (as they say, nobody's perfect), and CIVIL WARS. He also co-scripted the movie SILENT RUNNING; his writing partners were Deric Washburn and Michael Cimino, both of DEER HUNTER fame.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Susan Anspach was born on 23 November 1942 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Five Easy Pieces (1970), Play It Again, Sam (1972) and The Big Fix (1978). She was married to Sherwood Ball and Mark Goddard. She died on 2 April 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
She was a pert brunette with a winning smile who decorated several minor screen entertainments in the 1940s. A genuinely talented singer and tap dancer, even a fair actress, Mary Hatcher enjoyed a promising start, yet -- like so many other hopefuls -- her career barely got off the ground. Mary was born and raised in Florida where her good singing voice (coloratura soprano) found a willing sponsor in her father's wealthy employer. With ample funds for her vocal tuition thus available she went on to train under the famous Metropolitan Opera diva Gladys Swarthout. For some reason, or other, grand opera didn't pan out and Mary went on to take singing lessons from a local band leader, Frank Grasso, who also happened to be musical director at a radio station in Tampa. She then sang on radio broadcasts and eventually made her public debut at a 'Latin American Fiesta' in 1940. This was followed by gigs at various charity events for British War Relief. In 1941, still cheerfully subsidized by her father's boss, she undertook further studies at the Juilliard School of Music.
Mary's first attempt to get into films proved to be inauspicious, having twice failed auditions in New York. Her mother was ambitious for her to succeed and this may well have prompted the Hatcher family moving to California. In 1944, Mary was successfully screen-tested and signed to a seven-year contract by Paramount. Simultaneously, she was loaned out to a touring New York Theatre Guild production of "Oklahoma". As a result, she didn't make her screen bow until 1946. Her first three pictures were bit parts. Most of her subsequent leads turned out to be lightweight in nature. Her first was a star-studded musical jamboree: Variety Girl (1947) featured cameos from just about every Paramount contract star (except for Betty Hutton who was pregnant at the time). Opportunities for an upcoming starlet to shine were inevitably limited. At least, Mary got to warble "Julicat" in George Pal's 5-minute Puppetoon segment of "Romeow and Julicat".
She then played one of three sisters (the others were Veronica Lake and Mona Freeman) in a tepid black & white period musical (Isn't It Romantic (1948)), danced with Desi Arnaz in the cheerful low-budget musical Holiday in Havana (1949) and starred as a tomboy love interest opposite Mickey Rooney in The Big Wheel (1949) (an implausible tale of a garage mechanic who ends up becoming an Indianapolis 500 champion). In 1949, Mary landed the plum role of Dallas Smith in the original Broadway musical production of Johnny Mercer's "Texas, L'il Darlin" which ran for a respectable 293 performances, closing in September 1950. The following year, she made her movie swan song playing Maid Marian in a Poverty Row production of Tales of Robin Hood (1951), purportedly the pilot for a failed TV series. Mary gave up film work shortly thereafter and faded into relative obscurity.
Both of her husbands were involved in the big band scene: her first was the comedian Herkie Styles (at the time an alumnus of the Benny Goodman orchestra, later a regular on the Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964) TV show), the second was the renowned swing-era drummer Alvin Stoller.