In December, the world bid a fond farewell to a number of stars of the silver screen and the small screen. In brief, shown below, is my passing tribute to those stars who leave an indelible mark on the entertainment industry, and in particular the world of film and television. May you all Rest In Peace, and thanks for the memories . . . . Hugh Keays-Byrne, Pamela Tiffin, Rafer Johnson, Warren Berlinger, David Lander, Natalie Desselle-Reid, Barbara Windsor, Carol Sutton, Tommy Lister, John le Carre, Jeremy Bulloch, Peter Lamont, Eileen Pollock, Rosalind Knight, David Giler, Lee Wallace, Kay Purcell, Rebecca Luker, William Link, Paul Heller, Wilma Pelly, Dawn Wells and Robert Hossein.
* Hugh Keays-Byrne - born 18th May 1947 and died 1st December 2020, aged 73. Keays-Byrne was a British Australian Actor and two time Director of film and television who accumulated fifty-one screen acting credits to his name in a career spanning six decades. He gained his first acting roles in 1967 in single episodes of TV series
'Bellbird' and
'Boy Meets Girl', and between 1968 and 1972 he focused on his stage acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in productions of
'As You Like It', 'King Lear', 'Hamlet', 'Much Ado About Nothing', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Tempest or The Enchanted Island' and
'Troilus and Cressida'. In 1973 after touring Australia with the RSC production of
'A Midsummer Night's Dream' he decided to remain, and in 1974 scored a role in the Australian feature film
'Stone' followed by TV movie
'Essington' that same year. His next big screen roles came with the likes of
'The Man from Hong Kong' with George Lazenby in 1975,
'Mad Dog Morgan' in 1976 with Dennis Hopper,
'Blue Fin' in 1978 with Hardy Kruger,
'Mad Max' in 1979 for Director George Miller and starring Mel Gibson,
'The Chain Reaction' in 1980 with Steve Bisley,
'Where the Green Ants Dream' in 1984 for Director Werner Herzog,
'Burke & Wills' in 1985 with Jack Thompson and Nigel Havers,
'For Love Alone' in 1986 with Hugo Weaving and Sam Neill,
'Kangaroo' that same year with Judy Davis,
'Les Patterson Saves the World' in 1987 for George Miller again and with Barry Humphries,
'Resistance' in 1992 which he also Co-Directed,
'Sleeping Beauty' in 2011 with Emily Browning and his final screen appearance as Immortan Joe in George Millers
'Mad Max : Fury Road' in 2015. In the meantime, he also had roles on TV series including
'Secret Valley', 'Runaway Island', 'Moby Dick', 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', 'Farscape' and
'Farscape : The Peacekeeper Wars'.
* Pamela Tiffin - born Pamela Tiffin Wonso on 13th October 1942 and died 2nd December 2020, aged 78. Tiffin was an American Actress of film and TV of Russian and British decent who gained her first feature film role in 1961 in
'Summer and Smoke' followed by
'One, Two, Three' that same year with James Cagney,
'State Fair' in 1962 with Pat Boone and Bobby Darin,
'Come Fly with Me' in 1963,
'The Hallelujah Trail' in 1965 with Burt Lancaster and Lee Remick,
'Harper' in 1966 with Paul Newman and Lauren Bacall,
'Viva Max' in 1969 with Peter Ustinov, and
'Los amigos' in 1973 with Anthony Quinn and Franco Nero. In 1967, Tiffin decided to move to Italy where she appeared in
'The Almost Perfect Crime' in 1966,
'The Protagonists' in 1968,
'Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses' also in 1968,
'The Archangel' in 1969,
'Cose di Cosa Nostra', 'No One Will Notice You're Naked' and
'The Fifth Cord' all in 1971. She ended her acting career in 1989 having notched up just twenty-nine screen credits.
* Rafer Johnson - born 18th August 1934 and died 2nd December 2020, aged 86. Johnson was an American decathlete and Actor of film and television who amassed twenty-six screen acting credits under this belt, following his retirement from the sporting arena having won the gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games in the decathlon, and having won silver in Melbourne in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Mexico City Pan American Games. He was the USA team's flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the Olympic cauldron at the Los Angeles Games in 1984. After he retired from athletics, Johnson turned to acting, sportscasting, and public service and was instrumental in creating the California Special Olympics. His acting career took off in 1961 in the feature film
'The Sins of Rachel Cade' with
'Wild in the Country' that same year with Elvis Presley and
'The Pirates of Tortuga' also in 1961.
'A Global Affair' came next in 1964 with Bob Hope, then
'None But the Brave' Directed by and starring Frank Sinatra,
'Tarzan and the Great River' in 1967 and
'Tarzan and the Jungle Boy' in 1968 both with Mike Henry in the title role,
'The Last Grenade' in 1970 with Stanley Baker and
'The Games' for Michael Winner that year too,
'Licence to Kill' in 1989 with Timothy Dalton playing 007 James Bond, and
'Think Big' also in 1989 with Peter and David Paul being his final screen role. During the 1970's he appeared sporadically in just a few TV series -
'Mission : Impossible', 'The Six Million Dollar Man' and
'Roots : The Next Generations'.
* Warren Berlinger - born 31st August 1937 and died 2nd December 2020, aged 83. Berlinger was an American Actor of stage, film and television who amassed 115 screen acting roles during his career which spanned seven decades kicking off in 1955 with an episode of TV series
'The Secret Storm'. His feature film debut came a year later in 1956 in
'Teenage Rebel' followed by the likes of
'Blue Denim' in 1959,
'Spinout' in 1966,
'The Long Goodbye' in 1973,
'The Four Deuces' in 1975,
'The Cannonball Run' in 1981,
'The World According to Garp' in 1982,
'Ten Little Indians' in 1989,
'That Thing You Do' in 1996 with
'They Call Him Sasquatch' in 2003 being his final feature film role. In the intervening years there were appearances on TV shows including
'The F.B.I.', 'Gunsmoke', 'Gomer Pyle', 'A Touch of Grace', 'Emergency!', 'The Love Boat', 'The Dukes of Hazzard', 'Charlie's Angels', 'Happy Days', 'CHiPs', 'The A-Team', 'Riptide', 'Murder, She Wrote' and an episode of
'Grace and Frankie' being his final screen role in 2016.
* David Lander - born 22nd June 1947, died 4th December 2020, aged 73. Lander was an American Actor, voice Actor, comedian, composer and musician who notched up 113 screen acting roles during his five decade spanning career which kicked off in 1970 on
'Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down'. He gained his first feature film role in Steven Spielberg's
'1941' in 1979, followed by
'Wholly Moses!' in 1980,
'Used Cars' that same year for Robert Zemeckis,
'The Man with One Red Shoe' in 1985,
'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' for Robert Zemeckis again 1988,
'A Bug's Life' in 1998,
'Titan A.E.' in 2000,
'Scary Movie' also in 2000,
'Dr. Dolittle 2' in 2001, and
'Zoom' in 2006. In the years in between time there were single and multiple episodes on TV series taking in
'Rhoda', 'Happy Days', on 156 episodes of
'Laverne & Shirley' in the role of Squiggy,
'The Love Boat', 'Star Trek : The Next Generation', 'Twin Peaks', 'The Nanny', 'The Tick', on fifteen episodes of
'Pacific Blue', on twelve of
'The Bold and the Beautiful', on twenty-nine episodes of
'101 Dalmatians : The Series', 'Mad About You', 'Arli$$', on twenty-three of
'Oswald', 'Garfield', 'Break a Hip', 'SpongeBob Square Pants' and his final TV role on
'Goldie and Bear' in 2017. Lander had multiple sclerosis which was officially diagnosed in mid-1984. He went public in 1999 and regularly spoke at related conventions. In 2002, his autobiography was published, titled
'Fall Down Laughing : How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn't Tell Nobody'.
* Natalie Desselle-Reid - born 12th July 1967 and died 7th December 2020, aged 53. Desselle-Reid was an American Actress of film and television who accumulated twenty-four screen roles in a career which launched in 1996 on a single episode of
'Family Matters'. Her first big screen break came a year later in the F. Gary Gray Directed
'Set It Off' followed by
'B*A*P*S' in 1997 opposite Halle Berry.
'How to Be a Player' followed in 1997 with the made for TV movie
'Cinderella' that same year. Comedy movies
'Sweet Hideaway', 'Gas' and
'The Killing of Wendy' came next in 2003, 2004 and 2009 respectively and then Tyler Perry's
'Madea's Big Happy Family' in 2011, followed by
'Zoe Gone' in 2014 with the drama offering
'Queen Victoria's Wedding' in the title role
recently announced before her death. In the meantime there were eight episodes on
'Built to Last', eight on
'For Your Love' and sixty-six episodes on
'Eve' amongst other small screen appearances.
* Barbara Windsor - born Barbara Ann Deeks on 6th August 1937 and died on 10th December 2020, aged 83. Windsor was an English Actress of film, television and theatre probably best known for her role in nine
'Carry On' film throughout the 1960's and '70's and as Peggy Mitchell the owner and landlady of the Queen Victoria Pub in the BBC's long running soap
'Eastenders'. Throughout her career which spanned seven decades she amassed eighty-five screen acting credits which launched with an uncredited role in the 1954 film
'The Belles of St. Trinian's'. Following several uncredited roles in feature films she gained her first credited appearance in 1960 in
'Too Hot to Handle' with Jayne Mansfield which was followed up by
'On the Fiddle' in 1961 with Sean Connery, and then the first of her
'Carry On' appearances in 1964 in
'Carry on Spying' which she followed up over the years with
'Carry on Doctor', 'Carry on Camping', 'Carry on Again Doctor', 'Carry on Henry', 'Carry on Matron', 'Carry on Abroad', 'Carry on Girls' and
'Carry on Dick' in 1974 with the TV movies
'Carry on Christmas' in 1969,
'Carry on Again Christmas' in 1970,
'Carry on Christmas : Carry on Stuffing' in 1972 and the TV series
'Carry on Laughing!' in 1975. There were other films including
'A Study in Terror' in 1965,
'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' in 1968,
'The Boy Friend' for Director Ken Russell, Tim Burton's
'Alice in Wonderland' in 2010 lending her voice to the Dormouse, and
'Alice Through the Looking Glass' in 2016 lending her voice talents again to Mallymkun with the biographical drama made for TV film about her life, titled
'Babs' in 2017 being her final screen credit. In the meantime there were appearances on TV series taking in the likes of twenty-three episodes of
'The Rag Trade', seven on
'Wild, Wild Women', four on
'Worzel Gummidge', six on
'Bluebirds' then 1,562 episodes of
'Eastenders' between 1994 and 2016. In April 2014, Windsor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and she elected not to make the condition public, but it was known to her friends and colleagues. In May 2018, Windsor's husband, Scott Mitchell, publicly revealed her condition. Windsor was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the HRH The Queen's 2000 New Year's Honours List. In August 2010, she was given the Freedom of the City of London and she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the HRH The Queen's 2016 New Year's Honours List for services to charity and entertainment.
* Carol Sutton - born 3rd December 1944, died 10th December 2020, aged 76. Sutton was an American Actress of theatre, film and television who amassed 110 screen acting credits to her name in a career which kick started with role on the TV movie
'The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman' in 1974. From here there was no turning back, with movie roles in the more popular films including
'The Big Easy' in 1986 with Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin,
'Steel Magnolias' in 1989 with Shirley MacLaine, Sally Field and Julia Roberts,
'The Pelican Brief' with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington,
'Candyman : Farewell to the Flesh' in 1995 for Director Bill Condon,
'Monster's Ball' in 2001 with Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry,
'Runaway Jury' in 2003 with Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and John Cusack,
'Ray' in 2004 with Jamie Foxx,
'Deja Vu' in 2006 for Director Tony Scott,
'The Last Exorcism' in 2010,
'The Help' in 2010 with Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer,
'Killer Joe' that same year with Matthew McConaughey,
'21 Jump Street' in 2012 with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill,
'This is the End' in 2013 with Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen,
'Oldboy' in 2013 for Director Spike Lee,
'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' in 2014 for Director Matt Reeves,
'Hot Pursuit' in 2015 with Reece Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara,
'Poms' in 2019 with Diane Keaton and Jacki Weaver with
'Freedom's Path' currently in post-production slated for a 2021 release. In the meantime there were appearances on TV series including
'American Horror Story', 'True Detective', 'Scream Queens', 'Roots' and
'Lovecraft Country' most recently. Sutton died of complications from COVID-19.
* Tommy Lister Jnr. - born 24th June 1958, died 10th December 2020 aged 62. Lister was an American character Actor of film and television and occasional professional wrestler with two shortlived stints with the World Wrestling Federation and the World Championship Wrestling. Lister accumulated 219 screen acting credits to his name in a career which began in 1984 on a single episode of
'Webster'. He followed this up with feature film roles in more notable offerings with the likes of 1985's
'Runaway Train' with Jon Voight,
'8 Million Ways to Die' a year later with Jeff Bridges,
'Extreme Prejudice' in 1987 with Nick Nolte,
'Beverly Hills Cop II' also in 1987 with Eddie Murphy,
'Universal Soldier' in 1992 with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren,
'Don Juan DeMarco' in 1994 with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando,
'Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead' in 1995 with Andy Garcia,
'Barb Wire' in 1996 with Pamela Anderson,
'The Fifth Element' in 1997 with Bruce Willis,
'Jackie Brown' that year too for Director Quentin Tarantino,
'Little Nicky' in 2000 with Adam Sandler,
'Austin Powers in Goldmember' in 2002 with Mike Meyers and
'The Dark Knight' in 2008 for Director Christopher Nolan. At the time of his death, Lister had five films in post-production, one in pre-production, two currently been filmed, one completed and one recently announced. He was blind in his right eye from birth as a result of a deformed and detached retina, and died seemingly from complications arising from COVID-19 which he contracted in August this year but overcame, becoming ill again in early December with similar symptoms.
* John le Carre - born David John Moore Cornwell on 19th October 1931 and died 12th December 2020, aged 89. le Carre was a British author of espionage novels. During the 1950's and 1960's, he worked for both the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). His third novel, 1963's
'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold', became an international best-seller and remains one of his best-known works. As a result of the success of this novel, he left MI6 to become a full-time author. His books include
'A Murder of Quality' (1962),
'The Looking Glass War' (1965),
'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' (1974),
'Smiley's People' (1979),
'The Little Drummer Girl' (1983),
'The Russia House' (1989),
'The Night Manager' (1993),
'The Tailor of Panama' (1996),
'The Constant Gardener' (2001),
'A Most Wanted Man' (2008), and
'Our Kind of Traitor' (2010), all of which have subsequently been adapted for film or television. He wrote his final novel in 2019 titled
'Agent Running in the Field'. In 2010, le Carre donated his literary archive to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and throughout his life he was the recipient of numerous awards and honours including in 1998, being awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Bath, and in 2012, he was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Letters, by the University of Oxford. In 2008, The Times ranked him 22nd on its list of the '50 greatest British writers since 1945', in 2011, he won the Goethe Medal, a yearly prize given by Germany's Goethe Institute, and he won the Olof Palme Prize in 2020 and donated the US$100K winnings to Medecins Sans Frontieres.
* Jeremy Bulloch - born 16th February 1945, died 17th December 2020, aged 75. Bulloch was an English Actor of film and television who amassed 109 screen acting credits throughout his career which spanned seven decades and which kicked off with an uncredited role in
'Violent Playground' in 1958 with Peter Cushing, David McCallum and Stanley Baker and that same year
'A Night to Remember' with Kenneth More. He gained his first credited roles in 1959's
'The Cat Gang' and
'The Dawn Killer' followed up over successive years by the likes of
'Play It Cool' in 1962 for Director Michael Winner,
'Summer Holiday' in 1963 with Cliff Richard,
'Hoffman' in 1970 with Peter Sellers,
'Mary, Queen of Scots' in 1971 with Vanessa Redgrave, and then the first of three outings in the Bond franchise with Roger Moore -
'The Spy Who Loved Me' in 1977,
'For Your Eyes Only' in 1981 and
'Octopussy' in 1983. Then came perhaps his most well known role as bounty hunter Boba Fett in
'Star Wars : Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back' in 1980 and
'Star Wars : Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi' with him cast in a different role in
'Star Wars : Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith' in 2005 and in another role again in 2009's
'The Mandalorian Legacy'. In the meantime there were appearances on TV series including on 203 episodes of
'The Newcomers' from 1965 until 1968, seven episodes of
'Doctor Who' between 1965 and 1974.
'The Professionals', eighteen episodes of
'Agony', on eight episodes of
'Robin of Sherwood', 'The Bill', 'Spooks', 'Doctors', 'Law & Order : UK', and on six episodes of
'Starhyke'. He was featured in the 2015 documentary
'Elstree 1976' - a behind-the-scenes film, which focuses on the lives of some actors and extras who appeared in the
'Star Wars' original trilogy. The documentary had a premiere at the BFI London Film Festival.
* Peter Lamont - born 12th November 2929, died 18th December 2020, aged 91. Lamont was a British Set Decorator, Art Director, and Production Designer most noted for working on eighteen James Bond films, from
'Goldfinger' in 1964 right through to
'Casino Royale' in 2006. The only Bond film that he did not work on during that period was
'Tomorrow Never Dies' in 1997 because it clashed with James Cameron's
'Titanic' which he was working on at the time. His credits take in thirty-six Art Department, seventeen as Production Designer, nine as Art Director and four as Set Decorator throughout his career spanning six decades. He worked on numerous films throughout the 1950's as an uncredited draughtsman gaining his first credit as a Set Dresser in 1960 on
'Watch Your Stern'. Aside from the back catalogue of Bond films he worked on his credits also take in
'Fiddler on the Roof' in 1971,
'Sleuth' in 1972 with Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier,
'Inside Out' in 1975 with Telly Savalas and James Mason,
'The Boys from Brazil' in 1978 with Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier and James Mason,
'Aliens' in 1986 for James Cameron,
'True Lies' in 1994 for James Cameron again with
'Casino Royale' in 2006 and Daniel Craig's first outing as James Bond being his final credit. Lamont was nominated for three Academy Awards for his work on
'Fiddler on the Roof', 'The Spy Who Loved Me' and
'Aliens'. He was nominated a fourth time and won for
'Titanic'. His memoir,
'The Man With the Golden Eye : Designing the James Bond Films' was published in 2016.
* Eileen Pollock - born on 18th May 1947, died 19th December 2020, aged 73. Pollock was a Northern Irish Actress of stage, film and television who notched up twenty-eight screen acting roles in a career that launched with three credited roles on made for TV movies in 1984 -
'After You've Gone', 'Four Days in July' and
'The Hidden Curriculum'. In 1992 she had a role in Ron Howard's
'Far and Away' with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and she followed this up in 1999 with Alan Parker's
'Angela's Ashes' with Robert Carlyle and Emily Watson, then
'Wild About Harry' in 2000 with Brendan Gleeson and Amanda Donohoe,
'Psychosis' in 2010,
'My Feral Heart' in 2016 with
'Love Type D' in 2019 being her final screen appearance. In the meantime there were forty-three episodes on
'Bread' - the role she is perhaps best known for as Lili Lill. Pollock performed a one-woman show
'Now I'm Sixty' at Liverpool Academy Of Art Actors Studio in 2007, and in 2010 Directed and "took a scene stealing guest credit" in
'The Irish Wake of Paddy McGrath' at The Lion & Unicorn Theatre, London.
* Rosalind Knight - born 3rd December 1933, died 19th December 2020, aged 87. Knight was an English Actress of cinema, television and theatre whose career spanned seven decades commencing with her first credited role in the TV series
'Nicholas Nickleby' in 1957 followed by her first feature film that same year in
'Blue Murder at St. Trinian's'. From here he other movie roles included
'Carry On Nurse' and
'Carry On Teacher' both in 1959,
'There Was a Crooked Man' in 1960,
'The Kitchen' in 1961,
'Tom Jones' in 1963 with Albert Finney,
'Start the Revolution Without Me' in 1970 with Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland,
'The Old Curiosity Shop' in 1975,
'The Lady Vanishes' in 1979,
'The Wildcats of St. Trinian's' in 1980,
'Prick Up Your Ears' in 1987 for Director Stephen Frears,
'Il mio West' in 1998 with Harvey Keitel and David Bowie,
'About a Boy' in 2002 with Hugh Grant, and
'The Lady in the Van' in 2015 with Maggie Smith being her final big screen role. In the intervening years there were numerous small screen roles including
'Dixon of Dock Green', 'Within These Walls', on seven episodes of
'I Thought You'd Gone', 'Only Fool and Horses', 'Berkeley Square', 'Heartbeat', on thirteen episodes of
'Gimme, Gimme, Gimme', 'Casualty', 'Doctors', 'Holby City', 'The Crown' and
'Friday Night Dinner' most recently. Throughout her career, Knight continued to work in the theatre, including with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court Theatre and the Old Vic. She also worked at the Manchester Royal Exchange and the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.
* David Giler - born 23rd July 1943, died 19th December 2020, aged 77. Giler was an American film and television Producer and Writer who cut his teeth writing for single episodes of TV series in the 1960's on the likes of
'The Gallant Men' in 1962,
'Burke's Law' in 1965,
'The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.' and
'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' both in 1967 and
'The Bold Ones : The Lawyers' in 1969. From here he went on to write
'The Parallax View', 'Fun with Dick and Jane', 'Southern Comfort', 'The Money Pit', 'Aliens', 'Alien3', and
'Undisputed'. His Producer credits of which there are twenty-eight take in
'Alien', 'Aliens', 'Alien3', 'Alien : Resurrection', 'AVP : Alien vs. Predator', 'AVPR : Alien vs. Predator - Requiem', 'Prometheus' and
'Alien : Covenant'. He also Produced
'Southern Comfort', 'The Money Pit', 'Let it Ride', 'Undisputed', 'Ritual' and Executive Produced five episodes of
'Tales from the Cryptkeeper', ninety-three episodes of
'Tales from the Crypt', and ten episodes of
'Perversions of Science'.
* Lee Wallace - born Leo Melis on 15th July 1930, died 20th December 2020, aged 90. Wallace was an American Actor of theatre, film and television who accumulated thirty-seven screen acting credits to his name in a career that kicked off in 1966 in the TV movie
'The Journey of the Fifth Horse'. Over the years that followed he has supporting roles in the likes of
'Klute' in 1971 albeit uncredited, then
'The Hot Rock' in 1972 with Robert Redford,
'The Taking of Pelham One Two Three' in 1972 with Walter Matthau,
'Diary of the Dead' in 1976,
'Private Benjamin' in 1980 with Goldie Hawn,
'Batman' in 1989 with Michael Keaton with
'Used People' in 1992 being his final big screen role. In the years in between he had appearances on TV series including
'Kojak', 'Lou Grant', 'Mrs. Columbo', 'Ryan's Hope', 'The Equalizer' and
'Law & Order' with the short film
'Lucky' in 2005 being his final screen role.
* Kay Purcell - born 6th December 1963, and died 23rd December 2020, aged 57. Purcell was an English Actress of largely television and stage with just one feature film credit to her name -
'Sex Lives of the Potato Men' in 2004 with Johnny Vegas. Her TV roles of which she notched up seventeen throughout her career which began in 1995 on a single episode of
'Cracker'. From here she appeared on three episodes of
'Coronation Street' in 1997, then
'Casualty' and forty-three episodes of
'Emmerdale Farm' between 1996 and 2002.
'Holby City', twenty-one episodes on
'Bernard's Watch', 'Doctors', twenty-four on
'Waterloo Road', thirty-nine on
'Tracy Beaker Returns' and then thirteen episodes on its spin-off series
'The Dumping Ground' followed by eighteen episodes on
'So Awkward' with TV mini-series
'When It Rains' earlier in 2020 being her final screen role.
* Rebecca Luker - born 17th April 1961, died 23rd December 2020, aged 59. Luker was an American Actress of stage, television and film, singer and recording artist probably best noted for her "crystal clear operatic soprano" and for maintaining long runs in Broadway musicals over the course of her three decade long career. Her screen credits of which there were only twelve, started off in 2000 with the TV movie
'Cupid & Cate' followed up by just three feature films -
'Spectropia' in 2006,
'Not Fade Away' in 2012 with Jack Huston and
'The Rewrite' in 2014 with Hugh Grant. Her small screen roles took in '
The Good Wife', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'Law & Order : Special Victims Unit', 'Elementary', 'NCIS : New Orleans', and
'Bull' most recently. Luker's Broadway debut was in '
The Phantom of the Opera' (1988–91). Subsequent Broadway roles include
'The Secret Garden' (1991–93),
'Show Boat' (1994–97),
'The Sound of Music' (1998–99),
'The Music Man' (2000–2001) and
'Nine' (2003). She played the role of Mrs. Banks in
'Mary Poppins' from 2006 to 2010. She later played Crazy Marie/the Fairy Godmother in the Broadway production of
'Cinderella' for an engagement that lasted from September 2013 to January 2014. Luker joined the cast of
'Fun Home' at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway for a brief stint from April to May 2016.
* William Link - born 15th December 1933, died 27th December 2020, aged 87. Link was an American film and television Screenwriter and Producer who accumulated seventy-three writing credits and thirty-six as Producer during a career which launched with the
'Chain of Command' episode on the
'Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse' in 1959. Following this and throughout the 1960's he wrote episodes for the likes of
'Johnny Ringo', 'Michael Shayne', 'The Third Man', 'Dr. Kildare', 'Burke's Law', 'The Fugitive' and
'Honey West'. He then went onto create the TV series
'Jericho', 'Mannix', 'Ellery Queen', 'Blacke's Magic', 'Over My Dead Body', 'The Cosby Mysteries', 'Murder, She Wrote' and
'Columbo'. He also Produced or Executive Produced numerous made for TV movies including
'My Sweet Charlie', 'That Certain Summer', 'The Judge and Jake Wyler', 'Savage' Directed by Steven Spielberg in 1973,
'The Gun' for John Badham,
'Murder by Natural Causes', 'Rehearsal for Murder', 'Prototype', 'The Guardian' with Martin Sheen in 1984,
'Guilty Conscience' in 1985 with Anthony Hopkins,
'The Boys' in 1991 with James Woods and John Lithgow, and
'Whispers in the Dark' in 1992. Link was a frequent collaborator with Richard Levinson and with whom he shared several award wins including two Primetime Emmy's for
'Columbo' in 1971 and
'My Sweet Charlie' in 1970. He also won three Edgar Allan Poe Awards which he shared with Levinson, a PGA Hall of Fame win and a WGA Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement. He also received twelve other nominations from around the awards circuit.
* Paul M. Heller - born 25th September 1927, died 28th December 2020, aged 93. Heller was an American film Producer, three time Writer and two time Director who amassed thirty-three Producer credits to his name in a career that spanned six decades and launching in 1962 with
'David and Lisa' which went on to be nominated for two two Academy Awards, four BAFTA's and win a Golden Globe. In the years that followed he also Produced
'Enter the Dragon' in 1973 with Bruce Lee,
'The Wilby Conspiracy' in 1975 with Michael Caine and Sidney Poitier,
'The Barony' in 1975 too with Yul Brynner and Max von Sydow,
'Trial by Combat' in 1976 with John Mills and Donald Pleasence,
'Pygmalion' in 1983 with Peter O'Toole and Margot Kidder,
'Withnail and I' in 1987 with Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann,
'My Left Foot' in 1989 with Daniel Day-Lewis,
'The Annihilation of Fish' in 1999 with James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave with the fifteen minute short film
'Fotos De Blancas' from 2020 being his last Producer credit. His only credited Director film was the thirty minute short documentary
'Blood & Steel : Making 'Enter the Dragon'' in 2004 which he also wrote and produced. In 1989, Heller founded ASK Theatre, a nonprofit group dedicated to new plays and playwrights, and he was also a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and served on the Board of Directors of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He was a member of the United Scenic Artists, the Directors Guild and the Screen Actors Guild. Heller has been a pioneer in the field of multimedia and theatrical presentations, with productions including The New York Experience, which played for sixteen years at Rockefeller Centre, and The South Street Venture, an attraction for seven years at the Dockland of New York City.
* Wilma Pelly - born Wilma Episkenew on 5th March 1937, and died 28th December 2020, aged 83. Pelly was a Canadian Actress of film and television who notched up twenty-three acting credits which began in 1995 on the TV mini-series
'Children of the Dust'. Her next TV role came along with seventy-eight episodes on
'North of 60' as Elsie Tsa Che - a role she would reprise in the 1999 spin of movie
'In the Blue Ground' and then in the made for TV movies
'Trial by Fire', 'Dream Storm', 'Another Country' and
'Distant Drumming : A North of 60 Mystery' in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 respectively. Her other screen outings took in the feature films
'The Last Rites of Ransom Pride' in 201 with Dwight Yoakam, Lizzy Caplan and Peter Dinklage,
'Land' in 2018,
'Parallel Minds' in 2020, and in post-production currently
'Don't Say Its Name'. In the meantime there were also appearances on eight episodes of
'Mixed Blessings', and on six episodes on the second season of
'Fargo' in 2015. Pelly was a member of the Muscowpetung Saulteaux First Nation of southern Saskatchewan, Canada,
* Dawn Wells - born 18th October 1938, died 30th December 2020, aged 82. Wells was an American Actress of film and television who amassed sixty-four screen acting roles to her name in a career spanning six decades from her first credited screen role in the 1961 TV series
'The Roaring 20's'. Her first credited big screen role came with
'The New Interns' in 1964, followed up by the likes of
'Winterhawk' in 1975,
'The Town That Dreaded Sundown' in 1976,
'Return to Boggy Creek' in 1977,
'The Princess and the Dwarf' in 1989,
'Soulmates' in 1992,
'Lover's Knot' in 1995,
'Silent But Deadly' in 2012 with
'This Is Our Time' in 2013 being her last feature film. In the years in between there were appearances on TV series taking in
'Maverick', 'Cheyenne', 'Wagon Train', 'Lawman', 'Laramie' then on ninety-eight episodes of
'Gilligan's Island' as Mary Ann Summers from 1964 through to 1967,
'The Wild Wild West', 'Bonanza', 'The F.B.I.', 'The Love Boat', 'Fantasy Island', 'Gilligan's Planet' to which she lent her voice talents,
'ALF', 'Columbo', 'Roseanne', 'The Bold and the Beautiful', 'Kaplan's Korner' and in the animated TV series short
'The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants' as recently as 2019. She reprised her role as Mary Ann Summers in three made for TV movies -
'Rescue form Gilligan's Island' in 1978,
'The Castaways on Gilligan's Island' in 1979 and
'The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island' in 1981. In 2014, Wells released
'What Would Mary Ann Do? A Guide to Life', which she co-wrote with Steve Stinson. The book was released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of
'Gilligan's Island'. She died due to causes related to COVID-19.
* Robert Hossein - born 30th December 1927, died 31st December 2020, aged 93. Hossein was a French Film Director, Writer and Actor who accumulated twenty-four Director credits, twenty as Writer and 115 as an Actor in a career spanning eight decades which began in 1948 with his appearance in
'Les souvenirs ne sont pas a vendre' in 1948. His directorial debut came in 1955 with
'Les salauds vont en enfer' which he also wrote the adapted screenplay for and starred in. He would go on to direct himself and write many of his subsequent films including
'Blonde in a White Car' in 1958,
'The Wretches' in 1960,
'A Taste of Violence' in 1961,
'Death of a Killer' and
'Marked Eyes' both in 1964,
'The Vampire of Dusseldorf' in 1965,
'Cemetery Without Crosses' in 1969 and
'Falling Point' in 1970 amongst others. He would also Direct
'Les miserables' in 1982, and TV movies
'Cyrano de Bergerac' in 1990 and
'Ben Hur' in 2006 amongst others too. His other actings gigs included
'The Dirty Game', 'The Other Truth', 'The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia', 'A Little Virtuous', an uncredited appearance in 1967's
'Once Upon a Time in the West', 'The Battle of Elalamein', 'The Heist', 'The Protector', 'The Phoney', 'Bolero', 'Le professionnel', 'Antartica', 'Les miserables' in 1995,
'San Antonio', 'Trivial' with his final screen coming just last year in 2020 with
'Noni - Le fruit de l'espoir'. Hossein won three awards and received three nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. He died one day after his 93rd birthday from COVID-19.
Twenty-three deaths reported this month from the film and television community at large, and that community is just a little bit poorer as a result. As some governments the world over are easing up on their COVID-19 restrictions, others are enforcing further stages of lockdowns because of a second or in some cases a third wave in cases. Remember the basic principles still being advocated - maintain a safe distance, hand hygiene and wear a mask if you are unable to maintain a safe distance especially - together we can all beat this thing. Stay safe, remain healthy and wherever you are in the world, if you're in lock down - watch a movie on your favoured streaming service from the comfort of your own home.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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