In March, 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 . . . . . Jahmil French, Gil Rogers, Nicola Pagett, Tony Hendra, David Bailie, Trevor Peacock, Leon Gast, Cliff Simon, Norman J. Warren, Isidore Mankofsky, Henry Darrow, Yaphet Kotto, Jacques Franz, Richard Gilliland, George Segal, Jessica Walter, muMs da Schemer, Bertrand Tavernier, Robert Rodan and Myra Frances.
* Jahmil French - born 29th July 1991, died 1st March 2021, aged 29. French was a Canadian Actor who accumulated nineteen screen acting credits throughout his short career which launched in 2009 on a single episode of TV series
'Flashpoint'. He then went on to have a recurring role in
'Degrassi : Minis' over seven episodes and then on 149 episodes of
'Degrassi : The Next Generation' as Dave Turner between 2009 and 2013. He also had three roles in feature films - 2016's
'Boost', 2018's
'First Light' and
'TMI Crossing the Threshold' also in 2018. In the meantime there were seven episodes of each of
'The Divide', 'Remedy' and
'Let's Get Physical' with ten episodes on
'Soundtrack' in 2019 with the eight minute short film
'Dalia' in 2019 completed. For his performance in
'Boost', he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018.
* Gil Rogers - born
John Veach Rogers Jnr. on 4th February 1934 and died 2nd March 2021, aged 87. Rogers was an American Actor who notched up twenty-seven screen acting roles during his lifetime in front of the camera beginning with a single episode on
'General Electric Theatre' in 1960 in an episode titled
'Do Not Disturb'. From there his feature film credits included 1961's
'Blast of Silence', 'Nothing But a Man' in 1964,
'The Panic in Needle Park' in 1971 with Al Pacino,
'W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings' in 1975 with Burt Reynolds, the cult horror film
'The Children' in 1980,
'Eddie Macon's Run' in 1983 with Kirk Douglas,
'The Eden Myth' and
'Cherry' both in 1999,
'Threads' in 2002, with
'Breaking Point' in 2009 being his final feature film outing. Meanwhile there were also appearances on the likes of sixty-two episodes of
'The Doctors', nine episodes of
'All My Children', three on
'Law & Order' and thirty-eight on
'The Guiding Light' with the seventeen minute short film
'Oh My Love' in 2010 being his last screen appearance.
* Nicola Pagett - born
Nicola Mary Pagett Scott on 15th June 1945 and died 3rd March 2021, aged 75. Pagett was a British Actress of film, television and occasional theatre who amassed fifty-two screen acting roles during her career spanning four decades from her screen debut in
'Thursday Theatre' in a 1965 episode titled
'The Flowering Cherry' with her first feature film coming two years later in 1967 in
'The Viking Queen'. She would follow this up with other feature films including
'Anne of the Thousand Days' in 1969 with Richard Burton,
'There's a Girl in My Soup' in 1970 with Peter Sellers,
'Operation : Daybreak' in 1975,
'Oliver's Story' in 1978 with Ryan O'Neal,
'Privates on Parade' in 1983, and
'An Awfully Big Adventure' in 1995 with Hugh Grant. In the years in between there were appearances on TV series including
'Danger Man', 'Man in a Suitcase', 'Softly Softly', 'The Avengers', 'Special Branch', 'The Persuaders', then thirteen episodes of
'Upstairs, Downstairs', 'The Sweeney', on all ten episodes of the TV mini-series
'Anna Karenina', 'A Woman of Substance', on thirteen episodes of
'A Bit of a Do', on twelve of
'Ain't Misbehavin', and all five of the mini-series
'Up Rising' in 2000 which was to be her final screen role. Pagett chronicled her experiences with manic depression in her 1998 book titled
'Diamonds Behind My Eyes' from which she later recovered.
* Tony Hendra - born
Anthony Christopher Hendra on 10th July 1941 and died 4th March 2021, aged 79. Hendra was an English Actor, Writer, occasional Producer and satirist. Educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire, south-west England, (where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking), and was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights revue in 1962, alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Tim Brooke-Taylor. He was probably best known for being the head writer and Co-Producer in 1984 of the first six shows of the long-running British satirical television series
'Spitting Image', and for starring in the 1984 mockumentary film
'This Is Spinal Tap' as the band's manager Ian Faith. During his career he accumulated twelve screen acting credits, fourteen as Writer and five as Producer, with his acting roles also taking in
'Jumpin' Jack Flash' in 1986 with Whoopi Goldberg,
'Life with Mikey' in 1993 with Michael J. Fox,
'The Real Blonde' in 1997 with Matthew Modine with
'Suits' in 1999 being his final film role. In the years in between there were mostly single episodes on the TV series including
'Miami Vice', 'The Cosby Mysteries', 'Law & Order : Criminal Intent' and
'Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell' most recently in 2019. Among his writing credits, he also wrote the Screenplay for
'The Great White Hype' - the 1996 feature film starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans, Jon Lovitz, Peter Berg, John Rhys-Davis and Jamie Foxx. In addition he also wrote or co-wrote numerous books including his 2004 memoir
'Father Joe : The Man Who Saved My Soul'.
* David Bailie - born 4th December 1937, died 5th March 2021, aged 83. Bailie was a South African born Actor of film, television and theatre who throughout the 1960's and '70's worked with both the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. His acting career launched with an uncredited role in 1961's
'Flame in the Streets' with John Mills and over the following six decades he would follow this up with roles in other feature films including
'Henry VIII and His Six Wives', 'The Creeping Flesh' with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing,
'Legend of the Werewolf' with Peter Cushing,
'Cutthroat Island' with Matthew Modine and Geena Davis,
'Joan of Arc' with Mila Jovovich and John Malkovich,
'Gladiator' with Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, and then
'Pirates of the Caribbean : The Curse of the Black Pearl' and its sequels
'Dead Man's Chest' and
'At World's End' as Cotton, the mute pirate who has his tongue cut out, so he trained his parrot, also named Cotton, to speak on his behalf,
'The House That Jack Built' with Matt Dillon and Uma Thurman with
'The Islander' with James Cosmo currently in post-production. In the intervening years there were also single and multiple episodes of TV series and mini-series such as
'The Fenn Street Gang', 'Softly Softly : Task Force', 'Doctor Who : Dask', 'Blake's 7', 'The Onedin Line' and
'Sinbad'. Bailie also worked as a professional photographer with a studio in West Kensington, London specialising in portraiture and landscapes.
* Trevor Peacock - born 19th May 1931 and died 8th March 2021, aged 89. Peacock was an English Actor, and early on in his career a screen writer and song writer, of television, film and theatre who amassed 119 screen acting credits to his name during a career spanning seven decades, which began with a writing credit on fifty-two episodes of
'Six-Five Special' in 1957/58. His acting career launched in 1961 in an uncredited role on the feature film
'What a Whopper' followed by his first credited screen appearance in 1963 in
'The Barber of Stamford Hill' with other films following including
'Catch Me a Spy' in 1971 with Kirk Douglas,
'Lady Caroline Lamb' in 1972,
'Hamlet' in 1990 with Mel Gibson,
'The Trial' in 1993 with Anthony Hopkins,
'Roseanna's Grave' in 1997 with Jean Reno,
'Sunshine' in 1999 with Ralph Fiennes,
'Fred Clause' in 2007 with Vince Vaughn and
'Quartet' in 2012 with Billy Connolly being his final feature film role. In the intervening years there were appearances on numerous TV series taking in
'Man in a Suitcase', 'Father, Dear Father', 'The Gentle Touch', on ten episodes of
'Born and Bred', 'C.A.T.S. Eyes', 'Last of the Summer Wine', 'Van der Valk', 'Minder', 'The Bill', 'Love Hurts', 'Heartbeat', 'Jonathan Creek', 'EastEnders', 'The Royal' and on twenty-six episodes of
'The Vicar of Dibley' between 1994 and 2015 - perhaps his best known role as Jim Trott. Peacock also wrote the 1960's hit single
'Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter', recorded by Herman's Hermits, Joe Brown's
'That's What Love Will Do' and Jess Conrad's
'Mystery Girl'. Over the years he also regularly acted with the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, as well as writing a number of shows for the company, and also at the Aldwych Theatre, London.
* Leon Gast - born 30th March 1936, died 8th March 2021, aged 85. Gast was an American documentary film Director, Producer, Cinematographer, and Editor. His documentary,
'When We Were Kings' depicts the iconic heavyweight boxing match known as The Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. This film would go on to win the 1996 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Independent Spirit Award. His film making credits took in twelve as Director, eleven as Producer, five as Editor and three as Cinematographer beginning with his lensing of the 1968 film
'Blonde on a Bum Trip'. His first Director credit came in 1972 on the doco
'Our Latin Thing' which he followed up with the other documentaries including
'B.B. King : Live in Africa' in 1974,
'Hells Angels Forever' in 1983,
'1 Love' in 2003,
'Smash His Camera' in 2010,
'Manny' in 2014 and
'Sporting Dreams' in 2015. Gast was a stills photographer for Vogue, Esquire, and Harper's Bazaar, and he photographed album covers for Fania All-Stars which led to his documentary filmmaking career. He was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Door International Film Festival in 2012, and all up was the recipient of twelve award wins and another eight nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit.
* Cliff Simon - born 7th September 1962 and died 9th March 2021, aged 58. Simon was a South African born Actor and athlete who since 2000 had resided in Los Angeles. During his career he amassed twenty-six screen acting credits, one as Producer and five providing automated dialogue replacement on
'Safe House', 'Death Race : Inferno', 'Blended', 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' and
'Grimsby'. His acting career took off in his native South Africa in 1991 on
'Egoli : Place of Gold' running through until 1999. Upon arriving in America he landed a role on
'Nash Bridges' in 2000 with Don Johnson, and that same year he scored a role in the feature film
'Operation Delta Force 5 : Random Fire' before gaining a recurring role as Ba'al on
'Stargate SG-1' and the video film follow up
'Stargate : Continuum' in 2008. He would follow these up with appearances on TV shows including
'24', 'NCIS : Los Angeles', 'Days of Our Lives', 'The Americans', 'NCIS : New Orleans', 'Castle', 'Criminal Minds : Beyond Borders', the feature film
'Project Eden' in 2017, and four episodes on
'Personal Space' in 2018, with the fifteen minutes Sci-Fi short film
'The Long Dig' in 2020 being his final screen credit.
'Into the Unknown' was Simon's new show which premiered on Travel Channel in 2020, and had already aired the first season on History Channel in Europe under the name
'Uncharted Mysteries' - a paranormal, investigative adventure show on which he served as the host and Executive Producer. Simon died in a kiteboarding accident in Topanga, California.
* Norman J. Warren - born 25th June 1942 and died 11th March 2021 aged 78. Warren was an English film Director and occasional Actor, Writer, Editor, Cinematographer and Producer. He is perhaps best known for his 1970's horror films including
'Satan's Slave', 'Prey' and
'Terror' and for sex comedies such as
'Outer Touch' (aka
'Outer Spaced' and
'Spaced Out' released in 1979). He also made
'Inseminoid' in 1981,
'Gunpowder' in 1986,
'Bloody New Year' in 1987 and next up was his thirteen minute short drama offering
'Incident' which he Directed, wrote and Edited in 2007 with the short
'The Devil Made Them Do It' in 2014 being his final film making offering, although he did take an acting role in the thirty-one minute short
'Dr. Balden Cross : Beyond the Void' in 2018. Although Warren did not release a feature film between 1987 and 2014, he continued to work in the industry directing music videos and educational short films. His horror films developed a cult following, culminating in the making of
'Evil Heritage', a 1999 documentary about his work, and the release of a DVD box set in 2004.
* Isidore Mankofsky - born 22nd September 1931, died 11th March 2021, aged 89. Mankofsky was an American Cinematographer who lensed ninety-five feature films, made for TV movies, television mini-series and TV series throughout his career which spanned five decades and kick started with
'The Secret Sharer' in 1967. After a number of short films in the late '60's his following feature film credits took in the likes of
'Werewolves on Wheels' in 1971,
'Scream Blacula Scream' in 1973,
'The Second Coming of Suzanne' in 1974 with Sondra Locke and Richard Dreyfuss,
'The Muppet Movie' in 1979,
'The Jazz Singer' in 1980 with Neil Diamond and Laurence Olivier,
'Better Off Dead' in 1985 with John Cusack,
'One Crazy Summer' in 1986 with John Cusack and Demi Moore with the animated feature
'Too Loud a Solitude' in 2007 with Paul Giamatti lending his voice talents being his final film credit. In between time he also worked on ten episodes of
'Doctor's Hospital', on all six episodes of the mini-series
'Captains and the Kings', 'Columbo' and
'Mrs. Columbo', 'Magnum, P.I.', 'Nutcracker : Money, Madness & Murder', 'Disneyland', 'Love, Lies and Murder', 'Trade Winds', and the pilot episode of
'Nowhere Man', plus numerous made for TV movies.
Mankofsky had been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers since 1979.
* Henry Darrow - born
Enrique Tomas Delgado Jimenez on 15th September 1933 and died 14th March 2021 aged 87. Darrow was an American character actor of stage, television and film perhaps best known for his role as Manolito 'Mano' Montoya on the 1960's hit television series
'The High Chaparral'. Darrow accumulated 148 screen acting roles throughout his career which launched with uncredited role in the 1959 TV series
'Cimarron City' which then led to a number of uncredited bit-parts in feature films including
'Curse of the Undead', 'Revenge of the Virgins', 'The 3rd Voice', 'Cage of Evil', 'Man-Trap' and
'Summer and Smoke'. From here he went on to credited roles in the feature films
'The Glass Cage', 'The Dream of Hamish Mose', 'Cancel My Reservation' with Bob Hope,
'Badge 373' with Robert Duvall,
'Where's Willie?', 'St. Helens', 'Birds of Paradise', 'Losin' It' with Tom Cruise,
'The Hitcher' with Rutger Hauer,
'W.A.R. : Women Against Rape' with Frank Stallone,
'The Last of the Finest' with Brian Dennehy,
'Maverick' with Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster,
'Runaway Jury' with John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman with
'Soda Springs' with Tom Skerritt being his final film role in 2012. In the intervening years there were many TV series appearances taking in
'Wagon Train', 'The Wild Wild West', 'Bonanza', 'Gunsmoke', 'Daniel Boone', on ninety-seven episodes of
'The High Chapparral', 'Kung Fu', 'Kojak', 'Mission : Impossible', 'The Invisible Man', 'The Streets of San Francisco', 'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'The Gemini Man', 'Hawaii Five-0', 'Wonder Woman', 'Police Woman', 'The Bionic Woman', 'The Waltons', on thirteen episodes of
'The New Adventures of Zorro', 'Dynasty', 'Dallas', 'Zorro and Son', 'T.J. Hooker', on ninety-three episodes of
'Santa Barbara', on sixty-three episodes of
'Zorro', and on fourteen episodes of
'The Bold and the Beautiful'. Darrow was a member of the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and a member of SAG's Ethnic Minorities Committee. He was also a founder of 'Nosotros', an organisation helping Latino actors land non-stereotyped parts.
* Yaphet Kotto - born 15th November 1939, died 15th March 2021, aged 81. Kotto was an American Actor of stage, film and television who amassed ninety-five screen acting credits throughout his career which started in the 1963 feature film in an uncredited role in the comedy Western
'4 For Texas' with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. He would follow this up with roles in more notable feature films including
'The Thomas Crown Affair' in 1968 with Steve McQueen,
'Live and Let Die' in 1973 with Roger Moore as James Bond,
'Truck Turner' in 1974 with Isaac Hayes,
'Alien' in 1979 with Sigourney Weaver,
'Brubaker' in 1980 with Robert Redford,
'The Star Chamber' in 1983 with Michael Douglas,
'Eye of the Tiger' in 1986 with Gary Busey,
'The Running Man' in 1987 with Arnold Schwarzenegger,
'Midnight Run' in 1988 with Robert De Niro,
'The Puppet Masters' in 1994 with Donald Sutherland,
'Two If by Sea' in 1996 with Sandra Bullock with
'Witless Protection' in 2008 being his final film outing although he did lend his voice to the 2014 video game release of
'Alien : Isolation' reprising his role of Parker from the original
'Alien' film. In the years in between he also appeared in many TV series, taking in
'Tarzan', 'Bonanza', 'The High Chaparral', 'Hawaii Five-0', 'Daniel Boone', 'Gunsmoke', 'Fantasy Island', 'The A-Team', on all twelve episodes of
'For Love and Honour', on 122 episodes of
'Homicide : Life on the Street' which he would follow up with the made for TV movie
'Homicide : The Movie'. Although Kotto was born in New York City he was of Cameroonian decent and his father was the Crown Prince of the Royal Bell family of Cameroon who emigrated to the USA in the 1920's.
* Jacques Franz - born 4th April 1947, and died 17th March 2021, aged 73. Franz was a French Actor renowned for his theatre work, and his voice, which he lent to many Actors, such as Robert De Niro, Mel Gibson, John Goodman, and Nick Nolte. Franz also appeared in numerous films throughout his six decades in front of the camera including his debut feature film in 1975
'L'homme du fleuve' which he followed up with the likes of
'The Little Wheedlers' and
'The Breakout' both in 1978,
'Don Juan' in 1998 with Penelope Cruz and Emmanuelle Beart,
'A Loving Father' in 2002 with Gerard Depardieu,
'The Day Will Come' in 2009,
'G.I. Joe : The Rise of Cobra' in 2009 too with Channing Tatum and Dennis Quaid,
'Heartbreaker' in 2010 with Vanessa Paradis and Andrew Lincoln with
'Poor Bastards' in 2019 being his final film role. In the years in between he lent his voice talents to such animated features as
'The Land Before Time', 'Toy Story 2', 'The Emperor's New Groove', 'Monsters, Inc.', 'Treasure Planet', 'Home on the Range', 'Shark Tale', 'Brave', 'ParaNorman', 'Rio 2' and
'Home' most recently in 2015.
* Richard Gilliland - born 23rd January 1950, died 18th March 2021, aged 71. Gilliland was an American Actor of film and television who accumulated ninety-one screen acting credits throughout his five decade spanning career launching with the TV movie in 1974
'Unwed Father'. He would follow this up with his debut feature in the horror
'Bug' in 1975, and then the likes of
'Stay Hungry' in 1976 with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeff Bridges and Sally Field, then
'The White Buffalo' with Charles Bronson,
'Flying High II : The Sequel' with Lloyd Bridges,
'Star Kid', 'Home Room', 'Vampire Clan', 'Parts Per Billion' with Frank Langella with
'Case 347' in 2020 being his final acting role. In the intervening years there were many appearances on single and multiple episodes of TV shows taking in
'The Streets of San Francisco', on six of
'McMillan & Wife', on twenty-three episodes of
'Operation Petticoat', 'The Waltons' and three made for TV movie spin offs,
'Fantasy Island', 'The Love Boat', on ten episodes of
'Heartland', on seven of
'Thirtysomething', on fourteen of
'Deigning Women', 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Matlock', 'The Practice', '24', 'The Unit', 'Dexter', 'Desperate Housewives', 'Criminal Minds' and
'Imposters'.
* George Segal - born 13th February 1934, and died 23rd March 2021, aged 87. Segal was an American Actor of TV and film and a musician. He notched up 126 screen acting roles in a career which kicked off in 1960 in the made for TV movie
'The Closing Door' and over the seven decades that followed his more notable big screen roles included his debut appearance in 1961's
'The Young Doctors', then
'The Longest Day' with John Wayne and Richard Burton,
'The New Interns' with Michael Callan for which he won the Most Promising Newcomer Golden Globe Award,
'Invitation to a Gunfighter' with Yul Brynner,
'King Rat' with Tom Courtney, '
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?' with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and for which he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards,
'The Quiller Memorandum' with Max von Sydow and Alec Guinness,
'No Way to Treat a Lady' with Rod Steiger,
'The Bridge at Remagen' with Robert Vaughn,
'The Owl and the Pussycat' with Barbra Streisand,
'The Hot Rock' with Robert Redford,
'A Touch of Class' with Glenda Jackson for which he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor,
'California Split' with Elliott Gould,
'The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox' with Goldie Hawn,
'Fun with Dick and Jane' with Jane Fonda,
'Look Who's Talking' and its follow up
'Look Who's Talking Now' both with John Travolta,
'For the Boys' with James Caan,
'Joshua Tree' with Dolph Lundgren,
'The Cable Guy' with Jim Carey,
'The Mirror Has Two Faces' with Barbra Streisand and Jeff Bridges,
'Three Days to Vegas' with Peter Falk and Rip Torn,
'2012' with John Cusack,
'Love & Other Drugs' with Jake Gyllenhaal, with
'Elsa & Fred' being his final feature film appearance in 2014 with Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine. He also appeared in numerous TV shows over the years including six episodes on
'Take Five', thirteen on
'Murphy's Law', 'Murder, She Wrote', 149 episodes on
'Just Shoot Me!', 'Private Practice', 'Boston Legal', 'Entourage', on twenty of
'Retired at 35', and on 177 of
'The Goldbergs' between 2013 and 2021. All up Segal scored five awards wins and another ten nominations. Segal was also an accomplished banjo player. He released three albums and performed with the instrument in several of his acting roles and on late-night television. He also appeared in number of Off-Broadway shows earlier on his career in
'The Iceman Cometh', 'Antony and Cleopatra', 'Gideon' and
'Rattle of a Simple Man'.
* Jessica Walter - born 31st January 1941, died 24th March 2021, aged 80. Walter was an American Actress of theatre, film and television who amassed 162 screen acting credits to her name in a career spanning seven decades and which launched in in 1960 in a single episode of the TV series
'Diagnosis : Unknown'. Her first feature film role came in 1964 in
'Lilith' with Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg and in the intervening years she would follow this up with roles in
'The Group' with Candice Bergen,
'Grand Prix' with James Garner and Eva Marie Saint,
'Bye Bye Braverman' with George Segal,
'Number One' with Charlton Heston,
'Play Misty for Me' with Clint Eastwood,
'The Flamingo Kid' with Matt Dillon,
'Ghost in the Machine' with Karen Allen,
'Slums of Beverly Hills' with Alan Arkin,
'The Dummy' with Adrien Brody and
'The Mimic' in 2020 being her final film appearance. In the years in between time, there were numerous single and multiple TV series appearances taking in
'East Side/West Side', 'The Nurses', on thirteen episodes of
'For the People', 'Mission : Impossible', 'Alias Smith and Jones', on six of
'The F.B.I.', 'Banacek', 'Mannix', 'Tenafly', 'Columbo', 'Ironside', 'McCloud', 'McMillan & Wife', 'Wonder Woman', 'Knots Landing', on eight episodes of
'The Love Boat', on eight of
'Three's a Crowd', on ten of
'Trapper John, M.D.', 'Magnum, P.I.', on all sixty-five episodes lending her voice on
'Dinosaurs', 'Murder, She Wrote', on six of
'One Life to Live', on twenty of
'Oh Baby', on thirteen of
'90210', 'Saving Grace', 'Gravity', on twenty episodes of
'Retired at 35', on eighty-four episodes of
'Arrested Development' and on all 119 episodes providing the voice of Mallory Archer on the award winning animated series
'Archer', with a single episode on
'American Housewife' earlier this year. All up Walter notched up ten award wins and a further twenty-three nominations including two Golden Globes nods for Most Promising Newcomer for
'Grand Prix' and Best Actress for
'Play Misty for Me'. She won eight awards for
'Arrested Development' and was nominated another ten times for the same show. Walter also took roles in both Broadway and Off-Broadway stage productions, earlier in her career as well as much later on too including the revival of
'Anything Goes' on Broadway in 2011.
* muMs da Schemer - born
Craig Grant on 18th December 1968 and died 24th March 2021, aged 52. Grant was an American Poet and Actor of stage, film and television who accumulated sixty-seven screen acting roles in his career which kicked off in 1999 with a bit part in Martin Scorsese's
'Bringing Out the Dead' with Nicolas Cage. His subsequent feature film outings included
'Bamboozled' for Spike Lee,
'Dark Water' with Jennifer Connolly,
'Interview' with and for Steve Buscemi,
'Ball Don't Lie' with Rosanna Arquette,
'An Englishman in New York' with John Hurt,
'The Good Heart' with Paul Dano and Brian Cox,
'Breaking Point' with Tom Berenger,
'Side Effects' for Steven Soderbergh,
'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' for Alejandro G. Inarritu,
'Good Time' with Robert Pattinson,
'Monsters and Men' with John David Washington, an uncredited role in Spike Lee's
'BlacKkKlansman' with
'Scrapper' currently in post-production. In the meantime there were also roles on forty-nine episodes of
'Oz' as Arnold 'Poet' Jackson, then
'The Sopranos', 'Law & Order : Criminal Intent', 'Boston Legal', 'Cold Case', 'Law & Order : SVU', 'Blue Bloods', 'Luke Cage', 'She's Gotta Have It', 'City on a Hill', with
'Bull', 'The Last O.G' and
'Hightown' all coming in 2020. He first gained widespread attention as a poet and performer when he was featured in the documentary
'SlamNation', which followed him and the other poets of 1996 Nuyorican Poetry Slam Team as they competed at the 1996 National Poetry Slam. Grant was a member of the New York City's LAByrinth Theatre Company and he either wrote or performed for both in such productions as
'A View from 151st Street', 'A Sucker Emcee', 'Paradox of the Urban Cliche' and
'The Insurgents'.
* Bertrand Tavernier - born 25th April 1941, and died 25th March 2021, aged 79. Tavernier was a French Director, Writer, Producer and occasional Actor who accumulated forty Directing credits, thirty-three as Writer, eleven as Producer and six acting roles to his name in a career which began in 1960 as Assistant Director on the twelve minute short film
'Wen kummert's?'. He would go on to act in his screen debut in an uncredited role in the twenty-three minute short French film
'The Bakery Girl of Monceau' in 1963, with his Director debut coming a year later in 1964 in two segments of two feature films
'Les baisers' and
'Chance at Love'. It would be ten years before his next film making outing which came in 1974 with
'L'horloger de Saint-Paul' (aka
'The Clockmaker of St. Paul') with Philippe Noiret and which won the Silver Bear Special Jury Prize at the 1974 Berlin International Film Festival. Following this there was the likes of
'The Judge and the Assassin' with Philippe Noiret and Isabelle Huppert,
'Death Watch' with Harvey Keitel and Harry Dean Stanton,
'Clean Slate' with Philippe Noiret and Isabelle Huppert again,
'A Sunday in the Country' which won Tavernier the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984 plus a slew of other award wins and nominations,
'Round Midnight' with Dexter Gordon which picked up eleven award wins and a further twelve nominations including Best Music, Original Score at the 1987 Academy Awards,
'Life and Nothing But' with Philippe Noiret once again which collected nine award wins and another fourteen nods including the BAFTA win in 1990 for Best Film not in the English Language,
'Daddy Nostalgie' with Dirk Bogarde,
'It All Starts Today' with Philippe Torreton and which won twelve awards and another eight nods including three awards at the 2000 Berlin International Film Festival and was also nominated for the Golden Bear,
'Safe Conduct' which was again nominated for the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival,
'In the Electric Mist' with Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman and Peter Sarsgaard,
'The Princess of Montpensier' with Melanie Thierry which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival,
'The French Minister' (aka
'Quai d'Orsay'), with his 2016 documentary
'My Journey Through French Cinema' exploring Tavernier's personal journey through French cinema, from films he enjoyed as a boy to his own early career, told through portraits of key creative figures, being his final film outing. He followed this up with a ten part TV Documentary series which he wrote and Directed titled
'Journeys Through French Cinema' in 2017/18 telling the audience about his fantastic journey through the cinema of his native country. Most of the films he Directed, he also wrote or co-wrote the Screenplay for. All up Tavernier won forty-nine awards and another fifty nominations including six wins and five nods at Berlin; one BAFTA win and one nomination; one win and five nominations at Cannes; and twenty nods plus five wins at the Cesar Awards and two wins and two nods at Venice.
* Robert Rodan - born
Robert Trimas on 30th January 1938 and died 25th March 2021, aged 83. Rodan was an American Actor of film and television who notched up just five screen acting roles during his short career spanning from a single episode in 1963 on
'Day in Court' to two uncredited feature film roles in 1964 in
'Looking for Love' with Connie Francis and
'Goodbye Charlie' with Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds, before being cast in seventy-nine episodes as Adam in
'Dark Shadows' in 1968. His final film role came in 1969 in
'The Minx' and after this he retired from acting and took up a new career in real estate. In 1996 however, he did appear in the doco
'Dark Shadows 30th Anniversary Tribute' and in 2020 he apperaed in the series
'The Literary License Podcast : Dark Shadows - The Robert Rodan Interview'.
* Myra Frances - born 10th March 1943, died 30th March 2021, aged 78. Frances was a British Actress mostly of television with the just two film credits to her name and twenty three TV roles. Her first role came in 1968 on two episodes of the TV series
'The Newcomers' with her first big screen role coming in 1974's
'Don't Just Lie There, Say Something!' with Leslie Philips with her second and final film role coming in 1982's
'Remembrance'. In the years in between there were appearances on TV series including
'Within These Walls', 'Survivors', 'Angels', 'The Sweeney', 'Hadleigh', 'Z Cars', 'Doctor Who', and
'The Gentle Touch' in 1984 being her final screen role.
Twenty 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. Remember the basic principles that continue to be 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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