In October, 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 . . . . . Marc Pilcher, Cynthia Harris, Patrick Horgan, Gerald Home, Ruthie Thompson, Bob Herron, Granville Adams, Brian Goldner, Ricarlo Flanagan, Diane Weyermann, Dorothy Steel, Betty Lynn, Geoffrey Chater, Denise Bryer, Leslie Bricusse, Jack Angel, Val Bisoglio, Halyna Hutchins, Martha Henry, Peter Scolari, George Butler, James Michael Tyler, Camille Saviola and Bert Newton.
* Marc Pilcher - born in December 1967 and died 3rd October 2021, aged 53. Pilcher was a British hair stylist and make-up artist who notched up fifty-six make-up department credits to his name in a career which began in 2003 on the TV movie
'Warrior Queen'. His first feature film came with 2006's
'Confetti' with Martin Freeman and Olivia Colman, which he followed up with the likes of
'Clash of the Titans' in 2010,
'Prince of Persia : Sands of Time' also in 2010,
'My Week with Marilyn' in 2011,
'Dark Shadows',
'Hyde Park on Hudson', and
'Great Expectations' all in 2012,
'Thor : The Dark World' in 2013,
'Exodus : Gods and Kings' in 2014,
'Beauty and the Beast' in 2017,
'Solo : A Star Wars Story' in 2018,
'Mary Queen of Scots' also in 2018,
'Judy' in 2019,
'Star Wars : Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker' in 2019 and most recently, the yet to be released
'The King's Man'. Over the years in between there were also hair and make-up works on many TV series including
'Silent Witness', 'School's Out', 'Downton Abbey', 'The Collection' and
'Bridgerton'. Pilcher was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling for
'Mary Queen of Scots' and he won the Primetime Emmy Award this year for Outstanding period and/or Character Hairstyling on
'Bridgerton'. All up he won four awards and three other nominations. He tested positive for COVID-19, which led to his death weeks after his Emmy win in September 2021.
* Cynthia Harris - born 9th August 1934, died 3rd October 2021, aged 87. Harris was an American Actress of film, television and theatre who accumulated fifty-seven screen acting credits throughout her fifty-one year career in front of the camera. Her first screen role came with the feature film
'Isadora' in 1968 with Vanessa Redgrave, James Fox and Jason Robards, and her other film roles that followed included
'Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me' in 1971,
'Up the Sandbox' in 1972 with Barbra Streisand,
'Tempest' in 1982 with John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands and Susan Sarandon,
'Reuben, Reuben' in 1983 with Tom Conti,
'Three Men and a Baby' in 1987 with Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg,
'The Distinguished Gentleman' in 1992 with Eddie Murphy with
'I Do & I Don't' in 2007 being her final big screen outing. In the intervening years there were appearances on single and multiple episodes of TV series including
'Kojak', on ten episodes of
'Husbands, Wives & Lovers', on the mini-series
'Edward and Mrs. Simpson' in which she portrayed Wallis Warfield Simpson in which she was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award,
'Three's Company', 'Hart to Hart', 'Knots Landing', 'The Equalizer', on seven episodes of
'L.A. Law', 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Law & Order' and on seventy-three episodes of
'Mad About You' between 1993 and 2019 as Sylvia Buchman. Harris was one of the co-artistic directors for the Off-Broadway company The Actors Company Theatre, which she co-founded in 1993.
* Patrick Horgan - born 26th May 1929 and died 6th October 2021, aged 92. Horgan was a British born American Actor of film and TV who notched up forty seven screen acting roles during his career which began in the made for TV movie
'They Got What They Wanted' in 1954. His first credited big screen role came in 1968's
'The Thomas Crown Affair' with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, and he would follow this up with Woody Allen's
'Zelig' in 1983 as the voice of the Narrator with
'The Curse of the Jade Scorpion' for Woody Allen again in 2001 being his final screen appearance. In the years in between there were roles of TV shows taking in
'Daniel Boone', 'The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.', 'Mission : Impossible', 'The High Chaparral', 'Star Trek : The Original Series', 'The Wild Wild West', 'Bewitched' and then on 429 episodes of
'The Doctors' between 1970 and 1974, on twenty seven of
'Ryan's Hope', 'Guiding Light', 'The Edge of Night' and
'One Life to Live'. As well as recording many audio books for the blind, including the entire Sherlock Holmes catalogue, he authored of
'The Detection of Sherlock Holmes', which proposes links between the stories and Celtic bardic legends. He has also played Sherlock Holmes on stage.
* Gerald Home - born 18th October 1950 and died 6th October 2021, aged 70. Home was a British Actor of film, television and theatre who had just seventeen screen acting credits throughout his career which began with an uncredited role in 1978's
'The Thirty Nine Steps' with Robert Powell. His next uncredited role came in a little Sci-Fi feature
'Star Wars : Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi' in 1983, with his final three big screen roles coming in the twilight of his career with 2010's
'Chatroom', then
'London Boulevard' that same year with Colin Farrell, Ray Winstone and Keira Knightley, with
'Where I Belong' in 2014 being his final screen role. In the intervening years there were roles on TV series including
'Jenny's War', 'The Boot Street Band', 'Keeping Mum', 'Casualty' and
'Situation Critical'. Home also appeared in West End of London theatre productions
'No Sex Please, We're British', 'The Arabian Nights' and in
'The Blue Angel' with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Gielgud Theatre. He was in ten plays at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, London, where he lived.
* Ruthie Tompson - born
Ruth Irene Tompson on 22nd July 1920, died 10th October 2021, aged 111. Tompson was an American camera technician and an animation checker, best known for working on multiple Disney animated feature films. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was eight years of age. They lived down the street from Walt and Roy Disney, who were starting their studio out of their uncle's garage. At the age of eighteen Walt Disney offered her a job as an inker, and following her training she transferred to the Paint Department where she assisted with
'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. After working on several other Disney films, Tompson was promoted to the final checker position where she reviewed animation cels before they were photographed onto film. By 1948, Tompson was working in the camera department, developing camera moves and mechanics to shoot animation. She became one of the first three women admitted into the International Photographers Union, of the IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees). She continued to work through the studio ranks, eventually becoming the supervisor of the screen planning department, until retiring in 1975 having worked for The Walt Disney Company for nearly forty years. Her other screen credits at Disney, some of which were uncredited, include
'Pinocchio' and
'Fantasia' both in 1940,
'Dumbo' in 1941,
'Bambi' in 1942,
'Sleeping Beauty' in 1959,
'Mary Poppins' in 1964,
'The Aristocats' in 1970,
'Robin Hood' in 1973 and
'The Rescuers' in 1977. She later worked on the animated
'The Lord of the Rings' and
'Metamorphoses' both in 1978. In 2000, Tompson was honoured by the Disney Legends programme and received the Disney Legends Award for her work at the Walt Disney Studios, and in 2017, Tompson was honoured by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for her contributions to the animation industry.
* Bob Herron - born 23rd September 1924 and died 10th October 2021, aged 97. Herron was an American stuntman and Actor who performed in hundreds of movies from 1950 right through until 2011. He notched up an impressive 342 stuntman credits and a further sixty-five acting credits to his name in a career that launched in the feature film in 1950
'Winchester '73' although for the most of the 1950's, '60's and '70's his stunt work went uncredited. Of his many stunt credits, most notably there was
'Rio Bravo', 'Taras Bulba', 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World', 'The Great Race', 'The Wild Bunch', 'Paint Your Wagon', 'They Call Me Mr. Tibbs', 'Shaft', 'Diamonds Are Forever', 'Soylent Green', 'American Graffiti', 'Blazing Saddles', 'Death Race 2000', 'Rocky', 'Any Which Way You Can', 'Poltergeist', 'Pale Rider', 'The Goonies', 'The Untouchables', 'Dick Tracy', 'Batman Returns', 'True Lies', 'Batman Forever', 'L.A. Confidential', 'Mousehunt', 'Lethal Weapon 4', 'Be Cool' with the TV movie
'Love's Christmas Journey' in 2011 being his final stunt credit. Herron's first credited acting role came with 1953's
'Gun Fury' and whilst many of his subsequent film acting roles were uncredited, his credited roles on TV series took in the likes of
'Dragnet', 'Laredo', 'Gunsmoke', 'Kung Fu', 'The Magician', 'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'Dallas' with
'Reno 911!' being his final acting credit in 2009.
* Granville Adams - born 8th October 1963 and died 10th October 2021, aged 58. Adams was an American Actor of film and TV who notched up just five acting credits throughout his career which began in 1996 appearing in eleven episodes of
'Homicide : Life on the Street' through until 1999, and the spin-off made for TV movie
'Homicide : The Movie' in 2000, then the feature film
'Empire' in 2002 with John Leguizamo and Peter Sarsgaard, followed by forty-eight episodes on
'Oz' between 1997 and 2003, finishing up with the movie
'Magic City Memoirs' in 2011 being his final screen appearance.
* Brian Goldner - born 21st April 1963, died 12th October 2021, aged 58. Goldner was an American film Producer and business executive. In 2008 Goldner became Hasbro's Chief Executive Officer until his death, and he served as Executive Producer on the successful 2007
'Transformers' film adaptation Directed by Michael Bay, which was credited with broadening Hasbro into a character-based multimedia company. He continued this role on the 2009 films
'Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen' and
'G.I. Joe : The Rise of Cobra'. He would serve as either Producer or Executive Producer on the following films, including
'Transformers : Dark of the Moon' in 2011,
'Battleship' in 2012,
'G.I.Joe : Retaliation' in 2013,
'Transformers : Age of Extinction' in 2014,
'Ouija' in 2014,
'Ouija : Origin of Evil' in 2016,
'Transformers : The Last Knight' in 2017,
'Bumblebee' in 2018, and
'Snake Eyes' most recently this year. In post-production for a 2023 release is
'Dungeons & Dragons', currently filming for a 2022 release is
'Transformers : Rise of the Beasts' with a further seven movie projects announced including
'Power Rangers', 'Monopoly', 'G.I.Joe : Ever Vigilant' and
'Clue'.
* Ricarlo Flanagan - born 23rd March 1980, died 12th October 2021, aged 41. Flanagan was an American TV Actor and Writer, Comedian and Rapper who accumulated just twelve screen acting and two writing credits to his name in a relatively short career which launched with his co-writer and acting credit on the short four minute film
'The Park' in 2014. He followed this up with a single episode on
'The Mick' in 2017, four episodes on
'Shameless' that same year, four on
'Walk the Prank' then more single appearances on
'Insecure', 'The Neighbourhood', 'Mad About You', 'Kidding' and
'Room 104'. In pre-production at the time of his death was the made for TV movie
'The Tingle'. Flanagan died from complications arising from COVID-19.
* Diane Weyermann - born 22nd September 1955, and died 14th October 2021, aged 66. Weyermann was an American Executive Producer and Producer of documentary films, and the Chief Content Officer at Participant Media - the LA based film and TV production company since 2005. Her career in documentary film production began with the Al Gore doco
'An Inconvenient Truth' in 2006 which went on to win two Academy Awards and a total of thirty-one other award wins and another eleven nominations. She would follow this up with fifty-one other documentary screen titles including
'Chicago 10' and
'Darfur Now' both also in 2007,
'Food, Inc.' in 2008,
'Made in America' in 2013 Directed by Ron Howard,
'Citizenfour' in 2014 which won an Academy Award plus forty-three other wins and thirty-nine nominations,
'An Inconvenient Sequel : Truth to Power' in 2017,
'Human Flow' also in 2017,
'American Factory' in 2019 which also won an Oscar plus eighteen other award wins and forty-nine nominations,
'David Byrne's American Utopia' Directed by Spike Lee in 2020 and
'Totally Under Control' that same year,
'My Name Is Pauli Murray' and
'The First Wave' both in 2021.
* Dorothy Steel - born 23rd February 1926 and died 15th October 2021, aged 95. Steel was an American Actress of film and television who notched up just eleven screen acting credits in her career which launched at the tender age of 88 in 2015 with a single episode on
'The Trouble with Going Somewhere'. She followed this up with two short films in 2016 -
'Black Majick' and
'The Refuge', then the TV movie
'Merry Christmas, Baby' that same year before her feature film debut in 2017 in
'Daisy Withers' with Brooke Shields, then the MCU film
'Black Panther' with Chadwick Boseman in 2018,
'Poms' in 2019 with Diane Keaton and Jacki Weaver, and
'Jumanji : The Next Level' in 2019 with Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black. There was also four episodes on
'Saints & Sinners', a single one of
'The Oval', and the TV movie
'Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses' all in 2019.
* Betty Lynn - born
Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn on 29th August 1926 and died 16th October 2021, aged 95. Lynn was an American Actress of cinema, television and theatre who amassed fifty-seven screen acting roles throughout her career which kicked off in the 1948 feature film
'Sitting Pretty' with Maureen O'Hara. That same year she also appeared in
'Apartment for Peggy' with William Holden and
'June Bride' with Bette Davis. Her subsequent big screen roles included
'Cheaper by the Dozen' in 1950 with Myrna Loy,
'Payment on Demand' in 1951 with Bette Davis again,
'Meet Me in Las Vegas' in 1956 with Cyd Charisse and
'Gun for a Coward' also in 1956 with Fred MacMurray with
'The Singles' in 1967 being her final feature film role. In the intervening years and since then, there were also appearances on single and multiple episodes of TV shows taking in the likes of eight episodes on
'Where's Raymond', 'M Squad', 'Lawman', 'Wagon Train', 'Bronco', 'Tales of Wells Fargo', 'Mike Hammer', on twenty-six episodes of
'The Andy Griffith Show', 'Family Affair', on seven of
'My Three Sons', 'Mod Squad', 'Little House on the Prairie', 'Police Story', 'Barnaby Jones', 'Matlock' and her final screen role in 1990's
'Shades of LA'. At the time of her death, she was working on her autobiography, which is set to be released posthumously.
* Geoffrey Chater - born
Geoffrey Michael Chater Robinson on 23rd March 1921 and died 16th October 2021, aged 100. Chater was a British Actor of TV, stage and cinema who accumulated 163 screen acting roles throughout his career spanning six decades and which began in 1950 in the TV movie
'Double Exit'. Over the years that followed he would appear in other feature films including
'The Strange World of Planet X' in 1958,
'Missiles from Hell' that same year with Christopher Lee,
'If . . . .' in 1968 with Malcolm McDowell,
'10 Rillington Place' in 1971 with Richard Attenborough and John Hurt,
'O Lucky Man' in 1973 with Malcolm McDowell again,
'Barry Lyndon' in 1975 for Stanley Kubrick,
'Gandhi' in 1982 for Richard Attenborough and with Ben Kingsley,
'Bethune : The Making of a Hero' in 1990 with Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren being his final feature film. In the years in between there were numerous TV series roles taking in
'Motive for Murder', 'Z Cars', 'Emergency-Ward 10', 'The Avengers', 'The Champions', 'The Saint', 'Callan', 'Devenish', 'Brideshead Revisited', 'The New Statesman', 'Bergerac', 'One Foot in the Grave', 'Rumpole of the Bailey', 'The Bill', 'Foyle's War', 'Heartbeat' and
'Midsomer Murders' in 2005 being his final screen role.
* Denise Bryer - born 5th January 1928, died 16th October 2021, aged 93. Bryer was an English Actress of film and television best known for her voice work in the occasional feature film and animated children's TV series. Her career launched in 1946 in the American made for TV movie
'Junior Miss', which she followed up with her voice work as Twizzle in the children's animated series
'Twizzle' across fifty-two episodes from 1957 to 1958. Next came
'Four Feather Falls' to which she also lent her voice on all thirty-nine episodes together with her husband Nicholas Parsons. Her first feature film credit came with
'The Twelve Tasks of Asterix' in 1976, and then
'Gulliver's Travels' in 1977 with Richard Harris in the title role.
'Return to Oz' came next in 1985 and then
'Labyrinth' in 1986 with David Bowie and Jennifer Connolly which was to be her final feature film role. In the meantime, and in the years since there was also voice work on twenty-four episodes of
'X Bomber', thirty-nine on
'Terrahawks', five on
'G-Force Intergalatic' and nine on
'Noddy'. Her final screen credit came with the animated made for TV movie
'Firestorm' in 2018.
* Leslie Bricusse - born 29th January 1931, died 19th October 2021, aged 90. Bricusse was a British Composer, Lyricist, and Writer of stage play musicals and feature films. His first writing credit came with the 1956 film
'Charley Moon' with Max Bygraves which he followed up in 1958 with
'Bachelor of Hearts' with Hardy Kruger. His subsequent feature films writing credits included
'Three Hats for Lisa' in 1965 with Joe Brown,
'Doctor Dolittle' in 1967 with Rex Harrison,
'Scrooge' in 1970 with Albert Finney,
'Bullseye!' in 1990 with Michael Caine and Roger Moore with the TV movie
'Jekyll & Hyde : The Musical' being his final writing credit in 2001. His music and lyrics credits took in such film titles as
'You Only Live Twice', 'Doctor Dolittle', 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips', 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory', 'Peter Pan', 'Victor Victoria', 'Home Alone', 'Hook', 'Tom & Jerry : The Movie', and
'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' being his final credit in 2001. Bricusse won three awards and another twenty-five nominations throughout his career including two Academy Award wins for
'Doctor Dolittle' and
'Victor Victoria' plus another seven Oscar nods. He was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 2001 HRH the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to the film industry and to the theatre.
* Jack Angel - born 24th October 1930 and died 19th October 2021, aged 90. Angel was an American voice Actor who amassed 196 screen acting credits throughout his career which kicked off in the short thirteen minute film
'The Legend of Paul Bunyan' in 1973. From there, some of his other work on feature films, video games, and TV series included twenty-six episodes of
'Spider-Man', on 122 of
'Voltron : Defender of the Universe', 'The Transformers : The Movie', on seventeen of
'G.I. Joe', on sixty of
'The Transformers', on
'Beetlejuice' for Director Tim Burton, Disney's
'The Little Mermaid', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Aladdin', 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', 'Hercules', 'A Bug's Life', 'Tarzan', 'Monsters Inc.' 'Treasure Planet' and
'Monsters University', 'An American Tail : Fievel Goes West', 'Toy Story', 'Toy Story 2' and
'Toy Story 3', 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence', 'Cars', 'Ice Age : The Meltdown', 'The Lorax', 'Despicable Me 2' and
'Noah' in 2014 being his final feature film role albeit an uncredited one. He also lent his voice talents to numerous other TV shows taking in
'The Smurfs', 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Peter Pan and the Pirates', 'Where's Waldo?', 'Spacecats', 'All-New Dennis the Menace', 'The Fantastic Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor', and
'Transformers Project Nemesis'.
* Val Bisoglio - born
Italo Valentino Bisoglio on 7th May 1926 and died on 18th October 2021, aged 95. Bosoglio was an American Actor of film and TV who notched up sixty-five screen acting roles throughout his career which kicked off with a single episode on
'The Edge of Night' in 1964. His first big screen role came in the 1966 film
'Hot Rod Hullabaloo' which he followed up in 1968 with
'No Way to Treat a Lady' with Rod Steiger, Lee Remick and George Segal, with
'The Brotherhood' that same year with Kirk Douglas.
'The Don is Dead' came next in 1973 with Anthony Quinn and Robert Forster, then an uncredited role on
'Serpico' with Al Pacino in 1973,
'Linda Lovelace for President' in 1975,
'The Hindenburg' also in 1975 with George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft,
'St. Ives' in 1976 with Charles Bronson,
'Saturday Night Fever' with John Travolta in 1977,
'The Frisco Kid' in 1979 with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford, and
'Diamonds' in 1999 with Kirk Douglas, Dan Aykroyd and Lauren Bacall being his final film appearance. In the intervening years there were roles on TV shows taking in the likes of
'Bonanza', on thirty-seven episodes of
'The Doctors', 'The Partridge Family', on twelve of
'Roll Out', 'Kojak', 'Ironside', 'Police Woman', 'Matt Helm', 'McMillan & Wife', 'Barney Miller', 'McCloud', 'Starsky and Hutch', 'M*A*S*H', 'The Fall Guy', on 138 episodes of
'Quincy M.E.', 'Miami Vice', with three episodes on
'The Sopranos' in 2002 being his final screen role.
* Halyna Hutchins - born in 1979 and died 21st October 2021, aged 42. Hutchins was a Ukranian Cinematographer who after graduating from the Kyiv National University with a degree in international journalism and then working on documentary films as an investigative journalist in Eastern Europe, moved to Los Angeles to focus on filmmaking. She graduated from the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles with a Masters Degree in 2015. During her short career she notched up thirty-two Cinematography credits, beginning with the short three minute film
'Creedy and the Bee' in 2012. She followed this up with a string of other short films until 2017 which saw her first feature film credit on
'Snowbound' as DoP, then another string of short films before 2019's
'Darlin'' with Cooper Andrews,
'Archenemy' in 2020 with Joe Manganiello,
'Blindfire' also in 2020 and
'The Mad Hatter' this year. On 21st October, Hutchins was working in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as Director of Photography on the set of the Western feature film
'Rust', when Actor and Executive Producer Alec Baldwin discharged a gun used as a prop, mortally wounding her and injuring Director Joel Souza. The investigative case continues with Baldwin fully co-operating with the Police authorities while the shoot for the film has been shut down for an indefinite period. In 2019, she was named one of the '10 up-and-coming Directors of Photography who are making their mark' by American Cinematographer monthly magazine.
* Martha Henry - born 17th February 1938 and died 21st October 2021, aged 83. Henry was an American born Canadian Actress of film, television and theatre who accumulated thirty-seven screen acting credits in her career which began in 1960 on a single episode of
'First Person'. Her first big screen role came in 1979 with
'The New Comers '1978'', followed up by '
The Wars' in 1983,
'Dancing in the Dark' in 1986,
'White Light' in 1991,
'Mustard Bath' in 1993,
'The Republic of Love' in 2003 with Bruce Greenwood,
'Clean' in 2004 with Nick Nolte,
'Unless' in 2016 with Catherine Keener,
'Into Invisible Light' in 2018 and
'The Tempest' in 2019 being her final screen role. Over the years in between there were also appearances on TV shows and mini-series including
'Daniel Deronda', 'Empire, Inc', and
'At the Hotel'. Throughout her career Henry collected nine award wins and another three nominations as well as Henry being made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1981, and promoted to companion in 1990. She was made a member of the Order of Ontario in 1994. Henry received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for her lifetime contribution to Canadian theatre in 1996. She performed in numerous stage plays over forty-seven seasons in theatres from her native Stratford, Ontario through to Broadway and London's West End as both a performer and Director, and she died at her home in Stratford twelve days after her final stage appearance in
'Three Tall Women'.
* Peter Scolari - born 12th September 1955, died 22nd October 2021, aged 66. Scolari was an American Actor of stage, cinema and television who generated 107 screen acting credits throughout his career which kick started with the feature film
'Take Off', with his subsequent big screen roles coming with the likes of
'Imps*' in 1983, then
'The Rosebud Beach Hotel' in 1984 with Christopher Lee and Fran Drescher,
'Corporate Affairs' in 1990 with Bryan Cranston and Mary Crosby,
'Ticks' in 1993,
'That Thing You Do!' for and with Tom Hanks in 1996,
'The Polar Express' in 2004 with Tom Hanks again,
'Mentor' in 2006 with Rutger Hauer,
'Suburban Girl' in 2007 with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin,
'A Plumm Summer' also in 2007 with Jeff Daniels and William Baldwin,
'Dean' in 2016 with Kevin Kline and Mary Steenburgen with
'Looks That Kill' in 2020 being his final feature film role. Over the years in between there were numerous TV series appearances including thirteen episodes on
'Goodtime Girls', thirty-seven on
'Bosom Buddies' opposite Tom Hanks,
'Remington Steele', 'Baby Makes Five', 'Hotel', 'Family Ties', 'The Love Boat', on 142 episodes of
'Newhart', on ten of
'Dweebs', on sixty-six of
'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids : The TV Show' (of which he also Directed five shows and Produced two),
'Ally McBeal', 'ER', 'The West Wing', on five of
'Gotham', in the mini-series
'Madoff', on twenty-one episodes of
'Girls', 'Blue Bloods', on nine of
'Evil' and in the mini-series
'Lisey's Story' with Julianne Moore and Clive Owen this year. Scolari also appeared on Broadway in
'Wicked', 'Sly Fox', 'Hairspray', and
'Lucky Guy', which reunited him with his
'Bosom Buddies' co-star Tom Hanks. Scolari also appeared Off-Broadway in
'Old Man Joseph and His Family', 'The Exonerated', 'In the Wings', 'The Music Man' and
'White's Lies'. He won three awards and was nominated on six other occasions including three Primetime Emmy nods for
'Newhart' and a win for
'Girls'.
* George Butler - born 12th October 1943 and died 22nd October 2021, aged 78. Butler was a British and American documentary film maker, Producer and Writer who gained his first screen credit helming the famed documentary
'Pumping Iron' which thrust a young bodybuilder into the international spotlight - one Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1977. He followed this up in 1985 with
'Pumping Iron II : The Women', and then other documentary films including
'The Endurance : Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition' in 2000 and its follow up, the forty minute short film
'Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure' in 2001,
'Going Up River' in 2004 about Senator John Kerry's Navy tour of duty in Vietnam,
'Roving Mars' in 2006 and
'Tiger Tiger' in 2015. Butler’s films are characterised for their combination of high artistic, educational and entertainment values, as he believed well-crafted documentaries can hold their own against their dramatic feature film counterparts. Butler was the recipient of six award wins and another four nominations, all except for one being for
'The Endurance : Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition'. All up he has ten Director credits, eleven as Producer and three as Writer.
* James Michael Tyler - born 28th May 1962, died 24th October 2021, aged 59. Tyler was an American Actor of TV and film who accumulated just seventeen screen acting credits throughout his career which launched in 1992 in the short film
'The Roommate'. He followed this up in 1997 with his first feature film
'Motel Blue' with Sean Young and Robert Vaughn and then
'The Disturbance at Dinner' in 1998 and
'Foreign Correspondents' in 1999, with his last film role coming in
'Jason's Big Problem' in 2009. Between 1994 and 2004 he took what is undoubtedly his most renowned role on
'Friends' as Gunther across 150 episodes. Since then he has taken single episodes on other TV shows such as
'Just Shoot Me!', 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch', 'Scrubs' and on five episodes of
'Modern Music'. He also took roles in the short films
'Processing' and
'The Gesture and The Word' both in 2020.
* Camille Saviola - born 16th July 1950, died 28th October 2021, aged 71. Saviola was an American Actress of film, television and theatre who notched up forty-five screen acting roles during her career which kicked off in 1984 in the Woody Allen feature film
'Broadway Danny Rose' and in 1985 for Woody Allen again in
'The Purple Rose of Cairo'. Her subsequent big screen appearances took in the likes of
'Last Exit to Brooklyn' in 1989 with Jennifer Jason Leigh,
'Betsy's Wedding' in 1990 with and for Alan Alda,
'Shadows and Fog' in 1991 for Woody Allen once more,
'Addams Family Values' in 1993 with Angelica Huston and Raul Julia,
'Mr. Wrong' in 1996 with Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Pullman with
'To Whom It May Concern' in 2016 being her final film credit. In the meantime, there were roles on TV series and made for TV movies including
'Remington Steele', 'L.A. Law', on seven episodes of
'The Heights', 'NYPD Blue', on four of
'Star Trek : Deep Space Nine', 'Becker', 'JAG', on thirteen of
'First Monday', 'ER', 'Judging Amy', 'Without a Trace', 'Nip/Tuck', and the series
'Younger' most recently in 2018 and 2019.
* Bert Newton - born 23rd July 1938 and died 30th October 2021, aged 83. Newton was an Australian radio, theatre and television presenter and personality, as well as being cast in the occasional film. His acting credits amounted to just nine including the films
'Fatty Finn' in 1980,
'Doctors & Nurses' in 1981 and
'Remembering Nigel' in 2009. However, it is for his work hosting numerous television shows since he began hosting the Channel 7
'The Late Show' in 1957. In 1959 he switched TV channels and went to the Nine Network to host
'In Melbourne Today' and from 1959 to 1960 he hosted
'The Bert Newton Show' and in 1962 he hosted
'The Channel 9 Show'. He then worked as a regular guest on
'The Don Lane Show' from 1975 through until 1983, and then he became compere on the Nine Network's amateur talent programme
'New Faces' which was a success and ran from 1976 until 1985. From 1992 until 2005, Newton appeared on Channel Ten as host of
'Good Morning Australia', and he then returned to the Nine Network in early 2006, appearing on
'Bert's Family Feud', '20 to 1' which ran from 2006 through until 2011, and
'What a Year'. Newton's stage appearances included
'The Wizard of Oz', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'The Producers', 'The Sound of Music', 'Wicked', 'Annie', 'Grease The Musical' and as the Narrator in
'The Rocky Horror Show' in 2015. Newton was part of the Australian Logie Awards since the awards started in 1959, and hosted the annual awards ceremony on a record breaking seventeen occasions. He was nominated for many Logie Awards and won four Gold Logies in 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1984 and was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1988. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1979, for his service to the performing arts, and in 2006 was made a Member of the Order of Australia 'for service to the entertainment industry as a presenter, actor, comedian, and through support for a range of medical research and charitable organisations'. In 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal, and his other show business awards include a Mo Award (1997), a Television Society of Australia award (1981 and 1983) amongst others.
Twenty-four 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 many governments the world over are easing up on their COVID-19 restrictions, others are enforcing further stages of lockdowns, and in some cases are going through the ravages of a fourth and fifth outbreak as the Delta variant continues to tighten its grip around the world. Thankfully, restrictions are now being eased here in Australia after some six hundred days of lockdowns. However, we should all continue to be cautious by remembering 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, and get vaccinated - 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. R.I.P. you screen legends.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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