In August, 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 . . . . . Paul Eenhoorn, Shirley Barrett, John Michael Herndon, Clu Gulager, Roger E. Mosley, Olivia Newton-John, Anne Heche, Robyn Griggs, Denise Dowse, Marshall Napier, Bruce Montague, Duggie Brown, Josephine Tewson, Virginia Patton, Leon Vitali, Mildred Kornman, Helen Grayco, Vincent Gil, Gerald Potterton, Joe E. Tata, Robert LuPone, Tucker Wiard, Ralph Eggleston and Charlbi Dean.
* Paul Eenhoorn - born 16th November 1948 and died 1st August 2022, aged 73. Eenhoorn was an Australian Actor living and working in the USA who generated forty-three screen acting roles throughout his career which began on a single episode of the iconic Australian TV soap series
'Home and Away' in 1992. His first big screen role came in 2004 with
'Max Rules' which he would follow up over the ensuing years with the likes of
'Warrior's End' in 2009,
'Eyes in the Dark' in 2010,
'Half Empty' in 2011,
'Beautiful Brit Baker' in 2012,
'This Is Martin Bonner' in 2013,
'In the Company of Women' in 2015,
'Viper Club' in 2018, with
'Monarch City' in 2022, with
'The Devil is You' and
'Froth and Bubble' currently in post-production and set for a future release. In the meantime, there were numerous short films and the occasional TV series appearance. His work has been seen at many film festivals around the world. He won two awards and was also nominated twice, each times for his work on
'This Is Martin Bonner'.
* Shirley Barrett - born sometime in 1961, died 3rd August 2022, aged 61. Barrett was an Australian film and television Director, Screenwriter and novelist. Her Directorial debut came with the 1996 feature film
'Love Serenade' with Miranda Otto and which won the Camera d'Or award at that years Cannes Film Festival. She would follow this up with
'Walk the Talk' in 2000 and
'South Solitary' in 2010 with Miranda Otto, Marton Csokas an Essie Davis. Her other Directing credits took in multiple episodes of TV series including
'A Country Practice', 'Boys from the Bush', 'Heartbreak High', 'Packed to the Rafters', 'Love Child', 'A Place to Call Home', 'Offspring', 'Home and Away' and
'Five Bedrooms' as recently as 2021. She also penned two novels,
'Rush Oh!' and
'The Bus on Thursday'.
* John Michael Herndon - his death was announced on 4th August 2022. Herndon was an American Actor of film and TV who notched up thirty-nine screen acting credits throughout his career which kicked off in 1994 with an uncredited role in
'The Pamela Principle 2'. His first credited big screen role came a year later in 1995 in
'Crispy, Crackers and Beans' and over the successive years his other feature film roles included
'Footsteps' in 2010,
'L.A. Paranormal' in 2011,
'Then Again' in 2013,
'300 : Rise of an Empire' in 2014,
'Bigger Than the Beatles' in 2017 with
'Dolemite Is My Name' in 2019 being his final film role. In the intervening years there were numerous short films and the infrequent TV series appearance on the likes of
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Criminal Minds', 'The Young and the Restless', and
'Colin in Black & White' as recently as 2021.
* Clu Gulager - born
William Martin Gulager on 16th November 1928 and died 5th August 2022, aged 93. Gulager was an American Actor of film and TV who amassed 165 screen acting credits to his name during his seven decade career which kicked off in 1955 on the
'Omnibus' TV series in an episode titled
'A Different Drummer'. His big screen debut came in 1964 opposite Lee Marvin, Ronald Reagan and Angie Dickinson in
'The Killers' and he would follow this up over the ensuing years with roles on other notable feature films including
'Winning' in 1969 with Paul Newman,
'The Last Picture Show' in 1971 with Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd,
'McQ' in 1974 with John Wayne,
'The Other Side of Midnight' in 1977 with Susan Sarandon,
'Into the Night' in 1985 with Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer,
'The Return of the Living Dead' in 1985,
'A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 : Freddy's Revenge' in 1985,
'Piranha 3DD' in 2012,
'Tangerine' in 2015,
'Blue Jay' in 2016 with Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson with
'Once Upon a Time . . . In Hollywood' in 2019 for Quentin Tarantino being his final screen acting role. In the meantime, there were numerous appearances on TV series, mini-series, made for TV movies and direct to video films taking in the likes of
'Wanted : Dead or Alive', 'Have Gun - Will Travel', 'Laramie', 'The Untouchables', on seventy-five episodes of
'The Tall Man' playing Billy the Kid,
'Wagon Train', on 104 episodes of
'The Virginian', 'The F.B.I.', 'Bonanza', 'Ironside', 'Shaft', 'McCloud', 'Police Story', 'Hawaii Five-O', 'Falcon Crest', 'CHiPs', 'Knight Rider', 'The Fall Guy', 'Murder, She Wrote' and
'Walker, Texas Ranger'. His short film
'A Day With the Boys' in 1969 which he Directed, Wrote and Produced was nominated for the Palme d'Or - Best Short Film at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.
* Roger E. Mosley - born 18th December 1938 and died 7th August 2022, aged 83. Mosley was an American Actor who generated seventy screen acting credits throughout his career which began with his first credited screen role in 1971 in a single episode of
'Canon'. His feature film credits took off the following year in 1972 in
'The New Centurions' with George C. Scott and Stacy Keach followed by
'McQ' with John Wayne,
'Leadbelly' in 1976 in which he starred as Huddie Ledbetter in the biography of the legendary folksinger,
'Stay Hungry' in 1976 with Jeff Bridges and Arnold Schwarzenegger,
'The Greatest' in 1977 with Muhammad Ali and Ernest Borgnine,
'Heart Condition' in 1990 with Bob Hoskins and Denzel Washington,
'Unlawful Entry' in 1992 with Kurt Russell and Ray Liotta with
'Hammerlock' in 2000 being his final film appearance. In the years in between and since there were roles in TV movies and series including
'Kung Fu', 'Kojak', 'McCloud', 'The Rockford Files', 'Starsky and Hutch', then on 158 episodes of
'Magnum P.I.' between 1980 and 1988 as charter helicopter pilot Theodore 'TC' Calvin probably his most remembered role, on six episodes of
'You Take the Kids', on ten of
'Hangin' with Mr. Cooper', on twenty of
'Rude Awakening', on eight of
'FCU : Fact Checkers Unit' and on two of the rebooted
'Magnum P.I' series between 2019 and 2021 being his final screen role.
* Olivia Newton-John - born 26th September 1948 and died 8th August 2022, aged 73. Newton-John was a British born Australian singer, Actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included five number-one hits and another ten top-ten hits on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart and two number-one albums on the Billboard 200 chart, who with global sales of more than one hundred million records, is one of the best-selling music artists from the second half of the 20th Century to the present day. Her screen roles taking in ninety credits, although the majority of these were for her own music videos, with feature films taking in her screen debut in 1965 in
'Funny Things Happen Down Under', then
'Toomorrow' in 1970 with her breakout role coming in 1978 in the hit musical
'Grease' as Sandy Olson opposite John Travolta and Stockard Channing. In 1980 she would have her own top billing in the musical
'Xanadu' with Gene Kelly and in 1983 she would reunite with John Travolta in
'Two of a Kind'. In 1988 she had an uncredited role in
'She's Having a Baby' with Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern, then
'It's My Party' in 1996 with Eric Roberts,
'Sordid Lives' in 2000 with Beau Bridges,
'A Few Best Men' in 2011 with Xavier Samuel and
'The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee' in 2020 with Paul Hogan being her final screen appearance. She would also have roles in TV series
'Snowy River : The McGregor Saga', 'Ned and Stacey', 'Murphy Brown', and
'Sordid Lives : The Series'. She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1979 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to the performing arts, and was awarded the AO (Officer of the Order of Australia) in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to the entertainment industry as a singer and Actor. All up Newton-John won eleven awards and a further twenty nominations, including seven other Grammy nods and a Golden Globe nod. Newton-John was an activist for environmental and animal rights causes, and advocated for breast cancer research brought about by her own struggles with breast cancer first diagnosed in 1992, then recurring in 2013 and again in 2017 when it was diagnosed that breast cancer had returned and metastasised to her lower back and progressed to stage IV.
* Anne Heche - born 25th May 1969 and died 12th August 2022, aged 53. Heche was an American Actress of stage, television and cinema who accumulated ninety-two screen acting credits during her career, five as Director, four as Writer and three as Producer. Her screen acting career kicked off in 1987 on seventy-one episodes of
'Another World' playing the characters of Marley Love and Vicky Hudson which she would play until 1991. Her first big screen role came in 1993 in
'An Ambush of Ghosts' with David Arquette, which she would follow up with other more notable feature films including
'The Adventures of Huck Finn' also in 1993 with Elijah Wood and Robbie Coltrane,
'Milk Money' in 1994 with Melanie Griffith and Ed Harris,
'The Juror' in 1996 with Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin,
'Donnie Brasco' in 1997 with Al Pacino and Johnny Depp,
'Volcano' that same year with Tommy Lee Jones,
'Wag the Dog' also in 1997 with Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro,
'Six Days Seven Nights' with Harrison Ford,
'Psycho' in 1998 with Vince Vaughn and Julianne Moore,
'Auggie Rose' in 2000 with Jeff Goldblum,
'John Q' in 2002 with Denzel Washington,
'Rampart' in 2011 with Woody Harrelson,
'Wild Card' in 2015 with Jason Statham with
'13 Minutes' most recently in 2021. However, there are also a number of feature films currently in post-production awaiting a future release date, and those are
'What Remains', 'Full Ride', 'Wildfire : The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse', 'Supercell' and
'Chasing Nightmares'. In the meantime there were also numerous TV movies, mini-series and TV series roles including
'Ally McBeal', 'Everwood', 'Nip/Tuck', on thirty-six episodes of
'Men in Trees', on thirty of
'Hung', 'Save Me', 'The Michael J. Fox Show', on ten of
'Dig', on thirteen of
'Aftermath', on thirteen of
'The Brave', on eleven of
'Chicago P.D.', 'All Rise' with six episodes of
'The Idol' currently in post-production. All up Heche was the recipient of nine award wins including a Daytime Emmy Award for
'Another World' and a further twelve nominations, plus for her work on Broadway in a restaging of the play
'Twentieth Century', for which she received a Tony Award nomination.
* Robyn Griggs - born 30th April 1973 and died 13th August 2022, aged 49. Griggs was an American Actress of film, TV and theatre who started acting at the tender age of three in a production of
'A Dolls House'. While still in school, she traveled to New York where she auditioned for a role in the Broadway production of
'Annie'. After being called back several times and being the size for the role of Molly in the play
'Annie', she was contacted by a New York City agency that started her career in TV, initially in a string of TV commercials and then went on to other theatre work across the USA and even landed the role of
'Annie' in off-Broadway shows and she was still only thirteen years of age. Griggs generated just seventeen screen acting roles throughout her career which launched on six episodes of
'One Life to Live' between 1991 and '92, and then twenty-one episodes on
'Another World' between 1993 and '95. She would go on to have roles in direct to video and theatrical released movies mostly in the horror genre including
'Zombiegeddon' in 2003,
'Severe Injuries' also in 2003,
'Dead Clowns' in 2004,
'The Absence of Light' in 2006,
'Slashers Gone Wild!' in 2006 too,
'October Moon 2 : November Son' in 2008,
'Hellweek' in 2010 and
'Joey Hollywood's Movie Night 2' in 2015 being her final screen appearance. Griggs hosted the horror convention 'Twisted Nightmare Weekend' and also recorded a concept CD titled
'Love's Young Nightmare'.
* Denise Dowse - born 21st February 1958 and died 13th August 2022, aged 64. Dowse was an American Actress of film and TV, and two time Director who amassed 122 screen acting credits to her name in a career which began on a single episode of the TV series
'Almost There!' in 1989. Her first big screen role came along in the feature film
'Coldfire' in 1990, and from there she would have roles in other more notable films taking in the likes of
'Sneakers' in 1992 with Robert Redford and Sidney Poitier,
'Bio-Dome' in 1996 with Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin,
'Starship Troopers' in 1997 with Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards,
'Pleasantville' in 1998 with William H. Macy and Tobey Maguire,
'A Civil Action' in 1998 with John Travolta and Robert Duvall,
'Requiem for a Dream' in 2000 with Ellen Burstyn and Jared Leto,
'Eulogy' in 2004 with Ray Romano,
'Ray' also in 2004 with Jamie Foxx,
'Coach Carter' in 2005 with Samuel L. Jackson,
'The Call' in 2013 with Halle Berry,
'Fatale' in 2020 with Hilary Swank with
'A Cloud So High' released earlier this year, and her final screen role. In the years in between time, there were numerous single and multiple appearances on TV series, made for TV movies and short films including
'Seinfeld', 'Touched by an Angel', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', on eight episodes of
'Built to Last', 'Chicago Hope', 'ER', on twenty-four episodes of
'Beverly Hills, 90210', 'The West Wing', 'Becker', 'The Practice', 'Judging Amy', on thirty-two episodes of
'The Guardian', 'Nip/Tuck', 'Charmed', 'The Mentalist', 'House', 'Bones', 'Criminal Minds', on nine of
'Secrets and Lies', on ten of
'Imposters', 'Grey's Anatomy', on six of
'Insecure' and
'Snowfall' and the Podcast series
'Bronzeville' most recently.
* Marshall Napier - born 22nd October 1951 and died 14th August 2022, aged 70. Napier was a New Zealand born Actor of theatre, TV and film and playwright who notched up 103 screen acting roles throughout his career which began in 1977 on the mini-series
'The Governor'. His big screen debut came with the feature film
'Goodbye Pork Pie' in 1980, which he would then follow up with other notable film roles including
'Bad Blood' in 1981 with Jack Thompson,
'Georgia' in 1988 with Judy Davis,
'The Big Steal' in 1990 with Ben Mendelsohn and Claudia Karvan,
'Flirting' in 1991 with Noah Taylor and Nicole Kidman,
'Babe' in 1995 with James Cromwell,
'Children of the Revolution' in 1996 with Judy Davis and Sam Neill,
'Dead Heart' also in 1996 with Bryan Brown,
'Strange Planet' in 1999 with Claudia Karvan and Naomi Watts,
'The Water Horse' in 2007 with Emily Watson,
'The Light Between Oceans' in 2016 with Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander,
'Little Monsters' in 2019 with Lupita Nyong'o and Josh Gad with
'Northspur' recently completed filming and set for a future release. In the intervening years there were also many short films, made for TV movies and TV series appearances including twelve episodes on
'Adventurer', on twelve of
'The Girl from Tomorrow', on nineteen of
'Police Rescue', on thirteen of
'Secrets', 'Blue Heelers', 'Water Rats', 'All Saints', 'Farscape', on eighty-seven episodes of
'McLeod's Daughters', on eleven of
'City Homicide', 'Rake', 'Janet King', on eight of
'Love Child', and six of
'Grey Nomads' most recently in 2020. During his time spent in theatre he played various roles for the Sydney Theatre Company, the Belvoir Theatre, the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Old Fitzroy Theatre, the Darlinghurst Theatre, and his own play
'Freak Winds' has been performed in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada.
* Bruce Montague - born 24th March 1939 and died 16th August 2022, aged 83. Montague was a British Actor of theatre, television and film who notched up forty-seven screen acting roles during his six decade spanning career , which began in 1963 on two episodes of the TV series
'Dimensions of Fear'. His feature films were few and far between with
'Sextet' in 1976,
'George and Mildred' in 1980,
'Olympus Force : The Key' in 1988,
'Margery Booth : The Spy in the Eagle's Nest' in 2014 and
'42nd Street : The Musical' in 2019 being his final film appearance. In the years in between there were more noteworthy roles in single and multiple episodes of TV shows taking in the likes of
'The Saint', on thirteen episodes of
'The Link Men', 'Special Branch', 'The Protectors', 'The Onedin Line', 'Secret Army', on six of
'Whoops Apocalypse', then on perhaps his best known role on twenty-eight episodes of
'Butterflies' with Wendy Craig and Geoffrey Palmer,
'Keeping Up Appearances', 'New Tricks', Hollyoaks' and an episode of
'Doctors' as recently as 2019 being his final screen role. His theatre work includes
'Fiddler on the Roof', 'Phantom of the Opera', 'Funny Girl' and
'42nd Street', while his books include
'Catch That Tiger', 'Wedding Bells & Chimney Sweeps', 'Birds, Bees & Educated Fleas' and
'The Book of Shakespearian Useless Information'.
* Duggie Brown - born
Barry Douglas Dudley on 7th August 1940 and died 16th August 2022, aged 82. Brown was an English comedian and Actor who shot to prominence in the Granada Television series
'The Comedians' between 1971 and 1993. His first screen role came with a small role in the Ken Loach film
'Kes' in 1969, and he would follow this up with other feature film roles including
'For the Love of Ada' in 1972, then
'Between Two Women' in 2003,
'The Jealous God' in 2005, with
'A Little in Tents' and
'Funny Cow' both in 2017 being his final feature film appearances. In the meantime, there were also roles on TV series taking in six episodes on
'The House That Jack Built', six on
'Take My Wife . . . ', fifteen on
'The Enigma Files', thirteen on
'The Glamour Girls', 'All Creatures Great and Small', 'The Bill', 'Minder', eleven on
'Brookside', 'Last of the Summer Wine', 'Holby City', 'EastEnders', 'Heartbeat', 'Doctors', 'Emmerdale Farm' and six episodes on
'Coronation Street' with two episodes as recently as this year. Brown was inducted into Grand Order of Water Rats (a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London and known for its high-profile membership and benevolent works), eventually succeeding to the position of King Rat in 2020.
* Josephine Tewson - born 26th February 1931 and died 18th August 2022, aged 91. Tewson was an English Actress of stage, film and TV who accumulated sixty-five screen acting credits throughout her career which kicked off with a single appearance of
'On Stage - London' in 1957. Her debut film role came in 1972 in
'The Troublesome Double' with her subsequent film roles being few and far between, with her next being
'The Strange Case of the End of Civilisation as We Know It' in 1977 with John Cleese,
'The Hound of the Baskervilles' in 1978 with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore,
'Gabrielle and the Doodleman' in 1983 with Eric Sykes and Windsor Davies,
'The Misadventures of Mr. Wilt' with Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith in 1989, with
'The Mumbo Jumbo' in 2000 with Brian Blessed and Joss Ackland being her final film role. In the meantime and since, there have been many single and multiple episodes of TV shows including
'Emergency-Ward 10', 'Z Cars', on fifteen episodes of
'Hark at Barker', on thirteen of
'Coppers End', on seven of
'His Lordship Entertains', 'Son of the Bride', on seven of
'No Appointment Necessary' and
'Odd Man Out', on twenty-three of
'Shelley', on eight of
'Rude Health', then of forty-three in perhaps her most famed role as Elizabeth in
'Keeping Up Appearances' and sixty-two as Miss Davenport in
'Last of the Summer Wine'. She also appeared in
'Midsomer Murders', 'Heartbeat', 'Holby City', 'Inspector Lewis' and
'Doctors' in 2015 being her final screen role. Tewson also had a regular stage acting career first appearing in
'Free As Air' in 1957 at the West End's Savoy Theatre right up to 2009 when she appeared in
'Separate Tables' at the Chichester Festival Theatre.
* Virginia Patton - born on 15th June 1925 and died 18th August 2022 aged 97. Patton was an American Actress who enjoyed a short career between 1943 and her retirement from acting in 1949. Of her fifteen screen acting credits her first two uncredited big screen roles came along with
'Thank Your Lucky Stars' and
'Old Acquaintance' both in 1943. She followed this up with five more uncredited film roles before perhaps her most remembered role as Ruth Dakin in Frank Capra's
'It's a Wonderful Life' in 1946 with James Stewart. In 1947 she starred in
'The Burning Cross', and George Cukor's
'A Double Life' with Ronald Colman, then
'Black Eagle' in 1948 before her final film role in 1949 with
'The Lucky Stiff' with Dorothy Lamour. She was president of The Patton Corp, an investment and real estate holdings company in Ann Arbor, Michigan and was heavily involved in community work in her home town of Ann Arbor. She was also the niece of General George S. Patton (a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean theatre of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He died in December 1945 at the age of sixty).
* Leon Vitali - born
Alfred Leon Vitali on 26th July 1948 and died 19th August 2022, aged 74. Vitali was an English Actor, Casting Director and long term Personal Assistant to Stanley Kubrick, who accumulated twenty-nine screen acting credits to his name, two as casting Director on Kubrick's
'Full Metal Jacket' and
'Eyes Wide Shut', and three as Assistant to Director on
'The Shining', 'Full Metal Jacket' and
'Eyes Wide Shut'. He career in front of the camera began in a single episode of
'Softly Softly : Task Force' in 1970 with his first big screen role coming in 1973 with the Italian film
'Mafia Junction' with his next feature film being in Stanley Kubrick's award winning
'Barry Lyndon' in 1975. He would follow this up with
'Terror of Frankenstein' in 1977, then
'Inter Rail' in 1981,
'Eyes Wide Shut' in 1999 for Stanley Kubrick again and with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman,
'Little Children' in 2006 with Kate Winslet and Jennifer Connelly, and
'Romeo & Juliet' in 2013 with Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth being his final feature film role. In the intervening years there were also TV series appearances including
'Z Cars', 'Hadleigh', 'Public Eye', 'Please Sir!', on sixteen episodes of
'The Fenn Street Gang', 'Follyfoot', 'Van der Valk', 'Dixon of Dock Green' with the short five minute film
'Haunted, Horrifying Sounds from Beyond the Grave' in 2018 being his final screen outing. In 2017, Vitali was the subject of the documentary film,
'Filmworker' Directed by Tony Zierra which premiered at The Cannes Film Festival and screened at many US and international film festivals including the London Film Festival in October 2017. In
'Filmworker', Vitali was interviewed at length about his work with Kubrick. Following Kubrick's death, Vitali oversaw the restoration of both picture and sound elements for most of Kubrick's films gaining him the President's Award from the Cinema Audio Society of the USA.
* Mildred Kornman - born 10th July 1925 and died 20th August 2022, aged 97. Kornman was an American Actress, model, business woman and photographer who notched up thirty-six screen acting credits throughout her career which began when she was barely one year old and eventually following in her older sister's (Mary Kornman ten years older and already an established child actress) footsteps as a regular cast member of
'Our Gang' in which she featured in some twenty episodes of the series between 1926 and 1935, beginning with the two-reel comedy short
'Thundering Fleas' in 1926. Mildred also worked as a bit part player and extra (frequently for 20th Century Fox) on and off between 1930 and 1962 and mostly in uncredited roles including in the likes of
'Hoosier Schoolboy' in 1937 with Mickey Rooney,
'Up in Arms' in 1944 with Danny Kaye,
'Dimond Horseshoe' and
'The Dolly Sisters' both in 1945 and both with Betty Grable,
'Abbott and Costello Go to Mars' in 1953 with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello with
'The Interns' in 1962 with Michael Callan and Cliff Robertson being her final screen outing. Married at eighteen and having changed her name to Ricki VanDusen, she concentrated increasingly on her new career path as a leading fashion model, soon featuring on the cover of such magazines as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and in advertising campaigns for top shelf cosmetics firms. In 1968, she set up her own business, the fashion boutique Van Dusen-Green Inc. and after the demise of her acting career, she also took up professional photography. She was one of the very last survivors from the age of silent cinema.
* Helen Grayco - born 20th September 1924 and died 20th August 2022, aged 97. Grayco was an American singer and Actress who accumulated just nine screen acting credits during her career which spanned from 1935 up to 1961, launching with an uncredited role in
'A Night at the Opera' in 1935 with the Marx brothers, which she followed up with her first credited big screen role in
'That Certain Age' in 1938. It would be 1956 before her next feature film role in
'Cha-Cha-Cha Boom!' which would be her final film appearance. She also appeared in multiple episodes of
'The Spike Jones Show' in 1954 and then again 1957 and finally in 1961 (thirty-seven episodes in total) and to whom she was married until his death in 1965. Grayco released her first single in 1949, with her two most memorable albums being
'After Midnight' in 1957 and
'The Lady in Red' in 1958 which was the last album she ever released. She continued to sing in various venues for the next ten years or so with her final public appearance being in 1968 on an episode of
'The Dean Martin Show'.
* Vincent Gil - born sometime in 1939 and died 21st August 2022, aged 83. Gil was an Australian Actor and screenwriter of film, TV and theatre who amassed sixty-seven screen acting credits and ten as Writer throughout his career which began in 1965 on the TV movie
'The Swagman'. His first credited big screen role came in 1969's
'You Can't See 'round Corners' which he would follow up with the likes of
'Stone' in 1974 with Hugh Keays-Byrne,
'Solo' in 1978,
'Mad Max' in 1979 with Mel Gibson,
'Ghosts . . . of the Civil Dead' in 1988 for John Hillcoat and
'A Cry in the Dark' that same year with Meryl Streep and Sam Neill,
'The Bank' in 2001 with David Wenham with
'The Long Lunch' and
'Razor Eaters' both in 2003 being his final film appearances. He also had roles in single and multiple episodes of TV shows over the years including
'Riptide', 'Number 96', 'Matlock Police', on twelve episodes of
'Homicide', on eight of
'The Timeless Land', on eight of
'Cop Shop', 'The Sullivans', on seventeen of
'Prisoner', 'A Country Practice', 'Heartbreak High', 'Blue Heelers', 'Neighbours', and
'The Doctor Blake Mysteries' in 2015 being his final screen role.
* Gerald Potterton - born 8th March 1931 and died 23rd August 2022, aged 91. Potterton was a British born Canadian Director, Writer, Producer and Animator who amassed nineteen Director credits, fourteen as Animator, ten as Writer and eight as Producer during his career which began with his first credited role as Animator and Co-Writer on the eight minute short film
'Huff and Puff' in 1955. His first Directorial role came in 1960 in the short eight minute animated film
'Hors-d'oeuvre' and he would follow this up with a string of short films, including his Honourable Mention win for the twenty-four minute short film
'The Railrodder' at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1965. His first feature film came in 1971 in the animated comedy
'Tiki Tiki', followed by
'The Rainbow Boys' in 1973 with Donald Pleasence and then the animated adventure fantasy film
'Heavy Metal' in 1981 being his final feature film making outing. There were a handful of made for TV movies, short films and TV series in the meantime and since including four episodes of the animated TV show
'The Smoggies' between 1988 and 1991 which he also created. His final Directing gig came in 1992 in the thirty minute animated short film
'The Real Story of Happy Birthday to You' featuring the voices of Edward Asner and Roger Daltrey. Potterton also worked as animator on The Beatles 1968 film
'Yellow Submarine'. He was nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, as Director on the National Film Board of Canada animated shorts
'My Financial Career' in 1962 and
'Christmas Cracker' in 1963, and as Producer for
'The Selfish Giant' in 1971.
* Joe E. Tata - born 13th September 1936 and died 24th August 2022, aged 85. Tata was an American TV and occasional feature film Actor who generated eighty-eight screen acting credits throughout his six decade spanning career which launched in 1960 on a single episode of the TV series
'Peter Gunn'. His first feature film came along in 1970, albeit in an uncredited role in
'Which Way to the Front?' with Jerry Lewis which he would follow up with the likes of
'Hickey & Boggs' in 1972 with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp,
'The Unholy Rollers' that same year and
'A Clock Work Blue' also in 1972.
'Sisters of Death' came next in 1976 then
'Bad Love' in 1992 with Tom Sizemore being his last feature film credit. In the intervening years and since there were many single and multiple episodes on TV shows including
'No Time for Sergeants', 'Hogan's Heroes', 'The Time Tunnel', 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea', 'Batman', 'Mission : Impossible', 'Mannix', 'The F.B.I.', 'Ironside', 'Cannon', 'Police Woman', 'Police Story', on eight episodes of
'The Rockford Files', 'Vega$', 'Hotel', 'Days of Our Lives', 'The Fall Guy', 'The A-Team', 'Hill Street Blues', 'Magnum, P.I.', then in perhaps his most renowned role as Nat/Sal Bussichio on
'Beverly Hills 90210' across 238 episodes and a single episodes of
'Mystery Girls' in 2014 being his final screen appearance.
* Robert LuPone - born 29th July 1946 and died 27th August 2022, aged 76. LuPone was an American Actor of theatre, cinema and television who generated forty-seven screen acting roles throughout this career which began on an uncredited role in
'Song of Norway' in 1970, before his first credited role in 1973's
'Jesus Christ Superstar'. His next feature film didn't eventuate until 1989 with
'High Stakes' which he followed up in 1991 in Oliver Stone's biopic
'The Doors' with Val Kilmer, and then the likes of
'Palookaviile' in 1995,
'Dead Presidents' that same year with Keith David and Chris Tucker,
'Heartbreak Hospital' in 2002 with Patricia Clarkson,
'The Door in the Floor' in 2004 with Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger,
'Mentor' in 2006 with Rutger Hauer,
'Funny Games' in 2007 with Naomi Watts and Tim Roth,
'Breaking Point' in 2009 with Tom Berenger and Busta Rhymes with
'Isn't It Delicious' in 2013 being his final big screen appearance. In the meantime and the years since there have been single and multiple roles on TV shows including nine episodes on
'Ryan's Hope', seventy-seven on
'Search for Tomorrow', 'All My Children', on seven of
'Another World', on twenty-four of
'Loving', on ten of
'Guiding Light', 'Sex and the City', 'JAG', 'Ally McBeal', 'Law & Order', on six of
'The Sopranos', 'Billions', with
'Law & Order : SVU' being his final screen role in 2019. He performed in a number of Broadway theatre productions including
'A Chorus Line', 'Saint Joan', 'A View from the Bridge', 'True West' and
'A Thousand Clowns'.
* Tucker Wiard - born 10th November 1941 and died 28th August 2022, aged 80. Wiard was an American television Editor who accumulated thirty screen editing credits throughout his career which began in 1969 on four episodes of
'The Red Skelton Hour'. From here, he moved on to the likes of thirty-six episodes of
'Good Times', forty-eight on
'The Carol Burnett Show', ten on
'Detective School', sixty-two on
'Alice', eighteen on
'Charles in Charge', 160 on
'Murphy Brown', with twenty-five on
'Nikki' and
'Misconceptions' in 2006 being his final credit. All up Wiard won five Primetime Emmy Awards with another nine nominations of which seven were also for Primetime Emmy Awards.
* Ralph Eggleston - born 18th October 1965 and died 28th August 2022, aged 56. Eggleston was an American animator, Art Director, storyboard artist, Writer, film Director, and Production Designer with some of his earliest work with Kroyer Films including Directing
'FernGully : The Last Rainforest' in 1992. He then joined Walt Disney Animation Studios as an animator working on several projects including1992's
'Aladdin', 1994's
'The Lion King' and 1995's
'Pocahontas'. His career with Pixar began in 1992 when
'Toy Story' (released in 1995) was in the early stages of development . His subsequent work with Pixar also took in the likes of
'A Bug's Life', 'Toy Story 2', 'Monsters. Inc.', 'Finding Nemo', 'The Incredibles', 'Cars', 'Ratatouille', 'WALL-E', 'Up', 'Cars 2', 'Incredibles 2' and
'Soul' most recently in 2020. In 2000 he also wrote, Directed and provided the voice for the three minute Pixar short film
'For The Birds' which won him the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film along with eight other wins and eight other nominations from around the awards and festival circuit.
* Charlbi Dean - born
Charlbi Dean Kriek on 5th February 1990 and died 29th August 2022, aged 32. Dean was a South African Actress and model who notched up just eleven screen acting credits during her all too brief career. Her first screen acting role came in the 2010 feature film
'Spud' with John Cleese and Troye Sivan, and she would follow this up with the likes of the straight to video film
'Death Race : Inferno' in 2013 with Luke Goss, Ving Rhames and Danny Trejo,
'Spud 2 : The Madness Continues' with John Cleese and Troye Sivan again,
'Blood in the Water' in 2016,
'Don't Sleep' in 2017 with Cary Elwes,
'An Interview with God' in 2018 with David Strathairn and Brenton Thwaites, with the imminent release of
'Triangle of Sadness' later this year with Harris Dickinson and Woody Harrelson being her final screen role. In the meantime, there was an episode on
'Elementary' and nine episodes on the DC Superhero comic adaptation of
'Black Lightning'.
With twenty-four deaths reported this month from the film and television community at large, that community is just a little bit poorer as a result. As many of us the world over are now learning to live with COVID, despite many countries, including Australia, now gripped by its third wave and in some cases a fourth wave. As life reverts to a degree of normalcy, we should all, however, continue to be cautious by remembering the basic principles that continue to be advocated - maintain a reasonable safe distance, hand hygiene and wear a mask if you are unable to maintain a safe distance and get vaccinated and then get a booster jab - together we can all beat this thing and keep on top of it. Stay safe and remain healthy wherever you are in the world. R.I.P. you screen legends.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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