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 . . . . . Gunter Lamprecht, Wolfgang Kohlhaase, Judy Tenuta, Austin Stoker, Ann Flood, Eileen Ryan, Michael Callan, Angela Lansbury, Jeff Barnaby, Ted White, Robbie Coltrane, Jan Rabson, Ian Whittaker, Jospehine Melville, Ron Masak, Bernard Atha, Michael Kopsa, Leslie Jordan, Jules Bass and Leonie Forbes.
* Gunter Lamprecht - born 21st January 1930 and died 4th October 2022, aged 92. Lamprecht was a German Actor who generated 108 screen acting roles throughout his career which took off in earnest in 1960 in the feature film
'Die Brucke des Schicksals'. Following numerous appearances in TV mini-series, made for television movies and TV series he became perhaps best known for his roles on fourteen episodes of the TV mini-series
'Berlin Alexanderplatz' in 1980, then as Kapitan of the 'Weser' in the multi-award winning feature film
'Das Boot' in 1981 for Director Wolfgang Petersen and the TV mini-series
'Das Boot' in 1985, then other screen outings including
'Red Kiss' in 1985 with Lambert Wilson,
'Epstein's Night' in 2002 with Bruno Ganz, with a single episode on
'Babylon Berlin' in 2017 and the made for TV movie
'Meeresleuchten' in 2021 being his final screen role. Between 1955 and 1985, Lamprecht also performed at theatres in Bochum, Oberhausen, Wiesbaden, Heidelberg, Essen, Cologne, Hamburg, at Berlin's Freie Volksbuhne and at Recklinghausen Festival and Schwabisch Hall Festival. Lamprecht's memoirs,
'And Sadly I'm Still : A Youth in Berlin' was published in 2000, where he discusses his experiences in Nazi Germany and the postwar years. His second book,
'A Hellish Thing, Life' was published in 2007.
* Wolfgang Kohlhaase - born 13th March 1931 and died 5th October 2022, aged 91. Kohlhaase was a German Screenwriter, occasional Director and Writer who was considered 'one of the most important screenwriters in German film history' and was one of the GDR's most well-known and prolific film screenwriters. He notched up forty-six screenwriting credits and three as Director during his career which spanned from 1953 as co-screenwriter on the feature film
'Die Storenfriede' with other credits taking in the likes of
'Alarm at the Circus' in 1954,
'The Gleiwitz Case' in 1961,
'The Naked Man in the Stadium' in 1974,
'Solo Sunny' in 1980 (which he also Co-Directed),
'The Break' in 1989,
'Inge, April and May' in 1993 (which he Co-Directed also),
'The Legend of Rita' in 2000,
'Summer in Berlin' in 2005,
'Whiskey with Vodka' in 2009,
'In Times of Fading Light' in 2017 with Bruno Ganz and
'Persian Lessons' in 2020 being his final writing credit. Kohlhaase was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival, among his total awards haul of eleven wins and five other nominations from around the awards and festival circuit.
* Judy Tenuta - born 7th November 1949 and died 6th October 2022, aged 72. Tenuta was an American comedian, comedy musician and Actress who accumulated fifty-six screen acting roles throughout her career which began in the 1974 feature film
'Deep Throat Part II'. She would go on to have other roles in movies taking in the likes of
'White Hot' in 1989 with Danny Aiello,
'Love Bites' in 1993 with Adam Ant,
'Butch Camp' in 1996,
'Material Girls' in 2006 with Hilary Duff and Anjelica Huston,
'Gibsonburg' in 2013,
'Garlic & Gunpowder' in 2017 with Martin Kove, Michael Madsen and Vivica A. Fox,
'Deadly Crush' in 2018 with William Sadler,
'There's No Such Thing as Vampires' in 2020 with
'In the Position' in 2021 being her final screen acting credit. Tenuta also had eight writer credits, five as Producer and one as Director on the 2011 three minute short film
'Spike It' which she also starred in, Co-Produced and wrote. In addition to her small screen acting, Tenuta had various theatrical roles, most notably in
'The Vagina Monologues' and
'Menopause the Musical'. She also wrote two comedy books
'Full Frontal Tenudity' and
'The Power of Judyism', and released five comedy CDs, receiving 'Best Comedy Album' Grammy Award nominations for
'Attention Butt-Pirates and Lesbetarians!' and
'In Goddess We Trust'. Tenuta was an outspoken advocate for gay rights and amassed a faithful following in the LGBT community.
* Austin Stoker - born 7th October 1930 and died 7th October 2022, aged 92. Stoker was a Trinidadian-American Actor of film and television who amassed fifty-nine screen acting roles throughout his career beginning with a single episode on
'Mod Squad' in 1969. His first big screen role came in 1973's
'Battle for the Planet of the Apes' with Roddy McDowall and Claude Akins and he would follow this up with other feature films including
'Airport 1975' with Charlton Heston and George Kennedy,
'Sheba, Baby' in 1975 with Pam Grier,
'Assault on Precinct 13' in 1976 for John Carpenter,
'Time Walker' in 1982 with Ben Murphy,
'Another Time, Another Place' in 1992 with Martin Sheen, with
'Give Till It Hurts' in 2022 being his final screen appearance. In the years in between there were also TV movies, mini-series and TV shows including
'McCloud', 'Kojak', 'Police Story', on thirteen episodes of the 1975 animated series
'Return to the Planet of the Apes' lending his voice talents,
'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'Roots', 'The Incredible Hulk', 'Hotel', 'Airwolf', 'Cagney & Lacey', 'Falcon Crest', and on eight episodes of
'The Bold and the Beautiful'.
* Ann Flood - born
Maryanne Elizabeth Ott on 12th November 1932 and died 7th October 2022, aged 89. Flood was an American Actress of stage, television and cinema who amassed just fifteen screen acting roles that ran from her debut in 1954 on a single episode of the
'Kraft Theatre' titled
'Charm Bracelet'. Her only feature film role came with
'Mystic Pizza' in 1988 opposite Julia Roberts, Vincent D'Onofrio and Annabeth Gish, however, it is her long running TV series for which she is perhaps best well known. These included 912 episodes on
'From These Roots' between 1958 and 1961, 3,567 episodes on
'The Edge of Night' between 1962 and 1984 as Nancy Karr and then on twenty-seven of
'Search for Tomorrow' in 1986. Her final screen appearance came in 1992 on a single episode of
'As the World Turns'.
* Eileen Ryan - born 16th October 1927 and died 9th October 2022, aged 94. Ryan was an American Actress of theatre, cinema and TV, the wife of Actor and Director Leo Penn who died in 1998 and the mother to Actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn (who died in 2006), and musician Michael Penn. Ryan accumulated sixty-one screen acting roles throughout her seven decade spanning career which began in 1955 on a single episode of the
'Goodyear Playhouse' titled
'Mr. Dorothy Allen'. Her first big screen role came that same year in
'Three in One' and it would be another thirty years before her next feature film outing with
'At Close Range' with both sons Sean and Chris Penn and Christopher Walken. She would follow this up in 1988 with
'Judgement in Berlin' Directed by her husband and starring Martin Sheen and Sean Penn, and then
'Winter People' in 1989 with Kurt Russell and Kelly McGillis,
'Parenthood' also in 1989 for Ron Howard and with Steve Martin,
'The Indian Runner' in 1991 with David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Charles Bronson and Dennis Hopper,
'Benny & Joon' in 1993 with Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson,
'The Crossing Guard' in 1995 for Sean Penn and with Jack Nicholson and David Morse,
'Magnolia' in 1999 with Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman,
'The Pledge' in 2001 for Sean Penn again and with Jack Nicholson and Benicio Del Toro,
'I Am Sam' in 2001 with Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer,
'The Assassination of Richard Nixon' in 2004 with Sean Penn once more and Naomi Watts,
'All the King's Men' in 2006 with Sean Penn again, Jude Law and Kate Winslet,
'Mother and Child' in 2009 with Naomi Watts, Annette Bening and Kerry Washington with
'Rules Don't Apply' for and with Warren Beatty and Lily Collins in 2016 being her final screen role. In the years inn between there were also appearances on TV shows taking in the likes of
'Outlaws', 'Tales of Wells Fargo', 'Bonanza', 'Cannon', 'Little House on the Prairie', 'ER', 'NYPD Blue', 'Ally McBeal', 'Arli$$', 'Without a Trace', 'Prime Suspect' and
'Grey's Anatomy'.
* Michael Callan - born
Martin Harris Calinieff on 22nd November 1935 and died 10th October 2022, aged 86. Callan was an American stage, cinema and TV Actor and two time documentary Director who amassed ninety screen acting credits during his career which began with
'They Came to Cordura' in 1959 with Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth. That same year he gained top billing in the feature film
'The Flying Fontaines' for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. He would follow this up with other movies including
'Gidget Goes Hawaiian' in 1961,
'13 West Street' in 1962 with Alan Ladd and Rod Steiger,
'The Interns' also in 1962 with Cliff Robertson,
'The Victors' in 1963 with Albert Finney,
'The New Interns' in 1964 with Telly Savalas,
'Cat Ballou' in 1965 with Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin,
'The Magnificent Seven Ride!' in 1972 with Lee Van Cleef and Stephanie Powers,
'Lepke' in 1975 with Tony Curtis,
'The Cat and the Canary' in 1978 with Honor Blackman and Edward Fox,
'Stuck on You' in 2003 with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear with
'The Still Life' in 2006 being his final screen role. In the intervening years there were also many TV appearances including thirty episodes on
'Occasional Wife', 'Ironside', 'The F.B.I.', 'Love, American Style', 'Police Story', 'Police Surgeon', 'S.W.A.T.', 'Ellery Queen', 'Quincy M.E.', 'The Bionic Woman', 'Love Boat', 'Charlie's Angels', 'Fantasy Island', 'The Fall Guy', 'T.J. Hooker', 'One Life to Live', 'Knight Rider' and
'Murder, She Wrote'. Before his screen career took off, Callan got his first break on the Broadway stage in
'The Boy Friend' in 1954 opposite Julie Andrews and then in 1955 in
'Catch a Star', and following this he scored the role of 'Riff' in the original Broadway production of
'West Side Story' from 1957 until 1959.
* Angela Lansbury - born 16th October 1925 and died 11th October 2022, aged 96. Lansbury was a British Irish American Actress of theatre, cinema and television who amassed 112 screen acting roles throughout her eight decade spanning career in front of the camera. Her film work launched in 1944 with her debut screen role in the feature film Directed by George Cukor
'Gaslight' with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She would follow this up with other films including
'National Velvet' that same year with Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney,
'The Picture of Dorian Gray' in 1945 with George Sanders which nabbed the actress her second Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe win, then
'The Harvey Girls' in 1946 with Judy Garland,
'State of the Union' in 1948 for Frank Capra and with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn,
'The Three Musketeers' in 1948 with Lana Turner and Gene Kelly,
'Samson and Delilah' in 1949 with Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature,
'The Purple Mask' in 1955 with Tony Curtis,
'The Long, Hot Summer' in 1958 with Paul Newman and Orson Welles,
'Blue Hawaii' in 1961 with Elvis Presley,
'The Manchurian Candidate' in 1962 with Frank Sinatra which garnered Lansbury her third Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actress and her second Golden Globe win,
'The Greatest Story Ever Told' in 1965 with Max von Sydow and Charlton Heston,
'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' in 1971 with David Tomlinson,
'Death on the Nile' in 1978 with Peter Ustinov,
'The Lady Vanishes' in 1979 with Elliott Gould,
'The Mirror Crack'd' in 1980 with Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson, Disney's animated
'Beauty and the Beast' in 1991 in which she lent her voice talents to Mrs. Potts,
'Nanny McPhee' in 2005 with Emma Thompson and Colin Firth,
'Mr. Popper's Penguins' in 2011 with Jim Carrey,
'Mary Poppins Returns' in 2018 with Emily Blunt and Ben Whishaw,
'Buttons, A Christmas Tale' in 2018 with Dick Van Dyke and featuring the voices of Robert Redford and Kate Winslet and
'Glass Onion : A Knives Out Mystery' with Daniel Craig set for a release in November 2022. In the meantime, there were also many TV series and made for TV movies roles taking in the likes of
'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.', 'Magnum, P.I.', 'Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', on 264 episodes in what has become known as her trademark role as Jessica Fletcher the professional writer and amateur sleuth on
'Murder, She Wrote' across twelve seasons from 1984 until 1996,
'Touched by an Angel', and
'Little Women'. She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama. She was elevated to DBE (Dame Commander of Order of the British Empire) in the 2014 Queen's New Year Honours List for services to drama and for charitable and philanthropic services. All up Lansbury was honoured with thirty-three award wins and a further fifty-nine nominations including eighteen Primetime Emmy nods, four other Golden Globe wins for
'Murder, She Wrote' plus nine other nods, the Honorary Academy Award in 2014 and the Special BAFTA Award win for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in 1991. Lansbury also performed in numerous Broadway and West End theatre productions.
* Jeff Barnaby - born 2nd August 1976 and died 13th October 2022, aged 46. Barnaby was a Canadian Director, Editor, Writer and Composer who notched up seven credits as Director and Editor, and five as Writer and Composer. His first Writer and Director credit came with the seven minute short film
'From Cherry English' in 2004 and he would follow this up in 2007 and then 2010 with the short films the twenty-four minute
'The Colony' and then the eight minute
'File Under Miscellaneous' acting as Director, Writer, Editor and Composer on both. His two feature film credits were 2013's
'Rhymes for Young Ghouls' and
'Blood Quantum' in 2019 for which he also Directed, Edited, wrote and composed the music score for.
* Ted White - born
Alex Bayouth on 25th January 1926 and died 14th October 2022, aged 96. White was an American stuntman and Actor who notched up eighty-seven stuntman credits and seventy-six as an Actor throughout his career which began with his debut acting role, albeit in an uncredited one, in the feature film
'Sands of Iwo Jima' with John Wayne in 1949. He would have a number of uncredited roles in other feature films including
'Rio Bravo', 'The Alamo', 'Cat Ballou', 'Point Blank' before his credited roles became more frequent in the likes of
'Dirty Mary Crazy Larry' with Peter Fonda and Susan George in 1974,
'The Legend of the Lone Ranger' in 1981,
'TRON' in 1982 with Jeff Bridges,
'Romancing the Stone' in 1984 with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner,
'Starman' that same year with Jeff Bridges,
'Silverado' in 1985 with Kevin Kline and Kevin Costner,
'Wanted : Dead or Alive' in 1986 with Rutger Hauer,
'Major League' in 1989 with Charlie Sheen, and
'Double Take' in 2001 being his final big screen role. In the meantime there were also roles on TV shows including
'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.', 'Bonanza', 'Mission : Impossible', 'Daniel Boone', 'Kojak', 'Kung Fu', 'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'Police Story', 'Centennial', 'T.J. Hooker', 'The Fall Guy', 'Magnum, P.I.', and
'The X-Files'. Much of his stuntman work went uncredited, but this feature films in which he did gain a billing include
'Comes a Horseman', 'Escape from New York', 'The Comeback Trail', 'Short Circuit', 'Ruthless People', 'Major League', 'Road House', 'Robin Hood : Men in Tights', 'Wild Wild West', 'Gone in 60 Seconds', '2 Fast 2 Furious' and
'The Fast and the Furious : Tokyo Drift' being his last credited stuntwork. In 1987, he revealed that his role as Jason Vorhees in the 1984
'Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter' made him feel somewhat uneasy, and so, at his own insistence, his name was excluded from the credits. During his career he doubled for Clarke Gable, John Wayne, Richard Boone and Lee Marvin amongst others.
* Robbie Coltrane - born
Anthony Robert McMillan on 30th March 1950 and died on 14th October 2022, aged 72. Coltrane was a Scottish Actor and comedian, as well as a four time Writer, two time Producer and one time Director. He amassed 114 screen acting credits to his name in a four decade career and which kicked off in 1979 on the BBC1
'Play for Today' series on a episode titled
'Waterloo Sunset'. His big screen debut came with a small role in 1980's
'Death Watch' with Harvey Keitel and Harry Dean Stanton, and he would follow this up that same year with a equally small role in
'Flash Gordon'. His other more notable feature film offerings came with the likes of
'Krull' in 1983,
'Defence of the Realm' in 1985 with Gabriel Byrne,
'Caravaggio' in 1986 for Derek Jarman and with Tilda Swinton and Sean Bean in their film debut's,
'Absolute Beginners' also in 1986 with David Bowie,
'Mona Lisa' again in 1986 with Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine,
'Henry V' in 1989 for and with Kenneth Branagh,
'Nuns on the Run' in 1990 with Eric Idle
, 'The Adventures of Huck Finn' in 1993 with Elijah Wood,
'GoldenEye' in 1995 with Pierce Brosnan as Special Agent Bond, James Bond and he would reprise his role in 1999's
'The World Is Not Enough' with Pierce Brosnan still in the driving seat as 007.
'Message in a Bottle' also in 1999 came next with Kevin Costner and Paul Newman, then
'From Hell' in 2001 with Johnny Depp, then the first of his eight outings as Rubeus Hagrid the Giant in each one of the
'Harry Potter' films from
' . . . and the Philosopher's Stone' in 2001 through until
' . . . and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2' in 2011. In the meantime, there were also roles in 2004's
'Van Helsing' with Hugh Jackman,
'Ocean's Twelve' in 2004 with George Clooney and Brad Pitt,
'The Brothers Bloom' in 2008 with Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo,
'Great Expectations' in 2012 with Ralph Fiennes with
'Effie Gray' in 2014 with Dakota Fanning and Emma Thompson being his last film role. In the years in between , there were many TV series appearances including
'A Kick Up the Eighties', on thirteen episodes of
'Alfresco', 'The Young Ones', 'Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee', 'Tutti Frutti', then perhaps his most highly regarded and famed role as Dr. Edward 'Fitz' Fitzgerald on twenty-six episodes of
'Cracker' between 1993 and 2006, on nineteen episodes of
'The Comic Strip Presents' between 1982 and 2012,
'National Treasure' and
'Urban Myths' being his final screen role in 2020. He also voiced characters in several animated films, including
'The Tale of Despereaux' in 2008,
'Brave' in 2012, as well as the title roles of
'Gooby' and
'The Gruffalo' both in 2009. Coltrane was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2006 HRH the Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to drama, and in 2011 he received the Outstanding Contribution to Film accolade at the British Academy Scotland Awards. All up Coltrane was the recipient of eleven award wins and a further eight nominations including three BAFTA TV award wins for
'Cracker'. Coltrane took the stage name in tribute to the acclaimed American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane.
* Jan Rabson - born 14th June 1954 and died 14th October 2022, aged 68. Rabson was an American Actor and voice Actor who accumulated 185 screen acting and voice work credits throughout his career which began with his uncredited voice work into the English translation on
'Don Quixote in the Tales of La Mancha' in 1980. His live action screen work included the likes of TV series
'One Day at a Time', 'Knight Rider', 'Cheers', 'Hunter', 'Thirtysomething', 'Night Court', 'The New WKRP in Cincinnati', 'Babylon 5', 'Baywatch' and
'Beverly Hills, 90210'. His feature film credits included
'Crimes of Passion' in 1984 with Kathleen Turner and Anthony Perkins and
'Fatal Attraction' in 1987 with Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, with his voice work being on many animated TV series and feature films taking in sixteen episodes on
'Alvin & the Chipmunks', fifty on
'Denver, the Last Dinosaur', thirteen on
'Where's Waldo', sixty-five on
'James Bond Jnr.', thirteen on
'All-New Dennis the Menace', twenty-three on
'Creepy Crawlers', twenty-two on
'Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!' and on twenty of
'Superbook'. His animated feature film credited roles to which he lent his voice talents also included
'Toy Story', 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', 'Hercules', 'Mulan', 'A Bug's Life', 'Toy Story 2', 'Monsters, Inc.', 'Cars', 'Ice Age : The Meltdown', 'Surf's Up', 'Up', 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs', 'Toy Story 3', 'The Lorax', 'Monsters University', 'Despicable Me 2', 'Minions', 'The Secret Life of Pets' and
'Despicable Me 3', plus there were many more on which he went uncredited.
* Ian Whittaker - born 13th July 1928 and died 16th October 2022, aged 94. Whittaker was a British Set Decorator and Actor, who amassed thirty-five Set Decorator credits and fifty-six as an Actor over a career spanning from 1949 when he appeared in the TV movie
'Happy Week-End' up until 2009 with his last credited role as Set Decorator on the feature film
'From Time to Time' with Maggie Smith and Timothy Spall. His other feature film acting credits included the likes of
'The Slasher' in 1953 with Joan Collins,
'The Sea Shall Not Have Them' in 1954 with Dirk Bogarde,
'A Touch of the Sun' in 1956 with Frankie Howerd,
'The Revenge of Frankenstein' in 1958 with Peter Cushing,
'Operation Snafu' in 1961 with Sean Connery,
'Operation Snatch' in 1962 with Terry-Thomas with '
The Secret of Blood Island' in 1965 being his last credited big screen role although his final film role, albeit uncredited, came in 1990 in
'Frankenstein Unbound' with John Hurt and Raul Julia. His Set Decorator credits included
'The Boy Friend', 'Alien', 'Dragonslayer', 'The Missionary', 'Highlander', 'Three Men and a Little Lady', 'Howards End', 'The Remains of the Day', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Victory', 'Anna and the King', 'The Importance of Being Earnest', 'Being Julia', 'Mirrors' with the aforementioned
'From Time to Time' in 2009 being his final credited Set Decorator position. Whittaker won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration for
'Howards End' and was nominated in the same category another three times for
'Alien', 'The Remains of the Day' and
'Anna and the King', as well as a further six nominations.
* Josephine Melville - born sometime in 1961 and died 20th October 2022 aged 61. Melville was a British Actress and one time Writer and Director of the short thriller film
'Assistance' in 2021. Her screen acting credits take in her only two feature films
'Empire State' in 1987 and
'Slammer' that has completed filming and is awaiting a future release date. In the meantime, there were just fourteen other screen roles taking in the likes of her screen debut in 1983 in a single episode of
'Luna', and then
'Prime Suspect 2', 'Pie in the Sky', 'The Bill', 'Casualty', on nine episodes of
'Eastenders', 'L8r' and
'Hold the Sunset'.
* Ron Masak - born
Ronald Alan Masak on 1st July 1936 and died 20th October 2022, aged 86. Masak was an American Actor of theatre, television and cinema who amassed 122 screen acting roles throughout his seven decade spanning career which launched in 1957 on a single episode of
'The Spade Cooley Show'. His big screen debut came in 1968 on the feature film
'Ice Station Zebra' with Rock Hudson and Ernest Borgnine, followed by the likes of
'Tora! Tora! Tora!' in 1970 with Jason Robards and Martin Balsam,
'Evel Knievel' in 1971 with George Hamilton,
'No Code of Conduct' in 1998 with Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen,
'The Benchwarmers' in 2006 with David Spade, Rob Schneider and Jon Lovitz with
'The Curse of the Gorgon' recently completed filming and awaiting a future release date. In the years in between, there were also numerous made for TV movies, direct to video films and TV series, including
'The Monkees', 'Get Smart', 'I Dream of Jeannie', 'Bewitched', 'Ironside', 'McMillan & Wife', 'Mission : Impossible', on twelve episodes of
'Love Thy Neighbour', 'Love, American Style', 'Police Woman', 'The Rockford Files', 'Police Story', 'Wonder Woman', 'Magnum, P.I.', 'Remington Steele', and then perhaps on his most noted role as Sheriff Mort Metzger on forty-one episodes of
'Murder, She Wrote' between 1985 and 1996 opposite Angela Lansbury (who died earlier this month),
'Columbo', 'Cold Case', and
'The Bold and the Beautiful'. Masak was also considered to be one of the most famous salesman as he starred in the four most successful sales motivational films of all time -
'Second Effort' with Vince Lombardi,
'Time Management' with James Whitmore,
'How to Control Your Time' with Burgess Meredith and
'Ya Gotta Believe' with Tommy Lasorda, which he also wrote and Directed. He was also a sought after motivational speaker. He travelled country wide as spokesman for a major brewing company and for fifteen years was the voice of the Vlasic Pickle stork, and played Lou Costello in commercials for Bran News, McDonald's, and Tropicana Orange Juice. Frequently seen on the talk and game show circuit, Masak has been a celebrity panelist on such game shows as
'Password', 'Tattletales', 'Crosswits', 'Liar's Club', 'Showoffs' and
'Match Game'. He was a regular panelist on
'To Tell the Truth'.
* Bernard Atha - born 27th August 1928 and died 22nd October 2022, aged 94. Atha was an English Actor and Politician who notched up just twenty-seven screen acting roles in his career spanning just over two decades. His debut screen role came in the 1969 Ken Loach feature film
'Kes' and he would follow this up in 1971 with
'Family Life' for Ken Loach again with
'It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet' in 1976 being his last feature film appearance. He also took parts in made for TV movies, mini-series and TV shows taking in the likes of
'Juliet Bravo', 'Airline', 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', 'All Creatures Great and Small', 'Coronation Street', 'Last of the Summer Wine' and
'Emmerdale Farm' being his final screen role in 1991. Atha served as Lord Mayor of Leeds from 2000 to 2001, and was a major figure in the arts and sport in West Yorkshire and elsewhere. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 HRH The Queen's Birthday Honours 'for services to the Arts and to the community in Leeds' having earlier been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1991 HRH The Queen's New Year Honours 'for services to Sport, particularly Sport for the Disabled'.
* Michael Kopsa - born 22nd January 1956 and died 23rd October 2022, aged 66. Kopsa was a Canadian Actor of film and TV who also lent his voice talents to numerous Japanese anime TV series that were dubbed into English. Of his 227 acting credits he scored his first as the voice of Char Aznable on forty-two episodes of
'Mobile Suit Gundam' between 1979 and 1980. His first feature film came in 1985 in the film
'Timing' then
'Hard Core Logo' in 1996,
'Profile for Murder' that same year with Lance Henriksen,
'Chain of Fools' in 2000 with Steve Zahn, Salma Hayek and Jeff Goldblum,
'The Proposal' in 2001 with Jennifer Esposito and Stephen Lang,
'3000 Miles to Graceland' also in 2001 with Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner,
'Stealing Sinatra' in 2003 with David Arquette and William H. Macy,
'Miracle' in 2004 with Kurt Russell,
'Fantastic Four' in 2005 with Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis,
'Watchmen' in 2009 for Zack Snyder,
'Apollo 18' in 2011,
'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' in 2011 too,
'Big Eyes' in 2014 with Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz,
'The Professor' in 2018 with Johnny Depp with
'American Badger' in 2019 being his final feature film role. In the intervening years there were numerous made for television movies, mini-series, voice over work and TV series including
'Highlander', 'The X-Files', 'The Outer Limits', 'Smallville', 'The Dead Zone', 'The 4400', 'Falcon Beach', 'Fringe', 'Supernatural', 'Arrow', 'Van Helsing' and
'Sacred Lies'. Aside from having a major influence in the Japanese anime medium, Kopsa also had big roles in North American animation, including playing Beast, aka Hank McCoy, in
'X-Men: Evolution', taking on the role of Samukai in
'Lego Ninjago', and the Iron Man villain known as the Controller in
'Iron Man : Armored Adventures'.
* Leslie Jordan - born 29th April 1955 and died 24th October 2022, aged 67. Jordan was an American Actor and singer who accumulated 134 screen acting roles throughout his career which began in 1986 on a single episode of
'The Fall Guy' and carried on right up until the present day. His first big screen role came in 1988 in the Richard Pryor starring
'Moving', and this was followed up by the likes of
'Missing Pieces' in 1991 with Eric Idle,
'Hero' in 1992 with Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis,
'Jason Goes to Hell : The Final Friday' in 1993,
'Goodbye Lover' in 1998 with Patricia Arquette and Don Johnson,
'Sordid Lives' in 2000 with Olivia Newton-John and Beau Bridges,
'Madhouse' in 2004 with Natasha Lyonne and Lance Henrikson,
'The Help' in 2011 with Viola Davis, Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer,
'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' in 2021 with Andra Day,
'Until We Meet Again' released earlier this year and
'Strangers in a Strange Land' currently in post-production awaiting a future release. In the meantime, there were also numerous roles on made for TV movies and television series including on ten episodes of
'The People Next Door', on sixteen of
'Reasonable Doubts', on sixteen of
'Bodies of Evidence', on twenty-seven of
'Hearts Afire', 'Star Trek : Voyager', 'Arli$$', 'Ally McBeal', 'Boston Public', 'Boston Legal', 'Ugly Betty', on ten episodes of
'Sordid Lives : The Series', 'Desperate Housewives', 'Supernatural', on twelve of
'Living the Dream', on twenty-two of
'The Cool Kids', on ten of
'American Horror Story', on seventeen of
'Will & Grace' and on thirty-six of
'Call Me Kat' most recently. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, he gained viral fame by posting offbeat videos on Instagram, reaching 5.8 million viewers. All up Jordan was the recipient of four award wins (including the Primetime Emmy win for
'Will & Grace' for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series) plus another five nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. In April 2021, he published his autobiography titled
'How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived'.
* Jules Bass - born 16th September 1935 and died 25th October 2022, aged 87. Bass was an American Producer, Director, Writer and Composer who amassed fifty-eight credits as Producer, forty-four as Director, eight as Writer and thirty-eight for his soundtrack and composing work. His career launched with 130 episodes of
'The New Adventures of Pinocchio' in 1960 which he Directed and Produced. His subsequent Directing work followed mostly in the field of animation and stop-motion animation on such feature films as
'The Daydreamer' in 1966,
'Mad Monster Party' in 1967,
'The Wacky World of Mother Goose' also in 1967,
'20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' in 1973 and
'The Last Unicorn' in 1982. In the years in between he would helm numerous TV movies, videos, and TV series culminating with his final animated made for TV movie being
'The Wind in the Willows' in 1987. Whilst that may have been his final Directorial outing he continued with his Producer work serving as Executive Producer on 125 episodes of
'Thundercats' between 1985 and 1989, then as Consulting Producer on twenty-five episodes of
'Thundercats' between 2011 and 2012 and then again as Consulting Producer on twenty-eight of
'ThunderCats Roar' in 2020. Bass wrote the lyrics for many of the films he Directed, collaborating with composer Maury Laws. With Laws, he wrote songs performed by Fred Astaire, Danny Kaye, Mickey Rooney, John Huston, Roddy McDowall, Vincent Price, Phyllis Diller, Boris Karloff, and the Vienna Boys' Choir. Bass also adapted the verse of J. R. R. Tolkien, approved by the Tolkien estate, into musicalised lyrics for the first completed film adaptation of
'The Hobbit', in 1977 which he also Directed and Produced and for which he won the Peabody Award and was a nominee for a Hugo Award too. He later authored a series of children's books, based around the character of
'Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon' and
'Cooking with Herb'. He also wrote fiction for adults including
'Headhunters', which was adapted into the 2011 Selena Gomez feature,
'Monte Carlo'.
* Leonie Forbes - born 14th June 1937 and died 25th October 2022 aged 85. Forbes was a Jamaican Actress who notched up thirty-seven screen acting roles during her career which launched on the made for TV movie
'A World Inside' in 1962. Her first big screen role, albeit uncredited, came in 1963 in
'80,000 Suspects', and she would follow this up with the likes of
'Club Paradise' in 1986 with Robin Williams, Peter O'Toole and Rick Moranis,
'Milk and Honey' in 1988,
'What My Mother Told Me' in 1995 which she also wrote,
'Shattered Image' in 1998 with William Baldwin,
'A Winter Tale' in 2007 with
'It's a Family Affair' in 2016 being her final big screen offering. In the meantime and since there were also appearances on TV series including
'Z Cars', 'Dixon of Dock Green', 'Public Eye', 'South of the Border', 'The Orchid House' and
'Top Boy' as recently as 2019 and that being her final screen role. She also joined the newly formed Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) in 1959 as a radio announcer, then worked as a writer for BBC Caribbean in the UK, then acted in a number of radio dramas for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation between 1968 and 1970 and in 1972 was appointed as head of Radio Two for the JBC FM service later becoming overall Director of radio broadcasting in 1976. In 1980, Forbes was made an Officer of the Order of Distinction for her work.
With twenty 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, and as life reverts almost back to normalcy, we should all, however, continue to be cautious by remembering the basic principles that continue to be advocated and 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-
No comments:
Post a Comment
Odeon Online - please let me know your thoughts?