In January, 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 . . . . . Frank Galati, James D. Brubaker, Michael Snow, Earl Boen, Owen Roizman, Adam Rich, Dorothy Tristan, Ben Masters, Carole Cook, Piers Haggard, Brian Tufano, Andrew Jones, Bruce Gowers, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Seacat, Edward R. Pressman, Donn Cambern, Tim Barlow, Eugenio Martin, Lance Kerwin, Sylvia Syms, Gregory Allen Howard, Lisa Loring and Annie Wersching.
* Frank Galati - born 29th November 1943 and died 2nd January 2023, aged 79. Galati was an American theatre Director, Writer and Actor who accumulated just three screen Writing credits, two as an Actor and one as a Director, but accumulated many more in the field of theatre. Galati and Co-Writer Lawrence Kasdan adapted the novel
'The Accidental Tourist' for the 1988 feature film,
'The Accidental Tourist' with William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis and Bill Pullman which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The pair won a USC Scripter Award for the screenplay. Galati was awarded the Tony Award for Best Play for his adaptation of
'The Grapes of Wrath' in 1990. The production originated at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company and transferred to Broadway where, in addition to Best Play, Galati won an additional Tony for Best Direction of a Play. The drama also received six more nominations, including recognition in acting categories for Gary Sinise amongst others. After his success with
'The Grapes of Wrath', Galati went on to adapt
'As I Lay Dying' in 1995, and
'After the Quake' in 2005. He also wrote original work, such as
'Everyman' in 1995. The majority of his work debuted at Steppenwolf. He was the recipient of nine Joseph Jefferson Awards for his contributions to Chicago theatre.
* James D. Brubaker - born 30th March 1937 and died 3rd January 2023, aged 85. Brubaker was an American film Producer and Production Manager, who notched up twenty-eight screen Producer credits, twenty as Production Manager and eighteen in the Transport Department, with the latter being from 1970 until 1977 only. His Producer career kick started with an Associate credit on the 1981 feature film
'True Confessions' with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, which he would then follow up with Associate of Executive Producer credits on the likes of
'Rocky III', 'The Right Stuff', 'Rocky IV', 'Cobra', 'Over the Top', 'A Walk in the Clouds', 'The Nutty Professor', 'Liar Liar', 'Life', 'Nutty Professor II : The Klumps' 'Dragonfly', 'Bruce Almighty', and
'Chef' in 2014 being his final feature film Producer credit. Brubaker was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Directors Guild of America, and The Producers Guild of America. He also lectured at UCLA and USC film schools and provided training opportunities for disadvantaged youth on his movie sets.
* Michael Snow - born 10th December 1928 and died 5th January 2023, aged 94. Snow was a Canadian artist whose work included a range of media including film, installation, sculpture, photography, and music. He is considered one of the most influential experimental filmmakers of all time with his Directorial debut coming in the 1956 short film
'A to Z' which he would follow up with perhaps his best known work on
'Wavelength' - the 1967 forty-five minute short film that is considered in some circles to be one of the most unconventional and experimental films ever made.
'Wavelength' is a structural film of a 45-minute long zoom in on a window over a period of a week. His feature film credits include a Co-Director credit on the documentaries
'For Life, Against the War' in 1967,
'Back and Forth' in 1969,
'La region centrale' in 1971,
'Presents' in 1981,
'To Lavoisier, Who Died in the Reign of Terror' in 1991 with numerous other short film in between and since culminating with his final screen credit in 2019 with the ten minute short film
'Cityscape'. He was awarded the O.C. (Officer of the Order of Canada) in late June 1981 for his services to the Visual Arts in Canada. Originally a professional jazz musician, Snow has a long-standing interest in improvised music, as indicated by the soundtrack to his 1972 short film
'New York Eye and Ear Control'. As a pianist, he has performed solo and with other musicians in North America, Europe and Japan, and had released more than a half dozen albums since the mid-1970's.
* Earl Boen - born 8th August 1941 and died 5th January 2023, aged 81. Boen was an American Actor and voice Actor who accumulated a staggering 291 screen acting and voice over credits throughout his career which spanned from a single episode on
'Great Performances' in 1974 with his first big screen role coming in 1977 in
'Mr. Billion'. He would follow this up over the following years with other feature film credits taking in the likes of
'The Main Event' in 1979 with Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand,
'9 to 5' in 1980 with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton,
'The Man with Two Brains' in 1983 with Steve Martin then perhaps his best known turn as Dr. Silberman in
'The Terminator' in 1984, the
'Terminator 2 : Judgement Day' in 1991and then
'Terminator 3 : Rise of the Machines' in 2003 each with Arnold Schwarzenegger. There was also
'Movers & Shakers' in 1985 with Walter Matthau and Charles Grodin,
'Alien Nation' in 1988 with James Caan,
'Marked for Death' in 1990 with Steven Seagal,
'Naked Gun 33 1/3 : The Final Insult' in 1994 with Leslie Nielsen, and
'Nutty Professor II : The Klumps' in 2000 with Eddie Murphy and
'Terminator 3' in 2003 being his final live action acting credit. Since then his time had been spent mostly providing voice over work for numerous video games including
'World of Warcraft', 'Tales of Monkey Island', 'Metal Gear', and
'Atlantis : The Lost Empire' amongst many others, as well as TV animated series.
* Owen Roizman - born 22nd September 1936 and died 6th January 2023, aged 86. Roizman was an American Cinematographer who generated thirty-two screen photography credits to his name in a career which began in 1970 with the unreleased X Rated film
'Stop!'. His next big screen outing came in William Friedkin's classic
'The French Connection' in 1971, followed by the likes of
'The Heartbreak Kid' in 1972,
'The Exorcist' in 1973 for William Friedkin again,
'The Taking of Pelham One Two Three' in 1974,
'The Stepford Wives' in 1975,
'Three Days of the Condor' also in 1975 for Sydney Pollack,
'Network' in 1976 for Sidney Lumet,
'The Electric Horseman' in 1979 for Sydney Pollack again,
'Taps' in 1981,
'Tootsie' in 1982 and
'Havana' in 1990 both for Sydney Pollack,
'The Addams Family' in 1991 for Barry Sonnenfeld,
'Wyatt Earp' in 1994 for Lawrence Kasdan and
'French Kiss' in 1995 for Lawrence Kasdan again being his last big screen lensing. All up Roizman won five awards and seven nominations, including five Academy Award nods for
'The French Connection', 'The Exorcist', 'Network', 'Tootsie' and
'Wyatt Earp' plus an Honorary Award win at 2017's Academy Governor's Awards ceremony. Roizman was a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 2002 to 2011, representing the Cinematographers Branch, and was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.
* Adam Rich - born 12th October 1968 and died 7th January 2023, aged 54. Rich was an American Actor who notched up twenty-three screen acting roles during his career which began on a single episode of
'The Six Million Dollar Man' in 1976. His only two feature film credits were
'The Devil and Max Devlin' in 1981 with Elliott Gould and Bill Cosby and
'Dickie Roberts : Former Child Star' in 2003 with David Spade. Perhaps his best known role was as Nicholas Bradford across 127 episodes of
'Eight is Enough' between 1977 and 1981, which he would follow up with eighteen episodes on
'Code Red' between 1981 and 1982 and then on twenty-seven episodes providing the voice of Presto the Magician on the animated TV series
'Dungeons & Dragons'. He also had a couple of episodes on each of
'Fantasy Island', 'CHiPs', 'Gun Shy' and
'Small Wonder', with his reprisal of the Nicholas Bradford role on the TV movies
'Eight is Enough : A Family Reunion' in 1987 and
'An Eight is Enough Wedding' in 1989. His final screen role came in 2003 on a single episode of
'Reel Comedy'. A distinctive feature of his appearance during his years as a child actor was his pageboy haircut, which inspired literally thousands of parents of the late '70's and early '80's to imitate the look for their young sons. His role on
'Eight is Enough' led him to be known as 'America's little brother'.
* Dorothy Tristan - born 9th May 1934 and died 7th January 2023, aged 88. Tristan was an American Actress and Screenwriter who generated twenty-two screen acting credits and five as Writer during her career which kicked off in 1970 in the feature film
'End of the Road' with Stacy Keach. She would follow this up with roles in other features including
'Klute' in 1971 with Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda, then
'Scarecrow' in 1973 with Gene Hackman and Al Pacino,
'Swashbuckler' in 1976 with Robert Shaw and James Earl Jones,
'Rollercoaster' in 1977 with George Segal, Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark,
'Down and Out in Beverly Hills' in 1986 with Nick Nolte, Bette Midler and Richard Dreyfus,
'The Looking Glass' in 2015 and with a small part in
'The Girls of Summer' in 2020 being her final screen role. In the intervening years there were also appearances on TV series taking in the likes of
'Gunsmoke', 'Kojak', 'The Incredible Hulk' and
'The Waltons'. Her Screenwriting credits were on
'Weeds' in 1987 with Nick Nolte, the TV movie
'Steal the Sky' in 1988 with Mariel Hemingway and Ben Cross,
'A Piece of Eden' in 2000 with Tyne Daly,
'Suspended Animation' in 2001 based on her own novel and
'The Looking Glass' in 2015. All of her five films for which she wrote the screenplay, were Directed by John D. Hancock with whom she was married from 1975 until the time of her passing. Tristan started her career as a model and was on the magazine covers of
'Vogue' and
'Life'.
* Ben Masters - born 6th May 1947 and died 11th January 2023, aged 75. Masters was an American Actor who notched up forty-nine screen acting roles during his career which began in the made for TV movie
'Duty Bound' in 1973. His first feature film role came in 1975 in
'Mandingo' with James Mason and Susan George, and he would follow this up with the likes of
'All That Jazz' in 1979 with Roy Scheider and Jessica Lange, then
'Dream Lover' in 1986 with Kristy McNichol,
'Making Mr. Right' in 1987 with John Malkovich with
'Walker Texas Ranger 3 : Deadly Reunion' with Chuck Norris in 1994 being his last big screen offering. In the meantime, and the years since he also appeared in TV series including
'Kojak', on thirteen episodes of
'Muggsy', on three of
'Barnaby Jones', on eighteen of
'Heartbeat', on three of
'Murder, She Wrote', 'Touched by an Angel', on five of
'Pensacola : Wings of Gold' and then on 772 episodes of perhaps his most well known role as Julian Crane on the daytime drama series
'Passions' between 1999 and its last episode in 2008, and for which he was nominated three times for a Soap Opera Digest Award.
* Carole Cook - born
Mildred Frances Cook on 14th January 1924 and died 11th January 2023, aged 98. Cook was an American Actress of stage, film and television who amassed sixty-two screen acting credits throughout her six decade spanning career which began in 1960 on two episodes of the TV series
'U.S. Marshal'. Her first big screen role came in 1963 in
'Palm Springs Weekend' with Connie Stevens and Stefanie Powers, then
'The Incredible Mr. Limpet' in 1964 with Don Knotts,
'The Gauntlet' in 1977 with Clint Eastwood,
'American Gigolo' in 1980 with Richard Gere,
'Sixteen Candles' in 1984 for John Hughes and with Molly Ringwald,
'Lost & Found' in 1999 with David Spade and Sophie Marceau,
'A Very Sordid Wedding' in 2017 with
'Still Waiting in the Wings' in 2018 being her final screen outing. In the intervening years there were also appearances on TV shows including
'The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis', on eighteen episodes of
'The Lucy Show' between 1963 and 1968, on four episodes of
'McMillan & Wife', on five of
'Here's Lucy' between 1969 and 1974,
'Starsky and Hutch', 'Charlie's Angels', on four of
'Kojak', 'Knight Rider', 'Hart to Hart', 'The Love Boat', 'The A-Team', 'Magnum, P.I.', on four of
'Dynasty', on five of
'Cagney & Lacey', 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Grey's Anatomy' and
'Break a Hip'. In addition to her film and television work, Cook appeared in the original Broadway productions of
'42nd Street' and
'Romantic Comedy', and was the second actress (after Carol Channing) to star as Dolly Levi in
'Hello, Dolly!' Lucille Ball invited her to work for her production company Desilu Studios and to change her stage name to Carole, after her favourite Actress Carole Lombard.
* Piers Haggard - born 18th March 1939 and died 11th January 2023, aged 83. Haggard was a British Director of film, TV and theatre who garnered fifty-five screen Directorial credits to his name beginning with ten episodes of
'The Newcomers' in 1966. His feature film debut came with
'Wedding Night' in 1969 with Dennis Waterman and Tessa Wyatt, which he would follow up with other features including
'The Blood on Satan's Claw' in 1971,
'The Quatermass Conclusion' in 1979 with John Mills,
'The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu' in 1980 with Peter Sellers and Helen Mirren,
'Venom' in 1981 with Oliver Reed and Klaus Kinski,
'A Summer Story' in 1988 and
'Conquest' in 1998 being his final big screen offering. In the meantime, there were numerous made for TV movies and TV series that he Directed taking in
'Callan', 'Churchill's People', six episodes of
'Pennies from Heaven', four of
'Quartermass', ten of
'Return to Treasure Island', four of
'Centrepoint', 'Ruth Rendell Mysteries' and two episodes of
'The Shell Seekers' in 2006 being his last screen credit. Haggard was the recipient of three award wins, including a BAFTA TV Award for
'Pennies from Heaven' and a Directors Guild of Great Britain (of which he was a founding member) Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Guild and Craft of Directing, plus another four nominations. He was also awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to film, television and theatre.
* Brian Tufano - born in 1st December 1939 and died 14th January 2023, aged 83. Tufano was an English Cinematographer whose career began as Assistant Cameraman on the TV movie
'The Long Journey' in 1964. His first Cinematographer credit came in 1966 on the TV movie
'A Few Castles in Spain' with his first feature film being
'The Big Switch' in 1968. His more notable big screen lensing credits took in the likes of
'Quadrophenia' in 1979 for Franc Roddam,
'War Party' in 1988 for Franc Roddam again,
'Shallow Grave' in 1994 for Danny Boyle,
'Trainspotting' in 1996 for Danny Boyle again,
'A Life Less Ordinary' in 1997 for Danny Boyle once more,
'Billy Elliot' in 2000 for Stephen Daldry,
'Last Orders' in 2001 for Fred Schepisi,
'Once Upon a Time in the Midlands' in 2002 for Shane Meadows,
'Kidulthood' in 2006 for Menhaj Huda,
'Adulthood' in 2008 for Noel Clarke,
'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll' in 2010 for Mat Whitecross,
'Everywhere and Nowhere' in 2011 for Menhaj Huda again, and the sports documentary
'Gymnast' also in 2011 being his film Cinematographer credit. Tufano was awarded The Special Jury Prize at the 2002 British Independent Film Awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Society of Cinematographers in 2020 as well as three other nominations including the BAFTA nod for
'Billy Elliot'. From 2003 to 2016, Tufano was Head of Cinematography at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England.
* Andrew Jones - born 6th October 1983 and died 15th January 2023, aged 39. Jones was a Welsh Screenwriter, Producer and Director who worked mostly in the low budget independent horror movie business and who notched up thirty-three Producer credits, thirty-two as Writer and twenty-eight as Director in his relatively short career that kicked off in 2006 with his feature film
'Teenage Wasteland'. Some of his other titles which he Directed include
'The Amityville Asylum' in 2013,
'The Last House on Cemetery Lane' in 2014,
'Robert' in 2015 which would begin a franchise continuing with
'The Curse of Robert the Doll' in 2016,
'Robert and the Toymaker' in 2017,
'The Revenge of Robert the Doll' in 2018 and
'Robert Reborn' in 2019. In between time, there was also
'The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund' in 2016,
'Werewolves of the Third Reich' in 2017,
'The Manson Family Massacre' in 2019,
'The Utah Cabin Murders' in 2019,
'The Jonestown Haunting' in 2020,
'The Haunting of Margam Castle' in 2020 and
'Alien : Battlefield Earth' in 2021 being his final Director, Producer and Writer credit although he did Write and Produce
'Horror Express' in 2022 and
'Ed Gein : American Psycho' in 2022 also.
* Bruce Gowers - born 21st December 1940 and died 15th January 2023, aged 82. Gowers was a British television Director and Producer best known for his work on large scale live music and event productions, and music video's. His career included credits for the live episodes of
'American Idol' from 2001 until 2010 which he Directed from its inception across 234 episodes, and awards shows including the Emmys, The MTV Awards, the Billboard Awards, and the American Music Awards; event specials including Live Earth, Live 8, and President Bill Clinton's Inaugural Concert at the Lincoln Memorial. He also Directed musical specials for Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Prince, Ray Charles, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, and Britney Spears. His work on music video's included Queen's
'Bohemian Rhapsody' which catapulted him into the international spotlight in 1975, and thereafter he worked extensively with Queen, plus Genesis, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Styx, Supertramp, John Cougar, Toto, Rush, Santana and REO Speedwagon. His career went beyond his work on music and live event productions, with extensive credits in the comedy arena, such as the long-running series
'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' and specials for Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Eddie Murphy and Jerry Seinfeld. All up Gowers boasted 332 Director credits and thirty-two as Producer, and he won four awards including a Primetime Emmy, a Directors Guild of America Award and a Grammy Award plus nineteen other nominations including six other Primetime Emmy nods and a BAFTA TV Award nod.
* Gina Lollobrigida - born
Luigia Lollobrigida on 4th July 1927 and died 16th January 2023, aged 95. Lollobrigida was an Italian Actress, photojournalist and politician who was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950's and early 1960's, a period in which she was an international sex symbol, and dubbed 'the most beautiful woman in the world'. At the time of her passing, she was among the last high-profile international actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. As an Actress she generated sixty-nine screen roles throughout her career which launched in the 1946 feature film
'Return of the Black Eagle' and following a number of uncredited roles she gained her second credited role in 1948's
'Mad About Opera'. She gained top billing in the 1949 film
'Campane a martello' and then her first Hollywood produced film was '
Beat the Devil' in 1953 Directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart. This was followed up by the likes of
'Crossed Swords' in 1954 with Errol Flynn,
'Trapeze' in 1956 with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis,
'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' also in 1956 with Anthony Quinn,
'The Law' in 1959 with Yves Montand and Marcello Mastroianni,
'Never So Few' Directed by John Sturges and with Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and Peter Lawford also in 1959,
'Soloman and Sheba' for King Vidor and with Yul Brynner in 1959 too,
'Go Naked in the World' in 1961 with Anthony Franciosa and Ernest Borgnine,
'Come September' in 1961 with Rock Hudson,
'Woman of Straw' in 1964 with Sean Connery,
'Strange Bedfellows' in 1965 with Rock Hudson again,
'Hotel Paradiso' in 1966 with Alec Guinness,
'Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell' in 1968 with Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford and Telly Savalas,
'Bad Man's River' in 1971 with Lee Van Cleef and James Mason with
'XXL' in 1997 with Gerard Depardieu being her final feature film credit aside from a brief cameo appearance in the 2011 Italian parody film
'Box Office 3D : The Filmest of Films'. As her film career began to slow down in the mid-'70's Lollobrigida established a second career as a photojournalist. By the end of the 1970's, she had embarked on what she developed into a successful second career as a photographic journalist. She photographed, among others, Paul Newman, Salvador Dalí, Henry Kissinger, David Cassidy, Audrey Hepburn, Ella Fitzgerald, and the German national football team. In 1974 she managed to obtain an exclusive interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. In 1999, she unsuccessfully ran for election to the European Parliament as a candidate for The Democrats, and in the 2022 Italian general election, Lollobrigida, at the age of 95, attempted to win a seat in the Senate of the Republic, by standing for election as candidate for the Sovereign and Popular Italy Party - she was however, unsuccessful, garnering just 1% of the votes. All up Lollobrigida won thirty-three awards and was nominated a further seven times from around the awards and festival circuit.
* Sandra Seacat - born 2nd October 1936 and died 17th January 2023, aged 86. Seacat was an American Actress, one time Director and acting coach, who during the 1970's, taught at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, City College of New York's Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts, the Actors Studio, and she also taught privately. Among her clients back then were Lance Henriksen, Christopher Reeve and Mickey Rourke, and over the course of the next decade that list grew further to include the likes of Jessica Lange, Rachel Ward, Melanie Griffith, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gina Gershon. All up Seacat notched up forty-four screen acting credits throughout her career which began with a single episode on
'Directions' in 1966. Her first big screen role came in 1979 in
'The Rose' with Bette Midler and Alan Bates, then the likes of
'The Kidnapping of the President' in 1980 with William Shatner and Hal Holbrook,
'Frances' in 1982 with Jessica Lange,
'Country' in 1984 with Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard,
'Promised Land' in 1987 with Kiefer Sutherland,
'The New Age' in 1994 with Peter Weller and Judy Davis,
'Crazy in Alabama' in 1999 with Melanie Griffith,
'Nailed' in 2001 with Harvey Keitel,
'Sympathy for Delicious' in 2010 with Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney,
'Palo Alto' in 2013 with James Franco and Emma Roberts,
'Alex of Venice' in 2014 with Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Don Johnson,
'Buster's Mal Heart' in 2016 with Rami Malek and
'The Trainer' currently in post-production awaiting a future release. The students of Seacat over the years also include Roseanna Arquette, Josh Brolin, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp, Laura Dern, Peter Falk, Andrew Garfield, Harvey Keitel, Don Johnson, Brooke Shields and Treat Williams amongst a host of others.
* Edward R. Pressman - born 11th April 1943 and died 17th January 2023, aged 79. Pressman was an American film Producer, and founder of his own Production Company, Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation. During his career Pressman accumulated ninety-six Producer credits to his name, beginning with the twelve minute short film
'Girl' in 1967. His first feature film came with
'Out of It' in 1969 with Jon Voight, and he would follow this up with the likes of
'Badlands' in 1973 with Director Terrence Malick,
'Paradise Alley' in 1978 for and with Sylvester Stallone,
'Conan the Barbarian' in 1982 with Director John Milius,
'Conan the Destroyer' in 1984,
'Plenty' in 1985 with Director Fred Schepisi,
'Wall Street' in 1987 with Director Oliver Stone,
'Blue Steel' in 1990 with Director Kathryn Bigelow,
'Bad Lieutenant' in 1992 with Director Abel Ferrara',
'Hoffa' in 1992 for and with Danny De Vito,
'The Crow' in 1994 with Director Alex Proyas,
'Judge Dredd' in 1995,
'City Hall' in 1996,
'American Psycho' in 2000,
'Thank You for Smoking' in 2005 with Director Jason Reitman,
'Bad Lieutenant : Post of Call New Orleans' with Director Werner Herzog,
'Wall Street : Money Never Sleeps' in 2010 with Director Oliver Stone,
'The Man Who Knew Infinity' in 2015,
'Daliland' in 2022 with
'Catching Dust' and a remake of
'The Crow' currently in Post-Production and
'The Monkey Wrench Gang' currently filming and all awaiting a future release date. Pressman was the recipient of six award wins and another five nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit.
* Donn Cambern - born 9th October 1929 and died 18th January 2023, aged 93. Cambern was an American film Editor who notched up thirty-seven screen editing credits during his career which began in 1968 on
'The Bob Hope Christmas Special'. His first big screen gig came in 1969 with
'2000 Years Later', and he would follow this up over the successive years with others, including
'Easy Rider' in 1969 for Dennis Hopper,
'The Last Picture Show' in 1971 for Peter Bogdanovich,
'The Hindenberg' in 1975 for Robert Wise,
'Smokey and the Bandit II' in 1980 for Hal Needham,
'The Cannonball Run' in 1981 for Hal Needham again,
'Romancing the Stone' in 1984 for Robert Zemeckis,
'Twins' in 1988 for Ivan Reitman,
'Ghostbusters II' in 1989 for Ivan Reitman again,
'The Bodyguard' in 1992,
'The Glimmer Man' in 1996 for John Gray with the animated adventure comedy film
'The Adventure Mania' in 2021 being his final screen editing credit. Cambern had served twice as Vice-President of the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and from 1991-2002, he was President of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, which in 2007 bestowed upon him the inaugural Guild's Fellowship and Service Award. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Editing for
'Romancing the Stone'.
* Tim Barlow - born
Michael John Leigh Barlow on 18th January 1936 and died 20th January 2023 aged 87. Barlow was an English Actor who preformed numerous bit parts in films, TV and the stage. He accumulated eighty-seven screen acting credits throughout his career which began in 1973 on a single episode of
'Emmerdale Farm'. His first big screen role came with an uncredited appearance on the feature film
'Brannigan' starring John Wayne in 1975, which he follow up with successive small parts in
'The Eagle Has Landed' in 1976 for John Sturges,
'Privates on Parade' in 1983,
'The Tall Guy' in 1989 with Jeff Goldblum and Emma Thompson,
'Mary Reilly' in 1996 with Julia Roberts and John Malkovich,
'Les Miserables' in 1998 with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush,
'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' in 2001 with Stellan Skarsgard and Paul Bettany,
'Kingdom of Heaven' in 2005 for Ridley Scott,
'Hot Fuzz' in 2007 for Edgar Wright,
'10,000 BC' in 2008 for Roland Emmerich,
'Cockneys vs Zombies' in 2012,
'Automata' in 2014 with Antonio Banderas with
'My Cousin Rachel' in 2017 for Roger Michell being his final feature film outing. In the intervening years, and since, there have also been numerous TV series taking in the likes of
'Secret Army', 'Poldark', 'Within These Walls', 'Grange Hill', 'Cracker', on ten episodes of
'Inside Victor Lewis-Smith', 'The Bill', 'Rome', 'Wire in the Blood', 'Holby City', 'Sherlock', 'The Alienist' and
'The New Pope' being his last screen outing.
* Eugenio Martin - born
Eugenio Martin Marquez on 15th May 1925 and died 23rd January 2023, aged 97. Martin was a Spanish film Director and Screenwriter who notched up thirty screen Directing credits to his name and twenty-nine as Writer. His career in film making began with a number of short films between 1955 and 1956 before launching into his debut feature film in 1961 with
'Conqueror of Maracaibo' which he followed up with other movies including
'Hypnosis' in 1962,
'The Ugly Ones' in 1966,
'Requiem for a Gringo' in 1968,
'The Fourth Victim' in 1971,
'Bad Man's River' in 1971 with Lee Van Cleef, James Mason and Gina Lollobrigida,
'Horror Express' in 1972 with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing,
'Pancho Villa' in 1972 with Telly Savalas, Clint Walker and Chuck Connors,
'It Happened at Nightmare Inn' in 1973 with Judy Geeson,
'The Girl from the Red Cabaret' in 1973 with Marisol and Mel Ferrer and
'Call Girl' in 1976 with Anthony Andrews with his final films from 1977 up to 1996 all being in Spanish language film and TV culminating with his film
'La sal de la vida' in 1996.
* Lance Kerwin - born 6th November 1960 and died 24th January 2023, aged 62. Kerwin was an American Actor known most notably for his roles in TV and films during his childhood and teenage years in the 1970's. All up Kerwin notched up fifty-five screen acting roles throughout his career which began in 1974 on a single episode of
'Emergency!'. His first feature film came with an uncredited role in
'Escape to Witch Mountain' in 1975 with Eddie Albert, Ray Milland and Donald Pleasence, and he would follow this up with other big screen offerings including
'Enemy Mine' in 1985 with Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jnr.,
'Outbreak' in 1995 with Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo and Morgan Freeman and then
'The Wind & the Reckoning' in 2022 with Jason Scott Lee being his final screen credit following an absence of twenty-seven years. In the years in between there were also roles on TV series taking in the likes of '
Shazam!', 'Little House on the Prairie', 'Cannon', 'Gunsmoke', on ten episodes of
'The Family Holvak', 'Wonder Woman', 'The Bionic Woman', on twenty-one episodes of
'James at 16' in which he played the title role,
'Salem's Lot', 'Hotel', 'Trapper John, M.D.' and
'Murder, She Wrote'. There were also a couple of more noteworthy made for TV movies in the meantime too, including
'The Loneliest Runner', 'The Boy Who Drank Too Much', and
'Children of Divorce'.
* Sylvia Syms - born 6th January 1934 and died 27th January 2023, aged 89. Syms was an English Actress of film, television and theatre who was affectionally known as The Grand Dame of British Cinema in which she was a major player from the mid-1950's through to the mid-1960's. Syms accumulated 126 screen acting credits throughout her seven decade spanning career which launched with a single episode on the TV series
'Terminus' in 1955. Her debut feature film role came in 1956 in
'Teenage Bad Girl' opposite Anna Neagle, which she would follow up with the likes of
'Woman in a Dressing Gown' in 1957 with Anthony Quayle,
'No Time for Tears' also in 1957 with Anna Neagle and Anthony Quayle,
'Ice Cold in Alex' in 1958 with John Mills and Anthony Quayle,
'No Trees in the Street' in 1959 with Herbert Lom,
'Expresso Bongo' in 1959 with Cliff Richard,
'Flame in the Streets' in 1961 with John Mills,
'East of Sudan' in 1964 with Anthony Quayle again,
'Operation Crossbow' in 1965 with Sophia Loren and George Peppard,
'The Fiction-Makers' in 1968 with Roger Moore,
'Run Wild, Run Free' in 1969 with John Mills again,
'The Tamarind Seed' in 1974 with Omar Sharif,
'Absolute Beginners' in 1986 with David Bowie and Patsy Kensit,
'Shirley Valentine' in 1989 with Pauline Collins,
'Shining Through' in 1992 with Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith,
'Food of Love' in 1997 with Richard E. Grant,
'I'll Sleep When I'm Dead' in 2003 with Clive Owen,
'The Queen' in 2006 with Helen Mirren,
'Is Anybody There?' in 2008 with Michael Caine and
'Together' in 2018 with Peter Bowles being her last film outing. In the years in between there were also numerous made for TV movies and TV series appearances including five episodes on
'Bat Out of Hell', 'The Saint', five on
'My Good Woman', three on
'Miss Marple : A Murder is Announced', 'Doctor Who', on the made for TV movie
'Thatcher : The Final Days' in which she portrayed Margaret Thatcher, on fifteen episodes of
'Peak Practice', on six of
'The Jury', on twenty of
'At Home with the Braithwaites', 'Dalziel and Pascoe', 'New Tricks', 'Casualty', 'Doctors', 'EastEnders' with a single episode on
'Gentleman Jack' in 2019 being her last screen role. She also had numerous roles in theatre including productions of
'Much Ado About Nothing', 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' and
'Antony and Cleopatra'. Syms was the Head of the Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1975, and in 2007 she was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in HRH The Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama. She was nominated three times for a BAFTA for
'Woman in a Dressing Gown', 'No Trees in the Street' and
'The Tamarind Seed'.
* Gregory Allen Howard - born 28th January 1952 and died 27th January 2023, aged 70. Howard was an American Screenwriter and Producer who generated just seven writing credits and three as Producer during his career which began in 2000 with the feature film
'Remember the Titans' starring Denzel Washington and Will Patton. He followed this up in 2001 with his story of
'Ali' with Will Smith and Jon Voight both Academy Award nominees for the portrayal of Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) and Howard Cosell the American Sports Journalist respectively. His next feature film story and screen writer credit came with 2019's
'Harriet' with Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monae, and Leslie Odom Jnr.
'Night Witches' has recently completed filming as is awaiting a future release date,
'Rise' is currently in pre-production and
'The Magician' in in development. Howard served as Producer on
'Harriet' and
'Night Witches'. He won two awards - a Black Reel Award for
'Ali' and a Christopher Award for
'Remember the Titans' and was nominated twice for
'Harriet' at the AARP Movies for Grownups and the Image Awards.
* Lisa Loring - born
Lisa Ann DeCinces on 16th February 1958 and died 28th January 2023, aged 64. Loring was an American Actress of TV and film, who began a modelling career at the tender age of three and appeared in an episode of
'Dr. Kildare' in 1964 at the age of six. Her next role, and probably her best known role came as Wednesday Addams in sixty-four episodes of
'The Addams Family' between 1964 and 1966, with a further fourteen screen acting credits to her name over the ensuing years, taking in the likes of
'The Pruitts of Southampton',
'The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.', 'Fantasy Island, 'Barnaby Jones' on seven episodes of
'As the World Turns', before her first feature film role in
'Blood Frenzy' in 1987, followed by
'Savage Harbor' also in 1987 with Frank Stallone,
'Iced' in 1989,
'Way Down in Chinatown' in 2014 with
'Doctor Spine' in 2015 being her final screen appearance.
* Annie Wersching - born 28th March 1977 and died 29th January 2023, aged 45. Wersching was an American Actress of the stage earlier on in her career before breaking into TV and film garnering forty-eight screen acting roles during her career which began in 2002 on a single episode of
'Star Trek : Enterprise'. From there, she gained just two big screen roles playing bit parts in
'Bruce Almighty' in 2003 with Jim Carrey, and
'Below the Beltway' in 2010 with Tate Donovan. Her other screen roles related mostly to TV series including
'Frasier', 'Charmed', 'Cold Case', 'Boston Legal', 'Supernatural', then eighty episodes on
'General Hospital', on thirty-seven of
'24', 'NCIS', 'Hawaii Five-0', 'Dallas', 'Blue Bloods', 'Castle', on thirteen of
'Timeless', on thirty-two of
'Runaways', on thirteen of
'Bosch', on six of
'Star Trek : Picard' and on six of
'The Rookie' most recently. She also lent her voice talents to the character of Tess on the video game of
'The Last of Us' and to Tassyn on the video game
'Anthem'.
With twenty-four deaths reported in January 2023 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 as life reverts almost back to normalcy, despite new variants of the virus being reported and many countries experiencing another wave, we should all, however, continue to be cautious by remembering the basic principles that continue to be advocated. 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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