In November, 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 . . . . . Bob Baker, Phil Lonergan, Lionel Blair, Clifford Rose, Dean Stockwell, Gavan O'Herlihy, Roy Holder, Gwyneth Guthrie, Henry Woolf, Jerry Douglas, David Fox, Heath Freeman, Igor Savochkin, Art LaFleur, Will Ryan, Peter Aykroyd, Joey Morgan, Lou Cutell, Bernard Holley, Marie Versini, Lisa Brown, Stephen Sondheim, Don Phillips, Doug MacLeod, David Gulpilil, Tommy Lane and Arlene Dahl.
* Bob Baker - born
Robert John Baker on 26th July 1939 and died 3rd November 2021, aged 82. Baker was a British film and television writer who notched up forty screen writing credits to his name in a career which began with the made for TV movie
'Thick as Thieves' in 1971. He would follow this up with a string of TV series episodes including
'Pretenders', 'Z Cars', 'Sky', 'King of the Castle', 'Shoestring', on thirty-eight episodes of
'Doctor Who' between 1971 and 1979, on fifteen of
'Into the Labyrinth', 'Bergerac', and
'K9'. He was also a Co-Writer of the
'Wallace and Gromit' films Directed and created by Nick Park,
'The Wrong Trousers', 'A Close Shave', 'Wallace & Gromit : The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' and
'A Matter of Loaf and Death' as well as the TV series which aired over six episodes in 2010
'Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention'. Baker won two BAFTA Awards and was nominated on two other occasions.
* Phil Lonergan - died 4th November 2021. Lonergan was an Irish stuntman of film and television who amassed sixty-five screen stunt credits during his career which launched in 1990 on the made for TV film
'Shoot to Kill'. His first big screen outing came that same year with
'Bullseye!' starring Michael Caine and Roger Moore, which he would follow up with other cinematic features including
'Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves' in 1991 with Kevin Costner,
'Patriot Games' in 1992 with Harrison Ford,
'Braveheart' in 1995 for and with Mel Gibson,
'GoldenEye' also in 1995 with Pierce Brosnan playing James Bond,
'The Fifth Element' in 1997 with Bruce Willis,
'Tomorrow Never Dies' in 1997 with Brosnan again as Bond,
'Shakespeare in Love' in 1998 with Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes,
'The Golden Compass' in 2007 with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig,
'The Guard' in 2011 with Brendan Gleeson,
'War Horse' in 2011 for Steven Spielberg,
'Wrath of the Titans' in 2012 with Sam Worthington,
'Avengers : Age of Ultron' in 2015,
'The Hitman's Bodyguard' in 2017 with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson,
'Black '47' in 2018 with Hugo Weaving,
'Black Widow' in 2021 with Scarlett Johansson with
'Havoc' currently in post-production set for a 2022 release and starring Tom Hardy. In the meantime there was also TV work on the likes of
'The Tomorrow People', 'London's Burning', 'New Tricks', on eight episodes of
'Game of Thrones', on five of
'Vikings', and
'Gangs of London'.
* Lionel Blair - born
Henry Lionel Ogus on 12th December 1928 and died 4th November 2021, aged 92. Blair was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and moved to London when he was two years of age. He was an Actor, television presenter, dancer and choreographer. His first public performances were with his sister Joyce in the Manor House Underground station air raid shelters and on the trains of the Piccadilly line during the air raids of WWII. He amassed fifty screen acting credits throughout his career spanning seven decades and which launched with a segment on the TV series
'Kaleidoscope' in 1952. He would follow this up with roles on the feature films including
'The Limping Man' in 1953 with Lloyd Bridges,
'The World of Suzie Wong' in 1960 with William Holden,
'The Cool Mikado' in 1963 for Michael Winner,
'A Hard Day's Night' in 1964 with The Beatles,
'Absolute Beginners' in 1986 with Patsy Kensit and David Bowie with
'Run for Your Wife' in 2012 being his last big screen outing. In the meantime, there were also appearances on single and multiple episodes of TV shows taking in
'The Persuaders!', 'Bless This House', on ten episodes of
'The Kenny Everett Television Show', 'Crossroads', 'Last of the Summer Wine', 'Extras', 'Emmerdale Farm', 'The New Bromantics', 'Doctors' and the short thirty minute film
'Evil's Evil Cousin' in 2016 being his final screen acting role. In addition, Blair also choreographed
'In the Nick', 'The Main Attraction', 'Promise Her Anything' and
'The Magic Christian' feature films. He also presented the quiz programme
'Name That Tune', and was a team captain on the televised charades gameshow
'Give Us a Clue'. He published his autobiography
'Stagestruck' in 1985.
* Clifford Rose - born
John Clifford Rose on 24th October 1929 and died 6th November 2021, aged 92. Rose was a British Actor who accumulated eighty-eight screen acting credits throughout his career which kicked off with a small role in the 1959 TV series
'Hilda Lessways'. His first big screen role came with
'Marat/Sade' in 1967 opposite Patrick Magee and Glenda Jackson, which he followed up with other film titles including
'Work Is a Four Letter Word' with David Warner and Cilla Black in 1968,
'Callan' in 1974 with Edward Woodward,
'The Good Father' in 1985 with Anthony Hopkins,
'The Girl' in 1987 with Franco Nero,
'Lover's Prayer' in 2001 with Kirsten Dunst and Julie Walters,
'Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides' in 2011 with Johnny Depp and
'The Iron Lady' that same year with Meryl Streep being his final feature film role. In the intervening years there were also roles on TV series including five episodes on
'Callan', 'Special Branch', on seven of
'The Pallisers', 'Van der Valk', on thirty-eight of
'Secret Army', on thirteen of
'Buccaneer', on six of
'Kessler', 'Minder', 'Fortunes of War', 'War and Remembrance', 'Inspector Morse, 'Poirot', 'Foyle's War', and a single episode of
'The Crown' most recently in 2019 being his final screen appearance. He is a Royal Shakespeare Company Honorary Associate Artist and winner of the Clarence Derwent Award 2009 for his appearance in
'The Chalk Garden' at the Donmar Warehouse, London. He became a company director of the charity the Actors Benevolent Fund in July 2013, aged 84. Rose also acted in thirty-six of William Shakespeare's thirty-seven plays.
* Dean Stockwell - born
Robert Dean Stockwell on 5th March 1936 and died 7th November 2021, aged 85. Stockwell was an American Actor of film, television and theatre who amassed 204 screen acting credits to his name over a eight decade spanning career which launched in 1945 with a role in the feature film
'The Valley of Decision' with Gregory Peck. He would follow this up that same year with
'Anchors Aweigh' with Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, then over the ensuing years on the likes of
'The Boy with Green Hair' in 1948 with Robert Ryan,
'Kim' in 1950 with Errol Flynn,
'Sons and Lovers' in 1960 with Trevor Howard,
'Long Day's Journey Into Night' in 1962 with Katharine Hepburn,
'The Dunwich Horror' in 1970 with Sandra Dee,
'Paris, Texas' in 1984 with Harry Dean Stanton,
'Dune' in 1984 for Director David Lynch,
'To Live and Die in L.A.' in 1985 with Willem Dafoe,
'Blue Velvet' in 1986 for David Lynch again,
'Beverly Hills Cop II' in 1987 with Eddie Murphy,
'Married to the Mob' in 1988 with Michelle Pfeiffer and Alec Baldwin,
'The Player' in 1992 for Robert Altman,
'Air Force One' in 1997 with Harrison Ford,
'The Rainmaker' also in 1997 with Matt Damon,
'Buffalo Soldiers' in 2001 with Joaquin Phoenix,
'The Manchurian Candidate' in 2004 with Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep,
'Max Rose' in 2013 with Jerry Lewis with
'Entertainment' in 2015 with John C. Reilly being his final screen role before his retirement from acting. In the years in between there were also many small screen roles on TV shows including
'Wagon Train', 'The Twilight Zone', 'Dr. Kildare', 'Bonanza', 'The F.B.I.', 'Mission : Impossible', 'Columbo', 'Police Story', 'McCloud', 'Hart to Hart', 'The A-Team', 'Miami Vice', on ninety-seven episodes of
'Quantum Leap', 'The Langoliers', on thirteen of
'Street Gear', on eleven of
'JAG', on fifteen of
'Battlestar Galactica' and
'NCIS : New Orleans'. Stockwell was the recipient of eleven award wins and thirteen nominations including an Oscar nod for
'Married to the Mob', four Golden Globe nods and two wins and four Primetime Emmy nods all for
'Quantum Leap'. Outside of his acting career, Stockwell embraced environmental issues and exhibited works of art, notably digitally enhanced photographs, original collages and sculptures. In 2015, he was forced to retire from acting after suffering a stroke.
* Gavan O'Herlihy - born 29th July 1951 and died 9th November 2021, aged 70. O'Herlihy was an Irish-born American Actor of film and television who worked up fifty-five screen acting roles throughout his career which began in 1973 on a single episode of
'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'. Next up he would appear in nine episodes of
'Happy Days' in 1974 playing the older lost brother to Richie Cunningham, played by Ron Howard, with his first big screen role coming in
'A Wedding' in 1978 for Director Robert Altman. His next feature film role was
'Superman III' with Christopher Reeve in 1983 and
'Never Say Never Again' that same year with Sean Connery reprising his role as 007,
'Death Wish 3' in 1985 with Charles Bronson,
'Willow' in 1988 for Director Ron Howard,
'Top of the World' in 1997 with Dennis Hopper,
'The Descent : Part 2' in 2009 with
'Queen of the Redwood Mountains' currently in post-production for a future release. In the intervening years he would appear in TV series including '
The Six Million Dollar Man', 'Police Woman', 'Rich Man, Poor Man', 'The Bionic Woman', 'We'll Meet Again', 'Lonesome Dove', 'Twin Peaks', 'Star Trek : Voyager', 'Jonathan Creek' and
'Midsomer Murders'.
* Roy Holder - born 15th June 1946 and died 9th November 2021, aged 75. Holder was an English Actor of cinema and television who accumulated one hundred screen acting credits during his career which began in 1961 in the feature film
'Whistle Down the Wind' with Alan Bates and Hayley Mills.
'Term of Trial' followed in 1962 with Laurence Olivier, then
'Othello' in 1965 with Laurence Olivier again,
'The Taming of The Shrew' in 1967 with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor,
'Romeo and Juliet' in 1968 for Director Franco Zeffirelli,
'The Virgin Soldiers' in 1969 with Lynn Redgrave,
'Loot' in 1970 with Richard Attenborough,
'The Land That Time Forgot' in 1974 with Doug McClure,
'Mack the Knife' in 1989 with Richard Harris,
'Pride & Prejudice' in 2005 with Keira Knightley,
'Robin Hood' in 2010 with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett and
'War Horse' in 2011 for Steven Spielberg. In the years in between there were also roles on TV shows including
'Dixon of Dock Green', on twenty-three episodes of
'Ace of Wands', 'Doctor in Charge', 'Z Cars', 'Jesus of Nazareth', 'Pennies from Heaven', 'Penmaric', on nineteen episodes of
'Spearhead', 'Angels', 'Juliet Bravo', 'Coronation Street', on twenty episodes of
'Sorry!', 'Middlemarch', 'The Bill', 'Doctors', 'Eastenders', 'Waking the Dead' and
'Dark Heart' in 2018 being his final screen role.
* Gwyneth Guthrie - born 28th April 1937 and died 9th November 2021, aged 84. Guthrie was a Scottish Actress of TV with only one feature film to her name, that of
'Postmortem' in 1998 with Charlie Sheen. Her most famed role was in the long running Scottish TV series
'Take the High Road' in which she starred in 137 episodes from 1983 until 2003. All up Guthrie notched up twenty-five screen roles throughout her career which started with an episode titled
'The Black Eye' on
'The BBC Sunday-Night Theatre' in 1955. Her other small screen appearances came with the likes of
'Sutherland's Law', 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie', 'Airport Chaplain', 'King's Royal', 'Doctor Finlay' and
'Taggart'.
* Henry Woolf - born 20th January 1930 and died 11th November 2021, aged 91. Woolf was a British born Canadian Actor, theatre Director and teacher of acting, drama and theatre. He was a life long friend and collaborator for over fifty years of Nobel Laureate winning British playwright Harold Pinter, having stimulated Pinter to write his first play,
'The Room' in 1956. Woolf accumulated fifty-seven screen acting credits during a career which began in 1961 in the TV series
'Jacks and Knaves'. His first foray onto the big screen came in 1965's
'A Home of Your Own' and
'San Ferry Ann' and then
'Marat/Sade' with Patrick Magee and Glenda Jackson followed by the likes of
'The Lion in Winter' with Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn in 1968,
'Great Catherine' with Peter O'Toole again in 1968,
'The Bed Sitting Room' in 1969,
'Alfred the Great' in 1969 also,
'Figures in a Landscape' in 1970 with Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell,
'The Ruling Class' in 1972 with Peter O'Toole once more,
'Galileo' in 1975 with Topol and Edward Fox,
'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' with Tim Curry in 1975,
'Superman III' with Christopher Reeve in 1983,
'Gorky Park' in 1983 too with William Hurt and Lee Marvin, with
'Dancing Day' in 2018 being his final film role. In the meantime, there were also roles on TV series including
'Stranger in the City', 'Z Cars', 'The Edwardians', 'The Protectors', 'Steptoe and Son', 'The Sweeney', 'Doctor Who' and
'Prairie Giant : The Tommy Douglas Story'. Woolf served as a faculty member at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada from 1983 to 1997 and as artistic director of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan from 1991 until 2001. He was a member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, and in 2006 he received the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal.
* Jerry Douglas - born
Gerald Rubenstein on 12th November 1932 and died 9th November 2021, aged 88. Douglas was an American Actor of film and TV who amassed seventy screen acting credits throughout his career which launched with a bit part in the feature film
'Blast of Silence' in 1961. His subsequent big screen roles included
'Gunn' for Blake Edwards,
'Good Guys Wear Black' in 1978 with Chuck Norris,
'Avalanche' that same year with Rock Hudson,
'JFK' in 1991 for Oliver Stone,
'The Godson' in 1998 with Rodney Dangerfield, and
'Silent But Deadly' in 2012 being his final feature film appearance. In the intervening years there were roles on TV shows taking in
'The Untouchables', 'Gunsmoke', 'Bonanza', 'Land of the Giants', 'Mission : Impossible', 'The F.B.I.', 'The Bionic Woman', 'Police Woman', 'The Streets of San Francisco', 'The Incredible Hulk', 'Police Story', 'Barnaby Jones', 'Melrose Place', 'Cold Case' and perhaps his best known role on 866 episodes of
'The Young and the Restless' as John Abbott between 1981 and 2016. His last screen role came in the ten minute short film
'The Final Show' in 2016.
* David Fox - born
Charles James Fox on 24th March 1941 and died 13th November 2021, aged 80. Fox was a Canadian Actor of cinema, TV and theatre who amassed 120 screen acting credits to his name beginning with a role on a single episode of the TV series
'Accidental Family' in 1967. After just a handful of TV appearances throughout the '70's, Fox gained his first big screen role in 1980 in
'Parallels' then
'Silence of the North' in 1981 with Ellen Burstyn and Tom Skerritt. These were followed up with other feature films including
'Mrs. Soffel' in 1984 with Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson,
'Ordinary Magic' in 1993 with Ryan Reynolds,
'Grey Owl' in 1999 for Richard Attenborough and with Pierce Brosnan,
'Snow Cake' in 2006 with Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss,
'Dream House' in 2011 with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz,
'Mama' in 2013 with Jessica Chastain,
'Pacific Rim' in 2013 for Director Guillermo del Toro and with Idris Elba with the twelve minute short film
'Smart' in 2020 being his final screen role. In the meantime, there were also roles on TV series taking in such titles as
'The Littlest Hobo', 'Anne of Avonlea', on sixty-five episodes lending his voice talents to the children's animated series
'Babar', on twenty-nine episodes again using his voice in the English language version of
'The Adventures of Tintin' as Captain Haddock, on thirteen of
'Cadillacs and Dinosaurs' again lending his voice, as he did also on sixteen episodes of
'X-Men : The Animated Series'. Then there was seventeen episodes of
'Avonlea', 'Due South', 'Across the River to Motor City', 'Being Erica', 'Guidestones', 'Orphan Black', 'Designated Survivor', 'Anne with an E' and
'Mary Kills People' most recently in 2019. Fox also acted extensively in theatre including productions of
'1837 : The Farmer's Revolt', 'Quiet in the Land', 'Nothing Sacred', 'The Drawer Boy' and
'King Lear'. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2018 for his work.
* Heath Freeman - born 23rd June 1980, died 14th November 2021, aged 41. Freeman was an American Actor of film and TV who accumulated twenty-seven screen acting credits throughout his relatively short career which began on a single episode of
'ER' in 2001, with his big screen debut coming that same year with
'The Painting'. It would be 2010 before his next feature film
'Skateland' which he would also Co-Write and Co-Produce. Next up were
'All American Christmas Carol' in 2013,
'Dark Was the Night' in 2014,
'Home Sweet Hell' in 2015 with Katherine Heigl and Patrick Wilson,
'The Wicked Within' also in 2015 with Eric Roberts,
'The Seventh Day' with Guy Pearce and Stephen Lang,
'12 Mighty Orphans' with Luke Wilson and Martin Sheen and
'The Outlaw Johnny Black' all released earlier this year, with
'Devil's Fruit' currently in post-production and
'Terror on the Prairie' currently filming at the time of his death. In the years in between there were also appearances on TV shows taking in
'NCIS', 'Bones', 'The Closer', 'Without a Trace', and on seven episodes of
'Raising the Bar'.
* Igor Savochkin - born 14th May 1963 and died 17th November 2021, aged 58. Savochkin was a Russian Actor of film, television and theatre who amassed fifty-three screen acting credits throughout his career which really took off after his film debut in 1993 and following his appearance in a mini-series in 2000, with a role in Timur Bekmambetov's
'Night Watch' in 2004 which he followed up in 2006 with
'Day Watch'. He would go on to co-star in numerous other locally made Russian cinema productions including
'Mermaid', 'Admiral', 'Black Lightning', 'A Quiet Outpost', and
'Marafon' before his turn in the critically acclaimed and multi-award winning
'Leviathan' in 2014.
'The Code of Cain' followed in 2016 with Eric Roberts,
'Red Dog' in 2017,
'Anna' in 2019 for Director Luc Besson with Sasha Luss, Helen Mirren, Cillian Murphy and Luke Evans and
'Angel of Death' starring Armand Assante and currently in post-production. Over the years he also had multiple episodes on TV shows including
'Night Swallows', 'House Arrest' and
'The Cathedral' most recently this year.
* Art LaFleur - born 9th September 1943 and died 17th November 2021, aged 78. LaFleur was an American character Actor of film and television who amassed 169 screen acting roles during his career which began in the 1978 made for TV movie
'Rescue from Gilligan's Island'. Over the years that followed he would appear in a host of other feature films including
'Any Which Way You Can' in 1980 with Clint Eastwood,
'WarGames' in 1983 with Matthew Broderick,
'Unfaithfully Yours' in 1984 with Dudley Moore,
'City Heat' also in 1984 with Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds,
'Cobra' in 1986 with Sylvester Stallone,
'Field of Dreams' in 1989 with Kevin Costner,
'Air America' with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jnr. in 1990,
'Oscar' in 1991 with Sylvester Stallone again,
'Forever Young' in 1992 with Mel Gibson again,
'The Sandlot' in 1993 with James Earl Jones,
'Maverick' in 1994 with Mel Gibson once more,
'The Replacements' in 2000 with Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman,
'Hostage' in 2005 with Bruce Willis with
'House Hunting' in 2012 being his final feature film appearance before lending his voice to the 2016 film
'The Last Treasure Hunt' and the made for TV movie
'Dive' in 2017. In the intervening years there were also numerous TV series roles on the likes of
'Charlie's Angels', 'M*A*S*H', 'The Incredible Hulk', 'The A-Team', 'Hill Street Blues', 'Northern Exposure', 'Home Improvement', 'Matlock', 'Baywatch', 'ER', 'JAG', 'The Practice', 'House', 'Cold Case' and
'The Mentalist'.
* Will Ryan - born
William Frank Ryan on 21st May 1949 and died 19th November 2021, aged 72. Ryan was an American voice Actor, singer and musician, who notched up 101 screen acting credits throughout his career which launched in 1983 in the short film
'Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore'. His first feature film came with his uncredited voice work on
'The Care Bears Movie' in 1985, with his first feature film voice credit coming in 1986 with
'An American Tail'. He would go on to lend his voice talents to other more noted films including
'The Land Before Time', 'The Little Mermaid', 'Thumbelina', 'A Troll in Central Park', 'Looney Tunes : Back in Action' with
'The Adventures of Biffle and Shooster' being his final film role in 2015. In the meantime there were many short films, and TV series taking in
'G.I.Joe : The Revenge of Cobra' and
'G.I.Joe', on eighty-two episodes of
'Dumbo's Circus', on thirteen of
'Teen Wolf', on sixty-five of
'The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin', on twelve of
'The Smurfs', on forty-seven of
'Adventures of Gummi Bears', 'House of Mouse', and on sixteen of
'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'. He was also known for his voice work as Eugene Meltsner in the Christian radio drama
'Adventures in Odyssey' and in the thirty minute animated video shorts of the same name between 1991 and 2006.
* Peter Aykroyd - born 19th November 1955 and died 20th November 2021, aged 66. Aykroyd was the younger brother of Actor, Producer, Writer, comedian and musician Dan Aykroyd, and who was an Actor and comedian in his own right who accumulated eighteen screen acting credits during his career which kicked off with a single episode on
'The New Avengers' in 1977 with his first big screen role coming in 1981 in
'Gas' and he would follow this up with several collaborations with his brother Dan in
'Doctor Detroit' in 1983,
'Nothing Lasts Forever' in 1984,
'Dragnet' in 1987,
'Nothing But Trouble' in 1991 and
'Coneheads' in 1993. His final acting roles came with the feature film
'Kids of the Roundtable' in 1995, lending his voice to the animated series as Elwood in
'The Blues Brothers Animated Series' in 1997 and the made for TV movie
'Justice' in 1999 being his last screen appearance. He also claimed writing credits on twenty episodes of
'Saturday Night Live' for which he gained a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, on the film
'Nothing But Trouble' and on eighty-eight episodes of
'PSI Factor : Chronicles of the Paranormal' which he also Executive Produced. One day after his 66th birthday, it was announced at the end of
'Saturday Night Live' that Aykroyd had died.
* Joey Morgan - born in 1993 and died 21st November 2021, aged 28. Morgan was an American Actor of film and television who notched up just eleven screen acting credits in his all too short career. His first role came with
'The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse' in 2015 with Tye Sheridan, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Logan Miller, and he would follow this up in 2016 with
'Compadres' with Omar Chaparro, Kevin Pollak and Eric Roberts, then
'Flower' with Zoey Deutch and Kathryn Hahn,
'Camp Manna' in 2018 with Gary Busey,
'Sierra Burgess Is a Loser' in 2018, and
'Max Reload and the Nether Blasters' in 2020 being his final screen credit. He also appeared in all eight episodes of the TV series
'Critters : A New Binge' in 2019, as well as being an Associate Producer on his older brother, Trevor Morgan's short film
'10 Hours' in 2018, and Cinematographer on the two 2021 short films
'Montgomery Drive' and
'Joyride'.
* Lou Cutell - born 6th October 1930 and died 21st November 2021, aged 91. Cutell was an American Actor of stage and screen who amassed 101 screen acting roles during his six decade spanning career which took in such feature films as his debut
'Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster' in 1965, then
'Little Big Man' in 1970 with Dustin Hoffman,
'Every Little Crook and Nanny' in 1972 with Victor Mature,
'The World's Greatest Lover' in 1977 for and with Gene Wilder,
'Shoot the Moon' in 1982 with Albert Finney,
'Pee-wee's Big Adventure' in 1985 for Tim Burton,
'Legal Eagles' in 1986 with Robert Redford,
'Bird' in 1988 for Clint Eastwood,
'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' in 1989 with Rick Moranis,
'The Odd Couple II' with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in 1998, and
'Wedding Crashers' in 2005 with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn being his final big screen role. In the intervening years, there were many TV series roles taking in the likes of
'The Wild Wild West', 'Starsky and Hutch', 'The Love Boat', 'Lou Grant', 'Kojak', 'T.J.Hooker', 'Dragnet', 'Knots Landing', 'The Golden Girls', 'Seinfeld', 'Mad About You', 'The Practice', 'Will & Grace', 'Without a Trace', and
'Grey's Anatomy' in 2015 being his last screen appearance. He also Co-Wrote and starred in the Broadway plays
'Sicilian Bachelor' and
'Viagara Falls'.
* Bernard Holley - born 9th August 1940 and died 22nd November 2021, aged 81. Holley was a British Actor of TV, cinema and theatre who accumulated eighty-two screen acting credits throughout his seven decade spanning career which launched in 1966 on three episodes of
'The Newcomers' and which took him right up to the present day with the feature film
'The Long Road' currently in post-production. In the years in between there were other film roles taking in the likes of
'Travels with My Aunt' in 1972 with Maggie Smith,
'Tanner' and an uncredited role in
'Brick Lane' both in 2007. His small screen roles were more prolific, including 277 episodes on
'Z Cars' from 1967 until 1971, on eight of
'Please Sir!', on eight of
'A Question of Guilt', on thirteen of
'Now and Then', on eleven of
'The Gentle Touch', 'Taggart', on forty-seven as the Storyteller on
'Jackanory', 'The Bill', 'Hollyoaks', 'EastEnders', 'A Touch of Frost', 'Holby City', 'Casualty' and
'Doctors'. He also presented dozens of Corporate Videos working for many UK and international Blue Chip companies and voiced hundreds of TV and Radio commercials, as well as Corporates and Promos. He worked in theatre on stage productions up and own the length and breadth of the UK, as well as on London's West End.
* Marie Versini - born 10th August 1940, died 22nd November 2021, aged 81. Versini was a French Actress of of film and TV who had fifty-two screen acting credits to her name ranging from her debut in an uncredited role in the French feature film
'Mitsou' in 1956, which she followed up right until 2020 in the German comedy
'What Makes Women Tick'. In between, there were roles in other feature films including
'A Tale of Two Cities' in 1958 with Dirk Bogarde,
'Paris Blues' in 1961 with Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier,
'The Young Racers' in 1963 for Director Roger Corman,
'The Brides of Fu Manchu' in 1966 with Christopher Lee,
'Is Paris Burning?' also in 1966 with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Kirk Douglas and Glenn Ford, with her last feature film before a string of TV movies and series coming in 1967 in
'Code Name Kill'. It would be 1984 before her next feature film and then nothing until 2016 when she appeared in a minor role in the German Western
'Winnetou - Der letzte Kampf', before her final outing in the aforementioned 2020 film.
* Lisa Brown - born 2nd August 1954 and died 24th November 2021, aged 67. Brown was an American television Actress, acting coach and Director who notched up just three screen acting credits, four as Director and two as an acting coach who scored her acting debut on her first episode of ninety-four in total on
'Guiding Light' in 1980 which ran up until 2009. Running concurrently, she also appeared in 144 episodes of
'As the World Turns' from 1985 through until 2006. Her third acting credit came with the series
'Loving' in 1995. Her Directorial credits were for
'As the World Turns', one episodes of
'One Life to Live' in 1986, then
'MisGuiding Light' in 2001 and
'Gotham The Series' in 2009. She was also the acting coach on 1,419 episodes of
'Guiding Light' right up until the end of the show in 2009. Brown also appeared in the lead role of the Broadway play of
'42nd Street' in the early 1980's.
* Stephen Sondheim - born 22nd March 1930, died 26th November 2021, aged 91. Sondheim was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theatre, Sondheim was praised for having 'reinvented the American musical'. His best-known works as composer and lyricist include 1962's
'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum',
'Company' in 1970,
'Follies' in 1971,
'A Little Night Music' in 1973,
'Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' from 1979,
'Sunday in the Park with George' in 1984, and
'Into the Woods' in 1987. He was also known for writing the lyrics for
'West Side Story' in 1957 and
'Gypsy' in 1959. Film adaptations of Sondheim's work include
'West Side Story' in 1961 and 2021 most recently for Steven Spielberg,
'Gypsy' in 1962 and 1993,
'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' for Director Richard Lester,
'A Little Night Music', 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' for Tim Burton,
'Into the Woods' for Rob Marshall and
'Merrily We Roll Along' for Richard Linklater currently filming and
'Follies' in pre-production at the time of Sondheim's passing. His accolades include eight Tony Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2008), an Academy Award, eight Grammy Awards plus eleven other nominations, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also had a theatre named for him on Broadway and in London's West End. All up Sondheim had forty-seven Music Department credits, 377 Soundtrack credits and two Composer credits on 1974's
'Stavisky' with Jean-Paul Belmondo,
and 1981's
'Reds' for Director, Writer and star Warren Beatty.
* Don Phillips - born 21st December 1940 and died 26th November 2021, aged 80. Phillips was an American Casting Director and Producer who notched up twenty-six Casting Director credits and fifteen as Producer throughout his career which kicked off with 1974's
'Cockfighter' with Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton. He would follow this up with other Casting Director credits taking in the likes of
'Dog Day Afternoon' in 1975 with Al Pacino,
'Car Wash' in 1976 with Richard Pryor,
'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' with Sean Penn in 1982,
'Dazed and Confused' in 1993 with Matthew McConaughey,
'The Crossing Guard' in 1995 with Jack Nicholson,
'Mallrats' in 1995 with Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith,
'The Game' in 1997 with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn,
'The Newton Boys' in 1998 with Matthew McConaughey and Ethan Hawke,
'The Pledge' in 2001 with Jack Nicholson,
'He Was a Quiet Man' in 2007 with Christian Slater and
'Surfer, Dude' in 2008 with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, being his final casting credit. His Producer credits in the meantime included
'Melvin and Howard', 'The Indian Runner', 'American Yakuza', 'No Way Back', 'Infinity' and
'Drive' being his last Producer credit in 1997. Phillips discovered Matthew McConaughey in a bar in Austin, Texas and cast him in
'Dazed and Confused' his first movie role, and he also produced Sean Penn's first Writing and Directing effort on feature film
'The Indian Runner' and had a long standing relationship with Penn thereafter.
* Doug MacLeod - born 13th October 1959 and died late November 2021, aged 62. MacLeod was an Australian TV Writer and Producer whose first screen writing credit came with the series
'The Comedy Company' in 1988. Over the years that followed he would write for twenty-five episodes of
'Col'n Carpenter', for thirteen episodes of
'Bligh', on thirty-eight of
'Fast Forward', on eleven of
'Wedlocked', on ninety-two of
'Full Frontal', on thirteen of
'Totally Full Frontal', on six of
'SeaChange', 'Sit Down, Shut Up', 'Whatever Happened to That Guy?', and on twenty-seven of the animated children's adventure comedy series
'DogStar'. He also Produced many of the aforementioned shows he wrote for as well as
'The Micallef Program' and
'The Bob Downe Show'. MacLeod also authored a number of storybooks for children and was the writer of the stage show
'Call Girl the Musical' which played for two seasons in Melbourne.
* David Gulpilil - born
David Gulpilil Ridjimirairl Dalaithngu sometime in 1953 and died 29th November 2021 aged 67 or 68. Gulpilil was an Aboriginal Australian Actor of film and television who amassed forty screen acting credits during a career spanning five decades and which began in 1971 in the Nicolas Roeg Directed
'Walkabout' with Jenny Agutter. His other feature films roles over the ensuing years included
'Storm Boy' in 1976,
'The Last Wave' in 1977 for Director Peter Weir,
'The Right Stuff' in 1983 with Ed Harris and Scott Glenn,
'Crocodile Dundee' in 1986 with Paul Hogan,
'Dead Heart' in 1996 with Bryan Brown,
'Rabbit-Proof Fence' in 2002 with Kenneth Branagh,
'The Tracker' also in 2002 for Rolf de Heer,
'The Proposition' in 2005 for John Hillcoat,
'Ten Canoes' in 2006 for Rolf de Heer again,
'Australia' in 2008 for Baz Luhrmann and with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman,
'Charlie's Country' in 2013 for Rolf de Heer once more,
'Goldstone' in 2016 with Jacki Weaver and Aaron Pedersen,
'Cargo' in 2017 with Martin Freeman and the remake of
'Storm Boy' in 2019 with Geoffrey Rush being his last screen credit. Gulpilil was the recipient of eleven award wins and another nine nominations including four wins for Best Actor for
'Charlie's Country' and four wins also for
'The Tracker'. He was an Aboriginal Australian from the Yolngu tribe who was raised in a traditional lifestyle in Arnhem Land in northern Australia. Gulpilil was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1987, and the Centenary Medal in 2001.
* Tommy Lane - born 17th December 1937 and died 29th November 2021, aged 83. Lane was an American Actor of film and TV who accumulated just fourteen screen acting credits throughout his career which began in two episodes of
'Flipper' in 1964 and 1966 with his next screen role coming in the 1970 feature film
'Cotton Comes to Harlem'. His subsequent big screen roles came with the likes of
'Shaft' in 1971 with Richard Roundtree,
'Shamus' in 1973 with Burt Reynolds,
'Live and Let Die' in 1973 with Roger Moore playing James Bond,
'Blue Skies Again' in 1983 with Mimi Rogers,
'Eureka' also in 1983 with Gene Hackman and Rutger Hauer,
'Virtual Weapon' in 1997 and
'Sweat' in 2007 being his final screen outing.
* Arlene Dahl - born 11th August 1925 and died 29th November 2021, aged 96. Dahl was an American Actress of cinema, television and theatre who amassed forty-seven screen acting credits and was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era. Her screen debut came in an uncredited role in the 1947 feature film
'Life with Father' with William Powell and Elizabeth Taylor and she would follow this up with nineteen films over the next seven years including
'A Southern Yankee' in 1948 with Red Skelton,
'Reign of Terror' in 1949 with Richard Basehart,
'Ambush' in 1950 with Robert Taylor,
'Three Little Words' also in 1950 with Fred Astaire and Red Skelton,
'Desert Legion' in 1953 with Alan Ladd,
'Woman's World' in 1954 with Lauren Bacall, and
'Bengal Brigade' also in 1954 with Rock Hudson. She would follow up these with
'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' in 1959 with James Mason,
'Kisses for My President' in 1964 with Fred MacMurray,
'Land Raiders' in 1969 with Telly Savalas with
'Night of the Warrior' in 1991 being her last big screen role. In the intervening years there were also appearances of TV series taking in the likes of
'Burke's Law', 'Love, American Style', 'Fantasy Island', 'One Life to Live', 'The Love Boat', 'Renegade' and her last screen role coming in 1999 in
'Air America'. She was married six times and gave birth to her son Lorenzo Lamas who went on to become an Actor and action star, and whose father was her second husband the Actor, Director and Producer Fernando Lamas. Dahl began working at a major American department store chain as director of beauty products in 1970, but she left in 1975 to found her own but short-lived fragrance company, Dahlia. She moved into the field of astrology in the 1980's, writing a syndicated column and later operating a premium phoneline company. Dahl wrote more than two dozen books on the topics of beauty and astrology.
Twenty-seven deaths reported this month from the film and television community at large, and that community is just a little bit poorer as a result. As many governments the world over are easing up on their COVID-19 restrictions, others are enforcing further stages of lockdowns, and in some cases are going through the ravages of a fourth and fifth outbreak as the Delta, and now the Omicron variant continues to tighten its grip around the world. Thankfully, restrictions are now being eased here in Australia after some six hundred days of lockdowns. However, we should all continue to be cautious by remembering the basic principles that continue to be advocated - maintain a safe distance, hand hygiene and wear a mask if you are unable to maintain a safe distance especially, and get vaccinated and a booster jab - together we can all beat this thing. Stay safe, remain healthy and wherever you are in the world, if you're in lock down, watch a movie on your favoured streaming service from the comfort of your own home. R.I.P. you screen legends.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
