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 . . . . Edward S. Feldman, Armelia McQueen, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Clark Middleton, Tommy Rall, Kent L. Wakeford, Ronald Forfar, Conchata Ferrell, Rhonda Fleming, Anthony Chisholm, Marge Champion, William Blinn, Johnny Leeze, Bobby Ball, Charles Gordon and Sean Connery.
* Edward S. Feldman - born 5th September 1929, died 2nd October 2020, aged 9. Feldman was an American film and television Producer who accumulated forty credits as a Producer and along the way received two award wins and seven nominations including an Oscar nod, two Primetime Emmy and two BAFTA nominations. He scored his first Executive Producer credit in 1971 on '
What's the Matter with Helen?' following this up with the likes of
'Fuzz' in 1972 with Burt Reynolds,
'Save the Tiger' in 1973 with Jack Lemmon,
'Two-Minute Warning' in 1976 with Charlton Heston,
'Witness' in 1985 with Harrison Ford,
'Explorers' that same year with Ethan Hawke,
'The Hitcher' in 1986 with Rutger Hauer,
'The Golden Child' also in 1986 with Eddie Murphy,
'Green Card' in 1990 with Gerard Depardieu,
'Honey, I Blew Up the Kid' in 1992 with Rick Moranis,
'Forever Young' in 1992 with Mel Gibson,
'The Jungle Book' in 1994 with Jason Scott Lee,
'101 Dalmatians' in 1996 with Glenn Close,
'The Truman Show' in 1998 with Jim Carey,
'102 Dalmatians' in 2000 with Glenn Close again, and
'K-19 : The Widowmaker' in 2002 with Harrison Ford being his final film. In 2001 the Hollywood Film Festival honoured Feldman for his Outstanding Achievement in Producing.
* Armelia McQueen - born 6th January 1952, died 3rd October 2020, aged 68. McQueen was an American Actress of theatre, television and cinema who notched up thirty-seven screen acting credits during her career which began with
'Sparkle' in 1976 and continued right up until 2018 with the other films including
'Action Jackson' with Carl Weathers in 1988,
'No Holds Barred' in 1989 with Hulk Hogan,
'Ghost' in 1990 with Patrick Swayze,
'Bulworth' in 1998 with Warren Beatty,
'Life' in 1999 with Eddie Murphy with
'The Hustle' in 2008 being her final feature film role. In the meantime, there were both multiple and single appearances on TV shows including
'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air', on one hundred episodes as the Red Queen on
'Adventures in Wonderland', 'L.A. Doctors', 'JAG', 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' and on twenty-six episodes of
'Hart of Dixie' with
'Artbound' in 2018 being her final TV role.
* Thomas Jefferson Byrd - born 25th June 1950, died 3rd October 2020, aged 70. Byrd was an American character Actor of television, film and theatre who accumulated thirty-one screen acting credits to his name that launched in 1992 in the TV series
'In the Heat of the Night'. His first big screen role came in 1995 in the Spike Lee film
'Clockers', and this was followed up by appearances in a number of other Spike Lee movies including
'Girl 6' and
'Get on the Bus' both in 1996,
'He Got Game' in 1998,
'Bamboozled' in 2000,
'Red Hook Summer' in 2012,
'Da Sweet Blood of Jesus' in 2014 and
'Chi-Raq' in 2015. In the intervening years there were also roles in
'Bulworth', 'MacArthur Park', 'Never Get Outta the Boat', 'Ray' and
'Freedom's Path' currently in post-production for a future release. There were also ten episodes on the Spike Lee TV series
'She's Gotta Have It' which ran for two seasons between 2017 and 2019.
* Clark Middleton - born sometime in 1957, died 4th October 2020, aged 63. Middleton was an American Actor of film and TV who amassed forty-six screen acting credits in a career that kicked off with
'Bail Jumper' in 1990 and which he followed up with the likes of
'Serendipity' in 2001 with John Cusack,
'Kill Bill : Vol. 2' in 2004 with Uma Thurman,
'Sin City' in 2005 with Clive Owen,
'Day Zero' in 2007 with Elijah Wood and
'Noise' that same year with Tim Robbins,
'The Good Heart' in 2009 with Paul Dano,
'As Good as Dead' in 2010 with Andie MacDowell,
'Snowpiercer' with Chris Evans in 2013,
'Birdman' with Michael Keaton in 2014 with
'Antartica' recently completed filming for a future release. In between time there were also appearances over the years on four episodes of
'Law & Order', on two episodes of
'CSI' and an episode of
'Law & Order : SVU', on five episodes of
'Fringe', on sixteen episodes of
'The Path', on four episodes of the 2017 series of
'Twin Peaks' and on thirteen episodes of
'The Blacklist'.
* Tommy Rall - born 27th December 1929, died 6th October 2020, aged 90. Rall was an American Actor, ballet dancer, tap dancer and acrobatic dancer who was a prominent featured player in 1950's musical comedy films. Thereafter he became a successful operatic tenor in the '60's, making appearances with the Opera Company of Boston, the New York City Opera, and the American National Opera Company. Throughout his screen career he garnered twenty-five acting credits beginning in 1942 with an uncredited role in the Andrews Sisters comedy musical
'What's Cookin'' which he would follow up in a string of successive Andrews Sisters films of a similar ilk in the years that followed immediately afterwards. He gained his first credited roll in 1953 in
'Kiss Me Kate' alongside Howard Keel, and in
'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' in 1954 with Howard Keel again. 1955 saw
'My Sister Eileen' with Jack Lemmon, followed by
'World in My Corner' with Audie Murphy in 1956 and
'Invitation to the Dance' that same year with Gene Kelly and
'Walk the Proud Land' with Audie Murphy again.
'Merry Andrew' came next in 1958 with Danny Kaye and then
'Funny Girl' in 1968 with Barbra Streisand,
'Pennies from Heaven' in 1981 with Steve Martin, then
'Dancers' in 1987 with Mikhail Baryshnikov and his final screen role in 1988 in
'Saturday the 14th Strikes Back'. Rall was greatly respected and admired by his contemporaries including dance legends Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor, with O'Connor describing Rall as one of the 'greatest dancers living ... above Astaire and Kelly'.
* Kent L. Wakeford - born 23rd January 1928, died 10th October 2020, aged 92. Wakeford was an American Cinematographer who accumulated twenty-seven cinematography credits to his name in a career that launched with Martin Scorsese's
'Mean Streets' in 1973 in which he was Director of Photography. In 1974 he worked with Scorsese again on
'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore' and between 1987 and 1988 he lensed fifteen episodes of
'L.A. Law', and throughout the '90's he worked on mostly B-Grade independent fare including '
China O'Brien', 'Total Exposure', 'Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me', 'Ironheart', 'The Killing Box', 'Love, Cheat & Steal', 'Wedding Bell Blues', 'Halfway Home' with
'Treasure of Pirate's Point' being his last film credit in 1999. In between time, Wakeford formed a commercial production company with Screenwriter John Orloff that went on to shoot television commercials for the likes of Budweiser, Mattel, Hot Wheels, Barbie, Boeing, Chevrolet, United Airlines, Maybeline, Max Factor, Procter & Gamble, Kellogg's, and McDonald's.
* Ronald Forfar - born 6th January 1939 and died 28th September 2020 with his death being announced on 11th October, aged 81. Forfar was a British Actor of film and television who accumulated thirty-five screen acting credits to his name, mostly throughout the 1970's and '80's. His career launched on a single episode of the TV series
'Sherlock Holmes' in 1968 and over the years that followed he also had roles on the likes of
'Z Cars', 'The New Avengers', 'The Sweeney', on six episodes of
'Airport Chaplain' in 1980, on TV movies
'Julius Caesar', 'The Life of Henry the Fifth' and
'King Lear' and then on perhaps his best known role on sixty-two episodes of
'Bread' from 1986 through 1990 to Roland Joffe's
'Vatel' in 2000, to three episodes on
'ChuckleVision' between 1998 and 2002 and the ten minute short film
'The All-Nighter' in 2017 being his final screen appearance.
* Conchata Ferrell - born 28th March 1943, died 12th October 2020, aged 77. Ferrell was an American Actress of film, television and theatre whose screen acting career launched in 1974 in a single episode of TV series
'Maude'. From here she next appeared in thirteen episodes of
'Hot l Baltimore' in 1975, and this was followed up by another 130 film, and TV series appearances over the decades that followed right up until the present day. Her film credits began in 1975 with
'Deadly Hero' with the likes of
'Network' in 1976,
'Heartland' in 1979,
'Where the River Runs Black' in 1986,
'Mystic Pizza' in 1988,
'Edward Scissorhands' in 1990,
'True Romance' and
'Heaven & Earth' both in 1993,
'Freeway' in 1996,
'Erin Brockovich' in 2000,
'K-PAX' in 2001,
'Mr. Deeds' in 2002,
'Wishin' and 'Hopin'' in 2014,
'Krampus' in 2015 and
'Deported' recently completed filming and due for a 2021 release, all to follow. In between time there were numerous appearances on TV series, made for TV movies, and mini-series including
'The Rockford Files', 'The Love Boat', 'Knots Landing', 'B.J. and the Bear', 'Cagney & Lacey', on twenty-two episodes of
'E/R', on ten episodes of
'A Peaceable Kingdom', on twenty episodes of
'L.A. Law', on thirty-three episodes of
'Hearts Afire', on fourteen episodes of
'Townies', on seventeen episodes of
'Teen Angel', and on 221 episodes across all twelve seasons of
'Two and a Half Men' for playing Berta the Housekeeper. Ferrell won two awards and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy's for
'Two and a Half Men' and
'L.A. Law'.
*
Rhonda Fleming - born Marilyn Louis on 10th August 1923 and died 14th October 2020, aged 97. Fleming was an American Actress of cinema and television who amassed sixty-eight screen acting roles throughout her career, mostly in the 1940's, '50's and '60's and became famed as one of the most glamorous Actresses of her era nicknamed 'The Queen of Technicolour' by virtue of her being so well photographed in the medium. Her first credited role came in 1945 in Alfred Hitchcock's '
Spellbound' which she followed up with the likes of
'Out of the Past' in 1947 with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas,
'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' in 1949 with Bing Crosby,
'The Great Lover' that same year with Bob Hope,
'The Last Outpost' in 1951 with Ronald Reagan,
'Hong Kong' in 1952 with Ronald Reagan again,
'Tropic Zone' in 1953 with Ronald Reagan once more,
'Pony Express' also in 1953 with Charlton Heston,
'Tennessee's Partner' in 1955 with Ronald Reagan again,
'The Buster Keaton Story' in 1957 with Donald O'Connor,
'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' also in 1957 with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas,
'Home Before Dark' in 1958 with Jean Simmons,
'Alias Jesse James' in 1959 with Bob Hope,
'The Big Circus' also in 1959 with Victor Mature with
'The Nude Bomb' in 1980 being her final feature film outing. In the intervening years Fleming also appeared in many TV series including
'Wagon Train', 'The Virginian', 'McMillan & Wife', 'Police Woman', 'Kung Fu', 'Ellery Queen' and
'The Love Boat' with her final screen appearance coming in the 24 minute short film
'Waiting for the Wind' with Robert Mitchum. During the '60's, Fleming branched out into other businesses including real estate investments, and began performing regularly on stage and in Las Vegas and Palm Springs. She worked for several charities, especially in the field of cancer care, and served on the committees of many related organisations. Fleming was married six times having divorced four of her husbands and survived the other two when they died.
*
Anthony Chisholm - born 9th April 1943, died 16th October 2020, aged 77. Chisholm was an American Actor of stage, cinema and television who amassed numerous awards and nominations for his theatre work over the years including a Drama Desk Award an Obie Award and numerous other nominations including a Tony Award nod for roles on and off Broadway and in London, Sydney, Melbourne and New York City. His screen acting credits took in forty-six roles beginning with his first credited performance in 1969's
'Putney Swope' followed by the likes of
'Cotton Comes to Harlem' in 1970,
'Beloved' in 1998 for Director Jonathan Demme,
'Bought & Sold' in 2003,
'Reign Over Me' in 2007 with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle,
'13' in 2010 with Sam Riley and Jason Statham,
'Premium Rush' in 2012 with Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
'Chi-Raq' in 2015 for Director Spike Lee,
'Going in Style' in 2017 for Director Zach Braff with
'The Dark End of the Street' this year being his final feature film appearance, other than the twenty minute short film
'The Breakthrough' currently in post-production. In the meantime, there were single and multiple appearances on TV series and made for TV movies including
'New York Undercover', 'Third Watch', 'Law & Order : SVU', on twenty-three episodes of
'Oz', on four episodes of
'Random Acts of Flyness' and on three episodes of
'Wu-Tang : An American Saga' last year.
* Marge Champion - born 2nd September 1919 died 21st October 2020, aged 101. Champion was an American Actress and dancer who at the age of fourteen was hired by Walt Disney Studios as a dance model for their animated films, including '
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', 'Pinocchio', 'Fantasia' and
'Dumbo'. She went on to perform as an Actress and dancer in films and in 1957 hosted her own television show based on song and dance. She notched up just twenty-six screen acting credits throughout her career which launched with her first credited role in 1938 in
'Delinquent Parents' and then
'Honor of the West' in 1939 and
'All Women Have Secrets' that same year.
'Mr. Music' came next in 1950 with Bing Crosby, followed by the likes of
'Show Boat' in 1951 with Howard Keel and Ava Gardner,
'Lovely to Look At' in 1952 with Howard Keel again,
'Give a Girl a Break' in 1953 with Debbie Reynolds,
'Jupiter's Darling' in 1955 with Howard Keel once again and
'Three for the Show' also that year with Jack Lemmon and Betty Grable.
'The Party' followed in 1968 with Peter Sellers and
'The Swimmer' that year too with Burt Lancaster, and then she appeared in a single episode of the TV series
'Fame' in 1982 which was to be her final screen appearance. Champion also appeared in a number of Broadway and New York stage musicals and plays as a performer. She was married to the American Actor, choreographer and dancer Gower Champion from 1947 until their divorce in 1973, with whom she shared a number of film acting credits during the 1950's.
*
William Blinn - born 21st July 1937, died 22nd October 2020, aged 83. Blinn was an American Screenwriter and television Producer who amassed forty-eight writing credits and twenty-five as Producer throughout his career spanning five decades and launching in 1962 when he wrote a single episode of
'Rawhide'. He spent the rest of the '60's writing for such TV series as
'Laramie', 'My Favourite Martian', 'Bonanza', 'Shane', 'Custer', 'The Invaders', 'The High Chaparral', for six episodes of
'Here Come the Brides' and he was the series creator of
'The Interns'. He turned to Producing too from 1972 with thirty-one episodes of
'The Rookies' and followed this up with amongst other titles including on sixty episodes as Executive Producer on
'Fame', on forty-six episodes of
'Our House', and on twenty-two episodes of
'Pensacola : Wings of Gold'. There were also numerous TV movies also right up until the turn of the century. Among his other more notable writing credits were also as creator of
'Hunter', 'Starsky & Hutch', 'Eight is Enough' and
'Pensacola : Wings of Gold'. He also Co-Wrote the screen adaptation of
'Alex Haley's Roots' in 1977 and the Prince musical drama film of 1984
'Purple Rain'. Blinn was the recipient of six award wins and another six nominations including two Primetime Emmy wins and two Writers Guild of American wins.
*
Johnny Leeze - born John Glen on 31st December 1941, and died on 25th October 2020, aged 78. Leeze was a British Actor mostly of television and the occasional film. His screen acting career began in 1981 with the TV movie
'Strike : The Birth of Solidarity' and over the years that followed he appeared on single episodes of
'Open All Hours', 'Juliet Bravo', 'All Creatures Great and Small', 'Heartbeat', 'Common As Muck', 'Cracker' and then on five episodes of
'The League of Gentlemen' before 290 episodes on
'Emmerdale Farm' from 1983 until 2000. He also played on four episodes of
'The Last of the Summer Wine' and ten episodes of
'Coronation Street' before his final screen role in 2007 on
'Life on Mars'. In 2001 he had a small role in the British comedy film
'Blow Dry' with Alan Rickman, Rachel Griffiths, Bill Nighy, Josh Hartnett, and Hugh Bonneville.
*
Bobby Ball (stage name) - born Robert Harper on 28th January 1944, and died 28th October 2020, aged 76. Ball was a British comedian, Actor and singer. He was best known as one half of the double act Cannon and Ball, with Tommy Cannon (real name Thomas Derbyshire). They hosted their own British television show,
'The Cannon and Ball Show', for nine years between 1979 and 1988. All up Ball notched up twenty-eight screen appearances throughout his career including on the comedy film from 1982
'The Boys in Blue' in which the pair had top billing. They also appeared in the thirty minute short film
'Mr. H. Is Late' Written and Directed by Eric Sykes and starring the likes of Charlie Drake, Roy Kinnear, Rula Lenska, Spike Milligan, Henry McGee and Kenny Lynch, and in 2017's comedy film
'A Little in Tents'. Ball also appeared in single and multiple episodes of TV series taking in the likes of six episodes on
'Plaza Patrol', 'The Big Stage', 'Rex the Runt', 'The Royal', 'Heartbeat', 'Last of the Summer Wine', 'Casualty', then on forty-six episodes of
'Mount Pleasant', 'Benidorm', the TV mini-series
'The Cockfields' and eighteen episodes of
'Not Going Out' between 2009 and 2019 which was to be his final screen role. Ball died in hospital following his diagnosis with COVID-19.
*
Charles Gordon - born 13th May 1947 and died 31st October 2020, aged 73. Gordon was an American film Producer and brother to Lawrence Gordon also in the same line of business. His producing career consisting of twenty-four credits began in 1983 on two episodes of the TV series
'The Renegades' and on two episodes of
'Just Our Luck' that same year which he also created. His first feature film Producer credit came with 1986's
'Night of the Creeps' and this was followed up by the likes of
'Die Hard' in 1988,
'Leviathan', 'Field of Dreams', 'K-9' and
'Lock Up' all in 1989,
'Die Hard 2' in 1990,
'Unlawful Entry' in 1992,
'Waterworld' in 1995,
'October Sky' in 1999,
'Hitman' in 2007 and
'Hitman : Agent 47' in 2015 with a
'Hitman' televison series just announced for which Gordon was set to Produce also.
*
Sean Connery - born 25th August 1930, died 31st October 2020, aged 90. Connery was a Scottish born Actor, occasional Producer with ten credits and a one time Director, who amassed ninety-four screen acting credits to his name in a career spanning seven decades. His first screen role came with an uncredited bit part in
'Lilacs in the Spring' in 1954 with Errol Flynn with his first credited big screen role coming in 1957 in
'No Road Back'. That same year he appeared in
'Hell Drivers' with Stanley Baker and then followed a succession of films until his breakout role in 1962 as the original (and arguably the best) 007 Secret Agent James Bond in
'Dr, No'. He would make 007 his own by playing the titular character another six times, with
'From Russia With Love' in 1963,
'Goldfinger' in 1964,
'Thunderball' in 1965,
'You Only Live Twice' in 1967,
'Diamonds Are Forever' in 1971 and then
'Never Say Never Again' in 1983. In the meantime he starred in numerous other memorable big screen outings including
'The Longest Day' in 1962,
'Marnie' in 1964,
'The Molly Maguires' in 1970,
'The Anderson Tapes' in 1971,
'Zardoz' in 1974,
'Murder on the Orient Express' in 1974,
'The Wind and the Lion' and
'The Man Who Would Be King' both in 1975,
'Robin and Marian' in 1976,
'A Bridge Too Far' in 1977,
'Outland' and
'Time Bandits' both in 1981,
'Highlander' and
'The Name of the Rose' both in 1986,
'The Untouchables' in 1987,
'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' in 1989,
'The Hunt for Red October' and
'The Russia House' both in 1990,
'Medicine Man' in 1992,
'Rising Sun' in 1993,
'Just Cause' and
'First Knight' both in 1995,
'The Rock' in 1996,
'The Avengers' in 1998,
'Entrapment' in 1999,
'Finding Forrester' in 2000 with
'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' being his final feature film outing in 2003 although he did voice the title character of '
Sir Billi' in the animated film in 2012. All up Connery won thirty-eight awards including the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for
'The Untouchables' in 1987 plus three Golden Globe wins and three nominations, and two BAFTA wins and three other nods in addition to a further twenty-three nominations. In 1987 he was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France, and he received the US Kennedy Center Honors lifetime achievement award in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 Queen's New Year Honours for services to film drama. In 2004, Connery was polled in the Scottish Sunday Herald as 'The Greatest Living Scot' and in a 2011 EuroMillions survey as 'Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure'. He was voted by People magazine as both the 'Sexiest Man Alive' in 1989 and the 'Sexiest Man of the Century' in 1999.
Sixteen 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 some governments the world over are easing up on their COVID-19 restrictions, others are enforcing further stages of lockdowns because of a second wave in cases, remember the basic principles still being advocated - maintain a safe distance, hand hygiene and wear a mask if you are unable to maintain a safe distance especially - together we can all beat this thing. Stay safe and remain healthy.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
