In June, 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 . . . . . Roger Scholes, Revel Guest, Matt Zimmerman, Philip Baker Hall, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Carol Raye, Leon Lissek, Duncan Henderson, Robert A. Katz, Frank Williams, Mary Mara and Joe Turkel.
* Roger Scholes - born 11th December 1950 and died 3rd June 2022, aged 71. Scholes was an Australian independent film and television maker from 1983 onwards. He worked as a Producer, Director, Writer, script editor, Cinematographer, and Editor in drama and documentary projects for cinema and television. His screen work began in 1983 with his debut coming in the short twenty-eight minute film
'The Sealer' which he wrote, edited, Produced and Directed. His only feature film was 1987's
'The Tale of Ruby Rose' which he also wrote and Produced, and from here he would go onto Direct the doco
'The Coolbaroo Club' in 1996, then the TV series
'The Human Journey' in 2000, three episodes of the documentary series
'Stories from the Stone Age' in 2004, the made for TV movie
'Cable' in 2005 with the three episode documentary series
'The Passionate Apprentices' in 2008 being his final TV and film making credit, although he did Produce and lens a handful of short films and a TV movie as recently as 2015. He has written numerous screenplays for film and television and has worked as a production designer and script editor on many feature film, documentary and community education projects. He has also worked as a lecturer, mentor and tutor in film writing, Directing, cinematography and production for many institutions including the Australian Film Television and Radio School, the Swinburne University Film and Television School, Film Victoria, the Australian Film Commission, Screen Tasmania, and has served as a board member for the Swinburne Film School, the Tasmanian Film Festival and Screen Tasmania.
* Revel Guest - born 14th September 1931 and died 8th June 2022, aged 90. Guest was a British Director, Producer, Writer, journalist and author who notched up one writer credit, four as Director and twenty-one as Producer during a career which began with her Directorial debut on a single episode of
'The Human Side' in 1964. From here, her other Directing credits were two TV movie documentaries in 1971 with
'Peer in Focus' and in 1984 with
'Placido : A Year in the Life of Placido Domingo', finishing up with the TV series documentary
'Greek Fire' in 1990. Her Producer credits took in the likes of
'Salome', 'Otello', 'Stiffelio', 'Romeo et Juliette', 'La traviata' and the TV movie documentaries
'Three Gorges : The Biggest Dam in the World' in 1998 and
'China's Mega Dam' in 2006 with Steven Spielberg's
'War Horse' in 2011 being her last Producer credit. In 1968 Guest formed Transatlantic Films, the first truly independent documentary film company to co-produce quality films for the international television market. Since its creation Transatlantic has produced over one hundred and fifty films and series, working in co-production with the BBC, Channel 4 and other major U.K. broadcasters, as well as with leading TV networks in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2018 HRH the Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to Literature.
* Matt Zimmerman - born 26th December 1934 and died 9th June 2022, aged 87. Zimmerman was a Canadian Actor who generated thirty-five screen acting roles during his career which launched in 1965 on two TV movies
'Songs of the Wild West' and '
Chicago in the Roaring 20's', but he is perhaps best known for providing the voice of Alan Tracy in thirty-two episodes of
'Thunderbirds' between 1965 and 1966, and again in the two spin off feature films
'Thunderbirds Are GO' in 1966 and
'Thunderbird 6' in 1968. His first live action feature film came with
'A Man for All Seasons' in 1966 which he would follow up with small roles in other features including
'Birth of the Beatles' in 1979,
'Quincy's Quest' in 1979 also,
'Haunted Honeymoon' in 1986 and
'Margaret's Museum' in 1995 being his last feature film role. In the intervening years there were also appearances on
'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy', 'Whoops Apocalypse', 'Never the Twain', 'Jeeves and Wooster', 'Liquid Television' and his final screen appearance on the made for TV movie
'Firestorm' in 2018. Also a stage actor, he starred in plays such as
'Annie Get Your Gun', 'Anything Goes', 'Once in a Lifetime', 'West Side Story', 'Fiddler on the Roof' and he appeared in the touring cast of
'Cabaret'.
* Philip Baker Hall - born 10th September 1931 and died 12th June 2022, aged 90. Hall was an American character Actor who accumulated 185 screen acting credits during his five decade spanning career which began with an uncredited role in his debut feature film
'Zabriskie Point' in 1970. His first credited role came later that same year with
'Love-in '72'. His other more notable feature film appearances came with the likes of
'Secret Honor' for Robert Altman in 1984 playing Richard Nixon in a fictional account of the President's life after the White House, making him one of the few actors to ever carry an entire film alone,
'Midnight Run' with Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in 1988,
'Say Anything' in 1989 with John Cusack,
'Ghostbusters II' in 1989 also,
'Hard Eight' in 1996 for Paul Thomas Anderson, an uncredited role in Michael Bay's
'The Rock' also in 1996,
'Air Force One' in 1997 with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman and
'Boogie Nights' that same year for Paul Thomas Anderson again,
'The Truman Show' in 1998 with Jim Carrey and Ed Harris,
'The Insider' in 1999 with Russell Crowe and Al Pacino,
'Magnolia' in 1999 for Paul Thomas Anderson once more,
'Rules of Engagement' in 2000 with Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson,
'The Sum of All Fears' in 2002 with Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman,
'Dogville' in 2003 with Nicole Kidman and Paul Bettany,
'Zodiac' in 2007 for David Fincher, an uncredited role in Ben Affleck's
'Argo' in 2012 with
'The Last Word' in 2017 with Shirley MacLaine and Amanda Seyfried being his final big screen role. In the intervening years there were numerous TV series appearances including
'Man from Atlantis', 'M*A*S*H', 'The Waltons', 'Cagney & Lacey', 'Miami Vice', 'Family Ties', 'Falcon Crest', 'Murder, She Wrote', 'Chicago Hope', 'The Practice', 'Seinfeld', 'Boston Legal', 'The West Wing', 'The Loop', 'Modern Family' with his final work coming on six episodes of
'Messiah' in 2020. All up Hall was the recipient of seven award wins and another five nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit.
* Jean-Louis Trintignant - born 11th December 1930 and died 17th June 2022, aged 91. Trintignant was a French Actor, Writer and two time Director who accumulated 146 screen acting credits throughout his seven decade spanning career beginning with his feature film debut in 1955 in
'If All the Guys in the World . . . ' and he would follow this up with other noteworthy films including
' . . . And God Created Woman' in 1956 with Brigitte Bardot,
'Les liaisons dangereuses' with Jeanne Moreau in 1959,
'A Man and a Woman' in 1966,
'Z' in 1969 with Yves Montand,
'The Secret' in 1974 with Philippe Noiret,
'Other People's Money' in 1978 with Catherine Deneuve,
'Deep Water' in 1981 with Isabelle Huppert,
'Three Colours : Red' for Krzysztof Kieslowski in 1994,
'The City of Lost Children' in 1995 with Ron Perlman,
'Janis and John' in 2003 with Francois Cluzet,
'Amour' in 2012 with Emmanuelle Riva and Isabelle Huppert,
'Happy End' in 2017 with Isabelle Huppert again with
'The Best Years of a Life' in 2019 being his final screen role. All up Trintignant won nine awards and was nominated a further twenty times from around the awards and festivals circuit.
* Carol Raye - born
Kathleen Mary Corkrey on17th January 1923 and died 19th June 2022, aged 99. Raye was a British-born Australian Actress of film, television, radio, theatre and revue, comedian, singer, dancer, and radio and television Producer and Director. Raye was known for her career, spanning some seven decades from the late 1930's, firstly as a film star and theatre performer in the United Kingdom in which she would star, and often dance and sing, in such movies as
'Strawberry Roan' in 1944 with William Hartnell,
'Waltz Time' in 1945,
'Green Fingers' in 1947,
'While I Live' that same year, after which she briefly worked in Kenya where she was offered the lead role in the first feature film produced in that country
'No Rain in Timbura' in 1954, before immigrating to Australia in 1964, where she became notable for her small screen roles. Starting in November 1964, the Seven Network gave the green light for the now iconic
'The Mavis Bramston Show', in which Raye would star, and Co-Produce the series until its final run in 1968. She would go on to appear in thirty-five episodes of
'Number 96' from 1973 until 1975 and then fifteen of
'The Young Doctors' from 1976 until 1977. After this she made just two more Australian films - the ill fated and poorly received
'The Journalist' in 1979 with Jack Thompson and Sam Neill, and
'Relatives' in 1984. Her final screen appearance came in 2000 on a single episode of
'SeaChange'. She also appeared in many Australian theatre productions, including
'California Suite', 'Travelling North', 'The Merry Wives of Windsor', 'You Can't Take It With You' and
'Noises Off'. Raye was a subject of
'This Is Your Life' and she appeared as a guest on
'Parkinson in Australia' in 1980. She was honoured in the 2022 Commonwealth of Australia Queens Birthday Honours List, with an appointment to the Member of the Order of Australia (AM), one week before her death, with the citation 'For Services to the Arts as an Actress and Producer'.
* Leon Lissek - born 19th January 1939 with his death being announced on 21st June 2022, aged 83. Lissek was an Australian born and raised Actor who relocated to England in 1963. He had 107 screen acting credits to his name from a career which launched in 1961 on the TV movie
'Quiet Night', with his feature film debut coming in 1963 in
'Ninety Nine Per Cent'. He would follow this up over the next six decades with other films including
'Marat/Sade' in 1967 with Patrick Magee and Glenda Jackson,
'The Last Valley' in 1971 with Michael Caine and Omar Sharif,
'The Blockhouse' in 1973 with Peter Sellers,
'Sweeney 2' in 1978 with John Thaw and Dennis Waterman,
'Time Bandits' in 1981 with Sean Connery and Shelley Duvall,
'Eleni' in 1985 with John Malkovich,
'Personal Services' in 1987 with Julie Walters,
'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' in 1988 with Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche,
'Surviving Picasso' in 1996 with Anthony Hopkins with
'I Really Hate My Job' in 2007 with Neve Campbell and Danny Huston being his final film appearance. In the years in between, there were also roles on TV series taking in
'Softly Softly : Task Force', 'The Protectors', 'Roberts Robots', 'Power Without Glory', on sixty-eight episodes of
'The Sullivans', 'The Professionals', 'Return of the Saint', 'Shogun', 'Remington Steele', 'Eastenders', and
'Foyle's War' in 2010 being his last screen role. Lissek also boasted an extensive theatre portfolio taking in many varied roles in Australia, as well as in Britain and in the United States for both on and off-Broadway productions.
* Duncan Henderson - born in 1950 and died 21st June 2022, aged 72. Henderson was an American film Producer, Assistant Director and Production Manager who generated twenty-two Producer credits, nineteen as Assistant Director and eight as Production Manager whose career behind the camera began in 1980 on
'American Gigolo' as Trainee Assistant Director. His other Assistant Director roles included
'Heaven's Gate', 'Halloween II', 'Staying Alive', 'The Star Chamber', 'Rocky IV', 'Cobra', 'Outbreak' and his last gig on
'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' in 2001. His Producer credits began with
'Earth Girls Are Easy' in 1988 and subsequently included
'Dead Poet's Society', 'Green Card', 'Outbreak', 'Deep Blue Sea', 'The Perfect Storm', 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', 'Master and Commander : The Far Side of the World' (which garnered Henderson an Oscar and a BAFTA nod for Best Film),
'Poseidon', 'The Way Back', 'Battleship', 'Oblivion', 'Ben Hur', 'Maleficent : Mistress of Evil' and
'Space Jam : A New Legacy' most recently. He also worked on a number of the aforementioned films as Production Manager. In 2020 he received the Frank Capra Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America honouring career achievement and service to the DGA.
* Robert A. Katz - born 7th February 1943 and died 22nd June 2022, aged 79. Katz was an American film and television Producer who generated thirty-five Producer credits during his career which began with the ten minute short film
'Shoeshine' in 1987 and which garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action short film and which starred Ben and Jerry Stiller. From here he went onto Produce other films including
'The Telephone' in 1988 with Whoopi Goldberg,
'The Ambulance' in 1990 with Eric Roberts and James Earl Jones,
'Gettysburg' in 1993 with Tom Berenger and Martin Sheen,
'Selena' in 1997 with Jennifer Lopez,
'Price of Glory' in 2000 with Jimmy Smits,
'Gods and Generals' in 2003 with Stephen Lang and Robert Duvall,
'Do You Believe?' in 2015 with Mira Sorvino and Sean Astin and
'Art of Love' in 2021 being his final Producer credit. In the meantime, he also Wrote, Directed as well as Produced the TV movie documentary
'Steve McQueen' : The King of Cool' in 1998, as well as Executive Producing eight episodes of
'Celebrity Crime Files' in 2012. As well as his Oscar nod, he was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie for
'Introducing Dorothy Dandridge' in 1999 and starring Halle Berry in the title role.
* Frank Williams - born 2nd July 1931 and died 26th June 2022, aged 90. Williams was an English Actor who accumulated 135 screen acting roles during his seven decade spanning career, which launched with an uncredited role in the feature film
'Derby Day' in 1952 with Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding. His first credited big screen role came in 1956 with
'The Extra Day' with Richard Basehart followed by the likes of '
The Bulldog Breed' in 1960 with Norman Wisdom,
'Dad's Army' (in 1971) with Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and Clive Dunn,
'Jabberwocky' in 1977 with Michael Palin,
'Revenge of the Pink Panther' in 1978 with Peter Sellers,
'The Human Factor' in 1979 with Richard Attenborough,
'Tanner' in 2007,
'Decline of an Empire' in 2014 with Peter O'Toole, Edward Fox and Steven Berkoff and
'Dad's Army' (in 2016) with Toby Jones, Bill Nighy, Michael Gambon and Tom Courtenay. In the years in between there were also single and multiple appearances on TV series including on forty-seven episodes of
'The Army Game', 'Z Cars', 'Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width', 'Love Thy Neighbour', on forty episodes of
'Dad's Army' in perhaps his most famed role as Reverend Timothy Farthing,
'The Brief', 'Minder', 'Bergerac', 'Hi-de-Hi!', 'Boon', on fourteen episodes of
'You Rang M'Lord?' and
'Stella' being his final screen role in 2017. His autobiography,
'Vicar to Dad's Army : the Frank Williams story', was published in 2002. With other surviving members of the
'Dad's Army' cast he walked in the 100th Birthday parade for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2000, because
'Dad's Army' was her favourite programme.
* Mary Mara - born 21st September 1960 and died 26th June 2022, aged 61. Mara was an American Actress of film and TV who notched up eighty-three screen acting credits throughout her career which kicked off on the TV movie
'The Preppie Murder' in 1989. Her big screen debut came the next year in 1990 with
'Blue Steel' with Jamie Lee Curtis, which she would follow up with other feature films including
'The Hard Way' in 1990 with Michael J. Fox and James Woods,
'Mr. Saturday Night' in 1992 for and with Billy Crystal,
'A Civil Action' in 1998 with John Travolta and Robert Duvall,
'K-PAX' in 2001 with Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges,
'Prom Night' in 2008 with
'Break Even' in 2020 being her final screen appearance. In the intervening years there were also roles on TV shows taking in the likes of nine episodes on
'ER', twenty-three on
'Nash Bridges', 'NYPD Blue', 'Ally McBeal', 'Farscape', 'Law & Order', 'The Practice', 'Judging Amy', 'The West Wing', 'Boston Public', 'The Guardian', 'Monk', 'Law & Order : SVU', 'Bones', 'Lost', 'Dexter', 'Shameless', 'Ray Donovan', 'Criminal Minds' and
'Secrets and Lies'. She also performed on stage in
'Kindertransport', 'Dream of a Common Language' and
'Mad Forest' for the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York, as well as in a New York Shakespeare Festival production of
'Twelfth Night', alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and with William Hurt in a Yale Repertory production of
'Ivanov'.
* Joe Turkel - born 15th July 1927 and died 27th June 2022, aged 94. Turkel was an American character Actor who accumulated 142 screen acting credits throughout his six decade spanning career which launched in 1949 in the feature film
'City Across the River'. After a string of uncredited roles he had credited roles in the likes of
'The Naked Street' in 1955 with Farley Granger, Anthony Quinn and Anne Bancroft,
'The Killing' in 1956 for Stanley Kubrick,
'Hellcats of the Navy' in 1957 with Ronald Reagan,
'Paths of Glory' in 1957 for Stanley Kubrick again and with Kirk Douglas,
'King Rat' in 1965 with George Segal and Tom Courtenay,
'The Sand Pebbles' in 1966 with Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough,
'The St. Valentine's Day Massacre' in 1967 with Jason Robards and George Segal,
'The Hindenburg' in 1975 with George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft,
'Which Way is Up?' in 1977 with Richard Pryor,
'The Shining' in 1980 for Stanley Kubrick and with Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall,
'Blade Runner' in 1982 for Ridley Scott and with Harrison Ford with
'The Dark Side of the Moon' in 1990 being his final feature film role. In the meantime, there were also numerous appearances on TV shows including
'The Lone Ranger', 'The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin', 'The Californians', 'Wagon Train', 'The Untouchables', 'Bonanza', 'Ironside', 'Land of the Giants', 'Police Story', 'Kojak', 'Fantasy Island' and
'Miami Vice'. Prior to his death, Turkel wrote a memoir,
'The Misery of Success', scheduled for a release later this year.
With twelve deaths reported this month from the film and television community at large, that community is just a little bit poorer as a result. As many of us the world over are now learning to live with COVID and life is regaining a degree of normalcy, however, we should all continue to be cautious by remembering the basic principles that continue to be advocated - maintain a reasonable safe distance, hand hygiene and wear a mask if you are unable to maintain a safe distance and get vaccinated and then get a booster jab - together we can all overcome this thing and keep on top of it. Stay safe and remain healthy wherever you are in the world. R.I.P. you screen legends.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
* 'Megalomaniac' from Belgium and Directed by Karim Ouelhaj. World Premier.
* 'THE GRAY MAN' (Rated MA15+) - is an American action thriller film Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo who have previously helmed four MCU films, being 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier' in 2014, 'Captain America : Civil War' in 2016, 'Avengers : Infinity War' in 2018 and 'Avengers : Endgame' in 2019, amongst other feature films and TV series. Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney, the film goes on limited release from this week before being released on Netflix from 22nd July. Costing US$200M to produce it is the most expensive film ever made by Netflix, and it hopes to start a series of films based on the 'Gray Man' novels.
The Gray Man is CIA black ops agent Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling), aka, Sierra Six. Plucked from a federal penitentiary and recruited by his handler, Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), Gentry was once a highly-skilled, Agency-sanctioned mercenary. But now the tables have turned and Gentry is the target, hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a former cohort at the CIA, who will stop at nothing to take him out. Agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) has his back, and it looks as though he’ll need it! Also starring Jessica Henwick, Rege-Jean Page, Dhanush, Alfre Woodard, Callan Mulvey, Scott Haze and Michael Gandolfini.
* 'THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN' (Rated M) - is a British biographical comedy drama film Directed by Craig Roberts in his third film making effort following 'Just Jim' in 2015 and 'Eternal Beauty' in 2019, although he also has forty-one screen acting credits to his name also in both major feature films and TV series. This film is based on the 2010 biography 'The Phantom of the Open: Maurice Flitcroft, The World's Worst Golfer' by Simon Farnaby and Scott Murray. The film tells the heartwarming true story of Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance), a dreamer and unrelenting optimist. This humble crane operator from Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, England who managed to gain entry to The British Open Golf Championship qualifying in 1976, despite never playing a round of golf before. He shot the worst round in Open history and drew the ire of the golfing elite, but became a folk hero in the process and, more importantly, showed his family the importance of pursuing your dreams. Also starring Sally Hawkins and Rhys Ifans the film saw its World Premier screening at the BFI London Film Festival back in mid-October last year, has so far grossed US$3.1M and has garnered generally favourable Reviews.
* 'FALLING FOR FIGARO' (Rated M) - this romantic comedy film id Directed and Co-Written by Ben Lewin who has twenty Directorial credits to his name including his debut feature film in 1988 'Georgia', and then the likes of 'The Sessions' in 2012 and 'The Catcher Was a Spy' in 2018. Here then, Millie Cantwell (Danielle Macdonald), an American fund manager, realises one day that her life-long dream is to become an opera singer. Quitting the job and moving away from her boyfriend, she travels to Scotland where she eventually becomes an opera singer following intensive vocal training from former opera diva Meghan Geoffrey-Bishop (Joanna Lumley) and fierce competition from other opera singers. The film was screened at the TIFF in mid-September 2020 but was not released in the US and the UK until October 2021 and only this week in Australia, having generated mixed or average Reviews and grossing just US$170K so far. 
* 'PRESS PLAY' (Rated PG) - this American romantic drama film is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Greg Bjorkman in his feature film making debut. A young woman, Laura (Clara Rugaard) has a chance to save the love of her life, Harrison (Lewis Pullman) when she discovers that the mix-tape they made together can transport her back in time. Also starring Danny Glover, Matt Walsh, Christina Chang and Lyrica Okano, the film was released Stateside towards the end of June and has received mixed Reviews. 
* 'HALLELUJAH : LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG' (Rated M) - this music documentary film is Co-Written, Produced, Directed, and Co-Edited by the long time documentary film making pairing of Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine. Here, they take us on a journey of Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, 'Hallelujah'. This American documentary combines three creative strands, namely, the songwriter and his times, the song's dramatic journey from record label reject to chart-topping hit, and moving testimonies from major recording artists for whom Hallelujah has become a personal touchstone. Approved for production by Leonard Cohen just before his 80th birthday in 2015, the film shows us never-before-seen archival materials from the Cohen Trust including his own personal notebooks, journals and photographs, performance footage and extremely rare audio recordings and interviews. 'Hallelujah' has been performed by almost two hundred artists the world over in various languages. The song is the subject of the book 'The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah' by Alan Light and published in 2012. Cohen died in late 2016 aged 82.
