Category Archives: The Big Screen

Farewell Mary Tyler Moore, Adieu Laura Petrie

Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017)

Mary Tyler Moore was an American actress, known for her roles in the television sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977), in which she starred as Mary Richards, a thirty-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis; and The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966), in which she played Laura Petrie, a former dancer turned homemaker, wife and mother.  She died from cardiopulmonary arrest because of pneumonia at the age of 80 on January 25, 2017.

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Elvis (thank you very much)

Elvis Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977)

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as “the King of Rock and Roll”, or simply, “the King”.

It’s a Wonderful Life

It’s a Wonderful Life is a 1946 Frank Capra film, produced by his own Liberty Films and released originally by RKO Radio Pictures. Dubbed by the American Film Institute one of the best films ever made, it placed #1 on AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Cheers, a list of the most inspirational American movies of all time. It ranks 11th on AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies, a list of the greatest American films. The film has also been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
The movie is the story of the life of everyman George Bailey, as told to his guardian angel Clarence Oddbody, who has been recruited to save him in his moment of need.

It's a Wonderful Life

The film premiered on December 20, 1946 in the New Globe Theater on Governors Island.

The film was released in theaters January 7, 1947.

 

Dear George:
— Remember no man is a failure who has friends.
Thanks for the wings!
Love
Clarence.  

J.R.R. Tolkien

In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.

JRR Tolkien is best known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He was a professor of Anglo-Saxon language at Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and of English language and literature, also at Oxford, from 1945 to 1959.

JRR Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973)

Blade Runner 2049 Announcement

RIP Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016)

Mary Frances “Debbie” Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, entertainer, businesswoman, film historian, humanitarian and a noted former collector of film memorabilia. Her breakout role was the portrayal of Helen Kane in the 1950 film Three Little Words, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. However, it was her first leading role in 1952 at age 19, as Kathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain, that set her on the path to fame.

On December 28, 2016, a day after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher, Reynolds died after suffering a massive stroke.

RIP Princess Leia

Carrie Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016)

Carrie Frances Fisher was an American actress, screenwriter, author, producer, and speaker. She was known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars films. Fisher was also known for her semi-autobiographical novels, including Postcards from the Edge and the screenplay for the film of the same name, as well as her autobiographical one-woman play and its nonfiction book, Wishful Drinking, based on the show. Her other film roles included Shampoo (1975), The Blues Brothers (1980), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The ‘Burbs (1989), and When Harry Met Sally… (1989).

RIP Zsa Zsa

Zsa Zsa Gabor (February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016)

Zsa Zsa Gabor (February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016)

Zsa Zsa Gabor was a Hungarian-American actress and socialite. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor.

Gabor began her stage career in Vienna and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936.[1] She emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with “European flair and style” and was considered to have a personality that “exuded charm and grace”. Her first film role was a supporting role in Lovely to Look At. She later acted in We’re Not Married! and played one of her few leading roles in the John Huston-directed film, Moulin Rouge (1952). Huston would later describe her as a “creditable” actress.

Outside of her acting career, Gabor was known for her extravagant Hollywood lifestyle, glamorous personality, and her many marriages. In total, Gabor had nine husbands, including hotel magnate Conrad Hilton and actor George Sanders.

In April 2016, Gabor expressed her wish to move back to Hungary during 2017 and live out the rest of her life there. Her husband stated he was determined to make her wish come true and intended to arrange for “a big party in the summer” to celebrate the actress’ 100th birthday, after which she would return to Budapest.

Sadly, Miss Gabor has died just short of her 100th birthday of a heart attack.

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Happy Birthday, Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982)

Philip Kindred Dick was an American science fiction novelist and short story writer. He often drew upon his own life experiences and addressed the nature of drug use, paranoia and schizophrenia, and mystical experiences in novels such as A Scanner Darkly and VALIS.

In addition to his novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, many of which appeared in science fiction magazines. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, nine of his stories have been adapted into popular films since his death, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly and Minority Report. In 2005, Time Magazine named Ubik one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.

RIP Bernard Fox

Bernard Fox (born Bernard Lawson, May 11, 1927 – December 14, 2016) was a Welsh film and television actor, known for his roles as Dr. Bombay in Bewitched, the naïve, bumbling Colonel Crittendon in Hogan’s Heroes, Archibald Gracie IV in Titanic, and as Captain Winston Havlock in The Mummy has died. He was 89.

Harlan Boll, a spokesman for Fox’s family, said he died Wednesday of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital.

The Welsh-born actor’s extensive, wide-ranging film and TV credits included “The Mummy,” “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo,” “The Dyke Van Dyke Show,” “McHale’s Navy” and “Columbo.”

He appeared in both 1997’s “Titanic,” playing Col. Archibald Gracie, and in a 1958 movie about the ship tragedy, “A Night to Remember.”

On “Hogan’s Heroes,” he played the incompetent Crittendon, a Royal Air Force group captain referred to as the colonel.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; daughter Amanda; daughter-in-law Lisa, and two grandchildren. Another daughter, Valerie, died in 2006, Boll said.

RIP Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, visionary, and philanthropist. He was the son of Flora and Elias Disney, and had three brothers and one sister. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Walt became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966)

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Happy Birthday, Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, visionary, and philanthropist. He was the son of Flora and Elias Disney, and had three brothers and one sister. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Walt became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966)

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RIP Leslie Nielsen

“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley”

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen (February 11, 1926 – November 28, 2010)

Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in over one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying over 220 characters.

Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, Nielsen enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and worked as a disc jockey before receiving a scholarship to Neighborhood Playhouse. Beginning with a television role in 1948, he quickly expanded to over 50 television appearances two years later. Nielsen appeared in his first films in 1956 and began collecting roles in dramas, westerns, and romance films. Nielsen’s lead roles in the films Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) received positive reviews as a serious actor, though he is primarily known for his comedic roles.

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Farewell, Agent Solo

robert_vaughn

Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016)

Robert Vaughn, who starred as the  suave spy Napoleon Solo on the NBC series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. from 1964-68, died today of acute leukemia.  He was 83.

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Anniversary of Dr. No

On October 5, 1962, the 1st James Bond film, Dr. No, premiered in London (it would arrive in the US the 8th of May of 1963).

Dr. No poster

RIP Paul Newman

Paul Newman

Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008)

Paul Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian and auto racing enthusiast. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an Emmy award, and many honorary awards. He also won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing and his race teams won several championships in open wheel IndyCar racing.

Newman was a co-founder of Newman’s Own, a food company from which Newman donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity. As of July 2011, these donations had exceeded US $300 million.

On September 26, 2008, Newman died at his longtime home in Westport, Connecticut, of complications arising from lung cancer.

Happy Birthday, Jim Henson

James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was the most widely known American puppeteer in modern American television history.

He was the creator of The Muppets and the leading force behind their long creative run. Henson brought an engaging cast of characters, innovative ideas, and a sense of timing and humor to millions of people. He is also widely acknowledged for the ongoing vision of faith, friendship, magic, and love which was infused in nearly all of his work.

Jim Henson StatueStatue of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog, on display outside of Adele H. Stamp Student Union in College Park, Maryland.
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RIP George C. Scott

George C. Scott

George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999)

 

George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, and as Ebenezer Scrooge in a television adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

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RIP Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze

Patrick Wayne Swayze (August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009)

Patrick Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best-known for his roles as romantic leading men in the films Dirty Dancing and Ghost and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was listed by People magazine as its “Sexiest Man Alive” in 1991.

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RIP Richard Kiel

Richard Kiel (September 13, 1939 – September 10, 2014)

Richard Dawson Kiel (September 13, 1939 – September 10, 2014)

Richard Kiel (September 13, 1939 – September 10, 2014) was an American actor known for his role of the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) as well as the video game Everything or Nothing; he also had cameos in many other James Bond video games. He was also well-known as Mr. Larson in the 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore, for playing the Kanamit aliens in the classic The Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man” and for his role of Dr. Miguelito Loveless‘ assistant, Voltaire, in first-season episodes of The Wild, Wild West (1965-1966).

Richard Kiel in his younger days

Kiel died on September 10, 2014, aged 74, three days before his 75th birthday. He had been admitted to a hospital in Fresno, California after breaking his leg the previous week. He is survived by his wife, Diane, four children, and nine grandchildren.

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