Notable Showbiz Deaths of 2019
A list of the notable entertainment figures who passed away in 2019, ordered by date of death.
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- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Pegi Young was born on 1 December 1952 in San Mateo, California, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003) and Solo Trans (1984). She was married to Neil Young. She died on 1 January 2019 in California, USA.December 1, 1952 – January 1, 2019
Musician, singer, songwriter, activist and philanthropist who from the 1980s to the 2000s was a backing vocalist for then-husband Neil Young and released three albums of her own between 2007 and 2011; best known for co-founding the Bridge School, an educational program for children with severe speech and physical impairments- Ivo Gregurevic was born on 7 October 1952 in Orasje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia. He was an actor, known for Ne dao Bog veceg zla (2002), Tri muskarca Melite Zganjer (1998) and The Reaper (2014). He was married to Dubravka Ostojic. He died on 1 January 2019 in Zagreb, Croatia.October 7, 1952 – January 1, 2019
Award-winning Croatian actor who starred in such acclaimed films as 'Sokol Did Not Love Him' (1988), 'My Uncle's Legacy' (1988), 'Charuga' (1991), 'Story from Croatia' (1991), 'The Three Men of Melita Žganjer' (1998), 'When the Dead Start Singing' (1998), 'Madonna' (1999), 'Marshal Tito's Spirit' (1999), 'God Forbid a Worse Thing Should Happen' (2002), 'What Iva Recorded' (2005), 'Metastases' (2009), 'Sonja and the Bull' (2012), 'The Reaper' (2014) and 'Men Don't Cry' (2017) and in the popular comedy 'Odmori se, zaslužio si' ('Take a Break, You Deserve It') - Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Pio Corradi was born on 19 May 1940 in Läufelfingen, Switzerland. He was a cinematographer and producer, known for Der schöne Augenblick (1986), Köhlernächte (2017) and Giovanni Segantini - Magic of Light (2015). He died on 1 January 2019 in Switzerland.May 19, 1940 – January 1, 2019
Renowned Swiss cinematographer of both narrative and documentary features, including the award winners 'Alpine Fire' (1985), 'Candy Mountain' (1987), 'Donusta' (1992), 'Ernesto Che Guevara, the Bolivian Diary' (1994), 'The Saltmen of Tibet' (1997), 'Full Moon' (1998), 'Ässhäk - Tales from the Sahara' (2003), 'Vitus' (2006), 'Echoes of Home' (2007), 'In the Garden of Sound' (2009) and 'The Substance: Albert Hofmann's LSD' (2011)- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Daryl Dragon was born on 27 August 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Payback (1990), Go for It (1976) and Sandstone (1975). He was married to Toni Tennille. He died on 2 January 2019 in Prescott, Arizona, USA.August 27, 1942 – January 2, 2019
Musician and songwriter who was "Captain" in the pop duo Captain & Tennille alongside then-wife Toni Tennille- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Bob Einstein was born on 20 November 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Bizarre (1979), Super Dave (1987) and Super Dave's Spike Tacular (2009). He was married to Roberta Marie Smith and Cathy Maureen Kilpatrick. He died on 2 January 2019 in Indian Wells, California, USA.November 20, 1942 – January 2, 2019
Actor and comedy writer known for creating and playing the satirical stuntman character Super Dave Osborne and for his TV roles as Marty Funkhouser on 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and Larry Middleman on 'Arrested Development'; two-time Emmy winner for his work as a writer on 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' and as a producer on 'Van Dyke and Company' and also earned two Emmy nominations each for his writing on 'The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour' and 'Van Dyke and Company'; older brother of fellow actor-comedian Albert Brooks- Marko Nikolic was born on 20 October 1946 in Kraljevo, Serbia, Yugoslavia. He was an actor, known for Vuk Karadzic (1987), Srecni ljudi (1993) and Brat Deyan (2015). He was married to Dubravka Nikolic. He died on 2 January 2019 in Belgrade, Serbia.October 20, 1946 – January 2, 2019
Serbian actor best known for starring in the Yugoslav series 'Bolji život' ('A Better Life') and whose film credits include award winners 'Early Works' (1969), 'Guns of War' (1969), 'Petria's Wreath' (1980), 'Silent Gunpowder' (1990), 'The Cordon' (2002), 'Montevideo: Taste of a Dream' (2010) and 'The Parade' (2013) - Gene Okerlund was born on 19 December 1942 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for WrestleMania III (1987), WrestleMania X-Seven (2001) and WCW Monday Nitro (1995). He was married to Jeanne Ellen Zulawnik. He died on 2 January 2019 in Sarasota, Florida, USA.December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019
Iconic pro-wrestling interviewer, announcer and WWE Hall of Famer known as "Mean" Gene Okerland - Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
John Falsey was born on 6 November 1951 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Northern Exposure (1990), I'll Fly Away (1991) and St. Elsewhere (1982). He was married to Julie and Kathy Suzanne Mynes. He died on 3 January 2019 in Iowa City, Iowa, USA.November 6, 1951 – January 3, 2019
Emmy-winning writer and producer who co-created acclaimed TV series such as 'St. Elsewhere,' 'Northern Exposure' and 'I'll Fly Away'- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ivan Bortnik was born on 16 April 1939 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Antikiller (2002), Mama ne goryuy (1998) and Don't Cry Mommy 2 (2005). He was married to Tatiana Nikolaevna Borzykh. He died on 4 January 2019 in Moscow, Russia.April 16, 1939 – January 4, 2019
Actor and People's Artist of Russia known for his roles in the massively popular 1979 five-part Soviet miniseries 'The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed' and in films such as 'Family Relations' (1982), 'Mirror for a Hero' (1988), 'Mama Don't Cry' (1998) and the 'Antikiller' trilogy (2002-2009)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Diana Decker was born on 9 January 1925 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Lolita (1962), The Barefoot Contessa (1954) and Theatre Night (1957). She was married to Eden Landeryou. She died on 4 January 2019 in London, England, UK.January 9, 1925 – January 4, 2019
Source: https://oscar.go.com/photos/2019/oscars-in-memoriam-2019-photos/e05b1654fdadb43bef1b41ec260fc2c23f785d062fd347f222ad0c61e1a315fe- Lovely, buxom, and vivacious blonde bombshell Louisa Moritz was born as Luisa Cira Castro Netto on September 25, 1936 in Havana, Cuba. Many members of Louisa's family which include her father Luis, sister Aurora, and her older brother Rafael all worked in the law profession. Moritz left Cuba and moved to New York City during the upheaval of the 1950s. Louisa was inspired to change her last name from Castro to Moritz after seeing the St. Moritz Hotel in New York City. She arrived in NYC in July 1960, aged 23.
She began her acting career in TV commercials in the late 1960s. She made her debut in a TV commercial for Ultra-Ban spray deodorant and won both a Clio Award and an Andy Award for her work as a student driver in a TV commercial for American Motors. Louisa made her film debut in the lead role of young prostitute Carmela in The Man from O.R.G.Y. (1970). Perhaps best known to general audiences as the hooker Rose in the Oscar-winning classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), her most memorable roles included Sylvester Stallone's airhead navigator Myra in the cult science fiction black comedy Death Race 2000 (1975), cheery prostitute Flora in the delightful Sixpack Annie (1975), Officer Gloria Whitey in Up in Smoke (1978), hilarious as the aggressively lascivious Carmela in the uproariously raunchy teen comedy hoot The Last American Virgin (1982), and ditsy kleptomaniac Bubbles in the terrifically trashy babes-behind-bars treat Chained Heat (1983). Among the television programs Moritz appeared on are The Leslie Uggams Show (1969), The Joe Namath Show (1969), Love, American Style (1969), Ironside (1967), Happy Days (1974), M*A*S*H (1972), Chico and the Man (1974), The Rockford Files (1974), The Incredible Hulk (1978) and The Associates (1979).
Outside of acting, Moritz sold real estate, sung a song she specifically wrote about host Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show," and bought a hotel in Beverly Hills which she renamed the Beverly Hills St. Moritz. Although often cast as the generic dumb blonde in many films and TV shows (a part which she always played with great spirit and infectiously sweet good humor), Moritz in real life was the total radical opposite of this particular persona: She not only made the Deans List while studying for her law degree at the University of West Los Angeles, but won the American Jurisprudence Bancroft Whitney Prize for Contracts as well. She went on to become a lawyer in southern California, but was eventually disbarred for failing to provide certain quarterly reports. Louisa Moritz died at age 82 from cardiovascular disease on January 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.September 25, 1946 – January 4, 2019 - Eric Haydock was born on 3 February 1943 in Stockport, Cheshire, England, UK. He died on 5 January 2019 in the UK.February 3, 1943 – January 5, 2019
Musician best known as the original bass guitarist for British pop/rock group The Hollies - Sound Department
Gregg Rudloff was born on 2 November 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is known for Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The Matrix (1999) and Green Lantern (2011). He was married to Sue. He died on 6 January 2019 in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA.November 2, 1955 – January 6, 2019
Veteran sound mixer who won Oscars for Edward Zwick's GLORY (1989), the Wachowskis' THE MATRIX (1999) and George Miller's MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015) and received Oscar nominations for Wolfgang Petersen's THE PERFECT STORM (2000), Ben Affleck's ARGO (2012) and Clint Eastwood's FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (2016) and AMERICAN SNIPER (2013); also won a BAFTA for THE MATRIX and an Emmy for John Erman's groundbreaking AIDS-themed telefilm AN EARLY FROST (1985); previously worked with Petersen on SHATTERED (1991) and OUTBREAK (1995) and subsequently on TROY (2004) and POSEIDON (2006), while his collaboration with Eastwood encompassed eleven other films, including ABSOLUTE POWER (1997), GRAN TORINO (2008) and JERSEY BOYS (2014); also reteamed with the Wachowskis on THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (both 2003) and SPEED RACER (2008); worked on Rob Reiner's classic '80s films THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984), THE SURE THING (1985), STAND BY ME (1986) and THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987) and with Joe Johnston on beloved Disney family adventures HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (1989) and THE ROCKETEER (1991); collaborated with director Jon Avnet on the TV movie BETWEEN TWO WOMEN (1986) and the '90s theatrical features FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (1991), THE WAR (1994), UP CLOSE & PERSONAL (1996) and RED CORNER (1997), and with Steve Miner on the films HOUSE (1985), SOUL MAN (1986), WARLOCK (1989), WILD HEARTS CAN'T BE BROKEN (1991) and MY FATHER THE HERO (1994); also worked on RISKY BUSINESS (1983) and MEN DON'T LEAVE (1990) for Paul Brickman, FOOTLOOSE (1984), PROTOCOL (1984) and DANCERS (1987) for Herbert Ross, THE LAST INNOCENT MAN (1987), SHOOT TO KILL (1988) and AIR AMERICA (1990) for Roger Spottiswoode, PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES (1987) and CURLY SUE (1991) for John Hughes, WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP (1992) and TIN CUP (1996) for Ron Shelton, BORN YESTERDAY (1993), WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN (1994), MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE (1999) and ANGEL EYES (2001) for Luis Mandoki, ASSASSINS (1995), CONSPIRACY THEORY (1997) and LETHAL WEAPON 3 (1998) for Richard Donner, THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (1997) and PROOF OF LIFE (2000) for Taylor Hackford, ROMEO MUST DIE (2000) and EXIT WOUNDS (2001) for Andrzej Bartkowiak, THIR13EN GHOSTS (2001) and GHOST SHIP (2002) for Steve Beck, SWORDFISH (2001) and WHITEOUT (2009) for Dominic Sena, THE INVASION (2007) and NINJA ASSASSIN for James McTeigue, and EDGE OF DARKNESS (2010), GREEN LANTERN (2011) and THE FOREIGNER (2017) for Martin Campbell; other notable credits include W.D. Richter's THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION (1984), Neal Israel's BACHELOR PARTY (1984), John Huston's PRIZZI'S HONOR (1985), Martha Coolidge's REAL GENIUS (1985), Jerry Rees's THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER (1987), Glenn Gordon Caron's CLEAN AND SOBER (1988), Marek Kanievska's LESS THAN ZERO (1987), Roland Joffé's FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY (1989), Stephen Herek's THE MIGHTY DUCKS (1992), Brian Gibson's WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT (1993), Stuart Baird's EXECUTIVE DECISION (1996), Albert Brooks's MOTHER (1996), Joe Pytka's SPACE JAM (1996), Phillip Noyce's THE BONE COLLECTOR (1999), Renny Harlin's DEEP BLUE SEA (1999), Mimi Leder's PAY IT FORWARD (2000), Rod Lurie's THE LAST CASTLE (2001), Francis Lawrence's CONSTANTINE (2005), John Singleton's FOUR BROTHERS (2005), Doug Liman's MR. & MRS. SMITH (2005), Neil Burger's THE ILLUSIONIST (2006), Bryan Singer's SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006), Ed Harris's APPALOOSA (2008), Peter Segal's GET SMART (2008), Guillermo del Toro's PACIFIC RIM (2013), Denis Villeneuve's PRISONERS (2013), Phil Lord & Christopher Miller's THE LEGO MOVIE (2014), Sam Mendes's James Bond outing SPECTRE (2015), Denzel Washington's FENCES (2015), Tate Taylor's THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (2016), and Aaron Sorkin's MOLLY'S GAME (2017)- William Sheppard was born and raised in London, England to an Anglo-Irish family. He is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He was an Associate Artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company for 12 years. He appeared on Broadway in 1966 with "Marat-Sade" and later in 1975 with "Sherlock Holmes". He won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award for "The Homecoming" in 1995, at the Matrix Theatre. He voiced the narrator in the popular computer game Civilization 5.August 24, 1932 – January 6, 2019
Veteran actor perhaps best known for playing various characters in the 'Star Trek' film and TV franchise -- including the Klingon commandant of Rura Penthe in 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country' (1991) -- and for his roles as "Blank" Reg on the cult '80s TV series 'Max Headroom,' Great-Uncle Vincent Talbot opposite Elvira in the cult horror-comedy 'Elvira: Mistress of the Dark' (1988) and Maj. Gen. Isaac R. Trimble in Ron Maxwell's Civil War epics 'Gettysburg' (1993) and 'Gods and Generals' (2003); had roles in in over 40 other theatrical films, including Peter Brook's 'Marat/Sade' (1967), Ridley Scott's 'The Duellists' (1977), David Lynch's 'The Elephant Man' (1980) and 'Wild at Heart' (1990), Michael Mann's 'The Keep' (1983), Richard Attenborough's 'Cry Freedom' (1987), Christopher Nolan's 'The Prestige' (2006) and Michael Bay's 'Transformers' (2007); also remembered for his recurring role as The Professor on 'SeaQuest DSV' and for voicing Lawrence Limburger on 'Biker Mice from Mars' and various characters in Disney's 'Gargoyles' - Actress
- Writer
- Music Department
Clydie King was born on 21 August 1943 in Dallas, Texas, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for The Long Goodbye (1973), A Star Is Born (1976) and The Split (1968). She was married to Tony Collins and Robin Hale. She died on 7 January 2019 in Monrovia, California, USA.August 21, 1943 – January 7, 2019- Director
- Writer
- Producer
She was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. Her first job was hosting a pop music program on the national Lebanese radio station called "Marsipulami got blue eyes." Then she became a television newsreader. Once civil war broke out in Lebanon, Saab started working on documentary films. That led to a job as second unit director for "Circle of Deceit" directed by Volker Schlondorff in 1981, which happened to be about the Lebanese civil war. She continued to report and document on the war, but moved to Paris, France after having lost so much due to the war.
2005 - She splits her time between Paris and Cairo.April 30, 1948 – January 7, 2019- Make-Up Department
- Actor
Franco Freda was born on 6 January 1925 in Foligno, Perugia, Italy. He was an actor, known for The Passenger (1975), Divorce Italian Style (1961) and Avanti! (1972). He died on 8 January 2019 in Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy.c. 1925 – January 8, 2019- Verna Bloom was born on 7 August 1938 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for High Plains Drifter (1973), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and After Hours (1985). She was married to Jay Cocks and Richard Collier. She died on 9 January 2019 in Bar Harbor, Maine, USA.August 7, 1938 – January 9, 2019
Actress known for her film debut as the female lead in Haskell Wexler's landmark MEDIUM COOL, starring opposite Clint Eastwood in HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, playing Dean Wormer's cheating wife in ANIMAL HOUSE, and her roles in Martin Scorsese's films AFTER HOURS and THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST - Actor
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lean-faced, intense-looking, German-born, Canada-raised Paul Koslo was at his busiest during the 1970s, usually playing shifty, untrustworthy and often downright nasty characters. He first broke into films at age 22 in the low-budget Little White Crimes (1966), and then appeared in a rush of movies taking advantage of his youthful looks, including cult favorites Vanishing Point (1971) and The Omega Man (1971), and the western Joe Kidd (1972), martial arts blaxploitation flick Cleopatra Jones (1973) and crime thriller The Stone Killer (1973). After working alongside such stars as John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Walter Matthau and Charles Bronson, Koslo's career drifted towards television, and in the 1980s he regularly guest-starred on such TV series as The Incredible Hulk (1978), The A-Team (1983), Matlock (1986), MacGyver (1985) and The Fall Guy (1981). Unfortunately, most of his film work in the 1990s and beyond was "straight-to-video" fare, such as Chained Heat 2 (1993) and Inferno (1999). Koslo is well remembered by many as smart-mouthed small-time hood Bobby Kopas, trying to shake down melon grower Charles Bronson in Mr. Majestyk (1974).June 27, 1944 – January 9, 2019- Paolo Paoloni was born on 24 July 1929 in Bodio, Ticino, Switzerland. He was an actor, known for Double Team (1997), Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and Fantozzi in Heaven (1993). He died on 9 January 2019 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.July 24, 1929 – January 9, 2019
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Don Reynolds was born on 29 May 1937 in Odell, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). He died on 9 January 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.May 29, 1937 – January 9, 2019- Actor
- Soundtrack
Theo Adam was born on 1 August 1926 in Dresden, Germany. He was an actor, known for Fidelio (1968), Fidelio (1979) and Gala unter den Linden (1977). He was married to Eleonore. He died on 10 January 2019 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany.August 1, 1926 – January 10, 2019- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Born in humble surroundings in Provatonas, a small village near the town of Alexandroupoli in northern Greece, on August 3, 1959, Stefanos Miltsakakis shot to fame fighting Jean-Claude Van Damme in five Hollywood movies. He was raised in an environment where children grew up fighting and wrestling. In 1973, he moved to the United States with his family, none of whom could speak English. They settled in a studio apartment, shared with another Greek family in Charlotte, North Carolina. He later described how as a teenager he was subject to ostracism due to his background and struggled to integrate himself with the local youth.
After getting into trouble, the high school free-fighting trainer encouraged him to join the school team. He won a scholarship for the State University of North Carolina and became a fighter for the All-Americans team. In 1984, at age 24, he was selected for the Greek team at the Olympics that year, but a knee injury just before the event forced him to abandon his Olympic dreams. This forced him to consider the idea of working in the world of cinema. In 1989 he got a small role in the film Cyborg (1989) by Albert Pyun, in which he had the chance to work with Jean-Claude Van Damme. He moved to Los Angeles and began a career of small character parts, especially in martial arts films, opposite van Damme in several movies.
But Miltsakakis was also a great fighter in real life, with his 220 lbs and 100kg. On September 27, 1999, he took part in the 9th Vale Tudo World Championship during which he won against Judoka Joe Charles in 8.38 minutes, recording a personal record. In 2002 he participated in the 14th Vale Tudo, where he won against Mariano Mendoza gaining a 2-0-0 record. He was also a world champion in Pagration, an ancient Greek sport combining wrestling with boxing. After his retirement in 2011 he set up a gym in Venice, California.
Miltsakakis died on January 10, 2019, aged 59, in his sleep in Santa Monica, California. He was interred in Greece next to his father.March 8, 1959 – January 10, 2019- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Fernando Luján was born on 23 August 1938 in Bogotá, Colombia. He was an actor and writer, known for Nora's Will (2008), The Last Call (2013) and En el país de no pasa nada (2000). He was married to Martha Mariana Castro. He died on 11 January 2019 in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico.August 23, 1938 – January 11, 2019- Etsuko Ichihara died in the early hours of 13.01.2019 at age 82 in Tokyo, Japan due to heart failure. She had outlived her husband and had no children. She had been ill and hospitalized, but discharged on the 30th of December allowing her to spend New Year's at home. She returned to another hospital on the fifth of January complaining of pain. She was able to speak until the seventh on which day her speech and consciousness began to slip. Previous to that she had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in 2016 and hospitalized. She was born in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, which is next door to Tokyo on 24.01.1936. She attended Tokyo's Waseda University and studied literature. She would enter the entertainment industry in 1957 and had over one hundred credits to her name by the time of her demise. Ichihara joined the Tokyo-based Haiyuza theatre troupe - from which she only resigned in 1971 - and made her debut in Yukiguni in 1957. Her voice was heard in the well-known comic book-based animated serial Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi beginning in the 1970s. Over the years, she became a household name for her appearance in successive Kaseifu Wa Mita ('The Housemaid Witnessed It') series. She appeared in the bleak Black Rain in 1989 whose story revolved around the American war crime of bombing the civilians of Hiroshima. She won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Supporting Actress for this role. Her biggest film, however, was the pan-Asian hit Kimi No Na Wa to which she lent her voice in 2016. Her final film was the endearing and redemptive Shabondama. Her husband, director Shiomi, was also in the entertainment business and had died of pneumonia.January 24, 1936 – January 12, 2019
- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Actor
Mark Urman was born on 24 November 1952 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and actor, known for Monster's Ball (2001), Death and the Maiden (1994) and Affliction (1997). He was married to Deborah Davis. He died on 12 January 2019 in Newark, New Jersey, USA.November 24, 1952 – January 12, 2019- In her brief but noted screen career in the late 1950s, vivacious blonde Sally Fraser ran screaming from spiders, aliens, monsters and giants and straight into minor cult filmdom. While not handed many roles that would show off her true acting mettle, Sally, whose slight resemblance to Marjorie Lord was noticeable, nevertheless photographed beautifully and was captivating enough to leave her mark in 1950s films.
Born in Williston, North Dakota, on December 12, 1932, she moved to Southern California with her family (the youngest of five children) after spending a few years in Minneapolis. Her father subsequently bought and operated a feed store in the Canoga Park area of Los Angeles and worked there after school. As a young girl she expressed an interest in singing and joined her church choir while taking voice lessons. Spotted after singing on a local TV show, the pert beauty was encouraged to take drama courses and started to gain experience in local and summer stock plays, including "Bus Stop" with Marie Wilson, "Separate Tables" with Don Porter and Signe Hasso and "The Moon Is Blue".
Finding a theatrical agent Sally's move into television came as a result of her singing skills (in a way). It was a TV version of "A Christmas Carol" starring Fredric March as Scrooge and Basil Rathbone as Marley's Ghost. She played both Belle and The Ghost of Christmas Past but her singing voice would be dubbed by operatic diva Marilyn Horne. She went on to appear in a number of western shows such as The Gene Autry Show (1950), Annie Oakley (1954) and Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951). A vivacious presence in lighter fare, Sally made guest appearances on "December Bride," "Bachelor Father," "Mr. Lucky" and took her last job in the late 1960s in "Lassie".
As for films, following a bit role in her debut film All I Desire (1953), she nabbed the female lead opposite Edmund Gwenn and a canine in the sentimental fantasy It's a Dog's Life (1955). Sally quickly found herself pocketed in low-budget 50s sci-fiers. She played the wife of Peter Graves who becomes possessed by aliens in the Roger Corman quickie It Conquered the World (1956); the brave sister of the colossal man in War of the Colossal Beast (1958); and a mother protecting her baby in The Spider (1958). Others included Giant from the Unknown (1958), the racing car programmer Roadracers (1959), and Dangerous Charter (1962). Rare quality films also came her way such as Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) and the Burt Lancaster starrer Elmer Gantry (1960), but her roles would be minuscule.
Fraser continued to work on stage ("Jenny Kissed Me" with Rudy Vallee and "the musical "Of Thee I Sing" with George D. Wallace) and TV and well into the 60s until she decided to retire to raise her family.
Her husband, Allan Johnson, ran a manufacturing business for some time. They eventually moved to Harrison, Idaho in the 80s and lived on a cattle ranch. She died there on January 13, 2019, at age 86.December 12, 1932 – January 13, 2019 - Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wieslaw Zdort was born on 27 April 1931 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He was a cinematographer and assistant director, known for Pokuszenie (1995), Pajeczarki (1993) and Ashes and Diamonds (1958). He was married to Barbara Sass. He died on 14 January 2019 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.April 27, 1931 – January 14, 2019- Stunts
- Actor
Bill Anagnos was born on 19 August 1958 in Rhinebeck, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Warriors (1979) and 12 Monkeys (1995). He died on 15 January 2019 in Red Hook, New York, USA.August 19, 1958 – January 15, 2019- Bradley Bolke was born on 1 October 1925 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963) and Hail (1972). He was married to Katherine (Kitty) Castro. He died on 15 January 2019 in Dobbs Ferry, New York, USA.October 1, 1925 – January 15, 2019
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Carol Channing was born January 31, 1921, at Seattle, Washington, the daughter of a prominent newspaper editor, who was very active in the Christian Science movement. She attended high school in San Francisco and later worked as a model in Los Angeles. She attended prestigious Bennington College in Vermont and majored in drama and dance and supplemented her work by taking parts in nearby Pocono Resort area. Carol initially made her mark on Broadway in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" playing Lorelei Lee. In "Hello Dolly" she played Dolly Gallagher Levi, the witty, manipulative widow intent upon finding a wealthy husband. The musical won ten Tony awards in 1964, including Channing's for best actress in a comedy. Jacqueline Kennedy and her two children made their first public appearance after President John F. Kennedy's death by seeing her perform in "Hello Dolly" and later visited her backstage. She appeared in the film Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). Her son Channing Carson is a Pulitizer Prize-nominated finalist cartoonist and she continued to practice her Christian Science religion.January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019
Beaming, wide-eyed, raspy-voiced actress, singer and Broadway legend who originated the roles of gold digger Lorelei Lee in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi in HELLO, DOLLY!; won a Tony for her performance as Dolly in 1964 and revived the role several times throughout her career, most recently in 1995; also received Tony nominations for her work in THE VAMP in 1956 and SHOW GIRL in 1961 and a Tony for Lifetime Achievement in 1995; had only a handful of film roles to her credit, most notably as wealthy, eccentric widow Muzzy Van Hossmere in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, for which she was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe; other film credits include THE FIRST TRAVELING SALESLADY opposite Ginger Rogers, Otto Preminger's infamous SKIDOO! with Jackie Gleason, and voice-over roles in the '90s animated features HAPPILY EVER AFTER, THUMBELINA and THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER GOES TO MARS; made several appearances on THE LOVE BOAT as cruise director Julie McCoy's Aunt Sylvia, was a frequent guest performer on ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN, and voiced canine star Canina La Fur in the final two episodes of CHIP 'N DALE RESCUE RANGERS; more recently made a vocal cameo as herself in the "Patriot Games" episode of FAMILY GUY, in which she took on Mike Tyson in the boxing ring—and won- Mónica Galán was born on 16 October 1950 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was an actress, known for Last Days of the Victim (1982), Malparida (2010) and Little Miracles (1997). She died on 15 January 2019 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.October 16, 1950 – January 15, 2019
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Miodrag Radovanovic was born on 20 August 1929 in Cacak, Serbia, Yugoslavia. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Salas u Malom Ritu (1976), TV teatar (1956) and Odlazak ratnika, povratak marsala (1985). He was married to Radmila Velicky-Radovanovic. He died on 14 January 2019 in Belgrade, Serbia.August 20, 1929 – January 15, 2019- Casting Director
- Director
Sam Christensen was born on 11 August 1948 in Colorado, USA. He was a casting director and director, known for Clash of the Titans (1981), Coma (1978) and Deirdre's Party (1998). He died on 16 January 2019 in North Hollywood, California, USA.August 11, 1948 – January 16, 2019- Lorna Doom was born on 4 January 1958 in Dallas, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for The Decline of Western Civilization (1981). She was married to Gary R Moss. She died on 16 January 2019 in Thousand Oaks, California, USA.January 4, 1958 – January 16, 2019
- Casting Director
- Casting Department
- Actress
Barbara Claman was born on 28 June 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was a casting director and actress, known for Days of Heaven (1978), The Changeling (1980) and Santa Barbara (1984). She died on 17 January 2019 in Winsted, Connecticut, USA.June 28, 1929 – January 17, 2019- Actor
- Soundtrack
Windsor did 2 years teacher training in Bangor then taught History and English in the Elephant and Castle in London where he met Lynne, his future wife, who was a nurse, in the Welsh Club. By the time he was 32 they had 2 children and were living in Leek, in Staffordshire. He had always been keen on amateur dramatics and Lynne persuaded him to try the theatre. The casting director of the Royal Court Theatre got him into Cheltenham Reportary at £10 a week which started his show business career.August 28, 1930 – January 17, 2019- Producer
- Director
- Music Department
Nick Redman was born on 15 April 1955 in Wimbledon, London, England, UK. He was a producer and director, known for A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and the Searchers (1998), Becoming John Ford (2007) and Lucky Star (1929). He was married to Julie Kirgo. He died on 17 January 2019 in Santa Monica, California, USA.1955 – January 17, 2019- Make-Up Department
- Actor
- Writer
Daniel C. Striepeke was born on 8 October 1930 in Sonoma County, California, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Forrest Gump (1994), Cast Away (2000) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). He was married to Sherry Sexton. He died in January 2019 in West Los Angeles, California, USA.October 8, 1930 – January 17, 2019- Sylvia Kay was born on 16 May 1936 in Altrincham, Cheshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Wake in Fright (1971), Just Good Friends (1983) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955). She was married to Christopher Douglas and Ted Kotcheff. She died on 18 January 2019 in London, England, UK.May 16, 1936 – January 18, 2019
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Special Effects
François Protat was born in 1945 in France. He was a cinematographer, known for Johnny Mnemonic (1995), Kabloonak (1994) and Weekend at Bernie's (1989). He died on 18 January 2019 in Montréal, Québec, Canada.d. January 18, 2019- Lovely, delicate-looking actress Muriel Pavlow belongs firmly to the British cinema of the 1950s and often provided a nice counterbalance to the hectic goings-on in many comedies. Born in 1921 in Leigh, Kent, England, she was a dominant stage actress despite her petite frame and made her theatrical debut at age 15 with a production of "The Old Maid" (1936). Other sprightly teen roles on stage followed including "Oedipus Rex" (1936), "Victoria Regina" (1937), "Dear Octopus" (1938), "Dear Brutus" (1940) and "Old Acquaintance" before she began to get a strong foothold in films.
Muriel started out with a bit role in a 1934 Gracie Fields musical comedy film, but wouldn't come into her own for nearly two decades. Perennially radiant and youthful, she often times played ingénue roles much younger than her actual age. She appeared in the film Quiet Wedding (1941) starring Margaret Lockwood and Derek Farr and was prominently seen in the war-time film Night Boat to Dublin (1946). While making a beguiling Ophelia on a live, early TV version of Hamlet Part 1 (1947), for the most part she tried to build up her theatrical credits.
A comely heroine in thrillers, light comedies and war-themed pictures she was usually cast as an altruistic bride, wife or girlfriend. In 1947 she married actor Farr and went on to appear with him in such British-made films as The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) and Doctor at Large (1957). Peaking in mid-50s films opposite such established British actors as Dirk Bogarde, Peter Finch, John Gregson, Kenneth More and Donald Sinden, Muriel also continued to perform theater roles, notably in Shakespeare pieces -- "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Othello", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Troilus and Cressida".
Her film career waned in the early 60s and she and her husband worked for the most part on stage and in television. The couple appeared together in such plays as "Wolf's Clothing" (1959) and "Mary, Mary" (1963). Following Farr's death in 1986, she resumed her career and was spotted in the late 80s and 90s in a number of matronly roles. Some of her last roles were in TV movies -- Daisies in December (1995), Heaven on Earth (1998) and Belonging (2004), the last in which she was in the company of such elites as Brenda Blethyn, Rosemary Harris and Anna Massey.
She made a brief appearance in her final movie, Glorious 39 (2009). She died in England, at age 97 on January 19, 2019.June 27, 1921 – January 19, 2019 - Actor
- Soundtrack
François Perrot was born on 26 February 1924 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for Clean Slate (1981), The Avignon Prophecy (2007) and What Every Frenchwoman Wants (1986). He died on 20 January 2019 in Livry-Gargan, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.February 26, 1924 – January 20, 2019- Rosemarie Bowe frequently turned heads with her flashing turquoise eyes, sultry mane of black hair and sparkling personality. Effortlessly diverting attention from the scenic location spots of her mid-'50s film adventures and dramas, her stroll before the cameras was short--it was over within a few years.
The Montana-born beauty was the daughter of a building contractor, Dennis Bowe, and his wife Ruby. She and her siblings (Clara and Sydney) were raised in Tacoma, Washington, where Rosemarie first developed an interest in the arts. Dancing and appearing in operetta-styled musicals at her high school in Tacoma, she graduated and attended Tacoma Community College for one semester before being drawn to modeling. Finding work as a photographer's model and fashion cover girl in the Seattle area, she was the winner of pageant titles, including "Miss Tacoma", and was an official entrant in the "Miss Washington" contest. Eventually she relocated to Los Angeles, where she ultimately made the cover of Life magazine, among others.
Rosemarie broke into films in the early 1950s, primarily as an extra (model, swimmer) in MGM musicals. Within a few years she had moved into TV episodic work and earned a co-starring role in the voodoo adventure The Golden Mistress (1954) which was written and directed by Abner Biberman under the pseudonym Joel Judge (he also had a supporting role as her father). The film, starring Shirley Temple's ex, John Agar, was obvious hokum but did take the time to emphasize its lovely newcomer. Rosemarie was quite stunning as a jungle captive and signed on to play a few other decorative, damsel-in-distress roles.
Nothing-special movies more or less came and went but did little to test her dramatic mettle; they were, however, providing the requisite building ground for her to move up the Hollywood ranks. The Adventures of Hajji Baba (1954) had Rosemarie playing a slave girl in support of dashing young commoner John Derek and spirited princess Elaine Stewart. In the noirish The Big Bluff (1955), Rosemarie provided a harder edge as a married nightclub singer dallying on the side with lothario John Bromfield who, in turn, is making a play for the affections of wealthy but terminally ill widow Martha Vickers. The View from Pompey's Head (1955) focused more on star Dana Wynter, a scene-stealing Marjorie Rambeau and its Southern-bred racism theme than on Rosemarie's secondary role. Her last leading film assignment was in the preachy western The Peacemaker (1956) as a benevolent lady who tries to help gunfighter-turned-minister James Mitchell (who was then better known for his dancing skills in musicals) tame a corrupt town.
Rosemarie ended her career after marrying Robert Stack, 13 years her senior, on January 23, 1956. The couple eventually became the parents of a daughter (Elizabeth) and son (Charles). Sharing a love with her husband for the outdoors, especially sailing and horseback riding, Rosemarie enjoyed life as a Hollywood celebrity and socialite and expressed no regrets in ending her career. In October of 1969 she survived a serious automobile accident in Sacramento that killed her husband's cousin and left her with injuries requiring plastic surgery. Occasionally she came out of her self-imposed retirement to appear on TV, usually in vehicles starring her husband, such as the mini-movie Murder on Flight 502 (1975).
Her beloved husband, Robert Stack, died in 2003 after 47 years of marriage. Rosemarie passed away many years later on January 20, 2019, at age 86.September 17, 1932 – January 20, 2019 - Producer
- Additional Crew
Andy Vajna was born in Budapest. In 1956 at the age of 12, he fled from Hungary and with the support of Red Cross he made his way alone to Canada. Vajna launched his career in the entertainment industry with his purchase of motion picture theaters in the Far East. He founded Panasia Films Limited in Hong Kong in 1976. Vajna met with Mario Kassar at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, then he and Kassar formed Carolco. In 1982, Vajna was a founder and then president of the American Film Marketing Association. During that same year, Vajna and Kassar made their film production debut. In December 1989, Vajna sold all his interest in Carolco and formed Cinergi Productions, Inc. to engage in the financing, development, production and distribution of major event motion pictures. As part of its business plan, Cinergi has formed an alliance with The Walt Disney Company for distribution of Cinergi motion pictures in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Vajna has never forgotten his Hungarian roots and always tried to help the Hungarian film industry. He also actively participated in the distribution of Motion Pictures in Hungary eventually having a 70% share of the Hungarian box office. In 1989 Vajna founded InterCom that has become a market leader and a distributor of many Hollywood studios, including 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Disney and MGM. In 2002 he founded Digic Pictures in Hungary which is a high-end animation studio. Since 2011 Andrew G. Vajna has been working as Government Commissioner in charge of the Hungarian film industry. In the same year he conceived Hungarian National Film Fund with the mission to contribute to the production of Hungarian films or co-productions that provide art and entertainment for moviegoers and bring significant success both domestically and on an international level. Under the Vajna era Hungarian movies financed by the Hungarian National Film Fund won altogether more than 130 international awards (including a Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Language Film) while the number of foreign films produced in Hungary increased significantly.August 1, 1944 – January 20, 2019
Hungarian-born producer behind the first three RAMBO movies and hit '90s films such as TOTAL RECALL, TOMBSTONE, DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE and EVITA- Russell Baker was born on 14 August 1925 in Loudon County, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Masterpiece Contemporary (2008), Masterpiece (1971) and Howard K. Smith (1962). He was married to Miriam Emily "Mimi" Nash. He died on 21 January 2019 in Leesburg, Virginia, USA.August 14, 1925 – January 21, 2019
- Soundtrack
Maxine Brown was born on 27 April 1931 in Louisiana, USA. She was married to Tommy H. Russell. She died on 21 January 2019 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.April 27, 1931 – January 21, 2019
Country music singer and Hall of Famer who was the last surviving member of The Browns- Merwin Goldsmith was born on 7 August 1937 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for The Hurricane (1999), Rounders (1998) and It Could Happen to You (1994). He was married to Barbara Parry. He died on 21 January 2019 in New York City, New York, USA.August 7, 1937 – January 21, 2019
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Singing funny girl Kaye Ballard was born to perform...and perform she did, in a career spanning eight decades. With a strong comedy background and tunnel mouth to rival Martha Raye, the broad and bouncy trouper drew laughs on the musical stage, in night clubs, in recordings and on TV. As the archetypal over-emotive, knuckle-biting Italian wife and mama, the octogenarian tickled the funny bone with her earthy brand of comedy while alternately touching hearts in song.
She was born Catherine Gloria Balotta,in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Italian parents, Lena (Nacarato) and Vincenzo/Vincent James Balotta. A deep desire to perform already struck by the time she was five years old. A typical class clown during her high school years, she began to compile a number of star impressions for her act. In her teens, she performed in a Cleveland USO stage production of "Stage Door Canteen" (1941), and soon set out on her own.
Earning a job in 1943 touring with Spike Jones and His Orchestra for two years as his featured vocalist and flute/tuba player(!), Kaye eventually set up camp in New York and made her Broadway debut with the revue "Three to Make Ready" (1946). From there she showcased in the musicals "Once in a Lifetime," "Touch and Go" (in London), "Annie Get Your Gun" and the burlesque show "Top Banana". During this time, she built up a strong song-and-comedy reputation for herself on the nightclub circuit, eventually playing the country's best cabarets/niteries including The Bon Soir, Persian Room and Blue Angel in New York, The Hungry i in San Francisco, and Mr. Kelly's in Chicago.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Kaye graced nearly every talk/variety show there was including those for Ed Sullivan, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Steve Allen, Perry Como, Red Skelton, Carol Burnett, Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas. Two of her classic TV roles were her ugly stepsister Portia (the other sister being fellow scene-stealer Alice Ghostley) in the Julie Andrews version of Cinderella (1957), and as one of The Mothers-In-Law (1967) (the other being fellow veteran Eve Arden) in the popular but short-lived sitcom produced by Desi Arnaz. Both showcases catered perfectly to Kaye's brash comedy instincts. She also pitched in as a meddling second banana for Doris Day for one season of the star's '70s TV show.
On stage Kaye had Broadway audiences rolling in the aisles with her Helen of Troy in the 1954 musical "The Golden Apple," while introducing the classic song standard "Lazy Afternoon." Other raves came in the form of "Wonderful Town" (1958), "Carnival" (1961) and Cole Porter Revisited" (1965). On the flip side of the coin, she played a frumpy Lola Delaney in a badly misguided musical version of "Come Back, Little Sheba" (entitled "Sheba") in 1974, and also tried unsuccessfully to bring life to the beloved, indomitable Molly Goldberg radio/TV character in the Broadway musical "Molly" (1973); the show lasted a mere two months. Kaye was much more at home sinking her teeth into two of theater's most impregnable females: Mama Rose in "Gypsy" and Dolly Levi in "Hello, Dolly!"
With an out-stretched personality on par with Carol Channing and Ethel Merman, films never became a suitable medium. Although Kaye gave a standout debut performance in The Girl Most Likely (1957), starring Jane Powell, she was seldom seen after that. Her sprinkling of supporting roles included A House Is Not a Home (1964) with Shelley Winters, Which Way to the Front? (1970) starring Jerry Lewis, Freaky Friday (1976) with young Jodie Foster, and, perhaps more notably, in The Ritz (1976) starring Rita Moreno and Jerry Stiller.
In later years, Kaye dominated the stage with feisty work in "Nunsense", "The Pirates of Penzance" (a Broadway replacement), "High Spirits" (as Madame Arcati), "Funny Girl" (as Mrs. Brice), "The Full Monty", and the female version of "The Odd Couple". The Rancho Mirage, California resident performed with the Palm Spring Follies show, and was out-and-about doing her one-woman cabaret show belting out the good old songs and retracing her burlesque-styled comedy roots. A survivor of breast cancer, the never-married veteran showed no signs of slowing down. She died in her Rancho Mirage home on January 21, 2019, aged 93.November 20, 1925 – January 22, 2019- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Kevin Barnett was born on 7 August 1986 in Florida, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Top Five (2014), Unhitched (2008) and Rel (2018). He died on 22 January 2019 in Tijuana, Mexico.August 7, 1986 – January 22, 2019- Director
- Producer
- Actor
James Frawley was born on 29 September 1936 in Houston, Texas, USA. He was a director and producer, known for The Muppet Movie (1979), The Big Bus (1976) and The Monkees (1965). He was married to Cynthia Margaret. He died on 22 January 2019 in Indian Wells, California, USA.September 29, 1936 – January 22, 2019
Emmy-winning principal director of THE MONKEES who went on to helm THE MUPPET MOVIE, the pilots for ALLY McBEAL and ED, and multiple episodes of such shows as COLUMBO, CAGNEY & LACEY and GREY'S ANATOMY- Director
- Additional Crew
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrew McCullough was born in Flushing, NY, to Frank and Hazeltine McCullough. His parents briefly moved the family to Boston before moving to Great Neck, Long Island. He entered Harvard at age 16, interrupted his studies to serve in World War II (on a crash crew in Italy and then as an Armed Forces Radio DJ in Rome), then graduated.
He and his Harvard friend Jack Lemmon tried their hands at songwriting in New York but were unsuccessful. He directed, wrote, or produced for CBS and other networks on several productions, including Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic. Robert Montgomery optioned his first play "The General's Other Son."
He married actress Bethel Leslie on June 7, 1953 and they had a daughter, Leslie. They later divorced in 1963.
At the end of the 50s, he moved to California and directed and wrote multiple episodes of many different programs.
His novel "Rough Cut" was published on August 19, 1976 by Morrow.
He worked as a 2nd Assistant Director on some Movies of the Week and several episodes of Happy Days (1974), as a 1st Assistant Director on Laverne & Shirley (1976), and was the 1st AD for the entire run of Family Ties (1982), also directing 14 episodes of that program.
After retiring from television, McCullough got a master's degree in Clinical Psychology which he practiced for over 20 years.
He was married to Janet Carlson from 1989 until her death in 2002.September 7, 1924 – January 22, 2019- Actress
- Writer
Aysen Gruda (born 22 August 1944 in Istanbul) is a Turkish actress and comedian. Aysen Gruda was born in Istanbul. Her sisters Ayben and Ayten would also go on to become actors. Aysen Gruda appeared in several musicals such as "Mum Söndü", "Deve Kusu Kabare", "Hababam Sinifi Müzikali", "Yedi Kocali Hürmüz". Her role in the sketch Her Domates Güzeli Nahide Serbet on television, gained her the nickname "Domates Güzeli". She appeared in over 100 films including classics such as Tosun Pasa (1976), Süt Kardesler (1976), Gülen Gözler, Saban, Son of Saban (1977), The Chaos Class Is on Vacation (1978), The Chaos Class: Bye Bye (1981) and Neseli Günler (1978).August 22, 1944 – January 23, 2019- Caio Junqueira was born on 15 November 1976 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was an actor, known for Elite Squad (2007), Buena Sorte (1996) and Central Station (1998). He died on 23 January 2019 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.November 15, 1976 – January 23, 2019
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Editor
Jonas Mekas, born December 24, 1922, Semeniskiai, Birzai, Lithuania, is a director, cinematographer, editor, writer, actor, poet, artist and publicist. More than 60 years of tireless work in film, arts and media has earned him the epithet "The Godfather of American Avant-Garde Cinema". In 1944 Jonas Mekas left Lithuania, with his brother Adolfas, because of the war. The both of them were imprisoned in a labor-camp in Elmshorn, Germany. After eight months they escaped to Denmark. By the end of 1949 the Mekas brothers emigrated to the U.S., settling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. Two weeks after his arrival, he borrowed the money to buy his first Bolex 16mm camera and began to record brief moments of his life. Soon he got deeply involved in the American Avant-Garde film movement. In 1954, together with his brother, he started Film Culture magazine, which soon became the most important film publication in the US. In 1958 Jonas Mekas began his legendary Movie Journal column in the Village Voice. In 1962 he founded the Film-Makers' Cooperative, and in 1964 the Film-Makers' Cinematheque, which eventually grew into Anthology Film Archives, one of the world's largest and most important repositories of avant-garde cinema, and a screening venue. Jonas Mekas film "The Brig" was awarded the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1963. Other films include "Walden" (1969), "Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania" (1972), "Lost Lost Lost" (1975), "Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol" (1990), "Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas" (1992), "As I was Moving Ahead I saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty" (2000), "Letter from Greenpoint" (2005), "Sleepless Nights Stories" (2011) and "Out-takes from the Life of a Happy Man" (2012). In 2007, he completed a series of 365 short films released on the internet -- one film every day -- and since then has continued to share new work on his website. He currently lives and works in New York City.December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Oliver 'Tuku' Mtukudzi was born on 22 September 1952 in Harare, Zimbabwe. He was an actor and composer, known for Zimbabwe - Respect for Africa (1994), My Lady (2014) and Neria (1991). He died on 23 January 2019 in Harare, Zimbabwe.September 22, 1952 – January 23, 2019- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Dusan Makavejev is the premier figure in Yugoslavian film history; his films are deeply rooted in his nation's painful postwar experiences and draw on important Yugoslavian cinematic and cultural models. Makavejev's work has violated many political and sexual taboos and invited censorship in dozens of nations. In the 1950s, after studying psychology at Belgrade University, Makavejev became involved in the activities of various film societies and festivals and studied direction at the Academy for Radio, Television and Film. As early as 1953, he began making short films and documentaries and would work in various capacities at both the Zagreb and Avala studios during the late 50s and early 60s. The documentary impulse remains powerful in Makavejev's work, as does the tendency to intercut undigested segments from other films into longer works.
Makavejev enjoyed great critical success with his first three features, Man Is Not a Bird (1965), "Love Affair" (1967) and Innocence Unprotected (1968). Highly allegorical and relying on techniques derived from Brecht and influenced by Godard, these films were sardonic and anarchistic views of Eastern European state socialist milieus.
Much of Makavejev's work has been uncompromisingly experimental as well as politically outrageous. WR: Mysteries of the Organism (1971) is the best example of this combination and is the director's most influential work to date. Much of the film is composed of a documentary Makavejev researched in the late 1960s while in the US on a Ford Foundation grant and which was eventually financed by German TV. A witty, passionate, and often rambling account of pioneering psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich and his American disciples, the material is intercut with a fictitious political-sexual allegory set in contemporary Belgrade. The film was instantly banned in Yugoslavia and made Makavejev persona non grata in his native country until the late 1980s.
Sweet Movie (1974) was made in Canadian exile, with some production resources furnished by the National Film Board of Canada. Also a disjointed, two-part narrative, it again focuses on radical techniques in sexual psychotherapy, here played out rather than verbalized. Intertwined is yet another acidic, allegorical fable of the decay of Yugoslavia's socialist legacy. Extremely violent and sexually explicit, "Sweet Movie" was dismissed (and censored) as pornography in many countries, and added to Makavejev's reputation as a "filmmaker maudit."
Montenegro (1981) has been Makavejev's greatest financial success to date. Political commentary and formal experimentation are subordinated to narrative drive in this story of a housewife (Susan Anspach) who grapples with sexual liberation and fails.
The Coca-Cola Kid (1985), Makavejev's second major international co-production, was marred by on-set squabbles between actors, and the rejection of Makavejev's intriguing plan to use a long reel of multilingual Coca-Cola commercials as a narrative structuring device. What emerged was a genuinely erotic film which takes a quirky, satiric view both of its Australian setting and the international business world.
Makavejev's long exile from his homeland ended in 1988 with the release of Manifesto (1988), a Ruritanian political farce mostly shot in Yugoslavia. Although the film marks the most disciplined, traditional storytelling of Makavejev's career, it has seen only limited bookings in the US. Also little seen was his follow-up Gorilla Bathes at Noon (1993), a political comedy based on the adventures of a Russian soldier as he wanders around Berlin.
Profession(s): director, screenwriter, professor, essayist Sometimes Credited As: Sam Rotterdam
Family wife: Bojana Marijan (married in 1964; has worked with Makavejev)
Education Academy of Theater, Radio, Film and Television Belgrade, Yugoslavia Belgrade University Belgrade, Yugoslavia psychology 1955.October 13, 1932 – January 25, 2019
Avant-garde Serbian filmmaker and Yugoslav Black Wave leader behind challenging, provocative, absurdist works such as WR: MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM, SWEET MOVIE and MONTENEGRO- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Actor
Matt Rose was born on 22 October 1965 in South Laguna Beach, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Hellboy (2004), The Nutty Professor (1996) and Predator (1987). He died on 25 January 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA.October 22, 1965 – January 25, 2019- Jean Guillou was born on 18 April 1930 in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Mycènes, celui qui vient du futur (1972), The Days When I Do Not Exist (2002) and L'invité du dimanche (1968). He was married to Suzanne Guillou and Suzanne Varga-Guillou. He died on 26 January 2019 in Paris, France.April 18, 1930 – January 26, 2019
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Michel Legrand is a three-time Academy Award-winning French composer, conductor and pianist who composed over 200 film and television scores as well as recorded over a hundred albums of jazz, popular and classical music.
He was born on February 24, 1932, in Becon-les-Bruyeres, in the Paris suburbs, France. His father, Raymond Legrand, was a French composer and actor. His mother, Marcelle der Mikaelian, was descended from the Armenian bourgeousie. From 1942 - 1949 young Legrand studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire. There his teachers were Nadia Boulanger and Henri Challan among other renown musicians. He received numerous awards for his skills in composition and piano and mastered a dozen other instruments. In 1947 he attended a concert by Dizzy Gillespie and caught a jazz bug. He started working as a pianist for major French singers. He eventually collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie on several albums and film scores.
In 1954 Legrand became an overnight star after his album "I Love Paris" became a hit, it went on selling over 8 million copies. He followed the success with such albums as "Holiday in Rome" (1955) and "Michel Legrand Plays Cole Porter" (1957). In 1958 he was invited to play at Moscow Festival of Students and Youth. There, in Moscow, he met his future wife, a young French model with who he went on to have three children.
In the late 1950s and 1960s Legrand was caught up in the French New Wave. He scored seven films for jean-Luc Godard, he also made ten films with Jacques Demy, and became responsible for creating the genre of musical in the French Cinema. In 1963 Legrand did The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), the first film musical that was entirely sung. For that film score he received three Oscar nominations. His beautiful, haunting melody, "I Will Wait For You", received nomination for Best Original Song.
In 1966 Legrand decided to take his chances in Hollywood, and moved to Los Angeles with his wife and three children. His friendship with Quincy Jones and Hank Mancini helped him a great deal, especially in meeting the lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman. In 1969 Legrand won his first Oscar for Best Music, Original Song for "The Windmills of Your Mind" and was also nominated for Best Music, Original score for a Motion Picture for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Eventually Legrand went on to become a star in the US, he received twelve nominations for Academy Awards, and won two more Oscars. He was also nominated for a Grammy 27 times and received 5 Grammys in the 1970s.
In the 1980s and 1990s Legrand continued giving live concerts with his own jazz trio. He also led his big band which he took on several international tours, accompanying such stars as Ray Charles , Diana Ross , Björk , and Stéphane Grappelli who celebrated his 85th birthday in 1992. He also recorded several classical albums, including an album with cross-genre hits entitled "Kiri Sings Michel Legrand" with the opera singer Kiri te Kanawa. During the 2000s Legrand has been working mainly in the studio, and also made several international tours.
In 2005 a compilation of Legrand's best known film soundtracks was released under the title "Le Cinema de Michel Legrand", featuring 90 songs composed in the course of his career.February 24, 1932 – January 26, 2019
three-time Oscar-winning composer behind the classic scores and songs for such films as THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT, THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, SUMMER OF '42 and YENTL; earned 13 total Oscar nominations, winning for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, his score for SUMMER OF '42, and his music for YENTL; first three Oscar nominations were for THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG -- two for the groundbreaking score and one for the classic song "I Will Wait for You"; also earned Oscar nominations for scoring THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT and THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (in the same year) and for songs he wrote for THE HAPPY ENDING, PIECES OF DREAMS, BEST FRIENDS and YENTL; scored many other classic films, including A WOMAN IS A WOMAN, VIVRE SA VIE and BAND OF OUTSIDERS for Jean-Luc Godard, CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 for Agnès Varda, EVA and THE GO-BETWEEN for Joseph Losey, F FOR FAKE for Orson Welles, and ATLANTIC CITY for Louis Malle- Actress
- Soundtrack
Erica Yohn was born on 1 October 1928 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for An American Tail (1986), Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) and Corrina, Corrina (1994). She was married to Tom Rosqui and Lars Speyer. She died on 27 January 2019 in California, USA.October 1, 1928 – January 27, 2019- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Fernando Gaitán was born on 9 November 1960 in Bogotá, Colombia. He was a writer and actor, known for Until Money Do Us Part (2006), I Heart Betty La Fea (2008) and Ugly Betty Thailand (2015). He died on 29 January 2019 in Bogota, Colombia.November 9, 1960 – January 29, 2019- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
As a sophomore at the University of Akron, he left town to come to Los Angeles with his band, Revelation Funk. The band broke up shortly after arriving in L.A. Shortly afterward, Ingram started working with Ray Charles as a piano player.
After Quincy Jones heard James Ingram's voice on "Just Once," he invited Ingram to sing on his album. James originally didn't think his voice was good enough to be a lead vocal. He won a Grammy award for best R&B vocal performance for his work on Jones' album, "The Dude."
Won a Grammy with Michael McDonald in 1984 for Best R&B Performance for their duet, "Yah Mo B There"
His mom, Alistine Wilson Ingram, and dad, Henry Ingram Sr., died within a year of one another [2001-2002]
Married his childhood sweetheart, Debra Robinson
Played keyboards on the classic hit songs "PYT" by Michael Jackson and "Bad Mama Jama" by Carl Carlton.
Plays keyboards, guitar, and electric bass.February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019
Two-time Grammy-winning R&B artist whose hits included the duets "Baby, Come With Me" (with Patti Austen) and "Somewhere Out There" (with Linda Ronstadt) and his solo tune "I Don't Have the Heart"; earned Grammys for his and Quincy Jones's 1981 track "One Hundred Ways" and his 1983 duet with Michael McDonald, "Yah Mo B There," both of which were Top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; was nominated for Grammys on 12 other occasions between 1981, when he was up for Best New Artist and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his and Jones's track "Just Once," and 1995, when he and Anita Baker were up for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for their duet "When You Love Someone" from the film FORGET PARIS; garnered three Grammy nominations in 1983 for his and Patti Austen's duet "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (from the film BEST FRIENDS), for his solo single "Party Animal," and for co-writing Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"; was also Grammy-nominated for his debut album 'It's Your Night' and its single "Yah Mo Be There," his and Linda Ronstadt's "Somewhere Out There" from the film AN AMERICAN TAIL, his aforementioned hit "I Don't Have the Heart," his performance on Quincy Jones's single "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)," and "The Day I Fall in Love," his duet with Dolly Parton from the film BEETHOVEN'S 2ND that also earned him an Oscar nomination; received a second Oscar nomination for "Look What Love Has Done," a duet with Patty Smyth featured in the Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy JUNIOR- Actor
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Born in the Bronx, New York to Russian Jewish immigrant parents (Isidor "Ira" and Rita Blucher Miller), Richard Miller served in the U.S. Navy for a few years and earned a prize title as a middleweight boxer. He settled in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s, where he was noticed by producer/director Roger Corman, who cast him in most of his low-budget films, often as dislikeable sorts, such as a vacuum-cleaner salesman in Not of This Earth (1957). His most memorable role would have to be that of the mentally unstable, busboy/beatnik artist Walter Paisley, whose clay sculptures are suspiciously lifelike in A Bucket of Blood (1959) (a rare starring role for him), and he is also fondly remembered for his supporting role as the flower-eating Vurson Fouch in Corman's legendary The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).
Miller spent the next 20 years working in Corman productions, and starting in the late 1970s was often cast in films by director Joe Dante, appearing in credited and uncredited walk-on bits as quirky chatterboxes, and stole every scene he appeared in. He has played many variations on his famous Walter Paisley role, such as a diner owner (Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)) or a janitor (Chopping Mall (1986)). One of his best bits is the funny occult-bookshop owner in The Howling (1981). Being short (so he never played a romantic lead or a threatening villain) with wavy hair, long sideburns, a pointed nose and a face as trustworthy as a used-car dealer's, he was, and is to this day, an immediately recognizable character actor whose one-scene appearances in countless movies and TV shows guarantee audience applause.December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019
Dick Miller, the prolific "that guy" character actor seen in numerous Roger Corman films (including the lead role in A BUCKET OF BLOOD), nearly all of Joe Dante's films (most notably GREMLINS), Martin Scorsese's NEW YORK, NEW YORK and AFTER HOURS, James Cameron's THE TERMINATOR, and several dozen other films- Actor
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Jeremy Hardy was born on 17 July 1961 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for How to Be (2008), Hello Mum (1986) and Spitting Image (1984). He was married to Kit Hollerbach and Katie Barlow. He died on 1 February 2019 in Sydenham, London, England, UK.July 17, 1961 – February 1, 2019- Actor
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Clive Swift was born on 9 February 1936 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Excalibur (1981), Frenzy (1972) and Keeping Up Appearances (1990). He was married to Margaret Drabble. He died on 1 February 2019 in London, England, UK.February 9, 1936 – February 1, 2019- Music Department
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Ron Hutchinson was born on 30 August 1951 in East Orange, New Jersey. He is known for The Irish in America: Long Journey Home (1998), Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002) and Secrets of New York (2005). He was married to Judy Morton. He died on 2 February 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey, USA.August 30, 1951 – February 2, 2019- Sheila Paterson was born on 18 September 1926 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was an actress, known for The Crush (1993), Prozac Nation (2001) and The X-Files (1993). She died on 2 February 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.September 18, 1926 – February 2, 2019
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Betty May Adams was the daughter of a travelling Iowa cotton buyer with a penchant for alcohol. Growing up in Arkansas, Betty expressed an early interest in acting and made her performing debut in a third grade play of "Hansel and Gretel." Beautiful, talented and determined, the freshly minted 'Miss Little Rock' left home at the age of 19 to live with her aunt and uncle in California. For three days a week she made ends meet working as a secretary. The remainder of her time was spent taking speech and drama lessons (in due course losing her Southern twang) and making the rounds of the various Hollywood casting departments. Her first screen role was (appropriately) as a starlet in Paramount's Red, Hot and Blue (1949). This was followed by an inauspicious leading role in the B-grade Western The Dalton Gang (1949). Over a period of five weeks she appeared in six further quota quickies of the sagebrush variety for Poverty Row outfit Lippert Productions. Since Lippert owned no actual studio facilities, most of the filming took place at the Ray Corrigan ranch in Chatsworth, California. In the summer of 1950, Betty assisted in a screen test for Detroit Lions football star Leon Hart at Universal-International. While Hart's movie career ended up stillborn, Betty clicked with producers who opted to change her first name to 'Julia.' The initial outing for her new studio was entitled Bright Victory (1951), with the budding actress a little underemployed as 'the other girl' in a love triangle involving a blind war veteran (played by Arthur Kennedy). Her career was significantly better served in her next assignment as co-star opposite James Stewart in Anthony Mann's seminal Technicolor western Bend of the River (1952) (Kennedy this time cast as the arch villain). Adams later recalled her part in this film as "a great learning experience" and one of her "fondest Hollywood memories," It also led to a life long friendship with Jimmy Stewart.
Signed to a seven-year contract (and having her legs insured by Universal to the tune of $125,000 by Lloyds of London), Julia seemed destined to remain perpetually typecast as a western heroine. A comely actress with soft, classical features, she often gave affecting performances in what amounted to little more than bread-and-butter pictures. At the very least, she got to play romantic leads opposite some of Universal's top box-office earners: Rock Hudson (in Horizons West (1952) and The Lawless Breed (1952)), Tyrone Power(The Mississippi Gambler (1953)) and Glenn Ford (The Man from the Alamo (1953)). Having played a succession of 'nice girls,' Julia took a turn as leader of an outlaw gang in Wings of the Hawk (1953), set against the background of the Mexican Revolution (Van Heflin was first-billed as a mining engineer, who, having his gold mine taken over by Federales, joins Julia's band of 'insurrectos'). 'Miss Melon Patch' of 1953 was about to experience another important career change, being famously cast as the imperilled heroine Kay Lawrence in Jack Arnolds cultish monster flic Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), a role Adams initially considered turning down. Shot in 3-D on a shoestring budget, the picture was light on script but strong on atmosphere and proved once again that style can succeed over content. The not inconsiderable physical charms of Miss Adams often dominated the scenery and gave the 'Gill Man' a run for his money. Audiences approved and 'Creature' spawned two further sequels, alas without Julia and with diminishing returns.
In 1955, having generated strong box office heat, Julia changed her moniker (with studio approval) to the less gentle-sounding Julie. Accordingly, she was now offered more varied material ranging from tough melodramas, to comedies and lightweight romances. Adams further established her credentials with roles which included a soft porn model who survives a plane crash in the Colorado Rockies in The Looters (1955); as a cop's wife in Six Bridges to Cross (1955) (a crime drama based on Boston's Great Brinks Robbery); a sympathetic school's doctor in the family-oriented comedy The Private War of Major Benson (1955) and as the wife of an assistant D.A. fighting gangland on the New York waterfront in Slaughter on 10th Avenue (1957). After 1957, her contract with Universal having expired, Adams successfully transitioned into television where she remained a firm favorite in westerns and crime dramas, guest-starring in just about every classic prime-time series covering both genres (Perry Mason (1957) being her personal favorite). Latterly, she had a popular recurring role as real estate lady Eve Simpson in Murder, She Wrote (1984). Adams was still in demand for occasional screen appearances well into her 90s.
She was married twice: first, to writer-producer Leonard Stern, and, secondly, to the actor Ray Danton. Julie Adams passed away in Los Angeles on February 3, 2019 at the age of 92. Her autobiography (co-written with her son Mitchell Danton), entitled "The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections from the Black Lagoon" appeared in 2011.October 17, 1926 – February 3, 2019
Actress who was a leading lady at Universal Pictures in the 1950s, with her best known role being that of "damsel in distress" Kay Lawrence in the studio's horror classic CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON- Actress
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Carmen Duncan was born in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. Carmen was a NIDA graduate and was an actress who was best known for her works in The Spoiler (1972), Number 96 (1972), Skyways (1979), A Country Practice (1981) and many more. Carmen would make appearances in many American TV series which included a run in As the World Turns (1956), Another World (1964), Ash vs Evil Dead (2015) and more. Carmen's shining light in her career was her glistening career in American TV, making her mark on Another World and making the role her own.
Duncan would sit on the board of what would become the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance and remain active on the board for a long time.
Carmen would survive two bouts of cancer before a third would take her life on 3 February 2019, Carmen was survived by her family.July 7, 1942 – February 3, 2019- Actor
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Kristoff made his television debut at age 8 in the sit-com series "That's My Mama." Now, 39 years later, he is one of the stars on CBS's "Young and The Restless," the number one rated drama for the past 25 years on daytime television, playing the popular character of Neil Winters. Is it just a coincidence that Kristoff has been starring on Y and R for 23 plus years.
His childlike gifts have all emerged into the full measure of a mature actor, as is evident by his eight Emmy Award nominations.
Two of Kristoff's Emmy nominations came from starring in the short-lived, NBC-TV daytime drama, "Generations." Kristoff was nominated as Best Supporting Actor in 1990, and in 1991. In 1992 he won the Emmy Award for his role of Neil Winters on "The Young and The Restless." He was nominated for an Emmy in 1993, 1999, and also in 2000, 2006, 2007, and Kristoff won a second Emmy in 2008, for Best Supporting Actor for his role on The Young and The Restless.
Kristoff has had the distinct honor of winning the NAACP Image Award as Best Actor in a Daytime Drama, "The Young and the Restless" nine times. He has been nominated for the Image award sixteen times.
Kristoff is no stranger to the CBS network, having starred in the series "Charlie and Company," with Flip Wilson, Gladys Knight, and Della Reese. He was also a series regular on CBS' "The Bad News Bears." Kristoff also starred in the Spelling Series, "The San Pedro Beach Bums,"
As a child and young adult, Kristoff worked with legendary entertainers such as Richard Pryor, Tony Orlando, Diahann Carroll, Jack Warden, James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby, Flip Wilson, Smokey Robinson, Irene Cara, Gladys Knight, Farrah Fawcett, Jon Voight, and had the distinction of playing the title role of Young Alex Haley in "Roots 2," for which he won a 'Youth in Film' award.
Kristoff has starred in many television dramatic features and mini series, (list available upon request) as well as over two dozen television guest star roles including "Suddenly Susan," "Arliss," "The Jamie Foxx Show," "Get Real," "Pensacola," "Martin," "Living Single," "For Your Love," "The Cosby Show," "Diagnosis Murder," etc. etc. Additionally, he had a recurring role, playing Holly Robinson's boyfriend on the ABC-TV sitcom series "Hanging with Mr. Cooper." He also guest starred in Bow Wow's WB pilot project, "Saving Jason."
Kristoff's feature film credits include starring roles in "The Champ," "Top of the Heap," "A Man Called God," and "Trois 2, Pandoras Box."
Kristoff starred in the independent feature "Carpool Guy," directed by and starring fellow daytime alum Corbin Bernsen.
Kristoff has appeared on "The Tonight Show," with Jay Leno, and over three dozen other talk shows!
Kristoff was voted one of the 40 most fascinating faces by 'People' Magazine in 1998. Additionally, Kristoff was voted one of the 'top ten soap studs' of all time by E-On Line in 1999.
Unwilling to limit his artistic talents to acting, Kristoff formed his own production company to produce and direct his own projects,. One of Kristoff's screenplays has been optioned by Warner Brothers.
From 1995-1997, he created, produced, and hosted the CBS series, "CBS Soap Break," an up close and personal look at CBS soap stars.
Kristoff has written, produced, directed, and hosted two installments of a 'behind the scenes' video series entitled, "Backstage Pass to the 25th and 26th Annual Daytime Emmy's."
Kristoff has also written, produced and directed a children's workout/exercise DVD starring his two children, Julian and Paris.
Kristoff was hired by the Starz network as an official spokesperson for the Black Starz channel.
In 2006, Kristoff was hired to host TV Guide's "Close-up," and "Soap Secrets."
Kristoff hosted the Pre Show to the Golden Globes, Live on the Red Carpet, for the T.V. Guide Network in 2007.
Kristoff is also the brainchild of a Hollywood based DVD/board game, 'Becoming a Celebrity' that hit toy store shelves in 2005.
In 2008, Kristoff produced a $2 million dollar Independent feature film "A Bridge To Nowhere," directed by Blair Underwood.
Kristoff was voted as one of TV Guides top 25 Sexiest Soap males in 2008.
Kristoff Guest Starred on "Everybody Hates Chris" in 2008, playing himself!
Summer of 2008, Kristoff hosted TV Guides "Soaps Top 25 Sexiest Ladies."
Kristoff won his second Emmy for playing the popular character of Neil Winters on "The Young and The Restless" in 2008.
In 2009, Kristoff Guested on the wildly popular "L.A. INK" show on TLC, adding to his tattoo collection!
Kristoff presented at the "World Magic Awards" in 2009.
Kristoff starred in the Wayans pilot project "Growing Up Wayans" in the summer of 2010, playing Kim Wayan's husband and father to their 6 kids.
Kristoff was a recurring guest star on the sit-com "Family Time" airing on the Bounce Network.
Kristoff guest-starred in September 2013 on "Love That Girl" on TV One, working with Phil Morris, alumni from Y and R.
Kristoff guest-starred on Byron Allens, "The First Family," August, 2013.
Kristoff worked on a feature film project 34 years in the making: "A Man Called God," a unique 'cult' documentary about Kristoff's travels to Southern India to study with a world renowned holy man that 50 million disciples call God.
Kristoff had three children, his son, Julian, and daughters, Paris and Lola.July 15, 1966 – February 3, 2019
Actor who had been playing Neil Winters on the CBS soap opera THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS since 1991 and won two Daytime Emmy Awards for the role- Director
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Václav Vorlícek, director and scenarist, was born in Prague on June 3, 1930. He studied directing at the Prague Film Schol in 1951-56. His dissertation was the short film "Directive". He took a post at the Barrandov Film Studios, where he worked as assistant director with several directors. He finally became director with "Prípad Lupinek".June 3, 1930 – February 5, 2019- Actor
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The son of a Lancashire bookmaker, Albert Finney came to motion pictures via the theatre. In 1956, he won a scholarship to RADA where his fellow alumni included Peter O'Toole and Alan Bates. He joined the Birmingham Repertory where he excelled in plays by William Shakespeare. A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Finney understudied Laurence Olivier at Stratford-upon-Avon, eventually acquiring a reputation as 'the new Olivier'. He first came to critical attention by creating the title role in Keith Waterhouse's "Billy Liar" on the London stage. His film debut soon followed with The Entertainer (1960) by Tony Richardson with whom had earlier worked in the theatre. With the changing emphasis in 60s British cinema towards gritty realism and working-class milieus, Finney's typical screen personae became good-looking, often brooding proletarian types and rebellious anti-heroes as personified by his Arthur Seaton in Karel Reisz's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). His exuberant defining role, however, was in the bawdy period romp Tom Jones (1963) in which Finney revealed a substantial talent for comedy. In the same vein, he scored another hit opposite Audrey Hepburn in the charming marital comedy Two for the Road (1967).
By 1965, Finney had branched out into production, setting up Memorial Enterprises in conjunction with Michael Medwin. In 1968, he directed himself in Charlie Bubbles (1968) and three years later produced the Chandleresque homage Gumshoe (1971), in which he also starred as Eddie Ginley, a bingo-caller with delusions of becoming a private eye. From 1972 to 1975, Finney served as artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre. His intermittent forays to the screen confirmed him as a versatile international actor of note, though not what one might describe as a mainstream star. His roles have ranged from Ebenezer Scrooge in the musical version of Scrooge (1970) to Daddy Warbucks in Annie (1982) and (in flamboyant over-the-top make-up) Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express (1974). He appeared as Minister of Police Joseph Fouché in Ridley Scott's superb period drama The Duellists (1977) and as a grandiloquent Shakespearean actor in The Dresser (1983) for which he received an Oscar nomination. For the small screen Finney essayed Pope John Paul II (1984) and was a totally believable Winston Churchill in the acclaimed The Gathering Storm (2002). His final movie credit was in the James Bond thriller Skyfall (2012).
Finney was five-times nominated for Academy Awards in 1964, 1975, 1984, 1985 and 2001. He won two BAFTA Awards in 1961 and 2004. True to his working-class roots, he spurned a CBE in 1980 and a knighthood in 2000, later explaining his decision by stating that the 'Sir thing' "slightly perpetuates one of our diseases in England, which is snobbery". Albert Finney was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2011. He died on February 7 2019 at a London hospital from a chest infection at the age of 82. Upon his death, John Cleese described him as "the best" and "our greatest actor".May 9, 1936 – February 7, 2019
Distinguished, chameleon-like, five-time Oscar-nominated British actor widely acclaimed for his inspired performances in such films as SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING (1960), TOM JONES (1963), MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974), THE DRESSER (1983), MILLER'S CROSSING (1990), ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000) and BIG FISH (2003); was a stage actor before making his film debut in Tony Richardson's THE ENTERTAINER in 1960 and breaking out later that year as one of cinema's original "angry young men" in Karel Reisz's landmark "kitchen-sink" drama SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING; rose to international stardom playing the titular hero in Tony Richardson's bawdy 1963 classic TOM JONES, a critical and commercial success in both the UK and the US that won that year's Oscar for Best Picture and garnered Finney his first Oscar nomination; reteamed with director Karel Reisz for the 1964 thriller NIGHT MUST FALL, starred with Audrey Hepburn in Stanley Donen's 1967 rom-com TWO FOR THE ROAD, and made his one and only feature directorial effort with 1968's CHARLIE BUBBLES, in which he also starred; appeared twice on the Broadway stage, first in 1963 as Martin Luther in John Osborne's 'Luther' and again in 1968 in Peter Nichols' A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG, both of which earned him a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play; also began his increased clout—and money—to support rising filmmakers as an uncredited producer. He most notably backed Lindsay Anderson's IF.... (1968) and O LUCKY MAN! (1973) and the 1971 feature debuts of Mike Leigh (BLEAK MOMENTS) and Tony Scott (LOVING MEMORY); chewed the scenery in the title role of SCROOGE (1970), a musical retelling of A CHRISTMAS STORY directed by Ronald Neame, and then starred in and produced Stephen Frears' feature directorial debut, the quirky crime comedy GUMSHOE (1971); arned his second Oscar nomination for a memorable turn as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot in Sidney Lumet's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, which was followed by a small role in Ridley Scott's debut feature, THE DUELLISTS (1977), for which he was reportedly paid with a case of champagne; in 1982 was seen starring opposite Diane Keaton in Alan Parker's SHOOT THE MOON and playing Daddy Warbucks in John Huston's ANNIE, after which received consecutive Oscar nominations for his towering performances in Peter Yates' THE DRESSER and Huston's UNDER THE VOLCANO (1984); memorably played Irish-American crime boss Leo O'Bannon in the Coen brothers' 1990 neo-noir masterpiece MILLER'S CROSSING and over the next decade starred in such films as Gillies MacKinnon's THE PLAYBOYS (1992), Mike Figgis' THE BROWNING VERSION (1994) and Agnieszka Holland's WASHINGTON SQUARE (1997); received his fifth and final Oscar nomination as attorney Ed Masry opposite Julia Roberts in Steven Soderbergh's 2000 biographical legal drama ERIN BROCKOVICH and also appeared in Soderbergh's TRAFFIC that same year; won an Emmy for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Richard Loncraine's TV movie THE GATHERING STORM (2002) and then won hearts with his performance as a dying eccentric who spun larger-than-life tales in Tim Burton's BIG FISH; more recently co-starred with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke in Sidney Lumet's final film, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD (2007), and made brief appearances as the unethical Dr. Albert Hirsch in THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (2007) and THE BOURNE LEGACY (2012); made his final film appearance in the acclaimed James Bond outing SKYFALL (2012), in which he played Kincade, the gamekeeper of the titular estate and a surrogate father to Daniel Craig's Bond- Actor
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Sergey Yurskiy was born on 16 March 1935 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. He was an actor and director, known for The Golden Calf (1968), The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (1979) and Love and Doves (1985). He was married to Zinaida Sharko and Natalya Tenyakova. He died on 8 February 2019 in Moscow, Russia.March 16, 1935 – February 8, 2019- Producer
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Ron Miller was born on 17 April 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a producer and assistant director, known for The Magical World of Disney (1954), Tron (1982) and The Black Hole (1979). He was married to Diane Disney. He died on 9 February 2019 in Napa, California, USA.April 17, 1933 – February 9, 2019- Actor
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Carmen Argenziano was born on October 27, 1943 in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania. He was an actor. known for his work on hundreds of films and TV series throughout his fifty year career. He was in The Accused (1988), Stand and Deliver (1988), The Godfather Part II (1974), Identity (2003), and many more, including James Franco's production of Don Quixote (2015), playing the title character. He played the memorable and well loved character Jacob Carter in the TV series Stargate SG-1 (1997). He was a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio.October 27, 1943 – February 10, 2019- Joe Sirola has starred in numerous TV shows - everything from his own series such as "The Montefuscos," and "Wolf," to "Get Smart, " "Man from U.N.C.L.E.," and "The Magician"; and films - with Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida in "Strange Bedfellows"; with Clint Eastwood in "Hang 'Em High" and in such others as George Stevens' "The Greatest Story Ever Told," "Super Cops," and "Hail to the Chief;" and on Broadway in Molly Brown; Pal Joey and Golden Rainbow among others. The Wall Street Journal named him "King of the Voiceovers," having recorded 10,000+ commercials, and he has been called "The Green Thumb of the Upper East Side" for his amazing rooftop garden. His one-man piece, Shakespeare's Ages of Man, where Joe performs eighteen of the bard's great characters, is continually successful around the country. And, in the last few year's Joe has returned to Broadway... this time as a Tony Award-winning producer. Among his NY producing credits are Cagney: The Musical; the Tony-winning Best Musical A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder; The Trip To Bountiful; The Motherf**ker with the Hat; Love Letters (Revival); Ghetto Klown; Rogers And Hammerstein's Cinderella; Stick Fly and Time Stands Still. And that's Joe Sirola - a man of many talents and the happy ability to pursue them all successfully.October 7, 1929 – February 10, 2019
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Virile, handsome and square-jawed youthful star of the 1970s and 1980s who showed early potential at super-stardom, Jan-Michael Vincent originally made a name for himself portraying rebellious young men bucking the system, as in The Tribe (1970), White Line Fever (1975) and Baby Blue Marine (1976) or as a man of action on either side of the law, as in The Mechanic (1972), Vigilante Force (1976) and The Winds of War (1983).
He was born in July 1944 in Denver, Colorado, and was finishing a stint in the National Guard when a talent scout was struck by his all-American looks. He made his first appearance on-screen in The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk (1967), before appearing in Journey to Shiloh (1968) and in "Danger Island" on the Hanna-Barbera kids TV show The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1968). He remained very busy during the 1970s, appearing in high-profile productions alongside such stars as John Wayne, Rock Hudson, Charles Bronson, Slim Pickens and Robert Mitchum.
In 1984, Vincent was cast as Stringfellow Hawke in the helicopter action series Airwolf (1984), co-starring Ernest Borgnine. The show wrapped after three seasons and from then on he was primarily appearing in low-budget, B-grade action and sci-fi films, including Alienator (1990), The Deadly Avenger (1992), Deadly Heroes (1993) and Lethal Orbit (1996). His last film was the woeful gang movie White Boy (2002), and ongoing health issues and personal problems seemed to preclude his return to the screen.
Vincent will be best remembered by film fans as a smirking, apprentice hit man to Charles Bronson in The Mechanic (1972), as feisty "Matt" in the superb surf movie Big Wednesday (1978) with Gary Busey and William Katt, or as rebel trucker Carol Jo Hummer battling corruption in White Line Fever (1975).July 15, 1945 – February 10, 2019- Pedro Morales was born on 22 October 1942 in Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. He was an actor, known for WWF Superstars (1986), Saturday Night's Main Event (1985) and WWF Prime Time Wrestling (1985). He was married to Karen Johnson. He died on 11 February 2019 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, USA.October 22, 1942 – February 12, 2019
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Actress, singer, director, producer, musician and writer, Bibi Ferreira was considered the Grand Dame of Brazilian stage. She sang, acted, directed and produced during her 72 year career. Born Abigail Izquierdo Ferreira on June 1, 1922, in Rio de Janeiro, her father was actor Procópio Ferreira and her mother was Spanish ballerina Aída Izquierdo.
Bibi was first seen on stage at just 24 days old, replacing a doll in the play Manhãs de Sol (Sunny Mornings) by Oduvaldo Viana. As a young child Bibi traveled with her mother throughout Latin America as part of the Companhia Velasco troupe of Spanish revues. At age three she was already singing and dancing on stage, becoming known as "la niña de Velasco". Her professional stage debut was at age 18 in the Italian play La Locandiera by Carlo Goldoni. Five years later she started her own theater company, Companhia de Comédias Bibi Ferreira.
During the 1950s she took her company to Portugal and performed throughout the country for five years. In the 1960s and 1970s Bibi hosted several television shows, such as Brasil 60, Brasil 61, Bibi ao Vivo, Bibi Especial, Brasil 78, and Brasil 79, just to name a few. She was boldly innovative and helped in shaping the format of studio audience shows. She hosted the television show Curso de Alfabetização para Adultos (Literacy Course for Adults), which taught more than 30,000 people in Brazil. For this she was awarded "Best Communicator" at Tokyo's International Culture Festival. Bibi was featured in the first live satellite transmission to Brazil, a television broadcast of the 1972 Academy Awards. During the 1960s, Bibi brought Broadway's biggest musicals to Brazil including My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly!, and Man of La Mancha.
In 1975 she debuted the iconic play Gota d'Água (A Drop of Water) by singer-songwriter Chico Buarque and Paulo Pontes. Another hallmark was 1983's Piaf-A Vida de uma Estrela da Canção (based on Piaf, written by British playwright Pam Gems), in which Bibi interpreted and sang Edith Piaf's famous repertoire. She performed Bibi Canta e Conta Piaf (Bibi Sings and Tells Piaf) in her shows. Her success in performing this work for more than 30 years all over the world has earned her the French government's highest artistic accolade, the Orde des Arts et des Lettres, twice (in 1985 and 2009). Bibi Canta e Conta Piaf was recorded at Teatro Maison de France in Rio de Janeiro in 2004 and released on DVD. Renowned French photographer Hughes Vassal, who captured Piaf's final years, heard Bibi perform and declared she was "the only artist capable of reliving the dramatic emotions of Edith Piaf."
During the 1990s, Bibi maintained a busy schedule of performances, singing such orchestral concerts as Bibi in Concert and Bibi in Concert II-Entertainer throughout Brazil and Europe. She was a highly praised director of concerts, operas, and plays. Many acclaimed Brazilian names performed under her direction, such as Maria Bethânia, Elizeth Cardoso, Clara Nunes, and Roberta Miranda. During a performances of Piaf-Uma Estrela da Canção, the Portuguese fado legend Amália Rodrigues saw Bibi and asked if she would portray Amália on stage. In 2001, at her 60th career anniversary celebration, Bibi performed Bibi Vive Amália (Bibi Lives Amália), singing the Portuguese fadista's greatest works. The production was an absolute triumph among critics and audiences alike in Brazil and Portugal. Bibi was the subject at Rio de Janeiro Carnival in 2003. She was honored by one of the samba schools, Unidos da Viradouro, where Brazilian artists paraded in her honor.
In 2004, she performed Bibi in Concert III-Pop. The play As Favas com os Escrúpulos, written by Juca de Oliveira and directed by Jô Soares, marked her return to spoken comedy after 54 years performing musicals. It performed to more than 300,000 people during its four year run. In 2010, she performed in De Pixinguinha a Noel, passando por Gardel (From Pixinguinha to Noel going through Gardel). She was featured alongside the renowned tango orchestra El Arranque at sold-out performances in Buenos Aires, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. According to the Argentinean newspaper La Nación, Bibi "left the city teaching us how to sing the tango." She recorded the album Bibi Ferreira and Miguel Proença Tangos, containing the most treasured tangos from her childhood memories. In 2011, she recorded the album Bibi Ferreira Brasileira - uma suíte amorosa, in which she sang Brazilian popular music classics. In 2012 she recorded the album Bibi Ferreira-Natal em família (Bibi Ferreira-Christmas in Family), a collection of popular Christmas songs. Bibi Histórias e Canções (Bibi, Stories and Songs), was a celebration of her 72- year career and 90th birthday celebration, where she sang and shared stories highlighting her life and career. On April 14, 2013, she presented Bibi in Concert at Lincoln Center in New York.June 1, 1922 – February 13, 2019- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Christopher Knopf was born on 20 December 1927 in New York, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1959), CBS Summer Playhouse (1987) and Scott Joplin (1977). He was married to Lorraine Davies Knopf and Bettie McKeehan. He died on 13 February 2019 in Santa Monica, California, USA.December 20, 1927 – February 13, 2019- Marisa Solinas was born on 30 May 1939 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. She was an actress, known for Killer Goodbye (1968), La città dell'ultima paura (1975) and Boccaccio '70 (1962). She was married to Panone, Italo. She died on 12 February 2019 in Rome, Italy.May 30, 1939 – February 13, 2019
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Bruno Ganz was an acclaimed Swiss actor who was a prominent figure in German language film and television for over fifty years. He is internationally renowned for portraying Adolf Hitler in the Academy Award-nominated film Downfall (2004).
Ganz was born in Zürich, to a Swiss mechanic father and a northern Italian mother. He decided to pursue an acting career by the time he entered university. He debuted at the theatre in 1961, and gained a reputation as a reflective, charismatic and technically brilliant stage actor. In 1970, he and Peter Stein founded the theatre company 'Schaubühne' in Berlin, Germany. On stage, Ganz portrayed Dr. Heinrich Faust in Peter Stein's staging of Faust, Part One and Faust, Part Two in 2000.
In cinema, Ganz became one of the best-known and most acclaimed actors in the German language, collaborating with many of the most respected European actors and directors of his time. He also starred in international features that reached a global audience. His film debut was The Gentleman in the Black Derby (1960). He also starred in Unknown (2011), The Counselor (2013), and The Party (2017).
Ganz died from cancer on 16 February 2019 at his home in the village of Au, in Wädenswil, Switzerland.March 22, 1941 – February 16, 2019
Internationally renowned Swiss actor best known for starring in Wim Wenders' poetic masterpiece 'Wings of Desire' (1987) and for his portrayal of Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel's Oscar-nominated 'Downfall' (2004); acted in over 100 features and made-for-TV movies over a span of nearly 60 years, from a small role as a bellhop in Karl Suter's 1960 German comedy 'The Man in the Black Derby' to a serial killer's initially unseen companion and interlocutor in Lars von Trier's divisive 2018 psychological horror-thriller 'The House That Jack Built'; broke out in the late 1970s with his German Film Award-winning role as the Russian Count in Éric Rohmer's costume drama 'The Marquise of O' (1976) and his role as a mild-mannered, terminally-ill German picture framer opposite Dennis Hopper as a disreputable American dealer of forged art in Wenders' neo-noir classic 'The American Friend' (1977); subsequently appeared as cloning expert Professor Bruckner in Franklin J. Schaffner's 'The Boys from Brazil' (1978), played Jonathan Harker in Wener Herzog's 'Nosferatu the Vampyre' (1979) and starred in such films as Volker Schlöndorff's 'Circle of Deceit' (1981), Mauro Bolognini's 'The Lady of the Camellias' (1981) and Alain Tanner's 'In the White City' (1983) before reteaming with Wenders to play the angel Damiel in 'Wings of Desire,' a role he reprised in Wenders' sequel, 'Faraway, So Close!' (1993); starred or co-starred in films from many different countries over the last 30 years, including Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's Icelandic drama 'Children of Nature' (1991), Gillian Armstrong's Australian drama 'The Last Days of Chez Nous' (1992), Theo Angelopoulos's Greek Palme d'Or winner 'Eternity and a Day' (1998), Silvio Soldini's Italian romantic comedy 'Bread and Tulips' (2000), Fredi M. Murer's Swiss music drama 'Vitus' (2006), Francis Ford Coppola's multi-national co-production 'Youth Without Youth' (2007), Uli Edel's Oscar-nominated German drama 'The Baader Meinhof Complex' (2008), Stephen Daldry's Oscar-winning German-American co-production 'The Reader' (2008), Jaume Collet-Serra's internationally co-produced action-thriller 'Unknown' (2011), Bille August's German-Swiss-Portuguese drama 'Night Train to Lisbon' (2013), Ridley Scott's British-American crime thriller 'The Counselor' (2013), Hans Petter Moland's Norwegian black comedy 'In Order of Disappearance' (2014), Atom Egoyan's German-Canadian drama thriller 'Remember' (2015), and Sally Potter's British black comedy 'The Party' (2017); achieved pop-culture notoriety with his performance in 'Downfall', which not only earned him substantial praise and numerous accolades but also spawned a spate of parody internet memes- Serge Merlin was born on 29 December 1932 in Sainte-Barbe-du-Tlélat (now Oued Tlelat), French Algeria. He was an actor, known for Amélie (2001), The City of Lost Children (1995) and Danton (1983). He died on 16 February 2019 in Paris, France.1933 – February 16, 2019
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Toni Myers was born on 29 September 1943 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was an editor and writer, known for A Beautiful Planet (2016), Hubble (2010) and Space Station 3D (2002). She was married to Michael Myers. She died on 18 February 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.September 29, 1943 – February 18, 2019- O'Neal Compton was born on 5 February 1951 in Sumter, South Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for Deep Impact (1998), Nixon (1995) and Big Eden (2000). He died on 18 February 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.February 5, 1951 – February 18, 2019
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Giulio Brogi was born on 13 May 1931 in Verona, Veneto, Italy. He was an actor, known for The Spider's Stratagem (1970), St. Michael Had a Rooster (1972) and The Seagull (1977). He died on 19 February 2019 in Negrar, Veneto, Italy.May 13, 1935 – February 19, 2019- Costume Designer
- Actor
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Karl Lagerfeld was born on 10 September 1933 in Hamburg, Germany. He was a costume designer and actor, known for The Valet (2006), Reincarnation (2014) and The Tale of a Fairy (2011). He died on 19 February 2019 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.September 10, 1933 – February 19, 2019- If you remember those sword and sandal spectacles that became the rage of Italian cinema during the late 1950s and early 1960s, then you will certainly recall this torrid brunet bombshell. Invariably cast as the ambitiously evil queen or undulating dancer/temptress whose soul mission was to entrance the film's hero, Chelo Alonso's "peplum princess" prime would be surprisingly brief but her memorable moves and over-the-top histrionics were reason enough to place her on the international sex symbol pedestal and earn her cult status. While her acting contributions would certainly attract no awards, she did earn the honor of becoming "Italian Cinema's Female Discovery" early in the game.
The darkly stunning Alonso was born Isabel Apolonia García Hernández in Central Lugareño, Camagüey, Cuba, on April 10, 1933, to a Cuban father and Mexican mother. Attracted to dancing, she began performing seriously in Havana at age 17, and soon earned notoriety at Cuba's National Theatre for her sensual, exotic style. She took her trade to Paris in 1957 and became the toast of the Folies Bergère as an up-and-coming Josephine Baker. Billed as the "Cuban H-Bomb", she combined her native Afro-Cuban rhythms with a seductive belly-dancing style that encouraged wolf whistles wherever she toured, which would eventually include Puerto Rico, Haiti and even the United States.
It wasn't long before she slithered her way into Neopolitan action films. Bodybuilder Steve Reeves had just muscled his way into films with his mythological hero Hercules and a new genre was born, with the exotic Chelo soon proving herself a fiery fit. She first attracted attention with the film Sign of the Gladiator (1959) [Sign of the Gladiator] where her erotically-charged dance segment stole the thunder right from under the movie's top-billed sex star, Swedish siren Anita Ekberg.
From there Chelo, with her volcanic temperament, highly distinctive cheekbones and wild mane of dark hair, went on to charm a number of "ab"normally fit muscleman co-stars, including Reeves, Gordon Mitchell and Mark Forest in such obviously-titled adventure films as The Pirate and the Slave Girl (1959); Goliath and the Barbarians (1959); Son of Samson (1960); Terror of the Red Mask (1960); The Huns (1960); and Morgan the Pirate (1960); and Desert War (1962), which was produced by Aldo Pomilia.
She had already met Pomilia in 1960 while both were working on the "Morgan the Pirate" production. They married a year later and she bore him son Aldino in 1962. While visiting Aldo in Spain, where he was the production supervisor of Clint Eastwood's star-making western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), she made a brief uncredited mute cameo. Pomilia then executive-produced her an auspicious comeback, playing opposite her countryman, Havana-born Tomas Milian in the cult western Run, Man, Run (1968), as Dolores, which is arguably the best film role of her career. Chelo then made a brief appearance in a variation of that previous role, also called Dolores, in another cult western, the bizarre Night of the Serpent (1969), after which she abandoned the film scene and focused on Italian TV.
After the death of her husband in 1986, Alonso moved to Tuscany, Italy, where she found several interests to keep her busy, including breeding cats and operating a hotel/restaurant. She died at age 85 in Italy in 2019.April 10, 1933 – February 20, 2019 - Director
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Claude Goretta was born on 23 June 1929 in Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. He was a director and writer, known for The Invitation (1973), The Lacemaker (1977) and La provinciale (1980). He died on 20 February 2019 in Geneva, Canton de Genève, Switzerland.June 23, 1929 – February 20, 2019- Actor
- Additional Crew
Vinny Vella was born on 11 January 1947 in Greenwich Village, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Casino (1995), In the Cut (2003) and Find Me Guilty (2006). He was married to Margaret Ann Hernandez. He died on 20 February 2019 in New York City, New York, USA.January 11, 1947 – February 20, 2019- While other actresses would have long given up a stalled career out of pure frustration after decades of mostly uncredited extra/bit parts and little reward, perennial starlet Sue Casey somehow found the stamina to maintain ... for six decades! In films from 1946, the voluptuous brunette, at most, became a campy vixen in a few 1960s "drive-in" bombs, yet has always held a remarkably appreciative outlook as to how things turned out.
Born on April 8, 1926 in Southern California, her family lived in Beverly Hills (her father was a builder) at the time of her birth but was forced to move after the crash of the stock market in 1929 to a more modest area of town. While Casey expressed no early interest in acting, her West Coast beauty was undeniable and it didn't take long before the teenager caught the eye of a talent agent who persuaded her to try with the well-oiled fantasy line, "How would you like to be a star?" Making the usual audition rounds, Casey's first extra part came with the lightweight MGM film Holiday in Mexico (1946) for Samuel Goldwyn. Young, married, and with a child in tow, she found work as Danny Kaye's boss' secretary in the The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947). Promoted by the studio as a "Goldwyn Girl", she dutifully attended parades, premieres, late night parties, fashion and charity events, etc. -- anything to further advance herself. To supplement her studio income, Sue worked as a photographer and artist's model.
A diverting presence in the usual MGM comedy or drama such as Blondie's Big Deal (1949) and The Great Sinner (1949), she provided classy set decoration for the studio's prime Golden Age musicals as well, including Words and Music (1948), Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), Annie Get Your Gun (1950), Show Boat (1951), An American in Paris (1951), The Band Wagon (1953), Deep in My Heart (1954), and the Esther Williams swimming extravaganzas Neptune's Daughter (1949) and Million Dollar Mermaid (1952). Often times she would be directed over to other major studios -- Paramount, Columbia, Universal and Warner Bros. -- and provide fetching atmosphere there. Director Raoul Walsh once complimented her as "the most beautiful extra in pictures today."
By the mid 1950s, Casey had still barely put two lines together on screen and after filming the non-descript parts of a snake charmer in 3 Ring Circus (1954), a sunbather in Rear Window (1954) and a harem girl in Son of Sinbad (1955), decided to take some time away from the cameras and concentrate on family. She went on to have three more children. By 1959, however, she was back in front of the lens as beautiful as ever but this time the focus was on television.
Successfully establishing herself as a wholesome commercial actress, she pitched everything from cereal to automobiles in over 200 assignments. Light TV guest parts also came her way in episodes of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957), The Baileys of Balboa (1964), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), The Farmer's Daughter (1963), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) and Family Affair (1966), among others. As for the big screen, nothing changed. Obscure bit/extra parts continued with Bells Are Ringing (1960), The Ladies Man (1961), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Two Weeks in Another Town (1962), A New Kind of Love (1963) and The Carpetbaggers (1964).
Finally, after nearly two decades of pursuing her dream in Hollywood, Casey nabbed a leading role! As bad girl "Vicky Lindsay" in what is arguably one of film's biggest "turkeys" of all time, The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965), she attained a notoriety that led to minor cult status. The film had a non-existent budget and was received poorly in every way, shape and form upon its initial release. Casey even had to do her own hair and makeup and was forced to pick out her vixen character's clothes from her own closet. The actors were never paid until the movie was sold years later to TV (retitled as "Monster from the Surf") and that was a mere pittance. Over the years, however, the movie has reportedly gained a cult following. Two other easily dismissed co-starring roles in unmemorable campy films followed. She played a hillbilly mom in the fugitive drama Swamp Country (1966) (which starred pearly-toothed pre-Carol Burnett hunk Lyle Waggoner) and a manipulative mom and art forger in Catalina Caper (1967) (which starred former Disney star Tommy Kirk after his fall from studio grace, and (again) Lyle Waggoner).
In later years, she developed a successful real estate business. She found acting work (often without an agent) intermittently on film and TV. Featured in a couple of higher-scaled movie musicals -- as a lady attendant to Vanessa Redgrave's Queen Guinevere in Camelot (1967) and as one of John Mitchum's two wives in Paint Your Wagon (1969) -- her final film resume would add such films as The Main Event (1979), Evilspeak (1981), Whitesnake: Live... in the Still of the Night (2005) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996). In American Beauty (1999), an Oscar winner for "Best Picture" and "Best Actor", lead actress Annette Bening (a Best Actress nominee for the role), plays a desperate realtor trying to sell Casey's well-to-do character a house.April 8, 1926 – February 21, 2019 - Director
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Inspired by Fred Astaire's dancing in Flying Down to Rio (1933), Stanley Donen (pronounced 'Dawn-en') attended dance classes from the age of ten. He later recalled that the only thing he wanted to be was a tap dancer.
He was born in Columbia, South Carolina, to Helen Pauline (Cohen) and Mordecai Moses Donen, a dress-shop manager, of Russian-Jewish and German-Jewish descent. Donen debuted on Broadway at seventeen. While working as an assistant choreographer in 1941, he met and befriended the actor Gene Kelly, Kelly being the brash, extrovert and energetic side of the burgeoning partnership, Donen the more refined and relaxed. Three years later, the two men renewed their collaboration in Hollywood and did much to reinvigorate the musical genre. For the next decade, they worked side-by-side as choreographers and co-directors (a relationship Donen described as 'wonderful' but 'also trying at times'), linked to MGM's Arthur Freed unit. Between them, they directed classic musicals like On the Town (1949) and Singin' in the Rain (1952) and co-wrote the original story for Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949). Freed, by the way, was the producer almost single-handedly responsible for the high standard of MGM's A-grade musicals in the 40s and 50s. A former vaudevillian and song-plugger, Freed was an astute judge of talent and encouraged gifted individuals from other media (like radio or theatre) to become involved with pictures. Moreover, he gave artists like Kelly and Donen free rein to express their creative flair.
In 1949, MGM signed Donen to a seven-year contract as director in his own right. From then on, he and Kelly went their separate ways. After directing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Donen moved on to Paramount for Funny Face (1957), then to Warner Brothers for The Pajama Game (1957) and Damn Yankees (1958). As musicals waned in popularity, Donen branched out into other genres. He began to direct and produce elegant, lavish romantic dramas like the delightful Indiscreet (1958), sophisticated comedies like The Grass Is Greener (1960) and Two for the Road (1967) (which starred Donen's favorite actress, Audrey Hepburn), as well as the top-shelf thrillers Charade (1963) (the best film Alfred Hitchcock never directed, again with Hepburn) and Arabesque (1966). Arguably, his most out-of-character film from this period was the esoteric mephistophelean (and very British) farce Bedazzled (1967), featuring the irrepressible comic talents of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
The 1970s heralded a steady decline in the quality of Donen's output. None of his later efforts seemed to have the panache of his earlier work: not the tepid adventure-comedy Lucky Lady (1975) (despite a good cast and sumptuous production look) nor the nostalgic musical fantasy The Little Prince (1974), based on the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A failure at the box office, the latter also marked the end of the Frederick Loewe-Alan Jay Lerner musical partnership. Donen's career may have finished on a low with a weak sojourn into science fiction that was Saturn 3 (1980) and the quirky comedy Blame It on Rio (1984), but his reputation as one of the giants of the classic Hollywood musical is assured. Donen received an Honorary Oscar in 1998 ""for a body of work marked by grace, elegance, wit, and visual innovation.''April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019- Beverley Owen was born Beverley Ogg in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Thursday, May 13th, 1937. In high school and college, she was always doing television, theatre, and radio programs. She then moved to New York to pursue an acting career after graduating from the University of Michigan. She was fired many a time for her lack of typing skills while working at CBS, and for Ed Sullivan. She later became senior typist for the children's program, Captain Kangaroo (1955) show. She did many small parts in shows until she got the role of "Marilyn Munster" on The Munsters (1964). But after just thirteen episodes, were filmed, she left the show to get married. She is now divorced, but has two daughters, Polly and Kate. She is not always recognized as "Marilyn" because, on the show, she wore a blonde wig. In 1989, she got her master's degree in Early American History.May 13, 1937 – February 21, 2019
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Antonia Rey was born on 12 October 1926 in Havana, Cuba. She was an actress, known for Hair (1979), Klute (1971) and Jacob's Ladder (1990). She was married to Andres Castro. She died on 21 February 2019 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.October 12, 1927 – February 21, 2019- Actor
- Music Department
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Performed as a folk musician in Greenwich Village and Los Angeles before being selected for the Monkees TV show. Made 58 TV episodes 6 albums, a TV special, and a movie before leaving the Monkees in 1969 Released a solo single in 1982. Rejoined the Monkees for tours and an from 1986 to 1989. Released his first solo album, "Stranger Things Have Happened", in 1994February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019
Musician and actor best known as the bassist and keyboardist for The Monkees- Director
- Writer
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Kodi Ramakrishna was born on 23 July 1949 in Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh, India. He was a director and writer, known for Arundhati (2009), Gudachari No.1 (1983) and Devi Putrudu (2001). He died on 22 February 2019 in Hyderabad, India.July 23, 1949 – February 22, 2019- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Writer
Brody Stevens was born on 22 May 1970 in San Fernando Valley, California, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Hangover (2009), Due Date (2010) and The Hangover Part II (2011). He died on 22 February 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA.May 22, 1970 – February 22, 2019- Actor
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- Soundtrack
Craggy-faced, athletic veteran character actor who played hard-bitten or menacing types in numerous westerns and crime dramas. One of five brothers, Woodward grew up in Arlington, Texas. He had a keen interest in aviation early on and took flying lessons from 1941, getting his pilot's license and subsequently served in both World War II (Army Air Corps) and Korea (Military Air Transport Command). Woodward first acted at Arlington State College, majoring in music and drama. He appeared for a while with the Margo Jones Repertory Theatre '47 in Dallas and then went back to study for a degree in corporate finance at the University of Texas, graduating in 1948. At one time, he sang with a jazz band and as a member of a barber shop quartet as well as having a regular weekly gig as a talk show host on local radio. Possessed of a powerful bass-baritone voice, Woodward's ultimate ambition had been to sing for the Metropolitan Opera. That didn't pan out. Neither did his hope that moving to Hollywood in 1955 might open the door to a career in musicals. Instead, he successfully auditioned at Disney for The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), followed by a part in the western pioneer saga Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956). His first big break was as co-star opposite Hugh O'Brian in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955), playing the role of Earp's deputy Shotgun Gibbs for four seasons. This effectively typecast him as a western genre actor with a record number of guest spots on Gunsmoke (1955) and Wagon Train (1957). Nonetheless, his most famous role was that of ""the man with no eyes", a sinister chain gang overseer in Cool Hand Luke (1967), distinguished by perpetually wearing reflective sunglasses. He also made two appearances on Star Trek (1966) (most famously as Simon Van Gelder, the first human with whom Spock 'mind melds') and played the shrewd Armani-suited oil tycoon Punk Anderson in 55 episodes of Dallas (1978).
Thomas Morgan Woodward was awarded the Golden Boot Award from the Hollywood Motion Picture and Television Fund in August 1988. In 2009, he became an inductee into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Privately, he was a respected authority on Early American Aircraft. According to his website, his main hobby was "restoring, rebuilding and flying antique airplanes".September 16, 1925 – February 22, 2019- Actress
- Director
Katherine Marie Helmond was born on July 5, 1929, in Galveston, Texas. After her parents divorced, she was raised by her mother, Thelma (nee Malone) Helmond, and her maternal grandmother, both of Irish Catholic descent. She attended Catholic school, and appeared in numerous school plays and pageants. She took a job at a local theater while still in high school, hammering and sawing the scenery, cleaning the bathrooms and pulling the curtain.
After her stage debut in "As You Like It", she worked in New York theatres during the 1950s and 1960s. She operated a summer theatre in the Catskills for three seasons and also taught acting in university theatre programs. She made her TV debut in 1962 but had to wait another 10 years until her breakthrough came in the 1970s. She stayed busy on TV as well as on stage and earned a Tony nomination for "The Great God Brown" (1973) on Broadway. She honed her acting abilities with Alfred Hitchcock in Family Plot (1976) and in numerous TV series, notably in ABC's cult sitcom Soap (1977), for which she had four Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe. On the big screen she starred in Brazil (1985) as Jonathan Pryce's mother who is addicted to plastic surgery and snooping in her son's messed-up life.
In 1983 she studied at the Directing Workshop of the American Film Institute and then directed four episodes of the series Benson (1979) as well as episodes of Who's the Boss? (1984). She also picked up Emmy nominations for her role as Mona Robinson, a liberated grandmother in "Who's the Boss?", and as Lois in Everybody Loves Raymond (1996). Although Helmond was a bona-fide TV star since her "Soap" days, she continued working on stage in the 2000s and was acclaimed for her performances in "The Vagina Monologues".
Katherine Helmond was married twice. She had no children. She turned to Buddhism in later years. She shared her time between her home in Los Angeles and homes in New York and London.July 5, 1929 – February 23, 2019